A/N: OMG, Thank you for all the reviews! Now that I have my basic foundation laid, the story should start moving more. Thanks for sticking with me!

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§ x § x §

§ x § x §

SECHZEHN

TIMELINE X + N

Akon trudged into the Twelfth Division labs at dawn on Saturday, clinging to his large thermos of coffee for dear life and already itching for a smoke. He sat at his desk, pressed a button, and watched his computer boot up as he savored sweet, sweet caffeine. Peace in the lab. Yes.

When his captain materialized from the shadows like a ghoul, Akon didn't even flinch. "Good morning, Captain."

Kurotsuchi looked more irritable than usual— must've pulled a third all-nighter. He carelessly tossed a tablet onto Akon's desk. Rude. "After your initial rounds, your project for the day is to study this evidence and research the relevant areas in our databases. Double check the integrity of any sensors involved. Report anything interesting to me." With that, Kurotsuchi went his way. Akon stared after him.

Well, that was ominously vague.

Curious but also in possession of a healthy sense of self-preservation, Akon set aside the tablet and went through his daily start-up routine as ordered. Thinking ahead, he set up several diagnostics to run on various sensor arrays before the bulk of the workforce showed up and slowed scans down.

After an hour of checking on various experiments and specimens, Akon finally sat down with the tablet. At first he didn't understand why the hell he had been given articles about missing human girls, but he slowly became engrossed by the details and speculation about the patterns formed by them which Urahara had included in his notes. Akon went through everything a second time, outlining a research plan. After mid-morning rounds, lecturing someone regarding lab fire prevention after a spectacular pink blaze, and lunch, Akon sat down to research in earnest. The more data he looked at, the more he frowned.

That couldn't be right.

But the more he looked, the more all the various points of investigation agreed. What they agreed upon made no goddamn sense, but that many independent points of confluence was hard to argue with. Time for independent confirmation.

Akon went to the Spiritual Wave Measurement Lab and approached Rin Tsubokura. More considerate than his superior, Akon got Rin's attention then stood back and silently waited for him to finish what he was doing. Five minutes later, Akon gave Rin a blank research outline with no context as a control. Rin eyed him curiously but Akon refused to elaborate.

Four hours later, Rin appeared in Akon's doorway sporting an uncharacteristic scowl.

"Yes?"

"This makes no sense."

Akon sat back. "I'm not the only one, then. Any ideas?"

Rin looked down at his tablet doubtfully. "I suppose that sector of the remote sensor array could be compromised. I ordered Kajiura's team to manually inspect it and overhaul it. I don't really think they'll find anything, though— the likelihood a cluster of errors this dense would go unnoticed for almost thirty years is very small."

Akon leaned on one elbow and propped up his head. "What do you propose, then?"

"On-site readings," Rin said, pursing his lips. "The portable reishi analysis machine has more delicate capabilities than the wide-scale sensor array. I'd... like to confirm these readings before you report to Captain Kurotsuchi. Have proof that it's not long-term shoddy maintenance."

Keep his department alive and sane if possible, Akon translated. "Are you volunteering?"

"Yes." Rin looked up, worried. "I've done it before. I'll have to devise a pattern for taking readings first, though. During the Winter War I had actual battle sites to target in Karakura. That made it easy."

Akon rocked his office chair. "There are potential sites of disturbances in the information I held back. I'll forward it all to you. Submit your plan tomorrow and I'll approve your field research senkaimon permit with third seat authority. Keep it quiet for now."

Rin bowed. "Yes, sir." He looked up. "If some kind of disturbances brought your attention to this, do I— uh, do I need an escort?"

Akon grunted. "I'll arrange something."

§ x § x §

Ichigo turned off the television and stealthily rose from the couch at two in the morning. The evening had become something of a game-night-slash-slumber-party while his sisters tried to cheer up their friend. Ichigo had been glad to contribute— hey, if his bickering with Karin over her (totally unfair) actions taken in a video game entertained Homura, who was he to take that from her? The girls had eventually fallen asleep together during a movie, all cuddled together among pillows and blankets on the floor. He watched them for a minute— his sisters, bless their hearts, looked like they were trying to protect Homura in their sleep while she curled in on herself— before turning toward the kitchen.

He smelled tea. The old man had stayed up late to talk.

Ichigo entered the kitchen, looked at Isshin sitting at the table with two steaming mugs, and gestured toward the clinic. Isshin raised a brow and followed him. Ichigo gently closed the door behind them. They settled in Isshin's office.

