In the Sky with You

by a-shifty-sword

A Waifu Catalog Contractor isn't satisfied with how easy the default starting conditions are, and asks for a custom challenge similar to a Minecraft Modpack he played before, the Skyblock. He has to start from nothing and grow his way into power and adventures beyond his wildest dreams.

27. Day 035

It's been… a long day.

I guess I shouldn't keep you in suspense. This week's portal led to the world of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. And I didn't take that news very well at first.

"Everyone step away from the portal, right now," I ordered. Everyone looked at me with concern, but they did what I said and took a step or two away from where we were gathered around it and waiting.

"It's that bad?" Uzume asked.

"Yes." I paused considering it. "Well… maybe not. It depends on a lot."

"What is the world?" Levy asked, putting her hand on my arm in an attempt to calm me down.

"Madoka Magica," I said out loud. Matsu sucked in her breath, obviously familiar with the setting as well. "For those of you who don't know it… it's a world where teenage girls make a contract with a being known as Kyubey and have their Wish granted in exchange for becoming a Magical Girl who fights Witches, with Witches being magical creatures of despair and grief and other negative emotions that feed on humans.

"Except that's only the surface. In reality… Kyubey is an asshole. Magical Girls are doomed to either die or eventually die and turn into Witches themselves, becoming the thing they hunt and perpetuating an endless cycle."

"That doesn't sound anything like the magical girls I've seen," Chiho said.

"Wait, you watch magical girl anime?" Uzume asked, surprised.

"There was one series that they played on TV a lot, and I'd sometimes watch it while in the hospital," she explained before looking at me. "Why is Kyubey doing that?"

I sighed. "Do you know what entropy is?" She shook her head, and so did most of the others, save for Matsu. "Well, I'm not sure how much it applies in worlds with magic and shit, but the idea is that the Universe will eventually run out of energy. Basically, when energy is converted from one type to another, some of it is inevitably 'lost' as another type, usually heat, that can't be harnessed or used. So inevitably we'll run out of usable energy which will spell the end of life."

Bisky frowned. "Wouldn't a process like that take hundreds of millions of years?"

"More, probably," I admitted. "But Kyubey is either an alien from a civilization old and advanced enough that it's an issue that they are seeking to address, or he was created by such a civilization. Still not sure which one it is."

"But how does that connect to the magical girls?" Kusano asked.

"Because they can convert emotions into energy," Matsu cut in, explaining for me. She had a frown on her face, but it was contemplative. "And apparently, teenage girls produce the strongest emotions. So they turn them into magical girls and then manipulate them into the depths of despair, where they turn into witches and produce a lot of emotional energy that is then harvested. And this process goes against entropy, meaning it produces more energy than it uses."

"That's fucked up," Uzume said. "Like, I get wanting to save the universe or whatever, but… is making girls suffer really the best way?"

"That's what they've concluded," I said. "But they also consider emotions a rare mental defect, and humans are the weird ones for managing to have a successful race where everyone has emotions."

"Alright, fuck these guys," Uzume concluded. "So, how are we going to fuck them up?"

"We're not." I replied firmly. I raised my hand to cut off Uzume's reply. "Look, I'm right there with you. But there's nothing we can do that would meaningfully impact them. At most, we could annoy them. The Kyubey's are a hive mind that have bodies to spare, losing one is an inconvenience and nothing more. And there's no way to reach their civilization or change them in any significant way."

Uzume turned to Matsu for a second opinion, but my bespectacled Sekirei just shook her head sadly. "There's one way we could do something, but it wouldn't help in the long term and it would require one particular girl to martyr herself."

I have to admit, in that moment the thought of manipulating Madoka into making that wish and becoming her Goddess form flashed through my mind and I was tempted. It was one of the few worlds where I could feasibly get a TX ticket, and there was no telling when my next chance would be.

But I dismissed it. Doing so would not only require me to force her to make that wish, because otherwise I would just get the 'normal' T6 version of her, but I'd also have to get Homura to ascend as well before capturing her, and that process would take longer than 24 hours. I'd likely need a few months to pull that off.

"So… what can we do?" Levy asked after a moment of silence.

"Nothing," I snapped, unfairly so in hindsight, but Levy didn't hold it against me. She just squeezed my arm again, and I calmed down a bit. "It's just… every attempt to do good in the world just results in something else happening later that ruins it. That's not even getting into the fact that the main plot is a time loop as Homura tries to prevent that bad end. Hell, we might not even end up in the main plot! And if we don't, we're screwed, because I don't know any of the side shit."

"Matsu knows some of it," Matsu supplied.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and trying not to panic. I wasn't too concerned about Witches, we were strong enough to fight our way out of their Barrier at least. I wasn't concerned about the Magical Girls either, except for Homura, who might note us as abnormal to the time loop and target us. But I could talk my way out of that.

No, I was worried about Kyubey. The little rat bastard was everywhere, psychic, and would interfere with anything we did that might go against his plans.

I opened the Catalog and double checked my Defenses. I had Mind Defense, which would help, but I'd need more than that. And as I was looking through them, I noticed that all of my Sekirei could give me rebates on Information Defense. I had no idea how I missed it before, but I chalked it down to not looking closely at Information Defense before and so I picked up the first copy of it for free.

And not only did that make me feel a lot safer, but it reminded me of something. I scrolled through another section of the catalog until I found the notes about the Madoka Magica world.

"There might be something we can do after all," I said. "It's not much but… we can Stamp the Magical Girls. Any Magical Girl in my retinue can't turn into a Witch. They can still die, but it's something."

"We should also try to convince some of them to come back with us too," Matsu added, and for once her tone was serious and I knew she wasn't suggesting it just because she wanted more girls in our group.

"Maybe. Walpurgisnacht is still coming and I don't want to reduce their fighting force too much."

"Even with four of them they all wipe anyway," Matsu said. "They're doomed, no matter what."

I grimaced, but the others looked confused. "Walpurgisnacht?" Bisky asked.

"A raid boss level Mega Witch who is an amalgamation of a ton of other witches," Matsu started explaining. "She's on par with a natural disaster and kills hundreds if not thousands when she appears in a city, which she doesn't do often, but is scheduled to in the main story." She shook her head. "There's nothing we can do to help against that. Taking a girl or two out of that situation won't change the end result for the world, but it will save the girls we recruit."

I nodded slowly, coming to the same conclusion myself. It didn't feel good. I told Levy that I wanted to help the worlds we visited. I couldn't tell you why I wanted to do that, just like I couldn't tell you why I liked certain foods more than others. It didn't have anything to do with morals, I wouldn't be a Contractor if that were the case. I just wanted to help, to leave things better than I found them. Something about that appealed to me.

But here, I was going to have to settle for just helping a few individuals, rather than the world. But even then… "Recruiting will be difficult," I said. "No way Madoka comes, which means Homura definitely won't, and Sayaka probably won't. Mami and Kyouko… maybe, depending on when we arrive."

"We should find that out," Matsu suggested. "Hopefully we're early enough that they're all still alive."

"Jeez, it's that brutal?" Uzume asked.

"In all the canon works, Matsu hasn't seen a Magical Girl that had lasted more than a few years," Matsu replied forlornly.

"Check the missions first," Levy suggested.

"Good idea," I agreed, pulling them up. "Let's see… One mission to heal some random kid? Oh, it's the boy Sayaka likes. Meh, the reward is small, maybe if we have time but it's not a priority. Another mission to manipulate a girl into turning into a witch, holy shit that's a hard pass. And… oh, this is interesting. Capture a Magical Girl by receiving a Love Confession. Reward: A free copy of Salvation for the Captured Magical Girl." I clicked the link. "Salvation is a perk for Megucas, the term for this type of Magical Girl, that allows them to regenerate their magic by partially or completely manifesting their Witch form as a sort of summon or transformation. It's a pretty big boost to their combat abilities."

"Oh! The Doppels!" Matsu said. "Those are super cool!"

"Do you think that's something you can do?" Levy asked. "I mean, I love you, but your last attempt at recruiting…" she trailed off, a guilty expression on her face.

And I admit, I didn't like being reminded of my failure with Tohru. But Levy's role was to ask those kinds of questions. At least, that's the role she had taken for herself. And I did appreciate it, most of the time.

I didn't answer her immediately though, I simply stared at the portal, eyes unfocused, as I thought about it.

"Most of them, no way," I finally said. "But Mami… probably."

Matsu nodded in agreement. "Mami is the easy mode tutorial capture, really," she said. "She's very lonely."

"And I hate to take advantage of that, but… Well, I definitely will if it means she can be with us and not be lonely anymore."

"She'll thank you for it," Matsu agreed.

I was starting to put a plan of action together in my mind. With a goal, the best Defenses I could have without taking out loans, and some time to process things, the world didn't seem as massively dangerous as before. Still something to navigate carefully, but something I could navigate.

And I admit… the thought of seducing Mami was an incredibly tempting one that was spurring me on.

"I have a plan, but you girls aren't going to like it," I said.

"You're going alone," Bisky guessed immediately. The others stiffened and looked at me for confirmation.

"I have to," I confirmed her guess. "What am I going to do, seduce a teenage girl as the only guy in a group of seven? No, if I'm going to get her to tell me she loves me, I need to approach her alone."

"So we will just follow you from nearby, but be sneaky," Uzume said, a hint of anger in her voice.

"No, you won't, for two reasons," I replied coolly. "First, Mami is as veteran as a magical girl can get. Bisky is the only one who could maybe escape her notice at a distance close enough to observe me. But I won't allow any of you in this world without me being there with you."

"Kyubey?" Matsu guessed.

"Kyubey. The little rat is too smart for his own good. Operational security is key here, and the less he knows about us, the better. And I absolutely do not want him approaching you girls, who are probably prime targets for him to turn into Magical Girls, without me present.

"But I can bullshit him. I won't be targeted by him. I know what I can and can't say. With just me, the risks can be lowered as much as possible. They increase with every additional person in the world." Several of them opened their mouths to protest, but I raised my hand. "It won't be for the entire trip. Just long enough for me to seduce Mami and bring her here. That's assuming she's still awake, and that she's still alive. Which are big assumptions."

"And if she's not?" Bisky asked, giving me a stern gaze.

"In either case, we all wait here together until morning," I replied. "Then, we head to a nearby city to try to Stamp Kyouko. Maybe try to recruit her as well. That one I give 50/50 odds on. Then we head back to the main city. If Mami is alive, I'll intercept her after school and try to seduce her while you all wait here. Then we'll head back out as a group after explaining everything to Mami and coming up with a plan. For everything that isn't seducing Mami, I promise I want you with me. But for that task alone, I need to be alone, and I can't let you be in the world without me."

None of them looked happy about that, and I didn't blame them. If our positions were reversed I'd feel the same way. I had just been panicking about how dangerous this world was. But it wasn't the danger of a death world where a stray monster or something was likely to get you. I had Mind Defense, which would prevent a Witch from luring me in. Everything else, I could manage.

"Okay," Levy said, breaking the silence. "I'll agree to that plan."

"Levy!" Uzume protested, and Chiho looked like she wanted to do so as well.

But it was Bisky that spoke up. "We knew that we'd start facing worlds with risks," she said. "I want to be there to protect Roland as much as the rest of you do… but I also trust his judgment when he says this is the best way to minimize those risks. Especially since Matsu seems to agree with me, don't you?"

All eyes turned to Matsu, who looked a little uncertain now that she was in the spotlight like that, but she nodded as well. "Roland can navigate the world more safely than any of us, just because he's a man," she agreed. "I won't say there's no risk, but it's probably the least risk."

"I still don't like it," Chiho muttered, to which Kusano nodded in agreement.

"Me either, if I'm being honest," I agreed as well. "But this is all based on a lot of assumptions. Let me step through the portal, check the situation with Bounty Tracker, and then come back and we'll make our final plans based on that."

There were more grimaces, but they were accompanied by nods. I took a deep breath as I pulled up the Map and prepared to step through. I had been nervous about visiting new worlds before, but never to this extent.

But I couldn't let that stop me. I forced myself forward, through the portal, and into yet another city alleyway at night.

As usual I needed a second to adjust to the sudden relative cacophony that was a city with electricity and thousands of people. The world hummed and I could feel the life forces of everyone around me.

But once I was adjusted I looked at the map, looking for named characters. There was a bunch that my eyes latched onto immediately, Madoka and her family. I breathed a sigh of relief that we were in Mitakihara, the city where the main plot took place, and not involved with one of the spinoffs.

I quickly found the others as well. Sayaka and Hitomi were also both in their homes. That boy that Sayaka had a crush on was in the hospital, which meant Sayaka probably wasn't a Magical Girl yet, something that was corroborated by the mission to heal him. Their homeroom teacher was also in her own home.

But two of the targets were moving, not following roads but cutting across buildings. One was Homura, and the other was Mami. Neither were close to each other, both patrolling different parts of the city as they hopped from roof to roof.

It was hard to say exactly when we had arrived, because I still didn't know which timeline this was. But Mami was alone, she was alive, and she was still awake. Which meant I could put my plan into action immediately.

I stepped back through the portal. "Good news, everyone is still alive," I said immediately. "And Mami is still awake, it looks like she's patrolling. I don't know how long I have, so I'm going to act quick. You all wait here, I'll bring her back when I can." I paused. "Probably in the morning, if things go well."

"Meaning if you get invited to her place and spend the night fucking her," Matsu said with a grin.

"If things go well," I repeated. "So expect me then, not within just an hour or two."

"Matsu is a little annoyed about being left out, but it'll be her first time, so Matsu will allow it," Matsu said. "Besides, it'll be worth it when she joins us later."

"You're drooling, by the way," I pointed out as I rolled my eyes. She quickly wiped the corner of her mouth as I turned to the others. "Stay dressed, just in case I come back and need to get you quickly. Come up with a prioritized shopping list, we might not have any time for any shopping at all, but if we do we'll need to focus on just the most important things. And… wish me luck."

Levy gave me a smile. "Go get her, tiger."

I smiled back and nodded, and as the others cheered me on I stepped back through the portal.

Mami wasn't particularly close to me, but she wasn't very far either. The larger concern was her speed. She'd hop a few blocks in a direction and then pause there for a few moments before moving again.

Still, she was heading more or less in a straight line so I started jogging to a point where I thought I could cut her off. I didn't have a solid plan on how to initiate contact with her in a way that was super suspicious. I had a few ideas, but no matter what, I actually had to catch up to her first.

My training with Bisky showed its effects then. Even with just Ten, I was able to 'jog' at a pace that the old me would have considered sprinting and barely feel the effects. And thankfully there were very few people on the streets, all of whom carefully avoided noticing the weirdo running down the streets in the middle of the night rather than do anything that would cause them to get involved. Or that's what I assumed their thought process was. I didn't exactly stop to talk to any of them.

But my plans went out the window as I checked my phone and noticed that Mami deviated from her previous path. I watched her head in a new direction before stopping, and then her icon disappeared entirely.

I came to a stop, blood freezing in my veins. Worries of her having just died filled me and threatened to bring back the panic, but I forced those feelings down and instead took off at full speed to where she disappeared.

The sound of rushing air filled my ears as I sprinted, the buildings blurring around me from my speed. Even underneath my fear I could feel the exhilaration of running at such superhuman speeds without even using Ren.

It only took me a few minutes to arrive at the spot where Mami disappeared, an abandoned building with a name too worn for me to read. Some kind of office or business. I expected to find blood or a corpse or both, but all I found was a vague sense of uneasiness.

My senses were on full alert, especially my more supernatural ones. I didn't feel any life forces in the area but there was something. I couldn't put my finger on it, couldn't define it. But something about the area felt off.

That was when I finally realized the second reason why Mami might disappear from the map. Because she wasn't in this world anymore, but in a literal sense instead of a metaphorical one. She was inside of a Witch's Barrier.

Witches hide within pockets of space of their own creation, using familiars to lure humans in. Magical Girls would infiltrate those Barriers and kill the Witches there. The only exceptions were very powerful Witches such as Walpurgisnacht who could manifest outside of a Barrier.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized that she hadn't died and had just been doing her normal hunting. But that presented another conundrum. How should I meet her?

I mused over a few ideas, but only one stood out as optimal. It was the only one that would earn me the gratitude that could get me invited to her place, where I could really apply my charm. It was a little reckless, and even as I contemplated it I knew the girls would chastise me for it, but I couldn't think of a better plan.

So, after wandering the area for a few minutes and trying to sense something I wasn't really equipped to sense, I found the area where the bad feeling was at the strongest and entered the Witch's barrier.

The inside of a Witch's barrier was pretty trippy in the show, usually animated in a very different style to show its unrealness.

That didn't compare in the slightest to seeing it in person.

It's hard to describe it. Not because it was eldritch or unknowable. But just because things morphed and shifted. Walls and floors didn't always form a corner like they should. There were colors I hadn't seen before, and light didn't cast shadows like it should have.

But there was enough that I could recognize to keep it grounded. Walls covered in taped together paper, usually depicting graphs or tables, but I couldn't read any of them. The ground was littered with balls of paper and what looked like cartoonish depictions of office supplies.

There were also bullet holes and divots in the walls and floor, and I could hear the occasional percussive bang of gun fire from deeper in.

I pushed the weirdness out of my mind and headed in the direction of the gun shots, which also felt weird. Normally my reaction was to run away from the gunshots. But lots of things about my life have changed since becoming a Contractor.

I ignored the places I passed, trying not to let myself get distracted as I analyzed them. I could tell it was office themed, but the deeper in I got, the more other elements started showing up. Board game pieces, toys, balls, outdoors equipment, and more. But also chains, some with spikes, locks, and cages.

It was all mixed into a confusing mess, but I just kept running, and soon I found myself in a large room where I got my first look at Mami.

Her magical girl outfit consisted of a dress that had a white top and yellow skirt, covered by a dark brown corset. She wore dark brown thigh high socks with thin vertical stripes of white and black boots with yellow feet. Her hair was done in twin drills, and she wore a brown beret with an attached feather.

She swung through the air, her magically summoned ribbons slinging her across what looked like a living room from the perspective of an ant, with oversized furniture that was too tall for how wide it was. And none of the furniture made sense, all of it different sizes and shapes and there were too many tables.

But it was those tables that Mami used as foot holds as she fired her guns, which dropped out from under her skirt or other folds of clothes, at the Witch.

And if I thought the labyrinth leading here was weird, the Witch was even more so.

The majority of the Witch's mass was the mountain of pillows and cushions in the center of the room. They were of all kinds of different types, from small and lacey throw pillows to couch cushions and body pillows. It was a hill of comfort. Or it would have been if it weren't all covered in… something. They were all stained, in some shape or another. Some seemingly with blood, others with dirt, most with things I couldn't begin to identify.

But the pillow mountain moved as one, and atop it was a mannequin in a fancy dress, like the kind a princess or queen would be wearing. But in place of her head was a TV screen, an old CRT type, that flashed images too fast for me to make out. But she was screaming, I could hear that.

Mami's bullets would fly towards the mannequin, only for the cushions to spring up and intercept the bullets, exploding into chunks of cotton.

Some of those cushions would also be sent flying at Mami with enough force to destroy the table or other surface she was standing on. At least, when she didn't shoot them out of the air. Still, she didn't seem to be struggling much, and she hardly needed my help.

Not that I could do much to help, but that was never my intention. My plan was to pick on something my own size, and as I tore my eyes away from Mami, I spotted them. They crawled out from under the couches, from behind the curtains and table legs, from under the piles of boxes and pillows. The Witch's Familiars.

Familiars are foot soldiers, the minions of a Witch that can exit the barrier and serve as canon fodder against Magical Girls. They were the worker ants to their Queen, basically.

These ones looked like Western medieval soldiers made of stone. The array of different types immediately reminded me of chess pieces. I wasn't sure how they fit into the theme, but I hadn't ever had any clue what was going on with the Witches in the show. I wasn't about to start trying to figure it out then, right as a horse mounted Knight aimed his lance at me.

I felt my heart rate increase. I had gotten more used to fighting by sparring with Uzume, but this was the first serious fight I had been in, one with my life on the line. My aura flared as I activated Ren, knowing I couldn't hold back at all if I wanted to live. The horse reared up and whinnied before charging, lance headed straight for me.

But he was slow, so slow, compared to Uzume's jabs, and it was easy to dodge to the side of the lance and aim a punch at the haunch of the horse as it passed by.

Several things surprised me at that moment. First, was how quickly and easily I moved. I realized in that moment that I hadn't actually ever fought with Ren before, only Ten and Gyo. My body moved with more force than I knew I was capable of, and my fist slammed into the horse's back leg.

The second thing that surprised me was how god damn hard the horse was. My knuckles flared in pain like I had just punched a boulder, rough texture included. I hissed at the unexpected pain, but a quick glance showed merely reddening knuckles. I thought they might bruise later, but could tell it wasn't any worse than that.

The final surprise was the loud cracking sound that happened as I punched it, and how a few feet later the horse stumbled as the leg I punched fell off of it, sending the horse and its rider to the ground.

I flex my hand, my confidence slightly raised. I wasn't sure how I would compare to a Familiar, so it was reassuring to see I could take them on, at least one on one. Unfortunately, there were many of them, and before I could try to finish off the fallen knight, a smaller soldier with a simple sword and shield, a Pawn I assumed, reached me and I had to fight him.

He swung his sword at me and I ducked under it, stepping to the side as I grabbed his wrist and squeezed. His stony face didn't change, expressionless, as his wrist cracked and he was forced to drop the sword.

But once again, before I could finish him off I had to let go of him and dodge backward as two more showed up, one Pawn and one in vaguely church-like robes I assumed was a Bishop.

I immediately threw myself forward again, kicking the Bishop in the chest and sending him stumbling back. But I was still surrounded. The Knight from earlier had stood up and had his lance pointed at me. The disarmed Pawn was approaching me with his shield up, and the uninjured Pawn was circling around my left, sword ready. And it wouldn't be long before the Bishop got back up, not to mention the others slowly closing in.

I knew that I couldn't remain surrounded. I wasn't able to feel them with my aura detection, as they apparently weren't 'living' in a way that I could detect. The only things I could detect were Mami, whose aura felt like a normal unawakened person's, and some vague sense of malice that filled the entire Barrier.

So having any Familiars behind me was unacceptably risky. If I could sense them that would be one thing, but since I couldn't, I was blind. So I did the only thing I could.

I rushed the disarmed Pawn and crashed into his shield with my shoulder. The impact didn't hurt as much as I feared it would and the Pawn was sent crashing to the ground.

And then I kept running, looking for an open area that I could put my back to without being snuck up on. Finding a suitable spot, I headed for it, building a small train of enemies behind me.

I took a deep breath, turned around, and then started lashing out. The first Familiar was a Pawn, but he was caught off guard and my punch to his face knocked his head clean off with a crack. It also hurt my knuckles some more, but I was prepared to push past that pain.

I grabbed the Pawn's sword as it fell and swung it at the next enemy, another Pawn. They made up the bulk of the Familiars, which made sense later, when I wasn't busy fighting and had time to think. But the Pawn was ready and my stolen sword impacted against a raised shield. It pushed the Pawn back but my stolen sword cracked as well, becoming little more than a hilt.

I cursed and threw it away, lashing out with a kick against the Pawn's shin. His leg broke, sending him to the ground where he was crushed beneath the feet of a much larger Familiar, one in heavy armor wielding a hammer. Process of elimination marked it as a Rook, but I was more concerned about dodging the hammer he lifted into the air and slammed down where I had just been standing.

I tried to get around behind him, but the Rook was surprisingly fast for something his size and his hammer swung at me again, this time in a wide circle that I was forced to dodge backwards, putting me into the path of a charging knight.

Annoyed and starting to get overwhelmed, I let out a yell as I planted my feet and used Gyo, pushing all of my aura into my fist. I didn't move as the horse bore down on me, but instead I waited and punched the horse's chest head on. My knuckles exploded into pain, but I was rewarded with the horse and rider both crumbling into shattered stone.

The Familiars all paused at that, still expressionless but unease clear in their body language. I didn't know how intelligent Familiars were, but there was obviously some level there, even if it was only a role they were playing.

I took the chance to spread my aura back out and inspect my knuckles. There was a bit of blood, but when I flexed my hand nothing felt broken besides the skin. Fit enough to keep fighting.

So I looked at the other Familiars with a grin. "Is that all you got?"

That pissed them off, which was unfortunate because I was trying to intimidate them. They all charged at me, weapons raised, and I charged forward as well to meet them.

The next part of the fight is a bit of a blur. If I had one advantage in the fight, it was speed. I had gotten used to dodging Uzume's attacks, which were much faster than any of these Familiars. Still, they had me outclassed in numbers, and they worked surprisingly well together. A Pawn would push me back with his shield into the swing of a Rook, or it would lure me into the path of another charging knight.

But I managed to only take glancing blows. In fact, my only real injuries were my knuckles, unused as they were to punching rock. My aura only protected me so much, especially when I had to use so much force to break them.

