Homura Akemi walks down the streets of Mitakihara, on her way home from school. She's wearing her school uniform, walking alone, and not really focused on where she's going. When Homura passes by a certain convenience store, she pauses.
She's paused here a couple of times before, standing just off to the side of the entrance for a moment before moving on, refusing to even look in. She knows who works there. She isn't really on good terms with that person. On the other hand it's complicated.
With a sigh, she turns around, and decides that this is the day she's going to step inside. It's been long enough for things to cool down, right? Maybe? Hopefully?
Homura enters the convenience store, glancing almost immediately towards the cashier's counter before turning away, acting like she's shopping for something. Chocolate, maybe?
Kyouko is working. As noted to other people, she's nearly always working- she lived for three years as a full-time magical girl. She had no life outside of being that, so when that was taken away, what was left for her to do? Not school- she's adamantly refused that route, even though multiple people she cares about have been trying to get her to enroll again. So instead, she works. She needs the money, and the old lady who runs the shop seems happy to let her have as many hours as she wants.
She's going over some receipts or something behind the counter when Homura walks in, wearing her orange P.M. Mart apron. "Welcome to the P.M.!" She chimes in a sing-song voice, the rote greeting she's trained to say every time the door chimes. She only then glances up at the person who walked in.
She tenses just slightly at seeing Homura, but... well, Miss White had come by two days ago, and /that/ hadn't ended in bloodshed. As far as she's concerned, Homura was always the lesser evil- an accessory to the crimes against her, but not the cause. As such, after a moment, when Homura turns away, she goes back to her work.. though she casts a wary eye towards the dark-haired girl moving through the small shop every couple of moments.
Hearing Kyouko in a singsong voice is unsettling in of itself. Homura almost expects that tone of voice to be associated with a bloody knife or other such thing. It takes her a moment of reminding herself that she's been fighting witches for far too long before she can really look towards the register again.
Homura finally shows up at the counter with a slurpee, setting it down on the counter and saying, somewhat curtly, "Hi."
She doesn't look particularly threatening at the moment, aside from the cold hard stare that Homura seems to always have. "So... How've you been?"
Maybe that's a weak conversation starter, but it's not like their interactions often involve casual conversation.
It's a little odd to Homura, seeing Kyouko in such a setting. Not just for what happened in this timeline, but from all previous ones. She's a little disturbed, but her face is so blank that it might be hard to read that.
For all that it seem so out of her natural element, so to speak, Kyouko seems to have taken her return to 'normal life' fairly well. She looks.. oddly good, all things considered. Hale and healthy, cracked Soul gem still residing in the ring on her middle finger notwithstanding. Of course, not many fourteen-year-olds work full-time and support themselves, so maybe 'normal life' isn't quite right, but. Non-magical, at least.
When Homura walks up, it's Kyouko who looks a bit like she's almost expecting a knife to appear- well, can you blame her? She's not exactly in proper shape to defend herself. But, she does her job.. taking the slurpee and ringing it out. "That'll be 280 yen." She says.. and then blinks, as if questioning her own ears, when Homura asks how she's been. She obviously hadn't expected to hear that.
"Oh.. y'know. Getting along. Nobody's tried to kill me yet, if that's what you mean." She eyes the other girl. "You seem recovered well enough, since last time I saw you anyway."
Homura opens a wallet and tosses some yen bills on the counter, before her wallet again vanishes onto her person. "Well... I can't imagine anyone would be cowardly enough to attack you here." She takes a sip of her slurpee before commenting on the next line of conversation, leaning against the counter.
"Yeah... I'm doing alright. Mamoru has had that happen to him more times than I care to remember, so I guess he knew how to deal with it."
Homura waves her hand in the air, "What he told me about the Princess and her friends was pretty crazy. I still don't know what to think about it."
Homura glances out the front window for a moment before asking, a bit more quietly, "If you don't mind me asking... How are you doing on Grief Seeds?"
Kyouko just looks blank when Homura talks to her about a 'princess'. "I don't know anything about no princess." She says, quirking her lips to the side. It's true: she hasn't had any contact with Runealy or her followers, at least to her knowledge (she met Hinote and Gao once without knowing who they were). "So I'm right there with you on not know what to think."
