As N Approaches Infinity

by Corisanna

Despairing as yet another timeline goes horribly wrong, Homura wanders into Karakura. There she discovers that while the spiritually-aware people of Karakura were distracted by Ichigo Kurosaki and Xcution, Kyubey contracted the Kurosaki sisters as magical girls. Drawing the attention of the shinigami could be just the advantage Homura needs.

16. FÜNFZEHN

A/N: I promise the information provided in the previous chapter will be relevant later on. I don't make things for Urahara to read with no reason.

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

FÜNFZEHN

TIMELINE X + N

Homura sat sleepily in her futon as the Kurosaki girls were getting ready for school. She stared up at the cloudless blue sky beyond the window's glass.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Madoka was dead again.

But this time was different. It felt less horrible on this lovely Saturday morning. Madoka's death hadn't been meaningless this time. It had seemed so, yes, but it had driven her to an entire assortment of new possibilities for saving Madoka and keeping the other girls alive while protecting Mitakihara— and enough time left in this cycle to actually explore them. She could almost convince herself that this was Madoka's gift to her. Irrational as that was, it was a comfort.

Breakfast was pleasant. Homura still held back, but was more comfortable being among the Kurosaki banter. The twins soon ran off to school and Homura was left with Isshin again. Fortified with copious amounts of coffee, the two began the task of contacting the adults in Homura's life. While she didn't show it, Homura was terribly amused by Isshin's dismay with the communications circus involved in actually speaking to her uncle. It had been the equivalent of at least a few years since Homura had bothered trying, so it was a novelty to her instead of a special Hell.

After the third secretary put them on hold for the fifth time, Isshin turned to Homura with a disheartened face. "Doesn't he have a personal cell phone?"

Homura shrugged. "He does not tell me where he is and has different cell phones for different business destinations depending on roaming fees. He is very frugal about such things so he has more to spend on entertainment. If he has an internet-based method of contact, he has not given it to me." She glanced down at the swirl of cream lazily circling her coffee and haltingly added, "I think he prefers to be difficult to contact. By me, at least. I am to call his home office and have them patch me through. Eventually. Or they relay a message that I am to consult with his lawyer in Tokyo."

Isshin frowned disapprovingly. "That's ridiculous. He should be taking care of you. Someone should be taking care of you."

"My parents and grandparents are dead and my only family is my uncle," Homura explained. "He is rarely in one place for even a solid month. Mother said it is easier for him to hide his girlfriends from each other that way."

Isshin choked on his coffee.

Homura raised a brow at him and waited for comment, but resumed when the man just stared. "Until recently, I could not travel due to my illness even if I wanted to. Fortunately, I prefer my apartment. It is quiet and I do not have to deal with my uncle's latest assistant hovering all the time. As if it would make a difference to him." She shook her head and closed her eyes as she lifted her mug to her lips. Why the hell had that slipped out? There were far worse things to be bitter about. Homura glanced up at Isshin through her eyelashes and saw something fierce glinting in his eyes.

For a moment, Homura flashed back to her mother's outrage when she discovered her daughter was being bullied for being excused from gym class. Just as quickly, Homura averted her gaze into her coffee cup and forcibly quashed the memory.

Thankfully, the secretary came back on the line before Isshin could prod that sore spot any more. They did end up being referred to the lawyer. Isshin's face was sour as they made that call. Homura didn't pay attention to the adults' businesslike conversation about her temporary living situation and its cause. That exchange still went far more smoothly than talking to her school. Evidently they were buried in media questions and parent demands about security measures. They eventually agreed to call back on Monday if she wouldn't be attending.

When they hung up, Isshin and Homura looked at each other and shared a moment of pity for the poor school secretary. Further conversation was forestalled by a patient relentlessly ringing the clinic buzzer. The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Before they knew it, the twins were home from their half-day at school.

Yuzu cheerfully announced, "We passed all our tests!"

