March 22, 8:00 AM. The ceiling fan spun slowly above the heads of the four students that gathered in the student-council meeting room as the curtains behind the chair Minami sat on were shut closed, preventing any sunlight from getting in. Yuri was on a small seat not too far away from her as the two sisters were quietly listening to the long, detailed report given out by Hideki and Mamoru. The two stood in front of the room's long table, completely still as they spoke, while Minami had her elbows on the table and her hands coiled together in front of her face.
At the start of their report, Mamoru had talked of the first day with Homura and their first impressions of her in an orderly fashion, along with their reasons for taking her in and such. As they continued, Hideki eventually took over on detailing the next few days; he fought the urge to even shed a single tear during this, as Mamoru could see. Stepping forward, he spoke about how she began to affect the group, how she had become close to them, and how Homura lost the shyness that she had after the incident of losing her memories. All in all, he had said everything he and Mamoru knew, up to Homura's final moments.
They obviously excluded the Warlocks, Sanbey and magic out of their equation, pointing the cause of Homura's death to a sickness Homura had been plagued with the day before yesterday. A simple lie, that Mamoru managed to pull off with a straight face. Yuri had been asked by Minami to leave as to spare her the details of Homura's death, but the junior did not budge a centimeter from her seat upon request.
Mamoru couldn't help but praise her slightly in his mind, seeing as how she and Homura had been close a few days ago. Especially when Homura had first arrived in the school. At least, Mamoru thought, in this timeline. At the end of the report, Hideki gave a slight bow and stepped back to Mamoru's side. They both looked back at Minami, who covered her face with a hand and let out a small, depressing sigh. She was silent for minutes before she continued speaking.
"Yuri. Hakamichi. Leave us, please," she requested, not even looking at any of the three in the dark room.
Silently, Yuri got off her seat and left the room at a pace too quick for Mamoru to spot her would-be obvious expression. Hideki nodded in affirmation to Minami's order and clapped Mamoru on the shoulder before leaving with a nod. Once Mamoru heard the door closing behind him for the second time, silence continued between the two last people in the room, as the fan above their heads continued to spin with audible creaking.
"... Tezuka," Minami sat up straight, asking quietly as her finger traced a circle on the table, "She... She couldn't be saved, could she?"
Mamoru shook his head slowly, the edges of his mouth curving downwards. Minami gestured him to sit and the boy took the seat nearest to him, saying, "No. By the time she showed symptoms, Homura was already incurable. Nothing could have helped her, even if we tried," he bit his lip lightly upon stating that harsh fact, a dim hint of Recicio energy glimmering at his fingertips.
"I see... I wish I could have been there, or at least, in school, to spend some time with her before she died," Minami chuckled lifelessly to herself, a hand reaching for her skirt's back-pocket, "We never really got to know each other ever since her accident. I guess I got too caught up in my own problems that I forgot to keep an eye on her," she took out a small metallic canteen and opened its metal cap. From what Mamoru could smell, it was alcohol, as he could tell from its strong, bitter smell.
Looking uncomfortably at Minami as she drank, Mamoru thought of comforting the girl. He didn't know why. He just felt different after Homura's passing. With modesty he didn't know he had, Mamoru stood up from his chair and walked over to Minami, resting a hand on her shoulder, "It's understandable. You're the student council president, Morikawa, I'm sure Homura understood that," he opened the curtains behind Minami and sunlight poured into the room, stinging their eyes momentarily, "Even if you weren't there when she died... I'm sure she was still grateful for your help. You did help her, after all."
Minami wiped her mouth with her uniform's sleeve and placed the metal canteen on the table, a drop of alcohol spilling out from the mouthpiece as her hand held onto her cheek, "I guess so," a small smile appeared on her face, "I guess it wasn't such a bad idea to put her in your care; from what Hakamichi said, I could tell she had a great time before she..."
"She did," Mamoru nodded, leaning on the windowsill, "We made sure of it, I assure you that."
A confident smile spread on Minami's face as she placed the cap of her canteen back on and shoved the metal can back into her pocket. She stood up and pressed a hand on the window, opening it up to let some fresh air into the gloomy room, "You may leave," Minami said, looking out of the window to see the students on the track-field outside, "I'm sure you have better things to do than stay here, seeing me like this."
