"Manaka, are you sure you won't apologize to Sayaka" Madoka was walking along the pavements, her pink hair was tied in a red bow and her eyes worriedly looked at Manaka.
Manaka smiled. "Well she doesn't want my help, I'll let her learn a lesson before I help her, she is the second person I want to save after all"
Madoka was curious and asked a question. "Save her, from what exactly?."
"Her emotions of course, I know Kyosuke and he is very dense, plus girls like Sayaka aren't really his type" Manaka replied.
Madoka kept quiet and sighed, soon they went to school and he hoped everything can be normal today..
....
Manaka stared down from a nearby lamppost, strange characters were floating around him erratically and his soul gem was filled with countless runes that shifted like liquid, his eyes were a rusted brown and pink filled with countless runes, he sighed. "Ah well it seems Kyoko really did not like Sayaka and why did Madoka have tp throw her soul gem off the bridge, what a pain and my name is almost about to be completed, after a few more days it should be done, comprehending these runes are annoying"
He ran a hand through his hair and stretched lightly, he didn't tell Kyoko about the soul gem nonsense since he thought she would have figured about it by now, your soul gem gets shattered you die and if it is away from you, you slowly die.
Thankfully Homura was chasing after the truck it landed on, oh well might as well leave since she got it handled, but Sayaka's inevitable despair will commence starting now Manaka disappeared from the lamppost.
Soon.
Four days passed within a flash, Kyoko sat next to Sayaka on a bench at the mall, she was staring at her when she arrived. "Sigh, what did I tell you, i said you would regret it didn't I?"
Sayaka did not speak, she was looking down with a depressed expression. "I'm sorry for wasting your time"
Kyoko who was eating from a can suddenly turned to her. "Huh?That doesn't sound like you"
"Yeah. That's because I don't really care anymore, I can't even remember what I thought was so important, so worth protecting...None of it makes sense anymore"
Kyoko suddenly had a dark feeling deep within her, it felt disgusting. "Hey-"
Sayaka suddenly opened the palm covering her soul gem, it was dark and murky looking, Kyoko suddenly stood up from her seat. "Are you insane?!"
Sayaka slowly raised her head, her empty blue eyes meeting Kyoko's. There was no anger, no determination—just hollow resignation.
"Maybe I am," she murmured. "It's funny, isn't it? I thought I was supposed to be a hero… but in the end, I'm just a fool."
Kyoko clenched her teeth, fists tightening at her sides. "Tch… You really are an idiot, y'know that? You're giving up just because some guy doesn't love you back? That's pathetic!"
Sayaka chuckled weakly. "Maybe it is. But it's not just about Kyosuke anymore. Everything feels… distant. Like I'm not even myself anymore."
Her soul gem pulsed. The darkness within it swirled, writhing like a living thing.
Kyoko felt a chill run down her spine. "Dammit, Sayaka, snap out of it! We can fix this!"
Sayaka just smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. It was the smile of someone who had already given up.
She's at her limit…! Kyoko took a step forward, ready to snatch the soul gem from Sayaka's hands—
But then—
A shadow loomed over them.
A figure stood a few feet away, watching the scene unfold.
Manaka.
His rusted brown and pink eyes shimmered with unreadable intent, the strange runes within them shifting constantly. He sighed, as if disappointed. "So this is how it ends for you, Sayaka?"
Kyoko whipped around. "You! Where the hell have you been?!"
Manaka ignored her, stepping closer to Sayaka, who barely reacted to his presence. He crouched slightly, tilting his head as he examined her. "Your soul gem's about to crack. Another minute, maybe less, and you'll become a witch."
Sayaka barely flinched. "…I know."
Kyoko's breath hitched. "Then stop this! Fight it!"
Sayaka just shook her head. "It's too late."
Manaka exhaled slowly. He placed a hand on Sayaka's shoulder, and for a brief moment, his runes glowed faintly.
"…No, it's not."
Sayaka blinked, her dull eyes flickering slightly.
Kyoko stepped forward. "Wait—what are you—"
A sharp ringing sound echoed through the air.
Manaka had a mischievous smile on his face. "Ah it looks like i found my second wife, Now as the spell for copulation is completed, you are now incapable of becoming a witch nor can you hunt witches, well if you want to that is, the price like Kyoko's is never forgetting about me even if I disappear from all existence"
Kyoko's brain short-circuited for a second.
"What the hell did you just say?!" she practically shouted, her face turning red—not from embarrassment, but from sheer disbelief and outrage.
Sayaka blinked, the faintest trace of life returning to her deadened eyes. "...Huh?"
Manaka stood up straight, stretching slightly as if what he had just done was completely normal. "You heard me. I saved Sayaka from becoming a witch. She can't turn anymore, and she doesn't have to fight witches if she doesn't want to."
Kyoko was still stuck on the first part. "No, no, no, back up! What do you mean 'second wife'?! Who the hell is the first?!"
Manaka grinned. "Kyoko, obviously. Who else?"
Kyoko's face did an impressive impression of a tomato. "EXCUSE ME?!"
Sayaka, still looking completely lost, turned to Manaka. "Wait... what did you even do to me?"
Manaka smirked, reaching out and lightly tapping her forehead with his finger. "I rewrote the rules a little. Your soul gem can't corrupt anymore. No despair, no witch transformation. But the cost is that, no matter what happens, no matter how much time passes, you will never be able to forget me."
