Oriko Magica Sadness Prayer Chapter 23: I Will Fight My Own Battles
Oriko discusses her estate with Kimihide, the latter asking Oriko if she's sure about what she intends to do. He says the house is rightfully hers as it was an inheritance from his father and he thought it was important to her and that the money she inherited is also enough to upkeep it. Oriko confesses to him that she hated him and her aunt, which Kimihide says he was aware of as he imagined from her perspective they were the villains of the piece and that apart from their situation Kimihide says he's not the type kids tend to be fond of. Oriko affirms his words and says his eyes are sharp and scary like a fox and that he had no idea how terrified she was the day they first met, both surprising and embarrassing Kimihide. Oriko states that when her mother passed away when she was younger she strived to be as strong as she could and that it perhaps forced her to close her heart, but after seeing Kimihide today she's been able to revise her opinion. She comments that foxes have surprisingly cute eyes, prompting Kimihide to tell her not to say such things and she giggles. Kimihide's assistant Saegusa comes in and notes how she's never seen Kimihide make an expression like that as he's been especially prickly lately with all that happened with Yaegashi. Upon hearing that name Oriko grows silent as she recalls what Yaegashi had said about her while Kimihide chides Saegusa for talking about private business matters. He notices Oriko's expression and asks her what's wrong, but Oriko waves it off as nothing and thinks that she'll leave the adult battles to the adults as she trusts Kimihide will win. Oriko prepares to leave and Kimihide asks her if she's on her way to school and if she needs a ride from him and Oriko declines saying she's just meeting up with a friend. She walks away from them and as she discards her school bag she remarks that she will fight her own battles. She finds Kirika waiting for her and the girl asks Oriko if she's ready, and she responds saying that one can never fully prepare oneself for something like this. She says she is about to hurt people who have nothing to do with her, and even if she saves the world, she knows she will not be forgiven for it. Kirika then asks her if she's hoping anything in particular forgives her, and Oriko smiles at her and says Kirika's not very good at being subtle, the other girl replying that she just doesn't have any experience with friends. She adds but who cares about that as neither of them will ever be forgiven and asks if she's still going to do it.
Meanwhile, Yuma groans about something she's been thinking heavily about and Kyoko questions her on it. Yuma says it's about something Kyubey said, that Witches spread despair around them and magical girls unleash their hope. With those facts in mind, Yuma wonders why a magical girl like Oriko would hurt others and make them unhappy as she feels she's acting just like a Witch. Kyoko tells her she's better off knowing and that she's thinking too much about every little trivial thing. Kyoko says that they're going after them because they're the enemy, plain and simple. Yuma agrees but adds that she's been thinking about how painful and scary it is to kill a magical girl, and because they're expected to do that she's been trying to get stronger for it. However she states that she thinks it's wrong to ignore when someone is hurting or scared and that she believes her magic is for healing that stuff. Kyoko looks at her questioningly and ruffles Yuma's hair as she says Yuma's a pain in the butt, but she already knew that and tells Yuma to promise her two things. One is when facing the enemy, to not go all sympathetic and hit her with all she's got. The second is if Kyoko says "run", she wants her to run. Yuma is confused at the last one, but Kyoko tells her to not get the wrong idea about that and elaborates that if she says it, she will run away with her too. Yuma agrees to it and says she will too when Kyubey suddenly arrives, having been looking for them. He informs them that Oriko and Kirika have shown themselves and that they need to group up and take action immediately.
It's revealed that Oriko has broken into Madoka's school to tell the students there that the world is facing a terrible threat and that she will do battle against it. Kirika then cuts the power and Oriko apologizes as that is the final act of contrition that will leave her mouth. With that said, their plan is put into motion and Kirika's soul gem reaches its limits, transforming and encasing the school in her Witch's wards. Homura is confused at how this happened as her classmates fall victim to Familiars around her. She states that it looks like she was lulled into complacency this time and starts searching for Madoka for as long as she can still save her she can live with this. She bids Sayaka and Hitomi goodbye and leaves them, all while Oriko walks amidst all of the chaos around her with Kirika (who hasn't yet become a full Witch.)
Elsewhere Koito is at school when she receives a message from someone about some weird people showing up at their school and everything is going crazy. She has an image set to her and Koito quickly recognizes the girl in the picture to be Oriko.