Erin Ptah (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ptahrrific) wrote2012-12-28 11:22 pm
ptahrrific) wrote2012-12-28 11:22 pm
Entry tags:
Madoka Magica | Homura, Madoka, Sayaka | PG-13 | Persephone's Waltz (14)
Title: Persephone's Waltz, Chapter 14: You must be new at this.
Characters/Pairings: Madoka/Sayaka, Kyoko, (skip) Tomohisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer/Warnings: See table of contents.
Made an executive decision to split this story into two volumes, with chapter 12 marking the end of Volume I (informally subtitled "In") and chapter 13 the beginning of Volume II ("Out"). Still can't say for sure how long this will end up. My guess is that Volume II will not get as long as twelve chapters, pleasantly symmetrical though that would be.
Anyway, this is the chapter with Kyoko. Good times.
***
April 18
(Continued)
The house was dark and quiet. In the garden outside, half a crop of prize cherry tomatoes had already died on the vine.
It was a bad night. The latest in a string of them. He hadn't been sleeping, even with the new pills the doctor had handed out, the green ones too big for him to dry-swallow. His wife was staying out later, working harder, so it was just him and the baby. And of course the baby knew something was wrong, wasn't laughing or running around or learning new words any more, just crying and thrashing and repeating the old ones over and over.
Mama Papa no no no Madoka!
The phone was never far away, never out of his pocket if possible. His was the number the police had, the number they would call any hour of the day or night to say things like we have a possible lead and sorry, it didn't get anywhere and can you tell us again if your daughter had any connection with...?
No, there were no boys. Definitely no men. And no — were they insane? — what would his sweet gentle fourteen-year-old possibly have to do with the Yakuza?
The baby was finally down in a fitful sleep, allowing him to retreat to the bedroom. He knew he should at least try to clean the kitchen or something with all these extra waking hours, but all he had the strength to do was gulp down one of the pills, turn on the white-noise machine, and keep the bed warm for whenever his wife made it home.
***
The look of shock on the blue-haired puella magi's face was really irritating. Was she such a rookie she didn't even know how often people like them died? Kyoko felt her smirk fading into a scowl. "I guess you knew her, then. "Or did you just hear about her, and decide to pin all your hopes on her helping you with something? You must be new at this."
"I knew her!" snapped blue-hair. "She was my senpai, and she was amazing! Don't you dare brush her off like that!"
She was my senpai first! thought Kyoko, and that made it all the more infuriating: that this girl had the gall to go and betray Mami, who had already been betrayed once. "Seriously? What kind of lousy kouhai are you, letting your senpai die and not even noticing?"
Blue-hair didn't take that well, gripping the hilt of her sword so hard it had to be sending shooting pains up her hand. "You have no right to talk about things you don't understand."
"Uh-huh." Kyoko flashed her teeth in a feral grin. C'mon, rookie, give me a reason to beat you up. I wouldn't need much of one. "Look, you wanna fight about this, or what? Because if not, quit wasting my time and move over. There's a bowl of shrimp soba in the fridge I have dibs on."
The air around blue-hair glowed and sparked cerulean. Another heartbeat and her uniform would be exploding into existence. A battle right here would probably flatten the apartment building, but what the hell, it would be a quick way to get rid of a lot of bad memories....
...and then the pink-haired girl, small and pale and with no sign of a Soul Gem ring, pulled at blue-hair's arm. "Sayaka," she said in a timid little voice, the intimacy of it giving Kyoko a start. "If Mami-san is really dead, the food shouldn't go to waste."
That earned her a smile of actual approval. No matter what else their damage was, anyone who respected food got respect from Kyoko. "You, I like," she declared, before jerking her head at blue-hair. "Listen to your friend once in a while, why don'cha? She's obviously got a good head on her...shoulders...hang on a sec."
The name Sayaka...she'd heard it somewhere, right? And the two faces, one framed by blue hair and one pink...if you made them a little less deathly pale, took that kind of paranoid gleam out of their eyes...she'd assumed it was from coming off a witch fight or something, but witches weren't the only source of distress and trauma in the world....
"You're those girls from the news."
"Th-that's right." Pink-hair squeezed blue-hair's arm in reassurance, then bowed, like this was a perfectly normal introduction with no deadly weapons being leveled at all. "My name is Kaname Madoka, and this is Miki Sayaka."
Kyoko inclined her head in a short nod. You could call it a bow if you were feeling generous, and Madoka looked like she might be, though Sayaka still looked one wrong move away from sticking a knife in someone. "Sakura Kyoko. Guess ya might have a good reason for runnin' out on Mami after all, huh."
"That's right, Kyoko-san," said Madoka politely. "Tell me...what do you know about Akemi Homura?"
"Eh? Never heard of 'er."
"Then let's not fight, please."
To Kyoko's complete astonishment, the taller, more magical, and way louder Sayaka took in the gentle look from her friend (girlfriend?) and disappeared her sword. Kyoko covered the shock quickly by taking a hefty bite out of her fish pastry, and vanished her spear while she chewed. Gulping, not bothering to wipe the crumbs from her mouth, she addressed Madoka: "You two keep outta my soba, and we'll get along great."
***
For Madoka's sake she kept quiet, but Sayaka was quietly seething while the obnoxious redhead slurped down noodles.
Who the hell did this girl think she was? Talking about Sayaka like she knew her, like she had any idea what Sayaka's life had been like over the past couple of weeks. And what kind of nerve did it take to insult Mami one moment and lay claim to her cooking the next?