Isshin let out a roar of pride and swept Yuzu into a hug and twirled her. "Daddy's so proud! Victory ice cream tonight!"

Lunch was a lively affair, the twins even coaxing Homura into comparing their tests with where her school's classes were in the same subjects. It passed quickly. Soon, Isshin returned to the clinic and the girls set out to wander around town, Karin bringing her soccer ball along in a net. Homura wasn't sure what the sisters intended to do, but they seemed to urgently want her to follow them.

A few blocks from the clinic, Karin said, "We want you to see a Hollow. Maybe fight it. So you know what we're talking about and can be more convincing when you talk about Witches as if they're Hollows. That okay?"

Quite rational, really, and it dovetailed nicely with Homura's wish to investigate. "Yes."

"It's been a few days since we last saw a Hollow," said Yuzu. "There's no guarantee we'll find one, but we're overdue for one."

"We'll just hang out until we sense one, yeah?"

Homura nodded and made a quiet sound of agreement.

"Now, when we do find one, the trick is to not transform. You know how to strengthen yourself and jump around without transforming, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you know how to channel your reiatsu— your magic— through other objects to fight with them?"

Homura thought of her experiments with making fuel trucks move to use as mobile bombs against Walpurgisnacht. "Yes."

"By the way, what is your weapon?" asked Yuzu.

"A shield."

Karin made an incredulous sound and demanded, "That little circle you had on your arm?!"

"Yes."

"Huh. That must be interesting to use offensively," Karin said with a cringe.

Homura hummed, wryly reflecting upon her initial dismay at figuring out how to actually fight. "It has an unlimited storage capacity, though, so I also collect and use guns and bombs."

The twins stopped and looked at Homura with wide eyes.

"Real guns?" Yuzu asked.

Homura raised a brow and mildly said, "You saw me holding a gun the first night, did you not?"

"Oh," Yuzu said faintly.

Karin sputtered. "Well— now you mention— I—"

"You forgot that I had a gun," Homura said flatly.

"No! I thought it was a magic gun!"

"Oh." Homura supposed that made sense.

Yuzu just kept staring. "Real guns?"

"Where do you get guns and bombs?!" Karin demanded shrilly.

"I steal the guns from the yakuza and I make the bombs myself. And I took some grenades from the JSDF."

The sisters gaped.

Karin whistled. "Damn, you're way more gutsy than I pegged you for."

Homura tilted her head.

"I don't mean that as an insult. It's just that you're so quiet and polite. The thought of you stealing weapons and throwing bombs around is mind-boggling."

Yuzu's lips quirked up as she finally shook her surprise. "Beware the quiet ones, huh, Karin?"

Karin barked a laugh. "Yep!"

Yuzu pursed her lips. "You can't use guns and bombs on Hollows, though, even if you channel your magic through them. Hollows don't have labyrinths, so you'd look like you were shooting at nothing and probably hit bystanders. And the police would come. That would get messy."

Homura hummed an agreement. "I will think of something." She thought for a moment, then hesitantly confessed, "When I first became a magical girl, I channeled my magic through a golf club. I can do something like that again."

Karin laughed long and loud. "A golf club?!"

Yuzu shook her head, smiling. "You're one to talk. You use a soccer ball."

Karin snickered and grinned. "True, true. Whatever works, right Homura?"

Homura found herself smiling slightly. "Yes."

They walked in companionable silence for a couple blocks. Then Karin idly asked, "Do you play much soccer?"

Homura hummed quietly. "I do not think I have ever played it."

Karin stopped and gaped at her, aghast. "Never?!"

Homura flushed. "I wanted to. But until I had my surgery over the winter... until I used my magic to heal myself more... Well, I could not. And I was busy after I became a magical girl. If we have not done it in gym in the last few weeks, I have not done it at all. We are on a track and field rotation now."

Karin looked appalled for a moment before her face abruptly shifted into bright-eyed determination.

