1558/Puella Strawberries.

Puella Strawberries.
Date of Scene:	05 June 2016
Location:	Uminari City - Shopping Strip
Synopsis:	Homura meets Kyouko's little sister for the first time in 12 years of knowing Kyouko. The little sister who died only a few years ago, yet before Homura knew Kyouko. Time travel!
Cast of Characters:	Homura Akemi, Momo Sakura

---

Homura Akemi has posed:
    It's a late night in Tokyo, and Homura is out hunting alone. Well, 'hunting' might be a strong word. 'Patrolling' is also maybe a strong word. She's not going out to find Witches or anything, but she is looking for someone.

    "She usually shows up by now?" She mutters. "What happened? Did she just... give up?" Homura frowns, sitting on the edge of a roof overlooking Uminari City's shopping strip. She looks down at a list in her hands. "Another MIA." She folds the list, and places it in her shield.

    She hops down from the roof, landing on her feet in the middle of an empty sidewalk. Homura's in henshin, but aside from that she isn't really expending a lot of magic. She doesn't need to, as there's nothing to spend it on anyways.

    She passes by a candy store that happens to be open late at night. The light is on. She pauses mid-stride, taking a step back to look in. Some of those chocolates look really nice.

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo probably should be sleeping. Or looking for Kyouko. Or, you know, not torturing herself with candy dancing just over there.

It's the chocolate's fault, really. Even through the closed door she can smell it, and it's worse when the door actually opens!

So rude!

Finally the pull is too much. She rushes around the corner to press her face against the glass. She's sure to leave fingerprints and nose prints but she doesn't care! It's not like she's in any system! ...right?

Unless they fingerprint the dead.

That would be awkward.

She takes a deep breath, holds it in, then exhales.

Dog, of course, is not rude. He notices they are, in fact, not alone. So instead of pressing a doggy nose against a glass (he doesn't like chocolate anyway) he sniffs at Homura's shoe in greeting.

Hmmm. There's a sick cat four streets over? Poor Ralph.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura notices when she is joined by another girl, one looking at chocolates and sticking her nose all over the glass. Something looks very familiar about this girl... but Homura can't place why. Who is she?

    Dog greets her with a sniff, according to the custom of dogs, and Homura honors this custom by extending her palm so that Dog can sniff or lick it as he deems fit, as is prescribed in the ancient treaties between dogs and people.

    Momo, on the other hand, grabs Homura's attention, and that implacable familiarity is driving the veteran Puella Magi nuts. This girl is younger than her, but not that much younger. She could swear this girl looks like someone she knows, but looking at the face she knows for a fact that Homura has never seen this girl.

    Homura casts a crooked frown at Momo, not a disapproving one but more of a perplexed one. Eventually she turns her eyes back towards the chocolates, crossing her arms as the candy shop's interior reflects in her eyes.

    "Nice weather tonight," she states, matter of factly.

Momo Sakura has posed:
Dog's tail wags a little as he moves from shoe to hand. Hmmm. Nice scent. Doesn't smell like a Kicker of Dogs.

Then again, do those people even have a specific scent?

Oh well, he'll take a chance. After licking the palm, he furthers along the treaties be sticking his nose on the underside of her hand and nudging up before quickly moving so his head is beneath her fingers.

Momo jumps at the comment. It's not really Homura's fault she can't quite place her. Well, the fact that they've never met has nothing to do with this! But her pale hair probably masks a lot of the familiarity that would push that 'tip of the tongue' feeling over the edge.

She looks at Homura's reflection in the window for a moment before turning to her. As discrete as she can, she tries to wipe away her smudges. "Sure is! Though I liked the rain we had the other day. Rain feels nice! I'm kind of glad there's no snow, but snow's pretty. If only it weren't so cold..."

She sighs woefully before turning back to the chocolates. "If I made chocolates, I'd be broke because I'd eat them all before I could sell 'em."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura smiles at Dog, dropping to one knee to pet him more easily, scratching lightly behind his ears and smoothing out his hair. Who's a good dog? Yes you are! Yes you are!

