>>33423173
>Say something to Mom
C-can we spill more spaghetti?

>>33423173
>Try to calm her down a little.
Geez, mom. This is why we love you.

>>33423173
>>Introduce her to your friends

Then ask to go inside and tell her about your day.

>>33423173
>Keep hugging her
>Introduce her to your friends

how can she see their grins if they're behind her

>>33423173
>>Introduce her to your friends
Pretend we're not enjoying the hugging.

>>33423389
Failing badly, of course.

>>33423414
Of course, that's why it involves no attempt to stop the hugging. Plus Masami cannot have a good poker face at her age.

>Writing!

>>33423492
Masami not having a good poker face has everything to do with her being Masami and little to do with her age! Some kids have perfectly good poker faces.

While we wait, could someone give a quick breakdown of what this quest's about? I got it's a school setting thing, but I keep thinking it's something magical related.

>>33423806
Best mom doing cute things.

>>33423806
We are a magical girl, created through magical means by some company for some reason. However, the woman we identify as our mom wants us to have a normal life and has sent us to school. A school that isn't very normal at all.

>>33423880
Also the boss of the company wants us to see him and we're not because his agent is a wannabe kidnapper.

>>33423880
>>33423833
D'aww, that sounds sweet. Thanks, I'll probably look through archives at some point and try to join in.

Sorry for the delay, next post is almost up

>>33423950
Thanks! I hope to see you around.

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Even though this is happening at the worst possible time for this to happen.
I have to admit
that I don't hate this.

I let my short arms wrap around her as best as they can. This sense of comfort and release is a moment that I have been waiting for ever since this crazy day began. At this moment, I don't care if those two never let me live this down; what matters to me is the soft reinforcement that I can only find through Mom.
Quietly, we both stand there on the sidewalk near our home, hugging, and sobbing.

--

After we regain our composure, which definitely takes a few minutes. I finally get to introduce Mom to my two new friends.

"Aiko, Mae, This is Itsukuma Izumi. She is my precious mother."
Mom simply waves and a smiles, "

"Mom, this is Hotaka Aiko and Fujiko Maeda. They're part of the student council at school!", they both scramble to line up and look attentative and orderly.
"Aiko, Mae, This is Itsukuma Izumi. She is my precious mother."
Mom simply waves and a smiles in return.

"Oh wow", she says, patting my head gently, "your first day at school and you've already made friends." Her hands running along my scalp and tracing my hairline slightly.
Ehehe, I don't hate this very much, either.

Maeda is the first to respond, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Itsukuma-san. Please, just call me Maeda."
Aiko responds in kind, "It's good to finally meet you! You can just call me Aiko."
"Hello Maeda, Aiko." Mom puts on that calming, reassuring smile.
She continues, "I am so thankful that Masami has found friends to call her own, please take good care of her for me."
I'm beginning to blush slightly, all this attention is getting to me.

>Say something?
>Such as:
>"Do you want to come inside and talk about what happened today with me?"

>>33424311
>"Do you want to come inside and talk about what happened today with me?"

Yeah, that would probably help.

>>33424311
>"Um, a lot of stuff has happened today, so...it might be nice if we, uh, talked about it a little..."
More shy.

>>33424311
>Regale her with tales of how nice they were and the (non-magical, safe-for-public) stuff you did today.
Oblivious cuteness.

>>33424311

>>33424398
I like this.

>>33424398
>>"Um, a lot of stuff has happened today, so...it might be nice if we, uh, talked about it a little..."
>recount entire day from the top

>>33424438
There.. wasn't much she did that wasn't magical. Kind of a shit day on that front.

>>33424497
Sure there was. We got shown around a lot!

>>33424311
>"Do you want to come inside and talk about what happened today with me?"

But make it a little shyer than this. We do need to go inside and sit down.

My need to cuddle mom is clashing with the need to not look stupid in front of our friends, how annoying.

>>33424669
We already hugged her and cried for minutes. More than that seems a little excessive.

At least until we tell he about our day and she can't stop herself from hugging more.

>>33424737
>Not hugging mom 24/7.

