Adah didn’t get much else out of Emi in regards to her sister for the rest of the afternoon. Emi had said what was on her mind, and the problem wasn’t one that they could bring to a resolution by talking between themselves in a coffee shop. Each twin was evolving in her own direction, when up until now, they had been growing in parallel. That change would take some getting used to, but it didn’t mean their paths had to be at odds with each other.

  The way to proceed was to find out what was on Ami’s mind. She was the other half of this equation, and Adah had only heard about the situation from Emi’s perspective. Adah could talk to Ami directly a bit, but the two of them hadn’t established quite the same relationship as her and Emi. The best place to start could actually be to talk with Rika. Knowing her, she had probably noticed any changes in Ami’s attitude during their mission today. Those eyes that pierced right through you were highly observant, after all.

  Rika and Ami returned to the agency office shortly after Adah and Emi. Rika shuffled through the front door like she had an anchor chained to each leg, while Ami strutted inside looking like she’d returned from an especially refreshing swim—both in terms of energy and the dampness of her hair. Emi had gone to her room as soon as they returned home, so Adah waited in the agency lobby to greet her teammates alone.

  “How’d it go?” she asked.

  Rika just slumped over and looked at Adah with dead eyes, but that was okay. The question was meant to gauge Ami’s mood more than anything else.

  “Simple ass,” Ami said, and Adah didn’t bother correcting her mistake. “Learning how to turn my shield into a bomb with you two was like unlocking a cheat code. I’m telling you, if we load that thing up with a hundred spells, I can take out a B-Rank all by myself.”

  “If only it were that simple,” Adah said. “Not to worry, though—the wait is almost over. The pieces are finally coming together.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Ami said. “You two have that song coming out soon. That’ll make your levels skyrocket. I gotta figure out something like that for myself.”

  “I’m hoping it will lift us all up together. Isn’t Michel looking for work for you, too? Like a modeling gig?”

  Ami clicked her tongue and flicked her hand through the air like she was shooing away the very idea.

  “I can’t rely on that,” she said. “He’s looking for me and Emi at the same time, and I know how that stuff goes. Something like modeling is more up her alley than mine. They’ll take the one of us with the easier personality, ya know? Maybe I could beat her in something like acting or stand-up comedy. How about that? If I get any hecklers during my act, I just knock ‘em out with a water punch.”

  She acted out the scenario with a chuckle. Although she was only making fun of herself, her idea was closer to the mark than she might have thought. Knocking out her audience might have been a step too far, but her personality was perfect for guest starring on a variety or game show. She’d be such a departure from the demure, strictly media-trained magical girls that usually went on those shows—she’d give the hosts infinite material to riff off of. She just needed to break down the giant barrier of name recognition that gatekept national television.

  It was possible Michel had already thought that far ahead. Apparently he was the master of getting roles he shouldn’t have, of using his charm—if you wanted to call it that—to leapfrog more famous actors. He couldn’t pull the same tricks with Ami or anyone else on their team, but he had experience with getting his foot in doors that should have been slammed in his face. If he could show off how entertaining Ami could be on the set of a photoshoot, he could potentially get word to spread through his connections and land her some higher profile work right away.

  But for now, Ami herself was focused on straightforward work.

  “I’m heading up,” she said to Adah and Rika. “But I’m still fired up. If any other missions pop up today, I want in on them.”

  For her and Rika’s sake, Adah crossed her fingers that they were done working for the day. Preferably, for the next day, too.

  As Ami bounded her way upstairs to her room, Rika collapsed onto the couch cushion beside Adah. She looked like a deflated balloon.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” Adah said. “We’re going for a walk.”

  Rika couldn’t even muster a complaint. She just rolled her head against the back cushion and stared at Adah with her jaw hanging open.

  ☆☆☆

  “You look like shit,” Adah said as she and Rika walked down the street—this time in the opposite direction she and Emi had went.

  Rika used what little energy she had left to shove Adah, who used what little energy she had left to stumble across the street and maintain her balance.

  “What did I do to deserve that?” Rika asked. “Not like you look any better yourself!”

  “I know,” Adah said with a laugh. “I had to hear it twice already today, so I wanted to dish it back for once.”

  “You could have chosen to break the cycle instead!”

  The two of them broke into a delusional sort of giggling fit, the kind usually brought about by late night conversations over pointless topics. Perhaps the setting sun and their general exhaustion had tricked their brains into thinking that this was, in fact, one of those late night conversations.

  As their laughter died down, Rika asked, “So why did you actually drag me out here? It better not be so that you could have a buddy for a snack trip.”

  “No,” Adah said, “although I do need to grab something sweet to make it through the rest of the day. I wanted to talk about the mission today. How was Ami?”