    Homura notices Momo's startlement. Was her attention so absorbed by the sweets that she just didn't notice someone around her? Her comment about making her own chocolates seems to confirm that.

    "I have to admit there's something peaceful about the rain. Just the constant white noise of droplets hitting the roof, and I have some fond memories of being out in the snow."

    "Chocolate is amazing," she says in a fairly flat tone, while petting Dog. "It's versatile, too. In the winter you can have hot chocolate, and in the summer there's chocolate ice cream."

    She glances back at the window. Behind her eyes the gears are turning. A short conversation, maybe a name, could jog her memory. If not, well, maybe it's a simple case of mistaken identity? Either way she doesn't have much to lose by trying. "I could go for some right now, actually."

    She pats Dog on the head and stands up, fingers still loosely tracing around the top of his head. "My name's Homura Akemi, by the way."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Thump, thump, thump! That's a very happy tail hitting the sidewalk!

And of course, since there's a cheek right there, it gets licked.

Momo sighs. "Rain is nice. And if the roof isn't leaking, it's even better!" The church's roof currently leaks. Though, is it technically leaking if chunks of the roof aren't there?

Her eyes widen in amazement at Homura. "Ahhhh! I don't think I've had ice cream before!

But then her shoulders are slumping and she tries to hide her envy! "Yeah, but sometimes just looking at chocolate is better than eating it! It's the anticipation!"

Okay, looking at chocolate and not being able to eat it is probably the worst thing ever.

She should know, she's been dead.

She's already halfway back to staring at the chocolate. She'd been assuming the conversation was over, so when it isn't, she sort of blinks and her reply is a mumble. "Momo Sakura, pleased to meet you."

Oh my goodness. Is that chocolate...on a strawberry?!

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Momo Sakura.

    Momo Sakura.

    No, no, no that's completely ridiculous. Homura knows that. There's only one current living member of that particular Sakura family, and hasn't she heard that family name associated with another magical girl before? Yeah, it's just someone with the same last name. It's just a coincidence that she's very attached to food. And talks about leaky roofs. And who has apparently never had ice cream.

    There's a moment's hesitation, as she calculates and categorizes all of that, before Homura says in the most pleasant voice, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Momo Sakura-san."

    Just looking is alright? Yeah. Sure. That's what Homura used to tell herself about Madoka. Wanting can be sweet, certainly, but that's the kind of logic that comes from someone who doesn't think she can get what she wants.

    "Well, I want some, but that pack of strawberries is way too big for me. They're huge as is, and then they douse them in sweet, delicious milk chocolate. Way too rich to eat all of them by myself."

    Homura tilts her head at Momo, frowning. "You know, I know a Sakura-san. She's... well..." Violent? Crazy? Reckless? Darwinistic? There has to be a way to put that nicely... "... willful."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo, of course, died at a very gullible age. Being nine, she was prone to believing anything.

Well, anything girls a few years older than her would say!

So, her eyes widen a bit. "I can help you eat them!" No, wait, play it cool! "I mean, you know, it'd be a shame to waste perfectly good strawberries!"

She blinks a little at Homura knowing another Sakura. But it'd be too convenient if she'd bumped into three people who knew her sister in the span of two days, right?

Still, she puffs out with a bit of pride and gives a cocky one-fanged grin. "Yeah, well, Sakuras tend to be willful. Is what makes us awesome."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Oh my god.

    That fangy grin tells Homura all she needs to know. Except that it's still impossible. It's ridiculously and incredibly impossible.

    'You would find a way to do the impossible, wouldn't you?'

    Right. Okay. This is happening. Come to think of it, didn't Kyouko mention a Momo in one of Homura's previous timeloops? Still, even with that question answered, this is still someone that Homura much wants to talk to. If she's gullible about Homura's ulterior motives, well... whatever. It's not as if the black-haired girl actually intends malice.

