[X] Practicing Magic
-[X] While you're at it, check if the telepathic connection allows you to get a read on Mami with your magic sense.
-[X] Maybe convince Nagisa to practice with you?
--[X] For instance, ask her to use her magic and see what it looks like to your magic sense. No. of Votes: 2 boonerunner GardenerBriareus
[X] Practicing Magic
-[X] While you're at it, check if the telepathic connection allows you to get a read on Mami with your magic sense.
-[X] Don't forget to ask Mami if she learned anything about that girl Homura.
-[X] Maybe convince Nagisa to practice with you?
--[X] For instance, ask her to use her magic and see what it looks like to your magic sense. No. of Votes: 2 akrasiel23 MrLZRS
[X] Exploring the town No. of Votes: 1 InfiniteDaze
[x] Tatsuya, I mean akrasiel23 No. of Votes: 1 UbeOne
[x] Kidnapping children. No. of Votes: 1 Hyp3rB14d3
[Magic Practice.] You answer Mami after just a moment's hesitation. Hopefully that will be something active you can do without too much risk. You're beginning to feel restless. Back in Hell you were constantly doing something, even if it was hiding from monsters. Here in the past you seem to find long stretches with nothing to do and it's getting to you just a bit.
[All right.] Mami says with a bit of hesitation. [Make sure that wherever you got to practice, there's no one around you just in case. Stay safe.]
[Yes.] You instinctively cut the connection and turn your attention back to Nagisa.
She notices and looks up at you. "Tatsu-nii? What was that about?"
"My friend is a Magical Girl. She was talking directly to my mind. I didn't know she could do that and it surprised me." You explain.
Nagisa's eyes widen and she sort of smiles, sort of drops her jaw. She looks both surprised and happy, which is weird but you just go with it. "Really?" She asks in a high-pitched voice. "You're friends with a Magical Girl?"
"Yes."
"That's so cool! What's she like? Will I get to meet her? Where is she now?" Nagisa rattles of her questions quickly, leaving you slightly stunned.
"She's…" How to describe Mami? "… Nice. You'll get to meet her and right now she's at school."
"Coooooool." Nagisa says and you sigh. She hasn't even met Mami yet and she's already… acting however this is. You're not really sure exactly what Nagisa is doing but it seems both silly and a bit familiar. Then you remember. She's got the same eyes thinking about Mami as Sayaka did when she looked at you.
Thankfully, Nagisa stops looking off into nothing and refocuses on you. "I'm a Magical Girl too you know." She says, puffing up her chest a little. Normally you see that people trying to intimidate you but when Nagisa does it she just looks, what's the word, cute? Yeah, cute. Still, you're not sure why she's trying to look intimidating. She still doesn't feel hostile to you, so why…
It's probably some social thing from this time that you don't get. Putting it off for now, you stand up from the table. "I know. C'mon, we're going out." You're not leaving her alone after all, so if you're going out to practice magic, Nagisa might as well come along.
"Okay Tatsu-nii!" She replies with a smile. Then she grabs her plate, empty of food, and runs over to the kitchen. When she comes out she doesn't have the plate, so apparently she put it away or something. "Ready to go! Um, where are we going, anyway?"
You open the door, wait until Nagisa is outside, and then lock it closed. "An abandoned building or something. We're going to practice magic."
"We? Silly Tatsu-nii, boys can't have magic." Nagisa says with a giggle. You don't bother correcting her. "But magic practice is great idea! I can't wait to see what I can do! But why are we going to an abandoned building? Oh, it's so I can practice without anyone seeing, duh!" As you watch, she raps her knuckle lightly against her own head and sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth. You have no idea what that gesture is supposed to mean but it's cute anyway.
Heading for the stairs, Nagisa skips along and keeps talking. "There are a lot of abandoned buildings on the east edge of town. We should find lots of places to practice there and- Tatsu-nii, where are you going?"
You look down at Nagisa, who's still on the landing and was headed for the stairs downwards. "The roof. Jumping's faster."
"Jumping?" Nagisa mutters in confusion. Shrugging, you turn around and start heading up the stairs again. Behind you, you hear Nagisa cry out at your back. "Ah! H-Hey! Wait up!"
You arrive at the roof and only have to wait a sort while before Nagisa joins you, hands on her knees and gasping for breath. It seems that Magical Girls don't get enhanced stamina when they're not transformed.
"Stupid –hah, hah- Stupid long legs." Nagisa grumbles between panting. "Did you have to take the stairs three at a time."
She seems mad. Not entirely sure what to do to make it up to her, you reach over and rub her back until she's recovered. After she does you begin walking over the edge of the roof, calling back to her over your shoulder. "Transform, then follow me." Before she can say anything you push off and jump to the next building.
You turn around to watch for Nagisa to make sure she makes the jump fine. It's not that far, at least by your new standards, but it's still across the street. It'll probably be intimidating for someone who's never done this before.
An explosion of sweetness fills your senses, although it's not as strong as what you felt from Nagisa earlier. You wouldn't be able to sense her transform if she was back where you picked her up and you were still here, so what you sensed earlier couldn't have been her transforming. Maybe it was her making a contract with Kyubey? Probably, that seems like the sort of thing would make a bigger magical impact.
