2200 pages!
***
Kirika sat in her chair, frozen. Her mouth hung open, her eyes bugged out, her mind raced, desperately trying to parse what had just happened. Eventually, she opted for just staring, bewildered by the girl before her, by the strange white cat-thing, and by... well, everything, frankly.
Oriko, for her part, was somewhat silent, gazing at the other girl as if studying her carefully. Anxiety was etched across her face, her skin pale and her pupils dilated... but there was something else there, a look in her eyes that seemed to be drinking in the other girl.
The creature, on the other hand, just sat and smiled vacantly.
The first thought that sprang to Kirika's head was that this was part of some really, really weird joke. After all... this couldn't be possible. Magic powers? Magical girls? It seemed a lot less likely than the possibility that this girl had a cat with a weird head and a few things stuck to it. And the outfit change... well, maybe she was a stage magician, or something? Stage magicians could do that, right?
But at the same time... she found a part of herself arguing that it couldn't be a lie. Kirika didn't consider herself a very social person, but she did know when she was being fed lies, and she didn't get that sense from this girl. Not in the slightest. It didn't make sense, but... why would someone go to such lengths to deceive her? Why would she wreck the house, and what was that weird voice in her head? And why would she do any of that stuff for her?
An idea popped into Kirika's head. She reached out and grabbed the cat thing. Its skin felt strange, warm and stretchy, not like skin at all. She grabbed hold of one of the ears and gave it a tug, only to see the rest of the creature come with them.
"I would appreciate if you not do that," said the creature. "I have many bodies, but restoring them wastes energy." It shook its head.
Kirika looked at the creature, then at Oriko. She took a deep breath, and considered her next words. "Well... uh... I guess you're probably not lying, then."
The corners of Oriko's mouth twitched. "And I am glad to see you believe me," she said, a note of relief clear in her voice. "I... suppose I knew you would, but..." She broke off. "In any case... let me explain." She fingered the white gem at her collar. "When a magical girl makes her contract, Kirika, she gains... certain abilities. A girl who wished to heal a friend might gain healing, a girl who wished to help another might be able to strengthen others... whatever it is, it empowers them."
"And what was yours?"
The words came from Kirika's mouth before she could think about how they sounded. She slapped her forehead in frustration. "No, uh, I mean, uh..."
Oriko just chuckled. "My wish? Ah, I suppose I can't blame you for questioning." She straightened up, her gaze somewhat unfocused. "My wish was to learn the meaning of my life. It gave me the gift of foresight. I can see things before they happen - it is a bit hazy, and not always accurate, but when I concentrate... I get these visions, you see. Visions of things, some of which have to do with me, others which have no relevance at all. And one of those visions... it involved you." At that last word, she pointed to the center of Kirika's chest... at which Kirika suddenly became aware of how close the girl had come to her in her speech.
Nonetheless, Kirika found herself not shrinking back. Despite how close the girl was, she felt... comfortable, for whatever reason. This weird upperclass girl with the dumb hat felt utterly nonthreatening to her. "And what was I doing?", she said, not bothering to choose her words but not blurting them out either.
Oriko sighed. "You were about to make a contract with Kyubey here. And... I wanted to tell you, before you did something you might regret." She paused, considering her words. "There is much about the contract that Kyubey prefers not to tell his - clients, shall we say. He does not tell them about the dangers of the job, nor does he inform them of the importance of certain things. He does not even tell those he speaks with about the Soul Gem." She shook her head. "Imagine being torn from your body, without even knowing it. Imagine realizing that you are no longer fully human. Imagine learning that, every day, you have to fight monsters, or..."
It occurred to Kirika that Oriko didn't have to imagine those things.
Oriko removed the Soul Gem from her collar. At that moment, Kirika noticed the black specks flaking its surface, staining the light grey substance. "When I use my magic, Kirika, my Soul Gem accumulates a substance called Grief. If I accumulate too much..."
"You die?"
"Worse."
Kirika considered the implication of that response with no small amount of fear.
"When a Soul Gem grows fully darkened," Oriko continued, "a transformation occurs. The Soul Gem breaks, and reforges itself into an object known as a Grief Seed. The original consciousness of the girl is effectively destroyed, and a new one takes its place. The Grief Seed creates a new, monstrous body... a body known as a Witch." She fastened her Soul Gem again, her fingers trembling. "The only way to cleanse a Soul Gem, halting this process from occurring, is to obtain the Grief Seed of a dead Witch and use it as a receptacle." She exhaled, as if relieved to have finally told someone.
Kirika, for her part, barely understood a lot of what Oriko was saying. None of it sounded good... but an errant thought crossed her mind.
It is a bargain for a single, solitary wish...When a magical girl makes her contract, Kirika, she gains... certain abilities.
"Well..." Kirika mused to herself. "I mean... all that, that sounds really scary. But... you get a wish, don't you? Anything you could want in the world?"
Oriko's eyes visibly twitched at those words. "In exchange for a lifetime of battle, yes. One wish, that can provide you with almost anything you could imagine." She finally waved her hand, and the white dress vanished, leaving her back in her school uniform. "But what wish could be worth something like that, losing the life you had?"
