"May I come along to visit your friend? I don't know her personally, but..." you say, trailing off slightly awkwardly.
Madoka glances uncertainly at Sayaka, who shrugs back. "Sure, I'm sure Hitomi'd be happy to have more visitors," the bluenette says. "Now let's go!"
The entire group troops over to the elevators. Sayaka, as mentioned, gets off first at the seventh floor to visit Kyousuke, while the rest of you continue up to the tenth.
As it turns out, the tenth floor consists almost entirely of private wardrooms, and Madoka leads you and Mami to one of them before knocking. "Come in," a voice calls from inside the room.
Madoka opens the door, and you follow her into the room, Mami trailing behind you. Hitomi, it turns out, is sitting on a chair beside the window and awkwardly trying to brush out her long, olive green hair with one hand. She winces every so often as the brush tugs on her hair. Her left hand is, as expected, in a cast. There's an enormous array of flowers and various get well cards sitting on her bedside table, you notice. You can make out some of them: one from the tea ceremony club, one from the sewing club...
"Madoka! And..." Hitomi begins, before looking at you and Mami in slight confusion. She lays the brush down on her lap, looking relieved that she can put that aside for now.
"Hitomi!" Madoka greets her in return as she moves over to Hitomi's side. "I brought my friends to meet you... This is Tomoe Mami, one of our upperclassmen, and this is Sabrina? Sayaka and I mentioned her?"
"It's nice to meet you," you say, almost in unison with Mami.
"I'm pleased to meet you too, Mami, Sabrina," Hitomi says, looking between the two of you. She seems to remember something, and looks back at Mami, brow furrowed in thought. "Ah... Mami, aren't you in the archery club? You seem familiar..."
Mami nods, looking startled. "Yes, I was... Um... I left it last year, actually. Outside commitments."
"Oh. Still, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance again. And any friend of Madoka's is a friend of mind," Hitomi smiles at the blonde and you. "I understand that you lost your memory, Sabrina?"
You shrug. "I suppose that's one way to put it, yes," you say, glancing off to the side. "I consider myself very lucky that I ran into someone as nice as Madoka and Sayaka, and then Mami, who were willing to help me."
Hitomi nods, smiling. "Madoka
is a good person," she agrees. Madoka reddens at the praise, ducking her head and looking away.
"So, ah, I'm just curious, Hitomi," you say, picking your words carefully. "You... fell down the stairs?"
Hitomi nods, frowning a little. "I did."
Madoka reaches for her shoulder and pats her gently to comfort her. You grimace internally, but you sort of need to know whether Kirika had a hand in it.
"Ah... Did you trip, or something?" Mami looks at you in askance.
The green haired girl now turns a full frown at you. "I'm not very sure, I don't remember the incident that well."
"Sabrina..." Madoka looks at you, worried. "Why are you asking?"
You clear your throat, and laugh nervously, brushing your hair back. "Ah... It's just that, uh, my mind's been going to some rather strange places recently. I... maybe whatever made me lose my memory gave me a touch of paranoia?"
To Mami, you think, "
I have a slight suspicion that this might have been Oriko's work."
"
You still shouldn't have asked Hitomi here," Mami says reprovingly, bumping you lightly with her shoulder.
Hitomi stares at you for a moment, before turning to Madoka. "I suppose Sayaka is visiting Kyousuke?"
"Um, yeah!" Madoka says.
"Sabrina, could we step outside for a moment?" Mami asks.
"Sure," you say, and follow her out.
When the door shuts behind you, Mami turns to you, and informs you tartly, "Sabrina, that was rude."
You hang your head. "I'm sorry, but I really thought it was important to know. Oriko threatened us, and if she can make
Homura worry like that..."
"You shouldn't be apologizing to me, you know," Mami says. "And I understand, Sabrina. It's just... that was terribly impolite, it really was. And... Didn't you say she was talking to you, when the accident happened?"
"Yes, but she's not working alone," you say. "I was talking to Kyuubey earlier. Oriko's working with at least one more magical girl, by the name of Kirika."
