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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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 Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 11:28 am
It had been a very long time since he had seen his twin sister and it had all been this fault. To be fair, quite a lot had happened in his life. He had gone off to Japan to study abroad for two years and could only communicate back home with his family on the rare occasion where he was free and the time zones matched just enough so he wasn’t calling in the middle of the night. He had never felt so alone during his studies. But at least he had Tama then. Tama had kept him company and turned into the family he needed when his own was an ocean away. Tama who had been there for him until he disappeared… But he was getting ahead of himself. When he had returned to Destiny City, he had been determined to put his culinary degree to good use and immediately started work on the cafe. He’d seen his adopted parents then as they had helped him get started. The twins had been around, too. But there hadn’t been time to talk. Especially, with their parents around. And then Tama had gone missing. And the battle on his wonder. And starseeds. And transcendence. And more than one princess. And aliens. And a deep space senshi on his doorstep. To say a lot had happened, well, that was an understatement. But it still didn’t excuse the fact he hadn’t made time for his little sister. It had been sisters.The truth was, it was not just Tama he had lost. He had lost a sister, too. Tonight, he’d make up for it. He had read in the paper that had piled up on the door stop of the cafe that there was going to be a meteor shower tonight. It would be the perfect time to catch up with them. No parents. No others. Just the three of them and a hilltop on the edge of town. Well, and a telescope he had bought for Urania. But that was another story. He’d packed it and a picnic basket and a whole host of treats he had orgingally made for the cafe. No wonder he was always broke. He checked his phone and texted: “Meet me at the hill on the edge of town before sunset. We’ll catch up. Then I brought a suprise!”✪
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 10:33 am
Imagi wasn't back to herself. Not by a longshot. It had only been a little over two years since she'd seen her sister... well... since she'd last seen her sister... she might never be the same again, if she was being totally honest with herself. Not until Aura was home with her but... but she was getting close. Probably as close as she would ever get. She'd gone back to school, was starting to be seen out and about round town (even if it was just littler errands here and there), and was responding to her therapy. Marginally. But like her therapist and her parents said, it was something. Which was why Imagi had sent an affirmative response to Alphonse's message and snagged the star charm she'd gotten from her favorite coffee shop that reminded her of him. She left the blue one of her desk, carefully hooked to the same color charm from last year. A constant reminder of her search for her sister. But that was something that she'd deal with later. For now she passed through the living room and quietly mentioned that she was going out with Alphonse, waited for the surprised consent of her parents, and then left in her junky little Buick. For now, she made her way through town to the hill Alphonse had specified. For now, she listened to her therapist in the back of her mind reminding her to take things one step at a time. To just put one foot in front of the other. "Yuri," she exclaimed upon seeing her brother, and despite the lingering hollow feeling in her stomach, Imagi ran to him. He'd been gone so long... and embracing him felt so good. So safe. "I have a surprise for you too, Yuri," she nearly gushed upon releasing him. From her pocket she drew the opal star charm and extended it to him. "It reminded me of you."
