“I hate her! I hate Meru!”

Mio angrily tapped her foot as the thought of her fight with Meru clouded her mind.

The darkness in her heart grew, and she didn’t notice the gem on her ring was growing dim and had shadows circling inside it.

Isako was hiding in the shadows, smiling as her plan unfolded.

“Looks like that human’s plan was working better than I thought.”

Flashback

“You see, as their hearts become more clouded by darkness and hatred for each other, it will turn into dark energy and absorb all the light from the Heart fragments.”

“And how does that help us?”

“Simple. When the Heart fragments turn completely black, they will turn into Chaos gems, and they will turn into our puppets, completely under the Maou’s control.”

End of Flashback

“Very soon.” Isako lowered her hat as she walked off. “They’ll be ours.”

Mio had her arms crossed. She couldn’t understand what was happening. She never had a fight with Meru, but the moment she laid eyes on her, she was filled with a burning rage.

But now, it seems to have dimmed down. She still feels a tinge of pain, but she can’t remember where the sudden outburst of anger came from.

“Meru…”

“Oi, Tomonaga.” A voice entered her ears and she looked at the person standing beside her.

“Ah, you’re…”

…..

“Meru-chan, what are you talking about?!”

“You don’t really hate Mio, do you?”

“I do! She thinks she can tell me what to do, it’s so mean of her!”

“Meru…”

I tried to contact Mio, but she wasn’t picking up. Her phone must be turned off. I looked and saw Meru, her cheeks bright red.

“Meru-chan, what happened exactly?”

“Well… Mio and I were just walking together, and then we saw this flower.”

“A flower?”

“Yeah. White, yellow buds in the center, and it sprayed some weird gas when the bud opened.”

“Gas?”

“Yeah. Pollen. I think… It was pink.”

“Pink pollen?” As I pondered on it, Ayaka and Yuko both came in. “Hey, do either of you know about a flower that sprays pink pollen?”

“What?”

“Mio and Meru got sprayed with pink pollen from a weird flower.”

“So?”

“So, it did something to them. It made them have a fight!”

“Uso?!”

“It’s true! When Meru saw Mio, she got angry at her for no reason and the two started fighting.”

“Uh-oh…” Yuko walked over and looked at Meru’s ring. It didn’t seem as bright as it did before. It was dimmer, darker. “I knew it.”

“What is it?”

“That pollen had Dark poison. If it gets in the human system, it can make people grumpy and hateful.”

“That must’ve been what happened to the both of you. When you looked at each other, your immediate reaction caused you to start fighting.”

“What’s going to happen to us?”

“We need to get you guys to make up, or…” Ayaka looked at Meru, biting her lip. “It won’t end well.”

“Let’s hurry and find Mio!”

…..

We looked everywhere for Mio, looking for places she could’ve possibly gone. But no one had seen her, and there wasn’t any sign of her whereabouts. We all met back in the park and tried searching more.

“What if something happened to her?”

“I can’t think of what would happen to us if we can’t find Mio…”

I looked at Meru, who just had her arms crossed. “Meru?”

“I don’t get it…”

“Eh?” All of us stopped as Meru screeched to a halt and held her chest.

“I don’t feel mad anymore… But, every time I think of Mio-chan… I feel my chest tighten.”

“Meru-chan…”

“I’m going to look for her alone,” she started walking off by herself, then ran into someone, falling to the ground.

“Meru-chan?” It was Mio. I prayed that things would go well, but then… “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“I was looking for you.”

“Well, watch where you’re going.”

“Huh?! YOU ran into ME!”

Oh no, not again…

As they started fighting, I saw a dark aura grow around them. The jewels on her rings were growing darker and slowly turning black.

“Both of you, stop!”

“If they keep this up, both of them will…”

Just then, dark vines wrapped around both of them. It tightened as they struggled to get out and made the dark aura stonger.

“You’re not going to do anything.” A familiar voice rang.

“Isako!”

“Soon, those two will be consumed by hatred and they’ll become my slaves.”

“G-guys!”

“Help us..!”

“The only way to save you guys is for both of you to make up!”

“Ugh, Mio-chan… I-I.. gah!” A sudden shock ran through her and her eyes grew dark. “I hate you! I hate the way you always tell me what to do just cuz I’m the youngest!”

“But that’s..aaah!” A similar shock of lightning surrounded her. “That’s because you’re still a kid!”

“I am NOT!!!”

Yuko held her head, “This is harder than I thought.”

“I know,” I kissed my ring and summoned my ruby sword. “I’ll just cut the vines around them.”

I ran up and swung my sword, but the dark purple lightning spread to my sword and shocked it, pushing me back.

“It’s too strong…”

“This isn’t good…”

“What’s going to happen if we can’t get them to make up?”

Ayaka and Yuko both remained silent.

“Guys..?”

“KORA KORA KORAAAA!!!” A voice suddenly roared in the sky, echoing loudly.

“Eh?! What was that?”

“M-masaka…” Yuko and Ayaka looked at each other.

“Is that..?”

“WINDY!” A sudden wind gushed through and surrounded the two. It took the form of a woman, cutting the strong vines around them.

“Whoa…”

“That’s amazing!”

The woman slowly faded and turned back into wind, flying over our heads and entering a card. The one holding it was a young woman, dressed in a witch outfit.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she said as she put away her card, a magic wand in her hand. She lifted up her hat and revealed her face.

“Sasshi?!”

“Sashihara Rino!!!”

“I thought you promised you’d make up with her, Mio-chan,” she said as she walked to the short haired girl.

