As N Approaches Infinity

by Corisanna

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

72. EINUNDSIEBZIG

A/N: This chapter killed me to write. I almost broke my plot five different ways hahahahahacry

The first chapter with Kyōko, Sayaka, and Karin in the same room is also the one with the densest carpet f-bombing and disparaging nicknames for the Incubator lol

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EINUNDSIEBZIG

TIMELINE X + N + 1

"Kaoru. What if the Evil Nut isn't the cause? I mean, what if this time was another failure?"

"It-it'll be fine. Ev-everything's going well, right? It won't be a repeat— I've already had enough of repeating! You should, too! No, you of all people should understand the most, Saki!"

"What do you think, Umika?"

"I agree with Kaoru. Objectively speaking, everything is going smoothly this time. Almost perfectly."

"Really? Can we really rely on our magic so much? I'm scared! I know that Kazumin is important to us. But I keep thinking that... if we keep using our magic like this, then maybe we'll turn into Witches, too! Just like— just like—"

A long pause as two girls stared at the third. "This isn't like you, Saki."

"How so? Is it so strange for me to be concerned?!"

"No. Everyone is concerned. But... Saki never calls Kazumi Kazumin. The only one who does is..."

The surprised silence lasted but a moment but felt like forever. Saki stood slowly.

"Watch out, Kaoru! That's—!"

Chaos ensued.

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Once everyone else fell asleep, Tōshirō took turns as sentry with Akemi, napping in shifts while watching Tomoe for signs of mental breakdown. He twice conjured a handful of graupel to lightly toss at the magical girl to shock her out of thrashing nightmares; Tomoe had jerked with a sleep-muffled squeal at the cold and briefly woken up, but he had already sublimated the ice so she fell back to sleep right away. Once, he woke up in the middle of one of his off-shifts when Hyōrinmaru alerted him of another reiatsu fluctuation, but found Akemi frozen in a reaching pose as Kaname rolled over with her eyes barely open and hooked her arm in Tomoe's, then glowed faintly pink. Tomoe settled without waking up and Kaname drifted off again.

Tōshirō met Akemi's eyes, which were wide with surprise, and muttered, "We really, really need to talk about their powers. The toddler, too."

Akemi looked back at the sleeping girls and nodded warily.

It was Tōshirō's turn to be awake when Kaname's little brother trotted into the room giggling and belly-flopped onto his sister while shouting, "Mo'nin'! Mo'nin'! Up!"

Kaname woke, grabbed him in a hug, and rolled sideways to trap and tickle him into screaming laughter. They served as an alarm clock, waking the other girls. Tōshirō watched for a minute to gauge Tomoe's mental state, then left for his room once Akemi was alert enough to be on guard. His silenced phone's screen was swarming with notifications from Urahara— texts of things the man couldn't say in front of the girls. Joy.

Everyone convened at the dining table about forty minutes later. Tsukabishi was nowhere to be seen, kitchen and cooking duty having been claimed by Mr. Kaname so he could prioritize research. Miki dropped into a chair and tugged at the uniform she borrowed from Akemi because Kaname's was too small. Kaname arrived and plopped her brother into a high chair, which Mr. Kaname must have brought over in his dead-of-night luggage run. Mrs. Kaname arrived in business attire. Kaname blinked in surprise and said, "You're going in on a Saturday, Mama?"

"I took Wednesday off and don't know if I'll be going in Monday, so I have some catching up to do," the woman explained over her coffee. Then she winked at them all and said, "Let's all work hard to reinforce our covers like a spy ring, okay?"

Miki perked up. Akemi looked at Miki with dismay.

Akemi ate sparingly and stood before everyone else. "I want to check in with Momoe before school. Hitsugaya, get some of the spare Grief Seeds from Urahara and carry them in case Mami needs to purify her Soul Gem." She raised a brow expectantly, so he nodded agreement. "I will meet you all at school."

The train ride and walk to school was subdued despite Miki and Kaname chattering in an awkward attempt to cheer Tomoe. When they walked up the creek path, they found Akemi standing morosely with Shizuki. The girl met them halfway and took Tomoe's hands in hers as she tearfully said, "Miss Akemi told me about your friend. I'm so— so sorry. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

Tomoe's grieved expression was genuine. She nodded at Shizuki, unable to speak.

The blonde remained speechless all morning, dully staring at the ground, desk, or whiteboard and leaving Tōshirō to explain the cover story. He escorted her to her seat. Teachers and classmates alike looked at her in sympathy. He stood at her elbow and glared at gawkers when she made no move to leave her seat at breaks. Those two girls who acted like they knew Tomoe came over and consoled her during one break, but Tomoe remained largely unresponsive. Tōshirō could feel her reiatsu darkening throughout the morning; halfway through the shortened day, he approached her during another break with a Grief Seed in his palm and tapped it against her Soul Gem ring. No one else in the class could see the two objects, so it probably looked like he was lightly touching her hand to comfort her. Tomoe looked up at him and quietly thanked him right as the bell rang. Tōshirō could feel every eye in the room on him as he returned to his seat. He could only guess what they were thinking.

Probably something extremely embarrassing. He was intensely glad Miki wasn't in this class. It was bad enough that she'd be meeting Karin with the ammunition she already had.

After school, everyone in the know lurked at the edge of the property line of Miki's condo building. Tōshirō stretched his senses and didn't detect any souls in Miki's unit, so Miki took Akemi up to her place to filch some of her belongings and pack them in the magical girl's shield while the rest stood as lookouts. Miki was peeved when the two girls rejoined them; everyone wisely avoided asking about it.

Mrs. Kaname was already "home" and in casual clothes when they returned to the shop in early afternoon. Urahara and Tessai appeared as they were setting down their school things. After a brief talk, all save Tatsuya and Mr. Kaname headed down to the underground training area. Akemi and Tomoe carried Kaname and Miki while Tsukabishi carried Mrs. Kaname for the freefall from the trap door to the ground far below. The girls shrieked the whole way down but the woman laughed and her eyes were wild with joy. Probably an adrenaline junkie. Then Tsukabishi and Urahara activated the reishi henkan-ki.

Karin and Yuzu were the first out the portal, each of their faces determined. Both bore large camping backpacks; a soccer ball in a net dangled off Karin's and some kind of special cooking pans clanked on the outside of Yuzu's. Both twins scanned the room and locked onto Akemi.

Yuzu chirped, "Hi, Homura! Hi, Tōshirō!"

Karin gave an exaggerated salute and shouted, "Yo, Homurapunzel! Heyyy, Tōsh!"

Akemi's cheeks colored as Tōshirō sighed and waved. Those two were lost causes. Miki was entirely too interested in his and Akemi's reactions. He resigned himself to an unholy Miki-Kurosaki partnership then and there.

Suddenly, Akemi jolted and looked like she had realized something. "Ah! Wait!" she cried out, eyes wide. "Mami, everyone, don't panic, Ichigo is just—!"

Kurosaki and his father exited the reishi henkan-ki, followed by Kurosaki's friends. Tomoe, Kaname, and Miki sucked in a collective gasp and looked surprised to say the least. Tomoe's Soul Gem ring sparked yellow as she identified Kurosaki's overwhelming moonlight-and-embers reiatsu as a potential threat. Tōshirō cursed under his breath and grabbed her wrist to jar her out of transforming.

