[X] Enetious
You open the door to the sight of Sayaka, her arm wrapped around Kyouko's shoulders as Kyouko leans on her for support. Just as you step aside to allow them entrance, the sky gives a terrible roar, and a furious downpour falls only seconds after the pair make their entrance. Was it supposed to rain this afternoon?
"Whew, that was a close one." You trade places with Sayaka so that she can take her shoes off without having to worry about supporting Kyouko. "Didn't think it was going to rain today."
Once Sayaka has removed her shoes, she helps Kyouko with her own shoes. You don't notice as Kyouko's face flushes, and you don't hear her when she mumbles "Hey, uh... Thanks. Fer comin' ta help me, I mean." But you do notice as the pair make their way into your living room. It wouldn't do to have someone falling down on your watch.
As the three of you enter the living room, things have remained largely unchanged since you left to help Archer in the kitchen. Hitomi is helping Madoka work through what appears to be geometry homework, while Tomoe-san works at her own studies, occasionally pausing to help when Madoka or Hitomi have trouble with something. But, as you expected it would, all of that changes once Sayaka and Kyouko arrive.
"Sayaka-chan! Kyouko-chan!" Madoka excitedly chirps the pair's names, as pink, green, and yellow scatter to make room for the injured red. Sayaka helps Kyouko onto one of your couches, and the second she goes to fetch an ottoman to prop up Kyouko's broken leg, Tomoe-san's arms are around the redhead.
"Hey! Geddof me will ya!" Kyouko shouts, but despite fuming under Tomoe-san's embrace, she never actually does anything to force the blonde to remove herself. You suspect the pair are having their own internal conversation, but you choose not to pry in their secrets.
"Dinner should be ready in, say, ten minutes," Archer says, poking his head out of the kitchen. "But I've got some rice balls ready to go if anyone is hungry now."
Kyouko looks at Sayaka, giving her the fakest pair of puppy-dog eyes you've ever seen on a person. Sayaka rolls her eyes "Fine, I'll get you some," but goes into the kitchen to grab the tray of rice balls anyway. When she returns, setting the tray down on the table, she says "Make sure to save some for the rest of us, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kyouko responds, grabbing for the rice ball closest to her. This earns her a sour look from Sayaka, who responds by aggressively grabbing the rice ball farthest from the one Kyouko grabbed. The pair lock eyes across the small circular table, fighting one another in a duel to see who can eat their rice ball the most aggressively. Hitomi tries to suppress a chuckle at their actions, and despite wanting your hardest to ignore the pair, you can't help but comment.
"You two might act this way, but you're both getting along much better than either of you want to admit, aren't you?" Their joint chorus of "No we're not!" only leaves Hitomi working even harder to suppress her laughter.
But you ignore all that, to focus on the one person who matters to you most. "So Madoka, what have you been up to lately?"
"Well, I'm waiting for April, because that's when both of my clubs start up again, but other than that, there hasn't really been much to talk about."
"What clubs are you a member of?" Gardening and Crafts, you knew the answer a hundred timelines ago, but Madoka still deserves to hear you asking her in this timeline.
"I'm a member of the Gardening Club and the Crafts Club. What about you, Homura-chan? Were you thinking of joining any clubs? There's still a little time left if you want to join any."
[ ] "I hadn't really given any thought to joining a club. I suppose I might enjoy giving the Archery Club a try if they're still accepting members."
[ ] "I hadn't really given any thought to joining a club. But if they're still accepting members, I suppose I could try one of the clubs you're in."
Madoka smiles warmly at your response. "Well, I'm sure that no matter what club Homura-chan decides to join, she'll really enjoy it."
Sayaka nudges Madoka with her elbow, and says to her "So, Madoka, when are you going to tell Homura about what happened in art class?"
Madoka becomes the red cabbage, and Hitomi gives Sayaka an exasperated glare as Madoka says "Sayaka-chan! No! That's too embarrassing! I can't tell Homura-chan about that!"
"Too late!" Kyouko proclaims, nearly falling over in her seat as she wraps an arm around Madoka's shoulder. "Come on Pinky, fess up! I'm sure Spooky over there'd love ta hear yer embarrassing story!" Fortunately, your glare immediately causes Kyouko to back off. "Fine, fine, hands off the merch, got it."
