880/Taking Responsibility

Taking Responsibility
Date of Scene:	17 January 2016
Location:	Mitakihara/Pikarigaoka - King Penguin Park
Synopsis:	A random meeting between Madoka and Shinobu leads to a few good lessons.
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Shinobu Kimura

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Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Its a cold. Wet. Day. The type of day that most people prefer not to be out. Rain and Snow have been coming down much of the day. Right now the flavor of precipitation: Snow! Gently the white stuff dances to the ground creating a light blanket of white on the ground.

Who would be out in this weather? Well Shinobu for one! She happens to be in the park performing a Kata. The occasional person stops to watch the young woman working a bo but they are few and far between. Her footing is steady dispite the slick snow on the ground. Only occasionally does she slip and even then she is pretty quick to recover.

Strike after strike. The young woman makes her attacks and retreats. She is at least dressed for the cold though her cloths are getting soaked. With a smoothe motion, she plants the staff and uses it to prop herself up for a high kick.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka's family had been out having fun together on the last day before school started back up, coincidentally also a Sunday that Junko had off of work. The mix of rain and snow had meant that mostly they were doing things indoors, having gone to see a movie before having a nice meal at small restaurant together. With the rain having stopped and turned into snow they had started taking a walk together, mostly just enjoying each other's company and talking about how their lives were going.

    Eventually the suggestion was made that they could go ice skating together which was instantly a hit... with everyone but Madoka. Though it was far from her only recent ice skating memory right now it reminded her too much of having gone to a skating rink with Takashi, who had recently broken up with her. She didn't want to ruin the other's fun so she told them to go on ahead without her and that she'd join them the next time they wanted to, and also since they'd be teaching her little brother Tatsuya to skate for the first time they'd probably have their hands full enough anyway.

    After they'd parted ways Madoka continued through the park, feeling a little bit down as she walked along the paths alone. She slows down a bit when she notices the pathway getting slick as the snow starts sticking. Eventually her path takes her along past where Shinobu is practicing, slowing even more. Hm, she looks a little familiar! But where from?

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu Kimura continues doing her thing. practicing. Snow is in her scarlet mane. With loud crack, her weapon comes over her head and cracks the ground. She goes down into a split, leaning forward. Then taking the staff she swings it in a wide cicle, finishing leaning back.

Her eyes open and she sees... A pink haired girl watching her. She's never seen Madoka physically so what now. There is a familiar ring on Shinobu's right hand.

With a quick roll she quickly gets up on her feet. Taking her bo with her, she walks over to the pink haired girl. "Hiya!" She states as she gives a wave. Its clearly Shinobu. She has no glasses and no cane. Both are gone. Oddly enough, both items were lost at the same place. She gives a polite bow. "How are you today Miss?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    This time it's Madoka who first recognizes Shinobu by her voice. The lack of glasses and cane were part of it, but the clothing change and the partial covering for snow made up the rest of it. A little bit is also the fact that she wouldn't expect the person she'd met a couple times before to be so physically active in swinging around a staff. Meeting someone by running into them and collapsing to the ground can create that impression.

    But when she hears Shinobu's voice she blinks a little, recognizing her right away. "Shinobu-chan!" she responds with surprise, taking a few steps off the path and walking out onto the slick grass. "Hello, Shinobu-chan. I'm... doing okay, I guess." She doesn't want to lie and say she's doing great but also doesn't want to worry her too much.

    She hadn't ever seen the other girl take off her dark glasses before so the fact her eyes aren't stark white aren't an immediate tell. Nor is the ring she wears on her finger- at least not at a distance when it isn't being looked for. "You look like you've been practicing that for a long time," she notes about the staff after a moment with a friendly smile.

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu Kimura smiles and her eyes light up, "Madoka-chan! I was hoping I would run into you again!" She quickly makes her way over to her friend and gives a smile. "Its been a wild few days. I wanted to talk to you but I never got a chance to get your phone number! I seem to forget that alot." She giggles a little

Idly she plants the staff and leans against it. "Remember how I said my mother didn't want me to be a victim? She put me in martial arts when I was eight. I've been doing weapons training since. I always keep my bo at home in case anyone decides to cause trouble. I like to keep up on training. Since I moved here I've not exactly had the chance to find a new sensei. In fact I've been thinking about doing some teaching.

