[X] Take up Akane's offer.
'I don't see why not?'
'Awesome. There's a place a few blocks down. We can go after I send the team back to Kasamino. Just give me half an hour?'
'What...kind of place?'
[=]
As it turns out, it's an American-style restaurant. Mahogany tables and tacky-looking light fixtures of stained glass that don't match the decor in the slightest. The floors are tile, the walls are clay-like, and the booth you're sitting at has gold lining. Akane doesn't seem to notice as she sits across from you, and it's here you realize
exactly how big she is.
If Sayaka is tall, Akane is
gigantic. You guess she would be more than two meters tall, maybe over two-hundred ten centimeters. And she looks like she needs the food to sustain herself; she orders a full steak, medium-rare, extra large, extra fixings. Despite her hideously large order she doesn't even seem particularly fat. Through her t-shirt you can still see her abs.
You, for your part, just order a chicken club sandwich. You'd rather not splurge quite so much. Of course, the sandwich itself is still probably going to be American-sized (read: way too big) but at the very least you can just pack up what you don't eat and take it home with you.
In the middle of your thoughts, Akane leans against the table. The entire thing
shakes, almost groaning under the weight of magically-enhanced muscle. You have no idea how much she weighs, just that her size can be summed up as "Bigger Than You."
She taps her fingers against the table. "Again, I do apologize for the punch. I thought it would be a fast and effective way to end the fight."
"And again, I don't blame you." You wave your hand. "I understand. The best way to fight is to not have one at all, and if you do, you should opt to end it as quickly as possible. I was not in a good state of mind, definitely not in a state of mind to make rational or reasoned decisions, and I-"
"Hey, hey." She raises her hand again. "Whoa, hey. I don't need you to rationalize my decisions for me. I already know
why I did it." She brings her hands back down. "This isn't about justifying me. I wanted to actually meet
you."
"O-oh." You look sheepishly to the side. "Ah...ah, I see. Apologies."
Akane shrugs it off. "So, you're from twenty years ago?"
"I am. I was summoned here by the Glow," you say with a shrug, "and I suppose I'm stuck here."
"You don't think there's a way back?"
"Why would there be?" You glance up. "Wishes that are powerful enough to bring back the dead don't typically have outs. There aren't many ways in which a wish like that can be easily done, let alone reversed. And I heard what Sayaka said, that summoning requires taking a version of me from a different timeline."
"A version of you that has experienced wildly different events."
"Apparently, yes." You glance outside. "To a world where I died after splitting with Kyouko, before being used by Incubator to bait another girl into making a foolish wish."
"You know about witches?"
You breathe in. "I...yes. I do. I know full well about the true nature of being a magica..." you trail off, "...magi."
"How did you learn?"
"I...mmm." You glance to the side.
"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."
"No. No, I..." You sigh. "...I don-I don't. I don't. You're right, I don't want to."
"And that's perfectly fine." She relaxes a little, visibly pulling herself back. "Thank you for your honesty."
You nod, but it feels...wrong. It feels like you should've said a little more right there. You're clamping down on information you could probably divulge, information you should probably give out, but you're such a disgusting coward that you couldn't do
that. You bite your tongue.
"A-actually, I could."
"Don't force yourself if you don-"
"No, no I should." You raise your hand. "I-I found out after my f-friend..." Friend? Crush? Loved one? "...witched out in front of me."
And it's so
simple to say. It's so simple to tell her, so simple to speak, so simple to let her know. It's so damn simple, and yet it was like pulling a tooth. Like it singed your mouth to pull it out.
"Ah." Akane relaxes. "I...mm. It's hard to forget that."
"Right." You inhale. "Right, right, right."
"And you're still sorting through those feelings, right?" She presses her hands together. She's sitting straight, her back un-slouched. Even with her size, she doesn't look unapproachable. Rather, she is relaxed. Calming, even. "Do you hate anyone for it?"
"No," you lie.
She nods like she got the answer she wanted.
God, you're scum. "I am not comfortable with this topic."
"I apologize," she says. "But if it's any consolation, I know what it's like."
You freeze in place. You stare at your hands like they're the most interesting thing in the planet, watching them open and close before finally raising your head to meet her eyes.
"It doesn't get easier," she continues. "But you learn to manage it."
As she says that, the food comes in. Your sandwich is dropped right in front of you as Akane's hideously large meal thumps in front of her with table-shaking force. You both eat in silence. Partially because you don't feel like talking.
