To be fair, I doubt it would have had much of an impact on Hitomi, especially because she has no potential whatsoever.
Memories of a Lost Paradise (PMMM)
- Thread starter TyrantYuyuka
- Start date
- Location
- Moon
[X] Call for the bill and get ready to leave.
-[X] Look for Homura
--[X] If we find her, Ask about the training.
--[X] Else, Go back to Mami's place.
Maybe it's just me but I don't think Melissa is ready to fight some witch alone.
She has only ~3 minutes of kirika and she doesn't seem that good without her phantoms.
-[X] Look for Homura
--[X] If we find her, Ask about the training.
--[X] Else, Go back to Mami's place.
Maybe it's just me but I don't think Melissa is ready to fight some witch alone.
She has only ~3 minutes of kirika and she doesn't seem that good without her phantoms.
Last edited:
TyrantYuyuka
ESC-A Doppel
Votes are tied.
Might have something to do with there only being two votes.
Might have something to do with there only being two votes.
[2.25] Ice and Fire
TyrantYuyuka
ESC-A Doppel
[X] Call for the bill and get ready to leave.
-[X] Look for Homura
--[X] If we find her, Ask about the training.
--[X] Else, Go back to Mami's place.
With that victory secured, you continue to dine, joyous pride surging inside of you. While Sayaka might not like Homura, and Homura might not have any particularly amicable feelings towards Sayaka, getting the two girls to interact in some non-malicious capacity is as good of a first step as any. With Madoka acting as the cool-headed intermediary, you could confidently say that the two girls would not get into some kind of violent emotion-fueled brawl at school or something.
However, your victory was not achieved without casualties. The air around you all turned quite cold. The formerly-boisterous Sayaka is sitting before you, eating without uttering a single peep. She keeps on a stern face while she consumes her meal, not even attempting to make any further conversation. Not even Madoka is immune from the chilling atmosphere. She keeps her gaze downward as she nibbles on fries. In order to take your side, the pinkette had to speak out against her best friend since childhood, and very strongly at that.
An icy surge courses through your body, and your resolve starts to waver. You wanted to help Homura, just as how she helped you… But did you approach this the wrong way? What other option did you have but to beg? Sayaka acted as if she was against Homura's entire existence. While yes, the veteran Magical Girl has astonishingly poor social skills, she is still a good person at heart. Why else would she save your life at the mall earlier? She was trying to protect Madoka and Sayaka from Magical Girl life in her own way. She did not want them to get involved in a life that had so much fighting and conflict in it. Homura deserves kindness as much as the next person.
Eventually, the three of you finally finish your meals in complete silence and are now ready to leave. Unfortunately, you were not able to come up with any topics for small talk during that entire time. Sayaka was not in any mood to talk, and her entire aura practically intimidated you into shutting up. Not even Madoka, the small saint, could do or say anything. Perhaps heading outside and getting some fresh air would be the change of pace needed to tip the scales back in your favor. You would be able to more naturally and more easily force a conversation between you all, returning everyone's stress levels back to normal.
You clear your throat, take a sip of your drink immediately afterwards, and then ask, "Well then, should we get out of here?"
Sayaka nods once and replies, "Yeah. We're done here. I should get out of here anyways and go see Kyousuke. I didn't get a chance to visit him yesterday given the whole… mall incident."
Kyousuke? Who's Kyousuke?
Madoka turns to you and tells you, "Don't worry about the bill, Melissa. I'll spot you."
You give the pink-haired girl a smile and say, "Thanks, Madoka."
Words cannot express how grateful you are towards the two of them right now. Had it not been for them, you would probably be wandering the streets alone, getting lost in Mitakihara Town's many roads; or perhaps you would be stuck at Mami's apartment, unable to go outside without a guide, lest you find yourself going for a sudden bout of directionally-challenged exploration.
Madoka and Sayaka flag down the waitress, asking for the bill. As the waitress heads off to finalize the totals, your two friends quickly pull money out of their bags. Sayaka pulls enough cash for herself, while Madoka retrieves enough money for you and herself. When the waitress does come back, she places the tray containing the receipt in front of you. The two girls quickly reach across the table and place the assortment of cash and loose change in the tray. For a second, you could see the waitress's eyes glance downwards towards the cash, the two middle-school girls, and finally at you, the older looking individual that did not contribute a single cent. She quickly takes her leave, going to deposit all the cash and to give your pink-haired and blue-haired friends their change.
Well, sorry, but there is nothing much you can do about that. You woke up yesterday without any money on your person, and Mami did not give you any cash this morning as well. All you have right now is a slip of paper with Mami's phone number on it. It would be lovely to get a part-time job to make some money for yourself and to spend on others, but you have a feeling that most employers would not hire an amnesiac with no known documentation about them. Not only that, you still need to recover your lost memories about your regular and your Magical Girl lives. The longer the delay, the tougher it will be for you to recover all of your memories intact. However, you cannot keep living on the kindness of others. Madoka and Sayaka can only pay for your daily expenses for so long… Perhaps you should talk to Mami about this later tonight.
When the waitress returns with the chance, the two girls quickly put the money away. The three of you stand up from your booth and exit the restaurant. Outside, you can see that the sun has set much more now, turning an even deeper shade of orange. You estimate that there are only a few hours left in the day before nightfall arrives.
You turn to Madoka, asking her, "Are you going to go see Kyousuke as well?"
You still did not know who Kyousuke is, but if Sayaka is planning on visiting him today, then there is also a chance that Madoka would possibly tag along as well. If Kyousuke is a friend of Sayaka's, then there is a strong possibility that Madoka is also a friend of his as well.
Madoka shakes her heads, smiling as she says, "I think I'll just head home for today. Tatsuya asked me to play with him earlier this morning, but I told him that I would play with him later instead. And besides, I also don't want to interrupt their alone time."
Interrupt their alone time?
Sayaka growls and asks, her cheeks brightening up slightly, "Hey… What's that last part supposed to mean?"
Madoka keeps her smile and replies back, a small melodic tune bouncing around in her playful reply, "Nothing."
Wait, does that mean that he is Sayaka's romantic partner then? You are so confused… You only just learned who Hitomi is today, and now you have so many questions about this other friend they had. Or is he more than a friend to Sayaka? You did not know, and you probably will not get an answer from Sayaka given that raging blush on her face right now.
The bluenette scoffs, spitting out with cheeks still flushed red, "Ugh! You know what I'm getting out of here. I don't have to take this right now!"
She turns to you and asks, "What are you going to do now, Melissa?"
That is a good question… What are you going to do now? Mami is off on patrol right now, so you most likely will not be seeing her until later tonight. You could train some more, but training alone seemed rather lonely… More importantly, training alone would be very inefficient. You only just learned that your summons have a three minute lifespan, give or take. Had it not been for Mami's finely-honed senses and situational awareness, you would just be as lost as yesterday about your powers.
Perhaps you should call in that request for Homura and ask her to train with you. Yeah, as a veteran Magical Girl, she has to have seen her fair share of battles. You could ask her to give you some pointers on how you should improve in battle, or to help sharpen your combat skills. The more you think about it, the more you feel like this is a good idea. In any case, there is one thing about this plan you know for sure, and it is that you cannot tell Sayaka about this plan at all, at least for the rest of today. Homura had already put Sayaka in a bad enough mood today, and Sayaka's mood somehow worsened even more at the mere thought of cooperation. The last thing you wanted was for the bluenette's mood to come tumbling down right before visiting her friend, Kyousuke. Or was he her romantic partner?
