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If Madoka didn’t know better, she’d say time was repeating itself. Day in and day out, the same thing seemed to happen. That girl would come in, order the blackest coffee possible, then sit in the corner for a few hours, doing nothing in particular. Occasionally Madoka thought she was looking over at her, but every time she tried to check, she was suddenly facing away.
By not it was becoming somewhat of a staple of her day at work. At one o clock, she’d arrive, order coffee as black as obsidian, then sit down in her corner. It had become somewhat of a game for Madoka, to try and spot if she did anything differently. If she maybe brought something with her, added sugar to her coffee, slightly experimented with her order, anything that fell out of her routine. And yet there was nothing, even her outfits were irritatingly similar.
She was getting fed up of it, drastic measures had to be taken. Well, if simply talking to a customer could be seen as drastic measures. Although over the last few days, her attempts had failed spectacularly, she didn’t manage to get a single word out. The girl had an intimidating presence about her. However that was only a small part of the problem for Madoka. The main issue was just how attractive she was. Madoka could hardly look at her without getting blushy and flustered. She was already ogling her from afar, admiring and studying every part of her, trying to figure out just what made her so appealing. So meeting her up close, seeing in terrifying detail the perfectly black hair, with colour that matched an eerily empty night sky, her contradictory purple eyes, somehow conveying both anger and sadness hidden behind a serene calm, simpler things too, like how she carried herself so gracefully, and the simple fact that she was taller than Madoka. Ultimately, she was perfect, everything she could ever want.
Unfortunately, in the face of such perfection, Madoka was useless.
Homura hadn’t slept for the last three days, the only thing keeping her awake was constantly drinking the blackest, most caffeine filled coffee she could find. She was overdue on several pieces of college work, her car needed repairs and she still owed two months of rent. The only thing making it okay was the possibility that eventually, if she could just work up the courage, she could talk to the cute pink haired girl behind the counter. She had made a few attempts over the last few days, but all she ended up saying was her usual order a little too forcefully.
She had first noticed her on campus at college, hanging around Sayaka Miki, a girl she only tolerated because her friend Kyouko was dating her. Despite how easy it could’ve been to just talk to her through their mutual friends, she ended up taking the infinitely more difficult route. Observing from afar and having to talk to her in private, without any social support to speak of.
It certainly wasn’t one of her smartest decisions, but it was one she was going to stick to.
Slowly and gradually, she made her way across the room, she had already ordered her coffee, so she couldn’t chicken out and just ask for a coffee. This time, she would say something, she had to.
“Excuse me-” Homura began.
“H-hello” Madoka said, cutting her off completely.
“N-no, you start.” they said all but simultaneously. Following that, there was utter silence. Awkwardness haunting the air between them. Both of them figured now was a good opportunity to look at the other, to gauge their reaction and figure out who should talk first.
They ended up checking eachother out instead, zoning out and focusing intently on one another, their mutual trance only being broken by an employee accidentally nudging Homura.
“I-I’m Homo-” she cut herself off, her eyes widening and her face reddening. “Oh my god, kill me.” she thought, “Just end me right now”. She took a second to recompose herself, her eyes closed, not wanting to face Madoka’s reaction. Unexpectedly, despite her colossal blunder, Madoka remained the same, hardly reacting to what she had said, just smiling at her, possibly a bit wider than before. “Akemi Homura. I’ve seen you around at college, what’s your name?”
“Madoka!” she said overly enthusiastically. “It’s nice to meet you.” she grinned, contrasting the internal guilt she was feeling. Homura had seen her before, but she had absolutely no idea who she was, aside from the extremely pretty girl who sat in the corner of the cafe and drank ungodly dark coffee.
The corner of her lips curved, it wasn’t a big smile, but it was one. Madoka was shocked she managed to get her to smile already, she figured it would have taken a while. “It’s nice to meet you too, Madoka.” she replied tersely, repeating her name simply because she enjoyed the sound of it.
“So uh, why do you always order that same coffee?” she asked, looking up at Homura curiously. There was a good few inches of difference between them.
Usually Homura wouldn’t open up to a stranger, but the adorable look Madoka was giving her, with wide pinkish eyes and her lips slightly pouted. It was impossible to resist. “To keep me awake.” she said bluntly, before elaborating further. “I’ve been having some trouble sleeping.” she admitted, “So I just don’t bother and stay awake all day.”
Homura fell silent, examining a few spots on the floor before finally adding an awkward laugh and looking back at Madoka.
“Have you ever tried chamomile tea?” she asked politely, her face one of smiling concern. “It’s good for sleep.”
“Oh uh, no.” Homura responded, finding herself staring at Madoka once again, she couldn’t pull her gaze away from the pure and caring girl.
“Here, I’ll make you some.” she said, smiling. Quickly checking around for her boss before taking the tea. She took great care in preparing it, measuring out the water, milk, honey, every ingredient she could, precisely. She even counted the minutes under her breath as she let the tea steep. Homura merely sat back, watching and admiring as she worked.
“There!” Madoka announced, unveiling the finished tea. It was a bright, pretty, goldish colour. Bright enough to catch anyone’s eye, but subdued enough to not be garish. It caught the light, seeming to shimmer as it did. “Try it!”
“How much will it cost?” Homura asked, holding the cup up to her mouth. It didn’t smell great, but she would try it, for Madoka’s sake.
“It’s free.” she replied, eagrely eyeing the tea, excited for her reaction to it.
She sipped it, it was sweet and flavourful, a stark contrast to the black coffee she had been drinking, which only tasted of bitterness and suffering. As she pulled the tea away from her mouth and examined it more, she realised how different in appearance it was too. It was so transparent and colourful, unlike the opaque, bleak drink she was accustomed to.
