"You can start by telling us what this is," Dr. Endou said, showing Homura the gem which they had removed from just below the center of her ribcage.
Homura felt ill from the condition of her body. Whatever drugs they had used to keep her unconscious during the operation left a dull buzz in her head. Her eyes glanced back to the straps around her hand and ankles, and she pulled at them without doing any good.
Endou set the dish containing her SoulGem back down, then took a few heavy steps to stand over her. Her eyes looked back up at him, scornfully, but her lips remained closed. "I am sure we can find ways of making you talk. Two of our staff are dead, another is missing, and one is in a coma. We have tried to treat you civilly, but now that it is clear how dangerous you are, we are willing to take more extreme measures. Now, will you co-operate? Or do you still insist on forcing our hands?"
Homura continued staring back at him with that hateful expression. Her breathing unsteady. Her fist tightened and pulled at the strap which kept her arm down. "What kind of people are you?" she said, her voice flat and raspy, matching the poor condition of her body. "You do all of this to keep down one defenseless girl?"
"I am sure you are anything but defenseless," Dr. Endou said. "Now, that crystal. What is it?"
Her lip rose, showing a barred tooth. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't try to tell me you don't know what it is." Endou's voice remained slow and monotonous as it always had. "We retrieved it from inside your body."
"Oh? Is that where I left it?" she quipped back through her teeth.
Suddenly, Endou's hand reached over her and slammed down, caging her under his arm as his face came closer to hers. His voice finally broke away from the dull tone, showing real emotion as he yelled: "Tell me what it is!"
Homura was startled at first, and taken aback by how blatantly hostile he had become. She had tried to flinch away, but the strap around her neck prevented any significant motion from her. "F-Fuck you!" She shouted right back in his face. She wasn't paying any attention to the other doctors in the room, but they were likely surprised by his actions as well.
Endou's face was dark, yet his tone became controlled once again. "Think of the situation you're in. Resisting is pointless. Just answer the question." Something slowly changed in his eyes, and for a moment Homura felt like he was actually pleading with her. "Tell me." With everything that happened, why was he so focused just on the SoulGem?
Her eyes drifted past him. Her vision temporarily blurred from switching focus - another symptom of her frail state - but she refocused on a ghostly figure standing against the back corner of the room, out of the way of all the doctors. They made eye contact, and Tsarina's eyebrows lowered into a scowl. Her lips moved, "Remember, you are not to say anything about me."
Endou stood up straight, and looked to the back corner where Tsarina stood, taking a queue from Homura's sudden focus in that direction. He could not see her, and after a moment he looked back to Homura. "Well? Are you going to talk, or do we have to incorporate other methods?"
"Why are you so focused on that gem?" Homura asked.
"It came from inside your body, and whatever it is, it is not natural. I suspect It has something to do with your unusual abilities."
"No… There is another reason you want to know…" her eyes met his, and his face locked into an unreadable expression. "Oh… I see…" Homura spoke slowly, allowing a smile to force itself onto her face. It did not quite have the desired effect as Endou's face remained unchanged. Tsarina, on the other hand, stirred in her position against the back corner.
"What?" Endou pressed on.
Homura's eyesight went back to Tsarina, who got a hint that Homura was up to something, and the discomfort was clear from the way her folded arms shuffled within each other.
She lost that controlled look quite easily. Had she expected Homura would automatically do everything she told her to? That fool, Homura thought, she had already taken everything she possibly could. Not just preventing her escape, but also causing her such a grievous injury. She had nothing left to lose, and that girl therefore had nothing to hold against her. Why should she do anything she asked?
"I know what this is about," Homura said while staring directly at Tsarina, challenging her. "This is about your daughter." Her eyes shot back to Endou's and she smiled wickedly. "Isn't it?"
Dr. Endou was forced away from his posturing, once again breaking into a deeply concerned expression. Bullseye, Homura thought.
"What are you doing?" Tsarina's voice echoed in her head. "Stop it!"
"When did you realize?" Homura mused out loud, ignoring the other Magical Girl. She did not think he knew before, otherwise his treatment of her may have been much different over these last weeks. No, this was a new revelation for him. He must have seen Tsarina's SoulGem at some point and recognised Homura's as the same thing. Now the question was, how could she use this to her advantage?
"Realize what?" Endou pressed on.
Homura let out a raspy laugh. "That your daughter who went missing is just like me." She forced her head forward as much as she could, her eyes blazing as she spoke through her bared teeth. "Tsarina Endou."
Dr. Endou's face physically paled when he heard his daughter's name spoken, and seemed at a loss for words himself. The other doctors in the room looked amongst each other, not sure what they were witnessing.
Tsarina looked like she wanted to leap from her place in the corner of the room, as if it were a struggle to hold herself back. "Shut up! I'm not ready yet! I swear to god if you don't shut up I'll rip out your tongue!"
"How do you know that name?" Endou demanded.
"That's my secret," Homura said. She let her head rest back against the table, realizing even something as simple as keeping her head up was tiring for her thanks to the frail state she was in. "But I could tell you, I suppose."
"You think you're being clever, don't you?" Endou said, darkening his tone.
"Now what is that supposed to mean?"
"You were with Kaiji during the attack, you learned that name from him."
Homura smiled. "Is that what you think?"
"It's no secret how manipulative you can be. I don't know what you are trying to accomplish with this, but it won't work."
He doesn't actually think that, Homura thought. It was quite clear from the look on his face. He must have simply been trying to hide this truth from the other doctors for some reason. Why would that be, though?
"Would it surprise you to find out she is actually in the lab right now?" Homura asked, watching his face. Yes, that would surprise him.
Tsarina abruptly retreated from her place in the corner. Everyone was so focused on Homura they did not see the scalpel disappear from the operating table. Homura watched her as she marched across the room and then held the scalpel up to Kotaro's neck. Her eyes were frantic. Her lips moved with her voice being heard only by Homura.
"This is your friend, isn't it? And don't think I can't find those other Magical Girls! That girlfriend of yours too - is Madoka her name? I do not know where she lives but I did follow Kyoko Sakura back to the apartment where your little group likes to gather. I'm sure I will have no problem finding Madoka if I decide to put the time in and wait for her there. So I suggest you learn your place!"
Homura just stared at her, not sure what to do. Indeed, she did not want to see any harm come to Kotaro but the threat against Madoka scared her far more. She took a very small comfort in the fact that Kyubey at least had some part in dictating Tsarina's actions. If he thought she might kill Madoka without letting her make a contract then surely he would warn the others of her and put a stop to it. Right?
Laying on this table, barely clothed, with a broken body and stripped of her abilities; not even with her own soul in her possession. She was powerless. It might be possible to work the angle with Madoka to force Kyubey to warn the others of Tsarina's presence, but Homura cared for Madoka far too much to put her in danger and use her as a pawn in that way. As a means to an end she often moved the other members of her team as chess pieces, but not Madoka. Never Madoka.