"Hey, listen I wanted to apologize to you. I've been really messed up for a long time. I wasn't able to apologize for upsetting you. Its something I've felt bad about since."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka smiles a little more at the way the redhead seems to be happy to see her. A wild few days? It kind of has been for her too, but she isn't sure what Shinobu means so she gives a small nod. "My phone number?" she asks, thinking a little for a moment, "We're schoolmates so I think that'd be fine if you want it, Shinobu-chan."

    More nodding of her head and thus slight tossling of her pink twintails as the note about her mother is made, though her face makes a mildly embarrassed expression. The mention of not being able to find a teacher gets her to hum, "You can probably find a very good one once school starts. Infinity likes to be the best in a lot of fields, including martial arts; our kickboxing team won nationals!" Mentioning that suddenly has her even more embarrassed and she lets out a slightly nervous laugh, "Eheh... of course the finals for that was when the gym exploded... but I think it's supposed to be repaired by the new term." She puts a hand on her face and shakes her head a little. She still feels bad about that. At least the charity ball was a success.

    She tilts her head and makes a soft, "Hm?" when an apology is mentioned. It takes Madoka a couple of moments but she realizes what the other girl is referring to. "O-oh! You must mean about at the bakery. Um... it's okay, Shinobu-chan. I wasn't upset with you. I'm upset with Kyubey about making contracts with people without telling them everything that's involved. I still am... but it wasn't your fault at all. Homura-chan was just telling you the truth because you were able to notice it, and I think you had the right to know"

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu Kimura takes a deep breath as Kyubey is brought up. Quietly she steps over to a bench and takes a seat beside a bag which has been marked with her name. She doesn't use the bo as a replacement for her cane. In fact there is no cane present. On top of this she doesn't seem to have difficulty finding a bench with no life anywhere near it. "Join me?" She gives a warm smile to her and then fishes in her bag. Quickly she grabs her phone and brings up the contacts list before handing it over to her.

"I guess lets talk about the good news. I've got a date! I met this really cute guy! I mean totaly a dreamboat! He offered to take me out and stuff. His name is Hinote Kagari. I can't wait. He said he'd call me and stuff. Its so cool." She beams over the whole thing. Then that fades. "Now for the not so good news."

It takes her a moment before she is able to speak. "The other night, I was out for a walk. Some guys... well... I didn't understand it at the time... They were marked with dark magic. They attacked me.I took off running and hid in a building."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Walking over to something that didn't just call out to her, doesn't seem to be alive or magical(though looks can be deceiving for that), and sitting down without having to feel for the bench first are pretty good indicators that Shinobu can actually see again and Madoka feels a certain resignation as she follows and sits down beside her.

    She accepts the phone from Shinobu and is entering her name and cell phone number into it when she hears the good news. It causes her to pause for a moment while typing her number in, her eyes momentarily going down to her lap. At first the mention of the date reminds her of her own love life and how her last date ended. She lets out a little sigh, closes her eyes for a moment, and then looks over to Shinobu and smiles, "I'm happy for you, Shinobu-chan." And she is! Which is good because it lets her mostly hide the ache she feels, though it shows a bit in her eyes.

    Then the bad news and it's a good thing she just finished entering her phone number in because her full attention is suddenly on Shinobu, "Oh my gosh!" She starts to look over Shinobu suddenly, a different part of her mind taking over and checking for injuries. Instead she finds a ring on her finger. "...oh."

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu Kimura nods, "A Labyrinth opened. I could make things out but... Where was I supposed to run to. Then I got attacked by a trio of familiars. I tried to fight them off with my cane but, no luck. I fought so hard. I could myself slipping so, I did the only thing I could think of at that point. I called Kyubey and made a wish. Had I not, I'd be dead."