Madoka sketched out an abbreviated version of their story, including as much as they knew about Akemi's powers and mysterious knowledge, excluding both her fights with Sayaka and their makeout sessions. Their first ill-fated escape attempt was barely skimmed over. She was way more calm and articulate about it all than Sayaka could have been, so Sayaka let Madoka handle it, keeping a sharp eye on her in case she started verging on one of those well-justified panic attacks again.
Every five or ten minutes Sayaka also flexed her powers, scanning for Akemi. The result was always the same direction, and vague and blurry: far away.
"You made a dumb wish," said Kyoko bluntly, drawing Sayaka out of one of her scans. "You know that, right?"
"I was afraid my best friend was being tortured," hissed Sayaka. "Excuse me if I didn't manage to pick the perfect wording."
"I'm not talking about the words, I'm talking about wasting your whole wish on somebody else. The only reason it looks like it's workin' out now is dumb luck. What are you gonna do from now on, huh? Spend the rest of your life carrying your princess around Japan, hoping you can keep one step ahead of the crazy girl?"
"It doesn't have to be forever," said Madoka. "Homu...Akemi said she would let me out after Walpurgis Night. If we can hold out until then, she'll lose interest. I was hoping...the police will be helpless against her, only other puella magi have a chance, and I didn't want to put the burden of protecting me all on Sayaka, so we were hoping Mami-san could...."
"She would've," said Kyoko grimly. "She always was soft. Another lovey-dovey hero-of-justice type — probably what got her killed, trying to protect a normal helpless human or a weaker teammate or something." She nodded to Kyoko. "You could learn from that."
Sayaka gritted her teeth. "What would you know about it, anyway? What would you know about her?"
Kyoko wiped sauce off her chin and jabbed her chopsticks at Sayaka. "I was Tomoe Mami's kouhai way before you showed up, rookie. And I'm the one who found her body, then took out the witch that killed her." Fishing around in the pocket of her hoodie with her free hand, she produced a grief seed and twirled it between her fingertips.
Madoka touched Sayaka's wrist, a gentle warning. To Kyoko she said, "We're sorry."
"Didn't I just say it was her own fault? Don't waste your sympathy."
Sayaka would have come to Madoka's defense, but something about the wrought metal curves of the grief seed had caught her eye. "Let me see that."
"Hell no! I won this fair and square. Get your own."
"I'm not trying to steal it, geez! Just hold it up so I can look!"
Kyoko peered at her with a suspicious look, maybe wondering if she was going crazy too, but held up the grief seed by its slender needle-point. Both the emblem on the front and the carved icon on the steeple were round-edged, five-petaled flowers.
"That witch's barrier," said Sayaka quietly. "What was it like?"
Kyoko shrugged. "Like the Mad Tea Party ride at Disneyland. Giant friggin' teacups, creepy wind-up tin soldiers for familiars, I practically got crushed by a falling cake. What's it to you?"
"You don't know." Sayaka tried to muster up some smugness, but even against such an arrogant person, this wasn't how she wanted to win points. "Miss Experienced Veteran still hasn't figured it out."
A small gasp: Madoka had gotten it. "Sayaka...was this...?"
"Will one of you explain what the hell is going on?"
"Mami's Soul Gem turned into a hairpin when she transformed. A five-petaled flower just like that one." Sayaka nodded to the grief seed. "Witches are us, Miss Veteran. When a puella magi runs out of magic, they're what she turns into. You didn't avenge Mami's death. You finished off what was left of her."
***
Judging by the fist-shaped dent she left in the wallpaper, Kyoko believed it.
Madoka gasped again and squeezed Sayaka's wrist harder. "P-please stay calm, Kyoko-san," she stammered, palms sweating and heart pounding like it would thump right out of her chest. She could tell herself all night that most people didn't have psychotic outbursts at the drop of a hat, but her luck in that area recently had been dismal, and who was going to talk Kyoko down if she started losing it? Not Madoka, who had been watching her closely and making lots of guesses, but didn't know a sure thing about her.
At least with Homura she'd had time to pay attention, time to figure out what words could turn them back from sudden death. She had had some level of control, some reassurance of safety —
"You're not next, Princess, don't worry," said Kyoko. "Kyuubei, on the other hand...next time I see that little rat he's getting a spear through his guts."
She pushed back her chair with a screech and stalked out of the room, messy ponytail whipping behind her.
"Is she...leaving?" wondered Sayaka under her breath. "Madoka? Should I follow her?"
Right. You could follow people.
Madoka shook her head. "Not now. It's a lot to take in...and I think Mami-san was important to her, no matter what she says. She seems like the kind of person who wants to be alone for that."
They fell silent, contemplating the empty bowl of noodles, the still-unused phone.
"We could send emails," said Madoka softly. "Those won't be traced like calls."
"That would be cruel," said Sayaka. "We couldn't prove it was us typing. They would have to wonder if it was some hacker playing a joke on them, or the kidnapper messing with their heads."
"Oh," said Madoka. "I didn't think of that."
Kyouko paced angrily through the other rooms. Every moment Madoka expected to hear something smash or shatter.
"You can use your powers to find other puella magi, right?" She had wanted to think any fellow magical girl would stand up and help them, but it was obvious Kyoko would need a serious change of heart to take on the role, and that didn't seem likely any time soon. "Can you focus only on ones who might help us?"
"I...could try...."
"It wouldn't be like t-trusting my safety to strangers!" added Madoka hurriedly. "Because you would be the one vetting them. You're the only one I can trust to handle it."
