Before We Begin

Although the bulk of this fic is taken off the anime, I have mixed a thing or two from the OVA in here.

This was spur of the moment and not yet 100% fleshed out. I may not even post the next chapter.

Notice I altered the original plot so that Yuu could remember. My excuse is that because she was still in the alternate world when Strength died, she didn't lose her memory.

Disclaimer: Own squat.

Warnings

This is yuri, girl/girl pairing. Don't like, then you can cry your heart out, because last time I gave a crap it was in the toilet.

It could become M rated, depending on where I decide to take this. I'll give you a heads-up if it does.

Narrowly dodging an enormous fist descending upon her that's attached to a Hulk-like figure manifested from skulls with glowing green eyes clustered together.

Debris flying from the fresh crater in the black/white checkered tile floor as she executes an epic slide on her bare knees and springs upright again several yards away, sapphire blue eyes with white pupils instead of black coolly observing her opponent.

Mindlessly, no strategy whatsoever, it lunged for her again. Black Rock Shooter created her Rock Cannon in a short amount of time, zeroed in on her target, and waited patiently for a proximity that would allow her a bull's eye.

"...Pointless." Her voice was a monotonous whisper as Dead Master's skull creature charged at her full-speed and finally came within a sufficient distance; her only wide open, perfect shot laid out before her. But for the first time during a skirmish, her eyes were glazed over and out of focus, and she didn't even notice that she had let her golden opportunity pass her by until the assailant's shadow fell over her.

Her response played out in a flash. She snapped out of her daze and whipped out her cannon, but before she could even fire, its open hand batted it straight out of her clutch. As the heavy fire arm went scuttling across the ground, Black Rock Shooter leaped backward, evading being smashed by its hand, and raced toward her Rock Cannon. It was sitting a few feet away and in seconds her fingertips were about to graze the barrel, but once again she made the mistake of diverting her attention from the battlefield for a split second. The monster took advantage of this and scooped her up in its fist, its massive fingers caging her with so much pressure she could barely even wriggle. With quick thinking she resorted to another... Out of the norm, but effective, escape plan.

She chomped down on its index finger that was coiled around her tiny shoulders.

The creature roared, but didn't release her or loosen its hold as she hoped. Instead, it brought the thrashing woman closer to its gaping jaws, and once she was so close a gust of its breath made her pigtails swim backwards, she ceased her struggling, acknowledging that without her cannon and being immoblized, it was no use. But just when she was lifted high in the air and dangling upside-down over the mouth, it froze up and she was left there with the uncomfortable sensation of all her blood rushing southbound to her head, while its gigantic, bright green eyes became lightless. A minimal tremor surged through it before its make-up of numerous cohering skulls collapsed into a colossal heap.

Black Rock Shooter went somersaulting down this pile none gracefully for a few heartbeats before she flipped onto her feet, managed to place some footholds and glissaded safely to the bottom. As she spun around on her heel, she found Dead Master waiting there for her. She was boring a hole in Rock's forehead with her nauseous green eyes, conveying an unspoken message: What's wrong with you?

Rock met her eyes bravely, and gave a small, barely perceptible shake of her head, indicating: Nothing. But in contradiction to her body language, her lips parted slightly, her voice flat and steady, "What's the point if I'm the source of her grief?"

How it all began

The day it all started, Mato found herself sitting atop a fence on a hill located on the outskirts of the city, overlooking a flushed horizon as the sun began to set, and fiddling with her baby blue cell phone accessory of a little star on a thread. It was strange to think that such a trivial-looking object served as a portal to another world, but it was, and now she was capable of accessing that portal whenever she liked-which was right now. In fact, she had come here all this way to be outside of curious eye, with the private time as a bonus.

"I wonder if Black Rock Shooter would be happy to see me," she wondered aloud, a smile ghosting her lips as she thought of her otherworldly counterpart, the one who shouldered her negative emotions without complaint. She got a tingly feeling in her stomach as she rather vividly visualized a gorgeous, curvy woman exposing much of her ashen skin, her eyes luminous, and activating a super-heavy cannon.

In their first meeting, her and Black Rock Shooter hadn't exactly seen eye-to-eye. Or they did, but had discovered themselves in a sticky situation. In an effort to permanently dispose of Yomi's severe grief, Mato had fused with Rock. Although Yuu's, or Strength's, plan was successful, with the rescue of Yomi came another, much more urgent dilemma. Mato and Black Rock Shooter were unable to split into their original, independent selves.

