Intermezzo
Eight girls sat in the spacious compartment of a Tsubame Shinkansen as it raced to the south-west. Their destination was Kagoshima, and their goal was intense relaxation.
"Wow! Fast!" cried Charlotte as the peach-haired girl watched the scenery blow by at 300kph. The youngest Puella Magi's excitement was infectious as it flickered to her friends through the link which they shared. Defeating the Walpurgis had forged a bond which ran soul-deep within the girls, one that none of them would give up for anything in the world. Well, most of the time.
The Shinkansen had 2x2 seating, and the Puella Magi had set for themselves assigned seating; Kyōko and Sayaka, Homura and Madoka, Mami and Hitomi, and Nova and Charlotte grouped up and made sure to sit besides each other on the same side of the train. This was not just for friendship's sake- Kyōko and Sayaka had been riding along on a tram in their hometown of Mitikahara and discovered something rather unpleasant about their empathic link; namely linking with your partner while you're each looking out a different side of the train will induce vertigo to where you spew up your last meal.
"Are you still mad at me?" Homura Akemi draped herself over the headrest of the seat in front of her, so as to have direct access to Sayaka Miki, who was in something of a huff. As it so happened, Homura was paying for the trip, which had nearly derailed the girls before they even left Mitikahara. "Akemi, you fiend! How could you?!" Sayaka had been shaking with rage when she had discovered how come Homura was suddenly flush with cash.
"I do not see what you are complaining about. Mister Shining White Knight just put so many Yakuza asses in jail he's running out of jail. You should be happy." That had been the wrong thing to say, for Sayaka had actually drawn her lance, she was so angry.
"Oh, so just because a bunch of little fish got turned into sushi makes it okay to let the big fish go?" Replying with 'well, yes' had been an even worse decision. Sayaka might have actually struck Homura at that point. Certainly the blunette had tried to stab Homura, but a tangle of thorny vines had pulled her down. That in turn had led to Sayaka seeing something wholly novel: Madoka angry. The shock of seeing that was enough to knock Sayaka off her rant, but the pink-haired girl had stared down Sayaka until the seething blunette had dismissed her weapons.
"Now then, Homura-chan you knew speaking like that to Sayaka-chan was going to upset her. Please don't do that. Sayaka-chan, you know your father accepted the deal he was given. You need to discuss the situation with him, not Homura-chan." Madoka had looked back and forth between her friends, until they both backed down. "Good. Now apologize to each other so we can all go to the beach together." Reluctantly the girls had said their apologies, but it had been enough at the time.
"No, I guess just confused is all. I mean you could've ratted out the whole Yamaguchi-kai in one go, why didn't you?" Sayaka twisted in her seat to look up at Homura as she said her piece.
"Answer me this; would putting Old Cat Yamaguchi behind bars bring all crime to an end?"
"Well, no, but-"
"That's why. The Old Cat is pretty mellow; anyone who would move in to take Yamaguchi's place would have been worse. Your father knows this, which is why he didn't push any further than he did, and why he actually left Yamaguchi with enough power to keep from being overthrown."
"But that's-!" Sayaka couldn't come up with words to adequately express her irritation. "That's like one step away from condoning evil!"
"I suppose you could see it that way. But while I'd love to have a stimulating philosophical debate with you, this really isn't the place or time." Homura patted her tummy for emphasis, and Sayaka rolled her eyes as she knew well what the black-haired girl meant.
"I hear ya there. Ooof." Mami's contribution to the trip had been a supply of cake so generous, even Kyōko was feeling sedentary. No, arguing on a full belly would be a waste. Sayaka sat back and just enjoyed the ride and the company. Even Homura.
While the Puella Magi were travelling, another party was preparing to make a journey, only with far less anticipation, and considerably more dread and bickering.
"I so can't believe this! Why do they get to go and not me?" Whatever else could be said for the girl in question, she certainly didn't lack for self-esteem. Discretion, however, was another matter.
"If you truly don't know why you're not allowed to go along, then that is why you are being excluded." The reply was given only because proximity made the speaker the victim of the rant, and there was a tiny outside chance that talking back might short-circuit what passed for logic in the other's brain and get her to talk about something else at least.
"Well how very Zen of you." No such luck was in store for the unfortunate victim today. The first girl snapped her fingers, as though an idea had just come to her. "Ohhh, I get it! You're just pissed because your better-looking rival gets to go and you have to stay here, so you're looking to make me miserable so you can feel better about yourself."
