Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

It's nice, having Mami cosy and comfortable in your arms. You hold her for a while, leaning your head against hers. Her hair tickles your cheek, the soft fragrance of her shampoo and ever-present scent of tea filling your nostrils. You wish...

Heh.

You wish you could just rest like this for a bit and forget everything. You're realistic enough to say that you'd only want to rest for a bit - you'd go stir crazy soon enough. But it's nice, it really is, just cuddling with Mami.

Ah, well.

Things to do.

"Mami?" you murmur.

"Mmm?" she asks, tucking her head against your shoulder.

"I'm going to start trying things out, alright?" you suggest. "Gonna try making a Grief book, first. I might go into a trance, and it's probably going to feel Witchy."

"Alright," she responds, sliding an arm behind your back so that she can hug you around the waist.

You hold your hand out, summoning a blob of Grief from the mass you've left brooding on the roof. It bumps into the glass of the window, and you stop the motion before it breaks the glass. Instead, you pout and send a few marbles sailing from your bag to undo the latch.

Mami watches the entire affair, tucked comfortably into your side, and she giggles as the blob of Grief finally slaps into your hand. She pats you comfortingly on the shoulder.

With Grief in hand, you focus. Your attention sharpens on the blob of Grief, will and need moulding and shaping it. You need Kuroki's contact information. Will and need and control and a touch of fiat.

By my will be done.

A single card forms in your hand - not so much a book as a faux-business card of finely pressed linen paper, smooth and glossy to the touch. It sings of Witch in your mind, but that's alright. Printed across it in gold-embossed words are a single phone number and a name.

Mami stirs, lifting her head a little from your shoulder to peer curiously at the card. "Is that it?" she asks.

"Yup," you agree, sighing. You can't help but wonder if it would have been better to check Homura's book of Witches - you'd be able to check the worst case scenario, too. But then, you can't leave Mami right now, and you can't let her see the book, either.

"Isn't that a good thing, Sabrina?" Mami asks, her gaze flicking up to you.

"Yeah, but... I mean, if she's been missing for four days, I can't imagine no one's tried calling her yet," you say. Nevertheless, you grab your phone from your bag with a few marbles of Grief.

You set the card down on your lap -you only have the one free hand, since not hugging Mami is obviously not an option- and snatch the phone from the air, eyeing the charge. It's been a few days since you've charged it; probably time to charge it again. Later, though.

You flip it open and dial.

"Sorry, the number you have dialed is unavailable." An automated message is the only response you get.

You scowl.

"Nothing?" Mami asks, her mouth tugging into a disappointed expression.

"Nope," you agree, heaving a sigh. "It was a long shot, anyway."

Mami sighs too, burrowing her head against your shoulder. "What's next?"

"Next I check in with Ishinomaki," you say. "Confirm that they're good for tomorrow, and to see if... Well, they have a girl who does tech, right? Magical hacking and so on. Maybe she could try and track the phone or something."

Mami nods. "That's a good idea," she agrees. "There are a few tracker specialist magical girls out there, but they're rare, and I don't know where any are." She wrinkles her nose. "There was a girl with dogs passing through Mitakihara once, but she didn't keep in touch."

Her expression falls a little at the memory.

You hug her tight, setting your phone down so you can wrap both arms around her. You don't say anything - you don't need to say anything.

She relaxes, cuddling closer.

You... Well, what you said earlier holds true. You wish you could just hold her and forget about the world.

But the world spins on.

Still, you can stay like this for a bit.

Mami stirs a few minutes later, peeking up at you. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, no," you say, hugging her again. "Nothing to be sorry for."

She shakes her head, clearly disagreeing. "You were saying?"

"Uh... Right," you say. "I was gonna ask if they could help me with, um, getting a legal identity?"

"... oh?" Mami asks.

You grimace. "I... well, the information I woke up with could only have come from magic of some kind, I... think. I don't think I have an actual identity to uncover."

"Oh," Mami says, golden eyes flicking up to meet your gaze. "I..." she bites her lip. "I see."

"Yeah," you say. "Might as well prepare for that eventuality, I figure."

Mami nods. "Alright," she says, smiling softly at you and letting her head droop back to lean on your shoulder.

"OK," you say. "I'm gonna make the call now."

You reach out by telepathy, reaching out for Inoue Yuuki, the tech-guca of the Ishinomaki group. "Hello, Miss Inoue?"

"Who is this, can you call my sister instead, busy-" the girl's breathless voice fills your head.

You blink. "Uh, it's Sabrina, and OK," you respond. You're immediately met with the connection slamming shut.

... OK then.

Inoue Yuuna instead, then. "Hello, Miss Inoue? This is Sabrina," you say cautiously. Mami's eyes drift open, looking at you with slightly raised eyebrows.

"... ah, yes, Miss Sabrina," the girl responds, sounding equally cautious. "How can I help you?"

"Uh, first, is your sister OK? She cut me off when I tried to call her," you ask. You give Mami a reassuring smile.

You can feel the eyeroll in response. "She's gaming. DotA earlier, think she's playing League now."

"Oh, I see." Never get between a gamer and their games, right. "In any case - I plan on making my cleansing trip tomorrow, if that's acceptable to you? I'll be coming by to cleanse your Soul Gems and refresh used Grief Seeds."