"All right, all right, I'm doing it," said Sayaka, closing her eyes. Her Soul Gem ring pulsed with soft blue light.
A few moments later she jumped to her feet with a gasp.
"You found someone?" exclaimed Madoka.
"No! I mean — there are some, but so far away, must be hundreds of kilometers, I can't get clear directions or anything — but Akemi. She's closer. I think she's coming this way."
***
"How fast?" demanded Kyoko, when they told her. "Is there time to grab the food?"
"You can stick around and eat all night for all I care," said Sayaka, who had pocketed a couple boxes of snack food plus Mami's remaining Grief Seed. She was now pulling on a pair of Mami's Mary Janes: not exactly her style, but she'd tried on a bunch earlier, and these fit. "As long as you pretend you never saw us, she might not have any interest in you. Us, we're going now."
"Uh-huh. Going where?"
"Like we would tell you!"
Kyoko raised her eyebrows. "You don't know, do ya."
"We'll figure it out on the way," said Sayaka fiercely, grabbing her coat. Madoka already had hers on, and was zipping the phone and its charger into one of the pockets. They still had enough cash for a late-night train. Or maybe they could rent a booth in an Internet cafe overnight...as long as the person who took their money didn't look too closely at their faces, or ask for ID. Once Akemi had been and gone, maybe they could come back to Mami's safely....
"Okay, look," said Kyoko. "I'm no Mami, but if you can ditch your smugness for a minute and listen you still might learn somethin' from me, understand? And I don't want to meet crazy-girl any more than you do. So you show me the safe way out of here, and I'll show you two how to get a comfy hidey-hole for the night."
Sayaka would be damned if she accepted help from such an uncaring, rude, selfish person.
So she turned to Madoka for a decision.
"That would be very helpful, Kyoko-san," said Madoka with a little bow. "Thank you."
***
And then they were out again.
***
The rain had stopped, leaving puddles everywhere that glinted warningly in the glow of the streetlights. Sayaka clasped Madoka's hand and led her in a wide L, getting several blocks away from Mami's place before turning toward the river. Kyoko crept along behind, for once keeping her mouth shut.
There was a row of shops and cafes at the feet of the office buildings here, all dark for the night. Sayaka pulled Madoka up a single concrete step so they were sheltered against the recessed doorway of a craft store, between two glass display windows showing selections of ribbons, paint brushes, and portrait frames. "We're out of easy sight here. When she gives up, we'll go to the bridge, okay?"
"That's a good plan," said Madoka, bumping her cheek against Sayaka's so Sayaka could feel her smiling. "Wh-where is she now?"
"Close," said Sayaka, holding her tight. Akemi moved so fast, skipping toward them in huge leaps over the space of a split second. "You want to sit down?"
They sat. The concrete was hard but dry, and with the coats on it was almost too warm. Madoka found Sayaka's hand and linked her fingers through it. Kyoko sat on Sayaka's other side, biting her lip. "If this all turns out to be some kind of scam and you two were the crazy ones all along, I am gonna kick your asses so hard."
The night insects buzzed.
"There's a hotel on this side of the water, if ya don't wanna risk the crossing," added Kyoko.
Madoka perked up. "We're staying at a hotel?"
"That's right. Gonna be easier than usual with your friend here. She can point us straight to the empty rooms."
"We're breaking into a hotel," summarized Sayaka.
"I'm breaking into a hotel. You are welcome to be an idiot and decline if you feel like it. And after a good night's sleep I am getting the hell out of this territory before this Walpurgis Night shows up, which you are also welcome to not do, but I wouldn't recommend it."
"Kyoko-san," said Madoka, "what exactly is a Walpurgis Night? Do you know?"
"A witch," said Kyoko. "Not the normal kind...." She paused for a dry laugh. "Like there's anything okay about the normal kind, god. But these ones are so big they don't need barriers. They just tear through normal space — normals always think they're hurricanes or something — until someone stops 'em or they've flattened a city to the ground."
Madoka leaned against Sayaka's side. "What kind of person could create a witch like that?"
Nobody answered.
"So why the hell are we running away and not fighting it?" said Sayaka presently.
"I'm staying out of its way because I like not being dead," said Kyoko. "Can't you feel it? This one's gonna be big. Maybe some puella magi dream team capable of taking it on will swoop in at the last minute, but I wouldn't bet on it. Go on, do your find-y thing, tell me if there's anybody nearby who can stop it."
Sayaka did.
And it was a good thing they were cloaked in shadows under a crescent moon, because in broad daylight her face would have given everything away.
"Nothing," she said, willing her voice to be calm. "But hey, there's good news! Akemi must've decided we're not around. She's moving away now."
"Awright," said Kyoko, grin flashing in the streetlamp's glow. "Hotel time. And, rookie? Look for two rooms next to each other, willya? If there's gonna be any funny business, I wanna be on the other side of a wall."
Madoka turned so red she practically glowed.
***
April 19
Tuesday
It was only the familiar presence of Panda-san in her arms that kept Madoka from panicking when she woke up.
Sayaka came out of the shower a few minutes later, wrapped in nothing but a towel. "Good morning, Madoka!" she said, with a forced grin. "What do you want for breakfast? I brought crackers, and the mini-fridge has snack cakes and chocolate."
"You don't have to pretend to be cheerful for me, Sayaka," said Madoka, hugging her knees to her chest. "I'm okay, I promise."
Sayaka's face fell. "Yeah, okay," she said, though she didn't look much more relaxed. "Sorry. Habit."