"Of course," Mamoru excused himself with a bow and made his way to the door. He gripped the doorknob and Minami called to him again.
"One last thing, Tezuka," she looked at him over her shoulder, some wind picking up her short, purple hair, "Maybe we could hang out at the Hermit Purple bar some time? I got a part-time job there, since the pay and drinks are good. But, I guess it just doesn't feel right to drink without someone beside you. I'm not forcing you to do it, it's just... maybe we could get on better terms from now on?"
Mamoru raised a brow at this and smiled without his usual smugness, "Of course. I'll call you when I'm free, Morikawa," he said and exited the room, thinking, "So, she was the part-timer that Joseph was talking about last night...? What had happened to her that made her take up alcohol?" as he left, he could smell the stench of booze stuck onto his clothing. He wondered if Minami's sister knew any reasons for her change.
Hideki stood outside the student council room as he waited for Mamoru, leaning on the wall as an empty bench was right next to him. Some students from other classes walked by, either gossiping about today's rumors, or just bantering with each other on the way to class. It felt like nothing had changed here ever since Homura had left. The students were still going by their daily lives and teachers were still doing their jobs. Hideki had forgotten how a single death could mean so little to the entire world. It was just like his mother's death, as no one but a few will mourn for it.
Wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye once the hallways were empty again, Hideki slumped down on the bench beside him and rested his head on the wall. Tateyama and Sanbey were back in class, since Mamoru and himself were called to the office alone. Meanwhile, Takuya was called to the Nurse's office to receive a check-up from Mirai. The brunette had told them about Tomura's secret, the little brother having kept the fact that he was being bullied between Mirai and himself. She was probably apologizing to Takuya for not letting him know sooner.
Hideki didn't tell the others about his father, though, only Tateyama. It was irrelevant now, anyway, as they had already made up. Staring at the tournament enlistment poster stapled next to the student council door, Hideki had a gut-feeling that they still had room for Tateyama and himself. He was going to make sure they joined in this time. But, would he be able to hold back his anger if his opponent was Takehito?
Mamoru came out of the room and interrupted his train of thought, "How's Morikawa?" Hideki asked, noticing a strange, bitter odor from Mamoru's clothes.
"She needs some time to herself. Homura's death wasn't going to be easy for her to take in, of course," Mamoru answered, looking down both hallways with his hands behind his back, "Where did her sister go?"
Hideki shrugged, getting up and pocketing his hands, "She left the moment Morikawa told us to. Probably took it harder than her older sister."
Nodding in agreement, Mamoru gestured that they head back to class the moment he noticed they had spent too much time talking here. On the way back, they passed by various hall-monitors and student councilors that were doing their usual school business. Mamoru, too, felt the same as Hideki, feeling as if nothing had changed. But, he expected something like this, as this was how it always worked in the world.
From here, they could see town and suburbs through the glass panes beside them, the cars and trucks driving on the road outside the school, and the sky that had not a single cloud present today. It a completely bright day that contrasted with the mood of the two Puerum Magi as they only resumed talking once there were nobody but them in the corridors.
"So, will you be heading to the gymnasium during break?" asked Mamoru, having gotten sick of the silence.
"Yeah, I will," Hideki nonchalantly answered, "I finally got what I've been trying to get for years. If it wasn't for Homura... I don't know what could've happened to us. I'd probably stayed the same..."
"We would have died," Mamoru thought at the back of his mind, an image of Homura's files flashing in his vision. He cleared his throat, saying, "Back at the hospital, if Homura didn't save us from that Witch Barrier, we... we wouldn't be here talking right now, would we?"
Hideki thought of that harsh truth for a second, and then nodded in agreement, "Yeah... makes me wonder what would've happened if we didn't meet Homura," he didn't notice Mamoru grimacing at that theory as he looked at the sun through the windows beside him, asking with a hint of doubt, "Mamoru, you think we can actually take on the Warlocks? You think we can actually fulfill our promise with Homura?"
"Of course - If not, then who else?"
