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lirillithTitle: Chocolates and Cheese
Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Pairing: Mami/Charlotte
Length: 3k words
Rating: PG, for magical-girl violence
Summary: If they'd met earlier...
Notes: Written for a prompt bysecretstaircase at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fic_promptly. Contains the episode 8/9 spoiler. Yuzuna's given name originates with erinptah.
****
Mami stared at the girl, not sure what it was about her that had caught her attention. Maybe it was the red coat, too warm for such a mild autumn day, and a size or two too large, the long sleeves covering her hands. Or the knee socks printed with a candy pattern, which were right at eye level, as the girl stood at the top of the short flight of park steps. No, she knew the feeling; there'd been a flash of recognition, not quite like anything shed'd felt before, but not quite alien. It felt like catching a witch's trail, but without the undertone of malice and hurt. While she was still sorting out what had just happened, the girl had run down the steps towards her. "I thought I was the only one around here!"
"The only... you're a magical girl too!"
"Kyubey, why didn't you tell me there was another?" the other girl asked.
She's new, he protested. This is only her third witch hunt.
"So that means I'm your senpai!" the girl exclaimed, sounding delighted. Mami smiled; the other girl's head came up to her chin. Her hair was pulled into two short pigtails high on either side of her head, curled like Mami's own.
"Pleased to meet you," Mami said, bowing. "I'm Tomoe Mami. I'm a first-year at Mitakihara Junior High School."
"I'm Momoka Yuzuna. I'm a first-year too, at Ayukawa Junior High."
"Were you tracking the witch too, Momoka-san?"
"Yes," the girl said, and then blushed. "Would you like to talk about how to deal with the witch before we go after her? I know of a good crepe stand near here."
Yuzuna led them directly to a stand - clearly she knew the area well - and ordered a strawberry cheesecake crepe. After some dithering, Mami ordered hers with blueberries and cream. As they walked to a park bench, the smaller girl, cheeks slightly pink again, asked "Is it all right if I call you Mami-chan?"
"Of course." The girl just nodded, looking intently at her crepe, and Mami asked, "How long have you been a magical girl, Momoka-san?"
"Mm," the girl mumbled, around a bite of crepe. "About a year. Please just call me Yuzuna!"
"All right... Yuzuna-san?" Yuzuna beamed at her. "Have you fought a lot of witches?" At her nod, Mami asked, "Do you know how many?"
"Hmmm..." Yuzuna seated herself on the bench as she considered the question. "I'm not exactly sure how many. I have a record at home, but when I try to think back they blur together... or sometimes the witch gets away, or you fight a familiar that's about to turn into a witch. Kyubey thought that was a bad idea, but I didn't care. Has he told you about grief seeds?" Yuzuna asked, then took another bite of her crepe.
"Yes. Why would that be a bad idea?"
Familiars can eventually become witches. If you kill a familiar, you won't receive a grief seed. If you wait for it to become a witch, you might.
"But who knows how much damage it will do before it matures?" Mami asked. "That seems risky."
"Exactly!" Yuzuna said. "It was the right thing to do." Seeming embarrassed, she quickly took another bite of her crepe.
Of course! I didn't think it was a bad idea, Yuzuna. I just wanted you to be aware of the trade-off.
I know. And so is Mami-chan, now, the girl responded mentally. Mami smiled warmly at her, and Yuzuna smiled back, shyly. "What form does your magic take, Mami-chan?"
Guns, Mami responded mentally, watching the passers-by. She knew they probably weren't paying any attention, but she couldn't help being self-conscious. Sort of like rifles, or muskets. I don't really know much about guns, just what I've seen in movies, but mine are long, and they're each one shot, but the type of shot can vary...
"So you're a musketeer!"
"I... guess so?"
"That's so cool!"
"It is?"
"I'll show you mine when we find the witch. It's too silly to explain." Yuzuna was already halfway through her crepe; Mami tried to turn her attention to eating. "Sorry," Yuzuna said, her ears going pink. "I sort of eat fast. I may go get another crepe if you don't mind."
