Chapter 9: Our Foggy Future
Again he found himself in the Velvet Room, with the aria of the soul playing in his ears. Igor and Margaret were there as expected and greeted him appropriately.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room," Igor said as usual. "It appears you have reached another stepping stone on your journey, bringing the future ever so closer to your present."
"I guess so..." Yuu nodded, not really understanding Igor as usual.
"It is all right not to understand all will become clearer, in time."
"It seems you have established two new bonds," Margaret spoke up as she opened the book in her hands, allowing two Arcana cards to fall into it. One with a ten-spoke wheel with a sword in the center and one of a woman taming a lion. "The Fortune and Strength Arcana."
As the cards fell into the book, Yuu saw Kenichi's image next to the Fortune Arcana and Kyouko's next to the Strength Arcana.
"The Strength Arcana symbolizes an imagery beyond the Beast And Beauty, and is associated with the morality about the stronger power of self-control, gentleness, courage and virtue over brute force," Igor explained. "It may be up to you to help her in this regard."
Yuu nodded as he thought about Kyouko. The girl was blunt and harsh at times, but she seemed to genuinely care about the people around her. In her own ways of course.
"And the Fortune Arcana, symbolizing luck, fortunes and opportunities," Margaret added. "What goes up will go down, what goes down will go up. This young man will be met with many happenings in the future. Both good and bad for him. But his choices should be his and his alone. Be supportive for him, both on his choices and be there for him should his fortune turn against him."
Yuu nodded again at that. Bad luck seemed to follow Kenichi around wherever he went. Hopefully his luck will turn around soon.
"Now then..." Igor said. "Please take care...until we meet again."
Monday, May 11th: Sunny/Cloudy
It was after class and Yuu found himself back inside the Film Club's old room.
Beside him were Madoka, Mami and Kyouko.
"So...is this like your secret headquarters or something?" Kyouko asked, looking around the clubroom before sweeping her finger along the table, picking up a fine layer of dust. "Seems...abandoned."
"This is just the place we use to go into the TV world when we're not at home," Yuu explained as he held his glasses up to the TV, allowing it to shimmer slightly..
"Going into the TV huh..." Kyouko said as she stared at the object in the corner of the room.
"Yeah, stick your hand in."
Kyouko turned to look at him for a moment before reaching her hand out toward the TV. She stopped just a few centimeters from it before pulling her hand away.
"Why don't one of you guys do it first?" she asked. "Show me how it's done."
"There's no need to be afraid, Kyouko-chan," Madoka said with a smile.
"I-I ain't scared! I just don't know what to do..."
"It is nothing too complicated," Mami said as she walked forward and put her hand through the screen. "Just put your hand through first and then..."
Mami stopped halfway putting her head through the TV before she and all the other girls turned around to see Yuu just standing there. The boy turned around himself, wondering what they were looking at but there was nothing but dusty old boxes behind him.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"N-no," Mami replied. "Actually...why don't you go first, Narukami-san?"
"Okay?" Yuu replied, tilting his head to the side before walking up and crossing through the gate.
"Welcome back," came the voice of Kyubey once Yuu was back inside the TV. "It has been approximately fourteen days since your last visit. Have you been well?"
"Yes, thank you," Yuu replied with a nod as Mami and Madoka came through as well. Madoka then reached back through the TV and pulled Kyouko through, much like how Yuu pulled Mami through the first time.
"That was...strange..." Kyouko muttered as she rubbed her arms. She then looked down at Kyubey, who was staring inquisitively back up at her. "So this is the mascot character then?"
"Mascot character?" Kyubey replied. "I'm afraid I do not understand your meaning. My name is Kyubey. I live here."
"Yeah...Sakura Kyouko..." the redhead nodded as gave a quick bow in greeting. "So...is there some sort of...procedure to this?"
"If by 'procedure' you mean the contract, there really isn't anything to it. First summon your persona."
"Summon...right..." Kyouko muttered as she looked back at the others. "Is there some sort of hint for this or do you need to figure this out on your own?"
"It's...an instinctive thing, I suppose?" Mami asked as she looked at Madoka and Yuu who both nodded. "Just try to picture it coming out."
"Right..." Kyouko nodded as she closed her eyes.
The Strength Arcana slowly fell down in front of her as she opened her eyes.
"Persona!" she called out as she held the Arcana over her her head before swinging her arm in a slashing motion across the center. " Kaihime!"
At once, the Red Persona appeared out of the blue flames, landing softly behind Kyouko as the girl turned her head up to look at it.
"Yeah...this is totally cool!" she said with big smile.
"Do you accept the contract to find the cause of the-"
"Yeah, yeah, I do," Kyouko said impatiently, not taking her eyes off of Kaihime. "Let's just do this."
Kyubey simply tilted his head to the side before speaking again.
"Contract established," Kyubey recited mechanically. "Holder: Sakura Kyouko. Terms: With the power to fight Shadows, find out the cause for the unrest. Time limit: None. Power granted: Synchronization with Holder's Persona."
"Synchro!"
Kyouko and her Persona clasped hands as the blue flames surrounded them.
The persona changed back into a card as the blue flames turned red and covered her body in a red light. The lights vanished section by section, creating boots over Kyouko's legs as well as the long dark red and white dress over her uniform with a pink skirt.
Two large cross spears also formed in her hands as she spun them around over her shoulders before bringing them to a stop in front of her with the blades pointed down.
"How's that?" Kyouko shouted as the flames died down.
"Ohh!" Yuu said as he clapped his hands in applause.
"That's a wonderful transformation," Mami said with a smile.
"You look great, Kyouko-chan!" Madoka said as she clapped as well.
"Contract Synchronization Armor has finished forming," Kyubey replied. "Contract is sealed."
"Haha..." Kyouko said as a small blush began forming on her face. Turning down to look at her new clothes to hide her embarrassment she pulled at the sides of her CSA. "Huh...for armor, this is kinda frilly, don't you think? I mean from what little I remember from that day, Yuu's armor is the one that really looks like armor."
