The late September sun edged slowly down over the horizon, coloring Ran-no-Machi with a soft pink and orange glow. The streets were lined with people commuting to and from work as normal day jobs drew to a close and night shifts began, and kids from the local schools milled about in parks and the downtown shops with their friends before going home. The evening breeze was beginning to get a chill to it, and carried the scent of flowers across the city streets. And above their heads, two girls in brightly colored outfits shot through the sky.

"It’s going left!” shouted the magical girl Budou, firing a violet bolt of energy from her wand. It went wide over its target, dissipating into the air. ”No, not that left, the other left!”

”There’s only one left!” Ringo retorted, diving low to avoid another volley from her grape-purple clad companion.

Their quarry was a mish-mash of a creature - it had the head of a goat, teeth of a wolf, arms and claws of an eagle, tail of an eel, and the wings of a dragonfly, yet had proven far more quick and agile than such a combination would imply. It was a Thoughtless, ill-intent refracted into monstrous form by the strange magic of the otherworld known as Layers, and ending its encroachment into the human world was the sworn duty of the Magical Girls chasing after it.

It zigzagged through the sky as it veered downtown, its tail spinning slowly in the air behind it as its hunters tried to keep up, taking potshots at it in an attempt to turn it away from the city center. A number of the people on the sidewalks beneath them looked up as they zipped past, a few fumbling with cell phones to try and snap blurry pictures for social media before they were out of sight.

”This would be so much easier if Momo were here!” Budou yelled in frustration, thrusting out her arm, fingers releasing their grip on her wand and splaying wide as a small mouse with a single horn on its forehead ran down from her shoulder. Budou’s familiar leapt onto her wand before it fell, and both vanished in a burst of purple light, being replaced with a short spear that had grapevines curled along the shaft. ”I’m just gonna rush it!”

”Ah, wait wait wait!”

”GRAPE FLAVOR BURST!!” Budou’s form was swallowed in cascading purple energy, and she rocketed forth with a violet sonic BOOM echoing behind her. In the next instant she tore through the left-side wings of the Thoughtless, cursing her unpracticed aim as it went corkscrewing toward the buildings below.

---

---

The wooden chairs scraped quietly across the floor as Aoki Kaho set them in a neat circle. One of her bar’s side tables sat nearby, set with 2-liters of green tea, plastic cups, and rice crackers. The rest of the furniture had been stacked against the wall; not far from the ring in the center of the small, hole-in-the-wall establishment, but distant enough not to be in the way.

Kaho leaned back against the bar for a moment, judging the setup, then looked over to the clock on the wall. A little after five, about twenty minutes before the group which rented out her bar every Monday night started filing in. She sighed through her nose, then pushed off the counter, a thin black snake crawling up her arm to her shoulder as she moved away toward the front door. Better to fuck off for two hours than stick around for something she didn’t care for.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk in the nightlife district of downtown, she pulled a cigarette out of the inner pocket of her black silk vest, tapping it once against her hand before lighting it and taking a shallow drag. She didn’t like smoking inside if she could help it, and stubbornly denied patrons the opportunity to do the same, but one would be hard pressed to find her outside without a cigarette hanging from her lip.

The bell of the door rang quietly as it slid shut behind her, and she looked over her shoulder once, locking eyes with the giant anime decal of Shinii-tan, the bespoke mascot plastered across the front. Sin Eater wasn’t what one might call a “popular” establishment, but it did well enough for a business who’s only attempt at advertisement was the black-haired cartoon angel sipping sake on the front door. Shinii-tan’s red eyes seemed to tunnel into Kaho, mocking her for being chased out of her own establishment. Kaho clicked her tongue and wandered off.

Normally Kaho would spend the evening doing the accounts and payroll for her… one employee, but she hadn’t bothered to put those off this week, which meant she had nothing to do for the next two hours. Maybe she could go see a movie? There was an American thing she’d been interested in, but going to a theatre alone always felt a bit-

She looked up as a sonic boom exploded over her head. A purple ring stretched out in the sky, and she trailed the shot of purple light from it to… a monster. Falling toward her bar. Ah.

Ebon talons. Hulking forms of muscle flanked by fire breathing hell hounds. Few forces were as powerful and destructive as lightning, and bending it to her whim while it lashed against her tenuous grip was the most empowering feeling. Go here... gather, strike... away from the path of least resistance. Flurry, staccato beat... deflect blow, punish error. Fuck that one monster in particular. There was no being wishy-washy when it came to lightning. Her will had to be the path of least resistance; her body the conduit of destruction.

