Ranbu Escalation (PMMM/Gaim)

[X] Just kind of awkwardly pat her on the back until she stops crying.
-[X] Then ask her what she's talking about.

Madoka stared at Akemi fr a moment, processing the events of the last few seconds.

The new transfer student was a Magical Girl. One who came back in time apparently, which seems unbelievable, but she did honestly seem as if she knew Madoka from somewhere despite Madoka never seeing her before, so it wasn't as if Madoka had a reason to doubt her.

But enough about that, there was more important things to deal with right now. Now the odd colourless state that the rest of the world was in, where it looked like time had frozen.

Akemi was crying. Madoka didn't know her, but she could understand why, to a degree. Saying something in public without meaning to can be embarassing enough, but this seemed...

Well, it did seem rather personal, to say the least. Akemi had been excited enough to see Madoka that she blurted out all her secrets within seconds of seeing her, in a crowded room full of people. That would be stressful enough with a minor secret, like having a crush on someone, let alone something as big as being a Magical Girl from the future.

But Madoka was thinking about it too much. Akemi was still sobbing, while clinging to her with one hand, trying to keep some kind of distance but desperately trying to hold on to Madoka.

Madoka... Wasn't the best, at dealing with awkward social situations. But she knew enough to know when someone needed some kind of emotional support, and this was very clearly one of those times.

Now if only she knew what to actually do right now...

Think, Madoka, think. What would she appreciate, if she was the one crying and needing support?

...Well it'd depend on what kind of situation was making her cry in the first place, but the first thing Madoka would want in most situations was someone letting them know they were there for her.

Moving slowly, and somewhat awkwardly, Madoka started to stand out of her seat and stretched her left arm around towards Akemi. Her right arm was still being held in Akemi's hand, with a small purple jewel with a slightly dark tint sitting atop of it.

As she reached around, Madoka noticed that Akemi didn't appear to be reacting. She was too busy crying into her hand, apart from the occasional slight movement upwards followed by an immediate downward response, as she kept trying to work up the courage to say something and falling short before she could actually saw anything.

Eventually, Madoka's arm reached around Akemi's back, and after a small pause, the pink haired girl started to pat her back, softly.

Akemi jumped in surprise, her gaze finally pulling up and following the sight of Madoka's arm, reaching around the dark haired girl's back, as if unsure it was happening.

"It's..." Madoka began, choking on her words slightly as Akemi turned her gaze back towards her. "It's okay, it's going to be okay..."

Behind her glasses, Akemi's eyes teared up even more, but as soon as her gaze dipped downwards, she pulled her eyes shut. Muttering to herself in words too soft for Madoka to hear, Akemi turned her gaze upwards again.

"M-Madoka..." She stuttered out, before trailing off again.

"I'm not sure what's going on.." Madoka tried to fill the silence. "But... It's going to be okay. I promise."

The look in Akemi's eye was hopeful, but after a moment, it seemed to melt away into doubt. Seeing the hope fade as Akemi thought on it more, Madoka desperately scrambled, for something else she could say to the girl.

"...Is there something I can call you, apart from Akemi?" Madoka tried. "It doesn't feel right to be so inpersonal in a situation like this, doesn't it?"

Akemi take a moment to breath, before she answered.

"...Homura." She whispered, after a moment. "A-Akemi, Homura."

Madoka smiled, hopefully reassuringly.

"It's nice to meet you, Homura." Madoka stated, after a second. "I... Don't really understand the situation, but it's going to be okay. If... If you just act like nothing happened, then Miss Saotome won't let anyone interrupt the lesson to push the issue, a-and even if people are curious about Magical Girls, they should leave you alone as long as you put enough distance between you and them that they know you want to be by yourslef, right?"

At least, that's what Madoka would assume. People did tend to ignore oddities about strangers, and even if Magical Girls were a curiosity, she had heard somewhere that there was already at least one other Magical Girl in the school somewhere, without hearing the rumour passing around a name, so there had to be some level of privacy afforded to people like her...

Homura blinked away tears, before nodding slightly.

"D-Do you mind if I ask?" Madoka opened a query a moment later. "About what you mean, exactly? D-Don't feel obligated to answer if you don't want to, but..."

Homura's grip on Madoka's arm tightened for a moment, and Madoka was on the verge of taking back the question altogether, before Homura closed her eyes and started talking.

"I..." She stammered out, looking down again. "M-Magical Girls... Puella Magi..."

"It's okay." Madoka stated again, patting Homura on the back a few more times. "Take your time. It's fine."

Homura looked down for another long moment, and took a deep breath, before she looked up again.

"I-I'm f-from the... The future." Homura stated, stammering as she did so. "I... Things were... Everything..."

Her breath hitched, and she paused again, to take a breath.

"...Things were bad." She eventually manages to wheeze out. "A few months from now, a lot of things are bad. I-I needed to make my wish to come back, to sa- To... To stop it."

Her talking patterns were odd, in that she was speak so fast when she was talking, as if she just wanted to get it over with. Madoka was able to hear her anyway, but the hurt in her voice...

So she was from the future? And was trying to stop something bad from happening...

From how she was trying to talk about it, it was obvious that whatever had happened hadn't been pretty. Madoka didn't know what, but something had happened. The intensity, the scale...

All mysteries. And while she could push Homura for answers, the Magical Girl was clearly distraught as it was talking about the future.

But there was still so much Madoka didn't understand...

