I
"Gyaaaah!"
When Mami first heard the sound she was fast asleep, and instinctively curled her pillow over her head, tightening it against her ears the way she would if a particularly loud truck drove by in the morning.
However, when the sound registered in her head as Kyoko's pained groans, she shot up with a gasp.
"Kyoko!?" she called, and instantly sprung out of bed.
She opened the bedroom door to find Kyoko on her feet, but barely. She had one hand against the wall, propping herself up. She was completely out of breath and her legs were shaking.
It had been three days now, and the swelling had gone down around her eyes quite a bit, but there were still dark purple-blue rings around the sockets. The left eye was far worse with a crusty texture to the bruising. The bandages around her stomach had been perfectly white the night before but now had blots of red seeping through.
"Kyoko! What are you doing?" Mami said as she came to her side and put an arm around her to help keep her stable. Kyoko's legs were shaking, it was clear it took every bit of strength she had to just stay on her feet. "Come on, let's get you back to bed."
Kyoko let a deep growl bubble in her chest as Mami began trying to guide her back the way she had come.
"Screw that," Kyoko said in a hoarse whisper. "If yer' gonna help me…" A deep heavy breath. "Then help me get to the table... Otherwise, hands off!"
"How did you even get to your feet?" Mami asked with a concerned tone in her voice, unwilling to use too much force to move her.
"It… wasn't easy... so... I'm not quitting here." Her head turned to look at Mami. Her eyes were bloodshot and full of pain, but there was a determined grin spread across her lips. "Hard part's over... just gotta' get to that table."
Mami saw that grin on her face, but she would not use the word determined to describe it. Mami would call it stubborn.
"You are clearly not ready for this. Come on, let's get you back in bed."
"Screw tha-" Her face tense up in pain and her body hunched down. "-Gaaaahh!"
"When you are able to get up to your feet without screaming like that, you are free to move around the apartment as much as you like. But for now, you need to lay down." Mami spoke calmly, but assertively. "Okay, I'm going to have to pick you up now."
"H-hands… o-off…"
Mami did not listen to her, and scooped one arm under her legs and kept the other supporting the back of her shoulders. She used a little magic to make it easier for herself, but luckily Kyoko was not very heavy in the first place, nor was she in much of a condition to resist Mami's help.
Kyoko's teeth were clenched the entire time, no doubt her injuries were screaming out even more thanks to being forcibly moved like this, but Mami figured even this was probably easier on her than what she was just doing to herself a moment ago.
Mami carefully set her back down on the futon. Despite the pain, that stubborn glare did not vanish from Kyoko's face for even a moment.
"You've opened the wound on your stomach… here, I need to take a look." Mami started unraveling the bandages, having to help Kyoko arc her back a little in order to do so. "As I thought, the stitches broke." Mami sighed, and came close to rubbing her eyes in frustration until she noticed a good amount of Kyoko's blood had gotten on her hand.
"I understand you're anxious to get moving again but forcing yourself before you are ready is only going to set your recovery back further. You need to take it easy on yourself. I'll be right back." Mami stood up and left the room, leaving Kyoko breathing heavily on the floor.
She came back a minute later with the first aid kit, a sponge, and a pale of water.
Whenever she had to redo the bandages she liked to kill two birds with one stone and take the opportunity to bathe Kyoko as well.
Kyoko caused her to have to redo the bandages sooner than would have originally been necessary, but she figured she might as well stick to the process, otherwise the new bandages would not last for as long of a time or risk infection.
She first took care of her stomach, wiping the blood away with the sponge, then carefully removing some of the damaged stitching with a pair of tweezers. She threaded new stitching, Kyoko wincing as she did so, then she wiped more blood away and applied some disinfecting ointment before more thoroughly cleaning her with the sponge then wrapping the new bandages back around her torso.
She did the same process with her arms and her legs, though not needing any new stitching in those areas.
When Mami unwrapped the bandages from her chest Kyoko's head turned with a scowl. She used the sponge to clean her there as well. Her left breast still had some pretty bad burn marks, so she dabbed it very carefully to not cause Kyoko any more unnecessary pain, just trying to clear away as much of the dried blood as she could before putting on more of the disinfecting ointment.
Her face was the last part. The side of her head was scabbed pretty badly and still needed the bandages. Mami carefully dabbed around her eyes with the sponge, wiped off her cheeks, neck and forehead, then wrapped new bandages around her head.
When it was all done, Kyoko's heavy breathing had calmed down and she returned to staring at the ceiling, her expression no longer stubborn as much as it was just completely pissed off.
