Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to Mirai Nikki or Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Chapter 2: Initiative

Mami carefully poured tea into her guest's cup before pouring a cup for herself. Earl Grey with a dash of lemon juice and cinnamon. She quietly sipped her tea while studying her guest over the rim of her cup. Mami was impressed by Yuno's excellent manners, a stark contrast to Kyoko. She sat attentively, held her cup properly, and waited until Mami had poured tea for herself before reaching out to have a drink.

I could really get to like this girl.

Kyubey lounged on a chair nearby. It was laying down in what looked like a casual, relaxed manner but it's eyes never left Yuno, as if making sure it didn't miss anything she did. Or maybe making sure Yuno knew it wouldn't.

Mami waited to see if Yuno wanted to say anything, but she seemed a bit shy or perhaps nervous.

The poor thing's just become a magical girl. All this must be so overwhelming.

"So Yuno," Mami said, "how long have you lived in this city? Do you go to school nearby?"

"Oh, I only just recently moved here from a different region. As for school, I am privately tutored."

"Really? How interesting! Did you parents decide that for you or was it your choice?"

A shadow passed over Yuno's face. Mami immediately felt she had said something wrong.

"Uh, I'm sorry," Mami said, "I didn't mean to bring up anything embarrassing."

Yuno was back to her cheerful self. "No, it's fine! It was originally my parent's choice. I went to a public school for awhile but then decided to go back to tutoring."

"I see. I was kind of hoping to see you at my school but I guess I'm out of luck!"

Mami smiled at Yuno who smiled back, but Mami could sense a slight tension in the air now. She decided to switch topics and get to the main reason she had invited Yuno over.

"It must be strange being a magical girl now. I still remember how it was for me. Making my wish and then being given this magic and responsibility."

"Do you ever regret it?"

"No, I am happy Kyubey gave me this chance." Kyubey's tail flicked at this. "I would have died without him. I would much rather be alive as a magical girl." Mami became more reflective, swirling her tea with a spoon. "I suppose I just regret I didn't have as much time to think about my wish as I would have liked."

It always brought up painful memories when she thought back to making her wish, but talking about it helped her reaffirm her feeling that she had made the best decision possible under the circumstances.

"Do you regret making your wish Miss. Yuno?"

Yuno smiled and looked off into the distance. "Not for a second. It was a small price to pay, becoming a magical girl, in order to have my fondest wish come true."

Mami was struck by the fervor in Yuno's voice and felt very happy for her, but she knew most magical girls felt that way at the beginning. Over time though, feelings could change as the responsibilities and dangers of being a magical girl sunk in. She had seen it happen often, sometimes with tragic results.

Mami banished those thoughts away. It's not good to dwell on that. She's happy now. Let her enjoy it as long as it lasts. Mami smiled a bit. Maybe I can make it last longer.

She turned to Kyubey. "I'm glad you were able to be such a blessing to this girl Kyubey. You're almost like an angel."

Kyubey looked at Mami and cocked it's head to the side. "It's mutually beneficial for all. You help me, and I help you. The more contracts made, the more wraiths destroyed."

"Yes, you are quite right." She turned back to Yuno. "Do you mind me asking what it was you wished for?"

Yuno seemed to freeze for a second before getting a very embarrassed look on her face and bowing her head down. "It's uh...very personal."

Mami felt ashamed of herself. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry into something so sensitive."

Yuno looked up at her and smiled. "No, don't worry. I just feel a bit uncomfortable talking about it right now. Perhaps later?"

"Yes of course. Please, forgive my impertinence." Mami, how could you be so insensitive! Of course her wish would be very personal. "Well, since we are here, what questions do you have for me concerning your new duties?"

Yuno pondered this for a second. "What are my main duties? What's most important?"

"Ah, that's easy to answer. Remember that thing that attacked the man earlier? The wraith? Those are beings born from the despair and sadness in the world. They shroud themselves in darkness, attacking humans and feeding on their life force. Normal people can't see them and so are very vulnerable. It is our job to destroy all wraiths we encounter and protect everyone we can."

"And the cubes?"

Kyubey sat up. "That is the condensed form of the essence they are formed from," it said. "It is my duty to collect them when you destroy wraiths."

"We can also use the cubes ourselves." Mami held out her hand, palm up, and willed her ring to form into her soul gem. It rested on her palm, glowing slightly. "Can I see yours?"

Yuno brought her hand up and focused on her ring until a brilliant pink soul gem rested in her hands. Mami had never seen one like it. It glowed like a clean soul gem, but a power radiated from it that made the hair on the back of Mami's neck stand up, and the lights within swirled and formed in chaotic patterns. Mami felt mesmerized looking at it. Kyubey sat up straighter, looking at Yuno and her gem.

"It...it's beautiful. I've never seen one like it." I'll need to ask Kyubey about this later. "Well, you see how sparkling both of ours are right now? As we use our powers to fight wraiths or when we get filled with negative emotion, our gems become darker. The cubes can absorb some of this darkness and brighten it up again, but it can take quite a few cubes after an intense battle."

