“Are you absolutely sure you can get home on your own!?”
“I’m not alone.”
“Are you absolutely, positively sure!?”
“I’ve called a car to pick me up.”
“Are you absolutely, positively, absolutely sure!?!?!?”
“Stop pestering me, Sere!!”

The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting shadows over the communal graveyard.
Sitting on a bench illuminated by a streetlight, Sere scowled as she tidied up rubbish… an empty crisps bag and a plastic cola bottle…

“But I’m worried about you, big sis…!”
“I’m not your big sis, Sere.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”

The silver-haired girl smiled awkwardly, realising she’d been found out.

For Momozuki Haruka, it was a real nuisance. She was eternally grateful for Sere guiding her home, covering the shortfall for the cola, and leading her to the memorial after she’d missed the bus…

　But a sister was different.
A sister was someone related by blood.
Haruka Momotsuki had no one left related by blood.
Even if it was by marriage… there was only a year or two between them in age. As if to say that was enough, Sere showed a determined expression.

“…Haaah…! If anything happens! If anything happens! Contact me here!”
“Device address? I don’t need that sort of thing…”
“Never mind that! Just hold on! I’ll send it!”

Sere fiddled with the foldable communication device.
Thought communication notifications: ‘Contact added: [Serebryaniy Adamov]’, ‘Hacking detected’, ‘Set as emergency contact’, ‘Added to important contacts list’.

“Don’t just casually hack me!”
“Hmph! Your security’s weak, Haru-chan… Hey, shall we stay together until the pick-up car arrives? I’m just really worried…”
“You’ve got things to do too, right, Sere?”
“Yeah, but still!”

Waaah, Sere cried dramatically.
Thoughts were forbidden.
Annoying, or something. Annoying, and such. Even if she tried to suppress those feelings, there was no strawberry milk. Yet, for some reason, Momozuki Haruka found it distasteful that someone from the [Organisation] was coming to pick her up.

The blacked-out car arriving at the end of the mission.
That somehow felt…

“Are you absolutely sure? Are you really alright??”

She didn’t want this girl to see it.

　She’s so meddlesome.
She can’t ignore a child bouncing around in front of a vending machine.
She’d just go along with them, that strange girl.

She laughs a lot.
She really does laugh a lot.
An ordinary girl with a rich range of expressions.

“…Just go, Sere. You’ve got a meeting, right?”
“Ugh, ugh, ugh…!”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You, who didn’t even know how to take the bus alone!?”
“Guh… I’ll be fine! I’ll call you if I get stuck again!”
“You said it!”

Gently.
Haruka Momotsuki’s left hand was enveloped by Sere’s cold hands.

“Promise me! If you get upset, confused, or find yourself in danger!
You absolutely must contact me!
　Understood!?”
“…Yeah.”
“Right, it’s settled! …See you later.”

Her head was stroked.
For some reason, her eyes grew hot.
Haruka Momotsuki suddenly craved strawberry milk.

Sere looked back repeatedly, reluctantly, as she moved away from Haruka Momotsuki.
A black-painted car emerged from the shadows.
　Noticing her escort had arrived, Sere’s expression brightened instantly.

And so, waving to each other, the two parted ways.

＊

BAR.
Somewhere amongst the skyscrapers of Magus City Tokyo.
The upper floors of a high-rise building. A place where the water city lay spread out below, visible through the windows.

“…You’re late, Adamov. What were you doing?”
“Personal business. Don’t ask.”

The silver-haired girl —Serebryaniy Adamov— tossed her long hair back, brushing aside the question from the person already seated.
The other person rolled their glass.
A spherical ice cube danced within the whisky.
Only its light reflected in the window of the skyscraper as the sun set.

“Hey, Adamov…”
“Save your nagging for later. You’re in a bloody hurry, aren’t you?”
“You know that.”

With a sigh, the visitor declared.

“If you knew, you’d have come sooner. I prepared because you insisted, and it nearly all went to waste in the last ten minutes.”
“…My apologies.”
“I’m merely a guide mascot. If the magical girl players don’t move, I can do nothing. We don’t have the power to fight magical girls…”
“I apologised, didn’t I?! Just hurry up and give it to me! His location!”
“…Ah.”

The other person snapped their fingers.
The skyscraper window transformed into a monitor – a magical cyberdeck. A machine using M-particles, not miniaturised.
Displayed was a map of Magus City Tokyo.
　And a moving ‘strawberry pattern’ marker.

“In just over ten minutes, the target will leave Tokyo.”
“…Then—”
“Yes, we must act swiftly.”

The visitor tilted his glass.

“We must kill 【Strawberry Pink】 here.”