Meguca Micro Empire Quest (PMMM)

[FixerUpper]

whenever i write pmmm it always ends up like this omg. ;u;
sorry this is so short. feel free to offer prompts?

Shrine and Maiden

It was a pretty thing, all pinwheels and gentle pastels. Even today, when the sky was the color of old newspaper ink, it shimmered, soft and fragile as a soap bubble. As a shrine it was a failure: the only traditional thing there were the sticks of incense, placed in bright plastic cups, and the pictures, decorated with strategically placed Precure stickers. There were no flowers save those drawn in crayon and marker, no offerings unless you counted the stick of chewing gum, the corny photo booth pictures, the bits of golden ribbon.

Still, Taya couldn't help think that if she found herself here one day, her funerary portrait covered in bits of glue, glitter and construction paper, she would count herself blessed.

 

[FixerUpper]

I guess I'm just throwing omakes around now even if it's mostly what I want to say about magical research except in narrative form.

science!

Mami sighed as she leafed through Keiko's enthusiastic chicken scratch, and Katsuko's harried, if more readable, penmanship. The results were, if not precisely encouraging, at least positive. Progress was being made, frontiers pushed, the cutting edge of magical science explored.

It wasn't enough.

Oh, sure, invisible glass had any number of clever applications - Katsuko's skeptical eyebrow aside - if they could find a way to shape it or give it properties of other materials, they might be able to jury rig invisible weapons, invisible armor - at the very least invisible shields. Mami also had some vague ideas about grinding it up into dust and dispersing it into the air, but if she were honest with herself, that sort of attack would be more effective on other puella than it would be on the demons.

Right now, invisible glass was at best good for baiting a demon into crashing through a window.

"It's a step forward," she reminded herself. "Progress is all about small steps forward."

Small steps had gotten them this far, after all.

But if she were honest with herself she wanted - she wanted so much more. Functional golems that would fight in the puellas' stead, bandages that would apply themselves, charms that would keep them from being seen, some sort of demon-detecting dowsing rod or radar, a way to transfer skills, maybe even send emotional support telepathically...

The latter was actually one of Kyuubey's abilities now that she thought about it.

There was a knock on her door.

"Mami-san?" came a small, timid voice. Kaori-chan. "It's late, you should sleep."

Mami glanced at the clock. Winced.

"I'll sleep soon, I promise," she said. "There's just - so much to do."

"Maybe you should get a secretary?" Kaori suggested.

Mami smiled. "I don't think we're quite there yet. Maybe later. Good night, Kaori-chan."

"Good night, Mami-san."

 

[FixerUpper]

Yes, but like-

Sometimes I explain better through snippets.

---------------

Kyouko grimaced. She was bleeding. Badly, or so it felt: hard to tell, sometimes. Being a magical girl allowed one to brush off an incredible amount of physical injury, to the point where Mami considered it dangerous to rely too much on self-diagnosis. Travel in pairs, trust your partner to look after you better than you would yourself, and vice versa.

God, that was a long time ago. It'd be - what - two years now? Three?

"Got 'em," Kyouko huffed, victorious. Cold made her breath mist. "Keep on coming here. Bastards."

She spat on the ground. Felt around for the wound, on her side. Shallow: good. She could stitch herself back up using needle and thread. It wouldn't look pretty, but magic was a zero-sum game. You had to find a way to stack the odds in your favor. Besides, she was a mess of scars where people wouldn't notice. One more wasn't a big deal. Not for something this precious.

The demon, shaped like a key, slowly fizzled away, like what she imagined dwindling static electricity might look like. Dead pixels, gray light. What was left was a small purple cube. She picked it up, admired it.

Normally, she wouldn't pick a fight with one this strong, but-

This land was hers.

She couldn't give a cockroach sized shit about the rest of the city.

People had tried to buy it once or twice. Someone even owned it now - she forgot the name, something pompous and foreign. Tried to raze it to the ground, build an apartment building, or condo, or whatever on it.

She'd kept a precise tally of her sins. The minimum it took to get a project canceled. A mysterious attack here, an injury there, a fire. No deaths. Salt poured in oil tanks, punctured tires, the front half of a crane sheared in half, a bit of blood. No deaths.

Slowly, rumors had started to build. The old church was haunted, possessed. After the fourth attempt, no one tried to take it down and build something else on top of it. It was wild, overgrown, nature being the only thing permitted to invade. Kids came here as a test for their courage. The ones that came with offerings she left alone, the ones that didn't she teased, the ones that looked to make trouble - well, she made sure they were very clear on respecting the dead.

She'd built two tiny memorials. Just sticks and twine, really. Two raggedy, weatherworn dolls, achingly maintained. They'd been destroyed only once: after that incident, puella knew to steer clear from her, from the city. There were few things more terrifying than a magical girl with nothing to lose.

First time she'd nearly killed somebody.

"Hiya," she said softly, touching one of the dolls. "How are you doing today, sis?"

