Puella Magi American Sensei

10

I looked up from my lunch as the chair beside me was occupied by a pink haired girl. Swallowing my bite, I sent Madoka a smile. "What brings you here, Madoka-chan?"

The girl smiled briefly, but it looked strained. "Sensei, can we talk?"

"Sure," I agreed. "I told you, you could come to me for anything. How's your day going? Any troubles in class?"

"It's fine, sensei. Just, a little weird."

"Weird how?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sayaka-chan has been really weird today. Like, she wants to go everywhere with me. And that's kind of what we do anyway, but this is way more than normal. She didn't even want me to come and talk to you!"

"Huh." I took a moment to think about that as I ate another bite of lunch. Seeing me eating, Madoka listlessly pulled out her own lunch and began eating. "She say anything about it to you?"

Madoka shook her head. "She just laughed and brushed me off. And I want to be happy for Hitomi-chan that Kyosuke-kun got better, but—"

"Wait. Kamijo got better?" I asked, and she nodded. "Found the problem. Sayaka became a magical girl."

Madoka blinked, before her pink eyes widened. "You think so?!"

I sent her an amused look. "Well, let's see. Sayaka's acting weird," I ticked off a finger, "coincidentally, Kamijo is mysteriously healed," another finger. Then I stopped. "Actually, that's it. All you need to know. I bet a thousand yen she's wearing a shiny new ring with a little blue gem on it."

Madoka bit her lip, and she looked so cute I wanted to hug her. "But, didn't you say that magical girls can become witches if their soul gem gets too corrupt?"

"That's right. That's why this is a problem. Tell you what, I'll talk to the girls and let them know what she did. In the meantime, why don't you go talk to Sayaka and invite her to hang out tonight with some friends? Don't take no for an answer."

A look of determination came over Madoka's face and she nodded. "Right! I'll do it, sensei! Uh, where should we go? Homura-chan's house?"

"No, we have a new base. Here, I'll give you the address. You and Sayaka meet us there tonight, around six."

"Alright! I'll see you there!" Madoka nodded again, before popping out of her seat and rushing off with her unfinished bento in hand.

A moment later, Suzune shimmered into being as she sat down in the chair Madoka had just vacated. "I texted the others."

"Thanks, Suzune. You ate your lunch and taken a bathroom break? I don't want you making yourself uncomfortable or hungry because of me."

Suzune blushed faintly, the white haired girl looking away. "Yes, sensei. I'm fine."

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Mm." She hesitated. Squirmed in her chair. Looking up with a faint blush, she murmured, "I, you've been holding my gem for a long time. Hours now. I need…"

I nodded. "Disappear and I'll head to the bathroom. We can get you some relief. Quietly."

"Yes, sensei."

Homura, Mami, Kyoko, and I all waited outside the Castle, just inside the gate—Suzune having gone inside to use the restroom and grab a snack as we waited.

"So you're telling me she wasted her wish on healing some boy?"

"Yes. She usually does."

"That idiot," Kyoko grumbled.

"Calm down. What's done is done, and it's not like it's actually a problem any more. Yes, it was wasteful, but not to her," I inserted myself before Kyoko could get wound up.

The redhead sent me a glare. "Is she actually going to get with this boy?"

"Probably not," I denied.

Homura shook her head. "No. He's not interested in her. I've only seen a few timelines where he chose Sayaka, and that was when Hitomi had died to a witch."

"So she's a moron."

"Kyoko-chan," Mami paused for the usual protest, but it never came. "Everyone's wish is personal. …Even if it's shortsighted and selfish."

"Tch. Yeah. Maybe."

Our conversation was cut short as we spotted the familiar pink hair of Madoka walking up, beside the blue haired form of Sayaka, both girls still in their school uniforms, Sayaka carrying a backpack on one shoulder. Madoka beamed a smile as she approached the gate. "Good evening!"

"Madoka," Homura greeted quietly, but I could hear the barely suppressed emotion in her voice. I reached out and patted her thigh before gesturing at the gate. Getting the message, Homura gestured and the gate opened.

Madoka walked in and rushed over, throwing her arms around Homura in a hug, before pulling away and looking to Kyoko. "Hello! We haven't met. I'm Kaname Madoka."

Sayaka crossed the threshold, stopping some distance away from us, the gate closing quietly behind her. "Is this everyone?"

