The next day dawned. The sky was a beautiful cloudless blue, and once again Jotaro walked with Madoka to school. (It was nice, not to have a bunch of silly girls crowding around him; maybe she was scaring them away.) She seemed to have recovered a little from the shock of last night, and occasionally made a small, off-hand comment pointing out the trees or the sky or someone she knew. It was a nice enough distraction.

"You know, I haven't seen Hitomi-chan in a while. I think when she saw us together yesterday she assumed…" Madoka blushed a deep pink, even brighter than her hair. "You know. That we're… dating or something."

Jotaro frowned, tugging his hat down over his eyes. "Well, it's none of her goddamn business, whoever she is."

"Ah, it doesn't matter." She smiled, shrugging. "I don't think of you that way."

"Likewise."

Her hands stroked Kyubey as the little creature wound around her neck. (Again. The thing was obsessed with her.) "You're more like a… brother to me, like Tatsuya. Or…" A little, hesitant laugh. "You know, maybe even like a grandson!"

He grunted. "Good grief. Aren't I older than you? I'm in a higher class…"

"Oh, are you, sempai?" She grinned at him slyly, with an expression much different from her usual open smile. "And you're bigger than me, too. Oh, dear. Next you're going to say you can overpower me in a fight, as well…" She took a deep breath, bunching up her fists, then dissolved into a fit of giggles. "Ah, your face! I nearly fooled you…"

"Shut up." Despite everything, a small smile managed to cross his lips briefly. "I'm only playing along to humour you… old man Madoka."

Madoka hunched over, pretending to be old and decrepit. "Oh, Jotaro-kun, your uncle Tatsuya and I are so proud!"

"Honestly." He shook his head. "I don't even have an uncle." A shrug. "Well, probably."

She smiled and put her hands up, in a gesture that could have meant anything. "Who knows?"


Sayaka appears to have slept in today. She was out late last night, but I believe she plans to go out again even so. The beast cat swished its tail. In fact, I believe she is likely to come to the meeting place this afternoon.

Madoka nodded. "Well, we'll go then. She needs some company after what happened. Besides, we might happen upon this 'Avdol' girl or some other magical person who can help you, right?"

"Yeah."

"And… speaking of hunting…" The wide, pink eyes strayed to the ring on his finger. "Has your gem darkened much since yesterday?"

"I don't know." He held out his hand to try and inspect it, but the ring was too small to be able to tell. "Is that bad?"

Kyubey tipped his head. If you don't keep your gem purified, terrible things will happen!

Jotaro grunted, and stared at the ring intently, willing it to transform into its egg shape. It stayed the same.

"Jotaro-kun…" Madoka looked at him nervously. "Do you actually know how to use your magic?"

He shrugged. "I can probably pick it up as I go along."

The cat-thing and the girl stared at him.

You really have lost all your memory, haven't you?

"Well… I guess."

"Maybe you should ask Sayaka or this 'Avdol' girl for some tips?" suggested Madoka, looking at the ring regretfully.

"It's my ring, isn't it? I should be able to control it." He concentrated on the ring and tried to imagine it turning into a gem.

You need to actually put magic in, you know.

"Right." He sent a surge of magic – where did that come from? – into the ring, and at last it turned into a small, roundish gem, with a golden base and a delicate, many-pointed star on top. As for the egg itself…

"That gem looks like Homura's eyes," commented Madoka thoughtfully. "Up till now I thought soul gems were supposed to match your eyes or your hair or both. That's not either."

"Tch." He frowned. "Maybe it's just the colour of your Stand."

In Jotaro's case, his hair and eyes don't match, so yes, I would imagine this colour is the colour of his Stand. The cat-thing sniffed at the egg. This one is fine, for now, although you may need to start hunting for grief seeds soon. The longer you wait, the worse it gets.

"The worse… what gets?" He folded his arms and frowned at the creature. "Tell me."

The pain. Grief seeds take away grief. Hence the name.

Goddamn cryptic alien thing. He tipped his head in return. "I'll keep that in mind."