To make up for the delay last chapter, I managed to get this one out a couple days ahead of schedule, and it's a long one at that, 11k words!
Plus I have another surprise, Axius27, who has been a big help with beta reading since chapter 9 has also been working on a spinoff to Test Subject One which he just recently completed. The spinoff is an idea he mentioned to me a while ago about an alternate escape plan, which I liked so much I was tempted to throw away my own plan for the future of this story and run with his idea. But, ultimately I didn't do that because I'm quite excited about what I already had planned as well. A few weeks later he mentioned that he had started working on his spinoff and I was quite excited about it.
It's now complete and I must say he did a fantastic job on it. So, when you are done reading this chapter and waiting for the next one make sure to go check out Axius27's spin off entitled: "Test Subject One: Ransom"
He managed to stay pretty true to the original characters of this story, but I'll mention that Tsarina (Dr. Endou's daughter) is very different in his story then she is in this one for reasons that will be pretty obvious (mainly because so far in my story she is just a name with a very brief backstory)
Anyway, thank you all for reading and enjoy!
As the labyrinth withered and disappeared, the four girls were all still in their battle stances. Sayaka and Kyoko at the front of the group with their weapons poised, Leiko and Mami behind them as they both typically used ranged attacks.
The GriefSeed clinked as it landed on the ground, impossibly balanced on its tiny metal spike. "That was a tough one." Mami said as she bent down to pick it up "But it looks like it all worked out in the end. Let's all purify our gems now." Kyoko scoffed and folded her arms, it's clear she had something to say. "Is everything alright, Kyoko?" Mami asked.
"Are you seriously suggesting we split a GriefSeed four ways?" Kyoko asked "What's the damn point? That's not going to do anything for any of us."
"Kyoko…" Sayaka said softly, feeling a bit uneasy.
"That is what we agreed on." Mami said sternly "Why do you have a problem with it now?"
Kyoko reached into her back pocket and produced a box of pocky "Look," She said, stuffing one in her mouth and tapping her foot impatiently "This witch hunting stuff is serious business, and we aint running a charity here."
"Charity?" Mami asked.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Kyoko said, looking past Mami and staring right at Leiko.
"If you have something to say… why don't you just come out and say it?" Leiko said dryly.
"I already said it didn't I?" Kyoko spat as she turned around "You were totally useless, and Mami almost seriously got hurt because of you!"
"I used just as much magic as you did during that fight!" Leiko shouted back.
"Yeah, for all the good it did. Half your attacks hit nothing but thin air." She clicked her teeth as she climbed up onto the building's ledge "Whatever, you three go ahead and purify, it's pointless splitting it four ways." Leiko just folded her arms, the light of the waning moon turned the left lense of her glasses into a white orb.
"Kyoko, hang on!" Sayaka said as she reached after her. Kyoko ignored her and jumped over the building top, disapearing before Sayaka made it over there to see where she landed. Sayaka just looked around at the city streets below for a moment, and realized Kyoko was in one of her moods and it would be pointless to try and talk to her for at least a couple hours.
"Whatever, if it's that much of a problem I'll pass too." Leiko said as she turned away "I wouldn't want to be a burden."
"Leiko, hold on, you don't have to do that." Mami said, "Kyoko is just like that sometimes, she doesn't mean it. Besides, you're still new so it's natural you might have a few shortcomings."
"No… she's right. Even when my attacks do land, they barely do any damage. I'm pretty much useless against witches, but that doesn't mean I will allow myself to be a charity case." And with that, she jumped down from the building as well.
Mami sighed and looked over to Sayaka with a smile "Oh well, we'll just have to give the two of them a bigger share next time."
"Actually… I'm going to see if I can find Kyoko. I have a feeling she may have gone to the arcade." Sayaka turned back and returned the smile "I didn't need to use much magic in that fight anyway, so you can keep it. See you tomorrow!" And with that, Sayaka followed suit and disappeared into the night.
Mami frowned as she looked at the unused GriefSeed in her hand, and decided to just save it. Their gems were all in pretty good shape thanks to defeating the Walpurgisnacht earlier that week, so she supposed it was ok to wait for now.
"Kyoko's right, you know." Said a familiar voice, Mami turned around just as the allusive fifth Magical Girl of Mitakihara revealed herself from the shadows.
"Homura, we've barely seen you at all since the battle against Walpurgisnacht. Where have you been?"
Homura shrugged "I've been busy."
"With Madoka?" Mami inquired, then just laughed when Homura responded by clearing her throat "You know, it wouldn't kill you to take some credit for your own good deeds. I was a little disappointed you didn't come celebrate with us after our victory."
"I didn't see much point. It's not as if our war had ended just because of that one victory…" She looked over the horizon and a gust of wind blew her silky black hair "The future is uncertain now, we all have to stay on our guards."
"Homura? Are you alright?" Mami asked "You're acting a bit dramatic, even more so than normal." Mami smiled a bit, trying to lighten the mood, but Homura ignored her statement.
She turned back to Mami and said "I don't know why you have invited a fourth member into your group, but I hope it is because you saw some kind of potential in her, and I hope it is not as Kyoko said and you are simply being charitable. No one will benefit from that."
Mami folded her arms, suddenly remembering why she and Homura didn't get along at first. Although, over the last couple months Homura had proven she usually had the best interests of the others in mind, even when it didn't seem like it. So, Mami had learned to cut her some slack. "We may not have completely gotten use to fighting as a team, but I'm sure it will all iron itself out in time. Keep in mind, both Sayaka and Leiko are relatively new to this whole Magical Girl thing, but they can only improve."
Homura nodded "Keep them safe, Mami." she said as her hand grabbed onto her gear shield "I'm counting on you." And in the blink of an eye, Homura disappeared.
As Leiko suspected, she was only invited to the breakfast table because her father wanted to bother her with some annoying complaints and questions about how her studies were going. Apparently one of her tutors who she had been ignoring contacted her father, which prompted this little interrogation.
"Mr. Suzuki says he's worried your concentration is slipping, Leiko." Her father said, holding a newspaper with one hand, and using the other hand to feed himself. Leiko just shrugged her shoulders in response without so much as lifting her eyes from her plate as she ate. Her older sister cautiously looked back and forth between the two of them, no doubt one idiotic thought or another was going through her head at the moment, but Leiko paid neither her or her father any mind as she continued to eat. Her sister, Mikoko, could be quite annoying most of the time, but at least when their father was present she tended to keep her mouth shut. "You did well on last semester's exams, but don't think that means you have room to start slipping now."
