233/Revenge, Piping Hot

Revenge, Piping Hot
Date of Scene:	31 July 2015
Location:	Plot Room #3
Synopsis:	Kyouko kidnaps Madoka to get back at Homura. (This scene leads directly into scene 238, The Witches of Mitakihara)
Cast of Characters:	Madoka Kaname, Mami Tomoe, Mamoru Chiba, Seishi Tamashige, Kyouko Sakura

---

Madoka Kaname has posed:
It's been a long time since Madoka took That Way home. A large part of her wants to believe she's moved on from that awful day some weeks ago, when her whole world turned upside down. Talking with Mamoru has helped. Plunging herself into academics has helped even more, giving her something to think about other than what might lurk in the shadows of Tokyo's streets. You might even say that her life is approaching normal again, albeit a new, more somber normal than before.

Still, she finds herself taking the long way home everyday, too afraid to pass by that alley where all hell broke loose. It's added an additional fifteen minutes to her route, and it makes her feel like a coward every time, but until today, she's just pushed it to the back of her mind, not thinking about it as she ashamedly walks onto a crowded train.

No more. Today, bolstered by the distance of time and some unknown burst of courage, Madoka is walking home the old way. The way she always walked home as a child, past the drug stores and cafes and, yes, even the alleyways that get so dark in the early evening. And, in doing so, she will show Mamoru, Akemi-san, the Stranger, everybody -- she will show them that she is not afraid anymore.

At least, in her mind. The smallest acts of courage have such significance to her sometimes.

The pink-haired girl pauses at the intersection, takes a deep breath, and starts walking.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Perhaps it's a bit ironic- Kyouko would not have been looking for Madoka on any of the intervening days, between that incident which had so shaken her and this particular day. Kyouko hasn't even been on the streets for the majority of that time. But now, on the day Madoka decides once again to take the less crowded way, the more perilous way home, Kyouko is looking for her. Perhaps it's just fate.

    Kyouko has been stewing. She hasn't exactly felt right since escaping Miss White's clutches. Like many who are victimized the experience left her with a feeling of helpless rage that is hard to find an outlet for. She wants to get back at the people who hurt her, but she's been struggling to figure out what the best way to do so would be. Mami would likely counsel patience, and calm reflection. Kyouko, unfortunately, has not been back to see Mami since the night of the escape.

    What she has done is come upon an idea. She knows of Homura's attachment to Madoka- she was a witness to that last traumatizing event, though nobody there knew it. Homura might be out of her reach, for the time being- but Madoka was not. It took a few days, but Kyouko found the pink-haired girl. She had remembered her school uniform, and from there it was simply a matter of watching the school gates as students left and waiting for an opportunity. She gets it today.

    Kyouko is impulsive, but she's also cunning. She waits until Madoka is walking down a relatively quiet street, past some of those darkened alleyways. Then, as the girl passes by one of those alley mouths, there comes a sound.

    *crunch*

    Its the sound of a pocky stick being bitten in half. A moment later, it's fallowed by a voice, a female voice with an almost languid tone, colored by a harsh accent picked up from years of living on the street. "Hey. Kid." Kyouko can just be seen inside the alley, leaning against the wall, in her Puella henshin, although unlike some other Henshins, there's nothing to immidiately distinguish it as being more than just a fancy set of clothes.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
MEANWHILE, IN THE TOMOE HOUSEHOLD...

Mami isn't sure if Kyouko will be back over today, but that doesn't stop Mami from starting out on a sweet treat for them when or if Kyouko returns. She has, at the moment, a basic recipe going: she's got sweet rice, coconut milk, and some other things going in the microwave, turning the mixture into a translucent mixture. The microwave goes off, and Mami finishes setting up her work station. There's a cornstarch covered foil on the counter, two squeeze tubes - both look like red food coloring - and a small bowl with something that looks like chocolate pudding in it.

What in the world is Mami making?

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Madoka, being an average girl of average hearing ability, likely wouldn't have picked up on the distant *crunch* of pocky being eaten under any other circumstances. Were this a happy mid-summer stroll to her home, she'd have no reason to investigate, even if she did hear. Pocky's just pocky, and someone's just eating, right?

But this isn't a happy stroll. The girl's every nerve is primed for signs of danger, despite her efforts to keep calm, and that tiny noise in the alleyway -- THE alleyway -- might as well have been a gunshot for how it makes her heart stop.

Immediately, she freezes, the already fragile facade of calm fading quickly into palpable anxiety. The words that follow don't exactly help, and by the time she's turned to face the voice that called out to her, her face is drained of color.

