[X] ...She didn't want to spend any more time around Kyubey. Homura didn't seem like she wanted to either. Madoka wanted it to go away.
"I think you should go." Madoka thought, somewhat forcibly. She was almost surprised at her own mental tone, but managed to keep up a look towards Kyubey as she waited for it's reply.
"As you wish." Kyubey's calm voice replied.
"If you wish to talk with me later, approach Tomoe Mami. She will facilitate a meeting."
Madoka didn't reply, as she kept glaring up at Kyubey. A moment passed like this, before the white cat-like thing took the hint and left without another word. Madoka looked up at where it had been for a moment, and where it leapt down the wall to leave, before she turned her attention back to Homura.
"...It's going to be okay." Madoka promised her. Homura was on her feet, but was leaning on Madoka fairly heavily. She definitely wasn't okay yet. Maybe Kyubey turning up had put Homura in a bad state of mind, but she definitely wasn't okay with having to remember whatever Zangetsu had done or caused in the future.
It was frustrating, that Madoka didn't know what to do to make Homura feel better. She knew that whoever this was must have done something terrible to leave Homura like this, so maybe...
"Don't worry." Madoka reassured Homura. "It's fine. Whatever it is, I won't let them hurt you. Trust m-"
"NO!" Homura's voice screamed internally again, and Madoka nearly dropped Homura when she flinched from the sudden internal cry.
"NOT AGAIN! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU DIE AGAIN!"
The words reverberated through Madoka's mind for a second, before she realised what Homura had said.
It took Homura about that long to realise it again, because there was a sudden disconnect, as if her mental voice was going to say something before being silenced, and the girl with the glasses drove her face further into Madoka's shoulder and just sobbed.
...See her die again.
Again.
...S-So that was what had happened to Madoka's future self-
No. No time to think about it now. She could think about what the implications of that were when Homura wasn't crying.
"I'm not going to." Madoka said softly. She didn't trust herself to say anything louder than that, but right now, she needed to reassure Homura, and make her feel better. "Not now. I've got you, don't I? You just need to tell us what to do, and nothing bad's going to happen. Okay?"
Homura didn't say anything in return, and just kept sobbing.
Madoka gave her time. She didn't know what else to say, what else to do, to calm her down right now, so just letting her work through it was the only thing Madoka could think to do to help Homura feel better.
"...Madoka." Hitomi stated, from behind the pink haired girl. "You... Did I hear Akemi right, there? Again?"
Hitomi had heard that, then. That was...
Well, Sayaka would be more protective, but that didn't mean Hitomi would just be okay with hearing that this thing Madoka was getting involved with ended up getting her killed.
Madoka had told Hitomi and Sayaka that something had happened in the future as far as Homura had told them, but now Hitomi was getting a lot more hints of what that was. Someone dangerous had a belt like the one that let Madoka turn into, to quote Sagara, an Armoured Rider. Just their name had caused Homura to break down, and then Madoka saying she'd protect Homura had caused the time traveller to let it slip that Madoka had been killed in the future...
Hitomi was smart. Smarter than Madoka was. So if Madoka was starting to put it together, then chances was Hitomi was as well.
Whatever this business with the Drivers and Lockseeds was, Madoka ended up dead because of it. Before, at least. And there was the chance of it happening again now.
It...
Well, Madoka wasn't going to lie. It was a scary thought. But it was one she didn't want to think about right now, and it was one that thinking about was going to make things harder to deal with Homura right now. She could think about it later and freak out. For now, she needed to just try to make Homura cheer up.
"Everything's going to be fine." Madoka repeated again, to both Hitomi and Homura. "I... We'll figure it out."
Madoka couldn't see Hitomi without turning away from Homura, so she couldn't say for sure how her green haired friend was reacting, but Hitomi didn't interrupt or speak up. She was going with it for now, at least.
"Homura?" Madoka asked. "Is there anything you need, now?"
"...I-I..." She breathed. "D-Don't... I... Please."
...Vague, but Madoka could take a guess at what it was meant to be. Don't go, or something like that. Madoka didn't intend to, at least not yet.
"...Can you tell me anything, Homura?" Madoka asked, softly. "Please. If we... If you're scared, then you can tell me, and I can make it better. I promise."
There was silence, for a long time, before Homura muttered something. Madoka didn't say anything in return, and Homura seemed to notice that Madoka hadn't heard her. She repeated herself a moment later, louder.
"M-Melon Arms." Homura stated, softly. Her voice was weak, like she was barely mustering the strength to talk. "Z... T-That man, t-too strong. You... N-Nothing... S-Strawberry, Cherry, M-Magical Girl,
nothing worked, and w-when... H-He ran out of p-priorities, y-you wouldn't g-give up, and..."
Her voice faded away, and Madoka held her tighter for a second, to reassure her.
"It's fine." Madoka promised her. "If... We're getting more Lockseeds, aren't we? We can get more Lockseeds, find more people, and we can figure out some kind of plan. I have you already, don't I? And there's some Magical Girl who gave us advice already, so maybe that's someone else. That's a start. If we work it out, we can make some kind of plan. We can do
something. Just... Trust me, okay?"
Homura nodded into Madoka's shoulder, slightly, but noticeably. Madoka smiled for a moment, but Homura was still upset, so she couldn't stop here.
...Madoka never had gotten Homura a parfait, like the original plan had been, had she? That might have cheered her up-
Well, no, it wouldn't have done much in the long run. Some good food wasn't going to help with how bad Homura had reacted to Kyubey and then Zangetsu's name. And Madoka could hardly take the girl over to get a parfait now. She doubted a breakdown like this was something some good food could fix.
