Ranbu Escalation (PMMM/Gaim)

[X] Bring Homura to Hitomi, and everyone can talk together.
[X] No. It was vague enough to be meaningless.

The three girls sat on the roof again during lunch, looking at each other for a moment. Nobody seemed like they wanted to talk first. Hitomi seemed uncomfortable, and Homura was just eating her lunch with a dejected look on her face. Even now, yesterday was making her upset still?

...Madoka didn't know exactly what to say, but at this rate, she'd have to say something. It was her idea to get everyone together like this, so it was her responsibility to try and break up the awkwardness of the situation.

"Um..." Madoka began, clearing her throat. "Is... Homura, Hitomi, is there anything you wanted to talk about? All things considered, we should probably have a conversation about something..."

"I do have some questions." Hitomi admitted, seeming thankful for Madoka starting a conversation. "But before we get into that, Akemi, are you alright? You seem a little down."

"...'malright." Homura muttered, under her breath. A rather obvious lie. Yesterday had been that harsh on her, then...

"Akemi." Hitomi repeated, keeping her attention on Homura. "It's okay to admit it if you're not doing well, you know? Weakness isn't a sin, and Madoka can help you better if you make it clear how much help you need."

Homura looked over at Hitomi for a moment, before returning her gaze to Madoka.

"I..." Homura took a breath before she continued. "I-I'm sorry. I... S-Shouldn't have said. S-Shouldn't have s-slipped. You..."

"It's fine, Homura." Madoka assured the girl. Chances were, she was talking about the whole Zangetsu thing right now, so Madoka wanted to make sure she kept Homura distracted from anything that might make her break down again. "It's... Well, even if it's scary, it's better that I know now, isn't it? If we ran into him without me knowing, I wouldn't know what to expect. Now I can."

Homura looked away, and rubbed her arm for a moment, about where her shield was when she transformed into a Magical Girl.

"Speaking of which." Hitomi spoke up, drawing attention to her again. "Akemi. Yesterday, we found out you had the Driver all along, and didn't plan to give it to us for a while. Is there anything else you have, that we should know about?"

"...N-Nothing w-we can u-use, y-yet." Homura shook her head. "N-Not without... N-Not u-until... A m-month from now, G-Genesis..."

"What is it, Homura?" Madoka asked, extending a hand in case Homura needed something to keep her comforted. "It's okay. Take your time."

Homura took Madoka's hand in her own, and took a moment before she continued.

"E-Energy Lockseed." She continued. "D-Doesn't summon Inves. C-Can't be fed. N-Needs a different D-Driver. C-Cherry."

...Homura had mentioned Cherry before, hadn't she? Yeah, she definitely had, yesterday. When talking about how nothing Madoka had was strong enough to beat Zangetsu. She had also mentioned Magical Girl, in that sentence...

...Was being a Magical Girl and using a Lockseed somehow mutually exclusive, or was there a different reason Homura had it right now? If Zangetsu had killed her, Madoka would have thought that she would have been using the best of everything she could when the fight started. And if Homura had taken it after Madoka had died, why wouldn't she have the Driver that worked with it?

"Thank you, Akemi." Hitomi replied. "So, the Driver Madoka has now won't work with the Cherry Lockseed, and she needs a... Is Genesis the model of the one that does work with it?"

Homura nodded.

"And it'll be a month before it's an option." Hitomi mused. "So I suppose it hasn't been made yet?"

Homura didn't reply, but Madoka took over the conversation, at this point.

"...So, something to keep in mind for the future." Madoka mused.

"Perhaps." Hitomi mused. "Assuming we can't find a way around that. Homura does have the ability to stop time, so perhaps we could steal a prototype while it's still in development?"

"...I don't know." Madoka replied. "If it's not done yet, then there's got to be a reason, isn't there? Maybe it wouldn't be safe. Besides, I don't think we want to get much more attention from Yggdrasil. Stealing their next step up in technology, when we know it isn't enough to stop..."

She trailed off as she looked to Homura, who was flinching just at the implication. Hitomi noticed, and sighed.

"You do raise a point there." She continued. "My apologies. I didn't mean to worry you.

"It's fine." Madoka replied.

There was a moment of silence, as everyone was lost for a moment, as to where to take the conversation.

Jeez, it was kind of hard talking, while trying not to upset Homura by bringing up Zangetsu.

...A realisation struck Madoka, who turned to look at the girl with the braided hair.

"Homura." Madoka asked. "Do you have enough Grief Seeds?"

Homura took a moment to answer.

"L-last one's... N-nearly full. G-Gem's clear, I c-can fight, s-stop time for a while. S-Should hunt s-soon. Today, or t-tomorrow. N-Not any later, j-just in case."

"I see." Madoka nodded. "In that case, do you want me to come with you? If I use the Driver, I should be able to help you take down the Witch, right?"

"...M-Maybe." Homura admitted. "I-It sounds like it could w-work."

"Alright, then." Madoka nodded. "We'll organise something after school, then. We still need to get more Lockseeds, don't we?"

Hitomi nodded, at that.

"We've already taken down Baron and Danza." She mused. "Those were the noteworthy two. We could just go and face all the other Beat Rider teams, but perhaps we should focus on a group with better Lockseeds."

"If there are any." Madoka continued. "Maybe it'd be best to keep just going down the rankings. Or just dance, and see who comes to challenge us."

