A/N: Hey guys! I want to thank everyone who favorite, reviewed, or is currently following this story! The reviews and support we get from you guys are awesome! I know that it's been a while since we've last updated, but we made it worthwhile and made this chapter longer for you guys. We won't make any promises, but we're going to try our best to update this story monthly. As always, please R&R and enjoy the chapter!
MAGICAL GIRL ACTION CHAPTER! XD
~ Chapter 9: Hunting Lesson & Worries ~
~ Mitakihara City: Downtown ~
The wind felt nice against her face as she floated aloft. Nagisa gently descended to a rooftop overlooking the neighborhood. She wasn't too far away from the Asurito residence, having only started her watch a little while ago.
It had been a deal Nagisa made with Mami. The day prior she had asked Amai for her number. Long story short, it took quite a bit of negotiating for her to even come across the number; Amai still hadn't gone out of her way to ask the blonde for her number, but she did have Homura's number who likewise had Mami's number. After the zigzag trial she went through to procure it, she informed the blonde what she had in mind. Mami had been surprised to say the least, but she accepted after some reluctance.
From her present point, Nagisa willed her Soul Gem to take form. The jewel faintly glowed orange. She frowned.
"It appears there is some witch activity."
Nagisa jumped, turning around and looking down to see Kyubey with her. She growled, "What are you doing here?!"
"To keep you company. We're not needed with the other girls; we don't have any business with your planet's education procedures. Besides, we don't recall ever accompanying you in any of your hunts."
"I don't need you to be with me!" Nagisa roared. She leaped towards another rooftop, watching where she was going for a moment before shifting her eyes to look at her gem.
"You're doing quite well." Kyubey hopped along with her. "Most magical girls struggle to use their gems in conjunction with their searches. We usually have to be the ones to inform you that your gems serve as a witch dowser."
"I didn't ask for your input." Nagisa gritted through her teeth.
She never liked Kyubey, not even when the critter first approached her. Something just stood out to her as WRONG with him, but her desperation, coupled with his sweet words, pushed her to make her decision. And she regrets it to this day.
That same regret pushed her to encourage Amai in her pursuit to become a magical girl. At least Amai would have the choice to save her mother and brother.
"Nagisa, may I ask a question?" Kyubey's voice tore through her pondering.
The whitette groaned. "What?"
"Where exactly did you disappear to? We had a difficult time trying to find your location. It's the first time a magical girl managed to do so."
"Maybe I didn't want to be found." She grumbled.
"We suppose we can imagine that. We recall you weren't exactly thrilled to see us again after you made your wish. Why is that?"
Nagisa chose not to answer, coming to a stop some way ahead. She studied her gem for a moment. "It's really strong here..." She looked down. Below her, she saw a group of people walking the dark streets. "That doesn't look suspicious whatsoever."
"From the looks of it, this is a recently formed witch." Kyubey speculated.
"How can you tell?"
"The basic way it gathers its prey. It's not obvious enough to attract the suspicion of other humans but if you know what you're looking for, it's child's play. Go down there and take a look for yourself."
Nagisa really wanted to ignore him, but considering his knowledge of the witches, she knew it wouldn't be wise. With her magic's help, she slowly descended to the ground, landing within the group. Kyubey hoped onto her shoulder. She grimaced, glaring at him.
"Take a look at one of their necks; there you will find the witch's kiss."
"I know!" Nagisa bit out before approaching one of the humans.
None of them paid her any mind as she stepped close to one of them to investigate. Sure enough she saw a symbol appearing like a pair of lips on their neck.
It was going to take some work to clear them out, but Nagisa was ready to dispel the curse. Focusing her will, she tighten her grip around her Soul Gem, willing it to intercept with the witch's magic. She was met with resistance, but the tendrils of tainted magic started to pull apart.
By the time the witch's mark was fully dispelled, the humans fully regained consciousness. Some of them looked around in shock while the others stood looking confused. Nagisa hid in the shadows, casting them one look before moving on.
"I think I caught the witch's magic signature." If Nagisa looks closely into her Gem, she sees a particular spot glowing brightly than the rest – especially among the tainted portions.
"The advantages of dispelling a witch's kiss with your magic," Kyubey commented, leaning forward to take a closer look. "However, you'll need to get your Gem purified soon."
"I'm aware!"
