473/Friending Madoka is Suffering

Friending Madoka is Suffering
Date of Scene:	20 October 2015
Location:	Mitakihara - Mitakihara General
Synopsis:	Homura arrives at the hospital to find Hannah and Madoka as patients, only to learn she's just as incapable of remaining neutral in magical fights as ever. Talk about Magic, Boys, School, and Kyubey's ensues.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Homura Akemi, Hannah Sharpe

---

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    There was an apparent explosion and ensuing fire in Infinity University gymnasium amid the national competition for High School Kickboxing. The official line has something to do with Geothermal heating, but anyone with knowledge of magic and even the faintest ability to investigate would quickly find out the truth. In reality a Youma had burst out from under the gym floor and started attacking those with magic or magical potential right at the height of the competition, in the middle of Hannah's match. A little deeper digging would find that the creature was some kind of negative energy powered ooze and no fire-empowered magical heroes were even present at the scene.

    Instead the explosive portion of the calamity was created by a mundane human girl who had managed to withstand passing out from the Youma's presence, who after breaking free herself had immediately began trying to free other civilians only to eventually go on the offensive with some kind of makeshift Molotov-cocktail. The results of this were -remarkably- similar to the sludge Miss White and Homura had been dumping at the Harbor previously; a massive explosion.

    That girl that threw the firebomb was none other than Madoka Kaname.

    For her trouble the creature had retaliated and smacked her hard enough to send her flying into the gym's bleachers hard enough to break them, landing her in the hospital bed she's currently resting in right now. What she doesn't know, but others might, is that in it's dying moments the Youma had sent another attack her way that could very well have killed her if not for the swift intervention of a shield created by of one of the Magical Girls fighting it.

    Madoka is currently sitting up in her hospital bed, arms lazily draped over a medium sized brown teddy bear she had asked her parents to bring from home. The TV is on and set to a channel playing music videos, and though she watches it the sound is down low enough the actual music is little more than background noise.

    Gone is the head wrap from the day before; her concussion deemed lighter than originally thought, though she was still being held for observation. Though not visible there's also numerous bruises covered by her hospital gown, information easily available on the chart near her bed. Overall the medical opinion is that she got very lucky, which is more true than even her doctors realize.

    Her hair is down and a bit messy, and the way she watches the TV is with a kind of half blank stare that shows just how poor of a job she's doing in trying to distract herself with it. Homura's seen this look hundreds of times; something is eating at her and she feels terrible but is doing her best not to let it show.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura should've been there. She wasn't, but she should've been, and now her best friend (whether she knows she's her best friend or not) is seriously wounded. Hospitalized, even. Homura curses herself internally, cursing her weakness, and her lapse in judgement.

She had assumed, perhaps arrogantly, that Madoka would be relatively safe if she was just kept away from Witches and Kyubey... but the threats of this strange new timeline are threats to everyone, and everyone includes Madoka, whether Homura likes it or not.

She's looking very dour as she walks through the door leading to Madoka's room. She barges in, without announcement, not even saying hello until she had paced around the room for a bit, as if the greeting was an afterthought. "... Hello."

Homura's gaze passes over the medical chart, and then up to Madoka, frowning along the way. Something is on Madoka's mind? What did she see? Homura can't stand not knowing, so she just outright asks.

"... What happened?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah didn't have much of a better time. Being pelted by horrible dark evil sludge-energy is both karmic retribution, and a complete kick in the pants after you've just saved your team from the jaws of defeat.

For the record, the match still counted.

Thus it is that there's a very, very ragged looking Hannah in a hospital gown. She still has a wrap around her head from her flight through the air, nevermind the effects of the energy and the blows from her match. A nurse gently leads the blind girl into the free bed just by Madoka's. Seems for now Hannah is oblivious to Madoka's and presence! The poor magical girl is definitely out of it, given she's already gotten a chance to meet Madoka's parents!

Even under severe painkillers she's come to already fall in utter love with the glory that is Junko Kaname.

"Take it slow, Sharpe-san." Comes the nurse, and Hannah just mutters weakly before she's in bed. The nurse turns back to Madoka and Homura, bows, and then off she goes.

"Nnn...someone there?" Hannah finally asks. /Definitely/ out of it.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The sudden entry catches Madoka completely by surprise. Not just the entry itself, but how forcefully and quickly the door opens without announcement. It causes her head to turn that way quickly. Not too quickly though; she'd ended up with a headache for similar mistakes yesterday. "Homura-chan!"

