"Why did I ever agree to this?"Tsuruga sighed dramatically, comfortable in a set of boring gray flannel pajamas that her partner abhored for their lack of expression, and curled up in an out of the way corner of Ami's living room with a recently transformed catgirl sequestered upon her lap. Being the most responsible member of the partnership by her own estimation, it naturally fell to her to ensure the well being of this bizarre creature. And by well being, she meant keeping an eye open lest the others be overwhelmed by the Mascot's weaponized cuteness and attempt to drag her off to perform unspeakable acts that would have the JSDF come crashing through their windows in a parody of a certain American federal agency.
She certainly didn't have her mind in that direction because of Ami's earlier teasing, nor would she admit to responding with anything less then the utmost decorum in the face of absurdity. As things stand no one can prove the slight redness around Ami's neck came from her hands, no siree.
"A part of me hopes no one shows up, but then I'd have to put up with Ami....compensating, for their absense. Yikes...."Tsuruga wouldn't need to fear for very long; soon enough, the first wave of darkness had arrived at Ami's residence. Even outside the door Touka could feel the scrambled presence in Ami's home and deduced that must have been the Mascot turned human. Honestly, if it weren't for Ami swearing it was true and sending in photos of the girl in compromising positions over the group chat, she wouldn't believe it.
But it made more sense than Yui being her sister. Touka bristled anew as she recall that earlier interaction; as soon as Seyrun turned away, she had made quick work of Kanbaru's stupid hat. It wouldn't be stitched back together so easily. Speaking of the former, Touka shot a quick text to Seyrun and gave her the address and location. If they were to initiate this fledgling shadow among their ranks, she would need to be initiated.
"I know you're in there Tsuruga. Open the door before I kick it down."Apia slowly stepped closer to the meeting location, being a little fearful. It'd certainly been a while since she or Hana had faced any members of the detention club, outside of themselves. Suddenly coming to this important meeting disguised as a sleepover was a bit much for a reintroduction. Still, it was a welcome back nonetheless.
Even if it was, though, why couldn't she step forward and go up to the door? Was she really that scared of the president and everyone else's thoughts of her? Was she really that nervous? Certainly not! She wasn't scared of anything that the other club members could throw at her! She was just... having a muscle spasm or something.
Maybe she'd just wait by the street for Hana and walk in with her. Yeah, that was a better idea.
Not even a few seconds passed before Touka would hear a rapid thumping, quickly followed by the door flying open inches away from Touka's face.
"Tou-chan!" Ami wrapped her arms around the president, giving one of her classic bonecrushing hugs as she pulled Touka into her home. The first thing she would notice is that the place was a literal mess. Pizza boxes were strewn all over the table in the kitchen, clean clothes lying in a pile in the middle of the room, dirty ones all over the floor literally everywhere in the house, along with candy wrappers here and there.
"You got here just in time, I was just finishing cleaning up!" Yet apparently this was what was considered clean for the girl.
"You can go ask Tsu-chan about your pajamas, we got you and everyone else super cute sets! Except for Tsu-chan, she got some boring grey ones. I swear, it's like you have to go out of your way to find something that boring and grey! Especially when there are so many colors to choose from! Hey is that Apia-chan? Apia! Get your ass in here before you freeze to death!" She ran out into the snow completely barefoot, showing off her chosen attire for the night. It was fitting, a set of loose boyshorts and a red camisole, basically the perfect clothes to show off as much skin as possible. Not like she ever got cold anyways.
"Come on come on, I grabbed some pizzas and they're not getting any warmer you know!" She was in front of Apia within seconds, some of that trademark speed she has in Magical Girl form obviously rearing its head here. Ami grabbed Apia's hand and started leading her to the apartment, dragging her along despite any protests the bee girl may have.
"We're gonna have so much fun, we're gonna eat lots of candy, watch scary movies, cuddle up with Kuro- oh did you see all the pictures I posted of Kuro? She's so cute isn't she, I can't decide if I like her more like this or as a fluffy little kitty!""Hi Ami..."There was no fighting against the unarmored crush of messy hugs; not when the Black Knight was this enthused. The most Touka could do was suck her gut in to brace for the inevitable, grunting between Ami's arms with feet dangling for a moment or two. And then, it was over, the Club President trying to catch her breath even as she was shoved into her house.
