Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Sayaka Miki's Time-Reversal Epic - Unreachable sound, distorted spring

Hospital lobby. The smell of disinfectant. Morning light cut the white floor into neat squares. Miki Sayaka stood frozen beside the automatic doors. The blue Soul Gem on her left wrist felt cold beneath her thin sleeve. The elevator doors opened. Kamijou Kyousuke stepped out. His parents followed, carrying large bags. In Kyousuke's left hand, a slender case. A violin case. "Sayaka!" Kyousuke ran up to her. No trace of the hospital stay remained on his face. "Look at this." Kyousuke raised his left hand. He bent each finger, one by one. Thumb. Index. Middle. Ring. Pinky. All of them moved. Perfectly. "I can play. I can play again." His voice trembled. Tears welled in Kyousuke's eyes. "It's like a dream. They said it wouldn't heal. I don't know why. A miracle." Kyousuke smiled. From the bottom of his heart. Pure joy. Sayaka watched that smile. (Thank goodness.) She meant it. From the bottom of her heart. (I healed him.) The words rose to her throat. She clenched her teeth. Bit the inside of her lip. The taste of blood spread slowly. (I can't say it.) Saying it would end everything. Kyousuke didn't need to know. If he knew, he'd feel responsible. His violin would carry a scar. "...I'm so glad, Kyousuke." Sayaka smiled. She crafted a perfect smile. Kyousuke noticed nothing. "Yeah! I'll let you hear me play first, Sayaka. I promise." Kyousuke walked through the automatic doors with his parents. Sayaka stood alone in the lobby. She watched his back. Through the glass, Kyousuke's figure grew smaller. The violin case swayed in the spring sunlight. Something in Sayaka's chest turned to cold stone. (This is fine.) This is fine. I won't tell anyone. No one will know. I'll take the secret of healing him to my grave. The automatic doors closed. Beside the hospital. The municipal park. Sayaka spotted a bench. And there— Madoka was sitting. Beside her, a white shape. Long ears. Red eyes. An expressionless face. Kyubey. "Kaname Madoka. You possess a special power." Kyubey's voice vibrated through the spring air. "If you make a contract, you can become the strongest magical girl in history. Any wish will be granted." Madoka's pink eyes wavered. Sayaka's mind went blank. (No.) Memories from her past life flashed back. Madoka became a magical girl. Madoka became a witch. The world was rewritten. Everything ended. Sayaka was already running. "Don't you dare!!" Her Soul Gem blazed blue. A saber materialized in her hand. The blade deflected the sunlight. Madoka jumped back. "Sayaka?!" Sayaka swung the saber through. Shhk. The white body split clean down the middle. Upper half and lower half dropped to the ground. Not a single drop of red blood. Kyubey's corpse lay utterly motionless. Sayaka breathed heavily, shoulders heaving. —Then. "That's pointless, Sayaka." The exact same voice. The exact same tone. A new white body sat on a tree branch. Red eyes looked down at Sayaka. "Shut up!!" She hurled the saber. Generated a second. A third. In rapid succession. Shhk. She slashed through the branch. Beyond the cut, another one. Beside it, another. Three. Four. Five. White bodies appeared all over the park. "We have no concept of individual death." "No matter how many times you cut us, it's the same." "Can't you understand? Emotional actions are futile." Three Kyubeys tilted their heads in unison. Sayaka dropped to her knees. Ragged breaths. The tip of the saber in her right hand trembled. (Can't kill it.) Incubators can't be killed. She knew that. Knew it all too well in her past life. And yet. She looked at the Soul Gem on her left arm. She hadn't even fought. But at the center of the blue gem, an ink-black stain was spreading. "Sayaka!" Madoka tried to run to her. "Stay back!" Sayaka screamed. Madoka's feet stopped. "...Why?" Madoka's voice trembled. Sayaka couldn't answer. The Kyubeys vanished without a sound. The last one whispered into Madoka's ear. "Kaname Madoka. The time when you are needed will surely come." —Gone. Silence fell over the park. Madoka stood frozen. "...Sayaka, what was that?" Her voice was small and shaking. Sayaka stood up. She dismissed the saber. "...It won't come back." "So you don't need to worry about it, Madoka." "B-but—" "It's fine." Sayaka forced a smile. Madoka's pink eyes wavered. Like she wanted to say something. But Sayaka said nothing more. That night. Kaname Madoka lay in her futon, eyes closed. She couldn't sleep. (Sayaka knows something.) The scene from the day replayed behind her eyelids. A white creature. Madoka couldn't see it, but it had been saying something. Only Sayaka could hear it. The strongest magical girl in history. Contract. Wish. She didn't understand the words. But. (Sayaka is hiding something from me.) She was certain