Where… am…. I…..

Why….. haven't….. I….. died….

"Miki? Wake up!"

Miki… yes, that was my name…. once upon a time….

"Don't worry. Love, I'm fine. After all, I'm perfect, right?"

That's my voice…. or at least I think it's my voice…. but why would I say that?

"...you have your whole life ahead of you, as a model or dancer, and I'm just going to spend the rest of my life stuck in the hospital."

You remind me of him…. but I can't tell you that.

According to everyone in Clover Town, my name is Miki Aono. I'm 14 years old, my mom and dad are divorced, and I have a brother named Kazuki. I've been friends with Love and Buki since we were kids and dance with them on the weekends. My goal in life is to become a model and I have exceptionally high self-confidence.

Sometime I wonder if I should tell them that I'm actually Sayaka Miki. I'm 14 years old and an only child. I've been friends with Madoka and Hitomi since we were kids and may or may not have had an unrequited crush on Kyousuke. My goal in life is to become a doctor and I often don't understand why people like me.

And I sold my soul to the devil, committed murder, and am supposed to be dead right now but randomly woke up in someone else's body yesterday (who sounds a lot like me, for some reason), but there's no way I'd tell anyone that.

"Nakewameke, heed my bidding!"

What's happening? Why is the pool being flooded with orange juice?

"Miki…. could you leave me here? I don't want you to die because of me."

"Kazuki, I'm going to protect you! We're going to get out of here. After all, I'm perfect, right?"

I also don't want to kill anyone else. Who knows how many people have died due to Oktavia…. and then there's Kyoko.

If a serial killer kills another serial killer, who is the morally right one?

A sudden beam of light fills the pool and a phone and key fly into my hands.

"Change! Precure…. Beat UP!"

What's going on? Why did i just say that?

"The blue heart is the symbol of hope! Freshly gathered, Cure Berry!"

"We'll be famous, won't we, for defending the town from evil? And then we'll show up in the news, and get a TV show, and…"

Notice me. Love me.

Shut up, Oktavia!

"... and then we'll throw the first pitch at baseball games and become idols!" Love continues, acting as if my outburst is perfectly normal. Maybe Miki was like this.

"No. You must keep your identities secret" the talking ferret, who is apparently named Tarte and (hopefully) seems to have nothing to do with Kyuubey, says. "If Labyrinth found out about you… who knows what could happen to those you love." He shudders, and so do I.

That word is still evil in this universe.

Setsuna Higashi…. I didn't want to believe it at first.

But Eas always showed up when she was with us, yet Setsuna was often nowhere in sight. And there was the incident at the bowling alley, where Love left her phone with Setsuna…. could it be that she was trying to steal it? And then there were the donuts.

Granted, I've never tried them either, it's just that I'm a good liar.

"Love, she's Eas! She's going to backstab you and kill you!"

"I don't believe it! There's no way she could do that. She's our friend!"

Madoka thought the same about me when I became Oktavia. And then I tried to kill her.

"What if it was all a lie? You wouldn't want to have built up so much hope, and then, when it all comes crashing down around you…."

….just like what happened to me, once upon a time.

"So you're saying…. that everything was a lie?"

Yes. Just like how I sold my soul to the devil for a wish. He deceived me into believing that life wasn't a zero-sum game.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT! THERE'S NO WAY THAT SETSUNA COULD BE TRYING TO KILL US!"

She rushes out of the room and down the street, slamming the door behind her.

When I discovered the awful truth as Sayaka Miki, I hurt Madoka and never got a chance to apologize.

When I discovered the awful truth as Miki Aono, I hurt Love…..

No! I don't want my history to repeat itself!

And I throw open the door with a bang and begin sprinting down the street.

"What is your greatest fear?" Setsuna asks me as we're sitting on the steps of my house.

Apparently, this universe has an infinite amount of second chances, for she's been given one to redeem herself as Cure Passion.

It's almost like a reverse of the witch system, where those who were born evil get a second chance to be good.

"Octopi"

Wrong. That's Miki's.

"Mine is…. losing all of you guys."

That's one of mine. Just add the clause "because of me" and you've got it.

My other one is being unloved. But I'm not going to tell you that.

"Why are you saving me?! You're my enemy!"

"Didn't I tell you that my idea of happiness was a future with everyone? That includes you, too."

I also don't want anyone else to die because of me…. even though you were trying to kill me….

"Up until today, I've believed that what I was doing was correct…. and look where it got me."

Once upon a time, I believed in Kyuubey, which cost me my soul and killed hundreds of people, including myself. Be glad that you're in a world with second chances.

"Hang on! I'm going to get us out of here!"

I may have not been a heroine of justice last time, but this time, I will be.

"When we get out of here, we're going to build a future together, right? It's too bad that we're out of time." He releases my hand.

NO! I don't want to kill anyone else!

"Goodbye, Cure Berry."

A second chance is a beautiful thing.

When God granted me one, I was able to become a heroine of justice, make new friends, improve my self-confidence, and fall in love.

This world is not a zero-sum game. Instead of hope and despair canceling out, hope will always win.

Thank you…. God, if you exist, for doing this to me.