"Sorry, didn't want to wake them."

"I understand. Sooo, what the hell happened while I was out?"

Ichigo heaved a sigh and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. "Pretty sure I saw a fourteen-year-old girl have some kind of panic attack or PTSD episode then brutally suppress it the moment she noticed an adult was approaching."

Isshin winced. "Your faces make sense now."

Ichigo rubbed his eyes. "Seeing a kid like that— a girl the same age as Karin and Yuzu— seeing her just stop breathing then hyperventilate and cry... God."

Isshin silently pushed a mug toward his son. Ichigo took it gratefully.

"How much did she tell you?"

"Not a lot, but what she did tell me... That poor girl."

Isshin's dread was visible. "How much liquor am I going to want to numb my rage at the world?"

"A lot. Hell, I want a lot. And to smash things. I want to smash a lot of things."

Isshin sat back and took a deep breath. "Tell me."

Ichigo carefully put the tea mug down on the desk then gripped the arms of his chair in twin strangleholds. "Something crushed one of her friends in its hand and ate the body of another friend after biting her head off. Homura implied she's seen more than that— said she keeps trying and trying and trying to save 'them' but 'they' keep dying, no one will ever be safe, least of all her, and 'it' will never end."

Isshin covered his face with both hands and hunched forward. It was a rare sight for Ichigo; it wasn't often his father had to focus on breathing and staying calm instead of exploding in parental rage.

A good five minutes slid by in tense silence before his father could bring himself to speak. "Learn anything else?"

Ichigo blew out a deep breath. "I think you're right about her being skittish of adults. Authority figures? I dunno. She got withdrawn and jittery when I brought up seeing Urahara tomorrow."

"Why'd you tell her? Kisuke was just going to do a passive scan."

Ichigo shrugged. "It made sense at the time. I had kinda talked her into letting me help her so I thought I'd go for it— get her to feel like she was taking control of things by seeking him out herself, you know? But I think I went too fast for her there. My bad. But I offered to be a go-between so hopefully she'll cooperate once she's had some sleep."

They sat in silence a few moments before Ichigo hesitantly continued. "I've been wondering all night... about her friends..."

Isshin raised a brow. "Yeah?"

"Are there Hollows that eat physical bodies as well as souls? Because it seems like if a Hollow had knocked her friends' souls out then... you know... there should be bodies left behind."

Isshin frowned. "There were several reports of dead girls with no apparent cause of death."

"Yeah, I looked at the articles on my phone again when the girls were watching movies. But Homura said 'Mami' was beheaded and eaten and she's still listed as missing. She couldn't get out the second friend's name, she was hyperventilating so hard, but it started with an M. The only one that fits is the missing Madoka girl. Where are their bodies?"

"That's a good question. Something bizarre is happening up in Mitakihara."

Ichigo looked at his father darkly. "When Urahara figures out what's going on up there, I want you to tell me so I can kill the bastards myself."

Though grim, Isshin smirked. "Oho~, that attached already?"

Ichigo scoffed. "As if you aren't."

"You got me there, son."

Ichigo looked at the ceiling for a minute, thinking. "I wonder if she's a Fullbringer."

"What makes you think that?" Isshin asked with raised eyebrows.

Ichigo rocked his head back and forth. "It doesn't seem quite right, but that's the thing that makes the most sense. You said you noticed that Hollow reiatsu, right? Well, when she was upset it kinda... rose to the surface, I guess. But she immediately reined it in. Fullbringers have Hollow-like powers so that would match, but then again, her reiatsu didn't feel Hollow-like when we sensed her fight earlier. My second guess would be a Visored with an Inner Hollow that got near the surface when she was distracted by her freakout, but I don't know how the hell that could be possible."

Isshin stroked his chin. "Well, Aizen was conducting secret Hollowfication experiments on souls for decades. I suppose there could be some wandering around unnoticed if Twelfth didn't find all of his records in Hueco Mundo."

Ichigo stared at him with flat trepidation. "There's an option the world could do without. If that turns out to be the case, I'm busting into his dungeon to curb-stomp him."

Isshin sighed tiredly and rubbed his eyes. "Well, all we have for now is speculation. We'll just have to see where tomorrow takes us. Let's go to bed."

Ichigo hummed his agreement and followed his father into the house. As they made for the stairs, they heard a soft whimper. They checked on the girls and found Homura shifting restlessly in her sleep.

