You smile at Homura. "Thank you," you say, after a short-lived debate with yourself about whether to respond in German.
Or Witch runes, but she'd
definitely take that badly. As opposed to German, which would probably get you a confused look.
You skim the treetops close enough to ruffle the leaves as they brush against the bottom of your MOF, brief verdant green blooming and fading in your wake. You stretch your senses out,
feeling for any magical girls.
"So," you say, idly knotting the string tying you to Homura around your wrist. "Mami's power is based around connections, right?"
Homura glances questioningly at you.
"Well..." you say, taking the lack of contradiction as agreement, or at least acknowledgement of your point. "I've noticed that I coordinate really well with her, despite having little to no practice together."
Homura's questioning gaze intensifies somehow. Not exactly a gaze, but you can all but hear the unspoken 'go on'.
Heh.
You're getting better at understanding Homura-ese.
"I reckon team and coordination practice could help our group improve very quickly, especially with Mami's help," you continue. "What do you think?"
Homura's brow furrows. "There's a... magical element to you and Mami working well together?"
"I don't really know," you clarify as you come to a halt over the park. It's not a
large one, and you've already made a full circuit. "I'm just thinking that it might be. Uh. No magical girls at this park, by the way."
"You think that
magic is the reason you and Mami work so well together?" Maybe you're imagining it, but there's the slightest trace of amusement in Homura's voice as she answers you. "The shopping center, then the library."
"Right, I know where the shopping center is," you say, vectoring the MOF in the general direction of said building. You'd been there shopping before with Mami and the others, of course. "And as I said, maybe?"
"You can see magic," Homura points out, quirking an eyebrow ever so slightly.
"... this is
true," you admit.
Well, she's got you there. You
don't see magic apart from the obvious when you're fighting with Mami. You purse your lips, rallying to add, "But it could be an internal thing for Mami?"
"Not as far as I know," Homura says, second eyebrow joining the first.
You snort. "Fine, fine," you say. "Point stands, though, team practices?"
"I know how to work with Mami. But they could be helpful," Homura allows.
"But not Sayaka, and the two of us haven't fought together that much," you say, glancing at the enormous shopping mall looming up ahead, all graceful, swooping curves and painted concrete.
Homura shrugs. "It could be useful," she repeats.
"So you'll go along with it?" you ask, guiding your MOF to make a perimeter loop of the shopping center. It's big enough that you'll have to make a circle around it, and then crisscross the roof a few times to make sure you've scanned the entire building.
She nods.
You beam at Homura. "Thanks," you say.
"It helps me, too," she says, violet eyes going distant for a moment.
"Speaking of helping," you say, swerving smoothly around a corner. "You know, we can move at... I'm pretty sure supersonic speeds with this thing." You tap the floor of the MOF that you're sitting on. "If there's any...
equipment that you think could be useful for Walpurgisnacht, I'd be more than happy to go on international shopping trips, as it were."
Homura blinks, eyes widening a fraction - you don't think she'd actually considered that thought before. "I would have to do some research," she says. "But that sounds like a good idea."
You beam at her. "Great," you say. "Shopping~"
"As it is," she says. "I'm heading to Yokosuka Naval Base, this weekend or next week."
"Yokosuka Naval Base..." you purse your lips, considering which weapons Homura might be
significant pause shopping for. "Harpoons? And Type 88s?"
She nods, unsurprised at your knowledge. "As well as mortars, mines, and guns."
"Hmm... how do you get there, anyway?" you say, directing your MOF to finish the loop and start crisscrossing the roof of the building.
"I ask Tachibana for a lift," Homura says, amethyst eyes flicking up to yours. "Usually."
You can take a hint. "Let me know when you're going, and I'll see?"
Homura nods again.
"Great," you say, beaming. "Also, so-"
You break off, frowning.
Homura stiffens, her expression sharpening to attention. "What is it?"
"Potential," you say, pointing almost directly down. You can feel the ephemeral shade of Grief down in the shopping center. "Do you think it's her?"
"It might be," Homura says, considering. "Are you sure it's a potential magical girl?"
"I think so," you say.
"Then we should check," she says, eyes narrowing. "Any girl our age should be in school right now."
"Mmm," you agree, the MOF drifting down to land on the roof of the building, amongst the dense maze of air conditioning ducts and vents. You dissolve it just a few centimeters above the concrete, dropping lightly to the rooftop with a rustle of cloth.
Homura lands behind you. "This way," she says, starting for a staircase, just visible around the corner of an air conditioner. The click-click of her heels on concrete is swallowed by the endless, muffling silence of the timestop.
You amble in her wake, combing your wind-ruffled hair back into shape with your fingers. Absently, you collect all the loose Grief back into the usual spheres of Grief, clustering them tight to pull them after you.
Which reminds you of something
else you've been meaning to ask Homura. Heh. You don't really get much opportunity to talk to her alone like this, do you? "Say, Homura," you say. "Would you mind spotting for me for some experiments with Grief sometime?"
"No?" she says, slowing to let you pass her.
"Right, it..." you say, taking the lead. You thread the thin crowd carefully, trying to home in on the potential. "So... I control Grief. But what I don't know is what happens when I
stop controlling it. Small bits just disperse. Larger quantities... kind of try to clump together."
"You want to know what happens then," Homura says.
"Yep," you agree. "I... don't know, it seems important to find out. I know exactly what Grief does under my control, but outside it... yeah."
"Agreed," Homura says, brow furrowing. "When do you want to do it?"
"I'll get back to you," you say. "And... again, thanks, Homura."
She shakes her head. "Find some time soon," she suggests, amethyst eyes intent on you.
"Right. I'll let you know," you agree. "Hey, on the subject of time..." You raise the string tied around your wrist, along with a questioning eyebrow.
Homura frowns. "Try it later," she says. "We're looking for Sasa Yuuki now."
"Ah," you say. "Right."
Conversation lapses for a few minutes as you wind your way through the sparse crowds - mostly middle-aged women, a few men and young children here and there. You home in on that potential, casually hopping over a railing and dropping to the floor below rather than risk the elevator, which...
Actually, you have no idea if the elevator would reanimate.
"That's her," Homura murmurs.
It is, you recognise with a jolt. Turquoise blue eyes stare out from under an overhanging fringe, a bob cut that would be brown if it weren't for the timestop. She's dressed in a white blouse, with a fluffy skirt that you privately think doesn't suit her at
all.
She glares at the world, hidden behind the curtain of her fringe. The timestop froze a sullen twist to her lips, capturing her as she skulked about in the lee of an indoor fountain with her hands sunk deep in her pockets.
She's not a puella magi.
[] Write-in
=====
I've mentioned it before, but since major Mitakihara landmarks are based on real world ones; the Mitakihara shopping center is based on
Vivocity.