Hizuki had made up her mind. The closer, unsettling resonance it was.
She came closer, closer still to her target. While Hizuki could feel their whereabouts, it wasn’t like she knew what they were doing. Was this person standing or sitting? Were they waiting for Hizuki or totally unaware of her presence? It was difficult to hear much either. The wind rolled right over the mountain forest and howled across the top of the buildings. Other than their desires, Hizuki knew little else about her target. It was time to decide a method of approach.
She could keep going as she was until she was right on top of her objective, or take to the skies to see if she could get a proper birds-eye fix on the target. The former risked spooking them, however, and the latter would only work if they were actually on the roof, and would run the same risks when she came back down.
Down the middle it is, then. She decided to increase her altitude a touch more, scanning the rooftops for potential matches to the desire she’s tracking.
There wasn’t a whole lot to hide behind on the roofs. Most of them were flat tar with a chimney or AC unit. Though there was something more interesting than that further ahead.
It looked like the mad hatter’s tea party. Several foldable tables stood end to end. They were lined with metal chairs, which were seated with everything from teddy bears to plush kittens. They appeared to be attending a tea party, but something was off. While the toys looked adorable, the same could not be said for the decor. The tablecloth was old and tattered. The plastic dishware was chipped and cracked, and the wind that was blowing so fiercely didn’t seem to disturb the area. Seated at the head of the table was who had to be Hizuki’s target.
It was hard to judge her height when she was seated, but she looked like she could be a new highschooler, if not a middle schooler. Her dark hair rolled over her horns and tumbled down her back all the way to the roof. Her white dress had paled with age, but had no other blemishes. She wore a few accessories too, from dream catchers that hung from her horns to a tiny heart shaped pendant. It contained a gemstone that was cracked in half. She had a hundred yard stare on, and wasn’t paying her surroundings any mind. She lifted an empty cup to her lips and sipped. Once she was done, she leaned back in her seat and put her thumb in her mouth.
The sight of her confirmed Hizuki’s suspicions. If this was a light girl, she was either
very strange or at risk of falling. . . and light girls tended to not have horns like that. Apprehension welled up in her as she drew closer. She wasn’t sure if a dark girl would attack in broad daylight like this, but Hizuki couldn’t discount the possibility. She considered approaching untransformed, until mentally facepalming at a critical flaw in that approach: there was no way someone mundane could see this girl.
She maneuvered into the girl’s sightline and began a slow glide toward the twisted tea party. The Daybreak alighted on the far edge of the roof, and began a slow approach.
”Hello?” she called out, voice tentative. At this point her brain elected to not supply any further phrases to provide to a complete (and potentially dangerous) stranger. Her greatest weakness: actually talking to people. She eventually followed up with a
”I’m not here to fight,” hoping to ward off any initial aggression.
The horned girl turned her head slowly, not unlike an owl on a nature documentary. Her sullen eyes locked onto Hizuki before her whole body froze. She stared in silence like this for an uncomfortable amount of time. Finally she blinked, removed her thumb from her mouth, and dropped her teacup on the table. It made no sound when it landed.
The girl stood up, and her height wasn’t so imposing. She was a bit “broader” than the average magical girl, but she couldn’t have been any taller than Daybreak. Her pale dress covered her feet, which gave her the appearance of sliding across the tar roof. She stopped her advance when she was just outside of sword swinging range. Speaking of weapons, she didn’t appear to have any to speak of.
”Why would I think you were here to fight?” Her voice sounded tired, reminiscent of a teenager asked to do something on their day off.
”This is a tea party.” She pulled one of the seats out and plucked the plush monkey off it.
”If you want to stay, you’re going to have to let Mr. Banana sit on your lap. It’s okay, he’s mostly harmless.” Hizuki blinked. She wasn’t sure what, exactly, she was expecting, but that wasn’t quite it.
”I just thought. . . well, nevermind.” Telling Maliss here she’d been half-expecting an immediate attempted homicide at the sight of a light girl in Hibusa was probably not the best way to endear herself at this point.
”Uh, sure, that’s probably okay.” She moved to take the newly-cleared chair, her wings folding up underneath her cloak to avoid snagging on anything else.
Close as she was, she
should have been getting a more accurate read on the girl, but most of what she was actually feeling was more murky, dark desires. Somewhere in the swirl was a clearer impression, a wish that stood a bit higher than the churning fog around it: destruction. Another flash of worry for Daybreak. She hoped it wasn’t
her Maliss wanted to destroy for interrupting her tea party, even if she
had just invited Hizuki.