"—very powerful," Akemi finished with dismay.

How the hell had Kurosaki's absurd power not struck them as something worth mentioning?

"Oooopsie-daisy," Urahara trilled. At least he looked genuinely embarrassed.

"Oi! Kurosaki!" Tōshirō snarled as Tomoe's eyes wildly darted from person to person in search of threats. "Learn some damn control!"

"Oh, fuck," Kurosaki blurted.

"Onii-chan! Language!" Yuzu scolded.

"I mean— hell, I'm sorry—" His reiatsu lightened by half, wavered, and rose back to about three quarters of his resting power as his control slipped. "Dammit!"

Karin waved her arms over her head and shouted, "Don't worry, Ichi-nii is a total softie! He just sucks at suppressing his magic as much as a snowman sucks at swimming!"

"Hey!"

Tōshirō couldn't hear whatever it was that Ishida muttered from his distance, but it made Kurosaki's face and ears go red.

The twins strolled up to the group from Mitakihara. Karin eyed the people new to her and looked at Tōshirō. "Real names or fake names?"

"Fake names?" Miki asked.

Tōshirō's eye twitched. "Do you have any sense of subtlety?"

Karin shrugged. "Sometimes."

Tōshirō rolled his eyes and looked Miki's way "These are the girls we've been referring to as Kikyo and Yumi," he explained. "We've concealed from the Incubator that they know anything and would prefer to keep it that way. Think you all can keep your mouths shut about their names—"

"And presence," Akemi interrupted.

"And presence," Tōshirō said with a nod, "outside the building?" He stared Miki dead in the eye, certain she was the blabbermouth of the Mitakihara group.

Miki flushed, obviously understood his implication, and looked fierce. "Absolutely."

Urahara watched her curiously and traded a glance with Tōshirō, who thought of the texts Urahara had sent him overnight. Something about Miki really did seem to have changed since the debacle the night before.

"In that case," Karin said loudly, "KUROSAKI SUPPORT SQUAD ACTIVATE!"

And she says she's not like her father, Tōshirō drily thought to Hyōrinmaru.

Yuzu cheered and looked determined. The twins launched into energetic introductions featuring a lot of dramatic hand gestures. Their brother walked straight to Akemi.

"Yo," Kurosaki said quietly. "How you holding up, Stopwatch?"

Akemi glanced at him and then all around the cavern, looking shy. "I— I'm— m-mostly— okay," she stammered.

Kurosaki grinned faintly and ruffled her hair. "And partly lying. But that's okay. I understand."

Akemi's face went red and she looked down at her feet. She looked her age for once, a girl embarrassed by her older brother. Her demeanor very obviously fascinated Miki, who started scrutinizing Kurosaki like he was a living riddle.

"Why do you call her Stopwatch?" Kaname asked with interest.

"Inside joke," Kurosaki answered with a sly wink at Akemi.

Isshin approached Akemi and spoke quietly with her for a moment before squeezing her shoulder and looking up. "Lead on, Kisuke."

Half an hour later, the entire mob was seated in the dining room eating a late lunch and talking strategy.

"Do you want me to start with her Soul Gem or her body?" Inoue asked.

"We healed her body as well as we could while everyone was at school," Urahara said.

"There isn't really anything we can do about the malnutrition, though. Or replacing her teeth. Not on short notice," added Tsukabishi.

"I can fix that!" Inoue declared with cheerful determination.

"How?" asked Mrs. Kaname.

And so the Karakura mob explained Inoue's reality-rejection powers to the stunned Mitakihara group. Tōshirō wasn't sure how smart that was.

"You see why we want to keep her a secret from the Incubator, Miss Miki?" Urahara asked at the end.

Miki could only nod, eyes wide. Then she found words. "She's— she's a walking Undo button!"

Karin choked and spewed soda onto her plate. After hacking so hard her brother thumped her on the back, Karin cackled wordless agreement.

They all went to the back room where Sakura's body lay in stasis. Most of them stayed back near the table while Inoue knelt by the redhead and let her fairies flutter around to inspect the body. Satisfied with her evaluation, she firmly said, "Sōten Kisshun. I Reject."

Tomoe knelt on Sakura's other side and looked at her friend through the golden dome of Inoue's power as the body gradually filled out over the course of fifteen minutes until she looked as though she had never been starving in the first place.

"That was so weird," Mrs. Kaname blurted when Inoue pulled back.

"Ah, you couldn't see anything but the body, right?" Urahara asked.

"Nope," Mrs. Kaname confirmed. "It was just like a time lapse movie."

Urahara looked interested for a moment, but went serious again. "Now for the main event." He reached in his haori and pulled out the small isolation tube containing Sakura's Grief Seed. "I think you should sit at the table for this, Miss Inoue."

"There's something in there?" asked Mrs. Kaname.

"Yes. You can't see it?" Urahara asked as he opened the lid and scooped up the Grief Seed.

"Also a nope!"

"Interesting." Urahara set the Grief Seed down at an empty space at the table. "Whenever you're ready, Miss Inoue."

Inoue bounced over to the table and settled herself by the Grief Seed. Her three friends arrayed themselves around her protectively. Tomoe knelt at the table and stared hard at the Grief Seed as Inoue held up her hands, breathed deeply, and again said, "Sōten Kisshun. I Reject," while everyone hovered around the smallish table. The golden shield snapped into place over and around the Grief Seed and siphoned off darkness.

And siphoned.

And siphoned.

Inoue's friends started to shift around uneasily. Half an hour in, Kurosaki glanced up at Urahara where the scientist was watching intently and said, "Hey, it's... it's taking a lot longer than the last one."

Urahara's eyes didn't move from the Grief Seed. "From the readings I took, this one is far more powerful."

"You could have said something!" Kurosaki snapped.

"He told me," Inoue breathed. "I just have to pace myself. Look, it's getting a little bit red."

Another half hour later, the Grief Seed was a uniform, dull opaque red and Inoue was tiring.

"Inoue. I think you should take a break," Sado murmured with worry.

"I'm almost done!" Inoue objected.

Indeed, the jewel's clarity began improving more quickly, shifting to a cloudy burgundy before red light blossomed from the crown of the Grief Seed and flowed downward around the silver spindle like flower petals. There was a pulse of energy as the hollow space filled with red reishi. The silver, eye-shaped decoration atop the Grief Seed shimmered and filled out with red light, the metal shifting from silver to gold. Gold settings burst out and wrapped down the egg-shaped jewel, met beneath it, and filled out along the bottom to form a golden cup.

After one last pulse of light, the golden shield dissolved and Inoue pitched forward in exhaustion. Her three friends grabbed her arms and shoulders to keep her from slamming her face into the table and pulled her upright; her head lolled back and she started laughing. "Yay! I did it!" Her face went slack and her eyes started to roll back in her head but she blinked fiercely and blurted, "I'm hungry!" Her chin dipped toward her chest as she fell asleep upright, then she jerked her head back up with surprise and repeated, "Wow, I'm hungry!"

Kaname's father stood and made a determined face. "I can fix that. Tessai, can I use the kitchen?"

"Of course."

Kaname's father hurried out of the room, muttering to himself about food.

