A child... the children thought she was a child too... as if there wasn't anything more soul-crushing than her appearance, it would be that. Surely Hanako had grown at least a bit since she was in elementary school? Not that an outward observer would really be able to pick up on it, with the girl sullenly doodling in imaginary dirt on the shrine floor. "I'm seventeen..."

@VitaVitaAR

Of course her parents had been okay with her going out for a little longer, though her mother had cautioned her not to stay out for too long. Hikari had assured her that she wouldn't, before following Tokiko to whatever destination the other magical girl had in mind. This all made sense... If she was going to participate in the Hex Night, that meant she needed to know everything about how a magical girl could fight, every single little thing a magical girl could do, right? She'd already seen enough to know they were all different, though, of course. But the point was that she needed to know what similarities they did share, and how to use them. And Tokiko could help her with that.

This place was kind of creepy, to be honest... but it also made some kind of sense. A warehouse seemed like it would be a good place to train, right? Out of sight, mostly open on the inside! That was the sort of place a magical girl could really test out her abilities? As long as they weren't so destructive they would take out the whole building.

Hikari transformed for the third time that night. At this point, the brunette was still sort of in awe of the feeling of magical power, the fact that she really was a magical girl. Her hair red, and eyes orange once more as she gripped her hammer.

"Eh? Of course I was paying attention, I'm no-"

Before she could complete that sentence, that fist came hurtling right towards her!

Thankfully, Hikari really had internalized the idea of using a barrier. Magical energy seemed to flow through her body, through her arms, and a circular barrier of crisscrossing symbols, encircled with kanji, materialized ahead of her! There was a distinct bell-ringing sound as the fist slammed into the shield!

@Anza

---

"... Oh?"

Kagami, who had been listening to Himeko with an amused expression on her face, cocked her head slightly as she turned to face the approaching magical girl. Her mirrors turned in place, aiming towards the other girl, instead. They glinted in the steadily-setting sunlight. The fact was that simply being near her gave a feeling of pressure, as if she was somehow exuding some amount of power simply by existing.

"Another newcomer? Very well," she said with a grin, "I shall extend to you the same offer. Lay down your hex orb, or be crushed. Not even the both of you together can hope to overcome me. At best, you can expect to be crushed to the ground beneath my foot, trash."

But there wasn't any time to try and respond to the purple-haired girl's arrogant proposal. There was suddenly a that twisted feeling, the sensation of something evil coming to be... nearly on top of them! There was no question, it had to be another group of shades!

"Oh?" Kagami tilted her head the opposite way. Indeed, in the forest, strange four-legged, almost dog-like creatures were flitting between the trees, large orange eyes running across their flanks. Their heads appeared to be rounded and without mouths.

"... On second though... entertain your empress," said Kagami calmly, "And perhaps I shall allow you some time to contemplate my proposal."

@RolePlayerRoxas@Ammokkx

---

"Uwah!?" exclaimed Hina, eyes widening as she stared at the now-proven-to-be-older girl. Immediately she hurried towards her, looking her over closely, "You're really that old!? I thought you were our age!"

Chise simply sighed behind her, evidently picking up much more quickly on the fact that Hanako wasn't pleased by that fact. Instead, after a few moments, she approached. She had a considerably more serious expression on her face then Hina did.

"So, how do you know the miko-san that runs the shrine?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Oh yeah!" declared Hina, "We really want to talk to her a lot, so we want to know more!"

@Raineh Daze

"I know not."

She answered back. As she rolled up to the intersection she came to a stop both because she wanted to make sure no vehicles were crossing before she used the crosswalk and also because she was considering her next words with care. There was a tenuous balance as to how much to let on that she needed to strike. To yield a full understanding of how she operated meant that later on such knowledge would most likely be used against her. She had approached the subject however and thus needed to provide an answer of some satisfaction.

"Last I had seen her she was under attack from other magical girls. I could not remain, circumstances would not allow it."

With no cars in sight she started across the road, her wheels taking her across to the sidewalk parallel to the park.

"She was in the company of another one however. A magical girl who sported a lab coat and fought with an assembled companion that served as her archetype."

Sophia took a moment to contemplate before looking back up to Fuyuko.

