Kyouko Sakura has a Plan. This is unusual- she is much more often the 'throw s- at the wall and see what sticks' kind of operator, running on a combination of instinct and luck. But this situation is rapidly spiralling out of control, and it requires more of her. She thinks she has it under control. Reality may or may not agree with this assessment.
Mami being in town changes everything. Where before it had been 'all the Grief Seeds are mine!' it has become 'Grief Seeds should be for Puella Magi, not others who don't need them!'. Perhaps Kyouko merely wishes to get rid of outside competition first, before turning to the (admittedly formidable) problem of Mami and indeed, Homura.
It is the dark-haired girl that Kyouko has been keeping an eye out for, ever since the pair of illuminating conversations she has had, one with Miss White, and another with Nagisa and Mami outside of Infinity University. That's when this plan started to bubble up in her brain, and she's latched onto it. It /should/ work. It will work! That confidence, so undeserved.
Kyouko often hangs around at the Crown Arcade. She dominates the DDR machine, and that's where she is tonight, dancing away, hitting Perfect after Perfect. In days past, she'd had a small crowd of admiring onlookers, but not tonight. Maybe they just got tired of how she always gets the high score. Perfection is boring, after all. A stick of pocky hangs from the corner of her mouth, the rest of the box securely in the pocket of her hoodie as she completes yet another song, yet again topping the high scores list. Breathing only very slightly heavily, she leans back against the bar, taking a small break.
Homura comes here often, though she tends to stay away from the video games. The few times she's played them she was impressive, as if she's played them hundreds of times already, but she gets bored of them quickly. Granted, with how much time travel she's done, she probably /has/ played them hundreds of times already.
The only one that's really new to her is the Sailor V game, but that one disturbs her on multiple levels. She's almost afraid to touch it, thinking that it might turn out to be a youma or some other monster. Some speculate she doesn't like it because she isn't good at it, and she doesn't have the experience with it that she has with other games, but to her it's a little more than that.
It represents the joke that the universe has played upon her for traveling through time so much. It's like the fact that she can't rewind time is being rubbed in her face by that game alone. She doesn't much like it.
Yet Homura still comes here, mostly for the strawberry milkshakes and, occasionally, the company that she finds on the second floor. Today she's alone, sipping her milkshake down and wracking her brain in an attempt to figure out the seemingly impossible problems she's now faced with.
"Madoka... why are you always so hard to protect?"
Finishing her milkshake, she walks down the stairs that lead to the arcade floor. She's clearly in a dour mood, the cold treat having done little to brighten her day. Rarely does she ever look over at the DDR machines as she goes to leave, but today is an exception. What she sees stops her in her tracks.
Kyouko is there. This alone isn't a surprise. Kyouko has always loved DDR. Yet at the same time, Kyouko and Homura aren't really on good terms right now. Homura hoped she could get Kyouko to join her, but Kyouko isn't having any of it.
Homura thinks, for a moment, that she might be able to sneak out without Kyouko noticing her, but she also thinks that turning her back on Kyouko is a bad idea.
Instead, Homura goes for the confrontatinoal approach, walking up to the DDR machine while Kyouko takes her break. "Having fun?" is all she says. It almost sounds like an accusation, the way she says it.
Kyouko has the instincts of a predator- there's something scarily animalistic about her, as if she's decided being human just isn't cutting it anymore and decided to take a few steps back towards the wild. Perhaps this is how she's aware of Homura approaching even before the other girl speaks, though she doesn't turn around. Rather, after Homura gives her greeting/accusation, the redhead merely partially turns her head, looking back at the other Puella over her shoulder with one eye through strands of hair.
"Well gee, I dunno." She says in her coarsely street-accented speech. "I /was/ havin' a good time. Huntin' Witches, livin' the good life. 'Til I found out that somebody's been snatchin' Grief Seeds who don't even need 'em.. somebody's been takin' food out of my mouth. And I hate it when people steal my food." This at least, is unquestionably true.
She turns then, gripping the bar on the back on the DDR machine, regarding Homura across it, the stick of Pocky in her mouth bobbing as she talks. "So lemme ask you this then, Akemi-san," the polite honorific used with an almost sarcastic tone, "what's she payin' you, huh? To betray your own. What's Miss White givin' you that you can see fit to let her have the stuff we literally need to stay alive?"
