The Carnelian Sparrow

Chapter 2

“God damn it.” Yui winced as she swabbed at the cut on her cheek with a cotton ball, the fumes of disinfectant heavy in Yui’s room. She stood in front of a floor-length mirror, one she usually used to inspect her attire before and after practice, but today, something more pressing started Yui’s routine. “Lucky ass kid… cheap shot,” she mumbled.

All of this was drowned out by the sounds of gunfire and explosions coming from the small television sitting on top of a worn out dresser. Voices in American English shouted over the sounds of battle. Explosions, shouting, gunfire, repeating seemingly endlessly as Yui bandaged her most recent battle wound.

Yui glanced over at her empty, unmade bed, black comforter in a bundle on disheveled sheets, pillows skewed on the far end. She stared, as if expecting someone to be there, sitting at the far end and staring at her with red, beady eyes. But today, there was only empty messiness and cheesy American action movies.

She figured that if she wanted any semblance of conversation before practice, Yui would likely have to flip the coin on talking with her grandfather. Such encounters weren’t inherently unpleasant, per se, but it all depended on the mood he was in, and how the night prior went. If he was in a good mood, conversations were usually fine. But if he lost the night before, the odds were that letting him be was a much safer option. Unfortunately, since Yui had been out hunting last night, she didn’t know how her grandfather’s night had gone.

The only way to find out, Yui supposed, would be to go out into the living room and gauge the situation. Yui wandered casually from her room, the sunlight peeking in through the tattered curtains covering the front windows. The kitchen window was closed, venetian blinds preventing the afternoon sun from blinding anyone hunting for a meal, though the kitchen itself was far too tiny for anything elaborate.

The rest of Yui’s apartment was equally small, looking rather rundown. Wallpaper uneven and tearing in places, stains on the carpet and in places along the tattered furniture. Along the far wall, near the door, sat a faded sofa with torn cushions, and an armchair, bright green, not faring much better.

In the armchair sat a thin old man, completely bald and worn out. In his right hand was the remote control to the television opposite his chair, and in his left, an open can of beer. “Damn, kid, an’ here I was thinkin’ you’d finally run away or something.” Yui’s grandfather’s voice was rough and deep, but free from any actual hostility or animosity. Yui took his calm demenor as a good start.

“Told ya, Pops. Not ‘til we get an album on store shelves. Then I’ll think about it.” Yui’s reply was equally dry and calm in tone. A typical display of empty sarcasm; their usual method of communicating.

“Heh. That goddamn noise you kids put out ain’t gonna fill an album. Y'know ya gotta actually make songs, right?” 'Pops’ took another sip of beer, flipping idly through channels. “Jam sessions don’t mean anything on a record.”

“Whatever, old man. Just 'cause you’re not with the times anymore doesn’t mean you can tear down a young girl’s dream.”

“I ain’t tearin’ down anything. You lot just haven’t actually written a single, complete song since ya formed that band last summer.”

Yui scoffed, admitting her defeat in the banter. “Yeah, yeah. Well, give us time, okay? Anyway, you seem like you’re doin’ well today, Pops.”

“Easy enough when ya win like I’ve been, lately. Heh.” A bit more triumph in his voice, he took another sip of beer. Yui visibly relaxed, though her grandfather didn’t seem to notice. “I’m takin’ tonight off. What about you, kid?”

“I’m on my way out. Meeting the girls for practice.”

“You’ll need it. Hey, pick me up some chips from Berry Mart on the way back, willya?”

With a dismissive wave and a shake of her head, and Yui was out the door.

It wouldn’t take Yui long to arrive at the empty lot in the industrial district where she practiced. The others often questioned why they practiced outside, on an exposed, yet somehow perfectly smooth and level concrete floor. Yui would remind them every session that this was the only place that they could practice without being kicked out or arrested for disturbance. It was pure dumb luck that Yui’s grandfather happened to own this lot, and that somehow, the city hadn’t muscled it away from him yet.

Alice was sitting on a speaker, idly swirling a bottle of juice, looking down at nothing. Midori was fiddling around with the generator that powered their intruments and equipment. Shinju was staring at her phone, pacing around her guitar case. She was also the first to speak, catching sight of Yui as she peeked up from her phone. “Alright, there you are!”

“About time,” Midori would follow with. “Was wondering if you were just gonna skip out on us.”

A sigh from the speaker as Alice hopped off. “Let me guess. Your grandpa held you up?” Her eyes would widen as she noticed Yui’s bandaged cheek. “Hey, don’t tell me you were in another fight?!”

Yui quickly shook her head. “Nothin’ serious. I could make some kinda joke, like, 'you should’ve seen the other guy’, but this one’s not even that glamorous.” Yui would then take her seat at her drums, twirling one of her drumsticks between her index and middle fingers. “Sorry. Just had to patch up from housework. Boring stuff, really.”

Midori scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. “You? Housework? Not a chance in hell. I’d sooner believe you got into a street fight again.”

“Hey…,” Yui would retort, “don’t it make more sense that my dumb ass would hurt myself washin’ a dish?”

“…We’re wasting time, anyway. Midori, are we all set here?” Alice had experience in redirecting conversations when it came to Yui’s mysterious, yet numerous cuts and bruises.