Mato didn't know why or how, but one disaster led to another until, eventually, they divided. Then the other dimension was safe again, and Mato and her alternate self reached an understanding that wasn't verbally confirmed, but intuitively when Mato spotted Black Rock Shooter watching her calmly from the upward-sloping edge of a cliff. Despite this, Mato wasn't positive if there relationship went beyond acquaintances to friends, but she was about to find out through the most accurate method: asking the person themselves.

To take the trip there, Mato had to open the portal through the following actions. She unclipped the chain on her cell phone, pocketed said cell phone in her jean shorts, and enclosed the mystical object in her palms. Just when she was about to activate it with mere will, an anxiety crept up on her that she didn't quite understand.

"What if she doesn't want to see me?" Mato murmured, then shook her head. Black Rock Shooter may have been busy fighting, but there were plenty of ways to work around that issue, like backing off to ensure she wouldn't get caught in the crossfire and waiting for Rock to find the time. It wasn't like anyone would target her, anyway.

With confidence renewed, she shut her eyes as the accessory was enveloped in a sphere of blue light.

Mato's eyes flew open to Black Rock Shooter's personal, gloomy realm of a dark landscape with crucifixion crosses shooting out crookedly from the floor. She swallowed just slightly, spooked by the setting, before turning to Black Rock Shooter herself. She was afront Mato on a small spit of flat surface that extended from a skyscraper-tall rocky outcropping like an arm, sitting back against its base with her knees bent up in relaxed posture, regarding Mato as emotionlessly as ever whilst she arched one of her delicate eyebrows.

Taking that as "What are you doing here?" Mato smiled sheepishly and explained, "I wanted to see you again! How are you?" She didn't respond, of course, but waved her hand in a "Shoo, be gone," gesture, making Mato's smile falter slightly. "I'm sorry if you're busy. I don't mean to be a bother. I just wanted to see my... Friend," she said, the last word coming out smaller than the rest.

Rock rose to her feet and took a few steps toward her to snatch the star bracelet from Mato's closed hand with ease. Mato gasped and dove for it, but Rock held it out of her reach, her eyes however vacuous seeming to taunt.

"Black Rock Shooter, that's mine. Please give it back," Mato whined and stepped forward, only to be halted by Rock's gloved hand against her forehead.

"Go back."

"Why?" Mato replied, sounding hurt. I want to stay.

To her dismay, Rock pressed the chain/bracelet back into Mato's hand and lowered herself to the shorter one's eye level while the soft glow started to radiate from the object again. She said nothing, her eyes probing her identical ones with some unknown purpose.

"Wait," Mato said dazedly, semi-lost in the haunting stare. "Don't..."

But before she could get anything else out, she vanished in a blinding flash of light. And when she opened her eyes again, she was still situated on the fence, staring at her bracelet.

"I want to talk to you," she whispered, and buried her face in her hands. All she could think about was the other version of herself, the way her skimpy, badass attire actually seemed kind of modest-at least in Mato's point of view-and how she pulled it off so perfectly. How she fought with so much power and invigoration. How her heartrate had accelerated when she stared into her eyes just moments ago, and it was still just beginning to steady itself.

To a naive girl like Mato, she didn't realize this was attraction. She had never developed those kinds of feelings for anyone before, and so in all her inexperience, she believed Black Rock Shooter was just another person she was eager to be good friends with.

Sighing, Mato tried to dispel the melancholy rising within her and pulled herself down, stumbling a little before straightening herself. She knew she could always try again; Mato had learned from befriending Yomi that persistence was the key.

"I don't care if you try to push me away." Mato's voice was hard. "I'll never give up until you warm up to me. I want to be really good friends with you, Black Rock Shooter."

Really, really good friends... Mato added mutely as she pushed on home, descending from the crest of the hill, and not wise to the involuntary thought that popped in her head.

Or more than friends.

The next morning, Mato, Yomi, and Kagari walked abreast of each other on their way to school. Their treads clacked softly on the cement sidewalk, the March sun beating down on them and vehicles lumbering past as their school came into view. Living so close to each other, the trio of friends always walked to school together. It was probably Mato's favorite time of the day, being united with her two closest friends for a longer, uninterrupted duration of time, and normally she'd be giddy just being in their presence. Currently, however, she was submerged in deep thought and didn't contribute to the conversation save for some noises of acknowledgement to give the pretense that she was tuned in. So far it seemed that her companions were due to take note of her off behavior, being so involved in a heated conversation that Mato could've been abducted by aliens right then and there and they wouldn't have batted an eye.