"We're waiting on one more," Mami shook her head. "I'm your senpai, Tomoe Mami."

"Sakura Kyoko," Kyoko grunted at Sayaka, before pulling a box of pocky from her hoodie pocket and shaking out a couple of sticks, one of which she offered to Madoka.

Going to need to talk to her later. Can't have her snubbing people if they figure out her tells, I mused. "Good evening, Sayaka-chan. How are you?"

"…Fine, sensei," she muttered. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Well, there are some things we need to tell you about being a magical girl that I'm sure Kyubey didn't mention."

"He seemed pretty thorough to me," she sent me a glare, her tone turning defensive.

I nodded at that. "Did he tell you that when he made you a magical girl, he yanked out your soul and turned it into a soul gem? That if your soul gem is destroyed, you die. If it's separated from your body by about a hundred meters, you lose control of your body and it goes unconscious."

Sayaka frowned. "No," she shook her head, looking at the others. "Is that true?"

"Yep," Kyoko answered shortly, popping the 'p.' "The little rat likes to skimp on the details in his recruitment speech. Why would anyone volunteer for it if they knew the truth, after all? If they did know the truth, they'd make damn sure their wish was worth it instead of wasting it on something stupid, like—"

I laid a hand on Kyoko's shoulder, my fingers finding the bare skin of her neck and gently rubbing. "Easy," I murmured, squeezing the girl. Kyoko tensed under my touch for a moment before relaxing and looking away from Sayaka.

Seeing she wouldn't blow up, Mami asked, "Did Kyubey tell you that as you use magic or feel strong emotions, your soul gem becomes corrupted? It blackens over time."

"Yeah, he told me that I had to fight witches and collect grief seeds."

"And did he tell you where witches come from?" the blonde asked, and Sayaka shook her head.

"They're magical girls," Homura answered, drawing a confused look from Sayaka. "If your gem becomes entirely black, it 'matures' into a witch, and you become the thing you've been fighting."

"Wha— No. No, you're lying—"

I shook my head. "Sayaka, you've been a magical girl for what, a day? Two? These girls have been doing it for years. They're your senpai in being a magical girl. They know more than you do. And I can confirm, they're telling the truth. It's all there in the name. Or did he not tell you what 'Kyubey' actually means?"

"What? What it means?"

"Kyubey. It's a cute little Japanese style shortening of an English word. Like 'konbeni' is a shortening of convenience store. In this case, Kyubey is short for In. Cu. Ba. Tor. Incubator. And their function is there in the name. Incubators incubate. What do they incubate? Magical girls. Into witches. They'll even admit to it, if you confront them about it. They'll even go as far as to explain why that is—basically, that they're using humans, human emotions, and human souls as fuel—an energy source to combat entropy. You can't find fault with the ideal—that is, preventing the heat death of the universe and subsequently all life in it. But the methods? They're inhuman. Because Incubators see humans like we see dinosaurs in modernity—a resource to be tapped, refined, and made into go juice for cars."

"But, that can't, he didn't. No. No! That's just too unfair!" Sayaka's eyes went wide as she looked down at her hands, at the ring on her finger. "But that means… I'm going to become a witch? I don't want to become a witch!"

Mami sighed, closing the distance between them and pulling Sayaka into a hug. "Shh, shh. It really is unfair. But it's okay, Sayaka-chan. It's okay."

"How?! How is it ever going to be okay?"

Mami smiled as she petted the other girl's hair. "Because we have sensei now."

"What?"

"This guy," Kyoko jerked her thumb at me, "can purify soul gems. So. No more witch bomb. No more need for grief seeds. No more becoming a witch for any girl that's working with sensei."

The door to the Castle opened up and Suzune walked out. Looking around the parking lot, she asked, "What'd I miss?"

Sayaka pulled away from Mami and looked over us all, before asking, "So this is everybody?"

I frowned. Something about her tone was… off. She didn't sound like a girl who had just discovered she effectively had terminal cancer but there was a cure. She sounded… annoyed. Beside me, Homura sat up, tensing as she obviously caught on to what I had.

"Yep! This is Suzune-chan," Mami introduced the snow haired girl.

"So, which one of them was it?"

"Huh?" Kyoko blurted.