Mami sighed as she gathered the discarded bandages into a ball and closed the first aid kit. "Just what were you trying to accomplish with that anyway?" she asked.
"I'm tired of eating on the damn floor," Kyoko said. Her voice at least sounded less hoarse and she no longer seemed to be in quite as much pain. "I was going to go sit at the table instead."
"I understand how you feel, but can you please promise me you won't do this again?" Mami waited for an answer, but Kyoko refused to do so. "Kyoko." Mami said sternly. "Promise me!"
Kyoko clicked her teeth. "Yeah, whatever…" Mami held the stern expression, waiting for the answer she actually wanted. "Okay, okay, yeah, I promise. Alright? Geez…"
Mami sighed, gathering all the tools and used bandages, then stood and said, "I really hope so. We don't have any more magic to spare on healing you, so like I said, you are only slowing down your own recovery by forcing things like that. I'm going to go make breakfast now. Do you want anything in particular?"
"Bacon." Her eyes narrowed in a contemplative expression as she thought it over. "And apple slices."
Mami could not help smirking, though she was careful not to let Kyoko see. Food is the one thing Kyoko always gave a straight answer for. Despite all the other changes Kyoko had gone through over the years, that was the one thing that always stayed the same about her old friend.
Mami discarded the old bandages and put the first aid kit away. She knew she was not really qualified for all of this, but she had been doing as much research on the internet as she possibly could. If it were not for Kyoko being a Magical Girl Mami would not have dared trying to deal with such serious injuries on her own, but she knew Kyoko would be even less accepting of strangers at a hospital taking care of her than she was for Mami.
The sponge baths, for example, were a necessity and without them the risk of infection would increase. There were also the natural risks of falling ill that came from bad hygiene which needed to be prevented, especially in her weakened state. Kyoko barely seemed okay with letting Mami bathe her, but there was zero chance of her lying still and accepting it from a nurse who she had never met before.
Though today's little escapade away from her bed may have set Kyoko's recovery back, she was still making incredible progress compared to how she was when Mami first brought her here. Mami figured after another few days Kyoko would be self-sufficient enough to care for herself during the day and she could go back to school. For now, Mami accepted having to miss her classes while she cared for her friend.
II
They say the loss of one sense heightens the focus of another. Madoka found that to be true. She wasn't sure when she had managed to fall asleep, or when she woke up, or even how long she had been awake. Being unable to open her eyes and actually see something caused the line between sleep and wakefulness to blur.
What she did know, right now at least, is she was indeed awake and it was sometime between seven and nine in the morning. She based that entirely on sound. She never noticed how loud the traffic outside was at this time of the morning before, because she never used it as a judgement for how to tell time before. Even before Homura put a clock in her room for her, she could look out the window and make a judgement based on light.
Finally, she heard another sound she had been waiting for, and she stirred on the bed, anxiously pulling on her bindings as Homura's footsteps came across the floor.
The steps stopped, and Madoka could feel Homura's presence. Nothing happened for what felt to Madoka like a long moment.
What's Homura doing? Madoka thought, now not entirely sure if she actually was in the room or not. Maybe she just peeked in to check on her then left?
"Mmmrrrrmmmr." Madoka vocalised through the gag, and a moment later she heard more footsteps and could feel Homura undoing the blindfold.
Madoka's eyes winced as they were suddenly exposed to the light, and through her eyelashes she could see Homura's silhouette standing over her.
She paused, looking into her captives eyes. Madoka just stared back, her lips puckered around the gag and her arms struggling against their bindings. Her expression was anxious, wanting to be set free.
"I was thinking about leaving you like this for a while longer." Homura said, her voice toneless. "It's not about punishing you for doing something I don't like. As I said last night, it is for the sake of preventing you from doing anything that puts yourself in danger." Homura reached down and finally undid the gag. Madoka's mouth felt chalky from having it in all night. "So, I'm just going to ask: Do you understand now? Will you please let these thoughts of escaping leave your mind?"
Madoka blinked as her eyes finished adjusting, and she stared at Homura's face. Homura's own vision drifted over to the rope around Madoka's wrist.
"Homura... What if I say no?"
Homura's eyes widened in surprise and she looked back to her captive.
"What if I say, 'no, I'm not going to stop trying to run away?' What are you going to do then? Are you going to refuse to untie me and just leave me here like this all day?"
