You press your lips together, frowning slightly. "I'm sorry," you say. "I... I have a... somewhat different perspective of Grief and Grief Seeds than most, thanks to my powers." You can feel Noa's sharp gaze, the girl from Tokyo observing you thoughtfully.
Sakura snorts loudly, and you can see her lips twitch. You can already
hear the 'Fuck you' before Tamiko nudges her sharply in the ribs. The teleporter grunts and subsides in annoyance.
"So, yes," you say. "My apologies for that. Just go ahead and correct me if I make mistakes again, OK?"
Nods all around.
"
Sorry, Sabrina," Mami says, voice still apologetic.
You squeeze her hand. "
Don't be, Mami. Thank
you for telling me."
"Anyway, moving on," you say, flapping your hand in the air. "OK, so if full Seeds are problematic, then how about half filling them?" You spread your hands. "Half fill them, then keep it and use a new one. Does that work?"
Chouko frowns, considering. "We don't have enough Seeds to make it like that."
"Which, yes, is part of my concern," you nod. "How many Seeds
do you need a week, roughly? What kind of intervals would be best for me to drop by?"
Chouko exchanges a look with Yuko, and the Suzuki sisters. The Sendai girls seem to consider this, too, likely communicating via telepathy. Rin folds her arms in front of her, her usually soft face set hard as she frowns at Yumi.
Mami squeezes your hand lightly. "
Sabrina..." she says, voice soft. "
I think you're overwhelming them."
"
I want this to work,
Mami," you reply. "
I want to help
them."
Mami smiles softly at you. "
I know. Just... try not to push them too
hard? I'm sure you know what you're doing, though."
"
I hope so too," you say drily.
"We use... about two Grief Seeds every week," Yumi says, clearly fighting to keep her face blank. Haru blinks, and then glares at that little reminder, followed by her sister and Yuko. The gravity controller flinches minutely before continuing. "That... doesn't include hunting, or Rin's healing circuits. Or Akiko's trips."
"More than that," Chouko says. "Maybe four or five. We have to hunt more." She says it flatly, gaze fixed on Yumi.
"Right," you say loudly, glancing around the loose circle of people standing on the roof. "So three or four a week, let's call it four. And if you're only half filling them, call it, say, triple that."
Chouko nods.
"And it doesn't mean that you can't fill up the Seeds the rest of the way either," you continue, expounding on your idea. "I mean, you still can, in an emergency."
"Miss Minami, are you willing to supply the twelve Seeds for Miss Tsubaki and her group?" you ask, transfering your gaze to the grey haired girl.
Yumi frowns. "We can."
"Will you do it, then?" you ask, folding your arms. "Well actually," you say, holding up a hand and eyeing Yumi, Tamiko, and Sakura. "I should say that this
is just a suggestion, if you have any other ways of dealing with this you'd prefer, I'm willing to hear it out."
"A bit fucking late to be saying that, no?" Sakura says sourly, pulling a face. "Yeah, yeah, your solution's fucking great. Can't fucking see much wrong with it."
Tamiko nods slightly. Rin, her arms still crossed, inclines her head in agreement, and out of the corner of your eye, you can see Noa's twintails sway as she turns to give you another considering look. Kirika, standing between you and Noa, turns to the Tokyo girl and... well, you guess she pulled a face, by the way Noa arches an eyebrow and looks away.
"We'll do it," Yumi says, looking from the rest of her group to you, then Chouko.
A smile emerges on Yuko's face, her entire body jerking from its slouched, tired posture, while an identical smile spreads across the Suzuki sister's faces like the break of dawn. Chouko sags in very visible relief, tightly wound tension seeping from her shoulders, but only for a moment, before she visibly forces herself to straighten. She inclines her head, and then dips into a half-bow. "Thank you."
To your surprise, Rin bows back. "I... think we've caused you enough trouble. This is... not anywhere near recompense, not by far."
"You don't know how much of a relief this is," Chouko says quietly. "So thank you, regardless." The bluenette turns, bowing to you - this time, far more deeply, bending nearly ninety degrees at the waist. "Thank you too, Miss Sabrina."
You wave it off. "It's what I came here to do," you say. To fix things, to improve the lives of magical girls. To impose your brand of thinking, your way of doing things on the magical girls here.
What's the difference?
"So, one last thing," you say, hiding your inner turmoil. "There's... well, there's a trick, or a technique, I guess, I've been working on - I can empty a Grief Seed a little more than is usual so that it accepts more Grief before being filled, but I'm... not sure it's completely safe. It's something that..." you waggle your free hand. "It's a project I'm working on, if I get it working, well..." you spread that hand demonstratively.
Chouko nods, brows creased in vague puzzlement. You can practically read her thoughts -
I'm not even surprised.
Rin bobs her head. "That would be helpful. More than helpful."
Yumi sighs. "Shall we... go retrieve the Grief Seeds now?" she asks. "And... if you don't mind my asking, what's to be done with Akiko and our... allies from Fukushima?"
[] Write-in
=====
Whelp.