"You're as lively as ever with your decorations..."Ordinarily she might have played up her school persona for the better, but there was simply too much on her mind to maintain the facade. It was why Touka noted the messy house with a frown, though chose not to lecture about cleanliness. That was what Tsuruga was for anway.
"I'm not sure I'm staying that long. Enough to welcome our newest recruit, but after that, who knows," she told Ami regarding pajamas. At least, she hadn't planned to stay long, lest she spend another night staring out the window in boredom.
But Ami was already bounding off to drag in Apia, who Touka noticed some time ago. Left with a sigh, she looked at Tsuruga before noting the trembling cat girl sat in her lap.
"Is that the Mascot then? It looks...more human than it should. Magical interference I bet." The way it stared off into space had Touka wondering just what the hell Ami had been doing to it in its short span of sentience.
Tsuruga was spared the arduous task of answered the door by Ami's bombastic greetings, inviting others to see the calamity that was Ami's home. She ran a hand between the Mascot's ears and whispered comforting words to try and still it's trembling but the trauma of seeing the initial state of disrepair still lingered. It would have almost been funny if she hadn't had to clean up a home that looked like a cross between a hoarder's nest and an arsonist's proving ground.
"H-Hey Prez. This is the Mascot Ami was texting you about. We've taken to calling her Kuro but I don't think she actually cares. The poor thing still reacts like it has the body of a mascot sometimes. Tried to jump on a junk pile when it got spooked and wound up buried under it. Been shaking like a leaf since, so, here I am." The Iron Winged Magical Girl said morosely, shifting the arm she kept slung beneath both of the mascot's arm pits to keep her from running off and trying to squeeze herself into a box to hide. Kuro didn't know that hiding would only make Ami hunt her down, and down that path laid many a nightmare best avoided.
She reached out, grasping the hem of Touka's shirt as her face morphed into the spitting image of desperation.
"Please, stay the night. The more people we have the more Ami will be...less Ami-like, and it might do Kuro here some good to be around familiar faces. She was our Club's go to Mascot....I think. Talking's hard for her and most Mascot's are equally friendly to us.""I'll think about it," was what Touka said to the desperate club member. She tried to brush off Tsuruga's grip on her shirt and when it became evident she wouldn't be let go that easily, she slowly pried off the fingers. A quick glance at "Kuro" was given before she stalked her way to the nearest window. Events were occurring strangley, more so than usual for Miso City. First Seyrun, and now a sentient Mascot...
Apia dusted the snow off her when she was finally in the apartment, taking in how homey everything felt. It was kind of similar to her room, actually, though there was no honey to be found. Shame. Anyway, Ami always knew how to make someone feel... special and invited? Something along those lines, though being dragged into the apartment from the snow wasn't exactly something that she'd expected to happen after her little hiatus. Maybe everything was water under the bridge, after all.
One of the first things that Apia noticed was the trembling mascot in the room. She had seen the pictures of Kuro that Ami posted, but it was definitely way cuter in person.
"Holy hell, Kuro is adorableee~!" Apia placed her things down as she gawked eyes at the cat, reaching into her bag and pulling out her favorite bee blanket before plopping down beside it and sitting there. She was perfectly content with watching Kuro for the while until Hana showed up. After that, she'd hopefully be a little more willing to mingle with the others.
Outside, two more girls made their way along the snowy street.
"Just wait until you see our mascot," Ayumu said, grinning over at Machiko. Not that she expected much curiosity from her friend, but surely the change would warrant at least some surprise.
"Did you check out the group chat? According to Ami, a little transformative act took place."As she neared the door, she could sense the small gathering already there, an odd, jumbled presence among them. The Detention Club mascot in her new form, presumably. Judging by the squealing she heard from one of the other girls, this was something Ayumu just had to see for herself. Setting down the box of sweets and cakes, she knocked.