    Her surprise is cut off a bit as Hannah is led back into the room, that distracted gaze of hers returning a little upon seeing the other girl in her injured state. It remains for the few moments it takes the nurse to walk her back to her bed, "Homura-chan is here to visit," she offers as explanation to her temporary roommate.

    Madoka waits until the three are alone to begin explaining. "The 'accident' at the gym was an attack," she starts, not knowing how much Homura actually knows. "Hannah-chan," that's new, "was still weak and got hurt right when the... goo monster appeared. It got a hold of me with one of it's tails," tails sounds -so- much better than tentacles, "and started dragging me closer, but I got free."

    Up until now this has all been in a quiet if unemotional voice, but now she shakes her head and regret can be heard, "I should have stopped there, but I didn't. Since I got myself free, I tried getting other people free too. And then I... I don't know what I was thinking; I tried fighting it. I didn't have to... there were other magical Heros there fighting already, and winning... but I was so upset that it interrupted Hannah-chan's match, and with my mother there too..!"

    She doesn't go on to explain exactly what she did, but instead states in a miserable tone, "It was my fault. The fire, the roof collapsing. That was all my fault. Everyone in the gym could have died, and it would have been my fault."

Homura Akemi has posed:
"Madoka-chan and I are the only ones here," says Homura to Hannah, after the nurse leaves. She starts to say something else, but she instead takes a deep breath and turns back to Madoka. She listens carefully to the explaination that Madoka offers.

"So, it was an attack. By a goo monster." Has Homura seen anything like that? Maybe, but not close enough for her to figure out where the monster came from or what it was doing.

As she listens to more and more of Madoka's story, Homura's face grows increasingly horrified. At the end of it, her face is a mix of fear and fury. "You... you fought it?! Why? You don't have any magical powers or anything! You can't just..."

Her fists clench, trembling. She doesn't want to yell too loudly, but she is scared, furiously so. From what the doctors said, she was lucky to be alive!

"Next time just--"

Homura stops herself short of saying whatever it was that Madoka was going to say. What comes out next is, by contrast, a very flat and even tone, "I don't know how you managed that, but you shouldn't just use explosives without the proper care. There are precautions you take. Those things are dangerous, and you don't have magical armor."

Homura places a hand on her face and drags it down. "Whatever. You're alive now. I guess that's more important." She turns over to Hannah and says, "How are you holding up, Hannah-chan?"

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah blinks several times, her mind dull and slow, but comprehension dawns as the two speak.

"...Is that what hit me?" She'd punch whoever was responsible for the containment breach, but she has a feeling they're already fired, or worse.

"Hi Madoka-chan. Hi Homura-chan. I feel amazing and I think I can taste purple." She raises one iv'd arm. Yup, that'd do it.

Wait, what?

"Wait, Madoka, you did what now?" Pause. Paaaaause.

She bursts out laughing.

"Well look at that, we must have ourselves a pyromaniac in the making!" /Not helping/ Hannah! She grins over to Madoka, but Homura brings her back down to earth.

"But yeah, Homu-chan has a point. Either learn to blow things up right, or don't blow them up at all."

Then she sighs.

"I'll admit, I'm a bit annoyed I didn't get in on the action. Right as I knocked the guy out too! I mean, that's just the worst luck!" She's even more talkative than usual.

"Still, Madoka, you managed to help save your mom, and everybody in that gym. Including /me/! You. Saved. My. Life." She says slowly and meaningfully.

"So let that sink in, but don't do anything else foolish, okay, kiddo?"

Then she rubs the back of her head. "Uhh, right, Madoka? Homura? Uh. Did you ever tell our dear Homu-chan here about that little incident at the Midori-ya?" Awkward.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka flinches at the combination of Homura's expression and the disapproval so clear in her voice and words. "I know!" She responds defensively, "It was stupid and reckless of me! But once I knew there was something-I could do, and saw that there were people in danger..." She doesn't complete the thought, but does she have to?

    There's something very startling about all this to her as well. It's one thing to be told you're important to someone, to have many people say how much someone cares about your safety. It's entirely another thing to actually see the fear in someone's eyes after you've been put into danger.

    The way Homura is reacting scares Maroka. Not in the 'creeped out' way, but sheer mortal terror for her own life. She had previously been able to gloss over her own danger, naturally thinking of all the others who could have died around her, but that trembling, furious expression? It really drives it home. Her own hands start to shake a little, and her voice with them.

    "B-but I survived it! Th-that's the important thing, right?" She's not stating facts like Homura was, she's asking, and justifying. She doesn't even believe the words herself when she speaks them.