"I scored perfectly on last semester's exams," Leiko corrected him "This semester will be the same, I assure you."
Her father looked up at her with a raised eyebrow for a moment, but she didn't return the look. He then looked back to his newspaper and said "If that's the case, then why is it Mr. Suzuki expressing concerns this semester." Leiko just shrugged once again.
Finally, her sister decided to chime in "It's your boyfriend right?" She laughed "Don't make the mistake of getting too caught up with relationships. Especially at your age, it almost never lasts so it's not really worth it, you know? Trust me, been there done that. By the way, when are you going to bring him over? I've been dying too…"
"We broke up." Leiko said simply, cutting her sister off before she had to listen to her any longer. To cover for what she had actually been doing these last few weeks she had lied and said she was spending time with a boyfriend. Since she decided to abandon the group, she no longer needed a lie to cover for where she has been.
Her father cleared his throat, bringing the conversation back on topic "About your studies…" He said sternly enough, though his attention didn't falter from the newspaper for even a moment "I need an answer as to why I'm getting calls from your tutors…"
"Father." Leiko said, cutting him off as well "You are wasting your money on them. I've already surpassed them in every way, and even if I haven't, I don't really need them one way or another. I study much better on my own, I always have." Her sister rolled her eyes, and her father set down his newspaper.
"You have a gift, Leiko." Her father said, actually looking at his daughter this time "I don't want to see you waste it, and whether you need your tutors or not, you still need to learn to work with others in a professional situation. Your intelligence is useless if you can't work with your bosses and coworkers or present your ideas in a professional manner."
"Whatever." Leiko said, stabbing her fork into the last of her breakfast and stuffing it into her mouth "Can I go now?" She got up without waiting for her father's response then started walking away.
"I give you a lot of freedom, Leiko, but If you start slipping there are going to be some changes around here!" Her father called after her "Do you understand?"
"Yes, father." She said as she left the dining room.
She retreated back to her bedroom and went right for her computer. She loaded up the program that allowed her to listen in on Mami's apartment, then turned the volume up. She didn't hear any talking, but could barely make out the sound of Mami humming, and she could also hear a clinking sound. Perhaps she was in the kitchen? She was about to open her GPS hack to check everyone's locations when she heard a knock on her door, and she quickly closed out of the program. "What?" She called, then the door opened and her sister came in.
"Soooo, hows my genius little sister doing?" She asked as she came in and plopped her back down on Leiko's bed.
Leiko turned around in her chair and adjusted her glasses "I didn't say you could come in."
Mikoko scoffed "Geeze, why are you always like that?" She stretched her arms out as she sat up on the side of the bed, then got up and started walking around the room and looking at things. Leiko just stared at her with a blank expression. "You know, we should really start hanging out once in awhile. Oh, your hair looks great by the way, who did it?"
Leiko played with the idea of saying she got it done at a shop, but she knew her sister would never believe she of all people decided to go to a beauty salon on a whim "A friend."
"A friend?" Mikoko with a grin "So, turns out you are a normal human being after all, I use to worry."
Leiko frowned "I guess." and she turned back to her computer and tried to think of something to make herself busy with. She couldn't do anything hacking related while her sister was in the room, so she pulled up an old thesis from a class over a year ago she had written and started looking over it. "So did you want something?"
"Not really." Mikoko said, looking over Leiko's bookshelf "You've just been really distant lately, even more so than normal, I'm just trying to connect with my little sister is all."
"Whatever." Leiko said, dryly.
"So, what do you do when you're out with your friends? Do you go to the mall or something?"
"Not really."
"Well then what?"
"Actually, I'm trying to help someone escape from a secret government research facility that she was kidnapped and taken to because she has magical powers. I'm the hacker in the group."
Mikoko looked away from the bookshelf and stared at Leiko with a blank expression "God, you're so weird. What's that from an anime or something?" Then she walked over to Leiko and put an arm over her shoulder which warranted Leiko frowning deeply in an annoyed expression "I have an idea, how about you stop doing whatever it is you are pretending to do on this computer and go to the mall with ME." She laughed "You're old enough now it won't feel weird taking you places like that."
"I'll pass…"
"Come on, seriously we never hang out."
Leiko suddenly shook away from her from her sister and knocked her arm away as she stood "I said, I'll pass." then she started storming out of the room.
"Hey! What's your problem? I'm trying to be nice to you!"
Standing in the doorway, Leiko turned her head slightly so she could look at Mikoko through the corner of her eye "You're my problem." Mikoko just stood there with a stunned expression as Leiko disappeared down the hall.
'Yeah, you're my problem. Because you're a needy bitch who is jealous because daddy doesn't pay her enough attention. And because last time we 'hung out' you ended up ruining my life.' She couldn't explain that to Mikoko though, because thanks to a certain wish, not Mikoko nor anyone else in the world would have any recollection of that idiotic prank anymore.
"Whatever! Weirdo!" Mikoko hollard after her, but Leiko paid her no mind.
Leiko decided she would go out for the day, she wasn't sure where she would go yet, but with Mikoko around she wouldn't be able to get anything done anyway. She had her cellphone modified with her GPS hack so that was at least something.
She had pinged Kaiji somewhere in Kazamino city earlier that day, which she didn't worry too much about. As far as she knew, there would be nothing for him to find there other than maybe verifying Kyoko's name which is information he already had. She walked out her front door and saw that Kaiji was now back in Mitakihara town. She then checked up on Mami and Sayaka and saw that they were both in Mami's apartment, Madoka was at her own house. She couldn't track Kyoko, however, because Kyoko never carried a cell phone. She was likely on her way to the lab right about now, though.
Leiko didn't trust her cell phone's security enough to intercept emails with it. With her magic, it could be done, but it's a risk she didn't want to take. She would have to go find a public computer with no cameras around it if she wanted to do something like that.
As she left the front door of her house, she started searching for a nearby cab that could pick her up, which she was planning to pay for with stolen funds and under a false name.
