Be warned: while they're good series overall, the first couple seasons have disturbing amount of fan service featuring prepubescent girls. That's the foremost of the "very problematic" things I mentioned about it.
 
Be warned: while they're good series overall, the first couple seasons have disturbing amount of fan service featuring prepubescent girls. That's the foremost of the "very problematic" things I mentioned about it.
Just the first two? You're forgetting the ten year old Caro in StrikerS, aren't you?

But yeah, it's no worse than PMMM, frankly. We're not talking anywhere near Prisma Illya or Negima levels.
 
Only things I remember are the transformation sequence and the hot springs episode. They're no Prisma Illya.
I seem to recall Shamal bathing Hayate at one point. And those transformation sequences are loooooong with lots of extreme close-ups and were used to pad nearly every episode. I was so glad when the third season decided to cut them out.

But yeah, it's no worse than PMMM, frankly. We're not talking anywhere near Prisma Illya or Negima levels.
PMMM used transformation sequences sparingly and only vaguely implied nudity within. And does not have terribly much fan service in general in the series. (Art in tie-in merchandise is a different matter, of course.)

Also, holy shit, how bad is Prisma Illya? I've never seen it. I'm just vaguely aware that it's a magical girl series inexplicably starring the creepy girl from Fate/Stay Night.
 
A Red Letter Day pt. 21
There's a thought you don't particularly like to entertain, niggling at the back of your head.

She might have Witched out.

Mami pulls you into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around your waist. You hug her back, tucking your head on her shoulder. "We'll find her," Mami promises. "We won't stop looking, right?"

"We won't," you say, tightening your hug.

"We'll find her," Mami repeats, pulling back to smile at you with bright, solid confidence.

"Yeah," you agree. "Eventually. But... for now, I think we'll put a pause on this search. The evidence isn't going to get any fresher, but as it is right now, we're not doing anything here."

"Alright," Mami says, smiling at you. "What's next? Shopping, right?"

"Yeah," you say. "... well, I kind of want to see if I can DNA scan her, actually."

"Oh," Mami says. "You can do that?"

"I think so," you say with a smile as you tug her over to the fence. "See this? There must be some skin flakes or something where she grabbed it. And DNA is a very distinctive molecule, so I should be able to pick it out with Grief."

"Ah, that makes sense," she says, considering the distortions in the fence. She beams at you, closing her arms around your waist to give you a sidelong hug. "Go for it, Sabrina."

"Yeah," you say, raising a hand to summon Grief to yourself. "And it's better than my first idea of trying to use Grief to enhance my sense of smell, anyway."

Mami wrinkles her nose. "Wouldn't that smell awful?" she waves around at the construction site. Dusty, abandoned, congealed oil and the heavy tang of rust. The wind blows in scents from a dozen different factories, the bitter undertones of what you suspect is a bleach factory.

"Yeah, probably," you say. "That's why I'm glad I didn't go with that. Also, I can't stop imagining dog songs."

"Dog songs?" Mami asks, perplexity drawing her brows into a frown.

"Yeah, uh," you say, rubbing your nose. "I mean... smelling, bloodhound, dog?"

Mami giggles, and cuddles a little closer against your side. "Oh, Sabrina."

"That's me!" you say, directing the Grief carefully. You mould Grief to the indentations in the fence and skim the entire top layer off, paint, rust, and all. And hopefully enough skin flakes to matter.

"Besides," Mami mumbles. "You're not a dog."

"True," you agree, giving her a smile. You invert the Grief, folding the samples into the core of blob, and then you focus.

Not simple physics, this time. DNA molecules are distinct indeed, big enough that with a little chemical processing to purify them, you can pick them up using a toothpick. With Grief, you could even count the base pairs. You don't want that. You want to know every single point in this area her DNA might be. You can't do that with just physics, not without going over every single square millimetre of the construction site. But then...

Your will be done.

Grief coalesces, moulds, and rebuilds into a dangling windchime, if a windchime were built out of random junk. There's an egg hanging in there, some twigs that look like they were picked up off the ground, a hundred yen coin, a cartridge that looks like it might fit your obrez all bound in a cradle of twine and golden ribbon and dangling from your fingers.