“That’s really good.” she commented. “But I have to ask, just how much honey is in this?” she stirred it slightly, there was no trace of it, but it was clear she had added far more than what was reasonable.
“Not a lot.” she lied, deciding not to acknowledge that she had added far, far too much.
“Hm, interesting.” she noted, sipping the tea more. “Can I have another. Please?” she requested, having already downed the entire cup.
“Oh, sure. Just give me some time.” Madoka said, happily returning to her work.
A devilish plan formed in Homura’s mind, as Madoka was focusing, she walked away, returning to her seat and waiting. If all went according to plan, Madoka would come over, she would convince her to sit down, and from there, they would talk more. What about? She had no idea, she hadn’t planned far enough.
After a minute or two, her plan began falling into place. Madoka emerged from her tea making trance, spotted her back at her seat and walked over. “Care to take a seat, Madoka-San?” she asked, smiling confidently, it almost looked wrong on her, from her earlier awkwardness.
“Yeah, I would.” she returned, sitting across from her and placing the tea in front of her. “Is the tea helping? I know it tasted good, but do you feel any sleepier?”
“Hm, no. Maybe talking to someone could help soothe me to sleep.” she hinted, completely unsubtly. Although she hardly did anything, she still mentally patted herself on the back for flawlessly executing her plan.
Of course Madoka saw right through her, but she didn’t mind. She was just happy she could talk to her. “So, Homura-Chan. You said you go to my college?” she inquired, earning a nod from the black haired girl. “What do you study?”
“History.” she stated, her non talkative nature coming through in her quick, blunt answer.
“Wow, that’s cool!” Madoka’s eyes lit up with curiousity. She wasn’t usually very interested in history, but getting Homura to open up about something she liked intrigued her. “Can you tell me about it?”
“Well, currently we’re learning about the crusades.” she began, her tone picking up slightly, denoting her interest in the topic. “It’s so far in the past, which is what makes it intriguing. Everything was so different.” Madoka beamed, enjoying herself greatly as she listened to Homura speak. “It's kind of weird though, I went to a Christian school when I was younger, so it's really unusual, comparing what I learned back then to the history of the religion.”
In truth, a lot of what she had said went completely over Madoka’s head, she knew next to nothing about the crusades, so she couldn’t contribute to the conversation in any meaningful way. To counteract this, she decided to ask a more general question. “Are you Christian, Homura-Chan?”
She snickered at the thought of it, her Christian upbringing seemed so ridiculous to her now. There was so little connection between her and her past self, they were essentially two different people. “No, definitely not.” she said.
“I see.” Madoka grinned internally, that combined with her earlier blunder gave her hope. Although she didn’t know for certain, there was a possibility that she was gay, and Madoka was going to cling to it as much as possible. “Is college what’s stopping you from sleeping?” the question felt somewhat awkward and out of nowhere, but continuing the history talk would’ve just been one sided. As much as she would enjoy hearing her rant about her interests, her current mission was to get her interested in her.
Unbeknownst to Madoka, Homura was already immensely interested in her. The extra effort was utterly unnecessary. “Partially.” she answered.
“Partially? What else is there?” she tapped the desk lightly, watching Homura’s tea intently, she wondered if it was affecting her yet.
Homura yawned, putting an end to her pondering immediately. “Hm, there’s a lot.” she mused, not caring to elaborate. Frankly she didn’t want to talk about it, she wasn’t one to open up very much, even to a girl as cute as Madoka.
“Oh?” she pressed, curiously. Earning no response from Homura, who simply drank her tea. With a hum, she concluded that that line of questioning was done for. She struggled to think of a new conversation topic, her mouth awkwardly hanging open as she lost herself in thought.
Her thinking was cut short by a sudden reminder that she had a job she was supposed to be doing. Her co-worker calling to her. “Kaname-San, get back here! Your break’s over!”
“Ah!” she gasped, rapidly glancing between her co-worker and Homura. “I’ve gotta go, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to you again!” she waved, giggling to herself as she noticed how Homura’s eyelids began to drift shut. The tea had worked extremely well.
“Y-yeah, see you.” Homura managed, rubbing her eyes and blinking hard in an attempt to stave off sleep a little longer.
She failed miserably. Madoka noticed her head gradually droop, until she finally fell into a deep, deep sleep. With a smile, Madoka returned to her work, only getting distracted by Homura’s sleeping face a few times.
“Hey Homura-Chan, wake up.” Madoka prodded at her gently, bringing her softly and amicably out of her sleep. “The shop’s closing.”
Homura rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, looking her over. Her work clothes were gone, replaced by a grey coat that was a little too big for her, despite the size difference, she pulled it off well, the pink of her hair and the dull colour of her coat combining for a pleasant contrast. “Right.” Homura mumbled, rising to her feet and making her way towards the door.
“Hey, wait! I have something for you!” Madoka cried, expecting the tired girl to leave without a goodbye. “Here!” she placed a thermos in her hands, smiling warmly. “There’s more tea in there, it should help you sleep.”
She stared down at the thermos, a characteristic, small look of happiness forming on her face. “Thank you, Madoka.” she said, looking up at the girl. “Could I walk you home?” she looked at her expectantly, wanting not only to pay her back for her kindness, but also to spend some more time with her.
“I’d like that Homura-Chan.” she smiled, opening the door and holding it open for her. Together, they left the shop, walking away through the evening, the world dimming around them. They remained in utter silence for a short while, processing and appreciating the presence of the other. Just as Homura took a swig of her tea, Madoka piped up. “Hey, uh. Homura-Chan. Are you gay?”
Homura nearly choked on her tea.