You reply back, "I was thinking of training some more… There is still some sunlight out before I need to head back to Mami's apartment."
You technically are not lying… You are indeed thinking of training. It just so happens that Homura is involved in your training plans. You did not know where to begin looking for Homura, but if you cannot find her, then you would just head back to Mami's apartment for the night. Training alone did not seem worthwhile at this moment in time.
Sayaka flashes you a smirk, commenting, "More training, huh? Well, good for you."
Madoka hops into the conversation and adds, "Well, if you're really planning on training more, I should at least just give you the directions to head back to Mami's apartment from here. We don't want you to get lost once we all go our separate ways, Melissa…"
Oh, right… That is actually a really good idea. You still do not know, or remember, much about the geography of Mitakihara Town. Getting lost alone in the streets, especially in the dark, is something that you did not want to deal with, with magical powers and superstrength or without. Madoka quickly gives you a rundown of what routes you need to take in order to get back to the old training grounds from earlier and then how to return back to Mami's apartment. After repeating the directions back to yourself and Madoka a few times, fully incorporating them into memory, the three of you bid each other farewell and take off in your own separate ways. Madoka is heading home; Sayaka is off to see Kyousuke; and you are heading back into the direction of the old training grounds, where you got pummeled by Mami and met the Phantom Sayaka for the first time.
Now that you think about it… How are you even going to find Homura? You do not have her phone number, so how are you even going to get into contact with her? The last time you saw her, she just popped out of nowhere at the mall. Then again, you were losing your mind at the time, so there's a chance that you just did not see her approaching. In addition, it is not too out of the ordinary for someone to be hanging out at the mall on the weekend either, so…
You stop walking for a moment and take a look around. You have not seen anyone around for quite some time now. You can see some crows flying overhead, but those are just random birds. You have not seen another human being for what felt like forever. Walking alone is pretty lonely, you think to yourself.
You then let out a long sigh, muttering aloud, "Man… Where do I even begin looking for Homura?"
"You were looking for me?" a familiar voice calls out behind you.
You quickly turn around in response, spotting the hardened black-haired Magical Girl just several paces behind you. Her arms are crossed, still dressed in the same black hoodie and blue jeans from earlier at the mall. She stares sharply into your eyes as you look downwards to Homura. Her cold amethyst gaze drills into you, her head tilted upwards to compensate for the stark height difference
between you both.
"W-Wait a second..." you start sputtering, "Where did you…? How did you...?"
Homura cuts you off, her arms still crossed, "Do not concern yourself with unimportant details."
You start asking, still feeling quite frazzled since Homura caught you completely off-guard, "I just... wanted to see if you wanted to train for a bit…"
You do not know how long Homura has been a Magical Girl for, but you can just tell that she has more experience than she lets on. You can just feel it in your bones. Homura knows so much about the Magical Girl lifestyle—what it means to be a Magical Girl and how to live as a Magical Girl. Why else would she be trying to keep Madoka and Sayaka, regular girls, from learning about Magical Girls? She refused to divulge any information to Sayaka no matter the situation, even if it meant continuing to ruin her already poor relationship with the bluenette. While Mami wants to show Madoka and Sayaka more about Magical Girl life in order to educate them and allow for them to make an informed decision, Homura, meanwhile, is preventing them from learning anything and is making their decision for them.
Homura closes her eyes, thinks about your request for a second, opens her eyes once again, and then finally answers, "Fine. What do you want to work on?"
Please choose just one (1) option to start off with.
[ ] Improving and Controlling Your Physical Strength
[ ] Improving and Honing Your Coordination and Reaction Time
[ ] Staying Calm in High Stress Situations
[ ] Testing out the Gauntlet's Powers
[ ] Learning How to Fight Without the Gauntlet
[ ] Working on General Magic Use
[ ] Magical Girl Tips and Tricks
[ ] Spar against Homura
[ ] Write In
-[X] Look for Homura
--[X] If we find her, Ask about the training.
--[X] Else, Go back to Mami's place.
With that victory secured, you continue to dine, joyous pride surging inside of you. While Sayaka might not like Homura, and Homura might not have any particularly amicable feelings towards Sayaka, getting the two girls to interact in some non-malicious capacity is as good of a first step as any. With Madoka acting as the cool-headed intermediary, you could confidently say that the two girls would not get into some kind of violent emotion-fueled brawl at school or something.
However, your victory was not achieved without casualties. The air around you all turned quite cold. The formerly-boisterous Sayaka is sitting before you, eating without uttering a single peep. She keeps on a stern face while she consumes her meal, not even attempting to make any further conversation. Not even Madoka is immune from the chilling atmosphere. She keeps her gaze downward as she nibbles on fries. In order to take your side, the pinkette had to speak out against her best friend since childhood, and very strongly at that.
An icy surge courses through your body, and your resolve starts to waver. You wanted to help Homura, just as how she helped you… But did you approach this the wrong way? What other option did you have but to beg? Sayaka acted as if she was against Homura's entire existence. While yes, the veteran Magical Girl has astonishingly poor social skills, she is still a good person at heart. Why else would she save your life at the mall earlier? She was trying to protect Madoka and Sayaka from Magical Girl life in her own way. She did not want them to get involved in a life that had so much fighting and conflict in it. Homura deserves kindness as much as the next person.
Eventually, the three of you finally finish your meals in complete silence and are now ready to leave. Unfortunately, you were not able to come up with any topics for small talk during that entire time. Sayaka was not in any mood to talk, and her entire aura practically intimidated you into shutting up. Not even Madoka, the small saint, could do or say anything. Perhaps heading outside and getting some fresh air would be the change of pace needed to tip the scales back in your favor. You would be able to more naturally and more easily force a conversation between you all, returning everyone's stress levels back to normal.
You clear your throat, take a sip of your drink immediately afterwards, and then ask, "Well then, should we get out of here?"
Sayaka nods once and replies, "Yeah. We're done here. I should get out of here anyways and go see Kyousuke. I didn't get a chance to visit him yesterday given the whole… mall incident."
Kyousuke? Who's Kyousuke?
Madoka turns to you and tells you, "Don't worry about the bill, Melissa. I'll spot you."
You give the pink-haired girl a smile and say, "Thanks, Madoka."
Words cannot express how grateful you are towards the two of them right now. Had it not been for them, you would probably be wandering the streets alone, getting lost in Mitakihara Town's many roads; or perhaps you would be stuck at Mami's apartment, unable to go outside without a guide, lest you find yourself going for a sudden bout of directionally-challenged exploration.
Madoka and Sayaka flag down the waitress, asking for the bill. As the waitress heads off to finalize the totals, your two friends quickly pull money out of their bags. Sayaka pulls enough cash for herself, while Madoka retrieves enough money for you and herself. When the waitress does come back, she places the tray containing the receipt in front of you. The two girls quickly reach across the table and place the assortment of cash and loose change in the tray. For a second, you could see the waitress's eyes glance downwards towards the cash, the two middle-school girls, and finally at you, the older looking individual that did not contribute a single cent. She quickly takes her leave, going to deposit all the cash and to give your pink-haired and blue-haired friends their change.