It sings in your mind, in a way that's beyond the mere pulsing of Witch. And when you twitch your fingers -

There, and there, and there. It's like a heatmap, glowing in your mind's eye, of a trail of crumbs of... well, human skin. Kuroki's skin, to be precise.

Ew.

The trail leads in alongside, as expected. You twitch your fingers, and... yes, there are indeed some flakes of skin remaining on the fence, in about the right size for a palm. You didn't scrape it all up, just enough to sample it.

"Sabrina?" Mami asks, smiling up at you.

You grin back. "I'm fine," you say. "Just trying to check where she might have gone after falling against the fence."

"Check up?" Mami suggests, pointing at the forest of iron girders.

"Yeah," you say, pursing your lips. "I only see one track into here. She walks along here..." You gesture along the floor. "Stops here, and then grabs the fence."

"Mmm," Mami agrees.

"And then..." you twitch your fingers just so, coin jumping to tinkle against the bullet. "No, she didn't jump. Or at least, she hasn't left any skin flakes there. Hm. I don't think her stealth power's quite that effective as to hide her for that long."

"I wouldn't think so either," Mami agrees. "Wouldn't it fade after a while?"

"You tell me?" you say, smiling at Mami.

She hesitates, and nods firmly. "Unless she was wearing one of those, um, cleansuits? Like they use in, uh... cleanrooms? I think there would be some trace of her," she says. "I'm not an expert in this, but that's what I think."

You smile at her. "Good enough for me," you say. "So she definitely came in here, she definitely fell against the fence. Or was pushed against it. I didn't see any footprints or anything, so if someone or something kidnapped her, then... I don't know. Teleportation, or portals, or maybe flight. Caw caw and all that."

"'Caw caw'?" Mami asks, giving you a dubious look.

"Yeah, like..." You motion with your hands, miming a swooping motion. "Fly in and yoink!"

"It's... possible," Mami allows with a faint smile.

"Mm," you say, sighing. "That said... it doesn't seem like there's anything more here?"

"I guess not," Mami agrees.

"Hm..." you say. "Do you have a pen?"

You rummage through your bag - you know you have some scraps of paper in here. Mami hands you a pen, giving you a curious look.

"We could leave a note," you say, scribbling on the paper. "Just in case Kuroki comes back here or something?"

"Ah, that's a good idea," Mami agrees.

'Hello,' you write. 'We are Sabrina and Tomoe Mami, local magical girls. If you need help, feel free to find us at...' You leave both your address and your phone number, backtracking to the warehouse to leave that there.

You blow out an explosive, frustrated breath, and detransform. "We found something," you mutter, taking Mami's hand and intertwining your fingers. "We found a trail, it led us out here, and it just vanished. Vanished magically, even by our standards as magical girls."

"We're missing something," Mami says thoughtfully as the two of you start to walk away. "I think? It feels like this was... I don't know, it is a lead."

"Maybe," you agree. "Actually, why are we walking? Shall we fly?"

"I'd love to," Mami says with a smile.

You grin at her. Without releasing her hand, you summon Grief to yourself, and pull her into a hug. She wraps her arms around your waist, eyes almost sparkling in excitement as your wings ripple into existence.

With a grunt of effort, you launch yourself skywards, Mami clinging tight to you with a delighted laugh. You beam at her as you soar onwards and upwards, spiralling up into the sky. "Ready?" you call.

"Ready!" she says, exhilarated grin on her face.

You loosen your grip around her waist, and she lets herself fall. Golden ribbons bloom, a bright banner splashing out vibrant and stark against the distant smudge of the ground as she weaves her own set of wings.

Her laughter carries to you, clear and ringing over the booming as her wings catch the wind and billow out to their full span. You swoop closer, and she turns her head far enough for you to see the look of flushed excitement on her face.

You don't race, this time. You just fly, enjoying the feeling of being here with Mami. She winds up needing a boost in height before you land, but pulling her into a hug and flying a little higher is hardly an onerous task. You fly to a shopping centre together, landing smoothly on the roof. She smiles at you as you both dismiss your wings, cheeks rosy with excitement and pure, simple joy.