"You're right," Homura said slowly to Endou, "I lied."
Tsarina still held the scalpel to Kotaro's neck, her lips were tight together with a bratty look in her eyes. Yet, she seemed appeased, and lowered the scalpel from his neck. "That's better," she said.
From Kotaro's point of view it probably seemed as though Homura were staring at him, for he could not see the ghostly figure standing right next to him. Then Homura saw one of his hands rub the other, as if he were cold, and she wondered… could he feel her?
Right now Homura was all alone in this place, she did not have contact with her friends, but she did have him. How far would he be willing to go for her, though? And how much could he actually accomplish? She did not know, but she figured she ought to try giving him a message. He was all she had.
"You think you're safe?" Homura said to Tsarina, though to everyone else it would seem she were speaking to Kotaro. "Just because I am like this I won't find a way to get you?"
Tsarina smirked, but then her eyes became more inquisitive as she looked back and forth from Homura to Kotaro.
Kotaro raised an eyebrow, slipping into the character of someone who did not care for her, since everyone in the room was now paying attention to him. "You just never stop, do you?" he asked with an uncaring voice.
"Well, just watch your back," Homura said with a menacing grin, hoping that message would be enough. "We still got a score to settle." The look in his eyes signaled that he did indeed take her seriously, and must have understood she was warning him that he might be in danger.
Endou abruptly turned away, and spoke as if he were addressing the other doctors. "She is being uncommunicative, and attempting to distract us. It is of great importance we learn how her powers work." He walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the operating room, opened a drawer and pulled out a small metal case. He set it down on a the steel table where Homura's SoulGem was kept, where Tsarina had swiped the scalpel from.
Before the lid of the container was opened, Homura read a word printed in Romaji lettering on the side of it: Galazadrine.
Endou removed a vial along with a syringe, set them next to the case and then closed it.
"What is that?" Homura demanded, although she already knew the answer. Kaiji had told her all about the drug they had laced her food with… If it were to be injected directly into her, how much more potent would it be? "What is that!?" she shouted again as Endou stabbed the needle through the lid of the vial and pulled the tab up on the syringe to begin filling it.
"Sir," one of the doctors spoke up, "we do not know how that might interact with the sedatives. They have not completely run their course through her system yet."
"The risks are minimal," Endou said, removing the needle and then pushing the tab down to allow some of the liquid to come out and clear the air bubbles. "Besides, the well-being of our test subject may be valuable to us, but that is still not more valuable than the lives of everyone in this lab. We do not know the extent of her powers. She just said herself we are not safe. Underestimating her is what has lead us to four casualties already. This will keep her subdued, and under our control. I think the choice is clear what we must do."
"Even so," the other doctor butted in, "I think something like this should require clearance from-"
"There is no time," Endou insisted, as he walked around to the other side of Homura's bed, so he would have easier access to her good arm. "Don't worry, if things go poorly I will take responsibility for it. There are many witnesses in this room that it was my decision alone." And with that he gripped her upper arm with his free hand and started bringing the needle down to meet it.
"Stop! Keep that away from me!" she screamed, thrashing around as much as she could. "Please stop! Someone stop him! Help me!" Her eyes darted all around, her eyes landing on white faces with surgical masks which held no hint of offering her assistance. Her eyes landed on another white face which let it's blue lips perk up in amusement. The needle came closer. "Stop!"
"Sir!" Kotaro shouted. He quickly stepped forward, unknowingly missing the razor edge of Tsarina's scalpel by just inches. He grabbed onto Endou's arm and held it back.
Endou turned towards him with a hard expression on his face, and promptly shook Kotaro's hand away. Kotaro was a man of average height, but standing by Dr. Endou who was quite large in stature he somehow seemed rather small in comparison.
"Sakazaki! What do you think you're doing?"
"Sorry boss, I know it is not my place, but if that is Galazadrine, then Dr. Kaiji did expressly state it should not be mixed with her sedatives. Perhaps it would be best to wait for him? Aside from Dr. Kaiji, only myself and Furuhata were around for the…" He raised an eyebrow at Homura, "What exactly did you call it? A dimensional shift?"
That term caused some hushed murmuring from the doctors.
Dimensional shift? What the hell was he talking about? Then she saw the glint in his eyes and understood.
"Anyway," Kotaro continued, "The point is, I can guarantee you are overestimating her. I saw what she is capable of first hand, and she is not as powerful as you think. That thing she unleashed on the lab she actually had no control over. Besides that..." he pointed at her missing arm, "...that device she used to summon it is now gone."
"You are right, it is not your place, Sakazaki, and we do not know if the shield is the key to her power or not."
"Then why do you think she went ahead and got rid of it?" Kotaro grinned. Then he looked directly at Homura, "Let me take a few guesses here. Before getting on the elevator, you were rather adamant about having Dr. Kaiji convince the soldiers up top to stand down before you got there. That's because you knew they would be too much for you to handle. Right? Oh, by the way doctors, I think your theory that she simply teleports is wrong."
"This is ludacris," Endou interrupted, when he noticed how keenly the other doctors were now paying attention to Kotaro, "Sakazaki, back to your post."
Kotaro continued anyway: "It's more like, she can distort space. Or to put it more specifically, she can instantly change the positioning and affect things around her, but there's a limit to it. She can only do so many different things at once. I could tell this was the case when she was fighting those monsters.
"Taking out a handful of guards is nothing for her. Taking on that small army waiting for her at the top of the elevator, on the other hand? Na, I don't think she had the power to do all that." He looked directly at her and grinned. "Isn't that right? Miss Akemi?"
Amazing, Homura thought, as she took note of how quickly he managed to grab the room's attention and completely shift the mood of the conversation. She did have a good opinion of him already, but she had underestimated just how clever he could be.
"That is an interesting theory," Endou said, patiently, "you can put it in your report, but for now we have no idea if she truly is dangerous or not."
"Are you kidding me?" Kotaro said, looking at Endou with a raised eyebrow. "Take a good look at her; this kid's beat. Why else would she try messing with your head on some fake story about your daughter? That's a desperate move if I ever saw one. If she had any power whatsoever right now, she would never bother resorting to something like that."
Endou opened his mouth to argue the point, but one of the other doctors finally spoke up to protest. "He is right sir, there is no reason to think she is enough of a threat to require such a drastic measure."
As more murmurs of agreement went through the hospital room, Endou's eyes looked around to see that he was now alone with his intentions.
"That just leaves one question," Kotaro said, addressing Homura more than the other doctors: "How exactly did you end up locked in a test room?"
Homura clicked her teeth ironically, letting her eyes drop to the side. "Why should I tell you?" she was mentally singing his praises. He may have just saved her life. No one in this room liked what Endou was doing, but Kotaro was the only one who had the guts to speak up. Now that the momentum was in her favor, she figured she might just get out of this with her sobriety intact after all.
