1252/It has been a while.

It has been a while.
Date of Scene:	09 March 2024
Location:	Cafeteria Plaza
Synopsis:	Mami approaches Sayaka to check on what really happened to the blue Puella. She also gets an explanation of Sayaka's new viewpoint and what she is doing to counter Kyubey.
Cast of Characters:	Sayaka Miki, Mami Tomoe

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Sayaka Miki has posed:
It is right after school, and so students are about to indulge in what would probably be the most popular 'subject' by far, lunch, whether that is in one of Tokyo's many restaurants or in the school cafeteria.

Sayaka has chosen to avail herself of the latter before she heads out for the usual patrol, and the bluenette is already sitting at a table, picking at a chicken sandwich at her own pace, while Ula is on her shoulder taking care of a small toasted potato.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Ever since Melona had told her about Sayaka's recent big life event, Mami had wanted to talk to the bluenette. It had been far too long since they'd spoken. The last time they saw one another was in a labyrinth, and she didn't stay around to chit-chat. Mami wanted to know more about what all had happened to Sayaka, and so that meant seeking her out.

Mami is always a strategist. She likes to plan all her encounters to her advantage, and this one was no different. She knew that sometimes Sayaka chose to eat in the cafeteria around this time, and so for the last several days she's eaten her own lunch now in hopes she'd catch her. It's a public place but private enough for real conversations. They'll both know magic is off the table.

She's got a picnic basket slung over one elbow with her lunch already packed in it. She always brings her lunch in a picnic basket with a few other things. Always ready for an impromptu tea party. She sweeps into the cafeteria and smiles when she spots her quarry. She knew her persistence would pay off.

It doesn't take long at all for her to cross the distance and approach the table. "Sayaka Miki," she says. "It has been entirely too long. Mind if I join you?"

She reaches into her basket and pulls out a box with a clear plastic top. It has a cake in it. The same kind of cake Sayaka ate at the tea party where they met, except a whole cake. Mami baked one fresh every day this week. She has so much cake at home.

She holds it out for Sayaka. "I was hoping I'd catch you today. I baked this for you. I hope you like it."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka places her lunch down she notices the blonde Puella undisputably moving in her direction, her face marked by an element of hesitation, or it appear as reluctancy to Mami. Fact is, she remembers quite well that their encounters have always been marked by her hotheadedness, even when at first she was actually trying to be helpful. And well... That had only gotten worse when Mami had joined Obsidian.

The bluenette is a bit surprised when the older girl approaches her with a cake. Granted, their latest encounters had all been while patrolling on opposite factions, so she didn't know Mami would have chosen to act in such a composed manner.

Her only problem now is actually that a whole cake is far too much for her and Ula. Especially now that she is back as one, though that isn't a concern here, since Mami never met her while she was split. Had she, perhaps this encounter wouldn't be as awkward. Or maybe it would be even more so.

Anyway, she doesn't have any qualms with answering in kind as she is now, so her voice promptly rings out clear. "Thank you, Mami-senpai, your cakes look as delicious as ever." She does recognise this one is from far back then. A coincidence? Or a way to steer the conversation in that direction?

Considering how rare it is for Mami to go out of her away to approach her and recent developments, she is betting on the latter. "Please, have a seat. Want me to cut a slice for you?" She does have her own cutlery here, and as weird as it might be to offer Mami her own cake, eating it alone would be impolite.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
The truth of the matter is that she made this particular cake because she knew Sayaka would like it. As poorly as the conversation went that day, the bluenette did eat the cake. Mami is a considerate gift giver, even if she's mostly giving the gift as a power move.

She lifts her smaller bento box out of her basket and then sets the basket down on the floor, settling down into the seat across the table from Sayaka. Ula gets a glance. Mami remembers seeing the little mascot at that fight, but seeing her here now it's different.

"Oh yes, please, thank you. It's one of my favorite cakes," she says. It's a good thing too. She'll be eating a lot of it for days to come. She lifts the lid off her box and sets it upside down on the table. "You can put it right there."

