Light tore through the swarm. A white wall of maximum brightness from five smartphones sliced the black torrent of Garakuta-Mushi clean in two. *Gichigichigichi!* The unpleasant sound of plastic wings scraping together echoed across the wasteland. "[excited]A path! Run!" Momo's voice was the low voice of a boy. And yet, there was no hesitation in it anymore. The light of that burning will they had reclaimed in Episode 6 dwelled in their eyes. Shockwaves erupted from Momo's hands as they ran at the front. *Dooo!* Spirit power blasted into the swarm head-on, sending dozens of the insects flying at once. Plastic fragments scattered, glittering as they caught the morning light. "[excited]Momo, right side!" Jiji shouted, their blonde twintails flying wildly, still in that gyaru form. At the same moment, Jiji grabbed a discarded scrap pipe with their natural strength and swung it. *Gagaga!* Several bugs closing in from Momo's right flank were mowed down in one sweep. "[gentle]I'll do my part too...!" Aira, with their handsome face, used their long limbs to back Jiji up. They crushed the bugs Jiji hadn't finished off under their long legs. The sound of carapaces cracking, *mekimeki*, rang out. "[cold]...Almost there. That abandoned refrigerator." Shiratori, in the form of a beautiful black-haired girl running at the rear, pointed calmly. Ahead, a rusted commercial refrigerator that must have once been white lay on its side at the top of a scrap heap. "[excited]I'll flip it over!" Jiji leaped to the front. The gyaru's slender arms held the soul of a former delinquent. They grabbed the edge of the refrigerator, put all their strength into it, and lifted with a *gugugu*. "[excited]Oooooooh!!" Metal shrieked and groaned, *gishigishi*—and then, the next instant— *Gasshaaaaaaan!!!* The refrigerator flipped over spectacularly, sending a sea of mud splashing up. "[laughing]Whoa, the mud!" Jiji, who had been right next to it, was naturally covered head to toe in mud. The blonde twintails, the gyaru makeup—everything was coated in brown mud, making them look like a mud doll. "[laughing]Pfft... Jiji-kun, your face is a mess." Aira covered their mouth with a long hand and laughed. "[angry]Shut up! If I hadn't done it, who would've?! You wanted to get covered in mud with that pretty-boy face of yours?!" "[laughing]No, I think I'll pass." "[cold]...Both of you, quiet. Hurry up and dig." At Shiratori's cold remark, Jiji and Aira hurriedly began digging up the ground where the refrigerator had been. Five minutes later. Aira's large hands pulled something from the dirt. "[surprised]...Found it." They brushed off the mud, and it appeared. A dress-up doll about thirty centimeters tall, with pink hair. Its left eye was missing, giving it an eerie, unsettling look. A 1987 "Pretty Marin"—the true form of this aberration. "[excited]This is..." Okarun reached out with their small girl's hand. The moment their fingertips touched the doll— *Throb.* A pulsing pain shot through all six of their bodies. When they came to, white haze had gathered around them. The abandoned refrigerator, the morning sky—everything from moments ago was gone. "[scared]Wha... what...?" Momo looked around. It was a white space, with only Momo in it. And then, before their eyes— An image was projected. It was the scene they had witnessed in Episode 4. Darkness in the Garakuta wasteland. Two people, a man and a woman, arguing. "I don't know you anymore!" Momo, in the form of a boy, was shouting at Okarun, in the form of a girl. No. Stop it. But their mouth kept moving on its own. "If you're just forcing yourself, don't come!" "Just do everything yourself!" Every time the phantom Momo yelled at Okarun, Okarun's face crumpled more and more. "[crying]Stop it... already..." Momo reached out a hand. But the image slipped right through their fingers. "[crying]Because... Momo-chan yelled at me..." The phantom Okarun said it through tears. Those words pierced Momo's chest. "[crying]That's not it, I'm telling you, that's not it...!" Momo collapsed to their knees. Even covering their ears, the images flowed directly into their head. They had only wanted to protect them. Far from protecting them, they had hurt them the most. They pounded the ground with both hands. *Thud! Thud!* The boy's hands split open, blood seeping out. But the pain in their chest was far worse than the physical pain. Meanwhile, in another white space. Okarun was watching the image they least wanted to see. Old news footage. The scene of a traffic accident. A car, completely crushed. They recognized the license plate. It was their dad's car. The image switched. A young Okarun, sobbing in front of the television. "[crying]Papa... Papa!" Space posters were plastered on the walls of the room. But the young, sobbing Okarun began tearing them down, one by one. "[crying]Someone like me, anyway..." Small fingertips crumpled the star pictures into balls. "[crying]Someone like me, anyway..." "[crying]Stop... please stop..." Okarun clutched their own head with their small girl's hands. It's my fault. I got obsessed with space and asked Dad to take me on night drives. That's why Dad died. They had lived their whole life thinking that. "[crying]Someone like me... can't protect anyone..." The phantom's voice echoed deep in their ears. —Someone like me, anyway. —Someone like me, can't. But that's wrong. It's wrong. They should know it's wrong. Because Momo-chan was there. Because there was someone who told them they weren't just "someone like me." Okarun's hands clenched tightly. "[crying]It's wrong..." A voice squeezed out from the small girl's mouth. "[excited]IT'S WRONG!!!" They shouted. At their own weakness. "[angry]I've been... using Dad's death as an excuse! I've been running away this whole time, telling myself someone like me couldn't do anything!" The tears wouldn't stop. But they didn't want to run anymore. "[excited]But... that's wrong! I want to protect! I wanted to become someone who could protect Momo-chan!!!" That voice tore through the white space and resounded. In the darkness, Momo, who had been on their knees—heard that voice, without a doubt. Okarun's voice. "[crying]Oka... run...?" They lifted their face. That shout had shattered something deep in Momo's chest into pieces. Ah, right. It was the same for me. "[crying]Me too... it's the same..." Momo stood up. "[crying]All along, I just... wanted to protect you. To hell with hiding my embarrassment, to hell with acting tough!" And then, they shouted. From the bottom of their heart. "[excited]I've... always, about you—I've always liked you!!!" —*Dooooooooon!!!