Puella Magi Adfligo Systema

[Firnagzen]

You and Mami head in towards the hospital in a comfortable silence, though you can tell that Mami's still fretting about something. Either Oriko, and the threat, or your recklessness.

As you go, you realize that the cloud of Grief is still following you around like a balloon, and it takes a moment of thought to compress it down to form another marble, which you pluck out of the air and drop into your left pocket to join the other one.

"Mami?" you break the silence as a thought strikes you. When she looks inquistively at you, you ask, "You haven't seen Kyuubey all day, right? Is he usually gone this long?"

"Well, it's happened before. Not terribly often, though," Mami replies thoughtfully. "Maybe he has other cities to look after? Mitakihara is... well, he doesn't really seem to contract new magical girls here very much."

Oh, you'll bet the Incubator does, if only for Witch fodder. Not that you'd say as much to Mami, of course. "So... the entire city is yours?"

"Only the central area," she admits. "The suburbs are quite sparse, and I think there's a magical girl out there, on the west side?" She pauses thoughtfully. "I haven't heard from her in a while, though. And it's ours, Sabrina. Akemi's as well, I suppose. Though... now that you mention it..."

Mami walks on, brow furrowed in thought for a moment. "Given that there's two of us, we could consider a larger hunting area now. Even if you don't need it-" she gives you a bright smile to accompany that "-exterminating Witches and Familiars is its own reward, isn't it?"

You hum noncommitally. You're... not going to touch on the nature of Witches, so you just nod. "Sounds like a plan. Maybe we could make contact with that magical girl you mentioned? And how about the east?"

"Hm," Mami says. "To the east -uh, further past the river and the old industrial district, I mean- is Kasamino City... the two cities are sort of joined together. There's a magical girl covering that area."

Kyouko Sakura, you'd guess, judging by the unhappy cast to Mami's face. Wisely, you decide not to push. "So that's covered, then."

"Yes, it is," Mami says, with a note of finality. "And... I think that any expansion will have to wait until we deal with this Oriko."

You almost sigh out loud, but withold it. The conversation would come back to her, wouldn't it? "Yeah. She worries me. I mentioned earlier, right? She knew precisely who I was, and precisely where I would be, to come and find me."

"Maybe she can read minds, and it was just a coincidence she was there?" Mami offers. "After all, you were on the bus to her school, right?"

"That's possible, I guess," you admit, with no easy way to refute that. "She seemed far too confident, though."

"We should ask Kyuubey, when he returns," Mami suggests. "Sometimes he doesn't want to tell about other magical girls, but sometimes he does."

You shrug. "Worth a try. That block," you comment, when Mami, not paying attention to where she's going, seems to be headed for the wrong building.

Madoka and Sayaka, it turns out, are waiting at the lobby of that particular ward, chatting with each other. Madoka spots the two of you first.

"Mami! Sabrina!" she calls, smile lighting up your face.

"Madoka, Sayaka, hello," Mami greets warmly. You echo her greetings, as Sayaka similarly calls her hellos. "Did you have a good visit? How are your friends?"

Madoka looks a little unhappy at the reminder. "Hitomi has a really bad fracture. She just cam out of surgery not long ago, though she's awake now. They say she might need a cast for a month, maybe more."

Mami brings her hand to her mouth, looking horrified. "That's a really bad fracture."

"Yeah, it was strange," Sayaka says. "The doctors said that it couldn't have been worse if it was deliberate."

You rake your fingers through your hair, thinking. Suspicious, to say the least. Had Oriko simply been trying to get you out of the way so that Kirika could do that? But you weren't even in Mitakihara Middle School, so why would she have had to distract you? And what possible purpose could breaking Hitomi's wrist serve?

"Hey Sabrina, you OK?" Sayaka asks. "You look kinda spaced out there."

"Yeah, I'm fine," you answer. "Just thinking a bit."

"'kay. So how was your hunt? How was the creep?" Sayaka asks.

"Sayaka, don't call her that," Madoka admonishes gently.

"The hunt went well," Mami replies. "And Akemi wasn't so bad. She's really quite experienced, it seems."

"Hmph," the bluenette grumps, crossing her arms. "Well, I still don't like her."

"Well, that's your right," you observe drily.

"Ah, whatever," Sayaka says, picking up her school bag. "So, what's next?"

[] Dinner
[] Remind Sayaka about that assignment
[] Meeting with Homura
[] Choose a conversational direction for either

=====​

Sabrina's inner monologue isn't purely fluff, you know.

 

[Firnagzen]

You raise an eyebrow at Sayaka. "Don't I remember that you have an assignment due tomorrow?"

You watch with interest as Sayaka blinks owlishly at you, blood gradually draining out of her face, before she begins to emit a 'gneeeeeeeeee...' sound, as if she's deflating in place. And indeed, she does seem to be deflating, her shoulders going slack and head slowly dipping down so that her hair covers her eyes.

You shake your head, smirking in amusement. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Sayaka, you said you'd do it by yourself..." Madoka says, fixing the bluenette with a sad look. Her big, disappointed eyes, coupled with a wobbling lower lip, are devastating, and you feel guilty by association even if you hadn't actually done anything wrong.

