Capitulation

The day had come, but not the sun. A thick mist covered the hills, including the mansion.

Homura could only be grateful.

The convenient curtain of humidity hid her steps to her hiding place, away from the stares, judgments, and accusing songs. Just the memories to torment her in peace.

The bushes were tall and well tended, but they had no flowers, no birds or bug sounds, no symbol of life in that maze in the garden. Homura made every curve wanting to get lost more, going deeper.

For there was one more purpose this time.

Reaching a dead end, she stopped and looked around. Feeling safe to do so, she raised her voice, "Show up! I know you're out there somewhere..."

Her invitation was received by silence, but she stayed where she was. She would repeat the call if it was necessary.

It was not. First a subtle sound of foliage and then a white thing landed in front of the girl. The red-eyed plush creature sat on the grass and wagged its tail. [Homura Akemi, how can I be helpful?]

The girl gave a spiteful look.

Kyuubey shook his pair of small ears.

She then stated, "You've been watching Madoka and I, even here, Incubator."

[Naturally. I am always on hand for the case of Madoka Kaname wanting my presence, or you as now. In fact, we continue to collect grief seeds and we must deliver to her soon.]

Homura's gaze narrowed. "And is that all?"

[If you called me to make innuendoes...] Kyuubey turned and prepared to leap over the wall of shrubs.

"Wait!" She reached out and lowered her gaze. "Sorry..."

[I did not take this as an offense, only that our time could be more productive.] The creature turned to her and blinked his eyes. [Actually, I am intrigued now, I did not expect to hear this coming from you.]

"I guess so..." She sat next to one of the bushes and hugged her knees.

Kyuubey came closer. [I have also noticed that you have been further from Madoka.]

She glanced at him.

[Maybe you have found something wrong with her and you are considering what we discussed some time ago.]

"Never."

[Hmmmm...] Kyuubey pointed his tail at her. [So would it be about being here?]

She raised her eyebrows. "Why do you ask? You should know more about them than I do."

[At the time you were keeping us from making a contract with Madoka, we came to research your origins, but we did not delve into when it became clear that you were an anomaly.]

"Speaking of research..." Homura paused before asking, "are you looking for an alternate source of energy? Madoka gave you time for this."

Kyuubey nodded. [The magical girl system is one of the fruits of our research to combat entropy and we have never stopped.]

"Couldn't you show something? A proof of your progress."

[It is a long time work. I believe Madoka understands or she would have asked for it herself.]

Homura's words were sour, "Maybe you're counting on her kindness."

But that would never be enough to change Kyuubey's expression. [Is this an accusation?]

"Let me be more explicit," she said coldly, "you're using this time to plot against her."

[What would we gain from this?] The creature ondulated his other pair, of long ears.

"It's obvious! Turn back as it was before."

[We do not have that interest. Our new contract methodology that I have explained to you reflects that.]

"Liar..."

Kyuubey closed his eyes. [I see that it is necessary to share another motive by which we are observing you.] And he reopened them, now glowing intensely.

Homura felt an ominous air.

[Through the emanating power of your emotions, we witness the whole universe to be twisted, and even one being extinct. Such scale was beyond all expectations.]

"So you see us as a threat," she concluded, even more convinced, "one more reason to want to get rid of us."

[We do not see it that way. Unlike you, Madoka Kaname has proved quite reasonable. Therefore, it is a tolerable risk.]

"Risk... Hmmm..."

Kyuubey noticed a smile forming on her. [Homura?]

"So..." The girl narrowed her eyes. "If there was a plan against us that you were one hundred percent sure that no one, not even Madoka or me, could find out about you being behind it, you'd try, wouldn't you?"

Kyuubey tilted his head. [This is very specific.]

"Fufufufufu..."

[What is it? Why are you laughing?]

The face of Homura tensed. "... fufufuuuhh... uuuhhh..." And tears began to fall. "... uuhh... fufu... uuhfuhufuuuhhhfufufu..."

[Now you are crying, but you are still smiling. Would these be tears of happiness? I do not understand...]

"You haven't changed at all..." She lowered her head, resting her forehead on her gathered legs. Now, hidden from the world, her teeth clenched more than ever. "This... is so... comforting..."

