A/N: Fun times ahead.
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SIEBENUNDFÜNFZIG
TIMELINE X + N + 1
Before advancing into the labyrinth, Tōshirō gathered Soul Gems from Momoe's bubbles with Akemi and stored them in the magical girl's shield. When done, Akemi turned to him and held out her hand.
"Give me that thing." Meaning the imitation Grief Seed.
"No." Tōshirō didn't wait for her to snap at him, which she was obviously about to do. "What if inserting it into your shield works on you the same way as inserting it into Miki's forehead?"
Akemi blanched and withdrew her hand. "Point taken." After a moment, she huffed and tossed her hair over her shoulder, pulling a flamethrower again and stalking deeper into the labyrinth. "Let us finish this and get out of here."
He wholeheartedly agreed.
The Witch was anticlimactic after their battle with Sōju. As Akemi had told him, it was a woman's torso from the base of the sternum down, feminine curves and legs clad in lacy black lingerie and stockings. Birdcage bars arced out from the center of the top of the torso— probably from the spine. So the cage was part of its body? It stayed in one place despite the furiously kicking legs causing the birdcage to thrash around noisily. They didn't particularly have to worry about Familiars as the Witch seemed to have crushed a fair number of them, and the chains lashing from above were simple enough to avoid and block even while keeping one eye on Momoe. Akemi dodged closer, froze time, and fired several RPGs at the cage. Time resumed; the birdcage broke apart in a series of explosions. Time froze again when the smoke cleared enough to see the legs falling from their perch. Akemi fired more RPGs, unfroze time, and stood impassively as the second round of explosions destroyed the Witch and collapsed the labyrinth.
Even as their surroundings wobbled out of existence and put them back in the alley, Tōshirō frowned at Akemi's back as she extended a hand before her to catch the new Grief Seed drifting toward the ground. The timestop was an invaluable tool, but he wondered if she relied on it too much.
"I'm glad to see you didn't need me," Urahara's voice said behind them. "Did you encounter and eliminate the target?"
Momoe squeaked in surprise and actually clung to Tōshirō's waist as he and Akemi turned to look toward the mouth of the alley. The shopkeeper stood there, face serious as he took in their appearances, evaluating wounds, bloodstains, and body language with sharp eyes. He held the cane that concealed his zanpakutō in both hands, positioned near a hip as though contemplating drawing the blade within.
"Yes," Akemi answered coldly in a way that reminded Tōshirō of Soifon reporting on a covert op.
Urahara relaxed. "Did you recover Tomoe's Soul Gem?"
"Yes. And forty-three besides."
Tōshirō glanced at her over his shoulder with his eyebrows raised as Urahara crooned, "Is that so?" in calculating interest. For better or worse, those Soul Gems would probably be finding their way to Urahara's lab. Better than Kurotsuchi's lab, Tōshirō supposed.
"Daddy!"
Momoe released Tōshirō's waist and ran to a body slumped on the ground among the crates of empty liquor bottles. She threw herself down on the man and shook him, breath hitching with new tears. "Don't die!"
Urahara stepped forward, leaned down, and gently lay a hand on her shoulder. "He is simply stunned, Miss Momoe. We will take him to my shop and help him recover. He will be fine. Come along."
Momoe sobbed her relief and backed off as Urahara lifted her father over his shoulder. Tōshirō and Akemi jumped to the rooftops ahead of them when Momoe gasped, "Oh! I need to get Mommy! The Witch made Daddy drop her!"
They were all confused until the little magical girl jogged to one side of the alley and pulled a funeral urn from among some trash. Tōshirō felt Akemi's reiatsu flicker with anger and glanced at her in question as Momoe tenderly brushed refuse off the item, polishing it with her poncho. Akemi noticed, glanced at him, and looked away. He had to strain to hear her grit out, "I hate what Witches do to people. Such disrespect to—" She cut herself off and looked murderous.
Tōshirō was suddenly reminded that Akemi was an orphan and probably had feelings about funeral urns containing the remains of parents.
Their rooftop journey to the shop was leisurely so Momoe could keep pace with them. The little girl was tired and her Soul Gem was dim, so they didn't see a reason for her to push herself. They all followed Urahara to the normal part of the living quarters of the shop, where he lay Mr. Momoe on a futon in a dimly lit room. Momoe fussed over him but yawned.
"Miss Akemi, please use a Grief Seed on Miss Momoe's Soul Gem and your own," Urahara said quietly. "We will let Miss Momoe rest with her father for a little while."
Akemi blankly complied and didn't react when Momoe hugged her around the waist afterward. Momoe stepped back uncertainly as Tsukabishi came in the room with a tray of food and drink. Urahara gently ordered Momoe to eat and sleep. The girl fretted, but complied after a moment's hesitation.
Urahara led Tōshirō and Akemi into the deeper halls of the shop and sat them around a table that already had tea and damp towels waiting for them. As soon as they sat, Akemi wiped the blood from her face and hands on the warm towel, took a dainty sip from her teacup, set it down next to the discarded towel, and started pulling Soul Gems out of her shield. She lined them up on the tabletop in neat rows as Tōshirō tidied up himself and Urahara watched. The last one she pulled out was Tomoe's. She hadn't seemed to care about the others, but closely inspected Tomoe's for damage before setting it directly in front of her with thinly-disguised reverence; she cautiously set one arm on the table near it in a protective curl. Just like Tōshirō had seen his soldiers who had come from Rukon districts where food was scarce treat their plates in the mess hall. An unconscious measure to prevent theft. Combined with her earlier rage...
Akemi cared about Mami Tomoe more than she let on. Considering also the way she had spoken of Miki in early debriefings, Tōshirō wondered how much of her seeming annoyance with the other girls was self-preserving bravado.
"Please describe everything that happened after our phone contact," Urahara ordered in a clipped voice.
