Chapter 32

To be a Magus was to walk with death. One must always be prepared to die for their craft, to cast aside their humanity for the sake of something greater than themselves.

That was supposed to be the essence of Magecraft, but Kyoko had made a few adjustments to that, especially with regards to Yuma's training.

Kyoko watched as Yuma held the pipe in her hands and pumped her Magical Energy into it. Lines of a faint green color emerged from where the girl touched and slowly spread from there. It was slow, but steady progress and it seemed like Yuma would finally get it this time.

Then the pipe began to fall apart where Yuma's Magecraft had spread. It practically disintegrated where she held it, the pipe falling back to the ground with two large hand sized holes.

She made it further this time though. Progress from the last five pipes they had to go through today. And certainly, progress from the first time Yuma had tried to cast a spell.

It had taken a few hours to get all the metal shards out of Yuma's hands. Yuma didn't cry back then, scary enough. Didn't even flinch when Archer had to extract each shard by hand.

"Don't worry about it, I must've gone through hundreds of those before I finally got Reinforcement down," Kyoko reassured Yuma. It wasn't an exaggeration either. Kyoko had once gone through hundreds of pipes in just a few days, all for the sake of fast tracking her Magecraft when she had first learned she could use it.

"I know. You already said that," Yuma replied curtly before grabbing another pipe and continuing to work once more.

Unlike Kyoko though, Yuma only had one Magical Circuit to use, so they had to make sure that she wasn't overdoing her Mageraft. Thankfully it was a fairly good quality circuit, it came from Kyoko's own body after all, so it was able to handle the strain that Yuma put on it over the last week. And Yuma had been driven to finally start practicing Magecraft once had returned to Kazamino and prepared a room in the house to act as her workshop.

It was nice to be home again, even if they hadn't exactly completed their mission. The Incubator wasn't pleased with the information they had given to it, or lack thereof, and had reneged on its part of the deal. That was fine though, they would find another way to hunt down Oriko and her cronies. Then once they were dealt with, they could just go back to their regular lives.

Anyway, Yuma's workshop wasn't much to look at currently, just a few beginner manuals that Archer had made for her and a whole lot of pipes to work on. Yuma seemed quite happy to have a room to call her own though. She had also been outright elated the first time she attempted to cast a spell, though that eventually turned to frustration as she continuously failed to get her first spell done right.

"Just keep pushing through," Kyoko suggested as another pipe fell apart in Yuma's hands. "It's what Archer did as a kid, and it's what I did too."

"I know," Yuma sighed. "I'm just not gifted like her I guess," she muttered.

"What?" Kyoko asked. Who was Yuma talking about if not herself?

"Nothing," Yuma said as she reached for another pipe. This one barely lasted a few seconds before breaking cleanly in half.

"Damn it," Yuma cursed as she covered her face with her hands. "Just… damn it."

"Are you ok?" Kyoko.

"No!" Yuma shouted. "I… it's nothing."

Kyoko was worried. It wasn't like Yuma to be this frustrated or lash out like this and she had been like this for the last week.

What are the chances that Yuma is hitting puberty and is starting her moody pre-teen phase? Kyoko asked Archer who was still in the kitchen.

Not likely, considering that you're still in the middle of yours, Archer replied.

Archer!

It's… not something that we can fix for her. She has to be the one to deal with her issues herself. The most we can do is act as her support.

Kyoko trusted Archer's judgement and what he said had to be true. Still… there had to be something that she could do.

Then an idea popped up in her head.

It wasn't a good one. Honestly, it sounded like something that blue-haired idiot would've thought of. But Yuma had reacted well to that same idiot. Maybe acting like her briefly wouldn't be too bad?

"Come on," Yuma moaned as another pipe fell apart in her hands. She went to reach for another only for Kyoko to grab it before she could.

"That's enough for today," Kyoko said. "You've been at it since lunch and it's almost time for dinner."

"Almost. That means I still have time to keep going," Yuma reached for the pipe only for Kyoko to pull it away further.

