[X] "...Tell your friend that she can't bide her time. Her enemies will outpace her more if she continues like this. Ask her to give you the Driver."
"...Driver?" Hitomi asked, confused.
The white haired girl smiled. "Akemi will know what it refers to. Chances are, once she hears you mention it, she will try to get you alone. Perhaps she'll even only speak about it to Miss Kaname. Either way, I suggest pushing her, at least this once."
Before Madoka could ask the girl in white what she was talking about, the Magical Girl had turned away, and was heading for the door. Drawing her attention now would likely also draw in the attention of anyone else who was in Drupers right now, and Madoka didn't really want that. Even if the leader of Team Gaim was nice enough to draw attention away from the group again, Madoka would prefer to keep things subtle, especially things relating to Homura.
So as the girl in white left, Madoka did nothing.
...She definitely knew more than what she was letting on. And she was probably hiding something. When she had referred to Homura as a time traveller, she had pinned the reason on the rumours, but...
Well, Madoka didn't know everyone in her school, but she felt like she would have at least vaguely recognised someone who went to the same school she did. That girl, meanwhile, looked like a perfect stranger. and the rumour had barely spread outside the school, with how it wasn't believed. A moment before, Madoka would have just assumed she was wrong, that the girl was just someone she had forgotten or that the rumour had spread in some circles more than she had thought, but...
...If that was the case, how would she know about Homura having whatever this Driver thing was?
Madoka didn't know what the Driver was, if it was a unique thing or common, but she could make some connections. But the girl in white made it sound like something Homura was holding on to and waiting to use, which made Madoka think it had something to do with Homura's plan of gathering Lockseeds. In which case, if it was something important that could make a difference, then Homura probably had hers from the future as well, didn't she?
So if that was the case, then how would the white haired girl know that Homura had one? Maybe if it was something that was only obtained by Homura when she came back in time, something she knew about from the future and obtained when she came back, that would be an explanation, but...
Well, Madoka didn't think Homura had it in her to ask someone for something without Madoka there, or that she was the kind of person to steal something if she obtained it through other means. So it made the most sense to Madoka, that it was something Homura had taken back with her. Which then raised the question of how the white-haired girl knew.
Was that her magic? Being able to know things? Homura had been able to come back in time, so magic could clearly do something like letting someone know what someone else was in possession of...
There was the sound of a door opening, and Madoka looked over to see Homura walking back into the main room of the fruit bar.
Her clothes were stained slightly, but it was barely noticeable. Madoka was probably only noticing because she knew that they were there. Homura had cleaned up her face, hair and glasses well enough, though. By the looks of it, though, she'd had to undo her braided hair in order to wash it out properly, and she had apparently decided that redoing it now would take to long, so her long hair was left hanging back.
She peered around nervously, confirmed that nobody was looking at her but Madoka and Hitomi, and approached the table the two of them were sitting on.
"S-so..." Homura muttered. "D-Did you two order yet?"
"Not yet." Hitomi noted, looking towards the door briefly to see if the girl in the white dress was still nearby.
"...I-is s-something wrong?" Homura asked nervously, as she saw Hitomi peering around.
Madoka looked at Hitomi for a moment, and Hitomi looked back at her. They didn't exchange any words, but judging by Hitomi's small nod, Madoka figured that her friend was going to let her handle this.
"Homura..." Madoka began, trying to keep calm in case Homura took the news badly. "...There was another Magical Girl here, a moment ago."
Homura's eyes widened, and she reached across the table to grab at Madoka's hand.
"What did she say?" Homura babbled, her voice quiet but somewhat panicked. "Did she tell you to become a Magical Girl? Did... Who was it? I..."
She trailed off, and Madoka took a moment to try and figure out how to continue from there. Reaching a blank, she gave Hitomi another look, and the green-haired girl stepped in.
"The Magical Girl didn't give a name." Hitomi explained. "She... Knew things, however. Do you know her? A white dress, white hair, a silver Soul Gem?"
Homura took a moment to think about it, before looking down.
"I... I don't k-know her. W-why is s-she involved n-now..."
"Homura." Madoka whispered softly, getting her friends attention. "...She suggested that we ask you about something called a 'Driver'?"
Homura's eyes went wide in panic, and her grip tightened at the same time. Madoka bit her lip to avoid vocalising the sudden pain, to keep it from Homura, and-
"We need to go." Homura insisted suddenly, standing up without letting go of Madoka. "We have to... Let's go."
"Akemi, stop." Hitomi spoke up suddenly, putting her own hand over the place where Homura was gripping Madoka. "I don't know what has you so panicked, but just talk about it. If there's a reason we can't talk about it here, then explain why, then we can go."
Homura looked at Hitomi with a frightened expression, and Madoka quickly leaned forward, patting Homura's back slightly.
"It's fine." Madoka insisted, trying to keep Homura from breaking down again. "It's... Whatever it is, it'll be fine."
Homura took a shuddered breath again, before closing her eyes. She tilted her head, slightly, towards where Sid was.
...Did she not want Sid listening in, on this conversation?
Madoka glanced back over at Hitomi, and read the expression on Hitomi's face. It seemed to be etched in a level of frustration, likely at Homura's inability to talk about it, but as she looked over at Sid as well, her expression softened, somewhat.
"...Alright, then." Hitomi decided, letting go. "Then let's go talk about this somewhere where we won't be overheard, and without dragging anyone off without an explanation. Madoka might be okay with you panicking and not explaining things, but I've grown rather tired of it."
...Hitomi can be kind of mean, sometimes. Not that she was wrong, really, Homura did have a habit of not explaining things. Not that that was Homura's fault, given what had happened, but maybe Hitomi was right in that Madoka was too tolerant of that. But then, Madoka could hardly stop it with Homura being how she was, and-
That train of thought was getting her nowhere.
