A/N: It feels like forever since I wrote Homura's POV. I've been showing others' perception of her character development to avoid some redundancy in her thoughts as timelines go by. I feel rusty.

Ugly crying because my children finally obeyed me

Part of the delay was my mental Homura and Kisuke not cooperating.

Go read and review M. N. Nep's "Smoke and Mirrorless Flowers"! It's an AU with a different plan for when Kyōko woke up and it is amaaaazing.

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DREIUNDSIEBZIG

TIMELINE X + N + 1

Homura glared at Urahara when he declared that things had gone well. Most of those present did, really. Everyone understood that he had been going for some kind of dark humor, but no one liked it. Mrs. Kaname slowly raised her head from looking at Kyōko's peaceful face, expression morphing from the one Homura's mother had made when she cried about other children being mean to her in kindergarten to the seething rage Homura's mother had shown when Homura told her the teacher had done nothing about the teasing. Mrs. Kaname shifted Kyōko's body and pushed her toward the Kurosaki patriarch.

"Here, Isshin," Mrs. Kaname said with the calm of a peaceful jungle clearing just before a jaguar dropped out of a tree to take down a deer. "Please hold her."

Everyone eyed her as she stood and stalked toward Urahara. It was all of three steps, but it was like watching a hunt.

"Kisuke," Mrs. Kaname said pleasantly. "What was that?"

Behind her, Homura heard Karin's quiet oooooooo of dark anticipation followed by the bling! of a phone's video camera activating.

Urahara had the sense to not stall and innocently ask what she meant for once. "That was me drawing the majority of her mistrust onto myself in a way that made you all visibly angry at me to make everyone else seem like allies grudgingly putting up with me because I'm useful. To put you all on equal ground. It had to be a genuine reaction on your parts. You should be able to get closer to her now by playing up that disapproval and commiserating with her."

Mrs. Kaname nodded thoughtfully. "I see." She crossed her arms and lightly tapped one finger against her cheek. "Did you push her toward a breakdown on purpose?" she asked lightly.

"Not to that extent," Urahara answered with appropriate gravity. "I simply intended for her to become quite angry at me and for everyone else to take her side while talking her down."

"Did you happen to consider that ploy could go south in an instant with just the wrong words?"

"Yes."

Mrs. Kaname turned her head and looked at him sideways. "And you did it anyway. Without warning anyone."

"Yes. It worked out in the end."

Mrs. Kaname frowned and nodded slowly as though taking time to absorb his words. Then her hand lashed out and slapped him across the face. Hard enough to turn his head aside and let her manicured nails leave scratches on his cheek.

Homura narrowed her eyes. Urahara had allowed that hit to land. Did Madoka's mother understand she was furthering his stated plan?

"That was for Kyōko." Mrs. Kaname returned her arms to their idly crossed position. "I won't stand for you playing games with these girls' lives, Kisuke," she said, sweetly threatening.

Urahara slowly turned his head back to face her. "I would prefer to call it a strategy rather than a game, madam."

"Your preferences have little bearing upon our reality, sir."

Homura needed a copy of Karin's video.

"I also do not appreciate that you are using that same strategy on everyone here," Mrs. Kaname continued.

"I'm sorry?" Urahara said innocently. Stalling.

Wrong move.

This time, Sayaka and Ichigo joined Karin's quiet ooooooooooooooo.

Mrs. Kaname bared her teeth in imitation of a smile. "You say you wanted us all to band together for her sake. That first part is the primary goal. You set her up as bait to make all of us who met for the first time today form a team bond rapidly."

Ooo, she did understand. And was playing along by calling it out.

Urahara stared at her, eyes wide and brows raised, visibly impressed. "Quite astute," he conceded. "You have a good eye for social maneuvering."

"I'm an executive in a multinational corporation," Mrs. Kaname said drily. "It's in my job description."

"This is beauuutiful," Karin whispered. She sounded somewhere between gleeful and tearful.

"She's my hero," Sayaka whispered back to her in the same tone. "You'll send this to me, right?"

"Hell yeah."

Homura, for her part, was completely reevaluating Madoka's mother and moving her to the highest ranks of potential usefulness in picking apart enemy strategy. She felt foolish for ignoring the woman across so many timelines just because she had no magical powers. Homura was struck again by how she had limited her own options before this timeline.

"Which is why you're addressing this in the open instead of privately," Urahara said with an amused smile.

Mrs. Kaname smirked. "If you're going to play games, I'm going to teach the kids how to play. Calling out bullshit when you see it is a valuable life skill."

"True." He tilted his head curiously. "Surely you must recognize there are critical processes which are most efficiently handled via social engineering, no?"

"Obviously," Mrs. Kaname said with a condescending eye roll. "I don't know where you learned to rely on it so extensively, but this kind of situation is exactly the sort where straightforwardness nets the best results. These girls have had enough social engineering from the Incubator. We're supposed to be their safe port in a storm on that angle."

Guilt made Homura's stomach roll. She buried it under admiration for how skillfully Mrs. Kaname was balancing on the line of calling Urahara out while using the same tactic. Better than Urahara, even.

They'd make a terrifying team. Might already be a terrifying team if they really had spontaneously slid into a good-cop-bad-cop routine.