Tōshirō and Akemi took turns describing the events. When he was reminded of how he had shattered several Soul Gems, Tōshirō choked on his words. As a shinigami, he was supposed to protect souls. His current mission was, in part, to save magical girls' souls. And he had destroyed them. He stared at the table blankly, mind turbulent as Akemi finished the debriefing.
After a minute of quiet, Akemi flatly said, "Do not torture yourself over those Soul Gems. Those magical girls were functionally dead already."
Tōshirō slowly looked up at her and scrutinized her blank face. "You're jaded."
"Yes. I am," she admitted easily.
"You know they are capable of being sent on even if they no longer have bodies."
"We know Witches are capable of being sent on," Akemi said. "We know nothing of the pure Soul Gem state as yet."
He looked at her askance and argued, "You know we think it's possible."
"Perhaps. But your actions were reasonable, their destruction was accidental, and our mission succeeded in the end. You are military, are you not? You should be familiar with the concept of collateral damage."
Tōshirō stared at her. Again, he was reminded of Soifon in a bad way. In his peripheral vision, he noticed that Urahara was studying Akemi closely as she sipped her tea and pretty much ignored them. What he was thinking was a mystery, though.
After a few minutes, Urahara said, "So. I'm thinking we should have Miss Kaname and Miss Miki on hand when we reunite Miss Tomoe's Soul Gem with her body. After they comfort her, we can explain at least the soul crystallization to her and Momoe at the same time. We can save the tie to Witches for another time, once they have accepted this first piece of information."
Akemi pursed her lips and stubbornly refused to look at him, but eventually lifted her chin in assent.
Urahara tilted his head and scrutinized her. "You are withdrawing from us, Miss Akemi," he said bluntly. When she made no move but to coldly look at him out of the corners of her eyes, he went in for the kill. "You are afraid of how Miss Tomoe will react and are numbing yourself in preparation."
Akemi's mouth turned down in a harsh frown and she glared at the shopkeeper.
"You think we will be destroying Mami Tomoe's Soul Gem tonight, don't you?"
The magical girl still said nothing, but the arm around Tomoe's Soul Gem twitched. After a long mutual silence wherein Urahara waited for her to react, Akemi forced her face into blankness and looked at Urahara directly. "Do you or do you not wish to proceed with your plan?"
Urahara continued to stare at her. It seemed a silent battle of wills— or calculations. Finally, Urahara inclined his chin and coolly said, "Contact Miss Kaname and Miss Miki. Say Miss Tomoe's out-of-town emergency has been resolved, she has returned from her trip, and has invited all of you over for a Saturday night sleepover to relax and catch her up on schoolwork. That should clue them in that the crisis is over. Once Captain Hitsugaya's wounds have been dressed, he will wait near Miss Tomoe's apartment and intercept them to come here. I will heal him more fully later— I want the girls to see he is injured. You go to your home and retrieve Yoruichi and some cat food to keep up that charade. We will wake Momoe to witness the reunion of Miss Tomoe's soul and body. After they calm, we will discuss things further."
"Fine," Akemi said sullenly.
It was very obviously not fine, but she cooperated.
An hour's time found Tōshirō leaning against a light pole near Tomoe's apartment complex in casual clothes, idly watching moths flutter in the glow of the lamp as he waited and tried to ignore the ache of his gigai's bandaged wounds. Soon, Kaname and Miki hurried around a corner, sighted him, and jogged over, school and overnight bags bouncing at their sides.
"You got Mami back?!"
"What about Sōju?!"
Tōshirō pushed off from the pole and gestured for them to follow him. "We recovered Tomoe's Soul Gem intact. Sōju is dead."
Kaname gasped and Miki looked grimly satisfied. As Tōshirō turned away, Kaname said, "Were you hurt? Your voice sounds..." She trailed off as she couldn't find a word.
"Rough?" Tōshirō ventured.
"Yeah," said Miki.
Tōshirō sighed. Time to remind them of the violence involved as a deterrent to contracting. "I took several hits in the fight. Most of my wounds are healing fine." He casually held an arm up and flexed it so the sleeve fell away and revealed clean gauze on his bicep, then stuffed both hands in his pockets. "A chest stab slipped between ribs and nicked a lung. It needs more healing, but it's functional and we thought you should be present when Tomoe wakes up."
"A lung?" Kaname gasped, holding a hand over her mouth.
"Yeah." Thank God Urahara had made the gigai more durable than the average human. The lung hadn't actually collapsed. Fighting with a collapsed lung was hell as a spirit; in a fragile human body, he could have lost consciousness for lack of oxygen and been slaughtered.
They walked in silence for another block before Kaname worriedly asked, "And Homura? Is Homura hurt?"
"She's fine now. Healed with her Soul Gem and used a Grief Seed to restore it," Tōshirō answered. "Pretty sure she's pissed that Sōju stabbed her in the eye again, though. Among other things." He looked at them over his shoulder as they made choking noises. "Just so you know, Akemi is in a dangerous mood. Tread lightly with her tonight."
"I— I thought she'd be happy," Kaname said doubtfully.
Tōshirō sighed heavily and looked forward. "She's pissed Sōju nailed her in the face again. Pissed at Momoe for going into a labyrinth alone then defying an order. Furious at some things we learned about Sōju. Enraged that Sōju had a trump card and got one over on us before we could end her. Probably second-guessing a lot of our moves in the fight for ways we could have saved ourselves trouble— I know I am." He tilted his head thoughtfully and considered the tentative psychological profile Urahara had composed about Akemi. Maybe the girls would be able to help reel her back in if they could head off the bad reactions. Up the potential sympathy factor. "Pretty sure she's also angry at herself for not killing Sōju earlier, maybe even the first time she saw her— you know, blaming herself for... everything— and afraid Tomoe is going to snap when she wakes up and we explain things to her. So Akemi's withdrawing. Doing that thing I told you— wait, no, I told Tomoe." Tōshirō sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. Bothersome. "Akemi gets cold and bitter as a defense mechanism. If she says things that anger or offend or disturb you, don't let it get to you. She probably doesn't mean it." He turned and gave Miki a hard look, knowing from Akemi's reports on previous timelines that she often had knee-jerk reactions. "Don't let her push you away by getting you angry. Out-stubborn her."
