Chapter Text
—•—•—
Water flowed freely from the sink's tap to the dirty dishes on the bottom of the sink. Cereza Haruka took one of the many bowls placed in it, picking at hardened rice grains before scrubbing the ceramic surface with a sponge doused in dish soap. Once every inch was covered in the bubbly liquid, she put it to the side and picked up another bowl, cleaning it the same way. Then another, and then some plates, and a few chopsticks and spoons, until there was none left. After all that, she rinsed them, taking her time with each one, and placed them on a drying rack.
Haruka has never been the type to care much about dish-washing. Actually, she'd rather not do it ever again in her life. She disliked having to take off her gloves for the job, and then putting them back on while her hands are still damp. If papa allows it, she would definitely get a dishwasher one day, so she would never have to spend time manually doing it ever again.
Despite that, she had a reason for taking her time with it. She needed to ignore the unconscious stranger taking up the couch in the connected living room, just a few meters away from where she's standing now.
Haruka snuck a glance towards the stranger. She couldn't see much from where she was standing, but she knew she was looking at her own face, just older and with deep scars. One of them was even placed on her eye. She'd think that would be cool, had the scars been on someone else's face. Not hers.
The woman also wore a sort of armor. Black metal parts decorated with golden flowers and dragons. It looked vaguely Chinese, though combined with the rest of her outfit, a matching red headdress and qipao, it looked way too fantastical to be historically accurate. She was starting to wonder if she just picked up a cosplayer whose makeup happened to make her look like the pink-haired witch.
Her mind recalled how she found the woman in an alleyway while going home from a late night hangout. The first thing she saw was the gold on her outfit, reflecting the moonlight. She thought that it was some fancily-dressed person, drunk and lost and somehow ended up in a random alleyway. When she moved to get a closer look, she instead got someone who seemed to be an older, more muscular version of herself, unconscious and bleeding from multiple stab wounds.
The pink-haired witch's first move was to panic. Why did this woman have her face? Actually, why did she have stab wounds on her?! Does this mean someone was after Haruka and got the wrong person? Is her life in danger?
Her second move was to feed the doppelganger green herb lollipops one by one. She always had lollipops in her pockets, for every time she got a bad scrape from a failed trick or bruises from angels and rival gangs. Despite her decent stash they weren't enough to patch up all of the wounds, and she had no way of getting more lollipops. Every pharmacy that sells them were closed at this time of night, and the closest hospital was closed for a big renovation. With no other choice, she carried the doppelganger on her back and ran home.
By the time she arrived and put the doppelganger on the living room couch, she realized the blood from the open wounds bled into her beloved jacket. Holding in the urge to scream and cry in frustration, she threw it into a laundry basket, and prepared a wet towel, bandages, and a bottle of healing ointment. It took her all to not gag at the smell and sight of blood as she worked on patching her doppelganger up. There were so many wounds, and they weren't healing by themselves either, even the smaller cuts that most witches can heal by themselves. So many questions floated in her head, but she probably won't get any answers until the doppelganger wakes up. If she wakes up. Once done, she put away all of her tools and went to do her own thing.
Her own thing, being everything and anything to keep her mind away from the sleeping woman. Sweeping and mopping the floor, taking out the trash, cleaning up her room, dusting papa's maneki-neko collection, doing the dishes, so on and so forth. She considered going to the laundromat too to wash her bloody jacket and towel, but decided that it would be better to stay in or near her apartment, in case her doppelganger wakes up. Someone's gotta explain to her where she was.
Still, it made her upset. Her favorite jacket, silver-white now soaked with blood all the way through. It's gonna take a few washes before it returns to its former glory, and she really, really doesn't want to go around without it. It goes well with most other outfits no matter the season, it's a part of her iconic look, and going around without it always makes her feel weird. Literally the worst feeling ever.
But now, with the last thing on her list done, she had nothing else to do. She didn't dare to play on her PC or consoles knowing how absorbed she could be with some games, but she didn't really want to look at her doppelganger either. It's weird, seeing her own face on someone else. It happened before, a year or so ago on April's Fools when the world fell to its knees, the last thing she saw before her untimely death being her own face, looking back at her barely bothered or disturbed. At least back then she only saw a glimpse and didn't have the time to process it before she died.
