Both Jami and Mira stared at this newest predicament, Mira taking a quick breath in at the shock of it all. The girl was grinning at the two of them with her finger on the trigger of the pistol.
"Hey, hey, let's not get too mean here!" Mira held up her hands slowly and added with a nervous laugh, "We don't want the police to get involved in this."
The girl didn't respond, she only closed her left eye in a wink and pulled the trigger. Jami grabbed Mira and dropped to the ground. Mira's eyes were closed in fear, her body nearly trembling. Jami looked up and grimaced.
"You want a fight? I'll give you a fucking fight, pinkie."
"Sounds like an empty promise. You're laying on the street!" She walked over and stood over them, the barrel pointed right at Jami's forehead. "I can give you a running start, though, if that sounds better for you."
"Stop it! Both of you, stop!" Mira had raised her voice, her face changing from its normally happy demeanor to one of a frustrated mediator. "I'm not going to let you do this."
Mira stood up and summoned two swords, putting them in an "x" formation as a barrier. Jami looked up at her, angry that she would dare stand in the way of their argument.
"We can work something out. Please, just stop this."
The girl just snorted and laughed. Mira wasn't exactly the most threatening figure; she was small, thin, and not even reaching five feet which was quite under the girl and her platform shoes.
"You're not going to let me do this, huh? Alright. Guess I'll just have to shoot you instead."
Before Jami could get up and grab Mira to get her out of the way, a gunshot pierced through the air around the three of them. Jami's ears rang. She covered her ears in a failed attempt to lessen the pain, and could only see a streak of bright yellow light Time stopped. Her heart skipped a beat, but she could feel it, hear it, pounding in her ears. She couldn't lose to someone like that, she wouldn't let that happen.
Soon the ringing stopped and she found herself able to see again, albeit quite blurry at first. When she looked up, she saw Mira smiling. The surroundings were different. They appeared to be outside of Jami's dormitory by one of the entrance doors that needed a key-card. But hadn't they just been in the alleyway?
"What...What the fuck?"
"Sorry, I didn't want to have that confrontation right then," Mira said, bowing her head to her. "I decided the best thing to do was to retreat and let her cool off for a bit."
"We ran? But I just saw you get shot!" Jami stood up with a start, furious that she didn't understand what was going on.
"I didn't get shot. See? I'm fine!"
Mira held her arms out wide with a big, goofy smile. She was right that she had not been shot, and she was wearing her normal clothes with not a scratch on them. The swords that she had summoned had disappeared as well.
"How did you-?"
"It's getting pretty late, I'm going to head home. If any witches come, let me know, okay?" She waved and started to walk away, leaving Jami by herself.
It took about half an hour for the incubator to show back up at Jami's dorm. It jumped in through the window and sat down on one of Jami's notebooks.
"So, I noticed that you two were quick to run from battle today."
"Yeah. Not my first choice. That bitch needs to learn a lesson."
"What are you going to do about it, Jami?"
"Do you know anything about her? She had to have made a contract with you, I could sense that was no ordinary kawaii-ass pistol."
"Keen observation. Yes. She made a contract with me last night, in fact."
"Last night? That's really recent, and she's already picking fights?"
"That seems to be in her nature."
Jami groaned and rolled her eyes. The incubator never really was of much help, and the tone of its voice made her more annoyed than before more often than not.
"God, that girl is such a prissy ass b-"
"Talking profanities outside of her earshot will only do you so much good. What would you like accomplished from this?"
"I want her to leave me alone!"
It was at that moment that Jami realized that the door had been open. A girl, about a year or so older than Jami herself, was standing in the doorway. She looked concerned, almost sad at what was happening.
"Miss Ward?"
Jami turned to face the door and cleared her throat.
"Um, yes, what can I do for you?"
"My name is Autumn, I'm your resident assistant here in this dorm hall. May I speak to you for a moment in my room?"
"Sure." Jami grabbed her purse and followed the young woman to her room.
The room was mostly decorated with pastel pink, white, and rose gold. There were a number of inspirational calligraphy quotes printed out either taped to the wall or framed. A couch sat underneath the lofted dorm bed with another couch across from it. Autumn sat down on the one underneath her bed, Jami taking the one opposite.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" Jami asked.
"As your residence assistant, I need to make sure that I keep tabs on everyone here." She crossed her legs. "It's come to my attention that you haven't gone to any orientation events nor any incoming student events, and you haven't come to the meeting that was mandatory for everyone in this building."