    Then to the combined admonishment of Homura and Hannah, and the bit of gleeful laughing too, she shakes her head, releasing her teddy bear to wave her hands in front of herself, "I wasn't trying to blow anything up! I just thought maybe burning it would help. I'll never try anything risky like that again, I promise!"

    Then there's Hannah doing her best to impress upon her that what she did was genuinely helpful. "I might have helped, but if I had done nothing I think things would have turned out better. I didn't save you, Hannah-chan, all the people with magic did." As for Junko? Making sure she wasn't awake for the encounter probably saved her from injury on part with or worse than what Madoka is in the hospital for now, so she won't deny that part.

    Then the question comes about what happened at Midori-ya and the pink haired girl visibly pales. Homura is already so upset, is this really the time? But now that Hannah already said something...

    Madoka closes her eyes and brushes the back of her head with her hand, "We were attacked by an, um..." she has to think for a moment to remember the right word, "not a Witch but... a Familiar. We tried to run but it didn't work. We got cornered and Hannah-" pause. Wait, she made a promise about this! This could get Hannah killed! "...protected me." she finishes lamely, without detail.

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura wishes that she could brush it off with a 'at least you're alive now' and leave it at that. She probably could've, if she hadn't seen Madoka die nearly a hundred times. Yet even though the words came out of her own mouth, and Madoka's as well, it still rings false to her.

"If only you knew how many times I've seen--" Homura pauses, and then adds, "--a Puella Magi die suddenly due to a small mistake..." After that, she trails off. It's an unpleasant thought.

"I wish I could believe you when you say that it'll never happen again, Madoka-chan, but frankly I don't. You'll want to help, and nothing I say or do now is going to stop that."

Then the Midori-ya is mentioned. "What little incident at the Midori-ya?" asks Homura, very directly. After hearing the explaination, Homura relaxes a litte. "Oh. Right, well... Hannah here has defeated Familiars before. She knows her way around a Witch by now. Especially with her Grief Seeds."

It's true. She's seen Hannah fight familiars and witches enough times that she's not surprised she won the fight by herself. Nothing about that story seems terribly off to her, nor does she seem to have reason to suspect that there might be something more to it.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
"Good. You're a smart girl, Madoka." Comes Hannah with a smile to the girl. Seems she's already warmed up to her, perhaps to no surprise. Madoka's good at that.

Then Madoka is denying she did anything to help. Hannah sighs, and rolls her eyes.

"Homura. Is she /always/ like this?" Freaking blunt Americans.

A quick nod to Madoka. "Yeah. Uhh, had to use magic to do it, obviously. Sorry Homura, I tried to avoid that, but well, priorities." Adds Hannah apologetically.

Then, back to Madoka.

"It's fine Madoka. She knows all about me. You could say Homura and I are pretty good friends."

Hannah chuckles. "So our cute little Madoka is a troublemaker, huh? I like it! You've got my number, Madoka, any time you need me."

Homura mentions /those/.

"Don't remind me! Ugh, that was a reckless thing to go making."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka hugs the teddy bear closer at the mention of seeing countless Puella Magi die. It's even worse than she's thinking of course, but even those words scare her. The problem has always been getting that fear to actually stick with her through seeing her friends in danger though, hasn't it?

    Further admonishment comes, and she doesn't try to defend herself this time when Homura tells her she doesn't trust she won't try to help again. She only meant trying to make a firebomb or use explosives, but she's at least self aware enough to realize that all of what Homura is saying is correct.

    Then there's the fact that Homura seems far less worried that she got attacked by a Familiar, which doesn't make sense to her. Or at least it doesn't until she realizes that encounter had her trying to run away as quickly as she could. "You... really care about me, don't you, Homura-chan?" she asks.

    Why is it that she always has such a hard time comprehending that?!

    Hannah's quick response and Homura's seeming dismissal of any significance to Hannah being able to protect her makes it clear enough the two already knew about each other's magical lives, and Hannah saying as much has Madoka letting out a sigh of relief. At least she didn't break that promise only a few days after having made it!

    "You're already friends? " For at least once today Madoka will put on a sincere and happy smile, "I'm so happy to hear that! You both have done so much to help me already." With a little giggle she adds, "I'll have to introduce you two to Mamoru-kun and Sayaka-chan." About that first one...

    Then the mention of grief seeds, and Hannah seems momentarily distraught. "Hannah-chan is a Puella Magi?" But no, that can't be right- she doesn't have a soul gem. So why grief seeds? She hasn't put two and two together yet, and at least for tonight, she wont. "Actually, I'll ask again later. My head hurts too much to think about that stuff tonight." A nervous laugh.

