"So I was thinking," Emma began as she and Ayane made their way, hand-in-hand, towards the public transit terminal.

"Oh Goddess, everyone take cover," said Ayane, grinning at Emma jokingly. "Emma has ideas!"

"They're not that bad!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm just joking. What were you thinking about?"

"Well I was thinking, it's not super fair for you to come all the way out to Mitakihara," said Emma, "especially since Tokyo is a nice place to visit too."

"It's no trouble for me," said Ayane with a shrug. "Tokyo is a shorter commute, sure, but we have enough free time where it doesn't matter that much."

"I know, but for the sake of meeting regularly, it's still easier."

"Mm, that's a good point," said Ayane. She nodded thoughtfully. "Tokyo's nightlife is supposed to be better than Mitakihara's too. At least, so they say."

Emma shrugged. "I have no idea about those things."

"Honestly, I don't either," Ayane admitted. "But, well, we should check it out while we have the time. And it'll get me away from my parents, which is always nice."

"Are they really that annoying?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Ayane sighed. "It wasn't so bad on the first day, but I need space that they don't want to give me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's fine," said Ayane, sighing deeply. "I wish I could get my own apartment, but..."

"You don't want to move to Mitakihara?"

"My parents would get all upset and I'd have to do some kind of huge speech to justify it," Ayane said bitterly. "It's not worth the trouble yet, not when I can just up and leave whenever I want to do whatever."

"Is there a lot to do in Osaka?"

"Not really, to be honest," said Ayane. "Well. There is, but not stuff that I'm into. I was always the weird bird girl, you know? I mean I like birds, so it's fine, but I also didn't really get out much as a result. I spent a lot of time in lab and doing work there."

"And then you made your wish."

"Yep," said Ayane. She sighed again, looking a little melancholy. She perked up quickly. "Still, it wasn't all bad."

"Don't you dare," Emma immediately said, flushing. "We already had a cheesy moment back there."

"Aww, is Emma embarrassed?" Ayane teased, pecking Emma on the check before subsiding. "Fair enough."

They walked along in companionable silence for another moment.

"There's one other thing I wanted to mention," said Emma. "About um, Ryouta."

"Oh, right, yes," said Ayane. She looked bothered for a moment before her expression cleared. "Do you want to bring him to Tokyo too?"

"Well, I think he lives there now," said Emma. "But uh, in terms of crazy ideas, do you think it would be reasonable to live with him when we're visiting?"

Ayane made a face.

"Maybe if you want to, but I'd prefer not."

"Okay, fair enough."

"Honestly, I'm not sure why you're doing… this," said Ayane, waving her free arm vaguely. "Why didn't you just pick one of us to date?"

"I'm… not actually sure," said Emma. She sighed and rubbed her neck awkwardly. "I uh, should probably talk to someone about it."

Ayane squeezed Emma's hand comfortingly.

"You should," said Ayane. "Obviously it doesn't bother me too much, since I'm still here, but it's probably for the best."

"Okay," said Emma, squeezing back. "Some other time though. Not now."

"Yeah."

"Thanks, by the way."

"What for?"

"For putting up with me."

Ayane smiled at Emma and, very quickly, stood on tiptoe to give her a kiss.

"Of course."

Emma and Ayane arrived at the Church of Hope at the same time as Kyouko. The ancient was dressed in her ubiquitous casual outfit, conversing with another girl that Emma didn't recognize.

"Well well, I see we're both keeping busy," said Kyouko as she glanced over Emma and Ayane. "Who's this?"

"Ah, this is Nakamura Ayane," said Emma, gesturing with her free hand while Ayane bowed nervously. "We're, uh, sorting out our relationship at the moment actually. She was in my training cohort."

"Pleasure to meet you," said Kyouko, raising an eyebrow but keeping her peace for the time being. "Well, this is Ivanka Petrov. Ivanka and I have just come back from a wedding. Ivanka, this is Emma Sinclair."

"Ah, you're Kyouko's latest student?" said Ivanka, reaching out and shaking Emma's hand. "Kyouko was just telling me about it."