Inoue slowly teetered to her left and fell asleep against Sado's bicep. Sado stayed still while Ishida and Kurosaki fretted. Urahara told them to keep waking her before she could drift into sleep so deep they wouldn't be able to rouse her to eat. This led to shoulder-shakes and pokes and resulted in Inoue repeatedly jolting upright and announcing her hunger before keeling back into Sado's arm.

"How are you doing, Mami?" Kaname asked gently.

Tōshirō looked back at the magical girl and found her staring across the table at Sakura's brilliant red Soul Gem in disbelief. Tomoe leaned over the table and reached for the egg, fingers quivering as they stretched and grasped just short of Sakura's soul. Karin gently pushed it closer to Tomoe with a brush of fingertips to its gold base. Tomoe lifted it reverently and just stared in silent shock for a long time.

"Mami?" Kaname tried again.

"It's— tr— rue," Tomoe rasped. "You— saved— her. It's— true. Oh, God, it's true." She cradled her friend's Soul Gem to her heart and cried, "Kyōko— Kyōko— I'm sorr— Kyōko!"

Kaname leaned into her and wrapped her arms around Tomoe in a loose hug, making soothing sounds as the older girl wept. Phantom rose perfume teased everyone as she raised her reiatsu and used whatever empathic calming ability she had. Isshin and Ishida looked surprised, but kept silent when Urahara gave them a little shake of his head.

Later. Again.

Mr. Kaname returned with a plate stacked high with cookies and set them on the table in front of Inoue. "I'll make something more substantial, but start with these," he ordered her. He didn't really have to, as Inoue was already stuffing her face. Mr. Kaname left with an amused smile.

"Right," Urahara said with a clap. "Let's jump right into waking her up. Miss Tomoe, I think you should do it. Please get close to her, but don't put the Soul Gem in her hand yet. Tessai and I are going to put barriers around her so she can't injure anyone or run if she wakes up in a panic."

"Transform so it will be easier to bind her with ribbons if she fights. Shield your Soul Gem," Akemi advised.

Tomoe looked stricken. "You think she'll try— try to—"

Akemi sighed. "Not necessarily on purpose. Remember how you reacted when you woke. Only add the trauma of remembering you tried to kill a friend after your soul was forced to twist into a monster."

"Oh." Tomoe sat straight and took a deep breath, tipping her head back with her eyes closed. She breathed like that for several seconds, obviously grounding herself, then wordlessly triggered her transformation. Mrs. Kaname jumped and blinked hard.

"You see her costume?" Urahara asked.

"Y-yeah," she said with wide eyes.

Tōshirō wondered why Akemi looked utterly baffled. If she wasn't saying anything, maybe it was related to a different timeline?

"Interesting. Did you see the light show?"

"No."

"Huh."

Tomoe held a hand up to her Soul Gem and made a barrier around it. At Urahara's direction, she moved to Sakura's side. Tōshirō joined her opposite the magical girl and conjured some ice armor but no sword, ready to help subdue Sakura if she reacted violently. Over the next ten minutes, Urahara and Tsukabishi layered multiple kidō barriers around them, then remained ready for anything on either side of the barriers. Karin and Yuzu transformed— God, that was still weird— and blocked the doorway. Akemi transformed and moved to stand between Sakura and everyone sitting at and standing behind the table as Mr. Kaname reentered and plunked a steaming bowl of rice, vegetables, and meat in front of Inoue, who immediately grabbed the chopsticks and ate. Everyone else with powers watched closely, ready to react to anything.

Honestly, if Kyōko Sakura could manage to escape them, she damn well deserved to.

"Miss Tomoe," Urahara said gravely. When Tomoe broke her stare at her friend's face to look up at him, he said, "Once you put the Soul Gem in her hand, immediately take it back."

"What?" she asked with surprise.

"As long as we keep it within one hundred meters of her, she'll be able to control her body," he explained. "If she fights too much or is suicidal, we can just have one of you run off until she separates from her body again. Then we can figure out something more drastic."

Tomoe swallowed hard and nodded.

Urahara took a deep breath and looked at him. "Remove the stasis whenever you're ready, Tōshirō."

Tōshirō looked at Tomoe and raised a brow in inquiry. She took another deep breath and nodded. The stasis was quickly dispelled. Tomoe gulped and lowered the red Soul Gem to Sakura's hand with a tremble of anxiety.

As soon as the jewel touched Sakura's skin, her eyes flew open and stared at nothing. She inhaled sharply while arching off the futon. Tomoe reluctantly pulled the Soul Gem back to cradle at her chest. Sakura's eyes darted around the room with horrified paranoia and she flailed her limbs in an attempt to scramble upright as thin tongues of flame lashed through the air around her. Tomoe shoved the red Soul Gem at Tōshirō; once he took it, Tomoe leaned over Sakura and gripped the hyperventilating girl's shoulders. Sakura screamed and thrashed in an attempt to shove Tomoe away.

"Kyōko," Tomoe said firmly. "Kyōko. It's Mami. Look at me."

Sakura's wildly rolling eyes settled on Tomoe's face. She shook all over, expression some kind of deep existential horror mixed with shock, and lifted her arms up toward Tomoe with a sob. Tomoe let go of Sakura's shoulders to embrace her and pull her up into a sitting position. They cried and rocked while clinging to each other for dear life.

Tōshirō looked down at the Soul Gem in his hand and saw it dimming, so he took one of the Grief Seeds from his pocket and tapped the items together in an attempt to keep the magical girl stable. He tucked both into the palm of one hand to maintain constant contact and resumed watching for signs of attack.

"I'm— sor— ry— I'm— sor— ry," Sakura gasped into Tomoe's neck, voice hitching.

"Shhh, it's not your fault. It's not your fault."

"I— was— n't— thin— king— I— was- n't—" Sakura paused for a deeper but still reedy breath before continuing. "You— would— nev— er— take— my— take— my— I— don't— know— why— I— hurt— you— He— was— right— I— I'm— so— sor— ry—"

Tomoe gave her shoulders an extra squeeze and roughly said, "Your Soul Gem was too dark. You couldn't think right. You were desperate. I don't blame you."

"I— do—"

"Please don't."

"He— was— right! I'm— a—!" Sakura choked on her words. "I'm— a— Witch!"

"You— you were," Tomoe said, voice breaking. "But you're— better now, okay?"

"Dad— was— right!" Sakura rasped, then wailed, "I'm a Witch! He was right!"

"NO," said half the room.

Sakura acted like she hadn't heard them, dragging fingers down her scalp with white knuckles and staring into space. "Whyyy— I— a Witch?! How?!"

Tomoe pushed Sakura away but maintained a grip on her shoulders. Sakura looked confused and lost. Tomoe firmed her face into righteous anger. "Kyubey hid this from us. It's—" She looked around the room, casting about for someone to explain.

Akemi spoke up. "This is the intended fate of all magical girls," she said solemnly. "The— Kyubey designed this system specifically to farm us for magical energy."

And just like that, the air sizzled, the Soul Gem in Tōshirō's hand burned, and Sakura's face instantly snapped from vulnerable trauma to red-hot fury— a safer emotion. "WHAT?!"

