"I understand," you say. And yeah, you do. Not wanting to come to
everyone's attention is... Well,
you never had a choice, but you wouldn't have chosen differently if you
had. Still, you appreciate the idea of living in safe, quiet anonymity. It doesn't sound awful, really.
"Thank you." Hina relaxes slightly.
"Still, the offer remains open, if you change your mind at some point in the future," you say. "And I'm planning on distributing these, so... there'll be more groups with them, and you'll be less of a target. And I'll be here in Fukushima relatively often, since I'll be working with Miss Tsuruya - so please, if you change your mind, don't consider it an imposition in any way."
Yuki offers her support with an incline of her head by just a few centimeters, steady agreement with your words.
"We will keep it in mind," Hina says.
Diana's shoulders slump, and she sighs. "Hina..."
"We can't keep this kind of thing secret, Diana," Hina says gently. "Days or weeks or months, people will come after us. We
can't, and we don't need it."
"... Um, can I add something?" you say, raising a finger. "If you want something that draws less attention, I could just kind of... half-way clear a Grief Seed or three? So it's still pretty much a normal Grief Seed, but can be used a couple more times than normal and
isn't the sheer, ah, ridiculousness of a Clear Seed?"
"No, tha..." Hina pauses, words trailing off. Diana puts a hand on her shoulder. You can see her fingers tighten just enough to dig in a bit. "May we have a moment?"
"Of course," you say, smiling as you take a sip of tea. As Hina and Diana's faces shift to that slightly glazed look you're learning to associate with people using telepathy and not trying to hide it, you flick a glance and a telepathic question of your own at Yuki. "
Internal friction?"
"
None that I've been aware of previously," Yuki informs you. "
And I do make it my business to be aware of what happens within Fukushima."
"
Right," you say, leaning back with your weight propped on one arm. You tilt your head back to look at the clouds scudding across the blue skies. The warm sun and gentle fragrance of flowers filling the air do little to alleviate the concern churning in your gut, however - it seems the problem is strictly over your offer. Damn.
Yuki hums quietly, some tune you can't place.
Hina stirs after a few minutes of what's probably intense discussion, eyes focusing on you. "I think we would like to accept that offer, Miss Vee, if that's acceptable to you?"
"Of course it is," you say with a smile. "Pass me as many Grief Seeds as you'd like me to clear? Used or not, it doesn't matter."
"Thank you," Hina says, reaching into the picnic basket and rummaging around. "Ah, Diana? Can you get one? Kana and Aiko have one at school, so get that one from them and one from home?"
Diana, by her side, looks happier than earlier, at least. A happy compromise, then, which... honestly, if all conflicts went this way, you'd be happy. Still, perhaps something to keep an eye on in the future.
"On it," Diana says. "One sec..."
She glances around furtively, checking for any onlookers, then clenches one hand. As she unfurls her fist, cogs and mechanisms and clicky things of brassy metal and shining red gems -the same colour as her eyes- bloom out of thin air, wrapping around her fingers and palm and creeping up her wrist to form what you can only describe as a steampunk glove. She holds both hands out, palms facing each other.
The volume between her hands hazes to black. Blacker than midnight, blacker than black, the kind of darkness that actively drinks in light. Diana frowns thoughtfully and shakes the volume of absolute darkness in a manner that makes you think of a recalcitrant eight-ball, black sphere and all.
Two Grief Seeds drop out of the darkness, scattering across the picnic blanket, in addition to another which Hina withdraws from the basket. All three are partially used, you can tell - one of those that came out of Diana's portal is nearly full, in fact.
And that's not the only thing you can sense. Namely, that Hina had
two Grief Seeds in the picnic basket, but only pulled one out. The
other one seems to be completely unused.
Hah.
You can't really blame them for being cautious. Even with Yuki making the introductions, even with your reputation... Grief Seeds are precious enough to be careful with.
"There," Diana says, shaking her hands. The black sphere vanishes, along with the brassy glove.
"So, ah... how do we do this?" Hina says, cradling the Grief Seed between her palms and eyeing you.
"I just need a moment," you say with a smile. "That's all."