Well, sorry, but there is nothing much you can do about that. You woke up yesterday without any money on your person, and Mami did not give you any cash this morning as well. All you have right now is a slip of paper with Mami's phone number on it. It would be lovely to get a part-time job to make some money for yourself and to spend on others, but you have a feeling that most employers would not hire an amnesiac with no known documentation about them. Not only that, you still need to recover your lost memories about your regular and your Magical Girl lives. The longer the delay, the tougher it will be for you to recover all of your memories intact. However, you cannot keep living on the kindness of others. Madoka and Sayaka can only pay for your daily expenses for so long… Perhaps you should talk to Mami about this later tonight.
When the waitress returns with the chance, the two girls quickly put the money away. The three of you stand up from your booth and exit the restaurant. Outside, you can see that the sun has set much more now, turning an even deeper shade of orange. You estimate that there are only a few hours left in the day before nightfall arrives.
You turn to Madoka, asking her, "Are you going to go see Kyousuke as well?"
You still did not know who Kyousuke is, but if Sayaka is planning on visiting him today, then there is also a chance that Madoka would possibly tag along as well. If Kyousuke is a friend of Sayaka's, then there is a strong possibility that Madoka is also a friend of his as well.
Madoka shakes her heads, smiling as she says, "I think I'll just head home for today. Tatsuya asked me to play with him earlier this morning, but I told him that I would play with him later instead. And besides, I also don't want to interrupt their alone time."
Interrupt their alone time?
Sayaka growls and asks, her cheeks brightening up slightly, "Hey… What's that last part supposed to mean?"
Madoka keeps her smile and replies back, a small melodic tune bouncing around in her playful reply, "Nothing."
Wait, does that mean that he is Sayaka's romantic partner then? You are so confused… You only just learned who Hitomi is today, and now you have so many questions about this other friend they had. Or is he more than a friend to Sayaka? You did not know, and you probably will not get an answer from Sayaka given that raging blush on her face right now.
The bluenette scoffs, spitting out with cheeks still flushed red, "Ugh! You know what I'm getting out of here. I don't have to take this right now!"
She turns to you and asks, "What are you going to do now, Melissa?"
That is a good question… What are you going to do now? Mami is off on patrol right now, so you most likely will not be seeing her until later tonight. You could train some more, but training alone seemed rather lonely… More importantly, training alone would be very inefficient. You only just learned that your summons have a three minute lifespan, give or take. Had it not been for Mami's finely-honed senses and situational awareness, you would just be as lost as yesterday about your powers.
Perhaps you should call in that request for Homura and ask her to train with you. Yeah, as a veteran Magical Girl, she has to have seen her fair share of battles. You could ask her to give you some pointers on how you should improve in battle, or to help sharpen your combat skills. The more you think about it, the more you feel like this is a good idea. In any case, there is one thing about this plan you know for sure, and it is that you cannot tell Sayaka about this plan at all, at least for the rest of today. Homura had already put Sayaka in a bad enough mood today, and Sayaka's mood somehow worsened even more at the mere thought of cooperation. The last thing you wanted was for the bluenette's mood to come tumbling down right before visiting her friend, Kyousuke. Or was he her romantic partner?
You reply back, "I was thinking of training some more… There is still some sunlight out before I need to head back to Mami's apartment."
You technically are not lying… You are indeed thinking of training. It just so happens that Homura is involved in your training plans. You did not know where to begin looking for Homura, but if you cannot find her, then you would just head back to Mami's apartment for the night. Training alone did not seem worthwhile at this moment in time.
Sayaka flashes you a smirk, commenting, "More training, huh? Well, good for you."
Madoka hops into the conversation and adds, "Well, if you're really planning on training more, I should at least just give you the directions to head back to Mami's apartment from here. We don't want you to get lost once we all go our separate ways, Melissa…"
Oh, right… That is actually a really good idea. You still do not know, or remember, much about the geography of Mitakihara Town. Getting lost alone in the streets, especially in the dark, is something that you did not want to deal with, with magical powers and superstrength or without. Madoka quickly gives you a rundown of what routes you need to take in order to get back to the old training grounds from earlier and then how to return back to Mami's apartment. After repeating the directions back to yourself and Madoka a few times, fully incorporating them into memory, the three of you bid each other farewell and take off in your own separate ways. Madoka is heading home; Sayaka is off to see Kyousuke; and you are heading back into the direction of the old training grounds, where you got pummeled by Mami and met the Phantom Sayaka for the first time.
Now that you think about it… How are you even going to find Homura? You do not have her phone number, so how are you even going to get into contact with her? The last time you saw her, she just popped out of nowhere at the mall. Then again, you were losing your mind at the time, so there's a chance that you just did not see her approaching. In addition, it is not too out of the ordinary for someone to be hanging out at the mall on the weekend either, so…
You stop walking for a moment and take a look around. You have not seen anyone around for quite some time now. You can see some crows flying overhead, but those are just random birds. You have not seen another human being for what felt like forever. Walking alone is pretty lonely, you think to yourself.
You then let out a long sigh, muttering aloud, "Man… Where do I even begin looking for Homura?"
"You were looking for me?" a familiar voice calls out behind you.
You quickly turn around in response, spotting the hardened black-haired Magical Girl just several paces behind you. Her arms are crossed, still dressed in the same black hoodie and blue jeans from earlier at the mall. She stares sharply into your eyes as you look downwards to Homura. Her cold amethyst gaze drills into you, her head tilted upwards to compensate for the stark height difference
between you both.
"W-Wait a second..." you start sputtering, "Where did you…? How did you...?"
Homura cuts you off, her arms still crossed, "Do not concern yourself with unimportant details."
You start asking, still feeling quite frazzled since Homura caught you completely off-guard, "I just... wanted to see if you wanted to train for a bit…"
You do not know how long Homura has been a Magical Girl for, but you can just tell that she has more experience than she lets on. You can just feel it in your bones. Homura knows so much about the Magical Girl lifestyle—what it means to be a Magical Girl and how to live as a Magical Girl. Why else would she be trying to keep Madoka and Sayaka, regular girls, from learning about Magical Girls? She refused to divulge any information to Sayaka no matter the situation, even if it meant continuing to ruin her already poor relationship with the bluenette. While Mami wants to show Madoka and Sayaka more about Magical Girl life in order to educate them and allow for them to make an informed decision, Homura, meanwhile, is preventing them from learning anything and is making their decision for them.
Homura closes her eyes, thinks about your request for a second, opens her eyes once again, and then finally answers, "Fine. What do you want to work on?"
Please choose just one (1) option to start off with.
[ ] Improving and Controlling Your Physical Strength
[ ] Improving and Honing Your Coordination and Reaction Time
[ ] Staying Calm in High Stress Situations
[ ] Testing out the Gauntlet's Powers
[ ] Learning How to Fight Without the Gauntlet
[ ] Working on General Magic Use
[ ] Magical Girl Tips and Tricks
[ ] Spar against Homura
[ ] Write In
Due to all the trauma, Homura has negative social skills, it's not surprising she can't get along with Sayaka (who is a very insecure person) anymore. Didn't they meet in this timeline, with Homura basically pointing a gun at Madoka?
