To make people actually remember, here's it once for posterity: Minako is nonbinary and uses they/them. This message will be pinned so you people stop getting it wrong and pissing me off. If you get it wrong in the future I'm going to be much less nice, considering you have to scroll past it just to read the quest.
In place of the former Walpurgisnacht memorial, there is a new sculpture of similar size and shape to the old grief seed. This one, however, is a mechanical thing, a myriad of gears and pulleys and machinery. It's an unfinished thing, with laid concrete walkways and squares of sod all placed in anticipation of a future park.
And in the daylight, under a stretched canopy held up by metal poles and solid wire, is a support group. A number of people sit in a shaded circle of cheap office chairs, a noticeable downgrade from the office. There is murmuring, the sound of people muttering to one another as machinery and magic scream from outside.
There's a lot of setting details about how Mitikihara is healing, but this is the most interesting to me - replacing the Walpurgisnacht memorial with, I think, parts of Langstenacht herself? Or a replica of Walpies original stage gear thing. It's a very interesting place to have the support group, and I think both of those are related - confronting Trauma more openly, both the cities and the Glows.
"I-I'm going to school again," she murmurs, "but it's a little hard to. I missed a...I missed a lot."
"Are you still meeting with-"
"I am," she says. "It's...I'm still seeing my therapist, yes. I'm doing okay."
She's lying, and there's no way that Saskia is delusional enough to think that Akane bought it. Akane shakes her head. "Just remember, we can meet up after this meeting."
"I...yes, Dr. Nakazawa."
The last time that Saskia had an episode, she managed to impale her left forearm with bone. It didn't take much for Sayaka to undo the damage and calm her down, but it was tense. Akane's just thankful it was her and not a baseline human.
I wonder who her therapist is? Having both Akane and someone else implies that she's definitely not doing so well, and I think her wish and powers already spoke to a deeper trauma or something. You don't get body horror if everything is okay, and that was before Rin was involved, so. I hope she's alright.
Akane still doesn't believe it's a good idea for the two of them to date, especially not when the wounds are so fresh and the pain so raw. It's too recent, too soon. But she can't control what her clients do; that's not up to her. Unless it's clear and immediate danger, she doesn't interfere.
After all, Minako simply made magi unable to witch; they didn't make them invincible.
"She took her away from me! She took my stupid, impulsive Emiko away from me. Ripped her from my arms, tore her from my life, and the worst part is that I cannot blame her for what she did to me."
She buries her face in her hands.
"She...my Emiko, my beautiful Emiko almost killed her child." The tears start to flow. Her hair crowns her face as Masaki fails to keep them back. "She came so close to it. And Rin wanted it to happen like that! She sought it out!"
Akane closes her eyes. "There's no shame in those feelings."
"Yes there is! My woman almost killed someone's child. How wretched am I to be angry at a mother protecting her child?!"
I think this is a better example, in some ways, of the themes of the quest - compassion even when someone is in the wrong or is hurting you. This time it's on both sides - Masaki is able to understand and accept basically everyone involved but is still hurting, and Akane is showing her a lot of empathy with that.
I wonder who her therapist is? Having both Akane and someone else implies that she's definitely not doing so well, and I think her wish and powers already spoke to a deeper trauma or something. You don't get body horror if everything is okay, and that was before Rin was involved, so. I hope she's alright.
It's been six months since Rin died, and Mitakihara is now operating at 50% of what it was. A lot of infrastructure still has yet to rebuild, but people are back in their homes, schools are operating again, and people are able to work just as they were before, maybe even a little bit better.
Because now the existence of magi is no longer an unknown quantity. It's no longer a mystery or a secret; it's impossible for the Incubators to actually maintain the system as it was.
Right now, though, Mami finds herself waiting at a street corner next to a freshly made boardwalk. Only a third of the stores are open, the pier itself is full of wet paint, and the air is fresh with sea salt. On her phone, she reads an article about how magi should have made themselves known earlier, probably written by someone who has no idea what being one of them actually entails.
She glances up to see people walking across the street, talking about how things are "back to normal." But no...it's not "back to normal."
It's been several months since she learned that she was queer, and about five since she learned that she has feelings for Minako Miki-Sakura.
She had believed airing out her feelings would allow her to dismiss them.
But instead, what wound up happening was...
'Mami!'
