Early evening, maybe an hour after nightfall. It's around the same time everyone back at the park who COULD wake up is waking up that Mamoru Chiba starts coming around, too. The first sound he makes is a sharp hiss of pain; the fact that he's being carried by two short girls means he doesn't have far to fall if they drop him-- which they might, because the first thing he does is freak out and try to pull away because people are touching him. Thankfully, he's wearing long sleeves even though it's summer; thankfully, they're actually already in front of Iris' apartment by then.
Mamoru is wearing long sleeves, Mercury wears gloves, and Homura... well, Homura knows better.
As Mamoru wakes up and starts to struggle, Homura maintains her grip. It's not a tight grip by any means, actually it's a loose one. She read in a book somewhere that a looser grip helps you hold onto weapons when someone else is trying to disarm you. She hasn't seen much that specifically disproves it.
"Morning, sleepyhead," says Homura. "Do you have any idea where you were or what you were doing?" She seems a little mad. That's been a common mood for her recently. It's debatable how much of that is aimed at Mamoru specifically and how much is aimed at life in general.
"So... not a hospital this time?" Homura was about to ask if Mamoru was sure, but after a second of thought she already knows the answer.
Sailor Mercury was actually carrying Mamoru with one arm around her shoulders. "Welcome back, Mister Chiba." She says softly as she make sure her visor is still up. That way he couldn't recognize her at the moment, not that it mattered really. "Are you feeling okay?" Worry is in her voice....at least slightly.
The self-proclaimed 'Doctor' Iris is sitting on the couch in her living room, which doubles as a fairly boring and undecorated lobby for patients. A few prepaid cell phones reside on a table next to a bowl of candy and a few magazines. While Mercury, Homura, and Mamoru were braving unnatural horrors... Iris is bearing witness to something else just as horrific and /wrong./
Filler-grade Japanese television broadcasts. She flicks the remote to switch from channel to channel. People fall off ludicrously designed obstacle courses. Hidden camera pranks abound. A group of alleged scientists with a really huge ramp are launching different kinds of car tires to see how far they fly, bounce, and roll. Some of these are good for cheap laughs at best, but it's all pretty mindless fare.
Fare that is left on when she hears shouting outside. "...At this hour?" There's a very real chance that whatever is causing it would actually be weirder than she herself is, and this makes her curious enough to go check it out. She rises and walks over to the front door, opening it and poking out into the apartment hallway to discover... Sailor Mercury, whom she may or may not recognize from when Tuxedo Kamen was dropped off here not too long ago. She also sees Mamoru, who is effectively a stranger to her.
And another stranger. Homura. She sees the two of them carrying someone bigger than either of them. That /is/ weird. She raises an eye. "Oh my. I'm going to make three guesses. One is this is a new trendy game everyone is playing these days. Two is this is the most bizarre kidnapping ever. Or, three, you need some help. I'm... hoping I was right on the first guess. I'm not, though, are I?"
--he doesn't fall; he is grateful, and tries not to sag in their combined grip. He's not heavy but he's unwieldy in the extreme. Also, groggy. "Um," he says unhelpfully, blinking-- then recognising the door in front of him and glancing down, as if looking for blood on his clothes or something. Nothing, just dirt. A lot of it. He looks flummoxed. "Homura-san? No..."
And now, now he looks alarmed. Incredibly alarmed. They can both feel him tensing up. "No. I went to the park-- my grades suffered with all the, the..." Mamoru runs out of words and gives up on the sentence, shutting his eyes tight, trying to keep the rising panic from rising in the back of his throat. "S-sailor Mercury? I'm-- fine. I'm perfectly fine. Thank you for not taking me to the hospital. What happened? Where--"
And the door opens, and there's Iris, and it's another person Mamoru has to remember to pretend not to recognise. He's out of it. He's fighting panic over lost memories. He just woke up. He just got mindfucked, for lack of a better word, and doesn't know it. He's bad at lying, and he's flooded visibly with relief. "Doctor..."