Homura Akemi has posed:
"I don't have any trouble with you defending Madoka, and it's a bit too late to keep her ignorant of what goes on in Tokyo at night," says Homura, frankly. "In fact I'm grateful. Thanks, Hannah-chan."

What Hannah says next catches her interest. "Reckless? I mean... I don't disagree, after what happened to Kyouko, but it feels strange to hear you say it." Homura looks away, rubbing her upper arm with her other hand. "... I have to admit... I never really liked those things. I just hoped you'd know when to quit."

Madoka makes an observation that causes Homura to stammer a bit. "W-well a lot of people do! I just wish you'd realize that!" Up until this point she was on the attack, but now she's on the defensive.

Homura listens as Madoka lists off a few friends, and Homura says, "I already know Mamo-kun and Sayaka-san." Though, it should be clear from the honorific which one she's close to and which one she's... maybe not super close to. "Mamoru-kun and I met before you came back from America, actually. We actually have a lot in common. I know Hannah-chan knows him, too."

"... And no, Hannah-chan isn't a Puella Magi, but as you've apparently seen she is a magical girl. It's complicated." Homura isn't sure how much Madoka really knows about this subject in particular, or how much Hannah is comfortable sharing.

Relative to how she was when she entered, Homura is a bit more quiet. "I'm sorry. I keep meaning to explain things to you, but there's never really a good time."

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah's just smiling as Madoka talks to Homura. It's /adorable/ and she's giving Homura a cheeky grin.

To Madoka, she smirks. "Hey, you're a good kid, /and/ you're technically one of my kohai's. So gotta stick up for you!"

Another chuckle from the blind girl. She crosses her legs as she lays back.

"Jeez that guy really does know everybody! Yup, I met the guy a long time ago. We're in the same study group! You really should come some time Madoka! We'll get you up to speed. And work on your English too, seriously." Frown!

A nod. "I'd love to meet her."

Homura gets a thumbs-up.

"Any time. You know how things are. And even if I /didn't/ owe you, Madoka here..."

A wink.

"Well. I can see why she's your friend."

A nervous laugh.

"Hey, even /I/ can be self aware. Sometimes. Occasionally." Blush.

"Don't worry though, I've got plenty of other ideas. I'm going to figure you Puella Magi out. Completely." Her words are far too ambitious to be anything good.

She barks out a laugh.

"...Me? A Puella? I'm no half-baked mage that leaks magic like a sieve! Err...no offense Homura. You're great, really, but you could be so much more if we could just figure out how to make that little problem go away." Meaning, of course, the soul gem and their dieing.

"Don't worry about it Madoka. GEt some rest tonight okay? I'll tell you all about it later."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The talk about different types of magic that are around goes completely over Madoka's head, and for now at least she isn't actually paying all that much attention to the different terms being thrown around. As much as she was trying to play it off she wasn't actually joking about hard thinking giving her a headache right now!

    So her attention goes mostly onto the talk about various friends. There's no surprise when told the other girls both know Mamoru and are his friend like when she learned Hannah and Homura knew each other. "He's a very kind person, isn't he? I owe him a lot for how he treated me when I just started back in school." The compliments given to her make her blush, and it's almost, almost as if she's her normal self for a few moments.

    "Sayaka-chan can be a little stubborn, but I think you'd really like each other once you got to know each other, Hannah-chan!" Poor, poor Madoka. So naive and optimistic, especially when it comes to her friends.

    She laughs in embarrassment then and nods, "It's the same one?! Mamoru-kun has invited to your study group too, Hannah-chan. Don't worry, I need a lot of help so I'll make sure to come." Then a very odd expression and tone of voice coming from Madoka, "What?! My English is fine!" Then in that very language, thick with accent, "I lived in America for two whole years!"

Homura Akemi has posed:
Homura listens as Hannah talks to Madoka. Internally, she's glad that Madoka has been able to make friends since returning from America, but you wouldn't know it from the blank stare she seems to always wear.

Then Hannah promises to 'completely figure Puella Magi out'. Homura wonders just how far she'll get. There are certain secrets that are best kept hidden... but it's not as if Homura can hide them forever.

"The Soul Gem and its flaws... well... I mean, that's part of why I don't really want other Puella Magi to be made. There are healthier ways to get magic."

When Madoka brings up Mamoru, Homura says, "He's very kind, and very gentle. Occasionally he has his annoying quirks but overall he's a good person. I'd trust him with anything, really."

Seeing Madoka get defensive about something, even if it is a language that Homura doesn't know well enough to know if Madoka is doing it right or not, is amusing. It causes Homura to smirk, but she successfully suppresses any giggling that might've happened.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah grins.

