It was happening.
I trembled. My palms were sweating, not that Kirika complained, her own hand firmly clasped with mine, granting me all the comfort I needed.
What would I've done without her? I squeezed her hand and we shared a quick smile, before turning back to the proceedings.
"Then, if nobody objects..." Sabrina uncertainly looked at her friends. I watched closely as her eyes rested first on Akemi, the gloomy girl looking away with a frown, then on Miki.
I swear I heard the poor girl's teeth grind.
Neither of them did, however, raise an objection.
... And of course Tomoe took her side.
The white haired girl's lips twitched into a smile, one she covered quickly enough her troubled friends didn't see it, but not quick enough for me to miss it.
As Sabrina took a deep breath, I couldn't help but to do so as well. Her blue eyes met mine, then Kirika's.
"We hereby end Oriko's and Kirika's house arrest."
The joy and relief that swept through me was completely preempted by Kirika literally sweeping me off my feet into a spinning hug.
"We're free, Orikooooo~!" she yelled into my ear.
As much as I enjoyed the gesture, I lightly coughed to get Kirika to stop.
My girl deposited me back on the ground, only mildly blushing, before latching herself on to my side, only slightly less enthusiastic than before.
Her outburst was a blessing, really, as it left me feeling drained enough to regain my composture. I carefully observed Akemi's and Miki's reactions, to find their moods worsened, going by their rigid postures, frows, twitching hands...
"Sabrina?" spoke up Tomoe, her tone rather nervous.
Said Grief controller was immediately all over the blonde. "Yes, Mami? Something wrong?"
"You know I kept a Ribbon on Anri, when we dropped her at the warehouse?" her golden eyes took on a far away look. "When you ended the house arrest, I..." she spoke faster, words spilling from her mouth, "I felt something strange happen to Anri, I don't know what- Sayaka!"
The bleunette snapped out of her funk, immediately standing at attention. "Y-yes, Mami?!"
"Check on Anri, right now!" ordered the blonde.
The rest of us could only look back and forth between the golden and blue magical girls.
"I... Right!" It was Sayaka's turn to concentrate on something distant. I knew she had left one of her clones close to Anri, so it was no mystery what she was doing.
"She's gone!" snapped Sayaka, eyes wide.
"What? How-!"
"Hijiri?"
"Homura, time-"
"Wait!" Sayaka shouted over the sudden cacophony. "There's someone- a short girl with silver hair? I don't know how she got in there, but-"
"That's Anri," cutted in Sabrina, suddenly pensive.
We all turned to stare at her.
As nobody seemed keen on asking, it felt onto my shoulders to do so.
"Sabrina? What do you mean? I'm fairly certain Anri is a tall girl with long, blonde hair."
"Well..." the white haired girl licked her lips. "This is only a completely off the wall hypothesis, but apparently, freeing you from house arrest seems to have caused Airi Anri to completely and suddenly reject her Wish."
I blinked. Kirika tilted her head. Tomoe's grip on Sabrina's waist might have loosened a tiny little bit. Miki was making gestures with her hands. Akemi... shrugged, as if nothing made sense to her anymore.
"How..." I asked, because I had to ask, "does that make sense?"
It was Sabrina's turn to shrug.
"It fucking doesn't. I'm not gonna look a Kami gifted horse in the mouth, though."
Somehow, I felt as if someone, up there, had completely stolen my thunder.