829/I need to tell you something

I need to tell you something
Date of Scene:	30 November 2023
Location:	Radiant Heart Academy
Synopsis:	Hinoiri decides to tell Madoka about Sayaka, to get her help with the bluenette... unfortunately, Madoka already knows. Hinoiri... doesn't take this news well.
Cast of Characters:	Hinoiri Kirara, Madoka Kaname

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Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was waiting outside of Madoka's class. Her arms crossed, she looked... slightly worried. And well, if questioned... "I just need to speak with Kaname-san. It's about her photo for the yearbook."

Yup, totally that. She is definitely NOT scheming anything else. Nothing. At. All.

It was after class, though, so she'd actually changed a bit and was wearing her leather jacket. Then again, her uniform had always been along the lines of... 'A' uniform rather than the school's uniform.

... She thought it looked awful, so she'd found a cute black, pink and red uniform that she felt fit.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka is used to getting interrupted in class, due to being a nurse's aide, though usually not for a yearbook photo. Lydian, the loose-braid ponytailed Chara, floats outside with Hinoiri for a moment. She can see magic, right?

    If Hinoiri acknowledges Lydian's presence at all, the tiny Chara says, "She'll be out in just a bit. Sorry for the wait."

    Class lets out, and Madoka leaves the room with her school bag. She greets Hinoiri with a smile and asks, "Hi, Kirara-san. What did you want to talk about?"

    The pinkette really has no opinion on the leather jacket or Hinoiri's... custom uniform. It's not something she'd ever wear, but it's also not really something she cares about. She might have heard some teacher or other grousing about it, though.

    Lydian takes a seat on her Bearer's shoulder and crosses her ankles.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara was well within the rules! Just A uniform was required. And it was A uniform. Sure, maybe not the nicest, or fanciest, but it was A uniform.

Technically correct was still correct.

Hinoiri even gave a small nod to the egg, though didn't speak to it. The flying omelettes always kind of weirded her out. The moment Madoka was out, she motioned for her to follow her, away from people. "Here, walk and talk, okay? I know I'll need to take you away from your after school clubs today, but I'm sure one day won't hurt."

The moment the pair were down a hallway and there weren't any kids there... she glanced towards her. "I... need to talk with you. It's about Sayaka. Namely... I found out the other day about her... powers. You... may want to sit down for this."

Considering the way Sayaka was acting, she figured it must be a pretty big deal. And well... Madoka was going to be needed to help keep Sayaka safe. So she needed to know.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    As she's beckoned to follow, Madoka comes along. The mood seems a bit ominous, though she assumes that Hinoiri will get to the point the moment they're away from prying eyes. "I... actually don't have much after school stuff," she admits. "That's not really a problem."

    When Sayaka is mentioned, Madoka blinks. Then she looks off to the side, eyes worried and sad. She grabs her left shoulder. Is Hinoiri going to bring up what she thinks she will?

    Instead of sitting, the pinkette leans against a wall, hands holding her school bag. She's unsure for the moment, because she doesn't know what Sayaka told her and she doesn't know what would be too much to say. She keeps so many secrets these days.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara gave a sigh and crossed her arms... "Listen. I know Sayaka doesn't want me to tell you this. Definitely not. She's... but she's..." Deep breath.

"So, right. Apparently the magic that Kyubey does? When he turns someone? Makes them a... phylactory. Or something. Puts her soul in this cute little gem thing. Don't freak out, okay?" Hinoiri says quickly, watching the other girl, waiting for her to, well. Get it out of her system. She hopes it doesn't take long.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka blinks. There's actually very little that Sayaka would keep from her, as far as she's aware, and this isn't one of them. When she hears what Hinoiri has to say, she almost feels... guilty? Like Hinoiri put herself out there to tell Madoka something that she already knows.

    It's Lydian, actually, who speaks up first. "Oh, we knew that already. Right, Madoka-chan?"

    Madoka forces a smile, half to stop herself from wincing and half because she doesn't know how to handle this situation. "Eheh... well... Um... that's true. We found out the other day..."

