The last several hours have been a ringer for Nagisa and her father, Ryou Momoe. Her mother Hinako had been struggling with cancer for a long time and had just lost her fight. After a few hours of simply crying together by her side the doctors had important things for Ryou to do. Sent out to the waiting room she passes several nurses along the way, not getting any comments about how brave she's being this time, her eyes red and puffy. She finds a seat for herself and slouches over, ignoring the TV news going on and on about something or another and giving into the temptation to cry some more. It's okay, she knows, to cry at a time like this.
After a little while she wipes her tears off on her brown shirt sleeve, getting a small surprise by the feeling of something cool on her cheek, only to realize it's the ring she didn't have before today. She takes a few deep breaths and opens her hands, an egg shaped gem forming into them out of the ring, pure white on the inside. While it's her new Soul Gem that she's looking into, her thoughts are on the dream that brought it into being, a final delicious cheesecake of goodbyes between her and her mother. "I was able to make her smile one more time," Nagisa tells herself quietly. "I finally did something to help." She bites her lip as a few more tears come out, these ones a little bittersweet rather than just bitter.
A familiar voice, connected to a white fluffy creature, comes from behind Nagisa. Kyubey, the creature with whom she made the contract, is sitting on the back of the chair just behind her. He stretches, and tilts his head. "What I don't really understand is... why didn't you just wish your mother back to health? Any wish in the world, and you choose to eat a cake." he says, one of his back feet coming up to scratch an itch on his ear. "I don't understand humans at all, but I suppose I shouldn't judge whatever wish you choose to pay for - perhaps that cheesecake was worth a contract of combat?"
Nagisa doesn't notice the creature coming up to her until it lands on the chair behind her, and when Kyubey does it gives her a little extra comfort. She thinks of pulling him into her lap and hugging onto him, but he speaks before decides to do so. She sniffles a little and wipes her eyes once more, turning in her seat and tilting her head up to look at him. "Wish her back to health?" she asks, confusion sounding in her voice. She shakes her head a little, "I wouldn't be able do a thing like that. The doctors told me; they said she was going to die even though everyone had already done the best they could." She looks into the gem again for a moment before leaning a little closer to Kyubey, trying to explain to him, "The cheesecake was her wish as much as mine. She hadn't been able to for a year. It... it made her so happy, to share it with me! That's why it was worth it."
Kyubey stretches again. He looks at Nagisa, his eyes fixed and his expression unchanged as he talks to her telepathically. "But... you could! That's what a miracle /is/, Nagisa-san. It's the ability to do the impossible. That's what you pay for by agreeing to fight witches. Your mother being healthy again is as easy as eating that cheesecake. In fact, if you had just made your wish to bring her back to health, you could've eaten a lot more than just one cheesecake with her, so I really don't see how your wish benefitted either of you more than having her... not dead."
Nagisa blinks a couple of times and stars back into Kyubey's fixed expression. "I... I could?" Her high eyebrows squeeze together as the nature of miracles and true magic are explained to her, and suddenly her eyes widen. She turns in the seat, kneeling on it now in order to bring her up eye to eye with Kyubey, a look of surprise and hope on her face, gripping the back of the chair with both hands. "Then I want to! I want my mother to be alive! You can do it, can't you Kyubey?!" She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "I... I wish my mother was still alive and perfectly healthy!"
"You only get one wish, Nagisa-san. Everybody only gets one." he says, looking right into her eyes with his expressionless red ones. "You used your only wish on that one cheesecake, and because of that, you can't save your mother. She's already dead, after all... I also think your father would be much happier with your mother alive." there's a pause. "I really hope the cheesecake was good, though!" he says in a high, happy voice.
Unsure of what to expect, not knowing if it will feel the same as the first wish she made, Nagisa simply stares with wide eyes at Kyubey as he breaks the truth to her. "Only one?" Her head tilts a little, and then she slumps back into the chair, stunned. It really was a good cheesecake, but when she could have had something so much better? "I... I just wanted to help, to do something good for her just once." Her hands tremble and she looks down into her soulgem again, into that pure whiteness, and lets out a wracking sob. She drops it into her lap and covers her face with both hands, before curling her fingers. "I could have saved her but I was too stupid?!"