A viridian flare goes off around her ring, turning it into her own soul gem. Its slightly murky but mostly clear. Her face is solemn. "I got to save a life and the witch that caused that mess is gone. I got the grief seed." She closes her eyes and just looks at the ground.

"I can see again. That was my wish. I thought maybe if I made a wish that only really affected me, any reprocussions might be limited to me. I wanted more time to think about this. I didn't want to make a snap decision. The choice was get my soul shoved into a gem or give it up entirely." She starts tearing up. "I am in over my head."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka blinks a little in surprise, "You were brought inside a labyrinth?" She frowns a little and makes a mental note to mention that to Homura later. It looks like the last time that was going to happen isn't in the past after all. She gives Shinobu a compassionate look as she tells the circumstances of making her wish. The pink haired girl almost smiles when she says she was able to save a life and put an end to the witch, but then things suddenly take a much less happy turn as Shinobu seems upset.

    Madoka frowns again, somewhat larger this time, but when she sees the tears in the corners of Shinobu's eyes she scoots a little closer and turns somewhat in her seat, reaching out to put her arm around the other girl's shoulders and giving her a hug, though she'll stop if she's waved off, pushed away, or pulled away from. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Shinobu-chan! Nobody should have to make that kind of decision in such a hurry. I'm sorry there wasn't anyone close enough to fight off the familiars or kill the witch before it was able to threaten you."

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu gives a little shrug then forces a smile. "I made a choice though. A choice thats better then any wish. I'm going to live life. I don't care if I have to fight witches and the like. It doesn't matter if I have 20 years left or 20 seconds. I'm going to make the most of it. If it saves a few lives on the way, I think that makes it worth it."

Her eyes are glassy. She's trying to be strong. "Besides, At least my soul gem is pretty, right?" She giggles a little. "I've always been a sucker for viridian and its sorta my color!"

The redhead just sorta sighs and sits back. "Oh I sorta found the labyrinth by accident. Either that or it opened up around me. No one led me there. I was running from a bunch of gangsters who were trying to kill people. They were talking really weird too. yeesh."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka pulls away after a few moments, returning to a normal sitting position when her hug doesn't seem to have had much of an effect; maybe it was a bad idea. "I think that's the only thing you can do. I know it's difficult, but you can't give up on yourself, especially not now. You're right about that, though. You can save a lot of lives by hunting and killing witches. You don't have to worry about running away from scary magic at all anymore, now you can be the kind of person who runs towards it and protects people." That's the kind of thing Madoka admires a whole lot!

    She looks down for a moment before turning her eyes to Shinobu's soul gem, peering at it for several moments. "It is very pretty, Shinobu-chan. If you really like it I'm glad it matches you!" Madoka hasn't quite put together that since it's literally her soul it probably would match, wouldn't it?

    She then hums a little and nods about the actual labyrinth opening up. "Those men, they were probably affected by the witches kiss. Witches cause people to do all kinds of awful things. It would make sense if the witch is around- you probably shouldn't be to hard on those people, even if they were gangsters. More than likely it was the witch causing to do terrible things they normally wouldn't; they were probably it's victims just as much as you."

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu Kimura gives a smile returning the hug before it's broken. "Several people showed up after I made my wish and I umm... beat the tar out of the familiars. I wound up saving a Guardian from well it would of killed him. I also managed to help the group through the labyrinth. My magic is weird." She laughs a little.

She smiles and turns her soulgem back to a ring. Easiest way to deal with that for now. I do have a problem though. I don't know how to hunt witches. I've never had to. I've never even seen a Puella Magi in action. To be fair I've not seen much in the past five years. I went by instincts during that fight but I can't do that all the time. I know how to fight physically but doing this with magic is over my head!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka considers that for a little moment, "Since your magic is tied to your wish and you wished to have your sight back, you probably do have some neat magic to help you understand your surroundings better." She thinks about that for a moment before smiling, "I'm glad you were able to save someone though. If they're magical than it means the people they save is partially thanks to you now, too."

    When it comes to hunting witches and fighting using magic Madoka gives a small shake of her head. "I don't think I can really help you very much with fighting. I've seen Puella Magi fight, but they all tend to fight in very different ways. Mami-san is a veteran though, so maybe you could ask her." She did see them leave together at the meeting before, right."

