Chapter Twelve – "What would you wish for?"
"Let's see how long you can hold against me."
Homura gasped. "You're trying to battle me?"
"That looks pretty obvious to me." Kyoko grinned evilly. The dark haired girl frowned. "So, it really has come to this, hasn't it?"
Homura held up her purple soul gem, it glowed, illuminating the space around her. In an instant she was in her magical girl outfit, holding the ebony bow in her right hand.
Kyoko spun the spear again. "You've accepted Homura?" She closed her eyes for a second, thinking. "I'm fine with that."
For a few seconds the girls stared at each other, thinking about who would start the battle first, and Homura's gaze fell over Kyoko's hand on the spear, the redhead's finger twitches, like she was just waiting to swing it at her.
Fine. She thought. If that's how it's going to be-
Both girls took off at the same time, Kyoko lunged as her spear broke into parts, she flung it at Homura as she jumped onto the tree. She formed an arrow and fired it at Kyoko, who escaped with just a scratch on her right shoulder.
Dammit. Kyoko thought. She hit a nerve.
Homura leapt in front of the redhead, and swung at her with a glowing arrow, the light blinded Kyoko until she saw blood in front of her eyes and felt her body toppling to the ground. "Damn." Kyoko muttered. Homura stood in front of her, eyes coldly gazing down. "Do you admit defeat?" She asked.
"Idiot." Kyoko smirked. Her eyes started to glow red. "Do you really think I would give up that easily?"
Homura gasped and looked around, surrounding her in a circle were five copies of Kyoko. I forgot about that... She thought furiously to herself.
The copies formed a spear and lunged at her, but Homura jumped high up, staying in mid-air as she fired a bow up into the midnight sky. She came back down onto one of the copies somehow waiting hands as she jumped of the way and crouched on the ground, she glanced at Kyoko, who remembered.
"Shi-!"
The dark haired girl heard screaming as smoke billowed down from the clearing; many glowing purple arrows fell down furiously on the waiting clones.
Once the smoke cleared and silence was upon her, Homura stood up with ease and scanned the clearing. What? Kyoko isn't here.
"Nice…"
Homura whirled around and before she could react she felt a blow to her stomach, pain etched deep inside, blood dripped from her mouth. From the haze, Homura saw Kyoko facing her from the side.
"…Try!"
Kyoko flipped around onto the ground. "I know when you're attacks are coming Homura, I've seen you too many times."
Homura crouched onto the ground again, clutching her stomach in pain, she felt the crimson liquid over her stomach, and clenched her teeth. She stabbed me, but not fully.
Homura then stood up and fired an arrow at Kyoko, who knocked it away with her spear. She broke it into parts and slammed it at Homura, who jumped up and over the redhead before shooting at her with five arrows. Two of them hit her legs and arms.
Kyoko immediately took them out and formed a copy of herself beside her, but before she could act, Homura jumped forward and slashed Kyoko's clone in half.
At her side, Homura shot another arrow at Kyoko, in which it hit her shoulder and tore some skin off. "Argh!" She screamed before hitting the ground.
Blood fell from the wound, while Homura wiped the blood off her chin.
CRACK!
A shadow fell over Homura, who looked up to see something black over her head. "What?!" She exclaimed. She gasped. A tree! Homura immediately tried to dodge it, but she was too slow and was only partly successful, her left foot got caught under the huge trunk and broke.
She suddenly felt cold metal under her chin that forced her head up, something pricked at her neck which caused a drop of blood to run down it.
Kyoko stared down on Homura; the end of her spear had lifted up her face, which was now bloody and wounded. "Give up." Kyoko stated coldly. "You can't run with a broken foot." She clutched at her bleeding shoulder.
Homura narrowed her eyes. "I am stronger than that." Something formed in her hand. "I won't give up until I'm done."
BANG!
Blood sprang from Kyoko's forehead, she screamed and held her head in agony, a gold bullet tore out of her skull and into the tree behind her, and she fell onto her knees.
A crimson substance ran down her face, coating her left eye in it, through the pain she could see Homura, who was holding a small silver weapon in her hand.
Kyoko gasped. "A gun?"
Homura glared and shot the tree, freeing her foot from the trunk's grasp. She twisted it before standing up again. "Indeed. My aim is not off."
"How the hell did you get that?!" The redhead exclaimed.
"I'm not sure." Homura heard the gun click. "But I'm not going to waste it at a time like this!" She took off at Kyoko, who immediately stood up and ran, ignoring the pain in her head.
Dammit... I'm losing too much blood. Kyoko thought as she leapt through the trees, almost tripping over the branches. Gunshot rung through her ears, I can't lose to her!
