[X] Even ignoring the dancing, Madoka had seen Homura's reaction to Team Danza. Perhaps she should decline, for Homura's sake if nothing else.
Madoka's eyes darted to the side, looking over the crowd briefly. She couldn't see Homura in the crowd right now, and maybe Homura wasn't even there right now. She had told Homura she could just go if she had to. And...
Well, Madoka hated to think critically about someone, but Homura didn't seem like an entirely stable person. She panicked at the slightest hint of things going wrong, she leapt at the chance to talk to Madoka even if it ignored her surroundings, she seemed to be clinging to
Madoka of all people as someone to rely on...
Well, Madoka thought she was self aware enough of how passive she was, how basically anyone could walk all over her just by being vaguely assertive. So if someone was looking up to
her for some kind of strength in that kind of thing, then that wasn't really saying many good things about how they were.
And with that in mind, even if Madoka was curious about Magical Girls...
Well, Homura hadn't been happy to see Team Danza. Madoka still didn't know what exactly it was that had set Homura off to be so angry, but there had to be something about the Magical Girls that made Homura uncomfortable. So if Madoka just accepted the offer, then how would that make Homura feel? Seeing someone she was trying to rely on leaving her alone in favour of the people that made Homura so...
"I..." Madoka began, faltering almost immediately before forcing herself to go on. "I'm sorry, Miss Tomoe."
Mami frowned for a moment, but quickly twisted her lips into a smile again.
"Ah." The older girl sighed. "It's okay. Do you mind if I ask why, though?"
"...Sorry." Madoka repeated. "It's just... I'm not that curious about Magical Girls. I'd rather just dance, right now."
That wasn't the full truth, but it was still partially true. Madoka could try to get information out of Homura if she wanted to know more about Magical Girls, and Madoka did want to dance. She hadn't been able to do it yesterday, and after Sayaka's victory here, it would be nice to celebrate by doing something fun and exciting. Drinking tea was okay, but not really overly celebratory.
But even if that wasn't the case, it didn't change that Homura didn't seem happy to see Team Danza, and Madoka doubted she would be happy if Madoka just went along with Miss Tomoe right now...
"I see." Mami stated, nodding. "As you wish, then. If you do ever want to know more about Magical Girls, or to talk about Inves a bit, my door is always open. It should be easy enough to find me, I'll be dancing somewhere or other."
"We'll keep it in mind." Hitomi stepped forward, drawing attention.
Tomoe nodded. "Thank you for that much, at least. I'll leave the stage to you, then."
"Goodbye, then." Hitomi stated.
Tomoe waved, as she turned and began to walk away. She stopped briefly by the one member of Team Danza still here, the white haired girl, and said something Madoka didn't hear before the two of them left together.
"Alright, then." Sayaka decided. "Let's get to the dancing, then. Let's put the disk in and..."
She trailed off suddenly, then turned towards Madoka.
"...We didn't bring our music, did we?" Sayaka asked. "We... Madoka, did you bring any of the CD's?"
"...No..." Madoka whimpered. "I didn't think we'd even be trying to dance this morning. I didn't bring anything to dance to with us to school..."
"...It's fine." Hitomi spoke up. "I think I have a copy of the music on my phone somewhere. I'm sure we could figure out how to get the speakers here to connect to my phone, and..."
She looked over at the machine controlling the musical system, and sighed.
"Give me a moment." Hitomi asked. "I'll... Oh, this is going to take a while."
Sayaka sighed, and turned away from Hitomi and the machine.
"Well, I guess we gotta wait a while, then." Sayaka noted. "Anything you want to do? Homework? Heard any good music recently you think I should try?"
"...No." Madoka admitted. "I haven't really had the chance to listen to anything recently..."
Trailing off, the pink haired girl looked over the crowd, more focused this time. Most of the crowd had gotten distracted, and were listening to DJ Sagara's show, instead of looking at the stage. From what Madoka could hear from the distance, it sounded like another Inves battle was going on right now, between Team Invitto and Team Raid Wild.
A few people had wandered away, by the looks of things, and people had gone from a gathered crowd to a collection of people talking, waiting for Madoka and her friends to get ready to dance. A few people, people who weren't watching Sagara's show, were talking about the Inves that Sayaka had summoned.