Madoka was getting out of her own shower when a knock on the door stopped her in her tracks. This wasn't the time when Homura was supposed to come down —
Except she wasn't down, and the breakfast from this fridge was stolen, and Sayaka was saying through the bathroom door, "It's okay! It's just Miss Veteran!"
It was awkward to pull on her clothes from the day before — the ones she'd slept in, no less — but it turned out Kyoko had made the same fashion choice. (Unless it wasn't a choice? The way Kyoko talked so easily about staying in hotels, and never referred to home, made Madoka think...but she couldn't know for sure, and it would be much too rude to ask.)
Instead of something edible, the redhead was carrying half a dozen cheap school notebooks, the fronts neatly labeled and the pages surprisingly crisp for being full of writing. "Guess this is where we split," she said, dropping them on the bed. "So I brought you kids a parting gift. Figured you're gonna need it."
"What is it?" asked Madoka dubiously. She was thinking of schoolwork, the low-tech version of Homura's regular arrival with a thumb drive in hand — and Sayaka was probably imagining something similar, from the way she was flinching away.
"Mami," said Kyoko, patting the pile, "took notes."
Madoka caught her breath. Sayaka's expression melted into something wistful and guilty.
"Obviously they're gonna be missin' some major points," added Kyoko, not bothering to hide her bitterness, "but for tracking down witches, using your magic effectively...this'll cover everything she woulda taught you. They're no use to me, since I already know what I'm doing, so you may as well have 'em." She focused on Sayaka. "Start with enchantment, that's my advice."
"Enchantment?" echoed Sayaka.
"Changing objects around. Taking one thing an' making it more powerful, or giving it some special ability or whatever."
"Oh, that? I can do that already."
"What?"
"Just because I'm a rookie doesn't mean I haven't figured out any —"
"What's wrong with you?" burst out Kyoko, cutting her off. "Are you stupid or something?"
Madoka took an involuntary step back, plastering herself against the nearest wall. Sayaka, who was too far across the room to step in between them, tensed. "You got something to say to me, say it straight out."
"Enchant the phone to be untraceable and call your parents already, idiot!"
Both Madoka and Sayaka stopped cold.
"I'm not wasting any more time on a couple of blockheads like you," huffed Kyoko, stalking toward the door. "If there's one thing I can't stand almost as much as wasting food, it's daughters who don't know how to support their parents."
She stopped across from Madoka, stuck her hand in her pocket, and thrust something in Madoka's direction. Madoka squeaked in fear — then realized it was only a juice box, and fought to slow her racing heartbeat down.
"Take it, Princess." Kyoko waved the juice box until Madoka gathered it into her trembling hands. "Full a' vitamins. You gotta keep your strength up. How's your girlfriend going to feel if she goes to all this trouble to help you and you show your gratitude by keeling over on her?"
Blushing again, and starting to feel lightheaded, Madoka nodded. "Th-thank you, Kyoko-san."
Kyoko harumphed, and with a swish of her unkempt ponytail made her exit.
Characters/Pairings: Madoka/Sayaka, Kyoko, (skip) Tomohisa
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer/Warnings: See table of contents.
Made an executive decision to split this story into two volumes, with chapter 12 marking the end of Volume I (informally subtitled "In") and chapter 13 the beginning of Volume II ("Out"). Still can't say for sure how long this will end up. My guess is that Volume II will not get as long as twelve chapters, pleasantly symmetrical though that would be.
Anyway, this is the chapter with Kyoko. Good times.
***
April 18
(Continued)
The house was dark and quiet. In the garden outside, half a crop of prize cherry tomatoes had already died on the vine.
It was a bad night. The latest in a string of them. He hadn't been sleeping, even with the new pills the doctor had handed out, the green ones too big for him to dry-swallow. His wife was staying out later, working harder, so it was just him and the baby. And of course the baby knew something was wrong, wasn't laughing or running around or learning new words any more, just crying and thrashing and repeating the old ones over and over.
Mama Papa no no no Madoka!
The phone was never far away, never out of his pocket if possible. His was the number the police had, the number they would call any hour of the day or night to say things like we have a possible lead and sorry, it didn't get anywhere and can you tell us again if your daughter had any connection with...?
No, there were no boys. Definitely no men. And no — were they insane? — what would his sweet gentle fourteen-year-old possibly have to do with the Yakuza?
The baby was finally down in a fitful sleep, allowing him to retreat to the bedroom. He knew he should at least try to clean the kitchen or something with all these extra waking hours, but all he had the strength to do was gulp down one of the pills, turn on the white-noise machine, and keep the bed warm for whenever his wife made it home.
***
The look of shock on the blue-haired puella magi's face was really irritating. Was she such a rookie she didn't even know how often people like them died? Kyoko felt her smirk fading into a scowl. "I guess you knew her, then. "Or did you just hear about her, and decide to pin all your hopes on her helping you with something? You must be new at this."
"I knew her!" snapped blue-hair. "She was my senpai, and she was amazing! Don't you dare brush her off like that!"
She was my senpai first! thought Kyoko, and that made it all the more infuriating: that this girl had the gall to go and betray Mami, who had already been betrayed once. "Seriously? What kind of lousy kouhai are you, letting your senpai die and not even noticing?"
Blue-hair didn't take that well, gripping the hilt of her sword so hard it had to be sending shooting pains up her hand. "You have no right to talk about things you don't understand."