"Fine then, don't tell me," Kotaro said, shrugging his shoulders and retreating back to his station by the door.
Homura let out a small laugh. "I suppose it doesn't matter anyway… not now, since my power is gone." She took in a deep breath, and stared at the ceiling. "He more or less has it all figured out. Ironic, huh? It took the rest of you three weeks and you still were not able to uncover what a lowly guard did in a single night. Pathetic, really. For how I lost my arm… That's the one part he did not get right...
"When I do what you think is teleporting, I am merely using my spacial distortion to change my own location. Well, I suppose teleporting is still a good enough term for it. But for me to displace myself through a solid object like a wall… it is much more difficult since I must dematerialize my body in order to do it. I run the risk of not being able to put myself back together… in this case, it was the shield itself which caused a problem. I had never actually dematerialized before, and I did not understand the material the shield was made of. I was not able to put it back together, and lost my arm along with it in the process… I would say it's lucky that my arm is all I lost, if it were not for the fact I ended up here. Since I am here, however… I really wish I would have just died."
Homura looked over to Tsarina and narrowed her eyes. Those lies were just to appease the blue lipped phantom. She folded her arms over her chest and nodded her head, though her face still held a mean expression. Homura could tell this girl was not very smart, but at the same time she was not very stable either, and that meant Homura had to tread carefully. She could not challenge her and risk inspiring her to find some benign reason to go seek vengeance, and possibly end up hurting her friends. Homura would just bide her time and wait… for now...
Another doctor spoke up, "That still doesn't explain why you ended up in a test room."
"Isn't that obvious? I wanted to displace myself past the army and put myself outside the lab… I knew it was risky, but…" she coughed as she let out some weak laughter, "I never imagined I would mess it up this royally. Well... I'm useless to you now, so why don't you bastards just kill me?"
Tsarina smiled, "Was that for me? Sorry, but killing you would have been easy. I let you live because you still have a purpose."
"What about that gem?" Endou asked.
She supposed she had to give them something. The biggest problem is they were likely to take it away from her, which would result in her body reverting to the hollow shell it truly was. She would only tell them what they would soon find out for themselves anyway, but hopefully dissuade them from separating her from it. "I don't know what it is, but without it I will fall unconscious. Maybe you could consider it similar to a battery which powers my consciousness. So, I'd appreciate you not doing anything stupid like taking it off to another room to study it." There were more murmurs from the doctors, quietly discussing if such a claim could be possible.
"Well, we appreciate you finally being communicative with us, Miss Akemi," Dr. Endou said. God, she hated the sound of his voice. Now that there was a face to go with it she hated him even more.
"It doesn't matter. My powers are gone now anyway, so I don't need to worry about you people finding a way to weaponize it anymore."
"How conscientious of you."
Homura felt a retort on the tip of her tongue, but before she could let it out a gasp escaped her lips instead. She felt a pinch on her arm and her eyes darted down to it. She barely had time to react as Dr. Endou's thumb pushed down the tab and the grey liquid disappeared into her arm. She stared in shocked horror. She could already feel it, like fire in her veins, coursing up her arm and into her system. "No!" she screamed.
"The only problem is we have no way of knowing if all of that is made up," Endou said as he casually stepped around the table and brought the syringe back to the metal container. "Once this takes effect your claims will have much more credibility for us."
"You bastard!" she screamed, trying in vain to lash at him despite the restraints holding her down. "I swear to god I'll kill you!"
"Dr. Endou!" said another doctor, "Have you gone mad? What are you thinking!"
"I'm thinking of the safety of everyone in this lab. Don't worry, I will take responsibility for whatever happens as a result of this." He clicked the Galazadrine case closed again.
Homura thrashed against the bindings, she could hear Tsarina's mocking voice laughing in her head as a subtle dull drone started swarming around her and a warm feeling filled her body as the drug's effects started to set in. The lights in the room became incredibly bright. She started screaming.
"We have no idea how that could affect her!" the doctor persisted.
"As I said, I will take responsibility." He turned back Homura, who had abruptly stopped screaming. "When injected this way it takes effect quite quickly. So, how are you feeling? Homur-"
"She's biting her tongue!" another doctor yelled as several more of them started swarming around her.
You assholes, Homura thought menacingly as she continued to bite down with all her might. She could already taste the warm metallic liquid spilling from the fleshy muscle as gloved hands gripped her jaw and tried to force her mouth open. She wouldn't relent, resisting as much as possible, savoring these last few moments where she could truly be herself, and have her own free will.
Blood made it down her throat, and made her want to cough, but she kept her jaw tight, ignoring the pain. She could not block it out the way Sayaka Miki could, but it was still nothing for her. After all she had already been through, this pain was nothing.
Animistic sounds came from the back of her throat as one of the hands forced something thin and flat past her teeth, and then used it as if it were a crowbar to pry her jaw open, forcing her teeth to separate. Then another hand forced a cloth into her mouth. She continued screaming, though it became muffled from the cloth. "No anesthetic!" a doctor yelled at another. "It already might be too much for her!"
All of a sudden it hit her. All that rage, that burning in her chest, it melted away. A soft tingly feeling washed over every inch of her skin. The doctors rushing about all around her started to look like some chaotic scene on a TV, but she did not feel as though she were the center of it anymore. Instead, her focus came on those lights above her, and the soft rainbows of color emitting from them.
That buzzing sound… she remembered hating it, but could not say she hated it now, although it seemed louder than ever before, like a constant drone.
Her eyes looked around more, she saw Kotaro, the horrified and rageful expression in his eyes.
Then, the grinning face with those blue lips. That ghostly figure she should hate more than anything… but she honestly just did not care anymore. All Homura could think is how strange she looked, and how funny it was that her skin was white as paper. That truly was a very odd thing, wasn't it?
There were other ghosts in this room as well. Those ghosts would quickly duck back into their hiding places when Homura eyes would drift towards them. It was cute in a way, it was like they were playing hide-and-seek. They were so fast that she only got brief glimpses of their painted faces or gothic style clothing. They kept their laughter suppressed, but if Homura listened closely she could just barely make out their soft giggling. One of the taller ones, with blonde hair, held something red in her hand which Homura took note of before it spun away and hid behind a file cabinet. It was holding a tomato.
"So even if I do as you ask me, how do I know you will not just kill me anyway?"
Takashi shrugged, "I guess you don't, but you don't seem to have many alternatives, now do you?"
"Killing you will do us little good," said Aida in her roughly accented voice. "Assuming you are to do as we ask, there is no point to it."
"There are a few reasons I can think of. I know who you are, I could expose you, and as you said your new-found business partner wants me dead. How do I know you won't end my life as a show of good faith to him?"