...That's going to get some attention, Madoka noted. Homura had said that she wants Madoka and her friends to get as many Lockseeds as possible, so this kind of attention was going to be inevitable, but...
This is going to be a bit of a challenge, isn't it?
As Madoka's eyes scanned the crowd, she noticed Homura standing in the back. She was too far away to see in detail, but those braids were rather noticeable.
"...I'm going to talk to Homura for a moment." Madoka decided. "I'll be back when Hitomi gets the music working."
Sayaka looked at Madoka, and frowned for a moment, before she sighed.
"Never mind." Sayaka muttered. "Don't let me stop you."
...Madoka was going to have to have a talk with Sayaka about her opinion on Homura sooner or later. If she could work up the courage to talk about it, at least. Which she probably wasn't going to. She should, though.
"I'll be back in a moment." Madoka said, as she stepped off of the stage. A few people in the crowd watched her for a moment, but their eyes drifted away from her eventually, as Madoka circled the crowd.
Homura saw Madoka coming, and stepped away from the crowd a bit so that the two of them could talk with some more privacy.
"H-Hi, Madoka..." Homura stuttered, as the pink-haired girl approached.
"Hey." Madoka replied, smiling. "How're you?"
Homura nodded, before realising that she wasn't asked a yes-or-no question and quickly scampered to give an actual answer.
"I-I'm good." She squeaked, sounding embarrassed. "I... You did great, up there."
"I really didn't do anything..." Madoka replied. "Sayaka did the actual work. And the Lockseed you got us was amazing."
Homura smiled slightly, then looked around somewhat.
"...B-Be careful where you talk about that." Homura whispered. "There's... I don't know when people might be listening. It might not be a good thing if the wrong people know I had the Lockseed."
Madoka blinked. "Oh! I, um, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."
"I-It's okay..." Homura replied, shifting uncomfortably. "I s-should've said something earlier..."
...This was a really awkward conversation, Madoka thought briefly. So much hesitance talking to each other, everyone trailing off after almost every statement they've made so far...
She should try to turn the conversation in some kind of direction, to make things less awkward.
...Now if only she could think of something less awkward to talk about.
Maybe she should just say the first thing to come to mind?
"So..." Madoka took a moment to talk, and think. "Do you want to talk about earlier? You didn't look happy to see Danza-"
What was she talking about this wasn't going to make things any better this way what was she doing no no bad stupid bad-
"I-I mean, if you don't mind." Madoka scrambled, trying to salvage the statement. "It... If there's something about them that upsets you, maybe talking about it will help? I feel better sometimes if I talk to Sayaka or Hitomi or mama about my problems..."
Homura took a shuttering breath, and looked towards the crowd for a moment to make sure nobody was listening in.
"...Magical Girls," Homura began, stopping to take a breath after those two words. "...Kyubey manipulates the ones who don't know how it works. Mami doesn't know anything."
...Oh.
So, Miss Tomoe was this Kyubey thing's pawn, then? Someone fooled into helping it's agenda...
"How bad is it?" Madoka asked, dropping the volume of her voice.
Homura took a moment to try to consider how to answer, but didn't seem to reach a conclusion.
"...Bad." Homura eventually decided. "I-I shouldn't say anything else out here. I-I'll tell you when we're alone. W-When I... J-Just not now."
Madoka nodded. "It's fine. Don't force yourself."
Homura took a breath, looking away for a moment.
"...I'll be back here." Homura muttered under her breath. "I'll.. Y-You should go back on stage."
Madoka nodded. "It's fine. I'll talk to you after the dance, okay?"
Homura nodded as well, and backed off. Giving a polite wave, Madoka backed away as well, before turning towards the stage.
...Jeez, she really needed to figure out how to make these talks less awkward. Maybe she should ask her mother for advice. Or Sayaka and Hitomi, but they didn't seem to like Homura that much, so...
Oh, she should just think about it later. For now, she just needed to focus on the dancing. Be happy for a while, at least.
~~~~~
It was getting late, by the time the dancing had stopped. Madoka, Sayaka and Hitomi weren't the
best dancers, but they were at least decent, and they were getting a bigger crowd than usual. Or maybe that was just because of the Inves battle. Maybe people were hoping there'd be another one of those, and they'd get another look at the big Inves Sayaka had called up?