When Yuzuna's second crepe was finished, they resumed the search for the witch. Yuzuna's soul gem was a beautiful deep reddish-pink, and it seemed to glow more readily in response to the witch's trail than Mami's did. "I'm probably more attuned to them, that's all," Yuzuna reassured her. "It takes practice." The shared crepes, and Mami's reassurance, seemed to have caused a transformation. Very little of her earlier shyness remained as Yuzuna chattered about witch-hunting, with occasional digressions. "Being able to tell the difference between two witches is just something you'll learn over time. That's a really good ramen place over there. You won't usually have to worry about two separate witch trails and getting confused between them, but if that situation comes up, it's a good opportunity to tell two of them apart. You just need to pay close attention. Are you thirsty at all?"
Mami glanced across the street, following Yuzuna's gaze. She was staring at a cafe. "Not really."
"I guess it's just because I talk so much," Yuzuna said, a trace of her bashfulness returning. Mami tried to keep her own amusement off her face. "It's okay," Yuzuna said. "I know I'm noisy, at least once I get to know someone. And I'm easily distracted by food."
"I should bake you a cake," Mami said. "I used to love to bake, but I can't possibly eat a whole cake on my own before it gets stale."
"Your parents don't like sweets?" Yuzuna asked, and then glanced down at the soul gem in her hand. Mami had sensed something, just before she noticed the flash of light. Her own gem was glowing more brightly as well. "We're close," Yuzuna said. "This way!"
Mami followed her as Yuzuna sped up, weaving between slower-moving pedestrians. "This is an unusual place for one," Yuzuna said, over her shoulder.
"It is?"
"Here!" Yuzuna exclaimed, stopping so suddenly Mami nearly crashed into her. She was standing at the opening of an alleyway. Mami watched as she began walking down it, slowly, almost stalking. "Here it is," she said softly. Mami joined her. The grief seed stood out from the wall at a perfect right angle. It was topped with a heart that had something sticking out from either side. Wings? "Are you ready?" Yuzuna asked. Mami nodded, but before she could begin to transform, Yuzuna was turning in a circle, her arms and skirt and the tail of her coat swinging. Her coat seemed to draw in, shrinking up around her, as her skirt billowed out. When she came to a stop, she was wearing pink tights with brown polka dots, a dress the reddish-pink of a sliced strawberry, with cap sleeves and chocolate-brown ribbons lacing up the front, and a full, short skirt, split at the front over layers of frilly, polka-dotted pink petticoats. She held a long wand topped at the head with what appeared to be a piece of candy. The classic, old-fashioned kind with the wrapping twisted at each end, like the ones on the socks she'd been wearing before. A similar emblem was at the back of her dress, attached like a brooch to a sash the same chocolate color as her ribbons.
"You see?" Yuzuna asked, her face a deeper pink than her soul gem had been. "It's too silly to describe."
The witch's barrier had looked like an amusement park at night. They'd been attacked by balloons with teeth and snarling plush animals, and the witch herself had been made up of strings of bobbing lights and puffs of cotton candy. Neither of them could figure out where the witch's central parts or weak spot were hidden. They'd had to leap and climb over a Ferris wheel to kill her, dodging firework blasts, and it had taken the two of them to finally corner her so she couldn't just reverse direction and keep going around the wheel. Mami had used her ribbons to gather the witch up and confine her, and then Yuzuna shot it with beams of bright pink energy and Mami with her Tiro Finale. When the Ferris wheel began to gently collapse to the ground, they knew it had worked.
"Good job, partner!" Yuzuna congratulated her, in English, as she held out a hand for a high-five. Mami slapped her hand, grinning despite her weariness. "We can split the grief seed," Yuzuna added. "It should work out perfectly. We each use up half as much power, so we only need half as much of each seed."
I hope so, Kyubey said, but Yuzuna ignored his doubtful tone. "Come on, Mami-chan, let's go to that cafe."
