[X] Plan My Older Sister Can't Be This Cute!
You hope it was the right thing to do, leaving your team for the night to make for dinner at the Kure apartment. The battle against the witch had been straightforward and you saw no reason to and nothing to be gained from talking about it. You didn't need the Grief Seed, and both Tomoe-san and Mikuni Oriko gave you their blessings to leave for dinner.
"Of course, Akemi-san. Mikuni-san and I can take things from here."
"When you see Kirika at dinner, could you tell her I miss her and can't wait to see her on Saturday?"
Well, Kure Minako hasn't said for sure if she'll let Kirika join you, so... You knock on the door of the Kure apartment, needing only to wait for a few seconds before Kirika opens the door to greet you. "Hey, glad you could make it," she says, as you take off your shoes. "Mom and Archer are working on dinner; they said it'd be about ten more minutes the last time I checked. How's everything with the others?"
"We had just gotten back from taking down a witch right before I left," you say. "Lancer and Caster are hard at work on the southern wall, and I'd like to believe our team is coming along nicely for Sunday. All in all, things are looking about as good as they can, I guess." You leave your shoes at the door, closing it behind you as Kirika leads you to the couch, where she already has on a movie which you don't recognise. Set up beside the television is a white box which you also don't recognise, with several cables leading around to the television's back. You assume that must be Kirika's game system, but you've never seen one in person so you aren't entirely sure. "Mikuni Oriko wanted me to tell you that she misses you, and that she can't wait to see you on Saturday."
At those words, Kirika turns and gives you a hug. "Thanks," she says. "I... I've known it was coming for a long time, but I still can't believe that Sunday might..."
"I know," you say. "Believe me, I know."
"Kids, dinner!" you hear Archer calling from the kitchen. Kirika tuns the television off, and the two of you head to the kitchen, where Archer and Kure Minako have already plated everything. Dinner looks and smells just as delicious as it did the last time, and as he sets the last place at the table, Archer makes his way over to you to give you a hug. "How was your day?"
"It could have been worse," you say. "I got Sayaka to speak to me; that's got to count for something, right?"
Archer smiles, saying "Yeah. Just keep at it and you and she'll be back to normal in no time," as the two of you break form your embrace and take up seats across from each other at the Kure's table. Once everyone is seated, Archer is the first to open up conversation, saying to you "So, you've been in the archery club for almost a month now, haven't you; how are you liking it?"
"It's nice, being able to practice and hone my skills with the others," you say. "They're not bad people in the slightest, and I really enjoy being around them and learning from them." And just like it looks and smells, dinner tastes just as good as you remember it. The salmon is light with a tangy aftertaste courtesy of the wasabi mayo, and the vegetables are tender and full of flavour. "We'll be having our first meet on the eighth, against the archery team from Shirome Junior High. Will you be coming to cheer us on?"
Archer smiles. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Not wanting to make the others at the table feel left out, you of course extend your invitation to mother and daughter Kure. "You two are also invited, if you'd like," you say. "I would appreciate your company, if you were interested in coming to watch me."
"Watch you kick Shirome's butt? Of course I'll come!" Kirika claps you on the back, beaming widely as she proclaims "That whole school deserves to have you kick its butt for the way they treated Oriko!"
"And I suppose if Archer and my little pumpkin want to watch you, I'd be silly to miss out," Kure Minako says. "I've never been to an archery meet before; what's it like?"
"It's not like baseball, that's for sure," Archer says. "Competitive archery is a lot stricter; there's a whole set of rules about how to position yourself before you can even think about actually putting an arrow on your bow, and believe me when I say the judges will be on your case if you mess up." You and Archer lock eyes; you know as well as he does. That's why you've been preparing yourself and practicing your competitive forms these past few practices. "Do you know how good the school you're facing is?"
"According to our captain, Shirome has some of the best athletic teams in the prefecture," you say. "I know Kasuga-san and Mochizumi-san - our captain and vice-captain, that is - are really spooked at having to face Shirome this early in the bracketing."
Archer quickly sucks in through drawn lips. "Ooh, that sucks. I don't know how good your school is, so all I can say is that you should keep practicing if you aren't already; forms as well as improving your accuracy."