"Not if you're going to have to clean yourself up," Kyoko argued.

"You and I both know Archer's fine with us getting to the table dirty," Yuma rebutted as she jumped for the pipe this time.

Kyoko simply hopped away. "Nuh huh. You're going to have to do better than that." She held the pipe in her hand like you would a sword. "You're going to have to beat it out of my cold dead hands."

Yuma stared at her blankly. She then blinked, shook her head, and then stared at Kyoko again. "What!?"

"That's right. You gotta fight me for it," Kyoko raised her voice. "You gonna just sit there or are you going to do something about it?"

"This isn't a game Kyoko," Yuma growled as she jumped for the pipe.

"Is that it?" Kyoko taunted as she pushed Yuma away with a hand. "Is that all ya got? This is a battle! Fight me or are you just going to sit there and do nothing!"

"Fine!" Yuma shouted as she grabbed one of the many other pipes in the workshop. Any of which she could've used to continue practicing her Magecraft. Instead, she took Kyoko's provocation and held it in both her hands.

"I'm going to bash this over your skull!" Yuma screamed bloody murder as she raised her stick and charged at Kyoko.

"You look you two had some fun," Archer smirked as Yuma and Kyoko finally arrived at the dinner table, Kyoko with a few fresh bruises on her arms and side.

"Yuma's tough," Kyoko replied cheerfully as she sat down and took a good look at their Western style dinner.

A succulent meatloaf, some mac and cheese, and collard greens.

Damn, it all looked good. It took all of Kyoko's self-control not to start digging in until Yuma had finally taken her seat. Once Yuma did though, Kyoko didn't hesitate to start stuffing her mouth.

"Don't patronize me," Yuma grumbled, having apparently learned that word at some point. "You let me hit you on purpose."

Ooph. Busted.

"Fihe I dwid," Kyoko admitted with her mouth full. She chewed a bit before swallowing. "But it made you feel good to hit me, didn't it?"

"… Yea," Yuma reluctantly admitted as she picked at a piece of meat and put it into her mouth.

Mission Success. Turns out Blue could be useful for something. As long as she wasn't actually here to piss them off with dreams of being a Hero of Justice.

Maybe they should visit her sometime. Let her know about the fate of Magical Girls. Stop her from pursuing her foolish dream by showing her what happened to all Magical Girls. Including her beloved Mento-…

Damn it. Mami.

She… her wish was just to live. And yea she played the goody two shoes and all that, but it wasn't like she deserved what would happen to her.

Honestly, no one deserved that. Not even that blue idiot.

Kyoko reached into her pocket and took out her phone. She sorted through her contact list, which was a lot larger now thanks to that foray into Kamihama, and eventually found Mami's number. Even after this long, it was probably the same as always.

Need to talk. Friday, after classes. Meet you in the regular spot, Kyoko texted before putting away her phone. Hopefully Mami would remember where it was. It was the one place they had deemed neutral territory to meet, though they never used it since they split up.

"You're going to meet Tomoe?" Archer asked, eyes not leaving his plate as he ate.

"Yea. She deserves to know about this," Kyoko replied.

"Are you sure she'll react well to what you're going to tell her?"

"It's Mami… it should be fine."

"Thank you for the meal," Yuma said as she stood up and tried to make her way back to her workshop.

Keyword: Tried.

"What are you doing?" Kyoko asked.

Yuma paused briefly before turning around. "… Cleaning my-"

"Archer is the only one that does cleaning around here," Kyoko interrupted Yuma's lie. "You're not practicing Magecraft anymore today."

"Bu-"

"Sit down and watch some TV," Kyoko demanded. It was weird that she had to tell a kid to watch more television, but Yuma needed to learn to sit down and relax. "Then we'll take a bath before going to bed. You've had enough for tonight."

Yuma made fists with both her hands. She opened her mouth, closed it, and then looked away with a conflicted expression. "Fine," she said reluctantly before going back to the living room and switching on the TV.