"This is exactly why I volunteered to handle the kids," Mrs. Kaname continued. "You're a bachelor uncle with no experience with teenage girls. You are so wrapped up in your research that you see them as subjects rather than peop—"

"I wouldn't go that far—"

"Let me finish. Your research takes precedence. You are obviously the perfect person for that job. You have the skills, knowledge, and mindset. You are absolutely vital. However, your laboratory mindset isn't staying in the lab. That's also not necessarily bad; you just let it intrude more than it should. It works out sometimes but it's inapplicable at others. If you can't separate the two, you need to stick to Research and Development and leave Human Resources to me."

Urahara barked out a startled laugh.

"I fail to see the humor in this, Kisuke."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Urahara chuckled with a little wave. He offered her a self-deprecating grin. "You just sound so much like someone else who has lectured me on that in the past. It caught me by surprise."

Mrs. Kaname bit her cheek and narrowed her eyes. "That implies you don't learn, Kisuke. I suggest you correct that."

"I shall endeavor to do so, madam," Urahara said while tipping the brim of his hat at her. "I leave the children in your capable hands."

Madoka's mother eyed him skeptically, then nodded and turned away from him. She looked around the room and declared, "I think it's time we all get some rest. Tomorrow will probably be a bit rough as well. Get some sleep."

After a general murmur of agreement, Homura trailed behind Isshin as he carried Kyōko's sleeping body to the game room behind the other girls. She stood back and watched the other teens quickly shove furniture aside and unfurl sleeping bags while Isshin stood by the door, unconsciously rocking Kyōko with a worried face. The others cleared a path for him to step through and lay her out on an open sleeping bag. He straightened and shifted uncertainly, wanting to do more to help.

Yuzu patted his arm and smiled. "We'll take it from here, Daddy. Don't worry."

Isshin laughed weakly. "Don't ask Daddy to do the impossible, baby." He scrubbed his face and scratched his stubble with a deep sigh. "Yeah, I know." He looked around the room. "Good night, kids."

There was a chorus of good nights and all the boys were promptly kicked out of the game den to bed down in Hitsugaya's bedroom. Mami knelt beside Kyōko and fretted with the girl's long hair, straightening and carding out nonexistent tangles. She sat back and bit her lip. "I wish we had been able to wait for her to change."

Homura sighed. "It could not be helped."

"I know."

Yuzu stepped up and eyed them with her hands on her hips, then nodded. "We can at least take off her boots," she said firmly. Mami nodded; she and Yuzu each removed a boot. Yuzu reached for Mami's. "Here, I'll put them over by the wa—"

"No," Homura interrupted. Everyone looked at her in confusion; she stared back solemnly. "Leave them near her feet so she can see them when she sits up."

Everyone looked baffled. Sayaka became their spokesperson and asked, "Why?"

Homura frowned at the boots and thought of another Kyōko. One in a timeline where the girls were establishing an uneasy five-way alliance as Walpurgisnacht approached. They had just arrived at Mami's apartment; Kyōko had refused to take her shoes off at the door and Sayaka had called her rude.

"Like hell'm I leaving these babies outta my sight," that Kyōko had sneered.

"What, you think some little shoe gremlin will come out and snatch them?" that Sayaka had laughed.

That Kyōko had gone red and defensively retorted, "These are the best shoes I've ever owned! I ain't losing 'em!"

That Mami had murmured a quiet oh and soothed, "Kyōko, this is my home. The other girls won't steal them and no one else will come in."

That Kyōko had eyed them suspiciously and gestured at everyone else. "You can't speak for them. I don't trust 'em. If I have to bug out when they try something, I want my damn boots! I ain't going in a shoe store barefoot!"

That Madoka had tilted her head and innocently asked, "Won't— wouldn't you just wear other shoes until you got new boots?"

That Kyōko had bared her teeth, anger not completely covering embarrassment, and snapped, "These're the only shoes I own!"

Homura realized she had tipped her hand and sighed. How to spin this? "Mami said she is basically homeless. It would not surprise me if whatever she carries on her person is all that she owns. Those boots look well cared-for and like they were expensive when new. I do not want her to wake and think we stole them."

Sayaka cringed and looked abashed in the exact same way her other self had during that other conversation. Karin and Yuzu eyed Homura, likely wondering if Homura actually knew that from experience. Mami looked at Kyōko sadly as Yuzu set the boots at the foot of Kyōko's sleeping bag and Madoka smiled at Homura.

"That's very thoughtful of you," Madoka complimented her. "I never would have considered that." She smiled brighter. "It's almost like you know her."

Oh no.

Karin and Yuzu eyed her.

Sayaka perked up with realization. "Yeah! Like with the food fight thing! How'd you know that?"

Karin and Yuzu eyed. her.

Homura pursed her lips and kept her eyes on Kyōko. She finally settled on saying, "This is not the first time I have encountered a homeless magical girl." It was true.

Karin made an abortive head and shoulder movement that may have been a snort or laugh and turned away. "Welp, zip 'er up and get changed. It's tiiime to crash," she called over her shoulder.

Homura was tempted to throw something at her.

"Bed time!" Yuzu chirped.

Both of them. Throw something at both of them.

"What time is it, anyway?" Sayaka wondered.

Karin looked at Homura gleefully, about to say something smart, so Homura quickly said, "I'll check." She pulled out her phone and absently murmured "one-twenty-eight" as she noticed a text from Urahara.

