Kalani Island, Hawaii, USA

Aolani

"Yes, of course. Still need to get you that new swimsuit." Aolani replied, a slightly strained smile on her face. She stood up from her chair, and brushed at her waist. "So, uh, if that's all...I guess we'll take our leave now."

"Alright! See you two later. Have a nice day!" Judith beamed, as the blonde almost dragged Chiyo away, swiftly leaving the food court behind.

Once they were a good distance away, Aolani came to a brief stop, and heaved out a heavy sigh. She glanced over to Chiyo, as her eye twitched slightly.

"Did....did that just happen? Did all of that really just happen, Chiyo? Please tell me it didn't." her voice cracked toward the end, as the reality of their new situation once again threatened to overwhelm the poor girl. Now that they were properly alone, the reality of their new situation hit at her rather hard.

"S-Sorry. I don't mean to...f-f-freak out so much," she stuttered, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm herself. "I'm just...I...i-it's kinda hard to take, you know?"

The blonde forced a smile onto her face, and before she could give the purplette time to reply, she appeared to gain mastery over her emotions again, and resumed walking, linking her arm with Chiyo's so they would keep up together.

"B-But enough about that! Let's go get that swimsuit of yours. And do more normal stuff. P-Please." she added, as they started walking to the nearest swimsuit store.

Perhaps it was foolish of her, but a part of Aolani hoped that they could simply ignore all this, and move on with their lives. Though that seemed highly unlikely, especially given how taken Chiyo seemed to be, with the whole Magical Girl thing...

Judith

Judith watched the two of them leave, before turning her attention back to Margaret.

"Oh! Margie! That reminds me," the green-haired Puella Magi smiled sweetly at her friend, as she stood up from her chair. "I've been meaning to shop for Ruth's birthday for awhile now. It's a week away, and since we're at the mall, now would probably be the perfect time. Do you want to go with me?"

Chiyo

Chiyo blushed once again at the mention of the swimsuit. She didn't have much of a chance to respond to it though, or Margaret's polite, if somewhat terse, farewell, as she was quickly pulled from the food court, only managing a small wave to the two they left behind.

Being not only significantly shorter than her friend, but also not as fast as most people, let alone one of the track team's star members, Chiyo was panting for breath by the time they stopped.

"Did....did that just happen? Did all of that really just happen, Chiyo? Please tell me it didn't."

While Chiyo had hardly expected that Aolani would take this well, she had perhaps hoped that the worst of the shock was behind her. Apparently not. As quickly as she could, which was not very, considering she was currently bent over, hands on her knees as she tried to regain a normal breathing pattern, the purplette looked up at her friend and nodded in reply.

Had Chiyo perhaps been selfish about this whole Magical Girl business, being so enthusiastic that she didn't realize how badly the situation was affecting Aolani? In her own mind, the answer was definitely yes.

Just as Chiyo finished recovering enough to apologize, the blonde spoke first.

S-Sorry. I don't mean to...f-f-freak out so much. I'm just...I...i-it's kinda hard to take, you know?"

The smile that followed was obviously forced, at least to Chiyo, and she was about to call her out on it and say that she was the one who should be sorry, knowing full well that Aolani couldn't be expected to take such a blatant breach in what she had considered to be reality well, but suddenly found her arm linked with Aolani's before she could do so.

It was really the last thing that her friend said that kept Chiyo from saying anything further. They should just do normal things for now, and bringing those things up would only mitigate the positive effects that this time would have. They could talk about it later after Aolani had had some time to adjust to the idea of all this.

And so, Chiyo put on a bright smile and agreed. Meanwhile, a small creature followed from a higher floor, concealed perfectly in the scarce shadow, and watching with beady read eyes.

Margaret

Margaret said nothing further as the two left the food court, the taller one seemingly on the verge of some mental breakdown. Just as well, maybe whatever was causing her unease about the situation would also warn her off of contracting.

The veteran Puella Magi had been about to go after Yuubey, when her partner spoke. Margaret considered the invitation for a moment. Would Judith feel hurt if she refused? Was it just an idle inquiry to see if she was interested or was it a request to come along?

Were it anyone else asking, Margaret would decline after a second or two of deliberation. She had important things to be doing after all. As it was, however, it was not anyone else asking, it was Judith. Margaret was reminded yet again of how attached she had grown to the girl she'd taken under her wing. She reminded Margaret of the way that she used to be, although Judith was significantly more competent than she had been when she was just starting out. Margaret supposed that would make her her former mentor, Sarah.

No. She would not allow herself to reflect on that.

Instead, she gave a small, tired sigh, but still smiled slightly. "Sure. Where to?"

Judith

Judith beamed at Margaret and gave a slight squeal, practically glowing as she stood up from her chair. She gave her friend a brief hug, smiling widely at her.

"Thanks, Margie! Glad to have your help!" she declared with a wide grin.