The bag over Sayaka's shoulder squirmed, before the zipper slid open and a familiar and extremely unwelcome head poked out. Kyubey's pink eyes looked around before landing on Suzune. That's her.

"Sayaka… chan?" Madoka asked as Sayaka stepped back further, before dropping her bag and transforming into her magical girl uniform.

"Madoka, come here. It's not safe. We have to go!"

Homura transformed instantly, before disappearing and reappearing between Sayaka and Madoka.

"Sayaka-chan, what do you mean? What's going on?" Madoka asked the girl, looking over Homura's shoulder.

"They're lying! That one," she pointed at Suzune, "is the murderer in the news! The 'Ripper,' killing girls in towns surrounding Hohzuki. Magical girls! We can't trust a word they say!" Turning to Kyubey, she said, "You were right about everything. Sorry I doubted you, Kyubey!"

Of course, Miki Sayaka. I'll never lie to you.

"It lied," I added on.

The alien's eyes landed on me. We meet again, John White. So it's true. You really can purify soul gems.

I shrugged. "I really can. So, your choices here are pretty simple, Incubator. Option one: You can ignore us and we'll ignore you. You leave Madoka alone, we stop recruiting magical girls and throwing a monkey wrench in the system."

We believe Kaname Madoka could potentially yield enough energy to justify taking action.

"Can't collect energy if she refuses to wish, can you?" I countered, and the critter remained silent. "Unless you're willing to go so far as to, oh I don't know, threaten to have her family killed. Oops! My bad! I mean suffer an unfortunate but conveniently timed accident."

Sayaka's sword wavered. "Wait… Kyubey, what's he talking about?"

"Maybe a car accident, hm? It worked so well with Mami, didn't it?" I continued, visibly ignoring the girl now and focusing on the rat—but my attention actually was on Sayaka. She clearly wanted to believe Kyubey, but when no one had done anything other than Homura putting herself between Sayaka and Madoka when she had been clearly expecting a fight, it put her on the back foot.

"Kyubey, tell me the truth. Did you arrange the accident that killed my parents?" Mami asked.

You had amazing potential as a magical girl, Tomoe Mami. You were personable and outgoing. You fit all of the conventional human beauty standards, even those deemed socially outside the norm but desirable in Japan. Your magical potential and versatility were very high and your intelligence and emotive quotient was just right—more feeling than thinking, intelligent but easily driven by emotion, not likely to question things and with a tendency towards group conformity and adherence to authority.

"Yes or no, Kyubey."

Not ensuring you became a magical girl would have been a waste. You've recruited, inspired, and trained so many magical girls for us that the investment put into arranging the circumstances that led to your becoming a magical girl became trivial by comparison. Also, because you had such high magical potential, when you became a witch you would produce a large sum of energy for us. All told, you were one of the best investments we've made in years.

Mami glared at the creature. "One word. One syllable, Kyubey. Yes. Or. No. Did the Incubators arrange to have my parents killed?"

Yes.

Sayaka blinked. "What. But— What? You, why, that doesn't make sense?"

We don't expect you to understand. It's much simpler to not inform you of these things than it is to try to navigate the resulting human emotions.

It was being… unusually forthcoming with its answers. It made me suspicious. Sure, the Incubators didn't actually care what humans felt, beyond whether it was good for their goals or not… but to just come right out and say it, destroying the trust of a girl it had just used to get into our base? Instead of sticking to what had looked like the plan and starting a fight between her and us? It'd have to be brain dead stupid—

Or thinking three steps ahead. An inkling of dread crept up on me, the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

"You're being unusually cooperative. Very chatty."

Of course. While we've been talking, I've been studying this barrier from the inside. Specifically, its security measures. And I believe—

Kyubey fell silent as a stone arrow suddenly sprouted from his head, the statuary around us beginning to move. But it was too late. Outside the gates, thousands of pairs of red lights lit up. The eyes of hundreds of Incubators, all circling the barrier. And then, like a tide, they rushed the walls and the gate.

"Homura?! Can they get in?" I yelled to the girl.

The first of the Incubators made it to the wall, leaping up to cross over, not impeded by what should be a magical barrier in the least… only for the 'decorative' spikes on top of the wall to shoot up and stab them.

That hurts, you know, the Incubators complained as one.

"I don't know!" was Homura's worrying answer.

Mami acted first, lines of ribbon zipping out and snagging myself and Madoka and pulling us towards her. "Inside! Get inside!"