"Well, that will only work if Sayaka feels up to it." Hitomi continued. "...Though, Akemi, you've been with us for a few days now. Perhaps we should practice a dance that can bring you into the mix."

Homura looked over at Hitomi, excited for a moment, before looking down again.

"...Sayaka?"

Madoka frowned as she tried to parse what Homura meant, but Hitomi seemed to get it right away.

"A fair point..." Hitomi sighed. "We don't want her feeling like she's being replaced."

Oh. Oh.

...Madoka should have considered that. Of course Sayaka would feel bad if it looked like she was being replaced. What was Madoka thinking, just...

"Have you seen Sayaka since yesterday, Madoka?" Hitomi asked.

Madoka shook her head.

"I... Talked to mama, about Sayaka." Madoka explained. "She thinks Sayaka feels bad because she realised she was arguing for something she wouldn't be proud to do. She suggested we let Sayaka know how much we rely on her, to make her feel better."

"...That is an idea." Hitomi nodded. "If she turns up to dance later, then I'll say something to her then."

Madoka considered, for a moment, bringing up to Homura the other part of what her mother had suggested. But...

Well, now didn't feel right. Maybe later, when they were alone, Madoka could offer to take Homura home so Homura could talk to Madoka's mother. She'd need to think for a while, for how to phrase it. How to make it sound like a good offer, and so Homura didn't panic about it.

It was at this point, the bell rang.

"Well, we'll continue this after school, then." Hitomi noted. "We should hurry to class."

Madoka was starting to get concerned. She was being distracted in class a lot, by the thoughts of the future and everything that was going on. Hopefully, she could manage to put it out of her mind sooner or later, or it might have some kind of effect on her grades...

Still, time flew by, or so it seemed, and the end of school came faster than Madoka had been expecting. She met up with Homura and Hitomi at the front gate, and lingered for a while, waiting to see Sayaka.

And so, for a while, they waited.

And waited.

...And waited.

Eventually, Hitomi's phone buzzed, and the green-haired girl sighed as she looked at it.

"Well, that's disappointing." She stated. "Sayaka said she wanted to get some fresh air, so she had left as soon as the bell rang and went for a walk."

"So I guess she isn't dancing today again, huh..." Madoka sighed herself. "...Before we couldn't dance because we couldn't win. Now we can't dance because there's so much going on."

Hitomi put her phone away, then looked back at Akemi.

"Should we go and practice dancing, then? She asked. "Just to get you used to it, so it's easier to work you in when Sayaka comes back? THere's some abandoned warehouses in the old part of the city which are good for this..."

Homura seemed like she was going to reply, but then looked to the street, and say something that made her stop. Madoka followed her gaze, to the six older boys walking towards them.

It took Madoka a second to recognise the black and red jackets, but once the connection was there, it was obvious what was going on.

Team Baron was here. And there's only one reason they would be here, rather than a stage.

"Team Berry." Their leader, Kumon, stated. "Consider this a challenge."

Everyone around the school still was looking at the three girls and six boys, and there wasn't a sound, apart from the sudden thundering of Madoka's heart.

"A challenge?" Hitomi asked, stepping forward. "Are you that confident, after yesterday's display, that you can beat my friend?"

"I am confident in my ability to defeat someone who lacks the strength to speak for themselves." Kumon repeated. "Any other factors regarding Kaname are irrelevant."

Hitomi looked back at Madoka, and Madoka stepped forward. Even if Kumon was right, she wasn't about to just accept that kind of insult, when she needed to look strong for Homura.

"Kumon." Madoka stated, trying to sound confident. "This isn't a stage, it's a school. Why are you challenging us?"

"To prove that your strength is an illusion, propped up by an advantage everyone else lacks." Kumon Kaito answered plainly. "Whether this is a stage or not is irrelevant."

"We still can't fight here." Madoka insisted. "This is a school. There's people walking here. And you can't summon Inves away from a stage, anyway."

Not without a Driver anyway, but nobody knew that yet.

Kumon smirked, at that comment.

"Then pick a stage." Kaito informed her. "If you have the strength to face me, that is. Or are you too much of a coward to do that, without the element of surprise?"

Homura flinched at that comment, and Madoka had to resist from taking a step back herself.

Kumon Kaito was... Forceful. And while he had always been this confident, Madoka had a bad feeling about this. You'd think that even someone confident would be playing it smart, not... Taunting Madoka, over her flaws during her victory. Doing something like that usually made someone look like a petty bully, which...

...Well, Hitomi would definitely agree with that conclusion, but what Kumon was saying seemed accurate, at least.

So what about this situation was giving Madoka a bad feeling.

...If she backed away now, Team Baron would call her a coward. They'd spread the news. Everyone would hear about how the strongest competitor in the Inves Game ran when they were the ones being challenged. But on the other hand, it wasn't as if Madoka should care about that.

She did want to dance, and even if it wasn't on a stage, practising with Homura might be fun. A day away from the Inves game might do Madoka some good, anyway. Just a day of having fun with Homura. Like she had tried to do yesterday, before the Magical Girl in white had interrupted the day and revealed the existence of the Drivers.

...It wouldn't be that hard to just beat Baron and then do that, would it? The worst that could happen was expecting this kind of challenge to keep happening, and Team Baron seemed smart enough to know that repeated attempts would just make them look like they were bashing their heads against a brick wall...

[X] Accept the challenge. Beat Baron again.
[X] Decline the challenge. Take the day off.