She walked off with the older girl, venting out her thoughts as they trekked along. "Ooh, well, there's this new movie that's out that Ruth's been wanting! So, maybe to the nearest store that sells dvds? And there's this cute dress that I saw last time that I was here, that I'm sure Ruth would love, too..."

As they walked, Judith drifted closer to Margaret, until they were practically shoulder to shoulder. Perhaps it was a bit rude of her to invade Margie's personal space like this, but the green-haired Puella Magi truly couldn't help herself. She loved being around Margaret, and more importantly, she loved being close to her. And besides, Margie hadn't minded her clinging tendencies before, so it was all right! Probably.

Aolani

Much to Aolani's relief, Chiyo remained pretty quiet the rest of the way to the store. Even though she knew they'd have to discuss this in depth sooner or later, the blonde was glad to have one normal moment with her friend. Perhaps it was foolish of her to put it off, but...all the same, maybe some distance from the elephant in the room would help her come to better terms with things.

"So! Let's find you that new swimsuit!" Aolani beamed, her cheer not entirely forced, now. She was starting to calm down now, and spending some good, quality time with her best friend, searching for her new swimsuit, would no doubt help her mental state even further.

Aolani walked with Chiyo through the store, as they eyed and looked through the various swimsuits. The half Native Hawaiian paused before on particular suit that caught her eye, and a mischievous grin widened across her face.

"Hey, Chiyo! How about this one?" Aolani got the suit out of the rack, and displayed it to the purplette. The suit in question was a rather tiny bikini, that would do very little to cover herself up. If anything, it would show more flesh than it ultimately covered up.

"I think you'd look real sexy in this one. What do you think?" she further inquired, looking over at Chiyo with a mirthful gaze.

Margaret

The small smile that had found its way onto Margaret's face now seemed unable to depart, held there by her friend's enthusiastic, if perhaps somewhat overly so, reaction. The reaction was not purely vocal either, and Margaret awkwardly returned the hug she unexpectedly received. Judith just seemed so... happy.

This, she reaffirmed to herself, was why she did what she did. The deception, the sleepless nights chasing Yuubey across the city, the cold statements made to the few that he did get to, and there had been an instance or two before this one, this was what all of that was for. And it was worth it.

As the pair walked along, the dark-haired Magical Girl listened attentively to her partner's thinking aloud. Occasionally though, she would glance down at the Soul Gem in her left hand. She wasn't looking for Witches, though she would of course be able to see if any did come within a detectable range. What she was looking for, was the telltale signatures of another Puella Magi. Those two were still in the building, and there was a good chance that Yuubey might still go after them, rather than take the time to find other girls. While she would almost certainly be too late to prevent the first one from contracting, she might get there in time to stop the second.

For the moment, however, it seemed the only magic she could currently sense was that of Judith.

Speaking of which, wasn't she closer? Yes, it seemed each time Margaret looked up Judith was a bit closer, until finally their shoulders were almost touching. For a moment, the older girl was concerned that perhaps she had gotten injured fighting the Familiars, and was now drifting to the side when she walked, but, as of moment of observation showed, it was just Judith being herself. If it made her happy, Margaret was willing to oblige, even if this was a bit closer than she normally preferred having people. Judith, as always, was the exception.

Chiyo

Chiyo was happy that Aolani's cheer seemed to be a bit more genuine now, though to be honest she had kind of been hoping that her friend might have forgotten about them getting her a swimsuit, so that she could just wear her regular clothing the next time they went to the beach.

On their walk through the store, the purplette looked mainly at the one-piece suits, as they were the obvious choice for someone like her, for a number of reasons. Even so, she still found fault in the ones she could see, primarily because of how snugly they would fit. Then again, they were swimsuits, so it was hardly as though that issue could be avoided altogether. Unless of course she chose an archaic diving suit, but that technically wasn't a swimsuit. Still though, that would be pretty cool.

But apparently Aolani found one that she wanted to bring to Chiyo's attention.

Oh dear.

The smallish girl's mouth fell open, and her face flushed a bright red. She didn't even know what to be embarrassed about first. The idea of her in that, the fact that Aolani would suggest it, and then there was Aolani's choice of adjectives to attach to her imagined appearance. Again, poor Chiyo was so caught off guard that it took her a full thirty seconds to finally stammer out "Y-Y-You're joking, r-right?" Obviously she was joking. There was no way that she would suggest that seriously, would she? Aolani was just teasing her again... right?

The being currently observing the pair marveled at how the Japanese girl's emotional level skyrocketed into a state of panic at the simple suggestion by her friend.

Aolani

Aolani fully grinned at her friend, and gave out a small giggle. Chiyo was just a delight to tease!

"Of course I'm kidding, Chiyo! I know you wouldn't want to wear this...still, though, I think you should at least try it on! Hell, you should probably try on several of these first, before we commit to any of them. But I'd especially love to see you in this bikini." Aolani declared, winking at her friend in a suggestive manner.