"It's not a game," says Homura to Iris. "Oh how I wish it were."
She glances between Mamoru and Mercury. She considers for a moment whether or not Mercury knows about Mamoru's involvement in the magical world. Well, whatever the case, Mamoru did just call Homura by name... and Homura called him by name not too long ago. They may have given a bit away already.
"Well our friend here dislocated his arm. We tried putting it back, but our friend here has had some medical problems recently and we want to make sure he's okay."
She's leaving out the bit about the Witch, for now. No telling who knows what at this stage.
Mercury sighs at iris, but only lightly chuckles. "Oh how I wish it was a game. but no, this isn't a game. He dislocated his shoulder and I was able to reset it, but I'd like someone with more medical knowledge to make sure I did it right." She spares a glance to Homura, but she already knew Mamoru's name. And yes, she's keeping her visor up.
Iris picks up on Mamoru's greeting. It's interesting, because her apartment door has no signage. Nothing to suggest to anyone that she is a doctor or this is a super-illegal 'medical facility.' So when a total stranger acknowledges her title, she's surprised. "I don't remember handing out /that/ many business cards? Well, if my fame is spreading I guess it's not too bad." She has a tiny laugh after that. "Looks like you're not bleeding from anywhere I can see, so it's probably safe to put you on the couch."
She nods to Mercury and Homura. The time for giggly observations and jokes is over for the moment; 'not a game', Homura just said. So Iris will be serious for now. "Bring him in, please. On the couch, then I'll see what I can do. Though I don't quite understand... I don't have his medical files, so I wouldn't know what those issues are. It's sounding like you're bringing someone here for problems that could be handled over at Mitakihara General?" Not that she's eager to promote her competitors, but that she's seeing someone for 'dislocated shoulder' is /very/ odd. Especially when she hears that improvised treatment was applied. "You did?" A surprised look to Mercury. "I won't get after you about that. In a perfect world you wouldn't have, you would have waited for a professional, but... if you did it, I'm sure you had a good reason to take that risk. So let's go find out how well you handled it, okay?" Her tone is gentle, trying not to critique the decision all that hard.
And so she steps back into her apartment. Iris pulls her wing-hairclip off her head, and it expands to have a large white gem on one end. It even talks, in a mechanical female voice with a slight echo to it. <Preparing to diagnose patient.> She'll wait for Mamoru to be situated before she begins waving it in the space just above his body, curious as to what will be found on a general check. "And are you two okay? I can check you out while you're here too, if you'd like." An offer to the pair who have brought Mamoru in.
It's not a game, how I wish it were -- Mamoru's getting more and more worried; he can't remember and two magical girls carried him to the magical-girl doctor, half-dragging him, and he can't remember, and from Homura's bubbling anger just under the surface, and her pointed question, it was bad bad bad. Identity shenanigans are the icing on the cake.
"How the hell did I dislocate my arm?" he bursts out, aggrieved and with an edge of that suppressed panic as an undertone in his voice. "I've-- been in some accidents lately that weren't accidents, there's magic things trying to kill me, and I don't care, if you're looking at Sailor Mercury and not batting an eye then you can just-- can't you just tell me--? I can't go to the hospital again, I won't. I won't."
He doesn't literally have to be shoved to the couch; he's led easily enough, half-stumbling from exhaustion; once on it, he sinks, head dropping back to the back of the couch, hands in fists on his knees. "I'm very sorry," he makes himself say, somewhat evenly. "I'm trying to calm down. I promise. I don't remember what happened. I don't like that."
Homura recognizes the voice and appearance of a Device. One of her favorite people uses one (as does one of her least favorite people). Homura decides that this is someone who could probably understand Magical Girl talk, for the most part.
"Well, he doesn't really like hospitals." Homura helps Mamoru over to the couch and tries to set him down gently, despite his freaking out. She feels sympathy for him, she really does. "But mostly Chiba-san keeps getting beat up one way or another. He seems to recover just fine, though."