Nice to see this story back though!
[X] Staying Calm in High Stress Situations
Nice to see this story back though!
[X] Staying Calm in High Stress Situations
- Location
- Earth, probably.
- Pronouns
- None/Any
[X] Staying Calm in High Stress Situations
Oh man, it's been forever! I thought this was an interesting quest when I first followed it and I'm glad to see it get another update.
Oh man, it's been forever! I thought this was an interesting quest when I first followed it and I'm glad to see it get another update.
[2.26] Free Your Mind
TyrantYuyuka
ESC-A Doppel
[X] Staying Calm in High Stress Situations
You tell the jet-black-haired girl, "I want to stay calm during stressful situations."
As a Magical Girl, it is your duty to fight against Witches and their Familiars. Against mankind's enemies, it is kill or be killed. Both Mami and Homura survived this long for a reason. Mami has excellent reflexes, great control of her strength, and incredibly precise awareness of her surroundings and the passage of time around her. When you summoned that Phantom Sayaka earlier, you could not focus at all. You had so many questions, and you simply just could not believe your eyes at all. Is the Phantom Sayaka a Magical Girl version of Sayaka from an alternate timeline like you and your friends postulated? That would explain why her mood is so radically different from the Sayaka that you knew. The Phantom Sayaka herself even somewhat confirms that theory, as she stated that she was "Sayaka Miki," but not Sayaka Miki at the same time. Had it not been for Mami calmly observing the situation, you never would have learned about the three minute time limit for your summons. Homura, a veteran Magical Girl like Mami, most certainly would have the same staple skillset.
You look down slightly, clenching your right hand in a fist and continue, "I nearly died earlier since I was losing my mind and burning through so much magic, right? I can't let that happen again."
Just even alluding to that incident this morning causes the gruesome image to flash into your mind. The bone-crunching snaps echo in your ears, the back of your head starting throb more and more. A thin trickle of sweat rolls down the side of your head, rolling down your cheeks before dripping down to the ground. Darn it...! You are a Magical Girl! It is your duty to fight to protect those who cannot defend themselves. Regular humans cannot protect themselves against magic, that is why Magical Girls exist. However, that does not mean that you can turn a blind eye to human-on-human violence. Yet, the thought of hurting another human being disgusts you… Will you simply have to be desensitized to bloodshed? If magic exists, then surely there must be a way to achieve true peace right? There has to be a way to create a world without violence.
Homura starts speaking, snapping you out from your deep thoughts, "Just relax."
...Huh? What does that mean?
You look up, confused, and Homura continues, "Letting your mind wander and allowing it to be filled up with nonsense is the fastest way to end up dead. You need to calm down and refocus on your priorities."
She starts walking past you, ordering you, "Follow me."
You pause for a second, still trying to comprehend what Homura had just told you. Just relax? That is easier said than done… Homura continues to go on ahead, her back getting smaller and smaller as she walks away. You really will be left behind if you do not hurry up and catch up with her… You let out a small sigh as you start running to catch up with the black-haired Magical Girl. Eventually, she leads you back to the bridge where you trained with Mami earlier.
Once the two of you make it to the concrete floor underneath the bridge, out of sight from any unnecessary bystanders overhead, Homura tells you, "Don't move."
You do as you are told and remain motionless, still confused as to what Homura is about to teach you. You asked her to teach you how to stay calm in high stress situations. Is she about to start chucking rocks at you too or something? Homura moves herself just several paces in front of you. She has to look up to meet your gaze, as you pretty much tower over her given your height.
She then commands you, "Sit down. Close your eyes."
Um… Okay? You sit down and close your eyes.
Homura then tells you, "Start taking deep breaths. In through your nose, and out through your mouth."
Wait a second…! Isn't this the same meditation training that you and Mami did earlier?
Your eyes quickly shoot open, and you ask, looking upwards into the veteran Magical Girl's purple eyes, "Wait, Homura. How is this going to solve anything? You're telling me the secret is to just breathe?"
Homura's expression does not change as you challenge her advice. She simply reaches behind her head and throws her hair back.
She tells you, "If you can learn how to breathe, you can learn how to stay calm. If you can't learn how to breathe, then you'll never learn how to calm down."
Homura crosses her arms once more and starts lecturing, "The point of this exercise is for you to learn how to clear your mind and start focusing on the things that really matter, Melissa."
You are still very much confused by Homura's line of logic here, but she is the teacher here… All you can really do right now is to just listen to her and try to see if her advice even works. You close your eyes once more and start taking deep breaths. You fill your lungs to capacity with a deep inhale through your nose, and slowly start breathing out through your mouth… You do this over and over and over again while Homura just stands there silently…
Homura continues to issue commands, "Relax your shoulders. Empty your thoughts. Release all the tension in your body, but keep your back straight."
With your eyes still closed, you try to loosen up your shoulders. You roll them back and forth, trying to push them downwards as well. Your body had been so tense all day since this morning. You constantly felt as if you were trying to stuff yourself into a small box.
You continue to take deep breaths, making sure your back remains straight, but the rest of your body is relaxed. Homura has not said anything in quite some time… Is she still here? Or did she leave you behind while your eyes were closed? You did not hear any footsteps while meditating...
Almost as if it were a response to your unease, Homura's voice cuts through your imagination, "Open your eyes."
You open your eyes, and… Homura is still here. She is still standing right in front of you, with her arms still crossed. How long have you been sitting here meditating, and how long has she been standing in front of you with her arms crossed? At least Mami was also meditating with you during her lessons earlier. What was Homura doing in the meantime? You could not hear any footsteps while you were meditating, so it is pretty unlikely that she snuck off to do something else while you had been mediating. Was she just staring at you the entire time or something?
Homura speaks normally this time, not barking out an order, "That's enough for now."
"What?" you ask, "That's the entire lesson? Just meditating for a bit?"
Homura frowns slightly, replying back, "Meditating was not the point of that lesson. You need to learn how to breathe, how to relax both your mind and your body. I had you close your eyes so that you could focus on learning the fundamentals of this concept first. Have you seen Mami Tomoe fight yet?"
You tilt your head to the side and mutter, "Well… Not against a Witch… I mean we trained a bit earlier and-"
Homura cuts you off and says, "The reason why Mami Tomoe can fight so well is because she knows how to remain calm during battle. She knows how to breathe with her eyes open. In battle, there is so much information that you need to take in, both about your opponent and the environment around you. You need to know where you can stand, where you can't stand. How to attack your enemies, and how to dodge their attacks. What works, and what doesn't work. You need to pick up on any new changes on the fly, and process everything that I have told you even faster."
She continues, lowering her arms to her side, "Yes, she is very skilled and her senses are sharpened to a dangerous degree, but with all her experience important knowledge. And a part of that knowledge is one simple fact: You're as good as dead if you lose your head in any situation."
Homura raises her right hand, moving her fingers to create the gesture of a finger pistol and pointing it towards your head. This situation sorta gives you a sense of deja vu, your mind briefly flashing back to when Mami had a flintlock aimed at your head...
"Imagine this," Homura starts speaking, "I am Mami Tomoe, and you are a fleeing witch. If I land one more decisive strike, I win and you die. However, if I miss, you live to kill another day. I have one more shot, and I must get one kill."