It was a bit...bold of her, perhaps, to say such a thing, but she figured that Chiyo would pretty much miss her obvious flirting. For a girl who played a lot of dating sims, she was surprisingly dense to the fact that her own best friend had a hard crush on her. Which, perhaps, was for the best, if the blonde wanted to maintain their friendship.

And on the plus side, the purplette's obliviousness gave her the opportunity to flirt with her, sometimes blatantly, and she was none the wiser. Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to do, especially if she didn't want to disrupt their friendship, but sometimes she couldn't help herself.

Aolani peered at some of the nearby racks, and got out three more swimsuits that she felt Chiyo would be more agreeable to. One was a very modest bikini, and the other two were one piece suits that would likely fit her comfortably and she'd otherwise be okay with wearing to a beach.

"Feel free to grab any other swimsuits you wanna try on." she urged, carefully cradling the suits already in her hands. "Or we could just stick to what I've picked out so far. Either way, time to try some on! Doesn't look like the store is too busy at the moment, so the changing room in the back should be available."

She gave a dramatic pause, and leaned in, whispering covertly to her friend. "Unless, of course....well, going to the nude beach is still on the table, if you're feeling brave."

Aolani drew back, and gave another giggle. She couldn't help but give Chiyo one last little tease.

Judith

Soon enough, they were in the video store, and Judith was browsing through the rows of dvds with Margaret.

"Oh, by the way, the movie Ruth wants is called Knights of the Sacred Sword." the younger Puella Magi said to her partner, as they browsed. "It's a movie that came out last year, I think. I thought it wasn't very good, myself, but Ruth absolutely loves it, and has been begging us to get it for her birthday for weeks, now."

Judith smiled slightly at the thought of her sister. Not for the first time, she was struck by the thought that they had a lot in common, even for sisters. When either of them liked something, they were very enthusiastic about it. Be it a movie, a game, or...a person....

The greenette blushed lightly at that thought, but her smile only grew wider. It was a good thing she was already an affectionate person; otherwise, Margie would have found out about her crush on her ages ago....

"Say, Margie." after a moment of silence between them, Judith couldn't help but fill in the gap with a question she was quite curious to know the answer to. "Why don't you want Aolani and Chiyo to Contract?"

Chiyo

Chiyo was thankful that it had turned out that the track star had indeed been kidding. She didn't think she could go to the beach in that without fainting from embarrassment. Her reply to the wink, and the remark that accompanied it, was a self-conscious little smile, while her gaze turned to the floor. While she was well aware that it, and in fact much of what Aolani said, could be interpreted as flirting, the idea that the taller girl was doing it for any reason other than further teasing was not something that Chiyo had ever really considered.

Also, despite her obvious discomfort with the idea of wearing it, the purplette still took the rather revealing bikini as well. Aolani had said, after all, that she would love to see her in it. There was no way she was stepping out of the changing room in it though; she'd just have to call Aolani in once she had it on.

Chiyo had just been about to tell Aolani that she trusted her judgment, and that four swimsuits, even if one of them was a definite no, was probably enough for the moment, the blonde re-suggested a possible alternative to this whole business.

"Unless, of course....well, going to the nude beach is still on the table, if you're feeling brave."

As a matter of fact, Chiyo was, as usual, decidedly not feeling brave.

Her reaction was much like it had been when Aolani had first made that joke, mad blushing, and a failure to form a coherent response. Finally, she snatched the swimsuits and scurried to the changing room, stammering "I-I'm going to go t-try these on." This time however, unlike back at her house, where she had the advantage of knowing the exact placement of the doors by heart, she ran right into the door frame.

This served only to embarrass her further, and she nearly ran into it again in her second attempt. Thankfully though, she did make it into the changing room without banging her head on anything else, and shut the door softly behind her.

---

Safely out of view from anyone else, Chiyo let out a breath. She'd take a minute to calm down and gather her courage, then she'd try one the bikini that Aolani wanted her to try. If she did that one first, it would be out of the way, and she could move on to the rest.

That thought, of course, made it impossible to effectively calm herself. As such, she just skipped straight to the second step, swiftly removing her sundress and panties, and hurriedly putting on the aforementioned swimming attire. This second part took slightly longer, since it involved tying the top part behind her back, but Chiyo still managed to have it done rather quickly.

A brief glance over at the mirror hanging on the wall of the room confirmed that the swimsuit was indeed just as small as it had initially seemed, reasserting in Chiyo's mind that she did not want to leave the room wearing it

Opening the door just the amount strictly necessary for her to poke her head out, the purplette quietly called her friend. "Aolani? Can you please come in here for a minute?"

Margaret

Margaret nodded when told the name of the movie they'd be looking for. She hadn't seen it herself, but the name would be sufficient information for finding it, both alphabetically and genre-wise. Somehow though, it was proving to be surprisingly difficult to locate. Perhaps this place separated animated films from live-action ones, and she was looking in the wrong section? Whatever the reason, Margaret found this store's organizational system to be quite lacking, though that might just be because she had higher categorical standards.

