Mami, Miki, Kuchiki and Kaname patiently waited for the other girls to arrive before taking their orders. The blonde let her friends know it would be mere minutes before the they arrived. They were moving at a quick pace, just a few blocks away.
Miki talked about how she visited Kyosuke; the two had listened to the most recent CD she bought for him. He seemed a bit distant while listening, but she was sure he enjoyed it. The conversation then changed subjects as Kuchiki teased her about her supposed 'boyfriend' - which was, honestly, quite amusing to watch.

Akemi, Suzuki and two girls she didn't know but could tell were Puella Magi entered the restaurant and went straight towards them, filling in the four seats that were left. She noticed Kuchiki looking surprised to see the two strangers for an instant - and they recognized her too - but she ignored that. It didn't matter. No wonder they'd reserved a table for eight instead of six. Mami was practically vibrating in her seat from excitement. Even more friends! Could things get any better? She had to bite her tongue to not outright interrupt them as they introduced themselves to the group.

All the happiness instantly died, however, when she heard the black-haired girl - Karin Kurosaki, was it? - speak, saw her body language in general, even her hairstyle. The ravenette was so much like her...
Memories of a red-haired girl came crashing in waves. They'd been good friends. An unstoppable duo as Puella Magi. She was always positive, snarky and brash, the most daring and courageous person she knew back then. She practically considered her as a sister...

And she left her.

She probably...no, definitely wouldn't see her again.

It was her fault, she was sure of it. Had she have been there... If she'd done a better job protecting her and her family...

Mami was pulled from her thoughts by someone squeezing her hand. Yuzu Kurosaki, who sat on her right side, gave her a sad smile.

"It's okay. I'm not sure who 'Sakura-san' is, but... I'm sure whatever happened wasn't your fault. You aren't omnipresent, Tomoe-san."

She looked at her, gobsmacked. How...?

"It's my main ability. I won't do it again if you feel like I'm invading your privacy but you looked a little unhappy for a second there."

Understanding, Mami gave her a thankful look and returned to the conversation everyone was having.
All of them paused it when the waiter came to nite down what they wanted before they continued talking.
Unfortunately, the blonde teen was quite lost, and found herself asking everyone what they were talking about.
Kaname was the one to answer.

"Well... Suzuki-san said something about about helping Sayaka-chan get a date with her -"

"Madoka he's not my boyfriend!"

Karin Kurosaki snorted.
"Sure, that's what they all say."

"Shut up!", Miki fumed, red enough to rival a tomato.

"You first, genius."

Before Mami, Kaname or Akemi could step in to stop the upcoming argument, Suzuki innocently said:
"Ah, Tomoe-san! Isn't he the one I sensed with you in your apartment earlier?"

Everyone followed the maroon-haired girl's gaze, and saw...Yasutora?! A look of recognition crossed Kuchiki and the twins' faces, but the others just seemed curious.
Kuchiki went ahead and explained what she knew about him to those who didn't know the older teen at all.

Mami had one question she needed to ask Suzuki though :
"You... were able to sense me from that far..?"

"She can! It's a habit Karin and I picked up from her, actually. Always scanning our surroundings comes in handy sometimes...she's way better at it than us, though. She can pinpoint exactly where an individual is while Karin and I can only know the general area of the person if they're at a very long distance.", explained Yuzu Kurosaki.

Her sister gave Mami a sly smirk, having latched onto the fact that Mami hadn't denied having the older teen in her apartment.

"Huh. Didn't think you were into that kind of thing...hope you didn't make enough noise to disturb the neighbors! Would be pretty awkward to listening to all that - OW! Yuzu, come on!"

"You know why I did that! Seriously, you weren't anywhere near this inappropriate a year ago! What has gotten into you?!"

The brunette scowled at her, having elbowed her in the side. Suzuki was obviously having a hard time stopping herself from outright guffawing, and a cheshire smile found itself on Kuchiki's face. Akemi just stared at Karin Kurosaki with a deadpan expression. Mami had no idea what the ravenette was talking about, and was comforted by the fact that both Kaname and Miki looked just as clueless.

"...Huh? I'm afraid I don't understand what you're talking about, Kurosaki-san..."

Suzuki bursted out laughing like there was no tomorrow, earning some glares from a few people nearby.

"Well...what would you do if you were conveniently alone with him...?", prompted the black-haired Kurosaki.

"Karin!"

Akemi and Yuzu Kurosaki were now glaring, and Kuchiki joined Suzuki in her laughter.
Miki, seemingly understanding, went red enough to put Kyoko Sakura's hair to shame. Kaname was still confused, though.

"Umm... Have cake and tea?", answered the blonde, wondering what was so funny.

The smirk fell off Karin Kurosaki's face and she faceplanted on the table.

"...are you really this dumb?"

"Eh?"

