A/N: I love reading your reviews. Observations and guesses. Love it. Thank you so much.
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VIERZIG
TIMELINE X + N + 1
Uryū approached his father's office in Karakura Hospital with a grim face, running over his arguments in his head. Overcoming Ryūken's obstruction of all things Quincy was not going to be fun, but he wanted a frame of reference before he started digging into the old records. The Director had his secretary make his son wait in the receiving area for forty minutes, of course— a frequent test of how serious his son was about whatever spiritual matter drove him to actually go to the office during business hours. Uryū's obstinacy won the day and he was finally admitted to the impersonal office.
Ryūken didn't bother to look up, instead rifling through a manila folder. "What."
Accustomed to his father's distant personality, Uryū said, "I need to ask you something about Quincy history."
"No."
Uryū scowled. "There is a spiritual predator that has tricked the Kurosaki girls into selling their souls to get power and a wish in exchange for a commitment to fight Hollow-like entities. It claims to have preyed on Quincy girls in the past. I need to corroborate this."
Ryūken actually glanced up. He stared expressionlessly for a long minute. "Convinced Quincy girls to sell their souls for power and a wish."
"Yes." Uryū pursed his lips. "Have you heard about such a thing?"
Ryūken's mouth tightened minutely. "Explain the allegation."
Irritation made Uryū's eye twitch, but he was used to his father's non-answers. He explained the basics of the Incubator's system without even breathing of time travel or the term magical girl, knowing Ryūken would immediately dismiss him. The fact that the man actually paid direct attention was a sign that he was being taken seriously and he was not going to ruin it. After the explanation, Uryū waited for his father to say something. And waited. And waited. "Well? Have you heard of anything like it?"
Ryūken blinked slowly, then turned back to his folder. "Begin with the genealogies. Cross reference potentially relevant deaths with the histories for context." It was an obvious dismissal.
Uryū grit his teeth, nodded curtly, and departed for the family archives.
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Ryūken stared blankly at the papers in his folder for several minutes after his son left. Eventually, his eyes slid over to the only personal item he kept in his entire office: A simple photograph of his late wife, Kanae. He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lit one, and took a long drag.
"Selling power and wishes, eh?" he said quietly to her picture.
And here he had thought his wife had been babbling senselessly, delirious on painkillers after giving birth to their son by Caesarian section. Probably still delirious, he thought, but perhaps not completely out of touch with reality.
"Do you remember when we were young? When we were in middle school?" Kanae had asked him in a breathy lilt from the mountain of pillows that supported her so she could hold her newborn and gaze at him lovingly. "I looked up to you so much. Dedicated myself to you so much. Wished I was Echt like Masaki so much. Wished to be healthy enough, strong enough, powerful enough to be your equal. So. Much."
"Kanae, you need to rest—"
"I almost made that wish, you know," she said dreamily as she drew one finger across her baby's knuckles until the little hand opened and clasped it. "For real. But I couldn't do it."
"What are you talking about?"
"A little creature came to me and said if I made a wish, it could grant it with magic and make me stronger at the same time. I'd just have to fight a different kind of Hollow, and I fought Hollows already. I could wish to be Echt, or the most powerful Quincy alive, or even that your betrothal would be nullified. I thought and thought and thought, but I couldn't do it." Kanae had looked up from their son's tiny face, glassy eyes not quite focusing on her husband. "It wouldn't have been honest. It wouldn't have been fair to you." Tears slid down her cheeks.
"Kanae," Ryūken had said haltingly. "Kanae, I think you were dreaming. Give Uryū to me. You need to sleep."
"A dream? It felt so real..." She trailed off and looked back down at her son as he shifted against her chest. "But I'm so happy I didn't do it. I'm so happy. I didn't need a wish, or to be different. You love me as I am. I was enough by myself. And we have a baby now. I'm so happy. I'm so happy."
If she remembered the exchange after the drugs wore off, she never spoke of it.
Ryūken exhaled and looked at his wife's portrait through the smoke. "It seems I owe you another apology, Kanae."
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Kisuke sat at the table in the shop's back room, shuffling between papers and a tablet as he reviewed his research. Jinta was absent, minding the shop, and Ururu and Tessai were puttering around in the kitchen preparing dinner. Yoruichi sauntered into the room in human form, plopped a file folder on the table, and sat.