"I suppose so...hmm?" Yuu began, holding his chin in thought before turning back towards Kyouko.
"W-what?" Kyouko asked. "Sorry. Was calling you by your first name too much?"
"No...I just think that was the first time you've ever called me by name," Yuu admitted.
"Really? Huh? Now that you mention it..."
"W-well let's put that aside, shall we?" Mami asked with a cough. "Do you want to try and fight some Shadows now, Sakura-san?"
"You get paid for it right?" Kyouko asked, turning her head toward Kyubey.
"Yes," Kyubey nodded. "Each Shadow has a different bounty rate. I will keep track of the total Shadows defeated and offer payment once you leave."
"Then let's get going!" Kyouko said as her clothes returned to normal. "Eh? Uhh...why can't I see anything anymore?"
"Please do not forget to wear your glasses when you are over here," Kyubey said as a pair of glasses floated in front of Kyouko's face. They had a silver frame with a purple tinted lens.
"Ohh...these look pretty cool," Kyouko said as she put them on. "Whoa, the fog's gone..."
"Now...I believe there is a strong Shadow that recently took up residence in the place where Sakura Kyouko was found."
"Is this going to be a pattern?" Yuu asked.
"Who can say," Kyubey replied vaguely. "Shadows converge towards stronger Shadows. I suppose even when the stronger Shadows are destroyed, Shadows will still converge towards them. Shall we get going then?"
"We're going back to that place aren't we?" Madoka asked with a sigh.
"I suppose we are..." Mami nodded.
"Hmm? What place?" Kyouko asked.
"Ohh...this place..." Kyouko grumbled as she made a face at the interior of the Shadow Church.
"Hopefully we don't have to go through the Sin Rooms again..." Mami muttered.
"Let's just move on," Yuu said as they crossed the barrier into the dungeon and the familiar sight of a path lit up and fenced in by candles greeted them.
"I hate candles," Kyouko said immediately.
"After rescuing you, I am not terribly fond of them either," Mami agreed.
"W-well let's just hurry and do our-urk?" Madoka began as she took a step forward, only for Yuu to grab her by the collar and pull her back just as a pair of heart-tipped arrows landed at her feet.
"Persona! Izanagi!" Yuu shouted as Izanagi burst forward and flew toward the direction that the arrows fired from.
There, Yuu saw two tiny red humanoid creatures with butterfly wings on their backs.
"What...are those...?" Kyouko asked in a deadpan. "Cherubs?"
"Monopolizing Cupid," Kyubey said as Izanagi swung its blade back and forth to deflect the arrows. "They are pretty small so their bounty is two hundred and thirty yen a piece."
"Want to try and fight them, Sakura?" Yuu asked as he turned toward Kyouko who was staring at Persona and the Shadows in awe. "Sakura?"
"Eh?" Kyouko asked with a small start. "O-oh right! Persona! Kaihime!"
As she crushed the Arcana in her hand, the Red Persona flew out of the blue flames and past Izanagi towards the two Shadows.
The Shadows immediately targeted the new Persona which quickly spun one of its spears in front of it, deflecting the arrows with ease as it pulled its second spear back behind its head and with a great swing, cleaved the first Cupid in two before turning toward the second Cupid and driving its spear into its head, causing it to pop unceremoniously.
"All right!" Kyouko said as she pumped her arm as Kaihime descended and landed down behind her and Kyouko immediately turned toward it. "That was awesome! What else can you do?"
"Umm...the Persona can't really talk," Madoka said slowly.
"Really? Well...I guess that makes sense since it doesn't have a mouth. I just thought it could since Kyubey can talk but he doesn't move his mouth."
"Come to think of it..." Mami began as everyone turned toward Kyubey, who up until now had been silently observing them all while on Yuu's shoulders. "Does your mouth not move, Kyubey?"
"It does," Kyubey replied before opening its mouth up and down randomly. "My mouth does move. I simply find that using telepathy is far more efficient than speaking."
"Sounds convenient," Yuu noted. "Shall we move on?"
"You bet!" Kyouko nodded. "I want to see what else I can do!"
"As long as you don't overdo it," Mami said as they ventured further in.
"I...hate...this...place..." Kyouko panted as the four of them stood outside the "Pride" chamber once more. "I really...hate this place. What kind of food tries eats you instead?"
"Russian?" Madoka asked and Kyouko turned around to glare at her. "I'm sorry. That was a bad joke. And I feel bad for making it."
"A-anyway..." Mami said as she coughed into her hand and turned toward Kyubey while Kyouko pulled on Madoka's cheeks. "This is the place where you sensed the stronger Shadow, correct?"
"Yes," Kyubey nodded. "It's just pass this door."
"We're not going to get a repeat of my Shadow, are we?" Kyouko asked as she released Madoka, allowing the younger girl to rub her stinging cheeks.
"No. It's a different one. It appears to be powerful with a worth of at least four thousand."
"Then let's take it out already! The faster we get outta this place, the better!"
With that, Kyouko threw the door open and ran inside.
Yuu and Mami shared a glance before rushing after the red head with Madoka taking the rear.
When they got there though, they saw something that completely threw them off guard.
"What...is that?" Kyouko asked as she pointed a finger at the large Shadow in front of them.
Compared to the other Shadows, this one actually looked like a mass of shadows. It had something that looked like a pair of handlebars on top of a headlight for a head and two large silver arms extending out of the mass of black shadows making up its main body.
"A Shadow," Yuu replied.
"But the other things were like walking hands and little cherubs!" Kyouko shouted, turning to Yuu while still keeping a finger pointed at the larger "boss" Shadow. "They didn't look like a cross between a kaiju and a bicycle!"
"Isn't it because it is stronger than the others?" Mami asked as she turned to Kyubey.
