Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

“Shut up,” Xiangzi said in a low voice.

That damned Toyokawa Shoko has now taken control back.

Xiangzi had never felt so close to death, not even when she had a mental breakdown and tried to shoot herself. At that time, at least she had control over her life and death. But now, she truly realized what powerlessness meant.

"Why, senior, must I die?"

"...A witch's barrier is the size of a city...which means it has power comparable to Witch Night. I am the leader of Reed Plains, and I bear the future of all the magical girls in Reed Plains. Don't you know what will happen when a new witch comparable to Witch Night is born in Reed Plains?"

Yuki picked up a large scythe.

"In that case, I'd rather wrongly kill than let go of anything even remotely related to it—"

It was swung towards Xiangzi's neck.

"—Any possibility."

The Tale of Nirvana: Keep Your True Self: Chapter 30 Stop Fighting!

The strongest witch of the 21st century, Witch's Night - stage setup.

A witch so powerful that she doesn't need a barrier to protect herself, whose birthplace remains unknown. If a classification system were necessary, she would probably be given a separate danger level by Yuki—named Witch Night.

It wanders all over the world. To ordinary people, it is a tsunami, an earthquake, or a storm. To magical girls, it is a giant stage suspended in the air.

Last year, when Witch Night passed through Southeast Asia, it brought Typhoon Saola, causing countless people to be displaced. The local magical girls, like ordinary people, could only hide everywhere and dared not even look at the sky.

Some say that Witch's Night is the embodiment of a natural phenomenon that cannot be defied by human power.

Some say that Witch Night was born in the Pacific Ocean, accompanied by typhoons.

Some say that Witch's Night originated in Japan and was the root cause of the great earthquake thirteen years ago.

Regardless of where it came from or where it was born, magical girls all over the world share a basic consensus about it: run away as soon as you see it.

Yushina placed Nirvana on the same level as Witch's Night, which means that she would consider anyone associated with Nirvana to be of the highest danger level.

It exceeds the level of danger of Dangos.

The sickle finally came to rest on Xiangzi's neck.

"Did we make the wrong bet? It looks like we made the right one."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Xiangzi's forehead, and with a trembling voice, he spoke to his other self.

Toyokawa Shoko shrugged and didn't say anything.

"They changed people?" Yukina asked.

Xiangzi nodded.

"why?"

"She's afraid of pain."

Xiangzi clearly saw Youxi's lips twitch, the kind of suppressed laughter that she wanted to laugh but didn't.

"Are you scared?" Yukina asked again.

Xiangzi nodded again.

"Then why didn't you dodge?"

"I want to live." Xiangzi swallowed hard, looking at the blade against his neck. "Witches are beasts, and beasts will instinctively run away or fight back. I want to prove that I am not."

"Then there are only two possibilities."

Yushina said.

"First, you really are an ordinary person; I misunderstood you. Second, you are a witch even more dangerous than Witch Night."

How do you think I should view you?

"Of course I want to be an ordinary person."

"But unfortunately, I'll be putting you in the second tier for now. Roselia, and even the entire gathering, will be keeping you under close observation. No, I need to confine you in a place where I can cut my losses at any time, in case you do anything I deem inappropriate..."

"No, I have very important things to do!"

If she were really imprisoned, she would never have the chance to prove whether she was a witch or not!

That's no different from being dead, it's even worse than being dead.

"Yuki, don't be impulsive!"

when--!

Sparks flew and the sound of metal clashing rang in Xiangzi's ears; the loud buzzing almost deafened her.

A blade over ninety centimeters long, like the longsword used by a hero in a Japanese fantasy story, deflected Yuki's scythe that was held to Xiangzi's neck.

Kasumi has finally arrived.

"Get out of the way," Yukina said coldly.

"Calm down. I know about Xiao Xiang's situation. Can't we give her some time to prove herself?"

"You are protecting the witch."

"You're not even sure if she's a witch, are you?"

"Can you prove she's safe? What if she does something irreparable during the so-called 'proof' time you've given her? Who will be responsible if something happens?"

Kasumi tried to persuade Yukina, but the two of them held their own opinions.

"Xiao Xiang is a promising junior colleague of mine, and I can vouch for her!"

"Don't joke around, everyone knows you think everyone you meet is amazing."

"But I've never misjudged anyone. Whether it's Rikka or Mashiro, when have I ever misjudged my juniors?"

"What if?! What if something really goes wrong this time? How do you know you won't make a mistake?"

"Yuki, don't you even trust me?"

"I can't gamble something so big on your judgment."

"Then let's just have a fight! Whoever wins gets to decide the outcome!!"