"Do we get weaker as it gets darker?"

"Not physically, but emotionally yes. Despair, anger, rage. These emotions will eat away at us. And...if we're not careful...we will be consumed." Mami locked eyes with Yuno. "It's very, very important that you are aware of this."

"What do you mean consumed?"

"It's an old story, The Law of the Cycle. When we overuse our gem and are about to bring more despair into the world than hope, the gem will break and the magical girl who owns it will disappear. There are rumors that she is taken away to a better place before being eventually born again. These are just theories though. No-one knows for sure."

"That's true," Kyubey chimed in. "Even I am not sure how the gem breaks or what happens to the magical girl after."

Mami rested a hand on Yuno's shoulder. "Please be careful about overusing your gem. Make sure to keep it clean and sparkling. I'll help you get cubes so you won't have to worry. I...know girls who have been consumed."

Yuno studied Mami for a moment before saying, "I understand."

Mami smiled. "Thank you." She turned her soul gem into a ring again, and Yuno likewise transformed her soul gem back into jewelry. "Now back to your duties. From what I saw, you did very well fighting the wraith. Very quick and efficient."

Yuno smiled and blushed. "Thank you for saying so."

"Have you had experience with fighting before? Like being trained to fence?"

Another shadow passed over Yuno's face but faded almost immediately. "I've had a bit of experience, but I'm sure I still have a lot to learn."

"Of course, everyone has to get experience fighting wraiths. From what I can tell though, it should be easy for you to learn."

"I'm glad you think so."

Kyubey hopped onto the table. "It's true. Yuno has vast potential. With your help Mami, she could become a formidable magical girl."

Mami chuckled a little. "You are too kind with your praise Kyubey. But truly Yuno, I would be honored to have you patrol with me as I help you learn. And more importantly, we could become good friends."

Yuno's eyes brightened and she grabbed Mami's hands. "Oh Mami, I would love that so much! I would be so honored to fight by your side and learn from someone as wise and experienced as you. And, well...you don't know this but I don't have any friends in this city, having just moved here so recently. I'm away from everyone and it can be terribly lonely. Having you to talk to would mean so much to me."

Mami's eyes filled with tears and she clasped her hands with Yuno's. "I...I know exactly what you mean. I've lived here alone for so long and sometimes the solitude can be too much to bear." A tear ran down her cheek. "If I didn't have my friend Kyoko, I don't know what I'd do, but she only visits sparingly. To have another friend to talk with would mean so much."

Yuno looked deep into Mami's eyes. "I hope I can be that friend."

Mami smiled and gave a small hiccup. She pulled a hand away and rubbed away the tear on her cheek. "Sorry. I didn't mean to get all emotional like this. But I'm so happy that I got to know you." She took in a deep breath and calmed herself down. She then turned to Kyubey who had been watching the whole thing attentively. "And thank you Kyubey for introducing us." She reached down and hugged Kyubey against her chest.

Kyubey nuzzled it's head against her. "I'm happy to help."

Mami let go and took a sip of tea to further calm herself. She then smiled. "Well then, it's late but how about we meet together tomorrow evening here so that we can go out on patrol?"

Yuno smiled. "Sounds wonderful!"

"Excellent. Here take one of these cakes to go."

After showing them out (Kyubey hopped onto Yuno's shoulder and went with her), Mami tidied up, washed herself, and climbed into bed.

This turned out to be one of the best evenings in a long time.

An image of Yuno's face with hollow eyes flashed into her mind. She shook it away. She's intense when fighting, but a perfect angel otherwise. She drew up her covers and drifted off to sleep.

/人◕‿‿◕人\

Mami and Yuno walked together in the park with Kyubey tailing along. Golden light from the setting sun illuminated the area. Mami had her soul gem in her hand.

"Wraiths can attack during the day but that is pretty rare," Mami said, "and when they do, Kyoko will usually take care of them. So I do my patrols during the evening and at night."

"Do wraiths attack everyday?"

Mami hesitated bit before answering. "Not everyday no, but they have been attacking very frequently lately. I've been going on patrol every night now just in case. When a wraith is nearby, your soul gem will start to pulse. The atmosphere will start to get darker too with miasma. If there are many wraiths then the miasma can be very thick."

"How many wraiths usually gather in one place?"

"There's no fixed number, but there are rarely more than four wraiths gathered at a time. Since you are new, I would caution you against fighting more than one wraith at a time."

"I'm sure someone with your experience can handle many wraiths at once."

Mami tried not to get too proud but did feel pleased. "I can hold my own."

The soul gem started pulsing. Yuno's gem started pulsing too. Kyubey perked up.

"The enemy is near," Kyubey said. "Make sure to be on your guard."

They walked deeper into the park. The sun had almost completely set now. The pulses started getting stronger the deeper they went. The air around them began to get a bit hazy.