With that, the group of magical girls transformed and we all rushed into the Castle. As soon as we were in, the portcullis slammed shut, along with the bars over every window.

"Control room," Homura announced, and the Castle blurred around us as we were moved through it, to the circular room with windows. Seats sprang up around the control crystal and Homura, Mami, and Kyoko dropped into them, all of them touching the crystal as magic began to glow from it. An egg basket formed on a pedestal beside them, collecting their soul gems, and Mami tied a loop of ribbon around my hand.

"Kyoko, reinforce the barrier," Homura instructed and the redhead nodded.

"Got it. How about an iron dome?" she muttered.

Madoka, Suzune, Sayaka, and I watched as lengths of chains of all sizes sprang up out of the ground, meeting above us and cutting us off from the outside world. More and more chains joined them, seemingly even burrowing into the ground below us. Screens began filling the air of the view outside the dome. The Incubators had already begun scaling it, but the chains sprouted thorns, barbs, hooks, and spikes, all of which began to sway and move—not much, just a back and forth motion of a foot or so, but across the whole dome it added up to a screeching nest of chainsaws. The Incubators foolish enough to try climbing over were shredded into spots of gore.

"I'm going to be sick," Madoka muttered, before turning away and bringing her hands to her face… and promptly throwing up on the floor and herself.

I shuddered, gagging in sympathetic nausea, not at the sight of Incubators getting pulped but at the vomit. Thankfully, Suzune saw my discomfort and took Madoka by the shoulders. "Come on, let's go somewhere quieter and get you cleaned up."

"I'll come—"

"You'll stay here. You've done enough," Suzune cut Sayaka off.

"Oh, and what are you going to do? Kill me if I don't?"

"Stop fighting!" Madoka cried, reduced to tears as she stared at her hands and uniform in disgust.

"Sayaka, stay here, or you'll be put in time out," I warned.

"You can't make me—"

I stood up, moving over to the girl and looming over her smaller form. She glared up at me, her hand tightening on her sword. "Sit down, be quiet, let us sort this out. Madoka will be safe. I trust Suzune with my life. You've done enough for tonight by bringing the enemy into the base and letting them get a look at the wards. By confirming that I can keep you from becoming a witch. If they suspected something was up with me before, they know for sure now, and that's on you. Now, knock it off before you distract those three any more than they already are. Because I have a sneaking suspicion that we don't want those things in here. It's not the Incubators we have to worry about, it's the fact that every one of them could be armed with a primed grief seed, just waiting to become a witch. Do you think we could survive having a fucking tidal wave of witches dumped on our heads?"

Sayaka stumbled back, before collapsing back into a chair. "I'm sorry. I didn't think—"

"No, you didn't think, and that's the problem. Now shut up," I growled, before moving back to my own seat. An instant later, a bright flash lit the room from the screens and what felt like the whole building shook faintly.

"Didn't know the little fuckers could throw beam spam around!" Kyoko growled as more chains plugged the hole the attack had temporarily burned into them, then even more chains layered over them, along with golden ribbons. And then, places opened up along the dome and flowers of ribbons blossomed into guns—muskets and cannons that began returning fire with impossible precision, taking out clusters and lines of Incubators with each shot, even occasionally pulling off ricochet trick shots to shut down Incubators about to launch more beam attacks. When one would fire, the weapon itself would be launched from the dome immediately after, only to explode into razor ribbons that tangled and cut the crowd of bodies, while fresh replacements spawned.

"How are they defeating Chisato's magic cancellation effect?" Mami asked as she worked.

"That cancels magical effects, not magic in general," Homura shook her head. "And they're just throwing out beams, not anything special, so…"

"Right. Even if it's disrupted, there's still energy there."

I closed my eyes and focused on not losing my lunch, ignoring the world around me as the building started shaking regularly, both from damage from the Incubators' beams and the return fire Mami was sending their way. Thankfully, not much later, what looked like a familiar wearing a maid's uniform stepped into the room with a mop and bucket and took care of Madoka's spill.

Suzune and Madoka returned not too long after, Madoka wearing a set of pajamas that looked a bit long on her—and given the white coloration, likely belonged to Suzune. The pinkette had her hair down and looked out of sorts, but better than she had earlier. She took one look around the room and winced. Her pink eyes met my green before she hurried over to my chair. Without even asking, she curled up in my lap and buried her face against me, her arms around around my chest. I pulled her into a hug and began gently stroking her back and petting her hair—which was a bit damp and smelled of shampoo.