"I fleshed out your dossier on Akemi as much as I could," she announced as she noted the dark circles under her friend's eyes. "Sad stuff but no red flags. Her parents died not quite two years ago. She was hospitalized for a cardiac incident at the time. The story about the globetrotting uncle also appears to be true. Rich family. Most of the girl's inheritance is held in trust, but disbursements for medical and living expenses are allowed. A generous stipend for food and other necessities is deposited into her active account once a week. None of the withdrawals from the trust look suspicious. All match payments on file with the medical procedures, the move, and so on. Looks like she moved to Mitakihara a few months ago to do an outpatient clinical trial before being admitted for monitoring and surgery. She was just discharged on the sixteenth. She has her own little townhouse in the city."
Kisuke raised an eyebrow. "No adult supervision?"
"Apparently not," Yoruichi answered with a shrug.
Kisuke hummed, murmured his thanks, and tucked the file into a box to his side.
Yoruichi leaned back on her hands. "So what's the verdict on this mess?" she asked with a wave at the tabletop.
"...Interesting," Kisuke muttered.
Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "Of course."
"Disturbing."
"A given, I'd assume." She peered at him askance. "You're not going to say anything until you have more information from whatever the hell we do tonight, are you?"
Kisuke beamed at her. "Nope!"
Yoruichi sighed. "Do you at least think the threat is credible?"
"Oh, yes. Indeed I do," Kisuke said softly.
She drummed her fingers on the table for a minute. "Right. So we're going hunting tonight. Anything you want me to keep an eye out for?"
Kisuke's eyes sharpened. He signaled for Tessai to approach. When he had both of them, he said, "Tessai, pay particular attention to Miss Akemi's use of her temporal stasis technique. I want to know how similar it is to Jikanteishi*. You're the expert there. I'll give you something to help with that after dinner." Tessai nodded assent. Kisuke turned to Yoruichi. "I want you to analyze the techniques and powers of the magical girls. See if you can identify the commonalities and differences between what they do and shinigami techniques."
"Sure." Yoruichi threw a lazy salute. "And you'll be...?"
"Observing everything to some extent, but largely monitoring sensors about this pocket dimension and the abilities of whatever opponents we find within."
Soon, the others arrived for an awkward dinner. They quickly gave up on small talk in favor of grilling Uryū on what he had found in his spontaneous research. He repeatedly demurred, saying he was nowhere near done, but did let slip that he had found several suspiciously young deaths of Quincy girls compared to Quincy boys to investigate. Kisuke was itching to get into the Quincy archives himself. Uryū just gave him an unimpressed stare.
No trust. Honestly.
Once done, they focused on planning their evening. Given the difficulty Akemi described finding the particular Witch they were seeking, they laid out a broad search pattern. Since Urahara Shop was on the far eastern edge of town, they decided to begin their search two train stops into the next city over and work their way west. They began at twilight and divided into three search parties to move along the railway corridor in tandem. Yuzu's team took the street north of the tracks, Karin's team took the street south of the tracks, and Akemi's team walked the tracks themselves. Kisuke walked with Akemi, watching his sensor device. Isshin, Ichigo, and Hitsugaya ghosted along the rooftops and power poles in shinigami form to keep an eye on them all, having abandoned their bodies at the shop. They moved carefully westward, watching the soft glow of the three Soul Gems. It was tense but tedious work. They had reached the train trestle over the Karasu River that bisected town when Yuzu slightly raised her reiatsu to signal everyone that her Soul Gem had sensed something. Her team stopped while the others continued westward until Akemi's Gem began to glow as well. She signaled as Yuzu had. Karin's team continued west for a bit, then veered north and backtracked until her Gem glowed as well. The search parties began wandering toward the center of their triangle, following whichever paths made their Gems glow brighter as Kisuke frowned at his sensor. They met up at a point halfway between the river and the Old Karakura Train Station, by a glass collectibles shop north of the tracks.
Karin huffed and complained aloud, "She's hiding practically in our back yard."
"How's your dowsing rod, Kisuke?" Yoruichi called from Yuzu's group.