"It— it hides a lot of things from us," Tomoe added quietly. "I don't... understand a lot yet, but..." She swallowed hard and stared Sakura in the eye fiercely. "I want to find out everything it's done and— save— girls— from— from— turning—" Tomoe broke down crying again and drew Sakura back to her in an embrace. "I saw you— I saw— Oh, Kyōko, I never want another girl to go through what you did. Never. Never."

Sakura shook with rage in Tomoe's arms. "I'll kill it," she growled with wide, feral eyes focused on nothing. "I'll fucking kill it. I'll kill it. Roast it. Stab it. I'll kill it."

"That is the eventual goal, yes," Urahara said loudly.

Sakura's eyes darted around the room with actual awareness this time, noting each person in the crowd with a warrior's threat assessment before focusing on Urahara. "What."

"We want to stop it," Urahara said.

"Who the hell're you?" Sakura asked with a blank expression.

The scientist removed his hat and bowed with a flourish. "Kisuke Urahara, humble magical merchant, at your service."

"Humble my ass," Karin muttered.

Sakura looked at Karin and blinked slowly, as though disoriented or not quite awake. She eyed Karin and Yuzu and their costumes for a moment, glanced at Akemi and her costume, then looked back to Karin. "Who the hell're you?"

"Karin Kurosaki, proud founding member of Team Fuck Up Incubigbad. Welcome to the club," Karin said with a sassy salute as her sister frowned at the language.

Sakura stared. She looked interested but suspicious. "Ink what?"

Mami sat back and rubbed tears from her cheeks. "Kyubey even lied to us about his— its name. It's really called Incubator."

"What the fuck kinda name is that?" Sakura asked, face and voice deadpan.

"The kind of name to fuck with," Karin replied as though it was obvious.

Yuzu sighed and looked aside, resigned to the cussing.

Face pleasant, Karin continued, "I'm fond of Incubastard. Incubitch and variations like Incubitchface. Incubutthead."

"Incucreeper," Miki volunteered. "Incustalker. Incuburglar. Incubucket. Incubarnacle. Incubatshit. Incublister."

"Nice. I like your style," Karin said with a nod of respect. God help them all. "Incuboxcutter. Incubonehead. InCthulhu."

"Ooh, fitting reference," Urahara cooed.

Karin preened. "So, like, yo," she said with a sharp wave, "we're gonna stop the Incubluffer from Incublabbering its Incubullshit and Incoercing girls to Incucontract by Incubeating it to Incubits." She topped it all off by pointing at Sakura with double finger-guns while grinning.

Tōshirō was sorely temped to palm his face. Because it was ridiculous, not part of the plan, and yet somehow working. Because Sakura stared at Karin, interest piqued and face betraying that she was having some violent thoughts which pleased her; that expression was slowly mirrored by Karin, who added a smirk. Pretty much everyone else stared at them. Tōshirō wondered at Karin's skill in derailment. Well, and whether it was even a deliberate thing. It was hard to tell with her sometimes.

"So!" Karin said as she jauntily slammed her hands onto her hips and shifted into a cocky pose. "Are you on our side, or do we need to keep you in those barriers for your own safety?"

Annnd Sakura tensed as she suddenly, truly registered that she was penned in and surrounded. Tōshirō really did palm his face. "Real subtle, Karin."

"Subtle schmuttle," Karin sniffed. "Kyōko's— your name is Kyōko, right? —Kyōko strikes me as the practical type."

"She has been conscious for all of ten minutes, Karin," he objected flatly. Roughly seven of which had been spent bawling in existential horror.

"So? That's long enough." Karin raised a brow at Sakura. "Don't need flowery shit, just get to the point. Am I right? Cubecrater fucked you up, it's knocked you on your emotional ass, time to get back up and plot your glorious roaring rampage of revenge, right?"

The smile Sakura gave Karin was so viciously bloodthirsty that Tōshirō checked her Soul Gem to make sure she wasn't on the verge of Witchy meltdown. The crystal was still bright red. The Grief Seed beside it was getting full from keeping it that way, though.

"Who the hell're you and why the fuck do you have my Soul Gem?!" Sakura snarled, then launched herself at him.

Crap.

Tomoe scrambled to get between him and Sakura, arms spread wide to hold her friend back. "Kyōko, no!"

"The hell, Mami?!" Sakura roared. "He has my fucking Soul Gem!"

"And he'll give it back when we're sure you won't kill yourself!" Tomoe cried. Literally.

Sakura went still and quiet. "What?"

Tomoe tried to speak, but couldn't, so Tōshirō said, "Magical girls who we've brought back from being Witches before have reacted... poorly." Sakura stared at him in bafflement so he added, "We don't want you to shatter your Soul Gem like they did."

"Huhhh?" Sakura frowned then rolled her eyes like she was surrounded by idiots. "If I shatter my Soul Gem I can't use it to skewer and barbecue that motherfucker."

Tōshirō stared. So did others. They were doing a lot of that. They were so far off the rails they may as well have skipped planning altogether.

"See! Told you!" Karin crowed.

Maybe it was actually a Kurosaki-Sakura alliance he needed to worry about.

Sakura stared Tōshirō dead in the eye. "Tell me who you are or I'll set you on fire."

"He has your Soul Gem, you know," Akemi observed idly. Tōshirō wondered if that actually made any difference.

"I'm creative," Sakura said with a dismissive wave as she glanced at Akemi. "Who the hell're you, purple girl?"

"Homura Akemi," the magical girl said with a polite nod. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Sakura's lip curled and she looked like she would mock Akemi but Tomoe said, "They're my friends, Kyōko. They're nice. They've helped me a lot."

Sakura stared at her skeptically for a moment, then looked aside. "Tch." She looked back up at Tomoe, disgruntled. "You're too quick to trust people who're nice to you, Mami."

Tomoe flinched.

Sakura looked at Tōshirō again, calmer but still pissed off. "Again: Who the hell're you? How the hell do you know Mami?"

Sayaka Miki chose that moment to be the obnoxious little monster he had expected her to be around Karin. She grinned widely and conspiratorially said, "That's Tōshirō Hitsugaya. He's Mami's boyfriend."

Tomoe sputtered incoherently and waved her arms in denial. Tōshirō rounded on Miki and snarled, "I am not!" as Karin made a loud sound of interest. He knew he was doomed in that moment. And that was before Sakura seized the opportunity to thrust her arm past Tomoe and snatch her Soul Gem and the Grief Seed out of Tōshirō's hand while they were distracted. Dammit.

"Oh, good job, Miki," he sneered acidly as Sakura transformed into her burgundy battle costume. At least she hadn't conjured that spear. Yet.

Miki rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Ahahaha, whoops!" Then she blinked and stopped. "Hey, you're the one who let her grab the thing!"

"And who distracted me?!"

"Tōshirō, you've been holding out on me," Karin crooned.

"I have not!"

She looked at Tomoe. "Is he a good kisser?"

Tomoe squawked and turned red. Tōshirō shouted, "I've never kissed her!"

"Taking it slow, huh?" Karin asked casually. "That does seem like you."

"Damn you, Kurosaki!"

"Oh, I'm Kurosaki now, huh? You must be really angry." Karin made an obviously faked contrite face. "Sorry to pry into your love life."

"I don't have a love life!"

Kurosaki, the orange-haired bastard, mirthfully said, "Methinks he doth protest too much."

