Pocky and Soulmate (Akuma no Riddle / Madoka Magica - Crossover Fanfic)

Chapter Nine

Haruki slammed the door shut behind her, and leaned against it, then slid down it until she was curled up on the floor, her back leaning against the inside of the door. She hadn't meant to snap like that.

Honestly, she hadn't been intending to spill her past to that girl, either. It was like Haruki's desire... no, her need for Kyouko to stop hating her was eroding all common sense, and bringing out her selfish side, too.

Haruki buried her face in her hands, wishing so badly that she could take back what she'd said-but she knew that, now that all that had been said, she wouldn't be able to face Homura again, at least not without wanting to slam her head against the wall until she passed out.

And that was what she was very seriously contemplating doing when something strange entered her vision-something as alien to her as the Witch had been the week before.

It was a small, cat-like white creature, with piercing deep red blank eyes, a large fluffy tail and... ears coming out of its ears?

Haruki, startled into silence, stared at the thing as it sat down just a few feet in front of her, starting intently into her eyes, its expression never changing.

"Hello, Haruki." It spoke. At least, Haruki could only assume the strange, monotone voice was coming from the creature in front of her. "I see Kyouko and Homura neglected to inform you of my existence." The thing tilted its head to one side, almost looking cute, but somehow terrifyingly menacing at the same time.

Still unable to find the words that would express her utter confusion, the pink-haired former assassin stayed silent. "I am an Incubator. Your kind refers to me as Kyubey. One of the two Magical Girls you have met must have told you about a contract?"

For some reason she couldn't quite understand, Haruki nodded.

"Good. My kind are the ones that offer such a contract. What details have you been told?"

Shakily, Haruki opened her mouth and whispered hesitantly. "You... grant the girl a wish that she asks for... and then you turn her soul into a Soul Gem... binding her to a life of fighting Witches... and if she ever runs out of magic and doesn't have a Grief Seed... or falls into despair... she becomes a Witch herself."

"Impressive. Many girls that make a contract don't know as much as you until much later, after they've become a Magical Girl. Some never find out at all." Kyubey flicked its... his...? Tail. "Interesting. You must, then, know what I have come here to ask you, assassin Haruki Sagae."

Haruki bit her lip. "I'm not an assassin anymore."

"Whether you are or are not an assassin does not concern me." Another tail flick. "Would you like to make a contract and become a Magical Girl?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Is there any other information I'm missing? Any other stuff about the contract that most girls don't find out until it's too late?"

"You already know that the Soul Gem is the girl's soul itself. If a Soul Gem is taken about 100 metres away from the body it controls, it ceases to be able to control the body, and until the Soul Gem is returned to proper range, the body essentially becomes a corpse."

Images of zombie Magical Girls immediately flashed into Haruki's brain, and she couldn't stifle a soft giggle at the thought. Girls protecting society from monsters, while their skin is half-rotten and their body is falling apart.

"Is that really amusing to you? Emotion is such a strange concept."

"Your kind doesn't feel emotion?" Haruki asked, her eyes widened in surprise.

Kyubey shook his head almost imperceptibly. "Other creatures on your Earth can see colours that your brain cannot comprehend, correct? You know these colours exist and that other species can see them, but your biological structure does not permit you to see them. That is what emotions are like to out kind. Factually, we know they exist, but we do not feel them, and so it is impossible to comprehend what feeling emotion would be like."

Haruki laughed out loud. "Good comparison. You could be a science teacher!"

The Incubator tilted his head to the side again. "Only those with Magical Girl potential can see me, so I don't believe I could teach anything to the majority of the human race, and even if they could see me, the concepts of science that our race knows are far too advanced for-"

Haruki only laughed louder. "I was joking! Geez, you really don't feel emotion. An emotionless alien cat has cheered me up. What a turn of events."

"Ah, jokes. Yet another strange construct of human society."

Haruki stopped laughing and sighed happily. "Thanks. For, you know, cheering me up. Although you probably don't understand what that's like. But that's okay. You know what, Kyubey? I'll make this contract with you. Just give me some time to think of a wish, alright?"

Kyubey's expression, as expected, remained completely blank.

"Very well. You need only call me when you are ready and I shall be there."

And with that, the strange alien cat-thing was gone, and Haruki was smiling.