"Y-Yes?" Madoka replies. Her voice shakes, as do the hands that clutch her school bag (summer school means no vacation for her). Even so, she repeats over and over in her mind: 'she could be friendly.' Even if she's in the menacing shadow of an alley. Even if everything about her radiates hostility. Even if those clothes look suspiciously like something a magical girl might wear--

She could still be friendly.

"Do you need directions?" she says, shoring herself up against her own fear. After all, this girl looks to be her age, or perhaps a bit older. Certainly not enough to be calling her 'kid' unironically, but Madoka's willing to let that slide. As long as the red-haired girl doesn't make any moves to hurt her, she'll assume the best. Her heart demands it.

Even if her mind is screaming at her to run.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko pushes off of the alley wall, strolling out into the light, the late afternoon sun playing over hair the color of blood as it sways behind her in that long, full ponytail. Her eyes, red like her hair, the color of fresh blood, skip up and down Madoka quickly- even in a situation like this, where she's clearly the predator, her instincts never let her relax. Especially lately- always looking for the trap. Still, it's a quick, almost automatic assessment, and the expression on her face doesn't change.

    That expression, now that Madoka can see it, is a lopsided feral little grin, a single fang protruding over her lower lip on the side it leans towards. "Nah," comes the dismissive answer to Madoka's hopefully polite question. "I know exactly where I'm going." She links her hands behind her back, and casually strolls around Madoka, her heeled boots making soft clops on the pavement. She stops on the other side of the girl- so that she's between Madoka and the street, and Madoka is now between her and the mouth of the alleyway. "Problem is, I ain't sure you do."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
MEANWHILE, IN THE TOMOE HOUSEHOLD pt2:

Mami gets the glutinious mass out onto the cornstarch, and she deftly squeezes both red tubes into it. one is more liquid, the other one having a bit more substance to it, before she covers her hands in starch and immediately starts working, turning the mass into a red dough ball, similiar to bread. When she's confident it's all worked in, she pauses to taste test it a little bit, her face scrunched up. "Hmmm." She dabs a little more of the more jelly like stuff, and reworks it, retasting it afterwards. "Ah, yes." She rolls the dough out into a smooth rectangle, more length than width.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
This...this isn't good. Madoka really makes an effort not to judge based on appearances, especially after being so mistaken about Akemi-san on her first day, but this girl's smile isn't exactly a comforting one. Even worse are her words. Self-assured, condescending, almost certainly threatening. But, even so, she's made no move to attack her. It's still possible for everything to turn out fine, and she will hold onto that hopeful possibility until it's absolutely proven wrong.

(Of course, then it might be too late.)

Madoka doesn't turn around as the girl slowly walks behind her, using all her willpower to stay her body's trembling. "Pardon?" she says, unsure of what her last statement means. "Oh, I'm just on my way home. I did just move back here a few weeks ago, but I definitely know the way--"

Here, she finally turns, and the words die in her mouth as she realizes that the girl with the feral smile now stands between her and the street. Her eyes widen, a small gasp of fear escaping where the rest of her sentence should have been.

It's true that she's still not attacked, but Madoka's hope is rapidy turning into blind denial.

"Please...please let me go," she says, nearly a whisper. "I don't have anything to give you.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Ahh, there it is. That look of fear and pleading. Kyouko needed that.. she drinks it in. Too often lately she's felt like the one on the defensive, like the prey. But she'd a predator, and this feeling, of being in control and of being the one calling the shots, this is what she loves. She can feel it restoring her confidence, shoring up her determination. She is powerful and she is scary, and she'll make the people who made her feel otherwise pay for it. Of course, Madoka had nothing to do with that.. but she has the unfortunate bad luck of being very important to someone who did.

    Kyouko shakes her head slightly, still smiling that mono-fanged smile of hers as she stalks a bit closer, forcing Madoka to step backwards towards the alley if she wants to maintain the distance between them. "Sorry, kid." She says, using that belittling term again despite, as Madoka noted, them being about the same age. "You got nothing I want. Rather, somebody else wants you pretty bad, and it's come to my attention that I can make use of that. So.. we're gonna go on a little walk, alright?"

    She makes a shooing motion with her hands towards the alleyway. "Be a good girl and just come along, and ain't nobody gotta get hurt, right? I can play rough if I have to, but I'd rather we jkust take a nice, peaceful little stroll." SHe has to save her strength for when Homura inevitably shows up to kill her, after all.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
MEANWHILE, IN THE TOMOE HOUSEHOLD pt3:

Mami takes up the small bowl of chocolate-looking stuff, before spooning it out deftly in small scoops down the line of the mass. She then folds it over, neatly crimping the edges down before she idly slides the filled little bits apart, rolling them between her hands to form them into little balls that get deposited into another cornstarch covered pan. This process repeats til she's out of the rice mixture and the filling. The pan full of mochi goes into the fridge...