"Er, sort of I guess," said Emma, a little embarrassed. "It's just some polearm lessons."

"Still, Kyouko doesn't teach everyone her tricks."

"Nonsense, everybody can learn my tricks," said Kyouko with a roll of her eyes. "I've got it all written down, you can download it."

"Sure, sure, but it's not the same," said Ivanka. She batted her eyelashes at Kyouko. "You know what I mean."

"Not today I don't," said Kyouko wryly. "Despite the rumors."

"Ah well," said Ivanka with a dramatic sigh. "Can't win all of them."

"Uh huh."

"In any case," said Ivanka. "What about you two then, Emma, Ayane? Are you turning in for the night?"

"Ah, not quite," said Emma. "I promised Ayane a tour of the church."

"Are you thinking about joining?" Kyouko asked.

"Maybe," said Ayane, shifting nervously. "Emma told me about her vision, which was, um, convincing."

"Ah yes, it often is," said Kyouko. She paused thoughtfully. "How do you feel about a guided tour of the place? By me."

"Oh jeez, this again," said Ivanka, rolling her eyes with a sigh. She began climbing the steps of the church. "I'll see you later, Kyouko."

"They haven't even accepted the offer yet," Kyouko called out.

"They'd be fools to turn you down," said Ivanka over her shoulder. "You're Sakura Kyouko, one of the Mitakihara Four."

"So?"

"So I figured this would happen when I decided to be a celebrity's go-to plus-one," said Ivanka, pausing at the top of the steps to give Kyouko a wry smile. She turned her gaze to Emma and Ayane. "You girls have fun with Kyouko okay? Not too much though." Ivanka paused, just long enough to give Kyouko a look. "That's my job."

Kyouko, Emma, and Ayane were left speechless as Ivanka flounced into the church. After a moment, Kyouko clapped her hands and turned to the other two.

"Well, how about it?"

They accepted Kyouko's offer, of course. If nothing else, Kyouko knew more about the church and the Cult than Emma did. Kyouko did her best to be a good host, turning on centuries of practiced charm. It was something of a whirlwind experience, ending, as was only proper, at the Hall of the Ribbon.

"It's funny, actually, I've never had a proper vision here," said Kyouko as they left the Hall after visiting the Ribbon. "You'd think I'd get more than the occasional snippet of conversation, but nope."

"I guess I shouldn't feel disappointed," said Ayane with a small smile. "If even the great Kyouko-sama can't wrangle some time with the Goddess."

"Oh jeez, don't call me that," said Kyouko with a laugh. "You'll make me feel old."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kyouko-sama," said Ayane, laughing as well. "But speaking seriously, what should I call you instead?"

"Kyouko is fine," said Kyouko, waving an arm idly as she led them towards the church gardens. "It's been ages since I was a proper Japanese girl, and the Cult's never been big on formality anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"About the Cult?"

"No, about you not being a proper Japanese girl."

"Oh, it's just part of being an 'Ancient'," Kyouko said, shrugging as they entered the gardens. The lights from Zeus and Prometheus, gleaming from the windows of the still-awake and working late, cast the leaves and flowers in glittering shadows. "Back when the MSY was working from the shadows, you had to reinvent yourself every few decades. At some point I had to stop being Japanese, you know?"

"That's kind of scary to think about," said Ayane, wrapping her arms around herself. "It sounds like losing yourself."

"Maybe," said Kyouko. She reached out to run a finger over a rose blossom. "It does feel a little like that, the first time. It gets easier."

"Must be nice now, though, not having to do that anymore."

"It is," said Kyouko. She came to a stop as they walked into a small copse of tall, flowering trees, arranged around a fountain. "It's also been a big help to the MHD, since nonmagical family members are now no longer inevitably going to die."

"If anything that's been reversed," Emma observed.

Ayane and Kyouko paused to stare at her.

"Sorry," said Emma sheepishly. She ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, it's just that there's a lot of us who die these days, and the average non-contracted isn't in the military."

"I suppose," Kyouko said slowly. "But, in any case, I was meaning to ask, Ayane, about what you and Emma have talked about regarding her vision."