Police have not yet found the culprits responsible for the destruction of the sewer system that runs beneath Kamihama.

Kyoko immediately perked her head and turned toward the News Broadcast on the tv.

It is believed those responsible consist of a large group. Witnesses report hooded figures wielding archaic weapons leaving the site soon before the destruction was discovered.

"The actions of Magius have not gone unnoticed," Archer commented. "Even by the civilian populace."

"Well what else would you expect? Picking a fight like that without a labyrinth," Kyoko replied.

"You realize that we're responsible for a good portion of that."

"And we're back in Kazamino. They won't track it back to us. Probably."

Archer grunted before standing up to clean up the table and move the dirty plates to the sink. "Fair enough. But we should keep our heads down for the time being. I don't think the Incubator will take kindly to what the Magius are doing or the fact that they risk Magic's secrecy in this world."

"Well, whatever happens, we're just going to have to deal with it," Kyoko sighed. "What are you doing tonight Archer?"

"Planning to double check and double down on our Bounded Fields. Maybe scout out the perimeter if I have the time," he replied.

"Alright sounds good," Kyoko said as she sat down next to Yuma to watch some television.

Eventually, a bit after Archer had left for the night, they took their bath and headed straight for bed. They took the same position as usual, Kyoko on the right holding onto Yuma, and Yuma on the left being held by Kyoko. Normally they would've just gone straight to sleep like that… but there was something that Kyoko needed to do.

"Hey Yuma." Kyoko said she held Yuma in her arms.

"Yes Kyoko?" Yuma asked, her voice muffled by Kyoko's chest.

"What's bothering you?"

Yuma's immediate response was to push herself away, but Kyoko simply tightened her grip.

"You haven't been... you recently," Kyoko continued as Yuma struggled. It was like trying to hold down an angry koala. Yuma's hair was getting long and fluffy enough to be mistaken for one actually. "I know it was tough in Kamihama, but we're back home. We won't be going through that again."

It was a bit mean to do this in bed, but it was the only way Kyoko was going to get an answer from the girl. Any previous attempts to get an answer had ended with Yuma deflecting and giving a vague response before walking away.

... Maybe Yuma actually was going through puberty? Kyoko had noticed that Yuma's breasts had started to grow when they were in the bath.

Eventually Yuma stopped struggling and let her body go lax. It took a brief moment of silence, during which Kyoko was worried that she had actually suffocated the girl, before she finally responded.

"I don't want to say," Yuma's voice came out muffled. Rather than move away she scrunched herself up and moved herself closer so that it would be harder to hear her.

"Why not?" Kyoko said as she lowered her head closer to Yuma's so that she could listen better. Her chin was practically resting on top of Yuma's head.

"I'm worried," Yuma said.

"Worried about what?" Kyoko asked.

"I'm worried about you. And Archer." Yuma's voice trembled. Kyoko didn't need to look down to know that the girl was beginning to cry. "You two are always in danger and there's nothing I can do."

"Yum-"

"No!" Yuma pushed Kyoko away and began to beat a fist against her chest. "You listen to me! Every day you go out there I'm afraid you're going to die. That Archer is going to die. That I'm finally going to be left alone!"

Yuma grabbed Kyoko's shirt tightly. "I don't want to be alone. I was always afraid that Mama was going to abandon me. That's why I always tried to be a good girl when she beat me. It's why I tried to be a good girl for you and Archer. But that didn't work so I decided to try and be a Magus. Be the hard-working little sister that you wanted. But that still didn't work!"

Yuma looked up at Kyoko, tears flowing freely down her eyes. "What do I need to do to get you to stay? What do I need to do to make sure you're safe? Am I not enough?"

Yuma's eyes closed, her fists clenched, and her mouth curled. As if she was struggling with what to say next. Eventually the words came out of her mouth and it shook Kyoko's entire being.

"Am I not good enough to replace Momo?"