Sayaka couldn't stand pacing around Mami's apartment anymore and just waiting. Since Leiko had bailed on them, they had no way of tracking Kyoko's progress like they normally could. They also wouldn't be able to see any emails from amongst the lab staffs, and would be totally in the dark if Kyoko had been found out and captured.
Sayaka reached into Kyoko's bag of apples and pulled one out, noting that there were only a few left. I just bought those for her today, Sayaka thought, frowning slightly as she used her sleeve to polish the one she was holding. She decided she needed an excuse to go stretch her legs, rather than just sitting around anxiously, so she looked over to Mami and said "I'm going to make a run to the store, do you need anything?"
"I think I'm running low on sugar." Mami said, she was sitting at her coffee table, drinking a cup of tea while Sayaka had been pacing around "If you wouldn't mind picking some up for me."
"Sure, no problem." Sayaka said with a smile, passively thinking she knew who's fault it was Mami was out of sugar. "Well, I'll be back soon."
She left Mami's apartment and ate the apple as she walked down the street. Apples were cheaper at the supermarket, but Kyoko was really particular about that one specific store for some reason. Sayaka once pointed out how foolish it was for her to have gotten caught stealing from, and then banned from, a store she liked so much. Sayaka honestly didn't see what the difference was, an apple was an apple to her, but she supposed Kyoko's passion for food was oddly one of the things she liked about her.
She finished the apple as she was approaching the store, and tossed its core into a garbage can just outside the door. There was a man approaching the store just as she was and she held the door open for him. "Thank you, miss." He said as he entered.
"You're welcome." She said with a smile and followed him in. He was tall and looked to be in his early thirties. He had shaggy brown hair, and wore glasses and a tan trenchcoat which road down to just below his knees. Sayaka vaguely thought he looked like he could be a scientist or a college professor or something.
She went right to the produce section and unfolded one of the paper bags they had stacked nearby, then started selecting apples from the nearly endless pile that was before her. The scientist looking guy went right to the front counter and started talking to the store clerk.
"Excuse me, could I have a moment of your time?" He asked.
"Sure, what is it?" The clerk asked as he folded the magazine he had been reading.
"This might sound strange, but I'm looking for my niece. She ran away from home a while ago and I have reason to believe she might have come here."
"Hm, you got a picture or something?" The clerk asked.
"Unfortunately no." The man said "But I can describe her, she is a bit unusual so you may have noticed her. She's fourteen years old, and she has long crimson red hair which she always has tied back into a ponytail."
Sayaka hummed as she selected apples and placed them in her bag, but when she heard that, she gasped. Her grip on the bag tightened, causing it to loose its form and spill a few apples out, which dropped to the floor and rolled over to the scientist looking guy.
"Hey! you have to buy those now!" The clerk said, pointing over to her and momentarily getting distracted from his conversation.
"O-oh! Sure, no problem! Sorry about that!" Sayaka said, laughing awkwardly as she went to retrieve them. She bent over and picked up two of them, one had rolled right under the scientist's feet and he kneeled down to grab it and hand it to her.
They made direct eye contact and he smiled as he passed it off to her "Here you go." he said.
Sayaka's face was flushed and she tried to return the smile, but it just came off awkwardly. "T-thank you!" she said as she took the apple from him, then quickly turned away and went back to selecting fruit.
Kaiji rubbed his chin for a moment after the blue haired girl turned away from him, thinking that she seemed kind of strange. He pondered this as he watched her go back to perusing the shelves, then the clerk said "So your niece has a red pony tail? You might be in luck, I actually think I have seen someone like that in here." Kaiji instantly forgot about the odd blue haired girl and turned back to the clerk.
"You have?" He asked.
"Yeah, turns out we actually caught her stealing from us a few weeks back. It wasn't the first time either, we had just finally managed to catch her." He pointed up to a camera that was stationed on the wall behind his counter "After installing that, anyway."
Kaiji's heart jumped, he couldn't believe the break he had just caught! "So… you've got footage of her coming into this store?"
The clerk nodded and folded his arms "Look, I'm not real interested in filing a police report, they never make any progress with this kind of stuff anyway. If it was your niece, though, she has stolen at least five thousand yen worth of merchandise before we managed to catch her. On top of that, she knocked over one of our shelves and made a run for it when we DID catch her."
Kaiji nodded apologetically "I'm so sorry about that…" He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet then looked through it "Here, I'll pay for the merchandise and the damages, do you think ten thousand would cover it?"
The clerk smiled and nodded his head agreeably "Sure, that'll cover it."
"One condition though." Kaiji said "If you have footage of her coming into the store, or even committing the crime, I'd like to see that first. Just to make sure it is indeed my niece we are talking about."
The clerked scratched the side of his head "Yeah, I think we saved the tape… it's somewhere in the back." He sighed and looked over the store, the blue haired girl was the only other customer in at the moment and she was still meticulously perusing the shelves. The clerk stuck his head into the back room "Hey Yui! Come cover the front, I need to do something real quick."
"Sure!" A female voice called back.
"Alright, come with me." The clerk said to Kaiji as he led him into the back room "I got the tape back here somewhere, but it might take me a few minutes to find it."
As Kaiji followed him into the back room he glanced back at the blue haired girl. She had been staring at him, but her head shot right back down when they made eye contact. Strange, he thought.
"Alright, showtime." Kyoko said to herself, as she adjusted her glasses and checked that the GriefSeed was still securely stuffed in her coat pocket. She picked up her 'Dr. Sakura hand bag', paid the cab fare and then stepped out. She then walked through the parking lot to the front of the building.
It looked ordinary enough from the outside, just a white building with glass windows and a parking lot full of cars. The only thing slightly abnormal is that there were a few guards patrolling around its perimeter. Even inside the building wouldn't hint to what was actually going on in there. It wasn't until going down the elevator, to the secret part of the facility, that this place would begin to seem more sinister.
She made eye contact with one of the guards she passed by, and tried to read his expression; looking for any hint that she might be walking into a trap. The guard gave her a perfectly normal smile and a wave, and she gave a friendly smile in return. If this was a trap, that guard likely wasn't any part of it anyway, he was just normal security after all. If they had uncovered her identity and were trying to lure her in, there likely would be no sign of it until she was underground. The trick was, she had to figure that out before stepping past one of the metal doors, because once she made it that far, it would be too late to bail.