Madoka's lips tightened, looking back at Homura anxiously. She did not know why those words came out of her mouth, but she suppose it was thanks to her mother's voice in the back of her head reminding her that none of this was okay and to not just accept it.
Homura's eyes narrowed, the expression was hard for Madoka to keep eye contact with, but she forced herself to do so anyway. Despite how vulnerable she felt, Madoka stared back bravely.
"I don't want to do that." Homura said. "However, if that is the answer you give me then I feel as though I have to… yet… I don't know if it will make a difference. I don't know what to do, honestly. Punishing you in this way is the best I could think of, but if it makes no difference then am I just being unnecessarily cruel to you? I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. That is what I've resolved myself to do... but…" Her eye's drifted away from Madoka and no longer seemed to be focused on anything. She had a contemplative expression, running thoughts through her head.
"But what?" Madoka asked, assertively.
"What you are saying to me right now can be interpreted like this: Any amount of freedom you get you will exploit in any way you can. You will not stop thinking about escape and any opportunity you see to do so you will try to take advantage of. Is that accurate?"
Madoka's eyes widened, not liking the tone of Homura's voice, or the direction her thoughts seemed to be leading in.
"I-I don't know," Madoka said.
"If that is what you are saying, then keeping you restrained indefinitely is the only solution to keeping you safe… Do you want that? Only being untied when I can keep all of my focus on you? Only being untied when it is time to eat for example, and having me guard the bathroom door whenever you need to go in there? Is that how you want things to turn out?"
Madoka's body shifted, her eyes glassing up and her face becoming upset. "D-don't say things like that!"
Homura clicked her teeth and stood up, Madoka's eyes widened at the fact Homura's hand was now nowhere near the rope, she looked like she had no intention of untying her. "W-wait! Y-you're going to untie me, right?" Homura's hand balled into a fist, her head was slouched, staring at the floor. "Homura…"
"I don't know what to do…" Homura said. "I don't want to be cruel to you, but I don't want anything to happen to you either. I wish you could just accept staying here with me. I wish you would just say that you'll stop trying to escape, and I wish I could believe it even if you did say it."
"Homura… but… y-you can't just leave me like this!" Madoka's voice cracked and a tear pushed itself out of her eye. Her arms and legs struggled anxiously. She felt trapped. "Y-you can't!"
Homura's teeth clenched and she had to look away. Her hand moved uncertainty, but eventually reached for the rope. "Madoka… this is your last warning. Please. I'm begging you."
"H-Homura?"
"I'm going to untie you, and we are going to just return to normal…" Her voice trailed off. Normal? How could any of this be called normal? "If you do anything ever again it will be the last time, and you'll spend the rest of the month tied to that bed. The choice is yours." With that, Homura began untying her hands and Madoka didn't say a word in return. The intensity that was in Homura's voice had her heart racing, and she was silent as she waited for Homura to finish untying her.
III
Nagisa skipped back to the hospital right after school that day. She did stop by the highschool to see if Mami or Sayaka were at their usual meeting spot, but neither of them were. She was still upset that her friends were fighting, but she at least had her mom back.
She had told her mom a little about Sayaka and Mami fight, but couldn't go into full details. Her mom told her that friends just fight sometimes and they would eventually remember why they were friends in the first place and get over it.
Nagisa signed in at the lobby then took the elevator up to her moms room. On her way to the door she saw Kyousuke in the hall walking on crutches. He had his mother and father with him. His mother was carrying a bag and his father carrying his violin case. "Hey weird kid!" Nagisa said as she came up to them. "Um, are you going somewhere?"
Kyousuke grinned and seemed willing to ignore her comment this time. "Yup, I'm checking out of the hospital today and going home," he said.
"Oh, congratulations!" she said with a smile. "My mom's doing good too, she'll be getting out soon as well."
"That's good to hear."
"Hey, have you talked to Sayaka recently?" Nagisa asked, "I missed her the last couple days."
"Sayaka?" Kyousuke asked as he stared up for a moment and thought. "Oh yeah, come to think of it, I haven't seen her in about a week myself. I don't think she knows I'm getting out today either." Nagisa's eyes narrowed at him. "Anyway, I'm just glad to finally be getting out of-"
"Whatever," Nagisa said, suddenly cutting him off and causing him to get a confused look on his face. Then Nagisa stuck her tongue out at him and ran off, leaving him even more confused.
"Some boyfriend he is!" Nagisa thought, feeling a little peeved with him for seeming to regard Sayaka as an afterthought after all she had done for him.
