Chapter 2: Homura loses her memory
"That has got to be the worst horror movie I've ever seen," Homura muttered, leaning back against Kyouko's chest with a disgruntled look on her face.
"I've seen worse," Kyouko admitted, reaching over to shut the television off with the remote. She shifted to rest Homura's form more comfortably atop her own frame. "But yeah, that was pretty bad."
Mami had had the idea to hold a movie night in Homura's apartment, insisting that the four of them hadn't spent nearly enough time with each other as of late. So she and Kiku had walked into the apartment that evening intent of spending some "quality time," which apparently meant watching a crappy movie and making sarcastic remarks about how bad it was the entire time.
"Still, it looks like you two managed to enjoy yourselves," Kiku said from her seat on the carpet, eyeing the young couple suggestively.
Homura shifted self consciously in Kyouko's arms, wanting to slip free of the girl's grasp but knowing the timing would be suspect. She hadn't really minded it when the redhead pulled her into her lap about halfway through the movie, since they had been under cover of darkness, but now that they were beneath the light she was beginning to second guess that decision. She wasn't that big on PDA.
Kyouko just stuck her tongue out at the brunette, waggling it teasingly. "You're just jealous."
Kiku's lips curved up into a sly smile. "Maybe I am." The playful grin on Kyouko's face slowly dropped into a glare as the two girls engaged in a staring contest.
"Excellent," Homura sighed, rolling her eyes. "You can both fight to the death for my affections."
Kyouko shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm down for that."
"Not if you destroy another building, you aren't," Mami quipped from beside Kiku. She had been quietly enjoying a cup of tea until that very moment. "Last time you sparred someone I had to start going to a different supermarket."
"The old one priced suspiciously low anyway," Kyouko said defensively. She unlatched one of her hands from Homura's stomach to raise it for emphasis. "Plus they had CCTV. Very difficult to steal from there. It was basically useless."
"Aside from those who actually paid for the food," Homura snorted, pinching the redhead's wrist in reprimand.
Kyouko grinned sheepishly. "I'm sure they appreciate the exercise from the longer walk."
"I certainly don't," Mami muttered to herself, downing the rest of the tea.
"Speaking of things we don't appreciate," Homura interjected, "Who's idea was it to even watch that movie?"
The other three girls went silent, unwilling to accept responsibility for the wasted two hours. Suddenly Kiku brightened, and she clapped her hands together.
"You know Homura, I think I've got just the thing. I just might be able to make you forget that movie completely."
The shield user raised an eyebrow. "Really."
The brunette nodded. "It's all rooted in illusionary magic, of course," she explained, lifting the hand she wore her ring on. "I can't erase the fact that the event happened, but I can trick your mind into thinking it didn't."
"Hm," Homura thought, rubbing her chin. "You know what, I think I'll take you up on that," she decided, falling off the couch and, consequently, Kyouko's grip as well. The redhead glared irritably at Kiku for a brief moment, and the brunette could only shrug.
"Try to clear your mind," Kiku suggested, twisting the ring on her finger. A moment later a flash of green light engulfed her body, and she was squatting on the floor in full magical gear.
"Are you sure this is a safe procedure?" Mami interrupted, reaching out to push Kiku's dominant hand back down. "Have you ever tried this on someone else?"
"Of course I have!" the brunette insisted, pouting at being doubted. "Homura isn't my guinea pig or anything."
[But you are mine,] Kyouko thought telepathically to Homura, who blushed at the girl's implied meaning.
"Well, did it work last time?" Mami asked, crossing her arms over her chest expectantly.
"Uh…" Kiku fingered the hem of her skirt sheepishly. "I mean, sort of. Mostly! He just sort of, um, forgot what year it was."
The blonde stared at her.
"What? He saw me transforming!" Kiku protested, holding her hands before her. "What else was I supposed to do?"
"Be a little more careful, perhaps?" Mami sighed, putting two fingers against her forehead.
[I don't see what the big deal is,] Kyouko thought to Homura. Ever since their souls had merged, telepathy had become significantly easier for them, almost effortless. [I mean, I've walked in on you 'transforming' before.]
[She was being literal, Kyouko.]
[…Oh.]
"Anyways!" Kiku broke off, obviously trying to change the subject as Mami gave her a cross look. "I'm sure it'll work this time, so just prepare yourself!"
"Preparing," Homura sighed, closing her eyes as Kiku put both hands on either side of her head.
Breathing in deeply, the brunette drew upon her powers, a faint glow emanating form the tips of her fingers. Homura bit her lip as she felt the girl's magic affecting her, clenching her fists and fighting the urge to reject it with her own body. Like grief sharing, it was best to keep herself as relaxed as possible.
Kyouko and Mami watched the spectacle with intrigue, as the light slightly intensified. Homura's eyes seemed to clench behind the lids, and the look on Kiku's face betrayed a little nervousness.
Then a moment later it was over, the light disappearing as Kiku fell back onto the carpet, breathing heavily. Homura slumped over herself, momentarily unconscious.