"Nightmares," Ichigo said softly.

Isshin frowned and cautiously approached the girls. He bent, lay his hand over Homura's eyes, and murmured something. Homura's tense body relaxed. When he returned to Ichigo, his son looked at him questioningly.

"Hakufuku," Isshin said under his breath. "A kidō usually used to cause people to go to sleep in such a way that it makes their memory of the time right before the spell is cast rather vague. It's essentially a gentle sedative." Both men looked at the girls. "I don't like to do it but I think she really needs a solid night's sleep."

Ichigo hummed in agreement. They said good night to one another and parted at the top of the stairs. That night it was Isshin and Ichigo who lay awake worrying instead of Homura.

§ x § x §

Homura woke more refreshed than she had in... probably years. When Yuzu crawled away to start puttering about in the kitchen, Homura rolled onto her back and drowsily stared at the ceiling. She felt... mellow was a good word, she thought. Pleasant. Her eyes were drooping again when she heard a shout from upstairs followed by a window slamming closed and a scream outside.

Homura sat up swiftly, ready for a fight. Karin reached up and grabbed the back of Homura's nightgown and yanked her back down into the blanket nest. "Calm down. The men in the household are just doing their morning greeting ritual."

"W-what?"

The front door slammed open and closed. Isshin wobbled into the hallway and stopped between the kitchen and living room. He dramatically leaned on the kitchen doorjamb and wailed, "Yuzuuuu! Big brother is being meeean to Daddy agaaain!"

Karin covered her eyes and grumbled, "My father is a five-year-old."

"You should know better than to attack him in bed, Daddy!" Yuzu's voice chided.

"I was just saying good morrrniiiing," sobbed Isshin.

"ACT YOUR AGE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD," Ichigo shouted down the stairs.

"B-but Ichigooooooooo!"

"CAN YOU AT LEAST PRETEND YOU'RE AN ADULT WHILE WE HAVE A HOUSEGUEST?!"

"B-but I AM an adult!"

"I'VE MET TEN-YEAR-OLDS MORE MATURE THAN YOU!"

"MASAKIIIIIIII, OUR SON IS SO CRUEL! WAAAAH!"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, OLD MAN, IT'S SUNDAY MORNING! SOME PEOPLE WANT TO SLEEP IN! SHUT THE HELL UP!"

A thrown shoe rocketed down from the landing and pelted Isshin in the side of the head.

"MA-SA-KIIIIIIII! OUR SON IS A SURLY, VIOLENT, REBELLIOUS YOUNG MAAAN! WHAT DO I DOOOO? WHERE DID I GO WROOOONG?!"

"SHUT UP OR I'LL SHOW YOU SURLY AND VIOLENT!"

"WAAAAH, YUZU, BIG BROTHER IS THREATENING DADDY!"

"That's nice, Daddy," Yuzu chirped.

Isshin wandered away, bawling.

Karin sighed and glanced at Homura, who was frozen in confused shock. "Kurosaki men are loud idiots with bizarre habits, Homura. It's just a fact of life. Accept it and move on or you'll go insane."

"But— but they were fighting. Weren't they?"

"It's how those numbskulls show affection. Ichi-nii says it probably comes from Dad's family back in Soul Society. Apparently they're known for brash eccentricity and explosions."

"Eccentricity." Homura stared doubtfully. She wasn't even going to touch on explosions.

Karin snorted. "I know, right? Understatement of the century."

§ x § x §

After a lively late breakfast, Ichigo lured all three girls out of the house with the promise of a movie and lunch on him. Homura literally could not remember the last time she had been to a theater. She thought it was something animated— maybe with her mother? An early Madoka? Whatever. Guilt crept up on her for doing frivolous things instead of, say, stealing more weapons for her stash. But she really wanted to find out more about Ichigo and shinigami, and in order to do that she had to go with on the outing.

The fact that it felt good to slow down a bit and do something that didn't involve life-and-death decisions risking her friends' lives and souls was shamefully boxed up and hidden in a dark corner of her mind.

When they were wandering around the park with dessert crêpes from a vendor's cart, Ichigo gently broached the topic of Homura's problems. "Homura, have you thought about seeing the friend I told you about?"

Homura's eyes shiftily darted from one of his sisters to the other before glancing at him and away again. "Is it the man Karin and Yuzu said is a shinigami scientist?"

"Yeah, I guess that describes him."

Homura fidgeted. "I do not want to be experimented on."

