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Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

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Office Complex pt. 22
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    • "Mami's been-" fantastic. She's been happy, and she makes you happy in a way you'd never even imagined you could be. You like to think you make her just as happy, too. She has friends, people who care about her.

    You swallow those words, choking off your instinctive reaction to gush about Mami.

    "Mami's been doing well," you say, forcing your tone to something like neutral to match Masami's expression. "Recovering."

    Because Masami was Mami's friend, too. Estranged, now, but that just means that feelings are still raw, and hell, if you remember correctly, she resents Mami because Mami got her into this life. You'd rather not put your foot into your mouth here - and there's both information and developments she's not aware of, either.

    "Recovering from what?" Masami asks sharply. Noriko and Akemi, both in your peripheral awareness, lean back.

    "She took the truth about Soul Gems poorly," you say, setting your spoon down to clasp your hands on the table. Unthreatening and unaccusatory. "And the fact that Kyuubey had been using her and only pretending to be her friend, even less so."

    "Shit, but I-" Masami's mouth shuts with a snap.

    "She found out because of me, not you," you say, shaking your head. You blow out a breath, hard. "Kyuubey was using her, and I couldn't... I couldn't leave that be."

    "Using her?" Hiroko asks.

    "To recruit," you say evenly, nodding at Masami.

    "That's bloody convenient, isn't it?" Masami grunts.

    "What happened to you was horrible," you say, steel in your voice. "I'm not trying to discount that, and I don't want to argue with you about it. I'm just telling you what happened, because you asked."

    "I was expecting you to just say 'she's fine' or something," Masami says, scowling.

    Hiroko gives her a sharp, knowing look.

    Masami's expression hardens, and she shakes her head. "Fine. Why is she recovering?"

    And in that one look was an entire ream of information, you imagine. For anyone who could read it, anyway. You're not the one privy to Masami's inner thoughts, but... you can only imagine mixed feelings. She might resent Mami for getting her into this life, maybe even hate her a little - but she wouldn't even have asked if she didn't care at least a little.

    "Because realizing the truth about Soul Gems, and about Kyuubey, let her realise what she'd done to every single girl she'd convinced to join us. She..." You trail off, grimacing unhappily and trying to suppress the squirm of guilt. "She didn't take it well."

    "Good," Masami mutters.

    "Excuse me?" you say sharply, attention snapping back to Masami. You sit up, eyes fixed on the redhead.

    "I said good!" Masami snaps, nostrils flaring. "She shouldn't!"

    "It broke her," you say. Wood creaks faintly. "And she's going to have to live with the guilt for the rest of her life."

    "Enough," Hiroko snaps. "Masami, apologise."

    "I-"

    Hiroko cuts her off, hand tightening on hers. "Masami."

    You can see a muscle jump in the redhead's jaw as she looks up at you.

    "I'm sorry for saying that she deserves it," Masami grates out.

    "I accept your apology," you say. You bite back the impulse to demand why she even asked if she was just going to denigrate Mami like that - but the more rational part of you knows that she didn't mean to get angry. It's not logical to poke at a scab, but it's a difficult impulse to resist, too.

    "Thank you for inviting us here today, Sabrina," Hiroko says. She smiles at you, dimpling a bit. "But I think it would be best if we left it here for today. How much do we owe you, Miss Watanabe?"

    "That would probably be for the best, yes," you agree, standing. "Until next time, Hiroko, Masami."

    "Until next time," Hiroko offers.

    Noriko and Akemi stand too, adding their farewells, and after Hiroko settles their part of the bill, join you outside the cafe.

    "Are you alright, Miss Sabrina?" Akemi asks quietly.

    "Yeah, I'm fine," you say. "Why?"

    "You seem a bit angry," Noriko says, and hastily adds, "Understandably so, of course."

    "I-" you blink, and realise you're shaking, a bit. "Yeah. Just..."

    "We understand the anger," Akemi says with a smile. "We're just concerned about you."

    "Yeah..." You take a deep breath, and smile. "Yeah, I'm OK. Thank you. Can I offer you a lift home? I should be headed to school about now."

