---

If there was a lesson Roche should have taken from the beach trip sooner, it was that when she let her guard down, the club wasn't going to do her in like the Ides of March.

At least not now. Before the vacation, it was anyone's guess.

Nyxia's rancor was clearly for Roche's benefit and the Rule Keeper smiled softly, discerning it was a wrath born of compassion that moved Nyxia in her rant. It was touching display and her lips warbled with a giggle she didn't want to voice.

Kiyo's acerbic sarcasm was like a hand upon her shoulder, a familiar presence there when she needed it. Evil Eye was never one for grand gestures, but she was still a steady foundation to the club.

About the only thing she couldn't quite capture in its entirety was Shuuko's reaction; Mostly because Roche was too busy blushing from ear to ear as she was suddenly embraced. It had the feeling of a reversal on their last hug, even if Roche was the one who'd just been spiraling in on herself yet again. With how tightly Shuuko was clinging to her she couldn't help but feel the trembling like a frost bitten leaf that wracked the poor girl.

"O-Okay, thanks for that everyone. I think we can leave Rei be for now and just get ready for our next hunt. And, umm, let's try and stay in pairs at least. Light Girls are getting real brazen...." Roche said that, though her words were petering out as Suki seemed to react poorly to the outpouring of support and stormed out in a huff, a puff of cigarette smoke coming through the door as Suki stormed away.

She might have chased after her, but there was already one girl clinging to her like a limpet. Her arms worked to wrap around Shuuko, scooting the chairs closer before running a palm along the girl's hair. "It's okay. It's going to be okay. We're all in this together, and no Light or Dark Girls are going to change that."

Maybe Suki thought there was no reason to remain in the clubroom, but in a twist of irony, while Nyxia herself was usually the one who wished to depart from this dysfunctional collection of losers the most, now, she had a vital reason for staying as long as needed. Roche, her partner and, yes the Neon Tempest reflected, her friend was clearly going through a rough time, and she wanted to be present to support the rule keeper in whatever way she could. Of course, she wasn’t the only one doing the supporting, with Kiyo providing a pep talk in her usual, acerbic manner, and her partner going so far as to engage Roche in what Nyxia was fairly certain was the most awkward attempt at a hug she’d ever seen. In fact, the girl almost looked like she was a robot set on autopilot. At least she’s trying to help, the Neon Tempest reflected. I guess that’s better than nothing…

Nyxia was sorely tempted to throw a snide comment Suki’s way after the toothy girl made a disgusting remark involving underwear as she headed out of the club room, but for Roche’s sake the Neon Tempest remained silent. Thankfully, the rule keeper’s demeanor seemed to be brightening up a bit, and not just in the literal sense of the amusingly embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks in response to the sudden embrace she currently found herself in.

“Damn straight they’re not,” Nyxia agreed when Roche declared that no one would break the bond they shared, even if that was just her bond with the rule keeper herself, rather than the club as a whole like Roche had almost certainly intended. “So, uh, did you wanna get some training in after this?” the Neon Tempest asked her partner as she awkwardly glanced over to the beckoning window she’d arrived from. “Not that there’s any rush,” she hastened to add, not wanting to deprive Roche of the chance to bond with the other club members, even if she herself had zero interest in such things.

---

Kiyo watched, wide-eyed, with an unreadable expression as Shuuko shambled over to Roche's side like a possessed Jiangshi, embracing her just as stiffly, receiving stiffness in return. What is THAT supposed to be? she wondered. Elsewhere in Hibusa Town—somewhere far away—an eye twitched. She thought their last interaction had ended amicably enough, but... perhaps not? Was this "bad girl" Shuuko? No, no, no. The aura was all wrong. The hug was no clever scheme, but an earnest display of affection from Shuuko. All this time, was there a third? And when did she get close to Roche? In fact, the same question could be asked of Nyxia. Just when did Roche get so popular—and why did she care, exactly? Even now, Suki was leaving them all behind, and somehow, it irked her. Then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit her, and if it were even possible, her eyes widened further.

Ah. No one is looking at me, she realized. Not for wise counsel, not for sisterly affection, not in admiration or fear or even base lust or hatred. Everyone's eyes are on someone else but me. How vexing. I'm not myself when no one is watching, she lamented with a quiet sigh. She, too, turned towards the door, gnawing contemplatively on her thumb nail. "Haha. Now I feel less like a third eye and more like a third wheel. ...I'll be going now. Be evil, sisters," she said, the same way an adult would normally say "be good" to teenagers left without supervision.