Kisuke hummed. "It only started picking up a slight distortion about forty meters back," he announced. He looked up and glanced at the three points of light that made up their triangle, Soul Gems glowing brightly. "Far less sensitive than Soul Gems. I'll have to play with calibration later."
"Something feels weird," Jinta said suspiciously.
"I feel it," Uryū said quietly. "Very faintly."
"I think I see the distortion," Hitsugaya said as he alighted next to Karin. He squinted and pointed. "Like a heat haze. There. Is that it?"
"Yep!" Karin answered with forced cheer. "Watch this." She stepped toward it and brandished her Soul Gem. It flared with ruby light, which triggered a flash of orange light. Afterward, the distorted air had a large orange symbol floating in its center. It looked like a pumpkin with a clock face, set against the outline of butterfly wings. Kisuke's sensor beeped.
"Ah, I really feel it now!" Orihime gasped.
Isshin narrowed his eyes. "It feels like a Garganta. Kinda."
"Fascinating," Kisuke muttered as he inspected the sigil with his sensor. Everyone stood and watched him fiddle around with assorted gadgets for nearly ten minutes. Finally, he straightened and looked around. "Now what, girls?"
"We go in," Akemi said coolly. She strode through the portal without waiting for a response.
"Wait—! Oh my God," Isshin gasped before hurrying after her. Everyone else rushed in with him.
Just as Kisuke thought: His friend had all but adopted the girl and was in protective father mode. What had his other self written?
She is already their kin in spirit, therefor she is ours to protect, now, Benihime declared. The Kurosakis will have nothing less.
Kisuke quirked his lips in amusement as he stepped through the portal himself. He found himself on a platform in a curious subway station. The others were craning their heads around to look at their surroundings.
"Please don't go wandering away from us without warning again," Isshin said disapprovingly.
Akemi looked at him over her shoulder and raised a brow. "I said I was going in."
Isshin opened his mouth to speak, made a gesture, and stopped himself. He sighed deeply. "Wait for us to actually respond next time."
Kisuke moved to the edge of the platform and peered around. There were haphazard train tracks and tunnels zigzagging about. Industrial wreckage littered every surface that did not host rails. A multitude of clocks adorned every vertical surface, causing an echoing cacophony of asynchronous ticking. Blooming jacaranda branches sprawled along the ceiling, painted lady butterflies darting about the lavender flowers. The air was heavy with presence.
Akemi blinked owlishly at Isshin and shrugged, then turned to face forward. She held her Soul Gem up. "Karin. Yuzu."
The chamber was awash in colored light as the three girls transformed. Karin and Yuzu stepped up to either side of Akemi in their own magical girl costumes. Even though Kisuke had expected it, he still had to stare and reassure himself that he was awake and not in some bizarre anime dream.
"Oh my God," Jinta said dully.
The three girls looked back at him. He was obviously staring at Yuzu, cheeks pink. Yuzu tilted her head. "What's wrong, Jinta?"
The boy went bright red and looked away from the frilly yellow costume. "N-nothing."
Karin snickered. Yuzu looked confused.
Akemi turned back to face everyone. "Mr. Urahara wants to observe magical girl techniques, so Karin, Yuzu, and I will take point. You follow us and provide support if needed. Observe as much as you can— I do not know of another Witch nearby, so this may be your only chance for now. I will give further instructions when we near the center of the labyrinth." She lifted her chin imperiously. "Questions?"
Ichigo made a sound of protest and opened his mouth— likely to insist his sisters not fight— but Isshin grabbed his shoulder and squeezed firmly to stop him. His son looked at him to argue, but found his father's face grim and worried as his probably was.
Isshin met his son's eyes. "They need to do this, Ichigo," he muttered, just near enough for Kisuke to hear. "Keep an eye out for them, intervene if you need to, but this is their cause. They need to do something to contribute to this situation or they'll feel helpless and guilty."
Ichigo's face contorted with frustration, but he settled. He understood the feeling.
"A suggestion," Tessai said as he stepped forward. "If I understand correctly, your greatest vulnerability is your Soul Gem, correct?"
Everyone's eyes jumped to the citrine at Yuzu's throat. Yuzu froze and swallowed hard, drawing her hand up to it.
"Yes," Akemi replied.
