It'll be a decade before her hair even grows an inch.
And I thought a year would be enough for noticeable hair growth.

After a moment, Sabrina looked up at her hair, "I should cut this, it's gotten too long in the past year..."

"Ah..." hesitated Mami, "I like it that way."

Sabrina took a moment to look at Mami, then back at her hair, then back at Mami.

"OK," she nodded.

Mami beamed down at her. "What are you writing?" she asked.

:p

[Q] Go ask Homu if you can play with her hair. Sasa can wait.
-[Q] Tell her she can play with your hair in exchange.
--[Q] Grief Hair Extensions, Activate!
---[Q] ...
----[Q] You probably should have asked her to timestop before irrupting into her classroom.
-----[Q] OH SHIT IT'S TRUANT OFFICER RUN!
 
Anomalous Materials pt. 29
Showtime.

Well, not really showtime. You're not putting on a show. You're just going to be yourself, really.

Meguca are for saving, after all.

... even if they're not meguca. Like Sayaka wasn't and Sasa isn't.

Yet?

No, no yet. Meguca are for saving, even if they're not meguca.

Right.

You smile to yourself, turning the corner. The crowds are sparse enough that you spot Sasa easily, still skulking about near the fountain. And she really is skulking, hands planted firmly in the pockets of her dress and scowl practically etched in place.

You know her, too: a her from another time. A girl with a vicious, festering hatred of everyone better than her, and an inferiority complex to suit. She made a Wish to control those she saw as better than her, and in her eyes, that was... nearly everyone. Witches, too.

Ultimately, she fell to Oriko and Kirika. Defeated, and when she learned what Witches were... she broke her own Soul Gem.

She spots you coming first, scowl flickering to annoyance, and then suspicion as you don't break step. Her eyes dart to the sides, left, then right, as if checking for other people.

"Hi!" you say brightly, raising one hand in a brief wave.

"I don't know," she says, brusque and unfriendly as she brushes past you.

"Hm?" you ask, turning to follow her as she tries to stalk away.

"I don't know where the toilet or information counter or whatever is," she shoots over her shoulder, still walking away.

You have longer legs than her, and it isn't even an effort to keep up with her.

"I'm not looking for anything," you say.

"Great!" Sasa says, rounding on you. "Then what do you want?"

"Well..." you say. "Are you skipping school?"

She scowls at you, and spins to start walking away again.

"Hey, I didn't mean it that way," you say, longer strides letting you catch up. "I just mean... aren't you worried people will give you a hard time? I mean, I've walked my friend to school before, and the teacher there just glared at me. And all I did was stand there!"

"Good for you," Sasa snaps. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Yeah, well," you say. "Bloody truancy officers are relentless."

"Then shouldn't you be in school where you won't get disturbed by them, like a good little girl?" she snaps, dislike radiating from the taut lines of her body.

"Oh, I don't go to school, actually," you point out.

"Then go back to your own country and stop bothering me," she hisses, eyes narrowed and furious.

"Well," you say. "I live here, I just don't go to school. I'm kind of new to town, but I do live here. I don't sound like a foreigner, do I?"

The scowl on her face flickers uncertainly for a moment, before she turns away, resolutely marching away from you. You're drawing looks from the few shoppers wandering through the shopping center - you do make quite the pair. A short, Japanese girl apparently having a walking argument with a white haired, Caucasian girl, both of an age where you'd ostensibly be in school right now.

You persist, keeping pace with her and tucking a stray lock of hair away. You briefly wish you had nice, long hair like Homura's. Maybe a good hairflip would stop her in her tracks. "I'm Sabrina," you say. "May I know your name?"

"Why are you even bothering me?" she snaps, rounding on you.

"Well," you say. "Honestly? You seem kind of down. Had a rough day?"

"I don't need your pity," she hisses, sullen, vicious fury flashing across her face. "I don't need a sanctimonious, meddling foreigner to be all concerned for me."

[] Write-in

=====​

Kept this one short because, well, there isn't too much to write here.
 