Miki's face went mulish as though she would argue, but she cut her eyes away and looked troubled instead. Tōshirō hoped that was a good sign.
The rest of their journey was completed in uneasy silence. Tōshirō led them through the dark shop and down the long hallway to the living quarters, navigating twists into the hidden corridors with ease until they found the room that had been their impromptu infirmary the other night. Tomoe's body lay in stasis on the only remaining futon. Akemi, Momoe, Urahara, and Tsukabishi were seated at the low table. Momoe was fretfully looking from person to person. Urahara was watching Akemi, who had an arm loosely curved around Tomoe's Soul Gem again as though she hadn't left. At least she had thought to wash off the rest of the blood at home. She was rigid and expressionless as a statue of cold marble.
"Homura!"
Akemi's eyes slid toward them as Kaname took an eager step forward but drew up short. The magical girl's eyes were twin voids. She was there and light years away at the same time. After a hesitation, Kaname firmed her shoulders with determination and marched forward to kneel next to Akemi and hug her. Akemi allowed the contact, but her only other reaction was a slight tilt of her head.
Miki gulped audibly and passed Tōshirō to take a place at Akemi's side. Tōshirō glanced at Urahara and raised a brow in question. Urahara's sharp eyes looked from him to the doorway to Tomoe and back. Tōshirō took a position casually leaning against the door jamb and prepared himself to stop Tomoe if she tried to bolt upon awakening.
Urahara lightly clapped his hands once to get everyone's attention. "Now. What I would like to do is wait to explain everything until Miss Tomoe has repossessed her body." A flick of his eyes indicated that he did not miss Miki's shudder at the term. "She will likely be quite upset. We will rely on you girls to help comfort her as we explain things." Kaname nodded firmly. "My plan is to explain things gradually. At least for tonight, please do not explain anything more than myself or Miss Akemi if you know more on a topic. This will be quite shocking— and I daresay this will be new to Miss Momoe, as well. Will everyone cooperate?"
After various nods and nervous murmuring, Urahara turned to Akemi and held his hand out. Akemi stared at him for a moment, frowned at his hand, picked up Tomoe's Soul Gem, stood, and turned to Kaname instead. She gently took Kaname's hand, pried it open, and tucked Tomoe's Soul Gem into the palm, then folded the fingers closed again.
Akemi looked the startled girl in the eyes. "In the hand. Just like with me. The last thing she will remember is being attacked from behind while surrounded by her worst memories. Expect her to panic at the sudden change. She may fight. Afterward, she will probably cry." She released Kaname's hands and stepped away.
"B-but—Homura! What—?!" Kaname scrambled to her feet, cradling the amber egg to her breast. She looked baffled and distraught. "Why?! I can't— Homura, wait!"
Akemi glanced back over her shoulder. "You can. You are the kindest and most trustworthy person in this building," she said frankly, as though rendering judgment or stating a universal truth. "Her soul is safest with you. You know what to do."
"I don't—!"
"You do. Just be yourself." Then she brushed past Tōshirō as if he wasn't there.
Tōshirō noticed the implied barb at Urahara. A glance at Urahara's carefully neutral face told him the scientist did, as well. Miki's face twitched but she pursed her lips and stayed quiet, eyes sharper than Tōshirō expected of her evaluating every face in quick glances.
"Umm, why— why is Miss Homura leaving?" Momoe asked.
Tōshirō sighed. "She doesn't want to be here if Tomoe reacts badly. She's seen it too many times before." He sensed that Akemi wasn't far off, though— down the hall, perhaps, though distance was strange in the bowels of the shop. The girl couldn't bear to be near but also couldn't bear to be far. Tōshirō could sympathize with that feeling, but it worried him. He couldn't decide if it was better or worse than her taking off altogether.
Urahara took a deep breath and blew it out in a gust. "Well, Miss Kaname. Whenever you're ready."
Tōshirō found himself impressed by how quickly the human girl went from gobsmacked, overwhelmed confusion to kind determination. She strode to Tomoe's bedside and looked down at her with lips pursed in thought. Glancing up, she beckoned, "Sayaka."
Miki stood promptly and moved to Tomoe's right side as directed without a peep of objection. At Kaname's murmured, hesitant prompting, each girl knelt and took one of Tomoe's hands in her own. Kaname met Miki's eyes seriously and took a deep breath. "Try to keep hold of her, but don't... be hard. And don't yell." She wet her lips as Miki nodded, then looked up at Tōshirō and Urahara. "If she— if she fights, you'll— stop her but don't— not— won't hurt her, right?"
Tōshirō nodded with Urahara. Tsukabishi shifted positions and dispelled the green stasis spell with a gesture, then held his hands in a neutral starting pose for kidō, ready to choose a spell on the fly. The big man said, "I can bind her with a spell if necessary. As a last resort. I don't want to make her panic more by waking up already bound."
Tension eased off Kaname's face and she nodded at Tsukabishi. Another deep, centering breath later, she was lowering Tomoe's Soul Gem toward her left hand, eyes intent on Tomoe's face.
Bit by bit, Tōshirō was beginning to see what had inspired Akemi's devotion to her.
§ x § x §
—like smoke, danger!
"Mami?"
Madoka
Mami eyes snapped open light in front someone attacking back— more guns more guns aim behind—
"Wah!"
Sayaka
—fire!
Booms shouts cracks squeals thrust away hands restraining her own clatter of guns falling... beside her?