Kyuubey turned his head. [Someone is coming.]

Immediately, she widened her eyes. Homura stood up and rubbed her face with her sleeves. Taking a deep breath, she examined her hands, her skin looked normal.

Footsteps on the grass and then the figure of Ichiro emerged in the fog.

Homura looked at him with all the coolness she had.

It did not diminish the smile he carried. "Since you're not in your room, I imagined you're here. Remember when I found you here crying because you're lost?"

"It wasn't because of that I was crying," she replied monotonously.

"We pretended it was."

She flinched and turned away. "What do you want?"

"I speak on behalf of our father." He nodded. "He wants you to do the high school in Tokyo."

She gulped.

"Keeping in mind this is to prepare you for a position in the company. It isn't yet defined which one, but I'll accompany your conditioning."

"Why..." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Why would he offer this to me?"

"Because he's afraid of you." Ichiro stopped smiling. "That you commit an irreversible act."

She stood there without saying anything.

He sighed. "You have nowhere to go, what guided you is gone."

Homura closed her fists.

He noted, but continued, "you can no longer follow the steps of our mother, but you also can't live in a limbo. You have to do something!"

There was no reaction.

Seeing her like this, with her usual braids and glasses, the mist covering the maze, was like an aged photo for Ichiro. However, it was time to acknowledge that his sister was another person. "If our father fears you is because you were bold. I feel more relieved to know that you don't live like a victim." Without waiting for anything, he left that photo behind. "It's people like you that our company needs. No need to answer now, you have until the end of the school year for this..."

Homura heard the footsteps on the grass becoming distant as she reopened her eyes, his voice in her mind.

... You have to do something...

[Ichiro Akemi.]

She looked at the creature that was still at her feet.

[I would say he was pretty rational. Now you can have a normal life, like the other peeeEEEEEHH!]

She grabbed him by his big ears and brought him up to her disgruntled gaze. "I didn't wish for this."

Kyuubey closed his eyes and his 'smiling snout' seemed to mock her more. [You will never learn, no?]

She flung him. His body flailed and spun as he disappeared into the haze.

／人◕‿‿◕人＼

Eyes open, back to this world, in the early hours of the afternoon in the mansion.

It was no coincidence, Madoka could hear the melody. She left the bed and her room. In the hall, she stopped in front of the closed door of Homura's room. Since lunch, she had not seen her outside there.

She gave a small sigh and continued. Down the stairs, she could hear the sound more clearly.

"Where are you going?"

And she could hear Chiharu too, who suddenly entered the hall. Madoka greeted with a smile, "Hi."

The woman nodded, keeping her seriety. "I asked where you're going."

"Ah..." The girl shrugged. "I'm not sure."

Chiharu frowned.

While Madoka pulled her smartphone out of her pocket. "Tomorrow I'll be going back to Mitakihara."

"Yes, you will."

The rather curtly response from the housekeeper made Madoka pause for a moment. "So... I was thinking of taking some more pictures of the house, my family won't believe I've been in such luxurious place. I could take some more from you too."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm busy."

It was a refusal, but the woman's voice had become less tense. Madoka smiled more. "Well, if you change your mind..."

"Yes, excuse me." Chiharu fixed her gaze on the girl one last time before she left the room.

Madoka waited for the door to close and begin taking pictures of the paintings, statues, and other decorations as she entered the corridor, following the music.

Then she put her smartphone back.

Facing the library door, Madoka again lifted her head, feeling the melancholy hidden in the notes. Meanwhile, her shadow grew and crawled to the doorknob. Her neck twitched as her expression went into a trance.

Making no noise, the door opened a little and the music grew louder. She pulled herself together and looked at the opening.

As usual, Hiroshi was sitting in the armchair in front of his wife's altar, with a glass in his hand.

Now it could be a matter of time, but Madoka could not wait. A light touch and the door creaked.

Hiroshi quickly turned his head.

Certain that she had been seen, Madoka stepped back and hurried to leave.

"Wait."

She stopped, with a subtle smile, one she would not show when she turned.

Hiroshi had opened the door as he gestured. "Come here."

She held her hands on her chest and lowered her head.