Back in their school uniforms, they sat by a window, where they could watch it grow dark outside as they talked. Over her cup of tea and Yuzuna's hot chocolate, Mami told her new friend about her parents, and living alone. She didn't actually mention her wish. "I'll treat you!" Yuzuna declared after that, and Mami smiled, touched at the concern.
"It's all right. My great-aunt and her husband deposit money into a joint account every month - I have spending money and a budget for household expenses. Groceries and things like that. At first they kept a close eye on the budget, but once I proved I was responsible they let me have a lot more control."
"That's good. But don't you get lonely?" Mami took a sip of her tea, not sure she trusted herself to speak. Apparently she didn't need to. "We need to work together, Mami-chan. Kyubey may need to go work with another magical girl at any time! You need more company than just him."
"You don't mind?"
"Of course not! I've always wanted someone I can talk to about this. I hate keeping secrets." She slurped her hot chocolate, and smiled at Mami over the rim. "So how did you decide what to name your final attack?"
After that, they saw each other nearly every day. They'd meet after school, patrol together, and go to Mami's apartment, or Yuzuna's, to study and eat dinner. Yuzuna preferred Mami's, where they could talk about magic - or developing and naming Yuzuna's final attack - without worrying about anyone overhearing. Mami enjoyed Yuzuna's house - her friendly, warm, noisy family had made her feel at home immediately, her toddler sister was adorable, and it was nice to eat someone else's home-cooked meals. But it was good to have Yuzuna in her own apartment, too, making the place feel more alive than it had since the accident.
Mami found herself making lots of little adjustments, happily. She tried out new recipes she thought Yuzuna would like, and made sure to have Yuzuna's favorite foods on hand. Especially cheese. Yuzuna swore by cheese.
"You know how it is, when you eat so much cake or candy that you just really need to eat something that's not sweet?" Yuzuna said once, slicing up cheddar for one study session. "Like cheese, or... I don't know, something salty. But cheese is best."
"I've never had that problem," Mami said. "Maybe you overdo it a bit on the sweets, Yuzuna-san."
"Impossible! There is no such thing."
She didn't actually think Yuzuna's sweet tooth was that excessive. It was cute, really. And Mami enjoyed baking, especially for Yuzuna - cakes, pies, and once December began, Christmas cookies decorated to look like Santa Clauses, and an ill-fated batch of fudge that they had to eat with a spoon. She made an effort to find new types of cheese, even venturing a little nervously into import stores where all the gaijin shopped. Yuzuna's delight at each new treat was all the reward she needed.
She joined Yuzuna's family for the New Year, and the company kept her from missing her parents too painfully until she was back in her own apartment. Kyubey checked in with them from time to time, to consume their spent grief seeds and direct them to areas where he suspected they might find witches, but he was gone most days, and Mami was more grateful than ever that she and Yuzuna had met when they had. As February approached, she began to think about what she could do for Yuzuna for Valentine's Day. Maybe she should give fudge another try, but she'd better experiment first to see if she could make it come out right, and that would kind of give away the surprise. When she was supposed to be doing homework, she found herself instead looking up candy molds and recipes for chocolate cake. Stop fussing so much, she told herself. Why make such a big deal over the kind of chocolate you give to a friend? It's not like she's a boy you like.
Oh, she thought.
Of course.
She'd always figured she'd eventually start to be interested in boys. Her mother used to reassure her that just because she was an early developer in some ways didn't mean she wasn't a late bloomer in others. Maybe she was just an average developer this way. But in a different direction.
It never occurred to her not to tell Yuzuna. Of course she worried about how her confession would be taken, but that was normal, wasn't it? Anyone would be nervous. She didn't know if Yuzuna would like her back. Did she already have someone she liked? A boy? But surely there was something in their closeness that she wasn't imagining. She'd had other friends, before the accident, before she missed so much school; she'd never had a crush on any of them. Surely that meant something.