I stopped thinking though, losing myself in the fight like I did when sparring with Uzume. Blood pounded in my ears as I dodged and attacked. There wasn't time to think, not in words, just notice and react.

I wasn't able to pay attention to Mami's fight except by hearing it, which mostly consisted of a lot of screaming tinged with static, gunshots, and the occasional crash. I was also able to feel her aura, but she moved too fast and I had been too distracted by my own fight to keep track of it, something Bisky will surely beat out of me later.

But that was why I was caught off guard when suddenly all of the stone soldiers around me crumbled into pieces as musket balls tore through them.

I blinked in confusion at the sudden lack of enemies before Mami landed in front of me, her back to me and two rifles in her hands pointed to either side of her.

"You've done a good job surviving until now," she said. "Let's hurry and get you out of here."

It took me a moment for me to realize that she thought I was a civilian that had stumbled in here by accident. At the moment, that confused me, but in hindsight it's obvious. The idea of a man who was obviously not a Magical Girl coming to fight inside of a Barrier on purpose would have been ridiculous to her.

But I couldn't accept a retreat. I didn't come here to ruin her hunt. "No, focus on the Witch, I can handle the small fry," I told her.

She partially turned around, looking at me sharply in surprise. "You know what this is?"

"I do, and I know that I don't stand a chance against that Witch, but I can keep the Familiars from pestering you," I said.

It was hard to read her expression. Mami had a surprisingly good poker face when she was being serious. I saw her eyes glance at my bloody knuckles and the fading remains of the chess soldiers I had beaten before she arrived before she turned away from me and faced the Witch again, who was starting to look in our direction.

"I suppose I'll have to make this quick then," she said. "Hold tight, and don't do anything reckless."

"Yes ma'am," I replied a little jokingly. She sent me a quick look of disapproval before leaping away.

Fun fact: Magical Girls can get away with such short skirts because, for some reason, you just can't see up them. From the angle she jumped I definitely should have been able to, but I couldn't. It didn't make any sense.

I didn't have much time to think about that, or even watch Mami's fight, as more Familiars approached me. They were less than before, both Mami and me having thinned out their numbers by quite a bit, but I couldn't ignore them either.

I rushed the closest one, a Bishop wielding a staff, before they could group up and surround me. I caught the staff he swung at me and then shifted my grip to his wrists. He struggled, but I overpowered him easily as I swung around and sent him flying into an approaching Pawn, both of them cracking and going still as they fell into a heap on the ground.

I turned to face the other one when I heard Mami's voice. "Tiro Finale!" I risked looking at her to find her suspended in the sky, a gun larger than herself pointed straight at the Witch. An instant later it fired and I only saw a blur of the musket ball, which was more of a cannon ball at that size, as it tore through the mannequin that made up the upper body of the Witch. The TV exploded into static as the Witch let out a death cry and all of the Familiars went limp.

I let myself relax, pulling my aura back into Ten. I'd probably used up roughly half of my aura in that fight. Bisky had told me that using Ren in a fight would burn through it faster than doing my exercises, but it was still surprising to see in action.

The world crumbled and faded away, the odd angles and shadows giving way to reality, as Mami landed in front of me. I expected her to detransform, but even as the normal world completely reasserted itself, she remained in her Magical Girl outfit.

"What were you doing inside of the Barrier?" she asked a little sternly as she crossed her arms beneath her chest. I tried not to let my eyes linger on how that pushed up her breasts, which were decently large.

Thankfully, I had come up with a cover story. Or at least, I had elements of one I could combine into something believable. "Ha, well, it's a little embarrassing, but I didn't realize you were a Magical Girl," I admitted as I scratched the back of my head. "I just sensed you disappearing into the barrier and thought that you were being lured in, so I came in to rescue you." I shrugged. "Of course, it turns out you didn't really need it. But I was already here by the time I figured that out."

Her body language relaxed slightly, although not completely. "Sensed?" she asked. "Is that related to how you were able to fight against the Familiars?"

"Yep," I answered easily. "Aura, Chi, Ki, life force- whatever you want to call it. I can sense it and use it to get stronger. Not enough to fight Witches, but I can handle some Familiars if I'm careful."

"I've never heard of that being real before," she says in surprise. But there wasn't doubt in her voice either.

"There are a lot less people like me in this world than there are Magical Girls, at least as far as I know," I said, completely truthfully.

"And how do you know about Witches and Magical Girls?"

I paused and looked away. "Let's just say I used to know one and leave it at that."

"...I understand," she replied, relaxing more completely. "It can be a dangerous life."

I nodded, letting her draw her assumptions. I felt a little bad about lying to her like this, but I'd make it up for her later.

"Well, I appreciate you coming to save me," she says with a smile. "Not many would risk themselves like that."

"I like to help, where I can," I replied.

Her smile widened, but then it dropped as her eyes fell on my hands. "You hurt yourself doing it though." She looked back up. "I don't live too far from here, why don't you come by so I can patch you up?"

I admit, I spent a moment blinking at her in confusion. I hadn't even started trying to get her to invite me over and she already was doing it. I knew she was lonely and a good person, but to invite a guy a few years older than her into her home at nearly one in the morning… that was just a dumb move.

"I couldn't possibly impose," I replied after a moment, giving the token resistance I needed to be polite.

Mami shook her head. "I insist. You got hurt trying to save me. It's the least I can do to patch you up."

I sighed before giving her an awkward smile. "Well, if you're going to insist, I won't turn you down. It would be appreciated, really."

"Good!" she said happily. Her Magical Girl outfit glowed with a strange golden light before disappearing, leaving her in her school uniform. "My name is Tomoe Mami."

"Roland Grisham," I introduced myself. It felt weird to use my last name, as I hadn't since… I can't remember, actually. "Please, just call me Roland."

"Then you can call me Mami," she replied cheerfully. "Come on, it's getting late, we should go."

I followed her out of the building. "Are you sure it's okay for you to be inviting a guy you just met to your home so late at night?" I asked. I was trying to figure out where her head was at, a little wary of things going so easily for me.

"It's alright, I live alone, so we won't be bothering anyone," she answered nonchalantly.

"Isn't that worse?" I pointed out.

She giggled. "Maybe. But there are perks to being a Magical Girl you know? Like being several times stronger than an adult man, even without magic. Certain concerns common to girls my age vanish with that kind of power."

I took a moment to let that sink in. "I hadn't really considered that," I admitted.

"Besides, I don't think I need to worry about that from someone who would run into a Witch's barrier, knowing what it was, to save someone else," she added. "Is that something you do often?"

I shook my head. "That was my first time, actually," I admitted.

"Oh? You were remarkably composed for being inside a Barrier for the first time."

"I've heard a lot about them."

"I see…"

We both fell quiet then, walking down the street. Most of my conversation topic ideas were best saved for when we were alone in her home, and I wanted to take a moment to think anyway. I had imagined this going a lot of ways, but this wasn't one of them. But it was something I could work with.

True to her word, we arrived at her home fairly quickly. I silently followed her into the apartment complex and up the stairs leading to her floor, cool air brushing against my torn knuckles. With the adrenaline wearing off, they were starting to hurt. But at least they weren't dripping blood.

She pulled a key out from somewhere and opened the door. "Welcome to my home," she said as she entered, kicking off her shoes. "Sorry for the mess, I wasn't expecting guests."

I looked around, not seeing a single thing out of place or a hint of anything that could be called a mess. "No worries," I reassured her as I took off my shoes as well. I noticed that they looked a little worse than they had when I put them on earlier. I'd have to get sturdier shoes if I was going to fight and run in them.

I stepped into the apartment proper and let Mami pull me to the triangular coffee table in front of her couch. "Here, sit here while I get my medical supplies."

"Sure," I said obediently, sitting on the couch. As she went into another room, I looked around, comparing the room to my memories of the anime. "This is a nice place you have. Very cute."

"You think so?" she called from the other room. "I don't have many people over, but I like to make sure it looks nice."

"It suits you," I replied. And it did, giving off the same classy feminine charm she did, both as a Magical Girl and as her civilian self. I found my mind wandering, thinking about how she'd adjust to living on the Skyblock. Would she decorate the place? I wasn't against it, though I wasn't sure I wanted our shared home to have the same aesthetic as her apartment.

Mami came back into the room, a first aid kit in hand. "Alright, give me your hands," she ordered as she sat down next to me on the couch. I held them up, backs of them facing up and showing off just how messed up my knuckles were. They weren't disfigured, but I had really scraped the shit out of them, and my fingers were covered in thin streams of dried blood.

Mami clicked her tongue in disappointment and took one of my hands in her own as she started cleaning it with disinfectant wipes. "Are you sure you're a martial artist?" she asked.

"According to my teacher, I'm not," I said. Largely because Bisky didn't teach martial arts, she just taught how to fight. "I'm still in training."

"So reckless," she chastised me again. She fell quiet, concentrating on cleaning my wounds. The disinfectant stung, but I ignored the pain as I glanced at her, observing her.

Well, okay. I did a lot more than glance. There was no denying that Mami is a stunningly beautiful girl with a pretty face and an amazing figure. She looked pretty much like she did in the anime, which made it difficult for me to tell how old she was. Middle schoolers were a little outside of my strike zone, and despite how developed she was, Mami was a middle schooler in canon, so I had to assume that Universal Calibration had done its thing. But it was hard to tell just by looking at her.

"Maybe I should be worried after all?" Mami said suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked up to see her looking back at me, clearly having noticed me staring at her.

"Sorry, I was just… lost in thought I guess, wondering how old you are." I said, since it was true.

"What a suspicious question," she said in a joking tone. "I'm sixteen. And you are?"

"Twenty two," I replied.

"Perhaps it's you who needs to worry then," Mami said, tone still teasing. "What would people say if they saw you entering the home of such a young girl this late at night?"

I snorted. "Unlike you, I don't have a social presence in this town."

"Oh?"

"I'm something of a wanderer, I guess you could say," I explained. "I just arrived in town less than a couple hours ago."

"And the first thing you did was stick your nose into trouble?" she asked.

"Well… yeah, I guess."

She shook her head. "You should take better care of yourself, Roland-san. Do you even have a place to stay tonight?"

"Not really?" I said. "There is somewhere I can go but…"

Mami sighed. "I have a spare futon. You can sleep here tonight."

Polite manners said I should have turned her down there, letting her insist. But it was also the opening I needed. "That's rather bold of you, Mami-chan," I teased, using Alluring Whisper only when I said her name. "I'm starting to suspect you have impure intentions."

After the last portal trip, I had discussed what had happened during my attempt to recruit Tohru with Levy, Bisky, and Matsu, and we went over what I did wrong. Most of it was just a lack of the right meta knowledge, but all three of them agreed I didn't use Alluring Whisper correctly.

Apparently it was a lot better when used in a more targeted fashion. Either extended romantic talk, literally whispering in their ear about dirty things, or in small carefully applied bursts, such as emphasizing certain words using it. Doing the second one would link those words and phrases to the attraction and arousal that Alluring Whisper induced.

It really was only useful for straight up seduction, and not just generally making people like you more. Using it when talking normally produces a much weaker effect, good for little more than making your voice sound more pleasant. Which was useful in some cases, but not the more focused seduction I needed.

And it seemed to work, because she blushed pretty fiercely. "You shouldn't tease a girl who is tending to your injuries," she pouted.

I chuckled. "But you look so cute when you blush. It makes it hard to resist."

She blushed harder and refused to meet my eyes. She didn't reply, either too distracted with her own thoughts, or unwilling to give me anything I could turn around on her, so I settled for watching her bandage my fingers while wearing a victorious smile. And also sneaking peeks at her legs. Her stocking covered thighs were hard to look away from.

"There," she said as she finished up. "How is that?"

I flexed my fingers. There was some resistance due to the bandages, but I had a full range of motion, and it didn't hurt. "That's perfect, thank you Mami-chan."

She refused to meet my eyes as she nodded and put the supplies back into the first aid kit. "You said you were a wanderer?" she asked. "Why is that?"

"Well, after a certain incident, I decided I wanted to explore, see different places and meet different people," I said, drawing on my cover story and mixing it with as much truth as I could get away with. "I've been all over Japan, and even outside of it on a couple occasions. I pick my destinations somewhat randomly though."

"That incident…" Mami started, voice a little hesitant. "Did it have to do with the Magical Girl you knew?"

I took a moment to think about how to answer that. "She was a factor, yes," I answered eventually, keeping my tone guarded and letting her draw the conclusions I wanted from that.

I felt a little guilty then, the feeling once again rearing its head as I manipulated Mami, dreading when I would have to reveal the truth to her, knowing how much I would have to hit her with at once. But there wasn't a good alternative. I needed her to be mine so I could save her. So I steeled my resolve and continued.

"You were pretty impressive against that Witch," I said, changing the subject. "How long have you been a Magical Girl?"

"A few years," she answered, her own tone lightening.

"And… do you have a group?" I asked. "Most Magical Girls I know seem to be part of a small group."

I saw her tense, but I pretended not to notice it. "No. It's just me," she said quietly.

"This whole time?"

"I had a kouhai, but we split up about a year ago," she admitted. "She went through a rough patch and pulled away from me before I could help her out."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "Is she still…?" I trailed off suggestively.

"She is," Mami confirmed with a nod. "I check up on her every now and then, but I can't work up the nerve to try to meet with her. We didn't exactly part on good terms."

"That's good," I said. "That she's still alive, that is. Not the other part. It's dangerous for a Magical Girl to be alone." The first aid kit creaked in Mami's hands as her grip on it tightened, but I pretended not to notice that too. "The fact that you've managed to survive all this time, and that she has to, shows just how strong you are. It's impressive."

"...you're wrong," she said in a quiet voice. I couldn't see her face as she was turned away from me. But I didn't need to see her expression to tell what she was feeling. "I'm not impressive at all."

I silently swallowed, hiding my nerves as I prepared to keep deliberately pushing Mami's sore points. "That's not true," I insisted. "Most Magical Girls would have given up by now, giving into despair. You're tough, Mami-chan."

"I'm not!" she snapped, looking at me. Her expression was screwed up in frustration and there were tears in her eyes.

I'm not sure what my expression was as I genuinely reeled from her sudden anger. I thought I'd have to push more to reach this point. But whatever it was, her expression changed, the frustration replaced by bitterness as she looked away again.

"I'm not tough," she said in a quieter, more dead, voice. "I'm not strong, I'm not impressive. Every day I go out to fight Witches, alone. I add more flourish to my moves, fighting like a Magical Girl should, just to distract myself from thinking about it. My only family died the day I became a Magical Girl. I'm too busy hunting Witches to become friends with my classmates. And I keep going, because I want to help people. But every day it gets harder and harder to wake up, to keep going, to care about it all!"

She sniffled, and I could see tears running down her face. "But what choice do I have? I have to keep hunting Witches. I have to keep being a Magical Girl. Even if it means I'll be alone for the rest of my life, however short that might be."

That last sentence was full of bitterness, and I quickly realized that Mami was more broken than I had anticipated. I decided that I needed to speed up my plans and pull her out of this mood, ASAP.

I reached over to her and grabbed her hand in mine. She looked at me, uncertainty in her tear filled eyes, but I just used hold on her to pull her into a hug, wrapping my arms around her. She squeaked in surprise, which was incredibly adorable but the mood wasn't right for me to appreciate it at the time. But after a moment, she wrapped her arms around me as well, returning the hug as she pushed her face into my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I said in a soft voice. "I was careless with my words, not understanding what you were going through. But… I'm proud of you. Even with those feelings, you've still pushed through. I know it isn't easy, but you did it anyway. And you'll find someone, you won't be alone forever. Another kouhai, or a friend at school, or maybe even a boyfriend who can comfort and hold you. Someone you can rely on and connect with and that will be there for you when things get tough."

She didn't react at first beyond gripping me tighter. But after a moment, she looked up, pulling just enough away from me so she could meet my eyes. "Someone… like you?" she asked, hope in her voice. "You can stay here with me. I have enough money saved to sustain both of us until I graduate. We can help people together, or do anything, just please. Stay with me."

Even amidst all the lies I had told her, I knew I couldn't promise her that. But there was something I could promise.

"I'd like nothing more," I said, and her face lit up. "But I can't." Her face fell immediately, despair growing on it. "Please, wait. It's not that I don't want to. I've only known you for this short time, but of all the Magical Girls I've met or even heard of, you're the most beautiful, in body and soul. No one else wants to help others like you do, and I admire that about you so much. But… I set out on my journey by choice, but I don't have the power to end it. Come tomorrow night I'll have to leave this city. And I don't know when or if I'll be able to return."

Grief was clear on her face, and I knew I was striking a careful balance. If I pushed her too far, her Soul Gem would start to darken. "Is it… magic?" she asked. "A Wish?"

"Yeah, it is," I said. It was true, though it wasn't done by a Magical Girl or Kyubey. "So I can't stay, no matter how much I'd like that. But… you can come with me."

She blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You could join me on my journey," I repeated. "There's nothing stopping that. And there's nothing holding you here, specifically, right? No family, no friends. You protect the people here, but you could come with me and help all the people we come across who are in trouble. You can still help, all that will be different is the location."

I could see her considering it, but she wasn't convinced yet. "But… what about the people here?"

"Another Magical Girl will move in, probably sooner rather than later," I reassured her. "They'll protect this city. Maybe not as good as you did, but not every Magical Girl can be as amazing as you are. And if you come with me… you won't be alone ever again."

She shivered and clung tighter to me. My careful application of Alluring Whisper was starting to have a profound effect on her. I could feel her heart beating rapidly where her chest was pressed against mine, I could see the way her skin was flushed, and I could hear how much heavier her breathing had become.

"I…" she started, trailing off, clearly conflicted. "Can I really?"

"You can," I assured her. I leaned in closer, closing the gap between us. "Won't you join me in my journey, forever?"

She sucked in a deep breath as Alluring Whisper hit her again, and I could see her expression shift. "Yes," she replied, voice nearly a whisper. "I'll join you, forever."

A lightning bolt of satisfaction and excitement struck me as I realized that I had succeeded. It wasn't a love confession, but that didn't matter. Mami was mine. A confession was just a matter of time and saying the right words.

Confident, I closed the remaining distance between us and pressed my lips against hers. Her lips were soft and supple and accepted my kiss eagerly. There was no hesitation or fear in her actions, not anymore. She wanted this just as badly as I did.

It wasn't long before I opened my mouth to press my tongue against her lips, which she reflexively parted to let me in. Her breath hitched as our kiss deepened, but a moment later her hands were moving to the back of my head, holding me close to her as she shifted her position so she was straddling my lap.

My hands moved down to her waist, pulling her close to me and feeling the way her hips were gyrating in small movements as she reflexively grinded herself against me. I was hardening rapidly, and it wouldn't be long before things escalated.

But there was an order to things, and before I stuck it in her, there was something else I needed to do first. My hands traveled up her sides and forced their way between us so I could squeeze her boobs. She wasn't as big as Uzume or Chiho, but she was fairly big by most standards, and even through her uniform my fingers sunk into them.

Mami broke our kiss, letting out a moan as I groped her. "I shouldn't be surprised," she breathed. "You've been stealing glances at them all this time."

"How could I not?" I replied, giving them another squeeze. "You were the one that invited me into your home even after noticing that. Hoping something like this would happen?"

She blushed, but didn't deny it. "Would… you like to see them more directly?"

"Absolutely."

She nodded, and we came to a stop as she let go of me and leaned back so she could start undressing, something which I watched very carefully as my hands fell back down to her thighs, gently rubbing her over her stockings.

She started with the ribbon at her throat, untying it with deft and precise movements. As it came untied, she pulled it off with a flourish, the ribbon cutting through the air in a manner that spoke of practice as she tossed it aside, smiling at me as she did so.

She then reached down to the hem of her sweater and pulled it up. Her face disappeared behind the fabric, but in exchange her breasts bounced as they were freed from the outermost layer of fabric restraining them. Though, to my dismay, she wore yet another layer underneath it, a white button up shirt that was tucked into her skirt.

She finished pulling the sweater over her head and it was tossed aside as well, her hair drills bobbing and just a little less tidy than before, but that somehow only added to the mood.

Her eyes met mine as she briefly paused, and her smile widened. "Do you like watching me strip?" she asked coyly.

"How could I not?" I replied. "Please, don't stop."

She basked in my attention, practically preening as she slowly unbuttoned her shirt, one by one. More of her creamy pale skin was revealed, starting with her neck, moving down to her collar bone, displaying her cleavage and a bit of the plain white bra she wore underneath, and then finally her stomach.

I watched patiently, even as my fingers twitched with a desire to tear her remaining clothes off and ravish her, as she slowly pulled her shirt fully open, revealing more than just the thin strip in the middle.

As I had noted before, her bra was plain and utilitarian, but I didn't care about that one bit. Especially when she reached behind her back, an action that caused her to push her chest even closer to me, and unhooked it.

She continued to smile at me, something I only partially registered, as she slowly slipped her arms out of the straps, careful to keep the bra in place and hiding her chest. Only when she was completely free of it, when the only thing holding them in place was her own hands, did she allow it to drop, throw it to the side.

A beat passed as I took in the sight of Mami, completely topless as she straddled my lap. Her skin was smooth with just a hint of muscle around her stomach, her breasts were full and perky, and they were topped by a pair of hardened nipples that were a nice brown color that contrasted well against her skin.

And then the moment passed, and I stopped holding back. My hands lifted up and sunk into the soft flesh of her boobs, and she sucked in her breath at the sudden assault. I doubted anyone but herself had ever touched her like this, so the feelings were fresh and new.

I smiled, encouraged by her reaction, and continued playing with her. She bit her lip, the barest hint of a moan humming in her throat as she put her hands on my shoulders to steady herself. She started slowly moving her hips, grinding her crotch against the erection forming a tent in my pants, but I don't think she noticed.

As tempting as it was to skip a few steps, it wasn't more tempting than the boobs in front of my face. I leaned down and took one of her nipples into my mouth, running my tongue over the stiffened nub.

She fully moaned then, a light one, but it filled the room with her sweet voice. "Roland," she whispered. Despite not saying anything besides my name, it was filled with so much emotion that I knew exactly what she wanted.

I redoubled my efforts, focusing on her nipple with my tongue as my other hand moved to play with her other one. I lightly rolled it in my fingers as I looked up at her, gauging her reactions. Her face was growing more and more flushed and her grip was tightening on my shoulders. In between heavy breaths she would let out the occasional moan whenever I intensified my focus.

Then I switched, pulling my mouth away from her first nipple, which was now shining with a thin coating of my saliva, and put it on her other one as my other hand saw to the first one. She moaned breathily again as my tongue made contact.

I kept alternating between sucking on her nipples, pinching them with my fingers, and just squeezing and groping her in general, keeping the stimulus fresh and interesting before she got used to one type.

That couldn't last forever though, even as much as she seemed to be enjoying it, and quite frankly my patience wasn't infinite either. As amazing as her boobs were, I wanted more.

So as my mouth focused on her nipple my hand reached down instead, down below her stomach, beneath her skirt, and between her legs. She gasped, nails digging into my skin, as I brushed my fingers against her crotch. The stockings there were damp, her arousal having seeped through her panties.

I curled my fingers, cupping her crotch and lining them up with her lower lips. I could feel the vague outline of them as I pressed my hand against her, and she looked at me with anticipation.

I started moving my hand, rubbing up and down, making sure to press against her clit with the top of my palm where it met my fingers. She instantly threw her head back and let out a moan.

I grinned, excited by her reaction, and moved faster. I stopped sucking on her breast, focusing entirely on rubbing her over her clothes. She lowered her head again, locking eyes with me as she breathed in short and heavy pants. Her hips gyrated, adding to the motion and increasing the intensity.

"More," she whispered. "More, more, more."

I was more than happy to comply. I dug my fingers deeper, pressing the fabric of her clothes into her lower folds as I increased the pressure, and I focused harder on her clit. Her stockings were soaked now, and my fingers slid easily against the lubricated sheer fabric.

She moaned again, and overcome by her arousal she lunged forward to kiss me again. Her lips and tongue were hungry and desperate as she sloppily tried to express what she was feeling. I accepted it all with equal enthusiasm.

It only took a few minutes for her to cum, and when she did, it was with vigor. Her hips shook and shuddered as her back arched, lips separating from mine as she moaned, the sound of it filling the air. The smell of sex grew stronger, and I could feel even more liquid seeping between my fingers.

She slumped over as her orgasm finally ended, resting her head on my shoulder as she breathed heavily in my ear. Her orgasm had tired her out… but it had only excited me.

I blindly fumbled at my waist, undoing the button there with one hand as I held her securely on my lap with the other. It didn't take me too long to undo my pants and slide them down, lifting my lap up and holding Mami up so I could get them off. Once they were down past my knees I just kicked them off and turned my attention back to Mami.

My movement had jolted her out of her post-orgasm state of bliss, and as she leaned back she let out a little gasp as my erection rose up, reaching under and behind her to press between her ass cheeks.

