Chapter Text
Film 13?
Day 1
Well, that sucked.
One could say that’s rather obvious: Madoka died, Homura was attacked, and the timeline had to reset.
If Homura were less insistent about checking for attacks by the magical girl murderer via Mabayu’s precognition, it’s possible there would have been no new timeline, and it would have just been the end, for real.
Yet somehow, none of that is the thing Mabayu feels worst about.
That would be Kirika.
It actually would have been easier if Kirika were manipulating her for some kind of plot. If all their conversations had just been a way for Oriko to gain an advantage on her quest to kill Madoka, rather than risking her becoming a witch, then Mabayu could just say screw her and call it a day.
Except, it wasn’t. Kirika was just as surprised to see Mabayu as Mabayu was to see Kirika when the attack on Homura began. The things they talked about and shared, all of that was real. Except, in the meantime, Kirika was busy killing people to lure Kyubey away from Madoka until Oriko could kill her.
How is Mabayu even meant to feel about that? What does it say about her that the first normal non-magical girl friendship she picked up was with an unrepentant murderer? What does it say about Mabayu that she’s going to miss talking to that unrepentant murderer?
Perhaps it shouldn’t be shocking; their first conversation did literally include defining love as something both of them would be willing to kill for, and Kirika was never subtle about her feelings for Oriko.
Still, it’s odd, especially now it's over. Should Mabayu feel bad about still feeling some affection for Kirika, considering what she did? It can’t say good things about Mabayu that even learning the truth about Kirika isn’t enough to make the idea of never getting to talk to her not seem rather sad.
It’s not like Kirika was one-dimensional aside from the murder. Obviously, her chief obsession was with Oriko, but she was also rather into video games. Enough that at one point Mabayu agreed to play a few of the ones Kirika liked in exchange for Kirika watching some of Mabayu’s favourite films, so both of them would get the chance to talk about their hobbies.
Kirika actually had some rather interesting takes on those movies, especially the one romcom Mabayu gave her. Not traditional takes, of course, Kirika’s rather obsessive view on love did warp her perspective a bit, but it was fun to talk about.
Most people would probably have a bit of dissonance, thinking about a friend who just so happened to be a mass murderer, but honestly, Mabayu can imagine it very clearly, even without having to think back to her own fight with Kirika at the end of last timeline. Kirika’s manic devotion is exactly the sort of thing that lines up with all the kills Mabayu looked at.
Pretty pathetic that Mabayu’s going to miss said mass murderer, but it’s not like Mabayu’s ever had any close friend other than Homura before. So, it’s probably not that surprising that her second ever real friend is someone she’s going to miss. Despite everything, Mabayu is happy it was real, even with how things ended.
Though on the thought of Homura, Mabayu really should report to her, just to see what the plan is before she sets off to school.
And so, despite the warm embrace of Mabayu’s comfy bed, she gets ready and sets off to the hospital.
“So, Mabayu, now you’ve looked it over, what do you think of the plan?” Homura asks a while later, once Mabayu has gotten situated.
“Um, I think all of it seems very good, but umm… Are you sure we need to murder Miss Mikuni and Miss Kure?”
“I don’t see any reason to let them live. They are a threat to the timeline, as proven last time, and considering their actions, I don’t see any moral argument to hold back either,” Homura points out.
“I know, but… I mean, they didn’t do anything for the past 11 timelines. Shouldn’t we at least check if they’re magical girls before going and, and… Executing them?”
“If they haven’t contracted yet, that makes this the time they will be most vulnerable. Even with my ability to stop time, it is possible that once warned, Mikuni will be able to hide from me far more effectively than I can find her, considering the potential of her precognition. As for Kure, she is far too obsessive about Mikuni. If I kill one, it’s best I kill both, lest I leave a revenge-obsessed magical girl ruining the timeline,” Homura points out.
It’s not even like Mabayu can call those unreasonable concerns. It’s possible that deciding to spare them now would make the timeline more inconvenient.
“We’d know if the two of them were active, though. It’s not like Miss Kure was subtle when being the magical girl murderer. So, it’s not like we could get blindsided,” Mabayu points out.
“Mabayu, this isn’t like Sayaka; we aren’t talking about an innocent who was a threat to Madoka out of unfortunate circumstances. We are talking about two remorseless killers, ones who successfully killed Madoka and would do so again if given the chance. I know you had some attachment to Kure, but considering the state she left you in, I’m not sure why you would have any residual feelings for her,” Homura notes.
That’s… When Mabayu and Kirika fought, well, Mabayu did her best, but it really wasn’t a fair fight. Still, the fact Kirika left Mabayu broken and bleeding, but alive, says plenty, really. Mabayu is probably the only person Kirika ever spared, even if she was solidly put out of the fight while Kirika switched target to Homura.
In the end, Homura escaped and reset time, but the fact that Kirika held off on killing Mabayu says a lot about how much she valued their friendship, considering that could have been seen as a very minor defiance of Oriko’s will. Though Homura seemed to be their real target either way.