Suzune looked similarly damp, but she still wore her magical girl uniform. She looked at Madoka in my lap longingly for a moment before taking a seat on one of the couches. "They're still going?"

"Yep," I confirmed.

"Is there something I can do to help?"

"No, but… Sayaka," Homura turned a look on the now very quiet magical girl. "Get over here. Drop your gem in the basket and put your hand on the crystal, then start pouring in magic. Don't touch anything, don't try to change anything. We'll handle the new additions."

"…What if I screw it up?"

"Then we die, dumbass!" Kyoko roared. "Get off your ass and help!"

Sayaka glared, but she stood up and moved over to the crystal. Dropping her gem in the basket, I felt it connect before she laid her hand on the crystal and a blue glow joined the purple, red, and gold. Swords joined the spears in the defensive dome, blades poking out of every conceivable hole and branching off of spears, chains, and each other to create a jagged forest of blades. Blue musical notes danced over the dome and the damage the Incubators were inflicting began to heal over rapidly, rather than simply being replaced by more material, which took a lot of strain off of Kyoko and Mami. I couldn't tell what Homura was actually doing, but she breathed a quiet sigh of relief as well the moment Sayaka joined in.

"Sensei, I'm scared," Madoka murmured, trembling like a leaf against me.

"I know, Madoka. We all are. We just have to outlast them. Show them this sort of direct assault isn't worth it and they'll give up."

"And then what? Can, can we even go back to school?"

That was a good question. One I didn't have an answer to. So instead, I just kept petting her. "We'll figure something out. Until then, close your eyes and try to sleep, okay? It'll all be over soon."

One way or another.

Taking my own advice, I shifted Madoka to make her a bit more comfortable to hold in my lap and leaned back in the plush recliner. I ignored the wet spots where her face pressed against my chest and the soft sobs coming from her as she clung onto me for dear life.

I was woken up by the feeling of a soft hand shaking me awake. "Sensei, it's time to get up."

Blinking, I looked around. The room was empty, save for myself, Madoka, and Mami. "When did they stop?"

"Not long after you and Madoka-chan finally drifted off. They dispersed and we were finally able to get a cell signal out. I called Madoka's parents and explained that she was spending the night with me. We also called the rest of the Angels," I groaned quietly, making Mami's lips twitch into a smile, "and let them know to be on the lookout for more attempts. I made breakfast. You should get showered and changed, so you can go into work."

I stared at her for a moment. "You think they won't try something at school?"

"I'm not sure. Homura feels we should 'turtle up' until Walpurgis, while Kyoko believes we should show them we aren't afraid of them. Suzune said she would leave the decision to you."

Sighing quietly, I stretched out and yawned, only to realize I was still covered in girl as Madoka stirred and stretched as well. She shifted, opening her eyes, her face hovering just an inch from mine. And then, she blushed beet red. A camera clicked nearby and she turned a panicked look on Mami, who was tucking her phone away with a smile. "Waaaah~!" Madoka jumped up and fled the room, to laughter from Mami as she hurried after the girl.

"Wait, Madoka-chan! You don't want to get lost!"

Rolling off the chair, I made my way towards the kitchen. It was empty, save for food set out on the table, so I sat down and made myself a plate and ate quickly. Then, I grabbed a change of clothes and hit the shower in the master bath. That was where I found Homura, slumping tiredly in the tub with her eyes closed. Cracking one eye open, she watched me enter and step into the Western style shower before closing her eye again. "I'm jealous."

"Why's that?" I asked, over the sound of water as I washed myself.

"You got to sleep with Madoka before me this loop."

I snorted quietly. "At least you've got your priorities straight."

"I do," she agreed, sounding sleepy.

"What do we do about this, Homura?"

"Hmm." She was silent for several minutes, before asking, "Would you be okay with locking ourselves inside until Walpurgis, where it's safe?"

"Not really. And we can't ask the other girls to join us. They have lives. And they're vulnerable out there."

Sighing quietly, Homura muttered, "Of course. Because you wouldn't be you if you didn't care."