Homura pauses for a second. This is probably the first time she realizes taht she didn't really think this thing all the way through. Mamoru probably isn't that hurt... Maybe it was a waste of time?
No, the guy had a Witch's Kiss on him, and a lot of people died or were hurt nearby. It isn't foolish to double check in this situation.
Homura lifts her hand, looking down at her Soul Gem. It's a little dark, but nothing immediately dangerous. "I'm fine, actually." She doesn't even think to look over her own body, but aside from a few signs of physical exertion she looks pretty okay.
Her lips twist into something that's neither a smile nor a frown, but the look in her eyes clearly leans towards 'frown'. "Alright, for the sake of both the doctor and the patient, I'll spell it out for you. Mamoru-san here was attacked by a Witch. He had a Witch's Kiss on his neck and he was being lead to his death. The Witch is dead," Homura sounds a little bit bitter as she announces the Witch's death, "and Mamoru-san didn't seem terribly hurt aside from his shoulder, but we just wanted to make sure."
"Destroyed, actually. The witch was controlling him, and a bunch of other as well, but....he was the only one Injured." Mercury says softly as she touches her earring and her visor vanishes. Mercury sounds way too non-chalant about this, like she's done this before. Mamo-san didn't really want to be there...I just know it." She then smiles, even if it WAS just over a test.....I even saw the test....a 99 isn't THAT bad. It was a tough test."
Okay, this is most definitely 'joke time now over.' Iris is taken back by how Mamoru is talking, eyes widened. "Shh, it's okay," she tries to take control of the situation with a soft voice. "You're in a good place. I ask questions, but answers are optional because I understand that sometimes the truth won't help, but 'I fell' isn't going to work either. This place is the most 'un-hospital' hospital you're going to get."
Homura's self-assessment gets a nod. "If you're sure. If it's a money thing and that's why you don't want to be checked out, my terms are very flexible. I'm not going to be the second worst thing to happen to someone tonight. Or if you're really okay, I'll accept that too."
Then she's given some understanding of what has actually gone on. "Forgive me, but what is a 'Witch' in this context? Aside from something that abducts people and controls them and tries to kill them afterward, even though you're doing really well on tests?" She is genuinely confused, which surprises her since usually she's the one baffling others.
And as she talks, her hairclip begins to offer its opinion on various things. <Muscular fatigue likely due to exertion. Not classifying as an injury.> That's good news. <Very recent shoulder relocation. Placement appropriate.> Iris opts to comment on this, smiling to Mercury. "You got it. So long as nothing happens to put further injury on it, he should heal just fine. That's very good, you know your st--" <Vital signs within stable values. ...Doctor!> "Huh?"
Iris is interrupted by her hairclip. <Linker Core fluctuating. Displaying lowest, highest, and average states.> She looks very closely at the gem display... and her smile is gone. "At its lowest...that's even weaker than the average person around town. And I've checked." She looks a little more closely, trying to determine if anything is presently harming or hindering Mamoru's 'magical heart.'
As she does, she asks a very pointed question: "Can any of you explain that? That does not happen from a dislocated shoulder. Even if you dislocate it really, really hard. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but if I'm going to treat this it would help to know as much as I can."
"I-- WHAT?" Mamoru's knuckles go white on his knees, he goes rigid in self-controlled shock; he's engaging better, he's been controlling the underlying meltdown carefully; Iris' gentle words to him, though he does know where he is and who she is, get through in tone and help actually start calming him down...
...but Homura's revelation completely tosses the concern over lost memories out the window from the ninety-ninth floor. It's all he can do not to lurch to his feet. It's not temper, but it's certainly a loss of control, which is troubling enough in Mamoru. And it finally snaps in that he can't ask HOW, how that could POSSIBLY happen, without revealing who he really is-- and his mouth shifts into a thin, white-lipped line, face pinched. All the stress can't be helping his shoulder any, either, but that's entirely off-topic as far as he's concerned.