There's a long pause before she responds. "You were serious about that?" Yuuna says, finally.

"Yup," you confirm. Mami tucks herself a little closer against your side with a pleased little sigh.

"Very well," Yuuna responds. "When will you be arriving?"

"Most likely in the late morning, if not afternoon," you say. "I'm sorry, I can't give anything more precise than that - I'm juggling a few other things on my schedule."

"I understand," Yuuna says. "I shall tell the others to keep their schedules free."

"Right. One more thing... I want to commission your sister for two things, but I'm not sure what she's capable of?" you ask.

"Ah, familiar territory," Yuuna says. "What do you require?"

"Well, do you know if she can track a phone from her phone number?" you ask.

"Ah. Yes, she can do that," Yuuna says. "I take it this is partial payment for the cleansing?"

"I- well, no, that's free of charge," you say. "But I'd take it as a favour. The number is..." You read it off the little card.

"Noted," Yuuna says, voice guarded. "I'll tell Yuuki. What was the other thing?"

"Well... I was wondering if she can do anything like create a legal identity?" you ask.

"I... have no idea," Yuuna admits. "I can check with her. Later. Why do you need it?"

"I, uh, don't have one. And I'd appreciate it," you say. "In that case, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Presumably so," Yuuna responds, and ends the call.

You smile at Mami. "Well, that's done," you say. "Seems like they'd be happy to help."

"That's good," Mami says, beaming up at you.

"Next up is... Sendai and the University group," you say. "You know, is there more than one University group? I mean there's, for example, Tokyo University, right?"

Mami shrugs. "Yes, but the group at Sendai University got the name first," she says.

"Fair enough," you say. "Anyway..." You reach out by telepathy, first to Chouko - the leader of the University group. The one who could fly really well. She seems pleasantly surprised, confirming that there haven't been any problems, and again confirming that you're good to visit tomorrow. You follow that up with a call to Mori Rin. The girl seems to be firmly emplaced as the leader of the Sendai group now, speaking more easily for all of them as she finalises your cleansing trip tomorrow.

And finally, Tokyo. You only had the one contact with them, Ueda Noa, the representative of North Tokyo, who Akiko had tried to hire as a mercenary. "Hello, Miss Ueda? This is Sabrina, we met during that fiasco in Sendai?"

It takes a moment for her to respond. "Miss Sabrina?"

"That's me," you confirm.

"Ah. Yes. I take it this is about your offer?" Noa says.

"Yup," you agree.

"How do I put this..." She sounds kind of guilty.

"Just tell me?" you prompt.

"Ah, well, there is no unified front," she admits. "The Council generally agrees that they want to engage your, ah, services, but they can't agree on an order or a way in which to do so. Um, the Meiji group rejects your offering entirely."

"... um," you say. "I do intend to do it for free, you did mention that, right?" At the same time, you nudge Mami. "Hey, um, Mami? What's the Council? Tokyo Council, maybe?"

"Politics," Noa says, sounding wretchedly guilty.

"Um?" Mami asks. "The Council is a... um, Tokyo is just so big that all the magical girl groups agreed that they should have some kind of way to peacefully negotiate. The Council is just, um, something like the United Nations?"

"Gotcha, thanks," you say, smiling at Mami. To Noa, you respond with a neutral, "I see. Anything I can do?"

"Unless you plan on making a personal intervention, I don't think so," Noa says.

"Right, right. Thanks for the info," you say, ending that call.

"Why do you ask, Sabrina?" Mami asks.

You pull a face. "Nah, apparently Tokyo can't decide whether they actually want my help or something," you say. "Because apparently the Council is being political about it."

"Oh," Mami says. "I should have expected that, I suppose. I've heard... stories about them."

You shake your head. "Ah, well," you say, hugging her close. "It's fine. Maybe I'll do something about that at some point, but up until then... well."

And finally, a call to Masami and Hiroko. "Hey, Masami? Hiroko?"

"Hey, Sabrina," Masami responds, sounding entirely too cheerful. "How's tricks?"

... should you be suspicious?

"I think I should be asking you that," you say. "How's Megane?"

"Oh, just fine," Masami responds. "Right, Hiroko?"

Hiroko's only response is an aggrieved sigh and a long-suffering "Masami..."

Masami only laughs. "Ono's shaping up," she says. "Slowly."

"You broke her wrist!" Hiroko squawks in outrage.

"By accident!" Masami counters, like it's a... discussion they've already had. "And she learned to heal out of it, right?"

"God, you've gotten meaner," Hiroko says.

Masami snorts. "You were cheering me on."

"That- that doesn't count!" Hiroko says.

"Ahem," you say, interrupting rather pointedly. "Good to hear things are going... OK. Hey, I might need a favour from you girls at some point, to help to find someone? Not at the moment, I'm following up on some other things at the moment, but I'll be happy to pay you for it if I need your help?"

"We'd be happy to," Hiroko says. "Right, Masami?"

"Right, right," Masami says. "Yeah, let us know. We can bring Ono along, too!"

"That's the idea," you allow, and exchange a few more pleasantries before ending the call. You relax against the sofa -and Mami- with a satisfied little noise. That's all done, then, and with about half an hour to spare before the picnic. Which means it's time to go, really.

[] Write-in


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