As Hitomi is given her introductory primer on the runes from Oriko - and from a Kirika who is less concerned about teaching than she is about being close to her lover - you, Tomoe-san, and Kyouko sit in a circle at the table. It reminds you of better days;
but which better days are those? Are they the days when it was just the five of you and all you had to worry about were the normal concerns of any
puella magi; or are they the days after those, the days you fought so hard to keep?
Aren't you still fighting to keep those days?
Should you tell her and Kyouko that part of yourself? Sayaka and Hitomi didn't react very well when you told them, in the days leading up to
Walpurgisnacht. If you told Tomoe-san and Kyouko now, could you jeopardise the stability of the team during a time like this? Brushing those thoughts aside - you'll save them for another day, you turn to Tomoe-san and say "I want to thank you. I know the events of the past month have been a shock to us all, between witches and Grief Seeds that don't play by the rules, and now a rival faction of masters and servants we have to deal with. Your leadership makes you a credit to our team."
"Really, Akemi-san, you're just as much our leader as I am," Tomoe-san replies, waving off your praise as though it's no big deal. "I'm just doing the best I can to keep all of us safe."
"Even so, I appreciate everything you've done for us;"
And for everything she'll continue to do. You turn to Kyouko, snacking without a care in the world. "I don't believe I've asked you before, but how are you feeling about being back in school?" She's made it seventeen months without any major incidents; she must be doing well.
"I hate it." The words come as a blunt instrument to your ears. "If it were up ta me, I'd have nuthin' ta do with school in the slightest. But Mami and Sayaka's mom made it pretty fucking clear about their expectations'a me; and I ain't seeing Sayaka, or sleeping with a roof over my head fer that matter, if I don't go. I still wish I didn't fucking have ta go. It's all stupid, ain't it? All that test-taking and shit. They ain't teaching us anything we really need ta know ta survive in the world."
"That's hardly fair to say, Sakura-san."
"Is it though?" Kyouko and Tomoe-san stare at one another, as Kyouko says "You take any'a those kids in that school, and you take everything away from them. Take their homes, their money, their families; the fuck are they gunna do then? They don't know how ta survive out in the world without a million different nets there ta catch'em!" Now drawn back into the world where her trouble reside, Kyouko pulls her knees up to meet with her chin. "They're lucky. They get ta go ta school and learn all this useless shit, 'cause they'll never
need ta know what it's like living with nuthin'."
"I'm sorry for asking," you say. "I wasn't thinking."
"Nah, it ain't yer fault, Spooky. Ya didn't know I'd react that way. Sides, if I don't go, how am I gunna stick my tongue down Blueberry's throat?"
"Does Sayaka really, um... Does she really let you do that?"
Or is she just being hyperbolic?
Kyouko sticks her tongue out, saying "Course she fucking does. Gimme a few minutes and I could tell ya what she had fer breakfast
and whether she's still got any'a her baby teeth left." Kyouko eyes you; first with incredulity, then as the moments tick past, realisation dawns on her. "You and Pinkie ain't never made out before, have ya?" You don't dignify Kyouko's ridiculous question with a response, but your silence tells her more than any spoken answer you could have given her. "Christ, Spooky, you two have been dating fer what, a year and a half now and yer still being this timid with each other? If you two weren't so fucking perfect fer each other, I'd tell ya ta get on that, 'cause not every girl's gunna let ya keep her waiting ferever."
You had meant to ask Kyouko how Sayaka felt about returning to school in Mitakihara after everything that had happened -
after Walpurgisnacht spilled a literal ocean of corruption all over the city - but somehow Kyouko has managed to side-track you into
this fine mess.
That's fine, you can ask Sayaka tomorrow.
The other servants are off doing their own business, and the girls are all busy talking among themselves. That leaves you, as you have often been, alone with Caster. "I was thinking about whether there was anything we could do to counteract those girls' regenerative abilities," you say to Caster. "What are your thoughts on Refraction of Longevity?"
"Those girls have an above-average medical specialist on their side, to come up with a way to enhance their natural regenerative properties after just one day of seeing what our forces are capable of in battle," Caster says, crossing his arms as you and he stare out at the city from the open-air patio. "Refraction of Longevity would only keep them crippled for as long as they are on the battlefield. After that, they have more than enough ways of recovering from their injuries."
"But it would work?"
"Correct. A more pertinent question, I believe, is what do you intend to do with that knowledge? It is our masters who must find a way to combat the enemy masters, not us. Our responsibility is to support them by fighting the enemy's servants, or by helping them in ways which they cannot help themselves. Even if the road ahead is difficult, I have full confidence in our masters to defeat their foes."
