Bubbles

"Have you been drinking?"

The moment Love landed at the Branch, Thousand Blades caught a faint whiff of alcohol on her.

Seeing Thousand Blades frown, Love guiltily looked away.

"I don't get to come here on business often. I just wanted a little taste..."

Ever since the party at Headquarters, Thousand Blades had kept a strict limit on Love's drinking. She could drink, but she absolutely could not drink too much. Otherwise, Love would turn into... that.

Thousand Blades looked at her and sighed.

"Forget it... Is everyone here? Let's compare notes."

Everyone looked around.

"Bubbles isn't back yet... She might be a little anxious around people. Let's talk while we wait for her."

Snowglimpse went first, sharing what she had learned, followed by the others.

The gist was simple: people in various places had spotted the gothic girl and the black-robed figure together. What the pair had been doing seemed ordinary enough.

They had either been talking to passersby or eating and wandering along the streets.

In short, they seemed to be roaming without a purpose.

They had also appeared all over the city, with no discernible pattern.

Realizing that none of this was particularly useful beyond proving Scholar had indeed been there, Love interrupted the discussion.

"In that case, take a look at this."

Love raised a hand.

"I saw this when I replayed past images at the tavern. This girl should be the one Scholar went out of her way to meet back then... Do any of you recognize her?"

Pink magic gathered bit by bit, weaving itself into a three-dimensional image.

Thousand Blades and Knight exchanged a glance as soon as they saw it.

*Why does this girl look a little like Love when she isn't transformed? There are differences if you look closely, but her