It's early evening, the sun just sinking towards the horizon through the pillars of the tall buildings. The sidewalks in the Neon District are bustling, people flocking to the stores and entertainment as work and schools let out. It is, by all indications, just another day here in downtown Tokyo.
Walking amidst the people on the sidewalk is a redheaded teenager, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her hoodie. Though it's been less than a week since the incident at the WPS warehouse, Kyouko Sakura doesn't look much the worse-for-wear, at least at first glance- a bit paler than usual, perhaps, but her demeanor is otherwise as solid as ever, that everpresent stick of pocky dangling from the corner of her mouth.
Where she's headed isn't apparent, but she doesn't seem to be in any hurry anyway, just moving betwen the people, making her way with quiet determination.
Homura was in a dour mood. She heard the reports of a WPS building being attacked, and heard rumors of it being a Witch. When she heard the description of the Witch she nearly lost her mind.
She'd seen a Witch of that description before. Many times, across many doomed timelines. It was Kyouko's, for sure, no doubt about it, and the fact that it was attacking a WPS building only made it seem more like the case.
A Puella Magi was lost, and that Witch still needed to be hunted down and taken out. Furthermore, she had to start covering up her tracks. If people found out that Puella Magi turned into Witches, it wouldn't be long before a lot of people started turning on her, other Puella Magi, and worse... Madoka. If somehow she could contain that information... No, she /had/ to. A few bullets in the right place could silence that information for good.
Let's face it. Most of the people working for WPS are pretty creepy, and it wouldn't be a massive loss if they just disappeared one day.
While she's going down this line of thought, eyes to the ground, she absentmindedly passes a redhead she recognizes. "I'm not in a mood to fight today, Kyouko-san."
Three steps later, she spins around and says, "Wait, what the hell?!"
Homura's mind races as it tries to process this information. Kyouko is still alive, in human form, yet she knows that she was the Witch.
Oh right, the altered Grief Seeds.
But then that means that the altered Grief Seeds brings out the Witch form of a Puella Magi.
Kyouko hadn't even noticed Homura, as she was walking along. She had been lost in thought, staring at the sidewalk in front of her boots as she went, only looking up when she had to to avoid running into people. So, when Homura suddenly spoke up, warning her off, she actually did a bit of a double-take herself, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and turning to regard the other Puella just as Homura spins around with that exclamation.
Kyouko misunderstands, thinking the other girl's surprise is due to her being alive at all- not 'not a Witch' in addition to being alive. She wouldn't know anything about that. At first, there's a bit of heat behind her red eyes, and her stance stiffens, as if she's about to launch into an attack, which would up to this point be the predictable response.
But after a moment, that fades, and she just rocks back on her heels, a slight smirk tugging her lips to one side and revealing a single fang. "Akemi-san. Guess it must be quite a shock- I'm not dead after all, hm?" That is actually the case, but not in the way she thinks it is.
Homura stares at Kyouko for long enough for someone to think that there might be something wrong with her. Loose pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. Things are starting to make sense, but there are still some loose threads. At least it looks like she won't have to silence anyone today.
Homura frowns slightly at Kyouko. "In a manner of speaking, yes. I am surprised you aren't dead."
Homura's still a bit tense, especially after seeing the anger in Kyouko's eyes. Usually meeting Kyouko means a fight, yet Homura really wasn't looking for one today. "Honestly. I tried to tell you those things were dangerous."
Homura's actually at a loss for words. She's not going to admit to what she was thinking about, for multiple reasons, yet that leaves her without much to say. It's not like smalltalk is a part of her relationship with Kyouko.
Her stone cold eyes stare at Kyouko, but it's not very focused. Her gaze seems distant. The rest of her body is fairly neutral, standing tall with arms hanging down her sides, except for the barely noticable tenseness in her muscles.
"Yeah.. I know." Kyouko says, with a small sigh. And then she says something that Homura probably doesn't expect to hear. "I was an idiot. I should have listened."
She flashes a brief frown. "Not to you, specifically. You're still on my list, Akemi-san, and I don't like you. But.. it's not like I didn't have enough people telling me it was a bad idea." She laughs, a brief, self-mocking sound. "Eh.. hindsight is always 20/20, right?"
She shifts on her feet as people walk past, splitting to move around the two teenage girls talking in the middle of the sidewalk. "Listen, Akemi-san." She says after a moment, and it's obvious it's not real easy for her to say, but there's a... tired tone in her voice. As if she just wants to get it over with. "I don't like you. But at the moment, I'm not in a position to do anything about it."
"I been doin' some thinking since.. since then. And I realized I'm doing as much harm to myself and people.. people who care about me as I am to Miss White and her cronies. So I'm not gonna do it anymore."
She shrugs her shoulders, giving another, weary little smile. "Congrats, I'm officially off your back. Go about doing whatever messed up stuff Miss White wants you to do. You leave me alone, I'll leave you alone. You got my promise on it."
Homura twitches as Kyouko... takes a much different tone than what Homura is used to. Homura stares for a moment, blinking once to make sure she isn't dreaming.
