Chapter 4: This Beautiful Something
"Alright, now let me feel your temples," Anna instructed her, sounding all too bored with herself.
Homura nodded and dropped her hands, allowing the platinum blonde girl to reach up and press her fingers against the time traveler's head. Seemingly out of nowhere, the healer nodded in approval. "You've got nice facial structure," She murmured appraisingly.
"Um," Homura mumbled, unsure of how to react to the compliment. Was it even a compliment? "Thanks. I've been working on it."
The older girl smirked back at her. "Oh, I do love sarcastic people. But I've mentioned that already, haven't I?"
Homura was sitting on her familiar bed in the medical wing again, trying her best to keep still as Anna performed a routine bodily and magical checkup. It was something the healer did with all of her patients, apparently, and it had gained the girl a reputation for caring for every individual under her care. Personally, she just thought that the German girl simply enjoyed having more opportunities to mess with people.
"So, she good?" Kyouko asked gruffly from her now normal seat on the stool beside the bed, arms crossed over her chest. The redhead was actually fretting over her. Homura wondered when their roles had been so thoroughly reversed.
"Well, let's see," Anna replied quietly, releasing Homura's temples and grabbing onto the girl's wrist instead.
"Do you prefer blondes or redheads?" The healer asked nonchalantly as possible, though she failed to tone down the strangeness of the inquiry.
Homura blinked back at her, thoroughly nonplussed. Then she took a glance at the girl's hair, and then Kyouko's, before she was able to put two and two together. "I..." She began, trying her best to come up with the response that would offend the smallest amount of people. Not a simple feat when there were only two people to begin with. "Blondes?" She finally settled on, blushing slightly.
Anna pursed her lips. "Well, she's definitely healthy enough to lie through her teeth, so I'd say her mental faculties are recovering nicely," She said, as if this were a reliable method of determining subconscious health. "Physically...well, I'll let you find that out for yourself, Sakura-san," The blonde said slyly, throwing a suggestive wink in the redhead's direction and making both of the girls blush, Homura in particular when she let her imagination run a little too far with what she had just heard.
"Yeah, yeah, sure," Kyouko waved the girl off, trying to quiet her own flushing cheeks. "Could you like, leave, or something? You have other patients, don't you?"
Anna laughed openly and rose to her feet from her kneeling position by the foot of the bed. "Sure thing," She giggled. "I'm sure you two want a little privacy."
"That's not what I'm trying to say," The redhead growled, as Homura simply gave up and hid her face in her hands. "Isn't it a doctor's job to make people feel comfortable?"
"Certainly, but I do despise romantic tension in my workplace."
"What romantic tension? We're in the middle of a fucking warzone!"
"Oh, please. You were ready to smother miss Akemi here the second she woke up yesterday. Don't act like I can't read your endorphin levels. And do watch your language, it is quite unsophisticated."
Kyouko groaned and threw her hands up. "Congratulations, Anna. I've finally found someone who's better at irritating me than Homura."
"Why, thank you."
"You find me irritating?" The injured girl suddenly asked from her seat on the bed, looking up from her hands.
"Again, not what I'm trying to say," The redhead quickly amended, making Anna chuckle to herself again. "Jesus, now look what you've started," She said in an angry voice, turning to demand retribution of the healer standing behind her.
Instead, she found the girl standing with a blank look on her face, the obvious expression of someone receiving a mental transmission.
"We'll have to continue this later," Anna murmured as she crossed to the sink and grabbed her trademark rubber gloves. "You were right, Sakura-san. I do have other patients."
"What do you mean?" Kyouko asked, confused.
The blonde turned to make eye contact with them.
"Mami's squad has returned," She said simply. "And they're less than healthy."
As the three of them strode through the dimly lit halls of the complex, it occurred to Homura that she had never seen anything beyond the path to and from the watchtower. Based on what Kyouko had told her, there were roughly five thousand girls taking shelter within the thick network of buildings that was being hidden by their strongest illusionists. She had, however, yet to see many of them. Briefly, she wondered what sort of state the rest of the mahou shoujo were in, and what it would mean for the future, assuming there was one.
"Through here," Kyouko said, guiding her through a new set of halls she hadn't seen before. Homura was still moving a little gingerly, but in the hours since her second awakening she could feel her muscles steadily regaining strength, and she could now walk at normal speeds as long as she wasn't forced to strain herself.
They made their way deeper into the workers' complex, and as they moved Homura could hear the familiar echoes of voices around her intensifying and multiplying. It appeared that all of the residents in the vicinity had been notified of the arrival of Mami's retrieval team.
She must have been held at an older section of the complex, because the walls were gradually becoming less corroded as they progressed, and the lightning steadily improved. The perpetual rumble of the factories throughout the complex could be heard through the walls, a continuous song of pumping metal and hissing nuclear reactors.
The halls opened up into a larger square, and suddenly Homura found herself surrounded by a thick crowd of people. Taken aback by the sudden influx of human life, she reached out and grabbed onto the hem of Kyouko's shirt, using the redhead as a guide as they began to navigate the seething throngs. She looked around as they shuffled forwards, taking in the faces of the girls around them. There were all sorts of them, tall or short, older or barely prepubescent. But they all had a hard, tested look on their faces, the expressions of people who had seen too much in too little time.
"We're going outside," Anna informed them, pushing open a door and stepping through it. The other two followed, a flood of girls also streaming through the new opening behind them. Homura held a hand to her eyes and squinted; it was her first dose of real sun in eight days, as it had been a gloomy morning atop the watchtower. Looking around, she found herself at one end of a massive courtyard, ringed by a tight perimeter of dark, looming buildings. Even more girls were gathering at the edges of said buildings, and as Homura turned in a full circle to take them in, she roughly estimated over a thousand of them were present.
"Why so many?" She whispered to Kyouko as the crowds thickened and swallowed them partially, though they were still at the front of the rows of people. The girls seemed to naturally gather in a semicircle around the courtyard, looking expectantly towards the other end of the open space. Following their gaze, Homura saw only one long, empty road stretching out before her, before it ended at a thick gate roughly three hundred yards away. It occurred to her that Mami was probably going to arrive through teleportation.
"This mission was the riskiest run behind enemy lines that we've tried yet," Kyouko murmured back, keeping her voice down as the girls around them began to chatter amongst themselves. "The Reapers have great numbers, but even they can't keep a solid line across the city, so it's pretty easy to get past the front if you're careful. Beyond that, though..." She shook her head. "Random patrols everywhere. Kill squads hunting the streets for stragglers. Needless to say, it's hard to plan an excursion beyond that point. Most of it depends on how lucky you get."
Homura pursed her lips, digesting the information. "How long has Mami been leading these teams into the city?"
"Ever since we realized that the Reapers were hunting the girls trapped in the crossfire, about a week ago," The redhead replied. "I led a couple, myself. But Mami's been the driving force behind all the rescues. I'll give her credit; no one else is as motivated to save innocent lives as she is."
"Reapers," The black haired girl murmured to herself. "You keep calling them that. Is that their name?"
Kyouko smirked mirthlessly. "They kill girls, take the Gem, and move on. Like they're harvesting souls. It was a fitting name."
"Sounds a little too intimidating."
"Well, we don't want any of the girls not taking our situation seriously. People are dying, and not just magical girls. I never thought I'd say this and mean it, but this is war. Not the kind with tanks and guns, though."