Something threatened to come out of Kyoko's throat at the moment and it took all her will not to let it out right there. It took everything she had, not to lose what little composure she could keep.

"Don't talk about her," Kyoko looked away and said with grit teeth.

"Why not!?" Yuma asked as she tried to angle herself to look Kyoko in the face. "If I'm going to replace her then I need to know what to do."

"Replace… her…" Kyoko whispered to herself.

"Yes. Replace her. It's why you took me in, isn't it?"

"Just stop," Kyoko begged.

"Why not?" Yuma insisted, like a child would when they wanted to know something they shouldn't. "Why can't you just tell me."

Kyoko grabbed Yuma's shoulders and screamed. "Because she's dead and you're not! There's nothing to replace. She's gone. Even when I dream about her at night, even when I mistake you with her, she's still gone." Kyoko didn't know when her eyes had grown wet, didn't even know that she was still capable of crying until the tears had finally come out.

"You're not though. You're still here," Kyoko said as she hugged Yuma again who had simply stopped moving in shock. "I can't lose you too. I can't lose Archer. Without the two of you… I would be better off burning in that fire with Momo. Just a lonely idiot with a broken dream."

That dumb, stupid dream.

"You know," Kyoko continued. "I wanted to be a hero once. Thought I was going to save everyone. Even became a Magical Girl so I could do that."

Yuma stared at Kyoko, wide-eyed. "You're a Magical Girl?"

"Was… Momo made a wish before she died that got rid of my Soul Gem… I'm starting to figure out why she did it though. She didn't want me to become a Witch…" Kyoko could see it again, the sight of Momo's body hanging from the ceiling. It was memory that was still clear as day, the dim light of that purple Soul Gem still shining in her mind. "And she killed herself, so that she wouldn't become one either."

Kyoko held up her hand for the two of them to see. The Red Marks of her Command Seals were still as bright red as always. Bright enough that she could usually forget the red stone that used to rest on her ring finger.

"Is that why you don't like Magical Girls?" Yuma asked.

"Part of it… yea," Kyoko admitted. "I also hate heroes… because that dream, trying to help people, just made me lose everything in the process."

Kyoko sighed. "My dream killed my family, and my wish forced Momo to sacrifice herself for me. I lost everything because I wanted to be a hero… and I won't let that happen again." Kyoko put her hand on Yuma's head. "I'll stop hunting for Witches. I'll still train because I have to in case we get attacked… but we don't need to get involved with that anymore. As for that bitch Oriko… well fuck her, someone else will get her. God knows how many people she's pissed off acting the way she does. I'll stay safe for you. Alright?"

Yuma didn't move for a long time, as if she was processing everything that she had just been told. Kyoko was about to let her go, get up, and sleep in the guest room, when Yuma suddenly shifted herself closer to her. Closer, until they were back in each other's arms.

"You promise?" Yuma asked. Her voice soft and almost pleading. She might have started growing recently, but she still seemed so small in Kyoko's arms. Small… yet warm and full of life.

Kyoko nodded as she continued to stroke Yuma's head. "I do."

The night was young, silent apart from the restless snores that came from Kyoko. Snores that told Yuma that it was finally time to move.

Yuma opened her eyes; her sight having adjusted to the dark. She carefully maneuvered herself, shimmied her way out of Kyoko's arms. Kyoko might've been a deep sleeper, but she was also a hugger and that meant having to work for every inch. Thankfully, by the time Yuma had gotten out of bed, Kyoko had hardly stirred. Apart from tightening the grip on the body sized pillow that Yuma had left in her place.

"Thank you," Yuma whispered before making her way to her workshop.

Momo was dead, but Yuma was alive. Yuma was Kyoko's little sister.

It made her so happy. So relieved that Kyoko had promised to keep herself safe.

But even if Kyoko tried her best to keep her promise, it didn't mean that others would let her. There was no telling what Witches would do, what the other Magical Girls would do. What the Magius might end up doing in Kamihama.

So, Yuma had to be strong. For her sake. For Archer's sake. So that she could keep them safe if that time ever came.