Now that she wasn't leaning on me, I was free to use both hands to reach down underneath her skirt, lifting it up. Her stockings were darkened from being wet in a huge patch around her crotch. I wasn't patient enough to take the time to take her skirt off though, and besides, I kind of liked the thought of keeping it on for this part, so I just grabbed the wet fabric of her pantyhose and pulled, tearing it at the crotch.

Mami made a small noise of surprise. "Those come off, you know," she pouted.

"I'm not waiting for that," I denied, grabbing hold of her absolutely soaked panties, also a plain white, that were sticking to her skin. I shoved them aside, revealing her slightly reddened pussy, glistening with her own arousal and hot to the touch.

Whatever reply she was about to make died in her throat, turning into a moan as I touched her directly. I wasn't planning on more foreplay, but it was impossible to resist the urge to run my fingers between her lips. She was so hot to the touch, like I was going to be burned just from touching her.

But I didn't linger. I removed my hand, placing both of them under her ass as I picked her up enough that my dick sprung up to be between us instead of under her. She instantly looked down, eyes locking on it. I could see her swallow as the reality of what was about to happen.

"It's… it's my first time," she said in a quiet voice, one filled with both anticipation and nervousness.

"Don't worry. It won't hurt, I promise."

She nodded and put her hands back on my shoulders again as she lifted herself up. We worked together to line her up, my hand on my shaft as I changed the angle, her on her knees straddling me as she changed her position.

She gasped as my tip brushed against her entrance, freezing in place. She looked back up at me, locking eyes with me. She was nervous and uncertain, and it was causing her to hesitate.

I reached up with my free hand, the one not covered in her arousal, and cupped her face. She relaxed a little, leaning into the touch, and let me guide her face closer to mine so I could kiss her. Unlike our earlier kisses, this one was soft, caring, and comforting.

And I moved my other hand from my shaft to her waist, where I gently pressed her downward, encouraging her to move. Comforted and distracted as she was by my kiss, she complied, and her hips lowered towards mine.

My dick was slowly engulfed by her incredibly tight and hot passage as it was forced into her. She let out a muffled cry of pleasure as I started to part her inner folds, but I kept her lips locked to mine as I entered her.

She took me slowly, inch by inch, until I felt my dick bump up against the entrance to her womb.

Her lips parted from mine then as she gasped. Her back arched and I could feel her walls squeeze tight around my dick as she shuddered slightly. It wasn't a full orgasm, but she was definitely incredibly sensitive.

I gave her a moment to catch her breath, my hands moving to cup her ass, gently rubbing and squeezing her over her pantyhose. I couldn't see the place where we were connected, but somehow that just made it more erotic, and I could feel it just fine. I could feel myself twitch inside of her, instincts screaming at me to buck my hips and breed this girl.

But I waited, wanting to make sure that above all, she was ready and enjoyed herself. It only took a few more moments anyway, even if those moments felt like ages to my horny brain.

And I wasn't the only one being influenced by their arousal. As soon as clarity returned to Mami's eyes, as soon as she adjusted and got control over her breath, she looked at me for just a moment before wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me deeply.

There was no holding back from either of us after that. Mami frantically moved her hips up and down, repeatedly impaling herself on my cock, each thrust bumping against her innermost wall as I filled her completely.

I used my grip on her to take some of her weight, helping guide her motions as my fingers sunk into the pliant flesh of her ass. Her boobs pressed against my chest, trapped between us by our embrace, and the tiny part of my mind still capable of stringing together a sentence cursed the fact that I hadn't taken the time to remove my shirt so I could feel her skin directly against mine.

A wet slapping sound filled the room as I rhythmically pounded into her, joined only by her moans, muffled by our kiss. She wanted this. She needed this. And I was more than happy to provide it for her, and more.

I felt ready to burst almost immediately, the pressure inside of my straining to be released, instincts telling me to fill her up. But I held back. I waited. I strained and increased our pace as I delayed my orgasm, waiting for hers.

A few moments, or a few minutes, or a few hours later, I couldn't tell, it finally arrived. Her lips pulled away from mine with a sense of urgency. "I'm cumming," she gasped. "I'm cumming, I'm cumming, I'm cummiiiiiiiiiiing—!"

Her cry was loud, surely loud enough to be heard even from outside her door, but neither of us cared one bit at that moment. As she came, so did I, finally letting go and thrusting upward, pressing as deep into her as I could. My balls churned, and the pitch of her moan increased as I climaxed, filling her womb with my seed.

I don't know how long our orgasms lasted. Probably not long, but time lost meaning, my mind blank of everything but filling the beautiful girl in my arms.

But it did eventually end, and it was both of us that slumped over, relaxing after our intense climaxes. She rested her chin against my shoulder, one of her hair drills, which was barely holding its shape after all of that, brushed against my ear, tickling it. The sound of sex was replaced by heavy panting as we caught our breath. My dick was still hard inside of Mami.

"I… that… it was amazing," Mami said between pants. "It didn't hurt at all."

"I told you it wouldn't," I said with a chuckle.

"I kind of thought you were just saying that," she admitted. "Sorry."

I shook my head. "It's fine."

A moment passed and she lifted her head up, straightening her back and looking at me with a puzzled expression. "...you're still hard," she commented.

"Surprised?" I replied, grinning. "I've got a lot more endurance than that."

"I- I see," she said, stammering slightly and blushing. She paused for another moment, shifting her hips slightly, tensing when that changed the angle of my dick inside of her and caused it to press against a new spot. Then she looked at me. "Can I try something?"

"By all means, please," I answered immediately, intensely curious about what had caught her interest. She nodded and pushed herself up, gasping as I slid out of her. My cum immediately started dripping from her snatch, but it was hidden from sight as her skirt fell back over her legs.

She got off of me, but she didn't go far, simply moving to the floor between my legs. I watched with rising interest as she kneeled in front of me. "You know, I was an early bloomer," she commented as she grabbed hold of her own breasts. "I never liked that. I stood out, the boys would stare, the girls would comment, and buying bras was always a hassle."

She leaned forward, parting her boobs enough to slide my dick between them, where they were enveloped by their warm softness. I let out a pleased hum from deep in my throat, and Mami looked up at me with a smile.

"But I thought that, if I ever had a boyfriend, I'd want to do this at least. To please him, to please you, using them. I thought maybe I would come to appreciate them if I could use them to make someone else happy."

She started slowly moving up and down, my dick plenty lubricated from our mixed fluids. I let out a long contented sigh, luxuriating in the feeling. "Consider that mission completed," I said. "This feels wonderful."

Her smile widened, and she started moving faster. "I'm glad. And… it feels good for me too, more than I expected." She panted slightly, breath brushing against the tip of my dick.

I resisted the urge to buck my hips, letting her set the pace. Our conversation tapered off as Mami focused on her movements, looking back and forth between my dick, which twitched in pleasure between her breasts, and my face, smiling at whatever expression I was making.

I reached down, not to her breasts, which her own hands already covered most of, but to her head, fingers digging into her hair as I pet her.

She slowed down briefly, eyes closing as she leaned into my touch. But then she opened her eyes again and started moving, focusing and increasing the speed of her movements.

Her boobs pressed against every inch of my shaft, rubbing against them softly, the lubrication causing it to glide against her skin. I felt the pressure inside me rising once more, and I had no need to hold it back this time.

"Mami," I breathed, catching her attention. "I'm close!"

Her expression turned sultry, and then she kicked her speed up another notch. And then she did something I didn't expect. She lowered her head and wrapped her lips around the tip of my penis, her tongue brushing lightly against the sensitive skin there.

I came, hips bucking up as I pushed more of my cock into her mouth and unleashed my load into her once more. She took it like a champ though, throat working as she swallowed it all, not letting a single drop spill. And as my orgasm petered out, she started moving her head further down on my shaft, actively sucking, making sure to extract every drop from me.

Only once I totally finished did she free me, pulling my dick out of her mouth as she looked up at me with a coy smile. "And that?" she asked.

"Amazing," I replied in a husky voice as I caught my breath.

Her face lit up in joy. "It tasted better than I thought it would," she commented. "I think I could come to like it." Her eyes turned downward, towards my still erect cock. "And you still haven't had enough?"

"Spoiler, it's going to take a lot more than that," I replied with a grin.

"In that case… we should move to the bedroom."

The remainder of our clothes were hastily removed as we left the living room. Mami led the way, letting me watch her from behind as she stepped out of her skirt, and then out of her pantyhose and panties, which she removed together.

She led me to her bedroom, which was decorated much like the rest of the house, but I barely paid attention to it. My eyes were only on Mami as she laid down on her bed face up. She looked back at me, face flushed and eyes filled with desire.

Suffice to stay, she didn't remain alone on that bed for long.

We went for several more rounds after that as I showed Mami what it meant to make love. As much as I would have liked to keep going all night, I eventually slowed down, giving her a break as she started to wear out. Sexual Calibration would have let her keep going, as my partner, but we'd likely have a long day tomorrow and the perk did nothing to make up for a lack of sleep.

I lay on my back and relaxed as Mami laid half on top of me, her naked body pressing down on me in a familiar and comforting way. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer, and she hummed in contentment.

"I love you," I said, knowing now was the time to finally say it and infusing it with Alluring Whisper for maximum effect.

"I love you too," she replied back sleepily, eyes closing. A few moments later she fell asleep with a smile on her face.

My phone was in my pants pocket, and those were still in the living room, so I couldn't check, but I was pretty sure that counted. Either way, I didn't worry about it, even if the Company wasn't registering it, Mami was mine, there was no doubt about that.

Instead, I let myself relax and fall asleep alongside Mami.

I didn't think I'd be able to sleep that soundly. After all, it had only been a couple hours since Bisky had given me her rejuvenating massage, and while I had gotten into a fight and had a rigorous bout of sex, I thought that meant I would only sleep for a few hours.

Instead, I woke up to sunlight on my face and the smell of breakfast in the air, Mami missing from the bed.

I looked around for a clock and saw that it was pretty early in the morning, barely past seven am. Though, truth be told, it felt early there, but that's roughly how early we woke up on the Skyblock. The sun was the main influence on our sleep schedules.

Still, we usually retired much earlier than the two or three am Mami and I fell asleep last night. Or whatever the time was by the time Mami and I finished having sex, I hadn't exactly been paying attention.

Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I got out of bed and exited her room. My goal was the living room, where my pants were, but as I approached it, I heard noises coming from another room so I detoured and headed for there.

I found myself in a small kitchen where Mami was cooking while humming to herself. She was wearing an orange apron, but sadly that wasn't all she was wearing as she had her school uniform on under it. Not that I didn't like her school uniform, especially her habit of wearing stockings with it.

Uncaring of my own nakedness, I silently stepped behind her and wrapped my arms around her.

She jumped a little in surprise. "Mooooouu, don't surprise me like that," she pouted as I kissed the back of her neck.

"No," I denied with a grin. Her pout increased in intensity, drawing a chuckle from me. In response, I gave her a quick kiss on the lips, which caused her to relax as she leaned into it. "Good morning Mami."

A radiant smile lit up her face. "Good morning, Darling," she replied.

The pet name caught me off guard, but I didn't hate it. In fact, I really liked what her using it said about how she viewed me and our situation. It was a good sign. I pulled her closer to me, and my erection pressed against her lower backside.

"Oh my," Mami responded, looking equal parts embarrassed and ecstatic. "Darling, we can't, I don't have another clean uniform."

I sighed dramatically. "Damn reality, getting in the way of our fun," I grumbled. "But do you really need a clean uniform?"

"I have to visit the school to tell them I'm leaving," she said. "It wouldn't be good for me to just disappear. People might call you a kidnapper." She giggled at that.

"Mmm," I hummed in reply, tone neutral. "Before that, there's somewhere I want to take you."

"Oh? Where?"

"Somewhere close by," I said. "There's something I need to show you, and then I can explain everything about my past and my wandering, and what you've signed up for."

She tensed a little and went quiet at that. "I admit, I have been wondering." There was a tinge of nervousness in her voice. "But I trust you."

"Thank you. I'd explain here, if I could, but… well, for several reasons, all of them unrelated to you, I can't."

I could see her nose crinkle slightly as she tried to puzzle through why that might be. Not that she would be able to, since she was still thinking in terms of Magical Girls.

After a moment she shook her head, twin hair drills bouncing. "Why don't you go get cleaned up and dressed? Breakfast will be done soon."

I nodded and gave her one more kiss before letting go of her and looking for my clothes. I found them where I expected them, scattered near the couch in the living room. I fished into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my phone to check things.

Sure enough, Mami was considered captured and the Mission had been completed, which meant that not only had Salvation perk had been auto-applied to her, but Mami had been 'fixed' in that her Soul no longer resided purely in her Soul Gem, but it was back in her body as well.

I was hit with a sudden nervousness as I feared that Kyubey would be able to tell, somehow. But I realized a moment later that he would have come already if he had realized. I suspected Information Defense had something to do with it.

And conveniently, Mami offered a rebate for Information Defense. I applied that, bringing the cost of a second copy of it down to just 10 Credits, and then pondered buying it. I didn't like spending too many Credits on Defenses when I would eventually get them for free… but Mami had earned me 30 Credits, and I didn't want to take any chances when it came to Kyubey, so I went ahead and bought it.

Then I went to clean myself up. I didn't take a full shower, as my hands were bandaged and I didn't feel like redoing them when I'd be meeting with Kusano soon, but I did wipe the dirt, sweat, and other bodily fluids off. I had been involved in quite a bit since the portal opened.

I came out ten minutes later, dressed once more, which still felt weird, and presentably clean. My timing was perfect too, as Mami was carrying a large plate of pancakes to the table. She looked up at me with a smile. "Breakfast is ready!"

"It smells amazing," I complimented her, meaning it. Pancakes, fruit, and a few other side dishes covered the table, and my mouth watered. I hadn't had pancakes since before I became a Contractor, and these ones were thick and cake-like compared to the thinner ones I was used to.

The two of us sat down next to each other, Mami scooching her chair closer to mine so our shoulders could brush against each other, and after a quick 'itadakimasu', we started eating.

We didn't talk at first, because I was too busy stuffing my face with the pancakes. They were the perfect level of fluffy and sweet and I wanted nothing more than to just keep eating them forever.

But Mami's magic made ribbons, not pancakes, and so therefore there was only a finite amount of them and my plate eventually ran empty. It was probably for the best that it did, because I could feel all that food settling in my gut.

I leaned back and let out a sigh of content. "Wow," I remarked.

Mami giggled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should," I agreed enthusiastically. "I'm going to have to insist you make those all the time now."

"Hmm, it might be a little difficult to manage on the road," she said, unsure.

"Don't worry about that, it won't be as much of an issue as you think," I replied. "We'll just have to make sure to stock up on ingredients."

"Is that so?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The sooner I explain it to you, the better."

"Alright. I admit, my curiosity is piqued. But I still have half of my breakfast to eat."

I looked down to see that, unlike me, she hadn't turned into a pancake eating machine and finished her food in record speed. "Ah, right. No rush."

She giggled and started eating again, pressing her shoulder against mine as I got lost in thought. I meant what I said in that the sooner I explained everything to her, the better. But I was also getting more and more nervous as the time approached. Historically… Mami doesn't take the revelations about the truth behind a Magical Girl very well. And I'd be dumping a lot more on her than just that.

I was pretty much banking on a mix of having already solved the worst parts of her Magical Girl status, cementing myself as an emotional pillar for her to latch on to, and Stress Defense to help her get through it.

After we finished eating, we had to wash the dishes, and by that point it was a quarter after eight. But we finally left her home, Mami locking the door behind her.

We passed a few people that Mami knew and stopped to greet. They all gave me strange looks, even as I smiled and introduced myself politely. I was used to it though, and more, I had been expecting it.

Mami hadn't been though, and by the time we were walking away from her apartment complex, she was a blushing mess.

"They all know…" she moaned.

"They all strongly suspect," I corrected her. "Unless the sound proofing for your apartment isn't very good, in which case they might actually know." She blushed harder and let out another moan of despair as she put her face in her hands.

I laughed and patted her on the back. "There there. Even if they do know, you won't be here much longer, so it doesn't matter, right?"

"Are you going somewhere Mami?" an all too familiar voice cut in. It was not a voice that was spoken out loud, but one that was projected straight into my head, and it sent shivers down my spine. I froze and turned around and spotted the speaker.

Kyubey. The Incubator. The Rat Bastard himself.

He looked something like a white cat with pink eyes and a large fluffy tail. But he had what looked like a set of large floppy ears growing out of his cat ears that faded from white to pink and had a gold ring around them, and on his back was a distinct teardrop-like outline.

Objectively, he was pretty cute looking, but his blank face was just a little unsettling, and knowing what he was made him even more so. The fact that I couldn't feel any aura from him only made him seem creepier.

But I couldn't let that show, so I made sure to school my expression into something neutral but polite.

"Oh, Kyubey!" Mami greeted him cheerfully as she turned around. "I was wondering where you had been lately."

"There was something that required my attention," he replied. His gaze shifted over to me. "You can see and hear me? How curious."

"Are you Kyubey then?" I asked, feigning ignorance. "I've heard a lot about you."

"I see. From whom?"

I shrugged. "Does it matter? She's not around anymore."

His tail swished back and forth a few times. "I suppose not, though I remain curious." He turned to Mami. "What was that you said about leaving?"

Mami nodded. "I'm… I'm leaving Mitikahara. I'm joining Roland-san in his journey."

Kyubey didn't outwardly react, his tail just continued moving behind him in a rhythmic pattern. "That is quite the drastic change in your behavior."

I suppressed the reflexive urge to stiffen, struggling not to let the effects of his words show. Because he was right, and it pointed at something suspicious. "That's not a problem, is it?"

Kyubey paused for a moment before replying. "Not as such, no. Remaining in this territory was not part of the Contract we made. So long as Tomoe Mami continues to be a Magical Girl that hunts Witches, she may do as she wishes. Though I wonder if you have considered the logistics of such an action. You should know very well how territorial other Magical Girls can be."

"I have considered that," Mami said. "I know how to deal with them. I will be fine."

"Is that so? Very well. I shall start looking for another girl to take over for this area."

"What about the other Magical Girl already in town?" I asked, taking a risk. Mami looked at me in confusion.

"There's another Magical Girl in town?" Mami asked.

I pretended to be surprised. "You didn't know? I spotted her from a distance last night before I ran into you. She was too far away for me to see well, but she had black hair and a black and purple outfit."

"Kyubey?" Mami asked, turning to him.

"There is such a Magical Girl in this town, yes," Kyubey said. "She appeared suddenly yesterday. But I do not remember making a Contract with her."

Mami blinked in confusion. "Is… is that possible? Through a Wish, maybe?"

"A Wish could feasibly remove or hide the memories of a Contract, yes," he said, tail swishing faster. "However, I do not know if this method, or another, was used, or why. I am still investigating." He turned to me once more. "Is there anything else you know about her?"

"Nothing I haven't already said," I replied with a shrug. "I spotted her on a rooftop from a distance before she jumped away. She never even looked in my direction."

"...your ability to see things you shouldn't is quite interesting."

"He can also fight Familiars!" Mami said, sounding like she was boasting. I had to hide a flinch though. It wasn't Mami's fault, she didn't know the rat wasn't to be trusted, not yet. But it hurt to give him any more information than I needed to.

Kyubey's expression didn't change, of course, but it felt like his gaze on me was stronger, and I was suddenly very grateful I had gotten the second stage of Information Defense. "Strange. I did not believe there were any humans who could do such a thing. And your Karmic Potential is only average." He affected a sigh. "It's too bad you are not a girl, or I would offer to make a Contract with you. I believe the results would be interesting."

I resisted the urge to tell him where he could shove his offers and just shrugged instead. "I'm fine the way I am."

Kyubey stared at me for a moment longer before turning back to Mami. "Do you have any Grief Seeds you need to dispose of?"

"Nope, still fresh," she replied.

"Very well. I shall contact you later, Tomoe Mami."

I blinked, and Kyubey was gone. I didn't exactly breathe a sigh of relief, but I did let myself relax, slightly. I also mentally apologized to Homura for putting Kyubey even harder on her trail. She could handle him better than I could.

"You didn't mention the other Magical Girl last night," Mami pointed out.

I shrugged. "It never came up, and I assumed you knew about her."

"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll have to leave the city to her, if she plans on staying."

"I'm sure she'll take care of it," I reassured her. "Come on, it's not too far of a walk."

"Where is this mysterious place we're headed to?" she asked as we started walking again.

"Somewhere important to me," I replied vaguely. "Sorry, I really can't say more until we're there."

"Should I be worried?" she asked and I could hear the hint of real nervousness beneath her joking tone.

"No, not at all," I reassured her. "It's a really amazing place. I'd love to tell you about it, but… I can't. For reasons I can't explain. Just… trust me? Please?"

Mami instantly relaxed. "Of course, I'll trust you."

Honestly, I had moved on from having feelings of guilt over manipulating Mami and had started feeling extremely concerned over how easy it was. I knew Mami put on a strong front and she wasn't doing very well, emotionally speaking. But to see just how bad it was was extremely worrying.

"Come on. The sooner we get there, the better."

I followed my map back to where the Portal was, Mami silently following behind me, a mirror of our positions last night. But this time her hand was in mine, holding on to it for comfort.

She noticed the portal immediately, of course. There wasn't anything else of note in the alley I pulled her into, and it stood out.

"What… is that?" she asked, confused.

"That's where we're going, through there," I said. "It's how I arrived in this city, and why I can't stay. And it's where I want to take you."

Her eyes widened. "We're not leaving already, are we? There are still things I have to do!"

"No, don't worry, it'll stay open until midnight, and we can go into and out of it as many times as we want until then," I explained. "But, before we go in, there are a couple things I need to say."

Mami stared at the portal for a moment before turning to me with a serious expression. "Okay."

I steeled my nerves as I took both of her hands in mine. From that point forward, I needed to carefully explain things to Mami. She was no longer in any danger of falling to Despair and becoming a Witch, but I did care for her and wanted to catch her up with as little emotional turmoil as possible.

"The important thing you should know is… I've lied to you." I started. "Not everything I've said has been a lie, and nothing about my feelings for you were lies. But I've bent the truth, omitted certain facts, and straight up lied to you on multiple occasions since meeting you."

She tensed at my words, but remained composed. "Why?"

"Because telling you the truth, here, on this side of the portal, is too dangerous," I said. "For you and for me. Not because of you knowing it, but speaking it out loud risks certain others finding out. And even telling you that much is a bit of a risk, so please don't ask questions about it until we're through."

Her hands were shaking, and she was biting her lip. "But you love me?" she asked, a mix of emotions in her voice, desperation, anxiety, and hope standing out among them.

"I do," I said, truthfully. Even when she was just a fictional character to me, Mami was someone I felt a lot of compassion for. Having met her and spent a night with her, those feelings had grown into something genuine.

"And I really am on a journey that I want you to come with me on," I continued. "Not only because I want your company, but for your sake as well. Staying here… does not end well for you."

Mami was a smart girl, and I could see it in her expression, as fragile as her mask was, when she figured it out. "You didn't meet me by accident."

It wasn't a question, but I answered it anyway. "That was the first lie."

She closed her eyes, shutting out the world as she processed this new information and her emotions. "I don't understand," she admitted, voice nearly cracking.

"You will," I promised. "I'm telling you this here and now, because you won't believe what's on the other side of that portal. But I promise you that, from here on out, I'll be only telling you the truth."

She breathed in deeply… and opened her eyes. She still looked a little unsure, but there was steel in her expression, holding her up. "Okay," she said. "I'm ready."

I smiled. "You aren't, but you'll manage. Just take a moment to take it all in, alright?"

She nodded, and with a deep breath of my own, I pulled her through the portal.

She gasped as the first thing she saw was the Sky. Clouds hung high in the air, shining in the light of the still rising sun. A breeze passed through the branches of the blapple tree, quietly rustling the leaves.

She spun around, spotting the garden, the training area, and the house. "What… what is this place? It feels so… odd."

"This is the Skyblock, my home," I explained. "It's what is known as a Demiplane, a personal universe that exists outside of any other universe. Kind of the inverse of a Witch's barrier, which is a sub-dimension within an area of space."

"Yes, that," she said. "That's what it feels like. The opposite of a Barrier." She looked at me. "And… you live here?"

I nodded. "Me… and my family."

As if on cue(and knowing them, they might have actually been waiting for one), the others suddenly stepped through the door to the house, revealing themselves as they formed a line outside of the door. "Hey there," Levy greeted from the front of the group.

Mami honestly seemed more shocked to see more people than she had to arrive in the Demiplane. She stared at the others in surprise, unsure how to react. "Your… family?" she asked, confused. And then her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at me. "Or your harem?"

I chuckled nervously. "Both?"

"Even her?!" Mami asked, panicking slightly as she pointed at Bisky.

"I'm old enough to be your mother," Bisky defended herself with a sigh.

"You- you are?" she replied, hand drooping.

"She is," I confirmed. "She's also the one that taught me how to fight."

"And why does she know you know how to fight?" Levy asked suddenly, tone sharp. "Don't think I didn't notice the bandages on your hands."

