Sorry this took so long, but at least it's really long, haha.

~Dahlia~

Dahlias are spicy flowers, and their meanings range from a sign of warning, to change, to travel, to even a portent of betrayal.

ooOOoo

"Tomoe, I'd like you to meet Mint."

We're in the Mitakihara City Park now, at the fountain that's placed in the very middle of it. A girl who doesn't look a day older than thirteen is sitting before us on the side of the fountain. She's got wavy, messy green hair that frames her baby-like face and barely reaches her back, around which the strap of a worn, forest green corduroy messenger bag loosely rests. She has brown shorts and straps on, with a T-shirt the color of grass under them. On her feet are brown At the moment, she's absorbed by a handheld video game, her fingers sliding along the buttons furiously, yet in a controlled manner, as if she's a master at it.

"So this is the girl, Kyuubey? Tomoe?" she asks without looking up from her game. "That's your name? Just Tomoe?"

"Um, no," I mumble, somewhat intimidated by this girl's uncaring attitude.

"QB, why are you calling the poor girl the wrong name? Now here you've got me doing it too."

Apparently she's referring to Kyuubey, because he takes her tone as his cue to jump from her shoulder onto the fountain' ridge. "I was under the impression that strangers addressed each other by the names of their families. Isn't that how this sector of humans works?"

With a click of her tongue, she responds, "But you're still supposed to ask their whole name, QB, and use honorifics, unless you hate her or something. Don't half-do stuff just because you look cute."

Kyuubey looks to me. "My apologies, Reiko. It seems that I didn't research your culture thoroughly enough. I'm new here, so excuse anything I do that may seem strange to you." I wonder what he means by that…

"Um," I speak up, "About my name, Kyuubey is partially right. My family name is Tomoe, but my whole name is Reiko Tomoe." I bow to her. "Pleased to meet you, um, Mint-san."

When I return to full stance, I see her emerald eyes peering at me through her mussy, grassy bangs. I shrink under her sharp gaze, and force myself to break my eyes away from her stare. After what seems like forever, she finally speaks up.

"What's with the hair?" She points to my twintails. "Wires?"

I hold my hair in defense. "N-no, it's naturally like this!"

She continues to stare, then closes her eyes and chuckles to herself. "That's cute. Must be a family thing, huh?" Putting her game in her bag, she takes her right hand, dips her finger in the fountain's pool of water, and uses it to trace something on the fountain's cement side next to where she's sitting. I walk closer to see what she's written.

巴

Tomoe, my family name.

"The tomoe, a Japanese shape that consists of a beautiful swirl. That's the kanji you write your name with, right?" I nod in response. "Guessed so. Your hair fits you, Reiko."

Mint dips her finger in the water again. "Wanna know my name?" Unable to decide whether or not I should comply, I just stick to the safe side and nod again. She twists in the other direction, to write on the cement on the other side of her. I look on as her finger traces out three letters in water.

… ミント

Mint. So that's actually her name? No, she's probably just refusing to tell me what her real name is…

She suddenly jumps up and holds out a hand to me, a toothy grin now stretching across her face. "My name's Mint. Nice to meet you, Reiko."

"…Um, I'm sorry!" I bow to her again.

She stares at me, then recoils her hand and laughs heartily. "Ahaha, how can I forget that? Sorry, it's been so long since I've been in Japan." She puts her hands behind her head and smiles. That name and her customs make her seem like a foreigner.

"Mint," Kyuubey speaks up after being silent all the while, "we should get started soon."

"Hm? Oh yeah!" Mint points to the Mitakihara City Mall. "We're going up there. All the way to the top!" She starts walking briskly towards it. "Come on, Reiko, we've got no time to lose!"

But what about the will? "Mint-san, um, I've got a family situation, so—"

"Then let's talk. Come on, you can walk and talk, right?"

That's not what I meant, but… "…okay."

ooOOoo

We're riding the elevator up to the top floor of the mall. Kyuubey's taken refuge in Mint's bag, while Mint and I stand next to each other silently, waiting to reach our destination.

Fortunately, we're alone in the elevator. "Sorry for your parents, Reiko."