"Indeed," Kyubey nodded as it turned toward Kyouko. "As I explained to the others, stronger Shadows attract smaller Shadows into itself thus increasing its size and strength."
"No...I don't mean why is it big," Kyouko explained. "I mean why does it look like that? I mean everything else looks like it has to deal with the theme of this place...but that thing..."
"Is about to attack," Yuu said as he jumped backwards.
Immediately Mami did the same and Kyouko grabbed Madoka before doing so as several steel balls crashed into the ground where they were just standing at.
""""Persona!""""
Four separate Arcana fell down in front of the group and shattered, releasing Izanagi, Kaihime, Inahime and Kichijoten onto the field.
"Go straight for the face with a Vicious Strike!" Kyouko shouted as Kaihime blazed through the air towards the Shadow's head.
The tip of the spear impacted the Shadow's head for about a second before the Persona was reflected by an invisible force, which also threw Kyouko off of her feet.
"Wha...what the heck was that?" Kyouko asked as she sat back up and looked toward her Persona which had crashed into the ground a little ways off.
"That Shadow seems to be impervious to your physical attacks," Kyubey commented. "Perhaps elemental attacks would work better?"
"Hey, Narukami-san," Mami began.
"What is it?" Yuu asked.
"From the look of things, that Shadow looks to be made of silver, correct?"
"It seems like it."
"Then...don't you think we should try fire or electricity? Silver is a good conductor for them after all."
"Would science even work on a Shadow?"
"It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"
"Speak for yourself..." Kyouko muttered rubbing her back.
Mami and Yuu looked at Kyouko for a moment before turning to each other and nodding.
"Izanagi!"
"Kichijoten!"
The black and yellow Persona flew back behind their hosts and turned toward the large silver Shadow.
""Zio!""
Kichijoten spun its rifle around and pulled the trigger at the Shadow while Izanagi swung its blade back and held out a clawed hand out at it instead.
Thunderclouds formed above the Shadow causing it to turn its head up to look at it. Then, blue and yellow lightning bolts rained down from the clouds, striking the Shadow, causing it to roar out in pain as it slammed both its gigantic hands onto the ground to brace itself.
"Well...that worked," Kyouko said dumbly as she looked toward Kaihime who turned its helmeted head towards her as well. "I don't suppose you got any fire spells? Seeing as this place was full of candles and you were tossing fireballs like no tomorrow at us when you were a Shadow?"
The Persona answered her question with a simple nod as it stood up straight, causing Kyouko to break into a toothy smile.
"Then let's do this!" she shouted as she pointed at the Shadow with the fire spell's name forming in her head. "Agilao!"
From below the Shadow a spark flashed.
Then the flames roared.
A pillar of fire, not unlike the flames from the candles of the Shadow Church, rose like a geyser, engulfing the Shadow as it let out another anguished roar.
"All right!" Kyouko cheered. "Maybe fire ain't so bad after all!"
The thought of that entered Yuu's mind as well as he saw the Shadow melt behind the flames.
For all of two seconds.
Then for some reason, the single headlight on the Shadow's head seem to light up behind the flames.
"Watch out!" Madoka suddenly shouted.
Yuu and the other girls reacted instantly at the warning and jumped, just as a figure of flaming silver sped past them, screeching as it missed all of them and drifted to a halt.
"Drifted?" Yuu asked, surprised at his own thoughts.
Yes, drifted. What had at first been a mass of shadows with a silver head and a pair of silver arms had completely changed into something that could only be desrcibed as a motorcycle with a pair of arms and...for some unknown reason...a pair of legs.
"What...the..." Kyouko stared at the Shadow's new form with an expression of completely incredulity. An expression mimicked by Yuu and the others as well. "What is...I...how did...I don't even..."
"Kyouko-chan, behind you!" Madoka called out again.
Yuu then saw Kyouko spin around before quickly leaning backward, narrowly avoiding a metal pipe that had been swung at her head by what seemed to be a miniature version of the larger "boss" Shadow.
However, Kyouko lost her balance and fell to the ground, allowing the smaller Shadow to raise another pipe up into the air...
"Hama!"
Only to be stopped as an arrow streaked across the sky, with what seemed to be a paper talisman attached to the end, impacted the blob of darkness between its four orb-like eyes. The talisman shined brightly for a second before exploding like a flash bang, causing the Shadow to disappear in an instant.
Yuu turned toward Madoka to see that sometime earlier she had Synchronized with Inahime and was in her armor with her bow out and pointed at the remains of the Shadow.
"T-thanks for the save," Kyouko gasped raising a hand up to her.
"It appears it has summoned a few minions while we were distracted with its main body," Kyubey noted as several more smaller Shadows began materializing from the ground. "Kaname Madoka's light based skills seem to be the most effective against them."
"Then Madoka," Yuu said, taking quick charge. "We'll leave the smaller ones to you, okay?"
"Y-yes!" Madoka nodded. "Leave it to me!"
Yuu nodded back to her as he turned toward Izanagi.
"Synchro! Izanagi!"
He clasped his Persona's hand and was enveloped in blue flames for a second before they died and encased him in Izanagi's.
Two similar cries of Synchro had also rang out and he saw that both Mami and Kyouko had also synchronized with their Persona.
"Haha, you look like an Ouendan!" Kyouko said with a laugh as she pointed at his outfit. "Though it's strangely fitting..."
She was cut off as the boss Shadow rode past them again.
"Gah you're freaking annoying!" Kyouko shouted. "Agilao!"
Another pillar of fire rose up in the Shadow's path catching it as it passed through.
But unlike before, instead of melting the Shadow, it simply caused the creature to go even faster, leaving large flames in its wake.
"It appears this Shadow can change its attributes with its forms," Kyubey noted as Kyouko let out a yelp and dived away from fire charged Shadow.
"Scratch that!" the red head shouted. "Fire still sucks!"
"Persona!" Yuu shouted, crushing another Arcana in his hands. "Jack Frost!"