of it. Just then— Outside the window, the darkness deepened slightly. A black just a shade darker than the night. A shadow. No form. No outline. Just a stain-like shadow, floating beyond the glass. Madoka's eyes couldn't see it. But a voice spoke at her ear. "Sayaka isn't telling you the truth." A low, gentle voice. "She says she's protecting you, but she decides everything on her own." "You have power. Is it really okay to stay in the dark?" Madoka pulled the futon over her head. (It's my imagination.) She told herself. (Just my imagination. I'm tired.) Still, the voice seeped in. Doubt. A small, black seed dropped into the depths of her heart. The next morning. The school gate. Sayaka waited at the usual spot. Madoka arrived right on time. Her fluffy pink twin tails swayed in the spring breeze. "Good morning." Madoka smiled. The same smile as always. But— Sayaka could tell. Madoka's gaze avoided her eyes. Just for an instant. A shift of barely half a second. A normal person wouldn't notice. But Sayaka, who had spent so much time with Madoka in her past life, could tell. (Madoka doubts me.) The stone in her chest grew colder. "...Morning, Madoka. Did you sleep well?" Sayaka asked brightly. "Yeah. I'm fine." Madoka answered with a smile. But that smile was a millimeter different from yesterday. Sayaka couldn't say anything. The classroom. During class, Sayaka stole glances at Madoka's profile. Madoka was taking notes. But sometimes, her brows furrowed. She was thinking about something. (Madoka, I'm sorry.) She apologized in her heart. There was too much she couldn't say. If she talked about Kyubey, Madoka might want to make a contract. She didn't even know the true nature of the black shadow. Or that she had turned back time. Or that she had once become a witch. She wanted to confess everything. But she couldn't. Break time. She approached as usual. "Madoka, what's in your lunch today?" Madoka turned with a smile. "Tamagoyaki! And also, some sausages." She spoke cheerfully. But her eyes weren't smiling. "So nice! Mine's just leftovers from yesterday." Sayaka said playfully. Madoka laughed. But between those smiles, a shadow flickered. Just barely. (Sayaka is lying to me.) That doubt was beginning to take shape in Madoka's heart. After school. Sayaka and Madoka left through the school gate together. "I've been kinda tired lately." Sayaka lied. "Eh? Are you okay?" "I'm fine, I'm fine! Just not sleeping enough." Madoka's eyes clouded over. Just a little. "...I see." Her voice was slightly cold. The shadow from last night lingered in Madoka's heart. Sayaka noticed. But she couldn't say anything. "Well, see you tomorrow." Madoka waved a small hand and headed home. Sayaka was left alone at the school gate. Dusk was approaching. The sky was dyed in a gradient of orange and purple. (The distance grew.) The distance between her and Madoka. The distance she had desperately tried to protect. Today, it had definitely widened. Just a little. Sayaka murmured, too quietly for anyone to hear. "Madoka... I'm sorry." —But this is fine. If Madoka doubts me, that's fine. Doubting me means she won't get close. If she doesn't get close, the danger lessens. This is fine. This is fine. Sayaka started walking. That night. Lying on her futon in her room, Sayaka stared at her left hand. The blue Soul Gem. She hadn't fought at all today. And yet. At the bottom of the gem, a stain like spilled ink had pooled. Definitely darker than yesterday. Even after purifying with a Grief Seed, it hadn't all vanished. (Even without fighting, impurity accumulates.) Mental anguish. Despair. Regret. Those alone cloud a Soul Gem. Sayaka closed her eyes. Sayaka isn't telling you the truth— The shadow's voice echoed in her heart. But the voice soon transformed into Madoka's face. Eyes colored with doubt. A smile shifted by a single millimeter. Sayaka clenched her teeth. The sound of grinding teeth echoed in the quiet room. The blue gem glowed faintly in the darkness. Deep within the darkness. A shadow overlooked the city of Mitakihara. A formless presence, like a black stain. "This is good. Doubt has taken root. Now I just need to nurture it." The voice was low, gentle, and filled with deep malice. "Miki Sayaka. The things you desperately protect—I will destroy them all." The shadow slowly dissolved into the night's darkness. Somewhere in the city, Kyubey tilted its head. "What is... that?" Even the Incubator did not know the true nature of that shadow. The night in Mitakihara deepened quietly. Something was definitely beginning to move. In a place Sayaka didn't know. Something Sayaka didn't know.

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Episode 4

Name: Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Sayaka Miki's Time-Reversal Epic
Author: Novelia

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