A/N: I've had a lot of time at bus stops and on buses to use for scribbling in my story notebook so hi, here is a chapter sooner than I thought I'd manage one. :) Still stuck on the struggle bus, though.
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ACHTUNDVIERZIG
TIMELINE X + N + 1
Once again, Homura jolted straight from sleep to battle readiness at the shout from Ichigo's room well before dawn. Karin stirred and squinted at her in the dimness, saw her ring spark violet, and rolled off her bed and on top of Homura. Homura squawked and flailed through the slam of Ichigo's window as Karin clumsily grabbed her ring-hand and Yuzu sat upright and yawned.
"Karin, what are you doing?" Yuzu asked drowsily.
Karin remained draped over Homura like a sloth. "'M calmin' 'er down. Stupid Goat... loud..." she trailed off into a snore.
Homura, trapped beneath her, looked wildly at Yuzu, who just blinked back as though nothing unusual was happening.
After another boisterous Kurosaki household morning with a round of Soul Gem purification by Orihime, Homura boarded the early train with Ichigo and his friends once more. The boys sat in comfortable silence while Orihime babbled cheerfully at Homura. At the four friends' stop, Orihime bobbed toward Homura for a quick hug before darting off the train. Ichigo gave her some more quiet words of encouragement, ruffling her hair at the last minute before he left. Homura spent the rest of the ride drowsily running over the previous day's lessons in her head.
Homura checked the time when she got off the train in Mitakihara and decided it was late enough that she would just go directly to school. She pulled her book bag out of her shield in a quiet alley and approached the usual morning meeting place to find Miki and Shizuki waiting. They both waved cheerfully, but Miki's face had an awkward edginess to it. Homura tensed.
"Good morning, Akemi," Shizuki said with a smile.
"How was the trip, Stranger Danger?" Miki asked with a crooked grin.
"It went well enough," Homura murmured. She rifled in her bag and retrieved two tins of Glitterati to offer the girls. Miki squealed and Shizuki cooed her thanks.
"When did your train get in, Akemi?" Shizuki asked.
"Half an hour, perhaps." Homura zipped her bag closed and settled with the third tin of candy. "Where is Madoka?"
"Not here yet," Miki drawled. "Midnight could be keeping her busy."
"Mid—? Oh. Yoruichi."
"No, Midnight the Conqueror. Get it right, Stranger Danger!" Miki teased as she unwrapped a tiny candy.
"Have you even slept?" Shizuki asked as she tucked her own candy into her bag. "Tokyo is hours away from here, isn't it?"
"A bit, and yes," Homura answered. She pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "I took the first train and came straight from the station."
Shizuki frowned and touched a hand to her cheek. "Oh, my. You've been up for hours, then. How are you still awake?"
Homura stared directly at her, paused for thought, and blandly said, "Magic."
Miki choked on her candy as Shizuki giggled.
"Ah! You're here!" Madoka's voice called from down the lane. Homura turned to look for her and found her jogging up the path with Yoruichi tucked against her chest with one arm. Madoka looked worried. She stopped when she reached them and panted for a moment. Yoruichi wiggled out of her arms and dropped to the ground, then wove around Homura's legs in greeting. Madoka took a deep breath and looked Homura in the eye, troubled. "Um... Yoruichi... got into a fight."
Homura frowned as the other girls looked curious. "With... what?"
Madoka bit her lip. "I... left my window open last night. When I woke up, there was a... white cat on the shelf over my bed." She looked disturbed and stressed words in a way that told Homura what had really happened.
The Incubator had approached Madoka.
Instantly angry, Homura looked down at Yoruichi. Yoruichi looked up at her expressionlessly, but Homura saw her bare her claws a few times. Confirmation?
Madoka continued. "Yoruichi jumped up and fought it. They... they fought all over my room. Yoruichi... really, really attacked... it. She chased it out the window." Madoka looked down and nervously fidgeted with the strap of her book bag. "Papa is going to clean up the blood and fur while I'm at school."
Homura glanced down at the cat again as the other girls made alarmed sounds. Unable to speak, Yoruichi sat and licked a paw regally— the cat who ate the canary.