"Haaa, I was right! He really is your knight in shining armor, Mami," Sakura said airily.

Tomoe spluttered in an attempt to speak, gave up, and buried her face in her hands.

"Ooooh. Tell me, tell me!" Karin gushed.

Sakura looked at her with a smug smile. Apparently, teasing Tomoe overrode her trauma. Fabulous. "When I went batshit and tried to kill her, he kept throwing himself between us and taking all the hits."

Karin's face lit up and she looked at Tōshirō, clasped her hands beside one cheek, and cooed, "You're such a noble boyfriend, Tōsh."

Tōshirō joined Tomoe in burying his face in his hands. He gave up. Arguing just gave them more ammunition.

"Awww, they're so shy," Miki said in the same tone, cupping her cheeks in her hands. "How cute."

"Do I need to give you the 'hurt her and die' boyfriend talk?" Sakura said gleefully.

Others in the room were enjoying the scene far too much for Tōshirō's liking. He dragged his fingers down his face in frustration. Karin Kurosaki, Sayaka Miki, and Kyōko Sakura were going to be a triad of terror. They would be the death of him. Or he would lose control and be the death of them. Whichever.

Karin understood his silence and posture because of course she did, so she laughed at him before looking to Sakura again. "ANYWAY, are you in?"

"Pfft, hell yeah," Sakura sniffed. She looked around the room more calmly and stopped on Inoue, who was finishing off her bowl of food. "Long as you got food."

Kaname's father looked indignant and determined. "Absolutely. As much as you want."

"Sold," Sakura said with a smirk.

"Are you hungry right now?"

Tōshirō— and probably everyone— thought of Sakura's malnourished state before Inoue's intervention as Sakura loudly answered, "HELL YES I AM."

"I'll be in the kitchen," Mr. Kaname said with satisfaction. "I'll keep cooking until you tell me to stop."

"Yesss!" Sakura said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

Urahara cleared his throat. When Sakura raised an imperious eyebrow at him, he said, "So. Can we take down these barriers or are you going to burn down this building and run?"

"As if I'd run from a personal chef," Sakura scoffed with another roll of her eyes.

"He's not—" Tomoe started, then interrupted herself. "You know what? Sure. Sure he is."

Yuzu threw a hand in the air as though volunteering in class. "I'll cook for you, too! I love cooking for friends!"

"Did anyone else notice she didn't say she wouldn't burn the shop to the ground, or was it just me?" Ishida muttered.

Sakura gave Yuzu the same disgruntled and skeptical face she had given Tomoe. "I'm not your friend."

"You will be!" Yuzu declared, pumping both fists with determined cheer.

Sakura stared at her for a moment, then turned to Karin. "She's gonna get herself killed by a rival one of these days."

"Over my dead body," Karin said with a threatening sneer.

"How about no dead bodies," Mrs. Kaname said mildly.

"Eh. That'd be nice, but it's not realistic," Sakura said with a shrug. She levered herself off the floor and stood. "Anyone got any Pocky?" she asked as she stretched and popped her spine.

Akemi reached into her shield and pulled out an unopened box of Pocky. She held it up and smoothly said, "I have plenty."

"Dude. That's my favorite flavor!" Sakura crowed. She glanced at Urahara and Tsukabishi, whom she had figured out were maintaining the barriers. "Let me out so I can get my Pocky."

"Please address whether you intend to set this place on fire," Ishida said loudly.

"Eh," Sakura said with a shrug, "if I burn this place I'd burn the food and that'd be a waste."

"She's... more concerned about the food than the people," Ishida said with numb incredulity.

Urahara and Tsukabishi traded long glances and dropped the barriers. Tsukabishi said, "How about we all move up to the dining room so everyone can sit?"

A murmur of agreement went through the assembled allies. All the magical girls dismissed their costumes. Sado and Kurosaki helped Inoue to her feet, arms hooked in her elbows as she swayed drunkenly.

"Wha's wr'ng wit'er?" Sakura asked around her third stick of Pocky.

"She expended an extreme amount of magic using a special ability to heal your body and revert your Grief Seed into a Soul Gem," Akemi replied, matter of fact. "We are forcing her to remain conscious as long as possible to eat. The energy from it will aid her recovery."

Sakura froze in place and even stopped chewing, watching Inoue's progress to the door with an unreadable expression. She held up her left hand and looked at her Soul Gem ring, then down at her body— specifically, where her bare midriff peeked through her partially-buttoned jacket. She poked her abdomen with one finger, then wandered to one side to test her hip, then slid her hand up to feel under her jacket— checking her ribs. Considering her previously malnourished state, Tōshirō inferred she was figuring out that she wasn't as bony as she had been. Sakura looked up and watched Inoue wobble out the door into the hallway, face a combination of mystified and troubled. She was so lost in thought that when Tomoe took one of her hands and tugged her toward the door, she followed docilely.

Tōshirō followed them out, shadowing Sakura in case she did anything unexpected. Well, her fairly sane behavior now was unexpected, especially as compared to her initial reaction upon waking, so... yeah, Tōshirō was feeling a bit paranoid. His entire body was tense and waiting for anything, the words his other self had written about the other Karin's madness echoing in his thoughts. Surely it couldn't be this easy. So he leaned against the wall by the door as Tomoe tugged Sakura down to sit and Kaname plunked down beside her and unconsciously raised her calming reiatsu. Sakura didn't react to that, but glanced at Tōshirō sideways.

I know why you're over there, you jerk, her disdainful face practically screamed. Tōshirō held her gaze unrepentantly. Sakura's face eventually eased into approval of all things before turning back to the table.

Mr. Kaname brought in two steaming bowls of food for Inoue and Sakura and disappeared back into the kitchen. Both girls dove right in, though Sakura seemed almost frantic and shielded her bowl with one arm while shoveling noodles into her face with zero regard for table manners. Tōshirō frowned and caught Mrs. Kaname frowning. He met her eyes and realized she understood how desperately hungry Sakura must have been for quite some time. There was a quietly protective, indignant fury in her eyes that jarringly reminded him of Matsumoto. Tōshirō glanced at Isshin and found his former captain wearing the same facial expression. The man met his gaze grimly. Tōshirō knew they were both thinking the same thing: Kyōko Sakura ate like a starving recruit from one of the Eightieth Districts of the Rukon, the wild and lawless areas farthest from Seireitei where competition was as fierce as food was scarce. Which implied a lot about her.

Sakura finished her bowl first. Akemi solemnly took box after box of variously flavored Pocky out of her shield to give to Sakura, who devoured it in a way that absurdly reminded Tōshirō of an electric pencil sharpener. Inoue finished her bowl in time for Mr. Kaname to bring more food. Inoue went more slowly while Sakura inhaled her second serving. Mr. Kaname brought Sakura a third as Inoue blinked sleepily and pitched forward toward her empty bowl. Sado caught her and scooped her up. Kurosaki and Ishida hovered around him, but he shook his head and nodded toward everyone at the table, then carried her out of the room to find somewhere for Inoue to sleep. Sakura slowed and watched them leave as she slurped noodles, eyes serious and considering.

Sakura ate at a more normal pace when her fourth bowl was brought out. Urahara took a deep breath and said, "Right. I think it would be best if you tell us how you came to be in such dire straits."