- When everyone is asleep, do that trick and fetch everyone in the know. We need to chat.

- Leave Miss Inoue to sleep, though.

Joy.

Homura lay in the dark and reflected on the afternoon and evening while waiting for the others to fall asleep. Mami was dealing with reality far better than she had in any previous timeline. She was still lost, heartbroken, and horrified, but it seemed they had found the right quantity and quality of people to keep yanking her back from falling off the cliff into insanity. It was a relief to see, but Homura also felt some guilt and hurt that she had never managed to be enough for Mami by herself. She tried to suppress that because she recognized it as illogical, but it kept creeping back and arguing that Mami should have been the easiest to support because of their similar backgrounds. Instead, Mami's sanity always slipped through her fingers as she tried to hold the girl up.

If Mami lived long enough to learn the truth, anyway.

Homura was better with Kyōko. Maybe because they had similar lack of faith in humanity? Maybe because they were both blunt and practical? Maybe because they had both had their naive idealism crushed out of them? Kyōko's coarse behavior often irritated Homura, but she had mostly learned to tolerate it. She would forever be mystified that Kyōko, of all people, was the girl she got along with best after Madoka, but it was a constant. One that should be useful, given that this Kyōko was largely accepting her new reality but needed to be guided into accepting allies. Homura had some strong guesses on how to nudge her into place.

The irony of her trying to convince someone to accept allies was not lost on Homura.

This Kyōko was behaving about as Homura had expected given the circumstances. Except for the quickness of her Soul Gem's darkening. Homura supposed it made sense in the aftermath of her world tilting on its axis but it was inconvenient. With Orihime exhausted, Homura would need to go scrounge up new Grief Seeds as backup. Bothersome. But she dutifully pored over her mental catalog of known Witches for those that had and had not been defeated this time.

The day must have been exhausting because it didn't take as long as Homura expected for everyone's breathing to even out in sleep. She damped her magic as much as she could when transforming, froze time, and roused Karin and Yuzu. They walked to Hitsugaya's bedroom as a human chain; inside, they found all the boys sitting around with old books, frozen mid-bickering. Karin took the initiative to hurry forward and shout "boo!" as she slammed her free hand on Hitsugaya's shoulder, then cackled at his scream of surprise and reflexive attempt to punch her— an attempt only because Karin removed her hand from his shoulder and let him freeze again.

Karin turned to Homura and gleefully said, "Please tell me you mess with people like this."

"Not particularly," Homura replied with a shrug. "Not outside of battle, anyway."

"Ooooo, you are missing out," Karin crowed. Her eyes were bright and looked like she had ideas.

Homura traded a neutral glance with Yuzu. They mutually decided to leave Karin to her fantasies. Dissuading her wasn't worth the energy of arguing and asking her to elaborate would only encourage her.

"Save your evil plots for later," Homura said drily. "You startled him so you get to risk injury pulling him into the stop."

"I should probably poke him with a stick and let him freeze that instead of my arm," Karin said, looking around the room.

Homura felt a bit spiteful on Hitsugaya's behalf, so she let go of Yuzu's hand and let both sisters freeze, moved to stand behind Karin, pulled a golf club from her shield, and jabbed Karin in the back with it.

"Here," she said blandly.

Karin screeched and arched away from the contact, but Homura pressed forward with her.

Ah. Satisfying.

Karin whipped her head around to look over her shoulder and shouted, "You just said you don't do that!"

"I made an exception for you, since you seem so fond of the technique," Homura replied smoothly.

Yuzu giggled. "You deserved that, Karin."

"Pssh. Whatever." Karin reached behind her and grabbed the golf club by the rod, yanking it away and saying, "Just gim—"

Karin and Yuzu froze as soon as Homura let go of the golf club. She just stood and looked at Karin with a slight smile on her lips for a moment. Then she returned to her starting position and slipped her hand into Yuzu's.

"—me thAH!"

Yuzu's ugly laugh reminded Homura of Sayaka whenever she provoked Hitsugaya.

Karin glared for a moment, but broke out into laughter. She managed to get Hitsugaya into the stop without losing any limbs to frostbite, but the boy's snarling diatribe in the face of Karin's mirth spread frost at his feet. Still muttering resentfully, Hitsugaya cast the yellow rope spell and brought Ichigo, Sado, and Ishida into the stop with minimal screaming. Homura led them to the kitchen like a teacher guiding kindergarteners with a walking rope. They found Isshin sitting on the floor in a corner, back pressed against the wall, arms braced on his knees, and holding a hand out as though to shake hands with empty air.

"The hell is Goat Face doing?" Karin muttered.

"He managed to anticipate you wanting to mess with him," Hitsugaya bit out.

"Awww. No trust."

Hitsugaya muttered darkly.

Ishida adjusted his glasses. "He's psychologically prepared for a sudden contact. We should have thought of this."

Indeed, Isshin's reaction to the yellow spell snaring his wrist was a minimal jerk of surprise before standing calmly.

Soon, they were all sitting around a cluster of card tables in the cramped surveillance monitoring room, tied together by the yellow rope spell— Hainawa, Hainawa. Had to remember that. She narrowed her eyes at a bank of monitors that were shut off and wondered what Urahara was observing that he didn't want them to know about. Karin caught her eye with odd movements, playing with the tea that had already been set at each place at the table when they arrived in the same way she had when Homura was proving her abilities. One time, the girl looked right past the floating stream of tea to meet Homura's eyes and flicker her own toward the same monitors, then ignore them in favor of playing with the tea while Urahara shuffled papers and multiple tablets.