"…Thank you." I can't help but still feel bad for not saving my parents. "I don't know what I'll do now though. I have no idea what's going to happen to me, or our house, or our money…" I can feel the tears building up again, but I have to keep them back; I don't want strangers to see me cry.

Reiko places a hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see her smiling face. "I'm sure that everything will work out, Reiko."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, Mint-san, how did you know about them? My parents?"

"Saw it on TV. Everyone knows about the accident, Reiko. Biggest thing that's hit this city for a while; due to go international today."

It must have been really bad. No one's seemed to recognize me in the mall yet, so I hope the trend continues.

You are now at the 100th floor. Have a nice day.

The elevator's voice tells us that we've arrived, and we exit, Mint leading the way.

"Um, Mint, I really should be getting back soon."

She looks at me in shock. "What for? You wanna go back there?"

"Of course not." But I have to talk to that lawyer to see what my parents' will says.

"I already told you, Reiko," Mint says, "it'll all work out. Trust me!" She turns to face me and holds out her right hand to me. "I promise."

I barely even know Mint and Kyuubey, but for some reason I can't refuse her. I'm alone now, and right now, it seems that these two will be the only friends I'll have, if I choose to follow them. This is the best choice I've got available to me right now.

I hold my right hand out as well, trying my best to mimic her foreign gesture. "You're sure?" I ask, just to be sure.

Mint smiles, and clasps my hand with hers. "I'll swallow a thousand needles for you if you're dissatisfied, swear." She can't be that unfamiliar to Japanese culture; her ability to mix in a kid's rhyme makes me smile, the first time I've truly smiled in happiness in a while. I shake our hands. "Deal!"

I let our hands fall, but Mint grabs my left hand from my side and continues to walk, even faster this time. We cross through the mall corridor past the stores, and turn the corner at the end. We turn left again, and see a dark staircase, roped off with a warning sign. There aren't any people around anymore; Kyuubey jumps out of Mint's bag and scurries under the rope and up the stairs.

"Are you sure about this, Mint-san?" It is roped off, after all.

"Trust me, Reiko." Mint smiles at me and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. She steps over the rope, and helps me to step over it after. We climb the stairs together, and reach the heavy steel door after what seems like forever. Mint lets go of my hand to push the door, and it opens.

…We're on the roof.

There's nothing up here, not even a fence around the perimeters; I'm sure they don't expect people to ever come up here, hence the warning sign.

"You still trust me, right Reiko?" Mint asks suddenly.

"Y, yes, Mint-san," I try to say it confidently, but I'm starting to get scared. Why are we on the roof anyway?

"Good." She looks over to Kyuubey.

"Reiko, bring out your Soul Gem."

I begin to reach into my pocket for it, but remember the ring on my hand, and hold out my left hand. Mint takes it and touches the silver ring with her finger. "Form it back into a gem."

What? They expect me to know how to use this thing, when no one's even told me how to use it? "But how?" I ask.

Mint just closes her eyes and smiles peacefully. "Just wish. Whatever you want to happen, will."

I close my eyes, trying to relax myself, then try to picture the stone in my mind. I want this back. I want it to change back from a ring to look like this.

"Look!" I open my eyes to see my ring begin to glow. When it becomes completely yellow, Mint flips my hand over so that my palm faces the sky. The yellow ring somehow spills from my finger and rolls gently onto my palm, where it builds up and forms an egg, becoming the yellow gem that it once was.

"Did you familiarize her yet, QB?"

"I didn't have any time. She's only been awake for a couple of hours, after all. I was hoping that you'd be able to help her out, at least in the beginning."

"Wait, what do you mean, familiarize?"

Mint gingerly takes the gem between her fingers and touches it to my forehead. "You have to be familiarized in order to know your powers. We don't have to do it this way, but trust me, it's much easier than learning what powers you have on your own; it's kinda like a shortcut." She then removes the gem from my head, and places it back in my left hand.

"Now Reiko," she begins, slowly stepping away, "transform. Same technique as before, just wish."

...I want to be a magical girl.