"First, you cannot expose us," said Aida. "You do not know where you are and the names we have given to you are aliases. Having only first names will not be enough either way."
"And as for Endou?"
Aida smiled, "He has taken drastic measures to ensure his position in the lab. I think he understands his superiors are watching him quite closely. I think he wishes to capture another test subject in order to prove his worth, and maintain his position. Otherwise the gamble he has made by secretly taking in outsiders would make no sense."
"So the ends justify the means," said Kaiji. "That certainly does sound like him. It still does not answer my question where my own life is concerned, though."
"I think you can be valuable to us, if you show you can work with us and are not in a foolish moral dilemma regarding these girls. You could make yourself an asset, and I do not believe in throwing away assets."
"And what about him?" Kaiji asked, nodding over to Takashi.
"I'm touched," said Takashi with dry sarcasm.
"Takashi will do nothing without my approval. And as I say, I will not wish you dead for no reason."
"But how do I know that?" Kaiji asked.
"I suppose you don't," said Aida.
"And like I said," Takashi added, "You don't really have any other options."
If they had planned to just kill him all along, then why would they take such care to hide their identities and make sure he knew as little as possible? Well, they did divulge some information, specifically regarding Endou, but it is not like Kaiji could prove it to anyone one way or the other. It would just be his word against Endou's, and these two did not seem to care too much about Endou's well-being in the first place.
As Kaiji was thinking over this, his phone began to ring. It sat on the desk in front of him, and the screen brightened up with many different rainbow colors flashing across the screen - the same way it had when the girls called him before.
"Is that them?" Takashi asked, his unlit cigarette now hanging loosely in his mouth.
"It must be," Aida answered.
Takashi removed his gun from inside his coat, and gave Kaiji a very serious expression. "No funny business. Just do what we told you to, or it's lights out. Got it?"
Aida shushed him, then looked to Kaiji. "Answer it."
"I don't know what you expect me to-"
"Quit fucking around!" Takashi chided him through his teeth.
Kaiji moved his finger forward, not even sure how he was supposed to answer it like this, but cautiously touched the screen. All of a sudden the rainbow colors disappeared, and it returned to its normal screen, showing that a call was in progress with a little timer tracking the length: currently at only three seconds.
"Hello?" Kaiji asked, carefully.
From the phone they could hear some shuffling, soft indecipherable whispering, and then someone spoke. "Dr. Kaiji." It was a new voice.
"Yes. And who am I speaking to?"
"You can call me Melino. I suppose you can think of me as the unofficial leader to our group. I am glad you were able to answer your phone."
"I was wondering if I would be hearing from your group again," Kaiji said back, cautiously, "What is it you wanted?"
"First of all, Kyoko told us how you allowed her to escape when you easily had a chance to stop her. I would… like to thank you for that."
Kaiji didn't say anything. He couldn't; not when there is a possibility he would be setting her up to be captured again anyway.
He glanced over to the gun in Takashi's hand. What were the chances they would kill him no matter what he did? Right now the only bargaining chip he really had was the fact that the girls might trust him. After setting Kyoko up, the girls would no longer trust him and therefore he would be useless for the purposes of contacting them in the future. So, the only reason he was still alive, the only thing his captors needed from him, would be out of the window once they had what they wanted. What reason would they have for keeping him alive at that point?
"So," Melino continued, "Dr. Sakura's email has received a message from your lab. It is asking for her to come have another meeting with Homura."
"Yes…" Kaiji said, simply. Part of him thought to just scream "don't go, it's a trap!" but he held back for now. Surely they would know better than to risk it, wouldn't they? Why would they trust him in the first place? Sure, he had let Kyoko go, but it would still be foolish for them to take such a risk. Unless Aida and Takashi's running out of gas scenario was as credible as they seemed to think, and it really was urgent for Kyoko to meet with Homura.
Melino paused, perhaps taking in the tone of Kaiji's voice. Then she said, "We would like to send Kyoko in again. To check up on Homura. That is why we are contacting you. We need to know if anyone other than yourself knows our secret, and if not, we need to know if you would allow this meeting to happen without anything… bad… happening to Kyoko."
Kaiji was silent. Just staring at the phone. Then he felt something press against the side of his head - it was cold. He looked up to see Takashi standing over him, pressing the gun against him with an icy look in his eyes. "I…"
He didn't want to die. As Aida had said, until truly faced with that situation it's easy to think of making such a sacrifice. He had been brave about Homura pointing a gun in his face back in the labyrinth because on some level he knew she would not actually do it. These people, on the other hand, were an entirely different story. He did not know what to expect from them.
Leaving his loved ones behind is what scared him the most; his son, his wife, his brother and his two nieces. His life, all his accomplishments and everything that he was would be reduced to nothing. Death truly was terrifying.
He didn't know these girls. He did not want harm to come to them, but was it really so honorable to trade himself for complete strangers? "I…" he gritted his teeth. "I… don't know."
There was silence. Aida and Takashi gave each other a glance.
"You sound conflicted, Dr. Kaiji," said Melino. "Listen, all we want is to help our friend. I don't know how you see us, but our powers don't make us not human. Without that, we are just like anyone else. All we want are happy lives and..." she paused and they could hear whispering. Then, "...Here, Madoka wants to talk to you."
"Hi… Mr. Kaiji?" She had such a sweet voice; small and delicate.
"Yes," Kaiji said, not realizing that his eyes began to water. He remembered that night when he had the first thing that could be considered a personal conversation with Homura. He was watching her through the screens, and she had been talking in her sleep, speaking Madoka's name. Remembering that, and now hearing Madoka's voice, it all suddenly felt so real.
"Um… I don't know what to say. I… I think you are a good person, and I'm sure you know what your lab is doing to Homura-chan is cruel. Especially now. I can't tell you how, but we know about her injury." Madoka's voice choked. She wanted to hold herself together but the sadness managed to break through. "She acts tough but she is just a normal girl like any of us! I know she is so scared and lonely and all we want is to have her back with us! What your lab is doing to her is just too cruel! Please! Please help us stop it! Please!"
Kaiji's head fell down and he buried his face in his hands. "There is nothing I can do." He said with a toneless voice. He felt like a terrible person, responding to her in such a way. Denying such a heartfelt request with such a passive tone, as if he did not care. He did care though.
Then there was shuffling on the other side of the phone line, and the voice changed once again. "Hello? Dr. Kaiji?" Her tone was much rougher than when she would speak as Kay Sakura, but Kaiji still recognised her right away.
"Kyoko Sakura," Kaiji answered. "That's your true name."
"Yup, it's me. Listen, let me explain what's about to happen. I'm going to that meeting as Dr. Sakura, and I don't really give a damn what happens, but I would really appreciate it if you didn't do anything that kept me from coming home. I mean, you would probably have to answer to Saya... ah… Saki if anything did happen to me. So how about not taking that chance and just being a good guy? Huh?"