"...Hey, do you need anything right now?" Madoka asked. If she got Homura's opinion on what would make Homura the happiest, maybe she could do something. "Like... Something that can take your mind off things? A visit to the arcade? Something to eat?"
"...Home." Homura muttered softly. She didn't say anything beyond that, but it was enough for Madoka. If Homura wanted to go home, Madoka could do that.
"Which way?" Madoka asked. Homura didn't immediately respond, instead dropping a hand into her pocket and pulling out her phone. She tapped the screen a few times, before passing it to Madoka.
Madoka took the screen, and held it up while holding Homura still. There was surprisingly few options on it, which made finding the map app easy enough. And from there, the option to set a route to Homura's home was simple.
"Okay." Madoka nodded. "Can you walk on your own, or do you need me still?"
Again, there was a long pause, before Homura pushed away from Madoka. She backed up a step or two, but was looking down as she stood.
"Excellent." Madoka smiled. "Let's go then, Homura."
~~~~~
Homura fumbled with her key for a second, before Madoka offered to try it herself. The house looked old, but the kind of old that was intentional. The expensive kind of old.
The door unlocked, and Madoka held it open for Homura. Hitomi and Madoka exchanged a glance for a moment, with Hitomi looking unsure of what to do, before Madoka stepped in as well. Hitomi followed, closing the door behind her.
"Do you need anything else, Homura?" Madoka asked. "Do you have anything planned for dinner?"
"I-I'm good." Homura stuttered. "I... I'll be good."
...Madoka didn't believe her, but didn't know how to push the issue without upsetting Homura.
"Alright, then." Madoka nodded. "I should go then. Sayaka should be leaving the hospital soon, so we'll want to meet up with her-"
"Hold on a second." Hitomi interrupted. "There's something I wanted to ask."
Madoka and Homura looked at the green haired girl, who waited until she knew she had Homura's attention, before she continued.
"This plan of yours, to gather Lockseeds." Hitomi began. "Forgive me if I'm pressing on a touchy issue, but what is the point of it? If Madoka was unable to do much in this future of yours with the stronger Lockseeds, why does she need more of the weaker ones?"
Homura bit her lip, as she tried to think of how to answer. She didn't seem to be freaking out, at least, so Madoka let it happen, for the time being.
"M-Madoka." Homura eventually asked. "Transform?"
...Oh? Okay, then.
Madoka pressed down on the belt still at her waist, cutting the Strawberry Lockseed open again and the Driver repeated the Strawberry Arms comment again, as Madoka looked up to see the rip forming and the giant strawberry descending on her before it unfolded.
In a flash, Madoka was all dressed up as Armoured Rider Berry again.
"G-Give her another L-Lockseed." Homura stuttered out. Hitomi took a moment to go through her pockets, and gave Madoka one of the Acorn Lockseeds they had taken from Team Baron. Madoka looked it over for a second, before Homura spoke again "...Un... O-Open it."
...As in, summon an Inves? Madoka had never done that before, but...
Pushing the lock open, Madoka watched a rip open in the sky in front of her, between her and Hitomi and Homura. It wasn't a small one, like the one that the smaller Inves Kumon had summoned had come out of. It was more like the size of the one that the Strawberry called up in Sayaka's hands.
The Inves that leapt out looked like the standard kind, with the weird curved body that extended down it's back and continued over it's face, without the complexity or antlers or anything that the Strawberry summoned Inves had. But it's size was just as big as the Strawberry, and it's body didn't have the slight holographic pattern to them that most Inves had in the game.
"What the-" Hitomi took a step back in shock, and Madoka knew that if the helmet wasn't covering her face she would probably look just as shocked as Hitomi was. Homura didn't react, but that hesitation before doing anything probably meant something.
"Inves..." Homura began, before trailing off, unsure again. "D-Driver makes t-them easy to control. S-Several at once. F-Feed one a L-Lockseed, t-they get s-stronger. C-Can make an army. L-like..."
She trailed off hesitantly, but Hitomi seemed to have heard enough.
"I see." Hitomi mused. "So you think Madoka will be safer if she has Inves to..."
Homura flinched, so Hitomi trailed off. Seeing as that was done, Madoka resealed the Lockseed, sending the Inves away again, and undid the transformation with her Driver.
"Do you need anything else, Hitomi?" Madoka asked.
Hitomi shook her head. "My curiosity had been satisfied."
"Then let's go." Madoka decided. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Homura."
"Bye..." Homura trailed off, as Madoka and Hitomi left.
For a moment, Madoka wondered if she should say something else. Do something else. But before she could think of anything, Hitomi shut the door, and the moment was lost.
"...Let's go and see Sayaka, then." Hitomi decided, acting off for some reason.
...Oh. Sayaka. She had missed a lot today. Madoka was going to have to fill her in on a lot.
...But was it a good idea to fill her in on everything? Hitomi hadn't said anything yet, but Madoka got the idea that she would have something to say about her apparent future fate soon enough. Sayaka would definitely have a lot to say about it. If she thought Homura was involving Madoka in something that would get her killed-
Madoka winced at the thought. Without the idea of being strong for Homura weighing on her, that thought was... Terrifying. Not one she wanted to think about.
But soon, she and Hitomi would be meeting with Sayaka. And before then, the two of them needed to organise, figure out what they were going to tell Sayaka.
Hitomi would have her own idea of how to do it, but-
[X] Madoka should tell her everything. Right up to how this Zangetsu person apparently kills her, in the future.
[X] Sayaka didn't have to know about that part. Everything else was fair game, though.
[X] Really, Sayaka would just be asking about the Driver. Why not just let her know about the story up to that point?
[X] Write-in.
