You're not even going to pretend everything's hunky-dory right now.

This entire affair was just one gigantic shitstorm.

Mentally, you make a note to put a few credits in your swear jar. Sheesh, Mendesdyn Security and Subject 001 have actually caused you to use profanity! In your own head! You're totally becoming uncute because of those damn corporate garbage people and their garbage ways, the nerve of them, making an anti-magic superweapon and programming her to attack your love.

There's a reckoning there, but those plans can keep for later. You have more pressing matters to attend to.

The cleanup alone's going to give you nightmares, there's just so much you have to cover up. The Mendesdyn Facility was burnt to the foundations, of course, and the few personnel who managed to live through your assault have been taken into custody. And, of course, you're lucky you managed to bait out Subject 001 and confront her in a deserted area of the city with no witnesses, electronic or organic.

But you know for sure that your maids are going to be run ragged trying to keep a lid on things. There's so many people to interrogate and then dispose of, so much of the battlefield has to be cleaned up and scrubbed of any evidence. Kisha's already complaining about having to go through the data cache your maid strike-team uncovered for juicy details.

And of course there's Subject 001. Frankly, you're not sure what to do with an anti-magic Magical Girl. Frankly, a part of you just wants to blast her head off and vaporize the remains. This girl, this corporate experiment is one of the few beings on this planet capable of murdering your loves, and you're not fond of keeping potential threats around.

Even if they are sexy cyborgs. Especially if they're sexy cyborgs, because she's not your sexy cyborg! Some damn corporation got their mitts on her and made her un-cute and un-sexy! She's basically a robot! A cold, unfeeling machine that's been torn apart and rebuilt to murder cute girls! So not your type.

Which, of course, has triggered the rest of you into keeping her. Ooh, you have plans for this corporate drone. To start with, she needs her organic body back. Girls aren't supposed to be made of cold, unfeeling metal. Girls should be soft and squishy and nice. And lewd.

Which is why, after you implant Subject 001's brain into a body of your own invention, you plan on throwing her into a tentacle pod and leaving her in there for a while. Weeks, at least. Mendesdyn Security programmed her with pain and suffering, so you'll just have to reprogram her with endless pleasure~!

Or something. It'll give you a bit more time to figure out what exactly you want to do with this troublesome girl.

For now, though, you have a more pressing matter to attend to. The most urgent matter, as a matter of fact.

Kaina's currently in your suite, recovering from that dreadful fight. And you're going to have to attend to her, of course!

Which is why you're in the elevator right now, drumming your fingers against your arm as it slowly ascends.

You are not, actually, dressed as a sexy nurse. You're wearing your regular clothes, your casual outfit. And you're certainly not smiling right now.

No, there's a frown on your face, a very wide and nervous frown, because honestly? You're not sure what to expect right now.

Because Kaina didn't say much when the fight ended.

She didn't say anything at all, and you felt her tense up when you laid your hands on her to heal her horrific wounds with your biomancy. Of course, that was the only thing you did to Kaina! Even if it was tempting to corrupt her, to make her more beautiful in her moment of vulnerability, to forcibly glue the pieces of her traumatized, broken psyche back together you just -

You just couldn't bring yourself to betray your poor, forlorn love like that. Not when you love her. Genuinely, deeply, passionately, to the point where a second away from her presence feels like you're dying of thirst and hunger. Not when Kaina's been doing so well fixing herself, healing herself, making herself that much more beautiful -

Guilt's a foreign emotion. Guilt's something you've excised from yourself a long time ago, the moment you Fell, like an unwanted tumor. But this is definitely guilt you're feeling when you bite down on your lip and remember how you were genuinely tempted into betraying your love.

Which is a bit of a surprise, considering how you acted with Luminous Libromancer. But, well…

… You suppose the way you love Mia Cabalis is different from the way you love Kaina Shikinami, and you're not entirely sure how to process that. It's an unnerving thought you'll have to tuck away and deal with later.

