Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a month since Madoka came back to Mitakihara. She had quickly reconnected with her childhood friends Sayaka and Hitomi, and even made a new friend Sakura Kyoko a redhead that was staying at Sayaka's house. They were all hanging out in the shopping mall WcDonalds after class.

"So..." started Sayaka after taking a sip from her cola "Got used to life back in Japan, Madoka?"

"Right, you were in America for three years, didn't ya?" - added Kyoko before eating some fries.

"Well... It’s been kind of hard to get used to the different material. And I'm still behind in classic literature class" She stopped for a second, taking a small sip of her cold tea "But everyone has helped me a lot! Even the teachers have given me some notes so I could catch up!"

"I'm glad" Hitomi gave a small smile "If you want, I could probably get some free time this weekend. We can do a study session if you want, tests are approaching after all. You all can come too, of course."

"Really?" Sayaka sighed before dropping her head on the table "You are a lifesaver, Hitomi; I don't think I'll pass next week math exam at this rate... or the English one..."

Madoka let out a small giggle before going deep into thought. It was true that she was getting used to life back in Japan without many problems. And her studies weren't in bad shape, just required a bit more effort than usual.

But... There was something that had been bugging her, a student that for some reason she couldn't get close to. In fact, no one seemed to be able to. Whenever someone tried to approach her, in the rare instances where that happened, she would quickly answer their questions with a stoic look on her face before dropping the conversation. Most of the time that you would hear her speak was during class, and only whenever a teacher asked her a question.

While Madoka was lost in thought Sayaka seemed to notice the frown on her friend face and poked at her to catch the pinkette attention.

"You okay? You've had that frown on your face for a while now"

Madoka looked down at her hands, holding her cold tea, and started fidgeting with her fingers. "I was just thinking about how to approach Akemi-san" Sayaka's eyes opened widely, filled with anger.

"Why would you want to do that?!" she shouted quickly getting up of her seat and smacking the table. The people around all looked at them, making Sayaka clear her throat before sitting down and speaking quieter "I thought I told you not to get close to her!"

"But why?" replied Madoka "She doesn't look like a bad person. She just looks... lonely. And I'm not sure why, but I have this feeling that I really want to help her"

"Did you perhaps know Akemi-san from before?" Hitomi was the one to ask while giving the rest of her potato fries to Kyoko

"No... Well, I'm not sure"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't remember seeing her before. But whenever I look at her I have this feeling deep in my chest that I should talk with her. That I've been waiting to do so for a long time now." Madoka sunk a little bit in her seat.

"Maybe you knew her before going to America, she might have been in your kindergarten class for example" Added Hitomi. "That might also explain why Sayaka has such strong feelings towards her, you two were together at that time right?"

"Have you even talked with her more than the times where she quickly shuts you down tho?" said Kyoko after finishing Hitomi's fries, giving one of her questioning glances "Hard to care for someone you don't even talk to y'know?"

"Actually... " It really wasn't more than other times, but... "The first day after I transferred here, Akemi-san was the one to show me around the school"

There was a small pause.

"We talked a bit, but after she asked me if I was getting used to things, out of nowhere she... she gave me a hug"

"She did what?!" Sayaka jumped "I knew she was a creep! Don't worry Madoka, I'll make sure she doesn't take advantage of you"

"It- It's not like that Sayaka-chan! I know that what she did it's kinda weird but... " She stopped to think for a moment, remembering the moment and Akemi face after the fact "She asked me a question before giving me my red ribbons... I don't really remember what it was... but the face she made afterwards was so full of pain that..."

"Yeah, yeah we get it" said kyoko "Our goody two shoes of a friend feels bad even for a weirdo like her. I'm not surprised to be honest" she gave a smug smile "Just try not to get kidnapped"

Madoka let out a small chuckle "I will, Thank you Kyoko-chan".

"Well, I should get going" said Hitomi while standing up and looking at her phone.

"Piano classes again?" asked Sayaka.

"No, Floral Arrangement. Even though exams are coming" She let out a small sigh before putting on a confident and gentle smile. "Well, goodbye everyone"

Everyone waved off Hitomi before finishing their drinks and getting up. Kyoko threw her bag over her shoulder and faced the other two.

"I have to go too, don't wanna be late"

"You were working at the convenience store by the station, right?" asked Madoka, getting a nod as an answer from Kyoko.

"Yeah, it's been a bit of a pain lately. Tourist are coming now more than ever since Sakura season just ended and prices are down." Kyoko let out a tired sigh "So many of them ask questions either on English or broken Japanese that I'm one 'sory wat this' away from snapping"

"Try not to lose your job please" sighed Sayaka "We both know my wallet cannot keep up with your eating habits"

"Ooh but you are my knight in shining armor Sayaka" She made an exaggerated pleading expression "Won't you make sure I don't starve oh my hero?"

"Oi you!" she said before chasing the redhead while Madoka laughed.

A small hill, filled with white flowers, stood tall over the city. A single chair was placed next to a long fall, almost as if whoever placed there wanted to be engulfed by the abyss. The scenery colors changed slowly, the sun setting on the horizon, as a girl with ebony hair got up from a nap.

Well, not really a nap. The devil couldn't sleep after all.

A shadow moved behind her, as one of her Clara dolls appeared and seemed to communicate with incoherent laughter.

"I see, so Madoka has made it home safely" said the devil "Did something happen to her throughout the day?"

More laughter.

"Any signs of the Law of Cycles?" Madoka having almost awakened the first day she came back had made the devil paranoid about her recovering her memories. And as such she made 3 of her Clara Dolls to always follow Madoka.

"Good." she said before dismissing the doll and pulling out her soul gem... or rather, the black orb it had transformed into after she committed her biggest sin.

Looking at the orb, a smile that would have set off a hundred red flags appearing on her face, her eyes glowed with the color of despair, her own despair, before an image appeared on the orb.

The room of Kaname Madoka was one more appropriate for a girl a few years younger than her. Filled to the brim with different stuffed animals, and a simple desk with an all-in-one computer. Seated on the small chair Madoka was in the middle of doing her homework, having gotten out of the shower a few moments ago she was still a bit damp and had already put on her pajamas.

The devil enjoyed the hard-working Madoka, her obsessive smile turning into a gentler one. The few moments she would let herself to enjoy, the only way to quench her ever growing madness. And compared to her previous sins this was nothing but a speck of dust.

There was no sound, something the devil knew if she ever did would end up with her always finding an excuse to listen to the voice of her beloved. As much as she wanted to protect her, and as much as it seemed to not make sense since she always watched her 5 minutes a day through the dark orb, she wanted to respect Madoka's privacy.

The image on the dark orb began to fade, the devil thought to prolong her fun a bit longer but decided against it before getting up from the chair and transforming into her devil clothes.

Right, she still had things to do.

Her raven wings embraced her, making her disappear only leaving behind a few dark feathers that slowly fell to the ground.

She appeared in a sunless dimension; the moon ever present in the sky was cut in half and glowed with an unnatural light in the gray sky. Around her a desert of colorless sand, with some destroyed buildings that had been devoured by the dunes of the never-ending desert.

When she altered the universe, she had thought that if the Goddess had created something akin to Heaven; then she should create something akin to Hell.

A massive orb floated in the sky, inside it some white forms seemed to be moving around almost as if trying to escape. The orb was oozing black goo that fell to the ground and formed a small pond below it from which some of the devil lesser familiars were being born. Tendrils of the same goo seemed to be poured into the orb, appearing out of thin air.

The devil flew towards the orb, feeling an amount of despair that would have instantly transformed her into a witch where she still a normal magical girl. But instead, the devil calmly pushed her hand into the orb grabbing something and slowly pulling the hand out.

From within the orb a small white furry creature appeared. Once her greatest enemy, the incubators had now been reduced to nothing more than conduits for humanity's despair.

"The pond is bigger than it was yesterday, Incubator. Care to explain why?" said the Devil as she threw the still hyperventilating creature to the ground.

It took a few moments, the mind of the creature slowly coming back from whatever torture it had gone through. She had made sure to separate their hivemind, so that they would each suffer alone as she had to do in the past.

The creature looked at the devil with pleading eyes, unable to move a single muscle of its body.

"Oh right" said the Devil, before doing a small wrist flick "Here, you may speak again"

"Th- there has been a... a typhoon in southeast Asia" said the incubator, being forced to speak instead of communicate telepathically seemed to hurt him more "Many pe- people are feeling unusual amounts of- of despair"

"Well, consume it quickly then"

"We- We can't do it faster" It looked at her, for a race that had once been prideful to consider only a few were able to feel emotions the whole race had now been subjected to what they called a mental illness. She made sure they had. "Our bo- bodies ar- aren't able t- to do so"

"Is that so?" she gave the creature a side glance "Let's see if that's true"

With but a thought the pond of despair formed into a bubble of pure darkness and slowly approached the incubator, unable to escape it tried to scream but had its voice taken by the Devil.

The despair in pure form flowed into the creature for a few seconds before completely disappearing. The creature stood motionless; its eyes void of any emotion. It could only quiver.

"Seems you were telling the truth." She snapped her fingers, a Clara Doll appearing behind her to take the body of the creature.

"Well then..." she covered herself with her wings before disappearing once more. This time she appeared in her apartment. Empty as it ever had been.

The devil approached her desk, her clothes going back to her student uniform, and sat on a small wooden chair.

"I have to prepare for tomorrow's classes"

And with that the devil started to study. Now that the month she knew by heart had passed, the answers she had memorized during her time loops wouldn't work. As much as that had increased her workload it also meant she had finally saved Madoka.

And that was all that mattered.

Many different flowers, ferns, and a few cacti decorated the small corner of the school yard. A lot of them were in full bloom, while others were waiting a few more hours till the sun was higher in the sky to finish opening.

All of the plants were under the overcast shadow of the still blossoming Sakura tree. The tree had started to blossom 4 weeks after it was supposed to. The gardening club still unsure of whether it was just a late bloomer or if the extra care they gave the magnificent tree helped it push through.

Madoka had been appointed to the morning tasks, and as such was watering the plants while taking a look at those that seemed to have grown bigger than what their current pots allowed to.

One little cactus caught Madoka's attention. The plant in particular was the opposite of the Sakura tree having blossomed a few flowers before the summer. What was more interesting was that the cactus was on the brink of death when Madoka joined the club and it was through her sheer determination that the plant was able to come back to life miraculously. A feat that Madoka was proud of, and a story the Kaname household had to constantly hear for the past week.

Having finished to water the plants Madoka placed the tools she had used back into the warehouse and headed to class. It was still 30 minutes early, but she knew that by doing this she would get a rare opportunity that she would lose were she to go later.

Once she was in the hall next to her class, she slowed her approach. Taking care not to make noise she looked into the classroom and confirmed that the ebony haired girl was indeed sitting on her seat alone. She was looking out of the window, one hand over her desk while the other was holding her head. A tired looked on her face while she looked towards the blossoming Sakura. The few rays of sunshine that got through the window were making her hair shine in some parts, making her look even prettier than she used to.

Madoka took a deep breath and headed into class.

"G-Good morning, Akemi-san!" did she just stutter? God, she did. Before she could even throw herself into shaming herself the other girl spoke.

"Homura"

"Eh?"

"I told you to call me Homura" she stated, while looking at her with the same cold look on her eyes she always wore.

Right, Madoka almost forgot. The first time they talked she had asked to go on a name-by-name basis instantly. It wasn't that Madoka was put off by this, she just couldn't believe that someone as incredible as Ake- Homura wanted to be so friendly with her. Homura not talking much more afterwards with her cemented the thought.

"Right, let me try again. Good morning, Homura-chan!" Madoka said with a bright smile on her face.

And what she wanted to see happened.

"Good morning, Madoka" replied Homura with the slightest of smiles. But even then, it was something important. Something that could only happen when they were alone, any other time she would just say good morning and nothing more.

This time it wasn't going to end there though. Madoka wanted to use this opportunity to corner the lonely girl. She would usually try to talk during lunchtime or after class but that meant Homura had an easy escape route. But classes were about start now, and as such she was bounded to this room.

Madoka took a few steps forward and looked at the ebony haired girl. Whom turned to look at Madoka, her expression didn't change an inch.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I was wondering..." realization suddenly overcame Madoka, she didn't plan this far ahead. In her mind the moment she approached Homura she would instantly disappear somehow, as if time would stop and she could just walk away. Quickly she tried to think of something to say "You always come this early, Homura-Chan?"

"I try to, yes" she stopped looking at Madoka, just to continue watching the Sakura tree.

And the conversation was dead once more. This is how it always went, Madoka asks a question, Homura answers instantly and goes back to what she was doing, or worse, she just leaves.

Madoka took a small breath, renewing her confidence.

"The Sakura tree is pretty, right? I helped it bloom, together with the gardening club"

"I know." she said with her cool voice. Her eyes still fixed on the tree.

Silence once more.

Madoka was starting to get nervous, well more nervous than she had been before. But with an almost cracking voice she pushed forward, she wasn't going to throw away this opportunity.

"Tests are close by huh..." her voice almost failed her "H-how are you doing Homura-chan?"

What kind of question was that? Of course, that Homura wasn't going to have any problem. She was the smartest person in the class, only Hitomi could rival her. There was no way that-

"I'm having a few problems actually"

What?

"O-oh... Oh!" Madoka beamed with a smile, the lonely girl turned to see her. "What if you joined us this weekend? Hitomi, Sayaka, Kyoko and I were going to do a study session together. I'm sure that Hitomi won't have a problem with it!"

Homura took a second to think. It actually was the first time Madoka had seen the girl take a moment to think what to say. Hope was starting to rise. Maybe she would finally be able to get close to Homura.

"I'm sorry. I must decline"

And with that all hope disappeared. It must have shown on her face, because the usually cool-headed Homura instantly added something to what she had said.

"It's not because of you, Madoka. I'm just really busy this weekend." She paused for a moment, but seeing that Madoka wasn't convinced she added more "Living alone gives me a few extra tasks that I have to take care of. That's all"

There it was, a thread of a conversation, new information. Homura lived alone.

"You live alone Homura-chan?"

"Yes. But don't worry, I'm used to it already"

"Isn't it hard? Like, balancing school by itself it's more than enough for myself."

Homura gave another small smile, God how much Madoka wanted to see more of those.

"It used to at the start." Her eyes changed, now having a look of... loneliness? No, it was something different, more melancholic "But a friend helped me push forward. I don't know where I would be now if it wasn't because of her"

Madoka looked at Homura, she had only seen once this expression on her face. The day she had given her the red ribbons that she was now wearing. An expression full of pain, pain for something that she had lost.

"Homura-chan" Madoka tilted her a bit, Homura looking at her once more "Do we know each other? From before I transferred, I mean, I have this feeling that we did but I'm not sure..."

Her face changed instantly, now wearing one of concern and anxiety. Homura seemed to have frozen in time.

"Homura... chan?"

She snapped back to reality.

"We did not meet at any other point. It is impossible" she replied, her cold distant look decorating her face one more.

"A-are you sure?" I added "Maybe we were classmates once? or- or we went to the same kindergarten?"

"I have been either hospitalized or in the orphanage my whole life. We have not ever met" Her voice was harsh, not showing any real emotion "Stop having these foolish thoughts"

Homura went back to look through the window. Madoka defeated went back to her seat, people now beginning to get into the classroom.

She had had a good opportunity to get closer, and right when it seemed to start working, she went ahead and threw it into the trash. All because of a dumb feeling she had.

She really couldn't do anything right huh.

Homura stopped paying attention to Saotome-sensei. Not because she was whining about her last relationship as she usually did, but because there were more important matters to attend to.

Did Madoka remember something? No, she shouldn't, this time it didn't happen like it had the first time. Maybe it really was just a hunch of the insightful girl? Something she had said fired off some memories that almost surfaced? It's true that whenever Madoka learned that she lived alone she would start to worry more than needed. It was so bad that during the second time line she seemed to spend more time at Homura's house than her own. Sometimes going over just to cook something for her, saying that she should eat better than precooked lunches.

It was something that she loved about her.

But now...

She touched her earring, and quickly the nonsensical laughter of her clara dolls could be heard.

“Did Madoka do anything weird last night?”

"N̸͓̾ȏ̷̰ ̸͑ͅn̵̤̉o̷̥͆ţ̵̽h̶͉͂í̷̘n̷̮̚g̸̳̓"

Reiketsu, the more trustworthy of her dolls. She was always following Madoka.

“Has anything happened to anyone close to her?”

"A̶p̴p̶l̶e̵ ̴d̷i̸d̸n̷'̵t̸ ̵g̷o̶ ̴h̶o̵m̸e̶ ̵w̴h̴e̷n̵ ̴s̶h̷e̴ ̵h̷a̶d̵ ̷t̸o̴.̴ ̵S̶t̵r̵a̷w̶b̴e̸r̸r̵y̴ ̷i̶s̶ ̶s̷t̶i̶l̵l̷ ̵a̵n̴g̷r̷y̵.̵"

Ibari was the one who followed Sayaka, Homura knew the blue haired girl could become troublesome if she got her memories back.

“S̷w̵e̸e̸t̸s̵ ̸a̶t̵e̷ ̷C̵h̷e̷e̶s̸e̵.̵ ̴L̶o̷t̸s̴ ̵o̴f̵ ̴p̷r̶o̸b̶l̶e̵m̵s̴.̷ ̷L̶o̴t̵s̴ ̸o̴f̶ ̶p̴r̷o̷b̷l̵e̶m̴s̵!”

Usotsuki, she was in charge of Nagisa and Mami. A liar, but her lies were easy to navigate. Everything seemed ok.

Homura moved her hand away from her earring, hearing Saotome-sensei lesson once more.

She could always get close to Madoka, that way if the Law of Cycles ever appeared she could quickly take care of it.

No, no. She shouldn't. Her sins are too big, watching Madoka from afar is more than enough for her.

Is it really though? The kind girl has tried many times to approach her after all. Besides what is one more sin to the long list she already had?

Even then, Madoka's kindness is something she doesn't deserve. Madoka cannot be truly happy if someone like her is in her life after all. So, she shouldn't try to get closer, that would only hurt the girl more when she disappears.

I'm pretty sure that I've earned her kindness the moment I made this world for her, do not speak for myself.

Homura blinked, what was she thinking? Maybe all the sleep deprivation finally caught up to her, even if she didn't think she had to sleep. Maybe she would take a nap after school.

Though maybe she was right. Maybe trying to get close to Madoka wouldn't be such a bad idea. Just enough to try and gather more information than what the Clara Dolls could. And after she made sure that Madoka was okay, she could get away from her again. This time permanently.

She took a deep breath and looked towards Madoka, who was sitting a few rows in front of her, where she had used to sit when she was the transfer student. Her pink hair seemed almost as if a part of heaven had come down and was gracing her with its vision.

Well, it kind of had actually.

"Wait you talked with Akemi again?" exclaimed Sayaka, who was in the middle of eating her sandwich.

Madoka nodded.

"But after I mentioned if I knew her from before she suddenly got irritated and stopped talking" Madoka sighed "I shouldn't have said that, we were starting to talk more..."

"Maybe it was because she remembered something bad?" said Kyoko who had finished her lunch way earlier than everyone "You said she was at the hospital before right? And an orphanage too? Maybe she didn't want to remember anything from that time. Hell, I evaded getting into an orphanage like the plague because of the stories I heard"

"Stories?" asked Sayaka

"Yeah, a lot of em don't treat the kids nicely to say the least." she pulled out a box of pocky and placed one in her mouth "Heard that some of them practically torture the kid if they do something wrong."

"I didn't know..." said Madoka, sinking into the bench.

"Yeah, and I can't even imagine what it must be like to not get chosen after the interviews. They are basically telling you that no one wants you."

"When you look at it that way..." said Sayaka, now scratching the back of her head.

"What should I do?" Madoka said, she already felt bad whenever she saw her lonely eyes. Now that she knew all this about her, the itch to help her stung even harder.

Kyoko looked at the pained Madoka, before letting out a small sigh.

"Listen. You got to her once, you can do it again. Give her some space today, let her calm down. " She pointed a new pocky towards Madoka "And tomorrow you throw a big attack at her, one she cannot refuse"

Madoka slowly raised her head. Looking towards the redhead. She was right, if she had done it before it could be done again.

"All right" She giggled "Thank you Kyoko-chan"

The three kept eating in silence, the roof of the school had a nice cool breeze that was quite welcoming during spring. But it would probably make them go inside the building during winter. After a few more moments passed, Sayaka spoke up.

"Oh right. Kyoko and I were going to go to the cinema this afternoon. Want to come?"

"Kyoko? Doesn't she have to work?"

"Got a free afternoon today, I had to cover for a coworker yesterday into late at night to do so. But I kind of missed hanging around with you all for more than 30 minutes after school you know?" said Kyoko with a smirk on her face while looking at Sayaka.

"Aaagh! I know, I know, okay?" Sayaka looked a bit embarrassed "I already told you that I'm sorry for getting angry at you"

"Maybe next time you will wait till I explain huh?"

"Maybe you will at least send a message if you are going to stay late!" Sayaka shouted, energy coming into her "I was worried!"

"I already told you that if I'm late to eat without me" Kyoko was starting to get angry "It's not my fault that you waited till midnight"

"I thought something bad happened to you! I was about to get dressed and run to the store to look for you when you came home!"

"Go look out for me?" She raised her voice a bit more, though the tone changed to a more worried one "Are you crazy? Do you even know what kind of people go around at that time of the night?"

"Yeah! That's why I was worried you dumbass!"

They both looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. Madoka was already used to them fighting like this, most of the time the reasons were always the same. One doing something dangerous, or something that would hurt them. She knew this wouldn't go nowhere as bad as what it seemed from the outside.

Kyoko was the one to break the silence.

"Tsk, whatever." She turned towards Madoka "So, you coming?"

"Yes, it sounds like fun." She said, giving one of her signature smiles.

The movie theater was filled mainly with other students, it being a weekday made it hard for adults, and therefore their kids, to be here. Which was perfect for Kyoko, who didn't have to stand a crying kid while watching the movie. It wasn't like she didn't like kids, rather it was the parent that brought kids with only 1 year of age to watch a loud movie with explosions that did.

She had been saving up for a few weeks, so she had big plans for today. Madoka hadn't been part of them at first, but it's not like it was the pinkette's fault; it had been Sayaka the one who invited her after all. She just had to find a nice moment where Sayaka and herself were alone and it would work out. Somehow.

She was already regretting all this. She should have known that Madoka would end up coming, and now that she was feeling a bit down because of the emo girl she didn't have any other choice.

Even then she pushed forward, sure she didn't get the date she wanted with Sayaka. But that was life, not everything went like you wanted to. She had been deep in thought for a few minutes already, the voice of the pinkette was what brought her back.

"So, what are we going to watch?"

"Ah, right, I didn't tell ya" Kyoko said, before pausing dramatically "Revengers 9: The Multiverse War!"

Sayaka quickly chimed in.

"Ahhh! After all these years we are finally getting to close such a long story" She closed her eyes while holding her fist with emotion "Will they be able to fix everything? Will earth mightiest heroes save the universe- no, The Multiverse!"

"After Mantisman sacrificed himself last movie to stop the portal from opening by throwing himself into it... Just to give the rest of his team some time to think of a plan and prepare" Continued Kyoko.

They both did a sign with their arms, Mantisman last farewell and said at the same time. "Your wings will always lead us to victory"

Madoka let out a weird chuckle before talking

"Ah... I think I saw some posters of the previous movie while I was in America. Everyone seemed to be really excited for it, I didn't expect it to be so big here though."

"Wait, you haven't seen the others?" said Kyoko with a surprised face.

"Not really" said Madoka in a quiet voice "Sh- Should I have?"

Kyoko felt as if Bhors hammer had hit her right in the guts. How could there be someone who didn't watch Revengers? How could it be that someone was 15 minutes away from watching the culmination of years of movies and series without knowing anything about it?

"I- I know some things though!" Madoka shouted, well as much as the pinkette could shout it was more like talking normally for Kyoko.

"What do you know?" asked Kyoko.

"Well... There is this guy who is a doctor and can like control time right? He is really cool!"

"Anything else?"

Madoka hesitated for a few seconds, trying to think of something.

"Th- there is a green guy... I think?"

And with that Kyoko felt her favorite movie saga be described as 'There is a green guy'. Had it been anyone else she would think they were trying to pick on her, but coming from Madoka she knew it was pure honesty.

"Well, we should get going" said Sayaka "Before you continue murdering Kyoko"

And with that they went into the cinema.

A few hours later they came out, all three of them wearing smiles. Though Kyoko and Sayaka clearly were the most excited. They all held their thoughts of the movie until they were far away from the cinema, going into a nice bakery that Kyoko said she knew.

After they all were seated the first one to talk was Sayaka.

"That was amazing!" she said excited "Who would have thought that Mantisman was able to build a resistance in Khanos original universe after he threw himself into the portal!"

"The fight between all the Revengers and the Cosmos Army had to be the best fight of the entire saga." Added Kyoko "But that ending? There might actually be more! it was such an open ending that it has to be!"

"Even I got excited!" said Madoka "There were times where I didn't know what they were talking about, but the character moments were really touching!"

"We have to show you the rest of the movies one day" said Kyoko "You would like Copperman movies the most"

"Sure!"

They waitress came over, and they all asked for what they wanted before Sayaka got up.

"I have to go to the bathroom real quick"

"Alright" said Kyoko.

When Sayaka was out of sight Kyoko looked around, making sure she wouldn't come back, and leaned towards Madoka before whispering.

"Yo. Think you can do me a small favor?"

"Of course!" said Madoka, a determined look on her eyes.

"I didn't even tell you what it was... whatever, listen I need to be alone with Sayaka for a few minutes."

"Wait" realization came over Madoka "Was this supposed to be a date between you two? I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

There she went again; Kyoko had only known the girl for a month and she had already noticed she would say sorry for things that weren't her doing.

"Don't worry about it. There is this new fountain, it dances at the rhythm of the music. The plan is to go there, when we get there can you go somewhere else for a few minutes?"

"Yes, of course!" she replied with a big smile on her face "I'll be rooting for you!"

"It's not that serious... " She was interrupted as she saw Sayaka coming back.

"What were you two talking about so sneakily?"

"Just heard some people saying they were gonna watch Revengers now. Didn't want to spoil anything to em so we whispered." quickly said Kyoko, Madoka nodded in agreement with a smile on her face.

"Gah! That's right, people haven't watched it yet." She took her seat next to Kyoko. "And I said some big spoilers before"

"Bah, don't worry about it. They came in while you were in the bathroom."

With that their food came and they ate while talking a bit more about the movie. Kyoko going into a large explanation of how the timeline and the Multiverse worked to Madoka who as much as she nodded along couldn't really understand most of it.

Kyoko paid for everyone's food, surprising Sayaka who had took her for a stingy person when it came to money and food.

They kept on walking going around the shopping mall for a few hours until the sun had set, they reached the fountain that Kyoko told about to Madoka. They shared a glance before Madoka took a deep breath and stopped in front of the fountain.

"Ah! I forgot I had promised my dad I would help him with dinner!" She started to move away. "I have to go! I'll see you two tomorrow!"

"Wait Madoka!" said Sayaka, the pinkette turned around.

"Don't worry! Is faster if I run by myself" she kept on running "Goodbye!"

And with that Madoka got out of view.

"Really..." said Sayaka while scratching the back of her head "What has gotten into her?"

The time was on point, just 10 seconds before the show.

The music from the fountain started to play, with it the water seemed to dance in a display that seemed almost magical.

Sayaka kept looking at the fountain, almost hypnotized by the water pattern.

"Sayaka" said Kyoko, the blue haired girl turned to face her. "I wanted to thank you for everything you and your family have done for me."

The water peaked as the whole orchestra played together; a few drops falling on them.

"So I have been saving up, and..."

She rummaged her pockets, picking a small wrapped present from it.

"I got you this."

Sayaka picked the small box, giving Kyoko a quick look. The redhead was looking away, clearly embarrassed. With a slow movement Sayaka took out the little bow it had, and opened the box.

Inside was a small necklace, the chain made of something akin to silver held a dolphin made from some kind of deep blue gemstone that glowed with the lights of the fountain.

Sayaka looked back at the necklace and back at Kyoko. Who seemed to tighten her lips, her clenching fist turning the knuckles white.

"Agh! If you don’t like it I can take it back!" she said as she launched her hand forward, but Sayaka moved away making her miss her target.

"No..." Sayaka shook her head, looking at the necklace one more time with a gentle smile.

"I love it" she quickly gave Kyoko a hug, the girl took a second to react before returning said hug. "Thank you"

A/N: And that was the first chapter. If you have read this far, thank you.

Now I wanted to make a small clarification. This series will last for as long as I keep on writing for it. By that I mean I dont think this will have an ending per se (Every time I think of what could count as an ending I find interesting things to write about). Its going to be their daily lives and what could commonly be called the plot is going to move slow as hell. What I want is to see them do things throughout the day, and examine their minds while we are at it. There will be drama and whatnot sometimes, but dont expect a sudden Wapurgisnacht to come by.

Remember, Im writing their DAY TO DAY life. Some days will be longer other shorter, but I dont plan on missing many days. I will be leaving a "current day" at the end of each chapter though, for easy tracking.

Current Day: Wednesday, 7th May.

Chapter Text

Madoka walked towards school, a small yawn appearing on her face while she walked along the flowing water of the small canal. She had woken up an hour earlier than usual, after all she needed to make something for her plan of getting close to Homura to work. Even if it meant losing some sleep time.

Her dad was surprised to see Madoka up so early in the morning, but after a brief explanation (though she left out some details) he was more than happy to help her. Which was a huge relief for Madoka, knowing that with his dad's help her plan would surely work... At least as long as she was able to do the hardest part.

She let out a long sigh, approaching Homura today was going to be harder than yesterday now that she had lost the advantage of being early.

"Madoka!" shouted Sayaka, following behind her was Kyoko with her bag over her head she made a small nod of acknowledgement.

"Good morning, Sayaka-chan, Kyoko-chan!"

"You had quite the frown back there" said Kyoko, raising one eyebrow and putting on a smirk "Thinking about Akemi again?"

"Yeah..." Madoka let out a small sigh "I was wondering how to approach her today. But every situation I think of is one where she can run away"

"You should just leave her be" said Sayaka, Madoka noticed she was wearing a necklace she had never worn before. "She isn't worth your time"

Sayaka walked a bit faster, getting in front of Madoka and facing her.

"She clearly doesn't want anything to do with you" a serious look appeared on her face "You don't have to help someone that's refusing your help"

Was Homura really refusing Madoka's help? She knew it was true that the girl didn't really try to talk with her. And she had been alone before Madoka transferred in. So maybe it was Madoka the one that was overstepping her boundaries. Maybe Homura just wanted to be alone.

But then again...

Madoka remembered the look she had yesterday when talking about the girl that used to help her when she started to live alone. The same look she showed when she gave Madoka her ribbons. It was so full of loneliness and pain that Madoka thought there was no way she didn’t want help.

She felt like an abandoned cat that's been betrayed too many times by humans and now won't get close to them. And just like with a cat she would start to get close to her step by step. And the first step always was food.

Hitomi appeared a bit further along the road together with Kamijou, Sayaka run over to them to greet them while Kyoko and Madoka stayed behind.

"Thank you for yesterday" said Kyoko in a quiet voice. Madoka shook her head.

"It was nothing, I'm glad I could help" she looked at the redhead with a smile "How did it go?"

"I was able to give her what I wanted" Kyoko looked at Sayaka, an uncommon gentle look appearing in her eyes. "I had some doubts, but I'm glad I did it in the end"

Madoka couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Kyoko and Sayaka were quite close when she transferred in, but with time she had realized how deep their relationship really went. At least from Kyoko's side it was clear there was more than just friendship.

"Tell you what" Kyoko started "I'll help you today with Akemi, I owe you one after all. What's the plan?"

Madoka nodded, she knew her doing it alone wouldn't be enough to get a hold of the evasive Homura. But maybe with Kyoko it could be possible.

"You see" Madoka began to say, looking at her bag "I made two lunches today, and I plan on giving one to Homura-chan"

Excitement started to creep into her voice.

"Homura usually eats alone, and only an energy bar of some kind. So, I thought that even if she didn't want to eat it together giving her a balanced meal would at least be helping her" Madoka looked at Kyoko a bit of a embarrassed smile appeared on Madoka's face "sometimes she also brings some chocolate snacks to school, so I baked a brownie yesterday."

Kyoko looked at Madoka, a surprised face beginning to appear.

"I've seen her go to the cafeteria to get food with meat before, so I know she isn't vegetarian." Madoka sighed "Though she only did that whenever a teacher told her she couldn't just eat an energy bar for lunch. And she usually doesn't finish them"

"You..." started saying a surprised Kyoko, who got caught off by Madoka once more.

"She may have a small appetite, so I made sure to make something light." Madoka let out a small chuckle "Though I think I went a bit overboard with the decoration hahaha..."

"You really look at her throughout the day huh" Kyoko interjected, new to this obsessive side of her friend.

"Huh? Not really, just a normal amount"

"Yeah, right" she put a smile on her face "Well, count me in. I'll help making sure she doesn’t run away the moment the bell rings"

The confident smile Kyoko was giving her was more than enough for Madoka to find a renewed hope. She had another opportunity, and this time she wasn't going to miss it.

Classes went by slowly. The ticking of the clock seemed to linger for longer than usual, almost as if as a big joke the universe had decided to make things slower to prolong her nerves. As they approached lunch break Madoka was getting more and more nervous.

Doubts started to appear.

Even if Kyoko was able to hold Homura for long enough. What would happen if she just refused the lunch? They were basically strangers after all. Maybe out of pure coincidence she had brought a proper lunch today after being told off by the teachers so many times. Even worse, what if she ended up accepting the lunch but didn't like the food? What if she saw the decoration Madoka had worked so hard on and found it excessive?

Her mind continued to think about different things that could go wrong until the sound of the school bell echoed throughout the classroom.

With a quick look at Madoka for confirmation, Kyoko stood up and rushed towards Homura without even picking up her things.

Homura who was about to get up, stood there and looked at the redhead expectantly. Her cold eyes looking at the girl as if she could see right through her, now that she was in the process of getting up her hair had moved freely and started to fall to the side of the girl giving her and even more captivating look... What was she thinking? She had to get lunchboxes out of her bag.

"What do you want, Sakura Kyoko?" asked Homura, her voice as firm as ever.

"Just wondering." started saying Kyoko while looking at the girl’s hair. "How do you keep it so silky? Mine is a bitch to take care of"

Homura looked at her with curiosity. That was a good one Kyoko! thought Madoka. Homura's hair was out of this world, her hair caring routine had to be long enough for Madoka to get ready. Even if her hands were somehow having trouble to open the bag.

"I'll write it down and give it to you later" said Homura while getting up "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go to the cafeteria"

Of course, Homura would say the most efficient answer. Madoka was finally able to get through the stuck zipper of her bag and was getting out the boxes while being careful not to tilt them.

"Wait" pressed Kyoko, before giving a glance towards the ball of nerves that was Madoka.

Homura seemed to caught on and looked towards Madoka for a second before sitting down once more. Kyoko could have sworn she saw the tiniest bit of a smile appear on the girl.

"What else do you need?" said Homura.

Kyoko hadn't thought of any other question, she had expected the hair routine one to be a long enough one for Madoka to get ready. In a moment she thought of the first question that came to mind and said it.

"What's your favorite color?" she asked, her voice unsure of the child like question she had asked.

Homura seemed to look towards Madoka for less than a second, the girl was already heading their way, before giving an answer.

"Pink" she said before looking at Madoka as she finally reached her seat.

"Ho-Homura-chan" Madoka was holding out a lunchbox in front of her. "I-I noticed you usually don't come with any food. So, since I had a bit of extra time this morning"

Madoka took a small breath, and did a small bow.

"I made you some lunch, would you like t- to eat it together?"

There was a moment of silence. Kyoko, having taken a few steps backwards when Madoka reached them, was looking from the sides involuntarily holding her breath.

After a few seconds Homura spoke up.

"Sure" the smallest of smiles appeared on her expression Madoka looked up to meet her face "I'll eat with you. Thank you, Madoka"

Kyoko finally breathed again, and Madoka put on a smile as big as she could.

"I- I wasn't sure what to make" said Madoka while sitting next to Homura. "So, I went with something simple"

Madoka seemed to almost glow, her unsure smile was one that the devil hadn't seen in a long time. Not since the first timelines when they would fight together. Before she made that promise under the rain.

Homura had decided to get a bit closer to Madoka, it being a better way to keep control of the Law of Cycles were it to appear. And besides, she wanted to see Madoka more. Even if it went against her self-inflicted penitence.

Just a few days, enough to make sure she isn't in danger.

Why not weeks? Try and get close to her like we did at the start.

No, no. She just needed to be more like a classmate. Help her study, maybe eat together from time to time. There was no need for friendship... or something else.

Even if we have the right to? It wouldn't be forcing her, but we know what she likes. It could be easy.

No, what she was doing was more than enough. Homura knew that when she inevitably disappeared to properly take control of the world as a concept Madoka would be hurt. Getting closer to her would only make it worse.

Then don't become one. Our love is far greater than this world stability.

Madoka loved this world, she had sacrificed herself once for it. Homura had already disrespected her enough.

Keep it well until she lives her proper life then, afterwards we can become a concept. I deserve to be with her.

"Does it taste alright Homura-chan?" the worried voice of Madoka snapped the devil back into reality, who had been eating without paying attention.

"It tastes amazing, Madoka" Homura gave her a smile, her tired eyes closing a bit.

"I'm glad!" said Madoka before fidgeting with her chopsticks "It- It's a shame that Sayaka-chan and Kyoko-chan had things to do. I would have liked to eat with everyone"

Miki Sayaka probably didn't want to be anywhere near the devil, and Sakura Kyoko had just followed her like a dog following its owner. Miki's memories had been a problem, the girl didn't remember anything. But her soul did, and a deep hatred had taken root within its heart.

Not really a problem. If the girl were to cause problems her memories were easy to modify. The only problem was that she had a connection with the Law of Cycles.

"It- It's not like I don't like eating with you alone Homura!" Madoka added after noticing Homura's expression going more cold than usual.

Homura couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, leaving the pink girl surprised.

"Don't worry about it Madoka" The Devil looked at her with gentle eyes and the biggest smile Madoka had ever seen on her face "I know you would never think something like that"

Madoka stood completely frozen, her gaze fixed on Homura's smile. Her chopsticks had stopped midway, still holding a small octopus sausage.

"Are you okay, Madoka?" asked a worried devil.

Almost as if her soul returned to her body, she did a little jump.

"Ye- yeah..."

And with that they kept on eating. The food was good, though Homura already knew Madoka could cook so it wasn't much of a surprise.

She noticed the lunch itself had been decorated to the point that it almost felt like a waste to eat it. With a Sakura motif there were flower like decorations that fell into what seemed to be Homura's face done with seaweed in a simple but cute style.

Uncomfortable by the silence Madoka decided to speak up.

"So... you said you had problems with the lessons?" she gave a curious side look towards Homura "Which one is it? History? Chemistry? Literature?"

"Actually, it's math" said Homura after swallowing. She didn’t really need to eat, but if it was something that Madoka had made she would force herself if needed. "These last math problems are starting to become... well, an actual problem"

Madoka let out a small chuckle.

"You know..." started to say Madoka, a bit of red appearing on her cheeks "You can still come study with us this weekend if you want"

Still worrying about someone like her, Madoka's kindness really didn't know bounds. But Homura knew that would be getting too friendly with her, something she didn't deserve.

"I don't think Miki Sayaka would appreciate my presence" Yes, something small that explains why. She won't force Miki Sayaka not to go either, so this would let her off the hook without having to reject her again.

"W-we can make our own study session then! Just us!"

What?

"What?"

The devil found herself doing a surprised expression. Her mask completely falling off for a second before composing herself once more.

"I- I may not know as much as Hitomi-chan" stated Madoka, who went from looking down at her food to suddenly meeting eye to eye with Homura. "But I'm sure we can figure it out together!"

Had Madoka always been this bold? No wait, this was the girl that sacrificed herself for all magical girls. She wouldn't flinch to take a decision that would make her go away from her friends if she knew she could help someone that way.

Being alone with Madoka while studying? Say yes, we might be able to get closer to her than what I expected...

No, no. She didn't know what would happen if they were left alone for too long. What she would do. But the girl had already proposed two solutions, if she didn’t accept one Madoka would beat herself over it.

Better to go with the lesser of the two evils.

You really are useless...

"If that's the case it would be better if we went all together then" said Homura, putting away the now finished lunchbox.

"Ri-right." Madoka let out a nervous laughter "It really will be better if Hitomi is there to help us with what we don't know."

Homura nodded and got up from the bench she had been sitting on. "Class is about to start, we should get going"

"Yeah" Madoka replied before putting away her own empty lunchbox and getting ready to go back to class with a smile on her face.

The store had been quite calm for the last few minutes, only one client came by and only to get some water. It being Thursday probably helped; most tourists were going to the other end of town to see the open door day of Mitakihara's museum.

Kyoko pulled a box filled with different products and started to restock the place now that no one was inside. The job didn't usually take much talking other than some set phrases, and the physical work helped to pass the time. The owner was a good boss too, weird was the day he didn't come to help.

The doors opened and Kyoko heard the store's chime. One that was stuck in her head. She stopped restocking and went towards the door.

"Welcome!" she said with her high energy retail voice, just like the boss wanted.

The ones that had opened the door were two girls. A blond probably a year older than her that was wearing Mitakihara's Middle School uniform and the other looked around 9 with white hair. The older girl spoke up with a smile.

"Good afternoon" the little girl besides her darted off towards the food section, the older one trying, and failing, to catch her before putting a displeased frown. "Nagisa! Don't run in the store!"

The blond girl did a polite bow before going off after the little one.

It seemed they were doing more than picking up one thing or two so Kyoko went back to restocking while keeping an ear out for them.

"Mami! I can't find the cheese!"

So, the blond's name was Mami huh. Were they sisters?

"It should be around here..." a short pause "See here is some"

"No! That won't do! We can't use cheddar for the pizza!" she made a pause; Kyoko could see the girl grab her head a few aisles down. "That's sacrilege!"

"I'm sure it won't be that bad..."

"No! It would be like... like heating up your tea in the microwave!"

What kind of comparison was that? It wasn't like pizza with cheddar was that bad. Sure, it wasn't the most common, but it probably wouldn't taste bad.

Kyoko rummaged through the box she was restocking from. Finding nothing she went to the back of the store.

"Oh dear..." said Mami, her hand placed next to her cheek "If it’s like that I guess it is an important matter after all"

"Yes! We gotta find Mozzarella!" The girl had a determined look on her face "Even if we have to look through the whole city!"

"I don't know about that; we still have classes tomorrow" replied Mami "Maybe we should leave the pizza for another day instead"

"Wha-?!"

Nagisa's face became crestfallen. Her smile turned into pure despair and fell to ground on her knees.

"Curse you food suppliers! Curse you!"

"Nagisa!" said Mam, embarrassed by the display the little girl was doing.

A stick of Mozzarella appeared in front of Nagisa, catching the girl’s attention.

"Here, I found it in the back" said Kyoko while waving the cheese in front of the girl.

Nagisa looked at Kyoko, her eyes slowly recovering her glow before putting on a big smile and taking the cheese.

"My savior!" The little girl looked at the cheese with pure happiness in her eyes before turning towards Mami "We can make the pizza now, right?!"

Mami let out a small sigh.

"Yes, we can" she faced Kyoko and bowed "Thank you for your help"

"Nah, don't worry." She pointed to her uniform, a smirk forming on her face "It is literally my job"

The pair went to pay and gave their thanks one last time before exiting the store while happily talking about the ingredients they were going to put in their homemade pizza.

Kyoko looked at them with a smile in her face. She focused on the blond girl, Mami, who was smiling while looking at the little girl. Clearly happy with the white-haired girl's company.

Some tears started flowing from Kyoko's eyes, catching her off guard.

"What the hell?" she asked, cleaning the tears away from her face.

Sayaka looked at her phone, almost 9 pm. Kyoko should be about to come back. She went to the kitchen, and looked around for some vegetables. Onions, carrots, green peppers, potatoes. She placed the vegetables in a cutting board, and taking care of not putting her thumb in the way of the knife, as Kyoko had insisted a lot, started chopping them into small size bites.

Kyoko was the one that actually knew how to cook, but ever since she started working Sayaka did most of the prep work to lighten her roommate's workload.

Besides, cutting stuff up was easy enough to do. It was the most time-consuming part of cooking, but also the easiest.

Today's dinner was going to be curry. It wasn't like they had an actual daily menu but Kyoko had texted Sayaka during her break to tell her what to prepare for. Though sometimes the dish was a bit more complicated and Kyoko would tell her to just wait for her.

Someone would have considered that an insult to her ability. But Kyoko had a talent with cooking. Always finding a way to find what to make with whatever was left in the kitchen, since she had started to live with her not a single gram of food was thrown out.

The sound of keys and a door opening came from the entrance of the apartment. Sayaka looked into the living room to find Kyoko dropping her bag on the sofa.

"Welcome home" said Sayaka while getting back into the kitchen, being promptly followed by Kyoko.

"Yeah, I'm back"

"How was it today?" asked Sayaka, still chopping onions. Kyoko looked around before pulling out the meat and started to prepare it.

"Pretty calm. Most people came for one thing or two."

She started to tenderize the meat, and cut it into chunks of the same size. Then kept on talking.

"Though there were these two girls. I think they were sisters." She did a small gesture towards Sayaka "Pass me the black pepper"

Sayaka complied, finished chopping the onions and placed them in a side dish before starting to peel the carrots. Kyoko continued with her story.

"The Lil one seems to be obsessed with cheese." She let out a small chuckle "She cursed all food providers because we didn't have Mozzarella, can you believe it?"

"Hah" Sayaka gave a knowing look "Reminds me of a certain someone that wanted to go to a restaurant only to get there and see they had gone on vacation"

"Tsk, it's not the same!" She started to heat up the pan while Sayaka threw the cut potatoes into a pot to boil them.

"You were whining the whole afternoon!"

"We took a two-hour bus ride just to get there, of course I would!" she started to brown the meat "Not with the place, just angry at the universe. I really liked that place in Kazamino"

"Yeah, yeah." Sayaka had finished cutting everything, her work now was just passing things to Kyoko. "We can go there again after finishing our tests, okay?"

"Sure" said Kyoko, completely focusing back on her cooking. Sayaka looked at the redhead, a look of pure determination that only appeared when she cooked taking hold on her face.

Sayaka had to admit, it was in moments like these that Kyoko looked the coolest. Sure, she also looked cool during PE class, but this was a different mood. She was completely serious about her cooking, and it was almost hypnotic.

Sayaka knew that when Kyoko got this serious there was no point in trying to talk with her. So, she started to prepare the table in the meantime before sitting on the couch and looking at her phone.

She had some new text messages from Madoka.

"Sayaka-chan, I already told Hitomi but we both thought you should know."

That sounded serious. Though Madoka did have the bad habit of making a big deal out of small problems.

"What is it?"

It didn't take long for Madoka to start typing back.

"Remember this weekend study session?"

"Yeah, is it canceled?"

"No, it isn't that."

A few seconds of nothing before Madoka started typing again.

"Homura-chan is coming too"

Wait what? Since when did Madoka get close enough to Akemi for her to go from just saying good morning to inviting her to a study session?

"Ehhhh... That's unexpected. When did you ask her?"

"Today while we were eating lunch on the rooftop"

Wait, Kyoko had told her Madoka was busy with work as the nurse's aide.

"So, you two ate together?"

"Yes! I made her a boxed lunch with help from my dad"

"I see. I'll tell Kyoko about it, see you tomorrow"

"Okay. Goodnight Sayaka-chan"

Weren't things going way too fast? Akemi went from not talking with Madoka to suddenly eating a boxed lunch Madoka prepared for her. That girl was planning something, Sayaka was sure of it.

A few minutes passed before Kyoko came out of the kitchen carrying both plates of curry. They both sat at the table and started eating.

"Kyoko"

"Hmm?" said Kyoko, her mouth full.

"Apparently that girl Akemi is coming to the study session this Saturday."

Kyoko drank from her water glass before talking.

"So, pinkie was able to ask her in the end huh"

"Yeah... Apparently Madoka made lunch for the girl."

"I know, I helped her give it to Akemi"

"What?" did she hear correctly?

"Yeah, Madoka needed help to keep the girl busy long enough for her to ask her"

"You helped? Kyoko, I thought you were on my side!"

"What are you even talking about?"

"That Akemi girl is clearly bad news! She must be planning to do something to Madoka."

"You know... Madoka isn't a little kid anymore." She took another spoonful of rice from the rice cooker. "She isn't that innocent girl you remember"

"Hah? are you blind? Madoka is still that naive innocent girl that would get picked on." Sayaka looked down at her plate "If it wasn't because our class is pretty nice, she would be picked on all the time. And even then, she would still say it's her fault! "

"Listen, it's been what? three years since you last knew her? She seems to know what she is doing, at least that's the vibe she gives off"

"I'm still worried about that Akemi. Something inside me tells me she is bad news. And I'm usually right about these kinda things!"

Kyoko sighed and with a quick motion finished eating.

"I'll keep an eye on her. I can even ask around a few people I know to see if she is in any shady business" said Kyoko "Would that make you feel better?"

Sayaka stopped eating for a second and went into deep thought. Kyoko knew more people than her from her time on the streets, and if Akemi was in some kind of shady business Kyoko would probably be able to find out. But then again, the feeling Sayaka seemed to have felt deeper than that. Maybe she would investigate herself.

"Yeah, thanks Kyoko"

The redhead simply gave her a smile before starting to pick up her plate.

Classes were going like they always had, though at least they were a bit more interesting for the devil now that the month she had lived through over and over had now ended.

There was one downside though, now that she had to pay more attention to class it meant less time looking at Madoka. The devil hadn't noticed at first, but her seat was perfectly placed to give her full view of her beloved. This had led to many situations where she got called to the whiteboard without knowing what was going on. If it wasn't because she knew that past month by heart, she would have had problems.

You could just look up the answers with our powers you know. There is no need for all this wasteful effort

No, she knew that studying was one of the only things that let her keep some kind of normal life. And if she wanted to keep sane, she needed a routine, that was something Homura had learnt during her loops.

She looked at the clock right above the whiteboard, just 10 more minutes before lunchbreak started.

Now, the devil wasn't excited to eat, but her Clara dolls told her that Madoka once more had prepared an extra lunch this morning. And she was looking forward to it, to be able to eat Madoka's cooking once more was a blessing she didn’t deserve.

It wasn't like Madoka was a 5-star chef, her food felt very homemade and some of the dishes were pretty mild. Madoka usually started with a low skill when it came to cooking, but Homura had seen the girl become pretty close to her father’s ability in the timeline where she always cooked for her. It wasn’t like it really mattered anyways; Homura knew that anything that Madoka made was perfect in Homura's eyes.

Madoka also did some small mistakes from time to time. Like how today, even though only the devil had noticed, her right sock was the other way around. Another cute side Homura had become an expert in after so many time loops.

The school bell ringed, marking the start of the lunchbreak and quickly Madoka stood up while going towards Homura who was waiting for the pink girl to reach her.

"Homura-chan" Her smile was almost blinding for the devil. "Do you want to eat lunch together? I made you another lunchbox"

Homura couldn't help but put on a small smile, Madoka's kindness always made her heart melt.

"Yes, I would love to"

And with that Madoka's smile became even bigger, happy that her efforts hadn't been for nothing. Homura got up and her smile suddenly disappeared when she saw who was behind Madoka.

"Sayaka-chan and Kyoko-chan are also coming" She made a pause and looked at Homura, a worried frown starting to appear. "Is that alright with you?"

No, I want to be with you and only you Madoka.

"Yes, of course it is" A fake smile that had been perfected placed in Homura's face, hiding her disappointment.

And with that the group of four headed to the school rooftop, Madoka leading the way with Homura by her side while the other two followed behind.

"See?" whispered Sayaka, unaware the devil could easily hear her. "She never smiled this much before, gotta be planning something"

"Jeez, I don't know." Kyoko whispered back, clear sarcasm in her voice "Maybe she is happy? Pinkie has that kinda effect on people."

Happy? Homura couldn't describe herself with that word. No, what she was doing was to ensure that The Law of Cycles didn't interact with Madoka.

Her being with Madoka and eating the lunches she made for her were just byproducts. Yes, nothing more. She wasn't enjoying herself, that was part of her punishment.

Keep lying to yourself like that. I'm going to enjoy this as much as possible.

"Homura-chan?" The pink haired girl had a worried look.

Oh right, she was walking with Madoka.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought" Homura looked at Madoka, who was now doing a small pout. She really was the cutest thing on the universe, wasn't she.

"I was saying" Her smile quickly came back, was this girl even capable of anger? "If it's okay with you I could make you lunch every day."

She did a small pause, the softest of blushes appearing on her cheeks.

"Bu- but I would need to know if there is anything you don't like or can't eat"

The Devil contemplated at the blushing girl. Madoka's kind heart was something out of this world, such kindness was even dangerous. Madoka was getting more embarrassed, clearly over thinking what she had said. The Devil thought to wait a few more seconds, see how far her blush would go. But Homura answered before that happened.

"Everything you make is something I will enjoy" she said looking at Madoka in the eyes. "So don't worry about it"

Madoka's blush became even deeper before letting out a small chuckle "uehihihi, I'm not sure about that"

Homura could feel Sayaka's piercing gaze on her back.

With that they opened the door to the rooftop, a nice breeze passed by them as they crossed the door and sat on a nearby bench. Homura and Sayaka in each side of Madoka, while Kyoko sat next to Sayaka.

Madoka gave the lunch she had prepared to Homura, who accepted it with a smile.

"Today I made Karaage, and we also have some cherry tomatoes from my dad's garden!" She said with joy in her voice.

Kyoko let out a longing sigh "Man, I wish I could get some of those tomatoes. Madoka's dad seems to do magic in there."

"I can ask him for some" said Madoka "We have a lot and always end up giving some to our neighbors"

"Really? Thanks, Madoka!" replied Kyoko with glee.

Homura started eating, the food didn't have much flavor. Though she knew that happened with everything she ate since becoming a devil. This didn't stop the Devil from enjoying the food Madoka had made for her, it could taste like water and it would still be a blessing.

She noticed Sayaka looking at her with a side look, almost as if trying to read her soul. Had it not been because that was her usual behavior and that her Clara dolls had told her about what the bluenette and Kyoko talked about yesterday, she would have thought the girl had recovered her memories.

"Is there a problem, Miki Sayaka?"

The girl looked surprised, as if she didn't expect Homura to notice her gaze.

"I was thinking" The intensity of her gaze increased "Isn't it weird to accept lunch from someone you barely know"

"Sayaka-chan!" Madoka exclaimed.

"I mean, going from ignoring her to accepting her food" Sayaka said, an accusing smile starting to form "It's almost as if you were taking advantage of her"

"It's not like that Sayaka-chan!" hastily replied Madoka "I was the one who wanted to make her lunch. She just accepted it!"

"That's still weird!" Sayaka shouted back "Who would just say OK to someone they don't even talk with that's telling them they will cook for them every day!"

"No, she is right" said Homura, her calm mask on "I understand your concern Miki Sayaka"

"Y-you do?" confusedly asked Sayaka, the girl clearly expected some kind of insult from Homura, not understanding.

"Yes." The Devil looked down at the half-eaten food Madoka had prepared for her, an almost invisible smile appearing on her face as she closed her eyes "But you don't have to worry. I wouldn't let any harm come to Madoka"

"Homura-chan?" Madoka asked an expression she saw most during the last timelines was on her face. Ahhh… how much did the Devil remember this expression. The one she would do after Homura broke down in front of her. Worry and confusion, but even worse than that: It made her remember the pain of Madoka running away just to find a Miki Sayaka that had already become a witch. How many times had Madoka contracted after that?

"I just decided to accept her kindness." The Devil opened her eyes and looked at Madoka "After all, I didn't want to see all her efforts go to waste."

"That's still…" Miki Sayaka was still clearly not convinced with the Devil's words. Really, how troublesome could memories once forgotten be this problematic.

"In that case." Homura looked at Sayaka, her eyes meeting "What can I do to gain your trust?"

There was a moment of silence, both Sayaka and Madoka were looking at Homura with surprised eyes. Not really understanding what was happening.

"This is really dumb" Kyoko jumped in, having already finished her lunch. "There is no reason for you to do anything"

The redhead walked to where they had left their school bags before taking out a stick of some kind of potato candy.

"Sure, the whole lunchboxes thing is kinda weird" She took a bite, a moment of silence before she swallowed "But who Madoka hangs out with is none of Sayaka's business"

"Kyoko!" Sayaka was clearly annoyed by her roommate's words, the Devil just went back to observing. "You said you were going to help!"

"This and that have nothing in common. You are just assuming things based on a gut feeling you have right now." Kyoko finished eating her snack, before looking at Sayaka with a calm look "You are just making pinky worry about more stuff. At least save your concerns for when she isn't around, will ya?"

Sayaka stood up, the girl's brain could be heard thinking before she grasped the blue necklace she wore and held it tight. The tension in the air was quite clear, the Devil had never expected Sakura Kyoko to be on her side. Or at least, to not agree with everything Miki Sayaka said about her.

Madoka looked with a worried look at Sayaka before speaking in with a quiet voice.

"Sayaka-chan…"

Almost as if awoken by those words, the bluenette opened her eyes and ran towards the exist of the rooftop. Madoka got up hurriedly and tried to get a hold of her, sadly she failed and turned back for a second.

"I-I'm sorry Homura-chan" she said "I- I don't want to leave her alone like this."

Homura nodded as Madoka left running towards Sayaka, disappearing beyond the door's frame. A moment of silence before Homura spoke up, looking at a Kyoko that had a troubled look on her face.

"Why did you help me?" a cutting tone could be heard on Homura's voice.

"Don't get me wrong" the troubled look on Kyoko's face changing to a determined one "I didn't do it for you."

Homura's gaze focused on Kyoko, almost as if trying to pierce through her and observe the girl's soul. Kyoko noticed it, before putting on a smirk.

"See, those kinda stares are why I kind of believe her gut feeling" said Kyoko, throwing her and Sayaka's bag over her shoulder. "But I've also noticed you only do them when Madoka isn't around"

Kyoko walked towards the exit, leaving Homura alone. One last line from the girl could be heard coming from the darkly lit exit.

"That's why I know you don't want to hurt her"

Current date: Friday 9th, May.

Chapter Text

Sayaka ran through the school, trying to find a place where no one would see her. The school walls being completely made of glass did for little privacy whenever someone didn’t want to be seen.

Why was Kyoko now against her too? Sure, she had only said she would look if Akemi Homura had any shady business going on. But wouldn’t it make sense to be on the edge until she knew for certain? Wouldn’t it make more sense to not trust her until this… feeling she had was confirmed false?

First Madoka, and now Kyoko. The transfer student really was taking everything away from her… Wait, not transfer student; Just that… that devil of a girl. She had been so obsessed with trying to prove Akemi wasn’t trustworthy that her head was now going nuts. Great.

Sayaka looked up to realize she was now out of the school building, near one of the schoolyard benches. Most people were already going back to class, so the place was quite empty. From behind her back, a voice called out to her.

“Sayaka-chan!” A tired Madoka ran up to her, trying to catch her breath “Please… Stop… Running…”

Sayaka didn’t know if seeing Madoka would really be the best thing right now. She had left her for Akemi after all. Why should she listen to her? Maybe if Akemi really did something to her the girl would finally understand and… God, what was she thinking? Was this why she felt that badly about Akemi? Because of jealously of her taking away her best friend?

“I’m sorry Madoka” Sayaka tried to hold back tears, but the effort proved futile.

“No, you don’t have to be” Madoka said, finally able to talk between breaths.

“I… I don’t know why I don’t like her” The words were getting stuck in Sayaka’s throat, the girl failing to not have her voice break with her crying “Just like how Kyoko said, it really doesn’t make sense”

Madoka shook her head, before putting on a smile that made Sayaka raise her head even if just enough to see her.

“You are just worried about me, right?”

That much Sayaka was sure of. She didn’t know why; it didn’t matter if it was because she just had a real bad feeling about Akemi or if it was just jealously of her friend being taken away. She was sure it was because she was worried about Madoka, either because of something bad happening again or because she wouldn’t see her again.

“Yeah…” Sayaka finally spoke, the tears fully starting to come through made her voice seem as small as Madoka’s gentle voice.

“It’s true that Homura-chan sometimes says weird things” Madoka’s smile became a nervous one, but happiness could still be seen in her expression “And she even does things that don’t make much sense”

Madoka approached Sayaka more, giving the girl a hug that finally tore through her tear-filled dam as she let out the everything she had been holding.

“She also feels like she is always planning something” Madoka started to brush Sayaka’s hair with her hand, the feeling a calming one. “I can see why you are worried”

“Then why…” Sayaka’s voice began to break more, making it harder to understand what she was saying. “Wh- Why do you still try to get close to her”

“I’m not sure”

“Huh?” Sayaka’s eyes widened.

“You see… Whenever I look at her, I get this feeling that I really, really want to help her” Madoka made a little pause as she closed her eyes “And whenever I see her smile, I want to protect that”

“That’s just the kindness you always show!”

Madoka shook her head once more, making Sayaka do a small gasp as the pink haired girl ended the hug.

“When I look at Homura-chan I feel like I’m seeing a really broken person” Madoka placed her hands behind her, playing a bit with steps “She almost never smiles, and when she does it feels like a forced one.”

Madoka looked at Sayaka in the eyes.

“But then I started to try and talk with her” A smile appeared on her face “And I noticed that she would smile sometimes, I think those smiles were genuine ones. And that… that filled my soul with joy”

Madoka turned around, a small blush could be seen forming on the girl’s cheek.

“I-I don’t ask you to suddenly trust Homura-chan.” Sayaka could hear embarrassment on her friend’s voice, it reminded her of how she used to sound like when talking with Kyosuke “But I do ask you that you trust me”

Sayaka looked at the ground. Her hands began to shake as she prepared to talk back. The prolonged silence of the moment making Madoka turn around to check on her friend.

“Wi-Will you still talk to me?” finally said Sayaka.

Madoka’s eyes opened in surprise a worried smile appearing on her face. She went up to the girl and hugged her again. This time harder than before.

“Yes, of course.”

“You aren’t going to disappear with Akemi, right?”

“I won’t”

Tears came back to Sayaka as she hugged Madoka just as tight.

“She isn’t my substitute, right?”

“Never”

“If-if she turns out to be bad news” her voice was almost incomprehensible with all the sobbing “Yo-you will get a-away from her?”

“If she does” Madoka replied “Thank you for worrying about me”

With that Sayaka stood there with Madoka, her crying slowly calming down until the school bell rang.

The station was filled to the brim with people, a sea of umbrellas extending as far as the eye could see; it being a Saturday afternoon and the station being the closest one to the center of Mitakihara really didn’t help. Thankfully Sayaka and Kyoko had been able to find a dry bench to sit on. They were waiting for Akemi and Madoka, whom much to the dismay of Sayaka were going to come together.

As much sun and heat as there had been the last few days, it was still raining season. The rain wasn’t more than just a drizzle, but enough for people to bring out their umbrellas. If anything, it was better this way, the umbrellas made the usually impossible to go through crowded station be more manageable as people left gaps between each other.

Sayaka looked at Kyoko, who was playing some kind of game on her phone. The girl was wearing a white shirt and short jeans, tied to her waist was a light blue jacket she had taken off before getting on the train. It was in total contrast with Sayaka’s outfit, who was covering quite a bit more of her body; a decision she had soon regretted with the heat that still came through even with the rain. Her outfit consisted on long blue pants and a short sleeve white t-shirt that could be seen through the open zipper of her jacket.

 After yesterday’s discussion on the rooftop, they hadn’t talked much, Sayaka being too prideful to do so. Dinner was like always; Kyoko having told her through Line what to prepare; but they didn’t say a word while they were cooking. Madoka had told Sayaka to try and give Akemi an opportunity, and she would; but that didn’t take away from the sense of betrayal she still felt from what Kyoko did. Even if she knew she was in the wrong.

“There they are” Kyoko pointed with her chin towards the sea of umbrellas, from within it a pink and a red one could be seen getting closer.

Madoka had come in a white dress, a few light pink ribbons here and there to make the piece a bit more complex. Akemi on the other hand was wearing long black jeans and a grey hoodie, Sayaka didn’t even understand how the girl couldn’t be dying from the heat; it felt almost as if her cold eyes were cooling her down somehow.

“Sayaka-chan, Kyoko-chan!” Madoka ran towards them, closing her umbrella after getting under the small roof the bench had. “Good afternoon!”

“Hello pinky” said Kyoko, putting away her phone. “You too, emo girl”

Akemi seemed unfaced by the comment, completely disregarding it before doing a small polite bow with her head and speaking.

“Good afternoon”

“Y-yeah. Good afternoon” replied Sayaka.

Madoka looked at Sayaka, her usual smile changing to a more understanding one. After what had happened yesterday Madoka had sent Sayaka more Line messages than usual, almost as if she was trying to assure the girl they would still be friends. Sayaka wasn’t still completely sure if what she felt was jealously or something else, but at least this made her feel a bit better.

“Should we get going?” asked Madoka “We are already a bit late, I don’t want to make Hitomi wait more”

“Yeah, we should” confirmed Sayaka before pulling out her extendable umbrella. She turned towards Hitomi’s house and started walking.

Once they were out of the station the amount of people had quickly gone down, as much as it was still the city center, the part they were getting into was more of a residential zone. Most people that were here were either the few that could even think to buy one of these apartments or people going to work to big offices or hotels.

Sayaka looked back, Madoka was walking next to Akemi; It seemed like Madoka was telling her the story about the cactus she had saved. And Akemi was listening close, or at least looked like she was. Much to Sayaka’s dismay Akemi really seemed to care about what Madoka was saying at all times. Even when they used to just said good morning to each other and Madoka tried to start a conversation just for Akemi to answer quickly and finish said conversation in an instant, the girl had always listened to what Madoka said. And it was clearly just Madoka; other people from class would sometimes try to approach her, only for them to be either completely ignored or be given a generic answer. Some of them even backed off the moment Akemi laid eyes on them, not even talking with the girl.

While Sayaka had been lost in thought Kyoko approached the pair.

“Telling the cactus story again?” said Kyoko to Madoka, a grin on her face. Madoka couldn’t help but let out a small nervous chuckle.

“Yeah… It’s just that is one of the few things I’ve accomplished” Madoka’s voice made Sayaka flinch, she always talked like that about herself. Sayaka was about to speak, but Akemi was faster.

“That’s not true, Madoka” The girl face was completely serious “You’ve done great things. You always show kindness to everyone, forgiving even those that hurt you.”

Sayaka looked at the girl, she agreed with what she was saying. But why did it feel as if the girl knew Madoka for far longer than what she should? Was it the certainty in her voice?

“You selflessly sacrifice yourself for others” Akemi kept on talking, Madoka seemed to be on some kind of trance as she looked at the girl “You speak about the cactus as being your only accomplishment, but didn’t you join the club when the Sakura tree hadn’t bloomed yet? You helped with that too”

“I didn’t do that alone though…” Madoka looked to the ground, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“The other two members couldn’t save the tree until you came, Madoka. I believe it was you the one who saved it. Just like...” The girl seemed to say something more in a whisper, but Sayaka wasn’t able to hear it with the rain; neither did any of the other two it seemed.

“Homura-chan?”

Akemi stood thinking for a few seconds before coming back to her senses, a smile appearing on her face. But judging by Madoka’s reaction, that was one of the forced ones the girl had talked about. But wasn’t that her usual smile?

“No. It’s nothing.”

Madoka looked at Akemi one last time with a worried look on her face, but after a moment they all kept on walking.

It took a bit more time than expected, they had to take another path because of some roadwork, but they finally arrived at Hitomi’s house. The fifty stories skyscraper was a huge apartment complex, and around ten of those floors belonged to Hitomi’s parents.

The reception room of the apartment complex was massive. Two gathering areas were at each side, white couches made for a good place to sit while there was a small bar in one of the corners. The place had a few plants, mainly ferns and some bonsais, that contrasted the general white/gold color of the room with some splashes of green. A wall fountain was found right behind the information desk where the building staff was in. As Madoka had described it once: ‘It feels like one of those 5-star hotels Mama sometimes goes to for work’

Madoka and Sayaka were used to the apartment complex, even then the sight was still incredible. But it was the first time in there for Akemi and Kyoko. Curiously Sayaka looked at them, trying to see their reaction.

Kyoko was completely in awe, looking at everything as if she had gone into a tourist attraction. The girl had her qualms with people spending way much more than necessary on stuff like this, but even then, the beauty of the place still caught her attention.

Akemi on the other side… She looked almost as if she didn’t care, like if the place was yet another apartment complex. Was she used to this kind of things? But she was an orphan, right? Did she have that much money?

“It’s pretty, right Homura-chan?” the girl had placed herself a bit in front of Akemi, and was now looking at her with an expectant smile. Sayaka could have sworn that Akemi was about to say something before closing her mouth and taking a second to think.

“Yes, it really is.” She said instead, the smile looked the same to Sayaka as the one before. She really didn’t know how Madoka could tell them apart or if this one was even different from before.

Sayaka approached the desk, the worker that was there immediately recognized her.

“Shizuki-sama has told us about your expected visit, she is already waiting in her apartment” the desk attendant said as he pointed towards the elevator with a smile. A small ‘ding’ could be heard from it, meaning it had been unlocked.

“Right, thanks” said Sayaka as she and the rest went towards the elevator.

 The elevator ride was a long one, Hitomi living on the fortieth floor not helping with the speed. No one was talking, which didn’t really help to ease the ride. Sayaka understood why Kyoko wasn’t speaking, there was a bit of tension between the two after all, but Madoka and Akemi not talking didn’t help at all; And Sayaka didn’t know what to say.

The elevator was a big one that much was true, it felt as big as one of those cargo ones. But even then, why did Madoka feel like there wasn’t enough space between her and Homura? It wasn’t like she didn’t want to be close to her, but she felt that touching the girl would almost be a sin. Like she was way over Madoka’s level.

Homura’s clothes really suited her, and it was nice seeing the girl in a more relaxed attire. Madoka could imagine Homura with a ponytail and the clothes she was wearing on top of a couch; the girl reading a book with the same focused eyes she put on from time to time… Maybe she would wear red glasses, yeah that would look good on her…

A small `ding` could be heard as the elevator door opened, showing Hitomi’s entrance hall. The elevators led directly into the apartments, each one being a full floor. Hitomi was already waiting at the entrance, the girl wearing a simple yellow dress.

“Good afternoon, everyone” said Hitomi, going up to them; everyone giving their greetings back. Homura approached Hitomi and took out a pastry box.

“I believe this is the first time we properly speak, it’s a pleasure.” Homura did a polite bow “Thank you for having us today. It isn’t much, but please accept this”

“The pleasure is mine, Akemi-san” Hitomi paired her smile with a small bow before accepting the pastries. She turned to the rest “Come in. We are going to study in my room”

The group followed Hitomi before entering her room. A big queen-sized bed sat in the middle of it, it had one of those canopies that Madoka would often see royal people had in movies and such. One wall was made completely out glass, an amazing view of the city being displayed. Close to her bed a big desk with a few drawers and a mirror in the middle had some of their student’s books open. In one of the corners close to the windows a table with a few chairs had been prepared for them to study in.

Madoka waited for Homura to sit, trying to get a place next to her, but not only did she sit to an already sitting Hitomi but Kyoko quickly placed herself on her other side. Madoka held a small pout that was starting to appear before sitting in front of Homura and taking out her things.

“Well then” said Hitomi while looking at everyone “We should say what we are having problems with so we can help each other better”

“Easier to say what I don’t have problems with” sighed Kyoko, pulling out their last practice tests; most of them had around 40-30 points, but some were able to break through the 50-60 mark. “I don’t have much time to study with work and all, and when I have it I don’t feel like doing anything y’know?”

Homura picked the tests and started to read through them, her thinking eyes felt almost as if she could see things on the paper that others couldn’t. Madoka couldn’t help but stare.

“Y-you spending the weekends playing games or being outside don’t help either” replied Sayaka, a bit of an uncomfortable tone in her voice. The pair didn’t seem to fix their last fight.

“This aren’t that badly done” Homura suddenly spoke up, still looking at the tests “You are getting the final answers wrong, but the methods are there.”

Hitomi looked at one of the tests that Homura was holding, the girl lowering the paper so she could see more easily.

“It’s true!” said Hitomi “You seem to forget about the negative symbol in a lot of equations when rewriting them for example.”

“And the literature tests are easily salvable” added Homura “A bit of extra effort on syntactic analysis and you should be able to get a passing grade”

Kyoko’s face lightened up, her eyes opening in surprise as she looked at the girls.

“Really?”  she let out a small sigh “thank goodness, the school doesn’t let you work unless you get a passing score on everything”

“I believe that with today and a few more effort by yourself you will be able to pass everything, Sakura-san” said Hitomi, a polite smile appearing on her face as she placed down the girl’s tests. “What about you, Sayaka?”

“I fear for my English grade” Sayaka said “I like Saotome-sensei, really, I do. But she complains so much about her love life that I end up forgetting what we do in class!”

“Ah!” Madoka exclaimed “I can help with that! I got used to English during my stay in America. If you have any doubts speak to me”

Hitomi let out a small giggle before looking back at Sayaka “Anything else you have trouble with?”

Sayaka thought for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh.

“Math… I was able to get through last month tests but this whole derivatives thing doesn’t stick with me” said Sayaka, letting her head rest on the table.

“I’m the same” said Homura, the sudden declaration made Sayaka lift up her head. Madoka already knew, her being the only one with this knowledge making her proud for some reason.

“Wait, really?” asked a confused Sayaka.

“I’ve memorized the different rules, but there are a few problems that I can’t seem to grasp.” Homura sighed; it was the first time Madoka saw her do that. A new expression to remember.

“That’s nothing like me at all then… I can’t even memorize the thing, there is too many of them!” said Sayaka, the girl holding her head between her arms. Madoka was happy that the bluenette hadn’t attacked Homura yet, it seemed like yesterday’s talk at least made her reconsider her opinion about the girl.

“I have a study sheet I made with personal annotations” said Homura, taking out a two-sided piece of paper with some very organized notes in it “You can copy it if you want, it might help with the memorization”

“Really? Thanks” Sayaka took the sheet of paper and started to look at it.

Homura seemed to try and fix her problems with Sayaka, seeing the display of help made Madoka put on a big smile on her face. If Homura was starting to tear down the walls she had built around her maybe everyone could become friends.

“What about you Madoka-san?”

“I’m just having a few problems with Classic Literature, having missed these last years isn’t helping with that either” Madoka sighed “At least I don’t have to worry about English…”

“I will help you with that, Madoka” Homura spoke up, she still had a look full of confidence and determination. Madoka felt almost as if Homura’s eyes were seeing her very soul, the purple eyes of the girl felt almost like a alluring void, one where Madoka started to lose herself in.

“O-okay” Madoka finally was able to speak “Thank you, Homura-chan”

The raven-haired girl only gave her a small nod and a little gentle smile as an answer. And with that they all started to study.

The teachers had given study guides that had a few exercises in them, so it was easy to follow the subject at hand as a group; Hitomi being the one guiding everyone along made for a very efficient study session. Homura and Sayaka were being tutored by Hitomi, though from the outside if looked more like both of them were helping Sayaka.

“Agh!” complained Sayaka “I just can’t understand it! Where does that One come from anyways?”

Homura sighed; the girl was holding on to her patience but Madoka could see her starting to get tired.

“As I said twenty minutes ago, that’s the inverse.”

“Then what about the one next to it? It isn’t there in the original equation!”  Sayaka was looking at the book, found the one they were doing and pointed towards it.

“We have to do it because of the type of derivative it is, that’s just how you solve the inverse hyperbolic sine derivative.” Replied Homura, a bit of anger coming through her voice.

“The what?” Sayaka looked with confused eyes at Homura, who closed her eyes before pinching the bridge of her nose and letting out a long sigh.

“I believe it will be better if you just focus on the simpler rules.” Started Homura, slowly opening her eyes once again “You should be able to get a passing grade that way at least”

“She just called you dumb” said Kyoko, who was crossing out a chemical reaction because of a mistake she had made.

“Try to memorize as many as you can from the sheet” said Homura, disregarding Kyoko’s comment “the first twenty are easy, focus on those”

Sayaka looked at Homura before sighing and looking at the formula sheet.

“Listen, the sheet looks amazing, great work and all that” Sayaka raised her head and looked at Homura “But the whole over analyzing the rules just makes my head hurt more!”

“It’s better to understand what’s behind a rule than to only memorize it without knowing the why of it”

“Maybe for you” Sayaka gave back the sheet “But clearly it isn’t working for me…”

Homura looked at Sayaka a small angry frown appearing on her face.

That’s cute thought Madoka.

“Well, well don’t worry” Hitomi interjected between the two “I will send you a simpler sheet through Line; is that alright with you, Sayaka?”

“Yeah, thanks” She took out her phone.

“Akemi-san” Hitomi looked at Homura, who had placed her usual stoic face once more. “I will help Sayaka, I believe you already solved your problems, right?”

“Yes, I have. Thanks for the help.” 

Homura closed her notebook and slowly looked up, her eyes meeting with Madoka’s.

“Are you having trouble with something, Madoka?” asked Homura.

“Eh? Ah…” Madoka was completely lost, she had been observing what Homura and Sayaka were doing for so long that she had stopped paying attention to her own studies.

Homura waited for a few seconds for an answer, but the still coming to her senses Madoka wasn’t able to give one. As such Homura got up and walked up to Madoka, placing her hand on the table and leaning in to see what the girl was working on.

Wasn’t she too close? Madoka looked up at the girl, the purple earring she always wore was shining with the lights of Hitomi’s room.

“Ah, I see” Homura pointed towards a list of kanji Madoka had been writing as she read. “I’m guessing those are the ones giving you trouble?”

“Y-yes” said Madoka, looking back at her notes “Missing three full years of school has left me behind when it comes to old kanji. It’s not like it’s a problem in my daily life, but classic literature is a problem”

Homura seemed to be deep in thought after hearing what Madoka had said, it looked like she was trying to decide something on her mind before she shook her head and looked back at Madoka.

“I’m already finished with my things” she took her chair and moved closer to Madoka. “I’ll be here, if you need help with anything let me know.”

With that the girl took out a small pocket book and went into reading. The book title “A Silver Garden” caught Madoka’s attention, but since she was supposed to study, she decided to leave the question for another time.

Kyoko looked up from her worksheet, it had been like two hours since they started with this study session. And to be honest, Kyoko was more than tired of studying. She looked around, Madoka and Akemi were next to each other. Right now, Akemi was explaining something to the pinkette, but Kyoko could see that as much attention as Madoka was trying to pay she would often try and sneak glances at Akemi leaning over her shoulder, a small blush on the girl’s cheeks.

Really, Sayaka didn’t know what she was doing. Yeah, Akemi may be weird, but Kyoko knew what she was seeing. And she was sure that trying to make Madoka get away from Akemi would only make pinky angry, if that was possible. For what Kyoko could see the girl had an obvious crush on Akemi, even if she didn’t know herself.

It didn’t seem like she had to do much about how Sayaka treated Akemi anyways. She was sure that the bluenette still thought badly of her, she knew how prideful she could be. But whatever Madoka had told her after she ran away yesterday seemed to be enough for her to end the direct animosity. Sayaka was still angry with Kyoko though, that much she had noticed after coming back from work yesterday. But they’ve had discussions like this before, some time for her to cool of should fix it. Or at least she hoped it did.

Her phone vibrated, she looked inside her bag and took it out. A Line message from Chiharu.

“No one knows anything about her other than public records. Lives by herself in a state paid building, is an orphan since birth and has been hospitalized many times.”

“So, she’s clean then?” replied Kyoko

“Either that or she really knows how to cover her steps. She has apparently been to a psychologist when she was younger, but given her circumstances it doesn’t surprise me. Want me to try and get her files on that?”

“Nah, not needed. Thanks”

“Alright, that’s it then.”

A few seconds passed after a second reply came through

“You owe me one btw”

“Yeah, yeah”

And with that she closed her phone. If Chiharu couldn’t find anything bad regarding Akemi Homura, then there was no way the girl had any kind of criminal record or something. Just a normal girl. Well, minus the whole orphanage and hospital bit.

Kyoko got up and walked towards Sayaka who was still trying to solve the math problems from the study guide.

“Yo” whispered Kyoko as she got closer, with Hitomi busy with her own studies and with Madoka and Homura being so busy flirting with each other she could speak freely.

“What is it?”

“Got the info on Akemi” Sayaka’s eyes opened, energy coming back into her body.

“And? Is she…?”

“Nope, as clean as one can be” Kyoko sighed “The girl had a rough life, but there is nothing weird other than that”

“I see...” Sayaka hardened her grip on her pen “Thanks…”

“I promised after all.” Said Kyoko.

Sayaka was still looking at her notebook, clearly wanting to say something but being unable to find the words to do it. Kyoko waited a few seconds; she could guess what Sayaka wanted to say.

Kyoko put on a small smile and gave Sayaka a pat on the back with a bit more strength that she intended to, surprising Sayaka in the process.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it” said Kyoko, Sayaka was now looking at her face “We can’t do like it didn’t happen, but we can both admit it’s dumb to fight cause of that”

Sayaka loosened up, letting her pen on the table before nodding. “Yeah, you are right”

Kyoko completely stood up and looked around the room before saying out loud.

“Shouldn’t we take like a break or something? I can’t really keep going” Everyone looked at her, Hitomi looked at the clock on her wall before saying anything.

“Yes, I believe we should” She got up of her chair and patted her dress to try and straighten it a bit. “Sorry I hadn’t noticed the time.”

“We also got a bit too much into it” said Madoka with an embarrassed smile on her face “Sorry, I didn’t notice the time either”

“It’s alright!” said Sayaka “I feel like I may be able to pass the test now… With some luck”

Hitomi giggled before approaching her door.

“I’ll go get something to drink and eat. Wait a minute please”

After a few minutes Hitomi came back pushing a rolling tray cart that had a teapot and some biscuits in a cute yet clearly expensive bowl. The girls cleared the table where they had been studying and helped Hitomi unload the cart before everyone sat back again.

Hitomi started pouring some tea into everyone’s cups, the form was clearly a refined one even to the untrained eye of Kyoko; though with how many times she would go to tea ceremony classes it wasn’t much of a surprise. As Hitomi was pouring Sayaka’s cup she spoke up.

“So, did everyone solve their problems with next week tests?” She finished pouring Sayaka’s cup and went on towards Madoka’s.

“I think so…” said Madoka, who was already aiming for the sugar cubes. “I will have to revise a few things, but I should be able to keep up my grades”

“I think you’ll do just fine, Madoka” replied Akemi, a small gentle smile on her face “You learn quick”

Madoka was clearly embarrassed by the comment, making her try to hide her blush behind the teacup.

“You are just a great teacher, Homura-chan” she finally said “It was really easy to understand how you broke down the narrative points”

“Thank you, Madoka” Akemi took out a sip of her tea.

Really, Kyoko hoped at least one of those two new they were clearly flirting with each other. It didn’t make sense if they didn’t. No, it would make her mad if they didn’t know. No one should ever be that oblivious. Hell, even Violin Boy would have noticed the kind of flirting those two were throwing at each other.

“As for me…” Said Sayaka, picking up one of the biscuits from the bowl. “I should manage. But I hope the teacher doesn’t decide to pull a fast one on us and throw only hard problems in the test”

“Honestly,” replied Akemi “I hope for the same. It’s been the first time in… well, years since I’m nervous for a test”

Sayaka swallowed the chocolate biscuit she had been eating and looked at Akemi with a bit of a joking smile, even if a forced one.

“Ey, Akemi-san” said Sayaka “What if we both fail together? That way I wouldn’t be the only one who does so in our group”

“Sadly, for you, I have to refuse” Akemi placed a smile, though Kyoko wasn’t sure of whether or not it was a real one based on Madoka’s frowning expression “I might be having problems, but I will still get at least an eighty score on the test.”

“Haaaah… I wish I had that confidence” replied Sayaka.

“What about you Sakura-san?” asked Hitomi before taking a small bite of one of the biscuits Akemi had brought.

“Should be fine” Kyoko replied before throwing a full biscuit into her mouth, chewing for a few seconds and swallowing “Like you two said I just have to pay more attention to what I’m doing”

“I’m glad everyone was able to reach their objectives.” said Hitomi.

Time went by, the biscuits quickly disappearing under Kyoko’s hand. And after a while only a few remained. The sun was about to set, so the group quickly said their goodbyes and headed to the station. The group separated in two, as Homura and Madoka went to pick the same train.

Homura walked out of the station with Madoka by her side. The rain had stopped a few minutes ago, their umbrellas now loosely hanging from their hands. Homura looked at Madoka she had gotten a bit wet when the wind had picked up before, her hair was getting stuck on her forehead.  

Quick flashes of Madoka lifeless body lying on the ground, rain still falling from the damage Walpurgisnacht had done went by Homura’s mind.

Homura closed her eyes and shook her head a bit, before opening them again and confirming that Madoka was still by her side. The girl gave Homura a side glance before speaking.

“S-so how did you like today?”

It had been a nice day, all things considered. She was able to spend the whole afternoon with Madoka, there hadn’t been any fights with Miki Sayaka or Sakura Kyoko and she had even solved the problem she had with math. And besides, any new day in which Madoka smiled was a good day.

“It was great” said Homura “Thank you for inviting me”

“I-I see. I’m glad” Madoka stopped on her feet before turning around and looking at Homura. “My house is over there, so I-I guess this is where we part ways”

“No” said the Devil “I will accompany you to your home, Madoka”

“Yo-you don’t have to” Madoka had an embarrassed smile on her face.

How cute.

“I wouldn’t be able to rest if I don’t see you getting home safely” The Devil got a bit closer to Madoka “I insist, let me accompany you”

Madoka’s cheek turned red, the girl quickly turning around to try and hide her embarrassment.

“W-well If you insist” she made a small pause “Thank you, Homura-chan”

The way towards Madoka’s house was one the devil knew well; it was part of her pride that were she to be dropped anywhere in Mitakihara she would be able to return to Madoka’s house without a problem.

The devil was walking a bit behind Madoka. It wasn’t back enough to make the other girl feel bad about it, but enough for the devil to keep a close eye on her. Besides, it wasn’t like someone that had done what she had done deserved to walk right next to her anyways.

After a few minutes of walking, they reached the Kaname household. Madoka turned around and faced the devil, a bit of an embarrassed smile appearing on her face.

“Thank you for coming with me” said Madoka “I had a lot of fun today!”

“Yes, it was my pleasure”

Madoka fidgeted a bit where she was standing, looking to the ground.

“So, I was thinking…” Madoka started to say, her voice being quieter than usual “Since we live in the same direction and all…”

Ah this question, Homura knew what she was going to ask. This had been a thing that happened a lot in the earlier timelines. Madoka asking her to go to school together, an activity that Homura had held close to her heart before. But now she wasn’t deserving of such kindness.

“W-Would you like to go to school with me?” Madoka kept looking to the ground, waiting for an answer.

Homura really wanted to say yes.

Say it.

But she really shouldn’t get that close to Madoka.

Say it.

In fact, it was quite obvious that the girl wasn’t going to remember her role as the Law of Cycles. At least not for now.

Say it.

And with that information, Homura was sure that going back to following her with her Clara Dolls would be enough. She would still talk with her at school, but their relationship shouldn’t go beyond classmates.

SAY IT.

Homura looked at Madoka, the girl was quite tense; But even if this would hurt her a bit, it will end up making Madoka happier in the long run.

“I’m sorry Mado-“

A sharp pain in her head made Homura unable to speak for a few seconds, Madoka noticed this and approached the girl with a worried look on her face.

“Homura-chan?”

“It’s nothing, Madoka” said the Devil “Sorry for worrying you”

The Devil made a small pause and looked towards the girl with a gentle smile. How many times had Madoka made that worried face for her? It was less than the Devil would like, but even then, more than enough for her to fall all over again in love with the girl. A melancholic look plagued the Devil’s face, Madoka clearly noticed it her worrying look deepening.

“Ar- are you sure?”

“Yes. Please don’t worry.” The Devil made a stop, trying to think of something. “I’m probably just a bit tired from today”

Madoka looked at the girl with clear concern. If the Devil knew something is that as much as someone could lie to Madoka, the girl had almost a sixth sense to see how people really were feeling.

“About your question from before.” Said the Devil, taking attention away from what had happened “I would love to accompany you to school, Madoka”

Madoka’s face quickly went through different emotions. Worry, confusion, happiness, and back to a bit of a concerned face, though a smile was present.

“Okay. Thanks” said Madoka “See you tomorrow…”

“See you tomorrow, Madoka” the Devil said with a small smile.

Hell looked as empty as it always did. The static half-moon light bathed the entire dimension, some of it being lost by the ever-consuming orb of despair and the rest being reflected by the devil's ebony hair.

The pond below the orb was even bigger than the other day, now the size of a small pool. It didn’t surprise Homura; the incubators had a limit on how much grief they could process and the world was going haywire with many natural disasters. But this amount of grief was uncomfortable even for her.

Homura was in her student clothes and sat on top of one of the many pieces of rubble that littered her dimension, what seemed like a skyscraper that had been cut in half, and was looking at her dark orb with panicked eyes.

"Madoka..." Homura let out a long sigh.

Sure, Homura liked the idea of walking to school with Madoka. But that was a problem! She didn't want to get too close to Madoka. The plan was to just watch her a bit closer, nothing more. Something that would both please the kind hearted girl that had been trying to help her while still staying far away enough for her to be able to leave without much attachment.

No, she couldn't let this alter her plans. Homura knew that if she were to get closer to Madoka the girl would end up suffering. She always did one way or another, be it by becoming a witch or by straight up dying.

"You really are completely useless" said a voice that sounded too much like hers.

Homura looked up and sure enough she saw someone sitting on top of a broken window, a few meters above ground. The Devil was looking at her with a smug smile on her face.

"We saved her from the cruel fate she had inflicted upon herself" the Devil kept talking. "And now she wants to get close to us? I don’t see why we shouldn't let her"

"I know you aren't real" replied Homura. "There is too much despair here, you are just an illusion"

The Devil let out a small chuckle.

"I'm as real as you are, Time Traveler" the Devil flew up to Homura and passed a hand through her chest "Though this body isn't, that much is true"

"I'm not going to hear what a deranged part of my mind has to say" Homura looked at one of the Clara Dolls that was playing nearby "You are just like them, a part of me yes. But not me."

"Why does that even matter?" said the Devil with a grin on her face "What I say is still the truth. Madoka will be safer with us around her"

"Madoka deserves a normal and happy life" Homura looked defiantly at the Devil "And a devil cannot be part of that normal life"

Homura ran her hand through her ebony hair, a tick she had gotten after taking off her braids.

"I won't listen to anything you say" She stated while putting her foot down and looking at the Devil with a confident look.

"Oh" started the Devil, who teleported next to her and leaned in, whispering into Homura's ear "But you already did"

Homura tried to hit the Devil but her hand just passed through the hallucination, hitting nothing but the grief-filled air of the dimension.

"What are you talking about" a demanding tone covered her uneasiness.

"I was the one that said to accept her advances, remember?" the Devil flew up into the sky, leaving the half-moon behind her and extended her wings. "I told you to accept her lunchbox. You really think that I didn't know she would try to get even closer if we did that?"

With a rain of raven feathers, the Devil disappeared from her view, Homura looked around to try and find the hallucination. Something hit her head hard before breaking, red juice falling down her face. She looked up to see two of her Clara Dolls, both having thrown a tomato at the girl.

“I was the one that accepted Madoka’s proposal of going to school together” Homura turned around, but there was nothing behind her.

The Devil appeared hanging upside down from the sky in front of Homura, a grin on her face.

“I was the one who finally completed our wish of protecting her.” The Devil walked towards Homura, the sand under Homura’s feet started to make her sink.

“I was the one who made this universe for her”

“I AM the one she expressed concern for today” the Devil made a small pause “Not you. Not the one that couldn’t save her even once.”

Homura suddenly found herself surrounded by the Devil hallucinations.

"Are you sure that I am the illusion here?" the voice of the Devil echoed throughout hell "After all, aren’t I the one who created this place?”

Homura let out a scream and covered her ears, trying to stop hearing the Devil's voice. But it never did.

“You are just the magical girl that became a witch. Shouldn’t you be dead?"

Homura transformed into her devil's clothes and surrounded herself with her ebony wings. The raven feathers embraced her before with but a thought she disappeared from the despair filled Hell.

And with that she was on her room, the first rays of sunlight starting to find themselves going through the cracks of the window's blinders illuminating the otherwise dark room.

The voice now gone.

Current date: Sunday 11th, May.

A/N: And with this we have hit the 20k words mark. I’m kinda scared seeing how much I’ve been able to write this week, and I will try to keep the rate of a chapter every 3-4 days. At worst I will be posting a chapter every week.

Thank you to all that are still reading these. And a bigger thank you to those who use a bit of their time to leave their thoughts in the reviews.

Chapter Text

A medium sized room, one double bed in the center in which two girls were sleeping together. One of them with blonde hair and the other complete white. A phone alarm started to sound, quickly waking up the blonde girl who sat on the border of the bed before turning the alarm off. The white-haired girl still sleeping deeply, completely unfazed by the loud noise the alarm had just made.

Mami looked at Nagisa with a small smile, the girl would often insist in sleeping with her. And as much as Mami would often tell her that it would be better if each of them slept in their own bed, she liked to sleep together with her as much as Nagisa did.

Mami slowly got up from the bed, trying not to wake up Nagisa, and headed towards the bathroom. Taking care of her hair was no easy task, one that required a lot of time of her morning. Sometimes the extra time she spent made her be a bit late for some discount sales, or sometimes between her hair and Nagisa’s almost impossible to brush hair they would be a few minutes late to school, having to run so at least one of them wouldn’t be late. It was moments like those that made her wish to have magic so she could just do her hair with a flick of a finger.

Sadly, she didn’t.

After finishing up in the bathroom Mami headed towards her kitchen. The kitchen was quite big for the size of the apartment, the stove had four fires and there was enough space around to not only move freely but to have more than enough counters to not have to worry about running out of space. Something that often would come up when she tried to bake something new.

Mami opened her fridge and looked inside. If it wasn’t because of the amount of cheese Nagisa had gathered the fridge was almost empty, they probably should go shopping tomorrow after school. Maybe they would even have to eat out today… Though Mami preferred not doing so.

The inheritance she had gotten when her parents died, together with the orphan state aid she was being paid was enough money to live by. But ever since Nagisa and her started living together Mami had noticed her savings starting to dwindle. She had already taken a few measures like buying cheaper brands of tea, lowering their meat intake and of course she wasn’t buying clothes more than three times a year.

But Nagisa was still a kid, she didn’t want to take away the things that made her happy, which meant a lot of cheese (something Mami had learnt, was quite expensive) and as a grade schooler that she was, a lot of school expenses.

Mami obviously didn’t say any of this to Nagisa. The girl may act like a spoiled child from time to time, mainly when it came to cheese, but she was still a very understanding kid for her age. Probably due to the condition her family was in before Mami ‘adopted’ the kid, Nagisa had led a life that forced her to mature faster.

But Mami had promised to not let Nagisa have to worry about anything that 9 years old shouldn’t. And that obviously included the economical problems they might face, Mami was sure to find a solution to the problem. Maybe she would try to find a part-time job, though having to balance her work with taking care of Nagisa and school may be hard.

With a sigh Mami took out some sliced cheese and ham and went on to make a sandwich for the still sleeping girl. Quickly prepared the sandwich before leaving it into the sandwich maker and went back to her room, where Nagisa was still sleeping soundly.

Mami approached the girl and gently shook her, the girl reacted by slowly opening her eyes with a very sleepy face on. The two-colored eyes of the girl always fascinated Mami, most of the eye was of a caramel color, but in the middle a bit of a yellow like Mami’s could be seen.

“Nagisa, it’s time to wake up~” said Mami with a gentle and quiet voice.

Nagisa’s reply seemed to be to burrow her face on her pillow. “Just 5 minutes mor…” The girl went back to sleep, not even finishing her sentence.

“Oh my…” Mami brought her hand up to her face, holding her own cheek with a thinking expression “I guess I will be eating the double cheese sandwich I made then”

Almost as if a jolt of electricity had gone through her body, Nagisa got up in an instant, her eyes completely open and a serious expression on her face.

“I’m awake!” she exclaimed before getting out of the bed.

The girl ran towards the door before stopping in her tracks for a second and turning around. She approached Mami and almost launched herself into the older girl, giving her a hug.

“Good morning Mami!” Mami tried to return the hug, but Nagisa finished the hug faster and ran towards the kitchen.

Mami couldn’t hold back a happy smile before getting up and going towards the kitchen herself.

Nagisa was already waiting in front of the sandwich maker, excitedly waiting for it to finish cooking. Mami decided to start boiling some water and prepare her tea, it wasn’t a weekday so maybe she should be able to go by without eating a proper breakfast; that way she could save some money.

Before the water began to boil the sandwich maker made a ‘ding!’ noise, Nagisa quickly opened the machine and went on to pick up the sandwich.

“You are going to burn yourself”

Sadly, Mami’s warning came too late as Nagisa was already holding a smoldering hot sandwich which she quickly had to leave on the counter, the girl clearly placing the sandwich safety over her own. The girl started to blow at her fingers, trying to cool them down; Mami let out a small chuckle.

“It’s not funny!” said Nagisa, a pout on her face. “It was really hot!”

Mami let out a small chuckle

“I just wonder when will you learn to wait a bit after it’s done?” Mami turned off the stove since the water was already boiling “Or at least use a spatula, please”

“Okay…” said Nagisa before picking up a paper towel and using it to pick up her sandwich. She looked at Mami.

“I’m finishing up here, you can go eat to the living room”

“I’ll wait.” said Nagisa “I want to eat with you”

How much happiness did those words bring to Mami. After her parents had died finding Nagisa was probably the best thing that could have happened to her. She didn’t have to be alone anymore, she finally had someone to be with during the long lonely days that her life used to be.

After the car accident Mami found herself without a purpose in life. Studying didn’t make much sense for the girl, not since her parents who were the ones always cheering her on were gone. Maybe if she had had some kind of obligation to do, something she knew if she didn’t do bad things would happen her life would have meaning again. And that was what Nagisa was. A purpose. Someone to protect, someone she had to take care of.

Mami finished preparing her tea and went towards the living room, Nagisa in front of her. They both sat at her glass table and Nagisa turned the TV on. Some kind of animated show about two twins solving mysteries with their uncle was playing at the time. Nagisa seemed to enjoy the show, and the noise did make the house a bit livelier. The episode that was on was one Nagisa had already seen, so Mami didn’t hesitate to talk with the girl.

“Do you want to go somewhere today?” Mami took a sip from her tea “You wanted to go somewhere, right?”

Nagisa took a second to think before realization came upon her.

“Yes! There is this place one of my friends from school told me about.” The girl placed her half-eaten sandwich on a plate before speaking again “Apparently, they have an amazing cheesecake!”

“I see”

They were having a bit of trouble with money, but…

“Where is it?” asked Mami with a soothing smile on her face.

“By a park near the river. The one that’s close to your school!” replied Nagisa, the girl realizing this meant they would go there.

“Well, if that’s the case” Mami finished her tea “We can go after lunch then, we’ll have our afternoon tea over there”

Nagisa’s smile came as bright as it could, the girl’s eyes almost shining from joy, before doing a little jump and hugging Mami.

“Yaay~!” Mami returned the hug “I love you, Mami!”

Maybe she will end up searching for a job after all.

The front of the establishment was quite the sight. A nice wooden sign, in which the name of the place had been carved out and colored with different pastel colors, hang from the overhang of the ceiling. The big windows of the building had been covered with some decorations of flowers and strawberries. A really cute menu had pictures of all the types of cakes they served. It was, without a doubt, as good as her friend had told Nagisa.

But there was something that completely drained her hope, and instead filled her heart with despair. Glued to the front door there was a small piece of paper. The opening hours being printed on it. It was open all week, but… It closed on Sunday’s afternoons.

“Why would you close on a Sunday!” angrily asked Nagisa towards Mami, the girl that had been taking care of her had a bit of a frown.

“There is nothing much we can do” said Mami “I’m sorry, we even walked all the way here…”

Nagisa had been against walking so far away instead of taking the bus or the train. But after Mami telling her that that way she could get two slices of cheesecake instead of only one, since she was burning down the calories, Nagisa had found that maybe walking the long distance wasn’t that bad.

Nagisa knew that the reason Mami had given really wasn’t why she had proposed walking there. The older girl hadn’t noticed, but Nagisa knew that they were running low on money; She would often see Mami during the night wrecking her brain as she tried to cut down their expenses in any way possible. She had also noticed the different taste their tea had since a few weeks ago. As much as Mami had been storing it in the same box the old one used to come in, Nagisa was pretty good at tasting and had noticed right away.

Even then the girl didn’t say anything. Not because she wanted to exploit Mami’s kindness, but because she knew that if Mami learned that Nagisa knew she would probably overwork herself to try and fix the problem right away. It was bad enough that Nagisa had to ask the girl to sleep with her or she wouldn’t sleep properly, trying to do more night work than she should.

“It’s okay” said Nagisa, catching Mami’s attention “There is a park nearby, can we go there?”

Seeing Nagisa play at a park would probably ease Mami’s heart. She knew that the more kid-like things she did, the calmer Mami would be. Anything to not have to hear her cry at night again like it often happened when they started to live together. And besides, it wasn’t like she wouldn’t have fun playing anyways.

“Yes, let’s go there” said Mami, the same smile she always did on her face. Almost as if it was a tick rather than a real smile.

The park was indeed pretty close, in less than ten minutes they had already reached their destination. The afternoon sun was quite calm, with very little fog around and some clouds in the sky, making for a perfect temperature to play right then.

The park wasn’t empty, and Nagisa thanked God for that; having to play alone in a park would be way too embarrassing even for her, and she knew Mami would be more embarrassed in case someone saw her playing with Nagisa. They played at home, but outside it always was hard on the older girl sense of pride.

The ones that were playing at the park right now was what looked like a three, maybe four years old and what seemed like his older sister. A girl with two pigtails and pink hair, the girl clearly not caring if someone saw her play with his little brother, maybe Mami could learn something from her. As much as Mami thought she was an adult, she really wasn’t; playing should be fine for her too. Though Nagisa credited that -I’m an adult- mentality to the girl not having friends her age.

With that thought an idea crossed the white-haired girl’s mind. Nagisa looked at Mami, who had a slightly surprised expression as she watched the pink haired girl. Without a second thought Nagisa took Mami’s hand and walked towards the other pair.

The first to realize was the little kid that had been playing in the sand, they seemed to be building something. Well, what he was doing seemed a bit of a stretch of the word ‘building’.

“Frends! Frends!” the boy said, pointing towards Nagisa and Mami.

“Ah!” said the pinkette as she noticed them, a smile on her face “Good afternoon.”

“G-good afternoon” Mami still was a bit confused, clearly, she hadn’t expected Nagisa to bring her closer.

“Can I play with you?” said Nagisa, looking towards the three years old.

The kid thought for a second before giving a strong nod with his head and making a “Uhn!” noise that Nagisa had to take as a yes.

And with that Nagisa got what she wanted, interjecting herself between the kid and the pinkette, and started to help the kid build whatever that mound of sand was supposed to be. She gave the pinkette and Mami a quick look and seeing the two were just looking at them decided to intervene further.

“I’ll take care of things here ma’am, you two can go talk somewhere else. You are in the middle of a building zone!”

The three years old confirmed what she had said by making more of those ‘Uhn! Uhn!’ noises and shooing the girls away.

“Ah! Sorry!” the pinkette moved away, a smile on her face. She seemed to be used to the sudden demands of kids. Before moving on she turned towards Mami “Nice to meet you! I’m Kaname Madoka”

Mami took a second to react.

“Same here, I’m Tomoe Mami”

And with that the duo went towards a bench and sat there talking, Nagisa kept an ear out for them while playing. Thank God her instinct about that Madoka girl being a talkative one was true. Because Mami was clearly not used to talking with people her age. Thankfully, the pinkette seemed to be taking the reins of the conversation.

“Younger siblings can be a handful sometimes, can’t they?” said Madoka, looking at Nagisa and her brother “Takkun is usually pretty nice, but there are times when he wants something and won’t stop complaining until he gets it!”

Mami let out a small chuckle.

“Nagisa can sometimes get like that with cheese too” Mami looked at her hands, a bit of a sad look on her eyes “Though I guess it’s kind of my fault for always giving her what she wants”

“I can get that!” Madoka exclaimed, putting her hands together “Mom and Dad always scold me later, but I just want him to stop crying! Do they scold you when you give her cheese too?”

A chill ran down Nagisa’s spine, quickly looking towards Mami with a worried look.

“I…” Mami stopped for a second, her hands grabbed her skirt before putting on a forced smile “We live alone, so that doesn’t really come up”

Madoka looked at Mami, the girl seemed to be trying to read the girl’s expression. And after a second Madoka seemed to understand the meaning behind Mami’s smile, or at least notice it was a forced smile, as she changed her own expression to a worried one.

“I’m… sorry” Madoka said, Mami looked at the girl with a bit of a surprised expression.

“Y-you don’t have to be!” hurriedly replied Mami “There really is now way for you to have known, don’t worry”

“One would think that when two of my friends are in a similar situation, I would be a bit more… Cautious when asking people about their family” Madoka said, a bit of an embarrassed smile showing.

“Really, you don’t have to worry” Mami kept going, the girl never wanted to bother people with her own past problems “It’s been two years, I’m kind of used to it already.”

Mami looked down, a calming smile appearing on her face before she spoke up again.

“And besides, taking care of Nagisa has helped me a lot.” The girl raised her head, looking at Madoka again while letting out a small chuckle “Between taking care of her and school I’ve been so busy I don’t have time to think about those things anymore”

Madoka looked at Mami for a few seconds, her eyes completely open. Mami’s expression changed to one of concern before speaking again.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t bother you with this thin-“

“That’s amazing, Mami-san!” Madoka suddenly exclaimed, taking Mami by surprise.

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Even though you are going through something so hard…” Madoka clutched her chest, trying to convey the toughness of the situation “You were able to keep living life like normal, and even took care of someone younger than you”

“I- it really isn’t something that-” Mami was interrupted again, as Madoka shook her head.

“No, instead of giving up… Instead of just letting life consume you… You kept fighting for her” Madoka looked at Mami with shining eyes “You are amazing, Mami-san”

A bit of red started to appear on Mami’s cheeks, the girl not used to take compliments from someone other than Nagisa. And surely enough, not compliments that praised what she had been fighting for these past years. Nagisa was happy about having forced her to talk with the pinkette, even if it had seemed it could all have gone very badly a moment ago.

Mami seemed to hold back some tears, though they still formed in the corners of her eyes. Before putting on a hopeful smile and looking at Madoka.

“Thank you, Kaname-san”  

“You don’t have to thank me” the girl said, a determined and joyful look on her face “I just said what I think”

And with that there was a moment of silence between the two, letting Nagisa focus on the construction that had been going on while she was completely focused on the pair’s conversation. Tatsuya, as she had learnt the name of the kid was, had been building what looked like some kind of house. Nagisa had to assume it was his, and helped the kid with the fence walls.

It didn’t take much for Mami to speak up again.

“S-so Kaname-san…” Mami didn’t look at the girl, instead keeping her eyes on Nagisa.

“What is it, Mami-san?” asked the girl, looking at Mami with a smile.

“I- I would like to thank you with some tea if you want.” She made a small pause before speaking up nervously “Another day of course! It is quite late already”

God, Mami trying to make friends was something that always made Nagisa cringe a bit. Not because she didn’t want the girl to have them, it would be nice if she did. No, the problem was that Mami was horrendous at it. In fact, had she not had the excuse of thanking Madoka she probably wouldn’t have said anything. Instead, she would have kept sighing the whole week at the missed opportunity.

Madoka just made her smile bigger.

“I would love to!” she said, clapping her hands together. “Ah! Can I bring some other friends along? I think you would get along with them!”

“O-of course!” Mami tried to calm down, for someone that always tried to keep this cool and refined image of herself she was way too nervous when it came to people her age “The more the merrier.”

Madoka took out her phone.

“Let’s trade Line IDs so we can talk about it”

“Right, here you go” she said before pulling out her own phone.

After a second they traded their contact information, Madoka looked at her phone for a second before getting up from the bench.

“I should get back home” she said with a smile “I promised to help with dinner today. Let’s talk again sometime, ok?”

“Yes, thank you” said Mami, a smile on her face.

The girl returned the smile before turning around and going up to her brother.

“Let’s go, Takkun”

“Aye!” the kid got up without a fight and held Madoka’s hand as they walked away waving Mami and Nagisa off.

Nagisa got up from the sandbox and went up to Mami, the girl still looking at her phone with a smile on her face. Nagisa couldn’t resist to show a smug grin.

“Happy, eh?” she said, an obvious smug attitude on her voice.

“Yes…” Sadly Nagisa’s attempt to embarrass the girl was completely overshadow by Mami’s joy as she placed her phone back on her pocket. “Shall we go home? We can buy some cheesecake in the supermarket if you want”

Nagisa put on a big smile before taking the girls hand as she got up from the bench. Mami taken a bit by surprise by the gesture.

“No” Nagisa made a pause “I prefer to wait and have you make one by hand”

“Fufu~” Mami let out a small prideful giggle “Sure, I will make you one. Maybe I will make a big one for when Kaname-san and her friends come visit”

“As long as I get more than them” Nagisa laughed.

Sayaka sat on the living room couch before pulling out a laptop and turning it on. She took off the towel she had placed around her neck after drying her hair and threw it to the side. The computer finished booting up, and as such Sayaka opened the videocall program she usually used, it was about time so she made her usual Sunday night group call.

A few seconds passed before the call connected, way too close to the screen appeared a man and, in another square, appeared a woman; the man had blue hair, while the woman had blonde hair. After her parents noticed that Sayaka had finished connecting, they both got away from the screen. Her dad’s background was that of a small apartment, the one he had rented while working in Hokkaido, while her mother’s background was a café, the sun still out.

“Hello, Mom, dad” said Sayaka as she left the laptop on top of the table so she didn’t have to hold it.

“You finally logged in Sayaka-chan!” said her mother, a few people that could be seen in the café turned their heads towards the excited voice. “We’ve been talking for 10 minutes already, you know!”

“Sorry, sorry” said Sayaka “We took more time than usual to clean the dishes”

“It’s okay” said her dad, the man was still wearing his office suit “So, how has this week been? Did you study for next week tests?”

“Yeah, we did a study session with Hitomi and the others” Sayaka let out a sigh “I’m still a bit scared about math though”

“I’m sure you won’t have any kind of problem!” said her mom.

“I don’t know about that…” Sayaka let out a nervous chuckle.

It always felt strange to talk with her parents like this. Though she was starting to get used to it. Her parents were quite close now, but they had quite a rough patch a few years back when her mother wanted to see more of the world. Saying that she had lost most of her young years she wanted to explore the world more and use her tourism degree. Of course, this meant that for her dad who was already working ten hours shifts everyday he would now also have to take care of Sayaka.

During that time Sayaka had felt almost as if her life was going to break apart, but thankfully they were able to fix their problems after they had heard Sayaka blame herself for their marriage breaking apart. And to be honest, she really had been the problem. It was her being born that made her mother unable to travel, and it also was the reason her dad was working more hours. But when her parents heard the 9 years old blame herself, they decided to reconcile. And the three together made a plan, her mother would wait till Sayaka reached her 13 years of age to start travelling as a flight attendant. That way the girl could at least take a bit of care of herself, and her dad would ask to lower his working hours to be with her for as long as possible.

