"It would be nice if I could say this was the end of the magical nonsense," you say to Hitomi, her parents, and Kyouko, "But even after we've expelled the, er, Enforcers from the Mage's Association who are on their way, I can't guarantee that things will quiet down. But I'd like to see them do so. I'd like to see Mitakihara go back to being the city it was before the events of two months ago shook us all out of whack." You aren't the only one thinking that. You know Minako is, and after this major dustup you're sure the Shizukis are just begging for all of this magical nonsense to blow over and go away. But it won't ever truly go away, will it? Their daughter is a mage. SHe'll always be vulnerable to the wiles of the magical world in some way, and with that comes the danger that her parents will be dragged into her messes simply for their proximity to her.
"We can only hope," Hitomi's father says. The whole of the Shizuki family goes quiet, and Hitomi's father stares at you as he asks "Is there anything else you wanted to ask us?"
"Well, I was actually hoping you might have a few more questions for me, first," you say. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting you to take this, well, lying down." You understand why they might not be interested in pursuing more knowledge: after all, does knowing what the capabilities of the Enforcers who are coming here really better their lives in any way? If Franziska came for the SHizukis, they'd be powerless to do anything to her whether they knew what she could do or not. "But, I do have something I'd like to ask the two of you." You gesture with your head to the Shizuki parents, letting them know that you're specifically talking to the two of them. "Would you both please hold out one of your arms? There's something I'd like to check you both for."
"Check us for?" Hitomi's mother asks. "Like what? What is it you need to check us for?" Despite her questioning, she still sticks out her arms for you to take. So does her husband, apparently letting their better judgement of your character override any suspicions they have about your request. It is an odd request.
"Maybe he's 'looking for injuries from last night that might have gotten overlooked," Hitomi's father says. "But... Then that raises the question, why our arms, specifically?"
"You're way off base," you say to Hitomi's father. "It's not injuries I'm checking you for; and really, any part of your body could have sufficed. But checking your arms was the easiest and least-intrusive way I could do this, given where you're both sitting relative to myself." Hitomi watches as you take each of her parents' arms, thumb against the underside of their wrist as though you were checking their pulse. "I don't know if Hitomi's told you this or not, but first-generation mages are exceedingly rare. Magic usually grows along families that have dedicated magical lineages, so the fact that Hitomi developed the ability to perform magic, seemingly from nothing, has me curious. So what I'm doing is I'm checking you both for magic circuits." It's a term you know will throw Hitomi's parents off, so you move to elaborate before they have a chance to grow curious. "Think of them as your soul's nervous system, in a way. You're typically born with them, and their presence means that you can use magic if you learn to channel the magical energy flowing through them."
"So, you think one of us might... Be able to use magic?" Hitomi's father asks. "I hope you'll forgive me for being cautious, Archer. Just learning that magic is real was enough to upend my entire worldview, let alone hearing that my own daughter along with most of her friends are able to use it. But now you're telling us that either my wife or I can use it too?"
"That's what I'm checking for," you reiterate. "hitomi being born with magic circuits, despite having two parents who didn't have any, is what's anomalous. If either of you had magic circuits, that would at least explain where hers came from. Of course, then we'd have to go back and figure out which of your parents you might have gotten them from, and..." You let your voice trail off, as you let Hitomi's parents bask in the implications of your statement. As far as they're aware, one of them might have an as-yet-unknown mage lineage running through their body. But fortunately... "Do either of you have any living parents?"
"My mother is still alive," Hitomi's father says. "Is it... Is it dangerous, to have these 'magic circuit' things if we've never used them?"
"It can be," you say. "Typically, any part of your body that doesn't get used is going to atrophy, but there are always the uncomfortable exceptions. Like the appendix. Magic circuits just... Have more potential than most other system in your body of having something go wrong if they're never used." You release Hitomi's parents from your grasp, saying to them "But fortunately, you're both perfectly normal humans. As... Improbable as it is, your daughter continues to remain the rare exception of your family." You smile for the Shizukis, adding "Take good care of her. I'm sure she'll go on to do great things as an adult."
"Oh, that's the one thing we were never in doubt of," Hitomi's mother says. She draws her daughter in for a hug, and you see a ghost of a smile forming on her lips. "I always knew my daughter was special. I just never imagined how special she really was."
"So..." Hitomi's father speaks as he looks to his daughter. "All those times I'd catch you studying chemistry, you were really studying... Something to do with magic?"