Lightning was one of the most terrifying destructive forces on the planet... equally as terrifying as having that power abandon her like a rebuked child in a time of urgency. So now she lay there with the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, uniform shredded and mustering all her will simply to pull herself slowly along the ground like a worm. Isn't this where she was supposed to get her second wind? Her sparkling flash of renewed magic to smash the monster in the face with the power of friendship?

Something grabbed her ankle roughly and started dragging her. Fear welled up inside her chest and she struggled to escape the iron grip, clawing at the asphalt for any kind of purchase. The searing heat of flames was washing over her back more and more intensely as she was pulled. She didn't dare look, but she knew what it was: a flaming rift into the Layers. Her fingers dug desperately into a crack in the asphalt but her grip was tenuous at best. She felt her body lower slightly as the demon gripping her ankle braced itself to heave.

"Himari!"

She jumped like a startled cat, knocking over a cup full of pens and showering her desk with multi-colored paper clips. Himari's heart thundered in her ears and her face was drenched in sweat. Her eyes flicked down to her keyboard to meet the piercing yellow eyes of her familiar, Quiet. Right. It was a Monday in September. She was a 37 year old accountant, not an 18 year old Luna Senshi. It was 4:48 pm.

"You okay? You were zoned out pretty hard," asked her coworker... we'll call him Steve. Himari had worked with him every weekday for the past several years and had never bothered to learn his name.

"Uh. Yeah," she hesitated, mainly because her hands were trembling like a five point earthquake. "I'm uh... not feeling so great all of a sudden, I think I'm gonna call it a day," she said, more or less shooing him out of her office. When he was gone she let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and locked eyes with Quiet for a long uncomfortable minute.

"I know what you're thinking, and you can clean up your own mess," Quiet huffed, narrowing her eyes at Himari.

"Mehmeh mehmeh memememeh meh," Himari muttered back in an annoyed tone, flicking a handful of paperclips at the cat to get it off her desk. "Whatever, I'll deal with it tomorrow. Let's get a drink," she said as she got to her feet, digging a handful of paperclips out of her blazer pocket and letting them drop haphazardly to the ground. She scooped up her purse and shuffled out the door as Quiet leapt up to her shoulder.

"Kaho has the support group on Mondays," informed the cat.

"Ah fuck," Himari hesitated at the elevator for just a moment before rapidly mashing the button. "If we get there before all the wierdos she might still serve us, and hopefully nobody we recognize shows up." It was a brisk walk to Sin Eater from her office, but she managed to make it there just as Kaho was exiting, presumably before the support group arrived for their session.

"Kaho-Cha..." A sonic boom interrupted her, drawing her eyes up to a streak of purple energy in the sky... and a Thoughtless. Himari skidded to a halt and Quiet dug her claws into Himari's shoulder to keep her perch. Its wing got clipped and now it was falling. Morons... you don't clip a flying opponent unless it was a deathblow, otherwise it might fall on a bystander... Or... was it curving towards her? She blinked, just to confirm... that yes... it was going to land in or on her vicinity. Quiet inhaled an excited breath and began to say something, but Himari spun on her heels and began briskly walking in the opposite direction.

"But!"

"Nope."

Incense burned at the center of the gravestone, before which a woman sat cross-legged. Faint lines of water ran down its length, almost invisible against the stone's grainy texture, down to the base where offerings of food, flowers, and small candles could be seen. Izumi sat in silence for a while, her gaze fixated on the engraved characters, and her ears open to the sparse, dwindling chirp of cicadas.

"Hey, Sachiko. It's me again! As usual. Weird how I always end up back here, huh? Even though I seriously hate thinking about things that make me sad. It's hard not to, to be honest... Every day, I -- well, maybe not every day -- but recently I've been thinking a lot about how I wouldn't be here if you didn't... you know... do what you did. It feels like I cheated you out of your life somehow."

Sheepishly, she scratched the back of her head as she thought back to earlier that morning.

"I had a small fight, er, disagreement with Mio-chan the other day. I was sorta wondering aloud if it was really okay for us to be retiring and leaving things behind in the hands of these vulnerable, impressionable young kids, and your name kinda came up. I said, 'If Sachiko were here, she'd still be fighting with the best of 'em, she wouldn't have just given up like we did!' She didn't say anything back, but I've never seen her look so pissed off... I guess I'm actually just hiding from her until she cools off, hahaha..."

Izumi felt her knees crack as she rose to her feet, giving her arms a light stretch as she spoke.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring all this drama to your grave, you're probably trying to rest in peace and all that. I just needed to get this off my chest, and you always listened to what I had to say. Even if it was something stupid."

The incense stopped burning. Izumi knelt down to blow out the candles and gathered the offerings around her grave, clearing the space for one last cleansing from the pail. As she let the water spill from the ladle, she wiped away her own tears with her sleeve, crinkling her puffy red nose.