 

[FixerUpper]

dang this ran away with me
starting a petition to make Taya an eventual elite
in any case, you can sort of see the outlines where I've made her a candidate for being an expansionist proponent
you can also see the very definite non-violent streak I have also added because allayous who are talking about fighting other magical girls: I'm sorry, but hell no.

-----------------------

Taya's Story

Mami quietly poured the tea. It steamed gently, turning the bottom of the cup a golden brown.

She had other duties, but of the ones she had, Mami liked this best. Talking with the Puella that dropped by to see her. Seeing them - not blossom, blossom was the wrong word, made the girls sound soft and sweet, when in truth they were like smoke at night and blood underwater - seeing them bright. Like the sun glinting off a new copper roof, or old silverware polished until it shone.

Lights in the dark that kept the demons at bay.

She wished she could do more for them. She would do more for them.

"You're quiet today, Taya-san," Mami said gently, pushing the teacup forward, before carefully starting on her own.

The blue-haired girl turned away from the window. Mami had been worried about Taya for the first month or so: she'd seemed listless, unfocused, apathetic to injury, finding trouble sleeping. The other girls had slowly coaxed her out of her shell, but she still wore her silence as if it were the only thing holding her together. It was a pity too: her voice was deep, soothing. Combined with her height and her figure, she could be easily mistaken for a teenage boy.

Their very own 'Prince' Mami had heard her called. She supposed it was a better nickname than 'Mother.'

"Something on your mind?" she asked.

"A story," Taya said.

Mami made an inquisitive noise as she added some honey to her own tea. Just a dollop: her guilty pleasure.

"A story of a foolish girl," Taya said. She sipped the tea, gave Mami a small nod: "It's good. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Cake?"

"No, that's alright."

Mami didn't quite sigh, but still gave the other girl a small, disappointed pout. Taya shrugged helplessly, brought the tea back up to her lips, sipped. They stayed a few moments in silence like that.

"You don't bleed on us," Taya said suddenly.

The statement was so surprising that for a moment Mami was at a loss for words. "Pardon?" she said weakly.

Taya flushed, looked down at her tea. "I... I'm sorry."

"No, continue. I just," Mami shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure I understand."

"It's," the other girl made a frustrated noise, "I don't know how else to describe it. I tried to help Kaori the other day, but I snapped at her, made her cry. I wanted her to be safe, but instead..." she hung her head. "I made things worse."

"No, you didn't," Mami said firmly. "You were trying to help. You have to look out for the younger ones, and they do need to learn: it was the right call."

"But you would have done it cleaner... neater. She would have been able to understand without the tears." Mami started to speak, but Taya raised her hand. "Just hear me out. We are all hurt, broken - some more than others. When we prop each other up, when we help each other - we get our blood on each other. Mess each other up with our regrets, our burdens." Pause. "Not you."

It was the most words Mami had ever heard from her.

"I... " she remembered a certain redhead, looked away. "I'm not as admirable as you think I am."

"More than you think you are," Taya said. Mami almost flinched from the gentleness in it.

"If you like," she said, trying to keep the curtness out of her voice. "I think you are very admirable too, Taya-san."

Taya hunched her shoulders and let out a small laugh. "Oh no. Not me."

"Taya-s-?"

"There was once a girl who wanted to touch the stars," Taya said suddenly, putting down her cup with a loud clink. Her voice was awkward, as if so many words together jumbled when in her mouth, and came out stooped and crushed by the weight of the words behind them. "It was a wish as wide as an ocean, and as silly as a frog trying to puff herself up to be as big as a bull. Still, it was hers, and precious to her, like all foolish, secret wishes are."

Mami stayed silent. Now wasn't the time to speak.

"Now, on its own, such a wish would pass. The girl might recall it, as she might recall a favorite doll, or book, or childhood friend. But a spirit came to the girl, one day promising the stars. Promising the stars if only she would fight demons - and what is a little demon compared to the brightness of a star?"

"So she had her wish: whenever she closed her eyes, she could visit the vast emptiness of the cosmos, see the stars as they truly were, swim in ever burning oceans of fire, feel the heat of them like a fine wind, and even visit the darkness at the center of everything. And with her magic she could see far, spot dangers that she needed to seek out, the weaknesses she needed to target."

"Fighting came naturally to her," Taya continued. "Buoyed by the stars, she found it easy to do what others could not. She was strong - superbly, wonderfully, unfortunately strong. So strong that she spurned allies, spurned friendship, spurned family. All she needed were the stars." Taya shook her head. "Before she knew it, she was alone. She thought she had always been alone, so at first she didn't mind. All was as it should have been."

"Then one day, she found one of the friends she had pushed away, in the middle of a pile of trash, choking on her own blood, the light slowly falling from her eyes."

"Oh Taya..." Mami said.

