BTW, there's a chance Kirika might be awake; IIRC, yesterday morning she was shitposting at 2chan when we called in the middle of the night to get her and Oriko to help us with the Asunaro issue.
Also, maybe Oriko is awake and watching those damned birbs.
You walk along the sidewalk, Mami's hand warm in your hand as you half listen to your friends' idle chatter. The other half of your mind is occupied contemplating possible attack vectors involving chibi clones, hugs, and four dimensional pathways...
Sounds fade from your mind as your thoughts turn inward, more serious. Are you, have you always been in danger of three-plus dimensional attacks? Are Mami, Homura, your meguca friends vulnerable to these? You barely feel it as you bite your lip, thinking about how you could
do something about it, how you could protect your friends...
... Something tugs at you... faintly...
You think of losing
Mami, feel a cold icepick stabbing through your head.
Riona... You consider the unkown woman, your sight dimming, colours fading out to...
Blue?
Could Riona be the one fated to kill Sayaka in a different timeline, today, tomorrow?
You feel yourself stop. Forcefully.
Should you contact her? Wait for her? Prepare an ambush? Defenses? Yes to the last one, at least-
Snap!
You blink back into focus, Homura's slender hand in front of your eyes.
"Zeppelins," you blurt.
Violet eyes blink back at you, before turning to stare at the blonde girl on your side, Mami holding -latching onto, you realize- your arm, hard enough to make your hand feel numb.
But her eyes. Trembling, shining, scared.
"Chibis!" you yell, turning to draw Mami into an embrace.
You feel her shiver- and stop.
"What?" asks Mami, confusion overriding the cold, deep seated fear and panic.
"I thought..." you suddenly feel something
snap back in place, somewhere... out of your reach? "I thought we could use more Chibis?"
"I... guess?" Mami agrees dubiously, sharing a look with Homura.
You follow her eyes and- "We could drop them from zeppelins and have them randomly hug-" you slap your own head a couple of times, shaking off a few stray random thoughts, "I mean having a Chibi around could serve as a defense in case of de-Gemming?"
You look in turn at Mami, Homura, Sayaka, Madoka, and Hitomi, begging them to understand the importance of your idea -and ignore any weirdness you might have acted or said in the past few minutes- with naught but your eyes and smile.
Mami cuddles into your side, mumbling something too soft to hear, but your understand anyway. "
I'm here. Not leaving," you whisper to her, brushing a hand through her hair.
"Right," Sayaka rolls her eyes. "
Our weirdo. Come on, it's getting late for school," she tugs ar Hitomi and Madoka and she walks on.
Madoka startles, tugging at Homura in turn as she sends Mami and you a
look. "Y-yeah!" she hurries to keep pace with the bleunette.
'Zeppelins?' mouths Homura as she follows the pinkette.
Then you stand alone, alone with Mami.
The last of the late students rushed past a minute ago. If Mami doesn't hurry up right now, she will be late.
You hug her close, letting the seconds, then minutes pass by.
"Are you OK?" asks Mami, separating enough she can look you in the eyes.
"Yeah," you answer surely. Mami frowns ever so slightly. "I mean..." you look for the right words to explain what you... felt, "have you ever had a feeling as if... millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced... and then were suddenly
un-silenced...?"
Your best friend
stares at you, lips slightly parted, at a loss for words.
"Am I making sense?" you ask.
"No," Mami shakes her head.
"Ah, well, I'm OK," you hug Mami close once more, "and I want to do Chibi Science later?" you add, kissing her forehead.
The blonde blushes and sighs, nodding against your shoulder.
A moment later, you finally separate, and Mami turns to finish walking -quickly, late- to school.
You watch her back until she reaches the doors, and wave as she looks back.
Then she enters the building, disappearing from your mundane senses, and you turn to nod to the Truancy Officer-
He coughs into his hand, looking straight at you before his eyes dart to your side, then back, and back and forth a few times.
You blink, your hand unconsciously groping at your side, grabbing-
Grief sphere.
Enchanted grief sphere, you amend as you look at the black ball in your hand.
Previously floating enchanted grief sphere, you amend again as you remember what you were doing before losing track of your thoughts.
"Oops!"
With a thought, the sphere bends into four dimensional space, out of sight.
You nod at the Truancy Officer.
He nods back.
You walk away, musing whether having a
Chibi Brina maid along would soften the impact when you go tell Oriko about all the new security measures...