Yuzu smiled. "Ah, now you've done it."

"I'll teach you!"

Karin's enthusiastic shout startled Homura so much she actually jumped. Yuzu smothered giggles. Homura faltered, her old self peeking through the cracks of her mask. " B-but I thought we were looking for Hollows?"

Karin grinned fiercely. "I've been fighting them with a soccer ball since long before I became a magical girl. If we sense one, we can get to it fairly quickly. May as well have fun til one shows its ugly face. Come on!" She took off at a run.

Homura looked to Yuzu, who shrugged and followed her sister at a jog. At a loss, Homura tagged along.

The following hour turned into soccer boot camp. It was awkward for Homura at first, but Karin's enthusiasm eventually bore her up. When Homura was focused on learning the game, lost in angles, running, velocity, the bright spring sunshine, and the smell of freshly-cut grass, she was able to put aside her troubles, however briefly.

Homura had lost track of time when she skidded to a halt mid-play. She sensed a strange magical signature that reminded her of the feel of a labyrinth collapsing— of tearing out of the nightmare dimension and reentering reality. It made her shudder. The twins also stopped and looked toward the source of the feeling.

"Garganta," murmured Karin.

"What?"

"A door Hollows use to get from their dimension to ours," explained Yuzu. "Come on. It's not far off."

Karin grabbed her ball and net, then the girls ran out into the neighborhood. Three blocks later, they rounded a corner into an alley and stopped. Two Hollows roughly the size and shape of large dogs had trapped a small boy. He must have been spiritually aware because he looked right at the monsters and cowered in terror as they growled.

"Okay, this is real simple," Karin lectured. "The trick is to break the Hollow's mask. Watch." She whistled sharply. When the Hollows turned, she wound up and drop-kicked her soccer ball straight into one of their faces. The glowing ball shattered the Hollow's bone mask. The Hollow convulsed and began to disappear, seeming to become more humanoid before vanishing completely as a butterfly rose into the sky.

The second Hollow hesitated for a moment, then overcame its surprise and leapt at the girls. Desperate for a weapon, Homura saw a piece of rebar in a pile of trash that must have come from someone's remodeling project. In one smooth movement, she swooped up the metal bar, flooded it with her magic, and swung at the Hollow's face as its jump carried it toward her. The mask broke with a resounding crack before the monster evaporated like its companion.

Homura blinked at the empty space, still brandishing the glowing iron rod. Yuzu stepped forward to comfort the little boy. Karin grinned and slapped a hand on Homura's shoulder. "Good job."

Just then, there was a whoosh of displaced air above them. The girls looked up and saw a burly man sporting a large brown afro and black traditional clothing wielding a sword. After a moment, he lowered his weapon with a frown and complained, "Leave something for me to do for once, Kurosaki."

Karin smirked and shrugged. "Not our fault you're slow, Afro-man."

The man pursed his lips and one of his eyebrows twitched in irritation.

Karin noticed Homura looking at the man with trepidation. "Oh, Homura, this is Afro-man."

"Zennosuke Kurumadani!" the man insisted.

Karin ignored him and plowed on. "He's the shinigami assigned to patrol Karakura."

Unsure what to do, Homura opted to nod a polite greeting at him.

Kurumadani looked dismayed. "Another person who can see spirits? This town, I swear—"

"Aww, but you have like the easiest assignment ever, Afro-man! Make it a vacation!"

The shinigami didn't dignify the suggestion with an answer, sheathing his sword and leaping away.

Without losing a beat, Karin stepped toward Yuzu and called over her shoulder, "Let's get this kid home and get back to our game, yeah?"

§ x § x §

On a rooftop a mile away, Kisuke Urahara lowered his field glasses.

So the girl did know how to fight Hollows. Was even capable of defeating low-level ones with a single blow. And he had glimpsed her considerable strength when her reiatsu momentarily flared while wrapping the rod in the violet light of her power.