"And she remembered," Taya's voice shook. "She remembered the rooftop conversations, she remembered the lunchboxes, the picnics, the feel of the sun and the wind. She remembered the stories, her friend used to tell her, voice high and piping as a hummingbird in flight. So the foolish, foolish girl forgot about the stars, forgot about the empty spaces, the oceans of fire for her thoughts were only of her friend. She used all her most potent magic, all her greatest spells, but nothing would bring the light back. And before she took her last breath, her friend said: 'Thanks, Taya-chan.'"

Taya was in the valley between tears and hideous, helpless laughter that preceded a spiral. Mami moved around the table, wrapped her in a hug. Her hand moved to her pocket where she kept a cube, for good luck, for just in case.

"Shush," she said softly.

"Her name was Haruka," Taya whispered brokenly. "I killed her. I killed my best friend."

"You didn't," Mami said with conviction. "So hush. Hush."

"I didn't know, I didn't! But, how many died because of me? Because of my selfishness?" her words were coming faster now, all in a rush.

"It's all in the past."

"I leave them money. Her parents," Taya said, as if she were confessing. "Every month. But that won't help, will it? And I don't know the others-"

Mami couldn't lie outright. "It might help a little, perhaps."

Taya shook in her arms, racked by sobs. Mami rubbed her back reassuringly. "There, there, it'll be okay. I promise."

It took nearly ten minutes for her to calm down. Five minutes to get her tidied up, presentable. The cube remained unused.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Taya said, sniffling a bit.

"I'm not," Mami said. "You feel better, right?"

Taya almost seemed surprised. "I... I do."

"Do you need an extra cube?" Mami asked seriously. "Just in case?"

Taya smiled wanly. "If I tell you I don't, will you slap me?"

Mami relaxed, just a hair. "I might."

Taya held out a hand. Mami carefully placed it on her palm.

There was an awkward pause.

"I should go," Taya said.

Mami nodded. She wanted to know if Taya could still use that sort of magic - it was useful, extremely useful, but, with the story still weighing down her thoughts, she couldn't. Perhaps she would bring it up at a later date.

"Thank you for the tea... and for listening to me." Taya sighed. "I'm afraid I got blood all over you though."

Taya was at the door before Mami had managed a proper reply.

"I don't think you bled on me," she said seriously. "I think - I hope - that we're friends. Because friends will listen to each other, and help each other, and - and that's what we do."

Taya's lower lip trembled, but the smile she gave Mami was radiant.

"Sayonara, then, Mami-sempai."

Mami smiled in reply.

"Sayonara, Taya-san."

 

[Carinthium]

Even I don't think I've captured Taya, but doing my best to start off. I'll try and improve on this with Omake II. I was hoping I could at least capture something that could plausibly be Taya's writing style, but no such luck.

Requesting critque, of course. I don't mind others seeing it, for what that's worth.

----------------

(Omake)

A set of unmarked pieces of paper were found in the apartments the Magical Girls called home. The handwriting was an almost illegible, turbulent scrawl, as if written in a state of extreme anger. Nobody recognised the handwriting, and nobody dared claim responsibility. Nonetheless, the content was so controversial as to make a considerable impact.

Ours is a wretched existence. We fight every day for survival, all alone in a world without hope. If we last a year, we call it a blessing. Two and we call it a miracle. Our wishes have cursed us to a life of constant misery.

Except it isn't. Not here. All thanks to Tomoe Mami. She's our saviour. Thanks to her we have things most magical girls can't even dream of! Places to live, allies to fight alongside us! Some of us don't even have to fight!

So why on earth do we keep this benefit to ourselves? For every magical girl saved here there's at least a hundred dying a bloody death on the streets in Japan alone! Most magical girls aren't heroes because they can't afford to be. But we can! For minimal risk to ourselves, we can send diplomats out in all directions to expand our community and save lives!

And why don't we? Because we're cowards! The lot of us! We know exactly what it's like to be on our own, so we of all people should be striving to rescue those in peril!

Mother Mami is a true hero of this world. If she had chosen to be selfish, she could easily have fought demons without us, robbed what she wanted, and lived a life of luxury. But she didn't, and strives to help others instead.

A hero of her caliber has the potential to reform the world and bring salvation to thousands! But we drag her down like selfish rats, afraid to risk our own lives.

Whoever it was, within six hours every Magical Girl in the group had heard about it. For several days, even if it wasn't the only topic it was pretty fair to say that everyone, including Mami Tomoe herself, was either talking about it or thinking about it.

 

[FixerUpper]

Prove your Mettle, Shinobu! [1/2]

Shinobu breathed in, then out.

Slow exhalations, like she'd been taught, so long ago. It didn't help as much as she'd have hoped.

Demons came in all shapes and sizes. The only constant was the miasma, and the danger. She could feel the miasma now, feel fritter on the edge of what she had come to think of as her magical senses. It rasped and grated like hot sandpaper. She trembled. It was so different fighting alone. She'd almost forgotten. It'd been - what - almost a year?