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 1:55 pm
“Imagi!” Yuri embraced her in a big bear hug. When had she gotten so big? She was an adult now. He was so glad to see her. He knew things had be hard on her for awhile now and he hadn’t been around like he should have. With Aura missing, it was as if a piece of Imagi had gone too. He’d been so happy when his parents had told him she was in therapy. She needed someone she could talk to about her problems. Especially, without her sister. They had been so close and then they weren’t. They had fought before she disappeared. “A charm!” He looked at it in the light. It was as if she had taken it off a Cosmos knight. The colors were a perfect match. “I got you a gift, too!”He grabbed the basket he had put the treats from the cat cafe in. There were many cat-shaped cookies and treats. But at the bottom there was a specially-wrapped package. “I made some mochi. I’m still working in the recipe. But it should be close enough now.”✪
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 9:33 pm
As always, the bear hugs her brother gave always threatened to cave in her ribs as he wrapped her in one. Imagi swore she could hear her own ribs creaking and groaning at the press of his arms. And yes, she had grown, nearly a fully grown adult now, but in her big brother's arms, Imagi felt small and fragile. It should have frightened her, but instead it made her feel safe and warm. Alphonse had that effect on her. Always made her feel safe and small. And even if she knew her brother would love the charm, Imagi was still thrilled that he said as much. And she was even more thrilled when he revealed his own surprise, gasping in delight at the array of treats that he'd brought with him. All of them cat-shaped of course, she'd expect nothing less. She selected a small calico frosted cookie with one hand and drew the small package out with the other. "Oh, Yuri," she breathed, carefully unwrapping the package and revealing the powdered treats within. "They look delightful! These will make such sweet little chubby cat faces! And I'm sure they taste just as good as they look!" It took some balancing. Some fananlgaling and some silent wishing that she'd shown a little restraint with choosing a cookie, but eventually she was able to pop one of the yummy little pillows of candy into her mouth. And it was perfect. Chewy but just enough, with that perfect ricy flavor that she loved. If Alphonse thought there was still something to fix with the recipe, Imagi couldn't find it in her taste test. "These are the perfect accompaniment to a beautiful meteor shower, Yuri," she grinned, curling her arms around one of his, leaning her slight frame into his. "A nearly perfect evening."
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2023 4:20 pm
“Thanks! You’ve always been my number one taste-tester.”Getting the Imagi stamp of approval was better than winning any local food award. “I really do hope the evening is perfect. I had a friend recommend this site to me for viewing the meteor shower. Once the sun fully sets, we should start seeing them. Tonight is supposed to be the peak.”He’d been learning a lot about the sky by trying to teach Ptolemy the difference between her world’s astronomy and Earth’s. It was a learning experience on both sides. “While we watch the sun go down, catch me up on how things are going. How are our parents doing?”He tended to call them ‘our parents’ instead of by their names with the twins. He’d always called them by their real names instead of ‘mommy’ or ‘dad’ ever since they adopted him. They had never wanted it to seem like they were replacing the parents he had lost. ✪
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 8:45 pm
At the mention of their parents, Imagi diverted her gaze to the mochi in her hands. They were... they were fine. Or at least as fine as they could be, considering. They were trying to return to their routines, as Imagi's therapist had insisted would be best for her. They had yet to call off the search for Aura, even if the police had pretty much stopped looking. Their mother still called every friday for updates, even if the tired officer who was handling the case always sighed and said that there was nothing to report before trying to delicately convince her that Aura was... That she was... "They want to go to family counseling," she sighed, finally forcing herself to look at her brother. "Which is... I mean... it's fine. I'll go if they want me to. They keep saying that it's to find some closure as a family but..." but Imagi knew that they would find that closure that way. They wouldn't because there was no way Imagi could ever let them find out the truth. The truth that Aura hadn't died or been taken at all, but Imagi wished, in the darkest, blackest pit of night that she had. Because at least then she could talk about it and god above wasn't that selfish? Wasn't that just the worst, most horrible thing to wish? That her sister had been killed because it would be easier on her. She couldn't tell them that she had been turned into a monster. She couldn't tell them that Imagi had seen it happen. She couldn't tell them that Aura was only there because Imagi was and Aura had only ever tried to protect her. Only ever worked to keep her safe. And when it mattered most, when Aura needed her more than any other time in their lives... Imagi had failed her. Imagi slapped a hand over her mouth too late, the sound of her sobbing already bubbling over her lips. "Oh, god, Yumi I just... I can't... I'm sorry..." She wanted nothing more than to run, to flee from her brother and hide back in her dorm room where it was dark and quiet and she could force herself under into dreamless sleep but... her legs failed to listen to her. They failed to do anything, and she sunk to her knees, the mochi falling from her hands and into the grass. "It's all my fault..." she choked between sobs, "it's my... It's my fault, and I... I can't... I'm sorry."
