"Thank you. That's all I can ask," you say, concluding your conversation with Mikuni Oriko. But it isn't; not really. It's just all that you can ask of her. There are still other things which you can ask of other people.
"Archer, are you there? I was hoping you could check out the grounds when you had the chance. I need to know if the Incubator is following us." Quickly reminding yourself of your love for the person in your embrace, you add
"And, I was also hoping you could find a nice place for Madoka and I to watch the sunset tomorrow."
"I am here, master, but I might be awhile."
"What's taking you?"
"I may have decided that Kure's mother isn't the worst person to spend my time with."
"Seriously? But you've only just met."
"We're not dating, if you're suddenly concerned about having Kure for a stepsister." That thought by itself is enough to send shivers down your spine.
"I'm just going to help her study for her equivalency certificate. Right now, she's the only one seeing any romantic connotations in my willingness to extend a friendly hand."
You still loathe the idea of ever being sisters with Kure Kirika;
even if you aren't sure that would happen, since Archer isn't legally your guardian. But at least it isn't as bad as you initially thought.
"Well, whenever you're done with that, could you check out the grounds for me? It's very important."
"Of course. This one's pretty wasted, so as soon as she's asleep I'll check around for you."
"Thank you, Archer." You have to force yourself to resist the urge to tease your servant, because to do so would be to acknowledge that a relationship between your servant and guardian, and the mother of Kure Kirika, was something that could be possible; and you refuse to acknowledge any such relationship that would make you and Kure Kirika into sisters. You can't say anymore that you
hate this timeline's version of her, but to
have her for a sister? That's a bit much for you to accept right now.
"By the way, I'm running a bit low on critical war material; so when we get back to Mitakihara, I was thinking that one of us could borrow some supplies from one of the local Yakuza storehouses. I can do it, but if you feel like saving me the trouble I have no complaints."
"Robbing from the Yakuza? That's almost as risky as robbing from the Self-Defense Force, isn't it? If, God forbid, they were to catch you, you'd be in serious trouble."
"Yes, but that's why I have my big, strong servant there to do it for me; right? You'll keep me safe."
"I can't help but feel like you're feeling jealous of me right now. Don't worry, I'm not going to forget about my responsibilities to you just because I've found someone who also happens to need my help."
"That wasn't what I was getting at, Archer, and you know it. But still, I appreciate knowing that you won't forget me." Again, you have to resists the urge to tease your servant by adding the qualifier
"for your girlfriend" to the end of your sentence, because to do so would only invite the acceptance of sisterhood with Kure Kirika.
"We can talk about this later. Put Kure Minako to sleep, and check out the grounds when you have the chance." Sleep; yes, it is getting to be rather late, isn't it? "Maybe we should all think about our sleeping arrangements," you suggest to your group of friends. "It is getting rather late, and we should probably start thinking about hitting the hay so we're ready to take on tomorrow at our best."
There's just one problem... "Well, there's eight of us, but only two beds," Sayaka says, speaking for everyone; and perhaps only speaking for her and Kyouko alone when she says "And one of'em's the bed that our host's parents, um,
did it in, and I know I don't want to sleep in that one." For that, Sayaka earns a pair of disapproving stares from both Hitomi and Tomoe-san. "What? I just think that's weird, is all."
"I can assure you, Miki-san, the bed on which I was conceived is no longer in this cabin, so would you and Sakura-san please both calm yourselves." Mikuni Oriko does not look as though she appreciates having to reiterate her statement for the nth time. "However, if it still bothers you that I was conceived here in the same way as all of you, as I said before I have no problems sleeping in the room that was once my parents'." Before Kyouko has a chance to make a comment, she is silenced by Mikuni Oriko's glare, challenging her to
"Say something. I dare you."
"Still, there are eight of us, eleven counting our chaperones," Hitomi says, counting off on her fingers. "But only two beds and two couches. Perhaps the beds can fit two people each, but that still leaves five of us undetermined; and while Archer-san did get enough inflatable mattresses for the rest of us, we should still come up with some means of deciding who gets to sleep on what."
"Oriko and I can sleep in her parents' room!" Kure Kirika offers, adding "It's
her cabin, after all. It's only fair. And my mom can stay with us if we drag one of the mattresses upstairs with us." Hitomi's face reddens at the thought of the already-affectionate couple
- gasp - sharing not just a room, but a bed as well.
She doesn't need to know how they share a bed when they're at home; you can already hear her saying of them "But you're living in sin!" "The rest of you? I dunno, I guess just draw straws, or something. Fight over who gets the second bed for all I care; as long as Oriko and I get to share a bed everything's okay in my book!"
"Dearest, there's no reason to encourage them to fight." You can feel Mikuni Oriko wishing desperately that she could add
"We're all friends here" to her words; but one look at Sayaka tells her that that isn't the case.