She did notice Judith's slight blush, and considered inquiring as to the reason behind it, but Judith had a question of her own. Unfortunately, it was not one that Margaret could answer in full.

"Well," she started, "for one thing, Kalani Island is only so big, meaning a limited number of Grief Seeds. In addition this is a dangerous life, and at least one of the two would be almost guaranteed to get badly hurt, if not killed, and I can't let you be put in a situation where you get hurt trying to prevent it." Margaret sighed slightly, before adding, in an attempt to lessen the harshness that what she had said could be interpreted as "I'm not saying that they don't have the right to make that decision, but I don't want it putting either of us in danger in the process."

Aolani

Aolani couldn't help but give another giggle, as she watched her friend scurry away. She followed her after a minute, and leaned against the wall of the changing room. She waited patiently for another few minutes, when she heard the door creek open.

"Aolani? Can you please come in here for a minute?" Chiyo inquired, her head peeking out the tinniest bit.

The blonde looked over at her in surprise, but nodded her head all the same. "Sure thing."

She got off from the wall, and walked into the changing booth. She then closed the door behind her, and turned to face Chiyo.

"So, what is it? Do you need help or...." the words died on Aolani's tongue, as she fully took in just what, exactly, Chiyo was wearing.

A deep and searing blush rapidly spread across her face, as she could only just stare at her friend. Or, more importantly, stare at the skimpy bikini she was wearing. It clung rather tightly to Chiyo's admittedly shapely form, leaving very little to the imagination. And, speaking of the purplette's body...

Aolani swallowed heavily, as her eyes took in that sight as well. She'd never really seen much of Chiyo's body, outside what was regularly exposed by her clothing. Now, however, her friend was much more...exposed. Which she couldn't help but notice, alongside her form of swimwear.

W-well....she had been right, it seemed. Chiyo did look rather....s-sexy, in that revealing bikini...

The blonde suddenly blinked, shaking her head slightly as she finally derailed herself from that...distracting train of thought. To her embarrassment, she realized a good minute had passed with her saying nothing, just staring at Chiyo without a comment.

Aolani did her best to gather her wits back, and managed to grin widely at her friend, acting as if her minute of silent staring hadn't happened. "Wow! I, uh, didn't think....well! Looks like I was right! You look very sexy in that swimsuit, Chiyo!"

A rather nervous giggle escaped her lips, and Aolani became increasingly aware just how small the changing room was, and how close she was to Chiyo, and she could just easily reach out her hand to touch her and oh god she had to get out of here!

The more rational side of her brain screeched at her to get out of there, before she...she broke down and molested Chiyo or something, but Aolani found herself rooted to the spot.

"S-So, do you mind if I, uh, take a picture?" the words slipped out of the blonde's mouth before she could fully censor those thoughts, which made her blush again. "I mean, uh, t-this is a moment that needs to be preserved! It's not often you look so hot and sexy, Chiyo."

She blushed even harder at her following words; oh god, her self-control was slipping. Aolani knew that she had to get out of there, and fast, before she embarrassed herself or Chiyo any further...

Judith

"I suppose that's true," Judith nodded her head in acknowledgment, conceding that fact. "Still...I think it'd be great if they Contracted! We'd have a lot more help in taking down Witches. And I'd love to make friends with them, too!"

Judith smiled a little at that pleasant thought, rather happy with that idea. Even if Chiyo and Aolani ended up not becoming Magical Girls, she'd love to remain friends with them. Aside from Margie, she really didn't have that many. Not that hanging out with Margie wasn't great! It certainly was! But, sometimes she did wish that she had a wider circle of friends...

The green-haired girl looked up from her search, feeling a little annoyed that she had yet to find the dvd. How hard was it to find one particular movie? Hm...maybe she should ask for the store clerk's help...?

As she turned to look over at the register, something caught her eye. Judith looked over at it, and blinked when she fully recognized a drape. A drape that, apparently, covered a small opening within the shop. Huh, that was weird....

"Maybe it's in there?" Judith hazard a guess, pointing over at the closed off section. Before Margaret could reply, she decided to go investigate herself. Judith walked over and ducked inside, pushing aside the drape. It only took her a few seconds to rush right back out, a bright red blush sprawled across her face. She almost ran back to Margaret, the blush still on her face as she stared at her friend with wide, open eyes.

"D-Don't go in there, Margie. Never go in there!" Judith quickly babbled, as her blush only intensified. "Oh God...w-why didn't they put a sign up there or something?!"

Margaret

Margaret on the other hand, did not think it would be great if they contracted. But then again, she knew a few things about what that entailed that Judith was not privy to, Margaret herself had seen to that, and would continue to do so for as long as possible.

