[X] Stay here and meet the other tenants. You should probably get to know your neighbors at some point.
Ah, that's right, you have neighbors. You should probably meet them. You adjust your hat and put yourself together. You really,
really dislike the look of your hair more and more, now that you keep seeing it in the mirror, but at the same time you really don't know what else to wear it with. At one point in time it just felt natural to keep it up like this...especially since...
Well, you wore it when you got into that car accident.
When you think about it like that, it really feels like you're just a bundle of problems. And until Kyouko died it was easy to pretend you had yourself together.
You shake your head and take a step outside to see a drunken teenager
burst out of the room with a full-on bottle of rum in her...no,
their hand as you round the corner. This is the person you remember as the grenadier on your mission from Rin, except now they're dressed in a green suit with a half-shaved head and a bellowing laugh.
"Oh, I couldn't
handle another one! OOHO!" They slam into a nearby wall, as behind them another person, this time with dark skin and white hair, follows nearby.
You wonder if you should tell Tatsuya about the underage drinking. You probably should tell Tatsuya about the underage drinking. He would probably appreciate it if you told Tatsuya about the underage drinking.
You can tell him later it'll be fine.
The person behind this drunken grenadier, with their hands pressed against their nose, finally notices you standing behind them.
"Hey, uhh...I don't think we've met?" You bow. "I'm Ma-"
"Mami, yeah. I heard about you." They bow right back. "You came in a couple days ago, yeah?"
"Yes, I did." You nod. "I...the paperwork cleared and Mr. Kaname-"
"He prefers being called Tatsuya," they interrupt. "Sorry for being short; I gotta make sure Riko doesn't-" There's a loud crash, followed by a scream from what you can only guess is the magi who just stumbled through the hallway. "-oh for fuck's
I'll see you again soon pleaseforgivemeforbeingsoshoRT!"
And they're immediately off, running after a still-drunken teenager as Tatsuya finally catches wind. "Hey,
hey!" You see him immediately rush down the stairs, pulling himself around a corner and descending further. "What did I
tell you about
alcohol on the premises-!"
You take a deep, deep breath. You hope the other neighbors aren't as noisy. This person didn't even give you their name! You take a look at the label on their door, labeled with "Yuuko".
You don't know if that's the grenadier or the person you were just talking to. You can ask that later on.
A few steps down and you see another door. This one has a printed name underneath a peephole, a convenient little sign that Tatsuya's boyfriend prints out at the fabrication lab at the University. Your mind briefly wanders over the fact that 3D printing is just a
thing that happens now, but then you shove that aside.
The door swings open and inside you see the claw-girl. She's standing in front of you, one hand on her hip, the other on the door. She pauses as soon as she notices you, then she visibly deflates, like the will to speak was taken out of her.
To be truthful, that kind of hurts. But you soldier on. "Hello, my name is Mami, I live two-"
"I know. I saw you move in." She pushes her black hair out of her face, showing a single golden eye. "My name is Kirika. Good to meet you. Please don't come to my door again."
"Oh, apologies." You look behind her. "Were...were you trying to-" A look behind shows that her room is bare, plain and empty. It's like she deliberately kept people from furnishing it.
"It's none of your business," she says, sharp, quick, and a little bit like she forced it out of her throat. "I don't want to talk and I don't want pleasantries, condolences or anything of the sort." And with that, she closes the door.
That's...
really odd. You don't remember her acting like that when you were working under
Rin, though she was the next person that Minako had helped after you. You wonder if her previous behavior was a product of that control.
You take a wary step backwards, then you turn around to one of the two doors on the other side of your hall. A knock and...
Then you hear a thud, a scream, and loud,
loud swearing. There's a rustling of bedsheets, followed by loud, loud stomping. The door is
yanked open, showing a pink-haired girl with purple eyes. Her hair is messed up, her school uniform is askew and wrinkled, she's panting heavily, and behind her you can see an orange-haired girl, also in a nearly undone school uniform.
You quickly put two and two together. You turn a bright,
bright red. "O-Oh, I am
so sorry! I just wanted t-to-!"
"It's fine, it's
fine!" The girl raises a hand. "Henrietta. That's Uriko behind me."
The girl known as Uriko raises her hand. "Helloooo."