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Oh no. Oh no no no, it's happening again. Someone wants to kidnap her, in this very alley, for some reason that she doesn't know and could never understand. And, this time, no one's around to help her.

No one's around to help -- but no one's around to get hurt either. No one's risking their safety for hers, and as Homura and Mamoru both told her, so many people would worry if she were to disappear. For their sake as much as her own, Madoka does something very stupid.

Namely, she runs. Drops her bag with a cry of fear, turns around, and makes a mad dash down the alleyway, nearly losing her balance as her footsteps splash into puddles and echo against the empty walls on either side of her. She doesn't think about whether this will work or not, avoids the thought as best she can. Pure flight instinct suppresses the voice in the back of her mind that says this is all futile.

Should she survive, it will be a very long time before she takes this path home again.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    As Madoka dashes down the alleyway, Kyouko just sighs. "Nothin's ever easy." She mutters to herself, watching the girl run into the shadows, her sharp ears following the sounds of her footsteps as they splash and echo. Then she leaps up, a single jump carrying her effortlessly to the rooftop.

    It's nothing for her to overtake Madoka, and in fact she goes a bit further on before dropping down into the alleyway again.. waiting as Madoka's footsteps draw closer. At the appropriate moment, she simply steps forward and lets the pink-haired girl run into her- her slender form, taught and strong with both the muscles of an active, hunter's lifestyle and the magic of a puella, barely giving as the shorter girl careens into her.

    "Whoa whoa there." She says, grinning, sounding almost placating. "None of that now." She slides an arm around Madoka's waist, almost as if they were best friends going to the sock-hop together. But that grip is strong- not tight, but not yielding. "Come along. I promise, it ain't gonna be so bad. Everything goes the way I want, you'll be home with your mommy and daddy before you know it." And she starts to walk.. that arm around Madoka's waist, so companionable to anyone looking on, serving more effectively than a leash to drag the terrified girl with her.. it's only a few blocks to Mami's apartment.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
MEANWHILE, IN THE TOMOE HOUSEHOLD pt4:

The mochi freezing up a little so they won't fall compeltely apart when eaten, Mami turns her attention to the mess she's made. She cleans up the alumunim foil while she starts the hot water, before steadily washing all of the dishes she created with her tasty little adventure. That done, she starts her pot of water for tea before she finishes wiping everything else down to a sparkly, gorgeous clean. This done, she takes her mochi out of the fridge, along with other little cakes and treats, along with a little platform stand as she rearranges everything on there. Sure, it's a bit flashy, but she knows Kyouko will appreciate the snacks, especially the sweet strawberry chocolate mochi.

"... if she comes." Mami murmurs, to remind herself.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Not taking much care to observe her surroundings, Madoka doesn't have time to slow down when she sees the red-haired girl step out in front of her. The wind's knocked cleanly out of her lungs by the impact -- an impact that doesn't even faze Kyouko, who then snakes an arm around her waist in a bizarre facsimile of friendship. That answers the question of whether she's magic or not, she guesses, though it obviously does nothing to comfort her.

It's a solid few moments before she can speak again, taking several deep breaths as she's all but dragged along by her captor's grip. When she does, it's quiet, shaken by the telltale tension of tears held back. The red girl obviously wants the two of them to look friendly, to allay suspicion, but Madoka can't fake any emotion, least of all comfort and friendship.

She really is a terrible actor.

"Where are you taking me?" she asks, barely audible. A few errant tears roll down her cheeks when she blinks, but to her credit, the girl holds in the worst of her fearful sobs. Cooperation might be the only way she gets out of this alive.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko doesn't take the main roads anyway. She is in henshin, after all, and while she doesn't give a rat's ass about 'secret identities', she does realize her outfit is a bit attention-grabbing. As such, back ways are taken, some a bit scary. "To my friend's house." She tells the clearly terrified Madoka, walking at a sedate, but steady pace and not letting her grip slacken in the least.

    Given the rather trepidacious journey through filthy, dark alleyways, it might come as somewhat of a surprise to Madoka when they emerge next to a very respectable apartment building. And then go into it. A little elevator ride, and soon they have arrived at Mami's door! Madoka may, at this point, if she has enough of her faculties about her to take in such things, be a bit surprised to see Kyouko swallow visibly, and stiffen herself up, as if about to face something /she/ is a little scared of.

    Then she knocks on the door. "Mami, it's me."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami opens the door after a few moments when she hears the knock and Kyoukos' voice.

"Ah, I wasn't sure if you were coming ba--" There is a background screeching noise when Mami's gaze drops from Kyouko in her /henshin/ to the obviously terrified young pink-haired kouhai she's got her arm around. Her gaze instantly whips back to Kyouko, turning from confused into Very Confused And Disappointed.