She doesn't wait for an answer this time, instead jumping up from her chair and running. She doesn't know where she's going at first- just away. She finds the staircase and starts moving down, circling round and around for what feels like forever. Soon she's bursting out the front door of the hospital while people stare after her, their eyes upon her feeling like accusations of murder. She runs around to the side of the building and lets out another pained cry, leaning against the hospital wall while gripping the gem in her hand, thumping her first uselessly against the wall. "I could have saved her," she whimpers. "I could have saved Mom, but now she's gone forever!"
Rune had come here expecting to learn more about where Tokyo's 'healers' - her archaic term for them - worked, how they worked, what they did. In a world of seemingly impossible technology, finding out just how wondrous their advances in this field are struck her as a good way to spend a day. And so she wandered, always with a handy lie about being here to 'see a friend' if anyone got too suspicious. Even if she didn't understand much about what was done, it was a fascinating look at just how extensive the city's medical infrastructure is.
And after a time, she went back outside. There, she does not see the miracles modern Earth has wrought. She sees that apparently they have limits. Rune sees someone running... running and then hitting a wall, in a place of healing. That can only mean bad news. Rune is too far out to hear the cries, the regret... but she has a very good idea what that expression is like and why someone would have it. The possibilities running through her head dash any thought of being all that interested in scouting Tokyo right now.
Carefully, very carefully, she walks toward Nagisa. Her tone is low, careful, trying to find the 'right way' to ask about this. Rune knows there is no true way to do that, though. You do not ask 'are you alright?' in the face of those emotions. This stranger is clearly not alright. So Rune simply tries to keep it short. "What's... ...what's wrong?"
There's just something going on with Akatsukis and hospitals recently! First it was Mei, and now her sister has the strange sickness going about. This makes her frown a lot. But netherless, Reiko has spent the better part of the early day drawing a picture card to go and deliver it- after spending so much time drawing it and coloring it carefully.
She stuffs it into her orange backpack, with koi-charms on the zipper and zips it off to the hospital.
Someone bursts out crying! Juuuust as she was about to open the door. She blinks a little confusedly, as she watches the younger girl turn the corner then frowns. She fixes her glasses, and follows behind Rune a little bit...
"Is-- everything okay?" asks Reiko as she keeps distance, to the two other girls.
Nagisa feels the eyes of the other girls as she runs more than she notices them, wishing she was invisible for how horrible a person she feels right now. Once she feels she's alone she cries loudly, her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Even when she tries to tell herself she couldn't have known her own mind screams back that she should have, that of course if given any wish she should have wished for her mother to be healthy and safe, to have a nice long life with her and her father.
She isn't looking at it but as she cries that pure white gem starts to change color, shifting from a beautiful white to an ever darkening lavender. She's entirely unable to convince herself she hasn't condemned her own mother to death, and so she stares at the concrete sidewalk wide eyed, tears staining the ground darker like slow rain.
But she isn't alone anymore, two voices bringing her out of her dark reverie and momentarily back to the present. She sniffles and wipes at her face, but can't bring herself to look up to the people talking to her, most of her expression hidden by her white bangs. "M-my mother died," she says at first, a knot forming in her stomach as she has to say those terrible words to another person for the first time. "I'm not okay at all." She shakes her head from side to side, "Mom is dead and it's all my fault because I couldn't do the right thing. I could have! But I didn't." She slumps, letting herself slide down against the wall into a sitting position, her hands dropping to her sides, her darkening soul gem rolling from her grip. "I'm horrible. I'm terrible. I'm... the worst daughter ever!"
A moment later, Sakura comes skating up to the front of the hospital, noticing that everyone is staring in one direction. Following their gazes, she catches sight of the white-haired young girl she's seen and probably talked to a few times in the cheerleading club, and makes a beeline for her. Zig zagging through other hospital goers on her way, she finally makes a flying leap at Nagisa, seeking to wrap her in a big, sympathetic hug! "Nagisaaaaaa! I just heard about your mom's cancer, and I'm so sorryyyyyy! If I knew, I would've talked to you about iiiiiit!" Wait, is /she/ crying too?
A chill slams through Rune's heart. Nagisa only needed three words to do it, words deeply familiar to her. Words that rob her of any intelligble reply to Reiko's concerned question, and of any immediate response to Nagisa beyond a tiny, hurt noise.