"But, drawing straws is an excellent suggestion, Kure-san," Tomoe-san chimes in. Thankfully, the entire assembled group know that Tomoe-san is a
puella magi, so there's no cause for alarm when from her Soul Gem come six strands of ribbon, two of which are dyed red at their lower edges, and another two dyed in blue. She shuffles them in her hand, before saying "We'll each take one, and whoever gets one of the red-tipped ribbons gets to sleep in the second bed." Her eyes briefly pass over you and Madoka;
she's hoping for the bed to go to the two of you. You wouldn't mind sharing a bed with Madoka on this trip, either. "Whoever gets a blue-tipped ribbon gets one of the couches."
Unfortunately, neither you nor Madoka end up with one of the red-tipped ribbons; that honour goes to Hitomi and Tomoe-san. And although Kyouko cries "Hey, yer cheating, ain't'cha? Yer the one who dealt us ta begin with, so how's it fair that you get one'a the red ones?" everyone else is at least silent in their dissenting opinions.
Oh well. But then, almost as soon as Kyouko's anger at being denied the bed appears it is gone, and she realizes that both she and Sayaka are sleeping on inflatable mattresses. "Hey Blueberry," she says, leaning over to Sayaka with a coy smile and an arm around the girl's shoulder. "me an' you are gunna push our beds together an' make our own little love nest, what'ya say?"
"Ew, no!" Sayaka shrieks, violently pushing Kyouko off of her. "Get away from me! I'm still mad at you, you know?"
"Yeah, an' I don't even know why," Kyouko grouses; but to her credit neither she nor Sayaka take the conversation any further than that.
You suppose that the way everything worked out is fine, in the end. Yes, you are dismayed at not being able to sleep beside Madoka,
and feeling more than a little jealous of Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika right now, but the way in which the bedding arrangement worked out is at least adequate. Archer and Lancer don't
need to sleep, so it's fine that they ended up with the air mattresses. One by one, everyone files into the bathroom to clean themselves, brush their teeth, and change into pajamas or other sleeping attire. It takes awhile, but eventually all eight of you are settled into your beds and ready for a good night's sleep.
You stare at Madoka from across the coffee table, your couches pushed as close together as possible given the table in-between you both. You reach your hand out, and Madoka does the same; there's just enough room for your fingers to invite the electric shock of the other's touch. "Good night, Madoka," you say to her, feeling your eyelids growing heavy. "Sleep well; and I love you."
"And I love you too, Homura-chan." Your eyes remain open for just long enough to watch Madoka's own eyes closing, and soon you feel yourself drifting off to a peaceful sleep.
... At least, that's what you would have felt were it not for the voice of Mikuni Oriko screaming in your mind "Akemi-san, Tomoe-san, Sakura-san, please come quick! It's a witch!"
Your eyes shoot open, expecting to find trouble. What kind of trouble, you don't know; but witches are always trouble. What you
do find, however, is water.
Everywhere. It's coming in from the patio doors, and already there's enough of it that your ankles are completely submerged when you take your first steps towards the doors;
and the water just keeps rising. If you don't take care of this witch soon, then Madoka... "What the fuck is going on?" Kyouko asks, instantly up just as sure as you are. "The fuck's a witch doing all the way out here?"
"I don't believe it matters where we are, Sakura-san," Tomoe-san says, descending the stairs muskets drawn, already donned in her battle attire. "
Puella magi and witches are destined to follow one another, even when one party goes on vacation, it would seem."
"Let's save the chitchat for after we've beaten the witch," you say, pushing through the patio doors to find yourself staring into a
bright blue ocean expanse, which stretches as far as your eyes can see. Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika are nowhere to be seen, but shortly after the three of you make your way out onto the patio, their heads emerge from under the water. They too are already donned in their battle garb, though their bathing suits might have been a better choice for the environment they now find themselves in. "What happened?"
"Kirika and I were talking a walk along the beach, when all of a sudden the water just started rising rapidly," Mikuni Oriko responds, as she and Kure Kirika paddle towards the patio, pulling themselves up onto, if not dry land, then at least solid ground. "And when we saw the bright sun overhead, even though it had been nighttime only seconds before, we knew we had wandered into a labyrinth." Mikuni Oriko looks around, her gaze bouncing from the cabin, out to the endless ocean, and back. "Though, by the look of things, it's less that we wandered into a labyrinth, and more that a labyrinth wandered into us."
"So, where's the witch?" Kyouko asks. "Let's take her out so we can all get back ta sleep."
The water, which had previously been calm and clear, churns at Kyouko's words, until it has become a violent and pounding surf. Strong waves crash into nonexistent 'beaches' to your left and your right, and fierce riptide currents cut a spiraling whirlpool into the center of the endless ocean; and you feel a strong chill coming on. A shape crests over the endless horizon, walking over the water atop tall stilt-like legs as it approaches.
No, you realize, as with the figure's approach you can faintly hear a familiar ice-cracking sound. The witch approaches, and your eyes tell you for sure; the witch freezes the water underfoot as it walks on its six stilt-like legs. It stops, staring down on you and your allies from the thin orange slit that you assume must be its 'eye'.
"You just had to jinx it, didn't you?" Kure Kirika says to Kyouko, as the witch's 'eye' flashes.
[ ] Wat do?
