The doorknob broke easily as Kari twisted against the lock. She threw the door open to Principal Nishida stepping away and tripping backwards.

"S-Stop! You're a magical girl now, aren't you? Don't come any closer!" he cried from the ground.

"You had a lot more threats to give when you thought I was just a high school girl. I'm here to say I've quit school," Kari remarked, kicking the door closed behind her as she walked in and transformed. With her stats restored from levelling up, she summoned [Destruction and Ruin] into her outstretched hand and propped the weapon on her shoulder.

The terror in her principal's eyes delighted her.

She took a step forward, but Rocky flew between them.

"Kari, this is wrong. You're supposed to be helping people, not terrorizing them!" The anthem pleaded to a side of her that wasn't listening. At least not for someone like him.

"If you don't want to see this, then step outside." She glared.

The conflict brewing in Rocky didn't last very long. He glanced over his shoulder at the principal and floated out of sight.

Without anyone to come to his defense anymore, Principal Nishida began to crawl away. Kari flew forward and landed with one foot on his back. Any more weight and she might snap his spine in half.

"What… What do you want? Is this about your friend? I'm sorry! I won't go near her ever again!" he whimpered.

"Oh? You don't want her to suck you off anymore?" Kari snarled.

Crk!

"Ahh… ahh… I can't… feel my legs…" Principal Nishida wriggled his upper torso and arms, but his body below the waist was completely still.

"My bad. I didn't actually mean to do that. What I really wanted to try was this." She brought Ruin down on his head. The bladed edge passed through and embedded into the floorboards. Principal Nishida's face didn't split open, instead terrified whimpers came to a stop.

When Kari wrenched the weapon from the ground, a ghostly form of Principal Nishida came out with it. He gawked at himself, at her, and finally at his physical body lying still as a corpse. She might as well have killed him, yet no sense of guilt or remorse tormented her. If anything, she was relieved to have done it.

The heart emblem on the side of her weapon became a tad brighter, a sign that it had absorbed a piece of Principal Nishida's soul as power.

"What did you do to me?" he asked, desperation in his voice growing.

Any moment, his soul should return to the body. The tooltip read that they were only temporarily incapacitated, but…

"Wait… help! Please!" the principal cried desperately as wispy, translucent hands dragged him into the ground.

"What did your weapon just do?" Rocky asked.

"Not sure. It wasn't me though, not that it matters now," she said, sneering at what was left of Suginuma High's principal.

The manga cafe's lobby was understandably empty the next morning. Only a few very early risers and an employee at the front counter were up, all of whom were occupied minding their own business on laptops, reading comics, or watching the television. Sunlight escaping past the curtains, reflected off empty mahogany tables and floorboards, caused Kari to squint as she entered the cafe-restaurant section of the establishment.

Rocky followed close behind, despondent after last night's incident. Meanwhile, Kari was feeling great. Though she slept for much fewer hours than usual, it nevertheless turned out to be a restful and peaceful night.

She filled a paper cup with cappuccino from the self-serve beverage machines provided freely to the customers, then tuned her ears to the TV in time for the news. Unbeknownst to the clerk, Kari had walked up to the counter as he was flipping through the channels. Only snippets of the news anchors' reporting made it through before the channels changed.

"Yesterday morning, a Malevolent Domain was raised in the southern edge of Minato City—"

"Magical girl Candy was nowhere to be seen, but the fourth— Magical girl Kari was there when the dome shattered."

"—fought alongside Jade and Flare—"

"I'm feeling safer already!"

"The National Diet and Prime Minister are considering a magical girl registrar similar to the United States—"

"Keep magical girls out of politics—"

"A man in Yokohama was found comatose within his own home this morning by neighbors in what appeared to be a case of burglary. Now onto more exciting news that happened yesterday in Minato—"

"I still can't believe you did that to him…" Rocky murmured in disbelief, eyes fixed on the TV as the channel changed.

"You don't have to agree with what I do. Just keep quiet about it," Kari replied coldly.

Though she knew her anthem had no choice, because the world had a greater need for her than someone who abused his position of power in exchange for sexual favors. A cold hard truth that Rocky had understood well enough not to stop her when she severed Principal Nishida's soul.

Makina was safer for it, and his position at Suginuma would be filled before summer break ended anyway.

"Are you going to do this again?" he asked.

If it was necessary.

Kari stared at her hands that were stained with both human and monster blood. Last night, she didn't so much as hesitate like that time she broke Daisuke's leg.