He shoots Mercury a look of pure disbelief. 'Mamo-san'? That *is* awfully familiar for someone that doesn't know him-- and she's being sympathetic about his grade on the calculus final? "Look, I was upset about the grade, and I was frustrated and feeling pretty useless because it's from missing so much school lately because I can't seem to be able to accomplish anything I need to without winding up in the hospital because I'm not some kind of superman, but no, I didn't want to kill myself. I have too much to do. She needs me. If I die because I'm not good enough, then I'm not good enough to help her, either. But I'm not going to give up, for godsake. I just shouldn't-- that shouldn't happen to me. That shouldn't have been able to happen to me. I'm not Nephrite, okay, and Sailor V was supposed to tell you guys that, but I do have secrets I can't tell you, and one of them is the reason WHY that shouldn't have been able to happen to--"
The tall boy stops abruptly, a combination of 'why the hell can I not stop talking I need to stop talking right now' and, "...what the hell is a linker core?"
Homura scratches the back of her head. "Um. Right. I forget that not everyone knows what those are. It's... Okay, Basically a Witch is a magical monster. They prey upon those who aren't aware of magic, taking control over their mind and driving them to... do suicidally dangerous things. Some Witches drive people to actual suicide. Other Witches just drag you into their domain and try to kill you. Basically they feed and grow from killing others. Puella Magi, like myself, hunt them for a living. It's hard to really explain them to someone who hasn't seen one, but they are generally malicious and their magic is very strange and varied."
Homura considers for a moment. Actually, it's kindof amazing that Mamoru was even affected that much at all. Sure he claimed to not really have any powers, but even so it seemed like he could've resisted it just fine before.
"Wait wait wait, what do you mean? His magic can't be that low. I didn't see anything drain his energy recently either." Turning to Mercury she asks, "Have you?"
Mamoru starts spilling his guts. Homura circles around behind the couch and says, "Hey, buddy. Don't worry about it. You're safe now, alright? Just take a moment to breathe deep." She actually seems to not have a temper for a moment. Maybe dealing with Mamoru's problems is taking her mind off her own?
"I can verify that he isn't Nephrite," she says, to Mercury. Being associated with Homura probably wont help his case much, considering who /Homura/ associates with. Or maybe it does, considering who /else/ Homura associates with.
"... and yeah, if we're going to say that outright, I'm not sure how that Witch was able to affect you at all, but if you've been 'weakened' somehow, then that might explain it."
"I know you're not Nephrite, Chiba-san. I've even defended you in meetings." Mercury says, remembering finally that she's NOT Ami, before she stops. "Wait...who needs you?" She actually looks into Mamoru's eyes, holding up a hand to stop Homura. "I know he's not Nephrite. If he was, he's had plenty of time to attack me and kill me before now." She then looks back to Mamoru. "Who needs you?"
Iris' warning doesn't go unheard, but she only slightly turns her head away from Mamory. "At its lowest.....weaker than the average person around town'? Please explain that."
Suddenly, lousy filler-grade TV is not the worst problem in the room. Iris listens as wild theories and sudden explanations fly. Talk of suicidal urges, and those urges being denied, and secret identities dismissed as flat-out untrue. Magical monsters are explained. Questions are asked of her about magic levels and linker cores.
"Okay... let's all calm down and take in what we do know. Everyone's here. Everyone's alive. Anything else has to be built on that before we care about anything else."
She takes a breath, running through all this information again in her head quickly before making any move to answer anyone. "Okay, so Witches are very, very bad news. Probably the worst news since I've arrived here." Witches apparently drive people to suicide. Mamoru is here because of an incident with one of them, and nobody is sure why he would have been so affected.
Which means the TV needs to be turned off. Iris reaches over to tap the remote, getting rid of any ambient noise about things that really don't matter right now. She doesn't have full information, and maybe she wouldn't understand some things even if she did. Yet she is mentally assessing this as an attempted suicide, which means no silly comments right now. "I'll tell you what I know in just a moment." A few more waves of her hairclip/gem around Mamoru, and she nods.