"I don't think anyone does," Ichigo said wryly. "But he won't do anything to you without your permission. He just wants to see how strong you are and ask you some questions."

"He already knows about me?" Homura worried.

"Yeah. I think he saw you and Karin fight yesterday."

Karin broke in. "Tch. Urahara is everywhere. Creepy stalker."

Her brother rolled his eyes.

"What kind of questions?" asked Homura.

"Things about Mitakihara, about the things you've been fighting, that kind of stuff," Ichigo replied. "I won't let him do anything to you and if the questions get too upsetting I'll make him stop. Is that okay?"

Homura nibbled on her crêpe and frowned doubtfully for a long minute, thinking. She was still a week away from her turn-back point. If the shinigami got involved, could they stop her from going back somehow? No one knew her power, though. If she kept that quiet and was careful with what other information she gave, it could be tactically useful to see how the shinigami handled things. If they decided to capture her, she could play her trump card and freeze time to escape. It would probably be more suspicious to refuse to be questioned anyway.

Homura tentatively answered, "All right... I suppose."

Ichigo smiled slightly and ruffled her hair. "Good. I know it's hard. I bet grownups haven't reacted well if you've ever said anything about it before."

Homura thought of one early timeline when she had still been childishly naïve in which she had gotten desperate and gone to the police. It hadn't ended well. She nodded slightly.

"You won't have to worry about that with Urahara. He's a shinigami, so you won't have to convince him you can see spirits and stuff. And Karin, Yuzu, and I will be with you."

That wasn't what she was worried about, but Homura played along and forced her shoulders to relax a bit as though relieved. She was very aware of the twins carefully watching her, too. Probably wondering if she could stand up to questioning without revealing them all. "I'll try," Homura said quietly.

Ichigo patted her shoulder. "You're brave. Let's finish these crêpes and go visit Sandal-Hat's shop."

§ x § x §

Kisuke was trawling supernatural forums and vaguely tracking the Kurosaki siblings and the mysterious girl when a senkaimon opened in the front yard and a familiar reiatsu emerged. Expecting him, Kisuke got up and double-checked the stack of supplies that had been ordered then went into the public portion of the shop. There he found Tenth Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya.

"Welcome, Captain Hitsugaya!" Kisuke sang. "I have your order all put together."

Hitsugaya nodded his head respectfully. "Thank you."

"You know you can just look at Twelfth's data for this, right?"

"Mm. I've looked at it," replied the captain. "The cold data doesn't necessarily represent how well my subordinates are handling their assignments. I want to watch them in action from the concealing gigai and see if any would benefit from splitting or consolidating duties."

"Ah, so responsible," Urahara cooed.

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "Speaking of Twelfth." He raised an eyebrow and held out his hand. A small USB stick was in his palm. "Twelfth Division's third seat asked me to give this to you. He said it contained information you had requested and to tell you that he has initiated a more thorough investigation, the results of which he will convey to you when available." He wasn't entirely successful in keeping curiosity off his face.

"Ah, thank you, Captain Hitsugaya," Kisuke said, taking the storage device from him. "If Akon is digging deeper, this data should be very interesting." He noticed the cluster of reiatsu he had been monitoring turn toward the shop. "If you'd like to hear what this is about, go ahead and hop in your gigai and I'll brief you. We have a guest coming. I need to question her but I hear she's skittish. If you want to participate, don't be all frowny and intimidating."

Hitsugaya inclined his head curiously and stepped into the back room. Yoruichi in cat form sauntered between his ankles and made him stumble. Hitsugaya grumbled and kept going.

"Ah, Yoruichi! My favorite kitty-cat!" Kisuke crowed. "Is curiosity killing you?"

The cat rolled her eyes. "You can put it that way, I guess."

Kisuke grinned. "Want to listen in and be a cute, comforting kitty for the traumatized girl?"

Yoruichi stretched and yawned. "I suppose."

§ x § x §

Homura knew they were near their destination when her skin began to tingle at the close proximity to a great deal of magic. Reiatsu. Whatever. When the Kurosaki siblings turned into a gate, she stopped in her tracks. She was only vaguely aware of Ichigo and Karin bickering with a boy with shockingly red hair.

The quaint little shop made her nervous. As if it housed something that should be monumentally threatening but was currently laying at ease. Strangely, it brought to mind a photo she had once seen of a black leopard lounging in a tree at night— all lithe muscle and killing power wrapped in velvety soft darkness, utterly calm and secure in its ability to fight anything that challenged it, relaxed yet aware. Actually, there were a few distinct magical signatures with that feeling. Maybe this wasn't the smartest thing to do, after all.

