The Wish Game (PMMM/WIXOSS)

[Metraxa]

(This is being crossposted from SV)

It was another sunny day in Mitkihara, the city fully in the throes of early autumn. Making her way through the halls of Mitakihara Middle School to homeroom, Madoka was all smiles as she walked alongside her best friend Sayaka Miki. "So, how was your afternoon?" she asked as they walked past glass walled classrooms, curious to hear what Sayaka had been up to once the school day had ended.

"Pretty good," Sayaka replied happily. "I visited Kyosuke in the hospital, played a game of basketball, watched some anime. "

Madoka nodded in approval, glad that her friend seemed to be doing well. "That's good. I didn't get up to much either. I helped my dad with cooking, and I had some school reading to catch up on."

That earned a grin from Sayaka. "Falling behind on your schoolwork? That doesn't sound like you."

Looking ahead, Madoka nervously chuckled as she acknowledged Sayaka's comment. Normally she was the studious sort, but things had been busier over the weekend and she just hadn't had the chance to sit down and commit to it before now. "You know, these things happen…"

She paused letting her answer die away into thin air as they passed some other classmates talking with each other.

"We should play a game after school…"

"Hey, have you read Futase's latest book yet?"

"No, so don't spoil it. You know I…"

Madoka's gaze returned to what was in front of her as the conversations fell away with the growing distance between her and the group. A card game known as WIXOSS was the newest fad at their school, and it felt like it had even taken the entire country by storm. She hadn't had the chance to play it, but she didn't mind. That sort of card game wasn't really her thing. Some of the art she'd seen online looked pretty, at least.

Leaving that behind, she continued to chat with Sayaka as they arrived at their classroom. Stepping inside, the pair split into different rows as they went to their separate seats. Before she sat down though Madoka detoured over to another student who had made it there before them.

"Good morning Homura," she said to the stone faced girl as she came to a stop next to her desk. Admittedly the two of them didn't really spend much time together, but she liked to be friendly and open to her fellow classmates. Especially Homura, who might otherwise struggle as a transfer student.

Homura looked up at her, her expression shifting from its normal taciturn look to a light smile. "Good day Madoka," she replied.

The warmth that Homura displayed towards her made Madoka feel a bit better, though she was aware that the other girl wasn't like this to most people. It seemed like this was a side of her that she wasn't eager to share with anyone else. "How are you doing?" she asked, hoping to crack open that shell a little further through their interactions.

"I am well," Homura assured her without hesitation. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Madoka answered, likewise without a second thought. The warm smile that she wore kept her emotions on full display. "Are you doing anything after school?"

After a moment of thought Homura shook her head. "I am not. I don't have many things that I need to do in general."

That was not a surprise, though Madoka could not say that she was entirely happy to hear it. She still thought it would do Homura some good to interact with other people rather than being an aloof loner. "You can hang out with us if you want." They didn't actually have any plans, but she was sure she could convince Sayaka and Hitomi to do something if it came down to it.

In response to the question Homura glanced to somewhere behind Madoka, no doubt over to where Sayaka was sitting. Madoka kept herself from looking as well, worried that Sayaka was doing something she shouldn't be and hesitant to get involved in that animosity. It was mostly one sided on Sayaka's part, but having hostility between her friends still wore Madoka down a bit.

Returning her focus to Madoka, Homura made things easier for her as she shook her head. "Not this time. But perhaps over the weekend?"

Any concerns Madoka might have felt vanished in that of that compromise, and she gave an emphatic nod in turn. "Sure!" That seemed to make Homura happy as well, confirming that that was the best choice for her to make.

With the classroom nearly full, Madoka decided that now was a good time to return to her seat. "I'll talk to you later." With a warm smile and a small wave, she returned to her seat just as Saotome entered the room on the heels of the last students.

"Good morning everyone," Saotome said as she stepped to the front of the class. "I hope you're all ready for another busy day." A couple students groaned at that, but most of the rest were otherwise silent as they readied themselves for whatever Saotome would begin with.

With that, Madoka's school day continued.

---

The rest of the school day went uneventfully. She ate lunch on the roof with Sayaka and Hitomi, took a surprise quiz, and wrote detailed notes for the homework that she would have to do later. Once school was over she walked the familiar route home, partly with Sayaka and Hitomi and partly by herself.