She didn't know how they possibly would have figured it out, unless Homura really did sell her out, but she thought there was no way that could have happened. Therefore, she wasn't too worried. Still, the fact that they had somehow uncovered the name 'Kyoko Sakura' was a bit disturbing, and she would be lying if she said it didn't make her feel just a little paranoid. She had to lie to Sayaka, however, and convince her that she wasn't worried. She didn't want to unnecessarily make Sayaka any more scared then Kyoko knew she already was.
She went through the process of checking with this guard and that guard, and giving her name here and there before eventually being led to the elevator which had two guards standing on either side of it. So far everyone had seemed normal enough, no unusual nervousness, and no one said anything strange.
"Dr. Sakura." One of them said as he gestured into the elevator to bide her forward, after she spent a moment too long just staring at them "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, just fine." She said with a smile, deciding that this guard was not hiding anything either "I was just lost in thought for a moment is all." She stepped into the elevator, and the guard followed her in. The door shut behind them.
"Can't blame you for that. Especially not around this place." The guard said with a laugh as the elevator started to whir and move downward "I've been here for over a year and I still have no idea what the heck's going on down there. Can't ask questions though, that's against protocol." He winked.
Kyoko just put on a closed lip smile and nodded.
The elevator made a hissing sound as it slowed to a stop and the door slid open. There were three more guards waiting on the other side of it, and Kyoko felt her heart skip a beat when one of them stepped forward. It was just her paranoia getting the better of her. "Right this way, Dr. Sakura." The new guard said, he was the same guard who escorted her to Dr. Endou's office on her first visit here. The elevator guard stayed behind, and the door shut in front of him before the elevator started moving back to the top.
The guard led her to the first of the metal doors that she would have to go through, before she would make it to Homura. The two other guards filed in behind her, to her left and to her right, and suddenly she felt surrounded. She swallowed, feeling like things were moving too fast and she didn't have time to make a judgment on how safe this actually was. Once that door opened, and she stepped through it, there would be no turning back.
"So, you'll be my escort again?" Kyoko asked the guard who was leading her.
He turned to her with a friendly smile "Yes mam."
"Will I be going directly to Subject One's room today?"
"Dr. Endou asked that you go speak with him in his office first."
"Oh, why is that?"
"I don't know, but we'll be leading you to Subject One as soon as you are done."
"Very well." Kyoko said as the door the slid open. That short conversation was all she needed. Her skill was in enchantments, and enchanting is the skill of changing things. Or another way to put it: changing the truth of what something was. A lie is a non magical form of enchanting, and therefore she was very keen on picking up lies. She did not see any deceit in this guard during that short conversation, so, she followed him in. He led her down the hallway with one other guard sticking close behind her.
A few more metal doors, and a few white hallways later, Kyoko was standing at the familiar door of Dr. Endou's office.
The main escort tilted his head towards his walkie talkie and said "Dr. Endou, Sakura has arrived." Kyoko very faintly heard a voice come in through the guard's earpiece and then he opened the door for her "You can go in."
Kyoko walked into that familiar room, which was the only 'normal' looking area of this entire underground lab.
"Dr. Sakura, please take a seat." Endou said from behind his desk "How are you doing today?"
"Just fine, and yourself?"
"Fine." Endou stared at her with an expressionless face, like someone sitting at a poker table.
Kyoko eventually cleared her throat and said "You wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes, I just had some concerns I wanted to address with you. First of all, considering Homura attacked you last time, I'm thinking it might be better for you to meet with her under more secure conditions today."
"More secure conditions meaning what?" Kyoko asked, crossing her legs and adjusting her glasses in the manner of a cultured professional.
"We can arrange for a meeting behind glass. That way she won't be able to reach you and bring any harm to you again."
"I don't think that will happen." Kyoko responded right away "Besides, I don't think I was ever in any real danger in the first place. She didn't want to hurt me, it was just a bluff she used as an escape method."
"You seem quite sure of that." Endou said with a hint of suspicion in his voice, it made Kyoko a bit worried, but she had to brush it off and assure herself that if anything was going to happen it would have happened already. For now, she had to make sure she got her usual face to face meeting with Homura so she could slip her the GriefSeed. Otherwise, the whole plan would be a bust.
"As I said before, I can't do my work properly if it's not a personal face to face meeting. You may not understand this, but Homura is in need of a friend and if I meet with those kinds of limitations it will entirely defeat the purpose of me being here. I would be just like..." She acted as though she wanted to be cautious, even though she actually had no problem with saying what she was about to say "She would view me as being no different than one of you."
"One of us?" Endou asked.
"I'm sure it's an understandable sentiment."
Endou seemed to accept this, and continued "I have other concerns." He said as he folded his hands together and leaned forward "Homura has been acting rather strange lately."
"Strange how?"
"She seems paranoid, she is convinced we have been trying to drug her, and has gone so far as to refuse eating. Mrs. Sakura, you have known Homura for a shorter time than me, and although I don't doubt your professional opinions there are two things I do know about Homura that you should understand as well. First, she is not entirely rational, and she has proven to be quite unpredictable. More than that, she is manipulative, she may act friendly with you but I suspect it might be a ploy to use you in some kind of an escape attempt. I think the incident the other day proves this sentiment."
"If you are worried she will try and take me hostage again, I sincerely doubt that will be a problem. It didn't work last time, so why would she try it again and risk having our meetings discontinued? Furthermore, I think your impressions of Homura are all wrong. She is a fourteen year old girl who has been thrown into a bad situation. She is scared, and she wants to go home, it's only natural that she would try something rash like that." Kyoko took a deep breath, she felt her pulse quickening and reminded herself to control her anger. Kyoko Sakura would have plenty of choice words to say to this monster who has imprisoned her friend, and is now sitting there talking about it carelessly as if he were doing nothing wrong. She had to stay in character though, and speak as Kay Sakura. "You said she seems to be becoming paranoid, is there anything that happened in the last couple days that may have prompted that?" Kyoko already knew the answer, but of course she couldn't say anything about it.
"We simply tried to give her some vitamin supplements, which she refused to take. Ever since then, she seems convinced that we are trying to sneak drugs into her food. I'll wait for your professional opinion on this, but I suspect there's another reason for this."