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"Um." I begin, how do I even ask this question?
"A lot of stuff happened today." Okay, that's a good start.
"Can we all go inside and maybe, talk about it some?"
There, I went an entire question without choking on all the crazy things that happened today.

"Oh, did something happen at school today you want to talk to me about?" Mom asks
I can't see it, but I have a look on my face that is halfway between breaking down into tears and feeling indignant at that question.

"Well, I think it would be best if we were to talk about it someplace that isn't here" Maeda responds
Aiko happily steps forward and takes my hand, "Besides, I think I should be the one to tell her that I'm walking you to school every day now!"

Mom looks worried, but quickly recovers.
She puts on her soft smile, "First day and you're already in trouble with the student council, I guess you really do take after me."

Wait what, "MOM! It's not like that!"
Arms crossed, pout.

We're all laughing and chatting amongst ourselves as we make our way down the driveway and into my home.

[1/?]

>>33424933
"We now interrupt this cuteness with a fresh report. Magical beings were seen at school today, as an attempted kidnapping turned sour..."

>>33424933
When did you go to school to get in trouble with a student council mom? How many lies do you intend to say?

The awkward is palpable.

>>33425017
I think she just means that they both have a knack for getting into trouble

>>33424933
We take off our shoes and walk inside. The first thing that hits us is the distinct smell of cooked food. It seems Mom was already planning our dinner before she went out to look for me.

Aiko is first to notice, "Wow! That smells delicious! What is it?"
Maeda is the one who gives the first answer. "It smells like freshly baked fish, baked in olive oil, seasoned with garlic and maybe paprika?"
"Wow" Mom spins around to look at her with a look of surprise,
"That's exactly what it is. Your cooking knowledge is very good, Maeda"
Mae shows a slight embarrassment across her face, but she puts her hand over her mouth to hide it.
"It's nothing, just a small hobby of mine."
Aiko is smiling widely, though I'm not entirely sure as to why.

[2/?]

>>33425475
cooking magic.

Useless in combat, but delicious.

>>33425496
Wouldn't that mean Ryouta has it too? They presumably have the same power as their magic parent.

Cooking Ryouta.

>>33425475
Oh man, we're a parent's worst nightmare. The kid that brings friends home when they've only cooked for the family and don't have enough for the friends.

Power is beginning to surge, if I suddenly disappear for a very long time, it may be because of an outage and not because I perished in a tragic questing accident like Cosgrove.

>>33425475
I bet she's head of the cooking club.

>>33425538
Alright, take care!

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>>33425475
Mom certainly seems to notice this display,
"I made extra for later, but you girls can have as much you want."
"Oh, no thanks, I will probably end up eating later with someone." Aiko meekly deflects.
Maeda pays this no mind.
"I'll have some!", Maeda looks intent and much more energized by the offer.

For someone who spends so much time trying to retain her ladylike demeanor, she has no qualms with dropping it suddenly and unexpectedly.
Aiko sighs, and eventually gives in.
"Oh okay, I'll have a small snack as well."
Mom claps her hands together and runs off to prepare our food. We all take a seat at the table.

As the other two are looking around the room, taking in the sights, all I can think about are all the questions that I have. So many that I don't even know where to begin first.
Or, what kind of questions they might have for her too.

I'm here with both of them, I don't think Mom can hear us right now.

>Is there anything you want to ask/talk about before she gets back and the barrage of questions begin?
>Like maybe how you want to tell the day's events?
>Or maybe anything you would prefer them not to ask her?

>>33425838
>Ask them not to bring up anything magic-related until we've done so ourselves - this counts both for the whole topic, and specific things.

>>33425838
"Where do you want to start? I don't know how mom will react to everything that's happened. She'll probably be grateful for your help, but I don't know if she'll get upset about Fortune."

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>>33425892
This is a pretty good call.

>>33425838
>Suggest you START by staying solely on the topic of the creepy guy wanting to bring you to its master, and leave everything about the students' connections to magic for after that topic.

>>33425838

>>33425892
>>33425948
These both make sense.