"It's okay, Madoka," you say, giving the scarlet-faced girl a warm smile. "You don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to." Although, if you were to be honest with yourself, you are rather curious as to what happened that would have made Madoka so ashamed to tell you.
"No..." Madoka bites her lip as she goes for her school bag, pulling out her drawing notebook and clutching it to her chest protectively. "Do you know the girl who sits behind and to the left of you? I've always thought she was really good at drawing, so when the teacher told us that today was a free-drawing period, I looked over to see if maybe I could get some inspiration from what she was drawing, but I... When I saw what she was drawing, I... I got really mad."
"Well?" Kyouko stares at Madoka "What was she drawing that had ya so upset?" Hitomi gives Kyouko a dirty look.
"She... She was drawing herself, and Homura-chan... And you two were... Kissing. I got really jealous when I saw her drawing you like that." Well, that confirms your suspicions. You'll have to have a chat with her some time soon. "So... I drew this." Handling as though it were the most precious thing in the world to her, Madoka opens up her notebook, flipping to the appropriate page to show you what she's drawn.
It's you.
There's nothing particularly noteworthy about it from a technical standpoint, but knowing that this drawing was born from a very special place in Madoka's heart makes the ordinary seem extraordinary. It's clear that Madoka went to great length to capture as much of the emotion in the lines of your face as best as she could. It's strange, though, that the drawing's smile seems less melancholy than any smile you can remember showing to Madoka.
"She's very beautiful," you say, handing the notebook back to a blushing Madoka. "I'm sure that whoever she is, she would be flattered to know that you've captured her likeness so well."
It should be nearing ten minutes now from when Archer announced dinner, when, right on schedule "Alright girls, dinner's ready!" Archer enters the living room balancing three plates of rice, vegetables, and assorted meat cutlets, which he places down on the table. "I'll be back with the other three. But save some room, because I've got salads and teriyaki burgers coming next, and after that is dessert."
Tomoe-san excuses herself as Archer brings out the remaining three plates, but shortly after she leaves "Blueberry, ya mind helpin' me adjust my seat?" Reluctantly, Sayaka agrees, and as she helps Kyouko get settled into her seat better you, Madoka, and Hitomi all gather around the table to take your plates. Only when Tomoe-san returns and takes the seat to Madoka's right does Sayaka realize that the only seat remaining is the one between Hitomi and Kyouko.
"Yeah, does anyone wanna switch with me?" Kyouko asks, as she and Sayaka realize that their only recourse is to sit together.
"You want to move, now? After I just helped you adjust your seat?"
"What, like you wanna sit next ta me any more than I wanna sit next ta you?"
"Of course I don't want to sit next to you! But if you wanted to move, you should have said so before all the other seats were taken!"
"Well, maybe I wouldn't have ta move if there was another place not next ta me that ya could sit!"
Hitomi clears her throat, saying to the both of them "I could slide over next to Sakura-san, and Sayaka-san could sit where I was, if that would make things better."
Kyouko rolls her eyes, and Sayaka takes her seat all the same. "Just... Let's just eat, okay? It's not like this is some fancy event where the seating matters." Hitomi smiles as the pair come to an amicable solution.
"... And that's when I realized that I had been playing in the wrong key the entire time."
Sayaka's smile is a melancholy one as she and Hitomi talk amongst themselves, the topic somehow invariably always managing to return to the matter of Kamijou Kyousuke. "And he never corrected you at all?"
Hitomi shakes her head. "Not once. The whole time I thought he was the one who sounded off, but that was just because he didn't want to make me feel bad."
"Geez, how'd you manage that one, Hitomi? Aren't you, like, really good at piano?"
Hitomi's face reddens, and you can almost see her desire to withdraw inside her own skin to escape her post-embarrassment embarrassment. "Well... I suppose I must have simply choked. It was the first time we had tried playing a duet as a couple, and I really wanted to impress him... Oh, I'll never be able to face him after this."
You can only imagine how Sayaka must feel, listening to Hitomi talk about her budding relationship with Kamijou Kyousuke, the relationship Sayaka wishes she could have, but she puts on a smile all the same and gives Hitomi a friendly hug. "We all make mistakes sometimes, Hitomi; I'm sure he understands."
