Yes, it's another Madoka Magica crossover and my second Satone-centric chu2 oneshot. Enjoy if you can!

…

Yuuta Togashi stood at the balcony of his apartment, looking over the bare trees that lined the side of the building. It was a cool winter morning where even the softest of breezes threatened to chill him to the bone.

"Good morning, Hero!"

Up above, just a floor higher, Yuuta heard the voice of Satone Shichimiya greet him in her ever enthusiastic way.

"The winds whisper of an oncoming storm tonight. A wonderful time for an adventure, yes?"

Yuuta smiled wryly, shaking his head. "Honestly Shichimiya, if you decide to go out tonight of all nights, we're gonna have problems."

A rope dropped down from the balcony above and Satone rappelled down in a single smooth motion. Within a second, she was standing there on Yuuta's balcony railings, clad in her usual magical devil-girl attire. "I doubt there'll be problems."

Yuuta whistled, impressed. "You're getting better at the whole rappelling thing."

Satone smiled mischievously. "I try," she said with obviously fake modesty. She looked out towards the city and sighed. "There is nothing to worry about, Hero. Even I can tell the difference between an adventure and a suicide mission. Today is no different."

Yuuta frowned at the sudden change in tone. What was she talking about even? He was just about to ask when Satone stepped off the balcony and dropped straight down.

Yuuta went wide eyed. "Shichimi—!"

When he looked down, he saw that she was on the ground standing with a hand casually placed on her hip. She looked up at him and gave a lazy salute before walking away.

Yuuta stared in bewilderment. "What the hell was that about…?" With a shake of his head, he re-entered his apartment. The hot water he was heating was probably already boiling.

…

Dinner that night was lively.

Once again, due to her parents' work, Satone was going to be left to wait out the storm alone in her apartment. Rikka was not about to let that happen. Upon hearing about how Satone's plight, Rikka immediately invited the self-proclaimed magical girl to sleep over. As impromptu as it was, Yuuta and Kuzuha were also happy to have her. Thus, Satone had dinner with the members of the Togashi household.

As the four of them ate, Yuuta spoke. "Say, Shichimiya…"

Satone raised her eyebrows and swallowed the food she was chewing. "What's up?"

"Earlier, you went out, right? If you don't mind me asking, what did you do? It doesn't seem like there's much for you to do right now considering how everyone's closing up in preparation for the storm tonight."

Satone wagged a finger as she smiled. "Silly Hero. T'was a mere supply run. I must be prepared for whatever happens tonight."

"Uh… supply run?"

"Batteries, canned goods, matches, clean water—the usual necessities."

Yuuta sweatdropped. "That's kinda… What, were you preparing for the apocalypse? It's just a snowstorm. It's not like it's the end of the world."

"Yuuta, the Magical Devil Girl is correct to be prepared." Rikka said scoldingly. "It is much better to be over-prepared as opposed to under—especially for events such as this, where nature's wrath shall sweep over the city and creatures of darkness shall rise in the aftermath."

Satone chimed in agreement. "Too true, Eye of the Wicked Lord. And during the storm, the barrier around this household shall be much weaker than it usually is. I also went out of my way to fortify said barrier this morning. You must be cautious in this trying time. Even the littlest amount of malevolence slipping through the cracks may taint your will and cause your powers of darkness to spiral out of control!"

As Satone said her spiel about the supernatural dangers of a snowstorm, Yuuta couldn't help but roll his eyes. According to the weather forecasts, the blizzard hitting that night would last until the early to mid afternoon of the next day. Once it stopped, the various city departments would mobilize to clean up the snow on all the public roads and sidewalks. By nightfall, the city would be mostly free from snow. Satone was indeed correct in stocking up for the upcoming storm, but it was still a bit overkill in Yuuta's eyes.

"That's enough out of you both. Your food's gonna get cold."

With those final scolding words, conversation at the dinner table was paused and eating resumed.

…

Yuuta awoke in the middle of the night in complete darkness. The only thing he was aware of was the muffled roar of the wind outside and the sensation of a million icy needles stabbing into his skin at once. It was so cold. So unbearably cold.

"The heater must have broken or something," he grumbled to himself.

Groggily, he got out of bed, taking a sharp breath as he slid the blanket off. He had to grope around in the dark for the door, with every step in the chilly air a slow and agonizing process. It took him a whole twenty seconds to find the exit to his room.