"Since you reside in the area would you happen to know of her?"

An innocent question. Perhaps Fuyuko might suspect her of trying to interrogate her for information regarding the competition. Perhaps not.

She'd just have to see what came of it.

---

@LuckyBlackCat

"Ooooh..."

The Archetype blinked once as the shield came up, then stopped, staring at the bright symbols with eyes full of innocent wonder. Her fist was still pressed up against the barrier, but it couldn't move even an inch closer to Hikari, who stood completely unharmed even in the wake of that sudden attack.

The echoes of a ringing bell were joined by the loud clapping of Tokiko's hands. "Ohohohoho! That wasn't bad, Hikari-san!" She raised her index finger, pointing upwards. "With this, you pass Lesson One: how to block a hit!"

Obviously, she'd expected Hikari to be capable of pulling off such a basic spell. But there was more than that. The newbie magical girl hadn't shown any hesitation or surprise, and had deployed her newly discovered defense almost intuitively. Which means it's time to turn things up a notch. Tokiko's grin widened, and another finger flicked up to join the first. "Now it's time for Lesson Two: knowing the limits of your own defenses! Get her, my loyal Eve-chan!"

"Grrr!" The monstergirl grit her teeth, then threw another punch, slamming her other fist straight into the barrier. "Ora!"

The second strike didn't break through either, but it was swiftly followed by a third, and then a fourth, coming faster and faster now, a chorus of ringing bells accompanying Eve's enthusiastic shouts. "Ora ora oraaaaa!" That shield might have been able to protect Hikari so far, but how long would it hold up against such punishment?

@VitaVitaAR

---

Nico's tail stopped swaying once the oh-so-generous offer was extended to her as well, matched by the pout on her face.

"Friendly chat my butt... besides, I don't really want to lay down my hex orb. If everyone did that, we'd just be causing the disaster we're meant to be avoiding! 'S not like I want to fight you, either..."

If her transformation had cat ears to go alongside it, they would've surely perked up now as the horrible, gnawing feeling became stronger and stronger after she'd said those words. The girl was aware that shades had formed around them, but from her vantage point she was still pretty safe. The mawless creatures observed her just as much as she did them, considering Nico had almost completely disregarded the other two magical girls at this point. "Not really sure why I should be entertainin' either, but these guys are a little more important than you..." she muttered while continuing to observe the shades. The forestry wasn't very thick, barely a couple of trees between the park and rest of the city, but it was enough to hide the fighting. She didn't need to worry about having to lure the shades somewhere else.

"Alright, let's go! Felid!"

Light twirled around Nico as she launched herself out of the tree and right into a pack of them, spinning through the air and leaving after-images of her scratch marks in the air. Two of the shades were deftly cut up on her landing without Nico breaking a sweat. The duo melted into a smokey mist that evaporated around the girl, who now found herself in the middle of all of the shades. Two, four, seven... o-oh. There were quite a few more than she was expecting.

"...Hey uh, foxy, mind helping me out a bit?" Nico sheepishly asked the kitsune-like magical girl before ducking out of the way of one of the shades' pounces. The second that tried to jump her was promptly met with claws impaling its underbelly, though it did manage to swipe at Nico while she briefly let her guard down. The damage wasn't major and she'd probably be fine handling all of them on her own if she used Clowder, but going all-out in front of the purple-haired one seemed like a bad idea. Besides, the fox lady was probably nice enough to help, wasn't she?

---

@A Lowly Wretch

Noriko piped up instantly. "Oh yes! I don't know her too well, but I do know she runs a..." As she stopped herself just in time, the cold weight of anxiety sank in Fuyuko's stomach.

Normally, it would be a good thing to have a new member in the chat room. If Sophia joined, though, especially if she used her phone right now... The username 'snowfairy'. That timid demeanour even online. The other magical girl would figure it out right away, and see the comments about the Hex Night. Maybe it wouldn't be a problem, but maybe it would.

"A social group for us. For magical girls," Noriko continued, her grin turning strained. Despite Fuyuko's relief that her sister hadn't specified what kind of group, guilt taunted her about the fact that she couldn't elaborate either.

"Yeah... It's surprising how many of us in one area there are," was all Fuyuko let herself say about it, traipsing along the path near the park, still on high alert as she looked out for anything suspicious. "Have you met any others here? Besides us?"