"How do you think you came to be? A stork brought you?"

"Err...maybe?"

The ravenette banged her head on the table a second time, defeated. Something told Mami that she probably didn't want to know what the other girl was talking about anyway.

She thought about letting them know about the witch she had encountered, but decided to postpone the idea. It was just one witch, and she didn't want to ruin the mood.

Finally recovering from her laughter, Mao decided to ask an easier question.

"What Karin-chan really wanted to ask was: did you have fun with your boyfriend?"

Mami's thought process short-circuited. What?

"Wh-wha?! That's - that's not - you got it all wrong!", she exclaimed, blushing furiously.

An evil smirk replaced Miki's formerly embarrassed expression.
"Reeeeaaalllyyyyy? Gotta wonder why you stuttered so much!"

"Sayaka-chan, that's not nice!", said Kaname, pouting at her.

Yuzu Kurosaki put on a thoughtful expression.
"I could help you with making chocolates for the next valentine's day..."

Suzuki cut in, snorting.
"Forget valentine's day, I'm totally arranging a date for those two! Get those chocolates ready ASAP! Make them heart-shaped while you're at it!"

Kuchiki perked up at the idea.
"Count me in! I need to see this!"

"I wonder how you'd react if we played a nice game of seven minutes in heaven and you just so happened to wind up with him...", Karin Kurosaki innocently suggested, watching the blonde's reaction (which had, predictably, been Mami sputtering and blushing, clearly trying to deny anything at all).

"But - that's not - I'm not - it's really not what it looks -"

"Anyway, I ship it!", interrupted Suzuki enthusiastically. " What do you think of the name SadoMami?"

Akemi just sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her lips twitched into a slight grin, though.

Mami was mortified. God, why?
The waiters saved her by delivering the food, drawing everyone's attention to their meals.

Thank goodness.

...

...

...

The blonde inwardly had to admit that she did think the older teen was attractive, though.

Yuzu Kurosaki momentarily stopped eating her pizza and winked at her. Crap. She'd forgotten that the girl could hear her.

0.0

Turquoise orbs passively watched the eight individuals in the restaurant from his position on the roof of another building a few blocks away. He was shocked when he saw the Kurosaki twins at first; Lieutenant Kuchiki hadn't said anything about them being Puella Magi. He could interrogate them later; he doubted it would make much of a difference anyway (besides the older Kurosaki's rage, of course).

Toshiro Hitsugaya's main interest was Mao Suzuki. According to the lieutenant's report, she was clearly well aware of everything that happened in the Soul Society, it's history, and more, but until recently no one knew of the existence of Puella Magi. His objective was to determine if she was a danger to the Soul Society, and if so, he was to deal with her accordingly. If she wasn't, he was to coax her (and, by extension, her allies) onto their side. The head captain had clearly stated that he wouldn't tolerate having any more loose canons; Ichigo Kurosaki, Isshin Kurosaki, Ryuken Ishida, Uryu Ishida and the two Fullbringers along with the residents of the Urahara shop were already more than enough.

Shaking his head and focusing on his target once more, he was surprised to see said girl giving him a calculating stare through the window. His gaze only caught hers for a moment before she went back to eating her nachos.
The Shinigami wasn't sure how she knew he'd been there - he was in a reiatsu-suppresing gigai and wearing Urahara's reiatsu-suppressing coat; both were known to be very reliable.

If her senses were truly sharp enough to sense him from that far when he should have been invisible...

...he'd have to tread with caution, as he wasn't even aware of her abilities, and therefore, her level of power at full capacity was unknown.

0.0

Beady red eyes watched the unsuspecting Shinigami.

There were currently two highly ranked Shinigami in Mitakihara. The lieutenant had given a report to the Gotei 13. It seemed Homura Akemi either didn't know the full truth of the system or chose not to reveal that to the other girls. Because of her alliance to Mao Suzuki, a troublesome Puella Magi the Incubators had unsuccessfully tried to assassinate multiple times, it was likely to be the latter.
Regardless, the Shinigami (with the exception of Isshin and Ichigo Kurosaki) didn't know the full truth, and that gave them more time.

But, they would have to take precautionary mesures. A little bit of time meant nothing if they didn't take advantage of it.
This time could be used to turn the Gotei 13's attention away from the world of the living for enough time to eliminate the connection between the Soul Society and the other dimensions.

Contracting Madoka Kaname would have to be temporarily postponed ; in the current circumstances, it'd be impossible.

...

Another set of beady red eyes, in an unknown location, watched as the procedure advanced.

Brainwashing of the Quincy, with the exception of the surviving Ishidas: complete.

Acquirement of Sosuke Aizen's alliance: complete, albeit temporary with manipulation. Brainwashing would be used whenever necessary.

Both were currently submissive.

Completion of current experiment with the help of beta subject number three: in progress.