”So, um. . . What are you doing up here? Besides having a tea party, I mean.”When Hizuki posed her question, she realized that the horned girl was nowhere in sight. A pair of arms wrapped around her midsection, giving her a bear hug from behind. It wasn’t especially tight, and if she really wanted to fight her way free, she could have. She stiffened and almost moved to do so, but there would be no need. With a sigh, the strange host released her and started to walk to the head of the table, some of Hizuki’s tension leaving with her.
”Sure. I can fill you in.” she sat back down before casting her gaze over everyone present.
”But before I do that, let’s get introduced. Say your names, everyone.” The tea table was quiet. Only the wind broke the silence as the horned girl drank from an empty cup, at least until the light girl volunteered her own title as
”Hizuki the Daybreak.””Mr Banana, don’t say such things. You barely know your ‘cushion,’ and such jokes are in poor taste.” She continued to lazily stare at the lap monkey before nodding.
”And I am your host…”
”This collab is now GOATed.”— Black Gate She straightened her posture before sinking into a slouch.
”I could use your help with something. I need to get all of these fine servants into Hibusa town.” Hizuki’s brow furrowed in confusion.
”Hibusa?” This girl was making less sense by the moment, but she at least seemed to appreciate her company? Maybe?
”Aren’t we already in Hibusa?”It was hard to tell if Black Gate was choosing her next words, or just staring off into space. She poured nothing into her cup, and then sipped it. Her eyes drifted to a bear sitting across from Hizuki before looking back at the light girl.
”To simplify what Tibbers said, we’re not in enough. They need to be down there with the common folk. My servants must become part of their community.” she closed her eyes.
”Normally I have more time, but the eyeballs are here again. Some exterminators around Hibusa town have given me a reprieve, but I know we will be discovered soon.”Daybreak looked around at the stuffed animals, trying to reason out this (so far) rather unreasonable-sounding girl. They could have something to do with her magic, Hizuki supposed, which would explain why she kept talking to them, and why she needed to be covert about this if other magical girls could disrupt it. Her first instinct was to offer to help, but there was important information she was missing.
”Eyeballs? Do you mean actual eyeballs, or just another girl's power watching you?” ”They are cute eyeball things that float in the air. They are about the size of your fist. They must be sentries from a hostile magical girl.”That was good to know. If she hadn’t heard that, she probably would have started blowing them out of the air thinking they were Miseria.
”If you don't mind my asking, why do you need to avoid discovery?””Because this is Hibusa town, home of the dreaded Detention Club. Surely you know who they are?” She poured nothing into her teacup. While still slouched, she reached for a plastic spoon and stirred the nothing and nothing together.
”They are numerous, and I doubt I am strong enough to handle them. They travel in pairs and sometimes as an entire team. Just part of the team was enough to fight off a detachment of the Gems, destroy a powerful miseria, and ruin a beach. I’d hate to get caught by such creatures.” Hizuki was grateful at times like these that her magical girl form covered most of her face; the visor made it hard to tell when she was shocked or afraid. She could practically hear the metaphorical shoe dropping as Black Gate connected the dots for her.
So that’s who you want to destroy. The Gems being here was
really bad news; there was a reason she hadn’t tried to sign on with them.
”I’ve heard of the Detention Club before, they're the reason the other light girls told me not to come here,” Hizuki began cautiously,
”but I don’t know if I’d call them creatures.” She knew she would regret continuing, but she would rather get kicked around a bit than lie to someone.
”I actually came to Hibusa to, well, talk to them?” Her voice rose with uncertainty.
Black Gate nearly spit her nothing back into her cup. It was the most awake her eyes had looked since the two had met. She plunged her thumb into her mouth and eyed either side of the table. Finally, she pulled her thumb back
out of her mouth and cast her hands in the air.
”It’s fine, everyone!” Her voice was only slightly louder than it normally was.
”We all have our part to play, and she has selected hers. Besides…” After the initial outburst, the goat girl was back to her lackadaisical self.
”This may work in our favor.” She pushed herself out of her chair and walked back over to Hizuki’s seat. She tucked her dress under her knees and knelt beside her, causing Hizuki to lean away slightly in response.
”Hizuki the Daybreak.” The words oozed out of her mouth like ketchup flowing out of a bottle.
”If you are going to go visit the Detention Club, then you will be going to school, hmmm?” She waved her arm at the stuffed animals in attendance.
”Could you dispense some of my servants within the school? They make great locker stuffers, and I’m sure they would liven up the place.” Daybreak glanced down at the stuffed monkey in her lap, an errant thought in the back of her head wondering what “Mr. Banana” had supposedly said about her that was so rude.
”That. . . probably wouldn’t be so bad.” She hesitated again, not sure how accusatory she should be here.
”Just to look around, right? I want to make sure I’m doing a good thing, you know.” And not just because it might make her stronger, though admittedly getting more powerful from performing Virtues was her second favorite thing about being a magical girl.
