You eye the girl, hand still outstretched with the Grief Seed held out to her. Theories spin through your mind, thinking about
why she might turn down the Grief Seed. Because of pride? Because she's
aware of what a Grief Seed
is? Because she's... like
you? Somehow, you doubt that.
Because she wants to put up a good front?
Because she saw you mess with the Grief Seed? Then again, she didn't actually show much of a response to you pulling the Grief free.
Still.
You want her to take the Seed.
"Miss Ono," you say slowly, carefully considering your words. You don't want to sound condescending, if it's pride that drives her, and you want to tiptoe around... certain facts of life as a puella magi. The girl's eyes flick back to you, centered somewhere around your nose.
Not meeting your eyes?
"After a certain level, Grief in your Soul Gem affects how you feel and think. It's... sensible to keep a Grief Seed on hand," you say, watching her reaction carefully. The girl blinks, her lips tightening slightly and eyes flicking up to yours for a moment before dipping back to your somewhere around your nose again. "And so," you continue with gentle emphasis, "I'd feel a lot better knowing that my new teammate had a safety net. Please take it?"
"Very well," Megane acquieces, holding her hand out in an imperious gesture for the Grief Seed. You place the spiked ball in her hand, and slim fingers close over it. The girl holds the Grief Seed for a moment, as if weighing it. Finally, she brings her arm behind her back, and when her hand drops to hang loosely at her side, the Grief Seed's vanished.
Not like she has
pockets in an
evening gown, you suppose.
You check Megane's Soul Gem again, in your Grief senses. A little bit in there, perhaps a little more than there was before. Nothing
too egregious, you think, merely... noticeable.
You half turn, glancing back at Homura and Kirika, and wave a hand at them in a quick, beckoning gesture.
Homura blinks amethyst eyes once, rising smoothly to her feet, rifle sliding away into her shield, while Kirika bounces energetically to her feet. Both of them leap for your roof, soaring through the dead, still air of the time stop to land - Homura with a quiet click of her heels on concrete, and Kirika with a loud crack of shattering flagstones.
"Heya," you say, shoving the thoughts aside. "Homura, could you end the..." You tap your hand against your left wrist, where her shield would be. You're not sure whether Megane knows what it is yet, but you doubt Homura would appreciate you blurting it out like that, in any case.
Even if a certain little rat bastard's been telling tales.
Homura nods, reaching across to grip the rim. She cranks the shield across with the hum of whirring gears.
Colour and noise floods back into the world, the subtle hum of the living city, the gentle warmth of sunlight, the gentle breeze blowing across the rooftops almost a sledgehammer to the senses after the endless silence of time stop.
Megane shivers slightly, turning her face up to the sun for a moment with her eyes closed before looking back at Mami.
Mami smiles, bobbing her head sideways at Homura. "Miss Ono, this is Akemi Homura," she says, before continuing in a slightly less pleasant tone, "And this is Kure Kirika."
The girl glances at the two, looking them up and down before inclining her head slightly to Homura. "Pleased to meet you," she says, voice neutral.
"
Mami?" you ask telepathically. "
Could you set up a meeting at her convenience, tomorrow maybe? And if she brings up anything else?"
"
Of course, Sabrina," Mami answers warmly. She turns a polite smile on Megane, and asks, "Miss Ono?"
"Yes, Miss Tomoe?" the girl asks, looking back at Mami. This time, now that Mami mentioned it... she's not meeting Mami's eyes either, is she?
"We would like to meet you again tomorrow, if that's acceptable?" Mami asks, smiling.
Megane hesitates. "I have school tomorrow," she says.
"Ah, of course," Mami says, dipping her head with a smile, and continues without missing a beat. "We have school, too. Maybe afterwards?"
... you're vaguely tempted to note that
you don't, technically, but that's not a helpful thing to say, is it?
"That would be fine," Megane says, still looking somewhere in the region of Mami's nose.
Kirika yawns hugely, and throws herself onto the roof, plunking herself down into a cross legged seating position in a flurry of cloth. The motion draws Megane's eye, and you see her blink slightly, before shifting her gaze away from Kirika.
"Out of curiosity, Miss Ono," you say, drawing the girl's attention. "Where
do you go to school?"
"Yokosuka Middle School," the girl answers. "I'm in the third year."
"Ah, we're from Mitakihara Middle School, mostly," Mami says, smiling.
"I get to skip schoo
oooool," Kirika lilts cheerfully from her seated position.
A definite flash of something across Megane's face, but you're not sure
what. "Ah," she says. "I think that we're supposed to be rivals, then."