You reach forward with one finger, tapping first the Seed held by Hina, and then the other two. Grief follows your hand, first wispy streams that twist and twine around each other, swelling rapidly to a torrent of something like the dense, billowing consistency of an oil fire. The Grief swirls around you, a cloud of darkness visible only to magical girls - and barely so, at that.
And because Mami's not the only one in your relationship with a sense of the dramatic, you cast your arm out to the side in a way that draws the eye, and with the motion, the Grief
implodes on itself, coalescing into a handful of marbles. Another theatrical flick of your wrist banishes the marbles, twisting them through another dimension to join the rest.
"And that's that," you say, smiling at the wide-eyed awe on the faces of the Hirano girls. You tap the Grief Seed Hina's holding. "So, these'll be good for about... eight times the usual amount you'd get from an ordinary Grief Seed, each. The same conditions apply, OK? Don't use these to hurt other people, and if someone's in need, help them."
"We can do that," Diana says, snatching one up to hold it up to the light. "So that's it? It doesn't look any different, even with all that stuff you pulled out."
"That's the point, no?" you say. "They don't look any different, and more importantly, no one would
notice them, so they won't bring you any more unwanted attention than sitting on a large pile of Seeds would."
"True," Diana concedes, and looks up at you, meeting your eyes. "Thank you."
"Yes, thank you, Miss Vee," Hina adds, solemn and serious. "We owe you for this. This... this will make life so much easier, to have a buffer like this. I... can we offer you something to eat?"
"I offered it freely," you say firmly. "But you're very welcome. And no, but thank you - I'll be heading back to Mitakihara to have lunch shortly."
Hina nods, almost bowing her head.
"Miss Vee is, in many ways, too generous for her own good," Yuki noted with a light chuckle. "But then, the world would probably be a better place if everyone could be as giving."
"It would be," you say, sighing quietly. Too generous for your own good
does somewhat sum up a dilemma that's been percolating at the back of your mind for this conversation, admittedly. "And, I suppose, 'could' is as much appropriate as '
would'."
"We can try," Hina says. "But we can't promise, if only for a lack of opportunity. Fukushima isn't exactly a hub of magical girl activity."
"That's all I can ask for," you say, and check the time on your phone. "And I'm sorry to cut this short, but speaking of lunch, I
should be going."
"Thank you for your time," Hina says, rising gracefully and offering her hand. You shake it firmly, then Diana's hand as she rises too. "And again, thank you for the Seeds. This... this means more than I can say."
"Thank you for listening," you respond. "Until next time."
"Miss Hatsume, Miss Graham," Yuki says, nodding at the both of them.
Goodbyes said, you head off, Yuki heading back down the gravel paths towards the shed.
"Will you be heading back to Mitakihara from here?" Yuki asks, casting a sidelong look at you. She straightens as she walks, shedding the childish almost-skip in her step and manner.
"No, actually, there's one more thing I wanted to discuss with you first, but hold that thought for a second?" you say, tilting your head back and looking to the sky. "Here birdy birdy birdy? Mugin? Muuuugin?"
You wait a few moments hopefully, patting down your pockets and digging out the last few stray sunflower seeds. "Muuuugin? I have food!"
"A rather vexatious creature, as birds tend to be," Yuki observes after a minute of fruitlessly scanning the sky.
"Yeah, well, Sayaka probably won't be
too upset if I return without Mugin," you say, scowling. "Gotta get back on time for lunch and all. So... lead on, then."
"What did you want to talk about?" Yuki asks as she starts walking once again, sensible shoes crunching over the gravel.
"Not here - in privacy, if that's alright with you?" you say. "I apologise for imposing."
"Not at all," Yuki responds easily.
The conversation lapses as you head back to Yuki's shed at a moderate pace, and as you arrive, you're greeted by an accusing caw and an angry, fluffed-up bird.
"Don't you
chrwaaaak me you traitor," you snap back at Mugin. "
You're the one who abandoned me."
The only response you get is a pointed peck at your shoes, Mugin hopping around your feet in an angry little dance.
"Fine," you grumble, and offer those last few seeds on your palm. With a triumphant squawk, it gobbles up a seed and clambers up your arm, up to your shoulder. "Feathery little monster."