She takes the money and moves to the register, pressing some buttons and putting the money in the drawer before getting the change and putting it in the little tray on the counter for that purpose. At the question about Grief Seeds, she frowns slightly. "It's.. alright. Apparently, if you don't use magic that much, you don't need them that much." This generally seems to be true, although her Gem has been very slowly growing darker- though an infintesimal amount each day compared to when she was 'working'. "I still have one left over from before. I'll be okay for a little while yet. But.. thanks for asking."
She hesitates a moment, then decides to go for it, since this seems to be a week for trying to build bridges. "Um.. look, I know we haven't really gotten along but.. could I ask you for a favor?"
Homura shrugs. "I haven't had much contact with her. Apparently they're supposed to avoid us Puella Magi anyways. I guess the fact that you haven't run across them much means they're being good to their word."
The news about the Grief Seeds is good. Homura might be asking for selfish reasons, but she seems somewhat more relaxed at the news. It means she wont have to worry about people finding out about the Kyouko Witch.
After everything Kyubey said, and after what Miss White saw the other day, Homura has a certain vested interest in not letting Kyouko turn into a Witch.
"Well, if you don't need them that much, then I guess it's not a problem. I'm sure you could get your hands on one if you really needed. You know enough of us."
Homura takes a glance at the Soul Gem ring, perhaps to make sure with her own eyes. Still cracked, not that bad off otherwise, especially if she still has a Grief Seed.
'We haven't really gotten along'. Homura decides not to comment on the understatement. She wonders how many times they came close to killing one another. Maybe keeping a tally like that would just make her angry. She decides not to count them..
A favor? That sounds interesting. "Sure, what's up?" Homura sips on her slurpee while listening.
"Well, it's two things actually.. and.. feel free to agree to one and not the other, if that's.. easier." Kyouko says, her cheeks taking on a hint of color, clearly not entirely comfortable. She's had to learn to swallow her pride a lotrecently though- it's tough to go from being one of the big fish in the pond to being a fish so small you're not even IN the pond anymore, but she's nothing if not adaptable. She wouldn't have survived this long if she couldn't adjust to her situation.
"It's just.. Sayaka-chan asked me to go to a concert with her. And it's kind of a fancy thing, and, well.. I don't have any fancy clothes. And I suck at make-up. And I'm just not good at being... fancy. But I don't want to embarass her." She turns a bit of a darker shade of red, glancing at Homura and then quickly away again. "You always seem so put-together, even at.. bad times." Like when I tried to kill you all those times, she doesn't say out loud. "I thought maybe you could.. help me."
She hurries on, "Normally I'd go to Mami for something like this, but she and I still aren't seeing eye to eye, and.." It's actually easier to turn to Homura, someone she's tried to kill (and vice versa) more than once than to swallow her pride and say she's sorry to Mami?! Ok, maybe Kyouko hasn't changed /that/ much. "I could give you a discount on slurpees, or something.." She trails off after a moment.
Homura calmly slips on her slurpee. Her blank stare probably does nothing to make Kyouko less awkward, since her face is really hard to read. She waits until Kyouko's finished talking before deciding.
Sayaka and Kyouko are really getting along. Maybe Kyouko used up all her aggression on Homura and Miss White, and therefore doesn't have any left over for Sayaka? Well, it's not like it's news to Homura at this point, but it's still noteworthy.
A discount on slurpees? Whatever. If accepting that deal lets Kyouko feel like she's paying Homura back somehow, sure. It's a small favor, so Homura doesn't much care about the price.
"Well... I have a few nice dresses. I could let you borrow one for a bit. I can't promise as wide a selection that Mami would have, though. I tend to be more of a suit person. Also, my dresses tend to be a little gothic. I know that doesn't work for everyone, so fair warning. Make-up I could help with."
Homura considers for a moment, eyes going up and off to the side as she thinks. "On the other hand, if you wanted to buy a dress, well, maybe you could get away with one that looked nice even if it's not that expensive. Simple dresses tend to be cheaper."
Kyouko seems a little bit relieved that Homura isn't outright laughing at her, or mocking her or anything, at least that she can tell. She's still blushing, but at least she seems to have recovered a little bit of her equilibrium. "Yeah, I just.. I don't really know anything about dresses. Maybe buying one would be better. But.. any help you could give me, I'd appreciate."
She pauses a moment, and then adds, "The other thing is.." She glances around. This one isn't something she wants anyone overhearing. She leans over the counter after a moment. "I was wondering if you could show me how to use a gun. Like.. just a handgun or something."