She doesn't wait for the cake, though. It's dessert, and she has lunch right here. Sushi and salad. She pulls out some chopsticks and picks up a few lettuce leaves. "So, I owe you an apology."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Ula glances back when Mami does, cautiously observing the blonde girl. As violent as Sayaka has been back then, to the koi mermaid, the Puella in front of her is a member of Obsidian first and foremost, and she has her own reservations. "Hello, I am Ula", she introduces herself, nodding in lieu of a bow. "It is nice meeting you on calmer circumstances."

With Mami lifting the lid for her, Sayaka cuts two moderately sized slice from the cake Mami has brought, roughly how she remembers the slices were that past day, and places Mami's slice as instructed, while she reserves her slice a place on a spare napkin.

Sayaka nods when Mami mentions owing her an apology. It is only natural to start with something like that when you want to bury the hatchet. Even so, she was intending to do the same, so a quick mention to let Mami know where the bluenette stands without getting in the way of her speech is in order.

"I owe you an apology too, but you took the initiative, so I can always do them after, Mami-senpai", she replies, setting aside the now empty plate of her own lunch.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe smiles and dips her head toward Ula. "A pleasure to meet you, Ula," she says.

Then she eats her bite of salad while Sayaka speaks and then goes on to say, "In light of recent revelations, I feel like your mistrust of Kyubey was not as mis-placed as I'd thought." Her eyes glance down at her food for a moment. "I'm sorry I wasn't a better senpai," she says more quietly. "If I'd tried harder, maybe I could have helped you avoid..." she trails off and looks up. They both know what she was going to say.

She just lingers there looking at Sayaka for a moment and then smiles. "But here we are, and we know the truth. I have to admit, my biggest takeaway from the story I heard is that you've been a very busy girl, Sayaka Miki. You had a clone? And she came back from being a witch?"

She picks up a piece of maki with her chopsticks. "What has been up with you?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka nods. She did mean it when she said that Kyubey actively worked to keep her away from her best friend, and when they do meet, she finds out he has been hiding things from her. And even that wasn't the truth, as Mami has just pointed out.

"My apologies are because", the bluenette starts giving them out, "while I had good intentions, I went at it the worst way possible. I was impulsive, hotheaded, and stubborn. And the truth on Kyubey is no excuse for that", she gazes at her seriously.

After taking a bite out of Mami's cake, she starts answering Mami's questions. "Sort of? It wasn't so much a clone rather than I got split in half, and my halves had different parts of myself. I believe the thing that did it was actually supposed to be educational, letting you confront your most glaring flaws."

She gives Mami a smile back before continuing. "However, that is a pretty poor choice when it comes to us Puellae. I doubt that most people would turn into a huge monster due to being too depressed to go on." She stops to take a second bite of the cake.

"And so, despite everything Sunbreaker and others were doing to help me, and with how my 'good' half", the inflection of her tone denoting she was only using that term for lack of a better one, "was pretty bad at trying to help my 'bad half', the latter ended up turning into a witch."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami eats several pieces of maki as she listens to Sayaka explain what happened. She's transfixed. It's quite interesting. She has so many questions. Knowing that half of Sayaka turned into a witch doesn't tell her the important details, which is what happened later.

"Wow, magic really is something," she says. All of the things she's experienced in her time as a Puella and she still gets surprised on the regular. "I have so many questions."

But first she smiles at that last thing Sayaka says. "But first, I've got to know, how are things with you and Sunbreaker? When we were on our trip to Seattle just before Christmas, she was really deep in her feelings about you."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Of all the things Sayaka expected to come out of this conversation, the knowledge that Hinoiri had been talking about their relationship wasn't quite it.

"Y-you knew?" she replies with clear surprise before recovering. "I see, so she has been talking about it all this time. What did she tell you exactly?" Sayaka inquires calmly.

"As for how things are, we both agreed we weren't made one for the other, and became friends. We are in agreement over keeping our respective approach to each other's business to the magical part of our lives."

