The Same Appearance as Us Part 3

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Chapter 3, Part 3: The Curse of the Girl
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Mami: (Right...? Left...? ...Must be this way...! A new enemy...perfect...! Last time I only found traces...but this time, today...I'll make sure to see it for myself...!)

Mami: I found it...this is...the barrier of a "Rumor"...?

Mami: ...! ...It really...isn't a witch or a familiar... (The barrier too...it's completely different compared to that of a witch)
Rumor: |!@*)$(@!$...!$*!@...!)(#*$!|
Mami: (--!! Someone's already fighting it...? I wonder if it's a Kamihama magical girl...)
Rumor: |#*#@$#$)(*|
Mami: ...! I need to hurry...!

Rumor: |!@)(*$!@$[]!!|
Tsuruno: Ku, uuuuuuu!! Not yet, not yet...this is nothing...!
Yachiyo: Tsuruno...!
Iroha: U, aaa, aaaaaAAH...!!
Yachiyo: Tamaki-san...! At this rate, your soul gem will be completely tainted...!
Rumor: |!@)($*!$*(@!|

Mami: (I guess I got here just in the nick of time...!?) Now...your next opponent will be me!! Fu...!

Iroha: Uuuu, AAAAAAAAAAH!!
Mami: --!?
...Wha...t in the........What's happening...!?

[Image of Iroha's doppel flashes]

Mami: When I saw it, my suspicions became conviction.

Mami: This city is........insane...!

Mami: I'm sure of it. Right before my eyes, that witch perfectly camouflaged itself into a "human". If the one I was just about to save--thinking they were an ally--was actually the enemy... then what am I supposed to believe in and fight for? Regardless, right now I have no choice. Before the enemy can strike back...

Yachiyo: At any rate, let's go to the Adjuster's...

Mami: Sorry, but I can't let you go.

Iroha: Eh!? Uh....who are you...?
Mami: I'm "Tomoe Mami". A magical girl from Mitakihara. I'm impressed that you girls can be comfortable being around with a witch. I thought I'd gone into a strange barrier, but I didn't think I would learn something from doing so.
Yachiyo: It's amazing how you can smile and be openly hostile at the same time.
Mami: Yes, that's true. But I'm only aiming my hostility at that witch over there.
Iroha: ........ Wa, Wait, do you mean me!?
Mami: It's obvious. I never would have thought that there could be a witch disguised as a human.
Yachiyo: You have it wrong. Everyone here is a magical girl, just like you.

Mami: (Even after seeing what it looked like before... they believe that this witch is a human without distrusting it...)

Kaede: And then me...and Rena-chan, who came to save me, got brainwashed...

Mami: (So in other words, it's child's play for this witch to take hold of other people's hearts...) But she's different. Unfortunately for you, these eyes saw her true form...
Tsuruno: Youuuu, how dare you keep saying things like that! Iroha-chan hasn't done anything wrong! You've pissed off the strongest and nicest magical girl, Yui Tsurunoooo!!!! Uuuuu.... My magic's drained and I don't have any strength...
Yachiyo: Seriously. We've gotten out of the frying pan and into the fire...I don't want to waste any more magic against a magical girl....
Iroha: Yachiyo-san, I'll go...
Yachiyo: You can't, Tamaki-san... She's acting like that even though there's three of us here... I'm certain she's no ordinary magical girl.
Iroha: But I'm the only one she's after. Besides, right now I'm the one with the most magical energy left.
Mami: You say some sensible things. I'll give you credit for not getting humans involved. But by the time you change your mind, it'll be too late!
(Trying to deceive them into protecting you...there's a limit to how underhanded you can get...! I will make it clear...how you're ultimately just a fake...!)


Mami: How long do you plan on hiding your true form? Hurry up and show your true colors already!
(It just keeps dodging my attacks...and doesn't even try to inflict a heavy blow on me.)
Iroha: Hyaaaah!!
Mami: (Does it plan on...pretending to be a weak girl to the bitter end? Whether your disguise falls apart...or I throw in the towel...I wonder which of us will win this test of endurance...!?)
Momoko: Geez, what are the warriors of Kamihama doing, sitting around like that?
Iroha: Momoko-san!
Mami: ---!?
Iroha: Why are you here?
Momoko: I just came to give the three of you a bit of a helping hand, only to find you guys in this sorry state. This week's number one shocker.
Mami: (Another outside helper...? Is this person also...brainwashed?)
Momoko: So, why are those two over there just standing around? ...Wait, why do you guys look so worn out?
Mami: (...But, I don't see a witch's kiss on her anywhere...)
Yachiyo: Because I just got done fighting...
Tsuruno: Me too... my magic supply is all gone....
Mami: (It's not like she's been close to the witch for all this time like those two...Could it be that this humanoid witch uses a brainwashing method different from that of normal witches...?)
Momoko: Hold on a sec, could it be? You bastard...!
Mami: Eh!? Wait a second, this is a misunderstanding!
Momoko: You say that, but from what I can tell just by looking around, I don't think you've got me convinced at all.
Mami: Ku... (...Her mind has...been completely manipulated by the witch...I'm outnumbered here...This situation right now is not balanced in my favor...Seems like for the time being...I lost the test of endurance.) I guess it's best if I just withdraw at this point...
Momoko: I don't really know what the situation is, but if you're gonna take off, then hurry up and go. I'll give you 10 seconds.
Mami: .... Just remember this. I'm not your enemy. My enemy is just that one witch disguised as a human...
Iroha: ........
Mami: Anyway, I'll take my leave. Let's meet again.
Iroha: ........
Yachiyo: That girl just now, she said she was a magical girl from Mitakihara, didn't she...? Why would a magical girl from a town that far away come to Kamihama City...?