All that didn’t really matter when her dad got a promotion and now had to travel around Japan most often than not, but Sayaka had learnt most of the stuff she would need to do around the house so it wasn’t much of a problem. Besides, her parents were happy and it was a much better option than them getting a divorce.

Life also got quite easier when Kyoko started to live with her, mainly in the cooking department. Well, she couldn’t really lie to herself, it was also way less lonely since the redhead was with her.

“Hey, good seeing you” said Kyoko, looking from behind the couch; they girl had just finished bathing and was still drying up her long hair.

“Kyoko-chan!” said Sayaka’s mom “It’s nice to see you! Have you been eating well dear?”

“Yeah, though not thanks to her” playfully said Kyoko, Sayaka gently hitting her arm with a smile while her parents laughed a bit.

“I’ll be returning home next week” said Sayaka’s dad “Please, take care of our daughter until then”

“Dad!” said Sayaka.

“You can count on me, pops” said Kyoko with a confident smile.

“Well, I have to go” Sayaka’s dad looked at his phone “It’s getting quite late and I have to wake up early tomorrow. We’ll talk more later”

And with that he got off the call, her mom following closely after saying goodbye to Sayaka and Kyoko.

“Glad to see they are okay” said Kyoko, throwing her hair towel towards Sayaka and sitting on the ground in front of her.

“Yeah, Mom will be staying a few weeks more in France before coming back” Sayaka started to dry up the redhead girl, the amount of hair she had was amazing to say the least. “After that only a few days home before going off to Canada”

“She never stops huh?” said Kyoko, letting her neck relax as Sayaka moved the redhead’s head around to try and dry the roots.

“Yeah, she said she would be here for august at least” Sayaka sighed “Thank god the company forces holidays on its workers”

Sayaka kept drying Kyoko’s hair, it was kind of calming. The girl had such beautiful hair and there was so much of it that when it was a bit damp after taking a shower if felt like caressing a cloud. The first time Sayaka had helped the girl to dry out it’s hair it had happened from a small discussion they have had, Kyoko complaining about it being a pain to dry had led to the redhead not finishing drying her hair; this had made Sayaka angry after she found the couch wet where Kyoko had just lied down. So, she proposed to dry the girl’s hair for her. And Sayaka quickly started to appreciate the moment, it was a pleasure to touch the puffy hair of the girl.

“So, pops coming back next week then?” asked Kyoko, her eyes had been closed for a while now.

“Yeah, more work for you” Sayaka let out a small chuckle.

“I just have to cook one more serving, not really much extra work” Kyoko opened her eyes and tried to look at Sayaka “Besides, he helps a lot with cleaning. And it’s fun to have him around”

“You talk about him as if he was a dog or something” Sayaka said laughing

Silence came back once more, this time to stay. A few more minutes passed before Sayaka had finished drying up Kyoko’s hair. The redhead stood up and sat next to the bluenette before turning the TV on, one of her late-night anime was about to start.

As the ads started to play Sayaka got up and went to the kitchen, searching for something to drink. It was quite late, so she didn’t really feel like drinking some soda, and making tea felt like a lot of work at the moment so she settled for some hot chocolate that she could just heat up in the microwave. She opened the kitchen cabinet and searched for her mug.

It was on the fourth tray, a cup she had since kindergarten. She got it during one of their crafts classes, Madoka had made it for her; a badly drawn mermaid was in one of the sides, while Sayaka’s name was on the other. It wasn’t a pretty mug, and the materials weren’t the best either, but Sayaka had grown attached to it.

Though picking up the mug did bring some thoughts into the bluenette’s head.

How did she feel about Akemi Homura? After talking with Madoka she knew she wouldn’t be able to make her friend stop talking with her. And besides, was there really a need for it? Kyoko had told her the girl didn’t have any kind of problematic background. So, it could just as well be she was bad at socializing.

Madoka was clearly attached to the girl for some reason too, and being so hostile towards her would probably just hurt Madoka. Maybe she would just try to be classmates with her. Or if the other girl wanted, they could try to be friends.

“You okay?” Kyoko’s voice brought Sayaka back to reality “You’ve been holding the hot chocolate box open for a while now”

“Ah… yeah, sorry. Just thinking about some stuff” Sayaka forced out a smile as she finished pouring her mug and placed it in the microwave.

“Thinking about Madoka and that Akemi girl again?” sighed Kyoko, they had been living together for a while now but it was still amazing how easily she could read her.

“Yeah…” admitted Sayaka, there was no point in hiding this from Kyoko; and besides maybe asking the girl would give her some hint as to what to do. “I just don’t really know what I should do with her”

“Listen…” started Kyoko, the girl getting some potato chips from one of the cupboards “Pinky is completely enthralled with the girl”

She walked towards the kitchen’s door.

“And I don’t think she wants to hurt Madoka. So, my advice is that you try to get friendly with her too. That would probably make Madoka the happiest”

“Yeah, you are right…” Sayaka took out her hot chocolate from the microwave “I guess I’ll try to talk with her tomorrow. It’s not like the girl is crazy or something like that.”

The room was still dark, the blinders hadn’t been raised at any point during the day. The door still half opened, as it was left like when the girl had entered the room before retreating into her dimension. Something she had come to regret.

On the single bed that filled a third of the room a girl, using a white blanket to cover herself completely, was sitting close to the wall; trying to get as much view of the room as she could so nothing that got inside would become unnoticed. Homura hadn’t moved from her room ever since she came back from Hell that morning. She had spent most of her day scared of the voice coming back, but thankfully for her it didn’t.

The rest of her day was spent thinking. Thinking about what had happened in her dimension. Thinking about how she said words she didn’t intend to say to Madoka. Thinking about the Devil that had taken control of her own dimension and familiars, and hoping the Devil didn’t have control of them anymore.

The door completely opened, one of her Clara Dolls got into the room and looked at the cowering Homura. She paused for a moment, almost as if she was trying to think what to do (Something Homura had always assumed was just an imitation of what people would do, and not actual thinking; but now that she had seen a part of her own mind actively plotting against her, she wasn’t sure anymore about the grade of independence her closest familiars had). After a few seconds of ‘thinking’ the Clara Doll spoke.

“G̶o̶d̷d̸e̵s̴s̷ ̶h̶a̴s̴ ̵m̷e̷t̷ ̴C̶h̷e̴e̵s̷e̴” the creepy smile the doll had didn’t change an inch as the words came out.

“I… I see” said Homura, her voice sounding as meek as it did in the first timeline “Thanks”

“T̵e̴a̶ ̷P̶a̸r̴t̸y̵ ̴w̴i̸t̵h̴ ̶e̶v̵e̷r̴y̷o̷n̵e̵.̴ ̵G̷o̵d̴d̸e̵s̷s̶ ̸w̴a̸n̵t̸s̷ ̴t̴o̴ ̴i̵n̷v̴i̸t̴e̷ ̷g̶o̴o̸d̶-̵f̶o̵r̶-̴n̶o̵t̶h̶i̶n̷g̵” The doll kept speaking, now tilting her head as she tried to ascertain the condition of her master.

“I will see what I’ll do” said Homura before retreating back into her blanket.

So Madoka had met Mami. It really didn’t surprise her; Homura had known it would end up happening one way or the other, though she had hoped it didn’t. It was Mami the one that always placed the idea of becoming a Magical Girl in Madoka’s head after all. Though, at least now that the girl wasn’t a magical girl, or rather she didn’t remember she was one, she shouldn’t cause any problem.

But going to a tea party with her? Even if Madoka was going to invite her Homura guessed that declining the invitation wouldn’t be too hard. The motive was clear, as she had been showing she didn’t really like to talk with a lot of people. And she had been accepting a lot of Madoka’s requests, so Madoka should be understanding with this one.

Or at least she hoped she could say no. Last time she had tried the Devil had spoken for her. She wasn’t that sure if she could fight back were it to happen again... Though, if there was something clear in Homura’s mind it was that she wasn’t going back to her dimension, at least not until the amount of despair that was gathering in it went back to a normal amount. The last thing she wanted was for her familiars to turn against her again.

Wait, talking about familiars. She didn’t hear the doll walk out.

Homura took off the blankets and tried to look where the doll had gone. But she froze the moment her sight was able to adjust as the Doll had gotten closer to her and her face was mere inches away, the creepy smile of the doll and her unmoving eyes piercing Homura’s soul.

“W-what do you want?” said Homura, trying to get some space between her and the doll.

“I̷b̸a̴r̸i̷ ̴w̴a̴s̵ ̴r̸i̷g̸h̴t̵.̶ ̵G̶o̸o̵d̵-̴f̶o̷r̵-̴n̶o̷t̴h̶i̷n̴g̸ ̷i̵s̴ ̴w̸e̷a̶k̷” said the doll.

Homura looked at the doll, trying to ascertain if the words she had heard were right and not a mishearing on her side. It was true that the dolls would often ‘rebel’ whenever Homura wouldn’t follow her own rules or that they never left her alone if she got too nervous about Madoka. Though this rebellion often came in them throwing tomatoes at the girl, not actually rising against her.

She wasn’t sure about how much of her own mental state affected the familiar’s behavior, but she didn’t want to find out either. Homura looked straight at the doll and placed on her cold mask, the one she had developed through countless loops, before speaking up with as much determination as she could muster.

“If you have nothing else to report, get out of my room” Homura got out of the blanket and stood up from the bed, facing the doll with an imposing posture “I believe you have a duty to fulfill, Reiketsu.”

After a second the doll simply turned around and walked away.

Homura waited for a few seconds, seeing whether the doll would come back or not. The answer seemed to be that she wouldn’t.

“Well then…” Homura looked at the clock on her wall, almost five in the morning “I should take a shower before morning comes”

Homura walked to her closet and got out her school uniform. She prepared her school bag, making sure that she had Monday’s books inside. She picked up everything and headed towards the shower, leaving the school bag in the living room while on the way.

"I did promise Madoka I would walk to school with her"

Current Date: Monday, 12 May

Chapter Text

The first rays of light of the morning sun embraced the still sleeping pinkette. The girl moved a lot during her sleep, now hugging her pillow and using one of her stuffed animals as a pillow. One of the few rays of light that got into her room was hitting her right in the eye, waking the girl up a few minutes before her alarm had gone off.

The girl hugged her pillow a bit tighter as she moved around, trying to dodge the sunlight. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet, so if even just one more minute remained then she would be taking it. It wasn't like she had many things to do today other than go to class…

A sudden memory came to her, Homura and her in front of her house. The raven-haired girl moved her beautiful light pink lips and Madoka tried to remember the words she had said.

"I would love to accompany you to school, Madoka"

Madoka quickly stood up. A big smile that she tried to hide accompanied a small blush that had started to appear in her cheeks. She looked at the clock, twenty minutes before her alarm would go off. But at this point she knew there was no way of her going back to sleep with how much her heartrate had increased.

"That's right" she started to make her bed "I'm going to school together with Homura-chan"

As she placed her stuffed animals in the places where they usually went Madoka finished relaxing before getting out of her room and going down the stairs.

In the kitchen her dad had already started to prepare today's breakfast. Madoka really thought there was no one who could cook better than her dad, not even when she had tasted Kyoko's cooking; Something the redheaded girl had taken as a challenge. The main advantage of her dad being so good at cooking was something Madoka discovered when she started to prepare a lunch for Homura. She had found her dad's help quite necessary, not because she didn't know how to cook but rather because he had way better ideas when it came to making a balanced lunch. And that was something that Homura really needed, the sleep schedule of the girl might be a harder problem to solve, but at least her diet seemed to be quite the easy task now that she had accepted Madoka's lunches.

"Good morning, Madoka" said her dad, the same gentle smile Madoka would use on her face.

"Good morning, papa" Madoka answered as she got behind the kitchen counter, searching for her and Homura's lunch boxes.

"You are up quite early today, aren't you?" asked her dad, the man took out a pan and handed it to Madoka who let out a small chuckle.

"The sunlight woke me up" she said, hiding the fact that it had been Homura's memory the thing that had actually awoken her "Besides, I can get more time with breakfast this way"

"Just make sure you sleep enough" her father said, a smile on his face.

"What should I make for today?" asked Madoka, who had already made sure the lunch boxes were clean.

"Maybe some salted salmon, some eggs, and for the vegetables…" her dad went thinking for a few seconds "what about some sweet pepper and onion confit?"

"Sounds good!" said Madoka as she started to take out the necessary ingredients for the confit.

And with that she started cooking, her father giving her some tips about the seasoning as time went on. And after around twenty minutes she had already finished making everything and was filling the boxes.

Around a third of the box was rice, the thing that would actually fill up their stomachs, some small bits of minced garlic could be seen between the rice giving off a nice fragrance. The other two thirds were divided in half, the confit in one side while the salmon and tamagoyaki on the other. Still, Madoka felt as if something was missing.

"Should I add something green?" asked Madoka to her dad, who looked at the lunch box before nodding.

"Some boiled broccoli with salt would look nice" her dad made a small pause "Do you know if she likes it or not?"

"She said anything I made would be fine…" As much as that had made her happy in the moment, though she was probably reading way too much into it, it hadn't really answered her question.

"Well, you should put it in then" her dad said as she prepared a pot to boil the water. "If she said that I don't think she is going to reject the food even if she doesn't really like it"

"What do you mean?" a confused look on Madoka's face. As much as Homura had accepted her requests so far, she was sure that if Madoka gave the girl something she didn't like she wouldn't accept it.

"You'll see what I mean one day"

With that conversation not going anywhere else Madoka finished preparing the lunch boxes as she added the broccoli, the green popped off making the whole thing look better than it was. And stored them in her bag.

"I'll go wake up mom" said Madoka, her father giving her an appreciative nod in response.

Madoka opened her mom's room door, the woman was still sleeping below the bedsheets. Really, as much of a successful business woman she was, as much as she looked amazing during the day, it was times like this that really made her mother feel like a person rather than a robot. And besides, Madoka had to have gotten her desire to sleep in from someone.

Madoka opened the curtains, the sunlight completely filling the previously dark room, and walked towards her mother's bed. She clutched the bedsheets with strength and quickly pulled them away from the bed.

"Rise and Shine!" Madoka shouted.

[-]

The big bathroom of the Kaname house was currently being used by both Madoka and her mom. They were in the middle of their daily routine, something they had done together for as long as Madoka remembered.

"Something interesting going on?" asked Madoka's mom, who was in the middle of cleaning her face.

Madoka thought for a second before answering.

"Not really…" said Madoka.

"Are you sure? What about that Akemi Homura girl you've been talking about?"

Madoka's cheeks blushed a bit, something Madoka didn't notice as she went to grab the towel to dry her face.

"I mean, she was okay with me making lunch for her"

"Oh? She asked you to make more?" asked her mom, looking at the girl with a side glance as she started to put make up on.

"N-no. I was the one who asked" said Madoka, a small sigh coming through her voice "I don't think she would have ever asked herself"

"As long as she accepted how it happened shouldn't matter" said her mom "Though make sure she isn't taking advantage of you"

"You too? Sayaka said the same thing" Madoka made a small pout, almost as if she felt insulted because of people disrespecting Homura like that "She isn't that kind of person."

Madoka made a small pause as she went without a doubt for the red ribbons Homura had gifted her the first day there.

"Sure, she can be a bit weird. But she is always nice! Even when she has to say no, she stops to think for a second before possibly hurting someone with her words"

"And even then, Homura-chan was quite hard to get to accept my lunch you know?" she made a pause before looking at her mom "I needed the help of Kyoko to stop her before she could run away to even give it to her!"

Madoka finished tying her ribbons and looked at the mirror, making small adjustments on her clothes.

"She always has this melancholic aura around her and still tries to put a smile on as not to worry people." Madoka scoffed "she is an amazing person, and it feels more like I'm the one taking advantage of her to be honest"

Her mom placed a small smile as if she had finally understood something, Madoka unable to decipher the meaning behind it.

"So…" her mom started to speak "you only are making her lunch because you wanted to help, right? No other reason?"

Madoka looked at her mom with a confused expression.

"Well… yeah? We are friends after all" Madoka made a small pause before a nervous grin appeared on her face "Or atleast I think we are…"

"You also invited her to last Saturday study session, right?"

"Yes! She said she had fun too!"

Madoka thought back on the study session they had held. How Homura looked really cute in a casual outfit, how she saw the girl's angry expression after having explained the same thing to Sayaka for over twenty minutes… And how she had promised Madoka they would walk to school together...

Wait.

"OH NO!" lamented Madoka, her mother suddenly looking at her with a surprised face.

"Are you okay Madoka?" her mom looked worriedly at the girl.

"Homura-chan and I were going to walk to school together…" Madoka

"Where is the problem in that?" asked her mom, genuinely confused.

"We didn't choose a place to meet at" Madoka made a pause before letting her shoulders fall from the loss. "And I don't have her phone number either, so I can't tell her where to wait"

Madoka's mom froze for a second before she started laughing, Madoka didn't know it yet but her mom had already quite the clear idea about what her daughter was going through.

[-]

Madoka looked defeated as she was eating her breakfast, still thinking about the dumb mistake she had made two days prior. No, it was a mistake that went a few days back; she should have asked for Homura's phone number the moment she gave her the first lunch. If she had she wouldn't be in this situation.

"Did something happen?" Asked her dad as he set Tatsuya's food in front the little kid.

"She forgot to tell Akemi-san where to wait for her" Madoka's mom looked at her dad with a look that seemed to send all the information her father needed to understand the situation "And now she will have to wait until getting to class to see her"

"Madoka! Madoka! Mistake!" chanted her little brother, Madoka sinking deeper into her seat as even the 3 years old was mocking her.

"Homura-chan…" Madoka sighed "I always ask for people's Line IDs as soon as possible, how could I have forgotten to ask Homura-chan for hers!?"

The Kaname family kept eating breakfast, Madoka slowly accepting her mistake. After a while Madoka's mom looked at the clock before getting up from the table.

"I have to go now" she said, leaving her coffee mug in the sink.

"Isn't it a bit early?" Asked Madoka's dad, the time being around ten minutes earlier than usual.

"Yes…" she sighed "but the roadwork they've been doing since Friday has been making a bit of a traffic jam near the office. I don't want to risk it"

With that she gave her husband a goodbye kiss and Madoka a high five before heading out.

"Goodbye!" the rest of the Kaname family said in unison.

Madoka kept nibbling her strawberry jam toast before looking at the schoolbag that she had set on top of the kitchen counter, thinking about the lunch boxes she had prepared today. Maybe she could use the excuse of asking her if there was something she didn't like to get her number. No, she had already said she would be fine with anything she made… Maybe so that Madoka could tell her when she was sick so she knew she wasn't going to get her lunch. Yeah, that could work…

Though, getting sick…

Maybe Homura would visit her to see how she was? Homura would go into her room, Madoka being really weak from a fever…

Her ebony hair would fall on top of Madoka's face as Homura checked her temperature with her forehead…

These days it has been getting hotter, so maybe she would be sweating a lot. And maybe, only maybe, Homura would tell her to let her clean of her sweat…

And then while Madoka didn't have a shirt on-

"Madoka?" Madoka's thoughts were interrupted when suddenly her mom came back, peeking from the hallway a bit of a worried look on her face.

"Huh? W-What is it?" Madoka tried to hide her blush, why did she imagine that?!

"Your friend had long black hair, right?" Madoka's mom asked "Long legs? Kind of a cold look on her purple eyes? Has a purple earring?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?" Madoka had described Homura before, but had she described her in this detail?

"…" Madoka's mom pointed with her thumb towards the door "I think she is waiting outside"

"EH?!"

Madoka got up from the table and rushed towards the door, she quickly put on her shoes and got outside.

Sure enough, waiting out of the Kaname household was Homura. The girl was placed in such a way that for someone to see her they would need to completely get out of the house first, as she was using the house's fence to cover herself from the rising sun.

"Homura-chan?!" asked Madoka, still in shock. Homura looked at her before putting on a warm smile.

"Good morning, Madoka"

Homura and Madoka walked next to the small canal that led towards their school. Homura had been trying to walk a bit behind Madoka, but the girl had been adjusting her speed constantly just so they would stay next to each other. After a while, Homura had given up in that regard.

"You could have knocked on the door you know!" said Madoka, she had been lecturing Homura since they had gotten away from her house.

"I didn't want to bother your family so early in the morning"

In reality Homura had been thinking since she had reached Madoka's house about whether she should walk this morning with Madoka or if she should use the excuse of not having set a time and place to walk away from this one. As much as she had promised, she still wasn't sure if the Devil would try to take control of her once again. Sadly, as she was still thinking about what to do Madoka's mom came out of the house earlier than she had expected and gave away Homura's location.

"If something like that ever happens again" Madoka placed herself in front of Homura, completely cutting her off, a small pout on her face that made the girl look cute enough to almost make Homura blush "knock on the door, okay?"

Ah~ Madoka~ I will do whatever you want me to do.

"I- It won't happen again, sorry Madoka" said Homura, the Devil's voice making her flinch.

There she was, it felt less intruding than what she had gone through in Hell, but she could still feel the voice not being her own thoughts. It felt like the things that she had regarded as intrusive thoughts since she had made this new universe, so the Devil's influence had been there since the start?

"Anyways…" said Madoka as she placed herself besides Homura, a bit closer than she previously had, and looked a bit embarrassed "I'm still happy that you came…"

"I promised I would" said Homura, trying to focus as hard as she could on her own mind.

"Thanks"

Madoka fidgeted a bit, catching Homura's attention.

"I was thinking… Just so this doesn't happen again…"

Madoka pulled out her phone, grabbing it with more strength than was needed. She had never seen Madoka this nervous, or at least she didn't remember seeing her this nervous. A few of her memories felt weird ever since Madoka had ascended to godhood, and becoming a witch didn't really help in that regard.

"Maybe we should exchange phone numbers" Madoka looked up, her eyes meeting with Homura's "J-just so we can keep in touch in case something happens"

"Yes, that's a nice idea" said Homura, them being able to contact each other wouldn't be too bad. It wasn't like they would talk every single day, just the days some of their plans changed. And Homura also felt that denying the girl something by text would be way easier than doing it in person.

They exchanged numbers, Madoka kept a big smile afterwards looking at the 'I'm in your care' text Homura had sent her to start the chat between them. Homura wasn't much different, her smile more concealed yes, but a smile nonetheless.

They kept walking on complete silence, Homura too focused on the Devil to say anything and Madoka just giving the girl some side glances as she seemed to remember something embarrassing.

Go and hold her hand, she would look so cute with her face completely red~

No, Madoka had been clearly showing awkwardness when Homura had hugged her before. And this time the Law of Cycles wasn't doing anything, so there was no reason to touch Madoka and scare her.

She wouldn't be scared. Look at her! I'm sure that if we pulled out our glasses now, she would keep staring at us.

Homura tried to ignore the Devil, maybe starting a conversation with Madoka would help. Maybe if she didn't think much the Devil wouldn't be able to speak.

"I see that you are still wearing the ribbons I gave you" Homura said, a smile on her face.

Madoka stuttered a few times, surprised by the sudden conversation, before she raised her hand to touch the red ribbons that were tying her hair.

"Y-yeah" Madoka made a small pause, a smile that made Homura's heart skip a beat appearing on her face "They just feel… right"

"I'm glad you like them." Homura returned the smile "They look good on you"

Madoka's cheeks blushed, the girl's smile breaking into a nervous one.

"T-thanks" she made a small pause before looking at Homura "It looked nice on you too"

Madoka stopped to think for a second about what she had said, Homura looking at the girl waiting for her to clear her thoughts. She knew the words only came from kindness, nothing more.

"It's not that I don't like your current look! You-your headband also looks good on you of course!" finally said Madoka, who somehow felt smaller than usual before saying something in such a quiet voice that had Homura not been the devil she wouldn't have heard "Well, everything looks good on you…"

Madoka shook her head before walking a bit faster.

"W-we should hurry up. I don't want you to be late because of me" she chuckled.

And with that they both increased their speed as they reached the school grounds, people were starting to come into the school, and Madoka seemed to notice a pair in between the masses of people.

"Sayaka-chan! Kyoko-chan!" Madoka waved towards the duo, who turned around to see Madoka and Homura walking together a surprised look on both of them.

"Good morning, Sakura-san, Miki-san" said Homura, hoping that Miki Sayaka wouldn't try to start fight and was in the same mood she had been during their study session.

"Yo" said Kyoko, her surprised look quickly turning into a grin that gave off a 'I knew it' aura.

"G-good morning Madoka… and Akemi-san" said Sayaka before letting out a bit of a nervous laugh "I- I didn't expect you two to come together, hahaha…"

"Yeah" Kyoko made a small pause "I mean, I kind of expected this would happen. Just not so soon"

Kyoko gave Madoka a smug look before speaking up again.

"I guess pinky really went on the offensive huh"

"Madoka just asked me to accompany her to school" Homura interjected "I saw no reason to say no"

"Can you even say no to her?" asked Kyoko with one of her brows raised in a questioning glance "You've been having a week of just accepting what she says"

That was a good question. Homura was able to say no, even more if she knew saying no would benefit Madoka's happiness. But the Devil seemed to have other plans for her…

"Homura-chan is just really kind" said Madoka, cowering a bit "Even though I've been bothering her this whole week she didn't complain once"

Homura was about to deny what Madoka had just said, but Kyoko was way faster than her.

"Nah, she isn't like that" Kyoko looked at Homura "You've seen her talk with other people in class, right?"

"Ahh…" started Sayaka "Didn't she reject someone in front of everyone like two weeks ago?"

"Yeah" Kyoko laughed a bit, getting closer to Madoka "Don't you remember the guy crying right there? She didn't even take the letter he tried to give her"

The redhead smacked Madoka's back with an open hand, making Madoka tumble a few steps forward.

"So don't worry about that, the girl clearly doesn't mind speaking her mind" said Kyoko with a smile.

The convo seemed to work as Madoka's worried face turned into her usual happy expression. The girl nodding before looking back at Homura.

"Right, sorry I doubted you" said Madoka "I know you wouldn't lie to me, Homura-chan"

Homura felt all her sins going back to her. All the times she had lied to Madoka, even if it had been to protect her, suddenly rushing into her mind. She tried really hard to keep her composure together, though she was quite sure her hands were shaking a bit. Not only had she lied to her many times, this whole world itself was a lie.

Well, that one hurt huh. Even I could feel it.

"Thank you, Madoka. For trusting me" How much did those words pain her.

And you keep lying to her? Here I thought I was the devil here.

The group traded some smiles before beginning to walk towards class once more. Slowly Kyoko dragged Madoka away from Homura, while Sayaka stepped in. Homura started to get a bit nervous, she didn't know if she would be able to speak with Miki Sayaka without the Devil coming out.

She took a deep breath in preparation. As long as Sayaka was there to do her usual 'You are a demon' thing everything would be fine. A snarky comment here, maybe a smug look to irritate the bluenette more. That would be enough to calm Homura down and be able to take control of the Devil.

"Ey…" Sayaka said in almost a whisper "I wanted to apologize"

You even get Miki Sayaka's kindness? You are outdoing yourself Homura!

"Why?" Asked Homura, trying to ignore the Devil's voice. God, please let this be quick.

"Well, for this past month." Sayaka raised her voice a bit, but it was still quiet enough that only Homura should be able to hear her "Don't get me wrong, I don't think that what I did was wrong"

Oh~ Does the time traveler want her other friends back too?

Shut up.

"But I shouldn't have been such a… bully about it" Sayaka kept looking in front of her as she walked "I talked with Kyoko and she is right. You don't seem that bad"

I'm sure Miki Sayaka would be delighted to find about what you did too! Great, now you can disappoint two people at the same time!

I said, shut up. Go away.

"So yeah, if you want…" Sayaka looked at Homura's face "We can try to be friends, or something"

Hah! There it is. Go ahead, say yes, you want to say yes right~?

"Akemi-san?"

Are you really going to not answer her? What is it, are you embarrassed or something?

Leave me alone...

"Ey, are you ok?" Sayaka's face grew a worried expression, Homura looking down at the ground.

Just kidding. Of course, I know what's going on~

"Madoka!" Sayaka not knowing what to do called out to the pinkette, who turned around her expression quickly changing to a concerned one. "Akemi-san doesn't look well, maybe we should-"

You are scared, aren't you? Scared of relaxing too much around them. Scared that if you let your guard down something might happen. You are…

"Homura-chan!" Madoka started to run towards her.

Scared of me.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Homura screamed out loud, everyone coming to a stop with a mix of confusion and worry in their eyes.

"Homura-chan?" asked Madoka, the first one to try and get closer to the girl. But before she could reach her Homura spoke up again, this time in a quieter and colder voice. Her usual façade up.

"I'm sorry." She started to move ahead "I'll go to the infirmary to rest. Please go to class without me"

And with that Homura rushed past the group, not even Madoka trying to stop her.

The school bell rang, Sayaka stood up and headed towards a lonely looking Madoka. The girl had been like this since this morning, Saotome-sensei had even approached the girl after her class ended to see if she was okay. Probably more out of concern for the girl as a friend of her mother than just as a teacher.

"Madoka" said Sayaka, touching the girl on the shoulder so that she would pay attention to her "Should we go eat?"

A few seconds passed before Madoka nodded and got up from her seat. The girl bent down to get her school bag and started walking towards the door. Kyoko, who had joined them a second ago, looked at Sayaka and exchanged worried looks.

"What should we do?" said Sayaka, she really wasn't used to seeing Madoka like this.

"Can't do much" answered Kyoko "She is like this because of Akemi, and I'm guessing the girl is either in the infirmary or she has been sent home after all… that"

Sayaka had imagined many different scenarios that could happen when she apologized to Akemi Homura. The girl just accepting the apology without thinking any of it, the girl laughing at Sayaka, even an insult would have been appropriate. But the girl suddenly screaming like that…

It had been something she would have never imagined the cold looking girl to ever do.

"I really don't want Madoka to be like this all day" Sayaka sighed.

"I don't either" said Kyoko "But unless you are able to get Akemi here there is no way you are changing her mood"

Kyoko made a small pause before frowning.

"And I'm not even sure that would ease pinky's mind. She would probably keep being worried."

"Yeah…"

Sayaka had some memories of Madoka not letting anything that hurt someone be easily forgotten. The girl would often forget other things, often more important things, but if she saw someone having a problem she would ask that person if they were okay until she was completely certain that they were. It had happened before, the moment Madoka saw Hitomi and Kyosuke going out together it had taken two weeks of Sayaka saying she was already over it for her to stop asking.

And that had been only about a childhood crush. Seeing that Akemi clearly was having quite the psychological problems would probably mean either a really truthful answer from the girl or quite the good number of weeks of asking if she was okay.

The trio stopped at the door of the rooftop. Madoka went to turn the keys that hung from the door to unlock it.

The door didn't unlock. Instead, it opened a bit, the door had been already unlocked.

"Did we leave it open yesterday?" asked Kyoko.

It wasn't like they were the only ones that could go there. But the rest of the schoolgrounds, mainly the cafeteria, were so much comfier that people didn't really go to the rooftop. And the few that went felt like they were intruding in the group's private spot. Not wanting to break the unspoken rule of 'whoever got there first owns it' that the schoolyard had they never came back.

"No, I am pretty sure I closed it" said Sayaka, looking at Madoka.

Madoka finished opening the door, a small creak coming from the metal hinges.

Sitting on the bench they usually sat in was Akemi Homura. The girl looking through the golden fence and towards the horizon.

Madoka was frozen for a second before running towards the girl, her pace getting slower as she got closer. Probably rethinking what she was about to do.

"Homura-chan!" exclaimed Madoka a few steps away.

The girl answered by looking at Madoka in the eyes. A guilty look on her eyes sent a shiver down Sayaka's spine, as Akemi Homura spoke up while raising her two hands together.

"I'm sorry"

A clap was the last thing Sayaka heard.

[-]

The sun was hiding behind the clouds, though there was still enough light getting through to eat comfortably. Madoka was talking about how she had found Akemi outside her house waiting for her, an embarrassed smile on her face. Kyoko was lying down on a close-by bench, looking at the pink haired girl as she told her story.

A small buzzing sound playing on Sayaka's head, she massaged her forehead trying to make it go away. The sound quickly becoming smaller.

Right, they had been eating their lunch for a few minutes now. Madoka and Akemi had come together to school, but the raven-haired girl had to miss the first three periods as a teacher called her to sort some legal paperwork. So, when they came into the rooftop Akemi was already waiting there, not having wanted to go into the middle of class and interrupt the lesson.

Madoka seemed to finish venting about how Akemi should have called her if she was in front of her house, and turned to face Sayaka who had stopped eating and was had a bit of lost gaze.

"Are you okay, Sayaka-chan?"

"Huh? Ah… yeah" Sayaka said before she brought another piece of fried chicken to her mouth. Something felt wrong, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"Maybe it's the stress from the upcoming tests" said Akemi, one of those smiles that only Madoka could seem to read plagued her face "Have you been resting properly, Miki-san?"

"Maybe not" sighed Sayaka "I guess you are right. I should try to relax more; my head feels like it's about to explode"

"I don't know about that. You were sleeping pretty deeply" Kyoko changed her posture on the bench, sitting instead of lying down, and faced the group "I had to turn off YOUR alarm this morning after all"

"Someone not waking up from loud noises can signal a deep tiredness. Trust me on these things" Akemi signaled to her own eyebags that never seemed to go away "I know a bit about being tired"

"You should sleep too!" said Madoka, a small frown on her face. "You shouldn't be tired all the time, Homura-chan"

"Thank you for worrying about me, Madoka" Akemi gave the girl a smile, it seemed to be a real one from Madoka's expression. "But I'm fine, really"

Akemi looked at Sayaka, an expression that somehow felt wrong showing on her face: a soothing one.

"Maybe you should try to take a small nap here, Miki-san" said Akemi "There still are around thirty minutes left of lunch break, we will wake you up"

Why was Akemi so friendly with her? Had something happened? Maybe Madoka had a talk with her as she had done with Sayaka? Or was it…

Oh right, Sayaka had apologized this morning to her. And Akemi had accepted her idea of them trying to become friends. Even if it had only been like that because of Madoka, it still meant the two wouldn't really have to fight anymore. And Madoka seemed to be happy about it too, so there really wasn't any downside.

"I'll try, thanks" Sayaka finished the small amount of food that she had left and went to lie down on one of the benches, using her schoolbag as a pillow.

Consciousness quickly left her body, the echo of a clap still ringing in her ears.

A/N: A bit of a shorter chapter, I know, but it felt right to end it there.

Current date: Monday 12th, May.

Finally got the account for ao3 so I decided to post this here. Just so you all are in the same page as the other webpage, the next chapter is tomorrow Saturday 10th at around 20:00 GMT

Chapter Text

Madoka opened the door to her room. She was wearing her light pink pajamas, her hair untied and a smile on her face as she merrily skipped over to her bed. She almost threw herself into it before taking her phone from the bedside table and unlocking it. She looked at the phone for a few seconds, typed something and waited before sending it.

A small blush appeared on her cheeks, the girl trying to take deep breaths to calm herself before sending the message. The girl closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again and pressing send.

The devil’s phone buzzed inside her pocket, making her look away from the sight of Madoka’s room on her dark orb.

“Homura-chan, are you awake?” the text said.

“Yes, what is it Madoka?”

“We are going to have a tea party with Sayaka-chan and Kyouko-chan on a new friend’s house this Wednesday, do you want to come?”

A small pause happened, Homura not replying yet as she could see Madoka still typing.

“I would like you to come (≧◡≦)” 

A small happy smile appeared on the devil’s face, who quickly replied.

“I appreciate the invitation, Madoka. Sadly, I have things to do. I hope you can understand”

Inside the dark orb Homura could see Madoka moving around her bed before sitting up, her smile smaller than it was. The ‘typing…’ message didn’t leave Homura’s screen, Madoka was typing and deleting what she had written constantly. A few seconds later Madoka sent a message and sighed.

“I understand. Sorry for bothering you (｡•́︿•̀｡)”

“You didn’t bother me at all, Madoka.” Quickly replied Homura.

“(＠＾◡＾)”

A few seconds later another message from Madoka came.

“By the way Homura-chan. Are you okay for tomorrow’s test?”

“I’m kind of scared of the harder math problems (×﹏×)” Madoka quickly added.

“A bit. But I feel like after last Saturday’s study session I should be okay” replied Homura.

“I’m glad ( ´ ω ` )”

Madoka typed something, but didn’t send it. Homura looked inside her dark orb, Madoka was holding her phone close to her blushed face. Did the girl have a fever?

After almost half a minute Madoka sent the message.

“Good night, Homura-chan”

Homura couldn’t hold a smile from forming.

“Sleep well, Madoka.”

And with that Madoka left her phone on top of the bedside table before going to sleep. Homura did a small wrist motion and the image of Madoka vanished from her dark orb.

She got up from the white chair that rested too close to the half hill’s edge, turned around and started walking a bit towards the small flower park. It had been almost a week since the last time she actually checked on the grief levels of Hell, she should go there and see how it was going. The last thing she wanted was for there to be too much grief and wraiths, or worse, to appear around the world.

But going inside Hell would mean the Devil could try to interact with Homura, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen. Homura really didn’t know what the limit of that Devil was, nor how much power she had.

Maybe she could call Ibari or Warukuchi to come back from the dimension and tell her how things were going. But she feared that the two dolls would see this a sign of weakness, they had attacked her (even if just with tomatoes) when the Devil appeared in her dimension. And if what Reiketsu told her was true, which probably was as she wasn’t one to lie, Ibari had told the other doll that Homura was weak. Something that she expected more from the slanderer that was Warukuchi.

Homura sighed before taking a deep breath and transforming into her devil’s clothes. She stood for a few seconds looking at the white flowers that decorated the park. Homura closed her eyes and tried to steel her resolve, when she opened them back again her usual stoic look was on her face.

Her wings embraced her and in less than a second she was no longer in the park, but in the dimension filled with white sand and debris that she called Hell.

She walked towards the orb of grief that was floating in the center of the dimension, the small pond that was below it had grown in size since last week but it felt a bit smaller than during that Sunday morning.

Inside one of the buildings Homura could see her dolls burning a small pile of Incubators, probably the ones that had died from the amounts of grief they had to consume. The dolls noticed Homura and walked towards her.

“Ibari, what’s the situation?” said Homura, her voice trying to imitate that of a leader.

“S̵i̵x̷ ̵i̸n̷c̷u̴b̶a̴t̶o̸r̸s̶ ̶h̴a̷v̵e̸ ̸d̶i̴e̴d̷ ̸t̷h̶i̸s̵ ̵w̴e̸e̸k̸.̷ ̸T̵h̷e̴r̷e̶ ̸i̸s̴ ̸t̶o̸o̵ ̴m̸u̶c̵h̵ ̸g̷r̸i̶e̸f̵ ̶f̸o̵r̷ ̵t̷h̶e̷m̷” said Ibari, her back completely straight.

“T̷h̷e̷ ̴u̷s̶e̷l̴e̷s̵s̴ ̴t̵h̶i̵n̵g̷s̴ ̸c̷a̵n̵'̵t̴ ̵e̸v̵e̴n̵ ̶t̵a̸k̴e̸ ̵t̵h̵i̸s̶ ̸l̵i̶t̷t̴l̸e̸ ̷g̸r̸i̸e̸f̵” added Warukuchi with a laugh.

Six incubators dying was a problem. That was three times the amount that had died during the first month of this universe. Homura looked at the pond of grief (which resembled more of a small lake now) and focused on it.

 After a few seconds two new Lotte emerged. Ibari looked at the new familiars, her smile turning into a ‘frown’ if that’s what you could call that expression.

“L̴e̶t̸ ̴u̶s̷ ̴c̶o̶n̶s̴u̵m̵e̷ ̷t̵h̵e̶ ̸g̵r̵i̶e̷f̷,̸ ̵M̸o̵t̸h̵e̷r̶.̵” said Ibari, her usually demanding tone sounding more like a plea. “L̶e̶t̷ ̶u̷s̴ ̷g̴r̷o̵w̵”

“No” said Homura, Ibari couldn’t hold back an angry expression. Still, she couldn’t defy Homura or at least not by herself. “There is no need for you to consume it. I’ll be taking care of it”

Warukuchi laughed at her sister, winning a look that could kill from Ibari.

“I̵b̸a̵r̸i̶ ̶i̸s̵ ̸a̸n̴g̵r̷y̶ ̴s̵h̸e̶ ̷w̶o̵n̷'̷t̸ ̵b̸e̶ ̸t̷h̴e̴ ̶f̴i̵r̷s̸t̴ ̴o̵n̶e̵ ̶t̶o̸ ̸g̵r̸o̴w̶” said Warukuchi. “T̸h̵e̵ ̶o̶l̴d̵e̸s̸t̶ ̸w̸o̶n̷'̶t̷ ̷b̷e̸ ̷t̵h̸e̴ ̴f̷i̶r̶s̴t̶ ̵o̸n̵e̵ ̴f̷u̴f̸u̴f̸u̵f̶u̸”

Homura turned towards the orb of grief, letting the two Clara Dolls fight each other for a while. She looked inside it, the despair that was filling it almost calling to her. A sensation she knew all too well from when she had become a witch.

She really didn’t like to use this despair to create more of her familiars. What seemed like a simple transaction actually meant having to transform the general despair into her own, and every single time she did she could feel memories from when she had been a witch. It made her remember the day Madoka had come to save her. The day she should have died before she had done what she did.

“Self-loathing? You are quite good at it, kind of getting old though.” said a familiar voice.

Homura turned around, sitting in one chair that wasn’t there before was the Devil cutting her illusory nails. A grin on her face, she turned towards Homura.

“What do you want” asked Homura, a demanding tone on her voice. The two dolls had stopped fighting and were now looking at them.

“Nothing! Just wanted to say I liked what you did today.” The Devil finished with the nails on one hand “That’s a nice way to protect Madoka, change their memories over and over again until she is happy. Though I guess I wouldn’t have given her such a memory in the first place.”

“And whose fault do you think it is?” Homura scoffed.

“Mine. And proud of it I am” the Devil looked towards the small lake of despair that had been getting smaller. “Kinda had to take more desperate measures. I was running out of time”

Homura didn’t say anything, just stood there looking at the Devil. What did she exactly mean with that? Was she somehow related to the amount of grief there was? Or was this just a misdirection on her part?

“I don’t have a reason to lie, you know” said the Devil once more, having finished with her nails “Congratulations, you’ve won this time.”

“Hard to believe coming from someone like you” said Homura as she looked at the two dolls with a side look.

“Don’t you mean ‘someone like me’?” the devil got up from her chair and walked towards Homura “As I’ve said, you’ve won. This time. There is a lot of grief in the world, and one day you will drop your defenses just enough.”

“And?” said Homura, trying not to take a step back as the Devil invaded her personal space.

“And then you will be the one in the back of the labyrinth that’s your mind” The devil leaned into her ear, whispering “And I will be the one with Madoka.”

With that the Devil disappeared.

Tomoe Mami was in the middle of class, less than five minutes for it to end. It was third period, math class. She was sure the teacher was probably teaching something important. Or maybe he would be saying something about what would go into the test they were having this Friday. Sadly, the blonde girl was too busy thinking about how to present herself to Kaname’s friends.

The pinkette had told her they would be going to her house this Wednesday, tomorrow, but that they should meet before. And since they all went to the same school that if Mami wanted she could come eat with them.

Mami obviously accepted this proposal in an instant. She replied so quickly that Mami thought during the whole night if she had sounded too desperate.

And was it really her fault? If it hadn’t been because of Nagisa she would have been completely alone. Being able to talk with people her age really made her happy. And obviously she had a plan.

They were just a year younger than her. Sure, it wasn’t much when it came to life experience, but she was still their senpai. And by God she was going to act as one. She could help them with their studies, become someone they can go to vent about whatever was hurting them. Everything a senpai does. Or atleast, everything she thought one does.

I’m Tomoe Mami, a third-year student. Pleased to meet everyone.

No, maybe a bit more friendly?

Hello, I’m Tomoe Mami. I’m a third year, happy to meet everyone!

Still didn’t feel right, way too energetic for the image she was aiming to.

It’s a pleasure to meet everyone. My name is Tomoe Mami, a third year.

Maybe this one? Wait should she add something about her?

Pleasure to meet everyone, my name is Tomoe Mami. I’m a third year and I love making tea and baking.

Isn’t that too long? And kind of weird to say what she did in her free time out of the blue actually.

The school bell got her out of her mind. And with it came a feeling of anxiety, what if Kaname’s friends weren’t as friendly as the girl was? What if they told Kaname to leave Mami alone? Oh god, her hands were trembling.

She walked towards Kaname had told her to go, the school rooftop. She was used to just eating in class, so she could see a few gazes from her classmates as it was the first time she got up and went somewhere else. Not that anyone asked her, they just thought of her as a good student but one that didn’t really talk much.

Mami went up the stairs, after a few floors the sound of other students was completely gone only her own steps making sound. She reached the door; it was a bit open letting some light come through. She took a deep breath and stepped outside.

“Mami-san!” Kaname quickly got up from her seat and rushed towards Mami, grabbing the girl’s hands and pulling her towards the group.

Another three girls were sitting there. One of them had been sitting next to Kaname, a girl with long ebony hair and cold purple eyes her expression didn’t change when Mami entered the rooftop. Another had been sitting on the other side of Kaname, short blue hair and a similarly colored eyes accompanied the still smiling girl. The last girl wasn’t sitting, instead she had been talking with the rest as she walked around the rooftop, probably uncomfortable enough from all the sitting they already had to do in class. The redhead was the first one to speak, a surprised expression on her face.

“So, it WAS you!” the redhead exclaimed, Mami now realized the girl did seem familiar. “You are the sister of that cheese obsessed kid, aren’t ya?”

Something clicked on Mami’s head.

“Ah! You are the clerk from the convenience store by the station” said Mami, the girl did look a bit different without the green uniform.

“You knew each other?” asked the blue girl.

“Yeah, I talked to you ‘bout her” said the redhead “Don’t you remember? The two girls that wanted cheese but we didn’t have any on display?” 

The bluenette went into a thinking expression, clearly trying to remember. After a few seconds she hit her open hand with her fist and opened her eyes.

“Right! That was last week” she finally said.

“It’s good that you two already know each other!” exclaimed Kaname, a smile on her face. “Well, let’s present everyone”

“Sakura Kyouko” said the redhead “Glad to meet ya”

“Miki Sayaka” said the bluenette “Madoka said you were pretty, I guess she wasn’t lying”

Everyone looked at the ebony haired girl, who slowly left her lunch on the bench she had been sitting on before looking at Mami. And with a small bow she talked.

“I’m Akemi Homura, pleased to meet you” her voice seemed cold, almost the exact opposite that was Kaname.

“Homura-chan is a bit shy” added Kaname, Akemi clearly reacting to what she said as a bit of a blush didn’t go unnoticed by Mami “But she is a good girl”

Mami looked at everyone and placed one of her gentle and refined smiles that she had practiced in front of the mirror.

“I’m Tomoe Mami, a third year. It’s a pleasure to meet everyone”

Everyone sat back once more, the previous conversation they were having coming back. Mami sat next to Miki, trying to not make obvious she didn’t feel comfortable sitting next to Akemi and pulled out her own lunch: a set of sandwiches. One was a tuna-mayo sandwich while the other was a normal ham and cheese, two sandwiches cut in half each.

Mami tried to listen into their conversation, looking for a small pause to try and let herself in.

“Man, the last three problems were impossible to solve” complained Miki, the bluenette had a defeated look on her face as she leaned forwards to try and take a look at Akemi. “Did you solve them Akemi-san?”

“Yes.” She picked up a piece of octopus sausage from her lunch box, which now that Mami looked it was identical to Kaname’s “I think I solved correctly, at the very least I should get a 85 or more”

Miki sighed “And here I was being happy I might get a 60 or something”

Akemi let out a small smile, Kaname giving her a side look as if trying to ascertain the nature of said smile. Mami took the silence as an opportunity to speak.

“So, you had a math test today?” asked Mami, trying to cling to the easy conversation topic.

“Yeah…” said Miki, who now turned to look at Mami “I’m honestly happy we’ve finished with the derivates now. I don’t want to look at them ever again”

“Sadly, for you” started Akemi “We are learning integrals next, so I hope you don’t forget the derivates, because you are going to need them”

Miki just let out a big groan as she let herself sink into the bench, Kaname patting the girl on the back to try and make her feel better.

“I’m sure we can ask Hitomi to teach you again” said Kaname. “She wouldn’t mind”

“Yeah, only if we can get a hold of her” Sayaka got up from her seat and did some warm ups to get blood flowing “It’s recital season, both for her and Kyosuke, so good luck”

“I can help you” interjected Mami “I’m already a third year, and I have good scores.”

“You would?” asked Miki

“Of course, I have a lot of free time right now” said Mami, putting on a delicate smile.

“Thank you, Tomoe-senpai!” exclaimed Miki, the word ‘senpai’ echoing on Mami’s ears. “Having a third year teach me makes me feel way safer”

“Everyone else is also invited, of course” added Mami, seeing this as a great opportunity to hang out more with them.

“Thank you, Mami-san!” said Madoka “I’m honestly looking forward to this Wednesday, I really want to see your house!”

“Oh right, we were going there this Wednesday” added Sakura, the girl was eating some potato chips. “I will have to go earlier than everyone though, I gotta work”

“That’s a shame…” said Mami

“We can always get together some other day!” said Madoka with a smile “I-it doesn’t have to be in your house again of course”

Mami shook her head.

“I don’t mind. It makes the house look a bit livelier”

“So, is everyone going this Wednesday?” asked Miki, looking at Akemi who let out a small sigh before answering.

“No, I have things to do that day” she made a small pause “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be” said Kaname, looking with a tender smile at the girl “I’ve been asking you to do way too many things this past week”

“Yeah” added Miki “You live by yourself, right? It’s normal if you are busy. Don’t feel bad because you can’t this time.”

“Besides,” Sakura started “It’s not like you would need a reason. If you don’t feel like it then don’t do it”

“Thank you for understanding” finished Akemi, who went back to her food. The girl did take her time with each bite, was it that good? Or was she just a slow eater?

The group kept eating, the conversations coming and going. Mami wasn’t sure why, but her lunch tasted better than it ever had.

The sun was out, having most of the sky for itself as this had been the first time in a few days that there were no clouds trying to take his dominion. The heat was still bearable, mainly because it was seven in the morning, but the weather forecast had said to expect temperatures in the 34 range by midday. The path they were taking had quite the amount of sunlight, and it was completely empty as people preferred to search for the shadows.

However, all this didn’t matter for Madoka, who was already feeling quite warm inside as she walked towards school together with Homura. The raven-haired girl had finally stopped trying to walk behind her, and not only that but there was almost a bit of a spring to her steps. And it wasn’t like Madoka had memorized her face or anything, but she could swear her usual eye bags were smaller than usual.

“Is something on my face, Madoka?” asked Homura, her eyes showing a bit of worriedness, as she turned to look at Madoka.

“N-no!” she tried to quickly change topics, not wanting to have to explain why she had been looking at the girl “You seem happier than usual, Homura-chan”

The girl’s eyes widened just a bit, enough for Madoka to understand she was surprised. Homura looked onwards before closing her eyes for a second. The tiniest of smiles appearing on her face made Madoka’s heart skip a beat.

“Yes…” said Homura, a voice with more joy than usual accompanying her words “Some problems I had are now gone, so I guess I am happy about that”

The way she had phrased it meant Madoka wasn’t going to get more information even if she tried to. Even then the details didn’t matter that much, Homura was happy and that was more than enough to make Madoka happy too.

“That’s good.” Madoka’s smile widened, Homura turning to look at her “You know, you can still come with us this afternoon if you want”

Homura averted her gaze from Madoka, clearly trying to avoid looking at her in the eyes as she spoke.

“As I’ve said, I have things to do.” She made a small pause “I’m really sorry Madoka, I would love to go but…”

Madoka’s smile changed from her full of happiness smile to a gentler and understanding one. A bit of worry started to raise inside the pinkette’s soul. She stopped and looked at Homura, who after noticing she was leaving Madoka behind turned around to look at her.

“Madoka?”

“Homura-chan, you are lying right?” 

Homura took a moment to think, Madoka was sure she had seen her eyes widened just the tiniest bit. Madoka knew that it might be just a hunch, but the way Homura was dismissing the idea of everyone getting together felt like a familiar lie. It felt like she was trying to get away from them, trying not to get too involved with the group.

“I do have things to do” repeated Homura, Madoka pierced her with her eyes trying to discern something. Her smile was completely gone now, a completely serious look on her face instead.

“You also had to do things last Saturday but ended up coming anyways didn’t you?” Madoka didn’t wait for an answer, quickly adding more as her feelings started to get out “You are saying the exact same thing you did last week, Homura-chan”

Once more Homura didn’t answer, instead she just looked at Madoka with her cold stare. Maybe that would have weakened her resolve a week ago. Maybe someone else would be scared of that look. But Madoka had realized something over the past month, and her hunches had been confirmed during this past week.

Whenever Homura doesn’t know what to say, she just places that stoic look of hers on her face and doesn’t say anything instead of stuttering or trying to get time by saying meaningless things. She probably uses this time to think of an answer, but if Madoka is right this means Homura is in fact lying. Or at least she isn’t saying everything.

“I want to study for the chemistry test” finally said Homura, the stare down between the two seemed to have lasted forever but it probably was just two or three seconds.

“But you were helping Kyouko without any problem during the study session, right?” Madoka went into a thinking expression as she took a few steps towards Homura. “Actually, didn’t you get a 100 on the last chemistry test? You know a lot about chemicals Homura-chan”

Homura held her left arm, almost as if trying to grab something that wasn’t there, and looked to the ground. The image of the girl felt too familiar to Madoka, a feeling of pain and sadness started to drown her other emotions.

“I don’t think it really matters.” Finally spoke Homura, still looking at the ground.

“You can tell me, Homura-chan” Madoka bent over a bit, trying to get into the field of vision of the raven-haired girl, who tried to look away from the pinkette’s face.

“I just… I don’t really feel like meeting more people right now” finally said Homura still holding her left arm, gaze completely averted from Madoka. “Sakura-san and Miki-san are fine since we are in the same classroom, I’m used to them”

Madoka wasn’t sure if that really was the reason, but it did make sense. The girl had been completely alone for the whole month before Madoka finally got a hold of her, and it probably had been like that before too. And even if it wasn’t, the other option; that Homura was trying to separate herself from the group hurt too much to not let herself be convinced by this.

Madoka let out a big sigh.

“Thank God” Madoka took a few steps away from Homura, giving the girl back her personal space. “I honestly was starting to think that you were trying to slowly get away from me”

Homura didn’t answer, instead just looked at Madoka with a bit of surprise in her eyes.

“I know that Kyouko-chan said you don’t have a problem speaking your mind” Madoka kept talking, her hands behind her back as she fidgeted a bit and turned around as to not look at Homura “But I still couldn’t shake the feeling that you were trying to stay distanced from me so you could easily run away one day”

Madoka could feel some tears starting to come through, she knew it had all been just a bad thought in her mind. She knew Homura wouldn’t suddenly disappear and leave her behind. But it really wasn’t Madoka being left behind what hurt her the most.

It was imagining Homura alone. It was seeing Homura crying and there not being anyone to console her. The vision of Homura in her room, the girl lying on her bed crying as she held a red ribbon close to her chest wouldn’t go away. The scenarios she had imagined gave her a tightness in her chest that felt more real than it should had.

Madoka turned to look at Homura, the thoughts of her disappearing making her uneasy enough to make her check she was still behind her. Homura’s eyes widened a bit as she saw Madoka crying.

“I… I really don’t want to lose you.” Said Madoka between sobs “I don’t want to see you alone anymore, Homura-chan”

Homura took a step forward, her arm twitching as she raised it a bit before dropping it back to where it was. Yet no words came out of the girl, who was too focused on looking at the distraught Madoka.

“So please, don’t l-lie to me about dumb things li-like these okay?” Madoka’s voice started to crack, words being harder and harder to say as she went on. “If you don’t fe-feel like hanging out one day, just say you don’t hav-have the energy”

“Madoka…” were the only words that came out of Homura’s mouth as she kept approaching the crying girl. A face full of pain and emotion that didn’t try to hide anything plagued Homura, a face that even if it was the first time Madoka was seeing it, felt oddly familiar.

Madoka couldn’t hold her emotions any longer, her crying having broken her completely she rushed towards Homura, dropped her schoolbag on the ground, and opened her arms to give her a tight hug. Madoka pressed her head on the girl’s shoulder and tried to keep talking between her sobs.

“I really don’t want you to disappear…” Madoka clung harder to the still unreactive girl “I… I know it’s a really selfish wish… I know I don’t really know you…”

Madoka pressed herself more into the girl’s shoulder, she could feel one of Homura’s hair strands lightly grazing her head.

“But it… it really hurts whenever I think about you being alone” Madoka felt Homura’s arms moving a bit “So please… please don’t go anywhere by yourself”

Madoka kept clinging to the girl, the only sounds that could be heard were her crying and her heart that had started to race as she had let her feelings flow completely free. She could feel Homura’s chest raise as the girl took a deep breath, her arms began to move and soon enough Madoka could feel her body being embraced by the slightly taller girl.

Homura’s hug started as a gentle one, almost unsure of what to do, but quickly became a tight one that tried to pull Madoka even closer than she already was. Homura rested her head over Madoka’s still crying one and began to speak, Madoka being able to feel Homura’s breaths on her hair.

“Sorry for worrying you Madoka. I didn’t know this was how you felt” said Homura, an uncharacteristic gentle voice coming from her “I promise you…”

Homura held the girl tighter, almost as if trying to reassure herself from her own words. Her previously gentle tone was now filled with determination, the kind of reassurance someone would use when making an important promise.

“I won’t leave your side again” she made a small pause and slowly pulled away from the girl, still holding Madoka’s shoulders with her hands as she looked into the pink eyes of the girl. A glow of determination filled Homura’s own purple eyes. “Whatever it takes, I will make sure we are together”

Madoka froze for a few seconds. Her crying came to a halt, only a few tears finishing the fall they had already started, her heart slowly calming down, all she could see right now was Homura’s determined eyes, the promise she had made echoing in her mind, the only external sound she could hear being the river they were following to school.

A wide smile appeared on Madoka’s face; the girl used her hands to dry off some of the tears before completely pulling away from Homura.

“Thank you, Homura-chan” Madoka made a small pause before letting out a small chuckle “I guess I kinda ruined your mood with all this, sorry”

“You don’t have to be” Homura quickly denied “I’m happy that you told me this”

The ebony haired girl took out a purple handkerchief and handed it to Madoka, who took it and started to dry her tear ridden face with it as she whispered a small “Thank you”.

They spent a few more seconds calming down there before they kept walking towards school. Both now with a smile on their face, though Madoka obviously was showing it more. Ten minutes later they had reached the school gates, very few people now coming in as classes were about to start; their little talk had made them get there a bit later than usual.

Kyouko opened the door of the rooftop, not even noticing it was already unlocked, and walked to the bench she usually lied down on without even noticing Tomoe Mami was already there waiting for them. She almost threw herself on the bench, had it not been made out of stone she wouldn’t have slowed down, with her schoolbag still in her hand. She let out a long sigh, as the rest of the group walked in.

Tomoe looked at them with a bit of a questioning look in regards to Kyouko, but the redhead was way too tired to even notice it. And had she actually noticed she didn’t have the energy to say something.

“Good morning, Mami-san!” said Madoka, the pink girl waited in front of the door until Akemi had also crossed it before moving towards the bench.

“Morning, Kaname-san” said Tomoe, Kyouko wasn’t looking but she was sure the blond girl probably was doing one of those gentle and elegant smiles she seemed to always wear.

“Hello Tomoe-senpai” said Sayaka, the bluenette having finally entered the rooftop. “Sorry about that Kyouko not even saying hello”

“Oh, it really doesn’t matter, she seems tired”

“I want to go home already man…” lamented Kyouko as she turned around to face the group “I can’t stand doing two tests back-to-back, it’s tiring AND boring”

The rest of the group took a seat next to Tomoe, Kyouko’s attention was caught as she could swear Akemi and Madoka were sitting closer than usual, they usually left enough space for another person in between, but this time Madoka had sat so close to Akemi that if one of them had happened to be left-handed they would have run into a few problems. She didn’t know what could have happened between them in just one day, but it sure as fuck could be entertaining to tease the Madoka for the information.

“You know” started saying Kyouko as she sat upright “Is it my imagination or have you two been sticking to one another since this morning?”

“Eh?” said Madoka, who was in the middle of opening her lunch box.

Since Tomoe was in the way Sayaka bent forwards to try and take a look at the pair, one or two seconds later she spoke.

“Now that you mention it…” Sayaka raised a pensative finger, her eyes closing as she went deep into thought for a moment “When we walked here it did seem like they were stuck to each other”

Madoka’s cheeks started to steal Kyouko’s color palette, the girl’s fingers dancing around the cover of her lunch box for a bit as she mumbled incoherent reasons. Madoka looked at Kyouko, though her eyes didn’t stay looking at her long enough for her words to come out. Akemi on the other hand had started eating and didn’t seem to even be paying attention to the conversation, focusing entirely on the lunch Madoka had given her.

“I think We’ve been just like always…” the girl said, with how quickly she retreated into the bench and how small she looked there obviously was more to it.

But instead of Kyouko or Sayaka speaking it was Tomoe the one who shot the next bullet at the pinkette.

“Oh! That’s right, I think I saw both of you on the way here…” Tomoe made a small pause, trying to think of the exact situation.

Meanwhile Madoka’s blushing had gone way deeper, the girl seemed smaller than usual almost as if someone had reduced her overall size so they could hold her between their hands. Kyouko seeing that what Tomoe said was the correct direction to take the questions in she threw herself into the mix to try and embarrass the pinkette more.

“What’s with your face being all red Madoka~” Kyouko put up a big grin, she knew that Madoka clearly had feelings for Akemi; The only thing she wasn’t sure of was if Akemi actually had romantic feelings for her or if it was just all platonic “Did you remember something?”

Kyouko got up from the bench and approached Madoka with small steps, each one of them seemed to make Madoka smaller as she slowly ate a bit of her salad to try and cool her head off. With the way she was approaching the pinkette it almost looked like a tiger trying to hunt its prey.

“I saw them from too far away” finally sighed Mami, going back to eat her lunch “I only know I saw them by the riverside”

“Huuuh~” said Kyouko as she finally reached Madoka, she was almost on top of the poor girl. She would press just a little bit more, this was giving her back all the energy she had lost on the tests “What were you two doing there all alone, Madoka~”

“Ahahaa…” Madoka weakly laughed “I- I don’t remember… I guess the tests made me forget ahahaha…”

“Let’s see… Maybe I can help you remember!” Kyouko’s smile grew into a devilish one, just a little bit more. “Maybe the smell of lavender?”

Madoka made a small little jump, reacting to those words.

“A tight embrace…” Kyouko kept going, throwing random ideas at the girl whose blush had completely overtaken her whole face. Kyouko bent closer to the girl, whispering the next one so only she could hear her.

“Maybe… some soft lips?” Madoka’s whole body jumped, even if it wasn’t true the pinkette clearly had had a reaction as she probably imagined herself in that situation.

“I believe that’s enough, Sakura-san” Akemi finally spoke, looking at Kyoko with a piercing side look as she used one arm to slowly push Kyoko away from the blushing Madoka.

Kyouko walked back to her bench, picking up her schoolbag and digging in it to find her lunch; a nice lunchbox she had prepared this morning.  “Yeah, yeah. I was just playing around”

“Are you okay, Madoka?” asked Akemi to the still blushing girl, though Kyouko was pretty sure that with how close Akemi had leaned to look at Madoka’s face to ask the question she had made her blush more.

“Y-yeah!” Madoka put on a smile, trying to hide her embarrassment “Ar-are you liking today’s lunch Homura-chan? I wasn’t sure how well the salad would be kept inside my schoolbag”

“Yes, it’s very good Madoka” the girl replied with a small warm smile.

Sayaka let out a small sigh before leaning forwards to look at them, she was already half way through her lunch; the bluenette seemed to be eating faster since they started to live together. Maybe Kyouko’s fast eating habits were rubbing off of her somehow?

“Sorry about that, Akemi-san” started saying Sayaka “She can get insufferable whenever she is bored”

“I don’t mind personally, Miki-san” started Akemi, a small grin appearing on her face “Besides, it was fun seeing Madoka like that”

“Ho-Homura-chan?!” said Madoka, her blush quickly reappeared as she looked up from her lunch.

“That’s a bit sadist, don’t you think?” said Sayaka with half a smile.

Akemi only shrugged in response before going back to her lunch, Madoka kept staring at the girl with a surprised face for a few seconds before going back to eat. They kept eating, only comparing the different answers they had given on their tests before Tomoe finally spoke up about something else that wasn’t related to school.

“So, Akemi-san isn’t coming today, right?” asked Tomoe as she finished her lunch.

“Yes, I’m sorry” said Akemi, she had placed her usual cold looking face at one point while they were talking about the tests.

“You really don’t have to worry” said Tomoe, a gentle smile on her face “I hope you can come next time”

There was a small moment of silence as the ebony haired girl finally spoke.

“Yes, I hope so” she said, Madoka looking at her with an understanding smile. There had definitely happened something between the two, but now Kyouko was kind of thinking it had had less to do with a romantic situation and more with an actual concern between the two.

 “Now that I think about it” started speaking Sayaka “Other than last Saturday we haven’t hung out at all outside the school with Akemi-san huh”

“If you all have been having tests then it makes sense” said Tomoe, the girl bringing a hand up to her face as she went into a thinking pose “You still have one tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah…” said Kyouko, the energy she had gotten from teasing Madoka going away with that reminder “The chemistry one at that. I just want to relax man”

Tomoe let out a small chuckle before she looked at Kyouko and spoke up.

“You can do that at my home today then” she picked up her schoolbag as they all prepared to get back to class “I’ve made a lot of cheesecake, so I hope you will be hungry after school”

The rest of the day passed like a dream, Kyouko only being able to think on the promised handmade cheesecake she was going to eat that afternoon.

A/N: Next chapter comes the tea party, let’s see the group relax on Mami’s apartment.

Current Date: 14^th of May

Chapter Text

The afternoon sun stood high in the sky, its heat pouring down on Mami as she waited in front of the school gates of Mitakihara Middle School. Those that didn’t have club activities had started to leave the building, some in small groups others by themselves. Mami would have been part of the ‘by themselves’ groups usually, but today it was different. Today she was going to go back home with friends.

A small subconscious smile appeared on Mami’s face. This had been the first time since she could remember that friends were coming over, and she had prepared the house for such an important event. Not only had she baked an amazing cheesecake, in which she didn’t hold back to get good ingredients even if she shouldn’t have, she had bought the tea she liked most to celebrate, she had cleaned the house to a most impeccable state (going so far as to do yet another pass this morning before going to school), and she had brought out the fanciest tea set she had.

She was waiting for her friends, they seemed to be taking their sweet time to get out of class. Our maybe it was just Mami’s perception of time being a mess due to her nerves and how hyped up she made herself for today.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and made sure to have her gentle face on.

“I really hope nothing goes wrong today…”

A glimpse of pink hair caught her attention as she saw Kaname and the rest getting out of the school. The group, well except Akemi as far as Mami could tell, seemingly laughing at something that Sakura had said.

After a few seconds the group noticed Mami waiting for them in the gates. Kaname was the first one to speak, still a bit far away, as she looked at Mami with a warm smile.

“Hello, Mami-san! Have you been waiting for long?”

“No, don’t worry, Kaname-san” Mami replied as she shifted her body to properly face the group that was now looking at her.

“Man, the chemistry teach didn’t let us go” complained Sakura as she passed by Mami, crossing the school gates. “Yeah, your test is tomorrow. We know.”

“He was just warning us” Akemi was the one to speak, the girl still stuck close to Kaname just like how Sakura had noticed during lunch. It was true that the girl hadn’t been this close to the pinkette the last time they had met, but had Sakura not spoken up she really wouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

“He could have done that during the class” Sakura had an annoyed look on her face for a brief moment before it changed into an energetic smile “Well, are we going to get moving or what?”

“Ah right” said Mami “My house is a bit far away; I hope you don’t mind the walking”

“Nah, that just makes more space for the cheesecake” Sakura proudly stated with a grin on her face.

Akemi shifted, getting a bit away from Kaname before facing the girl and speaking up.

“Well then, I have to get going” calmly said the ebony haired girl as she did a little bow.

Kaname looked at her with a smile as warm as the sun. Her arms flinched for half a second, almost as if they had tried to go up before Kaname stopped them. The pinkette still looking at Akemi gently spoke.

“Yeah, Goodb… See you tomorrow, Homura-chan”

Akemi looked at the girl with a gentle look that only Kaname seemed to receive.

“See you tomorrow, Madoka” her voice had become warmer than it used to be, before going back to her usual tone as she looked at the rest of the girls with yet another small bow of the head “Goodbye”

“Yeah. Goodbye, Akemi-san” said Miki, Sakura adding onto the farewell with a small head gesture.

“Goodbye, Akemi-san” said Mami “I hope you can come to my house one of these days”

Akemi didn’t answer immediately.

“Yes, I hope so too”

And with that the girl turned around, her ebony hair following shortly after behind her, and started walking on the opposite direction of where the rest of the group was headed.

“Homura-chan!” Kaname’s shout caught the girl’s attention, making her turn around. “I remembered I have club activities tomorrow morning, so you don’t have to wait for me…”

“At what time will you wake up?” asked Akemi, her voice completely monotone.

“Eh? Around 40 minutes earlier”

“I’ll be waiting then” she said with a small smile.

And with that the ebony haired girl left behind a still slightly confused Kaname as she went back to her house. Mami seeing that the pink girl had been so caught of guard that she wasn’t reacting decided to speak up.

“Well, let’s get going” The voice made Kaname come back to the real world, the girl turned around putting on a warm smile instead of her slight confusion and followed Mami and the rest towards the blonde’s house.

[-]

The group followed Mami through a hallway before they stopped in front of Mami’s apartment door. Mami took out her keys and opened her door, the lock making a small mechanical sound as she turned the keys inside it.

The moment the door finished opening a slight fragrance coming from the scented oil she had opened this morning greeted them; the smell of cherry tree flowers embracing the girls, an aroma that Mami found quite relaxing and hoped the others would too.

Mami’s house was a well decorated one, or at least that was what Mami liked to think. Enough flower pots were around the house to place some specks of green around the house, making them contrast well with the oranges and browns that most of her furniture had. The only other colors around the house being the few colorful pillows she had laying around.

The group took off their shoes and moved towards the living the room, where her triangular glass table and a comfortable L shaped couch were.

“You got a nice place huh” said Sakura, the girl looking around the place.

“Yeah!” happily added Kaname as she placed her schoolbag next to the couch where Miki had already left hers. “I really like the pillows; they make it feel extra comfy!”

Mami let out a small chuckle of appreciation “I’m glad you like it. Please make yourselves comfortable, I will go prepare some tea”

Mami left the living room as the girls found a place to sit, Kaname and Miki sitting next to the glass table while Sakura had almost thrown herself into the couch which got a surprised look from the bluenette who look with incredulity to the girl; As Mami entered the kitchen she could hear the bluenette whispering.

“Really Kyouko?!” whether her tone was anger or disappointment would be a matter of opinion.

“What?” the redhead whispered back, though a bit unsure of as to why.

“Did you really need to throw yourself into the couch?” Miki’s voice was forcefully trying to keep quiet, the girl clearly more used to reprimanding the redhead with a louder voice “we are not at home!”

Mami really didn’t mind though, it wasn’t like the girl had thrown herself hard enough to break the couch. And besides, the couch was there to be used.

“She said to get comfortable!” Sakura whisper was not really a whisper any longer, the voice sounded like a whisper but the volume she was speaking with was a normal one.

“Stop fighting you two!” whispered Kaname, her tone more embarrassed about the situation that actually angry at them “Really, can’t you wait at least until we leave?”

“She was the one who started it” said Kyouko with a bit of an offended voice.

“You saw how she threw herself, Madoka!” 

Even Mami was able to hear the big sigh Kaname had let out, at least it seemed to work as the other two girls stopped talking; or at least Mami couldn’t hear them anymore.

The water finally reached a boiling point, Mami placed it away from the stovetop and took out the chamomile flowers. She placed them inside the pot and took notice of the time, the good thing of chamomile tea was that it wouldn’t become bitter with time but she still liked it to steep only for 5 minutes.

Mami opened her fridge and took the bigger cheesecake she had prepared for today, leaving the small one she had made only for Nagisa in it, and placed it in a nice circular wooden tray with a carved flower pattern along the edge. She opened one of the countertops at took out a set of small plates along with some silverware for everyone. She cut the cheesecake in eight slices, making sure every single one of them were the exact same size.

A quick look at the clock made her realize almost 5 minutes had passed. She took the flowers out of the tea and the nice fragrance they had left behind placed a smile on her face. Mami placed the teapot on the wooden tray and some teacups that had drawings of flowers near the base. She took the honey out of one of the kitchen cabinets and placed it next to the sugar jar, as much as she thought chamomile tea had to be taken with honey maybe one of the others didn’t like honey.

She took the wooden tray slowly but surely made her way out of the kitchen. The group stopped their small conversation before turning to look at Mami with a smile. Sakura being the one that beamed with joy the most when she saw the cheesecake.

“Oh. My. God.” Sakura’s gaze was fixed on the cheesecake as Mami placed it on top of the glass table. “That looks amazing”

Mami tried to keep her composure as not to blush from the compliment the redhead had given her. She placed a gentle smile on her face and sat down.

“My, thank you Sakura-san” Mami started to pour everyone’s tea, carefully making sure as to not spill anything. “Please, dig in”

“You don’t have to say it twice” exclaimed Sakura, quickly putting on of the cake pieces on a plate. “By they way, please just call me Kyouko. It feels weird to be called by my surname.”

Mami looked at the girl trying to keep her smile in check before she spoke “Sure Kyouko-san, you can call me by my name too then”

“Wait, doesn’t Hitomi call you by your surname?” asked Miki, the bluenette also taking a piece of cheesecake.

“Yeah, she says it would be impolite” Kyouko sighed as she ate some of the cake; her face suddenly lit up “Holy shit this is amazing”

Mami let out a pleased chuckle as she added a bit of honey to her teacup, just the right amount. It had taken her more time that she had expected to make the cake, making it as big as she had did give her more troubles than she usually had. But with how well Kyouko had reacted to it she believed it had all been worth it.

“It really tastes amazing Mami-san!” happily added Kaname the girl had put a hand up to her cheek with a big smile decorating her face.

“Honestly, you should open a bakery or something” added Miki.

Mami thought to herself for a brief moment as she calmly took a nice long sip from her teacup.

“I don’t know about that…” Mami sighed “I don’t think I’m that good to be honest”

“Nah, you would be more than fine” Kyouko nodded as she stuffed her mouth with more of the cheesecake. “Trust me, I’m an expert when it comes to food”

“She really is” Added Miki as she nodded in agreement, her eyes closed in thought. “At least an expert at eating the food”

That won her a weak punch to the shoulder from Kyouko as the redhead exclaimed “Oi!” Sayaka returned the gesture with a satisfied grin; Kaname and Mami let out a small chuckle at the exchange.

Kaname placed her cup on top of the saucer before looking at Mami with a curious look.

“If you don’t want to be a baker, then is there something else you want to do Mami-san?”  asked the pinkette with genuine curiosity.

Mami hummed as she went deep into thought. Was there something that she really wanted to do? She really hadn’t thought about it with how busy she usually was, be it with school or taking care of Nagisa. She had thought about opening a bakery, or at least working in one, but after some consideration she really wanted to keep baking as just a hobby.

Though if she had to choose something right now…

“Maybe I would like to open a flower shop” said Mami as she returned the look to Kaname. “It… was a dream of mine when I was younger”

“That’s wonderful! I can already imagine your little shop” Kaname closed her eyes “The scent of the flowers catching passerby’s attention… The beautiful flower arrangements you would make… It would really suit you Mami-san!”

Mami’s smile became bigger, the positive attitude of the girl really was contagious, wasn’t it? She had said that to give the girl an answer more interesting than ‘I would probably end up as an office worker’ but now Kaname attitude made her actually imagine herself in such a shop.

“Is that even profitable?” asked Kyouko as she raised her brow, Kaname seemed to get annoyed at the girl for even saying such a thing.

“Of course it is!” Kaname said, an angry pout on her face “People buy a lot of flowers! Presents, weddings, valentines, even just to have some nice flowers around!”

 “Yeah, but how much does a flower actually cost tho?” Kyouko had a doubtful smile on her face before she went to drink her tea, though Mami knew that flowers could be expensive she really didn’t know how expensive they were.

“Actually…” Miki was the one to speak up “The flower bouquets Kyosuke gets during his recitals are around 17 thousand yen”

Kyouko started coughing her tea, her eyes going wide as she heard the price. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’…”

Kaname raised her chest with pride as she looked at Kyouko an uncommon smug grin on her face, she took a piece of cheesecake and put it in her mouth almost as if she was celebrating her victory.

“See! I told you it was profitable!”

And with that the group kept drinking their tea as they talked. Time went by, almost as if it didn’t exist; the ticking of the clock on Mami’s wall completely disappeared between the small conversations and the little laughs they would let out from time to time; mainly when Kyouko tried to be funny.

“Welp…” Kyouko got up from the couch, looking at her phone “I have to go now”

Kyouko did have to work today, even if Sayaka was already used to the redhead being busy every weekday it was moments like these, when they were all together talking and laughing, that she forgot Kyouko had a job.

Mami did a small nod as she got up to bid the redhead her farewell.

“Do come again, Kyouko-san” said Mami, now next to the exit door together with a Kyouko that was putting on her shoes.

“You don’t have to say it twice” answered Kyouko, a happy smile on her face showed her small fang “With food this good being part of the deal, I would even live here”

Sayaka got angry at that. Not much, not enough to show it at least. But it did sting her. Even if she knew it was just a joke.

“Well then, see ya tomorrow” said Kyouko as she left the apartment, the group waving her goodbye.

Mami came back from the doorway and sat once more next to the table, no more tea though; they had been drinking tea for almost two hours, it felt like any sudden movement would make anyone of them pop.

“It’s a shame that Akemi-san wasn’t able to come” said Mami as she started to clean the table. “I wanted to talk a bit more with her”

“Yeah…” added Madoka, the girl getting up to help.

Sayaka couldn’t doge her thoughts, even if she had tried. She really didn’t want to think about Akemi at the moment. Not because she still had animosity towards the girl, but because it still felt wrong whenever she remembered her; and now that she was full of tea and cheesecake, she wasn’t sure that the nauseating sensation she usually got would end up at just a sensation.

Akemi Homura was kind of weird. Now that she had talked with the girl it wasn’t the same kind of weird she had thought of previously. It wasn’t that the girl seemed incapable of emotion. It wasn’t that she would backstab them at the first opportunity.

No, Akemi Homura was weird because the only person she actually showed emotions to was Madoka. Sayaka understood why something like that would happen, the pinkette did have some kind of aura around her that made her seem approachable; but even then, the way Akemi acted still left a nagging sensation on Sayaka’s head.

She was more than up to try and be friends with her, she had promised she would after apologizing to the ebony haired girl after all. She had gone up to her after she came to school with Madoka by her side; Sayaka talked with her when they were a bit far away from the rest of the girls; and Sayaka had… she had apologized, right? The words she had said didn’t come to her mind. It was kind of a daze, whenever she tried to focus harder static was the only thing she remembered.

Feeling like her head was about to burst Sayaka stopped thinking about it. She just had forgotten, with all the stress from the tests it was bound to happen. She had been pretty tired that day after all.

“Miki-san?” a worried voice called to her.

Sayaka looked to the blonde girl that was standing next to her and had bent over a bit to take a look at Sayaka’s face, her amazing drills were completely static in the air seemingly defying the laws of the universe just so they could exist. Sayaka shook her head, trying to gain some composure.

“Yeah, I’m fine” a bit of a forced smile was on Sayaka’s face “Just a bit tired from todays’ tests!”

Mami let out a sigh, the girl sitting on the ground once more; Madoka came back from the kitchen after dropping off the teacups she had helped bring back there.

“Thank God” said Mami “I was starting to think that the cheesecake or the tea had made you feel ill”

“There is no way that would happen” said Sayaka, an actual smile showing now “your cakes have always been the best after all, Mami-senpai”

Wait, always?

A sharp pain hit Sayaka’s head, the girl clutched her head with both of her hands trying to alleviate the pain; but it did nothing, the pain still raging. Madoka and Mami both got up from their seats in a hurried manner, holding Sayaka so she wouldn’t fall were she to faint.

Sayaka could see they were talking, but the voices were nothing more than a distortion of the real thing. The static in her head got worse, and worse, and worse. Until all she could hear was the electrical buzzing.

A torrent of emotions went through her, images flashing by as the buzzing became more and more intense. The images started to make some kind of sense.

 Sayaka, Kyouko and Mami were all in colorful clothes, fighting some kind of tall man like creatures.

*Static*

She was surrounded, trying to destroy what looked like the leader she had fallen into a trap. She let out everything she had in one more attack.

*Static*

A pink light came from the sky, and the next thing she could feel was a comforting warmth. No more worries. No more thoughts. Just a warmth that embraced her.

*Static*

A mission. To save a dear friend of the light that had saved her, she was awoken from her eternal slumber.

*Static*

“Is the heart that wished for this so sinful that it needs to be destroyed?”

“… Yes”

*Static*

“Homura-chan, stop!”

*Static*

“You’ll rip me apart!”

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

“Sayaka-chan! Sayaka-chan please say something!”

Sayaka was being held by Madoka, Mami was talking through her phone with a worried and full of fear expression. Tears from Madoka fell onto Sayaka, slowly making her come back to her senses.

Sayaka regained her strength and stood up, much to Madoka’s concern. The bluenette looked at her left hand, there in her middle finger the metal ring she always wore had its runes back. Her name.

The demon had taken everything away from her. She had taken her out of the warmth and comfort that was the Law of Cycles. Forced them to play in this gilded cage she had made to keep Madoka. But now Sayaka had an opportunity to make everything go back to normal. She had her memories back; she could feel the Law of Cycles power in Madoka. All she had to do was help her remember.

“Mado-”

Sayaka’s voice stopped, or rather, everything around her did. Madoka wasn’t moving, Mami wasn’t moving; the small droplets of rain that had started appearing outside were completely still.

“Miki Sayaka, it really had to be you” a voice she hated came from behind her, the bluenette turned around.

“Homura- no, the devil”

Homura was wearing a completely black dress; the back was completely exposed while the outfit gathered near her waist to form a long open skirt, inside it the universe the color of Homura’s curse could be seen. Dark bone wings sprouted from her back, some raven feathers decorating them.

“I should have paid a bit more attention” The devil sighed “I have no excuses”

Sayaka transformed, summoning two sables; one in each hand.

“I will never forget what you did!” shouted Sayaka, her grip tightening around the handles of her swords until her knuckles were pure white “I will never forgive you for destroying the Law of Cycles…”

There was no way Sayaka could win against the devil. As much as she hated to admit it, the only one that could really confront her would be Madoka; and sadly, she had been frozen in time by the devil.

“But…” Sayaka’s grip loosened “But I know she will”

The devil’s gaze turned into a frown as Sayaka made her swords disappear in a blue light, small musical notes appearing around the now vanishing swords.

“Homura, if you stop now, I’m sure Madoka would forgive you” Sayaka looked at Homura right in the eyes, even now she could feel the pressure an entity like her and Madoka emitted.

“What’s gotten into you so suddenly?” asked Homura, cautiousness filled her voice.

Sayaka stopped to think for a second. The moment she had realized what had happened right after Homura had rewritten the universe, Sayaka had still been full of rage. She had confronted the girl straight on without even thinking. But now it had been a month and a half since then, and even if she had been going without her memories, she had noticed something.

 “This place, its just like your labyrinth was” Sayaka looked at Mami with a smile, and then she touched the blue jeweled amulet Kyouko had gifted her; caressing the blue gem shaped in the form of a dolphin. “You made a world where everyone could be happy, didn’t you?”

Homura scoffed after a moment of hesitation.

“As I said when I first brought you here” The devil unfurled her wings “I am the devil. The pure concept of evil. You all are here just because you were dragged when I took a piece of the Law of Cycles for myself. I had no intention in giving any of you happiness”

“And yet you made us stay with those that we loved?” Sayaka said, a quiet and gentle voice coming from her.

“Just a good way of keeping everyone together and in check” Homura said.

“You could have deleted us from existence”

“That would have hurt Madoka” quickly countered Homura.

Sayaka stopped for a second, something inside her was telling her not to say the next phrase. Not to give the devil any ideas.

“It wouldn’t if you had completely erased her memories of us”

Homura stood there in silence, her wings had closed once more and idly hung from her back. Homura stared at Sayaka for a few seconds, the tension in the air rising, before she finally spoke with a grin on her face.

“The only way for you to bring back the Law of Cycles will be to destroy me, Miki Sayaka”

There was a small pause, Sayaka wasn’t an expert on reading Homura but she knew that face. The face she made whenever she had to stop and go through her plans once more.

“But I won’t give you that pleasure, Miki Sayaka” she raised both her hands “Well then, I’m sorry this had to happen but I will be taking your memories again once more”

Ah, so she had failed.

Yet again she couldn’t confront Homura by herself. If she wanted to make the girl finally give in, she would need to wake Madoka up from her divine slumber.

But that task would be impossible without her memories.

A clap echoed through her mind, memories quickly disappearing.

The static appeared once more, the blue magical girl only being able to hear the words Homura spoke to her because the devil willed it so.

“Try not to remember your past with cake next time, will you?”

*Static*

All the memories from her fights against the wraiths gone.

*Static*

The warmth of the Law of Cycles, gone.

*Static*

Sayaka tried to concentrate, her magic quickly rushing towards her head.

*Static*

What the devil had done, gone

*Static*

The synapses between her braincells started to heal, trying to counter the memory manipulation Homura had started. Trying to build back the bridges she had burnt down.

*Static*

Only one memory remained.

*Static*

Not a single image.

*Static*

There was no context.

*Static*

Only the words she had spoken while inside Homura’s labyrinth stayed behind.

*Static*

“Please try not to look scared”

*Static*

“Despite her appearance she is the one suffering the most here”

*Static*

“Like I said…”

*Static*

“Stop trying to take on these huge burdens by yourself.”

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

Current date: 14^th of May.

Sorry that this chapter took longer than expected, I wasn’t home for three full days; so I really couldn’t write this.

We should return to our normal, a chapter every 3-4 days schedule next time!

By the way, thanks to everyone who has written a review or left a comment; reading them fills me with joy!

Chapter Text

Homura was walking in circles, the white sand in Hell moving around with her, as five of her dolls watched her with big grins in their faces; the others were too busy monitoring Madoka and the rest or lost somewhere, not all of her dolls listened unless threatened.  

The pool of grief that once plagued the dimension had now been reduced to a small puddle, only once every few hours would a naturally born familiar appear from it. But that wasn’t a motive of concern for Homura at the moment. She had something that threatened the world she had made for Madoka in a much closer distance.

Miki Sayaka’s memories had returned, even if only briefly. It was true that Homura had been paying less attention to the bluenette, a mistake that she was prone to commit, and with all the problems the Devil had given her she wasn’t in the best of shapes these past few days.

Homura decided to ignore how much of the problem was her being busy with Madoka, all the time she spent with the girl was less time monitoring the rest. But it was completely fine to do so, right? She was making sure Madoka didn’t approach the Law of Cycles after all. It wasn’t like she just wanted to spend time with the girl.

Homura stopped walking, immediately catching the attention of four of the dolls; Noroma, the last one, took a few more seconds to notice than the rest.

Homura was sure she had modified the memories of the girl once more, but when the rewrite was happening, she wasn’t sure why, but it seemed as if she had to rewrite some of them more than once. In the heat of the moment, she thought it might have been her just doing a shoddy work, maybe just some nervousness for how wrong things could have gone. But now that she had had some time to think, she wasn’t sure anymore.

It wasn’t like she was doing some extra passes on already modified memories, it felt way closer to her having to rewrite them once again. Homura knew as a matter of fact that her memory manipulation wasn’t perfect, she had done it to herself and more often than not memories would slip by; just like what happened before her rebellion. Some triggers could bring back memories, even a feeling of something just being wrong, but what triggered Miki’s memories was…

Cake.

It was her memories of Mami’s baking. A small memory, a subconscious one at that, that didn’t seem to have anything to do with magical girls had awoken the girl. It was true that in almost every timeline at least Madoka, Miki and Tomoe would end up eating more than once in the blonde’s house; but was it this important of a memory? How many more of these ‘unimportant’ memories had Homura left in their heads? What would the next trigger be?

Homura let out a long, tired sigh.

This just meant she would have to keep a closer eye on them. Be ready to jump in at any moment. This time she had been lucky that Reiketsu was following Madoka as close as the doll always did, had this happened without Madoka there Homura wouldn’t have noticed on time.

“Nekura, Wagamama” the dolls looked directly at Homura “You two will be following Miki Sayaka from now on”

“W̶h̵y̸ ̷m̴e̴!̷ ̵I̶ ̵h̵a̵v̵e̷ ̷m̴o̴r̴e̵ ̴i̸m̸p̶o̵r̸t̸a̵n̷t̷ ̷t̷h̷i̵n̴g̵s̶ ̷t̷o̴ ̸d̵o̵!̷ ̷S̵e̸n̸d̷ ̵N̶o̴k̸o̴m̸a̵ ̷i̷n̴s̸t̷e̷a̴d̶,̴ ̵s̴h̵e̷ ̵t̵h̷i̷n̷k̸s̶ ̷l̶i̴k̶e̸ ̸h̸e̴r̴ ̶t̸a̸r̶g̴e̸t̷!̶” Complained Wagamama, her arms placed on her waist as if trying to show annoyance.

“S̴t̷r̶a̷w̴b̶e̴r̵r̴y̷ ̴i̷s̶ ̸g̴o̷i̶n̷g̸ ̷t̷o̵ ̶g̴e̷t̵ ̷h̸e̵r̶ ̶m̶e̸m̵o̷r̸i̷e̷s̷ ̴b̶a̸c̷k̴.̶.̶.̴ ̵W̶e̸ ̷a̷r̶e̵ ̶g̷o̴i̶n̵g̵ ̷t̸o̴ ̴d̴i̵e̶.̵.̶.̸” Nekura was looking towards the ground, but still took a few steps forward; as much as she complained she still followed orders “G̸o̵o̵d̷-̸f̴o̴r̵-̶n̷o̴t̵h̵i̶n̸g̵ ̵i̵s̷ ̷s̶e̷n̶d̴i̵n̸g̷ ̷u̵s̵ ̵t̴o̴ ̵o̴u̶r̸ ̶d̶e̴a̶t̵h̷s…”

Homura knew there was no point in trying to discuss with Wagamama, the doll would never accept she was on the wrong, instead she just had learned that ignoring her would more often than not lead to her following her orders; or at least, follow them close enough.

“Don’t ever let her be alone” Homura kept talking, trying to use as much magic as she could to threaten Wagamama with her presence; letting her remember she was their creator “Don’t ever get separated from each other. And if something weird happens, let me know instantly”

Nekura did a small nod before disappearing in just a blink, meanwhile Wagamama tapped her toe angrily against the ground before leaving the same way as her older sister.

Now, the other problem was someone she hadn’t been keeping a close track of. Sure, she wasn’t part of the original group, and the girl didn’t really know the rest much. But still, Momoe Nagisa had been part of the Law of Cycles, and if Miki Sayaka was an example, they seemed to have an easier time getting their memories back.

“Higami, Ganko” Homura spoke up, these dolls didn’t try to fight her as much as the rest, and Homura was thankful for that; she already had enough problems with the older dolls. “Make sure to take a close look at Momoe Nagisa.”

The dolls didn’t talk back, instead they just disappeared, they were the youngest of the dolls and seemed to understand that if their sisters wouldn’t fight Homura; they shouldn’t too.

Lastly Homura looked at the only doll that was left, Noroma. The blonde doll was looking at Homura with an expression that, as much as it looked the same from the outside as the same one the other dolls had, seemed to be completely lost.

“Noroma you…” Homura didn’t want to admit that Noroma was… well, a bit of a blockhead to say the least. It’s not like she wasn’t a good doll; when it came to fighting, she had been an amazing familiar; but with things like following people around… The doll had a tendency to lose her targets. Yet she was one to always follow orders, just like Reiketsu. The fact that the doll never spoke didn’t help either.

“Noroma, you are going to walk around the city” finally commanded Homura “if you see something wrong, contact me as fast as you can”

Noroma stood there, looking at Homura in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time before disappearing like the others.

Homura stood in the unmoving white sands for a few seconds, looking towards the half moon that perched on the eternal night sky. If it wasn’t because she was a devil, she was completely sure she would be losing hair right now.

A small smile appeared on Homura’s lips, her wings slowly embracing her as she prepared to go back to the earth. It should be morning already, and that meant she was going to see Madoka once again.

Madoka finished eating her breakfast, her dad being the only person in the house that was up at this hour had accompanied her, and got up from her chair. She walked towards the kitchen counter and picked up the boxed lunches she had prepared for today, she hoped Homura liked karaage because that was the main dish of today’s lunch.

Madoka walked towards the entrance, stopping in front of the doors she put her shoes on. She looked towards a mirror that was on top of where they usually left the keys and made sure to have her hair well prepared. Madoka got a bit closer to her reflection, trying to see if any strawberry jam had gotten stuck in her face somehow and when everything was confirmed she took a deep breath and opened the door.

There in front of her house Homura was waiting, the girl seemed to have been deep in thought before Madoka had opened the door, the sound that came from it catching the beauty’s attention.

“Hello, Homura-chan!” Madoka walked rapidly towards the girl, stopping only when they were not more than 50 centimeters apart. She would have stopped further away a few days ago, but now? She honestly wanted to get even closer.

“Good morning, Madoka” a genuine smile appeared on the girl’s face, one that filled Madoka with deep joy. “Should we get going?”

Madoka nodded in response before placing herself right next to Homura and started walking towards school. A small yawn escaped Madoka’s mouth, Homura looked at the girl with curiosity.

“Are you tired, Madoka?” Homura tilted her head a little, a cute gesture Madoka thought.

“hahaha… I guess I am” Madoka let out a small laugh “I had trouble falling asleep yesterday”

Homura’s frown deepened, the girl looked at Madoka with what seemed like worriedness; Or at least that was what Madoka wanted to believe.

“Did something happen?”

Homura’s voice suddenly changed, it felt more like how she used to talk at the start. Maybe it was just her way of showing she was worried, or the girl was just uncomfortable with the situation. Whatever it was, Madoka didn’t want to worry her more, so she decided to try and take away weight from the situation.

“Sayaka-chan fainted yesterday that was all” Madoka tried to put on a reassuring smile “It’s not like I didn’t sleep at all, I just feel a bit tired from the whole thing”

“I see” Homura replied, the girl moving her gaze from Madoka to towards where they were going. Madoka could still see a bit of a frown on the girl, who seemed to be thinking about something. Was Homura also worried about Sayaka? They seemed to be on better terms after all.

“Madoka” Homura spoke up, making Madoka realize she had been staring at the girl for a while now.

“Y-yes, what is it Homura-chan?” Madoka stuttered.

“Next time that happens, if you want to talk, you can call me” said Homura, still looking forward.

“It was quite late. I wouldn’t want to bother you!” exclaimed Madoka.

“It doesn’t matter” said Homura, finally looking at Madoka; her usual face on “If you need me, I will be there”

Madoka froze as her mind raced with the words that the ebony haired girl had just said. Trying to decipher the meaning behind the words, the cold mask the girl put on herself making it harder to know. Was she just worried about a friend? Was this about the conversation they had were they promised to not run away from each other? Or was Homura implying something that Madoka had only thought about happening, something that she knew couldn’t really happen since Homura was too good for the average girl that Madoka was.

Madoka wasn’t even sure if that was what she wanted. She had been still trying to ascertain what the feeling she had whenever she was with Homura was. And this past week had been filled with so many things that she wasn’t even sure if she was misinterpreting what she felt. It could be that Homura was just pretty, she was in that age after all.

Madoka would need some help, but just thinking about it was embarrassing for the girl. And she still wasn’t sure how her mom would react, though of course she knew her mom would probably understand. Or at least she hoped. Sayaka was out of the question, as much as she trusted her; she and Homura had just started to get along, so the girl would probably feel uncomfortable. Kyouko… Madoka knew that Kyouko liked Sayaka, so maybe she would be the best to talk to? She had helped her before after all, maybe she would try to speak with her and ask for advice; or at least try to see if she is properly interpreting her feelings.

“Madoka?” Homura’s voice unfroze Madoka, for how long had she been thinking in silence?

“Ah- sorry” Madoka placed a smile on her face, trying to calm Homura down “I will call you when I’m worried, thank you Homura-chan”

Homura only replied by giving the girl a happy smile, almost as if a weight had been lifted from the girl. 

[-]

After a few minutes of walking, they reached the school grounds. With it being a good forty minutes before classes started there was no one there other than the gate guard who gave them a small wave and a smile, Madoka returning the wave while Homura simply made a small yet polite bow of the head.

While they were still outside the building itself, Madoka turned towards Homura and spoke; her hands behind her were holding her schoolbag.

“So, I have to go do the club activities I told you about yesterday” Homura turned to face her, the same cold look on her face that she usually wore “You can go to class, I guess?”

Madoka stopped talking for a few seconds, a bit of guilt coming through her voice and expression.

“This is why I told you that you didn’t have to accompany me today…” Madoka sighed “Now you are here way too early”

“It’s fine, I was the one that wanted to be with you” said Homura, the words making Madoka’s heart skip a beat “If you don’t mind, can I stay with you instead?”

Madoka’s mind went racing. Another 40 minutes together with Homura alone? What if she did a mistake while she was doing her club activities and embarrassed herself? How would she even concentrate knowing the girl was watching her? Why did this make her so nervous?!

“Y-yeah! I guess that’s better than waiting alone in the classroom!” Madoka had promised to never let the girl be alone anymore and now she wanted to get away from her because she was nervous? God, she really needed to talk with Kyouko for advice.

“Thank you, Madoka” said Homura, a gentle smile on her face. Was it Madoka’s imagination or did the girl smile way more than she used to? True, a lot of them were clearly forced (or at least Madoka thought they were) and some of them were looked like the girl was trying to be more approachable, but then again it was still more smiles.

Madoka smiled back and started walking towards the storage room where they kept all the gardening tools. Homura following behind her.

Once they were inside the storage room, Madoka looked around for the tool box in which they stored most of the small tools. The box was on the top shelf so Madoka went to pick up a stool; the club president had been the last person to use them, he probably forgot Madoka was in charge of morning duty today and had placed them pretty far up. 

Homura saw what Madoka was doing and decided to interject.

“May I?” said Homura, taking the stool from Madoka’s hands.

“Oh, you don’t have to Homura-chan” Madoka was short, but it wasn’t like Homura was much taller than her; she would still have to use the stool. “This happens sometimes”

“I’m already here” said Homura, placing the stool and getting on it before picking up the toolbox almost as if it didn’t weight. “If you don’t mind, I would like to help with simple things at least”

Homura got off the stool with the box between her arm and torso with a small jump; Madoka flinched as she imagined the girl falling and getting hurt, but Homura almost seemed to float. Madoka knew what if felt like wanting to help, and it wasn’t like Homura helping her tend to the school garden seemed like a bad idea.

“Sure! I will let you know if I need help with something”

They both exited the storage room, Homura still carrying the toolbox as if it was nothing, and reached the school garden. Homura placed the box on top of a bench and looked around as Madoka went to fill the watering can in the nearby faucet.

As Madoka was watering the different flowers, ferns and, of course, the little cactus she had revived, Homura just looked at the girl from below the Sakura tree that now had almost no flowers left. The rest of the morning went by without a real problem other than Madoka feeling a bit nervous with how much Homura was just looking at her; The pinkette had tried to start some conversations, and Homura had answered, but they all were either small talk or some random thought to break the silence.

Still, even when there was only silence, Madoka felt more comfortable than usual. It wasn’t like she didn’t like taking care of the flowers by herself, but Homura just being there helping with some simple things like cleaning the flower filled floor; or moving a heavy flowerpot to a better spot; helping Madoka change one fern that had grown too big for its previous pot to a bigger one… It all made Madoka feel happier than usual, it almost felt as if they were tending to their own garden.

As they were finishing Homura spoke up, looking at the small cactus that Madoka had saved.

“Is this the one you talked about?” she asked, though it felt like she was asking a question she already knew the answer to.

“Yeah” answered Madoka as she approached the girl “It has really pretty flowers, right?”

Homura looked at the pink and white flowers of the cactus for a brief moment before closing her eyes with a small smile that could have gone unnoticed wasn’t Madoka looking at the girl directly.

“Yes, they really are”

The school bell rang, its chime echoing throughout the glass halls of the building. Everyone inside the class stopped writing, though some of them tried to finish answering something; but sadly, the people behind them had already started to pass the tests forwards.

Sayaka, luckily, wasn’t one of these people; she had been able to answer everything; though probably with mistakes here and there. After all tests had been moved forward and the class representative got them all together, the class got up from their seats. Some with happiness, others more tired.

Sayaka looked at Kyouko, who got up and looked at the bluenette with a serious look on her face. A brief moment passed; Kyouko’s face was unmoving. Maybe all the studying didn’t work out, or so Sayaka thought; because a second later Kyouko’s serious face turned into a happy smile, her little fang showing; and the girl did a thumbs up.

Sayaka sighed in relief, turning around to look at Madoka who had gotten up already; though she didn’t find her there, instead the girl had already moved through class to talk with Akemi. As much as this might have angered her before, it now felt more of a disappointment in her best friend not talking with her first; but Madoka was trying to get closer to the girl, so Sayaka was sure things would end up returning to normal at some point. Or at least she hoped so.

Kyouko approached Sayaka, the redhead turning around to see what Sayaka was looking at.

“Oh~ are you jealous?” Kyouko mockingly said as she elbowed Sayaka, the bluenette returning the gesture together with an annoyed frown before approaching Madoka and Akemi.

Akemi was the first one to notice Sayaka approaching, the girl stopped looking at Madoka which made the pinkette turn back to see what she was looking at. When she saw it was Sayaka, the girl smiled brightly before speaking up.

“Sayaka-chan! How did you do?” she asked, now completely facing Sayaka.

“Like always I guess” replied Sayaka “Should be around 60 or something like that. What about you?”

Madoka let out a long sigh “I thought I might get an 80, but now that I’ve compared some answers with Homura-chan…” The girl looked down with disappointment before letting out a small chuckle “I guess I’ll get a 60 too”

“I’m guessing emo girl is gonna get a 100 then?” said Kyouko who had approached the group just a second before.

Akemi took a moment to answer, probably thinking about the nickname that didn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

“Yes, it should.” She finally answered with the same stoic tone she always used with them.

The group started to walk towards the exit of the classroom, and then through the glass halls of the school; waves of people rushing in different directions as they went either home or to their club room. It was moments like these that Sayaka liked not being in a club, being able to go home directly after a tiring exam was the best feeling.

“Madoka, now that we’ve finished the tests; are you going to get back into afternoon club activities?” asked Sayaka as they walked down the stairs.

“Ah, right I didn’t tell you.” Said Madoka, a thinking expression on her face “The president told me to come back next week, they already divided all the tasks between the two for this week” she let out a small chuckle.

“Man, that’s a shame” said Kyouko, the girl was going down the stair two steps at a time “I’m gonna miss hanging out after school”

Madoka didn’t say anything in response, instead she just kept walking on silence for a few seconds until a voice broke the silence.

“Is something wrong, Madoka?” asked Akemi, more worry than what was probably necessary showing on her face; It just made Sayaka realize even more that her initial impression of the girl had been wrong.

Madoka looked at the ground for a brief moment before raising her head to speak with a saddened smile.

“I was thinking about what Kyouko said” she went back to looking at the ground “I really would like to spend more time together with everyone…”

A brief pause in her words before she looked up with a sad, or rather, longing expression that she tried to hide behind a smile. “I don’t know what I’m saying, sorry. Le-let’s go”

By this point they had already left the school building, the voices of the other students getting louder as they walked towards the school gates. But in their group the silence came back, seeing Madoka actually sad has always been a rare occurrence; not because the girl didn’t feel sad at all, but rather because the sadness she usually felt was about others or some small normal thing for their age. But this sadness came from a far deeper place, and while it had been the first time Madoka had ever said something like it, Sayaka felt almost as if they had had this conversation before.

“Madoka…” spoke up Sayaka, going to give the girl a hug; she saw almost a flinch come from Akemi, but she quickly went back to normal so it had probably been her imagination. “You don’t have to apologize. We are here, we are not going anywhere”

Sayaka wasn’t the best at comforting people, that was Madoka’s specialty after all, but at the very least she knew her friend liked hugs; and when Madoka tightly returned the hug she was proven correct.

Madoka was completely locked in the hug, not saying anything.

“It’s not like we are never going to see each other again you know” said Sayaka, trying to put some positive energy in her voice, Madoka only replied with silence “It’s not like you have to stay for long, right?”

Madoka answered with a small voice, barely audible with all the ambient noise. “It will be an hour at least, probably two…”

That did mean Kyouko was out of the picture most days, she usually could only hang around for an hour if she pushed her luck. While Sayaka… She knew that were she to stay behind to wait not only would Madoka feel guilty about it but Kyouko would probably also try to stay behind, possibly wasting her free time before she had to go to work.

“Akemi?” asked Kyouko with a confused tone, making Sayaka and Madoka look up as they saw the ebony haired girl hurriedly, yet with the same grace she always carried, walk back into the school building.

“Where is she going now?” said Sayaka, a bit of an irritated tone in her voice; did she just leave them with a crying Madoka? Sure, it’s not like she had to stay behind, but the girl was literally crying about not being able to be with the rest; that was quite the dick move.

Madoka softened the hug, slowly pulling away from Sayaka who looked back at the pinkette; the girl was using her sleeves to dry off her tears; putting on a very forced smile.

“I’m sorry, I… I was too much of a bother” the pinkette said, Sayaka started to feel her blood starting to boil “Even Homura-chan got tired of it” she let out a nervous laugh, trying to contain back the tears and failing miserably.

That settled it, Sayaka had to be right then. Akemi Homura was jus trying to use Madoka, and the moment things got a bit uncomfortable she would just run away and let the girl behind. The next time she saw that bitch she was going to break her nose, at least.

“L-let’s go” said Madoka, the girl still trying to force a smile through; though if the sudden rush of emotions she had had before wasn’t enough, thinking about what Akemi Homura had just done wasn’t helping at all.

No one hurt her friend like this and got out unscathed. She had protected the girl when they were in kindergarten, she will stay protect the girl now. Or rather, she would still punish those that even dared to make Madoka cry.

“No, I’m going to get that bi… I’m going to get Akemi-san” said Sayaka, as she started to move towards the building in which the girl had gone into.

Sadly, her movement came to a halt when a strong grip held her back from the arm.

“It really isn’t the best time to do that” said Kyouko, as much as the girl was trying to hide it Sayaka was able to see she was as much, or more, angry than her. “I can walk with you two until we reach the station, that ok with ya Madoka?”

“Y-yeah” Apparently Sayaka’s action had made the girl worry about what might happen, so Sayaka tried to take a deep breath to calm herself; she would ‘talk’ with Akemi later.

With that they both placed next to Madoka as they walked towards the station, each one of them on one side of the pinkette.

“Now that I think about it” started talking Kyouko, an overenergetic tone in her voice “The store has been having some festival themed products; is something happening soon?”

“Ah!” exclaimed Sayaka as she remembered “Yeah, next week weekend is the spring festival of this year; why don’t we all go together?”

“Sure, what ya say Madoka?” asked Kyouko.

Madoka changed looks between the two before letting out a small genuine chuckle with a warm smile to accompany it; She clearly had noticed what they were trying to do.

“Yeah, it’ll be fun” she said with her usual happy voice “We can invite Mami-san and Nagisa-chan too”

“The cheese kid?” asked Kyouko “Sure, she seemed fun”

“And also…” started saying Madoka, though there was some restrain in her voice “If Homura-chan wants to come…”

Sayaka was, for lack of a better term, at a lack of words. Sure, the girl didn’t want them to fight, but that was a pretty standard thing to want to evade; but even after what she had done to her, after leaving her behind she was now going to invite her to go to the festival?

Kyouko let out a small sigh “If you think you would have a better time, then I’m okay with it”

“I don’t think she will accept anyways…” said Madoka, the girl felt almost betrayed; though she was probably still blaming herself for something she hadn’t done.

“Listen Madoka, if you want to invite her go ahead” started saying Sayaka “But after what she has done, I wouldn’t-”

The sound of some branches, that had fallen onto the floor, breaking alerted the group; in a more hurried pace than what she had disappeared before, Akemi Homura reappeared in front of the group. With how much her chest was moving up and down she seemed to be a bit tired, but the girl hid it almost perfectly.

“You!” shouted Sayaka, taking a protective forward step towards the girl “What the hell were you doing!”

Akemi didn’t answer, instead she just walked towards the group as she did a hair flip. When she had reached them, or rather when she reached Sayaka who was between her and Madoka, she took out a piece of paper and handed it to Madoka.

“Homura-chan?” confusedly asked Madoka as she picked up the paper.

“You said you would feel alone when you started your club activities” coldly replied Akemi, Madoka now quickly reading the paper; that by the general layout looked like a club inscription sheet.

“You gotta be kidding me” said Kyouko, who was behind Madoka and could read the paper.

“What, what is it?” asked Sayaka, trying to look back; Madoka handed her the paper before looking at Homura.

“You didn’t have to…” said Madoka, the girl hands were shaking a bit.

Sayaka read the paper, it was indeed a club member registration form; the club was the gardening club and the member…

“Joining the gardening club was the easiest solution” said Akemi, doing yet another hair flip; was it a nervous tick or something? It was kind of pissing her off.

“But… why?” asked Madoka, still unable to believe the girl.

“Because I promised you” Akemi’s reply was blunt, it almost felt like they had been hit with a truck.

Everyone went silent for a second, Sayaka and Kyouko still trying to process what had happened. Madoka on the other part couldn’t hold back any longer and jumped at the girl, giving her a tight hug. A few seconds later, Akemi returned the hug though gentler; Sayaka could have sworn she had seen a moment of panic in the girl’s eyes.

Madoka was crying, though this time it felt more like relieved tears, making a mess of Akemi’s uniform in the process. Akemi reciprocated the hug in the simplest way possible, simply grabbing the girl back. It had been the first time Sayaka had seen the girl doubt what to do.

“Man…” Kyouko let out a long sigh, her hands going behind her head “And here I was thinking I would have to beat you up”

Madoka pulled away from Akemi before looking back at Kyouko. “That wouldn’t have made me feel better!”

“I know” Kyouko shrugged “It would have made me feel better though”

And with that the group went to the station, now Akemi following next to a happy Madoka. Sayaka and Kyouko walked a bit behind, Sayaka made a small signal towards Kyouko and they both slowly started to fall behind so they could talk without worrying about them hearing what they were saying.

“What?” asked Kyouko, who had taken some pocky at one point, gave Madoka one to cheer her up and started eating the rest before getting to work.

“Madoka has been a bit more sensible than usual don’t you think?” asked Sayaka, the pinkette always had been prone to emotions; but these past weeks had felt like a ticking bomb. “You think something’s happening to her?”

Kyouko looked at Madoka for a few seconds before answering.

“Bah, it’s probably just her being anxious”

“About what?”  Sayaka tried to get a bit closer to hear what Kyouko had to say a bit better.

“She is realizing she has fallen in love with someone, the girl becoming a bit of a mess is understandable”

“Huh?!” Sayaka raised her voice almost too much, had the duo in front of them not been talking about their own things they would have noticed. “Wait, who does she like?”