—turn to see... a pillow? not enough air sight dimming starbursts vision—
"Mami. Slow down. Breathe! Mami, look at me. Mami, you're safe, you're safe, breathe!"
Madoka voice firm not screaming no music no not-water whatwherewhat—
"Breathe, Mami!" Madoka's voice commanded her. Hands grasped her shoulders, thumbs rubbed circles.
Mami inhaled more deeply, screamed, and threw the arms off her, eyes searching everywhere looking for white and purple frills fingers light silver smoke—
No carousels, snow, water, or TV screens, no deadMom deadDad thatWitch, no angels, nothing, no threats, just pure adrenaline, walls, ceiling, people, people, Madoka Sayaka that-girl-that-one-time boy-with-magic shop-men... no Homura?! Her ally— friend?— hurt, bleeding, warn behind you!, where—
Hands grasped her own, which she hadn't realized she was holding to her head. They caressed gently, slid under her fingers, pulled her hands away, squeezed again.
"Look at me, Mami." Madoka. Calm smooth kind voice. "Breathe and look at me."
Mami gulped air as though surfacing from a dive, eyes finally focusing on Madoka, who smiled at her then opened her mouth wide to mime a slower breath. Mami unconsciously matched her. Copying her rhythm for a few breaths made Mami realize she had been hyperventilating. Nothing made sense, but as her mind downshifted from red alert, Mami was able to tell herself that she would figure it out when she could think properly. She startled at a hand on her shoulder, but calmed when she saw Sayaka smiling at her with tears rolling down her cheeks.
Mami took an extra big breath and gasped, "Akemi— I hurt her— ambush— where—"
"Homura is fine now," Madoka soothed. "We all got out alive. We're safe. It's over."
And the tears came.
Mami tugged her hands back and covered her face, crying her relief and shame. She heard rustling cloth-on-cloth and then a hand was stroking her hair, a slight breath of warm-ramblingrose-comforting-Madoka-magic soothing as fresh rose tea radiating from her fingers. Did the girl even know she was using it?
It felt like a long time before she calmed enough to accept Sayaka's hand to sit upright. Mami rubbed her sleeves over her face repeatedly to mop up the tears, noticing for the first time that she was in her school uniform instead of her battle costume. Had she been unconscious? She sniffled as she looked around the room. At the faces of all the people who had seen her at her crying messy worst. Her face burned in embarrassment. Her eyes caught on Hitsugaya, who was leaning on a door jamb and watching her with obvious sympathy. Mami looked down at her lap and wrung her hands. No one said anything for a long time. The silence stretched as though waiting for Mami to make the first move. Mami could not. Could not.
"Ah, my poor floor."
Mami lifted her chin and blinked owlishly at Mr. Urahara. He was seated at a table at the far end of the room with Mr. Tsukabishi and— little Nagisa?
"You certainly know how to regain consciousness with a bang," Mr. Urahara said with lighthearted relief.
Sayaka choked on a laugh that came out as a screech and Hitsugaya made a disapproving click with his tongue. Mami looked down and found several of her ivory rifles scattered on the floorboards. The floorboards which looked like they had been bombed around the pillow her head had been resting on. Charred and splintered beyond repair.
Mami covered her mouth as she gaped, dismissed the rifles, then gasped, "I'm so sorry!"
Mr. Urahara laughed merrily.
"Really! I'm so so sorry! I'll— I'll pay—!"
Mr. Urahara produced a fan from his sleeve and waved it dismissively a few times. "It's nothing, it's nothing! An excuse to redecorate! Like the time I brought someone home for Tessai to heal and they literally blew the roof off my old shop when they woke up, ahahahahaha~"
Mami was going to object again but was surprised by something soft and warm brushing her side. She looked down and found Homura's black cat rubbing at her hip. "Eh? Where did you come from?"
The cat meowed and threw herself on her side, raising her front arm in a blatant demand for a chest scratch. Mami complied automatically.
"Stranger Danger brought her from home when it looked like she'd be camping out here for a few days," Sayaka said.
"A few days?" Mami looked up. "Was I unconscious?"
"In a way," Mr. Urahara said, wiggling his fan in a gesture she interpreted as kinda-sorta.
Madoka took her free hand and squeezed it. "Let's sit at the table and talk about it, okay?"
Mami eased into a seat between Madoka and Sayaka as Mr. Tsukabishi poured her a cup of steaming tea. She gratefully lifted the cup to her lips in shaking hands; strong German chamomile with a touch of honey and cinnamon— the flavor she had told Mr. Tsukabishi was her favorite when he helped her choose a new tea to try yesterday. Or... probably not yesterday, now. Yesterday to her? Whichever. She thanked him weakly and allowed herself to be distracted by Yoruichi climbing into her lap and purring.
"Um... um, are you okay, Miss Mami?" Nagisa asked timidly.
Surprised, Mami stared at her, then recovered. "Oh, I'm feeling much better," she said with the best reassuring smile she could manage. "What are you doing here?"
"Miss Madoka and Miss Sayaka and Miss Homura helped me on Monday when I was sad after m-my m-mommy died," Nagisa answered, eyes tearing up.
Mami set down her teacup as her face fell. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. Come here." She opened her arms.
Nagisa crawled around the table and hugged her fiercely, then sat back and rubbed her eyes. "A-and they even came to M-mommy's funeral on Thursday. Then today Miss Ho—"
"Wait. Thursday?" Mami looked around worriedly. Past tense? It was Wednesday last time she checked. "What is today?"
Nagisa looked away.
"Saturday evening," Hitsugaya's steady voice said behind her.
She glanced at him over her shoulder, startled. "Saturday?" Turning back to everyone at the table, she stammered, "I was out... I was out for three days?!"
"Yes, Miss Tomoe," Mr. Urahara said gravely.
