Puella Magi American Sensei

02

I studied the room around me. It was white, with a large clock ticking away overhead. "This is actually closer to a witch's barrier, isn't it?"

Homura smiled. "Yes. It takes a bit of work to create, but it's secure and expands on the space within. This is just my sitting room. I have bedrooms, baths, a kitchen, and more. Far more than my apartment held." Reaching out, I gently rubbed the girl's head. "I'm not complaining, but what's that for? You don't usually do it."

"You've been trapped a long time, haven't you Homura?"

"…Yes. You've made it more bearable than it otherwise could have been, sensei. Thank you."

"Don't… don't thank me for that, Homura. Not when I haven't helped you break out of the loop."

She fell silent at that as we walked through her home. She led me to a bedroom and I raised an eyebrow. "This is your room."

Homura's lips twitched. "Yes. Where else would you sleep? It's the safest place here."

I sent her a flat look, to which she simply smiled. "…I'm not going to convince you otherwise, am I?"

Homura shook her head. "It's the safest place in the barrier. Also… I don't sleep well alone any more. I won't force you, but I would prefer it."

Well, when she puts it that way, it's kind of hard to tell her no.

I held up my bags. "Where can I put my things?"

Homura set the briefcase she had been carrying on the bed, then took the bags. Between the two of us, it was only a few minutes of work to get my things squared away in her room. Finally, we finished, and she showed me around so I would know where everything was. Then, we went out into the city so she could show me how to get to the school and other important locations.

Along the way, I coaxed the story of our very first meeting out of her.

The safety on the 1911 in my hands clicked off. That wasn't enough to wake you, but pressing the cold barrel against your forehead was.

"Dafuq?" you slurred sleepily, before your eyes flew open. Green eyes crossed looking at the gun, before refocusing and finding my own.

We sat silently like that for what felt like minutes. You naked on your futon beneath your covers, me in my magical girl uniform straddling your waist, my pistol digging into your forehead hard enough to leave an indent in your skin.

…I suppose that it is possible that the reason I choose to wake you the way I do now is because I want to make up for that incident. Or it could just be because I enjoy seeing you flummoxed. Also, morning sex is always nice.

And then you yawned and relaxed beneath me, all the tension draining from your body. "Colt M1911, chambered in .45 ACP. Not something I'd really expect to see in Japan. Police here typically use those five shot snub nose revolvers, forget which ones. So, you either stole that from a yakuza or a military base. Either way, you didn't need to break out the gun if you wanted to ask me something, Akemi-san. Why don't you put that away and we can talk like normal people? Teacher to student?"

I stared into your eyes, searching for any sign of deceit. When I found none, I carefully decocked the pistol but didn't engage the safety, leaving it ready to fire with just a couple more pounds of pressure if needed. I pulled it away from your head, but left the barrel resting on your chest. "Who are you?"

"John White. Your English teacher, as of yesterday. Twenty-five, unmarried, new to Japan. At least, according to my passport. It's on the desk if you want to look at it."

I frowned at that. "How did you get here?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that one myself." I frowned and twitched the gun on your chest, to remind you of its presence and the consequences of lying. "I woke up here Sunday morning. The previous night, I went to sleep in America. I have no recollection of traveling here at all. I didn't choose to come here, no one spoke with me about it, I just woke up and here I was."

"Unlikely. The flight from America to Japan would be about sixteen hours. There's no way—"

"I don't think I was flown here. There's a briefcase on the desk. I found it here Sunday when I was trying to figure everything out. There's a letter inside. Don't recognize the handwriting. But the contents imply that whoever moved me here was a magical girl, like yourself and Mami."

"How do you know that?"

You winced. "It's complicated and probably going to be hard for you to swallow. I'll tell you, but maybe you should hold off on that one for now."

"You'll tell me now, sensei."

You sighed at that. "Alright. Short version. You like manga and anime, right?" I hadn't indulged in a long time at that point, but at one time I had—when I was still a sickly girl with a heart condition and weak eyesight. So I nodded. "Imagine one morning you wake up in the world of a series you're familiar with, at the start of the series. You've seen or read the whole thing, so you know how things are going to turn out—at least in the mainline. You don't know why you're here, but a mysterious letter addressed to you implores you to help the people here, the 'main characters' you're aware of. With little other resort, you decide to follow through, and hopefully find the person that brought you here and ask them. That's my situation."

