Ranbu Escalation (PMMM/Gaim)

[X] Talk with Team Baron tomorrow

Somehow, the next day came without much happening. Hitomi accepted Madoka's promise of an explanation at school during lunch the next day, though Madoka got the feeling that a lot of the apparent acceptance was because she'd hidden any panic from her text. Madoka's parents didn't notice anything different about Madoka, thankfully. They talked over dinner, briefly. Madoka's mother mentioned that the Yggdrasil dinner was apparently intended to be scheduled sometime soon, and Madoka was glad she wasn't looking at her mother when she said that. It had taken a moment for Madoka not to panic at the mention of Yggdrasil.

Then the conversation drifted towards some kind of religious movement her father had been hearing rumours about, then to a show that Madoka's little brother had seen recently about trains and imagination, and then dinner was done. Madoka let Kyubey know she intended to meet with Baron, and organised for Mami and Sayaka to join Madoka and Hitomi on the rooftop during lunch at school, so Madoka could explain the situation.

It was honestly surprising, how quickly the day went once Madoka had left Mami's apartment. After... Everything.

It took her a while to get to sleep. On some level, she was afraid that the events of the day would be haunting her dreams. The way Homura fell like a puppet without it's strings, the way Sayaka had been so broken after the Inves had hit her...

And yet, despite those fears, once she drifted into sleep, Madoka slept well. In her dreams, she only saw a vague white figure, as if it was watching over her...

Kyubey was already on the rooftop when Madoka stepped onto it, but nobody else was yet. Hitomi, Sayaka and Mami must have still been on the way.

School had been just as fast as usual, Madoka felt. Though that was entirely because she had given up paying attention. She knew she should have been listening to the teacher, but she just couldn't. She'd have to make up for it later.

Still, Kyubey being here was...

"I think you should go." Madoka explained, quickly. "I mean, I know why you're here, but Hitomi..."

The white creature looked at Madoka for a moment, licking a paw. "Ah, yes. Miss Shizune does not have the strongest opinion of me right now, does she?"

"She doesn't." Madoka replied, curtly. "If you want to be around, at least wait until Mami and I explain it."

"You raise an excellent point." Kyubey admitted. "I will wait elsewhere until I am called, then."

Kyubey stepped away from the rooftop, leaping up to the fence railing, then falling. Madoka nearly ran over to watch, but decided against it. Kyubey was smart, so whatever it was doing, it probably had a handle on it.

At that point, the door opened again, and Madoka looked back to see all three other girls stepping onto the rooftop.

"Hey." Sayaka waved as she stepped in, grinning as she did so. "Madoka, nice to see you. Felt weird walking to school without you."

"Sorry." Mami spoke up, from the back of the group. "My home is in the other direction so..."

Hitomi had a serious look on her face, as she looked back to the other two girls, then back at Madoka.

"I feel like I've been left out of the loop." She noted. "Where's Akemi?"

"...This might take a while to explain." Madoka replied. "We should probably sit down."

The four girls moved to the centre of the rooftop, and took their seats at some benches there.

"So, to get the obvious out of the way." Sayaka spoke up quickly. "Hitomi, this is Tomoe Mami. You know her, Magical Girl, team Danza. Turns out she's an upperclassman here. Not sure why people don't talk about that more-"

"It's surprising, what people overlook." Mami replied, smiling a bit. "I heard the rumour about Akemi earlier. I think it's only because she shouted it in front of the entire class that people took notice. People are usually private enough that they'll avoid noticing things like that, or just completely not think about them."

"...I suppose." Sayaka shrugged. "But yeah. Tomoe, this is Shizune Hitomi, friend of ours."

"...We shouldn't waste any time." Madoka spoke up, at that point. "Hitomi, yesterday, when me and Baron were racing..."

Madoka took a breath, before she continued. This was going to take some time.

"...The bikes took us to this forest-world thing." Madoka explained. "Like, you know how Akemi showed us a Witches barrier? Think like that, except not as... Abstract, I think the word is. More just a forest."

Hitomi nodded, and frowned.

