As night falls, the communal space of Katawari Youth Hostel is bustling with last-minute guests, many of them having had to look for an emergency place to spend the night after both regular and railroad traffic were shut down by the horrendous derailing of a bullet train heading towards Kitayama. 

All rooms have been booked for the night as a result, and while various staff members, clad in unsightly mint green T-shirts are running around, trying to cater to various needs they are ill-equipped to handle, the guests have been spread about the room, some seated at tables and in couches, some on the floor as they try to distract themselves from the tragedy they have gotten themselves tangled up in with by reading, chatting, napping or playing card games. Others, conversely, are glued to the single TV hanging from the reception space’s eastern wall, following the news cycle desperate for updates on when they’ll be able to return home.

From behind the reception desk, one of the employees, a girl barely out of college, clears her throat to get the guests’ attention.

Employee: Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen? Room 237? Who has Room 237?

Yosuke: (after double-checking a small receipt he has been given, he stands up) Oh, that’s us… Yes! Err, present!

Employee: Group of five?

Yosuke: Yeah! Name of Nishioka. (he squeezes his way through the crowd before eventually making it to the reception desk, soon followed by Hanako, Shinju, Koharu and Yasu)

Employee: That’s an odd group.

Yosuke: Oh, ah, err, we’re just, eh, on a little road trip, for, err, our graduation.

Employee: … From middle school?

Yosuke: … F-From high school!

Employee: You graduated high school in November…?

Yosuke: Ah well, y’know, stuff happened. We had to delay things slightly and work for a couple of months before we actually had the money to go on a trip. So what was supposed to be a summer vacation turned into a gap year.

Koharu: (she glares at Yosuke) …

Employee: Huh, lucky you. Explains why you booked your room before all this went down… Congrats on getting the last room that doesn’t have you rooming with a dozen strangers, I guess. You’re gonna be okay for tomorrow night, though? I don’t think you’ll be able to make it out of town just yet.

Yosuke: Oh yeah, err, no. We will. We have to.

Employee: Well, good luck with that. Here’s your key for tonight, in any case. Sleep well! (she flashes him a bright, but professional smile)

Yosuke: You too! (he coughs, as if he can feel Koharu’s gaze piercing his back) Ah, err, bye.

Employee: (awkwardly) … Yup. Bye.

Yosuke: (as the girl behind the reception desk calls the name of the next room available, he turns to his traveling companions) It’s, err, room 237. That’s on—

Koharu: Second floor. (she snatches the key from Yosuke’s hand and stomps towards the elevator)

A few dozen minutes later, the group has arrived and settled into their room, a sparse affair with little more than two bunk beds on either side and a sofa bed facing the door. With an exaggerated sigh, Yosuke plops down onto the sofa before looking up at the four girls, who have awkwardly scattered about the room.

Yosuke: … We need to talk, don’t you think?

Hanako: (she stands at the window in perfect silence, not even turning to face Yosuke)

Yasu: Out with it. You’ve had that ‘I deserve answers’ look about you ever since I dragged you from the wreckage.

Hanako: Yacchan…

Yasu: What?

Hanako: You would equally be pressing for answers, were you in Yosuke’s position.

Yasu: Yeah, but—

Hanako: It’s not like it’s a secret worth hiding any longer. If we are to be attacked on the road like this, Yosuke is in danger, just like the rest of us. Moreso, in fact. (Hanako turns to face Yasu, glancing at the others) …Just because we dispatched our first pursuer does not mean there won’t be others.

Yosuke: Well, I am well aware we’re being pursued. By circus freaks. I just, err, I think I do need to know how this whole thing works if we—

Yasu: How are you so sure you took her out, anyway? Did you check for a Soul Gem?

Hanako: …

Shinju: (Shinju shakes her head without much surprise) No, I didn’t… sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t realize it until after we left. 

Yasu: Then it’s likely that she’s not dead. If her Soul Gem is intact, she’ll come after us again.

Shinju: (Shinju folds her arms, and looks away, speaking in a muted tone) Yeah… I know. I’m sorry.

Yosuke: So… You guys are, like, immortal unless your “Soul Gem” gets destroyed? (he whistles) What’s the point then, though? Like, that little fox creature is what made you like this, right? — God, this really is like in an anime — But it was complaining that you guys have been around for too long, which is why he got this death squad hunting us down… I… I don’t get it. Is it with the monsters you’re supposed to fight? Then why would it give you the power to fight those monsters? And if it wants you all dead, then why did it make you immortal—

Koharu: (she frowns, plugging her ears) Ask one question at a time.

Hanako: Did Koharu just say that—

Yasu: Kid’s got the basics down, I’ll give him that. You’re pretty much on the money. Some of that stuff, we’re still trying to figure out. Hanako and I only have half the puzzle with regards to our pursuers as it is. But the long and short of it? Magic’s real, and we’re functionally immortal.

Hanako: Koharu, perhaps you could use some fresh air? Yacchan’s not going to say much you don’t already know, and I can fill in any blank spots, if you have any other questions.

Koharu: Why would I—(she sighs, staring at Hanako before looking at Yosuke) … You want to— (she sizes up the room before continuing) Fine.

Yosuke: S-Senpai—!

Koharu: What.

Yosuke: You’re… not one of them, right? Not a magical girl, I mean.

Koharu: (she shakes her head)

Yosuke: And yet you’re here, fighting to help your friends.