The gem begins to glow again, then suddenly bursts, its yellow explosion surrounding me in a golden light. Ribbons circle around me as my body begins to glow; I'm not sure whether it really hurts or not. I can't really tell what else is happening, but it eventually ends, and I can see Mint and Kyuubey again. It felt like it took forever, but it also feels as if it took no time at all to happen.

I look down, and see that I'm now wearing something completely different. My white Mary Janes have been exchanged for brown, knee-length leather boots with yellow on the bottoms. Purple stockings with yellow stripes now crawl up my legs to end at mid-thigh, and a honey-colored skirt with chocolate trim circles my waist instead of the skirt from my brown dress from before. On my torso is a brown corset, fastened by three small belts. From under the corset sprouts a soft white shirt, with short, puffed sleeves that cover my shoulders. A break in cloth lies beneath the sleeves, only to be done away with by detached sleeves of the same material as the shirt.

I raise my left hand, now gloved in black, to see if my Soul Gem returned to normal, but it's no longer there, not as a ring nor as a gem. "What happened to my Soul Gem?"

Mint comes back to me and touches my head. "Up here." I repeat her motion to touch it, and sure enough, I can feel a warm stone where she's pointing.

"When you transform," she says, "your Soul Gem will be put in a special place, somewhere out of the way."

"This is to ensure that it doesn't get damaged during battle."

"Aww, it's cute how yours chose to be a hair accessory!" Mint steps back again to look at my whole appearance. "You must really like Western fashion, huh?"

"Well, I am a bit fond of English clothing…"

"Now, Reiko. What can you do?"

"How can I…" I start to tell her that I have no idea, then a picture suddenly appears in my head. Images of long, white muskets and golden ribbons fill my mind. I can see myself holding a gun to my face, in a perfect shooting position; I can see myself surrounded by yellow ribbons, spinning around me and in my control. Is this what I can do?

"… I… all of a sudden, I got these ideas, like I'm… shooting something, or tying something up…"

Mint smiles again. "Seems like those are your powers. Well, the basic ones, anyway." She takes my hand and begins to walk, leading me to follow. "Now, you're going to use them. Excited?"

I am feeling a bit excited, knowing what powers I have, but at the same time I can't help but feel fear growing in me as well. "Mint-san, w-what are we about to do?"

"Teach you how to use your powers, silly!" Now we're close to the edge of the rooftop, looking over the city's rooftops. Kyuubey jumps back into Mint's bag.

"How is this supposed to teach me?"

Mint squeezed my hand in reassurance, but it didn't help to quell my fear at all. "Just follow my lead, okay? Trust me."

"…okay. I trust you, Mint-san. But don't do anything–"

"Run!" I feel her grip tighten as she pulls me forward suddenly. Her grip pulls me off center, and I move my feet to stop from falling. What's going on?

…Mint's running? ...Towards the edge?

"Mint-san!"

"Just come, okay? Don't stop running!"

My heart is pounding hard against my chest, and I don't know what to do. My instinct tells me to wrench my hand from Mint and stop, but I can't help but resist it. I did promise her that I'd trust her, and she's all I have left.

"Reiko, jump on three!" Mint's voice snaps me out of my thoughts, and I realize that my eyes have been squeezed shut the whole time. I open them to see the edge of the building coming up quickly.

"One!" Can Mint protect me? Is she reliable?

"Two…" I can see the street now, and I close my eyes tightly again.
"Three!" I can't think, I can't decide what to do. I don't want to jump, I don't want to die. How can I trust this girl I just met? I dig my heels into the concrete, letting them hit the low railing of the rooftop. It works for a second, until Mint's momentum begins to pull me along with her. I try my best to stop from going across the rail, bending my legs to put my weight behind me and trying to wrench my hand from hers, but the pull from Mint is too strong, and I get yanked into the air as she begins to fall, my hand being freed a moment too late.

"Reiko!" Mint yells. She grasps for my hand, but can't reach it. She then puts her feet to the edge of the mall building, pushing off the side and sending herself towards me. She grabs me in a tight bear hug, and we fall together.