"You'll need to be more careful on how you use your magic from here on out. We wouldn't recommend that you confront the witch; it would be safer if you shadowed it first."
Nagisa didn't dignify it with an answer; Kyubey admittedly had a point, but she wasn't going to admit it. She debated retreating for the night, which wasn't an option. If she wanted a Grief Seed, she needed to confront the witch.
She jumped back onto a roof to get into a higher vantage point. Nagisa looked around first – and snapped her head back in surprise.
"Amai?"
The brunette ran down the streets like she had the hounds chasing after her. Nagisa wondered why she wasn't at home with the rest of the girls, but her questions took a step back once she remembered where the witch's location originated from. Her heart thumped sharply and she quickly made to move. "Kyubey! Can't you communicate with her somehow?!"
"Hold on – Amai!" The girl continued running, but Nagisa did see her running pause a bit. "Amai! What is wrong?"
The brunette didn't answer instead she kept running. "Kyubey! You have to warn her! She's heading towards the witch!"
"Amai! Turn back! You're entering dangerous territory!"
Amai continued to ignore them, not even bothering to respond to them.
"She's not listening!"
"We have to go after her!" Nagisa jumped down from the roof. A few burst of magic had her catch up to Amai fairly quick, but by the time she approached her she skid to a stop and jumped behind a nearby building.
"Why did we stop?"
Nagisa took a moment to confirm what she saw. "There's someone there."
She couldn't see them clearly at first, but they approached Amai as if they knew her. Nagisa's eyes widen when they came into full view.
~ Witch's Labyrinth ~
"Seriously, why are you crying?"
Amai tried her best to blink her tears away. She swept her arm against her face, in a futile attempt to brush the tears away. All the same, she refused to answer to Kyoko.
The redhead sighed. "Not in the mood for talking, huh? Kind of sad seeing you like this considering how you were the other day." Kyoko scratched the back of her head, shuffling in place. "Look, I get it; your upset, but this isn't a good place to be running around right now. Not the way you are, anyway"
The brunette looked at her oddly in question.
"Do you seriously not feel anything wrong in the air?" Kyoko gestured around her.
Amai frowned. "What are you saying?"
Kyoko groaned, slapping her hand against her face. "Something bad is going to happen, colossal bad."
"A gang fight?"
"Worse, you dumbass!" Kyoko shouted. A dark shadow passed over the redhead's face as she turned her head to the side. "Too late."
Their surroundings began to warp. Amai drew in a sharp breath. "Oh, shit, a witch..."
Kyoko turned back to face her. "Now you got it."
"Amai!" The two girls looked at the newcomer.
"Nagisa!" Amai called out. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't listen...!"
"It doesn't matter! You need to transform, now! The witch is nearly here!"
Amai nodded her head and held her hand out to call upon her Soul Gem. Once the gem came into existence, she tightened her hold on it and focused her magic, ensuing her transformation. "Sorry, I'll get to work with you, Nagisa."
"Well, now that that's out of the way..." Kyoko muttered. The whitette and brunette watched as a glow of red flashed on her hand, eyes widening as a Soul Gem appeared. Kyoko's body was surrounded in red as she turned into a magical girl; in place of her regular clothes, she wore a red, sleeveless coat with a long tail with frills, a short red skirt, thigh-high black socks, and red knee-high boots. Kyoko watched in satisfaction at the dumbfounded looks on their faces. She tapped her foot on the floor, a red circle appeared on the floor, and a spear jumped out from the hole which she caught and twirled in her hand with ease. "Ready to get this show on the road?" She said with a smirk.
"Wh-what? You're a magical girl!?" Amai cried out.
"Yes, she is." Kyubey jumped off of Nagisa's shoulder. "Good to see you again, Kyoko."
"I guess I can say the same for you, you little furball." Kyoko grinned.
"I can't say I'm really surprised," Nagisa muttered with her arms crossed while glaring at Kyubey.
"Don't look at me. You never asked about any other magical girls."
"It would have been nice to know we had allies!" Amai insisted.
"Magical girls are located all over the world," Kyoko explained. "I just came into town recently. Now, look sharp! The labyrinth's forming!"
Their surroundings had fully formed into the jaded domain of the witch, the chatters of the minions coming in. Both Nagisa and Kyoko placed themselves on either side of Amai.
