Mystic Oriental Love Consultation

v0.9

They watched a pile of records about the interaction of the other Madoka and Homura then Kyouko sent Sayaka home to sleep a few hours. When the blunette left she had a walk around the neighborhood and took a bath in the river. She could never stand confinement let alone orderly life, yet she had too much of them lately so she needed some fresh air and open space. By the time she returned the light was already fading. The sight of Madoka alone under the bridge took her by surprise, she thought the couple inseparable.

"We're preparing for tomorrow.", the pinkette explained. "We haven't been farther than a meter from each other since Hochfeld. Soul gems work from a hundred meters but we don't know what would happen if we got separated, even though we'll have to part tomorrow, or any time we start with this plan. So I came here to try it and let Homura-chan sleep. I'm too wide awake and I'm afraid I'd mix my thoughts in her dreams... or something like that. And I know that she badly needs some rest. She's been so easily exhausted lately and sometimes she... isn't really here."

"Sorry for not asking... I had to take care of so many things. What happened to her? It sounds like something's wrong with her magnets..."

"Then it seems you haven't heard everything. But it's probably something you should have seen instead. Jones drew a lot of blood from Homura-chan and injected her magnets in me. We've been a bit... mingled since then. We feel each other's emotions, the pain, even some thoughts... Probably because she's partly outside of her body. It might be because she lost too much magnets. Please don't give me that look! I know that it's very dangerous to your ilk... and I know that it's been a long time for you... but it just happened yesterday for us! Walbey is waiting at the University, he can examine her, but we'll have to return to our Mitakihara to get there!"

Kyouko sat silent, her eyes fixed on Madoka. She had a good deal to think about.

"I feel sorry for Homura.", she said after a minute of silence. "She had way more than her share. It's good that you're there for her. I have something else to worry about."

"What's that?"

"You. I've already said that I can't imagine the other Madoka skin alive Akuma Homura. But I don't know what would that other Homura do to you if we got caught. I know what you think about her but I'm afraid that she's completely insane."

Madoka took a deep breath. Kyouko, counting on a long monologue, grabbed a Pocky with her teeth and started to play with it. Madoka didn't mind, she knew that this time it's a sign of the redhead's attention.

"Because you don't know Homura-chan well enough. Of course you know a lot about her, but there are things she won't show to you. You know all too well what media tells about her – when they care about us at all, I mean. When this whole mess with magical girls and witches became public Homura-chan's story suddenly got very popular. Then they started to write articles that made her look like a creepy stalker who stops time to grope me and steal my panties and they pitied the hell out of me for being with a pervert who was just using me."

"I do remember... I'm glad that Mami took over the PR...", Kyouko sighed. "I've always hated publicity but those idiots had really gone too far! I'd happily send all these fucking slanders into a labyrinth to let them scribble their bullshit to the witch. She would surely give them the reward they deserve!"

"But the main thing is", the pinkette went on, "that they're all horribly wrong. It's true that Homura-chan would do almost anything for me. But they don't seem to realize that they've turned everything upside down. They have no idea how vulnerable Homura-chan is. It wrenches my heart to think about what she'd do should something happen to me. Or the things I could do to her should I be a worse person."

Kyouko would have had a few ideas for her about those things but a look at Madoka's dead serious face stopped her from grinning.

"There are things they better not know.", she said nodding her head understandingly. "Looks like Jones realized and nothing good came of that... Don't worry, Madoka, I'll keep my mouth shut. Isn't that what friends are for?"

She pulled out another Pocky and handed it to Madoka. It felt better to talk while they both were chewing something.

"But, back to your concern... it's not groundless at all. Even I couldn't get my head around why Homura-chan didn't seem to worry about me, it just... wasn't like her. We had a talk about it while you were away and she said that you weren't wrong at all when you compared them to the two of us. She told me how she connected this other Homura back in Hochfeld and she's perfectly sure that she just couldn't have done any harm to me, even as the witch she was. She said that she's positive that I'm safe. And it's more than enough for me."

Kyouko had just finished her Pocky and she seemed to have finished the conversation too.

"Whatever, you know her better. You should go back to look after Homura. You won't see each other for a while, after all. I'll stay here until ten. Then Sayaka checks in and I'll have to be there for the night watch. Try to get some sleep. It's been difficult for the devil lately, we may wake up in a new time tomorrow.

A/N: A short intermezzo before the storm. The stage has been set, something stirs behind the curtains... Will there be a countdown?

Tags: Kaname Madoka, Sakura Kyouko, Soul Magnets, Creepy Stalker, Panty Thief, Press For You

Beta read: shiNIN