- - - a new chapter (@Homura)

There’s a long moment of silence between the two as Mami… well, tries to come up with something to say. Or do, for that matter. As it stood, she just gaped blankly in disbelief at the girl, trying to wrap her head around the odds of this happening. 

Eventually, she manages to clear her throat lightly to jostle the silence.

"Ah… yes, well… I transferred back into the area at the beginning of the term. I suppose I’m still readjusting and all." She ventures, sparing an awkward glance to the side. "With Walpurgis no longer a concern and so many other magical girls in the city, I finally had the option of… handling some things. Now that that’s done and finished with, I reason I’m here to stay."

This is awkward. The silence is thick and uncomfortable and Homura finds her fingers drumming against the spine of the book in her hands tersely, counting down the seconds until either of them thought to speak up.

Thankfully, Mami does so. Homura isn't sure she had anything else to say at all.

"That's nice," Homura ventures cautiously, though the odd strain on the final word questions whether or not she found it as nice as she claimed. In truth, her feelings on this entire encounter were mixed, but for once she felt like she just wanted to be alone again.

"And do the others know that you're...back?" She wouldn't be surprised if she was the last to hear of this. Of course.

- - - a new chapter (@Homura)

Despite her ever busy schedule, it seems Mami finally had some free time to work with and the afternoon was hers. Thank God, too. As thinly stretched as she had been lately, the gunner wasn’t sure how much more she could take before she just… keeled over or something. 

Instead, she’s spending her afternoon at the library, enjoying the quiet and indulging in some light reading. 

She’s just now putting down the first book she had picked up when she arrived and thumbing through the shelves for the next one when she spots a novella she had been meaning to leaf through for some time now. 

Of course, it’s just her luck that it gets pulled out from the other side before she has a chance to grab it.

"Excuse you-"

Her complaints are cut short when she spies the girl on the other side, familiar violet eyes staring at her with that look of perpetual indifference.

"… A… kemi-san…?"

Homura found it easier to keep her schedule tightly packed with constant activity. It let her be more efficient, and it meant she had to spend less time with nothing but her thoughts, which was preferable…too much time alone got her overthinking, and that was never good.

So, as it were, after a long day of classes, Homura had immediately gone to the library to pick up her shift until dinner time. It was quiet, save for a few students here and there looking to take out books or log onto the computers. That left her with little to do other than organize, so organize she did. It was amazing how often students shoved books back into the wrong places, and it took a lot of time and patience to pluck them all out and set them in their right places.

Homura worked quietly and efficiently, almost mechanical in tapping her fingers along the books spines until she found one with a marking that didn’t correspond with the section. She pulls it out, tucks it against her hip with the others, and moves on.

And somewhere down along the line, instead of empty space, she’s greeted with a very familiar pair of golden eyes.

And a familiar voice, too. The moment is so jarring that Homura does nothing but blink, her grip tightening on the books in her arms just slightly. She’s glad the other girl can’t see from where she’s standing on the other side of the book shelf. “…Tomoe-san,” Homura speaks up finally, and her tone is drawn tight, unsure and guarded. Seven years of no word from Mami Tomoe, and suddenly here she is.

"…I hadn’t heard you were back," Homura continues on carefully. "Or that you went to this school, for that matter."