Kyouko’s face went through a few emotions in a matter of a second before addressing Sayaka’s question with an incredulous face on.

“You really didn’t notice?”

“No? What should I have noticed?” asked Sayaka.

“All the flirting? The clear magnet like attitude?” Kyouko made a small pause, making sure to properly intonate the first word “Nothing at all? Nothing weird?”

Sayaka tried to think, but she had been keeping a close eye to Madoka, at least while they were in the class, and hadn’t noticed anyone…

“No, really” said Sayaka “Who is the guy?”

Something seemed to break inside Kyouko’s psyche, the last bit of patience and or understanding completely broken. She was like that for a few seconds before she spoke up.

“I’m not gonna tell you. The only thing I will let you know is that you might not like them.”

And with that Kyouko pressed forwards, leaving behind a questioning Sayaka about what she had just heard.

Apparently, some random dude that felt like problems had become Madoka’s crush. Well, she didn’t know who the guy was; but she sure as hell was going to find out. Because as much as Madoka probably wouldn’t tell her anything out of embarrassment, there were still ways for getting the information. And she had a possibly powerful ally.

Akemi Homura.

Current date: Thursday 15th of May.

Chapter Text

The shopping mall was filled with people, more than what Homura thought should be on a Thursday; Though it had been… well, technically years since the last time she had gone to one for some other reason than to make sure the Incubators weren’t trying to approach Madoka; and even then, she usually didn’t go to the zones with lots of people, she could watch her from afar after all.

But now that she had been dragged into a fast-food restaurant by Madoka and Miki; not that she didn’t want to spend time with Madoka, she would spend the entire day glued to the girl if she could, but it still felt… wrong to spend so much time with her. She always was on edge when they were together, feeling like at any moment she would be taken away once more.

Of course, that feeling didn’t go away after the last incident with Miki Sayaka. From time to time, she would look at the girl’s silver ring and imagine the witch runes reappearing on it; or look at Madoka’s eyes and see a golden shimmer. Thankfully, they were only hallucinations; something Homura had been getting quite acquainted with these past few weeks.

But even then, Madoka had clearly been remembering things, or at least, the memories were trying to appear but faded only as emotions left behind. As much as this was better than Madoka going back to being the Law of Cycles, the feelings the memories left behind were clearly hurting Madoka; yet Homura didn’t know how to fix the problem without having to constantly erase the girl’s memories, but if Homura had learnt something about her memory manipulation is that it was everything but perfect; and she was scared of hurting Madoka in the process… though if things got out of hand, if Madoka’s lingering memories made her suffer too much… maybe she would have to do some tests in the meantime, just in case.

Homura let out a small sigh as she opened her coffee cup, pouring the small sugar packet that came with it into the coffee and stirring as she tried to hear what the other two girls were talking about to catch on their conversation.

“So, when Kyouko came home and saw me cooking… well, trying to cook the squid we had bought she almost fainted!” Sayaka stopped for a moment to take a sip from her soda “And yeah, it had gotten quite hard, and was a bit burnt; but like it was still edible”

Madoka let out a small chuckle, more as an acknowledgment than as an actual laugh.

“I mean, it’s not like we didn’t eat it” said Sayaka, leaving her soda on the table and picking a potato fry “It just wasn’t good”

Homura took a sip of her coffee… it was horrible, not like she expected much from a fast-food place but still.

“Did Kyouko-chan get angry?” asked Madoka, as she took long sip from her ice tea.

Sayaka finished eating her fries before answering “No, not really” She made a small pause “I mean, she wasn’t happy about it; she just looked annoyed”

“Maybe she just wanted to cook the squid in a special way?” pondered Madoka, before looking at Homura as she tried to get her into the conversation “What do you think, Homura-chan?”

Homura took a long sip this time before answering, the coffee was still horrible. She decided to completely turn off her taste sense.

“I don’t think Miki-san should have cooked it if she didn’t know how to” Homura took another sip from her tasteless coffee, perfect “But I’m sure Sakura-san liked the gesture”

“Right?” said Madoka, a warm smile on her face; Homura wished to always see that smile… wait, no, not wished. Anything but wished. “Kyouko-chan wouldn’t get angry with you for trying”

“I know, but Akemi-san is right; I should probably have done something easier!” sighed Sayaka before finishing what was left of her soda. “I kinda want to find a way to make up for it”

Madoka placed her finger to her right cheek, going into a thinking expression for a few seconds. Homura simply observed Madoka, trying to hide the fact that she was looking at the girl; something she had perfected over the years.

“I’m not sure what Kyouko-chan would like…” Madoka looked at Sayaka, putting on a ‘it will be okay’ smile on “It’s not like she would ask anything for such a small thing happening”

“Still…” Sayaka scratched her head, making a bit of a mess of her blue hair. “Well, whatever. I will think about it later”

Good, Homura wasn’t sure how much longer she would continue paying attention had the conversation kept going. Homura was already tired of the pair shenanigans at this point, in almost every timeline they would either end up together in some way or die for the other; It got quite boring to hear them talk about what should they do when Homura already knew it wouldn’t matter much. The outcome had always been either Miki Sayaka realized she liked the girl or she didn’t and the Sakura Kyouko ended up dying as she tried to kill Sayaka’s witch.

Madoka got up from her seat, catching Homura’s attention.

“I’ll be back in a second” Madoka started walking towards the bathrooms, one of the dolls that was stationed nearby, Reiketsu, followed her.

Well, and now Homura was alone with Miki; If the girl remembered something this would be the time for her to say something to Homura. Let her know her memory alteration didn’t work. Of course, giving this information would be a dumb, suicidal, and illogical thing to do; which meant Miki Sayaka would probably do it.

“Akemi-san”

Oh, there it was. Homura didn’t actually believe it would happen. As always, Miki Sayaka was a chaotic piece.

“What is it, Miki Sayaka?” Homura put on her usual mask, the one she had perfected over the loops.

“Can I ask you something?” she made a small pause “Or rather, can I ask you for your help?”

Well, that was unexpected. Homura was pretty sure this had been the first time, at least that she remembered, that the girl had directly asked her for her help.

“It depends” at least this meant she didn’t have her memories back; Homura relaxed a little.

“Well, you see” Miki made a small pause, looking towards Madoka who was just getting into the mall bathroom “Kyouko told me something, apparently Madoka likes some guy that may be problematic”

Homura froze, had her brain been a machine it would have let out sparks. She was sure that if it hadn’t been because of her becoming the devil her soul gem would have blackened a lot with what she had just heard.

No, no. She had promised herself to not get too close to Madoka, the girl would eventually find love. She didn’t have to be part of it, she was fine with just looking at Madoka be happy. Now then, the problematic part was something she would have to look.

“Akemi-san?” Miki looked at her with a bit of a worried face, Homura couched to recompose herself.

“So, who is this boy?” asked Homura, trying to calm her voice; but it came out as quite the aggressive tone, Miki Sayaka had clearly noticed.

“Ah, I see you think like me” Miki said, though Homura was pretty sure that was incorrect “I, obviously, don’t care if Madoka has found someone she likes, good for her actually, but the whole ‘problematic’ bit has me… anxious you know?”

Actually, yeah, they thought the same.

“I understand, Miki-san” said Homura, now in a calmer tone; “Again, who is the boy?”

“That I don’t know, and Kyouko won’t tell me” Sayaka sighed “I don’t know if it’s because of the squid incident or if she just doesn’t want to tell me for whatever reason”

So, Miki Sayaka didn’t know, what good did the girl do then? Should Homura just use her powers to see who this guy was? And in case that he would hurt Madoka in any way, of course she would dispose of the trash instantly… No, she shouldn’t do that; Once again, another step into Madoka’s privacy that she wasn’t willing to cross. Maybe she should ask her dolls? No way, most of them would probably use the show of doubt on Homura to, not only not follow orders, but to constantly harass her. Reiketsu would probably answer, but the doll would see this as Homura becoming soft and might stop doing her bidding so willingly…

The best option seemed to get the information the way she used to before becoming the devil, through pure investigation of Madoka’s surroundings.

“I see, I will make sure to find who this guy is” Homura took a long sip from the tasteless coffee, almost finishing it.

And eliminate him, no one other than us should get close to Madoka.

…

Homura took a deep breath, calming her emotions. Right, the Devil. She had to be careful not to distress herself to much, even if it was harder for the Devil to appear now that there was less grief, she was still there.

“Great!” energetically added Miki before finished the few fries she had left “We will start working tomorrow then?”

Wait? Did the girl really think they would work together? All the previous times she had been nothing more than a nuisance, the problem maker rather than the problem solver. Homura would be better doing this alone.

“I’m sorry, but I work better myself” Homura said, trying not to be too aggressive.

Miki seemed to think for a second with a frozen expression before actually talking.

“Nope, can’t do.” She said, pointing with a finger to her chest “I’m not gonna let you do this alone”

A small pause, her prideful smile appearing; the one that had gotten Madoka into so many troubles in other times.

“Besides, Madoka is my friend. It will be better to have two persons finding who this guy is”

Homura let out a tired sigh.

“You may have gotten quite close to Madoka in a few days, that’s true” Sayaka kept talking “But you haven’t interacted with anyone other than her and us! Don’t you think it will be better to have someone who knows more people?”

That…

That was a valid point. Homura didn’t really pay attention to most, if not all, of the students. And knowing those that could be problematic beforehand would probably be an easier time than trying to find who was and who wasn’t problematic without knowing them at all.

“Fine, just don’t get in my way.” said Homura

If Miki had taken offense from the comment, she didn’t show it; instead, she bumped her chest with her closed fist and put on a smile “You can count on me”

Homura really hoped this wouldn’t backfire. Even if she had to work together with Miki Sayaka, it would all be to help Madoka. She was sure she could stand the bluenette for a few days until they got their answer.

“What can she count on you for?” Asked Madoka, a curious look on her face that was still adorned with a smile that made Homura’s worries disappear if for only a second.

“Ah!” Miki got lost on her words, she probably hadn’t noticed the girl approaching until now. “Well… y-you see, we were just…”

“I just gave Miki-san some tips for cooking” quickly said Homura, a small lie to protect Madoka; just like she used to do “Told her she still has a chance to redeem herself”

Miki took a moment to catch the thread Homura had thrown her. “Yeah! Exactly that!” God, that was a horrible way to lie.

Madoka thought for a few seconds before saying something “You could have asked me you know; I also know how to cook”

“Ah… well” Miki really had gotten herself stuck, was she just incapable of lying? No, Homura had seen her do it before, she probably just was surprised.

“Miki-san said Sakura-san would easily notice if you helped” Homura placed on a gentle smile, or at least tried to “After all, your cooking has a special taste, Madoka”

Homura could see the girl blushing a bit before she hid the redness of her cheeks with her hands, she really was bad at taking compliments. Always getting embarrassed for facts, like how when Homura told her she was cute she would always blush; really, the girl needed to get used to the compliments, after all she would end up getting a lot of them from all the inevitable people that would fall for the most precious person on earth.

“I- I… I see, thank you Homura-chan” she said, as she sat back to finish her ice tea. After taking a long sip Madoka spoke up again “Do both of you want to go somewhere after this?”

Miki went into thought for a few seconds, throwing herself back in the process to make the chair balance in two legs. Meanwhile, Homura didn’t really mind to keep going around with Madoka for the rest of the day; every time she thought she shouldn’t be as part of her own punishment, the memories of the new promise she had made to Madoka quickly shut down her doubts.

Instead of answering, Homura simply started to take a long sip until she finished her coffee. It was Miki the one to speak up.

“I do want to get some new CDs” Miki properly sat this time, letting the chair go back to using its four legs. “Maybe they’ve put something new”

Madoka nodded on response and finished her drink, Homura did the same. They all got up from their seats and went towards the music shop, where they mostly looked at stuff by themselves. Homura listened to some random songs just to make it look like she wasn’t bored.

[-]

Homura and Madoka were walking alone on the streets, except for the few neighbors that walked around saying hello to the two girls or a simple nod of acknowledgment. The sun was still up, probably an hour or two until it settled, but they had decided to end their outing a bit sooner than usual just so they could have more things to do when Sakura was there with them. Or, at least, that was what Madoka wanted; Homura wasn’t so sure on wanting to go out with everyone again; Of course, if it was just the two of them she would be delighted.

After a few more minutes of walking with nothing more than some small talk to break the silence from time to time, they reached Madoka’s house. Both of them stopped in the entryway.

“Well then” started Homura, going into a small bow “I’ll see you tomorrow, Madoka”

“Right, see you tomorrow, Homura-chan” Madoka said, her beautiful smile blessing Homura.

Homura simply finished her bow; she turned around and started to walk away, only to be stopped when she heard Madoka’s voice.

“Ho-Homura-chan!” Homura turned around, to look at the girl.

“What is it, Madoka? Do you need something?”

“Ah… Well, I was wondering if… If you would like to maybe spend, you know… some more time together” The start of a blush started to appear on Madoka’s face, slowly turning her cheeks into a pink color.

“Wouldn’t that have been better when Miki-san was with us then? I’m sure you would have had a better time that way”

“No… I mean… I like to spend time with everyone, but…” The girl was now fidgeting around, her slight blush become a deeper tone of red “I- I wanted to spend more time with you… alone.”

Homura completely froze on place, her brain going into a short-circuit.

This is it! Hurry, go in there make sure she forgets that boy.

No, no, no. Homura had to properly think this through, Madoka was in love with some boy (even if Homura wouldn’t approve of him until knowing who he is at least); Madoka wouldn’t go against her feelings for someone else, that’s not the kind of person she is.

Does it even matter~ They aren’t going out yet, it wouldn’t be anything bad!

Even if Homura were to go into her house, she was sure she wasn’t going to try anything. No, Madoka’s friendship was more than she deserved; there was no reason for her to try and make the girl like her. Besides…

If Madoka really liked a boy that meant Homura had been wrong all these years? So… Madoka wasn’t like her then? Of course, that would make sense. Homura never asked the girl anything about it, and she didn’t seem to take offense whenever Shizuki said her ‘girls can’t love girls’ motto. So, all this time… all this time Madoka had been straight…

And? So is spaghetti until it gets wet.

Homura had to fight both the blush that threatened to appear on her face and the urge to hit herself, even if it had been the Devil, for even daring to think about doing that to Madoka.

“Homura-chan? You don’t have to if you don’t want to…” Madoka started saying, her embarrassment clearer now than before.

Homura had to quickly come up with a reason to not go there. This was too much for her right now, didn’t want to risk the Devil filling her mind while alone with Madoka.

“Sorry, I was trying to think if I had time” Homura finally said, trying to come up with a good excuse. “I would like to, Madoka”

A joyful smile appeared on the pinkette’s face.

“But sadly… I have been leaving behind some house chores, and my fridge is empty so I should go buy groceries before the stores close” Homura kept talking, Madoka’s smile disappeared. “I’m really sorry”

Madoka stopped to think for a moment, looking at Homura as she did so. After a while a different smile appeared on her face.

“No, it’s alright!” she said, trying to force excitement out of her voice and hide the previous embarrassment behind it “I should have asked you with more time”

Madoka made a small pause, taking a brief deep breath before talking once more.

“See- See you tomorrow then!”

Homura looked at the girl, a small gentle expression appearing on her face.

“Yes, see you tomorrow, Madoka”

The bell rang just once, signaling the end of the period. Some people stayed in their seats, others got up and went to talk with their friends. Which is what Sayaka would have usually done, but not today, today she had something to do.

A quick glance at Akemi let her know that the girl was ready; After having texted each other to make a plan they had finally come up with one. And now was the perfect opportunity to put the plan on motion.

Firstly, they had to get Madoka out of the classroom; were they to be right about their initial hunch the girl would probably be looking at him, so in order for the girl to not notice what the two of them were doing they needed to make her leave. This may haven proven difficult, but Akemi said she had thought of something and that I shouldn’t worry about it.

Akemi was looking at Kyouko, almost as if she was waiting for something to happen… And it sure did. Sayaka saw Kyouko’s face turn completely white, and the girl suddenly reached for her stomach, doing some low growls of pain.

Meanwhile, Akemi went up to Madoka; told her something while pointing towards the suffering Kyouko and within a second Madoka was up from her seat and was running towards Kyouko.

“Are you okay Kyouko-chan?!” almost shouted Madoka.

“I don’t know why my stomach started hurting, like a lot suddenly” Kyouko groaned, still holding her stomach with one hand.

“I will take you to the infirmary” Madoka started to get the girl up from her seat “Here, you support yourself with me.”

“Thanks…”

And with that the two slowly got out of the classroom, telling the class representative where they were going on their way out.

And just as they left, Akemi looked back at Sayaka from Madoka’s table. Well, that was… A way to get Madoka out of the room, that was for sure. She didn’t agree with the method, but she would scold her later; right now, they had something to do.

The first person they thought could be Madoka’s crush. The only guy in class who they saw talk with her, even if it had been just because they sat next to each other.

Nakazawa.

Sayaka went from the left, while Akemi took the right, surrounding the guy so he couldn’t escape (Though, there really wasn’t a reason to do so). The guy did obviously look confused.

“Do you need something?” he said, moving his eyes between Homura and Sayaka.

“Just wanted to ask some questions, nothing big really” said Sayaka, placing her hand on the boy’s desk.

“Sure, I don’t mind” shrugged Nakazawa.

They had decided that Sayaka would do most of the talking, at least as long as the guy seemed cooperative. Not because Akemi didn’t find herself capable of getting the information, no; her reasoning had been that since he knew Sayaka more, Nakazawa would probably prefer to speak with her instead.

“So, have you and Madoka been talking lately?” asked Sayaka.

Nakazawa took a second to think, both about the answer to give and why were they asking him such a question.

“No, not anything our of the ordinary” he stopped for a second “Why? Have I said something that offended her?”

“Would you care if you did?” suddenly asked Akemi, a piercing gaze on her face.

“I mean, yeah?” Nakazawa put on a completely confused expression now “Isn’t that normal? To not want to hurt people?”

Akemi didn’t reply, Sayaka wasn’t sure if this was because she agreed with the guy or because she would have said ‘no’ to the answer. Whatever it was, Sayaka had to make sure to move the conversation where they needed to.

“Have you noticed something weird with Madoka lately?” asked Sayaka, catching the guy’s attention.

“Yeah”

There it was! A thing they could follow. Maybe even if Nakazawa didn’t end up being Madoka’s crush they could use whatever new information to find the guy in particular.

“What was it?” asked Sayaka, her voice peaked in interest.

“Well,” Nakazawa looked back at Akemi “She has been together with Akemi-san most of the day, hasn’t she?”

Something they already knew… Yeah, Madoka had been using a lot of her time with Akemi; but that was normal! The girl had been able to become her friend of course she wanted to make sure she didn’t run away. Sayaka let out a long sigh.

“So, you are sure you and Madoka are the same as always? And that other that with Akemi-san you haven’t seen her talk with anyone else?” asked Sayaka.

“Well, yeah. Kaname-san and I speak from time to time since we are right next to each other; It’s mostly about class stuff though.” Nakazawa shrugged, once more “What was this all about?”

“It’s nothing, sorry” Sayaka scratched her head as she started to walk away from the guy’s seat. Akemi promptly followed.

“He might still be it” whispered Akemi. “He could be either lying or unaware”

“Nah, who would be unaware of someone completely dotting on you?” proudly said Sayaka “Only person I know that could be like that would be Kyosuke”

“Yes, I guess you are right…” said Akemi, looking at Sayaka with her cold mask; Had she been thinking something she wasn’t showing it.

“We are back to square one…” Sayaka looked around class, trying to see what guys could be Madoka’s crush. But no one seemed to fit. Madoka did talk with the whole class, be it only because she tried to helped someone, but not everyone was close enough to even be called friends. “I guess we can still check on the gardening club prez?”

“I will next Monday” said Akemi as she started to move back to her seat. “Observing how Madoka talks with him would be more useful information than just asking”

“Yeah, good luck” Sayaka started walking towards her seat, it being in the same direction as Akemi’s they went there together. “How did you know Kyouko would get a stomachache by the way?”

Akemi stopped after passing Sayaka’s seat and turned back to face the bluenette.

“I just gave her some spoiled food” her tone completely distant.

“That was quite the precise timing” said Sayaka, a bit of a doubting tone on her voice.

After a brief moment, Akemi finally answered.

“It was plain luck”

And with that she kept walking towards her seat, her hair following behind as she turned around.

“You technically poisoned her…” Sayaka sighed, she really hoped Akemi wouldn’t do many things like that again.

“Don’t worry Kyouko-chan, we are pretty close now” said Madoka, the pinkette voice sounded distant; the echo of the almost empty glass hallways not helping against the illusion.

The stomach ache Kyouko was experiencing was one out of this world, it felt almost as if her entire guts were fighting each other in a bloody war. The pain had started really suddenly too, one moment she was fine the next Madoka was all over her to see if she was okay. It really wasn’t like any other stomach ache she had experienced before, which had been many.

They way to the infirmary had been a longer trek than she remembered, the halls almost seemingly distorting; though this was probably because of the pain, her balance had been pretty off to because of it. She could feel almost as if her life was being sapped away.

“Madoka…” Kyouko tried to talk with all the energy she had left “If I die… Please… Delete my phone search history”

“Don’t joke with that Kyouko-chan!” Ah, now that Kyouko could see it, pinky really was getting worried.

“Sorry…” Kyouko groaned before their movement came to a stop in front of the infirmary door.

Madoka carefully opened the door, trying not to drop Kyouko as she did. And they went inside. The pinkette looked around for a few seconds before she went into the room, placing Kyouko on one of the beds, Kyouko moved around in it as she tried to find a pose that didn’t hurt as much.

“The nurse isn’t here; I will see if I can at least find some painkillers” and with that Madoka started to look in the different closets that adorned the room.

Kyouko moved around the bed constantly, trying to find a position that would make the pain go away, or at the very least make it go down. She could hear Madoka move some boxes around, Kyouko opened her eyes just in time to see the pinkette getting out one pill and moving towards the sink to get a glass of water.

“Here Kyouko-chan” Madoka offered the painkiller and glass of water to Kyouko, though she was worried an attempt of a calming smile was on her face.

Kyouko sat up, the pain clearly telling her not to do so, and threw the pill into her mouth; chugging the glass of water that Madoka hurriedly offered.

“Thanks pinky…” the pain still strong.

“It should start working in a few minutes” The girl tried to hide her worry behind the calming smile she was showing “I will stay here until you get better or the nurse comes back”

“You don’t have to” Kyouko groaned as she laid back onto the bed “You are gonna miss class”

“We have English now; I think I can manage.” She said letting out a small chuckle. “Besides, I don’t want to leave a friend alone when they are in pain”

Kyouko scoffed before sitting on the bed, letting her back rest on the wall.

“Guess We can talk for a bit then”

“You should rest, Kyouko-chan” worriedly said Madoka, looking at the girl’s pained expression. “Really, I’ll just stay here in case you need something”

“No, can’t do. I’m starting to feel a bit better, see? I” answered Kyouko, now trying to hide the pain “don’t wanna make you just waste your time”

Madoka trying to examine the girl, had she noticed Kyouko was just hiding the pain she didn’t say anything; Be it because she knew Kyouko wouldn’t back down or out of kindness to let the girl win this one.

“So,” Kyouko started “anything bothering you? You’ve been more sensible than usual”

“Well…” Madoka went to pick one of the chairs and placed it besides Kyouko’s bed. “I guess I have… In fact, I kinda wanted to talk with you about it”

“Oh?” Kyouko kind of guessed what it would be about, but decided not to say anything.

“You see… It’s about Homura-chan” Madoka started to blush a bit, nervousness started to appear on her as she played with her hands. “I don’t know what it is… But I just feel weird around her”

Kyouko simply kept listening, waiting for the pinkette to be able to say everything she had to say; with how nervous the girl was getting she was probably still thinking about what to say, or rather, how to say it.

“I always end up looking at her… And when we are together, I have this warm feeling in my chest” She stopped for a second before letting out a small chuckle “I would have asked mom about it, but I thought you would know more about… well…”

“About?” asked Kyouko, trying to get the girl a little more embarrassed even though she knew about what she was talking.

“Well, you know… About liking girls” Madoka started to look at her hands, which were now holding themselves “Since you like Sayaka-chan, I thought you would know if what I’m feeling is… love” the last part came out in the quietest tone Madoka had ever spoken in.

Kyouko looked at the ball of nerves that was Madoka for a brief moment before letting out a long sigh.

“So, you finally noticed that you like her then?” said Kyouko.

“I… I think so.”

“Well, then that’s it. You like her” firmly said Kyouko.

“But… How do I know that it’s love and not just… well, because she is very pretty after all… it could be that I just…”

“Nah, you don’t want to just fuck her” plainly said Kyouko, her words giving Madoka a deeper blush “I’ve seen how you act around her, you are completely love-struck pinky”

There was a moment of silence as Kyouko waited for the pinkette to recover a bit, and in a few seconds the girl did so.

“What do I do then?” asked Madoka.

“Well, now you just gotta make her like you back” Kyouko made a small pause “Which I don’t think will be hard”

“I don’t think that will be possible!” hurriedly denied Madoka “She is perfect in everything, and I’m just… completely normal”

Kyouko moved to the edge of the bed, getting closer to the pinkette; the painkillers seemed to be taking effect, she couldn’t almost feel it now. Kyouko placed a hand on Madoka’s shoulder, making the girl look up at her.

“Trust me, I’m the expert after all”

“You really think so?” Madoka asked with a bit of hope and doubt mixed in her eyes.

“Yeah!” exclaimed Kyouko, trying to give some energy to the girl with her voice “Besides, I will help you do so”

“Thank you… but, how are we going to do it?”

“Well, you see.” Kyouko looked at Madoka’s eyes, full with confidence “I’ve got plan to make her completely fall for you”

Current date: 16^th Friday, May.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hey hello, just wanted to say something to take into consideration. Seeing how I’m often writing flashbacks, text conversations, and the such I’ve decided to use a legend for them; Just to make it easier to know what’s happening and what is a flashback or such, just to help those that may have trouble following what’s going on.

If a lot of people don’t like it, I’ll stop doing it. Please tell me how you feel about it.

=== Text between this is a phone text conversation.

~~~ Text between this is a flashback.

Italics Text is obviously thoughts, which include the Devil thoughts.

Madoka walked into her room, feeling refreshed after having taken a shower and putting on her pajamas, and dropped herself on her bed; some of her plushies were sent flying around. Madoka reached with her arm towards the chair where she had left her phone charging, the blinking light indicating there were new notifications.

As she unlocked the phone the small notification icon showed it had been a line from Kyouko. Madoka went to open it.

“You there? I’ve gotta tell you the plan. Call me when you can”

Madoka looked at the text and thought for a few seconds. The girl had asked Kyouko for advice in how to interpret her feelings and had gotten not only the advice she needed in return, but also an ally to try and make Homura like her back. She looked in her contacts and found Kyouko’s number, clicking the call icon.

After a few seconds of buzzing Kyouko picked up the phone.

“A nice you finally called” said Kyouko through the phone.

“Sorry, I was in the bath” apologized Madoka, properly positioning herself in the bed so she would look towards the ceiling.

“Don’t worry, you ready to hear the plan?”

Madoka nodded before realizing Kyouko wouldn’t be seeing her “Ye-yeah”

“Good, I don’t have much time. Sayaka won’t stay for much longer in the bath” she made a small pause “So, first thing you are gonna do is: ask Homura to go out somewhere tomorrow”

“Ju-just like that?” Madoka said, imagining Homura declining the offer “It’s quite late to ask her now, isn’t it? Maybe I should wait for the next Saturday…”

“Yeah no” Quickly denied Kyouko “If you want my perfect plan to work you gotta follow it to a tee”

Madoka moved around on her bed, it wasn’t like she didn’t want to be with Homura; but since she had realized she had feelings for her being close the beauty that Homura was made her a ball of nerves. She didn’t know what would happen if they were to spend a whole day out together, could her heart even withstand that?

“You’ve got her number, right?” asked Kyouko “Then just go ahead and send her a Line message”

“Wh-what should I say?” mumbled Madoka, a bit of pink appearing on her cheeks.

“Something like: Wanna hang out tomorrow, Homura-chan?” Kyouko said as she imitated Madoka’s voice “Add some of those kaomoji you use so much, one that is flustered or something”

“Isn’t that too direct?” worried Madoka “Maybe we should go all together? That would be easier for me!”

Madoka could hear Kyouko sigh from behind the phone “And have us interfere with your lovey-dovey time? Homura looks like the kinda person that show more emotion by herself, not in a group”

Madoka stopped to think for a brief moment, Homura had told her groups did make her more anxious; and that she preferred to spend time with just Madoka (though this part might have been part of Madoka’s dreams).

“I will try… Can you stay on the call if I need your help?”

“As long as Sayaka doesn’t come back from the bath, yeah”

“Okay…”

Madoka took a deep breath to try and calm herself, slowly letting the air out of her lungs. She hid the call, making it into a small circular icon that hovered on the screen, and went back to Line. There, obviously a favorite contact, the name ‘Homura-chan’ appeared in one of the chats. Madoka tap in the chat and their previous conversations appeared on screen; they mostly were messages to let Madoka know she was already outside or messages for Homura to know Madoka may be a bit late. Not many real conversations, only two of them. The first one they had had and the second one that started from Madoka asking Homura about if she preferred karaage or curry for lunch; the answer had been karaage.

Madoka went ahead and started typing.

“Hello, Homura-chan. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out just the two of us tomorrow?”

She hovered over the send button.

…

Madoka started deleting the message, and went to type it again.

“Hey Homura-chan! Do you want to go out together somewhere tomorrow?”

No, the go out together felt more embarrassing than usual. Homura could misinterpret it as her saying she wants to go out with her, right? Yeah, that was a normal thing to think about. She couldn’t let any kind of weird message pass her sensor. Se deleted the message once more.

“Homura-chan, you wanna go somewhere tomorrow?”

No that felt to Kyouko like; she would notice Kyouko is helping her.

“Good night, Homura-chan, I was wondering if you would like to hang out tomorrow?”

No, no; way to formal. What was she writing, an email? She deleted it once more.

“Hello Homura-chan! Can we go somewhere tomorrow, just the two of us? I just want to spend more time with only you! (≧◡≦)”

What was she thinking?! That was even more direct than the previous ones; did she want to sound desperate or something? Madoka went to start deleting the message, but she heard Kyouko’s voice which made her bring the phone up to her ear.

“Madoka? Have you sent the message?” Madoka fumbled with the phone, it almost falling from her hands.

“N-no” she sighed with a bit of embarrassment “I don’t know how to write it”

“Just say what you would say to me or Sayaka; don’t overthink it”

“But I don’t know why I can’t remember how to send a normal text!”

“Look at an old one and just copy it” Kyouko sighed.

“Sure, I’ll loo-“

Madoka’s voice was stopped when she felt her phone vibrate, and the familiar tone of a new Line message coming through followed it soon after; She went to look and saw a new message from Homura.

===

“I would love to, where and at what time?”

===

Madoka looked at the chat, she had accidentally sent the last text she had written; Her face completely filled with red. Her hands started shaking.

Oh god she had sent the worst possible text she could have. The one where she admitted to want spend more time only with Homura. That was it, her life was over. Homura would now think she was some kind of creep.

“Madoka? Are you okay?” asked Kyouko “What happened?”

“I sent it” Madoka simply answered in almost a whisper.

“The text? Good, see it wasn’t that hard”

“I sent it…”

“Y-yeah? You did?” Kyouko made a small pause “Congratulations?”

“No, I didn’t send the one I wanted to send…”

“Is it that bad?”

Madoka went back to the line chat and copied the text message, going over to Kyouko’s chat and sending it there. After a brief moment Kyouko answered.

“Oh… Well, you can just delete it! Say it was a typo and send a new one”

“Homura-chan has replied already”

“Well…” Kyouko made a small pause “At least it isn’t an offensive message? You just sound desperate that’s all”

Madoka buried her face on her biggest plushie, a big teddy bear, and tried to hide her embarrassment.

“What did she say?” Madoka could slightly hear Kyouko’s voice, she pulled a bit away from the teddy bear and answered.

“She asked when and where”

“It’s a victory then!”

Both stayed silent for a few seconds, Kyouko being the one to break the silence.

“Now, just tell her on the morning and maybe you two should go to the mall and do stuff around there. The important stuff can be done almost anywhere.”

Madoka sighed before answering Homura’s text.

===

“How does 10am sound? We will go to the usual mall if you are okay with it”

“I see, I will be at your house by 10 then” Homura’s reply came almost instantly.

“Okay, see you tomorrow then Homura-chan”

“Good night, Madoka”

Madoka took a moment to ponder whether she should answer or not, but after some consideration she was able to break her embarrassment and answered.

“Good night, Homura-chan!”

===

And with that Madoka closed Homura’s chat, a small victorious smile on her face. She went back to speak with Kyouko, but noticed that the call had ended. A new text from Kyouko was on her notification tray.

===

“Sayaka came out of the bath, I’ll text you the details of the plan”

“Okay, thank you Kyouko-chan (⌒‿⌒)”

“np”

===

And with that Madoka blocked her phone’s screen and left it charging in the same chair it had been before. Not having anyone to let all the accumulated energy she had from her nerves, her joy, and her success she simply hugged her teddy bear to death. A few minutes later the texts with the plan Kyouko had told her started to come in, Madoka read them with great attention; she had to make their first date count.

The sun was already out, it had been so for a few hours now, the sound of the few cars that roamed the streets near her house filled the room from time to time. The room was almost empty, save for a desk, a bed, and am old wooden closet which was now open. The interior of the closet was almost empty, with only her student uniforms in it and some comfier clothes she had had since she was in the orphanage. Though, with her having grown a bit they were starting to not be as comfortable as before.

She hadn’t really thought about clothes when she was going through the cycles, not that they would stay in the closet next time she started again anyways; and when Madoka had made her final wish and became part of the law of cycles… Well, Homura really wasn’t feeling like even trying to live a normal life by that point. Killing wraiths was all that she could think of during those months.

So, when last night Madoka had asked her to go out the two of them alone and she had immediately accepted… She didn’t think at all about what she would wear. She could go with the same hoodie she had done when they studied all together, but that didn’t feel like proper clothes for the event; and she didn’t want to disappoint Madoka.

Of course, Homura thought, she could easily create new clothes using her powers. She could do anything to be honest, but since she didn’t really desire anything other than Madoka’s happiness she never found herself with such a need.

Though the real question was a harder one to answer: what should she even wear. It had been so long since Madoka and her had gone out somewhere just the two of them that she didn’t remember wearing anything other than her student uniform all those times. And Madoka had told her in the past they would one day go to buy clothes for her, but…

~~~

“Homura-chan” Madoka’s magical girl outfit was bathed with the different lights that came from below the building they were on top of, the girl looking towards the display of the night life in Mitakihara “After we defeat Walpurgisnacht, why don’t we go shopping?”

“Kaname-san?” Homura, who was still on her magical girl uniform, finished picking a grief seed off the ground.

“I mean, you are really cute!” The girl turned around to face Homura, who was frozen in awe as the different colored lights from below outlined the pinkette “But, you don’t really have a lot of clothes, so it’s kind of a waste”

~~~

Homura closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to send the memories away. No, the girl she had been those first timelines was weak. She would never have been able to save Madoka, much less to try and save the rest as she thought she could have done. All foolish hopes of a Homura that didn’t exist anymore.

And what did that say of her now then? She should have disappeared long ago, before Madoka had ever gotten closed to her. Before Homura going away could hurt Madoka. But instead, she had been weak. Instead, she had stayed behind. She promised a punishment for herself, one that should had fitted a being such as herself. And instead, she had delighted in the sweet fruits of her silver garden.

And now she was worrying about what to wear? Did she really still believe Madoka would even care about such a thing? If what Miki had told her was true, which seeing how serious the girl was taking the matter it probably was, Madoka was already in love with some guy. This might even be an excuse to go somewhere where said boy would be at, but knowing Madoka she would be too embarrassed to go by herself; instead opting to have someone around her so she could support herself on them.

…

If that was what Madoka wanted, then so be it. Homura would offer her support, if that meant Madoka would be happy then it was settled. Besides, this way maybe she would finally find who the guy was and see if he would be a good match for Madoka or not.

Homura decided to pick some of the clothes she still had from when she was in the orphanage in the end, a white t-shirt with light blue jeans; only modifying their size so they would properly fit her once again. And with that she went out of her apartment and started to walk towards Madoka’s house with one goal in mind: to try and get information about who this mystery boy was.

The sound of her phone alarm quickly woke Madoka up, who had left her phone in the desk so she would have to get up from her bed to turn the alarm off. Madoka slowly sat on her bed, the annoying sound of her alarm still going on, and took some sleepy steps forward towards her phone; which showed the current time: 7:30am.

“Why did… I… put an alarm so early… in a… Saturday…” Madoka complained as she turned off the alarm, letting out a small yawn.

Still feeling sleepy she walked, slowly but surely, towards her bed once more. The moment she reached it she let all the strength on her body disappear, her body falling onto the bed as the girl started hugging her rabbit plushie.

Sleep slowly took the girl away from the conscious world.

“AH!” Madoka sprung up, quickly getting off the bed “I almost forgot about Homura-chan!”

With that the pinkette went towards her closet, looking for what to wear today. As she was looking at what to wear, she remembered Kyouko’s texts, and opened her phone in search of the tips she had given her for what to wear today.

===

“With Homura I’m pretty sure you just have to wear something cute and frilly” had said Kyouko.

“Are you sure? She is usually pretty mature; wouldn’t she think I’m childish? Well, more than what I already look (╥﹏╥)”

“Trust my instincts pinky, she is that kinda girl, I’m 100% sure”

“If you say so”

===

Madoka looked around the closet; she had a lot of cute and frilly clothes, mainly pink, but which one to choose would end up being harder than she had expected the night before.

Maybe she could use her one-piece white dress, it has some light pink frills around the edges and a small rose pattern in one side. It did look quite cute, but if she was able to follow Kyouko’s plan perfectly, they might end up doing some physical activities so a dress might not be the best for it…

With how high the temps had been lately a lot of her clothes were completely out of the picture if she didn’t want to end up dying from heatstroke; which was a shame, Madoka thought, one of her cutest outfits was winter clothes…

In the end she needed something breezy that still looked cute, so Madoka ended up going with a light pink puffy short sleeved blouse and light blue ripped short pants that Kyouko had gifted her (Kyouko had insisted those were comfiest pants one could ever wear in summer). She paired everything with two simple pink bracelets and comfortable shoes.

With that Madoka headed down towards the bathroom, where she did her hair as usual (making sure to wear the red ribbons Homura had gifted her) and followed with the rest of her weekday morning routine. After she had finished preparing, she went to the kitchen to prepare herself some breakfast, on the way there she said hello to her father who was in the garden at the moment and once she reached the kitchen, she saw her mom sitting on the table with a cup of coffee in her comfy weekend attire.

“Madoka?” Her mom had a surprised expression “It’s rare to see you up so early on a Saturday”

Madoka let out a bit of a chuckle as she started to prepare some toast “I’m going to the mall later with a friend”

Madoka kept preparing her breakfast while her mother looked at the girl with a gaze that as well could have been seeing all her deepest secrets with how deep it was.

“Ahhhh…” sighed her mom before putting on a smile “With how you are dressed I’m going to guess is that Homura girl?”

Madoka jumped a bit in surprise before turning around to face her mom “Y-yeah”

“Eh~ And you’ve made yourself all pretty and all!” Her mom put on a teasing smile “You don’t usually do all this work on yourself just for a friend you know?”

“Mom!” Madoka embarrassedly exclaimed as she took the strawberry jam jar to put in her toast.

The teasing smile that her mom had slowly changed, instead becoming a more caring one. “I’m here if you need anything, sweetie”

Madoka pondered for a few seconds if she should ask or not her mom about what to do to help with their date, but then again Kyouko had given her a pretty detailed plan; maybe she didn’t have to ask her mother for advice… Or at least, not yet.

“I know…” Madoka said right as her toasts jumped off the toaster “Kyouko-chan is already helping me so don’t worry!”

“Oh? Kyouko is?” asked her mom “Didn’t know she had experience in love”

Madoka stopped to think for a second.

She had asked Kyouko to help her since she knew the redhead was a lesbian (She had told her so after she mistakenly took Madoka’s and Sayaka’s friendship as something more and almost made her a rival, misunderstanding that Madoka quickly fixed). But other than the girl liking Sayaka… had Kyouko ever talked about going out with someone? Actually, had any of her own plans ever worked out? As far as she knew she and Sayaka weren’t dating yet.

Oh god, why did she ask Kyouko for help?!

The girl seemed to wear this confidence around that no one seemed to know where it came from, but it certainly was contagious and more often than not made Madoka feel like she could trust her with her life. But she was now starting to think that as much as she would trust her with her actual life, maybe her love life should be managed by a different person. One with more experience.

Now though it was too late to back down. Homura would be at her door in around two hours, and they had talked about going around the mall the whole day. She now had to follow Kyouko’s plan, even if it was one that wasn’t backed up by experience. At least she was sure the redhead had more experience planning dates than Madoka did; the thought did help her relax a little.

“Madoka” the voice of her mother calling her made her come back from the depths of her mind.

“Yeah?” asked Madoka as she lazily finished spreading the jam on her toast.

“Why don’t you invite Homura to have dinner with us? To be honest, after her display the first time she came to get you I’m a bit curious”

Memories of last Thursday, with Homura and her in front of her house appeared to remind her just how that had gone last time.

“I would like to…” Madoka took a deep breath “But Homura-chan always finds a way to say no”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Honestly…”

Madoka stopped to think for a moment, they had promised to not leave the other one alone (though in the moment Madoka thought that could mean something more it seemed that for Homura it had only been just a promise between friends). And Homura had promised to not make an excuse when she didn’t want to go out with the rest… But that promise didn’t include her not making one just to be with her, did it?

“I don’t know” Madoka finally said, her mother simply kept looking at her as she took a long sip of her coffee; waiting for the pinkette to continue speaking. “To be honest, at times it feels like she wants to get away as far as possible…”

Madoka remembered all the times Homura would quickly dismiss most of the plans they made. The days were things just seemed to go wrong in every direction; just like how the day Sayaka fell unconscious, in which Homura had gone out of their way as fast as she could just so she didn’t have to go to Mami’s house. Or all the days that she would get out of the way after classes ended, not even letting Madoka ask her to come with them.

But then Madoka also remembered how Homura had joined the gardening club to not let her be alone after class. How she had agreed to accompany her to school every morning. How she had not missed a single lunch since Madoka had started making hers…

“And some other times it feels as if she thinks I will disappear if she stops looking at me” Madoka finally finished her sentence after having arranged her thoughts “And the thing is… I kinda feel the same about the last part”

“You think she is going to disappear?” asked her mom, just to let her know she was still listening.

“More like… something inside me tells me that if I leave her alone, she will” Madoka’s smile turned into a complicated one, a feeling of uneasiness and familiarity with the concept of Homura disappearing being poured into it.

Her mom finished taking the last sip of her coffee before closing her eyes and going into a thinking expression, letting some ‘hmm…’s and ‘well…’s escape her mouth from time to time.

“I definitely need to talk with her myself to actually know but…” her mom made a small pause as she opened her eyes with determination “If what you are saying it’s true then she seems like the kind of person that doesn’t believe they deserve anything good”

“Eh?” questioned Madoka, though the idea of itself was new it did ring quite close when she put it together with her mental image of Homura.

“Some people are like that, just think all their accomplishments aren’t enough to pay for the rewards they are seeing” She let out a small sigh “Others just think there is no way for them to get anything good. I’ve seen some similar people on the company before, as much as they do useful things, they don’t feel like they belong at all”

Her mother let out another sigh, a bit of annoyance could be heard in it.

“It depends, but some of them usually overwork themselves because they believe that if they don’t, they aren’t doing enough” she looked at Madoka straight in the eyes “Now that I remember, you said she lives alone?”

Madoka simply nodded as an answer.

“Well, now I really want to talk with her” she looked at Madoka with the same look she put on whenever she was completely serious about something “Madoka, try to invite her; tell her I wanted to talk with her, no need to hide the reason. I’m just worried”

“Right, I will” Madoka knew the feeling all to well, even if Homura tried to hide it, she could still see the girl put on those sad expressions she often did. The bags under her eyes hadn’t gone away either, so whatever hard life she had been going with before hanging around with Madoka she didn’t stop to follow it. “Thank you, Mama”

“Yeah, have fun in your date” she added with a bit of a teasing voice “Just make sure to send a text if she ends up coming or not, don’t want your father to panic in the last moment with what to make!”

Madoka chuckled as she went back to eating her toast. She really should have gone for help to her mom first. She always knew the best solutions after all.

Kyouko woke up quite early during the Saturday (9am), the alarm on her phone displayed a remainder on it:

“Help Madoka with her date”

After she read the alarm text, she simply turned off her alarm and, after a few seconds in which it seemed almost as if the girl had gone back to sleep, she slowly got up from her bed as she groaned.

She had a job as a cupid to do; and if her instincts were right (which they probably were, to be honest) Madoka and Homura did like each other but everyone was fucking oblivious to it for some reason. If she wanted Madoka to get her happy ending, and with that properly take note of Sayaka’s reaction to a lesbian couple, she had to follow them just to see what pinky would inevitable do wrong and send her texts to correct her behavior.

Kyouko walked towards Sayaka’s room and peeked into it.

The bluenette was still sleeping, perfect. That way she wouldn’t ask what was going on. Kyouko quickly put some proper clothes on, took one of her bags full of snacks and her wallet and slowly walked out the door towards the shopping mall station where she would wait for her prey.

The door of her apartment closed and Sayaka finally opened her eyes, she had been about to wake up a few minutes before; but suddenly heard Kyouko’s alarm and decided to fake sleep.

Homura had told her just the night before that she and Madoka were going to go to the shopping mall together, and that she thought it might be an excuse to see the guy Madoka liked so she had told her to follow them and try to take note of any guy that she might miss. Now the plan wasn’t the best one, but Homura said she would focus on the people Madoka looked while Sayaka could take a note of those who looked at Madoka; as she had said, not the best plan but at least something.

She didn’t want Kyouko following her though. She knew that if the redhead found their plans, she would probably tell Madoka and that was the end of the game. As such, Sayaka had decided to wait for Kyouko to leave before getting ready herself and she went ahead towards the shopping mall in a bit of a disguise (Mainly using some of her father’s clothes and a hat to hide her blue hair).

Today was going to be a bit of a long day, and she had to make sure not to miss any guy that tried to get close to Madoka. They needed to find who the guy was before Madoka got to close to him, she didn’t want to find out her best friend was dating a weirdo when it was too late.

Madoka’s phone screen lit up as the sound of a text notification came in. The girl picked the phone excitedly as she saw the time, 9:59 AM. She clicked on the notification, going into the Line chat.

===

"I’m outside” said Homura, her icon that still was the default profile picture on the top of the screen.

“Going!” Quickly replied Madoka as she got up from the table and picked up her purse.

===

Madoka opened the door, seeing Homura on the other side of the street. The vision of the girl in her plain clothes honestly could have been hard to improve. Yes, it was just a plain white shirt that was a bit on the small size for Homura, but it made it so Madoka could easily see the girl’s curves. Add in the jeans she was wearing and Homura not only did still look beautiful in Madoka’s eyes but she seemed even a bit more approachable than she usually did when they wore their uniforms.

“Hello Homura-chan!” happily said Madoka as she approached the ebony haired beauty.

“Good morning, Madoka” said Homura in response as she did a small bow with her head. “Shall we get going?”

Madoka nodded and she merrily placed herself next to Homura, the girl rather than move away as she used to do before stayed next to her and even took a step closer to Madoka; Had this been on purpose or not Madoka didn’t care, it had still made her happy that Homura wanted to approach her.

And with that they set off towards the station, their day about to start.

Current date: Saturday 17^th of May.

A/N: And with this episode number 10 is done!

Now, I’m not sure how long the next one will be, it might be the usual 5-6k words or it might go a bit longer. By which I mean… I may not have it prepared by Friday, depends on how much time I’m able to give it and how inspired I feel.

That said, thank you for reading up to this point! Almost 60k words in a month man, time sure does fly.

I’ve also realized I’ve got a lot of plans for the events that will happen after the festival; but I’ve got only simple ideas for this week lmao.

Chapter Text

The sound of the train speeding through its tracks filled the air. The vast amounts of people that were in the train cabin made it hard to move around, though that was part of the plan Kyouko had sent her. Madoka was standing next to Homura, just a few centimeters away from each other due to the little space that was available; From this distance Madoka couldn’t even look up without their faces meeting in a way that made her think of kissing Homura.

But she had to be strong, the plan didn’t say to do that. And besides, their first kiss shouldn’t be on the train!

Instead, she took a deep breath and looked up at the girl, holding with all her might the blush that would come were she to think of the girl’s lips.

“Are you okay, Homura-chan?” quietly asked Madoka. “I know you aren’t good with groups of people”

Homura looked at the girl, their eyes now meeting, and placed a fake smile on her face.

“I’m fine” she said in a similarly quiet tone “Thank you for worrying, Madoka”

“If you start feeling uncomfortable let me know, okay?” worriedly asked Madoka, a small smile on her face.

“Right, I will” replied Homura looking at the girl with a more honest smile now, though Madoka wasn’t sure if it was a happy one or a sad one.

Now that Madoka had made sure Homura wasn’t feeling ill, though she was pretty sure the girl was just holding it in, she had to put the plan on motion. She only remembered the plan in a general view, she had forgotten the precise steps that Kyouko gave her yesterday and as such she decided to check her phone messages. Just in case she was to forget something, it wasn’t like she was nervous. No, not at all.

===

“When you two are in the train together, and make sure to get in one pretty filled up, you gotta place yourself as close to her as you can”

“But Homura doesn’t like groups of people, I can’t make her go in there”

“Listen pinky, she won’t be thinking on how full the train is when you are less than 30 centimeters (10 inches) away from her”

“The only one that’s going to be thinking about that is me! I’m the one that likes her not the other way around!”

“Just trust me, get close to her in the train”

“That’s all?”

“Nah, then you gotta make it like you are gonna fall you know? She catches you and the people move to fill the space you just left, leaving you two stuck together for the rest of the trip!”

===

Madoka just had to wait for an opening to appear, but this part of the plan Kyouko had told her really felt familiar. Had she seen it somewhere else?

Oh god.

Madoka now remembered where she had seen this, it had been from a romantic movie she had lent Kyouko a few weeks ago! Did she really just tell her to do something from a movie?!

That’s not going to work in real life, Kyouko-chan!

Even if the people around them were to instantly take the previous place Madoka was in, the ‘fluttering hearts’ moment would only last a few seconds. They were in the train in the middle of May it was really, really hot outside. They would just end up sweating and the whole romantic point of the plan would go to waste!

Sure, the idea of being stuck to Homura sounded nice. But Madoka wasn’t desperate enough, not yet at least, to try and replicate a scene from a movie. She would have to think of something else to do in the train. Maybe she could try to just sneak in some hand touching? That would be enough in exchange for the whole ‘get stuck to her’ shenanigan, right? It was basically the same after all.

Really Madoka? Just touching her hand? What are you, five?

Maybe she could ask the girl how she felt again? That way she would have an excuse, with the clearly fake smile she would put on, to try and check if she had a fever or something. That would be quite the caring action, wouldn’t it? That could make Homura grateful towards Madoka, and maybe she could evolve that gratefulness into something more…

Using something that makes her uncomfortable to gain her love? No, I could never do such a thing, that would be just unfair to her…

Nothing then, there was no way Madoka could come up with an idea all on her own. Instead, she simply blocked her phone before putting it back on her purse with a defeated sigh.

“Is something wrong, Madoka?” Madoka looked up once again, seeing that the girl had been apparently watching her mental dilemma.

“Ah- ah, no” Madoka did a bit of a nervous laugh “It’s nothing”

“Are you sure? If there is something that worries you, you can tell me” Homura put on a gentle smile, and whether it was real or not; Madoka did not care, for it made her happy.

“It’s okay really!” Madoka exclaimed, trying not to raise her voice too much.

Homura didn’t answer, instead just looking ahead and seemingly reading something.

“Our stop is the one after the next one, we can get off in the one before; maybe some… fresh air will help you feel better”

Even if Homura seemed to be talking to Madoka, there was a weird aura around here that made it feel more like an inner dialogue than a conversation with the pinkette. It made Madoka feel as if Homura was far away rather than next to her.

“Right, thank you Homura-chan”

“There is no need to thank me”

Madoka went into thought once more, she would have to tell Kyouko she had failed just with the first step of the plan. Maybe she should give up already, there was no way that this plan would work.

Mitakihara Central Station was filled to the brim with people, which honestly worked in Kyouko’s favor. She did stand out a lot in most crowds, but with this amount of people walking around there was no way that someone would see her unless they were searching for her; and even then, it would prove a hard task.

She had been waiting in the station for a few minutes now, the lovestruck duo should be coming pretty soon. From that point onwards Kyouko would trail from behind and make sure to give Madoka advice from time to time through her phone, she should probably have brought some kind of disguise though.

Her mental train was stopped short when a notification came through her phone.

===

“I’ve failed with the first part, Kyouko-chan”

The first part was… ah, the train scene.

“Don’t worry about it, there are plenty of other opportunities”

After almost a minute of the ‘typing…’ dialogue appearing and disappearing a new text from the pinkette came through.

“I don’t think this is going to work”

“You gotta trust me! It will”

“But what if something doesn’t go according to plan? I can’t think of any alternative!”

“That’s why I got up early. The plan is to follow you two around and send advice your way”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah, waiting on the Central station”

“Kyouko-chan”

“??”

“We have stopped one station early; we are not going to go there”

Fuck.

“Okay, no problem. Did you start walking towards the mall?”

“Yeah”

“I’ll be there”

===

Kyouko got up from the bench she had been sitting on and started running towards the mall, moving between the rivers of people with the same skill she had gotten during the few months she had lived in the streets.

There had been some unpredicted inconveniences in the plan, but nothing major that Kyouko couldn’t fix. She had become an expert in love after all, how many movies had she watched to try and get Sayaka fall for her? Hell, the movies had gone from being boring to Kyouko actually enjoying watching them. Though she would never admit that out loud, she had an image to keep after all.

[-]

After having ran for ten minutes Kyouko finally reached the mall and looked around in search of her objectives. It didn’t take long, as the pink hair was already quite easy to find in crowds, but now that it was being accompanied by ebony black hair it contrasted the scenery even more than usual.

The two seemed to have gotten there just a few seconds before Kyouko and were now walking around the mall; probably heading towards the first place Kyouko told Madoka they should go to break the ice, and with some luck make the ice queen open up a bit for the rest of the date.

Their first destination was going to be the arcade.

The sounds of different songs filled the space around Homura, each game machine trying to surpass the one next to them in loudness. From the other end of the big arcade the sound of claw machines signaling someone had won ringed across the room. Some people played alone, others in small groups, a small crowd of about 8 persons had been gathering around the Dance Dance Revolution machine. In general, the place was filled to the brim with people, enough space to move around but also not enough space to make Homura’s instincts to ran away disappear.

Arcades weren’t something Homura really frequented, she had not been able to play in them when she was an orphan and after she was released… well, she had more important things to do. The only times she had come to the place was when she tried to have Kyouko help her against Walpurgisnacht. Something that never really worked out.

But this time she was in here with Madoka, who had insisted in coming here to start off their day. To ‘wake up’ she had said. As much as the reason was a cute one (Though everything Madoka did usually was) there had been no need for one, if Madoka told her to go to the Arcade then she shall go there.

“I didn’t think it would be this full” said Madoka, raising her voice more than usual so Homura could hear her “We can go somewhere else if you want, Homura-chan”

“No, it’s okay” replied Homura, putting on a trained reassuring smile on her face.

It wasn’t like Homura was ‘scared’ of crowds, but it had been in crowds like these where she would often lose Madoka from her sight. Which always ended up with the girl meeting Kyubey. Always a failure when she did. Not to say that after having quite a few encounters with magical girls that for some reason wanted to kill Madoka (Mizuni Oriko had become a first target on most loops) she had developed a sense of always wanting to have a way out of any situation. And places with a lot of people were… not the best.

That had been the old Homura though, the one that failed to save Madoka. This time there was nothing that could hurt her.

…

Nothing other than Madoka herself.

“I already said it before, but if you start feeling uncomfortable tell me and we will go somewhere else, okay?” asked Madoka worriedly.

“Of course, Madoka” quickly replied Homura as she came back from her mindscape “Well then, what do you want to do?”

“I thought that maybe we could play some coop games!” Madoka’s face lit up as she spoke, outshining the neon lights that the machines around them had “I’m not very good at it, but I’ve played before with Kyouko-chan and Sayaka-chan”

And the guy you like too, right?

“Sure, let’s go to one you like” Homura started to walk, Madoka following right next to her

“Why don’t we choose together?” asked Madoka.

“I’m sorry, I’ve never played videogames.” Homura turned towards the girl, facing her with a bit of an embarrassed smile on her face “I wouldn’t know which ones are fun”

Homura should have made more research before today, that much was true; but even just the idea of going out alone with Madoka had made her to nervous to even think about such a thing. All her energy had been spent in making sure she wouldn’t change reality by mistake with her fantasies.

“Oh” Madoka kept staring at Homura, her gaze completely fixed on Homura’s eyes.

Homura had to turn her face around, the intense inquisitive gaze of the girl about to make her blush. Maybe Homura should get rid of all the blood on her body, that would make it so she couldn’t blush, right? It’s not like her body needed blood.

Madoka apparently having realized what she was doing also looked away with a blush that Homura did not notice.

“Ah! S-sorry”

“N-no, it’s fine”

Akemi Homura for the love of Madoka, have you just stuttered?

And there was the voice again, though this time Homura couldn’t do anything but agree with her. She took a deep breath and placed her usual expression on once more. There was no time to be all embarrassed around Madoka, she had to find who the guy she liked was.

“Okay” Started saying Madoka as she took a small deep breath “Let’s see, the game I play most with Kyouko-chan should be around here…”

Homura started following Madoka as she guided her towards the machine. In the meantime, Homura tapped her earring as she tried to remember who were following Miki Sayaka.

“Nekura, Wagamama; What’s the current status on Miki Sayaka”

“S̴t̶r̶a̷w̶b̸e̵r̵r̵y̶ ̶i̵s̶ ̷f̵o̶l̷l̷o̸w̵i̴n̶g̵ ̶g̸o̸o̴d̴ ̸f̸o̴r̷ ̵n̴o̸t̵h̵i̷n̴g̴.̵ ̷” replied Wagamama.

Now that Homura had confirmed what she wanted to know she stopped the communication with her doll before Wagamama could complain. And she kept following Madoka who had apparently finally reached the game machine she wanted to play.

The machine was a relatively big cabin with a big screen attached to it. Four plastic guns were attached with a cord to the machine.

“It’s not the kind of game I usually play by myself…” started saying Madoka “But it is really easy to learn if you aren’t used to using a controller!”

Of course, Madoka would take one of Homura’s weaknesses into consideration when choosing what to do, even if that meant not choosing a game she liked more. Her kindness really didn’t know bounds.

They got inside the machine and each paid for one pay. Homura would have paid for Madoka’s, after all money wasn’t a concern for someone like her, but the pinkette would have probably denied it and she would eventually return it without Homura having a say in the matter. It was better to just let her pay for herself.

They both picked the plastic guns as the game menu music blasted louder than Homura enjoyed. The opening cinematic started to play.

“The game is really simple” explained Madoka as she took position with the plastic gun, was it modeled after an UMP45? If it was it wasn’t very accurate… “You just have to point at the zombies and shoot!”

“I see” Homura replied as she moved the gun around a bit, trying to get a feel of the clearly cheap plastic. “I’ll try my best”

“Though I’ve never been able to beat it” Madoka let out a small chuckle “Whenever I play with Kyouko-chan I die in a hard situation and she is overwhelmed by the enemies”

“That just means Sakura-san isn’t competent enough”

The opening cinematic finally ended and with that the screen started moving, after a few seconds enemies started to appear. Homura made some test shots, seeing how accurate the gun was before adjusting her posture.

“I will make sure you survive until the end this time”

With that Homura started to take shots at the pixelated zombies, easily downing one after the other with clear headshots. The gun didn’t feel… right, but to be honest they she had used guns wasn’t that correct anyways; having been fortified by her magic she could forget about recoil, though that wasn’t true at the start of the loops.

For her shooting at things was just second nature, and the knowledge that Madoka could die (even if just in the game) if she made a mistake brought forth a feeling, she was all too familiar with. Her usual calculated face, undeterred during a fight. The only thing that would let her forget her pains in the past, fighting.

“You are really good at this Homura-chan!” exclaimed Madoka as she tried to take some shots, though some of them hit a lot of them missed their target as Homura was already taking care of them.

Homura didn’t answer, to absorbed in the game. This had been what was missing from her life after Madoka became a concept. This feeling of fighting to save Madoka; unlike the feeling she had felt when fighting against wraiths, a feeling that wanted her to make a fatal mistake to finally go see her.

“Ah! This is a really hard part!” exclaimed Madoka “They can’t get close at all or they will explode!”

“I won’t let them” subconsciously replied Homura.

And keeping her promise Homura made sure to take out all the enemies swiftly, always starting from the right side to make sure no one got to Madoka where she to fail.

After some more shooting they finally cleared the heliport and were able to get into the helicopter that waited for them there. The ending cinematic started to play as the scores appeared on screen.

“That was amazing Homura-chan!” Madoka said as she turned to look at Homura.

~~~

“I did it?”

A bed of yellow ribbons caught Homura as she fell, the witches’ labyrinth disappearing around her.

“I did it!”

Homura felt a sudden hit as a pink girl wrapped around her neck and did jump of joy.

“You did it!”

Homura could feel the warmth of Madoka’s body as she energetically hugged her, a victory after having killed her first witch.

“That was amazing Homura-chan!”

~~~

But this time there was no such show of affection.

Homura looked at the scores on the screen, her aim had been 99% perfect; probably taking into account the shots she had taken at the start to calibrate. Madoka’s aim had been just 34%. Homura’s kill count was 653, Madoka’s only 21.

Without noticing Homura had played the game basically by herself.

“I’m sorry Madoka” It was just a game; she shouldn’t have acted so overprotective.

“Huh? Why are you apologizing?” asked Madoka as she tilted her head.

Madoka looked back at the screen scores, and back at Homura who had a pained look on her face.

“Ahhhh…” Madoka giggled “Don’t worry about it, Homura-chan”

“But…”

“This is how it usually goes when I play with Kyouko-chan too, you know?” Madoka made a small pause “Even with Sayaka who didn’t use to play that much there is also this big a difference in scores”

“Even then, I still took away all the fun from the game” Homura had, once more, failed Madoka. Sure, it wasn’t her dying, but how could Homura say she was aiming for Madoka’s happiness if she wouldn’t even let her enjoy some games out of fear? What else would she do in order to keep her safe from a non-existent threat?

A particular timeline she aimed to forget flashed through her mind, quickly she shook her head in order to not let those memories come forth. If Madoka had really seen everything when she became a concept, there was no way she would forgive her with what she did in that loop.

“You are wrong, Homura-chan” Madoka’s voice brought Homura back from the past “I had fun! I promise.”

Homura simply stood there, looking at the screen that waited for her to place a name for the high score.

“It would be a waste if you didn’t put your name” said Madoka, now also looking at the screen.

“No, you also helped” Homura took a step forward and started to type out a name.

“It doesn’t let you write names that are too long” said Madoka, the girl getting a bit closer to Homura as she typed. “Only eight characters, see?”

Homura deleted what she had started to write and kept staring at the screen. The name holder blinking as it waited for some input. After some time, she finally decided on a name and started typing it out.

“M-MadoHomu?” said Madoka, now looking at Homura; the red lights of the arcade that shone around hiding her blush.

“Yes, it’s the best way to fit both our names together” Homura pressed enter and submitted the name, now the top score on that machine. “Well, is there something else you want to do? I will make sure not to hoard the game this time”

Madoka stopped looking at the game screen that was displaying the top scores, their name being the first one, before looking back at Homura and speaking.

“R-right, DDR will probably be full yet…” Madoka stopped to think “Why don’t we go to the claw games? Maybe we can find something cu- something interesting to get?”

“Sure, let’s go”

The sound of some fighting game was all Sayaka could hear from her right ear, a group of people had started a mini tournament right there. Usually, it would be something interesting to see, or rather, something where Kyouko would drag her to see; but this time it worked on her favor as she could use the small crowd as a way to hide.

After having played an arcade game Madoka and Akemi had gone towards the claw machines, Madoka seemed to be checking her phone and Sayaka made sure to look around to see if someone was also checking their phone; maybe they were texting each other.

But sadly, Sayaka didn’t see any boy with a phone out; Most were just playing games or trying to get some stuff from the claw machines. So, it might had been a message that they sent her while she was playing…

Sayaka could see from time to time how Akemi would also look around them, and if Madoka sight was set on someone from some time she would do a small gesture towards the person in particular (Or at least that’s what Sayaka thought she was doing) so that Sayaka could go and inspect the guy.

Yet there had been no one that seemed to be the person they were looking for. Had it not been because of her undying spirit, Sayaka would have probably given up already. But this was an important thing to take care of. And besides, looking at Akemi fail miserably at the claw machines was pretty fun.

Now was Madoka’s turn, the girl wasn’t an expert at the claw machines; but she had at least played quite a bit before, and even participated in ‘Kyouko’s Claw Training for Newbies’ so she had some edge. It was at that moment when Sayaka saw another one of those signals; Akemi was trying to point towards her right without making it too obvious.

Sayaka’s gaze shifted towards where she was pointing, and sure enough she saw someone. A guy, maybe in his 17s a bit tall, scruffy hair and black glasses was staring at them. Sayaka simply moved around the fighting tournament and starting heading that way, the guy was far enough from the girls to not let her be found by Madoka even if she raised her voice a bit.

When she was right next to the dude she spoke up.

“Hey” The dude did a small jump, clearly not expecting someone to call for him.

“Wh-what?”

“What you looking at? You know em?” Sayaka said, doing the best impression of Kyouko she could do. She knew that the girl could easily threaten someone older than her, she had seen her do it before.

“I wasn’t looking at anyone!” the guy said, suddenly getting defensive.

“I saw you lookin’ at em for like two minutes now dude” Imitating Kyouko old speech pattern was easier than she thought it would be.

The guy hesitated for a bit, before a small smile started appearing on him.

“The dark hair one is my little sister! I was just making sure she was okay”

Did Akemi ever say anything about having an older brother? Wait, of course not.

“Really?”

“Yeah! So now just let me be” The guy stopped facing at Sayaka and kept playing the claw machine while looking at the other two from time to time.

“What about the pink one?”

“Huh? I don’t care about that kid”

Well, that was a relief. At least this creep wasn’t the one that Madoka was in love with. Just a creep. Sayaka started to walk away, in search for one of the attendants of the arcade to report the guy. She wasn’t about to start a fight inside here, didn’t want to get banned.

The claw picked up the vanilla-colored bunny plushie, slowly raising it towards the top… and it slipped out of the grip, falling further away from the winning hole. Madoka couldn’t hold a giggle for longer, they had been trying to get this plushie for over thirty minutes now, and seeing Homura get frustrated was being really fun.

“What’s wrong with this claw” said Homura under her breath as she passed her credit card on the machine and put one more credit in. “It’s the weakest machine I’ve ever seen”

“That’s how they work, Homura-chan” said Madoka as she looked at Homura slowly moving the claw towards the plushie once more “It will get stronger at some point”

“When will that point be? We’ve been here for half an hour” replied Homura, her brows were furrowing and Madoka could hear a ‘tsk’ after the plushie fell once more.

Part of the plan was that one of them would win something, hopefully Madoka, and would gift it to the other. Or at least, that was Kyouko’s plan; Madoka didn’t know what Homura would do if she won. But they had been having so much bad luck that they weren’t able to win anything, they had changed machines thrice already and it didn’t seem to change anything.

Add in that Homura was refusing every single helping hand the staff would offer and the process had become an endless loop of getting the plushie close to the hole just for it to bounce back to its original position.

“You really like this plushie, don’t you Homura-chan?” Every time they changed machines Homura always ended up looking for the first one they had chosen.

“Not really” said Homura, still focused on the claw machine.

“Eh? Why do you want it so bad then?” Madoka said as she tilted her head.

“You chose it first, I thought you wanted it” Homura said, finally looking up from the machine to look at Madoka.

There was a moment of silence before realization hit Madoka, a bit of an embarrassed laugh coming out of the pinkette.

“I don’t want it so badly you know! I already got one of the same collection that’s why I felt like getting the other one” Madoka said “We can go to an easier machine if you want”

Homura froze as she tried to think. The girl really had been trying to get her the plushie just because it was the first one she mentioned wanting… Between this and the insistence of putting both of their names on the top score, Homura really was a good friend. Madoka held a defeated sigh, Homura really was far out of her league, wasn’t she? There was no way she would see Madoka as anything other than a friend, and besides with how much Homura had been looking at the boys around them today, she clearly wasn’t interested in that kind of relationship with a girl.

While Homura was thinking Madoka felt her phone vibrate as a notification came in.

===

“Pinky, I’ve prepared an easy win on the fourth machine from the right. Third row.”

Madoka looked at the text for a second. Right, she couldn’t give up yet. Kyouko was supporting her, she had to try her best so she wouldn’t throw away her friend’s kindness.

“Thank you, Kyouko-chan”

“Np”

===

“Homura-chan?” Madoka poked the girl on the shoulder, Homura had been looking at the staff dragging away some guy with glasses out of the building.

“Sorry, did you say something Madoka?”

“Let’s go find another machine, okay? There are some easier ones over the third row”

Homura stopped to think for a second as she looked towards the third row.

“If that’s what you want” said Homura as she started to walk towards the other machines, Madoka following after her.

When they reached the third row of machines Madoka started to count until she found the fourth one. Seeing that the price was literally hanging from the barrier around the winning compartment she pointed towards it without even looking what the prize was.

“Let’s do this one Homura-chan!”

Homura looked at it for a second before going over to the machine, and letting her credit card hover over the card reader.

“Are you sure you want this one?” asked Homura, looking at Madoka. Had it not been for the lighitng on the room Madoka would have noticed the slight blush the girl had.

“Yes! Let get it together, okay? We can share it!” Madoka shone a smile at Homura, who simply beeped her card on the card reader and added one credit.

Homura slowly moved the claw over the corner that was sticking out of the prize, her plan clearly being to push it down so it would fall into the winning compartment.

“Who would leave it like this?” said Homura as she pushed the ‘release’ button “Though I guess if you were alone, you wouldn’t want it…”

“What do you mean?” said Madoka as the prize fell, Homura leaning down to get it and handing it to Madoka.

Then Madoka saw the prize for the first time, it was a two-mug set. One with the word ‘husband’ in it and the other the word ‘wife’ in it, with some cute cat decoration on the husband one and some bunnies in the wife one.

Not even the strong colorful lights of the arcade could now hide the blush Madoka had. Whether Homura had one too was a mystery, the girl had already turned around to hide her face completely.

Oh god, Oh god, Oh god. Does this count as a confession? Did she understand it as one?! Kyouko why did you do this…

“It… It’s lunchtime already” said Homura without turning around “Should we go eat something?”

“Y-yeah” Madoka took one plastic bag and placed the mug box in it “Le- Let’s go”

Kyouko followed the pair from a distance, making sure that Akemi wouldn’t notice her around. Though, of course, were she to do so she would just say she was going to play at the arcade. Even if she asked why she was following them she already had an answer, might not be the best answer, but it was an answer nonetheless.

Though there was something that kind of irked Kyouko. The emo girl had said she was new to games? Yeah, that had to be impossible. She had gotten the highest score on ‘Z-Invasion’, no way she didn’t play before. It had taken Kyouko so long to get it herself she was honestly annoyed that Akemi was able to just destroy her previous record like it was nothing.

Thankfully for Kyouko, she knew Madoka wouldn’t look at the prize she had prepared for them before getting it in a desperate attempt to make Akemi feel better. So, when she saw both of them blushing like they had just declared to the other she felt quite good.

Kyouko once more placed her attention on her prey, looking at them from afar they seemed to be about to get into a sushi restaurant. Even though Kyouko had said that the place where they ate wouldn’t really matter with the budget they had, Madoka had insisted on at least going to a proper restaurant instead of a fast food one.

Kyouko went to the nearby WcDonalds, that thankfully had a nice vantage point from which look at the restaurant where Madoka and Akemi were eating at.

She walked towards the ordering line and waited for her turn.

“I’ve got an offer coupon for a discount” A familiar voice in front of herself said as they were ordering.

Kyouko leaned a bit to the side, trying to see the who the person in front of her was as they passed the coupon to the cashier. The voice was familiar… but it couldn’t possible be…

It actually was, blue hair below the hat she was wearing appeared and with it she recognized those clothes as ones the bluenette’s father wore from time to time.

“Sayaka?” asked Kyouko in disbelief.

The bluenette slowly turned around, a surprised expression on her face.

“K-Kyouko” she stuttered.

“What are you doing here by yourself?” asked Kyouko.

There was a moment of silence as the bluenette turned around once more to pay for her food, moving out of the way towards the retrieving lane. Kyouko moved ahead to order her food.

“One number 8 and number 6, please” she said as she placed the exact amount it would cost her on the counter. After getting her receipt she walked over to where Sayaka was. “So, are you going to answer?”

“What?” asked Sayaka, clearly trying to avoid the conversation.

“What the hell are you doing here? Alone?”

“I just wanted to come eat here!” She finally said after a few seconds of thinking “What about you anyways? What are you doing here?”

“That’s my business” snapped Kyouko.

“Oh, but I have to tell you what I was doing?” asked Sayaka annoyed.

“Tsk, I was just playing at the arcade like how I usually do”

“Hah, that’s weird” Sayaka said smugly, finally looking at Kyouko “I was just there and I didn’t see you?”

“Well, maybe you are just that blind” Kyouko made a small pause “Besides, what’s up with the getup?”

Some moments of silence, the girl clearly was trying to think of an excuse.

“I was a bit cold and this are quite warm”

And the excuse was horrible.

“In 30ºC weather? Are you nuts?”

It couldn’t possibly be that Sayaka was also following Akemi and Pinky could it be? Madoka didn’t say anything about her telling Sayaka, hell they had done the plan through texts messages just so Sayaka wouldn’t hear about it. Had it been Akemi? There was no way that it was the emo girl, right? The two weren’t close at all, hell they had been almost enemies a few days ago.

The disguise clearly indicated that Sayaka was trying not to be seen. So, her following Madoka and Akemi would make a lot of sense then. Now, why would she be following them? Did she finally figure out that Madoka liked Akemi?

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence their food arrived almost at the same time, a new dilemma forming on Kyouko’s head. Would they sit together or not? They had come by themselves, but after finding each other… and most importantly, after that discussion she wasn’t sure what would be the proper thing to do.

You know what? Fuck that.

“Let’s sit over there” said Kyouko as she walked over to a table, after a second of hesitation Sayaka followed behind.

They both sat at a table that had an easy way for Kyouko to look at the restaurant Madoka and Akemi had gone into. Once they took their seats, Kyouko opened one of her hamburgers and quickly ate it.

“So,” started Kyouko “Really, what’s up with the getup”

Sayaka took her time to finish chewing, but in the end seemed to came up with nothing.

“I just wanted to… you know, call less attention”

“So, you used clothes that make you look like a detective from the 80s?” said Kyouko before eating some fries. “Why did you want to go around unnoticed?”

Sayaka didn’t answer, instead she just kept eating her hamburger.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” asked Kyouko with worry.

“Huh?”

“You know, someone following you? Someone wants to hurt you?” Kyouko stopped eating, but her worries were cut short when Sayaka quickly shook her head.

“No, no, no” she denied “I’m fine, don’t worry”

“Then why?”

“I… I can’t tell you” finally said Sayaka.

Kyouko stopped for a second to think. Sure, it wasn’t like the girl had to tell her. She really hoped it really wasn’t anything big that was happening to the girl, really hoped it wasn’t an actual problem she was having. Not because having a problem in itself, that can be fixed. No, she really hoped there really was nothing wrong because that meant she didn’t trust Kyouko enough to tell her.

Kyouko went from wondering if she was just following Madoka and Akemi, to hoping she was just following them.

“Does it have to do with Madoka?” asked Kyouko, breaking the silence once more.

And she didn’t need an answer.

Between the little jump Sayaka had done, and how much the girl opened her eyes she was now sure it was just about that. Kyouko let out a sigh as she started to eat her second burger.

“I guess you got me…” said Sayaka as she took a sip out of her soda.

“As an advice” Kyouko said between bites “Don’t wear clothes like those if you do something like this again, you look like you are up to something”

Sayaka let out a long sigh.

“How did you know it was about Madoka though?”

“I mean, she has been going around with Akemi, hasn’t she? I saw them at the arcade by coincidence” One of the excuses Kyouko had prepared, and thank God she had.

“Yeah” Sayaka let out a chuckle, making Kyouko’s heart flutter “I will take it into account next time”

They kept eating in silence for a while, Kyouko looking towards the restaurant where the other two had gone into to make sure they didn’t get out without her noticing.

“By the way” started saying Sayaka.

“Yeah?” Kyouko kept looking towards the restaurant for a second or two more before looking at the bluenette.

“Can you tell me who does Madoka like?”

Had Sayaka really been following the other two around and not noticed anything between the two? Really? Kyouko sighed.

“Listen, I shouldn’t be the one telling you”

“But I really can’t find who it is!”

“Just ask Madoka” Kyouko finished eating her fries “Really, it is that simple”

“She won’t tell me!” Sayaka started to gesture with her hands in frustration, though what she was trying to gesture was an enigma to Kyouko “She would just! Just get embarrassed and dismiss it!”

“Really, just ask her” Kyouko’s phone did a little ‘tweep’ as a notification came through; Kyouko ignored it for now.

“She will just run or something when I ask her, you don’t know how embarrassed she can get”

“She told me quite easily actually” said Kyouko as she got up from her seat, Sayaka’s expression was filled with confusion as she tried to process what she had just been told “Really, just ask her tomorrow or this Monday”

Kyouko picked up her phone and looked at the notification message before letting out a sigh and quickly answering to the text with a smile on her face.

“Well, I have to get going” Kyouko started to walk away as she waved off Sayaka “See you tonight”

Madoka entered the sushi restaurant first, Homura following just behind her. Quite the amount of people was currently eating in the restaurant, that did make her feel a bit safer about her choice; If so many people were okay with eating here, then surely the place was good, right?

She really hoped so, because she had told Homura this was a nice place even though it was her first time coming. Sure, she had researched the place on the internet before choosing it; but the feeling that she had made a mistake didn’t disappear until she actually saw people happily eating their food.

Now, sushi wasn’t the cheapest dish to eat out. But Madoka had the plan to invite Homura, which after all the money she had spent on the claw machine it made even more sense to do so, even if she had to ‘fight’ with her to do so.

“This place seems a bit expensive, are you sure Madoka?” said Homura as she looked around the place, the decorations of old Japanese style paintings getting her attention.

“Yeah!” Madoka smiled at her while turning towards Homura “The food is apparently pretty good!”

Homura kept looking at Madoka with her mouth a bit open, almost as if to protest, before finally closing it and putting on a gentle smile.

“Misses?” called one of the servers, a young man with classical Japanese clothes the style that the restaurant clearly aimed for. “Table for two I suppose?”

Madoka was caught by surprise, which gave Homura enough time to answer for her.

“Yes, with a window if possible” elegantly said Homura, though Madoka had to held back a bit of a pout as she wanted to be the one to be in charge of the lunch in every aspect of it.

The server simply nodded and led them to a table that had views to the small plaza that was just outside the restaurant; A common spot for people to sit after a day of buying in the mall.

“Why a window?” said Madoka as she sat in front of Homura, regretting the decision since she could have probably squeezed herself over in the same couch Homura was in.

“I like being able to see outside” Homura made a small pause as she stopped looking towards the window, directing her gaze towards Madoka “It lets me know what’s happening around us”

“It also lets everyone see us” Madoka said as she let out a giggle.

Homura almost laughed, letting air out of her nose before looking back at the window “I guess it does”

The server came back, a small phone like machine on his hands, as he placed a new mantle on top of the table.

“What drink will you have?” he asked in the same voice tone Kyouko would often put when showing her ‘service worker voice’.

“Green tea for me” said Homura as she let one arm rest on top of the table and the other searched for her phone.

“I will also have green tea” said Madoka, going for her phone as she noticed the QR code on the table mantle.

The man nodded as he tapped on the small screen of the ‘phone’ and went off to get their drinks.

Madoka scanned the QR code and started to look at the different options the menu had to offer. Sure, she had made sure to take a look at the menu yesterday when she was checking where to eat, so she had some option in mind. But still, she looked over the menu once more to see if there was something that caught her eye more.

After a while she finally settled on an eight-piece plate composed of Ebi, Ikura, Kani and lastly Unagi sushi. It had been some time since the last time she ate eel, not having eaten eel since before her three-year trip to America. Homura on the other side seemed to have finally chosen what she would have to eat.

“They sure have a lot to choose from, don’t they?” said Madoka with a small laugh to break the ice.

“Yes, they really do” Homura looked at the phone, her brows furrowing for a second.

“Is something wrong, Homura-chan?” Madoka gasped “Do you not like sushi?”

“No, no. I like it” said Homura, looking at the girl with reassuring eyes “Something about the menu caught my attention that’s all”

“What did-”

The server came back, interrupting Madoka’s train of thought, and placed two traditional tea cups on their table and started serving their tea.

“Have you decided on what you would like?” asked the server as he finished serving the tea.

“Yes” Homura was the first to speak “I’ll have the eight-piece plate with Uni, Maguro, Ikura and lastly Tako sushi”

The server nodded as he took note on the ‘phone’ and looked towards Madoka.

“Ah! Right, Eight-piece too with Ebi, Ikura, Kani and Unagi please”

The server gave a small bow before heading out towards the kitchen. Madoka and Homura were left alone once more. Though Madoka had now forgotten what she had been about to ask. And as she tried to start some conversation, for the first time Homura was the one to do so.

“Madoka, what are you going to do with the mugs?” she asked, Madoka guessed she was trying to hide her emotions as usual since she had put on her usual cold look. Though it was probably just curiosity, or with the question maybe even repulsion for what Madoka had proposed about the mugs.

“We-well I thought we could take one each!” Madoka placed her fingers together as she tried to come with an excuse as not to make it look like a proposition “You may have gotten it for me but the one who paid for it was you after all!”

That might have been a good time to actually tell her though…

“Are you sure?” asked Homura “Even if I paid for it, it is yours. You don’t have to share it with me just because I paid more”

Homura clearly didn’t seem to want it but… Them sharing mugs, even if Homura were to never use it, would make her really happy…

“I’m sure! I’m sure!” Madoka nodded “It would be a waste if we didn’t share them!”

Homura closed her eyes for a moment, only the sound of the other customers and the quiet music that the restaurant had in the background could be heard, before she spoke up again.

“If that’s the case, thank you for giving me one” Homura did a small bow with her head.

“You don’t have to be so formal about it!” hastily replied Madoka “It’s a gift between friends after all!”

That seemed to put a smile on Homura’s face, as much as the genuine smile of the girl made Madoka happy it also meant that Homura was happy that Madoka only saw her as a friend, she probably had been distressed by the implications of the mugs.

The thought of Homura not only not liking Madoka, but the fact that it seemed like even the thought of loving her was disgusting for the girl made Madoka feel the sharpest pain she had ever felt. For a moment even her stomach seemed to turn, the girl having to hold back the urge to run away.

Sure, it had been her fault to even think that Homura would like Madoka. Not only were they both girls after all, which Homura might not even approve of, but Madoka was… nothing compared to Homura. Homura was the perfect student, good at every subject, good at sports, kind, a beauty… And Madoka was… just an average girl, nothing more. She had never accomplished anything; she was destined to a mediocre life.

“Madoka?” asked Homura with a worried tone that was able to break through her cold voice.

“Eh?” Madoka finally noticed that some tears had started to appear at the corner of her eyes, she quickly dried them with the edge of her sleeves. “Ah… Sorry, sorry. Something got in my eyes” Madoka let out a fake chuckle.

Homura didn’t seem to buy it, but apparently decided not to say anything. At least letting Madoka have some pride left by not making her admit anything, or lie more to hide what had caused the tears.

Silence filled the air around them, once again only the sound of the background music and the few people that were talking could be heard. Homura started to look out the window, holding her head with her arm that rested on top of the table. Her eyes weren’t focusing on anything in particular, but rather just looked onwards as if there was nothing in front of her.

Before Madoka could keep thinking to herself the food finally came, one plate for each with their respective selection, two of each. Their plates were made of wood and were really well decorated with drawings of vines and flowers. They both thanked for the food and started eating.

The sushi was probably the best sushi Madoka had eaten. The fish had a lot of flavor, and the rice had a perfect balance; or at least that was what Madoka thought, not like she was any kind of sushi expert after all.

“It’s really good right?” asked Madoka as she finished eating one of the unagi sushi pieces.

“Yes, it really is” said Homura after she finished eating the piece she had already placed in her mouth. “That’s what I would expect from a place like this”

And with that they slowly ate in silence, only making the occasional comment on how good one of the pieces tasted. Or how the tea really helped to clean their palate. After they were done, they simply slowly finished their tea.

“That was great…” said Madoka, her previous worries had been completely erased by the amazing food. “Can’t believe a place like this has been so close by and I never came before!”

Homura finished taking a sip of her tea before talking.

“I would expect so”

“Why?” asked Madoka, a puzzled look forming on her face.

“It is quite expensive after all” Homura said, going back to take a sip from the green tea.

Before Madoka could question the server came back with the receipt and placed it in the middle of the table, it only was now that Madoka happened to think that the menu didn’t have any price in it next to the plates.

And there was the receipt, a total of 13k yen that made Madoka have to look twice. She knew sushi places could get expensive, but she had never eaten in one that was more than 1500 yen per person. This was… quite a lot more than what she carried around. Actually, she couldn’t even fully pay her part, she only had 5000 yen on her.

Madoka picked up her green tea, her hand now shaking a bit as her nerves started to rise. What would she do now? Her plan was to invite Homura and now she couldn’t even pay for her own food. Not to say that would mean she couldn’t buy anything else throughout the rest of the day, that was if she didn’t go back home full of embarrassment after having to ask Homura for money.

Homura on the other hand seemed quite calm, she probably had enough money on her card to pay for her own part. But after all the money the girl had spent in the claw machines Madoka really wanted to disappear rather than have to ask her for some money…

While Madoka was wondering if the ground would be so kind as to help her disappear in it the server came back, probably expecting for the money to be in the table. Homura simply showed him her credit card and the server seemed to understand as he took out the card reader.

“I will pay everything” Homura said as the server typed in the amount, making him delete it and type back in the full amount.

Madoka was about to protest when Homura simply tapped the card and entered the security pin. A receipt was print and the server did a bow and gave his thanks before going away.

“I- I will pay you back” said Madoka, still wishing for the earth to swallow her.

“You don’t have to” Homura got up from her seat, picking up her things “Where should we go next?”

Even after all that Homura still wanted to hang out with her? She really was kind wasn’t she.

“I… I have to go the bathroom first” said Madoka as she got up and they started heading out the restaurant.

“Sure, I’ll wait here” said Homura the girl started walking towards one of the benches that filled the small inside plaza.

“Ri-right, I’ll be back in a minute”

And with that Madoka started walking away as she took her phone out and sent a message to Kyouko.

===

“Kyouko-chan, I messed up”

Almost a minute went by without Kyouko reading her message, Madoka started to get nervous about the idea of the girl getting bored and going back home.

“Please I need your help” Madoka typed once more “I really need it”

A few seconds later Kyouko came online.

“Where you at”

“Bathrooms near the plaza”

“Coming”

===

As Kyouko was walking towards the bathrooms, dodging the waves of people that walked around the shopping mall, she saw a bit of pink near one of the few corners in the mall that weren’t filled with people or shops. Kyouko approached the pinkette with a bit more of a relaxed walk now that she had found her, even from afar she could see the girl wasn’t doing too great.

“Pinky” Kyouko reached the girl, who now turned to look at Kyouko; her eyes were red and traces of tears were visible.

“Kyouko-chan… I messed up…” her voice cracked as she spoke.

“Ey, it’s okay” Kyouko got a bit closer to the girl, trying to use her body as a wall so people didn’t see the crying pinkette.

“It isn’t… Homura-chan… I made her pay for lunch… I made her spend a lot on the arcade… And she is disgusted by the idea of going out with me” Madoka sobbed, she had seemed to be okay from afar the few times that she looked; had things really gone that badly inside the restaurant?

“The girl spent whatever she felt like spending in the arcade, don’t worry about that” Kyouko made a small pause as she placed one hand on Madoka’s shoulder to try and comfort her “And I’m sure lunch wasn’t that expensive-”

“It… It was 13000 yen…”

Kyouko’s eyes widened for a second before she took control of her body as not to make the pinkette notice her reaction.

“It’s fine! With the amount of money she spent on the arcade I’m sure it isn’t a problem for her!” Kyouko tried to change the topic “What about the mugs?! Those seemed to work based on what I saw”

Madoka let out a sarcastic chuckle, her voice filled with defeat; The eyes of the girl completely void of their usual spark.

“She asked me what I was going to do with them…”

“And?” Kyouko said “You said to share it with her right?”

“Yeah, and then she refused a few times before forcefully accepting it…” Madoka made a small stop, her independent tears now become a proper stream “Homura-chan finds the idea of dating me disgusting… What do I do, Kyouko-chan? I’m completely useless… I couldn’t follow your plan at all, failed miserably at every single step”

“That’s not…”

“I couldn’t do even the first part in the train” Madoka now looked at Kyouko, her voice cracking and stuttering with almost every word the girl was saying “Wh-when I played with Homura-chan I did so badly that I made her feel bad… I made her s-spend so much money on the claw machines” Madoka tried to calm her breathing, the words being harder and harder to come out “A-a-and then I made her even feel dis… disgusted because of a dumb prize”

Kyouko was unable to say anything in the moment, the pain Madoka was feeling made her feel a knot on her throat, making her unable to speak; not that Kyouko was able to find the correct words anyway.

“An… And to top it off I made her… I made her pay for a really expensive lunch” Madoka stopped for a second, taking a deep breath “I really am completely useless, right Kyouko-chan?”

Kyouko looked at the crying girl, this being the most broken she had seen the pinkette. A million words tried to come out, but all of them died the moment they reached her throat, making her just look dumb with her mouth half-open. If Sayaka was around she would be able to comfort Madoka just fine, but Kyouko? She usually ran from these kinds of problems; her way of fixing things was always too direct and usually ended with someone new crying.

Yet, Madoka clearly needed someone’s help. She wasn’t the kind of person to send a text asking for help just to vent, somewhere deep inside her Madoka was hoping that someone would deny what she had just said. That someone would make her see she was wrong.

So, Kyouko did what she knew best, she spoke her mind without holding back. She went back to being how she usually was before she started to live with Sayaka. And if she had to insult the girl to make those dumb ideas she had gotten into her head disappear, she would.

“That’s the dumbest shit I’ve heard in a while” Kyouko said, her brows furrowing in annoyance.

“The train idea was fucking dumb to start with, so stop calling yourself useless because of it” Kyouko got her hands off the pinkette. “Did you ask Akemi to pay for lunch?”

“No, bu-”

“Then it doesn’t fucking matter who paid. She probably was thinking of doing it from the start anyways, didn’t say anything because she wants to be fucking mysterious or something” Kyouko’s annoyance quickly turned to controlled anger.

“Even then the mu-”

“The shitty 300 yen mugs? She probably was embarrassed. And if she actually was disgusted just to share some fucking mugs then she is the shittier person that fucking exists”

“Don’t say that!”

“Or what? You are going to defend someone that you think finds you disgusting?”

Madoka didn’t answer for a while, instead the girl tightened her fists next to her waist for a few seconds.

“Even if she does-” Madoka started again, but seeing where it was going Kyouko didn’t let her finish.

“Listen here pinky” Kyouko tried to soften her tone “You wanna know what the problem was?”

A moment of silence.

“What…” Madoka muttered.

“The fucking plan. It made you more nervous than you should have been” Madoka started to slowly look up back at Kyouko. “I think you were doing great, ok? It’s just your head messing with you”

Madoka simply stared at Kyouko for a few seconds before the redhead spoke up again.

“I’m not gonna ask you to trust me, because that clearly didn’t work; but I’m going to ask that you trust yourself, okay?” Kyouko placed her hand back on the girl’s shoulder “Just go out there and forget about the plan, go window shopping or something like that; You only need to have fun. Can you do that?”

Madoka slowly nodded in response, the girl using her wrists to dry the tears.

“And don’t worry about Akemi’s money, she isn’t that dumb; I’m sure she is spending this amount because she can”

“Right…” Madoka finished drying her face with her sleeves and looked at Kyouko, a small smile on her face. “Thank you, Kyouko-chan”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be around the mall. If you need me give me a call, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks”

Kyouko took her hand away from Madoka’s shoulder and placed it back into her own pocket as she tried to look for some snack that she may have left, after all that she needed to calm down. But before she could find anything Madoka jumped at her, giving her a tight hug that almost made Kyouko lose her balance.

“Thank you, Kyouko-chan” said Madoka, tightening the hug even further beyond.

Kyouko returned the hug after a second of hesitation “Jeez, you are going to cramp my style at this rate”

After a few more seconds Madoka broke the hug.

“I’m going to go clean my face…” she took a few steps around Kyouko before she started to walk away “Once again, thank you”

Kyouko simply smiled and waved the girl off.

When Madoka was out of view she looked for a snack, but didn’t find anything. Which made the redhead click her tongue in disappointment.

“Guess I’ll go spend my day at the arcade…”

And with that she started to go back to the arcade, she would buy some snacks on the way there. Maybe clean the floor with some dumb dudes in Street Fighter or something.

Sayaka saw Kyouko hurriedly walk away and simply sighed, now that her cover was blown there was no point on wearing her father’s hat so she simply took it off and placed it inside her bag.

Sayaka looked down towards the restaurant Madoka and Akemi had gone into and saw that Akemi was sitting alone on a bench. She didn’t feel like texting, and if she was going to ask Madoka anyway who she liked might as well tell Homura in person she wasn’t going to keep doing this today. If she were to just say it through Line the girl might take offense.

After a few seconds walking she reached the bench where Akemi was sitting, the girl simply looked up from her phone as she noticed her presence.

“Ey” greeted Sayaka as she waved with her hand.

“Madoka might come back at any point” stoically said Akemi.

“Not even a hello huh…” Sayaka paused for a brief moment “Whatever, I came to tell you I’m going back”

“You are giving up?” Akemi finally started to look at Sayaka.

“No, I’ve talked with Kyouko” Sayaka sat next to Akemi, the raven-haired girl moving to the side as to put more space between them. “I’ve decided to just ask Madoka herself”

“And what makes you think she will tell you?” Akemi scoffed.

“Nothing. If she wants to tell me then perfect, if she doesn’t…” Sayaka sighed “Well, nothing I can do about it”

Akemi didn’t say anything, instead she just kept looking onwards with a distant gaze. Sayaka on the other hand made herself more comfortable on the bench, resting both arms on the back rest of it and letting her head fall back as she looked at the mall’s ceiling.

“Where is Madoka by the way? Did she leave you already?” mockingly said Sayaka.

“No, she just went to the bathroom”

“She might have run away” Sayaka jokingly added, looking at Akemi for a reaction.

“Madoka wouldn’t…” Akemi took a moment to think “You are just trying to bother me; it won’t work Miki-san”

“I don’t know, I think it did for a moment”

Akemi pierced Sayaka with her eyes, and after a few seconds she spoke up not even looking at the bluenette “I guess you are just jealous that she wanted to spend the day with me and not you”

“Huh? You still got a few alone days to catch up to our over 10 years old friendship” Sayaka boasted. “I’m still her best friend~”

“We’ll see” confidently said Akemi.

They stayed in silence for almost a minute before Sayaka decided to get up from the bench, did a bit of a stretch and turned around to face Akemi.

“Well then, I’m gonna get going. Have fun, and treat Madoka properly”

“I always do”

And with that said, Sayaka left Akemi in the bench as she started to make her way towards the mall exit. She would wait until Monday to ask Madoka, that would be the best course of action; besides, if Kyouko was so sure the other person wasn’t that problematic then there was no problem in waiting. Madoka probably was okay.

Sayaka turned the corner and saw a speck of pink on the distance, seeing that it could very much be Madoka she walked towards it. At least she could say hello now that she wasn’t trying to follow her. And coincidentally finding her on her way out would be a nice excuse to see her.

Then the sea of people starting parting away and she saw Madoka next to Kyouko, the pinkette jumping to give Kyouko a hug as she cleaned her tears; Kyouko returning the hug after a few seconds. Sayaka’s brain went into overdrive as she tried to process what was happening.

Madoka hugging one of her friends was normal, yes. But the heartfelt way she was doing it… They never were that tight. And why was Madoka crying? Why were they hiding in one of the few corners of the mall where people didn’t go? Kyouko had known who Madoka liked for a long time now… Could it be she knew because it was her? Was it that Kyouko thought Sayaka would find Kyouko and Madoka going out a displeasing idea… And why did it hurt to think about it? Madoka had told Kyouko who she liked, did that mean that she had already confessed then?

No, no, no. It couldn’t be, right? Madoka and Kyouko couldn’t be going out. Nope there was no way that was true. After all, Kyouko…

Kyouko what?

What was this familiar pain? Why did it remind her of when she found out Kyosuke and Hitomi were going out?

Did she…

Sayaka stopped for a moment, but had to move out of the way when the other two separated from each other and Madoka started running towards where Sayaka had come from, probably to reunite with Homura.

Was that the reason why Kyouko was here? Why she knew that Madoka and Akemi were going around together?

After Sayaka reached a place where neither Kyouko or Madoka would see her she took out her phone and opened Akemi’s chat. Should she tell her? What if she was wrong about it? It could be that Kyouko just found Madoka and they talked about something… Yeah! It had to be that! They just found each other by coincidence and Madoka simply greeted her with a hug!

Yes! That had to be it!

Sayaka blocked her phone screen and stored it into her pocket, she started to walk towards the mall exit.

“There is no way Kyouko and Madoka are going out, how much of a fool I am for thinking so?” She repeated to herself as she crossed the mall automatic doors.

Just a few minutes after Miki had left Homura saw a familiar pink hair in between the crowd. When the pinkette completely appeared on her vision, Homura got up from the bench and took a few steps forwards to get close to the girl.

“Sorry I took so long!” said Madoka as she finished approaching Homura.

“No, it’s not a problem” Homura shook her head “Have you thought about where to go next?”

Madoka looked around and took on a thinking expression, the girl seemed to have regained her energy; whatever had happened while she was away from Homura made Madoka go back to her usual cheerful self. While Madoka was still thinking about where to go next, Homura tapped her earring.

“Reiketsu, has Madoka been with any boy while she went to the bathroom?”

“O̴n̵l̷y̷ ̷a̵p̴p̴l̵e̵ ̸”

“I see”

Homura stopped touching her earring, Sakura Kyouko had probably said some jokes after seeing the girl feeling down and cheered up Madoka; Homura could see the girl had been crying, she was used to seeing Madoka cry after all, so if Sakura Kyouko fixed that then she would have to thank her later.

“Ah! Why don’t we go to try some clothes, Homura-chan?” finally asked Madoka.

Homura did have a problem with having pretty few clothes after all, and if Madoka were to chose them for her that would mean she could wear something Madoka liked.

“I do need more clothes, lead the way”

Madoka happily complied and got herself close to Homura’s side. If only the girl had taken Homura’s arm in that precise moment it would have been exactly like how it used to be during the first loop…

It didn’t matter now. Madoka was happy right now, Homura couldn’t show any sign of negative feelings if she wanted the girl to stay like this. There was no reason for Madoka to worry more than what she had already done in the past.

“Where do you usually buy your clothes, Homura-chan?” asked Madoka, taking Homura out of her trance.

“I don’t know where they are from” said Homura as she looked at her own clothes “I haven’t really bought any myself, most of the clothes I have were given to me by either the orphanage or the hospital staff.”

“Well, let’s change that then!” Madoka made a small pause “What kind of clothes do you like?”

Homura took a moment to think, she really didn’t have a preferred type of clothing… If anything…

“Ones that are easy to move in, I suppose”

“Like Kyouko-chan then… Let’s go to H&N” said Madoka as they changed directions towards the shop in question.

After a bit of time of walking they finally reached the shop, the big logo of the chain ‘H&N’ in an enormous red sign that was hanging from the wall. They both walked into the shop and the particular smell of clothes shops filled their lungs, while their ears were filled with the sound of people talking about the clothes. The shop was as big as the sign outside made it to be, Homura being unable to see the end of the shop from where she was standing.

Madoka moved instinctually around the shop, she perfectly knew where they were going. And after just a minute or two of walking they finally reached the section Madoka was aiming for. Hoodies, sweatpants, wide jeans, simple shirts, and on the end of the section blouses and other comfortable clothes filled the walls and stands.

“I really think that grey and purple fit you…” started muttering Madoka as she looked around the clothes “Maybe something like this?”

She pulled out some light grey sweatpants that had a company name in purple lettering on one side, and after looking around a bit as Homura was inspecting the pants, she brought another piece of clothing; this time an amethyst shirt with wide sleeves.

“This feel comfy, right Homura-chan?” asked Madoka, and Homura couldn’t possibly say no.

“Yes, they do” she said as she felt the texture of the clothes.

Madoka smile became even bigger as she went back to search for more clothes.

“Maybe we can get you something more appropriate for summer…” Madoka wandered off as she looked at the clothes, her image searching around the clothes store made Homura smile.

~~~

“Look at this Homura-chan!” Madoka was holding a simple one-piece purple dress with some small ribbons near the short sleeves and a few small frills near the end of the dress. “It would look so cute on you!”

Homura stopped looking around the store, in search of a white creature that could be approaching them, and looked at the dress Madoka was holding “It really is cute, Kaname-san. But I think it would look better on you”

“Ehhhh… I don’t know, I feel like white would suit me more…” Madoka stopped for a second before turning around a corner quickly.

“Kaname-san?” Homura quickly walked towards the corner to get Madoka once more in her vision, letting a relieved sigh go out after she saw the girl was just picking two similar white dresses.

“I thought that these would work with both of us! We can wear them together!”

~~~

Homura’s smile disappeared and approached the pinkette out of instinct, getting close to her and making sure no threat was around until the urge of protecting her disappeared.

“Do you like blouses, Homura-chan?” said Madoka, now looking back at Homura.

“I don’t think I’ve worn one before” said Homura, now giving all her attention to the conversation at hand.

“I think this would be a nice one, it isn’t thick so it’s perfect for summer and the button look with long sleeves makes you look all professional!” Madoka handed Homura a white long-sleeved blouse, Homura simply took it and added it to the pile; changing the size to the right one with her magic whenever Madoka wasn’t lookin.

“Ah! This one is so cute!” said Madoka as she picked a dark purple layered straight blouse. “What do you think Homura-chan?”

“Yes, it is really cute, Madoka” as Homura was finishing her sentence Madoka handed her the blouse.

“Let’s see, we need to get you some black jeans to go with that…” Madoka walked towards the other end of the section, reaching the jeans, and started to dig through them. Homura approached Madoka.

“Madoka?”

“Yes, Homura-chan?” she stopped searching for the jeans and looked towards Homura with a smile.

“Don’t you want to search for something for yourself?” asked Homura.

“Ah… I’m in a bit of a tight spot with money this month, and I bought some stuff two weeks ago…” Madoka let out a nervous chuckle “Besides, I have fun doing this! Do you not want me to?”

“No, I really appreciate your help. I wouldn’t know what to choose if I were by myself.”

Madoka smiled at Homura and went back to searching for the jeans.

[-]

Homura was waiting in line with her hands full of clothes, how much it was going to be really didn’t matter (Not only could she just create money, she wasn’t spending a single cent of the allowance the government sent her anyways) but after two hours of shopping around Madoka had finally stopped after seeing that Homura was literally unable to see behind the tower of clothing she had chosen for the girl.

“I’m sorry” chuckled Madoka “I got so into it that I lost the sense of time”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t stop you” replied Homura from behind the leaning tower of clothes, held only by a constant use of magic to alter the gravity around it. She could ask Madoka for help, but after having said it was fine there was no way she was going back on her word.

“But are you sure that it’s okay? Those are a lot of clothes, you didn’t say no to anything I picked” asked Madoka, Homura leaned her head towards the left to be able to see the girl.

“It’s fine, I can pay for them” Homura made a small pause “And I like everything you pick for me”

A small red blush appeared on Madoka’s cheeks, the girl turning around to hide it.

After a few minutes it finally was their turn, and when Homura left the tower of clothes on the belt Madoka moved behind her.

“I- I forgot something!” She started to hurriedly walk into the shop “Wait for me outside, I’ll be there in a second!”

“Mado-” before Homura could finish calling her, Madoka had already disappeared between the aisles.

Homura could feel the urge to follow her, an instinct in the back of her mind telling her to go with her or something bad would happen.

She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

Reiketsu was with her, no harm would come. The incubators were all trapped in her dimension, they couldn’t contact her. No one remembered Magical Girls exist other than herself. There was nothing that could go wrong. There was no need for her to run after her.

She exhaled, opening her eyes.

Homura finished paying for all the clothes, it was better that Madoka didn’t see how much she had just spent, and walked towards the outside of the store; where she waited for Madoka to come back.

And surely enough, less than ten minutes afterwards Madoka crossed the automatic doors; walking towards Homura.

“Did you get what you forgot?” asked Homura as she took a few impatient steps closer to Madoka.

“Eh? Ah yes, I had left my phone on the changing room” She made a small apologizing gesture with her hands “Sorry!”

“No, don’t worry”

Madoka placed herself next to Homura once more and looked at the girl.

“Why don’t we go have some ice-cream?”

The ice cream shop didn’t have that many customers yet, though if Madoka’s memories were right they used to get really full on the month of July and August. But right now there was only three other customers inside the shop. Madoka walked into the shop, right next to Homura.

“They have a lot of flavors to choose from, and also shaved ice” said Madoka “So take your time to think!”

Homura nodded and started to look at the different flavors behind the glass. Meanwhile Madoka was approached by the staff.

“Do you know what you would like?” asked the woman behind the counter.

“Yes! I’ll have a small shaved ice with strawberry syrup please” Madoka said as she prepared the money to pay with.

After a few seconds the shaved ice was finished and Madoka took the small paper bowl. Homura placed herself right next to Madoka and looked at the woman behind the counter.

“I’ll have a small vanilla ice-cream, in a cup” said Homura as she started to prepare her credit card.

“Wait!” exclaimed Madoka “Let me invite you, please”

Homura looked confused for a second, not having expected the sudden outburst of Madoka; but she quickly regained her usual composure.

“You don’t have to-”

“No, no, no. You paid for lunch, it’s the least I can do” Madoka started to get out a 500 yen coin to pay for the ice cream and handed it to the ice cream woman, who took it with a new smile on her face.

“Thank you…” Homura muttered, Madoka smiled in return.

A few seconds later Homura’s ice cream was served. They both walked outside the shop and went to sit in one of the mall benches. Madoka purposely waited for Homura to sit so she could sit as close as possible; and after a second of hesitation Homura took her seat first, Madoka quickly going afterwards and placing herself so close to Homura that she almost sat on top of her.

They both started eating their ice cream, or in Madoka’s case her shaved ice. After a few spoons Madoka tried to start a conversation.

“I didn’t expect you to pick vanilla” Madoka placed another spoon of shaved ice on her mouth.

“Why not?” asked Homura.

“I don’t know, it’s quite simple, isn’t it? Not that I don’t like it of course” Madoka quickly denied “It’s just that I expected something with more character”

Homura slowly closed her lips around the spoon, cleaning it off the vanilla ice cream, and left the ice cream to melt inside her mouth before speaking again.

“Vanilla only seems simple because people are used to it” she made a small pause “But… it’s a sweet and gentle flavor. It always helped me remember good times”

Homura went deep into thought, a small melancholic smile on her face as she stared into the ice cream cup.

“Does this have anything to do with the person you said helped you when you started living alone?” asked Madoka.

After a brief pause Homura answered.

“…yes, yes it does” Homura took another spoonful and muttered something really quietly “It really helped me to remember her”

“Homura-chan…”

Whoever that person was, and whatever had happened to her, it clearly had been someone important to Homura. And with how high she held her opinion of that person, Madoka wasn’t sure if she could help her the same way that other girl had. But it didn’t matter what she thought, Madoka would try over and over again if it meant that could make it so Homura wasn’t hurt anymore.

“You don’t have to worry, Madoka” said Homura after a brief moment “I’m in a better position now that I ever was before”

“Are you sure? I told you; you can speak with me about these things if you want” said Madoka, her shaved ice starting to melt through the paper bowl.

“You really are kind” Homura whispered, now looking at Madoka with the same melancholy she carried when thinking about the past “I don’t deserve it”

“That’s not true!” Madoka jumped.

It had been moment like these what had made Madoka completely sure she wanted to be close to Homura. The eternal loneliness that girl seemed to emanate whenever she was alone. How she always had the same tired look on her eyes that felt like she had taken a big weight off her back and was now waiting for everything to end.

“I don’t like it when you say you don’t deserve my kindness”

It was when Homura looked at her with those eyes that a deep feeling of pain filled her chest. A feeling of being unable to help the closest person she had as she saw them destroy themselves day after day.

“You deserve that and more, Homura-chan”

Whenever she looked at the sad smile Homura would sometimes wear the sensation of having failed the most important person to her inundated her mind. Almost as if after thinking that she had helped her, the only thing she saw was how she had only hurt her more.

“So please, stop saying those things”

It really felt like if Homura was to completely believe in the things she said, if no one said she was wrong, she would simply disappear and leave no trace behind. She had to stay close to her; that was the feeling she first felt when she saw Homura.

“I know it’s an egoistic wish”

The feeling of having taken the wrong decision long, long ago. A decision she wished she could have changed before, even if she didn’t know what said decision was.

“But I really just want you to be happy”

Madoka felt a few tears start coming out of her eyes, at some point during her thought chain she had started crying. And not only her, but Madoka could swear she saw some tears starting to form in Homura’s eyes before the girl quickly looked away and cleaned her face with her wrist.

After a few seconds of silence, instead of talking Homura placed another spoonful of vanilla ice cream on her mouth. The spoon stayed there, and her hand started to shake a bit. The moment the first tear fell down through her face the rest quickly came, and Homura started to cry in silence.

Madoka didn’t say a word, instead she placed her shaved ice on the other side of the bench and gave Homura a weird side hug; petting her hair in a manner that seemed natural.

“It’s okay…” whispered Madoka, the words coming out of her mouth without her even thinking about them; they felt like something she had wanted to say since a long time ago “I’m right here”

[-]

A few minutes later Homura finally calmed down and slowly pulled away from Madoka’s hug; Though the girl hesitated for a second.

“I’m fine now…” she said in an unusual small voice.

Madoka looked at the girl with a caring smile and gave her some time before she spoke up.

“I guess or ice creams completely melted” Madoka laughed, both the shaved ice and the vanilla ice cream were nothing more than poodles.

“Sorry…”

“Don’t be” said Madoka “That was way more important than some cheap ice cream”

Madoka was the first one to get up from the bench, Homura following after a few seconds of contemplation. They went towards the nearest trashcan and disposed of the ice cream cups in it.

“I know you are still a bit… agitated I guess?” Madoka turned around to face Homura “But would you like to come eat dinner at my home? In exchange for today’s lunch, my mom said it was okay”

Homura seemed to think about it for a second before she finally looked up, facing Madoka.

“Yeah… I think that would be nice” Homura said, her voice softer than usual.

A/N: And that’s it, sorry for being late!

On the other hand, right on time for Madoka’s birthday!

Chapter Text

The streets were being bathed by the orange light that came from the sunset. Some people were returning home, but most had just gotten out of their homes ready to go around throughout the whole night. The further in they got into Mitakihara’s suburbs the less people walking around Madoka and Homura saw on the streets, with most of the ones that they still found outside being families that came back from parks or had just gone shopping.

Homura carried three bags that were full with the clothes she had bought, the ones that Madoka had chosen for her, the paper bags rustling with each step taken towards Madoka’s house. She hadn’t expected to end up going to Madoka’s house ever again when she remade the universe, and even less did she expect to be able to cry while Madoka held her close once more. A moment of weakness that, at least for now, not even her dolls had decided to stop. Homura hadn’t really thought that eating vanilla ice cream like she used to do after Madoka had become a concept would make her so susceptible to the pinkette’s influence, but the familiar gentle flavor did more to her heart than she expected; memories from what had been the worst moment in her grief filled life coming back as Madoka assured her that she deserved to be with her.

She had been so caught in the moment that Homura didn’t have the energy to resist Madoka’s invitation to her house; At that point in time, the only thing Homura could think of was that she wanted to spend more time with Madoka; that she wanted to stay as close to her as possible for as long as she could. Had it not been because a time stopped Madoka wouldn’t have the same warmth, she would have stopped time right there and then and enjoyed the moment for a few hours.

Though now that she could think clearly once again, she started to see that going to Madoka’s house might not be the wisest idea. If she were to be treated like she had during the first loops, and she would be if it depended on the Kaname family, she was sure to break again.

She really didn’t want to modify Madoka’s memories, and her family’s too since she had already sent a message telling them they were coming; and rewinding time back to the hug, before Madoka asked her if she wanted to come, would end up with her falling back into Madoka’s trap and saying yes once again.

And she was completely against rewinding way before that; she didn’t want to destroy such a moment.

Homura moved her eyes towards Madoka, the girl merrily walking next to her as she looked at her phone, and kept her gaze fixed on the girl. No excuse that would sadden the girl came to mind. There was nothing she could think of that would let her off the hook without hurting her beloved Madoka.

There was no point in trying to resist. She would eat dinner with Madoka. She would enjoy some time with her, and then she would go home. The hardest part would probably be convincing Madoka’s mother that there was no need for her to drive her home, where she to do that Madoka would discover they didn’t really live close; In fact, Homura’s home was 47 minutes away from Madoka if she walked, a distance she had covered a million times during the loops (And a few times after, hoping she would miraculously see the girl) and knew by heart.

Not like she really used her house a lot lately anyways, she spent most of her free time at the half hill from which she could watch the entire city. While Homura was in the middle of her thoughts Madoka looked at her with a smile, stopping her train of thought.

“My dad is asking what do you want to eat for dinner”

“Anything would be fine”

“You always say the same, Homura-chan” Madoka put on a bit of an awkward smile “You can ask for things, you know?”

Homura closed her eyes for a few seconds as they kept on walking. It had been so long since she had wanted something that wasn’t related to Madoka that she really couldn’t think of anything. Of course, had it been for lunch she would have asked for cream stew since it was Madoka’s favorite; but it being dinner it would be too heavy of a dish.

For a moment Homura thought of asking Madoka for what she wanted, but seeing what the girl had just told her it would probably make her a bit angry.

“If I have to choose…”

Homura stopped to think for a moment, what kind of foods did she like anyway? During the loops she would often steal military rations whenever she raided a military base; and after Madoka had become a concept she stopped eating for a long while as she tried to waste her magic as quickly as possible. Before all that she usually ate hospital food, or whatever the orphanage gave her.

If anything, the only actual food she had eaten was the one Madoka would prepare for her. And everything Madoka made was fantastic as far as she could remember.