The redhead turned around and blocked yet another bullet before leaping back at Homura; she separated her spear and flung it at Homura, who blocked it with her ebony bow.
Kyoko joined the spear and spun it, knocking the dark haired girl off the branch, she yelped.
Kyoko jumped down from the tree and watched as Homura landed with ease before the two took off again, the redhead blocked attacks and swung her spear at Homura's thigh, who blocked it and shot at Kyoko's head, she ducked and knocked Homura's gun out of the way, temporarily leaving her defenceless.
The redhead kicked the dark haired girl in the stomach, who was forced back by the blow, Kyoko took this chance to lunge at Homura, who formed a bow and shot at the redhead, she dodged it and kept on running.
Homura held two guns, one in each hand as Kyoko stabbed at her.
Their weapons clashed instantly, Homura moved a gun from one hand and shot at Kyoko's stomach, but she dodged, flipping up into the air.
She separated her spear and spun it in mid-air before plunging it into the ground. Homura dodged immediately and ran, attacking from behind, while Kyoko sprinted up to her.
"Why are you doing this?" Homura yelled, while dodging another spear attack. "What do you expect to gain from it?!"
Kyoko frowned and jumped up onto a tree branch; three copies of herself formed in different trees and came at Homura, who shot at them, destroying them.
"I don't trust you!"
Homura shot constantly at Kyoko, who dodged it and landed on the ground, one of the bullets landed on her legs, she ignored the pain and ran forward.
Homura ran back, she formed two guns in one hand and her bow, while Kyoko formed five copies of herself.
The two veteran Magical girls shot a look at each other, desperate to make the final blow.
"Stop!" Boomed a girl's voice.
Kyoko and Homura gasped and they felt something being wrapped around their ankles and pulling them down. "What the hell?!" Kyoko yelled in annoyance as her copies disappeared.
Homura's eyes widened when she noticed the yellow ribbon that was wrapped around her ankle.
Down from the trees leapt a silhouette, she flipped and landed on the ground gracefully, she pulled two silver guns out and aimed them at the two magical girls, as the light of dawn came, and it was revealed to be Mami.
"What do you think you were doing?!" She yelled angrily at them.
Homura immediately noticed Kyoko's expression turn upon seeing her Senpai. "Nothing."
"Don't give me nothing!" Mami shouted. "We're companions, so…" She turned to Homura as her voice turned softer. "Why?"
"We…." The dark haired girl started. "Kyoko wanted me to battle her."
Kyoko raised her eyebrow. "Seriously? You think that after all this shit has been happening you just blame it on me? You're the one who has been keeping too many secrets from us!"
"Being the idiot you are of course you would pick a fight with me instead of talking to me about it?"
The redhead's eyes widened before bowing her head in shame, and muttered a 'dammit' under her breath.
Mami strode over to Kyoko, who glanced up at her. "Mami..."
Kyoko felt something clasp over her throat tight and she gasped, a pale and shaking hand clung around her neck.
"Ma..mi.." Kyoko gasped.
Mami held her hand around her kohai's throat and lifted her up; Kyoko dropped her spear and started clawing at Mami's right hand as her grip got tighter.
Homura watched in horror. "Tomoe-san! What are you doing?!"
Kyoko's eyes widened when she heard a crack. "No…" Her hands started to shake, she looked at Mami, whose face was shadowed over in anguish, and she didn't listen the redhead's protests and tightened her grip.
Kyoko opened her mouth but no words came out, her pupils started to dilate and her eyes started to turn white. Her hands dropped to her side.
"Tomoe-san!" Homura shouted.
Mami gasped and immediately dropped Kyoko, whose limp body hit the ground as she desperately fought for breath. She turned around. "You shouldn't have been fighting." Mami stated before walking away.
Homura raced over to Kyoko. "Are you alright?" She asked the panting redhead, who was feeling at the red marks on her neck. "Fine."
Kyoko turned her head to search for Mami, her eyes gave off a saddened aura. "She was so angry that she tried to choke me."
"It's good that magical girls can't die." Homura whispered to herself.
"What?
"Nothing."
Kyoko narrowed her eyes. "You know, this is the very reason I fought you."
"Because I'm keeping too many secrets?"
"Exactly, I can't trust you if I can't know what you're really thinking."
Homura found herself thinking of her past again, her eyes filled with known nostalgia. "If I told you my secrets, you wouldn't believe me anyway." And with that, she stood and walked away from her companion, on the same trail where Mami had headed.
Kyoko stared, before grunting in anger and slamming her fist onto the ground.