You suspect the obvious. You really suspect it. You consider asking a little bit. Wandering a little bit further. You open your mouth. Then you pause. "G-good to meet the both of you."
Henrietta shrugs. "Uh, same?" She looks back. "So, uh, your name is Mami, right?"
You nod. "Oh, y-yes! Yes it is!"
"Good to meet you then." Henrietta bows, and you do so right back. "We'll uhh..."
"I'll m-make sure to meet you at a less awkward time," you say quickly. You take a step back, then scurry away from that door. Of course, the door next to this one has Uriko's name on it, so that handily explains who your across-the-hall neighbors are.
This apartment complex isn't especially big; from what Sayaka told you, most of the magi actually do have places to stay, be it with parents, at locations purchased their own rent money, the like. This complex holds eleven magi, many of them brand-new, much like you. A halfway house for magi. It would be funny if, you know, it were less immediately relevant to your current situation.
You adjust your beret and quickly take a few steps downstairs. You should probably think about stocking your fridge. You also consider the merits of cooking for the other people on the floor.
Oooh, that would be a nice gift! They'd be enormously appreciative. And you're not a half-bad chef yourself.
You giggle at the thought.
[=]
Your name is Sayaka Miki-Sakura, and you are currently walking towards the apartment complex where Tatsuya and his boyfriend have set up shop. You still can't believe how much help he's been ever since he bought that place; previously, keeping track of orphaned magi was expensive. Random hotel rooms, paying rent for cheap apartments...
But then he managed to get a good deal on a decrepit pre-Walpurgisnacht dwelling. It took a bit of finagling, some personal work, and elbow-grease, but he and Toji managed to turn it around. Even better, that bar at the basement is a perfect place for magi like yourself to relax at, and several of the adult magi in town actually live just above it.
It's where you and Akane had that talk a couple of weeks ago, when you thought your child becoming a magi was going to be the biggest source of strife in your life.
You press your finger and your thumb against your forehead; that's neither here nor there. Right now, you're on your way to talk to Mami Tomoe. Make sure she's settling in. Through the chaos of last week, organizing your spy parties and trying to train your child again, it's been pretty difficult to keep track of the goings-on.
And, most suspiciously, there's been a lack of witches. The Glow stopped sending them after Mami's attack.
You have your own theories as to why that is, theories that you've discussed with your wife.
It's then as you're musing, just in front of a humbly-sized brick-red complex at the edge of town, that you see a head of distinct, curly blonde quickly descend the steps. She turns the corner, obviously not noticing you as she starts her way towards a nearby grocery.
"Hey!" you shout.
The girl stops in her tracks, turns her head. A cute beret, a big yellow coat, and a long, somewhat-puffy face turn to face you. "O-oh! Saya...no, Ms. Miki-Sakura."
"You can call me Sayaka." You take a few steps towards her. "Settling in alright? I wanted to check on you!"
She nods. "O-oh, I'm...I am!" she says with a quick glance across the street. "I was just looking for ingredients. I-I'd rather cook than just get food elsewhere."
"Ah." You nod. "Do...wait, can you even afford to?"
"Oh, I can." She reaches into a purse that she's slung over her shoulder only to realize...that, well...
"I...that's right, I don't have a bank account," she mutters.
"I can help you with that. Or worst comes to worst, my wife and I could-"
"O-Oh, I could never impose that on the two-" she catches herself, "-
three of you."
She laughs, but it's awkward and grating and you immediately feel less comfortable just hearing it.
"Well, the offer's still open."
"Right." She breathes in, and the both of you start moving towards the supermarket.
It's a couple of blocks down the road from the apartment, in the middle of a crowded street. It's lodged in-between two restaurants, like a much wider, fatter store was crammed in the middle of a street corner in an attempt to keep it from taking too much space. It's several stories high, with an automated drone system to try and keep groceries in order as the shoppers go from level to level.
It manages to do an admirable job; carts stay in order and rarely collide, even with people, and you and Mami grabbed a single cart to try and get stuff for her apartment.
She stays nearby, picking through ingredients as you make the occasional suggestion, the odd comment on food...
But you're not exactly checking on her just for that.
[] Write-in three topics to talk to Mami about. There is no roll.
[] Just...be quiet. talk about nothing.
