Chevaleresse

Splintered / Reflections

Ah, looks like I checked out the wrong thread. . . anyway, I'm somewhat interested, so I'll be glancing over this.

Tooth & Claw - A near-future, military, sci-fi roleplay. (Mecha, sci-fi, inter-dimensional aliens, anthro and human characters)

The concept does seem interesting, at least, and mentioning SG-1 gets my attention. It gives me some Phantasy Star Online and LANCER vibes, which are both things I like.

I suppose I'll look forward to the new version.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

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Free time was a luxury of the young that they sacrificed to take upon themselves greater responsibility. School life was already a large part of the day sunk into scholastic pursuits, but with an athletic club and the Detention Club monopolizing her after-school hours, Roche had precious little free time she could afford to spend upon herself.

What remained was a preciously consistent glimmer of time, those wee hours between waking and the first bell of school that were truly her own. A time she found herself not lounging in an empty home, but pounding the pavement on a jog. Feeling the cold air rustling against her wind breaker, trailing puffs of hot air between each stride.

As the city still blinked open its bleary eyes, Roche was already wide awake with only the steady beat of her heart for company. Peaceful. A refrain before the mundanity of academia and the chaos of a city-spanning conflict with creatures of darkness and the GEMS from beyond. She may have wished for company, but its absence wasn’t entirely without its own charms.

But there were days when the serenity lost its luster.

A shame Shuuko isn’t into jogging. Can’t ask Nyxia either. The Rulekeeper thought, her senses spread as she scanned the city block by block. What had begun ages ago as an exercise to pick up Miseria trying to hide in the shadows left by the night was now ingrained habit, a trifling exercise at broadening her perceptions. And I can’t feel Ashbringer or the GEMS either.

Roche hummed, finding her jog halted at a cross walk, sinking into her thoughts as she waited for the light to change. As she stood there, a presence crept into the edge of her senses, a couple blocks away and moving at a pace similar to her own had been just a moment ago. It wasn’t a Miseria, and the feeling didn’t line up with that of a fellow dark magical girl, which only really left the possibility of it being a light girl.

When the light changed Roche was off like a shot, quashing the impulse to transform outright leap over the streets rather than aggressively push the socially acceptable standards for jogging.

Anger was a close friend in recent days, never too far and easily roused to her side at the prospect of one of the GEMS or Sayuri rearing their head so soon after the last debacle. The early hour was certainly strange for a Light Girl to be about, but she could worry about the question of why once she had an idea of who she was dealing with.

Just a little bit…there! The Rule Keeper came skidding around a corner, grasping a street lamp to swing herself around and come face to face with what could only be another Magical Girl.

Her sudden appearance nearly caused said girl to collide with her. Rather than do so, she tipped over backward in her haste, falling on her ass with a yelp and a groan. “Oww. . . Sorry, I didn’t see you there.” She looked up, greeting the Rule Keeper with a familiar face. “Roche?” Haruna asked. “Is there something wrong?”

”Hizuki?!” Roche gasped as she came to a halt before a staggered Haruna. Ire turned to embarrassment and the Rule Keeper was quick to reach out, offering her hand to pull up the Club’s resident Light Girl. Said girl took the hand, allowing herself to be pulled up.

”Sorry, it’s Haruna, right? Looks like I can add that to the list of apologies you’re owed. I had a feeling a Light Girl was around, and after the GEMS showed up I got a little hot headed.”

“That’s understandable.” She gave a sort of rueful shrug. “They’ve messed with you - with us - a lot. No, just me, on my morning run. I use it to think, so I didn’t notice you were getting closer. I would have said something.” She tilted her head to the right. “Should we keep running together? I don’t mind changing my route around to hang out some.”

”No need to worry about it.. I’m the weirdo who invested a bit too much in that magic sense. When you have to punch most your problems, it pays to be able to find them quicker.” Waving off Haruna’s concerns at being caught unawares, she stepped aside and motioned onward with a sweep of her hand.

”I’d be glad to join you. It’s pretty rare I find a Magical Girl who doesn’t sleep in on the mornings. After you.” She was happy to let Haruna set the pace, as it was only polite not to impose on Haruna. Between Shatterscape and Suki, the girl had taken a whalloping from the Club on both her encounters.

”It’s been hectic lately, but I haven’t really had the chance to talk to you. Have you been taking to Miso well?”

Haruna shrugged, starting off on her previous route. “More or less. School is kinda school anywhere, I think, and between studying and magical girl stuff I haven’t actually done much in town besides that. I’ve pretty much got the whole layout down already, though. Perks of flying everywhere.”

”That’s good to hear. From some of our out-of-town club mates, the move can be a bit rough.”

Roche was a city girl through and through, so moving wasn’t anything she had experience.

”You handling the club alright? I know we probably aren’t anything like a Light Girl team, but you are one of us now. Rei, Kiyo, and I are here if you need anything to adjust…or if anyone is giving you trouble.”

“I wouldn’t really know what a light girl team is like, either. I was never a GEM.” She shrugged. “I guess I’d say I’m doing. . . okay, at handling the club? I don’t think I’ve managed to make anyone dislike me, yet, and aside from a couple, um, incidents, there haven’t been many huge conflicts.” She thought back to her main source of strife within the group, and her mouth twisted a bit. “I think I mostly just wish everyone was more willing to talk to each other about things.”

”We wouldn’t be Dark Magical Girls if we were paragons of emotional maturity and communication.” Even one such as Roche was self aware enough to acknowledge she wasn’t mentally well. But there were few miracles that couldn’t be worked with sufficient grit, stubbornness, and sheer spite.

”Give it time. We’re a prickly group at our best, but between the GEMS and Ashbringer we’re living on borrowed time.”

Haruna tilted her head, slowing slightly. “Ashbringer?”

The Rulekeeper blinked, catching herself on the ball of her foot as Haruna’s confusion hit her full to the face. Had no one really….

”You know how the GEMS are gunning for us? Well there’s a Dark Girl who we got into a fight with and now she wants to take us down. She seems to be putting together a team, but there’s something…off about it. Sure she’s stronger then most of us bar Rei, but her motives never sat right with me.”

Haruna shook her head. “No, nobody’s mentioned her yet.” She slowed her jog as a few dots connected in her head. “Oh. . . that’s why you guys messed up that beach. You’re trying to get strong enough to fight her. Right?”

”Yeah. It wouldn’t have been such a mess if the GEMS youngest weren’t there causing a ruckus the entire time. Now that I think about, they probably told the others we were trying to commit some mass sacrifice to lure the Giga Miseria….We weren’t. It just wasn’t going to come out with a lot of negativity emotions.”

”We damn near died keeping those people alive, and neither Morganite or Pearl were any help on that front.” Roche growled, turning her head aside to spit out her displeasure in a literal fashion.

“I wasn’t there, so I’m not going to take either side here.” Her tone made it clear that she didn’t approve of causing negative emotions on that scale, despite her words. “It seemed out of character for what I’ve seen so far, but if you’re being hunted by multiple parties, it makes perfect sense.” Haruna realized she’d slowed her pace, and picked it back up a bit, though it was still less intense than she’d been doing by herself.

“What about Ashbringer’s motivations? Did she say something that sounded strange? It sounds like more than just a struggle over territory or a clash of personalities.”

Roche brow furrowed, a feeling of internal strife warring within that line of questioning. It had been weighing on her mind aplenty as it was, so she ultimately relented as she drew close alongside Haruna.

”It seemed to start over a fight with Nyxia and a flower shop that got burned down, but I’m starting to think that was all just a pretense for something. Not only did she give us a year but then she decides to put together a team as well? If she wanted the territory or just to crush us, she didn’t need the time. Or maybe she does for Rei. I can’t say yet without finding out more. It’s something I’m working on, but I haven’t had much time to commit with everything going on here.”

The light girl frowned. “Any way I can help? With either looking into Ashbringer or getting strong enough to fight her.”

Finding her darkening mood brighten, the Rule Keeper’s hand clapped against Haruna’s shoulder. ”You’re doing plenty already. This girl is my issue to dig into. But if you don’t mind, I wouldn’t mind a running mate for my morning jogs.”

”Who knows, maybe I could poach you for the track team. You’re certainly fast enough for it.”

“You think so?” She was already mentally rearranging her schedule. “I was okay in track in middle school, but I guess with everything else going on I hadn’t considered getting back into it.”

There was certainly a desire to poach a Magical Girl for her personal pride and joy, though the tanned girl had the decency not to salivate.

”You’re still getting settled in so I’m not asking you to jump in, but maybe stop by and see how it goes. I’m….a bit of a slave driver, but I think the Team can make it to Nationals. With another Magical Girl to anchor the team, the sky is the limit!”

“Yeah, it sounds like fun.” Haruna nodded. “I haven’t actually competed in anything since I got my magic, but I think I’m a little more coordinated at least.” She thought back to some time spent with Suki. “. . . Or maybe a lot more coordinated. I don’t think I could do quadruple backflips before.”

”Hey, I like the confidence! It’s nice to have someone who can enjoy some athletics that don’t involve Miseria. We put in the work and, and assuming we survive everything coming to this city, we’ll have scholarships waiting for!””

An excited grin was pulling at Roche’s lips as she released Haruna to put on some speed. ”Come on, I’ll show you some spots. There’s a few parks around here to take breaks out, and they keep the vending machines stocked for drinks.”

Haruna couldn’t help but smile too as she sped up to keep pace with Roche. It was nice to share a hobby. “Only if you’ll let me show you my good spots next time.”

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Yayama Yama

(Ft. @Goggy as Charlotta)
Location: Esaka's Mid Tier - Banishing Flats / Dragon Punch Juice Bar
Status: Ready for action
LV: 5, EXP: 27/50
Word Count: 1369 (+3)

Yayama, after some additional exchange of pleasantries, information, and food at Quick Rise, headed out to get her matchups, and to follow up on an earlier appointment. In the chaos of having her true past revealed to her and the attack on the hotel, she’d nearly forgotten the latter. The bulletin board held what seemed like a good omen to her; the first foe Yayama was to face was someone called Buzzsaw, with another individual called Skullcrusher backing them up. Nobody that’s actually a threat calls themselves something like that. It’s ridiculous. Ideally, of course, she’d have more information about her foe than a name, but there wasn’t much time to research.

Rather than head down to the pools immediately, she proceeded as swiftly as her legs would carry her to another spot in the Middle Tier, first. An establishment by the name of Dragon Punch was where she’d agreed to meet someone before pools started, and head there together. The Warrior of Darkness needed someone to serve as her Kameo, and as it happened, she’d encountered somewhat of a kindred spirit during the time between her arrival here and her fateful meeting with a certain exploding catgirl. They’d sample the place’s signature spicy beverage before heading to their first match in the pools together.

As agreed upon, the figure standing at the Dragon Punch’s counter was a woman of the same size as Yayama, bearing a crown almost as tall as she was and a head of luxurious blonde hair. She was currently seated at the counter… a small box added to the base of the chair so that she could actually be at head level with the counter itself.

Once the telltale sign of the door opening rung out, the girl turned in her seat, smiling brightly at the sight of Yayama, “Ah, Lady Yayama! How fares your travels in this fine city? I heard of an assault on a hotel in the Mid Tier” the knight’s smile fades for a moment, replaced by an angered shake of her hand, “Such vile fiends to attack innocents before this tournament even begins… As Captain of the Lumiel Order, if I happen to find the ones responsible..!”

“Believe me, if I get my hands on whoever did that, they’re going to pay,” Yayama responded, expression darkening. “I spent last night digging through the rubble for survivors. But,” she began anew as she clambered up onto her own chair, electing to stand on the seat to reach a similar height, “we have other matters to deal with in the meantime. I have friends on the case already, so we need to prepare for the match ahead. Did you see our matchups? Never heard of this Buzzsaw or Skullcrusher, but honestly I’m not that worried based on the names.”

The woman, Charlotta, ponders the names for a moment, “I had taken it upon myself to indeed look at our matches. The names stuck out to me as odd. But I do concur, if they chose those names than they must certainly be compensating for a lack of true presence” Charlotta nods in affirmation, her confident smile returning, “They especially shall not be a match for two honorable knights like ourselves!”

“Right. So, you remember the plan, right? I’ll take the front, soak up the damage from our opponents, then you’ll come in for the coup-de-grace when I’ve got them set up. Except, you know, the part where that term generally means killing someone.” She paused briefly to answer a staff member, ordering herself a drink to go at their inquiry.

“Of course! Even in a tournament such as this, a Knight of Lumiel restrains herself from cutting their foes down! Unless they’re truly evil” Charlotta adds the final part almost sheepishly, feeling the need to make sure that Yaya knew that if things came down to it, Charlotta would certainly be ready to smite down evildoers, “But yes, I shall strike when they are at their most vulnerable. You can count on me for that!” with that said, Charlotta takes the moment to order her own drink.