    Lydian goes on, oblivious as ever to the situation here, "She was actually pretty upset by it. I'm guessing she told you, huh?"

    Madoka whispers to her Chara, "Lydian-chan... stop."

    "Stop what?" Lydian gives her Bearer a confused look. "Everyone here knows now."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara blinked and then... she felt that surge of dark energy. That moment where it threatened to almost boil over. Where it toiled inside like a storm, waiting to break the surface. Waiting to wash over the world itself.

Her palm slapped down on the wall over Madoka's shoulder. And she loomed over the girl, her face dark. Eyes narrowed. Looking ready to tear Madoka apart.

"How long have you known?" she asked, trying, desperately, to keep that raging inferno inside from exploding. Maybe... she just learned. Surely. Right?

But it was so... so... so hard... to just... control it... "Yes. She is... upset..."

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    The wall is smacked, and Madoka shrinks a little bit. Lydian actually floats higher and off to the side, to escape Hinoiri's immediate melee range. The pinkette's back slides an inch down the wall as she looks up at Hinoiri.

    "I... I found out the same day that she did. About a week ago, I think," explains Madoka. She decides not to tell the full story, because it was pretty traumatic for a lot of the Puella there, but she does give an honest answer.

    Hinoiri is actually... scary right now. Madoka can't really blame her for being upset about Sayaka's fate, but she doesn't really see how this is her fault.

    "Kyubey told us about it. I guess people were right to warn me about him."

    Lydian is just watching this silently. She's never seen this side of Hinoiri before.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara actually eye twitched a little. And it was pretty clear that Madoka said the *Wrong thing* then. "Well, good for you. You look happy and healthy. Not Sayaka, if you ever cared to ask. Good for you, you're doing good out there with your eggs. I wish Sayaka could do that. She's losing her mind, she's spending each night running around fighting monsters. But you're just unaffected, I really don't get it. Good for you."

It was taking so, so much willpower of Hinoiri's to suppress that magical song that was threatening to tear out. But that anger was helping to give her that strength. Her breathing was slow, her nostrils flared.

"Do you want to know how I found out? A few days ago. When her mermaid came to tell me how she needed help. How she was burning herself like a candle tossed into a fireplace. She's dropping all of her clubs, running out fighting monsters all night. Barely sleeps. Apparently she just sees herself as a tool for fighting, now. Because of a stupid phylactory."

"You're supposed to be her best friend. The one she trusts and hates Kyubey because of. But you're just another selfish bitch, aren't you? Does it make you feel good? Running around, playing the role of 'hero'? Being oh so special and able to pretend you're making a difference? Meanwhile, you're so called best friend is killing herself trying to live up to some stupid, idiotic ideal that you're setting in her head? Is this why this whole phylactory thing is upsetting her so much? Because now she knows she can't be an egg carrier or whatever stupid bullshit your magic is supposed to be?"

She towered over the other girl and looked ready to tear her apart... and if Madoka tried to pull away, Hinoiri wouldn't let her. She'd instead grab her and just slam her back against the wall.

"You've known for about a week. Yet you never thought to warn me? To tell ANYBODY? Why was I the one who had to go to the other sparkly magical girls for help? I don't HAVE your magic. Yet you, her so called best friend, are too busy acting like you're some kind of legendary hero that you can't divert three seconds of thought to the suffering and misery of the girl who probably idolizes you most? Are you just that much of a sociopath? Or does Sayaka just not matter to you anymore because she's not getting a bunch of fancy paper mache eggs?"

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka looks up at Hinoiri with wide eyes as she speaks her mind, her expression going from one of confusion, to hurt, to actually angry, then finally to sad, where it stays the rest of the time. She doesn't flee or even try to, because as far as she knows Hinoiri doesn't have enough magic to really threaten her. Madoka might not regenerate like Sayaka does, so she could get beat up, but in this case Madoka's more afraid of being hated than being physically harmed.