The little Snow Jester appeared out of the blue flames with a cackle as it clapped its hands at the flaming silver Shadow, creating a block of ice.
The Shadow crashed through the lice as if it was made of wet tissue paper, but the job was done. It was no longer on fire at least.
"Wait...two Persona?" Kyouko asked. "How come you get two?"
"Narukami-san has a lot more than that," Mami replied as she took aim with her rifle and started shooting at the Shadow.
The yellow bullets streaked across the sky and impacted against the hull of the Shadow.
Yuu braced himself in case they rebounded like Kaihime's spear, but the Shadow instead was forced to make a sharp turn from the impacts of the bullets before spinning around and charging back at them.
"It appears physical attacks work on it now," Mami noted as they dived out of the way again.
"That's more like it!" Kyouko shouted as she spun one of her spears around, creating a wheel of fire around it.
Then with powerful thrust, she streaked across the sky like a missile toward the Shadow.
However, her attack just missed and she crashed into the ground, sending up a ton of gravel and soot.
"Argh...someone hold that thing still!" Kyouko shouted as she wrenched her spear out of the ground.
"Got it," Yuu said as he rushed forward. "Persona! Gabriel!"
Jack Frost shifted back into the Magican Arcana before it spun around and the image of the symbol for infinity over a pair of eyes and fire was replaced by the image of a woman with a crown. The Arcana shattered the green angel appeared in its place.
Yuu and the Persona imposed themselves in front of the Shadow and raised their blades up in unison.
CRASH
The impact of the Shadow knocked the wind out of Yuu but he did his best to hold it steady. Throwing his eyes upward for the briefest of moments he could see sparks flying from the Persona's sword.
Realizing that this wasn't going to work, he dived out of the way at the same time as his Persona, allowing the Shadow to go on unimpeded.
"Synchro! Pale Rider!"
The Fool Arcana shot out of his chest and was replaced by the Pierrot Arcana which he snatched out of the air and pushed back into his chest.
Izanagi's armor vanished and was replaced by a blowing black robe and a skull mask. He was also now riding on a pale blue horse and wielding a long scythe.
"And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."
Yuu turned toward Kyouko who was staring at him with a strange look on her face.
Deciding to ask her about that later, he turned back toward the Shadow as it came back around at him.
"Round Two," he said as he and Gabriel attempted to hold it in place again.
Though Pale Rider was physically stronger than Izanagi and he had a horse to help brace himself, the Shadow was still pushing him back, causing the horse's hooves to carve a path through the ground.
"At this rate..."
"I've been waiting for you..."
"Huh?"
It was a voice.
But it didn't come from Kyouko or Mami or Madoka or even Kyubey.
It seemed to come from inside him. From his very soul.
It was Igor's voice. Followed by Margret's.
"It is time for you to awaken your Wild Card's true power," Margret said.
Yuu quickly jumped back as the Pierrot Arcana shot out of him and Gabriel transformed back into the Empress Arcana and stacked on top of each other, putting Yuu back in his school uniform.
"Narukami-san?" Mami asked.
"What are you doing, Yuu-kun?" Madoka called out.
Yuu didn't answer as he swiped his hand across the cards, pushing the Pierrot Arcana to the side causing a line to form between them and blue flames to shine across the area, blowing away all the smaller Shadows and keeping the bigger one at bay.
"What is...this...?" Madoka asked as the girls looked around.
Yuu simply raised his hands up as a fierce wind began blowing across the blue flames, creating a strange sigil behind the two floating behind the two Arcana before swiping his hands across each other.
"Fusion," Yuu said.
A single card remained in front of him. It was neither the Pierrot nor the Empress.
It was the Strength, depicting the picture of a girl with lion beside her.
Yuu then held his hand under the Arcana, allowing it to fall on top of it.
"Persona!" he shouted as he crushed the card in his hands.
The blue flames rose up once more revealing the new Persona.
It stood as tall as the other Persona with two long red horns extending from its head. Its entire body was a deep blood red color save for lighter pink lines that wrapped around its body and dark blowing black hair that reached down to its waist which was wrapped with a black belt.
"Persona! Rakshasa!" Yuu shouted as the Persona shot forward and stopped the Shadow in its tracks, doing alone what Yuu couldn't do with help of another Persona. "Sakura!"
"Hah?" Kyouko asked blankly as she turned her head from the new Persona to Yuu. "O-oh! Right! Assault Dive!"
Kyouko spun her spear around again and charged right at the Shadow.
This time her aim was true. She struck the Shadow like a missile.
Slamming into its outer hull, she managed to force the Shadow out of its form and back into its original mass of blackness.
"Time to finish you off!" Kyouko shouted as she held her spears in a cross formation before slamming them down blade first into the ground. "The eternal flames that will engulf all to ash, Ragnarok!"
A spark shined below the Shadow for a second before it started to slowly circle around it. The spark's speed became faster and faster until the area below Shadow erupted like a volcano, completely enveloping the shadow, and half the room, in flames.
And there was silence.
"Congratulations," Kyubey said breaking the stillness in the area. "It appears the Shadows of this area have all calmed down. Shall we return to the exit? Although it seems Narukami Yuu may need help in that regard."
"Huh?" Mami asked as she turned toward Yuu...just in time to see the boy fall over face first as his Persona vanished. "Narukami-san!?"
"Oi Yuu!"
"Yuu-kun!"
The girls ran up to Yuu to see that the boy was breathing heavily.
"I'm...tired..." the boy breathed out.
"You'll be fine," Kyouko said, slapping the boy on the back. "Just walk it off."
"Thank goodness," Mami sighed. "But...you did some really reckless things today, Narukami-kun..."
"I...suppose...so..." Yuu agreed as Madoka helped him sit up, being too short to actually help him all the way to his feet.
"So...how much?" Kyouko asked as she turned to Kyubey.
"Today's bounty?" Kyubey asked and Kyouko nodded. "Let's see...counting the larger Shadow and all the other Shadows you all have destroyed today. The total comes to ten thousand."