"Oh, well, just some stuff about the part at the end," said Ayane, turning to look into the fountain. Some mechanical fish wandered around the bottom, swimming to the surface to look at Ayane with bulbous eyes. "We talked about what the Goddess might have been trying to tell Emma."

"What did you conclude?"

"Well, my theory is that Emma is intended to try and balance things in her life," said Ayane. "Even though she's not a big fan of all that business stuff her family does."

"I see. Was there anything else?"

"Not particularly," said Ayane. "It's kind of vague, because of the memory thing."

"Yeah, it's a problem," agreed Kyouko. She sighed and tugged a small pebble into the air with telekinesis, floating it in front of her idly. "The Goddess seems to make a habit of things like that. Either the girl gets sworn to secrecy or she just doesn't remember."

Kyouko flicked a finger. The pebble flew through the air to land with a small plop in the water.

"This is a pretty romantic little spot, you know," said Kyouko. She looked up at the canopy, and the small hole above the fountain between the branches. "The moon's travel through the sky passes exactly over here once a year. We did the math back during construction. Of course, this means that everyone tries to get a date here on that day, making most people end up in the sim version of this place."

"I'll keep it in mind," said Emma.

"Anyway, I'll not keep you any longer," said Kyouko. She turned to go, slapping Emma on the shoulder. "Don't stay up too late and miss practice tomorrow, okay? Ten o'clock, on the roof of the Church."

"Understood," said Emma with a nod. "Thank you."

"This is a nice place," said Ayane. She tapped on the surface of Emma's desk, flicking idly through the vaguely Cult-themed default interface. "A bit small though."

"Well, it's not like I need much," said Emma, handing Ayane a glass of water.

"That's true," said Ayane. She sipped her water. "I guess you're either doing sim time or are out of the house, so there's no need for anything extravagant."

"Mmhm."

"Are you going to bring Ryouta back here?" asked Ayane.

"I'm not sure," said Emma. She sipped at her own glass of water. "He might want me to visit his apartment actually."

"Why's that?"

"It seems like the sort of thing a matriarchy would do," said Emma, shrugging. "Meet the family and whatnot, right?"

"Hm, fair enough," said Ayane. She sipped her water again, looking pensive.

"Why do you ask?"

"No real reason," said Ayane. She poked at Emma's desk again, setting her glass down while reading the summary for a text on fluid dynamics. "I guess I'm feeling a little possessive."

Emma took Ayane by the elbow and pulled her into a hug. "Sorry."

"It's no big deal," said Ayane, half turning to smile up at Emma. "I knew what I was in for when I signed up for this."

"Doesn't mean you're obligated to some sort of contract."

"No, but I want to see where this goes," said Ayane. She turned around more fully in order to loop her arms around Emma's waist and lean more fully against her. "You know what they say, right, about it being better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?"

"Yeah," said Emma, resting her chin on top of Ayane's head. Their difference in height was really quite shocking. "Isn't that a poem about someone dying though?"

Ayane hummed. "That's true. Maybe I shouldn't have quoted that."

They paused. Emma carefully moved her hand in a circle to rub Ayane's back, slowly breathing in the scent of tangerines. She was painfully aware of Ayane's skin, lying just beneath the fabric of Ayane's shirt. It suddenly occurred to Emma that if she moved her hand just a little further down, she could pull up the shirt's hem and be able to touch Ayane's skin directly.

"Does it seem hot to you?" Ayane whispered. Her voice wavered, just a little.

"A little," Emma murmured into Ayane's hair. "I think I have too many layers on."

"Ah, well, you are wearing a hoodie," said Ayane. She reached up to tug at the front of Emma's jacket. "Maybe you should take it off?"

"Maybe," said Emma. She shrugged her shoulders, letting the fabric slide off and down her arms. Ayane let go, allowing the jacket to fall to the ground.

A pause.

"…I'm going to admit, I'm not sure what to do next," Ayane said. She giggled nervously. "It was a horribly fake line, I can't believe you played along."