"Uh-huh." Kyoko flashed her teeth in a feral grin. C'mon, rookie, give me a reason to beat you up. I wouldn't need much of one. "Look, you wanna fight about this, or what? Because if not, quit wasting my time and move over. There's a bowl of shrimp soba in the fridge I have dibs on."
The air around blue-hair glowed and sparked cerulean. Another heartbeat and her uniform would be exploding into existence. A battle right here would probably flatten the apartment building, but what the hell, it would be a quick way to get rid of a lot of bad memories....
...and then the pink-haired girl, small and pale and with no sign of a Soul Gem ring, pulled at blue-hair's arm. "Sayaka," she said in a timid little voice, the intimacy of it giving Kyoko a start. "If Mami-san is really dead, the food shouldn't go to waste."
That earned her a smile of actual approval. No matter what else their damage was, anyone who respected food got respect from Kyoko. "You, I like," she declared, before jerking her head at blue-hair. "Listen to your friend once in a while, why don'cha? She's obviously got a good head on her...shoulders...hang on a sec."
The name Sayaka...she'd heard it somewhere, right? And the two faces, one framed by blue hair and one pink...if you made them a little less deathly pale, took that kind of paranoid gleam out of their eyes...she'd assumed it was from coming off a witch fight or something, but witches weren't the only source of distress and trauma in the world....
"You're those girls from the news."
"Th-that's right." Pink-hair squeezed blue-hair's arm in reassurance, then bowed, like this was a perfectly normal introduction with no deadly weapons being leveled at all. "My name is Kaname Madoka, and this is Miki Sayaka."
Kyoko inclined her head in a short nod. You could call it a bow if you were feeling generous, and Madoka looked like she might be, though Sayaka still looked one wrong move away from sticking a knife in someone. "Sakura Kyoko. Guess ya might have a good reason for runnin' out on Mami after all, huh."
"That's right, Kyoko-san," said Madoka politely. "Tell me...what do you know about Akemi Homura?"
"Eh? Never heard of 'er."
"Then let's not fight, please."
To Kyoko's complete astonishment, the taller, more magical, and way louder Sayaka took in the gentle look from her friend (girlfriend?) and disappeared her sword. Kyoko covered the shock quickly by taking a hefty bite out of her fish pastry, and vanished her spear while she chewed. Gulping, not bothering to wipe the crumbs from her mouth, she addressed Madoka: "You two keep outta my soba, and we'll get along great."
***
For Madoka's sake she kept quiet, but Sayaka was quietly seething while the obnoxious redhead slurped down noodles.
Who the hell did this girl think she was? Talking about Sayaka like she knew her, like she had any idea what Sayaka's life had been like over the past couple of weeks. And what kind of nerve did it take to insult Mami one moment and lay claim to her cooking the next?
Madoka sketched out an abbreviated version of their story, including as much as they knew about Akemi's powers and mysterious knowledge, excluding both her fights with Sayaka and their makeout sessions. Their first ill-fated escape attempt was barely skimmed over. She was way more calm and articulate about it all than Sayaka could have been, so Sayaka let Madoka handle it, keeping a sharp eye on her in case she started verging on one of those well-justified panic attacks again.
Every five or ten minutes Sayaka also flexed her powers, scanning for Akemi. The result was always the same direction, and vague and blurry: far away.
"You made a dumb wish," said Kyoko bluntly, drawing Sayaka out of one of her scans. "You know that, right?"
"I was afraid my best friend was being tortured," hissed Sayaka. "Excuse me if I didn't manage to pick the perfect wording."
"I'm not talking about the words, I'm talking about wasting your whole wish on somebody else. The only reason it looks like it's workin' out now is dumb luck. What are you gonna do from now on, huh? Spend the rest of your life carrying your princess around Japan, hoping you can keep one step ahead of the crazy girl?"
"It doesn't have to be forever," said Madoka. "Homu...Akemi said she would let me out after Walpurgis Night. If we can hold out until then, she'll lose interest. I was hoping...the police will be helpless against her, only other puella magi have a chance, and I didn't want to put the burden of protecting me all on Sayaka, so we were hoping Mami-san could...."
"She would've," said Kyoko grimly. "She always was soft. Another lovey-dovey hero-of-justice type — probably what got her killed, trying to protect a normal helpless human or a weaker teammate or something." She nodded to Kyoko. "You could learn from that."
Sayaka gritted her teeth. "What would you know about it, anyway? What would you know about her?"
Kyoko wiped sauce off her chin and jabbed her chopsticks at Sayaka. "I was Tomoe Mami's kouhai way before you showed up, rookie. And I'm the one who found her body, then took out the witch that killed her." Fishing around in the pocket of her hoodie with her free hand, she produced a grief seed and twirled it between her fingertips.
Madoka touched Sayaka's wrist, a gentle warning. To Kyoko she said, "We're sorry."
"Didn't I just say it was her own fault? Don't waste your sympathy."
Sayaka would have come to Madoka's defense, but something about the wrought metal curves of the grief seed had caught her eye. "Let me see that."
"Hell no! I won this fair and square. Get your own."
"I'm not trying to steal it, geez! Just hold it up so I can look!"
Kyoko peered at her with a suspicious look, maybe wondering if she was going crazy too, but held up the grief seed by its slender needle-point. Both the emblem on the front and the carved icon on the steeple were round-edged, five-petaled flowers.
"That witch's barrier," said Sayaka quietly. "What was it like?"