No one, Hideki said in his head, as he didn't feel like answering that question. They continued walking back with small chat shared between them, and once they reached class, they noticed Sanbey sitting at Hideki's table, body curled up as he slept peacefully. The others students and Teacher Sei didn't have the ability to see him, unlike the Puerum Magi, so they were going about their daily work. Mamoru remembered that at the start of the class, Teacher Sei had shown some grief for Homura's passing.
But as they entered the room, they noticed that Tateyama's seat was completely empty.
Knocking on the door to the Nurse's office four times, Tateyama had been asked by the teacher to fetch Takuya from the infirmary. Since the other two haven't returned to class yet, he accepted it without complaint. When he heard some loud noises from inside, he slid the door open and stepped inside to check out what was happening. There, Takuya was sitting on one of the beds, patting Mirai on the back as she had his arms wrapped around him and her face buried in his chest while she was on a stool at the bed's side.
Tateyama could hear some faint crying as he felt like he was interrupting something. But, he still knocked on the nearest surface to get the two's attention.
Mirai suddenly jumped from her seat, bringing her arms back to her sides and looking back at Tateyama like a startled deer. His dull eye meeting her's, Mirai wiped the visible tear tracks from her face and coughed, "T-Tateyama, I didn't see you there. Sorry, I was just-"
"It's fine, Mirai," Takuya scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as both of him and Mirai had flustered faces, "Like I said, I'm completely fine after last night. You don't have to worry about me."
Mirai nodded, face still red as Tateyama made a simple hand-motion to the door, "Takuya, Teacher Sei is calling you back."
"Alright. Mirai, I'll see you later at lunch, okay?" Takuya got up from the bed and shot a reassuring smile at the Nurse's assistant as he left the room. Leaving a frowning girl back in the Nurse's office, he closed the door behind him. Tateyama watched on as the brunette ran a hand through his hair and took in a deep breath before putting on that smile of his back on. It was like he didn't experience the death of Homura last night, and it reminded him too much of Tsukuyo. It also distracted him for a bit as he didn't notice Takuya waving a hand in front of his face while calling out to him.
"Earth to 'Teyama, are you there?" he stopped waving when Tateyama averted his gaze and turned to the empty corridor behind him.
"My bad. I was just thinking for a moment," Tateyama said and began walking back to class with his arms at his sides as Takuya happily followed from behind. The next classes were already going to start, so the hallways were completely empty, giving the two a moment to talk about some private matters. Although a quiet one, Tateyama didn't have any problems talking when they were alone.
"Hey, 'Teyama, your heart is back to normal, right?"
Tateyama nodded, not knowing if his friend had caught that, "I checked this morning already. Everything is perfect," he looked at his side and saw Takuya staring at him while walking in a backwards motion. Tateyama was more puzzled by his stare than his strange walking, "What?"
Smiling like a child, Takuya raised a finger, "Doesn't that mean you get to join P.E and other stuff like that now?"
He was correct, as Tateyama thought of that with some interest. He never did get to do stuff like running, racing or any other sport for 4 years now, so the thought of joining his friends in some physical activities did pique his curiosity, "I guess," Tateyama shrugged lightly as he looked away to hide his interested expression. But, Takuya noticed it all too well as he giggled at his white-haired friend.
But as the attention of both boys were directed at each other, neither one of them noticed the the two girls coming around from a corner, carrying a bunch of heavy cardboard boxes in their arms. Takuya bumped into the girl in front and a loud crash then echoed through the corridor, along with some exclamations and apologies that momentarily caught the attention of some students that walked by without any care.
"Goddamit!" one of the girls cursed as the corridor was filled with the spilled contents of medicine and bandages her friend was carrying, "Teacher Kuragawa is gonna kill us!"
"Ah, I'm really sorry about this!" Takuya repeatedly apologized while he tried picking them up from the floor and placed them back inside the box as quick as he could while the second girl helped after placing down her own stuff that. On the other hand, Tateyama stifled a chuckle that he hoped no one had noticed. Despite what happened last night, he guessed Takuya always did know how to lighten up people and himself after a while. He was too good at that.