"Well, uh, I mean, I figured I may as well," said Emma, giggling as well. She licked her lips and pulled away, trailing her hand along Ayane's arm to grab her hand. "Do you want to sit down?"

"Sure," said Ayane, smiling. She was flushed in the cutest way.

Emma sat down on the edge of her bed, pulling Ayane towards her. Now Emma was lower down than Ayane, which made kissing much easier for the shorter girl. Slowly, Emma allowed herself to lean back onto her elbows, shifting backwards into a more comfortable position. The action pulled her away from Ayane.

"Is this okay?" Emma asked, a little breathlessly.

"Yes," said Ayane, swallowing. She followed Emma onto the bed, climbing over until they were face to face and their bodies were just touching. Ayane was braced on her elbows, hovering above Emma and straddling Emma's waist.

"This is strangely familiar," said Emma. "Though the last time you did it, you had one of your daggers pointed at me."

Ayane looked confused briefly, before rolling her eyes. "Melee practice doesn't count."

"No, I agree," said Emma. She was acutely aware that Ayane didn't wear leggings underneath her skirt. "So uh, do we have a plan here?"

"Not really," said Ayane, licking her lips. "I was thinking some more making out was in order."

"That seems reasonable."

Ayane lowered herself down, allowing them to come flush against each other. It was a heady experience, coming all in a rush as they kissed again. It was scary, and exciting, and made Emma's mind go a little fuzzy. It was like jumping off of a roof, with the same swooshing feeling in Emma's stomach, except she didn't know where the bottom was or how to land properly.

Then Ayane paused for air, which neither of them technically needed, but, in the end, probably wanted anyway.

"Well," said Emma. She blinked, breathing out shakily. "…Well."

"Yes, well," said Ayane, licking her lips as she shifted a little awkwardly. "It uh, it looks like I got some drool on you."

"Huh? Oh."

Ayane moved back to let Emma wipe her cheek.

"Kissing is messier than I thought it would be," Emma said as she wiped the drool onto the bed. "It's… very wet."

"Well it involves mouths, what did you expect?" asked Ayane, giggling. Emma let her hands fall onto Ayane's legs as the other girl sat up more fully.

"I mean, I dunno," said Emma, eyes wandering away from Ayane's face. "It doesn't look like that in vids."

"They're not exactly making out in vids, Emma," said Ayane, her own eyes wandering.

"Not those vids. The other kind of vids."

"Oh ho," said Ayane with a grin. "You're a healthy young lady then, Emma."

"Come off it," said Emma. She poked Ayane in the side teasingly, making the other girl yelp.

"Or get off, as it may be," Ayane replied, rubbing her side.

"Aaah, Goddess!" Emma laughed, covering her face with her hands. "Stop teasing me!"

"Hehehe," said Ayane. She rolled off of Emma with a flump and adjusted her skirt. "Oh Emma, you're adorable."

"I am not adorable," said Emma. She poked Ayane in the side again.

"Stop it!" Ayane yelped as she rolled away, giggling. "I'm ticklish!"

"Is that so?" asked Emma. She chased after Ayane, quickly pinning her to the bed to run her fingers over Ayane's sides and belly.

"Eek!" Ayane shrieked, curling into herself to try and hide. "Aaaaagetoffgetoff!"

Emma sat back, grinning. Ayane really was cute, especially when she was laughing.

"Ah jeez," said Ayane, sitting up again and leaning against her hands. "Oh Goddess now I'll never hear the end of it."

"Feel the end of it, really," said Emma with a grin.

"Are we going to start all this up again?" asked Ayane. She raised a suggestive eyebrow. "I mean, I'm open to the suggestion, but I was sort of getting the feeling we were winding it down?"

"Well, that depends," said Emma. "I got an offer to get a custom set of clothes made, but I have to get back to them sometime tonight, so it's either clothes shopping or, um, this."

"Who's doing the design?" asked Ayane. "Do I know them?"

"No," said Emma. "It's one of the production AIs who work in Zeus Research's machine shop. Apparently he does clothing design in his spare time."

"Really? That's cool. Have you had tailored clothes before?"