"Before I explain anything, all of you need to understand he's stable now." She nods to Mamoru and insists to him, "You're stable. I checked, nothing is diminishing your core at this time. I found a few... 'residues' of things, but nothing active, and what's there is already fading. You really will be okay."
Finally, she gives the quick summary that answers the universal question: "A Linker Core is how I understand magical potential and abilities. You might have another name for it, you might have other explanations for how they work. You might even be right on both counts, but this is how /I/ know them. The simplest explanation is it's... kind of like your heart, but for magic. Everyone has one. For most people, it's very, very tiny. Not big enough to do anything with, but it's there and you do need one anyway. Yours... has been damaged, somehow."
She holds up a finger, trying to curb any possible panic. "You're already healing. That's why I was reading fluctuations. But please understand, from my perspective you are injured and we do need to talk about this."
Honestly it's a miracle at this point -- or just that damned fatigue -- that Mamoru hasn't jumped to his feet. When Homura comes around the back of the couch, symbolically having his back, he slumps. It's not relief, as such, but it's a comfort, and her calm is something that's very reassuring to hear. He slouches further into the couch, all the tension released in a cloud of confused and fairly miserable half-comprehension, and he reaches up to scrub at his face with the heels of his hands. "Okay," he says, "okay. All right."
When she mentions being 'weakened' as a possible reason, he gets an undeniable air of defeat. When Mercury calls him on his sloppy guts-spilling, he just covers his face with his hands, finally leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, and just full-on block out the world. He says something too muffled to make out, realizes it a second later, then moves his hands enough that he can be understood. "The princess I dream about. I-- I gave Sailor Jupiter some sketches. I'm not magic like all of you, but I have true dreams, if that's even worth anything. And-- I think she's trying to find me. And I know she needs my help. That's all I can tell you. Please don't ask for anything more."
Finally, he drops his hands, but he doesn't look up. "Thank you, Doctor. And if energy draining could do that, then that's what did it. Because someone did. But I can't talk about that either. I don't want to talk anymore. I just want to hide somewhere no one can find me, for a little while, so I can finish healing. If the Witch was able to affect me like this, then I can't be anywhere until I'm better."
Homura sees that Iris is trying to calm things down, so she remains quiet for a while. She's glad that people don't suspect Mamoru of being an evil jerkface. She's a bit worried, however, about what would happen if Mamoru were to come across a Witch while Homura wasn't around.
"I don't suppose there's anything he could do to make it heal faster?" she asks Iris. "I wish I could be more helpful, but whatever it is that did that, it wasn't the Witch. Witches don't work that way."
Mamoru wants to be alone and hide. Homura understands, but she also has some serious objections.
"Alright, Mamoru-san. However, I'm probably going to patrol the places you frequent a bit. Just in case something dangerous comes after you again."
"And that simply solidifies my beliefe that you are not an enemy." Mercury says. "Your dreams sound like we're after the same goal. And from the way this princess was described to me, she can't be looking for anyone that is evil." She then looks up to Iris. "Yes, energy draining can damage someone like that, at least, that's how I understand it. But then, explaining magic is like trying to color to a blind man."
She looks over towards Homura and tilts her head. "Patrol? Why would he patrol places?"
This night just gets more and more interesting. "Your dreams are worth something," Iris insists to Mamoru, still treating this as the aftermath of a suicide attempt even if there appears to have been an external factor causing it. "I don't have enough information here to fully piece together what happened. I have my theories, mostly revolving around this 'Witch' you're all talking about, but if you don't want to talk about it then I can't force you. In that case, we only have two things left to discuss. And we are going to discuss them."
She raises one finger. "First, you can hide here. You two," she nods over to Mercury and Homura, "Can take some of those phones. That way I have nothing I can identify you with, but we have a way to keep in touch. I can call you when he's better, or you can call me to check on him, the numbers are already programmed in. You need to bring the phones back when we're done, though."