    She lets out a little sigh and gives Shinobu an apologetic look, "I've seen Puella magi using their Soul Gems to track down witches, but I'm not sure. Sorry."

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu Kimura nods slowly. "Okay That actually makes sense. When I activate my magic, I see, Its like watching things that might happen. Its only a few seconds but I can watch what happens. WHen I hit the button I seen a chunk of the labyrinth fall on that guardian, crushing him. But I also seen that he was okay. So I looked up and it was happening. I pushed him out of the and acted. I used my staff to crush it."

As she listens to Madoka she nods slowly. She is intently listening trying to think things through. "Okay I have Mami's number. I will getin touch with her. She was there but she didn't get to talk to me. Something came up and she had to leave. I've been wanting to talk to her because she seems very knowledgable. I ran into a friend of hers last night. I don't really see eye to eye with her sadly. We bump heads. That was Sailor V."

Then she smiles, "Wait, They use their soul gems to hunt? I wasn't doing that. I was walking blind! Maybe that is the trick!" She smiles and nods, "Tonight, I think I am going to go on my first real hunt."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka listens as Shinobu describes her powers but has a bit of a hard time trying to understand it. "So you can see things that are going to happen, but maybe they won't?" That actually reminds her a bit of Homura, though the things she saw and went through were actual experiences that were reversed."

    She nods a bit when the new Puella does seem to know Mami and looks somewhat relieved by it. If anyone can help her Mami can, Madoka thinks. "Sailor... well, I know one of the Sailors that was at the meeting sure made a scene. Maybe some of them are just a bit prickly? I hope it didn't turn out too badly."

    "Try to be safe! Especially while you're still getting used to your new powers," Madoka responds to the note about going out on a witch hunt. After a moment she realizes she's still holding onto Shinobu's phone, looking a little embarrassed and handing it back before standing up. "I think I'm going to go and see how my family is doing. It's been a few hours." They're probably done skating by now, she thinks.

    "I really am very sorry the way you ended up making your wish. But I think if you focus on the future you'll be okay, Shinobu-chan." She considers for a moment before adding, "When I left the other day I was fairly sure you had made up your mind to regain your sight anyway. I know that might not help... but maybe it will a little."

Shinobu Kimura has posed:
Shinobu Kimura accepts her phone back and files away Madoka's number. She gives a smile and then a polite bow. "Thank you Madoka-chan. You are really sweet. You know I still see magic and stuff when I close my eyes, and you are still just as bright as ever."

Then she pauses a moment. "Umm... I am pretty sure what I see is going to happen. The short amount of time I see isn't enough time for a person to really change their mind which is the only thing that can really change things. Its useful in a fight because, I know where they are going to strike and I can dodge." She smiles a little.

Then she brings that up. She shakes her head. "No. I actually was torn. Though honestly, I came to an understanding. Madoka-chan, you still got a choice in this. Though the moment Kyubey enters your life... There isn't exactly much that can be done. You can choose to be a puella magi or you can choose not to. Either way, at least for me, There was no way of escaping regret. If I made the contract, I'd regret it forever. If I didn't I'd regret that because of the people I could help as a magical girl. I'm not going to suggest you go either way but, I just hope you don't regret whatever choice you make."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka considers for a moment, "I suppose that's true, in a way. I wouldn't be upset at anyone who chose not to become a Puella Magi, though, especially not after learning more about what it means. I don't think every person who Kyubey speaks with is suited for a life of combat, and it makes me sad when I think that there must be people who contracted anyway despite that." At least that part he pretty much always talks about up front, though.

    She then considers her own choice for a moment, "I don't think I'll regret the choice I've decided to make but there's always the chance I'm making a mistake. Even if I am, I think I'd rather live with that knowing it's because of the choice I made for myself after thinking my decision through."

    It's a bit of an odd note, but Madoka lifts her hand and offers Shinobu a wave and a smile before continuing down the path she came from, waiting a few moments before getting out her phone and calling her father to see what they're up to.