Once more, she fell silent. This time, she stayed that way long enough that I thought she might have fallen asleep. When I finally shut off the shower and stepped out, it was to find Homura staring up at the ceiling as she lounged in the tub. Noticing me, she sat up, then stood up out of the water as she toed the drain open. Water clung to her lithe, muscular body. Her wet hair was plastered to her back, but that just made the look more enticing. Her nipples stood hard at attention atop her small, perky breasts.

Purple eyes met my green and she smiled, before stepping out and grabbing her towels. An instant later, her hair was mostly dry. "Now that's just cheating," I shook my head at the blatant abuse of time stop.

"I have power to burn now," she shrugged, before standing on her tiptoes and urging me to meet her halfway. I leaned in and she kissed my lips, before pulling away. "What I propose is simple. We go to school today as though nothing is wrong. Keep an eye out for the Incubators, but otherwise, business as usual. This afternoon, we'll head to Asunaro and begin cleaning the Freezer—whether the former Pleiades are finished making the changes required to allow magical girls to be woken up one at a time is irrelevant. We'll collect their soul gems and bodies after purifying them, then bring them here, where we'll wake them. At the same time, we'll bring the Pleiades as well and key them into the Castle and have them feed the crystal to get as many abilities as possible.

"If Kyubey attempts another direct assault, we'll be ready, but I doubt he will. Instead, their next move will be to either attempt to call in assassins or use witches as proxies. It's what they've done in every other loop. With Suzune on our side, they aren't going to be able to tap her, but there are still resources they can approach. They'll only try it a few times before they realize they can't succeed and they'll give up. After that, they'll focus on trying to make Madoka wish. If we have to, we can… relocate her family here, for their safety. We just have to keep them safe until Walpurgis. If we manage to kill the theater witch and end the loop, then…"

"Then?"

"I haven't honestly given it much thought," Homura admitted. "I suppose we'll have an alliance of magical girls strong enough to deter the Incubators. They should leave us alone, for the most part. I think."

Cupping her cheek in my hand, I smiled down at her as she tilted her head, leaning into the touch. "You should start thinking about what you want to do when you get out. Give yourself something to look forward to."

"Mm."

Letting her go, I reached down and gave her ass a firm smack. Homura didn't yelp or even jump. She looked up at me with hunger in her eyes, before reaching out and giving my cock a squeeze. "We should work on Madoka more, sensei," she said, as she began to slowly pump my cock.

"Yes, you should," I agreed, pulling her closer. "Talk to her more, Homura. Interact more."

"…Alright," she murmured, kissing my chest. And then she let go and walked away.

"Hey, wait a minute. You're just going to leave me like this?"

The girl turned an amused look on me. "Yes. It'll give you something to look forward to at lunch. Your desk in the staff office is just big enough for me to fit under, sensei…"

And then, she was gone. I groaned as I considered what she was saying. "Gonna be the death of me."

The girls went to school as a group, taking the train to the nearest stop while I drove with Suzune silent and invisible at my side. Occasionally, on the drive in, I thought I saw Kyubey flitting through shadows, sitting on walls and low rooftops. Just watching.

Everyone made it to school safely, with the others likewise reporting similar sightings, but no actual contact with the furry little shitbags. After that… everything was eerily normal. I followed my Monday routine, moving from class to class and teaching English. At lunch, Suzune and I ate in the teachers' lounge and, true to her word, Homura snuck under my desk and sucked me off in a very quiet, very skilled blowjob—as though she had done this a thousand times and knew exactly what to do to get me to come fastest.

So it was that I was absolutely not expecting it when, in the middle my 2 p.m. class, my phone vibrated with a text—followed by a constant stream of texts. Looking at the display, I found a group chat.

Homura: Witch near the school. Barrier open already. I'm going.

Mami: I just felt a second witch.

Suzune: Same. Northwest of the school.

Homura: I suspect enemy action.

Kyoko: No shit! I guess sensei was right about the rats using grief seeds as weapons. Alright, let's take them out in groups. No less than two people per witch.

Kyoko: I'm nearby, so I'll join in.

Homura: Another witch

Homura: BARRIER INSIDE SCHOOL.

Suzune: I'm with sensei, should I go?

Sayaka: I'm going for it.

Mami: Second witch inside! No barrier?

Mami: make that three

Sayaka: wtf they look like students?