"I dunno," Kirika found herself saying. "My life kinda sucks. I don't have any friends, my teachers think I'm stupid, everyone's just waiting for me to drop out of school." Her eyes drifted to the ring on Oriko's finger. "I feel like I could use a wish. And... if that's the life you live, sounds like you could use some help."
Oriko's gaze darted between Kirika, her own Soul Gem, and Kyubey. This time, it seemed, it was her turn to be shocked into silence. She lowered her head. "Is that... really what you want? Do you believe that your life is so purposeless? Do you think this wish will give it meaning? That... that I can give it meaning?"
Kirika shook her head. "I dunno. All I know is, you cared about me enough to try to talk to me. And you cared about me enough to tell me all about this big crazy thing. And you're scared, and you're lonely, and..." She paused. "I wanna help you, alright? I owe you. And... and something tells me you wanted me to say 'yes' to all that stuff."
She took a step forward. "You said you get visions," she said, straightening her back. "You got a vision of me, right? What did you see me doing, after I made that wish?"
Oriko seemed to consider the girl before her, then croaked out an answer. "You came to me," she said. "You introduced yourself. You told me things. You protected me, you helped me, and then..." She abruptly stopped. "I don't see that happening now. Not the way it did."
"But it can still happen, right?" Kirika said, a weird sort of eagerness entering her voice. "I mean... wait. Does this... if you saw me make that contract, then... what wish did I make?"
"No, I... it's... you wished to change yourself, Kirika," Oriko said, her voice quavering. "You wished to change yourself so that you could... confess to me." At those words, a deep blush formed on her face.
Kirika let out a bark of laughter. "Wait, you knew how I felt about you? Oh, man, this explains everything! I mean, I spent like, two weeks trying to work up the nerve for a confession, and then you knew the whole time? And if you hadn't come to me, I woulda made a wish to spit it out?" She sank into a nearby chair, as if this news was more shocking than any other. "Oh, cripes. This is embarrassing. Now I'm really glad you came to me first."
"It is not embarrassing."
Kirika looked at Oriko, who seemed as surprised as the former at the words to have come out of her mouth. She stammered for a second. "Er, what I mean to say is, you made a wish that made you happy. You confessed. In that case, I would not have come to you. You would have spent your time waiting to drop out of school, in your own words. You would never have met me. You would not be happy."
Kirika pondered the meaning of those words for a few seconds. "You're being pretty quiet on one thing. If that's how I do without you, then how do you do without me? What I mean to say is, there's two ways this can go, right? I make a contract, or I don't. What happens to you if I don't?"
"I have not seen that happen," Oriko murmured. "But in that case, then the plan... no. I can do it myself. I can survive on my own."
"What plan?" Kirika said, straightening up from the chair. "Who's - what's - look, I - "
Kirika found herself being cut off midsentence, as the other girl now pulled her into a tight hug.
"I don't want you to die," Oriko said, her head now pressed to Kirika's shoulder. "You are a kind person. You have shown me more kindness in the last few hours than I have experienced in quite some time. And if you follow me down this path... then I cannot guarantee your survival."
Kirika returned the hug, despite herself. "Look, it's... it's okay, Oriko. But... all the stuff you said, it's honestly the same with me. I want you to be okay. And I want to do anything I can to make it work out for you. And it sounds like you're hoping for a lot more than just surviving." She pulled away from the girl, making eye contact. "And if you go into this without anybody backing you up, I'm betting you won't do too great. You couldn't just let me wish... so I can't just stand on the sidelines and let you die."
Though tears were visible in her eyes, Oriko looked almost jubilant. "T-thank you," she murmured, bowing her head. "You - you have no idea. But... promise me this. This cannot be a rash decision, so you must do something first. Promise me... you'll spend a day to think about it. Tomorrow, we can meet again, and if you still want to make a contract, we can decide on it then."
Kirika nodded. "I promise. I won't make a contract, okay? Just be sure to take care of yourself. But... you have to promise me one thing, too."
"Name it."
"Promise me that no matter what I choose... we're going to go on a date, okay?"
Oriko blinked, and Kirika continued. "Look, I, uh... I guess future me kinda spoiled the whole thing, but... I still like you. And even if I don't make a contract, I still wanna be with you. I wanted to get to know you better then, and I still do now. And I... I don't regret thinking that. I don't wanna."
Oriko smiled broadly, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you." She gestured toward Kirika's pocket. "Your phone."
Sure enough, Kirika felt the chime of a message, and rummaged around for a second before removing her phone. "Aw, dang, my mom noticed I've been gone. This ran long." She smacked her forehead again. "Sorry, but I gotta get going."
"Take care," said Oriko, with a smile. "I will see you again, say, half past three tomorrow? Until then, think hard."
"Will do," said Kirika, as the other girl walked her to the door. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Oriko."
Oriko blushed broadly. "Yes, well... one more thing."
"What?"
"A vision. At 2:23, you should see a girl with green hair. When she passes you, trip her."
Kirika grinned. "I can tell you and I are gonna get along great."