As Kyubey said that, the circle on his back opened up and four clips of bills shot out of his back and landed in front of all of them.
Kyouko immediately snatched one of them and pulled a bill out, holding it toward one of the candles as if checking its authenticity.
"It's...real?" Kyouko asked.
"Of course. Counterfeit bills do not provide enough of an incentive when those using them can be arrested. It is a waste of time and energy to produce them. I can exchange the amount to a different currency if you wish."
"No, I'm good!" Kyouko said quickly as she grabbed Yuu by the arm and with a heave, pulled him straight up so that he was almost hanging over her shoulders. "Let's go, Yuu!"
"W-wait a moment!" Yuu shouted as Kyouko made a beeline for the exit. "Sakura!"
"Kyouko-chan must really want to get out of here," Madoka noted as she and Mami watched them go in disbelief.
"How nice...Sakura-san..." Mami sighed wistfully.
"Eh?"
"I'm tired..." Yuu said again as he rubbed his arms.
He was walking home with Madoka by his side.
The girl seemed to be unusually quiet today.
She was keeping her head down and not really paying attention to where she was going.
"Is something wrong?"
"Eh?" Madoka asked, her head suddenly jerking up and turning toward him. "N-no! I'm fine!"
"Are you sure?" Yuu asked.
"Y-yeah! So don't worry about-grk!"
A soft clanging noise rang out in the sunset causing Yuu to wince as Madoka walked face first into a vending machine.
"Uguh...guuu..." came a pained cry from the younger girl.
"Did you...want a drink?" Yuu asked as Madoka slowly fell to the ground.
When Madoka didn't answer, Yuu quickly helped her up and sat her down on a nearby bench before turning to the vending machine to buy a drink.
"Hmm...mostly hot drinks...I guess the chocolate milk will have to do..." Yuu noted as he pressed the button, allowing a small package to fall out before getting a coffee for himself.
Walking back to his cousin, he pressed the milk against the bump on her head, causing Madoka to jerk in surprised before taking the milk form his hands.
"I'm sorry..." she mumbled. "I'm always troubling you aren't I?
"No, not really," Yuu replied. "Is that what you were worried about?"
"Yes..." Madoka admitted. "Today with that big Shadow...I couldn't do anything to it. Even before then...all I did was follow behind you, Mami-san and Kyouko-chan..."
"But you were a big help fighting the boss's smaller Shadows."
"But that was it...! It only seemed to hit those things. The boss just ignored any arrows I shot at it and I kept missing the other Shadows...and...I'm too afraid to get close to them like Mami-san does when she hits them with her rifle...never mind like you and Kyouko-chan..."
"Madoka..."
"I feel like...the three of you could handle it all by yourselves. You don't really need me at all..."
"That's not true," Yuu said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're an important part of the team."
But Madoka didn't look at him and just kept staring at the milk in her hands.
He wasn't really good at this wasn't he.
Tuesday, May 19th: Sunny
"W-whoa..." Kenichi gasped as he stared up at the board.
"You're kidding me..." Kyouko muttered in similar disbelief.
"That's amazing, Narukami-san," Mami said happily.
"Thanks," Yuu replied passively.
The four students were standing at the base of a large notice board that had the placements of all the third year students during the exams. Yuu's overall test scores had earned him tenth of all the third years, leading to both Kenichi's and Kyouko's current disbelief.
"What are you, perfect?" Kyouko asked as she grabbed Yuu and shook him by the shoulders. "Where do you even find the time to study in between all the extra stuff you do?"
"I don't know," Yuu replied. "A few hours before I sleep I guess?"
"Grr...give me some of your brains!"
"Are you a zombie?"
"Okay, that's enough of that," Kenichi said as he pulled Kyouko away from Yuu before the girl tried to bite his head or something. "But seriously, Narukami. Is there some trick to your studying or do you just retain everything in your head?"
"I don't really know."
"Of course you don't..."
"W-well it's good that we all passed, isn't it?" Mami asked as she clapped her hands together. "Should we get back to class now?"
"Ugh...that just means we're getting the actual scores back, aren't we?" Kyouko groaned as her arms fell limp at her side.
"I'm...sure everything will be okay," Mami said earnestly. "Hopefully."
"And that's all for today," Katou said as he clapped his hands just as the final bell rang. "I'd say that you should go over your tests to make sure you understand what you got wrong but I'm sure those of you who care about that would do it on your own and the rest of you...probably won't so I'll just be going now."
There was some scattered laughter throughout the class as Katou left the room before the usual hustle and bustle of students packing up and or talking with their friends and classmates started up once more.
"See you tomorrow, Narukami-san," Mami said as she and Yuu stood up.
"Yeah, see ya," Yuu nodded as the blonde left first while Yuu finished stuffing his stuff back into his bag before heading out as well, passing by a distraught looking Kyouko staring down at her test papers, or rather only one of them. "That bad?"
"Hey...does this count as failing?" Kyouko asked as she showed Yuu her score. "Does it?"
"It's not a fail," Yuu replied. "But it's not a pass either."
"What kind of answer is that?"
"A vague one."
"I hate you..." Kyouko sighed as she stood up and left the room, with Yuu following behind her. "You heading home with your cuz again?"
"No, I'm heading somewhere right after school," Yuu replied.
"Huh, where?"
"Hospital."
"Hospital?" Kyouko repeated. "Oh, to visit that sick friend of yours?"
"Yeah," Yuu nodded. "What about you?"
"Eh, I gotta head home. My dad's got some hoops to jump through so I think I should be home with the rest of the family."
"Got it. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah. And let's try to find more time to make some money, kay?"
Yuu simply shrugged his shoulders as the two of them split off at the gate; Kyouko heading off to the east while Yuu went west.
"Good afternoon," Yuu said as he knocked and opened the door.