Yayama nodded, not feeling the need to clarify that she agreed with said stance. “Good. We’ve got about a half hour before we need to be down to the pools, so we should probably get moving as soon as your drink gets here.” Her eyes slide down to the box, then back up to Charlotta, the lalafell visibly wondering what her plans were for it.

Charlotta simply stares back at Yayama for a moment, glancing down at the box that helped elevate her position and then back at Yaya, her expression turning serious, “A knight needs a good vantage point to be ready to face any dangers” she says, her tone completely straight even as a bead of sweat formed at the side of her head.

“I was just wondering if you were planning on carrying that down with you,” she said neutrally.

“N-No, this is just a… Temporary thing. For the seat. The owner offered it to me and I could not refuse such a generous offer” Charlotta fidgets in her seat for a moment, glancing nervously behind the counter, as if praying the drinks got here quicker so she could change the topic. Fortunately for her, they arrived almost as soon as Charlotta turned away again.

Yayama sniffed at hers out of habit, then took a careful sip. After waiting a few moments, she took a bigger one. The flavor was an unusual mix - spicy wasn’t often associated with punch, after all - but, after a moment of deliberation, she decided she liked it, and took an even larger drink. “Right then, shall we?”

“Yes, let us commence!” Charlotta said, quickly grabbing her drink and then downing a big chunk of it in one go, hopping down from her seat… Right before her face flushed completely red, “BLEGH, AWAWAWAWAWAWA-!” the knight immediately regrets her decision to down the beverage in that amount of speed.

Yayama nearly choked on her drink at the sight, trying not to get it all over the bar and its customers in the process. “Yeah, plainsfolk tend to not be as used to spice,” she said, managing to get this out with a straight face before cutting into giggles. “Come on, wipe yourself off on the way.”

Charlotta hacks a few more times, pounding a fist to her chest, “I-I did not expect so much power in a single drink. I would not attribute spice to a punch like this-” she coughs again, quickly jumping up to grab a napkin from the counter and cleaning herself off, “L-Let us be on our way! Our battle awaits!”

She reminds me of my cousin. Nanamo had always been a bit too excitable for her own good. Some said it didn’t befit a sultana, and at one point, Yayama might have agreed, but after biting multiple primals and a brief stint as some sort of swamp dweller, she wasn’t inclined to criticize.

Fortunately, their journey down to the Pools wasn’t particularly eventful. The locale itself, however, was a bit more literal than Yayama had expected. She’d seen the waterparks while traversing the other levels, of course, but hadn’t realized they were dedicated to hosting the opening bouts of tournaments. Esaka really is a strange place. That seems like something the Loporrits would come up with.

On arriving to their assigned arena, Yayama looked for a chair to climb atop to scope out their assigned opponents. After peering over the crowd for a bit, she gestured down to Charlotta to come up and see what she was looking at. “You think that’s him?” She pointed to a humanoid automaton of some sort, positively covered in circular saws. “The name’s a bit on the nose, if so.”

Charlotta clambers up onto her own chair, scanning the crowds herself, “Hrm… I would not be surprised. I pray that their partner isn’t covered in skulls as well if they’re trying to be very literal” she states, eyes narrowing slightly, looking at the people nearby the sawbladed automaton, “Either way, I can tell from here that we should not have much trouble taking them on.”

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Yayama Yama

Location: Esaka's Mid Tier - Banishing Flats /
Status: Unfortunately, in her element
LV: 5, EXP: 25/50
Word Count: 780 (+2)

Yayama's ears rang in the aftermath of the blast. Had it not been for the Echo, she might not have understood Zenkichi's question. "I'll live," she replied, despite the line of blood running from her hairline to down past her jaw. Her eyepatch had been cut loose by shrapnel, hanging awkwardly off the same side of her head. Zenkichi had the dubious privilege of being the first one in Esaka to see the lalafell's sickly-looking right eye, which looked more like it belonged on a corpse than a living, breathing person. "I'll do one last pass through here for survivors, then make my own way to safety. You'll hear if anything else happens," she said, gesturing toward the linkpearl currently nestled in her ear.

Yayama gathered energy in her hand, then released a pair of Vercures, patching the worst of her injuries up before she headed back into the husk of Banishing Flats. Her armor had taken the brunt of the damage, but she was definitely going to feel the rest of this in the morning. 'Course this happens the night before the tournament, she thought. The residents are probably going to guess this was sabotage, and not an assassination attempt. It could have been either, but she had the sinking feeling of the latter. People getting hurt because of her never sat well with her, especially those who hadn't already committed to the possibility of losing their lives for the cause.

Her blade was sheathed after a few moments; it seemed the bulk of the automata were gone at this point, whether by self-destruction or the efforts of the Seekers. This freed up her hands for the unhappy task ahead of her. She sifted through the wreckage, using her strength to heft fallen timbers to check for wayward patrons. It seemed most of them had fled, but not all. Some of those Yayama found she was able to Raise, patching the worst of their injuries and letting them leave to find a proper healer under their own power, but some were beyond help. Those, she pulled one by one out of the ash-sodden ruins, laying each down with a small prayer so that their loved ones could find some closure, such that existed in a hellscape like this. There's no point to this, you know. None of them are real.

Ignoring the words in the back of her mind, she continued her task along with what few people joined her until each and every patron and employee had been accounted for in one way or another. Being on scene did mean she had the opportunity to report several of the Seekers as missing when the authorities arrived, a small deceit that would hopefully buy some time before the next disaster struck. We ought to punish who's responsible. They deserve to be broken. That thought, she did not argue with, merely assuring herself that all would come in due time.

The sun had begun to peek over the horizon by the time she finally escaped the pull of what remained of the Flats. "Guess I don't get any sleep tonight, either." She dragged herself in the general direction of the Low Tier, only for a vaguely familiar voice to ring in her ear. No rest for the wicked. "Be there in fifteen. I'm still in the Mid Tier." Yayama clapped both (gauntleted) hands to her cheeks, let them drop, then shook her head as if this would physically throw free the exhaustion clinging to her. Fortunately this isn't the first time I've had a sleepless night during which there was an attempt on my life.

When she arrived at the coffeeshop, Yayama was wearing some semblance of the cheery mood that surrounded them. It was easy for her to keep her spirits up when she could quite literally borrow the emotions of the crowd around her, and she needed the mental energy if nothing else. The lalafell shouldered her way through the crowd, mostly because she didn't feel like shouting up at every inhumanly-tall customer to let her past while she came up to their waists at best. On parting the last few feet to Band, she gave him a wave. "Hey there, big guy. Yayama, if you didn't catch it earlier." She clambered up onto the seat opposite the other Seeker, then looked a bit miffed on the swift realization that the seating had not been made with her kind in mind. Some additional clambering left her standing on her chair, leaned forward against the edge of the table. "I don't think we've actually properly been introduced. I was a bit distracted earlier."

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Yayama Yama

Location: Esaka's Mid Tier - Banishing Flats
Status: Slightly crispy
LV: 5, EXP: 23/50
Word Count: 903 (+2)

When one lived a life of danger, excitement, and adventure, one learned the delicate balancing act of getting solid sleep where one could, while also rising at the first sign of danger. It was a skill that wasn't often relevant. . . but one's career tended to end very quickly in situations where it was both needed and lacking. Perhaps it was simple intuition, perhaps an errant creak or engine noise reached her ears, or perhaps the fluctuations in the emotions of the hotel's guests roused her just in time to stand and suit up before her door exploded into splinters.

The towering automaton wasted no time in charging her, the great bulk of steel and wiring bearing down. Yayama's counterstroke came swiftly, her blade appearing out of thin air as she made a heavy downward slash. The demon sword cut through the robot's torso with a screech of metal rending metal, her assailant's momentum pulling it further down the blade until the tip emerged from its back. "Can I not get a single moment of peace?" she asked irritably as she put one foot on its torso and heaved backward, ripping her greatsword free from the tangle of components with a spray of sparks and oil. "I suspect the rest of them won't be quite that easy," Yayama said to herself, glancing down at the robot as its limbs twitched one last time, then stilled.

It was time to get back to work already, it seemed. Yayama rushed out into the hall, nearly slamming into another Jack Unit. The robot threw a punch at her. She ducked under it, then moved her blade to barely deflect the followup. It hurled another, and Yayama stopped it dead. She was preparing a counteroffensive when the machine snatched her off the ground and slammed her into first the ceiling, then the floor, timbers buckling with the force of the impacts. Its fist crashed down on her once, then again, unable to evade whilst trapped in its grip. On the third, an aetherial barrier coalesced just in time to deflect it, sparks of magic flying where it met machine.

Letting her blade go, she used her own disproportionate strength to lever it up and over herself, Yayama's plate acting as a fulcrum to fling the bot off her long enough for the lalafell to regain her footing. The Jack Unit stood with surprising alacrity, a kip-up bringing it up as Yayama raised her sword. "FOR COIN!" she shouted, her blade arcing down into the automaton's block. "AND COUNTRY!" A Jolt of magic slipped past its arms and into its head, sending it spinning. The Jack Unit clasped both hands to its head to correct it, only for an Impact to toss it down the hall.

In response, it ran at Yayama again, tackling the smaller fighter and wrapping her up in a bear hug. This time, she managed to slip downward out of its grasp before it could secure her. "That won't work twice!" Rolling onto her feet, she turned around to see a timer already counting down. Her eyes widened, and shadows wreathed her blade as she brought it down with as much force as she could muster. The countdown ceased as her assailant split in two.

Breathing heavily, she took a brief moment to assess the situation. Multiple attackers, probably all the same sort of machina. They were all in danger, Seekers or otherwise. "Get out of here!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping to wake anyone who somehow hadn't risen from all the racket yet or jolt anyone frozen into action. "This place is about to explode!" Running down the hall, she encountered one tenant who had the dubious honor of being struck with terror within grabbing range of the Warrior of Darkness. Recognizing the stench of the emotion before she even saw their face, she wasted no time, simply picking them up and physically hurling them out the window and (hopefully) clear of the blast, making sure to make the impact as gentle as defenestration could feasibly be.

At the bottom of the stairs, she sighted another Jack cornering a dazed-looking woman, with a different robot nearby that appeared to be ripping a Jack physically in half. With a wordless shout, Yayama leapt from the top of the stairs. Sailing through the air, she landed on the hostile robot's shoulders, having misaimed her jump slightly. Not one to let this deter her, she smashed both of her arms downward, jamming its head downward. When this didn't stop it, she did it again and again until it was fully mashed into the torso, at which point it stumbled and fell backwards with a clatter. The other robot made no sound, but seemed to give Yayama a grateful look before she scooped up her wayward charge and swiftly made an exit.

Proceeding into the building again, she came face to face with a half-wrecked, but still fighting Jack and another customer she didn't get a good look at. The robot's face had already split open, the timer ticking down to one as Yayama's eyes came to rest on it. Without so much as a conscious thought, her arm stretched out. A barrier of energy wrapped itself around the civilian just as the clock struck zero. Then, her vision was eclipsed with smoke and fire.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

As was becoming her habit, Hizuki stood overlooking Hibusa from one of its taller buildings. She had a lot to think about, and even more to do. At the very least, next on the list was unlikely to result in her wanting to hit someone, run away, or cry. She rang Kiyo's number. "Hey, are you busy?"

There was a very brief pause. "Nope. Why..? Oh, the monkey girl. You found her?" Kiyo replied. There was the sound of rapid typing in the background.

"I was going to give her a call." She glanced toward the roofs where she'd first run into the girl. "Here's hoping she answers, after the whole disaster the other day. I wanted to make sure I wasn't interrupting anything important first."

"You aren't," Kiyo replied immediately and unconvincingly. "I mean, you are? But fuck this shit, I need a break." There was a sound that, in context, was probably a laptop being slammed shut. "So, where am I meeting you?"

"Honestly I half expected you to just see where I went after I gave Maliss a call and show up. There's a toy store I saw earlier, I was going to suggest that as a meeting point. You doing alright, by the way?"

"It's quicker to just ask. I can't see the whole town at once. I'm not Beelzebub. Though I'm sure Miss Frogger told you I was," came Kiyo's reply, among other noises. "I'm fine. I just need to be presentable. Make the call, I'll show up in a few minutes."

"Okay. Just let me know if you need anything." Hizuki hung up, then dialed in Miss Gate’s number. Please pick up, she thought. It’d drive her a little crazy if she didn’t, since it wouldn’t be clear whether it was the odd girl’s issues with phones or an avoidance of Hizuki after the earlier kidnapping attempt.