"Kyouko, who and what in the world are you doing?!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Madoka is surprised when the path they're taking morphs from the seedy underbelly of Tokyo into a posh-looking apartment complex. She's that much more surprised when the two of them go up an elevator to one of said apartments, instead of disappearing into a secret base below ground, as she'd been halfway expecting. By the time she sees Kyouko straighten and prepare herself for *some* intimidating thing or other, her fear has almost been replaced by confusion. What could possibly be waiting for them that would scare a girl like her?

Something that she should probably be twice as scared of?

Madoka's trembling noticeably at the thought when the door swings open, revealing another girl their age, with golden eyes and twin-drills in her hair. Had they met any other day, she would have assumed she was friendly, from her easy-going smile and general aura of elegance; but, once again, the events of the past few weeks have taught her not to trust appearances.

The pink-haired girl sniffles, not meeting either of the gazes trained on her.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko has obviously prepared for this, steeling herself mentally, but even that isn't quite enough to stop her from wilting slightly under Mami's Confused and Disappointed gaze. She shrinks just a little bit, her brows drawing together, and when she speaks there's a definite defensive tone in her voice. "I'm helping to solve our problems, Mami. Now come on, we're coming in."

    She then gently but firmly pushes Madoka into the (very nice and neatly kept) apartment, following her in and kicking the door shut behind them, assuming Mami moves out of the way. This done, she releases Madoka, as the only way for the pink-haired kouhai to escape would be to leap out of the window (and we're several floors up), or to try and get back out the door which is now firmly shut and which Kyouko is still standing in front of.

    At this point, Kyouko seems to forget that Madoka is there, turning to Mami instead. "This is the girl that Akemi-san is so obsessed with. We can use her to.. to keep Akemi-san out of the fight." She might have been about to say 'to hurt her' but apparently thought a change of wording wise at the last moment.

    Madoka, for her part, might find it interesting how Kyouko's demeanor changes when addressing Mami. There is a definite air of desperate pleading in her voice, clearly wanting Mami to see things her way, but prepared for her to not to.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami turns to stare between Madoka and Kyouko, especially when Kyouko explains why she brought the younger girl to the apartment. She closes her eyes briefly, thankfully saving anyone from that furthered gaze of disappointment and confusion, before she turns back into the kitchen as the kettle goes off. She calmly pulls the kettle off the stove, turns the stove off, and makes three cups of tea. She hands one off to Kyouko, holding the other two. She looks at Madoka - and takes a swig from her cup, to show that she hasn't done anything to it.

Then she offers the girl the other cup of tea. "Here. You're practically shaking, the adrenaline surge isn't good for you. I don't know who you are, so let me alleviate some problems - my name is Mami Tomoe. I go to Infinity Institute." She puts her own cup of tea down on her little table, before bringing out the tower of treats, resting them there as well. She bites - a bit Kyouko-like in that she flashes some teeth - into one of the mochi she made, chewing and swallowing to settle her thoughts before she turns to face Kyouko.

"So you decided the right option was to kidnap someone who is, at least to me, someone that doesn't even know what is going on, no one I recognize of any sort of magical girl outing or meetups I've ever been at, and is sitting here shaking in her school uniform? That's practically /worse/ than what they did to *you*." Mami bites her mochi again. "... all this is going to do is to put her in the middle of a group of Puella Magi and whatever Miss White is, when she can't even fight to save herself like we can. I can understand the intent, Kyouko, but she's a innocent!"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
What on Earth is going *on*?

Not wanting to do anything that would upset her captors (hosts?), Madoka mostly lets herself be moved around like a ragdoll, putting up no resistance as the red girl ushers her inside and shuts the door firmly behind her. She's scared out of her wits and just as confused, but she's in no way stupid. She realizes that there's no safe escape, not from an apartment this high up, not with two dangerous magical girls who could annihilate her at the first sign of rebellion. Though things are...slightly different than she expected, Madoka still believes that quiet cooperation is the best chance for her to see her friends and family again, without substantial bodily harm.

That decision holds steady -- until Kyouko brings up Akemi-san. She snaps immediately to attention, looking over to the two as they talk. Yet another mention of how important she is to Homura; she hadn't gotten to clarify what he meant when Mamoru last brought it up, but now she simply can't rein herself in.

After all, she's just Akemi-san's classmate, nothing more.

"I..." Madoka begins, quiet, still a shaking ball of nerves. "I think you're mistaken. Akemi-san...we just met a few weeks ago. I really don't know her that well." She'd go on, detailing how she's probably not important in Homura's mind at all, but the blonde girl is motioning for her to sit, offering her tea and snacks...

She can't do much more than blink, utterly baffled.