"What?"
"I suspect it's all an act. Homura is only fourteen years old, but I'm sure we can both agree she is quite clever. She want's to escape, which is understandable, but we can not allow it. She has already tried achieving this through violent means, which have failed. I suspect that this latest issue with her is another ruse, I just haven't figured out exactly what she hopes to accomplish yet."
Kyoko had to once again remind herself to keep cool. She knew he was lying, even without the insider information from Leiko. Enchantments were her specialty, and she could see the lies written all over his face. She simply said "I'll see if I can get to the bottom of whatever this is. Paranoia is not totally unexpected in her situation, however. From my first meeting with her she has shown obvious signs of PTSD, it's possible that her not eating is simply a symptom of that. It would also explain her general disinterest in the things around her, as well as perceiving something like vitamins as a threat. On the bright side, she seems to have self therapised herself through her artwork on some level. I'll continue using this as a method of reaching her and making a connection." She threw that last part in to lessen any suspicion about her and Homura drawing pictures back and forth to each other.
Kyoko cleared her throat "Anyway, can I go see her now?"
"You are still adamant about a face to face meeting?" Endou asked "I would once again like to highly advise against it." He leaned forward "Whatever you may think, keep this in mind: Homura IS dangerous."
'Damn right she is.' Kyoko thought 'You have no idea how lucky you are that there are at least three metal doors between you and her.'
Instead, she said "I told you I understand the dangers. And as I explained, if I don't meet with her face to face then there is absolutely no point of me being here." Then she smiled "Just give me more time with her, and take my suggestions. I'm sure we can get her to a point where she is more comfortable and willing to work you. You have to treat her well, though. She is a prideful young girl, and she needs to feel as though she is being treated with a certain level of respect." Kyoko's eye's narrowed "Trying to put a collar on her, for example, is definitely-" 'going to piss her off' is what Kyoko almost said, but she bit her tongue and instead said "definitely… going to cause her to lash out."
Endou's lips curled up in what Kyoko guessed was meant to be a smile, but this man was clearly incapable of something like that "I'm sure some mistakes have been made in the past, but we can try to make some adjustments."
Kyoko nodded simply "Well then, are we done here for now?"
"Yes." Endou said, then pushed a button on his computer "Homura, Dr. Sakura will be coming in shortly." Then he turned back to Kyoko and said "The guards will escort you to her room."
"Alright, this should be the one." The clerk said and he retrieved a cassette tape from a box "Sorry that took so long."
"Not at all, I appreciate you doing this for me." Kaiji said. The back room was more like a small office, complete with a desk which was littered with paperwork and a small filing cabinet. There was a miniature TV with a tape port on it's face, set at the far end of the desk. Currently, it was tuned to a gameshow, in which there was a middle aged contestant who was cheering for himself after answering a question correctly. The clerk turned it to the side so that Kaiji would be able to see it, and he inserted the tape. The gameshow was instantly replaced by an image of the front of the store.
The clerk pressed fast forward "I think she came by sometime in the afternoon. Since the footage starts a little after we opened, it might take a while." Kaiji nodded and watched. "So, how long has she been missing anyway?"
"A little over a month." Kaiji answered passively.
"Well, if it's any solace, she looked clean and everything, not like she has been living on the streets or anything like that. So, she must have found a place to stay."
Kaiji nodded as he watched the sped up version of the day's events. Customers coming in and out in fast motion, the girl who was currently tending the front sweeping, and the clerk had apparently spent most of that day looking at a magazine from behind the counter.
Then, a blot of red walked into the store and the clerk hit the pause button. "Alright, there she is." He said. Kaiji leaned forward to get a better look. From this angle he couldn't see her face, but her hairstyle was indeed identical to Kay Sakura's. The only difference was the casual clothing compared to the professional clothing Kay normally wore, and the obvious fact that this was a fourteen year old girl and Kay was a grown woman. Kaiji didn't have an explanation for this, but he at least knew for sure he had finally found Kyoko Sakura.
Being the rational thinker that he was, he partly told himself that their similarities in appearance was a coincidence. Although, there was still that other side of himself that had abandoned rationally after the strangeness of the last few days, and the obvious fact that there was SOME connection between Kay Sakura and Kyoko Sakura. It meant something, he just didn't know what it could be yet.
"So, is that your niece or isn't it?" The clerk asked, after becoming impatient with how long Kaiji was taking.
"It could be, I'm not sure yet."
"You can't tell?" The clerk asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Please, continue the video."
"Well… ok then."
The video started again. Kyoko turned down the first aisle, without facing the camera. The store clerk set down his magazine and leaned over the counter, watching the girl suspiciously. Kyoko snatched something off one of the shelves and stuffed it in her hoodie pocket. She then went right for the bin of apples which the odd blue haired girl had been perusing.
The clerk slowly got up from his seat, and walked around the counter with careful footsteps, intending to sneak up on the girl who still had her back facing the camera. The clerk put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned around with a half full bag of apples cradled in her arm. Unfortunately, the clerk was now standing between her and the camera so Kaiji still could not see her face.
"Right about here I'm asking if she was planning to pay for that candy bar I saw her stuff in her pocket." The clerk explained "She says 'Of course, I just knew my hands were going to be full so I put it in my pocket'. Then I explain to her that the other day when Yui was tending the store, she saw a girl with a red ponytail walk out with a bag of apples she didn't pay for. She says to me 'So what exactly are you accusing me of? That wasn't me! Hand's off!', or something like that, at which point I just tell her to come in the back with me so we can let the police sort things out. After that… well."
Kaiji watched as Kyoko then pushed past the store clerk with the apples still securely cradled in her arms. Her head was down as she pushed past him, and he started to chase after her. There was a circular shelf that Kyoko got her hand on and knocked over, blocking the clerks path. Once she made it to the front door, she turned around and said something to the clerk and Kaiji could finally see her face. His mouth dropped wide open.
The clerk paused the tape "Right there she says… well, I'm not going to repeat it, but that niece of yours has got quite a mouth on her. She must be handfull." The clerk raised an eyebrow at Kaiji's shocked expression, he seemed completely lost for words "Hey, you ok?"