"Mint-san!" I feel tears slip from my eyes, out of sadness for not trusting Mint and fear for our oncoming deaths. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!"

"No. Listen to me Reiko," I feel Mint's grip on me tighten. Her voice is unbelievably calm, especially considering that we're freefalling from a hundred stories high. "Grab the lightpost on top of the mall."

"I can't!" I can barely see, with warm tears making my sight blurry, but I can tell that the lightpost is nowhere near my reach by now.

Mint gently rubs my eyes, and I can make out her serene, smiling face. "Reach for it."

Make it stop, please help me.

I raise my arm, and try to grab the light post.

I don't want to die.

I feel a warm swelling inside of me, and I begin to calm down.

Please tie me back to life.

A yellow light shoots from my chest, and travels up to the pole, now barely a thin line. I close my eyes, bracing myself for the impact to the ground.

But instead, I feel a hard tug on my chest.

I look down, and I see the sidewalk still far away, but no longer getting closer to us. The people walking below us are too focused on their daily activities to even bother looking up, to my relief. I look back up to see what's holding us, and I see a yellow ribbon stretched between a bow tied around my collar and the pole. As it reaches its limit, I feel the ribbon retract and violently pull me up. We get pulled to the pole, then past it, and we're soon going up in the air, higher than the buildings.

"Now let go," Mint says.

"But I don't want to–"

"Trust me."

If I had trusted her from the beginning, then we wouldn't be in this situation, so I decide to trust her now. A thought of letting go of the pole runs through my mind, and I can feel the tension of the ribbon disappear as it unwinds itself. Our ascent begins to slow, until we stop in mid-air above Mitakihara City.

Mint is still holding me, and I feel a gust of wind as we begin to fall. Her body becomes wrapped in a green light, and whispers something to herself. After falling for a few seconds, me clutching her for dear life, a strong wind blows up from below me. I look down, and see a large vent on the roof of the building that we're above. The gust slows our fall, and we eventually get to the building's rooftop. Mint lets go of me, making sure that I have my balance, and steps away. She places her hand to the vent, and a green light filled with numbers flows from her hand to the vent.

Despite her calm demeanor, I can't help but be hysterical.

"M-Mint-san! We could have died!"

"The best way to learn is to be in danger. That's when your mind works the quickest." She smiles sweetly.

All I can do is collapse from relief. Who is this evil girl…?

Kyuubey emerges from Mint's bag and shakes his head in a disapproving manner. "I can't say that I approve of your teaching methods, Mint, though I must admit that they always seem to be effective…" He seems to be having trouble balancing from the whole scene, and stumbles around before finally deciding to lay down, his paws covering his eyes.

"Ha ha, a little dizzy, huh QB?" She then turns to me. "But anyway Reiko, now you have confidence in yourself, right? You saved us!"

I can't help but feel that I'm the more sane of us two, despite being new to all of this. I sigh in disapproval. "Ugh, Mint-san…" I notice that her hand is still on the vent, and the green light is fading.

"Mint-san, are you a magical girl too? Your magic…"

She stops and stands again, placing her hand in front of her mouth as she giggles. "Of course, silly. I'm a magical girl."

"But your clothes…"

"We don't always have to transform to use our powers. If we only need to use magic for minor things, we can just channel small amounts of it without fully transforming. That's an advanced skill though, so don't try it yet, 'kay?" In that case, what kind of powers does she have? What kind of powers could do… what exactly did she do?

"Now, let's try crossing the rooftops for more practice! Don't worry about anyone seeing us, no one ever looks up here. As long as we don't fall again, we'll be in the clear. So be careful!" She winks.

Kyuubey perks up from laying down, as if something happened. "Mint, your fatal teachings will have to wait. There's a witch nearby."

Mint's smile disappears, and she angrily runs her hair through her green hair. "Ugh, right now? They always have the worst timing…"

"Well, you could just take Reiko with you. If you can bear to use those teaching methods on her, I'm sure that it wouldn't be a problem to take her to a witch fight."

