The meeting is not what you expected. You had, within a few minutes, imagined a calm mentor type with a more girlish soft side. Your favorite Takatsuki Sen character was like that. It wasn't to say you hadn't noticed the way Kyuubei had mentioned her age though. You had definitely noticed that this new magical girl was probably young as opposed to old, if adult people could even be magical girls at all. There had only been one that came to mind.
Certainly not an adult.
Butterflies and nervous dance in your stomach the moment you hear quick foots steps getting closer. You tell yourself that backing out now would be much too rude,
Then you realize how tiny she is. An almost blonde brown haired child skips into your neck of Tokyo's alley ways, and at first you shift in discomfort, only noticing the feeling radiating off of her when you spot the silver ring on her left index finger. Even from here you can see the gleam of her ring with the small red gem glowing in the shade. Not real red though. It's like the fake pink-purple red you always find in crayon boxes.
She smells nice even in the dust and faint mold-trash of the alley. It's different from the normal smell of a human being, and it doesn't make you hungry at all.
The fact makes you quite a bit calmer just in itself.
Which is good, because your fellow magical girl sees fit to sprint down the cement path the moment she spots you. The speed she gains can only be compared to that of a ghoul. You can hardly even hear the sharp clacks of shoe against ground. Warm hands grasp onto your own before you can stop them.
"HIIIIIiii! My names Nekozawa Yui and you can totally call me Yui-Senapi if you want, oooh or you could also call me sensei! How long have you been a magical girl, hey, what's your name actually," Yui jumps up and down in perfect tempo. There is a distinct feeling that, somewhere, a volcano is about to erupt. "Oh man wait until dad finds out I met a new person!" The little girl's grin prevents any flinch from happening.
You feel tired and invigorated all at once. Yui isn't a calm Touka aged girl who will walk you step by step in being a defender of humanity, but such an open and pure display of happiness is more than soothing. The world seems a bit brighter.
You say, "My name is Fueguchi Hinami and I'm twelve. I've only been a magical girl for today. Please treat me well senapi!" At the end you bow your head the best you can. Miss Yui is still bouncing.
She isn't anymore though. Her mouth is shaped like a little 'o' as she blinks in quick succession.
"Oh my gosh," Hands that were shaking your own quickly shoot up to Yui's cheeks. "Hinami-chan are new! Super new! But I'm only nine which makes her my senior in life, and still junior in magical girl duties. That's amazing, a senpai-kohai!"
"Only nine?" You murmur. She was younger for sure, but you hadn't expected her to be just nine years old.
Your young senpai giggles, echoing down the brick corridors, "I've been a magical girl for two years now too! See, Coobie said that that makes me super old in puella years? I think he's lying to make me feel better." The two of you glance at Kyuubei to see his response. His tail twitches but the rest of him seems lost in thought.
Your new, friend maybe, coworker pouts.
For a few moments the two of you stand in silence, just breathing and waiting for the other to break the quiet. The other girl is clearly energetic and friendly, but even you found strangers to be scary at her age. You still do. Neither of you know much about the other.
"Uh, so. What is your favorite color, Yui-senpai?" You ask. Hesitating, but ask. This is called an ice breaker, isn't it?
Yui perks up. "It's definitely red! I used to like yellow more because my favorite flower is yellow, but then my soul gem was red and so that's my favorite color! A lot of cool things are red colored too."
"I like soft cream colors." Like the shawl mother bought me.
"Ooooh, that's a good choice! I was on the way to get lunch with my dad when I saw a super cute cat that was that color," She pauses then, smile growing wider, and you recall the momentary scene of a girl petting her cat. "Hinami-chan can come with us for food if she wants. I mean you."
Oh. Oh no. Your throat grows tight as you realize that Yui, despite being a magical girl, has no idea that you aren't a person. Not the same kind as her. Her foot taps cracked cement tiles, but all you can do is feel your hands grow faintly clammy as you internally flounder. Magical girls fight to protect humans and ghouls eat humans. Kyuubei has said that Yui doesn't start fights, but he failed to mention how she would react to finding out that her new friend is a monster.
A hopeful part of you whispers that Yui might not care. Kyuubei wouldn't just leave out an important detail. Something else brings up all those instances of doubt and that Yui was seven years old when she signed up to fight true evil.
You look at Yui's own hopeful eyes. A light blue that is nothing like red, matched with the light brown of her hair. It's not dyed hair either, it's more like a foreigner's hair color. Touka has told you a lot about bullies in school. It was strange that humans could be so mean when ghouls were waiting for the chance to murder them. You do sort of remember seeing something like that in a park once, years ago with your mother, where two girls talked badly behind a third's back. Because she wasn't fully Japanese.
You have a pink wig on your head and a medical mask on your face. You forget the last time you were able to play with other kids.
Your own hands start to fidget against the fabric of your skin as you start to stammer. Thoughts have scramble your mind in less than a two seconds.
There is a big assumption you're making, that Yui doesn't have many friends. Maybe she has a lot. Maybe she's as lonely as you are. So desperate for any friend that she won't even care if her new friend is a ghoul. What you do know is that Anteiku is the safest place you can be. That all of your remaining important people are there.
"I should actually be going home right now..." You say it quietly. Like you don't want to say it at all. Yui's eyes dull, her mouth twists down just a bit in a serious version of the way she pouted at Kyuubei just moments before.
The dull lighting in the alley looms over her for the first time and all you can do is watch her disappointment grow. It's not fair of you to just away from this, like this, but nothing you know of is fair except for Kyuubei.
Yui kicks the ground and tugs her hair. "I guess it's really sudden and all, so s'okay. You did just meet me and stuff, and my dad is an adult who you don' know too," She looks to the left of your face. "We could meet up alone later though! I know a lot to help you with. With magic stuff."
Do you want to meet up with Yui again?
[] Yes, but tell her that you are a ghoul.
[] Yes, but don't tell her you are a ghoul.
[]No, and tell her that you are a ghoul.
[]No, and don't tell her you are a ghoul.
What do you do when you get back to Anteiku?
[] Full spy mode again! You can totally find a way back in without being noticed! Yeah, just reading books I promise! Yeah...
[] Go in the back door and pretend you were going to the bathroom if you get caught.
[] The front door. No one will- yeah, you got nothing for this one. They probably already found out.
[] You can do the smart thing and use your powers to perfectly do things perfectly! Yay magic!
[] Go straight to the manager and confess your bad deed of sneaking out. Pray for forgiveness.
[] Go straight to Kaneki and ask for help in lying.
[] Go straight to Touka and ask for help in lying.
[] ...Actually maybe you should go out to eat with Yui and her dad.