"Impossible."

"I thought so too."

"…Prove it. If you've seen this series before, you have knowledge of this world. What do you know of magical girls?"

You looked pained. Worse, it seemed to be for me rather than yourself. "Akemi-san… Homura. Are you sure you want to open that can of worms?"

I nodded. I needed to confirm whether you were a madman or not. "Tell me everything you know."

"Hoo boy. You don't ask for small things, do you? Alright. Let's start with the basics. Incubators. They're a race of mostly emotionless aliens who have a hivemind. They make magical girls through contracts. Not sure on the mechanics of that, I just know that they yank souls out, stuff them in phylactries, and pump them full of go juice and see what happens. So technically, you're more like a magical lich than a magical girl."

I frowned at that and you shrugged. "Just because your body isn't human anymore doesn't mean you're less of a person, in case you're having doubts on that. You're still you, your soul is just in a different housing from your mind. Anyway. Remove the soulgem by about a hundred meters and your human meat stops moving until you resync them. Damage the body, it can be repaired with magic. Destroy the soulgem, that's it. Dead magical girl."

My heart stilled in my chest as you casually laid bare the secrets of magical girls that had destroyed my efforts to save Madoka more than once. Facts that had driven the likes of Mami to despair, you stated casually, like they didn't matter to you beyond being aware of them and knowing how to exploit or avoid them. I began to wonder if, perhaps, I had made a mistake in 'opening this can of worms' as you said.

"And then there's the elephant in the room. Incubators. It's in the name. If Incubators create magical girls, what do they incubate them into? Magical women? No. Witches. Though, I would say that's a lie. Intentionally. A lie by omission, but that's pretty much their M.O.. It's because of how the system works. This is why I hate emotion based power systems."

"… Explain."

"Alright. So, magical girls become witches, but I think that's because they're fed a steady diet of despair. Probably because becoming a witch is more useful of them, likely it gives them more energy than anything else. No magical girl has ever matured after being fed and watered on hope, or love, or any of a hundred positive emotions before to your knowledge, right?"

"No," I shook my head as I considered that. "But what would one have to hope for with witches constantly—" I froze, a terrible thought occurring.

"Yeah. Now you're getting it. Magical girls fed on despair release the most energy in their transformation into witches. Constantly fighting witches leads to despair. Knowing they can become witches leads to despair. Knowing they're fighting their former friends who became witches leads to despair. It's almost like they set the system up to guarantee witches were born to make more witches.

"And then, you've got the grief seeds. They're what soulgems become when they're corrupted—that is, filled with despair. You defeat a witch, destroy her body, take her soul gem… then you fill it with more despair thus recharging it, and give it to Kyubey, who then does what with it? What would happen if you recharged a witch's soulgem and just left it alone for a while. Would it do nothing, or would it reform into a witch? So that even as you fight them, even as you use them to heal yourselves and stave off becoming a witch, you're just empowering them again unless you destroy their soulgem."

I didn't want to believe it. That the system was that cruel. But… I knew the Incubators. I knew their lies. I knew their true nature. It was so… so economical. So efficient. So logical. Like a machine. A system that would only grow over time. It made sense. Too much sense to be anything but truth, even if I knew you were just speculating at this point.

That would mean that there was no way to win. Not without destroying the Incubators and every witch. Which would be impossible, because it took power to kill them. And even if I destroyed every witch in the world, there would still be magical girls. Future witches. I would have to destroy those too, preferably before they turned. And even then, there would still be one more threat to Madoka left standing—

A shock ran through my hands, a pleasant tingle that ran up them to my ring, to my soul… and other places. It spread across my skin, through my body, to my nipples, my sex, my womb, every little sensitive spot on my body lighting up pleasantly. For a brief moment, I was shocked from my downward spiral of determination to genocide Incubators, witches, and magical girls alike, ending in my own suicide to ensure Madoka's safety by the sheer pleasure of our contact.

Your hands were warm on mine as you gently eased the gun out of them. "Lets put this away, huh? Don't want an accident. I'm sorry, I didn't realize it would affect you this strongly."