Yuzu slipped her hand into Homura's. "They really are nice," she said. "They can be weird and enthusiastic like Daddy, but they mean well." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "If they go to Mitakihara and figure everything out, maybe we can prove to Kyubey that shinigami are better now."

Homura swallowed and nodded. She followed the siblings into the courtyard.

A blond man with a goofy face wearing an odd combination of olive green jinbei and a striped bucket hat emerged from the shop. "Welcome, welcome!"

"Yo, Sandal-Hat," Ichigo said with a lazy wave.

"Come on in!" the eccentric cheered, disappearing into the shop.

Ichigo raised his brows at Homura. "Ready?"

Homura nodded and stepped forward.

Homura followed Ichigo through the shop and into a back room with a table set for tea. A white-haired boy sat at the table wearing a neutral expression. His teal eyes were curious as he peered at them over the lip of his teacup.

"Tōsh!" Karin exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

His eyes slid to Karin. "I'm going to be surveying my subordinates at their posts. Make sure I have them allocated efficiently. Urahara told me about what's going on. I thought I'd listen in."

Karin smirked. "Aww, what a responsible old man you are. Such a good example for your little ducklings."

The boy rolled his eyes.

The strange man clapped his hands. "Okay, introductions, introductions!" He turned to face Homura and bowed with a flourish. "I'm Kisuke Urahara, humble proprietor of this little shop."

Homura wondered why everyone but Yuzu rolled their eyes. Wait— hadn't Karin said something about I am a mere shopkeeper being some kind of red flag? Hmmm.

"This kitty who thinks she's queen of the shop is Yoruichi," Urahara said, indicating the cat lazing on a cushion in the corner. It looked at Homura and swished its tail. "And this young man is Tōshirō Hitsugaya."

The boy bowed his head and murmured a greeting. So this was the "highly ranked shinigami" friend the twins had spoken of. Great, now the shinigami command structure would know about her. If they didn't already, that is. Homura wondered if he was in one of the false bodies Karin had mentioned. His magic— reiatsu, reiatsu— was faint but undeniably present and unexpectedly icy.

Ichigo cleared his throat. Homura startled. "Oh. I am Homura Akemi." She bowed. "I am pleased to meet you."

"It's nice meeting you, too, Miss Akemi," Urahara replied. "Come, sit. I hear you have some distressing problems. Let's see what we can figure out about the situation, yes?"

They all sat around the table. Homura sat between Yuzu and Ichigo. Homura's eyes kept sliding to the cat as tea was served. It was watching her intently and Homura could distinctly feel that it had magic— reiatsu. Really, "magic" was so much easier to remember.

"Oh, do you like my cat? She's such a snobby little thing." The cat growled just loud enough to be heard. Urahara laughed. "She knows when I'm bad-mouthing her."

Homura looked across the table at Urahara. She paused for a long moment, looking between him and the cat, and wondered if she was being tested. Slowly, she replied, "That is not a cat."

Several eyebrows were raised.

"You're very perceptive," the cat said in a deep voice.

Homura blinked in mild surprise, but otherwise just tilted her head curiously. The shinigami gave her odd looks. Ah, a mistake— now they probably wondered why she simply accepted that a cat could speak. She was too used to the talking cat-rabbit-thing that was Kyubey.

"I'm a shinigami like Kisuke and the boys. I have the ability to turn into a cat," Yoruichi said. She tilted her head. "Do you know about shinigami?"

"Karin and Yuzu explained them to me," Homura answered calmly. "Can all shinigami turn into cats?"

The prospect worried her. She could be followed without noticing. Maybe. Well, maybe not; Homura could sense the "cat's" magic. That would be a dead giveaway.

Yoruichi laughed. "They wish. No, I'm special."

Homura stared at the cat. Was that the truth?

Ichigo glanced aside darkly and grumbled something under his breath.

Yoruichi's gold eyes zeroed in on him. "I heard that."

"Back to the matter at hand," Urahara interrupted. "I saw you fight those Hollows yesterday."

"Stalker," Karin muttered.

"You were quite efficient. May I start by asking how you came by that experience?"