"U-Uh," she says, locking eyes with the newly introduced Mami, "thank you? I mean. For the sweets." Madoka may be a bit of a doormat, but she's not about to thank someone for kidnapping her. Even though it seems like this girl had nothing to do with it.

"I'm Madoka Kaname," she continues, and her voice is a bit less terrified, though the tea and mochi stay largely untouched for now. "Are you...are you keeping me here?"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    "Yes." Kyouko shoots over her shoulder as Madoka asks if they are 'keeping her' there, before Mami can say anything to the contrary. But her attention is still mostly on the blonde as she attempts to defend her actions. At first, it seems like she's quailing a bit, shrinking back under Mami's disapproving tirade.. until Mami says its 'almost as bad as what they did to her'.

    Anger flashes in Kyouko's red eyes, and she straightens, her lip curling back to show her cute little fang as she snaps, "It is /not/ Mami, and if you think that you have no idea what they did to me in there. They kept me bound in handcuffs for a /week./ They cut me up, injected I don't even know what into me and.. and other stuff." She's fuming a bit now, and she actually pokes a finger at Mami. "You may be Miss High-and-Mighty, but you weren't locked up in that /dungeon/, alright, so don't talk like you know what it was like. I ain't.." She goes quiet for a second, shooting another glance over her shoulder at Madoka.

    "I ain't gonna do anything like that to her. I'm not gonna /hurt/ her Mami."

    Then her voice turns hard again as she flexes the fingers of one hand, making a fist. "But we're not gonna win this war by pussyfooting around. They're not afraid to play dirty- even you have to see that. We have to use every advantage we can get, and she," She turns and points at Madoka. "Is an advantage, because Akemi-san cares about her an awful lot."

    She laughs. "And hunny," Speaking to Madoka, "I wish I knew why she cared about you so much, but I have no idea. That's not important."

    She looks back at Mami. "Winning this fight /is/ important. I'm not sayin' we string her up to teach Akemi-san a lesson or anythin'. I just want to throw her off balance."

    She glances back at Madoka, and after a moment flushes and looks away again. "So just relax, alright? You'll be fine."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami turns to peer at Madoka for awhile, her yellow eyes narrowing.

"What does Akemi see in you?" She asks, softly, mostly to herself rather than Kyouko and Madoka. "Why?" Kyubey, now would be a great time to make an appearance, you brat. Finally she drops into her chair. "Kyouko, we're not keeping Kaname-chan."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
'I wish I knew why she cared about you so much, but I have no idea.'

'What does Akemi see in you?'

Despite her situation -- despite the fact that she should have a million other things on her mind -- those two sentences hit Madoka like bombshells, sinking into her gut like ice as each is uttered. It's nothing she hasn't asked herself before, of course. Why should anyone find her important enough to protect? Why, when she has so little talent to offer, should she be important to anyone, least of all a magical girl who's essentially a stranger to her?

(She would have liked it, though. Being important. Somehow.)

The mighty blow to her self-esteem continues to sting, but the horrors that Kyouko describes distract her from it a bit, and the eyes that had looked down in shame now shoot up, disbelieving and shocked. "No way," she mutters, to herself more than the other two girls at the table. "Mamoru-ku -- a friend of mine. He said that Akemi-san is a good person. Please...please say she didn't do that to you." Tears bead up around her eyes once more. It's true that she's not yet close to the black-haired girl, but she'd thought there was a chance. Some spark of potential friendship between them. She wants to -- *has* to believe that Homura is a good person. If it's not true...

Madoka sniffles again, hands tightening into fists along the hem of her skirt. Regardless of what Kyouko answers, an idea is forming in her head. A stupid idea that could get her killed, but quite possibly her one chance at escape.

"If I'm staying here, can I at least call my family? They'll worry if I'm not home. Please."

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko stiffens slightly at Mami's denial. "Well we can't just let her go! Not now! She'll run right to Akemi and tell her what happened, and then she's going to come over here and blow up your apartment!" She throws her arms up in frustration, then sighs, turning back to Madoka as the girl sniffles.

    Crying Madoka is indeed enough to make the strongest heart waver, but Kyouko merely sneers a little bit, though in truth it's to hide the guilt she suddenly (and quite disconcertingly) feels welling up inside. "Oh, stop blubbering. You think Akemi-san is a good person?" She laughs, shaking her head, her ponytail swaying behind her. "Alright, I'll be honest with you- she didn't do those things to me, not personally. And it wasn't her idea. But she's working for the person who did. She knew I was in there, and she didn't help, didn't try to stop it. So as far as I'm concerned, she might as well have been holding the scalpel herself."