Partially because, well, the food's good. And you'd rather it not go to waste.
You wind up not having anything left over to take home.
[=]
Your name is Minako, and you're currently walking up a road towards the training ground. To your left is your girlfriend, who holds your hand and gives you the occasional smile and glance, and to your right is...well...
Reika and Hiro. Reika herself looks a little bit nervous as she trails the both of you, while Hiro just looks utterly confused. He squints as he keeps pace, noting both the weird quiet and...well, actually, it's just the weird quiet.
He takes a breath. "Okay, so why're you all quiet. You're scaring me a little, here."
"Well, uh...you'll see." Reika mutters.
"Look, if this is that weird magical girl shit, I mean, I can get pretty chuuni, but I'm kind of just...I didn't think
you were-"
"This ain't a joke," you say. "It ain't a joke, and we aren't playing."
Hiro just stares at you. Then he turns to Takane, like he's expecting her to say "sike" at any second now. Except instead, your girlfriend visibly locks up and sloooowly turns away.
Even without your powers, you could feel the tension through the air.
With your powers, it feels like you're wading through waist-high mud. Takane's scaffold shudders in the wind as a barrel of oil burns in the center. The tiny island in Reika's mind churns as a tide threatens to engulf it.
Hiro's emotional landscape is...well, it's a bowl of ice cream floating in an ocean of pink bubbles and soap. Yet it churns and churns and threatens to capsize. Every so often, it tries to right itself, to make some sense of the nonsense, but then it just threatens to tip over and spill everything into the sea.
You don't know if he's worried or just confused.
"Please say sike."
Yeah, he's just confused.
It takes another minute of walking for you to finally reach the top of the hill. You can see a number of magi up there; Mom is lifting a concrete road divider over her shoulder, while your mama deadlifts an entire rusted car. Akane lifts herself off the ground with just a finger, and finally, at the end, is the girl that you rescued over a week ago.
Mami sits just across from Akane, her arms straight. The muscles in them are taut as she keeps herself lifted off the ground, her hands spread open, fingers on the ground. She keeps herself aloft with just her fingertips as Akane nods.
"Good, good." Akane keeps herself straight; if she wavers, you can't see it. "Now, keep that going."
"I can already handle motor control," Mami mutters. She's a little bit pudgy now that she's in her workout gear; it's something you never noticed when she was in her uniform. She keeps herself steady, but every so often she wavers.
"Yes, you can. And you're quite good at it." Akane smiles. "But keeping yourself steady, especially while talking, is a learned skill. It'll make you a better shot. I can tell you, it's made me far more..." she trails off when she notices you walking towards the group. "Ah, Mina!"
Everyone stops moving to watch you and your friends crest the hill. Akane rolls onto her feet as your parents nod and drop their stuff. You wonder if there are other workout spots surrounding the city. Honestly, you wouldn't be surprised if there were, given the number of magi in Mitakihara.
"Uh, hey." You wave your hand.
Your mom glances at Reika and Hiro before taking a long, deep breath and sighing. "Did Mina ask you to come?"
Reika shakes her head, while Hiro just stares at your mom in mild terror. His head darts between the magi in front of him before he suddenly points to Reika.
"I asked to come, and I wanted to bring Hiro."
"It didn't feel right to say no," you mutter.
Your mom just takes in a deep breath through her nose and sighs, while your mama moves ahead. "Well, we'll take you a safe distance for the spar."
"Wait, safe distance?
Spar?"
"Yes, spar," you say. "It's uh..."
"It's dangerous," Takane finishes for you. "Dangerous for anyone that's not a magi. We can take a punch, but you cannot."
You take a quick look around to determine who you're going to spar with...
[] Takane - Spar with your girlfriend to see how much you've improved (DIFFICULTY 1 - You've improved, but she's still not an easy fight. That said, being your girlfriend will probably make her liable to pull punches)
[] Mami - Probably easier? And it'll give you an idea of her powers and limits. (DIFFICULTY 2 - She's an unknown, probably about as tough as Takane is, but several times more ruthless. Also, she's not your girlfriend.)
[] Akane - Maybe you'll fare better this time than last. (DIFFICULTY 3 - Haha, no you won't)
[] Your Mom - Honestly this is scary as fuck. (DIFFICULTY 3 - Well, yeah)
[] Your Mama - This isn't much better. (DIFFICULTY 3 - You've seen her fight. You know what she can do.)
