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Madoka was seven years old when she looked up at the Sakura church for the first time.
It stood proudly within the Kazamino forest area, welcoming local followers and new ones alike. Her mouth hung open as she gawked its size, the fluff of her white skirt creasing from the pressure of her hands. Behind Madoka were her parents, and they ushered the frozen girl toward the church doors. They were dressed as formal as her, and they adjusted Madoka's outfit whenever they could.
Junko plucked a few hairs sticking out from her pigtails, and hastily put them back in place. Tomohisa saw dirt on her shirt, and brushed it off.
"Papa?" Madoka said, turning to face him.
He patted her head gently. "Just some dust I found on you honey, nothing else."
The family were only religious occasionally, and didn't devote too much time to practicing at all, let alone Christianity. However, Madoka's school encouraged students to branch out and explore other beliefs, meaning that their parents should take time out of their day to let their child experience other spiritualties. Junko thought it unnecessary, and then remembered she wouldn't hear the end of it from her parents if she didn't let Madoka go. Tomohisa mentioned he was familiar with the pastor that owned the church, as they attended the same high school years ago, and in Junko's mind, it was a fair agreement.
"Are we late?" Tomohisa asked his wife.
Junko flicked her wrist to look at her watch. "Right on time I believe."
Madoka walked the stairs up to the church, oblivious to her parents' briskness.
Somehow, the family of three located space in one of the pews closest to the podium, and Junko lead them to it. She instructed Madoka to sit still and pay attention to the front of the church. It been years since Junko attended, but it was near impossible to forget her own upbringing in a religious family.
Madoka scanned the church from the inside, marvelling at the gorgeous stained glass that painted the entire space in colourful hues. Her pink pigtails bobbed around eagerly, the frills of her white ribbons swishing about and following her gaze.
Finally, her sights landed on the people of the church. She saw many families sitting in the pews, knelt and praying already, or some waiting for the procession to begin. Her mother told her that all she had to do was listen to her, her dad, and Father Sakura, and that there was nothing she had to be worried about. Speaking of the aforementioned man, he was looking kindly upon everyone in the church. He had nice smile and a pair of gentle eyes, along with swept back brown hair. Madoka followed his own gaze, and he seemed to lock on to two people that just sat in front of Madoka's family.
In the first pew, there was a girl her age, sitting diligently and talking to an older woman, probably her mother.
Madoka's focus didn't leave the girl once she noticed she had the most striking features. Her hair was entirely bright red, so bold and bright that it stood apart from the crowd, and her sharp fringe perfectly shaped her face, which held the most noticeable aspect of her looks; pointed red eyes, cat-like and keen.
The church was now the least impressive thing Madoka had seen all day.
Madoka quietly admired her, her hands anxiously tapping the creaking wood of the pew.
The girl continued to talk to her mother, her voice sing song-y and light. In her mother's hand was a baby, around one year old. The girl cooed the baby occasionally.
Madoka's heart began to drum in her chest as she angled her head to look at the girl, figuring that by standing up, she may be able to see better. Yet her mother would instantly disapprove, so Madoka stayed put. Nonetheless, she continued to stare at her, entranced by the way her long red hair moved in sync with her chatter.
And as if Madoka had "Pretty…!" out aloud, her red hair whipped around and sharp eyes locked onto the pink haired girl.
Madoka doubled back in shock, already berating herself for being too obvious.
The girl narrowed her vision at her inquisitively, and Madoka blushed.
They blinked at each other for what felt like hours, but in reality, it had only been seconds. Father Sakura cleared his throat, and the young girl turned back around to pay attention to him. The church fell silent, as did Junko and Tomohisa.
Madoka caught her breath after a few moments, unable to listen to Father Sakura for the rest of the procession.
The procession lasted an hour and a half, and as soon as the minute hand hit 1 o'clock, kids in the church were chattering to each other. Their families began to walk out of the pews, bowing and placing their hands over their shoulders and foreheads, and the kids followed in suite.
Madoka was unsure if she were to copy them, but since her parent's didn't do it, neither did she. There were a lot of things that Madoka felt like she had to do, but none of the actions were explained in detail beforehand, so instead, she watched what the girl with red hair did. The girl muttered a few prayers, sang a song or two, and even walked up to Father Sakura in a line with others, and … Well, Madoka didn't know exactly what she did.