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Sat Jun 24, 2023 11:53 am
Yuri had been glad when he learned Imagi was going to therapy on her own, but did she really need family therapy, too? That’s seemed a bit too much for her. She’d have to do too much lying about… well, about who she was and who Aura was. “Imagi!” He could see it all as if in slow motion and he knew he had said the wrong thing. His sister putting her hand to her mouth. Failing to her knees. The mochi rolling onto wet grass. The only thing he could do was try and catch her. “No. No, it’s not.” Yuri was down on the ground with his arms under hers. “If I’d… if I’d just been here for the both or you… maybe…”But all he could do was hold her tighter. ✪
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2023 6:56 pm
Imagi burrowed into her brother, hiding from her memories and the words now spilling from her lips so quickly that she was helpless to stop them. They'd been pressing against her teeth for so long, pounding against the enamel and clawing at the soft tissue of her gums until they finally pried her jaw open and ran free. "It wouldn't have made a difference," she sobbed into his chest, memories that she'd tried so hard to lock away so that she could just function bursting free. "There was... there was chaos..." a fog of it so thick that she could taste it. So think she choked on it. "It was everywhere and it... it took her. It took her under and it... ho god, it made her a monster, Yuri." A monster that didn't recognize her. That clawed at her and ran away. "A youma, Yuri." And she couldn't even look up at her brother through her confession. "She turned into a youma, and she was only there because I was." Why had she been there in the first place? What had she been trying to prove? To whom? "I'd been so mad at her for so long because... because she almost let the same thing happen to me and now... because I pushed her so far away... she's gone. She's gone where I can't find her and she was there because she only wanted me to trust her to keep her safe. And I failed her. I put her in danger and then I failed her." And when the words died on her lips... when the terrible screaming thing in her chest had said it's peice... when all that was left was the sound of her sobbing... she didn't even feel any better. If anything, after having given life to the reality of what she had done, responsibility settled heavier on her shoulders and stooped her lower.
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Mon Jul 03, 2023 12:37 pm
His skin ran cold when she said the word ‘youma’. He had dusted so many in his time as a knight. Never once had he stopped to think who the creature had been. Whose mother. Whose father. Whose friend. Whose brother. Whose sister. Would he have not done so if he had known who they were before? Or would be have dusted them all the same for who they were now? Did it matter? That he had treated them as nothing before? That he had reduced them to the dust from which they formed with no thought to who they were? Had he really just seen them as monsters? “No. No. Not a monster.” Yuri said to reassure her, but his words were not as steady as he wanted them to be. “She is still there somewhere. We just need to find her.”She had to be. She had to be for Imagi. ✪
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Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2023 6:23 pm
Imagi stayed in the protective circle of her brother's arms as she wept, wringing herself dry against his shoulders until she hiccupped into silence. He spoke and she listened. She believed him. She had to. Every night she went out looking for Aura was another piece of evidence in the case for Imagi's belief that their sister could be saved. She clung to that the same way she clung to her brother. She clung, and still, she confessed, "I don't know where she is. I don't even know if she can be saved. Can someone be brought back... back from that?" A question she'd kept locked away deep inside because if the answer was no... if they couldn't truly save Aura... Imagi didn't know what she would do then. If Aura was good and properly lost... Another sob tore itself from her chest at the thought. It was too much. Far too much to bear. The idea that she couldn't... that there was no way... that she would carry the weight of this sin, atonement forever out of reach. Her sister forever out of reach. "Do you know," she finally gasped, "do you know how to save her? Do you know if we can?" Meighei Fin and then go to the moon?
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Bishoujo-senshi Mahou-shoujo
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Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2023 10:50 am
“No. I don’t know.” He said, wishing more than anything to say that he did — say that he could fix this and that everything would be alright and the three of them would be a family again. But then there was a fire in his eyes. “But I might be able to find someone who does know.”He didn’t have to do this alone — they didn’t have to. ✪
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