She made her decision - a chocolate cake, homemade, topped with strawberries - and her shopping list. She felt nervous and excited as she shopped, as if she was involved in a conspiracy, as if she was keeping a secret from everyone. Or maybe just the opposite; maybe everyone could tell she was in love. She was a young girl, smiling, putting cocoa powder and butter and eggs into her shopping basket in February, inspecting and then passing by the displays of packaged chocolates. Everyone could probably tell, but no one knew.
Finally, the weekend came. She made sure to pick up some fancy triple-cream Brie from one of the gourmet shops, knowing it would probably make Yuzuna even happier than the cake would, and then she went home to start baking. The cake would be done by the time she needed to meet Yuzuna to patrol. Once they were done, Mami would frost and decorate the cake. The fourteenth was a Sunday, and Yuzuna would come over to her apartment - they'd already planned it - and she'd surprise her with the cake, and explain that it wasn't just friendship chocolate, and then... She could barely bring herself to daydream. What if Yuzuna didn't feel the same? Manga characters always seemed to confess just to get it off their chests, but surely it was awkward, afterwards?
Or maybe it was awkward beforehand. As they patrolled, she found it hard to chat as they usually did; after the third time she killed a conversation with an absent-minded "yes," or "hmmm," she made an effort, only to find Yuzuna doing the same. To a question about cheese, no less. That shocked her out of her own preoccupation. "Yuzuna-san, is something wrong?"
"Kind of... Mami-chan, I've been keeping secrets from you."
"You have?"
"Yeah." The stopped at a street corner, and Yuzuna said, "Maybe we should find a place to sit down."
The bakery they found was busy enough that they could be sure no one was paying attention to them. Yuzuna clearly wasn't too upset to order a choux creme, so it couldn't be that bad, surely? But then she placed her cream puff on her plate untouched. "What is it, Yuzuna-san?" Mami asked, once it became clear Yuzuna wasn't going to just say it.
"I'm... actually a year older than you," she said. "I should be in my second year of junior high. I missed a lot of school, because I was sick for a long time." Mami nodded. "I had leukemia. And my wish was to get well." Mami nodded again. "Does that bother you?" Yuzuna finally asked.
"Of course not. Why should it? I'm sorry you went through that. It must have been scary." Yuzuna nodded, her eyes on her plate.
"I just didn't like keeping it secret from you. That's why I'm such a glutton now. I couldn't eat a lot of my favorite foods when I was sick." Yuzuna still didn't look up, though. "There's one more thing."
"Yes?"
She waited, watching her friend, realizing that she was slowly turning pink. Before she spoke, Yuzuna was blushing more than Mami had seen since the first time she'd transformed. "I... was going to tell you tomorrow. I tried making chocolate-covered strawberries, but they didn't come out very well, so I thought I'd get you something else, and I don't know if I should tell you I like you with store-bought chocolates, so, um... that was it. I like you. You know. In the Valentine's Day kind of way."
"Yuzuna..." She finally looked up at Mami, just stealing a glance, before she returned her gaze to the plate. "I have a chocolate cake for you back at home," Mami finally said. "I was going to decorate it tonight." That made Yuzuna look up, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. It wasn't the cutest expression she'd ever had, but Mami was certain she'd remember it forever. "So you still need to come over tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay!" Yuzuna was beaming at her. Mami was smiling too, relieved and happy. "Mami-chan, do you like macarons? Or should I surprise you?"
****
Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Pairing: Mami/Charlotte
Length: 3k words
Rating: PG, for magical-girl violence
Summary: If they'd met earlier...
Notes: Written for a prompt by
secretstaircase at fic_promptly. Contains the episode 8/9 spoiler. Yuzuna's given name originates with erinptah. ****
Mami stared at the girl, not sure what it was about her that had caught her attention. Maybe it was the red coat, too warm for such a mild autumn day, and a size or two too large, the long sleeves covering her hands. Or the knee socks printed with a candy pattern, which were right at eye level, as the girl stood at the top of the short flight of park steps. No, she knew the feeling; there'd been a flash of recognition, not quite like anything shed'd felt before, but not quite alien. It felt like catching a witch's trail, but without the undertone of malice and hurt. While she was still sorting out what had just happened, the girl had run down the steps towards her. "I thought I was the only one around here!"
"The only... you're a magical girl too!"
"Kyubey, why didn't you tell me there was another?" the other girl asked.
She's new, he protested. This is only her third witch hunt.
"So that means I'm your senpai!" the girl exclaimed, sounding delighted. Mami smiled; the other girl's head came up to her chin. Her hair was pulled into two short pigtails high on either side of her head, curled like Mami's own.
"Pleased to meet you," Mami said, bowing. "I'm Tomoe Mami. I'm a first-year at Mitakihara Junior High School."
"I'm Momoka Yuzuna. I'm a first-year too, at Ayukawa Junior High."
"Were you tracking the witch too, Momoka-san?"
"Yes," the girl said, and then blushed. "Would you like to talk about how to deal with the witch before we go after her? I know of a good crepe stand near here."
Yuzuna led them directly to a stand - clearly she knew the area well - and ordered a strawberry cheesecake crepe. After some dithering, Mami ordered hers with blueberries and cream. As they walked to a park bench, the smaller girl, cheeks slightly pink again, asked "Is it all right if I call you Mami-chan?"
"Of course." The girl just nodded, looking intently at her crepe, and Mami asked, "How long have you been a magical girl, Momoka-san?"
"Mm," the girl mumbled, around a bite of crepe. "About a year. Please just call me Yuzuna!"
"All right... Yuzuna-san?" Yuzuna beamed at her. "Have you fought a lot of witches?" At her nod, Mami asked, "Do you know how many?"
"Hmmm..." Yuzuna seated herself on the bench as she considered the question. "I'm not exactly sure how many. I have a record at home, but when I try to think back they blur together... or sometimes the witch gets away, or you fight a familiar that's about to turn into a witch. Kyubey thought that was a bad idea, but I didn't care. Has he told you about grief seeds?" Yuzuna asked, then took another bite of her crepe.
"Yes. Why would that be a bad idea?"
Familiars can eventually become witches. If you kill a familiar, you won't receive a grief seed. If you wait for it to become a witch, you might.
"But who knows how much damage it will do before it matures?" Mami asked. "That seems risky."
"Exactly!" Yuzuna said. "It was the right thing to do." Seeming embarrassed, she quickly took another bite of her crepe.
Of course! I didn't think it was a bad idea, Yuzuna. I just wanted you to be aware of the trade-off.
I know. And so is Mami-chan, now, the girl responded mentally. Mami smiled warmly at her, and Yuzuna smiled back, shyly. "What form does your magic take, Mami-chan?"
Guns, Mami responded mentally, watching the passers-by. She knew they probably weren't paying any attention, but she couldn't help being self-conscious. Sort of like rifles, or muskets. I don't really know much about guns, just what I've seen in movies, but mine are long, and they're each one shot, but the type of shot can vary...
"So you're a musketeer!"
"I... guess so?"
"That's so cool!"
"It is?"
"I'll show you mine when we find the witch. It's too silly to explain." Yuzuna was already halfway through her crepe; Mami tried to turn her attention to eating. "Sorry," Yuzuna said, her ears going pink. "I sort of eat fast. I may go get another crepe if you don't mind."
When Yuzuna's second crepe was finished, they resumed the search for the witch. Yuzuna's soul gem was a beautiful deep reddish-pink, and it seemed to glow more readily in response to the witch's trail than Mami's did. "I'm probably more attuned to them, that's all," Yuzuna reassured her. "It takes practice." The shared crepes, and Mami's reassurance, seemed to have caused a transformation. Very little of her earlier shyness remained as Yuzuna chattered about witch-hunting, with occasional digressions. "Being able to tell the difference between two witches is just something you'll learn over time. That's a really good ramen place over there. You won't usually have to worry about two separate witch trails and getting confused between them, but if that situation comes up, it's a good opportunity to tell two of them apart. You just need to pay close attention. Are you thirsty at all?"
Mami glanced across the street, following Yuzuna's gaze. She was staring at a cafe. "Not really."
"I guess it's just because I talk so much," Yuzuna said, a trace of her bashfulness returning. Mami tried to keep her own amusement off her face. "It's okay," Yuzuna said. "I know I'm noisy, at least once I get to know someone. And I'm easily distracted by food."
"I should bake you a cake," Mami said. "I used to love to bake, but I can't possibly eat a whole cake on my own before it gets stale."
"Your parents don't like sweets?" Yuzuna asked, and then glanced down at the soul gem in her hand. Mami had sensed something, just before she noticed the flash of light. Her own gem was glowing more brightly as well. "We're close," Yuzuna said. "This way!"
Mami followed her as Yuzuna sped up, weaving between slower-moving pedestrians. "This is an unusual place for one," Yuzuna said, over her shoulder.
"It is?"
"Here!" Yuzuna exclaimed, stopping so suddenly Mami nearly crashed into her. She was standing at the opening of an alleyway. Mami watched as she began walking down it, slowly, almost stalking. "Here it is," she said softly. Mami joined her. The grief seed stood out from the wall at a perfect right angle. It was topped with a heart that had something sticking out from either side. Wings? "Are you ready?" Yuzuna asked. Mami nodded, but before she could begin to transform, Yuzuna was turning in a circle, her arms and skirt and the tail of her coat swinging. Her coat seemed to draw in, shrinking up around her, as her skirt billowed out. When she came to a stop, she was wearing pink tights with brown polka dots, a dress the reddish-pink of a sliced strawberry, with cap sleeves and chocolate-brown ribbons lacing up the front, and a full, short skirt, split at the front over layers of frilly, polka-dotted pink petticoats. She held a long wand topped at the head with what appeared to be a piece of candy. The classic, old-fashioned kind with the wrapping twisted at each end, like the ones on the socks she'd been wearing before. A similar emblem was at the back of her dress, attached like a brooch to a sash the same chocolate color as her ribbons.
"You see?" Yuzuna asked, her face a deeper pink than her soul gem had been. "It's too silly to describe."
The witch's barrier had looked like an amusement park at night. They'd been attacked by balloons with teeth and snarling plush animals, and the witch herself had been made up of strings of bobbing lights and puffs of cotton candy. Neither of them could figure out where the witch's central parts or weak spot were hidden. They'd had to leap and climb over a Ferris wheel to kill her, dodging firework blasts, and it had taken the two of them to finally corner her so she couldn't just reverse direction and keep going around the wheel. Mami had used her ribbons to gather the witch up and confine her, and then Yuzuna shot it with beams of bright pink energy and Mami with her Tiro Finale. When the Ferris wheel began to gently collapse to the ground, they knew it had worked.
"Good job, partner!" Yuzuna congratulated her, in English, as she held out a hand for a high-five. Mami slapped her hand, grinning despite her weariness. "We can split the grief seed," Yuzuna added. "It should work out perfectly. We each use up half as much power, so we only need half as much of each seed."
I hope so, Kyubey said, but Yuzuna ignored his doubtful tone. "Come on, Mami-chan, let's go to that cafe."
Back in their school uniforms, they sat by a window, where they could watch it grow dark outside as they talked. Over her cup of tea and Yuzuna's hot chocolate, Mami told her new friend about her parents, and living alone. She didn't actually mention her wish. "I'll treat you!" Yuzuna declared after that, and Mami smiled, touched at the concern.
"It's all right. My great-aunt and her husband deposit money into a joint account every month - I have spending money and a budget for household expenses. Groceries and things like that. At first they kept a close eye on the budget, but once I proved I was responsible they let me have a lot more control."
"That's good. But don't you get lonely?" Mami took a sip of her tea, not sure she trusted herself to speak. Apparently she didn't need to. "We need to work together, Mami-chan. Kyubey may need to go work with another magical girl at any time! You need more company than just him."
"You don't mind?"
"Of course not! I've always wanted someone I can talk to about this. I hate keeping secrets." She slurped her hot chocolate, and smiled at Mami over the rim. "So how did you decide what to name your final attack?"
After that, they saw each other nearly every day. They'd meet after school, patrol together, and go to Mami's apartment, or Yuzuna's, to study and eat dinner. Yuzuna preferred Mami's, where they could talk about magic - or developing and naming Yuzuna's final attack - without worrying about anyone overhearing. Mami enjoyed Yuzuna's house - her friendly, warm, noisy family had made her feel at home immediately, her toddler sister was adorable, and it was nice to eat someone else's home-cooked meals. But it was good to have Yuzuna in her own apartment, too, making the place feel more alive than it had since the accident.
Mami found herself making lots of little adjustments, happily. She tried out new recipes she thought Yuzuna would like, and made sure to have Yuzuna's favorite foods on hand. Especially cheese. Yuzuna swore by cheese.
"You know how it is, when you eat so much cake or candy that you just really need to eat something that's not sweet?" Yuzuna said once, slicing up cheddar for one study session. "Like cheese, or... I don't know, something salty. But cheese is best."
"I've never had that problem," Mami said. "Maybe you overdo it a bit on the sweets, Yuzuna-san."
"Impossible! There is no such thing."
She didn't actually think Yuzuna's sweet tooth was that excessive. It was cute, really. And Mami enjoyed baking, especially for Yuzuna - cakes, pies, and once December began, Christmas cookies decorated to look like Santa Clauses, and an ill-fated batch of fudge that they had to eat with a spoon. She made an effort to find new types of cheese, even venturing a little nervously into import stores where all the gaijin shopped. Yuzuna's delight at each new treat was all the reward she needed.
She joined Yuzuna's family for the New Year, and the company kept her from missing her parents too painfully until she was back in her own apartment. Kyubey checked in with them from time to time, to consume their spent grief seeds and direct them to areas where he suspected they might find witches, but he was gone most days, and Mami was more grateful than ever that she and Yuzuna had met when they had. As February approached, she began to think about what she could do for Yuzuna for Valentine's Day. Maybe she should give fudge another try, but she'd better experiment first to see if she could make it come out right, and that would kind of give away the surprise. When she was supposed to be doing homework, she found herself instead looking up candy molds and recipes for chocolate cake. Stop fussing so much, she told herself. Why make such a big deal over the kind of chocolate you give to a friend? It's not like she's a boy you like.
Oh, she thought.
Of course.
She'd always figured she'd eventually start to be interested in boys. Her mother used to reassure her that just because she was an early developer in some ways didn't mean she wasn't a late bloomer in others. Maybe she was just an average developer this way. But in a different direction.
It never occurred to her not to tell Yuzuna. Of course she worried about how her confession would be taken, but that was normal, wasn't it? Anyone would be nervous. She didn't know if Yuzuna would like her back. Did she already have someone she liked? A boy? But surely there was something in their closeness that she wasn't imagining. She'd had other friends, before the accident, before she missed so much school; she'd never had a crush on any of them. Surely that meant something.
She made her decision - a chocolate cake, homemade, topped with strawberries - and her shopping list. She felt nervous and excited as she shopped, as if she was involved in a conspiracy, as if she was keeping a secret from everyone. Or maybe just the opposite; maybe everyone could tell she was in love. She was a young girl, smiling, putting cocoa powder and butter and eggs into her shopping basket in February, inspecting and then passing by the displays of packaged chocolates. Everyone could probably tell, but no one knew.
Finally, the weekend came. She made sure to pick up some fancy triple-cream Brie from one of the gourmet shops, knowing it would probably make Yuzuna even happier than the cake would, and then she went home to start baking. The cake would be done by the time she needed to meet Yuzuna to patrol. Once they were done, Mami would frost and decorate the cake. The fourteenth was a Sunday, and Yuzuna would come over to her apartment - they'd already planned it - and she'd surprise her with the cake, and explain that it wasn't just friendship chocolate, and then... She could barely bring herself to daydream. What if Yuzuna didn't feel the same? Manga characters always seemed to confess just to get it off their chests, but surely it was awkward, afterwards?
Or maybe it was awkward beforehand. As they patrolled, she found it hard to chat as they usually did; after the third time she killed a conversation with an absent-minded "yes," or "hmmm," she made an effort, only to find Yuzuna doing the same. To a question about cheese, no less. That shocked her out of her own preoccupation. "Yuzuna-san, is something wrong?"
"Kind of... Mami-chan, I've been keeping secrets from you."
"You have?"
"Yeah." The stopped at a street corner, and Yuzuna said, "Maybe we should find a place to sit down."
The bakery they found was busy enough that they could be sure no one was paying attention to them. Yuzuna clearly wasn't too upset to order a choux creme, so it couldn't be that bad, surely? But then she placed her cream puff on her plate untouched. "What is it, Yuzuna-san?" Mami asked, once it became clear Yuzuna wasn't going to just say it.
"I'm... actually a year older than you," she said. "I should be in my second year of junior high. I missed a lot of school, because I was sick for a long time." Mami nodded. "I had leukemia. And my wish was to get well." Mami nodded again. "Does that bother you?" Yuzuna finally asked.
"Of course not. Why should it? I'm sorry you went through that. It must have been scary." Yuzuna nodded, her eyes on her plate.
"I just didn't like keeping it secret from you. That's why I'm such a glutton now. I couldn't eat a lot of my favorite foods when I was sick." Yuzuna still didn't look up, though. "There's one more thing."
"Yes?"
She waited, watching her friend, realizing that she was slowly turning pink. Before she spoke, Yuzuna was blushing more than Mami had seen since the first time she'd transformed. "I... was going to tell you tomorrow. I tried making chocolate-covered strawberries, but they didn't come out very well, so I thought I'd get you something else, and I don't know if I should tell you I like you with store-bought chocolates, so, um... that was it. I like you. You know. In the Valentine's Day kind of way."
"Yuzuna..." She finally looked up at Mami, just stealing a glance, before she returned her gaze to the plate. "I have a chocolate cake for you back at home," Mami finally said. "I was going to decorate it tonight." That made Yuzuna look up, eyes wide, mouth slightly open. It wasn't the cutest expression she'd ever had, but Mami was certain she'd remember it forever. "So you still need to come over tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay!" Yuzuna was beaming at her. Mami was smiling too, relieved and happy. "Mami-chan, do you like macarons? Or should I surprise you?"
****
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Date: 2011-11-09 02:01 am (UTC)...aaaaaaaaaand episode 3 is twice as sad now.
Did you have someone in mind for the witch whose symbol was the heart with wings? All I could think was Swift Heart Rabbit.
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Date: 2011-11-09 02:30 am (UTC)Magical girls naming their attacks is semi-canon - in one of the audio dramas, Mami insists on developing and naming Kyoko's (she has a thing for Italian names, apparently.) Kyoko thinks it's unbearably silly. I figured it stood to reason that Mami's going to encourage named attacks for anyone she works with. ...I wonder if Madoka had a named finishing move in the first timeline?
The witch was derived from Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne's Maron - one of the US manga covers has her holding out a heart shape with wings, some of the art gives her wings, and she has this whole thing about amusement parks (her parents design them for a living.) Not really possible in canon, given that Maron's whole thing is that she's the reincarnation of Joan of Arc, who may well be a witch at this point, but it's just a cameo anyway.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 04:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 11:47 pm (UTC)