Madoka continued to watch her as she walked out of her pew with her mother, and they walked up to Father Sakura afterward, talking happily.
Tomohisa led his way out of the pew first, and waved a hand at Father Sakura. Madoka watched as the pastors face lit up, and the family of three walked towards… where the girl was standing.
Her knees wobbled as she unwillingly approached the girl, and opted to hide behind her mother's dress, her tiny hands clamping on the fabric.
"Kaname-san, it's been years!" Father Sakura rejoiced, opening his arms to the family.
Tomohisa smiled warmly, "It's nice to see you again, Sakura-san," and gestured to his family, "This is my wife Junko, and daughter Madoka."
Junko greeted Father Sakura and the woman standing next to him, and tried to pull Madoka out from behind her dress. "Madoka, this Father Sakura's family, be polite," she whispered. She looked back up at the Sakura's apologetically, "She's shy when meeting new people."
Madoka's head popped out from behind Junko, and she saw the red haired girl standing close by the pastor. The girl continued to question her with her eyes, and Madoka hid herself further.
"Ah, these are my daughters Kyoko and Momo. Kyoko should be around your age, Madoka-chan," Father Sakura said, bending down to her height.
He gestured for Kyoko to follow him, and Kyoko obliged, walking up to Madoka. Madoka squeaked at the girls' presence, but ran out of ways to cover herself.
She grinned at her. "My name's Kyoko, it's nice to meet ya!"
Madoka glanced at her expression, seeing that it looked a lot less imposing when elated.
"I'm… Madoka," pink haired girl murmured, heat rushing to her cheeks.
Kyoko didn't waste another second to respond. "Wanna go play?"
Madoka nodded dumbly, and found being grabbed by the wrist by Kyoko.
"Um-…!" Madoka stuttered, looking up at her parents.
They smiled back fondly, giving her the okay. Madoka then found herself being whisked away by the girl’s hand. As they found their way to the side door of the church, Kyoko's took away her hand from Madoka's wrist, and opened the door. The pigtailed girl didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved at the loss of contact.
"So… what are we going to play?" she asked her.
"Soccer! After church, me and the other kids normally play it," she answered, pointing at the grassy field ahead of them. "We'll get you to join so it's more fun. But uh… try not to dirty yourself, just in case."
Madoka stared hesitantly at the open field. Most of the kids that seemed to be warming up for soccer were boys. Some of them were running around, while others were roughhousing. Madoka liked to run, evident by how she excelled in track, but running with boys who were bound to be rough when it came to getting the ball made her gulp.
Still, she couldn't reject Kyoko's offer.
"Oh… okay," she said, trying her best to nod firmly.
Kyoko gave her a toothy grin, "Great!"
As the two walked out onto the field, the boys greeted Kyoko with familiarity and passing the ball to her. They ignored Madoka. The pigtailed girl turned her head down in disappointment, but thankfully, Kyoko noticed how they didn't greet her.
"This is Madoka!" she exclaimed, gesturing to her. "She's gonna play with us."
Some of the boys waved and said hello to her, though one piped up and said "Is she any good?"
Kyoko looked at her, her face questioning.
Madoka paled at everyone's judgemental gaze, her figure shrinking.
"I don't know…. Maybe you can watch?" Kyoko asked her, and the girl immediately brightened.
She nodded, and walked away to sit down on the grass. She made sure to not sit in any dirt, and tucked her frilly skirt from underneath her.
Kyoko smiled at her, and then started kicking the ball to the middle of the field, where wooden makeshift goal posts were placed. Madoka watched all of them begin to play, but kept her sights focused mostly on Kyoko. The red head flew along the field, her blazing hair whipping behind her like a cape. She preened every time she stole the ball from a boy, and scowled whenever it got taken away from her again, but regardless she kept pushing herself.
After a match or two, some of the boys decided to sit out, while others continued to play with Kyoko.
Madoka saw her go all out when teammates from either side started thinning. She got mud on her shorts, and her hair was ruffled in many directions. Still, Madoka thought she looked beautiful.
The boys beside her then started talking to her. They would have been seven or eight years old as well, but Madoka was still intimidated by the sheer number of them. Two of them started pulling at her pigtails, and others joined in on poking her. Madoka huffed and attempted to sit somewhere else, but they started following her. After walking around and trying to get rid of them, Madoka turned around to tell them to stop. But one boy didn't listen, and went to pull at her hair again. He ended up pulling one of her white ribbons out, and her hair came undone.