The others looked down and noticed as well, all of them then suddenly glaring at me.

I felt sweat break out on the back of my neck. "I umm… plead the fifth?"

"I don't know what that means, but it's rejected," Levy replied firmly.

I slumped. "I followed Mami here into a Witch's barrier and fought with some of the Familiars," I explained. "It seemed like the best way to get her attention to start talking to her."

"You really are too reckless!" Mami chastised me before any of the others could. "You could have just called out to me. You being able to notice me while I was transformed would have been enough to catch my attention."

"Well, that's very useful information that would have been nice to know," I replied casually.

"Roland…" Levy said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "This is why we don't let you out of our sight."

"In his defense, Matsu didn't know that either, but it makes sense in hindsight," Matsu added. "It's a Magical Girl classic."

Mami was starting to look confused and overwhelmed. "Alright, alright, let's take a step back," I said. "Let's go inside and sit down and we'll explain everything."

"Come on, Mami-san," Chiho said, being the first one to reach out to her. "I know it's a lot, I went through the same thing, but everything will be better by the end. Roland is good at that."

Mami nodded, still lost but willing to be guided. She didn't let go of my hand though, even as Chiho led her into the house. I was fine with that though, and the others seemed to understand and didn't say anything.

I didn't sit down at my usual spot at the table. I sat on one of the longer sides instead of the head so Mami could sit next to me.

"First things first, introductions," I said. "Starting with me. My name is Roland, and you could call me a wanderer, but it's not Japan or even Earth I wander. I wander between universes, ranging from alternate Earths to completely different worlds. Worlds of magic, of sci-fi, or even just mundane worlds, completely lacking in anything supernatural. Every world that you've seen in a TV show or read about in a book? Those are real, and once a week, a portal opens on this Skyblock leading to a random one of them."

I paused, giving her a moment to react and let that sink in. Her brow furrowed as she thought over it. "You didn't know a Magical Girl in the past, did you?" she asked.

"I knew of Magical Girls, but didn't personally know any," I confirmed.

"...my world is a show, isn't it? A Magical Girl anime?"

"In other worlds, yes. But let me be clear, you and your world are real. It's just that other worlds often perceive each other as pieces of fiction, for whatever reason."

"I see…" she said quietly, looking down at her free hand. "That's… a lot to take in."

"Would you like some proof?" I asked, looking at Levy and Matsu. But… "You probably don't watch much anime, do you?" She shook her head, so I looked around. I found VV on top of a bookshelf, on a small nest made of a pillow and a spare sheet. "VV, come here for a moment please?"

VV, who hadn't been napping but had instead been watching us intently, hopped down onto the ground with the grace that surpassed even a cat's and then hopped up onto the table.

Mami stared at him. "Is that… a Pokemon?" she asked in surprise.

I grinned. Everyone knew Pokemon. "Yes he is. This is VV, and he's an Eevee. You can pet him, he loves the attention."

VV puffed his chest out and preened, not at all ashamed. Mami reached out and gingerly touched his fur, as if she was afraid. But as her fingers sunk into it, as she felt how real he was, she gained more confidence and started petting him normally.

"He's soft," she commented. "And… he's real."

"Just like you, just like Levy, just like all of the others here," I said. "Speaking of which, let me introduce you to everyone else."

I quickly went down the table, naming everyone. I didn't give any additional details about what they were or what role they served, she could learn that later. Right now it was enough to just get her to know everyone's names.

"So… you are all Roland-san's harem?" she asked, a little unsure. "I feel like I should be more concerned about that."

"It's okay, he's more than capable of loving all of us equally," Matsu said. "All night, every night, in every hole."

Mami blushed at Matsu's teasing. Matsu giggled, even as Levy lightly whacked her. "Behave," Levy said. "Though… she's not wrong. Yes, Roland has a harem that will grow bigger. Yes, all of us are okay with that. Yes, he loves us all equally. Yes, we're glad to have you join. I'm assuming you're joining at least? Considering it took Roland until morning to come back…" she trailed off, leaving the rest implied.

Mami blushed harder, but she nodded. "I… I guess I am. That's what I signed up for and agreed to, even if I didn't know it."

"Sorry, I wish I could have told you more, but I couldn't talk anywhere that rat could potentially hear us, and I couldn't bring you here until you agreed."

Mami looked confused again. "Rat? Do you mean Kyubey?"

I took in a breath and let it out as a sigh. The hard part of the conversation had arrived.

"There are two things you should know," I said. "First, by telling me you love me, you connected yourself to me in a very real and meaningful way. There is a connection between us, and there are a lot of effects of this connection. There are three main ones though. First, there are a number of passive abilities I have that you now benefit from. Things like increases to your ability to learn certain things, protections from other kinds of things, stuff like that."

She nodded, only looking a little confused, so I continued. "The second… well. There's really no getting around it. You are now mentally compelled to love me and be loyal to me. The lack of jealousy you feel is part of that."

"That's…" she started before trailing off, at a loss for words.

I shrugged. "I'm not gonna pretend it's a morally correct thing. Nor will I try to excuse it as something unavoidable as there's a platonic version of the link. But I wanted you out of that world, I wanted to bring you here, with us, and anyone who comes here with us gets the full effects."

Mami was silent. "You want me to love you?" she finally asked. "You specifically tracked me down because you wanted me to love you?"

I blinked, surprised. Her tone was… flat. Which was a better reaction than I expected. "I… yeah, I did."

She suddenly turned to me and threw her arms around me, wrapping me in a tight hug. I froze at first, not having expected it. I glanced around, meeting the eyes of the others who wore various expressions of surprise and concern. But as I felt the wetness of her tears start to stain my shirt I pushed those feelings aside and just hugged her back, comforting her.

"Thank you," she choked out past the tears. "Thank you."

I patted her on the back. "You're welcome," I replied, a little bewildered, but I tried to not let it show in my voice. I didn't want to look a Gift Horse in the mouth, because her enthusiastic acceptance of me specifically targeting her like that was very convenient… but it was also very worrying. It spoke very poorly of her mental health, beyond what I could have guessed.

It took a few minutes for Mami to calm down enough to stop crying and let go of me. "Sorry," she said, her voice a little rougher than before.

"It's perfectly okay," Levy reassured her. "Not all of us had circumstances like yours, but we understand."

Mami nodded as she wiped her face more on her sleeves. "There… there was a third effect right? Of the link?"

I grimaced and almost decided not to tell her, not right then. There was a part of me that just wanted to keep her here on the Skyblock, never go back into that world, and call it a day.

But I couldn't. There was too much I could still do there, both to help them and to help myself. And delaying this conversation with Mami wouldn't actually help any.

"The third thing it did was save you from the fate that all Magical Girls face," I said solemnly. "You no longer need to use Grief Seeds, you can clean your Soul Gem through other means."

Her eyes widened. "That's… that's amazing!" she replied. "How do I cleanse it?"

"Well, by default, it just happens over time now," I explained. "You didn't use a seed after fighting the Witch last night, right? So your Soul Gem should be a little murky?" She nodded. "Check it."

She lifted her hand, a ring on her finger. It turned into a small bundle of multicolored light before shifting and reappearing as her Soul Gem, an orange gem roughly the size and shape of an egg that was wrapped in a gold casing, not unlike a simplified Fabergé egg.

The color of the gem wasn't completely even, as it glowed with an inner light and the hue of it shifted in uneven waves. But there wasn't a hint of shadow or darkness, causing Mami's eyes to widen. "It's clean," she said in surprise.

Bisky, who was across the table, instantly appeared next to Mami. "What is that?!" she asked, eyes sparkling as it locked on to the egg-like gem.

Mami smiled at her, not at all phased by Bisky's sudden and intense interest. "Pretty, isn't it? It's my Soul Gem, and it's an important part of being a Magical Girl. It's how we transform and sense magic."

"I've never seen such a beautiful gemstone before," Bisky replied, practically drooling. D&D the day before had reminded me, but it was easy to forget that Bisky was a Gem Hunter in her own world, someone who tracked down the most beautiful gems in the world.

Bisky managed to tear her eyes off of Mami's Soul Gem and looked towards me. "I want one," she said in no uncertain terms.

"Absolutely not," I replied immediately. "The only way to get one is to become a Magical Girl, and that is not happening."

The others paused, caught off guard by my suddenly harsh tone. I sighed before turning to Mami. "I said there were two things you needed to know, with the first thing being about the effects of the link, the Binding, between us that exists now. The second one… the second one is that Kyubey is not to be trusted."

Mami looked at me in confusion. "What? But… why?"

"Because he lied to you about what being a Magical Girl means," I started. "Because he lied to you about what his purpose is. Because he's a vile bastard who has been manipulating and dooming every Magical Girl in the world."

Mami looked confused and lost more than anything, so I sighed and forced myself to calm down. "Everything I'm about to say applies to normal Magical Girls. It does not apply to you, who I've Bound and saved. Keep that in mind as I explain, okay?" She looked nervous, but she nodded.

"Do you know about what happens when your Soul Gem gets taken too far from your body?"

She nodded. "You fall unconscious. I don't know why though, and it's never happened to me."

"They don't fall unconscious, they just go out of range," I said. Mami's brows furrowed in confusion, so I decided to be blunt. "A Magical Girl is her Soul Gem. The name is literal. When you become a Magical Girl, Kyubey gives your Soul a physical and external form so your body can be used as a combat puppet that cannot die so long as you still have magic."

I watched her face fall as she processed that, the horror of that dawning on her. "But, that's…" she started before trailing off. "Why? Why would he do that?"

"Because he's not human," I said. "Because he and his people consider things like emotion and sentimentality to be mental defects. He doesn't understand why every girl he tells this to freaks out, and he will tell them if they ask. He does it because it's convenient. It makes you a better fighter, so why not do it?"

I was also pretty sure he did it because it was important to the process of a Magical Girl turning into a Witch, but I didn't have proof of that and I had to work up to that revelation.

"But I've fixed that for you," I quickly reminded her. "Your soul is now back in your body. It's also in the Gem, and you still need the Gem to transform and do magic, but you'll live just fine without it."

She was obviously still rattled, but that did serve to calm her down some, and she nodded. "Right, okay. That's… that's good."

I stayed quiet, letting her think things over and let that information settle before moving on. The others were watching quietly, not really having much to contribute. Only Matsu understood the details as well as I did, but I was better suited for telling Mami, so she let me handle it. Even Bisky had backed down, at least for a moment, about getting a Soul Gem of her own. But she was still stealing glances at Mami's, and I could see the desire that lingered in her eyes.

"If our- their bodies are controlled through magic… what happens when they run out?" Mami asked. "Would they just collapse and be unable to move?"

I paused. "Is that what Kyubey told you would happen if your Soul Gem got too dark?"

She shook her head. "He was always kind of vague, but I assumed that running out of magic meant you wouldn't be able to use any more. So… if their bodies are controlled through magic, then they wouldn't be able to move." She shivered. "It sounds horrible, to be trapped, unable to move, hoping for someone to find you. Someone who knows what a Magical Girl is and has a Grief Seed to help you, hopefully."

I grimaced. "Unfortunately, it's worse than that," I said. "When you use a Grief Seed, it pulls the darkness out of your Soul Gem, right?" She nodded warily. "And you know how if you put too much into a Grief Seed the Witch is reborn, correct?" She nodded again.

I took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't know exactly how the mechanics work, but the darkness in your Soul Gem is Grief. If you accumulate too much Grief without removing it…" I paused, thinking about the best way to phrase it. But there was only so much I could do to soften the blow. So I sighed and continued. "It reaches a critical point and the Soul Gem is destroyed, creating a Grief Seed and giving birth to a Witch."

Mami looked at me with a blank look on her face, blinking slowly. "What?" she asked, confused. "But… that doesn't… that doesn't make any sense." She shook her head. "That… what you're saying is that Magical Girls become Witches?"

"Yes," I replied simply.

She shook her head, emotions warring on her face. "That can't be right though, there's no way that can be right. It doesn't make any sense, there's no reason for that to happen like that because that would mean everything we did was pointless and it can't have been pointless there's no way that can be true-"

I grabbed her hands, wrapping them around her Soul Gem as I held them. "Mami, I need you to slow down and take a deep breath, okay?"

"But- but!" she protested.

"Remember, this cannot happen to you anymore. Even if you were to use up all of your Magic, you would just be unable to use more until it regenerated, just like you assumed before. That is true now."

"That doesn't matter!" she yelled back. "Do you know how many Witches I've hunted? That I've killed? If what you say is true… then I'm a murderer! I've killed Magical Girls!"

"No, you haven't," I reassured her, panicking a little on the inside because I was not at all prepared for this reaction. "Listen to me, those girls were already dead. There's no coming back from becoming a Witch."

She shook her head. "You don't know that," she said.

"I do," I replied. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Matsu open her mouth, like she wanted to add something, but Uzume put a hand over it and silenced her before she could.

"Even then it doesn't make sense," she continued. Her eyes were wide and she was breathing in and out in short and rapid breaths. "Why would we hunt them if we're just doomed to become them?!"

"Because Kyubey is, as I said before, a bastard," I said. "He's not some cute friend who wants to grant wishes. He's an amoral monster whose goal is to produce Witches."

"...what?" she said, looking at me with confusion. Ironically, that confusion seemed to override her panic and she seemed to calm down.

I was sure that was temporary though, so I quickly repeated the same explanation I gave to the others earlier, explaining how he was from an advanced society that was trying to fight against entropy at the expense of vulnerable teenage girls.

She remained quiet during the entire explanation, her face a stony mask without any emotion. Even as I finished, she didn't react.

"That's why I had to bring you here, to explain," I said. "Kyubey is not to be trusted. Magical Girls are nothing but a power source, and he manipulates each and every one of you into becoming Witches, sooner or later. That is why I tracked you down, to save you from that fate."

Mami nodded numbly but didn't reply. She just sat there, unmoving. As the seconds ticked by, I became more and more convinced that I had fucked up, that I had hit her with too much at once and now she was broken by it, somehow, even with Stress Defense factoring in.

But her expression slowly shifted, and not to something like despair or anguish. Her brow lowered, her jaw set, and I saw fire in her eyes as she looked back up to meet my gaze.

"We have to save the others," she said.

I couldn't help it, I smiled, beaming at her. Mami denied it, but she was strong, and that just proved it. "That's the plan. It won't be easy, because they won't have any reason to trust us, but I want to Bind the new Magical Girl that showed up. And also Kyouko as well."

"...so you did know about her," Mami commented.

"I did. I'm sorry for pretending I didn't."

She shook her head. "It's okay, I… I understand now. Kyubey is sneaky, you couldn't know if he was listening, so you had to play a part. I'm just glad that you're willing to help." She paused. "When you say you plan to Bind them…?"

"I would like to try to bring Kyouko here as well," I said. "Which means the romantic Binding. But that won't be easy, not with her current attitude and outlook, so I'll settle for just doing the platonic one and leaving her there when the portal closes. She'll still get all the benefits, so she'll be saved."

Mami frowned, but nodded. "I'll try to help, but I don't know if she'll listen to me. But what about the new girl?"

"Homura is… complicated," I said. "In fact, she complicates the entire situation. Remember how Kyuubey said he didn't remember turning her? Well… that's because he hasn't, not yet. Or did, but not this version of him."

Mami's brow furrowed. "Are you saying… she's a time traveler?"

"A looper, to be specific," I said. "See, there's a girl in Mitakihara named Madoka. In another timeline, she became a Magical Girl, one that teamed up with you, and saved Homura. Homura latched onto her, falling in love. But she didn't become a Magical Girl herself. Not until a month later, when Walpurgisnacht arrived."

Mami sucked in a breath. "It really is coming," she breathed. "I- I thought it might be, but I wasn't sure. It appears every Walpurgis Night, and you can track the path it takes… according to the rumors I heard, Mitikahara is in range of the last place it appeared to be a candidate for this year."

I hadn't known that, though I could vaguely remember her knowing it was coming when it showed one of the early time loops. Her explanation made sense, but I just filed it away for now.

"You and Madoka weren't strong enough to defeat it though, and the two of you fell in battle," I continued. "Homura regretted her actions, regretted not becoming a Magical Girl and helping you, and she was grieving over the loss of Madoka. So she made a Wish with Kyubey. A Wish to redo her meeting with Madoka and become strong enough to protect her. And so she traveled back in time to the first day she met her, still a Magical Girl, and tried to save her. And when she failed, time was reset again. And again. And again. Each attempt going differently, but always ending in failure."

"How many times?" Mami asked, sympathy clear on her face.

But I shook my head. "I don't know. I know what the last loop looks like, when Madoka's wish forces the cycle to break. But I don't know how many it took to reach that point. At least five, most likely more, but it could be hundreds. And on top of that, I don't know which loop this is. The only reason I know it's not before the looping started is because she's a Magical Girl already."

Mami nodded. "I see. So… you don't think you can save her?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I can maybe convince her to let me do the platonic Binding. But there's no way she's coming back with us without Madoka. And Madoka won't leave her friends and family."

"And we can't take all of them?" Mami asked.

"Even if we could convince them, there's only so much space we have here, and I am a little pickier about who I'm bringing with me back here. This is my home, a world of my own that I'm crafting with my own efforts."

Funnily enough, or perhaps not in hindsight, that actually cheered her up a little. "I see," she said. "I guess it will be enough to offer her your protections. Maybe with them, she'll be able to succeed."

"That's the hope," I agreed. "Now we just need to come up with a plan on how to approach both her and Kyouko, and what we'll be doing until Midnight." I turned to the others. "Any ideas?"

Bisky raised her hand. "Let me become a Magical Girl," she said.

"No," I said immediately.

"Why not?" she replied, glaring at me.

"Did you not just listen to me explain what it means to be a Magical Girl in this world?" I said. "The way it changes you?"

"I did," Bisky agreed. "And I also heard you describe how the Company nullifies all of those downsides. The reasons why you want to Bind those girls are the same ones it's safe for me to become one. Am I wrong?"

I opened my mouth to tell her she was, but I swallowed those words and instead gave her argument serious consideration. Because she was right. I didn't want to admit it, especially then, but the problems that came with being a Magical Girl wouldn't be a problem for any of my girls, and it would just be a free power up. A free power up that came with a Magical Girl outfit.

"I still don't like the idea of interacting with that rat bastard any more than I have to," I said, not willing to completely back down even though I knew I didn't have a good argument. "Much less messing with your soul."

"From what I've heard I don't exactly relish the idea either," Bisky agreed. "But it's worth it, and it will pull one over on him, won't it?"

I sighed. "I… yeah, I guess it would. Fine, if you really want to, you can. Even though I know you're just doing it for the Soul Gem."

"Can I become one too?" Kusano asked excitedly.

"Me as well?" Chiho asked a little more timidly.

"Fine, fine, anyone who wants to be a Magical Girl can be one," I said. And I'd like to officially state for the record that past me was an idiot. He should have been ecstatic over the idea of having a harem of Magical Girls. I was just still on edge and hadn't fully come to terms with it being safe.

"Umm. Becoming a Magical Girl means you have a Wish granted," Mami pointed out. "You should think carefully about what you want, and make sure you get everything you can out of it."

"The Wish can be for anything," I answered as I saw the question forming on their faces. "There's a power limitation based on your Karmic Potential, and no I don't fully know what that means and I especially don't know what it means for us and our abnormal situation. He shouldn't even be able to properly read our Karmic Potential, but thankfully that doesn't matter as the Wish granting is more or less automatic, so it should go smoothly regardless."

"It's not a Monkey's Paw either," Matsu added. "It won't try to screw you over. Though if you try to wish for something too big, bigger than your Karmic Potential, it will shortcut its way there and may result in something that isn't what you wanted."

"Anything we should Wish for?" Bisky asked.

I shrugged. "Whatever you want. Be selfish, but keep it simple. Try not to do anything related to how you or others think or act, as those tend not to work out how you want. Vague stuff like "I want to be stronger" can work, or you can ask for specific abilities. Or you can wish for a mountain of candy."

"That would be such a waste!" Mami gasped. "You should Wish for something you really want. I… guess the cost isn't as high for you, but it's still not something that should be done casually."

Matsu, Bisky, Chiho, and Kusano all nodded. Those were the four that seemed to be interested. I glanced at Levy and Uzume, but they both shook their heads at me.

"Alright, while you girls think about what you want, and now that we're not rushing, let's go over everything we know about this world and come up with some plans for the rest of the day," I said.

The next few hours were spent doing exactly that. Between Matsu and I, we could recount the important details of not only the main series but some of the other groups that we might possibly encounter.

Mami didn't exactly enjoy hearing about the, quite frankly, extremely depressing shit that had and/or could have happened, and she held tightly onto my hand as we went over it. But she didn't complain and she even contributed as much information as she could about details we had no way of knowing.

Our plan was thus. We'd go back, Mami would call for Kyuubey, and he'd make the girls who wanted to into Magical Girls. We'd try to arouse as little suspicion as possible and hope that Information Defense carried us through. Then we'd have lunch before going to the next town over to try to recruit or at least Stamp Kyouko before heading back, when school was out, to talk to Homura and let Mami take care of her business.

It wasn't the most solid plan, but that was by design. No plan survives contact with the enemy, so I made sure we had room to adjust, and we prioritized everything by likelihood to succeed.

Once everyone was geared up, the Pokemon were put in their balls, and after a quick healing session from Kusano to fix my knuckles, we all stepped through the portal, together. I had considered leaving the non-combatants behind, just to be safe. But both of them, Kusano and Chiho, wanted to make a Contract with Kyubey and would become combatants. And having Kusano for healing was a lot safer overall than leaving her behind.

We didn't immediately call for Kyubey, instead heading to a nearby park where there were fewer stray eyes to have to worry about. Once we found a suitable place, Mami telepathically reached out to the bastard, and we all put our best masks of politeness on.

Though Mami understandably struggled with this. "K-kyubey?" she called with a slight stammer, letting us hear it as well. "I umm. I found some girls that might want to replace me. As the ones for this area, I mean." She was willing to lie to Kyubey now that she knew the truth. Thankfully, for all of his telepathy, he wasn't a mind reader, so he could only pick up what she broadcasted.

"Is that so? That is very helpful of you Mami," Kyubey replied telepathically as he stepped out from behind a trash can, one he definitely wasn't behind before. His blank gaze swept over us. "There are more than I expected. I am unsure if this city can support so many."

"Only four of them are interested, the others are just here as support." I cut in. The less Mami had to interact with him and try not to freak out, the better. She was doing a good job so far, but I didn't want to push her.

"I see. And they will be staying here, despite being your friends?"

"They're not part of my journey, no," I lied. "They're just friends I've met along the way that I thought would be interested in becoming Magical Girls. I figured I could at least ask, since I'm taking Mami away."

His tail swished back and forth as he stared at us without speaking for a moment. "This is acceptable," he finally said. "Which of you will be going first? I can only do one at a time."

"I will," Bisky said, stepping forward. She was the first one to ask, and was the most enthusiastic about it, so it was only fair that she went first. "We get a Wish as well, right? Do I just say that now?"

Kyubey hopped onto the top of the trashcan so he was more level with Bisky and looked at her. "Yes. Simply state your Wish with the intention of having it granted in exchange for becoming a Magical Girl and the Contract will be made."

I felt myself tense up, knowing what was coming, still fighting against the idea that this was wrong and that she was falling into a trap. I knew that wasn't the case, but my emotions still hadn't accepted it.

The others watched silently, and Mami grabbed onto my arm. I couldn't tell if she was trying to comfort me, or seeking some herself, now knowing what this process was. Or maybe it was both.

I hadn't put much thought into what Bisky would Wish for. I very much meant it when I said they could come up with whatever they wanted. Sure, I could have them all Wish to power me up in various ways, but I didn't like that. A Magical Girl's Wish didn't only get granted, but what she wished for would often influence her abilities as a Magical Girl.

…Admittedly, having a group of Magical Girls who had powers themed around me was enticing in a way. But it felt cheap. Magical Girls are great because of their individuality and flair, so their Wish should reflect their own desire as much as possible. For Bisky, I expected something with jewels or gemstones, or maybe a way to lock her true form.

But she surprised me by asking for something completely different.

"I wish to become the best trainer possible, to always know the best way to help someone grow their power and skill," she declared.

"A Contract has been formed," Kyubey intoned, the appendages growing out of his ears lifting up to point towards Bisky, stopping just a few inches from her chest. "Your Wish has overcome entropy."

A brilliant light shone between the two of them, making the daylight around us seem dark in comparison as it cast heavy shadows. I could barely see either of them amongst that light, but I could make out Bisky, whose back was arched. Worry shot through me, but I forced myself to stay still.

"What- what is this!" Kyubey suddenly exclaimed in surprise,showing more emotion than I knew he was capable of.

My blood ran cold, and I feared the worst as the light dimmed. But Bisky was still there, and she looked fine. But her outfit had changed, and just a glance was enough for me to realize she had transformed into a Magical Girl.

In truth, her normal outfit, the poofy lolita style dress, could have passed for a Magical Girl outfit, albeit a somewhat plain one. Her transformed state doubled down on that, leaning more heavily into the style.