"We miss you."

Then, suddenly, she noticed something far above her head. In the darkening sky -- as if to grant her some kind of sign from the heavens, a thin streak of light pierced through the air and arced down into the horizon. She blinked. Like a mesmerized child, she found herself drawn to the glow, half hoping in her heart that it meant something after all. Facing back with a final bow, she turned around and parted ways with her old friend, to somewhere that wasn't home...

It had been a bit of a slow day at Vinyl Resting Place. Handful of music and book sales, but as usual most of the money came from the café of the shop. The smell of brewed tea and ground coffee filled the surprisingly spacious store while relaxing music played on the overhead speakers. Akihiko Fujioka sat at the checkout stand at the back of the store right next to the entrance to the café. A drawn out yawn escaped his lips as he finished up another game of Tetris I'm his phone before checking the time. Late already? Weird how slow days can still seem to slide on by fast. He pocketed his phone and got up with a stretch, popping a few parts of his spine in the process. Kiki, a pale white and pink raven, had been resting on the counter until moments ago before fluttering up onto Akihiko's left shoulder.

A few long steps got him to the entrance of the Café. Shiro, his youngest and newest hire, was casually sipping away on what looked like some iced coffee drizzled with as much caramel as he could get away with. A glance around showed about 5 of the stores regulars still seated. There was no particular age range when it came to V.R.P's customers. Most were either students or middle aged people looking for a place to relax. There was the odd few regulars that came specifically for Akihiko's coffee. Most claimed it was under priced for its quality, not that he cared since it really wasn't expensive. Sometimes all it took was the right atmosphere and a genuine smile to leave a customer happy. Good service and product didn't help either. Though Akihiko whouldnt confirm or deny that he woukd sell cheep crap coffee to rude customers or people causing trouble.

Three sharp knocks on the threshold got everyone's attention. "Sorry folks, I know everyone's comfy but it's about that time again." And like that, everyone went about packing up their things and shuffling their way out of the store. Shiro was about to start cleaning up when Akihiko waved him off. "I'll take care off all that and closing, you got your studies to get too anyway."

"You sure boss?" Akihiko gave the kid a dismissive wave and and shooed him out the front door with the rest of the customers. "You all have a good night now, stay safe out there."

---

After about twenty minutes of cleanup the store was finally all locked up. Another quiet day. That was a good thing though, he liked his job and business was going pretty great, not to mention he had a decent little house in a nice neighborhood. So way did he feel so restless lately? He glanced over to Kiki who had stayed on his shoulder through cleanup and closing. The bird had an almost knowing look on its avian features. Akihiko snorted almost indignantly. " oh no, there is no way I want to go back into doing that again. I would rather be caught dead then wearing that outfit again at my age. Besides, i have no reason to-"

That's when he heard the sonic boom. He flinched and looked upwards, Kiki squaking in surprise ss the two saw anstreak of purple energy rocket across the sky along with the obvious silloette of a Thoughtless. If his sense of direction was right, that was heading in the direction of the bar Sin Eater. The Thoughtless didn't even seem dead from his perspective. Akihiko nearly groaned. What kind of rookie would even try something like that in the air of all places? This was a mess in the making. He turned his head to look at Kiki to see if she could believe what he was seeing, only to be met again with that knowing look.

He clenched his fists and took in a deep breath before sighing in defeat. "Fine, we'll check it out and hope everything is okay. But this does NOT mean I want to get back into all this. I don't miss it and you can't prove anything." Kiki only looked more smug as she took off fly ing in the direction of the falling Thoughtless, Akihiko running close behind her.

Kaho walked quickly back up the street quickly as the slammed down on the roof of the building, scrabbling for purchase against the tiles before slipping down to the street below, bits of tile and cement clattering around it. Kaho grit her teeth in annoyance as the creature thrashed around in the street, hissing and trying to pull itself back into the sky. Her cigarette drooped dangerously low as she chewed the butt of it. What kind of imbecilic novices would drop this damn thing in the middle of downtown?

Wait, did someone say her name?

Speak of the dumbasses, and they shall appear. two magical girls, one purple, the other red, descended onto the street between her and the Thoughtless.

"I told you to wait!" the red one chastised, smacking her companion over the head. Her wand vanished and was replaced with a large, heavy broadaxe, the blade shaped superficially like an apple wedge.

"It's not running away anymore, is it?" the purple one spat back, thrusting the point of her spear in the monster's direction. Neither seemed to really be paying attention to it, instead falling into a back-and-forth of name calling and blame-shifting.

