"Right, she needs to die."
"Wha- NO! What the hell, stop!"
My head hurts.
"... You know what she's capable of."
"And so do you!"
"So...?"
How did I end up here?
"So that's bullshit!"
"Bull-? It's-"
"If you wanted her dead, she would be dead already!"
I think that's me they're talking about.
"I'm correcting that mistake now."
"No, you're not! Look, please, I know you're going through a rather heavy rebellion phase right now..."
"What?!"
"But don't do anything I'd regret, OK?!"
"Don't you-"
"Please!"
"DON'T YOU YELL AT ME!"
Oh, I remember.
"Homura, calm down!"
"I AM CALM!"
It's all because of that damned incubator.
__________________________
"How am I supposed to take this?"
'I know it is hard to believe.'
"Hard to believe? You're claiming my dad and mom are dead!"
'Yes.'
"And that I was, I am... alone."
'Not completely. In fact, I believe you were quite enjoying yourself at the point of divergence.'
"Right, because of-"
'Hide!'
I would later complain at lenght at being made to hide under a bush like a cartoony character. Then and there, I just tried to not look at the creepy children.
After maybe five minutes, the incubator spoke up again.
'OK, they're gone.'
"You understand what you're asking of me?"
'Would you rather live a lie?'
"It's real to me..."
'This world is unstable. It will-'
"Collapse, I get it."
'So you understand it's imperative that you, both of you make a Contract. You're the only ones who can save the world!'
"... What is she like, by the way?"
'Her potential is not as high as yours, but-'
"Gah! Nevermind. OK, I'll play your game, Incubator. But for your own good, I better not come to regret this."
Later I would swear to flay the bastard alive.
'With which Wish will your Soul shine?'
"I Wish... I Wish to know the meaning of my life!"
___________________________
We never did find Kirika in time.
'I did not predict this!' the Incubator yelled while jumping over one of the creepy kids.
"I'm aghast, I assure you!" I answered, turning to blast another one with my marbles.
Oh, by the way? Lasers. Are. Cool.
"It must've been only your fifth? Sixth? Your sixth miscalculation since you Contracted me!"
'I didn't-'
"And I'm counting Contracting me as the zeroth!"
A splash of red from the corner of my eyes was my only warning -I ducked my head just in time, letting the projectile pass to hit a street lamp-
CREEEEEEEEK- CRASH
-Which bent under the shot like a man in pain until its light crashed against the ground, to end up looking like a statue depicting a fatal combination of regret and suplication.
That could've taken my head off.
'We'll lose them this way!'
I indiscriminately fired off some more lasers over my shoulder as I followed the damned rat, not that I had much choice.
My first thought after we lost the creepy girls was that I would refrain from consuming tomatoes from then on.
__________________________
It was slightly later that we came to a stop, panting... well, I was panting, tired. The fuzzy, trembling bunnycat simply waited for me.
"So... This is... what you have to deal with?... I understand the secrecy... Those things are... a nightmare."
'It's not them that worry me, not quite.'
I'd have asked what it meant, but I still needed to catch my breath. Maybe it would have saved me a lot of trouble, had I spoken up.
'Anyway, I was hoping your powers would be a lot more helpful in maintaining secrecy.'
"I apologize for... not being tailor made... to your expectations," I bit out, the burning sensation in lungs lessening.
'However, while your information based skills seem to remain latent for the time being, your combat capabilites are quite outstanding. We might still have a chance here.'
"How can my Wish magic remain latent? How does that even..."
Then the incubator froze in place.
'She found us.'
I opened my mouth to ask, but as I followed its red glare up, up, up, I met...
Blue eyes, framed by white hair. A cruel, friendly smile.
"Hi!"
A deluge of pain exploded at the back of my head and I knew no more.
______________________________
They seemed to have stopped their discussion.
By which I mean the 'Devil' was sulking in a corner, while the girl in the blue coat, who by the way, hit me way harder than she needed... was also sulking, but at least she tried to not look the part.
"So... how's Kirika?"
I'd rather she went sulk somewhere else.
"I do not know."
"Did you two get separated, or...?"
"I do not know who you are talking about."
The girl covered her mouth with her hand, eyes widening as if in shock.
"B-b-but, but- BUUUUUH?"
I'd like to say at this point that I am not certain about my sexual orientation yet, but it is kind of creepy how both the Incubator and this foreigner seem to think a girl I've never met and me should be together...
