Suzune Magica Chapter 8: Compensation

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The chapter begins with Kyubey having finished showing Arisa and Matsuri Suzune's past. Matsuri asks Kyubey if he was lying earlier when he said that he didn't know the reason why Suzune was killing magical girls. He claims it wasn't a lie as no one could understand why she feels compelled to do so. Considering the risk that other magical girls might take her side if they were to learn of her objectives, Kyubey felt it was more efficient to leave things the way they were, looking at Arisa as he says that there is a possibility someone eventually would have killed her for them. Arisa is furious as she picks Kyubey up by his head, yelling that he tricked them, Chisato and Haruka. Arisa squeezes his skull until it bursts, Matsuri disgusted by the display. But Kyubey merely walks out from around the corner saying it was never their intention to mislead anyone, only that they hoped to lead everyone to the same rational perspective as them. The girls are even given a fair compensation for their services, even if he can't tell if the wishes are equivalent in value compared to what his race gains from the girls. He tells Arisa that he has countless body replacements should she want to kill him more, implying it would be pointless to vent her anger that way.

The scene changes and Arisa slams her fist down on an arcade game, the screen displaying "YOU LOSE" in prominent letters. As a crowd of onlookers stare at her, she tells them off and pulls her hoodie down over her face, walking out of the arcade. As she walks, she contemplates what Chisato's reaction would be and pauses in front of her home. Chisato's father appears and asks if she's a friend of Chisato but Arisa quickly turns and runs away. She remembers Chisato's wish and in flashback, recalls the time she asked Chisato what is was she wished for. Arisa is embarrassed, and tells her she was only curious but Chisato doesn't mind telling her. Chisato's father was an author of children's picture books, wanting to write the kind of stories that would "fill children's heads with dreams". While initially successful, his second and subsequent books sold poorly and soon he was unable to find a publisher for his books anymore. Chisato's father soon became a dunk and abused her mother despite her mother working desperately to support them all. Her health faded as a result and she died. Soon after, Chisato's father turned his abuse on Chisato, who quietly endured it until she came close to her breaking point. It was then that Kyubey appeared and she made her wish for her father to be reformed into a perfect father. As a result of her wish, her father no longer writes children's books. Chisato believes it is terrible of her to have used magic to change her father, but Arisa disagrees with her saying her mother wouldn't have been okay with her child being hurt just so her father could keep writing. Chisato smiles and thanks her amidst tears. The flashback ends as Arisa arrives at home, sitting down on the floor of her room. Arisa thinks back about how Kyubey said they were given fair compensation for their sacrifice and considers the wish she made. She wished only to become strong and for that she has been made into an empty husk, a monster. She bursts into tears; had she known this would have been the results of her wish she would never have agreed to become a magical girl in the first place.

Suzune sits at home, contemplating the grief seed she's gathered and pockets it. Kyubey sits at the window, asking if she's not going to use the grief seed and noting she's been acting unlike herself lately. Suzune asks if he showed the girls her past and whether this could cause trouble for him if the girls were to take her side. However Kyubey believes the chances of that happening are low, especially with how deep the hatred Arisa has for her and how she's already destroyed one of his bodies. Kyubey wonders aloud about the illogical and dangerous nature of emotions, claiming them to be needless impulses despite emotions being the salvation for the universe. Suzune replies that without emotions then people would cease to be who they are and Kyubey could never understand this, even after a lifetime.