"I know, I know, but... things happened," Sayaka protests. "Ah... I'll rush it tonight, OK?"

You sigh and roll your eyes. "Is it math or english? Or science or something? Let me have a look at it. But just this once, OK, because I had some part in you having less time to do you work." You put out a hand.

"Math, and thanks, Sabrina!" Sayaka says, brightening up and sitting back down on the bench to dig around her school bag.

Madoka turns her disappointed look on you.

You are not moved.

Nope.

Not at all.

Not even in the slightest.

This was partially your fault and you're going to fix it.

It's not going to set a trend.

Nope.

Finally, Sayaka slaps a worksheet into your hand, and you browse through it quickly while plumping yourself down on one of the hospital benches. Middle school algebra, nothing terribly difficult, you find. "Pen, paper?" you request, even as Mami peeks over your shoulder.

Sayaka hands them over, and you spend fifteen minutes to rapidly draft out some quick notes before handing them back. "These aren't complete solutions," you inform Sayaka. "They're a good start, but you do need to finish these yourself."

"Thanks, Sabrina, you're a lifesaver," Sayaka says gratefully, accepting the papers.

You snort, and wave it off. "Not a problem. You should probably go home and get started, though."

"Eh... I guess so. Madoka?" Sayaka replies, standing.

"Ah, yes. Bye, Mami, Sabrina," Madoka says, similarly standing.

"See you," Mami replies with a smile, and you add your farewells. "Hey, Sabrina? How come you seemed to know how to do the math so easily?"

You shrug. "No idea... I just knew I could."

Mami looks saddened. "You must be missing quite a life, I think."

You smile at Mami. "My new one isn't too bad either."

Mami just shakes her head, though she's smiling a little.

The two of you leave the hospital, and head over to a small restaurant to eat dinner. You remember something as you leave the restaurant.

"Hey, Mami?"

"Yes?"

"Uh... I'm going to go and meet Homura later, OK? I need to discuss something with her," you say.

"Oh. Be careful, OK?" Mami says. "... Maybe not of Akemi, but there's still that Oriko around."

"Yeah, I will," you reply.

Mami turns to head home.

[] Set up the meeting with Homura- she may not agree
- [] Write-in conversation direction if she agrees
[] Head home with Mami- turn in for the night

=====​

Just imagine Madoka looking disappointedly at you. Imagine it.

 

[Firnagzen]

"I'll see you later, Mami," you tell the blonde.

"See you, Sabrina! Don't stay out too late," Mami replies, smiling and heading off home.

"Homura?" you call.

A long pause. "Do you know where Madoka's house is?" the time traveller replies eventually.

"No," you admit.

"Meet me at Mitakihara Middle School, then," Homura replies tersely.

"On my way," you nod, even if she can't see you. You frown at the surrounding buildings. Nowhere good to hide so that you can get to the roof, so you walk along the street until you finally find an alley to duck into. Moments later, you find yourself on the roof, illuminated from below by the gentle glow of streetlamps from below and the waxing crescent moon above.

You launch yourself into the air, enjoying the cool evening breeze. As you hop along the roofs, you briefly wonder if anybody might look up at precisely the right moment to see you sailing between buildings, but dismiss the thought as irrelevant. It's not really your problem.

You quickly approach the school. By night, with its lights out, the glass and steel architecture of the building gains an ethereal beauty to it, glittering under the light of the moon and the streetlamps. A thousand shadows crisscross and overlap in its interior, forming a shifting mosaic of shadows.

Your senses let you home unerringly in on Homura, who's standing on one of the apartments near the school, and you crunch to a landing right behind her. She's wearing her puella magi uniform, and simply standing with her hands held loosely at her sides while looking down on the school.

Homura turns when you land behind her, fixing you with her violet gaze. Standing as she is at the edge of the roof, she's silhouetted by the glow of the city lights, and you can barely make out her expression. You wonder if she's being intentionally intimidating.

A deep breath. "Homura, I think we need to talk in private. Can you use your power on the both of us? I can cleanse your gem as necessary, if that's a problem."

You can see Homura frown in the shadows, and you can understand why. Timestop is her one big trump card, and she'd be naturally reluctant to bring you in to it, and more than that, how did you know about it? You can practically see the gears turning in her head.

"I don't mean you, or Madoka, any harm. I want to help," you say, taking a risk. Homura inhales sharply at that.

Finally, though, she nods, "Yes. One moment." She glances around the rooftop, before finally seeing what she's looking for; a discarded, empty cigarette box. She holds out one end of the box to you with her left hand, and you understand- the box is fragile and easy to lose your grip of, stranding you in the timestop if you make any hostile moves.

You sit down on the rooftop, patting the rooftop in front of you and looking at the time traveller expectantly. This might take a while, you reason. Homura looks even more annoyed, but sits down, still proferring the box to you.

You take a deep breath, and grasp the end of the box.

The shield clacks and spins on Homura's arm, and time-

-stops.​

The colour drains out of the world, everything turning grey and still. From here on the rooftop, high above everything, it doesn't look like much changed, save that the neverending stream of lights you know are cars have halted. But you know that down on the streets, throughout the world, time itself has ground to a halt, everything is frozen in its tracks.