"Wish?" She asked. "Is that something Magical Girls can do? Make wishes?"

Homura looke surprised at that specific comment, before nodding softly.

"I... Yes? Sort of?" She replied softly. "Magical Girls... There's a, a thing that makes people into Magical Girls. Kyubey. It grants a wish, gives you your Soul Gem, and you become a Magical Girl."

...That really did sound like something out of a Magical Girl anime. But putting that information aside, Madoka tried to figure out what questions she could ask, to understand more.

"...Why me?" Madoka asked. Homura looked at her for a while, confused, so Madoka elaborated. "Why am I the one you revealed everything to? Am... Did we meet in the future? Am I involved in the bad thing? Is..."

She trailed off, already unsure of where that last statement was going, and Homura took another deep breath, thinking hard on her own answer.

"...B-Before I came back..." Homura noted, softly. "You... The first time I came here, I wasn't... You know..."

Madoka nodded, trying to continue reassuring Homura. "Not a Magical Girl?"

Homura mirrored Madoka's nod. "That. I... I'm sure the teacher would have mentioned it if I h-hadn't... I had some health issues. M-Magic fixed them, but y-you had to take me to the nurses office a few times. And a month from now-"

She suddenly flinches, as if the bad memories were striking at her phyically, and nearly loses her grip on Madoka before her hand grabs hold even tighter, hurting Madoka's wrist slightly. The gem on her hand had darkend considerably, since the last time Madoka noticed it.

"It's fine, it's fine." Madoka quickly informed Homura. "If it's too painful to talk about, you don't have to-"

'You saved my life." Homura eventually forced herself to say. "A-A month from now, you saved my life. I... I followed you after that, you were nice, you let me stay, you didn't push me away, a-and when t-things started to go b-bad and e-everyone started losing it you were l-looking after me and..."

She takes a desperate, shuddering breath, and Madoka abandoned the pretense of restraint. Moving forwar,d Madoka wrapped her arms around Homura, and pulled her into a hug.

"There, there." She whispered, reassuringly at first, but growing more awkward as Madoka took a moment to think about what she was doing. Homura had gone quiet, and was just breathing, a series of short, panicked gasps coming from her mouth. Time passed, and her panic subsided, as whatever memories caused the sudden reaction.

"It's fine." Madoka insisted. "I don't need to know any more, not now. If you can't talk about it, I don't mind. I... You've already said a lot. You don't need to say anything else."

Homura was crying into Madoka's shoulder, but moved her head slightly, as if trying to nod.

"If you need time, that's fine." Madoka insisted. "If you want to talk later, that's okay. In case... Whatever's happened to everyone else stops soon-"

"I stopped them." Homura replied. "It's... It's my magic. I can stop time. Only me and the things I'm touching can move."

...Oh. Well, that was rather obvious, putting thought into it, but it was still surprising. Were Magical Girls really capable of something like that?

"I can keep time stopped until too much Grief builds up in my Soul Gem." Homura explained, pulling away slightly. She held up her hand, at that comment. "A-As long as my Gem isn't t-too dark, I can-"

She suddenly froze herself, as she saw her Soul Gem, and how dark it was at that moment. A whine left her lips in that instantly, and she pulled away from Madok-

Madoka blinked.

Homura was holding her arm again, but her position had shifted. Her grip was further up on Madoka's arm now, her elbow rather than her wrist, and...

"S-Sorry." Homura replied. "I... W-We should start class again soon."

Madoka wanted to ask what had happened, but asking questions hadn't really helped thus far. Or, well, what information Madoka did get usually made Homura sad in the process. It could wait.

"I'll..." Homura began. "I'll explain more. During lunch. When... When I don't need to stop time. J-Just... I-If you sit down, I can let you go, sit in m-my desk, and we can a-act like I never revealed I was a Magical Girl in front of everyone..."

Madoka took a moment to breath herself, as she nodded.

"Sounds good." Madoka said, as she sat down in her chair. "I'll see you at lunch, then. On the roof?"

Homura nodded, as she let go of-

Colour returned to the world, and Madoka was gone. The return of sound outside of two people's voices was something Madoka hadn't expected, but which was unmissable when it happened. The sound of cars vaguely in the distance, the humming of air conditioning, the ticking of a clock nearby...

"What just..." Miss Saotome began, looking over her class and seeing Homura in what was the empty desk a moment ago. Homura shuffled uncomfortably, and everyone in the room was looking at her.

Clearing her throat, the teacher drew attention to the front of the room.

"W-Well enough about that!" She declared, distracting from what Homura had said. "We have class to get on with! You know, school work. The thing you are all here for. Not meaningless gossip about people. The classroom is not the place for such things, after all."

...She was, perhaps, laying it on thick. But then, considering how hypocritical it was for Miss Saotome to say that meaningless gossip didn't belong in the classroom, maybe she needed to lay it on thick so people would get the idea to not bother Homura during class?

The lesson began a moment later, but Madoka couldn't get her mind off of what Homura had said, and done. She doubted anyone else could either, to a large degree, even without what had happened in the stopped time.

Lunch seemed like an eternity away, but as it ticked closer, Madoka started thinking about what to do when it came.

[X] She owed Sayaka and Hitomi an explanation, at least. A brief one, before she went to meet Homura.
[X] It would be easier to explain if everyone was together. She should take her friends to the roof as well.
[X] There was no need to take her time. Madoka should head to the roof, alone, to see the Magical Girl.