  Due to the sudden wake-up and change of plans, Rika had a sense that something was up with the twins, though Adah hadn’t given her much chance to ask questions earlier. Her walking pace slowed as she put her thoughts in order.

  “I mean, it went fine,” she said. “Ami seemed angry, but not at anyone in particular. Not Emi, for sure.”

  That was a good sign. Butting heads could be chalked up to growing pains, but if they started lunging at each other’s throats, that’d grind their team to a halt.

  “Did she say anything about Emi at all?” Adah asked.

  Rika shook her head. Adah wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.

  “What is this?” Rika asked. “Reconnaissance?”

  “Something like that,” Adah said. “I’ll talk to Ami later, maybe after a good night’s sleep. If they’re just figuring out their styles, I don’t want to make things worse by bothering them about it. But if it’s something more serious… Well, I wasn’t kidding about being ready for a B-Rank. It helps that we’re growing stronger, but everyone’s unlocked some kind of new potential. You’ve got that quickfire on your railgun; Ami’s perfected her shield catch; and Emi’s like a ballerina when she fights. With a little more power, I think we can handle it.”

  “We just can’t afford any gaps,” Rika finished Adah’s train of thought for her.

  “Exactly,” Adah said. “That’s why, at the very least, I need to understand what they’re feeling. I want everyone to be at their best for their own sake, and I need them at their best for the team’s sake.”

  Rika whistled, a long note that trilled through the air. “Being a captain sounds like hard work.”

  “It sure is. Do you pity me?”

  “You can either have my pity or you can boss me around, but not both!”

  The two of them soon broke into a debate over who was more tired. Adah had a compelling case on account of staying up much later than Rika, but Rika countered with concrete proof of her own tiredness. She had a long flight to the mission’s interception point, and had burned even more energy casting a bunch of spells for Ami. Adah was about to fire back with her own counterargument when her phone buzzed. She slipped it out of her pocket to find a message from Seb with an attachment.

  Editor sending the first draft to me now. Here’s a little preview.

  Adah showed the message to Rika and, without saying a word, they both started searching for a bench or some other suitable seat to watch the preview clip. Of course, in this makeshift village of a neighborhood, none of the streets had any proper resting spots. They didn’t even have sidewalks. With so little traffic, you could walk in the middle of the street with your eyes closed and get home safely. In the end, the girls opted to sit on a guardrail that blocked the road from a drain ditch.

  Adah could feel the cold of the metal even through her jeans, but it was crucial to sit when watching something important. She didn’t make the rules.

  Rika propped her chin on Adah’s shoulder, which made this a comfortable enough viewing experience. Adah loaded the attachment Seb had sent over.

  The clip began from the middle of the video, with a shot the girls had filmed not far from their current location. They were staring into each other’s eyes, with the sparse, dying leaves of a low-hanging tree branch obscuring parts of their faces like a veil. Even without final color correction—not to mention being viewed on a tiny phone screen—the shot had exactly the impact Adah had hoped for. Despite living through that moment, she as a viewer felt this insatiable desire to see the two girls on the screen without the veil of leaves.

  Except the viewer never could. The full memory of that moment belonged only to the girls behind the veil. Only to Adah and Rika.

  The remaining thirty seconds of the clip transitioned to the chorus of the song, accompanied by some higher octane footage of Adah and Rika in battle. The audio in the clip was low quality, especially through Adah’s phone speaker, so she reserved any judgment on that aspect for now. Besides, something in the battle footage had caught her eye.

  Adah had seen herself in Twilight Heartbreak’s outfit plenty of times—both in the mirror and in photos—but she had yet to grow accustomed to Lyrika’s new design. Seeing Rika cast her familiar spells in this unfamiliar transformation gave Adah a strange feeling in her heart.

  Their team had undergone so many changes in such a short time. They’d all broken free from their old, routine lifestyles and rushed ahead without a single real break.

  Their current lives were a stark contrast to those of years past. They had spent so long doing whatever they wanted, without really thinking, and seen no progress for it. Now they were chasing after what they wanted with every effort they could muster.

  There was a difference between doing what you wanted and chasing what you wanted. A big, life-changing difference.

  The girl on the screen—today’s Rika—had grown accustomed to casting her spells back when she was living a different life. She had grown close to her teammates during that different life. Now that old life and old way of being were gone. Her teammates were different, the way she fought was different, and her very identity was different.

  Was it not the same for everyone on their team?

  For Ami. For Emi.

  The sister they had known to be one way for their whole lives was suddenly becoming a different person.

  Maybe the pace of change was outrunning their ability to adapt to it. Maybe that’s where the gaps were starting to form.

  In that case, Adah needed to learn how to lead her team through these changes. She needed to talk to someone who was leading their team through an even faster growth than Adah’s own.

  She needed to meet with Sheffa.