Then her gaze returns to Mamoru. "You can hide here, but my second point," a second finger rises to accompany this statement, "Is I need certain promises from you. I understand there were mitigating circumstances, so I'm not talking down on you when I ask for this... I need you to promise me, and your friends here, that you won't try to kill yourself. That's one of my conditions for you hiding here. You're important to them, so please don't do that."
Homura's remarks raise an eye. "Well, you've just destroyed my operating theory on how this happened, so now I've got a new mystery on my hands. 'Patrol'... that sounds very dangerous. If you're okay with that, thank you, but please be careful. Unfortunately... this isn't something I can appreciably speed up. It's like asking someone to speed up recovery from a heart transplant. All I can say is that he is healing already, and so long as whatever caused this doesn't show up for a second go at him he will be just fine."
Mercury's words cause Iris' head to tilt down, pondering. "That... might answer a few things. I'll see what I can find out, but I'm dealing with what amounts to 'trace evidence' at this point. I don't expect much. Thank you for telling me about this, however."
Mamoru's too tired and overloaded and faintly bitter in his own irritation with himself to argue or clarify anything, really. He just shakes his head. "I promise not to try to kill myself. You don't know me so you have to reason to believe me when I say nothing could make me, but it's true, it's an easy promise."
He finally looks up at Homura, then glances to the doctor again. "I very much appreciate the offer, but I need to not be someplace that people who fight these things are likely to show up. I'd like to minimize my contact with people I can't predict until I'm okay. It takes too much energy to be on my guard right now."
He gives Mercury a small smile of gratitude, then looks to Homura as he slowly gets to his feet. "Would you walk me home? I remember locking my car and I'm not up to driving right now..."
"Well I mean... I hunt Witches," explains Homura, to Mercury. "Generally that means I have to wander around places and see if I can find any. Patrolling is just part of my daily routine, and it's generally the best way to find Witches, if you know what to look for."
Iris states to Mamoru her conditions, and Homura adds, "I doubt Mamoru-san is at risk of something like that. The Witch just... you know... controls you. None of the Witch victims I've seen before have shown any suicidal tendencies before or after the fact. Having been targeted once before, I can say that it's more like an intense feeling that passes once the source is destroyed."
At the mention of phones, Homura just shrugs. "Hm... Well, that's a very clever idea, but I don't exactly hide who I am." She doesn't have much of a need to call Iris either, if Mamoru isn't staying here. "Here, take this if you ever need to give me a call."
Homura reaches into her shield and pulls out a business card. It displays her name clearly as 'Homura Akemi', and gives both an office and a cell phone number. The company name is 'WitchHunter Professional Services'.
"If you need to contact me, the cell phone is the best way."
To Mamoru, she says, "Sure thing. You could hide out at my place, if you wanted. I can assure you it's pretty safe. If nothing else, you'd have at least one person around in case something happens."
"Okay, good!" Iris is pleased to secure this promise, thinking it's progress... then looks very surprised when Mamoru opts to not stay. She's conflicted. Does she force the issue and try to make him stay? ...Can she? It's likely to turn into a fight in the middle of her apartment if she does. That would become a very big problem, likely ending with her being on the streets within the next several minutes with little money, at night.
Iris reluctantly relents. "Okay. I'm going to trust you that it's every bit as easy as you say. That you don't need my further help right now, and you're going to go rest somewhere and you'll be okay, and you won't make me regret letting you walk out that door. Because right now, every urge in me is screaming to stop you. To just... drag you back in here kicking and screaming and make you stay here until I'm sure you'll be okay."
Homura's interruption is welcome, and helps satisfy her worries. Iris takes the card, commenting idly, "That business name sounds familiar, but I can't place why. Well... okay. If you're sure the urges won't come back, then I'll trust his promise and your information. I still feel really uneasy about this, but I won't stop you from leaving. All I've got is some doctors' orders, and you're going to tell me they're obvious."