The group of boys and Madoka watched helplessly as the ribbon fell into a puddle of mud. Her eyes watered at the sight of the now destroyed fabric, and she began to whimper. The boys flinched and backed away, about to make their leave, until they heard a voice from behind them.
"Hey, where's Madoka?!" Kyoko shouted.
Said girl saw Kyoko from within the crowd of kids; her face was pulled into a frown, and she held the soccer ball under her arm possessively. The crowd parted quickly as they heard her voice, and Kyoko spotted Madoka. Once she saw her on the verge of tears, she immediately tensed up and shouted at all of them, "I'll beat you guys up!"
She threw the ball at one of them, and the crowd quickly scattered. She pushed another into the dirt, and screamed at them to get away. They did as they were told, and ran away from the duo, either toward the soccer field or toward the church.
When Kyoko had finished with her screaming, she was panting, anger still coursing through her.
From behind her, Madoka knelt and gingerly picked up the muddied ribbon. She whimpered again, imagining her parents reaction to the ribbon.
Kyoko heard her and knelt down as well. "Those boys are so stupid…" she said, watching her clean the mud off the ribbon, though it wasn't much use. Madoka could still hear the anger in her voice, but noticed it wasn't as rough as she spoke to her.
Kyoko held her hand out, and Madoka stared at it for a moment. "Let me try clean it."
Madoka placed it into her hand, and their hands brushed over one another. Kyoko's face seemed closer than before, and Madoka backed away from the girl's proximity, trying not to blush again.
Kyoko sighed as she tried to wipe the mud off with her shirt. Again, it didn't do much, but it was worth a shot. After trying to get it clean, Kyoko looked up at Madoka and her mouth dropped open. "Your hair is messed up too!"
Madoka squeaked, trying to hide her hair with her hand. "The... The ribbon, they pulled it out and my hair did as well…"
Kyoko pursed her lip, noticing that the younger girl would rather not be seen like this.
Kyoko grabbed Madoka's wrist (without much protest from the latter), and brought her to a nearby bench. As they sat down together, Madoka had nearly forgotten about the dirt-speckled ribbon in her hand, and instead focused on Kyoko, who was trying to tie her all of hair together with the other ribbon.
Kyoko liked how soft Madoka's hair was. It was a cute colour that matched her eyes, and it looked nice with white. She thought Madoka would look prettier with no ribbons, out and about like her own hair, but Madoka's parents would probably get mad at her if she no longer had it done up.
"There we go!" Kyoko cheered, feeling like she did a good job of tying her hair into a ponytail.
Madoka winced, feeling her scalp stretch around the ribbon. "Uh… Kyoko-chan, it feels a bit tight…"
"Really?" Kyoko said, raising an eyebrow. "Can I try again?"
Madoka hesitated, but had to admit to herself that she liked the feeling of Kyoko playing with her hair. "Well… okay."
Kyoko hummed happily, and began working again, gentler this time. "I need to practice doing hair, since I'm a big sister," she explained, Madoka listening intently. "And I have a little sister as well, so when she grows up I'm going to have to do this for her too."
Madoka's stomach flipped at the story, and she twiddled her fingers as Kyoko continued talking, "My mama's probably going to be upset that I also got dirtied my clothes today, but at least they're not as nice as yours."
Madoka looked at the patches of dirt on her socks, and the ribbon in hand as well. "At least we match," she giggled.
"Ya think so?" Kyoko laughed. "You look like a wedding cake still."
Madoka felt her hands stop moving, and realised the ribbon was in place. She turned to look at her, "A wedding cake?"
Kyoko laughed again. "Yeah, pretty and white."
Madoka blinked up at her, trying not to let another blush consume her face after the compliment.
"Let's go somewhere else," Kyoko said, jumping off the bench. She pointed toward the trees, further away from the church. "We'll be back before lunch time, which is when people from the church eat together."
Madoka smiled, wanting nothing more than to just stay with the other girl.
Their walk in the forest had Kyoko teaching Madoka about the area. She brought their tour toward small ponds, clearings and spaces covered with more foliage, and even told her about the wildlife. The autumn leaves crunched under their shoes, and the sun rose higher into the sky, indicating that it was nearly midday.
A large snap echoed throughout the trees, and Madoka squealed, latching onto Kyoko. The red head patted her gently and laughed. "Haha, that wasn't anything, look."