>>33425948
Yeah, start with this. Then mention how Kenichi and the student council saved you and are magic.

Do NOT mention the interrogation.

>>33425892
This is a good idea. If mom thinks they're both mundanes it gives her a lot less reason to bring Fortune on them (since she seems to like us not getting neck-deep in magic).

Then again, I have to wonder - Mom made it clear to someone that she didn't want us involved in magic. Was she ousted from the company or something on account of that

>>33426092
Don't we have to mention they're magic if we're going to bring up the whole Fortune targetting them thing? Hiding it doesn't seem beneficial since Fortune was already hunting them.

>>33425896
This looks good.
>>33425948
As does this.

>Writing!

I want to say something about them helping out if Masami gets tongue-tied (she will). Too late now.

I had a delay, but NOW I'm writing for real

>>33426830
Thank god for that.

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This is so awkward.
"So, um." I begin to talk, but even now my tongue is slow to follow.
"Where were you going to start with all of this?" I whisper, hopefully quietly enough to where it didn't sound like a weird question or anything.
Aiko shares the same , "I was just thinking that, I'm not sure how to ask any of these questionst at all."

Now both of us are looking at Maeda.

She's looking increasingly nervous by our attention.
"Wait, why do both of you suddenly feel that I know what to say?", Mae asks, her hands beginning to nervously knead themselves.
"Because you're Mae, and you always have something confident and grown-up to say in tough situations! Now is one of those times to show us the true Maeda!"

She looks down, a slight blush on her face.
"I...I didn't actually think about what I would say. I just went along with everyone else, confident that I would know what to do when it happened."

Oh no NONE OF US KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING

[1/?]

>>33427380
PANIC

>>33427380
>Oh no NONE OF US KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING
Hahahaha

>>33427380
Hey, you know that face I thought was following me around yesterday? sounds like a good lead-in to creepy mask guy if we're still accepting applications for that.

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>>33427380
There is something I need to let them know, though.
"Just, do me a favor, okay?" I ask, trying to keep my already meek voice strong.

"Please don't bring up the magic stuff or anything like that before I do."
They seem to nod their heads in agreement.
"Also, what happened in the theatre, I kind of want to ask her about that myself. Especially the glowing thing that happened to me."
I think everything else should be fair game, then.

"Oh, that's fine, but we still need a way to lead into this conversation." Aiko says, looking increasingly worried as it becomes more apparent that Mom will be coming back shortly.

Suddenly, I have an idea,
"Yesterday, I'm not sure if I told you about this, I had a face following me around."

Maeda looks confused, "A...face?"

"I think it was the soldier, it could take its face off, and it was using it to scare me. I told Mom about the face yesterday and it caused a huge panic. Maybe you can use that to lead into him attacking me before school?"
[2/?]

>>33427688
>maybe you can use that
>you
Look who wants to push responsiblity away! You aren't getting out of it that easily.

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>>33427688
Aiko slaps her forehead, and groans.
"OOhhh, The MASK." she says, a tone echoing from her voice as if this is something that should be readily apparent to us.

"What mask?" I ask, did she go over this before? I somehow remember having this conversation.

"Before that jerk wrecked everything in the theatre, one of the things we were missing was a ceramic mask from the play 'Phantom of the Opera'. I looked high and low for that thing before I noticed that the armor was missing, it was a really expensive mask that was made just for the face of the actor who wore it." Aiko says as her head slowly lowers into her palms.
Her face is now obscured from view, "I guess if it had the power to just pick up a suit of armor and assume it as their body, then it could have picked up the mask and pretend that it was his face."

THAT'S A REALLY FRIGHTENING POWER THE MORE I THINK OF IT

Finally, Mom comes back into the room, holding four full plates in both arms in an impressive balancing act.

"Hello girls, want me to get you anything to drink?" Her warm smile melts the worries away, even if for a moment.

[3/?]

>>33427903
Hope we do, could be nice to have something to sip on if things get awkward.

>>33428013
True, and we have food to pick at too.

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>>33427903
"Oh just water, thank you. Tea sometimes makes me sleepy" Aiko says, she's still eyeing me as if she wants ME to lead this conversation.