Yeah, I noticed that, but it doesn't surprise me and is a low priority— ignore that for now, Homura interpreted. She primly picked up her teacup and sipped, deciding to follow Karin's lead.

Urahara cleared his throat. "Shall we begin?"

"Yeah," Karin said idly, still playing with her tea. "Question."

"Yes?"

"How did it feel to get owned so hard by Madoka's mom?"

Ichigo and Isshin's cackling was loud and full of schadenfreude. Yuzu didn't object to the implied you deserved that. No one did.

Urahara blinked slowly and looked like he hadn't anticipated the question. "Well..." He scratched his chin. "I can see why she is so successful."

"That's not an answer, you slippery little weasel," Karin drawled.

Yuzu didn't object to the insult, concealing her outrage behind a pleasant face.

Mr. Tsukabishi thoughtfully commented, "Mrs. Kaname reminded me of Yoruichi... having words with you."

"Maybe we should introduce them," Isshin said with a sly grin and viciousness in his eyes. "With Yoruichi as a human, I mean."

Urahara didn't hide his wariness at the prospect fast enough. Homura made a mental note to make that meeting happen. Somehow.

There was more sniping and scolding before the meeting began in earnest. Urahara bore it all patiently, but it annoyed Homura because it was playing right into his stated plan of making them band together while he lurked in the shadows doing research. Getting raked over the coals was part of that plan, though a few barbs seemed to pierce him and make his face go blank for moments at a time. Of course, he could be faking that. Who knew?

The meeting began with everyone reporting what they had observed, what they had learned, and the questions those developments had elicited— getting everyone on the same page. Mr. Tsukabishi took notes while Urahara's eyes alternated between drilling holes into speakers and going unfocused to ponder something. The scientist went last; his contributions and questions went on and on and on and on and set Homura's mind to whirling even when he didn't pause to actually ask her about something. The long list of unknowns made Homura uneasy, like each was a block being added to a wall they had to climb.

There was a long silence after everyone had reported and their discussions had been pursued to their ends. Urahara stared at his teacup as he tapped his fingers on its rim. Isshin and Ichigo watched him like they were dreading something— like they could guess what the man would say next. It put Homura on edge.

"Given this mountain of unknowns and the escalating moves made against us," Urahara said with painful slowness, "I think it would be in our best interest for Miss Akemi to go back in time again."

Silence.

And the block wall fell on top of her.

"No!" Karin snarled. "We're not doing that to her!"

"Things are going well this time!" Yuzu said heatedly.

Homura stared at them, speechless.

"You really think the constant near-death experiences are things going well?" Ishida asked.

"Everyone's still alive and sane! And friends!" Yuzu argued. "We magical girls— we're used to risk like this! This is our lives!"

"Yuzu—" Isshin stammered, looking heartbroken.

"Shut up, Daddy!"

Isshin stared, mouth closing slowly.

"You should know this as— as shinigami and Quincy! You know this!"

Karin crossed her arms aggressively and sneered, "Why the hell does she have to go back just because we don't know things?"

Urahara was looking Homura dead in the eye the whole time. "Miss Akemi. Does your time travel work beyond your stated reset point?"

Homura stared back, white-faced. Everyone looked at her. She opened and closed her mouth, then quietly answered, "I do not know."

"Have you ever tried to go back to before March sixteenth?"

"Ye-yes," she whispered. The admission pained her.

"Did it work?"

"No."

"Have you ever tried to go back to after March sixteenth? For example, to a point where things in the contemporary timeline had been going well but were about to go badly, so you could avoid that with hindsight?"

Her eyes burned. "Yes." She hated her voice for squeaking.

"Did it work?"

"No."

"Do you know why your wish to save Miss Kaname dropped you into your hospital room on March sixteenth instead of, say, the moment you first met her— a day later?"

Her mouth opened and closed. "No."

"Would it be reasonable to infer that while you know your time powers have rules, you do not know the full extent of those rules? Those limits?"

Homura couldn't breathe for hurt rage.

Karin looked at her face and threw her teacup at Urahara. It froze in midair. She snarled and shouted, "Are you gonna get to the fucking point or is this just Trash-Talk Homura's Powers Day?!"

"I do not intend to tra—"

"Kisuke," Isshin growled. A warning.

Urahara sighed. "My point is that while we have rolled with the punches so far, there is no guarantee we can continue to do so. Not with the Incubator escalating to trying to assassinate all our known fighters and introducing new variables to the timeline. There may come a point where it learns enough of our abilities, knowledge, and connections to overwhelm us. If that point should come after May first..." His face went tired and sad as he looked at Homura. "Would you be able to reset the timeline at all in case of disaster after May first? Would you go all the way back to March sixteenth no matter how far out we get? Would you only be able to go back six weeks? What if something goes wrong and we figure out that the point where it went wrong is seven weeks behind us? What if—"

"Kisuke," Isshin said just as tiredly.

Homura startled at the feel of Yuzu's hand on her shoulder. She looked at her friend and was baffled when the girl dabbed her face with a napkin.