Homura starts moving her finger gun left and right, up and down, "At longer distances, even small hand tremors can cause massive deviations in my shot trajectory. If you are moving, I have to take into account bullet velocity to ensure that I successfully hit you. I also have to take into account bullet drop as well to ensure that the shot hits its mark and not somewhere potentially less fatal."
Homura lowers her right hand again and finishes, "Mami Tomoe has to think about all that in the split second that she has to take the shot. Against a Witch taking evasive maneuvers, if Mami Tomoe was not focused, then there is a high probability that she will miss. That Witch would get away and potentially kill another human civilian while attempting to heal its wounds. By taking deep breaths, Mami can clear her head and refocus on what she needs to do to end the battle in one blow."
A grimace starts crawling onto your face as you think about this example more and more. Given that Mami uses a flintlock pistol, that means that she has only one shot with that gun before needing to reload right? That would mean that every shot she makes has to count. Not only does she have to think about calculating when and how to shoot in order to ensure that her round hits its mark, but she has to pay attention to everything else around her as well. She still has to dodge and maneuver around the battlefield, putting herself in optimal locations while making sure she avoids any and all incoming attacks.
Homura sighs and tells you, "Look. I'll break it down in the simplest way possible, so simple that even Sayaka Miki could understand it. If you want to focus, then you need to breathe. You need oxygen in your head so that your brain can process all that information. More air, more awareness. No air, no awareness. Lack of awareness leads to more difficult battles. More difficulty means more stress. Do you get it now?"
You nod your head in affirmation. Yeah, her lesson does make sense, in a roundabout kind of way. However, you cannot say that you are fully satisfied with her lesson. When you asked Homura about staying calm during high stress situations, you were mostly thinking about what happened in the alleyway this morning… You had severely wounded someone, albeit in self-defense. Just thinking about all the pain you dealt to another human being, the feeling and sensation of completely overpowering them, disgusts you. You could not get that feeling out of your head, and that nearly resulted in your death had it not been for Homura's sudden appearance at the mall. Homura gave you a lesson on how to stay calm during a combat scenario, which makes sense since you both are doing a Magical Girl combat training session right now.
If you really think about it, you could take the same lessons from the combat training and apply it to what happened in the alleyway. If you had been taking deep breaths afterward, you have refocused on things that matter the most… Like the fact that you protected someone. Yeah, you could have focused on your good deed instead of focusing on the pain you inflicted. The priority was protecting the kid that was getting beat up.
Ugh, your head hurts just thinking about all this. Should you just tell Homura about what happened in the alleyway and get her own thoughts on the matter? Instead of doing all this mental gymnastics, you could just ask her what she thinks about what you did earlier. You could get a direct answer from her about this, instead of making your own interpretations based on her really confusing lessons.
Or maybe you could take the time to ask her some other questions. Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami are not around and it looks like Homura is making time for you in her schedule, so now would be a good time as any…
[ ] Tell Homura about what happened in the alleyway and ask for her thoughts
[ ] Ask Homura what she thinks about hurting people to defend others
[ ] Ask Homura a different question
-[ ] What question will you ask her? (Write In)
[ ] Write In
You tell the jet-black-haired girl, "I want to stay calm during stressful situations."
As a Magical Girl, it is your duty to fight against Witches and their Familiars. Against mankind's enemies, it is kill or be killed. Both Mami and Homura survived this long for a reason. Mami has excellent reflexes, great control of her strength, and incredibly precise awareness of her surroundings and the passage of time around her. When you summoned that Phantom Sayaka earlier, you could not focus at all. You had so many questions, and you simply just could not believe your eyes at all. Is the Phantom Sayaka a Magical Girl version of Sayaka from an alternate timeline like you and your friends postulated? That would explain why her mood is so radically different from the Sayaka that you knew. The Phantom Sayaka herself even somewhat confirms that theory, as she stated that she was "Sayaka Miki," but not Sayaka Miki at the same time. Had it not been for Mami calmly observing the situation, you never would have learned about the three minute time limit for your summons. Homura, a veteran Magical Girl like Mami, most certainly would have the same staple skillset.
You look down slightly, clenching your right hand in a fist and continue, "I nearly died earlier since I was losing my mind and burning through so much magic, right? I can't let that happen again."
Just even alluding to that incident this morning causes the gruesome image to flash into your mind. The bone-crunching snaps echo in your ears, the back of your head starting throb more and more. A thin trickle of sweat rolls down the side of your head, rolling down your cheeks before dripping down to the ground. Darn it...! You are a Magical Girl! It is your duty to fight to protect those who cannot defend themselves. Regular humans cannot protect themselves against magic, that is why Magical Girls exist. However, that does not mean that you can turn a blind eye to human-on-human violence. Yet, the thought of hurting another human being disgusts you… Will you simply have to be desensitized to bloodshed? If magic exists, then surely there must be a way to achieve true peace right? There has to be a way to create a world without violence.
Homura starts speaking, snapping you out from your deep thoughts, "Just relax."
...Huh? What does that mean?
You look up, confused, and Homura continues, "Letting your mind wander and allowing it to be filled up with nonsense is the fastest way to end up dead. You need to calm down and refocus on your priorities."
She starts walking past you, ordering you, "Follow me."
You pause for a second, still trying to comprehend what Homura had just told you. Just relax? That is easier said than done… Homura continues to go on ahead, her back getting smaller and smaller as she walks away. You really will be left behind if you do not hurry up and catch up with her… You let out a small sigh as you start running to catch up with the black-haired Magical Girl. Eventually, she leads you back to the bridge where you trained with Mami earlier.
Once the two of you make it to the concrete floor underneath the bridge, out of sight from any unnecessary bystanders overhead, Homura tells you, "Don't move."
You do as you are told and remain motionless, still confused as to what Homura is about to teach you. You asked her to teach you how to stay calm in high stress situations. Is she about to start chucking rocks at you too or something? Homura moves herself just several paces in front of you. She has to look up to meet your gaze, as you pretty much tower over her given your height.
She then commands you, "Sit down. Close your eyes."
Um… Okay? You sit down and close your eyes.
Homura then tells you, "Start taking deep breaths. In through your nose, and out through your mouth."
Wait a second…! Isn't this the same meditation training that you and Mami did earlier?
Your eyes quickly shoot open, and you ask, looking upwards into the veteran Magical Girl's purple eyes, "Wait, Homura. How is this going to solve anything? You're telling me the secret is to just breathe?"
Homura's expression does not change as you challenge her advice. She simply reaches behind her head and throws her hair back.
She tells you, "If you can learn how to breathe, you can learn how to stay calm. If you can't learn how to breathe, then you'll never learn how to calm down."
Homura crosses her arms once more and starts lecturing, "The point of this exercise is for you to learn how to clear your mind and start focusing on the things that really matter, Melissa."
You are still very much confused by Homura's line of logic here, but she is the teacher here… All you can really do right now is to just listen to her and try to see if her advice even works. You close your eyes once more and start taking deep breaths. You fill your lungs to capacity with a deep inhale through your nose, and slowly start breathing out through your mouth… You do this over and over and over again while Homura just stands there silently…
Homura continues to issue commands, "Relax your shoulders. Empty your thoughts. Release all the tension in your body, but keep your back straight."
