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[mahouproject-one]

don't know where, don't know when | joon-young | fin | re: mitsuo

The moment Mitsuo came to his side, Joon stopped sobbing. All he really wanted to have was the other nearby, some kind of comfort. He turned his head slightly to see the other as they sat side by side, his face wet with tears, his eyebrows a straight line.

Mitsuo's words were heartening, but also painful. Joon felt bad that he had not been able to see this is what he had been feeling. Perhaps he was not as emotionally intelligent as he liked to pretend he was. Really, Mitsuo was the mature one here, and he was a child, begging for attention.

Joon-young turned around and wrapped Mitsuo in a tight embrace. One hand held the back of his head, and he brushed it slowly with his fingers, tenderly, hoping that just for now he could make him feel safe and loved.

"I love you," he murmured. His voice didn't break, but was instead filled with an epiphany of happiness.

"I don't want you to forget me because I didn't want all of this to mean nothing. But even if you forget about me... it didn't mean nothing. I'll never regret falling in love with you. As hard as it is for me to accept it, no one needs to remember it for it to be real. I'm happy that I could love you, and that you could love me. I'm happy."

He pulled away just enough so that he could kiss him softly on the lips. He wished he could go back to the day they had kissed side by side at the piano. But maybe he would get to relive it a second time.

"We'll meet again, Michu." He smiled with tears in his eyes, before he reached up to the podium to place his vote.

[mahouproject-one]

Just as long as you stand, stand by me || Clove || Attn: Shino, Reiko

It’s useless. Miyu’s inability to consider her words, or what she had to lose made Clove bitter, so bitter. Instead of throwing her thoughts across the courtroom, she shakes her head and looks away, defeated.

“You hear me, but you’re not listening. Arguing with you is pointless.”

Killer, killed, or innocent, it didn’t matter in the end. All the fighting, all the hours spent hurting, and talking, and searching in this castle, and they’d meet their same fate with broken hearts in this cold, damp dungeon? Now Clove had no idea why some thought sadness to be beautiful or poetic. The helplessness she felt was terrible.

Clove reaches out a hand to Shino, so close yet feet away. She wants to hold him while she could, it was cold over here.

“Shino? I’ve thought you’re... a bit like a brother to me for some time, but I never was brave enough to voice that. Please, take care of yourself. If any trace of us crosses time, there will always be a spot for you at my home. We... have a lovely rose garden in Germany, perhaps you might like it.”

Kris had family, so he didn’t need her reassurance. That’s the fact of the matter.

While she was swallowed by her thoughts, Reiko had appeared at her side. How destructive, to wallow and waste precious moments dwelling on what she could not change instead of dwelling on the warmth Reiko brought into her heart. The pulse in her wrist skips, and she looks into her eyes as if to memorize the beauty and kindness there. Who knew how long it would be until she could do this again?

“...Reiko, darling, my Liebling! Ich liebe dich- I love you! I love you!! You are--!”

Gott, this couldn’t be where it ended. Despite being a crybaby, she won't cry. No, she won't shed a tear. Not as long as Reiko was standing beside her.

“I’ll do it over again with you, as many times as it takes. Even if our memories are stolen to give us a second chance, surely... I’ll feel something! If love’s so powerful here, then surely... some day, I’ll fulfill my promise to you.”

As they kissed, they pouring a timeline of promises and what ifs into one more happy memory. A home with living room floor covered with case documents and two cups of coffee - surely, it was possible in some timeline. Just... not this one.

The time turner leaves her neck without resistance. Clove's hands don't leave their spot clinging to the back of her girlfriend's coat. While the journalist doesn't want the artifact, a brief shock of doubt crosses Clove’s mind. Was that all Reiko came over here for? To ensure she didn’t smash it upon the ground?

But, the doubt leaves as Reiko does not, soothing her fears. Those with magic would handle the inevitable, but she cranes her head to look at whoever holds the time turner in the end.

“A request, if you will. Tell the Clove of the past to speak what she feels to others more readily and to forgive herself easier. That should...  perhaps make this not as painful the second time around.”