"Hey! Did someone call for a magician and assistant?"Carrying in her arms a mixture of Cakes with half-ruined icing, Enough Cutlery to think she was planning on arming a regiment and wearing her backpack stood was a very noticable Gal coming into viewing range of the front door, doing her best to carry everything in her arms. Her Face slightly obscured by her hair. One could think then that the twisted smile on it was actually normal. It was then that she bumped into the back of the girl in front that she almost tripped and dropped all her cakes made with ~Surgical~ precision that she finally had to be forced to speak.
"Um whomst is infront?"Machiko had been following Ayumu closely, listening to whatever the girl may or may not talk about. A girl of few words herself, someone such as Ayumu would know that - despite what it looked like - Machiko was a listener. That being said, it wasn't long before the duo arrived at Ami's place. Without a word, Machiko took the box of sweets that Ayumu was holding...then looked behind her at some noise coming their way.
"Ayumu." she said with her usual low voice - easily unheard thanks to the magician's enthusiastic knocking on the door.
Without warning her friend fruther, Machiko stepped right aside as a new arrival walked right onto Ayumu...spilling cake all over her friend.
"Ayumu." she repeated.
"Careful; Cake." After putting down a box, Machiko used a finger to get some icing from her friend's cloths and tasted it.
"Good." she said, nodding in approval.
A pile of yellow pajamas was shoved into Apia's arms as Ami continued rambling about something or another, before her attention was dragged to the door once again.
"Coming!" She leapt over a pile of dirty laundry, rushing to the door just in time for her to hear several things dropping as well as what might be a splat? Ami swung the door open to find an Ayumu covered in cake, along with a Machiko and Apia's partner.
"Well I wasn't planning on this kind of night, but if you really wanted me to eat you up all you had to do was ask." Amusement dripped from her voice as she eyed Ayumu, pulling her into a hug.
"You can find the shower right past Tsu-chan, I'm guessing you're gonna need it." After the usual bone crushing hug was done, she moved aside to let everyone in.
"Good to see you again Machi-chan, we missed you." She closed the door once everyone was in, moving back to Touka and Tsuruga as they discussed the various fun times Kuro has had since becoming human.
"Hey now, you guys are making it sound like I traumatized Kuro or something! Kuro is having a wonderful time, just look at her! She's trembling with excitement!" Ami leapt onto the couch, landing with a bounce next to Tsuruga and Kuro.
"Isn't that right Kuro-chan! We're gonna have so much fun!" If it was even possible Kuro was trembling even harder now. What a good kitty.
The moment that Hana walked into the door, Apia ran up to her and grabbed a few of the cakes she was carrying, nuzzling her cheek after standing on her toes slightly.
"Missed ya, my lovely partner." She had a little bit of a blush, but hopefully it'd settle quickly. She didn't need anyone giving her a hard time about the whole situation between them.
Upon sensing another dark girl on her way, Ayumu had turned round a moment too late. The next thing she knew, several boxes knocked into her, cakes spilling out and splattering all over her coat. She stumbled, then regained her footing and turned to face Hana.
"Tsk tsk, you start throwing things at me before I've even put on a magic act? C'mon, you've gotta give an entertainer a chance," she joked. Far from being truly annoyed, she greeted Hana with a smile.
"Trust you to carry around as much as you possibly can."Just then, the door flew open and Ayumu found herself dragged into one of Ami's bear hugs, inadvertently covering her in crumbs and icing.
"Hehe, so I'm a tasty treat now am I?" She gave a playful wink as she stepped in, carrying her own box of pastries.
"Yeah, although there are much more exciting ways to clean all this up than a shower, you'd need Kiru's permission first."Placing the box on the table, she headed towards the bathroom, stopping when she noticed the cat-eared girl.