She wasn't the only one whose wariness had heightened upon reaching the city. Noriko seemed more and more tense by the moment - most likely not just because of the earlier incident or the possibility of awkward questions. As the sky darkened, shades would become active, the family home a target as always. It would soon be time for Noriko to leave, and for both sisters to try to explain why.

It wasn't often that Himeko considered the appearance of Shades to be fortunate, but in this case, it could very well be a stroke of luck for herself and the pink girl. As dangerous as Shades could be, it was difficult to imagine this encroaching batch to be any more dangerous than the arrogant magical girl sneering at them. Though if she had to be fair, Kagami was hardly giving off that sickening sense of horror the creatures emanated.

Luckily, the cat-tailed cutie was skilled enough to hold her own against the... it would be insulting to actual dogs to refer to them as such, really. Regardless, Pink had serious speed behind those claws. She could probably handle this pack alone. Even if that were true, however, what upstanding magical girl would just stand aside and leave her alone?
Himeko lowered herself to ground level, pipe resting on her lips. Ignoring Kagami for now, it was best to focus on exterminating these pests.

"I'm not really a combat-type, sorry to say~" Himeko stated playfully with an exhale of strange, blue smoke. Instead of simply dissipating however, this cloud began to form a shape similar to the pipe in Himeko's hands, constricting and shrinking, before quickly solidifying into an identical wand.
With a wave of her free hand, this second pipe-shaped wand twirled behind the fox, pointing the original towards one of the hounds. Blue flames erupted from the tip, engulfing it in a jet of her magic, grounding the creature. The second wand glowed briefly, and an ephemeral tail formed next to the original. Himeko now appeared to be in possession of two tails, the fox pointing her pipe towaards the Shades closest to her partner and shooting them down with her foxfire.

"And both of us are probably weak to hounds, so we might be in real trouble, here!" Himeko declared in mock dismay, even as she twirled, arcing her magical pipe to create a wall of flame behind her, scaring off an attack at her flank. She had little reason to worry, however - the pink girl seemed skilled enough to handle her share of the fight, so Himeko could focus mainly on supporting her. And in the absolute worst-case scenario, she could pray that Kagami would save them from any nasty surprises, if only so she could rub it in their faces.

Oh well, no pressure!

@Ammokkx@VitaVitaAR

The girl continued to look morose, even as one of the girls very fortunately changed tack and started asking about how she knew Himeko. Not that there was terribly much to say about that. "Um... I've come by the shrine a few times and bought some charms... I just ran into her outside of school, though... I don't know much about her? Maybe one of the old people who know her family better would be more help."

She'd really created the barrier, just like that! Hah! Hikari couldn't help but feel proud of herself, she'd felt as if she'd done something really cool! Not that she'd necessarily admit to how cool something so simple felt, though. Any magical girl would be able to do this, so wouldn't it look silly to brag about it? No, she had to accept it as something normal that she was able to do! So she simply held the barrier fast...

Even as Tokiko asserted she was going to keep going. Indeed, the monstergirl that was her archetype immediately started hammering down blow after blow on her barrier. It didn't take a genius to realize that it wasn't going to last forever, but Hikari had no idea how long it actually could last. Tokiko had mentioned something about melee-type magical girls having stronger barriers than ranged-type, right? So that meant she could push it a little longer...

But it still wasn't much time before she could see the cracks starting to spread out from the impact point of each fist! She needed to find some sort of path out, the cracks were spiderwebbing through the structure of her barrier the longer the attack went on, like it was made of glass!

But before she could come to any kind of conclusion, her barrier shattered.

The force was suddenly imparted to Hikari's body, lifting her off her feet with a yelp of surprise. But this... but this actually worked in her favor, didn't it!? It got her away from the attack without actually hitting her!

... Certainly, the landing was a bit less ceremonious then she had liked, Hikari landing and rolling on her side, but the red-headed magical girl managed to get to her feet and raise her hammer swiftly!