And I don't remember signing up for that!

"Mmm Hmm, I smell freshly made Tea." Maeda says, her mouth is slightly agape, and is beginning to water.
Mom laughs, "Of course! What would dinner be without tea?"
"I'll. have some of that." Maeda is beginning to look like she's melting.

"Uh, yeah, I'll have some of that too." I say as I watch Maeda visibly loosen her posture and gaze at the food that was placed in front of her.

Seriously, what is going on with Mae?

Mom walks back out with a few cups in one hand and a teapot in the other. She sets it down on the table, and gives Aiko her cup full of water before pouring a cup for each of us.
Maeda wastes no time accepting hers and taking a long, apprecitative sip.

"You girls can start eating whenever you want." Mom takes a chair and sits down with her food.

Mae finishes her sip and sets the cup down into her palm,
"Thank you so much, Itsukuma-sensei!"

Wait, what. did. she. just. call. her?

Before I can even ask that question, Mae has started eating in an impressive break from her otherwise polite display. She tries every selection of food on her dish, savoring it before taking another swig of her tea.

"So, you girls said something happened at school today?" Mom says, looking at me.

I look over to Mae, she seemingly forgot that there ever was a reason she came here besides food. I then look over to Aiko, and she's looking back at me. She suddenly takes this moment to take a prolonged drink from her cup.

I look back at Mom.

Uh oh.

>How do I even start this?

>Talk about the mask?
>Talk about magic?
>Talk about the cards?
>Talk about the soldier?
>Other?

>>33428615
>Talk about the mask
segue into
>Talk about the soldier

>>33428615
>>Talk about the mask?
Then
>Talk about the soldier

>>33428615
>>Talk about the soldier?
>Talk about the mask?

"Turns out I wasn't just seeing things!"
Maximum awkwardness as opener.

>>33428615
>Talk about the soldier?
It's most important to her I bet.

>>33428615
>>Talk about the mask?
>>Talk about the soldier?
Might as well start from the beginning.

>>33428615
>Talk about the mask?
>Talk about the soldier?
yup

>>33428690
Sounds about right. "There was actually an incident where the drama club had some of their props stolen, as well as a suit of armor. Before I got to school, the soldier tried to abduct me to Fortune, but I managed to run away."

>>33428738
I doubt that. Most important is her little baby doing her first henshin.

>>33428615
>Talk about the mask?
>Talk about the soldier?
Sticking to the plan!

>>33428762
If I was reading her previous comments correctly, she wanted us to have a normal life without all this magic bullshit.

Too late now, I guess.

>>33428818
She was deep into magic, and I think she blames it for her not making any friends, so she should be okay with us being into it and having magic friends? We'll see.

>>33428615
Mae geeking out over food is adorable.

Sorry I was late, but

>Writing!

>>33429118
Praise be!

File: Izumi_Cry.jpg (1.07 MB, 1850x1850)

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"Well, Um."

Well. Um. What.

"R-Remember how I saw that mask that made me all scared and terrified?"
Mom looks up from her tea, a blank stare meeting my words.

"W-Well, Turns out I wasn't just seeing things! Ah eheheh"
Haha
Ah.
Eh.

Mom stops in mid-drink, waiting for me to elaborate a bit more.
Maeda continues to eat, and Aiko continues to stare intently.

"W-well, that face that I saw, well I kind of saw it this morning. It sort of followed me to school. I got a little scared and ran around a bit, but I eventually found that it was a sort of, thing. Yeah. a sort-of thing was actually controlling it. He looked like a big guy wearing some metal plating. But it's not really important!"

Mom sets her teacup down. Sets her napkin, folded up, next to her plate.

Her face starts to scrunch, her hands start to ball up,

"You, saw, WHAT?"

Earlier, when I saw her sobbing, she did not look even half as distraught as she does right now.
She is just barely holding it all back. Slowly, a single tear rolls down her cheek.

[1/?]

>>33429933
Uh oh. UH OH.
QUICK, HUG TIME!

>>33429933
Aw, shit.