"Oh, Narukami-san," Homura said as she looked up from what seemed to be a laptop that was on a tray propped up over her lap. "Good afternoon."
"That looks new," Yuu said, entering the room and pointing at the laptop.
"Yes," Homura said. "It can't connect to the net, but it's good enough for writing."
"Oh, are you continuing?" Yuu asked as he walked over and peeked over her shoulder. "Eh? Magical Magica? It's not Raijin-ou?"
"I...got inspired to do a...magical girl story..." Homura replied as she pressed the tips of her index fingers together.
"Inspired?"
"I...been having some really strange...dreams I think. About a girl trying to change herself and help the people she cares about."
"And...so it became a Magical Girl story."
"Yes...is that bad?"
"It's fine if that's what you want to do. As long as you focus."
"Sorry..."
Yuu let out a small sigh as he took his usual seat beside her bed.
Yuu tried to visit Homura every Tuesday since the miss date happened a few weeks back. The girl had managed to open up to him a bit more, but the conversations still had a tendency to fall back to its awkward moments as neither of them seemed to be able to express themselves well.
"Oh..." Homura suddenly spoke up. "Did you get your test results back?"
"Yeah," Yuu nodded. "I passed everything."
"Oh! Congratulations. Do you study a lot?"
"About the same as other people, I think."
"Really? I've never been able to do well in studying..."
"Is that right?" Yuu asked.
"Yeah...I just can't seem to get the hang of it," Homura replied. "Ah, can you read this over? I think something sounds off..."
Yuu nodded as he leaned over for a closer look.
With that, the rest of the visit proceeded quietly and peacefully without incident.
Wednesday, May 27th: Cloudy
"This morning, Assemblyman Mikuni Hisaomi of the *** party was found dead on the rooftop of an apartment building..."
Madoka dropped her fork in shock and Yuu nearly choked on his toast as the two of them looked up from their breakfast to pay attention to the news.
"Assemblyman Mikuni had been under suspicion for falsifying fund records and embezzling money a few days ago and so far police are going on the assumption that this is a suicide in a cowardly attempt to escape justice for his crimes."
"Even if it is, the man just died," Tomohisa sighed as he lowered the volume. "There's no need to drag him down further."
"Y-Yuu-kun let's go earlier today!" Madoka said suddenly as she stood up from the table.
"O-oi, wait a moment Madoka!" Yuu said as he quickly stuffed the rest of his toast in his mouth.
"Have a safe trip you two," Junko said from her newspaper.
"Bye bye!" Tatsuya called after them as they ran out the door.
"Madoka, wait a moment!" Yuu called out to her as they ran up the street toward the school.
"How can I?" Madoka called back. "Someone just died!"
"Madoka!" Yuu said as he managed to catch up to his cousin and grab her by the shoulders. "Calm down. We didn't see anything on the Midnight Channel when it rained on Sunday and the police think it's a suicide so it might not have anything to do with the TV world."
"But we should still check with Kyubey shouldn't we?" Madoka asked back. "He could have fallen in sometime after Sunday! And if it's because we were relying on the Midnight Channel to check..."
"But, it's not like Kyubey is there all the time for us to ask if someone is inside. And either way, there wasn't fog last night. Kyubey said that the world is only dangerous to normal people when the fog appears here and disappears over there, so if Mikuni-san was over there then he would still be alive at this point."
"Oh...right...I forgot about that...sorry..."
"It's fine...just calm down."
Madoka nodded as Yuu released his grip on her.
"I'm sorry...I'm just bothering you again..."
"No, like I said it's fine. It's good that you're taking this seriously."
But, as they continued up the path to the school, Yuu felt like he was forgetting something important.
The feeling lasted all the way until he reached the third floor of the school where someone smacked him on the back, nearly knocking him over.
"Yo, Yuu!" came Kyouko's voice as she pulled him back upright by the scruff of his neck. "Something on your mind?"
"The news," Yuu replied, fixing his collar and rubbing his back.
"News? Ah, the politician who offed himself? Wait...you're not thinking it has to do with that do you?"
"No. it's just that I thought I heard the name somewhere before..."
"Well he did have those campaign posters everywhere at one time didn't he? Can't walk two meters without seeing one."
"I'm not sure..."
As the two of them entered the classroom, Yuu came to an abrupt stop causing Kyouko to bump into him from behind.
"Hey, say something when you're suddenly going to stop!" Kyouko said only to blink as she saw Yuu just staring ahead. "Oi, what's up?"
"No...it's nothing," Yuu lied as he kept an eye on the thing that shocked him as he walked away from Kyouko, who shrugged and headed over to her own seat, while Yuu sat down at his.
It had been a small footnote on that day, but he remembered it now.
Where he heard the name Mikuni before.
From that cake shop Mami took him.
One Mikuni Oriko, who was with the pale and worried looking person who sat in front of him at school.
"Are you okay, Kure?" he asked, causing the girl to jump and wheel around toward him. "You look ill."
"No...I'll be...fine..." Kirika replied as she turned her attention back toward what she was doing, looking down at her phone as if she was waiting for a message or a phone call that wasn't coming.
Most likely she tried to contact Oriko when she heard about her father on the news and the other girl had yet to reply.
Yuu really wanted to ask her about it, but he didn't think it was any of his business.
"Good morning, Narukami-san."
Yuu turned around and saw Mami sit down in her seat.
"Morning," Yuu replied.
"Can we meet in the usual place today?" Mami asked. "I want to ask some questions."
"Yeah. I do too."
After school, Yuu and the girls entered the TV World again and Kyubey was there waiting for them.
"Welcome back," Kyubey greeted them, its tail swishing left and right as they brushed themselves off. "Are you doing another excursion?"
"No, we wanted to ask you if anyone came in here since we were last here," Yuu replied.
"Other than Sakura Kyouko, no."
"What?" Madoka and Mami asked as they turned toward Kyouko.
