[Fluff, Kigurumi]

Bakehara. A city protected by Magical Girls. A city populated by Humans, Spirits and Demons. All wagging a silent war against one another to try and claim supremacy. Because of course they couldn't get along, why would they ever try to get along?

One of the few girls that tried to make them all get along was the young girl currently walking down the street, the soft black-and-purple-haired girl named Yuriko Tsuki. And to be honest, she wasn't really walking down the street aimlessly, or trying to get to a certain destination or anything.

No, Yuriko was currently patrolling. It had been a fair few weeks since the Demons started acting up and the Magical Girls that tried to get in her way hadn't made a move either. It had been dangerously serene. To the point where she actually thought that things might finally come to an end.

She couldn't believe that. She couldn't believe that things were actually going to have a happy ending. The people she fought against, whether they were on the side of 'good' or the side of 'evil', they wouldn't just stand down and form a truce. At least, not until the Spirits ended up growing too powerful for them to control or exterminate. Only then would they have a common goal.

"Couldn't that stupid Link Love appear, at least?" Yuriko muttered to herself as she carefully played with the ends of her hair while sighing. She just wanted something to happen. Anything. That way she at least felt justified in using her powers to try and help people.

She'd even take a demon acting out and trying to turn the entire city into demons too! That would at least be exciting and it'd mean she wasn't on edge for nothing. But right now, she just felt exhausted from all this worrying in her heart. She just hoped something would happen sooner rather than later, so she could be justified...

As if fate itself listened to her heart's greatest wish, she noticed something up in the skies above. On top of one of the nearby buildings, chaotic energies were spiralling out of control. She hadn't quite seen something like this before, but it definitely seemed like something she'd need her powers to solve.

Yuriko ducked into an alleyway as she brushed her hand past her discolored eye, letting her power unleash as she called upon her main weapon, a simple staff with a half-moon decorating the tip as well as keeping a levitating orb held right above the tip itself. Her outfit soon followed, forming a beautiful yet revealing black dress with purple trimmings. Her shoulders, her thighs, her breasts, all of them were exposed. Because she wanted the enemy to see, even as her eyes were masked away. Her allure would be a great distraction when it came down to it.

Yuriko had disappeared. And in her place, Mage Eclipse had made her entrance. And for a Mage of her calibre, getting up to the roof was as easy as taking candy from a baby!

"Binding Darkness!"

With a simple invocation, the tendrils shot forth from the orb atop of her staff, snaking their way far up into the air until they reached the roof. They latched onto the edge and wrapped themselves as far around it as they possibly could, before pulling the staff towards them like a wire being reeled in. And in the process, they dragged the Mage up with them.

Mage Eclipse landed on the roof with no issue, brushing her hair a little once again as the very same tendrils that had helped her up wrapped around the base of her hair, snapping together and forming a simple band to keep her hair in a neat ponytail. Just so she wouldn't be encumbered by her long hair getting in the way of her magic.

Now, the matter at hand. The chaotic energies pulsing forth from the hole in front of her. What was she to do with these? Her instinct told her to just destroy whatever was causing them to propagate like this, but there was no telling if this was a demonic plot, or caused by some sort of Spirit.

All she could do was slide her hand across her staff, taking a deep breath and invoking another spell. "Crescent Phase." She muttered, as she slid her hand off the orb and into the air. A blade formed as she drew her hand away from it, forming into a wonderfully sharp and ornate looking scythe. It wasn't the best kind of weapon that a Mage like her could use, but it was useful. Especially against invaders that would try something...

The energies grew more violent by the second, until they finally calmed. And just as quickly as they had calmed, they all started to spin round and round until they formed a human-sized hole, with a world seemingly becoming visible through the other side-

"Coming through!"

A hearty voice echoed as a girl fell out of it, blinking as she realized that the hole hadn't adjusted her orientation after she jumped in from her side. Prompting her to collapse onto the ground, her face buried in the floor. All while she let out a small but potently disappointed whimper...

Mage Eclipse raised her eyebrow ever slightly at the sight of the stranger on the floor, remaining on guard as she spun her staff-scythe and pointed the tip of it towards the girl. "Who are you, and why have you come to Bakehara?" If the girl was a threat, then she'd feel her scythe. If she wasn't... She'd probably still pin her down. Just to make sure.

The girl who lifted herself off the floor shook her head a little as she tried to comprehend just what she was being asked. Where was Bakehara, exactly? Last she remembered, that girl with the dark armor who tried to hurt her the last time she had a friend visit from another world came back, and she had to try and fight her to make her disappear. And then she jumped through her hole, and... Where was she now, exactly?

