Mai and I raced towards the source of the commotion, but arrived to find it already quelled. Not only that, but…
"You're a magical girl now?!" Mai shouted, probably too loud.
Yes, standing in front of us were two magical girls. Saki, in her armour-like outfit, and a new magical girl in a white suit. Both sprouted wings from their back, but while Saki's were metallic and curved over her head, the new magical girl's wings appeared 100% real, sprouting from either side of her back like an angel.
Though her face was masked, we recognised her instantly as our friend Sunao Kobun.
The same Sunao who, not 24 hours ago, refused to help Mai become a magical girl herself. Unsurprisingly, Mai's voice was full of hurt at this revelation.
"You… how could you…" despite having calmed down from her anger just minutes ago, Mai sounded ready to burst into tears.
Nao turned and tried to speak, but Saki put her hand on her shoulder and said something in her ear. After a moment of hesitation, Nao nodded her head sadly and turned the other way. Then she picked up one of the robed figures lying on the ground and took off, effortlessly harnessing the power of flight that I had yet to achieve.
Guess those wings really do work.
"Sorry to dump this on you suddenly, but we're starting to draw a crowd. Not to mention there could be a magical girl team here any minute. I need you to take Mai and follow me to my house. It's urgent."
Though I could hear no voice, I was able to feel a twinge of stress in Saki's voice. She clearly thought that this would further strain Amai and Sunao's friendship.
I nodded my head, to which Saki nodded back, turned away and bolted in the opposite direction.
"Sorry about this."
"Huh? Wai-!?" I scooped Mai up in my arms and shot off after her. I had to get us out of the public eye as quickly as possible.
I activated 「Illusionist」to hide myself and Mai from sight, and ran until I found an alley where no one would spot us. I put her down on the ground and decloaked us, being met with an expression of irritation that I had somewhat expected.
"Couldn't have given me a little more warning than that?"
"Sorry, but I couldn't risk waiting around for people to pull their camera phones out. If pictures get online that link you to magical girls it could put you in danger."
"Alright, alright, I get it. Still, that was not a fun experience."
"Sorry, I'll try not to do it again." Though I said this, I had a feeling that Mai's sudden bitter mood was less to do with my own actions and more to do with what has just transpired.
"Guess that means it's only me, huh?" As if reading my mind, Mai kicked the ground and muttered that complaint, seemingly more to herself than anyone else.
"We should get to Saki's house. She told me there was something urgent we had to see. Maybe we'll get an explanation about Nao's change of heart too."
"She told yo-? Oh, right. Her ability." Being reminded of Saki's 「Fearless Leader」ability, which we had learned can only be used to communicate with other magical girls, seemed to sour her mood even more. But there was nothing I could do about that now.
"Come on, let's get to the train station. We can talk this through when we get there."
"…fine. Let's go." Begrudgingly, she followed behind me. The wait for the train, as well as the train journey itself and the walk to Saki's front door were all spent in complete silence.
As much as I wanted to be of comfort to her, I was as in the dark as she was. And I had also come to learn that it was sometimes best to just let Mai have her silence when she was in a foul mood.
I knocked on Saki's door, and after a short wait she let us in and ushered us upstairs. Saki lived completely alone, so hers was the only home that we could regularly meet without preying eyes. It made sense that she'd choose here for whatever she currently has planned too.
I followed Saki upstairs, where the three of us entered her room to see Sunao sat on the floor, and the robed figure we had seen before tied to the foot of the bed. They were still unconscious, but if my guess was right as to why they'd been brought here, they'd likely regain consciousness very soon.
The three of us that were still standing all took a seat, with Mai refusing to meet Sunao's eye. And, as was typical of Nao in these sorts of situations she seemed unable to get a word out.
Instead, it was Saki that explained the situation to us. As it turned out, Nao was carrying an extra dose on her that she had intended to give Mai, but ended up using it herself when Saki's fight went south.
Upon realising that she had misjudged the situation, Mai awkwardly shuffled in her seat before addressing Sunao.
"Umm… I'm sorry. I've been acting really bitter and entitled this past day, and I've treated you horribly because of it. You didn't deserve that." Though she was clearly still upset about being the only one of the four of us that had yet to become a magical girl, she seemed to sincerely regret the cruel words and foul attitude she had displayed towards Nao.
"I-I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have forced my own decisions on you like that. I just… I really couldn't stand the idea of all three of you being in danger. But, I also realise that it was selfish of me to think that way. So, if you still want it…"
Sunao pulled out a syringe from her bag, one filled with the yellow liquid we had long since become familiar with. She held it out towards Mai, who's expression seemed to flick like a switch.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you! I love you, Naochan!" She took the syringe without a second's hesitation and immediately held it to her arm. There was barely a full second between her seeing the syringe and injecting the contents into her arm.
Another second passed, however, and her expression seemed to change to one of confusion. She looked down at her body, as if expecting to suddenly sprout new limbs, before confusedly addressing the three of us.
"Was... something supposed to happen? I don't feel anything?"