Once in the kitchen, Yuuta switched the lights on, allowing himself a moment for his eyes to adjust to the sudden increase in brightness. Strangely enough, the lights were dimmer than he expected them to be. He might need to change the light bulbs for newer ones soon.

To that thought, Yuuta grimaced. Why were so many things in the apartment in need of replacement now of all times?

With a shake of his head, he picked up the kettle, filled it with water and started up the stove. A gentle warmth radiated from the small flames. He then held his hands towards the stove, rubbing them together to more evenly distribute the heat. Oh, sweet heater, how could he have taken thee for granted?

Yuuta then blinked, suddenly torn away from his internal dramatics by an electrical hum and further dimming of the lights.

His frown deepened at this. Perhaps the light bulbs needed to be replaced sooner than he first thought?

He then blinked for the third time in as many minutes. For whatever reason, he heard the voice of someone crying for help. He couldn't pin who it was but it was someone he knew

He turned to his closed balcony window, noting the web of cracks that had appeared on the glass and continued to spread.

The voice called to him again. It was most definitely coming from outside.

A terrifying chill overcame his body which he instinctively knew was completely unrelated to the cold.

Someone was trapped outside in the blizzard. He needed to help them.

He ran and stumbled towards the balcony, his limbs suddenly feeling heavy. The very act of breathing became more difficult with every step. Darkness creeped along the corner of his eyes as he reached for the door knob.

"Hero!"

Yuuta jolted awake to the shrill whistle of steam venting from the kettle. It confused him to find that he was in front of the stove again but he shook his head and shut off the gas. The lights weren't dim and the only sound outside was the roar of the wind. He turned to the balcony and saw no web of cracks on the glass.

He rubbed his eyes with a groan. He must have been sleepier than he first thought.

He quickly made himself a cup of hot chocolate before retreating back to his bedroom.

…

Satone couldn't help but tap her feet with impatience. Her soul gem was currently on the balcony railing, being purified by the grief cubes she had harvested from the wraith that had nearly consumed Yuuta. The gem shone like a beacon within the darkness.

Satone bit her lip. "I thought putting those barriers around the apartment complex would stop things like that from happening."

A white creature the size of a cat padded out of the shadows. "It certainly makes it less likely but we never stated that it was a guarantee." It looked at her with glowing red eyes for a moment before licking its paw idly. "We do commend your reaction time, however. You arrived just in time to prevent that wraith from feeding on Yuuta Togashi. He would be feeling quite unpleasant right now had you arrived later."

"Yeah? Well, I try." Satone managed a small smile and picked up her soul gem, slotting it neatly into the brace of twisted wire on her cheek. "Though, all things considered, I'd rather I was working on assumptions that were actually correct. That scare could have definitely been avoided"

She put her forearm on the railing and swept the grief cubes towards the incubator. Said incubator rushed forward to catch the cubes into the pouch on its back, also successfully catching an armful of snow that had also been dragged with the cubes.

The incubator did not seem annoyed as it shook the snow from its fur. "If it's any consolation, you technically weren't wrong," it said. "The enchantments you cast around this apartment was instrumental in protecting it during this blizzard. Such an understanding of magic is something most girls don't live long enough to learn. You understand it intuitively"

Satone leaned down and pet the incubator affectionately. "Cute. But flattery can only get you so far. When I wished to understand magic, I meant actually understanding it. All I've been doing is winging it and hoping it works. I'm no closer to true understanding than when I first contracted."

The incubator leaned into Satone's hand. "You will understand, Satone Shichimiya," it purred as she scratched behind its ear. "Give it time. Sometimes wishes work in strange ways but they will always grant you exactly what you ask for."

Satone rolled her eyes. "Mhmm."

She continued petting even as her other hand twirled her scepter between her fingers. It was a basic clairvoyance spell, searching the area for any spots where the miasma was particularly thick. She mentally routed how she'd tackle the patches of wraith activity she detected and made sure to ignore any spawns that were across the river.

Once she was happy with the route, she picked the incubator up by the scruff of the neck and set it on her shoulder. She then took a step onto the balcony railing and bounded into the blizzard.

Satone's wish to understand magic was not an uncommon one, apparently. And the magic it came with was similarly so.