Nagisa made it to her mothers room, and when she walked in she was surprised to see her aunt sitting there with her. "Ah, there she is," her mom said with a smile, sitting up a little straighter. There was a food tray on a table next to her that only had some crumbs and an empty glass left on it.
"Hey mama!" Nagisa said, running up to the bed and then standing on her toes so she could lean over and hug her. "Hello auntie," she then said to her aunt, a little less enthused. It was odd to see her here. Her aunt almost never came to visit mama at the hospital… all she ever did was come up with stupid rules that made it harder for Nagisa herself to come visit. Nagisa had complained about it to her mom before, but her mom insisted aunti was just worried about her walking the streets all by herself, which Nagisa guessed she understood.
"Hello Nagisa," her aunt said, "Actually I was just on my way out though, I just stopped by to touch base."
"Oh, okay," Nagisa said.
"It was good seeing you," her mom said, "Thank you for stopping by. And thanks again for watching Nagisa all this time, I really am grateful."
"Of course, you are welcome," her aunt said in her usual stiff way. "Have a good night, and be sure to rest plenty, I imagine you are still recovering."
"Thanks sis, will do," her mom said with a thumbs up, then her aunt left the room. Nagisa often thought it was hard to believe they were sisters, her mom was so energetic and fun and her aunt always seemed to be practicing her impression of a piece of plywood.
"Hey mama, want to go for a walk?" Nagisa asked.
Her mom thought for a moment, then put on a smile. "Of course, that sounds like fun. Just let me use the restroom real quick, okay?"
"Sure! Take your time," Nagisa said with a smile, not noticing her mother's slight hesitancy.
In the bathroom her mother looked at herself in the mirror, and pulled down on an eyelid to look at her eye. In truth, she had been feeling a little funny today. Part of her was worried her sickness was relapsing, but she didn't want to worry Nagisa with something like that, and a bigger part of herself was telling herself she was wrong about it. It wouldn't make sense for it to go away then come back again so suddenly… she was just having an off day she assured herself. And there was no reason to make Nagisa worry or concern the doctors over her just feeling a little off...
IV
Homura and Madoka didn't talk much for the rest of that day. Homura tried a couple times, but Madoka always thought of a reason to not be near her. She would either hide out in the bathroom, or abruptly go to get something to eat in the kitchen, or go into another room to read, anything to avoid being with Homura right now.
Being around her was making her feel anxious again. Probably because she had been complacent until recently and forgot how mean Homura could get. She still felt sorry for Homura in a lot of ways, but was also scared of her, and she still just really wanted to go home.
Madoka was back in the kitchen around lunch time getting ready to make something. Homura usually did most of the cooking, but Madoka liked to do it once in a while as well. Especially right now, she needed something to distract her from her situation.
She couldn't escape, and she realized trying to do so would probably just make things worse…
She supposed, Homura managed to make her point last night after all. She simply blindfolded and gagged her, and left her on the bed, but that was just a warning, and Madoka wondered if she really would do something worse and make good on her promise to start leaving her like that all day every day. The idea scared her.
However, that afternoon, not even half a day after Homura's warning, Madoka saw something she wished she did not see… The bottom of the toaster… and an escape plan suddenly hatched inside her head.
It really involved three things: The toaster, the oven, and a package of pens that was on the counter which Madoka had used to write letters.
She didn't know how her mind managed to connect those three things together so quickly, but she did, and her heart raced with both excitement and fear.
When she had picked up the toaster she noticed screws on the bottom of it, and that was the real key. She instantly related those screws to the screws on the latch at the front door… if she could find something that turned the toasters screws, it would likely be able to turn the screws on the front door as well and remove the combination lock.
Homura was watching television, her back facing her captive, and Madoka had a rare moment of not being under Homura's scrutiny.
Madoka set the toaster down so she could not see the screws, partly telling herself to forget it; Don't do it! Don't try anything crazy! Another part of her head telling her: this is your chance!
She tilted the toaster so she could see the bottom again-
Stop thinking about it! She told herself.
She glanced over to the pens again, and suddenly, her body was moving on its own. Like some force that was outside her control was moving her legs for her, while inside her head she was screaming for it to stop.
As she walked by the oven her hand came out and clicked on the ignition, then lowered it to a low flame.
By the time she grabbed the pack of pens her heart was thudding inside her chest. She saw the back of Homura's head, and wished that she would turn. Wished Homura would at that moment start paying attention to her so she would be forced to scrap this crazy idea.
