Chapter 27
Junko knew there was something strange going on with her daughter. Madoka had been more withdrawn lately, and her recounts of the day felt more evasive than before. It had gotten to the point where Junko worried Madoka was being bullied. That didn't seem to match with her behavior, though. She seemed as eager to get to school as always, and her friend group had apparently grown recently.
Something was going on, that much was obvious. Even so, Junko had decided not to confront her daughter. Madoka would talk when she was ready, and prodding her any earlier would only risk pushing her away. Unless it seemed like Madoka was in danger, Junko wasn't going to demand an explanation. She knew that in time, Madoka would come to her.
That assumption proved to be correct when Madoka asked if they could speak in private. Junko sent her husband to take Tatsuya on a walk, then sat down at the dining room table with Madoka.
"So," she said. "What's going on?"
Madoka fidgeted in her seat. "Well, um, you know how I told you about my new friends at school?"
Junko nodded. "Homura and Mami, right?"
"Y-yeah," Madoka said. "You see, there's a few others they're friends with. They're all really supportive of each other, especially because they've been dealing with some difficult stuff. But now there's something really, really difficult they need to do."
There were plenty of details being left out in that explanation, but Junko let it slide. Chances were these challenges her friends were facing were personal.
"You want to help them," Junko said. That, at least, was written plainly on Madoka's face.
Madoka nodded, gripping her legs under the table. "They've been on their own all this time, and I think I can help them. The thing is, they . . . don't want me to."
"They don't your aid?"
"M-hm. They think I shouldn't get involved." Her eyes widened. "A-and they're not being mean or anything! It's just that they don't think this affects me, and want to protect me. But seeing them get hurt would affect me. I don't think I would be able to live with myself if something happened to them and I could have prevented it."
Junko considered Madoka's words. If these girls were in danger, then the best thing for her to do would be to call their parents, or any authority figure she could. Without all the details, she couldn't say for sure what the right call was. At the very least, however, Madoka seemed to think her help would make a difference.
"What do you want to do?" Junko asked.
"Huh? Oh! Actually, I know a way I make their problem easier for them. But I don't know if they'll be happy with me doing it after they told me not to get involved . . ."
That was her Madoka. Always wanting the best for others. Trying to make everyone happy when sometimes that wasn't possible.
"Well," Junko said, "the way I see it, you have two options. You can hang back and let them find their own way, or you can help and take responsibility. Either way you'll accept their feelings, but you can choose whether or not to act in spite of them."
"Act . . . in spite of their feelings?" Madoka tilted her head.
"I'll repeat myself," Junko said. "What do you want to do?"
"I . . . want to help them." Madoka set in her mouth in a determined line, eyes narrowing slightly. "No matter what, I want to be there for them!"
Junko smiled. "Then the answer is obvious, right?"
Madoka blinked. "You're right." She beamed. "Thanks, Mom."
"Of course," Junko said. "You can come to me for help any time, Madoka." Something flashed in Madoka's eyes. "Madoka? What is it?"
"I-it's nothing." Madoka stood up. "I should get going. I told Homura I'd be at her place by noon."
With a nod, Junko set her off. As Madoka left, Junko wondered what that moment of hesitation could have been about.
"Tomorrow's the day, then?"
Homura glanced at Sayaka, then nodded. "Everyone will be evacuated to the storm shelters. Not long after, Walpurgisnacht will arrive from the sea."
"You've fought Walpurgisnacht before, Homura," Mami said. "The rest of us will follow your judgement. I . . . I trust you"
"Thank you," Homura said. Something compelled her to add, "And thank you for sticking with us."
She almost couldn't believe the situation. The five of them—Homura, Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko, and Mami—were gathered in her home. All alive, and if not entirely stable, at least ready to give it their all against Walpurgisnacht. Had there ever been a timeline where this occurred?
No. The only time all five of us worked together at once was the 3rd. The one where everything went wrong.
There was still time for something terrible to happen. With all the magic in the world, there was no way for Homura to predict what may come. And yet, she had no choice but to make this the last timeline. If she failed Madoka here, then she really was hopeless.
That wasn't an option. Homura had to fulfill her promise.
"I'll be preparing a section of the city with all of my explosives," Homura said. "If we can lead Walpurgisnacht there, then I can activate them. That may not be enough to finish it off, so we'll need to be ready for anything."
"And those Seosten?" Kyoko asked. "What if they get involved?"
"That . . ." Homura took a deep breath. "We have to trust what Flick, Avalon, Pace, and Carmentae are working on. If it works, then we'll know the moment a Seosten is near us. We'll have to regroup if that happens, and find the best people for handling the threat. Flick will probably be one of them."
She hated not having a more detailed plan than that. Every time she had fought Walpurgisnacht, she had at least known what she was getting into. Here, anything could happen.
"Will you be able to do it, then?" Madoka asked. She flushed when everyone turned their attention to her. "I mean, Walpurgisnacht is supposed to super strong, and—"
"We can handle it," Homura interrupted, a bit more forceful than intended. Still, she didn't want Madoka to even think about contracting. "Walpurgisnacht has only lasted this long because not enough Magical Girls were willing to team up and beat it. There will be 8 of us fighting tomorrow. That's more than any group of Magical Girls could hope for."
Madoka bit her lip. "Okay. Then I'll see you all after the fight. I can help Avalon put all your souls back, then you won't have to fight anymore.
If only life went that smoothly.
Nightfall hit, and the group decided they had done all the planning they could. They were outside now, going their separate ways. Except Kyoko wasn't heading home.
"Kyoko?" Mami asked. "What is it?"
Kyoko considered making an excuse and leaving. She had often daydreamed of a scenario like this in Kazamino, but now that the moment had arrived, second, third, and fourth thoughts were running through her mind.