I swallowed, letting you sit the gun to the side, pointed away from yourself. When you moved to take your hands back, I found myself clutching them. At the time, I justified it by saying that I didn't want you to get away or try something funny. In reality, I didn't want to lose that brief moment of human comfort, in the face of an ugly truth—the first time I had ever felt such a thing right when I needed it most. That amazing feeling. The first friendly human contact I had felt since… since Madoka made me…

"I'm, I'm fine. Continue. What else do you know?"

"How personal do you want me to get here, Homura?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I want to know everything."

"…Okay. You made a wish to save Madoka. That wish gave you time powers and lets you reset time, effectively looping the same events over and over. You've been trying to save Madoka from herself for who knows how long, but you've failed every time so far. Every time you fail, it gets a little worse, because you're screwing with fate. Both Madoka and yourself grow stronger with each successive loop, which means your witches will be even stronger. You have no effective means of beating Walpurgis and nothing you've done has had any effect on it so far beyond physically pushing it around.

"You've tried to recruit the others, but it never seems to work out. Sayaka doesn't like you, so she'll refuse to believe anything you say. Kyoko is prickly and may or may not help. Depending on when and how she learns the truth, Mami may fall into despair and try to kill everyone to keep them from becoming witches. Madoka will believe you, but she takes some convincing because she's naturally trusting and she makes the mistake of trusting the Incubators. You feel like the only way to do it anymore is on your own. But… that's not going to work, Homura. Walpurgis is too much for any one person not named Madoka to handle. And then there's what she asked you to do. To keep her from becoming a witch. I'm sorry."

My eyes stung. Finally. Someone who knew what I had been through, who understood and believed. I almost gave in then and there. Almost put away my fear and suspicion. Almost trusted you. But there were still too many unanswered questions. Too many mysteries. I didn't like it—

"So, how can I help you? You want to end your loop, I'll do whatever I can to help. Give me some idea what we can do. What have you tried so far?"

I stared. After a moment, I found my voice. "I put a gun to your head and threatened you, and you still want to help me?"

You looked at me like I was stupid and for a moment, I actually blushed. "This is bigger than me, you, or a little misunderstanding. If Madoka makes a wish, everyone dies. You thought Walpurgis was bad? Nothing can stop Gretchen. The most powerful magical girl becomes the most powerful witch. She's a world-wide calamity waiting to happen. You've seen it, but how many loops has it been since then? She's grown more powerful every time. And there are two potential witches that strong, just waiting to happen. Madoka can't be allowed to make a wish and you can't be allowed to fall to despair. My God, I can't even imagine what a Gretchen level witch from you would do, especially with time powers. Freeze the whole world and eat everyone probably. So yeah, anything I can do to help, to prevent that, I will."

I bit my lip and considered the offer. After a few moments, I asked, "What did you do to Tomoe-san?"

You winced at that. "Had sex with her."

I shook my head. "No, I saw that much. Her soulgem. It was perfectly clear and glowing when she summoned it after you left."

"Eh?" You frowned at that before your green eyes sought out mine. "Can I see your gem?" I hesitated and you picked up on it. "It's fine if you don't. I just wanted to test a theory. If it makes you feel better, you can put your gun to my head again."

"No, sensei. I won't be doing that again," I retrieved the pistol and pushed it under my shield. Focusing on myself, I materialized my gem in my hand and offered it, my hands cupped around it. They weren't so fragile that I was worried you would break it, but it is an intimate thing, baring one's soul to another. I only realized just how intimate then, showing it to someone who wasn't another magical girl. I was sharing a part of myself that few had ever seen before. I felt… strangely naked.

Oh so gently, tenderly even, your hands joined mine around my soul. The amazing feelings I had been trying to ignore suddenly exploded in their intensity. My body tensed and I shook, a powerful orgasm running through me. I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes, fighting not to show what had happened as I trembled, my hips involuntarily twitching against your crotch and feeling your response beneath me.

"You okay? I do something wrong?"

"Fine," I managed to squeak out. I held my breath, fighting the desire to moan, pant, grind my hips against you harder now that I was suddenly intimately aware that I was straddling a naked man—a rather attractive man, at that.

"Anything? Any difference?"

"…Yes," I admitted, unwilling to lie to someone who was willing to act as my partner in this… but at the same time, I didn't explain what exactly was different. It was just too embarrassing.