"Best to get ready," Mami said.

She spun in a circle and threw up soul gem. She then caught it with her hands as it fell down and held it out in front of her, levitating it with her palms. Ribbons and a bright light flashed out. Lights kept flashing about her as her clothing transformed into her magical girl uniform with her gem becoming a jeweled hair piece. As the transformation completed, she spun and struck a pose.

Yuno willed her soul gem onto the tip of her finger and left it balanced there for a second before it flashed in a huge burst of pink color. Light with numbers, waves, and the sound of clocks spun around her and then fitted itself over her into her uniform with the cloak flapping out behind her and her soul gem transforming last, resting between her collarbones as a bright pink jewel on a choker necklace. Her katana was ready in her hand.

Mami ran toward the center of the park with Yuno and Kyubey close behind. Miasma started forming around them the further they went. It's so thick. I'll need to be careful and protect Yuno, but I also need to be confident in front of her. I need to be a role model for her.

It was dark now, the sun having finally set. They arrived at the center of the park. Mami saw some lumps on the ground in the distance but the miasma obscured them. The group moved cautiously towards them. When she could finally see what they were, Mami grimaced. There were about 5 corpses scattered about on the ground. They didn't look physically harmed but the expressions on their faces showed they had not die peacefully.

Mami had seen death before, much more than she would have liked, but it always saddened her to see the remains of what was once a moving, feeling person. It was part of what drove her to fulfill her duties and never give up.

She looked over to see how Yuno was handling the bodies. To her surprise, Yuno wasn't even looking at them but was scanning the area, sword at the ready.

Why would she-

Realization hit Mami. Trap.

She summoned two rifles in her hands just as a wraith rushed her from the darkness. She flipped out of the way and unloaded on it. It shrieked in pain but didn't go down, vanishing back into the miasma.

"Yuno, face the opposite direction as me. Get ready for anything."

They stood back to back, catching glimpses of wraiths moving among the darkness. Mami's mind was racing. Wraiths would often ambush from the darkness, but to place corpses as bait? She wouldn't have believed them intelligent enough to coordinate something like that. It made her more and more worried.

She tried to count how many wraiths there were, but the miasma and their swirling pattern made it almost impossible. She decided to flush them out.

"Yuno, I'm going to force them out. Be ready and don't chase after any of them."

Yuno raised her sword eye level in a two handed stance, the blade parallel to the ground. Kyubey stood ready in between them.

Mami jumped up and spread out her arms. Hundreds of rifles formed in the air, facing downward and making a ring around her and Yuno. She smiled and brought her hands down, causing all the rifles to simultaneously fire. Deadly rain smashed into the ground, making a large ring of explosions. Wraith shrieks sounded everywhere.

Two wraiths flung themselves out of the explosions, heading for Mami. Mami flipped upside down and summoned two rifles in her hands. She crossed her arms and shot both wraiths as the came then flipped the rifles around and spun herself. The rifle stocks slammed into the wraiths and sent them flying away, one of them dissolving in midair.

Mami flipped and landed with her back again to Yuno. The explosions had temporarily cleared the miasma allowing them to see 3 wraiths circling them.

"Yuno, I'm going to fire at two of them and then you-"

Yuno sprinted after two of them.

"Yuno!" Don't be reckless!

The third wraith tried to flank Yuno. Mami pulled a ribbon off her shirt and formed a giant flintlock pistol. "Trio Finale!" A huge bullet exploded out and annihilated the wraith. She turned to shoot at the other wraiths but stopped at what she saw.

Yuno had summoned thousands of knives in the air and was creating a blade storm around the wraiths, slicing them tens of thousands of times. Yuno held her sword up in her two handed stance and then reappeared behind one wraith, then the other, before finally returning to her starting location all in less than a second. To Mami, it almost looked like she had been in three places at once.

The knives vanished, leaving the wraiths glowing from their cuts before splitting open. Mami was stunned. This girl...is strong.

A sound came from behind her. She looked back just in time to see the giant form of a wraith rushing toward her. She didn't have time to summon anything. She shifted her body to jump out of the way when the wraith started splitting apart. Both halves passed by on either side of her before dissolving.

Yuno was in a kneeling stance in front of Mami, sword held in a one-hand reverse stance, the blade tip resting on the ground. Yuno sighed before turning to Mami, smiling. "That seems to be the last one."

Mami took a moment to recover before smiling and walking over to Yuno. "It seems I underestimated you."

Kyubey hopped onto Mami's shoulder. "What did I tell you?" it said. "She has vast potential."

"Yes, you were correct."

Yuno bowed her head. "You are too kind, Mami"

Mami raised Yuno's head up. "No, I should be bowing to you. I came to show you the ropes and you ended up helping me. Thank you Yuno."

A voice sounded out. "Maybe it's cuz you're getting too old, eh Mami?"

Mami and Yuno looked over to see a red-haired magical girl munching on an apple.

Mami smiled. "Hello Kyoko."