Tateyama then directed his attention to the girl Takuya had bumped into: she was a petite girl around his age, with pink hair that were tied up into twin pigtails by ribbons, and a high-pitched voice that moaned as the girl rubbed the part of her body that landed roughly on the floor. He extended a hand and the girl reluctantly grabbed it to pull herself back up on her feet. Her face was a bit reddish when she examined Tateyama's somewhat disheveled figure and his shrouded face that was mostly hidden beneath his hair.
It then struck him, as Tateyama raised an brow upon closer inspection of the girl. This was the very student Homura had showed them on that picture. 'Kaname Madoka' was her name. The girl casually dusted herself off while Tateyama froze in place at this. She didn't seem to be a Puella Magi at the moment, judging from how she lacked the ring that all Puella Magi wore.
"H-Here," Takuya picked up Madoka's cardboard box and handed it to her with a sheepish smile, "Sorry about that. I didn't really see where I was looking."
Madoka chuckled while her blue-haired friend stared at Takuya with obvious disapproval. She took the box into her hands and gave a slight bow to the two, "It's alright, accidents happen. Come on, Sayaka, Teacher Kuragawa's waiting for us."
Walking pass a silent Tateyama and Takuya, who gave them a friendly wave of goodbye, Sayaka continued to groan about Teacher Kuragawa as they left for the opposite direction the two boys were heading. 'Kaname Madoka', her name repeated in Tateyama's mind. He looked back at his friend and nudged him on the arm, "Takuya, you do know who that was, right?"
Takuya stroke his chin, as if he was thinking. After 5 seconds, his eyes widened, "W-Wait... Yeah, that was-"
Tateyama nodded, his eye still glued on the girls' back while they left for their class. 'Keep her safe', Tateyama remembered Homura's orders, and from what he could see, nothing seemed to be happening to Madoka at the moment. His Puerum Magi senses saw no energy from neither of them, so he turned his attention away, saying, "Let's go. Hideki and Mamoru should be back at class right now."
"Should we tell them about Kaname?"
Tateyama nodded again before heading back to where they were going. In any case, they should try to keep an eye on her for the meantime.
In class, the boys sat their tables as Teacher Sei walked around to room to monitor them while they did their test paper. The class was in a uncomfortable silence, with Mamoru and Tateyama writing away their answers, Takuya chewing on the back of his pen, and Hideki lying down on his desk, deep in was sitting on Tateyama's table, to no disturbance given to the boy.
Although it looked like nothing was said between them, the small Familiar was actually transmitting their thoughts between to them. They were discussing about Tateyama's encounter with Madoka and any other relevant topic.
"Did she have the ring of a Puella Magi?"asked Mamoru, who had his eyes directed to his table.
"No," Tateyama answered, "She looks normal, from what I saw."
"If that's the case, then we need to keep an eye on her for now."
"But how do we stop her from making a contract?"Takuya interjected, "If we can't see the Puella Magi's contractor, how do we even help her?"
"I can help with that," Sanbey chimed, scratching the back his ears with a backleg. He hoped down from Tateyama's table and headed to Mamoru's, "Although for a short while, I can allow you to perceive Kyubey just long enough to stop him."
"Is Kyubey like you, Sanbey?"
"No. Unlike myself, Kyubey does not have the trait of emotions. He lacks morals, and will take advantage of any girl's misfortune."
"I can already tell why Homura hates him," Hideki commented dryly, fiddling with a pen to give off the impression that he was doing his work. His entire paper was blank, since his mind was too busy thinking about the tournament and Homura. Tateyama saw this and nudged him on the arm when the Teacher wasn't looking.
"Cheer up, Hideki, Homura wouldn't you want us to stay like this."
The other two Puerum Magi in front of the class audibly agreed with him, and Hideki sighed. He leaned forward on his table, replying, "I guess you're right..."
Homura's death still weighed heavily on them. But, they already had cried enough tears last night, and no it wasn't the time for that anymore. The ringing of the bell then caught the group's attention and the class was ordered to pass up their papers in an orderly fashion. During this, Tateyama gave Hideki a small pat on the back.
Classes passed like the morning breeze as the boys faced hour after hour of lessons from their respective teachers. Some like Kuragawa showed some emotions for Homura's passing, which surprised the entire class. Despite being known for his punishing lessons in school, he really did have a soft spot for Homura and others that actually manage to impress him.