Desperation could lend a girl strength, make her surpass her limits. She was soft now. Soft, and scared.

Shinobu gulped, squeezing the wooden bokken she held tightly in both hands. A small tanuki doll dangled from the hilt. After a moment of ragged breathing she took a step forward - then stopped to fiddle with the shield strapped to her forearm. The breaths were coming faster now, out of her control.

Was she spiraling? Was that all it took? Just the thought of fighting a demon alone?

She still remembered Keiko's death, her head simply flying off her shoulders. Easy as that. Wasn't there an English poem to that effect? Alice... snicker snack.

"Snicker snack," she whispered. "Snicker snack, snicker snack, snicker snack-"

Faster, faster, faster - her heart thundering, her lungs wheezing, the panic welling up inside her like a balloon about to burst.

"You can do this," she whispered to herself. She tried to remember her first aikido competition. She'd been seven, she'd been scared. Then a voice, weirdly like Mami's; a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to do this," it had said. "Not if you don't want to."

"I do," she had said.

Then she'd stepped onto the tatami mats and all that stopped mattering.

She took a step forward. The long skirt she wore, shaped like a stylized aikido uniform, followed with her.

Then another, then another, then she was nothing but a blur, leaping from shadow to shadow, her bokken held loosely in one hand, her expression like a knife.

Two steps into the miasma. Three steps. Five. Fifteen. Partway through it felt like a needle being jabbed through her ear, except everywhere.

Then she was through.

The demon was shaped like a fiery eye, surrounded by wings made of paper. It was huge, cumbersome, nearly the size of a van as far as she could tell. It turned towards her slowly, the central eye slowly turning bright as the noonday sun. Shinobu didn't pause for thought, simply slid through her own shadow, emerging from a crack between two nearby buildings, started counting.

One-two-three, two-two-three, three-two-three-

A lance of light that left spots dancing behind her eyes slammed into the ground, melting it like wax.

"Kaori, Yuna, I'll need you to-" she began to say, then cut herself off.

She was on her own.

A wooden sword and teleportation, against a foe that could fly and snipe from afar. The odds were stacked distinctly against her.

It was weak though. Much weaker than they had been a few months back, when even Mami had been hard pressed to deal with their sudden ferocity. She'd been glad to learn that Mami had figured out the solution to that particular riddle. Anyway, it was weak: she'd counted three breaths to charge up before it could fire. Even Yuma could dodge something like that, to say nothing of Akeno or a teleporter like herself.

It could be trying to fool her though. Make her believe there was a pattern before trying something tricky. She'd have to be on guard for that, it'd happened before. Sometimes they grew strong, sometimes they grew smart, sometimes they were both.

She smiled a thin, razor blade smile, mostly just her lips pressed together until they looked bloodless.

She gripped her bokken. It began to glow. Fitfully at first, then with a soft green light outlining the edge of the blade.

She took a stance, sliding the blade into the belt around her waist; one hand on the grip, the other one curled above it, but not touching. This was dangerous. She couldn't teleport her attacks and herself at the same time. It was one or the other.

She also needed time to charge up. They were suited to each other, as opponents, in many ways. The fingers of her right hand rose and fell along the haft of her weapon in sequence.

Then she walked into the street and into the line of fire. The demon turned to stare at her again.

She didn't say anything. Just waited. One-two-three, two-two-three, three-two-three, four-two-

She broke to the left, leaping nearly fifteen feet, landing in a neat roll. Behind her, she could smell burnt asphalt, ozone. Wasn't real though: when the demon was gone, it'd be as if they never fought.

Her fingers continued to rise and fall.

The demon followed, bobbing in the air. She needed a shadow to work with. Underneath its wings? Tricky. No, she wanted a real surface to work with, from which to launch the attack. That meant getting it close to a building. She'd have to maneuver it there.

One-two-three, two-two-three, three-two-three, fou-

She dodged again. It drifted lazily closer.

Again. Again. Again, dodging death by inches. Then it was there, exactly where she wanted.

"Ha!" she said explosively, flicking her bokken out with incredible speed. Halfway through the motion it shimmered, enveloped by a green, glittering mist, and disappeared.

A dark wooden blade, the color of old oak, exploded out of the side of a building. It was as big as a bus, sheared the demon in half and punched through the wall of the building adjacent.

"Yes!" Shinobu said, exultant. The blade disappeared, returning to its hilt. She ran forward into the wreckage, looking for the - ah! grief cube.

She dusted herself off. "I guess that wasn't so b-"

Then she staggered. Puzzled, she looked down. Crimson had begun to stain the white of her uniform. A sharp spike, the color of rust, was sticking out of her stomach. She prodded it uncertainly.

"What-" she said, then coughed. Blood poured out of her mouth, dark as night, dripping all over her uniform.

The spike left her body with a wet squelch.