So he was going for big questions right out the gate. Fantastic. Homura looked down and made a show of fidgeting with her teacup while she hurriedly thought through her answer— how to keep it accurate and mostly truthful but vague while weaving together events from varying timelines to make a more solid story. She rifled through everything the twins had told her about reiatsu and Hollows to balance it out. The others patiently waited for her.

Homura took a deep breath and tried to channel the way her former, meek self would have spoken. Something between the old her and new her; soft-spoken, but not too timid. "I suppose it began when I was in the hospital. For my heart condition," she began hesitantly. "I began to feel like something was watching me. I saw things out of the corner of my eye. I sometimes heard... chains rattling. The doctors said it was ICU delirium, but Karin and Yuzu said it could have been me starting to sense spirits."

Urahara hummed. "Probably. It could have started with delirium making you more vulnerable to spiritual stimuli and... snowballed from there."

Some part of Homura relaxed. He was strengthening her story. She spoke a bit more confidently. "It happened more when I started school in Mitakihara. Some of the girls in my class felt... I do not know. Different. Now I know I was sensing their magic."

"Magic?" asked Hitsugaya.

"That is what we called it," Homura said as though defensive. "We did not have anyone to explain things to us. We had to figure it out ourselves. I did not know the word reiatsu until I came here and spoke with Karin and Yuzu at length."

Hitsugaya nodded his understanding.

"So." Homura paused, considering her words. She thought of the news articles about people seemingly compelled to commit suicide and decided to weave in her experience. "One day when I was on my way home from school I felt... weird. Depressed. When I was crossing a bridge, I felt strange... dreamy... and heard a girl's voice saying I would be better off dead and I should just die. But the voice was in my head. And not my usual... thinking voice. It was not me."

She glanced up at those gathered around the table. They stared at her, rapt.

"The voice urged you to commit suicide?" Urahara asked.

Homura nodded.

He leaned forward on his elbows, fascination plain on his face. "And what stopped you?"

Homura looked back down at her cup. "I kind of just... woke up. Like when you are very tired and catch yourself as you are falling asleep just before your head hits your desk. But when I woke up, there was a monster."

"Was the monster a Hollow?" asked Hitsugaya.

Homura fidgeted and shrugged. "I suppose? Everything looked really strange still. I think I was... hallucinating, maybe?"

"Looked weird how?" asked Yoruichi.

"Um... warped? And crooked. The ground was not flat. And the Arc de Triomphe was there, but wrong. And the sky was all twisty red swirls. Like— like Van Gogh's Starry Night, but wrong." Homura wondered what they would make of that description of her first labyrinth.

Yoruichi glanced at Urahara, who was frowning in thought.

"How did you get away?" Ichigo asked softly.

Homura's hands tightened around her cup. "Mami saved me." And Madoka, but that wouldn't fit with the rest of her cobbled-together story. "She used her magic... um, reiatsu? She used it to make glowing ribbons to tie things up and shot... blasts of magic at the monsters until they disappeared."

"Monsters, plural?" Hitsugaya asked with a frown.

"Ah, y-yes," Homura stammered as she cringed internally. "There were... they looked like scribbled drawings of people on... parchment, maybe. They were... staggering toward me, but Mami lassoed them all before they could reach me. She bound them to the Arc de Triomphe and destroyed them all at once."

Urahara raised his eyebrows. "That's quite advanced."

"Mami told me it took her almost two years of practice to get as good as she was." Not a lie.

"So this has been happening for at least two years," Hitsugaya observed, eyes keenly watching her.

Having so many sharp eyes trained on her was making Homura's skin crawl with anxiety. Her chest tightened.

Homura nodded. "So Mami took me to her apartment. She explained about how only some girls can see the monsters and that the girls who could see them had magic. She said she thought it was our duty to protect the people who cannot see them."

"That was quite noble of her," Urahara said quietly. "Only girls could see these monsters?"

"Yes. But it seems like anyone can get... hypnotized, I suppose... like I was. Even boys and men."

Urahara sat back and stroked his chin, staring at the ceiling while thinking intensely.

"What happened next?" Ichigo asked.

"Mami taught me how to fight," Homura answered. "Madoka and Sayaka are— were— in my class. They had magic, too. Mami began to take them with to fights to show them how to use magic. I... did not like that. M-Madoka is— was— a very good friend. I did not want her to fight. I want...ed her to stay safe. But Mami thought I was jealous of Madoka because she has— had more magic than me."

The shinigami glanced among one another. Homura wondered why that seemed to disturb them so much.