Koharu: Hm.

Hanako: (standing up and stretching her arms, Hanako and Koharu leave the room, walking side by side. An awkward silence falls over the pair until they’re outside) …It’s going to sound incredulous of me, since I’ve been gone for so long, and since tragedy was… not five steps behind me. But I really did miss you, you know.

Koharu: (she mutters, barely audible) … Missed you too.

Hanako: (she gives a meek little smile) Still… I wish I could have been there when this all started. Since it’s just us for a little while, do you have any questions for me?

Koharu: … Do you… Do you think we can win this?

Hanako: (she looks straight into Koharu’s eyes and nods) Yes. It won’t be easy, but… the question you asked. We can absolutely win. That girl… she was terrifyingly strong. But, as Yacchan is fond of saying, “if it bleeds, we can kill it.”

Koharu: That means they can kill you too. Why did you come back?

Hanako: It was time to come back. I reached a plateau, training with Yacchan. Same with Kiwa-chan, actually. I couldn’t really learn much more from either of them. Besides, I… I was needed. Besides what Kiwa-chan told me from her source about needing to find you when I did, I felt like I needed to help. I would do more good here, than in Tokyo.

Koharu: You had a way out. Don’t know if I’d have been able to come back… knowing what I’d find. Though that’s a… pointless hypothesis.

Hanako: I wouldn’t blame you, if the roles were reversed. It’s natural to want to stay away from danger. But I think you would have. You never made a contract, yet you dove out a glass window near the top of our school into my arms on the blind faith that I could fly. I… believe you would have returned to help us. 

Koharu: Do you even know the real me, Hanako? Anything I do that… deserves any kind of praise. I never realized how much that was just the medication.

Hanako: …And yet, you’re still here. You’re still fighting, even uphill. You’re stronger than you know, Koharu. Even now… I look up to you, you know.

Koharu: A fight to get to where others can be without the slightest effort is not a fight at all. I’m a liability. And I’m gonna end up getting us all killed because of it.

Hanako: Nonsense. I love my friends because of who they are, not what they can do for me. I do not now, nor have I ever seen you as a liability. …I would not be here having this talk with you now, if not for your persistent insight, in seeing a better person within me, even when I thought such notions impossible.

Koharu: I don’t want to lose that. I can’t. (she winces, clutching her head) No. No. I can’t.

Hanako: You won’t, Koharu. (Hanako’s voice is soft and warm) That tenacity comes from you, not from a bottle. I love you, Koharu, not what those pills make you. They help you focus and function, certainly, but they do not make you the person I’ve known all along.

Koharu: … I cannot accept that. I cannot have told you to give up your soul to fix yourself and then accept that.

Hanako: Then, what will you accept, Koharu?

Koharu: I don’t know. It’s all very confusing. In lots of ways.

Hanako: I know. But there’s no need to find your answer right this second. When we get home, in, erm… relative safety, you can think on it. Just know, we will overcome this crisis, and we will defeat these enemies, no matter how strong they are.

Koharu: … Maybe.

Hanako: Don’t stress yourself out, finding the answer while we’re under duress. It’ll be okay, Koharu. …Shall we return to the others? Yacchan is rather succinct in her explanations, and Yosuke has a grasp on the situation as it is. 

As Hanako and Koharu return to their room, each carrying some bottles from a vending machine, they run into Yosuke, frowning at his phone as he heads towards the lobby.

Koharu: We have drinks.

Yosuke: (he looks up, surprised) Oh! Thanks, senpai. I was just heading to the toilet, though. Guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta—(without a reply, Koharu passes him by, with Hanako in tow, before they disappear around the corner. After waiting for a few seconds to make sure they are truly gone, Yosuke enters the men’s bathrooms and slips into one of the stalls, dialing a number on his phone) …

Shiori: (on the other end of the line) So you do know how a phone works.

Yosuke: (he whispers into the phone) Are you out of your mind? Don’t call me when I’m—

Shiori: (her playful demeanor changes immediately) Tell me what to do one more goddamn time and I’ll rip off your dick with my bare hands, you piece of shit.

Yosuke: W-What…? … T-That’s needlessly explicit.

Shiori: Something to think about when you’re feeling lonely tonight. Anyways, Candy Crush isn’t buying your whole gym story—

Yosuke: What? I sent you multiple instances of Sasaki and Hayama entering that gym. It has to be their secret hideout!

Shiori: Yeah, except not anymore. Place’s been reduced to rubble. Punisher wasn’t happy about you wasting her time.

Yosuke: How was I supposed to have kn—

Shiori: Dude. Chill. I got your back. There is definitely something going on there. They’re fucking with us.

Yosuke: … H-How so?

Shiori: I dunno man, maybe one of them can do like illusion shit, fuck if I know. 

Yosuke: What, like a magic trick?

Shiori: An illusion, dude. A trick is something a whore does for money. This is wizard shit. See if you can find anything in those brats’ memories. I’ll be damned if one of them wasn’t there when they cast their whole fucking warding spell like a bunch of D&D dorks.

Yosuke: Has anyone ever told you that you’re like… barely comprehensible most of the time?

Shiori: Fuck off, cherry boy. (she ends the call)

Yosuke: (he sighs, rubbing her eyes and temples before sitting down on the toilet seat) Time for another all-nighter, huh… Do it for her… (he mutters to himself, shaking his head) Do it for her.