"W-wowww," Miki said with a strained smile. "So— so Midnight really is a ninja!" Her laugh was awkward and brittle. She shifted restlessly and glanced from face to face, settling on Homura with a significant look but speaking to Madoka. "It must have... followed you home yesterday."
Homura felt her skin crawl. "You... saw the white... cat... yesterday?" she asked through gritted teeth. "How? Did it... approach you?"
"Ah, it's my fault," Miki said ruefully. "Mom wouldn't let me skip out on shopping and I didn't want to go alone, so I got Madoka to come with me." After a pause, she added, "Midnight followed us. She... already didn't like the... white cat when it showed up."
Homura glanced down coldly. Yoruichi looked her in the face, bared her teeth with a yawn, and stretched, front legs extended before her with her claws out. She raked them backwards as she settled on her haunches. Homura desperately wished she could communicate with Yoruichi telepathically the way magical girls could with the Incubator.
"Well, I'm glad Yoruichi was there to get that stray out of your room. Did she get hurt?" Shizuki asked with concern, bending to look at the cat.
"Me, too. And I don't think so," Madoka answered.
School bells chimed in the distance, ending the conversation. Homura shook herself a bit, suppressed her rage, then held the last candy tin out to Madoka. "Here. From Tokyo."
The worry melted off Madoka's face and was replaced by a sunny smile as she took the tin and hugged it close. "Thanks for thinking of me, Homura!"
Homura couldn't help but quirk her own lips into a slight smile.
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Tomohisa finally got Tatsuya down for his nap after a busy morning. Instead of taking the time to breathe as usual, he gathered cleaning supplies and went to his daughter's room, resigned to scrubbing up dried blood. He stepped through the doorway and assessed the scene with a sigh. It seemed to not be as bad as he had remembered. He swore there had been much more fur lying around, but whatever. Less work.
He moved around the room carefully, taking note of clumps of fur as he methodically pre-treated the blood spots. That done, he picked up a grocery bag to collect fur in while the stains soaked. He went to the places he had noted, but he must have been mistaken— there was nothing in some of the places he thought there had been fur. Nothing pinged him as wrong until he got to the desk, where he had piled a couple clumps to get them out of the way on his first pass.
Nothing.
Tomohisa frowned. It had been very fine and light— maybe a draft had blown it? He bent to look on the floor. The chair. Beside the desk. Nothing. Like it had disappeared.
He carefully completed his circuit of the room, noting more missing fur. It was unsettling— was his memory going? was he overtired? Tomohisa thought hard as he knelt and started scrubbing the first of the stains, which seemed to have faded somewhat. After awhile, he zoned back in, sopped up the cleaner and water, and frowned harder. The stain was unaffected. Nothing on the cleaning cloth. He tried a different cleaner. Nothing. He sat back and looked around in confusion. His eyes wandered to the grocery bag full of fur.
Or not. It was empty.
Tomohisa stared hard, thoroughly disturbed. He leaned forward and brushed his fingers over the blood stain, withdrew to think, then dropped his hand and cloth into the pail of water. After a moment of contemplation, he hesitantly scrubbed at the stain again. It took some effort, but it came out.
Weird.
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The school day was uncomfortably tense. Sayaka kept sliding her eyes from Madoka to Akemi, noting how Madoka couldn't stop fidgeting and Akemi's movements— when she wasn't sitting rigid with her hands clenched into fists, that is— were jerky and abrupt with restrained anger. Hitomi caught Sayaka's eye and nodded at the two in question. Sayaka shrugged and cut her eyes away, forcing her hands to stop tapping her pencil. She was okay for awhile until Akemi was called to the board to solve an equation and somehow wrote as if she was stabbing something with the marker. Sayaka's pencil went back to tapping, her knees bouncing anxiously again.
The day dragged on at an agonizing pace. It was a relief when Hitomi parted from them for her after-school lessons. They stood on the path and returned Hitomi's wave. Madoka bent down to pick up Yoruichi, who was hanging around waiting for them as always.
Akemi glanced at them coldly. "My house."
Sayaka and Madoka nodded meekly.