Kyoko shrugged. "Like the Mad Tea Party ride at Disneyland. Giant friggin' teacups, creepy wind-up tin soldiers for familiars, I practically got crushed by a falling cake. What's it to you?"
"You don't know." Sayaka tried to muster up some smugness, but even against such an arrogant person, this wasn't how she wanted to win points. "Miss Experienced Veteran still hasn't figured it out."
A small gasp: Madoka had gotten it. "Sayaka...was this...?"
"Will one of you explain what the hell is going on?"
"Mami's Soul Gem turned into a hairpin when she transformed. A five-petaled flower just like that one." Sayaka nodded to the grief seed. "Witches are us, Miss Veteran. When a puella magi runs out of magic, they're what she turns into. You didn't avenge Mami's death. You finished off what was left of her."
***
Judging by the fist-shaped dent she left in the wallpaper, Kyoko believed it.
Madoka gasped again and squeezed Sayaka's wrist harder. "P-please stay calm, Kyoko-san," she stammered, palms sweating and heart pounding like it would thump right out of her chest. She could tell herself all night that most people didn't have psychotic outbursts at the drop of a hat, but her luck in that area recently had been dismal, and who was going to talk Kyoko down if she started losing it? Not Madoka, who had been watching her closely and making lots of guesses, but didn't know a sure thing about her.
At least with Homura she'd had time to pay attention, time to figure out what words could turn them back from sudden death. She had had some level of control, some reassurance of safety —
"You're not next, Princess, don't worry," said Kyoko. "Kyuubei, on the other hand...next time I see that little rat he's getting a spear through his guts."
She pushed back her chair with a screech and stalked out of the room, messy ponytail whipping behind her.
"Is she...leaving?" wondered Sayaka under her breath. "Madoka? Should I follow her?"
Right. You could follow people.
Madoka shook her head. "Not now. It's a lot to take in...and I think Mami-san was important to her, no matter what she says. She seems like the kind of person who wants to be alone for that."
They fell silent, contemplating the empty bowl of noodles, the still-unused phone.
"We could send emails," said Madoka softly. "Those won't be traced like calls."
"That would be cruel," said Sayaka. "We couldn't prove it was us typing. They would have to wonder if it was some hacker playing a joke on them, or the kidnapper messing with their heads."
"Oh," said Madoka. "I didn't think of that."
Kyouko paced angrily through the other rooms. Every moment Madoka expected to hear something smash or shatter.
"You can use your powers to find other puella magi, right?" She had wanted to think any fellow magical girl would stand up and help them, but it was obvious Kyoko would need a serious change of heart to take on the role, and that didn't seem likely any time soon. "Can you focus only on ones who might help us?"
"I...could try...."
"It wouldn't be like t-trusting my safety to strangers!" added Madoka hurriedly. "Because you would be the one vetting them. You're the only one I can trust to handle it."
"All right, all right, I'm doing it," said Sayaka, closing her eyes. Her Soul Gem ring pulsed with soft blue light.
A few moments later she jumped to her feet with a gasp.
"You found someone?" exclaimed Madoka.
"No! I mean — there are some, but so far away, must be hundreds of kilometers, I can't get clear directions or anything — but Akemi. She's closer. I think she's coming this way."
***
"How fast?" demanded Kyoko, when they told her. "Is there time to grab the food?"
"You can stick around and eat all night for all I care," said Sayaka, who had pocketed a couple boxes of snack food plus Mami's remaining Grief Seed. She was now pulling on a pair of Mami's Mary Janes: not exactly her style, but she'd tried on a bunch earlier, and these fit. "As long as you pretend you never saw us, she might not have any interest in you. Us, we're going now."
"Uh-huh. Going where?"
"Like we would tell you!"
Kyoko raised her eyebrows. "You don't know, do ya."
"We'll figure it out on the way," said Sayaka fiercely, grabbing her coat. Madoka already had hers on, and was zipping the phone and its charger into one of the pockets. They still had enough cash for a late-night train. Or maybe they could rent a booth in an Internet cafe overnight...as long as the person who took their money didn't look too closely at their faces, or ask for ID. Once Akemi had been and gone, maybe they could come back to Mami's safely....
"Okay, look," said Kyoko. "I'm no Mami, but if you can ditch your smugness for a minute and listen you still might learn somethin' from me, understand? And I don't want to meet crazy-girl any more than you do. So you show me the safe way out of here, and I'll show you two how to get a comfy hidey-hole for the night."
Sayaka would be damned if she accepted help from such an uncaring, rude, selfish person.
So she turned to Madoka for a decision.
"That would be very helpful, Kyoko-san," said Madoka with a little bow. "Thank you."
***
And then they were out again.
***
The rain had stopped, leaving puddles everywhere that glinted warningly in the glow of the streetlights. Sayaka clasped Madoka's hand and led her in a wide L, getting several blocks away from Mami's place before turning toward the river. Kyoko crept along behind, for once keeping her mouth shut.
There was a row of shops and cafes at the feet of the office buildings here, all dark for the night. Sayaka pulled Madoka up a single concrete step so they were sheltered against the recessed doorway of a craft store, between two glass display windows showing selections of ribbons, paint brushes, and portrait frames. "We're out of easy sight here. When she gives up, we'll go to the bridge, okay?"
"That's a good plan," said Madoka, bumping her cheek against Sayaka's so Sayaka could feel her smiling. "Wh-where is she now?"
"Close," said Sayaka, holding her tight. Akemi moved so fast, skipping toward them in huge leaps over the space of a split second. "You want to sit down?"