* The instant their two screams overlapped, the phantoms scattered with a roar. They gasped and lifted their heads. They were back in the original Garakuta wasteland. Before them lay the Pretty Marin doll, sprawled on the ground. Their friends stood around it. Jiji was still a mud-covered gyaru, Aira was crying with their handsome face all scrunched up. Shiratori was expressionless, but their eyes were slightly red. "[surprised]...Huh? Wh-why are you guys crying..." At Momo's question, Jiji grinned. "[laughing]You just said it pretty clearly, didn't you?" "[surprised]Wha...!?" Momo's face flushed bright red. "[angry]N-no! That was, just, I just yelled, it's not like I meant it literally—" "[cold]We heard everything." Shiratori quietly added. "[crying]Oooh, I'm so glad... I'm really so glad, Momo-chan..." Aira stood there, their large eyes glistening. Seeing a handsome face on the verge of tears was quite a surreal sight. "[angry]Y-you guys! Forget what just happened! Forget it right now—!!" Just as Momo turned bright red, covered their face, and screamed— The Pretty Marin doll, lying on the ground, began emitting an eerie purple light. "[serious]Tch... everyone, get ready! The time limit's almost up!" Momo switched to battle mode in an instant. Their face was still red, but their eyes were already those of a warrior. Okarun looked at the watch on their small arm. "[serious]Less than two minutes left...!" The light emanating from the doll began lifting the surrounding scrap into the air. A final resistance. "[excited]I'll pin it down! Okarun, you land your fastest hit!" "[surprised]...Huh!?" "[angry]You can do it, right! Just like you showed us in the labyrinth!" From the very start, Momo's eyes were filled with absolute faith. Okarun looked dumbfounded for a moment. But then, the small girl's face tightened with resolve. "[serious]...Got it." The two moved. Momo thrust both hands toward the doll. Not with emotion, but with spirit power controlled by will, pinning Pretty Marin to the ground as if stitching it down. The ground trembled in small bursts, *dodododo...* "[excited]Uooooooooh!!!" Okarun broke into a run. They stabilized their feminized body with a lower center of gravity than usual, accelerating Turbo-Granny's power with their own will. The tips of their toes were cut by scrap fragments. Blood flowed. Still, they didn't stop. *Gou!* The air tore apart. The moment they reached maximum speed, Okarun's mouth opened. "[excited]Pretty—" Momo shouted too. "[excited]—Marin!!!" Their two voices overlapped perfectly. And then, Okarun's full-force blow exploded against the doll. *Paaaaaaaan!!!* The plastic shattered into smithereens. But— "[scared]Ah, I can't stop—" Having accelerated too much, even after destroying the doll, Okarun lost control with that momentum and plowed into the scrap heap ahead. *Garagaragasshaaan!!!* The scrap heap collapsed, completely burying Okarun. "[scared]O-Okarun!?" Momo rushed over to the scrap heap in a panic. From the top of the pile, only a small girl's hand was poking out, *nyoki*. "[laughing]Pfft...!" "[laughing]Pff, ahahahaha!" The tension snapped, and Jiji and Aira burst out laughing. Momo desperately grabbed the hand and pulled with all their might. *Gasagasa!* Okarun was yanked out of the scrap. Losing their balance, the two of them tumbled to the ground together. "[surprised]...Ah." "[surprised]...Uh." When they came to, Okarun's face was right at the tip of Momo's nose. Close enough to feel each other's breath, the two of them froze. "[angry]...Wh-what are you looking at, idiot!!" Momo shouted and shoved Okarun away—at that very moment— The shattered fragments of the doll rose up, turning into particles of golden light. That light enveloped the six of them. Warm. A gentle heat, like basking in the morning sun. "[surprised]Ah..." Momo's hand. The rough, boy's hand was rapidly returning to their original girl's hand. A weight lifted from their chest, a sensation of their height shrinking. The boy's clothes became baggy. But this body felt right. "[gentle]Back..." Their voice was properly their own again. They were so happy they almost cried. "[excited]Aaaah! I'm back in this huge body again!" Next to them, Jiji yelled. They were back in their original tough-guy form, the gyaru clothes about to burst at the seams. Though they were complaining, their voice sounded somehow relieved. "[gentle]Ah... a skirt. Thank goodness..." Aira, back to their original beautiful girl form from the handsome guy, checked their knees and smiled. "[cold]........................" Shiratori, back to their original boy form from the black-haired beauty, said nothing, just stared intently at their own hands. Then, after a beat. "...Guess I'll try again." They murmured quietly, as if telling themselves. Jiji silently clapped them on the shoulder. Shiratori looked surprised for a moment, but then, just a tiny bit, the corners of their mouth relaxed. And then. Momo slowly turned around. A few meters away, on the scrap heap, a shy-looking boy in a boy's school uniform was sitting down with a *petan*. "[wh