Mami sighs. "I see. This isn't the first time some new magical girl tried to take this city from me... but still, this Oriko doesn't seem to have done much so far."
"I suppose so," you admit. "Hey, uh, one more thing that occurred to me. Do you think that we could heal Hitomi and Kyousuke with magic?"
Mami purses her lips. "We could, but we would have to reveal magic to them. We aren't dedicated healers, so it would take a bit of time, and it wouldn't be, ah, subtle."
"Huh," you respond. "Maybe something to bring up with Madoka and Sayaka?"
"Maybe," Mami agrees. "We should think it over a bit more first, though. Shall we go back in? You should apologize to Hitomi."
"Yeah. Thanks, Mami," you say.
"Not a problem, Sabrina," the blonde tells you, and opening the door to head back in. The conversation between Madoka and Hitomi peters out, and Hitomi turns to look at you.
You walk over to where Hitomi is sitting, and half bow to her. "My apologies, Hitomi, I shouldn't have asked you so brazenly. I was just curious," you say formally.
Hitomi nods in acceptance. "I accept your apology."
Madoka smiles tentatively at the two of you, pleased to see that you're doing to best to make amends.
"So, um, Hitomi," you say carefully. "How's the hospital? Is there anything I, we, can help you with? Maybe I could visit during the day? It must get lonely in here," you suggest, probing for information to see if she's talking to Kyousuke.
"Ah... no need, Sabrina, but I thank you for the thought," Hitomi says. "Besides, I'm actually allowed to walk around, if not too far."
You nod in acceptance, unable to see a way to probe further. It seems reasonable to guess that she
might be talking to Kyousuke, though, since she said that she could roam about in response to your suggestion that it might be lonely. Ultimately, you're still unsure.
"Ah, Hitomi?" Mami begins. "Are you still in the archery club?"
"Yes, I am," Hitomi replies.
"How is Chie doing?" Mami asks. One of her juniors, you figure.
"Chie? The vice-president of the club?" Hitomi says.
"Oh, she is? I knew that girl would go far if she'd just be a bit bolder," Mami nods in satisfaction.
The conversation becomes a little more natural, after that, largely between Madoka, Mami, and Hitomi, with you injecting a few comments here and there. It's not like you can really relate to their school talk.
"Ah, look at the time," Madoka comments. You follow her gaze to the clock, and see that it's four-fifteen. "Maybe we should go to look for Sayaka? She should still be visiting Kyousuke."
"May I come along? I would like to go for a walk, too," Hitomi asks, rising gingerly to her feet.
Madoka beams at her. "Of course, Hitomi!"
The four of you troop over to the lift, stopping to let Hitomi check in at the counter to inform them that she's going for a walk, and head down to the seventh floor. You soon find yourself led to another ward room, just as opulent as Hitomi's.
Madoka knocks on the door, and a male voice replies. "Come in!"
Kyousuke, it turns out, is a rather delicate looking boy with grey hair and fine features. Sayaka, sitting at a chair beside his bed, looks up in surprise at the four of you trooping into the room. Kyousuke looks similarly surprised. There's no music player, or even the wreckage of one, in sight, something which niggles at the edge of your thoughts.
"Eh? What're you doing here?" Sayaka asks, startled.
"Ah... look at the time, Sayaka," Madoka says. "And Hitomi wanted to visit."
"Um... right!" Sayaka glances back at the boy lying on the bed. "Um, Kyousuke, these are my friends. Mami, and Sabrina. Uh, you know Madoka."
"Mami, Sabrina. It's a pleasure to meet you," Kyousuke says pleasantly. "Hitomi, Madoka, hello."
[] Write-in conversation
[] Head off to Mami's house
[] Insist that Homura join in like a normal person
=====
And a special thanks to Choo Choo for helping me to discover that it
is possible to brush your hair with one hand!
Additionally, in the future, more detailed write-ins are appreciated for the more...
delicate things.