    "She's confident, and she can back it up. It's something I can respect." Homura's not quite willing to say that Kyouko's awesome. Competition has a way of making it hard to compliment one's opposition, but she gives credit where it's due.

    "Well I wouldn't mind sharing them. It's terrible to waste food, right?" Homura gives Dog another pat on the head before she turns to walk inside. She's already pulling her wallet out of her shield, because she's buying and she'll insist on that, and she walks up to the cashier and says, "I'll have a dozen of those, please."

    While the cashier handles her order, Homura considers to herself how exactly she should deal with this. Why would she show up here? And now?

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo shifts from foot to foot as Homura enters. She turns to Dog. "Wait here, okay?"

"Woof." Dog sits down and yawns. He's not much for indoor places.

She finally steps inside, still a bit antsy. She feels a tad guilty. After all, this is the second day in a row someone bought her something.

Okay, technically it's to share, but Momo has unlterior motives about the sharing! Because she wants some!

(If she knew Homura's ulterior motive here is to gain information, she'd feel a bit better. After all, food for info? Deal!)

Still, she doesn't, so this is why she only peeks at a few more things with Longing Eyes. She's very discrete!

She sidles up and asks about something that's contributing to her lack of yen. "Akemi-san? Do you know about cheap mobile services? Mine's okay, and I wouldn't have it if I weren't looking for someone, but I think there'd be more options, right?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Cheap mobile services? Homura considers that as the cashier hands her a box of chocolate strawberries and takes her money. "Well... cheapest I know of is to get a phone with a timecard. You won't get fancy things like internet or whatever but you can call someone. I don't use them so I don't know quite what they're like, but I know they're an option."

    She flops her hand in the air and says, "Way cheaper than getting a smartphone. God those companies want like an arm and a leg."

    Homura moves over to a small two person table and opens up the box, placing it in the middle so that Momo can reach them easily. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you looking for? I know a lot of people. I might be able to point you in the right direction." Homura has her guesses, but she wants to make sure.

    "Sorry. I don't mean to pry," actually, prying is exactly what she's doing, "but you really remind me of someone else I know, and it's driving me nuts."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo sighs as she sits down, pulling out her cell. It's a smart phone, sure, but its old. (She purchased it from a lady she did some odd jobs for.)

"Yeah, but I need the internet. I go to the library when I can, but it's so boring there."

She sighs. "I mean, I use the Starbuck's wifi, so that saves some money.

She sighs. And of course, since her phone is out (oh hey, an outlet, she plugs it in...) she looks at the photo Mamoru gives her and she looks both adoring and happy!

"Hmm? Oh! Right! I'm looking for my sister. We haven't...seen each other in a few years, but I ran into someone who knows her and he texted me this."

She has the sender of the message as Endamame Chiba, and the picture is of Kyouko at a ball, looking both elegant and roguish.

As soon as she hands the phone over, she rests her head on her hand. She steals a strawberry. "Who do I remind you of?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura doesn't touch the strawberry chocolates. Not yet. Momo may not realize it yet, but those are bargaining chips, or at least a lure to keep her around. "Well, let's see... if it has to be a smartphone with internet, well..." She starts rattling off a few company names and what their rates were, when last she checked. This is something she had to deal with when setting up Salamander, so it's fairly fresh on her mind..

    When Homura hears that Momo is looking for her sister, she raises an eyebrow. When she actually sees the picture, there's a flash of a scowl on her face, but it doesn't last. The name 'Chiba' is one she also recognizes, and she can almost guess that the name is meant to be 'Endymion'. She leans back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling.

    "That's the girl you remind me of. Kyouko Sakura-san. She... well... I wouldn't say we were best friends or anything, but I am acquainted with her. She works at a convenience store, or at least she did last I checked. Has an apartment but I don't know where... but you see, you're presenting me with something of a puzzle, here."

