Puella Magi American Sensei

12

Airi stared at the soul gem in my hands. Her own gem was in its ring form on her finger. The gem in my hands was olive colored and looked almost as clear as her own, just without the glow.

"I wasn't sure you could do it, sensei."

"I know. It seems impossible, especially when the Incubators tell you it is. And yet, here at are. Remember our deal, Airi."

Airi bit her lip. "I'm sorry, sensei. I don't think I'll be able to keep our deal."

"Why not?"

"I want Yuuri to live and be happy. But her original body is gone. Thankfully, when I made my wish, I wished to become Yuuri. So Yuuri has a body, right here. Airi… doesn't have one any more. I can't join you because I'm going to give Yuuri my body. Please… please don't tell her about the awful things I did. I don't want to hurt her."

"Airi, listen. It's your body even if you wished for it to be a copy of Yuuri. Why don't you try sharing first? You may not have to go anywhere. You'd be okay with sharing a body with your friend, right?"

"Of course!" She agreed immediately. "How… how do I do that?"

"I have no idea. She's your friend and you're both magical girls. Maybe try some 'power of love' stuff, like 'opening your heart to her' or something."

Airi considered the idea for a moment. "Do you really think it would work?"

"Maybe. That probably depends on whether you and your best friend can agree to share a body together. I mean, magic. It doesn't seem impossible."

"I'll try, sensei!" Airi agreed with a nod. Holding the olive green soul gem in her hands, she wondered aloud, "Now how do I get it in here?"

Bringing it up to her chest, she pressed the soul gem between her breasts. To my surprise, after a moment of concentration, the gem lit up with a green glow and sank easily into her skin. A moment later, a second ring joined her first, on the opposite middle finger.

And then, Airi blinked. She looked around, then looked at me. "Eh?" Looked down at her naked body and mine, sat together on her futon. "Ueh?!"

Airi yelped and leapt across the room, away from me, pushing herself into a corner. "Wh-where am I? Who are you? Why are we naked?! What's going oooon?!"

I should've seen this coming, I mentally sighed. I got up and picked up my boxers and pants, pulling them on as Airi, or who I suspected was actually Yuuri, covered her eyes with her hands… but peeked through her fingers. Finding a robe belonging to Airi, I picked it up and tossed it underhand to her. "Here, put this on."

"Turn, turn around! Don't watch! Pervert! Weirdo! Criminal scum!"

I sighed audibly this time and turned around. "My name is John White. I'm an English teacher for Mitakihara Middle School—"

"Even worse! Taking advantage of someone your students' age! Student/teacher relationships are verboten! Perverted! Lewd!"

"Asuka Yuuri," I began as I heard her rustling around and pulling on the robe. I turned around when the rustling stopped, finding her huddled protectively against the wall. "You're a magical girl. What's the last thing you remember? A cooking show, maybe?"

She was silent, taking on a contemplative look. "…How do you know that?"

"Because several of my students are magical girls and I'm doing what I can to help them. Right now, I'm trying to help you and Airi."

"Airi?! Where is she!"

"Yuuri, calm down. Try to remember."

"Rr. The last thing I remember clearly… is feeling bad. Really bad. Sad, hurt, lonely, like I would never get to see my family and Airi again. And then… I think my soul gem broke. After that, everything's hazy. I was really angry. And then there was pain. And then nothing for a long, long time. Then, right before I woke up, I had a good dream. I was together with Yuuri and everything felt amazing, I felt safe and…"

She trailed off with a blush and I nodded. "Okay. Time for some facts of life as a magical girl. It's going to sound awful, but I'm not trying to hurt you. These are things you need to know. So…"

And so, I explained the whole thing. Incubators, magical girls, witches, Earth being a witch factory/power plant, the lich bomb and the witch bomb. The fact that she didn't have to worry about that now, because I could purify soul gems. And then, I got to her specific circumstances.

"You became a witch. You 'matured,' your soul gem broke open, and you spilled out of your body. Like every other witch, you would've gone on to kill as many humans as you could. In order to prevent that, the Pleiades Saints did what any magical girl would."

"…They killed my witch. Did I hurt anyone, sensei?"

"No, sweetie. You didn't. They got to you before you could."

"Thank goodness."