Yomi was a lanky girl who measured higher than both the other girls, with medium green eyes covered by small-framed glasses and a hairstyle that Mato always believed was admiringly unique. It was cropped to her ears in the back, but let loose in the front in the form of oddly jagged waves hanging over her shoulders. She was summarizing what Mato assumed from the bits she got a showdown with Kagari in a video game, while her childhood friend inserted her two cents every now and then and Yomi in all her demureness wouldn't voice opposition.

That childhood friend, Kagari, sported a soft expression, an upturned nose, and a pair of equally soft and tame brown eyes that leaned toward yellow. Her and Mato were even in height, though she seemed more frail to Mato in every other way, much unlike the terrifying aura she showcased before the death of Chariot, her alternate self. She was listening far more intently than Mato was, always captivated by her beloved Yomi, and as mentioned above, had the kindness to throw in details in Yomi's tale.

"...But she ended up beating me anyway with a charged attack," Yomi said.

"She could've deflected it," Kagari snorted.

Mato grunted as they reached the staircase leading to the front double doors of their school building, ascending it, her gaze pinned ahead without really seeing. Did I say something wrong to her...? As the trio pushed through the doors and entered a hallway brimmed by endless rows of lockers, she absentmindedly picked up her pace. Straying far ahead of her friends, they beckoned for her.

"M-Mato! Wait up!"

"Jeez, where's the fire?"

"Hm?" Startled from her trance, Mato wheeled around to see her friends many feet away, rushing to catch up to her, Yomi in particular looking comical as she struggled to haul her backpack back onto her shoulders when the straps fell off. She gave them an apologetic look as she paused and waited for them to reach her.

Kagari got to her first and fastened her hands to her hips. "Why are you walking so fast?"

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm a bit distracted!" Mato flailed her arms as she made her excuse. Yomi came to stand in front of her, her breaths slightly more labored than her childhood friend's. "Maybe you should get more exercise, Yomi," Mato suggested in a friendly fashion.

Yomi laughed a bit nervously. "I'm not the athletic type."

"She's the artistic type," Kagrai put in, beaming at Yomi.

"Oh, yes. Your paintings are beautiful, Yomi!" Mato agreed with halfhearted enthusiasm.

Yomi downcast her eyes, twirling her finger in a lock of her lightning-streak-shaped mass of dark hair. "They're okay."

"They're wonderful," Mato insisted, and she would've continued had Kagari not broken in.

"Did you just deliberately get us sidetracked in the conversation?" she asked suspiciously.

"What? No. Our conversations always get sidetracked..." Mato replied.

"Well, you never answered my question. Why were you walking so fast?"

Mato suddenly felt like the two girls towered over her by three feet as their eyes landed attentively and expectantly on her. "Well, I..." she trailed off, her plastic smile deflating when she thought she saw a familiar crown of light brown hair stopping in front of a locker.

It was the actual Yuu of this world, the one Mato hadn't known until a few weeks ago when her alternate self, Strength, died, and Yuu had been forced to return to her original body. The two of them had been distant since, because the real Yuu seemed to come off uninviting and standoffish. Whenever Mato attempted idle chit-chat with her, Yuu's side of the conversation was almost nonexistent. She didn't know if this real Yuu was shy or coping or what, but she had given up trying to squeeze words out of her and gave her space from now on.

But today was different. Mato wanted some advice on her alternate self, but there weren't many options since few were aware of this other dimension. Only Yuu and Saya were left to confide in, so she thought it wouldn't hurt to talk to Yuu.

"Mato?" Mato blinked and looked over at Yomi, who appeared to be battling with herself, drilling her toe in the floor and her gaze skittering between Mato and Yuu. In a flash Mato knew what she was thinking: Yomi was recalling the smoldering envy she had felt, the feeling of being a third wheel (But without Yuu and Mato being an item!) whenever Mato hung around Yuu or mentioned their unbreakable bond since the two were little girls. It had swelled until poor Yomi snapped and broke, developing a spine-chilling impulse to idly snip at her hair with scissors constantly, and she had even threaded some strands of hair into the bracelet she had crafted for Yuu. Remembering her breakdown brought a shudder to Mato, and it was clear Yomi was unable to repress the memory as well, which explained her obvious discomfort in even using Yuu's name in a sentence.

Yomi smiled wearily. "Why don't you and Yuu talk anymore?"

"Oh, um..." Mato, uncapable of spinning a convincing fabrication on the spot, was stumped. She couldn't go out and say the real reason, as Yomi and Kagari were left in the dark about the fantastical incidents, so she opted to say: "Actually, you're right. I'm gonna talk to her right now!"