At the end, this was where she wanted to be. Safe, with her head on Reiko’s shoulder and a hand around her waist. They’d have to be patient... but this was worth waiting for.

[mahouproject-one]

To Kingdom Come || Shizuka || Fin || Re: Clove, Reiko, Miyu

Up till now, aside from the occasional question, Shizuka had remained a silent, brooding boy. It's only when Reiko speaks that he speaks back up.

"She's right. If we don't do this, the other timeline is probably going to be screwed up to their noses as well. At least, even if we disappear and die and all that, those alternate versions of us might be saved. Better to give one the chance even if they don't know it, than to doom both timelines to an uncertain fate." He expresses, even if his words aren't filled with much conviction or even belief. Sometimes, even a magician can get tired of the patter before the trick, and Shizuka has to push himself to actually say what he wants to before the end was nigh.

"Even if our memories here disappear, we'll give our other selves the chance to continue creating newer ones in a softer timeline. I think I'm willing to make that trade... It's not like I can do much else now, can I? But yeah, in case that wasn't clear enough now... I choose to use the Time Turner."

And then Miyu is there, and Mi-Ke is there, and despite only being the middle of the road when it came to ages he felt so much older than he ever really wanted to be. The responsibility, gain, loss, sacrifice, truth... Fifteen hundred different emotions run through Shizuka like a hot knife through butter. Overwhelmed and yet in full clarity of all of them, he can only hold them tightly and say the words.

"Wherever we go, whatever it takes. I'll still love you both all the same."

It felt so weird, saying goodbye, when for the last three months he had wanted to do anything but. The tears flowed freely for what could very well be the last time, and yet it felt amazing to finally set them all free. He'd never wanted a moment to last quite so long as this one before... Well, his mother said all lost things would reunite in time. Maybe this wasn't their time, but in different lives, in different lines...

Shizuka chooses to focus on the now, because that now is soon going to be out of his grasp forever. But it's here in his hands now.

[mahouproject-one]

I Want The World | Mi-ke | Re: Clove, Miyu

Mi-ke had been fading in and out during the trial. Not literally, but mentally. It was too much. They had learned to come to terms with death, to accept they aren’t really gone. But now they might really fade from this world. Even if their dearest people here were dead, they would be losing people. It was terrifying.

“I want to use the Time Turner.” That was what the cat child managed. “I’m selfish. I don’t give a fuck if I mess up the timeline. I don’t care if we’re risking lives. I just… I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want to be unable to talk to Tsuyu-nii or Shin-nii. I don’t want Sakura-nee to think I died in some horrible accident. I want to go home and be with my family!”

Tears dripped down their face, all the more when Miyu made her effort to comfort them. Like the stubborn cat gremlin they are, the struggled a bit in the hug before melting into it.

“It’s not fair, neesan… I want us to grow up. I don’t wanna had to reincarnate and forget… I don’t want to be separated…”

They buried their face into her shoulder, though they once again wished they were smaller. They wanted to be able to bury themself in her chest and cry like the child they are. The child they have always been.

[mahouproject-one]

Negative || Shino || Re: Time Turner

Shino had a feeling that the time turner would be used in the end. Even though he was told this one is different to the one he’s researched, he’s still convinced that even the smallest of changes can cause everything to end up differently. It was good for the dead so they could avoid death and live out their lives as they should. They didn't deserve this.

However… What about the living? He’s sure that this timeline… It will disappear, right? Internally he punches himself for thinking in such a selfish way. Think of the others! Alternate universes and timelines are interesting and nice. He’s even entertained the ideas before!

Yet now that it’s becoming a reality, he isn’t excited or hopeful.

No, there’s dread and fear to think he’ll go through everything again. To be the person he was before and just that thought alone… Well, it makes his heart break. Would he end up a decent person or like his parents? Will he get along with his friends again, or only those he’s forced to like? Will he fall for Holy and date him again, or someone else entirely? There’s a lot of questions and thoughts he has, making his head spin. He wishes he could think more positively, but that’s not easy for him to do.