"Sorry, what's you call this place?" The short and strange girl, dressed in a beige and white school uniform, asked as she turned towards the girl with the scythe. Only for her eyes to widen a little as she realized that she was probably in a fair bit of danger, making her grit her teeth a little as she ran a hand across her waist, materializing a belt. "You're... Are you with the Darkness? Did I end up in the Darkness when I jumped through that hole?"

Darkness... It was true that one of Mage Eclipse's powers led her to exploit the element of Darkness. But to call her a denizen in any fashion would be patently false. "I don't know what you're talking about. But you seem awfully familiar with the kind of power that I wield." Mage Eclipse said, prompting her to press her fingers up against the orb, her discolored eye glowing with bright purple power. "I'll make you talk, to see if your intentions are pure!"

"UMBRAL SHOT!"

The girl with the sandy-blonde hair that had just arrived in this world felt the sweat pouring down her back. She had just angered somebody that she shouldn't have angered, hadn't she? Well, if she was part of the Darkness, then it wasn't really that bad, she would have to fight her eventually. She just preferred to be friends with people instead.

She held her hand diagonally into the air, letting a set of flames burst across her body. "I don't know who you are, nor do I know what that power is! I just want to know where I am!" The girl shouted, even in the face of the powerful energies swirling around the scythe-tipped staff.

"UMBRAL WAVE!" Mage Eclipse shouted as she spun around and swung her scythe straight down, sending a powerful horizontal beam through the air as it tried to slice straight through the girl in front of her. Like most of her magic, it wouldn't leave her damaged. It would, however, leave her in her service should she be nicked by too many of her attacked.

"HENSHIN!"

However, it didn't hit. It was blocked by the flames smothering the girl, and when they extinguished themselves, an armored warrior stood in the place of the girl. A predominantly orange armor themed after a lion, with flames still pouring from every crevice of that powerful looking armor...

Mage Eclipse grit her teeth a bit as she withdrew her staff, spinning it to form a small barrier using her magic. "I am Mage Eclipse! Give me your name, before I strike you down and make you mine!" She knew that she had to go all out. And giving her name, if only for this brief moment, would let her do so.

The armored girl clenched her fist, taking a single step as the flames on her body turned bright blue from the heat. "Jõtaider Mimoto! A hero who wants to reach out to everyone, to give them the chance that they deserve!" She replied, as she drew her fist back and entered a fighting stance. "I'll reach out to you too, Eclipse!"

Reach out to her? What a preposterous idea. She wasn't about to let a girl like her, who definitely didn't belong in this city, try and tell her that she wanted to reach out to her. She would be just like everyone else that didn't understand her!

"Dark Embrace!" Mage Eclipse cried out as she slammed the bottom of her staff against the ground, prompting ribbons to burst from the roof. All controlled and manifested by her power, as each of them headed straight for her opponent.

Mimoto looked at the situation ahead of her. A magician of sorts, who could employ both high powered magic and long ranged restraints. The kind that were heading straight for her limbs to try and disable her. If she wanted to get close, she had a couple of options, all of them revolving around the powers she had in her heart.

"Let's try this one, then!" The lion-themed heroine shouted as she let the flames traverse from her body into her legs, as she watched all of the ribbons converging on one point as they tried to rush her down. But they wouldn't get far!

"KING'S THRUST!"

The second that Mage Eclipse blinked, her opponent had darted forward like an arrow being fired straight and true. And her ribbons had been turned into little more than ashes drifting through the air, leaving her utterly defenseless if she didn't do anything-

"UMBRAL EMBRACE!"

Mimoto's eyes widened as a glyph lit up on the ground, thanks to the ashes falling down. And in that moment, several duplicates of the same staff that Eclipse wielded emerged from the glyph, each of them sending out the same sort of tendrils and ribbons that would've restrained her before. It didn't take much before she was completely and utterly restrained, every little inch of her body wrapped in either a ribbon or a tendril as she was hoisted into the air.

Mage Eclipse wiped the sweat off her forehead. This had been the first time she had employed a spell like that. She could tell that the girl would be able to destroy her bindings, but that only served to fuel another spell of hers. That it ended up working out this well was simply a miracle...

The armored heroine felt several shivers crawling down her back. And her vision was growing dimmer. The longer she looked at the Mage in front of her, the more devoted her heart became. She wanted to serve. She wanted to obey. She wanted to be hers and hers alone...

"Just stay still. You'll be mine soon. Then, and only then, can we talk on common ground." Mage Eclipse said, taking a deep breath as she released some of her other spells. Including the scythe on her staff, leaving her a bit defenseless, should somebody decide to break free from their restraints.