She doesn't interrupt as Kyouko speaks, instead quietly listening as the other Puella speaks her mind. When she's done, Homura tilts her head at Kyouko slightly. "I don't really care to fight you, either. If you'd rather we not waste our time and energy on such a thing, then that's fine by me. It's a waste of resources that we can't afford."
"Aside from that," Homura reaches up into her hair, running her hair through the long locks before flipping it to the side, "I don't care if you like me or not."
Her hands go into her pockets, and she assumes a more relaxed posture.
"So... what now?"
Kyouko smirks again as Homura says she doesn't care if she is liked. "That makes two of us, sister." She returns, shrugging her shoulders.
"Now? Now I figure out what I'm supposed to do with a cracked Soul Gem that won't let me henshin." She says it with a wry humor in her tone.. as if she's accepted her bad luck, rather than wanting to rail against it. "Been a long time since I was just a girl. Maybe it'll do me good to try it out again for a while."
She starts to turn away from Homura, raising a hand in farewell- it happens to be the hand her Soul Gem ring is on, on her middle finger, and if Homura looks closely, she can indeed see it- even in this reduced form, there's a noticable crack straight through the gem, jagged and winding from one side to the other. It doesn't look as though it's about to fall apart, the gem still securely in its setting- but it's certainly visible.
Homura's body goes from relaxed to very stiff as Kyouko mentions her 'cracked Soul Gem', and then sees it! "You-- what, really? It's cracked?! How could y--"
Homura stops short of yelling in public, which from her tone she sounds like she's just about it. She steps behind Kyouko and whispers, very harshly, "For the love of... Kyouko you could die if that breaks!"
Oh god. Oh god. What should she do now? Homura reaches into her pockets. Oh right. "Look, just... hold up a second."
Homura vanishes behind into an alley. Kyouko might see her henshin, pull something out of her shield, and then dehenshin. When she comes back, she holds out a small vial. "This is epoxy that's meant for cracked gemstones. I don't actually know if it works for Soul Gems. However, there's a chance that a crack will spread if you leave it alone. Just... use this. I don't want Madoka being upset with me because I left you to die."
Homura pauses for a moment before saying, "Applying it might feel weird. Fair warning."
Kyouko seems genuinely surprised as Homura appears to freak out at the mention of her Soul Gem being cracked. To be fair, it had been a bit of a harsh revelation for her as well, but it's /her/ Soul Gem- she hadn't expected Homura to care that much. When the other girl whispers that 'she could die', she shrugs her shoulders in a fatalistic way. "Yeah, I know. But it ain't broken yet."
She watches as Homura vanishes to momentarily henshin, then comes back to give her the epoxy. She glances at it.. then shrugs again and stuffs it into her pocket. "Don't see why Madoka would care if I died. Not like we're friends or nothin'. But.. thanks. I'll try it."
She quirks her lips to the side again, wryly amusic. "'Course, I still can't henshin, which means I can't hunt Witches, so in the long run I dunno if it'll do me any good even if it does stop it from cracking any further. Still gotta figure out what to do about that part. But I'll figure somethin' out. I always do."
She gives another small shake of her head as she turns again. "Even if it's usually the wrong thing."
Homura frowns. "Madoka cares about a lot of things that most people don't. That's why--" She trails off. "Forget it. It's not relevant."
Homura shrugs, "I don't know what to do about your henshin, either. Usually when I see a Soul Gem break, it completely shatters. I've never seen a slightly cracked one like that. I doubt a bit of glue will fix it, either."
Homura lets out a heavy sigh. "I can't give you any more Grief Seeds. I'm running low on them. I've already had to 'borrow' one from the labs." Of course, a part of that is because there's one that Homura doesn't want to use. "Sorry. I guess it's not my problem. You always want to watch out for your own self."
Homura pauses for a moment before adding, "Just... try not to die, alright? Good luck on being a normal girl for a while."
Kyouko laughs again, a soft, dismissive sound. "I wasn't asking for your help, Akemi-san. And I wouldn't expect you to give it if I was. I may be dumb, but I ain't stupid." Whatever that means.
"First time for everything, right?" She says, with regards to her cracked Soul Gem. "Always have been a unique little flower, I have. Guess we'll all learn about it together."
She quirks a brow at Homura when the other girl tells her not to die. "I don't plan on it. Dyin' ain't on my agenda.. which is one of the reasons I'm calling it quits with this whole vendetta thing. Clearly it ain't doin' me any favors, and a girl's gotta know when to stop. Probably, that was a week ago, but. Better late than never."
She does turn away again now, stuffing her hands back in her pockets. "See ya 'round, Akemi-san."
"If it means anything, what happened to you was ridiculous, even if I didn't think that at the time..." Homura starts to turn away, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for my part of it."
Homura faces away from Kyouko, now pointed in the way she was going when the two of them crossed paths. "See you, Sakura-san."
Homura starts to walk away. Now she has a lot more to think about. Kyouko's truce, and what that means. The cracked Soul Gem, and what that means. Homura silently hopes that no one tries to stir up this conflict now that it stands a chance of being settled peacefully.
Well, at least she has one less reason to watch her back.
"I'm sorry too, Akemi-san. For a lot of things." These are her parting words, as Kyouko vanishes amongst the crowd, just one more girl in a sea of people going about their daily lives.