Alida sighs, this is all so complicated! Maybe I should have been sneakier.
"I'm in this for revenge. Not against you, against Takeda. I think maybe he killed my dad on that ship.
Was worried you were there to kill him! It was a ship. Could have been millions, could have been insurance, could have been anything."
"I just want to talk to him, and find out what really happened. And if he killed my dad.. well, maybe it's a good thing that he's paying a bunch of money. But maybe he needs something worse to happen."
"So.. I'm going to talk to him soon. And then I maybe want to talk to someone who does know something on your side, just so I don't wreck a guy who owes you millions. But blood comes before money.. and if he killed dad, he should know who he killed, not just feel it was a name or some guy he barely knew."
"Do you have a number? I'll call you after talking to Takeda, and we go from there. Maybe never see each other again, things will be fine. I just let him live to pay your money and show him that he killed someone who wasn't just a name, who was a real person."
Let the guy go. Try to get a number. Takeda can probably wait for a bit for things to cool down.
..Don't TF in front of him, but after splitting up, make sure he sees wolf again, just as a reminder.
Head home. In human form. Avoid Takeda's place on the way.
Just.. during the evening try to get some sleep and be optimistic about tomorrow. and maybe try to sleep as a wolf if there's room on the floor?
Whatever happens, I should be strong enough to protect my family, after all. And the next witch isn't going to stand a chance. And being a werewolf is fun!
The man just lays back as you talk, closing his eyes and occasionally nodding slightly. After you ask him for a number, he pauses, then begins to slowly recite a phone number, which you hastily copy onto your own phone. You read it back to him and he confirms that it's correct, audibly annoyed, before asking if that's all. You say that it is, and he sighs, before pulling out his own phone, and calling someone.
You start walking away as he begins talking in Russian, presumably asking whoever he called to come pick him up. You pause just after you walk around the corner, listening to what he says, but you can't understand any of it. At least your name isn't coming up. You wait there for a little while, thinking about whether you really should just leave him here without doing anything--he's definitely a dangerous person, even if he doesn't seem to know anything. And... he does have your name, now, which is more than you can say for him.
You nod to yourself, deciding a little bit of extra intimidation can't hurt. You move further past the corner, then jump and do a quick flip, shifting into your wolf form. Then you creep back along the wall to the corner, peeking around just barely to look at the man. He immediately notices you, and stops speaking mid-sentence. The two of you stare at each other for several long seconds, and then you slip back behind the wall, turning and running away. You'd laugh, if you could.
It doesn't take long to get home, and for once there's nobody there to greet you; Eva's out with some of the older kids, and the younger ones are all asleep or distracted. This means that you get to spend the rest of the evening lazily, without any obligations or guilt about doing nothing--you
already did so much today! Just thinking about it makes you feel a little giddy. That man was extremely dangerous, a hardened criminal, but he was
scared of you! You need to thank Aleksandra the next time you see her, her wish has worked out so
well.
You're thinking about that as you get ready for bed, and then a thought occurs to you. You don't know if there's a maximum amount of time that you can spend as a wolf, and you can't just stay transformed for an entire day... but you
can sleep as a wolf. And considering how fluffy you are as a wolf, it'll probably be super comfy, too. Why not try it?
You check your lock just to be safe, then slowly get down onto the floor, rolling slowly, so that you don't make a loud sound when landing as a wolf. Then, once you're quadrupedal, you curl up just behind your door, which is the only part of the floor with enough space for you to fit comfortably. You were right; even sleeping directly on the hard floor, you feel like you're on a plush pillow that's
waaay more comfortable than your bed's old mattress. Sleep comes quickly, and with it, dreams of running through forests and chasing evil Russian mobsters...
((Alida timeskip done, so she's on pause now, I suppose.))"Huh. . ." So Pumsy acted like a sort of... magical key, unlocking power they had all along? But, that also meant that they could become witches. Magical girls were needed to fight witches, but... Tooru frowned, her petting of Pumsy slowing for a moment as another piece slid into place in her head. "Why do you do it, anyway?"
He pauses his antics to stare at you, tilting his head curiously.
"Why... do I do it...?" he repeats slowly.
"Uhhh... I don't know, why do humans do things? I'm supposed to grant girls wishes, and it makes them happy, and there's more magical girls, and I get to play with you too!" he says cheerily, before hugging your hand again, and running his cheek along your palm.
"Humans usually don't pay attention to me, but all magical girls do!"