"It's.. a little scary not having magic to protect myself anymore, even though nothing has happened. I've started taking martial arts classes to keep my skills up, but.. I figure every little bit helps, right? You're the only one I know who actually has weapons that /don't/ require magic to use. I feel like I should have as many tools in my aresenal as possible, when it comes to staying alive."
"I'm not asking you to give me one or anything, just.. show me how to use it. The basics, at least. So that if it comes up and it really matters, I'll be ready."
Buying a dress then. "Sure no problem. I'll gather a list of good places to buy from. You should be able to find something affordable. If you need to rent one instead, you can do that too. You have some decent options."
The next question is a bit more interesting. Also a bit more illegal, considering Japan. She frowns. "I have to warn you up front that you better not be caught using that kind of thing. Sure, use it on youma or something if you have to. If the police find out you have one, it'll be a big problem. Not just for you, either."
"Secondly, if you do use it on a youma, you're going to need to enchant it somehow. Only reason they work for me is because a bit of my magic goes into each bullet. Normal ammo is a joke against magical opponents."
Homura takes a long sip of her slurpee. She's considering whether or not she even wants to respond beyond that. With a sigh, she adds, "I can teach you how to use one, if that's all your asking for. Actually obtaining one is your problem."
Kyouko rolls her eyes a little bit, just a hint of impatience entering her tone. "I know, I know. I know it's a big deal to get caught with a gun, and I know they won't work on youma without magic I just.. well, I want to be prepared. For anything, if I can help it. Nothing has to be able to be traced back to you. I'll find my own weapon.. if I need one. It just want to keep my options open."
She hesitates for just a moment, and then shrugs her shoulders. "Thanks. I mean.. I'm not gonna say I'm sorry for what happened between us before, because I'm not sorry about it. Well, not all of it anyway." She's sorry she used the Altered Grief Seed and broke her Soul Gem, but that's her own fault and nobody else's, and she knows it. "But it was nothing personal, right?" Not with Homura, not really- with Miss White, absolutely, but that's a different story.
Thinking of Miss White, she takes another breath. "Also, I uh.. well, I saw Miss White the other day and I asked her to.. spar with me. I told you I was trying to hone my skills and I figured.. who better, right?" She smirks a little bit. "I wouldn't mind squaring off with you a time or two, too. Fighting you has always been kinda.. fun."
"I don't take anything from you personal. I'm not going to act like you need to apologize for trying to stay alive either," says Homura. She could say a few things, but she decides to keep things civil and mostly positive.
Instead she says, "We Puella Magi have to do a lot of extreme things just to live. A lot of outsiders might not understand that, but I do."
"... and I didn't really mean any of it personal either. For the most part, I was just doing my job, both as a Puella Magi and also as an employee of WPS. I may have goaded you a few times, but you know... I was just trying to unbalance you."
Fighting with Kyouko? As a spar? Homura has to think about that for a bit. "Sure, but I wont use powers until you can use yours again, unless for some reason you want that kind of handicap. Maybe we could use paintball guns or something. I've also been trying to learn martial arts, but I'm not quite on Miss White's level with that."
"Still, training against someone like you could be pretty beneficial."
"Of course no powers." Kyouko says, shooting Homura a look. "I'm trying to protect myself, which is the exact opposite of suicidal, which is what I would be if I wanted to fight you /or/ Miss White without any magic of my own. The point of this is to stay alive, not kill myself quicker."
She cracks a little bit of a smile though, one fang peeking. "Anyway.. y'know, thanks. It's nice to know that there are a few less things I need to worry about." She sighs a little bit.
"Look, I gotta get back to work. Here." She jots something down on a slip of paper and hands it over. "That's my cell number. I actually have one now. Text me or something so I have your number. The thing with Sayaka is in a week or so.. maybe you could give me a hand before then?"
"Not a problem," says Homura. It really isn't one, as far as she's concerned.
Homura glances down at the piece of paper, taking it and bringing out her cell phone. "I see." She adds the name, and then sends Kyouko a text. "There's mine... and yeah, I'll be in touch. I'll have to look up some things when I get home, but I'll tell you what I find."
Homura steps away from the counter, slurpee still in one hand and cell phone in the other, and says, "I'll let you get back to your job. Nice talking to you. I'll see you around, Kyouko."
She waves with the cell phone hand and starts walking out of the door, before taking a moment to add a few things to her schedule. Kyouko wants a dress. Something red, maybe?