Chapter 27: Planning the Plan

Sunday Morning
It was already 7 a.m., and I was still struggling to process everything that had happened. I noticed that Mizu and Akane were already awake; when they saw me, they greeted me.
— “Hi Taiyaki, I see you’re awake. Were you able to sleep well despite what happened last night?” Akane asked, curious yet worried about my mental state.
— “If you’re still having trouble, try to take things slowly. Don’t rush—we still need to figure out what to do with Kori,” Mizu said, sounding a bit irritated.
— “Girls, honestly, I don’t even know what to say about all this. For now, I think it’s better, like I said yesterday, that we just focus on training. After a month, we’ll decide whether to go after Kori and the Demon Queen, or wait a little longer.”

I said that to try to ease the tense atmosphere. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to go after Kori yet—the level of magical power and elements we had wasn’t enough. We needed to improve much more and find something new, something that would leave Kori unable to counter our attacks.

— “Well, while we wait for Mizuki to wake up, let’s go have breakfast to regain strength and energy for this difficult day,” Mizu said seriously.

Just then, Mizuki woke up, looked at us, and muttered drowsily:
— “Hey, you’re all up already? What’s for breakfast? I’m starving.”

We all fell silent, a bead of sweat rolling down our faces. Somehow, her words lightened the tense atmosphere.

We headed down to the kitchen, where Mizu’s mother already had breakfast prepared for us.
— “I see you’re all up. Here you go, girls—this is a complete breakfast so you’ll have energy and strength for this big, beautiful day. Eat it slowly, or it’ll feel like a fireball exploding in your stomach, and you’ll regret it.”

She said it calmly and happily, as if she didn’t know what had happened or what was happening in this world. I couldn’t blame her, but I knew that for now, eating and then heading to my house to plan was the best thing to do.

The breakfast was dragon potato toast with butter, coffee with milk, and croissants filled with ham and cheese. It was a traditional meal in this world. I only had it a few times a year, but whenever I did, it became one of my favorite days. It reminded me of the food from my previous world. I noticed Mizu looking at me, her eyes trying to say something.

I didn’t understand what she meant until she activated an ability and spoke to me telepathically.
— “After this, we’ll go to your house to decide our training. We must make sure the others don’t find out about our secret. I don’t know how they’d react if they discovered who we really are—especially you, Franco.”

I answered her telepathically:
— “I understand, but don’t worry. That won’t happen—we’ve been careful this whole time. I doubt they’ll discover it. And even if they did, I’m sure they’d still understand us.”

I replied calmly, certain that nothing bad would happen. But she looked frustrated, and within our mental conversation, she told me:
— “I hope you’re right, because if not, I swear I won’t know what to do to help you.”

I could see how much it bothered her to hide our secret from Akane and Mizuki. After what happened with Kori’s betrayal, I wasn’t sure whether things would turn out as I said—or if the worst would happen.

— “Relax, everything will be fine. Nothing bad will happen. Please trust me, Cleer.”

She sighed and replied:
— “Alright, I’ll believe you. I just hope this doesn’t end as badly as I fear.”

We finished breakfast, got dressed, and prepared to leave. Before we went, Mizu’s mother said:
— “By the way, be careful. I heard there was a murder at the party you went to last night. This isn’t a game—you must learn what it means to be Magical Girls. Try not to die so easily; demons and monsters won’t show you much mercy. Good luck on your mission to kill the Demon Queen. May the Goddess’s light and fortune be with you.”

After that, we left Mizu’s house and headed to mine. On the way, I noticed people looking at us—not with hatred, resentment, or envy, but with pity. As if they knew what we’d been through, as if they understood that our former friend had betrayed us. It felt like they were trying to cheer us up. I tried not to show how broken I was, to appear strong, to prove I wouldn’t give up on defeating the Demon Queen. She had to be killed for all the pain in this world to end. When I reached her, I would make her pay for everything.

— “Girls, let’s try to stay strong for the civilians. Let’s give them hope, so they don’t lose faith in this world. Even though we were betrayed, we can still be strong without Kori. I hate her so much… When I see her again, I’ll make her pay for everything she didn’t do. How could she betray us? How could she? To think we were friends, that we became close… but she’s nothing more than a vulgar, damned traitor.”

Akane said that with such anger that the veins in her forehead were visible.

— “I know, Akane. I want to kill Kori too. But for now, let’s just go to Taiyaki’s house and start training. Try to calm down so your anger doesn’t cloud your mind,” Mizuki said, trying to ease Akane’s rage. She seemed genuinely worried about her.

Meanwhile, Mizu looked at me with a worried expression, watching how I reacted to all this. I reassured her that nothing bad was happening, and she calmed down. After about fifteen minutes, we finally reached my house.

I knocked, and my father came out, looking worried.
— “I know what happened, daughter. Don’t worry—I know what this feels like, I went through it once too. But I want to ask you one thing: don’t let this consume you. Don’t let revenge become your only focus, or you won’t be able to become the best version of yourself.”

He said that as he gently patted my head, which comforted me. Some of the hatred I felt toward Kori’s betrayal eased, though I still carried some of it inside me. I knew I had to meditate to find peace within myself.

— “I know, Dad. I know I can’t let this make me lose my path. I’ll try to let go of this feeling, and together with my friends, we’ll save this world.”

We entered my house, went to my room, and closed the door. We sat down in a cross formation, and Mizuki spoke first.
— “Alright, I think I know how we can defeat the Demon Queen—and at the same time, end Kori’s life.”

Feeling a bit hopeful, I replied:
— “I know what we could do—what if we combine our Magical Elements to create a powerful Magical Girl? Like a fusion of several Magical Girls. I don’t know if this would work, but at least we’d lose nothing by trying. What do you think of my idea? Should we try it, or go with Mizuki’s?”

Everyone paused, deep in thought. It was clear none of them had ever heard such an idea before. Finally, Mizu spoke:
— “It might be possible. Rumors say a kind of fusion can be achieved… but how? We don’t know what steps to take or how to do it. It’s like staring at a blank page, where we need to draw what we want to create.”

I thought hard, searching my memory for clues. Suddenly, I remembered several shows where characters performed fusions, always requiring specific steps. So I shared an idea I believed could work.
— “Hey, what if we try creating a fusion step by step, just like in those shows? That could be the solution to our problems. What do you say—should we try to create the fusion ourselves?”

Everyone looked shocked at my suggestion. Akane replied seriously:
— “To do that, we’d have to ask one of the Elite Magical Girls from the party for help. I’m sure they could guide us.”

Excited, Mizu said:
— “It’s settled—we’ll ask the Elite Magical Girls for help to create the Fusion.”

And so it was decided. We would head to the Guild to seek the Elite Magical Girls’ help in creating the plan: Magical Elemental Girl Fusion.