Mami: Sakura-san!!
Kyouko: Mami? You look like you're freaking out...what happened...?
Mami: You...! Just like you said the last time we talked...have you already set foot in Kamihama...?
Kyouko: Naaah? Kamihama? The last time we met was today so...well, even if it's me we're talking about, I still haven't gone but...
Mami: ...! ...Really...I'm glad...
Kyouko: Glad? ...What do you mean by that? I'll hear you out, so...Calm down a bit and give me the reason why.
Mami: ...Sakura-san, you...have you seen a witch that takes on the appearance of a human before?
Kyouko: A human...witch...? The story's starting to go up in the air...I don't get the point.
Mami: Today, I really...did see one in Kamihama. A "humanoid witch", I mean.
Kyouko: ...The hell is that...Do you mean that there was a really aggressive magical girl there or something?
Mami: Don't even joke about this...! This isn't a joke, you know...!?
Kyouko: ...Don't get so mad...
Mami: ...It's not...something you can take that lightly...Just a little while ago...something that had the appearance of a human...transformed into a witch...You know... It took on the same appearance as us...and blended in with us...manipulated our hearts...and was deceiving us...
Kyouko: Seriously...? I didn't think there'd be a witch that'd be capable of having an evil mastermind like that...First time I've heard of one.
Mami: ...Yes, me too. But... I definitely saw it with my own eyes. This is real, beyond a doubt. Clearly, this Kamihama city...is abnormal, just as I thought. So... don't go there just because you can harvest a lot of grief seeds from there.
Kyouko: Oh...that's what this is about. In other words, you...came here to lecture me in order to keep me from going to Kamihama, huh.
Mami: Yes, that's right.
Kyouko: ...So, let's say I decide not to go to Kamihama...What exactly do you expect me to do in cities like this, outside of Kamihama... where there's extremely fewer witches?
Mami: You should...concentrate on eliminating those few witches. If you don't have enough grief seeds, I'll get some for you.
Kyouko: ...Well that's just...it seems like you're giving me a role even though, in the end, I'll end up doing nothing. You're saying that I shouldn't do anything and just watch the house from outside, huh. ...Even back when I just became a magical girl...Are you trying to act as my helmsman as if nothing happened?
Mami: ...That's right. At least this time...let me act as your senpai, blowing wind into your sails. That's how abnormal "that city" is.
Kyouko: ..............Okay, okay, I got it. I'll quietly sit back and watch the show.
Mami: Yes, please...

Kaede: Tomoe Mami...san...?
Momoko: Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what she said. Nn, could you pass me the sugar?
Rena: ...Sure, here.
Momoko: Thank you.
Rena: But to think that a veteran magical girl like that wouldn't know...That uh, hairy monster that came out of Iroha, wasn't that pretty dangerous?
Momoko: Nnn? What? But...was she that much of a veteran to the point where she would know everything?
Rena: Well, you know...right?
Kaede: Y, Yeah! She was really...really strong!
Rena: As strong as Yachiyo-san, right?
Momoko: As much as Yachiyo-san!? Seriously...? But, then again, you have a point...Tsuruno was saying something like that too...
Rena: Right?
Kaede: Amazing...she was that strong and yet...she was so kind and...a really nice person...
Momoko: Ah--...as far as that's concerned, I can't agree with you there--
Rena: Haa? Why's that? If you saw a monster like that without knowing an--ything...Rena doesn't think it's that much of a stretch to think that you'd end up misunderstanding and attacking afterward.
Momoko: Well, yeah. But you know? Some part of her just felt nasty or...condescending or...
Rena: Well, she couldn't help it. She's a lot older than us after all.
Momoko: Heaah? Oh, she's that much older?
Rena: Yeah. She's gotta be the same as Yachiyo-san.
Kaede: "Gotta be"...Wait...we don't know how old she is...do we?
Rena: Yeah, Rena didn't ask, but what about it?
Momoko: Then, why are you that confident about it?
Rena: Well she's that much of a veteran in terms of being a magical girl and...besides...
Momoko: Besides?
Rena: Her boobs were huge.
Momoko: Haa? That's a weird thing to base your judgment on...
Kaede: Boob...hey...! Rena-chan, that's lewd!
Rena: Ha, haaa!? Lewd...!? What's with that...! Then--Kaede! What did you drink to get that big!? Maybe it's your organic family...Did you grow up drinking mugwort juice or something!?
Kaede: Wha...! What is that...?
Momoko: Aaaaah, geez..! This conversation's really going off the rails...
Kaede: Th, That's right...!
Rena: Haaaa--? Who's the one who's derailing here...!?
Kaede: Hauuuu...
Momoko: That's e---nough...Right now we're not supposed to be talking about that... We're talking about Tomoe Mami, aren't we? ...A mysterious veteran...who came from an outside city, huh...
Rena: ........
Kaede: (...Tomoe Mami-san......)
Momoko: (...Tomoe Mami........)
Rena: (...Mami-san.......)
Momoko: (...Once again, sometime soon...no...)
Rena: (...several times from now on...)
Kaede: (...I get the feeling we'll meet her...)