“Woo! Alright guys, the Naked Angels are back in business!” Yui’s shout was met with silence from the others, and the hum of speakers coming to life would quickly break it.

As was usually the case with their practice sessions, Yui’s high school band would spend a lot of time getting in tune, then harmonizing with one another before finally debating on how a particular song should go, or what lyrics would be the most fitting. It was as Yui’s grandfather had said; the girls hadn’t even successfully performed one complete song that was not a cover of another band.

Yui didn’t mind this, of course. Hammering out these details was laying the foundation for greatness, she would often say. The others would never admit this, but they made incrementally more progress as time went on. They were growing closer together as friends, as they had been for years now, but also getting used to playing together, and meshing their varied, different musical styles and tastes.

Yui would never say so directly, but she somehow knew how to form a cohesive unit. Bickering was becoming less common, and full arguments were rare. Shinju, being a newcomer and a year younger, didn’t really make any waves in the first place, but everyone seemed to appreciate her presence. Somehow, Yui knew exactly what she was doing, even if she wasn’t aware of it.

Hours would pass, and the sun would set, signaling the end of their practice yet again. Midori was the first to pack up her things. “Whew… okay, I think we’re getting somewhere now.”

“Just now? We’ve been gettin’ there for weeks!” Yui’s voice was full of life and energy. This, it seemed, was one of two avenues in her life where she truly felt alive. “Okay, so next weekend then?”

“I can’t,” Midori replied. “Family business.”

“Koharu?” Alice’s voice was gentle when broaching the subject of Midori’s family. It was better this way; Yui was far too tactless to bring it up herself, but her curiosity would get the better of her if it wasn’t brought up at all.

“Mom, actually. Some kinda conference in Tokyo, or something like that. Dad’s gonna be home, so I figured I’d help give Mom some moral support.”

“Why doesn’t Koharu go with her instead? You don’t sound thrilled about it.” Shinju was somewhere in the middle of Alice’s caution and Yui’s bluntness. “'Haru’s seeming like she’s gonna follow in her footsteps, isn’t she?”

Before Alice could silence her, Midori simply shook her head as she replied. “I am looking forward getting out of town for a couple days. But you know, you’re not wrong. Koharu should be the one going with Mom. I’ll ask about it, see if we can bring her along.”

“Has your sister ever been to an event like that?” Yui was surprisingly guarded in her question, picking up on Alice’s fierce glare as she spoke.

“Not really. But… it might be good for her to get out, live a little bit. Make her feel like a normal person, I guess.”

“She is a normal person,” Yui replied bluntly.

Shinju and Alice both froze, but Midori didn’t snap back, instead giving a tired sigh. “…Bless your goddamned heart, Yui. But the idea’s not a bad one. Anyway, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

A few awkwardly quiet minutes later, and Shinju would be the next to leave, a large, camouflaged vehicle arriving. “Heh… well, uh… later!” Shinju never really knew what to say to end these meetings. The others never made her feel like a junior or an odd girl out, but there was always a twinge of self-consciousness whenever quiet moments came around, which was often.

Finally, Yui and Alice were alone, and Alice’s expression quickly soured. “So what really happened, Yui?” Her gaze was fixed on Yui’s bandaged cheek.

“Last time we argued 'bout it, you told me you were better off not knowin’. I miss a memo or somethin’ that changed that?”

Alice simply sighed and looked up towards the sky. “I don’t like hearing about these battles like you’re some kind of hero, or some fantasy character, or god forbid some movie star. But I don’t like seeing the battle scars, either.”

“Psh. This one’s not even gonna scar. Basically a paper cut, really.” Yui was quiet for a moment, internally amused at the visual of the Witch she fought, then continued. “It was a pretty basic Witch. Kinda cool labyrinth, somethin’ out of a game. It was the other girl huntin’ her that gave me this.”

Alice shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingertips. “Yui… you can’t just fight with every other Magical Girl that crosses your path.”

“I can when they get all stuck up about gettin’ the kill. And you call me an adrenaline junkie?”

“They have to find their own way, just like you did. Not everyone can be blessed with your natural instincts, or your family’s history—”

“My ol’ man don’t got a goddamn thing to do with it.” The sharpness of her reply caused Alice to flinch, and after hesitating, Yui softened her voice as she continued. “I mean, yeah, these newbies have to learn to fight on their own sooner or later. An’ this one was in control, lookin’ back. But y'know, I could tell what she wished for. It wasn’t really selfless, but it wasn’t stupid or selfish, either. She finds her legs, she’ll probably outclass me someday. I had to feel it out the only way I know how. Y'know, babe?”

Alice sighed, sitting beside Yui’s drums now. “You stole her kill and picked a fight, in other words. Well, if she’s so valuable to you, why not play nice? I would sleep better at night if I knew someone out there in your world had your back.”

“Yeah, yeah…” This was Yui’s typical reply when she knew Alice was right, which was most of the time. “I guess I could try playin’ nice next time. But man, she was faster to the punch than I was! Someone makes a contract, and ten minutes later actually makes me bleed! That’s new territory!”