Homura remained silent after that particular exchange, instead fixing her gaze on the black gates in the distance, which were surprisingly crafted out of tradition wrought iron. The crowd began to shift restlessly around them as the seconds ticked by; apparently, Mami was late. She supposed they were justified in their skittishness. Even she was eager to know the results of such a daring exploit, despite that fact that she hadn't been present to see it take place.
Beside her, Anna snorted softly, her arms crossed over her apron covered chest. "I don't know what everyone's getting so nervous for," She sighed. "Even teleportation has its limits. I'm sure Maki's just taking time to charge each jump. Do these people seriously expect a girl to blink here from all the way back in the Market District?"
"Didn't you say that they were less than healthy?" Homura whispered to her, reaching up to finger her left arm. It was itching where it had been cut, but there was no scar tissue to mull over.
"I did," The healer agreed. "But none of these people know I said that, now do they? So they have no reason to be nervous."
Homura rolled her eyes. She didn't know what she found more difficult to deal with; Kyouko's natural thick headedness, or Anna's inherent sarcastic nature.
However, she quickly abandoned her thoughts when she felt a magical signature appear at the edge of her senses, somewhere beyond the black gates. She could tell that the rest of the crowd could feel it too, in the way they jumped up. "They're close," Kyouko said.
There was a moment of scathing silence, as the magical signature sitting at the perimeter of Homura's mind didn't budge for several moments, instead keeping still and pulsing continuously in place for what felt like an eternity. Then it abruptly vanished from her range of perception, prompting the girl to look up and focus on a spot at the center of the courtyard.
There was a brief shift in the air, and a moment later four figures materialized a foot above the ground with a soft crackle, before falling into a heap on the hard concrete floor. Homura saw the renowned teleporter, Maki, flop to the floor in utter exhaustion as the others gingerly picked themselves up. All except Mami, who leapt to her feet and immediately began waving for someone to come and assist them, yelling, "Healer! We need a healer, hurry!"
"Duty calls," Anna muttered to herself as she tightened her gloves and ran out into the middle of the courtyard, Homura and Kyouko close on her heels. A number of girls also broke from the crowd and began approaching the knot of people at the center, but the healer waved them all off with one dash of her hand, desiring space to concentrate on her newfound task. Mami and Shiro moved aside from the body they had been protecting as the German girl knelt gently to the floor.
Homura, who caught up a second later, felt her stomach lurch when she saw Eru's wounded form sprawled onto the unforgiving concrete. The first thing her eyes focused on was the deep gash running from the albino's right shoulder down across the length of her collarbone, the wound arcing over the girl's chalk pale skin like the half opened eye of some great white beast. Blood was steadily pulsing from the wound, despite the fact that they had probably tried applying pressure to it; Mami knew that much about standard medical procedure, after all. Shiro seemed reluctant to leave the shorter girl's side, but Anna bared her teeth and shooed the girl away. Shiro shifted to the side, flinching instinctively when Mami grabbed her shoulder. It wasn't clear whether the blonde was trying to be comforting or was simply trying to steady herself.
Eru seemed to be unconscious at first glance, but her pale blue eyes flew open when Anna's hands touched her, the healer gently probing the area around the wound. The white haired girl was shivering violently, her irises darting around wildly in search of a security that was nonexistent. Her form flickered between her battle armor and her ordinary clothing, the magical garb flaring to life around her skin before fading out, only to jitter back a moment later like a damaged television screen.
"Kid, listen to me," Anna said urgently, grabbing the girl's shoulder. "I need you to cancel your magic. I can't help you if your powers are in the way. Something's blocking me again."
Eru stared back up at the healer, a panicked look crossing over her face as she evidently attempted to close the flow of her magic. She shook her head shakily, spasming as another violent shudder rode its way through her spine.
Clicking her tongue in sudden anger, Anna looked up and signaled for help. "We're taking her inside," She growled to the rest of them. "This is going to take a while. And I don't enjoy working in front of an audience."
Several minutes later, Homura and Kyouko stood bundled with the rest of Mami's squad at the back of a medical facility room, squinting under the harsh lights glaring down at them from the dirty white ceiling.
Eru was laid out on the bed closest to the door, breathing heavily as Anna flitted around her, touching the girl in various places as she applied a base for her magic to work with. This medical wing seemed to be cleaner and more modern than the one Homura had woken to find herself in, though she felt no derision at the realization. It was likely that girls with more serious injuries took priority over someone who was effectively only in a coma, as she had been. Trying to distract herself from Anna's tension filled movements at the other end of the small room, she looked at the walls and mobile tables, observing the advanced tools lining the shelves, and the exotic medicines sitting in the cabinet. None of them would be put to use in this operation, however. None of these cure-alls were magical in nature, after all.
"Alright, ready," Anna murmured as she touched Eru's forehead with an air of finality. A single, pale white spark glowed between the end of her finger and the other girl's sweaty skin, and the partial albino's eyes rolled back as she fell into a deep unconscious state. The healer sighed before waving Shiro and Mami over to assist her. Maki had insisted on being present to see the procedure, but Anna had unduly kicked her out of the room to be handled by her assistants, saying that the teleporter was literally choking on grief and needed to discharge it into a couple Seeds before rejoining them. Thusly, only Homura and Kyouko were left to watch nervously as Anna quietly instructed the other two girls to hold Eru's body down at the wrists.
"I've immobilized her for now, but her neural cords are going to spasm once I begin," She warned. "An unfortunate side effect that occurs whenever I'm forced to work directly with a person's soul, which is what I'm about to do. This is certainly an amusing coincidence, Akemi-san. This girl's injuries are identical in nature to yours."
Homura gulped at the words, unconsciously clenching her fist. She could handle her own battles, but to see Kota's powers strike down another...an insurmountable wave of guilt began creeping into her heart. Beside her, Kyouko started muttering something about fucking deja vu.
"Are you ready?" Anna asked Mami and Shiro, who both nodded grimly back her her. They were both battered and bruised in their own right, but their troubles seemed to pale in comparison to the ones of the girl they were securing against the bed.
The healer peeled off her gloves and tossed them down onto the floor, raising her hands and letting them hover over Eru's shoulder.
"Let us begin, then," She said before pressing her fingers against the weeping wound.
The reaction was immediate, and terrifying. A glaring green light spread from Anna's hands and swept over Eru's upper torso, consuming the pulsing gash. Almost as if on cue, the albino's eyes blew open as she almost shot off the bed, her back arcing forward at an impossible angle as a rending scream tore from her throat, echoing endlessly off the walls of the facility.
"Hold her down!" Anna growled as the two girls struggled to keep their friend restrained. They had they work cut out for them, as Eru continued to thrash uncontrollably against her human shackles, the foundation of the bed shaking despite the fact that it was bolted down, her eyes filled with a black light that twisted her face beyond recognition. Anna's green light flickered and fought to maintain control over a wound that was literally fighting back, stubbornly refusing the healing powers being forced upon it.
Homura felt something grab her hand and turned to see that it was Kyouko, the redhead's face pale and sick looking as the green light danced in her crimson eyes.
"Sorry," She mumbled, gripping Homura's hand harder despite herself. "She did the same thing with you. Bad memories."
Homura simply nodded and squeezed the redhead's hand back, deciding that one of them had to keep their composure, even though she also found the sight extremely discomforting. Still, she forced herself to look.
It was her fault, after all.
Clink. Clink.
Shiro's eye twitched as she listened to the sound of the surgical knives scraping together, the redhead who was playing with them too absorbed to notice. Setting her jaw, the half blind girl tried to focus her attention on something else, but that just opened her mind up to think about Eru, so she found herself at a rather painful stalemate.