Her knees buckled and she nearly hit the ground. Looking weakly over her shoulder, she shivered. A demon, shaped like a rusty toy knight, stood there silently, its visor leaking tendrils of thin black smoke. In one hand it held a lance, the other a shield. Then it turned away.

Shinobu fell, her bokken disappearing into motes of light.

[link to part 2]

 

[FixerUpper]

Haruka's Story

Warning: Uh, if you are not very good with gory scenes, or parents harming their children, you might want to skip this one. This one is pretty disturbing. No, I don't know where it came from either. o_o;

----------------------

"Well, that was dumb," Haruka said, wiping her glasses with the edge of her shirt.

She wore a T-shirt two sizes too big, and ragged pajama pants worn thin at the knees. She placed the glasses back over the edge of her nose and stood up.

Despite the bandages across her neck, the sweat across her brow, and her wildly messy black hair, she radiated calm and self-assurance.

If she hadn't seen her with her own eyes, fingers tearing bloody strips into her throat, tears pouring out of her eyes, her silent scream echoing into the stillness, Akeno never would have thought that Haruka had spiraled.

They'd stayed with her, the four of them, taking turns making sure she wouldn't go into the dark alone, holding the precious grief cube between their fingers, trying to figure out if she needed it or not. They had done it in shifts, taking turns holding her hands and keeping her from clawing at her throat, staying with her through the long hours of the night as Haruka fought and screamed in silent, gasping breaths, her mouth moving, but never a sound escaping.

It was the most disturbing thing Akeno had ever seen. She'd only lasted an hour before she had begged Hainako to take a turn. The redhead lasted all of fifteen minutes before she ran out, shaking and calling for help.

Sayaka had gone in, healed her, went right back out and threw up in the corridor.

Mami had stayed with her after that for nearly two hours before being forced away by a different set of responsibilities. If she was a little pale and shaky, well, no one mentioned it.

Taya had stayed with her for the longest - three hours at least - before she and Haikano had decided that they would help her as a team. Rumor had it Taya had a crush on Haruka, but Akeno hadn't been so sure. Friendlier than average, yes, but she had thought it had something to do with their personalities. They were both serious, silent people in a sea of bombastic girls that spoke loudly and enthusiastically to cover up the ugly, painful parts of their lives.

After tonight though, she didn't know what to believe. Taya had been so patient, so careful.

She was sleeping now, their 'Prince,' her short blue hair falling over her forearms as she rested her head across the desk. Every now and then a soft breath would escape her - even asleep she was elegant, didn't snore.

"That wasn't dumb," Akeno said slowly. "That was..." she trailed off, at a loss of words.

Haikano nodded enthusiastically.

Haruka sighed, looked up at the ceiling.

"My mom made me drink bleach," she said, calm and matter-of-fact. Akeno could hear the brittle note in it though, the way it quavered just a little as it came out. Haruka self-consciously brushed her throat, sweeping her knuckles on the bandages there. "I'm still not sure why. She could have used the gas burner, she could have slit my wrists, she could have done a hundred other kinder things."

"But she made me drink bleach. Then she drank it herself - gulp, gulp, gulp." She mimed the motion, someone draining the jug.

Her two friends stared at her, mute, horror-struck.

"Yeah, not a very nice story, is it?" Haruka said. She shrugged. "It happened."

She glanced at the clock.

"I should get going. We still have work today, right?"

 

[Elder Haman]

Omake: Old Friends

Mami was nervous. It had been a long time since she and Kyouko had talked, and their last discussion had gotten a bit heated. She reviewed her preparations: Kyouko's favorite cake, check. Apple pie, check. Additional food items, check. Picnic basket, check. Adorable Yuma carrying a large tea filled thermos, check.

Now she knew Kyouko liked to hang around this arcade this time of day. Where was the DDR machine again? Oh yes, back there in the right corner. With a redhead in cutoffs dancing excitedly on the platform. Mami took a deep breath. Looking around at all the people here, it might not be the best place to talk to Kyouko. Checking her phone, Mami realized Kyouko would probably head out to eat dinner within an hour. She decided she and Yuma should wait for Kyouko outside the arcade.

About 30 minutes later, Kyouko stepped outside. A pleased grin on her face, Kyouko stretch out her arms above her head, when she suddenly froze. Snapping her head to look in Mami's direction, Kyouko tensed in readiness to either fight or flee. Mami decided to skip the formalities and go straight to her trump card, "I brought cake!" Holding up the picnic basket as if it were a talisman.

Kyouko shifted a little, and her eyes narrowed, but didn't release all the tension in her body, "Oh yeah? What kind?"

"Triple chocolate," Mami burst out nervously, " Dark chocolate cake, with milk chocolate filling, and fudge frosting." Kyouko's mouth opened a little, with the tiniest hit of drool at the corner of her mouth. Kyouko's tongue licked her lips. Mami decided to go for the knockout punch before she recovered. "I have apple pie too. Took it out of the oven just two hours ago. I thought we could have a picnic."