~~~

“Homura-chan, do you have a peeler?” asked Madoka as she popped her head from the doorframe.

“I… I think I do” Homura was lying on her bed; her red glasses were on top of the table next to a glass of water and a few boxes of medicine. “I’ll go get it, Kaname-san”

“No” Madoka walked into Homura’s room, an angry pout on her face “You have to rest, Homura-chan. I really shouldn’t have brought you to today’s witch hunt”

“I- I was the one that wanted to go!”

“I should have been more careful though, I didn’t notice that some familiars had gone in your direction” Madoka walked towards Homura and sat on the edge of her bed, the new weight added made the mattress tilt which in turn made it so Homura ended up touching Madoka “I don’t know what I would have done if you ended up having a heart attack while you tried to run from them”

Homura sulked in her bed, hiding behind the bedsheets from Madoka’s beaming smile.

“I’m really just a nuisance…” she whispered, though Madoka clearly caught it.

“Don’t say that!”

“But I am! I only make problems for you and Tomoe-san” Homura started crying “I can’t even run away without having my heart fail!”

Before Homura could keep talking, Madoka quickly gave the girl a hug; clearly taking care of not hugging her with too much strength.

“You being there is more than enough, Homura-chan” Madoka started to play with Homura’s braids through the hug, fiddling with the tips “Okay?”

Though Homura wasn’t sure herself that it was indeed ‘okay’, she nodded along.

“Now, where is the peeler? I need it to make the curry”

~~~

“It’s been a long time since I had curry…” said Homura, the memory of the first time Madoka cooked for her slowly fading away.

“Curry it is!” said Madoka as she happily typed away on her phone.

[-]

After some more walking for a few minutes, they finally reached Madoka’s house. The sun was almost completely set, the streetlights having already turned on in preparation for the night. Madoka walked into the front yard, the girl looking back just to make sure Homura wouldn’t flee; a thought that was well founded, for Homura had been getting more and more nervous the closer they got to the house.

Had Madoka not looked back to make sure she was still there, Homura may have actually run away. This wasn’t the first time she was going to meet Madoka’s parents, no, that was part of the problem.

Homura knew what to expect from them; and while Kaname Tomohisa would be kind and take care of not probe too deep into Homura’s situation, she knew Kaname Junko wouldn’t be the same. If she had noticed something it was that for some reason Junko always was able to pick something was going on whenever they talked during the loops, during one of the first ones she actually made Homura break down after some… tough tries.

So, it was only natural that the thought of talking with her made her question if she would be able to keep up her persona. How long will it take for Junko to notice Homura liked her daughter? The current record as far as she knew was one hour of seeing the two of them together, it had been during loop fourteen and Junko had even given her ‘a talk’. Or worse, how long would it take for Junko to notice that Homura had done something terribly wrong to her daughter. How long would it take for her to notice she had trapped Madoka in nothing more than a cage.

Homura stopped right outside the front yard, taking a deep breath.

“Homura-chan?” Madoka tilted her head “Is something wrong?”

Homura let out the breath she had been holding and took a few steps forwards, until she was right behind Madoka.

“I have to calm down” thought Homura, “There is no way that Junko-san can find out about the state of this world, I’m just getting more nervous than I should”

Madoka got her keys out and opened the front door.

“I’m homeeee!” Madoka said as she started to take off her shoes, Homura following her.

Madoka guided Homura through the house, though Homura already knew it’s layout by heart. Some photos had changed, though it was obvious such a thing would happen with them having gone for three years to another country. The rest of the house was the same, if anything another difference Homura noted was a different vase for one of the few indoor plants they had, though she had heard from Reiketsu Madoka had cut herself with a broken vase the first day of May; even though that wasn’t something she usually ask for in a report, that day had been a big mess where she felt like everything could easily slip away from her if she wasn’t careful, and as such she asked for more detailed reports.

“Welcome home, Madoka” Homura heard Tomohisa’s voice before she turned the corner and finally saw him behind the kitchen.

“Hi!” Madoka went towards her father and gave him a quick hug, nuzzling her brother’s hair as she passed by him. She then walked back to where Homura was standing “This is Homura-chan”

“Akemi Homura,” Homura said as she did a polite bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you”

“You don’t have to be so formal” Tomohisa put on a smile that looked like Madoka’s, or rather Madoka’s smiles looked like his “I’m Tomohisa, and that little guy in the table is Tatsuya”

Tatsuya looked at his father at the mention of his name, and after a few seconds he simply turned back to the table where he was sitting and kept playing with his simple puzzle.

Madoka looked around the room for a second or two, meanwhile his father had gone back to cooking.

“Where is Mama?” asked Madoka, looking back at her father.

“Ah, I asked her to go buy some ingredients we didn’t have around” Tomohisa looked at the clock, his lips curling into a small smile as he did “She should be home soon”

Almost as if it had been planned the sound of keys could be heard from the front door. After some failed attempts at inserting the key, the door finally opened; showing Junko in some casual clothes and carrying a brown paper bag.

“Mama!” Madoka ran towards her mother, the older woman quickly leaving the bag in the ground as she saw the incoming hug.

“I see you are back Madoka” her mother said as she returned the hug “And in a good mood apparently”

Homura simply stood back, not having moved more than a few centimeters from the spot in between the kitchen and the hallway. When Madoka let her mother go from her grasp Junko’s eyes fixed on Homura, sending a shiver down her spine from what could happen.

Madoka had once asked Homura if she was scared of her mother during the third… no, fourth loop. And the answer at the time was the same Homura held even after having turned into the devil. What she felt towards Madoka’s mother, towards Junko, was pure respect. She had seen the woman get angry, she had seen her get worried and she had seen her be as kind as her daughter was; yet the moments her respect for the woman had gone uphill where the timelines in which she had been able to see something was wrong, not only with Madoka but with Homura too.

It had been one of the reasons she had tried not to speak with Madoka’s family in the later loops. She felt like if Junko were to see her in those moments, she would see right through her and completely break her shell. And the things she had done out of desperation would come crushing down on her all at once if that shell would have ever been broken during that time.

“I suppose you are Homura” said Junko as she took a few steps forward, approaching Homura with a resolved pace “Kaname Junko, it’s good to finally meet you; properly, I mean”

“Yes, Akemi Homura.” Homura subconsciously took one step backwards, to put some space between her and Junko, before doing a deep bow towards her “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Junko-san”

“You really are as polite as Madoka said” Junko’s lip curled into a soft smile “You don’t have to be so stiff around us, okay?”

Homura tried to relax her body, her shoulders dropping to her sides and her sharp eyes going back to a more neutral state, though they still wore the same coldness she was used to wearing.

“Well, I have to get this to your father” Junko turned towards Madoka, the pinkette wearing a smile that seemed to come by default “You two came a bit earlier than expected, I guess it’s around twenty minutes before dinner’s ready”

“We can wait in my room”

Madoka walked towards where Homura and Junko were standing, passing them as she stood on the first step of the stairs. Homura did a small bow with her head as she followed Madoka into the upper floor.

Madoka grabbed the handle that opened her room’s door and turned it halfway before stopping for a second and looking behind her, where Homura was standing.

“Is there a problem?” asked Homura with a slight head tilt.

“N-no” Madoka finished turning the handle and stuck herself to the door, moving into her room as she used her body to block the view of the inside “I just have to pick up some stuff I left in the ground” she said as a nervous laughter came out.

“I don’t mi-”

Madoka closed the door behind her, leaving Homura with her mouth open mid-sentence. She looked around the room, which had nothing on the ground mind you, and walked towards her desktop.

On top of it there a sketchbook laid open, a few pages full of drawings of things she saw laying around, some animals, plants, and the like. But what really troubled her was the content of the last pages: various sketches of Homura in different styles that ranged from realistic to cartoonish, though mainly the drawings were in the usual cutesy one she used.

Of course, if they had only been some dumb sketches she could have just left it as wanting to draw her friend (Something which she had done before with Sayaka and Kyouko) and nothing more, that wouldn’t have been bad enough for her to leave Homura outside; no, the problem was a bigger one. After the third page of the ‘Homura section’ she had started to get more… daring. A few sketches of Homura and her just holding hands, nothing big. Some of them had hearts around them, which would have been harder to explain though.

No, the real problem started after she had seen an ad for a new water park, the thought came to her in a flash with an image attached. How would Homura look like in a bikini?

Now, Madoka wasn’t a pervert, no sir. She was doing it just because she wanted to practice anatomy, yes, that was all it was. Anatomy.

The fact that she had kept drawing more and more sketches of Homura, every time going for a more realistic style, in different swimsuits was just a coincidence.

Madoka took the sketchbook and closed it, her cheeks had acquired a soft pink after having seen the drawings once again. She opened the drawer in her desktop and made sure to leave it at the far end of it.

Madoka quickly scanned the room, in search of anything like the sketchbook that she could have left behind. After a few seconds she decided there was nothing else to hide, and walked up to the door, pulling down on the handle and slowly opening it.

“Sorry I took so long” said Madoka with a smile that tried to wash away her embarrassment from what could have happened had she not remembered about the sketchbook. “You can come in now”

“Don’t worry, I’m the one intruding after all” Homura said with her usual stoic expression as she walked into Madoka’s room, leaving the bags full of clothes she was still wearing on the side of the door.

“Ah, you can sit on the bed if you want” Madoka said as she took her office chair and moved it so it would face the bed.

Homura nodded without saying a word and walked towards the bed, holding both her hands in front of her Madoka could swear the girl was fidgeting around with her fingers. Though it probably had been her imagination, since the moment Homura sat on her bed, she simply laid her hands on top of her waist and they remained calm there.

“What should we do…” wondered Madoka “It’s not like dinner is going to take a long time”

As Madoka tried to think about activities they could do in just twenty minutes, which weren’t many, she saw Homura was looking at her stuffed toys collection. The girl’s eyes jumped from stuffed animal to stuffed animal, an almost invisible gentle smile on her face.

“You really like stuffed animals, don’t you Madoka?”

“Ah… yeah, I know it’s a bit childish but…”

“No, it’s a great thing that you do” Homura stopped looking at the stuffed toys and now faced Madoka “It’s part of who you are, as such, it couldn’t be bad”

Madoka let out a bit of an embarrassed laugh before she also started to look at the stuffed animals. Homura’s eyes seemed to be caught by one of them, her gaze not moving from it as she spoke.

“I… I don’t recognize that one” Homura was pointing towards the stuffed toy of a cartoonish pig that had its tongue out in as he tasted his own hand “The mascot I mean”

“Ah” Madoka got up from her chair and picked the pig from the shelf “I got this one back in America, it was the mascot of a barbeque place I went to with my family”

A slightly melancholic, yet mostly happy, expression appeared on Madoka’s face as she looked at the plushie.

“When I saw this plushie I instantly fell in love with it, it’s really cute, right?” Madoka said as she held the pig next to her face, putting on a smile.

“Yes, you really are”

…

…

Had Madoka heard that right?

“Homura?”

“Yes Madoka?” Homura quickly replied with her usual calm demeanor.

“Can you repeat what you said just now?” Madoka slowly lowered the pig to her lap, letting it rest on it.

“Of course, I said ‘Yes, it really is’” Homura said with her eyes closed

“Are you sure? I think I heard something differ-”

“You must be imagining things” Homura quickly interrupted Madoka, the girl picked one of the plushies that was laying on Madoka’s bed, a little mouse, and played around with it a for a bit.

Yeah, she must have been imagining things. Her hormones ridden brain making her have an auditory hallucination was more probable than Homura actually thinking that Madoka was cute, yes.

She kept repeating that in her head as if trying to convince herself.

Homura stopped playing with the mouse plushie she had picked up and looked around the room, breaking the silence in the room with a small cough, she stared at the cork board in which a few of Madoka’s drawings hung from.

“Those drawings are nice, Madoka” she said, making Madoka move her head towards the cork board as well. “Do you perhaps want to draw as a job?”

Madoka stopped to think for a second, in part to think about the answer, in other part to finish coming back from her self-convincing session.

“Well…” Madoka’s eyes wandered from the cork board to Homura “Not really, no. It’s just a hobby for me”

Homura hummed as an answer, the bed creaked below her as she slowly got up from it and walked towards the cork board. Meticulously observing every single drawing that hung from it, dedicating the same amount of time to those that were simple character drawings to the ones that tried to aim for a more realistic style. In the end her gaze became fixed on one of the drawings, a black cat that was drawn as realistically as Madoka could, besides the main drawing some smaller ones in simpler styles depicted the same cat in a collage of sorts.

“I really like this one” said Homura as she pointed to the cat “It’s a great drawing, Madoka”

Madoka chuckled with a bit of embarrassment as she got up; placing herself next to Homura, probably a bit closer than was needed. She observed the drawing, mistakes that she didn’t notice the moment she finished drawing were now clear, a few lines that didn’t properly connect with one another, how the cat’s hair looked flat near the hind legs, the left eye having a weird perspective. Every time she looked at the drawing again, she found a new one, and even then, it was a drawing she was proud of.

 “I based it on a stray cat that wandered the neighborhood” Madoka carefully took the pin away from the drawing, handing the piece of paper to Homura so she could observe it better “I haven’t seen her since I came back from America, though”

“I…” Homura seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, but before Madoka could say anything she spoke up again “I did take in a stray before you came back, maybe it was her”

“Really?” Madoka asked excitedly, subconsciously grabbing Homura’s hands in the heat of the moment “Do you have photos? It could be her!”

“I- I don’t have any photos” Homura awkwardly moved her hands, making Madoka noticed she had grabbed them.

“Ah, sorry” Madoka said as she let the girl’s hands go “I… I got too excited”

“It’s fine” Homura’s cheeks were slightly tinted with a light pink color, the shade of pink contrasting the girl’s pale skin.

After a moment of awkward silence between the two of them, Madoka spoke.

“Can I… Can I see her? Just to confirm if she is the same cat” Madoka let out a bit of a forced awkward laugh “I’m a bit worried about something bad having happened to her while I was away”

Homura seemed to ponder for a few seconds about an answer, some kind of internal conflict seemed to be going on inside the girl’s mind, making Madoka feel as if she had asked something she shouldn’t have. After all, Homura had never shown her where she lived, not even did she talk about it. The only thing Madoka knew was that the girl lived alone.

As Madoka was about to retract her request Homura spoke.

“Sure” murmured Homura, her voice being just a bit louder than the slight buzzing of the room’s light. “But it will have to be a weekday, if that’s fine with you”

“Y-yes! Of course! Thank you, Homura-chan”

Homura simply gave the girl a forced smile of acknowledgement and stared at the drawing for a few more seconds. Then from outside her room came a knocking sound, the door opening after a second.

“Dinner’s ready” said her mom, who Madoka could see was trying to inspect the room to see what they had been doing.

Homura handed Madoka the drawing back, the girl placed it back into cork board and held it back with the same white pin it had been using before.

Junko walked down the stairs; the smell of recently cooked curry that was being served filling her nostrils. Marrying Tomohisa had probably been the best decision she ever took. Well, regarding her personal life at least.

Madoka and her ‘friend’ Homura walked just a few paces behind her, they had been oddly quite for what usually happened when Madoka brought friends home. Of course, if it was Sayaka who was in the house Junko knew most of the noise came from the bluenette, not her daughter. But there hadn’t been laughs, and the silence right outside her door seemed so… private, that she had knocked just in case they were doing something.

Really, who would have thought that her Madoka would like girls. Though maybe being around the tomboyish Sayaka had helped with that, and without a doubt having been three years in America clearly settled the ideas in. Though Junko would have expected someone more like Sayaka being the person her daughter fell in love with. Not that she thought Homura wouldn’t be a good partner, though it was still too early to decide that, but for what she knew about the girl Homura was quite reserved in most things. A total opposite of her bright and excited girl.

Junko went behind the kitchen counter and started to pick up the plates that had been served, exchanging a smile with Tomohisa when their eyes met, and placed the plates in the table. Madoka went to help with, and Homura would have to but was quickly stopped on her tracks by Madoka; the girl signaling her to just sit and wait.

After every plate was served in the table, Tatsuya’s being the last one so he would start eating at the same time as them, Junko and Tomohisa sat down next to each other. Tatsuya had been sat between Madoka and Tomohisa, Homura was between Madoka and Junko.

They all gave their thanks for the food and started eating.

“How is it?” asked Tomohisa looking to Homura, it didn’t matter the age Tomohisa was proud of his cooking and always needed to know people’s first opinion on it.

“I think it’s the best I’ve ever eaten” said Homura with a gentle smile, Junko could see Madoka was observing Homura’s face with inquisitive eyes; her brow furrowing a bit at the girl’s expression.

“You flatter me too much” said Tomohisa with a smile.

“I mean it, now I can clearly see who Madoka learnt from” Her words seemed genuine, but the way they were being told reminded Junko of how she usually addressed her clients in the firm.

Junko’s examination was cut short though, her daughter blushing face now taking her full attention.

She is down bad, huh.

Most of the dinner was done in silence, the few times they talked was Madoka speaking a bit about their day and Homura only speaking when Madoka asked her for confirmation. The way Homura ate was… interesting to say the least. It wasn’t that she was eating in a weird manner, but be it subconsciously or not she was adjusting her pace at Madoka’s own; making both of them finish at almost exactly the same time.

After the plates were taken off the table Tomohisa served everyone some tea to help with digestion. Junko using this time to properly speak with the girl. After all, she had some questions she wanted to ask.

“Madoka told me you live by yourself, is that true?” asked Junko.

Homura took a sip from her tea before answering.

“Yes, it is.” She took a moment to think “I started doing so around two months ago, a few weeks before Madoka was transferred”

Madoka simply listened along, as far as Junko knew she had never asked a lot about the girl’s past, which in part was why Junko wanted to make sure the girl was living properly, so she probably was curious about it too.

“And how are you doing?”

“It was a bit chaotic at first” Homura admitted, though the answer seemed so standard that Junko sharpened her senses to try and see if the girl was simply offering her lip service “But things are calming down now”

“Are you eating properly?” this time the one that asked was Tomohisa from behind the kitchen counter, Homura turning around to answer him.

“I have to admit that I wasn’t at the beginning” Homura looked back to Madoka a smile appearing on her face, Madoka blushed a bit after her next words “But thanks to Madoka it’s been improving”

“I know I might be overstepping” said Junko, a serious look on her face “But I have to ask, are you doing well economically?”

Homura took a second to think this time, the girl drinking her tea as she thought of an answer.

“I’m getting a government aid until I turn 21” She looked at Junko, a reassuring look on her eyes “And I still have some money left from my parent’s inheritance”

“I see”

Homura had been trying to be as clear as possible that she was fine, and even though Junko would still keep an eye on her, she was still a teen after all, at least she was reassured that the girl clearly knew what she was doing. And with how prideful she seemed to carry herself, or at least that was Junko’s interpretation of the girl, offering help right now would probably be an insult to Homura.

Junko looked at her husband, Tomohisa was still holding his unfinished cup of tea, and raised a brow; she needed to know if Tomohisa had noticed something that she hadn’t. But he simply shook his head slightly, confirming that Homura seemed to be in control of the situation.

Homura took out her phone and turned the screen on without unlocking it. A default wallpaper welcomed her with a simple clock in it.

“It’s getting quite late, I should get going” Homura rose from her chair and did a little bow towards both Junko and Tomohisa, Madoka did a little jump; the girl clearly didn’t expect Homura to go home so soon “Thank you for inviting me today, it was great”

“Homura-chan…” Madoka murmured as she got up from her chair as well, facing the ebony haired girl.

“I had a lot of fun today, Madoka” a small smile appeared on the girl’s face “I’m glad I was able to spend the day with you”

Madoka seemed to froze in place as she tried to think of something to say, the girl clearly trying to find the words that would make Homura stay longer.

“It really is late, isn’t it?” said Junko “I will drive you home, I don’t feel comfortable leaving a young girl going home alone when it’s dark outside”

Junko could see Homura twitched for but a moment, the gesture making Junko suspicious.

“I appreciate the offer” she said with a bow “But there is no need, I don’t want to take more of your time”

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind” Junko thought about telling the girl to stop with the formalities, but seeing that she had already said so before and the girl seemed to keep up with it she reached the conclusion that Homura probably didn’t feel comfortable doing so.

Homura didn’t respond, she simply faced Junko with the same stoic face she had worn most of the time today. Instead, the one to speak up was her husband.

“Why don’t you stay for the night?” Tomohisa left his cup next to the sink as he spoke “We have some futons, and I’m sure Madoka wouldn’t mind”

“Ye-yeah!” exclaimed Madoka, with a newfound joy on her face “I would love to!”

Homura looked at Madoka, whose current expression Junko had only seen before on the girl during Christmas.

“I…” Homura’s vision was fixed on Madoka’s pleading eyes, and Junko could swear she saw something break inside the girl’s mind as she spoke her next words.

“I’ll stay for the night then” Homura did a deep bow towards Junko and Tomohisa “Once again, I’m in your care”

[-]

Junko picked a small, yet wide, glass; placing it on top of the kitchen countertop. She opened the freezer and out took some pieces of ice, putting them in the glass. A half empty bottle of whiskey loomed on one of the top cabinets, its contents danced as she picked it up.

While Junko was filling her glass Tomohisa appeared from the stairs after having helped Tatsuya go to sleep.

“Want a glass?” asked Junko raising the bottle.

“I’ll pass tonight” said Tomohisa with a tired smile on his face, slowly sitting on one of the chairs that populated the dinner table.

Junko joined her husband, taking a nice sip of her whiskey as she did so; the familiar burning sensation taking away some of the week’s stress.

“Are they still up?” asked Junko.

“Yeah, they were just preparing the futon for Homura”

“They might not even use it” Junko let out a short, dry, laugh “Madoka really likes her”

Tomohisa let out a long sigh.

“And here I was thinking we might get grandchildren” He jokingly complained, a sly smile on his face.

“Now, now; they might adopt” Junko raised her glass, pointing towards the upper floor with it “And if not, we just have to wait for Tatsuya”

They both let out a small chuckle and stayed in silence for a few minutes, the only noise that they could hear was the buzzing from the kitchen lights and the ice of Junko’s drink slowly breaking down.

“What do you think of her?” asked Junko, taking another sip from her drink as she waited for an answer.

Tomohisa, who had been with his eyes closed for a few minutes, hummed as he tried to gather his own thoughts.

“She doesn’t seem like a bad girl, a bit reserved if anything…” He opened his eyes “I just hope she opens to us”

Junko simply nodded along, completely agreeing with her husband.

“I’m worried about her home situation” Junko admitted “She refused the offer of me driving her home too quickly”

“Maybe she just was anxious about being alone with you in the car” Tomohisa proposed.

“I don’t know” Junko sighed “The girl knows how to hide her actual thoughts behind reassuring words, you only learn that out of necessity”

“I wonder who she reminds me of” his lips curled into a sarcastic smile.

“Yeah, yeah. I had to learn for my job” Junko left her now empty glass on the table “But I learnt when I was in college, not middle school”

They didn’t say any words for a few seconds, Junko worries growing a bit whenever she imagined a possible scenario of the girl’s situation; each time worse than the previous one.

“We’ll just have to wait for her to open to us” he said, leaning on the table to grab Junko’s hand “Or for Madoka to find out, she will tell us when she does if the situation is bad”

“Yeah… I know”

And with that they spent the rest of the night in silence, only the occasional small comment being made. By the time they went to sleep Madoka’s room light seemed to still be on.

A/N: Sorry for being late! Weeks getting busy and I had to change my sleep schedule to a proper one, so I’ve been quite tired the whole week.

I will try to write next chapter for Sunday!

Chapter Text

Homura sat alone in Madoka’s room, the bed slightly bending under her weight. The ebony haired girl fixed her gaze on the room’s door. Madoka was taking a shower at the moment, having told Homura to go take one first. And that now meant Homura had been left alone in the pinkette’s room.

The common sight of Madoka’s room filled her with a sense of calmness she had long forgotten; the feeling making her simply drop into Madoka’s bed, burying her face in the bedsheets. She moved her hands towards her face, at the moment Homura was wearing one of Madoka’s pajamas; the light green color of the clothes contrasting her dark hair.

“It smells like her…” Homura said, slowly closing her eyes; going back to a time where she wasn’t yet a magical girl, the first time she had met Madoka. How she hadn’t noticed until the… fourth? Was it the fifth loop? When she noticed she was in love with the girl. The feeling only having deepened throughout her attempts. How she dreamed of being able to live a normal life with Madoka...

And now that she had the opportunity, she had to refuse every single advancement that Madoka did. Trying to make sure she would stay far away from her.

Not that it was working, but still.

Homura opened her eyes and surveyed the all too familiar room. Some images that, like the pig plushie, came from her time in America were in display. Most of her books remained the same, though she could see some English versions between the Japanese ones. Her gaze ended up on the bags full of clothes that Madoka had chosen for her, the memories of the girl picking them was still fresh in her brain and it drew a slight smile on Homura’s face.

The thought of giving up, of letting Madoka get as close as she wanted to her, crossed her mind. It wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Maybe Homura could give Madoka a normal life for a few years, wait for the girl to naturally recover her memories. And when Madoka finally remembered everything, just give her back her powers. Let her go back to what she wished for.

Homura slowly raised from the bed, sitting on the edge instead. She slowly moved her hand towards her earring, caressing the dark orb in the palm of her hand. The touch reminded her of her objective. She wasn’t here just to give Madoka a normal life. She wanted her to be happy, and for all Madoka had told her while on her labyrinth it was a lonely place. There was no way Homura would let Madoka go back there.

At the same time, she didn’t know what she would do when Madoka inevitably died. The thought scared her, a world where Madoka was gone once more; this time forever. At times she thought that when that happened, she would simply leave the universe herself, but this broken place depended on her existence to work. If she leaved the world would end with her; Madoka wouldn’t like that, would she?

If Homura wanted the girl to be happy. If she wanted her to live a good life, to make sure Madoka died at peace… Then she would have to stay behind. To do as Madoka had done during her time as the Law of Cycles, and simply caress the universe. Even if Homura didn’t care about the universe itself, it still was something Madoka adored.

Besides, eternal punishment seemed like an appropriate end for her.

The sound of the door handle turning down took Homura out of her thought process. Her mind now filled with the sight she was seeing, one that she had only seen through her dark orb.

Madoka’s hair was damp, the smell of the girl’s shampoo embraced Homura the instant Madoka entered through the door. Her light pink pajamas were a bit big for the girl, but Homura knew this was on purpose.

“Ahhh…” Madoka let out a tired sigh “I feel so much better now”

Homura could feel the Devil trying to say something, probably nothing necessary so she simply blocked the currently weakened Devil. Instead, she took a subtle deep breath and looked at Madoka with her usual cold mask.

“Sorry that I took so long, I kind of lose track of time when I go in the bath” Madoka laughed with a bit of embarrassment in her voice.

“It’s fine” Homura reassured.

Madoka gave her a weak smile and walked towards Homura. And with a bit more force than the girl probably had anticipated she let herself fall on the bed, lying her back on the bed but her legs were still touching the ground. Homura wished that Madoka would have done that a bit further away, or that she would have given her time to get up, because with how much air she had moved as she was falling the smell of recently bathed Madoka was all her senses were picking; making the girl have to fight a blush back.

“Say, what should we do?” Madoka spoke with her eyes closed. Her arms were over her head, making it so Homura couldn’t see the deep blushing the girl had. “It’s a bit early to sleep, isn’t it?”

Madoka would often stay up for one or two more hours before going to bed, so the girl not being tired was to be expected.

“I’m fine with whatever you want to do” Homura tried to take a look of Madoka’s face underneath her arm, but it was to no avail.

“Homura-chan” Madoka moved her arms away from her face, showing a bit of a disappointed expression “That’s not an answer”

“But I…”

“Nope” Madoka interrupted her as she got up from the bed, sitting next to Homura “We’ve been doing everything I wanted throughout the day, you choose now”

Homura tried to think of something to do, but the only thing that came to mind was being with Madoka. The activity didn’t matter as much. Still, she tried to think of anything that people normally did in these situations.

It was now that she realized that all this time she had been so passive during their get togethers that she didn’t really know what they did in them. With the only activities she remembered not working for only two people, but rather for a group of three or four.

So, in a moment of panic as she tried to come up with an answer, she decided to look at what the only two other people she knew would be together tonight were doing. What she saw was Miki Sayaka in her bed, debating over her phone, and Sakura Kyouko playing some videogame in the living room. Not what she wanted, but at least she got some kind of answer.

“We could… play some games?” she said, even with the weird pause she had done her voice did not waver.

Madoka seemed to think for a few seconds.

“I do have a Pintendo Switch…” she got up from the bed and walked towards her desk, picking up a small game console and taking out the two controllers that laid at each side; one cream colored the other lightly pink. “We can play Nario Kart”

“Sounds good” said Homura, glad that it seemed like an appropriate answer.

Madoka nodded and turned on her monitor, changing the display input to the one the console was using, and angled the screen so they would see it from the bed. Madoka then walked towards the bed, once again sitting next to Homura. This time though, Homura expected it and moved a bit to the side as Madoka slowly fell to her spot. Madoka handed Homura the light pink controller and started to move throughout the menus until the game thumbnail appeared.

“I’m not very good at it” admitted Madoka “But at least I can win against the AI most of the time”

“I have only played it once or twice” Homura said, she had played it before; though that had been when Madoka was a concept and Kyouko dragged her to play with her for some reason. Of course, the redhead completely demolished Homura in the game and it only lasted for less than four races. “You probably are better at this than I”

“Well, unless you suddenly become as good as you did in the arcade” Madoka laughed, making a small honest smile appear on Homura’s face.

Madoka moved through the game menu, selecting the 150cc difficulty and hanging around the cup selection menu as she tried to come up with a good one to play. Though her thinking seemed to go nowhere, as after a few seconds the girl simply sighed and chose the first cup. They both selected their drivers, Madoka a small guy with a red outfit and a white mask, and Homura a tall purple guy that she remembered Kyouko say was a good option. Had that been true, or just a joke with how they shared colors, Homura didn’t know or care.

The game went as expected. Homura horribly losing at the start, Madoka ending first most of the time. She did not mind though, for just playing with Madoka was enough for her. Hearing the girl laugh when Homura got hit by five consecutive shells. How during the last lap Homura got the blue shell, and Madoka pleaded her not to use it; which she didn’t. Madoka cheering her on as she was able to get third place for the first time. How Madoka tried to take a shortcut and failed, Homura teasing her a bit in the heat of the moment about it just to make the exact same mistake.

That night simply took her back to the first time they met.

No, that whole day was like the first time they had met. And, even though Homura still knew deep inside her that she deserved a punishment, she couldn’t refuse this moment. This. This had been what she had started to fight for, to be able to spend time like this with Madoka. Before everything started to go downhill. Before she had to change. Even the thought of the rest being with them crossed her mind, as she remembered the first afternoons that they would often spend at Mami’s house.

As Madoka was choosing another tournament cup to play, Homura remembered how Miki was looking worriedly at her phone; Maybe she would ask her if something was wrong tomorrow. As much as she hated to admit it, if Miki hadn’t told her anything about Madoka liking a guy she wouldn’t have probably accepted Madoka’s invitation after all.

===

“I know who Madoka likes”

===

Sayaka started deleting the text once again. She had been like this for the past hour, debating whether she should tell Akemi or not. For starters, she wasn’t even sure if Madoka actually liked Kyouko; though it made sense. Kyouko was fun to be around, she could cook, was dependable, and hell she even was good looking. So, if Madoka liked girls it would make a lot of sense for the girl to fall in love with Kyouko, and she had spent more time with the redhead than with any other guy Sayaka had seen.

But even then…

===

“Hey, hope you are awake. I think I know who Madoka likes, but maybe I just got it wrong”

===

She sighed, the text quickly disappearing from her screen.

Maybe Kyouko was just making the pinkette feel better about something. Maybe Akemi had done something to upset her; though now Sayaka knew she wouldn’t do that kind of thing, at least not on purpose. Maybe it had been the other way around. Maybe Madoka had done something to upset Akemi and was sad about it? No, no way. Sayaka couldn’t think of something that Madoka could do to upset Akemi; It felt like even if Madoka were to stab her she would still say that it was ok.

So then…

===

“Hey Akemi, did something happen to Madoka today?”

===

Sayaka looked at her phone screen, her finger hovering over the ‘send’ button. No, if something had happened to her Akemi would have told her when they talked. Sayaka closed the app and locked her phone, pulling herself towards the edge of her bed until she was sitting.

She didn’t want to accept it. There was no way Madoka and Kyouko were together. That simply couldn’t be possible. A slight pain had been creeping up on her chest since she had seen them together, a pain all too familiar for the girl. But why? Why did she feel like this at the simple thought of Kyouko going out with Madoka? It wasn’t a bad situation, after all. In fact, Kyouko being the one Madoka liked was probably the best possible situation. Sayaka knew that she could trust both of them to take care of each other. She knew they would be great for each other.

But then… Why? Why did she not want to let Kyouko go? This wasn’t the same thing she felt when Kyosuke started going out with Hitomi. She had learnt that the thing she felt for Kyosuke was admiration mostly. How convinced he had been following his dream made Sayaka think she loved the guy. But with Kyouko it was different. She simply wanted to be with her. To be able to keep doing the same things they already were doing. To laugh with her as they made dinner, to fight about dumb things, to welcome each other home.

But if Madoka liked Kyouko, if they both started to go out with each other… Then that would end.

There had been moments when Sayaka even thought that Kyouko could like her. Moments like when the girl would often try to touch her more than necessary while they played. How she always seemed to worry for her. How she had…

Sayaka brought a hand to her neck. The cold feeling of the blue dolphin shaped gem welcomed her fingers, memories from that day near the fountain resurfaced again. She had thought that this…

A knock came from her door, making Sayaka jump a bit.

“Can I enter?” asked the muffled voice of Kyouko.

“Y-yeah!” Sayaka said, wiping with her sleeve a few tears that had started to get out.

The door opened, revealing a Kyouko that was ready to go to bed. The girl had her hair free, making it obvious how incredibly long it actually was as it hung at the height of her knees. Kyouko walked towards Sayaka’s desk, taking her chair out of its usual spot and turning it around to face Sayaka.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“E-eh? What do you mean?” asked Sayaka, confused by the sudden question.

“You’ve been acting all weird since I came back” Kyouko’s face was an unusually concerned one. “Been avoiding me even”

“I’m okay! I’m okay!” Sayaka brought a fist towards her chest, hitting it with confidence “Just a bit tired from today’s chase. Yep, that’s all”

“You sure?” The redhead raised an eyebrow, her questioning eyes inspecting Sayaka.

“Yeah!” Sayaka’s voice almost wavered.

Kyouko didn’t seem convinced by this. The redhead let out a long tired sigh before speaking up once more.

“Is this about Madoka? Are you really that worried about who she likes?”

That took Sayaka by surprise. Her hands started shaking as she remembered how Madoka and Kyouko hugged. How they had clearly chosen a place out of most people’s eyes. How Madoka had been crying during the hug. How unusually tight the hug had been.

“Listen, I really think Madoka should be the one telling you” Kyouko scratched her head in annoyance “But if it’s really going to make you act like this-”

“No, no! It’s fine!” Sayaka quickly interrupted her “I will feel better tomorrow morning, don’t worry”

Sayaka got up from her bed and started going out of her room, making sure not to look at Kyouko. She didn’t know what Kyouko would have told her, but she didn’t want to risk the answer. At least not now.

Madoka walked up to the light switch, flipping it off with a swift motion. Using the light from her phone screen she carefully walked back to her bed, making sure not to step on Homura on the way. They had set Homura’s futon next to her bed, Homura had said to put it a bit further away so Madoka could easily get out of her bed, but Madoka insisted that by putting it closer they could talk a bit before going to bed.

Madoka reached her bed and slowly crawled in it until she finally positioned herself, ready to sleep. She then moved closer to the edge. Homura, still awake, was lying on her futon, wearing Madoka’s green pajamas.

“What did you want to talk about?” Asked Homura with her usually stoic voice, though it was kinder than usual.

“Nothing in particular” Madoka whispered, making a small pause “Just wanted to talk with you”

Silence fell in the room for a few seconds, Madoka simply observing Homura from the edge of her bed. A small voice in her head wishing they could sleep next to each other instead.

“Did you…” Homura started saying, her voice seemed weaker than usual “Did you have fun today?”

“A lot” answered Madoka, who couldn’t see Homura’s blush in the darkness of the night “We have to repeat this, ok?”

“…yeah” Homura slightly nodded. “I would love to”

Silence reigned for a minute or two. Homura simply looked at the ceiling, sometimes stealing glances at Madoka. Madoka never moved her sight from the girl, a dumb smile on her face.

“Sorry about making you stay so suddenly” a bit of an embarrassed smile appeared on Madoka’s face “I know you probably had things to do”

“No, I’m glad I did” Homura turned her head around, now looking directly at Madoka “I think… I think I needed this”

“What do you mean?” asked Madoka, her eyebrows perching up in curiosity.

Homura didn’t answer. The girl simply fell in silence for a few seconds, but Madoka waited. Still not sure if Homura would answer or not, she knew the girl liked to think before talking, so if Homura needed time to think of a proper answer, then she would give her that time.

“To not spend the night alone” finally said Homura, her voice completely different than what it usually was. “It made me realize, or rather… it made me remember what I really wanted”

“What you really want?” wondered Madoka.

Homura seemed to be about to speak, but stopped herself short. The girl closed her eyes, probably thinking about whether to answer her question or not. After a few seconds, Madoka spoke first.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to” Homura opened her eyes, looking at Madoka “If this made you happy for whatever reason, then I’m glad”

“It did” stated Homura, a proper smile on her face that sent Madoka’s heart racing. Even Homura’s eyes showed happiness. “I had a lot of fun today”

“Yeah, me too” Madoka said “Well, at least until we decided to try playing online”

Homura let out a small chuckle, accompanying Madoka’s quiet laugh.

They kept talking about their day. Long silences lingered between topics, but it was a comfortable kind of silence. One in which they just enjoyed each other presence. Minutes passed, and after almost an hour of talking Madoka let out a long yawn.

“Maybe we should go to sleep?” suggested Homura, the girl’s earring shining with the moonlight that got past the window blinders.

“Yeah…” sleepily said Madoka, the day finally catching up to her. “Good night, Homura-chan”

“Sleep well, Madoka”

And with that Madoka’s consciousness slowly left her body. Homura’s presence was comforting, and the girl fell asleep quicker than usual.

~~~

There was no sound.

There was no light.

She felt everything, but at the same time she felt nothing.

Madoka opened her eyes, and a sea of colors welcomed her. A sight she had considered beautiful laid in front of her. And yet, she felt nothing. She was used to the wonderful sight now. She had seen it for billions of years.

Around her hundreds of soul gems floated around. The soul gems had lost their usual gold casing, now only the gem itself remained. She floated towards one of them, a deep purple color adorning it. It reminded her of Homura’s, if only in appearance, but the gem belonged to another magical girl. A so called Felicia, the girl had exhausted her magic and Madoka dutifully took her soul gem.

Madoka embraced the soul gem with care, knowing that just a fraction of her power could rupture it if she wasn’t careful. The gem’s darkness slowly trickled from it to Madoka’s soul gem, the purple gem shining once again.

The sight of the purple gem made Madoka usual determination waver. Homura now filled her mind. The girl wasn’t taking well this new world, every day she fought more recklessly than before. Everyday her soul gem went to the brink of collapsing.

And it should have done so long ago. But Madoka didn’t let her. Not because she wanted to make Homura live longer, she knew the girl was suffering. But that was precisely why she needed to keep her alive longer, even if it meant breaking the rules she had set herself. She knew that Homura dying now wouldn’t bring her to hope. She would just stop suffering, but she wouldn’t like the ‘heaven’ Madoka had.

And so, Madoka had tried to search for an answer. What to do to make Homura happy. What she could do to actually give the girl she so much loved a happy life. She had seen a hundred different futures, every single one of them had ended the same way. Nothing changing, Madoka unable to speak with Homura and Homura’s soul gem not even being able to be filled with hope by Madoka.

But then she saw one possibility. One that ended abruptly. One that could work, only if Homura were to do the right thing. It could very easily go wrong, her future sight stopping right after Homura took a part of her power didn’t help. But even then, she trusted Homura; and if letting her break her apart, if letting a traumatized Homura take control of reality was the best option…

Then she was going to do it.

If it meant that Homura could be happy that way… she would risk the whole universe and more.

~~~

Madoka slowly woke up, the morning sunlight hitting her in the eyes. She sat on her bed, and looked towards the empty futon that had been neatly folded beside her desk. Still asleep she tried to remember the dream she had had, but most of it had faded away and only feelings lingered behind.

Loneliness, proudness, determination, fear, and… trust.

The door to her room opened. Homura went in, having already changed clothes to one of the outfits Madoka had chosen for her the day before. The girl seemed a bit surprised at first to see Madoka awake, but she quickly hid it behind a welcoming smile.

“Good morning, Madoka”

“Mornin… Homura-chan~” Madoka said, her throat still asleep.

Homura waited outside Madoka’s room as the pinkette changed out of her pajamas. She could hear the Devil’s voice telling her to go in there, but that was crossing a line she wasn’t about to cross.

The door to Madoka’s room opened, and from it came Madoka wearing some simple clothes; the girl probably wasn’t thinking on going out for the rest of the day and had chosen a comfortable outfit. She, of course, still looked as beautiful as ever; after all, Madoka could wear only rags and she would still be the most precious thing in the universe. And whoever said otherwise was wrong.

“Sorry for the wait” Madoka said with an embarrassed smile. When the girl had realized that Homura was already prepared to go back to her house, she had actually gotten angry at her for not waking her up. A mistake Homura promised to not make again. “Let’s go eat breakfast”

They both walked down the stairs. Homura walked behind Madoka. She looked at Madoka, the girl still had her hair down, though she could see that Madoka was carrying her red ribbons in her hand.

They reached the kitchen, Madoka’s father was working in the garden while her mother and brother ate breakfast in silence. Junko was holding a tablet, and by the look of her face it probably was work related. Tatsuya on the other hand was trying to finish his breakfast, the plastic fork giving him trouble.

“Good morning Mama” Madoka said as she walked up to her mother, giving her a good morning hug.

“Good morning” Homura said.

Junko looked at Homura, a warm smile on her face.

“Did Madoka let you sleep yesterday?” Junko teased.

“Mom!” Madoka blushed, the girl even raising her voice higher than usual.

“You two played until pretty late, Madoka.” A sly smile started to form on Junko’s face “What did you think I meant?”

Madoka’s blush deepened, and one started to appear on Homura’s face too as she finally caught on what was going on. She had to actively stop her imagination from running wild as she tried to imagine what Madoka had thought about.

After Junko had a bit of a laugh, she started to get a bit of a more serious face, looking back at Homura.

“I’m guessing you are staying until after breakfast” She made a small pause “You can stay for lunch if you want”

“Thank you for the invitation” Homura said, trying to compose herself behind a veil of politeness “But I really should go home after this”

Madoka’s face saddened a bit, but the girl quickly replaced it with a nice smile. Madoka clearly knew Homura couldn’t stay here forever. And maybe if the situation was a bit different Homura wouldn’t mind doing so.

“Well, if you ever want to stay you are welcome to do so” Junko said as she took a sip from her coffee, returning to whatever she was reading on her tablet.

“Thank you” Homura said with a small bow. The Kaname family always ended up worrying about her whenever they learnt she lived alone, so it wasn’t surprising. It still felt nice knowing that their kindness had been something that never changed throughout time.

Madoka smiled at Homura before walking behind the kitchen counter.

“What do you want to drink, Homura-chan?”

Having learnt her lesson, Homura held back her ‘anything’ and tried to think of a proper answer.

“I would like some coffee” she tried to walk behind the counter to prepare it herself, but Madoka extended an arm to stop her from walking further in.

“I will take care of it, okay?” Madoka said, a determined look in her eyes told Homura everything she needed to know. Madoka wasn’t going to let her do it.

Homura nodded and walked towards the table, pulling out a chair and sitting on it. She observed Madoka. The pinkette started to heat some water, probably for her own drink. She then moved towards the coffee machine they had, Junko being a coffee lover had bought one of those machines that you had to grind your own beans for. Madoka handled the machine without a problem though, she probably had done some coffees for her mother before and as such knew how to use it effortlessly.

She finished preparing everything, now turning her attention towards one of the cabinets. She opened it and picked up a mug. Though after a few seconds of hesitation she left it back where it had been. The girl turned around and walked towards the entrance of the house, leaving a confused Homura and Junko behind.

When the girl came back she had a slight blush on her cheeks. And between her hands the reason for the blush became quickly apparent to Homura, who recognized the box the girl carried with her. Madoka placed the cardboard box on the kitchen counter and started opening it, revealing the two mugs they had won in the arcade the day before. The husband mug with the cats drawn all over it, and the wife mug with bunnies.

Homura noticed Junko’s eyes go wide in surprise as she saw the imprinted words on the mugs, glancing between her daughter and Homura. Both girls wearing a pink blush. Madoka quickly turned around before her mother could say anything, the girl placing the ‘husband’ mug in a small platform as the coffee machine came to life and started pouring the recently brewed coffee into it. She then took the wife mug and filled it with the now boiling water, gently placing a teabag inside, she waited for the coffee machine to finish before picking up the husband mug and giving it to Homura. Madoka then sat one seat away from Homura, clearly too embarrassed to sit next to her.

“I didn’t know my daughter was this daring” said Junko, slowly recovering from the sudden surprise.

“We- We won them in the arcade” Madoka poured two spoons of sugar into her tea “We didn’t notice what they said until it was too late”

“No, no” Junko shook her head “I’m not saying it’s bad. But even I waited to start going out with your father before proposing like this”

Madoka’s cheeks seemed to steal Kyouko’s color palette. Homura wanted to stop time to calm herself, but with how embarrassed she was she wasn’t sure if she would stop time or rewind it.

“It-it’s not like that!” denied Madoka, the words did sting Homura a bit “We weren’t going to throw them away!”

“Riiiight” Junko threw a side glance towards Homura, whose shoulders stiffened “But Madoka… don’t you like cats more than rabbits?”

“E-eh? Yes?” said Madoka, confused by the sudden question. Though Homura knew where it was going, this knowledge only making her blush deeper.

“Then why didn’t you pick the husband mug?” Junko’s teasing smile grew even bigger “Unless you are saying Homura would be the husband?”

“M-mom!” Madoka said as she tried to hide behind her mug, though the vision of the girl holding the word ‘wife’ so close to her only made Homura’s heart beat even faster as she imagined Madoka wearing a bride dress. It was Junko’s laugh what took Homura out of her imagination.

“I’m joking, I’m joking” Junko stopped laughing to recover her breath, this hadn’t been the first time Homura had been teased by the woman. And if she was going to come back, she knew this wouldn’t be the last. “I’m sorry Homura, I couldn’t let this opportunity go by”

“N-no, it’s fine” Homura said, taking a sip from her coffee, muttering the next words only to herself “I don’t mind…”

[-]

Homura finished putting on her shoes, took the bags with her new clothes and looked towards a Madoka that was there to see her off.

“I’ll be going then” Homura did a slight polite bow, though only Madoka was at the door right now “Once again, thank you for inviting me”

Madoka shook her head, her pigtails dancing around.

“No, thank you for coming with me” Madoka put on a big smile “I had a lot of fun”

Homura smiled back, though her smile was smaller it still carried the same feelings. Then she turned towards the door and turned the handle. The door opened with a click, and Homura went to take a step outside.

“Wait!” Madoka sudden shout made Homura turn around, her eyes a bit wide in surprise. “I- I forgot something, please wait a moment”

Madoka rushed off towards the second floor, Homura could hear the girl quickly going up the stair. A bit of fear on the back of her mind as she imagined the girl missing a step.

A minute later Madoka came back, holding something behind her. She walked up to Homura and handed her a small wrapped up box.

“Thi-this is as thanks… for everything”

Madoka fidgeted in place as Homura slowly unwrapped the box. The gift wrapping came off, revealing a small pink cardboard box. Homura opened the box with care, revealing a pair of red ribbons.

“Madoka… when…” Homura didn’t move her eyes from the ribbons.

“When I went back into the shop…” Madoka let out a nervous chuckle “I saw them when we were buying your clothes, and since you had given me yours I… I wanted to get you one too”

Homura kept looking at the ribbons, fighting back tears as memories from the last time Madoka had given her her ribbons came rushing in.

“I really li- liked how they looked on you…” Madoka did a small pause “And now we can match!”

Homura tried to put order to her thoughts, but it was to no avail. Between the joy she felt from Madoka’s gift, and the memories of her using Madoka’s ribbon as an anchor to life itself… She was a mess to say the least, more than usual.

“If- If you don’t like them, we can return them!” Madoka said, getting nervous because of Homura’s silence. “I… I still have the receipt!”

“N-no” Homura finally spoke, taking the ribbons with care, almost as if they were made of glass and would break from the slightest touch “I love them, thank you Madoka”

Madoka’s blushing deepened at Homura’s words, the girl now trying to look away.

“W-well! See… see you tomorrow!” Madoka exclaimed.

“Yes, see you tomorrow, Madoka” Homura said with a gentle voice, the girl turned around and started walking off; leaving the Kaname house behind with more than she would have ever wanted.

Current date: Sunday 18^th, May.

A/N: Whew! Was able to finish this before I had to go to sleep. Hope you all like the chapter, please leave your thoughts in the comments!

Chapter Text

Homura walked through Mitakihara’s streets. Her gaze fixed on the ground in front of her. Everything around her didn’t matter to the girl, her mind simply stuck in the day she had just spent with Madoka. Had she deserved such a day? Probably not, no, absolutely not. She had yet to repent for her sins, and spending time like she had with Madoka would only make it harder for her to do so. After all, the only reason why Madoka was trying to approach her at all was because she didn’t remember all the things Homura had done.

But maybe, just maybe, Homura should listen to what the Devil had said. Maybe she should enjoy spending time with Madoka. She didn’t deserve it. She knew it wouldn’t last for long. But she had already failed the initial plan of becoming a concept and leaving the world behind after giving Madoka back her ribbons. She had noticed this was like it always had been. Homura wasn’t strong. She didn’t have the will to leave Madoka behind when she had the opportunity to live by her side. The same mistake she had been making since the loops began: getting close to Madoka always ended with the girl she so much loved sacrificing herself.

And she had already done so. Why not enjoy it while it lasted? She had known from the start that Madoka would end up becoming her enemy, so let her be. When the time came if Homura couldn’t make her stay… she would find a way to save her, probably one Madoka wouldn’t like.

Homura’s house finally appeared at the edge of her vision. She walked towards the front door, taking the keys out on the way. The door slowly opened, revealing her small apartment. One that she had modified during her loops, and was now back to the same old self that it had been the first time she had seen it. Homura walked towards the small living room, in it an old dusty couch for two people welcomed her, on top of its armrest laid a small black figure.

“Amy” The cat turned her head around, facing Homura with a curious look on her eyes.

Homura didn’t remember when she had started to pick Amy from the streets, making sure the cat wouldn’t be in danger had become an important part of her time loops; If she didn’t do so, the amount of times that Madoka would end up contracting to save Amy were astonishing.

Homura slowly moved a hand towards the cat. She hadn’t spent much time with her this time around, her dolls had been taking care of the cat for her and they didn’t seem to be doing a bad job (Though she had monitored what they were doing the first week). Homura’s hand finally reached Amy’s head, the cat purring as it pressed its little head to it.

“Say Amy” Homura kept petting the cat, her presence had always calmed her down. Though, she hadn’t been able to take care of her after Madoka became a concept… She hadn’t been in the right mind to take care of anyone during that time. “Would you like to meet Madoka?”

The cat kept purring, completely oblivious to the question Homura had just asked her.

“I promised her she could come see you” Homura’s voice slowly turned into a gentler one.

As much as she had always taken Amy in under the premise of doing it ‘just to protect Madoka’ she knew that was a lie, or at least, a half lie. It had been during the first loop that Homura had met Amy. A week before Walpurgisnacht first attacked the city.

~~~

The sun was setting as Homura and Madoka walked towards Homura’s house. The group had decided to split after having defeated today’s witch, but a few minutes after Mami left Madoka had stopped Homura and asked if she could stay over at her house. Homura didn’t have a reason to say no, so after a brief stop in a convenience store for some ingredients they were heading towards her house.

Homura remembered today’s fight, she had once more only watched from afar (Though since the last incident Mami had started to give her some kind of enchanted weapon in case she needed it, she knew it was more for appearances than real protection though). Both Mami and Madoka had been amazing, flying through the labyrinth as they shot bullets and arrows to the witch. Homura had imagined herself fighting by their side at that moment, being able to fight next to Madoka would fill her with joy.

“Ah!” A sudden surprised expression came from Madoka, as the pinkette rushed towards one of the sides of the road.

Homura walked behind the girl, intrigued by what had caught her attention. Madoka was petting a black cat, the cat purring as the girl moved her hand across the feline.

“Do you know her Kaname-san?” asked Homura, her meek voice earning a gaze from the cat.

“Yeah…” Madoka’s expression turned into a gentle and proud one. The cat moved swiftly between the girl’s hand trying to be petted as much as possible. And when she realized Homura was there it walked towards her and asked for more, Homura complied with a small smile on her face “This is the cat I talked about”

“Ah…” Homura gently pet the cat’s head.

Homura looked at the cat, the one that had been saved by Madoka’s wish. The reason Madoka had become a magical girl in the first place. That was the kind of thing Madoka did, going into a world of fighting just to save a stray cat...

Maybe if the cat had been fine Madoka would have used her wish to heal Homura’s heart instead. For a second Homura felt jealously towards the cat, but she quickly shook those feelings away. Madoka had already done a lot for her, she shouldn’t think that kind of things.

“I’m still worried about her” said Madoka, now getting up from her crouched position “She is still a stray. And since Papa is allergic to cats, we can’t adopt her”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine” said Homura, for a second the girl thought about placing a reassuring hand on Madoka’s shoulder. Though she took so long to think about whether she should or not that the opportunity flew by.

“I’m worried about what will happen to her when… When Walpurgisnacht comes” admitted Madoka, the girl had been acting more nervously during the past few days. “Mami said it doesn’t need to hide in a labyrinth so…”

“Don’t worry!” said Homura, raising her voice a bit more than she used to “Tomoe-san and you will defeat Walpurgisnacht in no time!”

Madoka looked at Homura, her pink eyes piercing Homura’s soul with all the kindness in the world.

“You two are amazing when fighting together!” Homura kept talking, knowing that if she were to stop her embarrassment would catch up with her “You will save the city Kaname-san. I’m sure everything will be fine!”

Madoka put on a happy smile, though her eyes still spoke about her worries.

“Thank you Homura-chan”

~~~

Homura stopped petting Amy. Though not for long as the cat stood up in her hind legs as she tried to make Homura pick her up. Homura let out a sigh, but a smile was on her face.

“The dolls have been taking care of you” Amy finally got Homura to pet her more, the cat kept purring “There is no need for you to be like this with me”

Homura felt Amy putting power on her hind legs, and before Homura could react the cat jumped towards her; forcing Homura to hold her in her arms.

“You really are like her-”

Something hit Homura’s head with enough force for it to explode in contact. A red juice started to flow through her back, staining the new clothes Madoka had gotten her. At the other side of the room was one of her dolls: Yakimochi. The doll held another tomato ready to be thrown.

Homura carefully let Amy out of her arms, slowly leaning down until the cat could easily jump out of her embrace. She then turned towards Yakimochi and pierced the doll with her eyes. The doll simply looked at her with her eternal smile, readied the tomato, and threw it at Homura; who didn’t try to dodge it. The tomato hit Homura on the forehead, its juices flowed freely down her face.

“What’s the problem, Yakimochi” said Homura, her voice as cold as the night. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“G̵o̵o̷d̶ ̷f̸o̶r̵ ̶n̵o̸t̴h̴i̶n̷g̴ ̵i̷s̸ ̴m̵a̵k̶i̸n̵g̶ ̵a̵ ̵m̸i̴s̶t̵a̴k̴e̷” the doll said, her eyes defying Homura’s gaze “G̶o̷d̷d̵e̴s̴s̵ ̷w̷i̸l̶l̷ ̸f̶l̶y̸ ̵a̶w̶a̴y̵ ̶i̴f̴ ̵y̶o̵u̸ ̸k̶e̵e̸p̵ ̴t̶h̸i̷n̷g̴s̸ ̸l̵i̸k̷e̸ ̷t̸h̷i̵s̸ ̷”

“What? Are you going to say that you are jealous?” Homura scoffed, her eyes losing the shine they had acquired the day before. “What I do doesn’t concern any of you. You are nothing but my familiars”

The doll looked at her, though her expression didn’t change Homura knew the familiar was probably thinking. As much as she hated the thought of it, her familiars were quite independent; ever since she had changed the universe they had become their own beings, still tied to Homura yes; but compared to her others familiars the dolls were the only ones that could speak.

“I̸b̷a̴r̵i̸ ̵w̶a̶s̶ ̸r̶i̷g̴h̷t̷” said Yakimochi, the doll now turning away to leave “A̶i̷ ̶i̵s̷ ̸b̶e̶t̸t̵e̶r̴ ̸s̶u̸i̵t̷e̶d̴ ̷t̴h̷a̸n̸ ̸g̴o̷o̸d̸ ̶f̶o̷r̵ ̵n̷o̷t̸h̶i̴n̶g̷ ̵f̴o̶r̸ ̵t̶h̸i̵s̸ ̶j̴o̴b̴”

With the doll now gone Homura simply looked at the empty doorway. Her mind completely focused in trying to hold back the… fear she felt towards her dolls. They knew her, they knew her better than even herself. There was a reason why she always tried to appear strong in front of them, she never was able to get rid of the feeling that they only followed her because they wanted to. Not because they had to. And Yakimochi last words stuck with her, Ai, the supposed fifteenth doll. Homura had always assumed it was herself, for she didn’t feel any other doll in the entire universe…

No, there was no time to keep worrying about this. When the time comes she will find a solution. Yes, when the time comes. Just like with Madoka, when the time comes she will think of something. When the time…

No, she wasn’t about to start thinking about what will happen in the future again. She already had enough of her fair share of ‘time’ related problems. She was now almost omnipotent, there was nothing that could take her away from Madoka.

The sun filled the streets with its warm light. Every few steps a small part of the city was replaced by a tree or colorful flowers, it really was spring. A few cars went down the mostly empty street, a group of people here and there accompanying the sound of the engines. In one side of the street, balancing herself on the stone that divided the road and sidewalk, a white haired girl hummed a simple melody.

Nagisa, with a smile on her face, held tight to the purse Mami had given her. That was because today she was on a mission. A life or death mission nonetheless. For tonight they were going to eat hamburger… and they had run out of cheddar.

But Mami was busy with her studies, and did not have the time to go buy it herself. As such, in a noble sacrifice, Nagisa had volunteered herself to go in this difficult quest. Besides, this way she would have time to think about some stuff away from the prying eyes of Homura’s creepy familiars.

Oh? How did she know? Well…

The day the group had gone to Mami’s house. Even if she had been outside, something that in retrospect had saved her, when Sayaka’s memories came back and the girl transformed she got her memories back. As they both came from the Law of Cycles, the connection they shared had awoken her own memories. They still held a small part of the Law of Cycles after all, they needed to in order to keep their bodies in the physical world after all. One part reacted to the other, and… Well, Nagisa got her memories back.

Of course, unlike Sayaka who clearly didn’t think much, she didn’t act. What would she accomplish anyways? Homura had taken care of the Law of Cycles herself, there was no way someone that only held a tiny fragment could face her.

Besides, this was way better than the Law of Cycles. Sayaka had always liked to make the place seem better than it really was. It was just a constant feeling of warmth and hope. Sure, way better than being a witch that much was true. But this world Homura had made had given Nagisa the opportunity to live once more, this time not having to worry about her soul gem being filled with grief. She had a nice life together with Mami, she could eat cheese again, she could feel more than just hope.

So, if someone were to ask her whether she was going to fight the devil to try and take the Law of Cycles back… That was a hard no. She wouldn’t help Homura either mind you, or at least she didn’t think she would. Hell, if the knowledge of this whole past lives got too annoying, she might go up to her and ask her to erase her memory again…

Maybe ask for cheaper cheese.

Because she could do that right?

The streetlight turned red, Nagisa stopped at the edge of the crosswalk and waited while she bobbed her head from side to side to the same tune she was humming. An old woman next to her seemed to notice this and smiled at the little girl, Nagisa looked at her and smiled back. If she had learnt something with her time with Mami was that people enjoyed being smiled at.

She went to look back at the other side of the crosswalk, and here smile quickly faded. At the other side one of the creepy familiars was waiting for the light too, its eternal smile on her face. The familiar wore short blonde hair, and was keeping her gaze fixed on an ant in the ground.

The light turned green. Nagisa started to walk to the other side, trying to move away from the familiar without making it too obvious. The familiar though, kept looking at the ant, unmoving. Whoever that was they had to be the dumbest familiar to ever exist. Even Nagisa’s small familiar now seemed like geniuses compared to that one.

Though the moment Nagisa passed the familiar it turned its head and looked at the girl. Nagisa could feel a chill run down her spine. She knew the familiars wouldn’t hurt her, right? The little bit she knew about Homura would mean she wasn’t about to do anything that would make her Madoka sad. And Nagisa dying would make Madoka sad, right? Right?

Nagisa kept walking, trying to ignore the piercing gaze of the blond familiar. She didn’t look back, though she could hear steps behind her, she wished those steps belonged to the old woman she had seen before. She couldn’t look behind her either, because then the familiar would notice she could see her. And if she was right, they had been following them around for quite a long time, her suddenly noticing the familiar would mean she had recovered her memories. And right now, she didn’t want to check if Homura considered her important enough as not to outright kill her. The girl was crazy for all Nagisa knew.

Nagisa kept walking forwards, subconsciously increasing her pace with every step taken. And after a minute or two she took a turn, getting into a market street. Nagisa kept walking, and a stand with a few toys outside seemed like the perfect excuse to stop and look around her, so she did.

She could see that the familiar had stopped a few meters behind her, and was now looking around. Nagisa held for a few seconds, making it look like she was looking through the different toys. And after what seemed like an eternity the familiar finally turned and walked towards a barber shop, becoming completely enthralled by the colorful and spinning barber’s pole.  

Nagisa used this opportunity and starting heading off. Her steps carried her towards the actual supermarket she was aiming for, the familiar nowhere to be seen. The automatic doors of the supermarket closed behind her as the girl let out a sigh. She really was glad that for whatever reason Homura hadn’t decided to make a doll follow her all the time.

Nagisa stopped for a minute in front of the lockers, slowly trying to calm herself down. Right, the familiar following her might have been a bit of a problem; but she still had a job to do. That cheese wasn’t going to buy itself.

She made her way into the supermarket, aiming towards the cheese aisle. On the way there though, she had to go through her most arduous task. The sweets aisle laid in front of her, many kinds of candy and cakes surrounded Nagisa, singing songs as if they were mermaids. Nagisa looked at the purse, only enough money to get the cheese she wanted. She knew she could probably spend half of it instead if she were to pick a cheaper brand, but that would be a decision she knew would regret when the time came. As such, she steeled her resolve, looked right in front of her, and marched through the sweet’s aisle.

She walked and walked. The long aisle seemingly growing in size with each step she took. The smell of different flavored cakes calling for her. Golden bags full of gummies stared at her with pleading eyes. A box of different donuts was being carried by one of the workers, refilling the previously empty trays. But Nagisa persisted, her resolve didn’t waver for even a second, for her true prize laid at the end of this torturous road.

And so, she reached her destination. The cheese aisle laid in front of her, dozens of different cheeses staring at her. Oh, how much she had wished to eat cheese while in the Law of Cycles, a pleasure she couldn’t indulge in. For that, she thought, she had to thank Homura, twice. Had she not become a witch at first, she would have never been able to eat cheese again, and now thanks to this world she could eat even more. Nagisa did a mock prayer as thanks, though she really hoped the devil wouldn’t really receive it.

Somewhere else in Mitakihara a certain devil sneezed.

“Your old man didn’t like onions, right?” asked Kyouko as she looked through the vegetable aisle of the supermarket. Normally Kyouko would buy stuff the same day, but seeing as tomorrow Sayaka’s dad was going to come back she thought she would prepare something special. As such, she and Sayaka had gone to the only supermarket that opened on Sundays.

“He doesn’t like the texture” Sayaka wore some plastic gloves as she tested different tomatoes, trying to find the best ones “You can use it if you make it into a mush”

“That won’t be the same tho” Kyouko sighed.

Kyouko kept looking around for good vegetables, now that it was spring though she might use the opportunity to get some good strawberries. Kyouko ended up taking a bag of onions for the week and placed it in their shopping cart. While Sayaka was still choosing tomatoes Kyouko looked at the bluenette.

She had been acting strange since she came back from the shopping mall. The reason wasn’t exactly clear though. Kyouko had thought that after their little talk she had understood that asking Madoka herself was the best thing she could do if she really wanted to know. Besides, the way she looked was almost as if she had seen a ghost. And it had been bothering Kyouko the whole night, it bothered her so much that she ended up not sleeping at all. Though, thankfully, when morning finally came Sayaka did look a bit better; or at least the girl hid it better than yesterday.

Kyouko had thought that Sayaka would keep trying to avoid her. She was quite surprised when the bluenette said she would accompany her to buy the groceries for tomorrow. And she felt like the usual Sayaka during the whole trip, so maybe she had been telling her the truth and yesterday she was just tired. Somethings about yesterday still annoyed her, but she couldn’t exactly put her finger on it.

“You think these will be enough?” asked Sayaka as she held a bag of tomatoes.

“Yeah” answered Kyouko after a few seconds of thinking “Should be”

Sayaka nodded and tied the plastic bag, placing it in their shopping cart. She then turned her head to look at Kyouko.

“So, what else do we need?”

“Let’s see…” Kyouko took out her phone, and after a few clicks opened a notepad where the two new recipes she wanted to make were. “Your dad is allergic to seafood so we are going to use pork instead”

“I’ve been thinking…”

“Yeah?” Kyouko started to pull the cart towards the meat section, Sayaka following next to her.

“Won’t a… paella, was it? Be too much for dinner?” Before Kyouko could answer Sayaka let out a sigh “Actually, no, don’t answer. I think I already know what you are going to say anyways”

Kyouko put on a grin as she gave the girl a side look.

“It’s gonna be the best paella you ever had; you will want seconds trust me”

“It will be the only paella I’ve ever had” corrected Sayaka “You don’t have a tough competition. Besides, since when do you know how to cook Spanish food?”

“I’ve been watching videos of a Spanish dude”

“Wait, you know Spanish?” asked Sayaka, her eyes going wide in surprise.

“Hell no”

“…”

“I just looked at what he was doing, and I was able to get the recipe I thought would be the best” Kyouko said proudly, Sayaka simply let out a sigh.

[-]

They both walked towards the checkout. Kyouko looked around, in search of the line that seemed to be moving faster. After a few seconds though, it was Sayaka the one that found the fastest one. They both walked towards the line and got in it; sure, there were shorter lines, but this one was clearly moving faster. Due to Kyouko’s experience the worker probably was about to finish their shift and wanted to quickly get over with the remaining clients. Kyouko apologized in her mind for making the poor guy have to work a bit longer.

Kyouko looked to the person right in front of her, the white hair catching her attention. And after a moment where she tried to get a better look at the little girl, she finally recognized her.

“The cheese brat!” Kyouko exclaimed, which earnt her a confused looked by Sayaka and the kid.

“Ah!” the girl exclaimed as she turned around, though Kyouko saw the girl looking behind them for a split second “What are you two doing here!”

“What do you think?” mocked Kyouko at the dumb question the girl had said, she saw the cheese the girl was holding in her hands “What, making Mami buy you more cheese again?”

“I- I wasn’t the one that asked for it this time!” annoyedly said Nagisa “We needed it for today’s dinner!”

“Ahhh~!” Sayaka said as she finally realized who the girl was “You are Tomoe-senpai little sister then?”
“That’s right, Momoe Nagisa!” proudly announced the white haired girl “It’s nice to meet you Sayaka!”

“Wait, you know my name?” asked Sayaka confused, and Kyouko could swear she saw Nagisa flinch for a second.

“Mami probably told her.” said Kyouko, a playful look filling her eyes “Though by her reaction she probably didn’t say anything good about you”

“Oi” Sayaka bickered as she ‘gently’ elbowed Kyouko.

Nagisa left her block of cheese on the belt, the guy behind the checkout quickly grabbing it and passing it through the scanner. A beep could be heard, and the worker read the amount aloud. Nagisa started to get the money out of the purse she was carrying around.

“Say” started Kyouko “It’s getting quite late, want us to accompany you home?”

Nagisa almost dropped the money at the proposition. The girl tried to recover her composure and spoke as she got the receipt without looking back at the other two.

“N-no!” She took the cheese block and started walking away “Thanks, but there is no need!”

And with that the girl quickly fled to the streets, leaving a confused Kyouko and Sayaka behind. The two started to put their things on the conveyor belt.

“What’s up with her?” wondered Kyouko as she focused on emptying her cart.

“Maybe she is just shy?” said Sayaka who was getting ready to pay.

“Not sure…” Kyouko looked behind them, where Nagisa had been taking peeks at, but was met with nothing. “I hope she is ok” 

Nagisa ran.

She ran like she had never ran before.

Having met one of Homura’s familiars was already bad. But having met Kyouko and Sayaka afterwards, who were being followed by FOUR familiars… that was even worse. She imagined the familiars talking between them, if they even could, saying how Nagisa had acted suspiciously. Telling Homura that they thought Nagisa had recovered her memories, and that she should take her out.

Nagisa looked back, trying to see if one of the familiars had followed her. In retrospect that was a dumb move on her part, she had tried so hard not to look when only one was following her, and now that FOUR may be right behind her she was going to look back. Thankfully for her, no one that she could see was following her.

Slowly she calmed her pace until she came to a stop. She had run for around ten minutes before stopping, and her breathing was irregular. She had been so focused in running that she had forgotten to breath most of the time, and now her body was screaming in pain. She saw a nearby park and tiredly walked towards it.

Nagisa let her body collapse on the bench. The wood creaking a little with the sudden impact. And while she laid down, she opened her eyes and looked forward. She would soon come to regret that decision. Far away from her, on top of a tree branch, sat two familiars she had never seen. And these familiars were clearly looking at her as they laughed.

One of the familiars had short blue hair made up in two buns, while the other seemed to have two braids and a big round winter hat. Nagisa tried to remember if any of these had been with Sayaka and Kyouko, but they didn’t look anything alike. Had these two been following her since the start? But how did she not notice them before?

And that was when it clicked. She could easily see the ones that were following the others for that same reason. They had been following the others. They didn’t have to hide from Nagisa. They had to hide from their objectives. These two though, they were hiding from her.

Nagisa hoped, no, prayed that they didn’t notice anything. That they had been sent after Sayaka’s blunder and not before. She had taken care not to use any of her powers just in case, and at this moment, she was happy she hadn’t done anything.

Sadly, her hopes were crushed when one of the dolls looked straight at her eyes as her grin widened. They knew. They were laughing at her. That was when the one with the blue buns dropped off the tree, and disappeared before touching the ground. Nagisa quickly got up from the bench, expecting to get hit at any moment.

She placed her hand in one of her pouches. Holding her soul gem that laid in ring form. She was prepared to transform at any moment. She simply didn’t want to be the one to make the first move. If this had all been a big misunderstanding, maybe she could fix it. Maybe they didn’t know she had her memories back.

She was holding her breath. Each second became minutes. Each minute became hours. And time seem to almost come to a complete stop. Or rather… it actually did.

“I knew it was a good idea to keep an eye on you”

The sounds of wings flapping came from behind her. Nagisa turned around, only to look the last thing she wanted to see.

“Now, I’m in a good mood today” said Homura in her devil outfit, her raven wings opened wide behind her. “So be a good girl and don’t make this harder for yourself”

Current Date: Sunday 18^th of May.

A/N: I had to check my notes before writing this chapter, almost forgot about Homura sending people to follow Nagisa after Sayaka’s incident.

Hope at least some of you liked it! We will be going back to normal days soon, but I had to start setting up some plot stuff. I said the plot will be moving slowly, and I mean… 90k words to start moving it along are quite a lot.

Chapter Text

Everything simply stopped.

The rushing cars were now frozen, the busy schedules of their drivers unmoving. The playful kids stopped in the middle of their games, their joyful faces a static image in the world. The flying insects and their cries were no more, their movements stopped as if they had been caught in a web.

And in such a situation Nagisa found herself. Trapped in a web she knew she couldn’t escape. Time stopped, two familiars behind her, and the devil itself in front of her. The devil did a final flap of her wings, letting her feet touch the ground with a soft thump.

“Don’t make this harder for yourself” said the devil, Nagisa could see the tired eyes the girl carried with her. Such visage did not calm her, instead it made her wonder what kind of premature decision the devil would take in her condition. “It’s easier if you don’t fight back”

Nagisa’s mind went racing. She tried to think of every single possibility. Tried to find a way out of the situation. But sadly, the only thing that even had a small chance of succeeding was fighting back; and by small it was basically zero. So instead, the next closest opportunity of survival was the one she took.

“I- I don’t want to go back” Nagisa stuttered, this at least seemed to win her a second of time as the devil stopped to think about her words.

“Don’t worry” the devil finally spoke, her voice seemed gentle; but it was the same kind of gentle the doctors used to use when talking about her mother, a fake reassurance “I will take you back to Tomoe Mami. Or do you perhaps not enjoy her company?”

“I do!” exclaimed Nagisa out of instinct.

“Then what is the probl-”

“I meant the Law of Cycles!”

The devil stopped completely. Her expression became a frown for a few seconds before she finally spoke up again, her calm voice didn’t show the same expression as her slightly confused face.

“What are you trying to say?” she finally asked. This was it. Her words had intrigued the devil, she could use this in her favor.

“I don’t really like the Law of Cycles!” Nagisa tried to put on her most trusting voice. She knew from what the Law of Cycles had told her in preparation for their now failed mission that the girl was one prone to mistrusting others. Whatever she did she needed to seem as truthful as she could. “I really, really, prefer this world over hers”

The devil hesitated for a second, but her face turned into a cold expression once again.

“You really expect me to believe that?” the devil kept taking steps forward “You are just like Miki Sayaka, you will try to make Madoka go back there the moment you can-“

“I won’t! I promise!” said Nagisa, the stress from the situation had started to form tears in the corners of her eyes. “I’ve remembered for some days now, and I haven’t done anything! I really prefer this world!”

The devil simply stared at Nagisa. And even though Nagisa didn’t really know the girl, she could see a thousand different thoughts going through her mind at the moment. She still had one last card left, one that Sayaka had told her about before going into the first labyrinth the girl had made. She took a deep breath and prepared herself, if she said something wrong talking about this, it would only make the situation worse.

“I can help you with Madoka!” Nagisa shouted, and she could even feel the two familiars behind her flinch at the mention of the name.

“…What do you mean?” asked the devil, her inquisitive eyes pierced Nagisa to very core of her body.

“You want to get together with her, right?” Nagisa started to hype herself up, trying to sound more convincing “I can help with that! I know a lot about her from holding her memories before-”

“I don’t want to get together with her” corrected Homura “I just want her to be happy. And I don’t need whatever memories you remember held to do that”

Homura took the last steps towards Nagisa. The girl could easily feel her imposing presence, and she was sure that the old Nagisa that didn’t last for a week as a magical girl would have collapsed here. But she was different, she had the knowledge of many lifetimes; and the courage that came with it.

“I will help you make her happy then!” Nagisa kept shouting in hope of her words getting through the devil.

“Stop resisting, it’s harder to modify the memory of those I don’t know much about.”  She raised a hand towards Nagisa, who cowered to try and get away from her; even if just a few centimeters.

“I will help you make sure she doesn’t remember!”

Nagisa started crying out promises, she really didn’t want to forget. Not remembering could mean she could make a mistake. Making a mistake that could make Homura actually angry at her. And if she could make people forget that they are magical girls, she was sure she could make everyone forget about Nagisa and kill her without anyone noticing. She had already experienced death before, and she really wasn’t looking forwards to the new death that awaited her in a world where the previous warm death was no more.

“I will help you fight against the others!”

The hand was now nothing more than a few centimeters away from her head. No, this wasn’t even about making a mistake in the future, was it? Not remembering hurt her more than she had realized. The constant feeling of something missing. A small void that was filled with nothing but static.

The static that started the day she met Kyouko at that convenience store. Random memories of her time in Homura’s labyrinth coming back and forth, only to dissipate in confused feelings. Little by little the feelings leaving her questioning her own memories. Whether the dreams were true or not, whether the things she thought she had done just a few days ago were truth or part of her quasi forgotten dreams.

“Please! I will help you… I promise” Nagisa had now started to cry, she could hear the static coming from the devil’s hand. A devouring presence that promised to end her sanity “I promise… please don’t make me forget… I don’t want to hear the static again”

The devil’s hand flinched, and she slowly pulled away from Nagisa’s head. Nagisa slowly looked up, meeting eyes with the now frowning face of the devil.

“What is this static you are talking about” her voice was demanding, yet Nagisa could hear worry in it too.

Nagisa took a moment to swallow, trying to calm herself down to properly answer the devil.

“I… I sometimes got fractions of my past lives” Nagisa did a small pause as she took a deep breath “They came and went, but every time I remembered… Every time I remembered something about the Law of Cycles, I could feel my mind going numb a cloud of static over my memories”

“When did you start remembering” it wasn’t a question, but a full on demand. The slight worry of the girl had evolved into a slight hyperventilation.

“It was when I met Kyouko… But they never stayed, only vague feelings were left behind” Nagisa tried to get up, but her legs still failed her “I didn’t remember anything at all. I just felt my mind slipping away more and more until… Until when Sayaka awakening made me remember everything”

There was only silence coming from the devil. The girl seemed more a teenager now than the omnipotent being that she sold herself as.

“Things I remembered felt like lies. I wasn’t sure if my memories were real or just things that I had dreamt up…” finally said Nagisa, only a weak voice coming from her. “I felt like I was slowly going mad…”

The devil’s eyes were completely open, a tint of realization seemingly coming over her. She turned around, and her devil outfit vanished to reveal some day to day clothes. Time resumed with her hair flowing behind her, as the girl tucked it to the side.

Nagisa looked at the devil, her ebony hair flowing behind her. It all felt like a dream. But she was alive. She still remembered everything.

“You… you are going to let me go?”

The devil stopped walking. A breeze caught up and sent her hair dancing, the girl turning around with the wind. A cold look on her eyes, but there was something deep withing them that Nagisa didn’t notice; a deep worry that was eating away at the girl.

“You said you would help me; I’m taking you up on that offer.”

And with that Homura vanished from her view, only a few raven feathers were left behind where she had been standing. Nagisa walked over to the bench she had sat on before, and picked up the block of cheese she had bought. She slowly calmed herself, though the presence of the two familiars was still making her a bit nervous. When she thought she had finally calmed, tears of relief started to fall from her eyes.

The colorless sands of Hell welcomed Homura. Her feet touched the unmoving dunes, and the girl found herself walking towards the orb of grief that floated in the middle of everything.

There was no pond. There was not a single droplet of grief in the ground. The orb of grief itself had lost most of its color, the incubators that powered the process could be easily seen inside the orb. The few amounts of grief that fell quickly dried up in the air before ever touching the colorless sands, not as many problems as usual it would seem.

Yet Homura could feel as if the entire universe was giving her their grief directly.

Homura slowly let herself fall backwards, a chair quickly appearing behind her to pick her up. And with a swift motion she took her earring, quickly converting it into her dark orb. The color of her own grief swirled inside it hurriedly, the usually purple color being replaced by a pantheon of colors unknown to humans. A fractured version of herself swam inside the gem, rejoicing in her grief once again.

She had modified her own memories in the past. She had done so to protect Madoka, as she always did. But then she noticed something along the way. One of the reasons as to why Homura had become a witch in the first place.

Her memories had been modified to the point of being a mess without a sense. She wasn’t able to differentiate between dreams, between memories, between her own lies. During the last few weeks that she had still been a magical girl her life had gone into a spiral of despair. Her memories seemed nothing more than lies she had told herself. Madoka an imaginary friend she had imagined. All the moments they had shared nothing more than a dream she had one night. Every time she saw thought about the girl the static appeared. Every time she had time to think the searing pain filled her brain. Fighting had been the only thing that could take her away from the static, and even then she knew she was trying to make a mistake in battle for it all to end. She knew that after the battles the static would come back, she knew that the moment that silence filled her ears the broken memories of times that she didn’t know were real or not would fill her mind.

The only thing that ever anchored her to reality had been the red ribbons Madoka had gifted her. The only proof that her memories were real and not something she had made up.

And if what Nagisa had told her was true. Then it meant that the static wasn’t her mind finally giving up, but rather a side effect of her memory manipulation. That it could happen to everyone that had been meddled with by her magic.

It meant that the same pain she had felt would eventually befall Madoka. That as long as Madoka didn’t remember, the pain would come for her every day. That every day Madoka would have to deal with the static, slowly being driven mad by it. A sense of being incomplete would fill her mind, and she would either remember… or break on the process.

It didn’t matter how many good times Madoka had. It didn’t matter how busy she became. Eventually the night would come, and her mind would be filled again with the static.

But then, for Madoka to not suffer that fate it would mean she would have to recover her memories. If Madoka recovered her memories she was sure to go away. She was sure to go back to the Law of Cycles. And with the impeding knowledge that Madoka would end up going away, one way or the other…

Homura simply stopped caring. No more would she try to get away from her. No more would she contain herself just so ‘the Law of Cycles’ wouldn’t come back. There was no point to it after what Nagisa had told her, Madoka would end up remembering anyways. There was no possible way for Homura to finally finish her mission, for her to finally save the one she loved.

“In the end…” Homura said, her voice a tired one “It doesn’t matter what I do, I can’t save you”

Homura got up from the chair and started walking away from the center of her dimension. She started to trail off into the distance, the white dunes forming a path for her to take.

“Why…”

Every step that Homura was taking became harder and harder to take. Her feet almost dragging as she finished climbing the top of the dune, in front of her a mountain of white sand that made her feel insignificant in comparison.

“Why does it always have to be like this…”

Homura’s legs gave out, the girl falling to her knees as a stream of tears started to flow from her amethyst eyes. The white sands started to move in front of her, slowly taking away parts of the mountain as it revealed parts of a stone statue.

“Why do you always have to go…” Homura’s voice was nothing more than a wail at this point, the girl clutching her head with enough strength for her to break her own skull “Why do I always have to be left behind… please… Madoka…”

The sand slowly finished to move out of the way of the gargantuan statue, the form of Madoka in her Law of Cycles attire being revealed. Various cracks had been formed throughout the stonework, and dark stains could be seen throughout its grey stone. Half of the face was missing, huge crack going right through the middle of her face.

“I don’t want to know that you are suffering alone” pleaded Homura. “I don’t want to lose you again, please”

“You are my everything Madoka…” Homura’s voice was nothing more than a whisper, a cry that wanted to be heard but was scared of doing so “Just let me save you… please”

“Here you go Homura-chan” said Madoka as she handed the cream colored lunch box to Homura.

“Thank you” Homura gave a simple nod of appreciation, a small smile accompanying it.

The first one of the day, thought Madoka. Homura seemed to be feeling down since this morning, or rather, it felt like she was feeling like she had during the first days after Madoka had transferred in.

“Eating Madoka’s food everyday like that” started to complain Sayaka as the girl opened her own lunch box, a simple ration of rice accompanied by some curry from what seemed like the day before. “You sure are lucky Akemi-san”

“I don’t think it’s that much…” awkwardly laughed Madoka, her lunches weren’t something to be too happy about. Although she had been improving every day, she still didn’t get nowhere close to the level of her father.

Homura finished eating the food she had taken, and slowly opened her eyes as she turned towards Sayaka to answer.

“You are right, I am lucky” said Homura, though her words were gentle her tone was more like the distant one she usually used. “I hope you are not trying to get Madoka to do the same for you, Miki Sayaka”

“Haaaah? Why not?” Sayaka leaned over the bench, now getting a direct view of Homura. The bluenette’s face looked a bit annoyed by the comment “I’ve been her friend for longer than you, I should be the one telling you that”

“You would just increase Madoka’s work” Homura slowly raised a piece of the octopus-shaped sausage and placed into her mouth.

“Well, then” said Sayaka, now a smug expression on her face “In that case, I will be the one getting the lunches instead! Now Madoka won’t have to work more”

As Sayaka’s words left her mouth Homura’s eyes opened and gave the girl a side glance that, if looks could kill, would have made the bluenette instantly drop dead. Yet Homura didn’t say anything, instead the girl slowly chewed the food and tried to get as much of the flavor as possible. Madoka had always thought this was just how Homura ate, but after eating with her at the sushi place she learnt she only took this much time to savor the food with her cooking. The thought made Madoka feel a bit proud.

“I won’t…” started to say Homura, but then seemed to stop to think for a second as she looked at Madoka. The pinkette tilted her head in curiosity. “I cannot decide that. If Madoka decided to make food for you instead… I won’t be able to complain”

“I will never do that!” suddenly exclaimed Madoka. Homura’s eyes had been as stone cold as always. But the ways she had paused to correct herself, the way her eyes didn’t show any energy, how her cold mask was on. She was lying.  “I promised I will make lunch for you, Homura-chan. I won’t change that, don’t worry”

“Madoka…” were the only words that came from Homura. The girl took a second to steel herself once more, but when she reopened her eyes, a small genuine smile was on her face.

“Wow, okay” said Sayaka, the girl looking a bit surprised by the sudden shout of Madoka “That was like, the worst rejection I’ve ever gotten”

“It was quite harsh yeah” added Kyouko from afar, the girl was lying down on one of the benches.

“Coming from Madoka too” added Sayaka “That hurt more than expected”

Madoka started to look between Homura and Sayaka, confused at what to do. On one side, Sayaka, her best friend, had just been hurt by her words; though it could be the girl joking it could be the truth. On the other side though, Homura, the girl she loved, wore a genuine smile after Madoka had made a declaration of loyalty. Of course, her kind heart wanted her to reassure her best friend. But her love filled mind just wanted to use this opportunity to maybe try to get closer to Homura. The porcelain like hands of the girl were quite close to hers after all, who wouldn’t take this opportunity?

I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?

“It’s not like that Sayaka!” Madoka turned towards the bluenette, her mind imagined Homura’s smile fading away. “But I promised Homura-chan I would make her lunch… if… if you want, I can also make yours”

Sayaka looked at Madoka for a few seconds before letting out a sigh.

“Thank you Madoka” said Sayaka, the bluenette letting out a small chuckle with her words “You don’t have to, really; I was just messing with Akemi”

“Eh?” stuttered Madoka.

So she had taken the wrong option. When she started to turn around to look at Homura once again, a faint hope hung in her mind… Though it was quickly shattered as the girl in question had gone back to eating the boxed lunch with her usual calm expression on. Madoka let out a long, sad, sigh; the whole body of the girl slopped, making her look smaller than she used to, a defeated look in her eyes.

The sound of a metal door opening made Madoka look back up, a pair of golden drills going through the door with hurried steps.

“Sorry for being late!” said Mami, the senior was trying to catch her breath as she walked towards the group and sat next to Sayaka.

“Tomoe-senpai! Nice to see you!” exclaimed Sayaka, waving to the blonde girl with her chopsticks. Kyouko on the other side simply raised her hand in acknowledgement, not getting up from her sleeping position.

“What held you up?” asked Sayaka as she moved her schoolbag out of the way of Mami’s seat.

“I had to finish a test” Mami sighed, though she quickly regained her usual dependable image and a proud smile “I still have two more today though”

“Man, being a third year must be hard huh” said Sayaka as she started to eat her lunch curry.

“It could be worse” Mami started to get out her own lunch box, a neatly packed orange box. The food inside looked like it had been cooked with care, clearly trying to make a balanced diet out of a few ingredients. “At least I don’t have to worry about entrance exams… yet”

“agh…” complained Kyouko, now sitting up on the bench “Don’t make me remember those. I had to make one to get in here like… a few months ago”

“Yeah!” laughed Sayaka “You had to have seen her studying during those days. She got angry at the books every ten minutes.”

“I’m just saying!” started to yell Kyouko “Why tell me how to do something if you are going to tell me a better way of doing the same thing in the next page?!”

“Some methods are better in certain cases” quickly added Homura, though the girl didn’t seem to want to explain more and quickly went back to eating her lunch.

“Yeah, maybe for you” Kyouko glared at Homura “But it just makes me forget both of them”

Homura shrugged at the redhead, now words came from her but her expression clearly stated “That sounds like a you problem”. Madoka had to look at Kyouko with an ‘I’m sorry’ smile, she knew Homura could be quite… hard to work with. And Kyouko was one to quickly get angry too, that didn’t help.

Mami let out a small chuckle, clearly trying to change the flow of the conversation, and spoke up again.

“Nagisa also has some tests this week, so I’ve been helping her study” Mami sighed “The girl is smart so it isn’t that hard, but it’s still more work”

“Oh” suddenly said Sayaka “Talking about Nagisa, we saw her yesterday”

“Ah right” said Kyouko as she moved her gaze from Homura to Mami “The kid was buying some cheese”

Mami sighed, her expression seemed to change from her usual one to a more worried expression.

“Yes, I sent her to buy it since I had to study…” she made a small pause “But really, she took to long. I started getting worried and had to go find her”

“Wait, is the brat okay?” asked Kyouko, a bit of worry on her face started showing up. And at this point Madoka was also starting to worry, though she preferred to wait for Mami to explain things.

“I found her in a park” Mami looked up at Kyouko, a calming smile on her face “She said she had been playing with some friends and lost the sense of time”

“Got to keep an eye on her” said Sayaka a big grin appearing on her face “Maybe she had been wondering if you would notice if she ate half the block of cheese right there and then”

“Who knows” giggled Mami “She never came late when I sent her on an errand before, so I was a bit worried. Thankfully it was nothing in the end”

With that everyone went back to their food. The minutes passed, and nothing more than a few laughs for some jokes that Sayaka shared were heard. A few minutes before the bell rang, as they all started to pack their lunch boxes up, Mami turned to the rest of the girls who were still getting ready and spoke up.

“I was thinking…” she made a small pause. The girl fidgeted a bit with her skirt, though it was almost unnoticeable “Would everyone want to come back to my house? I’ve been working on a peach cake recipe lately”

“Ah…” said Sayaka “I can’t today, sorry. Gotta pick up my dad at the station”

“Oh… I see” said Mami, now turning towards Madoka who had just started to open her mouth to speak.

“We are going back to club activities this week, so it would have to be a bit later…”

“Gotta work after helping with Sayaka’s old man, sorry” said Kyouko, the girl holding her schoolbag over her shoulder.

Mami lastly looked at Homura, Madoka could see the last blow already coming.

“I joined Madoka’s club.” Homura made a small pause, seeing that Mami still didn’t take that as an answer she talked once more “No”

Mami looked defeat for a split second, though she quickly hid it behind her usual smile. Seeing this, Madoka tried to add something.

“It’s just today though!” Madoka looked at the rest “I’m sure we can get one day that works for everyone!”

“Ye-yeah!” said Sayaka, trying to hype her voice as much as possible “I only have something to do today after all!”

“I’ll try and see if I can change my shift with someone else” said Kyouko a bit of a grin on her face.

Mami lastly looked at Homura, who simply stood there with a questioning expression. The ebony girl stopped looking at Mami and her eyes went to Madoka, a look of ‘Are we going back to class or not?’ on her face. This made Madoka a bit, just a bit, angry at the girl, she knew Homura wasn’t good with people, but she probably had read the mood pretty well and had simply decided not to say anything. Madoka glared at Homura, the first time she had done so.

“Homura-chan” said Madoka, an angry smile on her face. She loved the girl, yes, but at the same time she really hoped the girl would try to be a bit more open with the rest. Even saying ‘no’ again would be enough for Madoka, she didn’t want to force her to go after all. But her not giving an answer was reminding her about how she always said ‘anything is fine’ and Homura not saying anything quickly became personal. Maybe she shouldn’t have done this, but at the time it was the best thing Madoka could think of.

Homura seemed confused for a second, a bit of worry appearing in her eyes. Madoka quickly pointed at Mami with her eyes, and this seemed to make Homura understand what she meant. Homura turned towards Mami.

“I can’t-” Homura stopped to look at Madoka for a second, the pinkette still glaring at her “…I will try to see if I can”

“Everyone, thanks” said Mami, her face now having an honest smile “Just tell me when, and I’ll make sure to have the best cake I can bake prepared!”

Current date: Monday 19^th of May.

A/N:

Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait for such a short chapter. My chair backrest broke a few days ago and I haven’t been able to sit on it for longer than 30 minutes without my back hurting. I’ve been able to get a second hand office chair from a friend relatively cheap, but I’m not going to be able to pick it up until Wednesday.

Saying this because it probably will mean that the next chapter will be this Friday, sorry for the inconvenience.

Chapter Text

The school bell rang, letting every student know that classes were now over. Madoka started to pick up her things, making sure that the books’ corners didn’t fold as she put them in her schoolbag. The pinkette got up from her seat and turned around, her eyes landing on Homura who was still on her seat, waiting for Madoka. How the girl had gone from instantly disappearing from class to waiting for her… Madoka couldn’t hold back a silly happy smile as she marched towards Homura.

Her march was cut short though, as a particular bluenette placed herself in front of the pinkette to catch her attention; A bit of a serious look was on the bluenette’s face.

“Say Madoka…” Sayaka scratched the back of her head “Can we talk, for like… a second?”

 “Sure?” Madoka tilted her head, one of her brows raised in confusion at the girl’s sudden seriousness “What is it?”

“Well… you see, Kyouko told me that… you know…” Sayaka stopped talking for a second, looking behind her to see where the girl in question was.

The girl in question had approached Homura, and by Homura’s looks whatever she was talking about was just filler conversation to make her not approach Madoka and Sayaka. It looked like Sayaka had asked the redhead for help, or at the very least, Kyouko knew what Sayaka was going to ask. And seeing that Kyouko had made sure to make Homura stay away… Madoka started to think she knew what the question was going to be.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want” Sayaka continued talking “But, Kyouko told me you… well, that you like someone”

Madoka didn’t answer, instead her gaze suddenly moved back to Homura at the mention of “someone you like”; her cheeks getting a bit red at the realization of what she had done.

“And I’ve been trying to guess who it is, but I’ve just been wrecking my brains with this stuff” Sayaka let out a nervous chuckle as she let the words out “So, you know… who is the lucky person?”

“Well…” Madoka stopped looking at Homura, now fixing her eyes on Sayaka.

People were still leaving the classroom, and now Madoka felt very much observed. She wasn’t sure if it was real or not, but she could feel a few eyes looking at her; a few ears paying close attention to her next words. Whoever had heard Sayaka speak, and even more in the unusually embarrassed manner she had spoken in, would probably be hearing out of plain curiosity. It wasn’t like Madoka didn’t want to tell Sayaka, the girl had been getting along with Homura quite well lately, but if someone else heard and ended up telling Homura…

“Why don’t we speak about this another day!” said Madoka, even she could hear her own nervousness. Her eyes moved towards Homura once more, who was dismissing Kyouko and had started to walk towards them “I will tell you, but right now is…”

“Right! Right. Of course.” Sayaka said as she showed a forced smile, the girl scratching her head as she spoke again “I can wait, no problem. Just curious about who had taken my best friend heart like that hahahaha…”

With that said Homura finally reached them, Kyouko now walking behind her with a disappointed expression on her face. The sound of the steps right behind her made Sayaka turn around, meeting eyes with Homura for a second before the raven haired girl turned towards Madoka.

“We are going to be late for the club, Madoka” said Homura. “I don’t want them to think ill of you for being late”

“Ah, right” Madoka replied as she repositioned her schoolbag to the other shoulder before turning to Sayaka once more “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Y-yeah, right” Sayaka said, a big forced grin on her face “See you tomorrow, Madoka, Akemi-san”

Madoka tried to throw a warm and reassuring smile to the worried bluenette, but sadly the girl didn’t react to it. And with that Homura and Madoka started to walk towards the gardening club. Madoka though, couldn’t really focus on where they were going, her mind going back to Sayaka’s reaction.

Madoka knew that Sayaka used to get overly worried about her all the time, and suddenly learning that her best friend was apparently in love with someone probably threw her off, even more with the experiences the bluenette had had with love in the past.  Still, as much as she had been getting better along with Homura, Madoka still had her doubts about how Sayaka would react if she learnt that it was Homura the one Madoka had fallen in love with.

Sayaka probably wouldn’t like it. In fact, she probably would try to convince Madoka that she didn’t like Homura. The girl had finally calmed down about Madoka trying to befriend Homura, but if Madoka suddenly told her that she loved Homura… Sayaka would really feel like Homura was trying to take Madoka away, wouldn’t she? Sayaka had said that she was scared of Homura being her substitute, of Madoka running away with Homura; and Madoka loving Homura was kind of a confirmation of her fears. Actually, hadn’t Madoka been spending way more time with Homura lately? And less and less time with Sayaka… She will have to compensate her, maybe they can go somewhere this week. But she also promised to go to Mami’s house this week. And, of course, if she can get more alone time with Homura that would be nice. And just because test season is over it doesn’t mean she can stop studying…

Madoka let out a sigh, catching Homura’s attention.

“Is something wrong, Madoka?” said Homura, who Madoka had now noticed was walking closer than she usually did. Not like she was going to complain of course.

“No, nothing important” Madoka said as she shook her head side to side. “Just a bit tired I guess”

Homura’s expression didn’t change, but Madoka felt the girl twitch thanks to how close they were walking together.

“May I ask why?” Homura said, she had now averted her eyes from Madoka and was looking straight ahead. Whatever Madoka had said it clearly made her feel anxious, she never looked at Madoka whenever she was anxious.

“Just thinking about how busy I am” Madoka said, knowing that not giving a proper answer would make the girl more tense. “Really, you don’t have to worry about it, Homura-chan”

Madoka stopped in front of the clubroom door. A small led screen with the name ‘Gardening Club’ written on it showed what the room was being used for. Madoka moved her hand towards the door, turning the handle with care as she opened the door. The smell of different flowers instantly flowing out of the room.

“Good afternoon” exclaimed Madoka as she walked into the room, holding the door for Homura afterwards.

“Hello” were the only words that Homura said, she had only gotten into the club for Madoka; she really was hoping that there was no need for her to speak to the others and could just tend to the plants together with Madoka.

A guy, which by the uniform he was wearing seemed to be a third year, turned around in his chair; moving his attention from the bonsai he had been tending to the newcomers.

“It’s nice to have you back, Kaname-san” he said as he waved to them with a gardening scissor. “And you must be Akemi-san, thank you for joining this club”

“Don’t think he is happy to get a new member” said another third year, a girl that had been organizing some of the seed packages they had lying around “He is just happy about the increase in budget we are getting thanks to you; same happened when Kaname-san joined”

“Kaname-san ended up being a great helper” he said, now looking at the other third year “Do you know anything about plants, Akemi-san?”

“Not much” admitted Homura, she had heard Madoka talk about them before; but never really tried herself anything more that simple manual help to move plants around, or water some of them.

“Well, don’t worry” said the bonsai guy “We will help you with whatever you have problems with”

“Why don’t you teach her how we do things, Kaname-san? You know her, right?” asked the other girl as she got off the stool she had been using to reach the uppermost part of the shelves.

Madoka walked towards a corkboard that hung from one of the walls. She looked at the different paper notes that were in the to-do part of the board and took a few of them before she turned back to Homura. A warm smile on her face.

“We can take care of the plants outside, Homura-chan” Madoka held a few of the notes in her hands “Other than moving them around though”

“Moving them?” asked Homura.

“Yeah” interrupted bonsai guy once again “Strong winds this week, can’t leave the smaller pots near edges or they will fall and break”

“And the not so small ones too” sighed Madoka “We have some tomatoes, but they are not strong enough to survive the wind and the pots get quite heavy with all the soil they have”

“All because the dumb president wanted more soil than needed for them” complained the other girl.

“Trust me! It will make the tomatoes tastier, you cannot skimp on good soil” he refuted, pressing his finger against the table as if trying to make a point.

“And break our backs in the process” said the other girl, not even looking at the guy, before she moved her gaze to Madoka and Homura “Call me if you need help moving them, don’t want either of you getting hurt”

“Thank you, Ayumi-san” said Madoka before going to pick up the storage room keys. “Do we have the morning’s shifts planned already?”

“Not yet” said the club president “I’ll get with it in a few minutes”

“In that case…” Madoka nervously shifted in her place before speaking the next words “Homura and I come together to school, so I was thinking of putting them far away between each other? So we don’t do two days one after the other”

“Sure, don’t mind” he made a small pause “there still is a day in rotation, so get ready to have weeks where you come early three days”

Madoka let out a small chuckle “I’ve been getting up a bit earlier anyways”

And with that Madoka started to walk outside of the clubroom. Homura followed closely behind her; a bit relieved that they wouldn’t be doing things in the same room as the other two. The only thing she wanted right now was to spend more time with Madoka, and other people being around would mean she would have to split her attention. She could completely ignore them, of course, but if Madoka noticed she would end up being angry with her.

Not like Homura didn’t like to see Madoka angry face of course. It really reminded her of the first loops, when she would get in some dangerous situation and Madoka would save her… before she had made the promise to not let her become a magical girl. After that though, the times that Madoka would get angry with Homura were less and less. Or they were times were Madoka wasn’t angry because of Homura getting into trouble, or because of Homura not taking care of herself… no, those times in which Madoka was actually angry were the loops that Homura really wanted to forget. The loops that made Homura think there was no possible way of Madoka ever forgiving her. The loops that happened out of desperation.

“What do you think?” Madoka’s voice brought Homura back to reality. “About the club president and Ayumi-san I mean”

Homura didn’t say anything for a few seconds as she tried to come up with an answer, as well as trying to ground herself in the present.

“They seem energetic” Homura finally answered, Madoka seemed to be satisfied by the answer.

Madoka let out a short laugh “Yeah. As an advice, don’t ask the president about bonsais unless you want a two hour lecture on how to take care of them”

“I will remember not to” said Homura, a smile appearing on her face as she heard Madoka’s laugh.

Homura noticed that Madoka had moved a bit further away because of her laugh, and she quickly fixed it by getting closer to the girl once more. Only leaving a few centimeters between each other.

Madoka liked to speak about her friends. That was something that Homura had quickly come to learn the first time they met. So, in search of making the girl talk a bit more so she could hear her voice for longer, Homura decided to keep the conversation going.

“Is there a similar advice for Ayumi-san?” asked Homura, not really caring about the subject itself.

“Hum…” Madoka looked upwards as she tried to think of something, the cute expression the girl made whenever she tried to think of good things about others was one of the reminders of why she had been fighting in the past. Why she still was fighting. “Ayumi-san really likes to speak about tea plants. I think she knows everything about how to prepared the different leaves.”

“Just like Tomoe-san then?” asked Homura.

“I think is less about the tea itself and more about the way the plants are prepared and which ones are the best” Madoka’s thinking face turned into a bit of a questioning face “Does Mami-san like tea that much? She made some really good tea when I went to her house, but I don’t remember her saying anything about it, mostly talked about baking”

Homura realized her mistake. Tomoe always had taken some time before she would start expressing how much she knew about tea, the girl was way more confident in her baking skills after all. And for what Homura had heard once during the first loops, Tomoe always thought that people preferred to speak about baking that tea making so she never started that conversation with new people. The problem was, this Tomoe was new to the group, they weren’t having the almost daily tea parties. Not yet.

“It was just a hunch” Homura said, not being able to come up with a better lie in the spot. She was one to prepare for things, not to suddenly improvise after all. “She seems like the type to do so”

“I guess you are right” Madoka said, a smile now appearing on her face “A lot of the times she feels like she would take a teacup out of nowhere and start drinking”

“Yes, she really does”

They walked in silence for a few more seconds as they walked down the stairs. Madoka too focused on the steps and Homura too focused on making sure Madoka wasn’t going to slip or miss a step.

“Say, Homura-chan” Madoka said as she reached the end of the stairs “Are you going to come to Mami’s house next time?”

“I…” Homura tried to think, but Madoka spoke up again before she could come up with an answer.

“I don’t want to force you to come!” she said, a light blush on her cheeks “But it would be nice if you did, not only for Mami-san but… I would be quite happy if you did”

Homura looked at the blushing pinkette. Her own cheeks starting to gain a tone of red as well. This wasn’t fair, how could Homura say no after Madoka saying that with that embarrassed face? It was hard enough to think that if she didn’t go, she would lose time together with her; but if Madoka was asking her for her to be there… How in the world could she refuse?

Homura looked away from the pinkette, trying to hide her own blush.

“I will go”

Even if Homura wasn’t looking at her directly, she could see the girl’s reflection on the glass windows of the hallway as the girl raised her head to look at Homura with a big smile on it.

“Really?” Madoka asked, trying to make sure she had heard correctly.

“…yes” said Homura, her voice too quiet to hear as more than a small squeak. The girl tried to recompose herself by letting out a forced cough. “Yes, I will.”

Madoka increased her pace, orbiting around Homura to look at the girl in the face. With a relieved smile on her face, she locked eyes with Homura.

“Thank you, Homura-chan” Madoka let out a slightly embarrassed laugh “I feel like I’ve been asking a lot from you lately”

She had, in fact, being doing so. The girl clearly had been the one to take the initiative. Always asking Homura to go with her somewhere, being the one that had approached her in the first place, and even asking Homura to accompany her in the mornings. Had it been someone else, Homura would have gotten tired of the constant requests… but with Madoka being the one that was asking, there was simply no way for Homura to refuse the requests. Not because she felt forced to do so, but because she herself had not been brave enough to approach the girl in the first place. And, had Madoka not gotten close to her in the first time, Homura was sure that there would have been a day where she would have left the world to become a concept. Sadly for her, or good for her depending on how one saw things, the pinkette had insisted in approaching Homura; making it impossible for the love struck Homura to leave the only person she cared for behind.

“It’s okay” said Homura, the two now walking outside the school building and going towards where the plants were. “I don’t mind it”

“You are too kind, Homura-chan” said Madoka, the girl had now gotten a bit ahead from Homura and was walking backwards to directly face Homura. “You can say no, you know? I won’t feel bad about it”

Homura didn’t answer for a few seconds, instead her mind completely focused in making sure Madoka wouldn’t trip as she walked backwards.

“No, I really don’t mind… I-” Homura caught her own words, she could feel her own cheeks turning red as she spoke “I love spending time with you”

Madoka’s eyes widened at the girl’s words, her own face imitating Homura’s red cheeks. The embarrassment being strong enough to make the girl turn around just to hide her own blush. They walked in awkward silence for a minute or two before reaching the outdoors garden, Homura still trying to put away her own blush couldn’t find the will to face Madoka as they opened the storage room to get all the tools out.

Once they were outside with the tools in hand, it was Madoka the one to break the awkward silence.

“W-we should move the pots first”

Madoka walked towards the tomatoes, Homura didn’t know much about gardening but even then, she could see that those pots were about three times as big as they should be. Homura went to the other side of the pot, and between the two (though Homura made sure to make most of the work) they moved them into a little alcove that would protect them from the strong winds. They kept on moving the other three tomato plants that were planted before taking all the smaller pots that mainly were flowers or new plants too young for a bigger pot.

Afterwards started the rest of the work, in which Homura mainly started to water the plants as Madoka explained from time to time how to properly trim the tomato plants. Slowly, the awkward mood that had been placed between the two changed into a productive atmosphere as the two girls focused in the tasks at hand.

People walked around them, everyone being too busy to even pay attention to the two girls. The sounds of the train station signaling what was one of the most crowded times to be in station. An experience that could make anyone that wasn’t used to a busy city feel all their senses in overdrive. An experience though, that was making Kyouko simply yawn as she shifter her weight from one foot to the other.

“When did he say he was coming?” asked Kyouko, thinking about how her shift was going to start in less than an hour.

“He should be here in a few minutes” answered Sayaka, the girl trying to look over the crowd in search of her father. “Sorry for making you help us by the way”

Kyouko took out a box of pocky, offering one to Sayaka before picking one for herself.

“Nah, don’t worry” replied Kyouko, instantly devouring the first pocky before putting a new one in her mouth “I don’t see you hauling all his luggage home without dying in the process”

“It won’t be that bad” Sayaka let out a chuckle.

“Do I have to remind you that last time he came with three full sized cases?” asked Kyouko as she raised one of her brows.

Sayaka stopped looking over the crowd to face Kyouko, a reconsidering expression on her face.

“Yeah, one of them was full of souvenirs though” Sayaka put on a smug grin “souvenirs that you ate in a day”

“Ey, bring me all that good ass mochi and I’m not going to hold back” Kyouko shrugged, a smug grin of her own as Sayaka friendlily elbowed her.

A few minutes passed as they kept waiting, the crowd not thinning at any point. Kyouko finished her box of pocky, and realizing she didn’t have any more snacks on hand (somethings she would fix before finishing her shift at the convenience store), she tried to start conversation once more.

“How did it go with Madoka by the way?”

Sayaka let out a long sigh, clearly signaling defeat before she even spoke. “Told me she would tell me another day, that that wasn’t the best time”

“You did ask her in the middle of the classroom” Kyouko replied “Could have waited to be alone with her, y’know?”

“Well yeah” said Sayaka, turning her head towards Kyouko to face her “But that’s almost impossible lately!”

“Why’s that?”

“She is always glued to Akemi! I can’t find a single moment where I can just snatch her away for even a few seconds”

Gee, I wonder why.

“I’m sure that if you said you wanted to speak alone with Madoka she would go away, it’s not that hard” said Kyouko as she let out a tired sigh at the display of denseness that the bluenette was doing.

“Madoka would probably say no out of embarrassment from Akemi just being there” Sayaka sighed. “Probably think that Akemi would question her later or something”

Or maybe because she likes Akemi? Please just put one and one together

“It would be worth a try though” Kyouko shrugged, holding back her thoughts from spilling out “better than asking her in the middle of class full of students that want to hear the latest gossip”

“Yeah, yeah” Sayaka said “I get, I’m dumb for asking her there. Didn’t think of a better way, sorry”

No, you are dumb for not noticing who the fuck she likes… you dumb lovely dense bluenette.

“We are getting together for Mami’s right? Doubt Akemi will come, that’s your opportunity”

Sayaka waved towards the crowd, finally seeing her father who was carrying not three, but four cases.

“Yeah, you are right” she turned towards Kyouko “Akemi doesn’t feel like she wants to get close to Tomoe-senpai’s at all”

“Yeah…” Kyouko said, getting ready to move two of the cases all they way back to the house “Well, at least as long as Madoka doesn’t tell her that she would be happy if she came that is”

“See you tomorrow” said Madoka as she closed the clubroom behind her, the only other person that was left in the room was the club president.

Homura looked at the girl. They had been so focused on doing the tasks in the outdoor garden that time had gone by so fast that, even if just for a moment, Homura had thought she had subconsciously fast forwarded time herself.

But no, she had simply spent time with Madoka as they took care of the plants. At first focusing on Madoka more than the tasks themselves, but slowly Madoka’s sense of duty about the garden had influenced Homura; who started to pay more attention at what she was doing.

“Let’s go Homura-chan” said Madoka, a proud smile on her face from all the work they had been able to do.

With that, Homura started to follow Madoka side by side. The memory of her admitting that she ‘loved’ spending time with Madoka still fresh, made her a bit more conscious about being so close to the girl; nonetheless, she didn’t move away from her. The fear of Madoka disappearing was way stronger than whatever kind of embarrassment she was capable of feeling.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the outside of the school gates. Both of them now facing each other at the same spot where they usually parted ways after class. The sun was probably going to set in an hour or two, so this was clearly a goodbye.

“Thank you for today, Homura-chan” said Madoka, a bit of a nervous smile on her face. “I’m glad that you joined the club”

“I also had fun” admitted Homura, after what she had said there was no point in hiding how much she enjoyed her company.

“Well…” Madoka shifted around nervously, moving her weight from one foot to the other as the girl hesitated to take steps either backwards to start going to her house, or forwards towards Homura. “See you tomorrow, Homura-chan”

Homura looked at Madoka, the girl smiling brightly at her. A sharp pain appearing in her chest as she started to realize this was going to be it for today. After she said goodbye here she wasn’t going to see Madoka until more than twelve hours later. Maybe not much for someone else, but it felt like an eternity of possible things going wrong for Homura.

She didn’t want to say the words. But realizing that Madoka was waiting for a farewell she forced herself, her voice getting stuck in the first letters.

“S-see you tomorrow, Madoka” Homura finally said, the words hurting like knifes as they came out.

Madoka simply smiled at Homura once more before turning around. Homura stood still, watching the girl slowly walk away. Her already small figure becoming smaller as the distance between the two increased at the same time as did Homura’s pain.

Homura moved her hand into her schoolbag. Searching inside it until she touched a small box in which the ribbons Madoka had gifted her a few days ago were inside of. The touch didn’t feel calming as she wanted though, instead only making her chest ache increase as memories of her doing the same when Madoka had disappeared from the earth came flooding back.

Before Homura could realize it, she had started walking towards Madoka. And just a few steps behind Madoka, behind her whole world, she opened her mouth as to speak words that she hoped would let them be together even if for just a few more seconds.

“Madoka!” she exclaimed, surprising even herself with her unusually loud voice “Please wait”

“Homura-chan?” Madoka asked, a concerned expression on her face “Is something wrong?”

“It’s just…”

Homura couldn’t find the words to say. Or rather, she couldn’t choose what to say. ‘Please don’t go yet’? ‘Stay with me some more time, please’?... ‘I can’t deal with not being with you, please let stay together longer’? Or should she just simply spill everything right now? Hope that Madoka would understand how she felt, hope that she would be okay with staying with her even if she knew what she had done.

In the end, the words simply couldn’t come out. Fighting between lying or simply telling the girl the truth, both of them wouldn’t change things in the end would they? It didn’t matter whether Madoka was going to disappear in seconds, hours, days, weeks, or months. Whatever Homura was to say now, it would only be stalling for time.

“Homura-chan?” Madoka started to walk towards her, getting dangerously close to the girl just to check that she was okay “Are you feeling okay?”

“Madoka…” Homura said, a feeling of uselessness starting to raise. A feeling all too familiar.

“it’s okay, you can tell me anything” Madoka said, clearly noticing that the girl was struggling to speak. She had always been like this, always able to read Homura like an open book.

“Madoka… can we…”

“Yes, Homura-chan?” asked Madoka, a reassuring tone in her voice; Homura saw the girl raise her hand to touch Homura, but she hesitated in the last moment and ended up simply squatting a bit to look at Homura’s eyes.

“…can we go to somewhere together?” Homura made a small pause, raising her head to meet Madoka’s “…now”

Madoka seemed a bit confused at first, but she quickly tried to keep Homura talking to try and properly understand what was going on.

“I just want to spend more time with you… please” Homura said, her voice now felt like her usual old weak self.

Madoka hesitated for a second, trying to process what Homura had said, before she spoke up; a calming smile on her face.

“Of course” she took a step back now that Homura seemed to be calming down, though the gesture did make Homura flinch forwards too scared that the girl would disappear. “Where do you want to go?”

Homura stopped to think for a second, there were a lot of places she would like to go to with Madoka. Places that were precious to her, places they had shared memories of. But sadly, many of them could make her memories come back. Only one other place that made Homura feel calm remained, one which she would often go to after the loops ended. One in which she could simply relax as she tried to get away from everything.

“There is a small café I know” Homura said “it’s a nice place…”

“Let’s go there then” immediately replied Madoka, clearly too concerned about the sudden show of emotions Homura had done.

And with that they started to walk towards the café. Even if it would be just one more hour, Homura had been able to get more time with her. And even if this would end up with Homura becoming even more depending on Madoka, she didn’t care. She was simply too scared, too scared of closing her eyes and seeing Madoka disappear again.

Current date: Monday 19^th of May.

A/N: I’m so fucking sorry about how late this chapter is. I wasn’t able to get the chair from my friend (a real offer came up, and I’m not about to make my friend lose money) so I’ve been using a shitty wooden chair from a dining table that has destroyed my back. Add in this chapter giving me a lot of trouble to write (And I’m not even happy about it to be honest) and I just couldn’t find the strength to write.

I promise, I’ll compensate you all for the shit job I’ve done this week. I’m really sorry. I can’t even be happy about reaching 100k words, not with this week being how it’s been.

Chapter Text

As the door opened the sound of a little bell welcomed Madoka and Homura into the small café. The place was almost empty, save for two other customers that were sitting in different tables, each doing their own thing with a cup of coffee next to them. Behind the counter there was an old man, probably in his sixties, that nodded his head to welcome the two girls. Soft music could be heard coming out from one of the speakers, though it sounded more like background noise than something to actually listen to. A sign of ‘please silence your phone’ hanged from behind the counter, Madoka quickly taking note of it took out her phone and turned its volume all the way down.

To say that Madoka felt out of place would have been an understatement. The pinkette felt like a complete outsider. As if the small shop and the outside were two completely different worlds, and she was just an invader that had wandered into the shop by mistake. Homura, on the other hand, felt completely at home; Madoka almost felt as if she had seen the girl in this place before.