After a pause, Ichigo gently said, "I know this is hard, but... what happened to your friends? Like, in the articles, it seems like something went wrong at the hospital. Can you start there?"

Homura fiddled with her teacup and sipped from it to buy herself time to arrange the gruesome facts in her head. If her hands were genuinely shaking at the memories, so much the better for her performance. When she put her cup down, Yuzu slid her hand into Homura's and squeezed. Ichigo's hand was a reassuringly warm weight on her back. She took a deep breath, thinking of the article about the hospital incident. Even though she had lived through similar events countless times, she found speaking about what had transpired extremely difficult. This was why her modus operandi had become repress, repress, repress.

"Madoka told me that when she and Sayaka left the hospital, they found a monster by the bicycle racks. Sayaka hid and monitored it while Madoka retreated to find Mami. They did not think they could fight it themselves. I sensed the monster and came from another direction. I tried to make Madoka run away to stay safe, but Mami became angry and used her magic ribbons to tie me up. Then Mami fought the monster by herself. She tied it up and shot it but it did not die— a bigger monster came out its mouth a-and bit Mami's h-head off and ate her body." Homura swallowed hard; she should be used to that memory by now, but wasn't. No matter how she tried, she still always heard the phantom wet crunch of flesh and bone in the Witch's jaws. She hated it. "The ribbons disappeared w-when she died and Madoka and Sayaka were scared so I fought it. I won, but..." She shrugged unhappily.

Everyone was respectfully silent for a minute. Quietly, Urahara said, "My apologies, Miss Akemi. Did the... monster... knock Mami's soul from her body and eat it, or did it eat her body and all?"

"It ate her in her body," answered Homura. "There was nothing left."

Urahara, Hitsugaya, and Ichigo looked deeply disturbed.

"This Sayaka and Madoka," said Yoruichi. "They escaped?"

"Yes," answered Homura. "Madoka was afraid and did not want to fight. But she saw another girl from our class acting strangely the next day and followed her to the TV station. She stopped the people from hurting themselves, but the hidden monster attacked her. Sayaka was closer and reached her first. She decided to fight since Mami could not anymore. She saved Madoka with her magic."

"How so?" asked Urahara.

"She used a baseball bat like Karin uses a soccer ball," Homura explained— lied— smoothly.

Urahara hummed and Hitsugaya nodded.

"The articles said Sayaka became erratic before her disappearance," said Urahara. "What happened there?"

Homura shifted and frowned. "Sayaka was fighting too much. She was getting worn out and she was upset about some boy. Then Kyōko heard Mami had died and came from Kazamino to fight monsters. She and Sayaka had a... really bad first meeting. So they kept fighting each other, too."

Urahara frowned. "I don't recall reading about a Kyōko."

"The articles call her the mystery redhead from Kazamino. She came to Mitakihara about a week into April. Kyōko used to be Mami's partner. She was harsh with Sayaka because she thought Sayaka was not taking things seriously— that she was getting off on playing the hero."

"Didn't her family report her missing?" asked Ichigo.

"No. They are dead," Homura bluntly answered. "Kyōko's father was a Western preacher. When he found out about her powers, he thought she was a witch... who had cast a spell on everyone... and tried to kill the whole family in a murder-suicide to escape the spell. But Kyōko survived. She has been on her own ever since."

Most of those present stared at Homura in horror.

"Her dad— her dad tried to kill her?! Just because she had high reiatsu?!" Karin demanded.

Homura nodded. "He killed her mother and sister, tried to kill Kyōko, set the house on fire, and hanged himself."

More dumbfounded, disgusted horror all around.

"This... this Kyōko..." Hitsugaya hedged. "Is she still...?"

Homura took a deep breath. "She is dead. And I guess I am the only one who... misses her."

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

Everyone sat numbly for a couple minutes. Yuzu sniffled.

"How... how did she...?" Karin tried to ask.

Homura looked down at the table and debated how much detail to go into. She wanted to toss the shinigami a clue, but it could be information shocking to the twins if they didn't know the truth about Witches. At length, she decided the gamble was worth it. If the twins freaked out and botched things past saving, she'd stop time and run like hell. Maybe try a different approach in the next timeline.

"Sayaka became... twitchy. Edgy." Homura started carefully rotating her teacup in little turns, focusing on the repetitive movement. "Even Kyōko became concerned about her. After Sayaka ran away, Kyōko and I would run into her when we went to fight monsters. She was fighting sloppily and using her magic to make her body stronger so much it obviously tired her, but she refused our help every time. Sayaka acted more and more obsessed and aggressive every time I ran into her. Her magic... even her magic felt darker and heavier. Then the night before I came to Karakura, Kyōko ran into her in the train station. Everything just... fell apart."