“Sorry, Sasshi…”

“Mio-chan…ugh!” A familiar purple lightning shocked Meru; that got me worried. “You should listen to her!”

“Meru, I only did that because—” Again, purple lightning. “B-because, I…”

“Looks like the Dark energy is catching up to them.”

“I’m on it!” Sasshi took out another card and placed it over them. “DARK card, release and dispel!”

A black aura burst out of the card and absorbed all of the Dark energy from both of their rings, turning them back to normal.

“Feel better?” Sasshi asked as the dark energy was absorbed back into her card.

“Meru-chan… I was worried about you!”

“Eh?”

“I didn’t mean to get mad at you… I just care about you.”

“Mio-chan… I’m sorry, too! I should’ve listened to you… I’m so stupid!” Meru cried as she covered her face, Mio hugging her and patting her head.

“You’re not stupid, Meru-chan.”

Sasshi pulled out another card.

“LIGHT!”

This time, a light energy dispersed and was absorbed into Mio and Meru.

“I love you, Mio-chan…”

“I love you, too, Meru-chan.”

A bright pink and orange aura surrounded them, and when they transformed, their outfits had both pink and orange mixed together, like a marble.

“What’s happening?”

“Jewel Harmony.”

The both of them stood up slowly and held hands, fire and pink light surrounding their hands. They ran forward towards Isako and punched her at the same time, pushing her back and hitting a tree.

“..D-damn it..” she sneered. “Little brats. I’ll remember this..!”

She disappeared into black smoke and slowly, Mio and Meru both returned to normal, their outfits changing back to their original colors, too.

“What was that just now?”

“Jewel Harmony. It’s a powerful ability that is activated when two of the Heart fragments synchronize auras and become one.”

“And we were able to do that?!”

“Sugoi!”

Sasshi smiled and patted both girls on their heads.

“You girls keep practicing, kay?”

“Eh?”

“If the chance comes, I might be able to show you girls how to use magic.”

“Hai!”

The witch simply smiled and put her cards up, in a book.

“So, Sashihara,” Yuko spoke up, “why’d you come back?”

“Tokyo is my home, after all… It’s where I started.” She summoned a broom and sat down on it, flying in the air. “Jyaa, see ya~”

“Bye bye, Sasshi~!”

“See you soon!”

After things had calmed down, we walked back to the agency while Yuko and Ayaka talked about Sasshi. Apparently, she was a descendant of a powerful wizard named *Clow Reed and she inherited his *magic cards.

It also seems that she’s the chief for the Hakata division of Akihabara48 agency, and she’s teaching everyone how to use magic as apprentice witches.

“Does that mean Meru will be able to do that, too?” Meru said excitedly.

“Probably.”

“Awesome!”

“Come on.” Mio and Meru held hands, walking together with smiles on their faces.

Best friends once again…

…..

“Looks like you’re little plan failed, Isako,” Momo chuckled. Isako just clicked her tongue.

“It wasn’t my fault. It was those Tentomu BRATS.”

“Don’t think we don’t know.” The muscular demon worshipper, Nagato, said. “You made an alliance with that human!”

“I don’t see why we should trust him…”

Isako sneered, looking away from the both of them. She looked and saw Hayate staring at her with a hateful look in his eyes, hugging his teddy bear closer.

Momo smiled, showing her fang as she bit her lollipop.

“Looks like it’s my time to shine~”

…..

Yuko walked into the empty office after everyone had left. She went into where she and Mariko used to meet and discuss things.

She looked at Mariko’s old files, files of ideas she had yet to publish for the agency.

A few seconds later, she felt a new presence in the room. She turned and saw Kyoya standing there, and her expression because an angered one.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“I apologize, Yuko. I was only testing them.”

“You put the girls in danger.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Why did you help them?”

“I have my reasons. It was instructed by my Master that I test these girls to see if they have reached their potential.”

“They’ve only just awakened. None of them have regained their past memories.”

“Please, Yuko, give me another chance.”

Yuko remained silent for a bit, but then sighed. “Fine. But, I’m keeping my eye on you.”

Kyoya bowed with a smile, but before he leaved…

“Wait,” Yuko grabbed his arm. “Where’s Mariko? You HAVE to know where she is, right?”

“I’m deeply sorry, but… I have been requested by Mariko to keep her plans a secret. Especially from you.” He said before leaving.

Yuko groaned in frustration and pounded one of the desks. A picture knocked over, lying beside her fist. She lifted it up and saw it was a picture of her, a few years after joining the agency, and her two best friends at her side, smiling.

She held it close to her chest and leaned against the wall, staring up at the dim room.

“Why did things have to change?”

…..

The next morning, a sleek black car arrived at the main streets of Akihabara. A young woman stepped out and held her bag at her side.

“Thanks for the ride,” she said to her driver as she shut the door.

She looked up at her surroundings, the bustling streets, the colorful posters, and the blooming sakura trees and their pink petals floating in the wind.

She smiled warmly at it.

“I’m home.”

============================

Footnotes

*1. Clow Reed - A powerful wizard who existed long ago, in the beginning age of magic. He created powerful magic cards, but seeing as they were too dangerous, sealed them away in a magic book. His only known descendants are Shaoran Li and Sashihara Rino. It is unknown if he had a direct child before he died.

*2. Clow Cards - Powerful magic cards created by Clow Reed. Mixed with the ancient styles of Western and Eastern magic(becoming the very first and most powerful magic in existence), each card has its own specific element, power, and character. They were sealed in the Clow Book to contain their incredible magic.