Tessai nodded curtly. "If you will allow me, I can cast kidō shields around them."
The Kurosaki girls cheered up and immediately approached the big kidō master. Akemi stared at him in shock and watched as he cast glowing bubbles around the ruby and the citrine. He looked up at her and held his hands out in invitation. Akemi blinked, mouth opening and closing a few times before she could speak. "You— you can do that?"
"Tessai's awesome," Karin interrupted.
Tessai smiled faintly. "Yes, I can."
Akemi looked suspiciously at the bubbles on the other girls' Soul Gems. Yuzu understood and walked up to Akemi and made an inviting gesture. Akemi poked the shield around the Gem at her throat, getting a feel for it and what it did.
Kisuke could tell by the astounded frustration on her face that she was kicking herself for never having thought of something like that before. That worried him a bit; it seemed like a fairly obvious solution. Unless she didn't have a similar technique?
Karin also read Akemi's face correctly and wryly said, "Yeah, right? I'm feeling pretty stupid."
Yuzu gave a weak, self-deprecating laugh. Akemi huffed and walked up to Tessai. She cautiously held out her left hand, exposing the diamond-shaped amethyst on its back. Tessai carefully hovered his hands over it and generated a bubble. Akemi stepped back and inspected it critically. Kisuke realized she could feel the difference in feel between one side of the barrier and the other. So she was discerning in her understanding of reiatsu. Or magic. Whatever. Was there a difference?
Tessai correctly interpreted Akemi's baffled face. "It's a variant of a barrier called Kyōmon. It is very strong from the outside but easily broken from the inside."
Akemi peered up at him and tilted her head. Apparently, she appreciated the thoughtful choice and indicated it with a serious nod as she withdrew. Tessai, a man of few words himself, returned the nod.
Kisuke was pleased that they were getting on well. Bless Tessai.
The time traveler held herself regally again, dismissing the presence of their observers. "Karin, Yuzu, have you already been to the center of this labyrinth?"
"Just the once," Karin answered. "Like a week ago. Too many damn Familiars. She ran away when we were busy."
Akemi nodded sharply. "We will use the same tactics we did in the previous timeline, as they worked well to get to the center. When we reach chambers full of Familiars, I will use a widespread attack. When I stop, you two rush in to eliminate those that remain."
"Sounds like a plan," Yuzu said with a firm nod.
Karin glanced over her shoulder at their friends and family. "You guys ready?"
Kisuke held up his sensor and the others made sounds of agreement. The group set off down a tunnel, following the lead of Akemi's glowing Soul Gem. Soon, they emerged into what appeared to be a large subway station studded with clocks, the floor covered in scattered wreckage and pumpkins of varying sizes and the ceiling decorated with jacarandas. The Familiars were plainly visible on a far platform. They were scarecrows the size of men with gigantic turnips for heads. All were dressed as train conductors. A whistle was jammed into each turnip where a mouth would be on a human face. They topped off their surreality with a pair of glimmering fairy wings on their backs. Six of them span in circles on the platform. The girls' backup reacted in several different ways— curiosity, bewilderment, suspicion.
"Ready?" Akemi asked coldly as she reached into her shield. Forewarned by his other self's letter, Kisuke prepared to be entertained.
The sisters materialized their weapons, to the surprise of their observers, and agreed. Akemi hauled a big gun out of the shield and took aim as the others made sounds of shock.
"Holy shit, is that a machine gun?!" Jinta screeched. He was immediately drowned out by thundering gunfire.
Akemi released the trigger and lowered the muzzle. Karin and Yuzu leapt forward to take out the two stragglers. They made short work of the scarecrows as their observers made a lot of noise.
Karin perched on the edge of the platform, her sword hand fisted against one hip while the other screwed one finger around in her ear. "Dammit, Homura, give a girl some warning before you shoot a fucking machine gun like right next to her ears!" she snarled.
"What," Hitsugaya said blankly, hands massaging his temples.
Akemi reloaded and snapped the ammo tray closed. "My apologies," she said, not sounding sorry at all as everyone winced, held their ears, or did jaw exercises to overcome their sudden ringing. Only Kisuke, Tessai, and Yoruichi were unaffected, having heeded their other selves' warnings about being in close quarters with the magical girl during battle. Kisuke wondered why their other selves had been the only ones to think to include warnings about Akemi's chosen weapons.