"Listen, Greenhorn," Kyoko snorted at her word, "I'm going to be frank with you; your skills can use a little work, so consider this a crash course on hunting witches by yours truly."
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Amai snapped.
"Let me put it to you this way; you suck at hunting them. I watched you myself and it was painful seeing you botch things up. Nagisa does a WAY better job at exterminating them than you."
"Aw, geez, thanks!"
"She's not THAT bad!" Nagisa came to the older girl's defense. "She just needs to get used to things, is all!"
"Well, she'll need to put all that aside if she wants to get things done! Watch this!" Kyoko leaped forward into an approaching group of minions, spear at the ready. She spun the weapon over her head, piercing the weapon through the floor as a wave of her magic knocked the minions off their feet, eradicated a handful of them.
She pulled the spear off the ground, piercing a surviving a minion and slashing the next in a quick succession of movements. Once she finished the last of them, she turned back to the girls with a smirk.
"Like that!"
Amai shook her head, eyes downcast. "Show off..."
"The witch is further into the labyrinth." Kyubey mentioned the obvious.
"We'll get right on that, but I might as well give the newcomer some pointers, right?" Kyoko gestured to Amai.
Amai thought about it for a moment. On one hand she could continue training on her own. It wouldn't really be on her own since Nagisa would be helping her. But with Kyoko also offering her expertise, she could gain so much experience so fast... Could she really say no to this?
In the end, she nodded her head. "Deal."
Kyoko grinned. "Then let's do this. Nagisa, we can both train Amai equally. What do you say?"
"I don't have a problem with it. I could also learn a thing or two from you as well." Nagisa admitted.
"I think we can even it out between the three of us. I got a good feeling on what the two of you are good at. In the meantime, I'll show you what I can do!"
Kyoko started running down the labyrinth once she finished with her statement. Amai and Nagisa follow suit.
"So, Kyubey, which way is the witch?" Kyoko asked the critter.
"Ask Nagisa. If you're serious about learning from each other, then she's your best teacher."
Nagisa had two sets of eyes on her. "You need to have a solid grip on your magic, and then fan it out to search for other magical signatures."
"Uh, how?" Amai gave her an unsure look on her face.
"If it helps, try holding your Soul Gem. I always find that it helps." She does as she just said, bringing her Gem out and holding it tightly in her grasp. Her eyes closed for a moment before reopening. "This way!" She ran ahead and took the lead.
It didn't take long before another group of minions intercepted them. "Hey, Greenhorn!"
"I have a name!" Amai snapped.
"Not calling you by your name until you can actually take down a witch on your own. Watch and learn!"
Kyoko flicked her hand upward, a finger twitching up and the gem resting on the center of her chest shining a brilliant red. A group of spearheads pierced the ground and through the bodies of the minions. She grinned and turned to the brunette. "Like that!"
Amai looked in awe. With a frown of concentration she tried to focus on something extraordinary. When she held her hand out, a spout of fire emerged and burned the face of an Anthony. It squealed in pain before running off.
She grunted; not impressive enough.
Kyoko sighed. "Try thinking about your weapon! You have magic now! So it shouldn't be so hard for you to just... think it up!"
Amai huffed, but followed Kyoko's advice nonetheless. She looked down at the pair of chakrams that served as her weapons. The minions were the focus of her attention in the next moment. Squinting her eyes, she focused her thoughts on the chakrams but slightly different – maybe they were made of fire.
Like that, two fires formed at the opposite sides of the group. From the flames, the distinct shapes of her chakrams emerged and cut through the group of minions. Burnt carcasses and ashes along with the dying flames of her spell remained afterwards.
Letting out a breath she failed to realize she was holding, Amai collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath.
"Hey, not bad!" Kyoko complimented.
"But you consumed a lot of magic!" Nagisa rushed to Amai's side, helping her back to her feet.
"Using spells is not easy," Amai commented with a sigh.
"But, hey, as magical girls, we have the power to do whatever we want with our magic!" Kyoko insisted. "It's just a matter of practicing and applying it. You're not going to learn without experience after all. Let's keep going forward. Nagisa!" She shouted out of the blue. "Show us your stuff!"
"Okay! Come on, Amai. I know you can do it!" Nagisa encouraged the older girl. "You don't have to materialize your gem; just take a hold of it!"