Apart from the two of you, nothing is moving in this cold, dead world.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Homura prompts you, still pinning you with her eyes.

"Remember when I told you about Walpurgisnacht?" you begin, voice echoing oddly in the frozen world.

"Yes."

"It's not the only thing I know," you say carefully. "I know, Homura. I know that you're a time traveller-" Homura twitches violently, but thankfully doesn't let go of the cigarette box, "-and I know about the loops. I know how important Kaname Madoka is, and why you want to save her. And a lot more besides: the Incubators, puella magi, and Witches. Oriko."

Homura stares at you, eyes wide. And then her hand slackens. She's letting go of the bo-

-x! You blink, sudden adrenaline coursing through your system. She's holding it again in a white knuckled death grip, crushing her end of the box flat. There's a pistol in her other hand, but it's not pointed at you. Not right now, anyway, though you have a feeling it might have been otherwise for a while, there.

Both hands are trembling.

"H-how?" One simple word.

You shake your head slowly at that. "That... is the one question I can't answer. The first thing I can remember is waking up in the alley. I don't know how or why I know... but I want to help, Homura. That much, I'm sure of."

Homura takes a shaky breath. "I. How do I know I can trust you? If you know about Oriko, then you know what she can do. How do I know you're nor like her?"

[] Write-in
- [] Your answer, and anything else you want to discuss

=====​

I suppose it's a good thing you'd already laid in some ground work for being helpful, really...

 

[Firnagzen]

"Because I'm not insane like a certain precog?" you say drily. You're not actually sure Oriko's insane, just an extremist. But still.

Homura doesn't comment on that.

"I told you the truth as soon as I could, and really, who else could I tell, here and now? Madoka and Sayaka aren't puella magi, Mami... well, you know. And I'm certainly not telling Kyuubey or Oriko," you continue. "I've been trying to help. I want everyone to live through this, you know? And that includes myself. I don't want to die. You could easily kill me." You indicate the pistol she's holding in her other hand.

You sigh, and look away. "Ultimately, the only thing I can give you now are words. I've been trying to help. To get you on better terms with Mami, with everyone. And... anyway, what can it hurt? If I'm lying, you reset time again, and start again. Maybe I'm there the next time, maybe I'm not. You can do... whatever. And one more person can only help, right? I know what you've gone through, Homura. Not all of it... but I know you haven't had much luck, else we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Homura squeezes her eyes shut, looking surprisingly vulnerable with her brows furrowed as if in pain. You look away, giving her a moment. Instead, you look around at the frozen city hued in grey. The most remarkable thing is the silence. The only thing you can hear are yours and Homura's breathing, and the slow thunder of your own heartbeat. Nothing else. No cars, no working machinery of air conditioners, none of the nearly inaudible hum of street lights...

Cessation of everything, time and all. Here then is a solution of Zeno's paradox; here is the infinitesimal time between moments in which things can happen. Here is the discretization of time. How does that even work, you wonder?

Finally, the timetraveller responds, voice and gaze now steady. "Very well. Don't make me regret this."

Relief washes over you, and you feel the knot in your shoulders easing. "I won't," you say as earnestly as you can. "I want you to succeed, Homura. I want everyone to live; this time to tell for all."

Homura... doesn't quite grimace. Her lips pull in such a way as to suggest that, though. "If, as you say, you know of what's been happening, then you know that that may not be possible."

"Mami in particular," you nod grimly. "You've never run into anyone with my powers, though, have you?" You hold up your right hand for emphasis, reminding her of what, precisely, you can do. "Speaking of which, do you need...?"

"Not yet," Homura demurs. "And I have not. You are an anomaly, Sabrina, like Oriko. I- I've never seen you before."
Why the stutter?
You cock your head, reminded of something. "Speaking of which. Why isn't Oriko dead? I figured you'd kill her after... what she did."

"I did, for a while. But I noticed, a few loops later, that I didn't have to waste my time on it; she would simply never contract by herself. I'm not sure why she and Kirika contracted that once, but I just stopped bothering," Homura says. "It was-"

"-an anomaly," you finish. "And you've never seen her contract again?"

"Not until this loop," Homura confirms.

"Strange," you comment. Very strange indeed.

[] Write-in

=====​

Any plans you guys have? Anything you want to tell Homura?

 

[Firnagzen]

"OK, so..." you trail off, a little uncertain as to what to tell Homura. "So I've prevented Charlotte from appearing, I think. Sort of, maybe?"

Homura cocks her head quizzically. "Who's Charlotte?" she asks, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar syllables.

"Oh. Uh, the little doll Witch that has a big worm thing inside?" you explain, mentally smacking yourself. Of course, she wouldn't really know the names of Witches, would she?

"I see. I've never tried that before. How did you do that?" Homura says, a hint of interest entering her eyes.

"Uh... that's why I said sort of," you say. "OK, so from what I know, the girl, her name's Momoe Nagisa, contracted because of her mother. But her mother died yesterday, and she isn't contracted. Kyuubey apparently hasn't even found her yet."

Homura's lips thin. "I haven't seen the Incubator since yesterday. And-" you're already shaking your head, anticipating the question "-you haven't either."

"And neither has Mami," you confirm. "That's not a good thing, is it."

