"OK, so..." you trail off, a little uncertain as to what to tell Homura. "So I've prevented Charlotte from appearing, I think. Sort of, maybe?"
Homura cocks her head quizzically. "Who's Charlotte?" she asks, stumbling slightly over the unfamiliar syllables.
"Oh. Uh, the little doll Witch that has a big worm thing inside?" you explain, mentally smacking yourself. Of course, she wouldn't really know the names of Witches, would she?
"I see. I've never tried that before. How did you do that?" Homura says, a hint of interest entering her eyes.
"Uh... that's why I said
sort of," you say. "OK, so from what I know, the girl, her name's Momoe Nagisa, contracted because of her mother. But her mother died yesterday, and she isn't contracted. Kyuubey apparently hasn't even found her yet."
Homura's lips thin. "I haven't seen the Incubator since yesterday. And-" you're already shaking your head, anticipating the question "-you haven't either."
"And neither has Mami," you confirm. "That's not a good thing, is it."
"No."
The two of you sit in silence, for a moment, mulling over the lack of white bunnycat. It
should be relieving to not have it poking its face into everything, but somehow, it isn't. At all.
"Another thing. Today, Hitomi's accident...?" you begin tentatively.
"I doubt it's an accident."
"Kirika?" you guess.
"Likely, but I don't know for sure. I was w- following Madoka, at the time," Homura says. "You're aware that Kirika goes to Mitakihara Middle School, correct?"
"Yes, I am. You'll be keeping an eye out for her, I assume?" you reply.
"Yes. Since you don't need to go to school..." she lets you finish the sentence.
"Oriko? I have no idea how I can find her, though, and I'm worried about fighting her, honestly," you say.
"I know where she lives," Homura replies. "And she's not very strong in combat."
"Assuming she doesn't have any preparations, or have Kirika near by?" you counter.
"I can keep an eye on Kirika. And she doesn't, as far as I know, have any Yakuza contracts or anything, so traps are... unlikely," Homura explains.
Huh. That... might work, you have to admit.
"I'll think about it," you say. "Anything else?"
"You know where and when to find all the Witches, correct?" Homura says.
"Uh, no, sorry," you admit, pushing back your hair again. You can see how she arrived at that conclusion, given that you'd been showing, up until this moment, apparently encyclopaedic knowledge of the Witches. "I only know of some significant ones."
"That makes things a little harder," Homura frowns, looking a little disappointed. "But I can make a list of approximate locations and times of Witches. If you can defeat them, we can try to starve Oriko and Kirika out."
"I can try that, yes," you reply. You're a little unhappy with it, since you've never even tried to defeat a Witch solo before, but the idea seems sound, and you certainly seem to have enough raw power to spare.
"I'll pass you the list... tomorrow, then," the time traveller nods. "I don't think I need to tell you that the list
must be kept away from the Incubator."
"Of course," you say. "Oh, uh. Speaking of Witch hunts, I think Mami is warming up to you. Inviting her on that hunt today was a good idea; we should do it again."
"With Oriko around, that may not be tenable," Homura frowns, looking aside. "I can see the use, though."
You grunt. "Yeah, I see your point, too. Still, you want Mami fighting with us for Walpurgisnacht, right? She's powerful, and experienced. This is the best way to do it, I think. And maybe you can try to be a bit friendlier to her at school?"
Homura grimaces unhappily. "I know. I'll need to think about this."
The two of you sit in silence for a long moment.
"Is there anything else?" the time traveller asks, eventually.
[] Write-in
=====
Homura has ideas! Of course, they need not be the
best ideas.
Either way, the next update will wrap up the night, if all goes well. So if there's anything else you want done before that...