"I guess Homura used her magic to grab on to the bike at the last second." Madoka explained. "And... Well, she ended up with us. We found out in there after a while that if we grabbed the fruit off the trees, they turned into Lockseeds, but then when I picked and found another Strawberry Lockseed, Baron started a fight over it."

"Are you okay?" Hitomi asked.

"It's fine." Madoka waved off. "Kumon wasn't the one who hurt me."

Madoka immediately regretted her phrasing, as Hitomi picked up on the implication immediately. "...Then who did?"

"...The fight ended when I saw someone else in the woods." Madoka explained. "And... When I called them out, it was Zangetsu."

Hitomi's breath caught, and Madoka noticed Sayaka reflexively curl her fist.

"You've heard of him?" Mami asked Hitomi. "I was warned, but-"

"Homura's told us about him." Madoka explained quickly. She didn't want to reveal that Homura had come from the future, Madoka had already revealed enough, but...

Well, no buts. If Madoka didn't want to mention Homura's future presence, then that meant Madoka couldn't mention what Homura had said.

"Me and Homura ran." Madoka continued. "And then... We ran into another Armoured Rider, like Zangetsu. I heard the name Duke later, but he had a sword. He hit Homura's Soul Gem once, and she fell."

Madoka looked down at her feet for a moment, as she felt a tinge of shame as she explained what came next.

"I was scared." Madoka muttered. "So... I gave up. If it wasn't for Sagara, Yggdrasil would still have me. Like they still have Homura."

"Sagara..?" Hitomi asked. "No, it's not important. You got away?"

"...Yeah." Madoka nodded. "Sayaka, do you want to explain?"

The blue haired girl looked around, before holding out a hand with a ring on it.

"Sorry, Hitomi." Sayaka explained, as she looked away. The ring slipped off of Sayaka's finger, and morphed into the egg-like shape of a Soul Gem.

"Sayaka..." Hitomi whispered. "You... Became a Magical Girl?"

"I'd understand if you're mad." Sayaka replied. "I... Should've talked to you, yesterday. Instead of just going to do... This."

"We need to get Homura back." Homura replied. "Sayaka's a Magical Girl, I have a Driver, and Mami's promised to help as well."

Mami nodded. "Kyubey's willing to help find people as well. He's worried about what Yggdrasil will be able to do with Akemi's Soul Gem. The last time they got their hands on Magical Girls, they started reverse engineering Magical Girl abilities, the general ones, and countered them. Kyubey wants to stop them before they get anything specific to Homura."

Hitomi must have realised the same thing Madoka did, because she went very pale indeed.

"...Kyubey, you said?" Hitomi asked, her tone slightly frosty. "I..."

"We need every advantage we can to save Homura." Madoka explained, trying to avoid outright saying that they didn't trust Kyubey when he was nearby, and Mami was here. "I know Homura wasn't comfortable around Kyubey, but we don't exactly have much choice."

Hitomi didn't react for a moment, but then nodded.

"Fine, then." Hitomi decided. "What's the plan?"

"For now?" Madoka asked. "Try to get Baron on our side. He fought Zangetsu too."

"Then I'll come with you." Hitomi decided. "If someone who attacked you in that forest place is someone you need to negotiate with, then-"

Madoka shook her head.

"I don't really get him that much." Madoka began. "But I think I understand enough about Kumon Kaito to know the basics. He's the kind of person who doesn't appreciate what he thinks is weakness. If I go with you, he'll assume I'm leaning on you. If I go alone, maybe he'll think I'm strong. Or maybe not. It's worth a shot anyway."

"Madoka-"

"Besides." The pink haired girl interrupted Hitomi. "What's the worst he's going to do? Hit me a bit? If we're going to save Homura, we're going to have to fight Duke and Zangetsu. They're going to try to kill me. Getting beaten isn't going to mean anything, in the grand scheme of things."

There was silence for a moment, as people took a moment to process Madoka's statement.

Nobody had really thought about it until then, Madoka realised. But preparing to fight Yggdrasil, save Homura, all of that...

They were risking their lives, doing that.

Maybe Mami had already considered it, Madoka thought, but she still fell silent at the statement. Was she considering the difference in a life or death situation fighting a Witch to that of fighting another human being? Would there be a difference? Would it be harder for Mami, fighting something that was human?