You don't particularly care about Hitomi's relationship troubles so long as they do not constitute a threat or a potential avenue for either Madoka or Sayaka to contract, but with the current seating arrangement seeing you across the table from her, you give her a polite smile when she looks your way, before going back to your conversation with Madoka, who is sandwiched between you and Tomoe-san. Tomoe-san seems much happier than she has been in recent times, as she tries - though ultimately persists in failing - to ask Kyouko about what she's been up to in the years since their parting.
But Kyouko, try as Tomoe-san might, keeps refusing to answer. And it's getting on someone's nerves; but that someone isn't Tomoe-san. "Hey, you've been awful quiet lately." Sayaka, sandwiched between Hitomi and Kyouko, leans over to her redheaded seat-mate, and makes her own attempt to pry the words from Kyouko's mouth. But Kyouko is silent, save for the obnoxious and intentionally loud sound of her chewing on her teriyaki burger.
"Come on, there must be something we can get you to talk about." Still nothing. "Got any interests or hobbies? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Where do you go to school? Anything?"
Kyouko rolls her eyes, spitting out her answer. "I like eatin' an' playin' games at th' arcade; never dated nobody, but I'm gayer than a rainbow an' I got lip time with a girl ta prove it; an' I don't go ta school 'cuz I ain't got time."
"You don't go to school?" Sayaka asks, getting her response from Kyouko in the form of a nod of her head. "So, do you have a job then? Aren't you a little young to be working?"
"Ain't no age restriction on beatin' losers like yerself at th' dance machine. Gotta make money ta eat some way. An' speaking'a which, Spooky, you tell Redman that this is th' best damn burger I've ever had."
Now that is a statement Sayaka can agree with. "You said it," she responds, taking the final bite out of her own burger. "I could eat Mister Archer's cooking all day."
"Indeed," Tomoe-san chimes in. "I don't know why he never seems to eat himself. He's so diligent about making sure that we're all fed, but I wish he'd think about himself once in awhile."
Across the table from you, Hitomi nods, and you find yourself agreeing with Tomoe-san. You aren't exactly sure that Archer needs to eat, but giving him the chance to partake in his own creations is a fair enough suggestion. "Archer, would you like to sit down and eat with us?" "And also, while I don't mean to be demanding, would you prepare some hot chocolate to go with dessert?"
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to be sociable for a little while," Archer replies, pulling up a seat that sees him squeezed between yourself and Hitomi. A poor choice on his part, as the second he's settled in, all the rest of the table bombards him with questions.
"Where did you learn to cook?" "What was your childhood like?" "What else are you good at besides cooking?" "Have you ever loved anyone?" "Can I hire ya ta cook full-time?"
But fortunately, Archer appears to take it all in good stride, responding to each question in turn with "Girls, please, one at a time. I know you're all excited, and I'm happy to answer your questions; but please, one at a time."
At your insistence, you nudge Madoka into action, and fortunately the others get the hint to back off and allow her to be the first one to ask. "Well, Archer-san, I'm curious to hear about your childhood. What was it like?"
Archer sighs, and his eyes get this sort of glassy look to them as he reminisces. "Well... To be honest, the first six or seven years of my life are just... Completely blank. I don't remember the faces of my parents, or where I lived, or if I had any friends or favourite toys. The first memories I have are of a raging fire that swept through the city, and the face of the man who saved me."
You can clearly see the face of the man who had saved your servant. A sharp, strong jaw covered in light stubble. Darkened eyes, cold like steel, carrying with them sadness beyond measure. Shaggy, roughly-cut black hair, with bangs that fell more over his right eye than his left. He's wearing a dark suit, and even through Archer's memories, you can feel the callouses on his hands, callouses that have since become familiar to you since you started using guns to fight. And for a name...
"... Kiritsugu didn't have to do anything else for me after that day. He could have gone home, and left me to be sent off to the orphanage with all the other children who survived the fire that night. But, for as much as he had saved me, I think I also saved him. When we first met, he... He had been grieving the loss of someone precious to him, and finding me, being able to save me, I think that was some small form of catharsis for him. He was... A complicated man, but he tried to be a good father to me all the same."
Kiritsugu, the dark-clad foster father of your servant Archer... But that does little to aid you in your quest to uncover Archer's identity, and you're doubtful that he'll accidentally spill the beans tonight. So for now you'll listen to him as he answers the questioning of your friends, quietly and patiently biding your time.
[ ] Wat do?