"No."

The two of you sit in silence, for a moment, mulling over the lack of white bunnycat. It should be relieving to not have it poking its face into everything, but somehow, it isn't. At all.

"Another thing. Today, Hitomi's accident...?" you begin tentatively.

"I doubt it's an accident."

"Kirika?" you guess.

"Likely, but I don't know for sure. I was w- following Madoka, at the time," Homura says. "You're aware that Kirika goes to Mitakihara Middle School, correct?"

"Yes, I am. You'll be keeping an eye out for her, I assume?" you reply.

"Yes. Since you don't need to go to school..." she lets you finish the sentence.

"Oriko? I have no idea how I can find her, though, and I'm worried about fighting her, honestly," you say.

"I know where she lives," Homura replies. "And she's not very strong in combat."

"Assuming she doesn't have any preparations, or have Kirika near by?" you counter.

"I can keep an eye on Kirika. And she doesn't, as far as I know, have any Yakuza contracts or anything, so traps are... unlikely," Homura explains.

Huh. That... might work, you have to admit.

"I'll think about it," you say. "Anything else?"

"You know where and when to find all the Witches, correct?" Homura says.

"Uh, no, sorry," you admit, pushing back your hair again. You can see how she arrived at that conclusion, given that you'd been showing, up until this moment, apparently encyclopaedic knowledge of the Witches. "I only know of some significant ones."

"That makes things a little harder," Homura frowns, looking a little disappointed. "But I can make a list of approximate locations and times of Witches. If you can defeat them, we can try to starve Oriko and Kirika out."

"I can try that, yes," you reply. You're a little unhappy with it, since you've never even tried to defeat a Witch solo before, but the idea seems sound, and you certainly seem to have enough raw power to spare.

"I'll pass you the list... tomorrow, then," the time traveller nods. "I don't think I need to tell you that the list must be kept away from the Incubator."

"Of course," you say. "Oh, uh. Speaking of Witch hunts, I think Mami is warming up to you. Inviting her on that hunt today was a good idea; we should do it again."

"With Oriko around, that may not be tenable," Homura frowns, looking aside. "I can see the use, though."

You grunt. "Yeah, I see your point, too. Still, you want Mami fighting with us for Walpurgisnacht, right? She's powerful, and experienced. This is the best way to do it, I think. And maybe you can try to be a bit friendlier to her at school?"

Homura grimaces unhappily. "I know. I'll need to think about this."

The two of you sit in silence for a long moment.

"Is there anything else?" the time traveller asks, eventually.

[] Write-in

=====​

Homura has ideas! Of course, they need not be the best ideas.

Either way, the next update will wrap up the night, if all goes well. So if there's anything else you want done before that...

 

[Firnagzen]

"Uh, yeah, actually," you say, forestalling Homura's move to end the timestop. "First thing... H. N. Elly, the box Witch; her nature is covetousness. She is staunchly reclu- no, that isn't useful." You forcibly choke back the flow of information. "Um. The television Witch, with one winged mannequin Familiars?"

"I'm familiar with it, yes," Homura says.

"OK, it's the next important one I remember," you explain. "So, uh. One way it can play out is that it Witch Kisses Hitomi, who drags Madoka along to a group suicide. I suppose that's no longer a real issue, with Hitomi in the hospital, but something to look out for with regards to Madoka? It's in a warehouse, from what I remember, an-"

"How do you know this?" Homura interrupts you, looking extremely perturbed.

"Uh? I told you, I don't remember anything of myself, just... events," you say truthfully.

Homura frowns are you for a long moment, before motioning with her other hand. "Continue, then."

"That's about it, really, it's important because of the chance Madoka might get mixed up in it," you finish lamely. "Hm. Ah, your starvation idea... I'm willing to try it, but given Oriko can see the future, and Kirika could apparently clear out the entire city of puella magi..."

"She didn't exactly succeed," Homura says, raising an eyebrow, and indicating herself. "But point taken."

"Alright, then I suppose that's it," you say. "It's good to be working with you, Homura. Hopefully, together, we can succeed, yeah?"

Homura grunts in response. "Hm."

"Oh, right!" you snap your fingers, suddenly reminded of one more thing to ask her. You lean in close. "How on earth do you do that hair flip thing?"

A long, slow blink.

"What?"

"Your hair! That flipping thing you do, you know-" you mime the motion, which probably just makes you look rather daft since you have short hair. "How do you do it? Do you use magic, or did you practice it or something?"

"My... hair?" the time traveller seems to be reconsidering certain choices that she had made recently, such as agreeing to work with the obviously crazy girl. Her left hand creeps up to touch the glorious mane of hair in question self consciously.

"Yes your hair!" you insist, getting up on one knee to lean closer to Homura. She leans back. "How?"

"I... just flick my hand through my hair...?"

Somehow, you get the impression that no one's ever questioned Akemi Homura on her hair before.

"You... just..." you deflate, sinking back to sit back down. "You- but. But. Hair. That is such bullshit."

"It's... I just do this?" Homura says, increasingly bewildered. She sweeps her left hand, with the shield and all, through her hair, sending the silky strands billowing out like a flowing, raven black banner that seems to flutter in a nonexistent breeze.