~~~

The girl that had fought countless times, the only person she knew she wasn’t going to be able to save, sat in an old couch. A warm cup of coffee was in front of her, the visible vapor that appeared from inside it showing that it was still too hot to drink. Homura, still wearing the ribbons Madoka had given her before becoming the Law of Cycles, turned her head towards the windows from which Madoka was observing her; and an expression Madoka had never seen in any of the loops Homura had gone through decorated her face, an expression of defeat.

Madoka had already lost count of how many times Homura had tried to make mistakes in battle on purpose, trying to fill her soul gem full of grief. But every time it happened Madoka simply cleaned the gem enough to not let her die. She wanted to make sure Homura would be properly saved, but if her plan was right, she would need to keep her going for a little longer. As much as it hurt Homura, and as much as it hurt herself. She knew, or hoped, that the best option would be to let Homura be tricked by the incubators. She had already talked about the plan with Sayaka and Nagisa, though she didn’t tell them everything. She knew that Sayaka would disagree with it. Letting Homura rip her from the Law of Cycles was a big bet, and with her future sight not going further than that… She just hoped Homura would do the right thing in the end, she needed to eventually get her memories back if she wanted to save her.

~~~

“Madoka, do you prefer the couch or a chair?”

Homura’s sudden question brought Madoka back from wherever she had been. The girl tried to focus on what she had seen, as it felt important to her, but it didn’t matter how hard she tried to remember, there was nothing but static and fading emotions left.

“Madoka?” Homura called once again, an extremely worried look forming on her face.

“Eh? Ah- sorry, what did you say?” asked Madoka, trying to force a smile as not to make the girl worry too much “I was impressed by the place, sorry”

Homura seemed to relax at the words after a few seconds of consideration, apparently the excuse Madoka had given her was enough.

“Would you prefer to sit on the couch or on chairs?” Homura repeated her question with a relieved expression.

“The couch seems more comfortable” said Madoka, as she looked towards a couch near a window that gave her a familiar vibe.

Homura nodded and started moving towards it, picking a paper menu from the counter on her way there. Madoka reached the couch first, sitting near the window, and placed her schoolbag next to her. What was a surprise was, that instead of taking the couch in front of her, Homura simply sat besides Madoka.

“They have other drinks if you don’t like coffee” said Homura as she handed the menu to Madoka “I will pay for it, so get whatever you want”

“Eh-? Ah, uhm…”

Madoka stuttered, still trying to understand why Homura had just sat next to her. It wasn’t even that the girl had sat next to her, she had sat as closely as she could. Madoka could feel the beautiful ebony hair gracing her; and a fragrance of lavender taking over the classic smell of the coffee shop.

In an attempt to calm herself, Madoka picked up the menu and started looking in it. Most of the first pages were different blends of coffee beans, and words that Madoka didn’t understand like: ‘Affogato’, ‘Macchiato’, and ‘Cortado’; Though the word ‘Expresso’ was familiar as it was how her mother usually ordered her coffee. After a few pages other drinks started to appear in the menu. A nice variety of teas and even a few smoothies, though clearly less detailed than the coffee section; it felt as an attempt to bring in more clientele.

“I’ll have the melon smoothie then” finally decided Madoka, handing the menu back to Homura.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat? They make good cakes here” said Homura, opening back the menu on the last page and sliding it towards Madoka. Her mannerisms were as always, calculated, with purpose, almost as if they had been rehearsed. But with how close the girl was sitting next to Madoka, so their shoulders touching as she sled the menu across the table was inevitable.

“I don’t want to make you waste so much money” nervously laughed Madoka, trying to make the image of the anatomy practice sketches she had done of Homura go away from her mind.

“I wouldn’t be wasting it” said Homura, pointing to one of the cakes that were in the menu “I think you would like that one”

The image instantly caught Madoka’s eyes. The base and walls were made with ladyfingers, a filling of whipped cream and homemade strawberry jam glistened with the light; the top of the cake seemingly made of crushed cookies and an ever so thin layer of more strawberry jam. All of it laced with a strawberry on top. For a second, Madoka was able to stop thinking about the situation she was in; her mind focusing on the cake that seemed to be made for her.

“You can get it” reassured Homura.

“N-no, it’s too much” Madoka said as she looked at the price, two thousand yen for a slice of cake seemed like a lot; and with the smoothie already being nine hundred yen… “The smoothie is more than enough”

“You are worth way more than that” plainly said Homura. She didn’t hesitate, it didn’t even feel like a compliment or even an attempt at flirting. It felt as if Homura was simply stating a fact. And, even though at first Madoka had simply been surprised by the statement, she quickly realized what Homura had just said; her heart beating fast enough to make Madoka worry about Homura hearing it.

Madoka thought about refusing again, but with Homura piercing her with a determined gaze… there simply was no way to say no, she knew that the discussion would end up going for a few minutes before Madoka gave up. And besides, the only reason for refusing the cake was the money it costs…

“… I’ll have the strawberry cake too” embarrassedly whispered Madoka in a sign of defeat, once again losing to Homura’s seemingly infinite money. Or at least Madoka hoped it was, because at this rate Homura would have spent almost twenty thousand yen for her in less than a week.

Homura’s gaze softened at Madoka’s words, finally retrieving the paper menu and closing it once again.

“I’ll be back in a minute” said Homura as she got up from the couch and headed towards the counter.

Madoka looked at the girl walk away. Homura left the paper menu back where she had picked it up from and started to tell the barista what they were going to order. The man nodded, and without saying a single word started to prepare their drinks, the sounds of the machines working now flooding the café. Though it didn’t seem to bother any of the other clients, not even flinching at the sudden noise spike of the blender that was preparing Madoka’s melon smoothie.

Homura waited next to the counter. Her gaze moving around the different jars that decorated the shelves of the café. She slowly turned around, her eyes now meeting Madoka, and a small smile appeared on her lips before she turned away; the surprise smile caught Madoka off guard, making her heart skip a beat as the pinkette let out a yearning sigh.

Madoka’s mind wandered, going back to when Homura asked her to come here. The girl had felt so desperate, so scared, that it had caught her by surprise. That had been the first time she had seen Homura like that, and it felt like a side that she both knew well and at the same time a side that only spelled trouble. Because with how strong Homura was, something really bad had to happen for her to be like that, right?

It couldn’t be that someone close to her had died, as far Madoka knew Homura didn’t have any other family. They were spending all time together at class, so it couldn’t be bullying or she would have noticed. Money problems then? No, Homura wouldn’t have invited her if it was like that… or at least she hoped she wouldn’t. In the end, the only thing Madoka knew was that she Homura wanted to be with her a bit longer; and that was something she was more than capable of doing.

I mean, if I could I would be with you all the time…

Madoka imagined the two of them preparing lunch together, Madoka making some curry (the thing she best knew how to cook after all) and Homura chopping the ingredients as she wore a nice violet- no, pink it would be better if they wore each other colors, a nice pink apron…

Then we would relax in the couch, the tv on just as background noise…

And then we would go to sleep together, and I would cradle in your arms as we both tried to sleep but it will all get too-

Madoka quickly shook her head, the scenarios her imagination was showing her making her go beet red with embarrassment. She tried to calm herself down, trying to take control of her breathing. But the vision of her and Homura… intertwined… wouldn’t go away so easily. And when Homura suddenly leaned on the table, placing Madoka’s smoothie in front of her and giving her a side glance between strands of hair as dark as the night…

“Are you okay, Madoka?” asked Homura, leaning a bit further in to get a better look of Madoka’s face. “Your face is completely red”

Whose fault do you think it is?!

“I-I’m fine!” said Madoka, as more scenarios came into her mind with how close the girl’s face was. “It’s… it’s a bit warm in here, don’t you think?”

“I see” said Homura as she stopped leaning on the table, Madoka let out a breath she had been subconsciously holding in.

Homura walked back to the counter, picking up her coffee and Madoka’s slice of cake. But before turning back she seemed to say something to the barista, who nodded along after taking a quick glance at Madoka.

Homura returned to the table, placing her coffee first before handing Madoka the strawberry cake. Behind the counter, the barista pushed some buttons in the wall.

“I asked him to turn on the air conditioner” Homura, once again, sat next to Madoka. And, once again, moved in closer to the girl until nothing more than a centimeter or two were left between the two. “You should have told me sooner”

“ahahaha… sorry, I didn’t want to bother you” nervously said Madoka, taking a sip of her cold smoothie to try and cool down. “Mm! This is pretty nice!”

“Yes, it really is” said Homura before taking a short sip of her coffee. The brew was as dark as her hair, not a single ray of light being able to pierce through the liquid.

“I already knew you liked dark coffee…” stated Madoka as she let out a small chuckle “But that’s a whole other level, you didn’t even use sugar.”

“I like how it tastes” simply said Homura. “It’s also the simplest to make”

“Isn’t it too bitter?” added Madoka, taking a long sip from her melon smoothie before letting out an embarrassed giggle. “I can only drink coffee with lots of sugar or condensed milk…”

“I got used to it” Homura made a small pause, looking at her cup of coffee, before she spoke again. And although her voice seemed like the cool voice she always used, Madoka saw a bit of red on the girl’s cheeks “Besides, I already have more than enough sweetness with you by my side…”

Homura quickly went for a long sip of her coffee, trying to hide herself inside the cup. Madoka on the other hand was trying to form a sentence, but Homura’s words simply threw the girl into a short circuit; only random babbling coming out of her mouth before she gave up and took a sip of her smoothie.

Homuraaaaa what do you mean by that?!

Sayaka would often say that Madoka was too sweet. Even her mother would say so from time to time. But the way Homura had said it, the way she had hidden herself inside her cup of coffee afterwards. How could Madoka not think there was something more behind the girl words?

A few minutes that seemed like an eternity went by. Both girls didn’t say a word, simply taking a sip from their drinks once in a while. Homura wasn’t even looking at Madoka, instead having turned her head slightly to the side, just enough to not let the pinkette see her face. Madoka on the other hand was completely focused on her smoothie, to the point that she had almost forgotten about the strawberry cake she had in front of her.

Madoka pulled the plate a bit closer, the noise getting Homura’s attention enough for the girl to look at it. Madoka picked up the fork and cut a small chunk of the cake. She stabbed the piece she had cut and ate it. The sweetness of the strawberry jam instantly hit her, some of chunks of strawberry were still intact but they were soft enough to be broken down with just her tongue. The ladyfingers had softened enough to be easily cut with the side of the fork, and when Madoka bit into one she found that the reason as to why was because they had been lightly bathed in strawberry syrup; the moisture making them softer.

“Mmmm~~!” Madoka happily hummed, quickly going for another piece of the cake.

Madoka could see that Homura was looking at her as she ate, her usual strong gaze had gone soft and her lips had curved into a small smile. The knowledge that Homura was looking at her making her cheeks jump back to the red hue they had had throughout most of the afternoon. Madoka, not being able to simply ignore the girl’s gaze, slightly turned towards Homura; the empty fork still in her mouth.

“…”

“…”

“…What is it Homura-chan?” asked Madoka, unable to come up with anything better to say to the girl.

“Sorry” apologized Homura “I was… enthralled with how happy you looked while eating”

“It’s not like it’s weird to be happy about eating tasty food” embarrassedly added Madoka “…And I really like strawberries”

“Yes, it’s normal…” Said Homura, her words coming out of her mouth with more weight than they should have for what was being said “… Madoka?”

“Yes?” asked Madoka, a bit of worry starting to form inside of her due to the pained eyes Homura had started to wear; though she made sure not to show this to Homura.

Homura stood in silence. The girl adverting Madoka’s eyes until half a minute had passed, Homura took a sip of her now dwindling coffee to prepare herself and looked at Madoka before she started to speak.

“I…” The girl still seemed unsure. This was the first time Madoka had seen the girl look like this; She felt like a cornered animal that was trying to choose between fighting or simply giving up. Her grip hardened around the coffee cup, her knuckles turning white. “…I’m sorry”

Madoka was looking at her with a worried expression, the warm smile she had been trying to use to hide it fading away with Homura’s apology.

“What do you mean, Homura-chan?” asked Madoka.

Homura looked away from the girl, unable to face her. So close. So close she had been to almost spilling everything out. So close to giving up and returning to Madoka her powers. To give up and hope that she would stay behind with her, that Madoka would decide to break the rules for her. To stay with her in this world, but to run away from the problems that the memory manipulation magic came with.

The day had been perfect if anything. She tried to follow as close as possible one of the many dates she had dreamed about years back, and it had been going better than she expected. Maybe Madoka would have forgiven her today if she gave her memories back. Maybe she would have asked to stay besides her for longer, to run away from her duty as the Law of Cycles. To keep the normal life Homura had promised her under the rain.

But Homura knew that wouldn’t be the case.

She knew that the moment Madoka got her memories back she was going to be angry with her. She should be angry with her after all she had done. That after taking her powers she would go back to the Law of Cycles and fix everything Homura had done. And that, worse of all, she would simply end up taking Homura to the Law of Cycles. That there would be no punishment for her own sins. Madoka may never forgive Homura, but Homura knew that Madoka was too kind to give her a proper punishment.

And yet… Homura knew she couldn’t keep Madoka locked forever. That the longer she had her here, the more Madoka was going to suffer in the end. That giving her memories back was the right thing to do. But in the last seconds, after she had tried to make what would have been their last time together as good as possible. After trying to enjoy Madoka’s company for one last time… Her determination had completely crumbled away, nothing but dust of her resolve remained. The only other option to make sure that her memory alteration magic required her to completely ascend and become a concept; to leave Madoka behind.

Something she knew she wasn’t strong enough to do… not with Madoka being so close to her. Not with her being showered in her kindness every single day.

“Homura-chan?” Madoka started to raise her tone, the worry of her face grew deeper.

“…I’m sorry for making you come here” said Homura, whether she had meant the café, or the gilded cage she had created not even she herself was sure.

“Don’t be!” exclaimed Madoka, a hint of annoyance at the apology behind her voice. “I also wanted to spend more time with-”

“I took advantage of your kindness” interrupted Homura.

“You didn’t!” Madoka shouted back. “I already told you! You deserve kindness, Homura-chan. You aren’t taking advantage of any-”

“But I am” explained Homura, interrupting Madoka once again “I knew you would come if I showed myself like that. I knew that you won’t leave someone that’s hurt behind, even if it would harm you to do so”

Silence fell between the two. Madoka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her expression becoming a serious one after reopening her eyes.

“Are you saying that you were acting before? That you really didn’t feel like you did?” asked Madoka.

Homura adverted her eyes.

“I was-”

“Please don’t lie, Homura-chan” interrupted Madoka, her stern face showing sadness for a second before she pulled herself back up.

Homura looked up at the girl, focusing her eyes on Madoka. Madoka’s eyes were filled with so many emotions: anger, sadness, worry… Homura tried to speak, to say an excuse that would maybe make Madoka angry at her. Something that would make it easier for her to leave. But she couldn’t, not while facing Madoka. Once again, she realized she simply didn’t want to leave her side.

In the end, she wasn’t able to say anything.

“You really felt that way, right?” asked Madoka.

Homura opened her mouth as to speak, but no sound came out. Her words stuck in her throat, she simply nodded as an answer.

“You didn’t want to be alone” Madoka’s voice became gentler, her stern expression starting to fade away and leaving way to her usual kind smile. “There is nothing wrong with-”

“I don’t deserve yo-”

“Homura-chan!” Madoka exclaimed, the sudden raise in the girl’s voice making Homura flinch. “Stop interrupting me just to hate yourself”

“…sorry” whimpered Homura before averting her eyes from the girl. Her hands were slightly trembling, making Homura have to put her coffee on the table as to not spill it. Though this meant her hands weren’t occupied now, and so Homura tightly closed her hands on top of the table; trying to hide her shaking.

“Really…” Madoka sighed “I already told you, Homura-chan” Madoka placed her hands over Homura’s, her gentle yet firm grasp holding Homura’s hands with determination “I don’t like it when you say you don’t deserve kindness”

Homura didn’t answer instantly, making sure she wouldn’t be interrupting Madoka.

“I don’t. Not after all I’ve done” answered Homura, her hands tightening even harder.  

“You do” Madoka reacted to Homura’s gesture, making sure to hold the girl’s hands with more strength. The feeling of her touch anchoring Homura to the world. “I don’t know what you are punishing yourself for. But whatever it is that you did, you still deserve to be happy”

“Others don’t think the same” said Homura, looking to the ground as a slight pain started to make itself known in her chest “They would probably be happier if I wasn’t here”

Madoka raised Homura’s hands up to her eyes, forcing her to directly look at her eyes. A weak embarrassed smile decorating her face, the girl’s cheeks being tinted by a slight tone of red.

“I want you to be here, and I want to be with you” Madoka made a small pause as she tried to get her next words out of the knot that had formed in her throat “You promised you wouldn’t let me be alone, right?”

“Yes…” Homura replied, letting herself get lost in the girl’s pink eyes.

“I didn’t think I would have to tell you…” Madoka’s smile became gentler as she tightened her grip around Homura’s hands “But it goes both ways, you know?”

“Eh?” muttered Homura, still lost in the vast expanse that the pink eyes of the girl were, only broken by a few ever so small splashes of gold.

“It’s embarrassing to say…” Madoka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes a more determined look was on her face “I promise I will always be by your side, Homura-chan”

Homura’s heart started to race. A weight being slowly lifted of her shoulders, she could feel a few tears going down her cheeks.

“I promise, I will make sure to listen to whatever problems you have” Madoka kept talking “Even if I can’t do much to fix them, I will make sure to stay with you”

“Even if I did things that would hurt you?” asked Homura, her voice was breaking as she spoke.

“I don’t think you would do such a thing” reassured Madoka.

“But what if I did?”

“Well…” Madoka took a small breath, a comforting expression on her face “I would get angry”

“Then-”

“But that doesn’t mean I would leave you” Madoka hesitated for a second before leaning forwards and hugging Homura, the warm embrace completely making the girl’s tears come out “Because I know that would hurt you. Because no one deserves to be alone”

“…That wouldn’t be fair to yourself” Homura cried as she returned the hug, tightly embracing the girl to make sure she wouldn’t disappear “Why do you have to be so kind to everyone but you”

“Why do you have to be so hard on yourself?” Madoka let out a small quiet chuckle “See? We both have something to improve on.”

Madoka slowly got away from the hug and faced Homura, a smile appearing on both girls faces.

“Are you feeling better now?” asked Madoka.

Homura wasn’t sure. She could still hear her own worries about the future shouting at her from the back of her mind. She could feel the Devil being scared of how close she had been to saying everything to Madoka. And if she were to close her eyes, she would still see a dark path ahead of her. She had learnt to always think of the worse possible outcome and she still was doing so, but at the very least, Homura could now look right next to her and see Madoka. The promise to not let her be alone bringing hope into her grief consumed soul.

“A bit” Homura whispered as she went to dry her tears with the back of her hands. “I’m sorr- No. Thank you, Madoka”

Madoka smiled at the quick correction of the girl. She properly sat on the couch, and before Homura could close the distance as she had been doing throughout the day, Madoka moved closer to Homura until they were shoulder to shoulder; Madoka’s warmth filling Homura, who wasn’t able to hide her blush.

“I’m glad” Madoka sighed. She hesitated for a moment, but after a second of thought slowly leant on Homura’s shoulder “If you ever feel like this again just tell me, okay?”

Homura nodded, unable to properly answer to the girl. The pink hair was tickling her a bit whenever she moved her head to face Madoka.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, simply enjoying the silence between the two of them. The only sound that once again filled the café being the background music and the other patrons that were typing away at their laptops. Madoka was the one to move, pulling her head up from Homura’s shoulder.

“I should probably finish the cake” she laughed “I don’t want to waste it”

“Of course” said Homura, a bit saddened by the fact that Madoka wasn’t using her shoulder as a pillow anymore. She looked at her coffee; There was still a bit less than a third left, but it had already turned cold. She picked up the coffee and took a long sip until the cup was left empty, she braced herself for the stronger bitterness of the lukewarm coffee. Instead, it tasted sweet.

[-]

The sun was setting behind them tinting everything it’s light touched in orange hues. Homura and Madoka walked down the street, Madoka’s house starting to appear on the edge of their vision.

“If only there wasn’t school tomorrow” complained Madoka with a sigh “I would ask you to stay over for the night…”

“It’s okay” stuttered Homura “I don’t want to be too much of a hassle for your family”

“Stop with that” Madoka angrily pouted, though her tone had been more playful than actual anger.

“Sorry” quickly apologized Homura.

They reached Madoka’s house, stopping right before the front yard. Madoka took a few steps forwards and turned around to face Homura.

“I had fun today-” She let out an embarrassed chuckle “Though I guess I always say the same, don’t I?”

Homura smiled in agreement, preferring to enjoy the sound of Madoka’s voice rather than speaking.

They stood in silence in front of Madoka’s house for almost a minute, neither of them wanting to say goodbye. In the end it was Madoka the one to speak up, probably realizing that Homura wasn’t going to take the initiative.

“Well… I guess this is a goodbye” she said, a bit of a sad look in her eyes.

“Yes…”

And yet another wave of silence fell between the two. Madoka fidgeting in place, while Homura simply couldn’t bring herself to start walking away. Homura tried with all her might to start walking away, and after almost a minute the girl was able to start turning around. Her actions were completely stopped when Madoka suddenly ran up to her and gave the girl a tight hug.

“See you tomorrow…” said Madoka, her head completely burrowed in Homura’s shoulder.

Homura was shocked for a few seconds, but eventually was able to return the hug to the girl.

“See you tomorrow, Madoka”

They held the hug for a few more seconds, every time one of them started to let go the other tightened their embrace. But, after a while, they both let go. Madoka turned around and started walking towards her house, not saying anything else as it was not needed. Homura stood for a few more seconds in front of Madoka’s house before she turned towards her house and started walking towards it. A big feeling of warmth inside of her.

A/N: Hope you all liked the chapter, the café scene was supposed to just be 2k words at most but it started to go on and on and I really felt like writing a lot of Madohomu. So yeah.

The chair saga has also come to an end, I was able to grab a chair from an office that was transferring cities for half the MSRP.

As always, thanks for reading.

Chapter Text

Madoka closed the front door of her house, the shape of Homura being left behind. She turned around and looked at the end of the hallway, though she really wasn’t seeing anything. Madoka let out an overjoyed squeak, doing little jumps of ecstasy.

She had been able to get closer with Homura. She had even gotten all touchy with her! Between the hug, the hand holding and the beauty that was Homura accepting all of them… she had to go a bit higher and tried to get as close as possible to her and rest her head on the girl’s shoulder – something she never had thought she would be able to do – and Homura had accepted it all!

Madoka started getting off her shoes, putting on some slippers in their place, as she started to hum a little song.

Not only had she done all that, they had also said goodbye to each other with a hug. And this had to be the first time they had hugged each other for something other than being emotional support. Now, someone might see that as a normal thing to do… But for Madoka? That was a step as important as humanity going to the moon.

Madoka started to happily walk towards the kitchen; it was pretty late already so her family had probably had dinner already, the empty kitchen with a note in the counter confirming her suspicions.

“Dinner is in the microwave, heat it up a bit before eating. Love, Dad”

Madoka’s dumb smile got a tiny bit bigger as she finished reading the note. Not only had she had an amazing day with Homura, but she also had a loving family at home. Madoka opened the microwave to make sure the food was in there – and it was, some kind of fish dish with vegetables was still waiting for her – and turned the microwave on to heat it up for two minutes. The microwave hummed in the background, the food rotating inside it, while Madoka searched for a glass; the girl returning to her previous train of thought.

If anything, the only bad part about the day was that she had to say goodbye to Homura. She really would have wanted for her to stay the night, but between not having asked her parents before – though she was pretty sure they wouldn’t be against it – and there being school tomorrow – although they always went together – it really felt like they had to let the other go. She really wished they could spend even more time together.

Her mind wandered into what would happen if Homura was here…

Since there was only food for one person; they would have to make more. They could share the fish as a main dish, but maybe they could make some rice to fill their stomachs up a bit more. And Madoka could show Homura how good she had been getting at making miso soup, something she didn’t have an easy way of adding to their boxed lunches. And so, they would start cooking…

But then as Madoka was busy with the soup Homura would approach her from behind and give her a sudden hug, the girl suddenly feeling lonely again – something that Madoka didn’t mind; in fact, she loved the sometimes needy side of the girl –. Madoka would tell her that that was dangerous, but Homura would only tighten the hug…

Then Madoka would turn around to face her. Their eyes would meet, and a phantasmal force would start to close the space between them as their lips got closer and closer…

“By the face you are making I take it that your date went well?” suddenly asked her mom, already in her pajamas.

The sudden voice surprised Madoka, making her almost drop the glass now full of water; thankfully, only some spills were made.

“Mom?!” exclaimed Madoka, her cheeks turning red as the image of what she had been imagining came back.

“Hoh?” Madoka’s mom put on a smug smile, and a teasing expression Madoka knew all to well appeared on her face “Now, now. What could have my little Madoka been thinking about to react like that?”

“N-nothing” stuttered Madoka as she dug her own grave. She opened the now beeping microwave, trying to get her food out as she tried to ignore her mom’s eyes.

“Really?” asked her mom “And here I thought you were thinking about Akemi”

Madoka flinched at her mom’s words, her blushing growing deeper. She walked up to the table and placed left her plate on it before she realized she had forgotten her glass of water in the kitchen. She walked back to it, trying to not let her mother see her red face.

“And by the way you are acting…” her mother walked towards the cupboard, getting a whiskey glass from it as she spoke her next words. “I’m guessing they were quite indecent~”

Madoka went back to the table and took a seat, her mother following close behind with a glass of whiskey in her hand; she took the seat right in front of Madoka and looked at her with a playful smile.

“Aaahh… My sweet little daughter is growing into a pervert” lamented her mom in a joking tone. “She is imagining such dirty things that she can’t even tell her mo-”

“It was just a kiss!” Madoka shouted just to make her mother teasing stop, or at least for it to not go in the direction she was going. Because if she kept talking about it Madoka was pretty sure she would end up imagining it. “Nothing more, just a kiss!”

“Remembering one?” asked her mom; her voice was still a teasing one, but there was a serious undertone behind it.

“N-no” Madoka said before she started to eat the reheated fish; not as good as it would have been recently made, but still pretty tasty. “We didn’t go that far”

“Oh? So, how far did you two go?” she asked after taking a long sip from her glass.

Madoka took her time to answer, using the fact that she was eating as an excuse to get more time before she had to give an answer. Sadly for her, she couldn’t keep chewing forever.

“We went to a café together” her mom simply nodded along, letting her know she was listening in. She may tease her about it, but there was actual interest in hearing how her day had gone in her mother’s eyes; this made Madoka speak with a bit more confidence “Homura-chan invited me to a drink and some cake”

“With how much money you told me she spent last time you should have refused the cake at least” reprimanded her mother.

“I know” Madoka let out a giggle “But by Homura’s face I’m pretty sure she would have gotten it for me anyways”

There was a small silence between the two as Madoka took a bite; her mother using the opportunity to take another sip from her drink, the cubes of ice shifting as she placed the glass back on the table.

“So, Homura-chan sat next to me and we talked for a bit” Madoka sighed “But then she started to apologize for making me go there with her”

Her mother raised an eyebrow.

“She had suddenly asked me to go there with her because she wanted to spend more time together” Madoka made a small pause as she remembered when the girl asked her in front of the school gates “She looked… scared; scared of being alone I think. At least I’m sure that she didn’t want to be alone.”

“Do you know if she had been acting weird before?” worriedly asked her mom as her expression changed into a completely serious one.

“Well… she had been trying to get closer than usual today” Madoka tried to think of anything else Homura had done during the day “She walked right next to me, sat as close as she could…”

“So, other than clearly trying to make a move on you; nothing wrong right?”

“There is no way Homura-chan would do that” Madoka nervously chuckled “I’m the only one that’s in love, she just feels alone. And since I’m her friend she just gets close to me”

“Madoka…” her mother sighed “You have to give yourself more value”

“It’s just the truth” Madoka said after drinking some water “Homura-chan is amazing at everything she does; And I’m just… well, me”

“Yeah, just you” her mother’s voice was a supporting one, but Madoka could hear a bit of annoyance in it “A beautiful girl, the kindest person I know, someone that always tries her best for other people, who knows how to draw pretty well, who knows gardening and who has been improving her cooking for someone she loves? Yeah, just you”

“You only say that because you are my mom” Madoka embarrassedly said, the compliments still reaching her even if she didn’t want to admit it.

Her mom took a long sip form her drink, letting out a tired sigh afterwards.

“Time will prove me right” said her mom “Anyways, what happened after she apologized?”

“I told her I also wanted to be with her” Madoka made a pause as she remembered the promise “Told her I wouldn’t let her feel alone ever again, and gave her a hug to make sure my words reached her”

Madoka took another bite out of her food, trying to make sure it wouldn’t go cold before she could finish it.

“After she calmed down a I got closer to her and we snuggled together a bit” Madoka said, the comforting warmth of Homura and the lavender fragrance of her hair returning in the form of memories.

“And afterwards?” asked her mother, now having finished her glass of whiskey she was playing with the still melting ice cubes inside the glass; her eyes completely closed as she waited for an answer.

“She walked me home and we said goodbye to each other with a hug”

“I see. Well, good job” her mom opened her eyes, meeting Madoka’s eyes. “If I think she is the kind of person she is pressuring her to go a bit further ahead might have been a bad idea”

Madoka took another bite as her mom got up from her chair and walked back to the kitchen sink, cleaning her glass before storing it away.

“Mom, can I ask you something?” asked Madoka after she finished eating her dinner and walked to the sink where her mother was.

“Of course.”

“What should I do now?” asked Madoka as she opened the sink faucet to clean her dish, fork and glass “About Homura-chan I mean. I want to get closer, but…”

“Hmmm…” her mother thought for a few seconds, speaking once Madoka finished cleaning and drying the dishware she had used “Honestly, just keep doing what you’ve doing. If anything, try to make sure you don’t lose today’s progress”

“What do you mean?” asked Madoka, turning to face her mother.

“I mean that you should keep the physical contact up” her mother said “Try to get as close as you can, hold hands, snuggle more, whatever you can think of. As long as Akemi doesn’t look uncomfortable try to keep it going”

“You really think that will work?”

“Of course,” Her mom put on a grin “It did with you father after all”

Sayaka finished cleaning the dishes. The extra set of dishware not really adding more than a minute or two at most of work; what had really taken a chunk of her time was storing all the paella that had been left, a total of four plastic containers had been filled to the brim, and cleaning the pan they had used. Why? Because Kyouko had decided that, yes, buying the biggest pan possible was a good idea. She had turned on all four of the stove fires, because if she hadn’t it would have never gotten hot enough, and started cooking enough food for nine people.

Sayaka let out a long tired sigh as she finished storing the last dish. The food had been a lot, true, but it had tasted amazing. Kyouko really had made sure to make the best dish she could have to welcome Sayaka’s dad back, and she had completely delivered. Though Sayaka was not about to tell her that after having complained about the big pan, because if she did, she would not stop hearing about it for at least a week.

Sayaka walked towards the living room, where Kyouko was sitting on the couch and playing some kind of fighting game – though by the looks of one of the characters Sayaka guessed it probably was Fatal Kombat. Sayaka sat on the couch next to Kyouko – actually a bit closer than usual – and took one of the chips from the bag that laid open on the table in front of them.

“Next time you cook that” Sayaka took a bite off the chip “You are the one cleaning it”

“Sure, next time you cook then” teased Kyouko, a grin on her face; though she was still completely focused on the game.

“You are the one that doesn’t let me cook” replied Sayaka as she focused her eyes on the tv, the buttons from the controller clicking at a fast pace as the character in the game tried to follow all the movement Kyouko was making.

“Because you suuuuuck at it” said Kyouko, who had been able to get her opponent stuck in one side of the screen and was spamming the same set of attacks so he couldn’t get out.

“Whoa, that’s unfair” commented Sayaka at Kyouko’s play, ignoring the remark Kyouko had made about her cooking; Sayaka knew it was true, at least compared to Kyouko… or well, anyone with any kind of cooking skill “You are not even letting him play”

“Shouldn’t have gone into ranked if he didn’t want to end up like this” said Kyouko, the life of her opponent quickly draining for a few more seconds before the K.O screen appeared.

“That’s really scummy of you, you know?” reprimanded Sayaka “It’s a game, why would you ruin that person’s fun”

Kyouko sighed, going to the main menu before she faced Sayaka.

“He had been trying to get me into a loop too, that’s why he had that character” replied Kyouko “He throws a dynamite stick and wacks you, dynamite stick and wack, and again, and again... Not like he was going to pull that off on me though”

“So, everyone is an asshole, got it”

“Pretty much, yeah” confirmed Kyouko before leaning in and getting herself a handful of potato chips. After less than five seconds the chips were gone, how Kyouko was able to eat as fast as she did still baffled Sayaka to this day “Wanna play?”

“No way” said Sayaka “You are going to destroy me”

“Ey now, I will go easy on ya” grinned Kyouko, Sayaka knew that what she really meant was ‘I will go easy until I start losing’. Kyouko took the other controller and offered it to Sayaka “C’mon, just one game”

“…Fiiiine” complained Sayaka, though it wasn’t like she was against playing with the girl. Hell, she was actually quite happy about it. More than usual. Finding a moment where she can be alone with Kyouko and just… chill together, was nice. Even more when she didn’t have to think that there was a possible that her and Madoka-

No, it wasn’t the time to think about that. Madoka had told her that she would say who she liked, she simply had to wait. Until then there was no reason to think about it. None at all.

Kyouko quickly went through the different game menus before a character selection screen came up. Sayaka looked around them, letting the select animations of those that caught her eye play, before she settled on an ice based one called over-zero.

“Well, I gotta pick this one then” Kyouko said before she placed her character selector over a character that looked very similar to over-zero but instead of ice its theme seemed to be fire, the announcer saying his name out loud as she did ‘Skorpioff’. “Gotta follow the tradition”

And with that they started playing. The first round went by as Kyouko simply explained the control to Sayaka, and told her some combos; though she only remembered one in the end. The second round was Kyouko basically letting herself be hit or blocking most of Sayaka’s attacks before dealing the same amount of damage she had dealt but in a fraction of the time she had taken.

“Alright” started saying Kyouko, the third round about to start “This one is gonna be a bit more serious, try to win”

“Easy to say” groaned Sayaka as she pushed the controller buttons like she had never done before. Sometimes a combo she didn’t knew about would go off and catch Kyouko off guard, most of the time she simply used the same two attacks though. The clock showed only ten seconds left, and Sayaka was winning by almost three times the amount of health Kyouko had left.

Though of course – as Sayaka had already predicted – Kyouko wouldn’t let her win. During those ten seconds Sayaka wasn’t able to do anything that wasn’t jumping, which only lead to her being knocked off the air by an attack.

“Ey! Stop!” shouted Sayaka as she threw her body towards Kyouko, trying to get the girl to make a mistake “Oi!”

But Kyouko wouldn’t relent, she kept playing even as Sayaka was basically on top of her. And while Kyouko was basically laying down she still was able to completely empty Sayaka’s health bar, her character staying in some kind of stunned state.

“What’s going on?” asked Sayaka who hesitated for a second before getting up from Kyouko; giving the redhead back her place on the couch.

Kyouko didn’t answer, instead she did a set of inputs and started a brutal animation where her Sayaka’s character was executed before the word ‘FATALITY’ appeared on screen.

“That wasn’t fair!” exclaimed Sayaka “I was still learning the two first rounds!”

“Well,” Kyouko laughed “We can always play another round, if you aren’t too scared of losing again that’s it”

And with that they started another game. This time Sayaka with more confidence now that she knew the basic controls. She was sure she was going to win. Why? Because she had a plan; she would spam buttons until something cool happened.

…

…

She lost.

“Again” said Sayaka, starting a night that would end up with both of them going to sleep at one in the morning.

Madoka stopped at the still closed front door of her house. She looked towards the side, checking herself on the mirror; she adjusted her hair a bit, making sure that the ribbons Homura had gifted her were properly in place. She did a last check, looking for anything that could be amiss – checking to see if she had strawberry jam on her face; checking that her clothes were properly in place; and finally testing some smiles on front of the mirror, trying to guess which one would be the best to greet Homura with.

After everything seemed in order, she inhaled deeply…

I just have to keep myself close to her…

Five seconds passed.

Make sure to keep up with what they had going on yesterday…

Ten seconds passed.

And make sure that Homura isn’t uncomfortable with it…

Madoka exhaled, her breathing becoming a slower but deeper one. Her heart calming down.

“You can do this” She nodded to herself in the mirror.

Madoka turned towards the front door and placed her hand on the doorknob. She paused for a second before turning it and opening the door.

“Good morning, Madoka” said Homura, her voice becoming gentle as she said her name.

Homura stood at the entrance of her house, and had turned at the sound of the door opening. The ebony haired girl had her usual face on, though a hopeful smile cracked through the mask.

“Good morning, Homura-chan” smiled Madoka as she walked towards the girl, taking a place right next to her before they started heading towards school.

After a few minutes of walking Madoka decided to start with her plan. She wanted to make sure that Homura was comfortable with it first, not wanting to impose herself on the girl that clearly had trouble saying no. So first she checked if Homura wanted to be close or not. And the only way she could think of was to take a step to the side, putting some distance between them. As she did Madoka could swear she had seen Homura’s brows twitch in confusion for a split second before returning to her usual cool face.

But Homura didn’t close the distance back as they walked, almost a minute had already gone by. Madoka’s heartbeat started to rise, as she felt a tinge of pain in her chest.

I messed up. I messed up. I messed up.

What if she thinks now that I did that to get away from her? God, why did I do that. That had to be the worst possible thing I could do. Great job Madoka, you really can’t-

Her thoughts were suddenly brought to a halt after she noticed Homura had taken half a step towards her. The girl had tried to hide it, but with Madoka being hyper focused on her steps it proved to be an impossible task. Madoka decided to take a quarter step herself, getting a bit closer to Homura as to say ‘It’s fine, get closer’.

It didn’t take Homura more than a second to take another step towards Madoka, completely closing the initial gap that she had placed between them. Homura was actually trying to get close to her… So, she either was – as Madoka thought she was – just wanting to be close to her friend, or her mom was right…

The thought of it being the second option make Madoka’s heart flutter. A feeling of hope appearing in her mind. She wouldn’t mind her mom ‘I told you’ if that was the case – in fact, she would more than gladly accept it.

“Homura-chan” Madoka said; the girl trying to get a conversation going “Did you sleep well yesterday?”

“…Yes, I did” It took a moment for Homura to answer. “I was calm throughout the night”

“I’m glad!” exclaimed Madoka, a bit louder than she wanted to. An awkward silence fell between the two for a few seconds before Homura spoke up again.

“Did you?” she asked, her eyes weren’t looking at Madoka but rather they simply stared in front of her as she walked.

“Ah- It took me some time…” Madoka nervously laughed as she remembered how she had stayed up drawing until two A.M. At first what had been some simple doodles, quickly became an attempt to draw a background; which quickly became a drawing of herself and Homura snuggling together at the café “But I think I slept enough in the end”

“Make sure to take care of yourself” said Homura, now looking directly at Madoka. “Sleep is important”

Madoka looked at Homura, her amethyst eyes seemed to be almost pleading her to listen. But what caught Madoka wasn’t only that, but the deep dark circles that were below them. Madoka raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t seem to sleep much though” said Madoka before letting out a chuckle.

Homura let out a weak laugh at her own hypocrisy, her face settling into a smile afterwards. “I guess you are right”

Madoka looked in awe at Homura. This had been the first time she had heard Homura laugh. The sound of her small laugher quickly imprinting itself on Madoka’s memory; with how few expressions Homura usually used (and most of them being forced ones) a laugh like the one she had just made felt like gold. Madoka wasn’t satisfied by it though, now that she had gotten a taste of the girl’s laughter, she wanted to actually see her laugh from joy.

They kept walking towards the school. Most of the time they stayed in silence, though Madoka would often try to start some more small talk between the two; an excuse to hear the girl speak.

Current date: 20^th of May

A/N: I’ve realized that I got a lot of MadoHomu and too little KyouSaya… gotta fix that.

Chapter Text

Madoka walked up the stairs and towards the school roof. Sayaka a step ahead of her was bickering with Kyouko about a game they had played last night; both of them asking Madoka from time to time to decide who was right.

“I was new!” complained Sayaka as she looked back at Madoka “And she goes and plays as if I was some kind of pro!”

“Well-“ started to speak Madoka, who was promptly interrupted by Kyouko.

“You told me to take it seriously” said Kyouko, a few steps ahead of them. “So, I did”

“Yeah, but not to go all out!” Sayaka looked at the girl, and mocked her as she imitated the girl’s voice “’I will go easy on ya’ yeah sure you did”

“The first game I went easy on you” replied Kyouko, the girl now walking backwards as to face them, taking steps without looking where her feet were going. “If you ask someone to play seriously you can’t complain if they clean the floor with you afterwards, right pinky?”

“Ah… Well-” Madoka tried to think of something to say that could appease both of them, but the thought of Kyouko tripping as she walked backwards was making it harder than usual “Maybe it would have been better if you made it a bit easier… she was still learning, right?”

“Hah! See, Madoka understands what I mean” proudly announced Sayaka, a smug grin on her face.

“Tsk” Kyouko clicker her tongue before looking further back, behind Madoka. “What do you think Akemi?”

Homura was walking right behind Madoka, just two steps behind her like she always did. It didn’t matter if they had been basically glued arm to arm, the moment they reached a stairway Homura would wait for Madoka to take the first steps before getting behind her.

“If Miki-san asked you to be serious” Homura started saying “There is no reason for you to make it easier for her”

Kyouko’s face was filled with a smug grin that went from ear to ear, clearly deciding to ignore the fact that they were still 2-2. Kyouko faced Sayaka, an expression of ‘Told you so’ plastered all over the redhead’s face.

“Why are you siding with her!” complained Sayaka as she turned towards Homura, an exaggerated betrayed look on her face “I thought we were allies!”

“This and that are different matters” coldly stated Homura, not even looking at Sayaka. “I don’t get anything from siding with you about this; and there is even less of a reason of doing so when you are wrong”

“AAAAH! I’ve been backstabbed!” exaggeratedly cried Sayaka, as she brought her hands towards her torso; bending forwards in fake pain “Madoka… you are the only one who’s with me… save… me…”

“Sayaka-chan…” Madoka giggled at the girl’s acting before she turned her head a bit to Homura, still being able to see the steps she was taking “But I think Sayaka-chan is in the right here”

Madoka tried to read Homura’s reaction, but sadly the girl was able to keep her mask on.

“I mean, if you are going to play a game with someone else” Madoka kept talking “Isn’t it better if both can have fun? If I played with you, I would prefer it if you also had fun while we play, Homura-chan”

“That’s…” Homura closed her eyes to think for a second, the gesture making Madoka worry that the girl would fall. “Winning isn’t what makes it… fun”

“You are not going to come at me with the ‘trying is what matters’ bullshit are you?” said Kyouko “Winning is half the fun, if you never win you will get bored”

Madoka started to get curious. If for whatever reason Homura hadn’t had fun when they played together at her house… Well, it’s not like that was a problem on itself – Homura didn’t seem to mind at least - but Madoka was sure she wouldn’t be able to get over it.

“Ah! It’s improving right?” excitedly added Sayaka, having quickly gotten over her fake pain. “I get it, I get it. There is no better feeling than getting better equipment or learning to use a mechanic you didn’t know about”

Homura’s eyes darted towards the ground, her vision becoming fixed on it as they kept walking up the stairs. Whenever Homura tried to evade making eye contacts it usually wasn’t a good signal, the girl was going to either lie – which would be difficult to see if Madoka couldn’t get a view of her face – or she was about to say something that embarrassed her.

“Homura-chan? What makes it fun?” Madoka tried to close the gap between the two, trying to get a look of the girl’s face.

“It’s…” Madoka could see a bit of red on Homura’s cheeks, so it was embarrassment then “It was playing with you what made it fun…”

Silence fell over the group, all of them stopping in the middle of the stairs. Madoka’s own face went red at the girl’s unexpected words; the urge of jumping at the girl and giving her a hug was strong, but seeing how they were in the middle of the stairs she was able to resist it. Sayaka and Kyouko looked at Homura wide eyed, still surprised by the words the girl had said. Though Kyouko quickly moved her sight from Homura to Sayaka, an expression of ‘please figure it out’ on her face.

“Wow…” Sayaka was the one to break the silence “Didn’t expect that from you. And here I was thinking you were all cold and calculating”

“It doesn’t matter” Homura forced a cough, the girl putting back her mask and trying to change the topic of the conversation “Let’s keep walking, we are obstructing the stairs”

[-]

They reached the mostly empty rooftop, Kyouko pushing open the door that had already been unlocked by someone. Madoka walked out into the roof, a nice chilly breeze welcoming her; a nice contrast with the warmth the sun was bathing them in.

“Good morning, everyone” said Mami, her eyes lighitng up as they opened the door.

“Hello Mami-san!” exclaimed Sayaka, approaching the older girl and sitting besides her.

“Good morning Mami-san” said Madoka, taking a place next to Sayaka “Sorry for being late, the teacher held us back for a few minutes”

“Don’t worry about it, Kaname-san” A gentle calming smile appeared on her face, almost as if to reassure the girl that she didn’t have problem with it. Mami then turned towards Homura, smile still on her face “Good morning, Akemi-san”

“Good morning” Drily answered Homura as she did a small acknowledging nod before sitting close to Madoka.

Not close enough…

The moment Homura finished taking her seat Madoka quickly adjusted herself, trying to close the gap between the two until their legs were touching. Homura seemed to notice, the girl giving Madoka a small smile that Madoka quickly returned tenfold.

Madoka started to look around for their lunch boxes when she noticed Kyouko. The redhead was sitting on the bench in front of them, as she usually did, and was looking at Madoka with a raised eyebrow and an impish smile; there were no need for words, Madoka could see that the girl was losing against her instinct to tease them – or rather, to tease Madoka. Kyouko opened her mouth to speak, Madoka already knowing what was about to happen.

“Say, Akemi, aren’t you-” Kyouko noticed the glare that Madoka was giving her and stopped for a second; clearly taken aback by the pinkette’s reaction. And if she was being honest, even Madoka was surprised at herself, but there was no way that she would let Kyouko’s teasing ruin her plans; not when this was only the first part and it was already going so well.

“What is it Sakura-san?” asked Homura, a bit of impatience in her voice; though she tried to mask it.

Kyouko pondered what to do for a few more seconds, throwing looks at Madoka from time to time as she tried to read her. Madoka started to feel her own expression slowly soften. Kyouko had clearly gotten Madoka’s message, if she was still going to tease them there wasn’t much more she could do. Madoka’s face was slowly beginning to change into a crestfallen look; knowing that was now at the mercy of her friend, Homura would probably feel uncomfortable about being so close if Kyouko started teasing; her plan would be ruined before she could actually start.

“Nah, it’s nothing” Kyouko sighed, an almost older sister like expression on her face as she gave Madoka a last glance. “Just a dumb question”

Madoka breathed a sigh of relief, a new thankful smile directed towards Kyouko on her face. Now that the main problem had been taken care of, Madoka started to pull out their lunches; handing Homura hers before they all started eating the food.

Time started to go on, the conversation quickly becoming – once again – a discussion between Sayaka and Kyouko, though this time the one that had to give their opinion was Mami. The senior was able to evade choosing a side though, her answers being ambiguous at best.  

Madoka sneaked peeks at Homura from time to time, trying to asses how much food left was on the girl’s lunch. Surprisingly enough they seemed to be eating at a similar pace. Madoka suddenly remembered something she had heard on the TV once, that people that eat the same pace are destined to be together; the thought putting a bit of an embarrassed smiled on her face as the girl failed to realize that it wasn’t that they were eating at the same pace because of destiny, but because Homura had been imitating Madoka’s eating pace.

After a few more minutes Madoka finished eating her lunch, and realized that Homura had done so too. Madoka took the lunch box from Homura and started storing it away. Once she finished Madoka slowly leant towards Homura, letting a bit of her weight rest on the girl’s side. Enough to make Homura realize what Madoka was doing, but not enough to make it instantly obvious to the others.

“Oh right! Kyouko-chan, were you able to get a free day?” wondered Madoka. Homura’s body shifted as Madoka tried to lean more into the girl. But the idea that Madoka was maybe making her uncomfortable disappeared as she noticed that Homura was trying to make Madoka’s posture a bit more comfortable.

Kyouko sighed, getting up from the bench where she had laid down and walking around a bit to stretch her legs.

“Nope, wasn’t able to change hours with anyone” complained Kyouko, her arms crossed behind her head “Everyone’s got the shifts they want”

“That’s a shame” added Mami, a hand pressed against her cheek was holding her head as she tried to think of a solution “This Saturday is the festival so trains are going to be a nightmare… maybe we could do it this Sunday?”

“Ahhh… I can’t this Sunday” replied Sayaka “My dad wants to make up for not being at home, he wanted for me and Kyouko to go with him to the cinema or something”

Kyouko nodded along, confirming Sayaka’s words.

“So we have to leave it for next week then?” disappointedly wondered Mami.

“It looks like it…” muttered Madoka.

It was a shame really. Madoka had wanted to get together this week with everyone – not that she didn’t enjoy her alone time with Homura, she loved it in fact – and Mami’s place was a great place to go together; It felt natural to go there. A mix of disappointment and sadness could be felt in the air.

“Is it that important that everyone is there?” asked Homura, getting a few looks because of her question from the group.

“Well, it would be better if we can all be together” Mami answered, leaning forwards a bit to look at Homura’s eyes “Wouldn’t want to leave anyone out”

“It won’t be the same if we go without Kyouko” added Madoka, understanding that Homura didn’t really mind going as a group or not. “At least I would be happier if we all could go together”

Homura’s eyes were fixed in Madoka’s face, the girl thinking about Madoka’s words. After a few seconds she looked away, closing her eyes as she faced the fence at the other side of the roof.

“I see” she simply added before opening her eyes. From where Madoka was looking at the girl she was able to get a glimpse of the purple earring that Homura always wore, its amethyst like gem emitting a subtle purple glow for a second as Homura’s words left her mouth.  

“So, we trying next week then?” asked Kyouko as her phone notification sound went off, making Madoka stop looking at Homura’s earring.

“I guess there is no other option” lamented Mami, the girl had been clearly looking forwards to getting together again. “More time to practice baking then”

“I really wanted for everyone to get together; It would have been fun” Madoka sighed as she let her head fall to the side, ending up on Homura’s shoulder and looking up to the girl’s face. “don’t you think so Homura-chan?”

Homura was caught off guard, the girl taking a second to answer. Madoka was glad that Homura couldn’t see her face from this angle though, because she was pretty sure it was starting to get as red as the tomatoes that her dad took care of in her garden. This was the main plan, trying to make this kind of contact seem normal for the two; even if it meant having to go through some embarrassment.

“Y-yes…” said Homura.

Madoka decided to stay on the girl’s shoulder for a bit longer, a sense of warmness slowly filling her. She could hear a heartbeat become faster and faster, though if it was hers or Homura’s Madoka couldn’t tell. The world slowly seemed to come to a standstill, Madoka focusing completely in Homura’s presence. A comfortable silence forming around them as Madoka slowly closed her eyes.

The nice silence that had formed between the two was suddenly broken by Kyouko.

“Well, scratch all that” she said without looking up from her phone, the girl quickly typing away “Coworker broke his arm falling from his bike, boss wants me to take care of his night shift today in exchange of having tomorrow free so he can find a substitute in the meantime”

“Huh, talk about lucky” said Sayaka, eyes open in surprise. “I guess the universe wants us to hang out”

Madoka wasn’t paying too much attention to the conversation, her mind completely focused on burrowing into Homura’s shoulder. A strand of Homura’s raven hair had fallen in front of Madoka’s face, and the smell of lavender quickly became calming for the girl. The voices of her friends were slowly becoming background noise.

“It really is a big coincidence” added Mami “But we shouldn’t throw this opportunity away, can you all come tomorrow then?”

“Yeah, got the day free” replied Sayaka.

“Yeah” added Kyouko, as she finished typing on her phone and looked up to see the current situation between Madoka and Homura; the sight making her let out a single silent chuckle.

“I will be able to go after our club activities end” Homura’s voice resonated throughout her body and into Madoka’s head, putting an even dumber smile on the pinkette who had gone into a trance. Slowly letting herself be lost, her mind was filled with Homura and nothing more.

Madoka took a deep breath, at the moment she was basically in paradise. Her face was half buried on the shoulder of the girl she loved. Their breathing slowly syncing up. She wished that this moment would last forever, or that it would evolve into a better one. Maybe the two of them laying down, embracing each other in a sea of calmness and love.

“Madoka?” a voice could be heard from afar, it seemed it was calling her. Madoka simply hummed in question, not wanting to move away from her current paradise.

“Madoka” this time the voice was Homura’s, the sound of the girl’s gentle voice calling her name sent a shiver down Madoka’s spine. “…Madoka?”

“…Hmm? What is it Homura-chan?” Slowly, Madoka opened her eyes, though she quickly regretted that decision. Sayaka and Mami were looking at her with a mix between curiosity and worry, Kyouko with the smuggest grin she had ever seen on the girl; and she had seen many.

“Can you go to Tomoe’s house tomorrow?” asked Homura.

Madoka quickly moved her head away from Homura’s shoulder, the familiar feeling of blood filling her cheeks appearing once again.

“Y-y-yeah! I’m f-free” stuttered Madoka, trying – and failing – to recompose herself.

“Perfect then” said Mami, her usual gentle senior smile on her face. “How should we do it?”

“Well…” Sayaka stopped looking at Madoka, slowly moving her face towards Mami “I guess we just wait for Madoka and Akemi to finish with the club? We can wait in the school cafeteria”

“The three of you can go to Tomoe’s house first” said Homura, getting up from her seat just a few seconds before the school bell rang “Madoka and I can go there afterwards by ourselves”

“I wouldn’t mind waiting for both of you here” said Mami, not being convinced with Homura’s proposal.

Madoka, not the center of attention anymore, was finally able to recompose herself. She looked up from the ground, the only person that was still looking at her being Kyouko with her smug grin, and got up from her seat.

“I’m fine with either” admitted Sayaka, picking up her school bag and throwing it over her shoulder “There is no point in arguing about this” Sayaka sighed “it’s your call, Madoka”

“Eh? Ah…” It wasn’t like they were going to go later or sooner with either option, if anything the only difference would be walking there with the whole group… or alone with Homura “I think it will be better for Homura and I to go to your house afterwards, Mami-san”

More time alone with Homura meant more opportunities to increase their intimacy. And with the new found resolve, and the advice that her mother had given her, she wasn’t about to throw such a good opportunity away.

“I see” nodded Mami, though Madoka could see the girl was slightly disappointed “We’ll wait for you two then”

“See you tomorrow!” Sayaka waved Madoka and Akemi off, as both of them started to head towards their clubroom.

“Goodbye!” happily declared Madoka, the girl finishing to pick up her schoolbag and looked around in search of Akemi; her face lighitng up the moment she saw her already behind her.

“See ya Pinky” said Kyouko as Madoka passed by her; Akemi following close behind the girl, only giving them a nod of acknowledgement as a farewell.

Kyouko followed them with her eyes as they left the classroom, a smirk on her face. Really, with how obvious the two were being about clearly liking each other there was no way the other hadn’t noticed yet. At least not after the display Madoka had done at the rooftop.

Or at least she hoped, because if Madoka really didn’t notice that Akemi had been liking her before… Well, everything was possible.

“You wanna hang out?” asked Sayaka from behind her, her eyes also fixing on the other two “Until you have to start your shift I mean”

“Sure” agreed Kyouko, turning around to face the girl and trying to resist the urge to just get lost on the deep sea that were her eyes. The unexpected thought caught her off guard – it wasn’t a lie, of course – but she wasn’t one to just think about that kind of cheesy line.

That Madoka is spoiling my style I swear.

[-]

The park near the station was relatively empty at this hour, it main use being for families to come after shopping in the nearby mall meant few kids on weekdays. Most people that were around being students like them, a few of them some years older.

Kyouko leaned onto the metal framework of the swing, taking her phone out of her pocket in the process to check the time. Around fifteen minutes until she had to go to work. Sayaka sat on one of the swings, lightly twisting the seat from side to side to keep herself occupied with something to do.

“Oh right” started speaking Kyouko, not looking up from her phone as she opened a small idle game to keep her hands occupied “Did you ask Madoka who she likes already?”

Sayaka stopped twisting the swing for a second as she let out a long sigh “No, it’s impossible to get a hold of her”

Sayaka started to move twist the swing’s seat around once more, a frown now on her face “Alone I mean. I can always find her next to Akemi, but she doesn’t want to speak in front of other people”

Nah, the problem is that you are asking her with Akemi around.

There was no way that she didn’t notice, right? The display of affection the two had done today was their biggest yet – which only made Kyouko wonder what happened the day before between the two for them to escalate like that – and it wasn’t like they were trying to hide it either. Kyouko had understood the whole trying to get closer to each other thing, now the most comfortable way to eat sure; but if they were happy like that let them be. But the whole ‘almost falling asleep on her shoulder’ deal was a bit too much on the nose.

“Why don’t you just call her?” asked Kyouko, hoping that Sayaka really wasn’t that oblivious. Because if she was like that with other people… Kyouko didn’t want to imagine how direct she would need to be.

“Doesn’t feel like the kind of thing you talk about over the phone, you know?” said Sayaka, leaning as far back as she could; only using the chains of the swing to hold herself from falling.

“I guess” conceded Kyouko, a smile appearing on her face as she simply observed Sayaka stretching out on the swing.

After Sayaka started to sit properly once again, Kyouko went back to look at her phone instead; not letting the bluenette know that she had been looking at her. This was how Sayaka usually was, worrying about something that probably wasn’t even that important, giving it more importance than it needed, and even making wrong assumptions out of her own stubbornness to not ask. At the same time, she wouldn’t let herself be seen worrying about it, at least not in front of her friends. She would try to hide it for as long as she could, masking her worries under a carefree attitude. Always trying to help, and only worrying about the consequences later. This was the girl she had fallen in love with, the one that made her realize that – maybe – life wasn’t as bad as it seemed.  

“Ey Kyouko” When Kyouko came back from her train of thought, Sayaka’s face was an actually serious one; with how this usually meant actual serious business Kyouko locked her phone screen in advance.

“What is it” Kyouko crossed her arms, her eyes focusing on the girl’s legs as they tried to twist the swing’s seat in an almost hypnotic motion for a few seconds before looking up at her eyes.

“Promise you won’t laugh?” asked Sayaka, looking at the ground instead of at her.

“Depends” Kyouko said with a cocky smile on her face, trying to get weight off the situation.

Sayaka frowned for a few seconds before she finally gave up, sighing in defeat. “D-do you…”

Sayaka’s voice stuttering was a weird occurrence, and the blush the girl had started to develop didn’t help. Yeah, it didn’t help. It didn’t help Kyouko’s imagination going wild in different possible scenarios. There was only one reason someone like Sayaka could be embarrassed, she had seen it before when she talked about Kamijou Kyosuke, and the only reason that would make her like this was love. Was she about to-

“D-do you like Madoka?”

…

…

…

“Haaaah?!” Kyouko didn’t find words to say, the hopes that had been raising quickly falling off a cliff to never be seen again “The fuck do you mean?”

“I- I mean, I saw you and Madoka hugging at the mall and-”

“And what? You thought I liked her because I gave her a hug?” Kyouko sneered.

Sayaka not realizing that Madoka liked Homura? Sure, that was fine, understandable. Sayaka not realizing that Kyouko had been liking her since a while ago? Sure, Kyouko could live with that.

But somehow thinking that a hug in a mall was enough proof to pinpoint who Madoka liked, but that the whole display that Madoka and Homura had done in the middle of the roof before wasn’t? Yeah no, that irked her.

“We-well, I’ve never seen you hug her like that so-”

“She was having a fucking panic attack back then!” Kyouko shouted, getting the attention of some bystanders that tried to hide the fact they were looking at them “What did you want me to do? Leave her there?”

“I- I didn’t know that!” Sayaka shouted back. “It made sense to me!”

So that was it? Sayaka really had been thinking that Kyouko was the person Madoka liked? What kind of dumb conclusion was that?

“For fucks sake Sayaka” Kyouko walked towards the bluenette, who had now stopped moving the swing’s seat around, and placed her hands over her shoulders “No, I don’t like Madoka that way”

“Well, then I don’t fucking know who she likes!” Sayaka quickly got up from the swing, getting Kyouko’s hand off her shoulders. “The time I build up enough courage she tells me: ‘another day’ like if that was going to not just make me feel worse!”

Kyouko took a step back, giving the girl some space.

“I don’t know who she likes! And I just want to know if it will be a problem or not!”

Kyouko opened her mouth, but hesitated in the last second. Even if this was just hurting Sayaka, she wasn’t the one that should be telling her; she shouldn’t even have said that Madoka liked someone in the first place.

“I even had Akemi help me!” Sayaka complained.

Wait she had Akemi do what?

“What do you mean with you had Akemi help you?” asked Kyouko, if this was what she thought it was…

“I told her Madoka liked someone, and that you told me that they were problematic” Sayaka explained, the sudden question slowly making her calm down as she strode further away from her rant “We decided to look for the guy together”

Kyouko laughed at the irony. That was the reason why Sayaka never realized who Madoka liked, because the person in particular never was a possible target in her list; it had hidden right under her nose all this time. This literally was the same plot as with murder mysteries, it’s always either the butler; or the protagonist’s assistant.

“W-what is it? What did I say?” Sayaka wondered, Kyouko’s laugh completely confusing her.

“Don’t worry about it” sighed Kyouko she took out her phone and looked at the time once more; less than five minutes until she had to go. “I’ll give you an opportunity to ask Madoka tomorrow, okay?”

“That’s easy to say” replied Sayaka “But good luck with making it so Akemi isn’t around”

“I’ll find a way, don’t worry” reassured Kyouko as she passed by the girl, giving her some reassuring pats on the shoulder. “Just leave it to me”

Current date: 21^st, May

Chapter Text

The sun had just started to rise, it’s light shining throughout the still waking neighborhood. The streets were empty, save for a figure that stood in front of one of the many houses.

Homura had reached Madoka’s house ten minutes before the pinkette usually came out, as she usually did. A time she had used before to ask her dolls how the night had gone, making sure that everything was alright and if they had any suspicions. But today her mind was filled with something else, something that had her constantly moving around; her body being too nervous to stay still.

Of course, that thing was Madoka.

Homura had been able to tell herself that Madoka’s… closeness when they were at the café had only been to calm Homura down. The kind of hug she would give her in the past to let her know that everything was going to be ok, the intimacy that Madoka would sometimes insist on sharing with her the days before Walpurgisnacht came - during the few loops they had been close, of course. And as such, Homura had only expected it to last that day and only that day. That they would go back to normal afterwards.

But then Madoka did it again. She tried to get as close to her as she could, almost falling asleep on her shoulder during their lunchbreak – moment where Homura was glad that she didn’t have her old self weak heart, she was pretty sure that would have been the end of her if she did. The girl had been trying to stay as close to her as possible; even during club activities Madoka had been trying to get as much physical contact as she could.

Homura didn’t have a problem with this, if anything the amount of kindness the girl was showering her in was more than appreciated. Madoka was the best friend someone could have, knowing that it was making Homura happy the girl had been clearly forcing herself to stay close to her; such a nice thing to do.

The only problem was that all this affection was making Homura fall deeper in love with the girl, if that was even possible. She had been prepared to see Madoka go to someone else – even more so since Miki had told her that Madoka liked someone – but with all that Madoka was doing to get closer to her… Homura could feel her resolve waver… and the occasional comment from the Devil wasn’t helping.

I think Madoka would enjoy us pushing her against a wall! I can imagine her embarrassed face as we draw in for a kiss~

Thankfully, ignoring people that weren’t Madoka was one of her strong suits.

There was another thing that had been on her mind though. As per Madoka’s request she had accepted to go to Tomoe’s house this afternoon with everyone else. The main problem wasn’t the get together itself, but rather the high chances of something going wrong with everyone getting together in a place with so many repressed memories. If Momoe Nagisa was over there when they came over it would mean that everyone in this world with ties to the Law of Cycles would be staying in the same room. And that… that felt like a bomb waiting to go off.

In retrospective, her being there was probably a nice thing. If anything were to happen then she wouldn’t have to wait for any of her dolls to tell her. As much as she knew that the dolls were starting to get more… rebellious, she still knew they all didn’t want Madoka to leave. After all the dolls were a part of her, and if there was anything that defined her was her love for Madoka.

Seeing as she had already decided on a course of action for that second problem, her mind started to wander towards the first one again. The show of affection that Madoka had been showering her in since yesterday had been more than she could have ever asked for, it was something she really didn’t deserve. It didn’t matter how many times Madoka told her she did deserve it, this… love wasn’t something she should be getting. Homura knew she was selfish. She knew that the more love she got from Madoka, the more she would want. The promise of being able to stay with her, to be able to become the girl she had once been…

It was too sweet a sin not to commit.

“Good morning, Homura-chan!” The sound of Madoka’s voice made her look up just in time to see the girl closing the door behind her. “Sorry If I made you wait”

Homura shook her head, a small smile stronger than her will appearing on her lips “I just got here” A lie, she had been outside her house for over twenty minutes already “Good morning, Madoka”

Madoka rushed towards her, stopping just a few centimeters away from her side. The girl looked at Homura with a joyful expression she had once thought she would never see again, but that had become one more part of her life these past few days.

If being with her made Madoka this happy as well… what reason was there not to sin again?

The school bell rang once more, signaling the end of the day for some of the students and the start of club activities for others. People started to quickly get up from their seats, and Sayaka was no exception to this. Not even before the bell rang, she had already gathered all her things into her schoolbag, both a feeling of excitement towards being able to spend this afternoon together with everyone – something that in the last few days had been harder than ever – and a small sensation of anxiety over knowing that today would be the day she was going to get a chance to ask Madoka who she liked. Hell, she probably was more nervous about than Madoka was about telling her.

Perching her schoolbag over her shoulder Sayaka walked towards Madoka, seeing that Kyouko had already gone there and that Akemi was on her way. Kyouko and Madoka finishing a conversation as Sayaka got there.

“Think you can help me with that then?” asked Kyouko, slightly turning her head as she noticed Sayaka approaching them.

“I-I will try” said Madoka “Though I can’t promise you that she will do it…”

“Nah, she will” Kyouko said with a confident smile on her face before she turned towards Sayaka. “Trust me”

Sayaka finally reached the two of them, Akemi just a few steps behind. But before Sayaka could say anything Kyouko quickly interjected again.

“Welp, we should get going. Don’t wanna make Mami wait too long” said Kyouko as she grabbed Sayaka’s arm and started leading them towards the door “See you two at Mami’s”

“Oi- What are you-” complained Sayaka while she was being led outside the classroom, the sound of a farewell from Madoka being the last thing she heard before leaving.

“I just got you the time you needed to ask Madoka” Kyouko said before releasing Sayaka’s arm, though she kept walking forwards. “Should be around twenty minutes or more”

“What are you talking about?” said Sayaka as she started to follow the redhead, adjusting the sleeve from where Kyouko had grabbed her as she walked.

“Got Madoka in the game, that was the only thing I needed to make Akemi leave for a few minutes” Kyouko turned her head towards Sayaka, a smirk on her face “Promised I would get you time to ask her, well, you will get it this afternoon”

Sayaka kept following Kyouko as they walked towards the school gate. The sound of people talking around them slowly fading away into background noise until she was left alone in her thoughts. Sayaka knew this was how Kyouko always was, if you asked her to do help you with something and she agreed to it well… she would move the earth and sky to do it. Unlike Sayaka though, Kyouko always thought of a solution quickly before doing anything; and most of the times it was the right solution…

If Sayaka could be described as stubborn, then Kyouko could be described as decisive.

But even then, it felt wrong to have Kyouko help her so… seriously about this problem that was only in her head.

“You didn’t have to take it so seriously” whispered Sayaka, though with how Kyouko looked at her she had clearly heard her.

“Not knowing was hurting you” declared Kyouko “no way I’m not doing anything about it”

“It really wasn’t that bad” Sayaka forced a laugh “I just got too into it hahahaha”

Kyouko stared at Sayaka with an unconvinced look, the blue-haired girl having to look away after a few seconds of the other girl’s eyes piercing her with an accusatory gaze.

“You literally broke down yesterday” stated Kyouko “So don’t give me that crap”

They walked out of the school grounds, stopping next to the main gate of the school as they waited for Tomoe to come.

“Sorry” replied Sayaka, her eyes fixed on the ground.

“Don’t be” Sayaka felt Kyouko gently patting her on the back “I’ll always help you with that kinda stuff”

Sayaka looked up at the girl, putting on a weak smile on return, and took a deep breath before looking forwards in search of Tomoe.

Maybe there was no reason to be so anxious about it. Kyouko was going to help her, and if Madoka had been on board to help it also meant that her friend did want to tell her. And her biggest worry having been the possibility that Madoka liked Kyouko now gone… well, there really was nothing to worry about

And if the guy that Madoka liked really was as bad as Kyouko had made him to be she could always beat some sense into him with Akemi’s help. Both of them could become Madoka’s guardian angels and make sure the guy didn’t hurt her. Maybe they could also hang out a bit more, seeing as how if Madoka started going out with someone she wouldn’t spent as much time with Akemi as she did now. Knowing Madoka she would probably glue herself to the guy all the time, and Akemi would have it hard to even get a moment alone with Madoka.

Just like what had happened to Sayaka when Akemi started to go around with Madoka…

…

…

Wait-

Madoka moved one of the clubroom chairs closer to the shelves were all the different seed packages were, and placed it on top of the other chair she had already moved there. She made sure that it was stable with a little shake, and climbed on top of it.

“I-I can search for them” said Homura, her voice quivering a bit as she spoke. Madoka looked behind her, the girl was right next to her and had her arms at the ready.

“I want to make sure we get an interesting one!” exclaimed Madoka, the thought of Homura worrying so much about her falling filling her with happiness. Even if it was a normal thing to do, when it came from the usually calm Homura it meant more than it seemed. “And besides, it will be faster if I search it myself”

At the time they were the only people inside of the clubroom, their two seniors having gone out to take care of the school plants. Seeing as how most tasks had been taken care of already, Madoka asked if they could plant something new; as a kind of initiation for Homura. And after getting the green light they had been thinking about what to plant. Or rather, Madoka had started to think what to plant. Homura had just said her usual ‘Anything you choose’ motto; which was why Madoka was now insisting on getting on top of the chairs; just a little punishment for Homura as she had, once again, not chosen something herself.

There was no way Madoka could actually ‘punish’ her though – even less about something so dumb as the girl not wanting to choose something – but she was annoyed enough at the girl that making her nervous felt more than adequate.

“It’s just-“ Homura looked to the side, setting her eyes upon the room window that was open, and promptly rushed to close it. The gesture making Madoka have to contain a small giggle. “Just tell me what you want to pick and I will get it for you”

“Nope~” teased Madoka, seeing Homura being so nervous – albeit still with her stone mask on – was actually quite fun. It reminded her of how the girl had acted at the claw machines during their date.

Madoka looked around the different seed they had, she wanted to plant a flower but which one… Roses? No, too overused; Homura deserved something more interesting. Lavender? The girl smelt like them, so maybe it would be a nice option but there had to be a better one. Geraniums? That was a nice option, but choosing a flower that meant friendship when she wanted something more with Homura felt wrong – even if Homura didn’t know what the flower meant. Red spider lilies… the flowers were beautiful that much was true, but giving someone you loved the flower that meant final goodbyes wasn’t really a thing she wanted to do; even if the flower made her think of Homura.

A package on the topmost shelf caught her eye, a package of Heliotropes, the perfect choice. Madoka tried to reach it, but it was a bit further away from where she had placed the chairs and had to lean quite a bit towards the edge.  

The chair rattled below her feet, and Madoka lost her footing. One moment she was on top of the chairs, the next she was falling towards the ground; the edge of a table in her trajectory. Madoka closed her eyes. She braced herself for the impact. Time came to a halt. The only thing that came to her mind was how dumb she had been for trying to tease Homura with doing something dangerous. She just hoped the fall wouldn’t be too bad. But going head first towards a table wasn’t a good sign. The sound of the table being hit with force was the only sound she heard. She waited for the pain.

It never came.

Madoka slowly opened her eyes, her body still rigid.

“Are you okay?” Homura’s voice was a worried one, the girl’s eyes completely opened as they observed Madoka’s body in search of any injury. “Does it hurt anywhere?”

Madoka now realized that Homura was holding her in a protective hug, both of them on the ground. Homura moved Madoka’s head around, trying to search for any kind of injury. For Madoka though, the only thing she could think of was how close the girl lips were, the adrenaline from the fall making her dumber than usual.

“I-I I’m fine!” said Madoka, trying to get out of the girl’s embrace while she could still control herself “Nothing hurts! Just got scared!”

Homura stopped moving around, now fixing her eyes with Madoka’s. The girl’s face showing an immense amount of distress, too much even, it felt like the face someone would make after relieving a traumatic experience. But before Madoka could give it more thought Homura started to calm down, her face going back to her usual stone mask; though her arms still held Madoka strongly from the shoulders.

“Don’t ever do that again… please” Homura pleaded; her voice tried to remain calm but Madoka could hear it crack at times. “Just tell me what you want”

“Sorry…” said Madoka, slowly getting up from the ground as Homura’s grip became weaker. She wanted to give the girl a hug, try to calm her down with it, but with how Homura current state was because of something she had done… it didn’t feel like it would really help.

Madoka walked towards the chair that had fallen and picked them up, looking to see if they had broken or not. Thankfully everything seemed all right.

“Which ones do you want” said Homura, her eyes looking at the ground as she talked. Her hair messy from catching her before she could fall, Homura itself didn’t seem to have gotten hurt but Madoka could see that Homura’s hands were shaking even if only a bit; the girl was probably trying to hide how distressed she really was.

“Ah… the Heliotropes please… they are on the top-right” answered Madoka, her voice sounding meek as a sense of guilt started to fill her.

Homura picked up the chairs and placed them closer to the right side of the shelf. Without checking whether they were stable or not she got on top of them with confidence. A confidence that wasn’t showing on her still shaking hands, the girl face completely lost of emotion. It felt as if Homura had gone back to the first days, when they still didn’t talk.

Madoka turned away from the girl, trying to hide her the tears that started to form on the edges of her eyes. Because of her Homura had probably hurt herself, there was no way the girl had been able to catch her from such a fall without doing so. Because of her what was intended to only be making Homura just a bit nervous had actually hurt the girl. All because she tried to show some kind of confidence as she teased the girl.

The only thing she had gotten from it was making Homura feel distressed, the girl closing herself as to not worry Madoka. Madoka heard Homura getting off the chairs. Madoka dried her tears with her sleeve and turned back to face Homura with a forced smile.

“Here” Homura said as she handed Madoka the package of heliotropes seeds.

“Th-thanks” said Madoka as she took the seeds, quickly turning around as to not face Homura – not now.  “We need a flower pot! Let’s find a cute one”

Madoka walked off towards one of the closets and opened it. There were a few pots to choose from inside of it, though most pots were in the outside warehouse. Still, they just needed a small one so these would do.

“What about this one?” asked Madoka, taking a light blue flower pot from the closet and placing it behind her without looking at Homura in the face “It’s pretty simple, but the pastel tone is really cute!”

“Oh! This one is pretty cute, though a bit tiny maybe?” said Madoka, quickly going back into the closet and seeing a white flower pot with Sakura leaves drawn around it. She took the pot and left it behind her, once again without looking back.

“There have to be more…” wondered Madoka as she searched around the closet a bit more.

“Madoka” Homura’s tone was a worried one.

“Oh! Look at this one!” said Madoka, getting out a light pink flower pot with a simple cat face drawn on it. Madoka’s voice started to quiver.

“Madoka-”

“The others ar- are pretty simple… but we can go to- to the warehouse if you want!” Tears started to form at the edges of her eyes, quickly trailing down her cheeks.

“Mado-”

“There is a florist not too far away t- too, we can go there if you want” Madoka’s voice cracked with every other word, she could feel herself speaking faster than usual; her breathing becoming shallow and random. “W-we just ha-have to ask the president for som-some money to-”

The air shifted behind her. She felt a gentle and warmth pressure behind her back as arms coiled around her torso. Madoka’s body tensed up but didn’t resist, the familiar smell of lavender surrounding her wouldn’t let her. Madoka tried to look back, but Homura rested her forehead on Madoka’s nape, stopping the girl’s attempt at turning back. Madoka slowly came to the realization of what was going on as she looked at Homura’s arms embracing her.

Madoka tried to speak, but no words came out. The knot that had started to appear on her throat completely setting in as the guilt that had been brewing up inside of her finally reached its peak and spilled out everywhere. Her tears now flowing freely as the only thing that came out of Madoka’s mouth were weak whimpers.

“It’s okay” the soothing voice of Homura surrounded her “I’m okay, nothing happened”

“I- I-” Madoka tried to speak, but only sobs and nonsense came out. The shock of the fall and the sense of guilt fusing together into a massive sense of uselessness. “I’m s-sorry”

“You don’t have to be” reassured Homura, the girl tightening her embrace as she spoke “I don’t want to see you suffer like this, everything is okay. It was just a scare”

Madoka hunched forwards, holding Homura’s hands as they embraced her from behind. Her breathing became hurried, the possibility that she could have fallen towards the window instead of towards the interior of the room settling in. The possibility of Homura not reaching her on time, Madoka’s head hitting the table and it all ending there.

“Breathe” calmingly said Homura “Follow mine if you can’t”

Homura exaggerated her breaths, letting Madoka feel them on her back. Madoka tried to follow them, the voice of the girl guiding her along with her raising and lowering chest.

“Everything is okay” Homura slowly loosened the hug as Madoka’s breathing started to stabilize. “You are okay”

“D-did you get hurt” said Madoka, tears still fell and her voice was still hanging on some words; but slowly she started to calm down.

“I’m fine” reassured Homura as she ended the hug and prodded Madoka to turned around to face her. One of her hands caressing Madoka’s cheek in a calming gesture “Better now?”

Madoka looked at the soft expression on Homura’s amethyst eyes, at her lips softening into a small smile. Madoka’s heart was racing. Their face were mere centimeters apart. Homura’s soft lips laid in front of her with a smile she had rarely seen on the girl. The glow of the room making Homura’s eyes almost glow as they dearly looked at Madoka. Her heartbeat got faster as Madoka leaned in.

Her lips connected with Homura’s. Homura’s lips were softer than Madoka had ever expected them to be. Her mind clearing completely, only the feeling of Homura’s lips connecting with hers remained. Madoka’s heart beat as fast as it could, her whole body being embraced by Homura’s warmth.

Madoka pulled away, staying close enough to Homura’s face that she could feel the girl’s breathing getting faster. Madoka wanted more, and so she leaned in for another kiss; their lips connecting a second time. They were nothing more than pure innocent kisses, and yet they filled Madoka with enough warmth to not even worry about the consequences of suddenly kissing the girl she so much loved.

Madoka pulled away once again, this time far enough as to be able to resist the urge to kiss Homura once again, and looked at Homura; trying to see how the girl had reacted.

Homura’s eyes were completely open in surprise. Her mouth hanged slightly open from the kiss they had just shared. Her previously calmed breathing was now as hurried as Madoka’s was. Her face was red, probably just as much as Madoka’s own face.

“Homura-chan” Madoka started to speak between breaths, still riding the high from the kisses “I love you”

Homura’s eyes opened even more, her whole face turning red. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Homura tried to look away, but Madoka moved to face her again.

“Homura-chan, I love you” repeated Madoka, staring straight into Homura’s eyes. Homura’s lips taunted her from this close, but Madoka resisted. She mustn’t let herself melt in them again. Not yet. Not until she had an answer.

“Ma-Ma-Mado” Homura couldn’t get a hold of her voice, her eyes darting around from Madoka’s eyes, to Madoka’s lips, to a random spot of the room. Cute. “W-w-what are yo-you saying M-Madoka?”

“I love you Homura-chan” repeated Madoka, now that she had come this far there was no backing down “Do you love me?”

Homura slowly lowered her head, her face now completely tinted in ruby red.

Homura nodded.

“I want to hear you say it” said Madoka, an even bigger rush of joy filling her at what was a confirmation; even if a small one. Her heart felt as if it was going to break out of her chest “Please, Homura-chan”

 “I- I lov-love you Madoka” stuttered Homura, her face still not looking up.

Madoka felt her whole body shiver with joy at the words that Homura spoke. Her hands moved by themselves until they grabbed the girl’s face, making them lock eyes. Madoka leaned forwards once more, stealing a third kiss from Homura’s lips.

Everything seemed to come to a halt around them. The sounds that came from outside were no more, only them remained moving in the world.

“I love you too, Homura-chan”

Current date: 21th May

A/N: Well, that was my first ever kiss scene… I actually got nervous while writing it.

Chapter Text

Nagisa walked into the elevator, quickly pressing the close door button once she was inside. The doors slowly closed as she kept her eyes focused on the outside, paying attention to every tiny bit of movement. The doors finally closed, no one else inside the elevator. Nagisa pressed the button for the fifth floor and waited.

When the elevator doors opened, she made sure to look at both sides of the hallway. No one was there. Good. Nagisa started to walk towards her apartment – well, Mami’s apartment -   and once in front of the door reached for the handle. She turned the handle, but the door didn’t open. The door being locked.

“Mami hasn’t come yet?” wondered Nagisa out loud, the girl digging into her backpack as she searched for the apartment keys.

“Geez, she gets friends and forgets about me” she joked as she unlocked the apartment door, slowly opening it.

Nagisa took a step forward, entering the apartment. A shiver ran up her back. She took a deep breath and turned around. Two grins welcomed her, the two dolls observing her from the hallway. The familiar with the winter hat and braids took a step forwards, trying to get into the apartment. Nagisa quickly slammed the door shut.

Since she had been found out by Homura the two familiars had stopped being so concealing about their following around. Instead, they had simply started to follow her close by.

Nagisa turned around and walked into the apartment, leaving her schoolbag next to the entrance. She merrily walked towards the kitchen, Mami had been baking something yesterday and it should be okay for her to take one slice, right? Nagisa walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. The huge cake – really, not even Nagisa thought she could finish that in one sitting, maybe Kyouko could have though – loomed over her. She went to pick it up but saw a note on top of it.

“If you eat this, I’m not buying cheese for a month.

Signed, Mami”

“Fuck” whispered Nagisa.

Wait, Mami isn’t home.

“Fuck!” shouted Nagisa.

Now that she knew there was not going to be any cake today she didn’t even feel in the mood to do her homework. After all, what was the point of doing homework in a world created by the devil? Surely Homura wasn’t doing hers! And she, technically, was already dead; why did she have to study?! She didn’t have to do anything when she was in the Law of Cycles, just… float? Be there? Exist and not exist at the same time kind of deal. But at least she didn’t have to study, that was a plus.

If Homura was going to recreate the world once again then she could have made it so she was in Bebe’s form! That way she could expend the whole day eating. And the cake song was fun, bring it back.

Nagisa walked towards the living room, stopping on her tracks as she saw the two dolls sitting on the couch, taking almost the whole thing for themselves. The dolls looked at her with their eternal grins before going back to their own thing, almost as if it had been Nagisa the one that had just invaded the living room instead of them. Nagisa’s left eye twitched.

“Move to the side” demanded Nagisa “I wanna watch TV”

The dolls looked at her. The one with the two buns whispered something on the other’s ear, getting a laugh from her companion. Two mace-pins appeared out of nowhere, gently resting on their hands. Without breaking eye contact with Nagisa, the dolls placed the pins on the few spots that were free of the couch. Leaving no gap to even sit on.

That’s it.

These two felt weaker than the ones that followed Mami. Maybe she could take on them. Maybe she could teach them a lesson. Maybe she should just transform and blast them away. She was one of the secretaries of the Law of Cycles, she was pretty- kind of sure that she could take both of them on. She would ask for forgiveness later, maybe Homura would be in a good mo-

The door to the apartment opened.

“Nagisa! I’m home!” cheered Mami, a happier voice than usual.

Nagisa walked towards the entrance, if Mami was this happy maybe she had gotten herself a nice offer in the supermarket and they were going to eat something good. Or maybe she was simply excited to eat the cake she had worked on yesterday and the only reason she had told her not to eat was so they could eat together, or maybe-

“How you doin’ cheese brat?” Kyouko walked in after Mami a big grin on her face, Sayaka followed a few steps behind them; The blue-haired girl was frowning, and with how lost were her eyes she seemed to be thinking about something.

However, what really caught Nagisa’s attention weren’t the two girls Mami had brought with her. No, what caught her attention were the six dolls that followed them. The troupe walking into the house as they looked at Nagisa and laughed at the girl, not trying to hide themselves from her anymore Nagisa could feel the full force of their magic.

“Nagisa?” worriedly asked Mami “Are you okay? Your face is completely pale”

“Ah! Yes! I didn’t expect you to bring your friends that’s all! Was surprised!” Nagisa quickly ignored the dolls that went towards the living room, trying to hide the pression she felt when looking their way. They didn’t even feel like familiars when they were all together, hell, the two that were following Sayaka already had more presence than a witch by themselves. Now, Nagisa was pretty sure she had gotten all her memories back, and from what she remembered from her time in Homura’s labyrinth these dolls didn’t use to be this strong. They felt like familiars that were ready to branch off their witch. Ready to become their own. But something, or most likely someone, was holding them back.

“Surprised enough to look as if you had seen a ghost?” questioned Mami as she frowned “You… you haven’t eaten the cake, right?”

“What?! Of course not!” Nagisa said, feeling insulted that Mami would even think that she would do such a thing! Yeah, that had been her original idea but that didn’t matter! “What kind of girl do you think I am?!”

“One that has been caught trying to sneakily eat food at three in the morning” reminded Mami before letting out a long sigh.

“Hah…” sighed Kyouko “How troublesome is today’s youth”

“You do the same though?” Sayaka looked at the redhead with a confused expression on her face.

“Wrong” Kyouko corrected “I don’t do it sneakily; I just go for it”

“Well,” Mami clapped her hands together, a warm smile on her face “let’s go wait in the living room for now. We’ll be taking the cake in an hour or two, want some tea and snacks in the meantime?”

“Yeah/Yes!” Kyouko and Nagisa exclaimed at the same time.

[-]

Mami carefully poured the hot tea into everyone’s cup one by one, putting away the almost empty teapot after she finished with hers. Nagisa leaned forwards, trying to get one of the cookies from the couch; sadly, the task was deemed impossible from her current position – she had left the closest spots to Sayaka and Kyouko – and as such she had to get up from the couch to reach the plate. She did make sure to pick up more than one. She wasn’t planning on making the same trip twice just for one more cookie.

“What are we waiting for by the way?” asked Nagisa while she munched on the chocolate cookie she had picked.

“Ah right, we didn’t tell you” Mami said, going for a sip of tea before talking again. “We are waiting for Madoka and Akemi-san to come”

Nagisa almost choked on the cookie when she heard Homura’s name. She looked towards the side, where most of the dolls gathered and played around with some kind of wheel toy. Not only was she going to have to fight against the pressure of the eight dolls that currently were in the house, but Homura was coming too? And not only that, because if what Sayaka had told her about Homura was true – which seeing how things had ended it probably was – it meant that Madoka was also coming by with dolls; probably more than two.

Nagisa didn’t catch anyone attention with her almost choking though, most eyes had ended on Sayaka who had actually started to choke at the mention of the other two.

“Are you okay Miki-san?” worriedly asked Mami as she got up from her seat, walking over to the blue-haired girl and offering her the cup of tea. “Here wash it down”

Sayaka obliged, gulping down the entire cup of tea to try and move the cookie’s that had stuck to her throat.

“Th-thank you” she said as she tried to recover her breath.

Mami let out a sigh “Really, every time you’ve come to my house you almost die. First you fainted out of nowhere, and now you choke!”

Does Sayaka remember too?

Nagisa couldn’t help but wonder if the girl had recovered her memories and the reaction came from hearing Homura’s name. And apparently the dolls that were in the room were all wondering the same thing, everyone looking at Sayaka with piercing glares. One of the dolls, one with short messy blue hair and a black sun hat started to walked towards Sayaka.

The doll placed herself in front of the girl. Her expression didn’t change at all, but Nagisa could feel the magic of the doll moving around as it tried to prod for something.

The doll stopped. As if they were one, all of them quickly turned their heads towards the same direction. Their faces didn’t change, but Nagisa could almost feel their grins going wider as they all stared at the same place.

BANG!

BANG! BANG!

“What the hell is that?” said a startled Kyouko as she got up from the couch and walked towards the windows of the apartment. “Are those…”

BANG!

“Fireworks?” finished Mami, now looking towards the window as a multitude of differently colored fireworks filled the blue sky over Mitakihara.

“Who the hell throws fireworks during the day?” added Kyouko.

“They should take a few weeks before they start growing…” Madoka walked away from the small cat faced flower pot, the heliotrope seeds had been covered in a bit of soil and a heating mat made sure to keep the temperature stable. “But after that they shouldn’t take long to go into bloom”

“Hmmm” Homura hummed in answer, making sure to put away the things they had used to plant the seeds and gather the bit of soil they had spilled off the table.

Madoka walked around the table where Homura was cleaning, a timid smile on her face as she got closer to the girl. Once she was right next to her, Madoka simply observed Homura’s face as she finished cleaning the table. Homura couldn’t contain the blush that started to appear on her cheeks as the pink haired girl pierced her with her shining pink eyes.

“Say, Homura-chan” Madoka fidgeted in place, the girl starting to help Homura clean to keep her hands busy with something “I-I’ve been thinking…”

Homura looked at Madoka for a second, quickly having to look away as the memory of her soft sweet lips came back; the memory threatening to make her once sick heart explode.

“S-so since- since I like you…” Madoka voice became meek, the embarrassment still apparent in her voice. After having calmed down from the… situation they had – Homura’s mind wandered to Madoka repeating ‘I love you’ over and over again –, the realization of what had happened started to settle on both of them and things had been awkward since. “And… you like m-m-me too… right?”

Homura nodded.

“We-well, I thought are we like…” Madoka looked away, trying to hide her face from Homura “A-are we like dating now or…”

Homura’s heartbeat fastened as her heart tried to escape from her chest. Where they going out now? Wait- had Madoka actually confessed to her? Madoka had said she loved her? Madoka- Madoka loved her?

Not only that but Madoka had kissed her. The thing she had so shamefully dreamt of more times than she could remember, and it had been just like she expected. Madoka’s lips had been sweet, soft, warm, and kind as the girl they belonged to. Homura felt like she could let herself melt away in them.

“O-of course if you don’t want to-!” Madoka rectified, seeing as Homura wasn’t giving her answer.

“N-no! I…” Homura tried to speak, the weak meek braided girl she had been in the past coming through at the worst possible moment. A knot formed in her throat, words getting caught up in it.

Homura looked at Madoka, the pink haired girl trying to hide her embarrassed face. Madoka’s hands were shaking as she waited for an answer.

“If- If you want…” Homura started to speak, she had to say it. Madoka had been the one to declare in the heat of the moment, but now that they had calmed down the pink haired beauty was probably thinking she had done something wrong.

Memories of old dreams came back, and the realization that this wasn’t like how she had dreamed her declaration of love was supposed to go out flood her. She had always thought it would be something more romantic. For years she had dreamed of the perfect declaration: defeat Walpurgisnacht, everyone is saved, she confesses both her journey and love to Madoka. Instead, she had gotten a mess of a declaration: They kissed before even saying they loved each other, then Madoka was the one to confess instead of Homura… And then they stood around for almost an hour without even knowing if they were going out.

She wasn’t going to complain though.

“If you are okay with me-”

“Of course I am!” Madoka jumped, the girl seemingly having taken such a proposition as an insult. “You are amazing Homura-chan! The problem is if you want to go out with someone like… like me”

Homura faced Madoka with eyes as wide as plates.

“I mean…” Madoka kept talking, looking at her hands as she played with the empty package of seeds “I’m not good at anything… I have to put a lot of work to even keep up my marks, I’m very much average on sports… And I’m not as beautiful as you are”

Madoka looked at Homura with pained eyes, her smile wavering as she spoke.

“It would be insulting to even let someone like me go out with you” Madoka let out a forced nervous laugh.

“…No” Homura muttered. “You are wrong, Madoka”

Homura took a step forwards, closing her distance with Madoka and giving the girl a hug. Trying to be as gentle with her touch as Madoka had been before for her when she had needed it.

“You are an amazing person, Madoka” Homura whispered, slowly stroking Madoka’s back in a gentle movement “You are the kindest person I know; you would sacrifice yourself if you knew that by doing so you would be helping someone; You are the strongest and bravest person I know; You are my guiding star, Madoka”

Homura slowly let go of the hug, facing a surprised Madoka still processing her words.

“Does that mean…”

“I would love to go out with you, Madoka”

We would spend the rest of our days with you if we could.

Homura ignored the Devil, not because of her words – she agreed with them – but because right now the only thing that mattered was Madoka.

They both stood in silence once again, the awkwardness in the air slowly changing into a more a comfortable silence. Madoka slowly approached Homura once more, their heartbeats quickening as their faces got closer and closer. Homura could feel Madoka’s breathing, their lips mere centimeters apart-

The door opened. The club president and the other girl walking in.

“God, I hate those people at class 3-2! Can’t they take care of a basic fern without destroying its leaves?!” complained bonsai guy.

The girl sighed before looking up at Homura and Madoka. A bit of a surprised expression on her face as she observed both of them standing next to each other, reddened cheeks in full display.

“Oh, are we interrupting something?” she asked.

“Ah- No! Homura-chan and I just finished putting everything away!” Madoka said, moving a bit further away from Homura with a bigger blush on her face “Don’t worry about it, Ayumi-senpai”

Homura cursed the other two for barging in and stopping what had seemed like another possible kiss from Madoka. Having to contain herself from actually cursing them.

They spent the rest of the club time cleaning in silence, exchanging knowing smiles with each other from time to time.

Sayaka leaned forwards to take another cookie, trying to avoid the bickering Kyouko and Nagisa on her way to the plate.

“You’ve eaten more than I have!” complained Nagisa, trying to uselessly take the plate of cookies from Kyouko’s hands.

“Who knows? Haven’t been keepin’ count” smugly announced Kyouko as she took another cookie and ate it.

“AAAH! That was the last chocolate one! You- You bastard!” shouted Nagisa, trying to climb on Kyouko to reach the plate of cookies; Kyouko laughing at the girl’s attempt. Really, she liked to tease people too much.

“Nagisa!” scolded Mami from the other side of the room, an embarrassed expression on her face “I will buy more another day, please stop annoying Kyouko”

“But-” Nagisa looked at Mami with pleading eyes that were only met by an angry look. “Ugh! Fine!”

Nagisa walked away from Kyouko, sitting back on the couch before angrily taking a sip of her tea.

“I’m sorry Kyouko-san” sighed Mami “She can get a bit… out of hand when it comes to food”

“Gee, I wonder who she reminds me of” whispered Sayaka to herself, but judging by the sharp look that Kyouko gave her the redhead had heard her.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it Mami” said Kyouko, leaving the plate back on the table and sliding it towards Nagisa. “I just wanted to tease her a bit”

Nagisa looked at the cookies tray for a few seconds before finally giving in and grumpily taking a cookie.

Silence filled the room once more, the sound of eating being the only one that was made. Eventually Kyouko wasn’t able to stand the silence anymore and spoke up.

“How long is gonna take those two to come?” she complained with a tired sigh “Shouldn’t they have come by like ten minutes ago?”

“Maybe they got lost?” wondered Mami, getting out her phone and opening the Line app.

“Madoka is usually good with directions” added Sayaka “I don’t think she would get lost”

“Yeah” sighed Kyouko “She would have sent a message if she had gotten lost too. And as much as Akemi does whatever Madoka tells her I don’t think she is one to lose time getting lost”

At the mention of Akemi, Sayaka’s mind wandered into her previous realization. Madoka had been trying to get close to Akemi before, that much was true. But ever since the day she had asked Akemi to go to the shopping mall with her she had gotten way more attached to the girl…

Wait, had that been a date? Oh god, that was a date. That’s the only reason why Madoka would have preferred to go only with Akemi rather than as a group with everyone else…

Wait, and Akemi didn’t know either? She hadn’t told her at least, and she was in the game of looking for whoever Madoka liked as much as Sayaka had been herself…

Well, at least she wasn’t the only dense one. Yay, Sayaka…

And Kyouko knew… because Madoka had told her? Then, she was there to help Madoka on her date? God it all made so much sense now.

Still, Madoka liking Akemi? The girl wasn’t ugly sure, and she had good grades, and was athletic, and definitely helped Madoka with anything she asked… Okay she could see why Madoka would fall for her. She still had that weird feeling about her, but she also understood what Madoka had meant before.

When Madoka had told her that Akemi always looked like she was alone, like she was suffering… Sayaka really didn’t see it. The girl always looked the same to her after all, always with her cold face on and glaring down anyone who had dared to approach her. But now that she had seen her more… Whenever Akemi was with Madoka she felt like a different person. Hell, she smiled sometimes whenever she and Madoka were together. And after their little deal to find who Madoka had been in love with – an ironic search now – Sayaka had come to realize that the girl wasn’t that bad… At least not when it came to Madoka that is. She still had given food poisoning to Kyouko.

“I promise if they don’t come in the next five minutes, I’m eating Akemi’s slice of cake” announced Kyouko.

“There is more than enough for seconds” giggled Mami.

“Then the brat can get the other slice” said Kyouko, looking at Nagisa in search of her opinion.

“I approve of that plan!” the kid happily said.

The doorbell rang.

“Oh, speaking of the devil” said Sayaka, the last word leaving a strange sensation as she spoke it.

Mami got up from her chair, gently leaving her teacup back on the table before walking towards the door; disappearing from their view as she turned a corner. A few seconds later the sound of a door opening was heard.

“Hello Mami-san! Sorry for being late”

“Don’t worry about it, did you two get lost?” asked Mami, the steps of the three of them walking towards the living room could be heard.

This was it, after the cake Kyouko was going to take care of Akemi and she could ask Madoka to confirm who she liked. Sayaka thought she had pretty much figured it out already, but she could still be wrong. She had been about Kyouko after all.

“Oh no, no” corrected Madoka, Mami now came into view as the blonde girl turned the corner back into the living room “We just got distracted on our way here”

Sayaka’s eyes went wide in surprise. Madoka and Akemi came into view at the same time, Madoka attached to the raven haired girl arm’s as if she was to die were she to stop clinging to her.

“Hello again, Kyouko-chan, Sayaka-chan!” said Madoka, almost as if the fact that she was completely glued to Akemi was completely normal for the two. “You too Nagisa-chan! It’s been a long time since I last saw you!”

Sayaka looked at Kyouko, only a smug grin on her face as she approvingly nodded.

“Took you long enough” she said.

“We got distracted, sorry!” said Madoka.

“Wasn’t talking about that” muttered Kyouko before moving to the side to leave a place for Madoka and Akemi to sit on.

Madoka guided Akemi towards the couch, only letting the girl’s arm go for a second as they took their seats before grabbing onto her again.

Do I even need to ask her?

“I’ll brew more tea and get the cake, please wait a minute” said Mami, taking the teapot with her and a smile. “Is Chamomile tea okay, Akemi-san?”

“Ah, yes” Akemi said making a small pause as she looked at Madoka for a second “Thank you, Tomoe-san”

Mami gave her a smile before going back into the kitchen with the teapot.

“I-I’ll help her!” Nagisa said as she jumped off the couch and rushed towards the kitchen.

Madoka looked at the table, seeing the tray of cookies that laid on it, and leaned forwards to take one. She bit half of it, her face going into a smile as she ate the sweet.

“This is really good!” Madoka turned towards Akemi, offering the same cookie she had taken a bite out of to the girl “Here Homura-chan try it!”

Akemi hesitated for a second, her cheeks blushing in a deep red, before carefully eating the cookie that Madoka offered; Sayaka couldn’t believe her eyes, Akemi Homura the girl that had been tagged as ‘ice queen’ blushing like an idiot.

“Is it good?” happily asked Madoka, clearly more content with being able to feed the girl than with hearing her opinion about the cookie.

“Yes” Homura said her cool voice not matching her blushing face, the girl trying to put on a façade in front of the other two.

“Right~?”

Sayaka wanted to say something, anything, but the whole mood that the two of them had going seemed rude to break. She looked towards Kyouko in search of help, hoping that the usually more direct approach of the redhead would make it easier to talk; but when she saw Kyouko the girl had taken out her phone and was scrolling through her socials as if she was alone in the room.

Sayaka sighed.

[-]

“Mami this cake is delicious!” joyfully said Madoka as she finished eating a piece of the cake Mami had served them.

“My, thank you, Kaname-san” Mami let out a practiced refined laugh “You sure are happy today, did something good happen?”

“Well…” Madoka took a side look at Akemi, the girl flinching a bit as she did. “You could say so, yes”

“I’m glad” added Mami as she ate a piece of the cake.

Akemi went to take a sip of the tea, trying to hide her slight blush with the teacup.

“Soooo….” Started saying Kyouko who was sitting right next to Akemi, leaning forwards to look at both her and Madoka at the same time “what did you two do at the club?”

Akemi started to choke on her tea, bringing the back of her hand towards her mouth to cover it as she coughed. Madoka started to pat her in the back.

“Well… we planted some heliotropes” said Madoka, still helping Akemi recover from her coughing fit.

“Heliotropes?” wondered Mami “Those are quite beautiful flowers”

“Right?” said Madoka with a smile, Homura now recovered went for another sip of her tea.

“What did they mean though…?” started to wonder Mami, taking a long sip from her tea as she went into deep thought “Ah, wasn’t it something like ‘eternal love’?”

“Yes! Undying love and passion” corrected Madoka.

Akemi started to choke again, this time only coughing a few times, before she left her teacup back on the table; having given up on trying to drink. Madoka was looking at her with an entertained smile.

Something definitely had happened between the two.

“Who chose the flower?” asked Kyouko as she grabbed the strawberry that was on top of her slice and popped it into her mouth.

“I did” said Madoka. “It’s a beautiful violet flower”

“Isn’t it a bit of hard plant to take care of as your first though?” asked Mami, handing another slice of cake to Nagisa who had gone a bit further away from the rest.

“It isn’t recommended no” Madoka looked at Akemi, a smile with more meaning behind it that Sayaka could see on her face “But I’m not leaving Homura-chan alone with it, we are both taking care of it; right, Homura-chan?”  

“Y-… yes” Akemi tried to hide her stutter. Keyword being ‘tried’ because Sayaka had clearly noticed it, and by Kyouko’s grin she had to.

Time went on as they finished eating the cake, most of the work being done by Nagisa and Kyouko. The conversation quickly becoming a vent of how much schoolwork they had. After a few minutes, Kyouko looked at the clock and nodded to herself before getting up from the couch and stretched her whole body.

“Well, I’m feeling like eating something salty”

“You still want to eat?” asked Sayaka in amazement.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go to the convenience store” She looked towards Madoka “Anyone want something? It’s on me”

“Ah- Yes! Some chips may be good actually” Madoka unnaturally said, a line that felt almost rehearsed.

“Cool, Akemi come with me” Kyouko started to walk towards the door.

“Why?” said Akemi with a frown on her face.

“I’m sure you will choose something Madoka likes more than me, now come”

“I don’t see how-”

“Can you please go with her Homura-chan?” asked Madoka as she held the girl’s hands.

“I…” Akemi’s frown deepened. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly “Okay, I’ll be back soon”

Akemi walked out of the apartment, the shadows almost seemingly shifting as she closed the door behind her. A minute in silence passed before Madoka broke it.

“So, Sayaka-chan” Madoka moved to face Sayaka. “Did you want to ask me something?”

The girl’s eyes beamed with newfound confidence, whatever had happened today had given her childhood friend a boost in her self-confidence. Sayaka just hoped it wasn’t a temporary one.

“Eh? Ah- right” Sayaka looked at Mami, if Madoka had started this here she guessed that Mami hearing about it was alright “So… who do you like?”

Mami raised her eyebrows in surprise at the question, taking a long sip of her tea as she made sure to hear Madoka’s next words.

Madoka took a deep breath, a warmth filled smile on her face as she spoke.

“Homura. I love Homura”

Mami nodded with a satisfied smile, almost as if she had known – or at least guessed – and her suspicions had been confirmed.

“Does she know?” asked Sayaka, the initial surprise had been taken away from her own deductions. Even if they had been quite late.

Madoka didn’t say anything, the girl closing her eyes as she thought of an answer to give. A dumb smile on her face that made Sayaka guess what the answer was going to be.

“…Yes” Madoka finally said, getting an approving nod from Mami.

“Since when?” asked Mami, to curious now to let herself out of the conversation.

“Since… since today” Madoka admitted with a bashful expression on her face, the girl’s cheeks becoming red in embarrassment. “I told her after… something had happened”

“Oh~? What was her answer?” excitedly asked Mami.

Madoka fidgeted in her seat, a love dumb smile on her face as she squeezed her own head to try and contain her own excitement.

“She said she also loves me… and we started going out” Madoka’s voice was between a small timid voice and a squeal full of joy.

“Oh my! Congratulations!” said Mami, her words only making Madoka blush more.

Sayaka looked at her friend, seeing how happy she looked. Her childhood friend had found someone she loved, and she was happy. Sayaka knew Akemi wouldn’t try to hurt Madoka, at least not on purpose. And even if she did, seeing how happy Madoka was right now… well, if something bad happened between the two she would be there for her. And of course, she was going to held Akemi accountable for what she had said when they were searching for the guy Madoka liked, she really hoped she would treat Madoka well like she had hoped others would. And if not? She would talk some sense into her.

Sayaka had thought that learning who her friend liked would make her angry, maybe surprised, maybe disappointed even… but all it did was make her happy as she saw the so deserved happiness Madoka got from it.

Besides, Madoka loving Akemi somehow felt right.

“Thank you for your purchase!”

The automatic doors of the convenience store closed behind them, Kyouko carrying the bag where the chips they had bought were in.

“Thank you for paying for it” said Kyouko without looking at Akemi following behind her.

“Madoka asked for them” Akemi stated, really the girl only thought about pinky huh. “It’s only natural that I would”

They walked in silence for a few meters before Kyouko looked over her shoulder, seeing Akemi walking with a lost stare behind her. The girl didn’t even seem to be there.

“So, how did it go with Madoka” asked Kyouko, facing forwards once again.

“What do you mean”

Kyouko sighed “I mean who was the one to confess. My money is on pinky”

“How do you…?”

Kyouko stopped on her tracks, turning around to face Akemi with an incredulous face.

“Madoka was, literally, glued to you. And way happier than usual too” Kyouko remembered the mood the two had going between them when they came into Mami’s apartment “Well, and Madoka felt extra flirty with you, though knowing you you probably didn’t even notice it”

“No… I did” corrected Akemi, a bit of a blush on her cheeks.

“If you did that just means that something definitely happened” Kyouko’s smug grin grew even harder as she threw the bag with chips over her shoulder “So, who was it?”

Akemi took a moment to answer, the girl probably still debating on whether she should tell her or not. Not like it mattered to Kyouko though, she would ask Madoka later if she didn’t get her answers here.

“It was Madoka…” finally admitted Akemi.

“I knew it”

“She kissed me twice before saying anything and started to confess over and over until I answered…”

Kyouko’s eyes went as wide as plates, her mouth hanging open.

“Holy shit, Pinky had more guts than I expected”

With that said they kept walking, Akemi hanging close behind. Madoka having been the one to confess was as expected, with how dense Akemi was there was no way she was going to be the one to confess. Though Madoka kissing the girl before even asking her if she liked her was more of a surprise, that takes either a lot of confidence or stupidity on her part. She would ask later for details to make sure it was the first one.

“Can I ask you a question, Sakura-san?”

“Call me Kyouko, Sakura is way too stiff” there was no answer from Akemi, Kyouko looked over her shoulder to see the girl looking at the ground “What is it?”

“I… I don’t know if I took the right decision”

“Are you talking about Madoka?” asked Kyouko, getting a nod as answer from Akemi “do you like her?”

“I would break the laws of the universe for her” stoically answered Akemi.

“Cool, do you like her?” insisted Kyouko as she dismissed the cheesy line.

“…Yeah, I love her”

“Then you did”

“But there could be consequences-”

“Worry about those when they come” Kyouko couldn’t even think of what kind of consequences the girl was talking, but knowing how weird she was it could be anything “You love her, spend time with her while you can”

Kyouko quickened her pace, the faces of her family flashing on her mind.

*Static*

The dead body of Sayaka on her hands as she slowly disappeared from the world together with her soul gem.

*Static*

“You never know when it’s the last time you will see them”

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

Current date: Thursday 22^nd  of May.

Chapter Text

The shadows around her grew in size as the sun disappeared from the horizon, it’s orange light quickly fading into pure darkness. The streetlights buzzed, their artificial white light claiming the darkness the sun had left behind.

Kyouko’s steps became sluggish, only allowing her to advance a few more steps before having to come to a halt. A burning sensation swelled up inside her ring- no, her soul gem – before it quickly expanded to her whole body. Her head started to pulse, as the static slowly came back.