@Anza

---

The shades, silent even as they were destroyed, seemed to number at least in the forties as they swarmed the magical girls. After some of their number were killed, however, they seemed to develop a wariness, keeping their distance and waiting for a better opening as opposed to running in all at once. There were a few conclusions that could be made about the sudden appearance of so many smaller shades, chief among them being that the destruction of the largest one had drawn them here. Shades fed off of negative energy, after all, which meant that even a shade being destroyed would cause the shades around it to grow stronger.

This did mean that, if a single shade was left alive in this swarm, it would have been able to feed on the negative energy of all of its fellows and become much more powerful. Thankfully, it seemed as if these were rather weak shades, so the final shade would not be completely overwhelming.

But perhaps it would be best to try and wipe them out all at once.

"My my, I suppose that's somewhat impressive," commented Kagami, shrugging her shoulders as she observed the other two girls' battle, "Somewhat. Continue your show."

@RolePlayerRoxas@Ammokkx

---

Chise nodded, seeming to be satisfied with that answer. After a few moments, the black-haired little girl spoke again.

"We wanted to know a little bit more about her," she said, "It's for a school project that I'm doing with Hina-chan."

"School project?" asked Hina, looking bewildered for a moment, as if she'd just now heard about this. However, after a few moments a look of realization dawned on the girl's face, and she nodded immediately, "Oh yeah! That project!"

She grinned widely.

"It's a school project!" she declared cheerfully, almost as if she had been the first one to announce it in the first place.

Chise sighed.

"... Yes, that one."

Before she could try and continue on a more normal path of conversation, however, Hina was suddenly investigating Hanako's hair.

"... Your hair is super pretty!" declared the girl, brightly, "It's like that girl from that one manga Hisa-nee likes!"

@Raineh Daze

That telling pause spoke volumes in place of what she said. She was able to deduce that, given Fuyuko's nervousness upon the approaching topic, neither one of them wanted her to know exactly what this social group was about. If they didn't want her to know for sure then it was most likely involved in the Hex Night.

"I see." Her expression remained the same as she continued along. Though it remained unspoken she was no less aware of the reality of their relationship. Regardless of how they felt about each other one was just an obstacle before the other. Sooner or later someone's dream would have to come to an end so that the other may push forward on this constant struggle to make their heart's desire a reality. A cruel means to an end.

"Have you met any others here? Besides us?"

Sophia simply shook her head.

"Besides those who I witnessed in the aforementioned conflict earlier I have met no one else." She softly sighed as she looked up at the dimming of the evening twilight while she rolled along on the sidewalk. It was a lonesome road to walk, one she was well familiar with. She had never connected too well with the magical girls of Britain due to her juxtaposition against the values of happiness and light that most all magical girls uphold. She fought from the shadows. She wielded darkness. She was filled with sadness.

She was the perfect magnet for shades.

And it had not slipped past her notice that the daylight was starting to fade. As a magical girl it was no less her duty to protect humanity from the influence of shades and she knew that they'd come for her and her family before the night was done. No matter what her wish might grant or how she could not risk leading those closest to her to harm as a result of her pursuit. It may very well not matter should she succeed but she knew that the possibility of failure was very real. Even as powerless before her ultimate fate as she was it behooved her to ensure that whatever fate befell her had as little backlash on her family as she could realistically prevent.

"The hour grows late. I suspect the task of keeping shades in check falls upon you no less than I." Sophia looked out down the road, the first of a number of streets that led down to hotel room her family was staying at. A moment of inspiration suddenly struck her despite her expression remaining a blank canvas.

"Perhaps we could exchange phone numbers in case you wish to speak further at a later date." She produced her phone and quickly thumbed her way to her contacts page.

"That is, should you desire to speak with myself again." She didn't wish to pressure Fuyuko or her sister into offering anything up that she was not comfortable with relinquishing. With that said she awaited Fuyuko's answer, ready to accept whichever choice Fuyuko makes.

---

@LuckyBlackCat

---

"Hyah!"

Nico sliced through another one of the shades with ease, causing the remaining ones in the pack to grow slightly stronger as the ensuing mist spread among them. The annoying part was that this was additive; the power absorbed by one gets spread among the rest again once it was defeated, alongside its own base power. Sure, two weak things buffing each-other wasn't that much of a problem in isolation, but anything in excess causes unwanted trouble. Even now that the shades were down to about half from when Himeko and Nico started whailing on them they hadn't gotten too troubling, but once it was down to one or two left standing...