The four of them were sitting at various spots in her room, splayed out evenly over the relatively cramped space. Anna had promptly kicked them out of the medical facility after Eru no longer required straining, haughtily saying that she needed to be alone to work properly. That had left the rest of the to seek out a new place to settle down and mull over their individual depressing thoughts, and Shiro and Eru's room and had the closest. Thus, the invasion of her private space.
Her eye shivered again as Kyouko continued toying with the scalpel she had taken from the facility for some reason, apparently lost in her own devices. Shiro stared at the redhead for a second, analyzing the blank contours of her face. She had heard the stories about the infamous Kyouko Sakura, of course, as had all the younger magical girls who cared to listen to the conversations at Gatherings. An underground prowler, born of a dark past no one except the rest of the Mitakihara Three was sure about. Apparently an item with miss Akemi Homura. A true veteran, a pioneer of the new age of cooperation among magical girls, second only to Mami in renown. Shiro knew the stories. She respected the girl for her experience, certainly, but something about her demeanor told Shiro that the two of them wouldn't mesh well together, personality wise.
Next, she fixed her gaze on Mami. Of her, Shiro knew a lot more. Most of her knowledge concerning the popular blonde mostly originated from all the times Eru had gone off chattering about her, but she had taken care to make her own observations. Mami was a reliable person, and one of the few magical girls she felt she could trust. Which was a particular honor of sorts, considering the treachery filling Shiro's own past. But that was a story for another day.
Finally, she swiveled her head to look at the mysterious Akemi Homura, who was sitting on the floor with her back to the paper thin wall, arms wrapped around knees drawn to the chest. She looked a little lost, Shiro thought. There wasn't much that came to mind when she allowed herself to ponder Homura. Not much was known, after all. The girl was more famous for the questions surrounding her than her actual qualities. Eliminating anything Mami or Kyouko knew, there was almost no common knowledge on Homura's past, or her origins, or even the possible nature of her wish. This did, of course, allow an entire host of rumors to arise to be whispered among the girls whenever the subject of said rumors happened to pass by. Speculation that her time related powers meant that she regretted something. A death, perhaps? Her own, or another's? There was no way to know for sure. Homura was tightlipped about herself to strangers, as were her friends.
Still, that didn't keep Shiro from at least making some surface evaluations. She had been indirectly introduced to Homura two years ago at the second Gathering, and she had immediately thought that the girl was someone who always knew more than she let on. The time traveler wasn't hostile by any means, of course. In fact, she was unfailingly friendly whenever approached by curious visitors. But there was always something detached about her, like she was struggling with something at all hours of the day, trying to answer a question without a solution.
It was an observation that had become more prevalent in the wake of recent events, but Shiro could discern nothing beyond that.
"So," Kyouko voiced suddenly, making the rest of them look up. Even when she spoke, she still played with those damned knives. "Are you going to tell us just what went down out there?"
"We got ambushed, that's what went down," Shiro growled before Mami could say anything. She was a little irritated, partially because of how aloof the redhead sounded, and partly because of those fucking knives-
Mami sighed, crossing her legs to get comfortable. She was sitting on a chair she had pulled up against the wall beside the door. "We miscalculated. Shiro counted five Reapers, and initially she was right. But something changed. A sixth girl. It all went downhill from there."
Homura raised her bowed head to stare at Mami, waiting for the blonde to elaborate, waiting for the one part she already knew was coming.
"But the way Eru got hurt..." Kyouko said, gesturing vaguely to refer to the similarities to Homura's injuries. Shiro rolled her eyes from her spot at the edge of her bunk bed, from where she could look down on the other three.
Mami shook her head before responding, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "This is going to sound crazy, but...it was Kota. Kota was the sixth girl. She ambushed us, killed the girl we were trying to retrieve, and we had no choice but to run. I can't believe she's mixed up in all this, I really can't. Maybe it wasn't really her?"
"Oh, it most certainly was her," Kyouko affirmed darkly. Mami looked at her in confusion, and the redhead bit her lip before elaborating.
"Kota was the one who tore down the turbine. She's responsible for Homura's accident, too. All of it, really. This is definitely more than a coincidence. She's come back for her revenge."
Mami's eyes went wide, and she almost stood up from the chair before thinking better of it and settling back down again. "But...no, that explains everything perfectly, actually. Homura, why didn't you say something earlier?"
"She obviously didn't feel like talking about it," Kyouko snorted. "I doubt you would, either."
The blonde blinked, a look of guilt crossing her face. "You're right," She admitted. "I'm sorry," She added in Homura's direction.
The girl just shook her head, not saying a word.
"Woah, woah, woah," Shiro abruptly broke in, leaping down from her bunk bed to land among the other three girls. "I'm not following this conversation at all. Who the hell is Kota? That girl with the freakish flame magic? What does she have to do with all this?"
"That's none of your fucking business," Kyouko said tensely, glaring at the half blind girl.
Shiro sneered back, completely fearless. "Oh, really. My best friend's got a hole in her shoulder after saving our lives, and it's none of my business. Don't bullshit me, Kyouko. If it means an answer, I want an explanation. Who is Kota?"
"Why you cocky piece of-" Kyouko began to snarl as she rose from her seat and prepared to advance across the room.
"Enough!"
Stiffening, the bickering girls turned to look down at Homura, who was still curled up against the wall. The time traveler glared defiantly back up at them, cowing both with the intensity of her gaze.
Then she let out a heavy breath, lowering her head again. "Kyouko, sit down. Shiro's right. She has a right to know."
"But-"
"Please, Kyouko. It was never your decision anyways."
The redhead opened her mouth to say something back, but then held her tongue, letting her tensed arms drop limply to her sides. "If you insist," She murmured, spinning on her heel and retaking her seat. Shiro blinked as she watched the exchange, surprised at how easily Homura had taken control of the situation.
"Shiro," Homura said, startling the girl out of her thoughts. "I'm about to launch into a very long story. I hope you've prepared yourself."
The half blind girl considered acting humble, then ditched the idea.
"We've got time," She said simply.
Homura nodded, then took a deep breath, drawing on memories of fire.
It was a cold day when she first met Kota Suzuki.
Well, not exactly cold. It was more of a slight chill than anything else, but still noticeable, almost certainly there but yet inconsequential. As if the weather were trying to tell them something, that the cold bit softly now, but soon enough it would be ravenous.
Three years ago. How recent it still felt, the stinging memories, even after three years, two Gatherings, and months of life in between. Looking back on it, that was the first time Homura had been forced to remember something for such a long time. Before, time hadn't progressed for her. Development had become a fresh concept to her, after stalling the progression of time for so long. It was a little difficult to plan things when one didn't know the future, and wasn't gifted with magical clairvoyance.
Almost immediately since the day Homura had opened her eyes to find herself in the New Order, there had been things to do. At first, her various newfound responsibilities were mostly concerned with clearing up the Demons which pervaded the streets of Mitakihara, as she was apparently the main planner among the three of them. The New Order had bestowed that particular role upon her, and she willingly took it up. Mapping out hotspots, devising more effective hunting strategies, and making sure that Kyouko didn't somehow get herself killed, a problem that eventually resolved itself by placing the redhead under Homura's direct care at her home. A lot of sudden changes, at least from her perspective, in such a short amount of time. It had been more than enough to occupy her, at first.