"Sort of, for football," said Emma. "They custom tailor our uniforms, especially in the big clubs."

"Huh," said Ayane. "The most I've ever got was a polo shirt."

"Yeah, it's an interesting experience."

"Well, I think you should do it!" said Ayane brightly. "It sounds cool, and you'd get something a lot better than a football uniform out of it."

"You think so?" asked Emma. "It was a pain in the arse when we did it for football."

"Yeah!" said Ayane. "It'll be cool! Can I come with?"

"Uh, sure," said Emma.

Ayane grinned. "Excellent, I get to see you in your underwear."

Emma threw a pillow at her.

"You know, despite not getting to see you in your underwear, I would say this is a pretty reasonable compromise."

Emma frowned at Ayane from her place standing on top of a dais within the sim Giovanni and Ayumi used for clothing design. The room around them was minimally decorated, with a wide bank of lights across the ceiling to allow for a variety of lighting conditions.

"You realize I don't actually dance like that," said Emma. "I'm never going to dance like that."

"Aww, but it's cute!" said Ayane. The miniaturized avatar of Emma that Ayane was playing with smiled brightly and spun about in a circle. The little dress it was wearing was one of many versions that Giovanni and Ayumi had already worked through and had decided were unsuitable. "See, the dress even works because of the dancing!"

"But I don't like that dress," Emma pouted.

"Oh fine, if you're going to be like that," said Ayane, rolling her eyes as she flicked at the behavior control of the avatar. A moment later, the miniature Emma began picking at her dress and pouting. "There, I've changed it so it acts more like you. It even makes the same faces!"

Emma squinted and then made a scandalized noise. "I don't make that face!"

"You totally make that face!"

Ayumi leaned over to look at the model, glanced up at Emma, then nodded sagely.

"You totally make that face."

"I do not!"

"You're making it now," Ayumi and Ayane said together.

"Emma, if you could lift your arm," said Giovanni blandly, "I need to adjust the embroidery."

"Have you done this a lot, Ayumi?" asked Ayane as Emma grumbled and Giovanni fussed. "You and Giovanni are very good."

"A bit," said Ayumi. She looked embarrassed. "I followed a few blogs back in school, but didn't really think it was more than an idle hobby until I met Giovanni."

"Oh? What's the story behind that?"

"Not much, really," said Ayumi. She looked over at Giovanni with a small smile. "I mean, we just work together a lot. It came up eventually as something we shared interest in."

"How much is 'a lot'?" asked Ayane. She glanced at Emma with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, not that often, but we usually work together on our projects," said Ayumi. "And we've spent some time out of lab together too. Movies and stuff."

"Uh huh…" said Ayane.

"I figure they may as well start dating," Emma said to Ayane over telepathy.

"They definitely should," Ayane replied. Out loud she said: "Are you considering trying for a relationship?"

Emma snorted but bit her tongue as Ayumi flushed and Giovanni went stock still. Ayane had probably intentionally gone for the bluntest possible way of asking the question. The ringing silence that followed was a familiar one to Emma, and had usually preceded a loud shouting match back in training.

Ayumi and Giovanni were saved from answering the question by an actual ringing noise.

"I'llgetthatsorryit'sprobablyimportant," Ayumi babbled before turning away and starting a video call with someone.

"Turn around," Giovanni ordered stiffly. Emma pivoted and held back a sigh as Giovanni adjusted a piece of fabric minutely and began to do something involving his finger prodding very hard into her side.

"For what it's worth, I think it'd work out," Ayane commented idly.

"Thanks," Giovanni said, rolling his eyes. "Alright, Emma, take a look. What do you think?"

Emma pulled up the preview pane to look at herself.

Giovanni and Ayumi had unanimously decided that she needed a dress. That Emma really preferred things with pants was roundly ignored. In the end, though, it was a sensible sort of outfit. The dress was sleeveless with a round, conservatively cut collar. The skirt ended just mid-thigh and fit loosely, leaving her plenty of space for movement despite the fact it probably would never be necessary.

