Snow White's Return Chronicle - Epilogue Part 1
The long night had finally ended.
The brutal selection exam had come to a close, and there were no longer any magical girls wasting away in pointless bloodshed.
The darkness was slowly lifting, and the sun rose in a dazzling morning light over the earth.
Tomorrow arrived without fail, as it always had, leaving the terrible nightmare behind.
Standing there blankly, lost in her thoughts, Koyuki Himekawa tightly gripped Kurei Fuwa’s small hand and turned her gaze toward Ripple.
“What will you do from now on, Ripple?”
“First, I want to see Top Speed. I won’t step foot in the information department like before. I’ll probably end up in the audit division with you… Before that, I want to look after Shinomiya from the side.”
“Hmph… sorry to interrupt the mood, but put me in too. Both of you in the audit division, the Magical Kingdom… How exactly do you even get in there?”
La Pucelle slipped in between them with a sulk. Koyuki smiled silently at the sight.
“Sorry. I unconsciously pushed myself in again. Sou-chan doesn’t know anything about the Magical Kingdom yet.”
“Hey! You promised not to call me that when I’m transformed into a magical girl!”
“What’s wrong with it? It’s not like my name is fading away. Besides, now turn the transformation back on. It’s weird just for me.”
La Pucelle reluctantly flushed and her entire body was wrapped in pure white magical light.
Soon the light faded, and the figure of a plain middle-school boy—Kishibe Souta—appeared in place of the valiant magical girl.
Koyuki naturally stepped closer to Souta and crossed her arms with him.
In an instant, Souta’s face turned as red as a ripe apple.
“Sou-chan, your face is super red. Did you catch a cold or something?”
“Ah, it’s nothing! Anyway, let’s get this guy—Kurei—to the hospital quickly!”
Ripple gave a subtle thumbs-up, sensing Souta’s avoidance of the topic.
Ripple knew that Koyuki was lightly joking to lift the heavy atmosphere left over from the tragic ending.
That was why she accepted it as a fellow member’s loyalty.
“They really are an inseparable couple.”
Even Koyuki’s face flushed just as red as Souta’s.
Neither had denied it, but they were clearly not a couple.
Yet the morning light came anyway. On the way back to the city after transforming back into magical girls in the forest, the exhaustion that pressed down on body and mind had seeped into their bones.
But in the corner of her heart, she finally felt able to breathe, as though she had laid down the heavy burden.
Inside the train, with no one else aboard.
Clang, clang
The only sound echoing through the empty car was the distant, metallic rattle of the wheels on the track—haunting and hollow, with not a single passenger’s presence on the opposite side or in the next car.
“You still have this… amazing thing, Koyuki.”
Souta stared at the small, worn keychain dangling from the end of Koyuki’s bag. It was a precious memento he had given her when he first transformed into a magical girl, his adorable deformed version of the Cute Healer he had always admired.
“It’s the first gift Sou-chan ever gave me. It’s truly a treasure to me.”
Koyuki blushed and whispered softly. Souta glanced out the window for a moment, then spoke in a low, sincere voice.
“To be honest… I was so worried about you. After everything that happened this time, I started thinking maybe you’d quit being a magical girl forever…”
“I’m not quitting. I couldn’t quit even if I wanted to.”
Koyuki’s eyes held firm resolve.
“Even so, I’ll keep hunting the bad magical girls from now on. I’ve lived that way in the world before regression too. The past, the present… the path I have to take won’t change.”
After Souta swallowed hard at her resolute declaration, he looked Koyuki straight in the eyes with determination.
“Then… I’ll follow you all the way. And before that, there’s something I’ve been wanting to say…”
“…?”
“Koyuki… um… like, do you have a boyfriend right now?”
“…!”
The air in the train suddenly froze, and the silence stretched long.
Koyuki’s face flushed as if it might explode.
Amid the clatter of the train, it felt as though her pounding heart could be heard all the way to Souta.
“…No.”
Koyuki answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito. Souta clenched his fist and finally pulled out the words he had buried deep inside.
“Then… could you go out with me?”
Souta’s confession filled the empty train car with a quiet yet decisive force that even the noise of the rails could not drown out.
“……”
It was as if time itself had stopped. In the rattling vibration of the train, Souta’s confession echoed again and again in Koyuki’s ears.
Koyuki lowered her head to hide her face that was burning as though it might burst. The tips of her fingers gripping the bag strap trembled.
Her heart beat so fiercely that she wondered if it was echoing loudly enough inside the empty train car to be heard by everyone.
Souta, tense as well, swallowed hard and waited only for Koyuki’s answer.
Even the tips of his ears had flushed just as red as hers.
After a long, long silence, Koyuki slowly lifted her head.
She could not meet Souta’s eyes directly and kept her gaze fixed on his collar, then parted her lips.
“……Yes.”
It was a voice as small as a mosquito’s hum, but in the quiet train car it was enough. Koyuki grew even more embarrassed and pressed her forehead against Souta’s chest.
“……Thank you.”
“I should be the one thanking you.”
The awkward use of honorifics between them, born from their nervousness, felt stiff. In that moment, a memory flashed through Koyuki’s mind—the day they had first met as magical girls, when the same words had been exchanged at their first greeting.
The strange sense of relief mingled with the truth that the starting point they had finally reached after crossing a blood-soaked hell was the same as their very first meeting.
Souta, quietly taking his cue, spoke in a serious voice.
