Bubble, bubble~ Bubble, bubble~
Inside the kitchen, the dried noodles Makoto had taken out of the refrigerator were boiling in a pot.
Barring any unexpected developments, this would be their dinner for the evening.
Following Makoto’s question, the room seemed to fall into a brief silence.
Click, clack~ Click, clack~ Click, clack~
Within the quiet apartment, Homura remained silent.
However, the speed at which she was loading ammunition into her handgun seemed to increase noticeably.
The mechanical clicks also grew considerably louder.
It almost felt as though she didn’t know how to answer, so she had decided to resort directly to intimidation.
Seeing this, Makoto wore an amused expression, as though he were watching a little girl throwing a tantrum.
He wasn’t in any hurry to break the silence between them.
Instead, he simply listened quietly to the sounds of Homura preparing her firearms.
Maintaining a perfectly calm expression, as though nothing unusual had happened, he brought over the freshly cooked noodles and placed a bowl in front of Homura, who was still assembling her weapons.
This, more or less, was their dinner for the day.
Makoto Tsukimi: “If we can find a way for me to share my senses with someone else, Homura, would you be interested in experiencing what it feels like to have your dreams come true inside an illusion?”
Without the slightest hesitation, Makoto launched directly into his sales pitch.
Makoto Tsukimi: “Don’t worry. When it comes to this sort of thing, I definitely have more experience than anyone else in the world.”
“I can give you wonderful experiences that simply don’t exist in reality.”
“Within fantasy, you’ll be able to see absolutely anything you want to see.”
As he spoke, he pointed toward himself.
The confidence of someone who possessed a treasure trove of creative knowledge from another world practically radiated from him.
After finishing his explanation, Makoto looked at Homura with considerable enthusiasm.
His Sensory Manipulation ability could currently simulate experiences only according to his own thoughts.
However, if he could introduce another person’s senses into the process, the number of possible variations would increase enormously.
The simplest example was Homura herself.
Makoto had never experienced anything remotely resembling the gun battles and dangerous encounters that Homura had survived.
And with his fragile physical constitution, he had absolutely no intention of picking up a gun and exchanging fire with enemies or fighting terrifying witches in the real world.
As for whether Homura would cooperate with him in creating an imaginary world…
A girl who obsessively struggled to save Madoka Kaname.
A Sisyphus who stubbornly continued pushing his boulder.
Makoto refused to believe someone like her had no deeply cherished desires or things she desperately wanted to accomplish.
And would a person with such powerful desires really have no interest in experiencing the fulfillment of those desires within a fantasy?
Even if they knew perfectly well that everything was fake?
Homura Akemi: “…”
At some point, the hand that had been instinctively loading ammunition into her handgun came to a stop.
Looking at Makoto, Homura suddenly felt an inexplicable urge to give him a good beating.
Not long ago, this boy had exposed the very thing she feared most deeply.
His words had shaken her so badly that she had momentarily forgotten to look for Madoka.
And now he was dangling yet another strange bargaining chip before her.
What’s with that enormous smile?
Does he think I’m definitely going to agree?
Staring at Makoto, Homura desperately wanted to reject his proposal on the spot, if only to wipe that irritating smile off his face.
Yet even as she glared at him, she couldn’t bring herself to open her mouth and refuse.
An opportunity to witness beautiful scenes that existed only in fantasy…
Makoto Tsukimi: “Actually, what I said earlier about parallel worlds might not necessarily be correct.”
“Perhaps there’s only one world to begin with.”
“Maybe the very act of traveling through time creates ripples in the river of time, affecting events even further in the past and causing countless things to change as a result.”
Makoto abruptly shifted the conversation to another subject.
In truth, it was only afterward that he had realized how deeply his parallel-world hypothesis might have affected Homura.
After all, he hadn’t initially known that Homura’s sole purpose in traveling through time was to save Madoka Kaname.
Now that he wanted Homura to continue helping him in the future, he naturally needed to clear up this misunderstanding.
Homura Akemi: “So what exactly are you trying to say?”
The girl looked directly into Makoto’s eyes with her violet gaze.
Both her voice and expression were exceedingly cold.
After all, Makoto had once again brought up a subject she desperately wanted to avoid thinking about.
Makoto Tsukimi: “Nothing in particular. I’m just here to make a sales pitch.”
“Would you be interested in helping me weave the imaginary dreams I can provide?”