[] "I'm not pitying you, that would mean you would look hurt or weak or whatever. I just saw a girl that was sulking and wanted to see whats up. I don't think I ever met a girl who likes to sulk, maybe a few who do it on a regular basis, but they still don't like it. Maybe I'm being selfish, but seeing you feel bad makes me feel bad so I came here to stop it."

ehhh, still sounds a little off. I just want to empathize the difference between empathy and pity.
 
[] It sounds like you do.

[] Would you have preferred to keep wallowing in your own misery?

[] So what do you need?

Sometimes being direct is best. Sometimes it isn't. I'm not sure what kind of time this is, but it is always important to keep in mind.

[] That sounds like a lot of pent-up aggression. Wanna go shoot things?

[] Oh, poor baby, let Mama Sabrina hold you and make it better.

[] No time for this, other Meguca to save. I'll cheer you up once we're in the Mobile Oppression Fortress.

[] I'm not a foreigner, Yuuki, I'm a reflection of your inner self.

These, on the other hand, are probably all bad ideas.
 
Sasa's reaction here is fairly understandable. Some people are approachable when upset, others aren't. I think the important thing is to keep her talking, even if it's vicious. As long as she's actually interacting rather than ignoring Sabrina, there's a way to get in.

...One thing to note is that a truancy officer may likely turn up with all the attention the duo's attracting. Deliquent Sabrina and Sasa!

I'm personally a fan of:

[X] Okay. Then what do you need, Miss Desperately Unhappy?
 
Sasa's reaction here is fairly understandable. Some people are approachable when upset, others aren't. I think the important thing is to keep her talking, even if it's vicious. As long as she's actually interacting rather than ignoring Sabrina, there's a way to get in.

...One thing to note is that a truancy officer may likely turn up with all the attention the duo's attracting. Deliquent Sabrina and Sasa!

I'm personally a fan of:

[X] Okay. Then what do you need, Miss Desperately Unhappy?
that might actually be a good thing. We can pull a "Take my hand! we can run away!"

That'd be cool.
 
Sasa probably doesn't need anything.

Or more specifically, she doesn't want to need anything and is pissed that Sabrina would even presume otherwise. It's related to self image things to some extent, but it really comes down to the fact that "concern" is often a cloak for "manipulation". Sasa's probably met a lot of people who like to pretend to be concerned for her and care for her as a foot in the door before forcing her (usually through guilt tripping) to do something she didn't want to do. Chinese parents are fond of this tactic, for example, to control what their children read. It's an especial distinction of Chinese Evangelical communities from the Midwest to use this to prevent their kids from reading Harry Potter, because apparently witchcraft and sorcery is satanic and sinful*. The natural response of many children is to follow along to minimize conflict while privately harboring resentment and anger. There's also the common usage of concern and pity by bullies to do particularly cruel tricks, which might be somewhat more relevant here, though in this case I can't provide a more concrete example (edit: Actually I can: involves asshats stealing my homework and me having to fight them to get it back).

Yes, the example I cited was about Chinese people, but I don't think it's really necessary for me to go into a detailed proof about why that's applicable to this situation as well. Honestly, my experience with people who are like this implies to me that they're probably reasonably cool, just have issues trusting you and your concern. It might help to do a Kyouko-logic to this situation, since it gives Sasa a reason for your actions that's not "attempt to fuck Sasa over". Ultimately, though, there's nothing you can really do but be persistent and never, ever, do anything to break that trust.

[X] Hey, no, that's cool, I didn't mean it that way. I'm just new in town and wanted someone to hang with. Have you had lunch? You wanna grab something to eat?
[X] And I'm not pitying you, I just don't like eating alone. What was your name again?
[X] If Sasa begins to depart again, follow.

*citation: I grew up Chinese Evangelical in the Midwest. God only knows why I'm not aggressively Atheist.
EDIT: More explicit wording inserted.
EDIT2: Mild rewording.
 
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What could be her problem. Besides being bothered by Sabrina .
Even Ono was eraser to get a read on.
 
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