The redhead put a piece of chicken in her mouth and chewed slowly as she scrutinized him. The silence dragged as she thought. Finally, she swallowed and countered, "How about you tell me where the hell I am and who the hell you people are first."

"Fair enough," Urahara said with a quirk of his lips.

And so began the grand explanation shared among various people at the table as they snacked on cookies from a monstrous stash Yuzu had brought with her. Sakura weighed every speaker with a bland stare beneath heavy eyelids, eating blindly to focus on them. She merely glanced at Sado's return and didn't physically show any reaction to anything they said, but her reiatsu slowly burned hotter with rage. Tōshirō raised his own icy reiatsu to counter it when he saw sweat beading on foreheads. Sakura tilted her head to look at him with an amused smirk for a moment. Her reiatsu settled lower in an apparent attempt to control herself, but it soon burned hotly again. The scent of roses gradually competed with the scent of the food as Kaname watched Sakura earnestly the entire time. The fire of Sakura's soul remained banked. For now.

Sakura was silent and calculating for a long while after the explanation. Everyone let her think, just watching her chew Pocky at a more leisurely pace. At long last, her lip curled in disgust and she said, "Tch. Shitty deal, and I'm still gonna kill that fucking demon for not laying it out up front, but we shouldn't've been surprised. You get what you pay for."

Everyone stared.

"...What?" Tomoe asked.

"Miracles aren't free, y'know," Sakura said with a glance at her former mentor. She picked up a new stick of Pocky and loosely waved it around like a teacher's pointer, eyes closed. "I learned that the hard way. If you wish for hope, an equal amount of despair'll be rained down on you, too. That's how everything stays in equilibrium and the world's balance doesn't get disturbed."

That was far more philosophical than most of them had expected, as evidenced by surprised faces all around.

She is the daughter of a passionate, zealous religious leader, Hyōrinmaru reminded Tōshirō. She was likely immersed in theology and philosophy from the cradle. Her difficult life may have caused her to question or reject her father's dogma, but any mental conditioning to analyze things in abstract philosophical terms may be indelible.

Oh. That was something that had been completely glossed over in the tentative and very skimpy dossier Urahara had compiled on Sakura based on Akemi's stories. It was also likely a major building block they really needed to take into account. Actually, it could prove useful.

"That's not... true...," Kaname protested softly.

"If it wasn't true, no one'd have to wish for anything 'cause the world'd be all sunshine and daisies by now instead of the survival-of-the-fittest cagefight we got," Sakura argued, punctuating the harshness by chomping down on the Pocky like a predator going for the throat of prey.

"You do have a point," Urahara said with a nod. "Cynical, but valid."

Sakura tilted her head back and glanced at him sideways. "You'd better not just be humoring me."

Urahara's mouth widened into an entertained smile. "I'm not."

"That's not what your face says," Sakura drawled.

"Oh, no, far from it," Urahara demurred with a wave of his godforsaken fan. "I'm amused that someone as young as you can discuss philosophy so easily. Amused in a good way. It's refreshing."

That was at least a partial lie. Everyone at the table knew it, with the possible exceptions of Kaname, Miki, and Tomoe. Sakura watched Urahara a moment longer before turning away with a sniff, deciding against challenging him further. For now.

"Whatever." Sakura pulled another stick of Pocky out of the package and gestured vaguely with it. "So when're we going hunting?"

"What?" asked Kaname.

"Hunting. Going—" Sakura mimed walking with the fingers of one hand— "hunting." She abruptly mimed stabbing something. "You all say the Catbastard has lotsa bodies, right? So if we hunt down and roast every one of 'em, we're set, right?"

"It is not so simple as that," Akemi said firmly as people stared more.

"Why the hell not?"

"It is a waste of magic and effort to eliminate bodies when it has an endless supply of them."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "How d'you know they're endless?"

Akemi scowled. "If they are not endless, they are at least the functional equivalent against a force as small as ours."

Tōshirō wondered about how the numbers would work out if the Thirteen Divisions threw their entire force into hunting down terminals. They would need a decent estimate of how many terminals there were first, though. And a way to track them, since they didn't seem to have reiatsu— or had reiatsu that was undetectable. Hmm. He'd have to ponder that.

"Hmph. Then what's the point of this little secret clubhouse thing you all got going on?" Sakura taunted. She leaned forward and looked up at Urahara through her bangs, eyes contemptuous and skeptical. "You said you wanna stop the hellspawn. How?" She reached to Tomoe's space at the table without breaking eye contact with Urahara and carelessly slung the empty teacup and saucer skittering across the table at him. "Tea parties?" she asked mockingly.

Urahara, also refusing to break eye contact, caught the chinaware with a deft movement and a rattle of porcelain, face a picture of serene interest that told Tōshirō the scientist was utterly fascinated by the girl. Heaven help her.

"Kyōko!" Tomoe hissed. "Don't be so rude! They saved you!"

"Hey, I didn't fucking ask anyone to save me," Sakura snapped back.

"But you needed saving, and they were there, sooo...," Karin said with a lazy hand gesture.

Sakura turned a disgruntled scowl at her. "Your walking do-over giver wasn't there. I was batshit murderberserk but I remember that much. You all had to haul her ass over here from wherever the fuck you came from. You planned this shit." She bared her teeth and looked around the table. "You assholes brought me back so you'd have a magical girl in your debt to follow your orders. Fuck you. I'll do this my own way." Sakura stood abruptly and transformed.

Tōshirō sidestepped to block the door. Others at the table protested and Akemi lifted her arm as though to call her shield, but Miki slammed her hands on the table and shouted, "Don't be such a selfish bitch!"

Sakura locked onto Miki and furiously screamed back, "I'll be a selfish bitch if I damn well want to!"

Miki's big mouth bought them the precious seconds needed for Urahara, Tsukabishi, and Isshin to throw basic but overlapping barriers up around the room without Akemi's timestop. Not just the exits— the entire room, all angles of escape. Even the potential to blast through walls and ceiling was blocked.

"Son of a bitch!" Sakura snarled as she kicked the table in rage. The wood she made contact with splintered with a mighty crack! resulting in a split clear through to the other side and jagged faults through the rest of its surface. She jabbed an accusing finger at Miki. "You did that on fucking purpose!"

"No I fucking didn't!"

Tōshirō narrowed his eyes as he felt Miki's reiatsu fluctuate and sensed the room become significantly more humid. Hyōrinmaru perked up with interest.

"Ah, my poor table," Urahara mourned.

Kaname's reiatsu spiked high enough that Tōshirō was surprised she didn't glow. The room suddenly smelled intensely of roses. "Stop this! We're on the same side!"

"Rest in pieces, darling," Urahara continued.

Sakura swung her arm to jab her finger at Kaname. "Stop doin' that warm-n-fuzzy-drugs thing with your magic you sneaky little bitch!"

Kaname looked hurt and confused to the point of tears. "I— I'm not doing anything!" she cried in a panic as Akemi transformed and snarled, "Shut your filthy mouth, Kyōko!"

"Make me, Purplebitch!"

"Fine!" Annnnnd then Akemi stood and was on the verge of launching herself at Sakura. Isshin snagged her by the collar before she could move forward. Tomoe grabbed the hem of Sakura's ruffled tailcoat and pulled downward with a hiss of Sakura's name. Sakura ignored her.