"Ohh! Now that's quite the adorable new look there, kittycat."Hana frowned a bit, just standing their a little embrassed that she had allowed herself to be so clumsy. She'd have to medically compare her reflexs later, maybe replace some muscle tissue with that of a more... No. She might have a craving for muscle mass but cross species implantation never worked in both publicised findings and in her own research. Obviously a chick headed rat and a rat heased chick were both organisms that wouldn't last longer then a few seconds. But she had managed 10 minutes! The circulatory miracle alone was outstanding to her.
She blinked again at the wierd smile that the cake covered girl was trying to give her only staring blankly back like some sort of mute, before a flash of yellow and a certain busy bee was causing this dear Cake-Carrying Nurse's Temperature to rise to a fever pitch. Obviously the red tint on her face was merely a byproduct of the infectious disease known as.
'OhmygoditsApiaShesTouchingMyFaceAndGivingMeABorderLinepanicattack-Itus'. Hana nodded slightly as she smiled at them that blushed smile, avoiding to speak to prevent her from being affected by the cursed symptom of stammering.
Passing the precipice, but maintaining a steady pace so that Apia was beside her, She placed the few,remain cupcake filled boxes down. Before slipping a final grand Silvery box down on the table. The best cake she had made all week!
But now that her hands were free she had only one cure for her current affliction as she wrapped her arms around Apia in a hug.
"I missed you too...~" That slight accent of a lover's language would carry those words via whisper into Apias ear. That increased heart rate that Apia gave her. Another symptom of their close proximity.
Apia giggled a little as she hugged back.
"Aww, you're adorable when you're flustered." Unfortunately for her, the bee's face blushed harder than it was a few moments ago.
"You've been so busy with your experiments that I was starting to think you weren't gonna come," Apia rested her head on the nurse's shoulder for a moment.
"I'm glad you came, though, honey..""Apologies for the lateness, my roommate didn’t let me leave any earlier. Nevertheless, it was rude of me to keep you waiting," Seyrun said as she stood by the door, bowing politely in an apologetic manner. Everything about the blue-haired girl’s figure --from the simple yet refined kimono she was dressed with, to the pair expensive Yubari melons that she brought as a gift, and not in the least the sweet-earthy scent of her perfume, which felt just like an early Spring drizzle in a field of flowering plum trees-- exuded a formal, yet mysterious, aura almost like what one would expect of a bride princess from the Warring States era.
The fact that she had gotten inside of Ami’s house without anyone noticing --or at least
remembering to let her in-- but didn’t feel like she was trespassing at all, along with the not-quite-magic, yet not-exactly-normal feeling coming from her only added to Seyrun’s mystery. For someone merely accustomed to the conventional trappings of the magical underworld, looking at her would feel just like gazing at a mirror --natural yet eerie. However, someone, as used to deceiving and puppeteering others as Touka, could perhaps notice that
this Seyrun was far more than meets the eye.
Perhaps detracting from the sudden intrusion of the mystery girl was the familiar roar of an approaching motorcycle, the Icy Magical girl allowing her transformed state to fall away as she parked before Ami's curb, revealing her in an oversized t-shirt and tight white shorts ending at her midthigh, just barely passing the hem of her casual top. Affixed to the rear of her vehicle was a block of ice and within it was plain to see the tubs upon tubs of ice cream she'd brought.
"Hello party people!" Kanbaru called out, shouldering her way through the door without waiting for anyone to open it, the block of ice propped against her chest as she went straight to the kitchen to set it on a counter top. Or at least, the space she approximated with a counter top buried beneath many a paper plate and greasy paper towel.
"Sheesh, and I thought sis kept her room a mess."Well, it wasn't her place to judge, so leaving the block to thaw out on its own she mosied into the main room where the others congregated and threw an arm around Seyrun's shoulders, pulling her in for a quick hug.
"Hey, glad to see you made it. Events like these can be a bit scary for newcomers to a social group, so it's great to see Touka's new friend drop in. Ooh, nice melons. We'll have to make Touka cut them up for us. You should see the things she can do with a high tension wire, it's amazing!""Oh, please, don’t bother yourselves. There’s a certain ritual to do when preparing these. If you don’t follow it properly you’ll miss some of the finer nuances of the fruit. Just get me some water, ice, and a sharp knife, I’ll have it done in no time," Seyrun said in a soft-spoken voice after being approached by Kanbaru.