Putting it out of her mind, Madoka made sure to keep a reassuring look on her face as she looked at Homura, and the three of them left the fruit bar a moment later.
Homura looked around quickly, before ducking into a side alley next to the fruit bar. It was vaguely visible to the street, but there was nobody in view from within it, right now. Homura let go of Madoka's wrist, and stepped away for a moment.
"Okay, then." Hitomi sighed. "What is this thing about the Drive-"
Homura flashed purple momentarily, and-
-A string tightened around Madoka's hand, and she blinked as she noticed the world having turned monochrome again.
"What the-" Madoka heard Hitomi exclaim, then cut herself off. The pink haired girl looked over to the green haired girl, who had a similar piece of string around her hand.
"It worked." Homura sighed to herself, barely audible from where Madoka was standing.
"...Are you that determined to keep people from overhearing us?" Hitomi asked.
Homura didn't answer right away, as she reached for the shield on her hand. Reaching inside the underside of the shield, Homura's hand vanished for a moment, before pulling out some kind of black metal device.
"Is that the Driver?" Madoka asked.
Homura didn't reply verbally, but she nodded her head after a second.
"T-This is..." Homura stopped talking nearly immediately, as she tried to think of how to phrase it. "T-There's n-not many of t-these. N-Not n-now, at least."
"What does it do?" Hitomi asked.
"It w-was made to- It... T-The..."
Homuta was having trouble forcing the words out, and her breathing was getting harsher as she started to tear up.
Closing her eyes to try and focus, Homura regrouped her efforts to force something out.
"I-It uses Lockseeds!" She managed to force out. "It's l-like... It uses the L-Lockseed to..."
She fumbled around with her hands for a moment, trying to gesture something, before she could started over.
Taking a deep breath, she turned away from the two girls, and spoke as if she was speaking to herself.
"I-It's a belt..." She muttered. "T-Technology... M-made to let people f-fight... L-Like M-Magical G-Girls, but w-without S-Soul Gems..."
Madoka took a moment to process Homura's stammering, while trying to decipher the meaning of what she was saying.
"...So it's like something out of an anime about a transforming hero?" Madoka asked. "You put it on, and put the Lockseed in?"
Homura nodded, still looking away.
"I-It works in Inves Games..." Homura continued. "I... W-Wanted t-to wait until S-Sid w-was about to h-hand t-them out, g-give it to you b-before he d-did it..."
"...How does it work?" Hitomi asked. "Could you pass it here, demonstra-"
Homura shook her head, and Hitomi cut herself off.
"G-Gene l-locked." Homura stammered out. "O-Only w-works for... For Madoka."
Finally turning back around, Homura handed Madoka the Driver.
"I-It's proper name is a Sengoku Driver." Homura explained. "Put it against your w-waist."
Madoka looked at the black object in her hand, and specifically at the odd piece of art on the side. Next to an open slot that was shaped like a Lockseed, there was the image of some kind of helmet, with a pink tinge to it.
Following Homura's suggestion, Madoka put the Driver on her waist. Without warning, it suddenly stuck tight, and a black strap of fabric manifested around Madoka, holding the Driver in place.
"B-Baron." Homura muttered, under her breath.
Madoka looked away from the Driver at her waist, at the dark haired girl. "Hm?"
Homura looked up, surprised at being heard talking, but quickly moved to clarify.
"I-If we u-use t-this, S-Sid might... Sid'll g-give the other Beat Riders D-Drivers soon, as w-well. We need to... Baron is the b-big team. W-We need to beat them once, b-before they get a Driver."
"Do you think this Driver will be enough to do that?" Madoka asked. "I mean, even if it's supposed to be good, I..."
"D-Don't worry." Homura explained. "A-Armoured Riders are t-too tough for Inves t-to hurt. N-Not the ones K-kumon can s-summon, at least. Y-You c-can't lose."
...Well, that was reassuring, but...
"Wouldn't that just put a target on our back?" Madoka asked. "If we immediately antagonise the strongest team, when Sid might give them stuff soon afterwards?"
"No, Akemi has a point." Hitomi mused. "Baron is the team that's always saying some nonsense about strength and power, right? Even if you just went after Gaim or something, if Baron saw, they might come after you as soon as they got a Driver to prove that they're the better team."
She took a moment to muse on that some more, before looking up.
"...Actually, it occurs to me." Hitomi mused. "Yesterday, when Sayaka won, DJ Sagara said that the power of our Lockseed or the Magical Girl's power would be enough to overwhelm Team Baron, right? For all we know, they could be waiting for the chance to challenge us already."
...That was a fair point, but...
...Well, Madoka wasn't really too sure about it, even still. Even if Homura was saying that the Driver should make her tough enough that she can't lose, she was still her. If anybody could mess it up, it was Madoka.
And there was still so much she wanted to ask, that she felt like Homura would struggle too much with answering. She just didn't feel like she could do this.
...But what choice did she have? Homura didn't have any reason to lie about the Driver being gene locked to only work for Madoka, and Madoka didn't want to show some kind of weakness that would make Homura falter more...
So if she didn't have any other choice, she'd just have to pretend like she was sure about this and at least put in an attempt.
"How does it work?" Madoka asked.
After an explanation, a plan is made. Madoka may not be a fighter, but she needs to be the one to face down Team Baron. And with that in mind, she-
[X] Dealt with this now. Baron would be dancing now if Madoka was right, and it should only take a look at DJ Sagara's show to find them.
[X] Waited for Sayaka. Baron would come to them, so they could just take another's stage and Lockseed with Sayaka and wait for Baron to turn up.