Mint looks out to the sunset. "…No, we don't have time. Reiko needs to get out of Mitakihara City as soon as possible. The police are probably looking for her. I was going to have us get out of here over the rooftops so that we wouldn't be seen, but now…" Her face scrunches up in frustration. "I can't just let that witch run free…"

So that's why we're jumping on rooftops, so that I can escape the police?

Mint turns back to me. "Listen, Reiko. I'm going to send you to Mitakihara Town. There's an apartment building there, owned by a woman named Asuka Sato. I want you to go there, tell her Mint sent you, and wait with her, okay? I should be back before any authorities come, but if they do come, just stay calm. Don't say anything, and Asuka will take care of everything."

"Wait, a witch? Mitakihara Town? Mint-san, what's going on?"

"I'll explain when I see you again. But for now, let's focus on getting you out of here."

ooOOoo

Mint, Kyuubey and I are at the train station, to send me to Mitakihara Town without being detected.

"Now, you remember what to do, right, Reiko?" Mint drills me as we walk through the terminal. Once you get off the train, go to the street, turn left, and keep going until you get to the pink apartment building. When you get there, put the speaker on for room 1001, tell her your name, and tell her that Mint sent you. Can you do it?"

"…yeah, I understand."

As we walk past the train, I see Mint place her hand on the train out of the corner of my eye, and I can barely see the part of the train beneath her palm glow a faint green. Turning to her with questioning in my eyes, she just smirks. "Just making minor adjustments. Now, go on. Don't miss the train."

I turn away from her, and merge into the huge crowd of people trying to get into their trains. Never have I been so thankful for huge train crowds, since now it'll prevent the police from finding me, or anyone from recognizing me from the news. I slip into the train with tens of other people.

…

Now approaching Mitakihara Town, Mitakihara Town…

"What? What did he just say?"

"Why did we stop?"

"Mitakihara Town? This train is supposed to be going to Sapporo!"

"I have a meeting in an hour! Keep this train going!"

People start to get restless, the train apparently going to the wrong destination. I try to shuffle through the crowd, most of them refusing to get off. I breathe a sigh of relief when I finally get to the open doors. Upon escaping the crowd of people and going through the terminal gates, I walk to the building's exit and pass through the glass doors, which automatically open when I get close. The street is right in front of me.

"…Okay, Mint-san said to go left…" I turn left, and start walking. I notice that Mitakihara Town is less advanced in technology in Mitakihara City; there are no androids advertising products on the street corners, no portal cars zooming by. There are a lot of trees around, almost one every two blocks. It seems to be a suburban type of place, with a slower pace of life than Mitakihara City.

After walking for a while, I finally come across the pink building that Mint-san told me about, and I walk up to the front door. I push the buttons on the display on the wall next to the doors.

1… 0,0… 1. I then push "Call."

After a few seconds, I hear a woman's voice. "Yes?"

"Um, hello. You don't know me, but my name is Tomoe, Reiko Tomoe. A girl named Mint sent me to talk to you, um, Sato-san." I almost forgot her name…

"Ah, Reiko-chan. Mint-chan told me about you. Come in and wait in the lobby, I'll be down in a second." She then ends the call. I follow her instructions and walk into the building.

After a while, I'm greeted by a woman dressed in pink. She looks young, a lot younger than I would have thought her, at least. Her black hair is kept up in a somewhat messy ponytail.

"Hello, Reiko-chan." she asks warmly when I walk up to her.

"Um, yes. Nice to meet you, Sato-san." I bow.

When I come up again, I see her smiling. "Mint-chan told me all about you. We should wait in my room, right?"

ooOOoo

"So, how are you, Reiko-chan?" Sato-san and I are drinking tea together in Mint's room.

"I'm fine, really. Please don't worry about me, Sato-san." I'd hate to be a burden. I drink some more tea and eat another slice of youkan. "Are you sure it's okay for us to be in here?"

"Oh, of course." Sato-san waves it off. "Mint-chan wants to make sure that you're treated with the best care. She asked me to set up some tea and snacks for you, to help you relax."

"…So, Sato-san, you live in this apartment building, too?"