"Okay, let me put this is terms you can understand: Shut. Up. And. Get. Lost."
"And just what are you gonna do if I don't?"
"Ap-ples and honey, the jam-in-the-tea is ap-pri-co-ot." replied the other in a sing-song voice.
"You wouldn't dare!" Now there was actual fear in the first girl's voice.
"Try me. I really mean it."
"Ohh, I see why you wanted to come to come to Kagoshima!" Sayaka was standing in front of a market stall, staring at a daikon radish. A football-sized daikon radish, that weighed 7kg.
"Well, I admit it was a consideration. That variety only grows down here in the volcanic soil." Mami had a smile on her face as she examined the huge root. "Why, that would keep the Hungry Ones busy for almost a week!" Sayaka giggled at that, for Charlotte was turning out to be able to keep pace with Kyōko at the dinner table. Maybe it's for the best that Homerun took that Yakuza boss for a ride. Groceries would be the death of us. Not only were Kyōko and Charlotte epic eaters, Nova was turning into a challenge at the table, too. Apparently, Incubators had dispensed with tastebuds along with emotions, and Nova seemed determined to make up for 5,000 years of going without in a month. And to top it all off, some of the white-haired girl's tastes were . . . eccentric, as they had found out upon arriving in Kagoshima.
To celebrate arriving in the southern city (or maybe just because they were on vacation and could splurge), the Puella Magi hit up an ice cream shop, where Nova had ordered a sundae . . . of peppermint ice cream smothered in strawberries. "Well, if chocolate and strawberries is good, and chocolate and peppermint is good, this should be good too, right?" was what the ex-Incubator said to justify her choice.
"Hey, what the hell! There's no 'transitive property of taste', silly! Also, I hate myself for knowing there's a 'transitive property' at all." Kyōko held her head in her hands when she realized what she had spouted out.
"Yes! Sayaka's Merit-Exam Boot Camp of Justice claims another satisfied customer!"
"Sayaka! Sit down!" Kyōko tried to pull the blunette down, but Sayaka remained steadfast on her feet, finger thrust skyward to emphasize the Justice! in her scheme.
"What? Why?"
"Because," said Kyōko after forcibly repositioning Sayaka so she could see her audience. "When the nice people in the ice cream store in Strike Witches cosplay start looking at you like you've lost your mind, it's time to sit down and shut up."
"Oh."
"Now finish your ice cream before Charlotte steals it from you." Sayaka rolled her eyes.
"Charlotte is a good girl, it's you I'm watching!"
"Nah, if I want your ice cream I'll take it fair and square." replied Kyōko with a grin full of fangs. Sayaka had loaded a huge spoonful of her sundae into her mouth right when the redhead said that, so she settled for a dirty look to express what she thought of Kyōko's chances.
"Oh, this should be interesting," muttered Homura as she felt the spike of glee radiating from Kyōko. In one smooth continuous motion the redhead pulled the spoon from Sayaka's mouth, cupped her chin to tip the blunette's face to the appropriate angle, and planted a wonderful kiss upon her lips, long and lingering and hot enough that Sayaka thought her ice cream was going to melt. It did disappear, but only because Kyōko deftly scooped it from Sayaka's mouth with her tongue on the way out. Okay, I suppose you win this round, Sayaka sent, as she was still a bit too weak in the knees to speak.
Sundown found the girls checking into a hotel somewhat off the beaten path but with a nice view of the famous volcanic mountains. The day's excursion to the beach had been a bit of a wash- apparently Nova hadn't thought to include "swimming skills" in the package which she wished for, with predictable results. In the end it had pretty much boiled down to Kyōko and Sayaka chasing each other around the beach and acting silly, which suited the other girls just fine. Homura had made the mistake of dozing off and had been buried under a crude replica of Mt. Sakurajima to "protect her skin from being burned", or so she had been informed. The black-haired Puella Magi swore bloody revenge, but so far the culprit had not identified herself. Madoka promised to help Homura wash her hair, which mollified her greatly.
The room which they had been given was a massive, wide-open space with plenty of futons. Looking around at the open space, Kyōko waggled her eyes at Sayaka.
"Hey, Blueberry, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think so, but you forgot to pack the chocolate syrup."
"Do wha-?" The red-haired girl looked at Sayaka with confusion written on her face.