"Gah!" you exclaim, looking away from the hypnotic motion. "I just- never mind. Never mind."

"I don't underst-"

"Never mind," you snap. "Just. Never. Mind. Let us never speak of this again."

"... Agreed," Homura says. "Nothing else?"

"No, nothing," you confirm.

Homura's shield clacks on her arm, and colour unceremoniously floods back into the world. The cars resume their motion, and the return of the noise of the city, so suddenly returning after the profound silence of the timestop, disorients you for a moment.

You blow out a breath. "Whoo."

Homura rises to her feet, dropping the cigarette box, and extends her Soul Gem to you wordlessly. You can see that the timestop has cost her quite dearly; corruption swirls in the depths of her Soul Gem, darkening its brilliant violet gleam. Well, you can fix that.

You stand, stretching languidly, and curl a hand. The Grief drifts free, forming itself into a cloud which you compress down to a marble, moderately larger than the other ones you already have. Homura brings the Soul Gem up to her eye level, examining it closely.

"It's good to be working with you, too," Homura says finally, extending her hand toward you. You smile, and grab her hand in a firm handshake.

"Yeah. Same, Homura," you agree. "Stay safe."

"Hm," the timetraveller grunts, walking to the edge of the roof.

"Bye!" you call as she leaps towards the next building, heading off, you assume, to resume her vigil over Madoka. You yourself turn to head back to Mami's apartment.

You soon reach home, and unlock the door. It's only 8:30PM, so you're not surprised to find that Mami's still awake. Less pleasant, however, is the fact that Kyuubey has apparently returned at some point, and is currently curled on the couch while Mami does what looks like homework at the low table.

"Hello, Sabrina! How did your talk with Akemi go?" Mami calls cheerfully as you lock the door behind you. The Incubator sits up on the couch and fixes you with its glassy pink eyes.

[] Write-in

=====​

Oh hey, it's back.

 

[Firnagzen]

"Oh, we had a nice talk," you say airily. "She doesn't know how she does the hair-flip thing, though."

"Hair-flip thing?" Mami asks, putting her pencil down and looking at you quizzically.

"Yes, you know-" you mime the motion again, reflecting as you do so that this is the second time you've done it this night alone. How do people not recognize the glory that is Homura's hair flip?

"Oh," Mami looks puzzled. "Is this like the teacup thing again? I'm sure she just uses magic to do it."

"That's the thing!" you exclaim with more than a tinge of frustration and waving wildly with your hands to emphasize. "She doesn't! Or she claims she doesn't."

Mami purses her lips, bringing a hand to her own golden curls of hair. "I find that difficult to believe. I used to do my hair without magic... but the alternative is simply so much better."

"Yes, but-" you make the flipping motion again, pacing in circles "-hair! How does she do it? And she claims she doesn't know how she's doing it?" Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Mami and Kyuubey exchanging looks.

"Ah..." Mami trails off, before trying, placatingly, "Maybe she's just keeping her secrets? I... could teach you the teacup trick?"

"Eh, whatever," you mutter grumpily, plumping yourself down on the sofa next to Kyuubey. "No, it's alright, Mami, we all need our secrets, after all. You know what, I should figure out my own thing. You have the teacup, Homura has the hair flip thing... Hm. What could I do..."

You mull it over for a moment, as Mami returns to her homework, puzzled frown still on her face.

"Oh, hey, Kyuubey," you comment. "Think you can do anything with these?" You pull one of the spheres of Grief out of your pocket and hold it up for the alien to inspect. You don't like it, but it seems likely that this is your best shot for getting rid of these.

Kyuubey hops to its feet, and you obligingly bring the marble to its eye level for examination. You resist the urge to smash the alien into a pulp via an exertion of a heroic level of will power.

"Intruiging," the Incubator observes, as Mami looks up with interest. "Place it in the slot on my back," it instructs, turning to present its back to you. A section of its back enclosed by a pink, ovoid marking fades to abyssal black.

You squint, and lean in close to stare into the hole. "Huh. What happens if I stuck something else in there?"

"That would be unpleasant, rather like inserting a stick into someone's mouth," Kyuubey observes blandly. Mami claps her hand over her mouth, muffling giggles. "Please place the Grief inside the hole."

"Alright, alright," you say, popping the marble in. "There."

The opening closes again, and the marking glimmers for a moment. The Incubator wiggles in place, chasing its tail around in a circle for a moment, before sitting up and looking at you again. "Most intruiguing. This can be processed, however, the density is considerably lower than a Grief Seed."

"Is that bad, Kyuubey?" Mami asks anxiously.

"No, by all means, continue," Kyuubey says, before ducking its head and chasing its tail around again.

You stare at the spinning Incubator for a moment. That's as good as you're going to get from it for now, you guess. You briefly consider questioning it, but ultimately decide to wait for now. Instead, you go for a shower, and then proceed to help Mami a little with the trickier questions in her homework.

Eventually, Mami finishes her homework and heads to her room, bidding you good night.

...

A new day, a new dawn. No nocturnal disturbances that you know of. You can here Mami moving around the apartment again.

[] Write-in

=====​

Sabrina: Ungodly powerful meguca, good friend, comforter of little girls. Tends to go off on random tangents and completely spazz out about seemingly innocuous things.