"Only to those who deserve it," she answered flatly.

The clerk spun around in his stool and met Kari's eyes. "Sorry, what was that? Can I help you?"

"N-Nothing," Kari said. "I was just saying that guy from Yokohama— he deserved what happened to him."

"That so?" He lost interest and turned back to the TV to continue flipping channels until it landed on a game show.

The [Incognito] was working well even though her image was all over the news. If there were other quality of life passive skills available for purchase, picking them up might be a good idea over leveling.

Just as Kari was about to step away, she received a text from Kanae about a job offer. She wasn't exactly hurting for money anymore, at least not for some time after taking her principal's money. Not the most noble thing to do robbing a brain dead man, but he didn't really need all that cash in his current state. Making the scene appear like a burglary also worked in her favor.

Right now, it would be best to accept Kanae's offer so as to not draw any suspicions. Especially after making a big deal of being strapped for money yesterday.

Kari flew out to Utsunomiya, following the GPS location Kanae had sent her.

The job was a simple photoshoot of them looking pretty holding a toy company's new line of mascot plushies. One of them she recognized from Makina's bed was a frog with bulgy eyes and its tongue hanging out. This one was new and hadn't been released yet, among the others they were about to take pictures with.

Flare and the director talked business between each session. Meanwhile, Kari was frozen solid on a chair as several women took care of her makeup. Their words were flowing in one ear and out the other. All around her, people ran around frantically setting up cameras and lighting equipment, or tinkering with something on the computer and raising a green screen for the backdrop.

The second Kari stepped into the studio, she stopped feeling like a magical girl even though she was in the outfit and all. On the other hand, Flare neither flinched at the camera flashes nor minded the hundreds of directions given to her. She really carried herself like a true celebrity, and might be closer to one rather than a magical girl.

This was all so overwhelming, Kari began to feel lightheaded. Although her hunger might be the biggest contributing factor.

"Does that make sense?" the director asked after giving an explanation that flew over her head.

Kari nodded wordlessly.

"We've got a few more things to talk about. You chill here until we're ready." Flare patted her on the back as she and the director continued their conversation off to the side.

The people doing her makeup had finished and moved on, leaving behind a skittish young man to pick up after them. He was about to leave after packing his things, but took a few breaths to psych himself up and spun to face Kari.

"I… noticed you were looking faint. If you'd like, may I offer you some water and a snack?" The guy procured from his shoulder bag an unopened bottle of water and a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

"Thanks." Kari accepted them gratefully, but noticed he wasn't looking too hot himself. "You sure? I feel like you need this more than me."

He shook his head. "I'll be fine! I had a big breakfast because today's going to be a long day. I'll be grabbing a late dinner after this photoshoot."

"Natsume, you're not getting paid to fraternize with the VIPs. Get back to work!" the director shouted from across the room

The Natsume guy apologized to his boss, bowed to Kari, and quickly returned to work. He was soon replaced by Rocky, who dropped in after disappearing for half the photoshoot.

"How do I look?" Rocky asked, striking poses as if anything about him had changed.

"You're a rabbit," she replied curtly.

"They brushed my fur with dry shampoo! Look how pristine and smooth my ivory coat is now!" The anthem pouted.

Kari rolled her eyes.

The little pick-me-up given to her came in clutch and carried her through the rest of the shoot. By the end of it, Flare had to step out, leaving her alone with a crew of workers scrambling to clean up and go home.

"Thank you so much for coming today!" the director exclaimed, ducking under a diffuser panel as a worker carried it away. He reached into his suit and pulled out an envelope to hand over. It was filled with a thick stack of ten-thousand yen bills. "200,000 yen for full copyright and commercial use of today's photoshoot."

"Isn't this a lot?" she asked in disbelief.

"It is…? It is!" He nodded as a smile crept across his face.

The director pulled her aside behind the green screen curtain and showed her a few papers stuck to a clipboard.

"Listen, you were great! A natural! I can see your face on billboards and television already. What do you say about coming back and doing some solo work? You could be making tens— no, hundreds of thousands per shoot. I just need your name at the bottom, and we can have you back next week," he said in a rapidfire advert befitting a salesman.

All this cash in a single day from just having pictures of her taken, and the others did this on a daily basis. Most spent years in school or climbing up the career ladder to make as much as she did in one day. Her dad was wrong all along. Who cared about going to college or getting good grades if she was a magical girl?