With your eyes still closed, you try to loosen up your shoulders. You roll them back and forth, trying to push them downwards as well. Your body had been so tense all day since this morning. You constantly felt as if you were trying to stuff yourself into a small box.
You continue to take deep breaths, making sure your back remains straight, but the rest of your body is relaxed. Homura has not said anything in quite some time… Is she still here? Or did she leave you behind while your eyes were closed? You did not hear any footsteps while meditating...
Almost as if it were a response to your unease, Homura's voice cuts through your imagination, "Open your eyes."
You open your eyes, and… Homura is still here. She is still standing right in front of you, with her arms still crossed. How long have you been sitting here meditating, and how long has she been standing in front of you with her arms crossed? At least Mami was also meditating with you during her lessons earlier. What was Homura doing in the meantime? You could not hear any footsteps while you were meditating, so it is pretty unlikely that she snuck off to do something else while you had been mediating. Was she just staring at you the entire time or something?
Homura speaks normally this time, not barking out an order, "That's enough for now."
"What?" you ask, "That's the entire lesson? Just meditating for a bit?"
Homura frowns slightly, replying back, "Meditating was not the point of that lesson. You need to learn how to breathe, how to relax both your mind and your body. I had you close your eyes so that you could focus on learning the fundamentals of this concept first. Have you seen Mami Tomoe fight yet?"
You tilt your head to the side and mutter, "Well… Not against a Witch… I mean we trained a bit earlier and-"
Homura cuts you off and says, "The reason why Mami Tomoe can fight so well is because she knows how to remain calm during battle. She knows how to breathe with her eyes open. In battle, there is so much information that you need to take in, both about your opponent and the environment around you. You need to know where you can stand, where you can't stand. How to attack your enemies, and how to dodge their attacks. What works, and what doesn't work. You need to pick up on any new changes on the fly, and process everything that I have told you even faster."
She continues, lowering her arms to her side, "Yes, she is very skilled and her senses are sharpened to a dangerous degree, but with all her experience important knowledge. And a part of that knowledge is one simple fact: You're as good as dead if you lose your head in any situation."
Homura raises her right hand, moving her fingers to create the gesture of a finger pistol and pointing it towards your head. This situation sorta gives you a sense of deja vu, your mind briefly flashing back to when Mami had a flintlock aimed at your head...
"Imagine this," Homura starts speaking, "I am Mami Tomoe, and you are a fleeing witch. If I land one more decisive strike, I win and you die. However, if I miss, you live to kill another day. I have one more shot, and I must get one kill."
Homura starts moving her finger gun left and right, up and down, "At longer distances, even small hand tremors can cause massive deviations in my shot trajectory. If you are moving, I have to take into account bullet velocity to ensure that I successfully hit you. I also have to take into account bullet drop as well to ensure that the shot hits its mark and not somewhere potentially less fatal."
Homura lowers her right hand again and finishes, "Mami Tomoe has to think about all that in the split second that she has to take the shot. Against a Witch taking evasive maneuvers, if Mami Tomoe was not focused, then there is a high probability that she will miss. That Witch would get away and potentially kill another human civilian while attempting to heal its wounds. By taking deep breaths, Mami can clear her head and refocus on what she needs to do to end the battle in one blow."
A grimace starts crawling onto your face as you think about this example more and more. Given that Mami uses a flintlock pistol, that means that she has only one shot with that gun before needing to reload right? That would mean that every shot she makes has to count. Not only does she have to think about calculating when and how to shoot in order to ensure that her round hits its mark, but she has to pay attention to everything else around her as well. She still has to dodge and maneuver around the battlefield, putting herself in optimal locations while making sure she avoids any and all incoming attacks.
Homura sighs and tells you, "Look. I'll break it down in the simplest way possible, so simple that even Sayaka Miki could understand it. If you want to focus, then you need to breathe. You need oxygen in your head so that your brain can process all that information. More air, more awareness. No air, no awareness. Lack of awareness leads to more difficult battles. More difficulty means more stress. Do you get it now?"
You nod your head in affirmation. Yeah, her lesson does make sense, in a roundabout kind of way. However, you cannot say that you are fully satisfied with her lesson. When you asked Homura about staying calm during high stress situations, you were mostly thinking about what happened in the alleyway this morning… You had severely wounded someone, albeit in self-defense. Just thinking about all the pain you dealt to another human being, the feeling and sensation of completely overpowering them, disgusts you. You could not get that feeling out of your head, and that nearly resulted in your death had it not been for Homura's sudden appearance at the mall. Homura gave you a lesson on how to stay calm during a combat scenario, which makes sense since you both are doing a Magical Girl combat training session right now.
If you really think about it, you could take the same lessons from the combat training and apply it to what happened in the alleyway. If you had been taking deep breaths afterward, you have refocused on things that matter the most… Like the fact that you protected someone. Yeah, you could have focused on your good deed instead of focusing on the pain you inflicted. The priority was protecting the kid that was getting beat up.
Ugh, your head hurts just thinking about all this. Should you just tell Homura about what happened in the alleyway and get her own thoughts on the matter? Instead of doing all this mental gymnastics, you could just ask her what she thinks about what you did earlier. You could get a direct answer from her about this, instead of making your own interpretations based on her really confusing lessons.
Or maybe you could take the time to ask her some other questions. Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami are not around and it looks like Homura is making time for you in her schedule, so now would be a good time as any…
[ ] Tell Homura about what happened in the alleyway and ask for her thoughts
[ ] Ask Homura what she thinks about hurting people to defend others
[ ] Ask Homura a different question
-[ ] What question will you ask her? (Write In)
[ ] Write In
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Grammar looks wrong here.
Not when you can conjure dozens of muskets out of thin air to match the fire rate of automatic weapons.
It is perfectly applicable! If you are taking deep breaths, you aren't breaking someone's arms, which causes you no angst afterwards!
...unless what you want is not to avoid hurting humans, but avoid feeling bad afterwards. In which case Homura will have you covered too!
[x] Ask Homura what she thinks about hurting people to defend others
Akasha
The Only Truth
- Location
- 「̛̛́́ ͏̨҉̕͏ ͏̶̴」
Jesus fucking Christ, Homura. I get it, she annoys you, but there's no need to burn Mami alive. Put that flamethrower down.
KuletXCore
Reviver of Good Shit/Creator of Underrated Ideas.
- Location
- Flipland
[x] Ask Homura what she thinks about hurting people to defend others
[2.27] Like A Flame
TyrantYuyuka
ESC-A Doppel
[X] Ask Homura what she thinks about hurting people to defend others
"Listen, Homura…" you start, "We're Magical Girls right? We're considered Allies of Justice, you could say?"
Homura crosses her arms and responds, an eyebrow raised, "...Go on."
You continue, "Then that would mean we would have to fight to protect people… But that also means that sometimes we have to cause suffering to prevent suffering… Sometimes people have to be hurt to prevent others from getting hurt… What do you think about that?"
Homura shrugs and comments, "Someone gets hurt at the end of the day. There's no way around it. All we can do is choose who gets hurt and who gets away safe."
Homura lets out a long sigh and just plainly comments, "This is what it means to be a Magical Girl, Melissa. It's just another day in a war without end. We fight until the day we can't fight anymore. All we can do in the meantime is get better at doing it."