"Unfortunately, Airi happened to be there. She entered your barrier and you attacked her. She was okay, the Pleiades got to you before she could be hurt, but… you were gone and you left behind your lucky charm. She couldn't let it go, and the Incubators took advantage. They told her just enough for her to believe that the Pleiades killed you, without explaining that they couldn't actually help you. Airi became a magical girl in order to get revenge against the Pleiades for killing you. She… was a bad girl for a while, but she's better now that you're back."

"That… that idiot! I wouldn't want that! Where is she so I can smack her and tell her she's a moron?!" Yuuri yelled, and I grinned.

She's a treat. No wonder Airi likes her.

"I'll get to that in a minute."

Yuuri glared at me. "You'd better. If you're hiding her, I'll punish you too, sensei! For great justice!"

"I'm not hiding her. I agree, Airi has earned herself a spanking or two."

"So where do you come in, sensei? And why were we n-naked together?! Why do I feel like I had sex?! My crotch is sore and all sticky, and it's leaking white stuff…"

I facepalmed. "Well, you see, Airi was a bad girl. She heard about what I could do and she didn't want me helping the Pleiades, so she came to Mitakihara, caused trouble at my school, and kidnapped me at gunpoint."

"W-w-w-what the hell Airi?! What were you thinking?! Someone could've been hurt! You don't just do things like that, you moron!"

"It's okay though. We talked and came to an understanding. I figured out she had been misled and managed to fix your soul gem. After that, I couldn't stay mad at her. She's still a little brat and she's definitely getting a spanking later, but… Airi is a good girl at heart, so I'll give her a second chance. One and only one, though."

Yuuri nodded, before looking around the bedroom. "Alright. Spill. Where's she hiding? I'm gonna wring her neck while you spank her."

"Ahh… about that. Come here," I stood up, moving over to Airi's vanity and chair tucked away in the corner of her bedroom. Yuuri nodded and hopped up, seemingly having lost her fear of me as we talked. Pulling out the chair, I had her sit down, then pushed it in so she was facing the mirror.

"I don't get it, sensei."

I nodded and explained. "Airi's wish was to be you, Yuuri. Your original body was probably destroyed by the Incubators. The body you're in now… it's actually Airi's."

"Whaaa? No way! I feel like me!"

"You wouldn't feel like you if it wasn't a copy of your body, now would you?" She frowned at that. Seeing she needed a push, I told her, "Hold out your hands." When she did, I continued. "Summon your soul gem, Yuuri."

A green gem appeared in her right hand, right where her ring had been, leaving the other ring behind. "Okay, now, summon your soul gem, Airi. I know you can hear me."

An amber gem appeared in Yuuri's left hand. "What."

"Told you. Look up and talk to your friend," I instructed, laying my hands on her bare shoulders and standing behind her. "Airi, this is your chance to say all the things you wanted to say. Don't be afraid now."

Yuuri looked up into the mirror. "Airi?"

Her demeanor shifted slightly, looking away. "Hey, Yuuri." Turning, she glared at me in the mirror. "Sensei, you tricked me again! You said you wouldn't tell!"

I petted her hair. "Would you rather have told her yourself? Could you? It's okay, Airi. Now, you have to share. Take turns. Let Yuuri speak."

There was a pause as Airi visibly tried to figure out how to do that, before she blinked. "Whoa, that's weird." Then, she glared at herself in the mirror. "You idiot!"

And then, Yuuri chopped herself in the head.

"Ow! Yuuri, what was that for?!"

"You know what you did! Hurting people, making witches, kidnapping sensei and making his students worry! You should be ashamed! I'm ashamed!"

"Please, please don't be mad, Yuuri," Airi began to tear up. "I've missed you—"

"You can't tell me not to be mad, Airi! It's like I don't even—"

I reached forward and covered her mouth. Yuuri glared up at me but went quiet. "Don't say something you can't take back. You can be mad Yuuri, it's okay to be mad at your friend. But your situation is unique. If one of you makes the other too mad, there's nowhere for either of you to go. You're stuck with each other now. So, let's get through this. Yuuri, you're angry because Airi did bad things you wouldn't have wanted her to, right?"

"Mhmm," Yuuri nodded, as I was still holding her mouth closed.