"Oh, yeah, that. Um, I'm just really not good with people," Jami was mentally cursing the girl out, but tried to keep a relatively awkward body posture and manner of speaking. "I didn't know where a lot of stuff was and I woke up late, and I just-"
"You also came in and started yelling during quiet hours."
"Quiet hours?"
"You would know what those are if you came to the meeting."
The girl sighed after that last comment and waved her hand dismissively.
"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I'm just worried about you. I'm here to make your transition into college life as seamless as possible, and it's not very helpful to you to skip out on all these resources."
"Uh-huh."
"Do you have any intention of finishing your four years here? It seems to me that you lack motivation, which is concerning me."
"I mean, sure, I want to finish my four years here. I kind of need a degree to get any decent paying job in the future."
"Good. Just keep that in mind, okay? I know the transition can be really tough, especially if you're not around people that are in your situation, but just try to get through these first couple of weeks, alright?" Autumn gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise it'll be great, and I'm here to help you every step of the way."
"Thanks. Can I go now?"
"Yes. Just be quiet, okay? Quiet hours are from 11 PM to 6 AM."
Jami nodded and got up off the couch. For a split second she could see Autumn's eyes dart from the window back to looking at Jami to see her off.
She quietly closed her dorm door and promptly sprawled out on her bed. The incubator was on the windowsill.
"It would seem as though you got into a bit of trouble."
"I don't see it that way. Now shut up, will you? I'm going to try and get some sleep."
The incubator bowed its head in acknowledgement and jumped from the windowsill. It scampered through the parking lot and onto the main pathway leading away from the college, jumping up onto a familiar shoulder.
"Oh, hi!" Mira smiled, continuing to walk on her path. "Glad to have someone walk me home."
"Were you able to get settled like you wanted to?"
"Not exactly. Furniture's really expensive, you know. One table can cost hundreds of dollars!"
"Hmm. That does seem like an awful lot."
"Doesn't it? Oh well, I've got all that I need included in the rent anyway. Plus some things that I have."
Mira unlocked the door to an extremely small and bare apartment. It was a studio apartment with no furniture aside from the built-in kitchenware and a mattress with an accompanying blanket on the floor of the room. She closed the door and put her work uniform clothes and eyepatch into a small washing machine, immediately going into the shower. The incubator came with, jumping into the shower to relax in the steam and wash in the water that inevitably hit it from the shower head.
"Do you think Jami likes me?"
"It's hard to tell if she likes anyone. I don't even think she likes me very much."
"Really? That's kind of crazy. She had to have trusted you enough to make a contract."
There was a moment of silence where Mira was scrubbing shampoo in her hair. The shower briefly caught a light citrus aroma as small bubbles lifted into the steamy air.
"What did she wish for?"
"Do you want to know? I know that you are adamant about me protecting your motive."
"You're right, I should stay out of other girls' business." Mira sighed and rinsed her hair. "Sorry."
"You have no need to apologize."
Once she was done, she dried herself off with a towel and changed into her matching set of yellow polka-dot pajamas. The incubator jumped up onto the mattress on the floor and curled up on one side of the pillow. Mira laughed and picked up her toothbrush.
"You're really funny. You're like some kind of cat."
"We are not related in the slightest. I don't come from this planet."
"Guess not," Mira mumbled through brushing her teeth.
The incubator peered around at her apartment. Most magical girls kept their soul gems on their person at all times as rings, but Mira kept hers as an earring which she could take on and off. It supposed that she would never be outside of the distance limit from her soul, but it was cause for mild intrigue.
She sat down on the mattress and sighed as a passing train shook the apartment. Mira was unfazed, just staring at her feet as she watched the lights flicker by and heard the window rattle along with the massive train moving top speed past her residence.
"I don't like that train," she said as she pulled the blanket over herself.
"At least you can tell when it's coming."
"That's true."
Mira gave the incubator a pat on the head before turning over onto her side and closing her eye.
"Good night."
The incubator watched Mira fall asleep and headed outside through one of the ventilation vents, ending up back outside in front of the housing units. It let out a breath and started to walk in the same direction it had come. It walked past the university and through the streets of the city up to the video game store where the confrontation had taken place beforehand.
"Glad to see you actually came back." The girl said, looking up from reading a magazine.