"What happened to me?" Mami was baffled. "With my magic... Was I badly hurt? How...? My magic should have..." She trailed off and looked at everyone.
Mami did not like the looks traded around the table.
"You were ambushed by Ayase Sōju," Mr. Urahara said. "She stole your Soul Gem. You instantly lost consciousness. We brought your body here. Miss Akemi has been leading the hunt for your captor from then to this evening, when she and my nephew were able to retrieve you."
Appalled, Mami clutched her Soul Gem ring to her chest protectively. Her mouth worked silently as words failed her. But— "Retrieved... me? But you said she took my Gem. Not me."
A smile ghosted across Mr. Urahara's face. "Ah, you're a clever one." He met her eyes and looked curious. "You're already working it out for yourself, aren't you? You finally have enough information."
"I don't— I don't understand—" No. No. "Taking my Soul Gem... took my magic, right? A magical girl without magic would... I don't... I'm not my..." No.
"Mami."
Mami turned to Madoka, who was looking at her with sympathetic regret. "What?"
Madoka took one of her hands. "This is one of the things Homura has wanted to tell you. She wanted to tell you gently, not like this."
Mami shook her head in denial. No. No.
"You too, Nagisa," Madoka said gently, reaching out with her other hand. Nagisa latched onto it and watched her in silent dread. Madoka took a steadying breath and said, "You are your Soul Gem. Your Soul Gem is your soul. When the Incubator— Kyubey— when it makes your Soul Gem, it's actually taking your soul out of your body and... um..." She looked around at the other people for help.
"Making it solid," Mr. Urahara finished. "When crystallized, your soul can still control your body within a one hundred meter radius. It is a focus as the Incubator explains, but the circumstances that make it so are far different from what it implies through lies of omission."
Mami and Nagisa stared at the shopkeeper in numb horror.
Lies lies lies lies lies, Mami's mind echoed. She started shaking her head again.
Which was the lie?
Madoka's warm hands squeezed theirs again, prompting them to look at her. She smiled at them lovingly. "You're still you, no matter where your soul is. Never forget that."
Fresh tears spilled down Mami's cheeks. "Kyubey— Kyubey did— what?!"
"It tricks girls into a deal with the devil," Sayaka said lowly.
"Why?!" Mami demanded.
"We know some of its reasons for doing it that way and know what it claims its end goal is, but we have doubts about that," Urahara said plainly. Vaguely. As if that could ever be a satisfying answer! Seeing her face, he added, "One of its stated purposes is for the body to become far more durable as a measure to have more contractees survive battle. Among other reasons."
"What reasons?!" Mami demanded as she angrily scrubbed tears from her face. "Tell me!"
"Not until you have had time to process and accept this," Akemi's voice said quietly behind her.
Mami turned and looked at the door. Akemi stood in the dim hallway just outside it, face impassive. Hitsugaya was eyeing her over his shoulder warily.
"Why not?!"
Akemi pushed her hair over her shoulder. "Too much information at once will overwhelm you. You are already overwhelmed. Hearing something worse so soon—"
"Worse?!" Mami demanded.
Akemi sighed. "Worse. You need to... regain your balance before the next step so you do not crack. Like the other girls. I do not want to fight you."
Mami felt her chest tighten with contrary anger. "What makes you think I'll react like those other girls? I'm not them!"
Akemi stared at her, face disturbingly devoid of emotion and eyes far away for a minute before she pursed her lips, then frowned. She did not answer.
"You don't know me!" Mami added hotly.
The other magical girl's frown did not change, but her magic snapped taut with bitterness. "Exactly."
Mr. Urahara drew breath to speak, but Sayaka beat him to it. "She's trying to protect you, Mami. She doesn't know you'll flip out, but she wants to be careful because she doesn't want the same bad things to happen to you like what happened to the other girls she told flat-out." Sayaka shifted her gaze to Homura. "Right?"
Akemi reverted to a blank slate and looked away.
Sayaka tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, then looked to Mami. "She's had to kill other magical girls in self-defense. She once told us—"
Mami's heart leapt into her throat.
Dizzying magic flickered with outrage. "Miki. Stop."
Sayaka favored Akemi's hiss with a nervous but unrepentant glance, then looked to Mami again. "Her first team leader went nuts and broke a teammate's Soul Gem and tried to break Homura's—"
"Miki!"
"—But another teammate stopped the leader. By breaking her Soul Gem first."
Nagisa whimpered. Mami gaped in horror. "You— you're not— that didn't—" She whirled and looked at Akemi with heartbroken desperation. "That's not— have— Did you? Did that happen? When you said— when you said you'd been ambushed, did you— k-kill them?! Did— did that leader— your friend ambushed you?!"
Akemi stared blankly, neither confirming or denying, until Hitsugaya sighed and said, "Yes. Her friend was the first one. She's had to kill others in self-defense after trying to help them. Always after a despairing magical girl either tried to destroy her Soul Gem— or succeeded at destroying others. But sometimes..." He paused, mulled over his phrasing, looked at Akemi out of the corner of his eye, then looked at Mami with direct eye contact. Hitsugaya quietly finished, "Sometimes, the magical girls kill themselves instead. Shatter their own Soul Gems. Often right in front of her. Or even me, once."
Wide-eyed, Mami looked at Akemi, who met her eyes coldly then looked away yet again. "One must put down rabid dogs, no matter how gentle they were before the illness made them vicious and dangerous," she said to the wall.
"No matter how loved," Madoka said slowly.
Akemi did not look at her. "It is the safe and merciful thing to do," she finished without inflection.
Mami shook. "S-so magical girls are dogs now?! Even your friends?!"
Akemi slanted her eyes at Mami, face hard. "You deliberately misunderstand. This is why I release information slowly: To prevent irrational reactions like yours from cascading into disaster. It does no one any good. Perhaps blissful ignorance would suit your soft sort best."