Mami perks up as soon as she hears Minako speak. She looks up into the sky to see them hopping from rooftop to rooftop, clearing an incomplete scaffold and sliding across the ground. Minako is dressed in a blue hoodie, track pants, and a pink shirt featuring a fist and a gun. A mask hangs loosely around their neck
To their right is Takane, who's surprisingly casual today; she wears a sundress with a wide-brim hat for the spring. She's in high heels and a pair of gloves, and she makes a quick adjustment to her glasses.
Mami stands up, awkward. "Uh...h-hello...no, no I can't say that-"
"Why not?" Takane asks, and Mami immediately kind of regrets her everything because god this is awkward.
"I...there's...this is more than just-"
"Come on. It's a date." Minako claps their hand on Mami's back. "I mean it's kinda nerve-wracking, but it ain't something to be afraid of."
"Easy for you two to say..."
"Actually, it was stressful for Minako," Takane giggles, "since I was the one who initiated our relationship. I simply asked them if they wanted to date me, and they said yes."
Minako turns almost as red as the little tuft on their forehead. "I was so, so crushing on you super hard. It was fucking embarrassing."
"It was adorable."
"Mnoh."
"It's still adorable."
Mami shifts a bit as she watches the two of them interact. She doesn't want to pry, doesn't want to intrude. But then Minako holds her hand. "But it's...it's all kind of a process, right."
"Hmm?" Mami glances between the two of them. "Uhhh..."
"It's a leap of faith," Takane says with a smile. "It's a risk you have to take, even though all your nerves are screaming at you to stop."
It's not enough to get Mami completely onboard, but it's enough to stop her nerves for now. So she just nods. "O-okay. So, where are we going?"
"Well..." Minako scratches their chin. "I mean, the boardwalk park just got rebuilt! They even got a few things for us!"
"Us...us as in magi?"
"Yeah!" Minako bounces. "Shit it's gonna be great!"
[=]
It was okay. The new attraction was literally a roller coaster that simply went in a loop-de-loop at speeds that would be dangerous for normal people; it was the same ride as the old one, just somewhat faster.
But some of the games were definitely a better time. Because many of them, now wary of the existence of magi, had to adjust accordingly.
"What do you mean I have to pay two thousand yen for a single game?! This is bullshit!"
"I'm sorry, but there's a chance that you could destroy the entire stand by throwing the ball too hard." The person at the stand, a dark-skinned twenty-something with freckles, glances between all of them. They sigh. "Magi pay extra for potential property damage."
"I can pay," Mami says, raising her hand. "It'll be my treat-"
"No, our treat's gonna be ice cream. Not some carnival game where you have to-"
By the time Minako's done, Mami's already pulled out six-thousand yen. She stuffs the bills into the attendant's hand, who quickly puts it under the desk. "Thank you very much."
"Nah, it's fine," the attendant says as they pull out a few balls. "The policy kind of sucks, but it's what we have for now."
Nine balls for three magi, and Mami already has one in her palm. The game is simple; knock down the bottles, but the extra rule is now "magi must bounce; a direct hit will count as a miss."
The entire stand now has a few extra targets surrounding the bottles, and each one is placed at an odd angle. It's deliberate, a way to add challenge back to a game that would otherwise be a cakewalk for a superpowered magi. All three of the magi stand in front of their own targets and stacks of bottles as the attendant very, very wisely takes a step to the side.
Mami's first throw is too weak; the ball hits the target, but only makes it halfway to the bottles before it rolls onto the ground. The second is too much; this time, the entire target rolls around before falling promptly off of its stand.
"Damn!" She flexes her fingers. "I should have been more careful."
The attendant quickly puts the target back up. "Trust me, this isn't the first time. Try again?"
Mami flexes her fingers and throws, one last time. This one bounces off the target...and promptly hits a single bottle off of the stack. She hangs her head in defeat.
"Oh...oh I thought...hrm."
"My turn, my turn!" Minako grabs their own ball and quickly throws it. This one goes wide, hitting the target and slamming into the back of the stand with a thud. A second throw, and this one bounces off one target, hits another, and slams into the ground. Frustrated, they throw a third time.
This knocks the stand over and promptly causes the ball to careen into the wooden wall. It splinters violently, embedding the solid rubber ball in the wall.
The attendant just sighs and rubs their temples as Minako sheepishly moves out of the way.
"Last one," the attendant mutters.
Takane rolls up. They grip the ball with their fingers, delicately keeping track of the different targets. She breathes in through her nose, exhales through her mouth, before she throws with a twist.
The rubber ball hits a target, and the rotation controls its spin. It bounces through the air and hits the table with a meaty thud before continuing directly through the midsection of the bottles. It knocks the center piece out, and the collapsing bottles make short work of the rest of the pile.