Kaiji shook his head in disbelief at just how different Kyoko was when not playing her character of Dr. Kay. Even in the middle of this terrible situation, he could not help but stop and give her some credit for just how good of an actress she had been over this last week. It seemed Takashi and Aida could also not help raising an eyebrow at each other.
"Saki…" Kaiji repeated the name. He remembered Saki. She had dubbed herself as a murderer and claimed Kay was the only thing that kept her from going over the edge again.
"She's a good girl," Kyoko continued, "she just has a bad habit of going a little psycho on occasion. Trust me, you definitely do not want to be on her radar when she gets like that, I know from experience. Just sayin'. That's not why I'm talking to you though, there is something else I want to know." Her voice suddenly lost that smug playfulness and became much more serious. "Homura's arm. What happened to it?"
"I don't know," Kaiji answered. It truly was a mystery for them as well.
"Okay... do you know what a witch is?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes, that is how Homura referred to the creature that attacked our lab."
"Good, then do you know if Homura lost her arm during the fight with that thing, or did it happen some time after she defeated it?"
"After," Kaiji answered right away. "She had a rather bad injury on her shoulder, as well as several other smaller injuries from the fight, but she was not missing her arm until we found her in a test room later."
"How did she end up in a test room?"
"I do not know that either. I assumed she teleported there for some reason. However, we have never seen her teleport through walls before, so my best guess is that she never tried because it is dangerous for her. I wondered if her attempt to teleport through a wall could have had something to do with her missing arm?"
Kyoko was quiet for a while, seeming to think things over. "So after defeating the witch. What happened directly after that?"
"Well… while the lab was under attack all its surroundings had changed. Homura referred to it as a labyrinth. When she defeated the witch, the labyrinth disappeared and everything returned to normal." Kaiji half-mindedly took notice of a downcast look in Aida's eyes, and he further noticed how Takashi reached a hand to her shoulder, as if to comfort her. Kaiji kept the majority of his focus on Kyoko, though. "We ended up in the elevator room and our guards attempted to detain her, but failed. Then she walked into the elevator and disappeared after the doors closed."
"She had her arm while she was in the elevator?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes."
"And then you later found her in a test room. That is when you first saw her without her arm?"
"Yes, exactly."
Kyoko once again paused for a long period of time, seeming to think something over. "I see. Well anyway, like I said I need to go to that meeting with Homura. Once again, I would really appreciate you not saying anything to anyone."
Kaiji closed his eyes, swallowed hard, then in a dull cryptic voice he said. "Wait." Aida and Takashi both stirred, clearly not liking his tone. "What you are asking me to do. I can't promise anything."
"Hm, is that right?" Kyoko asked.
"Yes. Therefore I think it would be better that you did not come to the lab."
Takashi raised his gun into Kaiji's point of view. He put up a finger and mouthed the words: "Last Chance."
"Well, I certainly appreciate that, Dr. Kaiji."
This is it, he thought, I'm dead. Not that he had much of a chance either way. The reasoning he finally came to is that his only value to the kidnappers is that the girls they wanted to capture trusted him. By warning Kyoko against going into the lab but revealing nothing beyond that he could still maintain their trust and have some value to play against his kidnappers. He did not know how much good it would be, but it's all he had. Besides, if he was going to die either way, at least he could keep his moral conscious intact.
Then Kyoko said, "So, guess I may be seeing you in the lab tonight. Huh?"
"What?" Kaiji asked, picking his head back up. Did she not understand what he just said?
"You know, I really shouldn't trust you, but for some reason I think I do."
"Wait! I said not to go to the lab!" Kaiji shouted, "Don't go!"
"Good point there," Kyoko laughed, as if responding to a completely different conversation. "But I guess we can just take our chances on that one, eh?"
"What are you talking about?" Kaiji said, then it hit him. She was acting to deceive her friends… but why would she do that?
"Yeah, I know. It's hard to explain, but Homura really does need to see me tonight. I appreciate that you are working with me on this. Guess you are not such a bad guy after all."
Was she doing this because she thought only he knew? He glanced over to the gun in Takashi's hand and saw the angry downward curve of his captors eyebrows. Well, he had already come this far. There was no holding back now. He had to make sure she fully understood the situation. "Kyoko Sakura. I don't know what you are plotting but understand this: they know who you are. It's a trap. Understand? If you go into that lab, you will not be able to leave!"
"Okay, Dr. Kaiji. Goodbye for now." and with that the call abruptly ended.
Kaiji just stared at the phone with his mouth partially hanging open.
Aida instantly went over to the phone and unplugged her device from it and then reattached it to her computer with another cord.
Takashi looked over to Aida. "So, how many do you think are there?"
"It is hard to say for sure," she said as she sat down at the computer chair and started typing. "We know of Kyoko Sakura, but this Melino and Saki, we have no direct proof they truly are puella magi yet, although it is safe to say at least one is. My instinct tells me they both are, however. If the magical hacker is not one of them then this is a possibility of four total. As for Madoka Kaname, Endou seemed sure there is nothing special about her. The lab had already looked into her."
Takashi nodded and waved his gun in Kaiji's direction. "So what are we doing with this guy? Lights out or what?"
"No…" Aida spoke slowly, mulling it over. "I would say he acted perfectly, wouldn't you? Though he did not do as we asked, perhaps it worked even greater in our favor. If Kyoko really does come, that is."
Kaiji head lifted up at that. Worked even greater in their favor. What did she mean?
"Turns out it wouldn't have mattered what he said anyway, huh? So, we looking good on that thing?" Takashi asked as Aida clicked around on her computer some more.
"Yes, I see no alteration of data inside my proxy nor is there any more direct signs of interference. I would say we are safe."
"And that other thing?" Takashi asked.
Aida smiled as her finger slammed down on the enter key and a map of Mitakihara City popped up. There was a distinct red dot on it. "As I said, our Magical Hacker is good and clever, but she is also arrogant. This has worked against her."
Takashi read the coordinates from the screen. "Sure you aren't underestimating her?"
"I suppose we'll find out, but I have a good feeling about this."
Kaiji's eyes widened, looking between the two of them. "What are you talking about?" He demanded as he stood up from his seat.
Takashi looked over to him with a bored look on his face at first, but then moved suddenly. With a quick motion he lifted his knee and slammed it into the center of Kaiji's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to fall back into his chair. "Take a seat, will you?" Takashi said, "Things may have worked out, but I'm still a sore loser when it comes to people calling my bluffs." He sighed and waved his gun around a bit. "It makes me look bad. Don't let yourself get too cocky though, or it really might not work out for you next time."
Kaiji coughed, trying to regain himself.
"Takashi, please do not do that again," said Aida, as she finished with the computer. She then turned to face Kaiji. "We lied about our true intention of having you talk to the Puella Magi. Tricking Kyoko into coming back to the lab is a nice bonus, but not our main goal. I have also lied about the function of this device I attached to your phone."