At any rate, you healed Kaina with your essence, and she didn't murmur a word of thanks then. The only acknowledgement or thanks she gave you when you healed her was a curt incline of her head and a blank stare.

And then, well, she walked out of the anti-magic field, transformed, and immediately dashed off into the night without a single word. It was actually a relief when Lupe called you to let you know Kaina had returned to your penthouse.

… So yeah, you've got a feeling this isn't the time for fun, sexy Alice right now. You've got the feeling you need to have a serious talk with your girlfriend about what just happened, and you probably need to have that talk sooner rather than later.

Which is why you take a deep breath as the elevator doors open, and you step into your home.

Kaina's waiting for you. Of course she's waiting for you. Your love's incandescent, transformed, radiating with pure power and beauty as she regards you coolly. Her pristine raiment flutters about her as she stands up, and you swallow as she draws her sword and turns to regard you with her flinty, steely gaze.

"… Hey, Kaina," you wave, flinching as a wave of raw, unadulterated power fills the room. Oh gosh, Kaina's flaring her mana, this really isn't good.

This is a serious serious talk you're about to have with her, and there's only one thing it can be about, considering the way Kaina's transformed and the way she's so very clearly confronting you.

"… Alice," Kaina – Infinity Princess – says. And nothing else.

You lick your lips nervously. Suddenly, the gift of glib's left you. Your silver tongue's failing you in this moment. It's a strange sensation, not actually knowing what to say to your love. A strange feeling, being exposed in this way. It's… Awkward, and uncomfortable, and you don't particularly like it.

Also, you're kind of distracted by how intimidating your love is. Like, seriously, she's just standing there and she's sending chills down the length of your spine. You can feel your asscheeks tremble as Kaina stares you down without moving a single muscle. The only sign she's even alive and not a statue are the steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathes and the sheer, unending quantities of mana radiating off her body to the point where it almost hurts to look at her directly. The air actually shimmers and distorts as Kaina's mana reactor floods her surroundings with luminous energy.

Eventually, Kaina breaks the silence.

"… I'm not like Steele, or Luminous Libromancer, Alice," Kaina says quietly, a flash of something flickering within her gorgeous green eyes even as her body radiates with a sheen of rainbow light, the manifestation of the sheer amounts of raw power her rebooted mana reactor's exuding. "The MGA sends assignments to me from time to time, sends me away from Terminus City. So I've seen more combat than either of those two have. I've fought demons, monsters, and gods. I've slain dragons and kaiju. And I've fought other Magical Girls before. I've fought Dark Magical Girls before."

There's a lump in your throat, and your mouth's a little dry.

"I've come close to death three times at this point, Alice. The first time was when I fought Lokwyn. The third time was tonight. But the second… The second time was when I fought my first Dark Magical Girl. It was in… Dubai, a year after my debut. I still remember the way she acted, the void that filled her eyes, the stench of her corrupted magic, the way it felt when she used her essence to try to burn me alive from the inside-out."

… Yep. There it is. You close your eyes and sigh.

Kaina's found you out. She knows, she definitely knows you're a Dark Magical Girl now. She's starting to tease apart the strands of the information you've been keeping from your love. For good reason, considering her reaction right now. Ooh, she's definitely angry, this isn't good, you can see the way her hands are trembling on her sword -

Wait. Trembling? You blink, then lean in to study your love a little more closely -

"Stay back," Kaina raises her sword, and you back away, raising your hands in the air and showing off your empty palms.

"… Alright. Okay, whatever you want, Kaina -" You begin, before your love cuts you off.

"No, don't -" Kaina's hands tremble again. An almost imperceptible movement, but you know your love well at this point. She's quiet and withdrawn, but you know her moods. You know when she's happy, you know when she's sad, and you definitely know when she's angry.