"The fact remains that the descent of Walpurgisnacht and your reset point are a mere two weeks away. We simply do not have the resources to figure out everything at play in Mitakihara and surrounding cities in that frame. We need to accept reality."

A dam within Homura broke. Words spilled out of her mouth in a desperate rush. "Why bother wasting resources on the surrounding cities at all?! It's never been a problem for me before!"

"We have discussed this, Miss Akemi. At length. If the barrier which blocks memories of the Incubator was to be deployed against us—"

"It never has in past timelines!"

"The Sōju were never deployed against you in previous timelines. Yet they were this time. How do you know who or what else the Incubator has in its arsenal?"

Homura pressed her lips together, then crossed her arms and averted her eyes.

"It has plainly escalated your priority in its threat assessment compared to other timelines. Though we don't know for certain what entity created the barrier over Asunaro, we must consider the strong possibility that it was the Incubator— maybe a last-ditch effort to counter a threat that comes unacceptably close to some line which it does not wish to be crossed, or perhaps the acquisition of knowledge that it absolutely cannot allow to spread. Barring assassination, causing your enemy to forget you are their enemy is an elegant resolution. Especially as it would allow the magical girls within to continue their progression toward becoming Witches. Risk management with loss prevention, so to speak."

"You're implying the Incubator sees the magical girls in Asunaro as an existential threat," Ishida observed.

"Yes. Maybe. Which is why I want to know who they are and what they know."

"They may have forgotten what they knew," Hitsugaya said skeptically.

"Which makes the Asunaro barrier even more important to study. Figuring out exactly what they forgot could be priceless intel."

"Assuming the Incubator is the one who crafted the barrier," Hitsugaya countered.

"Assuming so, yes." Urahara crossed his own arms and sat back. "Even if it was someone else, their knowledge or skills could be useful. That barrier is intricate. It snuck up on Yoruichi. I don't think you quite grasp how exquisite it must be to do that."

Homura seethed. "I will grant that it is a promising venture," she grit out. "Even so, I do not see why resetting time would be necessary to continue investigation."

Urahara pursed his lips. "Have you been listening to this discussion at all? Are you that recklessly intent on denying reality?"

It was like being slapped. And choked.

"Don't be so cruel!" Yuzu said through tears.

"Reality is cruel," Urahara said dully.

"Fuck you!" Karin snarled. She and her brother looked ready to scale the table and attack the scientist.

Homura just felt empty.

"You've all known this was a possibility. You wouldn't have been composing time capsule notebooks if you didn't. In that vein, we should devote more time to assembling and distilling our information for our next selves."

"I know you are capable of better socialization than this, Kisuke," Isshin growled.

Urahara took his hat off and rubbed his face with a heavy sigh. Without the shadow of the hat's brim, the dark circles under his eyes were far more evident. "Miss Akemi. I do not intend to hurt you with this. I intend to save you the pain of allowing your reset point to pass and coming to regret it with all your being— to regret whatever terrible things happen to your friends with all your being. I... know regret like that. I don't want that to happen to you. I don't want you to have to go back, but I don't want you to lose what little control you— you!— have over the situation more. Not just for our sake, but for yours." He looked at her earnestly; let his mask slip and his overwhelmed haggardness show through. "I cannot express in words how much I regret being unable to save you this pain— regret my... inadequacy in the face of this challenge. I cannot fully comprehend the effect what I want you to do will have on you, though I understand it is a terrible thing to ask. A monstrous thing. But if it will save you and others in the end, I am willing to be your monster."

Homura stared at her lap, twisting her skirt in shaking fists.

"I have racked my brain many a night trying to find another way out," Urahara said mournfully, so quiet she could barely hear him. "If I had been able to find any alternative with a failsafe even half as powerful as your trump card..." He trailed off.

Didn't commit to what he would or would not do if he found such an alternative. Made it sound like he'd tell her and opt for using it, but didn't say so.

Homura should be angry at the similarity to the Incubator, but she was just... tired. "Is that what I am to you? A trump card?" She heard sharp inhales around the table but didn't bother looking up.

"Absolutely not," Urahara said firmly.

She looked up at him through her bangs. "You don't act like it."

"I—"

Homura was done listening. She severed the kidō rope to evict everyone from her timestop and left the room, navigated the halls in a daze, paused to peek in at the sleeping Mitakihara girls, and left the shop. She wandered the city listlessly for awhile, halfheartedly considered hopping on a train, decided that would be immature, and scaled a tall building to survey the frozen city for something to do, someplace to go.

Kyōko had said Sakamoto and Michaels' territory had been the coast of Shinchi and Kyōko was absent from Kazamino. She shouldn't run into any opposition if she went east to be alone for awhile.

§ x § x §

Ichigo blinked several times in surprise. One moment, Homura was sitting at the table looking tired but defiant. The next moment, she glowed violet, the yellow band of Hainawa broke from her wrist, and she disappeared when the world regained its color. Urahara morosely allowed Karin's un-paused teacup to nail him in the forehead, then looked down at the puddle and broken pieces with a sigh.

"Oh, good job, jackass," Karin sneered. "Now she's done a runner." She sat back and clapped.

Her sarcastic applause continued as Urahara blinked owlishly and mused, "Ah. Perhaps I should have added Miss Akemi to the inversion to keep her from leaving." He ordered Tessai to track Homura from the control room.