When Shino felt his tears welling up, he softly laughed in hopes that it would stop it. Someone smiling can’t possibly be hurting on the inside. He was told so, so it must be true.

“Ahaha… So this is the end of ‘us.’ For everything leading up to now will be nothing… As expected, nothing lasts forever. The unfortunate truth. Aha…”

He speaks in an quiet tone meant for no one but himself to hear. His laughter grows weaker and shaky as his own words begin to settle in his mind. If only he was smart enough to have prepared himself for this. Perhaps he wouldn’t be crying so hard if he did.

[mahouproject-one]

It's over and I'm going under, but I'm not giving up... Just giving in || MM Trial 6.8 || RE: Miyu, Clove, Miyu, ATN: Clove, ALL

Reiko was quiet as she listened to Miyu's explanation of the Resurrection Seed and it's nature. The thought crossed her mind 'well, what's really the difference if you're all dead anyway...?' but held her tongue. After that, the detective simply listened to her classmates - though her mind was going somewhere far, far else.

Oddly, it wandered to her first meetings with everyone at the station. Her introduction, looking back on it now, would probably get her current self to deck her person of the past. Though, ignoring that, her thoughts landed on her first discussions with Shizuka and Clove. The dynamic back when was so different then it was now that the thought alone nearly gave her whiplash.

She also thought of Genbu and, despite their differences, there was a time she felt accepted by them even with her plenty of faults and short-comings. Loneliness accompanied loneliness, she learned.

Other poignant moments of anger and warmth came into her mind's eye but were washed over with the bitter taste of loss. That's what they had accomplished here, wasn't it? Failure?

Everything they had to endure, fight for, and try their hand at fixing had essentially been for nought. Everything good and bad was bound to be washed away with the spin of a trinket. Part of her heart did go out to the ghosts and staff of this place who possibly only achieved closure because of people finally taking the efforts to connect with them. She also thought of the couples that were likely not to be back together under other circumstances and felt a deeper ache. However...

It's very clear they had their backs to the wall as their time was almost up. There was no more time to negotiate and no more time to wallow in their self pity. It was one of those situations where they simply needed to act, even with the knowledge this was likely their last moments - at least on this track of time.

Looking over the seed in her hand once more, she placed back into her pocket to be kept safe but no longer regarded.

"At this point, there's no other choice. 14 human lives, innocent lives, were lost and it isn't worth us throwing away the remaining 13. We can't fix everything, no matter how much we tried or how bittersweet it is. The most we can do is save our own skins and take that small victory as we may."

Reiko, as she had many times before, made her way over to the Byakko side of the room - still talking as she did so. If their timeline, or existences, or what have you were ending in t-minus a few minutes we all know where she wanted to be.

"We talked through whatever other possibilities that we could. We've tired out all of our options and, as far as we can see with dawn approaching, it's better to at least give everyone one more shot at living then to wait on this island like sitting ducks."

As this is said, the investigator reaches her significant other's stand and studies her defeated form for a few moments before sliding her hands over the Journalist's. She does her best to memorize the way Clove's palms feel against her own and the way their fingers intertwine. Is it cheesy to say they fit together perfectly...? Probably.

However, she works up the proper collection of nerves needed to meet her blue gaze with her green.

"...I won't say I necessarily disagree with you on the lose-lose situation, my love. But... If there's any consolation from this bullshit: if the ending of this means I might have a shot at falling in love with you all over again - I'll take it."

Reiko moves the knuckles of one hand to brush the blonde's hair away from her pretty face. She slightly struggles to find the strength to smile in the moment as she's instead left fighting a tremble at the corners of her mouth.

"There has to be a universe where the two of us can be happy... We just need to work a little harder to find it, I suppose."

If allowed, she cups the other girl's face and presses their lips lovingly together, holding that for a little longer than she should. Resting her forehead to hers, she takes time to breathe and mumble something only the two of them could hear.