"Hey, purple!" Nico shouted over at Kagami. "Care to actually do your job? If one of these breaks from the pack and hurts a civilian, I'm holding you accountable, y'know!"

Honestly, chewing out the arrogant magical girl probably wasn't the smartest idea. All it served to do was take Nico's focus away from the fight, and the fighting itself is just about the best part of the job. Heck, maybe she didn't even want Kagami to help. The more Nico can chew through, the better! One of the shades thought he saw an opening through the kibbling and launched at Nico, who took notice and conjured up a small barrier to block its attack. The shade harmlessly bounced off and recoiled back, leaving an opening for Nico to cleave right through. Meanwhile, Himeko's flames caught another that attempted to jump on Nico while she was busy dealing with one of the hounds.

"Thanks, foxy!" Nico cheered. The struck-down shades evaporated, leaving a small dozen still hiding among the woods. "Not too long now..." Nico muttered to herself as she launched herself forward for another attack on the shades.

She hadn't been paying the best of attention before this, but something about their attitude was... off. Why would a school project require them to be investigating a shrine maiden and... why would you forget that's why you were here if that was the entire reason that you had come to find out about them in the first place?

Though now she was distracted by Hanako's hair for some reason... "It's not that pretty, it's kind of messy really... um..."

Hanako stood up to her full height, trying to look older and more mature... with not all that much success, "What sort of school project needs you to talk to the local shrine maiden...?"

---

There was the ringing of metal on metal as the tail met the club, and a considerable amount of grumbling as the oni-themed girl blocked the magical energy; stamping hard enough to make a chunk of ground rise up in front of her--and almost as soon as it was done blocking, the debris was kicked forwards towards Sonya at high speed.

"Stop running away! You're the one who started this," the girl complained, this time actually giving some warning--and some idea of how she got behind Sonya in the first place--as she landed beside the other magical girl, club swinging. The debris had blocked the take-off but... she had to be jumping.

Jumping very well, in fact.

Hikari was blown back and crash-landed, but quickly recovered, rising to her feet with her weapon at the ready—

"Game over."

—and then something blew past her with an almighty CRACK, a blinding flash of electricity briefly crossing her vision. Behind her, a section of wall was almost blasted apart as white-hot lightning scorched its surface.

Meanwhile, several meters in front of her, Honami Tokiko lowered her Tesla Cannon, shaking her head.

"If I'd been aiming for you, that could have been bad, don't you think?" The concrete was still smouldering where the blast had struck, fragments of debris scattered about the point of impact. Even if it hadn't been intended to actually hit Hikari, that power was real.

"Your barrier was strong enough, and you even recovered well after it broke." The mad scientist's eyes narrowed. "But that's not enough. All you did when Eve kept coming at you was hunker down, and that gave me plenty of time to prepare a follow-up attack for the moment your barrier broke. Knowing the limits of your own defenses isn't just about 'knowing how many hits you can block,' but also 'knowing that you can't win just by playing defense.' If you let yourself be predictable, you'll get driven into a trap. And then..." She gestured at where her Tesla Cannon had struck the wall, illustrating her point.

"So let's try offense! Time to test out that hammer!" Tokiko grinned, her voice suddenly turning cheerful. She pointed at her own archetype. "Eve-chan here is really tough, so you can hit her as hard as you want."

"EHHHH?!" The monstergirl's eyes went wide, her expression suddenly fearful. "Wah!"

"What? No! Don't be such a wimp!"

"Waaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Okay, fine." Tokiko looked back towards Hikari. "Uh, maybe hold back a little bit when you hit her..."

@VitaVitaAR

---

@A Lowly Wretch

"Thanks." Reaching for her phone, Fuyuko gave a brief smile. As glad as she was to have met Sophia, it was something of a relief that the conversation hadn't veered towards participation - yet. Soon, the fact would be impossible to hide. Fuyuko may well have been worrying about nothing, not knowing yet whether Sophia would be taking part, yet she couldn't rule out the possibility. "Yeah, that'd be great."