"I would guess you didn't see that coming," I gave her my Patented Most Infuriating Mikuni Smirk, even though I didn't understand the 'pun' I was supposedly making. Just something the Incubator said.
By the way her eye twitched, it must have worked. Practising every morning for an hour in front of the mirror pays off.
But just a second later, she snapped out of it.
"Homura! How could you!?"
"We agreed to a time out."
"You threw a fit and skulked off!"
"I clearly meant I wanted some time to think..."
"Well, you had your time, now explain why Oriko and Kirika are not together!"
The purple eyed girl huffed. "Obviously, I fixed their familial situations so they'd be happier."
"What."
"They had only got involved together out of dire circumstances..."
"What."
"So they should have been happier this way if not for a certain rat..." she glared at the Incubator trembling in the corner.
By the way, the rat, I mean the Incubator was there, too.
"What," the white haired girl, beyond being reduced to her monosyllabic answer, seemed to be losing her voice, too. And her sanity, if she had any to start with.
The 'Devil' must have realized this, as she seemed to shrink into herself, for once not looking annoyingly smug slash arrogant.
"I mean... If they were happy they wouldn't have been driven to seek a relationship with each other, both of them being girls-"
"GAAAAH!" yelled incoherently the girl pulling at her own white hair. "HOMURA YOU DUMB CLOSETED LESBIAN!"
I, for one, enjoyed the absolutely dumbstruck look on that slut. I mean, by the way she dressed...
______________________________
We're standing in front of the Kure house.
We, as in, me, the white haired girl -Sabrina- and that sulking purple girl that calls herself a Devil.
Somehow, despite proclaiming herself to be the most evil entity in existence, and declaring me to be her mortal enemy, it only took five minutes of Sabrina yelling her ear off before she relented.
Relented to have Sabrina bring me to this 'Kure' girl.
Which, uh, was my plan all along (technically the Incubator's plan, but he was busy being flayed alive and poked with hot irons by those creepy- by the Clara Dolls). So go me.
What I don't understand is why Homura decided to tag along.
My time to ponder this mystery of the universe comes to an end when Sabrina thoughtlessly goes ahead and rings the doorbell.
"Coming!" a faint girl's voice calls. Kure Kirika, perhaps?
I get my answer a moment later, as the door opens suddenly and-
I see her feet first. As if magnetically attracted, my eyes sweep up her legs, her hips, waist... her chest... and finally my gaze comes to rest on those orange, wide open eyes.
My mouth opens as if to say something, I don't know what, but then-
An irritating- familiar feeling and-
A burst of magic shoots from her form. I sense Sabrina curse and jump back, Homura stands still in shock, while I... I welcome it.
The wave sweeps over me, and it feels good.
The wave reaches the Devil girl, and there's a sound of glass breaking. Curiously, it's a faint sound, but at the same time it feels like a whole skyscraper made out of glass were collapsing...
Kirika squeals -adorably- and jumps into my arms. I catch her as if I had done it a million times before... And maybe I have, I think as the house, garden and the very sky around me crumble into pieces.
____________________________________
I blink awake, still standing.
Still holding Kirika, the love of my life.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no..."
I spare a glance at the muttering would-be-devil, before slowly inching away. Where's Sabrina to deal with this?
A slapping sound makes us all turn. Well, Homura and I turn, but Kirika also turns by virtue of being latched onto me.
"Seriously?" exclaims the white haired girl. "I mean... I'm not sure what happened, but seriously?!"
The purple haired girl blinks. She just blinks a lot. Somehow, Sabrina seems to understand.
Actually, maybe she was blinking in morse code?
"It's like that time Kirika broke your shield, remember?"
Slowly, venomous purple eyes turn to me... and I turn to shield Kirika from sight.
"Only," Sabrina goes on, as if oblivious, "this time the Anti Magic hit your... gem, or you, and it broke... well, all of it?"
Homura's fists clench.
She trembles.
Her lips turn into a snarl.
I don't need the 'discreet' look from Sabrina nor my restored precognitive powers to know this is a perfect time to jump and run away.
So I do.
"Wheeeeeeeee..." cheers Kirika, holding onto me even tighter.
I look back once to see Sabrina struggling to hold back her murderous friend, to some success.
I really hope she'll manage to calm her down, I think as I speed away.
It's after I'm five blocks away that I hear the hateful scream.
"MIKUNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