Mimoto listened. And she-

"KING'S ERUPTION!"

She disagreed. The flames from her body erupted like a wildfire as they burned her restraints to cinder, leaving her with a broken set of armor thanks to overtaxing herself in quick succession. All while the Mage watched her with a shocked look on her face.

What was this girl? She wasn't like those demons. Nor was she like the Link Strikers. Was she... Was she empowered with a Spirit? Or was this..?

Whatever the case was, Mage Eclipse did her best to cast another spell. One to restrain the girl. But she was too late. Even her high-speed invocations were too slow, as the girl's flames started to patch her armor back up.

"We're... We're going to talk!" Mimoto shouted as the flames poured down into one of her feet, as she leapt back up into the air and flipped while airborne. Only to then dive straight down towards the Mage, her leg outstretched as she flew forward thanks to the flames on her back. "KING'S FLAME!"

Mage Eclipse grit her teeth as she tried to spin her staff and put up a barrier. That was the least she could do, and it would have to do on such short notice!

The fiery heroine was heading towards her with speed unmatched by many that she had fought. Would she be able to defend herself? Or would she fall, and then... Then all of the Spirits..!

Yuriko's eyes both flashed purple as she poured all of her magic into the barrier, several layers forming in an instant to try and stop the girl from flying towards her. She wouldn't win! She wouldn't win! SHE WOULDN'T WI-

The barriers shattered. But not because of the kick. No, it shattered because the girl had flipped once more, her arms catching on fire as she dove straight towards the Mage.

Mage Eclipse was left stunned for the last time before she was rocket-tackled to the ground by the armored heroine. And though she hit the ground, it didn't hurt. It was soft. Warm. And most importantly, it felt like a friend was hugging her. Not unlike when one of her closest friends first found out about her identity as Mage Eclipse...

"Why... Why?" Was all that she could muster, the warmth of the girl on top of her confusing her more than anything. Why would she abandon such a clear shot at defeating her, all for the chance to hug her..?

The armored heroine smiled as her helmet cracked, revealing the smile on the sandy-blonde girl's face. And how she was barely a little younger than Yuriko... "Because I don't think you're bad." She chimed, as she hugged the Mage closer. All while her armor continued to crack and dissolve, her body audibly aching as she did her best not to move.

Yuriko narrowed her eyes as she dispelled the magic that gave her this offensive form, returning her to her spectacled normal self as well. "You don't have to hug me just because you trust me." She muttered, as she didn't bother moving out of the way. Besides, she really couldn't. The girl was heavier than she looked, and she was still on top of her.

"Oh. Right, sorry." The girl said as she slowly let go of Yuriko... Only to tighten her grip one more time, snuggling her before letting go for real. "Right! Names, we should start with those. We should've started with those from the beginning, actually!" The girl, who definitely tried to sound smarter than she really was, leapt onto her feet and reached down to help the other girl up. "I'm Mikai Fushimi. What about you, Eclipse? What's your real name?"

"...Yuriko. Yuriko Tsuki." Yuriko muttered as she looked away from that hand. It was radiating heat, warmth and friendship. All three things were something she was adverse towards. If she became friends with somebody that didn't understand her, then... She'd probably just end up being hurt again.

Mikai blinked a little as the girl didn't take her hand, prompting her to grab hers instead, helping her onto her feet in the process. "Nice to meet you, Yuriko! You're really strong, you know? Almost as strong as those baddies that keep getting in my way!" She chimed, putting her hands behind her head once she had given that hand a nice shake.

Yuriko sighed and shook her head. This girl was a handful. And she was supposed to be from another world..? What kind of world would want a girl like her to be their heroine..? "You were strong as well. But you mentioned something that piqued my interest." Now to get to the point. The entire reason why they fought. "That Darkness you namedropped. Who or what were they, to the point where you thought I was one of them?"

"It's like... Some other world that wants to control worlds like yours and mine, and they're really bad and they all use dark powers in some way or fashion!" Mikai explained, trying to make the scale of their operation more digestible by spreading her arms really far apart. "At least, that's what Hiro told me. I don't actually know what they are, but apparently they caused problems a long time ago. And then this girl with a big sword appeared, and I just kind of rolled with it because she was a big meanie."

It took a few moments before Yuriko let all of that sink in, because she was too distracted by the antics of the sandy-blonde girl. "...Follow me. I have somebody that you need to talk to, if this 'Darkness' is as dangerous as you claim it is." While she couldn't really stand the girl, despite the girl's attempts to try and befriend her... There were more important matters at hand. Matters that concerned the fate of everyone, even those detestable demons and Link Strikers.

