Snow White
Tumbling along, or perhaps flying, she kept on running. It didn’t matter if she looked like a mess—she just ran. Lightning burst close enough that she could feel the heat, and the pieces of wood scattering around her were charred. Her eardrums were still intact, making her feel faint from the sound. But she still couldn’t let herself fall. She had to keep moving her legs.
Ripple’s sorrowful face rose in her mind.
After Cranberry’s exam, during that time before Ripple had vanished, she had sometimes smiled, and sometimes been angry, and sometimes played innocent—but the look Snow White imagined on Ripple was always sorrow. Snow White had always kept on making Ripple sad.
She knew what Ripple wished for. She wanted to live peacefully, without fighting anyone. She would go around resolving minor problems as a local magical girl.
Snow White had once wanted to be that sort of magical girl. She still admired those types, even now.
But she had made up her mind to do something else. Ripple would try to stop her, but she would not be stopped, continuing to move forward, dragging Ripple into things, bringing her misfortune, bringing many other people misfortune, and even Fal had vanished, but even then, she couldn’t stop.
Sometimes, Snow White wondered if she’d just wanted a place to vent her irritation. Sometimes, she even wondered if she’d just been having a temper tantrum and trying to let those feelings out through violence. She could hear the thoughts of those in need, but not her own, so she had no idea what the truth was. Maybe Marika would say, “What’s the problem with that?” and leave it at that. But Snow White couldn’t be as pragmatic as her.
Snow White had been deeply relieved to hear that the battle was over in N City. Ripple had followed her heart and continued to fight. Snow White’s cry to stop had been unable to stop her, and she had followed through to the very bitter end.
In the end, Ripple had avenged Top Speed, which had enabled her to defeat Fav. Snow White would never have been able to achieve such a serious accomplishment with cheap words alone.
She remembered that time, over and over again.
It had been a chilly spot, a dam in the middle of the night where the rain fell incessantly. It had been as if she were the only thing there that held heat. She had been battered and wounded, having lost an arm and an eye, using her weapon as a walking stick to stand. She had been so badly wounded, it was a miracle that she was even alive, never mind still on her feet. But still, her remaining eye had been filled with an overwhelming, magma-like heat.
Snow White’s breath had caught as she looked up at Ripple. She was frightening, horrific, brave, and so beautiful you would forget to breathe.
Koyuki Himekawa admired magical girls. But she had never thought she wanted to fight. She had never admired those magical girls who defeated villains through violence—until she had seen Ripple getting to her feet.
Now the Ripple who lived within Koyuki was hanging her head with a sorrowful expression. She did not look at Snow White.