However, she was somewhat surprised as she arrived back home to find that her mother was there as well. "Oh, hello mama," Madoka said as she took her shoes off by the front door. "I thought you would be at work."

"Nope," her mom remarked as she looked over to Madoka from where she was seated on the couch, before glancing back to where her father was in the kitchen. "It's our anniversary, so I took some time off."

Madoka brightened up as she was reminded, though honestly she was a little embarrassed that she had forgotten in the first place. This was an important date after all. "Oh, that's right. Congratulations!" Her shoes removed, she stepped over to the couch and embraced her mother in a warm hug. Sure it might not be her birthday, but an anniversary was just as deserving. She wouldn't be here otherwise.

That earned a laugh from her mother returned the warm hug. "Thank you Madoka. Actually, I have something for you." Breaking away from the hug, she stepped over to where a bag sat on the table in the next room.

Madoka followed over with a curious look on her face as she wondered what it might be. "You didn't need to get me anything," she pointed out. It wasn't a special occasion for her, and she didn't want her parents to think she was that type of person.

"Don't worry about it. I was shopping anyway," her mother pointed out before pulling a box from the bag and handing it to Madoka. "I hear this is what all the kids are playing these days, so now you can have some fun with your friends."

A glance down confirmed what Madoka expected as the box turned out to be a starter set for WIXOSS. The packaging indicated that it was a green themed deck, presumably because her mom knew how much she liked animals. Well, she wasn't about to complain about a gift even if it was unlikely that she was actually going to play it. Especially not one from her parents.

"Thank you," she said happily, holding the box close before stepping away and towards the stairs. "I'm going to be in my room for a bit."

Her mother's voice followed after her as she ascended the stairs to her bedroom. "Me and your father are going out to dinner. We've left some food prepared in the fridge for you, but you'll need to look after Tatsuya while we're gone!"

"Okay!" Madoka called back as she reached the top of the stairs She then entered her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She smiled at the various stuffed animals she had on her shelves as her gaze passed over them, before sitting down on her bed.

She took a minute to look over the packaging, the promotional art as well as the description on the back. It didn't really make sense to her, but at the very least she could appreciate the effort put into it. "So there's an 'LRIG' who is kind of like the player character I guess," she said to herself as she rotated the box in her hands.

Having satisfied her curiosity with the outside, Madoka finally decided to see what cards she now had. Flipping open the top, she pulled out the deck and the plastic holder it was nestled in. Then she just had to remove the foil wrapping around the deck and soon the cards were in her hands. She wasn't very knowledgeable when it came to this sort of thing, but they seemed to be of a good quality, not the sort that would tear easily.

The first card in the deck looked nice enough. Green bordering around the edges and in the center the art of the being that was the subject of the card. They looked human, with long green hair and fair skin. On their legs they wore what appeared to be green drawstring pants, then further up a tube top that was a different shade of green from the rest, and finally a long beige scarf-looking item. It wasn't bad, if not as fantastical as she was expecting. The background was a fairly plain green color and that didn't help either.

Still, she was sure that there would be other cool cards in the deck. Placing the first one on the bed, she went to look at the next one. But as she did, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. It was almost like the girl in the card had mo-

"Hello, Selector."

It took a moment for Madoka's brain to process the voice that was definitely not her own. Not only that, but she realized that the figure in the card was no longer in a generic action pose. Instead they were standing there. Looking directly at her.

"Eh? Eeeeh?!?"

That wasn't possible. There was no way that that trading card could be alive and talking to her. Madoka all but lunged back over the bed and grabbed the card, holding it close as she examined it from every possible angle to make sure that she wasn't crazy.

"Y-You talked" she stammered after a moment.

She was shocked, yet also relieved in a sense to see the other girl nod in response to her question. So she hadn't just imagined it. "I did, Selector. I am your LRIG. My name is Midoriko."

Slowly regaining her composure, Madoka was able to give Midoriko a nervous smile. "Hello Midoriko. I'm Madoka. Why do you keep calling me 'Selector'?"

"Because you have been chosen to play this game," Midoriko explained. "And as a Selector you have been given the chance to change your life, a chance no one else has."