~~~

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Kyouko sat atop a hill, slowly unwrapping a hamburger; Akemi – no, Homura - had called her here to talk and with how distressed the girl seemed about it she couldn’t say no.

“Um… well” Homura felt as small as always, only really showing confidence whenever she was with Madoka. “Sakura-san, have things felt a little odd to you lately?”

~~~

Kyouko brought a hand to her head, pressing her palm against her forehead to try and make the static sound stop. It hurt.

~~~

“Sakura-san, can you keep this a secret from the others for a little while?” the moon shone behind them, it’s unnatural size engulfing both of their figures as they stood atop a bridge. “There’s something I want to investigate further on my own first”

“Are you dumb? How can we act like nothing’s wrong after seeing this?!” Kyouko quickly turned towards Homura, a feeling of incredulity at the girl’s words filling her.

“It will be fine”

Homura turned towards the other side of the bridge, her usually soft eyes glared into the distance with determination.

“I believe it will be better to pretend that we haven’t discovered anything”

~~~

Kyouko tried to recover her footing, taking a misstep as she did so and almost falling to the ground.

“Sakura-san?” Kyouko turned to see Homura standing a few meters behinds her, her brows slightly bent into a worried frown.

“Ah, I’m fine! I’m fine!” Kyouko quickly lied, her head still throbbed and the static didn’t disappear but something was telling her that Homura was the last person she should be telling it to. Memories were still coming back. “Just stumbled!”

Kyouko tried to endure the soaring pain in her head. She tried to put on her usual grin, but a few ticks came through in moments where the pain intensified. She looked away from Homura, the girl’s eyes shifting into a more inquisitive glare.

“So, as I was saying.” Kyouko tried to continue their conversation, every word she tried to think intensified her headache. “You have to treasure her, try to spend as much time as you can with her”

~~~

The sound of the arcade machines was quieter than usual, the world itself knowing something was about to change. Kyouko started to walk away from the dancing game, leaving behind a group of identical looking dancers. The voice of Homura coming through the phone.

“Now I understand” Homura’s voice had an unnatural calmness to it; it didn’t sound like the girl she had talked to a few days ago. And yet, it felt right to hear Homura talking like this. “I know who rewrote our memories and locked us in this false Mitakihara City”

Kyouko could feel something was wrong. The calmness in Homura’s voice was telling her so, whatever had happened she had already made a decision.

“Hey Homura!” Kyouko shouted into her phone as she ran outside of the building. “Are you all right?! Where are you right now?!”

Kyouko walked outside just on time to see one of the giant metal zeppelins falling to the ground, flames engulfing it completely.

~~~

“The last thing you want to do is to regret not having spent more time with her” As the words left Kyouko’s mouth the girl realized that she wasn’t sure if that had been truly meant for Homura. “Try as hard as you can to be with her”

Homura hummed in thought, Kyouko’s body was too scared to turn back to face her. Her instincts telling her that Homura noticing her pain would be her end.

~~~

“Are they gone now?” Kyouko crouched on top of a fossilized root, looking towards the horizon and nothing at the same time. “Sayaka, and Bebe too?”

Mami walked behind her, having left Homura’s grief filled soul gem on top of the girl’s unconscious. A moment of silence formed between the two, the horizon filling with light.

“No” Kyouko turned her head towards the sky that was slowly being filled with light “They are finally taking her away with them”

“Is that Kaname Madoka?” said Kyouko as she stood up.

“Yes, the Law of the Cycles which will one day lead us away too”

~~~

“I see” Homura’s voice felt sharper than usual; her presence being enough to send a shiver down Kyouko’s back. “Thank you for the advice, Sakura-san”

Kyouko tried to hide a wince as her headache intensified.

“Nah, a pleasure”

~~~

“Homura-chan don’t’!”

The same goddess that had come from the heaven’s was now being held by Homura. Reality was cracking around them, Kyouko having to fight to even keep her footing.