"And Airi, are you sorry for it?" I asked, removing my hand so she could speak.

Airi immediately teared up. "I'm sorry, Yuuri!" She wailed.

Only for Yuuri to take control, still just as teary, "You idiot, who do you think you should be apologizing to?!"

Airi turned in her seat, latching onto my arm. "I'm sorry, sensei! I'm sorry!"

"Okay, there there," I murmured, pulling her into a hug. "I forgive you, Airi. But you've still got a lot of apologies to make. We can start here in Asunaro. You're going to need to go to every one of the Pleiades and apologize, however they like. Then, we can go to Mitakihara and you can do the same. Now, I'm going to need my phone so I can contact the others and let them know to expect us."

"I will! I'll apologize to everyone!" She agreed, getting up and moving over to her dresser, where she pulled out my phone and handed it to me. Hesitantly, she asked, "Sensei? Did you mean what you said last night?"

I reached out and petted her head. "I did, Airi. Though, I suppose you'll need to talk to Yuuri about that now."

The change was immediate as Yuuri looked up at me in confusion… but didn't move away from my hand. "What are you two talking about?"

Their body blushed. "Sensei! I'll tell her!" Airi hurried out of the room before Yuuri could ask me again.

I shook my head and opened my phone. It was almost noon, so the girls were still in school… and I had six messages from the school. I could guess what those were about.

Could really use Kagari's memory editing power right about now…

I sent Homura a text telling her I was safe and that I would be home after school, and would call her at lunch. I knew she would just stop time and read it as soon as she got it. Then, I called the school and began to fabricate my bullshit story.

Bad sushi at lunch yesterday. Food poisoning. I had to leave and my phone wasn't charged. I only just woke up, still sick as a dog.

Then, I would send off a text to Umika asking for a meeting somewhere I could walk to.

No high places.

"It's good to see you're okay, sensei!" Kazumi cheered as she hugged me.

The other Pleiades were less enthused about the girl with me, however. "You were there with that witch, on the roof," Kaoru accused.

Airi winced. "Yeah," she admitted. Then, exactly as I had told her, she apologized. Though, I hadn't realized she'd go full dogeza with it, pressing her head into the floor. The girls had suggested we meet at a building that was under construction near a train station, and we were currently on one of the upper floors. Airi was getting sheetrock dust all over herself doing that, but she didn't seem to mind.

"I'm sorry."

"What, exactly, are you apologizing for?" Saki demanded.

Airi made a quiet sound of distress. "For trying to kill you. I'm the one who made those witches. I kidnapped Kazumi, to hurt all of you by making you watch me kill her." Every magical girl there, aside from Airi and Kazumi, transformed… incidentally giving me a full frontal on every one of them.

Juubey is definitely some kind of little pervert. That doesn't happen when my other girls transform.

"Wait!" Airi yelled, summoning her amber soul gem to hand. "If you want to kill me, fine! I don't care! Take my soul gem, smash it or whatever. Just don't hurt Yuuri!"

That brought the other girls up short. I was tempted to tell them to stop, but… they should be able to resolve things like this themselves without me needing to step in for every little thing. Kazumi took advantage of that hesitation to move over to Airi and kneel down in front of her, putting her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, and incidentally placing herself between the girl and her team.

"Why?" Kazumi asked, looking confused. "Why would you want to kill me? I don't remember anything before a few days ago. Did I do something to hurt you?"

Airi bit her lip. Briefly, she looked at me, but I shrugged, effectively telling her she was on her own for this part. She needed to take responsibility for what she had done. I would keep her from the worst of it, but she needed to suffer some consequences.

"Then I guess you don't remember this face." Kazumi shook her head. Behind her, the other Pleiades looked confused. Except for Umika.

"…I remember. There was a magical girl who rumor said went around healing sick kids. She must have burnt herself out, because she became a witch. It was at… a cooking show or something, I think. We saved a girl from it and defeated the witch. But you can't be her, she's dead."

"Less dead than you think," I shook my head.

The girls all looked at me and Airi nodded. "I, I'm the girl you saved. I made a wish to become my friend, Yuuri. I had this big plan to make you all suffer for killing her, for not even trying to help her…!" She gritted her teeth, fists clenching as she glared up at them for a moment, before it all went out of her. "I was wrong. I didn't know there was nothing you could do. Sensei showed me that. Then he brought Yuuri back to me."