Mmmhm.

The write in should include up to your first activity of the day. You can go and experiment with your powers, or go and watch Madoka, or visit the hospital, or Nagisa, or contact Homura, or... whatever.

If relevant, today is Wednesday.

 

[Firnagzen]

You roll out of bed, and yawn hugely. You stretch, feeling your joints pop, before wandering into the bathroom for your morning ablutions, rubbing your face as you go. A few minutes later, you're cleaned up, and ready to face the day ahead.

"'morning, Mami!" you call cheerfully as you walk into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Sabrina!" Mami returns brightly, though there's still a slightly drowsy edge to her voice. Behind her, you can see a gently steaming teapot.

You look at the tea, and then back at Mami, now humming happily as she whisks the batter. Then you walk over to the pot of tea, pick it up, and sniff it. Your eyes water as the fumes hit your face, and you very carefully put the pot back down on the counter top. It's not quite industrial solvent grade, but it's close.

"Mami," you say, packing as much minor condemnation as you can into those two syllables.

"Yes, Sabrina?" she asks, carefully not looking at you.

"You have nothing to prove, you know," you observe, looking at the teapot again.

Mami sighs. "I'm the host, Sabrina."

"So you are," you say, agreeably, as you walk over to check the rice in a curious echo of what you did yesterday. "And you're putting me up for free. The least I can do is help, Mami. Hm... Is there enough rice for two, do you think?"

"It's nothing, really!" Mami argues, as she moves behind you to grab a skillet. "But as the host, it's my obligation. And yes, there should be."
Insecurity.
"Well, I'm just helping out. It's nothing, really," you say, drily. "Is that fish?"

You have a reasonable idea of why Mami's doing this; in the end, she is lonely, and having found a friend in you, desperately wants to keep you around, even if it means having to push herself harder to make herself seem useful. It's something that, perhaps, you should keep an eye on.

Between the two of you politely duelling for preparation of breakfast and lunch, the process is quick and painless. You're soon sitting down at the table, waffles this time. Before both you and Mami are lunchboxes; you'd decided to forgo the hassle of searching out somewhere to eat at for lunch by preparing your own.

"Ah, there should be a sling bag you can borrow," Mami comments as she sees you looking speculatively at the lunchbox. "Though... what do you plan to do today?"

"Hm. Well, I was actually planning on trying to scope out Oriko today," you answer vaguely, cutting up a waffle.

Mami puts down her fork and looks at you, distinctly troubled. "Are you sure, Sabrina? She sounds dangerous."

Oh, she definitely is, you think to yourself. But you don't let that show on your face, and simply say, out loud, "Well, yesterday, she didn't actually do anything, right? Just kept me on the bus. But she threatened our home, and I can't let that pass."

"Be careful, Sabrina," Mami says.

"I will, Mami," you say, ducking your head. "I'll call for help if anything comes up, OK?"

Mami still seems troubled, but lets it slide, picking up her fork to eat again.

"Anyway," you say, changing the subject. "Will Madoka and Sayaka be coming over today?"

"I'll be inviting them later," Mami agrees. "Still, they might be going to the hospital again today to visit their friend."

"Ah, of course," you say lightly. "Hm. Maybe another joint hunt with Homura, then?"

"That sounds fine," Mami says, and chuckles. "You're quite the miracle worker, you know."

"Eh... I wouldn't really say so," you demur. "Homura's not that bad a person."

"She did try to kill me," a telepathic voice injects itself in your conversation.

"Good morning, Kyuubey!" Mami says, rising to place a waffle she'd already cut into small pieces in front of the alien. The Incubator hops up on to the table, and peeks down at the plate, before eating a piece with every sign of enjoyment.

"Hm. She said she was trying to prevent Madoka from contracting," you frown at the little alien trying to undo your work reconciling Homura and Mami. Damnit, Kyuubey.

"Even then, that's no excuse," Mami says sharply.

"Maybe Homura was just trying to scare Kyuubey away?" you suggest. "I'll see if I can get her to apologize." Fat chance, really, but you'll take whatever you can get. "And anyway, she's really not a bad person, you know."

Mami smiles warmly. "I'll trust you on that, Sabrina."

"Well, that's what I maintain," you nod firmly. "Oh, right. Kyuubey, I'd like a word later today, if possible."

"When would be convenient?" Kyuubey asks.

You shrug. "No idea. I'll see how my morning goes. Oh, right!" you exclaim, remembering something you'd been meaning to ask. "Mami, I understand that magical girls all have some common abilities, right? Like healing?"

"Healing, enhanced physical capabilities, yes," Mami agrees, looking inquisitively at you.

"A limited degree of midair manuveuring ability," Kyuubey adds, peering up at you. It's quite odd to see its mouth busily chewing, despite its telepathic voice coming through perfectly clearly. "Enhanced pain resistance, and enhanced body control."

"Huh," you say thoughtfully. "So all of these generation corruption, right?" you raise your Soul Gem ring for emphasis.

"Correct," Kyuubey observes.

"And I can clean off the corruption, thus generating a positive feedback loop," you muse out loud.

"Where are you going with this, Sabrina?" Mami asks, puzzled.