"Betraying my own?" Homura could almost laugh, but general sourness pushes that feeling into the abyss. "That's funny, coming from someone who doesn't even care if other Puella Magi live or die. Since when has 'your own kind' ever been even a tiny thought in your head, Kyouko Sakura-san? Since when were we all on the same side? We're all just predators that happen to be hunting the same prey."
How irritating. Kyouko was always like this. The sad thing is that Kyouko's point might actually make sense, if it was coming from Mami or Sayaka or literally anyone else except Kyouko, but Homura isn't going to let her get away with it just like that.
"There are a couple of misconceptions here that I want to address. First off, the WitchHunters do need Grief Seeds. What we're doing needs to be done, and all of our lives will be much easier if our plans succeed."
"Secondly, a lot of the Grief Seeds we get do still go to Puella Magi. It's just that those Puella Magi are either working for us, and getting Grief Seeds as part of their wages, or paying us out of their own pocket and getting Grief Seeds in return. It's a service. We take down the big Witches so others don't have to."
"Now, to answer your question, my ultimate goal with the WitchHunters is this: The complete destruction of Walpurgisnacht, the most powerful Witch I've ever seen. A Witch like that would destroy the strongest Puella Magi as if they were nothing. Even someone like you would just be a bump in the road to it."
"I want to have a force of magical girls," not necessarily Puella Magi, "so strong that Walpurgisnacht doesn't even have the chance to draw its second breath before it's already breathing its last. If a few Puella Magi end up dying so that countless others can live, that's just the cost of war."
"And believe me, the alternative /is/ terrible. If Walpurgisnacht isn't defeated, then you can just go ahead and kiss Tokyo goodbye, and that includes you."
Kyouko is a bit taken aback by Homura's response. Oh, it's only a flicker on her face before she hides it, but Homura could probably catch it, that hint of uncertainty. The source of this is not necessarily that everything Homura says about Kyouko is absolutely true, but the fact that she knows it- Kyouko doesn't know Homura. As far as she's concerned, this is only the second time they've ever spoken, and maybe the third they've laid eyes upon each other. How is Homura so familiar with her motivations? This is what sets her off-kilter.
She recovers quickly then. "Bullshit." She says, calling it like she sees it, her stance shifting, becoming that cocky, one-hip-to-the-side posture of someone who /thinks/ she has the upper hand. "There's nothing they could be doing with them that's more important than keeping -us alive." She almost said 'me' there, but recovered with just the briefest of stutters. "And no matter what /your/ goal is," she's never heard of no Walpurgisnacht and assumes this is just Homura making up some goal to justify her actions, "It ain't the goal of Miss White. Listen, I've talked to her a few times, enough to get a sense of her. She's crazy, and not only is she crazy, you can't trust her." This is a general 'you', rather than a specific you. "She's playin' you, Akemi-san, and you're too caught up in your own crap to see it." She points an accusing finger, while munching down on her Pocky stick. "I won't stand for her gettin' her hands on Grief Seeds, no matter the possible good /you/ think might come out of it. I'm gonna take her down, whether you're in my way or not. And I'm not alone in that goal anymore."
Homura squints at Kyouko. Bullshit? Well, people generally don't listen to Homura. That's why Homura doesn't tell them things. She doesn't argue, but she doesn't waver either. She knows she's right. If Kyouko decides not to listen then that's Kyouko's problem. She shrugs, saying, "It won't be my fault when she comes along and rolls you over."
Homura flips her hair, letting the locks fly up and fall down before she continues. "You're looking at this from a very narrow point of view. You act like an animal, scrounging for food and just trying to survive. You only think about where your next meal is coming from. Sure, that kind of thinking will help you survive, for a while, but that's only the lowest level of survival. We can reach higher levels than that, and I think that's worth the trouble."
Homura's flat mouth takes on a frown. "Aside from that, I do trust Miss White. I trust her with my life. I trust her a lot more than I think I could ever trust you, Tomoe-san, or anyone else. Unlike a lot of you, she doesn't fool around with silly justice games or territory wars. She's trying to push the limits of what we're capable of, and unlike a lot of us Puella Magi she's pretty smart about it. She knows what she's doing."
"Even if you've managed to rope a few Puella Magi into your little schemes, do you really think they're simple enough to trust you? Do you think Mami doesn't remember how you turned your back on her?"
Homura leans against the back bar, putting her face close to Kyouko's. "Someone like you? You don't even know what kind of creature you are. You gave up your life the moment you made that contract and you don't even know it. You don't know who Nagisa-san is or what she's capable of. Why should I listen to you, since you don't even know a single thing?"