"Oh, I own the place! I actually live on the floor below this one. I hear that you're in search of a new home, is that why you're asking?"

I shake my head quickly. "No, no! Please, don't worry about me…" But really, where would I stay? I can't go back to my house, where the social workers would find me. Does Mint expect me to live with her or something?

There's a rapping at the door. "Hey Asuka, it's me!" Sato-san gets up from her seat and walks over to the door. Upon opening it, I see Mint, along with a man in a black suit and two police officers.

They aren't here for me, are they? …! They can't be!

"Here she is, Takayama-kun." Mint points to me. Is she selling me out? After all that she did to help me, and she brings the police here? How could she…

"Ah, there you are, Tomoe-san." I don't respond; I just want them to go away.

"Well, Tomoe-san. I'm Keiichi Takayama, your parents' lawyer. I'm sure that you'd like to hear me out here?"

I really don't, and I'm afraid that if I go to talk to him, they'll catch me.

"You're not in trouble or anything, Tomoe-san."

"…Just tell me from there." I turn to face them.

"…Ha ha, it's kind of awkward talking to you from the other side of a door, but whatever makes you happy, Tomoe-san. You were supposed to wait at the hospital for me to pick you up, but you ran away! Caused me a lot of trouble, you know. I wish that you'd have been a good girl and stayed put, but it seems that you're safe, so I guess we'll let bygones be bygones.

"Anyway, I've reviewed your parents' will. I looked to see who was named as your guardian in the case of the deaths of your parents… by the way, I'm sorry for them…"

"…"

"Since you don't seem to have any living relatives…"

"… go on."

"…Your parents named a woman as your guardian, Asuka Sato."

"!"

"And if I'm not mistaken, this is her in the room as we speak?"

"Yes, I'm Asuka Sato. So, Takayama-san, are there any other complications that we need to discuss?"

"Well, we do need to discuss the liquidation of the Tomoe family's wealth. The will requested that Tomoe-san be allotted 100,000 yen per month for her needs, so as not to be a burden to you. Only 100,000 yen will be available per month, and Tomoe-san won't be able to access the entirety of her wealth until she turns 20. If Tomoe-san herself, um, can no longer claim the money, then it will all be donated to the Mitakihara City's fund for the arts and museums. Tomoe-san can claim as much of the physical wealth that her family owns as she wants, and the rest will be liquidated into Tomoe-san's bank account. I'll hold a meeting with you two later to discuss the fine details." Takayama-san turns back to me. "But I hope that you're getting along okay with your guardian, Tomoe-san? If you don't mind me asking, how are you two related? Is she a family friend?"

"…Um–"

"Yeah, Asuka was cool with Reiko's parents." Mint fills in for me. I guess she really is on my side.

"Oh, well that's nice. So Tomoe-san, I'll be seeing you again sometime soon? I'll call Sato-san to arrange a meeting. Please adjust well to your new life, Tomoe-san." And with a smile plastered on his face, the lawyer leaves with the two police officers.

Mint finally walks into the room. "Well, that wasn't too hard, was it, Reiko?" She plops down at the tea set up for her, and takes a sip. "Hmm, so relaxing after a long day…"

Sato-san speaks. "From what I know, the Tomoe family didn't have many relatives…" She looks slyly at Mint. "Mint-chan wouldn't have had anything to do with me being named the guardian, would she?"

Mint laughs." Always attentive, huh, Asuka? I went into the Mitakihara City Citizen Database after fighting a witch," Mint replies as she sips her tea again. "They keep all sensitive documents of families in there, so I just went in there and changed it so that you was named as Reiko's guardian." She turns to me. "Now you can live here with us."

"Would I live with Sato-san in her room, or with you in your room?"

"No no, you'll get your own apartment. You see, Asuka owns this apartment building. She takes care of a lot of girls, abandoned, orphaned, you name it. She rents most of her rooms out to regular people and families, but they're on the lower floors, so you won't have to ever see them. They don't even know that anyone other than Asuka is living up here, and they aren't allowed access past the floor where she lives. The elevator will only go to the two highest floors if you have a special key."

