[X] Plan Homucave Is A Go
It usually takes Mikuni Oriko a little over an hour to come down to Mitakihara from Shirome, but fortunately you had archery club today so the wait time between club's end and her arrival was negligible.
"Come on, what's taking so long?"
Well, negligible for you, at least.
Kirika watches as you and the other members of the archery club pack it in for the day, anxiously kicking her feet back and forth underneath the bench on which she sits. "Just calm down," you say as you take a seat beside your big sis. "Mikuni Oriko should be arriving at the station soon, hopefully. Then we can figure out what we're going to do about getting Nagatsuki MIyuki down here, and get things started from there."
"I know..." Kirika looks down at the ground as she says "But tonight's gonna be the last time I get to see her until the night before... Well, you know."
"Great job out there today, Akemi," Mochizumi-san says as she passes you and Kirika. "Really, I mean it. You do like you did today and we just might have a shot at beating Shirome. Just, ah-" she scratches the back of her head as she reaches for her water bottle just underneath where Kirika is sitting. "-Just don't try any of that crazy stuff you sometimes do, okay? I know you want to make your dad proud, but I"m sure he'd agree with me that you need to get your fundamentals down before moving on to the crazy stuff."
"Hey, so you're the girl who likes the guy who likes Tomoe, right?" Kirika asks, causing Mochizumi-san to recoil as she glances around to make sure no one else heard. "How's that going?"
"Don't say that out loud, dummy!" Mochizumi-san looks around again. Fortunately for her, the others are too engrossed in their own 'guy talk' to have likely heard anything. "Geez. Anyway, it's... He's still stuck on Tomoe, but only 'cause he hasn't done like I said he should and talked to her already; and how'd you know about that, anyway?"
"'Cause Tomoe's my classmate, and she and Homura are both my friends, and it's not like we don't talk to each other about this kind of stuff. But don't worry, uh, Mochi, was it?" Mochizumi-san nods. "Don't worry about a thing, Mochi. I know love's the most important thing in the world, so you don't gotta worry about a thing. I'll keep quiet about your little secret."
"Uh, thanks, I guess."
Mochizumi-san heads off after that, and when Kirika's phone buzzes with good news the two of you head off to the train station to pick Mikuni Oriko up. Funny, then, how Mikuni Oriko is the one to quite literally pick Kirika up as the two lovers meet at the station. It's just a few centimeters off the ground, but the taller Mikuni Oriko has no trouble at all hoisting the smaller Kirika up off the ground as the two lovers embrace. "How was your day, dearest?"
"A lot better now that you're here."
Mikuni Oriko puts Kirika down, and you say as she turns to you "I spoke with Nurse Ortensia earlier today, just like you asked me to. She agreed to have dinner with you one night this week, and I told her that tomorrow, Thursday, or Friday would probably be your best nights to see her. I also gave her your number, but if you'd rather not wait for her to call I can give you her office number so you can call her tomorrow."
"Ah, thank you so much, Akemi-san," Mikuni Oriko says. "I wonder what I should think about making for dinner. You don't happen to know what sort of food Caren-san likes, do you?"
"I'm afraid not. That's probably something you'll have to discuss with her."
You're glad Tomoe-san lives so close to the school, though you wish there were a better way to get the team together that didn't involve an hour-plus commute regardless of who was hosting. You hake your head, inwardly cursing Mikuni Oriko's father for choosing to live in Shirome and not Mitakihara. Though again, you remind yourself, it's not as if he knew what his daughter would get involved with in his absence.
You go to knock on the door of the Tomoe apartment, but your host is already waiting for you. Caster's doing, no doubt. "Akemi-san, Mikuni-san, Kure-san, good afternoon," Tomoe-san says, welcoming the three of you into her apartment. As always, snacks, tea, and a Kyouko making her way through both of the former are waiting for you at Caster's table. You take your shoes off at the door, joining your host and her roommate with Mikuni Oriko and Kirika in hot pursuit behind you.
"Thank you for agreeing to host us tonight," you say to Tomoe-san. "To both you and Mikuni Oriko, thank you. Your patience is saintly, especially considering the heightened inconvenience of hosting at my apartment."
Tomoe-san politely waves your comment off, but Mikuni Oriko says "Please don't compare a sinner such as myself so highly as a saint, Akemi-san. I am unworthy of your praise."
"My point being," you say, choosing not to acknowledge Mikuni Oriko's self deprecation in favour of staying on track. "I was thinking it might be beneficial for us to set up a, let's call is a secret base, somewhere in Mitakihara or Shirome that's a neutral territory, so that we can meet up without having to deal with the inconvenience of always needing someone to host our meetings."