She faces Mamoru, all business. "Don't strain your shoulder. No lifting heavy things for a day or two while it finishes adjusting to... well... your friend popped it back in to place. Give it some time to fully fix itself from there. And you do your best to stay away from whatever it is that hurt you. If this happens again, your promise to me might not even matter. So stay safe, okay? And... wait."
She suddenly smiles, facing Homura. "You asked if this could be sped up somehow? I forgot, there /is/ one secret method of it." She thrusts an exaggeratedly, needlessly dramatic finger-point at the candy bowl. "Both of you need a piece from that. It's the only way to accelerate the healing process!" A soft laugh follows.
It's absurd-- or perhaps distressing-- how relieved Mamoru actually looks when Homura makes her offer. "--really? If it's not too much of an imposition... I would be very, very grateful." He doesn't even look irritated at Iris' "doctor's orders": only as tired as he's been, and completely agreeable. "All reasonable instructions. And I really, really promise you it won't be an issue-- I'll stay safe. I wasn't even planning on going anywhere alone."
And then-- THEN-- candy???
"It's a deal," he says, smiling for real for the first time since he's come in here.
He'll leave with Homura after taking his "prescription", but ducks his head in the door and gives Iris a quick little bow. "Thank you so very much."
Homura, for once, smiles at the offer of candy. Partly because of the offer, and partly because this is the first time she's Mamoru relaxed since he woke up. She takes a piece of candy, tilting her head at Iris and saying, "Thanks, for all of this. I'm glad we came. I'll try to keep him out of trouble."
To Mamoru, she just says, "Yeah well it's just me and the cat. I hope you're not allergic to cats or anything. Normally I'd have to clean up the notes I've scattered about the place, but there's nothing in them that I haven't already told you at some point."
She starts to leave with Mamoru. Fortunately he seems capable of leaving on his own power. Before leaving, she turns to Iris and says, "Thanks again! We were worried, but I'm glad he'll turn out alright."
She walks out with him, leading the way to her apartment. She'll have to set up a couch for him to sleep on, set out blankets and so on, but other than that it wont be much of a big deal. At least this way she'll know that there's at least one armed and competent magical girl around in case something happens.
"Great! Then in a few days I'm sure you'll be fine," Iris comments to Mamoru, satisfied that she's not going to wind up reading an obituary about him if he walks out the door now. She simply giggles as he bows. "Good night."
Homura in turn is met with a nod. "And thank you. I'm not sure why you brought him here for the symptoms you did notice, but you made the right choice. He'll be fine. Sleep well, knowing you did something kind for him!"
Several minutes later, once everyone is gone, Iris closes up shop and puts her hairclip back on. Her smile fades, yet Iris' Device keeps talking. <Alert! Doctor! Our rent is due soon and we received no pay for this task.> Iris sighs and nods. "I know, I know. But... run a scan on me after I finish this sentence: I am going to bill medical services to someone who doesn't have a job, someone who has a /made up/ job," she's not convinced Homura's business card represents anything real since the idea of a 14 year old with a legit business job and office strikes her as unlikely, "and someone who was forced into a suicide attempt."
<Scanning. Diagnosis complete. Your heart is twisted and black, corrupted by endless greed.> It says that in mechanical deadpan. Iris nods again. "Now scan me again after I finish /this/ sentence: I've changed my mind, that would be wrong." <Your heart is operating normally, no longer gripped in utter cruelty and a lack of empathy.> the hairclip device replies in the same tone as before.
"Exactly. We'll figure something out, Valkyrie Wing. We still have a few days before we have to pay up. Thanks for helping me take care of him." Iris sounds tired, but her Device is perfectly calm. <You are welcome, Doctor. Good night.>
She settles back on to the couch, flicking the TV back on. More insane 'science stunts.' More pranks. More ridiculously gimmicky game shows. The television equivalent of junk food will be her 'final mental meal' of the night as she nods off to sleep.