"I'll ask Homura later," you decide, glancing out of the windscreen at the clouds blurring past beneath you. "If I don't forget, anyway."
Sayaka snorts, sprawling forward on the floor of your mobile oppression platform, legs kicking behind her. "Do you have any idea what Chiyoda might be hiding? I mean... memory magic."
"Yeah, actually," you admit. "I was gonna bring that up. I... have some suspicions about what it might all be, actually."
Sayaka frowns at you.
"Before you ask-"
"But that thing-"
You blink at each other, having both spoken at the same time. Sayaka snorts, raising her hand like she's asking to speak in class.
"Me first," she says. "But that thing that's upsetting them is one of the secrets that you can't tell me, hm?"
"Yeah," you say. "Yeah, pretty much."
"Dammit," Sayaka mutters. "I'm starting to think I
should ask, at this point. I... you left it to me to decide."
"I- hey, don't rush into it," you say, trying to suppress the brief flutter of panic. Sayaka got over the first hump of Soul Gems, and became a puella magi with open eyes, but the
second one... the second one is a big one. And yet.
"Nah, I'm not asking you
now," Sayaka says. "But I'm
thinking about it."
"Well it's not something to hurry," you say.
And yet.
She
does deserve to know. No less than Mami, or Madoka, or anyone you know. It's a fundamental facet of your
existence and it
burns that you have to keep it a secret because of the pain it might,
will cause. One of your many, many secrets, all curdled into an ugly little ball.
Some part of you would be
extraordinarily relieved to tell her, you think. Just to get it off your chest, to someone you trust. To let her
know, because she deserves to.
You make a face, shaking your head hard enough to make your hair fly out. It doesn't really help to knock the thoughts free, but what can you do. Sayaka eyes you thoughtfully, but doesn't say anything. So, instead, you pick up the conversation again to try and get your mind off it.
"I... you know, the one thing is that I'm not sure why Meiji would reject my offer outright, if the thing that they're belligerent is the same thing that I'm thinking of," you say. "Blech, words. You get what I mean. It...
is one thing that doesn't quite add up with them."
"Could be completely unrelated," Sayaka says, motioning with her two hands pointing at each other. "Or maybe only tangentially related, opposite forces clashing with each other or something. Maybe you wronged them in a previous life or something."
You snort, but manage a grin for Sayaka.
"Ahhh, we'll get to the root of it eventually," you say. "Maybe they've had bad experiences with Grief controllers before. Miss Bennouna
did say that other Grief controllers tended to be... yeah."
"Are we sure
you aren't?" Sayaka says, giving you a speculative, sidelong look. "You
do have this track habit of messing with things..."
"Not
remotely the same," you say firmly, reaching over to flick her forehead. "Anyway... something else I wanted to ask. Got any thoughts about getting Hitomi and Madoka involved? I... don't want to expose them to potential mind-wipes or, y'know, magical girl violence directly. Maybe notes or recordings?"
Sayaka pushes herself up on her elbows to squint at you.
"Yeah, political analysis or something," Sayaka says. "Could work, but Madoka's strength is that she's real good at getting her way, y'know? And Hitomi is just
vicious at this kind of thing."
You lean back, propping yourself up with hands on the floor. "Wearing a wire, metaphorical or literal, is a... possibility, but I don't really like it."
"It's an
option," Sayaka agrees. "But not a good one. For one thing,
rude."
"Hey, I'm a rude, nosy foreigner who needs all the help she can get," you say, cracking a grin. "I'm
humble enough to accept help from friends because I respect their intelligence and capability."
Sayaka makes an indistinct grumbling noise in the back of the throat, frowning deeply.
"I've... hm," she says. "I have antimagic, from Kure. It could work as a protective enchantment, maybe? Especially if we wanted to bring Madoka and Hitomi along with us."
"It would protect them from
magic, but not if someone just grabbed them," you say. "We're all kind of, uh, casually superhuman."
"I noticed! But it's not like they'd be going alone. I don't think there's many hostage solutions we can't resolve working together," Sayaka says. She gives you a sly grin. "Especially if Homura went along, and I'm
sure she would go if Madoka went."