"I only looked around!" Kyouko said quickly. "And I only beat the crap out of the Shadows near the entrance. I'm not stupid enough to solo a dungeon at my level!"
"Are you angry because you are not included in the payment if only one you fights?" Kyubey asked as the girls turned toward it.
"No, I'm angry because Sakura-san did something very reckless and dangerous!" Mami said before throwing another glare at Kyouko who let out a nervous laugh as she took a step back from the blonde.
"So to recap," Yuu said, taking back the reins of the conversation. "No one other than the people here have been here."
"That is incorrect," Kyubey replied.
"But...you just said that only Kyouko-chan has been here," Madoka said.
"That was when you asked from the last time you all were here. There was another person who came here shortly before Narukami Yuu made his contract."
"What!"
"Why didn't you tell us such an important thing?" Mami asked.
"Because you didn't ask," Kyubey replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, causing the humans to stare at him in mild exasperation.
"And...what happened to that person?" Yuu asked.
"He was killed by the Shadows and his body disappeared when the fog arrived. I have no idea where it went as my knowledge is mainly restricted to this world. If I had to make a guess, he went back to your world somehow."
"T-then..." Yuu began as he swallowed a lump in his throat. "Can you show us where?"
"Us?" Kyouko asked. "I don't want to go where a guy was found dead. That's a death flag or it might be the entrance to a bonus dungeon!"
"Sakura-san...you are throwing out some very vague terms all of a sudden..." Mami said. "Did you buy a game or something with the money you got?"
"Buy a game?" Kyouko repeated. "Why do that when you can watch people play the game for you on Niconico for free?"
Silence fell between them.
"She said something very outrageous just then!"
Was what the other three were thinking.
"W-what?" Kyouko asked.
Yuu really wanted to comment on that out loud but they had more important things to do.
"Is this it?" Yuu asked.
"Yes," Kyubey nodded. "This was where he was before the Shadows overwhelmed him."
They were at the base of a large water tower.
"H-hey...don't you think the atmosphere is a little...tense?" Kyouko asked. "Even though all the Shadows in the area are those small fry mouth things..."
"A water...tower..." Mami began before she ran toward the railing and looked down.
"W-what is it, Mami-san?" Madoka asked.
"Like I thought...over there!"
Mami pointed toward an office building on the other side of the street.
"Aibara...Moving Company..." Yuu read. "That's..."
"The name of the company that person worked at..." Mami said slowly with a nod.
"Umm...what are you talking about?" Kyouko asked.
"Do you know that company, Mami-san?" Madoka asked.
Yuu turned toward Mami as she looked back at him.
"Sorry, I think we're going to head back earlier than usual today," Yuu said. "There are things we need to talk about."
"I understand," Kyubey nodded. "You shouldn't rush to complete your contract. Take things slow and steady with a good plan."
"So...what's up?" Kyouko asked as the four of them sat down in the school cafeteria with their food.
"The person who was killed there..." Mami began. "I think it was the man who was found dead at the water tower last month."
"The man..." Madoka repeated before her eyes widened in realization. "You really think so?"
"Oh, that guy?" Kyouko said. "Well...it does seem too much to be a coincidence but...why did we need to leave just to talk about it?"
"Because it's safer that way," Yuu replied. "Also...another thing had been bothering me."
"Yes..." Mami nodded. "Just what causes someone to show up on the Midnight Channel and end up inside the TV in the first place? What does the three of us along with that man have in common?"
"I guess the thing about it being the kids in our class doesn't work when an adult is brought into the picture does it?" Kyouko asked as she leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling in thought.
"Is there even a pattern?" Yuu asked. "The Midnight Channel rumor has been going on for a while hasn't it? But even then it didn't seem like people were dying."
"Kyubey did say that it only started happening recently," Mami replied. "Perhaps the people that showed up didn't actually get dragged in back then."
"So we need to find out what exactly makes them show up in the first place...huh? What a pain. What does an old blue-collar worker, a transfer student, an honor student and a kid nun have in common?"
"You all were on TV?" Madoka asked.
"Besides being on the midnight channel," Kyouko said. "We're trying to figure out what-"
"No, not the Midnight Channel!" Madoka clarified raising her hands up. "You all were on the news!"
The others just stared at her.
"I mean...the mover was on since he hit Mami-san's family's car, Yuu-kun was shown because he helped them even if not by name, Mami-san started being shown after the mover died and the reporters showed up, and Kyouko-chan was just shown on recently so I just thought...is it a dumb idea?"
"You're a genius!" Kyouko shouted a bit too loudly, causing several other students to look over in their direction before clamping a hand around her mouth and shrinking back into her seat.
"Certainly, I wouldn't have noticed that connection," Mami nodded. "You're very good at noticing the smaller details, Kaname-san."
"Eh? No...it's just..."
"So we should keep an eye on the news then..." Yuu muttered. "It will also rain tomorrow."
"Bleh...as if people needed another reason to hate reporters..." Kyouko muttered as she took a bite out of her burger. "Bad enough they get in your way if you're 'famous,' now they inadvertently get ya killed too when the fog rolls around. Let's just eat up and go home."
"Yeah...huh?" Yuu nodded before looking over his shoulder.
"Is something the matter?" Mami asked.
"No...I thought someone was looking over here."
"The transfer student sitting at a table with three girls plus my loud blabber mouth, I'd be surprised if someone wasn't," Kyouko mumbled.
"Huh..."
"Uwah...how horrible..." Tomohisa muttered and Yuu had to agree with him as they watched the news later that night at dinner.
A silver-haired girl was trying to push her way past a bunch of reporters who had surrounded her just to exit her school. However, unlike in Mami's case, no one was trying to help her.
Considering the current events, it was probably due to the fact that no one wanted to get involved with the daughter of a corrupt politician.
"That's not right..." Madoka muttered as the scene cut to the Mikuni household which was covered in graffiti with things like "Tax Thief," "Go Away," and "Die" being the more kinder things written on it.