    "More important though, is that when I try to go after the person who /did/ do it, Akemi will try and stop me. All I really want is her out of the way. And that's why I need you." She points at Madoka again. "As long as I have you, Akemi will have bigger things to worry about than keeping me away from Miss White." Oh the convoluted webs we weave!

    Then Madoka brings up calling her parents. Kyouko dithers, glancing at Mami. She's new to this whole 'kidnapper' thing too. "Uhm.. sure. But tell them you're staying at your friends house overnight or something."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Madoka melts Mami's heart a little.

"Oh, please don't cry. I'm very sorry about all of this." Mami says, but the tone to it is rather pathetic. "Do you have your own phone?" Mami would offer Madoka hers, if she needed too, and her worry shows in her yellow eyes. "I just--"

"... this is bad." She says, tiredly, but she can't argue it.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Madoka nods through her tears, digging around in her bag to find the adorable pink phone inside. "Thank you. My mom likes to talk sometimes...I'll only be a minute or two, though. I promise."

Kyouko's accusations about Akemi-san are *extremely* troubling to consider, and they're certainly not helping the inner turmoil that she's struggling to keep contained, but for the sake of her plan, and for her own safety, she must put on a brave face and be calm.

She's only going to have one shot at this.

On uncertain feet, the pink-haired girl stands up, walking over to the window to get good reception. That's not suspicious, right? She's not asking to go into another room to talk or anything like that. As quickly as she's able, Madoka finds the appropriate phone number in her contacts and presses the 'call' button.

And she's talking the nanosecond after the ringing stops.

"Hi, Mom! It's me, Madoka," she says, as cheerfully as she's able. Perhaps *too* cheerful, though she hopes Kyouko and Mami won't begrudge her that. Even if she was calling her real home, she'd sound similar -- terrible actor and all that. "I just wanted to let you know I'm not coming home tonight."

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"...'mom'? Mad--" Mamoru's voice sounds amused, but the pink-haired girl is talking a mile a minute, so he falls silent.

His voice isn't amused at all thereafter. "Are you in trouble? I'm going to assume you're in trouble since you haven't apologised and hung up yet," he says quickly. "If you're outside somewhere, say 'yes', if you're inside somewhere, say 'no.'"

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko crosses her arms over her chest and glares at nothing. "It was already bad. It's going to get worse before it gets better. But there's nothing we can do about that now." She says to Mami, without looking at her.

    As Madoka starts to talk on the phone, Kyouko watches her suspiciously, listening to the side of the conversation she can hear.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Oh, thank goodness, Mamoru understands what's going on. Madoka covers up her relieved sigh with a giggle that she's sure sounds forced, but there's not much she can do about that.

"No, no, it's nothing like that," she continues, mind racing to come up with something to follow up with. "Sayaka-chan's going to *help* me with my homework."

She leans on that emphasis about as hard as she can. Not exactly gifted at talking in code, this one.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami listens to Madoka as well, her brow furrowing slightly. She's suspicious. Less suspicious than Kyouko, but still...

Not that she /wants/ to be doing this, mind.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
"Don't say help anymore, I get the idea. When we get off the phone, turn on google latitude and let it run in the background, then lock your screen and leave it alone. If you're in an apartment on a high floor, tell your mom the high school is really hard and you could get kicked out." He's talking REALLY fast, is Mamoru. "If you're somewhere in the middle, tell your mom you're just in middle school, there's a lot of homework but Sayaka's got a handle on it. If you're closer to the street, say you'll probably need tutoring. Afterwards, just say 'goodBYE, mom' like you're exasperated, and hang up. Then latitude. Remember."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Oh, this is a bit more than she was expecting. Mamoru's talking so fast, and Kyouko and Mami are both looking at her suspiciously, and just how high up in the building does he mean by *high*--

"U-Um. I mean, I'm just in middle school. But, um, high school is really hard and I'm afraid I'm gonna get kicked out. I think? I mean. Um."

Her mind tends to shut down a bit when she's overwhelmed.

"Ok, bye!" she finally spits out, forgetting totally about his instructions to sound exasperated. Hands nearly vibrating from nerves, Madoka pulls the phone away from her ear and hangs up, finding Google Latitude as fast as she possibly can, hoping against hope that her captors still believe she had called her mother.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko rolls her eyes, walking up behind Madoka as the pink-haired girl scrolls through the phone frantically trying to find the right app. Sorry, but.. "Gimme that, kid." The redhead says, snatching the phone. She eyes it suspiciously for a moment, turning her back on Madoka.. Kyouko isn't good with smart phones. She's a homeless orphan, she's never owned a cell phone. But she does figure out how to display 'recent calls'. "Mamoru.. your mom has a weird name." She comments, shrugging.