They trooped off to Akemi's house in silence. Sayaka and Madoka sat at the table and fidgeted as Akemi prepared and served tea and cookies, face stony rather than welcoming. Yoruichi slunk around the girl when she sat, purring insistently until Akemi relented and pet her. Sayaka was glad to see Akemi relax minutely. That cat was really something.
Akemi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then looked at them evenly and said, "Explain everything that happened."
So they did. Akemi was silent through the whole thing, eyes boring into whichever of them was speaking at any given time. Sayaka felt like a child explaining how she had been naughty to an adult. When they were done, Akemi frowned, looked down at her tea, and picked it up to sip with her brows furrowed in thought. The silence dragged. Sayaka was getting desperate to end the silence even if it meant babbling something stupid when Akemi looked up once more.
"You were lucky," Akemi said bluntly.
"Y-yeah," Sayaka agreed bashfully. She wiggled her teacup around by its handle, cheeks hot with shame.
Akemi pressed her lips into an unhappy line and reluctantly said, "I suppose it is good you took the warning of danger seriously enough to not go out alone. But this could have gone very badly."
"Y-yeah," Sayaka said again, looking down. She glanced at Madoka. Her friend was wringing her hands and looking down.
"Mami— Mami was really nice, though," Madoka said hopefully as she lifted her chin. "Maybe— maybe you could work together?"
"I doubt it," Akemi said immediately.
"Why not?" Sayaka asked.
Akemi twisted her lips sourly before replying. "She trusts the Incubator too much. Besides, she is too soft."
Sayaka was insulted on Tomoe's behalf. The magical girl with the guns had seemed pretty damn badass. "What does that mean?"
"Do you know her?" Madoka asked softly.
Akemi stared for a moment, then huffed slightly. "I know her by reputation. She has mentored other magical girls." She focused on methodically preparing another cup of tea for herself as she continued. "Mami Tomoe is excellent in a fight. She is a... nice person. Noble. She has a tender heart. But she does not know any of the darker implications of the contract— as far as I know, that is. Magical girls as well-intentioned as her... they do not tend to handle the truth about the contract very well. Be very careful when you interact with her." Akemi finished stirring sugar into the tea, tapped the spoon on the cup, and laid it on a napkin. She looked them both in the eye. "Whether you tell Tomoe about the birth of Witches or she figures it out herself, she could become... dangerous."
Sayaka exchanged an uneasy glance with Madoka and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
The magical girl pursed her lips as she considered her words. "Girls who are caught up in the noble cause of protecting the innocent like some hero generally do not react well when they find out they will become the monsters they fight."
"W-what kind of reaction?" asked Madoka.
Sayaka was unnerved by the long, ominous stare Akemi gave them. Her violet eyes were fathomless. It was like peering into twin black holes as the magical girl debated what to say. Finally, Akemi explained, "Sometimes they immediately turn into Witches themselves. Sometimes... I have seen the kindest of girls snap, hunt down and kill other magical girls, and kill herself— destroy the Soul Gems, that is— to prevent the creation of Witches. To 'protect the innocent'."
Nausea washed over Sayaka. "No— No way—"
"No one— no one would do that. Would they?" Madoka said shakily. "A kind girl like Mami— never— she wouldn't—"
"That was what I thought until a friend of mine killed our friend and tried to kill me," Akemi said with a bitter nonchalance. She picked up her cup and delicately sipped as Madoka and Sayaka stared at her in speechless horror. Akemi glanced up at them, expressionless, set her teacup in its saucer, and carefully folded her hands together on the table. "I was once part of a team of magical girls. We had just finished defeating a Witch. We had seen another magical girl's Soul Gem turn black and were drawn into her labyrinth. My... friend— our leader— put all the pieces together during the fight and killed another of the girls we were with as soon as the labyrinth was gone. Then she tried to kill me."
"What... what happened?" Sayaka forced herself to ask.
Akemi looked down at her hands, melancholy. "Another friend reacted quickly and killed her to save me. But she turned into a Witch a couple weeks later."
Sayaka and Madoka could only stare.
"That girl was... a good leader. A good teacher. She was a veteran when I contracted and she taught me a great deal. But the truth broke her."