I reached down into my soulgem, examining its contents even as I opened my eyes and studied it, trying to ignore the intense pleasure coursing through my body, more than I had ever felt when masturbating alone.

…Yes, I am aware of my extreme reaction to your touch. The others all react as well, but not nearly to the level that I do. Thank you for never abusing that knowledge, sensei. I am unsure that I would be able I say no to anything you asked, if you threatened to withhold your attention.

Yes, that is why I trust you to hold my soul. I know you would never harm me.

I saw my soulgem was glowing, faintly. Not to the extent that Mami's had, but… it was clearer, more pure than it had ever been, not even when I first became a magical girl. Looking up, I met your eyes and closed your hands around my soul.

"Hold me more," I whispered.

You seemed to understand that there was more to the request than to simply continue our test, but thankfully, you had enough tact to not point it out. You only nodded and held my soul gem. Within only a minute or two, my human body began to tremble as it once again built towards delicious ecstasy. This time, I was unable to entirely contain my reaction.

"Ahn~"

I collapsed, burying my face against your chest in my shame. You took one hand off my soul gem and brought it up to gently rub my back. "Here, you had better take this back. I think I get it now."

I'll admit, a larger part of me than I was comfortable with at the time felt regret at the loss. I wanted more. More of these warm feelings, more of the pleasure of your touch.

I love it when you pet me, sensei. I have, in the past, gone to great lengths to memorize and confirm days when we could safely skip school and simply lay in bed together all day.

I returned my soulgem to its ring form and you gently but insistently eased me off of your lap. Considering the bulge I felt pressing against my panties, I couldn't blame you. I was not aware of what 'blue balls' were at the time, nor would I have been ready to take responsibility for it.

"So, it seems like I drain corruption by touching you. Magical girls in general, since it probably happened with Mami as well. I wonder, though. Is it really 'corruption?' Or is it more like your emotions color your soul? But soulgems become 'corrupt' when using magic as well, so we need more testing." Looking over at me, you smiled. "You should get going. We've got school today. As it stands, I'm going to be late."

"You won't. I'll make sure you get to school on time. If you can purify soulgems, this changes… everything. I can use my time stopping power without fear of burning through grief seeds."

"Sounds like we've got some testing to do after school. What do you say… partner?"

I couldn't help the smile that pulled at my lips. "Yes, sensei."

"I'll have to bring Mami in…"

And just like that, my smile died. "There is no need to bring in Tomoe."

"Homura, she already knows about me. About my ability. Unless she's stupid?"

"… She is not. She's likely aware of it and will probably bring it up herself." I sighed at that. "Very well. I'll attempt to tolerate her, if it gets me closer to a way to save Madoka."

"Thank you, Homura. I appreciate it."

"Mm."

My first night in Homura's home was… not uncomfortable, but it took some getting used to.

I learned that Homura could cook. When I asked, she explained that during a previous loop (our first, she believed, but wasn't sure) I had suggested that she take up a hobby, and since food was something she needed to eat every day, there was no point in going through her life eating nothing but the same bland meals over and over. It was something she could control, something she could change—color she could paint her gray, almost unchanging world with, she said. Ever since then, Homura had had years to perfect her skill and she had taken to it with the sort of dedication it took to keep getting up every day to make sure Madoka didn't make her wish.

Also, she had wanted to impress me and Madoka both with her skill. She succeeded on that one.

I learned Homura was extremely susceptible to headpats. Any kind of positive reinforcement, really. She was a good girl who took on the weight of the world to save her friend. I wasn't stingy with my rewards for her.

She was an equally enthusiastic lover and was willing to do anything I asked of her. Magical girl constitution meant that she could wear me down rather easily, but the touch/purification effect almost balanced that out. She could go on for hours if she wanted, but she came quickly and easily, and Homura enjoyed cuddling just as much as sex.

Although, when you're not just getting physical/emotional intimacy but also a steady stream of pleasure and the occasional orgasm just from touching bare skin… well, cuddling itself becomes a form of sex.

The next morning, after she woke me up the same way she had the previous morning, we talked about our plans over breakfast.

"You're going to seduce Mami today."

"Oh, I am huh?"

"Yes. Madoka should be safe, so while you're with Mami, I'm going to track down Suzune."