"You actually managed to repair one?" Nico asked. "What about the grief seed we gave you?"

"Yup. And it's already returned to a soul gem. I'd like to hold onto it a bit longer to run some tests though, if you don't mind? I want to see if maybe she can rebuild her own body. But yeah, like I said, no more girls dying to becoming witches. At least, if I can help it. We'd need a setup like your Freezer to preserve their bodies for when they return though, otherwise… Yuuri, why don't you introduce yourself?"

The blonde girl stood up, brushed herself off, and bowed. "Asuka Yuuri, pleased to meet you. Thank you for what you did, and for saving Airi from me back then. Please forgive my idiot friend for being an idiot. The Incubators lied to her and she was too much of a moron to figure that out. Feel free to punish her all you like though. Make her do your homework or your chores, whatever you want to do. She won't do better if she doesn't learn from her mistakes. Sensei is really too soft on her. He's a sucker for a sob story."

"Gee, thanks Yuuri," I muttered, earning some titters from the girls.

"Wait, so… there's two of you in there?" Kaoru asked, and Yuuri nodded.

Holding out her hands, she said, "Yuuri," she summoned her green gem, "and Airi," followed by the amber gem. She disappeared them back into their ring forms.

After that, I stood back and let the girls work things out between themselves. The Pleiades were not exactly happy with Airi, but in the end, they understood why she did what she did. There were some questions, of course. Like how she made those people into witches. That only led to more questions.

"So, another magical girl gave you the evil nuts you used? What did she look like?"

"I don't know. She wore a hood. But she's the one who told me about sensei joining up with you."

Umika met my eyes and I nodded. The number of people who knew that fact was small. I trusted the Mitakihara girls implicitly. I wasn't certain about the Hohzuki group, but they seemed like good girls. I couldn't account for the Pleiades, however. Likewise, Umika could account for her group, but not the other 'Angels.'

That left the odd ones out as Haruka and Chisato, but… Chisato was too straight laced for that. She was an open book. Haruka, not so much. But she had seemed entirely committed, so… I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Especially with the reaction to the whole Ripper thing. I didn't think it was her.

Which left outside forces. The Incubators were the number one suspect, obviously. Lower on the list of possibilities was a malicious third party. The problem with that was that it would require someone capable of spying on us through one of Homura's barriers. That was something I hadn't thought was possible, from the outside.

Unless they were already inside when it went up. Invisibility or something…?

Either way, there wasn't anything we could do about it right now.

Eventually, we parted ways and Airi, Yuuri, and I headed to the train station and made our way towards Mitakihara.

"Ahh, that was stressful!" Airi complained, leaning into my side in the bench seat.

"That's what you get for being a brat," I reminded her. "You've got a lot to make up for, and more apologies still to go today."

"I know. But I'm doing good, right?"

"For now," I agreed, putting my arm around her.

"I'm, I can still stay in Mitakihara…?"

"After I talk to the others, yes." I sighed and gave her a squeeze. "You're a good girl, Airi. I'm sure they'll like you once they get to know you."

"What about me, sensei? Am I a good girl?"

I snorted softly. "Nope. You're more of a brat than Airi is, Yuuri. Literally the worst."

The girl glared up at me, before sticking out her tongue and smiling. I reached up and petted her head and she leaned into the touch. Thankfully, I suppose, it was late enough that most of the rush hour was over, so we didn't really have much of an audience, which meant no one throwing the gaijin weird looks. "We should talk about the thing with me and Airi. I don't want to force you into anything—"

"It's fine, sensei! Airi and I talked already. We'll share sensei time."

I laughed quietly. "There's a few who want 'sensei time,' you'll have to work it out with them, too."

"Duh," she rolled her eyes. Looking up at me, her attitude turned serious. "I got a second lease on life thanks to you. I'm not going to waste it. I… I want to go back to my parents, but they think I'm dead. Airi wants to stay with you, and she helped to bring me back, so I don't want to say no. And really, I don't want to go back to school anyway. There's no point."