"My, my. The Kurosaki siblings befriend the most interesting people."

§ x § x §

Ichigo entered his house in mid-afternoon and carelessly shed his backpack and duffle in a heap by the door.

"I'm hooooome," he called. No one replied. He cast out his senses; the old man was in the clinic with a normal person and the girls were... probably at the soccer field, from what he could tell of direction and distance. In the opposite of a hurry, he grabbed a snack and flopped onto the couch with his phone.

An hour later, Isshin charged into the house and hurdled over the back of the couch. "ICHIGOOO—!"

Ichigo jabbed both legs up and kicked his father into a ninety-degree turn, whereupon he bowled over a (previously glued together) lamp on his way to the far wall. "Hey, old man."

Isshin stood sharply, straightened his tie, and asked, "Have a nice trip?"

"Eh. It was a train ride. Trains are trains." Ichigo swiped the screen of his phone a few times.

More seriously, Isshin asked, "Did you get the stuff I emailed you?"

Ichigo's eyes peered over his phone darkly. "Yeah. Looks bad. Find out anything else from the girl's family?"

Isshin made a disgruntled face. "That poor girl. All she has is some globe-trotting ladies' man of a rich uncle who refers her to his lawyer for everything. Evidently he didn't find the situation serious enough to deal with himself— or even to talk to his niece to make sure she was all right after fleeing in fear of her life. So she's been left to deal with this all alone. It's criminal."

Ichigo scowled, then tried to reassure them both. "Well, Inoue went through a lot while in basically the same situation and she ended up okay." Barring certain eccentricities, but whatever. He was hardly one to talk there. "It does suck, though. Have you heard anything from Urahara?"

"Kisuke called to say he got Twelfth looking at the Mitakihara area."

"How'd he pull that off?"

"God only knows. He sounded delighted. I hope I don't see Kurotsuchi for awhile."

Ichigo snorted. "I think everyone thinks that all the time." He put down his phone and gave his father a measured look. "You sent me all that stuff for a reason. What kinda goal're you giving me, old man?"

Isshin sat in a chair and tented his fingers. After taking a moment to gather words, he started thinking out loud. "I'd like you to try to talk to Homura." Ichigo raised a brow. "Whether or not you realize it, you are good at drawing people out. Getting them to open up and rely on others. No matter how I look at it, I'm certain this girl knows some vital information and just doesn't have any faith in the adults she could talk to. I can't blame her, considering her family situation. She's plainly more open even just to simple conversation when the girls are around— she clams up if she's with just me. Becomes a very polite brick wall. You're at that magical in-between place where you aren't a kid but you're not quite an adult yet."

"Hey."

"I'm hoping she'll open up to you if you just... be yourself."

Ichigo's lips quirked sarcastically. "Be myself, huh?" He drifted off in thought for a moment, then refocused on his father. Isshin was sitting hunched, hand holding his chin and covering his mouth while he looked concerned. Ichigo tilted his head. "There something else?"

Isshin looked a bit surprised, settled, bit his lip, and quietly answered, "She reminds me of you."

Ichigo's brows screwed up incredulously. "Haaaa? I thought you said she's quiet, reserved, and unfailingly polite."

Isshin looked at Ichigo searchingly while biting his thumb. After a moment, he clarified, "I mean you when you were nine years old."

Ichigo's face instantly went grim and flat. His heart dropped. "Oh." After a long silence, he asked, "That bad, huh?"

"Trying to act normal but actually a guilty, grieving mess beneath the surface, all while walking around with as much reiatsu as a seated officer? Yes."

Ichigo lay back, closed his eyes, and blew out a deep breath. "I'll try."

"That's all I can ask of you, son."

After a long few minutes, Ichigo asked, "As much reiatsu as a seated officer, huh?"

It was Isshin's turn to blow out a deep sigh. "Mid-range, at my best guess. It's difficult to tell. Unlike you, she appears to have her power tightly controlled. Rather like your sisters."