She stepped inside her workshop and grabbed another pipe.

Every Magus had a trigger to activate their circuits. For Archer it was bullets being loaded into a gun. For Kyoko it was a candle being lit in the dark. And for Yuma it was a hammer smashing down on an anvil. Steel against the steel, a firework of sparks with each strike.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The anvil finally dented and her Circuits activated, her Magical Energy pumping into the pipe as she attempted Reinforcement once more.

With Archer gone hunting, it meant that Yuma probably had a few good hours to practice her Magecraft.

Yuma kept her breathing steady, even as the pipe fell apart in her hands. Then she grabbed the second. Then the third.

It was slow, arduous. Each spreading light risked destroying the pipe, destroying her progress, making this entire night useless. She had to command it. Force her Magecraft to obey her orders. Everything was perfect in her head. She just had to make it a reality.

And so, she made use of the extra time she had received. Again and again. As the broken pile of pipes soon grew around her. One exploded in her hands. No metal shards in her skin, but it did burn her palms a bit. She ignored that and continued casting.

She was used to the pain after all. Mama and Papa had made sure of that.

Yuma lost track of the time. Lost track of how much of her Circuit she had used up until it was nearly empty. There was only a bit left. Just enough for one more spell.

She forced herself to cast one last time.

Understand the inner structure of the object. Fill the openings with Magical Energy. And finally Reinforce its purpose of existence.

Those were the three sentences she focused on. Not on the pain in her hands, not on the exhaustion that wanted her to stop and fall right there. Magecraft, her Magecraft was all that mattered. She would be a Magus.

Because she wanted it.

The pipe didn't break. The faint green lines that came from her hands soon spread throughout the entirety of it. And then with one last push, she finished it.

She looked at the pipe in awe. A Reinforced pipe. Something that could be used as a weapon. She had finished it. Completed her first spell.

"Yes," Yuma breathed a sigh of relief as she ended the spell and dropped the pipe on the ground. The rest of her body followed immediately after.

She was sore, everything hurt, and she was pretty sure a part of her was smoking? Yea that was smoke coming from her body. That couldn't be good.

Yuma tried to push herself back up.

She couldn't just lie down here. She didn't know what time it was, but she spent a long time here. She had to get back to bed before Kyoko woke up.

If Kyoko saw her like this. She would… she would…

Yuma opened her eyes. The room was dark, but she could see some sunlight coming out of the corners of the curtains.

It was morning now… and for some reason Kyoko wasn't in bed.

That was weird, normally Yuma was the first to wake up.

Wait… how did she end up in bed?

Yuma quickly sat up, wide eyes, and was barely stopping herself from panicking.

If Kyoko had seen her like that. If Kyoko had found out…

"Hey, you're finally awake."

Yuma yelped before immediately turning to Kyoko who stood at the doorway.

"You had a nightmare or something?" Kyoko asked, dressed in her school uniform.

Yuma simply stared.

Kyoko wasn't mad? Did she not know what she had done? Or did she not care?

"Aren't you mad?" Yuma asked.

"That you overslept?" Kyoko shrugged. "It's fine you can miss school for a day. You've been working hard for the last week and after last night... Well, I think you deserve a day off. Even got Archer's permission."

"Overslept?"

"Yea. You were out like a rock. Didn't expect you to wake up at all this morning…" Kyoko looked at her carefully. "You sure you don't want to go back to sleep?"

"I-I'm fine," Yuma said as she looked down at her pajamas. They were the same ones she used last night, but they were clean. There wasn't a single piece of leftover metal or dust from last night on them.

It was almost as if what she did last night didn't happen, but the way her body hurt a little as she moved said that it did.

"Well, I'll be heading to school then. Archer will be on my a- butt if I'm late again, Make sure to grab some breakfast with him." Kyoko said and began to walk away. She stopped just before she was out of sight. "And Yuma… you're my little sister. And no one's going to take you from me."

Yuma smiled. "Thank you."