"Not that little," Yuki says, pulling the shed door open. "He's rather large for a crow, isn't he?"
"Yes, but he's also a little monster," you say, shaking your head as you follow her into the shed. Yuki snorts, transforms, and shifts you back to her building.
A few minutes later, you're once more safely ensconced in the privacy of one of Yuki's dimensionally pinched off spaces, Yuki herself giving you a curious look from across the meeting room table.
"So... based on what you've told me, I think I'm going to hit Iowa pre-emptively," you say, drumming your fingers on the table. "I
know they're coming to me, and I'd rather not let them take me by surprise - or take anything I care about hostage."
"That would be wise," Yuki agrees neutrally, watching you.
"So, I'm going to do more research, and speak to my friends before committing, but as a general enquiry, what would it take to hire your team to help me on this?" you ask. "I'm aware that we have a
defence pact that doesn't cover this, so I
am asking about
hiring. What would it cost?"
And
there's a problem, isn't it? Too generous for your own good, Yuki had said - and here you've put yourself in a situation where Yuki wants for very little that you can offer. Money, perhaps, but you
are paying her a not inconsiderable sum to look after Airi, too.
You can't quite bring yourself to regret that, of course. Magical girls
not having to scrabble for scarce resources is a solid mark in the 'win' column.
Yuki tilts her head thoughtfully, propping her chin on a fist in a distinctly
cutesy gesture. "That
is an interesting question," she muses.
"I know, right?" you admit with a sigh.
"Grief Seeds, cash, and information," Yuki says. "Those are the currencies I usually trade in, but at first thought, I'd ask for Grief Seeds
and cash, unless you should happen to have some
more world-shattering news hidden up your sleeve."
She hums thoughtfully, cocking her head. "A future, perhaps?"
"Fresh out of both," you say. "At least, that I can think of."
"No, no - I mean that I could, perhaps, accept the promise of my selection of recruits in the future, or perhaps territory, or similar," Yuki says, and pauses, blinking. "Miss Vee, your ambitions aren't limited to just Japan, correct?"
"Yeah?" you say.
"I would consider it a fine payment if you facilitated my claiming of buildings in other countries," Yuki says. "As a general, ah, retainer, not just for this job alone."
"I... huh," you say. "That could work, actually, but I have to say that
buying buildings or houses or whatever in other countries will be difficult."
"They don't have to be
bought, just claimable," Yuki says with a distinctly wolfish grin. "The details we can hash out at a later time."
"I think I can agree to that, tentatively," you say. "I'm not planning on any globetrotting for the
immediate future, but I'll send you a message when I start on that in earnest? And for now, as I said, I'm going to do more reconnaissance and consult my friends, but... pencil it in?"
"Certainly," Yuki says. She nods sharply. "The most important piece of information would be their projected route, I suspect."
"Fair enough," you say. "And whatever trump cards they might have. Though, uh, speaking of trump cards... I'm going to ask you not to raise this outside of privacy?"
"Agreed," Yuki says. "Their clairvoyant would be a potent adversary."
"Yeah, about that," you say, rubbing your nose. "I have a suspicion that Kyuubey may be feeding them information."
"It's not outside the realms of possibility," Yuki agrees, calmly folding her hands in front of her. "A rather blunt tool to take out upstart magical girls who might want to buck the system, but I agree that it's a possibility."
"Hah," you say. "Yeah, that's me. The system breaking magical girl, and all that."
Yuki smiles, and stands. "I think we have the beginnings of a deal, Miss Vee," she says. "I entirely approve of neutralizing the Iowa group before they become a problem - they
are known to do substantial damage."
"Yeah," you say, standing too. You
do need to get moving. "I don't very much like the idea of bringing a fight, but... ah, well."
"Rather," Yuki says. "Was there anything else?"
[] Write-in any last few questions
[] Back to Mitakihara for lunch!
- [] Write-in any high points to hit
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
=====
Again, I'm sorry for the late update.
Also, I've edited the last update a bit, tweaking Yuki's mannerisms and such.
And thank you,
@Redshirt Army, for volunteering to help threadmark all the side materials!