"I do know where the three magical girls live, but one lives further from the rest. It took me quite some time on foot to get back to you."
"Interesting. Does one live on the edge of town or something?"
"Yes, by the transit station."
"Interesting."
"The other two live within the perimeter of the university."
The girl put the magazine on the ground face-down in order to save her page. The incubator walked closer but did not sit down with her.
"That's weird that there are two older magical girls in this town. I sort of thought magical girls can just stay young and cute."
"Every human ages."
"I guess so. That kinda sucks, though, I don't want to grow up."
"You can certainly use your magic to keep yourself from aging. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened."
"Maybe I will." She picked up the magazine again and dusted it off. "So, about that kid."
"Mira Estel."
"Yeah, whatever, the blonde one. How'd she notice me so fast?"
"She has a talent for sensing danger or possible harm. It is quite useful when fighting witches."
"Oh, so I was a real threat to them?" She snorted slightly in an attempt to contain laughter. "I guess I was, but that's good to know."
"Is that affirming?"
"Totally. I'm only on day one and I'm giving them a scare!"
The sound of footsteps caused the girl to jump to her feet and summon her pistol. The incubator didn't seem worried in the slightest, but the girl knew that the incubator was never a good indicator of emotion.
"Who's there?"
Mira stepped out from the other side of the building. Her hair covered the eye originally covered by the eyepatch, and she was still wearing her pajamas only with the addition of slippers for walking comfort. The girl aimed the pistol at her and laughed.
"You've come back for more, huh?"
"Put the gun down. You know that this won't benefit you in any way," Mira said, standing her ground.
"Well what do you want with me, then?"
"I want to talk. That's all I want. And there's information that will benefit you."
The girl shrugged and tossed the pistol aside. Mira's shoulders did not free up any tension. She still knew that the person she was dealing with was unpredictable. The girl, on the other hand, sat down with her magazine and gestured for Mira to join her on the sidewalk. Mira sat down a safe distance away.
"So, what's this beneficial information you want to tell me?" The girl asked.
"It would be wise not to create inner conflict on your first day, or at all for that matter."
The girl just laughed. "Not that you can tell me what to do!"
Mira just stared at her and continued to speak as if she had not been interrupted.
"There are two magical girls in this city who have been active way longer than you. You're clumsy, you're trigger-happy, and you're too quick to violence. Don't get me wrong, I do believe that your quick reaction time is essential to fighting witches quickly, but they will not serve you well in diplomatic relationships. You can't operate on your own."
"Sure as hell I can-"
"No magical girl can operate alone," Mira continued, again as if she had not been interrupted in the first place. "What happens if you get sick and can't fight witches for two weeks? What happens if you break your leg? Or both? What happens if you get lost in a labyrinth and spend weeks or months without food or water in the witch's domain? What happens if the police take your violence as gang membership? What happens if you get hurt wandering the streets at night? What happens? You submit. You die. Your magic is all gone and you can no longer call yourself a magical girl."
"I would never-"
"With a group, all that changes. Yes, you get less of the reward for yourself but you are able to have backup in case of grave injury or illness. You are able to stay off of legal radar. You are able to protect yourself better, and help to protect others. Magical girls cannot be units by themselves, they have to form one. And if you don't get that,"
Mira lifted the hair from covering her left eye and stared directly at the girl. The girl took a deep breath and shifted slightly away from her.
"...And if you don't get that, then you have no use being a magical girl."
The girl was silent for quite some time, her mouth open with the threat that Mira had just made to her. She didn't want to leave the life of a magical girl- she had only had it for a day! Did being a magical girl really mean that you had to be a part of a cohesive unit? She certainly did not want to suffer by herself with any injury or illness, and certainly wanted backup in times of crisis. Was fighting witches that difficult? Would she have to give into the demands of a girl who was most certainly younger than her? She was younger, but she seemed to have more experience. There was so much to think about that she hadn't considered.
Mira was silent while the girl contemplated what she had said, moving her hair back to cover her left eye. The incubator looked into her eyes with its usual face.
"It was a wise decision to convert her to your side."
Mira just ignored them for the moment and continued to wait for a response from the girl. Eventually, there was a sigh.
"Ugh, fine. Fine. You got me, little b." She held out her hand. "Count me in."
"I'm glad! I'm Mira. It's nice to meet you," Mira said with a smile as she shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mira. The name's Ray."