Homura bit her lip and forced herself not to look at the twins. Everyone silently waited for her to continue.

"I do not know what they talked about, but Sayaka... broke. She... Her body fell down and her soul floated up and turned into a monster."

There was an audible series of gasps around the table. Homura glanced up. Karin and Yuzu were stark white and utterly still. They understood what she was implying.

Witches were fallen magical girls.

They hadn't known.

Homura couldn't stand to look at them. She looked down at her cup and pressed on. "Kyōko did not— did not really understand what happened. I felt it happen. When I got there, Kyōko was running away from the monster, carrying Sayaka's body. We just— just ran away." She swallowed. "Kyōko took Sayaka to her hotel room. I think she used her own magic to keep Sayaka's body... fresh. She thought she could find the monster and, um, convince it to calm down and turn back into Sayaka."

Homura looked around at everyone's faces. The shinigami looked like they knew exactly how badly wrong everything would go. Odd.

"I thought Sayaka was a lost cause because of the other monsters we fought and that the only thing we could do for her was put her out of her misery. I said as much. So Kyōko went behind my back to convince Madoka to go with her to try to get through to Sayaka. That is why Madoka did not go to school." Homura couldn't help the frustrated anger that slipped past her mask. She clenched her fists. Everyone remained silent.

Homura grit her teeth. "I left class when I figured out Madoka was not coming and may have gone after Sayaka... Sayaka's monster. But by the time I found the fight—" Homura closed her eyes. "Sayaka's monster had M-Madoka crushed in its hand and Kyōko... I think Kyōko thought that she would turn into a monster someday, too, so she used all of her magic— she had fiery magic— she used it to take all of them out at the same time. There was nothing left of any of them except Sayaka's body in Kyōko's hotel. They just... burned up in front of me. I did not know what to do, so I just got on a passing train and rode."

Homura refused to look up in the ensuing dead silence until Yuzu began to cry and cling to her, her magic carrying an undercurrent of fear. When Homura did look up, she found Karin staring at the table with blank, wide eyes, Ichigo and Tōshirō looking pained and angry, and Urahara looking grim. Yoruichi's face was unreadable, but her feline ears were laid back flat against her head.

No one spoke for a long time.

Ichigo was the first to find words. "I'm so— so sorry you had to go through that. Never— you should never have—" He faltered in frustration.

"My condolences, Miss Akemi," Urahara said gravely.

Homura's face remained stonily blank, but she inclined her head slightly in acknowledgment.

"Forgive me," he continued, "but I would like to ask one favor of you."

Ichigo directed a murderous glare at him, silently telling him to back off. Homura appreciated it.

"What?" Homura asked with tired caution. Staying calm and coherent was getting exhausting.

"I don't have any more questions for you right now," Urahara reassured her. "I have a large map of the Mitakihara metro area. Would you be willing to mark the locations of your fights for us to investigate?"

Homura tilted her head and stared blankly as she thought. She decided she didn't see how it could hurt. "I suppose."

"I appreciate it, Miss Akemi." Urahara looked her straight in the eye. "We'll figure this out and put a stop to it."

§ x § x §

Forty minutes later, Kisuke and Yoruichi watched the last of their guests leave. Kisuke sat tapping his folded fan against the table, thinking. Early evening shadows slowly stretched across the floor.

"She's a very good liar for someone so young," Yoruichi finally commented.

Kisuke hummed. "Very good at stretching the truth. Smart enough to stick to the truth with some adjustments instead of making up falsehoods from whole cloth. The only thing I can definitely pin as changed is the timing of her learning to fight. I'm impressed."

"Oh?" Yoruichi asked. "I didn't catch that. Do tell."

"I saw her fight yesterday," he explained. "That was far more than a month's worth of experience. She's very polished."

Yoruichi hummed.

"Much of the other stuff rings true, though." Kisuke looked down at the map of Mitakihara and Homura's neat writing dotting it here and there. "I do think she knows more about these 'monsters' than she's telling us. Quite the interesting puzzle. I need to read Akon's report."

Yoruichi sniffed. "You're like a dog with a bone now, aren't you?"

Kisuke laughed, gathered the map, and headed for his lab.

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

A/N: Please review and further enable me ;)

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.