She wore a strapless dress with a dark pink corset, a frilly light pink top, and a striped brown skirt filled with thick light pink frills. On her feet were dark pink ballerina shoes, with laces traveling up her calves in the same style. She had dark pink cufflinks, unattached to anything, that had a thin pink stripe down the middle. Her hair was still done up in twintails, but they curled more, and the ribbons that tied it up were adorned with hearts. And to top it all off, she wore a small little dark pink hat.

But I couldn't spend much time appreciating her new look. Kyubey's words still rung in my ears. "What's wrong?"

Kyubey's ears flicked as his appendages lowered. "This is… this is wrong. What did you do? What are you?"

I mentally cursed, but acted calm. "I don't know what you're talking about," I said out loud. "Did something go wrong with the transformation?"

Kyubey looked at me. "Are you why her body and soul are so strange? Are you the source of the interference?" Despite me trying to feign ignorance, something must have shown on my face. "I see. That is interesting. But it's also something I cannot allow."

My adrenaline spiked. "Bisky!" I shouted out, not in panic, but issuing her an order.

A massive metal gauntlet appeared over her fist. "Ora!" she shouted as she punched forward, fist almost going too fast for me to track, where it connected with Kyubey. The force of the punch and the spikes on the gauntlets turned Kyubey into a gruesome spray of red mist as his body exploded.

Some of the others yelled in shock and surprise at the sudden violence, but I just grimaced, knowing that wasn't enough to do more than inconvenience him.

Bisky turned back to me. "He figured us out."

I raised a finger to my lips. "He could be back already," I warned.

"He isn't," a voice said behind me at the same time I felt a person appear there. I flinched and spun around, fists raised, but stopped when I saw who it was.

Akemi Homura stood about ten feet from me, transformed and staring at me with wary eyes. Her Magical Girl outfit was fairly simple, with a white blouse not unlike a schoolgirl's uniform, complete with a short gray skirt, a purple ribbon at her throat, and a small shawl-like garment sitting on her shoulders. She also wore thick black stockings with a purple diamond pattern running down the sides of her legs, and one her left wrist was a small shield, smaller than even your average buckler.

I felt the others tense up and start moving to defend me, but lifted my hand. "It's alright," I said. It wasn't, I was not mentally prepared to deal with Homura.

She was more informed and more paranoid than most others in the city, so I had to be more careful with her. But I was still reeling from Kyubey having somehow noticed something wrong and the situation suddenly getting much worse.

But that was probably Homura's plan, and even if I was lagging a bit behind, I didn't want them attacking Homura, the person who I wanted to help most in the setting. She was the only real hope the girls here had of coming out unscathed, at least without Madoka martyring herself.

So, switching tracks as best as I could, I focused on her. "You were watching?"

"Kyubey came asking me about a strange man that I had never heard of," she said in a cold and flat voice. Her eyes narrowed at me. "I don't like things I haven't heard of."

The meaning hidden in her words was clear to me. We were an aberration in her loops, a rare unfamiliar variable in this constant cycle of the same events, repeated infinitely.

"I'd be happy to catch you up to speed, Homura-san," I offered, deliberately using her name. Her eyes widened every so slightly as she realized what that implied. "But I'd prefer to do so in a way where he can't eavesdrop. A way I know you can provide."

She continued to glare at me. Reading her was hard, and would have been entirely impossible for me without Communication Talent, but thanks to it I could pick up a few signs. She was a bit shaken up by being the one on the opposite side of the information advantage, but not by as much as I expected. That or she was hiding it extremely well.

But Homura wasn't a coward. She continued pushing on, no matter how disadvantageous things seemed. "Fine. Just the two of us though."

"That's fine by me," I replied with a smile.

"Hold on-!" Chiho protested from behind me, stepping forward. But Matsu stepped forward as well, putting a hand on her shoulder and quieting the other girl. Matsu understood Homura.

So instead I turned to look at Mami, who was standing by my side. "Could you make a ribbon for us? One we can both hold without her needing to get closer, and that she can easily drop at a moment's notice." I looked back at Homura. "That would make you more comfortable, right?"

Her glare at me intensified as I hinted at more knowledge that I shouldn't have, coming up with a solution hand crafted for the mechanics of her magic and her paranoia. But, even if she was annoyed, she wasn't petty enough to turn down the ideal setup. "That would be fine."

Mami squeezed my arm, but she didn't let her expression change. She let go of me before shifting into her Magical Girl outfit with a flare of brilliant light and summoning a yellow ribbon in the air between Homura and me.

We each grabbed one end of it, and before I had a chance to say anything to the others the cover on the central part of Homura's shield had flipped open, and the world grinded to a halt.

The world is very quiet when time isn't flowing, even more so than the Skyblock. Even those early days at least had the soft sound of wind brushing over and around the island and through the branches of the tree, or even just through the empty air.

But the only sounds there were the occasional rustling of fabric as one of us shifted position. If it hadn't been for the Skyblock, it probably would have been unsettling. As it was, it was almost comforting, in a strange sort of way.

Though seeing everyone else frozen in place was eerie enough to make up for it.

"You're not surprised," Homura observed.

"I thought I made it pretty clear that I knew what you could do," I replied with a shrug, turning my attention back to her. "If I wasn't, allow me to do so now. I know who you are, Akemi Homura. I know what your goal is, I know what you've faced, and I know what you might face. And no, I'm not a time traveler of a different kind from you."

Her eye twitched in a way that made me think I had been right in my mostly random guess of what she was thinking. "Then what are you, and why are you here?"

"I'm a dimensional traveler," I started. "And I have seen the fate of many worlds."

I gave her a brief explanation about the nature of the omniverse and my ability to travel it. I avoided details about the Company, leaving the question of 'how' vague and unaddressed. I told her my goals of helping and recruiting.

I was getting good at explaining, after having done so so many times at this point, and especially when I was telling the truth instead of a twisted version of the truth. It would be too much to say I trusted Homura, but I did understand her. I understood her motives, the way she might react to certain things, her tolerances and so forth. And I felt confident that telling her the truth would benefit me more than trying to deceive her.

She quietly listened to my entire explanation, holding on to the ribbon Mami made, the connection that allowed me to experience that moment of stopped time alongside her. Without it, I'd be just as unaware as the others.

"There's not much I can do to help this world, I'm afraid," I said as I started wrapping up. "I don't have the power to fight the Incubators, and nothing short of that will truly solve the problems you face. But I'd like to help you achieve your goal, if possible."

She was quiet for a moment, thinking. I could see the gears turning in her head, but her expression was stony and didn't show a single hint of what she was feeling.

"Why?" she finally asked. "Assuming I believe your ridiculous story, why would you try to help me?"

I shrugged. "Is it so wrong to root for a girl in love? A girl who has suffered more than anyone for the sake of finding that happy ending? I can't help but to want to cheer you on, to want you to succeed and live that happy-ever-after with Madoka."

That got a reaction, her mask cracking as cheeks turned red in a blush. "Y-you-!" she stammered, and for a second I could see that old personality of hers, from the first few loops. Her cute, shy self.

And then she flickered, and she was back to normal. I realized that she had let go of the ribbon, stopping time for me once more as she collected herself before grabbing it again.

"You don't need to hide your embarrassment like that," I said with an amused shake of my head. "In fact, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Your love and devotion are admirable."

Her expression didn't change this time, sadly. "Enough of that," she declared sternly. "I'll accept that as your answer, just… stop."

"Fine, fine, I'll leave it there," I said, backing down.

"How do you intend to help, then?" Homura asked. "By your own explanation, you cannot remain here for long, and Walpurgisnacht is nearly a month away."

"I can empower you, at least a little," I said. "I have with me a Stamp that can form a connection between you and me. And with that connection, you gain several benefits. Kyubey will have a harder time sensing things about you, you'll be able to act calmly no matter how bad the situation gets, and most importantly you won't need Grief Seeds anymore. Your Soul Gem will drain naturally, over time. It's a pretty quick process too. You could leverage your magic much more extensively."

Once again, Homura fell into a contemplative silence. She looked at Mami, barely a step away from me, and then Bisky, still transformed and her gauntlet covered in Kyubey's blood. Her eyes shifted back to me. "Is that what Kyubey noticed?"

"I don't know exactly what he noticed, but he somehow figured it out, yeah," I said. "Which is a problem for him. If your Soul Gem can't fill up, then you can't become a Witch, and he won't accept that. I had hoped to get some free power ups for everyone, but he caught on after just Bisky there."

"And Tomoe-san?" Homura asked. "You formed this connection with her as well?"

"Through different means, but yes," I said.

"...you knew all about her as well, didn't you?" she continued. "You used that to get close to her. That's why she's acting like this."

"You're not the only girl here that deserves a happy ending," I replied. "You should know how lonely Mami is. How many times have Madoka and Sayaka become Magical Girls because Mami encouraged them, just so she would have actual friends?" Homura grimaced, which was enough of an answer for me.

"I've asked Mami to come with me, because I think she'll be happier that way," I continued. "And while I do think you could find that happiness, away from the reach of the Incubators, as well, I know you won't leave Madoka behind. And Madoka won't leave her family, and even if I was willing to take all of them, they wouldn't agree to it, not before I have to leave."

Her shoulders relaxed slightly. "You aren't going to ask her?" she asked.

"She's not a Magical Girl, not right now at least," I explained. "The connection also has a side effect of making you reach your potential. For Madoka, that's becoming a normal Magical Girl, not the super strong one you've seen in previous loops. If I used my Stamp on her, she'd become one, and I know that's not what you want, and I will respect your desires. Though I don't think there's any risk, since she could never become a Witch so long as she has that connection to me."

"No," Homura replied firmly. "It doesn't matter. Madoka cannot become a Magical Girl."

I didn't agree with that, but as I said, I was willing to play by Homura's rules, so I just nodded. "So that's my offer. I'll ignore Madoka and even Sayaka. Mami will come back with me. I'm going to extend both an offer of empowerment and recruitment to Sakura Kyouko, and I'll extend the offer of empowerment to you. I can't promise it will let you defeat Walpurgisnacht, but it'll improve your chances."

She mulled over that, and once again I saw her look at Mami. "What will happen if I reset time after you leave?" she asked.

I wasn't totally caught off guard by the question, as it was something that crossed my mind, but I didn't have a solid answer. "I don't know," I told her with a shrug. "I know a lot, but I don't know the mechanics through which your time travel works. Either Mami, and potentially Kyouko, will just be gone, forever absent from the loops, or I'll only be taking this timeline's version of them and they'll appear as normal."

Homura frowned, but didn't push. I knew she was aware that I was taking away fighting forces, potentially crippling her chances against Walpurgisnacht, but she had experienced the same loops that Matsu had seen, and knew that even all of them together wasn't enough to defeat the catastrophic Witch. She needed a silver bullet, not more forces. And there were other groups of Magical Girls she could reach out to.

She flickered once more, suddenly slightly shifting position. I could immediately tell that she had spent some time alone in the time stop thinking over it, and I tensed, ready to hear her answer.

"So long as you stay away from Madoka, I will not interfere with your plans," she said.

"...but that's it." I realized.

She nodded. "I don't trust you or this Stamp of yours. Even for her, Tomoe-san has grown too dependent on you too quickly. I'm willing to believe that you can do as you say, as it would be foolish for you to claim something so easily disproved. But I'm well aware of the dangers of hidden consequences in agreements such as this."

I grimaced. "Yeah, I guess Kyubey would make you pretty wary of that, huh?" She wasn't wrong, though she wasn't entirely right either. But explaining things wouldn't change her mind and would only 'confirm' her fears, even if it wasn't as bad as it sounded. "Are you really okay with that? Continuing on, with at least one less Magical Girl to fight at the end of the month, having gained nothing for it?"

"As you said, Tomoe-san is responsible for many of the loops where Madoka turns," Homura explained. "Her no longer being present will only raise my chances. And…" Homura's voice got quiet. "Even if the means are suspicious… even if she's not a priority compared to Madoka… I can't disagree in thinking that Tomoe-senpai deserves to be happy."

I didn't miss her use of 'senpai' there, harking back to the first loop where Mami and Madoka were the ones that taught Homura how to be a Magical Girl. She may hide them, but it was obvious that those feelings lingered.

I sighed. "I understand. I wish you would reconsider, and if you do change your mind we will be here until midnight. But I understand."

It was a bitter pill to swallow, to fail again like I did with Tohru. But I suppose that's just part of doing things the way I did, of trying to be upfront and selling them on the benefits rather than tricking them into it. For a moment, I regretted that, regretting letting her paranoia, justified or not, prevent her from accepting the help I could offer.

But I ignored that regret. "In that case, I think we're done here."

Homura nodded, and the shield on her wrist made a clicking noise as time suddenly resumed. I flinched from the sudden onslaught of sound, but adjusted quickly.

"So?" Matsu asked as Homura dropped the ribbon, which disappeared from my hands before it could touch the ground.

"We've come to an agreement to leave each other alone," I said, looking Homura in the eyes even as I reported to the others. "She turned down the Stamp."

"You really would be safer with it," Matsu grumbled, but she didn't push. The others stayed quiet, watching us.

Except for Mami that is. As Homura turned to leave, Mami called out to her. "Wait!" she said. Homura stopped and looked at her. "Umm. Roland told me a bit about you, so I know you have other priorities but…" Mami suddenly bowed down, her back horizontal. "Please take care of this city while I'm gone. Please don't let the people here suffer for my selfishness."

Homura stared at her, a slight widening of her eyes the only reaction that slipped through her mask. But after a moment, Homura relaxed slightly and nodded, a small smile on her face. "I will, Senpai," she said quietly. Then she was gone, presumably having disappeared into a time stop.

Mami stood back up, a smile on her face. "Thank you," she said, despite Homura being long gone. I put a hand on her shoulder, and she leaned towards me, wrapping me in a hug.

We separated after a moment and I turned to the others. "Well, that didn't go how we hoped, but we'll discuss that more back home," I said. "Remember, we still have to be careful what we say. Kyubey has become our enemy, but that just means we need to give him as little information about us as possible."

"Sorry girls," Bisky added. "I guess I'm the only one that got to become a Magical Girl."

The others shook their heads. "It's okay," Kusano said. "You were the one that wanted it the most. And you look really cute!"

"Don't I?" Bisky said, suddenly cheerfully. She spun around, showing off her outfit. "The gauntlets are not only surprisingly strong, but they match the outfit much better than I could have expected! I'm not one for weapons, but these I might use."

"I'm glad it turned out to your liking," I said. "We'll have to experiment more when we get back home. Thankfully we have a veteran who can give you all kinds of advice." Mami blushed at my praise. "But for now, we're running on the clock. Mami, how do we get to where Kyouko is?"

"There are buses, but they only run a few times a day," she said. "The next one isn't for another couple of hours. We could walk, but it would take us just as long as waiting for the bus, unless we roofhopped or just ran the whole way there."

I nodded. "Alright. We'll take this time to pick up the essential groceries we need and grab some lunch before heading over on the bus." All of us had Nen, but there was no reason to openly display our superhuman abilities, and I wasn't sure Chiho and Kusano had the stamina for that.

We hadn't gotten Homura, but I wasn't going to dwell on that, especially not with Kyubey's earlier declaration of 'not allowing' us to do our thing. So we didn't have time to dilly dally. We had to make the best use of our remaining time.

We traveled together as a large group of eight, which was a little inconvenient at times but there was no way I was letting any of them out of my sight. I considered making a trip back to the portal to drop off a few of them back home, where they were safe, but there were two reasons I decided not to.

The first was that Chiho was the only one I could make an argument for leaving behind that they would accept. Everyone else was either capable of fighting or, in Kusano's case, could heal us if we got hurt. And leaving just Chiho behind felt mean, especially since it would leave us with basically just as big of a group.

But the second reason, the one that stopped me from doing it anyway, was the same reason I had in the Sekirei world. We were now enemies with someone who could keep track of us. Going to the portal risked Kyubey learning it was there, and perhaps defending the area. I wasn't sure exactly what he could even do to defend somewhere, but I didn't want to find out.

And this time I kept an eye on the Map, so we wouldn't be ambushed when they figured it out anyway. I was just grateful there wasn't someone as scary as Karasuba that could show up.

But, despite being on high alert for him, Kyubey never showed up again. Not near us, not that Mami, or Bisky once she showed her how, could sense. And not a single time on the Bounty Tracker app. I knew he showed up on it, he was there when I checked it when I arrived. But either he had found a way to hide from it, which was extremely doubtful, or he wasn't in town anymore.

I tried zooming out to find him, but there was no hint of him. Which made no sense, since I was fairly certain he had bodies all over Japan, if not the world, and the Map should have been picking up on one of them at least. But no matter how many cities I searched or how far out I looked, his name didn't appear anywhere.

It only made me more on edge as I tried to figure out how he could possibly evade the Company's detection.

"Roland," Levy said, catching my attention as I tore my gaze from my phone and took a look at her. She was looking at me with concern.

She gently took the phone from my hands, and I reflexively tightened my grip before forcing it loose, trusting her. "Roland," she repeated, softer now that she had my attention. "You need to relax. The others are keeping an eye out for him, they'll know if he shows up."

I wanted to argue, to say that I was keeping an eye out as well, to point out that we almost got fucked over in Sekirei because I wasn't keeping an eye out, but I forced my mouth close in a grimace and swallowed those words.

"Fine," I said, even realizing in the moment I was being rude but not being able to stop myself anyway. I didn't agree with her, but I trusted her. Levy is my First, the one that knows me best, and she was good at telling me things I didn't want to hear, but that I needed to.

Levy set aside the phone, screen turned off and out of my reach. "There. Now, relax and have lunch with us."

I blinked. "Lunch?" It was only then that I realized we were sitting down, and not at a table or anything, but on a blanket in a park, surrounded by cherry blossom trees, and not a single other person in sight. In the center of us was an array of food, most of it pre-made packaged stuff and snacks. "...I was this distracted?"

"It's okay, we understood," Levy said. "And if it's just shopping it's something we can easily handle. Although we'll need to put the groceries in your Pocket Space soon." She pointed to a small pile of bags behind me.

I frowned. "Why didn't you snap me out of it earlier?"

Levy shook her head. "It's not like I disagree with keeping an eye out for him, you know?" Levy said. "We appreciated you doing it, as it let us shop in peace. But you need to relax as well, you're getting too wound up, it's not good for you."

"I have Stress Defense, I would have been fine," I said.

"You would have been functional, not fine," she pointed out. "And we need you in tip top shape. Matsu might know this world just as well as you do, but… well, do you really want Matsu handling negotiations?"

I froze. "Matsu trying to talk Kyouko into joining us? Oh god, that would end in fire."

Levy smiled, amused. "Exactly. We'll be relying on you for that. So let the others keep a watch out for him, at least while we eat lunch, okay?"

I sighed and relaxed, allowing my shoulders to slump. "Fine, you have a point. Just check on it every now and then?"

"I will, I promise." She placed an onigiri in my hand. "Now, eat, relax, and enjoy the view. It was Kusano's idea to come here, it's apparently something she has wanted to see all her life."

I relaxed fully at that, looking at my youngest Sekirei. Sure enough, she was smiling and staring at all the beautiful trees with pink flowers all around us, wonder in her eyes. "We'll have to get a seed or sapling or something of one of these for her," I said.

"Already done," Levy reported, pointing back at Kusano. A pile of short branches with pink flowers were on the ground next to her.

"You guys are two steps ahead of me it seems," I said, taking a bite of the onigiri. "Did I miss anything else?"

"Mami and Chiho are getting along pretty well already," Levy said, gesturing at where they sat next to each other, looking at something on Mami's phone. Uzume was there as well, of course, but she seemed like more of a passive observer, and spent more time watching Chiho than whatever it was Mami was showing them.

"That's good," I said. "I was worried about introducing a new girl. I thought things might be awkward."

"It's not like there isn't any awkwardness," Levy admitted. "But she's one of us now, and that helps smooth a lot of the edges."

I grunted in acknowledgement, mouth full from taking another bite. The basic effects of the Binding were pretty useful like that.

I frowned and then swallowed. "Wait, aren't onigiri supposed to have something inside of them?" I asked as I looked down at my own, which was mostly gone and yet so far had just been rice and salt. It was my first time having one, they weren't exactly common in America, not even at Japanese restaurants.

"Some of them, apparently," Levy said. She was holding her own and she showed me hers, which was half-eaten and clearly had some kind of meat or fish inside of it. "But Matsu took all of them and mixed them up, so you don't know what it'll be until you start eating it."

"God dammit Matsu," I said, but there was no heat in it. I shook my head and popped the rest of it in my mouth. It was still pretty good after all. It's hard to fuck up rice and salt. I looked around at the other dishes, and spotted some fried chicken. "Bisky, pass me that chicken please," I said, catching her attention.

"Oh, finally back with us?" Bisky asked with a teasing grin as she did what I asked.

"For lunch at least," I replied. "How is being a Magical Girl?"

"I don't really feel any different, but I do have this," she said. The ring on her finger, one she didn't have before, transformed into a ball of light pink light that reformed on her hand. It solidified, transforming into Bisky's Soul Gem.

As with every Soul Gem I had seen, the basic shape was the same. An egg-like gem cradled in gold, with the bottom half the egg almost entirely obscured in a 'cup' that held it, and 4 bands of gold metal that secured the top of the gem, almost like a cage, topped by a little and simple sculpture. And the bottom of the metal part flared out, forming a base that allowed it to be placed on flat surfaces without tipping over.

In Bisky's case, the gem was a dark pink color, and the top metal part was fashioned into the shape of a heart. But also, at the top of the bottom half just below the gemstone, there was another symbol stamped into the metal. A witch's hat with a small broom crossing over it. At first I thought it was just in incredibly poor taste, until I recognized it as the same symbol that was on Cookie's, her masseuse Nen summon, dress.

"Very pretty," I said.

"Very pretty? That's it? That's all you have to say?" Bisky asked, outraged. "It's more than just very pretty! It's the most beautiful gem I've ever seen! You have no idea the lengths I would have gone to in my world to get my hands on something like this! It's utterly unique, unreplicable because it's based on my very soul! No matter how hard they strive or work for it, no one else can have it or anything like it. It's my perfect, exclusive gemstone."

I blinked, having underestimated her enthusiasm for this. It rarely came up in the show except to give her a reason and motivation to be on Greed Island. "I see. I stand corrected. It's a peerless and amazing gem and I'm very happy for you."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm too happy to even be annoyed by your poor taste and lack of enthusiasm. I don't even care about the Magical Girl stuff, though a free power up is nice, and this magic stuff that Mami has told me about seems pretty useful."

"That outfit was pretty cute too," I commented. "I can't wait to give that a proper welcome in the bedroom."

"It's probably a good thing it's self cleaning," Bisky said, returning my lewd grin.

We passed some time enjoying a leisurely lunch. We had almost an hour until the bus was scheduled to leave for the town that Kyouko lived in. It was peaceful and relaxing, and I managed to forget about Kyubey for a few minutes.

Which is why I should have known we were about to be blindsided.

Mami suddenly looked up in the middle of eating. "Someone's coming. A Magical Girl."

I frowned, sitting up straight as I looked around. I held my hand out towards Levy, asking for my phone. Levy handed it over, the screen already open and focused on our position. The name tag was easy to spot, closing in on the park at high speeds. Sakura Kyouko.

My mind grinded to a halt as I tried to figure out why the fuck she was here already, coming at us rather than us needing to go to her. There was only one real answer though. Kyubey. But that still left the question of why.

"Don't attack her, but be ready for anything," I said. The others nodded, Bisky and Mami transforming into Magical Girls as they prepared.

"Sorry, I was only looking for Kyubey, I wasn't paying attention to the other girls," Levy said apologetically as Kyouko got closer.

"It's fine, this isn't ideal, but we can work with it," I said. Kyouko was visible now, a red figure leaping through the sky. She adjusted her angle slightly, presumably having spotted us, and came to a stop as she landed heavily on the ground about fifteen feet away.

Her outfit consisted of a dark red chinese style coat-like sleeves garment with a high collar, a small window on her collarbone that housed her Soul Gem, and a bottom half that went down to about her mid-thigh. It split in the front, from the bottom up to her stomach, showing the pink skirt she wore. She also had on dark red thigh high socks, knee-high red leather boots, and gray detached sleeves with large black cuffs and her long red hair was held in a ponytail.

And, most notably of all, she already had a spear in hand, armed and ready to fight.

"Sakura Kyouko," I greeted her as I stood up. "Just the girl I wanted—!"

I shut up quickly as Kyouko casually flicked her wrist, causing her spear to break into segments and cover the distance between us in a flash, the point stopping at my throat. I could feel the pinprick of the supernaturally sharp weapon on my jugular.

"Yeah, no," Kyouko said casually. "You? Kyubey told me about you, and there's no way I'm going to let you run your mouth."

I realized at that moment that I had perhaps been a little hasty in my supposition that there wasn't anyone like Karasuba here.