Sayaka furrowed her brows. "That... doesn't sound like a price."
"Oh, trust me," Kyoko muttered, glaring at Manaka, "it's a price."
Manaka shrugged. "I mean, I'm a pretty unforgettable guy. Consider it a privilege."
Sayaka looked down at her soul gem. It was still dark, but the writhing corruption had completely stopped. The sensation of drowning in her own despair was gone.
For the first time in days, she felt... stable.
She turned back to Manaka, an unreadable expression on her face. "So what now?"
Manaka smiled. "Now? You live. Simple as that."
Sayaka stared at him for a long moment before sighing. "You're seriously annoying, you know that?"
"Yeah, yeah, I get that a lot."
Kyoko crossed her arms, still glaring. "Okay, so what, you just fix things by making people your 'wives' now? What kind of messed-up magical boy logic is that?!"
Manaka smirked. "You're not complaining about the benefits, are you?"
Kyoko opened her mouth to argue—then closed it.
Damn him. He had a point.
"Still, this is only a fix to your Magical girl problem, not your emotions," Manaka continued, his tone growing serious. "Sayaka, you still need to figure out what you really want. Otherwise, you'll just end up lost again."
Sayaka exhaled, looking up at the ceiling. "...Yeah. I know."
A brief silence passed between them.
Then Kyoko groaned, rubbing her temples. "Ugh. Whatever. This whole conversation is giving me a headache. I'm getting food."
Sayaka glanced at her. "Mind if I come with you?"
Kyoko hesitated—then sighed. "Yeah, sure, whatever."
As the two began to walk away, Sayaka suddenly stopped and looked over her shoulder.
"...Thanks. I guess."
Manaka simply smiled. "Anytime."
And with that, they left.
Manaka exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "Well, that's one disaster averted."
Then, without turning around, he spoke.
"You can come out now, Homura."
A soft click of heels echoed behind him.
Homura Akemi stepped out of the shadows, her violet eyes unreadable. "...You changed the course of fate."
Manaka turned to her, his smirk never fading. "Yeah. And?"
Homura narrowed her eyes. "You shouldn't exist."
Manaka frowned. He slowly looked up into the sky. "You have reset time one more time than you should, it resulted in the creation of a variable that is me, but you see Homura Akemi, I don't want to exist like this too, Soon everything will go back to it's current pace, but something will change"
Homura tilted her head. "Like what"
Manaka smirked and turned around as he lowered his head. "Ah~, i certainly can't ruin that surprise my sister-in-law now can I?"
Homura's grip on her shield tightened. "You act as if you know everything."
Manaka turned his head slightly, his rusted brown and pink eyes gleaming mischievously. "Not everything. But I know enough."
The air between them was tense, the weight of unseen forces pressing down on them both. Homura was silent for a moment before finally speaking, her voice colder than ever.
"You disrupted fate, Manaka. If Sayaka doesn't fall, then the chain of events that lead to Walpurgisnacht could change."
Manaka smirked. "Exactly."
Homura's eyes narrowed. "And yet, you let Madoka continue as she is."
"Of course. Saving her is your job, isn't it?" Manaka tilted his head. "I wouldn't want to steal your purpose, dear sister-in-law."
Homura clenched her fists. "Don't call me that."
Manaka chuckled. "Oh, but you and I are quite alike, aren't we? We're both working behind the scenes, pulling strings to make sure things go a certain way. The difference is..." His expression darkened slightly. "I'm not bound by time loops or a desperate love for a single person."
Homura's breath hitched, but she didn't let it show.
Manaka took a step past her, pausing only briefly. "Keep doing what you're doing, Homura. I'll handle things on my end."
"And if you become a problem?" Homura asked sharply.
Manaka grinned over his shoulder. "Then you'll just have to stop me."
And with that, he vanished into thin air.
Homura stood still, watching the space he had just occupied. Her fingers twitched, the familiar weight of her shield pressing against her arm.
This timeline was already different.
Soon.
Time passed.
And Walpurgis has arrived.
Manaka stared at the witch, her labyrinth twisting the world, Kyoko, Sayaka and Homura were fighting it.
Yet it was Inevitable.
They were weak.
And they would soon fail.
Madoka made a wish to have the power to save her friends.
Homura failed.
Madoka would won.
Yet at what cost
Slowly, the last word that would complete his true name was revealed. Salem.
And with that, his true name was described.
As the final rune burned itself into existence, Salem's name was fully realized.
𝖘𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖒 𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖔𝖋 𝖞𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖔𝖓 (ᛋᚨᛚᛖᛗ ᛖᚾᛋᛟᚠ ᛃᚨᚲᚺᛁᚱᛟᚾ)
He was Salem. The Infinite. He was Yachiron.
But he who devours started eating itself. A black Mask appeared on his face, it was a pure black mask, it had a smiling face and sad eyes.
Everything stopped.
And then time reversed.
Until everything returned to the beginning.
A beginning where Manaka did not exist.
....
Madoka Kaname woke up from a strange nightmare, she rubbed her eyed, she felt a strange sense of dejavu...but she didn't let that stop her morning.
........
Now then since we came here, should I end this here or wait till Homura reaches rebellion and Make Manaka appear which in turn mean they would leave this world i'll start volume two in another universe.
Maybe Tensura or Date a Live.
Also should he take the Holy Quintet with him.