    "Either way, I'm keeping this for now." She slips the phone into her pocket, and then turns to flump down on the sofa across from Mami. "Right, so look," She lounges with one knee up, elbow resting on it, and points her finger at Madoka. "You're here for now, but you're safe enough. Mami would murder me if I tried to hurt you, and I don't intend to anyway. So just chill out for a bit, have some tea, and I'll.." She pauses, then frowns. "Try to figure out the rest of the plan." Oh Kyouko, maybe you should have thought of that /before/ the kidnapping.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"Mamoru...?"

Mami blinks. "Mamo-chan...?"

She gives Madoka a look. "But Mamoru is a male name..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
There! She found it just in -- eek!

Madoka squeaks as the phone is wrestled from her hands, turning around to see Kyouko stow it away in her pocket. "B-But, what if someone calls me?" she protests, anxiety glinting obviously in her pink eyes. "That would be pretty suspicious if I didn't answer, right? Right?" Her desperation reaches peak levels when Mami makes her observation about Mamoru's name, heart nearly beating out of her chest. It seems like all those promises that they won't hurt her haven't done much to calm her down.

"M-My home phone is registered to my dad's name," she says, walking over to the table again and plopping down. She at last grabs for one of the mochi, taking a rabbit-sized bite, eyes never leaving Mami. It's doubtful that she'd be able to keep any significant amount of food down, and with the shaking in her hands, she'd probably spill the tea everywhere. But perhaps eating a bit of the offered treats will make her seem more believable?

"It's delicious," Madoka quietly remarks -- and it *is* delicious, remarkably so. She only wishes she were enjoying it under less awful circumstances.

Kyouko Sakura has posed:
    Kyouko sighs.. "God, why does everything have to be so complicated? I should have stayed in Kazamino." Ironically, every person she's met since she came here would probably scream "YES YOU SHOULD HAVE" at her if they heard her say that. After a moment she gets up off of the couch and pulls the phone back out of her pocket. "Fine, here." She tosses it back to Madoka. "Mami, make sure she doesn't call anyone though."

    She turns and heads for the door. "I'm going to go think. Keep an eye on her, huh? I'll be back in a little while." She opens the door, walks out, and slams it again. Conviniently dumping all of her problems on Mami. Just like old times, huh?

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"Thank you. I make some of that myself, the rest I buy. Only the best tea, of course." Mami watches Kyouko stalk off, and weighs her options. Kyouko is probably watching, which means she can't just throw Madoka out the door and go, "Run, Madoka, run!" And watch her become a bestselling movie figure-- wait.

"... Hmmm. I don't quite believe you, but... I'll trust you. I am sorry." She says, quietly, as time passes.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
Time passes agonizingly slowly, no doubt, but it's really only fifteen or twenty minutes before Mamoru, with Seishi, is outside Mami's apartment door. He's not breathless because he's a star athlete and also secretly Tuxedo Kamen, but my god did the two of them do a lot of running from floor to floor. At least Google Latitude got them in the right slice of the building, horizontally.

The boy's blue eyes land on Seishi again, and in that exact moment, sans glasses and with the immediacy and weight of his full presence in his stance and on his face, his resemblance to her dream is uncanny.

Then, dressed like the extraordinarily fashionable casually rich kid he is, preppy hipster as all hell and pretty face and perfect windblown hair, he knocks lightly on the door and then tries the handle. Since Kyouko has no key, it's not locked, and Mamoru gestures with his free hand, eyebrows up at Seishi. He pushes the door open so both of them are visible and smiles genially. "Yo."

Seishi Tamashige has posed:
Seishi's particular brand of athletics has not traditionally involved a lot of running, so she is out of breath. She's doing her damnedest not to show it as they approach the door, however. For the most part right now she's following Mamoru's lead; as the door opens, she stands there alongside him with her hands behind her back and her chin lifted. Her eyes search the open space of the apartment that she can see through the doorway, taking in the scene there before she turns a brief sidelong look toward Mamoru.

(It is incredibly disorienting when he does that. Or would be, if they weren't occupied by the much more immediate necessity of a girl who needs their help.)

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Time does pass *incredibly* slowly -- for Madoka, at least. Her eyes very nearly glued to the clock on the wall, watching with ever increasing anxiety as the minutes tick higher and higher. What if she'd somehow screwed up Mamoru's code? What if Google hadn't been able to track her? What if that red girl came back before help could arrive?

There's too many thoughts in her head, far too many to make decent conversation with Mami. The (sort of) captive does her best to relax and enjoy the fact that the actual kidnapper is no longer around, but even so, she knows she's still not safe. Not really. Not until she's back home where she belongs.

...the mochi really is yummy, though.

When the door swings open, Madoka all but leaps up, banging her knees on the low-set table in her haste. She hardly even notices.

