"This is where we'll be sleeping. The futons are in the closet." Daisuko leaves the others to their conversation before sitting down on the dojo's landing outside, dead tired from dealing with squabbling children the whole day.
"Mama, I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass when I was young…" She still is. Her ears perk up as she senses footsteps from behind. "Ah, Iko. How's Klara?"
"She's enjoying her dinner in private. She doesn't like people seeing her true form and she needs to unmask to eat." Iko whispers to her as she sits down by her side. Her expression is neutral but Daisuko senses the smallest inkling of worry. She has two cups and a bottle of sake in her hands. "You okay?"
"More importantly, are you?" Daisuko turns Iko's query on her with a smile. "You really did look like you were about to kill those I-C's for a second there."
"So what if I was?" Iko pours out two cups of sake.
"Well, you know, killing is… bad." Daisuko mentally applauds herself for such an outstanding observation as she downs a cup.
"It's not about good or bad, it's about what's fair."
"Still, if at all possible, I'd really prefer that you keep your own hands clean."
"I don't need you to tell me that."
"Oops, sorry, sorry, heheh…" Her expression flips on a dime, going from dead serious to light-hearted. "Ah that's right. You're a mercenary, aren't you? I had completely forgotten."
"Yes… Whether by circumstance or God's divine edict, I had to take on mercenary work to provide for my family." Iko downs some sake.
"Well…" Daisuko opens her mouth to say something but quickly decides against it.
"You were about to say that I no longer have to kill because I no longer have family, right?"
"A-ah… well…" She simply nods, unsure of what to say. "Sorta."
"You're not wrong." Iko looks down at her hands. "There's no reason for me to kill anymore. I can't hide behind the excuse that I have no choice any longer. Which means I have to accept that I'm about to kill people for something as selfish as getting my family back."
"You've already killed a lot of people, if you really have become a monster, you were already one a long, long time ago." Daisuko smiles. "Then again, so am I."
"Hm." Iko downs a cup of sake.
"It's too late for regret for the both of us, anyway." Daisuko downs a cup of her own. The burning sensation feels pleasant against the chilly atmosphere.
"It's never too late for regret." Iko, channeling her Russian heritage, waterfalls some sake straight from the bottle.
Daisuko lifts a corner of her mouth in a half-smile. "Then it's too late for forgiveness."
"It's never too late for forgiveness."
"Oh really? Then let's try an exercise." Daisuko looks at Iko with a mischievous expression. She sets down her cup. "Who were my first kills?"
"What is this?" Iko sets down her cup.
"Indulge me."
"Hmmm…" Iko thinks for a moment. "Kills, you say? As in, plural? Going off of raw instinct alone… My guess is your husband and his lover?"
"I'm a lesbian."
"Your wife and her lover, then?"
"Nope. I haven't married yet."
"Hmmm… perhaps a brother and sister?"
"If they were brother and sister that would have been incestuous."
"I take it that means they were two people who loved each other?"
"Keep going."
"Husband and wife?"
"You're close."
"..." Iko looks away as she stumbles upon the correct answer. "Mother and father?"
"Bingo."
"..."
"You understand now, right?."
Wordlessly, Iko takes the bottle and downs the whole thing. "Ahhhh…"
"Jeez, alright, relax–"
"Answer me this one thing." In spite of all the drinking, Iko's eyes are sharp, focused as she stares at Daisuko. "Do you regret what you did?"
"..." Daisuko takes a breath. "There's no point repenting for what can't be forgiven–"
"You're scared."
"...What are you talking about–?"
"You're scared of what might happen if you start to feel regret, aren't you? Because the weight of all your sins might end up crushing you?" Iko smiles gently.
Daisuko's expression freezes an instant before she breaks into laughter. "O-kay, that's enough drinking for one night–"
"I've been there. I've thought those exact thoughts hundreds of times. We had the choice to stop at any time and we didn't. The least we can do is take responsibility for our actions."
"Alright, that's enough, you've had enough drinking for one night." Daisuko sighs as she takes her gun out of her pocket and points it at Iko. "You think just because we've both killed a lot of people we're the same? Think again."