They sat. The concrete was hard but dry, and with the coats on it was almost too warm. Madoka found Sayaka's hand and linked her fingers through it. Kyoko sat on Sayaka's other side, biting her lip. "If this all turns out to be some kind of scam and you two were the crazy ones all along, I am gonna kick your asses so hard."
The night insects buzzed.
"There's a hotel on this side of the water, if ya don't wanna risk the crossing," added Kyoko.
Madoka perked up. "We're staying at a hotel?"
"That's right. Gonna be easier than usual with your friend here. She can point us straight to the empty rooms."
"We're breaking into a hotel," summarized Sayaka.
"I'm breaking into a hotel. You are welcome to be an idiot and decline if you feel like it. And after a good night's sleep I am getting the hell out of this territory before this Walpurgis Night shows up, which you are also welcome to not do, but I wouldn't recommend it."
"Kyoko-san," said Madoka, "what exactly is a Walpurgis Night? Do you know?"
"A witch," said Kyoko. "Not the normal kind...." She paused for a dry laugh. "Like there's anything okay about the normal kind, god. But these ones are so big they don't need barriers. They just tear through normal space — normals always think they're hurricanes or something — until someone stops 'em or they've flattened a city to the ground."
Madoka leaned against Sayaka's side. "What kind of person could create a witch like that?"
Nobody answered.
"So why the hell are we running away and not fighting it?" said Sayaka presently.
"I'm staying out of its way because I like not being dead," said Kyoko. "Can't you feel it? This one's gonna be big. Maybe some puella magi dream team capable of taking it on will swoop in at the last minute, but I wouldn't bet on it. Go on, do your find-y thing, tell me if there's anybody nearby who can stop it."
Sayaka did.
And it was a good thing they were cloaked in shadows under a crescent moon, because in broad daylight her face would have given everything away.
"Nothing," she said, willing her voice to be calm. "But hey, there's good news! Akemi must've decided we're not around. She's moving away now."
"Awright," said Kyoko, grin flashing in the streetlamp's glow. "Hotel time. And, rookie? Look for two rooms next to each other, willya? If there's gonna be any funny business, I wanna be on the other side of a wall."
Madoka turned so red she practically glowed.
***
April 19
Tuesday
It was only the familiar presence of Panda-san in her arms that kept Madoka from panicking when she woke up.
Sayaka came out of the shower a few minutes later, wrapped in nothing but a towel. "Good morning, Madoka!" she said, with a forced grin. "What do you want for breakfast? I brought crackers, and the mini-fridge has snack cakes and chocolate."
"You don't have to pretend to be cheerful for me, Sayaka," said Madoka, hugging her knees to her chest. "I'm okay, I promise."
Sayaka's face fell. "Yeah, okay," she said, though she didn't look much more relaxed. "Sorry. Habit."
Madoka was getting out of her own shower when a knock on the door stopped her in her tracks. This wasn't the time when Homura was supposed to come down —
Except she wasn't down, and the breakfast from this fridge was stolen, and Sayaka was saying through the bathroom door, "It's okay! It's just Miss Veteran!"
It was awkward to pull on her clothes from the day before — the ones she'd slept in, no less — but it turned out Kyoko had made the same fashion choice. (Unless it wasn't a choice? The way Kyoko talked so easily about staying in hotels, and never referred to home, made Madoka think...but she couldn't know for sure, and it would be much too rude to ask.)
Instead of something edible, the redhead was carrying half a dozen cheap school notebooks, the fronts neatly labeled and the pages surprisingly crisp for being full of writing. "Guess this is where we split," she said, dropping them on the bed. "So I brought you kids a parting gift. Figured you're gonna need it."
"What is it?" asked Madoka dubiously. She was thinking of schoolwork, the low-tech version of Homura's regular arrival with a thumb drive in hand — and Sayaka was probably imagining something similar, from the way she was flinching away.
"Mami," said Kyoko, patting the pile, "took notes."
Madoka caught her breath. Sayaka's expression melted into something wistful and guilty.
"Obviously they're gonna be missin' some major points," added Kyoko, not bothering to hide her bitterness, "but for tracking down witches, using your magic effectively...this'll cover everything she woulda taught you. They're no use to me, since I already know what I'm doing, so you may as well have 'em." She focused on Sayaka. "Start with enchantment, that's my advice."
"Enchantment?" echoed Sayaka.
"Changing objects around. Taking one thing an' making it more powerful, or giving it some special ability or whatever."
"Oh, that? I can do that already."
"What?"
"Just because I'm a rookie doesn't mean I haven't figured out any —"
"What's wrong with you?" burst out Kyoko, cutting her off. "Are you stupid or something?"
Madoka took an involuntary step back, plastering herself against the nearest wall. Sayaka, who was too far across the room to step in between them, tensed. "You got something to say to me, say it straight out."
"Enchant the phone to be untraceable and call your parents already, idiot!"
Both Madoka and Sayaka stopped cold.
"I'm not wasting any more time on a couple of blockheads like you," huffed Kyoko, stalking toward the door. "If there's one thing I can't stand almost as much as wasting food, it's daughters who don't know how to support their parents."
She stopped across from Madoka, stuck her hand in her pocket, and thrust something in Madoka's direction. Madoka squeaked in fear — then realized it was only a juice box, and fought to slow her racing heartbeat down.
"Take it, Princess." Kyoko waved the juice box until Madoka gathered it into her trembling hands. "Full a' vitamins. You gotta keep your strength up. How's your girlfriend going to feel if she goes to all this trouble to help you and you show your gratitude by keeling over on her?"