Mami shakes her head. "I've never set much stock by the school rivalries."
The girl shakes her head, not saying anything.
Mami smiles, seemingly unperturbed by the awkward silence. "Do you have any other concerns, Miss Ono?"
Megane hesitates for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, there aren't," she says. "May I leave?"
"Ah, actually," you say, raising a finger. "Could I have your phone number? So that we can contact each other?"
The girl hesitates for a moment, before nodding. You pull out your phone, looking at her quizzically, and she lists out a number which you hurriedly punch in, thumbs clicking over the number pad. "Alright, so..." you hit the call, and wait for her phone to ring before cancelling the call. "That's my number."
Megane nods, reaching behind her back and pulling her own phone out to check - it's a smart phone, and a new, high-end model, too, if you're any judge.
"Righty, then," you say. "Nothing else, then. Mami, Homura, Kirika?" You look around at your friends.
"Nope!" Kirika chirps, while Mami and Homura just shake your heads, the former with a smile.
"Tomorrow, then, Miss Ono," Mami says, smiling at the girl.
"Tomorrow," she says, turning and beginning to walk away, gait... elegant and graceful. She reaches the edge of the roof, and steps off, dropping smoothly off the edge.
You sigh. "Well," you say. "That was a thing."
Mami shakes her head. "She's... preoccupied with something," she says. "I'm not sure what."
"Yeah, I get that impression, too," you say, rubbing your chin thoughtfully. "Homura, Kirika?"
Homura shrugs minutely, raising and dipping her shoulders the tiniest fraction of a centimeter.
"No idea," Kirika says.
"I'm heading back to Madoka and the others" Homura says, voice quiet and impassive.
"We should," Mami agrees. "We left them in a hurry. Ah, unless there's anything else, Sabrina?"
"Nah, I don't think so," you agree, smiling at Mami.
"I'm going back to Oriko!" Kirika chirps.
Homura's eyes snap to the girl, frowning, before she glances sidelong at you.
"Ah, yeah," you say. "Kirika, I'll escort you back to Oriko's. Mami, Homura, I'll catch up soon, OK?"
The time traveller nods, satisfied.
Mami hesitates, and you give her a smile. "I'll be fine, Mami," you say. "And I'll catch up as soon as I can, OK?"
"Ah... actually, I could come with you?" Mami says.
"That works too," you say. "Homura?"
Homura nods.
The black haired girl hops lightly to her feet, grinning eagerly at you.
"Alrighty," you say. "See you soon, Homura! C'mon, Mami, Kirika."
With that, the three of you are soon soaring across the rooftops, Kirika just a little bit ahead of you and Mami at your side. The enormous mass of Grief from Aurora follows you at a distance, a cloud of miniature planetoids cascading over each other in a teeming mass.
You smile gently at Mami as the two of you leap from the roof in virtual lockstep, and she returns the smile, looking... content.
A glance forward at Kirika, bounding exuberantly ahead and vectoring back towards
her oujo. Something about the timestop, and Kirika's cheerful, irrepressible energy, reminds you of days past, and a time when you had to threaten Oriko with... Witching out Kirika. You're... you're glad that you didn't kill them. But that you had threatened Oriko with that, even in bluff...
You regret it, you think.
You can't help but wonder if Oriko ever feels the same way about what she did.
A sigh. Moving on. You reach out telepathically for Homura as you leap. "
Hey, Homura?"
"
Yes?" the time traveller asks.
"
When we've got the time
later, could we talk a bit?" you ask, emphasising the 'time'. You trust that she'll get it.
"
... Understood," Homura replies.
"
That said... Homura, um, do you have any objections regarding how we dealt with Miss Ono, back there?" you ask, as you push off another roof with a cra-
without a cracking noise. You're getting it.
Slowly.
"
I don't think she's very useful," Homura says.
You sigh as you vault an air conditioning compressor. "
I don't want her dead or worse," you say simply.
Homura doesn't respond to that.
"
Anyway," you say, moving on. "
I...can't help but notice that you've been accumulating a little more Grief than usual, lately. Is something wrong? Anything I can help with?" you inject as much concern as you can into your mental voice.
"
Checking on Madoka, making sure Kyuubey hasn't been around," Homura replies, pausing for a moment before adding, "
Resting."
"
Ah, that's good to hear," you say.
"
I will be doing some stocking up tomorrow," Homura says. "
For Walpurgisnacht."
[] Write-in
=====
Yes, going
raiding Yakuza shopping for weapons with
Mum Homura
is on the table.