[I don't know a lick of German but... have French for a try: 'Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point.'] Reiko smirks softly, still meeting the girl's gaze, [I don't care how long it takes, we will see one another again.]

Silently, she puts her fingers to the Time Turner and gently wraps it into her free hand. With the other, she holds Clove snugly to herself as she quietly motions for permission to take it - slowly lifting if off of the other's neck and holding it safely in her palm. Looking over to Kris, Mi-ke, or someone (who wasn't Miyu or Seiji) in the general vicinity, she takes a moment to turn the device over several times between her fingers before handing it off to them at request of Zoya receiving it. She didn't necessarily mind who it went to, but she knew who Clove was bitter against and didn't feel like stirring up her emotions further in this miserable state.

Eventually, she turns comfortably to face the rest of her classmates. It takes less effort now to offer them a wary, but determined smile.

"If we can't control the rest of what happens from here, we at least have a right to control the here and now. Let's... not delay this further than we have to - for everyone's sake."

Even then, her hold around the Journalist's waist tightens protectively. The multiverse may have to physically separate them, possibly, but it doesn't mean she'll give it an easy time.

[mahouproject-one]

Magia | Miyu | re: Tsuku, Clove, Mitsuo

It had been worth a try. Miyu frowned as Tsukuyomi re-entered the Cry Zone, but she had no intention of berating him. Neither of them had any control over this.

“Thank you for checking. Just… I don’t know. Try again later, after everything fades? Maybe Otohiko’s magic is interfering and it’ll clear up when it’s gone. Ha.”

Or maybe it was because the magic was dying that they couldn’t contact Ayame; Miyu’s voice made it clear she didn’t think the static would clear up any time soon. Maybe the moment Ayame was swept away by the lunar guards and welcomed home, they had already lost their chance to talk to her ever again. Perhaps Ayame be happier in ignorance of what was happening on Earth. But Miyu didn’t believe that, either.

Clove cut in and tried to slow Miyu down, and she frowned, aggravated and maybe just a little betrayed. Then again, there wasn’t really anything to betray: They had begrudgingly worked together out of necessity, and now that business partnership had come to an end. Miyu couldn’t blame her for that, which was more than she could say for how she bristled as she listened between the lines of what Mitsuo was saying. Was he trying to frame this as everyone versus him? Everyone versus Joon?

“Don’t act like this is us versus you. I’m not removing anyone’s memories. I didn’t… I’m not asking everyone to use it with me if they don’t want any part of this. If the rest of you don’t want to risk it, or just… accept the end peacefully? Then I suppose this is where our paths split, isn’t it?”

She smiled ruefully and bitterly.

“So why don’t you all just be happy you’ve finally gotten Suzuki out of your hair?

...besides, Rosenburg-san. You showed me the documents on that Time-Turner, right? That this model only works with memories is a limitation, isn’t it? Specifically, its abilities are restricted to, what was it… ‘limit the destruction of the timeline or timelines’?

You can read that however you’d like. I read it to mean that it’s less damaging than what other models are capable of. I’m not foolish enough to think that ‘relatively safer’ means safe. But is it at least safer than whatever the Ministry of Magic has in store for you? Because I still don’t know what any of you are planning to do about that. Is the Time-Turner at least safer than… than what’s really supposed to happen to people like us…?”  

Her voice grew thick at those words, the reminder that she wasn’t supposed to be right now. She’d made her case. She was done fighting the class. Miyu Suzuki was tired and just wanted to go to sleep. Maybe she’d never wake up.

It… wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen.

With what little remained of her Otohiko-empowered strength, Miyu tore out her notes on Mahoutokoro’s darkest secrets and made the long trek across the room to Seiji, handing it over to him. He and Zoya were true wizards, surely they’d still persist and be able to make their own decisions, right? She hoped so.

She quietly approached Miwa and Shizuka next. If this was the end, then they needed their Neesan, didn’t they? They needed a strong sister who could protect them and calm them and reassure them that everything would be alright. Miyu couldn’t promise any of that. But she could at least pretend.