>>33429933
Red alert!
All hands to cuddlestations!

>>33429933
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I'm honestly curious if there was a way to lead into this that wouldn't lead to crying. Guess that's a question for q&a later.

>>33430048
A way to tell a mother that her daughter was in mortal danger that wouldn't lead to crying? If you can think of a way, I would love to hear it!

>writing!

>>33430075
He was very polite!!!

File: operators gonna operate.gif (2.89 MB, 220x124)

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This quest is hilarious because it amuses me to see /tg/ try to play an insecure weepy early-teen girl while simultaneously wanting to operate and diplomancer like usual.

Or maybe it's just me.

Either way, fun times.

>>33430075
He just wanted to take us to a meeting. Maybe mom has something similar happen to her at work when someone tells her she needs to go to a meeting but she doesn't want to.

>>33430129
Well he also made it pretty clear that his boss thinks of us and our time as 100% at his disposal, basically making us a slave.

>>33430147
Well yeah, but that doesn't mean mortal danger. You don't kill your slaves.

>>33430172
Maybe the stuff he wants us to do is really dangerous though.

>>33430208
While it certainly felt a lot like mortal peril at the time, looking back on it, it wasn't SO bad.

>>33430230
There is a lot between our current state
and mortal peril, that we would still find undesirable.

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>>33429933
"No no! It's fine! One of the students at school-"
Wait, I didn't want to bring magic into this just yet. I need to introduce this in babysteps!

"..One of the students at school got rid of it for me! So it's all okay. It's fine, really. It's fine."
Whew, that was a close one.

Her face relaxes a bit, but I can still see a significant frown on her.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?!" She asks in a girly, squeaky voice that I've never heard her use before.

Maeda actually looks up from her food, Aiko is looking increasingly worried.

"No! No! I'm fine! He was a really polite guy! Honest!"

A really polite, metallic monster that tried to kidnap me.
I'll leave that last part out for the moment.

"And besides, that guy came and got rid of him for me, his name was Ken, um, Ken.." Of all the times to forget someone's name.

Maeda notices me stumbling, "Kurota Ken'ichi, It's kind of rare that he's actually helpful to anyone. Or that anyone sees him outside of the few places he hides in school away from the staff."

"Yeah! See! A fine, upstanding protector of Tokanatti Junior High."

Maeda wasn't quite finished with her train of thought, "He's like a rat, a lousy no goo-" she trails off as she takes another sip of tea.

Mom simply looks overwhelmed at this point, her hands are kneading and folding her napkin. She quietly asks something.

"Do you know what it want-... well"
She stops herself mid-sentence, for some reason. Trailing off into a mumble.

She perks up a little and asks another question, "Wait, how did that boy get rid of it? Is it going to bother us ever again?"

>Tell her about Magic
>Let someone else do it
>Tell her what it wanted
>Don't say anything and hope someone else picks up the slack

>>33430344
>>Tell her about Magic

>>33430384
Might as well pull the bandaid now

>>33430344
>Tell her about Magic
>Tell her what it wanted

>>33430344
>>Tell her about Magic
Magic seems like it'll alarm her sliiightly less than the kidnapping attempt.

>>33430344
>Tell her about Magic.

It's only going to be harder the longer we hold it off.

>>33430344
>>Tell her about Magic
>>Tell her what it wanted
Uninterruptable stream of conciousness, go!

>>33430344
>>Tell her about Magic

Maybe we should go somewhere, less in front of strangers ?

Make sure to mention that you're glad Mom told you magic exists, or you might not have believed it.

>>33430344
>>Tell her about Magic
He cast fist and it went away.

>>33430463
I'm not sure if that will comfort her or be twisting the knife.

>Writing!

Also, discussion topic: how did this early start time work for everyone?

>>33430783
No problem here. You could go earlier if you wanted.

>>33430783
Worked fine for me at least.

>>33430783
no problem here either
(well, i did miss the first hour or so, but usually i don't oversleep that much)

>>33430783
Since I'm EU time, it works a lot better for me.

>>33430783
it worked pretty well for me.