Sayaka looks as if she is drawn back in her memories. "Between Sunbreaker telling me things about her life and that the discovery that Witches are corrupted Puellae with their own hope and desires and each of them once had a belief in a good future, I can't be as close-minded as I was.

She smiles at Mami. "I still want to stop Sunbreaker from hurting people, and am going to always hunt Witches regardless of needing Grief Seeds, but I also want to help both of them get better, including wanting to find a way to save our fellow Puellae."

Mami Tomoe has posed:
"You came up because she was curious how I was handling learning about the nature of our bodies and Soul Gems. She was very worried about you, Miki-san," Mami says, offering a soft smile before she takes a bite of salad. She doesn't mention how she suggested Sunbreaker steal Sayaka's powers since the other girl was too kindhearted for that kind of ruthlessness. "I could tell she cared about you very much."

She eats her last piece of sushi as she listens to the rest. Her expression gets a little sad. "Oh, well, I'm glad you were able to be friends. Friends are important for us Puella, after all," she says. As if she was totally on top of having friends before she joined Obsidian.

"It seems like you must already have a head start on figuring out how to save our fellow Puellae. How'd you save your other half?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"Yes, Sunbreaker has been treating me very well in the time we were together. It wasn't romantic love, but she definitely tried her best in helping both of my halves", Sayaka says, being quite glad to Hinoiri for that. "That also played a part in why we are still friends, of course. It would be hard for me to turn her away with how she treated me." She would have absolutely done that at her lowest, but that's just one more indication she wasn't well.

"Mami-senpai", Sayaka says, observing her sad expression. "Are you making friends here, besides the ones you have at Obsidian? You have to be stuck making friends only in one place. Even if your life is now tied to Obsidian, you can still make friends here." She did just talk about herself and Hinoiri.

"I am afraid the only progress I have made there is preventing the Grief Seeds from hatching so I don't have to give them over to Kyubey. What happened to my half is that once the Scroll of Ka deemed I had reached sufficient understanding, it fused me back together, human and Witch", Sayaka explains.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
With her lunch finished it's time to turn to the slice of cake sitting on her lunch box lid. Chopsticks, however, are not the right utensils. So she reaches down into her basket on the floor and pulls out a fork. She's always prepared to eat cake. Always.

Mami laughs awkwardly in response to Sayaka's question. "Oh, of course I have friends," she says, as if that's a silly question. As if her friends weren't basically all co-workers. She did meet that girl at the arcade, Ami Mizuno. Though, it's hard to really say she's a friend since Mami hasn't seen her again. "But if that's your way of saying we could be friends, well, I'd like that."

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

She presses her fork into the cake, separating a single column of sweetness from the rest of the wedge. "So what you're saying is you didn't save her, but the magic that split you apart just fused you back together? So is your other half still a witch then, somehow?"

Sayaka Miki has posed:
"I would like to know you more and make friends with you, Mami-senpai", Sayaka replies. "We could see each other more often, and learn about about each other's hobbies, and what we like." She barely knows anything about that. Well, she knows Mami has a passion for baking. That much is clear.

Sayaka brushes a fugitive strand of hair back into place. "I never did anything there. The 'good' half of me only came to the required understanding thanks to the friends that came there and never lost hope to save Oktavia, even when Kyubey didn't believe it possible and urged them to kill Oktavia."

The bluenette takes another bite of the cake. "I have been saved. No parts of me are despondent anymore", she underlines. "But, to answer your question, that's not wrong to say. The experience has definitely marked me, and that's how I am able to prevent Grief Seeds from hatching alongside other things. On that note, Mami-senpai, will you please give me your full Grief Seeds instead of turning them to Kyubey?"

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe slowly eats her bite of cake, a thoughtful look on her face as she listens. She takes another bite and then another, staying silent the whole time. It's really a lot to process.

It's clear that this Scroll of Ka offers her a path toward her goals, but it is a very risky path. It's a good thing that she's already started taking steps to mitigate that risk. She just has to get this scroll now. That's what her team is for, though. No need to go after that alone.