Delicately, she pushed their bangs back and gave them each a light kiss on the forehead. It was an intimate, nurturing gesture out of character for her to express, but… Miyu didn’t want to add on to the regrets of things she never did. She didn’t know what the future held for them now, or if there even was a future.

“It’ll be okay, you two. Even if it… doesn’t work, it’ll be alright, in the end. Maybe it’ll be like falling asleep and we won’t even notice it when we go. But… Haru said that there might be another afterlife even for people like us. Or maybe we’ll be reincarnated… Yes, I think I’d like that. We’ll all grow up together next time. I can be Miwa’s sister, legally. Shizuka can live next door to us. And Shiba-san’s there too, of course. They’re the other next-door neighbor.”

She pulled them closer to embrace them, speaking softly so only they could hear. On the edges of her mind, Miyu was guarded, as she was quite dangerously close to a certain devil girl, but she would relent if Shiba and Itona wanted to grab Miwa for themselves, or if Clove and Reiko did the same for Shizuka.

“Oh, but… we have to have Sakura and Mei too, right? And Masashi, if he’s still waiting. So let’s wait seventy, eighty, however many years for your other sisters to live out full lives. And then when we’re all together, we’ll start again, and maybe the world will finally…”

Maybe a century from now the world would finally stop exploiting and neglecting children like them, and just love them as they were, flaws and all.

She buried her face against their clothes, breathing deep. No lotus and incense, no matcha and mint, no lavender and salt. (The taste of salt rolled heavy down her cheeks.) Just the scent of them, because they were not Seiryuu and Byakko and Genbu. They were Miwa and Shizuka and Miyu, and she hoped that she would never forget that, even as time and magic conspired against them.

“I love you both. I’ll see you soon.”

The wistful ache in her voice really meant ‘goodbye’.

[mahouproject-one]

Don't Step On The Flowers | Mitsuo | MM Trial 6.6 | Re: Joon, Miyu, Clove

For a while now all Mitsuo did was stare across the way at Joon. Stare at what he did. Plenty of things were wracking through his brain, but they all came to a halt when Miyu spoke her piece on everything at happened. And his brain didn't start to process things again until Clove spoke. No snarky remark at Tsukuyomi, no harsh quip about anything. Just thinking on the vote about to be made.

Dragging his feet over to the Genbu side of this room Mitsuo sat down next to Joon remaining quiet save for a sigh that slipped between his lips. That was until a few moments later Mitsuo tentatively leaned his head on Joon's shoulder and softly spoke so only those in the vicinity could hear.

"Fine... I won't be one of the ones to choose to remove these memories. I do want them you know. I really do..."

He just also wanted Joon alive. But look what wanting that did. It didn't seem to help anything here. Which isn't a surprise. After all, when did Mitsuo wanting something for himself do anything good?

He just needed to keep his head down and to agree to what others wanted to hear. Funny. He had almost forgotten that.

[mahouproject-one]

Votes || MM Intermission

Yes - 12

No - 1

[mahouproject-one]

Separate my life from the island of yours || Clove || Attn: ALL

After her emotional outburst, Clove had felt drained somehow. It was too much to feel at once, so she merely stood silently as waves of despair crashed over her. Her classmates' reactions only exacerbated the expanse of emotions bubbling in her chest, and the room felt like an ocean of hopelessness. There was no island here in sight.

Once she surfaced from the depths of her internal thoughts, she could think logically once again. With a heavy sigh, she addressed Miyu.

“Suzuki-san, you can’t just... say you’re going to do something that’ll affect the whole class so seriously. If my theory is correct... well. Something as serious as time magic will likely have consequences on this timeline the more I think about it. I’m not a scientist or a wizard, but... I’ve been pushing that out of my mind ever since I learned how this prototype worked.”

And yet, here they were. Time marched on, regardless of their personal feelings. Mein Gott, she was tired. Clove slouched over her podium, sizing up the inhabitants of this castle over the rims of her glasses.

It was for dramatic effect, as her vision without glasses was horrible.