Mami clenched her fists and opened her mouth to retort, but Sayaka beat her. The girl loudly blabbed, "Stranger Danger's doing that thing where she's way too damn blunt and rude and mean because she's worried." She turned to Homura. "Because you care about Mami getting hurt. Like when you snapped at me about Kyōsuke to keep me from being dumb and getting hurt because you knew what it's like to be on the other side of the thing I was gonna do and how bad it could go. And how brutally honest you were when you talked to me 'n Madoka about contracting. You can be a stone-cold bitch when you're worried about someone."
"Sa—Sayaka, um—" Madoka tried to interrupt, looking like someone trying to figure out how to stop two trains from colliding at full speed.
"You use words to smack sense into people when you think they're gonna do something that gets them hurt," Sayaka continued. "You don't care about hurting feelings as long as the person you're worrying about stays safe. Mami just doesn't know that's how you roll." Akemi scowled at her fiercely. Sayaka leaned forward on her elbows, chin cupped in her hands as she looked at Akemi like she was examining a puzzle and unhappy with some of the pieces. "I really like you, Stranger Danger, and I'm blunt, too—"
"And absolutely tactless," Akemi spat.
"Yup. Got me there. But you can be, too. Anyway, I think I get how you roll. But I really don't think it's healthy."
Mami noticed that Mr. Urahara was watching Sayaka with intense fascination. She glanced back at Akemi and found the girl fuming, glaring at a wall with her arms crossed. Just in front of her, Hitsugaya was watching her over his shoulders with his eyebrows raised, seemingly waiting for Akemi to reply. She did not.
Way too damn blunt and rude and mean because she's worried, Mami echoed in her head as the room remained tensely silent. A stone-cold bitch when she's worried about someone. She uses words to smack sense into people when she thinks they're gonna do something that gets them hurt. She doesn't care about hurting feelings as long as the person she's worrying about stays safe.
Mami thought of the things Hitsugaya had said to her. She plays her cards close to the vest until she's more certain about a person. She's had a hard time of things and has lost a lot of people. Once burned, twice shy. Roll with it when she gets bitter. Sometimes she gets cold and snappy to try to push people away if she gets spooked by how close she's allowed someone to get to her. There have been too many times when she has met other girls who learned some information and turned on her. Attacked her.
Some people reject painful truths. Violently.
And Akemi herself. I have seen too many magical girls die.
Sayaka's eyes turned to Mami again. "She almost died trying to save you that first night, you know."
Mami's brain stuttered to a halt. What.
"It was terrible," Madoka said softly as she rubbed a thumb in soothing circles on Mami's hand. "She completely ignored the Witch and tried to get your Soul Gem back. But that girl— that girl was—" Words failed her as her shoulders hitched with suppressed sobs.
"Homura was hard on Sōju's tail from the minute your Gem was stolen," Sayaka said sharply. "Sōju lit the whole labyrinth on fire. It looked like Homura got close enough to grab your Soul Gem, but then Sōju slashed her throat open. There was blood everywhere. Then Sōju stabbed Stranger Danger straight through her face. All the way through her head. But she did her glowy purple magic thing and kept fighting and trying to get your Soul Gem back and wrecked Sōju as bad as Sōju hurt her. But things got... really messy and dangerous because Madoka and me lost your shield and got attacked by the Witch and Familiars. Sōju did... something really... really..." Her voice faltered and faded, face broken.
"Atrocious," Mr. Urahara said softly.
Sayaka glanced at him gratefully. "To me and ran away. A weird... kinda spell, I guess? Homura had to— had to attack me to help me. I— I was like a rabid dog. I was gonna kill—" A gulp stalled her speech, but she forced herself to continue. "She had to— she had to— put me out of my—" Her lip quivered. "She didn't want to h-hurt me. I know 'cause I remember her fa-ace. Sh-she was crying." Tears spilled from her own eyes.
Akemi startled, but the mask of indifference slammed back onto her face and she looked away again as everyone looked at her.
"But she did what she had to and I'm not mad at her," Sayaka continued, trying to ignore her own shaking, fists clenched on the table. "Oh, and Hitsugaya came at the end and helped. Then Magic Man and Tessai took care of us." She looked down. "They brought us all here and Homura— Homura looked— d-dead. And her Soul Gem was so dirty it was almost black and she almost tur—" She stopped herself. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she ignored them and looked up at Mami fiercely. "When— when she finally recovered, though, she was so angry and all she could think of was getting your Gem back. Getting you back. She and Hitsugaya skipped school and wandered around hunting Sōju for days. They found her tonight and— and—"
"We fought her," Hitsugaya said, picking up the thread of the conversation, much to Sayaka's relief. "It got pretty brutal. Sōju used dirty tricks."
Nagisa made small sounds as though trying to speak. When everyone looked at her, she was looking at Mami. "M-miss Homura and Mr. Hitsugaya saved me and Daddy and got hurt but they got your Gem back a-and fought really hard to save the other Soul Gems, too."
"Other Soul Gems?" Mami said blankly.
"Miss Akemi and my nephew recovered forty-three Soul Gems in addition to your own," Mr. Urahara said gravely. "Sōju was a magical girl hunter. Essentially a magical girl serial killer-kidnapper. She collected Soul Gems as trophies."
Mami felt sick. Not only had Kyubey lied to her... in a way? ...but she had been hunted by one of her own.
...Like Akemi had been ambushed or maybe hunted?
"We're getting a bit off topic, or ahead of ourselves," Hitsugaya said in a businesslike manner. "The main thrust of it is Akemi is trying to help you, Tomoe. Graceless as she is at it." He ignored his friend's glare. "And we're cooperating with her because she has the most experience with this kind of situation. Please be patient with her methods."
"You... all know what she's keeping from me?" Mami asked.
"Except for Miss Momoe, yes," Mr. Urahara said frankly. "We want to be gentle with her, too."