The phone rang a few times, but to her surprise, she picked up. "Paladin?" Black Gate’s voice was cautious. "I charged my phone." She stated the obvious.

"Oh, good, I thought you might not answer after what happened."

"I’m okay. I heal quick."

"That meeting I mentioned, I still want to set it up, if you’re willing." Her voice was hopeful, if anxious.

"It’s just going to be you and the other one, right?" Black Gate huffed, but it was hard to tell if it was her being apprehensive, or a quirk of her lackadaisical nature. "Please tell me it’s just going to be you two, and nowhere near the school."

"Unless someone follows me and I don't pick up on them, it'll just be you, me, and Evil Eye." She paused for a moment to examine her surroundings with her magical senses, looking for traces of magic or anyone who seemed to want to know what she was doing. "There's a toy store in town, I was thinking around there?"

"Construct-A-Cat? Okay, that could work." Haruna could almost feel her smile on the other side. "I had been meaning to free more helpers to assist with our mission. I’ll meet you there shortly. Bye-bye."

"See you." She quietly cheered to herself; not only had Black Gate accepted, but she liked the spot Hizuki had chosen specifically for her comfort. She texted Kiyo that the meeting was on before gliding over to the store, letting her pseudo-aerodynamics do most of the work of getting her there.

It was about then that Hizuki could feel a magical presence approaching, flying low and close to the rooftops, at Evil Eye's signature speed—or lack thereof, to be more precise. Soon, she was in view, her eyes showing the telltale signs of someone seeing the sun for the first time today.

The light girl banked toward Evil Eye, turning and losing speed until she was more or less alongside Kiyo. "I know I asked already, but how are you doing? In all that chaos I lost track of what was going on before Nocnitsa showed up."

A desire flared up within Evil Eye: a desire to maintain her image. It rose from the mire of her emotions with such sudden ferocity, like a crocodile snapping its jaws, that it might have been mistaken for the base instinct of self-preservation. "All's well that ends well. If I look a bit tired, I've just been working on an alternative, in case this girl doesn't want to cooperate with us."

Hizuki couldn't keep the look of concern that arose before Evil Eye even said anything from creasing her brow. "What kind of alternative, exactly?" She'd play along for the moment; from what she'd seen of the club, it made sense to worry about one's image. There was a lot of posturing both internal and external happening there.

Evil Eye studied Hizuki, but seemed to dismiss her concern as nothing out of the ordinary. "If she won't stop her minions from killing the Mogall, I need another way to watch over the town." She smirked. "What did you think I was working on? Some way to force her to do my bidding?"

"I was just worried you might be planning to try and run her out of town or something. That doesn't really seem like your style, but I've only known you for a couple weeks." She shrugged, or at least the closest approximation she could manage while oriented horizontally. "Seems like that's what a lot of the others would do, especially if it turns out she's working with the GEMs."

"Well, I would run the GEMs out of town." She scowled. "But a dark girl, I'd rather not. There aren't too many places where we can go. Working with the GEMs seems out of the question, too."

"Seems unlikely, yeah," Hizuki said with a nod. She was quiet for a moment, mulling over something in her head. "What's this beach incident I keep hearing about, by the way? Every other light girl I've talked to seems to know about it."

There was a shift. Another desire, that of protecting the Club, joined the former. The two settled uneasily together, like two apex predators using the same watering hole—a temporary truce. "I wasn't there. Our girls fought a giga miseria on a beach. Nobody was hurt, but the beach was destroyed. GEMs showed up conveniently after the fact and blamed them for it. Maybe they did share some fault, but instead of helping slay it, they let it weaken us, and then struck opportunistically. They only fled because Shatterscape showed up unexpectedly, giving us the advantage. Clearly, they still haven't gotten over it."

"A miseria like that showed up in broad daylight?" She sounded horrified at the prospect. "It's a miracle nobody died. And you said the GEMs blame the club for it showing up? Why?"

"They're weaker when they show up during the day," Evil Eye quickly added. "I haven't asked for more details. It's one of those 'I don't care who started it' situations." She did her best impression of an annoying parent. "Rei's just mad that it happened at all, which is stressing Roche out, because the beach trip was her idea of bringing the Club together. And now Rei is mad that Roche is stressing out, so it's become my problem to solve, but I don't know where to begin." She sighed. "You can't just charge in and offer help directly, because she won't take it easy at all. She'll just add to the workload to account for the extra help. She's that kind of person."

Hizuki very carefully did a mental triple flip to avoid thinking about how any of that might also describe her. "The Club doesn't seem very good at accepting help in general. Not that I'm about to let that stop me." She also thought back to her interaction with Shuuko. That's different, I don't have all these problems to deal with. "I just have to be patient, I guess." Her tone indicated that she was well aware this wasn't her strong suit. "I think I've managed to convince Suki I'm not lying about everything again, at least."

At her declaration that she wouldn't stop trying, Evil Eye had one of those rare, non-sinister smiles. "Mm. Suki can be a bit... hypervigilant, I think is the word for it." For a moment, it seemed as if Evil Eye was feeling regretful about something. "You'll be working with her more, now. We're swapping. I'll be with Willow. You'll be with her and Tsubomi."

"Oh. That makes some stuff easier, I think. I'm going to be around those two a lot anyway." She tried, and failed, to not look too relieved at being spared a double dose of Willow's taunts. "Any particular reason? Is Willow secretly still mad at me or something?" The catgirl didn't seem the type to actually hold a grudge like that, by her admittedly limited read.

Evil Eye shook her head. "Executive decision. Willow had no say in it. If she even knows about it, it'll be because Rei told her yesterday." She lowered herself and alighted on the pavement. Hizuki touched down a moment later, her own landing taking slightly more maneuvering. "Huh," she opined, taking in the sight of the toy store, reaching toward her nose to adjust a pair of glasses that didn't exist. Cute.

Hizuki glanced around their surroundings, looking for the goat girl or any of her minions. This included peering into a nearby bush, in case she'd decided to replicate one of her earlier stunts. "It seemed like decent neutral ground that she would like," Haruna said, in response to Kiyo's non-question. "Mal-um, Miss Black can be a little odd, but she's nice enough."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Down in the streets below was said goat girl. She had an arm around a large stuffed bear and a thumb in her mouth. Her eyes searched the area for someone, but didn’t seem to notice Hizuki or Evil Eye. At least, not right away. But once she got in front of the Construct-A-Cat, she turned to the two magical girls. She did not remove her thumb from her mouth.

Moments later, a few stunted monkeys showed up beside her and began screeching and beating their chests. One of them pointed at the mogall in the sky, but none of them moved in to attack.

Hizuki gave her a wave. "Hey, Miss Black." She gestured toward Kiyo. "This is Evil Eye. Evil Eye, this is Black Gate." She pointed in the opposite direction.

"Good day," Evil Eye greeted politely. She looked up to where the monkeys pointed, blinked slowly, and the Mogall retreated behind the edge of the rooftops they watched from. Glancing back down to Black Gate, Evil Eye smiled. She had expected the leader of the monkey minions to be a bit... wilder. This was a pleasant surprise.

The mogall’s retreat seemed to be cause for celebration, as the apes were hopping into the air. Some even spun once or twice during their jump. Black Gate looked between Hizuki and Evil Eye before walking closer. Her feet scuffed across the pavement until she was right next to her. Then she pulled her thumb out of her mouth and wiped it on her dress. "Hi." She hugged the bear with both arms. "Hizuki says you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes. I supervise the Detention Club." With Nocnitsa in town, she supposed she shouldn't give herself the title of supervisor, just in case she was watching. "I came to tell you that we're not your enemies. I was also hoping to invite you to join us last time, but we were attacked by the GEMs. What Willow—the violinist girl—did was not permitted. She did it behind my back—though it should've been my job to stop her, I urgently needed to save someone else. I'm sorry."

"Thanks for trying." Her eyes were half closed. She used her wrist to rub them, which just made them look more bloodshot. "I don’t know if I can though. I don’t really like that school. That’s where the club is, right?"

"I see," Evil Eye replied with a small sigh. "We do have a member who doesn't 'attend' the school, per se. I don't think you would have to change schools if you didn't want to. But if you don't want to join, we won't push you to." She looked at the stuffed bear, then back at Black Gate. "But it is my job to look after the dark girls of Hibusa town. It is a bit distressing when I wake up each day to find half of my eyes turned to paste. They're not dangerous, and they help me keep our town safe. If you leave them alone, they might even help you someday. And I do need them left alone." Her voice was more exasperated than stern.

Her eyes opened a bit wider. Only a bit. "Okay, we can discuss a truce. They seem a lot friendlier than the caustic bovine the cat sent after me." She held the stuffed bear up to Evil Eye’s face. "Do you like Hoover? It’s okay if you want to touch him. He likes having his ears played with. He’s old, but very durable."

"Caustic... bovine?" Evil Eye seemed to be calculating something in her mind, like what on earth the strategic value proposition of such a creature was. Or maybe she was just surprised to hear the childish-looking girl speak big words while shoving a teddy bear into her face. It was hard to say. She glanced at Hizuki, as if to seek either approval or mockery, but her gaze didn't linger long. She decided to give the bear a headpat. "Good day, Hoover." Ear scritches were had as well. "Is he also a creation of yours?"

"I don’t think Miss Black created her servants?" Hizuki said, half answering Evil Eye, half asking Black Gate herself.

She moved Hoover just far enough out of the way that she could look past his head at Kiyo. "Yes, my servants are like friends. You can make friends, but you can’t create them." The bear’s head tipped. "Quite the charmer today, Hoover." She lowered Hoover under her chin. "Hoover likes you. He says your hands are very soft." She pet the bear’s head. "No, Hoover. I’m not trying to get a compliment out of you. Don’t be weird." With her servant addressed, the horned girl looked back at her apes. "We have been having difficulty distributing my servants. I would like to get one in every home in Hibusa town. Maybe even hide some in the school. If you wanted to help with that, I think we could be friends." Her eyelids fluttered a bit. "Maybe we could do some club activities outside the school too, if you’d like."

"You're right. You can't create friends," Evil Eye replied thoughtfully, her gaze seeming a bit far off. So then, her magic probably animates preexisting objects. Perhaps a toy store wasn't such a neutral ground after all. Briefly, she held a desire to give Miss Black a headpat, too, but she forced it back with a smile. "Our leader may object to the idea of them attending our club meetings, but if you just want us to hand them out to students around the school, I think we can do that. It's a fair trade. We can watch over the town together."

"I’ve actually already been doing that," Hizuki chimed in. "I had the box of plushies with me the first time I talked to the club in school. Suki took one."

"You’ve been doing well, Hizuki." Black gate turned to face the light girl. "If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t have this connection now. So thank you." She gave a small bow before turning back to Evil Eye. "They don’t have to be in the club room, I just want everybody to have one." Her eyes shifted side to side. "So what do we do now? Do we sign a contract? Maybe a ceremony of some kind." After some thinking, she held out Hoover again. "Maybe you could take Hoover as a sign of trust from both of us? He’s my second oldest servant."

"Ceremony..." Evil Eye murmured, laughing it off with a nervous giggle that she had hoped would sound cool. When she had the advantage of knowing ahead of time, sure, she liked to welcome a new girl to the club with a touch of flair—a memorable first meeting—but nobody was supposed to know that she did that. "Is it really okay for me to take him? I don't have anything special to give you." She looked up at the toy store's facade as if it would have the answers. Incidentally, absentmindedly looking up did give her an idea, for once. "Let's do it. The construct-a-cat thing. I like cats, so I'll give you a cat."

"That sounds fun! We could all build one together. Although, I guess if it’s supposed to be from Evil Eye, it would make more sense for her to make one herself." She thought for a moment. "We could all three make our own and trade them around? I’ve gotten plushies from Miss Gate, and Miss Gate is getting one from Evil Eye now, so maybe I should make one for Evil Eye and. . . well, I don’t actually know who Miss Gate should give one to, since she’s already given both of us plushies." She glanced toward the girl in question. "Maybe you should just make another one for yourself?"

Black Gate’s arms seemed to get weaker. "Oh?" She looked between the two magical girls, and despite it being late out, her eyes began to sparkle in the limited light. "You want to make cat servants, and then exchange them?" She looked away from them. After standing there for a moment, she took a few steps and kneeled on the ground with her bear. "Sorry Hoover. You were really charming, but they have another idea. It’s okay, I’m sure you’ll see her again. Maybe she can take you home later." She stood up, and one of the apes picked up Hoover. It hugged it close and continued to do its spinning celebratory jump. While Black Gate looked just as glum as she normally did, she was a lot faster to return to the group. "I like that idea." She folded her arms behind her back. "Lead the way."

Hizuki walked over to the alley between the store and the adjacent building, then transformed back into Haruna. She looked at the other two expectantly. "I can pay, by the way, if that would be trouble for you guys."