Both her friends were stunned as Mato squeezed through them and broke into a run, heading for Yuu. She heard Kagari cry out something, but ignored it as she approached Yuu. Her technical ex-best friend was entering her locker combination when Mato came up to her, waving enthusiastically and booming too close to her ear, "Hello!" The other girl yelped, her school materials flying out of her hands and scattering across the floor. Mato gasped and apologized profusely, bending over to collect her papers, binders, notebooks and textbooks and shoving them back into Yuu's arms before Yuu had the chance to do it herself.

Unfazed by the commotion, Yuu greeted her bluntly. "Good morning, Mato."

"Good morning!" Mato returned. Yuu was at last able to open her locker and slipped some of her belongings inside before slamming it. Then, bearing a single binder now, she brushed past Mato as if she wasn't there. It was this borderline cold-shouldered behavior that made Mato back off in the first place, but she went after Yuu anyway, matching her pace with hers.

"I wanted to talk to you about Black Rock Shooter, if you're not busy," Mato told her. Yuu blinked at her; it was her way of permitting her to continue. Quietly so as nobody would eavesdrop, though it was early and the hall was sparsely populated anyway, Mato pressed on. "I want to be friends with her. I've gotta be friends with myself, right? And she's nice..."

"You are."

Unsure if she was stating Mato was nice or she had already established a companionship with Black Rock Shooter, Mato responded, "Yes, but, I'd like to talk to her more. And hang out with her."

"You live in two seperate worlds, Mato. Literally. It'd be hard to maintain a friendship with her," Yuu replied, but failed to crush Mato's hopes.

She declared a little loudly, "But it's possible!" and succeeded in attracting some stares. Although she seemed oblivious to them, Yuu shushed her harshly.

"We don't need the whole school to hear."

"Heh, sorry..." Mato replied sheepishly and looked around at the heads turning back to their tasks. "I guess I'm a loudmouth sometimes."

"I can see that."

"So!"-Mato tried to ease the tension while getting the conversation back on track-"What should I do?"

"What should you do?"

"Yeah!"

Yuu was finally looking at her. "Come closer." Mato hesitated for a moment, wary of whatever Yuu was planning, but then chided herself for her paranoia and leaned her ear toward her. "Closer."

"Why...?"

"Just come a little closer." Mato brought her ear another inch forward, and Yuu said, sotto voce, "Kiss her."

Mato instantly recoiled with a look of horror on her face, left speechless while Yuu broke into the first grin to touch that face in a while. "I'm kidding. I don't know what you can do. She doesn't have feelings, remember? You could to talk to her all you want, but she's not going to enjoy the friendship or anything."

"...You scared me," breathed a Mato that was beginning to loosen up.

"Oh, come on, it was obviously a joke. Why would I suggest you kiss yourself? It's kind of weird. Hey, are you blushing?"

"Noooo!" Mato wailed, clapping her blazing cheeks. "I mean, yes! I'm embarrassed. That is weird."

"You're taking this kind of seriously," Yuu said, narrowing her eyes to slits. "You must want to kiss her."

"No, it's not like that!" Mato insisted desperately, and Yuu's grin was reborn.

"Again, I'm kidding."

"Oh my gosh, you're so not funny," Mato whined and shook her head, puzzled by the intense blush dusting her cheeks and the image that had flickered in her head when kissing Rock had been brought up even more so. It never occurred to her that the reason it affected her deeply was because Yuu was right; she wanted her to, but didn't know it.

Yuu forgot all about it in the blink of an eye, or maybe she took note of Mato's reaction and was merely acting aloof, and shrugged. "We done here?"

"No. You haven't given me pointers yet."

"I don't know," Yuu sighed, and went on to save herself from Mato's pouting, "Just talk to her."

"I tried. She sent me back home," Mato said sulkingly.

"Really?" Yuu said thoughtfully. "Huh. Then I guess for her own reasons, she doesn't want to talk to you. Long-distance friendships are difficult, anyway. So leave her be."

Mato digested this. "But I really want to hang out with her... I don't think I'm pestering her. I think it's something else."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, but she wasn't fighting or anything when I saw her. She seemed to have plenty of free time, so like I said, I don't think I'm pestering."

Yuu smiled ruefully. "Mato, she's never had anyone try to befriend her. Think about that."

A shrill ring of the warning bell sounded. All of the sudden a stampede of students flooded the hallway, headed for their first period class. There was some impatience among the traffic, and Mato flattened against a locker so as to not barricade anyone's path. Yuu strode ahead of Mato without looking back and melted into the crowd. Mato would've navigated to her class too, but she was distracted by her thoughts again, mulling over the new information.

Never had anyone try to befriend her...