Even if Mabayu gets quite the level of restraint that would have required from Kirika, as far as Homura is concerned, Kirika did still leave Mabayu three-quarters dead, so it’s understandable that Homura doesn’t hold her in any esteem.
“Look, shouldn’t we at least try to work out why they acted last timeline, but didn’t any timeline before then? I know some things diverge between timelines, but nothing like that until then. If we just kill them, who’s to say something else won’t happen? Isn’t the whole point of the flowchart that we try to make the timelines repeatable?” Mabayu argues.
“Me shooting two people today while you go to school is perfectly repeatable, Kyubey won’t try to contact Madoka for another two days anyway. I currently have more free time than I will during the rest of the timeline,” Homura points out.
“And what about the consequences? What if Kyubey identifies that two magical girl candidates were killed and puts out another call to hunt down a murderer? Then you’d have to deal with getting attacked by other magical girls over the timeline”
“That is an unlikely consequence. Kure was only targeted because of the public nature of the killings and their quantity. Two people being shot by a mundane weapon is more likely to be written off as something unfortunate,” Homura points out.
“Likely is not certainly,” Mabayu retorts.
“Why are you contesting this so strongly? You realise I will be doing all the work, you won’t need to get your hands the least bit dirty”
“That’s not the point!”
“What is the point then? Don’t tell me you’re being held back by sentimentality over Kure?”
“What if I was?”
“She was a mass murderer who helped kill Madoka, slaughtered people we know, such as Tomoe Mami, and a massive number of bystanders. Not to mention the damage she did to you. There are a few people as indefensible as that”
“Nagisa killed Miss Tomoe and Miss Sakura,” Mabayu rather pettily points out, even if it wasn’t the same thing at all.
“Don’t pretend the two are comparable in any way”
“Look, I don’t deny that if you were proposing killing Miss Kure at the end of last timeline, I wouldn’t fight it. But she hasn’t done anything yet, and she didn’t do anything in the 11 timelines before this one. I don’t want to kill her because she could do something”
“Are you no longer pretending to care if I harm Mikuni then?”
“Um… I’d still prefer if you didn’t,” Though, based on some of the conversations Mabayu had with Kirika, they might have not actually met yet. Kirika said they met in an embarrassing incident a few days after now, when Mabayu asked about when Kirika met Oriko. Not that she would describe the embarrassing incident.
“But not as strongly as me not killing Kure? I would be willing to spare Kure, if not for the risk of her targeting us in revenge, but with that, I would rather not take my chances”
“Err, I don’t think Miss Kure has actually met Miss Mikuni yet, I think that won’t be for another week or so,” Mabayu admits.
“I suppose that is something you discussed with her?”
“It came up, even if I didn’t learn exactly how they met”
“In that case, Mikuni is the threat; Kure was just a tool of hers. So, I am willing to accept killing Mikuni, but not Kure. Is that satisfactory?” Homura offers.
Mabayu’s an awful person, isn’t she, but “Ok”
“Now that’s settled, I believe we need to go through what the plan is, assuming this returns the flowchart to normal,” Homura notes.
That is a much more comfortable conversation.
Day 2
While going through school yesterday, Mabayu didn’t notice Kirika in any of her usual spots. Not that Mabayu was quite sure if she was going to approach her or anything. Still now a second day has passed without any appearance from Kirika, Mabayu finds herself walking around the area near Kirika’s neighbourhood, it’s not that far from Recompense, and Mabayu just wants to catch sight of Kirika, even if they never interact this timeline. Mabayu won’t have much time for this once things really kick off.
At least she can be sure Kirika’s existence wasn’t just a fluke of last timeline, considering Homura found Oriko alive and, formerly, well, yesterday.
Mabayu noticed that her murder was mentioned in the local newspaper Sakie was checking out in the morning. Child of disgraced politician shot, Mabayu didn’t feel great reading that, even if she understands why Homura did it.
Eventually, Mabayu does stumble across Kirika, sitting on a bench in the park nearest to her home, staring at that same newspaper blankly.
A quick check shows there is no ring of any kind on her finger. Though Homura noted Oriko hadn’t made a contract either before Homura shot her when Mabayu asked, so perhaps that isn’t too surprising.
Still, did Kirika actually know Oriko before she said last timeline? Because that horrified, empty stare at the paper isn’t something Mabayu imagines Kirika would give a stranger.
Feeling a bit like she’s intruding on a private moment, Mabayu takes a seat next to Kirika on the bench, not that Kirika gives her even a flicker of attention, her focus consumed by the article Mabayu saw earlier today.
“Did you know her?” Mabayu asks, getting Kirika to jump in surprise at someone appearing next to her.
For a moment, Kirika looks like she’s about to bolt, but instead of going anyway, she just lets out a short, bitter laugh and sits back “Why would you care?”
“Because I doubt you would be looking at that article like that if you didn’t, and I wanted to make sure you're ok,” For a friendship they had once upon a time, if nothing else.
Kirika sighs, “Not really. I met her once back when she helped me out, and never had the chance to see her since. It’s… Nah, it was stupid”
“What was?”
“Why do you care! Who even are you?” If Kirika looked sad earlier, now she looks downright bitter.