"Don't be shy." Hiroshi flashed a crooked smile. "Come on, I want to introduce you to someone."

With hesitant steps at first, Madoka went to him and entered the library. "Sorry..."

"Oh, you don't have to."

She saw the old smiling man check the lock on the door, which was in perfect condition.

He turned the key twice and put it in his pocket. "It's my fault, actually. I should have had a proper conversation with you to avoid any misperceptions. Lets sit."

She watched him approach the chairs in staggering footsteps, his skin was flushed, and his sweat smelled of alcohol.

Hiroshi collapsed in the chair, putting his hand on his forehead. "Ahhh... Forgive me for not being able to offer you a drink for your age."

She sat down in another one. "I'm not thirsty."

"What a polite voice." He looked at her. "Heheheee... hehe..."

Madoka smiled gently as she kept her hands on her closed legs.

The man continued to smile until he raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth, about to say something, and remained in this pose for a few seconds and then shook his head. "Oh... where are my manners?" He picked up the glass with whiskey and ice, cheering to the woman in the picture. "Ai, this is Madoka Kaname, friend of our daughter who came back to us!"

"Your wife is beautiful," Madoka commented.

"This image doesn't live up to who she was." He grinned and took a gulp, gritting his teeth later. "Ahhh..."

Madoka continued, "I heard from Chiharu-san that she was a ballerina, a great dancer."

"Yes, yeeeessh..." Still with the glass, Hiroshi stood up and stretched his arm, as if dancing with someone. "We danced here."

Madoka heard the man hum, following the music coming from the gramophone.

"I was a lucky man..." Hiroshi fell back into the chair. "Because she's the mother of my children..."

Sadness betrayed his assertion. Madoka spoke, "You are."

"Ichiro and Udo... We couldn't be happier, but she wanted a daughter." He poured more drink into his glass. "Why would I deny it? But during pregnancy the exams indicated that her blood pressure was too high. Doctors said it was because of her age and recommended abortion." He shook his head. "Ai would never accept, she always fought to the end."

Madoka closed her eyes and nodded.

"At six months of gestation she had a fulminating stroke. I was at work when I heard they were in the hospital, taking our daughter from the womb of my dead wife." He drank and chewed an ice cube, sighing. "Homura was born almost dead and they put her in the incubator with little chance of survival. It was months, but as the ember rekindles, she did it."

"It had been difficult years."

"Ah..." He replied to her comment, "Doctors warned me only about possible physical sequelae, I should know. Homura... she... knew too early about the context of her mother's death. I had to send her to a school, away from anything that might remind her of it. It had been the right thing to do."

"You mean the ballet?"

Hiroshi looked at the girl. Even to his inebriated mind, that question had sounded rhetorical. "Homura was interested in this. Everyone was more mature and things were getting better."

Madoka smiled. "Even your relationship with her?"

Now it seemed impertinent, Hiroshi felt uncomfortable with that or with the silence, the disc in the gramophone had reached its end. "Yes, yes, everything was better..." He got up impatiently and went to the apparatus. "Until she did that damned test to get into a real ballet school. They discovered a heart defect, probably from birth, and she could have a sudden death if her body developed more. She had to have surgery and she could never be a dancer again."

The music returned to fill the atmosphere, while Madoka concluded, "That's why you sent her to Mitakihara."

Hiroshi turned to her as he started to get a headache. He was not drinking enough. "You continue with the wrong idea. I didn't abandon her there, Ai would never forgive me."

Madoka kept looking at him.

To hide an expression of pain, Hiroshi smiled and returned to the chair. "You must think that I stay here every day. Do you think the company would have survived if it were led by such a man?"

"But you seek that."

He furrowed his eyebrows.

Madoka explained, "I saw Ichiro-san very busy these days. He has spared you of the affairs of the company."

"Be more careful with those frank statements." Hiroshi turned his attention to the drink. "It's good for him, it's already his time for that."

"I'm worried about you."

"I'm old." He looked at his wife's portrait. "When you're my age you'll understand that there isn't much left to live for, only echoes of the past."

"And that's how your daughter is seeing you," Madoka affirmed.

He replied promptly, "She doesn't care."

"And you?"

