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."

 

[Metraxa]

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand. Could you repeat it for me?"

It had taken a minute for Madoka to regain her composure as she grappled with the revelation that she had just heard. A talking playing card but much more than that, and she had been chosen for some larger game between those talking cards? It was unbelievable. In the meantime she had moved from the bed over to her desk, placing Midoriko's card up against her lamp so they could converse more easily.

She was lucky that Midoriko remained calm through this process rather than getting frustrated with her. At her request, the LRIG began again. "Girls like you have been chosen as Selectors to compete against each other in WIXOSS. I will fight for you in these battles against other Selectors and their LRIGs. If you win in these competitions then you get to have a wish granted."

"A wish?" Madoka asked. "What kind of wish?"

"Whatever you want, as long as it is possible to do it in real life," Midoriko answered.

That earned a hum as Madoka glanced up towards the ceiling. So it was a wish, but it couldn't be impossible to get. So not something like a unicorn. That....almost made it not worth it, at least for her. She could understand why others might leap at the chance though, and she wasn't going to judge them for that.

Returning her focus to Midoriko, she shook her head. "There must be some mistake. I don't have a wish I'd want to fight other people over." Things that she hoped for, yes, but she was happy with her life as it was.

Despite this, Midoriko did not seem overly bothered by what Madoka had said. "Every Selector has a wish, or else they would not have been chosen. You just don't know what it is yet, that's all."

The thought of some force like that was not the most comforting to Madoka, at least at first glance. Some seemingly omniscient being which knew her own thoughts and desires better than she did, enough to select her for this contest? What else did they know about her? Or her family?

After a couple moments she shook her head, doing her best to banish those thoughts from her mind. Even if there was some power like that, there wasn't much she could do about it. It was better to focus on what she could change. And to be honest, there was a bigger problem compared to all this 'wish' stuff anyway.

"I don't know how to play WIXOSS," she admitted to her LRIG without any lead in. "This is the first deck I've ever had."

"That's okay," Midoriko assured her. "You can still play regular card games. It only counts if your opponent uses an LRIG like me." That was some relief, as Madoka did not think she had a good chance without the opportunity to practice. Not that it made her more interested in this 'game', but it was nice to know that there was still the option.

Having addressed that, she turned to the next topic that was on her mind. "What happens if I lose?"

No doubt Midoriko had been expecting that question to come along sooner or later. "If you lose three matches in a row then you will lose your right to be a Selector," she warned.

"Okay," Madoka confirmed with a small nod. "But there isn't a time limit or anything like that?"

"There isn't. Take all the time you need." That was another weight off of Madoka's shoulders, removing some of the pressure of immediacy that she had previously been under. She could take her time, learn how to play, and decide if she even wanted to play in the first place.

Hearing this prompted Madoka to hum as she considered whether she had any other questions. She could probably ask Midoriko to teach her how to play, but that seemed rude when she wasn't even sure that she wanted to participate in the first place. No, it was better to keep it friendly, rather than something related to the experiences of the past couple minutes.

She followed that line of thought as she poised the next question to her LRIG. "What can you tell me about yourself?" she asked. "If we're going to be friends then I want to know more about you."

"There isn't much to say," Midoriko replied. "I am an LRIG. I don't have a life like Selectors do. I would prefer to learn more about you, Madoka."

Madoka's cheeks took on a light pink hue, embarrassed at the fact that she hadn't considered that before asking her question. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"It's okay. I know you didn't," Midoriko assured her. Madoka supposed she did give off that impression, not that that was a problem. Well, she wouldn't linger on it for too long and instead decided to tell the LRIG about herself instead.

There was no hesitation as she launched into a very brief summary. "Well, I live in Mitakihara with my family. My mama works for a big corporation, and my papa takes care of the house. I also have a little brother, he's three years old. I go to the Middle School in the city, I have good grades, and several friends that I like to spend time with."

Midoriko gave a small nod in response to this list. "Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?"

"Not yet," Madoka admitted as she shook her head in turn. "I want to be like mama when I grow up, but I don't know if I want to do what she does." She'd heard enough complaints late at night to turn her off of that idea. She also wanted to do something that would help people, which was very different than mama's job.

Sadly if the intent was to help her get closer to coming up with a wish, it did not succeed. In spite of this Madoka hoped that it would give Midoriko some idea of what she was like as a person. Even if she didn't participate in the Selector battles, she did want them to be friends. This was the most that she could do before they had spent some more time together.

As she prepared to go on there was a knock at the door. "Madoka, me and your father are leaving for dinner," her mama said from the other side of the closed barrier.

"Okay, I'll be right there," Madoka replied as she looked back to the door. She then rose to her feet, stacking the rest of the WIXOSS cards in a deck on her desk. She took a step in the direction of downstairs before stopping herself and looking back to Midoriko. She didn't want to leave her up here alone for the couple of hours that she would be looking after Tatsuya, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to reveal this secret to her parents yet either.

As if seeing the uncertainty on her face, Midoriko spoke up. "You should go," she advised. It didn't seem like she was all that bothered by the idea of being alone.

Despite this approval,\ Madoka still couldn't bring herself to depart without the LRIG. Instead she crossed the distance once again and picked up Midoriko's card before returning to the door. She swung it open and headed downstairs, carefully keeping it nestled in her palm and out of sight of anyone who might look.

Arriving at the ground floor, Madoka quickly found her parents near the door that led into the garage. They were both dressed up for the occasion, and while her mama tended to wear formal clothes for her work it was a bit different to see her papa dressed like that.

"You both look nice," she complimented as she drew near. The smile she wore was all the indication they would need of her sincerity.

That earned a chuckle from her papa. "Haha, thank you Madoka. I just wish the clothing wasn't so stiff."

"We'll be back in a couple of hours. You and your brother behave while we're gone, alright?"Madoka's mother picked up the car keys as she gave Madoka her instructions for the night

Madoka gave a happy nod in turn, still holding Midoriko's card carefully out of sight. Luckily they weren't paying much attention to her right now so it wasn't very hard to keep it that way. "Got it," she confirmed. This wasn't the first time they had had her watch her little brother so she wasn't concerned.

With goodbyes said, her parents left for their night out. Madoka waited until the garage door had closed before she placed Midoriko's card on the counter. She made sure that the LRIG had a good view of the first floor before stepping away. "There. Let me know if you need anything." She didn't think it would be likely, but it didn't hurt to be polite.

"Okay," Midoriko replied calmly. She leaned back, watching Madoka and looking around the room but otherwise remaining silent.

With that Madoka returned to where Tatsuya was, occasionally glancing back to where she had left Midoriko as the night went on. A lot had happened in a short time and she was still processing it all, but for now she needed to focus on her brother. What else were older sisters for?