Amai held up her hand and looked at it for a moment. "Just one problem – I don't know where my gem is now."
"Oh... well, uh, that's a problem..." Nagisa thought about it. "Okay, I won't have you try to sense out the witch; instead, try to see if you can sense OUR magical signatures. We're close to you, so it shouldn't be too hard."
The brunette nodded her head, and closed her eyes in an effort to concentrate. She tried to do what Nagisa mentioned earlier – reaching her magic out from within herself and feeling out any other magical signs. For a word to describe the experience, it would be... difficult. Amai noticed when she tried to reach into her magical reserves that she had quite the abundance in magic. She only wanted to use some of her magic for the task and it felt like her entire magic capacity wanted to spill over. She struggled to keep use only what she wanted to use – a task which proved to be harder than she thought.
Amai let her breath out in a gasp, her eyes flying open.
Nagisa reached for her, trying her best to hold her up. "Are you all right?!"
"Geez, that's just sad." Kyoko commented. She leaned against her spear as she watched the other two magical girls train. "At the rate we're going, the witch is going to get away."
"Oh, you just wait!" Nagisa snapped before turning her attention back to Amai. "We'll try that again some other time, Amai-neechan. Let's move forward."
Amai only nodded her head, trying her best to get back up to her feet with little help.
With a glare at Kyoko, Nagisa said, "Okay, I'll lead the way now."
Kyoko once again gestured for her to walk ahead. The three began to walk forward -
- and in the next moment fell through the floor. All three of them yelled as they sailed through empty space.
Kyoko recovered first, kicking her feet out to summon a glyph and jump towards what she believed to be wall of the hole. When she came into contact with a surface, her magic gathered at the soles of her feet, keeping hold.
Kyubey, his paws digging onto Nagisa's shoulders, called out to her and Amai. "Use your magic! Do not forget – when you are in the witches' domain, your magic is your lifeline!"
Between the two of them, Amai made the first move. In spite of her racing heart, she reached out for Nagisa and willed her magic to slow their fall. Nagisa, feeling the pressure around her slow down, summoned a bubble around them. In the safety of the orb, the two of them caught their breaths.
"That... was close." Amai breathed.
Nagisa could only nod her head.
"That could have been executed better, but you've shown that you're reflexes are in place."
"Geez, thanks." Amai rolled her eyes.
"The witch is moving." Nagisa announced.
"Joy. So is it heading towards us or what?"
"No, I think it's just on the move since its aware we're in its territory. Not to mention I did interfere with its hunt."
"Whoa, seriously?"
"Yeah, but I'll explain later. Right now..." Nagisa trailed off glancing downward for a moment to see if there was a floor for them to land on. When she noticed nothing but space, she turned to look for Kyoko, seeing her to the upper right of where Nagisa and Amai were hovering. "Do you see a way out?" She called out.
"No, but we can make a way out!" Kyoko leaped towards one of the glass windows against the wall's surface – upon closer inspection, Nagisa noticed the windows were more actually what looked to be TV screens, each of them only showing static. The screen Kyoko headed towards held a week magical discharge compared to the rest of the room.
'A week spot.' Nagisa realized.
The whitette looked to Amai. "Hey, I'm going to release the bubble. When I do, do you think you can propel us towards Kyoko?"
"Huh? Oh, I – sure, I can try." Amai was far from sure of herself, but if she didn't try, she wouldn't get any better with her magic. Dispelling the bubble was as simple as Nagisa popping the surface with a single finger. Once the two of them were in the air, Amai gathered the magic inside her to the soles of her feet and willed it to push her towards Kyoko.
The redhead smashed through the TV screen, entering a whole new hall; Amai and Nagisa followed her through right behind her. Once the three of them landed in place, they took a moment to survey the new area. It wasn't much different from the previous area, only instead of the line of screens being again the wall, the line laid beneath them like a floor.
"Bet if we follow this it'll lead us to the witch." Kyoko announced. "Let's go."
Amai and Nagisa looked at each other, and with a nod of their head stepped forth. The brunette attempted to gather her courage for the next fight. Even with her inability to locate the witch with her magic, she began to feel a steadily increasing pressure of a powerful creature. "Is that the witch?"
"Oh, yeah. We're getting close." After Kyoko's response, the three of them stopped in front of a large television screen. "In there."