    She leans forward again, propping an elbow up on the table and looking Momo in the eyes. "You say she's your sister. You look like her, you seem to act like her, and under normal circumstances I'd believe it in an instant. Just one problem. Kyouko's sister, along with her parents, are dead. I'm pretty sure they are. I checked."

    She taps her fingers on the table, thinking for a moment. "Now... I've seen some strange things in this world. Things that should be impossible. I'm just curious. I like to know what's going on, especially when it involves someone like Kyouko Sakura. That's all."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo blinks as Homura rattles off companies and plans, and soon her eyes start to swirl around in confusion. "Um...could you write that down for me..."

When she bites into that first chocolate covered strawberry, her eyes roll back and she nearly melts in her chair. So good!

But then her face slowly gets more and more scowly as Homura continues.

Okay, so first of all, if this many people know Kyouko, everyone must know Kyouko.

Second, she's being question!

Third! Someone 'like Kyouko!' What's that supposed to mean!

"Well, obviously I died, but I got better, didn't I?" Hrmph! She takes another strawberry in retaliation and bites into it. Nomf!

No, don't melt, keep the scowl.

"What's it to ya, anyway? Are you a curing pretty? Or one of the Moon people Endamame-kun talked about?" She squints her eyes and looks at Homura with curiosity of her own.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura frowns, and mulls over Momo's response. She died. She got better. She's aware of it. She's also aware of Pretty Cures and 'Moon people', Homura assumes that the latter means senshi. Is she magical...? Well, no point in holding back at this point. She's already exposed to this world.

    "I'm a Puella Magi. A veteran Puella Magi, much like your sister is." Yeah, Homura can accept that this is Kyouko's sister. She has no reason to doubt it, since Homura herself has come back from the dead multiple times.

    So... what is this to Homura? It's a pretty huge complication. It's also good news for Kyouko, and while she worries about the red-haired Puella as a potential threat she doesn't actually hate her enough to not be happy for her in some way. It's also another mouth that Kyouko will potentially have to feed, and that might make her even more desperate than she already is, though money is a lot easier to come by than Grief Seeds.

    "We're two of the four strongest Puella Magi in Tokyo, actually. There's a lot of politics associated with that, and a lot of it is very complicated and personal. So that's what it is to me."

    Plus... some loved one coming back from the dead. That'd be an easy angle with which to manipulate someone. Not that Homura doesn't believe Momo, but it's a concern that crosses her mind.

    Homura shrugs. "I mean... it's good news. Congratulations on getting a second lease on life. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you. She's a little unpredictable, but if you wander around enough you can eventually find her. Here..." Homura reaches into her shield, pulling out a piece of paper and a pen. She starts drawing a map to Kyouko's convenience store, and she also lists the mobile plans she was talking about. "You might be able to find her here in daylight hours. If she's not there, then the lady who owns the place might be able to point you in the right direction. She's nice, so don't worry about her. You've humored me, so I'll give you this much help at least."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo's eyebrows raise. "Oh! Okay!" Homura is actually the first Puella outside herself she's met! So many questions!

But Homura's not done talking!

Still, her expression is less guarded and her curiosity is now more out of a desire to know more.

Her sister is one of the strongest?! Momo puffs a bit with vicarious pride. "Kyou-nee always was the strongest person I know!"

Her mind swims! Ug! Kyuubey said nothing about politics! Why oh why!

She takes the napkin and looks at it much the way she does the picture on her phone.

She looks up and decides to humor Homura some more. "The moon lady wished loud enough to wake the dead. Kyuubey helped the rest of the way." She studies the map some more. "Endamame-kun and Not-Nii-San-kun seemed worried when I told them about that. But I told them..."