"He's amazing." How else can someone really describe Mamoru?

"Yeah. Yeah, that's him. He puts up with idiots like me, so, he'd get along great with you Madoka!" Griiiiin.

"Sayaka, is it? I'll remember that name. Stubborn? Hah! We'll be like a pair of bulls locking horns!" Comes Hannah, confident in her own stubborn outlook on life.

Madoka may have accidentally started the apocalypse. The stubborn apocalypse.

"...No kidding? Ugh! Mamoru! Stop pre-empting me buddy! Heh, good." Pause. Wince. /WINCE/.

"You're making my southern heart cringe. Don't worry, I'll give you pointers."

Thumbs up.

"Feh. Come on. One is too many. When I find who or what makes you all, they'll pay. Dearly." She snarls in pure hatred.

Boris, as it happens, pads on in. In dog form!

Woof! No talking right now. He does wag his tail at Madoka and Homura before curling up on Hannah.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is all nods of agreement when the others share their opinion on Mamoru. If nothing else the young man certainly has a way with making girls and young women feel accepted, but it's far from his only positive attribute. If she was a little less oblivious about romance Madoka might giggle amidst all this talk of a specific boy.

    "Hehe, I don't think she'll disappoint you there, Hannah-chan," Madoka replies. She really needs to think up of a good way to get them into some friendly competition. Emphasis on friendly.

    More indignity as her accent is not just noticed, but offended by! "Hannah-chan, you're so meaaaan," comes the reply, said with the tone of someone who really doesn't mind the teasing. In Japanese, luckily for Hannah's linguistic pride.

    More talk of soul gems and Puella Magi, and then that hateful snarl. Madoka hasn't actually seen much of this side of Hannah, and blinks a little in surprise. "Huh?! He's just offering a way to get magic and a wish in exchange for fighting. Why would say something like that?" she asks, sounding alarmed.

Homura Akemi has posed:
The language talk goes over Homura's head. "English isn't something I know that well, but I suppose I'll have to learn it eventually."

When the subject of Kyubey comes up, Homura starts to grind her teeth.

"That little creature is a lot more devious than he looks, Madoka-chan. You don't know the full price of those wishes... the price that Kyouko, Mami, and myself might eventually have to pay."

"Oh sure, it sounds good. Be a hero! Defend the innocent! Get a wish! Except it's really not like that at all. It's just fighting Witches, fighting other Puella, watching people you care about getting hurt, or worse..."

"... and that little white RAT knows all about it! He keeps the horrific parts secret until it's too late for you to change your mind." Homura clenches her fists. She realizes, hearing herself, that she's yelling again.

She quiets down for a moment, and after a pause she says, "I should probably go. Take care of yourselves, Madoka-chan, Hannah-chan."

She doesn't tarry about when it comes to leaving, walking out the door in a bit of a hurry.

Hannah Sharpe has posed:
Hannah clenches a fist.

"We'll see! Bring it! I want to meet this Sayaka-chan!"

Smirk! Smiiiirk!

"The absolute worst am I~."

Such tease!

Teeth grind.

But Homura is way ahead of her.

One eye closes.

"...White rat, huh?" It's at once a tease, and something more to Homura. A grin.

She grows more serious swiftly, however.

"...Take care Homura." She offers, and then slumps back down.

"Madoka. I've been studying Puella Magi for some time. This 'white rat'. Take his words with a grain of salt. A Puella Magi is a risk. A real risk. A ticking-freaking-time-bomb. Take that into consideration." A sigh. Not a few moments later, she's snoring away.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The vehemence of Homura's response to Madoka's short defense of Kyubey takes her entirely by surprise, though it really shouldn't. Homura had actually killed him right in front of her multiple times, as if that makes any sense, so she clearly has some very serious issues concerning him. She's left with a slightly frightened expression on her face, though it fades quickly once Homura calms down.

    Of all the magic talk she's let go over her head, she was at least paying full attention to that bit. "I'm sorry..." she offers softly. "Maybe I shouldn't speak about things I don't know anything about. When I'm feeling better, maybe it would be a good time to talk about all the things you've been meaning to tell me?"

    As Homura begins to leave almost as abruptly as she arrived she calls out after, "Thank you for coming to visit, Homura-chan..!"

    A few moments later and Hannah is asleep. She doesn't envy the medicine going through that IV, but she does envy the ability to quickly sleep it seems to be granting.

    Madoka hugs her teddy bear one more time. "I made a mess of things again," she says to herself, letting out a long, soft sigh.