Hiroshi rubbed his face. There was no need of a sharp mind, any visitor living with them for a few days would come to that conclusion. "Look... I gave my daughter a present, a doll, by the time she was doing ballet. She gave the toy the name of her mother. It gave me some discomfort, but I let it pass..." He took a sip and sighed. "She would talk to the doll and take it almost everywhere. Chiharu-san said it was normal and made her happy. It was what I wanted." Then he rubbed the icy glass on his forehead. "But when the day came when I had to talk about doing the surgery, she refused because she had made a promise to the doll. The distance between us had not diminished, not even a little. That doll was her family."

Madoka saw him get rid of the glass.

"So I burned it. Until the wax melted, until the joints cracked and become unrecognizable. And Homura went to Mitakihara, and she didn't want to see me or talk to me any more. I accepted it and that's how it was until days ago, when I met someone I don't know... I can only think that she must have avoided enrolling in Shirome because it reminded her old school and the ballet." He snorted. "What should I do? What she was doing was not healthy, but..." Then he pulled his white hair back with both hands. "I just wanted her to call me father. I didn't think I was the worst one, but she needed special care and I failed. She lost her family, twice, and I'm responsible for that."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Madoka said, shaking her head calmly, "she still has a family and you talking about it to me is a step."

"I was honest, wasn't I? This is unusual for me..." Hiroshi glanced at her. "You're mature for your age, though you're too bold sometimes, your parents raised you well. I feel pathetic now for not being sober."

"Ah..." Madoka rubbed her neck. "I'm used to it in my home."

"Is it true?" The man raised his arm, as if holding an invisible glass. "I salute your father."

The girl lowered her head, closed her eyes, and smiled.

Meanwhile, among some books on the shelf, there was a purple salamander with wide eyes. It had seen enough and entered a crack in the wall.

It was a dark path, full of ancient pipes and electric wiring, covered with dust and cobwebs. The creature felt at home in this intricate labyrinth, climbing the floors without difficulty.

It finally reached the room where Homura, catatonic, stared at her reflection in the closet mirror. The reptile climbed the girl's legs, her torso, shoulder, neck, until it reached her ear where it slipped in.

Homura had a spasm and exhaled. Her eyes came back to life, while her expression was of a outrageous rage. "I know what she's doing! How foolish I was..." She looked around.

In the room were her children staring at her with their glass eyes.

She returned to look at the mirror, hoping that her own image would give an answer. "But why... She knows that what she's asking me for is absurd, it's impossible! I won't do it!"

Her reflection began to move her lips.

"You must confront her."

Homura looked at Ibari.

The doll put her hand on her hips. "She's abusing you now that you're nothing more than a nuisance. Defend your dignity!"

"What dignity?!" Homura snapped.

In the mirror, the lips continued in a subtle movement.

"That's right! You'll always be a good-for-nothing." Warukuchi covered her giggle with her wax hand. "But how do you want an answer from her? She's too cunning now."

"An answer..." With a melancholic countenance, Homura pondered, "if I asked her, she would give one, and I would trust her voice. However, that would satisfy me?"

"You wished to protect her! You love her! You can't-" Manuke could not finish the sentence, being held by Nekura and Ganko.

"No..." She pursed her lips. "I've been against Madoka's will once, I don't have the courage to do it again. I don't see a way."

In a contemptuous tone, Reiketsu folded her arms. "You think too much, always inventing rules as excuses to remain inept."

That was like a flash to the girl. "That's..." She looked at the mirror.

She was now in a black funeral gown.

"I'm looking for a solution where there isn't even one." She looked at her arms. "Nevertheless, I will challenge the fate that has been imposed on me."

Her skin quickly rotted, darkening and tearing. Like worms, threads sewn the leather pieces.

I must destroy reason, feelings...

Her mouth was gagged by leather and stitched. Yakimochi brought a hat with a vinyl record as a brim and put it on her mistress, while Mie tidied up the braids of white hair.

... only this way, before her I will not hesitate.

And Higami also had something to offer, a white mask with a pointed nose. When it covered her face, Homura could no longer see the future.

".hturt eht lievnu lliw I ,ssendam fo serohs eht tA"

Next chapter: Memento