[X] Plan Going To Monday Church
"Would it be better if I told Mikuni-san to get on the train and meet us at my apartment; or if we picked up Sakura-san from my apartment and then took the train up to Mikuni-san's place?"
"My apartment is another option," you say. "It's right off of the station so it wouldn't be too difficult for Mikuni Oriko to meet us there."
"No, that won't do," Tomoe-san shakes her head. "You hosted us all yesterday. It would be unfair to ask that you host everyone again."
"Um, aren't you forgetting someone?" Kure Kirika speaks up with irritation in her voice. "Because frankly, if you're going to be involving Oriko in all of this, then isn't it only fair to, you know, ask her first, before deciding?"
Kure Kirika makes a valid point, one which you admit you might not have thought of without first being prompted to consider it. "You're right, if we're going to make a decision that could impact Mikuni Oriko, we should ask her first before imposing ourselves on her."
"That's what I like to hear." Kure Kirika smiles as she takes out her phone, bouncing her head back and forth as she dials, and waits. "Hey, Oriko, how's your day going? ... Mhm, I'm doing fine... Nope, no problems with them at all! Does that mean I get a reward when I get home? ... Hey! Don't tease me like that; I'm being serious! ... Uh-huh... Um, sure; yeah, I guess that's alright... So anyway, I just wanted to ask you something... You already knew? Oh, right, duh! Of course you would! ... Are you sure? Okay, I'll let them know... Love you too. Bye!"
Kure Kirika hangs up the phone, pocketing it before saying "She says she's fine hosting everyone tonight. So, I guess we'll go grab that redheaded girl, and then take the train up? Is that the plan?" You and Tomoe-san nod.
"If that's what Mikuni-san is willing to offer, then that's what we'll do."
The train ride north after picking Kyouko up from Tomoe-san's apartment is - thankfully - uneventful. Tomoe-san and Kyouko make small talk amongst themselves, while you mind the wheelchair-bound Kure Kirika in silence, pondering to yourself on the nature of her relationship with Mikuni Oriko.
While it's clear to you that the two most certainly love one another, you have to wonder what could have put into Kure Kirika's head the idea that Mikuni Oriko would stop loving her if she ceased to be useful. You have no frame of reference for what either of them were like prior to their contracting with the Incubator, and you don't know what their relationship with one another was like prior to their contracting, either. Kure Kirika mentioned a divorce earlier; you don't know how long ago that was, what her parents are like, or the circumstances surrounding the divorce to make any definitive statement, but it seems as good a starting point as any if you ever have the chance to inquire further.
Is it any of your business to inquire further?
What responsibility do you have to ensure Kure Kirika's good mental health?
The signboard overhead turns green, announcing "Last Stop: Mitakihara Northwest/Shirome East Station" and the four of you make ready to depart. It will be another twenty minute walk from the station to Mikuni Oriko's mansion, after an already forty-five minute train ride; suddenly, you find yourself having greater respect for Kure Kirika's time-management skills, now that you're seeing for yourself the commute she has to take every day.
Mikuni Oriko is waiting at the station for your arrival, and her weary expression wanes as soon as Kure Kirika is in her sight. "Hello everyone," she says, smiling as she takes Kure Kirika's wheelchair from you, kissing the top of her head as she does so. "I trust the train ride wasn't too bad."
Tomoe-san shakes her head, speaking for your group as she says "Everything went fine, Mikuni-san. Actually, I'm impressed; it's quite a long commute for Kure-san to make, and yet I don't think I've ever seen her be late to class, not once."
"It would be shorter if she still lived with her mother, but Kirika insisted on staying with me as soon as I first broached the subject of cohabitation."
"Of course I did! I'd go anywhere for you, Oriko!" Kure Kirika turns her head up, and amber eyes meet emerald with a smile. "Anywhere..."
Their conversation turns to the mundane at this point, and you opt to tune the pair out as they lead your group back to their mansion home. Watching them interact with one another in their natural habitat, without the threat of puella magi politics or impending battle over their head, Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika look remarkably similar to how you imagine that you and Madoka must look when you're walking together. Watching them right now, they aren't the pair of enemies who gave you no end to trouble in countless timelines before; rather, they're just an unassuming young couple, and if you didn't know who they were beforehand you'd likely have thought nothing of them if you saw them around town.
You thought nothing of them once before.
You haven't been able to afford to think nothing of them since then.
Lancer is waiting by the front gate as the five of you arrive, and Mikuni Oriko peels back her Bounded Field just enough to allow you entry, before returning it to its proper place once Tomoe-san and Kyouko are inside. "Tomoe-san, you've only ever been in the garden around back, correct? And Sakura-san hasn't been here before at all. So, on behalf of my dearest and I," Mikuni Oriko performs a graceful curtsey "I would like to officially welcome you both to our humble home."
"It don't look so 'humble' ta me," Kyouko immediately says. "This place is, like, the fanciest getup I've ever seen."
Shooting the girl an annoyed expression, Tomoe-san nudges Kyouko with her elbow. "Thank you, Mikuni-san. You have a beautiful home, and it's wonderful to be here now that we don't have to fight anymore."
You choose to say nothing as you take your shoes off at the door. You've spilled their blood in nearly every room you can think of. You've lost the right to make comments about their residence.
Mikuni Oriko leads your group into her living room. While your living room is made to appear bigger than it really is through the use of holograms, Mikuni Oriko's living room is in reality as big as yours appears. The walls are painted in a light grey, while her couch, a loveseat, and a single-person chair are a rich dark brown leather, surrounding a heavy table of imported walnut stained in the same dark brown shade. Two large glass doors open out to a patio and the rose garden, while also serving as east-facing windows. The view of the rising sun from here as it crests over the city skyline must be breathtaking, you think.