Sayaka: a fking crowd

Homura: Calling Hohzuki.

It was at that point that I felt Suzune's hands reach up from behind me and unclasp the cross necklace around my neck. Quietly, she whispered, "Stay safe," before planting a kiss on the back of my neck.

And then, Suzune was gone. I kept my mouth shut as I listened to students read from the book I had selected for the reading aloud segment—The Devil and Daniel Webster.

Just as the most recent student finished, the fire alarm went off. A moment later, a teacher came over the intercom. "Everyone, please stay calm and follow our evacuation procedures. This is not a drill. Please direct all students away from—"

I listened with half an ear as I stepped to the door. "Alright everyone. Leave your bags where they are. Form an orderly line at the door by your seat assignments. Kagame-chan, here," I directed the class representative up first and stood her up in front of the door as the other students began moving. Picking up my student roster, I moved to the front of the line. "Lead them outside through the south stairwell to rally point 1. I'll take a headcount as we leave and bring up the rear. Walk, don't run. Do not stop."

"Yes, sensei!" the girl nodded seriously. "Everyone, follow me!"

And then I began counting off names and making sure the numbers were right. When I confirmed that all of my students were out, I followed along at the back of the line as we hurried through the school, the alarm blaring overhead, students and teachers looking nervous as they hurried outside according to our emergency drills. It was as I was stepping off the second floor landing and onto the first that a student grabbed my hand and pulled me out of line, and something hard pressed into my back.

"This way, sensei," a quiet voice hissed, pushing me insistently towards a different exit, away from the crowd, to the back of the school.

I started to turn, but her hand on my arm squeezed and I felt the bone protest at the abnormal strength. "I'm wearing a school uniform, but we both know I'm stronger than you. Come along quietly. I don't want this to get messy. I'll shoot you if I have to."

Magical girl, then, I assessed. "Alright. What's your name?"

She hesitated just a second. Turning my head, I caught sight of blonde hair done up in twin tails on a short form. "Asuka Yuuri. Now, walk. Don't draw attention to us, sensei."

"Okay, Yuuri-chan. Whatever you say," I agreed. "You're the boss."

"I am," she agreed, and I could feel her nod.

We left by the rear exit of the part of the building dedicated to various club rooms. Yuuri moved up beside me, keeping what felt like a pistol buried in my back as she pressed herself into my side. "Smile, onii-chan. We're just an onii-chan picking up his imouto from school after the alarm," she said, putting on a smile and a happy tone as emergency services began to arrive on the scene, passing us on the street. "And give me your cell phone. No tricks, now."

"You going to destroy it?"

"Yes. But maybe, if you behave, I'll hold onto it. Now, phone please," she held out her hand.

Not seeing any other option, I fished out my phone and handed it to her. She powered it off and stuck it into a pocket of her school uniform—a Mitakihara uniform, but I didn't recognize her as one of my students. "We're going to take a train ride now. Be a good onii-chan and keep quiet, or I'll get angry, 'kay?"

"Fine."

As we walked further from Mitakihara and the safety of my friends, I though about what I could do. I wasn't armed, and even if I were, she was a magical girl—she'd likely be resistant to bats, knives, bullets, or anything else I got my hands on short of a magical weapon. Her human body would. I began carefully looking her over out of the corner of my eye for any hints as to where her soul gem was. If I could find it, maybe I could grab it and threaten to destroy it or something. But not while she held what I had to assume was a gun of some sort to my back.

No way to contact the others. No phone. The only thing I've got on me is my wallet, a pack of gum, and two soul gems. …I'm humped for now. Wait for an opportunity. With a magical girl, I'll only get one chance, if that. So, get her talking. Talk to her about magical girls and the Incubators. Tell her the truth. Make her sympathetic. Maybe I can convince her to let me go. Doubtful. But maybe I can distract her long enough to either make a break for it or grab her soul gem and get far enough away that she desyncs.

The question is, was this a plot by the Incubators? Is she an assassin? If she were, I'd think she would have just shot me by now and been done with it. Is she taking me to them so they can study me? Or is it something else?

My mind ran in circles as I was forced to face the fact that I was just a helpless baseline human in a world where god damn middle school girls half my body mass could fold me like a fucking pretzel, if they decided to—not to mention all the scary shit they could do with magic.

…Oh fuck me, I'm the damsel in distress.