Flare came up behind the director and snatched the clipboard from his hands, incinerating it all down to the metal clip which she tossed over her shoulder.

"What was that for?" Kari asked, furious that her future wealth crumbled to a pile of ashes.

"Encouraging the rookie to sign a shady contract? I knew I couldn't take my eyes off you," she said accusingly.

"Shady?" Kari raised a brow.

Sweat gave him away as he flicked his eyes between her and Flare.

"I'm a fair guy! I've treated you really well, and I wouldn't dare endanger this business partnership." He pulled out a phone to shake in their faces and headed for the exit. "Ahh, look at the time. I have a presentation meeting to get to."

Flare blew a stray cluster of hair from her eyes.

"Don't underestimate how ballsy those corporate execs can be. Put them and a head hound in the same room together, the head hound will come out having signed away its soul."

"You know, my new weapon can answer the age-old question of whether those greedy bastards have a soul or not," Kari remarked half-jokingly.

Both of them fell into hearty laughter. Several of the company employees who weren't sure if it was okay to laugh at their boss' expense, lowered their heads and pretended not to hear a thing.

With the photoshoot over, they flew high above the city to take in the sights of Utsunomiya Castle sitting upon its hill. Flare pushed her envelope of money into Kari's hands. It was five times thicker than the one she received.

"Wait, I can't take this!" Kari tried to return it, but Flare vehemently refused.

"I know about your situation. What's the world going to think if they find out magical girl Kari's living like a bum? Find a nice place to settle into. No compromises. Your image affects the rest of us," she said.

The more Flare showed her kindness, the more Kari suspected something fishy from her. All this money was chump change to a celebrity like her. Why did Flare care how she was living?

"Sure thing, boss."

Flare chuckled and put a hand on Kari's shoulder. "Thought you'd like to know— Rie's awake now. You should check up on her. I'm sure she'd like that."

The fiery magical girl and her anthem flew off in a streak of flames, leaving Kari overwhelmed with relief. She swallowed a deep breath and smiled to herself, knowing that Rie was alright.

Kari received a message on her phone a second later of an address to a hospital, and so flew towards the designated address.

As Kari sped down the corridor towards Rie's room, she made a mental checklist of all the things she wanted to talk to her about. So much had happened in such a short time. They could fight alongside each other on even footing now that she was closer in levels, strong enough to not be a burden, and hang out whenever they wanted.

She was excited to share all that again and more with her friend.

When Kari threw open the door, however, standing between the hospital bed and window was Tsubasa. She felt a wave of disgust travel down to the bottom of her gut, but that sensation vanished when Rie smiled at her entrance.

"Kari, Rocky! I'm so happy you came to see me!" Rie leaned against the bed's side rail and waved with her free hand, but the action caused her to wince in pain.

Tsubasa pulled her back into the bed and scolded her. "Quit moving so much. You want to end up in surgery again?"

"Ahah… Sorry."

The star child without her magical girl outfit was just a normal, fragile girl. She had a cast on her right forearm, bandages wrapped around her head, and a patch of gauze taped over her left eye. Yuyu was lying asleep by her side, and had likely been there since Rie was hospitalized.

"If this is a bad time, I can come back later," Kari said.

"I was just about to leave." Tsubasa peeled off the window she had been leaning on. "Make sure to keep resting and listen to the doctors when they tell you to take your damn medicine. I'll drop by again tomorrow."

"Okaaaay~" Rie replied, drawing out an exaggerated sigh.

Tsubasa looked and sounded more gentle around Rie. In contrast, Kari's encounter with her only went as far as making eye contact to acknowledge each other's existence. She was ten times more at ease as soon as Tsubasa left the room.

"Thought you might be craving something better than hospital food." Kari grinned, raising a bag of cake from Rie's favorite store in Tokyo.

While they ate together, Kari caught Rie up on what happened while she was hospitalized. The girl listened with avid interest. People normally nodded and responded with single words. Not Rie. She made conversations out of the smallest things.

"I expected someone as popular as you would get hundreds of gifts from fans during your recovery?" Kari took notice of the rather empty and modest room.

"My hospitalization is a secret. No one but us and the top doctors know I'm here. Kanae doesn't want us showing weakness to the public," she replied meekly.

That line of thinking by Kanae probably made Rie feel more lonely than she already was. Maybe that was why Tsubasa was so eager to leave that day they came to recruit her.