    "I think we'll take the scenic route," Akemi says. "But thank you for the offer."

    "Alright," you say with a smile. "Thanks for coming out today, and I'm sorry that it ended like that."

    "It wasn't your fault," Noriko says with a wan smile. "And it was good to meet them, anyway." She hesitates for a moment. "Do... may we contact them, in the future?"

    "Hm?" You give them a faintly puzzled look. "Of course. I'm not in charge of you or anything. You don't need my permission."

    "Oh," Noriko says. "Alright."

    "We shan't keep you any longer, then," Akemi says. "Bye, Miss Sabrina."

    "See you," you say, waving. You watch as the couple walk off, hand in hand with each other, and shake your head as you meander down an unoccupied alley, rapping your knuckles idly on the rough brick of the wall.

    That could have gone better. You can't say it was really your fault - Masami started it. And maybe you should have been non-committal about Mami, given Masami something vague, but you gave her what she asked for.

    "My apologies for that, Sabrina." You're already airborne, taking in the cool, clear air, by the time Hiroko's voice sounds in your head.

    "It wasn't your fault," you respond with a sigh, inaudible under the boom of your wings.

    "I disagree," Hiroko says. "Masami's in a bit of a... confused position, with regards to Miss Tomoe, and she spoke out of anger. She'll think it through eventually, but right now, she's in no state to. I apologise for her lashing out."

    "You're not her keeper," you say evenly. "But for the record, I bear neither of you any animosity. I was angry, myself, but... look, when she calms down, I'm still happy to talk."

    "I'll make sure she apologies properly," Hiroko says firmly. "Until then."

    "Until then," you say, and let the connection close.

    The anger ebbs as you wing through the sky, and you sigh again, closing your eyes for a moment. It seems they're still a ways away from a reunion, which is a shame, because... well, Mami needs more friends.

    On the other hand, you do have high hopes for Kyouko, so there's that. And speaking of whom...

    "Hey, Kyouko," you call. "We're on for later, yeah?"

    "Training Wondergirl?" Kyouko asks. "Yep."

    "Great! See you soon, then," you say.

    "Yep," Kyouko says, popping the last syllable and ending the connection.

    You nod to yourself, banking past the spire of the DBJ building.

    That's settled, then, and that's one thing that should go well. Kyouko seems to actually like Sayaka, so far. You should probably check in with Nakano Mika at some point, too - she'd done you a huge favour, averting the demolition of Kyouko's father's church. Which Mika had blown off as no big deal, since you'd given her the Clear Seed, but still.

    You drift in for a landing in the park outside Mitakihara Middle School, folding your wings and dropping in amongst the dense greenery. You can't help the smile breaking out on your face, either, because even after everything - you're here, and you'll be seeing Mami again soon.

    [x] Hug Mami
    - [] Anything specific to talk to her and your other friends about?
    [] You'll need to bring Sayaka to Kyouko for training!
    - [] Anything to tell Mami in the meantime?
    - [] Anything specific you want Sayaka to work on with Kyouko?
    [] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)

    =====​

    Well hey! I'm actually updating on a Sunday, for once. :V
     
  • Threadmarks
    • That went... well, it went. Not optimal, but not as bad as it could have been.

    Anything we want to talk about at lunch-

    Wait, what time of day are we at? I lost track.
     
    Shadowhisker said:
    That went... well, it went. Not optimal, but not as bad as it could have been.

    Anything we want to talk about at lunch-

    Wait, what time of day are we at? I lost track.
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    School's over, we're about to head to Sayaka's training with Koko. We asked Koko to try talking to Mami last time we talked, so we'll need to follow up on that.

    Mami is probably gonna hang out with Homura while we're out, since she knows Homura's secret now.

    Also, decent odds Sayaka asks about the Witchbomb after training is done.
     
    LendvaV said:
    That's exactly what I'd been thinking ever since voting started for the previous update, but I thought you guys knew better...
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    No, that's exactly what we expected. And what happened in response to our answer is exactly why we needed to be honest. Because Masami is still a bit resentful towards Mami, and part of that stems from the perception that Mami is infalliable, unbreakable, and perfect. Shattering that notion, explaining that Mami was deceived by and used from the start by Kyubey to do the very thing Masami is resentful towards Mami for, and that Mami feels terrible guilt because of it, is the first step towards reconciliation.