Blushing again, and starting to feel lightheaded, Madoka nodded. "Th-thank you, Kyoko-san."
Kyoko harumphed, and with a swish of her unkempt ponytail made her exit.
darn it
Anywho, will try to recall what I was musing on.
First off, was kind of wondering if this would split into different focus areas like this. Seemed pretty natural for the way the story was progressing, also leaves you with more breathing room to move things along considering the end-game timetable.
Oh, and Mami is dead. Without a witch around except for Mami's own, methinks Homura either got overzealous or overdefensive. I would assume she either was pressured by Mami to find Sayaka or was trying to convince Mami to help her with Walpurgis and spilled the beans on Kyuubei and Mami lost it. Need more info here though.
Kyoko's appearance is lovely, as is her food enjoyment bringing her closer to Madoka along with her protective instincts. But she better not be leaving this early, or Walpurgis is going to kick ass and take names.
Sayaka spilling the beans on Magi/Witches like that, even if it wasn't just to "prove something" does not bode well for ramifications down the line, especially if Kyoko could have lost it like Homura almost did back in the room. If she keeps slipping up like that, it's not going to be pretty if/when Madoka takes the aftermath of one such occurrence.
Also, Sayaka's power versus Homura's, I see. It's probably the Homu fan in me, but when someone can stop time, unless Kyoko's providing concealment, (which she might be, but I didn't really read that going through it.), moving faster than the speed of human thought would tend to overpower any thinking-based magical safe route, especially given Sayaka's lack of real training expressly shown later in the chapter. Understand it's necessary for the story though, just surfaced in my mind while reading. Of course, it does appear going off the limited info I have on any magic aimed at other Magi that whoever casts first tends to win if both parties are (relatively) equally mentally fit. Homura's timestop almost assuredly takes way more energy than Sayaka's little dip into the information mainstream as well, so I suppose that balances out. Almost makes Sayaka seem a bit overpowered, though. Will have to go back and re-read particulars of her wish to gain more info on how deep her "finding" power can dig into.
Incidentally, hoping for a Homura flashback style "what has been going on" in one of these chapters, though at this point I don't know if it will work within the confines of where the story is going. I'm not sure how much, if at all, you'd possibly mirror canon at all and redeem her character, as she's obviously fallen much farther in this particular timeline compared to the anime. Don't worry though, that's part of the fun of reading. ^_^
Come to think of it, if Walpurgis is only a week or two away, Sayaka is quite limited in options. She not only has to train to protect Madoka from Homura/witches, but also has to deal with either trying to convince Madoka to run, which is doubtful on both her hero bias and Madoka's strong family ties, convince Madoka to contract with her confirmation of Madoka's magical potential (which she knows both from Homu and Kyuubei is likely a bad idea), or work with Homura/Kyoko/whoever to stop Walpurgis without getting Madoka involved. I don't doubt she'll try (or at least think) of something solo at first, but with the way the story's shaping up with her and Madoka as the focus, nothing good can come of that.
This all leads to my thoughts on the focus of the story feeling like it shifted somewhat when Sayaka showed up in the room. For some reason, it feels like it almost feels like you chose a slightly different direction compared to the first couple chapters thereabouts, which is I suppose is easy to see considering you're writing it as you go. Not worse off by any means, but different. The only way I can describe it at the moment is the difference between Madoka the horror show and the Madoka&Sayaka adventure-drama/horror show. I blame the general lack of sleep due to holidays.
Anywho, that's the gist of it, I think. Many thanks for the continuing chapters, and keep up the great work!
Re: darn it
The main POV is going to remain with Madoka and Sayaka, but I couldn't resist dipping into a couple of others now that we're in the great outdoors again.
Sayaka's reveal was a touch mean-spirited, but I don't think of that as a slip-up. I'm in favor of puella magi sharing with each other as many of the dark secrets as they find out. Breakdowns aren't the most common result -- even Mami doesn't lose it in 100% of the timelines, and Sayaka here only dealt badly because she was running low on power/hope anyway.
Homura can't stop time indefinitely (as we saw in the main canon when she chased down the truck with Sayaka's soul gem on it, among other examples). Once she knows they're not hiding out at Mami's place, it makes more sense for her to check their other likely hideouts (their parents' homes, Hitomi's home) rather than try to comb every single building in a ten-block radius on the off chance that they're somewhere around. As long as they're in a random place out of her likely path, and don't do anything to attract her attention, they're safe. (It's like Mami tying up Homura with her ribbons to stymie the time-stopping trick: -- nothing overpowered, just a savvy application of her basic gimmick.)
Plus, remember that Homura doesn't know about the difference in Sayaka's wish -- she still thinks Sayaka has healing powers. She has no reason to suspect Sayaka of being able to tell when she's approaching and sneak out of the way.
Your hopes/speculations are very interesting! All will be revealed in good time :D
It makes sense that you would pick up on Sayaka's first appearance as a turning point (although I will say that it was planned from the start). The basic premise of this story was inspired by books like John Fowles' The Collector and Stephen King's Misery, where someone gets kidnapped by an unhinged obsessive and held in isolation...and nobody else ever arrives, it's just them and the kidnapper until escape or death. The early chapters of Persephone's Waltz are a lot more reminiscent of those novels, until the appearance of a second prisoner upends the dynamic completely.
Maybe there's a universe where I have the stamina to write the Isolated!Madoka Horror Show for a full thirty days. But not in this one, evidently ^_^;