"Well, that's one thing she has going for her, at least."

"Yeah. So anyway, I was thinking maybe tomorrow you could take the girls out. Have fun. Find an excuse to stop at Urahara Shop for candy or something on the way home."

"And whyyy am I leading an innocent girl into Sandal-Hat's clutches?"

"So he can do a passive scan of her. Figure out how much reiatsu she really has, if that really is Hollow reiatsu on her. It may help narrow the investigation— give Kisuke a sample signal to try to trace up in Mitakihara."

"Side effects?"

"None. He's done it to your sisters a few times. They're fine. Never noticed."

Ichigo turned and gave his father a look. "Do you have any idea how sleazy that sounded?"

Isshin barked out a laugh. "Well, I guess. Your sisters have—"

Both men abruptly turned and stared beyond the far wall, sensing a Garganta. They felt the girls move toward the source instead of away. Ichigo cursed, threw himself to his feet, and readied his badge.

Isshin grabbed his arm. "Wait."

"What the hell?!"

"Just wait. I sense Kisuke. Hold on."

They sat tensely as they tracked the Kurosaki girls' progress. Their movement stopped, then Karin's reiatsu flared in a short, sharp burst. Immediately thereafter, a reiatsu signature Ichigo had never felt before flared beside her. It was like a brief, dizzying flash of cold starshine, then sharply dropped, hesitated, and completely retracted into itself. The Hollow reiatsu was gone.

"What the hell."

Isshin scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Well, I guess that answers that question."

"What?"

"Whether or not Homura knows how to fight Hollows."

"Wait, that was her?!"

"Yuuup."

Ichigo whistled long and low. "She felt damn near lieutenant-class. Not quite, but near that. And Karin's at that level, too."

"Yeeeah. That's more than I expected." Isshin ruffled his hair irritably. "Now I'm really worried about what Homura's been through. That felt practiced and controlled. No wobbliness as though inexperienced. If she's that strong and something up north overpowered her, killed her friend... or friends..."

"Then something's really fucked up up north."

"Yeah."

Ichigo scrubbed his face with his hands. "Ugh, can I have a solid year in which I both have my powers and there is no ominous spiritual crisis. Please."

Isshin slapped his back. "Sorry, son. Seems to be a family curse."

"Dammit."

§ x § x §

Homura followed the sisters home after another two hours— two hours!— of running around playing soccer, breathless and somehow lighter than she had felt in awhile. She was capable of performing amazing physical feats as a magical girl but the novelty had worn off. Having the stamina to run around in civilian form made her feel free. When all of this is over and everyone is safe, I want to play soccer with Madoka and everyone, she thought impulsively. Strangely, the frivolous goal felt... buoyant. Something to aim for beyond Madoka surviving Walpurgisnacht in one piece physically, mentally, and spiritually. A more cheerful goal than plain "avoid death and corruption." Something to work towards rather than fight against. And, actually, the first time in many cycles she dared think of what could happen beyond Walpurgisnacht.

As they approached the Kurosaki Clinic, Homura slowed. She sensed a kind of magic she had never felt before. It was as if the clinic contained a banked wildfire that was somehow dark; like a bonfire on a hot summer night under a full moon, somehow comforting despite being wrapped in shadows and at risk of burning out of control. Warm and inviting but not to be trifled with.

"Onii-chan is here!" squealed Yuzu.

"C'mon, Homura!" Karin called happily.

Homura jogged after them. Is that their brother I sense?! she thought. They said powerful, but this is... this is... She was at a loss for words even in her own head.

The sisters entered the house, kicked off their shoes, and hurried down the hall with Homura on their heels. In the living room, they threw themselves at a tall, lean young man in his late teens. He laughed and ruffled their hair as he said, "What's this? I was only gone for a week."

"But you were gone and now you're back, Onii-chan! We're happy!" cheered Yuzu.