"That would have been worse," Chad said quietly as Tessai rushed away.

Isshin pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're better than this, Kisuke."

Urahara sighed again at the blatant disappointment.

"I'll go to her," Ichigo declared, standing abruptly. His father gripped his arm and held him in place.

"Let her cool her head awhile, son."

"Actually, Hitsugaya should go," Urahara interrupted. "We can't have Ichigo reveal himself and his power beyond the wards. Not yet."

Ichigo ground his teeth, clenched his fists, and growled expletives under his breath.

"She is denying reality," Uryū said grimly. "That's not good."

"Not unexpected, though," Isshin sighed. "We've asked her to form emotional bonds and now we're asking her to throw them away in a couple weeks."

"Which is why I really think now is the time to reveal the time travel to the Mitakihara girls," Urahara said. "Give them a couple weeks to create their own time capsules and reassure her. But if we tell them against Miss Akemi's wishes, that would be a dire betrayal and we could lose her. Besides, we can't prove it to the others without Miss Akemi's cooperation. So we need to convince her."

"That'll be fun," Uryū said darkly. "If we can find her."

"How far could she have gone?" Yuzu worried.

"With her powers, she could have flash-stepped down to Fukuoka while time was stopped and be on a boat to Korea for all we know," Karin answered with a shrug.

"No. She'll be nearby," Tōshirō argued.

Karin arched a brow at him. "Oh?"

"She wouldn't abandon Kaname," Tōshirō reasoned. "And we can clearly sense Kaname is still in the building."

He was right. Even Ichigo could discern that; her power was too gentle at rest to be called a beacon, but its presence made him think of ambient light. Like when the world had a soft pink glow if conditions were right at sunrise or sunset. Soothing.

"Speaking of," Isshin said. "Reports of her power were not exaggerated. Wow."

"Maaannnnn, Kyōko was right when she called it warm-n-fuzzy-drugs magic," Karin said. "I mean, damn. No wonder Homura hasn't Witched out."

"What do you mean?" Tōshirō asked slowly.

Karin looked at them like they were idiots. "Her best friend is a walking magical antidepressant when she's worried about someone. You saw how she worked on Kyōko and Mami without— uh—" she waved a hand as she searched for a word— "consciously trying. At our sleepover a couple weeks back, Homura said one of the frustrating things is that no matter what she does, she can never convince Madoka to not want to help her. Not even if she's mean. Madoka's just that damn genuinely nice."

"And if she always wants to help Homura or is always worried about her... and they're in the same room at school almost every day...," Yuzu said softly.

Ichigo whistled lowly. "A daily dose of sunshine and roses to keep the darkness away."

Urahara's eyes went unfocused and he looked like he was playing with puzzle pieces. Whatever he thought, he kept it to himself. He jammed his hat on his head and stood, absently rubbing the scratches Mrs. Kaname had left on his cheek. "I'll leave her to you, then."

Isshin nodded sharply and narrowed his eyes at Urahara's hand. "Don't heal those scratches, Kisuke."

Urahara turned melancholy eyes on Ichigo's father and murmured, "I didn't plan to. I know I earned these." He sighed and moved to the doorway, posture closer to defeated than Ichigo had ever seen. "I'll see you in the morning."

On some level, Sandal-Hat's weary, overwhelmed demeanor frightened Ichigo. He wasn't used to seeing Urahara anywhere near out of his depth. It was jarring.

Tōshirō rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "I'll set out. Hopefully, she'll have calmed down some by the time I find her."

"You think you have enough sway to get her to come back?" Uryū asked skeptically.

Karin scoffed. "Tch'yeah. She won't tell me much about why they get along aside from him being a boring professional, but she respects him."

"Why do you get along so well, Tōshirō?" Ichigo asked. He really, really wanted to know.

"None of your business," the captain replied curtly as he stood.

"So something super duper personal," Karin translated.

Tōshirō gave her a flat look. She stared back. They had some kind of silent conversation with facial expressions before both rolled their eyes and Tōshirō turned to the doorway.

"Oh! Wait, Tōshirō!" Yuzu gasped. "Stop in the kitchen. Look in my pack for a shiny purple box. Take it to give to her when you talk."

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "And what would I be giving her?"

"Marzipan cookies," Yuzu answered, eyes bright and fierce. "She loves them."

"Ah. I'll get them." Tōshirō turned to leave again.

"Oh, hey, Tōshirō!" Ichigo called out.

Tōshirō looked back and growled, "What?"

Ichigo looked him in the eye, determined. "You tell my sister that I'll make sure my past self will still be her big brother even if I have to reach through time and kick my own ass."

Tōshirō stared. Everyone did.

"That makes no sense, Kurosaki," Uryū muttered.

"Pfft, if anyone could do it, it'd be Ichi-nii," Karin said with a smirk. She saluted Tōshirō. "Hey, Tosh. Include me in that."

"Yeah!" Yuzu said with sparkly eyes, clenching her fists.

Tōshirō's face softened into something fondly amused before he nodded and left.

The rest of them sat in silence for awhile before breaking up to go to bed, at a loss for what else to do. Sleep evaded Ichigo; every molecule of him strained to go find Homura. He couldn't relax until she was safe.