It seemed as if Black Gate had misunderstood something about Evil Eye's intentions, but she decided not to correct her. She didn't really have the space to accommodate Hoover in a way where he wouldn't be watching her sleep, anyway, and if her gift's intended recipient wanted to include Hizuki, she didn't really have a reason to refuse. "'I can pay,' said she, blissfully unaware of the price-gouging world of custom-made plushies..." Kiyo narrated dramatically. Still, she followed suit and untransformed in the alley.

"Won’t it be cheaper if we stay transformed?" The horned girl wondered out loud. "I think they’re expensive." She added, as if reading Evil Eye’s mind.

"Well. . . yes, it would, I guess" Haruna began, "but it wouldn’t really be the right thing to just take it. Plus, wouldn’t it be weird if someone saw plushies just floating around?"

Black Gate tipped her head. "Hmmm?" She tipped her head the other way. "You mean like, if it was caught on security footage?" She thought about it for two seconds. "We could break into the back. That’s probably where the security footage is stored. If we don’t find anything we can just destroy the cameras. I don’t think a lot of people will see us at this hour. It would be more weird for three girls to enter a Construct-A-Cat when they should be at school."

Haruna tapped her foot, trying to figure out how to convince these two to not abuse their powers. "I mean, sure, but why would we steal if we don’t have to? Like I said, I can just pay for it, it really won’t be any trouble," she insisted. "And I think I would feel bad about just having a stolen plushie around."

"I’d feel bad if you had to buy my gift for you." She pouted. "But I have no money."

Kiyo looked between the two girls, thinking. Her desire seemed to be to find a compromise. "I mean, logistically speaking, stealing from this place would be kind of a nightmare anyway, wouldn't it? We'd have to figure out how to use everything. Much easier to just let the employees do it." She seemed to settle on agreeing with Hizuki, even if it wasn't necessarily on the right principles. "If Hizuki says she's paying, that makes us even. Since this was my idea, she's doing me a favor, so I'll make it up to her later."

"The gift is the thought you put into making the cat, not the money the cat costs," Haruna offered, in an attempt to placate Michi. "Besides, I feel like I owe you a little for the whole Will-o-wisp thing."

Michi pondered on their words. She looked at the floor to gather her thoughts, and nodded once. Then the goat girl took her time walking behind the side of the building and emerged in her normal form. Even though this was Haruna’s second time seeing her like this, it was rather strange how much more mature the girl looked when untransformed. "I understand now." She said while approaching Kiyo. "We pay this time, understand how it all works, and then we can get more later at a discount." She turned back towards Haruna. "But those would not be for you, because that would defeat the purpose." She almost smiled, then pushed open the double doors and stepped inside. She held one of them open for her friends.

The light girl suppressed a frustrated sigh. Baby steps, Haruna. She couldn’t force them to conform to her standards overnight. That wouldn’t stop the promise of future theft from bothering her, though, something she couldn’t quite keep off her face. Haruna did her best to push a smile to the forefront as she walked into the building, trying to focus on the entertainment of the event and bonding with new friends over her long-term moral concerns.

Kiyo put a hand to her mouth, hiding her smirk. She must have given Suki a good scolding for shoplifting, she decided as she entered the double doors.

Once everyone was inside, Michi let go of the door.

"Oh! I got an idea." She almost sounded like a normal person. "Maybe, we should come in here two at a time." She pointed between the two detention girls. "Because then you could ask Haruna stuff about me when you make my cat, and then I could ask you stuff about Haruna, and then Haruna could ask me stuff about you. Though I probably wouldn’t be able to help that much…"

Kiyo considered. "That should work. You first then, Haruna," she decided on the spot.

She blinked. "Oh, okay." Haruna had been puzzling through how to get a reasonable rotation going when she was the only one who knew both Black Gate and Evil Eye. "Well, I hope I don’t disappoint." As she moved up to begin the process, she looked back at Kiyo, straining to get a sense of what she might actually want in a custom-made stuffed cat. Not that she expected to get a reading that specific, especially when Kiyo was probably more curious about the other dark girl than anything else.

Kiyo was a girl of contradictions, Hizuki found. While she kept herself cool and level-headed on the surface, the scope of her desires was like a murky bog teeming with hidden life. There were, as ever, the two titans sharing uneasy space together. The desire to maintain appearances demanded Kiyo dress and act like a rebellious girl—as though such were not her natural inclination, and she needed to be reminded to do it. Beneath its shadow were subordinates: the desire to maintain control, which had Kiyo immediately place herself at the back of the line, with Hizuki in front, quickly retreated from whence it came. At its side lurked the desires to make a good first impression, and to recruit more members to the club. Nothing unusual there, but not what Haruna was looking for.

Then, something else stirred. Anticipation—both of receiving a gift from Haruna, and of getting a glimpse into what this new girl thought she was like—rose up from the deep. Then, as if it had been promptly smacked by someone in a canoe wielding an oar, it then retreated into the mire. Had it been judged too selfish a thing? No, it couldn't possibly have been, could it? Her desire had placed no certain expectations on what she would receive—it would have been satisfied to simply receive at all. Why, then, had it been battered, as if it were an unwanted thing?

At some point during Haruna's glimpse into Kiyo's desires, their eyes had met, and Kiyo seemed to be the first to notice. She looked away, glancing at Michi. "Just tell her what you think. Don't worry about whether it's right."

Haruna had broken off at the same time Kiyo did, rubbing at her eyes as she turned back to the task at hand. That had been incredibly clear and detailed (even if she hadn’t figured out what Kiyo would like), moreso than Haruna had gotten on, well, anyone. It was a little overwhelming, and it showed in her slightly dazed expression.

"Oh okay." Michi took Haruna by the wrist, delicately holding her with her thumb and point finger. Then she walked some distance away before stopping in front of some machines. Kiyo was still in sight, but looking away and probably out of ear shot. "Um, I don’t really know her, she’s right." She sighed. "This is the first time I’ve met her. I’m sorry." Michi lowered her head.

"That’s okay. You’ve seen how she acts a little, and you’ve also seen her eyes and stuff, so just, you know, give your impressions. Don’t worry too much about it," Haruna said, attempting to be encouraging. "At the very least, if you say something that sounds wrong, then I’ll know to do something else when I wouldn’t have thought of it otherwise."

"Okay." Michi turned around to look at Kiyo one last time, then turned back to Haruna. "She does have a lot of eyes looking around, but I don’t know. I don’t think anyone likes to be typecast. I think I’d avoid giving the cat more than two eyes." She scratched her chin. "I um, think, she liked red and black. They wear a lot of red and black in both forms." She tapped her foot. "And…she seems cool. I think this cat, it needs to be cool too."

"Well, black cats are a classic, so I guess we’ll start with that as a base. And it should look all cool and mysterious." She started perusing the available cats, looking over all the ones with darker colorations. "I wonder. . ." Haruna picked out one of the black ones, then inspected part of it closely before putting it back down. She did this with a few before she found one with the trait she was looking for. "Aha! This one." The cat she’d chosen looked mostly like the others, but in the middle of its chest was a small white patch. "What do you think?"

The goth girl’s eyes shifted between Haruna’s selection and all the other available choices. "Why that one?"

The light girl leaned in toward Michi and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. "She acts all cool, but I think she’s kind of a softie on the inside. Don’t tell her I said that, though." Haruna gave her a small smile, then began to move toward the next station. "Do you think we should put something in it so it meows when you squeeze it?"

"It’s not a chew toy, I don’t think sounds are necessary." Michi rubbed the back of her head. "You understand this is for her, right?" She folded her arms. "Do you think she’d find it amusing if you secretly thought she was weak?"

Haruna tilted her head in confusion. "Weak?"

"You said she was secretly soft on the inside." She placed a hand on her hip in an unusual display of annoyance. "If she’s secretly soft, then she’s trying to look strong. It would be mean to poke fun at her like that, wouldn’t it?"

The light girl glanced down and to the side awkwardly. "I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that. It’s supposed to be a little bit of a poke, but do you really think she’d be that bothered?" Haruna looked a bit sad; she’d thought it was a fun little idea, and a reference to a shared secret. "I don’t want to be a bully."

Haruna was about to put the cat back when Michi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Wait." She stepped in front of the light girl. "Maybe it doesn’t have to be what she thinks is cool, so long as it’s what you think is cool."

"I do think it’s cooler if she has more to her than just what she shows." She tilted her head again in the opposite direction from before. "Or, I guess it’s not really cooler necessarily. I don’t think it's less cool for it being there, either. It just seems nice. You know?"

With a shrug, she removed her hand from Haruna’s shoulder. "You seem like you know what to do." She turned around and looked at one of the machines. "You should finish up before it gets crowded."

"Right." She started making her way toward the stuffing machine. "You’re the plushie expert, how firm do you think the cat should be?"

"They always get softer with age. I would say firmer is better." She poked a button on a machine, and it spun for a bit before stopping. "But if she’s going to do more than display it, might want to make sure it’s at least soft enough to be pleasant." She stepped away from the machine. "Then you want to think about accessories. You probably don’t need a lot. Maybe one or two that mean something. And you want something that can be stitched on, otherwise it’ll just get lost." After some hesitation, she added. "Sometimes I dress up my plushies myself, but that’s an exception."

"Right." Haruna handed the plush over to the employee managing the machine, requesting the second-highest firmness. She watched with interest as it went about its work, but seemed more eager to get to the accessorizing than continue watching it stuff random animals. "Accessories. . . what accessories are cool? Capes?"

"Capes, maybe a mask of some kind. Cat eye or opera mask maybe, for that mystery." Michi was looking at the ceiling. "Tentacles are cool too, but that feels a little on the nose. What do you think is cool?"

Haruna scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Wings are pretty cool, but they’re not very Evil Eye. Maybe. . . hmm. . . a cool red scarf? Or is that too heroic? I feel like they can kinda go either way." Her mouth twisted a bit. "Do you think a cape and a scarf is too much?"

"If you think it’s cool, it’s probably fine." the goth girl added, unhelpfully. "Those are good accessories though, as they won’t just break off." She added helpfully.

Haruna shrugged, then went to pick out the most suitable variants of each of those. She handed them and the plush to another employee, who set about attaching them to the stuffed cat. Once that was done, she turned back to Michi. "Do you think it needs anything else?"

She looked over the plushy carefully. "I’d hug him." She changed her viewing angle. "Yea, I think he’s fine. I don’t really know Kiyo, sorry I couldn’t be of more help."

"Don’t worry about it. I put you on the spot with the suggestion for us to all make plushies." She gestured toward where Kiyo was waiting. "I’ll pay for them all at once, so we should go get her now."

"Wait!" Michi grabbed a gift bag and rose it up over the plush before handing it to Haruna. "This way we can all see what we got at the same time."

"Oh, yeah, good point." She slid the plush into the bag. "I hope the others turn out well, too." Then, she navigated around what few customers there were at this time of day to reach Kiyo once more. "Alright, who’s next?"

Kiyo stood up, only leaning slightly on her cane. "That'll be Miss Black—which means it's my turn to gossip," she teased mischievously.

"I can only imagine what you’ll tell her." Haruna didn’t sound particularly afraid, saying the words with a slight grin.

"Okay." Michi waved for Kiyo to join her further down the isle. She looked back at Haruna to make sure she wasn’t peaking. "I think I know what I want to do, but I’d like to hear your input first." She folded her hands behind her back. "What do you think Haruna would like?"

Kiyo pondered, scratching her cheek. "That's a good question. You mentioned asking me about her, and I had plenty of ideas for a 'Hizuki-like' plushie, but I'm not sure that's the best approach. Maybe she'd rather have something that reminds her of you than something that resembles herself. Since she's the kind of person who's always thinking of others," she mused.

"Oh, that’s true." Michi blinked. "I was going to make a cat in pajamas, because she always looks tired."

Kiyo covered her mouth just in time to stop herself from laughing. "Pfft." But then, she looked like she was considering it. "Actually, something like that could be ideal. For the person who's always thinking of others, a gift that reminds them that someone else is thinking of them, so they should take care of themselves too. A 'take-a-break' kitty."

"I’m glad you like the idea." Said the girl that looked largely indifferent to everything. She immediately went to work getting the parts she would need. She selected a tan cat with a sleepy expression, and gave it a nod. "Oh hi there." She held the cat with both hands. "You’re name is going to be Haruna Jr, and you’re going to make Haruna very happy. Maybe." She went through the process of getting the cat firmed up and was ready to start picking out accessories. She got a night cap with little moons and stars on it, as well as pajama tops and bottoms to match. She finished dressing the sleepy cat when she stopped and turned to Kiyo. "I don’t think it’s Haruna enough." She turned it over in her hand. "It’s just a cat in sleepwear. Do you think it would be weird to write her measurements on Haruna Jr’s clothes?"