...Probably the trauma, actually. Kinda took the fun out of things.
"What?" Orihime asked dazedly.
"Where the hell did you get a gun?!" Ichigo screamed.
"What?" Jinta said loudly.
Akemi glanced at Ichigo. "My shield."
"What?!" Ichigo demanded.
The magical girl looked a bit impatient. "I store conventional weaponry in my shield."
"You have more?" Uryū squawked.
"Of course."
"You're fourteen," Isshin said in a disturbed voice.
"So?"
"So how did you get machine guns?!"
"That is not important," Akemi said breezily as she faced the front again.
Beautiful.
The magical girl turned to the next doorway and brushed her hair behind her shoulders. "Come."
Several of the others sputtered in disbelief, but Kisuke immediately followed her, pretending to completely ignore the mundane weapon in the girl's hand.
The party continued through the subway tunnels, using the same strategy every time they came to a subway station. As they progressed, each station housed more Familiars and butterflies than the last and the scent of jacaranda flowers became much more cloying. After more than half an hour, they came out of a curve in the tunnel and saw that the next archway was larger and far more ornate, indecipherable runes etched in the bricks. Kisuke had never seen the like.
"This is it," said Yuzu.
The trio carefully approached the tunnel exit and peeked around its sides. Kisuke and some of the others peered over their shoulders. Before them was an enormous brick chamber. Instead of a subway platform, the cavern housed a sprawling train switch yard with tracks that snaked around and into adjacent tunnels. The timepieces on the walls ranged from pocket watches to cuckoo clocks to ornate grandfather clocks. Jacaranda tree trunks surrounded the cavern, forming a fragrant lavender canopy over the room as they branched out into the tunnels. Lantern-like glass slippers filled with smoldering embers dangled from the branches. A huge bell was suspended from the apex of the ceiling. Beneath the bell, all the various train rails converged into a train turntable. Pumpkins connected by vines made of wire were strewn about the spaces between tracks. Upon the center point of the entire room sat the Witch's decoy.
The decoy's base was a huge jack-o'-lantern that took up most of the space on the turntable. An over-sized vintage plaster mannequin protruded from the top of the jack-o'-lantern from the hips up, lifeless eyes staring vacantly. A gauzy black ballroom skirt flowed down from its waist and encircled the pumpkin base except for the glowing jack-o'-lantern face; jacaranda flowers decorated its waist. It wore a black bodice and its stiff arms were covered with black elbow gloves. Atop its head sat the cut-out lid of the jack-o'-lantern, its thick stem making it resemble a top hat. A mourning veil trailed down from the pumpkin-hat. The entire ensemble was completed with an upside-down pair of painted lady butterfly wings at the mannequin's back. The decoy was not facing the party directly, but was turned about fifteen degrees away from them.
The cavern was crowded with a different sort of Familiar than the turnip-headed fairy conductors. Clockwork creatures made of bare gears and metal whirled around the floor of the chamber in an intricate waltz. Vaguely-female Familiars bore short pseudo-skirts made of jacaranda branches trailing flowers; their partners wore pumpkin-lid top hats on their heads. Their dancing carried them around the rail yard pumpkin patch without tripping.
"Did you give us drugs with dinner, Boss?" Jinta asked suspiciously.
"Not this time!" Kisuke chirped as Tessai cuffed the back of Jinta's head.
"Okay," Karin began, matter-of-fact. "We know the dancing thingies can make their hands turn into bayonet-things to slice with. They keep spinning so the room may as well be a gauntlet. We didn't manage to get to the actual Witch last time so we have no clue what it— she— does."
Akemi hummed in consideration as she surveyed the cavern, presumably calculating a new plan based on the failures of the previous timeline. "The pumpkin doll is not the Witch," she said absently. "Not directly. It is a decoy. That was our mistake last time. It is the most complex Witch... Familiar... decoy I have ever encountered. Others are much stronger, but this one is tricky."
There was a long beat of silence before Karin muttered, "Well, shit."
Seeing that Kisuke was busy fiddling with his tech toys, Yoruichi drawled, "So what is the target?"