A sigh left her, and her whole body suddenly felt like jelly. She might as well sit her bum down beside the doppelganger while waiting for the her to wake up. Turning around on her heels, her eyes automatically landed on the couch.
Empty.
The couch was empty.
Panic set in again, worse this time. Where did she go — how did she even get up without making a sound? Haruka didn't hear a groan or the familiar creak of the couch springs, or even any footsteps.
Her head whipped from side to side, cold sweat covering her neck and limbs. Having a stranger in her house was already scary enough, having someone as strong as herself, or even stronger, was terrifying. She didn't know what would the doppelganger do to her, or if she just left without a word. She's hoping for the latter.
She walked into the living room, each step made slowly and quietly, until she reached the couch. There was blood on the covers, but no one laying on it. The pillows were just as she left them. It was like her doppelganger just…disappeared into thin air. Gone.
But when she turned around, her neck was met the edge of a dagger, while a hand grabbed her by the roots of her hair, keeping her in place. Haruka looked up, and saw her doppelganger. The older woman wasn't scared like she was, but she looked confused and angry. Her mouth opened, and unfamiliar words came out in a threatening whisper. Haruka recognized it was Mandarin Chinese from all the c-dramas she watched, but she didn't speak a single word of it.
When Haruka didn't say anything, the grip on her hair tightened, and the dagger on her neck pressed harder against her throat. The doppelganger spoke again, louder this time.
"W-wait-" Haruka tried to return the same intense look, even gripping the dagger arm in front of her with both of her hands, but her voice shook as she tried to speak, and her grip was weak. Any attempt of intimidating the doppelganger back disappeared almost instantly.
"I-" She couldn't hide her fear at all. Growing even more panicked and fearing for her life, she shouted. "I don't understand what you're saying!"
The doppelganger's expression changed somewhat. The confusion stayed, but the aggression left. The dagger that grazed Haruka's skin was pulled away, but it was still ready to be used in case she decided to do something drastic, and her hair was still held tightly. Even though the doppelganger stopped, she didn't seem to understand what Haruka was saying either.
Silence settled between the pair, tense and uncomfortable. The immediate threat to Haruka's life has disappeared, but she didn't think it would last long. Still in her doppelganger's grasp, Haruka's heartbeat was quickening, and her mind was begging her to do something, anything.
The look of intense panic must have been visible on her face, as the doppelganger's expression changed even further. The look on her eye softened, and she was the first to speak again.
"Do you understand English?"
Haruka nodded slowly. She could feel the hand gripping her hair loosening.
"Where am I? What is this place?"
"You're…um, you're in my house. Apartment complex, technically. 5th floor. Uh…Tokyo, Japan."
Haruka watched the doppelganger's expression shift into a wide-eyed look. There was another long silence before she spoke again.
"And your name?"
"Momoi Haruka. I, uh…I also go by Bayonetta."
'Bayonetta' is what her gang members and rival gangs know her as. Bayonetta, leader of the Yellow Diamonds. Uncontested in strength and speed, at least in the world of street fights. There are stronger witches, of course, but in Tokyo's underground rings and secret gang fights, she reigns supreme.
"Bayonetta." The doppelganger repeated. "I too, go by that alias."
The reply confirmed to Haruka that the doppelganger isn't just a random person with the same face as her, but actually a different version of her from another world. Or maybe she was lying, but Haruka didn't want to entertain the second possibility for long.
Eventually the doppelganger pulled away, letting go of Haruka and putting her dagger in its place, a simple leather sheath hanging from her belt.
She bowed for a few seconds, her tone showing guilt. "I am Guo Hongying. I apologize for what I did just now, it's not how a proper general would act." Her voice was strong and solid, if a little rough-sounding compared to Haruka's, but she recognized that it was still her voice.
Haruka exhaled through her teeth, nodding and repeating a few "yeah" under her breath. She still felt shaken up. As crazy and chaotic as gang fights and underground ring fighting can be, she knew she wouldn't die from it. The only time she was in real danger was when she goes hunting angels, and even then Phantasmaraneae always has her back.
It was different this time. She was stuck in her apartment, taken by surprise and given no chance to protect herself. Even if she did, she was seized by fear of possibly losing her own life right then and there. And even if she wasn't afraid, the doppelganger—Hongying—was more skilled than her, if her disappearing and reappearing act proved anything .