She looks back up, suddenly curious. "Hey! Is there a way to...I don't know. You know how there's Good Nutritious Food and Cheap Food? Since there's Curing Pretties and Moon People, would there be another way to sort of...make...other seeds? I mean, it'd be like cheap food, yeah? Bad for you if you eat it all the time, but it beats starving to death? Because they said there's a lack of witches now. But apparently Kyou-nee was killed by a witch in the snow, but she wasn't a labrynthy kind, just a power hungry murdery kind. What's a wicked witch of the west? The Curing Pretty asked if that's what the Puella witches are. I don't know what that is. Is that another kind of enemy we gotta fight? Why are there politics? I fought a witch in Chiba last week. Is that weird? Not in Endamame Chiba, but the city Chiba. That's how I remembered his name. Is his girlfriend really a goddess? Is he really a prince? He says he is. But instead of being a superhero now he's sulks about homework or something? And Not-Nii-San-kun guards his head? They gave me food."

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Well, Homura pushed the right button to certainly start getting a lot of questions. It's not a button that she intended to press, but hey. She had her turn to ask, and she certainly got the information she wanted.

    So, it was Usagi who wished her back from the dead. Wait... Wait... Kyubey?

    "You didn't make a contract with him, did you?" Homura blurts out without thinking. No, no it only makes sense, but... that's the worst case scenario! Homura knows she must have some powers but... Kyubey?!

    Homura rubs her forehead. Let's see. Out of all of those questions... where should she start?

    "Okay, first and possibly more relevant, no there is no such thing as junk food Grief Seeds. At best, you can decide to let them hatch again and fight the Witch, again, in order to use the seed a second time. However, there are problems with that and... I think your sister would be better at explaining that to you than me."

    This is so bad. How is Kyouko going to react when she finds out that Momo sold her soul? Worse, if Homura tells her the full truth and Momo can't take it... and if she Witches before Kyouko can even see her... Wow, yeah Kyouko would hate her for that.

    Well, actually, Madoka might be able to fix it, but it'd still make a huge mess in the meantime.

    "Secondly, I think you're a little confused on the names here. It's Mamoru Chiba, Endymion is his name from a past life, and yes he's a prince. His girlfriend is very powerful. Maybe I'd call her a goddess. It's complicated. Mamo-kun's a nice person, so it doesn't surprise me that he gave you food, and yes he does fight evil."

    "The Witch in the snow was Queen Beryl, and she was an evil monster and we took her out.. 'We' meaning... basically an army of a lot of magical girls of various types. She also isn't the kind of witch that gives us Grief Seeds. She's the kind of witch who is just a bad person and now she isn't around anymore.."

    "A wicked witch of the west is a reference to the movie Wizard of Oz. I don't know what that has to do with magical girls other than the word 'witch'. As for Chiba, there are technically Witches all over the world, but Tokyo has the highest Witch population by far."

    And then the question of politics. Well... How should she answer this. "Puella Magi aren't like other magical girls. We don't really work together as a team. We tend to be independant, and we don't really have a lot of reason to trust one another. Kyouko-san and I have fought on the same side before, but usually it was because we had to, because something big was threatening the city or the world and we didn't have time to bicker. However, in the absence of such threats, Puella Magi life tends to be about personal survival. There are limited resources and only the strongest can consistently get them. That's why there's politics."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo lets out a small wail. "Why do persons always react that way when I bring up his name?"

She went over this with Mamoru: People are mean. Persons have a tendency to be mean, but are usually okay.

And, well, a few bats short of a belfry.

She sighs. "Yes, I did. Why is it so bad? I mean, I know it is. I've grown up with parables about selling your soul to the devil my entire life, and it kinda feels like that? But no one will tell me why!"

Okay, since she's only met one other group that knows about Kyubey, maybe it doesn't warrant the whine she gives. But its still frustrating!

And she's a tad grumpy about the lack of junk food seeds.

She blinks at Homura. "Yeah, Endamame. That's what I said, isn't it? But oh! That's the other name he used! Thanks!"

She sighs in relief! Phew! A movie reference! She was kinda worried until now. "Good, because the west is a large area to be a witch of."

The talk of politics almost makes her head hurt. "But...wouldn't it just be easier for a small group to work together? I mean, yeah, they give out three snacks, but that's three people to work with. And if you fight different witches, then..." She rubs her temple.