"Just a bit," Kiyo replied, not sure what to make of her off-color comment when she just seemed so... blank. It felt like a joke, but without the expression needed to stick the landing. Perhaps Miss Black had been a dark girl for much longer than Kiyo had initially thought. "You're right. With just this, it's a bit... She doesn't really give off the vibe of a custom-made plushie, does she?" She took a minute or so to think about it. "I feel like if we add something too Haruna-like, the whole vibe would just kinda clash. Like, pajamas and a motorcycle helmet... y'know?" Kiyo both looked and felt a bit helpless for a moment. "I'm definitely feeling a different hat, though. A detective's hat is too on-the-nose. Gives busybody vibes. Maybe a nurse cap? Nurses take naps, I bet." Her voice trailed off as she went on.

"I don’t think Haruna is a nurse or a detective though." She pouted. But after looking at the plushy just a bit longer, her eyebrows poked up. "Oh!" She tugged the sleeping cap off of the cat’s head and found a helmet. It had an open front that showed the cat’s facial expression, but the back of the helmet had feathered wings and a gold-like trim around the edges. "I call Haruna paladin sometimes." She placed the sleep cap on top of the helmet. It didn’t quite fit right, but the paladin cat looked pretty sleepy. "I think that’s an improvement, right? Actually…" After looking through the accessories again, she put the pajamas away and grabbed a breast plate to slide over the cat’s torso. Then she grabbed a tiny pillow and stuck it under the plush’s arm. "I think this is better. What do you think?"

Kiyo nodded along approvingly. "Haruna's definitely a paladin," she agreed without missing a beat—but Michi kept adding parts. Something about the way she was excitedly proposing one thing after another reminded her of Suki, and Kiyo didn't quite know what to say. "Well... the breastplate might be a bit much. It feels like we've strayed from 'take-a-break kitty' to 'high-stakes-pillow-fight kitty.' I like the helmet with the nightcap on top, though."

"Oh, yea." She looked at it again. "It’s a little overboard, isn’t it? I just wanted the paladin bit to come through." She tugged on the breastplate, and it popped off. "You’re right, I think that’s better. The pillow prevents the sleeping cap from looking like a wizard’s cap, I think." She shrugged. "I told Haruna not to go overboard on accessories too. It can be hard to focus when you’re the one doing it I guess." She handed the items off to get stitched together. "Well, I was almost able to do that myself. Thanks for the save, Kiyo."

Kiyo shook her head. "Calling it a save is giving me too much credit. I'm sure Haruna would have been happy to have High-Stakes-Pillow-Fight Kitty, too," she replied with a smile. "I can be a bit... particular." Michi's non-expression blurred any possible line that Kiyo could have attempted to draw between what was either sarcasm, or an almost zealous level of sincerity scarcely seen outside of TV programming made for children. In the end, Kiyo decided to take her words at face value. "Suppose it's my turn then," she said, making her way over to Haruna.

"Yup." After getting the plush put in a gift bag, Michi dragged her feet back to the entrance. Her attention was immediately stolen by a clerk sewing an expression on one of the cats.

Haruna turned at the sound of the pair’s footsteps approaching. "I’m looking forward to seeing what you two made. Shall we?" she said, looking at Kiyo and gesturing toward the bins of yet-to-be-constructed cats.

Kiyo nodded, turning back whence she came just as soon as Haruna stood up. She appeared to be deep in thought as she looked at the cat plushies. "What do you make of her? Miss Black," she inquired of Haruna, eyeing charcoal grey cats and scrutinizing faces with half-lidded eyes. One by one, she picked them up and put them down, seeming to consider each one but never quite finding satisfaction. She turned to Haruna, as if seeking it from her answer. The question was surely deeper than simply what kind of cat Michi would like, though she seemed determined enough on her own to find an answer for that too.

"She’s a little. . . odd. It’s hard to get a read on what she actually wants, but I don’t really get the impression she’s being intentionally mysterious or anything." The implied comparison was hard to miss. "And I think she’s pretty shy in the end. Or, shy’s the wrong word. Anxious, maybe? She’s afraid of the club and nervous about the GEMs, but she does seem to like having company if she feels comfortable around them." Haruna shrugged. "She also thinks your mogalls are super cute," she added after a moment.

Kiyo nodded along, seeming to agree with much of what Haruna said, but it was the last one that surprised her. "C-Cute... That's a first." Kiyo picked up another cat with half-lidded eyes, but instead of a grumpy or neutral expression, this one had a slight smile. It looked mischievous, or maybe a little smug. If Kiyo had been designing a cat to resemble herself, she had picked the perfect face. "A smile suits her better," she remarked instead.

She was quiet for a moment while she looked at the accessories, before she spoke up again. "I could have made them to look like anything, you know? My sentries." She paused. "Cute, fluffy bunnies. Silly, googly-eyed birds. The fly on the windowsill that you'd never noticed was there until the day you went to clean the window and realized it was dead." Another pause. Suddenly, she turned around and showed Haruna the cat with a witch hat. "Witches should have lots of friends, don't you agree?"

She nodded in response. "Yeah, I think a witchy cat is appropriate, as long as we can find a fancy dress or something to dress her in. Miss Black really likes her tea parties and such." She hesitated for a moment, then decided to ask the obvious question. "Why eyeballs, then? You don’t sound super attached to them. I guess they fit your name?"

Kiyo appeared thoughtful, nodding and turning her attention to some small gothic dresses. "When you cry, and wipe away your tears with a tissue, do you keep the tissue in a box for safekeeping?" She paused to look up. Perhaps she was thinking, or perhaps she was just waiting for the absurdity to set in. She was probably on the lookout for any nosy employees, too. "A child might, for fear of losing a part of herself, I suppose, but once she becomes an adult, she realizes that the purpose of tears is in the act of shedding them. My sentries might look like living things, but they're nothing more than negative emotion given form. The raw substance is useful, but once it takes on shape, its only purpose is to fulfill the task for which it was born. Getting attached to them would be like befriending Miseria."

After sorting through so many black-and-white dresses, mumbling complaints about how too many of them looked like "maid dresses," she finally turned around, showing Haruna the one she chose. "...Oh, but I've just dodged your question." She turned around again, looking at the other accessories available to see if anything caught her eye without digging too much for it. "Plushies really are cute, aren't they?"

"Yeah." Haruna didn’t fail to note that, despite acknowledging the dodge, she still didn’t actually answer. Still, she could probably pluck some kind of meaning from among the ramble Kiyo had given her instead. . . and the dark girl wouldn’t be able to hold whatever interpretation she got from it against her. "I should get a couple more for my apartment, it might be a bit cozier then."

Returning her attention to the task at hand, she leaned forward to inspect the dress.

"Plushies are cute when they're not watching," Kiyo replied darkly. "Once you realize that the teddy bear has been watching you, you don't think it's cute anymore. You want to tear its eyes out instead." She lightly squeezed the innocent cat plush in her arms. "Security cameras might not be cute, but they, at least, won't lie to you—and if you're being followed by a creep, you'll never be happier to see one."

Kiyo's eyes had settled on a wand accessory, and she picked it up. It looked more like the sort of thing a princess or fairy godmother would use, rather than a witch. If she gave it to the cat, it would stand out as the only colorful object on an otherwise dull canvas of black, white, and grey. "The Mogall are sentinels, not spies. They don't lie about their purpose. They're eyeballs, because I created them to watch. They're not cute, because I made them to not be cute. They don't hide, because I didn't make them to be stealthy. I want my girls to feel safe knowing when they're alone, and feel safe knowing when someone is watching over them. I wanted the Mogall to be like the security camera."

Her use of past tense and slightly morose tone implied that she knew they were not, in fact, "like the security camera" for the other girls. She turned back to Haruna and showed off her handiwork. "The witch came from a world of black and white—but after she learned magic, she surrounded herself with friends who filled her world with color," she explained in the past tense as though it were already decided. Then, she made a slightly stern face. "Sometimes, you shouldn't explain why something looks the way it does. The language of symbolism is supposed to be secret. So, don't tell anyone. But, what do you think?"

Haruna replied with one of her small smiles. "I think that makes a lot of sense." She deliberately didn’t clarify which statement she was responding to. Kiyo cared a lot about the club, it was obvious, and one of the few things she didn’t seem to put effort into making ambiguous. Haruna appreciated that kind of earnest effort. "I think the only thing I’d add to the cat is if we could give her a stuffed rabbit, or something. Miss Gate gives me Alice in Wonderland vibes, you know?"

Kiyo smiled, too, seeming to appreciate the reciprocal ambiguity. "Do I give you Alice in Wonderland vibes, too?" She raised the cat plush so that its impish grin was right beneath her chin. "You shouldn't be able to tell easily whether she's supposed to resemble me or Miss Black. That's part of the charm." She raised the cat's paw with a finger to make it look like she was casting a spell.

Haruna raised an eyebrow at that last, an eyebrow that seemed to playfully warn that she might try to read more into that idea. "I wouldn’t say you do on the surface, but now that you ask. . . I can think of some reasons you might." Things were rarely immediately as they seemed in Wonderland, of course, and appearances could be deceiving. "But those might not be right for the plushie, you’re right."

"I'm not opposed," Kiyo replied. "The rabbit could be Roche, or it could be you." Her eyes wandered a bit. "But then, so it's not mistaken for any old rabbit pulled from a magician's hat, the rabbit needs a pocket watch, and then a bowtie, or maybe a cravat, and now there's too many accessories and too much visual noise. So maybe not." She gathered up everything she'd chosen and started to look for an employee to hand them off to. "...Thanks," she whispered ambiguously.

The smile returned. "No problem." Haruna flagged an employee down for Kiyo. "Just glad to help. And this has turned out to be way less stressful than pretty much everything else I’ve done since I moved here, too. Maybe we should do something like this again sometime?"

"Yeah." Kiyo's now-emptied hands fidgeted aimlessly for a second before finding her jacket pockets. "This was—fun." She seemed to settle on the word after considering several others. After receiving the plush and bagging it, she started to walk back to where Michi was sitting. "I've actually never done this before, even though I always... wanted to try."

"I wouldn’t mind coming back here, if you wanted," Haruna said as she followed. She decided not to ask Kiyo why she hadn’t tried before; it seemed like the dark girl would probably retreat emotionally if Haruna looked too deeply at once. Speaking of looking deeply, I’m surprised she didn’t feel that earlier, or something. "I wasn’t really very invested in coming here, but now that we’ve actually done this, I like it a lot. It’s nice to make things for each other, and I’m not a very crafty person myself," she said, as they reached Michi with the third and final plush in tow. "Time for the big reveal?"

"Um, AKTUALY!" An attendant at the counter said, pushing their glasses up their nose. "I need to make sure you have this first. I understand you’re paying for all of these?" Michi averted her eyes as the clerk spoke. Then they presented Haruna with a paper slip with the cost of everything, at which point the clerk smiled. "They are all very cute cats though, and I’m sure you’ll all enjoy them." Before they backed away from the counter they added "And we have credit options available."

Michi swallowed. "We’ll reveal them one at a time. I want to see everyone’s reaction before I look at mine." Everyone handed off their plushy to the correct recipient. "Kiyo, Haruna made yours first, so why don’t you have a peak?"

Kiyo made no attempt to hide her cringe-induced disgust from the store clerk. Why are you smiling like a used car salesman who just got a big commission? You didn't even help. For the sake of the other two, though, she said nothing. "Sure." She agreed, and upon taking the cat out of the bag, she was greeted with the red and black she expected, plus a bit of white. "Aha!" She exclaimed, seeming pleased. "Tuxedo cats are the cutest, aren't they?" Kiyo glanced at Haruna with the mischievous look of someone who knew that she knew that she was going to scrutinize every little detail. A cape—noble, classy, mysterious. Scarf—rebellious, self-reliant. A black cat with a white belly—the jerk with a heart of gold? Surely, you're not hoping for more than that, Hizuki?

Kiyo wondered how much Haruna knew about cats—how their bellies were sensitive, and they showed them as an expression of trust—but did not want them to be touched. Thinking back, she decided that Haruna probably did. She's not aloof like Rei or Roche, but she also respects a distance I always wanted but could never get from family. She held the plush close to her chest. "She's perfect, just like her owner," she declared, satisfied. Her smile was lofty, but the look in her eyes seemed different from the 'fake happiness' her eyes usually showed to accompany it.

Haruna’s smile broadened at Kiyo’s reaction. "I’m really glad you like it." Once again, she felt like she was seeing a bit of Kiyo that most people didn’t. "I was worried I might not have added enough embellishments, but Miss Black suggested that less might be more, and I guess it really did suit you." She turned to flash her smile at Michi as well, showing her gratitude. "I guess it’s my turn?"