"What?" Kaiji managed to croak out through his loss of breath.
"While it is true this device would hide our location, it served another purpose: to find theirs. To do this discretely requires time, however, and we needed them to stay on the phone long enough to accomplish it. That is the only true reason we have bothered with this."
Kaiji felt his heart sink as he looked to the computer screen, and the solid red dot on the map. "No…"
Takashi grinned, "We help Endou find some more test subjects, and he gets us in on the research. That's what our partnership was all about. It was a bigger risk from his side of things, but looks like it's going to be worth the gamble for the crazy bastard."
"What if he is just using you!" Kaiji shouted out. "Once he gets what he wants he will have no interest in..." Kaiji flinched as Takashi's foot lifted up to kick him again. Takashi stopped before doing it though, merely using it as a threat.
"Then we unload the classified information he leaked to us and help land his ass in jail. Giving us something we could hold against him was a condition of our partnership." Takashi grinned as he put his foot back down and looked over to Aida.
"We also have even more information gathered in our research of Puella Magi we can share with him," Aida explained. "Once we are allowed in the lab and he discloses everything he has, we will disclose everything we know as well. In addition we will be let in on the testing of the new subjects."
Takashi laughed as he fished a lighter from his pocket and lit the cigarette that had been hanging from his mouth. "Well, let's hope it really does work out. We just got the coordinates. The rest is up to our partner."
"Damn it," Kaiji cursed, hoping the girls would be prepared for whatever was coming their way.
Junko sat at her place in the boardroom, anxiously tapping her foot as Old Baldy from the accounting department and an executive from production debated the pros and cons of a certain funding cut. It became annoying when they started going over the same points they already had without actually making any progress.
Junko had already given her own presentation for the day, which she had gone through as quickly as possible while still being professional, and now just wanted this to be over so she could leave. Madoka still had not responded to her, so she was going to go try to track her down as soon as she could get out of this meeting.
"I'm telling you, cuts on the production will only lead to disaster," shouted the head of the production board. "Find some other way to get your books balanced!"
"You are overfunded as it is," Old Baldy from accounting quipped back. "Starting with cuts in this area makes the most sense!"
It was clear they would be here all night, and no one else at the long wooden table seemed like they planned to do anything about it so she finally decided to take things into her own hands. "Gentlemen," Junko said as she stood. "I think this current line of discussion is missing the real root of the problem. The cuts being suggested are merely an attempt to shovel water out of the haul, rather than finding and plugging up the actual leaks." She rolled her neck, her voice becoming dark and sinister. "We cut this today, that tomorrow, but in the end it's a failure to optimize which has our growth on a steady decline."
This silenced the two men who were bickering, and the big cheese at the head of the table leaned forward, intrigued to follow her line of reasoning. "Well then what would you suggest? Kaname?"
Junko let a devilish grin come over her face as her posture straightened. Her eyes came alive with fire as she raised a fist and declared: "We initiate a full staff review campaign!"
Her suggestion instantly drained what little enthusiasm there was in the room, setting a dark aura over the entire table, and it seemed even the sky beyond the window overlooking the cityscape darkened. This affected all but the big cheese at the head of the table, who leaned back in his chair and seemed to start thinking it over.
Old Baldy cleared his throat nervously, "W-well, it has been a long day. Maybe we should wrap this up for now?"
"Yes, I agree," said the production executive. "It is late and we are all tired. Lets pick up again next week, shall we?"
Just about everyone else at the meeting seemed in agreement with this prospect, as hushed chatter spread through the boardroom and everyone started gathering up their papers and folders.
Too easy, Junko thought with a grin.
She quickly went back to her office to gather her things, doing her best to politely brush off small talk with her fellow co-workers as she passed them in the halls. She made it back to the elevator and when it opened it was already occupied by an old familiar face.
The suited man stepped to the side to make room for her, "Nice work in there," he said with a good hearted grin.
Junko gave him a nod as she entered the elevator. "It was nothing." She glanced down to the controls and saw the button for the first floor lobby was already highlighted.
"So what's going on? Family problems?"
"Saw right through it, huh?" Junko said back, with a somewhat dry tone.
"Sure, well figured it had to be something big to risk another review."
His name was Sato and they had been in the same class together back in highschool. He had actually ask her out once before back then, but she had turned him down. They never had much of a relationship beyond that, and it was purely coincidental that they ended up working for the same corporation in their adult life.
"Well, I really just need to go pick up my daughter," Junko said, deciding not to get into details with him. "Either way, I thought it would be a nice gesture to spare the boardroom from more bickering from the accounting department."
"It's true those guys don't know when to just cash their chips in, but you may have set off a second crusade. Things got pretty nasty last time the review board was given teeth, you know."
Junko smirked, "Well, I have nothing to worry. How about you?"
"Of course not."
"As I recall, the last time staff reviews were simply rumored, our profitability had an uptick of about five percent. So it would not be an altogether bad thing."
"Well that's also true. Doesn't make for a very calm work environment, though."
"Maybe," Junko half-agreed.
There was not much more for them to talk about so they stayed mostly quiet the rest of the way down. In the corporate world when it came to hotshots like him, Junko learned it was best to keep a friendly, but cool distance. If she knew anything about Japanese business men, it's that if you give them an inch they will try to take a mile. Other woman in her field sometimes used their gender to an advantage, but Junko herself tended to know how to work the corporate ladder without stooping to those methods. In fact, she had witnessed that it usually doesn't work out as well in the long run. The good old fashioned method of having a strong work ethic and indomitable will were the true keys to surviving the corporate jungle.
She went to her car in the reserved parking spot right out front, and considered trying Madoka's cell phone one last time. With her thumb over the call button, she stop and thought for a moment, then placed the phone into a holster on the dashboard without making the call. She had already tried several times throughout the day, her messages ranging from concern to scolding.
Truth is, she was mostly concerned at this point. Madoka had not quite been herself over the last few months, chock it up to being the troubled teen years maybe, but blatantly disrespecting the rules like this was so unlike Madoka.
As soon as she found Madoka, if there was not a good explanation for this, she was really going to lay the hammer down hard this time.
She briefly reflected on a conversation she had with Madoka a couple of months ago, and the advice she had given her. Something about doing the wrong thing every once in awhile. Junko sighed. If she could have seen into the future she thought maybe she would have been a bit more careful with that bit of advice. It was vaguely humorous to find that she preferred the Madoka who never did a single thing wrong after all.
Homura lived in the residential part of the inner city, which was not too hard to get to from her own house, but getting there from her work did not exactly have a clean route, so she ended up traveling through the heart of the city and catching a good bit of the late afternoon traffic.