And right now, Kaina's not actually angry. You don't have to use your magic to take in the way the skin around her eyelids is tightening, the way she's pressing her lips together, the way her shoulders are hunched…

… Kaina isn't angry. She's frightened. Terrified, even, and upon realizing that you find a pit developing in your own stomach. Because there's only one thing in the world that frightens Kaina. She wasn't scared in the fight you just had, wasn't scared of fighting a superior foe with no magic. She's Infinity Princess, the indomitable heroine who always saves the day.

No, there's only one thing that can scare Kaina, and you know exactly what it is because it's the same fear you hold deep, deep within your heart.

"Don't talk. Just answer my questions," Kaina demands.

"… Alright," you reply.

"You're a Dark Magical Girl. You fell."

"… Yes," you admit, because there's no point in lying about this fact, not when your love's put together the puzzle pieces.

"I know how Dark Magical Girls fall. The MGA keeps records. I've read those records. You've… You've hurt people, haven't you?" Kaina says.

"Yes. I have," you reply.

"You've killed people."

"… Yes, I have," you sigh, closing your eyes wearily.

"… How many?" Kaina whispers.

"Honestly, I've lost count," you admit. It really is hard to keep track of the number of casualties you've caused. Gosh, it's got to be a lot, you murder-blended that one corporate megabuilding pretty good when you first fell and your body count's only been going up since.

Not to mention that whole stint in New Vegas when you killed that one dumb slut who murdered your toys and burned down your base, and that certainly generated a lot of collateral. You killed a lot of her clones, and murdered a lot more of her allies.

And then there were the dumb goons you mulched in your first week in Terminus City, the room full of garbage corporate executives you brainwashed into handing over all their stuff and committing suicide, there was the whole bit where you raided the Jade something-or-another and murdered their leadership, and uh…

Wow, you've really been doing a lot of shady stuff, haven't you?

"I… You…" Kaina stutters, losing her composure as the first cracks begin to appear in her intimidating facade. "… You didn't use your magic to – To corrupt me. Even when I was… When you healed me, I…"

"… Yeah, I didn't. All I did was stitch your flesh back together, Kaina. I didn't touch your mind, or your soul, or the parts of your body I didn't have to," You admit.

"But you could have… You could have done things to me then, like that other girl, like - But you didn't… " Kaina swallows heavily, and you watch her throat bob as she levels her sword in your direction. "… Why didn't you do anything to me?"

Well.

That's a simple question, isn't it?

"It's because I love you, Kaina," you say, and Kaina jerks back like you've just stabbed her. Her eyes go wide, and her sword trembles as her hands shake.

Then your love smiles, and you flinch because that's…

It's not a good smile at all. It's a broken, hollow expression that matches just how dull and empty Kaina's eyes have become.

"You're a very good liar, Alice," Kaina whispers as she smiles at you with that exhausted smile, and you find yourself flinching because of it. "A very good one. But… I know now that you're a liar."

"I haven't lied to you once, Kaina-"

"No. No, no, no – Stop. Stop! Lies of omission are still lies. Lies of omission are still lies! Lies of omission are still – Are still -" Kaina stutters, then stops, pressing her lips firmly together. "You've kept things from me. You've kept awful – Terrible – I… You…"

"Oh, Kaina," you say sadly. What you'd do to hug her right now, to kiss her and tell her it'll all be alright -

"…" Kaina trembles, and tears glimmer in the corners of her eyes. "… Was it all a lie, Alice?" Your love asks. Her voice is so tired, so weary, so filled with painful exhaustion… "Was all of it just a lie…?"

You wet your lips, thoughts awhirl as you choose your next words carefully. This is it. It's do or die. Your relationship with Kaina's on a knife's edge right now… Or so it would appear. Kaina isn't really angry right now, she's scared. She's terrified. The reason why she's bringing up lies? It's because she thinks your feelings for her might not be genuine. She's under the impression that you've been using her, that you've been manipulating her even.

And deep, deep down, you think you know what the root cause of that fear is. It is, after all, the same fear that you share, the same fear that you feel.

So. How exactly are you going to go about addressing that fear?

--