Humans were designed to adapt, however, and given time Homura easily adjusted to her new lifestyle. She quickly understood the circumstances of this particular timeline, and her strategies were working wonders. Border skirmishes were now virtually nonexistent, and she was performing passably in school. Little by little, her worries began to slip away.
Only to be replaced by new ones. As the world seemed to slow down around her, Homura found her mind wandering more and more often, only returning to focus on how monotonous her work was becoming, the day in and day out slog of hunting, planning, harvesting Seeds, then recycling the process. She felt like a middle aged woman who was still stuck behind a desk job, woefully contemplating what could have been. It was a terrifyingly effective analogy, come to think of it.
She had berated herself for it initially. After all, they were all so much better off in this new universe. At the very least, she should persevere, if only to honor Madoka's sacrifice. She had sworn to protect the city, and it was her duty. This mentality was enough to stave off the steadily building boredom for a while longer, as Homura's existence as a magical girl slowly became less of a varied struggle and more of a lifestyle based on schedules. Yes, it was a ridiculous concept to even imagine, but Demon hunting eventually was locked to a fixed schedule. Homura on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays, Kyouko on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, et cetera. And of course, tea at Mami's apartment every goddam day. Homura had never thought that being a magical girl could ever be boring, even if the lack of boredom came from risking her life on a constant basis. But that was unfortunately the case, and as the months waned by she became almost incapable of disregarding the fact.
It wasn't that she wanted tragedy. No matter how dull things became, she preferred this universe to the one filled with screeching Witches and permanent deaths to magical girls. Yet there was a certain grind to this lifestyle as well, when there was no apparent end to the Demons (according to Kyubey, the apparitions would never truly disappear, so long as humans existed to feed them despair), and everyone was so goddamned cheerful all the time. Well, not everybody. Kyouko was always a bit more cynical about things compared to everyone else. When Mami tried to set up parties with other girls from various districts, the two of them would sneak to some isolated bridge and simply chat. Despite this small comfort, Homura had never been able to properly express her thoughts to the redhead. She had a feeling even Kyouko wouldn't understand her.
Still, what was there to be understood? In truth, Homura wouldn't have known what she wanted to say even if she did attempt to open up to the redhead. What was it that she wanted? All she knew was that there was this itch, one that literally could not be scratched because it wasn't tangible, simply there, lingering at the back of her mind at all times. This urge to do something, but she had no idea what, didn't have the slightest clue what might relieve the itch. She tried killing more Demons, but that didn't help. She tried throwing herself into strategizing, but that only served to worsen her condition. It frustrated her to no end.
Mami, being the motherly figure that she was, had taken notice and asked Homura what was wrong. But Homura hadn't been able to bring herself to explain. What could she say? She didn't know herself. The number of Demons she slew and the amount of Grief Seeds she brought home each night began steadily dropping, but nobody hardly noticed, because cooperation among magical girls was reaching such high peaks that hunting quotas could be met with or without her contributions. But that didn't mean she was anywhere near free of responsibilities.
For all the praise Homura often received for being the most perceptive or the most responsible of the Mitakihara Three, she was all too slow in realizing some of the most important aspects of her own psyche. The problem wasn't the endless Demons, or that she was uncomfortable being friendly with other mahou shoujo, or even that she didn't know how to deal with Kyouko's sudden interest in deepening their relationship. No, the problem was that everything in her life had at least something to do with her nature as a magical girl, whether it be the incredibly monotonous battle plan meetings or instinctively reviewing numbers and statistics in her head while she sat on the toilet. Everything was Grief Seeds this, quotas that, more magical girls here and deeper involvement there.
It became so bad that she found herself staring at human girls who passed by on the street, chatting about something most likely of no consequence. Homura didn't envy their apparent lack of significance, but she did envy their freedom to simply not care. To not give a damn and not be ramified for it. When had she lost that liberty? Probably the moment she made her wish, but it had seemed like a worthy sacrifice, at the moment. It still was.
But still.
It had come as a total shock to Homura. Of all the people who she had thought would be the first to grow utterly sick of being a magical girl, her own self had never crossed consideration for that list. It was always Kyouko complaining about boredom during meetings, or Mami telling people to relax and take things a little easier. But that was the truth of the matter, wasn't it? She was sick of it. It was like there was nothing to work toward anymore. She had made her wish to save Madoka, and now that her goal had been achieved, there was almost no purpose for her anymore. Was she going to do this until she grew old and died? Was there even such a thing? She didn't know. Only the other girls' dependence on her superior planning skills kept her dedicated to the cause, but even that motivation was starting to wane. She needed a new direction, a drive.
It was then that Homura had started dreaming about pursuing something beyond the borders of Mitakihara. But they were only that, dreams, nothing concrete to work off of. Something, anything to do something not related to her magic. How unlike her to be the one constantly striving for normalcy. It was completely out of character and she knew it, but she also supposed that this was how far she had driven herself. Now there was only the doing, but when would the chance present itself?
Her answer came sooner than she would have expected. Kyubey returned from his daily rounds among the various territories one day, almost immediately calling a meeting. Mami, Kyouko, and herself had met at the blonde's spruced up apartment, wondering what the alien wanted. It was rare for the Incubator to call them all together himself, as the creature usually preferred to be a silent observer.
True to his character, Kyubey was to the point. Mitakihara's development revolution was at full swing, and whole prefectures were being added under the city's borders with every passing week. Since Mitakihara apparently fell under Kyubey's particular care, it was his responsibility to make sure that all sectors were covered. Soon, the city would have expanded too far to be patrolled throughly by the roughly eighty girls who had taken up residence here.
At least, that was the alien's path of thinking. Homura was of the personal opinion that they had plenty of girls to cover the territory, but Kyubey was insistent on having absolutely no holes in their routine. It was rather obvious that the Incubators were attempting to accelerate Grief Seed consumption rates. Why, she didn't know.
The solution? A new magical girl. Previously, Kyubey would have had free rein to contract anyone he found capable of the job, but Mami had spearheaded a movement to change this. Psychological evaluation was apparently not a big part of the Incubators' screening process, and many girls proved to be unstable after facing the harrows their new life entailed. Such cases posed a considerable threat to the rest of the puella magi in Mitakihara. Thusly, Kyubey now needed permission to contract any new hunters, a proposition the alien had accepted, albeit begrudgingly.
It was a rather serious proposal, and it completely justified the alien's unusual insistence that they gather. Welcoming a new girl into the fold would change the dynamic of the city, at least slightly. Deciding that the three of them probably needed more information to digest, Kyubey reeled off tidbits about his chosen candidate.
Kota Suzuki, just recently turned fourteen years old. An orphan who usually frequented the depths of the Impoverished District, and was not under the care of any foster organizations and had no living relatives. That much was not actually uncommon, considering that Kyubey liked to choose people who had plenty of free time and wouldn't be missed. But the rest of the bio rundown was unique, to say the least.
Originally lived with her biological mother and father until the age of ten, when a violent fight broke out within the household. The family was apparently always tight on money, and often argued over finances and various other topics. However, this particular struggle between husband and wife ended when the two of them were killed in a fire; a fire their daughter had allegedly started, though the fact was never proven.
She eventually disappeared after that, and attempts to recover her were never successful. Human records had nothing else on the short, but bloody, life of Kota Suzuki, but the Incubators knew much more. After fleeing deep into the crowded mess that was the Impoverished District, she initially hid among a large band of similar orphans who had grouped together in order to survive. However, as one might think, a gang of underfed and naturally cynical children weren't likely to get along very well, and the atmosphere among the headquarters of the Orphan's Bloc was tense at best. So it was to be expected that Kota would run into more than her fair share of problems among the other orphans, and nobody was surprised when she and a particularly vicious boy broke out into a squabble over a wallet a pedestrian had unwittingly dropped.