"Woah," the brunette muttered, pushing her hair back. "That was a lot more tiring than I expected. Must be because Homura's another puella magi…"
"Homura?" Kyouko said, kneeling down from the couch and lifting the girl from the floor. She shook her gently, watching for movement behind the eyelids. "Are you okay?"
The shield user's eyes slid blearily open, struggling to focus on the redhead, who tilted her head expectantly.
"Blarghlnuffuh," she grumbled at last, looking strangely disoriented.
"Lovely," Kiku appraised, before walking over and picking up the disc case the movie had been in. "So, do you recognize this?" she asked, holding the picture in front of Homura.
The raven haired girl squinted at it. "Um…no?" she said, almost timidly.
"Well I'll be," Mami murmured. "It worked."
"See? I told you," Kiku said smugly, putting both hands to her hips. "You guys should really have some more faith in-"
"Um, who are you people again?" Homura asked politely, reaching up to rub tiredly at her eyes.
There was a pindrop silence in the room. Homura stared confusedly at the lot of them, questions evidence on her face.
One of them coughed awkwardly, but it was enough to break the moment.
"WHAT THE FUCK, KIKU?" Kyouko bellowed, nearly dropping Homura as she sprang to her feet, panic obvious on her face.
"Woah woah woah! Wait, I can fix this!" the brunette shouted, staggering backwards when Kyouko pulled her spear out of thin air and advanced up on her, menace in every step.
"Like hell you can!" the redhead snapped, slamming the butt of her spear between them. It broke straight through the wooden flooring, but she hardly cared. "My girlfriend's got amnesia now!"
Mami sighed, still seating calmly on the floor. "And you wondered why I didn't let you out in the beginning, Kiku."
Homura, meanwhile, had gone completely bug eyed, scrabbling backwards until her spine was pressed firmly against the couch. "Just what are you people?" she gaped, eyes glued to the softly glowing weapon in Kyouko's hands. "How did you do that?"
"Oh, you can do it too," Mami reminded the girl, catching her attention. "More than her, actually. Guns, grenades, you've got them all."
Homura paused for a brief moment, then slowly pulled her collar forward and looked inside her shirt for these supposed weapons. "Uh…"
"You aren't helping," Kyouko snapped, though she did dismiss her spear, so that she didn't scare Homura. "Kiku, what are you going to do about this?"
The brunette pursed her lips, mind working as hard as it could.
"Alright, well…it's obvious at least that she hasn't forgotten everything," Kiku pointed out. "We should ask her questions and find out exactly how much she remembers."
That said, she marched in front of Homura, dragging Kyouko along with her. She pushed the redhead between them and poked her head out from the side, asking, "Homura, do you recognize who this is?"
The shield user stared hard at Kyouko for several seconds, during which the redhead prayed to every god she could think of.
But Homura's smile faltered. "Um, I'm afraid not," she said apologetically. "Are we related or something?"
Kyouko staggered backwards, putting a hand to her chest. "That hurt more than I expected."
"I'm sorry, I can't really remember much for some reason," Homura fretted, wringing her hands nervously. Was this really how the girl had acted in the past? "I should probably get home. I need to call my parents…wait, what was their number again? Do I even have parents? Oh dear…"
"Wait," Kiku said, stepping between the redhead and the shield user. "Look into my eyes, Homura. Do you remember that one time you lent me a bunch of money?"
The shorter girl blinked. "Um, no?"
"Hmmm," the brunette hummed, nodded sagely. "Actually, maybe we should-"
"We are not leaving Homura like this for the sake of your wallet," Kyouko growled.
"I never said that!"
"You were about to!"
"Well, maybe if you hadn't destroyed the cheaper supermarket-"
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Mami stood up and put a hand on Kiku's shoulder.
"Come on," she said. "We'll go ask Mishki if she knows how to fix this. Kyouko can look after Homura herself."
"Just get her out of here before she blasts my brain too," Kyouko grumbled, turning away from the two of them as they left the apartment, closing the door behind them.
She faced Homura, who had an understandably bewildered expression on her face.
"So, uh…" the redhead was absolutely stumped at having to grasp for conversation with her own girlfriend. "Want to watch a movie or something?"
"Sure…" Homura's gaze fell to the floor and seemed to fix onto something. "How about that one?"
Kyouko followed the girl's gaze and was rather dismayed to see the movie they had just finished not too long ago.
"Yeah, I guess."
It was even worse the second time through.
A/N
Just something I squeezed out since I had some free time. Kiku's showing up more often than I intended, but...meh.
Speaking of her, I'm thinking about dedicating a brief mini-arc (maybe 3 or 4 chapters) to her and Mami. But only if I know people want to read it, since I understand not everyone reading this has read SM. Let me know!
*Reviewer Responses*
That one guest: unfortunately, Blackbirds is abandoned. I think I mention it on my profile, but either way, there it is.
angel0wonder: I guess this is my home now.
that other guest: I suppose Madoka might have seemed out of character in the first chapter, but I figured becoming a concept would have forced her to change at least a little bit. Just a creative liberty on my part. As for Homura "learning from Kyouko's example," that was mostly a joke, though it has its own grain of truth. There are a lot of things Kyouko could teach Homura. Like how to shred at DDR, for instance.
Thanks for reading!
~Banshee