Gently, Mikuni Oriko lifts Kure Kirika out of her wheelchair, setting her down in the loveseat before taking a seat beside her. You opt for the single-person chair, while Tomoe-san and Kyouko share the couch. Just as everyone is seated, Lancer enters, carrying a silver platter with five teacups, a steaming pot of golden-brown liquid, and various other accoutrements necessary for one to customize their tea to personal preference.
"My, Mikuni-san, you sure work fast," Tomoe-san says, as Lancer disassembles her cargo and sets places for everyone. "You must have asked Lancer to prepare everything ahead of time."
"Of course. You are my guests, and I wanted to be as hospitable as possible." Turning to Kure Kirika, Mikuni Oriko asks, "Dearest, how would you like your tea?"
Kure Kirika pouts, replying "Three sugars and three scoops of jam. Come on, Oriko, you know that."
Mikuni Oriko nods, dutifully turning her lover's tea into a brightly-coloured fruit-scented sludge. "It's important to me that I give you your agency. What if one day you decide you want to try something different?" Taking her tea in silence, Kure Kirika licks clean the spoon that had been used to stir in the sugar and jam, before handing it back to Mikuni Oriko for the latter to use in her own tea.
The next several minutes are spent engaging in pleasantries, an exercise you do not feel entirely comfortable in doing while there is business requiring action; but Tomoe-san and Mikuni Oriko have taken a liking to one another and, thinking of your own unexpected friendship with this timeline's Sayaka, you elect not to interfere as the pair build their social capital with one another.
None of this will matter in a month, anyway.
"... That's the gist of what Archer and McRemitz-san have found out so far about the Church. So far, there's nothing conclusive as of right now, but what little information we have from the inside is definitely suspicious enough to warrant further investigation, even without the threat posed by the 'black mountain'."
Four heads nod in agreement with your statement, and Mikuni Oriko speaks first. "Those names do sound suspicious. Both of them, certainly, but especially Sister Hope. Do you think there's a connection between her name, and the 'Righteous Sister' being worshiped by the Church?"
"I think it's highly likely that she has something to do with all of this; either that she has some connection to the 'Righteous Sister' or that she is the 'Righteous Sister' herself. Unfortunately, we'll probably have to wait until after we've heard McRemitz-san's report on Wednesday night to know for sure whether we're on the right track."
"Is it possible that she's controlling her dad?" Kyouko asks, hesitantly, and with more than her fair share of distress painted on her face. "Whether she means ta or not, I think that's something we should consider."
Tomoe-san's hand finds its way atop Kyouko's own, squeezing it, an action which noticeably calms Kyouko down. "Do you think she could be a puella magi, Sakura-san?" Kyouko nods.
"I think it'd at least be worth checking out. Maybe... Maybe we can even save them before they do something stupid they can't take back."
"But, if we're thinking she's a puella magi, and is somehow controlling her dad..." Kure Kirika speaks her thoughts out loud, drumming her fingers against the armrest of the loveseat as she talks. "... Then how does that 'black mountain' figure into all this? I thought whatever that thing was was doing the controlling, not her? That's what Caster said, anyway."
"It's almost as if we're trying to solve a puzzle, but we're working from both ends and don't yet have the middle finished," Mikuni Oriko says. "Both Caster and I looked too far ahead to see how things get to that point, and on my second try I didn't look far enough... I don't have the same precise control over my sight that Caster has, and it would be harder for me to pinpoint a precise moment or event as easily as he could, but from the way he described his findings, it... It almost sounds to me like we could be on to something with this line of thinking. Think about it for a moment- All his talk of an 'egg' and how it's an 'object that doesn't exist', it sounds like a witch hatching and creating a labyrinth, in a manner of speaking. Could it be possible that Sister Hope is a puella magi, is controlling her father, whether intentionally or not, and that the 'black mountain' is her witch?"
"It's possible, but then again we could just be thinking that because of our own knowledge biases. I doubt any of us would have thought up something like a servant without first encountering one; and McRemitz-san, who comes from a completely different magical background, still hasn't wrapped her head around what's really going on in this city. It's possible, but it's also possible that we're dealing with something we can't even begin to understand." You don't like that idea. You don't like having to accept that there are still more complications about this timeline that you haven't yet figured out.
That, and the fact that, if Mikuni Oriko is right, there will be no way to stop this tragedy without first killing the puella magi whose witch will be responsible.
But wouldn't that make you no better than Mikuni Oriko, if you killed this girl just to prevent her witch from killing others?
"I think, before we try to solve any more of this puzzle, we should ask Caster if there are still pieces that we're missing. Whatever the 'black mountain' or its 'egg' really are, if we can find a way to cut them off from the real world we can disable their influence on others, or at the very least stall them and give us enough time to find more a permanent countermeasure."
You turn to Tomoe-san, but fortunately she's already two steps ahead of you. Unfortunately, "I apologize, Akemi-san, but Caster says that we have all the information that we need to figure this out on our own. I'm afraid we'll be hard-pressed to get any more out of him."
Caster... He's a temperamental servant, helpful just as often as he isn't; you should have seen this coming. "Alright, then we'll have to-" just then, your phone rings. The number is unlisted, but a familiar one all the same.
You don't want to be rude to your hosts, but Mikuni Oriko nods, saying "It's okay, Akemi-san; you can take the call."
<Akemi, this is McRemitz. This is going to sound like a strange question, but I honestly don't know the answer. Are there snakes in Japan?>
[ ] Wat do?