Kaiji shook himself out of it "Yes… Yes, I'm fine. Just feeling disappointed in her is all." He then sighed and said "You're right, she really is a handful. She has had a rough life, though."
"My sympathies." The clerk said, although his tone didn't sound very sincere.
Kaiji stood up and pulled his wallet from his back pocket and retrieved a few bills "Here is the ten thousand for the trouble my niece has caused you, do you think I could also keep that video tape?"
The clerk scratched the side of his face "Well, I mean, like I said I'm not too interested in filing a police report, but if she does come back I would like some evidence to prove my story, just incase."
Kaiji picked up a pen that was on the desk and a scrap piece of paper "Can I write on this?"
"Sure."
"Ok then, how about if I give you my phone number? If she does show up again, or cause you any problems at all, you can let me know. Could I take the tape then?"
The clerk suddenly looked at him suspiciously, but Kaiji quickly explained himself "I want to bring it to the detective that has been trying to help me find her. So he has a recent photo to go by."
"Oh I see… well, sure then I guess it's alright." The clerk said as he removed the tape and handed it over to Kaiji.
"Again, thank you so much for everything." Kaiji said "If you do happen to see her, please don't hesitate to call me."
"Sure thing." The clerk said.
Kaiji let himself out of the store, and walked around to the parking lot at it's side. He got to his car and just leaned his back against it, his mind was suddenly spinning. He looked up at the sky, trying to make sense of what he had just seen.
Kay Sakura and Kyoko Sakura didn't just have similar haircuts, and they didn't just have similar names. Their faces were identical. Not just similar, but identical! Not like Kyoko could be Kay's niece or daughter, but more like he had just seen a video of Kay from fifteen years ago.
He wiped his brow, and then got into his car. If Homura had the ability to teleport, destroy a room in an instant, and see into the future, then he supposed anything was possible. He was now revisiting his initial theory about Kay Sakura, the one that he had brushed off because it just sounded way too crazy. He needed just a little more proof, though, and he thought he knew where to find it.
He pulled out his cellphone and found a local directory, then searched for the family name: 'Kaname'.
The door behind Kyoko hissed as it closed shut, leaving her two 'escorts' behind. For a moment, she was standing in a small space between two doors before the one in front of her slid open and revealed the familiar room her friend had been trapped in for the last three weeks.
Kyoko walked in and gave Homura a smile "Hello Homura, it's good to see you again." She spoke in the character of Dr. Sakura.
Homura was sitting, just staring down at the table with her long black hair creating a curtain over her face. Then, her head slowly moved up and she looked at Kyoko with a distant unrecognizable expression. She looked really bad, her face was pale, and her eyes were dark and heavy. She seemed out of focus. "Homura, are you ok?" Kyoko asked, rushing over to her.
"Kay…" Homura said with a soft voice, then her eyes diverted away to stare at the wall instead, as if she were deep in thought.
Kyoko stood beside her and put a hand on her shoulder "Hey, what's going on? You don't seem yourself. Here, tell me about it."
"You have to get me out of here… they…" Homura's eyes shot over to one of the cameras for a moment, then she looked back to Kyoko and lowered her voice "They're trying to drug me. They already did, but I had to… to…" Her eyes shifted around, trying to think of the right way to put it "I spat it back up."
Kyoko swallowed, thinking how to respond. She had to remain in character, Endou mentioned that Homura 'thought' they were drugging her, but it was only paranoia. Kyoko was more inclined to believe Homura's side of the story, but would Dr. Sakura have the same reaction? She pulled over a chair and sat down "What makes you think that?"
"I know!" Homura shouted, Kyoko could see it in her eyes, she definitely wasn't her normal self. "Everything became strange, more colorful, and funny. Whatever it is, they put it in my food… I haven't been eating much, as little as possible, and only things I don't think they could have altered." She shook her head "I don't know what to do." Her eyes became intense "They're messing with me! I think they are trying to make me look crazy. Why would they do that?"
Kyoko cleared her throat, trying her best to stay in character "Dr. Endou mentioned your fears to me. He assured me that they haven't done anything like that."
"Dr. Endou?" A smile touched the corner of Homura's lips, then she lowered her voice until it became deep and monotone "Does he talk like this." She said in a comedic fashion, then she started laughing. Kyoko's eye's widened, and her heart started pounding. There was no doubt about, something was REALLY wrong with Homura right now.
"Homura, look at me. Let me see your eyes." Kyoko said. Homura snapped out of her laughing fit and became very serious "Good, here, follow my finger." Kyoko asked, and started moving her finger back and forth in front of Homura's field of vision. She didn't actually know what she was doing, but she had the idea that this is something a doctor could do to determine if someone was under the influence.
"I tried the cola," Homura explained as her eyes glided back and forth, watching Kyoko's finger "I thought since it was in a bottle it would be ok, I only took a little bit though. I puked that up too, but a little still got in my system I think." Her eyes quickly shifted back to the camera.
"Homura, pay attention to me."
Homura obeyed the request, and looked back to Kyoko. She lowered her voice "I shouldn't let them know that." She spoke in almost a whisper "They get mad if I don't eat."
"Listen," Kyoko said softly, and took Homura's hand into her own "As soon as our appointment is done, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. They are not going to hurt you, I assure you that."
"You believe me, RIGHT KAY?" Homura leaned forward, and a knowing smile appeared on her face which looked past the facade of Kay Sakura, and shared a joke with Kyoko. Kyoko wasn't in much of a joking mood though; she was horrified.
"Of course I do." Kyoko said softly, narrowing her eyes enough to try and remind the delusional Homura that she had to stay in character. She lifted a hand and brushed a loose string of hair away from Homura's face "There's nothing I can do right this second, but I promise I'm going to help you. Ok? But for now, lets just continue our meeting like normal."
Homura smiled and put a hand over her heart "My heart is all full of blackness." She was asking for a GriefSeed, but she was failing to conceal the message as cleverly as she had in the past.
Kyoko just nodded once, as that was the best way she could think to answer in the affirmative. To Endou or anyone else who was watching, the nod would look like she just didn't know how to respond to such an odd statement, but the smile that hit Homura's lips showed that she got the message.