"Eh... I can generate corruption from nothing," you shrug. "Might be useful for Kyuubey?"

"Fighting and defeating Witches would likely be a more efficient use of your time," Kyuubey replies.

Would it, though?

You shrug. "Eh. Just an idea. Uh, Mami, the time?" you comment, glancing at the clock.

Mami looks at the clock, too. "Oh, you're right. Time to prepare. Uh, let me find that bag for you, first."

Fifteen minutes later, you wave goodbye to Mami as she leaves the apartment for school, Kyuubey hanging happily over her shoulder. After she leaves, you move over to the computer, and look up Yuma -Chitose Yuma, you recall-, and Mikuni Oriko.

"Homura?" you call telepathically.

"Yes?" the timetraveller responds nearly instantly.

"I'm going to try and find Oriko today," you inform her. "Can you keep an eye on Kirika for me?"

"Yes," Homura says. "I will inform you when I have her in view."

"OK, sounds like a plan," you say. "Oriko shouldn't really have any weaponry or anything, correct?"

"Not that I am aware of," Homura confirms.

"Right. Let me know, then," you say. Oriko, or rather, her father, is easy to find, what with the scandal and everything. Chitose Yuma is rather harder to find, but you eventually find her address, too. You note both of them down, and prepare to leave the house.

You soon walk out of the lobby of the apartment, green slingbag diagonally over your shoulder, and are walking along the road, headed for where you took the bus yesterday. You'll start there to look for Oriko, you reason.

"Oriko? This is Sabrina," you try, telepathically. You know that she should be hearing your message, though whether she'll respond is another question.

Silence.

You meander along to the bus stop, and sit down to wait for the bus, which soon arrives. Just as you're about to board it, however, in hopes that perhaps Oriko will either be waiting as she was yesterday, or that you can find her at Shirome Academy, you hear someone shouting.

"Hey! Hey, wait!"

You see a girl running towards the bus stop, and obligingly wait for the girl to catch up so that the bus won't go without her. Your heart nearly stops, however, when she gets closer and you recognize her: black, slightly longer than shoulder-length hair, and yellowish-brown eyes. There's a small stuffed toy that you can't quite make out bouncing on her hip.

Kirika Kure.

"Hey- hey," the girl pants, hands on her knees, out of breath from the run. You frown at that, and your eyes instinctively flick to her hands. There is, indeed, the silver ring of a puella magi there, and a mark on her fingernail... so how can she possibly be out of breath? Unless she's acting? "Ah, sorry, Mr. Bus Driver," she calls at the bus driver. "I need to talk..."

The bus driver rolls his eyes, but closes the door and pulls out of the bus stop. You stare at the bus, disappointed, as it goes.

"Hey, so you're Sabrina, right?" Kirika chirps at you. "Oriko asked me to look for a white-haired foreigner her and tell her that, ah, 'My apologies, but I am currently busy elsewhere.' Ah... yeah. That's it."

[] Write-in

=====​

Ah, Mami.

 

[Firnagzen]

You frown, keeping calm despite the murderous puella magi currently talking to you. Well, potentially murderous, you amend. She's currently acting like a bright, cheery girl sent out on an errand, which from some points of view she is.

"Well, that's a shame," you comment. "Ah, well... thank you for telling me. You're... Kirika, correct?" The black girl nods, shooting you a grin and a thumbs up. "Right, Oriko mentioned you yesterday."

"Oh! Did she say anything nice?" Kirika asks brightly.

"Ah... no, not really," you say carefully. "It was just in passing." And technically you brought Kirika up, not Oriko, but hey, who's counting?

"Oh," the girl says, looking down and poking her index fingers together, looking altogether too much like a disconsolate puppy for someone you know could be a ruthless murderer at the behest of Oriko.

"Uh..." you say carefully. "I don't suppose you happen to know what Oriko's doing?"

"Um..." Kirika looks back up at you, still twiddling her fingers. "I think she said something about hiring someone? She didn't say who, though."

Huh. That's worrying. Oriko's biggest deficiency is -was?- the fact that she only had herself and Kirika to work with, but if she's hiring someone, whether another puella magi or just mercenaries or something...

"Homura," you call.

"I haven't found Kirika yet," she replies immediately.

"Yeah, that's because she's here," you inform her drily. "She's not attacking, just talking for now. She said Oriko's busy somewhere else. Fill you in on more, later."

"Acknowledged. Remember that Kirika is extremely dangerous," Homura says.

"Heeeeeey," Kirika says, leaning in closer to your face. You flinch back from the uncomfortably close puella magi. "Talkin' to someone else, or just thinking?"

"Hm? Yeah," you say vaguely, stepping backwards to get away from her. She lets you go, lolling back and forth on the balls of her feet, hands in the pockets of her school uniform.

"It's rude to do that, you know!" she says chidingly, wagging a finger at you. "If someone's in front of you, you shouldn't be talking to someone else!"

"Ah, of course. My apologies," you say, placatingly. "Hey, uh... would you happen to know someone by the name of Shizuki Hitomi? Green hair, about our age?"

Kirika looks thoughtful, scrunching up her face. "Nah, name doesn't sound familiar. Green hair... you're gonna have to be more specific than that. 's not that uncommon a colour."