Homura's words have an impact on Kyouko- she can see it in the redhead's eyes, especially at the mention of 'turning her back' on Mami. Again the confusion- how could Homura know these things? Nobody knows about her past with Mami, except Mami. Maybe she's the one who told her? But Mami claimed she didn't know Homura when Kyouko spoke to her just the other night. It doesn't make any sense. But, like she always does when things don't make sense, rather than try to figure them out Kyouko just runs away. She pushes the things she doesn't understand out of the picture and pretends they don't exist.
Her hand snaps up when Homura leans in close, grabbing the other girl's collar in a tight fist, twisting it to draw her even closer, until their faces are almost touching. "Then you're a fool, Akemi-san." She all but whispers, in response to the part about trusting Miss White. Then she lets go, pushing Homura away in the same movement. "You think I don't know anything, but I do! I know how to survive. You can have you dreams of some 'better' way of surviving, but that's all it is, dream!" She just about snarls, baring her little fangs. "You don't think it's been tried before? You think you're somehow special? You're not. And when it comes down to it, all we have is survival. I'll take the way I know over some other way which may or may not be better and may or may not even exist!"
"Miss White is going to screw you over. She doesn't care about us, she only cares about power. Maybe you think you can turn her to your own ends but I fought her, and when you fight someone you learn about them." She taps the side of her head. "I got into her head, even if only for a few minutes, and let me tell you, it ain't gonna work. The /second/ she finds something or someone more useful than you, she's gonna kick you to the curb, and she's smart enough to figure out your little tricks and make sure she does it right."
Her eyes narrow. "In fact, when I visited her in the hospital, she was already making plans for someone you may care a great deal about. A certain pink-haired girl. Something about draining energy.." This is a total, purposeful twisting of Miss White's words. Kyouko knows the pink-haired girl Miss White was talking about is /not/ Madoka. But she hopes Homura doesn't know that.
Homura's poise is unwavering, even as she is lifted up and pushed back. Kyouko being physical is as predictable as the sun rising. Almost nothing that Kyouko says has any effect on Homura.
Until 'a certain pink-haired girl' is mentioned. Homura's eyes widen noticably... and then she regains her composure.
"Oh I see. You found out about Kaname-san, didn't you? There's no point in hiding the fact that she's important to me. However, here's the thing: I don't believe you."
Homura Akemi actually has an insurance policy against Miss White, one provided by Miss White herself. If Miss White did anything to Madoka, Homura would know exactly how to retaliate, and against whom. Homura debates telling Kyouko this, but decides against it. Kyouko would just use the information to her advantage.
"The Miss White you're describing is not the Miss White that I know. Sure, she's a secretive person, and the crowd she runs with isn't that great, but I know what her ends are, and the ends justify the means."
Homura still doesn't know that Runealy attacked Miss White, but she does know that Runealy has turned traitor. She isn't sure what to think of her. Yet, Runealy has been decent about one thing, and it brings something to Homura's mind. "Aside from that, I hope you don't think that every magical girl is after the Grief Seeds for selfish ends. There are plenty out there who fight Witches, only to hand off Grief Seeds to Puella Magi because they don't need them. Witches are dangerous, and a lot of non-Puella Magi want to put down Witches to protect everyone else. I hope you don't chase them off or attack them when they aren't a threat to you."
"Exactly." Kyouko says, apparently having calmed down enough to be more in control of herself again, reaching into her pocket to retrieve her box of pocky and pull another stick free, putting it in her mouth before replacing the box. "That's what I'm sayin'. You know the Miss White she wants you to know. I dunno what she's promised you, or what you think you know about her, but I'm tellin' you she's playin' you, and when the other shoe finally drops and you realize I was right, I hope you remember this." She says, lip curling up slightly at the corner, single fang peeping over her lip. She may be purposefully lying about the Madoka/Runealy statements, but this part she really believes.
"You seem to know a lot about me. I dunno how, cause I sure as hell don't know you. But lemme just say this. I'm confident in what I say about Miss White, because she and I, we're two of a kind. Oh sure, she's all smart and stuff, and we do stuff different, but at the core, she's just like me." She grins. "A predator. She's just better at hiding it."