What Margaret did consider to be possible, was the idea that having these two as friends might be nice. Yes, the blonde asked a lot of questions, and the smaller one was painfully naive, and possibly a bit slow, but having them around could have its benefits. So long as Yuubey continued following them, and she was now certain that was exactly what he was doing, two years with him first as her sole companion and then her constant quarry meant that she could predict his actions with a degree of accuracy rivaled only by time travelers, none of whom Margaret knew, she wouldn't have to worry about him trying to contract with random girls off the street. As long as Aolani remained skeptical about the whole deal, and kept her friend in check, the Incubator would just be wasting his time, and she might get some free.

That and their companionship might be enjoyable, which, as she now found necessary to remind herself, was the reason people were supposed to make friends.

Where was this movie anyway? If Margaret had to speak with an employee to help them locate this thing she didn't think she would be terribly motivated to keep herself from openly criticizing their obviously inferior organizing. Margaret's patience was far from its limit, she just had little for laziness or poor work ethic.

It was then that Judith noticed the curtain, and made the suggestion the movie might be beyond it, before swiftly moving to investigate. Personally, the elder Puella Magi thought the curtain more likely to conceal a small room where movies could be watched by the staff or something. After all, why would they isolate a few movies into that room specifically, with no signs as to which ones you might find there? Whatever it was, it would probably be best if she followed.

But, as it turned out, that would not be necessary after all, as the green haired girl left the room even more quickly than she had entered it, this time looking rather distressed.

"D-Don't go in there, Margie. Never go in there!" Margaret raised a questioning eyebrow. It was now apparent that her partner's distress was not caused by danger of any kind, so that concern was allayed. "Oh God...w-why didn't they put a sign up there or something?!"

At this point, there was no way that Margaret could not ask. "Judith, what did you see behind those drapes?"

Chiyo

Well, that had not been the reaction that Chiyo had been anticipating, particularly since Aolani had said she should try on the swimsuit. Now she was just standing there silently, seemingly embarrassed.

Had she just been teasing again? The Japanese girl resisted the urge to place her forehead in her palm, partly because the changing room was only built to accommodate one person. and she didn't want to accidentally headbutt Aolani in the... whatever it was that Chiyo's head would be level with. She was NOT looking to check. Back to the point though, she had just been teasing, hadn't she? That would certainly explain the blonde's reaction. Fantastic. Now Chiyo had gone and made things awkward for everyone, as opposed to how things usually were, when it was just awkward for her.

When Aolani did finally speak, the purplette was glad to find that her worries seemed to have been unnecessary, though to say her choice of words was embarrassing would be quite the understatement, and Chiyo's face flamed red. "Um... thank you?" Was she supposed to thank her? She had no idea what the social protocol was for situations such as these. The closest thing she had experience with were games, and even then she was usually in Aolani's place.

"S-So, do you mind if I, uh, take a picture?" Chiyo, who had seemed to be locked in a staring contest with the tiles on the floor, glanced up in surprise. Aolani was actually blushing. That wasn't normal. "I mean, uh, t-this is a moment that needs to be preserved! It's not often you look so hot and sexy, Chiyo."

If it were possible for Chiyo to blush any more than she already was, she would now. As it was, she was already feeling slightly dizzy from all of the blood rushing to her head.

It took her a moment to recover and answer Aolani, and even then her voice was even quieter than usual, inaudible entirely at any greater distance. "O-Okay. If you want to." Personally, Chiyo didn't think the swimsuit looked that good on her. It was clearly made for someone with a fuller figure than she, most noticeable indication of this being that the top was obviously too loose. Still though, if Aolani wanted to take her picture, then Chiyo would let her. After all, she never really could refuse Aolani.

In the small cafe across from the swimsuit store a catlike creature sat unnoticed on one of the tables, looking with interest in the direction of the store across from him. It couldn't actually see the two, but it could tell where they were, due to the surprising amount of emotion being produced.

That and the fact that it had watched them enter a room the size of a closet with no other doors, and hadn't seen them come out yet.

Judith

"I saw--I saw...." Judith gave a shudder and trailed off, her face still very red. "Oh God! W-Why didn't they put up a sign?!"

Good God, what kind of video store was this?! To have po...por...adult films in a place like this! Granted, they were...away from the regular merchandize, but it wasn't like they had a sign up there that said what was behind the drape! Even worse, the first thing she had seen in there was a poster on the wall that had a graphic display of a man's....

"Oh goooood!" Judith covered her face with her hands, embarrassed beyond belief. "They...there are p-p-p-....adult f-films behind that drape, Margie..."

Aolani

Aolani stared at Chiyo in brief surprise, not expecting her permission for that ill thought out suggestion. Still, though, she wasn't about to look a gift-horse in the mouth...

Aolani reached into her pocket and got out her cellphone, using all her willpower to stop her hand from shaking. She turned on the camera function, and snapped a few, quick photos of Chiyo in the skimpy bikini. She was almost--almost--tempted to ask Chiyo to turn around so she could get a good shot of her ass....but, thankfully, the blonde held herself back from asking such an embarrassing question.

....Though that didn't stop her from angling her phone to get a picture of the mirror, too, which just so happened to have a nice shot of Chiyo's backside in the reflection.

