Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

"Fine, I won't argue with you."

She couldn't be bothered arguing with a child, hmph.

However, Xiangzi quickly realized that someone seemed to be missing.

"By the way, where's Mu?" Xiangzi asked again.

"Uh haha..." Kyoko gave an awkward smile. "She... has something to do."

"What is it?" Xiangzi suddenly became nervous.

Logically, it should have ended by now. What else could possibly happen to her?

"It's nothing..." Sayaka blushed and turned her head to the side, looking embarrassed.

Even Yan looked as if she was embarrassed to have troubled others, which confused Xiangzi and made her very uneasy. She was afraid that something unexpected might happen to the plan again.

Fortunately, things didn't turn out quite as she had expected.

These little guys were really just embarrassed.

In the end, Xiaoyuan stepped in to smooth things over and explained to Xiangzi:

"Senior Mu, go save us now."

=============

Let's go back to when Mutsu successfully entered the room of the Other Shore Passage before the door lock was closed by Fukashi Lullaby.

With a thud, Mu crashed solidly into the four little ones, and all five of them fell backward together. The sealed room was filled with groans of pain. Mu had just crashed into them and was still on top of them.

Mu got up from the ground and glanced at the locked door. At this moment, time had rewound to when they were fighting against Deep Stone Lullaby.

Fortunately, I managed to break in before that happened, so I didn't have to be so nervous afterwards.

Mu breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his head and looked through the broken window at the next room. The five people on the other side were also looking this way, slowly retreating towards the passage on the other side.

Without a doubt, they returned to this side through the passage on the other side.

"Finally..." Kyoko got up from the ground, stretched, and gave herself a thumbs up.

Of course, the person on the other side also gave a thumbs up.

The revolving doors of the passage to the other side opened towards two separate rooms as they approached. Then, to the accompaniment of music that played simultaneously in both forward and reverse directions, both groups entered the passage to the other side at the same time.

.....

The hands of the clock are turned around and return to normal.

The passage opened, and the four little ones walked out together onto the other side.

"Phew! Finally, I can breathe some fresh air!"

Xingzi took off her gas mask, let out a long breath, then turned her head and gave a thumbs-up to herself on the other side. The other self, emerging from the door and backing out, also gave a thumbs-up in return.

Mu gently squeezed Xingzi's shoulder: "It's not over yet."

A snapping sound rang out, and time resumed in chronological order, precisely at the moment when Deep Stone Lullaby was breached.

Mu pushed open the door and went out.

As soon as she stepped outside, she saw herself standing right next to her, almost face to face—the version of herself from just a minute ago.

Mu, on the other side, was pulled by the silk thread and flew backwards to the other end of the corridor.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, Mu's heart still skipped a beat when she saw her face wearing a gas mask, followed by a wave of fear.

She didn't even want to think about what would happen if they actually bumped into each other.

After breathing a sigh of relief, Mu immediately focused on how to get out. They had returned to the moment when Shen Shi Lullaby died, and there was still some time before Xiangzi and she came over, opened the door, and entered the inner space.

But—the main entrance is no longer an option.

If she went through the main gate, she would definitely bump into her other self. Maya had already explained what would happen if she bumped into her other self, and she didn't dare to take that risk.

Therefore, we have to go through the back door.

But after a while, Xiangzi and Xiangzi will start fighting again at the back door.

They had to evacuate before the fighting reached this area, so time was still very limited.

Now that they had returned to this world, the four little ones were no longer tormented by unfamiliar physical forces like friction. Mu ran ahead of them with peace of mind, unlocked the back door with the silk thread, and slipped out.

Just as they were leaving the museum through the back door, the front door was opened by their past selves—but this had nothing to do with them anymore.

In addition, when Mu and the four little ones left the art museum, their eyes met those of Yan, who was still in the security room.

The eye contact lasted only a moment before Mu saw Yan rub his eyes, glance at the main entrance, then at her, and finally let it go.

“Flame, you can see us,” Mu said.

"Uh..." Homura looked back at herself as she left the security room to support Kyoko and Sayaka in the main hall battlefield, and said with a complicated expression, "So I really was seeing things back then..."

"Forget it, what's past is past. It doesn't really matter whether we saw it or not." Kyoko put her hand on Yan's shoulder and said nonchalantly, "Why don't we count how many 'you' there are at this point in time? Let me count... Just the two of us on this side, plus the ones on the other side, that's... three? Are there really three that many?"

Sayaka counted on her fingers.

"It seems so..."

"How amazing! There really are three of us existing at the same time!" Xiaoyuan exclaimed, her mouth agape. "This familiar called the Other Shore Passage is incredible..."

"..." Yan lowered her head and gently bit her lip.

Hearing her companions lament about their future selves becoming witches made her feel particularly uneasy.

"it......"

"You guys go wait for Xiang in the grove first, I have something to do."

Mu's voice made Yan swallow back what she was about to say.

"Where are you going?" Kyoko asked.

"I'm going to save you," Mu said calmly.

"We're right here, why would we need to—wait, what?!" Kyoko gasped, her mouth agape, and rubbed her chin. "I knew something felt off back then, turns out—"

So the Mu who saved the four of them back then is the Mu of today?!

The Tale of Reincarnation: The Shore of Oblivion: Chapter 528 A Short Rest

What happened next is something we've already experienced.

Mutsu (now) returned to the art museum, saved the four Mitakihara kids (in the past) who were almost killed by Asami's barrage of comments, took them to a safe place, and then hurriedly left.