The young man laughed again. "If you say so. It's good to see you, too." He looked up, saw Homura, and tossed her a lazy salute. "Yo."

Homura's cheeks pinked. She faltered, uncertain whether to wave back or bow politely. An awkward hybrid of the two won the day. "U-um, hello," she squeaked. His body language and face broadcast casualness, but his eyes were attentive— a sort of sharp curiosity as if he was trying to see through her, but not maliciously. The juxtaposition threw her, especially combined with the moonlight-and-embers magic that emanated from him. His power felt like it had weight to it— as though the air was thicker in his presence. It was something she had only really noticed with Walpurgisnacht and Madoka— though the Witch was an all-encompassing weight of dread and Madoka's power felt like bright spring sunshine and the softness of rose petals.

"Ichi-nii, this is our friend, Homura," said Karin. "Homura, this is our big brother, Ichigo."

Ichigo smiled crookedly at her and nodded a greeting. "Nice to meet you, Homura."

Homura wrung her hands and bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, too, um... Mister... Kurosaki...?"

Ichigo pulled a face. "That's my old man. Ichigo's fine, really."

"Okay." Homura looked down at her feet. Somehow she felt like her old, shrinking violet self with braids and glasses in his presence— like she actually wanted to hide behind those old shields of hers for a moment. Like he was very big and she was very small. She wasn't sure what to think of that.

Ichigo stood back and eyed all three girls evenly. Even the sisters tensed under his evaluation. Mildly, he said, "I've been home for a few hours now."

The girls stared blankly at the apparent non sequitur. Then Karin cringed. "Oh. Oops."

The other girls looked at her as Ichigo drawled, "Yeeeah, 'oops.' I thought I told you to stop running toward Hollows when there is a perfectly capable shinigami stationed here." His eyes shifted to Homura. "That goes for you, too. Stay safe if you can."

Homura startled. How—?

"You sensed the fight," Yuzu guessed.

"Mm-hmm."

"I can't believe you just referred to Afro-man as capable, Ichi-nii."

Ichigo shrugged. "Eh. He's improved. Give him a chance to do his job."

Karin stared flatly at her brother. "He's slow, Ichi-nii, and you know it."

"Still faster than he was when I first ran into him."

"That's pathetic."

Ichigo shrugged again.

"You sensed us fighting the— the Hollows?" Homura asked in surprise.

"Yep." Ichigo raised his brows speculatively. "Felt like you were pretty damn efficient. You have experience?"

Oh, hey, there was the question the twins had implied would come eventually. "Um. Uh. Yes?"

Ichigo tilted his head curiously. "The old man said you're from Mitakihara. You get a lot of Hollows up there, then?"

Homura stared at him like a deer in headlights, rapidly wondering which tack to take to cause what effect. She hadn't decided how involved she wanted to get shinigami yet or how to do it! She wouldn't flail awkwardly while she scrambled for an answer. Would not. She was calm, cool, and collected. Definitely not a small child being questioned by a casually suspicious babysitter. Forget plans. Her eyes darted to Karin's. What is the most logical answer?! she thought at her. Without the Incubator's presence, her attempt at telepathy failed. The one thing it was good for—!

Karin must have read her face correctly, though. Quietly, she murmured, "Please don't ask her a lot of questions about Hollows, Ichi-nii. Homura's not used to other people knowing about them and her friends..." Karin bit her lip and directed a significant and honestly apologetic look at Homura before softly finishing, "Her friends were hunted and eaten."

Off balance from being questioned before she could make a plan and unprepared for the bluntness of the declaration— hunted and eaten hunted and eaten hunted eaten eaten eaten— Homura didn't have to fake the hard flinch that immediately overtook her, nor the reflexive screwing shut of her eyes as memories of various timelines assaulted her: Mami's head being bitten off by the Sweets Witch. Madoka crushed in the Mermaid Witch's fist, being lifted toward its armored mouth. That timeline in which the Shadow Witch strangled Sayaka and absorbed her into its many vines. The time the Box Witch's minions tore Madoka limb from limb and started feeding her pieces into their mistress' monitor-body while Madoka scre—

Homura startled violently at the feel of hands on her shoulders.