Staring intently, Akemi pointed to the crown of the roof. "The bell."
Everyone squinted into the dim upper reaches of the ceiling. The bell loomed over them, mostly visible by the reflected orange glow from the glass slipper lanterns.
"How did you take it out last time?" Karin asked. "'Cause that thing is way up. I dunno how I'd get to it without bouncing off the... decoy thing."
"I fired a few RPGs at it," Akemi answered in a distracted tone.
Kisuke eyed the others. He needed some positive entertainment out of this mess and this was going to be glorious.
After a moment of incredulous silence, Uryū said, "I'm sorry, do you mean rocket-propelled grenades?"
"Yes."
"You carry rocket-propelled grenades in your shield?!" he screeched.
Akemi glanced at him in irritation. "Yes."
Ichigo spluttered. "What else do you have in there, bombs?!"
Again, a blandly impatient, "Yes."
"I was joking!"
"Homura," Isshin ventured, disturbed. "Machine guns, grenades, bombs...? Where do you get it all?"
"Most of my munitions are appropriated from JSDF or US military bases," Akemi began.
"Appropriated," Uryū muttered scandalously.
Glorious. Did she even realize what she was doing?
"But I make the various bombs myself," the magical girl finished with a dismissive wave.
"You... you know how to make bombs," Isshin said dully.
"Who taught you?" Kisuke asked quietly. His other self hadn't known that.
Akemi turned to him and weighed him for a moment before answering, "The internet."
He stared at her for a long minute. That implied strength in self-instruction and a deep well of patience for detailed and delicate work. "I see."
She frowned, possibly wondering what he understood.
Considering the main chamber again, Kisuke asked Akemi to describe the battle she had survived. Akemi complied with curt, emotionless sentences that made everyone eye the decoy more and more warily. She abruptly stopped.
"And then...?" Hitsugaya asked.
Akemi shifted uneasily, but kept her face impassive. "Then Mr. Tsukabishi's shields would have been useful."
Silence.
Isshin compulsively reached forward and patted Yuzu's hair as though to be certain she was still with them.
"You have seen us fighting the Familiars up to now," Akemi continued. "I think it would be best to minimize risk and take out the bell from a distance without engaging the Familiars and decoy." She glanced at him sideways. "Unless you want to see us fight it?"
Kisuke adjusted his hat on his head, taking the moment to think as everyone turned to him. He deliberately avoided the eyes of the Kurosaki men, knowing they were probably looking rather intense. Time to play it safe. He could be more demanding another day with an enemy that was less of an emotional powder keg. "No, I don't think so. Not if it's as complex as you say. I just want to record the lead-up and aftermath of the defeat to capture what happens to turn all of this into one of those Grief Seeds."
Akemi gave a businesslike nod, stuffed the machine gun into her shield, and withdrew an RPG launcher. And another. And another.
"Holyshityouweren'tkidding," Jinta breathed, eyes wide.
Ururu carefully dodged to the front of the group. "I can help," she murmured, holding her shoulder-cannon up to show the magical girl. Akemi nodded acceptance.
"Um, do you need more help, Homura?" Yuzu asked nervously. "I don't think you can do three at once..."
Akemi tossed her hair over her shoulder, nonchalant as though a cavern full of whirling death wasn't behind her. "That's what my time-stop is for."
Several of the combatants perked up in interest. Kisuke leaned forward as Akemi turned away. "I want to see."
The magical girl glanced at him over her shoulder. "Having you hold onto me will ruin my aim."
Kisuke pouted. Tessai cleared his throat. "Would a kidō that linked us together be sufficient? I can tie the end to your ankle."
Akemi raised an eyebrow. "Like a... ribbon?"
The big man nodded. "Yes. But made of reishi."
"...Magic?"
Karin interrupted with, "Close enough."
Homura narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "...Show me."
Tessai nodded once, gestured with his hands, and a bolt of yellow energy lanced out to loop around Yoruichi's wrist. Yoruichi held her hand up to show that she wasn't being harmed by the crackling binding, swinging her arm around to show she retained mobility.
"It's called Hainawa," Yoruichi drawled.