The base fabric was an extremely finely woven vine-patterned silk damask cloth, all in a deep, charcoal gray. Over that, Giovanni had stitched two panels of heavier, satin-weave fabric, these in shimmering black, that wrapped across Emma's torso and hips like pieces of armor. The effect was heightened by small diamond-shaped pieces of burnished steel, riveted into the fabric in concentric rings that started at her waist and rippled outwards across her chest and hips. A wide belt, studded with smaller metal diamonds, was cinched across her waist. Fine chainmail mesh hung between the two panels and under the belt, jingling slightly as Emma shifted her weight. A pair of tall boots, reaching up past her knees and made of black leather, completed the ensemble.

"You know, I'd have said that it's too dark and needs a little color," said Ayane thoughtfully. "But it works really well as is."

"Maybe a scarf of some kind," said Giovanni. "It's a little out of fashion lately, but I think it would work."

"Red, to match Emma's costume?"

"Yes, I think so," said Giovanni. He gestured and materialized a thin silk scarf tied around Emma's neck in a knot that left two tufts of red next to her throat. "How do you feel about that?"

"I feel like a target," Emma said blandly. "Could we not, instead?"

"Er, sure," said Giovanni, dematerializing the scarf with a wave. "Otherwise it looks fine?"

"Sure, I think so," said Emma with a shrug. "I'm not that good at judging these things. Ayane?"

"You should go for it," said Ayane, nodding. "There's a lot of similar stuff, to be honest, but I think it suits you. Er, no offense, Giovanni."

"Oh none taken," said Giovanni with an easy grin. "Trust me, I know better than some just how difficult it is to make something truly unique. Is there anything else you guys want me to do?"

"No, this is good enough," said Emma.

"Great!" said Giovanni. He waved his hand again so that Emma returned to her street clothes. "I'll get started on this right away. There should be a few open machines available."

Emma stepped off of the podium with a sigh, rubbing her neck. "Well that's done, I guess. I need a nap."

"You and your naps," said Ayane. She patted the space next to her, a chair manifesting in the simulation. "Though a nap sounds nice, now that you mention it."

"Naps are always nice," said Emma. She sat down and sighed again. "Do you think we can leave?"

"Probably? I mean, I think we're done."

"Hey Ayumi, can we head out?" Emma asked.

"Sure, go ahead," said Ayumi. She hung up from her call with a sigh. "Sorry for logging out, that was Dr. Hang. She's been waiting for a part from me and Giovanni for the last week and was getting antsy."

"What's Dr. Hang work on?" asked Ayane curiously.

"Well, Dr. Hang's part of the Verner Lab, which does fundamental research on how magical girls interact with their environment," said Ayumi. "Dr. Hang's focus is on magical girl training and power development, and is based on a bunch of funding from MSY Careers and Education."

"Really?" asked Ayane. "I guess that makes sense, since her research would help develop new ways to teach new girls how to use their magic."

"Yes, exactly," said Ayumi. She sighed and made an annoyed expression. "The problem is, you have to take really precise measurements to capture very small differences between a newly contracted girl's magic usage and, say, a more experienced girl's magic, which means she's always complaining about our tolerances being too wide."

"Ah, that sounds like a pain."

"It's what it is," said Ayumi with a shrug and a deep, put-upon sigh. "Her mood's been worse than usual, since she's been trying to get funding to run experiments with girls coming back from Samsara."

Emma and Ayane both raised an eyebrow.

"Did she get past ethics committee already?" asked Ayane.

"I'm not sure of the details. From what I've seen, there's nothing that's particularly notable ethically," said Ayumi, shrugging again. She made another put-upon expression. "The only real problem she seems to be having is she keeps coming up with ideas faster than she can get funding for it all, so we're forced to try and do something with whatever funds she can cobble together overnight. Half the stuff she gives us needs a wish and a contract to fulfill with the budget he's giving!"

"That sounds rough," said Ayane sympathetically. "I hope it gets better for you."

"Yeah, same here," said Emma. She looped an arm around Ayane's. "We're headed out though, unless there's something else you need from us."

"No, we're good. Come back tomorrow evening to try on the dress, okay?"

"Okay, see you later."