She pocketed her phone once that was done, and managed to smile at Chiyo, doing her best to cover up her frayed nerves. Good God, she had to get out of here before she broke down. Her willpower was seriously starting to slip away....

"Thanks, Chiyo! I'll make sure to hang onto these, so we can show your future boyfriend....or girlfriend....these lovely little photos." Aolani declared, giving her friend a teasing smile. "Now, you can go ahead and get out of that! You still have three more suits to try."

The blonde grinned at her one last time...and reached out to give her friend a brief hug. She couldn't help it; her defenses were quickly crumbling, and besides, Chiyo wouldn't mind this little display of affection, right?

Aolani held onto the hug a little longer than necessary--God, Chiyo's bare back felt so smooth and soft--but, she finally let go, and quickly turned around to leave Chiyo to change in peace.

She closed the changing room door behind her, and nearly sagged against the wall. Her hands shook slightly, and her face began to redden once more.

"God..." Aolani blew out a breath, as she struggled to rein in her...everything. She had come this close to breaking down....oh god, she was never doing this again. Never. Aolani just knew if she saw Chiyo in a bikini like that again, or similar clothing, she'd just....

The blonde blushed at that thought. Good lord, she had to get her emotions under control! She was better than being this...this gibbering mess of feelings and hormones and...ugh! God, it made her wish she was a Vulcan or something, sometimes...

As Aolani waited on Chiyo, she couldn't help but slip her hand into her pocket, and felt at her cellphone. She wouldn't dare take it out now to look at those photos...but later, much later, she might take a look at them again.

Just to, uh, preserve the memory, of course. And nothing else. At all. W-what else would she use them for, after all? Heh...

Margaret

Margaret waited patiently as Judith stammered out what she had been behind the drape, after which, she seemed to consider what had been said for a few moments. At first only offering a "Hm," to indicate that she understood. Finally, having apparently given the matter enough thought for the time being, she asked, in what appeared to be complete seriousness, "Did you see the movie while you were back there?"

This was probably not a sign that Margaret believed or was trying to imply that they might be looking for a movie that would actually belong in that section, probably being the operative word, but rather a subtle crack at how badly this place seemed to shelve its merchandise. That or she could just be genuinely curious. One side effect of Margaret's ever-present unflappable expression and failure to speak with any sort of inflection was that it could make it very difficult to tell if or when she was joking.

Upon further consideration of her inquiry however, whether it had been in jest or not, the pragmatic Puella Magi noted that of course Judith hadn't seen the film they were searching for; she would have brought it back with her if she had. It would, however, make sense for it to be in that room, seeing as they had looked everywhere else. As such, there were only three suitable courses of action. "It seems we'll have to look in there, or ask someone who works here. Or we could look elsewhere."

Margaret herself was not in the least embarrassed by what Judith had told her. Why should she be? After all, she had no involvement in anything the green haired girl had seen, and, indeed, hadn't even seen the things herself. Margaret was not one to be flustered over things that were not even truly involved in the situation.

Chiyo

The whole time that the pictures were being taken, Chiyo seemed as though she were trying to disappear. The girl stood looking away shyly, and holding her left arm fast to her side with her right, and wearing only a deep blush and the bikini that her friend had handed her, her seriousness in doing so Chiyo was still debating with herself over. This whole business was causing her to feel extremely self-conscious, but it was for Aolani.

When Aolani was done, she pocketed the phone, and smiled at Chiyo. Something was definitely going on with her friend, but the purplette couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"Thanks, Chiyo! I'll make sure to hang onto these, so we can show your future boyfriend....or girlfriend....these lovely little photos."

Chiyo's normal reaction would be to ask her never to ever show those to anyone ever, but the emphasis on, and even the inclusion of, the word 'girlfriend' caught her attention with even greater importance.

Wait... did Aolani know? Was that why she had been acting so strangely? Was she feeling awkward around her now? Chiyo had never made any attempts at concealing her orientation and Aolani was a smart person, so it was entirely possible that she had figured it out by now, even if it wasn't exactly a subject that tended to be brought up in casual conversation.

The embrace that she found herself in a moment or two later helped allay that concern, though it didn't quite dismiss it entirely. Plus, the warm feel of her friend's hands on her back felt nice, even if hugging with this much of her skin exposed kept her face flushed, as it had now been for quite a while. It would probably have gotten a good deal darker, if that were still possible at this point. After she had recovered from the initial surprise, the smaller girl returned the hug happily, if still somewhat embarrassedly.

It went on a little longer than Chiyo would have thought, not that she minded. Eventually though, Aolani let go, and then left the changing room rather quickly afterward, leaving Chiyo to try on the other three suits.

---

Some time later, Chiyo had finally tried on all of the swimsuits, and chosen one for their trip to the beach, a pale blue one piece that, while perhaps a bit more formfitting than the purplette would have liked, but once again, she wasn't getting a diving suit, so that part was kind of a foregone conclusion, covered a good amount of skin. By this time, Chiyo had finally stopped blushing, at least for the moment, which was probably a good thing, considering she had been starting to feel a bit lightheaded.