"Breathe. C'mon, breathe. In and out."

She gasped deeply, unaware of having stopped, and opened her eyes.

Ichigo had both of his hands on her shoulders, grip firm. His face was a picture of concern and sympathy. "Good. Good. In and out. You're safe, now."

He had no idea. She really wasn't. The dam broke once more. "M-Mami. It bit her h-head off and ate h-her," Homura randomly blurted, on the edge of hyperventilating. "And Muh— Muh— Muh— it crushed her in its ha-and—!" Tears burned her eyes and throat. She sobbed once and gasped reedily again, closing her eyes.

The twins blanched. Homura hadn't shared those details before.

Ichigo rubbed her shoulders. It reminded Homura of her parents soothing her after nightmares. "You're safe. Shh. Keep breathing. We'll help you stop them. You're safe. We'll help you sort out Mitakihara. You're safe."

Exhaustion was insidious and crept about her heart. All the things she didn't want to admit she felt came tumbling out. "I'll n-never be safe," Homura mourned. Caught up in old trauma, her new hopes felt distant. "I try and try and try and they keep d-dying. I keep trying to save them but we'll never be safe and it'll n-never end."

She was speaking about far more than the current timeline.

Homura tried not to react to the alarming thread of darkness— dangerously soul-deep despair— that whispered through her magic. It made Homura's blood run cold. I can't despair, I can't despair, I can't despair— not now! As though regaining consciousness in the midst of drowning, she mentally thrashed for something to bear her up. Anything.

Ichigo gave it to her.

"It will end. It will. Look at me."

Homura looked up and found his eyes boring into hers, burning with righteous fury and fierce protectiveness.

"Listen. You don't have to fight by yourself anymore. I don't know what it is you have had to deal with exactly but you have survived it. You've clawed your way through hell, come out on the other side, and found people who can help. We'll figure this out. We're here to pick you up and help you now. You're not alone. We'll keep you safe and help you stand up stronger." Ichigo squeezed her shoulders, face pained for her. "We can't bring your friends back, but we'll free their souls from whatever is hunting the girls where you live, got it? Even if all you can do for them is free their souls so they can move on, that's still a very important thing to do. They may be— may be dead now—" Ichigo took a deep breath and Homura closed her eyes again— "but you can still help them that much. We'll help you free them and save their souls so they can move on and find happiness in the next world, yeah? And keep that thing from hurting anyone else."

Homura peeked up at him through puffy eyes. "How?"

Ichigo's mouth slid into a sharp, almost predatory grin. "I have a lot of friends who are very good at fighting things that go bump in the night and hate seeing kids hurt. I promise you, once we figure out what's going on, whatever is skulking around up there won't know what hit it." His face softened back to warm sympathy. "And you and your friends will be free— in different ways, maybe, but free." He squeezed her shoulders again. "How does that sound?"

Homura stared up at him speechlessly. She knew he couldn't possibly be speaking about her true situation— her endless cycles of trying to save her best friend— but it felt like he was. The prospect of help was... she didn't know how to describe it. Homura was afraid to hope for it lest she be disappointed. But now, finding potential help when she had gone so long struggling through plans and fighting and learning by herself... it could be such a relief if she could get it.

She wanted Karin and Yuzu's help. Wanted their brother's help. Wanted someone to help her figure out what to do. One of the things she had found herself resenting throughout the cycles was that figuring out how to resolve the cosmic mess that was this spring in Mitakihara was left to her, a fourteen-year-old girl who had spent half her life in hospitals or bedridden at home. It wasn't fair. Ichigo didn't know the depth of the situation, but he expressed agreement all the same. Those fierce, protective, sympathetic eyes...