“Therefore, I think we should vote on whether or not to use the time turner. It is, quite frankly, a bit useless to discuss what comes after the time tuner for now, as we have no idea if... there even will be ‘us’ after its use. Coming to a democratic decision is at least something we can control.”

Hah. Her heart felt heavy, but Clove’s tears had dried up for the time being. All the self-pitying wouldn’t help them reach a conclusion.

“A depressing thought, but that’s where I stand right now. I feel like... this is a lose-lose situation, in a way. I do not wish for those who died here to disappear, and yet. If this timeline disappears, is that... not murder?”

A conclusion would, at least, give them a way forward through the unknown. For now, Clove could keep her head above water.

[mahouproject-one]

in space, no one can hear you... / tsuku / mm trial (re: miyu)

Tsukuyomi looked up from the little Crying Zone he was in when he heard his name. Miyu mentioned the... the... ah, that's right.

"Uh-- y-yeah...? I-I-- I think you told m-me-- t-to bring it to the trial, s-so I-- y-yeah, I got it, one-- o-one second--..."

Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he mumbles to Shinobu, likely asking if he can be removed from the Hug Zone for a second, before pulling out a tablet from inside his jacket (how long had he been keeping that there?). and setting it down on his podium. There's a pause...

...

"...?"

...a longer pause...

"...h... h-hello...?"

...this probably... wasn't what was supposed to happen.

"H-- Hello? Y-- Y-Yoshida-san???"

This definitely wasn't supposed to happen. Tsukuyomi taps on the tablet on his podium a few times, before looking back up at Miyu. 

"S-- S-Suzuki-san it's not-- th-the screen's just-- i-it's just-- just st-static nobody's-- n-no one is--..."

He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve again, fighting the new wave of tears that sprung up.

"Is this-- th-this isn't supposed to-- t-to happen is i-it--?? W-What do I-- o-ohhh-- I-I'm sorryyy--!!"

He doesn't quite understand why he's apologizing-- he doesn't really have an answer for anything, really, just more tears. He tried... 

[mahouproject-one]

try and try again, time repeats | Miyu | re: Joonmits, ATTN: Tsuku

“…Ueno’s right about that part. Calming Otohiko in the past isn’t enough, because you still have Oharas trying to assassinate everyone. You need to do something about that, too, even if it’s just immediately leaving the school. Or not going in the first place, if that’s an option.”

She left it there, speaking in clipped tones as see watched the relationship drama unfold. Miyu truly didn’t know what to make of them anymore. All she could see right now was Mitsuo scolding Joon, and Joon meekly backing down.

“Joon. You don’t have to accept being treated like that.”

And that was likely the full extent of what Miyu could say about Joon and Mitsuo.

She took a breath, pulling her purse onto her pensieve to start rummaging through it, looking for what few tools she had left. Even now, the border between tangible and intangible seemed fuzzier than it had been minutes ago – how much longer did she have?

“So. What is everyone’s plan from here on out?

Mine is… My plan is the only thing I can do. I’m using the Time-Turner. I don’t know where exactly my memories will be going. I don’t know what will happen to that other me. I don’t know… I don’t like the idea of just – just accepting that I’m at a dead end and all I can do is trust that maybe there’s some other me who gets another chance. That’s good for her, but…”

She drew a hissing breath in through her teeth, long and slow and shallow.

“…But. But I had a feeling something like this was coming for me. I’ve known for a month that this was my fate. I’ve tried to make my peace with it.”

Without much success. Those that knew her well could see the twinge in her expression, the fear and despair veiled behind her practical words.

“What I want to know is, what are you survivors going to do? I’m assuming you’d keep your memories even if you used the Time-Turner, too, but even then, you have to do something about the assassins here.”

As she spoke, Miyu began pulling one glass bottle out of her purse after another. Four vials of blue liquid, and two vials of green. Digging a little deeper, she sighed in relief as she found something, and pulled out a pocket mirror next.

“Take these. The blue ones are magic restoration. The green ones are… well, one of them is a ‘fortune potion’, and the other is apparently just tea. I don’t know which is which; just be thankful I destroyed the misfortune potion while I had the chance. The mirror will reflect one spell.”