Her reaction was odd. While I wasn't expecting her to immediately be able to use magic power, she should have at least felt the biological changes.
"Your body doesn't feel… lighter? Like you're able to move faster and easier than before?" I asked, but she shook her head in response.
"Nothin'. What exactly happened when you guys got your power?"
The three of us all separately recanted our stories, to which we realised a few common factors.
First, we all described the exact same bodily changes. We all felt lighter, stronger and faster immediately.
Second, we all seems to perceive time slightly slower in that moment, though we chalked that up to adrenaline as they were all high-stress situations.
Thirdly, and most strikingly, we all heard a disembodied voice offering us power. None of us could find any way to describe it, but we all received a similar message.
I was, however, the only one to feel that burning pain throughout my entire body. When I theorised that it may have had something to do with my body rejecting the mind-control drug, Nao seemed to shoot me a strange look, though she looked away immediately as I met her eye.
Maybe she knows something about that mind control drug that she's not telling me?
"That's weird. I didn't feel any lighter, and I definitely didn't hear any voice." For whatever reason, the serum seemed to have no effect on Mai. "Naochan, you sure you gave me the right dose?"
"I-I gave you the same amount I took. W-we're similar in weight so there's no reason it would work on me and not you."
There seemed to be no reasonable explanation. Had Mai's body simply rejected the changes? If so, why?
"Maybe it's just taking longer for you? After all, our heart rates were much higher when we got injected. It could just take a while to circulate, y'know?" I offered that explanation, though I didn't exactly believe it myself. Applying normal logic to this thing that seems to defy all reason didn't make much sense, after all.
"Hmm… maybe you're right Sora. I can still hold out hope yet." Mai said this with a smile, but I knew her well enough to see the doubt in her eyes.
As I was trying to think of something else to say to comfort her, a noise came that startled all of us.
The groaning of someone who was just waking up from being knocked out cold.
"Nao, quickly, the antidote!"
"R-right!"
As I had suspected when I entered, the reason the girls had elected to take one of the cult members captive was to test Mai's theory about the mind control drug.
If this proved successful, we would know for sure that the 'cult' were just innocent parties forced to work for the magical girls.
As the robed figure began to stir, Nao injected their arm with a drug I had never seen before, one that was mostly clear, if a little cloudy.
The robed figure seemed to panic as the foreign substance entered their body, but after a second they began to calm down. And the four of us watched as the mask and robes faded away, and revealed the face and uniform of a high school girl, scared out of her wits as she slowly regained conscious thought. The uniform was from Toukyouto high.
"Wh-where am I? Who are you people?" She panicked and thrashed as she tried to break free of the rope that was being used to tie her to the bed.
"Calm down for a second, I'll untie you." Saki tried to soothe the girl's nerves, and after a second of doubt, the girl seemed to realise she had no choice but to take Saki's word.
Slowly and calmly, Saki untied the rope keeping the girl in place. Then, returning to her seat, she began speaking to her softly.
"Before we explain everything, we need to know what you remember. Do you think you could tell us?" Saki's calm tone and attitude seemed to make the girl ease up a little. I was reminded just how good she is at taking control of situations.
"What… I remember…?" As the girl calmed down, she seemed to look off into the distance, her expression slowly filling with horror as her memory came back to her. "I was… at school… after the end of the day. There was a group of us. My vision went black for some reason, and I remember panicking. But… everything after that feels like a dream."
"Do you remember what happened in the dream?"
"I was… doing things. Terrible things. To innocent people. They told me to do things and I just did them. Like I couldn't say no. It felt… awful."
The four of us exchanged awkward looks. We were right on the money, and in the exact way we hoped not to be. After a moment of deafening silence, Saki spoke to the girl again.
"I'm sorry, but what you experienced wasn't a dream. You were kidnapped. From what we know…" Saki continued on to explain all the information we had managed to piece together, from the fraudulent "heroics" of the magical girls to the disappearance of her and her classmates. "...and that was… I think two months ago now? The rest of the space we haven't filled in yet, all we know is that you were forced to put on this show to make the magical girls look better, and that ended with us taking you captive and trying out our antidote on you. I'm sorry that I can't be of more use, but that's everything we know."
Saki picked her words carefully, not only making it clear that we were of no threat to her, but also that we wanted to be of any help we could. She was genuine, but she was also calculated at the same time.
"So… my friends… my classmates… they're still under control of these 'magical girls?'"
"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry. But we want to do everything we can to get them back."
"Th-thank you. For saving me. And for trying to help my friends too. I don't know if I can ever repay you." As she said this, a thought came to my mind.
"Actually, there may just be a way you can. Does your body feel any different to how it used to?" The girl tilted her head in confusion as I spoke, but after a moment she seemed to come to a realisation.
"I… I feel light. Really light. Like, if I jumped with all my might I would just keep going and never come down." That confirmed my suspicion. Neutralising the antidote didn't remove her magical girl abilities.
"You want to help us get your friends back, right, uh…"
"Hana. My name is Hana Hajime."
"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you Hana. I'm Sora. And I'd like to ask for your help in saving your friends."