"Maybe," you say. "Though either way... hrm. We definitely want enchantments to protect us before meeting Chiyoda. We could practice that later today... actually, lemme loop Mami in?"
"Go for it," Sayaka says.
"Right," you say. "
Hey, Mami?"
"
Sabrina!" Mami responds all but immediately. You can hear the faintest tremor of nervousness in her voice, but at the same time, there's a swell of joy that matches your own. "
Ah, Sayaka too. How are you? How's your diplomatic mission going?"
"
I'm good," you say. "
Ah... Sayaka and I decided to take a trip to Tokyo, because I managed to get a referral from the University Group in Sendai."
"
Oh, that was a good idea," Mami says warmly. "
How did it go?"
"
It went well, I think," you say, and bring Mami up to speed with an overview of your meeting with Osaki. Sayaka tunes you out, squirming forward on the floor so that she can peer directly down through the windscreen, watching Japan roll by far below.
"
... and that brings me to... well, what do you think, overall?" you say. "
Memory magic, and what to do next?"
"
I... agree," Mami says. "
With most of your conclusions. I think talking to Miss Toshimichi would be wise, and it would be equally wise to talk to her with some measure of protective magic in place." She hesitates for a moment before continuing. "
I... I would like to be there when you first meet her, if that's alright?"
"
After school or the weekend, then," you say with a smile and pointedly ignoring the way Sayaka rolls her eyes. "
It's Thursday, so... maybe tomorrow or Saturday?"
You have... slight concerns about possible
secrets, but if your guess is right, then Toshimichi has been going through some fairly great lengths to ensure the Witchbomb
doesn't leak out. For everything else, there's the privacy sphere.
"
Whatever can be scheduled," Mami says happily. "
We'll make it an officially informal visit, perhaps."
"
Perhaps!" you agree. "
But... I do want to be prepared for it. Protective enchantments?"
"
Yes, of course," Mami says. "
Perhaps we could work on that during our practice session later today? Especially since Sayaka copied Miss Kure's antimagic."
"
I was just thinking of that," you agree. "
And Misaki Umika's powers, too - since I know she's capable of memory editing with her true writing magic. But on that note, do you think we should maybe ask for her help with this? Mami, Sayaka?"
"
She does
have experience in the field, then," Mami says thoughtfully.
"
... Do you think they'd want to come to Tokyo as well?" Sayaka asks.
"
Miss Kazusa... Michiru always did enjoy making new friends," Mami says. "
She just might. And meeting Miss Toshimichi as a, a coalition
might be a good thing. It would strengthen our position, for all that we wouldn't have as many magical girls as she might."
"
Why not both?" Sayaka asks. "
Antimagic and
some anti-mind-magic protection, just to be extra sure."
"
Depends on whether we have the time for it," you say.
"
But there's no reason we shouldn't try for both," Mami says. "
We can work on the enchantments ourselves later today, and
contact the Saints."
"
Yeah," you agree. "
That works!"
"
Sold!" Sayaka says. "
Better safe than sorry, right?"
"
Right!" you agree. "
Good thinking. I'll see you soon, Mami - we're on the way back from Tokyo right now."
"
See you!" Mami says. "
And you too, Sayaka."
"
Later," Sayaka says as you end the telepathic call. "Coalition, hmm?"
"Yeah?" you say.
"Nah, just thinking out loud," Sayaka says. "Mami's right. I think it'll help."
She purses her lips, squinting at you.
"Hey," she says. "The real reason Madoka can't come along is because of Homura, right?" She holds her hands up. "I know you've got secrets you can't tell, and I know some of it is because it's hurtful, others because they're not your secrets to tell. But we... kind of hang out every day, and I can
see there's something
really weird going on there."
She arches an eyebrow at you questioningly.
[] How do you answer Sayaka?
- [] Non-committal answer - she's right, it's not your place to say
- [] Confirm in vague terms
- [] Write-in?
[x] If there's time left before school ends, go to a library and contact the Japanese meguca IRC. Standard greeting protocols.
-[x] Sayaka's clone can join the important outreach/shitposting if she wants.
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
Aiming to update again next Thursday or so!