As Mikai followed her down the roof, only one thing lingered in Yuriko's mind. She wouldn't be the one to doom this world through inaction. Even if there were those that deserved oblivion.

---

"Ahahaha! What a cute little girl you've brought, Yuriko!"

There were a few things that Yuriko loathed about the woman that had taught her everything she knew. And her sense of dress was one of them, something she had to contend with every time she visited the Shinobu Counseling Office. A front for the Former Demon Lord, Yuna Taoreta, to conduct business with today's youth to try and guide them down the proper path so they don't end up feuding for no good reason.

"Please. Can you please, just for once, not wear that outfit?" Yuriko asked as kindly as she could, as she stared straight towards the purple-haired woman standing in front of her wearing a kigurumi-styled onesie themed after a bear, complete with paw pads on her hands and feet.

Yuna Taoreta, the woman that had taught her everything, giggled as she brushed her cheek with her soft yet fake pawpad. "You're still jealous of this, Yuriko? Don't worry, I have one for you too." She chimed, and giggled as the younger girl started to fuss and pout when she teased her. But there was somebody more important than her for once, a young girl that she had never seen before.

"Hello there." Yuna chimed as she kneeled down to be at eye-level with Mikai, smiling as her eyes turned a deep black, only her irises keeping their color as she revealed her true nature. "And who might you be? If Yuriko's brought you, I trust that you're somebody that I can rely on." She chimed, putting a lot of faith in the young girl right at the outset...

Mikai giggled. What a strange woman. Then again, it wasn't too far from what she had seen in her own world. Hiro had these kinds of outfits too, they were just designed after the magical girls that she liked. "I'm Mikai Fushimi. Nice to meet you, Taoreta-sensei!" She had been filled in on the way, so she already knew that the woman was important. And it would be rude to treat her new friend's teacher with anything but respect!

"Ahaha, you don't have to be so formal, Mikai!" The woman in the kigurumi giggled as she gently patted the girl on the head, looking to her companion with an even brighter smile. "How did you meet her, Yuriko? You didn't get into a fight for no good reason, riiiight?"

Yuriko flinched and pushed her glasses closer to her face, refusing to answer. Which in and of itself was an answer, prompting another giggle from her teacher. "I see, I see. Well, Mikai, can you tell me a bit more about yourself then?" Yuna turned her attention back towards her newest guest, letting the Mage stew in her shame for a few more minutes.

"Well, I'm not from this world." Mikai started, tipping herself back and forth as she swayed left and right at the same time. "I met this baddie, from the 'Darkness', who wanted to turn my world into another one of theirs. I beat her up, and then I jumped through a portal and ended up fighting Yuriko. Then she told me, after I told her how I came here, to tell you." Mikai explained, wincing a little. Her mind was telling her that she hadn't done a good enough job of praising the Mage... Residue from when she was bound from the ribbons, no doubt.

Yuna nodded and rubbed her chin a bit with that paw of hers, humming and hawwing as she started to walk into the deeper parts of the office, her tail wagging behind her as the two girls followed behind her. Mostly just Yuriko, she was used to her mentor's strange way of thinking aloud. "Well, if they attacked your world, and you left it all alone... Doesn't that mean it'll be attacked again now that you're gone?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Nope! Hiro'll defend it for sure. I trust her with my life!" Mikai chimed loudly, grinning as she believed in her partner above all else. She wasn't about to think that the girl couldn't handle something as silly as an armored girl with a big sword. Especially after everything they had been through. "But, they might come here instead. Otherwise I wouldn't have landed here. I think? I think that's how their portals work, I've only been through one once before..."

The older woman laughed at the absolute confidence. "You could stand to learn from her, Yuriko. With that kind of bond, you'd be unstoppable." She chimed, sighing a little. She remembered when she had a bond like that. Then again, it was that bond that allowed her to carry on like this, so should she really be regretting anything?

"I'll pass. My friendships are as they are. I wouldn't have them any other way." Yuriko gently refused her teacher's wisdom. Because while Mikai trusted her friend in one way, Yuriko's own trust was hard to earn. And only few, including Yuna, had earned it thus far. She wasn't about to put more trust on them until she felt ready for it herself. "And beyond that, what do we do should this 'Darkness' be trying to attack our world? Mikai is strong, but if they really are a stronger force than what she implied, then..."

Yuna put a finger on the worried Mage's lips, smiling from ear to ear. "Right now, you two just need to bond. If Mikai's going to stay here and help us out, I want you to get over your differences and work side by side. At least until we're sure that we're going to be safe." The older woman said, chuckling. "Besides, she'd be easier to work with than the Link Strikers, right?"