She turns and steps off of the DDR machine. "Look, if there's other girls out there who kill Witches, but hand over the Seeds, I don't got any problem with that. Sure, they're stealin' my fun, but as long as they don't try and keep the Seeds, I won't mess with them." Too much. "Nagisa told me the same thing and I said the same to her." She scowls. "But I'll warn you again. You're on a sinkin' ship and you'd be wise to jump off before it's too late. Mami is with me on this." This is a gross exaggeration, Mami had said she would 'look into it on her own before deciding', but again, Kyouko hears what she wants to hear.
"I trust Miss White specifically because she /is/ a predator," says Homura. "She doesn't waste time with silly dreams of fighting for justice or saving the world. She sees the world for what it is, and because of that, I can understand her. Since I can understand her, I can predict her, and since I can predict her I can depend upon her."
Homura is bluffing slightly. She doesn't know Miss White the same way she knows the other Puella Magi. The seed of doubt has been planted in her mind, yet Miss White has done a lot to build trust between herself and Akemi.
On the other hand she knows that Kyouko has a habit of talking big. Sure, Kyouko can back it up pretty well, but she's a lot softer than she likes to admit.
Homura just has to remember that, with Kyouko getting all over her case. It's been a bad week for Homura, but she shouldn't let her frustrations with the universe get the better of her.
"Alright, I get it. You don't trust the WitchHunters. Really, I understand why. You don't need us. You can survive on your own just fine. I get that. I could talk about the benefits of it... the paycheck, the insurance, and so on. Yet if you don't need those things then you just don't need them."
Homura could leave it just as that, but she continues on, "Regardless of what you say, I do trust Miss White. You're not the only person who knows how to figure people out, Sakura-san. I know what she wants and how she thinks, and I can work with someone like her. Her goals and mine are very similar."
"Aside from that, if I have to fight both Mami-san and you, then that's just what I have to do. I'm not going to back down from my promises, or my Wish."
"It's too bad we couldn't get along better. I think we could've helped each other out quite a bit. I feel like I could've really depended upon you, but that's not how things are working out."
"If you trust her because she's a predator, then why don't you trust me?" Kyouko shoots back. Nevermind the fact that she's lied too- unimportant! "You seem to have a handle on the way I think, or at least you think you do."
Kyouko does feel a bit of a sting though, at Homura's somewhat melancholy words. 'could've depended on you'. It hurts because Kyouko /wants / people to depend on, and to depend on her. But at the same time, she's convinced that it only leads to pain and misery, so she pushes it away. The transition is almost visible on her face- that slight hint of yearning, a desire to maybe let somebody in on what she really thinks.. followed by a hardening of her features as she reminds herself that it's a bad idea.
"Well.. I think it's too bad, too." She says finally, with a shrug of her shoulders. "With you, me, and Mami on the same team, nobody coulda stopped us." She has no idea that Homura has seen this exact thing happen in other timelines (Plus Sayaka too!). "We coulda helped everybody out, kept everybody well stocked." Of course, without the competition of Miss White, Kyouko would never have even thought of doing that, but that's beside the point. "But I guess that just ain't destiny, huh?"
She shoots a rueful smile to Homura that almost seems sincere, and is in that moment a poignant reflection of the Kyouko that Homura knows from other, more peaceful timelines- one that might someday exist here as well, but is still a long way from rising to the surface. "Be seein' you around, Akemi-san."
"I trust you to act in your own best interests, Sakura-san," says Homura. "That's about as much as I can trust anyone." It might sound odd coming from her mouth, considering everythign she's said, but in Homura's mind there's memories of every time Kyouko has been for her as well as every time Kyouko has been against her. The time might very well come for Kyouko to learn the truth, but Homura can't just lay it out like that.
It's never that simple. If it was, Homura would've won a long time ago.
"I think the three of us on the same team would be nice. If only it could last, but I'm not optimistic enough to think that it'd work out very long." After all, if it had even lasted one time, wouldn't the four of them have defeated Walpurgisnacht, and wouldn't Madoka be safe?
Homura turns away from the DDR machine. There's very little left to say here, and they both seem to know it. "I just want you to know that I don't take any of this personal. You've got just as much right to survive as anyone else. We might fight in the future, but it's just survival."
"See you around, Sakura-san."
Homura walks out. She's stressed, as getting into a fight with someone as strong as Kyouko isn't her idea of a good time, but at least it didn't come to blows. Both of them are too stubborn to cave in to the other, but that stubborness is part of why they survive.