"Let's try digging deeper and getting to the root of all this. Tell me about your childhood. What was it like growing up with Nagisa?"
"I was around seven when she was born. Mama always drilled it into my head that I was the older sister and that I had to be the one to protect her. So that was the kind of relationship we had, protector and protected." Tami lets her head sink deeper into Isaka's lap.
"Were you pressured into the role or did you slot into it?" Isaka runs her fingers through Tami's hair, gently sifting through strands of gold.
"A little bit of both."
"I see. So then when what happened… happened, did you feel responsible for it?"
"Of course I did. I'm the older sister, it's my job to be the protector. Not just as an older sister but as an I-C. As a captain. I don't feel like it's my responsibility, it is my responsibility."
"Still, even then, wouldn't you say it's unrealistic to blame yourself? You are just one person, after all."
"Maybe."
"What would you think if it was me who was saying that I was responsible for keeping everything safe."
Tami closes her eyes to think. "I would think your hero complex is showing and you need to relax because that's my job as the captain."
"Okay, let's say that I was the captain instead of you."
"Then I would think that you're taking up too much responsibility on yourself. I'd probably ask you to trust in me and the other I-C's as well."
"That's a good answer."
"I suppose now you want me to start shifting the responsibility to you all?"
"Not exactly. We can all share the responsibility together. As heroes of justice. As friends."
"I see…" Tami takes off her sunglasses to look at Isaka more clearly. "Thank you, Isaka."
"I'm just parroting what my therapist tells me. It's really no big deal."
"You say that every time." Tami fixes her sunglasses back onto her face and sits up.
"No worries. I, and everyone else, will always be here for you."
"Don't say things like that. It's bad luck." Tami instinctively switches her tone from Tami to I-C captain.
"Aye, aye." Isaka shoots her a casual salute before picking up today's travel itinerary. "Anyway, where are we going today on our Minaminagi vacation extravaganza?"
"Nowhere in particular. I didn't schedule a tour for today."
"Ah sweet, I think I'll take Ryukko back to that parfait place we all went to the other day."
"That's a good idea, but I heard Amanda and Amaru were planning a date there as well."
"A double-date it is, then." Isaka's about to leave but she stops, her head jerking like she had just banged it against an invisible box. "Ah wait, that sorta leaves you in the dust, huh?"
"I don't mind."
"You sure?"
"Yep. You guys have fun on your double-date, I'm going to go have some fun on my own."
"Well, suit yourself." Isaka folds her arms behind her head and walks out the hotel room door.
Tami stands in the middle of the room, motionless. She counts to ten before putting on her sunglasses. "I was planning on eating alone…"
Nakasuko drops down onto the balcony attached to the hotel room from the ledge she was hanging onto
"But I guess we're going to have to make it a date." Tami grins to herself.
"Really? Minaminagi? You picked this place as your hideout?" Nakasuko splits her chopsticks in half before feasting on her bone broth ramen.
"What's wrong with it?" Tami does the same with slightly less enthusiasm. She's paying for both meals, after all.
"It's like leaving a bar to hide in a bar three feet to the left."
"We're not really hiding as much as just avoiding the blast zone." Tami scatters some chili flakes onto her noodles. "If you're here, I suppose The Lady of Tokyo has made her presence known to you?"
"The Lady of Tokyo?" Nakasuko tilts her head. "What about her?"
"Your friend. What was her name… Kasai? I'm assuming there's a reason why she's not here sitting next to you. What happened to her?"
"I don't know. Someone did something to her little sister, Yuki. Turned her against us. She came at us like an animal. We got separated during the fight. I fear that whatever happened to Yuki is happening to Kasai."
"Yeah. That sounds like The Lady of Tokyo. Always one step ahead. Always eager to turn people into her little toys." Tami closes her eyes and cradles her fingers. "And wherever The Lady of Tokyo is, The Lady of Osaka is close behind. A war between the two factions will erupt any second now. If it hasn't already."
"Why is this only happening now?"
"You and I both know that magic isn't the real power in this world. It's money. It makes the world go round. The ICMG and organized crime have a mutualistic relationship. The ICMG mediates and the yakuza provides with capital. If they waged war over Ozawa and a bunch of yakuza families got caught in the crossfire, imagine the outcry that would cause. That mutualistic relationship would be completely uprooted. But now that it's only the comparatively tiny Kuze Clan left, Ozawa is easy pickings."
"What do we do?"
Tami shrugs. "Nothing. Just let them fight it out. I give it maybe ten or so years before a winner emerges."
"T-ten years?"
"Yep. Ten years of killing and being killed. They're fighting over control over an entire city here. They both already have two apiece, if I remember correctly. This is the second time they've come to blows."
"The second time?"
"It's the reason why Hitoshi city is ninety percent rubble. About thirty years ago, a Spirit Realm Gate was sealed in Fukuwa city. After it was sealed, the ICMG had a dispute over which Major should own the City. The Lady of Tokyo contributed the most but The Lady of Osaka needed it more. Eventually, the two came to blows."