In the meantime, Sayaka's interested in friendship, even knowing Mami's with Obsidian. That's rather unexpected, and an opportunity she cannot pass up. "I would enjoy getting to know you better," she says. "Though I think you pretty much know my hobbies already: baking and fighting witches." One of those is not a hobby, Mami.

In answer to her question, Mami replies, "I'll keep you in mind the next time I fill one up, for sure."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka notes the noncommittal nature of Mami's answer. That... is not quite what she expected. She would have accepted a no, because that would have been a clear stance, but she is a bit unsure with how to move with that as an answer. Maybe if she tried explaining her reasoning, Mami would be more on board with the idea?

"You see, Mami-senpai, what I meant earlier when I said I want to help both Sunbreaker and Witches, is that the former has some private concerns that are motivating her to take the path she is taking. Help solve those concerns and her reasons to harm people disappear. Same goes for La Crima. Similarly, I want to help those her and the Witches. Kyubey hasn't expected Oktavia to be saved, so there have to be things out there that can help them. I want to find them, and in the meantime, keep our fellow Puellae away from Kyubey."

Sayaka is in fact alarmed when she hears Mami call the second one a hobby. She gets Klarissa flashbacks from that. Granted, Mami doesn't seem to be doing bad, but the bluenette still recognises having that as a hobby is not healthy. If anything, she feels that's all the more reason to spend time with Mami. "What about reading, or sport? Anything of that kind? Also, would you be ok if I started baking with you every once in a while?" Though, Mami would eventually find out Sayaka only knows the basics if she says yes.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe eat the rest of her cake as she listens to Sayaka explain herself some more. She pauses for just a moment when Sayaka mentions La Crima. That's her kohai. But she puts another bite of cake in her mouth before she can say anything. She did not come here to pick a fight.

After she takes her last bite, she sets her fork down inside the box and flips the lid back onto it. "Have you considered the consequences of keeping our fello Puellae?" She looks at Sayaka for a moment and then leans over to lift up the lid of her basket and set the box down in it before returning her attention across the table.

"You need to learn to think like Kyubey, Sayaka-chan," she says, back to a more intimate form of address. They're friends now after all. "If you get all of us to give you our filled up Grief Seeds instead of giving them to Kyubey, what is he going to do? He's going to more aggressively recruit to increase the supply of Grief Seeds in total so that even though you are getting some of them, he still gets his."

She scoots her chair out from the table and stands up, picking up her picnic basket as she rises up from the table. "So by keeping Grief Seeds from Kyubey, you're just making sure that more girls become Puella."

But then she smiles. "I'd love it if you'd bake with me! You can come to my apartment and we can have tea and you can try and convince me to have more hobbies while I show you how to make fancy patisserie."

Sayaka Miki has posed:
Sayaka listens intently at what Mami delineates before replying. That is pretty much what he is going to do, her reasoning is sound. "That doesn't mean we can just turn around and ignore their suffering. I know what's like to be a Witch. Giving up on them is not an option", Sayaka declares.

"If Kyubey wants to up his game, he is welcome to do so. He can just know that I will do the same. If we speak of the less dangerous secrets he has, like that of the soul or the old lie about dying if you fill your Soul Gem, he is going to have a vastly inferior number of girls willing to line up for him."

"Thank you then, Mami-senpai, I think that will be quite nice. I guess we will be seeing each other a lot more", Sayaka gives her a smile.

Mami Tomoe has posed:
Mami Tomoe just looks at Sayaka for a moment, smiling. The girl's got conviction and ambition. She's got to respect that. "Well, we do need some girls to line up for him, now don't we? We need their Grief Seeds even before we think about what we do with them when they're full. It's just a question of how many girls you want to suffer our fate. Do you want it to be the minimum number of girls, or do you want to add enough that you can feel good about yourself?"

She smiles and waves. "Text me. We can arrange a baking date," she says. Then she turns on her heel and walks off before Sayaka has a chance to respond.