"Near any staircases, perhaps?" you persist.

"Oh, you mean her!" the girl says, with a look of dawning understanding. "Girl who fell down the stairs yesterday? Yeah, who hasn't heard about her?"

There's a slight edge to her tone, as if she's forcing nonchalance. You decide not to push any further with the unstable magical girl, and cast for another subject. You spy the plush toy at her hip -is that a rabbit?- and decide that it's as good a subject change as any.

"Eh, was just wondering about it. Anyway... that's a nice toy. A gift from Oriko?" you say, gesturing.

"Oh, this?" Kirika says casually, unclipping the toy and holding it out for you to look at. It is a rabbit. "Yes, it's nice, isn't it?" And then she suddenly leans in close to you again, clutching the toy to her chest. "It's a symbol of our love- and you'd better not be threatening that," she snarls, bubbly cheeriness suddenly gone.

You hiss out a breath. Yep, there we go. Suddenly, you're very aware of her proximity to you and her potential to simply gut you there and then. You could probably hit her with your Grief manipulation after that, and you can probably heal yourself, but you're not in any particular hurry to be eviscerated. "I'm not," you protest weakly.

"Good! Just keep that in mind," Kirika chirps, now all smiles again. She rocks backwards on her feet. "You're not so bad, then."

You chuff out a relieved breath. "Yeah, I can do that. Hey, uh, can I offer some advice?"

"Yeah?" Kirika cocks her head like a curious bird.

"Uh. Your Wish. You should really talk about it Oriko, if you haven't already. It's really, really important that you do. Don't you think it'll hurt her when she finds out by herself?" you say. If you could just try defusing this particular bomb, perhaps Kirika would be less unstable?

"Huh?" Kirika says. "Oriko knows my Wish already! She was there, after all."

What?

"Anyway, I'm thirsty. I'm going to go buy a drink, wanna come with?" Kirika says brightly.

[] Write-in

=====​

Phone typing. Suffering. *grumble*

 

[Firnagzen]

You shake your head. "Sorry, but there's something else I need to do right now," you inform Kirika. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Mnyeeeeh..." Kirika makes a face. "I might be busy tomorrow. Maybe another time, then." She looks down at her watch. "Well, it was nice talking to you, but I'm very late for school now... Guess I'm skipping today. Bye!" She begins to walk away.

"Say 'hi' to Oriko for me, would you?" you call at her retreating back.

"Yeah, can do," Kirika calls back without turning, carelessly waving a hand back at you.

That was another thoroughly odd conversation, you muse, as you turn to check the bus routes to North Kasamino. You frown as you consider the implications of Oriko knowing about Kirika's Wish- but as far as you know, Oriko shouldn't have known about Kirika before the latter's contracting, because Kirika should never have worked up the nerve to talk to her. So that meant... what?

Finally determining the right bus route, you sit down, and wait for the bus. "Homura," you call, deciding to update the time traveller. "Any sign of Oriko or anything?"

"Nothing," Homura replies.

"That's a relief," you say. "OK, listen. Oriko might be recruiting right now; Kirika mentioned that she's hiring someone. Don't know who, though. Uh. There's more, but it's not something I can talk about right now. We should probably meet up later."

You can practically see Homura's frown deepen in response to that. "Noted."

"Right. See you later, Homura," you say.

You lean back in the seat at the bus stop, waiting for the bus, and frown up at the ceiling. Too damn many variables moving around, Oriko acting peculiarly nonhostile, things happening out of order... But for now, you're going to see what you can do about Yuma. There are probably people worse off... but she's one you know about, and can do something about.

The bus arrives, and you get on, dropping the requisite fare into the receptacle to get a ticket. You look suspiciously around the bus, hunting for more apparently-random bus encounters, and relax marginally when you don't see anyone familiar.

The bus ride is peaceful, with not many people on the bus, passing as it does through the old industrial districts. As expected, you draw a few odd looks, but no one comments. You stare out of the windows at the abandoned buildings and factories, mostly fenced off and sealed with 'DANGER! KEEP OUT!' signs, slowly rusting hulks of machinery strewn everywhere. Probably left over from Mitakihara's industrial boom, now fallen to the wayside.

The industrial district gives way to another city, more glittering steel and glass, as the bus drives over a bridge spanning a river. Mitakihara's sister city, Kasamino. You're headed for North Kasamino, today, hoping to find a certain green-haired girl.

Soon after, you arrive at your destination, and get off, before walking into an alley and taking to a roof for a better vantage point. This area... isn't nearly as well off as it could be, you observe. The buildings are somewhat run-down, peeling paint and damage quite apparent. Still, parks are easy enough to spot from this high up, verdant patches of greenery scattered amongst the concrete and steel.

You only spot two parks, and hop along the roofs, enjoying the rush of wind to contrast the mid-morning sun, but still paying close attention to your senses. The area seems to be relatively clear of Witches, and you don't sense any Witches or magica-

There's a Barrier over there in that park, and a presence -magic, puella magi- approaching the Barrier at a dead run. Normal human running speed, ground level, you note.

[] Write-in

=====​

Added a 'Useful Information' section to the Index, consolidating hints that I've dropped.