Amai stepped forward. She held a hand forward, as if to touch the screen. "So we just go through?"
"Yep. Like this!"
Amai let out a shout as she fell forward through the screen. The fall ended in an instant, but in the time it took for her to attempt to step, she felt something make contact with the skin of her arms and legs. Before she could think about it, her arms and legs gave out from under her as her limbs fanned out. She yelled again, frantically looking left and right, seeing one-winged minions pulling at her hands and feet.
"Uh, guys! A little help!" Amai tried to turn her head behind her to look.
Nagisa fidgeted in place, unsure what to do. "Hold on!" A spear blocked her path.
"Hold it." Kyoko smirked, looking down at Amai. "Why don't you try figuring this out yourself, Greenhorn. Show us you got what it takes to be a magical girl. Otherwise..." She chuckled. "Well, it's no skin off my nose if you kick the bucket here!"
"What the hell?!" In the instant her rage kicked in, Amai pulled against her captives. While she didn't successfully free all of her limbs, she tore the arms off of one minion with her left arm and the momentum of her right leg threw the minion holding it to the surface. "You can't do this to me!"
"Hell yeah, I can! It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, both in the normal world and in the magical world! If you don't meet the cut, then you're dead. Plain and simple! You honestly thought I was going to train you? Not like that!" The smile left Kyoko's face and was replaced by a serious frown. "Prove to me you've got what it takes; otherwise, you're not worth my time."
Amai stayed in silence for a while, giving the minions time to recover and encircle her again. When one of the minions tried to reach for her hand, her chakram materialized in a burst of flames. She threw the weapon in an arc, promptly beheading all four of the minions.
She remained floating there, looking left and right for any signs for the witch. A few screens floated in the surroundings. Amai glanced through all of them, trying to see if any of them would lend her a clue to the witch's whereabouts.
To the upper right, a screen flickered.
With a roar, Amai flew towards it, weapons at the ready. She threw one chakram to the screen, shattering it.
At realizing it was founded, the witch flew out of another screen.
'There!' Amai's senses were flaring, turning around and letting her chakram fly.
The witch turned around, a television appearing in her hands; the chakram flew into the screen and out of existence.
Amai's eyes widen in shock. She jumped back, trying to put some distance between her and the witch. Her other chakram went into the air next, but the same results happened.
'Damn it!' The witch raised her arms, and threw the television at Amai. It came at her in high velocity, slamming against her. She gave a cry as she landed in a heap. The attack hurt, but to Amai's surprise it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. She struggled to get back onto her feet, her breath hectic.
Her eyes caught something at the side of her feet; within the shattered remains of the witch's relic were her weapons. She willed them to return to her, the chakrams cool in her embrace. The witch circled around her, eyeing her next move. Amai's eyes stayed on the witch for a moment before they flickered over to where Nagisa stood with Kyoko and Kyubey.
'What did that furball say about our magic... it being our best allies?' If there was one thing Amai learned about her magic, it was not a tamed beast. But she blamed it on her lack of control and just not knowing how to use it.
Right now, inexperienced or not, she needed to depend on it.
She let go of her chakrams, the weapons floating in place. With a breath, Amai gathered her magic into her hands. Green fire floated from her hands. She spun her hands around, the balls of fire spreading further away from her and rotating around her. The witch stood still as the fire multiplied around her. She let out a cry, swinging her arms through the flames in an effort to get rid of them.
But it wasn't going to happen. Amai grinned; it was how she's envisioning it.
This witch would burn.
Once enough balls of fire formed around the witch, Amai thrust her arms forward, her chakrams tackled forward in a charge to spin around the witch. The fireballs quickly followed suit, picking up speed and forming a huge bonfire. The witch gave a cry of pain as it was engulfed.
The labyrinth began to fade away. In the midst of the dying flames, an orb shaped object remained.
From up ahead, Kyoko clapped her hands. "Nice job. Didn't take you as long as I thought it would. Actually, you did better than I expected."
"Amai! Are you all right?!" Nagisa jumped down from the ledge and ran towards the magical girl, picking up the Grief Seed along the way. "Here, your Soul Gem needs this."
"Huh?" Amai took the gem, looking at it strangely. "What do I do?"