"Maybe we should stop watching the news during mealtimes..." Tomohisa said as he reached for the remote but Yuu snatched it from under him. "Yuu-kun?"
"It's important to know what happens even if we don't like it," Yuu replied.
"Well, I don't disagree with that but...if you two don't eat your dinner because of it, it'd be better to not watch it at all, don't you think?"
Yuu blinked as he and Madoka looked down at their untouched dinner, having been too caught up in watching the news.
"Ah, sorry Papa," Madoka said quickly as she hastily started eating with Yuu doing the same.
"Will Madoka's guess be correct?" Yuu wondered. "We have no choice but to wait until tomorrow night to check the Midnight Channel."
Thursday, May 28th: Raining
Yuu looked up at the storm clouds from his window. As the forecast predicted, it looked like it was going to rain all day.
"If only it had started raining before midnight..." Yuu sighed as he closed the curtain to get ready for the day ahead.
"Hey did ya hear?"
"Course I did."
"What did you expect...?"
The whispering was getting out of hand.
Was what Yuu thought as he scratched the side of his head with his pencil.
It was self study period right now since the math teacher had a sudden errand to run but most of the class seemed to be intent on talking about the news.
"Jeez, it must be nice, talking about things when it doesn't concern them."
Yuu turned toward the voice to see Kyouko sitting down in the empty seat in front of Mami, its original occupant having gotten up to talk to her friends.
"I suppose so," Mami agreed before turning her eyes somewhere else. "In any case, we should definitely check tonight, right? The Midnight Channel."
"Yeah..." Yuu nodded. "Checking to see if that really is the pattern."
"Do we know when the most likely time for the fog to roll in is?"
"Fog usually comes after a lotta rain right?" Kyouko asked. "Then wouldn't it be next Friday? I checked during History and the forecast said it might rain from Tuesday to Thursday next week."
"I should probably say something about that but it's for a good reason so I'll let it slide..." Mami sighed before looking away. "Kure-san are you feeling okay? You look..."
"Like ya gonna die..." Kyouko finished as Yuu turned toward Kirika.
The girl was paler than yesterday. Her hair was unkempt and a bit soaked as if she had forgotten her umbrella causing her to look like she was going to cry.
"Sorry!" she shouted as she abruptly stood up and ran out of the classroom.
"Uh...was that my fault?" Kyouko asked.
"Yes," Mami replied.
"Most likely," Yuu nodded as well, causing Kyouko to slump forward.
"Sorry..."
"Almost midnight," Yuu muttered as he looked out the window to see that it was still raining before shutting it and turning toward the TV in his room. "If Madoka's guess is right then the one that will show up tonight is..."
The screen fizzled to life, an an extremely clear image showed up showing a girl with green eyes and silver hair wearing a long black robe around her.
"Good Evening, ladies and gentlemen," Oriko's Shadow said doing a small curtsy towards the "camera" by grabbing the edges of her robe. "My name is Mikuni Oriko."
"Mikuni really showed up!" was what Yuu was screaming inside as he paid close attention to the girl in front of him. "And it's another outrageous thing!"
"Everyone, if I may have a moment of your time," The Shadow said as she bowed her head. "Do you have people you love?"
"Love?"
"Family, friends, lovers. Do you have ppeople who you want to protect out of love, even if they abandon you? And have you ever lamented your own powerlessness when you are unable to protect them? I ask you this, because the world is in danger for an entity made of malice is approaching."
"Does she mean the Shadow world...or the real world?" Yuu wondered.
"But...I will fight," the Shadow declared. "Against the invaders, against those that will trample on our natural way of life. And so I, Mikuni Oriko, will fight!"
And with that, the Midnight Channel was over as the TV feed died.
"That was...different..."
A thunderous stomping sounded from the hallway and Yuu turned toward his door just in time to see Madoka burst through the door as usual.
"Yuu-kun!" she shouted, as usual. "That was..."
"Mikuni Oriko," Yuu nodded. "It looks like those who appear on the news, or at least mentioned indirectly on the news show up. Or rather in this case...she's already inside isn't she?"
"T-then we need to save her as soon as possible!" Madoka said, nodding her head as if trying to psyche herself up.
"Yeah," Yuu nodded as well. "Of course."
Friday, May 29th: Raining
"It's still raining out..." Mami said worriedly as she looked out the window from the clubroom.
"Hey...why are you bringing your bag with ya?" Kyouko asked, pointing at Yuu.
"This," Yuu said, opening it up to show the contents. Inside were various snacks and sandwiches and a thermos. "Both you and Tomoe were starving when we found you. This way Mikuni won't be in as a bad position."
"Oh...not a bad idea..." Kyouko nodded as she reached for a chip bag only for Yuu to zip it up. "Tch..."
"But did you really have to bring that with you?" Madoka asked. "Mama's...coffee..."
"It will give her energy," Yuu replied as Mami and Kyouko suddenly looked worried. "Let's go!"
As he stuck his arms into the TV, Yuu realized that they had been lucky up until this moment. Because the clubroom wasn't being used anymore, people wouldn't come around here normally. And because people wouldn't come here normally, when people do come, it definitely looked suspicious.
And so...naturally someone would come and check when they heard voices coming from the room.
"W-what is that!" came a voice at the door, causing them all to turn around and see Kirika Kure standing at the entrance way, gaping with her mouth open and pointing at Yuu's arms.
Chapter's End Corner
Harouki: Hello! It's good to be back in this particular seat with the start of the Kirika/Oriko arc!
Sayaka: WHAT ABOUT ME!?
Harouki: Still a non-important background character.
Sayaka: Grk...
Harouki: But still...what to do for Oriko's Shadow. I already have Kirika's planned out as well as her theme, but Oriko is a bit more difficult than that. Sigh...I really have a love-hate relationship with the general Madoka original material. So much depressing stuff. Really makes me want to do a happy end. ANyway, let's keep the ball rolling and try to get another chapter out this month!