”They probably won’t want to hear me out if they think I’m helping you destroy them, or something.” There, that should be subtle enough, right? This was already starting to get more complicated than she’d anticipated; the way people talked about Hibusa, it’d sounded like there was more or less
only the Detention Club for magical girls.
The goat girl raised an eyebrow.
”What?” After a second or two, something seemed to click. Then it slipped away.
”Yes, my servants just wish to look around. They are not capable of ‘destroying’ anything. They have no combat experience to speak of. They are…Weak… Like me.” She dragged herself back over to her chair.
”But you are a strong paladin. You’ll be okay.” Something still didn’t feel right about this to Hizuki, but she couldn’t actually tell whether someone was lying or not with her power. It would line up if the Detention Club were who she wanted to destroy and couldn’t, but maybe there was someone else she was after. The Gems, maybe? Hizuki could understand that, at least, if half of what she’d heard about the Gems was true.
She stood up carefully, being sure not to jostle the non-tea solo party or manhandle Mr. Banana too much.
”Okay, I’ll help, then. If you run into other dark girls, could you maybe let them know I’m not actually here to fight?” Technically that wasn’t
strictly true, as she was prepared to stop them from visiting harm on Hibusa’s residents if needed, but fighting wasn’t her goal.
”I’m not with the Gems, I mostly just want to see if I can help them, too.”Miss Black inhaled deeply, then let it all go as one long, long sigh.
”I’m not here to meet people, but if I am captured I will let them know that Hizuki the Daybreak is a friend to all magical girls.” She placed her hands together and tipped her head at Hizuki.
”Thank you for your help. I’ll give you a box of my servants to disperse as you please. You can place them anywhere or even hand them off to students, but only if you can trust them to be gentle with them.” Her eyes flicked down into Hizuki’s arms, then back up to her face.
”Mr Banana likes the cut of your jib. Why don’t you keep him? He’s just the right size for a backpack charm or a shelf decoration.” Hizuki glanced down at the stuffed animal. That thought bubbled up again, but she figured she should just take the win now that she had it. When her eyes came up, she was smiling slightly.
“Sure, I like stuffed animals.” Suspicion or no, it seemed like she might have started to make a friend, or at least someone who didn't see her as an enemy. . . Also she liked being called a paladin.
”I guess I'll grab that box and take it with me tomorrow. Do you have one together already?””Yes, just one moment.” With all the enthusiasm of a child told to pick up their toys, Black Gate got to work. She pulled a cardboard box out from under one of the tables that was held together with duct tape. She selected her servants and placed them inside the box, occasionally whispering to the toys as she packed them up. About half of the toys wound up in the box before she folded the flaps of the box closed.
”That should be enough.” She set the box in front of Hizuki.
”Guessing you aren't going to school, by the way? No judgement.” Given the little she knew about dark girls, there was probably a reason, much like Hizuki had good reasons to disrupt her own schooling to come here.
”Not here, no.” She began to fold up the tables. There was another box, presumably for the other toys.
”It’s kind of boring though. Maybe if I skipped a grade it would be more challenging. I do well on my tests regardless of how little I study.” She rubbed the side of her head.
”I don’t come out this far. Usually. We can exchange phone numbers if you’d like.” Her eyes shifted to the monkey.
”Well maybe she doesn’t want you to relay messages for her? I’m surprised she agreed to take you after what you said.”Hizuki's curiosity finally got the best of her as she put the toy atop the box, then carefully hoisted it into her arms.
”What did he say? I can't actually hear him.” She should have been considering how to keep the box reasonably secure midflight, but with another mention, she couldn't resist.
”Oh, I keep forgetting about that.” The two girls stared at each other.
”It wasn’t the sort of thing a lady should repeat. But, well, he called you a mattress. Being that this was said by a plush toy, I think you can understand what he was insinuating.” She looked back at the monkey.
”What do you mean I ‘ruined your chance?’ You did that all on your own, Mr Banana. I think you should take your time away from here to reflect and improve.” She looked back at Daybreak.
”It’s probably best that you can’t hear him.””. . . Ah.” She was lost as to how to respond to that.
”I’ll. . . take your word for it, then. Oh, right, cellphone.” Hizuki rattled off her number, then waited for Ms. Gate to do the same, which she did. Slowly.
After the exchange, she nodded once.
”Alright. I’ll get a hold of you if I need anything. Feel free to text me if you need something, but for now, I’ll be heading out. See you later.” Rather than verbally responding, Black Gate waved to the departing magical girl as Hizuki walked to the edge of the building, took one moment to triple-check that her package was secure, then rocketed off into the air, leaving the dark girl and her odd little tea party behind for the moment.
That went. . . well, I think?
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