Kyoko was really worried about the plan now. First of all, she had no idea how this delusional out-of-sorts Homura would react when she started with her enchanted writing trick. She needed Homura to be her normal clever self to pull off the act, without it being obvious something was going on. More than that, if this is how Homura was, was she in any condition to deal with a witch once the GriefSeed had hatched? At least she knew Homura hadn't given away her identity, if this had been a trap they would have sprung it on her by now.
Kyoko noticed Homura's notebook on the other side of the table. It was open, and there was a drawing of a flower inside it. "Is that a new drawing?" Kyoko asked "Can I see it?"
Homura's hand instantly shot over to it, and her eyes widened almost fearfully. She shook her head as she slid the notebook back to herself and hid it under the table. Kyoko just looked at her curiously. "No." Homura said, as she returned the now closed notebook to the table top "You won't like that one." She looked at Kyoko with a dreadfully serious look in her eyes, her voice lowered back to a whisper as if she was telling some dirty secret, and all the while a smile cracked across her pale face "That's a scary picture."
Kyoko nodded, her own eyes widening as she saw the disturbed look in Homura's eyes, and the frightening way she was smiling. "Ok." She said as softly as she could "You don't have to show it to me if you don't want to." She swallowed and looked around the room "Hey, I have an idea. How about instead of that picture, you draw a new one for me right now? Does that sound like fun?" Kyoko got up without waiting for Homura's answer. "You keep your drawing supplies over here, right?" She asked as she opened the drawer she saw Homura get her pencils out of before "Maybe I can draw something for you as well."
"You're a lousy artist, though." Homura said with a laugh.
"Oh? And how would you know that?" Kyoko said, looking back towards Homura and narrowing her eyes, trying to remind her that she was Kay Sakura, not Kyoko, and Homura should have no idea whether Kay could draw or not. Homura suddenly looked surprised and put a finger over her lip, obviously getting that she had slipped, but at the same time finding it amusing.
'God.' Kyoko thought 'If we get out of this, I swear I'll start coming back to church every sunday, and I'll never steal anything ever again!'
Kyoko found the box of colored pencils and a fresh notebook, then brought them over to the table. "Alright, why don't I go ahead and draw something for you first?" She picked out a black pencil and started writing with it, all the while using her magic to enchant the page and make it seem that she was drawing something. None of the scientists would be able to pick up that something was going on, but Homura - even in her delusional state - was more in tune with magic and knew Kyoko was up to something. She watched curiously as Kyoko drew a picture of a cat's face.
Kyoko was never a good artist in the first place, but she made the fake enchanted drawing even worse than her normal skill level. The problem is Homura actually was a good artist, and the scientists might be aware of that, if Homura's skill dropped to being as equally bad as Kyoko's it might rouse suspicion.
"Ok, what do you think?" Kyoko said with a smile as she turned the page over to face Homura, and disenchanted it for Homura's eyes only.
She had written 'Please stay in character! I'm using enchantments - write back so we can talk - I'll hide it.'
Homura stared at the page dumbfounded, then slowly looked back up at Kyoko. Kyoko's heart was racing as she mentally begged for Homura to not do anything stupid. Homura smiled "I could tell you would be a bad artist, Kay. Sciency people are never good at art."
Kyoko smiled, thanking the heavens above that it turned out Homura wasn't completely out of it. "Oh, come on. I'm not that bad am I?"
Homura grinned "I'll show you how to draw a cat." She took the black pencil from Kyoko and started writing out her own message, which Kyoko started enchanting as soon as the pencil touched down. She tried her best to make this enchantment look nicer, it still likely wouldn't be on par with Homura's normal ability, but it would at least looked a lot better than the one she had drawn.
'I need a GriefSeed, really badly. I'm in trouble. NEED TO GET OUT!'
"See?" Homura said as she finished, and passed the notebook back.
"Ok, ok, I already knew you were a good artist." Kyoko smiled "How about a dog?" And she started working on her next message.
"Mami you're not going to believe what just happened." Sayaka said into her cellphone. She was perched atop the store she was just in, dressed in her full Magical Girl attire. Her long white cape blowing in the wind as she watched the scientist get into his car.
"What? You sound stressed, is everything ok?"
"No! Everything's not ok! I just came across a guy who was asking questions about Kyoko; I think he is one of them."
"What? He was asking you questions?"
"No, no! In the store I was in, the one Kyoko got banned from. The one that has VIDEO of her stealing from them. I think they just showed that video to him."
"You're sure this guy is from the lab?"
"Yeah, I mean, pretty sure. He said he was looking for his niece, and I'm pretty damn sure Kyoko doesn't have an uncle!"
"Where is he now is he still in the store? And where are you?"
"He just left the store, he's getting into a car. I'm hiding out on a rooftop, I'm going to try my best to tail him, but he's in a car so I don't know how well it's going to go." She took a quick look around the city "It's the middle of the day, so maybe traffic will help me out a bit."
"Ok, do your best with that… I'll… well, I'll try and get in contact with Leiko again, she seems pretty adamant about ignoring us right now though."
"Yeah, I'm not so sure about Leiko, to be honest with you."
"What do you mean?"
"Well… Nevermind, I shouldn't jump to conclusions. For now I'll just keep following this guy. I'll keep you updated."
"Ok, and Sayaka do I need to state the obvious? Don't let him see you, especially not while you are using magic, ok?"
"Come on, of course I know that."
"I'm just saying, that store has video of you as well now, and they would have no trouble tracking you down if you gave them a reason to. So be careful. Even if it means losing his trail, you can't get caught! Ok?"
"Ok, I understand. Ah, damn it, he's on the move, I gotta go now."
"Ok, good luck."
Sayaka flipped her phone closed just as he started pulling out of the parking lot, and then she was on the move.
Scaling rooftops was never her specialty. It was easy for Mami because she could use her ribbons to swing from rooftop to rooftop. Kyoko could use her spear as a vaulting pole, and Homura had a way of just seeming to teleport from one rooftop to another. Sayaka didn't have anything like that, so needed to rely on simply using magic enhanced jumps.
She jumped from rooftop to rooftop, until reaching a slightly larger building. She managed to catch herself on a windowsill and scale up the side of it using magic to enhance her arm strength. When she got to the top, she quickly ran to the edge and looked for the car she was following. Her eye's darted back and forth, briefly feeling panicked that she had lost it, but then spotted it and continued chasing after him.