If… If access to my Genbu room isn’t completely cut off, you can check it for weapons. I have a mace and a banana-shaped gun. The mace is already bloody. Don’t… Don’t worry about that, it was nothing important.”

How funny, that getting smashed by her own mace no longer qualified as important. Miyu looked over her supplies again and again, trying to think of if there were other useful objects they could use, trying to think of if there was something she… forgot… oh. She snapped her head back up, looking right at Tsuku.

“Hey, Sato? Do you still have the tablet Yoshida-san gave us?

I think… we could ask her for help. I’d like to think she could send in guards from her home, but  that’s too much to hope for: She might not have any authority, and they might be unwilling to send anyone back here after how long it took to bring Yoshida-san home.

But… what if she can send a message to someone else? Someone who’s outside the school right now, like one of her coworkers. Trengrove and Ngo are trustworthy. Maybe Usham as well. I just don’t know if they have any power or resources, either. But if they have any idea what’s going on, they may be able to do something to create a diversion. Or… or we can expose Trengrove’s journal.”

She briefly nodded towards Shizuka next, acknowledging their discovery.

“Go into into his office and look for a journal of his. If it’s been magically locked again, press a sunflower into the password page. That will reveal all the dirt he has on Juuzou and Seiichirou, and just about anyone else in the school. Of course, there’s the question of how he would react to being connected to leaks – he’s got a fiance, he might not want to risk retribution. But… it’s an idea.”

Miyu hoped that this suggestion was enough for others to keep building off of. She knew there were a lot of weak points, but maybe someone could fill in those cracks.

[mahouproject-one]

Airi frowns. "That doesn't help! You can't just say 'it'll be enough. ' What's enough?" She takes a deep breath, and adds, at less of a yell, "Enough for who? For Outa, for this whole group, for the Oharas? Who, or what, is broken that we can fix, here?" There's a pleading tone to her voice.

“....”

All Airi gets is a smile, it seems.

[mahouproject-one]

"Enough to fix what has been broken... does this mean before-" your fox son stabbed Pink Ms. Frizzle "Ohara-sensei's death? I want to make sure we don't argue over interpretations."

“It’ll be enough. That’s all.”

[mahouproject-one]

"You said 'It would be enough magic to help with the journey should you take that path,' Otohiko. How far back timewise are you implying the time turner can send memories, if you know?"

“Not far enough. It is impossible to make those changes. However, it would be just enough to fix what has been broken, but magic alone cannot do that.”

[mahouproject-one]

suffering | joon-young | mm trial | re: mitsuo

Right now, Joon didn't really care about the logistics of what would happen and when. All he knew right now was that soon, his very existence was going to become obsolete. The very thought was making him hysterical, and he didn't understand how those who had also died were not similarly panicking. Maybe he was just uniquely weak in that sense; they had all accepted their fate to some degree, but he, not at all.

He knew the things that Mitsuo was saying were true, but that didn't mean the threats - to tell his family, to not miss him - were any less hurtful. He was being told he was not permitted to show the weaknesses that he clearly had. To fix his attitude without any help or kind words. And he supposed that was how it had always been between the two of them, and Joon had liked being told his failures so plainly when others had let him live in ignorance, but right now that wasn't what he wanted to hear. It would take years of unlearning his mindset to fully think about the world in a healthy way, not a few seconds, which were better spent on something happier, something kinder, so that he could at least leave this world in a little less suffering.

"... Okay..."

Now Joon was thoroughly humiliated in front of all of his friends. Not only did everyone think him a self-centered fool who acted impulsively, a child who had to leech off of the kindness of others to get away with his crimes, but even the one person who was more intimate with him than anyone else, who had been through it all with him, who was supposed to understand him and support him when no one else would, was calling him snivelling and ignorant on his deathbed.

In somewhat of a rebellion, Joon said nothing else. Even though he loved Mitsuo very, very much, he wondered if by not saying anything he could get Mitsuo to feel a fraction of the shame that he felt at that moment.