>>33430783
Bad for me. On phone from work.

>>33430783

What >>33430971 said applies for me too.

40 minutes since the last update

I'M GETTING SLOW!

>still writing

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>>33431312

>>33431312
At least you're not Hexer.

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I really should tell her, she's the one who told me about it, after all. What can I tell her at this point that she wouldn't already know herself?

Besides magic people and cards that possess things, she might not know about that.

"Um. No, it should never bother us ever again. It's taken care of."
Technically Ken had nothing to do with that, but it's TRUE.

"Actually, what happened is that Ken guy, he can apparently do 'magic' too."

Mom looks over to Aiko and Maeda with an embarrassed look on her face. She tries to deflect.
"Aah, Magic? What do you mean, Masami? Did he pull a bunny from a hat? Maybe a coin from behind your ear?" She says, trying to fake a strong grin that still has that tint of worry and sadness beaming through.

Aiko and I put on an indignant face, I genuinely can't tell if she was making a joke or seriously trying to dodge the question.

Fortunately, Maeda composes herself in the face of food, of which she's already completely finished her plate, and clarifies for us.

[1/?]

>>33431526
Mae makes a play on best-girl position! Let's see if it pays off.

>>33431526
>Technically Ken had nothing to do with that, but it's TRUE.
Silly Masami. You don't know that for sure.

Mom is the best at covering things up, just like us.

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>>33431526
"We're already aware of it, Itsukuma-san. There's no need to pretend it doesn't exist." Mae says, her eyes closing as she takes a ladylike sip from her cup. A complete change of character from how she was acting not even a few minutes ago.
Mae continues, "And as I understand it, you know quite a bit about how it works, too?"

I didn't expect her to put the pressure on Mom like that, but I do want to see how she responds.

Mom looks confused for a moment, and then embarassed.
And then a little angry? Uh oh. She looks like she wants to tell her off with something. The mortified and disturbed look on her face grows in intensity.

But then she looks at me, and our eyes meet.

In that instant, her face shows the regret of every mistake she has made in life. The tough, motherly exterior that I have only known her to have completely melts away in my presence, and what is left is only the eyes of someone who feels confused, and hurt.

She looks down, away from me. And doesn't say a word.

Maeda, too, looks regretful for bringing up the subject, and focuses on finishing her tea. Aiko starts on her food that she hadn't even touched yet.

We all sit for several minutes in silence.

Suddenly, I hear a hard sniffle.

>Go over there and comfort her right now
>She has to deal with it herself
>Tell your friends that now isn't the best time for these questions, and to just enjoy the food.

>>33432133
>Go over there and comfort her right now

>>33432133
Some options got cut off

>Move on to other questions
>Such as the cards
>Or the soldiers
>Change topic
>Other

>>33432133
>Go over there and comfort her right now

>>33432133
>Go over there and comfort her right now
Right now, young lady!

>>33432133
>>Go over there and comfort her right now

>Ask her if she wants to talk to us alone about it.

>>33432133
>>Go over there and comfort her right now

How can we pick anything else?

>>33432133
>Go over there and comfort her right now

>>33432133
>Go over there and comfort her right now
Ask the girls to let us chat with mom alone, for now at least.

>>33432225
I actually debated whether I should make this a decision list or not.

>>33432133
>>Go over there and comfort her right now
Then continue on with the rest of our day at school, giving her a slight break. Her knowing we made friends should make her happy.

>>33432282
Living vicariously can only go so far. All that bitter regret.

>>33432133
>Go over there and comfort her right now
i wonder how old she really is... if she's like us, maybe only a few years or something

>>33432133
>>Go over there and comfort her right now
>Ask for a bit of privacy, we can always talk to them tomorrow
Once mother has calmed down a bit
>Ask about the cards

Good choices, everyone.

So I'm seeing,

>Comfort her (Of course)
>Ask to be alone for a while
>When she's calmed down, talk to her some more

So my next question, Send your friends home or keep them around for now?

>>33432485
Send them home. To be honest, I don't know why we brought them in on a questionnaire.