She eyed the dagger in its sheath, imagining what it would be like if what happened earlier took a turn for the worse. Momoi Haruka, 19 years old, turning 20 in a week, found dead in her own apartment with a slit throat. Cause of death: unknown, possibly suicide or murder. She didn't want to think about how her papa would react.
Haruka exhaled again, and realized she has been quiet for a while, thinking of scenarios that didn't happen. She focused her eyes, blinking a few times before her sight unblurred.
"Are you well?" Hongying asked, worry evident in her voice. Haruka wanted to laugh. A few minutes ago Hongying was gonna end her life, and now she's worried about Haruka.
The pink-haired witch raised one hand and moved it in a waving motion. "I'm fine. I mean- not really, but I'll be okay. Um…" the same hand moved to the back of her head, scratching near where Hongying grabbed her tightly. Haruka could see more guilt creeping on her doppelganger's face. "You're still healing, so I think you should go rest more. Um, you can use my room. The door is painted yellow."
"And you?"
"I'll use my papa's room. He's not gonna come home until next month anyways."
A look of relief appeared on Hongying's face, like she was reassured of something. It only lasted for a moment though, and the stony look came back. She bowed again, this time not bending her body as lowly as before.
"Thank you for your kindness. Once again I apologize for what I did to you."
"It's fine, don't worry." Haruka changed her tone to sound more lighthearted, deciding to brush away what happened to her earlier. Forgiving and forgetting are usually the best for her, and she never really lingers too long on one thing. "Just go rest. I'll check up on you tomorrow, yeah?"
"Very well. Goodnight, Momoi."
" 'Night."
—•—•—
Cereza Guo Hongying remembered being ambushed in the middle of her midday patrol. Three angels with intricate halos, indicating their high rank among the forces of Paradiso. Though, they're ones she has never seen before. Not personally in her long life of over 630 years, or in books and tomes from the imperial palace's library.
Guo Hongying also remembered losing terribly. Usually she fares well in fights against many enemies at once, even when she's ambushed. She had never been the type to dodge, preferring to block with her trusty Dead Ends Express, and her impressive stamina allowed her to extend the fight's length to a point where her enemies would have exhausted most of their energy.
But it seemed that Paradiso caught wind of her habits, and sent down angels with greater stamina than herself. Each strike had great power behind it, and every time one landed she would lose considerable amount of strength, like her energy was being sapped out of her.
Then, in a moment of carelessness, one of the quicker angels struck from behind, stabbing and slashing her with five of its many centipede-like legs while she was preoccupied with the other two.
She collapsed instantly, caused by her unusual lack of energy mixing with pain exploding to every inch of her body. Her life was ending once again, this time just a week before her 632th birthday. She wouldn't mind that, except for the fact that she would be leaving her daughter all by herself. Would she think her mother abandoned her? Would she feel betrayed by her mother, who told her that they would always stick together?
She considered praying to Sheba for help, but what good will that do? Sheba wasn't that kind of deity. Sheba wasn't like Jubileus, who protected her believers with angels and blessings.
In the end, she didn't even have the energy to utter an apology.
She closed her eye, waiting for the final strike that will end her life for good. Instead, she felt the sun's heat disappear, replaced by darkness and cold.
She opened her eye and looked around weakly, realizing she was somehow transported somewhere else. Two buildings stood behind and in front of her, casting their shadows on her. She looked to the side and saw a small part of a street, illuminated by a streetlight.
If she had any energy left, she could stand up and get out there, find help somewhere. But she didn't. It seemed that even though the location changed, her fate stayed the same, just instead of dying quickly from the blade of an adversary, she would bleed out slowly in an unknown place. Fate's cruelty is truly unmatched.
Her memories stopped there, and continued the moment she woke up in Momoi Haruka's place. Some of her wounds have been magically healed, but most were bandaged instead. The younger witch must have used some sort of healing potion or spell on her. She must thank her again tomorrow, or offer her help in something to show her gratitude.