And that brings up another questions...

The look she gives could rival Dog's when he's wanting a nibble of whatever it is she's eating. That one she can't resist, even if she's starving. "Do you think Kyou-nee won't wanna work with me? Will I be competition?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura tries to speak plainly as much as she feels like she can, but while the Witch secret is out she also doesn't really think it's something that can be brought up in casual conversation to a new Puella Magi. What she does end up saying is, "He has a tendency to not tell you the full story. He leaves out details that he thinks are implied or unimportant, when really they're actually super important. A lot of us entered into this deal without knowing important things like... 'oh the Soul Gem is actually your soul and if you break it you die' or 'Yeah so you actually need Grief Seeds to live' and... you know... things that would have been nice to know when we signed up."

    Homura considers 'a witch of the west' in the context of Puella Magi Witches and actually snorts laughter. "Yeeeah. Well I mean, we've faced one super Witch before, but yeah that'd be a pretty big deal even compared to Walpurgisnacht. I can gladly say that no such thing actually exists as far as we know."

    Wouldn't it be easier for a small group to work together? "Yeah small groups are great but like... there are at least 20 other Puella Magi active and running around. That's not a 'small group'. If you had a group of three to five people you could maintain it because you have enough firepower if things go south and more people being around means you don't use magic as fast. However, things happen and people don't always trust each other enough to work together. In a perfect world it'd work perfectly, but we're not living in a perfect world."

    ... And then she gets A Face. Homura's a stone-cold girl and could probably resist that face... totally could... well okay maybe she'll give in this time but she was going to answer anyways!

    "... I'm pretty sure that Kyouko-san would be happy to work with you, and she's already working with her girlfriend so I doubt she'd mind looking after her long lost sister. I don't think she'd reject you."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo sighs. "Yeah, he told me that after. Told me I shouldn't adjust to breathing again, that grief seeds yadda yadda." She blinks, though, and stares at her bracelet. "Oh dear. This is my soul? I probably should put it on the wrist I don't, you know, bump into stuff when I'm looking for something in the dark."

She hums. "What's a Wopplebutt?" Woe, woe! So out of the loop! "And I suppose fighting in large groups would suck. There'd be a whole pile of Puella trying to get the seed at the end, and people'd look at them funny...but you're actually the first other one I've run into! I didn't know there were lots!"

She is so so happy that Homura said that! She really doesn't want her sister to see her as competition! And with her girlfriend, to boot--

Wait.

What?

She gasps, loudly, hands slapping down on the table. She looks up at Homura, eyes wide. "Girlfriend as in..." She looks around and leans forward. "Kissy girlfriend? Smooches and stuff?"

Her expression isn't one of horror or disgust. It's actually more akin to being told unicorns actually exist. "You mean...girls who smooch girls...and boys who smooch boys...they...don't burst into flames?"

Homura Akemi has posed:
    A wopplebutt. It always amuses Homura how Walpurgisnacht's name is something that can be horribly mangled and yet still perfectly understood. She cracks a smile at that. "Walpurgisnacht was a Witch that had the power to wipe out a city. I say 'had' because we've taken care of that one, too. However, apparently this thing has even appeared in ancient times so there's a chance it might reappear. Who knows?" Homura shrugs.

    "And yeah... be careful with that." Homura glances at Momo's bracelet. "Don't lose it, either. If it gets more than 100 meters away from you, you'll pass out, and someone will have to bring your Soul Gem back to your body to revive you."

    Smooches... well, Homura doesn't quite know how smoochy they are but she does know that they care about each other a lot, so it is that kind of relationship. "No, you don't burst into flames if you kiss a girl," she says. Homura can make a few guesses as to where she got that idea from. "... and yeah, that kind of girlfriend."

Momo Sakura has posed:
"But I thought if you defeat a witch it stays defeated?" She strokes her chin in thought. "Did she drop a grief seed? Did it only have three charges, too?"