I frowned at that, setting down my fork. "Be careful. I think her power is to copy powers, but she doesn't utilize it properly and just keeps fire. I also think there are some elements there that are against her, but I never read her story so I can't be sure. Guess this is what I get for just reading summaries…"

"I'll be careful. I can abuse time stop now, so she shouldn't be an issue."

I sent her a stern look. "It's thinking like that that will get your ass handed to you by Mami."

Homura smirked. "I'm aware of her ability to tag along during time stop with her ribbons. You've pointed it out before, sensei. But I promise to be careful." She sent me a smile. "Thank you for caring."

With a sigh, I nodded. Pushing my breakfast around on my plate as I thought, I finally asked, "What do you know about the others? There's a group called… something. Shit. They're named for a star cluster. I think they have a bunch of soulgems just sitting around. Also, pretty sure they figured out how to de-witch someone. Or maybe clone someone who had become a witch? Not sure. Then there's all that MagiReco shit, I never read that or played the game. And that crazy chick who killed Madoka that one time… Oriko?"

"Perhaps it would be best to make contact with Kyoko, before attempting to track down these other magical girls? She has more knowledge of things outside Mitakihara. My focus has been here, after all."

"Makes sense. Sure you want to go after Suzune first and not Kyoko? Potentially hostile versus neutral… Could use the backup."

"I'll be fine, sensei."

I sighed at that and nodded. "So, what's the plan there? Just approaching her empty handed isn't going to work."

"I'll tell her the truth. That there is another way to save magical girls without killing them. I'll invite her back to Mitakihara and introduce you. Once she sees what you can do, hopefully it will be enough to convince her."

I sent her an amused look. "I'll talk to her."

"Then we have a plan for today."

With that, we finished our breakfast and set off for school.

Sitting in the teachers' lounge/offices, I looked up from my bento as a girl's voice called from behind me. "White-sensei?"

I found a girl with her golden blonde hair up in drill-like curls, held in place by flower-shaped ornaments. She had pretty gold eyes and a kind smile on her face.

Also, huge tits. Like, ridiculously large. And thick thighs. She looked more developed than any student I'd seen in the school today. Either one of her parents was white, or she's been eating a steady diet of nothing but Mickey D's and those growth hormones. God damn.

"Tomoe-san, wasn't it?" I asked, before gesturing to an empty chair beside me.

"You can call me Mami, sensei. Either -kun or -chan are fine, or even without the suffix if you like. I know they don't do that in the west…" she said, pulling out the chair and sitting down.

I turned my chair to face hers and pushed my bento to the side for the moment. "Mami it is, then. So, what'd you need?" Sending her a grin, I asked, "Or did you just want to talk? It's fine if that's the case. I was serious when I made the offer."

She folded her hands in her lap, not meeting my eyes as she studied them for a moment. I noticed that on one of her fingers was a ring, and the nail was painted with a yellow symbol. After a few moments, she said, "I… I don't want to talk about it at school?"

"That's fine. When's the last time you had a home visit? I could do yours and we could talk after. Or, if you'd rather, I could schedule a female sensei to—"

"Ah, no! I'd like if it you did, sensei. When can you come?"

"I could do it today, if you like."

Mami nodded. "That would be fine. What kind of tea do you like, sensei?"

I shrugged. "Not much of a tea or coffee drinker. I'm sure whatever you make will be fine. Would five-thirty be okay? Not sure how long it's going to take me to get out of here once school ends."

"That's fine, sensei!" Mami smiled, her nervousness gone and in its place, she seemed excited at the prospect. "Do you have any preferences for meals? Favorite desserts?"

"You don't have to cook for me, you know."

Mami shook her head, sending her blonde curls swinging. "I want to."

"Alright. Well, why don't you pick on the food? As for dessert, anything is fine… but I've kind of been craving chocolate cake recently."

Mami clapped her hands, bouncing up out of her chair (and making her tits bounce at the same time). "I'll do my best, sensei. See you this afternoon." she said, before leaving me to my lunch.

Shaking my head, I turned back to my bento. A moment later, I nearly choked on my food as Homura simply appeared in the chair I had yet to put back under the table. I had just a moment to take in her form in her magical girl outfit, before it flashed with purple light and was replaced by her school uniform. "We're alone." Holding out a hand, she conjured her soulgem and offered it to me. "Please recharge me, sensei."