"I'd say you should go spend time with your parents, but… well, the Incubators could try to use them against you. The problem is, they're not much safer with you out of their lives than in, so the choice is up to you to make. I'll support you, no matter what you decide."

"Aww! How sweet!" A girl nearby beamed a smile at us. She was cute, but… something about her rubbed me the wrong way. Turning to face us fully, she transformed, her clothes replaced by a red dress. Before either Yuuri/Airi or I could move, she leveled a sword at my throat.

"But~ I need to borrow your sensei! So, come with me if you want to live."

With that, she turned her sword barely a foot to my left and blasted the wall of the train open with a fireball. The car rocked and the wind roared into the car, though thankfully this wasn't a bullet train so it wasn't too bad.

The few people in our car who had been watching with that typical Japanese 'not my problem' mentality screamed and fled. Me, I clutched at my left cheek and ear—I could feel blood coating my fingers from a gash caused by shrapnel and I couldn't hear anything out of that ear but a painful ringing.

"Oh! And just in case you were thinking about being cute, give me your soul gem or I'll just kill him."

A look of fierce determination came over the blonde's face, before she offered up an amber gem. "If you hurt him…"

"Now why would I want to do that? I need him more than you do. Now, be a good meat puppet and go all limp, 'kay?"

The girl grabbed me by the arm and forced me to stand. Then, she was jumping through the hole and pulling me along, throwing me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

The station was flooded with police and emergency services, and closed to the public. We watched as several people were being escorted out, wrapped in blankets, shell-shocked looks on their faces.

"What in the world happened?" Mami murmured quietly.

"Nothing good," Suzune shook her head.

Kyoko frowned as she eyed the crowd. "Don't see sensei anywhere. Suzune, go check out the train."

"Yes," the white haired girl agreed, ducking behind a corner and transforming, before she disappeared with a shimmer like a mirage.

I watched and waited, holding my power in reserve. It was too costly to waste needlessly trying to do everything myself. …No matter how much I wanted to know the truth.

Suzune returned a few moments later, back in her school uniform. "One of the cars was exploded from inside. Fire magic, low heat, high pressure blast. Police are interrogating everyone. Some people claim to have seen a girl in red blast the wall of the car with a missile, or something."

"No one wants to say magic and sound crazy," Kyoko translated, earning a nod.

"Do you think the girl bringing sensei back double crossed us?" Mami wondered.

Kyoko shook her head. "Lot of trouble to go to just for a double cross on the ride over. Homu, didn't sensei say he trusted her?"

I nodded once, not taking my eyes off the crowd. Because if Suzune hadn't reported any bodies or any talk of unconscious or dead girls, and if it wasn't a double cross, then she was still here somewhere.

"My money is on a third party. So, where's the girl who was supposed to be bringing him?" It seemed Kyoko had caught on.

Catching sight of a young girl about our age moving through the crowd, looking like she was searching for someone, I nodded towards her. "I think we're about to find out."

The blonde spotted us a moment later and headed over. She paused a few feet away before hesitantly holding up her right hand, showing off the ring there. I mirrored her, confirming we were who she was looking for. "What happened?"

"Some crazy bitch came and kidnapped sensei!"

"Yeah, no shit. We're looking at her," Kyoko glared.

"Eh?" The blonde looked genuinely confused for just a moment, before sighing. She bowed at the waist. "My name is Asuka Yuuri, pleased to meet you. I'm sorry for my friend. Sensei didn't explain the situation to you?"

"What situation, Yuuri-chan?"

"…They're different people." Everyone looked at me and I elaborated. "When he called to confirm he was okay, sensei called her by 'Yuuri' first, then by 'Airi' after. He also said he was fixing a soul gem. That's you, isn't it?"

"It is. You must be Akemi Homura-chan. He talked about you a bit. Like you were the leader here."

I shook my head, but Mami laughed. "Homura-chan, give up. Everyone knows you're really the leader and you've only foisted all the things you don't want to do off onto me. You're the one sensei turns to for direction, not us."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Where'd she take him?"

"No idea. They jumped off the train while it was in motion."

I frowned at that, even as I began putting together a plan of action. I had held off on the last one, because sensei asked. I could see now why he had. Yuuri was cute and I knew his proclivities—Sensei had a soft spot for cute, vulnerable girls. She reminded me of Madoka, in a way. He really was entirely too kind, but it looked like this would net us a two-for-one magical girl special, so I wasn't against it. The only question was, "If you're here, where's Airi?"