---

Evil Eye flew through town, somewhere above eye level but below the rooftops. Roche was right, of course. Traveling alone was a bit foolhardy, but she didn't care. In fact, the thought made her smile almost uncontrollably. I've found it, Rei. The chink in your armor. You're my polar opposite—you don't spare a thought about the girls... but if something threatens the claim you've staked over Hibusa Town? Ohh, noo~! Her smile became manic. "Eyes on me, girls. I have the perfect plan. It's so flawless, even failure is an option! Khhk-khhk-khhk-khhhhhhk!" She snickered, her body trembling with both gleeful anticipation and terror. Yes, what Hibusa Town needed was not less light girl activity, but more. If what passed for incompetent leadership with Rei caused her to lead where Roche had failed, then if Evil Eye failed as a supervisor, Rei would supervise—and if Rei supervised the Club, surely she would see what Evil Eye saw: that the girls needed her. If she didn't see that, then it would confirm to them all what Evil Eye already believed: that Rei didn't care. The best part was that, just like with Roche's party at the beach, she could accomplish this with no real harm done—except to Rei's ego, as well as her own image, perhaps—but no stain to her reputation would last forever.

I wish they could see my brilliance, but I suppose it takes a few billion years for some stars to become visible to the feeble human eye, she thought with a sigh. I need a hero. If she were a choosy beggar, she would find someone with an aura like Nonsuch, but who would actually follow through when given the right enemy to fight. To find such a person, she would need Mogall. A lot more of them. She'd been saving her strength for Ashbringer, but this was an important moment, and even if no "ceiling" was quite apparent in her ability to store this evil energy in her eyes, diminishing returns certainly were apparent. I can afford to cry if it's only a little...

So it was that, this evening, and well into the night, the Mogall would multiply. They swarmed around the bathroom as Evil Eye gazed into her own eyes in the mirror. They trickled out slowly, so as to not draw too much attention to the night club. I don't need them to recognize my efforts. I do my best work when my heart is empty, she told herself as she cried. They will die if I fail, she willed herself to think as, behind her, the night club caught fire—though, it did not. Shuuko's head didn't explode beside her, either—for several reasons, among which was the fact that Shuuko wasn't even there to begin with. She maintained eye contact with herself for as long as she dared, which was up until the point that she began to feel the sting of smoke in her eyes that didn't exist. The smoke, that is. It was the smoke that didn't exist. Her eyes certainly did, even if she couldn't exactly see them anymore. I cried too much. It's been too long. Trespassers... I can barely sleep. She pulled out her handkerchief and wiped her face with it, even though her tears had all birthed Traumas, and there was nothing to wipe. Years had passed, and this realization would never not be weird. "Why is this part of my magical girl kit, anyway? What's wrong with standard issue tissues? Besides, it's never useful to me," she pouted as she inspected the useless kerchief in her fingers. Her mind drifted back to the one time it had been useful. It was Oros she'd lent it to, which was fine, but she wasn't even crying at the time, and she'd been the one being comforted, which was just backwards! It's not like they even spent that much more time together than with the other girls, either. Well, they all spent the most time with their own partners. What was she even worried about, anyway? Shuuko had no choice but to keep spending time with her, and time healed all wounds. The two of them would be fine.

Hibusa's newest light girl dipped into an alleyway not far from where she'd been staying. She glanced around to ensure she had no observers, magical or otherwise, before releasing her transformation. It still felt almost. . . disappointing, to have to give up that freedom to take to the skies, but such was life as a magical girl. The box felt a bit heavier in her arms, too, as it wasn't Hizuki that walked out onto the sidewalk.

---

---

Haruna crossed the street to the apartment building she now called home. It wasn't the nicest place, but neither was it falling apart. The three-story building had faded white paint and a few plants in simple beds that the elderly landlady tended to. Said landlady was currently struggling with an armful of groceries, presumably for the grandchildren Haruna had heard her mention once or twice. "Oh, here, I'll take some." She waved off Mrs. Tanaka's insistence that she didn't need the help, taking one bag, balancing it atop her package from Ms. Gate, and heading to her door in the middle of the second story. She exchanged her usual course of thank-yous and no-problems, then headed back to the stairwell before she could be invited over for dinner. Nothing against Mrs. Tanaka's cooking, but she was still busy.

The door to her apartment opened to an austere single room. The garish desk she'd had in her parents' home had been too bulky to move, so the current one was a bland particle-board work surface with a relatively nice, if weathered, office chair pushed up to it, alongside a stack of disorganized paperwork relating to various administrative topics like her transfer and the registration of this dwelling to her uncle. In reality, he was a busy man and lived across town, but she'd managed to get his signature on things so she could funnel a small bit of her parents' life insurance money to rent.

I still need to figure out how I'm going to manage a job at this rate. Haruna set the box down at the foot of her bed, then folded it open to retrieve a particular stuffed monkey from where he'd been stowed. "Nothing weird, okay?" She knew the stuffed animal (probably?) couldn't hear her, but Black Gate had given her enough of an indication of what Mr. Banana's personality would be that she felt the need to say it anyway. He was placed precariously upon her backpack, bulging with the books needed for tomorrow, before Haruna promptly flopped facefirst onto her mattress.

