Sick, sick, sick! (1)

"A-are you alright...?" Fue-chan turns to face Chii-chan, rushing to another hug. Right... she was just being mind-controlled, wasn't she? Right...

"I-I-I'm fine... are you...?" She meekly asks, surprisingly... nonplussed about the situation.

"I am, now that I know you are." Fue-chan smiles, pulling her close.

"Guys." I speak up, feeling bad that I'm interrupting this tender moment, but also not fully caring. "Did... did that just happen?"

"?"

"I mean... I wasn't hallucinating-- that genuinely was Sonora, right?"

"It was... yeah." Fue-chan answers first.

I step up to her... fists clenched. She just sits there, as if already submitting to my impending violence.

...

......

"You... weren't lying, right? That you wouldn't've found us, if not for her?"

She nods. I... sigh, stepping away. Mizuki approaches, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm... so sorry, hon." She rubs my back, kissing my forehead. It's only now that I notice I'm trembling, that my temperature has risen as high as it has. Yet, she keeps me close to her, refusing to let go.

I... I return the hug.

"C-can we..." Chi-chan speaks up. "Can we head home, n-now...?"

"It would be for the best, if we did." Fue-chan nods, before putting her mask back on. "We're... all covered in blood and standing in a murder scene. It's in our best interest to leave as quick as possible."

And so... we head out for Micchan's house to get our cars, before driving over to Fue-chan's house. It's thankfully not too far away. Aaaah, but we're all still covered in blood, aren't we? That's irritating. Well... our magical girl outfits aren't blood-soaked-- at least, me and Micchan's aren't. So, in lieu of an impromptu cold wash in the dead of winter night, we find ourselves in the comedically awkward position where me and Micchan are driving in our magical girl outfits, while Fue-chan and Chii-chan are dressed normally.

We're already harboring an 8-10 ft. tall dog woman, I don't know why I feel so weird about this.

Regardless, we make it to Fue-chan's apartment unnoticed. Thank god.

"Hey, Fuetchi. Can I... stay here for the night? I don't- I d-don't feel comfortable bein' at my place right now."

"Of course. I'll get a bedroll for you, help yourself to the food in the fridge-- we'd saved some for you."

"Oh, sick, thanks."

"It's... M-MxDonnal's, though..."

She looks at Chii-chan quizzically. "Y'know this ain't the first MxDonnal's I've been fired from, right? I won't have a traumatic experience eating an undersized burger and some over-seasoned fries-- food's still food." She chuckles.

Fue-chan looks at me. "Do you want to stay here too? I can get a second bedroll."

I contemplate it for all but a few seconds. "Yeah, I think that'd be nice-- I'll text my folks. Just... one bedroll though. I'll share it with Micchan."

"Right-- right... I'll get it right now, then-" She trips over herself, having begun rushing over to the closet to hide her flustered expression at the two of us sharing a bed together.

I crash on the couch, flipping the TV on and immediately beelining for something mindless to zone out to. Cooking competitions? Cooking competitions. That sounds good right now.

"I s-still want to try your cooking, Mizu-chan." Chii-chan chimes in, having sat on the ground beside me.

"Nah ya' don't. It's nothin' healthy for ya'." She says, mouth full of food.

"It can't be that bad, r-right?"

"I always go overboard on the salt, helps me feel less dizzy all the time. Most people don't like having salt with a side of chicken as their meal."

"M-me and Fue-chan almost exclusively eat ramen, though."

"Fair point." She scoffs, amused. "W-well, maybe sometime soon, then. Maybe with yer' newfound Anxi senses, you'll find my cooking more palatable."

Chii-chan giggles. "Yeah, y-you're probably right, eheheh."

What a cute pair, these two.

"Asahin?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah?"

"You alright? ...I know the answer, but I'd figure if ya' wanted ta' talk about it."

"I..." My body slumps into the couch as I sigh. "Just never expected to see Sonora again. Let alone be given an ultimatum by her. I- cgaaakkkh, ckkhah"

"Y-ya alright...?"

...

"Y-yeah... I'm fine. Just a bad cough, out of nowhere. Mind getting me some water?"

"From the tap, or..." She grins.

"I'll get it." I scoff, heading over to the kitchen.

"W-was... she always so... demon-looking...?" Chii-chan asks.

"Hmm? No, no she wasn't. Her fur was normally like any other wolf-folk. Don't know what that was about, honestly."

"Ahh..."

"Why'd you ask?"

"It j-just... seems familiar, in a way I can't place."

"Weird." I make my way back to the couch, pulling my knees up.

"W-what did she mean by... 'where it all began'?"

"Probably the old park by our high school, if I had to guess." Fue-chan speaks up, having found the bedroll she was looking for. It'll be... cozy, that's for certain. Not that I mind.

"Right, that's where we all met up, yea--" Micchan interjects, "--where we all first started doing our work as the Unfortunate Girls."

"Unfortunate G-Girls?" Chii-chan perks an ear at the name.

"Oh yea, we had a magical girl troupe name. Never really remembered ta' shout it out like, ever, but it was still nice havin' something that sounded official."

"I mean, we only ever fought monsters-- non-intelligent beings. Would've been a bit of a waste to announce our names to them every time."

"True, yea. Still, loved the sound of it."

"I d-do too, eheheh..."

"New Year's Eve, though..." I think out loud, having admittedly barely paid attention to the conversation up to this point. "That's, what? Two weeks away? Hardly gives us time to train."

"T-train...?"

"Don't tell me you think we're going to actually join Sonora, Chii-chan!"

"N-n-no, not at all, of course not!" She gulps. "I-I just mean... well, C-Christmas is coming up, isn't it...? A-are we still going to have time to do stuff for that?"

"We'll... just have to see." Fue-chan sighs. "Sonora's much more powerful than she was before. Even with the numbers advantage, I'm not sure how difficult it will be."

I sigh, standing up. "I'm gonna take a shower-- gonna join me, Micchan?"

"Mmmm, fuck-" She nearly chokes on her burger. "I... as much as I wanna say yes, but I'm still really hungry. ...Ah, we'll have other times-- go on without me, this one."

She looks sad that she's going to miss the opportunity to shower with me, but at the same time... I think she realizes that I'd rather not wait and linger on this point any more-- nor make things awkward by telling people to drop the subject. In any case, I nod and enter the bathroom-- running a cold shower so as to not overheat myself.

What a weird, stressful year this has been. Lost friends, gained friends, lost a lover, gained... ah, heheh. The quality of life for a witch has been plummeting, but it'd be unfair of me to say it's all been bad. I'm just glad, that even with the stress of confronting my ex on New Year's Eve, this dogshit year's almost-

cggkkaahhh... caagkgkhkh....

W-what the hell...? Why have I started coughing like this? I- cgkghh... I-I'm gagging, here... It's probably, no, it's definitely stress. I've been through a lot, been holding it all back, a-and my body's starting to revolt, bec- kkkagghh -because of that. That's fair. Understandable, even.

At least.. that's what I thought...

...until I looked down...

...seeing that all-too-familiar sludge at my feet.