Kyouko straightened up and tried to act nonchalant, "Sure, I guess we can do that."

Mami sighed in relief. Turning to Yuma and giving her the picnic basket, Mami asked her to run ahead to the nearby pack and setup a place for the picnic. "Sure thing, Mother Mami," Yuma called out as she ran off to the park with the picnic basket and thermos.

Kyouko's eyes tracked the picnic basket as it headed towards the park, but she dropped in next to Mami as they walked more leisurely towards the park. "I see you're still looking out for the little ones."

"Hhm.. yes. I try to anyways." Mami was thinking this was a good opening to discuss the Serene Imperium, but Kyouko interrupted her thoughts before she could put them into words.

"Mother. Mami." Kyouko's face showed only slight amusement, but her voice, her voice smirked.

Mami's face flushed, she hadn't thought about this little... complication. "They- they just started calling me that on their own. I've asked them not to but they keep doing it."

"They?" Kyouko asked curiously, "You got a whole army of little brats calling you mother now? You need someone to remind you that you're not that cool before you get a big head."

Mami manages to gain control of her face, "All the more reason I should spend more time with you. You know I'm not some great hero, and make sure to remind me of it."

Kyouko raises an eyebrow at Mami as they entered the park. "Well... I'll think about it. At least until we finish eating." Kyouko smirks, this time with both her face and her voice., "Mother. Mami." She takes off running towards Yuma as she starts laughing that crackle of hers.

Mami's face flushes again, before her eyes narrow at Kyouko's back. Oh, yes... she would have her revenge. She'd have to be patient, and wait until after Kyouko agreed to join them, but then, then! She'd have a few words with Hinako and Yuma, and from there it would spread quickly to all the other girls. Mami contemplated her revenge with delight. She'd just have to make sure she was there to see Kyouko's face when the other girls started calling her 'Auntie Kyouko.'

 

[FixerUpper]

Prove your mettle, Shinobu! Part 2

[link to part 1]

Shinobu came back to life with a gasp. Her fingers clenched spasmodically, crushing a small, fragile cube into dark powder that seemed to wisp away then vanish.

Coughing, she spat out something red, bleeding and internal. Ugh. She pushed herself off the ground - then collapsed, her head spinning. Ice radiated from her abdomen, a feeling more worrisome than simple pain. Pain she knew how to handle; it was a familiar presence in her life, mostly good, occasionally bad. No athlete could hope to improve without it. Cold - cold was something that she'd never felt before, not like this.

"Get up," she told herself, shivering. Her fingers clawed weakly at the ground.

Her body stayed firmly horizontal. She had to close her eyes to keep the world from spinning. Like that, she realized she could hear cars, footsteps, noise. People. The miasma wasn't present anymore.

Had the demon moved on? How much time had passed?

"Taura?" she asked, without much hope. "You there?"

If Taura had noticed her go dark, she would have called the Prince, or Kit to find her then dispatch somebody. No, she was on her own. Trembling, she reached into her pocket for her cell phone. She'd dropped out of her Puella outfit at some point, likely to conserve magical power.

She took it out of her pocket, then frowned: it was out of batteries.

...huh? She'd charged it, hadn't she?

"Payphone," she mumbled to herself. "I should..."

Standing made her feel a horrible combination of nausea and vertigo. It was like her feet were too far away from her head: everything seemed so far away. She stumbled out of the alleyway, nearly colliding with a businessman. He gave her a brusque shove and continued on. She hit the wall, shivering convulsively.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Shinobu opened her eyes, blinking. She was sitting down, back against the wall. When had - when had she fallen asleep? A woman was looking at her, concerned. She was in her early forties at least, wearing a string of gaudy pearls around her neck that were either fake or represented enough money to keep the Puella fed, clothed and warm for at least half a year.

"Girl?"

"I'm-" she said faintly, pushing herself up, "fine."

"Certainly not," the woman said, taking her by the arm. There was something familiar about her that Shinobu couldn't quite place, but at the moment she couldn't spare the energy to focus on it. "We'll be driving you home, young lady."

Where she'd be grounded for at least a week.

"I can't-"

The woman dragged her along. "Nonsense, you can give Ginji your address."

Without much fanfare she was dragged into the backseat of a black car. It smelled like cigarettes and new leather. A grizzled looking man, salt and pepper in his hair turned around, giving them both a bored glance. Despite his age, his height and the breadth of his shoulders were imposing, but Shinobu's attention was drawn to the leather gloves he wore. Something about them - her senses sharpened - he was missing the pinky of his right hand.

"Another stray, Yukio-chan?"

"It's 'sama' to you," the woman said without any real heat.

He started the car up. "Hai hai, Yukio-sama. Where to?"

"Are you part of the yakuza?" Shinobu blurted.

There was a moment of perfect silence, one part horror, two parts bemusement.