I took the Faberge egg in hand and looked at its depths. The purple crystal was specked with multi-colored light. "You've been busy."

"I used part of the lunch period to restock," she answered, sinking a bit lower in her chair. I noticed there was a breathy quality to her voice as I held her soul in my hand while I ate with the other, and her skin had begun to flush. Gently, I stroked the surface of the gem, and my lips twitched in amusement as she mewled quietly.

"So here's a question. Your storage space there. Does it reset when you loop?"

Homura shook her head. "No. But I use everything that may work when Walpurgis arrives, so the only thing I have in any supply is small arms."

"Too bad we can't spend a few loops exploiting that. You could probably actually take it out with enough explosives," I mused. Sending her a considering look, I asked, "What about grief seeds? You got any of those stored in there?"

"…Yes. Several spent grief seeds from witches that I never turned over to Kyubey, usually because I was interrupted by Walpurgis, but later because I started killing the rat every time I saw it." Her pretty lips pulled into a small frown as she considered me. "Sensei, we've never tested how your ability to drain corrupted magic works on grief seeds."

"No?" I asked, stroking her soul again and making her eyes flutter, a sigh escaping her, before she glared at me.

"You're teasing me," she accused.

"Mhmm," I confirmed with a grin as I chewed my food. Swallowing and washing it down with my tea, I said, "Thanks for making me a bento, by the way. It's good."

"Mm." The girl stood up, looked around a moment to make sure we were still alone, then transformed. Reaching under her shield, she produced a single grief seed.

Grief seeds didn't entirely look how they were portrayed in the anime—in much the same way that everyone I'd interacted with looked like a real person and not an anime character. I didn't have to look at it for more than a moment to know just who it belonged to.

Homura dropped her transformation and sat down, before placing the seed on my little desk. "It isn't but half full, so if your theory that the Incubators refill them with grief to respawn a witch is true, then you should be safe."

"Alright. I'll hold onto it and see what happens. Until then…" I stroked her soulgem back and forth and Homura shuddered, choking off a quiet moan, "Back to teasing you. So, where did you go to restock?"

"A JSDF base. I'll need to, mmf, make a trip out of town soon to fully equip myself, however. Ah~."

I sent the girl a smile. "You really are the most Murrican meguca," I chuckled, patting her gem. "Still can't believe you figured out how to use magic to launch SAMs and shit."

"I've had a lot of time to branch out. Unfortunately, my focus has been fairly singular. I'm not as skilled as Kyoko was said to be, before she lost her ability to use most magic." Staring at me through half lidded eyes, she quietly added, "If you don't finish me off before lunch ends, I am going to get you back."

I sent her a smirk. "Too bad you can't just practice magic under time stop."

Homura blinked, then chuckled ruefully. "Why did we never consider that?"

"You mean I never suggested it before?" She shook her head. "Probably thought you were already doing it, or more focused on other things. We're only human. But with me acting as your battery…"

"It removes more limitations than I realized. Sensei, if it works, then we could use Mami's power to bring in multiple magical girls."

"Hyperbolic time chamber magical girl training montage," I nodded in understanding. "Let's do that. Speaking of her, though. I think I'm just going to come out and tell her the truth. Have I ever done that before?"

"Not to my knowledge," she shook her head. "I should be with you—"

"No. Stay on task with Suzune. She might react better if there isn't another magical girl around. I'll give her full disclosure and see what she does with it. Worse comes to worst… you reset at the end of the loop," I shrugged.

Homura glared, before reaching out and grabbing my hand holding her soul. She squeezed almost hard enough to hurt. "You don't get to take needless risks just because I can reset time. I said it before, but I don't like seeing you die."

"This isn't needless and I don't think it's a risk. Quite the opposite, really. I'm not a magical girl and I can actually prevent you all from becoming witches, so if anything, she should latch on harder to keep me alive. The only problem is Kyubey, and convincing her that her 'friend' is anything but and she needs to keep what I can do secret. That one, I'm going to have to figure out."

Homura sighed before reclaiming her soulgem. "Be careful, sensei." Narrowing her eyes at me, she said, "You owe me for leaving me like this."

The chime signaling the end to lunch sounded and I watched her leave, before packing away my empty bento.

Sorry, Homura. I think this time, I'll be putting everything on the table. All or nothing. That's going to mean taking a little calculated risk.