Madoka followed where she was pointing to, and saw a large dog running through the forest. The dog leapt onto their owner, and they returned the embrace.
"He must've cracked a branch under his paws," Kyoko said, and looked at where Madoka was holding onto her. Both of her hands had grabbed onto her arm, and were gripping it securely. "… You need to be a lot less jumpy, you know that?"
Madoka backed away suddenly, putting her hands behind her. "S-sorry… I've never been here before."
Kyoko shrugged. "It's okay; I'm here to help you anyways."
Silence overcame them as Madoka failed to respond, and the pink haired girl began to fidget.
Kyoko knew that she was shy, but her hesitance was a bit much.
Then the red head had an idea.
"I know! How about we play a game where… I'm the knight, and you're the princess I need to save?"
Madoka darted her eyes up at Kyoko. "Huh?"
Kyoko grinned. "It makes sense. You need protecting here, and I know how to protect you."
Madoka hummed for a moment, her deep pink eyes avoiding Kyoko's intense red ones.
"That sounds fun… I know how to play this game."
Kyoko's grin dropped. "Wha, how?"
Madoka smiled lightly. "I've played this with another girl at school, she's my friend." She clapped her hands together and giggled. "You're similar to her."
Kyoko frowned, and then held out her hand to Madoka. "Well… I'm going to play it differently."
Madoka's eyes flicked between Kyoko's face and her hand. Slowly, she grabbed onto her outstretched palm, and felt Kyoko's warm fingers curl over hers. Madoka's heart started beating hard, and her breath caught in her throat.
Kyoko picked up a long stick that was beside them on the ground, and put it by her side. "This is my weapon that I'll use to fight monsters. And you… need to hold onto my hand the whole time."
Madoka doubled back. "Eh? But how will you fight?"
"It'll be easy!" Kyoko reassured, pulling her a little closer. "And another rule… I'm the only one who can be your knight."
Madoka's face went fully red, and she swiveled her head to the side. She tried to utter out a response, but Kyoko decided to move and not give her a chance. The red head pulled on the other girl's hand, and marched onward with their quest.
From that day, Kyoko and Madoka became close, which didn't go unnoticed by either of their parents. The Kaname's would attend the Sakura church at least once a month, and both of the girls got their chance to play with one another. It got to the point where Kyoko wanted to have playdates, so she begged her mother and father to let Madoka come over. As both families were busy throughout the month, neither of them could time to make it work. But whenever they saw each other, Kyoko and Madoka would gravitate toward one another and spend the whole day together, wanting to make it count.
The two were nearly inseparable.
Madoka was ten when she unknowingly looked at the Sakura church for the last time.
She and Kyoko were resting on the grass as the sun set, while Madoka quietly narrated the sun's descent behind the church, its edge grazing one of the spires. Together, they saw the clouds turn orange and pink, and they commented on what they thought the clouds looked like. Their hands were close to intertwining, though neither of them made the approach to fully envelop the other.
Madoka was wearing a white frilly skirt like the first time they met, and a pink sweater. Kyoko had black shorts that were blotched with dirt and grass, and a red tee shirt. Everything felt normal.
"I wish I could go to your school," Kyoko muttered out of the blue.
Madoka moved her head to face her. "Hm?"
Kyoko sighed. "You know, so we could see each other every day." Her hands picked at the grass, and she crunched it in her hands. "Also so I could tell off that Sayaka girl."
"Kyoko-chan!" Madoka gasped with feigned disapproval. She was used to this by now, and understood that Kyoko was just protective, hence the 'jealous' comments that she would repeat over and over again. So rather than pretending to stay shocked, Madoka sighed. "You guys would be friends if you ever met, I can feel it."
Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Okay, but it's not for sure."
Madoka laid back into the grass, shifting her head closer to Kyoko's. The other girl didn't move away, but Madoka could tell she had squirmed. When she had turned to look her completely, Kyoko's eyes widened.
"Uh-, so…" she said while backing away. "… Will you ask your parents if you can come over on the weekend?"
Madoka put a finger on her mouth. "I'll see… I hope they'll say yes this time."
Kyoko looked up at the sky again. "Yeah, me too…" Then she frowned, and started picking at the grass again. "… Less people have been coming to the sermons, but your family's stayed."
"Mm, I've noticed."
"… I hope you stay."