>>33432485
send them home, i guess

>>33432485
Ehhh...on one hand, could be useful for clarifying stuff. On the other, honestly might be more hindrance than help, and having them wait around while we talk seems dumb. Let's send them home for now.

>>33432485
I think, considering how hard she takes it,
we should send them home for now.

>>33432485
Away with them-! While they're nice, it's sometimes needed to talk to loved once in private.

>>33432485
Maybe have them go to another room for a bit why we comfort Mom, but no need to send them home

>>33432485
While they may be able to help explaining things when we spaghetti, its probably best to send them off. We can try to explain things to them tomorrow.

>>33432485
If they want to stay, they can.

Short break

And then

>writing!

I bolt upward, nearly knocking my tea over, and attracting the stares of Aiko and Maeda.

Quickly, I walk around the table and stand next to Mom, she looks upward into my eyes again. Revealing her red, swollen eyes and the sincere sadness on her face.
Without saying anything, I fall into her arms and hug her tightly.

Some sniffles are exchanged, her breathing starts to calm after a short while. Her vice grip on me slowly starts to loosen.

And then we remember that there are two other people here.

Aiko is quick ot apologize, "I-I'm so sorry Itsukuma-san! We didn't mean anything by that!"
"Y-Yeah, I didn't mean that you were lying or anything!" Mae tries to save face, but she still looks extremely guilty.

Both of them look so embarrassed and shamed, they're practically on the verge of tears themselves.
Well they're not getting a hug out of me.

[1/?]

>>33433457
Awwww.
Hopefully we're nice about asking for privacy.
Anyway, gotta go, so thanks for the thread!

>>33433546
Take care!

Next post is likely the last post of the night. I'm at the limit where I'm slowing down and starting to make mistakes. And I REALLY DON'T WANT TO DO THAT in the coming scenes.

>>33433572
That's okay, you've been running for quite a while now.

>>33433572
That's perfectly alright. Don't want you to burnout too early

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"N-no, girls, it's fine, it wasn't anything you did." Mom slowly lets go of me, letting me slide out of her lap and back onto my feet.
"I just.." She struggles with words for a second.

I don't even know what could cause her to have an outburst like that. She seemed perfectly calm when showing me this magic stuff the other day. Only now when Mae pressured her about it, did she show such sadness that I'm not sure I've ever actually seen before.

"You're not mad at me?" Mae sheepishly asks
"Of course not, it's just an old memory thing." She says, trying to put on the best fake smile she can.

She puts a hand on my shoulder and continues, "When I was young, I used to use magic, all the time. I used it so much that, after a while, I.."
She hesitates, trailing off near the end of her sentence.
"I just didn't want Masami to go through the same thing that I did when I was young. It was a very different time back then, so hearing about it again, it just"
She stops for a second, trying to muster up confidence in her voice.
"It jus-" She doesn't even get to finish this thought.

No no, stop
If you get to hug me when I'm like this, then I expect to do the same for you. I'm not letting go of this hug until you feel better, either.

[2/?]

All these magic animu girl quests on /tg/
i love it

>>33433814
She lost her magic? She was ripped away from the cards, the only friends she ever knew? If this quest doesn't involve her getting them back at some point it's gonna be too sad.

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>>33433814
Eventually, she seems to have stopped sobbing again, maybe I can keep it this way for the rest of the night.
We let go of each other, and she starts picking up plates to take to the kitchen.

When she leaves, I turn to Maeda and Aiko.
"Hey, sorry about that, I didn't know that would happen."

Aiko responds quickly, "I understand completely how they feel about that subject."
Maeda nods in agreement, "If I had known that she, too, fought with magic before. Then I would have never brought it up in the first place. I really do feel terrible about that."

I put my hand on Maeda's shoulder, "Don't, please, I just need to talk with her some about it. She was talking with me about magic before. I think I just need to talk with her alone about it."

Maeda looks a little better, but not much. "I think it's probably time for us to leave, Aiko. We need to help the night students anyway."
Aiko agrees as Mom comes back into the room. She's done something with her face to hide the swelling and blushing.

[3/?]