“I… I can’t stand being without you. Even when I was hit by Cranberry, I was terrified of never seeing you again. So if something like this happens again, I want us to be together. Will you let me?”
“I was so heartbroken when I thought Sou-chan was dead. So I was going to take everything on myself…”
“I know.”
Souta gently cut her off, carefully wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
“Even if you fall to the edge of hell, I’d follow you. So don’t carry it all alone anymore.”
In his earnest eyes, Koyuki felt tears she had held back welling up.
The heart of the magical girl who had always fought alone in the world before regression, and still did, melted in the warmth of the boy.
“……Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
Souta replied gruffly while adding firm strength to the arm holding Koyuki.
The early morning sunlight streaming through the rattling train window was warm.
Finally, they held each other’s hands tightly as if they would never let go.
[Article/clause content]
Koyuki leaned into Souta’s warmth, gazing blankly at the morning sunlight streaming past the window.
She clung to his arm, resting her body against him.
Her small, soft hand gripped his collar tightly, and with a sigh of relief she closed her eyes.
The warm sunlight shone on her brown hair, and the smile that slipped between them seemed peaceful, as if she had forgotten all the pain of the world.
Souta held her in his arms, gently stroking her hair.
His face was flushed with embarrassment, but his eyes held infinite love and protection for her.
He rested his head on her shoulder, feeling her breath, wishing this moment would last forever.
In the empty train car, the space just for the two of them was more beautiful than any splendid place.
The scenery outside the window looked bright and full of hope, like their future.
“…Hey, Sou-chan.”
Koyuki lifted her head from Souta’s chest and spoke carefully.
“…Huh?”
“…Thank you.”
She looked Souta straight in the eyes and smiled with genuine feeling.
Souta matched her gaze and smiled shyly.
With two people dreaming, they looked toward the future they both desired.
With two people dreaming, they looked toward the future they both desired.
In the middle of the ruined district of Nabukashi, where Calamity Mary’s merciless attack had swept through.
Top Speed, the magical girl in her witch costume, knelt on the ground and wept large tears.
In front of her, Ripple had died.
The hellish scene of Swim Swim’s devastating blade piercing Ripple’s heart still lingered before her eyes.
“Why… why did Ripple have to die instead of me…?”
She no longer wanted to fight.
Collecting magical candy, living as a magical girl—everything felt meaningless.
Right at the moment the emptiness of losing her precious partner weighed on her chest.
“Who died?”
A familiar voice, as casual as a lie, came from behind.
Top Speed whipped her head around.
“Ripple…?”
“Really… it’s Ripple? I can’t reach Fav anymore, and I have no idea what’s going on…”
There stood not a magical girl, but a plain high-school girl in school uniform.
But that voice was exactly the same as her partner who had flown through the rain with her.
“I… I…”
Kano Sazanami forced down the lump in her throat and grabbed the ends of her wind-tossed red muffler with her fingertips.
“I’m alive, so I’m fine, Top Speed.”
At those words, Top Speed rushed straight toward Kano.
“You idiot!! I told you over and over that if you die, it’s over! We’re a team! When you’re safe, contact me earlier! How worried I was?!”
“There were all sorts of things… I missed the timing to contact you. Really sorry. If Shinomiya hadn’t been there, I really would have died.”
Kano lowered her head with eyes full of apology.
After crying for a long time, Top Speed finally wiped away her tears and asked.
“…It’s not over yet, right? The fight as a magical girl.”
“Almost finished. So it’s okay.”
Kano paused for a moment, then added cautiously.
“More than that, there’s somewhere I want to go with you… Could you take me there?”
“Of course!”
Top Speed deliberately smiled brightly and held out her broom.
“As long as it’s only the Rapid Swallow, there’s nowhere you can’t go.”
Kano nodded with a small smile.
“Then I’ll ask, Top Speed. To the hospital.”
“Aha ha! Now that I think about it, it’s the first time you’re riding my broom in your real form. Hey, are you eating properly?”
“…Unless it’s food Top Speed makes, it’s not very tasty.”
Top Speed’s eyes widened at the unexpectedly honest answer.
“Huh? If it were the old you, you’d have clicked your tongue from the start.”
“……Yes.”
“Wow, it really feels like you’ve become someone else.”
Kano averted her eyes for a moment, then muttered softly.
“……I promised.”
[Rarity / Grade]
[Effects / Properties]
Her voice was so small it was swallowed by the sound of the rain.
As the broom rose into the sky, Nabukashi’s landscape spread out below in a single glance—streets and buildings that she had never had time to look at properly because of missions and fights.
Kano stared at the scenery in a daze and spoke quietly.
“…Now I can finally look around properly.”
Amid the wind slicing through the sky, she spoke hesitantly.
“Hey… could I ask for just one weird favor?”
“Go ahead, tsundere partner~”
“Don’t tease me…”
Kano gave a forced cough and looked away.
“It’s just… I wanted to take a photo of myself in my real form with you, Top Speed.”
Top Speed chuckled and lightly tapped Kano’s head.
“What’s so weird about that?”
“……”
“Of course we should. We need to leave it as proof that we’re friends.”
Top Speed continued with a playful smile.
“Ah~ On days like this, a beer would be perfect.”
“…That’s not happening.”
Top Speed patted her stomach while laughing at Kano’s teasing.
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s bad for the baby in my belly.”
Under the blue sky, the broom carrying the two of them flew slowly toward the hospital.
Even after the long night had ended, the world continued to move forward a little bit at a time.