Once they'd exchanged numbers, the mousy-haired girl inclined her head. "Well, it was good to meet you, and I hope we get to talk again soon." Under positive circumstances, was the part she kept to herself. "Until next time."

Noriko waved over her shoulder as she began to head along a separate street. "Yeah, I guess it's time to get back to work, but see ya!" she called. Fuyuko took one more wistful look in Sophia's direction before traipsing after her sister. She wasn't exactly one to make friends easily, and it seemed Sophia wasn't either. If only they'd met in a situation more conducive to friendship.

"Well..." Noriko lowered her voice. "I'd better go begin guard duty, but best of luck! I'm rooting for you!" Her eyes shimmered with desperate hope. Another reminder that failure was out of the question. Both sisters hugged before Noriko hurried back towards the family home, ready to fend off one of many waves of shades that flocked in greater numbers night after night.

Fuyuko stood alone, shivering. Not from the cold, which no longer bothered her, even in her regular form. It was the thought of what would happen if she failed. A thought that would haunt her throughout the entire tournament. She trudged along the street in search of shades as the sky dimmed overhead. Before long, only the moon - that distant land the princess in the folktale could no longer reach - would give it light.

"Ah!"

The light had made Hikari flinch, just a little. Inwardly, she cursed herself.

She had just... aah, she'd gotten caught up in what she'd been doing and not even realized an attack from Tokiko was part of this! The diminutive girl almost wanted to chew her fellow magical girl out about it, complain about how it was hard to prepare for something like that when Tokiko had never stated she, too, was part of the barrier test. But the current redhead managed to restrain herself, at least for now. She had learned something valuable about her barrier, at least, that being just how powerful it really was.

That didn't stop her from letting out a huff, and nor did it prevent Hikari from glaring at Tokiko just a little as she listened to the more experienced magical girl. She didn't have to be happy about how things just went, even if she was trying not to complain about it.

Wait. She was supposed to just hit Eve? The monstergirl even seemed scared!

"Heh? Just... whale on her?" she asked, eyes drifting back to the living archetype as she spoke. After a few moments, though, Hikari began to really think it through. They were magical girls, and Eve was an archetype... that meant there was no way that this kind of blow would seriously hurt her, right?

"... Well, if you say so!" she declared, with a shrug. It would let Hikari vent some of her frustration, if nothing else... slowly, she raised her mallet back over her shoulder. In this less frantic scenario, she was able to recognize its form better: It looked almost like a firework launcher, the rear of the hammer decorated to look like the face of a dragon. Had that been why it had given her a boost, that it had fired a rocket blast out of it like a firework?

With a small shout, she swung the hammer forward. Almost immediately there was a whiff of gunpowder and a flash of brilliant light as an explosion erupted from the rear of the hammer. It rocketed forward, hurtling towards Eve with incredible force.

No matter how the monstergirl took the blow, it was immediately clear that Hikari's chief power was in her melee capabilities, an incredibly strong close-range offense via the blunt force of her hammer.

@Anza

---

"It's still pretty! Not a lot of people have white hair when they're not old, you know?" Hina explained, as if to clarify her sudden interest in Hanako's hair, "You're like the little princess in Hisa-nee's manga!"

"You just mentioned that," Chise pointed out, with a small sigh, "... Onee-san reads such weird manga..."

After a moment, the black-haired little girl decided to attempt to address the older girl's question about their project.

"It's a project about our culture as Japanese people," she explained, quickly. Perhaps a little too hastily, it almost sounded like she was trying to quickly get out some kind of excuse and move on as swiftly as possible... but before she could try and continue along those lines, Chise fell silent.

"... Hina-chan," she asked, suddenly giving the brunette girl a very serious look, "Did you check?"

"Check...?"

For a moment, Hina looked bewildered, before suddenly having a look of realization dawn on her face. Without another moment's pause, rather confusingly, the girl with the side ponytail began sniffing at the air, almost like a dog would.

"... So that's it!" she declared, suddenly. Before Chise could ask her just what 'it' was, however, Hina's attention was fixed on Hanako.

"Let's go outside to finish our talk," continued the brunette, "Magical girl."

@Raineh Daze

---

What Fuyuko encountered was not a shade.

No, there was soon the sound of footsteps on a nearby rooftop. Thankfully, any chance of it being an ambush was rather quickly dispelled.