"I don't mind taking care of you, Reiko-chan, so don't worry about rent or anything. There's only three of you girls, so it isn't a burden. I put the extra costs onto my other tenants, but I also give them lots of gifts and perks, so they think that's what the extra yen's going to."

"Oh, Asuka, you're so evil!" Mint and Sato-san laugh together.

"No no, Sato-san. I'll get 100,000 yen every month, so you can have some of that money to help pay for the rent."

"You're such a sweetie, Reiko-chan."

A vibrating noise breaks the mood. Sato-san reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cell phone. "Ugh, the Nakanos' sink is clogged again. I'll have to go look at it. Excuse me, girls." Sato-san finishes the rest of her tea, stands, and places the cup on the kitchen sink. She then walks over to the door and leaves.

"…Her phone was really ancient…"

"Ha ha , cut her some slack, Reiko, she was born and raised in Mitakihara Town."

We continue to drink and eat in silence. After a while, I break the silence.

"Mint. That's not your real name, is it?"

She keeps her cool, and gently sets her cup down onto the table. "…No, it's not. You're pretty smart, Reiko."

"Well, the katakana makes it obvious…" I hate to pry, but I would also hate making an alliance with a girl who I don't know at least some things about. "…Mint-san, what's your real name?"

"Azumi."

"Just Azumi?"

"…Azumi Suzuki." Her grip on her cup tightens.

"…Why did you change your name?"

"…Reiko." She looks at me, seriousness in her eyes. "Being a magical girl is hard sometimes. Sometimes… things happen, and we just want to run away from them. Changing a name is one of the ways which we use to run. A name holds memories, memories that we want to forget."

I can understand what she means; it sounds just like my situation. In the car, when I was dying, I didn't want to die, so I ran. With my parents gone, and the police looking for me, and going to an orphanage… I didn't want to see what would happen, so I ran. I'm still running, and I won't look back… I can't. Mint and Kyuubey are my only hopes, my only friends now. They're giving me a chance to avoid the life I selfishly wished for, and no longer want. I'm running like a coward, but if being brave means facing the truth, then I'll run, run forever, if that's what it takes. I'll keep running, and I won't look back.

"…Mint-san, is it true that a lot of magical girls change their names?"

"Why?"

"I, I'd like to change my name, too."

Mint looks surprised. "But Reiko's such a pretty name!" she says in mock teasing.

"I'm serious, Mint-san!"

"Ha ha, just kidding. What would you want to change it to?"

…I want to change my name, but not to run from the past. Rather, I want to rewrite the past, to atone for my sins that caused me to be here, in Mint's room, drinking tea. I've changed my mind; I want to run, but unlike Mint, I never want to forget. I wish that I'd been more thoughtful of my parents…

…巴真澄. Masumi Tomoe. Daddy, I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you. I wish that we could keep going to the shooting range, collecting ancient muskets and guns, going on vacation to Europe. I'll never forget you, I'll never forget the truth.

…巴愛実. Aimi Tomoe. Mother, I'm so sorry that I couldn't save you. I wish that we could continue collecting English dolls, designing clothes, sewing clothes together. I'll never forget you, I'll never forget the truth.

I'll never forget the fact that I let you two die, and that you loved me. I love you too, Mother, Daddy. I'll never forget you, I'll never let anyone forget you.

…真澄. Masumi. 真, Ma.

…愛実. Aimi. 実, Mi.

…真. Ma. …実. Mi.

…真実 Mami. "Truth." This is the truth, that I remember my parents.

…巴真実.

"…I know. Please, can we redo our meeting, Mint-san?"

"Sure." We both stand, and she bows slightly. "Hello, my name's Mint. And you?"

I bow to her. "My name is Tomoe, Mami Tomoe. I'm pleased to meet you, Mint-san."

*youkan is a Japanese bean jelly sweet made from sweet red beans and sugar, often served at Japanese tea parties.

*Japanese names are almost always written in either kanji or hiragana. Katakana is reserved for foreign names or otherwise strange names.

I think I got the train thing wrong, but whatever, lol. And thanks to Copper Hikari for finding that typo, I fixed it. :)