Akemi inclined her chin. "I suppose." She watched carefully as Tessai made a cord of energy dart out and coil around her ankle, then lightly twisted her foot around to test and inspect it as Tessai used the same technique to link the entire party together. Kisuke shoved a device into Yoruichi's hand. She glanced at it and idly pointed it at the bell. Another gadget was shoved at Jinta, who grumbled but cooperated and also pointed it at the bell. Tessai adjusted his glasses and faced Homura instead of the bell. Kisuke eagerly messed with another item and pointed it at the bell.
"Ready when you are," he said, mouth grinning beneath hard eyes.
Akemi activated what appeared to be a previously-hidden sand timer in her shield with a thought. No spoken incantation, even. With a series of clicks and whirs, their surroundings suddenly froze. The lanterns didn't flicker; the automatons' dance went still. Color itself dulled under the technique and shifted bluish.
Kisuke had more questions than he could ever hope to articulate.
"No fair," Karin said as Akemi bent to retrieve an RPG launcher. "That makes it so easy to pick off whatever you want."
Akemi shrugged. She glanced at Ururu. "You fire first."
Ururu glanced at Homura, then stepped away from the group, intently locked onto her target, and fired her shoulder-mounted spirit cannon. The projectile shot out a good ten meters before freezing in midair. Ururu lowered her weapon and turned to watch Akemi. The magical girl squinted, calculating the blast's trajectory, and side-stepped a few paces to fire the first of her RPGs. She immediately tossed the launcher away with a careless movement; it tumbled for a moment before stopping midair.
A delay between loss of contact and stopping?
Akemi returned, picked up the second RPG launcher, and stepped to the other side. She repeated her actions then returned for the final RPG, tested the cord on her ankle, and walked forward several meters to fire the third RPG below Ururu's projectile. The magical girl strode back to the party, cocked her head, and asked, "Are you ready?"
When she had the all-clear, Akemi allowed time to resume. Two seconds later came a magnificent quadruple explosion and the clanging of the iron bell shearing into multiple pieces. Yuzu cast her barrier to block the shrapnel, but it had already begun to wobble out of existence as the pocket dimension collapsed and condensed into a Grief Seed, leaving them back in front of the collectibles shop in the darkness between street lights.
"Epic," Jinta said in awe.
Kisuke couldn't help but stare at Akemi. It was amazing, yes. But also frightening. Time bent to that girl's will so easily it was frightening.
The magical girls immediately released their transformations. Karin approached the Grief Seed with subdued steps and gently lifted it from the pavement. She stared at it, transfixed, an oddly conflicted expression on her face. Yuzu hesitantly stepped to her side and leaned into her twin with a half-hug as Tessai silently dispelled the kidō. Isshin walked up behind the girls and set his hands on their shoulders. He smiled down at them and hoarsely said, "Come on, girls, let's go back to the shop."
On some unanimously superstitious level, no one wanted to overtly celebrate that the twins had cheated death.
Yuzu reached up and squeezed her father's hand, then stepped forward and pulled her sister along behind her. Ichigo hovered behind them like a mother hen. The others started to trail along after them.
Akemi twitched and looked up in surprise as Isshin's hand fell on her shoulder. She blinked up at him in silent question. The man made a motion as though to wipe his eyes, but diverted to scrub his hand over his mouth and blow out a hard sigh. He squeezed her shoulder tightly. "Thank you," he rasped.
Akemi shuffled and glanced aside, suddenly melancholy. "I do not deserve—"
Isshin squeezed her shoulder again. "What have I said about that?"
She shyly clasped her hands together and looked at her feet, cheeks warm. "Y-you're welcome?"
Isshin barked a tearful laugh and ruffled her hair. "Thatta girl." He walked forward, then turned and beckoned her. His face was smiling but his eyes were wet. "C'mon. Let's go."
Kisuke had to shake himself out of his thoughts to follow them.
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* Jikanteishi (時間停止, Temporal Stasis; Viz "Time Suspension") is a forbidden kidō spell. Only Tessai has been seen using it. One time. And was going to be thrown in prison for it by Ye Olden Central 46 despite it having been a smart move in an emergency.
A/N: When I first started this story, I didn't think I'd end up liking to write Isshin as much as I have come to. He has a mind of his own.
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.