Kaho eyed them down the bridge of her nose, the tip of her cigarette pointing further and further downward as she chewed the end of it. Neither seemed to be older than twelve or thirteen, so some rookie mistakes were to be expected, but to stand in the middle of the street bickering while a Thoughtless stood behind them? Just how brainless were these kids?

The monster hissed and rose up its head to strike. Kaho dropped her cigarette to the ground and exhaled a cloud of cigarette smoke over the heads of the two magical girls, and when the Thoughtless lashed out at them its head slammed into it as if it were solid. The two kids flinched at the sound of the impact, looking first in Kaho's direction and then at the recoiling Thoughtless.

"Oh."

"Right."

This is stupid, I'm stupid, why am I even doing this? Akihiko ran down the street as fast a pace as he was willing to push himself right now. Having magic powers made you a bit better then the average person of course but he really wasn't sure if he could go as fast as he used to. Years of sticking to a "normal" routine and not attempting to push your abilities past the norm meant that Aki was rusty.

Thank god his cardio wasn't terrible as he followed after his familiar . . . who was leading him through a shortcut that happened to leave a tall chain link fence in his way. Cause of course Kiki would pull something like this now of all times.

This bird is trying to get me killed I swear. He wasn't confident or arrogant enough to think he could jump something like that so easily with being as out of practice as he was, and Kiki was not as stupid a familiar as he would like to claim. Which only meant one thing. She was expecting him to ghost through the fence.

Aki skid to a halt in front of the fence and glanced up, Kiki was perched on the fence and cawed at him a few times to get him to hurry up. He squinted at his Familiar and grumbled. "If this doesn't work and i injure myself I'm plucking some of your damn feathers." He then backed up to give himself a few feet of space from the fence and concentrated. Alright I can do this. Just got to remember my old mantra . . . . . its just a small fence. baby steps. He let out a controlled breath and kept his eyes on the fence. You are empty . . . you are a ghost . . . As untouchable as smoke . . . The fence practically isn't even there for you.

After what felt like a few minutes of hard focus Akihiko's body started to have a faint pink glow to it, followed by his form becoming somewhat see through. Kiki cawed with excitement and took to the air again as Aki dashed forward and passed through the fence. The glow flickered away just as the ends of his coat fluttered through the fence. A breath he didn't even know he had been holding escaped His lips as a sigh of relief. "D-damn, I was scared i was gonna put myself in the hospital with that." He glared up at the bird. He would complain to her later.

It was another minute of running before he turned down a street corner and saw the thoughtless thrashing in the street, desperately trying to get itself off the ground as two novices seemed to be bickering with each other while a couple of adults watched the scene play out. Aki took a moment to catch his breath and stay a bit out of sight. Old habits die hard it seems. He kept an eye on the rookies and quickly looked back at the thoughtless thrashing about, wondering why the kids weren't hurrying up and ending the fight already. Kiki landed on his shoulder, If birds could have a face that translated to wanting to face palm, kiki was making whatever was close to it. "I don't want to sound old, But i feel like back when we we're that new even we knew better then to drop something that big downtown." Aki pinched the bridge of his nose. debating the looming idea of possibly having to transform for the first time in years if things went any further south.

"W-wait!" Quiet exclaimed, clawing to climb back onto Himari's shoulder as she briskly walked away from the scene. "This could be a significant sign!"

"Nope," grunted Himari. "You're not gonna trick me with that 'there's no such thing as coincidence. Stand Users are drawn together' bullshit again," she grumbled, squeaking loudly as the thoughtless thumped against the barrier behind her and quickening her pace.

"But!"

"This is ridiculous: I'm arguing, in public, with an invisible talking cat over whether the cosmos are conspiring to get me involved in the magical world again. This isn't a goddamn anime! If it were, something dumb would happen to force me to stay like my heel breaking or turning a random corner and comically colliding with a future teammate," she argued.

Himari was shuffling towards said corner while checking over her shoulder as she was finishing her sentence before barreling straight into Akihiko. She recoiled, but managed to catch herself and remain on her feet, and was opening her mouth to apologize when she laid eyes on him. They locked eyes for a solid several second before her gaze traveled slowly up to the brightly colored bird.

"Ooh, a romance flag!" Quiet blurted excitedly, which seemed to snap Himari out of the daze.

"No! No! Nope, uh uh, hell no! This isn't happening!!" She flustered, turning on her heels again and walking straight into the street, to the dismay of several drivers. "This is a bad dream, clearly I'm still flashbacking... you can't die for real in a dream, the monsters aren't my problem anymore, and I don't have to fight them anymore," she muttered under the screech of tires, blaring horns and screaming drivers while clutching her head against the impending migraine.