She doesn't have full context here, and it takes several seconds for Rune to gather any words for this. "Th... that's not true..." She is guessing, it is a blind guess as to what could have possibly caused Nagisa's mother to die, but it is a guess she feels may be urgent to at least attempt. "'The worst daughter'... wouldn't say things like that. She... she wouldn't even care. You obviously do, I'm sure your mother doesn't feel that way about you!"
Then Sakura arrives, providing some context. A few of the words are too modern for Rune to be familiar with, but combined with /where/ they are said... she can figure it out, and her own tears follow. They blur what would have otherwise been a good view of the Soul Gem, an artifact she has a twisted but 'not entirely wrong' understanding of thanks to Homura.
Mami Tomoe has a patrol route. While she doesn't know much about Witches, even as a veteran Puella Magi, there are those areas where she suspects, based on what she knows about them, where Witches are much more likely to breed - that is, appear.
These places include major highways - after all, didn't her own Wish occur of an accident?- the local schools, and Mitakihara General Hospital.
Mami spots, like so many other girls, the girl breaking from the hospital. She flicks one drill back behind her shoulder, before she approaches the group, looking down in concern at Nagisa ... before she immediately inhales, which to most anyone, sounds like a noise of worry, but is much more one of fright.
Mami looks over at Sakura as she registers the girls' words, then over at Nagisa, and while she cna't be sure what happened, she does know Kyubey done did a bad thing. A baaaad thing. She approaches, kneeling down by Nagisa. There is a familiar thread of pain in Mamis' voice. "I'm so sorry." She says, simply. "I didn't think of anything to save my parents either." That's kind of vague but also kind of reassuring, in a way. Mami also screwed up.
Reiko Touyama oh dears! She walks a little closer. Listening to the girl, and Runealy, and then there's Mami now. Oh dear, did her mother die!? Lots of bad things happen in hospitals, but it's always sad to hear someone's mother had died. "H..hey! Everything will be okay!" she says, as she pulls her hands up into fists! "R--right! I'm sure she doesn't think all that at all!" she says as an aside to Runealy.
She frowns and frets a bit. She doesn't notice the thing in the girls hand- but she seems worried.
Even as she's defaming herself others pipe up in Nagisa's defense, and before she can immediately reply she's wrapped up in a sudden and surprising hug by one of the older girls in her cheerleading club. Immediate retorts are cut to a whimper, because it feels good to have someone to cling to. "Sakura-san?! Thank you. I... I didn't want anyone to worry, we're supposed to be happy and cheerful for everyone else." Though she does return the hug there's a certain strange tenseness about it, the younger girl having no way to withdraw or hide herself away like she wants to.
As Rune tries to talk her out of her accusations towards herself Nagisa shakes her head, "You don't understand, it is true! I didn't know it, but I could have saved her. What kind of person thinks of cheesecake when their mom is dying? She'd think I was horrible if she knew." She looks over to Reiko and makes a pleading statement, "How will everything be okay when I'll never see my mom again?"
She's a little overwhelmed by the other girls around her already when Mami arrives but her voice speaks of kindred suffering that gets her attention enough to keep her from simply crying out another rejection. "You didn't?" she asks, sniffing while she cries in Sakura's hug, trying not to let her nose run on her schoolmates clothes, "Then... how do you live with yourself?" It's not an accusation, though it might sound like one at first, "How do you keep from hating yourself because you had one chance and I-" her pronouns change as she forgets she's supposed to be asking a question, "I was too stupid and selfish to make the right wish?!" She balls her hands into little fists and Sakura will find the hug suddenly suffocatingly tight! As suffocatingly tight as a tiny 8 year old can make a hug anyway.
Sakura doesn't mind getting runny nose all over her suit! There are more important things than that right now, like the pain of a little girl who's just lost her mother! And even as others console her, Sakura goes the more direct route, drawing from her own pain, seven years old.
"I lost my mother too, Nagisa..." she speaks up, letting out a tiny grunt as the other girl squeezes her a little too tightly, but she doesn't protest. She'll let Nagisa have her comfort however she needs it. "It happened when I was only three, so I never got to know her very well..."
Then, pulling away slightly to look Nagisa directly in her eyes, Sakura's own cheeks stained wet with tears, she says, "But you did! So treasure those memories you made with your mother, Nagisa! Hold onto them and never let them go!"