The breath slowly leaked from her lips as the inviting embrace of fabric-covered springs beckoned her to take a nap. She couldn't sleep yet, though; the Daybreak still needed to make her nightly patrol, and if she passed out now, it'd probably be well past midnight by the time she awoke. She settled for reaching out for the tiny stuffed cat she'd had since she was a small child, taking a moment to stroke it as if it were a real animal. It'd be nice to have an actual cat around here; the mascots were nice enough, but they weren't exactly pets. Sadly, she just didn't have enough space to keep one inside, and she wouldn't want one running around outside in a town like Hibusa.

Haruna inhaled deeply, then dragged herself back into a sitting position. She carefully set Bluestar next to her pillow, then stood once more. She began to move toward the balcony, stopped, then quickly skittered back to lock her apartment door. Need to remember that. She also remembered to grab a quick snack before heading back out, devouring a granola bar before heading to the balcony again. Haruna pulled the door open, then took a few steps backward. With a small smile, she sprinted forward, transforming just before her feet crossed the threshold and leaping off the edge.

---

---

She took to the skies once more, rocketing into the air before turning to survey the town's layout as it was bathed in the light of the setting sun. Before long, night cloaked the buildings, leaving Hizuki as a stark contrast against the darkened streets with her glowing wings and golden visor. Tonight, it gave her a distinct feeling of being watched. . . well, that and the ominous floating eyeball that flitted past her vision as she moved lower. Her naginata whipped out and began to charge an attack before she remembered what Black Gate had mentioned earlier. Hizuki swung around, releasing her charge and dismissing her sweet arm before landing on a nearby building. Unsure of what else to do, she moved closer to inspect it, hopping across the few gaps between herself and the odd creature until they were face to face. Face to eye. Whatever.

The eye blinked. Hizuki blinked back. It stared. "You don't really. . . do much, do you?" She peered around it, honestly finding it a bit unsettling to look at. "Uh, I don't know if your magical girl can hear through you, but if she can, uh, I guess I'll just say I'm not here to fight. Not unless you give me a good reason." The eye blinked again. "Well, she knows I'm here regardless, and I didn't blow you up, so I guess that's probably proof enough." She turned, happy to get the eyeball thing out of her sight, and headed off again, moving to another vantage point to stretch her sixth sense out.

It didn't take her long to pick up another set of hazy desires. She stood up from where she'd crouched atop a building, looking over in the general direction she was getting. Another dark girl. And one that was wanting. . . a hero? Well, that was why Daybreak had come to Hibusa, after all. It was difficult to see against the night sky, but she was pretty sure she could see more of the eye things in the air, especially in that direction.

A few more jumps between rooftops, and Hizuki managed to spot one of the eyes slipping through a doorway. She flew a circle around to see what it was. The signage and lighting made it clear that this was a nightclub. She felt a bit of trepidation about going into one of those, even knowing she couldn't be seen, but the set of desires she was feeling wasn't moving, which meant she could potentially sit here all night if she didn't go in and answer. She descended to street level with a short glide, then slipped through the door as someone else exited, being careful not to bump them as she set about searching for the owner of the eye creatures.

The hug helped. Though Sylvia did not notice it, the heartbeat that had hammered away at her chest started to lessen in Roche's presence, maybe because they had spent so much time together. Really, she could not even count how many nights they sat by each other or just talked, with her stumbling over her words while Roche listened patiently. Then the roles would reverse. She even started to be decent at conversation herself, or at least she hoped so. Clinging to these moments just as strongly as she clung to her blushing, flustered body pillow, the protector relaxed moment by moment. She still kept watch on Tsubomi with half an eye, wondering what horrors she could unleash on her or the rest of Shuuko, but at least she did not tremble like a leaf anymore.

And no, she did not feel embarrassed by Roche's caresses. If anything, they made her more comfortable in the embrace they shared, warmth freely flowing between the two of them.

But speaking of others... whatever happened to Suki and why did Evil Eye leave like that? Nobody said anything offensive or hurtful, in fact, they were trying to cheer up Roche. Indeed, it did not even occur to her that others may have been feeling left out, or upset because of how she behaved, the closeness shared with Roche easily mistaken as something else to outsiders. Maybe even to Roche.

"Y-yeah," she responded shakily to Roche. "I'm here too, especially if you need a meal!"

Now if only Ember would tell her why she palmed her face in their mental space. Sylvia had not said anything wrong, had she? She turned out to be a decent cook and she had to repay Roche for all the time they spent together somehow, not to mention that Roche always enjoyed Sylvia's cooking. Therefore, reminding Roche that she could count on Sylvia for her cooking would surely reassure the Rulekeeper or at least give her something to look forward to.