"You're not going to make me spell it out in front of tender young ears, are you?"
"Oh, pfft," replied Charlotte. "Half the stuff you say you're gonna do isn't even physically possible, and you don't have the guts to go through with the other half. Call me when you're actually going to do something naughtier than kissing!" and then the little peach-haired girl gave the red-and-blue team a raspberry.
"Mami Tomoe, just what have you been teaching this poor, innocent child? And I was talking about Hitomi anyway!" Sayaka snapped back, drawing a "huh?" from the green-haired girl. "And furthermore, it-was-a-joke! What, did'ja all leave your sense of humor at the beach?" That stalled the conversation for a moment, until Homura stepped to the fore.
"I will be retiring to the bath now. Last chance to beg for mercy." When no one decided to take advantage of the generous offer, Homura flicked her hair dismissively (scattering a bit of sand over the floor) and marched out of the room, with Madoka close behind.
Some hours later, the Puella Magi were abed, in an arrangement like thus: Madoka had reverted to a state best described as "distressingly cute", curled up in Homura's arms on one futon. Mami was laid out in the perfect image of a princess at rest. Meanwhile Charlotte was evincing a bone-deep inability to sleep peacefully, and had managed to scatter her blankets and pillow in an impressive arc across the room, and was currently using Mami for a pillow. Nova had bucked the trend and packed her bedding into one corner of the room, and curled up in a cat-like fashion which left the other girls with aches and pains just looking at her posture. And Sayaka . . . was awake. Sort of. Feeling impish in her half-asleep state, the blunette reached over to grope Kyōko a bit until she fell back asleep.
Whoa, what?! Panic surged through Sayaka when she realized she had grabbed a bigger handful than usual, and she looked over to see her hand upon . . . Hitomi. Kyōko was not there and the green-haired girl had appropriated the space. Sudden sweat beaded upon Sayaka's forehead, and she whispered "sorry" as she withdrew her hand, but Hitomi replied with an unconscious "mmm" and moved to keep in contact with the blunette's hand. Carefully avoiding picking up on the green-haired girl's thoughts through the empathic link, Sayaka maneuvered her hand free and then looked around to see where her intended target had gone.
Sayaka found Kyōko standing outside on the porch, silhouetted in all her beauty against the full moon. The blunette slipped out of her bedding and came up beside Kyōko, casting out with her link to keep from startling the other girl.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Yeah, I knew I wouldn't." Kyōko looked up at the moon with a wistful smile on her face, and Sayaka was surprised to see tears sparkling in her eyes. "Every time I end up in a new location, it's always hard to settle in right away. And when I saw the moonlight illuminate your skin . . . sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me." The red-haired girl snuffled, and tried to wipe away tears which continued to spill forth. Sayaka gathered her love up in a powerful hug.
"E-everyt-time I get something good, it gets taken away from me. That's why I was so cold for s-so long, I thought if I never climbed back up, I wouldn't have so far to fall." Kyōko looked up at Sayaka with haunted eyes. "I'm so af-fraid now, if I stumble, I'll never survive the fall. It looked like you were a ghost, you weren't real for just a moment, and I couldn't take it."
"Shh, shh." Sayaka silenced Kyōko with a kiss. "I'll never leave you. And if anyone tried to split us apart, what do you think Madoka and the gang would do to em?" That turned a sob into a hiccuping laugh. Then Sayaka tipped Kyōko's head up and planted a kiss on her cheek, and then another on her throat. "C'mon, the night is still young. Let me show you how real I am. Besides . . ." Sayaka had a smile on her face that somehow managed to seem as sharp-toothed as Kyōko's trademark grin. "We need to prove that brat wrong, am I right?" Kyōko nodded, and the tears rolling down her cheeks now were out of gratitude for the wonderful gift named Sayaka Miki which had been given to her. "Go get your futon."
Deep in the night which shrouded Mitikahara town, three figures met up. Each of the three respected the other two she was obliged to work with as as fellow combatants of equal skill, which was nothing like trust or camaraderie, but it would have to do for now.
"Okay, I got us a place. It's not the greatest, but it'll do. Everyone remember how this is supposed to go?"
"We find the source of the disturbance," replied another. "And we ensure that it is no threat. Nothing less is what is expected of us, and I do not intend to disappoint." To make clear her intent, she let the moonlight kiss the edge of a supremely sharp blade.