Madoka looked at her once more. "Huh? Why wouldn't I?"
Kyoko didn't meet her eyes. "Because my dad is worried, he's seeing less people pay attention and leaving halfway through."
Madoka pouted. "Even Mama and Papa?" she said under her breath.
Kyoko sighed in frustration. "Maybe, I don't know." She heaved herself up and dusted off her shorts. She extended a hand out to Madoka. "C'mon, let's go ask your parents again if you can come this weekend."
Madoka grabbed it hesitantly, but was comforted by the contact.
They walked over to where their families were having afternoon tea. It was a table laid out behind the church, and a few chairs from the guests that had left not long ago were still surrounding the table. On the table, a three year old Momo was sitting in a highchair and Mrs. Sakura was feeding her. Father Sakura and Madoka's parents were talking amongst themselves, though it seemed that Junko was doing a lot of the talking at him.
Madoka and Kyoko were still holding hands as they walked up to them. Kyoko was about to speak before she realised that they were still interlocked, and hastily pulled her hand away from Madoka's. The pink haired girl watched her scratch the back of her neck awkwardly, but understood why she did what she did.
"Hi dad," Kyoko greeted, giving him a small wave.
Father Sakura's face was tired and hollow, a much more forlorn expression than what Madoka was used to. Her parents turned to talk to her, but their words were muffled. The tones of their voices were direct and slightly stern. Kyoko flinched at the sound of them. They had all turned silent, with nothing but the cooing's of Momo to fill the air.
Madoka could barely recall what happened after that.
She remembered hugging Kyoko tightly, the red headed girl not wanting to let go, and waving the goodbye to the Sakura family from the car window.
She remembered asking her parents if she could see her again, but they replied with sentences such as "Maybe next year," or "Not for a while".
She remembered waiting for her parents to give her any answers over the following days, weeks and months. Sayaka and Hitomi did her best to cheer her up in school, but nothing could lift Madoka's spirits for a long time. They never knew Kyoko, but they could tell she had lost someone important to her.
Once little Tatsuya came into the Kaname's lives, Madoka had nearly all but forgotten about Kyoko. She was dedicated to being a good older sister for him, and at the same time was preparing to graduate elementary school.
During that time, Madoka sometimes had dreams about the Sakura church.
She remembered a sunset filled sky and orange autumn leaves floating in the air. She saw a girl with long red hair, as bright and blazing as a flame, standing in front of a black spire. In her dreams the girl would often pull her close to protect her from falling, from scary insects or barking dogs. The girl would sometimes be clad in a long red dress, not much different from the shade of wine that her father poured into cups to give in church. It confused Madoka, as she was never able to speak the girl's name or ask her where she had been for so long.
During the new school year, Madoka had sworn she was at the church again in another dream. It felt so real and vivid. She was close to finding the girl and saying her name again after so long.
But then Madoka was running down a colourless hallway, panting roughly as the weight of her school shoes hit the flawless ground. She didn't know where she was running to or why she was there, but all she had to do was find a way out.
In the dream, she saw another girl with long dark hair and intricate clothing. She was fighting a monstrous being in the sky that continued to hurl buildings at her, the city around the both of them destroyed.
A small white being was speaking directly to Madoka, whispering sweet promises of salvation; that she could change all of this and make it right.
Madoka took a deep breath in, and held her hand to her heart.
Then she woke up.
Madoka was fourteen when she saw Sakura Kyoko again after so long.
The girl was as intimidating as ever, but with a cruel and twisted tint in her eyes. Her hair was longer, and it was tied back into a ponytail with a black ribbon. She had a large spear in one hand, and a taiyaki in the other. Her dress was wine coloured and nearly draped over her entirely. Not at all what Madoka expected, but it seemed oddly familiar.
The magical girl was staring down Sayaka in an alleyway, right after a familiar had escaped from the former's grasp. The magical girl finally noticed the person standing beside Sayaka; a grown up Madoka with red ribbons adorning her pigtails.
Nearly all her defenses had lowered when they locked eyes. "No way…" Kyoko gasped, the takiyaki falling out of her hand.
Sayaka frantically looked at Madoka, back to Kyoko, and then back to Madoka. It was obvious from her expression that she demanded an explanation, but Madoka couldn't face her.
The pink haired gir's hands clamped together and her knees wobbled, whether in fear or elation, she didn't know.
"Kyoko-chan…?"