Broadly speaking, she was something of an empath, capable of hearing and feeling the thoughts and emotions of anyone in close proximity to her. It was not terribly suited to combat.

She had other types of magic as well, though none quite as focused. She could conjure fire, for example, but only a small candle flame. She could also create mild electric currents, but it wasn't strong enough to pose as anything more than a mild inconvenience. None of her other magics was really that impressive, she found.

Then there was her scepter.

The weapon was a metal rod with an encircled star at the end, more a blunt instrument than some fancy magic wand, but it was still functionally that same as one. It allowed her to make use of whatever type of magic she wanted as long as her gem was bright enough to power it. As for how the scepter allowed her to do so, she didn't understand. It was all instinctual—which bothered her to no end given what her wish was.

Still, she couldn't say it wasn't useful.

"So, any updates on the whole partner situation?" Satone asked even as she landed in the middle of a group of wraiths congregating near the convenience store.

She gestured dramatically with her scepter and several shockwaves tore through the nearest dozen or so wraiths. A quick dodge of a deadly laser attack and another dramatic sweep of her arms later, the remaining wraiths were reduced into so much torn robes and splatters of black ichor on the snow. She then offered an open hand to the battlefield and the dropped grief cubes to flew into her palm. She pocketed all of them.

As quickly as she arrived, she cleared the wraith spawn and moved on to the next one on her route.

"Your efficiency is always appreciated, Satone Shichimiya," the incubator said from her shoulder, earning an endeared roll of the eyes from Satone. "We've yet to find any new potential contractees who would conveniently hunt with you here this territory. Although… We would also like to point out that Rikka Takanashi remains a viable—"

"No," Satone cut in, vertically bisecting wraith upon landing at the next spawn. She twirled her scepter and the fate of the first wraith was met by the rest. The spawn was near a civilian house and the wraiths were already feeding. It was ample distraction to clear them quickly. The humans being consumed would likely feel quite ill in the morning but they'd survive.

The incubator's tail swished against the back of Satone's neck as she collected the cubes and moved on.

"We still do not understand your unwillingness to allow Rikka Takanashi to contract. We—"

"Stop," Satone cut.

She landed on the power lines overlooking a side street, feeling them flex under her weight. A layer of snow fell from the cables as she side-eyed the incubator on her shoulder. She was unamused but not markedly upset.

"I'm not having this argument again, incubator. She has a hard enough time with life as a mundane. I'll not make it any harder."

"She could wish for—"

"Not another word," Satone snapped.

The incubator responded with a blank look of incomprehension. Satone met it with a stern gaze. It was a stalemate.

"We will never understand you humans," it eventually said, turning towards the nearest wraith spawn. "The miasma over there seems particularly potent. Please be careful."

Satone smirked sardonically and tapped the incubator's forehead with a finger. They hadn't come to an agreement. They had merely shelved the topic for later. It would continue to be brought up again until Rikka contracted or Satone died—whichever came first.

In the meantime, Satone was still on the hunt.

"You might wanna sit this one out," she said, crouching on the power lines. "This next one looks like a pretty big spawn. I'll be needing full range for this."

The incubator jumped off her shoulder and padded along the cable. "Please be careful," it repeated as it settled in to watch from a distance.

Satone shook the snow from her hair and clothes before bounding towards the largest wraith spawn she had yet encountered that night.

…

Satone Shichimiya slammed the door to her room shut. It had been a long day. Between the hours of boring lectures, countless unengaging conversations with her classmates, and an overall disinterest in school in general, she could not articulate how absolutely done with it all she actually was. All she could do was release a tired groan as she collapsed onto her bed.

A life without adversity is a boring one, Satone had once told herself. She knew she did not come up with that saying on her own but could not for the life of her remember where she got the quote. With her face buried into her pillow, her mind just wandered towards it for some reason. And quite frankly, she wasn't sure if she believed it anymore—at least not without appending it a little. A life with boring adversity was still in fact boring.

She rolled over and thought for a moment. For years now she had been indulging in imagined tales of a world more fantastic than it seemed. She still enjoyed it of course—she doubted that would ever change, but there were days where she didn't want to see the world covered with the veil she had cast over it. She'd see the world as it was. And it would be boring. A world she didn't want to live in.