Michi nodded, then squared up her shoulders.

She loosened the bag a bit to free the fettered feline, then lifted it into the air to inspect it. A pillow, a helmet, and a nightcap plopped atop the latter. Half-closed eyes, like the cat was about to fall asleep. "A sleepy paladin?" she questioned aloud. The knightly parts she understood - and quite appreciated, under other circumstances she might have been preening under the description - but the sleepy bits were throwing her a little. "Do I really look that tired?" She had nearly fallen asleep in class three days a row, thinking of it.

The girl drew her phone and snapped a picture of Haruna. Then she moved over beside Haruna and showed her the photo. "Kind of." She pulled the phone against her chest. "Do you not like it?"

Haruna peered at the photo. She nearly didn’t recognize herself. . . and her first thought was that the girl in the photo needed a nap and probably a shower. "Oh, wow. Do I always look like that. . . ?" She shook her head, looking a bit embarrassed at the realization. "But no, I like it a lot. I just didn’t get that part right away, is all." She resisted the urge to pat Michi on the head as part of an apology. "I’ll take good care of her, I promise." Michi nodded in response.

"Being sleep-deprived is like being a little tipsy. In both cases, the mind is surprisingly good at convincing you that everything is normal," Kiyo helpfully added. "Tsubomi might be the only one among us who actually gets a healthy amount of sleep, to be fair..." she mused. But you don't have anyone at home telling you not to overdo it, do you Hizuki? I can tell.

Michi looked between the two girls, then at the decorative gift bag she was holding. She turned it over in her hand, as if somehow trying to discern what might have been inside. She pulled the handles apart with both hands and was greeted with a wide brimmed witch’s hat that concealed the rest of the plushy from view. She tipped her head and reached a hand inside to retrieve the cat hiding at the bottom of the bag, and pulled it out.

She seemed to freeze in place, with her lazy eyes locked on the lazy, content expression of the cat. But the plush didn’t move. It merely stared back at her with its mischievous smile. At last, Michi’s jaw opened. But she didn’t say anything. Her breathing became noisy, then her eyes became wet. Michi closed her eyes, and tears rolled down her face. The cat continued to smile at her in her trembling hand.

Haruna’s expression flashed from happy to panicked. "W-wait, what’s wrong? Did we do something wrong?" She hurried over to Michi’s side, putting one hand on her shoulder.

As before, Kiyo was slow to speak. "Miss Black?" she prompted softly, her hand occupying Michi's other shoulder. Kiyo hid her anxiety well, but Haruna could feel it: self-preservation stirred, yet Kiyo moved to comfort Michi.

As soon as the outstretched hands landed on Michi’s shoulders, she reacted. The delinquent shrieked and flailed her arms while she backed away from the two girls. Haruna’s arm was swat away, then Kiyo’s, before Michi backed into a gachapon machine. The store clerk had almost disappeared before they returned to the counter to see what the commotion was. Michi was breathing heavy, her teeth clenched tight. The tears didn’t stop rolling down her face. Her desire to destroy had flared up in the moment, but it was starting to subside, and her law loosened up.

"I, I-" She looked at the witch cat again. "I’veneverbeengivensomethinglikethis!" She was just able to get out the words before sobbing into her sleeve.

"O-oh. Good crying. I think?" Haruna glanced hurriedly back toward the employee, waving him off before turning her attention back to Black Gate. She closed the distance again, but made sure to leave her a bit more space than she had previously. "Sorry for crowding you. You, um, like it, then?" she asked, hopeful. She got a nod in response, with the arm covering her face bobbing up and down.

"I hope you make lots of friends," Kiyo added, also appearing hopeful—but she allowed Michi to keep the distance she'd created.

She lowered her arm away from her face, which was now all red. "I like her. Thank you." She hugged the plush witch against her chest. "I think I know where I want to put her. Do you guys mind if i-" She sniffed. "Got her set up?"

"Not at all. I’ve just gotta go pay for these real quick." Haruna sighed in relief before heading toward the register - and trying not to let her startlement show when she saw the price tag on the receipt she’d been given.

"Sure," Kiyo replied, satisfied. The look she gave Haruna from across the room felt like a blend of an amused "I told you so" with some reassuring "we'll go somewhere else next time" mixed in.

…

…

…

Meanwhile, on the roof of the Construct-A-Cat, two Mogalls floated just out of sight. They looked at each other as if conversing, but no words were exchanged.

They turned their attention to the roofs edge when a few stunted apes climbed into view. They were about to float off when the aped began waving their arms. But something was different. Rather than trying to wave the mogalls away, they were beckoning them to come closer. Their shrill screeching was replaced by curious monkey sounds.

The apes parted like the red sea, and a monkey carrying a cardboard box walked out from between them and placed it on the ground. It threw the flaps open before taking a step back.

One of the mogall closed in, curious but cautious. One of its tendrils reached into the box and held up a tiny bottle. It looked at its friend and held the bottle out for them to inspect. The bottle was a container of eyedrops. The eye bobbed, as if nodding, then took off in a flash. Not much time passed before the mogall returned with a box, and placed it on the ground in front of the monkeys before backing away.

The bravest ape approached the new cardboard box and examined it. He scratched his head and looked back at his fellow apes, who only screeched at him. With a shrug, they pulled open the box and looked inside. Immediately, the ape began screeching, and his fellow ape friends joined in unison. Then the brave ape reached into the box and hoisted up a cluster of bananas.

The apes began to spin and jump, while the mogall swirled in the sky. They had made so many friends this day.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Yayama Yama

Location: Esaka's Mid Tier - Some Alley
Status: Deep breaths
LV: 5, EXP: 15/50
Word Count: Less than 750 (+1)

She listened quietly as Terry took his turn talking about his losses over the years. It was hard to truly relate to Yayama unless you'd been through the same events as her - that was part of why Petra's absence cut so deeply - but it seemed the two of them had a fair amount in common. "I won't turn down free food, I suppose." She would, however, meticulously check it for poison, but she was well enough to know that it was a paranoia and not a particularly reasonable concern. "You know, you remind me a bit of Petra. Obviously, you aren't an absolutely gorgeous Auri woman or a foreign princess, but you've got a similar attitude." She mentally glossed over the part where she continued to use present tense. But don't worry, I'm thinking about it.

"Petra infected me with it, you know. Always looking for somewhere to stick her nose, help the helpless, be the strong protecting the weak, that sort of thing." She laughed, mostly at herself. "Well, I suppose I can't really blame her entirely. She did, at least, ruin a perfectly good Flame Captain for continuing to run a squadron. I don't think I could ever go back to the Flames, not for real, after all this. Not that it's a bad thing. This World of Light seems like it could use a Warrior of Darkness right about now." Yayama sighed. "But, that's for later. For now, you promised me food, and an Ul'dahn never forgets a promise involving coin."

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

---

"I’m sure things will go as planned literally ever."

---

Haruna couldn’t be sure if Suki was going to show up for their jog together or not. But she didn’t have her number and it seemed a little awkward to ask Tsubomi for it when the goal was to talk about Tsubomi without her being present. So all she could do was wait by the proverbial start line and hope she showed up. Ten to twenty minutes before the agreed time was a nice time for punctual people to aim for, but Suki did not feel like a punctual person. However, it was now ten or twenty minutes past the agreed time, which seemed awfully late for someone who wasn’t Tsubomi.

”You can start worrying Haruna, I’m baaaaaack!”

— Willow

"Huh?" Willow’s voice reached Haruna’s ears from a nearby rooftop. "I like how you’ll go out of your way to screw over someone who saved your life, but wouldn’t think of ditching someone who put you in that position in the first place." She looked at a wrist watch she didn’t have. "Welp, they seem to be running a little late."

"Hi, Willow," Haruna responded, her apparently-perpetual look of exhaustion seeming to intensify at the very sight of her "partner." She had actually done something good, for once, so she had a point, but it was undercut by her actions immediately before and after. "Are you going to come down here to talk, or is the pain in my neck from looking up part of my punishment?"

"You’re too young to have neck pain." Willow rolled off the roof and floated down to the street below. She folded her arms behind her head and threw one leg over the other. "Do I really seem like the sort of person who would punish my fellow partner? On the contrary, Hizuki. Everyone in the Detention club either avoids me or hates me, so even though you are, hmmm, ‘competition’ for Rei’s attention, I don’t mind playing nice with you."

"I figured you would be mad at me. Or, well, you obviously are, and if I’m being honest, you seem like the type to get revenge." She gave a sort of half-shrug, not really sure how to put that in a way that didn’t sound like an accusation. "I don’t know why Suki attacked me, but I wasn’t planning on holding it against her, either. Just like the thing with Shuuko." Haruna sighed. "I also wasn’t trying to screw you over. You were hurting someone who placed their trust in me, so I did my best to make up for it."

The cat girl squinted her eyes. She was more or less eye level with Hotaru, but only because she was still hovering in the air. "I understand you’re a light girl and everything, but you could stand to be a little dishonest. No book has to be that open." In a puff of smoke and musical notes, Willow turned into, well, Willow. Her normal form. The difference was small, with only her eye color and ears changing. Of course magical girl identity protection made spotting the similarities in her face difficult, but it was uncanny how similar both of her forms looked. "But honesty can be fun too, I suppose. You know Suki is part of my band, right? I could give her a phone call and get her here in seconds. Buuuuuuuuut since I’m a vengeful bitch that’s incapable of remorse, as you worded it, my services will come at a cost to you. Then once I’ve exacted my revenge, there will be no reason to hold anything against you moving forward. Sounds reasonable, right?" The girl folded her arms behind her back.

"That’s not. . . whatever," she said with another, more irritable sigh. "Sure, hit me with whatever you’ve got. As long as we can get past this. Although after that, I want to talk to you about what happened back there." She noted Willow’s mundane appearance for the future. Transforming in front of her was a sign of trust, at least. Or that Willow felt absolutely no threat from the idea of Haruna knowing her significantly more vulnerable mundane form, which was also entirely possible.

"Of course, of course." She said with a dismissive tone. "Hmmm, but how should I exact my revenge?" She swiftly stepped behind Haruna. "Trust is hard to restore, especially for me." She stepped back in front of Haruna and rubbed her chin. "Hmmmm, yes, I should take something from you. Something that you can never get back, regardless of how willing I am to return it. But I feel like it should also be something you would be willing to part with. Something you would be willing to, hmmm, share, if you would." Willow’s hands went behind her back and she leaned in towards Haruna. "Got any ideas?" She tipped her head to the side.

Haruna stepped back, squinting at Willow as she tried to both preserve her personal space and figure out what the hell the dark girl was on about. "You. . . aren’t seriously asking for a first kiss or something, are you?" That was the only thing she could really think of that fit that description, other than. . . well, one other thing of a similar nature. "That’s just really weird and inappropriate if you are. So please don’t be."

"Hmm?" She raised an eyebrow. "No! No, I was just thinking out loud. I really didn’t have any ideas. But that would sort of fit, wouldn’t it?" She brought her hands in front of herself and smiled. "God you’re smart, Haruna! Yes! I don’t have to ask for it because you just suggested it! That makes this all a lot less weird. But I appreciate that you look so repulsed, which makes this the perfect little revenge." She giggled. "Aside from satisfying my criteria, it’s painless and simple. We can just kind of get your ‘punishment’ out of the way and then once you’re done with me you can go for your little jog with Suki. Oh! It’s symbolic too! To end a feud with a kiss and to emerge as friends! It’s almost poetic!" Willow went to play a song, only to realize she didn’t have her violin now that she was no longer transformed.

"Absolutely not," Haruna snapped, before she had time to really think about it. "No. Not happening. I don’t care if it's poetic or whatever, I’m not doing it." She crossed her arms. "I know you probably think you can just push me around however you want because you’re Rei’s partner and I’ve tried to be forgiving with the club, but I still have lines. Think of something else." She glanced to the side a bit. "I want that to be shared with someone special to me. And you don’t even know if I’m into that sort of thing." Her slight blush wasn’t doing her any favors in selling that last. Willow was kinda cute, but that wasn’t the only thing that mattered. The light girl was sure she’d continue to insist, too, now that she’d found something that really bothered Haruna.

"Okay so, a few things." Willow raised her fingers and started counting them off. "Number one, hetero girls just say they’re not into that. Or they laugh. Or they get really disgusted. You get the idea. ‘You don’t even know blah blah blah’ is what closet tuna munchers say. Number two, do you remember why you’re in this predicament? You freed my prisoner and denied me a second one, both of which were sought after targets by the club." She pursed her lips and tipped her head side to side. "I might have gotten a little rougher with the goat girl than I needed to, but it was justified. Number three, you’re also Rei’s partner, and my seniority does not seem to have endeared anyone to me over you. I doubt Rei is any different. She just seems to like you for no reason whatsoever. And four, I have no extra points to make, but I feel like I need to raise my finger anyway." She walked in front of where Haruna was looking and cast out her arms. "What? Do you want me to beg for it? Do I need to say ‘I want to be special to you’ even if you won’t believe me?"