After this, the pair left the mall, heading to Aolani's house, followed, at a distance, by the same small creature.

Judith

Judith simply stared at Margaret for a good few seconds, at a loss for words. After opening and closing her mouth a few times, she finally managed to get out, "Y-You can check in there yourself, Margie, but....I, I'm not going back in t-there..."

The poor girl was more than a little nonplussed by Margaret's reaction, but it wasn't like Margie was the type of girl to be easily embarrassed by stuff like this, right? Besides, the movie probably was behind that drape; it wouldn't surprise Judith at this point. But, she wasn't about to go back in there again! God no! Never again!

"....I'm never coming back to this video store ever again." Judith murmured to herself, still blushing from the memory of what, exactly, she had seen behind that horrible drape.

Aolani

Aolani walked beside her friend in a sedate manner, rather pleased to feel the fresh, warm Hawaiian air.

"It's times like these that make me glad that I live in Hawaii," Aolani commented aloud, a wide smile on her face. "I just love the weather we have here. It's always so perfect."

Her good mood deteriorated, however, when the image of the Witch's Labyrinth flashed through her mind. A slight frown now marred her face, and Aolani desperately tried to push that image out of her head. Now that they were out of the mall, the events of what they had...experienced that morning, were starting to creep back into her mind. Still, she did her best to ignore such...unpleasant thoughts, if just for the moment. Perhaps it was foolish of her, but she didn't want to ruin the mood of 'normalcy' that she had established earlier.

Besides, she wasn't about to talk with Chiyo about that in the open. She certainly didn't want to sound...insane or childish or whatever to any passerbyers.

Aolani forced the smile back onto her face, and her happiness started to become genuine once more when she and Chiyo came within viewing distance of her house. She did her best not to race over to the front door, mostly because she knew Chiyo wouldn't be able to keep up with her, and she didn't want to make her friend exert herself, anyway. Still, the blonde couldn't help but walk a little faster as they approached the modest, two-story home.

They were inside the house in quick order, and Aolani all but skipped into the main living room, a big grin on her face.

"Good morning, Grandpa!" she cheerily greeted, waving at an older man seated on an armchair.

Makaha Malo peered up from a book he was reading, and smiled grandly at his granddaughter. "Good morning, Aolani! It's good to see you home. And good morning to you too, Chiyo. How are my two favorite girls today?"

Margaret

Margaret nodded in reply to Judith's words, both the ones that had and had not been meant for her. After a minute, she said simply "Very well. I'll return momentarily." With that, the dark haired girl walked to the doorway and brushed the drape aside. Then, with a look back at Judith, she entered the room.

Now that she was actually in the room, well technically it would be more accurate to call it an alcove or a nook, a light blush appeared on Margaret's face. She still wasn't one to be embarrassed over things which did not directly involve her, but the addition of the posters was a bit... much.

The veteran Puella Magi closed her eyes briefly, giving a slight sigh and adjusting her headband. Moments later, Margaret had regained her calm, and she set to work sorting through the... films... for the movie they were looking for.

From what she could tell, the majority of the movies in this room actually belonged here, or so she gathered based on their names, which mainly consisted of puns. Having never actually seen these things before, Margaret couldn't say for certain that all films of this kind had names such as those, but the specific puns in question made it fairly clear what one would be watching. Even so, the fact that they were in the room in which they belonged did not mean there was any sort of system to how they were organized.

Two minutes into her search, Margaret was interrupted by the sudden appearance of one of the store's employees, which it apparently did have, though how he had managed to remain hidden in such a tiny store was anyone's guess. For a long moment, neither of them said anything, the employee, a gangly lad who Margaret would estimate to be in his early twenties or so, seemed to be awkwardly attempting to decide what to say. For her part, Margaret merely stood there impassively, waiting patiently for the young man to speak.

"Um..." he finally started, his voice rather squeaky, as though puberty was taking especially long with his vocal cords. "Aren't you a little young to be in here?"

Margaret didn't even bother to dignify this with an answer, both because it was clear what he already thought the answer was, and because the very lack of a sign indicating the age appropriateness of this nook was what had lead to Judith embarrassing herself. Instead she asked, rather flatly, "Does this store carry the movie Knights of the Sacred Sword?"

The employee, Steve judging by his nametag, was apparently expecting a different reaction, as his response was at first a confused "Huh?" Margaret knew that he had heard her just fine, and turned to continue her investigation of the shelves and their contents. Before Steve could muster up an intelligible reply, it seemed that he was unused to shooing people out of this room, and possibly even being in it himself, Margaret located the movie they were looking for, and stepped out from behind the drape.

As Steve went off to the counter, or wherever it was that he had been until now, Margaret walked over to her green haired friend, presenting to her the movie for which they had been searching. Without the slightest hint of a tone she stated, perhaps unnecessarily, "Mission accomplished."