Ginji laughed warmly breaking it, even as the older woman blinked. He smiled - she could see it in his mirror, canines bright in the darkness. "Sharper than you look, girl. And if we were?"

"Please let me out," she said, eyes darting towards the door on her left.

"Ginji stop scaring her. I'm-" Yukio sighed, brushed the hair out of the front of her face. She shook her head, breathed out. "Look, yes, we're part of the yakuza, but this isn't - this isn't business." Her voice softened. "I'm looking for my daughter. It's been almost a year, but I still see her, occasionally, out of the corner of my eye. Then they turn out to be girls like you. I know it's hypocritical of me, but I hope that others will be kind to my daughter, if I am kind to theirs."

Ah.

No wonder she recognized her.

It was the same sweep of hair, the same clever eyes. What Hitomi would have looked like in twenty-thirty odd years. Shinobu felt a surge of compassion, emotions that had remained unexorcised despite since that fateful battle, and started to cry.

Yukio gathered her awkwardly in her arms.

"There, there," she said. "There, there."

 

[Elder Haman]

Omake: Mami, the Yakuza Princess

Mami knew this a was a bad idea. Mami knew there was no way this discussion could turn out well. There wasn't a reasonable explanation for her involvement. This was going to blowup in their faces. Kuybey, would not be happy.

Why was she doing it then? Kaoru had begged her, insisting that they had to do it. Then she went and got the other girls who still lived with their parents to chime in. Sayaka had been particularly insistent, saying it was the only decent thing to do. The clincher though had been when little Yuma looked up at her and said that if this happened to her, and her parents were still alive, she would have wanted someone to tell her mother.

And so, Mami is now in Itawa, sipping tea, sitting across from Nodoka Nohara, with Kaoru by her side. Knowing the train wreck is coming but with no idea how to stop it. Nodoka's eyes are red and puffy, and she seems ready to burst into tears again. Right now she is thanking them for coming to see her. She must not have thought it though yet...

"...surprised you came all the way down here when you heard. Kaoru has been such a great friend to Kaori. Kaori is always talking about her and her other friends, still asking to stay at your boarding house." That's right, Mrs. Nohara had met Mami when she was posing as an owner of a boarding house. At Mami's age it wasn't too hard to add on a few years. Especially as with her figure, her way of speaking and carrying herself, people tended to add on a couple years anyway. "I just don't understand!" Mrs. Nohara wrings her hand in distress, "Four girls just attacked her at school and dragged her off before anyone could do anything! No one seems to know who the girls are or what they would want with Kaori. The police keep asking if she made friends with the wrong type of girls, but she hasn't even made any friends down here yet..."

Mrs. Nohara's brow furrows, "Wait... how did you know Kaori had been kidnapped? I didn't call anyone in Mitakihara..." She looks at Mami in confusion.

Mami froze, she knew this moment was coming and she still hadn't come up with a good explanation. Kaoru took Mami's silence as an invitation to start the explanation herself, "The kidnappers called us-"

"What?!" Mrs. Nohara grabs Kaoru's hand, "They did? What do they want? Why did they take-" Mrs. Nohara stopped suddenly before continuing more slowly, "Why did they call you...." She was now looking at Kaoru as if she had grown a second head. Kaoru licked her lips under the scrutiny. "You're... you're... It can't be. You're... a girl gang..." She looks back toward Mami, before turning back to Kaoru. "I thought it was strange for older girls to become so close to a girl Kaori's age."

Mami sighs internally. Well she thought, that is as good an explanation as any. Mami knows that it's often easiest to just let people create their own explanation for things, and then leave it vague as to whether they are right or not. That way you can always adapt later without having to undo lies. Mami picks her words carefully, "We were worried there might be problems with Kaori moving away. The girls that took her have asked us to pay to keep Kaori safe. They seem to intend on keeping Kaori, and demanding a payment each month."

Mrs. Nohara's eyes stare at Mami in disbelief. "Wha- Why- You're not- That boarding house! Those girls are all part of- Do your parents know what you are involved in!" It appears the suspicion of belonging to a girl gang has caused Mrs. Nohara to subtract several years from Mami's estimated age.

Mami takes a deep breath to calm herself, she is going to have to be very careful with her words here. Mami startles when she feels Kaoru lay a hand on top of her arm. Kaoru looks down for a moment before turning to Mrs. Nohara. "Oujo-sama's parents are dead." Wait, what? The title confuses Mami. "They died in..." Kaoru trails off before looking at Mami and then turning back to Mrs. Nohara, "...an accident. Oujo-sama, is now the head of the family." Mami forces her face to stay still, that makes it sound like... oh no. Kaoru has picked up on the fact Mami is letting Mrs. Nohara think they are part of a girl gang, and is now running wild with it!