You smile back at her, taking her hand once more. There's nothing you need to say.

Well, not to Mami, anyway. "Homura?"

"Yes?" she responds with the same lightning speed she usually does.

"Hey, um... I'd really like to talk to you sometime this evening, if it isn't too much trouble?" you say.

"That's fine," she says.

"Alright. See you in a bit then," you say. "Um, have fun, alright?"

"See you," she says.

You take a moment to retrieve money from one of your Grief spheres before making your way down to the shopping area proper via the stairs, hand in hand with Mami. The noise and sheer bustle of a shopping centre on a Sunday night washes over you. "Kirika wants candles and a recipebook, and something nice to cook," you muse. "And we need groceries, right? Well, so do they, I guess."

Mami nods in agreement. "We can save time by purchasing double of everything," she says.

"Good idea," you say, nodding as you snag a trolley. "Ooh, the tomatoes look good. Uh, speaking of..."

"Yes?" Mami asks as she collects plastic bag and joins you in selecting the tomatoes.

"So, um," you say. "Uh... I've been meaning to bring this up with you for a while, but about Kyouko training Sayaka...?"

Mami bites her lip, hands slowing and stopping. "Yes?"

You set the tomato down, noting it for later. "I just wanted to confirm you'd be alright with it?" you ask, gently sliding your arm around her waist and pulling her into a gentle hug.

"I- I am," she says, voice wavering.

"Mami?" you ask, and wait until she looks up at you before smiling gently. "I mean it. It'll only happen if you're absolutely OK with it. If you say no, then it's off."

Her golden eyes are very wide, and her breath comes in shallow heaves. But she meets your gaze steadily, and her voice doesn't waver. "It's fine," she says.

"OK," you say, smiling warmly at her. "For what it's worth? I'm proud of you, Mami."

She swallows, and looks down, resolve shattering. "I... there's nothing to be proud of," she says. "There- I- I tried to k-kill her."

"No," you say softly, taking a half step forward to close the distance and hug her properly. "You didn't. You fought with her, but you could never really bring yourself to try in earnest."

Mami melts into the hug with a quiet sigh, not responding to that.

"She knew... she knows it, too," you say. "She still cares, you know. I believe there's still a chance for reconciliation."

Her breath hitches.

You fall silent, letting her absorb that. She pushes away a little, just enough so that she can stare up at you. "Do- do you think so?" she asks, voice wavering.

"I think so," you say. "And I'm going to do everything I can to make it happen. If you want, Mami?"

She nods jerkily, burying her face in your chest once again. She takes a minute to recover her composure. You dig a wet tissue out of your bag, wiping her face gently, and she smiles at you. "There," you whisper.

"I'm alright," she whispers back, separating a little. "Shall we finish getting groceries?"

"Sure," you say, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?"

She exhales slowly. "If... if you say you can do it, I believe you, Sabrina," she says. "And even if you can't... h-having you is enough."

"You have me," you answer simply.

She smiles, stepping forward a little to close the hug once more. "Thank you," she whispers.

You hug her back. This time, when she pulls back, she simply smiles at you and steps back far enough so that you can both return to selecting the tomatoes. You snag that one you'd picked out earlier, passing it to her to bag up.

Mami looks askance at you when you pick up the set of white candles for Kirika, but you just wink at her and she nods, understanding. Between the two of you, you make quick work of the shopping, breezing through the crowds. You do argue over the payment, though.

... Well, is it really arguing when Mami pouted at you and you instantly caved?

You still feel like you should be the one paying, since you're the one who's picking up stuff for Oriko and Kirika, too. You can slip a few thousand yen notes into Mami's purse later, maybe.

You don't fly to the Mikuni's place, this time - or rather, you don't fly with wings. You have too many grocery bags for that to be easy. Mami could probably have done something with ribbons, and you could probably do something with Grief, but... eh.

Besides, the flight platform gives you plenty of room to cuddle Mami. She leans into your side with a happy sigh as you soar towards the blazing orange of the sunset.