That was, until one of them was killed.
[It was her first fit of violence since the loss of her family unit,] The alien had droned, as if citing any ordinary statistic. To him, it probably was just that. [Though we aren't aware of the details concerning the conflict, we believe the young male died of some kind of head trauma.]
Kyouko narrowed her eyes, slowly working on a now cold hot pocket, the steady decrease in temperature lost on the girl's tongue. She felt nervous; it wasn't like Kyubey to provide unfavorable information about his candidates. He was trying to get them contracted, after all. Of course, she had always trusted the alien enough to think that the lack of such unsavory facts in the past was due to the fact that they didn't exist. What could lead the Incubators to make such a risky choice?
Clearing her throat, the redhead asked, "What happened after that? After she...you know."
[Suzuki disappeared from the Orphan's Bloc several days later,] Kyubey replied promptly. [It is believed she was excluded due to persecution which arose in consequence to her actions. However, we are not aware if the orphans expelled her or if she extracted herself.]
"And this was three years ago?" Homura said, her voice cutting through the air and sounding much louder than it actually was. The added decibels were probably attributable to the fact that this was the first time she had participated verbally in a meeting for weeks.
[Yes,] The alien confirmed, apparently oblivious to the surprised glances Mami and Kyouko threw the time traveler's way. [Afterwards, she distanced herself from the area and took up a mostly nomadic lifestyle, carving out a life from the city as well she could. There are no significant events to speak of after this; she had no more accidents, and made little to no friends or connections.]
"This is ridiculous," Mami suddenly burst out, unfolding the arms she had been keeping crossed over her chest and laying them out on the table, hands spread flat. "Even you know me well enough to say that I would never allow you to contract this girl, Kyubey. You've never made such a reckless pitch before. It's unlike you. Are you sure there are no alternatives?"
The alien turned to fix the blonde with its emotionless beady eyes, the dying sunset painting the air around them a deep bloody orange. [There are no alternatives. Kota Suzuki is of the greatest karmic potential at the moment, and all other possible candidates would be too incompetent.]
"I don't believe there can be so few girls with magical potential out there," Kyouko muttered, nibbling at her food. "I mean, this is Mitakihara. We've got like a billion people here. I'm sure some of them are a safer bet than this Kota chick."
[We believed so as well, but there are unexpected complications,] Kyubey replied. [It appears that when large numbers of magical girls gather in the same area, the karmic capacity of that reason shrinks in opposite correlation. It is a phenomenon we have been unable to properly explain. In either case, Kota Suzuki is our only option.]
Mami exhaled loudly through her nose, bringing her spread out arms together to clasp her hands against each other. For once, she looked less than composed; maintaining the peaceful order among the girls of Mitakihara was an important issue to her. "Why is there even an option, to begin with? We have more than enough girls to cover our sectors. We're doing fine as we are. I don't understand why you're pushing so hard for this. Has something happened?"
Kyubey lashed his tail, as if agitated. But Homura knew the alien was incapable of experiencing such an emotion. [That is information my race has not allowed me divulge, Mami. However, I can say that we must maximize Grief Seed retrieval. I would ask you to place faith in my fidelity concerning this matter. A new contract is in the best interest for all of us. Trust is a valued virtue among your kind, is it not?]
The blonde shook her head, reaching up to press two fingers against the front of her head. "I appreciate it, Kyubey, and I am not inclined to be suspicious of you. Nonetheless, I can't see any reason to take such a risk. Suzuki-san will almost certainly place the order of the city in danger. I can't allow that to happen."
[Perhaps if we had someone monitor her at all times,] The alien urged, actually getting up on its pawed feet to emphasize the words. [Newcomers are already mentored for the beginning stages of their contract, are they not? If we were to extend that tutelage, we could ensure Suzuki's mental stability before eventually granting her free rein.]
"Who would take that responsibility?" Mami sighed. "I couldn't ask anyone to take the time to practically raise a magical girl to competence. Nobody would be up to the task."
A blanket of silence fell over the four of them at those words, as Kyubey quietly searched his mind for another angle to his argument. Mami crossed her arms over her chest again and stared back at the alien, wordlessly daring the white creature to attempt to undermine her authority. Kyouko watched the exchanged with reserved chews, trying to remain discreet and fill her stomach simultaneously.
"I'll do it."
Everyone blinked once before turning to look at Homura, even Kyubey. The black haired girl was gazing resolutely back at them, hands folded over her lap.
"Homura?" Mami asked, confused. "But why-"
"I'll do it," She repeated, deciding that she would have to steamroll over everyone else's opinions quickly if she were to have her way. "We can recover from a slight loss in production even if I take the time to mentor Kota, and most of the organizing and strategy I'm responsible for can take of itself at this point. The rest of the girls know what to do; they've been at it for almost a year now, after all."
The blonde furrowed her brow. "Sure, but why would you want to take responsibility for this? You've never mentored anyone before. In fact, you've refused every time we tried to force it on you. What's changed?"
"I don't know," Homura replied, locking eyes with the older girl, searching gold squaring off against pleading violet. "I just know that I want to do this. So I would ask that you let me. Please, Mami."
Mami started, unaccustomed to the words she was hearing. It felt like the first time she had ever heard Homura actually ask her for something without making it sound like she didn't actually have a choice in the matter. Breaking eye contact and staring down at the table, she bit her lip, contemplating.
[I believe that pairing Suzuki with a stable tutor such as Akemi-san will improve our chances of indoctrinating her smoothly,] Kyubey offered, sensing an advantage and choosing to leverage it.
The blonde promptly ignored the alien's logical advances and instead lifted her head to look at Homura again, the smaller girl blinking back at her.
"Homura," She began slowly, as if afraid of the answer, "Are you sure about this?"
She nodded.
Finally, Mami sighed, letting her hands slide off the table. "Alright. Fine, Kyubey, you can go contract your candidate. I trust Homura's judgement."
The alien nodded and turned to leap out the window, sending Homura a mental brush of approval before disappearing into the cityscape.
Mami excused herself to the bathroom soon after, murmuring something about it being too hot in the room even though the air conditioning was blasting. The girl didn't particularly enjoy having her authority overturned, even if it was by her own jurisdiction. Almost too quickly, Homura found herself alone with Kyouko, who had fallen uncomfortably silent for the entire duration of the meeting and still wasn't speaking.
"She'll have a good teacher, at least," The redhead said softly, startling Homura just slightly. The time traveler nodded tersely as she absentmindedly smoothed out her skirt, feeling strangely awkward in the wake of her sudden adoption of a fresh responsibility.
"I agree with Mami for the most part, but I don't think it could be as bad as she's thinking," Kyouko continued, licking at the tips of her fingers and drawing Homura's eyes to the movement of her tongue. "I mean, I wasn't the most healthy person when I contracted, and I turned out alright. But I guess that's mostly cause I had Mami. And you."
Homura tried her best not to blush when she realized the emphasis Kyouko had place on the last word, and mostly succeeded. She smiled and leaned over to poke the redhead in the shoulder, wanting to lighten the mood. "Hey, if I could tame you, there's no one I couldn't teach, right?"
The girl snorted and swatted her hand away, leaning back to stretch her legs out from under the table. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Don't get all high and mighty on me, Homura. You're prone to mistakes too."