    But that hatred comes, and it hurts.

    Lydian, meanwhile, is floating around with her hands over her tiny mouth, watching this with wide eyes.

    Madoka's voice is quiet and soft when she finally does speak, at the end of Hinoiri's tirade. "I don't know where you got this idea that I don't care about her. She's still my best friend. I don't know what to do to help her, and it's not like I haven't thought about it either. I don't think she's worried about not being like me. I think she's worried that she's not human anymore."

    So, Ula told Hinoiri. That makes sense. Does that mean Hinoiri didn't hear it from Sayaka? That probably hurts, being her girlfriend.

    "It's not an easy thing to think about, and I wouldn't want anyone else getting the idea that Sayaka-chan is any less of a person. So no, I haven't told anyone, and I haven't spoken to anyone who didn't already know. However..." Madoka looks up at Hinoiri, with uncharacteristically sharp eyes. Well, sharp for Madoka, so still bright and pink, but relatively for her this is a serious look. "... Not a night goes by that I don't think about the other Puella Magi I know. Every time I enter a Labyrinth I'm thinking about those who need the Grief Seed I plan to collect, and of all those Puella I think about Sayaka is at the top of that list."

    Technically Homura would also be high on that list but... well... that one doesn't really need Madoka looking after her.

    "Sayaka-chan matters to me a whole lot. Don't think otherwise."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just stared down at her. And the anger just grew... and... "She's your best friend... but you won't even try, will you? 'I don't know how to help her'. So, what have you done? Because let me tell you what I've done. I've gotten out of bed when I was so sick all I wanted to do was curl up and die. I drove all over the bucking city trying to find her. I found her, I let her spill her guts to me. Then I went and I found someone who was magical, like her, to help her. Even now I am still trying to figure out who can help her."

"I came to you, to let you know. So you could try and help her too. Because right now? She's taking this hard. She needs her friends. Sora help her, she needs you. I can't tell you how much I want to just stuff you in a locker and leave you there. It's what you deserve. But you're her best friend. For reasons I can't understand, for reasons you don't deserve, she trusts you. She needs you."

"If anybody wants to call her less of a person I'll beat their asses myself. I don't care if they have magic and I don't. She has a phylactory, big deal. I didn't think those things were real, but hey. Good for Kyubey I guess, he's got some powerful magic. Maybe stop worrying about what people will think of you and her if they find out and try thinking about what she needs right now. WHO she needs right now. And if you don't know what to do?"

"Then at least, for once in your life, try actually putting some of those words of yours into action. 'Sayaka-chan matters to me a whole lot' sure are pretty words. But they mean absolutely nothing if when she needs you most, you're nowhere to be found."

"... Or maybe that's it. Is that why you are so scared to tell people? Are you scared they'll think less of you? 'Sayaka wouldn't be like this if I hadn't arrived late that one time. If she hadn't had to make a wish in order to not be killed by that witch.' Scared that people will see you for what you really are? Not the heroic rescuer you want them all to think... but instead the selfish, arrogant, greedy little pink haired bitch who's just desperate to look the hero when all she does is give lip service to her actual friends?"

Then her eyes narrowed and she pulled her hand back. "At least I guess that means I'm safe at least. You'll *never* need to worry about me seeing you as anything more than the twisted, useless, horrible person you are, Madoka. So maybe next time I'm in danger you won't leave me to die because at least it won't be someone who already trusts you." Hinoiri started to turn, started to leave... but she just... couldn't. She just...

She finally just reared back and tried to slap Madoka. As hard as she could. The anger she felt bubbling out in that sudden strike.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Hinoiri's words are... a lot. It's a lot to hear all at once, and if this had been a few months ago then Madoka might actually doubt herself because of them. Yet, things are different now. She knows who she is, and she doesn't really feel a need to prove it to anyone else. A part of her dreads having a row between herself and Sayaka's girlfriend, and maybe after everything she'll realize that this is a misunderstanding, but for now she's getting yelled at. She can't even feel all that sorry for herself about it either, because getting yelled at in the hall isn't even the most terrifying thing going on at the moment.