But she didn't, and Madoka slipped one of the pens out and hid it at her side as she then walked back to the toaster.
What are you doing? She asked herself, her eyes staring at the small flame on the oven as her hand brought the pen over to it. This won't work anyway! There's no guarantee it will work and if Homura catches you she'll get mad! She'll do something bad to you again!
Then, as soon as the bottom of the pen touched the flame, she was past the point of no return. Now there was evidence that she was up to something, whether Homura could figure out exactly what that something was would be irrelevant. Homura punished her once for simply thinking about escape, so she would surely do so again for this.
Madoka watched as the bottom of the pen became glassey and liquified, but not burnt, then she pulled it away from the flame and quickly brought it over to the toaster.
If she were caught, Homura would see that simply tying her to the bed and blind folding and gagging her for a night was not enough to stop any future escape attempts. If Homura felt like she needed to make the point again, she would do something even more drastic. What would that be though? What would Homura do to her? She felt so scared… fearful of the unknown.
She tilted the toaster back… she still tried to tell herself to stop, but it was already too late because she melted the end of the pen. There was no reason to stop now because that would mean taking that risk had no benefit… she had to keep going now!
Madoka pressed the pen against the screw and applied as much pressure as she could. She could see the plastic morph around the sides, taking on the shape of what it was pressed against. Madoka's eyes were wide and fearful as she watched her captor from over the counter, praying for Homura to not turn around now.
Don't turn around!
She didn't, and after what felt like a long moment Madoka removed the pen from the screw, and looked at it. Her eyes were wide and fascinated. The end of the pen took on the shape of the screw, but inverted. There was now a little plus-shaped nub protruding from it which would fit cleanly back into the tiny hole that was just used as a mold… She now had a tool she could use to escape!
Her excitement shifted back to fear as she stared at it in her hand. If Homura were to see this, she would be in trouble… but where could she hide it? And besides that…
Her vision shifted back to the pack of pens. There were supposed to be six, but now one would be missing. Why didn't she think of that?! Wouldn't Homura notice a missing pen!?
Madoka knew she was going to get caught for sure, and it was so stupid because she did not even know if this tool would actually work! She was only assuming the toaster screws and the screws on the door were the same, but what if her tool did not fit at all? Or, what if that little nub just broke when she tried to turn it?
Then, another voice spoke up in her head.
Just go show Homura what you did and apologize.
Her eyes widened at that suggestion. Of course, Homura would not punish her in that case. She might even be happy to see she would be that honest. Madoka could explain it exactly as it happened: she did not know what came over her and she acted without thinking… she could say something like, "I'm sorry Homura, I want to be more honest with you… so…" There is no reason Homura would punish her if she did that.
As she was thinking that, Homura stood up. Madoka's hand quickly reached over and turned off the oven. She still had the pen in her other hand.
Just tell her, show her the pen! the voice in her head insisted. She's going to find it anyway!
She didn't though, she went over to the freezer and opened it, still hiding the pen in her hand. Through her peripheral vision she saw Homura come into the kitchen and she quickly stuffed the pen far back in the freezer where it would be hidden. She was standing on her tiptoes to reach far back into the freezer.
Homura's too smart, she's going to notice something is off about you! the voice insisted once again. Just tell her what you did and forget about this!
Madoka grabbed something at random from the freezer, then pulled her arm back out and stared at it. She couldn't even register what the cold package in her hands was because she was so nervous.
"So, what are you making?" Homura asked in a calm tone, but there was some guilt in her voice.
Madoka looked over to her and held the package up. "Um…" she looked at the package in her hand, trying to focus enough to read. "Peas?"
"Peas… do you steam those?" Homura asked.
Madoka nodded her head. Homura then bent down and went into the lower cabinet to grab a pot. "Here, let me help. What else did you want to make?"
"Um… I-I don't know yet…" Madoka tried to crack a smile. She hoped Homura didn't notice how her hand was shaking. "I was still planning it out… um… What meats do we have?" She set the peas down on the counter then started going through the refrigerator.
It's okay, this is good, a more confident voice spoke up in her head. The only evidence is the fact a pen is missing from the pack, she'll never notice that and even if she does she'll think you simply lost it. She'll never find your tool in the freezer and she has no idea you're up to anything!
She looked over to Homura who was filling a pot with water. Now all Madoka needed was a few minutes where she wasn't by the front door in order to try her tool out. She had to be careful, though, because Homura had tricked her before.
Phase one of an escape plan had been completed, now she just needed to figure out what phase two would be...
-Atomyst
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