§ x § x §

It took Tōshirō well over an hour to find Akemi. He had to rely on process of elimination and his own eyes because she was obscuring her reiatsu. She absolutely would not be in Asunaro and probably wouldn't be in that one magical girl's territory in the part of Shinchi due south of Mitakihara; she wasn't on any of the skyscrapers in Mitakihara and wasn't at her townhouse. Wasn't in the unoccupied Kaname home or Tomoe apartment. Wasn't watching Momoe. She may have gone west, but Tōshirō gambled on east. Sakura dominated Kazamino but was out of commission, so Kazamino would be the safest place to get lost from a magical girl's perspective. He searched high buildings to no avail; stopped and racked his mind for ideas.

"Stars are better," she had said last time he sought her out.

Right. So. Maybe someplace ideal for stargazing? Which meant less light pollution. He scoured the coast and finally found her up in northern Kazamino, by a wooded park not far from the Asunaro barrier. She was sprawled out on her back at the end of a goddamn stone jetty sticking out into the goddamn Pacific Ocean after three in the goddamn morning.

Tōshirō alighted on the sand near the jetty and loosed his control on his reiatsu, notifying her of his presence as a courtesy. He half expected her to flicker away, but she didn't. So he strode along the gravel path atop the jetty until he was standing over her and peered down at her face. She reluctantly met his eyes. They stared at one another for a bit before Tōshirō decided to start things. He held up the purple box by its silver ribbon and blandly said, "Yuzu sent cookies."

Akemi sighed and looked aside. "Of course she did."

"Mind if I sit?"

"No."

He sat to one side of her and shifted the gravel around into something less painful, then tugged the ribbon and opened the box. He offered her a cookie. "Here. Eat at least one or Yuzu will flay me alive."

"Pout at you," Akemi corrected.

"Same thing."

Akemi hummed and took the cookie.

They sat in silence for awhile, Tōshirō gazing out at the moonlit waves as they crashed ashore and Akemi gazing skyward while nibbling cookies.

"I don't want to go back," she said at long last.

"To the shop or the past or both?"

"The past."

"I wouldn't want to if I was in your shoes, either," Tōshirō admitted. "Do you understand why Urahara thinks it necessary?"

Akemi heaved a deep sigh. "Yes."

Tōshirō scrutinized her face. From what he could see in the darkness, she didn't look angry anymore. Even her reiatsu didn't feel angry. Akemi was just the epitome of bone-deep weariness. "You're not angry anymore," he observed, hoping she'd respond to the prompt.

"No."

So much for the subtle way. "Why not? If you don't mind me asking."

Akemi mulled the question over and hesitantly replied, "I understand his..." She waved a hand around vaguely, looking for a word. "...Position. I have taken it myself many times."

"What do you mean?" Tōshirō asked, brows knit.

"If it will save you and others in the end, I am willing to be your monster," she quoted Urahara. Eyes wandering the heavens, Akemi softly explained, "I have taken that position with Madoka and the others in past timelines. Done cruel things to them, threatened to kill them— to save them. I understand. That he thinks it is necessary— and that he hates that it is necessary."

It took a minute for Tōshirō to decide how to react. "I'm glad you have that insight," he finally said.

"Mmm." Akemi met his eyes and looked exhausted. "I still don't want to go."

"I understand." It wasn't fair. It wasn't.

They sat in companionable if melancholy silence for awhile, appreciating the stars and waves and the salty sea-spray on their faces. After awhile, Akemi hesitantly said, "May I... ask you a... favor?"

"Depends on what it is," he hedged.

"Tell me about Urahara. His... history. And the war." She looked him in the eye. "Karin has said you do not like to leave people in the dark unnecessarily. I want to know. Tell me."

He stayed quiet and considered his options. "I can do that. May I ask why, first?"

The magical girl frowned and looked up at the stars again. "I want to know how... what led to him being... ah, how he... is. And why you all mostly accept it."

"You mean what made him a secretive ass with a tendency to not explain plans and act on his own even if it pisses off literally everyone he knows?" Tōshirō asked drily.

Akemi tensed and turned her head to look at him as though startled; whatever realization his words prompted, she kept it to herself. She looked back to the sky and quietly said, "Yes."

Tōshirō mentally rifled through the extensive, century-deep debriefings from all parties he had read after the Winter War, considered the best way to start the story, decided, and changed positions to face and scan the shore. When Akemi raised a brow at him, he muttered, "I don't want the Incubator sneaking up on us and eavesdropping."

"Ah."

Paranoid, he pulled his legs up to prop his elbows on his knees and leaned onto his forearms to hide his mouth— he still didn't know if the little monster could read lips at a distance and didn't want to find out the hard way. Tōshirō took a deep breath and began nearly one hundred and twenty years back.

Urahara's background in covert ops and as warden of Seireitei's prison while Shihoin's serving as subordinate. His promotion to Captain of Twelfth Division and his restructuring it into a scientific powerhouse. Shinji Hirako promoting Aizen to Lieutenant of Fifth Division specifically to keep an eye on him. Aizen experimenting in ways parallel to Urahara, each creating what would come to be called a Hōgyoku— but with very different methods and motives. The string of suspicious disappearances, the threat of which escalated to the point of first sending a captain and lieutenant to investigate with some subordinates, then to a team of captains and lieutenants being sent to find the missing captain and lieutenant. How Urahara delegating collection of research samples to his lieutenant had put her in harm's way at the same site.