Chiyo

Chiyo personally found the weather to be a bit warm for her liking, though by no means outright unpleasant, but this was likely just due to her being used to colder weather. Nor, being who she was, would Chiyo complain even if it had been blisteringly hot out. Besides, Aolani's good mood was palpable, and Chiyo was more than happy to leave that as it was, particularly considering the earlier events of the day.

As if in response to what Chiyo had just been thinking about, Aolani's good cheer seemed to fall apart at the seams. It wouldn't have been obvious to most, the blonde's face only fell for a moment, but Chiyo had a knack for noticing these things, both natural and learned, and she had a pretty good idea what the cause of the unhappiness. For that same reason however, she knew she couldn't try to revisit the subject that was troubling her friend just yet.

Now that her own mind was on the subject, Chiyo found herself thinking about the offer that had been made to them. A wish and magical powers in exchange for agreeing to help fight dangerous monsters and save lives. To her, it seemed like a pretty good deal, like a call to arms from the first episode of a magical girl anime. She could be of such use, fighting alongside her fellow 'Puella Magi' and lending a hand, even if she didn't end up being that strong.

Returning from her short introspection, the purplette found that they were now at Aolani's house. She smiled appreciatively at how her friend had been so thoughtful as to keep a pace that she could match, despite the track star's obvious excitement. Trying to be obliging, Chiyo broke into a sort of skipping trot wasn't quite walking or jogging, and about even with the latter in terms of speed. Quite frankly, she looked ridiculous, most likely even more so in the eyes of someone who actually knew how to run properly, but she was moving faster than she had been by just walking.

When the two arrived in the house, Aolani greeted her grandfather, who in turn greeted the two of them, asking them how they were. Assuming that she was to answer, based on timing and the fact that Aolani hadn't, Chiyo did so. "Very well, P-Professor Malo. Thank you for asking."

Chiyo had to try very hard to force herself to say 'professor' rather than 'sensei'. Even if it was still technically a title, it just didn't seem nearly respectful enough. It didn't help that she was rather formal as part of her personality, and she still sometimes found herself almost adding '-senpai' or at least '-san' when she was addressing Aolani.

Realizing that she had just answered for both of them, which in her mind was a bit presumptuous, even if Aolani hadn't said anything, and probably would have said something similar if she had, Chiyo looked up at her friend for confirmation.

Judith

Judith gave a relieved sigh, glad that this ordeal was finally coming to an end. Now they could get out of this blasted store...

The green-haired girl took the dvd from her friend, briefly checking the price tag stickered on the front of the case. Well within her price range, of course! And she had more than enough money for...

Judith blinked, and gave herself a once over. After a few seconds she felt a small sense of dread well up within her.

Her money was in her wallet. Her wallet was in her purse. And her purse was left behind at home; in her rush to get ready for patrolling that morning, she had left it behind. With meant that she had no money on her to pay for the movie.

Oh dear...

"Um, Margie?" Judith blushed, and felt very guilty for what she was about to ask. "I....left my money at home. Um, could you buy this movie for me, please...?"

Aolani

"Yep! We're doing fine, Grandpa." Aolani confirmed with a slight smile, nodding her head. She felt a brief urge, however, to tell him that everything wasn't okay, and to tell him about everything they had experienced that morning...

But, the blonde knew that would be a bad idea. Her Grandpa would never believe her; if anything, he'd probably grow rather concerned about her mental health and state of mind. Which would be a rather valid concern, all things considered.

Aolani was about to elaborate further, when she felt her stomach growl and protest. A light blush came to her cheeks, and a nervous chuckle escaped her lips.

Makaha raised an eyebrow in surprise, giving his granddaughter a questioning look. "Did you forget to eat breakfast at Chiyo's, Aolani?"

"Ah, yeah. We both sorta forgot. Sorry." Aolani admitted, blushing still. In all the excitement that had occurred this morning, she'd forgotten to grab a bite to eat at the mall with Chiyo, like they had said they would.

"We were just so, uh, busy that we sorta forgot to eat at the mall. And Chiyo's parents weren't home by the time we left, and neither of us really know how to cook, so..." the biracial girl gave a little shrug, trailing off.

Makaha gave a soft chuckle, and shook his head. After a moment he put his book away, and slowly stood up from his chair. "Well then, I suppose I'll have to correct that. Give me thirty minutes and I should have something whipped up for the both of you. Okay?"

Aolani smiled despite her mild embarrassment, and nodded her head at her grandfather. "Sure, Grandpa! That sounds great to me."

Makaha nodded, and shortly left the living room, ruffling Aolani's hair as he passed. The blonde smiled at him as he disappeared from view. A few seconds later she turned to Chiyo, an inquiring look on her face.

"So. Uh, I guess we should go wait in my room while he cooks?" Aolani suggested, her eyes moving over to the stairs that led to the second floor of the house, and to her room as well.