"I am." And speaking of upcoming events... "On Saturday, the other girls and I were thinking of hosting a get-together," you say to Kure Minako. "And, we were all hoping that you'd let Kirika join us." Your eyes dart over to Kirika for a moment, and you continue, saying "We'd all feel really bad about having to exclude her, when it's meant to be an event for our entire team; so perhaps, just this once, you'd make an exception and let her join us?"
"You know," Archer says to Kure Minako, "She has been getting her homework done, some nights without any complaints at all, and if you let her go off on Saturday that would give us the afternoon to ourselves. I could help you get your things packed up, and you wouldn't have to worry about keeping track of Kirika."
Kure Minako looks between you, Archer, and a Kirika who is currently making the biggest puppy-dog eyes you could have imagined her making. She sighs, saying "Oh, I guess it's alright if you take the night off and go have fun with your friends. Just..." Kure Minako sighs, adding "Be careful while you're out there, will you? I don't really know what kind of things you girls have to deal with, but if something ever happened to you, I'd..."
"Don't worry, mom," Kirika says, smirking as she looks in your direction. "I've got Oriko and my little sis looking out for me."
"Thank you," you say to Kure Minako. "Um, if you don't mind..." You aren't sure if you're going about this the right way. You've never asked Kaname Junko to show you pictures from when Madoka was young, so you're completely out of your element when you say "I was hoping you'd be willing to show me the picture from Kirika's seventh birthday party you mentioned last time I was here."
"Of course, dear," Kure Minako says, getting up out of her chair. "Just give me a second and I'll-"
"Mom, no! Don't show her that!" Kirika exclaims, clinging to her mother's waist in a vain attempt to slow her down. "It's really embarrassing! Stop! I don't wanna look uncool in front of my little sis!"
Kirika's ministrations are to no avail, and Kure Minako makes for her room unimpeded, returning with a framed photograph which she holds tightly in both hands. "This is a really special picture for me," she says, setting it down on the table in front of you. "It's probably the last picture I have of us all together as a family, before..."
Standing over a cake which reads "Happy Birthday Kirika!" and likely standing on her tiptoes is a much younger Kirika wearing a bright yellow-and-white one-piece jumpsuit, with a plastic yellow mask hanging off one side of her face. The Kirika in in the picture is practically aglow, her eyes wide as she prepares to blow out the candles on her birthday cake. Standing beside her and looking equally as excited is a girl with salmon-coloured hair and pink eyes, wearing a similar one-piece jumpsuit but coloured pink instead of yellow, with a similar pink mask hanging from her head. Flanking the pair of children is a woman you immediately recognise as a younger Kure Minako, and a man who looks like a younger, cleaner, and more well-put-together version of the vagabond you briefly remember seeing at the beach.
That's Kirika's father, the way she remembers him.
"Who is the other girl?" you ask
"That's Mamiya Erika," Kure Minako says. "She used to be Kirika's best friend, until her parents got divorced and she had to move away." To her daughter, the mother Kure turns, saying "You two used to be so close, remember? I wonder what ever happened to her?"
Kirika, who has remained silent since Minako brought the picture out, finally says "Can we get back to dinner?"
"Of course, pumpkin," Kure Minako says, placing her treasure gently on he kitchen counter behind her. "And Homura, if you'd ever like to see any other pictures from when Kirika was younger, or want to know more about what your big sis was like before you and she met, don't hesitate to ask."
Well, actually... "I know you said you aren't in any clubs," you say to Kirika, "But, were you ever in any clubs when you were younger?" Turning to Kure Minako, you add "Maybe you have pictures of those?"
"Nah, I've never been in any clubs," Kirika responds. "And mom shouldn't have any pictures of me doing stuff for school."
"Actually," Kure Minako says, "There is one, from back when Kirika was in elementary school. It was the day of the school faire, and she and Erika decided to set up a lemonade stand." Just as you're about to ask if you can see it, Kure Minako snaps her fingers, and add "Shoot, I think I left that one with my parents before we moved into the apartment. Sorry," she says to you. "But you'll have to wait for some other time if you want to see that one."
[ ] Wat do?