The time traveler made a face. "I always think my actions through before I execute them. Maybe I should teach you sometime?"
Kyouko didn't react to the poorly veiled jab like Homura thought she would. Instead, a worn expression fell over the redhead's face as she reached across the table to brush the bangs out of Homura's eyes, eventually resting her palm against the girl's warm cheek.
"Sure you do," She whispered softly, momentarily captivating Homura with her eyes. "But I can tell something's off. Just...don't regret it, okay?"
She smiled weakly back.
"I don't do regret."
Of course, she was probably lying. After all, Homura had the worst of reasons for wanting to mentor the fateful Kota Suzuki. As she sat there, staring with her mind's eye at the mental image of the girl Kyubey had fed to them, something strange had come over her. Here was a broken, jilted, hollow individual. Someone who would no doubt have serious issues with trusting other people, forget other magical girls. A broken past and a bleak future. It almost didn't make sense for her to be drawn to such a creature.
Yet at the same time, it made worlds of sense. Homura was on the verge of losing reason to find purpose in her work. There was no achievement left for her in organizing raids, indoctrinating new girls or monitoring Grief Seed production. In fact, given time, she would easily be able to say that she hated it. Then here was something, this beautiful something, a new goal. If she could take in Suzuki and heal the wounds life had wrought upon her soul, it would fulfill what Homura had been searching for. A reason. A purpose.
How horribly cliche, She had thought to herself at one point. It should have disgusted her, how simple her motivations were, but she wasn't going to lie to herself either. For once, she was going to be selfish.
Their first meeting went less than well. Kota Suzuki immediately tried to run when Kyubey led her into a secluded park and Homura emerged to meet her, not even giving the two of them time to explain themselves. Only Homura's time manipulation magic kept the girl from getting away. Finally, after they had calmed the orphan down enough, she tried again.
"Akemi Homura," She said in what she hoped was a friendly sounding voice, squatting in front of where Kota was sitting on a bench and extending a welcoming hand. The distrustful girl simply stared at the hand, looking all too impassive and uncaring given her age. Homura bit her lip and retracted her arm.
[Kyubey,] She then asked on a private channel,[How long has it been since she contracted?]
[Three days, during which time I have explained the fundamentals of our world to her. She took it surprisingly well, in fact. Though I suppose her life has forced her to become easily adaptable. However, as a result, she trusts virtually no one.]
Homura mentally tsked before returning her attention to the girl in front of her. "I don't suppose you're very inclined to make conversation, are you?" She asked Kota, who didn't respond, verbally or physically. The girl was a full year younger than her, but she seemed decades older. Maybe it was the eyes. Startling cobalt blue, like frigid knives. She wondered what kind of heat it would take to melt them.
"If you're worried about trusting me with your identity, you don't have to worry," Homura said. It was night and she had asked Mami and Kyouko not to follow her. She wanted this to be her own task. "I'm a magical girl, too."
"I know what you are," Kota suddenly said, her voice slippery and heartless. It scared even Homura, just a little bit. "I can feel it. I can feel a lot more things now, after contracting. And you know what? It hasn't taught me anything. The world is still filled with as many untrustworthy rats as before, magic or not, Demons or not. Chances are, you're one too. In fact, I'd bet on it. Being what you are doesn't change who you are."
Homura curled her fingers into a ball as she considered her next move. She had hoped for their initial encounter to be better than this, but present evidence strongly suggested otherwise. She found Kota's inherent cynicism to be a rather irritating obstacle, but she couldn't exactly blame the girl. She had been just like her, before.
"Look," She said, deciding to adopt a stern, authoritative tone. "You obviously don't want to beat around the bush, so I'll indulge you. I'm sure Kyubey has told you about the FMG, about our cooperation, its perks, all of that. I won't waste time trying to pitch the idea to you, so here's my offer; allow me to be your mentor, and join the federation."
Kota raised a cool eyebrow, but Homura saw her nervously fingering the ring that contained her soul. "I have no reason to join your little group of demon hunters. I've never been fond of company, and quite frankly, I only made this contract to improve my chances of survival."
Homura opened her mouth and laughed harshly in the girl's face, deciding that she would combat uncaring with uncaring. "Survival? Well, you've certainly made a poor choice, Suzuki-san. Becoming a magical girl never saves you. It dooms you. We wouldn't have the federation if our existence were so simple. Don't be so naive. This is a one time offer. I'd suggest you think it over before rejecting me."
The younger girl narrowed her eyes down at her, and Homura stared cooly back, even as her heart beat quickly in her chest. Perhaps taking the offensive so early wasn't such a good idea after all. What she if she pushed Kota away with her words? That would invalidate everything she had set up to this point, and Kyubey was simply watching and not being very helpful.
"Have you tried exercising your powers? You don't have control over them yet, do you?" Homura blinked knowingly when Kota flinched just slightly at the question. So her hunch had been spot on. For someone who had been forced to become so independent, having inadequate control over her own abilities was sure to bother Kota. Hopefully, she could leverage that to her own advantage.
Kota sneered regretfully. "Intimidating things, those Demons. I always knew there was something in the world making things go wrong, but now that I can see them, it makes it no easier. Running from them isn't easy, either."
"If you follow me, you won't have to run anymore," Homura replied simply, hoping the girl would pick up on both sides of her meaning. "It helps a lot, to have control."
The cobalt blue girl stared at her for a very long time. Homura was suddenly very sure that she was going to be rejected. She began thinking of ways to accept it gracefully when the girl sighed and stood up from the bench.
"Very well," She said. "I'll follow you, for now. But don't expect me to lower my guard. If you try anything, I'll kill you. If anyone else tries something, I'll kill you. Understood?"
Homura forced herself to wear a wry smile. She felt like she had no idea what she about to get herself into.
"Understood."
Homura decided that it was unsafe to allow Kota to mingle with the other girls so soon. The girl was too edgy, too naturally distrustful of others. Hell, she didn't even place an ounce of faith in her own mentor. Whenever she tried to provide a helpful tip or correct an error in judgement, Kota would glare at her almost angrily, as if having forgot that her teacher was there and irritated to rediscover her. Homura had been all too right in predicting that the girl would be a difficult pupil.
Taming Kota Suzuki proved to be a monumental task in more than one way. The girl was too focused on applying her powers, using them to achieve her ends, to realize that she needed a proper grasp of her own limitations first. She was reckless, attempted things without considering her personal safety or Homura's, and often got the two of them in endless amounts of trouble. And all of these problems would persist if Kota insisted on undermining her mentor's attempts to assist her every step of the way, in direct hypocrisy to her earlier agreement to be cooperative. The girl simply never listened, a direct result of a decade on the streets fending for herself. It was a wall Homura almost failed to break down. Luckily enough, she understood Kota's feeling enough to navigate them, albeit treacherously.
Her powers seemed to be mostly of a detection based nature, so Homura tried to focus on narrowing the girl's expertise first. Eventually, they discovered her true base gift; the ability to sense and redirect magic along various different channels. It was certainly a unique power, one that Homura certainly hadn't seen before, which made honing Kota's abilities doubly difficult. After weeks of tedious, rigorous training and arguing, she managed to narrow Kota's powers to a more suppressive sphere, allowing the girl to master the art of weakening all sources of magic around her. Soon enough, Homura was pleased to find Kota's range of abilities expanding. The girl could pick up on magical signatures exceptionally well, and was adept at blocking and redirecting bolts of energy when they were directed at her.