Madoka made a sound of distress and leaned forward. "Surely... surely not all of them react like— like that?"
"Like you," Sayaka blurted. "You— you haven't gone nuts or gone on a killing spree or anything!"
Something doubtful and sardonic passed through the magical girl's features for a fleeting moment before her face smoothed again. "You assume a great deal," she murmured faintly. Was that regret in her voice? Akemi tilted her head back and stared into the distance, contemplative. "There are a few. The ones who have... support, or a purpose outside of their duty to hunt Witches. I suppose you could count me among the latter, now."
Sayaka swallowed hard. "How many... how many of your friends... or just, just magical girls... how many d-died?" ...Actually, that had probably been very rude to ask. Dammit.
"Too many." Akemi bowed her head and closed her eyes. "I am the only survivor of my original team of five." She looked up at them with sudden ferocity. "To accept a magical girl contract is to sell your soul and sign your death warrant. Do not do it."
Sayaka nodded with Madoka as she thought. It was hard to be suspicious of Akemi. Sayaka knew she should try to remain objective and give equal consideration to all sides of this wish business. Should probably poke more at that... well, at least a lack of agreement that she hadn't gone nuts— even if all of Sayaka's instincts said there lie dragons on that topic. Technically, Sayaka supposed Akemi could just be a masterful actress. Discouraging them from contracting for her own ends, though Sayaka had no idea how their not contracting would work to her advantage. But even if Sayaka had suspicions about the girl's motives, she didn't know what else could explain that temporary death thing. That was a huge chunk of solid evidence. Well, as solid as magical spiritual superhero soul stuff could get. She thought. Probably.
Metaphysical junk was hard.
Sayaka was fooling herself if she thought she could maintain her doubt. She took a shaky breath and looked up at Homura. "Th-thanks, Stranger Danger."
Homura blinked in surprise, her gravity dispelled by confusion. "What for?"
"W-well," Sayaka stammered. "You— you saved us, and then you've warned us so much. I mean... I dunno what I would've done if I just met Kyubey by myself. I could've— me and Madoka could've— um. I know— I know you've said stuff about magical girls not being heroes... or something, but, um..." Her cheeks burned. "You're... you're kinda a hero to me." She shyly glanced up at Homura.
Stunned. Violet eyes wide, lips parted slightly as she stared— a picture of disbelief.
"Yes! Me, too!" Madoka added enthusiastically. "I— I'm not very smart, and I— w-well—"
"Don't say that," Homura snapped with a scowl. Madoka squeaked and looked upset. Homura softened her face. "Do not say you are not smart. You sell yourself short."
Madoka's cheeks flushed. Sayaka grinned and poked Madoka's waist to make her squeak again. "I keep trying to tell her that." She looked at Homura again, feeling bolder. "You really are a good friend. And I don't care what you think. You're a hero."
Homura stubbornly mumbled a denial, cleared her throat, and shifted around awkwardly. Her face was strangely conflicted.
"What? You saved us," Sayaka teased. This was more her element. "I don't know if we could be called innocents— well, except for Madoka—" she poked her friend again and got a little swat for her effort— "but you saved us from the Familiars and you're teaching us a lot to protect us even more." She wagged a finger at Homura as though scolding her, but winked and smiled. "So don't you argue, young lady."
Homura scowled at her, but Sayaka swore she saw a kind of frustrated fondness in it. Reminded her of the faces her older cousin would make at her younger cousin whenever he threw his arms skyward in the face of sibling brattiness. A kinda you are infuriating but I can't really bring myself to hate you attitude. Knowing what Sayaka did now, it made a lot of sense, though. Homura seemed to get frustrated whenever they got optimistic about anything relating to magical girls. Like she wanted them to think a certain way and their circling back to positives over and over was— Oh.
With a sobering flash of insight, Sayaka's teasing smile evaporated and she asked, "Have you... tried to talk girls like us out of this before?"
The magical girl's face went utterly blank as she stared at Sayaka. At length, she said, "Yes."
Sayaka squirmed. There was something eerie in the way Homura was staring at her. "Did... they listen to you?"
"Rarely, if ever," Homura immediately replied, her face creepily intense.