"Look," she said before she could chicken out. "None of us know what's going to happen tomorrow. If one of us doesn't make it, we should make sure there aren't any regrets. So . . . I just wanted to say . . . I . . ."
Mami frowned. "Kyoko, are you alright?"
"I'm sorry," Kyoko blurted. Mami's eyes widened. "After everything with my dad, I thought I could only live for myself. That anything else would only lead to more pain. Now that I've seen the big picture, I . . . I guess I realized that wasn't the best way to live."
Mami smiled, and moved to put a hand on Kyoko's arm before stopping herself. "Thank you, Kyoko. I don't know if I deserve your apology, though. Not after what I did."
"What, you mean trying to kill me?" Kyoko snorted. It was a fair fight, and you were kinda crazy at the time. I'd be pissed if you actually went and took me out, but I'm still here, ain't I?"
"I suppose so, but—"
"No buts about it," Kyoko said. "You made some mistakes, I might have made some as well. How about we call it even."
"Even," Mami murmured. "Yes, I would like that."
"Great," Kyoko said. She held out a pocky stick toward Mami, who blinked at it. "Then let's kick some ass tomorrow."
This time, Mami's smile stayed on her face as she accepted the pocky. "Let's."
They parted ways shortly after, and Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow, that had worked out.
Left alone on her walk to where Carmentae and the other were, Kyoko had time to think. For whatever reason, her thoughts were drifting back to that Flick girl. Kyoko hadn't chalked her up to be much, and she might have never been as wrong as then. After hearing about how Flick had cured Sayaka, and seeing the girl come back from witchhood herself, Kyoko had to reevaluate her thoughts on the girl.
She didn't crack. After everything, she just kept pushing.
After Flick had held back against Kyoko, she had thought Flick was as ignorant as the rest of them. And in a way, she had been. But like Kyoko had predicted, she lost that ignorance. Yet her values didn't change in the face of all that.
Kyoko had been forced to reinvent herself. Her father had called her a witch after she made her wish for his sake. The wish that people would listen to his sermons at church again, after their family had been forced to starve. Then he went crazy, and killed her family and himself. She would have died too, had she not been a Magical Girl.
How could Kyoko not harden herself after that? How could she not leave Mami, her tutor, and prioritize survival above all else? That was the natural choice to make.
Everyone took different paths, she supposed. Where Kyoko had struck out on her own, Flick had all but forced everyone to get along.
In that moment, Kyoko made a decision. She wasn't done reinventing herself. There was plenty of shit out there that would kill her given the chance. Survival was still her number one priority, but she was done being behind the curve. With the others, she would make sure to get ahead for once.
As if the universe chose that specific moment to mock her, Kyoko heard a familiar voice behind her.
"What are you doing?"
Chills crept on Kyoko's neck as she turned around. She prayed to be mistaken, but looking at the woman in front of her removed that hope. Standing there was the Seosten, Charmeine.
"You're . . . going to have to elaborate," Kyoko said.
Stay calm. She thinks Carmentae is possessing you. She's probably checking in or something. I'll convince her we're all dancing to her strings or whatever, then she'll leave.
"Let me rephrase the question," Charmeine said. "When were you going to report to us that Sinclaire is a Magical Girl?"
Shiiiiit. Of all the times for Carmentae to not be possessing her, it had to be during a confrontation. Think, Kyoko. What would Carmentae say in that moment?
"I've been a little busy, here," Kyoko said. "You told me to make friends with the kids. Do you realize how clingy they are?"
Charmeine's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't take that tone, if I were you. Don't forget who your superiors are."
Right. They still thought Carmentae was a Lie. This woman probably wouldn't mind inflicting a shit ton of pain on Kyoko to get her point across.
"Look," Kyoko said, "I'm still not sure if that was a fluke or not. I thought that headmistress didn't even know about Magical Girls."
"Clearly, that was false," Charmeine said. "Either way, you should have reported the incident to me. "Sinclaire must be dealt with, and this has complicated the situation."
"Walpurgisnacht might kill her tomorrow," Kyoko said.
"No," Charmeine said. "Walpurgisnacht will kill her. You will make sure of that. If not, then I will be out of generosity. You know what will happen then."
Kyoko swallowed. She was quickly losing control of this. At least she knew their plan. They expected to have their most expendable individual take out Avalon. Indirectly, because of the spells, but from Charmeine's words, she was expecting Carmentae to do whatever was necessary to get Avalon in that position. If that meant taking the blame when she died, then so be it.
Obviously, that wasn't going to happen, which brought up one big problem. How the hell were they going to deal with Charmeine's wrath when Avalon was still alive after the fight?
"I'll do what I can," Kyoko lied.
Her feet were suddenly off the ground, Charmeine gripping the collar of her shirt to lift her up. "You will do," she hissed, "what you must. Any less, and I'll personally put you through hell. Got it?"
"G-got it," Kyoko said, hoping Charmeine wouldn't notice her pounding heart. "You don't have to worry."
Charmeine unceremoniously dropped her onto the ground. "I better not. Now, get to Sinclaire. She better be dead within the hour."
"Within the hour?" Kyoko picked herself off the ground. "What do you mean? Walpurgisnacht won't be here until tomorrow."
Charmeine laughed. "You're even more stupid than I took you for. We've waited too long already, that much is clear. Do you honestly think we would delay any longer?"
The sky above, dark but clear enough that the moon and stars shone, darkened entirely. Clouds covered every inch of the sky, and a harsh wind blew past Kyoko. A moment later, rain began to fall.
"Walpurgisnacht will not be arriving in Mitakihara City tomorrow," Charmeine said. "It is already here."