With a tired sigh, Satone got out of bed and began changing out of her school uniform. Introspection was all fine and dandy but she had obligations. She still had to do her homework and cook dinner. Her philosophical musings could wait.

"Would your soul shine brighter if magic and miracles did exist?"

Satone blinked as she rummaged through her school bag. She didn't just hear that voice did she?

"Not in a technical sense, no. The human mind interprets this kind of communication in ways it can understand. In your case, as is the case with most people, you're interpreting it as a dialogue occurring through telepathy."

Satone smiled with slight amusement at the rather pedantic explanation. She looked around her room curiously.

"You've piqued my curiosity, disembodied voice," she said. "What secrets of magic are you willing to share with me?"

She felt mildly silly, speaking to thin air, but she knew quite well how ironic it was that she felt silly given her hobbies. Then a furry white creature jumped from one of her shelves onto her bed and settled down on it like a cat.

"While 'disembodied' is not wholly inaccurate on account of our physiology, we incubators can still have bodies," the creature—an incubator, apparently—said with a swish of its tail.

Satone watched the creature warily, pinching her cheek with mild disbelief. It didn't seem like she was dreaming.

"As for what secrets we are willing to share, that is all a matter of how much you wish to know. We will tell you, now, that magic and miracles do exist. You also have the potential to wield it if your soul shines brightly enough. All you need do is form a contract with me."

If she were being honest, the offer was incredibly tempting—she wanted in from the word go. That being said, the word contract also rang alarm bells in her mind just as immediately. She felt it prudent to trust those warning signals.

Still, though… magic… Magic…

She eyed the incubator with equal parts caution and excitement. "I'm all for uncovering my potential for magic but I'm not about the sell my soul to the devil for that power."

At least not again, she wanted to say. Of course, her persona as the Magical Devil Girl wasn't actually real so she felt it a bad idea to mention her fantasies to the incubator.

"Oh, we are fully aware of your delusions, Satone Shichimiya," the creature said matter-of-factly.

Satone felt heat rush to her cheeks. It knew…? No, of course… Of course it knew. It was a telepathic creature that could grant magic to people. Why wouldn't it know?

"If it makes you more comfortable, a contract with us is not unlike the Faustian bargain you made with the Devil of your make-believe world. In fact, we'd say it's rather similar. It is for that reason that you are an ideal candidate."

Satone blinked. "Oh, it is?" A sly grin tugged ather lips. "And I am? Well, in that case," she eagerly grabbed the creature by the scruff of the neck, "start talking. What are the stipulations for this supposed contract? Tell me everything."

The incubator stared impassively, hanging limp from Satone's hold. It didn't seem upset at being handled so roughly. "We suggest you write this down. It is in your best interest not to forget what you are about to hear."

Satone laid the incubator back down on the bed and pulled out a pen and paper from her school bag. "Ready."

"To begin, entering a contract requires your soul and a wish…"

…

Rikka had run away again. It wasn't that she had disappeared. It was just that she had gotten into a fight with Yuuta and decided to hide out in Satone's apartment for a few hours. If Satone found it inconvenient, she wasn't about to show it.

She didn't find it inconvenient, of course. It was just business as usual. Rikka and Yuuta's frequent bouts of stubbornness had been cause for her to harbor Rikka on more than one occasion. After a night, they'd cool off and be able to make up the next day. She was just glad to be there for Rikka when she was too beset with anger and confusion to really think straight.

"What did Hero do this time?" Satone asked from her place on the bed.

Rikka angrily paced the room, snapping with every word. "The impudent whelp saw fit to trifle through my belongings. He is under the impression that I stole something of his."

Satone tilted her head curiously. "And that something would be?"

"A handheld device to play video games with."

"Did you steal it?"

Rikka immediately stopped in her tracks. "NO!" she yelled. "I told him I was going to borrow it and he said yes!"

"Did he ask for it back?" Satone asked. She received no reply. Merely a glare. "Well? Did he ask for it back or not?"

Rikka pursed her lips, looking away. "He asked me if I'd seen it. I said I had it. He asked why I took it without permission." Satone made a gesture to go on. "I said I received his permission and he just shrugged saying it didn't really matter. He said to go get it and I didn't know where it was…"

Satone blinked. "So… You lost it…? Rikka—"

Rikka cut Satone off with a stomp of her foot. "I know it's my fault, okay!? I'm just really angry right now and I can't say sorry if I'm like this! I want it to stop!"