As you watch, Nagisa approaches the edge of her roof and looks down. She immediately backs away to the center of the roof. For a moment you think you might have to jump back and carry her if she's too scared but after a few seconds she runs to the edge and jumps as hard as she can. Even with the running start she barely makes it, landing on the edge of the roof. She loses her balance and begins to tilt backwards, spinning her arms as she tries to not fall. You dash forward and grab her, pulling her into a hug, making sure she's safe. She holds you tight as well, breathing hard and face buried into your chest.
After Nagisa recovers from her fright you let her go and she pouts up at you. "How'd you make it look so easy? You barely put any effort into it at all." You ignore her question and stare at her. Her outfit is extremely strange. Even to you it seems very mismatched and just plain odd. Still, you guess it doesn't matter.
You shrug. "I'm stronger than you." Nagisa's frown deepens. "We'll stick to shorter jumps for now." You tell her. You're fairly certain she could survive falling but you don't want to take that chance.
From there you and Nagisa make your way to the abandoned buildings district, keeping to winding route that just has shorter jumps. It's a little annoying for you to not just head straight there but keeping Nagisa safe is more important. As you approach the district you can feel Witches at the edges of your senses, all as awful as the one you found when you first got to this time. Still, they seem to keep further into the area, so as long as you keep to the edges you should have plenty of time to run away if one of them comes for you.
Landing on the roof of a long, squat building you take a look around. There don't seem to be any humans about and all the witches you can sense are pretty far away. It seems like this will do fine. There's even a window in the roof for ease of access. "We'll train here." You tell Nagisa.
"Okay!" She replies enthusiastically. "How are we getting in?" You point at roof-window and Nagisa runs over to it. Kneeling down, she tries to open it but fails. "It's locked!"
You walk over as well. Instead of trying to open it, you simply stop on the glass, shattering it, and jump down to the concrete floor below. After you land you look back up at Nagisa. "C'mon."
Nagisa looks like she's going to say something for a moment but then shuts her mouth and just jumps inside as well. Rather than land on the floor like you, she makes a smaller jump to one of the huge shelves that are standing inside. Looking around, there are at ten shelves standing upright, almost reaching the ceiling, all side by side but with enough space between them to comfortably walk between. At one side there more shelves but they're stacked on top of each other like they'd fallen over. There are also some rusted pieces of machinery you don't understand.
"It's an abandoned warehouse! Good choice Tatsu-nii!" Nagisa shouts at you. She hasn't moved from her spot on top of the shelf while you looked around. "So what are we going to do?"
[] Training plan?
[X] Practicing Magic
-[X] While you're at it, check if the telepathic connection allows you to get a read on Mami with your magic sense.
-[X] Don't forget to ask Mami if she learned anything about that girl Homura.
-[X] Maybe convince Nagisa to practice with you?
--[X] For instance, ask her to use her magic and see what it looks like to your magic sense.
I got tired of writing and figured I'd give you the chance to add anything if you so chose.
So far, it has been implied that Nagisa's only remaining family was her mother, although we should visit her home sometime in the future so that she can get all her things before she moves in with us.
<Modified vote in abeyance>
[X] Practicing Magic
-[X] Try telepathy with Nagisa. While you're at it, check what the telepathic connection looks like to your magic sense.
-[X] Ask Nagisa to use her magic and see what it looks like to your magic sense.
<new idea for practicing>
[x] The best way to fight demons (or witches) is to hit them as hard as possible when they're not expecting it.
-[x] Practice using magically enhanced punches on the shelves or machinery. See how hard Nagisa can hit.
-[x] Teach Nagisa how to use cover to stay hidden until the time is right to strike.
<Modified vote in abeyance>
[X] Practicing Magic
-[X] Try telepathy with Nagisa. While you're at it, check what the telepathic connection looks like to your magic sense.
-[X] Ask Nagisa to use her magic and see what it looks like to your magic sense.
<new idea for practicing>
[x] The best way to fight demons (or witches) is to hit them as hard as possible when they're not expecting it.
-[x] Practice using magically enhanced punches on the shelves or machinery. See how hard Nagisa can hit.
-[x] Teach Nagisa how to use cover to stay hidden until the time is right to strike.
I'm mostly behind this vote, but I don't understand why wouldn't Tatsuya try to know how his magic works since one of the reasons we are here is to find out about that.
I'm mostly behind this vote, but I don't understand why wouldn't Tatsuya try to know how his magic works since one of the reasons we are here is to find out about that.
He is practicing his magic in the following ways:
1. Sensing telepathy
2. Sensing Nagisa's magic
3. Getting ideas for how to use magic by seeing what Nagisa does instinctively
4. Practicing magical enhancement
There are other aspects of his magic that he isn't practicing (such as attacking directly with magic), but magic sensing and enhancement are the two areas that I expect to be the most useful in the long term.
He is practicing his magic in the following ways:
1. Sensing telepathy
2. Sensing Nagisa's magic
3. Getting ideas for how to use magic by seeing what Nagisa does instinctively
4. Practicing magical enhancement
There are other aspects of his magic that he isn't practicing (such as attacking directly with magic), but magic sensing and enhancement are the two areas that I expect to be the most useful in the long term.
Kind of a boring but practical approach, seems fair enough for now. We do need to have access to our magical potential eventually though, we can't afford to not have an edge in case we face one tricky witch, an ambush from another meguca or, God forbid, if the devil sends her Clara Dolls against us.