"You're talking about these cities like they're resources. The ICMG should be working towards peace. So then why are they fighting over something so petty?"
"It's complicated."
"We've got time."
"Well, it's not exactly the cities themselves they're fighting over. They're fighting over the Spirit Realm Gates inside these cities. First thing you need to know is that Jutsu is incredibly harmful to the human body. Blood doesn't fuel Jutsu, it's just that blood loss is the side effect of using Jutsu. That's why second-stage magical girls need mechanical bodies. They're more suited to enduring the 'kickback.' Without them, they would simply die."
Nakasuko nods, trying not to think about how they learned this.
"Mechanical bodies are a sufficient solution for the second-stage magical girls. Third-stage magical girls, though, are highly unique. Their magic is so powerful that its kickback attacks the very soul of the user. Not even mechanical bodies are sufficient to sustain it. But lucky for them, it's not just yokai that enter the material world through the spirit realm gates. In the first place, spirit realm gates are created by an overabundance of 'Prana' in the spirit realm. If enough Prana accumulates, their combined weight 'bursts' through the fabric of reality, spilling out into the material world"
"I see. So, sort of like lava in a volcano."
"Yes, precisely. It's possible to use this Prana as a sort of 'cushion' for the magical recoil third-stage magical girls experience. In other words, the more gates they have, the more powerful magic they can afford to use."
"So, they seek power for the sake of power?"
"That's true for The Lady of Osaka. She's been in conflict with other ICMG Majors for so long that she's forgotten her original goal. Now she just seeks to win. Whatever 'winning' means. The Lady of Tokyo, on the other hand, is relatively young compared to other Fourth-Stage magical girls. She's colder, more calculated, more ruthless, and much more ambitious. She seeks to unlock the power of True Third-Stage Incubation."
"True Third-Stage Incubation?"
"There are two kinds of magical girls. Perfect and imperfect magical girls. The only difference is that False magical girls can no longer be incubated while True magical girls can still ascend to the next 'tier' of magical girl. Imperfect magical girls, like myself, suggest that something went wrong during our incubation and we're noticeably weaker than true magical girls. That's what I get for using a dilapidated incubator."
"I see." Nakasuko pushes her bowl away. There's still some soup left but listening to Tami's stories has killed her appetite. "Is there anyone we can rely on?"
"There is…."
"Who?"
"Not 'who,' 'what.'"
"What do you mean?"
Tami interlaces her fingers and places her hands on the table. "Have you ever heard of a homunculus?"
"Nope."
"I don't blame you. That project was top-secret. In essence, a homunculus is an artificial soul."
"Such a thing exists?"
"Yes… unfortunately." Tami sighs. "Forty years ago, The Lady of Tokyo started the 'Born in Blue' Project with the sole objective of creating a soul and binding it to a mechanical frame."
"But… why?"
"It was The Lady of Tokyo's hypothesis that somehow transferring the soul of a human being into a mechanical body was the solution to withstanding the splashback second-stage ascension causes. A homunculus represents just that, a soul in a mechanical body. Once she understood how something like that could exist, she only needed to connect the dots. The results are what we know as the modern I-C's."
"What happened to the homunculus?"
"She raised it. As if it were her own child. It was even made into a secret ICMG Major and placed in charge of Ozawa city."
"What happened?"
"Everything backfired. It threw a tantrum and nearly destroyed the city. It had to be sealed away.That is the nature of that thing that calls itself Elexi Purina."
"Then that makes things easy!" Nakasuko slams her palms on the counter and stands, much to the surprise of the other customers. "We just have to break it out of that prison!"
"...Are you insane?!" Tami looks at her incredulously. "Did you even listen to a word I just said? That thing is beyond dangerous!"
"I know, I know, but what else are we supposed to do? Who else has the power to go up against The Lady of Tokyo and The Lady of Osaka?"
"Hypothetically, we break her out. Then what? It's powerless right now, it can't even use the prana within Ozawa before it binds itself to the gate."
"That's fine. I just need to figure out a way to get it to the Ozawa City gate and we're golden."
"No way either The Lady of Tokyo or The Lady of Osaka's just going to sit there and let that happen. The instant they know the homunculus so much as leaves her house, it's on sight. They'll throw everything they have at it."
"So we just need to fight back!"
"Were you not listening? They might as well be gods compared to us."
"Still, we have to try. Whatever's infected Kasai, I need to get rid of it."
A corner of Tami's mouth lifts up, as if pulled on by an invisible string. "You're insane, you know that?"
"I'll take that as a compliment." Nakasuko stands up and immediately begins walking towards the door.
"Wait."
She stops mid-stride. "What is it?"
Tami sighs. "Fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine."
"Huh? Eh?" Nakasuko looks at her, perplexed.
"You're gonna need some extra firepower on your side if you want to stand a chance. And besides, this war started because of what I did. That makes this my responsibility."
"So, you're in?"
"I guess I am."