"Nobody told me about any plans to take any prisoners," Haruna said, her voice starting to rise. "Black Gate trusted me and I promised I would keep her safe during a meeting I was trying to set up with her. A meeting, not an ambush. You would know that if you actually bothered to talk to me for a reason other than making me uncomfortable!" She balled up her fists. "You want to convince me I did something wrong by not wanting to betray my friends? You want to humiliate me for no reason other than your failure to ever communicate anything useful?" Haruna was breathing heavily at this point, her face flushing for an entirely different reason. She could feel her fingernails digging into her palms. She forced herself to take a deep breath and unclench her fists before continuing at a lower volume. "Look, I’m grateful for the save back there, but that doesn’t mean I’ll just do whatever you want now. So seriously, stop it."

During this entire exchange, from Willow appearing on the rooftop to now, Willow had been giving off the desire to play with Haruna. But with Haruna’s most recent contribution to their discussion, that had changed to a desire for Haruna to understand her. Willow pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay." She nodded. "I didn’t want to have to do this, but I’m going to have to count at you again." She lifted up her fingers. "Number one, I brought up the prisoners because that was something you did that went against my wishes. You’re smart, Haruna, and I know that you knew that I wanted the girl that stole my phone. Same with Morganite. Number two…" She looked at her fingers. As if suddenly realizing how futile it was, she stuffed her hands into her pockets. "I think Rei’s dying."

It took Haruna a moment to respond. All of the pent-up frustration finally beginning to boil out was abruptly shoved to the back of her head as she finally processed what Willow said - and that she was serious. "Wait, woah, what?" The idea of Rei being anything but the indestructible, inscrutable demon she seemed to be was strange, to say the least. "Dying? Why do you think so? She seemed okay to me." Though she was questioning Willow’s words, concern was by far the strongest emotion in her voice.

"Well, I did specify think." Willow averted her eyes. "Look, I want Rei to think I’m cool and everything, but sometimes she doesn’t want anyone around. Of course that doesn’t mean I’m going to stay away." She rubbed the back of her head. "She was in the kitchen, and I thought I saw her coughing up blood. You can’t really appreciate it, but she used to come out and watch the club fight miseria all the time. Just recently she’s started doing it again but I don’t know. Maybe the two are related?" She raised her hands and pretended to hold a cylindrical object. "They say a flame burns brightest just before it goes out. And well, I doubt she’d like to be compared to a flame, but I don’t think there’s a lot of magical girls that can compare to her."

Haruna sighed in frustration, though this time it wasn’t directed at Willow. "This is one of the many times I’ve wished I could heal people with my powers." She knew of a couple magical girls with healing powers - and, obviously, the club had just met one - but if it was something she was capable of doing, Haruna hadn’t figured out how yet. It wasn’t exactly an easy power to develop if it didn’t come to you naturally. "Is there anything we can do?" She rubbed at her eyes, trying to banish her exhaustion. "Maybe it’s related to that big Miseria she killed the other night? It could take more out of her to keep that thing in check than she lets on."

"Maybe. But if that’s the case, we’re kinda screwed." She lifted a finger to her lips in thought. "She seems more irritated with the GEMs presence than anything else. That’s a problem we can fix, maybe, but she’s been acting weird for a while now." Haruna could sense a shift in Willow’s desires. The desire to be understood was gradually overtaken by the desire to play once again, and then Willow lowered her hands onto Haruna’s shoulders. "So you see, it’s really about having a plan B. And despite everything that’s happened, you’re still my second favorite member of this club. I mean no one can replace Rei, but I don’t have to wallow in despair, right? They call me Willow and not wallow for a reason." She grinned. "And really, I would like to be special to you."

"I’m still not kissing you," Haruna said flatly, giving Willow a look before pointedly lifting the other girl’s arms off her shoulders and stepping back. "I have some ideas on how to deal with both of those problems. Not the me-not-kissing-you, that’s only a problem for you." That much wasn’t actually true, Haruna could tell, but she wasn’t going to belabor the point. "Also, you shouldn’t take Maliss stealing your phone very seriously. I’m. . . not actually convinced she knows how to charge a phone." Haruna looked like she didn’t actually want to be saying this last - it felt kinda mean - but felt she had to. "She probably would have given it back if asked. I’m going to try to get in contact with her again at some point, I told Kiyo I’d set up a meeting."

Willow blinked a few times. "Right, well, sounds like you and Kiyo have it all under control then. And not to put too fine a point on it, but if she asked when she took it, I wouldn’t have kicked her butt. You can let her know that." Her tone let Haruna know that she didn’t think she would, but also that she didn’t really care. "So you’re really big on romance, huh? Who are you saving that kiss for?"

The light girl went back to looking rather awkward and embarrassed. "I mean, I didn’t really have anyone specific in mind. It’s not like I’m dating someone right now, I don’t really have the time." She did have the tiniest crush right now, but she wasn’t going to give Willow that ammunition. Especially given the target. It wasn’t that serious of a consideration, anyway. "I just, you know, want that first moment to be something I don’t regret." She abruptly stopped her efforts to look away from her partner, hitting her with a sharp look. "Also, even if I did have someone in mind, you wouldn’t ever let me hear the end of it."

Willow’s chest puffed out as she slowly, very slowly drew in the autumn air until her lungs were filled to full capacity. Then, without taking her eyes off of Haruna, she sighed. A lot. Possibly beyond what her lungs were holding. If it was possible for someone to create a vacuum inside their chest, Willow had most assuredly done it. Then she inhaled before speaking, but it was much faster. "When I said you could be a little dishonest, I meant you didn’t have to be so direct. But lying? To me?" She held her chin and looked at the floor. "It couldn’t be many of the club members, but it is a club member. You don’t know anyone else around here. Or is it Maliss? It could be Maliss." She completely turned away from Haruna. "Boy that would be a twist, wouldn’t it? Or would that be too obvious? No no, she joined the club, dummy, it almost couldn’t be Maliss, even if it would justify most of her actions." Willow transformed back into a magical girl, dust and musical notes floated off in every direction. Her ears still hadn’t healed from the peirce job Pearl gave her. "Kiyo’s an option. She won’t leave the girl alone it seems. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s watching her right now. But does that mean Haruna would reciprocate? Aren’t there other explanations for Kiyo’s behavior?" She floated off the ground. "Tsubomi’s an option too. She was trying to rescue her, and didn’t they talk a bit? That's what Suki told me but… It couldn’t be Suki ,could it?" She snorted. "No, no. Impossible. Is what I would normally think, but Suki hates herself just enough that she’d miss the obvious clues. So that’s at least four…" Willow landed on the roof. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number. As soon as someone picked up, she held the phone to the side of her head and manifested a sickeningly sweet smile. "Hey! Yup! She was waiting!" A pause. "Oh, no, I think she’s positively pissed that you nearly killed her. I’d say things are pretty bad right now. H-hey! Don’t cry! You don’t need to cry. I think she’s going to try and pretend nothing ever happened for the team just… Yea, be careful. I know. It’s okay though. I saved her. Uh-huh, see you at band practice later." She hung up and looked down at Haruna. "Um… I don’t think Suki’s coming."

Haruna buried her hands in her face, partially because it gave her hands something to do besides slapping Willow and her face something to do besides yell at Willow for what she just did. She took a long moment, took a nice deep breath, then let her hands drop before responding. "Please give me Suki’s number," she said calmly.

"If she wanted to talk to you, she’d have shown up." Willow stepped away from the roof edge. "I think we’re even now. See you later."

"Willow! This is serious!" Getting somewhat desperate, she glanced around to check whether the coast was clear, then transformed herself to follow the dark girl up onto the roof. "Wait! If you give me her number I’ll tell you who I have a crush on!" She hoped Willow wouldn’t be able to resist such a tantalizing tidbit to tease someone about, though how she would react is anyone’s guess.

"Hah!" Willow spun around. "I wouldn’t think of betraying my band mate’s trust like that. Giving you her number would be in poor taste. And besides…" She placed her bow on her violin. "The suspense is growing on me." Her body faded into a cluster of lights, the will-o-wisps she was named after, and she vanished from sight.

"Damn it, Willow-! Ugh." She threw her hands up in frustration, stomping around in a quick circle as she transformed back into her mundane form. Haruna needed to talk to Suki, one way or another, and at this point she might be willing to do it with Tsubomi right there. Given the incident, this really couldn’t wait any longer.

With one more sigh of frustration, she belatedly remembered the club’s group chat. "At least that can’t fly away and disappear," she grumbled to herself, before opening it on her phone and sending a message.

> Suki? Did Willow really call you just now?

For some (not so) strange reason, Suki’s icon went from Online to Offline just seconds after the message went through. "Yeah, that figures." Fortunately, there were figures in the club who hadn’t decided to be exceedingly weird about her, and one in particular who probably knew where everyone was at all times.

> Kiyo, I need to talk to Suki and it can’t really wait. Can you let me know where she’s at?

Kiyo's status was idle, and it would take a moment for her to appear online.

> Sure. Just give me a minute or two.

Only a few seconds passed before she began typing again.

> Is ut sonething serious? Can I help?

There was not one typo, but two.

> Is it something serious? Can I help? _(edited)

A couple minutes later, it was fixed before she began typing again. That was just how Kiyo was.

> She's at the convenience store near the bowling alley.

"Okay. This is still salvageable."

> Thanks, Kiyo. I’m glad I can rely on you.

She transformed once again and took off. Normally, she might swap armors to get to Suki faster, but given the blood witch had broken THUNDER CRACK, Hizuki would have to fly there without. Fortunately, she was still fairly swift, especially when she didn’t have to bleed momentum swerving around after a moving target. Hizuki flew straight toward the mentioned area, reaching out with her senses as she got closer to get a better sense of Suki’s exact location.

It was just as Kiyo said. There was a muddled desire that belonged to a magical girl coming from the Eight/Twelve right next to the bowling alley. She landed on the sidewalk not ten feet away from the door. Going in wouldn’t be necessary, it seemed like someone was coming out.

"It’s such a good day to be alive!“

— Suki Oyama

The delinquent looked concerned when she opened the door. She was cradling five kitkat bars in one arm, all different flavors. On top of them was a pack of generic cigarettes, and an unlit one was wedged between her lips. Suki looked to her left, and then to her right, at which point she saw Hizuki. Her gaze lingered on her far longer than it should have, Then her head sunk as she slowly backed into the convenience store.

Hizuki sighed again, then ducked around a corner to transform back (so she didn’t just pop into existence in front of some random passerby.) Haruna hurried back, following the dark girl inside. "Hey, Suki. I’m not mad, I promise. You know how Willow can be sometimes, right?" She admittedly wasn’t even sure Willow had actually called her, and if so, whether the reaction she communicated to Haruna was the real one, so she figured she’d start by covering her bases. "And even if I was, this is more important, it’s about helping Tsubomi."

Suki peaked out from one of the isles. One of her pigtails was fully visible while she did this. "Tsubomi?" The sound of a kitkat hitting the floor caused the girl to pull her head back. After some grumbling and what sounded like product rearrangement, she stepped out from the aisle. None of the candy appeared to be on her person, and even the cigarette in her mouth was nowhere to be seen. "I uh…" She rubbed the back of her head. "I want to help her." She still seemed nervous, but her desires lined up with her words.

"Okay. Is there someone else you’d want to talk? It’s. . . some pretty private information, I think, so it feels weird to just talk about in the convenience store. I don’t think Tsubomi would really care, but, well, that doesn’t really mean much." She blinked after a moment, realizing this might sound like trying to lure Suki to a third location for some nefarious purpose. "Here is fine too, though, if you don’t-"

Mid sentence, Suki grabbed Haruna’s wrist and power walked out the door with her. Once they got outside, she turned the corner into a shaded alleyway. "No, I uh, I don’t really want to stay there." She retrieved a cigarette from one of her pockets. "I know we said we were going to jog today, but I thought that was off after, uh, things happened." She placed the cigarette between her lips; the light girl resisted the urge to tell Suki about the dangers of smoking in response. "I uh, tend to over react when I go bridezilla. I’m glad you’re okay."

"Don’t worry too much about it. There was a lot happening." She didn’t know if Suki was telling the whole truth, but Haruna was willing to accept it for the moment. She took a deep breath, trying to figure out how the hell she was supposed to broach the actual topic.