“You’ll rip me apart-”

~~~

The pain slowly disappeared with the last of her memories finally back. The same person that had taken them away walking right behind her. The same person that had triumphed over God herself.

Kyouko knew Homura would take her memories away if she noticed. Right now the only thing she could do was hope she hadn’t noticed.

“Sakura-san” Homura had walked up to her until they were standing next to each other. Kyouko’s heartbeat fastened in fear.

“Y-yeah?” she stuttered.

“You seem to be tired” Homura moved her hands to pick the bags from the convenience store “Let me carry them”

“Ah…” Kyouko hesitated for a second, trying to process what the girl had asked, before she gave the bags to the girl “Sure… thanks Homura”

“No” Homura curved her lips in a satisfied smile “Don’t worry”

“Goodbye Mami!” Madoka cheerfully said as she left the door, arms locked with Homura.

“See you all tomorrow, be careful on you way home” Mami said from the doorframe as she bid farewell to the group. After all of them went into the elevator Mami closed the door and let out a sigh.

“Tired?” asked Nagisa, still putting away the dishes and teacups they had used.

“A bit” admitted Mami, though Nagisa could clearly see that the girl was trying to fight to keep herself awake. “I will make dinner in a few minutes for you, I’m full so I don’t think I’ll eat though”

Nagisa looked at Mami, the blonde was wearing her usual forced smile.

“Go to sleep, I ate a lot too” Nagisa commanded, her voice slightly harsh to let Mami know she was being serious. “I can survive one night without dinner you know”

Mami’s gaze became a gentle one as she approached Nagisa and placed her hand tenderly on her head.

“No, can’t do” Mami walked past Nagisa, heading into the kitchen “I wouldn’t be a good guardian if I did that”

Nagisa followed her, a bit annoyed and worried at the same time at the girl’s insistence. Once she reached the kitchen, she saw Mami looking through the fridge in search of ingredients. Seeing that she wasn’t about to make Mami go to bed – as the girl should be doing – she decided to at least take care of some work by cleaning the dishes the group had used.

Some time passed. Mami cooking a simple diner for Nagisa, Nagisa struggling to clean the big oven mold Mami had used for the cake.

“Mami” Nagisa said as she tried to maneuver the big cake mold.

“Hmmm?” The sound of a knife cutting vegetables in a consistent rhythm filled the kitchen.

“Did you have fun today?”

Nagisa took a peek at Mami, the blonde girl taking her time to answer her. She could see a smile forming on her lips.

“Yes. Yes, I did”

Silence fell between the two for a few more minutes, Nagisa finally finishing with all the dishes while Mami finished with the cooking. They both went towards the living room to eat, though only Nagisa had food. Mami simply watched her phone as Nagisa ate, sometimes giving the girl a smile or two when she noticed her looking at her.

“Say Mami” Nagisa swallowed her food “…are you happy?”

Mami looked up from her phone, a look of entertained confusion on her face. “What’s up with all the questions today?” She laughed.

“Just answer!” Nagisa pouted, stuffing her mouth with another forkful of food.

Mami looked at her with soft eyes, a smile returning to her face.

“I… I would say I am” Mami admitted “I have you here, I have friends at school… money could be better, but I can’t complain” Mami let out a soft chuckle at her last remark.

“I see…”

This place really wasn’t that bad after all.

The streets were completely empty save for the two girl’s that were walking back home. A streetlight here and there had failed to turn on, giving the whole scenery a strange vibe that made Kyouko be on guard. Sayaka on the other hand was simply walking as she spoke, completely unaware of the kind of world they were in.

“I have to admit, I didn’t expect Madoka to love Akemi” Sayaka walked with both arms crossed behind her head, not looking where she took a step “In retrospect it makes sense sure, but I guess I simply wasn’t looking where I should”

“Yeah” Kyouko replied absentminded, paying more attention to the two dolls that followed them closely behind.

So Homura had been following each of them with a doll? How much were they telling her? And one doll each? They were strong inside of Homura’s labyrinth true, but they had also been working in a group together with other familiars. Had they gotten stronger? Or was Homura simply underestimating them?

“But really” Sayaka laughed “Madoka really is head over heels for Akemi huh? She was trying way too hard at Tomoe’s apartment!”

Kyouko tried to get a better look of the two dolls that were following them without calling much attention to herself. One of the dolls walked with clear confidence, either to cocky or actually skilled; the other doll wasn’t even looking at them, and through the apparently eternal smile they wore Kyouko could swear she heard the doll sigh from time to time.

If worst came to worst, she was pretty sure that getting Sayaka to remember would be the best option. Between the two they should be able to take the other two dolls down. In a one against two scenario though… It would be hard, but Kyouko should be able to go against them as long as they were as strong as they had been inside the labyrinth.

But that would mean that Homura was underestimating them, and knowing her that didn’t make any sense. There had to be some kind of thing that Kyouko wasn’t picking on. Something obvious that was escaping her.

“Though seeing Akemi all embarrassed like that is pretty fun!” Sayaka sighed “Really, how much have I missed of Akemi being so embarrassed with Madoka?”

“A lot” Kyouko quickly answered, going back to her thinking.

She had been able to spot the two dolls pretty quickly once she had gotten her powers back, so there was a high change they were using some kind of hiding like what Kyubey used. Something that would mean they didn’t have to hide from those that they were following-

Wait.

What was the point of doing that? Homura was probably monitoring them in case they got their memories back, but if they could just see them after recovering their memories wouldn’t that miss the point entirely? They would become wary of the dolls. If Homura wanted to catch them using their powers, then they shouldn’t be appearing like that in front of them.

Unless…

What if they were a red herring? What if they weren’t the only familiars that were following them?

Kyouko tried to get another peek at the dolls. They were following them so… no, they weren’t following them; those dolls were only looking at Sayaka, not at her. Then, did that mean that?

Kyouko’s eyes darted around the street in search of any strange movement, any strange shadow that didn’t feel natural, anything that was out of the ordinary.

“But saying that the person Madoka liked was problematic” Sayaka turned around, the blue-haired girl now walking backwards as she faced Kyouko. “Really, why would you say that about Akemi?”

“You were the one that didn’t like her at the beginning” reminded Kyouko “Told you that you wouldn’t like who Madoka liked, not that she was a delinquent”

“Well yeah, in the beginning” Sayaka closed her eyes “But lately I’ve been feeling like she isn’t that bad you know? At first, I thought she was using Madoka but I guess she was just in love”

Sayaka opened her eyes, a smile now on her face as she spoke.

“Honestly I want to support them both” she turned around, walking straight once again. “I’ve never seen Madoka with so much confidence, and Akemi has been livelier lately. I’ve also been getting a bit closer to her, and now I can nag her about stealing Madoka away” Sayaka ran a few meters before stopping and turning around to face Kyouko with a bright smile and slightly reddened cheeks. “Besides, if I feel lonely, I can always count on you, right?”

Kyouko stopped walking; her eyes focused on Sayaka.

The girl she loved was right in front of her; breathing. She had been able to say goodbye the second time she disappeared after destroying Homura’s labyrinth, but even then she knew she really hadn’t wanted to. She had lost her right before they started to actually get to know each other. She had been able to be with her because of Homura before, and once again she was able to be with her because of Homura.

She had gotten the opportunity to see the person she loved once again, and all she was doing with it was worry about who was following her. Which, in turn, was only making her look more suspicious.

She had told Homura to use every moment she could with the person she loved, and yet she wasn’t applying her own advice to herself.

“Kyouko?” Sayaka’s brows furrowed in confusion at the girl’s sudden silence. “Do you feel all right?”

“Ah- yeah, sorry for worrying you; I got distracted” Kyouko let out a forced laugh, trying to recompose herself. “What did you say? Sorry didn’t quite catch it”

Sayaka sighed, the girl shifting around as she tried to speak again. Having lost the flow of the conversation making her realize how embarrassing the question she had asked actually was for her.

“Well… you know- Now that Madoka and Homura are going out – which good for them, really!” Sayaka started to go off topic “So they are going to be like, busy right? So if I feel lonely like… will you be there?”  

Kyouko observed with an entertained expression the girl she had seen summon her own witch, the girl that had held a part of God, and the girl that she loved, being terribly embarrassed by simply asking her to not leave her alone.

“Of course I will, you dummy” Kyouko walked past Sayaka, trying to hide her own embarrassed look “Let’s go home, I want to eat dinner already”

“You want to eat more?!”

[-]

Kyouko moved around in her bed. The feeling of the bedsheets against her skin was irritating, her pillow felt too soft, her neck ached, the air itself felt wrong around her bed.

Memories from a time that no longer existed filled her mind. They mostly brought burning pain, nothing more. Only a few were happy, and they didn’t last long.

Kyouko picked up her phone from the small nightstand and unlocked its screen, the sudden light slightly blinding her for a few seconds. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness of the screen, letting her finally see the time.

Three in the morning.

“Great” Kyouko groaned before jumping off her bed.

The redhead walked towards the exit of her room. There she felt it, something had moved from one of the corners of the room to right behind her. Kyouko didn’t turn around, knowing that would only bring more attention towards herself.

She opened the door of her room and got out, closing it behind. Being stuck in the same room as whatever was following her – probably another two dolls – was making it impossible for her to sleep.

Might as well go take a walk.

Kyouko walked around the house trying to make as little noise as possible, slowly making her way towards the exit of the house without anyone else noticing. She picked up her things and unlocked the door with care; flinching every time the lock of the door made a loud noise as it was unlocked.

[-]

Kyouko had been walking for ten minutes when the sound around her disappeared. It wasn’t the usual silence of the night, there was no sound of late cars going back home, there was no sound coming from any house, there was no one outside other than her and the dolls that were following her; her steps were the only sound she could hear around her, not even the previous buzzing of the streetlights accompanied her.

Something was wrong.

Or rather, someone else had noticed that something was wrong.

Kyouko couldn’t help but to raise her guard as she heard other steps coming from behind her. Kyouko turned around. Homura was standing there; her violet eyes had an unnatural shine to them; imitating the earring she wore. The normal cold look she wore was in her face, though Kyouko noted it was different than the usually dead expression that Homura would often be seen with before she had become a witch.

“It’s pretty late to be walking around alone, Sakura-san” Homura’s words had an edge to them. She knew.

“Eh~ Could say the same to you” Kyouko shifted her weight, preparing herself for an attack of some kind. “Pinky is going to be angry if she learns you weren’t sleeping”

“She won’t know” Homura took a step forwards.

Kyouko looked around her in search of the familiars that had been following her, but there was no sight of them. A drop of sweat fell off Kyouko’s forehead.

“Did you have trouble sleeping?” asked Homura as she took another step forward.

“Yeah” answered Kyouko, trying to restrain herself from taking a step backwards “Couldn’t get comfortable, might have something to do with all the sugar I ate today huh”

“Might be” shrugged Homura, still walking towards her.

“And you?” Kyouko tried to think of something that would make the girl stop, distract her even if for a second “Couldn’t stop thinking about Madoka?”

Homura stopped walking.

“I never stop thinking about her” Homura answered “But you already know that, don’t you?”

The air became stale as the last words got out of Homura’s mouth, the implications behind her words making Kyouko feel like she had been punched in the gut. She definitely knew.

“It will be easier if you don’t resist, Kyouko” Homura said, her earring shining with a violet light.

Kyouko let out a small nervous chuckle. “You know that’s not how I am”

A flash of red light enveloped Kyouko’s body, her magical girl outfit manifesting in less than a second. Kyouko dashed towards Homura, breaking apart her spear in chained segments that flew towards the raven haired girl. Homura either didn’t have time to react or she didn’t want to, the different segments of Kyouko’s spear restrained the girl without a problem.

“I really don’t want to do this!” exclaimed Kyouko as she extended her hand towards Homura’s ear, her hand grasped the earring and pulled away; tearing it from the girl’s ear.

Kyouko, now with the violet gem in her hand, jumped away from a now bleeding Homura. Homura stood back up, touching her ear with her hand as to confirm the blood. Her face was calm. Homura took a few steps forwards.

“Please, don’t make me do it” Kyouko pleaded, her spear now pointed to Homura’s earring – or what she thought was her soul gem – the tip of her spear touched the gem.

“That’s enough” Homura didn’t move her lips as she spoke, the voice didn’t come from that body.

Kyouko looked towards the girl in confusion; her face now decorated with a wide grin as the image of Homura slowly faded, leaving behind a doll.

“What the-”

The earring exploded, sending a dark liquid flying everywhere. The many drops of liquid that hung in the air all launched towards Kyouko in straight lines that solidified around her, stopping her movement completely. Kyouko smashed one of the walls of the newly formed cage with her spear, only managing to hurt herself with the recoil.

“You won’t be able to break it” Homura suddenly appeared in front of Kyouko, the air moving angrily as it was replaced with the girl.

Homura turned around to face the doll that had been her just a second ago.

“Good job Usotsuki, I will take it from here”

The doll simply nodded before disappearing in a puff of darkness. Homura turned back to Kyouko.

“Well, you got me” nervously laughed Kyouko “Now let’s just stop this and do as if nothing had happened, yeah?”

“I wanted to see if I could control you” Homura ignored Kyouko’s words. “But as I expected you are too much of a chaotic force to let you keep your memories”

Kyouko tried to shift her weight, but there wasn’t enough space in the cage to do it comfortably.

“So that’s it? You are just going to erase my memories again?” asked Kyouko.

“The more I play with your memories the worse it will get” Homura’s expression changed to one Kyouko knew well, one she had seen her with the last few months before she disappeared “I know by firsthand”

Homura raised both her hands together, preparing herself to do a clap. Kyouko could guess what Homura clapping meant.

“I would prefer not to make you suffer” Homura added, her hands completely still “But you were right, I have to try as hard as I can to spend more time with Madoka… And if this is what it takes, I will do it”

Homura threw her hands to finish the clap.

“Wait!” Kyouko exclaimed.

Homura stopped unnaturally fast, her hands mere millimeters apart.

“You are not going to convince me to do otherwise, Kyouko” Homura made a small pause, a sigh escaping her lungs before she spoke again “Don’t make this harder than it already is”

“That’s not it! Just listen, okay?” Kyouko closed her eyes.

She had lived in three different worlds already.

The first one, or what she guessed was the original one, had been the worst. The only things she had gotten from it were a wish that killed her family. A life of hunting while she lived in the streets. And a lot of pain as she lost those that she loved. The only good thing she had gotten from that place was swiftly taken away from her. Only to see the other person she could consider a friend slowly descend into a self-destructive path and being unable to help her.  

Then the second one she had been happy. In fact, she had been as happy as she had ever been. A perfect dream world as to say, almost too similar to the usual series that they streamed on TV. She could fight along all her friends, not being scared of losing her life at the next notice. She was together with Sayaka, she had a place to stay.

And this world, the third one was like the second one. There was just no fighting, her biggest problems were how to make Sayaka understand that she liked her. A mundane one compared to her first life.

She had lived in three different worlds, and only Homura’s had been kind to her.

“I don’t care if you take my memories away” Kyouko opened her eyes, slowly raising her head to meet Homura’s gaze. “But I do have one request for you”

Homura had given her a life where she could be happy. A life where she didn’t have to fight to survive, one where she could be together with Sayaka and everyone she cared about.

“Don’t you dare try to do things on your own again” Kyouko said with more aggression than what she had intended to use.

Kyouko noticed Homura’s eyes widening for a split second before she recovered her composure and placed her stoic face back on.

“Is that all?” Homura asked, though Kyouko was pretty sure the girl had almost stuttered at the beginning of her sentence.

“No” Kyouko put on an apologetic smile, making Homura’s expression become a confused one as the redhead went back one last time in her memories. To a time before Homura had disappeared. To a conversation in an alleyway. To the last time she saw her in that world.

“I’m sorry.” Kyouko felt Homura’s gaze softening, though her determination didn’t waver “I should have believed you back then”

The sound of a clap echoed throughout her body.

Kyouko’s body became limp as her consciousness faded, the dark cage she was in molding around her body to soften the fall. Homura approached the girl and crouched down, carefully lifting her unconscious body off the ground.

Skeletal wings burst forth of Homura’s back, enveloping her as raven feathers slowly surged from it. One second she was in on the many streets of Mitakihara, the next second she was in Kyouko’s room.

Homura walked towards the bed, its bedsheets had been flung open, and slowly lowered the body of Kyouko until it rested on it. Homura’s earring flashed; the room became full of violet light for a second as Kyouko’s clothes quickly changed into the redhead’s pajamas. Homura moved her hand towards the redhead’s head, gracing her forehead with her fingers as a trail of magic lingered behind as Kyouko’s expression softened into a calmed sleeping face.

“You two” Homura addressed the dolls that were lingering in the shadows of the room “You can leave her for tonight. She won’t wake up until morning”

Without adding anything the dolls disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Really…” Homura whispered, a painful sensation on her chest “I told you to not make it harder”

The skeletal wings embraced her once again, and she disappeared into the night. In just a few hours she would meet with Madoka again, and then meet with everyone at school. The thought made a smile appear on her face.

The night went on, Homura wasn’t alone anymore.

Current date: Thursday 22^nd of May.

Chapter Text

Madoka hummed happily as she brushed her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. Her mother, right next to her, had just started to apply her make-up. Madoka fought against a hair knot, the hairbrush having troubles to get rid of the rebellious knot Madoka decided to use her own hands to untie it.

Her mind wandered as she took care of the knot, going back to the whole reason she had woken up with more energy than ever today. The embarrassed face of Homura as Madoka kissed her twice before saying that she loved her. How soft and dreamy Homura’s lips had been, the sensation still lingering on her own whenever she thought of the moment they had shared. Homura saying that she also loved her…

Madoka couldn’t contain a squeal as she thought back to the girl. They were now dating. She and Homura. Homura was her girlfriend.

She still couldn’t believe it.

“Well, someone’s happier than usual” remarked her mom as she applied eyeliner.

Madoka let out a guilty giggle “Is it that obvious?”

“You have it written all over your face” Her mom finished with one of her eyes before giving Madoka an accusatory glance “So, what should I be so thankful to for making my daughter this bubbly?”

“Oh you know… nothing” Madoka’s cheeks blushed a bit as she thought back to yesterday’s events “Just had fun yesterday”

“Hmmm…” Her mom hummed, clearly not convinced by her daughter words.

Madoka opened one of the drawers, taking the red ribbon Homura had gifted her without even looking at the other options; why should she even consider them?

Should she do her hair in a different manner today? Maybe that would catch Homura’s attention more. But how did Homura like her hair to be anyways? Did she even like the pigtails? Would she prefer braids maybe? Or just straight?

The last one made Madoka chuckle at the irony of it.

“So, what happened with Homura?” asked her mom, a smug grin on her face as she worked on the make-up of her other eye.

“I- I- I didn’t say anything about her!” Madoka quickly retorted, taken aback – although she should have expected it – by the bullseye her mom had just gotten. “You know… we just had fun… at Mami’s house”

“Madoka… You really don’t know how to lie” Her mom finished with her eye make-up, as she went to pick up her lipstick. “What other reason would make my lovestruck daughter be this happy on a workday morning? You are probably thinking about how much you want to see Homura in a few minutes, aren’t you?”

“If you already know, then why are you asking…” Madoka pouted, her mom’s teasing taking away bit of her good mood. Not that it would be enough to make her stop thinking about everything she could do today though.

“Sorry, sorry” Her mom waved off as she started to pick up the things she had used. “So, do you want to tell me about it?”

Madoka, still with an angry pout on her face, looked at her mom for a second. The girl took her time, slowly putting back the things she had used herself. But after a few seconds of thinking, even if just to make her mom wait in exchange for the teasing, she answered.

“I… I asked Homura-chan out”

Her Mom blinked a few times, her brain not believing what her ears were telling her. Her confused eyes fixed on Madoka as the pink haired girl started to blush because of the silence; eventually forcing her to speak up.

“Wh-what’s the problem?” asked Madoka, not having seen her mother this surprised in… well, as far as she remembered.

“No, no. You did nothing wrong.” Her mother was able to recompose herself, though her surprised expression didn’t leave her face “I just didn’t expect…”

Madoka listened intently as her mother tried to search for the correct words to use, her usual quickness to answer any question thrown her way becoming useless in front of the only thing she had never expected to see.

“I didn’t expect for you to do it so quickly” admitted her mother, putting on an apologetic smile “Honestly, I thought it would take you a few months at least; maybe less if Sayaka pushed you to do it”

“You told me to take the initiative!” reminded Madoka, her face red in embarrassment as her cheeks puffed into an angry pout.

“I did! I did!” Her mom conceded, patting the girl’s head as an apology “But really, what kind of situation made you jump from ‘getting a bit more physical’ to suddenly ‘asking her out’?”

The vivid image of Madoka stealing Homura’s lips in the heat of the moment, her panic attack now calming, came back to her mind. Almost as if she felt guilty for doing such a thing her eyes darted around, trying to look away from her mom. And really, she should feel guilty. It might have turned out fine, but she did kiss Homura without even knowing if the girl liked her… and she did it twice.

The remorse filled aura that Madoka was emitting made her mother look at her suspiciously, her previously playful expression changing from seriousness to denial.

“Madoka, what did you two do?” her mother asked, Madoka could feel the seriousness of her voice.

Madoka tried to answer, but between the bit of guilt she felt from it, and the great amount of embarrassment, a knot formed in her throat; catching her voice before it could come out.

“I’m not going to be angry at you or anything” Her mom added, a gentle yet serious tone accompanying her voice. “I just think you are too young for that kind of-“

“It was just a kiss!” Madoka quickly shouted as she realized where her mother was going, her mother thinking she would have done… that, making her blush deepen.  “I kissed her! That’s all!”

Her mother looked at her with wide eyes at the sudden raise in voice, slowly relaxing her expression as she realized her own misunderstanding.

“I see, I’m glad that it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Her mother sighed “With how long it was taking you to answer I had to think of the worse! And even more so with how late you came back yesterday!”

“I told you I was going to be at Mami’s house with everyone!” Madoka looked at her mother, still not believing that her mom would even think that Madoka would do that kind of thing. And it was true that she had thought about doing… things with Homura, but not that far! Not yet!

“Sorry, sorry” Her mother apologized as they started to make their way towards the kitchen, the smell of breakfast guiding them all the way.

[-]

“Madoka, you’ve checked that everything was okay on Akemi’s lunch three times already. It’s not going to change this time” her dad said as Madoka carefully opened the boxed lunch once again.

Madoka inspected the elaborate decoration she had made today, the restrictive chains that held her back from so many ideas being casted aside since she was going out with Homura now. Between all the time it had taken her to perfect her carrots hearts, using only God knows how much seaweed to get a nice looking ‘I love you’, and what she considered her best piece of work yet: the crystallization of all her training in lunch box making, of all the videos she had watched for inspiration and techniques… a portrait of Homura and herself made with rice and seaweed, a quality very much like her own drawings on paper.

She had spent so much time daydreaming about how Homura would react when she saw it that if, for whatever reason, it got messed up she would probably cry. Scratch that, she would definitely cry.

“I moved it around to place it in my bag, what if it got messed up!” Madoka said before slowly putting the lid back on, making sure that the box was properly closed.

Her mom looked at her with an entertained gaze, a smirk on her face.

“How are you going to survive the walk to school like that?” she laughed.

“I have a plan!” Madoka proudly announced, carefully grabbing the bag. She placed the strap on her shoulder and tightened it to its shortest possible distance; effectively locking the bag right under her arm “This way I just have to make sure to walk as steady as possible!”

Her dad looked at her with a worried look, her schoolbag being so tightly pushed against her body made it so the edges and corners of some books and notebooks stabbed her sides, making it look like it was – and it really was – painful. Her mother on the other hand seemed to be more amused than worried by Madoka’s antics.

“Well… if you have to keep perfectly straight-“ her mother held a laugh “Then that means you should stay further away from Homura, right? You can’t keep a steady pose if you cling to her”

“That’s…”

Every single scenario that Madoka could imagine ended up with her moving the bag around. Hugging her? Impossible without making a mess, and the bag would end up hitting Homura too. Walking side by side to each other was feasible, but not with much physical contact; that would disturb her perfectly straight pose. Kissing Homura? It would work, perfectly even. Except that there was a problem, the height difference between the two would make it hard to do without being on tip toes… the solution was simple though, Homura had to be the one to start the kiss…

Though seeing that Madoka had been the only one to start one… well…

“I can manage until we get to the school!” Madoka said, having realized that the chances of Homura starting that were closer to zero than she liked them to be. “It’s not like I’m going to die if I don’t show her affection”

Her mother looked at her with doubting eyes while she took a sip of her coffee, not wanting to say anything about Madoka’s last statement; having decided to just let her daughter figure that one out by herself.

And Madoka knew why. With how much she had always shown affection to her family and friends, suddenly declaring that she wouldn’t do so with the person she loved… Well, a snail saying they would win a race was more plausible.

“A-anyway!” Madoka stuttered as she slowly made her way towards the front door “Homura is probably waiting outside… so…”

“Yeah, yeah” Her mother waved her off with a smirk on her face “Good luck”

Homura waited outside of Madoka’s house, her back leaning against the wall that guarded it. There was no real reason for her to be there so early in the morning, with still over twenty minutes for Madoka to come out she had gotten there awfully early. But every passing minute she had spent waiting in her house had felt like torture, every ticking of the clock taking longer than usual.

So, she had gone to Madoka’s house forty minutes early.

Homura searched for her phone inside her schoolbag, unlocking the screen to see the time. Still twenty minutes until Madoka comes out, she was probably having breakfast with her family in this very moment.

Let’s go inside.

No, this was a time for her to be with her family. Homura had nothing to do in there. She could wait a few minutes; she had been waiting for far longer to see her in another world.

The Devil had been awfully calm since yesterday, which honestly, surprised Homura. She had expected that the Devil that always tried to get closer to Madoka would be screaming at her after Madoka had… Well, after yesterday’s events. Instead, the Devil had only started to speak when Homura reached her house, and it had mainly been prodding her to go to Madoka’s house.

I was caught off guard. Won’t happen again.

Homura knew that was a lie. If the Devil was anything like her – which seeing what kind of other entities were awfully similar to the Devil, was very much possible – Madoka was the only thing that would constantly catch her off guard. After all, she knew better than anyone else that being around the person she had devoted her life to always made her drop her guard.

Everything that had come from Homura always dropped their guard around Madoka. The only one that had been able to do such a thing, for now, was Reiketsu. And she was the literal embodiment of the cold-heartedness she had develop during the loops as a guard. There was a reason why that doll was the one that always followed Madoka, Homura knew she would be the only one that wouldn’t get sidetracked; the only one that was able to only care about results and not how to get there.

Reiketsu was the second thing she hated most about herself.

In the end, the ‘why’ of it didn’t matter. The Devil wasn’t being aggressive right now; Madoka was showing her more affection than ever; and she even was looking forwards to the day.

Homura unlocked her phone once again, letting out an impatient sigh. Eighteen minutes to go.

 [-]

The front door of the Kaname household opened with a click. Homura stepped away from the wall, turning around to face Madoka as the pink haired girl walked outside. Homura felt a smile creep the moments her eyes landed on Madoka.

“Good morning, Homura-chan!” Madoka’s face was beaming like a star, but her body felt awfully stiff. It looked as if the girl was trying not to move around too much.

“Good morning, Madoka” Madoka walked around the girl, placing herself next to her.

They started to walk towards school, but something was nagging at Homura’s mind. Wasn’t Madoka a bit further away than usual? After yesterday events, the girl had been so close to her that it even made it harder to walk – not that she minded – but now there was enough space between the two for someone else to squeeze through.

Homura had also expected a bit more of a warm welcome, her mind going back to the first loops in which Madoka would basically throw herself at het whenever they met; and they were just friends back then. Homura thought that maybe a hug would have been nice, or if Madoka really had wanted she wouldn’t have objected kissing… No, no. Madoka had already given her more than she really deserved, being with her like this was more than enough.

Yes. There was no reason for Homura to worry. If Madoka didn’t want to do such things with her anymore then it was more than okay. She didn’t need physical contact with the person she had loved for longer than she could even remember. Just being with her would be enough.

Homura caught Madoka stealing a peek at the girl.

“Is something the matter, Madoka?” Homura asked, her own problems could wait.

“N-no.” Madoka sheepishly smiled. “It’s nothing”

“I see…”

A silence fell between the two, a more awkward one rather than the nice silences they had the day before. Homura really wanted to get closer to Madoka, but with how stiff the girl was looking she couldn’t muster enough courage to do so.

Just go give her a hug, or a kiss, or anything! If you won’t do it, let me do it!

No, Homura quickly shot down the Devil.

Homura didn’t now the reason why Madoka was so stiff. But if the girl was feeling uncomfortable about something that she didn’t want to talk about then it wasn’t Homura’s place to be selfish.

Though, what if Madoka was regretting what happened yesterday?  What if it all had been a spur of the moment?

…

Homura slightly turned her head towards Madoka, trying to ascertain what the girl was thinking about. Madoka noticed that Homura was looking at her, turning to see her with a warm smile. Homura smiled back, her worries dissipating as they were bathed in Madoka’s light.

Madoka had asked her to stop with that kind of thought. And as long as Madoka was there with her she felt like it could be possible, the presence of her friend… the presence of her girlfriend was more than enough for her to stop worrying.

Something gently moved Kyouko around, the touch felt warm and welcoming. And all too familiar touch that she really didn’t want to let go of.

“Oi, wake up” a voice lingered in the ether of her sleep. Kyouko ignored it, preferring to let herself be taken by temporal oblivion.

The previously gentle moving around became more aggressive, practically thrashing her around.

“Kyouko, wake up!” The voice seemed familiar, but the promise of sleep was far more tentative.

“Kyouko!” She could feel a few slaps on her face, gentle but annoying enough to pull her ever so slightly away from her promised sleep.

“KYOUKO!”

Kyouko’s eyes instantly shot up, her hand quickly going to caress the cheek in which Sayaka had bitch slapped her.

“What the fuck?!” Kyouko looked at Sayaka, a puzzled look on her face. “What was that about!?”

Sayaka, already with her school uniform, sighed as a wave of relief washed over her.

“I’ve been trying to wake you up for half an hour already!” Sayaka explained “I thought you were dead or something!”

Kyouko frowned, picking up her phone to check the time. Indeed, they should have gone to school ten minutes ago.

“Fuck” Kyouko jumped off the bed as she started to get out of her pajamas – when did she put them on? – and walked towards her closet, taking out her school uniform. “I’ll get ready, you can start going without me”

“I’ll wait” Sayaka said as she started to walk out of the room “I made some eggs and bacon for breakfast, are you going to eat them? Or do I put them in the fridge?

Kyouko hopped on one leg as she quickly put on her socks. “I- I’ll eat it!”

“Okay~!” Sayaka shouted from the hallway as she made her way to the living room.

[-]

Kyouko and Sayaka were running towards school, though not through the main path they usually took. Instead, Kyouko had proudly declared that she knew a shortcut, but they would have to run and probably jump a fence or two.

Sayaka had begrudgingly accepted when Kyouko promised her they would get there, not only faster, but before classes even started. A promise that Kyouko really was hoping she could achieve; because if she didn’t this whole plan would end up becoming ammunition for Sayaka to use against her.

And she really didn’t want to hear Sayaka be all smug because she was wrong about this shortcut.

So, Kyouko ran like she had never ran before. Sayaka thankfully was pretty athletic too, letting her follow her without many problems – The thought of Madoka following her instead of Sayaka crossed her mind, they would have probably stopped every few minutes to let the girl catch her breath.

A few meters in front of her a fence appeared. About twice her height the fence guarded a path into a small forest with a nice downwards inclination that would make it easy for someone to tumble and fall, a forest that Kyouko knew connected with the school.

“Get ready to climb!” shouted Kyouko. The redhead reached the fence and, almost as if it were second nature, swiftly climbed over it and jumped to the other side; stopping to wait for Sayaka.

The blue-haired girl had more troubles than her, clearly not used to climbing fences, but she could still figure it out quickly enough that it really didn’t stop them for too long.

“You know” Sayaka said between tired breaths as she jumped off the fence “I’m starting to second guess this whole thing”

“Too late already” Kyouko smirked as she started to walk down the incline, making sure to keep a steady foot with every step. “Make sure you don’t fall”

Sayaka sighed behind her before following Kyouko, using the trees that were closer to them as help while she was descending.

Less than three minutes later the sound of a familiar small river could be heard not too far away from where they were, the sound of people walking and chatting around quickly following suit.

“We are almost there!” Kyouko shouted, looking behind her to make sure Sayaka was still following her. She didn’t stop running, crossing the edge of the forest and going into the main street where all the students were.

The first thing she noticed was Sayaka’s wide eyed expression as she tried to warn her. The next thing was the feeling of smacking right into something with a lot of force, enough for her to be thrown backwards and fall to the ground.

“Are you okay, Kyouko!?” Sayaka shouted as she walked out of the forest herself, going towards the redhead and offering her a hand to help her get up.

“I think so…” Kyouko groaned.

“Madoka!”

Kyouko turned her head towards where the voice came from, a sense of guilt quickly flooding her as she saw who she had just smacked into.

Madoka laid on the ground, the girl slowly raising up with the help of Homura. Kyouko could see the girl had clearly had it worse than her. Some of her skin had been eaten by the rocky path, her high knee socks had a pretty big torn from her probably landing on a few jagged rocks; small amounts of blood starting to flow from the newly formed injuries. The girl held her hand against the side of her torso with a slight pained expression, where her schoolbag rested.

Homura looked at Madoka, searching for any other injury on the girl, before she closed her eyes and started to take deep breaths as she tried to calm herself.

“Fuck, I’m sorry Madoka” Kyouko approached the two girls, but had to stop the moment Homura gave her a side glance that could kill.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry” said Madoka as she started to look at her own wounds; the girl probably trying to add a visual to the pain she was feeling. She smiled weakly at her, letting out a small forced laugh so she could stop thinking about the pain “It was an accident!”

Homura’s face darkened; the girl took another deep breath. Her mouth opening as to speak.

“I should have paid more attention” she declared, a quiet tone on her voice “I was distracted, this is my fault. Sorry, Madoka”

Kyouko was about to call out Homura, but someone else was faster to quickly put a stop to that train of thought.

“Homura-chan” Madoka took Homura’s hand, tenderly gripping it with strength “There was no way you would have reacted to that, it was too sudden!”

“Yeah” Kyouko added, feeling as if she had to say something seeing this all was because of her. “I was the one running without looking in front of me, stop with the self-loathing”

“I could have prevented it” Homura muttered, her eyes moving from one of Madoka’s wounds to the next “I can’t let you get hurt”

“It’s just some small wounds!” Madoka pointed out “I’m more concerned about having to replace the sock to be honest-“ Madoka’s eyes suddenly opened in shocked, the girl quickly going to open her schoolbag and open something inside. A face of disappointment appeared on her face for a second, but it quickly vanished as soon as it had come. “A-anyways, I should probably go to the infirmary to get them disinfected and see if I need a bandage or not”

Madoka took a step forward, a bit of a misstep being easily apparent. Homura didn’t take long to react, quickly swooping in right next to her to serve as an improvised crutch.

“I will accompany you” stated Homura with resolve.

“You don’t have to! You will miss class if you do”

“I don’t care”

Madoka looked at Homura with a mix of embarrassment and disbelief before she let out a sigh.

“We’ll see you two in class!” Madoka waved them off “And don’t worry about it too much, okay Kyouko?”

Kyouko waved them off, now that the adrenaline was gone, she started to feel her own pain; though after a quick inspection it seemed to be just from the blunt of the crash than anything else.

“You okay?” said Sayaka, looking at her worriedly. “The crash was pretty bad”

Kyouko moved a bit, a strong pain coming from her left arm.

“Yeah, don’t worry” Kyouko lied, making sure to not show any sign of the pain she had felt. She would go to the infirmary when Madoka wasn’t in there, the last thing she wanted was for that goody two shoes that tried to burden herself with other people’s problems think Kyouko had gotten actually hurt from the crash. “Let’s go to class”

Sayaka nodded in agreement before they started to make their way towards the classroom.

“By the way” Kyouko winked at Sayaka “Told you the shortcut would work”

Current date: Thursday 22^nd of May.

A/N: Sorry that it took this long, work piled up and I was already having trouble with the chapter. We now have to start a new arc in the story, and setting things up is making it harder than I expected.

I have a clearer image of next chapter in my mind, so I will try to get it done before the week ends.

Chapter Text

Homura helped Madoka sit on one of the infirmary’s beds. The bleeding had stopped long before they even reached the infirmary, and Homura had of course examined her body with magic in search of anything serious, but it had all thankfully turned out to be skin level wounds and nothing more.

Not that them being small wounds would still take away from Homura’s irresponsibility. Once again, she had made the mistake of not paying enough attention, the mistake of not having all her being devoted to protecting Madoka. He had dropped her guard, and Madoka had gotten hurt.

“Thank you, Homura-chan” Madoka said with a grateful smile, the girl taking a look at her closed wounds. “Can you get me the alcohol, please? It’s on the third shelf of that cabinet”

Homura nodded before making her way towards the cabinet, getting the alcohol bottle, a wet wipe, and a big square band aid for the leg wound. The resulting scab would get stuck in her socks, the friction would open the wound again, so it would be better to cover it up.

Homura walked back towards Madoka, crouching down as she opened the wet wipe package and carefully cleaned the girl’s wound.

“I can do it myself, you know?” Madoka embarrassedly laughed.

“I know” Homura stated, still focused on properly cleaning the wound. She could use magic; she could heal it in less than an instant. She could make it so it didn’t even happen, restart the day and make sure that Madoka wouldn’t even get hit in the first time. But this was her mistake, a reminder that she couldn’t stop paying attention if she wanted Madoka to be safe. “I want to do it, that’s all”

“Oh…” Madoka embarrassedly muttered.

Homura, of course, had omitted how she wanted to do it because it was her fault. She knew Madoka wouldn’t accept that. She knew that telling her would only make Madoka worry about her. So, she decided to do the best thing she could do; the thing that had worked during the time loops: she would just keep it to herself, Madoka shouldn’t have to worry about her problems.

Because every time she did, she would get hurt.

Homura finished cleaning the leg wound. It wasn’t as big as she had first expected, the amount of blood a small wound like this could let out was still surprising to her. Homura took the square bandage and carefully placed it on the wound, making sure to align it properly with the scab.

Homura got up and walked towards a chair, pulling it over to the bed before she sat on it and began working on the other wounds Madoka had. She made sure not to look at Madoka in the eyes.

“You are good at this, Homura-chan” Madoka spoke in a quiet tone “Have you been the nurse’s aide before?”

“No” Homura finished with one wound before swiftly moving on towards the next, slowly making her way from the upper arm towards the hand in a meticulous motion. Memories of tending to wounds not caused by witches but that she never wanted to heal with magic coming back to haunt her for a second “I learnt how to tend to them myself”

“That’s great!” Madoka stuttered “W-well, not great that you got hurt that many times, but great that you learnt-”

“I knew what you meant” Homura said, not letting the girl go into a downwards spiral to try and explain herself. “I know you wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt”

“Y-yeah” Madoka sheepishly smiled.

Silence fell between the two while Homura finished taking care of Madoka’s wounds. She thought back to the girl’s torso, where her schoolbag had transferred the full brunt of the impact into the side of her torso. It wasn’t too serious, but it would leave a bruise for a few days.

Homura finished with all the wounds and got up from the chair, walking back to the cabinet to store the alcohol bottle and to throw away the wipe and it’s package.

“Ey Homura-chan” Madoka muttered as Homura carefully threw away the packaging. “You are still blaming yourself, aren’t you?”

Homura perked up, the accusation catching her off guard.

“…No”

“Don’t lie” Madoka got up from the bed, walking towards Homura before giving her a gentle hug “Your face isn’t as inexpressive as you think it is”

Homura stood awkwardly in Madoka’s embrace. Her body longing for her to return the hug, to properly let herself bathe in Madoka’s kindness. Her soul fighting against it, her old determined self was disgusted at how easy it was to make her resolve waver.

“I could have saved you” Homura whispered, Madoka’s hug tightening as her worries were confirmed.

“It was just a bad fall” Madoka whispered back, her soothing voice washing over Homura.

“It could have been worse” Homura grimaced, what if she hadn’t been paying attention when they were crossing the street? What if it had been a car instead of Kyouko? How many times in the past had Madoka died because she hadn’t paid enough attention?

“But it wasn’t” Madoka sighed before she let go of the hug, grabbing Homura by her shoulders with a reassuring grip instead. “Homura-chan, you are my girlfriend, not my bodyguard”

Homura locked eyes with Madoka, letting herself be lost in the beautiful pink jewels that they were. She had always been protecting Madoka, she had always tried at least. Even after she had disappeared from this world, she fought to protect what she had created.

“I was distracted-”

“You said that before, but with what were you distracted?” Madoka frowned “Is something bothering you, Homura-chan?”

Homura opened her mouth as to speak, but a sudden sense of embarrassing filled her as she thought back at what had been bothering her since seeing Madoka this morning. At how she had expected the girl to be as close as she had been the day before. At how she had realized how much she had been daydreaming about receiving more of Madoka’s affection.

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me” Madoka’s tender smile beamed like a star, her kindness almost completely blinding Homura.

“I was worried about why you seemed… so distant” Homura muttered, her voice being almost nothing but a whisper that tried to fade into the air before reaching Madoka’s ears. “You walked further away than usual from me. You greeted me with less motivation than the previous days… I thought that maybe you were regretting yesterday”

“I wasn’t!” Madoka shouted, her eyes filled with guilt “I was just- There is no way I would regret yesterday!”

Madoka tried to control her breathing, slowly letting her grip of Homura soften before she walked towards her schoolbag and started to retrieve something from it. Madoka opened whatever she had grabbed from her bag, letting out a disappointed sigh in the process, before she closed it and walked towards Homura; the familiar black lunchbox in her hands.

“You see, I tried to make a- well, special lunch for today since we are dating now… and, well you know” Homura could tell Madoka was hiding her own disappointment and sadness, in a different situation the girl would have probably cried. “And it came out pretty great! But, well, I was scared that it would get messed up on our way to school so I really couldn’t move around and…”

Madoka handed the black box to Homura, who took it between her hands and carefully opened the cover.

“I realized that hugging you or stuff like that would probably mess it up” Madoka let out a disappointed chuckle “Though I guess it didn’t matter in the end”

The contents of the lunch box were in disarray. There was a lot of seaweed that seemed to have been cut with great care, but it had all gotten bundled up after the rice jumped around from the impact of the fall. With how much seaweed was in each side, Homura deduced it probably had been two shapes; and the seaweed on top indicated some kind of message. The only thing that had survived the impact were the heart shaped carrots.

“It was supposed to be us” Madoka pointed out “It took me quite a bit of time to make them as good as I could… I should have taken a photo to be honest”

Homura felt her lips take the shape of a smile as she imagined Madoka working on the lunch. How many times the girl would have pouted in disappointment and annoyance as she failed to get a proper shape of their heads.

“I didn’t tell you anything because I wanted to surprise you at lunch” Madoka started to get more and more nervous as she realized Homura was simply staring at the messed up lunch “I should have told you, that way you wouldn’t have worried pointlessly”

“No, I’m sorry I doubted you” Homura said, looking up form the lunch Madoka had made and staring at the girl with a smile. “I should have asked”

Madoka looked surprised for a second before she returned the smile to Homura.

“Well, I guess lunch won’t be as nice as I wanted it to be” Madoka laughed while she took the lunch box from Homura and closed it before putting it back on her schoolbag. “I wanted it to be a bit more special, and is going to end up being the worst one” Madoka let out a weak chuckle.

“I like it” Homura said, catching Madoka’s attention as the pink-haired girl turned to face her “You worked hard to make it; I will show it the same appreciation as if it was in perfect condition”

Madoka smiled at Homura, gratefulness showing in her smile “Thank you”

Homura knew this wouldn’t be enough for Madoka to simply accept the outcome. She had seen the girl aim towards something and how disappointed she felt whenever she failed. She knew she always wanted to do something more exceptional than jus her average works. Madoka always wanted to aim for something bigger, it had always been one of the reasons she had contracted in the past.

“And since I don’t have to worry about the lunch messing up anymore…”

Madoka walked towards the girl with an impish smile on her face. She reached her, and as Homura’s mind started to realize what was happening, the girl got on her tip toes and kissed softly kissed her.

“You can’t just tell me you were worried because I wasn’t showing you affection and not expect me to give you lots!” said Madoka before jumping to the girl, entwining her arms behind her neck, and giving her a longer and deeper kiss.

The class was as boring as they usually were, the math’s teach tried to make it interesting – and Kyouko was sure it worked for some of the kids – but between her usual disinterest in the subject and the sharp pain that she had started to feel in her arm… Every second had started to feel longer than the last.

Kyouko moved her arm around a bit, the pain intensifying around her elbow when she did. She really hoped she had only dislocated it and nothing more.

The doors opened, the figures of Madoka and Homura coming in through the door. Homura carried a strange flush on her face, though Kyouko quickly deduced the reason as she saw Madoka’s eyes glimmer with a sense of accomplishment and proudness.

“Sorry for being late!” bowed Madoka “I fell on the way to school and Homura-chan accompanied me to the infirmary”

“I see. I hope you are well now” the teacher said, whispers could be heard all throughout the room as everyone fixed their eyes on the pair. “Go to you seats and open page 47 of the book. Prepare the homework that was due today and I will pick it up later”

Both of the girls nodded before they started to walk towards their seats, Madoka trying to sneak a smile at Homura – though by the increasing number of whispers in the class she had failed to conceal it.

“As I was saying…” The teach went back to explaining, trying to get back the attention of the class. Though many were still commenting on the pair that had come with blushed faces and shining eyes.

Kyouko looked at Homura with a raised eyebrow and a questioning smirk as she passed her, the raven haired girl wasn’t even able to look at her in the eyes.

What have you done to her, Pinky?

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as a surge of pain came back to her. That was going to be a pain to deal with.

[-]

The school bell rang, indicating the end of the lesson.

“Try to finish this problem at home, and bring the page 49 exercises done for tomorrow” concluded the math’s teacher before he started to get his things ready to leave for his next class. The students taking this opportunity to get up and talk with each other as they waited for the next teacher to come.

Kyouko started putting away the math’s book, trying not to move her injured arm too much. Though it clearly was a hard task, seeing how it still hurt anyways and had started to swell.

“Say, you think those two did something?” Sayaka said as she leaned on Kyouko’s desk without taking her sight off Madoka; the pink haired girl getting up from her seat and walking towards Homura with a smile on her face.

“Of course they did” Kyouko blatantly declared as she held back the pain coming from her arm. “Didn’t you see her eyes? If it wasn’t because it’s Madoka we are talking about I would even think they fucked or something; but seeing it’s pinky and Homura they probably just made out”

Sayaka looked at her with a thinking expression “I don’t know about that. Madoka becomes bolder the more confident she is” An amused half smile appeared on Sayaka’s face “And this is the most confident I’ve seen her”

Kyouko sighed “Even if she got bolder, I don’t think she would be ‘do it in school’ bold y’know?” Kyouko tried to point with her injured arm without noticing, the sharp pain making her flinch before she used her chin instead to point at Homura “And even if she were, Homura there wouldn’t let her”

“I would have agreed with you any other day” Sayaka chuckled “But after seeing Homura basically eating out of Madoka’s palm? Yeah no, she isn’t fighting against her”

Kyouko and Sayaka both stared at Madoka and Homura, the other two girls happily talking with each other. Madoka had a beaming smile, Homura her usual stone face; though Kyouko had come to learn that Pinky was somehow able to read through it, so it probably didn’t matter to the pink haired girl that her girlfriend didn’t really express herself a lot. No, knowing Madoka the girl probably thought that just made the times when she did show emotions all the more precious.

Madoka got out her phone and started to search for something to show to Homura. During those seconds were Madoka wasn’t looking at her, Homura’s eyes darted towards Kyouko and Sayaka, her eyes practically trying to kill them; almost as if the girl had somehow been able to hear their conversation.

“Oops” Sayaka muttered.

“How the fuck does she know” Kyouko wondered.

“Maybe she has like super hearing or something” Sayaka joked “She feels like the kind of person that would have a double life as a superhero”

“More like a supervillain with how she looks at people” Kyouko stated, getting another glare from Homura. This time, the redhead waved her with her good arm and a smug smile on her face. Madoka seemed to notice, the girl suddenly looking at them and waving back with an honest smile.

“I don’t know if I want my childhood friend dating a villain” Sayaka said while she smiled at Madoka’s gesture before looking back at Kyouko. “And she just looks at people like that when Madoka is mentioned”

“Took you long to notice” Kyouko snorted, getting her a playful hit on her arm – playful if it wasn’t because it was the injured one, that is. Having to hide the pain was pretty hard if someone just came and punched her in the arm.

“Should have told me from the start” said Sayaka with a grin on her face.

“Everyone, go back to your seats~!” announced Saotome, the teacher having gotten into the classroom a few seconds ago.

“At least we have gym class after this” sighed Sayaka before going back to her seat.

Kyouko had forgotten they would have gym class next period. And with how her arm was there was no way of hiding it during that class. Still, she really didn’t want to admit she had hurt herself; she was more than sure that doing so would sour Madoka’s mood, the girl would probably find a way to blame herself for it. And by God that the girl deserved to be all happy with Homura for their first proper day as a couple.

Still, Sayaka wouldn’t know what do with it. Going directly to a teacher would result in Madoka learning of it too, since she was the nurse’s aide. Maybe asking Mami? She didn’t even know where her classroom was, and it would feel wrong to barge in and be like ‘broke my arm, help’; Kyouko was pretty sure that Mami was going to grow white hairs with that whole thing of basically being a single mom at the age of fifteen.

That only left one reasonable option.

[-]

The bell rang, everyone got up from their seats and started to gather their things. Kyouko tried to do so without injuring her arm more than it already was, an arduous task since even leaving it hanging made it move around enough for the pain to intensify.

The class quickly divided into two groups by gender, each of them going towards a different changing room. With Kyouko having taken longer than the rest to get her things, she had to quicken her steps to reach the other three as Madoka and Sayaka talked, Homura next to Madoka.

Kyoko reached the group and trotted until she walked next to Homura, catching the others attention as she spoke.

“Hey Pinky, mind if I steal your girlfriend for a minute?”

Madoka’s went wide at the question, a mix of confusion and embarrassment going through the girl’s face before she looked at Homura.

“What is it, Sakura-san” asked Homura, an undertone of irritation that she tried to hide on her voice.

“Just need your help with something, can you follow me for a sec?”

Homura looked at Kyouko with a frown, her inquisitive eyes trying to gather any kind of information on what Kyouko could be guiding her towards, before she looked back at Madoka.

“I’ll be back in five minutes” stated Homura with confidence, the pink haired girl smiling in return.

They parted ways from the group, and Kyouko started to guide Homura through the school until they reached the bathroom. Homura stopped in front of the door, a confused look on her face.

“Sakura-san, I don’t know what you need help with but this seems-” Homura started to back away from the bathroom.

“Oh for fucks sake, just come in it’s nothing weird I promise”

Homura looked at her with eyes that practically screamed ‘that only makes it seem like you will do something weird’ before she hesitantly followed Kyouko inside the bathroom.

Kyouko turned around and looked at the girl. She raised her injured arm with the help of her other arm and offered it to Homura.

“I think I broke something when I crashed into Madoka” Kyouko explained, Homura started to walk towards her as to inspect the arm “Didn’t want to say anything to the teachers so Madoka wouldn’t think it was her fault”

Homura took her arm and inspected it carefully, feeling the swelling near the elbow and making small movements as she tried to ascertain the situation.

“And you chose to told me because?” she asked, still inspecting the arm.

“Had a hunch you would know what to do” Kyouko flinched in pain as Homura moved her arm in a painful way.

Homura hummed before she stopped inspecting Kyouko’s arm, the girl slowly letting go of it as to not cause her more unnecessary pain.

“It’s just dislocated” she said, looking at Kyouko with a questioning look before she spoke again “I can fix it, but it will hurt”

“Can I use it in gym class?” wondered Kyouko.

“You can, but really shouldn’t” declared Homura “It can snap out again”

Kyouko looked at Homura’s calculating eyes. The girl was very much serious about this, though Kyouko was more impressed at how quickly she had accepted the situation without even questioning it.

“Just do it. I will worry about that later”

Homura shrugged before confidently picking up Kyouko’s arm and forearm and properly aligning herself in anticipation.

“Can you like count down so I’m-”

With a loud snap Homura made a swift motion, properly returning the joint to its normal position. A pain that Kyouko couldn’t describe shoot from her arm, her eyes going wide in pain as the girl held back a scream.

“Fucking hell!” Kyouko took her arm out of Homura’s hold, caressing the previously dislocated elbow as the soaring pain started to subside. “I told you to let me know so I could be prepared!”

“Anticipation would only have made it worse” Homura calmly said “You should be able to move it, but I would advise against putting to much strain on it for a few weeks at best”

Kyouko moved around her arm as the pain started to numb down. It certainly was fixed, she sighed.

“Thank you”

Homura scoffed at her. “This wouldn’t have happened if you and Miki-san hadn’t run like that. What even was the reason for doing something so foolish?”

Kyouko, now sure that her elbow wasn’t going to pop out at any small movement, looked at Homura with guilty eyes.

“I somehow slept through all my alarms. Sayaka even tried to wake me up for over half an hour before I woke up” Kyouko remembered how well she had slept, so well that if Sayaka hadn’t waken her up she would probably still be sleeping “I somehow slept deeper than I ever have, and I’m usually a light sleeper”

Homura’s eyes seem to widen at Kyouko’s explanation, the girl suddenly having a guilty look of her own on her face. Homura threw her hair behind her before turning around and starting to make her way out.

“You should use more alarms next times” She said with a meek voice “Let’s get going, I don’t want to make Madoka wait”

“Yeah, yeah” Kyouko said as she followed Homura closely behind.

Madoka sat on one of the many stands that surrounded the field where the students were currently doing a relay race. She opened her water bottle and took a sip from it between tired breaths, her group having finished already. Her eyes darted around the field in search of black hair, quickly finding it waiting for the baton to reach her. Of course, Homura was the last relay; an important position that clearly belong to her amazing girlfriend.

A dumb smiled appeared on Madoka’s face, the thought of calling Homura her girlfriend still making her all giddy and fluttery inside.

Sayaka walked over to her, the blue haired girl had also been on her group, and sat next to Madoka with her own water bottle. Sayaka was clearly less tired than Madoka, which either spoke positively of Sayaka’s athleticism or badly of her own.

Probably both.

“It’s too hot for having us run around this much~” said Sayaka as she let herself collapse on Madoka’s shoulder, getting a giggle from her

“Make sure to stay hydrated” reminded Madoka as she handed Sayaka one of the water bottles from the stash next to her.

“There is the nurse’s aide doing her job” Sayaka said as she took one of the bottles and took a long sip, draining almost a quarter of the bottle before she let out a contented sigh and looked back at the field. “Oh, Kyouko’s got the baton”

Madoka looked back to the field, Kyouko’s red hair making it easy to spot the girl as she dashed across the field. Her ponytail followed her, the girl running fast enough for it to basically flow behind her. Kyouko quickly passed one of the other girls, getting some shouts of praise from both Madoka and Sayaka in response. Kyouko seemed to notice, the girl looking at them for a second with what seemed like a grin from this distance.

“Kyouko sure is amazing at sports, isn’t she?” Madoka wondered in awe.

“Yeah” Sayaka agreed with a nod before getting up from the bench and stretching her whole body. “Can’t tell her that or she will get all smug about it though”

Madoka let out a giggle before looking back to the field. Kyouko was about to reach the next and last runner of her team, Homura. The two girls looked at each other with decisive eyes, Homura getting in position as Kyouko extended her arm and passed the baton to Homura. With no hesitation in sight Homura ran off, quickly reaching her maximum speed as she started to close the distance between her and the other two teams that had the advantage.

“She doesn’t even feel human” mentioned Sayaka as she looked at the speed at which Homura was running. “Really, she’s been blessed with everything huh”

It was around the half-way point where Homura finally caught to them, closing a difference of a few seconds in by herself and passing the other two teams showing almost no effort. Madoka couldn’t help but jump from her seat and cheer Homura as she crossed the finish line. Homura slowly coming to a stop as the rest of her team went to congratulate her. Homura looked at Madoka from the field, a smile appearing on her face as their eyes met.

“I wonder how many people in class have noticed already” said Sayaka as she looked with an impish smile at Madoka. “You two certainly aren’t trying to hide it”

Madoka huffed with a bit of embarrassment. “Why should we? I couldn’t be prouder of going out with her”

“You really become bolder” Sayaka whispered to herself, the statement getting a bit of an annoyed pout from Madoka.

Homura and Kyouko made their way towards them – the two of them talking, though mainly it was Kyouko –, Madoka got ready to hand them water bottles as they got closer.

“I’m telling you: you wouldn’t have been able to win if it wasn’t because of me closing the gap first” Kyouko proudly announced, Madoka wanted to support her too of course, but she was still pretty sure Homura could have done it herself… And that wasn’t her talking as a girlfriend, no sir. Not at all.

“I’m sure of it, Sakura-san” dismissed Homura between controlled breaths that almost felt fake.

Kyouko made a final push to get one of the water bottles that Madoka was offering them, muttering a thanks before opening and chugging half the bottle down – which Madoka was sure wasn’t the best thing to do, but not like she could really stop her. Homura on the other hand calmly walked towards Madoka and took the bottle that Madoka presented to her with a smile, carefully opening it and taking small sips from it.

“You two were amazing!” Madoka said, proud of both of them.

“Thanks” Homura said with a small voice, a bit of a blush on her face before sitting next to Madoka, who didn’t even think twice to close the gap as much as she could.

“Of course we are” proudly admitted Kyouko as the girl stretched her arms with what seemed like a bit of discomfort. “When do you two have to go run again?”

“After the next group” said Sayaka, the girl noticing that a group of people were coming over helped Madoka distribute the water bottles. “I would like for it to be sooner rather than later, I’m starting to cool off”

Madoka sighed, impressed by the girl’s energy.

“I hope not. My legs are still tired” she complained, letting her head rest on Homura’s side. Homura reciprocated it by letting her own head rest on top of Madoka’s.

The group stood around in silence for a minute as they watched the next group getting ready to run. Madoka, still on Homura’s shoulder, looked around for the other runners that had just finished; making sure to do her job as a nurse’s aide and notice if anyone looked like they were having a heatstroke in this horrible heat.

“Oh right” said Sayaka as she looked back at the group “Are you two going to this Saturday’s festival?”

“Hmmm…” Madoka pondered, nudging her head on Homura’s shoulder a bit more “I would like to go with everyone… will you come, Homura-chan?”

“If you are going, I will go too” Homura stated.

“We should invite Mami” said Kyouko, who had laid down on the lower bench from where they were. “And the cheese brat too”

“Yeah!” Madoka agreed, looking at Sayaka and Kyouko for confirmation “So, 6pm in front of the station?”

“Works for me” declared Sayaka, Kyouko nodding along.

Homura absent mindedly hummed in agreement, the girl felt like she was going to fall asleep on top of Madoka’s head.

Current date: Thursday 22^nd of May.

A/N: The week hasn’t ended yet in some part of the world, so I’m technically posting this on time.

Chapter Text

The sound of students was louder than usual, the school cafeteria being filled with people which were either already eating or fighting in a war for the best items in the menu. A shout and a curse came from one of the ticket machines – apparently an item had run out, someone clearly wasn’t happy about such news – but Homura didn’t care enough to pay much attention to it. At least not until she looked over to where the sound had come from and saw an angry Kyouko stomping back to them with a food ticket crumbled in her hand; the girl muttering in annoyance under her breath. Sayaka followed shortly after getting her own ticket, the girl clearly trying to hold back laughter.

“We didn’t even take that long to get here” Kyouko kept muttering as she aggressively sat in the free chair next to Homura. “It’s always fucking sold out”

Sayaka sat next to Kyouko, the girl’s laughter starting to break through her hold. “Should have run to come here”

Kyouko glared at the laughing Sayaka, though it only made the blue haired girl laugh louder. Madoka – who was sitting next to Homura – looked up from her phone right after texting Tomoe where they were, Sayaka’s laughter making her look at an annoyed Kyouko.

“Ah… You couldn’t get the curry udon again?” Innocently asked Madoka.

Kyouko’s face contorted into an angry scowl for a second before she looked at Madoka, her expression softening a bit as she let out an annoyed sigh – the girl probably realizing that Madoka wasn’t trying to annoy her, unlike Sayaka who was looking at the redhead with an impish half-grin.

“I don’t even think that it exists” Sayaka said “I’ve only heard Kyouko talk about how good it is, but never seen it myself.” Sayaka’s eyes looked at Kyouko with an entertained gaze, the blue haired girl’s voice overdramatizing a fake teasing sadness when she spoke “It feels more like if she had had a hallucination! Poor Kyouko! So much into her own world that she has to imagine a dish to be happy!”

Kyouko went to give the girl a ‘playful’ punch – Homura was pretty sure Kyouko wasn’t really containing that much with the punch – but Sayaka had seen it coming, the girl cleverly jumped off her chair and dodged the attack.

“Oh no! Her own fake memory has made her go mad!” Sayaka skipped around the table until she hid behind Homura, trying to push the girl into their game “Protect me Akemi! Kyouko is hallucinating a fake dish!”

Homura was glad that Madoka’s presence was so soothing just by being next to the girl; Sayaka’s words had hit too close to home for comfort as memories of her time after Madoka’s ascension came back. The fuzzy memory of another Sayaka having said similar things to Kyouko in whispers after Homura talked with her about Madoka.

The first month in that universe felt so different from the rest. Her own memories still had felt real during that time. Homura wasn’t trying to get to see Madoka as quickly as possible those first months. She had felt like she still had an objective then.

Madoka placed Homura’s lunch on top of the table, snapping her out of wherever she had gone in her mind. Right, there was no reason to worry about that anymore. Just memories from a world that had been more like hell than her own dimension for the girl.

Kyouko clicked her tongue at Sayaka hiding behind Homura, the girl grabbing her by the shoulders to shield herself. Sayaka started to shake Homura a bit, the girl was clearly using her as a meat shield an nothing more.

“Oh? I didn’t know Akemi was such a great shield against you!” cheerfully announced Sayaka, her grip tightening around Homura’s shoulder. “Are you scared she may hit you back? Do you fear the backlash that Akemi would hand out?” Sayaka puffed her chest in pride “Poor you! I don’t have such fear, Akemi wouldn’t do that to me! We are allies after all; right, Akemi?”

“Stop shaking me around” Homura ordered, her cold voice having an undertone of annoyance.

Sayaka gasped. She tightened her grip even harder on her shoulders and pressed herself against Homura with fake exaggerated sadness on her face; her voice coming out as if she was reading from a script for a theatre play “Don’t say that Akemi! We’ve been through so much together while we tried to find who Madoka liked!” she kept shaking her “We are team! Madoka’s guardian angels!”

Sayaka stopped shaking her for a second, freeing one of Homura’s shoulders as she raised her hand to point towards Kyouko. “That’s our enemy! She hid the secret from us like a vile villain!”

“I wasn’t the one that should tell you that, dumbass” retorted Kyouko.

“See?!” Sayaka grabbed Homura’s freed shoulder again “Such fool language! Only a villain would speak like that!”

“Kyouko did the right thing” Homura stated, trying to move out of Sayaka’s grasp but realized that with how she was grabbing her there was no way she could without hurting her; she stopped trying.

“Im-Impossible!” Sayaka almost screamed before she hugged Homura, the sudden gesture catching her off guard and making her flinch “I was too late! The enemy has already messed with your memories!”

Sayaka didn’t stop hugging her as she fake cried, Homura’s brain short-circuited. The sudden show of… affection? From Sayaka was a first. She had only ever hugged Madoka, well, and Tomoe once, in the first timelines before the one where she had killed them all-

No, no need to remember that. Though it was better to remember a memory than to just have static in its place.

“Sayaka”

The blue haired girl stopped the fake crying, looking back towards Madoka with a curious look. Madoka, on the other hand, had a smile on her face, a smile Homura had only seen a few times. A smile that only appeared when Madoka was angry.

“Homura has to eat” she said, not really a lie but clearly not the girl’s true motives “Please, stop hugging her like that”

Sayaka’s eyes fixed on Madoka, her expression going from confused to surprised and back to confused again.

“Eh? Ah- sure” Sayaka let go of Homura. She looked at Madoka for a second before she hesitantly spoke again “Sorry?”

Madoka’s smile turned into a bright one, though Homura could feel there was some kind of edge in her voice as she spoke again. “Oh no, don’t worry, I know you meant well”

Madoka looked up to a screen on top of the cafeteria, the different order numbers being displayed on it. “Oh look, your food is about to come out” She turned back to the other two girls, an innocent smile on her face.

Sayaka looked even more confused – if that was even possible – before she turned around to face Kyouko. The redhead went from surprised to amused, a grin on her face as she got up from her chair and placed her arm around Sayaka’s neck; guiding the girl towards the cafeteria pick up counter.

“Let’s go Sayaka” Kyouko gave a side look at Madoka with a knowing smile. “Don’t want my food to get cold”

“It’s not even done yet-” Sayaka tried to resist being dragged to the counter, but Kyouko had grabbed her in an awkward position; the blue haired girl practically stumbling as they walked away.

Homura had been frowning in confusion as she watched the two girls walking away. Not really understanding what Kyouko’s expression meant. Not that she wasn’t grateful though, not since it had stopped all the shaking around. Really, the whole ordeal had been quite annoying to be a part of; seeing the other two fight all the time had always been tiring. But she had never expected that being a part of it would tire her this much, even if she had basically been a victim of Sayaka’s antics.

The whole thing had left a warm feeling inside her though.

The sound of a chair scrapping next to her caught her attention. Homura turned around just in time to see Madoka pulling her chair closer to Homura’s until they were as close as she could put them.

“Madoka?”

Madoka tugged Homura’s right arm until she could lock it with her own. “What is it, Homura-chan?” Madoka said, her cheeks slightly blushing. Her lips formed into a pout.

“No- it’s” Homura looked away from Madoka, memories of what had happened that morning in the infirmary coming back to flood her warming cheeks “I-isn’t it going to be hard to eat like this?”

“I can manage” Madoka confidently said, a second later a seed of doubt planted inside of her “Unless you don’t want to, o-of course”.

There was no possible universe in which Homura wouldn’t want to be like this with her. Had the question not come from Madoka herself she would even have felt insulted by it.

I would be like this all day if I could

“I don’t mind” Homura said as she handily unpacked her lunch box with her free left hand, the shaken around lunch revealing itself. Homura felt Madoka move anxiously as she looked at the messed up lunch.

Homura took her chopsticks with her left hand and easily picked some of the lunch, carefully moving it towards her mouth before eating it.

Yep, it was delicious. And Homura didn’t care if it was because it was good food or because Madoka had made it, it simply tasted like ambrosia for her; her sense of taste hadn’t been this sharp in years.

“I thought you were right handed” commented Madoka as she took some of her own lunch as well. A blinding smile on her face “You use the chopsticks pretty well with your left hand!”

God she loved that smile.

“I’m ambidextrous” Homura lied as naturally as she breathed. She had only been right handed until just a moment ago, but she wasn’t about to say she had used magic to alter reality just so she could eat while glued to her.

“Eh~” Madoka hummed while eating.

A few seconds of silence fell between the two as they enjoyed their lunches. Madoka shifted uncomfortably before she mustered the courage to speak.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s the best thing I’ve eaten” Homura wasn’t lying that time. It was the best thing she had eaten that she could remember didn’t taste like ash or that it taste wasn’t weirdly off. Most thing she had lately eaten had tasted… dim? Yeah, dim was a good word. This food though tasted just like she had expected.

“Uehihihi~” Madoka embarrassedly laughed, her blush becoming a bit deeper “You don’t have to lie you know”

“I wouldn’t lie about this to you” Homura quickly stated.

“It still got all… messed up” Madoka nervously chuckled, it wasn’t like it had been in the infirmary though; it was more stating reality than self-deprecation – Homura knew the difference quite well. “I really would have liked for you to see it” She sighed.

Homura looked at her lunch thoughtfully, a million different thoughts running around her mind before she was able to grasp at the right words to say.

“Even then…” Homura didn’t move her eyes from her lunch, left hand resting on the table as the chopsticks hovered over the food “I can still feel all the hard work you put it into it. Even if the decoration has moved around; I can still see the attention to detail in the different details of things: the carrot hearts are pretty well done, but I can see some roughness in some of the cuts, so you cut them by hand, right?”

“Y-yes”

“You could have used a heart shaped cutter; they would have worked with this thickness-”

“But then-!”

“But that isn’t like you” Homura looked at Madoka with a happy smile, she felt Madoka’s grip around her arm tightening up as she did “You wanted to make them special, you wanted to make them directly so you could put as much care into the first one as into the last one.” Homura looked back at the lunch with a warm smile “And that’s what makes this lunch feel so full of… love”

Homura looked back at Madoka, the girl’s mouth slightly open in surprise.

“That’s…” Madoka muttered before a smile appeared on her face once more “Thank you”

“Thank you for always making these lunches for me” Homura said with a small bow of her head.

“You don’t have to be! I enjoy making them, and seeing you eat them…” Madoka suddenly remembered something before she looked back at Homura with a small pout on her face “And you wouldn’t eat if I didn’t bring you lunch!”

“That’s-” Homura closed her eyes, memories of only eating when being forced to by others stopping her before she could even deny it “You are right. I probably wouldn’t”

Madoka nodded before her smile disappeared and turned into a frown.

“Wait… Do you eat breakfast at home? Before you come to my house I mean” Madoka asked completely serious.

Homura, indeed, did not eat breakfast at home. Rather, she didn’t eat anything that weren’t Madoka’s lunches. Then again, even as a magical girl she had never really needed to eat and only did so to keep appearances by the end.

“I…” Madoka’s eyes pierced Homura’s, making the girl look away.

“I do” Madoka’s frown became even deeper, Homura could feel her pink eyes burying into her even without looking at the girl.

“Sometimes” Homura tried to look back at the girl to show some confidence in her lies. Sadly for her, Madoka really wasn’t buying it. She could take the way away from her throne in heaven but couldn’t lie to her face – unless that would protect her, of course.

“No… I don’t”

Madoka smiled as she rejoiced in her win, having made Homura confess up. “That’s no good, Homura-chan. You have to take care of yourself”

“I will do so for now on” Homura said.

“I hope you do” Madoka said, her voice catching on a devilish – ironic – tone “Because if you don’t and I tell my parents you are going to be eating with us every morning”

“I wouldn’t want to-”

“You are not running away from that one, Homura-chan” Madoka said as she tugged on her arm to get her closer “I’m not going to let you not take proper care of yourself”

Homura was torn in two. On one hand, she could hear both her past twin braided self and the Devil screaming of joy. On the other hand she really didn’t want to become a bigger bother than she already was. She had more than enough with Madoka’s warmth, the full blow of the Kaname family kindness would end up being too much for her.

“I will make sure to eat breakfast every morning from now on” Homura made a pause “I promise”

Madoka looked at her with a big smile on her face “Thanks”

Kyouko and Sayaka came back shortly after carrying the food they had bought. Tomoe joining them a bit later. The rest of the lunch was a mix of hearing what everyone talked about while glued to Madoka.

When Homura finished her lunch and Madoka put away the box Homura started thinking. Madoka had been making lunch for her for quite a few days already, but Homura hadn’t really done anything for Madoka. In a mundane sense of course, something that Madoka actually knew Homura would be doing for her.

The problem was that Homura didn’t really know how to cook so food was out of the way. Making something else for her would be hard, she couldn’t remember the last time she had even tried to make something that didn’t have to do with saving Madoka and all the pastimes she used to have before knowing Madoka had slowly become fuzzy memories of things she didn’t even remember anymore.

A gift then? Something that could mean something would probably be of Madoka’s liking. Something that Homura knew Madoka would like or want…

The automatic doors of the convenience store closed behind Kyouko while she bid farewell to her coworkers, the sun about to set behind her. She took a few steps away from the store, and almost as if it had been perfectly timed a notification sound came from her phone.

She unlocked the screen, a Line notification popping up on her notification tray. The moment she took a look at the sender her eyes went wide in surprise.

===

“You are good at claw machines.” Homura said, it wasn’t a question.

“Yeah?”

“I’m at the arcade. Come.”

Kyouko frowned at her screen, not only was it weird that Homura had texted her – which she had thought would never happen, their chat log condemned to remain empty – but the girl was clearly trying to get her to do something.

“What for??”

Well, if Homura wanted to ask for help, she better say it properly. Kyouko wasn’t about to let her boss her around.

“You have knowledge about these machines.”

Nope, not enough of a ‘I need help’ feeling.

“Don’t know if that’s how u ask someone to do something for u?”

The blue checkmark told Kyouko Homura had seen the message, but she took a few minutes to answer.

“I need your assistance with the claw machines”

Welp, that was the best thing she was getting out of her.

“On my way”

===

Kyouko closed Homura’s chatlog before she opened up Sayaka’s and told the girl she may be late after explaining the situation a bit. Didn’t want to make her worry.

“Now, I have to go help a damsel in distress” Kyouko sighed as she started making her way towards the arcade.

[-]

Kyouko walked into the arcade, the loud music of different machines surrounding her. The games were as filled as she had expected them to be at this hour, people bustling around as a few improvised tournament cups started in the more competitive games. She walked towards the claw machines section, quite a few people turning around to see her as she passed by them.

After all the time she had spent in here destroying the records of most machines and teaching a lesson to the guys that thought knew how to play she had become a bit of a legend to say the least. Hell, the arcade had placed a rule of only one price per claw machine because of her.

Eventually she reached the claws, pretty empty with how they usually were at these hours. Not that she was surprised when she saw Homura emitting a murder aura around her as she tapped her credit card on the machine once again.

“Yo” Kyouko leaned forwards to see what Homura was trying to get just in time to see the vanilla-colored plushie bounce off the edge winning area and go back to the center of the machine in a weird angle.

Homura – without looking at her in the eyes as she swiped her card once more – sighed. “Tell me, is this machine a scam?” Kyouko didn’t think she had ever heard Homura’s voice so irritated.

“Nope” Kyouko leant her back against the machine to face Homura “Got a few prizes out of this one before, and it doesn’t look like they changed it”

Homura’s brows furrowed deeper as the claw failed to even lift the plushie. “It sure feels like it is”

Homura swiped her card again.

“So, want me to get it for ya?” said Kyouko as she took out a box of strawberry pocky. “Will take around two or three tries with how you’ve left it”

The claw picked up the bunny, started lifting it… aaaaand it slipped.

“No” Homura clicked her tongue as she swiped her card. Again. “I need to be the one to get it”

“Then why-?”

“I need advice” this time the claw only grazed the plushie “About how to win this stupid game”

“How long have you been doing this?”

Homura swiped her card again, stopped to think for a second as her mind almost seemed to go away for a second, and finally spoke “Almost three hours”

“Hahahaha” Kyouko fake laughed “Nice joke, now seriously – how long?”

The claw picked up the plushie from the tag, Homura’s eyes opened in anticipation as it moved perfectly still towards the winning area. The claw stopped right on top of it, the plush still caught simply hanged.

The claw opened.

The plushie didn’t fall, its tag had gotten tangled in it. Homura’s eye twitched, and Kyouko could swear she saw a bit of tomato juice drip off her face; the next time she blinked there wasn’t any red. Probably imagined it with the lights of the arcade.

“Oh god you’ve been here for three hours”

“I told you that, yes” said Homura before she swope her card again.

“Wait, wait” Kyouko said, putting her hand between the clearly desperate girl and the claw machine controls. “Give it the gentlest of pushes, it should fall into the area after it tries to grab nothing”

Homura nodded, grabbed the controls and moved it just barely enough for the machine to let her push the ‘Grab’ button. The claw went down, the bunny still attached, and filled the winning area with the plushie and itself. The bunny was still holding tight.

“Wait…” Kyouko whispered.

The claw opened to try and grab nothing – the plushie didn’t fall, but it shifted towards the tip of the claw. The claw started to go up, the plushie scrapping itself against the wall of the winning area, slowly freeing itself…

The claw finished getting completely up, the plushie still held but gravity was doing its work. Homura and Kyouko looked expectantly at the plushie slowly freeing itself… a second later it fell.

The plushie banged against the winning area wall, and bounced back to the other end of the machine.

“How the fuck” Kyouko looked with disbelief at the machine, no way that just had happened.

Homura on the other part looked like she was ready to break the glass of the machine and take the damn plushie. Kyouko wouldn’t judge her if she did.

“It’s been like this for the past three hours” said Homura, pure rage boiling inside of her as she swiped her credit card again with violence. “This thing is cursed”

Kyouko looked at the angry girl – the claw failed to pick the plushie, another swipe of her card – and couldn’t but feel a bit of sympathy for her.

“Why don’t you try another machine?” she proposed, trying to use a bit more of a lively voice to cheer her up.

“No, it has to be this one” Another fail, another swipe. Kyouko didn’t really want to think about how much money the girl had spent the last three hours. She surely didn’t want to think how much more she was going to spend at this rate.

“Why? If you just want to win something there are far easier ones”

“I have my reasons” Homura was now angrily tapping her right foot against the floor.

“Let me guess…” The claw picked up the plushie, the moment it started to go up it freed itself and did a perfect front flip; landing right where it had been. “It’s about Madoka?”

“She told me she wanted this one before” Homura swiped the card once more “it’s part of a collection she wants to complete”

Ah right. They had been trying to get this thing during their date; before Kyouko had prepared the pairing mugs for them.

“I don’t think Madoka would be very happy to learn you got it after spending this much money” Kyoko took out another box of pocky, chocolate this time, and offered one to Homura. Homura gave it a side glance, quickly returning her attention to the machine, but extended a hand to pick one.

“She doesn’t have to know how much I spent” Homura said as she swiped the card once more; Kyouko could see a group of workers from the arcade looking at them worriedly.

Kyouko sighed as she saw the plushie fall down once more, straightened herself, and properly placed herself by Homura, observing the claw machine in search of the best route.

“You should focus on trying to get it into a nice position rather than just grab it blindly…”

Kyouko started to explain how the machine worked to Homura. Where to try and grab the plushie from, how she should move around to get better angles for aiming, and when to expect the claw to increase its grabbing strength.

[-]

The claw grabbed the plushie right by its neck, slowly pulled it up, and started to move towards the winning area. A second that felt like eternity passed as it came to a stop right on top of the winning area, the plushie swaying from side to side.

The claw opened.

The plushie fell.

Blaring sounds and excited music came from the machine, signaling their victory. Kyouko let out a breath she hadn’t realized had been holding. Homura was too shocked to even realize she had won, her eyes tired as she slowly bent down to pick her prize.

They had won.

It had taken them another two hours, but they had won.

Current date: Friday 23^rd of May.

Chapter Text

The sounds of people walking around and young people laughing filled the WcDonalds. A warm, joyous feeling all around the air. Everyone in the fast food restaurant were happily talking with their groups.

Well, everyone but Sayaka and Tomoe.

Kyouko, Tomoe, and Sayaka had decided to wait for Madoka and Akemi to finish with their club activities in the mall, and it had all been pretty normal until Kyouko had to go to work; Sayaka suddenly realizing she had never talked alone with her senior make her start to feel a bit awkward around the girl.

They had been sitting in silence for twenty minutes already, both of them looking at their phones to try and get away from the awkward situation. Every bit of small talk quickly died down, neither of them really finding something to talk about. Sayaka had never wished for Madoka to be with her so much in all her life, the girl had like a superpower to speak with people she didn’t know much. Hell, even if Akemi was to come now she would be happy, she could at least try to tease that girl. But Tomoe… what did she know about her? She baked, she took care of Nagisa, and she… studied? Oh she wanted to have a flower shop, right? Talking about school didn’t feel right, and it wasn’t like Sayaka knew Nagisa that much either.

“Hmmm… Miki-san?” called Tomoe.

“Oh-! Wh-what is it, Tomoe-senpai?” It looked like Tomoe was going to try to spark up small talk again. Sayaka really hoped this one would start an actual conversation this time.

“I thought that maybe we should exchange Line numbers? Since we are all getting together tomorrow only having Kaname-san number could become a problem” The way her voice sounded felt like the girl had been clearly trying to think about what to say for a while now. It felt almost like a practiced line.

“Of course!” happily said Sayaka, maybe she could learn something about the girl from her bio or the profile picture. Sayaka held out her phone so Mami could add her, the friend notification coming through shortly after. Sayaka opened the girl’s profile.

The profile picture was one of her and Nagisa together, both girl’s smiling. Sayaka had expected as much. Now, the bio that felt like it used the 500 character limit? That was a surprise. The bio containing everything from age to things she liked and things she didn’t. The overly extensive made Sayaka check if the girl posted anything in the social media aspect of the app, and… Yep, very much so. Pictures of cakes, flowers, and some sunsets were plastered all over her page.

With how Tomoe acted she had expected her to be pretty bland with her bio – not as bland as Akemi’s empty bio though – and she had always thought that Tomoe felt like the kind of busy person that didn’t have time to post stuff online.

Instead, she had found that the girl seemed to have a pretty deep understanding of social media, and with how good some of the photos she took looked even photography knowledge.

“Do you like taking photos, Tomoe-senpai?”  wondered Sayaka as she scrolled down the girl’s profile, at least five photos per week.

“Oh, that… I started doing it before Nagisa lived with me to keep myself busy with something” Tomoe admitted, the girl leaving her phone on the table as to pick up her drink and take a sip from it “I guess it kind of became part of my routine, and if I see something interesting I take a photo of it”

Sayaka hummed as she kept scrolling down the profile, the pictures started to change from a lot of cakes and some flowers to more landscapes. Their frequency increased, going from five per week to almost twenty.

“They are really good” said Sayaka, putting her phone away to look back at Tomoe who had fallen silent once again. “Did you study photography?”

“Oh no, no. I just read some articles about it” Tomoe embarrassedly giggled “They only look good because of how good the phone camera is, I almost don’t have to do anything”

“What? No” Sayaka denied, she went to take a sip of her soda but the drink had been empty for a while now “My photos look horrible compared to yours, you know what you are doing”

“It’s not like it matters much now anyways” sighed Tomoe with a gentle smile on her face “I haven’t been able to take a lot of them since Nagisa came into my life…” she made a small pause “Not that I want to go back to those days, but between school, Nagisa, and the house I don’t have a lot of time.”

“Man, I don’t know how you do it to be honest. I only have school and I still find myself thinking that I want more hours in the day!” Sayaka reclined in her chair until she was being hold by only two of the legs. “You are amazing Tomoe-senpai”

Silence fell between the two once more. Tomoe seemed to be fidgeting around with her drink a bit as she tried to come up with something more to say.

“I don’t-”

“Ah! There you are!” Madoka rushed towards the two of them, Akemi following her. “What were you talking about?”

“Oh, Tomoe-senpai knows how to take photos. We were talking about how she learnt”

“I wouldn’t say I know how to take them, I just let my phone make most of the decisions” Tomoe embarrassedly pointed out. “I simply point at what I want to take a picture of”

“Eh~ Can I see them?” asked Madoka, the girl’s smile beamed strongly enough that even Sayaka, who had built a resistance to it over the years, would have said yes to the girl.

“S-sure” said Tomoe as she took out her phone and started showing her some of the pictures, Madoka reacting to almost all of them with a gasp or a giggle.

Akemi looked at the girl with what seemed to be a bit of disappointment at first before she sat in the other chair that was free next to Sayaka; probably noticing that the photo show was going to take a while. Sayaka turned to face the girl, a bit of a teasing smile on the blue haired girl’s face.

“Oh~” Sayaka whispered “Sad that she left you?”

Akemi didn’t answer, throwing an annoyed side glance at Sayaka that said more than enough. She knew what was coming.

“With how you were left hanging before I saw her rushing here, you two were holding hands or something right?” Sayaka playfully poked Akemi’s arm as she spoke “Poor Akemi, you are going out with Madoka; She is unable to not show affection to everyone.”

“I know” answered Akemi, her voice had a certain edge to it; Sayaka’s teasing starting to annoy the girl “It’s one of the things I like about her”

“Oh? And you think you will be able to stand it?”

“Yes”

“Even after your honeymoon period ends and she isn’t as glued to you as she is now?” Sayaka said with a devilish smile, getting a frown from Akemi as her words left her mouth.

“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice sounded the same as it did but Sayaka could feel a bit of a worried undertone.

“Oh you know, around six months I believe it was, where everything is fun and carefree in a relationship” Sayaka pointed at Madoka “Then things get a bit more complicated as you learn stuff about your partner… Secrets they didn’t tell you, things they’ve done… I heard that a lot of relationships end then”

“You are lying” Akemi said, though her voice almost wavered.

“Nope, look it up if you don’t believe me” Sayaka said “What? Worried that Madoka would learn something about you? Uh oh~, be prepared for when the time comes” Sayaka said with a smirk.

Akemi stopped looking at Sayaka to look at Madoka instead, her gaze fixed on the girl for a few seconds as she seemed to be remembering something. A small smile appeared on her face.

“Ah, that would explain why Madoka isn’t that affectionate towards you nowadays, ten years was it?” Akemi didn’t even look directly at Sayaka, only giving her a side glance. “She already got bored of your shenanigans”

“At least it took her ten years” Sayaka smiled, glad that Akemi was seemingly playing along “How long will it be for you?”

“Who knows” Homura said before looking back at Madoka, the girl now finishing to look at Tomoe’s pictures. Madoka hadn’t been here for five minutes and she had been able to make Tomoe be happier than what Sayaka had been able to do in the past half an hour.

Oh well, at least she had been able to tease Akemi.

Madoka looked away from Tomoe’s phone, the girl setting her sight on them instead. There was a bit of hesitation before she took the sit next to Tomoe, Sayaka even thought about getting up from her seat so she could seat next to Akemi, but the pink haired girl really hadn’t given her enough time to react.

“I was wondering” started saying Madoka “What are you going to wear to the festival?”

Tomoe shifted in her seat to look at Madoka, the girl had a confident smile on her face. “I will have to go with normal clothes, though I would like to get Nagisa in a yukata… I don’t know if the girl has used one before”

“Ah, that” sighed Sayaka “I will probably go with my yukata, if I don’t, I will never give it use you know?”

“Oh! The new one you showed me pictures of?” asked Madoka, Sayaka could feel Akemi melting next to her as Madoka bathed them in that beaming smile. “The blue and white one, right?”

“Yep! Only got to use it once, and it was so expensive that I feel bad about it”

Madoka shifted her gaze to Homura, the girl had her stone cold mask on; but Sayaka could see a small blush on her cheeks when Madoka looked at her.

“What about you, Homura-chan?”

“I don’t own a yukata, as such I will be wearing one of the outfits you chose for me”

“Oh? Madoka chose clothes for you?” asked Sayaka, a mix of genuine curiosity and excitement for a possible new teasing opportunity showing on her face.

“Yes” Homura reply was sharp, the girl throwing a menacing side look at Sayaka as if she knew what could come of giving her more information.

“Yeah! Homura-chan wasn’t used to buying clothes so she was okay with me choosing for her!” Madoka quickly spilled the beans “It was pretty easy choosing the clothes, she was okay with it as long as it was comfortable so I took her to H&N”

“Oh~? Were you really okay because they were comfortable?” asked Sayaka, her teasing voice cracking through as she looked at an ever more annoyed Akemi. “Or was it because Madoka chose them for you?”

Akemi clicked her tongue, trying to look away from Sayaka as to not show her reaction. Sadly for her, that in on itself showed more to Sayaka than she needed.

“You were so happy that she was choosing them that you didn’t care what they were right~?” Sayaka said, trying to lean a bit more into the table so she could see the girl’s probably embarrassed face.

“Oh no, that isn’t it” said Madoka, making both of them turn to face her. “We weren’t going out yet, there really was no reason for Homura-chan to accept them if she didn’t like them”

Sayaka looked astonished at how dense her best friend could be, but she was able to regain control of herself quick enough to face a blushing Akemi; her mask broken by a surprised expression on her face. Now this was an opportunity.

“Madoka, Madoka” Sayaka waved a finger in front of her “You are getting it all wrong”

“Hmm? What am I getting wrong?”

“Akemi here didn’t accept those clothes because they were comfortable.” Sayaka did an exaggerated gesture to point towards Akemi, the girl trying to recompose herself and failing miserably “She did so because the person she had a crush on was choosing them for her. She wanted to wear something that you found cute.”

Sayaka could see Akemi going through a different million thoughts, the girl raising her hands as if to clap. She stopped, thought about it a bit more and left her hands drop again. Madoka on the other side of the table slowly came to a realization, as she finally processed the real reason as to why Akemi had accepted the clothes she had chosen. A similarly deep blush appearing on her face when she did so.

Two birds one stone, as easy as that. But maybe she could drive one of the birds a little bit deeper with information the other one probably didn’t have…

“Ah! That would explain why you were more than okay in helping me!” Sayaka saw Akemi flinch as she understood what she was going to say.

“Help you?” asked an embarrassed Madoka. “W-with what?”

“Oh, you see~ when Kyouko told me you liked someone, I wanted to find out who it was” Sayaka looked at Akemi, a death stare like none other she had ever seen on the girl’s face. She knew nothing would come of it though; or at least she hoped nothing would. “And so who better to hel-”

“Miki Sayaka-san” Akemi’s voice felt like knives in the air “You should stop talking”

“Homura-chan?” asked Madoka with a bit of worry in her voice.

“Oh? Why should I? Are you embarrassed?” questioned Sayaka with a smug smile on her face.

“I fear for your safety were you to keep talking” Sayaka had never heard the girl speak in such a passive aggressive voice, and yet it felt too familiar to receive this kind of threat from her. “I recommend changing the topic before someone gets hurt”

Now, that threat felt real.

“Homura-chan! Don’t’ say that!” Madoka said, a bit of anger in her voice. “Is it really that bad that you don’t want me to learn about it?”

Sayaka, by experience, could see that things were going to quickly go south if this conversation kept going. So she decided to get between the two before a dumb teasing joke became an actual problem.

“Don’t worry about it Madoka!” Sayaka tried to quickly grab the girl’s attention “It was just a joke. Akemi and I always do stuff like this when you aren’t around, right Akemi?”

Sayaka looked at the girl in question, a look of ‘follow my lead’ on Sayaka’s eyes that Akemi seemed to be quick to understand.

“Y-yes” Akemi was able to recompose herself enough for her next words to not feel like the half-truth that they really were “It’s just a game”

Madoka seemed to be confused, a normal reaction really. As far as Sayaka knew the girl had never seen Akemi throw a threat around like that. Which made sense, since Akemi had only ever done so when Madoka wasn’t around.

“Yep! Just like how Kyouko and I fight all the time” Sayaka tried to get back Madoka’s attention, not letting her dwell too much on the details. “We started with the whole joke because of how I used to treat her. It’s all in good faith! I promise!”

Madoka frowned, the girl trying to ascertain what their real motives where. Thankfully for both of them, Madoka was good at reading people’s emotions; not minds. And Sayaka was pretty sure she could lie about this kind of thing to her friend, the only real problem would be if the girl were to ask someone she could read like the palm of her hand.

“Homura-chan” Madoka said with a serious expression on her face.

“Yes?” Asked Akemi, even through her stone cold mask Sayaka could feel her fear; and if Sayaka could Madoka was more than feeling it.

“Is Sayaka telling the truth?”

A moment of silence as Akemi tried to look at Madoka in the eyes. She didn’t last too long, the girl quickly moving her eyes away from her. Madoka sighed, not really needing an answer after that.

“At least Sayaka doesn’t mind” Madoka sighed, putting on a smile afterwards.

“I’m sorry…” apologized Akemi, even doing a small bow with her head.

“It’s not about you not being able to joke with them Homura-chan” Madoka said, looking at the girl with gentle eyes “But that didn’t sound like a joke. If you keep doing that you will only push people away from you”

Akemi felt smaller than Sayaka had ever seen the girl like. Though Sayaka wasn’t sure if it was because she was actually thinking about what Madoka was telling her or if it was just because Madoka had gotten angry at her. With what Kyouko had told her about how these two worked Akemi would treat Madoka’s words as absolute… Yeah, they had to change that.

Sayaka was pretty sure Madoka wasn’t doing it on purpose; but Sayaka was more than sure that if Madoka were to tell Akemi to jump off a cliff the girl would only ask ‘Head or feet first?’.

Well, at least she now had a new mission to take care of. From trying to find who Madoka liked, to helping such person to not be just Madoka’s lap dog.

Kyouko would be helpful with this one.

“Well! Doesn’t matter anymore!” loudly announced Sayaka, trying to change the conversation topic into something less heavy “We were talking about what to wear right? What about you Madoka?”

Madoka smiled at Sayaka, clearly seeing what she was trying to do.

“I was thinking I would be using my yukata, it’s been a few years since I wore it”

“Are you sure it will still fit?” Asked Tomoe, the girl hadn’t been feeling to comfortable with the discussion though Sayaka had seen her try to speak only to be quickly cut off by someone else. It felt weird, as if she should be way more confident but was missing the thing that made her go the extra mile. “If you haven’t worn it in a few years it might be too small for you”

Madoka let out a disappointed sigh.

“I haven’t grown that much these last three years…” Madoka looked at Tomoe with a bit of an embarrassed expression “Probably the sleeves will be a bit shorter, but nothing more. I still look like a child to be honest”

“You don’t” Akemi interrupted, the girl trying to recover a bit of her pride as she acted with her usually stoic façade.

“Thank you, Homura-chan” Madoka looked at the girl with a bit of a sad smile “But I am the shortest of the group-”

“By six centimeters, really not that much”

“I’m the only one that still collects plushie, I don’t think someone would look at that and say that it isn’t childish?” Madoka offered, as if she was trying to get the girl to admit she was right.

“You enjoy them, it doesn’t matter what other people think about it”

“Well, but if someone were to see my room they would definitely say I’m a child”

“And I would personally explain to them why they are wrong”

Silence fell in their table, the ‘discussion’ coming to a stalemate. The one to break the silence being Tomoe.

“I don’t think that a fourteen year old collecting plushies is childish” commented Tomoe, getting an approving nod from Akemi in response.

“I don’t think anyone collecting them is” added Akemi “It’s just a hobby that Madoka enjoys”

“Well- but-” Madoka tried to come up with something to say, her whole argument of her being childlike being dismantled by whom she probably considered the two more mature people of the group. “In that case, what kind of hobbies do you have Homura-chan? I’m sure they are way more mature than plushies!”

Akemi looked at Madoka for a few seconds as she tried to think of an answer. Every time it seemed like the girl would come up with something to say she would shake her head and go back to thinking.

“It really isn’t that hard Akemi” said Sayaka “Just what do you do in your free time?”

“That’s…” Akemi put on a frown as she tried to think harder “I mainly study for school?”

“That’s not a hobby!” reprimanded Madoka “What do you do that makes you happy? Something that you think about doing all day!”

“Something that makes me happy?” Akemi seemed to think for a few seconds before talking again “The only thing I can think of is spending time with you”

Madoka blushed, her previous fighting spirit quickly dying down as an embarrassed one appeared. If Homura had felt like a small animal when Madoka was angry with her, then Madoka felt like she would disappear in the chair with how small she felt.

“Oh, that was a low blow Akemi-san” giggled Tomoe, Sayaka nodding along.

“I just said the truth” reaffirmed Akemi, the girl driving Madoka’s blushes to an even redder shade.

Sayaka couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle as she looked at Madoka. Akemi may be pretty dense, but the girl did say some things which such conviction that it felt like they were premeditated or a bullseye to make Madoka blush. It was the same kind of brutal honesty she used to tell people off, but applied to a way kinder side of the girl. And with how easily Madoka seemed to be able to tell what the girl was thinking she was sure to notice that it was a complete truth and not just some cheesy pick up line.

“Akemi what did you before talking with Madoka? You had to do something right?” Sayaka asked as she placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder “I won’t believe that you spent your whole life doing nothing other than studying just so you know”

Akemi frowned a bit, but tried to think of an answer nonetheless.

“I guess… I liked reading while I was in the hospital” Akemi admitted “Though lately I haven’t been doing it much, I have only been reading the same books over and over”

“See, that’s a hobby” said Sayaka as she gave the girl a small pat on the shoulder “Even if you don’t do it much nowadays. Sometimes people just don’t have enough time”

“Yes, in fact if it wasn’t because Nagisa likes cakes I wouldn’t be doing my hobby that much either” admitted Tomoe.

Madoka seemed to recover from the previous hit, coughing a bit as she tried to calm her still red cheeks.

“That’s right you used to read before classes started right?” asked Madoka.

“Yes, though they were all books I had already read” admitted Akemi, the girl looking for something in her schoolbag before she took out a small pocket book, with how it looked it had seen a lot of use throughout the years; the title ‘A Silver Garden’ in the front cover “I’ve read this one enough times to almost know it by memory”

Madoka extended her hand to pick the book, Akemi complying without a word.

“Is it that good?” asked Madoka.

“Not really, but I enjoy its familiarity” Akemi said, her words coming through as if she had already explained this before “A simple story with a happy end. It was a positive constant in my life, and I haven’t been able to get away from it. How I came upon the book meant more for me than the story itself”

“How you came upon it?” asked Tomoe, who was reading the summary of the book as Madoka held it.

“It was a gift” Akemi drily added, making Madoka look up from the book with a melancholic look in her eyes; she probably understood whom had given the book to Akemi.

Madoka waited for Tomoe to finish reading the book summary before giving it back to Akemi, the girl carefully putting it back into her schoolbag.

“Well, do you all want to go somewhere?” asked Sayaka her whole body already being tired of having been sitting for so long in the fast food restaurant.

With that they got up and started to go around the mall window shopping, the group not wanting to spend money in preparation for tomorrow’s festival. There was no worse fate than going to a festival without money to do things in it after all.

Current date: Saturday 24^th of May.

A/N: Well, these chapters feel so… empty I guess? With things now stabilizing a bit we are getting into slice of life again. So it feels like a nice time to remind everyone that this fanfic has always aimed to go for an everyday type scenarios. Even more now that I can bounce off the group’s relationships finally starting to flourish between other people than just Madoka and Homura. So we are going to be having quite a long calm period of people just bonding (Summer it’s quite close too, though close by this fic standards probably means another 100k words)

Of course we are still getting a lot of MadoHomu, it’s what I sustain my mortal body with after all.

Next chapter is the spring festival, I would like to try and make it into a special like Madoka’s and Homura’s date was in chapter 11. So expect a pretty long chapter for the next one.

As always, thanks to everyone who has read this far and a special thanks to those that leave a comment with their thoughts. It’s always fun reading them.

Chapter Text

Light started to filter through the windows blinders, the dust in the air shining as if it was made of diamonds when the light bounced off the small particles. The sound of cars had been present for a while already, their engines echoing inside the apartment whenever they passed by. Homura straightened her back against the old wooden chair in front of her desk, the girl dropping her pen as she did so. She looked back at the finished homework that the teachers would be sending next week, having spent the whole night just doing it in advance out of anxiety.

Homura looked at the old style alarm clock on her desk, its small hand pointing at the stylized nine. Judging by the time, Madoka would probably be awake already, a thought popping in Homura’s mind. She could just… watch her; see if she is awake. But it had been heavier in her conscience to watch the girl from her soul gem lately. She used to have the excuse of getting her ‘Daily Madoka Dosage’ but now that not only was she seeing her every day but they were also dating… Well, it felt wrong to Homura.

Let’s just watch her a bit. Tiny peek, make sure she is okay.

“There is no need for that” Homura thought to answer the Devil, getting up from the chair and walking towards the door “Reiketsu is watching over her to make sure she is okay”

Oh, and you trust a doll just like that? They’ve been talking behind your back you know~

Homura tried to think of an appropriate answer to the Devil that wouldn’t make her fall into her blatant provocation. She walked outside of her room and into the main hall of her apartment, the sound of the old wood creaking with every step she took. Even after everything that had happened after Madoka became a concept, her apartment going back to how it used to be instead of the magically altered one she habited during the loops still felt weird.

“I don’t care what they’ve been talking about” Homura opened the door to her living room. Mie and Namake were playing with Amy, the dolls turning for a second to look at Homura before going back to the cat. “They may not like me or my methods, but I know they will protect Madoka at all costs”

You talk like that, but at the same time you won’t let any doll other than Reiketsu alone with her. - The Devil mentally scoffed – Picking favorites? That’s not something a mother should do~

“I trust that Reiketsu won’t let her own feelings get the better of her” Homura walked into the small kitchen of her apartment and started preparing a coffee, the old machine coming to life with a whirring noise. “In that sense, I trust her more with it than myself”

Homura focused her magic to try and sever the connection with the Devil, it taking a bit more of effort than the last times she had done so. With her emotions being a mess – a positive mess for the first time in her life – the fifteenth doll – she preferred to think of it that way rather than to think she had gone completely insane – had been having a bit of a tighter grasp around Homura’s magic. Gladly, it wasn’t enough for her to start manifesting around in a hallucination or to fight back when Homura sent her to the back of her mind.

The coffee machine beeped, the heat indicator turning green as it indicated it was ready. Homura placed a cup under the nozzle and press the button for the expresso; the dark liquid steadily filling her cup after she did so.

As Homura waited for the cup to fill, she felt her phone vibrate; the vibration being quickly followed by the sound of a notification. Homura took out her phone and opened the chat log, Madoka’s name appearing on the top of the screen as she did so.

===

“Are you awake Homura-chan?”

“I am”

“Oh! Good morning ＼(≧▽≦)／!” Homura couldn’t hold back a smile as the text came through.

“Good morning”

There were a few seconds of silence as Madoka typed her next message, the girl deleting it a few times before sending it.

“My mom asked me if you wanted to stay the night after the festival? So you don’t have to walk home alone since we are probably staying until pretty late”

Homura paused for a few seconds as she thought of an appropriate answer. Kaname Junko was probably worried about her, that much was true, but seeing as how Madoka would probably have already told her parents that they were going out… This was going to be an intervention, wasn’t it? Not the first time she would have had this kind of conversation with Madoka’s mom, she usually noticed that Homura liked Madoka and would give her a ‘talk’ in some of the earlier loops after all. 

Then again, this would be the first time the conversation would be from a ‘you are dating my daughter’ point of view instead of a ‘you like her’ one. Homura really hoped it wouldn’t change much from what she knew, she didn’t like when things she already had reactions prepared to changed.

“As long as I’m not a bother” replied Homura.

“You never are!” Madoka’s message came almost in the same moment Homura’s had been sent, almost as if the girl had known what she was going to say. “I will tell Mom that you are staying then, see you later (≧◡≦) ♡!”

“See you later, Madoka”

===

Homura looked at her phone screen with a slight smile on her face, her eyes focused on the last message Madoka had sent, a smile appearing on her face as she did so. Homura picked up her coffee and took a sip from it, the bitter taste of the coffee greeting her instead of the ashen one she had gotten used to.

“The feudal hierarchy was completed by the various classes of daimyo…” The sound coming from Mami’s earbuds echoed inside her head, the recording she had prepared last night for Monday’s test had been on loop for the past few hours. The girl doing tasks around the house as she tried to memorize the recording that played on loop.

Or at least she was trying to, her mind wandering off as she imagined how today would go. The last time Mami had gone to a festival felt like a lifetime ago, and being able to go there with everyone like a dream come true.

In fact, when the group had asked her if she wanted to come with them, she had actually been surprised. With how she usually only spoke with Kaname and Kyouko, she had not expected them to invite her. Even less so since Kaname and Akemi were now going out, she had thought that they would want to go the two of them alone; instead Kaname had been the one to propose that the group went all together. Akemi either didn’t mind or didn’t want to contradict the girl. Probably the second one.

But here she was, getting all the house chores done in the morning so she could spend the whole afternoon out with her friends. The word friends bringing a brighter smile to her face.

And so, she had been planning what she should do. After all, she was the oldest of the group and should act as such. Which meant she should make sure to take care of everyone, have an eye out for everyone in case something happens, and try to make herself as dependable as possible.

As such Mami had thought up a plan for the day: Operation Amico Affidabile!

Mami walked towards the entryway to her apartment, there a big carry bag with a flower imprint waited for her. She picked it up and made sure to check that everything was in order. A small first aid kit in case someone gets hurt, a basic sewing kit in case some of the girls break their yukatas by mistake, two pair of sandals in case someone loses or breaks theirs, a few packets of instant ice to relieve pain, a few plastic bags to carry stuff they may buy…

And the list went on, whatever situation that Mami could think of was being covered with the contents of her bag. As such part one of ‘Amico Affidabile’ was done.

Mami left the bag back where it was with a nod to herself for a job well done and went back to the living room. She sat on the sofa and took out a notebook in which she had copied the map of the streets that were being used for the festival having added annotations of possible points of interest and things to look out for.

Of course, with how much Nagisa – and apparently Kyouko – liked food they will end up eating quite a lot; but there is nothing worse than buying something just to find something you wanted to eat more a few stands ahead. As such, she had made sure to take proper notes about what kind of food they would be selling in the festival. She could guide Nagisa without problem around what the girl would like more, but she should ask Kyouko a bit more directly so she could also benefit from her work.

Then was the matter of festival games. They had to make sure to go at a slow enough pace that they won’t end up just seeing the whole festival in less than an hour or things could get boring pretty fast. And so, Mami had made sure to prepare a list of things they could do were they to stagnate; at least so they could make time until the fireworks began that is.

She had made a perfect plan for a perfect day. Now she only needed to properly apply it to reality.

“Mami… Morning…”  Nagisa walked into the living room, the girl still in her pajamas.

“Good morning, Nagisa. Did you sleep well?” asked Mami as the younger girl walked over to her and dropped in the sofa right next to Mami.

“I...mmmh...yeh…” Nagisa mumbled still half asleep, the girl starting to fall asleep again as she crawled over to Mami’s lap. “I want breakfast…”

Mami let out a giggle.

“It’s already one in the afternoon, think you can wait a bit for lunch?” said Mami as she started to pat the girl’s hair.

“O…kay”

Mami smiled at the girl before shaking her shoulders a bit so she wouldn’t fall asleep again, forcing her to sit up instead of lying down on the sofa.

“Remember that we are going to the festival later this afternoon” said Mami as she got up from the sofa and started to walk towards the kitchen “We have to put you in your yukata after we eat lunch”

Nagisa nodded absentmindedly, the girl grabbing the TV remote to entertain herself with something and try to fight off her sleepiness. Mami walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face, the prospect of the festival with everyone filling her with happiness.

Today was going to be a good day.

Kyouko picked up the salad bowl, serving herself a small ration onto her plate. She made sure to scoop some of the cherry tomatoes that Madoka had given them from her garden onto her plate, with these being the last few they had she wasn’t going to just pass up on them.

“We are going to be staying after the fireworks at least” Sayaka said to her dad, the old man sitting in front of her “So don’t wait awake for us to come back”

“You could give me a call and I would go pick you two up, I really don’t mind. I would be less worried if you did actually” Sayaka’s dad spoke as Kyouko passed him the salad.

Sayaka shook her head in denial, the girl waiting to finish eating before speaking again.

“You have to rest! You never take a day off” Sayaka angrily said, waving her fork around as she spoke. “And no, tomorrow doesn’t count; you will be too focused on making things fun for us that you will tire yourself up even more. Just. Rest. Today”

Sayaka’s dad sighed in defeat before passing the salad back to Sayaka, the girl wearing a serious expression on her face to try and drive her point further in. Kyouko agreed with the girl, that much didn’t need to be said, since the old man had come back they would only see him at dinner sometimes. Kyouko already knew the guy had been working non-stop for her daughter, and as much as both Sayaka and her had hoped that between them they could easily take care of the house chores and that Kyouko’s salary could easily pay for the food expenses… That had only made it so the guy worked more hours with the extra time he now had.

“Besides,” Sayaka spoke up again “We are in a big group, you really don’t have to worry!”

“Big group? Who else is going with you two? I’m guessing Madoka and Shizuki-san are?” Sayaka’s dad asked a mix between worry and curiosity showing on his face.

“Ah no, Hitomi isn’t coming” clarified Sayaka “Madoka tried asking her, but she said that she already had plans with Kyosuke. Said that now that she had been able to make the guy go in a date she wasn’t going to waste the opportunity” Sayaka laughed.

“Ah right, I forgot that they were dating now” As the words left Sayaka’s dad’s mouth Kyouko looked towards the girl. There was no flinching, no forced smile or laughter, nothing. So either Sayaka had gotten over it already, or Homura’s ability to hide her emotions had rubbed off on her. “It makes sense that such a young couple would like to go by themselves”

“Right? Though then there is Madoka and Akemi, and they aren’t going alone” Sayaka sighed “I really hope Madoka didn’t just say to come together with everyone to not leave anyone alone, you know? I would understand if she wanted to be alone with Akemi”

“Meh, she might be she might not” commented Kyouko after gulping down some food “She may want to spend all the time she can with Homura, but she is still Madoka; she enjoys being with people”

“Yeah, but…” Sayaka lamented “I don’t know, it’s their first festival together, shouldn’t they try to make it special?”

“Us being around won’t make it less special for them” Kyouko sighed “Besides, they are old enough to go off on their own if they want some privacy”

Sayaka hummed as she pondered Kyouko’s words, the girl absentmindedly eating her salad while thinking. The short silence that had started to creep into the table was quickly overrun by Sayaka’s dad talking.

“Madoka is going out with someone?” asked Sayaka’s dad with a surprised face on his face, Sayaka suddenly perking up as she realized she hadn’t told him yet.

“Yeah, they started going out this week”

“Huh, a bit of a peculiar name for a boy though. ‘Homura’ feels more like a girl to me”

“That’s because it is a girl” Kyouko added drily, a nice opportunity to see how Sayaka’s parents – and Sayaka herself – reacted to a lesbian couple presenting itself right in front of her.

“Oh” Sayaka’s dad seem to go through a few emotions at the same time, most of them confusion and incredulity “Well, I… I certainly didn’t expect that”

“Right?!” said Sayaka “I really did not expect Madoka to end up with a girl; even less with Akemi of all people”

You didn’t think much about it then. Thought Kyouko, not really wanting to start a discussion while eating. But really, it had taken less than two weeks for Kyouko to notice that Madoka had been interested in girls. Sure, she didn’t know how the girl was before she went to America, but this Madoka was as lesbian as Kyouko herself was. It hadn’t been a ‘maybe she is interested in both’ kind of thing, no, the girl didn’t pay much attention to the boys in class other than to act upon her usual kindness or normal schoolmate stuff.

Then again, Kyouko had only seen her with Homura around; and she clearly had an effect on Madoka’s hormone filled teenager mind.

“Oh well, I’m sure she is a good girl” Sayaka’s dad laughed. A positive reaction, so he either really didn’t care about Homura being a girl or he was just good at playing along “She has to be if she is going out with Madoka. Probably another cinnamon roll.”

Kyouko and Sayaka exchanged looks but didn’t say a word, both of the girls not wanting to break his completely broken view of Homura. First because he would probably think they were joking if they said ‘Oh no, she is actually the kind of person that knows how to hide a body’ and second of all because it could be really funny if he ever learnt the truth first hand.

The conversation started to dwindle until it completely died out, Kyouko’s mind ending up being filled with the thoughts of what they were going to eat at the festival in just a few hours. She had been saving money, and by God that she was going to use it.

Madoka looked at herself in the mirror for the umpteenth time, a frown appearing on her face as she noticed her obi was slightly tilted, again. She tried to properly adjust it without untightening it just to end up with the whole thing falling off.

“Madoka, you are not going to finish putting it on at this rate” chuckled her mom from the other side of the bathroom, the woman coming over to help her put it back on.

“But I need to put it on perfectly! I want to make sure everything is perfect before Homura comes!” Madoka pouted as she raised her arms to let her mother put the obi back on.

“It won’t last being perfectly placed long anyways Madoka, you would have to refrain from sticking to Homura” she said, Madoka seeing a teasing grin on her face through the mirror.

“I know” Madoka said, a small pout on her face “I just want it to look as good as possible at least the first time she sees me. I’m not going to distance myself from her just to keep something else in perfect condition again.”

Her mother hummed as she started to fasten the waist strap properly around Madoka’s waist.

“Not with how she reacted last time…” Madoka sighed as her mother made her turn around to get a better angle from which she could work.

“What happened?” asked her mom, making sure that the Obi was perfectly aligned like Madoka had asked.

“She thought I was trying to distance myself from her because I regretted going out with her” Madoka and her mom locked eyes for a second, a soft smile on Madoka’s face and a curious raised eyebrow on her mothers. “She is always like that; she doesn’t think that she deserves anything good”

“And that includes you” Guessed her mom as she finished tightening the waist band, getting a nod from Madoka as an answer.

“And to make matters worse, yesterday she said there really wasn’t something she did just because she liked to do it” Madoka examined her yukata once more, making sure that everything was perfectly in place “She just reads the same book over and over because it makes her remember someone. I honestly don’t know if the reading is making her happier or just sad at the memories”

“Some people prefer to remember someone even if it hurts” Her mother said as she walked over to her make-up set and gestured Madoka to come with her. “They think it’s better to be hurt than to forget them”

Madoka hummed in consideration as she walked over to her mom, sitting on a chair while her mother started to put on just a bit of make-up on Madoka. ‘Because it’s a special occasion. Don’t get used to it’ her mom had said when Madoka asked if she could wear some make-up.

“I think I understand” Madoka said, not totally convinced herself that that was a healthy thing to do “The problem is that she doesn’t do other hobbies to balance things out! Her hobbies can’t all be to make herself sad!”

“She has to do something else with her time” Her mother said as she took out the eye-liner “She probably just didn’t tell you out of embarrassment. I don’t think someone would be able to keep going on without something to look up to”

And that was the problem. That something inside Madoka had been screaming at her that Homura really wasn’t able to keep going in that situation. That the girl couldn’t be left without a goal or she would wither away. And as much as Madoka really didn’t want to think about it, Homura hurting herself felt like something that could happen. It felt too plausible for her to just dismiss it as unfounded worry.

“She did say there was something else that made her happy” Madoka muttered, catching her mother attention after she picked up a bit of lip gloss and looked at Madoka with a questioning look “She said that spending time with me makes her happy…”

Her mom couldn’t hold back a grin as she went in to apply the lip gloss on Madoka’s lips.

“She was just being playful” her mom reassured.

“I guess…”

Madoka knew that wasn’t true. Homura wasn’t one to just say something like that to be ‘playful’, at least not the way the girl had said it. She just stated it like it was a truth. There had been no playfulness in her voice or expression, there had been no trace of embarrassment on the girl. Just pure truth. The only thing Homura could think that made her happy was being with Madoka, and maybe a while ago those words would have made Madoka extremely happy.

Now it just made her worried.

Current date: Saturday 24^th of May

A/N: I lied. Festival is next chapter (:

To be honest, I will need the whole ass weekend to write the festival with how long the outline ended up being. Thought that I might as well cut the start and publish it today so I can keep up with the two episodes a week quota.

Chapter Text

The sun hung low in the sky as it heralded the coming of the night. A few crow-like familiars flew in the darkening skies, the constant flare up of magic calling their attention towards their master. Homura paced back and forth in front of Madoka’s house, the girl using the stone wall as cover just to make sure that Madoka wouldn’t see her being so early.

I’ve heard from one of the dolls how her yukata looks! Madoka even changed her hairstyle for it!

The voice of the Devil echoed in her mind, accompanied by it were flashes of how the Devil imagined Madoka to look from the description of the dolls. Homura flared up her magic again, trying to make the images go away and take away the little magic the Devil had. She wanted to see Madoka firsthand, not from the absurd imagination of the Devil.

Ah! Since we are staying over tonight, let’s get intimate with Madoka~ We are dating now, you can’t say it would be wrong now~

“I’m the one dating her. Not you” quickly corrected Homura, trying not to ponder too much about what the Devil could mean by ‘getting more intimate’.

Only until I get a hold of your body~

Homura sighed, and flared up her magic again; trying to completely silence the Devil hopefully for the rest of the day.

I wonder if Madoka believes that you don’t have to wear underwear under the yukata~

The sudden flash image of Madoka and Homura being in the girl’s room, Madoka slowly walking towards Homura with reddened cheeks on her face as she carefully lets her yukata fall off just to see that the girl wasn’t wearing anything below, was enough to make Homura lose concentration, her magic slowly going back to the Devil. As more familiars- this time a pair of lotte - approached her, confused by Homura’s magic constant flares.

It had been like this for the past twenty minutes, since Homura had reached Madoka’s house. Every time she tried to silence the Devil, she would then make her lose concentration and quickly take whatever little amount of magic slipped off Homura’s grasp. All because she had started to get more and more nervous about the day as she got closer to Madoka’s house.

I feel her walking towards the entrance! Do something good for once and walk over there, I want to see her~

Homura clicked her tongue in annoyance as she walked back towards the entrance and expectingly looked at the doors. She really didn’t want to do what the Devil was telling her; but at the same time, she could also feel that Madoka was about to leave the house.

The doors slowly opened as Homura’s heartbeat became faster and faster, the Devil’s voice quickly fading into background noise as Madoka started to appear into view.

The yukata was of a whitish pink light cloth, its mild colors only helping to attenuate the girl’s eyes and hair. White spots in the shape of flowers decorated the yukata in different sizes, making sure that the attire didn’t seem too formal. A light yellow obi was wrapped around Madoka’s waist, tying neatly behind her back into a big bow.

Homura slowly moved her eyes up until their eyes met, Madoka wearing a small blush as Homura looked at her with wide eyes. Madoka’s lip shone slightly under the streetlights that had started to turn on in preparation for the night, Homura’s mind only being reminded of the soft sweet kisses they had shared. 

“U-um… Hi” nervously muttered Madoka, the girl fidgeting under Homura’s gaze. The sun hid behind the night sky as if it had known that the girl was a warm enough light for the world; His services no longer necessary. “Wh-what do you think, Homura-chan?”

Homura couldn’t answer.

Not because she was to embarrassed. Not because she was having trouble hearing Madoka with the Devil shouting in her ear. No. She couldn’t answer because there were no words that could describe how Madoka looked to her. The simple image of the girl bringing forth not only her lovestruck heart into full bloom, but a deep feeling of accomplishment that hid deep withing herself. A feeling of knowing that the only reason why she was being gifted this moment was because Madoka had finally survived. A feeling of wanting to protect this moment with her life filling her heart.

“Not even the stars in the sky could compare with you, Madoka~” a love filled smile appeared on her face as the Devil spoke.

Homura flinched, instinctively flaring her magic with enough force to make the closest streetlights shatter, a flock of Liese flew away in fear of their master. The Devil was forcefully thrown into the depths of Homura’s mind, the door to come back forced shut and its hinges welded.

“Geez… I didn’t expect you to say something like that, Homura-chan” said Madoka with a deeper blush now and an embarrassed smile, the girl fidgeted for a second before walking towards Homura.

“Neither did I” whispered Homura her own face turning into a red color as she realized what the Devil had made her say.

“Well…” Madoka slowly made her way towards Homura, stopping right in front of the girl “It still was very sweet of you”

Madoka looked at Homura as she got in her tip toes, reaching for Homura’s lips for a kiss far more passionate than sweet. Homura’s brain short-circuited, the girl having to use all her strength just not to faint. A kiss from Madoka was already enough to make her go to heaven and back, a kiss with how the girl looked like would have kept her going for a thousand loops more.

Madoka slowly pulled away, Homura had to contain herself not to push forwards in search of her lips. A slight disappointment that it had ended so quickly filling her mind for a second before she could mind slap herself for even daring to ask for more than what Madoka was already giving her.

“I’m glad that you like it” said Madoka with a playful smile on her face.

Homura would not thank the Devil for making her say something that had won her something like that kiss. She would not.

Sayaka bobbed her head from side to side in boredom, the girl trying to imitate a song she had been hearing lately. Kyouko and her had reached the meeting point a good fifteen minutes early and were waiting for the others ever since. The people were coming out of the station in groups, most of them either students or families that shared the same destination as them. Very few people were wearing yukatas, which was making Sayaka feel out of place; and Kyouko being there with her usual clothes certainly didn’t help.

Her eyes moved towards the ground until she stared at her own feet. The wooden sandals being a bit more uncomfortable than what she remembered.

“Did it get irritated already?” asked Kyouko, nodding with her head towards Sayaka’s sandals.

“No, no” denied Sayaka, raising her eyes to look at Kyouko “I’m fine, don’t worry”

Kyouko hummed as she pondered whether Sayaka was telling her the truth or not for a few seconds. “If you say so” she finally said before going back to scroll on her phone.

Sayaka let out a small appreciative smile for the concern before giving her attention back to the crowd that was pouring out of the station. Her eyes jumped from person to person, trying to find pink and black hair together. From time to time, she would see some blonde hair that would catch her attention, only for it to not belong to Tomoe and the disappointment to appear in her face.

They waited for ten more minutes, neither of the others had come yet. Sayaka looked at her phone and the text message she had sent Madoka a few minutes ago asking where they were, the text had been received but Madoka hadn’t opened it yet.

“Why are they being so late” complained an annoyed Kyouko while locking her phone and putting it away.

“Maybe the trains are full?” wondered Sayaka, the sea of people that had been coming out of the station had not dwindled in any capacity during the whole time.

“They could have sent a message or something if that was the case”

Kyouko pulled out a box of pocky, getting one for herself before offering Sayaka to pick one. Sayaka obliged, knowing that refusing it would probably irk the girl more.

“Madoka did say that Akemi didn’t like crowds, so maybe she is waiting for the train to be less crowded?” suggested Sayaka before biting on the chocolate pocky.

“Even if that was the case, Homura would insist that its fine” Kyouko sighed “Hell, if Madoka were to say that its okay if the came here a bit late Homura would just pay for a taxi so they would still come here on time”

“You think so?”

“I’ve seen her spend money for Pinky before. If she thinks that coming here earlier would make her happier then she will get herself in debt to do so” Kyouko shuddered “I can still hear her sliding her credit card over and over and over just for a dumb plushie.”

Sayaka let out a giggle at the sight of Kyouko having experienced her first ‘rich friend’. Sayaka had already had a bit of experience when going out to buy clothes with Hitomi, just seeing the prices of the stuff the girl bought had been enough to make her feel uncomfortable the few first times. Now she just used the opportunity to try some expensive clothes on together with Madoka, the clerks couldn’t really complain since Hitomi was going to buy stuff anyway.

“That goes all out of the window if Madoka tells her ‘No’ though” said Sayaka.

“I know, noticed it way before you did” smugly said Kyouko before letting out a sigh “Homura stops being independent the moment Madoka is around”

“Akemi stops being independent even when Madoka isn’t around” corrected Sayaka “When we were trying to find who Madoka liked she spent their whole date looking out for who the guy may be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure she still was able to enjoy herself with how much Madoka tried, but if she loved Madoka she should have just spend the day with her and not worry about that stuff”

“Says the girl that couldn’t confess to violin boy because her friend said she liked him too”

“This and that are completely different things!” pouted Sayaka “I knew Hitomi and didn’t want to get in her way, Akemi didn’t know who the guy even was!”

“You cared about your friend being happy, Homura cared more about the person she loved being happy” Kyouko sighed “Different words, same result”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m glad that I wasn’t the one to go out with Kyosuke in the end, not after hearing from Hitomi how the guy is as a boyfriend” Sayaka thought about all the times Hitomi had complained to them how she could not get a hold of the guy, how he always placed his recitals before her “Actually, Kyosuke and Akemi are like… total opposites when it comes to dating. From what I’ve heard and seen, Kyosuke tries to get a place in his schedule and if he can’t he just says sorry and carries on as if it didn’t matter… Meanwhile, Akemi would leave her whole life behind if Madoka told her to do so”

“That’s just how she is”

“But that isn’t healthy”

Kyouko looked at Sayaka with a questioning look for a few seconds before letting out a sigh as a defeated smile appeared on her face.

“And I’m guessing that you want to fix that” Sayaka nodded in response “You should also get your knight in shinning armor complex checked out, just so you know”

“Oh~ Jealous that I haven’t directed it towards you yet?” joked Sayaka, getting a weak punch from Kyouko as an answer that Sayaka was able to dodge in the last second, the girl having seen it coming.

“Anyways, I’ll help out”

“You talk shit about me for helping people a lot, but you are always doing it yourself” teased Sayaka, the girl at the ready to try and dodge another punch that never came.

“I’m worried about her” simply said Kyouko with a more serious tone than usual “She feels as if Madoka was the only thing keeping her alive”

Sayaka looked towards the sea of people once more, a blob of pink accompanied by a blob of ebony black walking towards them. “She really does…”

“Ah! There they are!” exclaimed Madoka as she increased her pace a bit, walking in a straight line towards Kyouko and Sayaka; her arm locked with Homura’s since the moment they had left the train. The small surprised jump the girl had done when Madoka hugged her arm had put a playful smile on Madoka’s lips ever since, and so she had not let go of Homura ever since; the slight blush the girl had on her face only making her want to keep doing it.

Sayaka shifted her weight and placed one hand in her waist, looking at the pair with teasing eyes as they came into view.

“You two are late!” She said, her eyes focusing on their locked arms “What, got too busy being all flirty with each other?”

“Mayyyybe~” teased Madoka as she clutched Homura’s arm closer, pressing her body against the girl’s arm with obvious ill intentions. Madoka could hear Homura’s heartbeat getting faster. The girl had been reacting way more than usual to Madoka, which only made Madoka feel prouder of how much she had made sure to look perfect for today.

“And she admits it!” theatrically gestured Sayaka, the girl pressing her hand against her forehead before bending back in fake pain “Can’t believe what my best friend has become! A lust filled demon of all things!”

Madoka let out a small chuckle, releasing a bit of her grip on Homura’s arm but still making sure to stay glued to the girl. Madoka looked up at Homura as she did so, the girl’s stoic face was still on but the slight blush that decorated her cheeks was a clear indication of how she was feeling. Madoka remembered how the girl had looked at her after what had been her first attempt at more than a peck for a kiss, the almost pleading eyes of the girl as she pulled back had made her almost lose control of herself and go back in.

That had been just a small tease though. Madoka wanted to play around that kiss a bit more, leave her wanting more so that the next time she kissed her she would be looking forwards to it. If anything, the only problem was that Madoka also wanted more.

“Homura, blink twice if she is holding you against your will” jokingly said Kyouko.

“Madoka isn’t-“ Homura looked at Madoka, her eyes travelling between her lips and eyes as her blush deepened. The gesture only making Madoka’s smile grow wider “I’m here out of my own volition…”

“Geez Pinky, what have you done to Homura?” Kyouko said, looking at Madoka with an approving smirk on her face.

“Just showed her how much I love her!” the words got a flinch from Homura, who was unable to completely hide back a smile. “Right, Homura-chan?”

Homura took a moment to calm herself, the girl closing her eyes before she answered “Yes”

Homura let out a cough to try and show her usual composure, looking at Kyouko and Sayaka as she did so with questioning eyes.

“Has Tomoe-san not come yet?” she asked, clearly trying to steer the topic of the conversation away from her.

“No, but at least she had the decency to tell us they would be late” Kyouko said, throwing a glare between Madoka and Homura.

Sure, Madoka may not have heard the message until they had gotten out of the train already, but she had a reason to do so! A very valid reason at that: getting closer to an embarrassed Homura and seeing her reactions had simply been too entertaining. If anything, they were lucky that Madoka had been able to see the message before getting off the train just a minute or two ago.

“Yeah, said that Nagisa couldn’t find her purse” added Sayaka “Though they should be coming here soon”

And almost as if they had been summoned the two of them appeared from withing the station, Mami wearing some comfy clothes and a big carry bag while Nagisa wore a simple brown yukata; the younger girl seemed to be slightly angry, while Mami reached them with a worried expression her face.

“I’m so sorry for being late” Mami apologized, doing a small bow “We couldn’t find Nagisa’s purse anywhere, it somehow ended up inside the freezer”

“I’m sorry, inside of what?” questioned Sayaka with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

“I’m as lost as you are” admitted Mami with a sigh.

“Which doesn’t make sense at all” said Nagisa “Since I left it on the sofa before going to sleep” The girl looked at everyone, her eyes finally landing on Homura “It was almost as if my dolls had gotten up in the night and hid it from me”

Homura looked at Nagisa with her usual mask, though Madoka could see the girl was thinking over Nagisa’s words.

“If I were you, I would give them a stern talking to” said Homura, her serious tone almost forgetting she was talking about toys “But as their owner you are still responsible for the things they do”

“Yes, you are right” said Nagisa, the way she was saying it not really reflecting her own guilt but rather as if she was saying that it was someone else’s problem.

“You’ve watched too much Toy Story” said Kyouko with a laugh “You sure it wasn’t you hiding it for the joke? Seems like the kind of thing a kid your age would do”

Nagisa turned her whole body towards Kyouko and directed a killing glare that should have never been on a girl her age. “You being an idiot when you were younger doesn’t mean I am too”

“Nagisa!” exclaimed Mami.

“Nope, deserved that one” said Kyouko with a grin as she gave Mami a reassuring pat on the back. “We should get going to the festival though, don’t want the food stalls to run out of food”

[-]

The amount of people that was around them started to increase as they got closer and closer to the festival, and Madoka couldn’t help but worry about Homura. The girl had gotten just a bit more tense, not enough that one would notice in a normal situation; but with Madoka hugging the girl’s arm she had very much noticed it.

“That’s a lot of people for a spring festival” said Kyouko as the group had to come to a stop a few meters before the start of the festival itself.

“Mitakihara always brings a lot of tourists, it makes sense that things would be like this” added Mami, the older girl holding Nagisa’s hands to make sure they didn’t get separated. “But this is… a few more than what I had expected”

“Good thing this is outside, can’t imagine how this would be inside a building” grunted Sayaka as the group started walking a bit further into the queue of people. “Seems like there is a bit of bottleneck at the entrance… but I can’t see why from here”

Sayaka and Kyouko tried to see a bit further ahead by doing small jumps that didn’t really help. Madoka looked at Homura, the girl had her usual face on but the blush had disappeared and Madoka could see the girl’s eyes darting around as if they were in search of something.

“Homura-chan?” whispered Madoka “are you okay?”

Homura looked at Madoka with her cold eyes before they were able to soften, the girl’s mind slowly realizing it was Madoka what they were looking at.

“It’s okay” said Homura, the forced smile the girl put on being more than enough to let Madoka know she was lying “Just not used to being in the middle of big crowds without an exit, that’s all”

Madoka looked at Homura with worried eyes before looking back to the others, Sayaka had been looking at them and had a pensative expression on her face. Sayaka poked at Kyouko in the arm the next time she landed and whispered something in her ear, the redhead nodding after Sayaka finished telling her whatever she was saying.

“Hey cheese brat”

“What is it” said Nagisa, the look on her eyes being enough to know that she didn’t really appreciate the nickname.

“I’ll lift you up, see if you can see a way with less people”

Kyouko extended her arms towards the girl and waited for her. Nagisa seemed to hesitate for a moment before walking towards Kyouko with a sigh. Kyouko made sure to properly hold the girl in a way that wouldn’t hurt her under the girl’s waist and raised her over her head.

“What do you see?” said Kyouko.

“Lots of people, can you put me a bit higher?” said Nagisa patting the girl on the arms as if it was some kind of horse.

Kyouko took a deep breath and completely straightened her arms, Nagisa being able to basically step on Kyouko’s head – which she did. Nagisa kept looking around as if with all the time in the world.

“Be quick please!” said Kyouko as her arms started to shake from the strain they were being subjected to.

“Hmmm…” Nagisa hummed, the girl perking up after a few more seconds “Ah! I see a small alleyway, there are a few people coming out and in”

Kyouko quickly put the small girl on the ground again, the girl massaging her shoulders afterwards as Sayaka patted her back with an apologizing smile.

“An alleyway…” pondered Mami “If I remember correctly it should lead to one of the secondary streets of the festival”

“All right, we are going over there then!” announced Sayaka, the girl positioning herself in front of Madoka and Homura together with Kyouko, both of them acting as a spearhead for their group. “Sorry! Comin’ through!”

Sayaka looked back at them, though her eyes laid for longer on Homura as she probably tried to read her face to no avail. Madoka looked at Sayaka instead, catching her attention as Madoka gesticulated a ‘Thank you’; Sayaka giving one of her ‘don’t worry’ smiles in return.

After a bit of struggle the group was able to break of the main influx of people into the festival as they slowly made their way towards the alleyway.

Madoka understood why people weren’t really taking this path towards the festival, there was no light in it. People were using their phones to be even able to see where they were stepping. But it still was a better path than the main one. Kyouko took out her phone and turned on the flashlight.

They waited for another group to get out of the alleyway before them going in themselves. With only enough space for one person to walk comfortably Madoka had to let go of Homura’s arm in the meantime.

“Anyone knows where this alleyway leads exactly?” said Sayaka, turning back to look at Mami as she asked.

Mami seem to think for a few seconds, the girl trying to remember the map of the festival by the face she was making.

“Shouldn’t be too far away from the main street, but I think it’s mainly filled with gift stalls”

“No food there then?” asked Kyouko.

“Sadly no, only the main street has food stalls” Mami said with a gentle smile that understood the girl’s worries.

“I’m sure we can jump into the main street from there!” Madoka said as she tried to lift the girl’s spirits “The crowd was mainly at the entrance, right?”

“Yep!” said Nagisa from behind “It thinned out the further ahead I looked”

The group kept walking through the long alleyway, having to stop midway to let another group that came in the opposite direction pass. After a few more seconds of walking, they were finally able to get out of the alley.

The change in lighting was like stepping into another world. The darkly lit alleyway was suddenly replaced by bright oranges and reds that came from the hanging paper lights the city had placed for the festival. A few decorative signs hanged above their heads, mainly with the name of the festival written on it. The sound of people walking around and chatting with each other surrounded them, the voices of the vendors rising above every noise in the street.

They got out of the alleyway one by one. When Homura, who had been behind Madoka, walked out Madoka didn’t waste a second to go and grab her hand; the girl only acting surprised for a second before returning the grip with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“The main street is to the left” said Mami, the girl now leading the tip of the spear. “I can see the turn from here”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” excitedly said Kyouko “Let’s get going!”

Kyouko and Nagisa cheered on as they all marched towards the main street, leaving behind the gift stall for later.

“Takoyaki stall!” cheered Nagisa as she pointed towards one of the stalls before quickly rushing towards it. Kyouko following closely behind, wallet at the ready.

Homura couldn’t help but think that they both acted like kids. Nagisa at least had the age of one – though with her having the memories from back at the Law of Cycles Homura wasn’t so sure if that was an excuse for her demeanor – but Kyouko? The girl was basically cheering along Nagisa every time they got close to a new food stall.

“Do you want to buy some, Homura-chan?” asked Madoka, the girl only being even more beautiful under the lights of the festival. Her lips still shinning brightly under the lights only brought back the sensation of their last kiss.

“I’m fine, thank you” said Homura, the girl trying to control herself. If for whatever reason her determination was to faulter, or worse the Devil appear without her noticing, she might not be able to contain herself and just kiss Madoka on her own.

Madoka pouted, making Homura’s hear skip a beat with how cute the girl looked as she did so.

“Remember that we are supposed to eat something around here for dinner” reprimanded Madoka “Make sure to eat something, please”

Homura closed her eyes as she let herself be bathed by Madoka’s worry born kindness. A kindness a person like herself did not deserve, but why should a devil like herself care about what they deserved or not? She would not seek it. She would not pursue it. But if Madoka wanted to give it, she wouldn’t let it go to waste.

“I will” assured Homura, getting a smile from Madoka in return.

They walked towards the others, getting close to the takoyaki stall as they did so. Kyouko and Nagisa were excitedly waiting for their food to be served, the man behind the stall skillfully turning the octopus’ balls around in the specialized grill. In less than a minute the two girls got themselves six freshly done takoyaki.

Nagisa did not wait, she did not blow on it. The girl simply took one of the takoyaki with the wooden skewer and threw it into her mouth, not thinking about the consequences that would come. And come they did, the girl quickly brough her free hand to cover her mouth as she tried to cool it down by quickly breathing.

“Hot! Hot! Hot!” Nagisa cried with her mouth still full.

“I always tell you to be careful with hot food!” reprimanded Tomoe, the girl watching with defeated eyes at the Law of Cycles messenger that had just burn their mouth.

Nagisa, full of bravery, quickly chewed the smoldering hot takoyaki and gulped it down. The girl letting out a contained shriek of pain from the heat that now resided in her stomach. Madoka, Kyouko and Sayaka laughed at the girl’s theatrics while Mami simply looked at her with a mix of worry and amusement in her face.

“Didn’t you say before that you aren’t an idiot like I was at your age?” teased Kyouko, the girl wearing a smug grin on her face as she blew on her food before eating it. “Not looking too bright now, are you?”

Nagisa simply pouted at the comment, knowing that nothing she could say would clean her image after this.

The group walked away from the stall and followed the path, the crowd had definitely thinned the more they had gone in; but there were still enough people around them to have Homura in high alert, her old self still poking through as the girl expected an attack from another magical girl that could not possibly come.

She tried to calm herself, to let her foolish mind understand that there was no threat that could hurt Madoka in this world. Yet, as she reminded herself that no magical girl could even try to attack them out of nowhere – Oriko Mikuni’s few interferences in the past had left the girl more paranoic than before – the only thing that her brain answered with was that there could be other threats. She had made the mistake of being completely caught off guard when Kyouko ran into Madoka. She would not make the same mistake again.

Sayaka approached them, the girl pointing towards one of the stalls a few meters ahead of them.

“Look Madoka, they are selling bubble tea” Madoka and Homura’s eyes followed the girl’s finger, a small stall clearly owned by a company that was trying to promote their products had an offer for the festival. A relatively long queue forming around it “It’s been pretty long since last time, wanna get one?”

“uhm…” Madoka looked at Homura, her eyes spelling the girl’s worries even before she opened her mouth to say them “It’s pretty crowded over there so…”

“I’ll wait here” said Homura, knowing that if she were to go with her Madoka would only be worried about her. She should have never said she didn’t like crowds, it just made Madoka worry more about her. All because of an old habit of hers. “Don’t worry, Madoka”

Madoka looked at her with a mix of sadness and understanding in her eyes before leaning in for a small kiss.

“I’ll be back soon” she said as their hands drifted away. A pair of shadows that were lurking around the building jumped and quickly placed themselves behind Madoka as the girl walked away, the dolls taking protective positions around the girl.

“Get me a milk tea one!” shouted Kyouko as the girl placed herself next to Homura, getting a thumbs up from Sayaka as an answer.

Homura watched them walk away, a slight pressure on her chest as the figure of Madoka disappeared between the crowd.

Madoka would be fine. The dolls would protect her, and even Sayaka would attempt to do so. Madoka would be fine. Nothing bad was going to happen.

“You okay?” asked Kyouko with a raised eyebrow, the girl already eating the last ball of takoyaki she had bought less than five minutes ago.

“What do you mean” asked Homura as she broke the trance that she had thrown herself into.

“With the crowd and all” said Kyouko, the girl looking around for a trashcan to dispose of the container her food had come in. “You seem out of it, more than usual I mean”

There was a mix of emotions inside of Homura. On one side she had been waiting for this day to happen, she was excited for the first time in years. Being able to spend a day with Madoka and the others had been – and still was – one of her dreams after her loops began. At the same time, the situation was new. It was out of her control. And her mind was only racing with all the things that could go wrong. Her dolls were all on patrol, trying to make sure nothing dangerous could even approach Madoka; yet she still felt like something was waiting to jump from withing the crowd and take her away. 

If it was a real sense of danger or just her mind playing tricks on her she did not know.

“I’m fine” Homura answered while she turned her head towards Kyouko as to face her. “This is all new to me, that’s all”

“Never been to a festival?” Kyouko asked with a slight surprise in her eyes “That sucks”

“Not once in my life” Homura admitted “My old frail body wouldn’t have survived it, or at least that’s what they used to tell me”

“Hmmm…” Kyouko hummed, the girl folding the paper container to keep her hands entertained as she thought “Well, that just means you’ve gotta make this one as memorable as possible” Kyouko’s face was filled by a fiery smile “Let’s make a little competition, what do you think?”

Homura looked at Kyouko with a deadpan look in her yes. The girl had always been competitive in one way or another, but if she knew something about Kyouko was that there was always a penalty for losing.

“Go on” said Homura, the girl’s eyes looking towards the stall for a quick second as she noticed a strand of pink hair between the crowd.

“Very simple. Win a festival game, you get a point. The one with more points before the fireworks wins” Kyouko grinned.

“And what happens to the loser?” asked Homura.

“The loser…” Kyouko’s smile widened “has to do whatever the winner says for a day”

Homura narrowed her eyes in suspicion, the penalty was way too broad of a punishment. Not only that, but there was nothing that Homura could really win from it, she had no use for having control of Kyouko for one day. And yet…

“I’ll accept under one condition” Homura said, eyes still full with suspicion.

“Depends on the condition” said Kyouko with a raised eyebrow.

“If I lose you cannot order me to do anything that would hurt Madoka” Homura said, now having her full body face the redhead “And I get to say what counts as hurting her”

Kyouko laughed.

“God, of course that’s the condition” she said between breaths “Yeah sure, seems fair to me”

[-]

Homura picked up the plastic rifle that laid on the table, loading in one of the small pellets. The weight was completely off. The handle wasn’t properly placed. And she was more than sure that the weapon didn’t have much strength to push the pellet with enough force to actually do something to the cups.

“You can do it, Homura-chan!” Madoka cheered from behind her, the girl having been the one that said Homura should play this game with how good she had been at the arcade.

Not that Homura had any choice, she had made a deal with Kyouko after all.

Homura looked forwards and fixed her eyes on the cups. Four shots, three objectives; at least she would have a practice shot to see how horribly calibrated the air gun was. Homura took aim at the cup in the middle, held her breath and steadied her aim. Her finger pressed the trigger – too soft, thought Homura – and the pellet left the gun; hitting the platform in which the cups were laid.

A deviation of twenty three degrees to the left and a drop of around five centimeters from this distance. Thought Homura.

“Failing the first shot? Not a good sign” Kyouko teased next to her, the girl getting ready for her own shot. She aimed and hit the cup to the left, giving Homura a smug grin as she did.

Homura ignored the comment as she loaded the next pellet, took aim for the left cup and adjusted the gun for the previous calculations. The pellet flew through the stall and hit the cup dead center.

She didn’t wait for a comment this time, instead quickly reloading the next pellet and hitting the cup to the right with only an error of a few millimeters from the center.

“You… fucker…” whispered Kyouko with her smug grin having been erased from her face, Homura simply looked at her with her usual stoic mask; which only seemed to irk the girl more.

Kyouko took aim, and shot. The pellet hitting the wall behind the stall instead of its target as the girl reloaded with a click of her tongue before trying to aim back at the objective-

“Kyouko! Don’t let Akemi win, games are the only thing we can try to surpass her in-”

“You are distracting me!” Kyouko quickly turned back to face Sayaka, her finger slipped on the trigger and shot the pellet that found nothing but a wall “FUCK! Look what you made me do!”

“I was just trying to cheer you!” screamed Sayaka back.

Kyouko turned back to the stall and started to reload her last bullet, taking a side glance at Homura whom was looking at the girl.

“That was bad luck” excused Kyouko.

“You shouldn’t put your finger on the trigger if you are not going shoot” said Homura, the girl trying to actually give advice to Kyouko. Kyouko didn’t take it as such though, the girl clicking her tongue before aiming again and shooting the middle cup accurately enough to send it flying back.

Homura went back to look at her last standing objective, if she hit it she would win the game. She took aim, making sure to adjust it for the gun problems, and pressed the trigger.

The moment the pellet left the gun Homura already knew something was wrong, it flew too slow compared to the other shots. By the time it reached the cup it had lost most of its strength, hitting it but not being strong enough to make the cup fall.

“Aha! A tie!” Proudly announced Kyouko, the tension leaving her shoulders as she saw Homura’s last shot fail.

Homura frowned at the gun, knowing that had it properly worked – as it should have done – she would have easily won the game. A gun that had this many problems shouldn’t even exist, when was even the last time this thing had gotten any kind of care? Any kind of maintenance? It felt unfair that just because a tool was this bad she had just lost. If this had been a real gun then she wouldn’t even have to do the test shot-

“You were amazing, Homura-chan!” Madoka cheered as she grabbed the girl’s arm, pulling her out of her thoughts “I can’t even get one shot in this game, and you almost won!”

Madoka hugged Homura’s arm in a warmth embrace, the girl trying to cheer her on.

“Pinky, like I get she is your girlfriend and all but like… I also almost won? Don’t I get some kind of praise?” said Kyouko.

“Ah well, I mean you already played before, right?” said Madoka “This is Homura’s first time playing it so… y-you still did great though!”

Kyouko looked completely defeated, understandably so. Afterall, before Homura had started to hang out with Madoka the girl had been the reliable one of the group. The one that would win prizes, and the one that somehow always pushed through every problem. That was what had happened before inside the fake Mitakihara of her labyrinth.  

“We have a winner!” the man from the stall announced, making everyone look to the side.

Mami had the gun in her hand, the rifle being held with natural skill, and the three cups that were her objectives rolling on the ground. The girl had a surprised expression herself, quickly realizing she had won before changing it into her – disgustingly fake - confident smile. A smile that Homura had come to hate over the years. A fake mask that had done more harm than good. Homura could almost see her in her magical girl outfit and all the times she had pushed Madoka to contract-

Homura breathed. This Mami had done nothing wrong. This Mami would never despair over witches. This Mami could become the proper senior Homura had once thought of her as. Unlike herself, this Mami could be the person she once was.

“You guys missed it!” said Sayaka with surprise and - venomous - admiration on her eyes “Tomoe-senpai didn’t miss a shot!”

“I didn’t know Mami-san was good at this kind of games!” said Madoka from her side, Homura didn’t have the strength to check if her eyes were also filled by the same admiration as Sayaka’s.

“I- Well, it felt right-”

“Of course she is!” Interrupted Nagisa, letting the words stuck in Mami’s throat as the blonde tried to hide an embarrassed blush “Mami is amazing at many things! You should see how much she prepared for today!”

Mami simply looked away as she picked up the bear plushie the stall owner was giving her, the girl using the prize as a cover for her face.

The crowd had thinned out enough for there to be more than enough space to walk without a problem, which made it so Kyouko and Sayaka could stop being the spearhead of the group and just walked next to them too. The night had completely taken hold of the sky, the fireworks a mere hour or so away.

Sayaka looked at Madoka, the girl still completely glued to Akemi. Really, how was Sayaka supposed to make Akemi stop doing whatever Madoka told her when her best friend had her basically eating from the palm of her hand. Literally.

“Here Homura-chan” said Madoka as she presented the honey bathed dango stick she had bought not a minute ago to Akemi. “Try it it’s really good!”

Akemi looked at Madoka with a blush – the girl didn’t even show any kind of emotion a few weeks ago and now Madoka had her being all embarrassed – before slowly opening her mouth and leaning forwards to take one of the dango balls; her free hand making sure that her hair wouldn’t fall forwards and touch the food.

“Do you like it?” asked Madoka with a beaming smile on her face. Sayaka knew that the girl had to be embarrassed by this too, or at least she would have in the past, but her face was completely covered by a bright smile as she watched Akemi eat.

“It’s… really sweet” quietly said Akemi.

“Right?” cheered Madoka as she ate another one herself “Though… there is something sweeter that I would prefer to eat right now”

Ah there it was. Akemi was looking at Madoka with those eyes that clearly spelt ‘tell me what it is and I will get it’. Really, how had Sayaka not noticed before that Akemi loved Madoka when the girl looked at her with those eyes?

“What is it?”  asked Akemi.

Madoka looked at her with an impish smile on her lips and a spark on her eyes. Sayaka felt almost sorry for Akemi who still didn’t see what was coming.

“You” Madoka made a small pause, basking herself in her girlfriend’s reaction, before sighing “But I guess I will have to wait until there isn’t this many people around us to taste it…”

Yep. That’s enough hearing other’s conversation for now.

Really, when had her best friend become this bold? She had noticed that since she was going out with Akemi, Madoka had gotten a boost to her confidence. But if she was this bold in public Sayaka could only imagine what the girl would do when the two of them were alone.

As she looked away from the pair her eyes landed on another stall, a few people were scooping some goldfish with a paper net.

“Oh, hey” She said, getting the attention of the group “We can play that one”

“Hmm?” hummed Kyouko as her eyes travelled towards the stall, a plotting smile appearing on her lips when she saw what the game was “Great idea, let’s go”

The group walked towards the stall as they waited patiently for the last group to end. Now, Sayaka hadn’t chosen this game just to run away from the lovey-dovey pair shenanigans. No, she had chosen this game because this was the easiest game for her to win. Years of practice had perfected her technique to a point that she was sure no one could ever beat her. And she had been wanting to beat Akemi at something since coming here. Enough of the girl being perfect in both studies and athletics, festival games were Sayaka’s specialty!

That actually sounded kinda sad, didn’t it?

“What are you supposed to do in this one?” asked Akemi as she and Madoka squatted down to get into position.

“Just scoop as many goldfish as you can” explained Sayaka, the girl didn’t even know what the game was? This was going to be easy.

“The net breaks easily, so be careful” added Madoka, giving a tip that Sayaka would have preferred Akemi not to have.

The group paid for a try, except Mami who only paid for Nagisa’s Sayaka noted, and went to play.

Sayaka picked up the bowl and filled it with a bit of water before she started to look around the fish, trying to see which one was swimming towards her, when she heard Madoka raise her voice.

“Homura-chan! Don’t leave the net under the water!” exclaimed Madoka.

Akemi quickly took out her net at Madoka’s words, the paper net being completely soaked and broken. Homura looked at it with her usual deadpan, the girl quickly understanding her mistake.

“You really didn’t know shit about the game, huh” said Kyouko from besides Sayaka, the girl scooping a second fish already.

“No one ever mentioned the net was made of paper” said Akemi before discarding the net and looking at the fish. Sayaka tried to discern what kind of emotion the girl was hiding, but there really was nothing she could see different from usual.

“Wanna try again, miss?” said the owner of the stall.

Akemi looked at the man before giving a quick glance at Kyouko, the girl letting out a sigh before nodding.

“Yes, thank you” Akemi took out her wallet once more and paid for another try.

Sayaka went back to focusing on her own game, knowing that it really wouldn’t feel great to beat Akemi at this if the girl was so utterly bad at it. She sighed. Well, at least she had to keep her pride as the best and beat the others.

She took note of the fish that were moving towards her before with a swift and smooth movement scooping two of them at the same time; making sure to use the plastic part of the net to hold most of the weight. Now that her net had gotten wet the timer started, every second that passed was a second lost as the paper slowly got frailer and frailer.

One scoop. Two scoops. Three scoops. One fish more with each.

Sayaka took a peek at how the others were doing while she waited for another fish to get in range. Nagisa’s net had broken, but the girl had been able to get two fishes out before it gave out. Kyouko was already on her fourth fish, one behind Sayaka, but was getting ready to get a fifth; with how wet the net looked she wouldn’t more opportunities after that one.

Another scoop. Another fish.

Madoka had been able to get three fishes, but her net broke as she went for the forth; the girl had played almost as much as Sayaka at the game, the only difference between the two being the three years Madoka had spent in America. Akemi-

Akemi had broken her net again, no fish was in her bowl, and Sayaka could clearly see the girl slightly frowning as she looked at how many the others were getting. Ah, she knew that face; Akemi was annoyed.

Another scoop. Two more fishes in one.

And with that Sayaka’s net gave out, the last fish going through it instead of off it as they fell into her bowl. A total of eight fishes, short of her record by one. Akemi looked at Sayaka’s bowl with the biggest frown she had seen in the girl so far, almost as if the girl thought that her eyes had to be lying to her.

“Hah! That was an easy win!” Kyouko said, looking at Akemi with a smug grin on her face.

Akemi stood up, leaving her empty bowl behind, and threw her hair back before speaking back “The are still other games” she said with a competitive edge to her words “The fireworks haven’t started yet”

Madoka looked at Homura as the girl threw a ring, the object missing its target and bouncing off towards the ground. Homura tried to hide her annoyance, but Madoka was able to see how piercing her gaze had gotten as she failed another throw.

“Well, well, well” said Kyouko, the girl placing herself next to Homura as she increased her mocking tone “I got seventeen points, how are you doing?”

Homura didn’t answer, instead trying to take aim for the next – and last – ring throw. The ring flew, falling into the six instead of the nine that Homura had clearly aimed towards.

“What’s that? Only nine points in total?” said Kyouko, patting Homura in the back. The girl didn’t even have enough points to get a consolation prize. “I guess that means you lose, how are we now? 3 to 1? I don’t think you are catching up anytime soon”  

Now, Madoka would have gone and stopped Kyouko from over teasing Homura like she was doing. But ever since this… competition? The two of them had started Homura had slowly relaxed; the girl focusing her attention on the games instead of on the people around them. The few moments that had been empty of games, mainly when they ate as they walked towards the next stall, being filled by Madoka making sure the girl didn’t fall back on anxiously looking around them as if something was going to jump from the shadows.

Between this and Sayaka and Kyouko opening a path for them to walk without having to get too close to other people, Madoka had to remember to give her thanks to the duo. Even more Sayaka, the girl having gone from hating Homura to caring for her had been a really nice progress. It felt like everyone could be friends now, and even Homura was more open to talking to the rest. Not to other strangers yet, but she had to start somewhere.

Madoka walked towards Homura, grabbing the girl’s hand the moment she got next to her. Homura’s expression going from her annoyed one to a soft and loving look in her eyes the moment her eyes met Madoka’s. Madoka couldn’t help but feel a jolt of joy whenever the girl did that, the mere knowledge that Homura was happy just by seeing her made her brain turn into love filled mush.

Madoka had to hold back as to not just jump in and give the girl a kiss in front of everyone. Only because Homura would be too embarrassed if she did so though.

“We should head to a nice viewing spot for the fireworks” announced Mami, the older girl looking at her phone as she held the prize she had gotten from the shooting game under her arm. “They will start in thirty or so minutes”

“Where should we go tho?” asked Kyouko, the girl coming back with some kind of plastic mask from an old Gundam tv series as her prize. “They are throwing them over the port, right?”

“With the amount of people that were in the festival the place is going to be filled” sighed Sayaka.

Mami giggled, her confident smile on as the girl pulled out the maps app on her phone.

“Don’t worry, I searched for a place before coming here”

“Uohh! That’s Tomoe-senpai for you!” cheered Sayaka, only making Mami raise her chest in pride even more as they followed her outside of the festival.

[-]

“Ehm… are you sure we can be here Mami-san?” asked Madoka, grabbing on Homura’s arm as they walked up the darkly lit stairs.

“You don’t have to worry Kaname-san” said Mami, looking back to give the girl a reassuring smile. “I made sure to check that everything would be all right”

Their steps echoed throughout the staircase, the eight floor sign welcoming them for a second before they kept going.

“Yeah, don’t worry Pinky” said Kyouko from behind her, the girl using her phone flashlight to illuminate the stairs “Besides, the door was open. If they didn’t want people coming, they should have closed it”

Madoka still wasn’t sure about this. Mami had led them to an empty building, the metal door that welcomed them being rusty enough that Sayaka and Kyouko had to work together to push it open. A few doors of the many abandoned apartments were open, other missing completely, and Madoka could swear that she had seen faces with blue eyes and big grins looking back at them in a few of them.

Homura seemed to notice how Madoka was acting, the girl pushing Madoka closer to herself in what Madoka assumed was an attempt at calming her down. And well… it kind of worked. It didn’t make the faces disappear, but at least she felt safer.

“Still, how did you even find this place Tomoe-senpai?” asked Sayaka, the girl pointing to a piece of rubble so the others could see it and avoid it.

“Well… When I saw where the festival was taking place I just kind of… knew that this place had its doors open?” Mami said, her expression turning into an apologetic one “It just felt like I had been here before and I knew the door would be open, so when I came to check and it was open… well, I thought it would be a great spot to see the firework show”

“Huh, talk about coincidence” said Sayaka as they crossed into the ninth floor and started walking towards the tenth.

“Still… these are quite the number of stairs” complained Kyouko.

“You are just too old” said Nagisa, the girl quickly going up a few steps over the rest as if it didn’t tire her at all. “You should do more exercise!”

“Oh yeah?” said Kyouko, looking at Nagisa with a hunting look on her eyes “Well, then you better start running!”

With that Kyouko sprinted past them, trying to reach a now screaming Nagisa as the two of the quickly disappeared over the next turn; the scream that Nagisa let out and their steps the only thing letting them know they hadn’t just disappeared.

“Be careful!” shouted Mami, a bit of tiredness on her voice.

“How the hell can Nagisa run with the yukata on?” wondered Sayaka, the girl having walked next to Madoka after Kyouko ran behind Nagisa as to not be left behind.

Madoka really wondered the same thing. With all the time they had been walking before and now going up ten floors of stairs her feet had started to kill her, and the wooden sandals really did not help to cushion anything at all. They went up two other flights of stairs before the group made the last turn, the last flight of stairs showing a door that had been opened; the night sky bleeding into the building from the opening.

As Madoka walked out of the building and into the roof the view of the port being completely in front of them welcomed her. From here they could easily see the place from which the fireworks were going to be fired, they could see all the people that had gathered around the port to watch them, they could see almost the whole city.

“Get… back… here…” said Kyouko between tired breaths, the girl trying to catch a still energetic Nagisa that simply mocked her as she run. Kyouko finally gave up and sat on the floor, and even though Madoka couldn’t hear her she could imagine that she was cursing under her breath.

“This place does have quite the nice view” said Sayaka as she walked a bit closer to the edge of the building. “Though with how tall we are it makes sense”

“I’m glad you think so” said Mami, the girl getting out one of the many bottles of water she carried inside her bag before handing it to Kyouko. Kyouko took the bottle with a mumbled thanks and downed it in two gulps. “The fireworks will start soon, so try to recover a bit from the trip here”

Madoka nodded before letting her attention go back to Homura. The girl had been looking around the place with almost a sense of déjà vu plastered all over her face.

“Is something wrong, Homura-chan?” asked Madoka as she tightened her grip around Homura’s hand. The girl looking back at Madoka as she came back to her senses and forced a smile on her face.

“Everything’s fine” lied Homura with her fake smile. Madoka, not wanting to make a scene before the fireworks started, simply let it go. Homura looked at the sky, the few stars that shone brightly enough reflecting off the girl’s violet eyes in almost a magical way.

“The stars are really pretty, right?” said Madoka, trying to at least make it so Homura didn’t think about whatever she had thought that had soured her mood so badly.

“They really are” she muttered as a melancholic sigh escaped her mouth.

Madoka looked at the few stars that decorated the night sky. The few strong clusters that were able to outshine the city lights captivating her as if they were doing an hypnotic dance.

“I wish I could float among them” said Madoka with a longing sigh “It would be so calming and beautiful to be part of something as big as they are”

Madoka felt Homura’s grasp around her hand tighten, making her look at the girl that still stared at the sky with a sad look in her face. A few tears forming near the edge of her eyes.

“I would prefer if you stayed here” Homura whispered, almost too quietly to be heard. The sound of her voice coming through cracked and with a strong tint of pain.

Madoka went to open her mouth but the sound of her voice was muffled as a loud bang was heard in the distance. The lightshow of the fireworks reflecting on Homura’s crying eyes. The girl didn’t look at the fireworks, her eyes were still fixed on the stars as tears slowly flowed through her cheeks.

Madoka looked at the girl for a few more seconds before tightening her grasp around Homura’s hand and looking at the fireworks that unfolded in front of them.

“I will stay” Madoka said, her voice being hard to hear between the fireworks. The multi colored lights that surged from the earth vastly outshining the stars, the sound of the fireworks shaking her whole body. “This place is more beautiful than the sky anyways”

Madoka leaned towards Homura, the girl resting her head on Homura’s shoulder and clasping Homura’s hand with both of her hands. Homura’s tears flowed freely, some of them falling on their tightly held hands. "You are here afterall"

They were not tears of sadness, the only thing they carried was relief and happiness.

Current date: Saturday 24^th of May

Chapter Text

Madoka took out her keys and carefully opened the door, making sure to not make much noise as to not wake up her possibly sleeping parents. The door creaked in clear defiance of Madoka’s sneaky intentions, making the girl flinch with the loud – at least in her perception - noise. As the door finished being open Madoka looked behind her with a bit of a nervous look on her eyes.

“Let’s go, Homura-chan” Madoka whispered, gesturing the girl in question to come into the house.

Madoka offered Homura a pair of slippers after the girl took off her shoes, Homura accepting them with a small appreciative bow that Madoka wished had been a smile instead. Madoka carefully walked into the house, taking a quick glance at Homura to make sure the girl was following her and had not just disappeared into the night.

Madoka made sure to take every step as carefully as possible, the house still finding a way to make more noise than it would usually do. When she reached the half point of the stairs she turned around, checking if Homura was behind her, the girl was somehow not making a single noise as she walked with the same grace the she usually carried herself with. How Homura knew how to sneak around so effortlessly was as mysterious as the rest of the girl. Not that Madoka minded the air of mystery, she kind of liked it; as long as the mysteries that surrounded the girl weren’t hurting her, that is.

They finally reached the top floor, Madoka opened her room with the upmost care in the world only for it to creak as well; the whole house mocking her attempts at not making noise in the middle of the night. Really, if her parents weren’t awake already it had to be because they didn’t want to.

Madoka walked into her room and started prodding around the wall in search of the light switch, a – noisier than usual – click was quickly accompanied by the lights turning on. Homura followed closely behind, the girl stopping by the entrance after Madoka closed the door behind them. Madoka let out a sigh, knowing – or rather, hoping – that the walls and door of her room would keep the noise inside of the room.

“Sorry about the sneaking, I didn’t think we would come back so late” Madoka said, letting out a quiet chuckle as she almost threw herself on her bed and looked at Homura; the raven haired beauty still waiting idly by the door, a small blush on her cheeks as her eyes tried not to look at her directly.

“It’s okay” said Homura after the girl took a small deep breath that she tried to hide, and maybe she would have hidden it from someone else. But from Madoka? The girl that had learnt that if she wanted to see how Homura was feeling she would have to observe every single movement the girl did? That wouldn’t work. “If anything, Kyouko and Sayaka should have been the ones to apologize, they dragged us around for far too long after Tomoe-san left.”

“You were more than up to playing along with them, Homura-chan” Madoka grinned, not missing how the girl had called Sayaka by her name.

“That’s…” Homura looked a bit shocked, or at least the way she had ever so slightly opened her eyes in surprise said so; it didn’t last long though, Homura quickly hiding it behind her usual mask “I shouldn’t have fallen prey to their taunts”

“I’m not saying that it was wrong to do it” Madoka quickly said before Homura could try to apologize, the girl being caught in half a head bow “You had fun playing games with them, right?”

Homura didn’t answer immediately, the girl still torn between looking at Madoka and quickly looking away from her when she noticed what she was doing – Madoka still wasn’t sure why, but it was a bit cute so she wasn’t going to make stop. Before Madoka would have interpreted the girl’s silence as a way of not wanting to answer, but know she knew that Homura was just thinking about her answer. She didn’t like answering questions without putting thought behind them, it didn’t matter how silly they were, and the fact that she was thinking so deeply about it only meant she cared about the question and didn’t want to give a fake answer. Another thing Madoka liked about her.

“I… I guess I did” Homura finally said, forcing herself to look at Madoka in the eyes “I still had more fun with you”

Madoka giggled.