Yuuri frowned, bringing up the hand without a ring on it. "She told me to give her my soul gem to keep me from following. Airi… gave up her gem. She's with sensei and that crazy girl, but without a body. We have to save them!"

"What's the plan?" Suzune asked, immediately on task. I think she felt like she was responsible for him being kidnapped in the first place, but there was no way to see this coming. We all assumed, myself included, that this was meant as an attack by the Incubators. Leaving sensei in the class where it should have been safe in order to take out the witch thing that had appeared in the hall (and had apparently been a temporarily transformed student) was the right move. If she hadn't, the witch could have easily gotten into the classroom and put sensei in danger anyway.

Although, I wasn't convinced that it wasn't a move by the Incubators, that Airi had happened to walk into the middle of. Or that they had initiated, after realizing her own plan. There were too many real witches there for it to be otherwise. I say real witches because while the ones with barriers dropped grief seeds, the transformed student had produced something else entirely upon its defeat. Something I wasn't familiar with. And 'new' was almost universally bad when it came to Incubators and witches. But I was getting off track. I pulled my mind back to the current situation.

"Search and Rescue. I'll take three people with me to search. The rest, head back to the Castle. Keep an eye on Madoka. Kyubey may use this an an opportunity to pursue her." I began walking as I spoke, leading us away from the station. When we were out of sight, I transformed, followed by the others, then we took to the roofs, heading for the Castle.

"I'm going," Yuuri spoke up immediately. When I raised an eyebrow, she said, "He was bleeding when she carried him off. My magic lets me heal others."

"Very well. I'll call the Hohzuki squad and borrow Matsuri for her detection magic. The three of us—"

"And me."

I looked at Suzune, remembering her stance on killing after what she had been made to do at Kagari's hand. For the sake of that, I felt the need to warn her, "This isn't going to be a battle. I'm going to kill whoever took him."

"I know. I'm coming." Steeling herself, Suzune said, "Give me Kagari's soul gem."

"Suzune-chan, you don't have to—"

"If it means keeping sensei safe, I will."

"Tch. Why can't we all go?"

"Trains are shut down. I'm going by car. Sensei's car seats five. Four of us plus sensei on the return trip. Chronoprohibiris, healing, detection. Memory alteration would be useful."

I produced Kagari's soul gem from my shield. Suzune didn't hesitate to destroy it. The emblem on her sword changed to that of a butterfly and she nodded, a look of grim determination and resolve on her face—she had made her choice, it seemed. For Sensei's sake, she was willing to kill again. I would have smiled at yet more proof that she was a kindred spirit, if the situation weren't so dire. "I'm ready."

Not long after, we made it to the Castle. I slid into the driver's seat of John's car and pulled the keys from my shield, then took a moment to adjust the seat and mirrors for myself.

"Why do you have his keys?" Kyoko asked.

"They're a copy. Who do you think got sensei the car in the first place?"

The redhead nodded. "Get going. We'll take care of things here."

Suzune and Yuuri climbed in and buckled up. The engine roared to life, rumbling pleasantly beneath me. Riding in this thing always got my motor running, but now wasn't the time. Maybe later.

Dropping it into reverse, the big V8 roared and tires squealed as I backed it out and spun the wheel, smoothly transitioning through a reverse bootlegger's turn and shifting up through the gears. Yuuri screamed from the back seat and the gates ahead of us snapped open and closed just long enough to let us pass.

Pulling out my phone, I called Haruka. She picked up on the second ring. Before she could say anything, I cut her off. "Sensei has been kidnapped."

"Wait. Again? Didn't we get him back?"

"I need Matsuri. We're going to track them down. Meet us at your school."

"Trains are shut down—"

"We're not taking the train. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"It's an hour by train!"

"For you."

I hung up and pushed the phone behind my shield. Around us, the world went gray, and the car cut through the stopped traffic like a knife—finding holes that I wouldn't have been able to make if they had been moving, before coming to a section of mostly open road. The world regained color and people behind us honked at the way we just suddenly appeared in front of them.

Day one. To Do. 0700. Catch a train…