Satone managed a small smile and a shake of her head. She consoled Rikka for the rest of the night.

"She has potential, you know?" The incubator's voice in her head chimed in once Rikka was finally asleep in Satone's bed. "We've had our eye on her for quite a while, actually. She had more potential earlier in her life but much lower chances of return on investment."

Satone tucked Rikka under her blanket and glanced to the incubator that appeared on her desk. "Why's that?"

"Based on our projections, she would have fallen to despair far too soon for the amount of power she'd have. A single wish has the power to greatly overcome entropy. However, power that an average magical girl can accumulate over a lifetime of harvesting grief would surpass even that. It was simply not efficient enough to contract Rikka Takanashi at the time due to the circumstances surrounding her. She'd make her wish, realize that it wouldn't give her what she wanted, and fall to despair.

Satone did not speak, instead pursing her lips. Rikka had told Satone about her quest to find The Invisible Boundary Lines… and the reason she had gone on that quest in the first place… The incubator was right. Rikka would have fallen rather quickly at the realization that she couldn't bring people back from the dead, no matter how much magic or potential she had…

"She has since worked through her problems," the incubator continued. "If she were to enter a contract now, she would make a fine magical girl—or, at the very least, make a nominal contribution to the fight against entropy."

Satone felt a flash of annoyance. She lifted the incubator by the scruff of its neck and casually tossed it across her room. The white creature landed with a soft puff onto her floor. "Yeah, no. I'm not selling my friend's soul to you—my own, maybe, but not hers."

The incubator tilted its head in confusion. "There would be no down sides, though."

Satone leaned over to her drawer and pulled out a notebook which she dropped onto the floor. "Oh, there are plenty of downsides," she said, gesturing to the notebook. "You told me to write all of them down, even. Then I went ahead and entered that contract anyway."

The incubator tilted its head in the other direction, slowly, its voice taking an unsettling turn. "I don't see how that's relevant. This is not your choice to make."

Satone looked away, shrugging away the sudden chills up her spine she felt at the sudden shift in the incubator's tone. "It's not." She smiled sharply and wryly. "Ultimately, I can't stop you, but I'll do everything in my power to delay it—make it as inconvenient and inefficient a use for your time as possible."

The incubator's tail swished behind it. "That is a very foolish endeavor. Can we not negotiate this?"

She crossed her arms. "Absolutely not."

"Well then," the incubator licked its paw. "We hope you understand, Satone Shichimiya, that you are trifling with powers that are well beyond your control."

Satone chuckled. "Says the race that's trying to delay the heat-death of the universe."

"Oh…? Ah, yes, you are correct. I do believe you humans would call it a dramatic irony."

The incubator jumped onto the bed and looked at Rikka for a moment. "Ideally, we would contract Rikka Takanashi as soon as possible, but we are willing to wait. When the opportunity is right, we'll make our move." With a hop onto her table and another onto her windowsill, the incubator disappeared into the darkness, its voice echoing in her mind. "Until then, Satone Shichimiya, we hope you continue contributing to the fight against entropy."

Satone frowned at her window before closing her curtains. The damn rat was still slimy and conniving… but still…

She looked down and snapped her fingers, a small flame appearing above her thumb.

All things considered, she didn't regret making the contract—not when magic was something she'd wanted her entire life. Was it hypocritical of her to think and feel like that? Of course it was. That didn't make it any less true.

Satone then looked to the girl sleeping in her bed. She leaned over to stroke Rikka's hair. "I'm sorry… I can't let you throw your soul away. Not when you and Hero still have your whole lives ahead of you…"

…

The largest spawn that night had devolved into a chaotic mess shortly before Satone dropped into it. Laser attacks and waves of dark energy were already sweeping across the miasma, a few of them nearly hitting her on her way down. She quickly noticed that one the girls that normally hunted on the other side of the river was getting swarmed—a girl in a green puffy skirt, wielding a crossbow. She could sense the girl's minute panic, overshadowed by a bloodlust as vicious and biting as the snow storm's winds.