"I— I want to know," Nagisa said hesitantly. "I want— I want to be angry. Angry is better than..." She made vague hand gestures and looked down, tears in her eyes.
Madoka let go of Mami's hand and hugged Nagisa. "We'll tell you soon. Let this part settle first."
Nagisa nodded and cuddled into Madoka.
"Kyubey should have told us," Mami said quietly.
"Cueball should tell girls a lot of things," Sayaka sneered. "But then a lot wouldn't contract. Little creep's like a magical used car salesman."
Mami's bitter laugh surprised her. She covered her mouth with a hand and stared at her teacup. After a minute of thought, she took a breath and asked, "What was his— its— real name, again?"
"Incubator," Mr. Urahara said solemnly.
"Incubator," Mami echoed. She would have to use that name now. It was like her friendly mascot Kyubey had died and been replaced by a swindler. Except the swindler had been there all along. New tears sprung to her eyes. Her most steadfast companion since her parents died was using her somehow. All the good times were lies. How naive was she, really? A memory rose unbidden: Her mother closing a storybook, raising a finger, winking, and announcing the moral of the story to her when she was six-ish: Be careful what you wish for.
I was stupid, Mami thought. So stupid.
Everyone stayed respectfully silent as she calmed herself and thought. Eventually, she took a deep breath and asked, "So what happened after I... was knocked out?"
"Let's get more comfortable," Madoka declared. She shifted closer to the table, tugging Mami and Nagisa with her, and glanced over her shoulder. "Homura, Hitsugaya, come sit."
Akemi looked sulky as Mami dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose with a tissue given to her by Mr. Tsukabishi. "I am fine here."
Madoka frowned. "Please don't do this, Homura," she said in a disappointed tone. Raising an arm and scooting closer to Mami to make a space between herself and Nagisa, she beckoned and said, "I want you to sit by me, Homura. Please?"
Akemi huffed and grudgingly stepped forward. Mami wanted to know why Hitsugaya looked so amused as he stepped up behind his friend. She wondered if he had been back there to keep an eye on Akemi. No. Akemi hadn't been in the room. Mami scanned the room again now that she was more coherent, plotted everyone's positions when she woke... Hitsugaya had been blocking the exit and watching her. She was going to have to think about what that implied later.
The story Madoka and Sayaka laid out about what had happened in the carousel labyrinth made Mami sick. If she had been in top form, Sōju could never have cast whatever horrible monster spell she had on Sayaka. She felt like she had failed them. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let those TV screens... I shouldn't have let them affect me so."
Akemi sighed and spoke for the first time in the story. "That is not your fault. You were taken by surprise by your worst memories." She crossed her arms and bitterly said, "I should have warned you when I spoke to you after I destroyed her Familiar's labyrinth."
"Her?" Mami asked, rubbing a tear away with a knuckle.
"The Witch," Homura said.
"Oh." That was... odd. She called Kyubey— the Incubator— it and Witches she and her. It was backwards from what Mami was used to. Something else to ponder. Mami set it aside and looked around. "What happened after the labyrinth?"
The way they had searched for days touched her. Hitsugaya took over the narrative when they got to the other labyrinth and everyone paid closer attention— if Mami understood correctly, no one but Hitsugaya and Homura knew everything that had happened within. Nagisa's explanation of how she got there broke Mami's heart. Then Hitsugaya's description of the encounter with Sōju chilled Mami's blood.
Into the silence that followed the revelation of sister Gems, Mr. Urahara pondered, "Miss Akemi. When Sōju cobbled herself together in the carousel, you said you saw white magic instead of red, correct? That her costume was both red and white? And that she healed far more rapidly than you expected?"
"Yes."
Mr. Urahara tilted his head in thought and scratched his chin. "I wonder if that was a function of having two Soul Gems healing their shared body at the same time."
Mami found herself blinking and considering that— the concept of Soul Gems being separate and attaching to bodies was still new and nauseating to her, but it made sense. She looked to Akemi's speculative face. "It... sounds plausible," Mami slowly said to her.
"Yes," Akemi murmured.
They looked back to Mr. Urahara, who was staring intensely at the air just above his fingers as they drummed the table. They let him think until he gestured for Hitsugaya to continue. Mami breathlessly listened to his description of Luca's madness and hostage-taking. Her heart cracked with his voice when he told of how he had accidentally broken other Soul Gems. Then he got to Nagisa's reappearance.
"Never do anything like that ever again," Akemi suddenly interrupted the story to hiss at Nagisa next to her. "When you are told to get out of a battle, you get out of that battle."
Nagisa looked frightened. "B-but—"
"We could have killed you by accident, thinking you were safe when you were behind the enemy," Akemi snarled. "The enemy could have taken you hostage. You could have destroyed a plan of attack. You—"
"Akemi!" Hitsugaya snapped.
"Y-you needed my help!" Nagisa cried. "I he-helped!"
Everyone gaped at Akemi's flash-bang anger. "We had it under control! We had a plan! We are lucky your reappearance did not defeat it. This time. Next time may be different. Never do that again!"
"I'm s-sor-ry," Nagisa sobbed.
"You—!"
Boom!
"Hey! Knock it off, Homura!" Sayaka finally snarled, slamming her hands on the table. "She gets it! You don't have to bite her head off!"
All of Akemi's magic seemed to abruptly retract into her and leave a cold void in the room as her face went pale and haunted then horribly, utterly blank. Her eyes were wide and empty, unfocused though she was looking at Sayaka. Flat violet turned to Mami. And stared. And turned to Nagisa. And stared. And Mami. And stared. Like she was seeing ghosts in a nightmare.
Disturbed, Mami reached for her. "Miss Ake—"
Akemi scrambled to her feet disjointedly and charged out of the room without a word.
Everyone stared. Sayaka blurted, "What the hell was that?"