"Anyway, I can't believe you're quitting school! That means no more culture festival, making memories with friends, and doing club stuff!" Rie exclaimed.

"Don't need to be a student for any of that. Besides, magical girls got more important things to do." Kari shrugged with indifference.

School life never interested her to begin with. If she could have been an adult right from the start, all of her decisions would be her to make.

Minato suddenly sent her a text asking to meet up. It was getting late, and he normally didn't stay out past evening.

"You have to go?" she asked.

"I think my friend wants to meet up. See, don't need to be a student anymore for that. Get better soon so we can hang out, too."

Back in Minato City, Kari followed the address to a children's park behind a big apartment complex. A small place mostly surrounded by concrete rather than trees, with sparse amenities for children to play in like a single slide and seesaw.

She saw ten figures below, illuminated by flickering lamps and ambient light from phones. There were more people than just Minato down there.

"Hey! Why don't you come down and have a chat?" a familiar voice that surely had a smug grin called to her.

Kari landed, seething as she realized it was Tetsuo and his group of friends. Minato was sitting on a rocking horse, face bruised and glasses at his feet. Someone was pressing his shoulders from behind.

"Shit. She really is a magical girl…"

"Is this really a good idea?"

A few of them whispered amongst each other. They all had phones out facing in her direction.

"Minato, you good?" she asked.

"Don't take the bait, they're trying to— " His mouth was stuffed with something she couldn't very well make out in the dark.

Tetsuo hobbled forward with his crutches, coming to the circle of light cast by the lamppost.

"You're doing everything you can to piss me off," Kari snarled, taking a step forward.

"Hey, c'mon. A magical girl wouldn't hurt an innocent person, would they? Or maybe they would break a leg instead?" he remarked.

The comment gave her pause.

Tetsuo continued, "Funny how coincidences happen. Daisuke ended up in the same hospital as mine with a broken leg. No one believed him that some girl in a hoodie did it. I mean, he's a big guy. The only way it could happen is if someone like you did it, huh?"

"He deserved it! But you, I'll break more than just your one leg if you want to fuck with me." She summoned [Destruction and Ruin] for the second day in a row.

"Hey, Tets. She isn't biting!"

"I knew this was a bad fucking idea!"

The act caused everyone to tense up. Even Minato was shaking his head, begging her to reconsider.

"You can't seriously be thinking of doing that again!" Rocky cried.

"A magical girl beating up a bunch of kids won't go well with the news." Tetsuo remarked snidely. "You also wouldn't want more pictures of Makina getting out to the world, would you? Tell you what, you help me with a little something, and I'll delete these pictures and forget you broke Daisuke's leg."

Kari drew a blank. She tightened her grip on the weapon until the sound of giggling filled the park.

"Ahehehehe…"

"Ahah… hehehee…"

Seven head hounds emerged from the dark, smiling and licking their gnashing teeth.

"Monsters! There's monsters here?!"

"Kari, help us!"

All the bravery from Tetsuo's gang went up in smoke as they met their match with something that couldn't be reasoned with.

Kari prepared herself to fight. "Get behind me—"

Or maybe, she didn't have to.

She flew forward and shoved the guy holding Minato away. He stumbled back into a head hound that crunched half his body.

"Kaname!" Tetsuo cried. "Kari, you bitch!"

That's when they realized she wasn't here to help and began to scream. She pulled the gag from Minato's mouth, then lifted him and Tetsuo into the air as people were getting devoured one after the other.

"What are you doing?! They're dying down there! Help them!" the cripple screamed desperately.

Kari looked him in the eye and said, "I don't think I will."

She flew some ways away from the pack of hounds and dropped him. He landed hard, then glanced over his shoulder to see the monsters turning their attention to him. Without his crutches, he was powerless to even attempt to escape.

"You fucker! All this because Makina got dicked? It's not like she got killed or anything! You want me to lose another leg? Arm? Fine! Just p-please don't let me die!"

"You're right, but this isn't about equivalent exchange. I just don't care." Kari sneered.

"Wait, wait… Flare made— " His own screams cut him off from finishing the sentence. A head hound bit off his remaining leg, another two chewed off his arms, and as he gurgled up blood and twitching in his death throes, his head was finally ripped off.

When all traces of Tetsuo and his gangs' bodies had been eaten, Kari finished off the head hounds. They were the most satisfying 7,000 point gain she had ever gotten.

"Kari… what have you done?" Emerging safely from behind a tree, it was Minato who asked what Rocky couldn't.