She eventually made it there though, and parked her car in front of the droll and poorly decorated apartment complex in which Homura lived. Junko remembered the first time she had come here to pick Madoka up, and she had played with the idea of simply inviting Homura to come live with them. This area of town wasn't too bad, but still not the greatest place for a teenage girl to be living by herself.
It's was to Junko's understanding that Homura had a social worker who would occasionally check up on her, and she was paid an allowance by the government which is how she was able to afford living here. Other than that, though, she was on her own.
As far as being dealt a poor hand went, from what Junko knew about Homura's history, she had been dealt a real bust. Her mother had passed away long ago in an accident. Her father was an apparent deadbeat who dropped off the face of the planet, and Homura therefore had grown up in a orphanage in Tokyo. If all that was not bad enough, she had a heart condition which apparently got bad enough to hospitalize her, which is how she ended up in Mitakihara. She needed special treatment which the hospitals in Tokyo could not provide for the extended period of time she required.
Somehow, Homura managed to stay strong and survive through all of that, and Junko had a great deal of admiration for her. Though, Junko also saw what she knew for sure her daughter could see as well.
It would not be quite right to say that Homura's strength was simply a mask she would put on. She was strong, but it was a very guarded type of strength. It's more that whatever weakness was inside her she kept hidden away, and tried not to let anyone see it.
Junko went through the front door of the apartment building which put her in a poorly lit hallway. She walked down it a while, catching a whiff of stale cigarette smoke as she passed one of rooms, then took a turn up a staircase and went up to the third floor. Homura's room was three doors down, with 'Akemi' printed just above the peephole. Junko raised her hand to knock, then noticed the mailbox directly next to it was absolutely stuffed with mail.
Her hand lowered as she looked at it, finding herself becoming concerned once again. If Homura truly had made it back today, then the mailbox would have been emptied. It looked like it currently had several weeks worth stuffed inside.
Junko frowned, then tried knocking. She listened, did not hear anything, and then knocked again. She reached for the doorknob, noticed the wood directly next to the knob was darker than the rest, then she tried to turn it. No good. She found herself staring at that spot near the door for a while, upon closer inspection she realized that it seemed there was some damage there which was repaired and then repainted to cover it up.
She sighed and put her back against the door as she thought. Maybe Madoka left the house early to go meet Homura at the train station? Then they simply stayed out in the town together all day? The question is, why would Madoka just take off without saying anything to them? Well, she was suppose to be grounded. Maybe she thought they wouldn't let her out if she asked?
Junko took out her phone and looked at the screen, thinking about trying to call Madoka once again. Maybe Madoka had dropped her phone at some point during the day, and that's why she had not been answering? She tried to keep herself calm, and tell herself that everything was fine and there really was no reason to be getting worried like this. Her gut instinct was telling her otherwise though.
Madoka had said Homura was in trouble, but she would not elaborate. She did say that Homura was ok now, though.
"Madoka, where are you?" She muttered to herself.
Then she heard a voice from down the hall. "Excuse me? Can I help you?"
Junko looked up, and saw an old woman coming from the staircase. Junko took note of a security camera in the corner of the hall which she had not noticed before. She gave the woman a friendly smile as she walked towards her.
"Sorry," Junko said, "I'm an acquaintance of the girl who lives here. I was trying to get in contact with her. Um, would you happen to be the landlord?"
"I am," the old woman said. Her voice was rather rough. The skin of her cheeks was loose, it hung off of her in a way that forced her wrinkled mouth down into a frown. "You know Akemi? Are you family?"
"Well, I think it would be fair to say I'm like family to her. She is very close with my daughter and spends a lot of time at our home. That is, until she disappeared a month ago."
"I see," the old woman said, glancing over to the door, her face falling into an even deeper frown. "So you do not know what happened to her either, then?"
"I don't… Is her rent paid?" Junko asked, "If not..."
"No, it's been paid. Not by her, though. There is a social worker who would often come to visit her. She has been in contact with me ever since the night Akemi disappeared." The old woman walked over to the door, and looked down at the handle, investigating the freshly painted spot Junko had taken notice of. "I suppose no one told you about what happened that night."
The tone of the old woman's voice had Junko rather concerned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I really do hate to worry you, but Homura Akemi did not just run off one day. Something happened to her."
"Something happened to her? What do you mean?" Her concern suddenly reaching new heights, not liking the way this sounded at all.
"Well, by the time the social worker had come for a visit, Homura had already been gone for a couple days. I let her in, and the entire room was… well…"
Junko felt her pulse quicken. "Do you think you could let me inside?" She asked, "I suppose you have the key, don't you?"
The woman looked at her for a moment and asked, "So you say you are like family to her?"
Junko nodded, "Yes, actually I imagine we are the closest thing to family she has got."
"Well then, I suppose it's alright." The woman reached into her pocket. She produce a key and then stood to the side after unlocking the door, and allowed Junko to go in first.
Junko gasped as she entered and looked around. The room was completely trashed. The couch was turned over on it's side, pictures pulled from the walls, and papers were scattered around Homura's school bag. In the back corner of the living room there should have been computer station. The monitor was still there, but the tower was missing.
Junko slowly walked through the apartment. In the kitchen all the drawers were pulled out with silverware and plates all over the floor. Homura's bedroom was the same way, with all of her clothes scattered around and everything that had been inside the closet messily thrown out of it.
"When the social worker came looking for her, this is how the apartment was," said the old woman. "It seems as though someone was looking for something, doesn't it?"
Junko couldn't respond. She was too shocked. Her eye caught a piece of paper on the night stand by Homura's bed. She walked over to it, and unfolded it. It was a note.
Homura-chan,
If you see this please call me right away! We are all really worried about you!
The note was unsigned, but Junko recognised her daughter's handwriting. The fact that the note was still there at all was proof that Homura had never seen it. It was also proof that Madoka had seen Homura's apartment like this, but then lied about Homura being ok. Why would she do that? What did she know?
"Were the police called?" Junko asked the old woman who followed her into the bedroom.
"Of course we called the police. They came in and looked around for a while, asked some questions to some other residents. No one saw a thing, though some of her immediate neighbors reported hearing some kind of commotion. That's all I know. If you want more information on the investigation I imagine the social worker I mentioned before can tell you who to call."
"Do you have her number?" Junko asked.
"Yes, come on down to my office. I have her business card down there."
Junko took a last look around the apartment, hoping to find some clue to what had happened, but not seeing anything that stood out. She had only been here a couple of times and not for very long, so she could not say what else might have been missing other than the computer tower. Junko did not know what to think, but somehow she knew there was more to this than it being a robbery gone wrong.
She followed the old woman back to her office on the first floor. On the way she pointed out the security camera.
"We did not have that camera at the time," the woman explained. "We had it installed after that night, though."
Junko retrieved the social workers business card from the woman's office, thanked her, then went back to her car.