“No one you’d know. Aki Mabayu, I’ve seen you around school once or twice, not that we ever interacted,” Mabayu admits.
“Was she someone to you or something?”
“No, but I still feel bad that happened to her. She didn’t deserve that” Even with what happened last timeline, Mabayu is never going to feel happy about someone dying for what they might do, especially when Oriko hadn’t even made a contract yet. There was no guarantee Oriko was even going to do anything this timeline.
“So what, you saw me looking at her death and pitied me or something?” Kirika asks.
“No, I guess I just didn’t want you to have to be alone, especially if you’d just lost a friend”
“Well, I didn’t lose a friend, so you can screw off if you’d like,” Kirika points out.
“No, but she obviously still meant something to you. That’s something, even if you didn’t know her well” What’s Mabayu even doing? Is she seriously trying to comfort Kirika right now?
“I… I wanted to thank her, and maybe be her friend, if she wanted one” Kirika sighs “Dumb idea, I know, and obviously not happening now. Course the one good person I met gets killed off for some stupid reason, not sure why I expected anything else”
Kirika always seemed so happy last timeline, back when she was with Oriko. Even if that came with her doing awful things. She’s never going to have that happiness this timeline, is she? Kirika was happy enough last timeline to say how shit things were before she met Oriko, and found the fact that Mabayu was her second real friend, the same way Kirika was to Mabayu’s, rather funny when Mabayu brought it up.
Kirika’s probably going to spend this entire timeline alone and miserable. Sure, that’s better than what she was up to last timeline, no murderer is an improvement over murder, but Mabayu still feels bad about it.
“Um, I err” Mabayu gets a look from Kirika as she fails to say what she intended. Still, eventually she gets herself together “If you’d like, then I’d be happy to be your friend. Um, if you want one”
“You normally walk up to rando’s on benches and offer to be their friends?” Kirika asks, looking curiously at Mabayu.
“Nope, never done this before. It’s um, not really my thing. But the offer was genuine”
“Why?”
“Huh, why what?”
“Why offer that? You know literally nothing about me other than I go to your school and am sad about a girl I don’t even know dying. For all you know, I’m a complete weirdo,” Kirika points out.
Well, Mabayu can’t really say it’s because she got on with Kirika in a previous timeline and has realised she’ll miss that this time, can she? “I don’t know, vibes? You seem like someone I’d get on with. I mean, I could be wrong, this is way more proactive than I normally am, but… Why not?”
“So what? You’re gonna try to integrate me into your friend group or something? Cos I’m really not interested in that kinda thing?”
“I um… There isn’t a friend group. It’s just me” Homura doesn’t even go to school yet, and she spends most of the time there on Kyubey deterrence duty, rather than chatting with Mabayu.
“Really? You not miss popular who goes around collecting people who look sad or some shit?”
“Um… No? I mean, I know like one person out of school, that’s kind of it”
“So what makes me all special then?” Kirika asks.
“You were there, and I was here, I guess? I mean, would you prefer if I go? I get if you don’t want anything to do with the weird girl who approached you out of the blue” Mabayu really wouldn’t blame Kirika if she told Mabayu to go away. Mabayu’s not good at social anything, and certainly isn’t one for approaching people out of choice.
“You really saying you’re what? Just being altruistic?”
“Ahahaha, um. Altruism might be giving me too much credit, honestly. I just… Um. I don’t know, there wasn’t really a plan here, I just kind of saw you looking at the paper like that and walked over” She really just wanted to catch sight of Kirika. Actually catching her in conversation was not the plan, nor was asking if she wanted to be friends. Homura might be annoyed at that last bit, actually, since it could disturb the flowchart if Kirika doesn’t blow her off.
“You literally asked if I wanted to be your friend before getting my name. The fact there was no plan isn’t a shock,” Kirika notes.
“Oh… Yeah. Um, could I have your name?”
“Kure Kirika”
“Well, is it ok to extend the offer now I know?”
“You’re weird,” Kirika points out.
“Yeah, I know” The fact she resonated with a mass murderer last timeline so much, and everything to do with the loops and Homura’s mission make that pretty much a certainty.
“You know, I don’t think most people just accept that”
“I probably would have denied it at one point, but, no reason to pretend I’m anything I’m not. Not like I have anyone to pretend for” Which, funny enough, is something she accepted because of Kirika last time around. Most people wouldn’t do what Mabayu is doing for Homura, and most don’t feel the way Mabayu does, even if she’s nowhere near as blatant about that as Kirika was last timeline.
Still, Mabayu loves Homura, at least as far as Kirika’s definition went, which, honestly, is enough for her. She’s done a lot of stuff normal people just don’t for that. She accepts that, no reason to live in denial.
“Well, not sure I’m up for calling you a friend yet, but I’d be willing to meet up at school tomorrow, I suppose” Kirika looks unsure, like she’s trying to work out if she’s making a mistake or not.
Mabayu smiles, “Sure. It was probably a bit presumptuous for me to ask that on a first meeting anyway. Still, maybe one day?”
“Maybe”