Kyoko left, but it wasn't until Yuma heard the front door open and close, that she finally got out of bed and grabbed a pencil from her desk. It was a cheap thing. Disposable. Something she didn't mind losing.

She didn't lose it though. Her Magical Energy stuck to it and soon she had a Reinforced pencil in her hands. Something had just clicked last night. In her head or body, she didn't know, but whatever was stopping her before was gone. Even if it was just one spell, the fact that she could use it not just on pipes but everything around her… It made her proud of herself.

Pride… That was something that she never thought she could feel.

Yuma put down the pencil and made her way to the kitchen. There she found Archer sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice already set up for her.

"Morning," Archer said.

"Good morning," Yuma said as she took her seat. She started to eat, though one of her eyes was kept on him that entire time.

Did he know about what she did?

"You were really tired last night," Archer commented.

"Yea…" Yuma replied hesitantly.

"Kyoko told me it was because you two finally had a good talk. I'm relieved, I'm surprised that there's anyone in this household capable of communicating."

Yuma couldn't help but chuckle. Even she could tell that that had been one of the Emiya household's biggest flaws. "It was… a good night."

"Exhausting too. Especially when you kept practicing until you knocked yourself out."

Yuma's spoon stopped moving. She stared at him wide mouthed, until Archer reached over and closed her mouth for her.

"You're going to catch a fly with that," he said.

"Y-you know?" Yuma asked before she realized what he had said.

"I do," Archer gestured with his hand. "Hard not to, considering the state you left yourself in for me to find you. Had to heal you and inject you with a bit of energy so you could move around in the morning."

Yuma looked at the table. "Then if you know, why didn't you-"

"Tell Kyoko?" Archer shrugged. "Because that wouldn't have helped anything. It was something you had to do and neither of us could stop you unless we kept watching you all the time."

So, Archer knew. He knew all along. She was kind of stupid thinking that she could fool him. "I'm sorry," Yuma apologized.

"Don't apologize if you don't actually regret doing it," Archer replied curtly.

"Bu-"

"In the future, make sure to push yourself under my supervision," Archer continued. "I'll make sure you don't take it a step too far."

Yuma blinked as she processed his words. "You're going to keep helping me? Behind Kyoko's back?"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. And I can understand why you need to do this," he replied. "Still doing it without me like that, it won't go unpunished."

Yuma froze.

Punishment? Whenever Mama and Papa punished her, they hit her. What was Archer going to do?

"You're going to start helping with chores around the house," Archer said. "Laundry, weeding the garden backyard, making the beds. Kyoko was right when she said I was the only one here that did the cleaning. Need to start changing that."

"T-that's it?" Yuma asked.

"What? You want more to do?" Archer asked.

"No. It's just-" Wait… why was she arguing about this? She was getting off practically scot-free! "Yea. That's fine."

Archer smirked. "Now go clean up and get dressed. We've got a long day to work while Kyoko's at school."

"Okay!" Yuma said excitedly as she made her way to the bedroom and quickly got changed.

It made Yuma feel bad that she had to lie to Kyoko, but she could use Reinforcement now. And Archer was going to help her get even stronger. Soon… soon she would be able to protect them.

Fully dressed, Yuma was about to make her way to the kitchen when the front doorbell rang. Probably Kyoko who had forgotten something. Wasn't the first time this happened no matter how much Archer lectured her for being late for school.

It was probably the bag. Yep. Definitely the bag that Kyoko had left in their room.

Yuma rolled her eyes and shook her head before grabbing the bag and heading toward the front door. She opened it and held it out for Kyoko.

"I know you forgot this Kyo-" Yuma froze once she realized that Kyoko wasn't there. Instead, there were two people standing in front of her. One was a Magical Girl in black and the other a Magical Girl in white.

Yuma… didn't even need to ask for the white one's name. She knew it already.

"Hello there," Oriko introduced herself. "I am Oriko Mikuni. Could we borrow your Servant for a moment?"