After a few more blocks he had made a lot of progress on her, but she was lucky that he got stopped at a red light. She took this chance to get a lead on him, and continued further down the street he was on.
Mami had taught her that people don't usually look up, but she should always be quick about disappearing from sight after making a jump, just incase. She said that if she was spotted, most people would just convince themselves that they were simply seeing things, as long as she disappeared quickly enough. This scenario seemed to be true, because neither she nor any of the other girls have had problems with people spotting them while traveling in this manner.
So far it seemed he was heading to the suburban area, coincidentally where she and Madoka both lived. He wasn't going to the lab, because he would have made a turn a long time ago, so maybe he was going back to his own home? If she ended up finding out where this guy lived, then that would be a huge advantage. Her biggest fear, still, was that Kyoko was currently in the lab. If this guy had made some kind of definite connection between her and Dr. Kay Sakura, then it would mean huge problems.
'Damn it, Kyoko.' She thought as she ducked and rolled into a landing on a new rooftop 'You never should have gone! This is way too risky!'. She didn't blame her for going, though. Sayaka had said so herself, this was their last chance to get Homura out so they had to take it.
She continued following the car. Once she got into the rhythm of jumping between rooftops it was easy. They kept getting closer and closer to her neighborhood, to the point Sayaka was wondering if he lived in the same neighborhood as her. She had never seen him around before, but it's not like she knew everyone who lived there so it was possible.
The next building she had to jump to was far lower than the one she was currently on. She use to get nervous in situations like this and slow down, but she had gotten more use to it, and right now she couldn't afford any delays. She leaped over the building's edge and her cape flapped in the wind as she made her descent. She still hadn't figured out how she would keep pace once they made it out of the actual city, but she supposed she would have to deal with that problem when she came to it.
She landed on the lower building and instantly felt a sharp pain shoot up her leg. Her hands hit the surface next, and then her shoulder, falling into a sloppy roll as she screamed. "Damn it!" She cursed, grabbing onto her leg and pulling magic from her SoulGem to block the pain. It hadn't broken at least, just sprained. She had the best healing capabilities out of anyone in their group, but she still couldn't afford the time it would take to heal a broken leg.
With the pain blocked out, she scrambled back to her feet and continued with the chase. She could heal the sprain more properly once she had more time.
They were now just a few blocks from her neighborhood, and she ran out of places to jump to. She had no choice but transform out of her Magical Girl costume and continue on foot, but luckily she was still right on his tail.
She peaked over the edge of the shorter building, and saw no one was on the sidewalk below. She jumped down and became covered in light during her descent. By the time she landed in a crouch she was back to her ordinary clothing.
She ducked behind a light pole, and watched as the car pulled into her neighborhood. Did he really live there after all? Or, she suddenly had another idea that scared her, and she quickly crossed the street to follow after him. They were currently just a few blocks down from Madoka's street, and when Sayaka saw him slow to a stop her paranoia hit an all time high. From where he parked, he would be able to see down Madoka's street and actually see her house. Sayaka didn't know everyone in this neighborhood, but if he lived that close she definitely would have seen him at least once before! That meant, he had been looking for Madoka's house all along! But why?
Sayaka continued down the street, keeping her head low and doing her best to keep something between her and the car so she wouldn't be too noticeable. Then, when he slowly started moving again, and turned down Madoka's street, she quickened her pace.
She hid behind a light post at the corner of Madoka's street and watched as his car parked directly in front of Madoka's house. "Damn it! What the hell is he doing there?" She quickly pulled out her cellphone and called Madoka.
"Come on, Madoka, pick up!" She whispered to herself anxiously as the phone rang.
"Hiii! This is Madoka!"
"Madoka!"
"Sorry I'm not by my phone right now, but leave a message and I'll get right back to ya'!"
"Damn it!" Sayaka cursed as she dialed the number again. After a few rings, the answering machine picked up again and Sayaka ended the call. The scientist guy got out of his car and started walking up the walkway.
Sayaka started typing out a text message for Madoka 'Madoka, there's a guy at your house right now and I'm like 100% sure he is from the lab. Whatever you do, do NOT let him in! CALL ME!'
She clicked send and watched as the loading bar appeared on her screen. It was taking longer than normal; why was her phone choosing now of all times to be slow? Then, an error message popped up. 'Sorry, message could not be sent. Please try again.'
"What the hell? Why now?" She said to herself, gritting her teeth as she tried to send it once more, but it resulted in the same error message. "Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"
In her panicked state, she didn't take notice of the fact that a car had pulled up right behind her and it's door opened.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Idiot." Said a familiar voice.
Sayaka turned around and saw Leiko standing outside of a cab. Her cellphone was in her hand and Sayaka noticed tiny strings of electricity emitting from her fingertips "Leiko? What are you doing here?" Then her eyes narrowed "You're blocking my texts!"
"Hang on a sec." She said to Sayaka as she leaned back into the cab "You take cards right?"
"Yup, just slide it over here." The cab driver said as he handed her a small machine. She paid the fare, and when the cab driver saw that she left a more than generous tip he gave her a hearty thank you.
"Don't mention it." She said dryly, as she shut the door and walked towards Sayaka.
Sayaka tensed up, ready for a confrontation "So, you turned on us after all!" She spat accusingly "That's why you're stopping me from warning Madoka! I bet you put that guy on Kyoko's trail in the first place too! Didn't you!"
Leiko adjusted her glasses with her classic irritated expression spread across her face "What I'm doing, is stopping you from leaving undeniable proof of your involvement in this thing. The phone companies keep records of text messages, you know. What other kinds of stupid things have you been sending?" She scoffed as she walked past Sayaka "Whatever, I'll take a look later. For now, hurry up and follow me before he sees you. Dumbass."
"Hang on! If you aren't working with him, how did you know to come here?"
Leiko cleared her throat "I'll explain later. And if you accuse me of that one more time I really will just leave you to clean up this mess on your own. Which you're doing a fantastic job of, by the way. Now quit wasting time and follow me."
Thanks once again for all readers/reviewers/subscribers!
Chapter 15 is what I'll be considering as the end of part one, which will hopfully be out within a month.
My goal for next chapter (chapter 14) is to have it out in 2 weeks from today.
-Atomyst