Madoka fluttered her hands from her lap to her teacup and back again. "What... happened to them?"
Homura's grave face turned to her. With a thousand-yard stare, she answered, "Dead or Witches. All of them."
There wasn't really much that could be said to that. A long silence stretched between them.
Hands curled into fists and drawn to her chest, Madoka looked determined and said, "We'll listen to you. Right, Sayaka?"
Sayaka nodded. Being a hero seemed to be much more emotionally difficult than she had thought. Which made Homura's heroism even more admirable in her eyes, but that sounded like something that would just piss off the magical girl— and Sayaka didn't want to make more problems for her. More tension seemed to bleed out of Homura at Madoka's pronouncement. It made Sayaka relax again, too. She cleared her throat. "Um. What should we do if we find one of those floaty Witch-door things?"
Homura settled back and picked up her teacup. "Call me. Madoka has my number." She hesitated before her sip. "Ah. Both of you text me so I can add you to my contacts." After her sip, she looked at them seriously. "Do not go into the labyrinths. You will not be able to contact me inside and you may die."
"What should we do about Kyu— the... Incubator?" Madoka asked timidly.
"Refuse it. Tell it to leave you alone. Say it is wasting its time trying to convince you to contract," Homura said with cold rage in her eyes. "It will probably still loiter about, waiting for an opportunity to recruit you in some kind of emergency. Refuse it."
Sayaka nodded firmly. "And what about... Tomoe?"
Homura sighed deeply and contemplated the surface of her tea for a long moment. "Be polite. Ask more leading questions if you wish. If you do that, be cautious."
"Um. Can— can we tell her to talk to you?" Madoka asked.
Tilting her head in thought, Homura slowly said, "I suppose." Her face firmed again. "Keep in mind, though, that she has already sold her soul. There is no turning back for her. The best you can hope for is that she will... join me in discouraging other girls from contracting."
"We— we could be her friends, though," Madoka said hopefully. "And maybe— maybe you could work together!"
Sayaka sat straighter and enthusiastically said, "Yeah! Be a magical girl duo!"
Annnd Homura's scowl was back. Damn. "This is not some happy little manga," she said disapprovingly.
Sayaka deflated. "I know. I just... two heads are better than one, right? You could have each other's backs." She looked down at her lap, then up at Homura. Quietly, she said, "I just... want you both to be okay."
Homura stared at her flatly, then closed her eyes and sighed. "I will remain... open to the possibility. But unless Tomoe learns the truth and does not snap, I absolutely do not want her at my back."
Sayaka and Madoka flinched. Sayaka swallowed hard. "That's... that's reasonable."
Homura nodded curtly and settled with her tea again.
"Can... I ask you a question?" Madoka asked cautiously.
"Of course."
"The Incubator said he doesn't know you. But Mami said you can only be a magical girl if you contract with him. So. Um." Madoka wrung her hands and hesitantly asked, "So how... are you a magical girl?"
The magical girl sighed tiredly. "My situation is... extremely complicated. I have taken measures to... obscure my origins. Deliberately. If it is telling the truth about not knowing me, then that means that my methods are working well." She looked at them askance. "The less it knows about me, the better. I know my secrecy must be a point of contention for you. I apologize, but you must understand that I need to be extremely careful in controlling dissemination of information about me. I do not mean to say that I think you will deliberately pass information on to the Incubator, but it is safest to prevent accidental disclosures which could be used against me."
Like in a spy movie or something, Sayaka thought but was smart enough not to say.
Madoka nodded, then shifted around nervously. "Is there— is there anything we can do to help you?" she asked with concern.
Homura pursed her lips and sighed. "For now, tell me whenever you are approached by Tomoe, the Incubator, or any other magical girls. Refer to the Incubator as Kyubey to minimize its suspicion about what I know. Call me if you notice any labyrinths or other signs of Witches and Familiars."
Sayaka perked up. "What kind of signs?"
Sayaka seared the following conversation about odd behaviors and Witches' Kisses into her memory. If watching for such things and distracting victims in thrall was all she could do to protect people, she was going to make sure she was a damn expert.
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A/N: Sayaka's hero worship transferred lol. First come, first served.
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.