Now that Tōshirō thought about it, guilt for that could explain a lot about the man's tendency to do research himself. Akemi's face showed that she might be having the same realization.

He continued. Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tōsen's betrayals and the Hollowfication of the investigation teams and Urahara's lieutenant. Urahara and Tsukabishi's use of forbidden techniques to rescue the transforming shinigami; their framing, arrest, and rigged trial for the entire incident, ending with Central 46 sentencing the two to exile in the World of the Living stripped of their powers. Central 46's order of execution for the Hollowfied shinigami— the Visored— as monsters. Shihoin breaking in and sweeping them all away to a hideout where they could plot to stabilize the Visored and bide their time time until they could move against Aizen. Aizen, Tōsen, and Ichimaru's ascent to captaincy over the next few decades. Aizen's illusions, atrocities, and quiet sabotage. Urahara's struggles to destroy his Hōgyoku so it couldn't be used by Aizen. The entire debacle with Kuchiki and Kurosaki; his secret attempt to seal Kuchiki and the Hōgyoku into a reiatsu-swallowing gigai and how it backfired.

Or didn't.

Tōshirō still wasn't sure if Kurosaki's subsequent invasion of Seireitei to rescue Kuchiki had been one hundred percent unintended by Urahara that night he "stumbled upon" the aftermath of the Hollow attack on the Kurosaki household. It did force Aizen into the open and lead to a sea change in shinigami society, which neatly dovetailed with Urahara's goals.

Compared to the textbook recitation of the events of the distant past, speaking about the traitors' actions while using Kurosaki's invasion as cover was difficult. He was only able to speak of the Battle of Fake Karakura Town by focusing on Urahara's role in it— the many gambits he had run, how he used Shihoin and Isshin and others as willing pieces on a battlefield game board in his effort to defeat the megalomaniac. And so on.

The eastern sky was softening with dawn and the stars were disappearing by the time he was done. Akemi rarely asked questions. She drank in the information and let it settle, turned it over, let it settle.

"So. Urahara is a... complex character," Tōshirō finished slowly.

"I see," Akemi breathed. Closing her eyes, she quietly repeated, "If it will save you and others in the end, I am willing to be your monster."

Tōshirō wasn't sure he was meant to respond to that. "It's... history would seem to show he lives by that, I suppose."

Akemi hummed something that might have been agreement, then whispered, "I still don't want to go back."

"I know."

Tōshirō waited for her to say something, but she didn't. Didn't elaborate, didn't argue. She just lay on her back on the gravel, hands neatly clasped at her waist, hair splayed out in windblown tangles. If not for her breathing, she would look like a pale corpse prepared for burial at sea. Like someone who had died of exhaustion and was ready to float away, forever beyond reach.

Suddenly irrationally desperate for a sign of life, Tōshirō blurted, "Kurosaki said, and I quote: 'You tell my sister that I'll make sure my past self will still be her big brother even if I have to reach through time and kick my own ass.'"

Akemi snorted; her mouth reluctantly turned up at the corners. "Of course he did," she said softly.

"Karin and Yuzu echoed the sentiment."

She opened her eyes and sighed up at the sky. "Of course they did."

Tōshirō watched her for a moment. She was not at peace, was still conflicted, had a spark of tired defiance in her. But she was... stable. He thought of something encouraging but second-guessed himself.

But it seemed she had been watching at him in her peripheral vision. "What?" she asked.

For someone worse at socializing than he was, she could sure nail some subtle things. Or maybe he wasn't being subtle. "I don't want to give you false hope..."

She raised her brows at him. "But?"

"But... there's a non-zero chance Kurosaki could stumble his way into doing something we'd consider impossible."

Akemi stared at him. "What do you mean?"

Tōshirō scrubbed a hand through his salt-stiff hair and looked out at the sunrise. "I mean, he went from random teenager who could see ghosts to ascending to something near godhood and taking down another near-god in the span of less than a year, while acting as catalyst for a lot of social change in another dimension. After poking holes in the defenses of a citadel that stood unbreached for centuries and turning some officers to his side— with less than two weeks' dedicated training and little information. You can never really rule anything out with him."

She frowned in thought, then let her eyes wander to the sky. He let her think for awhile and just watched the water. The sun had crept over the horizon when she finally spoke.

"We should hunt a Witch before we go back."

Tōshirō blinked at the tangent. "Oh?"

"We need a Grief Seed on hand if Miss Inoue is indisposed."

"Ah." He levered himself up and stretched stiff muscles. "Ideas on where to find one?"

Akemi stood and sighed, "In any other timeline, I would say yes. Things are unpredictable this time."

"Dowsing it is, then," Tōshirō said as he strode back up the jetty, tugging his phone out of his pocket. "I'll let them know we'll be awhile."

"Thank you."

He halted and glanced up mid-texting. "Huh?"

Akemi didn't look at him, just idly looked at the dawn and murmured, "Thank you," then passed him to head for shore.

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

A/N: The more I let Junko lead me in that opening scene, the more I realized she's similar to my Benihime to a certain extent.

Writing Karin, Yuzu, and Homura as sisters gives me life.

Some fun story-related stuff has been happening on my Tumblr. Come say hi and join me in egging on the fanartists.

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.