However, she still worried. Kota's gifts seemed more suited for fighting other magical girls rather than Demons, and that wouldn't work out well in the setting they were in. Violent conflict with another mahou shoujo usually meant immediate expulsion from the federation, and she had to make sure that Kota was informed of this. The girl mainly brushed her off concerning the matter, but she did keep herself in check.
But it wasn't the wildly varying powers, or Kota's short temper, or even Homura's steadily shortening schedule that made the task difficult. No, the greatest challenge was earning Kota's trust. The girl always wanted to know why, why she should do this, why she wasn't allowed to do that, constantly pushing against her teacher's authority. This usually led to intense arguments between the two of them, as Homura wasn't one to back down and let her student trample all over her. This most often led to Kota storming off to slay Demons on her own, but given her inexperience, she almost always ended up putting herself in a position to get killed. At which point Homura would constantly have to swoop in and save her.
It was a crude and slow process, but after almost losing her head for the fiftieth time Kota's attitude began to turn around. Even she wasn't stubborn enough to risk death simply to defy authority. She began obeying most of Homura's orders, and the results showed when she was soon able to take on small hordes of Demons solo. Kota tried her best to hide it, but Homura knew that the girl was extremely satisfied with herself. It went without saying that this helped to build a bridge of communication between them. In spite of all this however, she always felt that their relationship never progressed beyond that of distant teacher and student. No matter what she did, Kota always treated her with detachment and coldness.
Of course, dedicating so much time to this endeavor didn't come without some ramifications. She had almost no free time to spend on anything outside of training Kota and keeping up in school, and as a direct result she began spending less time with Mami or Kyouko. Homura had never been one to constantly socialize with either of them, but even still her presence was missed. Mami tried her best to understand, but Kyouko took it a little less gracefully, becoming noticeably jealous over how much time Homura was throwing into preparing Kota for her future as a magical girl. She tried to explain her own perspective, but the redhead was never one to sit and simply listen while things were said to her. Thus, a small rift grew between them during this time.
But that was a necessary sacrifice, wasn't it? After all, she had finally received what she wanted. A goal, something to work toward. The work was hard, but that was what made it worthwhile. Kota was a slow learner but progress was most certainly being made, and as she matured magically, her mental state began to open up as well. Soon the cobalt blue girl was allowing herself to hold casual conversations with Homura while they trained, which allowed her teacher to learn many new things about her.
They never spoke of Kota's past, or the blood staining its annals, and the girl never chose to bring it up. After all, she was under the assumption that Homura knew nothing about her history, and the time traveler was content to keep it that way. There was no point in forcing bitter memories to the fore. She wanted them to focus on the future, on what was the come. Maybe because Homura wanted so badly to forge a future for herself as well, not just her pupil.
As the months wore on, the line she had set between student and friend began to blur, but Kota was never enough to fill the void that Kyouko left behind. Nevertheless, Homura tried her best to convince herself otherwise. It was during this time that Homura decided that it was, finally, time to allow Kota to mingle with those more like her.
It started off well enough. She let Kota attend one of the small parties Mami was endlessly hosting, even deigning to go with her, if just to keep on eye on the girl. She was rather disappointed to see Kota hanging around gingerly in the far corner, glaring nervously at anyone who tried to approach her. Homura's worry grew as things stayed this way for the entire night, and internally cringed. Why couldn't Kota simply mingle? Sighing mentally, she kept her eyes trained on her pupil.
She saw Kyouko staring at the two of them too, but she chose to ignore that.
"And then what happened?" Shiro asked softly, hands clasped together before her knees.
Homura bit her lip and continued to remember, reaching up to rub at her temples in her traditional expression of stress. Shiro felt just a little guilty about forcing such an obviously painful memory out of the girl, but she also figured there was no point in turning back yet. Besides, they hadn't yet gotten to the part that made this story painful to begin with.
"Being the fool I was, I decided to trust her," Homura said finally. "I was so afraid of it all being for nothing, afraid to not see Kota make progress, that I pushed her too quickly, expected too much of her. I shouldn't have let her mingle with the other girls so early, even after waiting. Her mental state was still too fragile, and she hardly trusted me to hold her hand, let alone other strangers, other girls. It was a mistake."
Shiro noticed that Kyouko was staring at the black haired girl with a slightly shocked look on her face. It didn't make sense that this was the first time the redhead was hearing this tale. After all, the spear wielder had made it obvious earlier that she knew the full details. She wondered why the facts would still surprise her now. Then Shiro realized that Kyouko may have heard the facts before, but not Homura's personal thoughts on the matter.
"There was an accident," Homura continued, wringing her hands nervously. "A fight. Between Kota and another girl within the territory, a gravity manipulator by the name of Lorelei. I knew the basic constraints of Kota's powers, but not its intricate details. She refused to tell me the details of the conflict, but something happened regarding Lorelei's Soul Gem. Somehow, intentionally or unintentionally, Kota used her abilities to redirect Lorelei's magical signature against herself."
Shiro breathed in sharply as the other two girls in the room pursed their lips grimly at the ugly memory. "You don't mean..."
Homura nodded bitterly. "Gravitational powers, after all. Lorelei's body collapsed in on itself, crushing her Gem in the process. The loss sent shockwaves through the city."
"It was the first recorded death among the ranks of the federation since the age of cooperation went into full effect," Mami joined in softly. "So it was understandable that people would be scared. Suddenly, they were afraid of the old times coming back, times where girls killed for Seeds and shelter, and trusted no one but themselves. To them, Kota was the very embodiment of this era."
Homura continued tugging restlessly at her fingers. "I was horrified, of course. But I was also stubborn. This could still be salvaged, I thought. How cruel of me, saving another not for their sake but for my own damned pride." The girl smirked and laughed mirthlessly to herself, making the rest of the room shift uncomfortably. "I held off the other senior girls as well as I could, but it was hard to do when I knew I wasn't in the right. They called her dangerous, volatile, violent. How could I argue against that? They were right and I knew it. But I still fought against them, because I didn't want another thing I had built up to burn to the ground again."
"There is a council of sorts among the girls of the federation, composed of our oldest and most experienced members, of which the three of us are a part of," Kyouko then pitched in, locking eyes with Shiro, who stared back expressionlessly. The half-blind girl felt like the redhead was trying to make her understand the gravity of what she had asked to be told about. "It never had a name. But you've heard of it."
The girl nodded. Of course she had heard of it. Everyone knew that the older magical girls often collaborated to make sure things ran smoothly.
Kyouko nodded back and began toying with her hair. "One of the girls in this circle, a warrior named Phoebe, was Lorelei's cousin. Now, Phoebe was never the most understanding or docile of people, and she had obvious reasons to hate Kota. She also wields considerable influence among the rest of the girls in our circle, and she began using it to generate derision towards Homura's student. People were already afraid of her after the murder; it wasn't a difficult thing to do."
"It was getting bad," Mami sighed. "The girls were starting to call for Kota's expulsion from the federation, and we couldn't deny their requests if it befitted the majority. I felt bad for the girl. She wasn't accepted anywhere, was squeezed out of hunting Demons, and lost training time with Homura because she was busy fending off the rest of the council. She was completely alone, just like she was before contracting, and had no one to trust. I can only imagine what damage that did to her mental stability."
Shiro narrowed her eyes. She could apologize for unearthing such a delicate topic later. For now, even though she couldn't perceive an exact reason why, it was best to hear what was left of the story. "So what did Kota do? Did she run?"