Before Mami can think of a way to regain control of the conversation, Mrs. Nohara breathes out a single word, "Yakuza..." Oh great, Mami thinks to herself. Mami decides to take a sip of tea to conceal her face and give her a moment to think. She would never know that it was this action, the calm demeanor, the refined grace with which she sipped her tea, and the poised sitting posture, that convinced Mrs. Nohara that this was not impossible. From that moment on, Mrs. Nohara believed.

"Why," Mrs. Nohara wailed, burying her face in her hands, "Why would Kaori do this!"

Kaoru, hesitates before mumbling, "To avenge her father..." Mami turns a glare on Kaoru, shutting her up. Mami had had enough, that is not a can of worms she wants to open. In Mrs, Nohara's mind however, this gesture is transmuted into the calm cold glance of a Yakuza Princess, silencing a minion who is talking too much.

"Her father? But Akio committed..." the blood drains from Mrs. Nohara's face. Her expression a mask of despair, Mrs. Nohara grabs her hair in two fists to each side of her head, "Akio you idiot! What did you do?!?!" Mrs. Nohara begins hyperventilating.

Mami hesitates, anything she does is going to make this worse. Kaoru however gets up and goes over to Mrs. Nohara and embraces her. "Don't worry," as Kaoru speaks Mrs. Nohara raises her eyes to look up at her. "Ma- Oujo-sama has promised. We'll get Kaori back. Safe and sound, so don't worry."

Mrs. Nohara shoves Kaoru away, "Safe? You're the ones that got Kaori involved!" Mrs. Nohara's mouth is a tight line of disapproval. "I should, I should talk to the police. They might be able to find her now." Oh dear, Mami thought, this is not good. What could she say to divert this?

Mami's speeding thoughts were interrupted by Kaoru throwing herself at her feet and grabbing her hands while she bowed. "Hime-sama! Please, Hime-sama. Don't be angry! Nohara-san is just distraught with worry about her daughter being in danger!" What? Mami face twists as she tries to conceal her anger while glaring down at Kaoru. "Please Hime-sama, forgive her! As a favor to me!" Kaoru looks up and blanches at the expression on Mami's face.

This is not a good idea, Mami thought. However, Mami's struggles to conceal her displeasure with Kaoru constantly upping the ante in her little mini-drama actually played right into the image of a wrathful Yakuza Princess. Mrs. Nohara was rapidly regretting her earlier words, "Kaori- you will bring her back?" she asked timidly.

Kaoru gratefully turns away from Mami's displeased face. "Of course! Oujo-sama has promised. The Serenissima Imperium will bring Kaori home safely." Kaoru glances back nervously at Mami before continuing, "So, so don't make trouble for Oujo-sama, okay?"

Mrs. Nohara nods quickly, "Just bring her home safe, please." She glances at Mami, "I won't make trouble."

Mami decides it's a good time to cut her losses and get out of there. "Very well, we better go." She gets up to leave, and forces a sincere smile back on her face, "Thank you for the tea." Turning Mami gracefully stalks to the door, where she and Kaoru are soon shown out.

Mami pauses a moment once they are outside the door, before slowly turning to look at Kaoru. Mami just looks at her, and looks at her, until Kaoru finally cracks, "That... could have gone worse."

Mami turns away before letting out a deep sigh and beginning the walk to the train station. "Let's not talk about it."

"As you command- Oujo-sama. " Mami whirls to glare at Kaoru's laughing face.

"Ka...or...u..." Mami doesn't even get to finish before Kaoru takes off running, laughing all the way to the train station.

------------

Meanwhile, Nodoka Nohara is sitting on her couch, trying to decide if she should call the police or not. She knows she should, but that blonde yakuza princess was terrifying. Wait, what had Kaoru said? Serenissima Imperium? Sounded foreign. Nodoka decided to call her college roommate who had specialized in European languages.

Her old roommate was quite surprised to hear from her. While they had kept in touch, updating their addresses when one of them moved, they hadn't gotten together to talk in quite a while. Nodoka pushed past the familiarities and asked her question. "Serenissima Imperium? It sounds Italian, or maybe Spanish..."

Nodoka licked her lips, she couldn't really think of a way to ask this that wouldn't sound strange, but she had to know. "Do... do they have any Yakuza in those countries?"

"Huh? Yakuza? I guess Italy's rather famous for them. They call it the Mafia. Hey what's this all about anyway?" Nodoka made some excuses about a movie making her curious before finally getting off the phone.

Nodoka stares into space for awhile afterwards. It all made sense now. The blonde hair, the strange name. This wasn't just an ordinary Yakuza, this was some foreign Yakuza. Nodoka has to know more, just what was Kaori involved in? She types "Italian Yakuza" into the search engine. A bunch of different sites come up, but Nodoka can't make much sense of it. A bunch of them do reference the same movie though...

The movie is available with subtitles through cable. Nodoka orders the movie, and sits down to watch it...

After the movie finishes, Nodoka sits staring at the screen. There was no way she could call the police now. These Italian Yakuza are scary! What was she going to do?