Rune gives a tiny nod aside to Reiko, thankful for the 'backup' on this. She starts to protest to Nagisa, "We're pr--" No, this sentence is going somewhere very different than expected. "Ah?" Cheesecake? This situation is so hard to grasp. Very little of it makes sense, and she suspects this is the wrong time to pry for fully specific details. Not when she remembers full well how this feels.
And that leaves her treading very carefully with her words to Nagisa. "No... I--" Mami speaks up, changing what Runealy says as a direct result. "I think someone here..."
Sakura's words weigh in as well. It's definitely more than just one 'someone', now. "...A lot of people, actually do understand. And they're here to ask you to not do that... to not tear into yourself, when she wouldn't either. So..."
An eloquent finish eludes the alien princess. She simply opts for a single word to finish: "...Please."
Mami has, admittedly, come to terms about her loss. However, she was also older than Nagisa is when it came to her Wish, not to mention that her life was on the line, just like her parents. She remembers her own feeling when she realized for the first time that she could've bound her parents as well as herself to life, and it shows in the twist of pain on her face.
Mami considers, before she pulls her hands in close, her right hand cupping her left so no one notices her Soul Gem materializing in her hand from her ring, before she gently reaches out, settling her hand on Nagisas' knee briefly, to draw her attention to her soul gem.
"I understand your wish... and I did the same... but I believe your mother, like mine, would believe that we just had the most pure intentions in our hearts, and we wouldn't want to give into despair, would we?"
Nagisa blinks in surprise when Sakura tells her about her own pain, and about not even remembering much about her time with her mom. "Your mom died... when you were that little? But you're so happy and cheerful all the time." She looks back into Sakura's eyes with confusion in her own- right now her pain is so fresh she can't imagine it every going away or being any different, but right here in front of her is living proof it doesn't have to be that way. She sniffles a little and nods, "I will treasure my memories of my mother forever. I p-promise."
She tries to remember good memories now but most of them make her cry even more, even if they're happy. But even if they're sad they're a different type of sadness than the self blaming she was doing moments before. If nothing else the girls have kept her too busy to keep doing that, and Runealy's words put the exclamation point on it. She frowns a little at those words at first, but in the end has to admit, "Mom wouldn't like hearing me talk like that about myself. She'd be upset and make me take them back."
The tap on the knee catches her attention, and Nagisa's multicolored eyes move to the gem that's so much like hers- the only one she's seen up until now. "You... you made the same kind of wish I did? You forgot too? I'm... not alone in making that horrible decision?" There's a brief panic as she can't find her own gem, and she flails a bit in her hug with Sakura before feeling it on the ground next to her, squeezing onto it. "Mom... she," She looks up to Mami and nods, "Mom would think that I was trying to do the best I could, even if I wasn't making the right choice."
For a brief moment she's strong, but after thinking about it a little longer she starts crying again, trying to hide her face in Sakura's shoulder. It's sad, and pitiful as she cries and even wails, but there's no blame in her voice as she squeaks out, "She's still gone. Mom's really gone forever."
Everyone is here to pitch in, and although Sakura doesn't quite pay attention to what Mami says or the Soul Gems, she manages to will her own tears to stop long enough to put on a face of resolute courage! "See, Nagisa-chan? Everyone is here for you. My brother and I made it with the help of our dad and our friends, and I know you can too. You're not alone, and you're not a bad person!" And then she hugs Nagisa again, but lets go when she feels the other girl struggling, a look of concern crossing her features. "S-sorry! Was I hugging too hard?"
For a few moments, Rune has no words. She stands, watching the exchange between Mami and Nagisa. There is no attempt to look at what the hand hides - Runealy's vision is too tear-blurred to pick up on such precise details at the moment regardless - but she is listening closely to the words. Not every word is able to be overheard, but Rune hangs on every one of them she can pick up.
They strike her as rather important, enough so that Runealy stumbles backward a step, feeling an impact from them. She can see Nagisa move for something on the ground, and hear a very familiar truth... but Rune has no words for it. Not right now, not when her own mind is starting to be a jumbled mess as very recent memories return, and not as Mami and Sakura seem to be familiar with the problem in their own ways. Runealy simply offers Nagisa a lowered gaze, tears still streaming and nodding faintly at the summary provided by the grieving Nagisa; trying to do what was right would have had to be enough. Another one follows as Sakura speaks, trying to back her up on those sentiments.
