Oriko Magica Sadness Prayer: Chapter 16

Kirika takes down another magical girl within a Witch's barrier by snapping her neck, remarking how good it is as that girl will never become a Witch. Elsewhere, Mami Tomoe is reading an article on her laptop in a diner about the unexplained deaths of two more female junior high students adding on to the previous two deaths, but Mami believes that there are many more than that. She also thinks to what Kyubey had said to about the disappearances of several magical girls from Kazamino after their arrival in Mitakihara as concerning. Kyubey tells her to prepare for the worst, that being that the territory fight between magical girls has spilled into the area. He believes it's at least one magical girl targeting others and asks Mami to look into the matter. Mami agrees to do so, but asks if he already suspects someone. Kyubey remarks that there was but he seems to have been mistaken. Mami finds difficultly in attempting to solve this issue as she has no clues to focus on, and that the police are more alert with their security in trying to track down the killer that Mami won't be able to go out and hunt Witches. She thinks it'd be nice if there was someone else available to help her, but of the magical girls she knows she doubts Homura would even agree to help her. Mami thinks this is such a headache when Yuma suddenly appears behind her and asks if she's alright and if she wants her to get something for her headache. Mami assures her she's fine and that it was just a figure of speech, but nevertheless she thanks Yuma for her concern before Kyoko shows up to try and redirect Yuma back to their seating, surprising both girls when they see each other again.

Back with Kirika, she talks with Kyubey who relays the same message to her about the magical girl killings. Kyubey was hoping for Kirika to provide him with a lead, but Kirika states she has no clue and that if she had run into the killer, she'd either have killed her or be killed herself. Kirika suddenly backtracks and states that if Kyubey is trying to make her a suspect then he's free to, but adds that murder was never apart of her wish. Thinking that answer would satisfy him, Kirika turns to leave but Kyubey stops her. She asks if he still has something more to say, and Kyubey simply tells her to take care of herself as they can't have more magical girls getting murdered. Kyubey believes this lead did not pan out for him as Kirika is very straight-forward and not the type that's skilled in lying or deception, and if she were the killer she isn't the type who would deny it afterward without raising suspicions. He was sure that Komaki's final words were pointing to Kirika, but now all he can do is hope for Mami to investigate for him. He notes that every magical girl he has warned so far have said that they have no idea who the killer is, making him wonder if the killer is an outsider or perhaps one of the magical girls he warned is lying to him.

Oriko meets up with Komaki's sister Koito who apologizes for being such a bother to her, but the other girl tells her to think nothing of it as there are situations where one can't ask advice of those closest to them. Oriko remarks that she's surprised that Koito chose to approach her first (revealing she was the person in Chapter 10), especially since Komaki never seemed to like Oriko, but Koito says that's not true. A flashback shows Koito with her sister where Komaki complains to her about losing to Oriko on the final exams and seeks to beat her on the next set. Koito tells her that if she's that awful she should ignore Oriko and that dwelling on her only gets her more annoyed. Komaki berates her sister and says why should she be the one to back down. She states that if someone annoys her, then she meets them head-on and that Oriko isn't a bad person at all, making Koito think her sister's being a tsundere. She says Komaki was never the type to avoid hard work and when she got into Shirome Middle School she worked even harder. Koito believes what her sister wanted was a rivalry with Oriko. When Komaki and Akira got murdered, she couldn't even cry at the funeral as she was scared, knowing that she knew Komaki was going out in the middle of the night and never tried to stop her, blaming herself for Akira also getting mixed up in it. Oriko calms Koito down and tells her it isn't her fault, but Koito says she's a terrible person for being afraid at confronting her about it that she pretended to not know and that's why Komaki was always mad at her and was watching her. Oriko reassures her and repeats that it wasn't her fault as she did what she could and that Akira was there of her own free will and not forced to go there by Koito, just it being simple bad luck. Koito tries to object to this, but Oriko tells her there's no need for her to display to everyone what lies within her heart as those who didn't know Komaki may interpret Koito's emotions as they like and attack her for it. She tells her it's better not to as she knows what it's like. Koito apologizes as he recalls that Oriko had also lost her father recently, and Oriko says that's precisely why she understands how she feels. Koito thanks Oriko for helping her and leaves shortly afterwards, where Oriko thinks to herself that if anyone is at fault here it's not Koito as she knows better than anyone else and wonders if Komaki is also watching her, thinking she wouldn't approve of her actions. Despite that, Oriko can't turn back on them now as she intends to hunt down Madoka and kill her.