But for now, she must rest and let her body do what it needed to do. Dextrous fingers undid the leather straps of her armor pieces and metal hooks of her headdress and bun covers, before placing them on the carpeted floor. Hopefully she won't be needing to use them any time soon. She could feel them on the verge of shattering, and she would need to ask for another set to be made for replacement.
Hongying sat on the mattress on the ground, adjusting herself to the right position before pulling the thick blanket on herself. Now warm and cozy, she noticed that despite the mattress being on the ground instead of on a frame, and despite how thin it looked, it's just as comfortable as the bed she has back home. Perhaps it was the fluffy carpet beneath it adding extra thickness, or perhaps it's enchanted…
Not to mention the blanket on top of her. It was heavy, yes, but the comfortable sort of heavy. It was also warmer than any blanket she ever owned in her life, as if it radiated its own warmth. More magic, she assumed.
Her eye moved up the wall and saw a cluster of stars glowing in the darkness. Yet another enchantment, maybe? For what purpose, she didn't know, but it was quite mesmerizing to see. Perhaps once the sun rises tomorrow, she will ask Haruka to teach her that. She's sure her daughter would enjoy a few in her own room.
A yawn left her mouth, indicating that she has stayed awake for long enough. The rare contentment and comfort filled her heart, before her eye fluttered close and she let sleep take her.
—•—•—
The early morning passed by Haruka, her ears trained to ignore the loud bird chirps and sound of vehicles and the occasional neighbor running up and down the hallway outside her room apartment. She wouldn't wake up unless she was shaken awake by her papa, or have her phone alarm blare straight into her ear. Even then, she would stay in bed for ten more minutes before finally getting up.
But she was 19 now, and she graduated from her academy last year. No more classes meant there was no reason for her to be awake so early in the morning. No reason for her to be awake now meant that she can and will stay in bed until the afternoon. Neither her partner Jun or best friend Ryōsuke called or texted her, so she totally had zero reason to wake up at all!
Except for the delectable smell coming from outside the bedroom, of course.
Haruka tossed and turned, trying to ignore the temptation for at least two more hours of sleep, but she just can't. It was too appealing. Too charming to be ignored. She threw her covers off, fixed her pajamas, and walked out of the room, towards where the smell was coming from; the kitchen. There, she found Hongying in front of the stove, heir tied up to a long ponytail and tending to a frying pan and a cooking pot, each one on a burner.
"What're you doing?"
Hongying turned her head to the side, regarding Haruka with a slight bow of her body. "Good morning, Miss Momoi. I am cooking for us."
"Eh? Cooking?" Haruka tilted her head to the side, idly scratching her thigh.
"Yes, cooking. You saved me last night, and despite my aggression towards you, you still let me stay in your house. It would be wrong for me to not pay you back."
"Oh." Haruka stopped scratching immediately. She wanted to say that Hongying didn't have to cook for them, but at the same time what could Haruka do? Get takeout? Make them both a bowl of cereal? Does Hongying have cereals in her world? Does she even know what a cereal is?
Probably not.
"Thanks." She moved to the dining table, pulling one of the chairs out and sitting on it sideways, her fingers tapping on her phone screen without stop. She checked for any messages from her papa, her calendar, Twitter, Instagram, Discord, Reddit, even Bluesky just in case something interesting actually happened there.
She heard the stoves turning off with a click and bowls being moved, but didn't raise her head or moved her eyes, until a bowl and a spoon were placed on her side of the table. Only then did she move her head to look at the table beside her, finding a beautifully made bowl of congee, complete with two halves of an egg, shredded chicken, and chopped leek. The smell was nothing short of mouthwatering either.
"Oooh…" Haruka looked at the bowl in wonder. She rarely eats congee or rice in general, always preferring bread and cereal over it. There was always the occasional egg fried rice from Chinese takeouts but hardly ever plain white rice. She didn't like the blandness at all. But there was no way this would be bland with how flavorful it smelled, and there was definitely no way all that came from the toppings.
Hongying watched how transfixed on the bowl of congee Haruka was, waiting for her to start eating before she does. The girl looked mesmerized by it, and she wondered what has the other been eating this whole time for her to be so amazed by such a simple dish. "You may eat now, Miss Momoi. I do not plan on adding anything else to the bowl."
"Uh," Haruka blinked and looked up, realizing she must've looked really stupid to the older witch. "Oh, right, sorry."