"Mamoru-kun!" The girl races toward the upperclassman come to her rescue, arms thrown wide, before remembering that they're really not on hugging terms yet and coming to a skidding, ungraceful stop about a foot away from him. "Quick, we have to get out of here before that girl gets back!"

Her eyes finally catch sight of Seishi but, unsure of what to make of her, Madoka says nothing about her presence.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami recognizes someone at the door. She lifts her eyebrow. "So, Homura's Mamo-chan is... your dad?" she drawls. There is a tiny hint of amusement in her voice like she's just poking fun at Madoka, and almost like she's realizing that Madoka is a horrible, awful liar. She glances down at the pink haired girl, before looking up at the other two.

"So you're here to save Madoka, huh--"

Mami suddenly stops as she stares at the door, but not at Mamoru or Seishi, but past them. She places a hand to the back of her neck. "Oh no." She says, simply, turning to stare at the other three. "Get out of here. I can /feel/ it - something's about to happen-"

You might be a moment too late, Mami.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
He doesn't mean to be disorienting! (Only because he has no idea the effect he has on people.) Either way, Mamoru's blissfully ignorant of Seishi's potential unnerved-ness, and takes in both Madoka and Mami in the blink of an eye, then is suddenly braced -- with an expression that's suddenly tight with concern and concentration -- in case Madoka does, in fact, impact. But she doesn't.

He knows she wants to, though, and he can afford it, now, so Mamoru reaches the rest of the way and pulls her into a hug. "We will," he tells the pink-haired girl, then glances up at Mami, then to Seishi. He says firmly to Mami, "I'd make full introductions but this really isn't a good situation for it, is it?" Then as he's turning the eighth-grader around to get her in the hall, he adds, "Madoka-chan, this is Tamashige Seishi, she very kindly came to back me up."

Mami stops and stares just as Mamoru freezes, dread in the pit of his stomach. He can recognise it, now. And he's back up to strength -- he's not caught, not at all. He gives Mami a quick, decisive nod, pulling out his phone and speed-dialing Homura: first the address, then "Madoka. Witch here. Trying to get out." He hangs up and stuffs it in his pocket then crouches: "Mado-chan get on my back. Tamashige-san run like there's a bomb in here. If you don't make it out find me. I may be in a cape."

And then, then, with Madoka on his back and hopefully following Seishi, Mamoru bolts for the stairs. No way in HELL is he getting stuck in an elevator in a Labyrinth.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
Wait -- after everything that's happened, it's possible for things to get *worse*?

Apparently so, because Mami has suddenly gone from gentle teasing to deadly seriousness, and even though just a few seconds ago the blonde girl was acting as a captor, some deep part of Madoka knows she can trust her word. If for no other reason than the tea and mochi she served to calm her down.

She sinks deeply into Mamoru's hug, though given the sudden change in the mood, she finds it much less comforting than she'd like. Her gaze turns to Seishi, giving her a small nod of appreciation to replace the words that just won't come out of her mouth. Everything's happening too fast. Her throat is clenched with fear, and she can do little more than cling to her rescuer as he sorts out an escape plan.

(Useless. Useless girl.)

"Witch?" Madoka finally manages when Mamoru hangs up, looking up at him with eyes like saucers. "What's a --"

But he's asking her to climb on his back, telling Seishi to run like her life depends on it, and she gathers that now is perhaps not the best time for questions. Instead, she snaps her mouth shut, wraps her arms around the upperclassman's neck, and hoists herself onto his back. For once, her diminuitive size is helping her out.

She's sure he can feel her racing heartbeat against his shoulders.

Mamoru Chiba has posed:
They bolt down the hallway, feet pounding on the floor, and Madoka's fear and anxiety are tangible things to the boy who doesn't touch if he can help it. His breathing is even and steady, held so, and he calls to Seishi as they're running and he's gaining, "Henshin yo! Stairwell! If I beat you out I'll come back for you!"

His legs are so long, and Madoka is light, and he knows what's coming and the desperation is gripping at him, and Madoka's feelings are overwhelming; he outstrips the girl he dragged into this, regretting it with every footstep, and then he bursts through the stairwell door, which slams open with an echoing bang up and down the stairs.

There's finally a flicker of that golden stillness and peace Madoka's come to associate with the rooftop of Infinity, and Mamoru says firmly, "Hang on tight and trust me. I'd give you calm but I can't spare it. You may want to close your eyes."

Whether or not Madoka closes her eyes, she can *feel* the linen shifting to silk and fine wool beneath her grip; it's accompanied by a golden rush of crackling magic, and then they're airborne, and then they're FALLING-- straight down the center of god knows how many flights of stairs-- Seishi's echoing footsteps hitting the top of the stairwell already far above them.