"Oiiii! Oiiii!"

The source of the voice was a magical girl. She was of average height, with short hair. Currently, it was a bright, silver shade, almost looking metallic from the way it seemed to gleam. In terms of her features, she was fairly pretty, with silver eyes that matched her hair, and a slightly tomboyish look. She work a long jacket and shorts, with thigh-high socks and boots that, on closer inspection, seemed to be armored. But the most striking feature was what was on her right arm.

It was a thick, complex silver gauntlet, one that appeared to be made of up a number of different mechanisms. If Fuyuko had been closer, she may have heard a faint whirring sound from it.

"Hey!" called the girl, "I'm not interested in a fight, okay? I was just wondering, have you seen some weirdo in a rabbit mask? Wearing a suit?"

@LuckyBlackCat

---

@VitaVitaAR

Hearing footsteps, Fuyuko spun round, ready to transform at a moment's notice. Sure enough, on a nearby roof was a magical girl, sporting armoured boots and a huge mechanical gauntlet. If she were to pick a fight, she'd surely be a formidable opponent. Instead of attacking, though, the girl addressed her with a question. One about the stranger in the woods.

Fuyuko weighed the options in her mind. Without Noriko and Kiyoshi around, she couldn't be sure of the armoured warrior's intentions. Who was to say this wasn't some kind of trick? Then again, if the gauntlet wielder really did need help, she wasn't going to deny assistance to a fellow magical girl.

"Um... hello. Yes, just a few minutes ago they were..." She pointed in the direction of the hill. "In the forest, near the shrine. They didn't stick around long though. Do you know who this person may be, and and what they want?"

She recalled her sister's description of the stranger - cold and empty - before piping up again.

"Also, if I may ask..." She glanced down at her nondescript clothing, then looked back up. "How did you know I'm a magical girl?" To most, she figured, a teen wandering alone after dark would be something of an odd sight, but how had this girl been able to tell for sure? A frisson of paranoia crept over her. Was this how Sophia had felt upon being detected?

"Well, it was good to meet you, and I hope we get to talk again soon."

"Until we meet again." It seemed Sophia was a beat ahead on that farewell. The three parted ways, connected in some sense but removed in many others.

With steady pace she had turned and continued down her way, taking the route back to her temporary lodging. For a meeting that should not have happened it seemed to open up a number of opportunities. Had they not met would she not have been made aware of their masked observer? Would he not have shown had she simply been alone?

There were questions that needed answers. The hour was growing late however and while the night was rife with activity she had to consider how long she'd maintain vigil before her rest would become the foremost concern. The need to maintain appearances of a normal life were also necessary as was the need to remain in care. Setting out to participate in this odd ritual designed to keep evil at bay by turning the defenders of humanity against themselves was necessary but at the same time it always held the risk of isolating her if there were an emergency. Away from her parents the possibility of a respiratory attack was no less present. She had a few countermeasures, her phone had emergency responders on speed dial and her chair was equipped with a rebreather attached to an oxygen tank should she experience breathing difficulties. They did not guarantee that she would survive a severe accident should something go awry but it certainly put her parent's minds at ease.

_
Coming into the hotel they were staying at she considered how she'd approach the remainder of this night. Thankfully at this hour the lobby saw little to no traffic so she was more or less alone aside from the desk man manning his station. Calmly she rolled on down the hall where the elevators laid. She passed them by and continued on to the woman's public restroom on the lobby floor. Since nobody was likely to need it in the near future she figured it would serve as a serviceable hideaway. Rolling inside she locked the door behind her and left the lights off bathing her in the perfect darkness of this closed off space. Ultimately this was not a permanent arrangement as stealing use of the restrooms was not something she could maintain for much longer than a couple hours but for this time of night she didn't need it for much more than that anyways. It would suffice.

She transformed into her magical girl guise once again, donning her dark frills and gothic boots once more as she assumed her alternate identity. In the tranquil silence of this closed off room she closed her eyes, reaching out to the darkness that starting to blanket the land. With the sun's light dying in the twilight hours she was able to find more than enough purchase for her ravens to form. Their numbers only grew as the darkness took hold of the land, the restrictions set upon them loosening through the onset of night.