Yui’s voice came to life in the mention of the other avenue in which she felt alive. Yui Arashi was a natural born fighter, and ever since making her wish, she was in a world that let her cut completely loose. Before her contract, Yui would often find herself in trouble from picking fights with her schoolyard peers. Now, however, she could let out her aggressive side without any negative consequences.

“Just don’t go making enemies, okay…?”

“No promi—” Yui cut herself off, noting Alice’s even more stern expression. …Okay. I won’t make this kid an enemy. But you know this mouth of mine’s gonna probably make that hard.“

Alice sighed, shaking her head again. "It usually does…” Alice stood up, dusting herself off. “…I’ll see you tomorrow, okay, Yui?”

“It’s a date,” Yui said with a smug grin on her face. She watched Alice walk away after rolling her eyes, then slowly gathered the rest of the band’s belongings. Yui had a hiding place for all of their stuff, aside the instruments the girls individually brought with her. Yui, however, couldn’t very well take her drums to and from. It was cumbersome to move the drum set to and from the hole hidden by a loose stone slab, but it was still easier than trying to learn to drive a car, let alone buy one just for this. Also stored here was Midori’s generator, and the girls’ speakers.

After she was done, Yui would survey the empty lot, making sure she didn’t miss anything. This was also part of the routine every time they got together to practice. Satisfied, Yui would turn and walk away, taking only a drumstick in hand, idly twirling it between her fingers as she walked..

The sun would long have set by the time Yui came home. The apartment was empty, as expected, though the television was still on in the living room. Static noise, quiet as it was, filled the room. Yui found this oddly comforting, though she turned the TV off as she wandered into the kitchen.

Setting a bag of potato chips on the counter, Yui would grab a can of strawberry-lime soda from the fridge, one of three left, and went back to her room. Setting her drumstick down on her bed, she turned on her room’s single overhead light and removed her bandage.

Sure enough, the cut was healing as expected; much more quickly than an ordinary person’s would be. She applied more disinfectant, then another bandage before speaking into her apparently empty room. “You’ve been busy, huh?”

A high, chipper voice would call out behind the curtain covering Yui’s bedroom window. “I’m not a housecat, Yui Arashi. I don’t live here, nor am I on some leash to follow you wherever you go.”

“I know that, genie cat. But it ain’t like you to break pattern an’ forget to check up on me before my practice. Kinda figured you were either makin’ more of us, or startin’ some other kinda scheme.”

Kyubey lept from the window, landing on Yui’s messy bed and sitting up, staring at Yui. “I’m not an open book, either! I can’t just tell you everything all the time.”

Yui gave an indifferent shrug as she turned to face her visitor. “Ah well, better late than never. Here.” Yui reached into her pocket, tossing the spent Grief Seed from the night before towards the creature.

Catching the Grief Seed in its mouth, it continued speaking, perfectly clearly despite holding something between its lips. “Thank you. It’s refreshing to find a Magical Girl so cooperative in this city. Not everyone shares your… unique worldview, Yui.”

“I ain’t makin’ a habit of this,” she spat back, seemingly out of nowhere. “You’re gonna have to start payin’ me overtime if you want me to babysit again. I mean, I get it, you don’t wanna send the newborns out to die. But have you considered openin’ a trainin’ center or something? Be way more effective than a hothead like me.”

“I suppose I owe you an apology. I did sense that Hanako would have enough power to survive her first encounter, but I didn’t want to take unnecessary risks. You met her, you would know that her power is intriguing, is it not?”

Yui simply sighed, turning on her own TV, resuming the movie that was playing before she left. “I guess. Kinda sucks that you’re usin’ me as a guinea pig to test that girl, but I guess that’s just par for the course at this point.”

“We both benefit from this endeavor, Yui. Hanako Sasaki’s wish is not too far removed from your own, if you think about it. Neither selfless, nor selfish. Simple, yet powerful.”

“I know, I know. Jeez. Just 'cause I’m in the know about all this doesn’t mean I have to like it. That’s the price I gotta pay to keep you away from Alice, at least 'til my time’s up, then fine.”

Kyubey’s tails swished innocently behind it, its beady-eyed stare unflinching. “You cannot hope to keep her out of this forever, Yui.”

“I can damn well try. I ain’t figured out what it is that’s wrong with her family yet, but until I do, I’m gonna make damn sure that you don’t sign her up for this. She’s tough as hell, but she ain’t a fighter. Leave this Witch hunting business to me.”

“We will agree to disagree as usual, Yui.”

“Don'cha got other girls to go bother this time of night?”

“Oh my. You’re usually not one to refuse my company.”

“I got a lot on my mind, suddenly. An’ you got schemes upon schemes to get back to.” Yui made a motion with her hands, as if trying to shoo Kyubey away like a stray cat. Kyubey, however, obliged, hopping back up to the open window.

“Just remember, Yui. Not even stars last forever. And the light of a Magical Girl dims faster than most. But you knew that, even before making your wish, right?” And with that, Kyubey leapt out into the night.

Yui plopped down onto her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling light overhead. “'Course I know. But it won’t stop me from fightin’ until the second it goes out. I got at least a few more good rounds in me.”