"Are we gonna throw down?" Karin asked casually. "'Cause this looks like a throwdown about to happen."

"How about no," Mrs. Kaname said drily.

"How about you shut your fucking face, hag?" Sakura sneered.

Kaname gasped. Mrs. Kaname smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "How about you get a hold of yourself and stop throwing a tantrum?"

"I'm not throwing a fucking tantrum!"

"Could've fooled me," Karin drawled.

"Fuck off!"

"Tch." Karin leaned forward, elbows on the tilted shard of table in front of her, and propped her chin up in her hands. "Do you even remember what you're screaming about, dumbass?"

Sakura shook with fury and her mouth opened soundlessly a couple times before she shouted, "Shut the fuck up or I'll kick your fucking teeth in!"

So the answer was possibly no. She was arguing for the sake of arguing now. Great.

"Not if I choke a bitch first," Karin sneered. "Bitch."

Tōshirō glanced at Urahara and wondered why he was allowing this escalating disaster to continue. The man was watching the girls with the fascination of a scientist observing an experiment. Great.

"Fuck—" Sakura began.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT! UP!" Yuzu roared with a flare of yellow reiatsu as she abruptly shot to her feet.

…..

Yuzu.

Roared.

The Mitakihara contingent was merely startled, but every other Kurosaki in the room was suddenly white-faced with terror and Kurosaki's friends looked like they had just witnessed a portent of the end times. Tōshirō was pretty firmly in their camp. Akemi eyed Yuzu sideways and leaned away.

"WE ARE TRYING TO HAVE A CIVIL DISCUSSION HERE, NOT ANGRY SCREAMING CUSSING OLYMPICS!" Yuzu continued.

"I'm sorry," Karin immediately apologized, voice small and meek.

Was this even real life?

"You!" Yuzu said with a jab at Miki, "She asked a valid question!"

Miki's lip jutted out stubbornly. "But she—!"

"Shut uuuuup," Kurosaki breathed with a wary eye on his little sister.

"I'll get to her! But you didn't have to be so confrontational!" Yuzu scolded.

"But—!" Miki began. She shut up when Akemi clasped her shoulder and shook her head. Miki finally registered Akemi's caution and seemed to decide that if Akemi was balking, there was probably good reason to back off. Surprising.

"You!" Yuzu shouted as she pointed at Sakura, "You didn't have to be so dramatic!"

"I'm not fucking dra—"

"I SAID TO SHUT UP, SO KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" Yuzu screamed.

Sakura shut up in sheer surprise. Karin flinched even though she wasn't the current target of Yuzu's wrath.

"We healed you because it was the right thing to do! Wanting your help and wanting you in debt to us are two different things! Your question about our plans was obviously disingenuous because you didn't wait for an answer before rejecting them! You jump to whatever conclusions won't challenge your cynicism— cut off whatever has the potential to contradict your worldview! Won't even listen to it! Don't lash out just because you're afraid of being wrong or losing control of your coping mechanism for handling the damage your father did to you!"

Sakura physically staggered two steps back and looked like she had been slapped into wide-eyed silence.

Ah, yes. Tōshirō had forgotten how Yuzu could wield her ability to read people as a deadly weapon. This was beyond anything he had personally witnessed, though.

"And we just told you Madoka and Sayaka aren't contracted! They don't know how to use their magic! Madoka wasn't trying to do anything to you!" She left Sakura to gape and rounded on Akemi. "And you should know better than to take her bait!"

Akemi didn't even try to reply, just looked away and grudgingly nodded.

Yuzu rounded on her sister. "And you need to learn when poking someone with a sharp stick is counterproductive and keep your snark to yourself!"

"Okay," Karin immediately agreed.

Yuzu stood over them as everyone remained completely silent and let her just calm her breathing and give every one of them a challenging stare. "Now. Is everyone capable of hashing this out without acting like tantrumy kindergarteners testing out the naughty words they heard the grownups say?" When everyone either stared or nodded, Yuzu gave a sharp nod of her own. "Right. Homura. Kyōko. Get rid of your costumes and sit. Now."

They did so, Sakura looking spooked and moving with the slow caution of someone who had just discovered their close proximity to landmines.

Yuzu sat, cleared her throat, smoothed her skirt, and directed a sunny smile at Urahara. "Shall we continue?" she asked politely, demeanor as pleasant as the clear blue sky after a hurricane. "I believe the topic was what our plans are."

"...Right," Urahara said. "Well. We've been in something of a holding pattern for several days. I have ideas for moving forward, but I would like some additional information first. Miss Sakura?"

Sakura eyed him, somewhere between wary and sulking. "What?"

"Could you please tell us how you came to be in such dire straits?" he repeated his earlier question. "The Incubator has manipulated at least two magical girls into targeting our operations. I'd like to figure out if it did the same with you."

Sakura fidgeted with the broken table and reached into the wreckage to save her box of Pocky. She brushed wood shards off it and inspected it with a troubled expression. "Kyub— the Incubator didn't send me or anything."

"It may not have needed to," Urahara said quietly. "Not directly."

A foil wrapper crinkled as Sakura studiously peered inside at the snack and tipped the sticks out to inspect them for splinters. "I guess."

"Kyōko. Please," Tomoe said gently with a light touch to the girl's upper arm.

Sakura sighed deeply. "Fine."

When she didn't continue, Tomoe hesitantly prompted, "You said... something about someone poaching your k-kills?"

Sighing tiredly, Sakura scrubbed her face with one hand and said, "The last Witch I fought was... I dunno. Three or four weeks ago?"

Tōshirō narrowed his eyes and saw the others who knew about Akemi's true situation also look suspicious. That was soon after Akemi arrived in this time.

"Where was it?" Urahara asked with quiet interest.

"By some fancy-aaa—"she glanced at Yuzu and modified her language— "paaants old-fashioned tea house on east side."

Urahara scratched his chin in thought. "You encountered none after that?"

"All I'd find was Familiars, and not a lot of 'em," Sakura answered.

"Where?"

"East side, mostly to the north. I couldn't find a damn thing on west side or to the south."

"That is interesting," Akemi said coolly. "I ventured into western Kazamino on occasion—"

"You were the poacher?!" Sakura demanded.

"In part, perhaps. My apologies," Akemi said with a sober nod. "I did not intend to poach. I trespassed to investigate the suspicious deaths and hunt Sōju. I encountered...," She lifted her hands and started counting on fingers. "A Box Witch Familiar, the Class Representative Witch—"

"Say what?" Miki sputtered with a partially-suppressed laugh.

"She and her Familiars wore school uniforms and the entire sky was filled with school uniforms on clotheslines and falling desks. I have reason to believe she was once Noriko Chiasa, who was a class representative," Akemi explained bluntly.

Several people winced. Miki looked abashed and stammered, "O-oh."

"The Scribbling Witch's Familiar, the Scribbling Witch herself was right on the border..." Akemi trailed off and glanced at Tōshirō. He stared back at her, unsure what she wanted.

She did not enter the Shadow Witch's labyrinth with you and thus cannot name it without drawing suspicion, Hyōrinmaru murmured.

"Then there was the Shadow Witch last night," Tōshirō finished. "Three Witches and two Familiars."