Mr. Urahara sighed, took off his hat, and tiredly scrubbed a hand through his sandy hair. "That was Miss Akemi substituting anger for fear and concern, then having a flashback." He looked at Nagisa and gently said, "I apologize. She is concerned for your safety and terrible at expressing it. She had a good point but she attacked you unnecessarily. I will talk with her about that later." Once Nagisa tearfully nodded at him, he looked around at everyone. "Please never use that figure of speech around Miss Akemi."
"What?" Madoka asked blankly, arms wrapped around Nagisa.
"Bite her head off," Mr. Urahara explained. "Do. Not. Say that around her."
"Why not?" Sayaka snapped, face defiant. "That's what she was doing!"
Hitsugaya sighed and carefully said, "Akemi saw a Witch literally bite the head off one of her original team members then eat the body." He gave Mami a contemplative glance, then softly added, "That girl was blonde. Like you, Tomoe."
Nagisa cried harder as the older girls all reacted with silent horror.
"When I was in the labyrinth, I saw... Well, it was all really jumbled, but I saw the TV screens," Sayaka babbled, eyes wide and face pale. "After Homura came. There were lots of screens with magical girls dying. And getting ripped up and burned and— I think. I wasn't super close. And Gems exploding. And blood and Witches. And— and—" She dragged her hands down her face. "Stranger Danger said they showed Mami's worst memories... before. Were those— were those hers?"
"Most likely," Mr. Urahara sighed. "She has extensive emotional scars. She has seen—"
"—Too many magical girls die," Mami said with him, voice distant as she considered her reflection in the surface of her cold tea. She was thinking of every encounter she had ever had with Akemi. "I think... she's starting to make sense to me," she murmured. Mami looked up at Mr. Urahara from under her bangs. "She blames Kyu— the Incubator for it all, doesn't she?"
Mr. Urahara's mouth curled in a grim smile; he seemed to be pleased that she understood. "Can you fault her for it?"
Mami looked down again. "No."
After another awkward silence, Madoka said, "Should— should someone go after Homura?"
"I'll see if she's still in the building," Mr. Tsukabishi said as he stood. "If she left, we may not find her unless she allows herself to be found, though."
"If she's here, I think the only person who could get near her anytime soon would be Miss Kaname," Mr. Urahara began.
"Eh? Me?!" Madoka blurted, pointing at herself in surprise.
Sayaka gave her a brittle smile. "Dunno if you've noticed, but she actually listens to you when she's messed up."
Madoka looked around at the others who had agreement written all over their faces. "W-what? But— Me?"
Mr. Urahara chuckled, then continued. "If she left the shop... well, if she's not back in an hour, we'll have to track her down and haul her back."
"She's tricky," Hitsugaya warned.
Mr. Urahara smiled tightly. "You say that as though I am not tricky myself."
Hitsugaya snorted halfheartedly.
After a deep breath, Mr. Urahara smacked his fan on the table. "And then you beat Sōju with teamwork, defeated the Witch, and woke Sleeping Beauty. The End. Now that we're all up to speed and it's late, I think you girls need to rest. I'll have Tessai bring you some food. Then I want you all to sleep. Come morning, we'll deal with Mr. Momoe. Tōshirō, I'll hit you with some more healing before I send you out after Miss Akemi."
"Joy," Hitsugaya deadpanned.
Mami thought he didn't actually seem annoyed. He had the wrong kind of frown.
"Then I have some things to do." Mr. Urahara did that vague wave of his fan again. It felt like so long ago that he had done it before the big debriefing. "I want Miss Kaname and Miss Miki to go home early tomorrow. They've been away from home with weak excuses too often this week. We don't need their parents worried."
Mami watched with interest as Mr. Urahara healed Hitsugaya's arm while they waited for Mr. Tsukabishi to bring food. Nagisa crawled into her lap, so Mami held her loosely as the girl sniffled. Madoka and Sayaka bracketed them in on either side. Hitsugaya gave them weird looks.
"Wow," Sayaka said blankly when Hitsugaya's uncle unbuttoned his shirt to poke at a bandaged chest wound with a glowing hand, not bothering to unwrap the bandage.
"What?" the boy finally snapped. He coughed roughly.
"Ahhh, your lung," Mr. Urahara moaned. "Don't ruin my work!"
"Heal faster, then," Hitsugaya grouched.
"You have muscles," Sayaka observed. Loudly. Everyone looked at her. "I know guys who'd kill for abs like that."
Hitsugaya flushed and looked away. Mami and Madoka gave her death glares for lack of tact, blushing themselves. Sayaka squawked and slapped a hand over her mouth as her brain registered what she had said. Mami turned back to Hitsugaya, who seemed more concerned— irritated— that his uncle was giggling at him.
"If you tell Matsumoto or K-ikyo, I will gut you," Hitsugaya snarled at his uncle.
"Worth it," Mr. Urahara immediately declared.
They were deep in familial bickering when Mr. Tsukabishi brought the girls their food. Even when they left, the mood was a bit lighter in their wake.
§ x § x §
Meanwhile in Asunaro, a real girl who believed she was a puppet thought she got revenge on a selfish Gepetto, but she was actually gloating over the death of her Blue Fairy.
§ x § x §
§ x § x §
§ x § x §
WITCH DATA
ROBERTA: The Birdcage Witch. Her nature is rage. She continuously stamps her feet inside her cage, directing her rage at those who do not respond to her. This Witch is extremely fond of alcohol, and her minions are also easy to burn.
Minion: GOTZ
The Birdcage Witch's minion. His duty is to act with frivolous indiscretion. These birds that swarm together are idiotic men. Even though they are total good-for-nothings, they try to attract her attention by swarming around her feet and attempting to woo her. They are nothing more than objects of disgust to the Witch.
§ x § x §
A/N: So I have just realized that Witch Kirsten is basically a digital Dementor.
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.