    "Nobody remembers magical girls. Even we wont, once we hit a certain age. If we live that long. So I don't know how being a legendary hero really factors in."

    Useless words, probably. Nothing is really going to change the fact that Hinoiri is upset, and trying to reason with her isn't really helpful either. Still, it's not always about how to resolve the situation in front of you, but what they'll remember you saying later.

    While she's still trying to figure out what to say, or how to respond, Hinoiri starts to walk away and then...

    The sound of skin slapping against skin echos down the hall. Madoka's whole head turned to the side as a result of the strike. A red handprint across Madoka's cheek shows that, actually, she's just as vulnerable outside of henshin as anyone else. She doesn't have any magical modifications to her body like this. She's surprised, and that's plain on her face, and the look that she gives Hinoiri is almost... condemning. No matter how calm her voice is.

    "I try to be nice, you know. I try to get along with others, because I think that's better. I think everything's better if we can all cooperate and get along. If you make the world better, then you get to live in that better world. It doesn't matter how much attention I get, or whether or not you or anyone else approves of me. It's just karma."

    She takes one step forward, getting even closer to Hinori's personal space, and says very quietly, "You can say whatever you want to me, but you better not ever strike Sayaka-chan like that."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Hinoiri Kirara just sneered down at her. She wasn't sorry. She wasn't. She was shaking, but that was because of her anger. Her rage. Her hatred. "I'm not sorry. If you're looking for me to beg for forgiveness from the person who can't even get off her ass to see how much her friend is hurting, you can go choke on your eggs. Buck karma. If Sayaka got what she deserved then she wouldn't be in this position to begin with."

"... I hate you, Madoka Kaname. I doubt you'll care. But I absolutely, positively hate you. You won't lift a finger to help her, you'll just sit in there on your nice little pillar talking about how 'nice' you are. Hoping that everything will sort itself out. That 'karma' will fix this. Will fix her."

"Meanwhile, me? I'm going to try and help Sayaka. I may not have magic, but at least my actively trying to help will do her a lot more good than your pathetic magical standing there and hoping it, somehow, solves itself."

Hinoiri glanced to Madoka's face. Was... Sayaka going to... hear about this? Was...There it was. A small hint of worry. Then anger. "And go ahead, tell Sayaka about this if you want. But no, I wouldn't hit her. Ever. She doesn't deserve it. And even if she broke up with me... oh well. I'll find a way to help her regardless of if she hates me. Because when you actually care about someone, you find a way to help them. Even if it means you have to do things you don't want to do."

She then turned and made to storm off, fists clenched at her side, unless Madoka stopped her.

Madoka Kaname has posed:
    Madoka doesn't stop her from leaving. There's no hit back, or any retaliation or counter accusation. She just watches Hinoiri's back with wide eyes. A single hand reaches up to touch her cheek where she was slapped, and it stings a bit, but after a while she sighs.

    Lydian complains, "You're just going to leave it like that?! She said some pretty mean things!"

    "Biting back won't fix anything," responds the Bearer. "Arguing won't do much, either. We're leaving this alone."

    She takes a deep breath in, and then out. Would Hinoiri ever turn that rage against Sayaka? Probably not, or so she'd like to think, but... it's a thought that crosses Madoka's mind. It's the first time in a long while that she's gotten actually mad about something.

    Another thought is that people are going to wonder what happened to her face. Madoka isn't really interested in weaponizing her reputation, regardless of what Hinoiri thinks about her, yet if it bruises it'll be hard to mask. Maybe some magic healing will prevent that from being an issue? Her mom would be on a warpath if she saw it.

    The pinkette turns and walks away. She's not sure how to deal with this, or about anything really.

    After a while she starts making excuses for Hinoiri in her head. It's a very high stress thing to deal with. Not everyone is going to take something like that well, and tempers are going to run high. Maybe this too is part of the reality of being a magical girl. They are a bunch of teenagers, after all.