Akemi nodded. "All save the Class Representative Witch were on the western border. There should have been more to the east." She spoke with firm certainty. Tōshirō would bet his haori she knew from experience in previous timelines.

"Bethany Michaels presumably fell in the church where her body was found in east central Kazamino," Urahara said speculatively, "and her friend Marina Sakamoto went missing the same night. Whether she died or became a Witch, we cannot say. We can't even say for certain that Sakamoto was a magical girl, though it seems likely."

"They're both magical girls," Sakura said. "A team. I ran into 'em a couple times."

Tōshirō noticed Akemi's genuine surprise as she asked, "Did you fight them?"

"The first time, yeah," Sakura said while shoving a stick of Pocky into her mouth. "Had to spook the little rookies into not being idiots and staying the—" she glanced at Yuzu— "away from my territory. Second time, they weren't in costume. I was ready to teach 'em a lesson when they cried that they couldn't help coming into my place 'cause their parents hauled 'em up to church there. So I told 'em I'd leave 'em be if they don't transform in my territory."

"That was nice of you, Kyōko," Tomoe said softly.

"Tch." Sakura looked away, haunted expression poorly hidden. "Whatever."

Ah. Parents and daughters and church. Sore soft spot.

"Where was their actual territory?" Urahara asked.

"East Shinchi, on the coast," Sakura answered.

Tōshirō could practically see Urahara collecting and considering puzzle pieces as he nodded slowly and asked, "So you don't think they would have come up into the southern end of your territory to hunt?"

Sakura snorted. "I put the fear o' God into 'em. I wasn't kidding when I said they cried that second time. They're terrified of me."

"Are there any other magical girls in your area?" Isshin asked.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen 'em lately," she answered. "I didn't get their names. They were pretty flash-in-the-pan. Beat 'em down to show 'em who's boss and they stayed the hell away from me after."

"They were likely starved out," Akemi murmured as she frowned at the table in thought. By you was implied. "The Incubator deliberately contracts too many magical girls in one area to make competition fierce enough to force creation of Witches by Grief Seed starvation in order for the strongest magical girl in the area to harvest them. It is the only way to make the system sustainable."

Sakura went perfectly still and stared at Akemi for a long moment. Her silence dragged; eventually, she looked ill and faintly said, "Oh."

Urahara allowed her a moment to think before gently prompting her to continue. "So the lack of Witches in the east side is currently unexplained, but that lack explains why you became a Witch." Sakura shuddered. "What I am curious about is how you came to be so... gaunt."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably. "It was weird. The longer I went without a Grief Seed, the hungrier I got. I tried to only use my magic to dowse for Witches and bust ATMs for money. If I found a labyrinth, I went in without transforming and backed out when it was just a Familiar. I got... pretty desperate." She focused on a new stick of Pocky, playing with it at her lips and refusing to look at anyone. "I stopped busting ATMs to save magic and went to pick-pocketing and shoplifting. But I got slower and hungrier. The stuff I was gettin'd usually be fine but I couldn't get enough. No matter how much I ate, I kept losing weight. I... My memories of the last few days or week or whatever are kinda dark and spotty. I remember feeling Mami transform and just... losing my damn mind," she said softly. "I don't even remember getting to where we were. The fight... that's clear. Mostly. It took every drop of what I had to fight without blacking out. I think I thought... I'd die, but take... Mami... with... me." Turning her face away from Tomoe's sad gasp, Sakura trailed off with, "And then... I was a Witch and..." Her expression shuttered into blankness and her reiatsu quivered with dark horror.

Tomoe and Kaname simultaneously hugged her from both sides, arms gentle as they both cried. Sakura blinked in surprise and glanced at each in confusion, but didn't say anything. Kaname's reiatsu rose gently; Sakura obviously noticed but allowed herself to relax into it this time. Her own unstable reiatsu settled.

After a respectful silence, Urahara thoughtfully said, "If you were trying to conserve magic, you may have been unconsciously tapping your body as a source of energy. The longer you went without purifying your Gem, the more outside energy you would have drawn from your body. You may have gotten to the point where it was simply unsustainable."

Sakura shrugged, not caring.

"So, you remember your time as a Witch?"

Sakura wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed, face pained as she closed her eyes and gave another full-body shudder. "Yeah."

"Let's talk about that later, Kisuke," Isshin said firmly, voice a veiled command. "She's had a rough enough day."

"My apologies," Urahara quickly said.

Sakura didn't reply, rocking herself as Tomoe and Kaname hugged her more tightly.

"Kyōko. Bring out your Soul Gem," Akemi ordered. It said a lot that Sakura immediately complied and held it up in her palm without raising her head. The red Soul Gem was muddy with despair. Akemi scowled and barked, "Inoue is unavailable. Hitsugaya, are any of the Grief Seeds you have still usable?"

"The third one should be able to take another hit," he replied as he pulled it out of his pocket and approached the table. He stood behind Sakura and reached over her to tap the Grief Seed against the Soul Gem. It didn't completely drain of contamination, but it was pretty close.

Urahara sighed. "Tōshirō, give those to me. I'll store them. Everyone else... do what you want til dinner, I guess."

"Do... you want to lay down for awhile, Kyōko?" Tomoe asked gently, pressing her cheek into the crown of Sakura's head.

"No. No. I wanna— I wanna be— distracted."

"Do you like video games?" Karin asked pleasantly.

Sakura slowly looked up at her. "Yeah."

Karin sprang to her feet. "Great! I brought every console, peripheral, and game I own!"

"...We were gonna kill each other earlier," Sakura said in a tone that doubted Karin's sanity.

"Eh. Water under the bridge," Karin said lightly. "Orrr we can beat the hell out of each other in a game instead of real life."

Sakura stared dumbly for a long moment, then smirked faintly. "Yeah. Sounds good."

The kidō barriers were removed and everyone broke up. Tōshirō accompanied the teenagers to the room destined to become the Den of Games and watched the girls draw Sakura into their circle until they were all acting like they hadn't just been at each other's throats. Sakura still looked haunted, but she soon became absorbed in fierce gaming rivalry with Karin.

Well, they hadn't actually come to blows and Sakura was... decent at compartmentalizing and tentatively sane. As was Tomoe. Or maybe they were good at hiding it.

Tōshirō allowed himself to hope.

§ x § x §

Five of the Pleiades Saints arrayed themselves around Umika's living room in subdued quiet, aching with grief. Kaoru and Umika leaned against book cases. Mirai tried to comfort Saki on one couch. Niko perched on the edge of the couch that had been flipped over in the earlier fight. Everyone studiously ignored the wreckage of the chandelier that had been dropped on Kaoru during the incident.

Umika was the first to finally speak up. "Niko, have you found her?"

"Non," the girl with pale blond hair whose eyes were glued on her phone answered with a French accent, trying for lightheartedness and failing. More normally, she added, "Looks like she's unconsciously using magic to make herself undetectable."

"What do we do now?" Kaoru wondered brokenly.

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

A/N: RIP Tōshirō's dignity

we barely knew ye

Yes, my Homura has stolen a ton of Kyōko's favorite food and hoards it in her shield. She tells herself it's to bribe Kyōko like they're dog treats but we all know that's a lie.

...Mostly.

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.