She adjusted her direction on the chair and took the spoon, scooping up the congee and a small piece of the shredded chicken, blowing on it until it wasn't too hot. She placed the spoonful of food in her mouth, and her eyes blew open.
"Holy shit."
It's so good.
She scooped up another spoonful and didn't even wait for it to cool down, shoving the steaming hot congee into her mouth. Then another, and again and again and again until there was nothing left in the bowl. She didn't even register her burnt tongue until she opened her mouth to sigh and felt cold air enter.
"Ow." she stuck her tongue out, letting more of the cold air cool it down. After that, she stood up and poured a glass of water for herself, cooling down her mouth even more while unfortunately washing down the wonderful savory flavor of the congee. Wiping away the tears of both pain and joy, she returned to the table, finding a worried Hongying who hasn't even touched her food yet.
"Uh…what's up?"
Hongying hesitated, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She looked away awkwardly, eyes landing somewhere else before actually saying anything.
"Was it not to your liking, Miss Momoi?"
"…What?"
"Do you dislike it?"
"What? What sort of question is that?!" Haruka slammed both hands on the table and stood up quickly, getting the older woman's attention back on her. "That was greatest, most amazing congee I've ever had! How?! There wasn't even anything in the fridge!"
Hongying's worried face loosened, relieved that her assumption was incorrect, and then a smile.
"Yes, there wasn't anything in the lower part of that…fridge, as you called it? Only a few green onions and two eggs, but there's quite a lot of frozen raw ingredients in the colder part above it. A transparent bag filled with frozen rice separated into sections, a whole chicken, sliced pork, and cubed beef." She finally picked up her spoon, mixing the toppings and the porridge together. "I'm not sure what sort of cold enchantment you put on this 'fridge', but it's wonderful. You must teach me after this."
Haruka stayed standing as Hongying dug into her food, eating quickly but not as fast as Haruka did earlier. The younger woman blinked a few times, before a half-forgotten memory reappeared in her mind, filled with the baritone voice of her papa, and her own lighter voice.
"Haruka, I prepared some meat and rice cubes for you. Both are in the freezer. I don't want you to eat cereal for every breakfast and dinner, oka- hey, are you even listening?"
"Yeah, yeah, gotcha. I just gotta reheat the rice and I can cook the meat however, right?"
Honestly, it wasn't a surprise to her that she forgot about the pre-prepared rice and meat in her fridge. She barely paid attention to what her papa was saying, too absorbed in her videogame, shouting commands and curse words with her friends over voice call, to even care. Plus, she's survived on cereal, convenience store sandwiches, and fast food takeouts many times before.
"What about the flavoring? I taste chicken but I don't think we have any chicken stock."
"I made it myself. I boiled the chicken's wings and lower thighs in water mixed with a bit of soy sauce, and used the leftover water to make the congee with two cubes of the frozen rice."
Once Hongying finished her meal, she took both of their bowls and spoons and brought them to the sink. Her hand hesitantly moved towards the faucet, still unfamiliar with it, before reaching for the handle and twisting it slowly, causing water to pour from the spout.
Haruka still stood in front of the table, awkwardly leaning forward on it while her head moved to watch the older witch clean one of the bowls. Maybe it's time for her to learn how to cook more dishes and retire eating cereal daily.
After a little while of watching Hongying, she straightened her back and walked towards the older witch, taking a bottle of dish soap and sponge, pouring the thick green liquid right on it.
"I'm gonna assume you 'prolly don't have a lot of these things in your world." She picked up the other bowl, scrubbing every side thoroughly until it was covered in white bubbles, then rinsed it with the pouring water. "A lot of the things you see here use electricity, like the lights on the ceiling and the fridge. Not magic or enchantments."
Hongying listened intently, nodding as she took in the new information. "I'm assuming there's some sort of energy transformation within those to examples?"
Haruka hummed, thinking for a little bit. "I guess? Actually, I don't know. All I know is that electricity powers em' instead of magic like you thought. Sorry." She handed the soapy sponge to Hongying, watching the older witch scrub the other bowl and spoons like she did, and then rinsed them.
"No need to apologize, Miss Momoi. I do not expect you to know every single thing about your world, the same way I do not know everything about mine."