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>>33434205
Suddenly, Mae's phone buzzes.
She looks down at it quickly. Before suddenly realizing that she should have left a half-hour ago.
"I'm sorry to suddenly leave, but I have after school things to finish up." Mae says with a bow. "Maybe we can continue this another time?"
"S-sounds good, there are some things I think you should know about. Please come by some other time." Mom says, as we both show them out.

We walk to the door and down the driveway some, before Mom perks up suddenly,
"Wait, I think I left something in the oven, I'll see you two girls some other time."
"Of course" Aiko happily responds, she sure changes moods quick.

In unison, both Aiko and Maeda bow and say "Thank you for having us, Itsukuma-san."
"It's fine girls, it's fine. Let's maybe continue our conversation tomorrow?" Mom seems to be smiling.
I think she likes the attention from them, deep down. What happened back there was too scary to press the issue any further, though.

Mom hurries back to the house, Leaving Aiko, Maeda, and I standing at the end of the driveway.
[4/?]

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>>33434317
"What time should I come get you in the morning?" Aiko asks, looking down at her phone.
I'm not really sure how to respond to that, "Uh, early enough to walk to school?"
"Great! If we walk fast, we can get there in fifteen minutes!" Aiko chirps, pressing a few buttons on it before placing it back in her pocket.

"If walking me to school is too much trouble, I can walk myself." I don't want to seem like baggage.
Maeda cuts that thought off completely,
"No, not after today, you've been attacked once already, so we are going to watch you as close as we can. And besides,"
she continues, but I can hear some sadness welling up inside. "I don't want your mother to have to worry about anything more than she has to right now."

We stand there silently for a minute or so. Before Aiko peeks at her phone again.

"Ah! We really do have to leave!"
"Oh! Okay then, Masami! Take care!" Maeda and Aiko respond as they start to hurry off.
"See you in the morning Masami!" Aiko quickly says as she takes off ahead of Maeda.

"Okay! Take care you two!" I shout, I'm not sure how, but Aiko has really pulled far ahead of Maeda.

Maeda stops a short distance away from me, and turns around. Revealing the guilty look on her face once more,
"Masami, please try to make your mother feel better."

And with that; she, too, takes off toward the school.

[5/?]

This is a very long last post. That is a good thing?

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>>33434400
I make my way back inside, taking off my shoes as I enter. I notice that the smell of food has left the house, that only silence fills it now.

I hear the sound of a door opening coming from the living room. I walk toward it when I see the entire wall of the living room opened.
That's when it occurs to me that the living room actually had a door on one side of it, a sliding door that presented a nice view of a well-kept garden in the back of the house with lots of blooming flowers.

That's right, I didn't take the time to come out here yesterday because I was getting used to living IN the house. I was going to save exploring the back yard for today.

Sitting on the edge of the doorway is Mom, glancing out into the garden. Looking at one plant in particular.

This is going to lead to more hugging and crying, I just know it. I wonder what happens when I run out of tears?

Thread end

WOW, Sorry for that extra long last post, but there really wasn't much to do input on, and I really wanted to start next thread at that exact place.

Anyway, I think this has been the longest thread to date. I'm not sure at all how I held up through it, my head feels like blur at the moment.

Q&A until I call it quits.

>>33434774
Oh and the usual question I pose to you, the readers

How was it?

>>33434774
Long threads and posts are fiiine
You held up great

It's definitely feeling like the girls have distinct personalities now. Good work on that.

>>33434839
Thanks!

I think it took really putting them in an awkward/difficult position to bring it out, hopefully I can do the same with the other characters soon

>>33434812
Overall, I'd say it was very good. I think the important thing to do now is to relax and try to clear your head before we start the next one, so that you don't suffer from burnout too quickly.

>>33434899
Oh definitely, I don't think I can run tomorrow anyway

Speaking of which, anyone who wants to keep track of the quest can do so on twitter.

http://twitter.com/QM_CardHeart

>>33434812
Thanks for running!

>>33434961
Thanks!

Also, archived, Thank you for playing, everyone!

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>>33434812
Thread was good. Thanks for running.