Kana
Kana’s body was stronger. But things like Frederica’s combat experience, technique, that strange martial art, and her ability to handle things on the fly had kept her at Frederica’s mercy, and since Kana had been seriously wounded, it had become difficult to continue the fight. She had no hopes of winning if she kept fighting like this. She wasn’t in a position where she could wish for an honorable defeat and abandon everything.
Kana ran away. That was the most appropriate choice right now.
She moved like an insect in order to get away from Frederica’s pursuit; after making sure that she wasn’t being followed magically, she laid herself down on the floor of a destroyed classroom.
Why isn’t Frederica following me?
The answer that she had been attacked by a different magical girl and was fighting with her made her look up at the sky. This was so lucky, she couldn’t use “The heavens have abandoned me!” as an excuse.
But still, this was not a situation where she could somehow manage with luck alone. One of the reasons she was lying down was to hide, and the other was because it was hard to stay on her feet. Even with her exceptional vitality, she was bleeding too much. The more she moved, the more her body would slow down.
Breathing hard, she looked up at the ceiling of the destroyed classroom. Thinking about ceilings reminded her of the gymnasium. A basketball had wound up stuck between the steel beams, and in order to grab it, Kana, who was normally in magical-girl form, jumped up and then jumped too far and hit her head on a beam. Looking at the slight warping made her remember her classmates’ surprise and concern that time, and even how they had all laughed hard once they knew she was all right.
Where is Thunder-General Adelheid now?
No answer came back to her. In other words, Thunder-General Adelheid was nowhere right now. Kana clenched her teeth. She had done what she could to somehow save her, but she basically had no experience in saving people. She had been unable to save her, with her hasty preparation.
Mephis Pheles. What came to mind was the girl pretransformation. Mephis with her glasses flashing was the most familiar to her. Kana had spent the most time with her since she had become Kana, and she had learned various things from her.
Where is Mephis Pheles now?
The courtyard. She was still alive. She was relieved, and the next things that rose in her mind were the faces of Kumi-Kumi and Lillian, and her classmates. But before Kana could try to confirm the safety of the classmates she had yet to ask about, she gave up.
Why did she give up? Because she didn’t have the time to ask about each and every one and feel relieved or get disappointed. Or did she stop because she didn’t want to hear? Did she not want to hear those cruel replies and get hurt any further?
It seemed like maybe that was it. It also seemed like she’d grown weak.
She’d grown weak due to her severe injuries, from having run away from Frederica, and maybe even from becoming Kana in the first place. Not wanting any of her classmates to be missing was the wish of a weak person. Kana had seen a mountain of the weak, the unlucky, those watched by the strong, and those who had died because they should. And yet this late in the game, she was treating magical girls whom she’d only just gotten to know as special. If you didn’t call that weakness of the heart, then what would you call it?
Kana tensed her stomach and sat up. The fighting had gotten farther away. Or rather, the sounds of struggle had quieted. If she was going to go to the courtyard, would now be a good chance? Frederica would eventually head there. She might already be headed there. At the very least, Mephis would be in the courtyard, and most likely she would not be alone. She would let her know that Frederica was coming.
She stood up. She looked out a dirty window to see outside. There was no sign of the enemy. It seemed that all those Princess Lightnings had gone off somewhere.
She struck the glass with an iron ball to break it, and then scattering broken shards, she leaped outside to run right through the thick weeds. She ran as fast as she could past fallen magical girls in masks and Princess Lightnings. Kana had grown weaker, but she was still strong.