"So. . . before I talk about Tsubomi, I should probably mention how my magic works, so I don’t have to explain later." It was something she hadn’t actually mentioned to most people; she hoped Suki would appreciate the gesture of trust. "I can kinda hear what people want. It’s harder with magical girls, so I don’t usually get a very clear idea. It’s also weaker when I’m not transformed." Haruna paused again. "I got a really clear read on Tsubomi. She wants to die."

Suki froze while she was pulling her lighter out of her pocket. "Wha-" She was already pale, but somehow Suki looked even worse now, like she was transforming into a corpse. "What the hell?!" She pointed at Haruna with both hands. "We just got outside, and-" She held her lighter up to her cigarette, but it took her far too many tries to get it started. With a deep inhale, half the cigarette turned into ash. Suki’s back fell against the wall with a thud, and smoke rolled out of her mouth. "I don’t know why, but that makes a lot of sense." She balled one of her hands into a fist. "She told me she liked being this way, not feeling anything. But I just couldn’t rationalize it. It seems like she is feeling something and she feels horrible." She covered her eyes with both hands. "Awwwwwgh! I’m such a horrible friend, what the fuck am I going to dooooooooo…"

Haruna hesitantly reached out to put what she hoped was a comforting hand on Suki’s shoulder, nose wrinkling a bit at the smell of nicotine. "Hey, it’s not like you had any way to know. I figured, since you’re her best friend and all, you might be able to use the information better than I could." She let her hand drop. "I don’t really know her that well, but I do want to help. Unlike the whole getting-stronger thing, I don’t have any ideas of my own, though."

"I have been trying to make her feel better, and hearing this is not helping!" She started to gyrate in place. "Ah geez…" Suki, suddenly, ceased all moment. "Um, so she wants to die?" she pulled her hands off of her face. "Has that always been the case? I mean you say you can hear what people want and I’m pretty sure she wanted you to join the club. Were you able to hear that? If she wants to die why would she want you in the club?"

"I think so? She wants other things alongside it sometimes, but it’s always the same thing on top. Although, I guess it’s not necessarily. . . her wanting to die." She frowned, thinking. "Tsubomi wants to kill Tsubomi. Is there a reason there would be a difference?"

"I mean, I’ve always considered my magical self and myself two different people. Maybe Tsubomi is the same way? Did she, maybe, know you were a light girl somehow?" Suki looked at Haruna. "Is it maybe Acid Drop that she wants to kill?"

"I don’t think she knew. Or if she did, she didn’t want to do anything about it." She shrugged. "Maybe it is Acid Drop. Or. . . Acid Drop wants to kill Tsubomi, maybe?" Haruna shook her head. "I have no idea. You said she doesn’t feel anything, right? Maybe that’s not actually true. Could her emotions be still there, but locked away somehow?" Her mouth twisted. "I kinda hate to say it, but I’m wondering if the GEMs somehow know something we don’t. They were going to mess with Tsubomi’s emotions somehow."

"I uh, don’t think it’s hard to see that she’s not like most girls, heh. And getting the GEMs help is not a realistic option anyway." The delinquent held the side of her head as her cigarette burned up. "Well, I have two ideas." She raised a finger. "The first one is that we try to make her happy. I noticed she has an attachment to you for some reason, so I was thinking she maybe had a crush on you. Maybe if you started dating her, she wouldn’t feel so suicidal. I was working up to matching you guys together, but uh, things happened." She huffed her cigarette. "The other thing we could try is to confront her directly. If she wants to die or kill one of her selves, I want to know why." She snorted. "You uh, you wanna try one of those ideas?"

Haruna scratched her head awkwardly. "I think I’d rather just talk to her about it."

"I was afraid you’d say that." Suki sighed before extinguishing her cigarette. "You don’t mind being there, do you?"

"No, not at all. I was just told I’m painfully blunt, so I can probably do it if you can’t, heh." She glanced to the side, thinking about something. ". . . Did Willow actually call you by the way, or was she just full of crap as usual?"

"Oh!" Suki looked at her phone. "Oh yea, you texted me, heh, um, I don’t like to answer the phone when I’m in the convenience store, so I usually leave my phone off." She blinked. "And uh, she sent me a text when I woke up this morning. She sends me memes sometimes."

"Oh, thank goodness. She acted like she called you and that you cried when she said I was still mad about the whole ‘smashing me into the pavement’ thing." Haruna’s relief was palpable.

"Hah!" Suki looked like she might laugh. "That Willow is such a prankster!" Then she immediately lowered her head. "But I understand why not everyone likes her that much. She’s always been nice to me though."

"I understand, though, you were worried about your friend. Well, kinda. Um. But it’s fine. Just, er, I’m kinda fragile compared to other magical girls, I think? And I was getting ready to charge Diamond all dramatically and stuff." Realizing what she’s doing, Haruna drops the proverbial shovel. "Aaanyways, um, when did you want to talk to Tsubomi? I’ll be there right away when you’re ready."

"Yea…" She averted her eyes. "Soon. Very soon. I don’t want to wait. We go to the arcade sometimes. She doesn’t enjoy it, but she says it helps her practice her precision, which is useful." She nodded. "It’s too noisy inside, but if you wanted to join us, maybe on the way home we could talk to her."

Haruna returned the nod, resolutely. "Yeah, absolutely. I’d be happy to." Something occurred to her, something that made her blush a bit. "Hey, wait, why did you just assume I’m into girls!?"

Suki nearly jumped out of her skin at the accusation. "I- uh-ae-aasd-gasd-fu!" Her hands flew up around her head. Then she froze for a moment while the gears started to turn. "I uh, I didn’t?" Suki lowered her arms. "I said that I thought that going on a date with Tsubomi would make her happy. I uh, guess I figured you’d do it if it made her not suicidal." She averted her eyes from Haruna. "I mean, I’ve never met someone who didn’t like cute girls. Is liking cute girls weird?"

"N-No! Or, uh, kinda? Maybe? I think it depends on who you ask? Like its not weird to like cute girls because they’re cute, but its a little weirder to like, want to date and kiss them and stuff, I think, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it," she babbled in a panic. "But some people do? I think? I know Grandpa got mad when someone brought up himejoshi that one time. I don’t know, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen a boy I would think about kissing but-" She nearly bit her tongue cutting herself off, trailing off into a sort of strangled sound instead of whatever she was about to admit to.

The delinquent’s stern, judgemental, unimpressed eyes bored into Haruna. "Riiiiiight…." She went to smoke her cigarette, only to realize she crushed it out. "Well, I didn’t mean anything by it." She tried to stretch out the tiny crumpled stub. "This isn’t a prank or something, right? Tsubomi is really feeling that way?"

"I wouldn’t joke about something this serious," Haruna said as she shook her head. "I know I got a little, um, flustered there for a second, but that’s just because Willow was messing with me like ten minutes ago. I’m really worried about Tsubomi and I really wish I knew how to help."

"It’s fine." Suki eventually gave up and shoved the cigarette butt into her pocket. "We’ll talk to her and figure everything out tonight." Suki hung her head. "It’s all we can do I guess."

Haruna put a hand on her shoulder, this time with more confidence. It caused the delinquent to jump a little. "We’ll find a way, I promise. Optimism is for light girls, I know, so I’ll just have to be three times as hopeful to compensate."

"T-Thanks Haruna." The corners of Suki’s lips twitched into a smile.

"Make that four times as hopeful." Another hand fell on Suki’s other shoulder, which made her jump again. "I’ll keep my distance, but know that I’m rooting for you from the shadows." An untransformed Willow winked.

Suki looked between the two girls. "How long have you been there?"

"Not too long." She tucked her hands into her pockets. "But stay focused! You guys are probably going to want to exchange phone numbers, right?"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Suki pulled her phone out of her pocket.

Haruna pulled her own phone out as well, trying not to be too obvious with her incredibly mixed feelings about Willow's presence. "How did you get here so fast, anyway? I didn't think anyone in the club except Rei moved faster in a straight line than me."

"What can I say?" Willow stretched, and then proceeded to say nothing. "Oh! Suki, did you get any candy?"

"Eh?" Suki was halfway done programming in Haruna’s number. "Oh, not this time."

"Ah well." Willow patted her shoulder before walking off. "Why don’t we move band practice to tomorrow. It’ll give you time to sort things out, right?"

"Sure does!" Willow was almost out of sight when she turned around and looked at the two. She smiled, shook her head, and then fully departed. Maybe. Suki kept staring at where she had been before her eyebrows perked up. "Oh!" She turned back to Haruna. "So the going out with Tsubomi thing, Bast had the same idea?"

"H-Huh? No, she just called me a ‘tuna muncher’ for other reasons. She tried to get me to kiss her as revenge for messing up her plans and it came up." Haruna made a face at the prospect.

"Oh." Suki rubbed her cheek. "Yea, she acts like that sometimes. But I think she’s just trying to be funny. She’s offered to kiss me a few times, but insists that I be transformed when it happens." After a moment of silence that was just long enough to be awkward, Suki wiggled her phone before putting it away. "I’ll call you later." She sighed.

"Yeah, I’ll see you then. Assuming I don’t get sucked into another ridiculous pileup of magical girls who all want me to fight each other, or something." She let out a laugh, but it sounded a little hollow. "Hope everything goes well in the meantime."

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Yayama Yama

Location: Esaka's Mid Tier - Banishing Flats
Status: Not really keeping it together
LV: 5, EXP: 13/50
Word Count: 780 (+2)

She wasn't alone in the alley. Yayama blinked once, twice, as her head slowly turned up toward the voice, taking her moment to confirm that the newcomer wasn't another apparition conjured by rage, guilt, and sorrow. It was the blonde from earlier, the one that had the meltdown at the teahouse. Funny, how things like this worked out. Now he was trying to comfort her, seemingly already past his troubles earlier. I suppose it's to be expected that some of that famed resilience has been lost.

"I saved the world, you know," she said. "A couple times. Maybe Petra could have done it without me, but I was there, and I put in a lot of work." Her gaze drifted past Terry, looking into the nothingness of memory. "Almost died a few times. Almost lost everyone. Did lose a few people along the way, may they rest in peace. There was something a friend of mine said once, a sort of mantra that let us push through in trying times. 'For those we have lost, for those we may yet save.'" The dark knight knew she was rambling, and to a near-total stranger to boot, but that didn't stop the words from spilling forth as they came into her mind. "Rings a little hollow now, you know? Knowing that they're all gone. Makes it feel like nothing I've ever done mattered. Which is true, if you think about it, because that wasn't even me. Yayama Yama, the Warrior of Darkness, the Unrelenting, the Rift Walker, the Unforgiven, the Stalwart Sword, is long dead. All I've done is waste a bit of time chasing after petty criminals and putting down the occasional wild beast, really."

Yayama's eye refocused on Terry. She pushed herself back to her feet, though the sword still supported her. "I basically didn't remember anything of my life - such that it even counts as that - before the heart. I guess I would have known something was wrong if I did. It hit me all at once, all ten years of it. The fighting, the victories, the defeats, the people lost and the people saved, the ocean of blood spilled along the way. I remember when a woman caught a glimpse of Petra's history and almost went mad in the process from what she'd been through, and that was before the worst of the struggle. I've never asked for or wanted pity, mind, but that's how other people felt about us."

She finally took that deep breath he'd suggested earlier, feeling the cool air move through her lungs. She could still feel the equivalent aether circulation, and how it was still sluggish despite her expertise in manipulating it. They'd faced more dire threats afterward, but that had been their darkest hour on a personal level. This situation kept bringing it back to mind, and changing her armor hadn't changed the circumstances around her.

"It's difficult. I'm trying to take it on the chin and keep moving forward as I always have, but I think I was starting to finally hit my limits after the Final Days. I feel. . . worn. I was looking forward to this business in Tural, a chance to travel and see some sights without needing to cast down a tyrant or forestall the apocalypse. I might've had it in me for more after that, or I might not have. The hope was that it wouldn't matter. But now?" She shook her head. "All of it hit me at once, like I said, and then hit me again for good measure with the knowledge that it's all gone now. I. . . can't honestly say that I know I have it in me to do it again." Her eyes turned downward and closed again as she took another breath.

After she exhaled, she pulled her blade out of the ground and rested it on her shoulder once more. The brave face was back, for the most part. "And it occurs to me, I never actually introduced myself. As I'm sure you heard earlier, my name is Yayama Yama. People called me the Warrior of Darkness and all those other things. I liked it, it was a nice pairing with Petra being the Warrior of Light. I apologize for what you saw a bit ago. There's not really any talking around that at this point, is there?" She shook her head, briefly closing her eyes as she did. "All those things I've said. . . there have been a couple times where I cracked. I never quite broke, but I cracked. This reminds me of one of those times, too."

You aren't exactly in one piece right now, you know.