"Not at first," Homura muttered. "I pulled out all the stops I could muster, and finally managed to get the other girls to lay off on Kota until after the Gathering, under the pretense that it would defeat the event's purpose. Believing I had bought my student so time to think about her next move, I went and told Kota about it. She was minimally grateful, but at least she wasn't constantly looking over her back anymore. Still, I don't think she would have trusted the information if it came from anyone other than me."
Shiro's eye twitched, and she reached up to poke at it, trying to calm the organ down. "I don't understand. All of these developments would obviously be very stressful, but I don't see how it adds up to what I saw of her."
The time traveler sighed, and suddenly she seemed very weary. "Phoebe and a good portion of the council flat out lied to me," She said. "They guaranteed their amnesty to get me to lower my guard, and waited until their opportunity arose. When I was distracted with hosting the very first Gathering, they decided to attack. Phoebe and five other girls separated Kota from the edges of the crowd and cornered her in the shadows of the city. I don't know if they really planned to kill her or simply wanted her gone, but the result's couldn't be debated."
The half blind girl found herself sweating with cold anticipation.
"What were the results?"
Homura looked up to meet her eyes, and Shiro saw something unfathomable in them. "Unfortunately, my training proved superior. Kota managed to tap into the same power she used to eliminate Lorelei and fought off the girls from the council. Phoebe was the only one who survived because she entered the battle last. The other girls..." She shuddered. "I've never seen a more gruesome way to die. Having your magic turned against you is like dying from the inside."
A thick silence fell over the four of them at those words, as Shiro for once held her tongue and decided to wait for someone else to continue. She didn't even know what to ask if she wanted to.
Finally, Homura picked the narrative back up again.
"The incident broke any semblance of trust I may have managed to place in her," She said bitterly. "Her mind was already on the brink of collapsing beforehand, and the addition of magic would only quicken the decay. After her confrontation with Phoebe, she cornered me after the Gathering and tried to kill me."
Shiro pursed her lips, suddenly apprehensive. Homura looked up and smiled wanly at the girl, though no happiness tinged her expression.
"I obviously survived the battle," The time traveled said, gesturing at her own obviously intact self to reinforce the fact. "I taught her everything she knows, after all. Still, it was hard to concentrate when she was yelling at me the entire time. Traitor, she said. Liar, manipulator, evil. I couldn't convince her, through her broken and shattered mind, that I hadn't set her up. Ironic, isn't it? I try to build something worth being proud of for once, and it ends up turning against me just like everything else. Such is the existence of a magical girl.
"She disappeared after that," Homura continued to a room now stunned silent. "I never saw her again for over two years, and slowly, I thought I'd be able to forget about her. Another failure lost and buried. But then the turbine happened, an army has pinned us against the ocean, and we can't step out of this ramshackle hideaway without being vaporized. All this with the conundrum named Kota Suzuki piled on top."
"But that still doesn't make sense," Shiro interjected, knowing from the looks she got that she was being much too forward, but going with it anyways. "I saw her face during the retrieval mission. I read her mental wavelengths. She was angry. Much angrier than what this entire story warrants, when she was only facing Mami and not Homura. It just doesn't make sense. I don't mean to lower the severity of what happened between you and your student, Homura. But it just doesn't add up."
She knew she'd hit on the soundest nail with those words, because the Mitakihara Three shared a bout of uneasy glances amongst themselves. Even a child who was well versed with heroic tales new that a round of nervous looks foreshadowed something.
Finally, Mami exhaled loudly and steepled her fingers together. "Very well," She said with closed eyes. "I'm sure this has all been on our minds for a long time now, though we've yet to discuss the matter privately...however, now will do. You are right, Shiro. Kota was furious at the advent of her apparent betrayal, and left Mitakihara after being defeated by Homura, swearing vengeance. Still, the level of aggression we dealt with earlier today was on an entirely different scale...some might even call it alien."
Shiro felt a confused look cross her face as Kyouko nodded grimly in agreement.
"I'm sorry," She said bluntly, "But I don't follow."
"This is only a theory," Mami replied, eyeing the younger girl, "But it matches with our strong suspicion that the Incubators are behind this attack. After Kota left, we tried to have Kyubey track her movements as a safety precaution, but he flatly refused. When we asked why, he said the answer was classified. Obviously, his race didn't want us to track down Suzuki and eliminate her. But why?"
"To use them for their own ends," Homura suddenly interrupted lowly, staring hard at the ground as she gripped her knees. "To take her corrupted soul, tamper with it, enhance her emotions. Make her angrier."
Mami nodded drily. "This wouldn't be the first time the Incubators have abducted girls to test their own alien hypothesis. The practice virtually ended once the federation decided to intervene, but Kota was no longer part of the federation by that point. I don't know where this assumption leads us, but it might have something to do with this entire thing. The way the Reapers are attacking us just doesn't make sense. I can't possibly understand how so many girls were motivated to kill other human beings. It might have something to do with the possibility of Kota being experimented on. We don't know. We don't know anything, really."
Shiro stared back at the blonde, absorbing the information, and suddenly found herself angry for being left in the dark this whole time, even though she admittedly wasn't supposed to be privy to this entire matter. Furrowing her brows, she said, "What, so this entire story answers nothing? It's just another problem we have, among the millions of other problems we've got to deal with now?"
"It's not a problem in the eyes of the Incubators," Homura suddenly growled, squeezing her knees to her chest even harder as she drilled holes into the ground with her eyes. "Not a problem, just a necessary sacrifice. They take everything, and give nothing. They took Madoka from me, then they turned Kota against me, and now they're killing us like cows to the slaughter..."
Shiro was shocked to see that the time traveler's voice was cracking and that the girl seemed to be on the verge of tears. Suddenly at a loss of words, and somewhat regretting the forwardness with which she had approached the situation, she opened her mouth to offer some sort of consolation, but no words emerged. What was there for her to say? This was never any of her business. But if it wasn't, why had she demanded the truth? A sick feeling suddenly spawned inside of her gut.
"Alright, that's enough," Kyouko hissed as she kicked her chair back and stood up, walking up to Shiro until they were nose to nose. "I don't care how pissed you are about your friend getting hurt, it doesn't warrant you forcing us to tell you everything we know. Sometimes people don't tell you things for your own good."
With that said, she turned and knelt before Homura's hunched frame, reaching up to gently pick the girl up. "Come on," She murmured before leading her out of the room, slamming the door shut angrily behind them.
Shiro frowned and stared at the bored looking metal door staring back at her. "So...did I cross a line?"
Mami sighed and rose as well, having no reason to stay. "We all have our demons," She said darkly. "You'd do well not to forget that."
Then she was gone, too, and Shiro bared her teeth and punched the wall, feeling like she had somehow messed up very badly.
Breathing deeply to calm herself, she shook her head roughly and slid off the bed an onto the floor. If there was nothing else for her to do but mull, she may as well check on Eru. Slipping through the door, she padded down the hall, shoulders weighed by words she wished she hadn't heard.
Outside, the clouds grew thicker.
Sorry for writing such a meandering and boring chapter, but I couldn't think of any other way to get all the necessary information out there. I hope you like Kota's backstory. I spent a lot of time thinking about how it would play out, and I'm still not exactly happy with it, but this is what I ended up with. Give me your thoughts on her.
I plan on fleshing out Shiro's character more thoroughly in the future, along with Eru.
Please leave any thoughts in the reviews!
~Banshee