"Technically, magecraft," Hitomi says. "The difference is... Well, for the two of you, I guess the difference doesn't really matter, but the magic that Sakura-san and the rest of our friends use, is different from the 'magic' that I use. Mine is organised much more like an actual science than what they can do. There's a lot of academic technicalities, methods, and plenty of rules about what I can and can't accomplish with the skills and tolls at my disposal."
"Yes," you add; "And one of those rules - in fact, maybe the most important rule - is the one regarding keeping all of this a secret. Now, frankly I don't buy into their rules in the slightest, but strictly speaking you two shouldn't know anything about magic, even if your daughter can do it. The fact that you can't is exclusionary enough for magic's governing body, regardless of how ridiculous it would be for you to not know anything about your own daughter. Unfortunately, given the situation we find ourselves in, telling you was unavoidable, as it was when Kirika told Minako, or when I had to tell Junko and Miho. You're simply too close to someone who regularly involves herself in the magical goings-on of this city to where it was reasonable to keep it a secret from you. Which, as I said, is the reason why I think that rule is stupid. There was no way you two wouldn't be involved in this"
"You mentioned before that the... Magic police, were coming to Mitakihara," Hitomi's father says, causing you, Hitomi, and Kyouko, along with Saber and Rider, to all nod your heads in uncomfortable silence. "Is that why? Because they don't like how many people you've told about this?" If only that were the only reason. "I mean, I understand your position: How are you supposed to keep this a secret when all of our daughters are involved in this? But, looking at it from their perspective... Isn't what you're doing... Not okay, in this eyes?"
"The Mage's Association is upset with us because they don't like how we've handled the larger magical disasters that Mitakihara has beens truck by," you say. "Unfortunately, one of those disasters hit... A bit too close to home, to someone pretty high up the chain of command inside the Association, and she's the one who's been pushing to move in and dole out punishment. Frankly, in light of all the damage they think we've done to the secrecy of magic, telling the involved parents barely registers as a blip on their radar."
"Basically," Kyouko drawls, "They don't give a fuck about you two knowing, 'cause they think the way we're handling things puts everyone else at risk'a finding their secrets out, and they don't like that." She looks to you, and asks "Right?" as though looking for confirmation, which you give her. She also gives a "Sorry," when Hitomi's father admonishes her for swearing. "Didn't mean ta let that slip out."
"By all means, let it," you say, before turning your attention to Hitomi's father to add "I don't mean to encourage Kyouko to swear in front of you and your family, but she's right. The Mage's Association cares much more about what they think the big picture in this city is, that you two knowing individually won't really register for them. It's just unfortunate that the person who's rallying the hardest for Enforcement action against this city is... Well, a nutcase, frankly. If I tried to explain what her problem with us, specifically, was it would probably go over your head, but just know that she's more than likely using the Association's already-existing dislike of us for how they perceive we've handled things, to justify moving in to enact a personal crusade against us. It's a very, very messy political situation, and I'm deeply sorry that you two, and the rest of the city as a whole, had to be involved in this mess. I promise you, we are doing everything we can to sort this out as quickly as possible."
Hitomi's parents look to one another, and they nod their heads in unison. "There's... Really nothing we can do about any of this," Hitomi's father says. "Even if we knew enough to be in favour of, or against, whatever magic nonsense we were surrounded by, Hitomi's our daughter, and she's involved in this. So, as long as you can keep my daughter safe... That's really all we care about. As long as we can trust you and the others to keep our daughter safe, that's all we care about."
"We will do everything in our power to keep your daughter safe," you say, as your eyes wander from Kyouko, to Saber, to Rider. "Isn't that right?" All three of them nod their heads. "There are some other things I need to take care of that'll keep me occupied for the rest of the morning, but if you need me to, I can come back later in the day after I'm done. I'd like to talk to Kyouko in particular about some things that have been bothering her. Is that all right?" Nobody shows any opposition. "I'll see everyone later, then," you say. "Kyouko, stay out of trouble until I get back. I think this talk will be a lot of help to you."
"Right," Kyouko replies. "See ya then, Redman."
You've got to call Aozaki Touko
[ ] What do you say to her if she is back from her business?
[ ] What do you say to her sister or to the Saints if she isn't?
You can make your way to the Saints while you're on the phone
[ ] Assuming you reach Aozaki Touko, what do you need from the Saints?
[ ] Assuming you don't reach her, what do you need from the Saints?
Is there anyone else you need to make a call to right now?
[ ] Homura
[ ] Rin
[ ] Mikiya
[ ] Someone else (write-in who)
--[ ] About what? (write-in)
[ ] Other (write-in)