    Yeah, it sucks that the fun meeting ended on a relatively sour note, but that was basically inevitable when Masami willingly and knowingly broached a touchy and dark subject. Lying to her would have just made the bigger problems worse--because we would have had to come clean eventually, and saying "well yeah, I lied to you" is not a good precedent to set. And it's not like there's any bad feelings from any of the people in the meeting about it--everyone gets that it was obviously a very touchy subject that Masami knowingly broached, and that Sabrina simply gave an honest answer, and everyone needs some time to process it and calm down.
     
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    LendvaV said:
    That's exactly what I'd been thinking ever since voting started for the previous update, but I thought you guys knew better...
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    I completely agree with everything @SaltyWaffles said above, but I just wanted to add something. Do remember that this is a story. Things not reaching a perceived ideal is going to happen, and that is okay. In fact, that is better than okay - as much as I would like my Mumi fluff with everything going right, that wouldn't make this story damn near as good as it currently is. I see this kind of attitude of "Oh, if only people chose what I had wanted. You see guys, there's a little hiccup that resulted because of your actions, therefore my plan was the right option!" way too often in quests. It's understandable - as much as quests are a story, they are also a game and I don't know many people who enjoy losing. Just remember that this is above all a narrative - an interactive one, sure, with a ton of player input, but a narrative nonetheless. At least for me, that makes it easier to enjoy even when things aren't all going my way.
     
    Kay. To analyze the encounter. More or less, I think Masami asked the question to reassure herself that yes, Mami is fine, even though she has a braindamaged girlfriend. :V

    Okay, but seriously.
    I'm pretty sure that Masami did know about some of Mami's insecurities.

    She knew enough to say,
    Firnagzen said:
    "She took the truth about Soul Gems poorly," you say, setting your spoon down to clasp your hands on the table. Unthreatening and unaccusatory. "And the fact that Kyuubey had been using her and only pretending to be her friend, even less so."

    "Shit, but I-" Masami's mouth shuts with a snap.
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    which means that she realized telling Mami she's been used by what she considered her closest friend would seriously unbalance her, to say the least.

    This

    Firnagzen said:
    Masami's expression hardens, and she shakes her head. "Fine. Why is she recovering?"
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    is her asking for confirmation.

    She feels both guilty about leaving Mami to fend for herself, because asking about her wellbeing otherwise doesn't make much sense, it's not a topic you pick to pass time, and angry with her for ( unknowingly ) dragging her into Meguca life in the first place, hence the vindication

    Firnagzen said:
    "Because realizing the truth about Soul Gems, and about Kyuubey, let her realise what she'd done to every single girl she'd convinced to join us. She..." You trail off, grimacing unhappily and trying to suppress the squirm of guilt. "She didn't take it well."

    "Good," Masami mutters.
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    If I were to guess, she hasn't yet recovered emotionally from the recent ordeal of having to live in a bisected state for a very long time, so this is as much her pent up anger as simply venting at what she considers to be an acceptable target. The witch.

    My recommendations? Eh. I dunno.
    Push her buttons, strip away her sense of moral superiority, explain the situation in full: about the frankly horrible circumstances of Mami's contract and about how Kyubey was the only constant in her life afterwards, while her students abandoned her for various reasons. If we're going to air Mami's dirty laundry at people, at least let's do it right, I guess. Hiroko is her girlfriend though, so we shouldn't push her too much. This time, Hiroko supported us, the next time, she might come down on us like a ton of bricks for giving flak to Masami, or worse, break up with her over it or some shit. That would be awful. My shipping chart won't recover, I think.
     
    Raiseth said:
    No no no no, not that.
    Kyouko just called Sayaka "Wondergirl".

    A red haired girl just called a blue haired one "Wondergirl". That's totally a NGE shoutout.

    I just need to think for a while about how to use it.
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    [] When you bring Sayaka to Kyouko for training
    -[] Telepathy her that you've always shipped Asuka with Rei.
     
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