It is seriously surprising to the young Puella Magi how many people are here telling her everything is going to be okay and not to blame herself. She looks to each of the girls in turn through teary eyes as Sakura speaks, only to look back to the girl herself. "Thank you, Sakura...-chan." After the flailing she shakes her head, "No, that wasn't the reason. I thought I'd lost something important, for a second, but I hadn't."
Once again Nagisa looks to each of the other girls surrounding her, no longer feeling like their gazes are accusing, not wanting to just disappear and hide forever. It's hard but she quiets her crying down to a few sniffles, and again uses her sleeve to momentarily dry her face. She holds her hands in front of herself and bows as best she can from a sitting position. "Thank you, all of you, for being so nice to me. I never would have thought so many good people would do their best to try and make me feel better."
Sakura grins widely at Nagisa, a reassuring grin that she's certain will help! Nodding in understanding, she claps a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "See? You even still have your important thing. Everything will surely be alright, Nagisa-chan. When times are hard, just keep repeating that to yourself; it works for me!" One more hug, and then she lets go and stands up to give the girl some room. "Even if we aren't here with you, Nagisa, we'll always be with you in spirit. And so will your mother." she adds in response to Nagisa's thanks.
Mami gives Nagisa a small smile.
"Do you go to Infinity, or one of the other schools? I go to Infinity. My name is Mami Tomoe. If you ever want someone to talk too, then just come find me once school lets out, but I don't have any clubs, so watch the front entrance." Mami suspects any further conversation between them best be done alone. "I am sorry for your loss... and she's right. Your mother is still here, in your heart."
Runealy continues to keep a little distance in order to let Mami and Sakura handle this more closely, but she's able to find some words now. "You said people wouldn't understand, but... they do. I'm new here, but..."
Something surprises her. When Mami introduces herself, Runealy cuts off and blinks several times. For some reason, this has jarred her and it takes a few seconds to find anything else to say. "...What she said. I'll be here too if you would like. Something like this... you shouldn't have to think about it alone."
Nagisa returns the hug given to her before Sakura stands up, and then manages to give both her and Mami a small smile. "I'll do my best to remember that, Sakura-chan. If I feel myself starting to get really sad again I'll remind myself that you all helped me out of the kindness of your own hearts." She wipes away another couple of tears as they come out and then takes a deep breath. It isn't right or proper for her to be sitting here on the ground, so she carefully pushes herself back up to her feet- though she cheats a little and leans against the hospital wall behind her.
She gives the three girls each a bow before properly introducing herself- even Sakura who she already knows from school, "I'm Nagisa Momoe and I'm a second year elementary student at Infinity Academy." She looks to Mami when at first, and then looks to Runealy, "You're right; I thought I was all alone in feeling this way, but I am not the only person to-" she stops for a moment and takes a deep breath, "to lose someone dear to me. I'll do my best to remember Mom in my heart. It would be rude not to, when some people have very few memories at all." She tries to give a strong smile to Sakura, but only partially succeeds.
Lastly she addresses Mami, looking for a moment in the direction of the hand that was holding onto her soul gem, "I... I think I would like that. You're my Senior, so there's probably a lot you know about that I don't." Sakura is her senior too, at school, so the subtlety she's using might be noticed.
Sakura Kinomoto nods to Nagisa, confident that they've instilled some hope in the younger girl, even if she doesn't know just how important that hope really was. "And if you really need someone to help you out, or just to talk to, you can always call me! Here, have my number..." she says, then steps forward and brings out her cute pink phone to show Nagisa her number. Once that's taken care of, she steps back to give her some space again, then looks a little puzzled at the comment to Mami. "Wait, aren't I your senior too?"
"Yes, well, you're both my kohais." Mami says to Sakura in a tone of warm amusement.
"Nagisa-chan... you know how to find me, or this ..." Mami pauses. Does she know Sakuras' name? "Your other senpai, if you need someone to talk to. At any point, if you find yourself ... sad. Let us know." Mami means it, too.
Rune's posture sags with relief as Nagisa starts to calm down. She knows there are no words to make this truly feel better. Not here, not now. Not so recently after one of the worst things that someone can possibly go through. Yet it seems they've at least made Nagisa feel 'less bad', and that is as good as can realistically be hoped for at the moment.
Taking a few moments to dig through her belongings, Runealy produces a few slips of paper. "It can probably feel like you're all alone... but don't worry about 'rude' right now. What just happened really hurts, and don't let anyone tell you you're wrong to feel bad or that someone else has it worse... but yes, please remember her."