Soon, it was going to be over. All he could wish was that somewhere, there would be another him, who only had to be embarrassed about childish things like forgetting his lines of having his fly undone, instead of the degradation he was now feeling, that could meet Mitsuo and begin the proper, normal course of their unlikely relationship. A Joon and a Mitsuo that didn't have to kill and lie and fight to survive. That Joon, and that Mitsuo, could be happy.

He knew he should be thankful for these memories that he had, with everyone here. He wanted to be happy to have met them. And yet as he trusted Mitsuo, he couldn't help but take his words to heart, that if Joon was dead then any memories of him were too painful to be worth having. All he could do was sink to his knees and cry.

[mahouproject-one]

99.9 | Mitsuo | MM Trial 6.5 | RE: Joon, Miyu

Mitsuo expected his words to upset a certain other, but he hadn't expected such a strong reaction. Yet, when this initial reaction occurred Mitsuo allowed for others to talk keeping a neutral expression instead of replying instantly to reassure the other. Once there was finally a lull in conversation Mitsuo shot Joon a look of annoyance before turning his attention over to Miyu.

"Admittedly I must say though I doubt that peace will grow between the magical and the mundane as you so proclaim it will."

"We expose the Ohara's who wish to do something terrible and guess what? Now mahounashi are the downfall for a very powerful group of wizards, surely there will be people in the community who agree with their ideals and now group together wishing to do something worse than the Ohara's, or more hopefully just barring us from entering their vicinity again which is a much easier thing to handle.

Not to mention you'd need reliable sources to truly bring down such a powerful group. You of all people should know about cover-ups for those who have done less than tasteful things, yes? If you have power you can cover-up the less tasteful parts of yourself and when those cracks slip through and are exposed? You get a small slap on the wrist and are told to stop before you go back to how you were. I just can't see this so called famous family suddenly going under for something as small as hurting a few mahounashi."

Still Miyu talked herself through more ideas out loud and pieced together a way that may at least quell Otohiko. Admittedly he had no clue on what would happen in that regard, but it made enough sense to him.

"Alright, so no homunculi and that theory you have may fix the Otohiko problem at least somewhat. Simply with that solution off the table, this timeline won't bring back the dead. Truthfully that was expected from the start given the labyrinth stated only the time turner as the solution to such an issue from what I've understood."

Now. Finally his eyes dragged back to Joon-Young. Once more looking only annoyed and tired at the other instead of holding sympathy in his gaze. In fact, he looked like he was close to walking over and just slapping the other if anything. Can't blame Miyu for not knowing how to put their relationship at all.

"Stop sniveling, and pull yourself together. Is the most important thing you've learned really that you're worthless? I'll be free to share that with your family then. Right now to me it sounds like you're being more ignorant than you used to be."

Pausing in his words he glanced around, Mitsuo in the public eye could do many things. But there were also a few things that were impossible for him to do still to this day without putting him in a situation that cornered him badly. 

"If you're as worthless as you proclaim yourself to be, then no. I won't miss you. After all the worthless have no importance in the world and therefore can't influence anyone right? You'd hold no importance to me if you're so worthless."

"... So stop saying you're worthless. You know that's not true. Stop acting like you either are the best or are the worst. You don't have to be perfect at everything to be worth something. Stop putting words in my mouth that I never actually said. If you clear your head you should already know my answer Joon.

Sure, I have little faith in us getting back to a place where we'd get along if time goes back given I had no interest in you and your initial view of me. But that's a lot better than knowing you're dead and there's nothing I can do about it. At least with you alive and none of this happening there's a chance for us to meet under normal circumstances, and if you liked a murderer then maybe there's still a chance in the do over. If not then at least you're alive. I know memories are important to you, but I rather just have you alive instead of in my memories where you're dead and that's it.

If... that doesn't answer your question then I don't know what will."

Maybe a yes or no? Or going over to Joon and comforting him. Alas. Mitsuo is not that smart. F.