Puella Magi Madoka Magica : Rebirth

Chapter 6 : Revelation

The sky was tinged a brilliant pink-gold by the setting sun. Already, stars were visible, peeking among the reddish clouds hanging about in the heavens. A flock of birds overhead called out an end to the long day, wheeling about in an aerial display of colour and agility.

Luna and Estella stood at a hilltop, observing every minute detail of the scenic view before them. Back at Lordanum City, which was still very much in sync with nature, they rarely had the chance to see high-rise buildings, let alone tech-savvy parks and malls. Ever since they had arrived at Mitakihara, their life had taken a whole new turn, though for the better or worse, they didn't know. They still couldn't let go of their previous life back at Lordanum - all their friends, the wildlife, the forests and outbacks...

Luna sighed, lowering her eyelids slightly. "I'm so homesick, Stella. Aren't you?"

Her twin grunted, shifting her weight to her other foot while sticking a hand into her short hair. "Well, nothing much we can do but cope with it for now. At least, until mom and dad's boss tells them to shift again." She ran her hand through her short, dark-blue strands, adding, "I wouldn't call Lordanum home if I were you. We've only been there for six months-"

"I'm so sick of all this moving!" interrupted Luna, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation. "Why can't we just settle down somewhere permanently? First, it was U.K., then it was India, and then China, Japan, Russia, Canada, Brazil, U.S., and now, Japan again," she counted off her fingers and sighed. "When will we ever go back home to Granar Plateau in Australia?"

Estella glanced at Luna with a wry grin, cocking her head to one side. "Well, to settle down for good... that's just not our destiny, now is it?"

The black-haired girl pouted, readying another remark but was stopped when Estella wrapped her arms around her twin, nudging her playfully. "Aww, c'mon! Don't mope like that, it's not like the world's ending. Besides, we've got a whole evening to ourselves since mom and dad aren't at home. Let's go have dinner somewhere nice!"

Luna couldn't help smiling at her irrepressible twin. Giving up, she allowed herself to be hauled along down the hill and towards the city.

"Where do you want to have dinner?" asked Estella, skipping around her sister.

"Hmm, how about that first place where we had lunch together with mom and dad?" replied Luna. "You know, the one near the apartments. The food there was quite nice."

Estella beamed. "Okay!"

Hand in hand, they walked into the city, reminiscing about the past.

***

A light breeze picked up, whistling around the busy streets and its people who were eager to go home after a long day of work. Oriko and Kirika made their way along the throng of city-people, heading for the eatery near the apartments.

"Say, Oriko," began Kirika, "Do you think something is up with the atmosphere tonight?"

Oriko gave her a puzzled glance. "What's wrong with it? I don't feel anything."

Kirika shrugged. "I dunno, I just feel something's off. Like, that feeling you get when you just know that your chemistry results are gonna be bad. Really bad."

Her friend looked upwards into the red-blue sky. She slipped her hand into Kirika's, saying, "Well, if you think something is wrong, then I trust in your judgement. You will take care of both of us, won't you?" Oriko's eyes narrowed, her face a grave mask.

Kirika blanched, embarrassed at Oriko's sudden request. "Whaa-at?! O-of course I'll take care of us! I won't let no weird thing get between our friendship, trust me!"