Asking for weapons out of Caster's treasury with which to arm the girls sounds like a losing prospect, then. But at least you know your idea is sound;
if you could just think of a way to apply Refraction of Longevity to their own weapons, you might really have something... "Thank you for the help," you say to Caster, as you leave him to his musings. You briefly considering giving Assassin a certain present for her good behaviour earlier, but decide against it. You did say she would receive
that for service rendered after assisting with construction of the base; you would hate to give her ideas, think you're going soft and giving her something for nothing.
Best not to encourage bad behaviour in that one.
"I know last night was technically your first taste of battle, but how does it feel to have actually participated?"
As you did last night, you, Hitomi, Archer, and a conveniently hidden Saber are walking home after another night at the Tomoe apartment. Hitomi on one side of you, and Archer on the other. "It was... I don't think I could quite put my thoughts into a single word, or even a single sentence," Hitomi says. "It was... Frightening, seeing the kind of enemies you girls have to fight. It was exhilarating to be a part of something greater than myself. Seeing my Mystic Code at work -
really at work - for the first time..." Hitomi snaps her fingers, sending a spark coursing through the channel of oxygen her Mystic Code has carved out of the air and lighting in her hand like a miniature sun, just barely grazing her fingertips with its heat before being snuffed out. "It was a feeling I don't think I can quite describe, somewhere between awe and pride in myself for what I've managed to accomplish."
"But on the whole, you feel more positive things than you feel negative, is that correct?"
Hitomi nods. "When I was younger, I always dreamed of becoming a concert pianist. But, when I think about the reasons why I started studying magecraft, I just don't find the things I loved about playing the piano to be all that satisfying anymore. A pianist might inspire someone to keep living with their music, but they'll never know what it's like to be responsible - and I mean
directly responsible - for saving another person's life. I hope I don't come across as arrogant when I say this, Akemi-san, but I love the feeling of being
more than myself, of being able to
do more than I ever could before. I can make a real difference in the lives of so many people now, if only I can apply my knowledge correctly." You can almost
hear Hitomi's heart swelling in her chest as she speaks.
For as much as she loves her boyfriend, you're quite confident she loves magecraft even more. "I did just that tonight. When I think of how many people are safe because we stopped that witch, I... Something's awakened inside of me, Akemi-san, and after tonight I don't think I'll ever be able to put it back to sleep."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," you say to Hitomi. You hope you can count on that enthusiasm in the battles to come.
You hope the battles to come don't shatter everything she's worked so hard to accomplish. "Can I assume you've got a similar good feeling about learning the runes from Oriko?"
"It's the next step in furthering my education, isn't it?" Hitomi asks; rhetorically, you're sure. "The hardest part, I think, is going to be on deciding where to start. Mikuni-san outlined so many possibilities for me to choose from. I suppose I won't know where I should start until Lancer is finished with her lesson plan."
"I'll admit, my knowledge isn't perfect," you say. "I know my own runes inside and out - all of us do - but it's the runes none of us have touched before that are just out reach. If Lancer's lesson plan doesn't outline a place for you to start, then my suggestion would be to start with a rune that synergises well with your Element and Origin."
"I think that sounds reasonable."
"Speaking of your studies," Archer says. "I was thinking you might like something to up your performance a little bit." Archer has Hitomi's attention with those words. "I could lend you an amped-up Azoth Blade if you think you'll need the added power and efficiency, just in case you need it while we're setting up."
"I'll give it some thought," Hitomi says. "I appreciate the gesture, Archer, but I've only just begun to test the limits of my practical abilities. I'd prefer to find out how far I can go without the added help, before I go asking for any." Failing to hide a chuckle, Hitomi adds "That, and I suppose it's easier to hide notebooks and a few small rings from my parents thanit would be to hide an entire Azoth Blade, wouldn't it?"
"I suppose it would. Perhaps you'll reconsider once you've got your own workshop you can keep it in?"
"I'm sure I will;" and with that, you once again arrive at the doors of the Shizuki residence. "Until then, Archer, Akemi-san, I thank you both for your company and your kind words. I'll see you both tomorrow."
Homura makes for her room as soon as you and she have returned to the apartment. You, meanwhile, make for your own bedroom. "Well hello there, stranger," Minako says. She's sprawled out on your bed, wearing a sheer purple nightgown as she types away at some assignment on her laptop, which she closes as you enter the her line of sight. "Fancy seeing you here. You come this way often?"
"Not nearly often enough, apparently." You take a seat beside your sprawled-out girlfriend, and ask her "Did you still want that massage?"
"Only if you're still willing to give it to me."
By now, you've known Minako long enough to know what you're getting into whenever she gives you that
look. But, dutiful man that you are, you reach for her aching feet, massaging them one by one as you say "You know, one of these days we should probably get Homura a pair of noise-cancelling headphones."
Minako smiles; oh gods above how you wish you could resist that smile. "I suppose it would make for a nice Christmas present," she says. "What do you think?"
"I'm sure we'll give her plenty of opportunities to use them." Like tonight, for example.