"Dammit!"
Mami stood on a hill close to the west of Mitakihara, the sun of dawn casting shadows on her face. The faint breeze swept the bright green grass to the side. Mami's yellow eyes filled with thought.
Why did I try and choke her? She thought to herself, glancing at her right hand, she clenched it. I wasn't that angry, was I?
Mami spotted the figure of a person walking up the hill, she had dark hair and dark violet eyes, and she glared at her.
"Akemi-san." Mami notified. "What are you doing here?"
Homura strode up to her; her icy expression was glaring into her.
"That was very ignorant of you Tomoe-san."
Mami frowned. "What?"
"I've never seen you lose your temper like that before so much to even try to take someone's life before."
The blonde crossed her arms over her chest as Homura walked up beside her, sharing her gaze at the glowing sunrise
"Did I surprise you?" Mami asked.
Homura shook her head. "Not really, it was silent temper. But you going to the very lengths of trying to choke your companion was a surprise, especially since you just stopped Kyoko and I's battle, saying that we're companions so we shouldn't have fought."
The blonde faced her. "You don't know how I feel; you have not killed someone before."
Homura felt rage build up inside of her; she clenched her hands and grits her teeth. "I have." Her voice cracked, before clearing. "I have seen so many magical girls' die that I have lost count. And many of them I have killed." She paused. "….Usually to save them."
"Akemi-san?" Mami said worriedly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Homura replied coldly, before facing her. The blonde frowned.
"You know, Kyoko's right. You do keep too many secrets."
The dark haired girl glared.
"But…" Mami smiled slightly. "I'll respect that, your secrets are probably connected to memories that you do not want to remember."
Homura's eyes widened. "Tomoe-san..." Her eyes softened. "Thank you, very much. I appreciate it."
"You know, I can tell that you've been through much more than me. When I look at your icy cold eyes, I think that they're just a glacier. Inside your cold composure you're just an insecure girl that has been through so much to make her this way." She smiled. "Am I right?"
Homura stared, her expression was bewildered. The ice in her eyes melted away immediately and she felt like crying. But she held back that urge as the coldness returned. "That side of me is gone; I will never go back to how I was."
The dark haired girl lowered her eyelids slightly and frowned, she faced the sunrise. "I can't believe this; I am being looked into by someone who is the most sensitive one of us all."
"Are you saying I'm not strong?" Mami asked accusingly.
"Exactly."
She gasped. "What do you-?"
"I mean that you act strong, but your feelings of loneliness from the past catch up with you when somebody who keeps you company is in danger or away from you for a certain period of time. And if you are faced with the dreaded truth, you lose it. If your anger is triggered you set it on other people but leave them with slight hurt that does not kill them. Silent rage. Just like back then, when you knew that Kyoko and I had a battle, first you were very upset, and then you were angry that we didn't trust you enough. When you went and stopped us from nearly killing each other you let out your silent rage by taking it out on Kyoko, your emotions controlled you enough to nearly kill someone."
Homura crossed her arms across her cream coloured school uniform, leaving Mami stunned by her companion's words.
"How do you..." She breathed. "How do you think you know me so well? We've only known each other for a few months."
"My past concludes that I know a lot more about you and Kyoko even more then you two know about yourselves. Is that clear?"
"Um…" Mami murmured. "Don't you think it's a bit strange that you know more about us than we do?"
"Something that is true is not strange Tomoe-san."
The senior laughed nervously. "I guess you're right, but how do you know all this?"
Homura frowned, the glaciers in her purple eyes stared at the sunrise. "Many months ago, there was a girl who I tried desperately to save, but failed every time, every time I tried I knew more about many magical girls that I didn't know before."
Mami smiled. "Akemi-san, you shouldn't think about your failures, you must have managed to save her one day..." She trailed off.
"Kaname Madoka."
Homura gasped and faced the blonde, who was remembering about the talk with the Reaper. "The Law of Madoka…. The Goddess…" Thoughts faced back to her.
The Law of Madoka…. Reaper
She is my sworn enemy.
Kaname Madoka. Is she your sworn enemy?
"Was it 'her' you were trying to save?"
Homura was stunned.
Mami paused. "Of course, it all makes sense. When the Reaper said that it was the Law of Madoka. You looked so surprised, and then when he kept on mentioning it, you got so angry." She met Homura's eyes. "Am I right?"
Homura couldn't say anything; her eyes were full of anguish but fear that made Mami wonder if that frost had melted because of her words. Homura bit her lip, and turned her head, but that expression remained.