Well, it hardly mattered now. It was late now, and the crowd was leaving. Everyone was due home soon as well, considering it was almost dinner time.
Madoka followed her friends off the stage, as the last of the crowd left, and Homura approached after a moment.
"M-Madoka." Homura said, speaking up. "Y-You were great up there! You-"
Her eyes widen, and she quickly looks between Hitomi and Sayaka for a moment.
"I-I mean..." She stuttered out again. "You and... You two were good as well! You were all... You... Oh..."
She stepped back, and looked to the ground, groaning in embarrassment.
Sayaka and Hitomi exchanged a glance, then looked back at Madoka. They didn't say anything, but had a quizzical look. It seemed like they wanted to ask about Homura's attachment to Madoka, but...
Well, Madoka didn't think she could really explain it that well either. Whatever happened in the future, Madoka must have really done something to impress Homura. She did say that Madoka had saved her life, but...
Well, Madoka had never had her life in danger, so she just must not have understood how much impact that has on a person. Maybe she would understand more if she ever ended up in a situation like that. Which she really, really hoped she never did...
"Nice Lockseed you gave us there, braids." Sayaka noted, sounding kinda cheerful herself. "I guess Madoka had the right idea about trusting you after all."
"U-Um..." Homura stuttered. "I... D-Don't think we s-should talk about..."
Hitomi stepped forward, her tone becoming questioning. "Don't talk about what?"
"Good question." A man's voice asks, from the side. Madoka spun to look at the speaker, at that.
Stepping from around the stage, Lockseed Dealer Sid looked at the four girls, tipping his hat slightly as he did so.
"I'm kinda curious about your secrets myself." He drawled. "That Lockseed of yours, for instance. I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk about it a bit?"
Homura took a step back, her expression a mix of shock and fear, and Madoka quickly positioned herself between the braided girl and the older man.
"What'd'you want, you creep?" Sayaka asked, her voice biting.
Sid raised his hands, innocently. "Hey, I haven't done anything to deserve this. I'm just a friendly Lockseed dealer. I was just curious is all. The supply chain'll probably want to know why you lot were showing off with a Lockseed that wasn't in circulation yet. We hadn't noticed any thieves, but I gotta ask, you know?"
Hitomi quickly joined Madoka's side, standing between Sid and Homura.
"You could have used some more tact, perhaps." She advised. "Surprising a group of teenage girls isn't something a man your age should usually be doing away from prying eyes, is it?"
Sid shrugged. "Maybe my methods are questionable, I guess. So maybe I should try something else?"
Putting his hands down, Sid rested them in his pockets, before he continued.
"So, chances are, my boss isn't gonna find out about this for a while." He explained. "I need to have a report done every once in a while to pass up the chain of command regarding anything noteworthy, but I'm not exactly on a deadline, in that regard. So, here's the thing."
Tilting his head to look towards Homura, he gave a bit of a smirk.
"Why don't we have a little chat?" Sid asked. "We can discuss what you're willing to tell me, maybe strike up a deal. I'll have to pass it on when my boss'll figure it out anyway, but I don't have to let him know this early. Of course, I'll need something in return..."
"And what's in it for us?" Sayaka asked, suspicious.
Sid shrugged. "Eh, not much. Only thing I really have as leverage is my Lockseeds, and I'm gonna sell them the same either way. Money and all that. Though I'm gonna have to let the people at the top know about this soon if I'm not getting anything out of it, and then maybe they won't be as nice as me when they come looking to see what's up."
Homura gasped, and Madoka looked back at her. The fear etched into her face had gotten worse, devolving to downright terror, and there were tears in her eyes.
...There was something going on here. Madoka didn't know the exact deal, but if that implication was enough to do this much to Homura...
"So why don't we go to the usual place?" Sid asked, sounding smug. "We can talk in private, and see if we can find an agreement."
Turning back to Sid, Madoka reached her conclusion.
[X] ...She'll have to play his game. Madoka didn't even know what the threat was supposed to be, but if it was this bad...
[X] Reject the offer outright. Maybe Homura was scared of whatever the threat was, but Sid was way too shady. Madoka didn't trust him at all.
[X] Write-in.