The others all scrambled to their feet, shouts escaping their lips, but I waved them back. Making sure my mouth was very closed, I raised my hands, gesturing in surrender as my mind raced through my options. Unfortunately, most of them involved talking, and I kept envisioning my throat being opened up whenever that happened.

I wasn't actually sure if Kyouko would make good on her threat. I knew she was pretty cold right now, willing to let Familiars hunt down people so they would grow into Witches. But there was a gap between that and staining her own hands, one I wasn't sure if she would cross.

But looking at her then and there, I knew the chance of it was too high for me to risk it. I wasn't sure Kusano could heal me quickly enough to survive that.

"Kyouko!" Mami shouted. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Don't worry Mami, I'll figure out a way to break this guy's mind control soon," Kyouko said. "Until then you just sit tight. That applies to all of you other girls as well."

"Wait, is that what Kyubey told you?" Mami asked, confused. I wasn't surprised. The rat was good at manipulation via half truths. "That's not what's happening! Roland saved me, he told me the truth and opened my eyes to the secrets that Kyubey kept from us!"

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you," Kyouko said. She hadn't once looked away from me, keeping her eyes firmly on me as she held her spear at my throat. "You're a little compromised at the moment."

I was kicking myself. I had considered he would reach out to another Magical Girl, but I thought it would take him longer, especially since I couldn't find him on the map. Kyubey wasn't one to act rashly and would choose to observe and deliberate before moving, or so I thought.

Instead it seemed as if he found the nearest Magical Girl, one with a history with Mami, and spun a story about us. I could practically hear him presenting it as a warning designed to piss her off.

For all that he claimed not to understand human emotions, Kyubey's job was to manipulate these teenage girls he Contracted with, and he had a lot of experience with it.

Could I talk my way out of this? Maybe. But I couldn't talk, on threat of death. There wasn't anything I could do.

"Now, now, why don't we all calm down a little?" Matsu interjected, voice unexpectedly relaxed. I resisted the urge to turn around and look at her. "If we agree that Roland there won't talk or communicate in any other way, would you agree to lowering your weapon and sitting down to eat with us?"

Kyouko finally looked away from me, though her spear didn't move, as she looked at Matsu behind me. "You think I'm an idiot?"

"No, I just think we accidentally got too much food, and it would be a shame if some of it went to waste," Matsu said.

Kyouko stared at her, face difficult to read. It occurred to me that this world had too many teenage girls who had too much experience in clamping down on their emotions. Another reason to hate Kyubey. Or the same one, really.

But somehow, Matsu's plan worked. Kyouko clicked her tongue and looked away, her spear retracting so it was no longer segmented, but she didn't dismiss it. "Fine, so long as he doesn't talk, I'll play along. I had to skip lunch to get here so quick anyway."

I relaxed a bit, but I didn't let my mouth open enough to even sigh in relief. I tried not to even gesture too much. I just stood there as she walked past me, giving me something of a wide berth, and to the remnants of the food we had left.

I turned as she passed me, facing the others. Kyouko just waltzed into the middle of us and started grabbing food, uncaring that she was surrounded. Not even the presence of two transformed Magical Girls gave her pause.

I knew Kyouko was strong and confident, perhaps even arrogant, but this was a whole new level of brazen that I was shocked by. And I was hardly the only one, as it was clear that the others were of the same mind.

Except for Matsu that is. Matsu, the person I had joked about being a bad idea for this exact encounter. Matsu, who was wearing a small but utterly confident smile as she watched Kyouko. Matsu, who I was reminded just then had spent years as the second in command to Miya, the Sekirei Queen, fighting off foreign armies to protect the other Sekirei with just a team of five and the few resources MBI could give them.

It was easy to forget her history when she spent most of her time cracking jokes, speaking in the third person, and being lewd. But the sight of her taking charge of this situation and negotiating Kyouko into standing down so quickly served as a stark reminder.

I made a note to apologize for my earlier joke, even if she didn't hear it, and sat back down, having no choice but to rely on her.

"So, just so I can clarify, Kyubey came to you and told you about Roland, claiming he was… what? Mind controlling girls?" Matsu started.

"Magical girls, specifically," Kyouko said, mouth half full of food. "He said he got Mami this morning."

"Well, it's true that he did meet Mami this morning, or last night depending on how you view it, but I feel like you are being misled," Matsu said. I noticed that she wasn't referring to herself in the third person.

"And now she's skipping town with him?" Kyouko asked. "Alongside the six other girls? And you're telling me mind control isn't involved? Because I know Mami, she wouldn't leave town so easily."

"...what do you mean you know me?" Mami asked, her voice quiet but her tone dangerous. "You've refused to talk to me for over a year! After you picked a fight and ran away! You don't know anything about me!"

Kyouko's jaw gaped at Mami's sudden outburst. "Wha-"

"And now you come, now that I've finally found happiness and friends again, and you're trying to ruin it!" Mami continued. "Is it really so unbelievable for me to fall in love?! To want someone by my side?! You left, refusing to let me help you, you don't get to come back and try to be a hero by threatening to kill the person that finally made me happy!"

Kyouko stared at Mami, completely at a loss for words. And funnily enough, I was right there with her. Perhaps I shouldn't have been, I was aware of Mami's issues, but… well, perhaps dumbly, a part of me thought she had already gotten past the worst of it, processing and accepting things.

In hindsight… her past with Kyouko was its own entire wound, one that had just been opened back up, still raw and throbbing in pain.

Matsu was the only one unfazed, or at least she appeared so. She reached over and grabbed Mami's wrist, pulling her into a hug, cradling Mami's face in her chest. "Shh, there there, it's okay. No one's going to take you away from us now. Kyouko-chan is trying to look out for you, she's just a tsundere and not very good at sharing how she really feels."

Kyouko squawked. "What did you call me?!" she protested.

"A tsundere," Matsu replied with a grin. "Someone who is too embarrassed or ashamed to express how they really feel, so they overcompensate in the other direction by being prickly or even straight up mean. But they also have their own cute side, if you can manage to convince them to show it."

The other girl didn't seem to know how to respond to such a frank and upfront explanation as she just stared at Matsu. "You know, I'm starting to suspect Kyubey was wrong. It's not him mind controlling everyone into a harem, it's you."

Matsu chuckled at that. "Oh, if only that were true! That would be a lot of fun! Unfortunately, as a Sekirei, that's not really an option for me."

My eyes widened at that, even as I restrained myself from trying to communicate with her. Kyouko didn't seem like she was paying attention to me, but I didn't want to risk it. But I wasn't very happy that Matsu was bringing up something like that where Kyubey might be listening in.

A quick glance at my phone showed that he wasn't near us… but I didn't trust that one bit.

"...you're a bird?" Kyouko asked, confused.

"I'm a member of an alien species named after a bird, because we have some vague bird-like qualities," Matsu clarified.

"Oh, right, of course, silly me," Kyouko said sarcastically. "Food or not, I'm not gonna just sit here and listen to your silly stories as you try to waste my time."

"I'm telling the complete truth," Matsu insisted. "I know we look pretty human, but there was quite a bit of biological engineering that went into that. Well, not that we were that far off in the first place. Which is something I have a few theories on, but this isn't really the place for that. The point is, I'm definitely an alien, and I can even prove it."

"Oh yeah, got a spaceship you can take me on?" Kyouko joked.

"Nope. I just need to kiss Roland over there and I can show you."

"...yeah, no, that's not happening," Kyouko said, in a more serious tone. "I still don't know what's happening, but I'm not an idiot. You're either trying to do something, or you're just being a pervert, and I'm not gonna let you do either."

Matsu sighed. "It's not like that. Sekirei are aliens that bond with an Ashikabi, their chosen master. It's a mating thing, and an Ashikabi is needed to invoke our powers, and our powers are the only proof I can offer. I'd let one of the others show you, but my power is the least dangerous to you, as I'm just a technopath."

I resisted the urge to snort. Calling Matsu 'just' a technopath was like calling Bisky 'just' a Nen user. No, they weren't the best in their field, but they were pretty damn impressive within it.

"What, you control computers and shit?" Kyouko asked, confused.

"Pretty much," Matsu replied. "And you don't even have a phone, so there's nothing I can do to you."

I could see Kyouko's eyes narrow as she thought about it, munching away on some food. She swallowed her food and then glared at Matsu. "Fine. But he doesn't move."

Matsu smiled at me. "You heard her, Ashikabi-tan. You have to be nice and still while I kiss you."

I rolled my eyes, but I did as Kyouko said and sat still as Matsu let go of Mami, who looked a lot more calm and quite a bit more embarrassed, got up, and stepped over the food as she approached me. I met her eyes, trying to discern what her plan was, but she offered no hints. She just winked at me.

Kyouko watched us like a hawk as Matsu knelt in front of me to wrap her arms around my neck, spear pointed up, but I knew she could lower it and run us through in a heartbeat.

And then Matsu was pressing her body against mine, and her lips were on my lips, and for a brief moment I forgot about Kyouko and her spear, I forgot about Kyubey, I forgot about Witches, and all that filled my mind was the comforting embrace of Matsu.

And then she was gone, pulling away from me with a little smile that stirred all kinds of emotions in me. It wasn't just lust, but love and playfulness and an absolute sense of trust. Wings of light spread behind her back, causing Mami and Kyouko to stare at her in surprise.

"Wisdom of my pledge, bestow the teachings of the world, to my Ashikabi!" Matsu said, causing her wings to glow brighter for a moment before they disappeared. She then turned to Mami. "Could I borrow your phone for a moment?"

Mami, still wearing a shocked expression, nodded and handed it over. Matsu gave me one last wink before turning to Kyouko. But strangely, that feeling of love and trust didn't go away.

"This is a live satellite feed of our position," Matsu said as she showed it to Kyouko. "I hacked into a military base's network. They didn't even airgap it! Not this part of it at least."

But then I heard her voice again, this time in my head, not unlike what Kyubey. "So, how are you liking my plan, Ashikabi-tan?"

I stiffened, struggling not to show more of a reaction. "Matsu?" I thought, pushing it in the general direction that I heard her 'voice' in.

"That's right!" She replied playfully even as she yammered on about network security and satellites to Kyouko, who looked very lost. "Wasn't it you that said I was the most psychically powerful Sekirei? Well, this is a bit much for me to do without a Norito, but thankfully I was able to pull it off."

"...and to think I had no intention of winging you," I commented. "This is really impressive."

"Hehe, praise me more! Reward me!"

"If you keep this up I'll reward you so hard you won't be able to walk the next morning. But you should focus on your plan. You're doing good so far, though I don't see where you're going with this."

"I've got a plan, don't worry. I just wanted to work together, and make sure we were on the same page."

"Two heads are better than one. She's getting bored now though, so focus on her."

"Yes, Ashikabi-tan~"

"So, you accept that I'm an alien now, right?" Matsu said out loud.

"...that wasn't magic," Kyouko commented, looking at her strangely.

"Nope! Nor is it a skill born from a Wish. That was my ability as a Sekirei who has bonded with an Ashikabi."

Kyouko continued looking at her for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm not buying the alien thing, but I'm willing to accept that you're a weirdo."

"That's true too!" Matsu agreed with a laugh.

"But what's your point? What does that have to do with him mind controlling you?" Kyouko asked, bringing us back to the main topic.

"You weren't trying to distract her, were you?" I telepathically asked.

"The opposite, if anything," she replied confusingly. "Well, earlier you said that maybe it was me doing the mind controlling, but that's not possible, because I'm a Sekirei. I bond with my Ashikabi, and he's the one in control."

"So you admit he's controlling you?" Kyouko asked, expression hardening.

"Hmm. It's not really as simple as that." Matsu answered. "Because, to be honest, Roland didn't even want me at first! I kinda forced myself on him, hehe."

Kyouko stared at her, more confused looking than ever. "...what?"

"Sekirei bond with their Ashikabi by kissing them. Roland came to ask me for something else, but when I heard about his adventure…" she shivered. "There was no way I wasn't going with him. So I threw myself at him and kissed him before he could react!"

Kyouko looked at me, but I didn't so much as nod, in case she considered it talking. Her eyes narrowed slightly but Levy cut in at that time, drawing her attention. "It's true, I was with him when it happened."

"Are you a bird-alien too?" Kyouko.

"No, I'm just your average mage," Levy said with a smile that matched Matsu's far too well.

"Are you talking to Levy as well?" I asked.

"No. I'm pretty sure she just figured out my plan, well enough to play along at least."

Truly I was blessed with clever companions. Though I still had no idea what her plan was.

"...a mage," Kyouko repeated dryly. "What's next, one of you is a robot?"

"Ooh, that would be fun, but we haven't met any robots yet. Roland! We need to recruit a cute robot!" I just looked at her. "Oh, right, you can't talk. We'll figure it out later."

"Would you like to see some of my magic?" Levy asked, pulling Kyouko's attention back to her.

Poor Kyouko looked so very lost. I could tell that this wasn't what she expected when she arrived. I felt my lips tug upwards as pride in my companions filled me. They were doing an amazing job handling this ambush.

"Hehe, feelings are shared too, Ashikabi-tan~."

"Good. You should know just how proud I am of you."

Kyouko sighed. "You know what, sure, why not. Show me this magic of yours. Just don't try anything funny." She waved her spear a bit, making a point.

I still didn't understand Kyouko's confidence. Without Mami being here, I could see it. A newbie Magical Girl and a bunch of 'normies'. But Mami was here, and the two of them were at least equals, if Mami wasn't just straight up the better fighter. And Matsu was showing that the rest of us weren't quite so normal after all. But even so, Kyouko felt like she was in charge of the situation. Why?

Levy raised her finger, magic collecting and glowing at the tip. She moved it through the air, creating the word "LIGHT". When it was complete, the word shone like a light bulb, floating through the air.

But Kyouko paled, seemingly over reacting to the innocuous spell. "That… that wasn't magic," she claimed.

But Levy just smiled at her. "Yes it was. Just not the same kind a Magical Girl uses."

"It felt like magic to me though?" Mami said, confused.

Kyouko stood up and took a step back, grip tightening on her spear. "What… what is this? What is your point?!"

"This is me showing you that there exist things that you don't know of, and don't understand," Matsu said, her tone still warm and friendly, but there was a hint of an edge to it as well. "I don't know what Kyubey told you, but there are things that even he doesn't understand, and I'm willing to bet he didn't tell you the entire truth."

"So what?" Kyouko protested. "That doesn't change anything! He's controlling your minds!"

"He's not!" Mami protested.

"He is," Matsu countered. "But not like that. It's just a little bit, to make sure we love him. Though a lot of us fell in love with him before that even started, so does it even count?"

"Oh, so it's just a little bit, that's totally fine then," Kyouko replied, voice absolutely dripping in sarcasm.

And then I snorted, unable to completely hold back my laugh.

Kyouko froze, staring at me. "Something funny?" she asked.

I schooled my expression. "Shit. Uhh, Matsu? Help?"

"...no. This isn't where I was going, but play it out. I think it will work."

"Matsu her spear is very sharp and I don't think she'll appreciate it."

"No, she won't, but we can't play nice with her. She needs to get off her high horse."

"Oi! I asked you what's funny!" Kyouko barked. "Go ahead, speak, I'll allow it. In fact, if you don't speak, I'll stab you. How's that sound?"

I looked at her for a moment before sighing. But it was better to commit than to hesitate, so if I was going for it, I was going to go for it.

So I shifted into a cocky grin as I met her eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. It's just… well, this whole time it's been really funny, you know? Hearing you rant about me mind controlling them. It's just… so ironic."

And there was the killing intent, causing everyone to tense up as Kyouko's face went cold with barely suppressed anger. "Excuse me?" she said in a quiet voice.

"I mean, what's a little bit of loyalty and love reinforcement compared to brainwashing the masses?" I continued as if my life weren't in severe danger. "Which, by the way, I have to say, brilliant move. I'm humbled by the efficiency of it. Really, your only mistake was letting your father find out-"

I saw on her face the moment she cracked, but I had entered Ren as soon as I started talking, so I was ready. Even then, I was barely able to react in time to catch the haft of the spear before it tore through my throat. The force of her thrust was still strong enough to send me crashing into the ground though, with her straddling my chest and looking down at me with murder in her eyes.

I could feel the pressure of her pushing her spear down on me, and I could tell that even with all my aura focused on my arms, I would lose this match of strength in seconds. So I gave up on it, instead using a burst of strength to shift her thrust to the side, where her spear stabbed through the blanket and into the soft ground below.

"You-! How dare you!" She seethed.

"Uhh, Matsu?" I mentally called out.

"Keep pushing!"

"Keep pushing?!"

She didn't reply, but I trusted her. "I don't know why you're so angry," I said, a grin that even I could tell was shaky and shallow on my lips. "I'm being sincere. Your wish made everyone happy. The people who came were happy to receive those sermons, your father was happy to be able to give them, and your family was happy because you weren't starving anymore. What's the loss of a little bit of free will compared to that?"

"You! Shut up!" She dismissed her spear and raised her arms, another one appearing in her hands. But the others weren't sitting back and doing nothing. Tree roots burst out of the ground, and ribbons appeared in a flash of light as Kusano and Mami wrapped Kyouko's in them, restraining her movement.

I tried not to look relieved. "You didn't feel bad about it at the time. And why should you? You only felt bad once your father found out, and he took it poorly." I shook my head, even as Kyouko struggled against her restraints. She was practically rabid at this point, and I wasn't even sure she was processing what I was saying.

But Matsu hadn't said stop yet.

I stood up now that Kyouko was no longer pinning me to the ground, brushing the dirt off my shoulder from where she stabbed the ground. "Now, I won't bad mouth him, his reaction is pretty understandable… but I don't want to hear 'mind control' this, and 'mind control' that from you." I raised my hands. "I'm just doing the same thing as you, helping people, whatever it takes. And help myself while I'm at it, just a bit. Surely you can understand that?"

Kyouko stilled, giving up on fighting against her restraints. She stared at me, a storm of complicated emotions on her face. And then… she started laughing.

"Ha…. ah ha ha ha… hahahahaha! That's your argument? That's what you're going with? 'You did it first, so I can do it too'? I was an idiot. Just a stupid girl who had no idea what she was doing! But I know better now! I know it's not worth helping other people. Magic exists to be used for yourself, and only for yourself."

"And yet, here you are, trying to save Mami from me, who is just using his power for himself," I argued. "So what's the truth, Kyouko? Do you really believe that people should be purely selfish, or are things maybe a bit more complicated than that?"

She gaped at me, jaw opening and closing as she struggled to come up with an answer. I'd call her stance hypocrisy, but it wasn't. It was denial. Kyouko wanted to help people, she really did, but the last time she tried, it burned her. Badly. So she over-corrected the other way, becoming purely selfish.

And I had to help her reach a balance.

But it wasn't going to be that easy.

Kyouko set her jaw. "You know what? Fuck. You."

Before I could react I felt myself being pulled backward as a mountain of spears erupted from the ground, tearing apart the bindings holding Kyouko still and space where I had been standing. It was only Mami's quick work with her ribbons that saved me. I nodded, giving her my thanks as I prepared for a fight.

"Is this what you had planned, Matsu?" I asked, a little sarcastically.

"Kinda!" she admitted from behind Kusano, who was standing with her cherry blossom branches in her hands, ready to use them. "Words alone weren't going to cut it!"

Before I could reply to that the mountain of spears exploded as they all segmented and whipped out at us, like a swarm of angry and sharp snakes. I cursed and leaped further back, using aura enhanced strikes to deflect the biting spears.

And then there was a flash of red, and I threw myself to the ground more on instinct than anything else. There was a vague sensation of something cutting through the air uncomfortably close to me, but then I hit the ground and lost track of things.

By the time I scrambled back to my feet, Bisky was standing in front of me, Kyouko's spear caught within her gauntlets. "You alright?" Bisky asked, grip not moving an inch even as Kyouko struggled to pull her spear back.

"It's fine, she missed," I reassured her.

Bisky looked over her shoulder at me, and a grimace passed over her face. "No, she didn't."

My brow furrowed in confusion, but then I felt it. My shirt was suddenly heavy and wet. I looked down to find the lower left side of it covered in blood, a gash in the cloth that was stained in red. "Oh," was all I could say. I hadn't felt it at all.

And then, as if it was waiting for me to notice it, I did.

I hissed as pain hit me, a searing heat pulsing from the wound in time with my heart beat. I slapped a hand over it, which hurt as well, but I knew I had to stop the bleeding, and I needed to know how deep it was.

Thankfully, a quick prod or two revealed it wasn't too bad. It hurt like a bitch, but I could still move fine. "I'm fine," I reported through clenched teeth.

"You won't be when I get through with you!" Kyouko snarled, still locked in a stalemate with Bisky. The spear that they were struggling over once more segmented, but Bisky was ready for that. She caught the chains in her gauntlet and wrapped them around her hands, restricting the spears movement.

Kyouko cursed and dismissed the spear, leaping back to create space. For some reason, my mind decided to focus on where she landed, the remains of our picnic, now a pile of food cartons, a torn blanket, and tossed up dirt. There was something sad about that. But more than that, it was also infuriating.

"Restrain her!" I barked out, and everyone moved to follow my order. More roots and ribbons lashed out at her, this time accompanied by Uzume's cloth and Levy's 'GLUE".

But all of them were blasted away by the storm of spears that Kyouko summoned, cut apart in the time it would take me to blink. And those spears turned to aim at all of us once more.

"Kyouko, stop this!" Mami tried. "I don't want to fight you! We can talk!"

"We passed the point of talking a long time ago, Mami," Kyouko replied coldly. "You can thank your boyfriend for that."

"Kyubey is just using you, you know," Matsu added. "He wanted this to happen. I bet you he warned you, didn't he? He tried to tell you to stay away from the dangerous man, and give up on Mami."

Kyouko flinched, but she didn't back down. "You especially need to shut up!" she growled. More spears appeared around her.

"You can't keep using your magic so recklessly!" Mami cried out. "Even you can't have enough Grief Seeds to keep this up!"

"That's where you're wrong, Mami!" Kyouko said with a triumphant, albeit slightly manic, grin on her face. She reached into her belt and pulled out two Grief Seeds. "Kyubey didn't send me here empty handed, I got payment in advance for agreeing to take him out."

I didn't know much about Grief Seeds, and I couldn't really sense anything about them. But I knew Kyubey, and Kyouko's declaration filled me with a sense of Dread, even if I hadn't puzzled out why. "Wait, don't-" I started, but I was too late.

Kyouko held up the seeds to her darkened Soul Gem to suck up the Grief she had accumulated.

There was a cracking sound, and everyone froze, especially the Magical Girls. Even Kyouko stopped, staring down at the Grief Seeds in her hand. They had been light in color before, and empty. But now, suddenly, they were filled with a dark substance and they glowed.

"...what?" Kyouko asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

And then the air was filled with Malice, the space around Kyouko rippling. The seeds in her hand exploded, sending out a shockwave that sent me tumbling backwards.

When I got back on my feet, Kyouko was missing. But she wasn't the only one. Levy, Uzume, and Matsu had also disappeared.

"Matsu?!" I called out in a panic.

"I- I think we're in a Barrier," she replied. Relief that she could still answer me warred with the news of her being in more danger.

"What the fuck just happened?" I asked out loud.

"The seeds hatched," Mami said, face stony, but I could see the panic in her eyes. "There- there was an illusion or something on them. They weren't empty, they were nearly full. So when Kyouko used them…"

"Fuck!" I cursed. I quickly repeated that to Matsu. "How are things looking?"

"Kyouko's fighting two witches at once, I think," Matsu reported. "It's a mess in here, I'm pretty sure they're sharing a Barrier and the themes are all mixed up. Uzume and Levy are fending off the Familiars… but they're tough. We could really use some backup."

"Roger that." I turned my attention back to the others. "Okay, good news, they're still alive, I'm in contact with Matsu." Chiho breathed a sigh of relief, and the others relaxed marginally. We were still reeling a bit, I think. A lot had happened in such a short time.

"Bad news, there are two Witches in the barrier, and two sets of Familiars," I continued. "They really need some backup. Mami, Bisky, that means you."

Mami nodded. "Of course."

"My first Witch hunt as a Magical Girl, huh?" Bisky commented. "Should be fun."

"I'd come with but…" I started.

"You'd slow us down," Bisky said harshly. I nodded. "Also, you're injured."

I looked down at my still bleeding side. Somehow, in all the confusion, I had forgotten. Even the pain had just registered as normal, and I had ignored it.

Bisky rolled her eyes. "Kusano, please heal this idiot while we go retrieve our girls."

"Yes!" Kusano said, snapping out of her shock and rushing to my side.

"Good hunting," I said, only a little bitter that I was sending them off into danger on their own.

"Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it," Mami reassured me with a smile, and the two of them dove into the Barrier, disappearing.

It was awkwardly quiet after that, with just me, Kusano, and Chiho left amidst the ruins of our picnic.

Kusano stopped next to me, looking at my wound with a frown. "Doesn't it hurt?" she asked.

"It does, yeah," I agreed. "I would very much appreciate the heal."