Instinct took over in the instant her boots hit the ground. She swung her scepter, causing several nearby wraiths to be shredded into writhing darkness. She danced forward, swinging again to deflect a stray projectile that the other magical girl was shooting wildly. More wraiths were cut down by her magic as she gracefully ducked under another stray shot. By the end, all of the wraiths were nothing more than black cubes on the floor surrounding Satone. She took a step forward and raised her scepter pointedly at the rival magical girl crouching in front of her.

"Hey," Satone said with a small smile. "You looked like you were having trouble."

The other girl raised her crossbow. Satone could feel her the girl's tension. Adrenaline was still pumping through her system.

"Don't like fighting for the spoils," Satone said slowly, voice flat and even."You okay with even split?"

The crossbow girl slowly stood up and nodded. She did not lower her weapon.

"I'm going to gather half the cubes and leave, alright?"

Then the girl disappeared in a flash of light. Satone expected it. She remembered the girl being a teleporter. Probably went back to her home turf.

"Guess she doesn't want the cubes," Satone muttered, once again gathering the cubes into her hand.

The incubator approached from behind, congratulating her on a good night's hunt. "There are still wraith spawns scattered around the area but you have quelled their immediate numbers. It is impressive that you are able to do this mostly alone. But we are certain you can increase your efficiency if you simply allow Rikka Takanashi to join you."

Satone sighed as she siphoned some darkness from her gem with a handful of cubes. "You really don't want to let that go, do you?" She then tossed said handful at the incubator that leaned forward to catched them. "You know I'm not changing my mind."

The incubator licked its paw. "We also know, unquestionably, that the universe will die due to entropy. That does not deter us from delaying the inevitable."

Satone chuckled at the incubator, once again offering her shoulder. "Quite the quagmire of futility we've fallen into, haven't we?"

"Futility and mutual inconvenience, yes," the incubator replied as it climbed.

Once the creature was perched, Satone bounded for whatever stragglers were still in her territory. She had a nice bit of magic she wanted to show them.

…

With a yawn, Yuuta got out of bed and trudged through his morning routine, letting his muscle memory carry him through the various tasks until his consciousness caught up with the fact that he was conscious. While making breakfast, he noted idly that Satone was still sprawled on the couch in her pajamas, half of her blanket wrapped around her middle torso, the other half on the floor. She looked completely exhausted.

Yuuta debated on whether he'd wake her or let her sleep. He shrugged. "It's not like we have school today," he muttered as he continued cooking.

"Oh yeah, we need to get the heater checked," he then muttered, remembering his midnight cup of hot chocolate. "And also possibly the lights…"

After he finished making breakfast, he went to wake Rikka and Kuzuha, neither of whom seemed inclined to leave the warmth of their beds. He couldn't really blame them. It was, admittedly, really cold. Once it became clear that he failed to coax them out with the promise of a warm meal, he shrugged and let them be.

"Good morning," he greeted Satone as he began eating the breakfast he had prepared for himself.

Satone made a sound of greeting as she sat up and yawned gracelessly, stretching as she did so. "Haa~aah… Hah… Good morning, Hero… Save me some food…" She then stood and dragged her feet to the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

Yuuta watched her go, quietly wondering to himself why girls always locked themselves in the bathroom after waking up. Rikka and Kuzuha did the same thing.

He shrugged once more and continued eating. Thus was that morning in the Togashi household—the morning after a freak blizzard.

END

This oneshot was conceived from the idea that, if Satone were actually a magical girl, no one would believe her. I never ended up playing with the "no one would believe her" angle but the thought of actual-magical-girl, Satone Shichimiya was too delicious to pass. It just took the better part of two years to write. This was started around the same time A Devil's Despair was written back in 2017. Didn't really know what direction I wanted to take it in. Only after writing a few chapters of Wish Upon a Simple Soul did I figure it out.

Speaking of which,

Very similar to Wish Upon a Simple Soul chapter 1, both Ruby Rose and Satone Shichimiya are characters whose potential is very stable. Knowing the truth and such mean very little to how much their soul yearns for their wish. It was inevitable that they'd contract. It's just a question of what ends up pushing them to do it, whether it's being lured into danger or simply the mere thought of being a magical girl.

The crossbow girl in the second to last scene is a cameo character from another Madoka Magica fanfic. Even with my incredibly shallow descriptions, it should still be enough to know who it is if you've read her source material.

Hope you all enjoyed this oneshot. Until the next one!