Homura decided then and there to try to get Ichigo's help in the next timeline. She still wanted to see him fight because life had taught her to be extremely cautious, but she thought that his sheer power and apparent morality would make him a welcome ally. The weight of the world was oppressive on her slender shoulders. That moonlight-and-embers power felt like it had accepted her and turned its burning outward— toward those who threatened her. The feeling of safety was new. She liked it.

After a long minute of staring at Ichigo while her mind ran in circles, Homura whispered, "That sounds good."

Ichigo grinned, squeezed her shoulders one last time, and ruffled her hair. "Good." He bit his lip and seemed to debate with himself, then make a decision. "I know a guy who may be able to help look into things up there. I can take you to see him tomorrow if you like."

He probably means that shinigami scientist the twins told me about, thought Homura. She wrung her hands and fidgeted, looking at her feet and wondering how going to that man so early could turn out.

Ichigo misinterpreted her body language and softly said, "Or you can talk to me and I can talk to him. Think about it, okay?"

Homura nodded, allowing her uncertainty and vulnerability to remain visible on her face. Maybe he'd be more inclined to keep the scientist away from her if he thought she was afraid. She didn't want to end up on an exam table. Who knew what a shinigami could do to her powers?

The front door closed loudly in the distance. Ichigo glanced toward it and back at Homura in time to catch her slam her emotional floodgates shut with sheer force of will. She dammed her heart up once more and made her face instantly smooth into an aloof façade as she delicately wiped the tears from her cheeks. She had a lot of practice convincing people everything was fine.

Ichigo looked unnerved and alarmed.

Isshin frolicked into the room with his arms full of takeout bags and two big pails of ice cream. He gleefully announced, "Dinner and victory ice cream for my girls!" He looked around the room at the twins' stricken faces, Ichigo's hands on Homura's shoulders, and Homura's tear-swollen eyes— curse their betrayal!— and immediately sobered. "What's wrong?"

Homura brushed Ichigo's hands from her shoulders and stepped back. "Nothing, Dr. Kurosaki," she said coolly.

The Kurosaki siblings all stared at Homura in disbelief. She felt an odd pang of regret; she had just startled them with a messy panic-attack-slash-meltdown and there she stood acting like it hadn't happened, perfectly poised. The only thing that betrayed her polite mask was the evidence of earlier tears.

Curse her tears! Why couldn't she control them better?!

Everyone stared at Homura until she raised one eyebrow and calmly asked, "I thought we were going to celebrate for Karin and Yuzu?"

"Uh, y—, um, yeah," Isshin stammered as he watched his children stare at her like she had three heads.

Homura smoothed her skirt. "I think ice cream sounds very good. I have not had any in quite awhile," she said demurely.

Deflect, deflect, deflect.

Ichigo turned to his father and made one of the more incredulous faces Homura had ever seen.

"Let's— um— let's go have dinner!" Yuzu said with forced cheer. "The sooner we're done with dinner, the sooner we can have ice cream."

"Yeah," Karin said awkwardly.

Well, at least the girls had her back. Sweet of them.

"I can help set the table," Homura quietly volunteered.

"U-um, okay, come on," Yuzu said. The girls all left the room.

Homura glanced back over her shoulder and saw Ichigo turn to his father and mouth, What the hell was that?

Isshin shrugged exaggeratedly and mouthed back, How should I know?

They weren't as willing to accept her mask at face value as the other adults she knew. Bothersome.

Homura spent the rest of the evening pretending the drama hadn't happened with such force that the Kurosaki family was gradually dragged in her wake and returned to normal. In other words, rowdy and loud. Evidently Karin took after her brother. Interesting. Homura managed to have a mostly pleasant evening.

She couldn't pretend away the memories in her dreams that night, though.

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This chapter was replaced with an edited version on November 1, 2019. Reviews with timestamps before that date refer to a slightly different version of the chapter.