Kusano nodded and turned her face up towards me. "I need a Norito."

I leaned down to kiss her, making sure not to just give her a peck. Even if it was for something important like this, I refused to kiss any of my girls purely for utilitarian reasons. If I was kissing them, I was going to kiss them.

One magical light show and a chanted Norito later, I breathed a sigh of relief as the wound closed. My shirt was still cut and I was still covered in blood, but I was no longer bleeding. "Thanks Kusano. Let's hope you don't have to heal me for a third time today."

"I better not!" she said. "You shouldn't be getting hurt in the first place!"

I shrugged. "It happens. We're getting into dangerous situations. I don't like it, but avoiding all injuries is going to be impossible."

Kusano frowned at me, not liking that, but she didn't argue. "Just… don't rely on me, okay?" Kusano said, voice quiet. "I don't like this fighting, I don't like seeing you or the others get hurt… so don't let yourself get hurt just because I can heal you."

My expression softened and I pulled her in for a hug. "I promise."

Kusano nodded, silently returning the hug. We stayed like that, Chiho coming to stand next to us while we waited.

"Matsu?" I asked.

"We're still okay. No sign of the others yet. We arrived in the Witch's chamber I think, so they're still working their way here."

"Okay. Sit tight, let me know when you see them, or if you're not okay."

"Will do."

"He used her as a suicide bomber… didn't he?" Chiho asked suddenly.

I frowned. "...maybe. This feels too direct for him though. And it just doesn't feel like enough, either. Two witches for three magical girls? Even assuming all of them were weakened from a fight, it feels like too little."

"Are you saying he didn't trick her?" Kusano asked, looking up at me.

"No, he definitely did." I said. "In a very sloppy way, but it worked. I'm just not sure why."

"Maybe he only had two?" Chiho guessed. "He put this together pretty quickly. He might not have had time to get more Witches."

"Maybe…" I admitted, but I wasn't convinced. "Or maybe there's something we're missing."

"...like maybe it's just a distraction!" Chiho exclaimed, and I knew it wasn't a guess. I looked up at her and followed her gaze to behind me, on the ground where another Grief Seed lay. And it was pulsing with that ominous light.

I cursed even as I started to run, practically dragging Kusano along with me, but it was too little too late. The world rippled and exploded before changing, normal reality being replaced by the strange unreality of a Witch's barrier.

Worse, as I looked around, keeping the girls behind me, I realized I recognized this Barrier. I didn't remember every Witch from the anime, but a couple stood out, living forever in my mind because of the impact they left. The first was Octavia, Sayaka's Witch, which was tied to the big reveal of the true origin of Witches.

And the second, the one we were in now, belonged to a Witch named Charlotte. The same Witch that killed Mami in the anime.

"Fuck," I cursed, voice quiet. Because the rest of the Barrier was quiet as well. We were in a large chamber that seemed to be made of cake. The floor and the walls were all cake, topped with both your typical cake toppers such as fruit and icing, but all kinds of other sweets were mixed in as well. Bars of chocolate, lollipops, wrapped candy, and more.

In the center of the room were tall thin pillars, a flat surface at the top of each one, like they were tables that had been stretched upward to ridiculous heights. Each one was topped with a different dessert.

But otherwise, it was empty. There was no Witch, no Familiars, no anything of that sort. The three of us were alone.

I swallowed and put a finger to my lips, indicating that the others should keep quiet. They nodded in understanding, heads on a swivel as they took everything in. The fact that the Witch wasn't active was our only saving grace.

I remember that being the case in the anime as well, with Sayaka and Kyubey waiting in the Barrier with the Witch inactive as Mami and Madoka headed their way. I wasn't sure why that was the case, but I was grateful for it, even as I wondered why it didn't happen in the other one. Perhaps because the Witches enraged each other and woke up immediately? A shared Barrier wasn't something I had ever heard of.

"Matsu?" I called out, hoping to report to her. But I couldn't feel the connection anymore. Either the distance was too far, two different Barriers being too much for it to traverse, or Matsu's Norito ran out of juice with horrible timing. We were alone in the Barrier, and none of the others knew.

I turned to Chiho and Kusano. "Okay," I whispered. "The Witch is sleeping. We're going to wait here, quietly, until the others finish and realize that another Witch has appeared and we need help. Okay?"

"I cannot allow that," a voice said in my head, but it wasn't the comforting voice of Matsu.

I turned as ice filled my veins. Above us, on one of the many pillars, was him, the little white rat himself. He stared down at us, face as blank as ever, tail swishing ominously back and forth behind him.

"Where have you been hiding?" I replied telepathically, not willing to speak out loud.

"I had to prepare some things," he admitted easily. "This body is capable of much, but it lacks options for significant direct action. Such things were deemed unnecessary, as threats that would require that level of response were seen as impossible. However, we were clearly mistaken." I wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but I swore his voice took on a more sinister, almost angry, tone. "I do not know what you are. I do not know what your goal is. I don't understand. But you are a threat to our operations on this planet, and you cannot be allowed to continue."

Kyubey lifted up a paw into the air and then brought it down on the table. The sound of a smack, one much stronger than such a little creature should have been able to produce, echoed through the inner chamber. Almost immediately after, I could hear a chittering, the noise of dozens of things moving at once, headed in our direction.

Kyubey disappeared once more, this time not reappearing, but not without leaving a parting message. "When you are dead, your body and the bodies of your companions will be examined quite thoroughly. Threat that you are, there is also great potential in your strange and unknown abilities, and you will aid our endeavors, one way or another."

"Fuck off, you rat!" I yelled out loud, but he was long gone. I looked around. I didn't see the Witch, but I remembered what she looked like. She was small, like a doll, and it wouldn't be easy to spot her. But I was pretty sure she wasn't very aggressive, not in that form, so I was hoping I could ignore her even if she did show up.

But the Familiars were still more than a threat.

I could see them now, coming out from non-euclidean walls, descending from the ceiling, appearing from behind overly large cake toppings. There were two types. The majority were little black blobs with yellow polka dots marking their body and stick-like appendages. Their 'faces' were just a large eye, or something like one, with rings of blue making up the iris/pupil. They also had floppy leaf-like ears, and wore a nurse's cap.

The second type, of which I only saw a few, were far more human. In fact, from the neck down, they looked entirely human, like a female nurse. Well, except for the way they moved, and the inherent strangeness that all things within a Barrier seemed to possess. But their heads were similar to the smaller Familiar, her face replaced with the large eye of blue rings.

"Kusano, you have seeds, right?" I asked, turning to her as the Familiars approached us. They weren't rushing, but they had definitely noticed us.

"Yes!" she replied, voice shaking with fear but determinedly pushing through.

I turned around and kissed her again, causing her wings to show up once more. I didn't let myself enjoy it though, throwing aside my earlier determination of never doing it for utilitarian purposes, and forced my lips to separate from hers.

"Remember how I found you?" I asked. "Remember the park?" She looked a little lost, but she nodded. "I need you to do that again. I need you to protect us."

I could see her swallow. But she was strong, and she didn't let her fear stop her. "Okay. I'll… I'll try."

Chiho, who looked like she was on the verge of freaking out and was barely holding it together, joined me in standing close behind Kusano as she pulled handfuls of seeds out from her pocket. They were all blapple, oranut, and melnana seeds that we had collected over the weeks, and they were Kusano's main weapon.

She threw them in a wide arc in front of her, scattering them. And as they hit the ground, Kusano closed her hands together, as if in a prayer. "Life of my Pledge, Shine on my Ashikabi!" she chanted, activating her Norito.

The scattered seeds exploded into pillars of wood, forming a perimeter of dense trees. They weren't quite a wall, but they served as a decent fence.

The Familiars reached the edge of the small forest that Kusano erected, tentatively stepping into the area that Kusano now controlled.

"Wait," I told her, putting a hand on her shoulder as she lifted her hand. "Let them get further, get as many as you can in the first attack."

Kusano didn't look happy, whether at my tactic or just the thought of fighting at all I couldn't tell, but she nodded, and waited.

The Familiars, who seemed more curious than anything else, slowly approached us as they worked their way through the dense trees.

But unfortunately, the barrier she had made wasn't all that large, so it didn't take them long to reach the inside edge. "Now!" I told her. She lifted her hand and dangerously sharp roots instantly shot up from the ground, impaling every single Familiar within the tree line, and quite a few outside of it.

The Familiars screamed as they died, bodies melting into goop that merged with the ground below them. The other Familiars screamed as well, not in pain, but in rage. They started rushing us then, fully hostile.

"Keep it up!" I encouraged Kusano. She nodded, too focused to reply as more roots shot out of the ground. I knew this tactic would only last for so long though. Kusano was powerful, but she was limited to only growing plants, and each plant had its limit before it was too cost prohibitive to grow it further. And once it was grown, it stayed there.

But thanks to her, we had a thick fence between us and the familiars, one that limited how quickly the Familiars could come at us at a time. Which was enough for me.

"Sit tight, and keep an eye out," I told Chiho as I dashed forward, entering Ren. I hadn't used up too much aura when fighting with Kyouko, and I knew I needed to be careful how much I used because I didn't know how long it would be before the others would arrive. But I also couldn't afford to hold back.

The first Familiar finally dug its way through the dense trees, and the additional obstacles of the sharpened roots that had filled the gaps between them, and screamed at me. I wasn't sure how it did that without a mouth, but I didn't worry about it at the time. I just took my aura covered fist and punched it straight in the eye.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to kill it. It's body was soft, almost springy, and the force of my blow was weakened because of it. But the familiar certainly didn't enjoy it. It screamed louder, this time in pain, and its body became misshapen.

I grit my teeth and twisted my body, delivering an even stronger punch with my other fist straight in the same spot. It yelled in pain again, harsher and with more fear this time, and I knew I was making progress.

I took in a deep breath, pulled my fist back once more, and drove it forward, focusing all of my aura into my fist.

It exploded into goop, covering the trees and myself. I grimaced, partially in disgust, partially in annoyance. Three full force punches to take out a single Familiar was far too much energy spent for how many there were.

My eyes fell on the sharpened roots that Kusano had speared them with. They had killed the Familiars in just one hit. That was what I needed.

"I'm borrowing this!" I called out to Kusano before lashing out at the closest root, kicking it near the base with an aura-empowered foot. It snapped off and I snatched it up just in time for another Familiar to make its way through the tree line.

I was vaguely aware of Kusano killing more beyond the trees, but some evaded her attacks. It was those that I needed to take care of.

Makeshift spear in hand, I threw myself at the Familiar that had almost made it through and ran it through. It pierced easily, and the Familiar died almost instantly, barely having time to scream in its death throes.

There was no time for celebration or rest though, as two more were about to make it through. I ran to the closest one, barely slowing down as I stabbed it in the face as the second one stepped fully into our little clearing. But I reached it before it got any further, and it died as easily as the other two.

This was the first time I had used a spear, or any weapon at all, really. But thankfully, the spear was almost the simplest weapon that mankind had ever invented, second only to the club, so it wasn't hard to figure out how to use it on a basic level. Insert pointy end into enemy.

There were a lot of Familiars, but none of them were terribly smart or skilled, at least not the little ones, the Blobs. None of the Nurses had made it through yet. So my rudimentary strategy was working.

I'm not sure how long that lasted. I don't think it was that long, a few minutes at absolute most, but time was difficult to keep track of as I ran around the perimeter of the clearing, stabbing away at Familiars like they were a horde of zombies pressing against a fence.

Kusano's actions slowed down to a crawl, the trees reaching their limits. I couldn't see very clearly beyond the tree line, but I could see enough to tell that the field of sharpened roots extended quite a distance from us.

But still the Familiars came.

Things got dicey as three Familiars pushed through the tree line at once. I grit my teeth and aimed for the closest one, stabbing it. But then the unexpected happened. The root in my hands, the one I had been using as a spear, cracked, breaking in half. Half of it remained lodged in the Familiar as it fell to the ground and I was left with just a broken stick in my hand.

"Roland!" Chiho shouted, drawing my attention back to the two remaining Familiars now fully inside the clearing. Kusano was on her knees, shoulders heaving as she struggled to catch her breath, clearly out of energy. There was too much distance between me and the two of them, and I no longer had a weapon.

My blood ran cold even as I started to move, running towards them, knowing I wouldn't make it in time. "Use Ren!" I shouted in desperate warning, trying to at least mitigate the damage.

I felt her aura flare, as did Kusano's, though hers was weaker. I prayed it would buy them enough time, dreading seeing them getting hurt, but seeing no way out of it.

And then there was a flash of red light and two balls of darkness appeared, ramming into the familiars and sending them back. I skidded to a stop, stunned and confused. That is, until I saw VV standing in front of the girls, fangs bared as he faced the treeline.

VV was Levy's Pokemon, technically. But it was also Bisky that handled most of his actual training, and he was pretty equally attached to all of us. So when it came to deciding who was going to carry his Pokeball while in other worlds, it wasn't as simple as just giving it to Levy.

In the end, we gave it, and Tinks' as well, to Chiho. She was the one least capable of defending herself, so we wanted her to have them as a sort of last ditch defense.

But I had completely forgotten that we had done that. It wasn't something we had discussed this morning, but over a week ago, and so far we hadn't brought the Pokemon out of their balls even once in any world since bringing them to the Skyblock.

I was so relieved, I couldn't help but to laugh. "Good job, VV!" I praised him. "Keep them safe!"

He barked, agreeing, and sent another Shadow Ball into the treeline. I turned to Kusano. "I know you're tired, but I need a root, one as sharp and sturdy as you can make it."

She nodded. "Okay." She lifted a hand, and after a moment, a root jutted out of the ground next to me. It was straight and sturdy and looked like an actual spear instead of just a sharp stick.

I knelt down in front of her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You did a good job, Ku-chan. Rest up now, conserve your strength for an emergency."

She nodded, tired, and I got up, snapping the root she provided me off as I turned around. VV had bought me a little time, but I knew he couldn't spam his moves. More importantly, I knew I couldn't afford my new root-spear breaking on me again, so it was time to learn a new Nen technique.

I didn't close my eyes, but I did turn my focus inward, to the mental image of a cube I used to control my aura. It had grown since the first time I had formed it when I learned Ten. It now hosted a complex tunnel of aura nodes that could be controlled in batches, but long hours spent honing my control had streamlined my ability to keep it solid in my mind, even when I was distracted.

But now I needed it to grow, to change once more. I kept it as simple as I could though. I took that box, and I attached a rod to it. A stick, really. I welded it on sloppily, hastily, but as sturdily as I could. I could refine it later.

I couldn't push my aura nodes into it like I wanted though. It was an entirely separate object, not an extension of myself. But I could change the angles and focus of the nodes closest to it, directing the aura there to cover the rod. It blasted over it, like hoses spraying against a pillar, so I pulled it back in, even as I poured aura into it, not unlike when I used Ten.

And to my surprise… it worked. Instead of flowing messily, the aura stuck to the spear in my hands, the rod in my mental image, and wrapped around it to form a thin barrier.

I didn't have time to ponder why it was so easy though. Instead, as soon as it felt stable, I burst into action, rushing forward to stab an incoming Familiar. The spear, sturdier because of Kusano's crafting and because of the aura protecting it, pierced the Familiar with ease, like a hot knife through butter.

I pulled it back with equally little resistance, and despite the situation, I felt my lips tug upward into a smile. With this, I could fight back, I could protect them. Confidence surged through me as I continued to dispatch Familiars with my new weapon, the occasional Shadow Ball from VV taking care of any that are too far from me.

But I should have remembered what world we were in, and what happens when you start feeling confident.

I saw another flash of movement in the tree line and I lunged at it with my spear. Only then did I lay proper eyes on it, and I forced my spear to a halt.

I froze there, spear tip a few inches from the thing I had aimed it at, which was not a Familiar. It was the Witch herself, gently floating in the air at about chest level.

She was small, the size of a doll really, and she looked like one too. A doll of a strange humanoid creature. She wore red pants or stockings, a black dress, a scarf, her hair was stylized like a wrapped piece of candy, and her face was painted in white with accented colors, like an old style clown.

And I absolutely could not kill her.

It was not a matter of ability, it was a matter of intelligence. This cute doll-like form was nothing but her first phase, something of a disguise. It was weak enough that even I could 'kill' her. But that would just unleash her second form, a much bigger and far more dangerous Witch that I wouldn't stand a chance against.

"Roland?" Chiho called out nervously. The Familiars were still coming, but I stood there in front of the Witch, unmoving as I desperately tried to figure out what to do next. Attacking her was bad, but my instincts screamed that ignoring her would go equally as poorly.

Charlotte tilted her head at me, more curious about my spear than threatened. I stayed there for several heartbeats, unable to decide what to do. But I didn't have a choice. The Familiars were pushing their way through the trees and ignoring them was sure to end in doom, where ignoring the Witch was an unknown.

So I cursed and turned away, aura flaring even harder as I sprinted towards the Familiars that had made their way in and skewered them on my spear before they could approach Kusano, Chiho, and VV.

Thankfully, VV was smart enough that he didn't send any Shadow Balls at the Witch, having recognized my hesitance to kill her myself. He had his hands full helping me keep the Familiars back anyway.

But things continued to get worse. Charlotte didn't like seeing her Familiars die by the drove, as she started babbling, exaggerated tears flying from her eyes in a comical arc as she panicked. After a few moments of this, moments I could only half pay attention to as I slew more Familiars, she turned to me in anger. She pointed a finger, which was just an oversized sleeve, really, and yelled.

I expected an increase in the number of Familiars, and that definitely did occur, but not in the way that I expected. Her scream didn't summon more. Instead, the Barrier around us wavered, and the ring of trees that Kusano had set up shuddered and tilted. It took me a moment, but soon I realized that they had started sinking in the ground, like the cake had become quicksand.

But there was nothing I could do to stop that. Kusano was still too tired to fight against it, even if the trees could grow more than she had already pushed them. All I could do was keep killing Familiars.

I had completely lost track of how many I had killed or how long I was fighting. And as the trees disappeared into the icing and the rate at which the Familiars approached us increased, I had less and less time for thinking.

I can't remember everything from what happened next. I felt like I could barely breathe, much less think.

The zone I was able to protect shrunk more and more as more Familiars joined the fight. Our backs were pressed against a wall, meaning I only had a semi-circle area to defend, but soon the enemies were too dense for me to move about. I had to stand in place in front of an exhausted Kusano, a quickly tiring VV, and a terrified Chiho.

I pushed my body to its limits, though I had to stop using Ren. I could feel my aura reserves running low, so I focused only on using Gyo on my eyes and arms, to see everything and have the strength to kill them, as I jabbed repeatedly at the encroaching Familiars, using my aura as efficiently as possible.

The only bright side to the situation, one I didn't realize until later, was that they all seemed pretty focused on me. Not once did any of them try to sneak past me to attack the girls behind me. Every single one threw themselves at me, and it was my blood they wanted.

I started taking hits then, unable to dodge or dispatch them quickly enough. Spears, or at least the kind that Kusano had made me, could only stab, after all. To kill a familiar, I had to aim my spear, thrust it forward, and pull it back, and only then could I aim at the next one.

If I had a blade I could have swept it in arcs, cutting through multiple at once. Even a spear with a proper head could have done it. But a rudimentary one like I had was only good for stabbing.

The first hit I took was from a Familiar I saw coming, but could do nothing against, as my spear was busy being buried in the fact of another one. It flung itself at me, and I discovered then how they could scream when they didn't have mouths. Because they did have mouths. The 'eye' that made up their face split in half, revealing two rows of jagged teeth.

I couldn't stop myself from screaming in pain as those teeth dug into my upper thigh, fire flashing through me. I tried knocking it off with the butt of my spear as I pulled it back, but there wasn't enough force in the blow and all it did was cause it to sink its teeth deeper into me. I instinctively pushed aura out of my nodes where it was biting, forming enough of a shield to prevent it from biting a chunk out of me entirely, though it remained latched onto me.

And before I could kill it, I had to aim my spear at another Familiar that was launching itself at me. And another. And all I could do was keep stabbing, gritting my teeth and desperately trying to ignore the pain that threatened to overwhelm me.

I noticed the Shadow Balls stop, and I could feel that VV's aura had weakened as he exhausted himself.

"Return VV!" I yelled at Chiho, even as I kept stabbing.

"But-" Chiho stammered, tone obviously terrified.

"Just do it!" I barked, not having the attention to spare to comfort her or be nice. In my mind, there was a good chance we were going to die. My hope was that if VV was in his Pokeball, he wouldn't be targeted, and at least one of us would live.

I couldn't really process how morbid that was at the time, but it was pretty damn morbid.

I heard the noise of VV being returned and focused back on the encroaching Familiars. I stabbed and stabbed and stabbed, no longer even bothering to aim and I still killed a Familiar with every thrust. They were packed that densely around us.

I stumbled as another Familiar broke through my guard and clamped onto my side, teeth digging into my skin. More of my aura was sacrificed to that area to prevent it from taking a chunk out of me.

After that… it's a blur. I just remember flashes. More Familiars biting into me. One managed to bite into my spear, which didn't break, but it was wrenched from my grasp. After that was just more pain, my fists not enough to do more than push them back. And as my aura dwindled to nearly nothing, I wasn't even able to do that.

I remember the pain. I remember a wall of Familiars in front of me, scrambling over each other and myself. I remember seeing the Witch floating there above them, watching. I remember wondering if that was the end, if my journey ended there.

Obviously it didn't, as I'm writing this journal now… but it was close.

It was then, just as I was about to be overwhelmed, that the others finally arrived in a blaze of glory. The world around me exploded as no less than five different things tore through the familiars around me, and before I even fully registered I was safe, my body was already collapsing, well past its limit.

But someone was there to catch me. I fell into her embrace, not knowing who it was at first. "Oh, Roland…" she said in a soft voice.

"Warn… Mami…" I breathed. I was struggling to stay conscious, but despite knowing that I was safe now, I had to warn them. I couldn't let Mami meet that same fate. "Witch… second form… dangerous."

"Shh, it's okay, Matsu warned us as soon as we entered." My brain was finally catching up and was able to recognize that the girl holding me up was Levy. And beyond her, I could hear the sound of fighting. I looked up to see Mami, Bisky, and even Kyouko fending off the Witch, which had entered its second form.

"Everyone's…okay?" I asked.

"Everyone except for you," Levy confirmed. "You did a good job. You kept them safe."

I fully relaxed then, eyes closing as I slumped down. But Levy easily bore my weight. "It was Kyubey. He got us. Distracted you. Woke up the Witch."

Levy held me tight. "We'll worry about that later. Just rest now, okay?"

I nodded, and that was the last thing I remembered before sleep took me, dragging me down into its dark depths.

When I next woke up, I was back on the Skyblock. I don't know how I knew, perhaps it was the sound, or maybe the familiar feeling of the bed I was laying on, but before I opened my eyes I knew I was back home.

The other thing I knew was that it wasn't a pillow that my head was resting on. I opened my eyes and looked up at Chiho, who had my head in her lap.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, voice cracking and raspy. I really needed a drink of water. I settled for coughing to clear my throat instead.

"A few hours," Chiho said, her tone a little morose. "Kusano is still asleep."

I turned my head in the direction of the other source of aura I felt on the bed and spotted Kusano there, sleeping just as Chiho said. She looked relaxed, and I didn't see anything that looked like an injury, and I felt some of my worry disappear.

Though it was immediately replaced with a new worry, one caused by Chiho's tone. I looked back up to meet her eyes, giving her a questioning look. "What's wrong?"

She just smiled sadly at me. "You saved my life again. But this time… this time you got hurt doing so."

I frowned. "And I'd do it again. There wasn't any chance of me abandoning you in that situation."

She shook her head. "I know you wouldn't, even if I think you should. Because it's not just me that depends on you, all of the others do as well, and I don't want them to suffer just because you were trying to save me. But I know you won't accept that."

"Damn straight," I grunted. I flexed a little, not trying to get up, just assessing the damage. Moving pretty much any limb hurt, each of them stiff and covered in bandages. I could feel my stomach covered in them as well.

"But that's not the point," Chiho continued. "You… Kusano… even VV all pushed yourselves so hard, but all I could do was sit there!" Her voice raised as she shouted those last words.

I didn't respond immediately. My knee jerk reaction was to tell her that it was okay, that she wasn't a fighter, that there wasn't anything she could have done. But that was the problem, wasn't it? She didn't like being that helpless.

I forced myself to sit up, groaning as my muscles and wounds ached with the exertion. "Roland?" Chiho asked with confusion and concern, but I ignored that and turned out, getting on my knees to face her. And then I just pulled her into a hug. She stiffened, not having expected it, and likely not in the mood, but she needed it.

"Tomorrow," I whispered. "Tomorrow we'll figure out a power for you. Something beyond Nen, something I can give you immediately so you can contribute if it happens again. I know you don't want to fight, but it doesn't have to be a combat ability. It can be crafting, or purely defensive, or mobility or anything else. You won't be powerless again."