She walks closer, offering one slip to Nagisa. "I'll make the same offer they are... if you want someone to talk to, someone to help with things, you can reach me with this." Another one is offered to Sakura.
Then, once she has a hand free to get a third slip, this is pulled out and offered to Mami. "This isn't the best time or place, but I don't know if I'll get another chance. I..." She hesitates, then finishes: "...know someone who has been looking for you, I think. Could you use this to reach them?"
Alas, Sakura is too perceptive to let that comment go by, but Mami saves Nagisa by her timely comment. "Ah, yes, you're both my senpai." She blinks a little when Sakura gets out her phone to show her her number. "I don't have my own phone. ...or anything to write on. I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, do you have a piece of paper and a pen?"
She finds one of those things being handed to her, taking the slip of paper from Rune and reading it before nodding to the older girl, who she's just noticing now is wearing a very nice dress. It's a good thing she stood up and bowed properly! "I will," she replies in comment to remembering her mother. For the moment she seems to have gotten a hold of her emotions, effectively having cried them out for the moment and also having come down from quite the emotional precipice. "I think I will be taking you all up on your offers of kindness," she says, looking down momentarily while saying, "I think I'm going to be feeling sad a whole lot for a while." After a pause she looks back up, "But with so much help, I think I'll be okay."
She then blinks as if just realizing something, "Oh! Papa is going to need me. I don't think he has so many kind people to help him. He spent almost all his time with Mom and I..."
Sakura Kinomoto gets out her phone again so that Nagisa can take the time to write her number down. Maybe she has a landline? In any case, Sakura smiles at her and pats her shoulder again, nodding sagely. "Yep. My brother and I were there for my dad too, after we lost my mom. You'll be even more important to him now, so make sure you don't give up, for his sake!" All this positive reinforcement!
"Right... your dad needs you." Mami's hand closes around her Soul Gem, ring reappearing on her finger in a barely noticable move.
Then she's startled by Runealy, and she blinks, taking the slip from the other. "... I. Ah. Thank you. I will... do so when I can." She gives it a puzzled look, but gives Runealy a even more puzzled one.
The paper Rune has offered to Sakura and Nagisa is not the same as the one she offered to Mami... though she is hoping that having over three objects that /look/ alike at first glance, and ostensibly serve identical purposes, will cause the difference to be overlooked. Nagisa and Sakura have received one with a name ('Rune', Just Rune with no family name provided) and a phone number. Mami's paper has just a number... and it's a different one than she gave to the others. If it's puzzling, what's actually written here certainly /won't/ clear up much.
Nagisa gets her first response. "You're probably right... please, go to him. You'll likely need each other." Rune's voice is very quiet. "I'm sorry this happened... but please get through it. Remember her, but... make it through this. She would want that."
Then, Runealy turns her back to the conversation. "Sorry. I need to be going. Thank you," a nod over-shoulder to Mami, "And you," to Sakura. Then... she begins walking away, and once out of eyesight, her head lowers. Helping Nagisa was a good thing, but it has brought up very recent memories. Ones she mentioned to none of those gathered outside the hospital, but ones that guided her responses to Nagisa's pain all the same.
Nagisa writes the number down and then offers her own to Sakura, which is indeed a landline. "I could probably ask my dad for my own phone but I don't think now is a good time. He'd understand if it's because people were offering to help but..." she just shakes her head a little instead of completing that thought aloud. She starts to look a little worried after Sakura speaks, "You're right, I will be. I don't know how long I've been out here- I hope I'm not making him worried. If he had to start looking for me at a time like this; that would be horrible!" She once more gives a polite bow to the other girls in turn, "Thank you all very much for helping me. I don't know what I would have done without your kind words," a short pause, "and hugs." With that said she hurries off back towards the hospital entrance with urgency. "I'm sorry Papa, I'll be back soon!"
In the distance, two red eyes watch, the creature they belong to sitting on a tree, casting a shadow against the wall. An outsider might consider his plans ruined, but Kyubey knows better. Because for every bit of hope Nagisa Momoe gives and builds, despair will follow eventually, in even greater measure. This is the price of a miracle, no matter how big, or how small. Despair - such is the immutable, unchangable fate of all Puella Magi.
:3
The Incubator hops down from the tree and slinks off - he still has a quota to keep.