Madoka claimed to have been in contact with Homura these last weeks. Or at least, she implied that she had been. Then there were those pictures that Homura had drawn and sent to her. Madoka definitely knew something about what was going on here, but Junko could not imagine what it could be, or why Madoka would not tell her about it.
She quickly dialed the number on the business card. Once she found Madoka she would demand answers, and not take any of Madoka's side stepping. She did not care how aggressive she had to be about this. For now though, she only had this one lead, and hopefully the social worker had more information than the landlady.
After listening to the phone ring for a moment, a woman answered. "Fuchida Kyomi," the voice said, simply.
"Yes, hello. My name is Junko Kaname, I'm an acquaintance of Homura Akemi and-"
"Homura?" Fuchida reacted instantly to her name. "Do you know where she is?"
"No," Junko responded, "That's why I'm calling you. I was just at her apartment trying to track her down, and my own daughter as well, and I received your business card from the land lady. I was hoping you might have some information on where Homura has been this last month."
Fuchida paused, then asked, "I'm sorry, but what exactly is your acquaintance with Homura?"
"She is good friends with my daughter," Junko explained, then thought it over for a moment and decided to be more specific. "They've been dating since April. Homura has spent a lot of time at my home since then. That is, until she abruptly stopped coming over nearly a month ago. Please, if there is anything you can tell me…"
There was a long silence before Fuchida managed to give an answer. When she did, Junko gasped at having her fear from when she witnessed the condition of Homura's apartment repeated back to her. "I think she's been kidnapped."
Kyoko was all set in her Dr. Sakura outfit, but did not bother with enchanting her physical appearance just yet. She stood by the window, cautiously watching the detective who was still outside their apartment. She tilted away from the window, and looked out of the computer room door, probably trying to get a grasp for if he would be able to catch her making an escape from the balcony.
Leiko sat crossed legged on the floor, leaning her head down inside her opened computer tower and fiddling around with a screw driver. Every now and then a rainbow spark would be emitted from inside it, but she mostly worked in silence. Her smashed computer monitor was laid off to the side, and a much smaller one retrieved from Mami's junk closet, took its place atop the desk.
Mami watched her for a while, and occasionally leaned down to peek inside at what Leiko was doing. She knew next to nothing about computers herself, and at best could only get a vague impression of what Leiko was doing. It kind of reminded her of when she once watched her father doing some work on their family car. She was very little then, and sat atop a stool trying her best to look inside the hood as he worked; not understanding a thing she was seeing but still finding it strangely fascinating to watch.
She sometimes wondered. Had the car accident not occurred that day all those years ago, how might her life be different now? Or at least, if she had managed to save the lives of her parents when she made that wish…
Why was she thinking about it now?
At least she managed to find a new family, she thought as she looked over the room. Kyoko still stood by the window, and Madoka and Sayaka sat next to each other on the loveseat. There was a rather dark atmosphere among everyone, which was only natural given the situation. Kyoko, Mami thought as she looked back towards her old Kohai, I really hope you end up being ok.
She remembered her thoughts about Homura from earlier today, once again feeling terribly guilty over it. It was just a moment of weakness, she told herself. She might not have the best relationship with Homura, but Homura was still a part of this family. Once all of this was brought to an end, and they had her back, things would be good again. But… what if she lost even more of her friends instead?
Leiko suddenly straightened up, taking her head out of the computer and putting her screw driver to the side. She rolled her neck around and stretched her arms out; cracking her joints.
"All set?" Kyoko asked, giving her a quick glance before rolling up the sleeve of her labcoat and using a finger to pull down the blinds and peak out..
"Yeah. All set," said Leiko with a bit of dry irritation. Apparently she had not completely gotten over the confrontation with Kyoko earlier today. Not that she and Kyoko ever got along very well in the first place. Mami still thought the two of them cared for eachother though, just as everyone in the room. Leiko never outwardly showed much towards any of them, but it was clear that there was much more below the surface of this girl. If anything, Madoka at least had managed to prove that.
Sayaka looked at Madoka, gave her a reassuring nod, then stood. "Kyoko... are you sure it isn't a trap?"
Kyoko shrugged, "Could be."
That caused Sayaka to grit her teeth and raise her voice. "What the hell! Are you trying to make me worry even more?!"
"Would you rather I just lied to you?" Mami took note of the way Kyoko looked away from Sayaka as she said that. Mami knew her old Kohai enough to know she was hiding something, or at least was more worried than she was letting on.
"Well… do you think that doctor Kaiji was sincere? I mean, how was his voice when he was speaking to you? Did it sound like he was being honest about letting you in and not saying anything about who you are?"
"Dunno." Kyoko turned away from the window, walked over to Sayaka and put her hands on her shoulders. "If anything does happen though, keep cool. Doing something stupid and getting yourself hurt will only make things worse."
Sayaka normally would have quipped back at that, but the serious expression in Kyoko's eyes subdued her. Then Kyoko smiled, "We all got our jobs to do. You need to go collect some GriefSeeds. We'll need all the magic we can get," she glanced over to Mami. "Right Mami?" Mami nodded. She then looked to Madoka, "And what I said to Sayaka applies to you as well. If anything bad does happen, no being stupid. Ok?"
"I-I know," said Madoka. "Um, I was wondering... since Homura defeated a witch in the lab, what happened to the GriefSeed it should have dropped?"
"Rehatched witches don't drop GriefSeeds," Kyoko explained, "At least... I have never seen it happen. It might depend on if the witch managed to gain enough energy from its victims or not, though."
"You seem pretty sure about that," said Sayaka, "How did you…" She trailed off when she saw the guilty look on Kyoko's face.
With a sigh Kyoko eventually said: "There are a lot of things about the way my life use to be that I am not proud of." She left it at that, and no one questioned her on it further.
Leiko pushed the computer tower as close to the desk as she could, and reattached the necessary cords, but left it open. "Ok the mods are done, I'm all ready to get started." She held a hand out to Mami. "Just need that last thing."
"Right," Mami said, then held her SoulGem to her chest and began to transform.
Thanks for reading!
It has been a little while since the last update. Sorry to those who have been left waiting. The muses tend to be a fickle bunch, and they were really fighting me whenever I tried to write for TSO for a while. I guess you would call that writer's block. Rather than force it though, I moved on to poking at some of my other writing projects including Reverse Blue, Perfect Crime, and an original story which doesn't have anything released publicly yet. Stepping away from TSO for a little while feels like it was helpful for me, as I was able to come look at it with a fresh mind again and now feel much better about it.
Anyway, that's enough blogging out of me for now. I will just give a reminder that I am on Twitter and if you want info on when new chapters will be releasing that is where to look. I have a "weekly update" tweet I put out every thursday, so that's the best time to check. At /Atomyst_Fics or find a direct link in my profile.
And a thank you to all reviewers and followers! Every one of those helps support the story so I really do appreciate those who take a few minutes to leave one :)
-Atomyst