"..." Iko stares at Daisuko.
"..." Daisuko stares at Iko.
"...Ah whatever!" Iko laughs heartily and claps Daisuko on the shoulder. "I don't forgive you but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, right? So let's be friends! I think you're a terrible person and you're better off dead but I like your style!"
"...Eh?" Daisuko scratches her head with the muzzle of her gun and tries her best to laugh along. "I don't really get it but… cool. I guess we're friends now."
Iko shrugs. "Anyway, it's getting late. I'm going to go to turn in for the night. See you tomorrow, new friend!"
"..." Daisuko looks down at the two sake cups and back at Iko, who's merrily and also very drunkenly, rolling out her futon. Daisuko, on the other hand, merely stretches herself out on the landing and lets the chirping of the crickets and the rustling of the grass lull her into sleep.
It suddenly occurs to Daisuko that even though she's fallen asleep, the sound of rustling grass still somehow reaches her. She opens her eyes and is met with pristine, white sunlight crashing down on a resplendent garden. A sight framed by the four supports of a gazebo.
"Hello again, tomboy." A lady who very much looks like a tomboy herself greets Daisuko as she passes her a teacup.
"Who you callin' tomboy?" Daisuko snatches up the teacup and downs the tea inside it in one go. It's not hot, neither is it warm, its temperature teetering right on that perfect in-between separating scalding and pleasant.
"Sorry, sorry. I just thought it was an… apt nickname." The Lady of Osaka laughs to herself as she sips her own tea. "So, you have fended off the Lady of Tokyo's first wave and consolidated your forces. For that, I should congratulate you. Not many would have made it this far."
"Your little blessing made it easy." She shoots her a glare. "Unwanted as it may have been."
"Yeah, sorry about that, it can be rather invasive, can't they?" She stirs her tea with a silver spoon. Daisuko sees something like a black mist slither along the bottom of the cup– impossibly fine tea grounds. Something that really only can exist within a dream. "Still, I believe I selected one that would suit you."
"Suit me? It tried to kill me!"
"'It' is a 'he'. And he tried to kill you once where he tried to kill his previous hosts multiple times each."
"Previous hosts?"
"They were excellent magical girls but poor hosts. The fact he even let you use Clarent is a testament to your compatibility."
"Hm… I should thank Arthur for that when I wake up."
"Arthur?"
"Yeah, I mean, I might as well call him by name, right? King Arthur?"
The tomboy-ish lady merely smiles.
"Is the spirit not… King Arthur?"
"I will not disclose his name, it is not my right, but I will tell you this. He is not King Arthur."
"I see…"
"Any questions before we close today's report?"
"Wait, 'today's' report?"
"Of course, I need to update you on what happens outside Ozawa and you need to update me on the specifics inside Ozawa."
"Hold on, I'm the only one who's been doing the updating, what stuff's going on outside of Ozawa?"
"Oh right, well, the short of it is that I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"The long of it is that The Lady of Tokyo hasn't made any moves which definitely means something's up."
"Ah, yeah, that sounds about right." Daisuko bites her fingernail. "By the way, are you having this exact conversation with the others as well?"
"Yes. But not Klara. I refuse to touch anything the Lady of Tokyo has distorted."
"How are–"
"Oka? She's fine."
"What do you mean by 'they're fine?"
"Don't worry. In Oka's case, she relinquished her body on purpose and the spirit is willing to swap back any moment."
"Ah. That's a relief– Wait! No it isn't! You mean to say we could have our bodies taken over at any moment?!"
"It depends on whose will is stronger. So long as your drive to stay in your body is stronger than the spirit's desire to take it over, they are effectively powerless."
"Comforting." Sarcasm drips from Daisuko's voice.
"Relax. I'm sure you'll be just fine." The Lady of Osaka interlaces her fingers. "Anyway, I'll be counting on you to purge the city of any of The Lady of Tokyo's interference."
"Sure, sure, whatever you say, boss." Daisuko rolls her eyes as the garden fades away and she drifts back to consciousness.
"Not King Arthur, huh?" Daisuko's eyes suddenly go wide. The realization hits her like a speeding truck. "If not him then… ?!"