"You are wrong." She lied, clenching her shaking hands. "I have no connection to this 'Madoka'. But I knew about her from a previous world when I battled against her for a grief seed. I am not sure why I have remembered her." One of her hands went up and held onto the pink ribbon in her hair tight. "You're wrong."
Mami frowned. She's lying. She turned. But considering her sudden reaction, I'm going to lay it off for a while, at least until she stables up some more.
The sun rose fully over Mitakihara city, the sky was a pink colour; the light illuminated the two magical girls like they were gods.
But neither of them felt like it.
"Akemi-san?"
Homura forced her head up to look at the teacher, her eyes were worriedly gazing at her. "You don't look so good, would you like to go to the nurses office?"
No matter how tired she was; Homura got herself to smile slightly in gratitude. "No I'm alright, Saotome-sensei."
"You look very pale, and you've been clutching onto your stomach all day, do you have a fever?"
Homura shook her head. It was true, during her fight with Kyoko she had wounds that hadn't healed yet, like that stab mark and broken foot still hadn't healed overnight, which had come as a concern to her, but she went to school anyway. Even if she skipped school to fight wraiths, she wouldn't have been able to anyway in her condition.
"I insist. I'll have the health officer take you there." Saotome-sensei snapped her out of her thoughts.
"The health officer?"
Hitomi walked beside Saotome-sensei, smiling warmly at Homura. "I'll take you to the nurses office."
"No, it's fine." Homura got out of her seat and walked to the door, ignoring the limp in her left foot. "I know where it is."
Hitomi glanced at the stoic girl worriedly. "I'll go after her, Saotome-sensei."
Homura rested herself on the bed of the office, sighing at the relief off her foot. If my foot doesn't heal by tonight I'll be at a major disadvantage. She frowned. Why aren't my wounds healing as fast as usual? It's strange, maybe some of Kyoko's wounds haven't healed yet.
She found herself grinning slightly. It's going to hard to be at school with a bullet mark through her skull and nearly half of her skin torn off her shoulder. Homura sighed.
"But how did I get my guns back?" She asked herself, flexing her hands. "Before I stored them in my shield, now they appear out of nowhere." She frowned. Now I'm questioning my powers. Those wings, how did I attain them in the first place? And that bow and arrow, as well as not having my shield anymore in the first place. It doesn't make any sense-
"Akemi-san!"
Homura snapped out of her thoughts once again to see Hitomi standing at the door, her expression was worried but he voice sounded tired.
"Shizuki-san." Homura said. "What are you doing here?"
"You said that you knew your way, but I wasn't so sure." The emerald haired girl chuckled.
At least she's not nervous around me anymore. Homura thought, relieved. "You can sit down if you want." She gestured to a space on the white sheet beside her.
"Really? Thank you." Hitomi said down daintily, smoothing out her skirt before glancing at Homura, whose eyes softened.
"Akemi-san. What happened?" She asked.
"What do you mean?"
"There are blood spots on your clothes, what did you do?"
Homura looked at her school uniform, Hitomi was right, there were blood spots. Why hadn't she noticed this earlier?
"Last night I was at a hill and I had a fall, a few scrapes and scratches, that's all."
"Would this explain your limp?"
Homura blinked. She can notice? "Yes, I sprained my ankle slightly."
Hitomi eyed Homura for a few seconds before letting out a relieved sigh. "I'm so glad! I thought I was serious."
A smile graced the magical girl's features. "Thank you for worrying, but I'm really fine…" Homura paused when she noticed Hitomi's shocked expression.
Homura followed the green eyed girl's gaze, and found that she was staring at the silver ring on her hand, with had her soul gem embedded inside, and runes that read 'HOMURA' on it.
"Shizuki-san?"
Hitomi jumped at the sound of Homura's voice, and her eyes fell on her, a troubled expression overcame her face. "Akemi-san."
"What is it?" Homura asked.
Hitomi faced away from her, she lowered her eyelids and held her pale hands in her lap. "Akemi-san, I know this is going to sound strange but…"
She clenched her hands together and looked at Homura.
"If you could have any wish in the world, in exchange for fighting these things called demons, what would you wish for?"
A/N: Well that was intense!
I hoped you liked the Kyoko vs. Homura shtick, I hope it's easy to follow and to understand.
And the thing with Hitomi, not giving out spoilers! No way!
Btw I'll be writing a few PMMM oneshots so watch out for them kay?
And I've finally seen the Rebellion movie! Even though I knew what was going to happen the ending was very dissapointing and a big downer, but it was very emotional and intruiging, so I loved it!
Hope you liked this chapter! Catch you next time!
-Otaku4eva99