You can't believe what Homura is saying…! Is she telling you to get used to it? How could she say that!? You don't want to get used to it! You hate this feeling! It's… It's wrong!
You glare at Homura, asking her, practically screaming as your voice quivers, "How...can you say that!? Get better at doing it!? You mean I have to be better at hurting people!?"
Homura snaps back, her glare sharp enough to pierce through reinforced steel, "Calm down, and don't put words in my mouth. I'm not saying you have to be more efficient at causing suffering. What I'm saying is that you're still a rookie, and that you'll do better next time. Right now, you lack experience. With enough time, you'll be able to fight smarter, not harder. You're not an idiotic brain-damaged berserker. You have enough intelligence to know that ripping and tearing through your opponents as carnally as possible is a bad first response. Train enough and you'll be able to disable and subdue targets, not beat them into submission."
You loudly exhale, shaking your head and countering, "But… I don't want to hurt people! I don't want to get used to hurting people..."
Homura turns her head away from you, looking off into the distance. You can see her face twisting into a grimace and she mutters in response, "Nobody does."
She takes a deep breath and sighs, continuing as she turns back to face you, "Look, Melissa. I understand that you don't want to hurt people, but letting people punch you in the face until they get bored is the quickest way to end up dead for no reason whatsoever. I can't tell you anything other than 'get stronger, and get smarter.' If you can't remember how to fight, then you can at least learn how to fight again, or at least learn how to defend yourself again."
She holds up one finger and tells you, "I'll teach you one of my techniques, but I'll only show it to you once though. So, pay attention."
You grin and yell, "Homura…! Thank you!"
Without thinking, you wrap the tiny Magica Girl into a big hug! You knew she was a good person underneath all that ice! She might say some pretty harsh things, but she still had your best interests in mind!
Homura sputters out, "H-Hey! Get off of me…!"
She breaks out from your hug and shoves you away. You can see that her face is a little bit red… She must be a little embarrassed or something… Well, no matter! You just grin as Homura tries to regain her composure.
Homura clears her throat and starts explaining, "Okay… First of all, this is a close-quarters grappling move. You already know that your strength far exceeds any regular human. If you grab them by their collar, they'll have no way of breaking free unless they want to tear their own shirt to pieces. Let me show you the move in action first, and then I'll explain more afterwards."
Homura walks towards you and then says, sounding rather ominous, "Grit your teeth, Melissa…"
Wait… Is she going to-
Before you could finish that thought, Homura kicks you once on your right leg, forcing you down onto a single knee and putting you at her eye level. She quickly grabs you by your collar and pulls your head down. She tucks your neck underneath her right armpit, putting you into a headlock. Then, she extends her right leg back and swings it forward. She pivots her body forward, swinging you well off your feet! Your vision changes rapidly from looking downwards towards the concrete, to a blur of green, blue, and orange, until you're finally looking up towards the bottom of the bridge.
Homura rolls out from underneath you, picking herself up and explaining, "And that's that. The faster your swing, the more painful it'll be. If they hit the ground hard enough, they'll be more likely to run away after picking themselves up. It's not the most effective flip, but sometimes a flashy demonstration of force is more than enough to deter people from fighting. Now you try it."
Still lying on the ground, you ask, "Are you sure...? I don't want to hurt-"
Homura cuts you off, "I said do it."
You stand up, brushing the dust off your clothes, and start to approach Homura. She does not move, and she does not blink as you try to position yourself. She's such a small girl… You almost feel bad about doing this to someone way shorter than you. But then again, she's the veteran Magical Girl here. You might be bigger than her, but she's more seasoned than you when it comes to fighting.
You close your eyes, take a deep breath, and go through everything that Homura did when she flipped you in your head. She's much shorter than you, so you don't need to kick her in the leg… You open your eyes and in one quick action, you grab Homura by her collar and pull down hard. Her head swings down and you quickly wrap your right arm around her neck, putting her into a headlock. You lift your right leg behind you and quickly swing it forward, pivoting your body into the air as you spin Homura around. Her back slams hard against the ground! You can even hear her bounce and hit the ground twice! Your blood runs cold… Oh no, did you do it too hard?
You freeze for a second, and your grip goes slack…
But Homura's voice cuts through the air and plainly critiques, "Not bad for your first try, but you still used too much force. Humans are delicate little creatures. Work on it."
She pushes your arm away and stands up, brushing the dust off her clothes. You simply lie there, speechless as she looks down at you. You know that Magical Girls are tough, but still…! Did she just not feel it? Or was she just fighting through the pain? That slam sounded horrible! But you didn't hear her cry out in pain though...
Homura frowned as she looked at you, spitting, "On your feet, Melissa."
She grabbed you by your right arm and forced you to your feet.
You ask her, "Homura… You're not hurt?"
Homura shakes her head and plainly tells you, "No."
Homura crosses her arms and adds, "'We're Magical Girls. If a simple toss like that would gravely injure us, then we would make for rather poor fighters."
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a phone. She flips it open for just a second, and then closes it just as fast.
She turns to you and says, "I'm out of free time now."
She starts to walk away from you, but then stops.
She turns back to you and then says, "But first…"
She reaches into her jacket and pulls something out, but you couldn't see what exactly it was... Then, she throws whatever that was at you! You flinch and clamp your eyes shut, but your hands shoot into the air in front of you to defend yourself. Was that your Magical Girl sense at work? Or was it just your body just instinctively reacting? Well, whatever the case is, you caught whatever it was that Homura threw at you. It was something hard… and metallic? Wait, you caught two things?
Your eyes widen as you gaze at what you just caught out of the air… Two Grief Seeds! Your head shoots back up to Homura, who's still standing there with her hands in her pockets. Your mouth opens, wanting to say something but not sure what to actually say… Is she just giving you these for free? These come from hunting Witches right? She's really giving you the spoils of war for two successful hunts? Actually, she gave you three if you considered what happened at the mall today!
Speaking first, Homura told you, "Consider those a gift. Do us both a favor and use them if you need to. It would be bad for everyone involved if you had another breakdown in a public setting."
All you can really say is… "Homura, thank you!"
Homura simply puts her hands on her hips and replies, "It's fine. If there's nothing else you need me for, then I'll be on my way."
[ ] Ask to borrow her phone so you can call Mami
-[ ] What will you tell Mami?
[ ] Ask if you can go stay at her house tonight
[ ] Go hunt a Witch
-[ ] Where will you go to search?
[ ] Go wander the streets for a while
-[ ] Where will you go?
[ ] Go back to Mami's house
[ ] Write In
"Listen, Homura…" you start, "We're Magical Girls right? We're considered Allies of Justice, you could say?"
Homura crosses her arms and responds, an eyebrow raised, "...Go on."
You continue, "Then that would mean we would have to fight to protect people… But that also means that sometimes we have to cause suffering to prevent suffering… Sometimes people have to be hurt to prevent others from getting hurt… What do you think about that?"
Homura shrugs and comments, "Someone gets hurt at the end of the day. There's no way around it. All we can do is choose who gets hurt and who gets away safe."
Homura lets out a long sigh and just plainly comments, "This is what it means to be a Magical Girl, Melissa. It's just another day in a war without end. We fight until the day we can't fight anymore. All we can do in the meantime is get better at doing it."