"I did it!" Takane claps her hands. "To be honest I was somewhat nervous about that."
The attendant wordlessly pulls out an oversized plush toy, a silly-looking dog creature with an orange jacket and a gas mask, and gives it to her. "Your prize."
"Ye!" Takane pulls it into a hug. "Thank you!"
"Well, I gotta close the stand down to get that ball out of the wall, but yeah, congrats."
[=]
The rest of the day at the carnival goes without much fanfare, and it all ends with a pleasant walk along the Mitakiharan seafront. Kasamino can be seen across the bay, the bridge that connected the two cities still under construction. Minako is leaning on Takane's shoulder, while Mami just stands beside them, somewhat awkward.
She wants to hold them both, but...it's still something she's having a little bit of trouble thinking about. She breathes in through her nose. "Is...is this cheating?"
"Huh?" Both Takane and Minako lean forward.
"I mean...I don't know. I feel like there should be...I feel like this is too simple."
"What do you mean?" Minako asks.
"I mean I've had feelings for you for months," Mami says, "and I thought it would involve more...stress. But today was pleasant. Today was...nice. I was expecting either a conversation or a conflict or just..."
"Not everything needs that." Takane smiles. "Not everything is stressful, nor does it need to be stressful. Sometimes things just...are."
"I kind of get where you're coming from. It's kinda how I felt after that first date. It all just sort of happened." Minako waves their hand.
"I suppose it's..." Mami stops herself. She almost lets it out, almost lets herself be known. Almost-"
"You're thinking about Kyouko, aren't you?"
Mami's face falls. "Oh." That's right. She was trying to hide her emotions from an empath. An empath who had saved her life. "I...suppose I am."
Takane glances between the two of them. "Should I leave-"
"No," both of them say.
"It's something we need to talk about," Mami says. "And they're right. I...my Kyouko died in front of me. Turned into a witch before my eyes. And I loved her. I thought that it would be more difficult to find feelings again. To think of romance positively again. That I would never move on, but it's...
"...I think I should more distressed that I'm moving on. I...I still miss her. I still love her. But I'm...feeling okay. Is that wretched? Is it wrong that I'm not as distressed by that as I should be?"
"Nah," Minako says. "You're finding a way forward. You're healing in your own way. You haven't lost her. You'll still love her. But I mean..."
"You're not stuck in the past. Hung up on past mistakes." Takane smiles into the setting sun. "I do hope you're still seeing-"
"I am. Do not worry. My next appointment is tomorrow." Mami twiddles her thumbs. "I am...simply musing on it."
"...OH!" Minako claps their hands together. "Oh, since this is a date..."
Mami blinks. "Oh, I almost forgot it was one. I was just caught up in the moment..." Another pause. "Though...actually I would like a kiss or...a kiss or two."
Takane pecks her on the cheek, while Minako simply moves around the two of them and gives Mami a tight hug around her waist.
And they stand like that for a few minutes. Watching the sun set, the birds fly, and a few ships drift in from across the sea, carrying construction equipment.
[=]
- Mami is still dating both Minako and Takane. She still remembers her Kyouko, still misses her world, but she has grown much, much healthier in the intervening time. She does work as a commission painter now.
[=]
[] Tatsuya and Toji (And other Mitakihara Magi)
[] Madoka and Homura
[] Got an idea or something not covered by the other options? Suggest it and write it in!
- Mami is still dating both Minako and Takane. She still remembers her Kyouko, still misses her world, but she has grown much, much healthier in the intervening time. She does work as a commission painter now.
Mami is still dating both Minako and Takane. She still remembers her Kyouko, still misses her world, but she has grown much, much healthier in the intervening time. She does work as a commission painter now.
...how did the citizens of Mitakihara survive?
I assume my reading comprehension is bad enough I keep skipping over the one or two lines that would answer this question, but at this point I'm convinced I must be blind...
...did something else anti-entropic happen when Minako won to revive the city full of people frozen by Lachstenacht?
...how did the citizens of Mitakihara survive?
I assume my reading comprehension is bad enough I keep skipping over the one or two lines that would answer this question, but at this point I'm convinced I must be blind...
...did something else anti-entropic happen when Minako won to revive the city full of people frozen by Lachstenacht?
Mitakihara was evacuated before the entire giant showdown with the Glow because it was already known a massive conflict between Magical Girls would be hella destructive.
The full extent of that was, of course, not known at the time but now we can be double glad we did that.