"I don't need her help!" Yuriko shouted, her cheeks flushing bright red. She fought on her own. She wasn't about to get help from some lion-armored girl, no matter how strong she was. That would be an insult to her strength, her power and her training. "We won't need the Link Strikers. nor the Demons. All we'll need is my power."

Mikai pouted a little. Not out of frustration or anything. But because the darker-haired girl's nature was making her feel a little deja vu. Did she do this all because she disliked her, or... Was it because she was worried about her? They had just become friends, after all. "You don't need to worry about me, Yuriko! I can handle it, just lead the way when the time comes!" She chimed, clenching her fist to try and look stronger. All for the sake of such a good new friend.

"I don't need you-"

"Oh, but you do." Yuna chimed, cutting her student off as she put another finger on her lips. "You're strong, Yuriko. But you're stronger when you depend on others. And that's why I want you two to get along. If only until the Darkness is gone. Then you can try and tear away from her. If you even have the heart to do so." The older woman chimed, shutting the poor girl's defenses down just like that.

Yuriko let out a mildly frustrated sigh, while Mikai just tilted her head and looked at the older. "Okaaaaaay! But, how are we gonna do that?" The young girl asked, not really sure how to get through to such a troubled girl. At least not without some sort of common ground.

Yuna was more than happy to hear that question, as she snapped her fingers and made two rather puffy looking outfits appear in the palms of her hands. One themed after a bat, and the other themed after a lion. "I just happen to have a couple of nice outfits laying around that'll make you nice and comfy when you try to catch some shuteye. It's like I always say, naps bring out the best in you."

She tossed the outfits to the two girls, MIkai catching the lion onesie while Yuriko caught the bat one. And while the former was surprised and wowed by just how soft it was, the latter wasn't very pleased. She knew what this outfit could do. She knew what it had done to her in the past. "If you think I'll wear this, then..."

"You will, my sweet little Bat." Yuna chimed, her voice booming through Yuriko's head as the latter's mind slowly but surely closed itself off. Leaving her with very little ability to focus on anything but the cute outfit in her hands. "Now wear your Kigurumi. And be a sweet little Bat, just like when you were in my arms."

One of the powers that Yuna still had available to her, even after she retired from the role as Demon Lord... Was the power of suggestion. She used it incredibly infrequently, which was actually a good thing compared to using it more often. This allowed her to concentrate a few minutes worth of suggestions into a few seconds, making it impossible to go against her words should she choose to use this ability.

It was how she had helped Yuriko recover when she first developed her powers. And it was how she acquired a photo album of the girl being adorable in her onesie, snuggling her teacher like she was as close to her emotionally as her parents were...

Mikai was wowed as she watched the grumpy Mage slowly put on her bat-themed onesie with a cute smile on her face. She didn't think that somebody could be tamed just like that, but if that was possible, then... She really needed to ask Yuna if she could teach her. If she could get Hiro to dress more casually with a few words, then she'd definitely be less stressed. Just like Yuriko would be!

It didn't take long for Mikai to stuff herself into the cutesy lion-themed onesie either, surprised by how tight yet how absolutely snug it was. It felt really, really good, like she could almost just pass out right then and there. At the very least, it forced a cute yawn from her lips as she stretched. "Yunaaaa, where's there bedroom..?" She asked, taking the older woman's previous request into account.

"What bedroom?" Yuna giggled, as she stretched a bit herself. "Good Bats and Lions sleep on the floor, don't they?" And just like before, her voice started to boom through both girls' heads, as she gave them a suggestion that would leave them nice and snug together.

Mikai was unable to really resist a message like that. Besides she had already wanted to go to sleep so she didn't even bother to try and put up a fight. She collapsed onto the floor, yawning as she sprawled out and waited for her Bat friend to lay down beside her.

Yuriko's eyes were glowing a soft purple as she laid down besides the sandy blonde, yawning as she cuddled up to the lion-themed girl beside her. She wrapped her cutesy arms around her and hugged her as tight as she could, snuggling her like she would a plushie. All while her mind was smothered by the soft and loving words that served as a suggestion from Yuna.

Once they were nice and cuddly, the two carefully drifted off to sleep. Two heroines, each representing their own cause, now sleeping inside childish outfits that made them look more like mascots than actual heroes.

All while Yuna watched over the both of them, giggling as she kneeled down and patted them both on the head like the good pets they were. They had done well today, and there was much more ahead of them. Especially if Mikai was telling the truth. And even if she wasn't, there was something about her that would guarantee the two would eventually get along well. For now, she couldn't help but leave her pupil with one tiny little whisper, before she let them drift away inside their dreams.

"You've found quite the cute new friend, Yuriko..."