"Just place the Seed against your Gem." Nagisa gestured for Amai to summon her gem. Once she did, Nagisa demonstrated what needed to be done, placing the Grief Seed against the green Soul Gem. Amai watched, her eyes focused on the darkness gathered inside her Gem and how it slowly inched towards the Seed, cleansing it.
"Wow."
"Yeah, remember, you have to clean your Gem; it's very important."
"And these... Seeds... we get them from witches?"
"Which is another reason why we have to go after them." Kyoko finished, stepping into their space. "So, do you think you got the hang of it?"
Amai nodded after a while. "Yeah." She took a look at the Seed Nagisa left in her hand. "What do I do with it?"
"Keep it," Kyubey responded. "It still has some use."
"Okay."
"Are you feeling tired?" Kyoko asked.
Amai thought about it, and in that moment it felt like the weight of the world pressed against her. "I'm not going to lie; I think I'm going to be sore tomorrow."
Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Guess you're not up for another hunt. Still, you better get use to it; sometimes, you're not going to get a break like this." Kyoko's hand rested on Amai's shoulder. "You did good, though. I can say you've earned this."
Kyoko grinned, Amai returned the grin.
"Hey, Kyubey, I'll give a shout if I want to go hunting with these girls again."
"Are you sure, Kyoko?"
"What?"
"...Nevermind. We'll save it for some other time."
Kyoko shrugged. "Whatever."
"Hey, Kyoko."
The redhead turned to Amai. "I'll do you one better; come to my restaurant tomorrow."
Kyoko took a step back in surprise. "Y-your restaurant?!"
"Yeah. I'll treat you to lunch there, and then the three of us can go hunting. What do you say?"
Kyoko looked like she was in pain. "I... Fine! Where is this place?"
"We can lead you there, if you'd like."
"Oh, no! You stay the hell away from the restaurant, rat!"
"We're not rats."
"I don't care!"
"Amai, we really should get going." Nagisa interrupted with a grin.
"Yeah, yeah. Later, Kyoko!" The brunette waved as she and the whitette walked away.
Kyoko resisted the urge to wave back, looking down instead at Kyubey who remained. "So, what do you want to say to me?"
Kyubey stared at her strangely. "We're just surprised you chose to help her. Our analyzes of you shows you are not so open to accepting, so we're wondering what changed your mind."
She snorted. "Don't think too hard on it, furball." She waved at Kyubey and walked away from the site.
~ Mitakihara City: Dark Alleyway ~
A few minutes later, she's returned to her civilian clothes, walking to a more quiet portion of town. Kyoko held a box of pocky, slowly munching a stick. Her walk came to a halt after a while.
"Hiya, girl." Kyoko called out. It took a few seconds, but a girl stepped out of the shadows following her greeting. "I kept an eye on her, just like you asked."
The girl stayed silent.
"You want her to stay alive, right?" Kyoko turned around to face her, expression serious. "To go up against Walpurgis Nacht."
The raven nodded. "Yes, that's right."
Kyoko smirked. "Something tells me there's another reason. Not going to bother pondering. Just wanted to know if that ultra-boss witch's going to show up any time soon."
"No. It's odd. At the rate we're going, I thought there would be signs of its approach, but I haven't sensed anything..."
"Well, whatever, we have to stay in touch so we can respond to the threat as quickly as possible." Kyoko turned away. "I'm off. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"
The girl shook her head. "No, you can go."
~ Mitakihara City: Amai's Residence/Family Restaurant ~
Juudai turned towards the door once she heard it open. "Welcome back." She called.
Nagisa and Amai stepped down the hall, the youngest of the pair waving enthusiastically and the oldest sluggishly waving as well. Juudai's eyes widen. "Oh, my God. Amai! You look awful!"
"Geez, thanks. It seems tonight is pick-on-Amai night."
Juudai rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it." She turned to Nagisa. "Witch hunt?"
Nagisa nodded her head. "She did a good job. She eliminated the witch on her own!"
Juudai walked up to Amai, looking her in the eye. They held each other's gaze before Juudai started to smile. "Glad to see you made it back safe."
Amai smiled as well. "Aw, you missed me~" She yelped when Juudai hit her arm.
"Of course, I did, silly. Did you eat? Do you want to eat? Wait, wash up first. You probably stink."
"Aw~ Juudy! I knew you cared about me!" Amai cooed as the younger girl pushed her towards the bathroom.