Voting opens
[] Visit the Mikunis. Give Kirika her things.
- [] Talk about Asunaro
- [] Talk about Oriko's powers
-- [] Write-in what
- [] Update Kirika on Kuroki
- [] Further topics?
[] Dinner, head home
- [] Anything to talk about or cover?
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)


=====​

Whoof. What's next?
 
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"Besides," Mami mumbles. "You're not a dog."

"True," you agree, giving her a smile.

I wonder if anyone is? Like, we know that there's touhou meguca somewhere, so maybe there's a Momiji?

Or just someone who got a bloodhound theme and so her costume has the ears or something. It's a little silly for PMMM standards but there was a bear themed meguca, after all.
 
"Mm," you say, sighing. "That said... it doesn't seem like there's anything more here?"

We should have made a psionic sensor! We already can have our grief interact with Kyuubey's telepathy, no reason why we can't turn it into a active sensor. (Magical) Girl Positioning System!
 
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- Greet the Mikunis calling them 'Mikunis'.
- Quick! Hug them both!
- Slip Kirika the date things on the sly.
- [DATA EXPUNGED]
- Profit

:p

But you know, we are in grave danger right now.

- [] Talk about Oriko's powers

The danger of Kirika happening to comment about us doing the maid thing that one time. Talk about Oriko's powers could prompt her to comment that, since it was the time Oriko noticed she had lost her powers.

And if Mami hears about it before we do the maid thing for her, the surprise will be ruin-

...

... And we'll have to surprise her with More. Cat Maid Brina.

Let's talk about Oriko's powers, guys.


 
Mami giggles, and cuddles a little closer against your side. "Oh, Sabrina."

"That's me!" you say

Accurate.

"We're missing something," Mami says thoughtfully as the two of you start to walk away. "I think? It feels like this was... I don't know, it is a lead."

My current hypothesis is that she entered a witch barrier and either exited more than 100 meters away in realspace, or never exited as a human at all.

There are other possibilities (flight, teleportation, her hidey powers just being that good), but that's the most universally applicable option. Seeing a witch barrier and jumping down to meet it isn't exactly credulity stretching.

I'm a little surprised we didn't leave a note when it was explicitly called for, though...

[X] Gather some samples of Kuroki's DNA. Create grief construct to locate all instances it within range. If nothing stands out, leave a note for Kuroki on the warehouse. Else, follow.
 
Why was Mami surprised that we picked up candles for Kirka? We just told her about that before we entered and she should know Sabrina well enough by now to know that she'd do everything in her power to help a buddy, especially when it concerns romantic pursuits of ojous.
 
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We now need to contact Kyouko to confirm Sayakatraining, too.

We've made her wait... two days, or so?

Anyway, she's gonna think we're a miracle worker
 
Edited the update somewhat - I didn't update the vote, so I missed the "leave a vote" part.

Excellent. And I see we've gotten in touch with Homu too. It's still early for vote planning, but just outlining our objectives as I see them for the next update...

• Don't aggravate Oriko's issues, and indeed push her to make progress on them.

• Ask Oriko about the specifics issues she saw with us going to Asunaro - we can't rely on PMKM info to guide us, since it's inaccurate.

• Don't make Oriko feel like she only matters for her information as we do so - that would set her progress back quite a bit.

• Try to get Mami's support for going to Asunaro and checking in on things. Her information (since she mentored Kazuza for a while) would be invaluable.

• If possible, try and get telepathic contact with Kazuza set up - hearing about the situation from her is a lot better than semi-informed speculation, and having her permission for a meeting should make things go much more smoothly.
 
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Besides telling Kyouko, have we told Sayaka the specifics of her future Kokotraining sessions?

We should tell her we've confirmed those, too.

One in three chance that we're about to walk in on a game of scrabble.
Plot twist: They're actuallyplaying Scrabble.

Kirika's somehow managed to put down the word "Oriko" fifteen times on the board.
 
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Plot twist: They're actuallyplaying Scrabble.

Kirika's somehow managed to put down the work "Oriko" fifteen times on the board.



That reminds me, I need to post this official parody comic so that it will be in Sabrina's mind.

Is that Kirika tossing confetti in the background to set the stage for Oriko? Because that's amazing, and once we let them out, we should totally suggest she do that.
 
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