Chiho was still stiff in my arms at first, but after a moment she relaxed and hugged me back, almost clinging to me. "Okay," she said in a quiet voice. "Tomorrow."

I kept hugging her like that for a bit. But as I did a mental count of the auras I felt, I noticed there was one extra.

I separated myself from Chiho, much to her reluctance, and mine as well, and stood up. I stepped around Kusano as I headed for the door and left the room. Chiho got up behind me, following me as I headed for the dining room, where everyone else was gathered.

"Roland!" several voices said as I entered, and I was instantly swarmed by a horde of girls, all of them trying to hug me. "Are you alright?" "You should be laying down still!" "How are you feeling?"

"Alright, alright, calm down," I said with a smile. "I'm fine, fine enough to walk around at least. Probably won't be in fighting shape until Kusano wakes up, but I don't plan on picking any more fights before then." There were several enthusiastic nods of agreement at that, which made me smile.

I looked up to where Kyouko was sitting at the table. "I'm surprised to see you here," I said. The girls moved so I could walk over to the table, Levy sticking close to my side. I sat down, grimacing at the aches.

"Is that a problem?" Kyouko asked a little defensively, but there was barely any heat behind her words.

"The opposite, I'm glad to have you here," I replied as the others sat down as well. "Are you just visiting? Or are you here to stay?" Levy moved a bowl of fruit over to me, and I flashed her a smile of gratitude as I started eating. I was starving, and the juice of the fruit soothed my dry throat.

Kyouko's face twisted into a grimace, but it was Mami who answered. "While you were asleep, we explained everything to her," Mami said. "About Witches, about you, all of it. She didn't believe us at first of course, but…"

"It's hard to argue when their Soul Gems are so damn clean despite all that fighting," Kyouko grumbled. "Especially when Mami showed me hers draining. I'd have to be an idiot to turn that down."

"Even with the mind control?" I asked.

She looked away and shrugged. "I've accepted worse deals," was all she said.

"I Stamped her already," Levy provided. I looked over to her and she handed me the Stamp alongside my phone. I nodded and pocketed both. "She's set as a Companion."

"So you are staying then?" I asked hopefully.

"There aren't any games here, which sucks, but it's quiet, and there aren't any Witches," Kyouko replied, only indirectly answering my question. "Besides, seeing other worlds sounds pretty fun. More arcades for me to set new records in. Not being able to defend those records is a little annoying though."

"And they told you what being a Companion means, right?" I asked.

She blushed, still looking away and refusing to make eye contact. "I've accepted worse deals," she repeated.

I was very curious about what the hell happened in the few hours I was asleep. Last time I saw her she was trying her damndest to kill me. I had no idea how she went from that to agreeing to join my harem. But I knew who I suspected.

I looked at Matsu questioningly, but she just grinned and gave me a thumbs up. I rolled my eyes and decided to shelve it for later as I turned back to Kyouko. "Well… I'm very glad to have you here. Especially since I'm going to need your help with something straight away."

Her blush deepened and she looked at me with panic. "Wait, hold on, just because I agreed doesn't mean you can go that fast!"

"Not that," I replied, tone serious. "We have one more thing we have to take care of in your world."

"You want to go back?!" Uzume shouted in surprise.

"I have to go back," I said in a firm voice. Now that the exhaustion had worn off and I had caught up to what happened while I was asleep, I was finally able to process the chain of events that led us here.

And I was absolutely livid.

"That little bastard tried to kill us," I continued, anger seeping into my voice. "That was a targeted assassination attempt. He appeared in the Witch's Barrier and woke it up, hoping it would kill us. He was practically gloating, as much as that amoral sack of shit can gloat. He failed… but then we just turned tail and fled?" I shook my head. "Fuck that. The rat must pay."

"Umm, Roland, Matsu understands where you're coming from, but there's not really anything we can do," Matsu pointed out. "He's kinda OP you know? There's nothing we can do that is more than a minor inconvenience to him…"

I frowned. She wasn't wrong. We weren't strong enough to fight against the Incubators as a whole, and anything we did they could easily fix.

Except for one thing, I realized.

"That's not quite true," I said out loud, a plan forming in my mind. "There's one thing we can strike at. It's petty… but they would hate it."

Matsu frowned and her brow furrowed. "What's that?"

I told them.

What followed was thirty minutes of hashing out a quick plan, half of which was just me convincing the others to go along with the plan, and letting me go with them. Opinions were pretty split, but my mind couldn't be changed.

We left the Skyblock in two groups. The first group was me, Mami, and Kyouko, and we headed for Mami's school. The other group consisted of just Bisky and Levy. Everyone else stayed home. The fewer people we had out, the fewer chances Kyubey had to maneuver against us.

I gave the second group my phone, my stamp, and instructions to wait a few minutes after we left.

The three of us walked leisurely to Mami's school. Mostly because 'leisurely' was as fast as I could go, since Kusano didn't wake up before we left. Which was fine. The plan didn't call for me fighting.

We arrived just a few minutes after classes ended, as students were starting to leave or were milling about as they talked to their friends and headed for clubs.

I was using Zetsu, which didn't make me invisible, but it reduced my presence enough that I didn't get any strange looks as I followed Mami onto the school grounds. Kyouko got a few, but nobody really seemed to care.

"She's here," Mami confirmed.

I nodded. "We'll meet you on the roof."

We split up again, Mami heading for the teacher's lounge so she could actually withdraw. I wasn't sure that really mattered at that point, but it was important to her, so I didn't mind letting her do it.

Kyouko and I climbed up the stairwell that led to the roof, following Mami's earlier instructions and the signs posted in the hallways. We didn't talk. I still hadn't fully adjusted to her being suddenly on our side and I wasn't really sure where our relationship stood. A feeling I was pretty sure she shared.

But I was too focused on the plan to hash it out then and there, so the awkward silence between us persisted.

Especially since we arrived on the roof to find Homura already there, waiting for us. I expected Mami to have to call her out, but it looked like Homura had noticed something was up. On the bright side, she wasn't transformed, which meant she wasn't immediately hostile.

I appreciated that. It meant I could buy time just by talking.

"Why are you here?" Homura asked, voice cold.

"Well, Mami wanted to tell the school she's leaving, so we came to do that," I replied casually as I walked up towards her, though I stopped before I got too close. I didn't want to threaten her.

"That doesn't require your presence," Homura pointed out. Her eyes flickered to Kyouko. "Or hers."

"Well, I kinda wanted to see the school in person," I replied with a grin and a shrug. "You guys have some really cool tech here, nothing like what we had back home. And the gothic architecture is really nice too."

Homura narrowed her eyes at me, like she wasn't sure if she believed me. She turned to Kyouko. "And you?"

"I dunno if you noticed, but some shit went down in the park earlier," Kyouko replied. "I'm just here as a bodyguard."

I had asked her to let me handle the talking most of the time, but it would be suspicious if she ignored a direct question like that. I just gave her a vague cover story and told her to be careful not to give away our true intentions.

Homura's face darkened. "So you've agreed to join them."

"Of course," Kyouko said. "Unlimited magic? No more hunting Witches? Free food and a place to live? It's a good fucking deal. Honestly, I think you're an idiot for turning him down, but whatever, that's more for me."

Homura stared at her a moment longer, her face a perfect mask, before she turned to me. "What happened in the park?"

"The Incubator made his move," I said. "Dropped a few hatching Grief Seeds on us. It wasn't enough to put us down, but we're treading carefully."

Her eyes roamed over the bandages on my arms that extended beyond the sleeves of my shirt. "You fought one?"

I snorted. "I survived one long enough for the others to show up," I said. "Familiars are one thing, especially in small numbers, but Witches are a bit much for me to handle at the moment."

"I see," she replied flatly, not showing what she actually thought about that. She looked back up to meet my gaze. "Is this another recruitment pitch?"

"Why, did you change your mind?" I asked. But I shook my head before she could answer. "No, we really did come here because of Mami's business. Though if you do want to come, this is your last chance. We're leaving after this, and we're not coming back."

"I did not change my mind, no," Homura confirmed. "Your offer is too suspicious, and just because the Incubator does not like you does not mean I trust you either."

I nodded, even as I felt Mami come up the stairs to meet us. I expected her business to have taken longer, but I appreciated her being here. I was running out of things I could talk to her about to keep her attention.

"That's understandable," I said. "Smart, really. I can't blame you at all. In your position, I wouldn't trust me either."

Her eyes narrowed even more at me as she tried to decipher the hidden meaning in those words. Which was my aim, of course. I just needed to make sure she stayed until Mami got here and the plan started for real.

Before Homura could reach a conclusion or form a reply, Mami arrived, stepping onto the roof behind me. I turned to face her. "All done?" I asked.

"They wanted to know why I was leaving, but I wasn't sure what to tell them, so I just said it was for family reasons and they accepted it," Mami said as she walked up to join us.

"That's not really a lie," I pointed out. "We're your family now after all."

She gave me a sweet smile. "Yes, that's true." She looked at Homura as she came to a stop next to me, and then bowed slightly. "You left before I could thank you for agreeing to my request. I know it was selfish. So, thank you Akemi-san."

Homura's mask slipped just a small amount, and I could see hints of confusion and awkwardness. She quickly covered it up by reaching back and brushing at her hair, making a show of flipping it. "I had planned on doing so already, whether or not you asked me."

Mami stood back up with her smile still on her face. "That's very reassuring to hear." Mami's smile slipped then, turning into a sad frown. "I hope what's about to happen doesn't change that fact."

To Homura's Credit, she didn't hesitate for a single instant. As soon as she heard Mami's words she was leaping away from us and transforming, her shield appearing on her wrist. Mami and Kyouko also transformed behind me, but before they moved, there was a click from Homura's shield, and time stopped moving.

Unfortunately for her, we didn't.

Homura's eyes widened. "How-" she started.

"I told you I wasn't from this world," I said in a flat voice. Despite this being my plan, it wasn't one I especially liked. But I was going to see it through. "You may be unique here, in this one, but you're hardly the only time stopper that exists. Getting a counter was expensive, but very doable."

Paradox Defense was one of the most expensive defenses, tied with several others for that position, and I didn't have any discounts for it. I needed another Loan to afford it, but if all went to plan, I'd come out of this with a profit.

Mami and Kyouko got into fighting positions, and Homura's face darkened in anger. "This was your plan from the start. Recruiting me by force."

I sighed. "You probably won't believe me, but that's not the case. When we talked earlier, I meant every word I said. But things have changed, and I'm not leaving until you're Stamped. Don't worry, you can stay here, and there won't be any side effects that you notice, except for the positive ones. We don't have to fight, you can just accept it."

Homura replied by pulling a pistol out of her shield and firing it at me. I admit, I flinched, the sound of the gun loud in the comparative silence of the time stop. But the bullet never reached me. Kyouko's spear flashed out and the bullet ricocheted at an angle above my head, where it came to a stop, trapped in time with the rest of the world.

"Oi, that's my meal ticket you're shooting at," Kyouko said.

"He's controlling you, isn't he?" Homura asked. She looked calm at first glance, but her eyes showed the truth. She was nervous. She wasn't panicking, but she couldn't hide the way that her gaze was darting everywhere, looking for something. A way out, an advantage, something like that."

"Nah, he just offered a good deal," Kyouko said. "Not like I need much of a reason to put uppity newbies in their place."

"There's no need to be mean, Kyouko," Mami chastised her. "We're trying to help."

"Your minds must be more twisted than I thought if you truly believe that," Homura said. But then her eyes narrowed. "Or you're trying to buy time by confusing me."

Seeing an opening I put on a smile I didn't feel. "Oh? Why would we be buying time? It's not like every second that passes makes you weaker… oh, except I guess it does, doesn't it? What with this ineffective time stop eating away at your reserves."

Homura's eyes widened for just a moment before her expression was replaced with determination. Her shield clicked once more, and the bullet above my head went whizzing into the air as time resumed. Just as planned.

Homura didn't waste any time after that, letting loose with more shots aimed directly at me. Kyouko twirled her spear, deflecting them all. Before she could reload and fire more, Mami shot at her with her own muskets, forcing Homura to dodge and shift her attention away from me.

I heard screams below as the students still remaining heard the gunfire and grimaced. That was probably my least favorite part of the plan. None of the girls here were reckless enough to actually hit them, but it didn't sit right with me to start a gunfight on the roof of a school. There was no getting around it though. Two of them used guns as their primary weapons and we had to do this outside of time stop.

I didn't see the rest of the battle. As Kyouko left my side, a shell of ribbons grew around me, enclosing me entirely to shield me from any stray, or not so stray, bullets. My aura was still recovering, but even if it wasn't I don't think I'm at the point of being able to deflect gunfire yet.

As I listened to the sounds of battle, I felt Mami's phone, which I had borrowed, vibrate in my pocket. I checked it to see a new message.

Done. On our way.

I took a deep breath. I had already committed to the plan, but now it had been done, and it was too late to back down. It was a relief, in a way, to not have that option of aborting any more. It had been too tempting.

A few moments later, the sounds of fighting came to a stop, and the cocoon of ribbons fell apart. The roof was completely wrecked. Hundreds of bullet holes marked the floor and walls. The fences were torn apart and there was a hole a few feet wide that led to the room below. Thankfully it was empty before we started fighting, and the students had fled a long time ago.

And in the middle of the roof was Homura, strung up by Mami's ribbons. She wore an expression of fury and fear, and it nearly broke my heart to see it. But I steeled my heart and stepped up to her. At the very least, I needed to explain things to her.

She watched me as I moved, straining at her restraints. But Mami didn't have to conserve her magic, and the number of ribbons that held Homura in place numbered in the hundreds at least.

I wasn't sure how to start, so there was an extended period of silence as I just stood in front of her. But then I sighed. "I didn't want to do it like this, you know."

Homura sneered at me. "I'm sure. A willing slave is easier."

I shook my head. "I wasn't lying when I said you can stay here. I'm not enough of an idiot to try to drag you back home. That's just asking to be murdered in my sleep. I also wasn't lying when I said I was rooting for you. I want to help. You didn't want my help. That's understandable. But… well… then Kyubey attacked us."

"So you came after me?" Homura asked. "That makes no sense."

"It wasn't you we were after," I said quietly. I felt Levy and Bisky arrive, leaping to the roof of the building to join us. Homura's eyes snapped up to them, wary.

"What… what do you mean?" she asked. Her fear was starting to show in her voice.

"I admit, I'm being selfish," I started explaining. "I want to help… but I also want revenge against Kyubey. I couldn't let his assassination attempt go unpunished. But you know how futile it is to fight against him directly."

Levy stepped up to my side and handed me my phone and my Stamp. I slipped the phone into my pocket, but kept the Stamp in hand. "So I had to go for something indirect. And the best way I could think of was to take away the thing he wanted the most. Madoka's potential."

The blood drained from Homura's face. "What did you do?" she whispered.

I smiled. "I saved her. She's still alive and healthy, don't worry, I'm not going to kill an innocent girl, one that I want to protect almost as much as you do, just to get back at Kyubey. No, instead, I had Levy and Bisky here Stamp her, and Sayaka as well, when you stopped time earlier. Do you remember what I said earlier, about what that would do to her? It will turn her into a Magical Girl. One that will never become a Witch. Kyubey will never harvest the energy from that, no matter what. She is completely free from his influences, and nothing can change that."

In terms of revenge, it wasn't the most satisfying outcome. But Madoka's potential was insane, and it was something Kyubey wanted very much. Her becoming a Witch would be enough to meet his 'quota' after all.

It was the only thing he valued that I could interfere with, so I settled for ruining that.

"No, no, no, no no no no nonononono!" Homura repeated, panicking. "She can't be a Magical Girl! She can't! I promised her she wouldn't!"

"I'm sorry," I said, genuinely meaning it. "I know that's what you wanted. But this is what's best for you, and for her. None of you will ever become Witches, and you can work together to stop Walpurgisnacht. Your Soul Gems will no longer be a weak point, you won't run out of magic or need Grief Seeds. Madoka and Sayaka will be thrilled, I'm sure. You know Madoka. Once she learns of it, being a Magical Girl is all she wants."

"You bastard!" she yelled, losing all composure. Tears streamed down her face. "This isn't what she wanted! This isn't what I wanted!"

"I know," I repeated. "But it's already done."

She didn't respond to that with words. She just strained against the ribbons and yelled in anguish. My gut churned in guilt, but I shoved those feelings aside.

"Mami," I said, and she nodded. She pulled a Grief Seed out from a hidden pocket in her skirt and pressed it against Homura's Soul Gem. That was the biggest danger of this plan, pushing Homura into Witching out. The Grief Seed would help mitigate that.

Homura slumped over as the Grief was pulled from her Gem. Her hair fell in front of her face, hiding her expression.

I sighed again, but saw no reason to drag this out any further. I gestured, and Mami brought Homura closer to me, the ribbons shifting to reveal a patch of skin on the back of her hand. Homura didn't protest or fight, but a check of her Soul Gem showed that it wasn't dark. She was fine.

I pressed the Stamp against the skin, and just like that Homura was set to be captured as a Familiar, the same as Madoka and Sayaka. I wasn't so cruel as to make them Companions when I had no intention of coming back for them.

I heard sirens in the distance, most likely responding to the commotion we made.

"Sorry Mami, looks like we won't have time to pack some of your things after all," I said as I forced myself to turn away from Homura. "We can't leave her here long enough for the police to find her. We've made enough of a mess as is."

"It's alright, all of it is replaceable," Mami replied. "Are you sure that's it though?"

I considered that for a moment. Tried to think of something else to say to Homura, to make her understand why I did this. But none of it would help. "Yeah, we're done here. Let's go home."

Mami nodded and scooped me up in her arms. It was a little emasculating to be carried by a girl smaller than yourself, but we needed to move quickly. Bisky picked Levy back up, and Kyouko followed us as we lept off the roof, headed for the portal.

We didn't speak the entire way back. Not even when, shortly before we got to the portal, the world went gray again as time stopped. Since we could move as well, there was no way Homura could catch up to us, so we didn't worry beyond stepping up our pace a little.

But we didn't relax entirely until we made it through the portal, and we arrived back home. The deed was done and I was ready to never step foot in that world again.

"How'd it go?" Matsu asked as we returned. She was leaning against the wall, waiting for us. Uzume and Chiho quickly stepped outside as well to greet us.

"No problems," I reported, though the lack of enthusiasm was clear in my voice.

"That doesn't sound like' no problems'," Uzume commented.

I shrugged. "The plan succeeded. All objectives complete. It's just…"

"It was kinda fucked up," Kyouko said, not sugar coating it at all. "Like, I get it. But that girl did not take it well." I resisted the urge to point out the parallels between Homura just then and Kyouko a few hours before, both of them screaming in rage as they were restrained. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Homura… is stubborn," Matsu said. "She'll thank him for it eventually, I think. She just needs time to see the benefits."

"Umm. Is there a risk of it not working after all?" Chiho asked. "What if she reverses time?"

"The Stamps will stick," I said. "I asked." I had sent a message to the Help Desk of the Company asking how that interaction would work, and they assured me that so long as I had Paradox Defense it would apply to incomplete Stamps as well.

It was actually the main reason I bought the Defense. I knew Mami on her own was capable of beating Homura, even with the timestop. Their fight in the movie had shown that. Mami and Kyouko working together had an even better chance, one where I might have been able to just get one level of Paradox Defense, or none at all.

But making sure she couldn't just reset the timeline and wipe away the incomplete Stamp was worth every Credit I spent. Literally. Capturing Homura alone would make up for the cost with her capture payout and the Defense Rebate she would offer for the Defense.

Not that I captured her for the Credits. But it was a nice bonus.

"The Stamp takes three days though. She won't… fall to despair before then, right?" Levy asked.

"I believe in her strength," I replied, tired. "Time loops are incredibly stressful. This… isn't fun for her. It's the biggest loss she's faced, even, at least that's how she sees it. But she's lasted this long. She'll last for three more days." I looked at Mami. "You left the Grief Seed there, right? Do you have any more?"

She shook her head. "That was my last one, and I got it from one of the Witches that Kyubey ambushed us with. If the other one dropped one, none of us saw it."

"I don't have any, I only had the two that hatched on me," Kyouko reported. "I had to leave my stash behind. But I guess I won't need it, so long as I take it easy for the next few days." She looked at Matsu. "But she's got one. For some reason."

I looked at Matsu, confused. "It's Charlotte's," she offered in explanation. "I had Bisky grab it after the fight and I put it in your Pocket Space."

"Charlotte?" Mami asked. "Did you name the Witch?"

"She didn't, all Witches have names already," I said, understanding dawning on me. "You want to save her," I said to Matsu.

She shrugged. "I don't know if it's possible but… I think we could try. There are all kinds of things in the omniverse that might work."

I sighed. "I'm… too tired to think about that right now. Levy, can you make sure Kyouko and Mami get settled in and show them everything? I need to start on today's journal."

"Can't that wait until tomorrow?" Levy asked. "You should rest. You're still injured."

But I shook my head. "Need to do it while it's still fresh in my head. And I could use some time to decompress."

Levy hesitated, but then she nodded. "Alright. Come on you two, let me show you the most important place. The Bath."

Mami shot me a concerned look, but I just gave her a smile. She returned it before following Levy and Kyouko into the house. The others looked at me with concern as well, but I just shooed them away, and they gave in and left.

Except for Matsu, who just looked at me.

I stood there for a moment, looking back at her instead of insisting she leave as well. "You did a good job today, Matsu."

She smiled. "Matsu is here to help!" she replied cheerfully.

I nodded. "Tomorrow you're going to help further by telling me what the hell I missed that got Kyouko so on board. It was very weird to wake up to her basically being part of the group already when before the only thing she was lusting for was my blood."

"It's a really interesting story, actually," Matsu said. "Classic Magical Girl stuff. Maybe Matsu should write it up like you do? Make a story out of it?"

I shrugged. "If you want, sure, go for it. So long as it satisfies my curiosity, I don't care how you do it."

"Okay!" she said cheerfully. "Matsu will do that then. She'll leave you alone so you can write, I'm sure you have a lot to cover. But Matsu thinks you should also know that you did a really good job today." She looked at me, still smiling, but it wasn't the silly persona she usually put on. This was Matsu, Sekirei 02. "I'm really proud to call you my Ashikabi, and I'm really glad I decided to come with you. I wouldn't trade this for anything in any world."

Before I could reply to that, the relaxed and silly mask was back on, and she waved as she ducked back into the house, leaving me alone outside.

I stood there for a moment before shaking my head. I really do love my girls a lot.

After that I headed for the garden, my preferred spot for relaxing, and started writing. It was the afternoon when I started, but now it's night, and I'm tired. I stopped briefly to eat, and Kusano woke up to heal my wounds so I did that and then took a bath, but otherwise it's been non-stop writing.

But I had to finish it today. Days like today are why I write this journal. To keep a record of what I've done, and why I did it. Today… there were a lot of ups and downs. A lot of wins, a lot of losses. It was my first time in a life or death fight, and I almost died. It was my first time playing the villain, even if it was what was best for her.

Homura isn't a perfect person. She's very flawed, and my empathy for her doesn't prevent me from seeing that. That's why I did what I did. What Homura wanted wasn't what was best for her, and it wasn't what was best for Madoka.

Hopefully she'll realize that sooner rather than later.

---

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AN: Woo boy, this chapter. Not only is it the longest chapter I've written ever, and not only is my progress on it single handedly responsible for making sure my total words written last month were higher than average, but the first day of writing it I also blew way past my old record and wrote over 10,000 words in a single day. And then I busted that record by writing over 12,000 words in a single day the next week. I've been excited for this world, but once I figured out a plan that let me get both of the girls I really wanted and set up future things? I was motivated.

There's a lot I could include in this AN, too much really, so I won't comment much on the plot other than to clarify a few things. First, Mami. Poor, sweet, sexy Mami. Mami's canon age of 15 is actually fine by my standards, but UC brought up the younger girls to 15, and Mami needs to be a year older than them, so she became 16. Also, the perception filters, and not being able to see up her skirt, aren't canon as far as I know, they're just details I added because it makes sense.

About Mami knowing that Walpurgisnacht is coming. There are several instances of her in previous timelines or side materials where she is the one to inform the others about it arriving, and zero explanation for how she knew. But there are two main theories about what timeframe the events of the anime took place in, and one of them has Walpugisnacht appear on the same day as the real world Walpurgis Night celebration, and I've chosen to go with this interpretation, as well as added some speculation about how she might have realized it was coming.

About Kyubey realizing something was wrong: The Catalog has a line in it that I think a lot of people either never notice or forget, but it's a note for authors basically encouraging them to not make the Defenses 100% perfect if it gets in the way of telling a good story. It's my favorite line in the entire Catalog because it shows that the Catalog is very much intended to be used as a writing tool. So yes, even with two levels of Information Defense, Kyubey noticed something strange when he literally had Bisky's Soul in his metaphorical hands. It was small, but the fact that anything at all was off was a big red flag, and he was able to deduce a lot from there. He got some facts wrong for sure, but they brought him to the right conclusion. Roland was a threat to his system.