Puella Magi Megami Tensei

[X] "I need more weapons!"

You click your tongue, "So, Yuki," you begin, "Do you know any places of interest around town? I've already been to the Jack Bros. General Store, the Fairy Village in the Mitakihara Park, the Dwarven Forge, and the base of that demon gang I took over--?"

"Wait, what gang?!" Yuki puts his hands on the table, "A Fairy Village? Jack Frost has a store? And what's this "Forge", anyhow?!"

"A demon gang that I took over because I killed the head honcho," You address his concerns in order, "The fairies were displaced by Asura and came here, yes he does, and a Dwarf runs a blacksmith shop where you can buy weapons and armor. You didn't have those?"

Yuki just stares at you for a moment before shaking his head.

"So where did you get supplies?" You ask.

"Off of dead demons, and these in between loop trials that Stephen set up! You can just buy shit here?!"

"Yeah, that's how commerce works, dude." Kyoko snarks again, "Money can be exchanged for goods and services. Wild concept, I know, but please bear with us."

"Kyoko, can you please stop antagonizing Yuki?" Kohaku asks, "He's already not taking this good."

"I don't know, Kohaku..." Shoji says, rubbing his chin, "He seems to respond well to her prodding. Maybe we should let them hash it out--?"

The door opens, and in comes Raido Kuzunoha.

...And Gouto.

They both lock eyes for a moment, neither of them saying anything, until...

"Where's the scar?" Yuki asks.

"...What scar?" Raido asks.

"The scar! The one across your eye from the Witch you thought was a demon!" Yuki elaborates further, "The one Gouto always works into his snide comments!"

"Heh." Gouto chuckles, "...Ahem. Sorry, I was clearing my throat."

"...People don't say "ahem" to do that." Shoji mutters to the cat.

"I'm a cat. I say it." Gouto hops up on the table, strutting over to Yuki, "...So, you're the other Yumi?"

"She's the other me." Yuki adamantly stresses.

"Same difference." Gouto looks him over... "...Yup, you're Ryoko's, alright."

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[X] "Did you actually listen at all?"

"Yuki, as funny as it is seeing you react like this to my world, I seriously gotta ask." You tent your fingers, and take a sharp breath in, "How much were you actually paying attention when I was going over everything?"

"I-I was trying!" Yuki shouts, standing up and leaning over the table, "I just...! I can't...!"

Kyoko raises an eyebrow, "You just...? You can't...?"

"I have trouble focusing on shit, okay?!" Yuki yells suddenly, "I was trying, I swear!!"

Gouto flicks his tail, "...And apparently he has some kind of attention issue. Nah, wait, that checks out too."

"H-Hey!" You yelp, "Why am I catching stray shots like that?!"

Gouto grins, "I was talking about Ryoko, but hey, if the shoe fits..."

"Not the time, Gouto." Raido sternly says, taking a seat at the table, "Yumi? Care to--?"

"No." You plainly state, "I'm not going over this for the millionth time. It's exhausting."

Raido nods, "...Very well." He quickly turns back to Yuki, "I'd like to speak with--?"

"Yuki Bro?" Yuma pokes her head through the doorway, "Are you okay? Yuma heard shouting."

Yuki's eyes dart to Yuma...

...And, after taking a breath, he says, "No, everything's fine, kid. Head back to the living room."

Yuma looks at the ground, "...Okay." She shuffles back out.

(ALIGNMENT OVERRIDE: ACTION AUTOMATICALLY TAKEN)

"You guys talk it out. I'm gonna check on Yuma." You get up suddenly, and head for the living room. Kohaku, Kyoko, and Shoji immediately follow you out, leaving Raido, Yuki, and Gouto alone in the room.

Yuma's sitting on the couch, staring at her lap.

[] ???????????????????????????????????????????

The second Madoka made her Wish, you looped again. In an instant, you were right back to square one. The hospital room.

The beige colored walls offer no comfort or escape, just a reminder that, until your transfer to Mitakihara Middle School is completed, you are stuck here. You've spent most of your normal life surrounded by walls like this. Every time you look at them, you seem to seethe a little.

But that's irrelevant. You're long past that weak life...

...But right now, as far as anyone knows, you're just Homura Akemi, a fragile girl who only recently recovered from her life saving operation. Maybe you should play into that this loop. No, that wouldn't win Madoka's favor. You need to be strong. You need to be perfect.

...You need to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You stop on your usual stroll through the park with Papa and Tatsuya. There's something in the grass, quietly glittering in the afternoon sun.

Seeing as your family has stopped to sit on a bench (and to let Tatsuya play), you have no reason not to investigate. Could someone have lost their phone? You grow closer, and...?

You gasp as you stoop down to pick up the object hidden in the blades of grass. Is it... A gemstone of some kind? It's kinda big, not like anything you'd find on any jewelry...

"Madoka?" Tatsuya pats you on the leg, apparently having followed you. He points at the gem in your hand and tilts his head.

"Are you asking me what I found, Tatsuya?" You ask, tilting your head in response.

He nods, "Looks pretty...!" He says.

"Yeah..." You take another look at the purple, diamond-shaped gem in your hand, "...If I didn't know any better, I'd think it was glowing...!"

"Magic?!" Tatsuya excitedly asks, staring at it even more intensely.

"No, Tatsuya! It's not magic, silly!" You smile as you pat his head, "...At least, I don't think so... Oh! We should go show Papa!"

"Papa! Papa!" Tatsuya calls as he rushed over to Papa.

You smile as you follow him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...Okay, this is not where you fell asleep.

You specifically remember that you decided to take a nap under a palm tree near the beach, but close enough to where you'd still be laying in the grass.

You know you'd wake up if someone tried to move you, and you sure as heck wouldn't be able to sleep through a whole city being built around you, so that only leaves one option. This only has one possible recourse.

Blame Eggman.

Now that the "how" is rationalized, you decide to check out what kind of place this is. Who knows, the carnival could be in town!

Welp, time to go get a lay of the land! Watch out, unnamed city, here comes Sonic The Hedgehog!