"Fine, then. Don't think that just because you have cat ears and braids, I can let you do whatever you want."

"what?"

when----!

The crisp vibrations became the battle cry, and the surrounding scenery was distorted into a wider space. The road surface was raised and folded once, stacked on top of their heads, and the roads on both sides were also raised, sealing off the vast space and forming a square box that enveloped them.

Yukina stepped onto the wall of the box, and like the other objects on the wall, she seemed to be parallel to the ground, seemingly unaffected by the laws of physics.

Kasumi was hit on the head by Yukina like a baseball. She pulled out the long sword stuck in the ground and jumped towards the wall where Yukina was.

Yushina also leaped up, and the two beams of light collided in mid-air, creating a shockwave.

An absurd and surreal scene unfolds before Xiangzi; she has only ever seen such outrageous sights in one place.

"Witch's barrier?"

Xiangzi looked up at the two creatures flying around in the sky.

"It's not a witch's barrier, it's a barrier created by a magical girl, like RiNG." Toyokawa Shoko, with her hands in her pockets, looked up at her.

She took a bucket of popcorn from somewhere, put on sunglasses, and sat down next to Xiangzi on a folding stool.

"The 4D surround sound movie in VIP seats was awesome."

"Aren't you too lacking in a sense of crisis?"

"This place has become an enclosed space, and we can't run away. We can only watch them finish fighting."

Xiangzi glanced at the walls that blocked his way, sighed helplessly, and squatted down next to his other self.

"How do you think they did it?" Toyokawa Shoko suddenly asked.

"How did you do that?" Xiangzi didn't understand.

"A barrier."

Xiangzi shook his head and said he didn't know.

"The barrier was born from dreams."

"Witches are beasts with lingering memories. Their dreams are often subconscious, disordered, and irrational, and the barriers they create are bizarre and fantastical."

An unfamiliar voice drifted into Xiangzi's ears. She turned her head and saw a girl with black hair and green eyes.

"Since magical girls are the offspring of witches, they must possess the same abilities as witches. Based on this, we discovered the ability to control dreams, which is to say, to shape barriers..."

The black-haired, green-eyed girl, with a cigarette dangling from her lips, waved to Xiangzi with a nonchalant, expressionless demeanor.

"Good evening, Xiao Xiang. It's quite amusing how you talk to yourself."

"You are... Tae Hanazono, the guitarist for Popipa? I've seen you at the coffee shop."

Xiangzi was too tired to be surprised anymore. Even if you told her that there was a multiverse and that she was living the same miserable life in every universe, she would believe it.

"You guessed right, but there's no reward. Oh, I did bring a pack of cigarettes. Want one?"

"..."

"How does it feel to forget you're a minor? The technology we developed using the Reverse Witch Barrier is pretty cool, isn't it?"

"..."

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Duohui tilted her head.

"I don't know what to say, what should I say?"

"Hmm... 'Senpai is so cool,' 'This is the most powerful magical girl in Ayashihara!' and things like that?"

"Then let's forget it."

"Eh...Are all the younger generation so indifferent these days?"

Boom!

A gust of wind swept across the open space ahead, sending up layers of dust.

"Oh~ we've got results." Tae said, her mouth full of cigarette smoke.

As the smoke cleared, the two blurry figures gradually became clear.

Shoko saw Kasumi's sword tip pressed against Yukina's throat, but Yukina's scythe was also pressed against her temple from the side, the blade tips barely touching each other's skin, any further and it would be a life-or-death struggle.

"It's a tie." Kasumi said with a smile in her eyes.

====

P.S.: I've been a bit down these past couple of days, so I'll only be posting for two days at a time. I'll make up for it after it's officially released.

The Tale of Nirvana: Keeping to Your True Self: Chapter 31 The Final Ultimatum

"It's a tie!"

With the knife tips pressed against each other's vitals, Kasumi smiled brightly, while Yuukina's face was so dark it could drip water.

"What do you want."

"Yuki, what you want to do is more important."

“Lisa said to detain for observation, but I certainly want to get it over with once and for all.”

"She's a magical girl, you know. Can you really bring yourself to do that?"

“She’s already a witch, so of course I can take action against her.”

"What if we kill the wrong person?"

"...There will always be unavoidable sacrifices."

“But this was an avoidable sacrifice, Yushina.”

“No, the risk is too great. Did you see the ‘Witch’s Night’s trajectory prediction data’ that Roselia posted on the forum last week? It will pass through the Reed Plains in two months.” Yuki’s hand holding the scythe handle trembled. “We only have two months to prepare. I can’t allow any mistakes to happen in these two months.”

“What I see is that we still have two full months, and maybe we can have a few more strong juniors?” Kasumi said.