At that, Haruka smiled a little bit, one side of her lip turning upwards. "Yeah. That makes sense." She took the bowls and the spoons to the drying rack, then flicking her hands in front of the sink to lessen the amount of water sticking on them. "Oh, and just call me Haruka. I don't really like being called by my family name, it's weird."
"Haruka." Hongying repeated before nodding again, herself smiling. "If that's so, you may use my first name as well."
"Hongying, yeah?"
"Correct."
With how friendly both of them were acting now, it was hard to believe their first ever interaction nearly ended in the death of one of them. Haruka tried to not think about it to much, especially the feeling of the dagger on her neck.
"I'm gonna head out in a bit, just remembered that 'pa asked me to get something."
'Don't forget to get my shoes from the repair place, or I'm going to stop paying for the wifi.' she could still remember the exact words he said, and the hard pinch on her left cheek while he said those words to make sure she was listening.
"Wanna come with me? I can show you around. Stretch our legs a 'lil and whatnot. I'll let you borrow my clothes too."
There was a glimmer in Hongying's eye at the mention of getting out of the house. "If that's okay with you."
"Of course! I mean, I wouldn't be offering if it's not okay with me, yeah?" Haruka took Hongying's hand, dragging her to her room without waiting for the older witch's response.
—•—•—
The streets of Tokyo is different, in a good way, Hongying thought. There was a clear difference between the part of the street meant to be used by vehicles, and part meant to be used by pedestrians, compared to the streets back home which were either layered with one type of stone bricks, or were just hard dirt. Despite that, the late morning chaos of a big city remains the same. People going to and fro, carrying big bags and speed walking through the crowd that's doing the same.
"Careful," Haruka called out, tugging on the sleeve of the jacket worn by the older witch. "If you get lost I might not be able to find you." a serious warning delivered with a cheeky grin.
"You speak as if I am a child." Hongying rolled her eye at the chastising, only to see her pink-haired variant doing the same.
"You act like one." Haruka shot back, bumping her side.
"I do not."
"Yes you do! You ask me about anything and everything you see."
"And is that an issue? You do realize I come from a very different world from this one?"
Sudden silence between them, the younger witch frowning before dropping her head and stopping, realization turning into embarrassment.
"…Okay, fine. Sorry."
Hongying sighed, placing a hand on Haruka's coat sleeve and tugging it.
ㅤㅤ"No need to apologize." She pulled Haruka along, continuing their walk towards their destination, somewhere in the busier part of the city. After that, they can go back home or explore some more.
Their little back and forth caused a few passerby to turn their heads towards them, though they were quick to avert their gazes when the pair stopped, once again focused on where they needed to go.
"How's the jacket, by the way?" Haruka piped up once more. "It's not too small, is it?"
"It's comfortable." Hongying looked down at the warm brown color of the winter jacket, placing both hands inside of the two pockets near the bottom. It was a little tight, but it was also very warm, rivaling the enchanted fur coat given to her by a colleague last winter. Another modern invention, if she had to guess. A very wonderful one.
"Just comfortable?"
"Must I go into detail?"
"I mean, if you wanna…"
"Mm. I don't think I will."
While Hongying was simply dressed in the borrowed jacket and oversized trousers, Haruka was covered in many layers of clothing, pink and yellow alternating with each other. "I can't really control my body temperature," the younger witch said to her earlier, "something about my pact and my magic lineage 'not matching'. Ma and Pa used ice magic a lot back then, but my partner demon is a fire spider." Either way, Hongying thought that the younger witch looked quite adorable bundled up.
"That's the place," Haruka suddenly raised her arm, pointing at a building to the left. It didn't seem all that different from the buildings around it, minus the shoe-shaped sign above the entrance, and it's size. "Do you mind waiting outside? I won't take long, I promise!"
Hongying glanced at the interior of the building. With the counter placed right in the middle of the already-small room, she didn't doubt it would feel very cramped with both of them inside.
"Take your time."
Haruka went inside with that, and Hongying was left alone. She leaned against the wall of another building beside it, idly toying with the zipper of her jacket. The sudden quiet felt a little jarring, but she was sure it wouldn't last long.
"Oi, Bayonetta!"
She just didn't expect to be proven right immediately.
—•—•—