Something so powerful shouldn't only give out tiny nibbles!

She...slowly removes her bracelet and gently puts it on her non-dominant hand. "Yeaaaah, he left that bit out. All he said was 'keep it close, it's the source of your power' or something like that."

She lets out a small 'oh,' and then perks up. "I should start a list!" She pulls a small notepad out from her satchel and starts to write in it.

At the top, she writes 'Things Father Was Wrong About.'

Number one, of course, is how Kyouko is not evil incarnate. (She knew that one all along!)

And the second is about the lack of bursting into flames.

"I bet there's a bunch of things he was wrong about. Bet it made him all kinds of annoyed when he woke up in hell." She looks up at Homura, and it may be a tad unnerving how Momo's talking about this as though discussing the weather. "Not sure if suicide still sends you there or not, but killing your family should!"

She hums and taps her chin in thought.

Homura Akemi has posed:
    "Walpurgisnacht is different." Homura suspects that Momo might be disappointed to hear this. Everyone else seemed to be. "She doesn't drop a Grief Seed at all. It would be nice if she did. I think we could've shared it, make up for some of the cost of fighting that thing, but no."

    Homura gets a chill down her spine when the thought of Kyouko's dad being in hell is mentioned. She sees the logic behind that conclusion. He murdered his own family, but that wasn't even the only thing he did wrong. It was just the worst thing. The fact that he did it because of some unfair assumptions he made about his own daughter who loved him and sacrificed so much for him... That's not exactly an honorable motive, either. The cultish blasphemy probably didn't win him any points either.

    Still, Homura's face turns white at the subject. After all... while she's sure someone like Madoka would be able to go to heaven... can Homura say the same about herself? All she knows is that by eastern philosophy she's sure she's pretty much fated to be reincarnated as a beetle or something. So, so much bad karma.

    "Well, I mean... I've died before and I don't remember an afterlife. Maybe you don't actually go there unless they're sure you won't get resurrected later? Or maybe I did but I don't remember? In any case, yeah, I mean... None of you deserved what he did."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo's shoulders drop in disbelief. "What? Nothing? Ug, what a bi----t of a meanie."

Momo shifts in her seat. "Well, I remember some of it? But mostly when I saw Kyou-nee. Ma was there, I know that? I think? Maybe. Anyhoo. I don't really remember where it was."

Then, for some reason, she feels a bit nervous. "Well, I mean, I only get nightmares sometimes. And and his bones are on the roof...I buried Ma, so...um..."

She stuffs not one but two strawberries in her mouth!

Phew! Talking averted!

Homura Akemi has posed:
    Homura is quiet for a moment. So Momo remembers something of an afterlife? Well that makes sense. Then she stands up. She pulls out a Contractors business card with her name, number, and email address on it, and places it on the table. She still hasn't touched the strawberries.

    Well, she may as well try at least one. She plucks it and noms it. Mm. It actually is really good. After swallowing, she says, "Well, Sakura-san. It was nice meeting you. Good luck finding your sister. However, I think I need to go."

    She did, after all, run out of questions to ask, and Momo doesn't seem to be asking any more of them.

    "I'm glad you're back. I always did wonder what kind of family Kyouko-san had. She really cared about you. She was hurt when... you know... all of that stuff."

    She politely bows, and, if she isn't stopped, she heads for the exit.

    "Until we meet again, Sakura-san."

Momo Sakura has posed:
Momo takes the card and looks it over. Golly! It looks so professional!

She slides it into a pocket in her satchel before patting it. Secure!

"It was nice meeting you, too, Akemi-san."

She nods. "I was hurt, too. I knew she'd find me. I hope she hadn't." A sigh.

Then she stands and gathers the remaining strawberries. Well, if Homura wanted to take them she would have, right...?

"Bye! Have a good day!"

Outside, she bites into a strawberry, making sure all the chocolate is gone. Then she gives the rest of the berry to Dog.

Because of those eyes.