After going in, Machiko also laid eyes on the mascot in human form, wondering what kind of trauma it went through, surrounded by the other club members. She looked around, found the first thing that could serve as a small table and dragged it in front of where most people were sitting, including Ami. Out from the box, Machiko laid down a table clothe, then revealed the content of her two boxes; sweets and pastries still fresh and placed in a beautiful display. She laid them out on the table.
"I bring this as a coming back offering." she said, bowing slightly in the direction of the club president.
Almost immediately after, Machiko stepped back and casually began picking up empty pizza boxes or other easy-to-clean stuff laying around, piling them up on the counter while waiting to dispose of them. Initially she didn't react that much to Seyrun's arrival, but as Ayumu walked back to the party after cleaning herself, Machiko landed a hand on her with the flash of an emotion in her eyes
"I'm not sure I like this one." she said looking at Seyrun.
Hana could only muster a smile to that comment from her partner as she was doing her best to avoid falling into a bad routine of blushing and smiling sheepishly.
"Careful Apia, We have to at least remain presentable in front of our fellow club members." Hana said softly. Always appreciative of that face that even she could not improve. Said face smiling at her.
Still with all her cakes placed down carefully on the table and the fact her hands was free, she grabbed the lid of one of the cake boxs. Before turning to face the newcomer... newcomer... new... She didn't recognise them at all at yet It was like Seyrun had always been there as part of the furniture.
"Hey there...?" Hana said always paranoid around even her other club members (Apia not included) wondering how long this person had been standing there with the melons.
Hana shook her head again as she turned away to set out her cakes. Several neatly frosted cakes, themed after each of the club members powers. Yes. She had to make a cake that instead of ribbons have a relatively sharp wire wrapped around it, For the club president of course, and each cake she had made would be in a similar sort of fashion. Apia's for instance was one that had been made in a honeycomb shape.
All these cakes would be set out on the table in a manner that was not too encroaching on Machiko. After finishing this little setup. Hana turned back to the stranger, and looked back at Apia. Then back to the stranger.
"Did we get a new member recently..?" She said walking over to them and bowing.
"Sorry If I had known you'd arrived I'd have made you your cake." Hana said to the woman. A stranger to her for she had no clue whom they were. She glanced at Kanbaru and nodded pointing at the table.
"I used extra frosting for you for your cake. Go have a look." She said simply.
"Also, I don’t think it’s fair of me to impose on any of you after being so kindly invited to this party. In fact, I almost feel a bit… out of place. If you understand what I mean," Seyrun added in a less vibrant tone after noticing the sudden shift in the mood as well as the way some of the other girls talked about her.
In due time, more and more girls had arrived until the entirity of the Detention Club had been crammed into Ami's household. For the most part; Chie and Kiru were still missing but it wasn't like Touka didn't know where they were. She gave a slight nod to one of their returning members, Machiko, before all her attention was placed on Seyrun. Seyrun, the girl who had seemingly slipped past everyone to find herself here. Kuro the Mascot shared Touka's sights, both sets of eyes watching the new girl carefully.
"So that's your deal. Did you think I wouldn't notice?" Touka thought to herself. She moved away from the window and made her presence now known among the group of gathered girls. A devious grin spread along her lips and sharpened teeth gleamed in the low-light.
"The Detention Club is all here, ready to welcome our newest initate," she announced, staring right at Seyrun.
"I'm sure you girls have noticed by now. There's a dark magic lingering off of our guest. Even the Mascots can feel it."Indeed, Kuro's shaking had halted into a deathly stillness and her eyes lowly glowed a red-rimmed color. Her ears and her tail stood straight up as she stared. Several more crimson lights shown their light into the dark house and if either girl looked outside they'd a number of Mascots peering into the house. They hung in trees, stood upon Ami's window sills, and basked in the New Year's Eve snow and ice as if it didn't bother them.
"Seyrun. What do you know about Mahou Shojo?" 