Admittedly however she had narrowed her spectrum of view somewhat. She had more of her ravens set throughout the forest than she did the other areas she surveyed. The question as to where that man had run off to still eluded her and if such a location remained within those woods she wanted to find it. She was not blind to other activities that caught her eye however as both shades and other magical girls drew her attention in equal measure. Her duties to protect people from the shades still stood and her interest in learning more of the magical girls of this area had not waned.

For now she kept watch, flitting from eyes to eyes, from raven to raven.

They were whittling the Shades down at a steady pace, covering each other pretty well for an impromptu team-up. Himeko couldn't speak for the catgirl's experiences, but as a four year veteran, Himeko liked to think she had gotten good at fighting from the backline. Of course, there was the small concern of the remaining enemies slowly gathering strength as their allies fell. Given how weak the pack was in general, the shrine maiden was hardly expecting a behemoth of a creature to stand before them at the end.

Unfortunately, Himeko could only manage so much in her state. Her flames could be spread to attack more than one enemy, but the range left much to be desired with only two wands to work with. By the time the enemies were brought down to reasonable level, her flames might not be enough to finish them off.

With one more Shade burning to a crisp within her blue flames, Himeko pondered in an almost carefree manner how best to finish off the group. Even if the final Shade was still within manageable levels, Himeko didn't like giving these monsters a chance to access some sort of dangerous technique or whatever. Though having one enemy to focus on did make it much easier to keep track of.

Sigh. This would be so much easier if that Kagami girl wasn't stubbornly acting like a villain herself.

"Koneko-chan~" Himeko called to her partner, raising a wall of blame flame behind her to protect from another attempting flanking, "got any massive blasts on you? If not, we might just have to round these puppies up and slice 'em all at once~"
The cat-themed magical girl had certainly proven herself to be more offensively capable, after all, and it might be a stylish enough finish to tide over the looming threat above them, too.

@VitaVitaAR@Ammokkx

"... Aaaah... well, er..."

After a few moments, the silver-gauntlet magical girl scratched the back of her head with her other hand(clad only in a glove) awkwardly, letting out a some what embarrassed-sounding chuckle as she did.

"... See, er, you were just wandering around alone at night... so I kinda guessed," she said, finally. It was obvious she was now realizing what a silly decision that was, at the very least. "... It would've been pretty bad if you weren't, but you are, so it worked out fine, right?"

She grinned, her embarrassment seemingly forgotten, before leaping down off the top of the roof. There was a resounding clank when her armored feet touched the ground, and she crouched for a moment to absorb the fall before standing straight and approaching. Now her expression was serious once more.

"I don't know who the weird rabbit mask person is, but they're a total creep," she began, "Some other girls saw them looking in their windows. I'd say it's some freaky pervert, but the fact is they've only been doing it to magical girls. So I've got a feeling there's more to them then just being a freak."

She sighed.

"Did you see where they went?"

@LuckyBlackCat

---

@VitaVitaAR

Fuyuko, no stranger to embarrassing incidents herself like that earlier series of blunders, gave an awkward smile of her own. "It's ok. You guessed right, at least."

Well, this confirmed it, she acknowledged with a sinking heart. Taking on her regular appearance didn't make her much less conspicuous. What if someone not quite so friendly as the armoured girl figured it out? Worse, what if they saw an ordinary girl on her way to or from a friend's place, and jumped to the wrong conclusion? Would the Hex Night, the very event supposed to protect people, end up causing them harm?

No, they wouldn't risk it, Fuyuko told herself. Everyone taking part knew the rules about secrecy, and about not endangering lives. These reassurances, no matter how much she mentally repeated them, failed to quell her fears.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she listened to the warrior's explanation. Someone spying on magical girls? Was the masked watcher connected to a Hex Night participant, keeping an eye on the competition for her? "They certainly gave off a creepy feeling," Fuyuko murmured. "They just stood there, staring. So still and quiet. Then, when I spoke to them, they fled into the forest."

Was it a good idea to go looking for the watcher? Considering the way her sister had reacted, probably not. Regardless, if the gauntlet wielder was set on seeking them out, Fuyuko wasn't going to stay behind. A potential threat to magical girls couldn't be ignored.