The silence hung on the air for a long moment, before Tomoe spoke up, changing the subject.

"By the way." She noted suddenly. "I though I should mention. I don't know if it's related to Yggdrasil, but someone's been following Magical Girls, recently."

"Hm?" Sayaka asked, leaping on the distraction.

"They haven't done anything yet." Mami continued. "But... Well, I was talking with Hana earlier. Last night, she said, she was hunting a Witch, and she noticed someone in black watching her from a distance. They had their phone out, and ran when Hana went after them. Nagisa said she thought she saw a shadow in the corner of her eye once while I was hunting a Witch for her, but didn't think anything of it until Hana saw something too."

"...That doesn't sound good." Sayaka replied. "I mean, they haven't done anything yet, sure, but why are they watching and running and hiding? They're probably plotting something, or else they would've just shown themselves instead of being a sneak."

"Possibly..." Hitomi mused, somewhat distantly, as if her mind was elsewhere.

"...Hitomi?" Madoka asked. "Are you thinking about something?"

"...I am, yes." Hitomi admitted. "Miss Tomoe, you know the being that creates Magical Girl, Kyubey? Do you know where he is right now?"

"Right now, no." Mami replied. "He'd come quickly if we called him, though. Why?"

"You and Sayaka are Magical Girls." Hitomi noted. "And Madoka has her Driver. I have nothing, if I want to help. And I don't know how I could get my hands on a Driver."

"You want to become a Magical Girl?" Madoka asked. "Hitomi, are you sure?"

"I don't want to stand by and do nothing while my friends do something." Hitomi replied. "The wish that a Magical Girl makes... I think I could make use of it."

There was a rattling sound, as some kind of weight suddenly leapt to the fence failing, and everyone looked over to see Kyubey resting on the fence.

"Do you just come running when people mention wishes?" Sayaka asked. "That was fast."

"I was close by." Kyubey admitted. "Shizune Hitomi, you are interested in becoming a Magical Girl?"

"I am." Hitomi replied, with a nod.

"I should warn you beforehand." Kyubey continued. "Your potential as a Magical Girl is extremely low. Below average, in fact. Miki Sayaka was somewhat above average, and made a Wish that improves her combat ability immensely. Tomoe Mami had enough potential that she far outclasses Miki Sayaka in raw power, and has years of experience on her as well. And Kaname Madoka has potential somewhat less than Mami's, but with her Driver, could become more powerful than her quickly if she made the right wish."

Madoka blinked, at that. She had that much potential?

"You, however, are not that noteworthy." Kyubey continued. "You would not be able to accomplish much with your Wish, and your combat potential would not be enough to make a difference against the likes of Armoured Rider Zangetsu."

Hitomi nodded.

"it's better than nothing." Hitomi replied. "And... I think I have a wish in mind anyway, which could help me with that problem."

"Oh?"

"You can tell what I would and would not be able to do with a wish, can't you, Kyubey?" Hitomi asked. "In that case, do I have enough of this 'Potential' to make a wish that would, for instance, produce a Driver like Madoka's, and the most powerful Lockseed it can use?"

...What?

"That wish, specifically, would run into one major issue." Kyubey replied. "The strongest Lockseed currently known is beyond the ability to reproduce even with Kaname's potential. With that in mind, a wish like that would be viable. I would not know the strength of the Lockseed until after it is made. Perhaps you could end up with a Mango or Kiwi, or perhaps a Walnut."

She was thinking about wishing for a Driver?

That was...

She was planning to compensate for her deficiencies as a Magical Girl, according to Kyubey, with Armoured Rider technology. Or perhaps she was planning to use both to start with, and is just going to use the Driver to catch up after she found out about her potential. That was clever. And...

...Should Madoka allow it? Homura didn't trust Kyubey, and Duke's sword could target a Magical Girl easily enough. Who knows what could happen to Hitomi if she made a wish like that?

But...

Another ally would be useful. Extremely so, considering that Zangetsu was liable to rely on lethal force if he had to.

Biting her lip, Madoka-

[X] Fell silent. Let Hitomi do what she wants.
[X] Asked Hitomi to reconsider.