Shortly after she left, Mutsu (past), who had received a hint from Shoko (now), went to support Shoko (past) and reunited with the severely injured Shoko (past) and the four children of Mitakihara (past). Mutsu (now) returned to the grove after leaving and reunited with everyone.

From then on, the existence of three of their own art museums at the same time became a thing of the past.

Xiangzi saw Mu Hui's figure from afar and jumped up to wave vigorously at her.

The afternoon sun shone through the buildings onto the small street where they were.

Although it was the height of summer, for them who had just returned from the frigid other side, the sunshine at this moment was undoubtedly the most cherished.

The group gradually disappeared at the end of the street, passing by the belated fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances.

Viewed from above, the museum, resembling a white ring, gradually recedes into the distance, its shape tangent to the circular bulbs of the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, forming a shape that looks like the horizontal Arabic numeral 8. Then, the museum's shadow gradually disappears, leaving only the chandeliers on the ceiling.

"Ches—!"

Six glasses clinked together, each filled with apple juice, mango juice, and juices from various other fruits. The magical girls, fresh from their victory, gathered around a table at a street stall, clinking their glasses together with a crisp, tinkling sound.

The time was that evening, and the few of them

Xingzi tilted her head back and gulped down the apple juice in her glass in one go. Afterward, she wiped her mouth with a flourish and let out a loud shout that only a middle-aged man who had just finished drinking could manage.

"Ah—that feels so good! After being in that container for so many days, I was practically worn out!"

“The experience on the other side is amazing, but…” Xiaoyuan said with a smile, holding a glass of orange juice, “After a while, I still feel that the normal world is better.”

"Yeah, yeah." Sayaka blushed and put her arm around Kyoko's shoulder, holding up a glass filled with a clear yellow liquid. "It's still the normal world, isn't it!"

"Hey, what are you doing?" Kyoko slapped Sayaka's hand away in disgust. "Why are you acting like you've been drinking...? That glass of yours wasn't actually alcohol, was it?"

"What kind of alcohol? This is a fermented wheat beverage!"

"Isn't fermented wheat beverage just alcohol?!" Xingzi picked up an empty can from the side and looked at it. "What is kvass?"

"I already said it wasn't alcohol~ Minors can't drink~" Sayaka seemed like a completely different person, hugging Kyoko and slurring, "Kyoko, let me tell you, this trip to Kamihama..."

"Is this... starting again?" Xiangzi pointed over there with his thumb, looking at Yuan and Yan.

"...More or less." A bead of sweat rolled down Yan's forehead.

"Wow, they have a really good relationship. I'm a little envious," Xiangzi said, looking over there with interest.

"I've already told you we don't get along!" "I really like Anzu!"

"what?!"

"Although this guy is a bit wicked and always makes fun of me and says some really annoying things, I still like him quite a bit!" Sayaka hugged Kyoko's neck, blushing as she gave everyone a thumbs up.

Sayaka looks like a completely different person now.

"That's foul! Don't put your face so close to mine!" Kyoko pressed her head down with a contorted expression, looking pleadingly at the group of people around her. "Come and help me!"

"You are dead, do not mourn."

"Hello----!"

"I guess this is karma," Yan said.

"Haha...who says otherwise?" Xiaoyuan smiled, as if to say, "It's not so bad."

......

It was later discovered that Sayaka's drink really did not contain alcohol; she was simply allergic to some fermented substance in the beverage. But that's another story.

Leaving the two rascals aside to do their thing, Xiangzi started discussing other things.

The incident began when Yan lifted her clothes and touched the scars on her lower abdomen.

The hard, uneven texture that her fingers felt was completely different from the softness of her skin, causing her to frown slightly.

After returning to this shore, her injuries did not worsen, so she should be truly alright. However, her wounds were healed...

"I'm sorry for spoiling everyone's fun at the celebration party, but I can't put my mind at ease..." Yan said anxiously, "What should we do next?"

"..."

Xiangzi's upturned lips slowly returned to a straight line.

“There’s no rush to talk about this.” She took a sip of orange juice.

"Feel sorry......"

“But since you’ve already said it, then so be it.” Xiangzi shrugged, his gaze becoming somber. “Now all the flowers are in Mami’s hands, and we don’t even know where she is.”

“Even at what time,” Xiaoyuan added.

Mami and the Ode Faction still control most of the passages to the other side, and they have no idea when or where Mami, who has all the flowers, will appear.

Wouldn't that be a dead end?

Xiangzi bit her lip lightly, looked up at everyone, and it was clear that everyone else thought the same thing.

emmmmm......

but.

Xiangzi blinked.

She had been living in a rather chaotic period and almost forgot that, besides herself and the eulogists, there were others who had also experienced the transition between this shore and the other shore.

Pastel*palettes are also the predecessors of Ashihara, who are also deeply involved in this war between this shore and the other shore, between magical girls and magical girls, between the past, present and future.

They knew far more than Xiangzi.

Moreover, before leaving, Maya gave him something.

“Mami gave me a location information before,” Xiangzi said. “PasPale obviously knows a lot. She wouldn’t give us an address for no reason. I think we can find a breakthrough here.”

She gave a reassuring smile.

"But let's skip it today. We've been living in these containers for so long, none of us have had a proper rest. Let's find somewhere to sleep tonight, and tomorrow we'll go to the address PasPale gave me." Xiangzi picked up his glass, making a gesture as if to clink glasses. "How about it?"