You can't believe what Homura is saying…! Is she telling you to get used to it? How could she say that!? You don't want to get used to it! You hate this feeling! It's… It's wrong!
You glare at Homura, asking her, practically screaming as your voice quivers, "How...can you say that!? Get better at doing it!? You mean I have to be better at hurting people!?"
Homura snaps back, her glare sharp enough to pierce through reinforced steel, "Calm down, and don't put words in my mouth. I'm not saying you have to be more efficient at causing suffering. What I'm saying is that you're still a rookie, and that you'll do better next time. Right now, you lack experience. With enough time, you'll be able to fight smarter, not harder. You're not an idiotic brain-damaged berserker. You have enough intelligence to know that ripping and tearing through your opponents as carnally as possible is a bad first response. Train enough and you'll be able to disable and subdue targets, not beat them into submission."
You loudly exhale, shaking your head and countering, "But… I don't want to hurt people! I don't want to get used to hurting people..."
Homura turns her head away from you, looking off into the distance. You can see her face twisting into a grimace and she mutters in response, "Nobody does."
She takes a deep breath and sighs, continuing as she turns back to face you, "Look, Melissa. I understand that you don't want to hurt people, but letting people punch you in the face until they get bored is the quickest way to end up dead for no reason whatsoever. I can't tell you anything other than 'get stronger, and get smarter.' If you can't remember how to fight, then you can at least learn how to fight again, or at least learn how to defend yourself again."
She holds up one finger and tells you, "I'll teach you one of my techniques, but I'll only show it to you once though. So, pay attention."
You grin and yell, "Homura…! Thank you!"
Without thinking, you wrap the tiny Magica Girl into a big hug! You knew she was a good person underneath all that ice! She might say some pretty harsh things, but she still had your best interests in mind!
Homura sputters out, "H-Hey! Get off of me…!"
She breaks out from your hug and shoves you away. You can see that her face is a little bit red… She must be a little embarrassed or something… Well, no matter! You just grin as Homura tries to regain her composure.
Homura clears her throat and starts explaining, "Okay… First of all, this is a close-quarters grappling move. You already know that your strength far exceeds any regular human. If you grab them by their collar, they'll have no way of breaking free unless they want to tear their own shirt to pieces. Let me show you the move in action first, and then I'll explain more afterwards."
Homura walks towards you and then says, sounding rather ominous, "Grit your teeth, Melissa…"
Wait… Is she going to-
Before you could finish that thought, Homura kicks you once on your right leg, forcing you down onto a single knee and putting you at her eye level. She quickly grabs you by your collar and pulls your head down. She tucks your neck underneath her right armpit, putting you into a headlock. Then, she extends her right leg back and swings it forward. She pivots her body forward, swinging you well off your feet! Your vision changes rapidly from looking downwards towards the concrete, to a blur of green, blue, and orange, until you're finally looking up towards the bottom of the bridge.
Homura rolls out from underneath you, picking herself up and explaining, "And that's that. The faster your swing, the more painful it'll be. If they hit the ground hard enough, they'll be more likely to run away after picking themselves up. It's not the most effective flip, but sometimes a flashy demonstration of force is more than enough to deter people from fighting. Now you try it."
Still lying on the ground, you ask, "Are you sure...? I don't want to hurt-"
Homura cuts you off, "I said do it."
You stand up, brushing the dust off your clothes, and start to approach Homura. She does not move, and she does not blink as you try to position yourself. She's such a small girl… You almost feel bad about doing this to someone way shorter than you. But then again, she's the veteran Magical Girl here. You might be bigger than her, but she's more seasoned than you when it comes to fighting.
You close your eyes, take a deep breath, and go through everything that Homura did when she flipped you in your head. She's much shorter than you, so you don't need to kick her in the leg… You open your eyes and in one quick action, you grab Homura by her collar and pull down hard. Her head swings down and you quickly wrap your right arm around her neck, putting her into a headlock. You lift your right leg behind you and quickly swing it forward, pivoting your body into the air as you spin Homura around. Her back slams hard against the ground! You can even hear her bounce and hit the ground twice! Your blood runs cold… Oh no, did you do it too hard?
You freeze for a second, and your grip goes slack…
But Homura's voice cuts through the air and plainly critiques, "Not bad for your first try, but you still used too much force. Humans are delicate little creatures. Work on it."
She pushes your arm away and stands up, brushing the dust off her clothes. You simply lie there, speechless as she looks down at you. You know that Magical Girls are tough, but still…! Did she just not feel it? Or was she just fighting through the pain? That slam sounded horrible! But you didn't hear her cry out in pain though...
Homura frowned as she looked at you, spitting, "On your feet, Melissa."
She grabbed you by your right arm and forced you to your feet.
You ask her, "Homura… You're not hurt?"
Homura shakes her head and plainly tells you, "No."
Homura crosses her arms and adds, "'We're Magical Girls. If a simple toss like that would gravely injure us, then we would make for rather poor fighters."
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a phone. She flips it open for just a second, and then closes it just as fast.
She turns to you and says, "I'm out of free time now."
She starts to walk away from you, but then stops.
She turns back to you and then says, "But first…"
She reaches into her jacket and pulls something out, but you couldn't see what exactly it was... Then, she throws whatever that was at you! You flinch and clamp your eyes shut, but your hands shoot into the air in front of you to defend yourself. Was that your Magical Girl sense at work? Or was it just your body just instinctively reacting? Well, whatever the case is, you caught whatever it was that Homura threw at you. It was something hard… and metallic? Wait, you caught two things?
Your eyes widen as you gaze at what you just caught out of the air… Two Grief Seeds! Your head shoots back up to Homura, who's still standing there with her hands in her pockets. Your mouth opens, wanting to say something but not sure what to actually say… Is she just giving you these for free? These come from hunting Witches right? She's really giving you the spoils of war for two successful hunts? Actually, she gave you three if you considered what happened at the mall today!
Speaking first, Homura told you, "Consider those a gift. Do us both a favor and use them if you need to. It would be bad for everyone involved if you had another breakdown in a public setting."
All you can really say is… "Homura, thank you!"
Homura simply puts her hands on her hips and replies, "It's fine. If there's nothing else you need me for, then I'll be on my way."
[ ] Ask to borrow her phone so you can call Mami
-[ ] What will you tell Mami?
[ ] Ask if you can go stay at her house tonight
[ ] Go hunt a Witch
-[ ] Where will you go to search?
[ ] Go wander the streets for a while
-[ ] Where will you go?
[ ] Go back to Mami's house
[ ] Write In
- Location
- Earth, probably.
- Pronouns
- None/Any
[X] Ask if you can go stay at her house tonight
edit:
[X] Write In: Offer to help out any way you can in exchange. Surely she could use help with something?
edit:
[X] Write In: Offer to help out any way you can in exchange. Surely she could use help with something?
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KuletXCore
Reviver of Good Shit/Creator of Underrated Ideas.
- Location
- Flipland
[X] Ask if you can go stay at her house tonight
- [X] Write In: Offer to help out any way you can in exchange. Surely she could use help with something?
- [X] Write In: Offer to help out any way you can in exchange. Surely she could use help with something?
Last edited: