Kamihama was its own cesspool of misery, but if she was to rid the plague of despair from the world, she couldn’t stay in her own city. What kind of magical girl– no, what kind of person would she be if she only freed one city? Quite a pitiful one, minus how she viewed herself to begin with. Besides, there were plenty, if not too many magical girls throughout Kamihama. The fact that there was very little conflict among the girls there was a surprise in itself, but there was always the possibility that those same welcoming girls would, one day, turn on each other. And Ren wasn’t about to stick around and find herself in the middle of it.
So she kept going. It was already normal for her to take days off from school to clear her head, but instead of holing herself up in her room and hiding from the world’s gaze this time, she figured it was time to expand those horizons. And Mitakihara was the first on her list. She’d heard it mentioned briefly around Kamihama from a couple magical girls, and without her own experience in the surrounding cities and beyond, Mitakihara was probably the best place to start her journey.
“Ah–” But she never expected to find so much despair concentrated in one place. Could she really take on this many wraiths by herself? As much as the thought concerned her, it was something that had to be done. She’d come this far alone, it only made sense to continue this way. So it was going to be how she ended it, even if it took her the rest of the night to finish off one of the–
Shots from behind her had easily taken care of that problem for her, much to her immediate confusion. But her questions were just as quickly answered by the arrival of another magical girl.
Ren was practically mesmerized by her strength, though it probably looked more like she was locked in a staring contest with her. Was this girl a local? She assumed so, considering how she carried herself. She’d be lying if it wasn’t greatly intimidating. “…” She should thank her, but could she get the words out to express her gratitude? How was she going to word them? Would just her thanks be enough to satisfy as an answer, or was this girl looking for more?
“I-I… Thank you,…Miss. But… I can’t…accept all of it. You… You deserve it, too…” As if to avoid trying to explain her specification, she reached out to accept half of the girl’s offer.
Of course, God ignored the pitiful mortal’s humble girl’s request, dumping it all into her hand and taking her other hand by the wrist to close over the top of it. By that action alone, it felt as if the very world around them all rippled to hush itself, sizing up the young woman and judging her for every move made against Her wishes. And one by one, up on the very hill above, the dolls gathered to it and gaze, giggling behind their fingers while picking plums from a basket.
BaD GI rl BA d gIRL C ry BabY gIRl HAHA haaha -- !
[⚙] “Nonsense. It’s a gift.” Homura smiled, edges tainted with falsehoods and lies with every breath that she took. “You should always take gifts when you’re given them, right? You could make someone you care about upset by saying something like that.”
m AK e EM crY ma ke Em cRy
God cleared Her throat, and the doll children fell silent and quivered.
[⚙] “...Please don’t take that badly.” With a final, reassuring pat of the girl’s hands, she retreated them back to her sides, dissolving her attire back into her school uniform. “I really don’t need them. I have enough saved to keep my Soul Gem cleansed for weeks. Keep them as a gift from me to you, alright?”