"You, too, Nagisa!" Juudai threw over her shoulder. "Get washed up first before you eat!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Nagisa trotted after Juudai.
In the bathroom, Juudai started filling up the bathtub for the girls as they got changed in their rooms. She sat back, watching as the water slowly rose to the top. She thought about everything that's happened in the last few days. Homura hasn't exactly been avoiding her, but the girl was crushing on a pinklette, and considering how close Madoka was to Mami, they were obviously going to be spending time together. Now that Amai was a magical girl, she would run off with Nagisa to fight these supernatural threats to people. With them gone, it more or less left Juudai with Xavier and the rest of the Asurito household.
Admittedly, it gets a little lonely. Juudai sighed. She couldn't exactly do anything about it; all she could do is wait patiently for Amai and now Nagisa to arrive home safely.
The door opened, and Nagisa slipped inside. "Amai is right behind me." The girl settled down next to Juudai.
"Judy! Come into the bath with me!" Amai ran into the room and threw herself onto Juudai's back.
"Get off of me! You're filthy!"
"Aw, you already washed up?"
"Yes. Now do your business; I'm going downstairs to prepare your food." Juudai stepped out and headed towards the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and starting pulling out the containers of food from the restaurant.
As she went ahead and started reheating everything, she heard a knock on the window. On impulse, she looked up to see outside, jumping slightly when she saw a face. Her heart continued racing as she tried to discern who it was. Her eyes widen. "It's you..." The girl made the gesture for the window to be opened. "What are you doing here?" Juudai asked afterwards.
"Did Asurito and Momoe arrive safely?" The raven asked.
Juudai nodded her head. "Yes, they did. Did you bring them home? Thank you."
The girl shook her head in response. "I didn't do anything. I just wanted to make sure. And you? Are you thinking of becoming a magical girl as well?"
"Of course not. I'm not swayed by anything Kyubey says. I'm more curious about him than being able to use magic. You really are adamant about that."
"I have my reasons." The girl went quiet for a moment. "I guess I'm just a bit... happy."
"About what?"
She looked at her, eyes sad. "For listening to me. Thank you. I can only hope that you continue to listen – you and Miss Kaname."
"Madoka?" Juudai felt confused that the pinklette would be mentioned out of the blue.
"Sorry. I spoke out of line. I'll be going now." The girl turned away, looking over her shoulder. "I'm sorry to have bothered you."
"Hold on." The girl stopped and waited for Juudai to speak. "Can you... can you watch over Amai and Nagisa whenever they're out? I know... that might be a lot to ask, but if I can't be there to watch them myself, can you do it for me? I don't want to just wait, but it's all I can do. But it gets nerve-wrecking just waiting. Can I ask that of you?"
The girl stayed quiet. She turned to face Juudai. "I can't make any promises. As magical girls we must follow our own paths. We can't be at the same place at the same time. ...But I will try."
Juudai sighed and smiled. "That's good enough for me. Thank you."
The other girl blushed before jumping out of sight.
The orangette continued staring out the window for a while, lost in thought. When the door slammed open, she was shook out of her thoughts. She turned to see Xavier has entered the room.
"Is Nagisa here?"
"What about Amai?" Juudai smirked.
"Her, too." Xavier glared at her slightly, sticking his tongue out at her. "You know what I mean."
"I know, lucellino. I was just teasing you." She ruffled her little brother's hair. "Came for a snack?"
"Yeah. I wanted to bring some to Nagisa."
"I think she and Amai are heading this way. Just stick around." Juudai went back to preparing the dishes. "Tell me what you want."
A few minutes after setting down Xavier's plate, Nagisa entered the room. "Once again, Amai is right behind me." She paused and looked at the plate next to Xavier. "Is that one mine?"
The boy pushed it her way. "Yes."
"Thank you!" Nagisa pulled out a chair.
Amai entered the room the next minute. "Judy! My arms are sore! Can you spoon feed me?!" A spoon hit her on the head. "Ow!"
"Feed yourself!" Juudai snapped. As Amai groaned about it, Juudai turned away and smiled. For now she was fine with this. Everyone was home safe and sound, and she could take care of them the best that she could on the sidelines.
She huffed exaggeratedly, turning back to face Amai. "I guess I can do it for now."
Amai squealed, taking a seat. "You do love me!"
"You know I do."