"What, ya mean like a Batcave or sumthing?" Kyouko asks. "Are we gunna have a butler with that, or are we gunna be expected ta make our own snacks an' do our own dishes?"
"Well, as long as I'm there I don't suppose Lancer would have a problem continuing to serve as our butler," Mikuni Oriko offers. "Though, we'd need a stocked pantry and kitchen accoutrements if we were to want snacks in the first place.
"Then there's also the matter of setting up this secret base idea of yours," Tomoe-san adds. "I don't dispute that a neutral gathering place where no one of us is expected to constantly be the host would be beneficial, but where would we even set this up; and how, for that matter?"
"I don't know about the where-" But you're sure you can figure out a good 'where' given the time. "-but I'm sure that between our servants the how should be easy enough." You poke a finger against Caster's table. "Particularly Caster. Given his abilities and his decorating skills, I'm certain he could pull the job off if we could convince him to lend a hand. After that, Lancer and Mikuni Oriko could lend their skills to set up a Bounded Field so nobody else manages to bungle their way into our base uninvited." Maybe they could also use their runes to help with the construction?
"Now, before we move on to discussing tonight's hunt, there's the matter of our missing sixth man I'd like to address." You turn to Kyouko and ask her "Would you be willing to have Rider zip over to Shirome and pick up Nagatsuki Miyuki?"
Kyouko rolls her eyes, asking "Ya sure are looking ta rack up that tab'a yers, ain't ya?"
"I guess you didn't get enough of Sayaka's lips last night to satisfy your cravings," is what you want to say, but you hold your tongue. There's no need to be so crass. "Yes," you say instead. "I suppose I am."
Kyouko rolls her eyes again, saying "A'ight, just give it a few and Four-Eyes'll be here." You give it a few minutes, though when "a few minutes" are up and you have yet to see any sign of Nagatsuki Miyuki you consider- A peal of emerald lightning cuts through the orange glow of the evening sky. "And, there they are," Kyouko says, as Rider knocks on the sliding glass door of the patio, steadying a very uncomfortable-looking Nagatsuki Miyuki.
"I don't... Ever... Want to do that again," Nagatsuki Miyuki says as she stumbles into the living room once Tomoe-san has opened the patio door for her. She looks as though she's about to throw up.
"Yeah, it's pretty shitty the first time," Kyouko says, offering Nagatsuki Miyuki a seat beside her. "Beats taking the train though, don't it? 'Sides, ya get used to it after awhile."
"Alright, now that we're all here, let's talk about how we're going to divide up the workload for tonight." You turn to your host, who already has little strands of ribbon all set for drawing. "Tomoe-san, if you would?"
"Thank you," Tomoe-san says as she takes the floor from you. "Mikuni-san and I were talking a bit on her ride down, and we've decided that tackling a mix of Mitakihara and Shirome locations would be our best bet for tonight."
"We'll be working in four teams tonight," Mikuni Oriko adds. "Two teams of puella magi and three teams of servants. That way, we can cover a larger area than if we were partnering masters and servants on the same teams. We'll split the load between checking Shirome and Mitakihara, and hopefully we each come back bearing good results."
The six of you draw straws, and once the two teams of puella magi are assigned, you find yourself asking "Fate really likes pairing us together," to Kirika, who is holding the same colored ribbon as yourself. "Doesn't it?"
Kirika pouts as she stares at the ribbon she's drawn. "I was really hoping I could work work Oriko tonight, too," she says. "Not that I mind you, it's just..."
"It's not so bad, is it?" asks Tomoe-san, holding the matching third strip of ribbon, making her the third member of your team tonight. "Sisters should cherish the time they have together, right?"
"I'm not complaining," you say; though you are curious as to how you keep getting paired with Kirika, night after night. You've hardly worked with Tomoe-san or Kyouko at all recently, to the point that somewhere along the line you find that you've gotten closer to Mikuni Oriko and Kirika, people who were once your enemy, than to people who have consistently been your allies across numerous timelines. Fate can be such a strange mistress. "Maybe I'd like more chances to work with other people, but I can't complain if the result is someone I know I fight well alongside."
Tomoe-san nods, making a "Hmm" sound in affirmation of your sentiments. "Then, shall we be off?"
[Homura]
Do you
[ ] Talk
-[ ] to Tomoe-san
-[ ] to Kirika
--[ ] About what?
Where do you go to hunt?
[ ] Shirome
[ ] Mitakihara
[Archer]
You've been paired with Rider and Assassin. Do you
[ ] Talk
-[ ] to Rider
-[ ] to Assassin
--[ ] About what?
Where do you go to hunt?
[ ] Shirome
[ ] Mitakihara
-[ ] Residential district
-[ ] Business district
(Choose only Homura or Archer perspective)