As time went on, break time came to be with the ringing of the bell announcing it, making some of the students in class sigh out of exhaustion and relief. A few fell asleep on their tables, some went out to the cafeteria to eat, and the rest just chatted with each other in the classrooms.
Mamoru had offered to fetch Tomura from his school in Takuya and Narita's stead, saying that the former shouldn't push himself too much and the latter should focus on her work while dealing with Homura's passing. With him doing this, Takuya had gone off to the cafeteria to get lunch with Mirai, who had been relatively clingy ever since this morning. Tateyama had gone over to the club-room with Sanbey to monitor Madoka through the school's hacked security cameras on orders from Mamoru. As for Hideki, he had headed off early, and was now standing in front of the gymnasium double-doors as he could hear people training on the inside.
Drawing in a heavy breath, he opened one of the doors and entered the gymnasium. From what he could see, some students from other classes had decided to take their lunch here, a few were practicing for the upcoming tournament on training mats, and in the middle of the room, Makoto was talking to a few of the Gym members that were present here. He seemed to be doing some business related to the tournament, too.
Hideki walked to the middle of the room, the light from windows placed above the bleachers shining some light on his path as some students took notice of his unwanted presence. The 4 teenagers Makoto were talking to glared at Hideki, and Makoto turned around to see the blue-nette standing behind him, ignoring all the glares shot at him from all directions. Makoto frowned, knowing just why he was here.
"You're here to enlist again, aren't you?"
The junior nodded, rolling a sore shoulder, "I thought I'd wanna try again."
"I heard about yesterday," Makoto folded his arms, "You accepted a challenge from Takehito, without any approval, and you got yourself hurt, along with your friend. You both could have been in deep trou-" his eyes scanned Hideki from bottom to top, and he was surprised to see that he had no injuries of yesterday's challenge present on his body, "You've already recovered? And Ikezawa?"
"We both got better after yesterday," Hideki answered, folding his sleeves up to revealed his arms that bore no scars from yesterday, only tense muscle, "It's a long story, Takatmatsu, so I'll cut the chit-chat and say this," his back straightened and Hideki's eyes narrowed, his voice bearing a tone that had confidence and strength to it, "Let me take that test again, with Takehito as my opponent and no punches held back. If I knock him out, both Tateyama and I get on the team."
Some of the members took attention to this, along with Takehito, who came out of the locker rooms in his school uniform and a towel hung around his neck. Most of those in the room basically listened in the moment Hideki asked for that wager. Makoto, though, wasn't convinced. Not just out of doubt, but it was also that he didn't want a junior student to be harmed again just for a tournament entry, "And what makes you feel confident about passing?"
Hideki scowled, as he felt the eyes of everyone in the gymnasium directed at him, "Because I'm not who I used to be. I've changed. Ever since last night, I realized how much of an idiot I can be-" he glared at Makoto with a hard stare that had some sort of sadness behind it, making the senior tense up a bit, "And also... Homura's gone..."
Taking a few minutes to register what he had just said, Makoto looked down on the floor and brushed his orange hair with a hand. Some of his club members could see the momentary look of grief on his and Hideki's faces, "Akemi... gone? What happened-? No... I will ask Yuri about this," Makoto shook his head, and then looked back at Hideki, seemingly convinced, "Fine. But this is your last chance at enlisting. If you fail, then I cannot do anything else for both you and Ikezawa, understood?"
Hideki nodded, his hands tightening into fists as he answered with a hint of dry sarcasm, "Yeah, I'm fine with that," he took a look at Takehito, who stood on the sidelines with a surprised look. Makoto saw the intense glare they then shot at each other, and stepped back to call over his vice-president.
A member came over with a clipboard and pen, listing down Hideki's name as Makoto shouted over to his gym members near the store room to get another training mat for Hideki and Takehito. After gaining the attention of those in the area, Makoto ordered all those currently training to stop and spectate the test that will start in less then 10 minutes. From this, Hideki could feel adrenaline running through his veins.
A/N: I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, since the training chapters are right around the corner and it feels a bit imbalanced. I honestly wonder how some people on this site can update so fast with such huge word-counts for each chapter. Makes me feel like a slow-poke. Even more since I got more exams in less then a month. God help me.