“After all, even if you manage to return to this point in time again, there’s no guarantee we’ll ever meet each other in the next loop.”
If Homura’s time travel really involved jumping between parallel worlds, then just as she had never encountered Makoto during her previous loops, she might not encounter him during the next one either.
Makoto might be an individual who existed in Mitakihara only within this particular parallel world.
Makoto Tsukimi: “I may only have one opportunity to strengthen my ability.”
“And you, Homura, might likewise have only one opportunity to experience these imaginary dreams.”
Homura Akemi: “…”
The girl raised her head and stared at Makoto with her violet eyes.
Eventually, after the two maintained eye contact for some time, it was Homura who lowered her head first.
Homura Akemi: “I’ll give you information about a magical girl who possesses that kind of ability. But whether you can persuade her will be entirely up to you.”
Makoto Tsukimi: “Oh? So that means you actually have even more information about this than you’ve been telling me?”
Homura Akemi: “…”
She couldn’t help feeling that she spent an unusually large amount of time remaining silent whenever she talked with Makoto.
What’s with the way he’s looking at me?
Don’t tell me he thinks I’m going to reveal even more information to him.
Makoto Tsukimi: “Hmm? Homura, aren’t you going to eat your noodles? They won’t taste very good if you leave them sitting there until they get soggy.”
He pointed toward the bowl of noodles in front of her.
From Homura’s perspective, now that Makoto had obtained a satisfactory result from their negotiations, he had already begun casually eating his freshly cooked noodles right in front of her.
The cold-looking girl lowered her gaze toward her own bowl.
Inside the steaming bowl were only noodles and chopped green onions.
If Makoto had invited her to eat some extravagant meal at this moment, Homura would certainly have refused.
After all, she didn’t want to owe this troublesome boy any more favors.
But if it was merely a bowl of noodles with some green onions…
The girl picked up her chopsticks and began eating.
And the moment she took her first bite—
Her eyes instinctively widened.
It was unexpectedly delicious.
The flavor was unlike anything she had ever tasted before.
Her gaze almost involuntarily met Makoto’s.
What greeted her was the sight of the boy looking thoroughly delighted with himself.
Makoto Tsukimi: “You’re pretty lucky, Homura. I happened to make some boiled beef yesterday, so there was still some fresh beef broth in the refrigerator.”
As he spoke, he raised his chopsticks and slurped down another mouthful of noodles right in front of her.
Makoto Tsukimi: “Just simple beef broth, without adding anything else, served with noodles.”
“After plenty of experimentation, I’ve concluded that this is the most delicious way to prepare noodles.”
He delivered this explanation with an utterly serious expression before turning back toward Homura with a cheerful smile.
Homura Akemi: “…”
So this is where the trap was hidden?
Looking down at the bowl in her hands, Homura couldn’t help feeling that the boy in front of her was being rather underhanded.
Before becoming a magical girl, Homura had spent years hospitalized because of her heart condition.
Her physical health had imposed numerous restrictions on her life, and she had hardly ever been able to enjoy truly delicious food.
During her six time loops, she had also spent the overwhelming majority of her time carrying out her duties as a magical girl.
The rest had gone toward learning about weapons, their construction, and various combat techniques.
When she thought about it carefully, Homura realized that from the very beginning, she had been living a life completely unlike that of an ordinary girl her age.
Makoto Tsukimi: “So, Homura, what do you think of the taste?”
The boy’s voice sounded beside her once again.
This time, perhaps because the question had nothing to do with magical girls, the cold-looking girl didn’t avoid answering as she had on previous occasions.
Homura Akemi: “It’s better than I expected.”
Makoto Tsukimi: “Oh? Well, I have things here that taste several times better than this. I wonder if you’d be interested in trying them?”
A brilliant smile spread across Makoto’s face.
Homura raised her head and met his gaze.
She felt as though she was finally beginning to understand his methods.
Perhaps because she had already been tempted by his offers so many times, Homura gradually moved beyond her initial emotional resistance.
For a moment, the cold-looking girl even felt a strange sense of relief.
After all…
Homura had entrusted Makoto with the task of diverting Madoka Kaname’s attention so that she would no longer have time to concern herself with matters involving magical girls.
And if Makoto could so easily tempt and persuade Homura herself, then surely he would be able to do the same with Madoka.
Homura Akemi: “Makoto Tsukimi, do you think Madoka would be interested in these things?”
However, her question was met with a slightly peculiar look from Makoto.