“You know you can have fun with the three of us, right? It’s not a competition; And I wouldn’t mind if you had more fun with them than with me” A gentle smile appeared on Madoka, trying to let the girl know that she was being honest; the soft eyes that Homura looked at her being more than enough to let her know that she believed her.

“I don’t think I would ever have more fun with someone else than with you, Madoka” Homura said, the serious face the girl was making not really working when she was still trying to look at anything but Madoka.

“Well, thank you” Madoka said with a soft voice.

Homura, still not looking at Madoka, simply nodded in response; the girl’s face getting redder for the minute with every quick glance she dared to take. Madoka, unable to hold it in any longer, let out a quiet laugh before speaking.

“Really, what has you looking away like that?” said Madoka, the girl getting up from her bed to try and get in front of the girl’s eyes.

Madoka’s movements were cut short, for the moment she got up from the bed she noticed her yukata loosening as it almost fell off; the girl reacting quickly enough to catch it with her hands. The waistband had slowly been loosening with all the walking around and playing they had been doing, her throwing herself into her bed being the last straw to let it completely loosen.

Madoka’s eyes darted up, trying to see if Homura was looking at her in her half-naked state (though she was obviously wearing underwear, the girl was slightly cursing herself for not wearing something more on top even if it had been quite hot outside). Homura, luckily, had quickly looked away; her face completely turned towards one of the walls of the room. Though with how Homura had been acting before the girl had clearly seen something. Normally Madoka wouldn’t really mind that Homura saw her like this, but with how conscious the other girl was acting Madoka couldn’t help but get nervous herself.

Madoka quickly tried to mend the yukata, quickly pulling it up and tightening the waistband once again. It didn’t look pretty, more like a bathrobe than a yukata, but it was still enough to cover herself.

“I-I will heat up the bath” said Madoka, the girl trying to get past the still embarrassed Homura “With how much we’ve walked around we should both take one- I-I mean by ourselves- like- me first then you- n-not together!”

Homura nodded, Madoka’s embarrassed commentary only making her blush bigger.

“Yo-you can get comfortable in the meantime” said Madoka as she opened the door of her room; quickly trying to run into the hallway in search of a hole that would swallow her and her embarrassment together.

Only for her to have to turn around and go back into her room. The girl having to walk around a still standing Homura to get into her wardrobe and pick up her pajamas. Somehow Madoka could still feel the tension that was in the air, and when she had to – once again – move past Homura to get to her underwear her heart could only race as she imagined Homura stopping her just to tell her that she wouldn’t mind taking a bath together-

Madoka had to quickly shook her head, her wildly creative imagination giving her a too realistic image of what the two of them could end up doing in the bath. Or rather, what Madoka would end up doing since Homura always felt too submisiv-

AAAAAHHHH!!! Madoka stop thinking! Just. Stop. Thinking.

With her clothes in hand and a repetitive song in her mind to keep her brain occupied, Madoka walked out of her room and towards the bath.

[-]

“Ahhh….”

Madoka sighed as she slowly laid down on her bathtub, the hot water taking away all the fatigue she had gotten from walking around all day. Having to keep up with Sayaka and Kyouko always was rough on her legs; as much as the girl was quite active, she was still pretty far behind her friends. The wooden sandals didn’t help either.

Madoka sank further into the bath, letting the water reach up to her nose. The steam filling her lungs having an oddly calming effect in the girl as she slowed her breathing.

She was glad that Homura had come with them today, not only for herself – Madoka had very much enjoyed the girl’s company, as always – but because it felt like Homura had been a bit more open than usual. Even if that openness came from Kyouko coming up with a competition between the two, Madoka had never seen Homura take games so seriously. Even less common was seeing the girl get annoyed by losing at them, Madoka would have never expected the girl to be so competitive; what had started with just some frowns from losing, quickly escalated into the girl actually getting angry at the games or herself.

With how quickly her annoyance dissipated whenever she looked back at Madoka though, it was more of a superficial anger than anything else. It all came down to how much the girl didn’t like making mistakes, and she tried pretty hard not to do so. The level of concentration the girl reached whenever she played a game was, honestly, a bit too much for what was a simple game. Her eyes would lock onto her objective. Her gaze quickly becoming a calculating one. It was like a hunter looking at its prey.

Madoka shifted around in the bath as she tried to sit, a bit of the water falling out of the tub as she did so.  

Then there was the whole thing that happened during the fireworks. Madoka had just made a dumb comment, not really meaning that she actually wanted to float among the stars. She had expected many possible answers to that: silence, maybe one of those romantic things that Homura sometimes said out of nowhere, or anything else really. What she didn’t expect was to Homura to actually take the comment seriously, to actually ask the girl to stay here.

And that was a thing that had bugged Madoka a bit more than it should probably have.

Because, so far, the only thing Homura had ever asked of Madoka was to stay with her. Be it to stay a bit more time like when she invited her to the café, or like this time to simply stay here. And she never did with a playful tone, or an embarrassed one; it always was with fear in her voice. And Madoka may not know why Homura was like this, why the girl was completely scared of Madoka leaving, but she knew that this wasn’t a new fear.

Because this didn’t feel like a new fear the girl had somehow developed over the last two weeks. Because Madoka could see the pain in the girl’s face whenever she thought about it, a pain that felt all too familiar to see on her face.

Because it reminded her of the face the girl had made the first day they met.

Madoka got up, determination filling her eyes, and got out of the bath.

If Homura was being so hurt by the simple idea that Madoka was going to leave one day, then she would make sure to make the girl understand that she would stay with her forever. That nothing would be able to get between them. That she loved her, and she would even give the universe in exchange for her happiness.

A shimmer of gold flashed over pink eyes.

[-]

Madoka walked back to her room, the dark hallway only being illuminated by the light coming from withing the gaps of the door that led into her room. She stopped right in front of the door, made sure to try and put on a bit more of a smile instead of her currently determined look, and quietly opened the door.

Homura was sitting on her chair, the girl looking through a bag that Madoka didn’t remember seeing before.

“Where is that bag from?” asked Madoka as she closed the door behind her, the girl’s mind trying really hard to remember if she had seen the bag or not.

“I brought it here when I came this afternoon” Homura said, the girl’s voice feeling as if she was reciting a practiced sentence. “I left it in your house before we went to the festival, remember?”

Madoka tried to, but nothing came to mind.

“You probably were too excited for the day and forgot” added Homura, quickly stopping the girl’s train of thought before she could dwell further into it.

Oh well, if Homura was saying it so confidently it had to be the truth. Madoka had been really excited for today after all, and the only thing she remembered from when Homura came to get her was the kiss they had shared and a whole lot of hand holding.

“I guess you are right” said Madoka with a bit of an embarrassed smile from having forgotten something that happened just a few hours ago.

Homura simply responded with a small smile that completely threw away Madoka’s worries about the matter before she got out her own pajamas. A thought went through the girl’s mind, making her stop dead on her tracks before she could get out of the room.

“We should prepare the bedding for tonight first” said Homura as she left her clothes on Madoka’s desk. “Where is the futon that you lent me last time?”

“Ah- don’t worry about it! I will prepare it while you bathe!” said Madoka, putting the girl’s clothes back on her hand before she started to gently push her towards the door.

“I will help yo-”

“Nope~! I’m the hostess, you have to relax Homura-chan!” pressed Madoka as she finished pushing – though Homura wasn’t really resisting – the girl out of the room.

Madoka waved Homura off as the girl made her way towards the bathroom with a bit of confusion on her eyes. Once Homura walked into the bathroom, Madoka closed the door and let out a relieved breath.

After all, for her plan to work she couldn’t have Homura help her prepare things. This was going to be a surprise plan, an all fronts attack on the girl until she accepted that Madoka would not be leaving her.

Homura wasn’t one to usually take baths, showers being just that more efficient, but when it came to the Kaname household she knew she couldn’t say no. If Homura were to get out of the bath in just the twelve minutes it usually took her to shower – ten of those going to her hair since the timeline that Madoka had praised it – she knew that Madoka was going to get angry at her. Well, as angry as the girl could get from something like this.

As such, Homura was now inside the bath, and had been so for the last twenty minutes. She would just aim to take more or less the same time that Madoka took; forty minutes. Forty minutes that even thought they started as relaxing, quickly devolved into anxiety as she just wanted to get out and go back to Madoka.

She had always wanted to be with the girl at all times, her mission only making it hard to do so without putting the girl in danger. The need of being with the girl only grew larger and larger with every loop, the last time she let herself get even remotely close to the girl being the timeline she most wanted to forget. And after all that ended? Almost a full year of fighting alone. A full year that only made her crave being with the girl to the point that it completely broke her.

And now she was getting not only the full attention of the girl, but in a way that Homura could only have dreamt of? The thing that had been supposed to become hell now appeared like heaven for Homura.

Madoka’s love was intoxicating, it was addicting. It only made Homura love the girl more, a thing that she had believed not to be possible.

Yet here she was, being unable to even wait five more minutes to go see her again. And maybe that meant that the Devil had been right, that she should have always tried to get closer to the girl. Actually, she was in a good mood, so maybe she would try to find a way to close a deal with her – as ironic as making a deal with the devil sounded – just as thanks for actually putting her in this path of closeness to Madoka.

Homura sighed, still four more minutes until she should get out of the bath.

…

…

…

“36 minutes will also be fine, right?” thought Homura as she got out of the bathtub and started to dry herself.

Madoka could feel her heart almost getting out of her body, her heartbeat only getting louder and louder as she waited for Homura to come back from her bath. She sat on her bed, slowly trying to calm herself down.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe i-

Madoka did a small jump when she heard Homura opening the bathroom door, the girl’s heartbeat just going back to how it was a moment ago. She could imagine Homura walking towards her room, and doubt was finally able to get to Madoka as the girl started to second guess herself.

Maybe she shouldn’t do this. It was a bit too bold even for herself, wasn’t it? What if things got out of control?

The door opened; Homura slowly being reveled in her light violet pajamas as she stepped into the room. The girl had a bit of a blush on her face, her pale skin contrasting greatly against her still damp raven hair. A nice smell of lavender filling Madoka’s room as Homura closed the door behind her.

Her amethyst eyes looked at Madoka with a hint of restrained eagerness, the gesture – and how hard Homura tried to hide it – sending a jolt of pure happiness through Madoka, the girl failing to hold back a love filled dumb smile.

“Madoka?” asked Homura, a bit of confusion on her eyes.

“Hm?” Madoka’s heart still raced, the girl staring at Homura in a small trance.

“Where is the futon?”

There it was.

“Well…” Madoka started to fidget with her fingers, the girl’s eyes darting around the room in shame. “I thought… that maybe we could sleep t-together?”

Madoka could feel her heart going completely haywire, the thought of having a heart attack with how fast it was beating crossing her mind at one point. Her face was completely red, her whole body shifting around as she felt uncomfortable sitting in any way. Seconds that felt like minutes passed in silence. Madoka, now realizing that Homura had not answered, slowly raised her head to look at her girlfriend.

Homura was completely still. The only sign that the girl was still alive being her shaking eyes and the red that decorated her face. Homura opened her mouth as to answer, the words getting stuck in her throat.

“I- I don’t think-” Homura’s eyes met Madoka’s, Homura flinching as they did so; her face turning into an even brighter shade of red “I… If- if you want to”

Madoka started breathing again, the girl now noticing that she had stopped while she waited for Homura to answer. Her determination to do this whole thing in order to reassure Homura that she was going to be with her completely gone now.

The steam got to my head! I really should have thought this over!

It was now too late to backdown. The thought of what Homura could be thinking Madoka wanted to do only sinking her further into her own embarrassment.

“T-then” Madoka pushed herself further into the bed, making enough space for Homura to climb onto it too.

Homura nodded, hesitating for a second before the girl started to take slow steps towards Madoka; each step resonating inside Madoka’s head in rhythm with her heartbeat. Homura sat down on the bed, its frame bending slightly at the added weight pulling Madoka closer to the girl.

They both sat there, in silence, for what seemed like an eternity. Homura turn around to face Madoka, the girl’s mask completely gone had been replaced by nervous, embarrassed, and eager face that made Madoka’s heart skip a beat. Madoka, unable to contain herself any longer, leaned forwards until their lips connected; the sweet, cold taste of Homura’s lips letting a bit of her original determination come through once again.

When Madoka pulled away, Homura’s eyes looked at her for but a second before the girl had to look away out of embarrassment. Madoka made a small pout at the gesture, the tingling feeling she got whenever Homura looked embarrassed being completely overwritten by a bit of annoyance at the girl not looking at her.

Madoka cusped Homura’s head with her hands, carefully guiding the girl’s face until she was facing her again.

“Homura-chan” Madoka whispered, her eyes digging on the other girl’s soul “Why aren’t you looking at me?”

“That’s-“

“Do you not want me to do this? Do you want me to stop?” asked Madoka, fearing what the answer would be; fearing that she had crossed boundaries that would have better remained uncrossed.

“That’s not-!” Homura almost shouted, the girl quickly taking control of her voice before she spoke again, this time in a whisper “I… I want to keep going, M-Madoka”

“I don’t want to push you too far” said Madoka, the girl slowly closing the space between their faces until their foreheads touched, Madoka could feel the girl’s nervous breathing “Tell me if you want to stop, okay?”  

Homura nodded in response, a smile plastering all over Madoka’s face before she went in for another kiss; this time a far deeper and passionate one. Madoka could feel as Homura raised her hands to try and grasp at Madoka’s arm, the girl trying to desperately anchor herself to something least the pleasure was to take her away.

Madoka slowly let go of Homura’s lips so they could both breathe. Though with how Homura leaned forwards as Madoka tried to pull away, the girl disappointedly opening her eyes as she noticed the kiss had ended, Madoka was sure that Homura could have gone for longer. The eagerness the girl was showing, the flustered face she had on, how she looked at Madoka with pleading eyes; it all made a fire withing Madoka burn brighter than it ever had.

Madoka made sure to put an end to that fire, to contain its flames that could very easily burn both of them. It still was too soon for that. This was only to make Homura understand that Madoka wouldn’t leave her. To show her how much she loved her, how much she wanted to be with her for all eternity.

Madoka placed her arms around Homura, embracing the girl in the warmest, and gentlest hug she could give. Madoka pulled their faces closer, their lips barely touching.

“I love you” breathed Madoka, the girl not letting Homura answer as she pushed their lips together once again; both girls lying down onto the bed as they kissed.

Madoka tried to pull away from the kiss, but Homura’s attempt at keeping the kiss going made Madoka give in; letting their lips connect once again as she felt Homura embracing her tightly. It wasn’t until she couldn’t keep it for any longer that Madoka pulled away, the girl trying to recover her ragged breath.

“Madoka…” Homura whimpered, the girl’s eyes pleading Madoka to keep going; yet they were scared of searching for it themselves. How Homura was able to not look the least exhausted was a mystery, and it only made Madoka thankful that she was the one taking the lead and not the other way around.

“Homura-chan” Madoka whispered between breaths, the high from the kisses burning away all of the girl’s embarrassment “I love you. I love you more than what I can even understand myself”

Madoka moved one of her hands towards the other girl’s face, gently cupping Homura’s cheek with it. Madoka made sure to affectionally caress the girl’s cheek, Homura pushing against Madoka’s hand as if she yearned for the girl’s touch.  

“That’s why I want to make you understand” Madoka leaned in for a small, affectionate kiss. Only pulling away enough for her to be able to talk, their lips still grazing against each other “I’m not going to leave you. I will stay by your side for all eternity”

“I don’t know what happened for you to be so scared of losing me” Madoka looked directly at Homura’s wavering amethyst eyes, her voice becoming a gentle whisper. “I’m here. I’ll always be. Because I love you, Homura”

Madoka kissed the girl once more, with more caring love than pure passion. She could feel Homura’s arms tightening around her, the girl’s breathing becoming less and less controlled. Madoka pulled away in search of air, the girl stopping to see at the now crying Homura that tried to hide her face under her ebony bangs.

Madoka looked at the girl with a small smile before she embraced her tightly until Homura’s head rested on Madoka’s chest; the girl crying freely only focused on getting as close she could to Madoka.

They stayed like that for minutes, Homura’s crying slowly calming down as Madoka gently caressed her hair. Madoka only stopping when she noticed that Homura had fallen asleep in her arms, she gave her a small kiss on the forehead and went to sleep herself; still hugging Homura as she did so.

That night Madoka dreamed of stars.

Current date: Sunday, 25^th of May

A/N: Sorry for being late, was pretty tired the whole week but I’m better now.

Chapter Text

A calm fragrance.

The warm feeling of an embrace.

The sound of gentle breathing over her.

A relaxed heartbeat in her ears.

It was with these sensations surrounding her that Homura woke up. The girl slowly coming back to consciousness after what had been her first time sleeping in this world, and the first time sleeping in years in which she hadn’t been woken up by a nightmare.

Madoka was still hugging her, the girl’s embrace had not faltered throughout the night in the slightest. Quite the opposite in fact, with Madoka having used Homura’s body as a substitute plushie to hug, the girl was not only hugging Homura with her arms but had also used one of her legs to pull her even closer.

Homura, not wanting to wake up the still sleeping girl – and with clearly no other motives behind it – decided to burrow her face deeper into the girl’s chest, Madoka’s body acting on instinct and tightening the hug around Homura in response. Homura couldn’t breathe, the only thing that she could feel was Madoka and Madoka only, yet she didn’t mind; Air was unnecessary in a world in which she could just be like this with the girl she so much loved.

Homura was so deep in her own world that she didn’t hear the door opening, only coming back to her senses when Madoka reacted to the noise by moving around in a half sleep state.

“Well, well, well” said a mature woman’s voice “Would you look at that”

Madoka shifted more, the girl slowly waking up. Homura tried to remain with her face burrowed on the girl, but it quickly became an impossible task as Madoka half sat up on her bed; using her arm as a leverage. Homura slowly opened her eyes as she turned around, her hair being a mess of equal proportions to Madoka’s. When her eyes met the person that had opened the door, all alarms went off inside her mind, a blush quickly finding its way to the girl’s cheeks.

“Mama… Good morning…” mumbled Madoka. The girl, still too asleep to notice what was going on, was in the middle of a yawn.

Madoka finished her yawn, her mother still just looking at her with raised eyebrows as she waited for her daughter to realize the situation she was in. Madoka cocked her head to the side for a second before her eyes moved down, her pink gaze landing on Homura’s blushed face.

Realization suddenly hit Madoka, her eyes widening at the same rate that blood started to rush to her face.

“O-oh, go-good morning, Homura-chan”

Homura merely nodded as she sat up herself, unable to look at either of the Kaname women. She had to stop herself from actually conjuring up a hole that could swallow her.

“And here I was worrying as to why the futon was still in the closet” Junko sighed, putting on a smile as she placed her hands around her hips “Breakfast will be ready in a bit, get dressed in the meantime. We will all be going to eat out later, so put something nice”

Homura opened her mouth as to protest, but Junko quickly glared her down.

“And yes, you are coming with us Homura” Junko turned around and made her way out of the room, throwing in a knowing look with raised eyebrows before she closed the door behind her. Homura gulped; she knew those teasing, thinking, evaluating eyes.

She wasn’t going to be able to flee from a talk with Kaname Junko. The woman had made her mind, and Homura had been sentenced.

“W-well…” Madoka’s voice brought Homura’s back to the present, the pink haired girl had red cheeks as she tried to make her way out of the bed without touching Homura; a task that proved impossible in the small bed. “We should get ready, Homura-chan”

Homura nodded as she tried to get away from the blankets that had tangled around her legs.

[-]

The two of them walked downstairs, the sound of the TV and giggles coming from Tatsuya being the first thing that they could hear. Homura walked behind Madoka, the pink haired girl had changed into light pink jeans paired with a white t-shirt and a light green cardigan; the sight of Madoka wearing clothes other than her school uniform still felt strange to Homura, but it helped to remind her that she wasn’t in the old world anymore.

“Maroka!” happily shouted Tatsuya as the toddler saw her sister walk in.

“Hello Takku-!” Madoka almost fell back, her brother having tackled her into a hug. After recovering, Madoka quickly returned said hug with the same gentleness as one would treat a small animal “I’m glad to see you too, Takkun”

The interaction brought forth a smile from Homura, the scenery being exactly what she had been fighting for. For Madoka being able to happily be with her family without any real worry in her mind.

“Good morning, Madoka” Tomohisa said from behind the kitchen counter, the man making a breakfast that consisted of eggs and bacon.  “Good morning, Akemi-san”

“Good morning, Papa!” said Madoka, walking over to the kitchen. She turned back to Homura, the girl looking at her with a gentle smile on her face. “Coffee, Homura-chan?”

“Please” Homura said with a small bow before she made her way towards the table; sitting on the same chair she had sat the first time she came here in this world, knowing that neither Madoka or Tomohisa would let her help with anything.

A couple of minutes later Madoka placed the ‘husband’ mug they had won in front of her, black coffee swirled inside of it, and a plate with the same breakfast that Tomohisa had been preparing. A moment later, Madoka sat next to her, ‘wife’ mug in hand and a slight blush on her cheeks.

Homura took a sip from her coffee, the bitter taste of the liquid helping to calm herself down. She had to get used to Madoka acting this bold, putting on the mask had been getting harder and harder lately.

A sound got Homura’s attention as she placed a fork of bacon in her mouth, the girl turned to the source just in time to see Kaname Junko walking downstairs. The woman threw a look at Madoka and Homura, the two of them flinching as the what was about to happen became clear in their minds.

Junko walked over to Tomohisa, the husband already handing her a cup of coffee as they exchanged a morning kiss.

“We should have done the same…” Thought Homura, her face quickly getting red as she realized her own thoughts.

Junko walked over to the table and sat next to Homura. Junko looked at Homura’s drink with a raised eyebrow, Homura quickly saw an idea cross the woman’s mind.

“You drink it black?” she asked, Homura could hear the teasing tone she was using already.

“Y-yes, I got used to the taste” Homura cursed herself for stuttering, knowing that doing such a thing would only add more fuel to the fire.

“Hmmm…” Junko hummed, throwing a look at Madoka for a second before she took a sip of her own coffee “I expected you to like sweet things more”

“I-”

“Or did you have your fill of sweetness last night?”

Madoka started coughing as her tea went through the wrong pipe. Junko simply moved her eyes between Homura and Madoka, a smirk on her face as she took a sip of her own coffee again.

“M-mom!” Madoka protested between coughs.

“Oh~? You aren’t denying it?”

Homura, too embarrassed to answer, decided to ignore the question and went back to her breakfast. The simple, yet delicious, flavors tried to distract her from the conversation that was happening around her. She could see Madoka’s own flushed cheeks as the girl tried to hide herself into her mug, the sight of Madoka near the word ‘wife’ made Homura remember last night; made her remember Madoka promising to stay with her for all eternity…

Did that count as a proposal?

“But really, I didn’t expect you to be that bold” Junko said, her eyes digging into Madoka “You two have been going out for… four days?”

“…five if you count today” mumbled Madoka as she lazily cut a piece of egg, the golden liquid inside of it spilling onto the bacon as she did so.

“And you already slept together?” said Junko “How far have you two gone alrea-”

“We haven’t done anything!” exclaimed Madoka, an angry pout on her face; her completely red cheeks didn’t help to convey her anger, simply making her look cuter “We just went to sleep!”  

Junko hummed as she kept her gaze fixed on Madoka, the girl becoming smaller when her mother didn’t move her eyes away from her. The woman smiled before turning back to Homura, even as the woman tried to hide her real intentions behind a gentle mask, Homura was still able to feel as if she was a rabbit, and Junko a fox waiting for her to make a mistake.

“Homura”

Homura took a moment to calm herself, making sure not to stutter this time “Yes?”

“Has Madoka been kind to you?”

The question got a confused frown from Homura, the girl answering only after a few seconds passed.

“She always is” said Homura, still unsure where the question had come from.

“Do you like the food she makes?”

“Yes, I do” said Homura at the quick question that had been thrown her way again. She could see Madoka blush next to her, but Junko was already asking something else. She felt like she had to answer quickly under the woman’s gaze.

“Do you have fun with her?”

“Always”

“Do you like her?”

“Yes”

“Is she a good friend?”

“The best I could wish for” Homura quickly answered, the continuous flurry of questions making her unable to stop and think about what the question was about.

“Did she force you to do something last night?”

“She told me to say stop if I didn’t want to… keep… going…”

Homura slowly lowered her voice as she realized what she had answered to, her blood quickly rushing to her face as she saw Junko’s triumphant smirk.

Homura looked to her side, only to see Madoka completely red faced and trying to look as small as possible; the pink haired girl had clearly been affected by Homura’s answers, the last one probably being the last push.

“So, just sleeping, right?” asked Junko towards Madoka, the girl embarrassedly looking up until her eyes met her mothers. Madoka tried to open her mouth to say something, but words weren’t able to come out of the girl. “You are really bad at lying, Madoka”

Homura couldn’t help but nod in agreement as she took another sip from her coffee.

The traffic light turned red, giving Junko a moment to look at the backseats through the rearview mirror.

Madoka was showing something on her phone to Homura as she tried to contain a giggle, Homura simply observed what Madoka was showing her with a small forced smile on her face. Whatever Madoka was showing her clearly wasn’t of interest to Homura, yet the girl watched the screen with her full concentration. After what Junko assumed was a video finished, Tatsuya was quick to ask her sister to show him too; Madoka quickly complied.

Homura looked with soft eyes at the two siblings as they shared a laugh, an actual smile appearing on her face before her eyes drifted towards Junko’s; the girl quickly adverted her eyes, unable to face the older woman.

The light turned green again, and with a sigh Junko focused back on the road.

[-]

Junko opened the door to the restaurant, a chime alerting one of the waitresses of their arrival. The young woman was in a nice looking black uniform with a white shirt underneath, she quickly reached the group and with a practiced smile looked at them.

“I have a reservation under the name of Kaname Junko” said Junko as she looked around the almost empty restaurant, it hadn’t been doing well for the past few years and would probably close soon; a shame.

“For five people, correct?” Junko merely nodded in response; the woman quickly tapped some things in a tablet she was carrying before she made a polite bow “Please follow me”

Junko followed the waitress into one of the private rooms the place had, a table that could have probably fit seven people was prepared with utensils and paper menus.

Junko was the first one to sit, Tomohisa sitting next to her as he guided Tatsuya to sit between them. Junko placed her hand against the edge of the table, seeing that the toddler’s head was just at the right height to hit it. Madoka, holding Homura’s hand, guided the other girl to sit on the other side of the table. The moment Homura sat, Madoka was already trying to get as close as she could to the girl; locking arms with her as she held out one of the paper menus so they could both see it.

“What would you like to drink?” asked the waitress.

“Water for me, and a pineapple juice for him” said Tomohisa as he pointed to Tatsuya.

“Pineapple!” mimicked Tatsuya with a big grin.

“I’ll have…” Junko looked at Tomohisa, sending him a gaze that he knew pretty well already as a ‘you are driving back’ look “Do you still make your own plum wine?”

“Yes, we do”

“I’ll buy a bottle then” Junko looked at Madoka and Homura, the two girls were talking about the menu; Madoka had a bit of a surprised expression on her face, Homura the usual mask she seemed to wear when she wasn’t embarrassed. “Girls?”

“Ah! Eh… we will both have ramune; strawberry for me…”  Madoka slowly turned towards Homura, the other girl was still looking at the menu.

“…Melon for me” Homura added, her voice being barely loud enough to be heard.

The waitress nodded, and with a quick bow left the private room they were in.

Junko turned towards the pair with one brow raised, she could already see that a certain ‘discussion’ would begin with that drink “Ramune?”

“Yeah” Madoka said – arms still locked with Homura, was se going to let go of the girl at some point? – “Homura-chan said that she never had it before”

Homura nodded in confirmation, the girl still looking at the menu as she tried to evade Junko’s eyes. Junko couldn’t help but think that maybe she had gone a bit overboard with the teasing this morning, she just hoped that the girl wasn’t actually scared of her.

She needed to talk with her later after all, and she was hoping to do it in private. If the girl was scared of her… well, she didn’t want to make her too uncomfortable. She doubted the girl would accept her deal if she was scared of her.

The waitress came back with their drinks just a few minutes later. Madoka picked up Homura’s and passed it to the girl before picking up her own. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the soft drink, but after hearing that Homura had never tried it before she had to get one just for the novelty that it was to Homura.

Maybe she should have chosen something different actually, just in case that Homura didn’t like it. Though knowing Homura, she probably wouldn’t say anything.

Homura picked up the bottle in front of her and examined it, the shape of the bottle getting her attention. Madoka started opening hers, taking out the opener from the pink cap as she held it in front of hers.

“Homura-chan” Madoka called, the girl looking over at her “You have to do it like this”

Madoka placed the opener at the mouth of the bottle and pushed down on it with her palm, after a few seconds the glass marble got released with a satisfactory clink and Madoka took out the opener.

“See?” Madoka said, taking a sip from her drink as she did so. A bit too bubbly for her taste, but that’s what she gets for not thinking clearly.

Homura nodded before she started to follow her steps, only stopping when her palm was against the opener.

“How much strength should I use?” asked Homura, her usual mask on not letting Madoka see if she was enjoying herself or not.

“Hmmm…” Madoka hummed as she left her drink on the table “Just a bit? It’s more about holding it than pure strength”

Homura nodded, her vision quickly focusing back on the task at hand before she pressed on the opener for a few seconds. A brief moment later, a satisfying clink confirmed her success. Homura looked at the bottle for a second before turning back towards Madoka, a bit of a questioning look on her face.

“Good job, Homura-chan” said Madoka with a smile on her face, seeing the girl doing something so normal as opening a bottle of ramune was somehow relaxing.

Homura’s eyes seemed to almost glow at the praise, though that may have been just Madoka’s imagination. Homura took the bottle and tried to take a sip from it, the marble getting in the way of the liquid made it harder than usual.

“Hold the flat side horizontally” hinted Madoka with a small giggle at Homura’s attempts “It helps”

Homura nodded, and with a quick twist of her hand properly held the bottle this time. She took a nice gulp and left the bottle on the table afterwards.

“Do you like it?” asked Madoka, the girl quickly going back for Homura’s arm now that they didn’t need both of them for anything.

“It’s… bubbly?” said Homura, the girl took another sip as to confirm her opinion on the drink “I like the taste”

Her mom chuckled from the other side of the table, catching their attention.

“Most people drink it for the marble” said her mom as she served herself a glass of her plum wine “Once the novelty dies down it’s just another soft drink”

“Don’t let Junko spoil the drink for you, Homura” interjected her dad, Madoka already knew what was coming.

“You just like it because you drank it a lot as a kid” her mom said as she looked at him with a sly look “Didn’t have anything better in your small town”

“Didn’t need anything else. Even after coming to the city, it still remained my favorite soft drink” her dad corrected, her eyes moved towards Homura “A drink that has survived for over a century, and is still enjoyed, is an important part of our culture. Don’t you agree, Homura?”

There it was, the question that always got asked when ramune was mentioned. And with Madoka – and Sayaka – having taken her mother’s side in the matter, her dad was probably hoping to get Homura’s on his.

With how much time Homura dedicated to thinking about an answer Madoka could already tell that the girl was thinking too seriously about it. She probably had made her decision long ago, but realized that she was going to choose a side and immediately went back to thinking. Judging by her eyes she was probably debating whether she should say the truth, deflect the question, or lie. Madoka simply took another sip of her drink and waited.

“It is quite famous, and I do like it” finally spoke Homura, choosing to take Madoka’s dad’s side.

“I’m glad that you think so” Her dad looked at Homura with a happy smile, and at that moment Madoka knew she had just gained his approval.

A knock on the door got their attention, the waitress entering again as she held her tablet.

“Have you decided what you will be eating?” she asked in a polite tone.

A few looks and nods were exchanged around the table to confirm that everyone had, in fact, chosen something before her mother spoke up.

“Yes, I’ll have a katsudon” said her mother.

“Spicy curry for me, and sweet for him” said her dad as he pointed towards Takkun.

The waitress nodded as she jotted down their orders before raising her head towards Madoka and Homura.

“I’ll also have sweet curry” said Madoka, turning to Homura after the waitress finished typing her order.

“I’ll have…”  Homura trailed off as she looked at the menu again, still not sure about what to order “mild curry, please”

“Add two orders of takoyaki and yakitori too” said her mom, quickly glancing at the menu before she raised her eyes to confirm that the waitress had heard her.

“And an okonomiyaki to share” added her dad, exchanging looks with her mother as he did so.

Ahhh… I see.

They were trying to stuff Homura full of food, weren’t they?

Homura looked at the empty dishes that littered the table in front of her. Her stomach felt like it was about to burst, the Kaname family having been prodding her to eat more and more being the culprits. Homura was pretty sure that if she had been her old ill self, she wouldn’t be able to move right now.

Thankfully, she could just lighten her load with a bit of magic now.

“Did you eat well, Homura?” asked Tomohisa, the man had been the main culprit; ordering even more food midway through.

“Yes, thank you for inviting me today” she said with a small bow towards both Tomohisa and Junko.

They both smiled in return before Junko casted a look towards Tomohisa, the man nodding in understatement before picking up Tatsuya.

“I’ll go grab the car, Madoka?” Madoka perked up at the mention of her name, still holding onto Homura’s arm “Can you help me with Tatsuya?”

Madoka looked confused for a second as she exchanged looks with her parents, but after a brief moment she finally understood the situation and got up from her seat with a smile on her face.

“Of course!” she said, turning towards Homura as she got out of the table “We’ll be back in a few minutes, Homura-chan”

“R-right” Homura stuttered, already knowing where this was going towards, she decided to prepare herself.

Less than a minute later and the only two that remained in the private room of the restaurant were Junko and Homura. The older woman finished what had been left of her glass of plum wine before her eyes looked at Homura.

“So, how are things going between Madoka and you?” asked Junko in an obvious at attempt at breaking the ice.

Homura thought for a few seconds, the question actually making her think. She could have never wished for a relationship better than what she had with Madoka at the moment, the girl was happy; and as such, Homura was too.

“I believe it’s been going great” said Homura, trying to put on her mask.

“Don’t you think that maybe you’ve going too fast?” asked Junko with a bit of a raised eyebrow.

“I’m okay with whatever pace Madoka wants us to follow” Homura answered, they were new questions yes; but this hadn’t been the first time that Junko had ‘interrogated’ her. She could pull her mask off with ease.

“Hmmm…” Junko hummed, thinking about Homura’s words for a few seconds “I guess that Madoka was right”

Homura raised an eyebrow at that, curiosity overcoming her stoic face a bit.

“What do you do in your free time, Homura?” asked Junko, an empathic smile on her face as she played with the bit of remaining liquid on her glass.

“I usually study” answered Homura “unless Madoka asks me to go somewhere”

“What did you do before meeting Madoka?”

That was something that Homura didn’t remember, her life before Madoka was nothing more than a blur on her mind; she couldn’t recall a single name from that age. Not that it mattered anyways, but she knew that wouldn’t be a proper answer.

“I read whatever the nurses or nuns would give me” Homura sighs “Few were interesting, but they were better than staring at a white ceiling”

“Did you like reading?” Junko fixed her eyes on her, her smile attempting to carve the real Homura out of her mask.

“I guess I did”

Homura couldn’t help but feel confused. She had expected a talk with Kaname Junko, that much was true, but what she had expected was a talk about Madoka and how she had to treat her well. Not for the woman to try and dig into her personal life; a life that didn’t really exist outside of Madoka anyways.

She could see the eyes with which Junko was looking at her, the same hurting eyes that Madoka would sometimes put whenever Homura placed her mask around her. But Homura knew that she had to keep it up, letting her guard down around Kaname Junko was dangerous.

“How are things over at your house?” asked Junko.

“Quiet, like usual” said Homura before she tried to take a sip out of her drink one last time; nothing more than a drop coming out of the drink.

“Are you sleeping well?”

Homura knew that was a formality, the dark circles around her eyes were a clear indication of her sleep tendencies. She could have taken care of them with magic, but they helped to remind herself what she had truly become.

“I don’t sleep much” she admitted, knowing that a lie wouldn’t work here “But it is still enough to let me work properly throughout the day”

“That’s not good for your health” sighed Junko.

“I know”

That earned a small chuckle from Junko before the woman straightened her back and looked at her with a more serious look on her eyes.

“Homura?”

“Yes?” asked Homura as she noticed the silence that had fallen between the two.

“Are you lonely?”

Homura frowned at that, unsure as to what to answer. Unsure as if she had properly heard the question.

“…I’m sorry?” she asked.

“I asked if you are lonely” Junko said, her gentle smile looking more and more like Madoka’s “Are you lonely living by yourself, Homura?”

Was she lonely?

She had Madoka whenever they were at school, and most afternoons too. She definitely wasn’t lonely then.

Then she would go back to her house. She would greet Amy if the cat had decided to drop by – it was still more of a stray than her cat – and see if any of her dolls were around. She did her homework, studied, and… She waited.

She would wait in the darkness for the morning to come with the promise of seeing Madoka again. Sometimes she would go to the field of flowers where a chair waited for her, but she would do the same as in her room. Sometimes she went to Hell and simply waited in one of the ruined buildings, or watched as her dolls disposed of the few incubators that died throughout the process of cleaning the grief.

But other than that, she just… waited. It was all a mean to make time pass faster so she could see Madoka again.

Homura looked at Junko, the woman was calmly waiting for an answer still with the smile that reminded Homura so much of Madoka…

She couldn’t let her see through her mask.

“I can manage” stated Homura, she knew that after all the time she had thought for, a complete denial would be an easy lie to pick on.

Junko chuckled. “So that’s a yes then”

Junko shifted around her seat a bit, trying to get into a more comfortable position as she did so. A beep on her phone announced an incoming message, Junko quickly glanced at it before looking back at Homura.

“Say, Homura” Junko started, and a compassionate expression that felt like a thousand needles piercing her heart decorated her face “Would you like to live with us?”

Homura’s brain came to a halt, the sudden question surprising her hard enough that she had subconsciously stopped time.

The thought of being able to live in the same house that Madoka was tempting. To be able to live with a family as kind as Madoka’s family was even more tempting. She knew that she would be treated like one more of the family if she were to accept.

Yet, she knew that she shouldn’t deserve that much kindness. She would accept Madoka’s love, but she still had many sins to carry with her. And as such, she had to steel her resolve and deny the proposition.

She took a few breaths to try and calm herself, and with a thought resumed time.

“I-”

“We have a free room that you can use” Junko kept talking “though I’m sure that Madoka wouldn’t mind sharing hers with you”

Of course, Homura wouldn’t mind sharing a room with Madoka either. She couldn’t accept though.

“I appreciate the offer but-”

“You would get meals cooked by Tomohisa every day, and trust me, you don’t want to miss that” said Junko with a small chuckle.

It was true that Tomohisa’s cooking was something out of this world, but even then, she knew that with Madoka’s lunches it was more than enough.

“I can’t-”

“We would be calmer knowing that you are okay too” she added, showing genuine worry in her eyes as she spoke.

“I don’t want to be a burden-”

“It would also make Madoka happy if you lived with us”

Homura stiffened at those words.

She knew. She knew that Madoka would be more than happy.

Why are you trying to deny the offer then?

Because she had sinned enough already. She shouldn’t keep going and intrude into Madoka’s life that much.

And where has all that sin lead us to? We are happy. Madoka is happy.

There was a moment of silence in her mind as she could feel the Devil taking part of her power. Homura didn’t stop her.

The Devil manifested next to Junko, an illusion that only Homura could see. Reddish eyes looked at her, a satisfied expression in her eyes and a big grin on her face as she held an apple in her hands.

Shouldn’t we try to make Madoka even happier?

Homura looked down at the table for a few moments before letting out a sigh, raising her eyes to meet Junko’s.

“Do you want to come live with us?” she asked again, gentle expression still on her face.

Homura looked at the Devil, her red eyes waiting expectantly as her lips brushed the blood red apple.

“I would love to” Homura said with a bow.

Crunch

Current date: Sunday, 25^th of May.

A/N: It may be 6AM where I live, but it’s technically still Sunday in Hawaii, so I’m posting this on time.

Chapter Text

The quiet ambience of the restaurant was quickly replaced by the sounds of a busy street when Homura opened the door that led outside. Homura looked around in search of the car as Junko closed the door behind them, the older woman putting a hand on her shoulder after she did so.

“Do you want to be the one to tell her?” asked Junko with a smile, hand gently laying on Homura’s shoulder for reassurance.

Homura’s eyes drifted towards the ground, a tint of pink filling her cheeks as she tried to imagine herself telling Madoka. The very thought of even attempting to say the words ‘I’m going to be living with you from now on’ already being too embarrassing for the girl.

I can say it for you~

The Devil looked at her with a sly smile, her hair falling to the side as she leaned her body to the side in order to get into Homura’s view. If anything, seeing her face with those blood tinted violet eyes was enough to remind herself that she wasn’t the girl from that hospital anymore, that she shouldn’t be embarrassed to say something like that. A car’s honk made her look up, letting her see Madoka waving at them from the car.

“I… I will tell her” Whispered Homura, just loud enough so that Junko could hear her.

The older woman gave her a small reassuring pat on the shoulder with an understanding smile on her face before she started to walk towards the car; Homura took a small deep breath before following Junko.

As Homura reached the car, Madoka leant towards the door and opened it for her; trying to throw it open to compensate for her short reach.

“Let’s go, Homura-chan” Madoka said with a bright smile on her face, the girl scooting further into her seat so Homura could get in.

Homura finished putting on her seatbelt when she looked to her side, Madoka turning to her at the same time and gracing her with a joyful smile that made Homura’s heart skip a beat. Madoka, almost as if to finish her attack, reached up to Homura’s hand and locked their fingers together; the warmth of Madoka’s hands contrasting neatly with Homura’s naturally cold hands.

When Homura’s eyes moved from their hands to Madoka’s face, the girl was surprised with a quick peck on the lips from Madoka; the pink haired girl looking at her with a devious look afterwards.

“I missed you” whispered Madoka, Homura’s face setting completely ablaze at what had been the first kiss of the day. Homura’s mind was sent adrift at the unexpected show of love, the Devil screaming out of joy in her mind not helping to calm herself down.

“Madoka, dear?” said Junko from her seat, catching Madoka’s attention as the girl looked at her mom; hand still tightly linked with Homura’s. “Homura has something to tell you, but I don’t think she will be able to if you keep embarrassing her like that”

“Eh?” Madoka looked between Homura and Junko a few times before she started to move away, slowly loosening her grip on Homura’s hand. “Ah, sorry”

Homura instinctively tightened her own grip around Madoka’s hand, her own body being against the idea of letting her go. Madoka looked at her with a small surprise on her eyes for a second before a smile appeared back on her face and strengthened her own grip around Homura’s fingers; making sure to properly entwine their fingers.

Homura took a small breath as she tried to calm herself, holding the air in her lungs for a few seconds before she calmly exhaled it.

“Madoka, I…” Homura moved her gaze to meet Madoka’s rose pink eyes, pure acceptance plastered all over her face even before the girl heard what Homura was going to say. Those kindness filled eyes were only bringing back her nerves from before. Homura suddenly found the words she was going to say completely lost in her mind as her heart quickened its beat. Homura tightened her grip on Madoka’s hand as she did a quick bow of the head “I- I’ll be in your care from now on”

Homura kept her head low, eyes closed as she waited for a reaction; the girl already knowing that those weren’t the words she had wanted to use was already cursing herself for failing at even simple communication. After what seemed like an eternity in silence passed, Homura raised her head, eyes meeting a puzzled Madoka.

“Uhm…” The girl put on an empathetic smile “same here?”

There was a short silence before Junko let out a hearty laugh, catching Madoka’s attention as Homura tried to find a way to escape the situation that she had put herself into.

“Junko…” reprimanded Tomohisa, prompting the older woman to try and stop laughing.

“Sorry, sorry” she said as she dried some tears that had started to form in the edges of her eyes. Junko turned around, facing Madoka as she tried to get her laugh in control.

“What Homura wanted to say is that she is going to start living with us from now on”

Madoka’s brain seemed to go into overdrive as her mind tried to think of whether the words she had just heard were true or a trick played by her ears. Her eyes would move from Homura, to Junko, to Tomohisa, and back to Homura; the girl trying to gauge if she was just being played a trick on. When her eyes laid on Junko once more, the older woman gave her a confirming nod that made Madoka’s gaze quickly move towards Homura. Her expression quickly transitioning from puzzled to a surprised one.

“I-is that true, Homura-chan?” she asked, wanting to confirm with the person in question.

“Y-yes” Homura said, unable to meet Madoka’s eyes without feeling embarrassed about the situation “Junko-san asked me if I wanted to live in your house and…”

Homura stopped for a second, regret quickly overcoming her embarrassment; fear of having made the wrong decision instilling in her heart. “Of course if you don’t want me to-!”

“No!” Madoka said, now grabbing Homura by her shoulders as her head laid low; her bangs hiding her eyes. “I… I would feel better if you did” Madoka’s hands started to tremble as she held Homura’s shoulders, the girl tightening her grip to make sure that Homura was still there. Lone tears dripped on the girl’s stretched out arms.

“M-madoka?” stuttered Homura, worry for the now crying girl throwing away every other thought out of her head.

“I didn’t like the idea of you living alone, Homura-chan” said Madoka, now rising her head to meet Homura’s eyes. “You weren’t taking proper care of yourself before, and you seemed so busy with house chores that… you always look so tired”

“T-that’s just how I am” tried to reassure Homura. “I’ve been living like that for a long time so-”

“Knowing that doesn’t make it any better, Homura-chan” Madoka leant forwards, trying to give and awkward hug to the girl with the seatbelts still on. “You shouldn’t treat that way of living as if it was… normal”

Madoka let out a relieved sigh “Knowing that you will be at least eating proper meals every day… that you won’t be alone whenever you are at home… it makes me happy”

“Besides…” Madoka pulled away from Homura, the girl looking at her with gentle eyes and a smile that made Homura want to give her the whole universe again “I can also spend more time with you if we live together”

Homura looked at Madoka for a few more seconds before her eyes caught Junko looking at them with a proud smile on her face. “See? I told you she would be happy”

Homura didn’t answer, instead opting for properly sitting on her seat and readjusting the seatbelt that had moved a bit during the hug.

“Now that everyone knows” Junko started “We have to go get your things from your house, Homura. Madoka said you lived nearby?”

Homura flinched. Memories from what she had told Madoka before deciding to walk with her to school every morning coming back. Madoka still thought that Homura lived close by, not on the other side of town. Of course, she would have learnt about it one day or another – she had promised to let her meet Amy, after all – but there was a difference of when she was going to learn about it.

Having just been all worried about her because she lived alone, just to now learn that Homura had been lying about where she lived would surely make her angry. Or worse, disappoint her.

Junko raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the silence coming from the girl. Madoka leaned forwards, trying to get into Homura’s field of view.

“Homura-chan?” Madoka’s gazing eyes strung like a hornet in her heart, Homura tried to hide a deep breath.

“I…” Homura moved her eyes away from Madoka, unable to face her at the moment “I live in the old district, I can put the direction in the GPS”

Homura could see Madoka’s eyebrows frown in confusion as she started understand what that meant. Junko looked at Tomohisa for a second before sighing and passing her phone to Homura; the girl taking it as she tried to not look at Madoka in the face.

She put in the direction to her house and returned the phone to Junko, who took it with an empathetic smile on her face before showing it to Tomohisa, the man nodded and turned on the car engine.

All kind of old looking buildings surrounded them as they drove towards Homura’s house.

The house that was clearly nowhere close to Madoka’s own.

Now, Madoka wasn’t really angry at Homura for lying about where she lived. No, what she was angry about was how early that meant that Homura was waking up just to walk to school with her; it getting even worse the days where they had to be there early for club activities. It was really sweet, sure, and had Madoka not been completely worried about the girl’s health she wouldn’t have minded it that much. But Homura’s life habits weren’t the best, and she putting her own health under even more strain just to fulfill one of Madoka’s requests was what was irking her.  Even more with the truth coming out right after Madoka had said how much she usually worried about the girl’s health.

And of course, the fact that Homura had been avoiding looking at her during the whole car trip wasn’t really helping to calm her down. Maybe if Homura had looked at her with sorry eyes Madoka would have understood that she had done it without thinking much, just one more of those things that Homura does because she doesn’t know best, but with how Homura was clearly avoiding her it just meant that she knew that Madoka would have gotten angry.

And well, if Homura expected an angry Madoka then she would give her one.

“We will be there after the next turn” said Homura, the girl looking through the window… or wait, was she?

Madoka fixed her eyes on Homura’s reflection over on the car’s window, her eyes meeting Homura’s in the reflection before Homura looked away with a tint of embarrassment on her cheeks; confirming Madoka’s suspicions that Homura was using the reflection of the window to look at her.

Cute, but I’m supposed to be angry at you.

Her dad took the last turn and drove down the road for a few more seconds before they reached a fork in the road; another old building in the corner of the street.

“That’s where I live” said Homura.

Madoka’s dad quickly found a parking spot on the almost empty street, less than one or two cars were in it.

After the engine turned off, Madoka took off her seatbelt before helping Tatsuya to take his own off. Homura quickly taking her own seatbelt off before getting out of the car. Madoka followed behind, the old European looking building catching her attention. For some reason, the building just felt right as Homura’s apartment. It was a familiar image.

Her mom made a gesture to Homura, telling her to lead the way, Homura nodded before walking up to her front door and putting the keys in. The creak of the door as it slowly opened welcomed them into the main hall; no decoration on sight other than a small wooden desk with a key tray in which Homura left the keys. There was no other sound in the house other than the noise they were making, it’s open doors seemingly staring back whenever one looked into the dark rooms for too long.

“Homura, can I take a look around?” asked Madoka’s mom as she eyed the building, her analyzing gaze trying to take in as many details as she could.

Homura looked at Junko for a second as she tried to think of an answer.

“I don’t mind”

Her mom then nodded before looking back at Madoka.

“Why don’t you help me, Madoka?” she asked, Madoka being quick to catch what she meant.

“Yes!” she said enthusiastically as she walked behind her mom to one of the first doors; Homura followed them from behind.

The door opened into a big, almost completely empty, room. A table in the center with four old looking chairs and a cat’s bed being the only furniture the place had in it. There was an old picture frame hanging from on of the walls, the small picture of a landscape full of flowers in it. Another door seemed to lead into another room.

“What’s this room?” asked her mom towards Homura as she walked over to the cat bed.

“The living room” said Homura, still not looking at Madoka directly.

And maybe Madoka would have reacted to that a bit more, but with how Homura had just called an almost completely empty room her ‘living room’ she had other things in mind.

“This… this is your living room?” asked Madoka, not wanting to believe it.

“…Y-yes” answered Homura “Is there something wrong with it?”

“Well…” Madoka looked around her, the room was clean, the floor almost empty save for the chairs and table that seemed as old as the building itself.

“It’s empty” finally answered her mom for her before she turned towards Homura with a frown in her expression “What do you usually do here?”

“Not much, Amy is the only one that really uses this room” said Homura as she took a step to the side so Madoka’s dad could walk into the room, one hand guiding Tatsuya and the other carrying a big travelling suitcase they had probably loaded into the car previously. “I mainly eat in the kitchen, so I don’t have a real use for this place”

“But there is just… so much space” wondered Madoka, getting no reaction from Homura.

“I’m guessing Amy is your cat?” asked Junko as she passed a finger over the table to find that it was completely clean.

“Yes” Homura looked at the cat’s bed for a second “Though she is more of a stray than really mine, she will come and go whenever she wants to eat or sleep in a safe place”

“Aren’t you worried that her getting hurt?” asked her mom as she opened the other door, a small kitchen appearing on the other side.

“Not really. She has a guardian angel as to say” said Homura fully convinced of her own words.

Madoka followed her mom into the kitchen, the pace was probably good enough to hold around four people and no more without it getting too cramped inside. Madoka didn’t need her mother’s glance to know that she should check how Homura’s fridge was.

She opened the fridge doors just to be welcomed with a wave of cold and an almost empty fridge. Two prepared lunches were inside together with an unopened lettuce head, a few eggs, and at least two bags of tomatoes.

“Homura-chan” called Madoka, still looking inside the fridge.

“Y-yes?”

“What have you been eating?” Madoka peeked out of the fridge as she made the question, trying to meet the girl’s face so she could read her expression.

“Y-your lunches” she said, still unsure of looking at Madoka but not really lying.

“And?”

The fact that Homura had to even think of an answer for something as simple as that meant that the girl was probably trying to think of a good enough lie; her small flinch as she looked at Madoka in the eyes for a second only confirming that she knew she was being scolded.

“I ate some energy bars… tomatoes... and eggs sometimes” she said, not really sounding like al lie but probably something weird was going on with how she ate them or the amount itself.

Madoka closed the fridge before walking over to Homura, the other girl completely torn between wanting to flee from there and not wanting to leave Madoka.

“Homura-chan” Madoka said, finally making Homura look at her in the eyes even if still with ah tint of fear in her eyes. Her serious gaze quickly transformed into a gentler one “You have to eat more, for me at least, okay?”

Homura looked at Madoka in a small surprise, clearly having expected to get told something very different than that. But Madoka already knew there was no ways he was going to help Homura just by scolding her; she knew that if she had to make sure that Homura did something she had to propose it as a request that would make her happy.

 “Oh, don’t worry” said her mom as she looked at the coffee machine, seeing that it was a cheaper model than what she had at home she decided it wasn’t important enough to move with them. “She will be eating properly from now on”

Madoka looked at Homura with a smile before she remembered that she had to be angry about Homura having lied, so she tried to erase her smile from her face- Oh who was she kidding, she couldn’t possibly be angry at Homura for something the girl had done so they could be together for longer.

As her mother started to leave the kitchen Madoka grazed Homura’s hand to try and catch the girl’s attention. Homura looked her way, a slightly confused look on her face before Madoka finally moved in and completely grabbed the girl’s hand; giving her a smile too to let her know that everything was okay now.

Homura simply looked ahead and tightened her own grip around Madoka’s hand in response.

They walked out of the kitchen and into the main hall, her mother picking the next door out of three. The door opened into a small bedroom, a single bed and a desk being all there was in the room itself. School books laid open on top of the desk, a few of the exercise they had still not been sent to do completely done accompanying them. The only thing that really caught Madoka’s attention was the small familiar box that laid in the center of the desk; the ribbons she had gifted her.

Her dad gave them the big travelling suitcase after they finished entering the room, Madoka only dropping Homura’s hands so she could get to open it as she gave a small direction to Homura so that she could get all her clothes ready; Homura simply nodded before heading towards the wardrobe – the full of clothes wardrobe.

“Well, at least you have clothes” said her mom with a quick glance into the wardrobe.

“These… these are mainly the ones that Madoka chose for me” admitted Homura.

Junko looked at her for a few seconds, the older woman still unable to understand the concept of someone really not having anything to do with their free time to the point that their house was completely devoid of anything that represented them to any extent.

If one’s house was the image of the soul, then Homura had a very barren and dead one.

Not that it mattered, Madoka would water that barren land and take care of it with all her might until flowers bloomed once more.

Madoka helped Homura pack all her clothes into the suitcase as best as they could, and even thought it took quite a lot of strength to properly close it they were able to put everything into it.

“Tomohisa already took all your cat stuff to the car” said her mom as she looked around the still empty room. “Is there something else you want to bring?”

Homura seemed to think for a second before she walked up to the desk and picked two things, the small box that Madoka knew had the red ribbons she had gifted the girl, and the book Madoka had seen her read so much over and over again. The one that Madoka knew had been a present from someone else.

And with that they all started to walk out of the apartment, Homura closing behind her as they got out, and started to make their way to their house. After today all that Madoka wanted to do was finish schoolwork and go to sleep to prepare herself for tomorrow.

Current date: Monday, 26^th of May.

A/N: This was just a transition chapter before we go back to the school, to be honest. This week has been chaotic to say the least, and I wasn’t able to gather my thoughts about this chapter. I won’t be home for two days now so I wanted to make sure to publish this one now so that I could properly work in this Sunday’s chapter without having to worry about the whole moving out deal.

As always, thanks for reading and a bigger thanks for giving out a little more out of your time and commenting.

Chapter Text

The sound of an alarm clock pulled Madoka away from her deep sleep. The girl shifted under the bed covers with still closed eyes, her arms tightening around the plushie she had been hugging all night… The odd feel of the plushie made her open her eyes with a slight confused frown on her still sleepy face. But instead of one of her plush toys, what her gaze found were deep violet eyes looking at her, with Madoka’s arms tightly perched around the other girl’s waist. Realization came over Madoka as she remembered yesterday’s events, a fond smile that was accompanied by a slight blush appearing on her face.

“Good morning, Homura-chan” Madoka moved her face forwards, giving the already awoken girl a small kiss.

“G-good morning, Madoka” replied the other girl, a flush appearing on her cheeks after Madoka pulled away from the kiss.

[-]

“Did you two sleep well?” asked her mother as she brushed her teeth.

Madoka and Homura were side by side, the two of them also in the middle of their morning routine. Madoka hummed for a second as she finished brushing her own teeth.

“Yep! It’s a bit crammed but it’s not like we mind, right Homura-chan?” asked Madoka, giving Homura a warm smile as she asked her question.

“Yes” answered Homura, her face not changing from her usual stoic mask. Her slightly blushed cheeks that had been on the girl’s face since this morning did not escape Madoka’s eyes though.

“Besides, we were the ones that didn’t want the futon; so don’t worry, Mom” said Madoka, a reassuring gleam in her eyes as she picked up her hairbrush and began taming her wild hair.

“Still” said her mom, now starting with her make-up “Homura’s bed will be arriving in a few days, I cannot have you two sleeping in such a small bed all the time”

Madoka really didn’t mind, sleeping together with Homura was nice. The girl didn’t move at all while she slept, her warmth helped her sleep better than ever, and this night had been the first night in weeks since she hadn’t had a weird dream. Besides, after seeing how Homura had cried when she told her they would be together forever she really didn’t want to leave the girl alone at any moment; even if it felt a bit too possessive. At least as long as Homura didn’t complain.

“A futon would have been enough” said Homura, the girl still working on brushing her hair.

“Nope~” said Madoka’s mom before applying her lipstick, turning her head after she finished with it to look at Homura in the eyes; the other girl felt smaller under Junko’s gaze, though Madoka could understand how strong willed her mother could come off as “I’m not letting anyone in my house sleep in a futon for more than three days Homura”

Homura didn’t change her expression, but Madoka could still easily feel that the girl was trying to find a way to refuse her mother’s kindness.

“At least let me pay for it-”

“Homura” Junko looked at her with a more serious look now “I already told you to not worry about the money. You are living with us because we want you to do so, you are not renting our place, you are not a nuisance to us” Her mother’s eyes turned softer, a motherly look on her face as she pierced Homura with her gaze “Treat this as your own home, Homura”

There was a moment of silence as Homura and Junko locked eyes together, the softer look on Madoka’s mom going against the still cold looking eyes of Homura. After a second of hesitation Homura looked away, accepting her defeat in the matter.

Madoka couldn’t hold back a small giggle at the interaction. She knew that Homura was prideful in some things, her independence being one of them. That pride was bound to clash with her mother’s own pride. Though Madoka was pretty sure that as long as it wasn’t something very important for Homura, her mom was bound to win every clash. Homura was stubborn, but Kaname Junko had not gotten where she was by being complacent either.

“Besides!” Her mother started talking again, trying to take away from the more serious mood that had set around the bathroom “do you really think I make so little that a bed would be a problem? Just relax,” her mother turned towards Madoka, giving her a sly look that already foretold her intentions “you can use that money to go on dates with Madoka instead”

“Mom!” pouted Madoka, following along with the light teasing of her mother. Something that had clearly been the right choice when she looked at Homura’s reflection on the mirror just to get glimpse of a slight smile on the girl’s face.

The sound of people talking around them as they made their way to the school was accompanied by the chirping of some birds. Sayaka waited as she looked at her phone, they had been waiting for Madoka and Homura for five minutes already; Madoka hadn’t sent a message saying she would be staying home today so they probably were just late.

“Are they even going to come?” complained Kyouko, the redhead balancing on the small boulders that separated the small water stream from the path.

“Madoka hasn’t said anything” replied Sayaka, letting out a sigh “And I don’t think that Homura would tell us if she were to not come”

Kyouko hummed as she tried to turn around with a jump, the girl quickly balancing herself back on top of the stone she was in.

“Maybe they are too busy with each other to come to school” Kyouko implied with a raised eyebrow.

“Oi” said Sayaka, glaring at the other girl in response “Madoka wouldn’t do that”

Kyouko just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, though this time just in questioning instead of implying something. A look of incredulity in her face.

“Sayaka… You’ve seen how Pinky acts around Homura already” Kyouko said, her words putting doubt on Sayaka’s image of her childhood friend. “You really think she won’t take an opportunity to ‘deepen’ their relationship?”

Sayaka was at a loss of words, the thought of Madoka being that assertive felt so alien to her; and yet, now she could easily imagine her best friend doing such a thing. Something had clearly changed when she started to be around Homura, and the boldness that Sayaka had thought was just the girl getting a bit of a confidence boost was clearly a gargantuan confidence boost. At least as long as the confidence was about making a move on Homura.

Really, Sayaka had been scared of Homura taking advantage of Madoka when all this time she should have been worried about it being Madoka the one to take advantage of Homura. Between the newfound assertiveness of Madoka and how submissive Homura was around the pink haired girl, Homura had quickly become the one in danger.

At least they had been trying to come up with a plan to fix the girl doing everything Madoka told her to do. Not that it would be easy, but Kyouko’s plan of getting the girl to owe her one had been very much successful; they now had one day in which Homura would have to do whatever they wanted to do, and the plan was to use it to get her away from Madoka for at least a day.

“You know what Kyouko” said Sayaka, looking at the girl that had now started to jump from boulder to boulder “You are right, Madoka very much would do that”

“Told you so” said Kyouko with a small smug grin before she almost lost her balance after a jump, the girl reactively jumping back to the path as to not fall into the water.

“Sorry for being late!” an almost breathless shout came from the other side of the path, Madoka and Homura quickly entering their field of vision as the two girls ran towards them.

Madoka stopped once she reached them, the girl stopping to try and recover her breath as Homura gently placed a hand on the girl’s back and told the other girl to breathe. Homura was perfectly fine, showing almost no signs that she had just been running.

“What took you two so long?” demanded Sayaka in a playful tone, hands on her waist as she tried to look imposing.

“I’m… sorry…” tried to speak Madoka, the girl clearly in pain from all the running “We… got… distracted… during… breakfast…”

There was a slight frown on Kyouko’s eyes before she properly turned towards the tired girl.

“Wait, ‘we’?” Kyouko asked, looking at Homura for an answer as Madoka was still trying to recover her breath.

Homura looked at Kyouko for a second that seemed almost too long before answering, the girl’s face not changing in the slightest as she did so.

“Yes” she threw her hair behind her “I’ve been living in Madoka’s house since yesterday”

Sayaka’s eyes went wide at the declaration, her gaze moving to the tired Madoka who wasn’t denying Homura’s words. Her eyes then moved towards Kyouko, who showed the same degree of surprise as herself, as far as Sayaka knew the redhead had expected them to go quite fast but Sayaka was pretty sure she hadn’t expected them to start living together in less of a week of being together.

“Ah right” Sayaka tried to think of something to say “You had a free room; I’m guessing she is staying there?”

Madoka seemed to have gotten enough of her breath back to talk now, the girl straightening her back before answering Sayaka’s question.

“Well, yes…” Madoka trailed off, a small ashamed blush on her cheeks.

“Yes… but?” Kyouko pressed; eyebrow raised at the girl.

 “There isn’t a bed in there yet so…” Madoka fidgeted a bit with her hands “We’ve been sleeping together in my bed”

Once again Sayaka was at a loss of words. Kyouko’s previous statement had become true earlier than she had expected, the quiet, timid, embarrassed Madoka she knew had quickly transformed into some kind of demon just with the presence of Homura.

“Wait, wait, wait” Kyouko pointed an open hand towards Madoka, her other hand pinching her nose bridge as she tried to understand Madoka’s words “Do you mean you two slept together, or that you two slept together?”

There was a second of hesitation before Madoka finally understood what Kyouko was trying to imply, her face quickly reddening before she looked at the other girl with an attempt at looking angry.

“Kyouko-chan!” she shouted, at least as loud as Madoka could do so “We just slept! Nothing more! Right, Homura-chan?”

“Y-yes” Homura flinched when she was addressed, a slight blush that seemed to say the complete opposite on her face.

“There is no way you just slept with how Homura reacted!” Kyouko retorted, the girl bringing a hand to cover her mouth “Oh my god, you two fucked”

“WE. DID. NOT” complained Madoka, her red face more of an indication of how embarrassed she was than of her anger. “Why does everyone assume that?!”

“But look at her!” said Kyouko as she pointed towards Homura, the other girl had an embarrassed blush of her own and was trying to avoid looking at anyone in the eyes; her hands tightening around her schoolbag. “I’ve never seen her show any emotion and now she looks all embarrassed!”

“We just kissed and slept hugging each other! Nothing more!” explained Madoka, her anger quickly turning into desperation to properly explain the situation. When the words got out of her mouth though, Homura seemed to get even more embarrassed, the girl’s blush increasing in hue.

Would Homura really get this embarrassed just from sleeping together with Madoka though? The girl always acted like an ice queen around others, though it was true that she was a bit more expressive around Madoka…

Sayaka’s eyes moved to the side as she heard some snickering behind her, another group of students talking in whispers as they passed them.

“Ehm… We shouldn’t talk about this here” said Sayaka, realizing now that there still were some of the late groups walking around them; most of them giving them looks and quickly looking away when they looked back.

Madoka’s embarrassed face became deeper as they all became silent.

“Sorry” quietly muttered Kyouko, the girl now looking around them as she threw glares at whoever was still looking at them.

“Don’t worry about it” said Madoka, now completely calmed down. And as if the whole thing they had been loudly arguing about wasn’t already bound to start rumors about Madoka and Homura, the girl just… grabbed Homura’s hand. “We should get going, class is going to start soon”

“Right…” said Sayaka, eyes still fixed on Madoka’s and Homura’s hands.

The sound of the cafeteria was as obnoxious as always. Groups of students being noisy just to be noisy, people speaking louder and louder just to try and get their voices heard over the other groups that were doing the exact same thing; it all resulted in an endless feedback loop of noise that Homura disliked with all her heart.

The two culprits of why they had to eat here today walked over to the table with their food trays, Sayaka carrying some curry while Kyouko brought forth a bowl of udon; an accomplished smile on her face.

Homura opened up her own lunch as the other two sat in front of them, Madoka had already started eating just a minute ago but now her eyes were fixed on Kyouko’s lunch.

“Oh? Is that the curry udon?” Madoka asked, a curious gleam in her eyes.

Kyouko puffed up her chest with pride, the girl took her chopsticks and quickly separated them. “Yep! Finally was able to get some!”

“Almost killed a guy for it though” said Sayaka before putting a spoonful of curry on her mouth.

“I traded the guy in front of me his ticket for mine” said Kyouko with a side look directed towards Sayaka “He, and his kind heart, accepted the deal”

Sayaka gulped her food, looking towards the other girl with a judging look in her eyes.

“You pushed him against a wall, and your offer was more of a threat than an actual trade” said Sayaka, pointing to Kyouko with her spoon.

“My option was more expensive than his, so he ended up winning” said Kyouko as she started to grab some of her food with her chopsticks “I’m sure he didn’t mind”

Kyouko finally got some of her curry udon into her mouth, the girl almost melting from joy as she started tasting it. Homura had never seen the girl eat so slowly, well slowly for how Kyouko would usually eat that is.

“Man this is the best” she declared, her gaze meeting Homura who had been looking at her as she ate; curious about what they had been talking more than anything. Kyouko’s eyes turned sharp when she noticed “I’m not giving you anything Homura”

Homura scoffed.

“I don’t want your food” she said, looking back at the lunch that Madoka had prepared for her. “Nothing will ever taste better than Madoka’s food”

Homura ended her statement as she placed one piece of omelet into her mouth, the mild flavor of the egg welcoming her. Though she could taste that Madoka had changed something from the last time she prepared this… had she used more pepper perhaps? The omelet did also feel a bit puffier this time.

She took the small thermos with some green tea that Tomohisa had insisted she should carry to school to drink a bit more. Madoka had probably noticed that Homura didn’t really drink anything throughout the day other than coffee sometimes.

“You are just brainwashed” said Kyouko, the girl pointing towards Homura with her chopsticks to try and drive her point further in “Got those tastebuds of yours filled with her taste-”

Homura choked on her green tea, Kyouko’s statement catching her completely off guard. Madoka placed a hand on the girl’s back, eyes filled with worry in case that the girl was actually choking as her instincts as the nurse’s aid kicked in.

“Which means” Kyouko kept talking, not caring about Homura’s now calming down coughs “That you just don’t have an objective opinion on the matter”

“Well, it makes me happy to hear that Homura thinks that way” said Madoka, covering for Homura as the girl finished recovering from her coughing fit.

“Of course it does” commented Kyouko, giving them a smug look before she went back to her food. There was no need to say the words that she had left unspoken: ‘that’s why she says it’, both of them understood what she was trying to say.

Madoka returned her attention to Homura, the girl now completely recovered was just glaring at Kyouko.

“Are you okay, Homura-chan?” asked Madoka, a slightly worried smile on her face as her hand moved from Homura’s back to her shoulder.

“Yes, thank you” replied Homura, trying to give back a smile of her own to Madoka; though the other girl could easily see that it was a forced one.

Homura glared at Kyouko, the other girl simply eating with a winning smile on her face. Homura let the subject fall, there was no point in arguing with Kyouko about this; the other girl wouldn’t relent anyways. And it wasn’t like Homura needed to convince anyone that Madoka’s cooking was the best, the truth of the matter wouldn’t change anyways.

“Eh~? They are very close, maybe it’s true?” Homura heard a whisper, whoever had said it was on another table.

“Won’t they get in trouble for doing that though?” another whisper asked. By how the rest were looking around Homura was pretty sure that at least Kyouko and Sayaka had heard them too.

“Wait, so Akemi-san is lesbian? That’s such a waste…”

“And with Kaname-san of all people…” another voice said, and by how Madoka had flinched she was also hearing them, the words had taken Madoka’s smile out of her face. It took every ounce of self-control that Homura had to not delete whoever had said that.

The whispers kept coming, almost as if the whole cafeteria had suddenly decided to focus on the same subject.

“Someone told me that they apparently came late to class one day from the infirmary. Apparently, they both came into class with ruffled clothes and tired!”

“Wait, they did that in the school?!”

Most of the cafeteria had now started to speak about them, the rumors jumping from table to table; spreading like a wildfire in a gasoline covered forest.

Homura couldn’t care less about what other people thought about her, but what she was not going to let pass was the fact that they were clearly affecting Madoka. The girl had now started to eat her lunch to try and distract herself, but Homura could see her hesitation every time she heard a new fake or exaggerated rumor about them.

Homura directed her attention towards Madoka, the girl was still slowly eating her food, no smile on her face. The Devil had appeared by her side, looking at the girl with a worried expression, and Homura felt the same; whenever Madoka wasn’t smiling it always hurt. This world was one in which Madoka was supposed to be happy, not one where people’s opinions should hurt her.

“Madoka?” quietly asked Homura, her voice making the girl look her way.

“What is it, Homura-chan?” said Madoka as she forced a smile. The gesture making Homura’s heart ache as if it was still her old ill heart.

“You should ignore them” Homura tried to reassure the girl “their opinions couldn’t matter less”

Madoka gave the girl a small chuckle, though it was still filled with aching pain “I know, thank you Homura-chan”

Madoka looked at her food for a few seconds with a pained expression on her face, the girl’s hand shaking a bit faster than before as she failed to pick up a piece of her omelet.

She could just completely erase those rumors from everyone minds. She only had to take care of not messing up with Madoka, Kyouko, and Sayaka’s memories; every other student that was talking badly of Madoka though? She couldn’t care less if she went too overboard with her memory manipulation and erased more than necessary.

Do it.

The Devil placed a fake hand over the girl’s shoulders in a protective embrace that Madoka couldn’t feel.

They are hurting her. You should just completely erase them to be honest.

And Homura couldn’t agree more, but erasing them wouldn’t make Madoka happy. She just had to stop the rumors from spreading.

Homura started to raise her hands-

A loud noise made her jump in surprise, her eyes moving towards the source of the sound. Kyouko had hit the table with her hands with enough strength to make every other plate on it jump; the noise making the whole cafeteria go silent as they focused their eyes on the redhead.

“Ahhhh…” Kyouko loudly sighed, making sure to project her voice loud enough that everyone could hear her; the girl put a violent undertone to her voice “These upcoming tests are stressing me out man, maybe I should find something to beat up so I can relax?”

“You can count me in Kyouko” said Sayaka, the blue haired girl imitating Kyouko’s tone. “Maybe something that should stop talking about stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with them would be nice to punch in the face”

“What a nice idea Sayaka!” loudly declared Kyouko before she started to look around the room, her eyes piercing everyone that was still looking at them “But where could we find something like that, I wonder…”

People slowly stopped looking at them, everyone in the room quickly catching the message. The conversations on other tables started once again, this time about other topics that didn’t include either of them. Only a few scared glances were thrown over at their table, but no other word was spoken about them.

Kyouko finally relaxed on her chair, the girl letting out an exasperated sigh before she picked up her chopsticks to keep eating her food. The girl clicked her tongue after swallowing the food she had eaten, an angry scowl on her face. “Great, now I’m too angry to properly enjoy it”

“Please, don’t go and actually beat up someone” said Sayaka with a small apologetic smile on her face.

“I won’t, school won’t let me work if I did so” answered Kyouko as she quickly finished the rest of her food, her annoyed look not getting off her face.

“I’m sorry…” muttered Madoka, the girl’s hands shaking a little as her chopsticks hovered over her own food.

“Don’t be” quickly said Kyouko, the girl pushing the food tray aside now that she was done with it “It’s not your fault that people are fucking stupid”

“It’s amazing how quickly rumors can spread huh” wondered Sayaka before going back to her food.

“Fuckers are starving for something interesting in their life, that’s all” said Kyouko, the girl leaning against her chair until it was in its hind legs. “They have to compensate for their bland day to day”

Homura looked at Kyouko, her eyes meeting the redhead’s intense glare before Homura nodded as thanks; Kyouko simply made a dismissive gesture with her hand, the girl pulling out her phone to try and relax a bit.

This wasn’t the best solution, that much was true, but at least she knew that both Kyouko and Sayaka were on their side. Madoka may be hurt, but she was strong, she was the strongest person that Homura knew. This was just part of a normal life, and Homura just had to make sure to compensate every bad thing with as many good things as possible.

She would make sure to make the rest of the day the best day that Madoka could have, and since she had to get a hold of a certain cat anyways… Homura was sure that Madoka would be more than happy to meet Amy again.

And if the rumors ever ended up getting completely out of hand…

The world could do with less people anyways.

Current date: Monday, 26^th of May. 

Chapter Text

People slowly made their way back into the classrooms, most of the halls being completely filled with seas of students that tried to get as much time as they could before the classes started again. Hitomi could hear different conversations as she walked back towards the class, the girl tried to be polite and not hear what they were saying; but it was still a hard task to accomplish when some of them were basically shouting as they spoke.

And it became even harder when she heard a familiar name from one a few of them.

“Did you hear about Kaname-san and Akemi-san?”

“I did! I did! I can’t believe they would do such a thing in the school!”

Those words drove Hitomi to try and listen in, manners be damned, if something had happened to Madoka she had to make sure that it wasn’t anything bad. Even worse knowing that Akemi was somehow involved in it, did they fight?

“Do you think they will get in trouble for it?”

“Trouble? I think they could end up suspended if not expulsed for it!”

Hitomi opened her eyes in surprise, the girl couldn’t believe that Madoka would do a thing bad enough to guarantee her suspension. Had they really had a fight? Did it get violent?

“How do people even know though? Did they see them?”

“Apparently they went back to class with their clothes all ruffled and breathless!”

That was it. They really had gotten into a fight. Hitomi had expected something like this with Sayaka, but Madoka? The girl was so innocent! There was no way she was going to get into a fight with someone, and with Akemi of all people? Something really bad had to have happened for those two to fight. Hitomi might have not been getting together with her friends lately with how busy she was with one thing or the other, but with how hard Madoka had been trying to try and become friends with Akemi only a really serious matter could have led to an actual fight.

And it probably was Akemi the one to start it too, Madoka would never do such a thing. In the end Sayaka really had been right about what her instincts around Akemi.

Well, Shizuki Hitomi wasn’t the kind of person that would let someone hurt a friend like that. And even though she was more than sure that Sayaka and Sakura probably had fought the other girl too she still had to give her a piece of her opinion if she had hurt her friend.

[-]

The door to the class opened with a swift motion as it heralded the presence of Hitomi. The girl looked around the room, quickly seeing Akemi sitting on her desk as Madoka, Sayaka and Sakura gathered around it.

They are still talking about the fight, better go in now and make sure that Akemi apologizes.

Hitomi walked with great confidence towards Akemi’s seat, a few heads turning as she walked past them. As she finished approaching the small group, Akemi raised her eyes when she noticed her presence; the rest quickly following suit in a chain reaction.

“Ah! Hitomi, good to see you!” cheered Sayaka, the cheerful tone almost making Hitomi’s determination waver when it clashed with her expectations of an angry Sayaka.

Hitomi placed herself right in front of Akemi’s desk, the other girl meeting her eyes with her seemingly permanent stoic face. Not a single drop of remorse apparent in her face.

“Akemi-san” said Hitomi, the girl trying to appear as dignified as she had been trained to.

Akemi hesitated for a second before she answered, the girl not moving her gaze away from Hitomi’s eyes as she did.

“Shizuki-san” she said, giving her an acknowledging nod.

“I’ve heard about what has happened between you and Madoka-san” Hitomi crossed her arms, the girl sharpening her gaze as she did so.

“Ah! I’m so sorry Hitomi-chan!” Madoka’s sudden interference made Hitomi look at the girl “I was going to tell you, I just couldn’t-”

“You don’t have to worry about it, Madoka-san” reassured Hitomi, softening her expression for a second before she looked back at Akemi “I’m sure that it was her fault”

Hitomi straightened her back, making sure to appear as imposing as she could when she spoke. The girl trying to follow every tip her teachers had given her for this kind of situation in which she wanted to appear as an authoritative figure.

“Akemi-san, care to explain why you would do such a thing to Madoka?”

Akemi’s face didn’t change much with the question, though Hitomi could clearly see the others making confused faces.

“I don’t think I understand what you are talking about, Shizuki-san” said Akemi, apparently now deciding to even ignore the facts that she had fought with Madoka. Her making as if she didn’t know anything and how her voice seemed the same as always really irked the already angry Hitomi.

“I’m sure you do” said Hitomi “I’ve heard people talking about what you’ve done to her. After all she has done for you, do you have no shame Akemi-san?”

Hitomi saw as Madoka’s face became flustered; the girl probably embarrassed for even getting into a fight. Madoka was sure to berate herself for fighting in school like that, she probably would even find a way to take away all blame from Akemi.

“Hitomi-chan I don’t think-” said Madoka with a meek voice

“No Madoka-san, I won’t stand that Akemi-san did such a thing to you. And in the school no less! Just to get you into more trouble-”

Sakura placed her hand in front of Hitomi’s face, cutting her off before the redhead spoke.

“I’m gonna stop you right there” she sighed “Are you really going off some rumors?”

“Of course I did!” said Hitomi “Even with more reason after I heard that Madoka-san could be in trouble”

“Trouble?” worriedly asked Madoka, or was that confusion? Hitomi couldn’t really tell, there was no way she could be confused about how a fight was going to get her into trouble.

“Hitomi…” Sayaka looked at her with a worried expression on her face “What did you even hear about?”

Hitomi took a step back, taking a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke again.

“I heard that Madoka-san and Akemi-san fought, that it got physical”

There was a moment of silence as the other girls’ eyes went wide in a mix of surprise and disbelief at Hitomi’s words. The silence that had formed between them completely broken by a hearty laugh coming from Sakura.

“What’s so funny about it, Sakura-san?”

“Oh man… I can’t imagine these two fighting like that, my god…” Sakura wiped a tear that had started to form in her eye “Is coming to completely wrong conclusions a requisite for liking violin boy or something?” 

“Yeah Hitomi, you got it completely wrong…” Sayaka frowned for a second, before she suddenly looked as if she had been insulted and quickly turned towards Kyouko “Ey! What did you mean by that!”

“I don’t…” Hitomi simply was confused, the girl looking at the other two that had been the ones that had supposedly fought for some kind of explanation.

“Hitomi-chan,” Madoka looked at her with a calmer expression on her face, one that exuded pity “Homura-chan and I didn’t fight”

“You… didn’t?” Hitomi slowly came to the realization, embarrassment quickly finding its place in her face as she realized what she had just done.

“I would never hurt Madoka” said Akemi as if even the idea that her fighting Madoka was something that only a fool would dare say.

Hitomi turned towards Akemi, all the things she had said to her making her embarrassment grow in strength. They barely knew each other and yet, Hitomi had assumed the worst based only in a rumor she didn’t even properly hear about.

“Oh my god, I’m so, so, so sorry Akemi-san” Hitomi took a step back, putting enough space between the two so that she could do a deep bow towards Akemi “I apologize for the trouble I’ve caused you, Akemi-san”

Hitomi held the bow, the girl waiting for Akemi’s response,

“It’s fine. I don’t really care”

Hitomi raised her head with a relieved sigh.

“But really, can you imagine these two fighting?” wondered Sakura, the redhead looking at them with a smirk.

“Ah… It wouldn’t work… Homura would probably hit herself so that Madoka won or something” Sayaka sighed, Akemi did not deny her words; she simply kept her face as neutral as ever.

“We just wouldn’t fight in the first place” complained Madoka, the girl making a small pout towards the other two.

Hitomi smiled as the tension around them completely faded away, she was glad that she had just mistaken the rumors. It did leave what the rumor was actually about though.

“Now I am curious though” said Hitomi, catching the others attention “If you two weren’t fighting, what were the rumors about?”

A short silence surrounded the group, Sayaka and Sakura exchanged looks between them before looking towards Madoka. Madoka moved her eyes towards Akemi with a questioning look in her eyes, the other girl simply shrugging her shoulders in response to the non-spoken question.

“Well, you see…” Madoka looked back at Hitomi, a slight tint of pink in her cheeks “Homura-chan and I started dating”

“Oh”

Silence fell around them once again, Hitomi simply staring between them as the others waited for her reaction.

“That’s…”

Hitomi tried to gather what everyone was thinking, try to see if they were just messing with her… by the looks of everyone’s faces it didn’t look like they were just joking around

“C-congratulations?” Hitomi said, more a reaction to the new than a thought out response.

Madoka looked at her with a slight tint of worry on her face, the girl took a step forward…

Hitomi took a step back.

“Hitomi-chan…” Guilt overcame Hitomi after she saw Madoka’s face twitch before her expression changed into a hurt one. Hitomi couldn’t ignore the killing glare that Akemi sent her way at the gesture.

The school bell rang.

“I… I have to go to my seat” Hitomi excused herself before she started to turn away, the last thing she heard being Kyouko sighing and Sayaka giving words of encouragement to Madoka.

Hitomi couldn’t pay much attention to class; her mind had gone somewhere else as she tried to think about what Madoka had told her.

The bell rang one last time for the day, giving way to the students to go back home. Homura got up from her seat, her things already neatly placed back on her schoolbag, and started to walk towards Madoka’s seat, the pinkette still in the middle of putting back her things; Homura could easily tell that her pace was abnormally slow, the usual spring to her movement being replaced with a slight hesitation in every movement she made.

Homura knew the reason as to why Madoka was feeling so down. The girl had already been affected by the rumors; a seed of doubt had been planted in Madoka’s heart. And with Shizuki’s reaction to the news, the seed had started to sprout.

Homura had thought while the classes were still going what she should do. The problem being Shizuki Hitomi’s reaction to their relationship not being one she could just fix with her powers, at least not without having to alter the other girl too much; which would lead to the question of whether Shizuki Hitomi would still remain as the same person at that point.

No, Homura knew that Madoka wouldn’t like if she just took care of the other girl by manipulating reality to her will.

Though changing how she thinks about such things would be the easiest choice.

The Devil’s voice resonated throughout her mind, her not choosing to appear in such a crowded room.

And the best for her. Change Shizuki Hitomi, and she is sure to keep being Madoka’s friend.

No, Homura had already decided to fix this in a different manner. She couldn’t just change how someone that was important to Madoka was, that was something she really tried her best not to do.

Or rather, she didn’t want to even check if she could change a person’s own feelings like that. The implications of her powers being able to do such a thing would probably break the good relationships she had started to gather with the rest of the group.

Homura finally reached Madoka’s seat, the other girl still picking up her things.

“Madoka” she called, already noticing a few curious eyes were on them.

Madoka looked up from her table, meeting Homura’s eyes with a slightly forced smile on her face.

“Ah, sorry Homura-chan! I’ll hurry up” said Madoka, picking up her pace as she closed her pencil case and threw it into her school bag. Madoka quickly got up from her seat, the girl almost jumping off of it. “Let’s go, Homura-chan”

[-]

Homura gently tilted the watering can as droplets of water started to pour over the now sprouting seeds that they had planted together. The small plant gladly accepting the water Homura was giving it.

After she was sure to water it as much as Madoka had told her to do, she placed the can aside and observed the plant for a few seconds. Her attention quickly moving to her side as Madoka stood next to her, the other girl carrying a pair of pruning scissors looked with eager eyes to the sprouting flower.

“I can’t believe it started sprouting so soon” Madoka said before squatting down until she was eye level with the flower pot. “You must be really good at taking care of it, Homura-chan!”

“It’s only thanks to your guidance, Madoka” said Homura, a small smile forming in her lips as she looked at a now more energetic Madoka. The other girl had been able to focus completely on the job at hand, the rumors and Shizuki’s reaction going to the back of her mind in the meantime.

Madoka looked up until their eyes met, a smile of her own in her face.

“Thank you, Homura-chan” Madoka slowly stood up, looking back to the small bonsai she had been pruning before. “I still have to finish with the bonsai the club president assigned me, but after that we can go back home”

After getting a small nod from Homura, Madoka’s smile brightened before the girl turned around and started to make her way back to the small tree that still was in the middle of its pruning session.

Homura observed as the girl skillfully worked with the bonsai tree, every cut she made being backed by a deep well of knowledge. Madoka treated gardening as a hobby, but one that she enjoyed both doing and learning about; her bookshelf having quite the number of gardening books being telling enough of the girl’s skills.

Homura could have stared at Madoka working the whole day if she needed to, but she still had to come through with her plan to lift up Madoka’s spirits.

“Madoka, can I ask you a favor?” Homura started to put away everything that they had used.

Madoka stopped pruning before she turned around to look at Homura, a bright smile appearing on her face with the girl’s comment.

“Of course Homura-chan!” she cheered. “I’ll help you with anything!”

Homura smiled at the girl’s cheerfulness, seeing Madoka act like usual being more than enough to soften her battered heart.

“It’s about Amy, my cat” Homura started to say as she placed a small box of gardening tools back on the shelf “We got her things from my house, but I still have to find her”

Homura picked up a broom from one of the closets in the club room, the girl trying to advance some work so they could leave sooner.

“It’s not that I’m worried about her being outside” added Homura “But I should show her where I am living in now, just to let her know where she can find food”

That was completely unnecessary, that much Homura knew. Her dolls were clearly attached to the cat, probably just as much as Homura herself was, and she knew that they would take care of her even without Homura having to tell them.

Homura knew better than anyone that her dolls were still a part of herself, that was part of why she was scared of them after all.

“So you want us to search for her?” asked Madoka

“Yes, I would like to check my house first. If she isn’t there, I know of a few places that she frequents” Homura said, turning her head to look at Madoka directly “It will take some time to walk around the city, so if you don’t want to, I would understand”

She knew she would find Amy in her house though; the dolls had been instructed to keep her there.

“Of course I will help you!” said Madoka “Besides, spending time with you is what I like to do the most. You didn’t even have to ask, Homura-chan”

“Thank you, Madoka” said Homura, getting a smile in return from Madoka before the girl went back to work on the bonsai.

[-]

Homura opened the door to her house, the old smell she had gotten used to throughout the years welcoming her. The smell still made her remember how excited she had been the first time she walked into this apartment, how excited she had been to start a new life in Mitakihara after her surgery. How she had felt like everything would only get better from that point forwards.

How wrong she had been.

“Sorry for the intrusion…” muttered Madoka to herself as she stepped into the house.

Homura took off her loafers, neatly placing them next to each other as she did so. Madoka followed suit, the girl placing hers next to Homura’s.

Homura made her way towards the living room door, slowly opening after she saw Madoka had already made her way towards her.

On top of the table of her living room sat Amy, the cat looking around in confusion as it tried to search where the dolls that had been taking care of her had suddenly gone to. Her confusion was quickly shut down when she noticed Homura, instead opting to meow at her from the table.

“She is so cute!” said Madoka from behind Homura, the girl just making her way into the room.

Homura walked over to Amy, the cat simply lying down as she demanded for Homura to keep doing what the dolls had been doing. Homura simply complied with a small smile on her face as the cat used Homura’s extended hand as a make-shift scratcher.

“C-can I?” asked Madoka, looking over Homura’s shoulder with clear restrain in her eyes.

“Go ahead” said Homura, moving her hand away from Amy as Madoka moved her hand closer to the cat.

Madoka stopped her hand a few centimeters away from the cat waiting for her to take the first step. Amy moved her head closer to Madoka’s hand, the cat curiously sniffing it as she tried to see who Homura had brought over. After a few sniffs Amy simply lied back down and meowed at Madoka.

Madoka moved her hand closer to the cat, gently stroking her back. Madoka’s smile widened as Amy simply let herself be petted, the girl becoming completely engrossed in petting her.

“She is so friendly!” giggled Madoka, Amy quietly purring in the background as Madoka’s hand started to scratch her behind the ear.

“She is pretty used to making people fall for her” Homura reminisced. “Is how she used to get most of her food as a stray”

Seeing that Madoka was completely enthralled with Amy, Homura started to make her way to the kitchen, getting out of one of the cupboards a small bag of cat treats.  

When she came back to the room Amy suddenly got up and moved away from Madoka’s grasp, the cat jumping off the table to walk over to Homura as she had heard the familiar noise that the plastic bag made.

“Don’t get too impatient” reprimanded Homura as she tried to dodge around Amy so she could reach Madoka. A hard task, seeing as Amy was trying as hard as possible to nudge against her leg.

“She really likes you” giggled Madoka, the girl looking at the spectacle that was unfolding in front of her.

“She just likes the treats” said Homura, finally reaching Madoka and handing her the bag. Amy quickly changed targets and was now nudging against Madoka’s legs “See?”

Madoka laughed – god bless that – before she took a treat out of the bag and crouched down to give it to Amy, the cat gladly accepting it in exchange of letting Madoka pet her a bit more.

“Thank you for keeping Homura company all this time, Amy” said Madoka, Amy still too engrossed in her treat to even react to the girl’s touch. “I will take care of her from now on, okay?”

Amy meowed in response, getting a small chuckle from Madoka.

A slight blush appeared on Homura’s face at Madoka’s words, Amy suddenly meowing almost as if she had understood Madoka only helped to drive deeper her embarrassment.

“Well-” Homura forced a cough, the girl trying to recompose herself “I have her cage in my room, we will have to buy food for her on the way to your house though”

“Okay” said Madoka as she slowly rose, turning to Homura with a small frown on her face “But Homura-chan, you are wrong”

Homura tilted her head to side at Madoka’s statement, a look on confusion appearing on her face.

“It also is your home now, Homura-chan” said Madoka with a beaming smile on her face.

Homura stared at Madoka, her words still echoing in her mind. A grateful, happy, and honest smile appearing on Homura’s lips.

“Right, thank you”

[-]

Amy comfortably slept on her bed, the sound of a pen against paper being the only noise that could be heard inside of Madoka’s room. Madoka was working on the schoolwork she hadn’t done yet, while Homura sat on the bed as she revised the content they would be seeing tomorrow.

Homura moved her head away from her book, her eyes going to the digital clock that was on top of Madoka’s desk. An hour until midnight still, Madoka had been working on her schoolwork for two hours already; having said she wanted to try doing it by herself before relying on Homura.

Though with how long it had been… it wouldn’t be rude to ask, right?

“Do you need help with anything, Madoka?” asked Homura, the girl being unable to just sit idly as Madoka struggled by herself.

“Hmmm…” Madoka hummed as she started to think of something to answer with, the girl tapping her head with the back of the pen she was holding. “No, not really. A break would be nice though, and…”

An impish smile appeared on Madoka’s lips before the girl got up from her chair, her pen clattering against her desk. Madoka carefully turned towards Homura, taking steps that felt like those of a hungry beast towards her.

“With everything that has happened today…” whispered Madoka, her words making Homura’s heart start racing as she recognized the dangerous glint in the girl’s eyes. “…I feel like I’ve been neglecting something important”

Madoka swiftly closed the distance between them, pushing Homura against the bed as she left their faces mere centimeters apart.

“I haven’t given you much attention today” Madoka’s breath against her lips completely froze Homura in place, and with Madoka being on top of her she could feel her old meek self coming out. “I don’t want you to feel lonely again, Homura-chan”

Madoka leant forwards, stopping only when their lips were barely grazing each other. The slight touch made Homura crave even more for the contact, yet she knew she should never be the one to take the initiative; she shouldn’t taint Madoka out of her own desires.

“And I know you’ve been trying to cheer me up today…” Madoka whispered, every word making their lips softly touch again and again, the gesture making Homura’s whole body scream at her as she tried to take a hold of herself. “…So I think you deserve a reward”

Homura’s heart raced; the girl completely unable to fight against Madoka. She was trying oh so hard not to close the gap herself, to not simply take Madoka’s lips by herself.

“please…” Homura pleaded, her voice coming out even before she could think what she was saying; her whole focus working on holding back her own desires.

She would only accept what Madoka wanted to give her.

She would not take more from her.

Homura felt as Madoka’s smile widened at her words, yet she didn’t have much time to think about it before Madoka sealed their kiss, her thoughts being completely overridden as her whole mind just focused on Madoka and Madoka only. The kiss being the first one since this morning’s small peck not helping at all to keep her mind in check as she simply gave herself away to Madoka’s love bomb of a kiss.

A few seconds later Madoka pulled away, the gesture making Homura have to hold back a disappointed whimper. Homura was glad that Madoka and her never went this far during the time loops, she was sure to die of loneliness if she ever had had to give away this Madoka.

“You can go to sleep while I finish, okay?” asked Madoka, the girl moving away a strand of hair that had found its place over Homura’s face.

Homura nodded in response, the feeling of their kiss still to young in her mind to be able to even recompose herself. If helping Madoka without using her powers would give her this kind of rewards she was going to try and do it more times without a doubt.

Current date: Tuesday, 27^th of May.

A/N: Sorry for being late.

I have some bad news to give, due to my hands being a mess my doctor told me that I should rest them as much as possible. And since my other responsibilities also requires me to use a keyboard, I cannot rest them while working.

As such, I’ve had to make the decision to slow my pace with my writing. From now on there will only be one chapter per week, I’ll be posting them on Sunday.

Sorry for the inconvenience, I will try to find a way to return to my previous pace without overworking my hands. In the meantime, I can only apologize for not being able to deliver on my promises.

Chapter Text

The sun held high in the sky, its light bathing them all as they calmly ate lunch in the school roof. Sayaka lean backwards, the girl trying to fan some air into her clothes; the girl cursing the Mitakihara Middle School uniform for being so unbearably thick. 

“Why did it decide to be so hot today!” complained Sayaka as she got up from her seat, the stone benches didn’t help to keep her chilled with how much heat they had absorbed throughout the day.

“We are closing in on June after all” calmly said Mami, the senior girl trying to fight off the heat with pure force of will alone; though Sayaka could clearly see she was still sweating.

Sayaka defeatedly sighed before turning her head until her eyes fell on the only two people that didn’t seem to really mind the heat.

“You two…” said Sayaka, catching the attention of a Madoka that was just one step away from throwing herself over Homura, the girl completely stuck to Homura’s side with an arm hugging her from behind. “How the hell are you two not dying”

“Homura-chan is pretty cold” Madoka giggled as she pressed her head against Homura’s shoulder; Sayaka didn’t miss the small blush that Homura had, they were hard to notice most of the time, but she had started to get the hang of reading the other girl.

“Of course that the ice queen is cold” sighed Sayaka before she went to fan herself with her hand once again. “Please make it stop” Sayaka groaned 

Homura looked at Sayaka for a second, a pensative look in her blank eyes before she used her free arm to pull something from her schoolbag. 

“Use this” said Homura as she presented an actual hand fan towards Sayaka.

“Oh~ You care!” cheered Sayaka before walking towards Homura and grabbing the fan.

“Don’t misinterpret me” Homura tried her best to throw her hair behind her without having to get Madoka off of her, somehow managing to do it “I just don’t want to have to deal with your annoying complaints all day”

“Homura-chan” calmly reprimanded Madoka, eyes closed as she rested her head on Homura’s shoulder.

“Sorry”

Sayaka smiled at the exchange. She started to fan herself with the fan, the heat coming from the sunlight still roared on her skin but at least it was bearable this time. 

The sound of a door opening caught their attention, though what caught most of Sayaka’s attention was how Madoka separated herself from Homura when she heard the door. The pink haired girl only going back to her position when she confirmed that it was just Kyouko the one that had come into the rooftop

“Got the goods!” exclaimed the redhead as she walked towards them, plastic bag in hand. “I was able to get the yakisoba pan for you Sayaka, almost bit someone to get it though”

Kyouko threw the plastic container to Sayaka, who after fumbling once was able to grab it.

“Nice, did you get the-”

Before Sayaka could even finish her sentence, Kyouko was already handing her a can of cherry cola. 

“You doubt me?” she said with a smug smirk on her face. Sayaka returned the smile before taking the can and walking back to her seat. 

Kyouko herself walked over to her usual bench in front of them, the girl dropping the bag next to her as she started to open a pack of tuna onigiri; almost devouring it in one bite before she turned towards them.

“What were you all talking about?” she asked with her mouth full.

“That Homura-chan is very cold” said Madoka, her arm wrapped around Homura’s arm and her head resting on the girl’s shoulder once again.

“Like physically or mentally” asked Kyouko with a raised eyebrow.

“Both” answered Sayaka before taking a bite of her lunch, the flavor of the supermarket yakisoba welcoming her with familiarity.

“With how cold you get in summer, you must have pretty rough winters, Akemi-san” said Mami, the older girl looking at them with an entertained smile in her face.

“I don’t mind them” said Homura as she started to put the things for her lunch away. “A few more layers of clothing are usually enough”

“And Pinky can warm you up too, right?” Kyouko teased with a smirk.

“Hmmm… That’s a good idea Kyouko-chan” Madoka raised her head, looking at Homura in the eyes as she did so with a bright smile in her face “If you ever get cold you just have to tell me and I will become your personal heater, okay Homura-chan?”

“R-right” stuttered Homura, the girl having to look away from Madoka’s eyes after a short while of enduring Madoka’s gentle gaze; the gesture making Madoka’s smile grow bigger before she leant forwards and gave Homura a small kiss in the cheek. Homura quickly turning her head towards her again with wide eyes and redder cheeks, as if the girl couldn’t believe Madoka had just done that in front of the others.

Not that the rest really minded, with how those two usually were few things could actually make them look somewhere else; a small kiss like that one wouldn’t be enough to do it. Maybe Mami would be a bit more conservative about it, but things would have to get pretty rowdy for either Sayaka or Kyouko to care about what those two did.

“I personally can’t stand the cold” sighed Kyouko “And both Kazamino and Mitakihara get pretty fucking cold in winter”

“But the cold is pretty easy to fight off” said Mami “a few more clothes or blankets and you can get very cozy while enjoying a cup of hot tea” 

“I mean, yeah, if you have them” said Kyouko “Not everyone does though”

“Oh… Sorry I-”

“Don’t mind it” Kyouko waved off “I don’t really care, got more than I could ask for now at home” 

Sayaka looked at Kyouko with a soft smile, even though she had always been pretty brass even the first days that Kyouko had started to live with Sayaka it still had taken her a great amount of time to feel comfortable in the house. And knowing that Kyouko now considered her place a home, instead of just another house to crash at, was enough to put a smile on Sayaka’s face.

“Oh right!” said Madoka before she pulled away from Homura, though she did keep their arms entwined “Now that summer is coming the gardening club will calm down, so we should be getting more free time after school” Madoka’s expression changed into an ashamed one, an embarrassed weak smile on her face “I also think the club president heard about the rumors too… he has been a bit pushy over Homura-chan and I getting more free time outside of the club”

“Ayumi-san probably had something to do in the matter” added Homura, using the same uncaring and analyzing tone she usually used when talking about anyone outside of their group “She seemed to be suspicious of us even before the rumors started”

“That’s Ayumi-senpai for you…” sighed Madoka. “We are already getting less tasks than usual for this week, so instead of our usual two hours of club activities we might end up only being here for thirty minutes, or sometimes, even finish in the morning and have all the afternoon free”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” said Kyouko, now opening a melon bread “You get more free time and they seem supportive”

Yes, they seemed supportive, unlike a certain someone that had been avoiding them for the whole day.

“Of course it is!” said Madoka “I’m glad to know that I can calmly be with Homura-chan in the club, but… I just hope this is just them telling us not to worry and not a way for them to start to treat us differently”

“Hmmm…” hummed Kyouko, the girl devouring the melon bread in a few bites while she tried to think “Who knows, maybe they are just worried about you two being in school with the rumors around”

“Yes…” said Mami with a disappointed and worried look in her eyes “When I heard people from my class talking about them, I couldn’t help but worry about what you two had to go through… it could be the same for them too”

“That could be it…” said Madoka before letting out a saddened sigh as she remembered the rumors, Homura gently tightening her hold over Madoka’s hand in an attempt to reassure her; Madoka gave the girl a smile as thanks.

“Damn they got over to your class too?” said Kyouko, now opening a can of an energy drink.

“Yes… I heard them this morning” Mami sighed before looking towards Madoka and Homura, and apologetic smile on her face “I’m sorry, I should have said something to stop them but…”

“Ah- Don’t worry Mami-san” said Madoka with a smile “You really don’t need to do anything, I’m sure that people will eventually stop talking about it”

“Maybe we should go to the teachers?” suggested Sayaka before taking a sip from her cherry soda.

There was a moment of silence as everyone considered Sayaka’s words, though Sayaka could very easily see that by Kyouko’s expression that she was already against it.

“That won’t help” calmly stated Homura “It will only make more people learn about it and for the ones spreading it to want to talk even more about it”

“AGH! Is there really nothing we can do?” complained Sayaka, the girl throwing her hands to her head in an exaggerated motion.

“You don’t have to do anything” said Madoka with a forced gentleness in her voice that by everyone’s faces they had all caught onto “They will stop someday! Just… please, don’t get in trouble because of me”

“Madoka…” Sayaka sighed.

“Just by being by my side you are all doing more than enough” said Madoka with a smile on her face, the girl looking at them with gentle eyes that tried to reassure them of her wellbeing.

Silence fell around them for a few seconds, the only sound that was left being some of the shouts that came from the school grounds below them as people started to pour in once more.

“What about you, Akemi-san?” asked Mami with a smile on her face.

Homura looked at Mami with a slightly raised eyebrow “What about me?”

“How are you dealing with all this? Kaname-san seems to be okay with just waiting, but you haven’t said anything about it” properly asked Mami this time, a bit of confusion in her eyes at Homura not understanding the question the first time.

“It is a problem that people are talking about Madoka like that” stated Homura, getting an even more confused gesture from Mami.

“Well, yes. But what about you? How are you feeling?”

“I couldn’t care less about what people say about me, they are just foolish teenagers too bored for their own good” 

“You are also a teenager, emo girl” sighed Kyouko as she got up from her seat, picked up the plastic bag she had brought, and started making her way towards a nearby trashcan.

The school bell rang throughout the building, the sound making everyone get up from their seats and pick up their things before leaving for class. The image of Madoka making sure to stay a step away from Homura only making the fire that burned inside of Sayaka, that pushed her to want to help them as much as she could, burn even brighter.

There was almost complete silence as everyone either tried to solve the problem the math teacher had written on the whiteboard, or simply gave up and waited for it to be solved by someone else.

In Madoka’s case she had been able to finish it. She wasn’t sure of whether she had gotten the right solution or not, but at least she had been able to reach an answer and that was already a win in her book. Of course, her finishing early also meant she now had time to think about things, something she had really been trying to avoid doing the past two days.

Madoka tried to look behind her inconspicuously. Her eyes met Homura who was looking out of the window, her head resting over her hand; her earring flashing brightly with the light of the sun that got into the classroom.

Knowing Homura she had either already finished the problem… or she may have even done it before the teacher even told them to do it. A month ago maybe Madoka would have been surprised to learn that Homura had done this week’s homework in advance, but nowadays it seemed like something she would do. Madoka was actually surprised that she had only done this week’s worth, and not the entirety of June too.

Homura’s earring stopped shinning for a second, the girl turning her head just enough to meet Madoka’s eyes, a small smile appearing on her face as she did so; the gesture putting a smile of her own on Madoka’s face.

The small muffled laugh of another student made Madoka turn her head towards the sound, two other students looking at her being enough for Madoka to start looking forwards again and for her smile to vanish.

Just have to wait a few days…

Madoka’s grip over her pen tightened a bit, just enough for her to cloud her mind with the sensation of the plastic slightly bending under her grip instead of her own thoughts.

If Mama can bear her dumb superiors, I can bear some rumors…

Madoka tried to relax her body, the girl focusing in taking deep breaths just to calm her nerves even if just slightly.

“It seems that most of you have already finished” said the math’s teacher, looking around the class in search of someone to call over to the board “Kaname-san, can you solve it?”

“Ah- yes!” exclaimed Madoka, the girl getting up from her seat before walking over to the whiteboard and picking up the stylus that the teacher handed her.

The problem was a relatively easy one, the only ‘hard’ thing it had in it being that it was purposefully complex in appearance. After a bit of cleaning it quickly became apparent how to apply the correct formula that was needed in order to solve it, and from then on just some simplification to get a prettier answer.

“That’s correct, thank you Kaname-san”

“Thank you” bowed Madoka before handing the stylus back to the teacher.

Madoka turned around and started to make her way towards her seat, she could see that Homura was looking at her but decided that it would be best not to look at her in front of everyone.

“Kaname-san sure has improved~” a whisper said.

“Of course she has, I’m sure that Akemi-san has been tutoring her in all manner of things” A whisper laughed.

“Shh! She is going to hear you!”

Madoka sat back in her seat and clasped her pen again as she tried to pay attention to whatever the teacher was saying. Sadly, her mind wasn’t able to stay on the task at hand as the whispers kept going behind her.

The worst thing hadn’t even been the rumors themselves.

The worst part hadn’t been how the class she had thought were friends with her turned out to quickly stab her in the back the moment a rumor went around.

Not even Hitomi not talking with her since then had been the worst blow she had taken these past two days.

No, the worst thing had come in the form of confirmation of her biggest doubt.

Everyone thought that Homura dating her was a waste… And they were right, Madoka had already been pretty sure before ever confessing to the girl that Homura was simply out of her league. She had just gotten too cocky thanks to Kyouko and her Mom, they had been able to convince her that she was more than enough for Homura. The truth was that Madoka was nothing compared to her.

She had been trying to improve academically ever since they started dating, and it seemed to be working sure. But she was still far away from Homura’s level of dedication, the other girl reaching inhuman levels of effort.

Whenever she thought about how she had been able to get the other girl to fall in love with her she could only think about how she had simply approached a lonely girl. Had Homura fallen in love with Madoka or was it just because she had shown her kindness and the other girl was trying to pay her back?

Homura was really kind. She always tried to do her best to make Madoka be as comfortable as possible, she always did what Madoka asked her, she always looked out for Madoka. She would take on the world if Madoka told her. Those things were something that had helped Madoka consolidate the idea that Homura really loved her, but now…

Was it really love? Or was it just a show of appreciation for the kindness Madoka had shown her?

Would Homura have fallen in love with whoever simply showed her a helping hand in that moment?

Madoka dried the newly forming tears that started to appear in her eyes, the girl taking a deep breath to try and concentrate on class again and forget about everything else. One more hour and she would be alone with Homura. One more hour and she could just forget about everything and simply be happy with Homura for as long as she could.

“See you two tomorrow” Kyouko waved off to Madoka and Homura, the pair standing a bit further away from each other than usual.

“See you tomorrow, Kyouko-chan, Sayaka-chan” smiled Madoka before she turned around and started to make her way towards her club room.

Kyouko draped her schoolbag over her shoulder, looking at the pair slowly walk away with a saddened smile on her face.

“Kyouko, Mami-san is waiting for us” said Sayaka a few steps ahead of her.

“Coming”

Kyouko turned around and reached Sayaka after a few steps, the blue haired girl walking once again once Kyouko was next to her. The two of them walked in silence for a while, Sayaka speaking up once they started to go down the stairs.

“So, are you going to do something about the rumors?” asked Sayaka without even looking at Kyouko.

The redhead sighed in defeat.

“I can’t find a solution that isn’t beating people up” Kyouko admitted.

Sayaka let out a chuckle as they took a turn and started to go down the next flight of stairs, Sayaka’s laugh turning into a sigh.

“I hate seeing them like that” said Sayaka “This whole thing is affecting Madoka more than she wants to admit”

“I’m pretty sure that Homura is one bad day away from punching someone in the face, have you seen how she’s been glaring people down?” said Kyouko, the girl turning taking a few steps further so she could turn around and look at Sayaka as they talked.

“Madoka telling her not to do it is probably the only thing holding her back” said Sayaka with a small smile.

Kyouko kept walking down the stairs as she looked back at Sayaka, almost missing a step a few times but she was able to keep her cool and simply make it look as if she was jumping a step or two.

“This whole thing has messed up with our plans though” said Kyouko with a sigh “How are we going to force Homura to leave Madoka alone for a day now? I would feel like a villain or something”

“The villain role fits you though” said Sayaka with a smirk.

“And a damn good job I would do as one” admitted Kyouko with pride in her voice “But not this time, at least not until things have calmed down and I feel comfortable taking them apart for a day”

They reached the lower floor of the school, both of them finally making their way towards the exit; They could see Mami waiting for them in front of the school gates, her blonde hair clearly distinguishing her from the rest of the crowd.

“Maybe we could do it this Friday? My dad won’t be home by then so we can very much do whatever we want” wondered Sayaka as she waved her hand towards a Mami that had already noticed them.

“Hmm… I don’t want to leave Pinky alone though”

There was a brief moment of silence before Sayaka sighed, catching Kyouko’s attention.

“Madoka is pretty strong, you know?” said Sayaka “She cries easily yeah, but maybe that’s what she needs”

“The fuck are you talking about? Let her be alone so she cries?” asked Kyouko actually astonished at Sayaka’s words.

“No- I mean yes, but-” stuttered Sayaka, trying to find the correct words to express her idea “What I mean is… Madoka always speaks with her mom whenever she wants advice, and she cries when she feels sad. But now that Homura is living with her, maybe she doesn’t want to do those things in front of her so she doesn’t worry you know?”

“B-besides!” Sayaka interrupted herself “Madoka is the only one that seems to actually show direct affection, and knowing how insecure that girl is that’s only making Madoka think that Homura doesn’t want any of it and is only doing what she wants out of kindness or something! We have to drill into Homura that she can ask for things or Madoka is going to go crazy or something!”

Kyouko looked at Sayaka with confused eyes for a few seconds before her gaze fell back to the ground, the girl trying to think about what Sayaka had just said.

Kyouko was sure that just making Homura more independent from Madoka would help their relationship, maybe not in the way Sayaka was thinking but… She had seen how Madoka looked at the girl whenever she said that anything was fine, at the very least making sure that the girl actually asked for things or had her own opinion would take stress out of Madoka and let her focus in dealing with the rumors only.

There was no way they were going to completely change Homura though, that much Kyouko was sure of. As much as they could try to make the girl find things to do that didn’t have anything to do with Madoka, Kyouko couldn’t imagine a Homura that would go against Madoka. And Madoka hurting herself just to not worry someone else was something that the girl would very much do, so maybe taking Homura away from her side for an afternoon would help like Sayaka had said.

“I will think about it” finally said Kyouko “Whatever we do we cannot fuck up; I don’t think that Homura will be taking on another bet like last time”

“It will work out! Somehow!” Sayaka smile dropped into an insecure one “I hope…”

Kyouko smacked her in the back with a reassuring pat, the other girl stumbling forwards a bit at the unexpected force.

“It’ll be okay” reassured Kyouko.

Madoka opened the door back to the clubroom, the girl being careful not to hit the doorframe with the now empty watering can she was carrying. Homura walking into the room right behind her, carrying a small gardening tools box that they had not used in the end.

“Good job, you two” said the club president as Homura closed the door behind her. The guy was in the middle of reading a small booklet about fruit trees.

“Thank you, you too” said Madoka with a small bow.

Madoka started to make her way towards the tool’s closet they had in the club, put in the watering can and waited for Homura to hand her the tool box so she could store it back.

“Is there anything else we can do?” asked Madoka, seeing that they had only been working for forty minutes.

“Hmmm…” The club president hummed behind his booklet, though Madoka was able to see that he was looking over at Ayumi, the girl carefully taking care of a rose that was still pretty young. Ayumi seemed to consider it for a second before she shook her head. “…No, you two can go home if you want”

“We really don’t mind staying a bit-”

“That can’t be Kaname-san” said Ayumi with a sigh “You have to live your youth a bit more, why don’t you two go somewhere today instead of staying here all day?”

“But…”

“Nope~” said Ayumi as she looked up from the rose “Your senpais are telling you to take the day off, be a good girl and do as you are told”

Madoka looked a bit downcast for a second at the rejection, the girl still unsure about how she felt with the special treatment.

“Besides, there isn’t a lot of work right now” Ayumi kept talking, winking towards the girl with a devilish look in her eyes “We will work you two to the bone when we start planting the strawberries in a week or two”

“Right…” finally conceded Madoka, knowing that there was no point in trying to argue against Ayumi once the girl had made her mind.

Madoka and Homura picked up her things and walked over to the door, Homura opened the door and waited by it. Madoka turned around, looking at the clubroom once more.

“Thank you for today, see you tomorrow!” Madoka did a small bow before she turned around and started to walk out of the room, Homura followed her after closing the door behind her.

[-]

The two of them walked next to each other, though Madoka was still keeping her distance from Homura in case someone came by. Madoka hated doing this to Homura, she hated that she couldn’t just get close to her and not care about what people said about them. She hated that her own feeling of unworthiness was probably hurting Homura. Even more with how since they had to take care of the other classrooms plants there had been no time to simply be with her other than during lunch.

She knew that the moment they reached her house that would change of course. The moment they went into her room Madoka was more than ready to show her all the affection she had been holding back during class, she had promised to give her all the love she could everyday and she was going to keep that promise.

But even then… It felt wrong to only show her affection at home.

What was Homura thinking about how Madoka was handling this situation? Was she okay with just waiting? Was she okay with Madoka trying to not show her love in front of others?

Homura hadn’t complained, true. The problem was that Homura never complained, and with how much the girl had asked for her love last night – Homura’s pleading face still ingrained in Madoka’s eyes – she was sure that the girl really liked it when Madoka showed her affection.

The problem with being at home though was that Madoka didn’t hold back much – at least not more than she had to always hold – so things always ended up in a show of more lust than love.

No, what Madoka wanted to get back was the simple pure love they shared all the time before the rumors started. Just being next to each other, being able to talk as they embraced each other… But her room was too private, and doing it in the living room felt too wrong with her parents around.

“Ey, Homura-chan…?” asked Madoka in a meek voice, the girl not looking up from the ground.

“Yes, Madoka?” asked Homura, the usual coolness in her voice only making Madoka’s heart beat faster. It was easier to deal with embarrassed Homura than with cool Homura…

“Do you want to… go somewhere?”

Madoka waited for an answer, her eyes still glued to the ground.

“If you want to, I will go wherever you want to go”

“That’s not…” Madoka sighed she knew that Homura was a lost cause. She looked up from the ground to meet Homura’s gaze, the other girl looking at her with slightly confused eyes as if she didn’t know what she had done to get a sigh from Madoka “Say Homura-chan, do you want to go to the café from the other time?”

Homura stopped to think for a second, the girl’s eyes still fixed on Madoka’s own.

“I would love to, Madoka”

Current date: Tuesday 27^th, May

A/N: Happy new year everyone.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading up to this point; I really am glad that people are enjoying this story enough to read this far. I hope I can keep improving this year so I can offer everyone a better quality fic.

Chapter Text

The door opened with the quiet jingle of a tiny bell, the chilly air from the AC being the first thing that Madoka noticed as she entered into the already familiar café. Madoka walked in behind Homura, the other girl sharing a nod with the barista that had been cleaning a small coffee cup behind the bar; Madoka simply imitated what Homura did and gave a nod of acknowledgment towards the barista as well.

The quiet music that was sounding in the background together with the smell of coffee and wood immediately changed the mood, Madoka now being overly cautious as to not make noise that would exceed the already quiet jazz. Two of the other patrons sent looks their way, the sudden entrance of two schoolgirls clearly catching their attention for a moment. Though after further inspection Madoka realized that it was only at her that they were looking, the one that clearly doesn’t fit in this place yet; They weren’t looks of rejection though, only curiosity.

“Where do you want to sit, Madoka?” Homura asked in a voice that matched the sound level of the room.

“Ah, where we sat the other day is okay” whispered Madoka, speaking way quieter than she had to; the girl not sure as to how loud her voice would come out tried to be extra careful.

Homura gave a nod of confirmation to Madoka’s statement, the girl only stopping on her way to pick up a paper menu for Madoka. As they reached their seat, Homura stepped to the side and waited for Madoka to sit first, next to the window. Madoka gave a quiet thanks as she sat on the old sofa, the cushions being soft due to the prolonged use it had seen. After Madoka was seated, Homura elegantly sat besides her; the girl still putting the same distance between them as they had been keeping on school.

Once the ebony haired beauty had sat next to her, Madoka carefully scooped over to Homura, quickly closing the gap that was between them until her body rested against Homura’s; Madoka looked up to Homura, the girl’s expression changing from a mild surprise to a gentle appreciative smile. Homura’s cold sensation to the touch welcomed her as Madoka laid her head on top of the girl’s shoulder, a feeling of restfulness filling Madoka as she was able to simply be with Homura without having to worry about others for the first time in the day.

Her trance was briefly interrupted when Homura passed her the paper menu, Madoka now remembering that if they were going to spend the afternoon here, they would have to at least order something.

“I’ll pay, get whatever you want” said Homura in her usual deadpan voice, though Madoka could feel a small glint of warmth coming from it; the same warmth that Homura usually used whenever they were alone, a warmth that Madoka had come to treat as a special thing that Homura only did for her.

“Hmmm…” Madoka started to look at the menu without raising her head; she didn’t try to argue with Homura about paying for her own part, Madoka knew that she wasn’t going to deter Homura from paying without making the other girl feel bad anyways. “I would like to try some coffee since you like it so much but…”

Madoka looked throughout the menu, the girl reading how every different type of coffee was made like. She skipped the first page, its contents being simple coffees with just different percentages of milk and coffee. The second page had some names that she recognized, but there were still too many options to choose from, and she wasn’t sure which one would be the best either.

“You might like the mocha” said Homura, pointing with her finger towards one of the last ones. “It’s pretty sweet, and it has a chocolate flavor”

“Hmmm?” Madoka hummed as she read what the ingredients were on the mocha… a shot of expresso, some chocolate, milk and a layer of whipped cream. “Will it even taste like coffee with all that?” Madoka said as she let out a quiet chuckle.

“Depends on how it’s made” stated Homura, Madoka could feel the girl relaxing her body in the old sofa as she spoke, the soft cushions embracing the girl with care “This place does a great job though, if it’s about coffee I trust their ability”

Madoka looked at the menu for a few extra seconds before she left it on top of the table, the girl closing her eyes as she snuggled her forehead against Homura’s shoulder; the sensation of closeness being exactly what she had been missing throughout the day.

“I’ll get the mocha then” Madoka whispered into Homura’s shoulder, a voice that she herself could hardly hear but that somehow Homura was able to understand perfectly.

“Anything else?” asked Homura, the slight tinge of nervousness in her voice being enough to let Madoka know that she was blushing.

“No, I just wanted to be with you” Madoka said, she could feel her energy slowly charging as the smell of lavender filled her lungs “The coffee is just an extra on top of it”

Homura didn’t answer, the girl had probably been embarrassed by Madoka’s words guessed Madoka. If there was something that Madoka had learnt about Homura this past few days, it was that she was very prone to being embarrassed when it came to her being shown affection. And while Madoka kind of had imagined Homura being a bit more assertive, she was more than okay with shy Homura too.

“Madoka…”

“Hm?” muttered Madoka, eyes still closed as she pressed her face against the girl’s arm.

“…I need to get up to order”

“Hmmm…” hummed Madoka, the girl burying her face even deeper into Homura as she spoke; her voice only coming out as a muffled whisper “Just a bit more, please”

There was silence as Madoka simply enjoyed Homura’s presence without having to think about anyone spreading rumors; without having to think about what people would think; without having to think of whether she deserved Homura or not. The only thing she felt was Homura’s calming presence, and that was what she wanted most right now.

After what had been almost a full minute of cuddling against Homura’s arm, Madoka begrudgingly let Homura’s arm free again; the vision of a blushing Homura welcoming her the moment her eyes opened placed a loving smile on Madoka’s face.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?” asked Homura one more time, the girl trying to recompose herself.

Madoka simply shook her head as an answer, the girl not really feeling like talking much at the moment; she would love to hear Homura speak a bit more though, even if she knew that would be almost impossible to happen.

Homura nodded in confirmation before she started scooping away from the sofa. Before Homura could completely leave the sofa, Madoka quickly lurched forwards and grabbed the girl’s arm; pulling her closer for a small kiss that didn’t last more than a couple of seconds; a kiss that Homura simply let happen after a slight surprise.

After pulling away from Homura – and not really caring who had seen them, everyone in the café thankfully knew to mind their own business – Madoka slowly let go of the girl’s arm.

“Don’t take too long” Madoka whispered as Homura once again started to get up.

“I won’t” confidently said Homura, as if she could control how long it would take for the coffee to be made.

Madoka smiled at the girl as Homura walked off towards the counter and ordered their drinks. The barista confirmed her order and went to prepare it, leaving Homura alone in the counter. Madoka rested her head on the table as she stared at Homura. The yellowy orange lights of the café gave a warm feeling to the girl’s usually cold colors, her deep amethyst eyes greatly contrasting against the atmosphere of the establishment.

Homura slightly turned her head to the side as she tried to steal a glance at Madoka, the gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by Madoka putting a smile on Madoka’s face.

A couple of minutes later which Madoka had spent staring at Homura – the other girl trying to steal some glances from time to time too – Homura came back with their drinks: a mocha for Madoka in a small porcelain cup and a doble expresso for Homura.

Madoka raised her head from the table as to let space for the drinks that Homura carried; a sense of drowsiness filled her head when she did so, the soft music, chilly ambience, warm lights, and cozy sofa being enough to almost make the girl fall asleep on the wooden table.

“It’s very hot, be careful” stated Homura when she placed Madoka’s drink in front of her, trails of steam coming out of the beverage even through the generous amount of whipped cream that was on top.

“Okay, thanks”

Madoka properly straightened herself as she waited for Homura to sit in her place, the other girl gently laying her coffee cup before she sat next to Madoka, this time making sure to sit closer to the girl than before.

It still wasn’t close enough for Madoka though, the girl quickly fixed Homura’s mistake by scooping over to her side.

“Madoka…” embarrassedly muttered Homura as Madoka weaved her arms around the other girl’s waist; the posture wasn’t comfortable at all, a side hug being harder to pull off with both arms than it seemed, but Madoka didn’t mind at all the slight back pain she felt. “The coffee-”

“They are too hot to drink anyway” interrupted Madoka, knowing that she might have been acting way clingier than she probably should. She just hoped that Homura didn’t mind “Let’s just… stay like this for a while”

Madoka closed her eyes as her head rested against Homura’s shoulder, Madoka’s back complaining with the weird angle it was being bent at being uncomfortable enough to take away from the hug. Homura seemed to notice, the girl quickly leaning back onto the sofa to try and become a less vertical surface for Madoka to use as a headrest.

After a bit of shifting around Madoka ended up with her head against Homura’s upper chest, the top of her head gently laying against Homura’s neck in way that made Madoka able to feel the girl voice whenever she spoke.

“We could have done this at your house, it would have been more comfortable for you” said Homura, using her only free hand – the other arm having been taken hostage by Madoka as a hugging pillow – to stir her coffee.

“I like it here” whispered Madoka, her lips brushing against Homura’s clothes whenever she spoke “It feels familiar”

“You’ve only been here once” said Homura, her voice trying to be a bit more playful than what it had come out as.

“I know but…”

Whenever she thought about the café there was a nice feeling that accompanied it. As if it was the only light in a sea full of darkness. A place where she could feel at home in a time that never was, a place where she could accompany an important person. A place in which she felt like said person wouldn’t hurt herself.

The feeling was nothing more than a soft whisper at the end of a thread in her mind. Madoka tried to concentrate on said whisper, pulling on the thread that hanged from it as she tried to find a reason as to why she felt like this about the place. The thread offered vast resistance when she pulled, other threads that were just fuzzy memories seemingly tangled with it. As she pulled a quiet buzzing came with it, a slight headache accompanying it as she-

“Don’t worry about it” said Homura, her free hand now patting Madoka’s hair in a gentle and caring motion. The gesture made the mind thread that Madoka had been pulling slip from her hands and fall way deeper into her mind than what it had been before. “Just relax, you deserve a break”

“Right…”

Madoka snuggled closer to Homura until she could hear the girl’s nervous heartbeat. She tried to think back to the drifting memory, but her mind couldn’t focus enough for her to actually be able to do so. After a few tries she gave up, deciding to actually follow Homura’s words and simply relax.

Madoka closed her eyes once more and shifted around a bit more, trying to find a better position to rest her head in. Her head ended up on top of Homura’s chest, her right arm around the girl’s waist. Homura’s right arm ended up taken hostage, Madoka pressing her body against it as her free hand intertwined Homura’s fingers with hers.

After the noise she made while moving around faded away, Madoka tried to relax and focus as much as she could on Homura. The girl’s usually chilly body being even colder thanks to the AC of the locale, her raising and lowering chest almost rocking her to sleep, the quiet thumping of Homura’s heart gently slowing down as time passed and Homura got used to the sensation of Madoka resting on her.

Still, Madoka didn’t want to just sleep. She wanted to spend time with Homura, and be awake during that time too. They hadn’t talked much after all, not like this anyway.

“Homura-chan?” whispered Madoka.

“Yes, Madoka?” answered Homura with a tint of warmth in her voice.

“Do you like living with us?” asked Madoka, thinking that now that the girl had been at least three days with them she might have come to an opinion. And if not, it would still work as a conversation anyways.

Homura took some time to answer, the girl trying to reach a proper answer.

“Yes” she finally said.

“Hmmm…” Madoka hummed, wanting to hear Homura’s voice a bit more she decided to press on the topic at hand. “Do you prefer this or to live alone?”

Once again, there was a pause as Homura tried to come up with an answer. Madoka knew that the girl was usually quicker with her lies than with her truths, so she didn’t worry much about what kind of expression she was doing and decided to simply trust the girl on the matter.

“They both have different benefits” concluded Homura, whom after seeing that Madoka wasn’t saying anything more, correctly assumed that she had to keep talking “Living alone lets me do whatever I want, and I don’t have to worry about having a set time to do things”

“Was not sleeping part of doing what you wanted?” jokingly teased Madoka, the girl stifling a small giggle as she talked.

“In part, yes” confessed Homura, the girl stirring her coffee with her free hand in a constant calculated motion “There was also the matter of being able to go out and in whenever I wanted, I can’t remember the last time I had a curfew”

“They aren’t that strict about it anyways” said Madoka, the girl slowly opening her eyes as they focused on Homura’s slow stirring of her coffee “It’s more of a suggestion”

“I see”

Silence fell around them, the sound of the slow jazz and the quiet stirring of Homura’s coffee becoming the only sounds that Madoka heard. After what seemed like a few minutes, but probably hadn’t be that much, Madoka spoke up again.

“What are the benefits about living with us?” asked Madoka, realizing that the girl hadn’t said everything yet.

“The fact that your father is a great cook, your family kindness, it’s closer to school…” Homura’s voice trailed off, as silence appeared around them for a few seconds, Madoka being able to hear the girl’s heart accelerate even before she finished talking “That you are there” answered Homura, her voice tried to sound as cool as it usually was but failed.

“Aww” affectionally said Madoka, the girl tightening her embrace around Homura’s waist and raising her head from her resting position to look at the girl in the face; Embarrassed amethyst eyes meeting ruby rose eyes, Homura clearly trying hard not to look away out of embarrassment. “I also like having you around all day”

Madoka waited for a few seconds, the girl holding her position as she stared at Homura’s eyes. Homura’s red cheeks, Homura’s slightly trembling lips, her eyes looking at Madoka with anticipation… Homura clearly expected a kiss, but Madoka wanted to see if Homura would take the step forward and be the one to take the initiative at least once.

After another couple of seconds the only thing that happened was that Homura ended up looking away from Madoka’s piercing gaze, a sense of disappointment leaving a sour taste on Madoka’s mouth and making her not want the kiss anymore. Madoka leant back, the girl shifting around until she was properly sitting on her seat instead of being all over Homura. The only thing that was left of their previous contact being their still intertwined hands that laid neatly on top of Madoka’s leg.  

She knew that Homura wasn’t very assertive, the only moment she had ever seen the girl ask for a kiss, or contact at all for that matter, being when they were already in the heat of the moment. And even then, it was just a plea to keep going, a plea that really pushed some buttons inside of Madoka though; buttons that she hadn’t even known she had.

Still… she couldn’t forget the image she had had of Homura, a Homura that would take the initiative and be assertive would be really nice. Madoka didn’t want to take certain steps yet, but, if some of her… dreams… were any indication, then she was sure that an assertive Homura would be more than enough for her to throw away all reason.

Either that or a completely meek Homura that sometimes popped up in her mind, a pure being that she felt like corrupting-

Madoka shook her head at the thoughts that had gotten into her head, the girl’s face getting redder and redder as she tried to swat away the indecent thoughts of a twin braided Homura with red glasses.

God, the glasses are so-

Madoka started coughing as her imagination sent her an image of a tired panting Homura lying in bed, the girl with messy clothing and a pair of red framed glasses that weren’t properly in place.

“Madoka? Are you okay?” worriedly asked Homura, looking at the still coughing Madoka.

Madoka turned to look at Homura, a mistake that she would soon come to regret as her face only reminded her of the panting Homura with glasses.

“I-” Madoka tried to speak, the girl slowly taking control of her coughing fit and her perverted mind “I’m fine! I’m fine”

Homura looked at her worriedly for a few seconds before finally returning to her usual self, Madoka gave her an apologetic smile just to let her completely confirm that she was okay now. Wanting to completely get rid of her thoughts, Madoka decide to entertain her mind with something else; and her coffee was right there.

Madoka went to pick up the cup, still warm to the touch but not hot enough that it would burn her, and went to take a sip. She knew that Homura had told her that she might like it, but she really hadn’t expected such a nice flavor from it. The taste of the coffee lingered for a bit, not being strong enough to be bitter but still making its presence known, the main attraction though was the gentle chocolate taste that it had; its sweetness wasn’t overpowering either, the chocolate and whipped cream working in a nice balance together.

Madoka took another sip, this time a bit longer.

“Do you like it?” asked Homura, the other girl still looking at her as she picked up her own coffee and took a sip from the dark liquid.

Madoka finished taking another sip before answering, a surprised smile appearing on her face from the taste.

“Yep! It’s very nice” Madoka placed the cup down on the table again, knowing that if she kept holding the cup, she would finish it quicker than what she wanted “Way better than the coffee with tons of sugar or condensed milk that I’m used to” she said as she let out a quiet giggle.

“I’m glad; I only knew how it was by ear” admitted Homura, the girl putting down her own cup of coffee on the table “Never tried it myself”

“Eh? Why?” curiously asked Madoka, resisting the urge to take another sip by turning her body a bit towards Homura.

“I’m used to drinking coffee one way” Homura started playing around with the rim of her coffee cup. “Never really crossed my mind to try it, if I wanted something sweet from here then I would just get one of their cakes”

“Eh~” said Madoka, the girl expected that the Homura that seemed to be so much into coffee would have tasted almost all of the menu by now. “Do you not like to try out new things?”

“I…” Homura looked at her coffee for a few seconds, the girl stirred her coffee as she tried to come up with an answer “I hate when a new thing appears; They usually cause more problems”

Madoka giggled “Is trying a different kind of coffee going to cause trouble?”

Homura looked at Madoka for a second with her mouth slightly open, the girl’s expression slowly softening into a small smile as she digested Madoka’s words “No, I guess it wouldn’t”

Madoka returned Homura’s smile tenfold before she carefully picked up her cup of coffee and presented it to the girl. “You can try it”

Homura looked at the cup of coffee and then at Madoka, who made sure to look at her with the most inviting look she could muster; to let her know that Madoka wanted her to try it and it wasn’t just a show of forced kindness on her part.

After a few seconds of being drilled by Madoka’s eyes, Homura finally gave in. The girl leant forwards a bit, making sure to hold a few strands of hair that tried to get on the way, and took a small sip of Madoka’s coffee.

“So?” wondered Madoka after putting down her cup.

Homura made sure to properly taste the small sip of coffee she had taken, her eyes wandering to the side as she thought of a proper opinion; probably taking the matter way more seriously than she had to, that was something cute about her.

“It’s… okay” she finally said.

“Too sweet for you?” asked Madoka, taking a sip of the coffee as well.

“No, that isn’t it” Homura stopped for a second, the girl trying to put her thoughts into words “I think I just prefer the normal taste of coffee; the chocolate isn’t something I would add”

Madoka hummed for a second as an answer, the girl not really sure about what to answer without simply saying that she didn’t think the same; which was obvious with how much she had said she liked it. And she kind of had the gut feeling that if she told Homura that she didn’t agree, the girl would try her best to change her own opinion just to agree with Madoka; and Madoka really didn’t want that to happen.

At times, talking with Homura really felt like travelling through a mine infested field… just that if you step on a mine, it’s someone else who explodes.

Madoka felt like that had been the end of the conversation; probably because of her not really answering back, but it was too late to fix that now. Instead of trying to start a new conversation she decided to simply bask in the atmosphere of the café. The girl slightly leant into Homura’s shoulder, only searching for the physical contact and not actual weight support; she got herself into a comfortable posture that would let her feel Homura’s body and still be able to drink her coffee without problems.

Homura’s arm was still being held hostage though, that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

Time passed, the two of them simply staying in silence as they enjoyed each other company inside of the café. The coffee cups were slowly emptied, a few others costumers came and went while both of them laid there together. The soothing ambience, the comforting presence of Homura, all the stress that Madoka had accumulated at school slowly drifting away…

Madoka closed her eyes as she rested her head on Homura’s shoulder, the other girl stealing a glance at her when she did so; but she didn’t speak a word of complaint. Their breathing synchronized. Madoka’s hands slowly loosened around Homura’s arm. Before Madoka could realize it, her consciousness fading away as she fell asleep.

Homura carefully moved her left arm towards the table, pushing Madoka’s empty coffee cup a bit further away from the edge of the table so that the now sleeping girl wouldn’t hit it in her sleep.

With the sun about to set in less than an hour, the café was at the busiest it usually was. Which wasn’t much anyways, just ten customers including Madoka and Homura; how the place was able to keep going was a mystery that Homura didn’t really care about. As long as the place was open, she would come drink their coffee. And since Madoka also seemed to like the place there were even more reasons to keep coming back.

A slight movement from Madoka caught Homura’s attention, Madoka was shifting around a bit as her back probably wasn’t in the most comfortable position it could have been. At this rate she would probably end up with a bit of back pain for the rest of the day… Though the pain could end up getting worse since there was very little space in Madoka’s bed with Homura sleeping in there, it might end up lasting a few days…

Homura focused for an iota of a second, the girl applying a bit of her magic onto Madoka’s body. It was just to relax her back and neck muscles a bit, some healing for the pain that had started to settle, and a nice reinforcement for her back… She could have woken the girl up instead, sure, but Madoka was tired and deserved all the rest in the world.

It wasn’t because Homura liked to have the girl sleeping on her shoulder, not at all.

Homura moved her eyes away from Madoka, feeling like if she were to look at her for too long the girl would somehow notice and wake up. Her eyes ended up back at the bar, the old man that was behind the bar seemed to have finished serving everyone else and was back to reading a small pocket book. He seemed to notice Homura’s gaze, the barista raising his eyes from the book to look back at the girl and notice that Madoka had fallen asleep on top of her; a fond smile appeared on his face, though it was hard to see behind his white beard.

The old man picked up a clean cup from the tray that was under the bar and held it up towards Homura, a raised eyebrow on his face.

Homura nodded, and the old barista went to work.

If she was going to stay here for long – which seeing how Madoka had fallen sleep pretty deep was probably going to happen – might as well do so with another cup of coffee in her hands.

A couple of minutes later the barista walked out of the bar, carefully carrying the recently brewed cup of coffee – just how Homura always ordered it – and left it on top Homura’s table.

“Thank you” whispered Homura, making sure that her voice wouldn’t wake up Madoka.

“You are welcome” whispered the old man with a raspy voice that Homura had only ever heard say how much she had to pay before; a smile appearing on him before turning around and going back to the bar.

Homura picked up her cup of coffee, closing her eyes and calmly took a small sip of coffee to measure how hot it was.

Drinkable, but could wait a couple of minutes.

“So, are we going to talk about how Madoka almost reached her memories?”

Homura slowly opened her eyes, the sight of the Devil as if the couch in front of them belonged to her welcoming Homura; the red wine eyes of the Devil looking at Madoka with a longing look that Homura knew all too well.

“It has been taken care of” thought Homura, she could feel the Devil clearly trying to reach for more power than Homura was okay with giving her, their usual mental tug of war beginning once again.

“Has it?” The Devil extended her bony wings around the table, covering the soft orange lights and engulfing them in her dark raven feathers. “It has been happening more frequently lately, hasn’t it? Aren’t we taking care of her dreams every night for that same reason?”

Homura didn’t show any reaction to the Devil’s attempts at intimidation, knowing that they were no more than mental tricks. Having given her enough power to manifest in a hallucination wasn’t helping with the tug of war, her usual tricks being harder to resist than before.

But Homura wouldn’t waver, taking them back now would mean she was scared of her, and if her dolls learnt that she was scared of the Devil she would have a really bad time trying to control them.

“Yes, and it’s working, isn’t it?” retorted Homura, taking another sip from her coffee to try and show how little she cared about the intimidation attempt.

“For now” said the Devil, now moving her eyes away from Madoka and laying them on Homura. Having to look at the thing Homura hated most in the eyes really didn’t help to keep her cool, she wished that the Devil would have taken the form of a doll instead of her body. “You’ve heard about what Miki Sayaka and Sakura Kyouko are thinking about, didn’t you?”

“I have” Homura carefully left the coffee cup in the table, still mindful of not waking up Madoka, still concentrating on the tug of war for power that was inside her mind “Kyouko plans to cash in her bet prize this Friday, wants me to spend the day with them”

“And leave a Madoka prone to recovering her memories alone” the Devil’s smile widened at her own words.

“The dolls will look after her”

“Will they be quick enough to realize?” interrupted the Devil, her wings closing in around them until they were in almost complete darkness “By the time you reached Miki Sayaka last time she had already recovered them… Do you really think we could confront a recovered Law of Cycles?”

Homura felt the rope give away a bit with the last tug from the Devil, the sudden rain of begonia flower petals that Homura could feel touching her – thought they still vanished the moment they touched a real surface other than her – an indication of how much the Devil had taken in that split second.

“I will have to” Homura tried to sound confident, the girl concentrating harder than before on the tug of war now “I know I won’t be able to be with Madoka all the time”

“There is something better you could do instead of risking everything we’ve built” started the Devil, a fully blooming begonia flower appearing on her hand that she started to play around with “there is one other doll that can manipulate memories after all”

Homura sharpened her gaze on the Devil as she tried to take back the power she had lost, but the Devil had a firm grasp around it.

“The doll that’s closest to the original” kept adding the Devil “the doll that should have taken over when you died instead of the… thing that did”

The Devil’s wings slowly unfurled around them, the light of the warm lights of the café greatly contrasting with the previous void of color.

“You shouldn’t hold back these many emotions for so long…”

The Devil disappeared in a blink, her face appearing right next to Homura as she whispered her next words.

“Ho. Mu. Ra. Chan~”

Homura tried her hardest to not react. To not swipe at the hallucination. To not give in more of her power because of the provocation.

The Devil disappeared once more, her voice only remaining inside of Homura’s head; the tug of war ending with her departure.

“Think about it, okay~?”

The sounds of the café slowly came back around Homura, the girl finally let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding. The Devil’s words resonated in her head, a seed of worry now planted inside her mind as she looked over at the unaware, sleeping Madoka.

Current date: Tuesday 27^th, May

A/N: If I had a penny for every time a café scene that was supposed to be less than 2k words became its own chapter I would have two pennies. Which isn’t much, but its weird that it happened twice

Chapter Text

The school bell rang when the second period came to an end. People hastily moved around the class as they tried to squeeze as much time as they could while they waited for the teacher to arrive; and it being the math’s teacher they were definitely getting more than just a few minutes. A few conversations that had started before the bell rang now went full volume, other students moved up from their seats to spark new ones.

Sayaka would have usually gotten up and walked towards Madoka’s seat during these times. Now though? She knew she could get some extra time by directly walking towards Homura herself; Madoka would end up over there in a minute anyways.

Kyouko apparently had the same idea, the redhead already up from her seat and walking towards Homura by the time that Sayaka had gotten up. Sayaka subconsciously walked a bit faster just to reach the other girl’s seat at the same time as Kyouko, a bit of a glare being directed their way when they finally were by Homura’s seat.

“Is there anything that you two need?” asked Homura in her usual cold dismissive voice, the girl not looking at them.

“Pfff, many things now that you ask” started Kyouko with a slightly mocking tone “Money, more food, something for my back pain”

Homura looked at the redhead with a side glare and a raised eyebrow, her curiosity getting the better out of her.

“Back pain?” she asked in the same tone an indifferent doctor would.

“Yeah, from carrying your relationship” grinned Kyouko with the smuggest of grins she could muster, the girl joyful that Homura had taken the bait so easily.

Sayaka tried to stifle a laugh, though her efforts were thrown out of the window when Homura rolled her eyes at Kyouko’s words; the rare sight of an annoyed expression on Homura’s face being enough to finally break her and for the laugh to come out. Sayaka’s laugh pushed Kyouko to try and keep teasing Homura for a bit longer, but as the girl opened her mouth to keep teasing Homura, a pink haired head popped up between them.

“What are you three talking about?” asked Madoka, the short girl looking even smaller than usual when she stood between Kyouko and Sayaka.

“Nothing, Nothing.” Dismissed Kyouko with a wave of her hand, the smug smirk that still was plastered all over her face betraying her words.

“Just friendly talk in here, right Homura?” asked Sayaka as she tried to recover from her previous laugh.

Homura looked at her with her usual cold poker face for a second before facing Madoka, her expression slightly softening as she did so.

“Yes, they are just acting like they usually do” said Homura, leaving more than a few words that would make Madoka mad at both them and Homura unsaid.

Madoka looked at Homura for a second with a measuring gaze before turning towards Kyouko and Sayaka, a slightly suspicious look on her eyes observing them with meticulous care.

Though the girl’s expression quickly changed into a more tired one; Madoka decided to dismiss the whole thing, not really finding the energy to push the matter further.

“Madoka? Are you okay?” asked Sayaka, her friend’s dismissal catching her off guard.

“Yeah, everything is fine” said Madoka with what felt like a forced smile on her face.

A small moment of silence flew around them after Madoka’s words, everyone not really sure about whether they should push the matter or not; Everyone except Homura, who simply looked out of the window, the girl not even facing the group. Sayaka would have been angry at the girl for not even looking at Madoka when the girl was clearly feeling down, but then realized how the girl nervously tapped her foot against the floor in a hasty rythm.

“Tsk…” Kyouko clicked her tongue, the girl shifted around her bodyweight as if it would take care of the awkward air around them “Why don’t you guys say something, what you did yesterday or whatever”

Sayaka grimaced at the horrible attempt at conversation, but at least was graceful for someone to finally say something; that was already more than what she would have been able to do.

“Well…” started to speak Sayaka, seeing as how Madoka wasn’t answering yet and how there was no way that Homura would have spoken first “Was busy with homework the whole day-” 

“Homework?” remarked Kyouko, a teasing expression appearing on her face “I remember coming home to you playing Monster Hunter though, or was grinding a new armor set your homework?”

Ah, so we are doing this.

“That’s because I finished it before you came home!” Sayaka turned towards Kyouko aggressively, which in turn made it so Madoka had to take a step back to get away from the conflict that sparked between the two.

“I don’t know… Sounds like an excuse” said Kyouko as she tried to keep fanning the flames, the girl clearly more interested in having a small argument than having to deal with uncomfortable silences.

Sayaka held her eyes locked on the smirking Kyouko, the fiery red haired girl waiting for a response from her. One that would keep the argument going if possible. That’s how they usually did it. Start a small argument that can keep everyone entertained without having to think about other problems they might have. It usually helped to lift the mood after all.

“Well, at least I did some homework!” said Sayaka, theatrically puffing her chest in pride “I don’t remember seeing you pick up a book since exam season!”

Kyouko sighed as she shook her head, the girl’s cocky smile not going away; the girl talked with the smuggest tone she could muster “Unlike you and your small brain, I can just cram it all the day before the test”

Sayaka imitated the girl’s smug smile, giving her a side glare not unlike that of an evil step mom in a children’s book. “Sure, sure. Don’t come crying for help when you can’t understand something then”

“HAH!” Kyouko exaggeratedly burst out “As if I would ask you for help with school” Kyouko pointed towards Homura, the other girl that had remained what seemed like uninterested in the conversation raising an eyebrow “Homu here got me for that kinda stuff, right?”

“I am not your personal tutor” Homura made a small pause as she tried to completely process what Kyouko had said, her expression slightly frowned after a second “And don’t call me that”

Kyouko placed a hand in the girl’s shoulders, a defiant smile on her face as she spoke.

“It’s either Homu or Emo Girl, you choose”

Homura looked at Kyouko for a few seconds before her eyes moved back to the window she had been looking at, the girl’s eyes fixed on the flowerless cherry blossom tree “Do whatever you want” she said in a voice more distant than usual.

Sayaka and Kyouko looked at Madoka with a questioning look only to get an apologetic smile and a small head shake.

“She’s been a bit out of it today” simply explained Madoka, a small worried smile on her face.

“I’m fine” said Homura, still looking out of the window; though Sayaka was more than sure than the girl looked at them through the reflections on the glass.

“So she says” sighed Madoka.

The conversation flame that they had been trying to fan died down until not even embers remained, the group once again drowned in silence for what felt like minutes but probably were just seconds.

Sayaka could see how Kyouko pulled out a small tube full of chocolate candy out of one of her skirt pockets, the girl anxiously eating the whole tube in just one go. Meanwhile, Madoka almost moved closer to Homura a few times, the girl stopped whenever she noticed what she was doing though a wave of sadness and impotence washing the girl’s spirit away. Homura seemed like the only one that was acting like usual, except for how she was constantly twirling a strand of hair between her fingers and the occasional glances towards Madoka that she tried to sneak in; more worried and thoughtful looks than saddened ones.

Sayaka herself… 

She just wanted to find a way to fix this. It really seemed like things wouldn’t go back to normal for as long as the rumors were running wild, and no attempt at trying to forget about it would work when Madoka and Homura had to force themselves to be so distant with each other all the time.

The whole ordeal just made her angry. It made her want to punch someone. She couldn’t find a culprit, so she couldn’t just unload her anger onto whoever had fucked everything up. There was no ‘villain’ and it just made things worse. Because that meant that there was no clear answer to their problems. No clear objective to pursue so they could fix things.

At least she really hoped that trying to make Homura more independent would help to take a load off of their relationship. Anything that could make Madoka have to worry about one less thing would be a win in Sayaka’s book.

Might as well ask her about getting together this Friday now, right?

“By the way Homura” started speaking Sayaka, everyone’s attention now turned towards her except for the girl in question. “Homura?”

“I’m listening” said Homura eyes still unfocused in the distance.

“No you aren’t, look here” insisted Sayaka, the girl had worked herself up a bit as she thought about the rumors; her bravado showing more than she really wanted it to.

Still, it seemed to work. Homura sighed before she turned towards Sayaka, her gaze the fullest of emotion she had ever seen it like.

Pure annoyance, impatience, and probably some hatred was what she saw in the girl’s eyes, but it was better than the nothingness she usually carried. It made her feel more human than usual.

“Want to come hang out with me and Kyouko this Friday? Kyouko got a day off” Sayaka asked in as a disinterested manner as possible. With some luck Homura wouldn’t count this as the use of their free ‘do what we want’ coupon. Who knows, maybe the girl would accept out of her own voliti-

“No.” said Homura before she turned back to the window once again.

Sayaka’s eye twitched at the quick and disrespectful quick reply. The girl having to do a lot to properly control herself and not just jump the gun, there was no point in getting angry with Homura if even Madoka had said that she was out of it.

“C’mon! We’ll have fun!” said Sayaka as she bent forwards over Homura’s desk so she could get a look at the girl’s face “Just the three of us! We can even go wherever you want!”

“The three of us? Madoka isn’t coming?” asked Homura, though her tone clearly showed she already knew the answer and only irked Sayaka a bit more.

“Well, no. That’s not part of the plan” Sayaka looked back at Madoka, the other girl curiously looking at them “Don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with Madoka, but you will be focused on her all the time if she comes”

“If Madoka isn’t coming I have no reason to go” declared Homura, leaving her ultimatum on the table without even looking Sayaka in the eye.

“I don’t mind” said Madoka from behind them.

“I do” refuted Homura.

“It would be nice if you talked a bit more with everyone else, Homura-chan” added Madoka, the girl now being part of the conversation made Homura turn to face them all.

“Yeah! That!” added Sayaka as she stopped leaning on Homura’s table, hand now on her waist.

Homura thought for a few seconds, the girl’s eyes fixed on Madoka “I will take that into consideration from now on” finally answered Homura.

Madoka looked at her with a tired expression before letting out a disappointed sigh.

“It wasn’t an order…” awkwardly chuckled Madoka, a bit of a pained expression at how Homura had treated her request.

“Bah, this is pointless” snapped Kyouko “I will use the ‘do whatever I want’ coupon this Friday for you to come with us, can’t refuse now can you?”

Homura looked at her for a second with a defiant glare before her gaze slowly shifted towards Madoka in a more forced neutral expression than normal. Finally she let go after a second of thinking.

“I guess there is no other choice”

“Nope, you are ours now” joked Kyouko before facing Madoka “Sorry Pinky, we have to steal her for a day for some stuff”

“Treat her well~”

“We will take care of her” added Sayaka, looking over to Kyouko with a teasing smile “I already have experience taking care of strays so don’t worry!”

“Oi” complained Kyouko, her expression changing into an incredulous one at Sayaka’s words.

The poorly lit streets around Sayaka’s apartment were almost completely empty save for a few cars that passed by from time to time. Kyouko walked with carefree steps down the street, the girl whistled one of the classical songs that Sayaka would often hear to; not really knowing which one it was she simply whistled by memory, probably mixing more than one song as she went on.

Kyouko pulled out her phone. The clock, showing a bit less than half an hour left until midnight, welcomed her before she unlocked it. An unread message from over half an hour ago from Sayaka laid in her notification tray, the girl had already read it but didn’t open it out of laziness. It was just a message letting her know that Sayaka’s dad had already left for a work trip once again, a shame that Kyouko couldn’t have said goodbye in person but she had had to work a night shift to get tomorrow Friday free.

Kyouko reached the apartment building, the girl opened her bag and started to search for the keycard before she let out a long sigh. A beep from the card reader letting her know that the doors had been unlocked.

She wanted to help Homura and Madoka, that much she was sure of. They needed it, even more with how the situation had turned out… but…

These past weeks had just been about those two, and it kind of annoyed her a bit. She couldn’t talk with Sayaka without Madoka and Homura eventually coming up, be it to worry about them or to simply talk about how they thought they were doing. Mainly about Homura’s problem of self-worth.

Hell, she was doing it right now. Instead of think about Sayaka and herself she defaulted to the other two instantly.

When she got home yesterday the only thing they talked about was what they were going to do tomorrow to try and get Homura to think about herself. She didn’t even really know what Sayaka had been up to these past few days. They hadn’t done anything together lately, they hadn’t talked, they just… tried to come up with plans together.

Even during the festival it all felt like they were all focusing on Homura and Madoka.

Kyouko pushed the elevator button, the automatic doors opening slowly to let her go in. She pressed the third floor button and watched as the doors closed; a small unnatural breeze of air pulling into the elevator before the doors closed completely.

“Fucking hell…” whispered Kyouko, the sudden drop in temperature making her shiver.

And there wasn’t going to be much time to talk with Sayaka today either. With how late she had come home the girl was probably either sleeping already or getting ready to do so. Kyouko would eat something quick for dinner and then just go to sleep herself. Maybe play a game before if she felt like it.

The doors opened with a ding, the long narrow hall welcoming her with empty white walls that didn’t help to get rid of the feeling that she was being watched. Her eyes wandered to the edges of her vision whenever she thought she saw something move, only to see that it was – thankfully – her imagination and nothing more.

Kyouko finally reached the door to their apartment, nervously she opened the door as a sense of dread started to creep up in her mind.

The door opened.

Kyouko jumped inside and quickly closed the door behind, her imagination sending her images of horrors that were behind it.

“Kyouko?” called Sayaka from the living room, the girl apparently still awake.

“I’m home” Kyouko answered, her heartbeat about to calm down…

And then her brain decided to remind her that the voice could be from someone… something else than Sayaka and that it was a trap…

Kyouko carefully walked towards the living room, heart in hand. She turned the corner…

And Sayaka was lazily laying down on the sofa, phone in her hand as the girl watched some funny videos on it.

Kyouko let out a sigh, cursed her brain for psyching her out, and walked towards the kitchen.

“How was work today?” asked Sayaka, eyes still on her phone.

“Meh, as usual” answered Kyouko, her heartbeat slowly calming down and her alertness going down “Night shifts aren’t that bad during Thursdays. Fridays can become a problem with overtime workers coming for food or energy drinks though”

Kyouko carefully opened the fridge, two plates of curry that she didn’t remember making inside of it. Her brow furrowed.

“Did you make curry?”

“Yeah” answered Sayaka, the noise the sofa made letting Kyouko know that the girl had gotten up.

“Guessing you made too much?” wondered Kyouko as she turned around.

Sayaka walked into the kitchen with long striding steps until she reached the cutlery drawer, the girl hesitated for a few seconds before she opened the drawer and pulled out two forks.

“Well… not really” she said, an embarrassed expression on her face that the girl tried to fight back “I was just waiting for you to come”

“Hah?” was the only thing that Kyouko could say in her confusion “Why?”

Sayaka opened and closed her mouth to answer, no words coming out as a slight blush appeared on her face. The girl tried to hide her embarrassment by picking up two glasses and walked towards the living room.

“L-look I just didn’t want to eat alone!” Sayaka tried to defend herself “And since you were going to come late, I didn’t want to have you cook something at these hours!”

Kyouko looked as the girl left the room, a smile plastered all over her face as she turned to the fridge and took out the plates of curry to heat them up.

Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.

The first few rays of sunshine were able to pierce through the curtains, the still soft caramel light heralding a new day in this world that Homura had built for the person she could only ever care about.

Said person laid in front of her, the girl still peacefully slept with one of her arms draped over Homura’s waist. Her faint gentle breathing being enough to calm Homura’s mind to a point that she had not needed to think of anything throughout most of the night. There had been no dreams, no memories, no nightmares today. Madoka had been able to sleep soundly throughout the whole night as if everything was okay without the meddling of Homura’s magic.

Yet the calm night had not been something that Homura had enjoyed, her mind sometimes wondering towards the words that Devil had said and how true they were. How the possibility of Madoka recovering her memories sooner than she would like was just one silly mistake away from taking everything away.

She knew that keeping an eye on Madoka to make sure she didn’t remember a thing was a nigh impossible task. There would be inevitably moments in which Homura wouldn’t be able to follow the girl. Moments that could end with everything she had built for Madoka in one fell swoop.

The words of the Devil rang true in her ears, the simplest solution just one simple step away from her reach.

To stop holding back.

To let the same desires that had built this world be released upon it, to fully take control of the reins of reality and seam any cracks that would appear from her blatant disregard of the laws of the universe.

To accept what she had become. To embrace the meaning of what being the love fueled devil meant. To stop trying to resist this enemy she had created herself.

Disassociating truly was a scary thing she had gotten better and better at throughout her time in the loops. One that had helped in some cases, thought it mostly helped her make mistakes.

Her newfound powers only made said skill even more troublesome, being able to part her own sense of self into two had been something she wouldn’t have ever expected to be able to do. To simply take a part as important as her passion for Madoka was and throw it into a cage in her mind, just so she could have the strength required to leave her dearest behind and become the concept that she was supposed to be.

Yet she had failed.

Her burning passion, stronger than any flame that had ever burnt, withstood the very powers that bent reality to its will. The crackling embers fanned back to life by the stubborn goddess, an ever soaring flame left in its stead that if left unchecked could easily burn the stars that composed the sky.

Her love burned her soul once again. Every minute she passed with Madoka. Every moment they spent together. Every new memory that they shared. All of it only made it stronger.

Her love that was supposed to define her existence, the love that she had rejected to fulfill her mission, now had become its own entity. Stronger than ever before it resurfaced in the form of the Devil, a phoenix that burned with dark passionate flames that could easily topple everything if it was ever left out of its cage.

A love that she would have to accept if she wanted to protect Madoka until the bitter end. Even if said love would burn everything it touched, even if it would render all into ashes in the end. Homura would reclaim such flame for herself once more if that meant she could protect Madoka for just one more day.

Even if holding such flame in her hands would burn her to the bone, she would take the pain for herself. She wouldn’t drop the flame and let it burn by itself on the safety of the ground, for someone else would end up burning themselves with it.

Homura had a goal. A mission to accomplish. A promise of a normal life to fulfill to the person that meant everything to her.

And she would do anything she needed to in order to accomplish it.

“Mhmnn…” Madoka mumbled still half asleep, the warm sunlight that hit her back slowly bringing her back into the waking world.

Homura slowly moved her hand towards the girl’s face, her fingers carefully parting away a few wild strands of hair that threatened to wake the girl up. Yet her movements were not careful enough, Madoka’s eyes slowly began to open.

“Homura-chan…” she muttered, the sleepy face of the girl somehow warming Homura’s dead heart more than the soaring flame of the Devil ever could.

Madoka muttered unfinished words, her mind still having to catch up to the real world. The nonsense that the girl tried to speak managed to put a smile on Homura’s face.

“Did I wake you up?” whispered Homura.

“No…” quietly denied Madoka, the girl hesitated for a second with wide eyes before she pulled closer to Homura so she could bury her face in the girl’s chest “…you didn’t”

The small hesitation that had been clearly apparent was more than enough to let Homura know what the girl had remembered without need for magic. Homura affectionally placed her arm around Madoka, carefully pulling the girl a bit closer to her as she used a bit of magic to throw the surging memories about the rumors to the back of the girl’s mind. Madoka shouldn’t have to think about such problems while they weren’t at school.

“There are still forty-seven minutes until the alarm goes off” warmly whispered Homura into the girl’s ear, her voice trying to lull the girl back to sleep as she gently caressed Madoka’s hair like how she had done for Homura in the past. “you can go back to sleep”

“Nnnnn…” Madoka purred before burying herself deeper into Homura, her ruffled pink hair tickling Homura’s nose as she did so “… I won’t have you this afternoon you know, so I kinda want to stay like this for a bit longer…”

“I can simply refuse going with them today if you want” whispered Homura.

“That’s not good, Homura-chan” said Madoka as her arm tightened around the girl “You promised them”

“I wouldn’t complain had they not excluded you” complained Homura, as much as she knew why the other pair wanted Madoka not come she still disagreed with it.

She disagreed even with their purpose for the day, an useless endeavor is what it was. There was no reason for her to waste her time on anything that wasn’t Madoka.

“I’m sure they have their reasons…” muttered Madoka.

The girl’s face turned upwards until it met Homura’s. Her stunning rose quartz eyes looked at Homura with gentle love and pure sincerity that only someone such as Madoka could ever accomplish.

“Still, I don’t like it.” complained Homura once more, a soft smile able to find its place in her face as she lost herself in Madoka’s eyes.

“Would me being there make it better?” asked Madoka in a playful tone, her half-asleep state only making her voice sound cuter.

“Yes, greatly” Homura quickly answered without even having to think, the answer to such question having already been decided long ago “Everything is better with you”

Homura’s focus on the girl’s eyes only wavered when she noticed the cheerful loving smile that appeared on Madoka’s lips. Madoka gently closed the gap between them, their lips connecting for a short caring kiss that threw more fuel into the passionate flame that was her love and devotion to the girl.

“You are too cute” whispered Madoka before going back to the nice spot she had found between Homura’s neck and chest, the girl nuzzled around until she was comfortable “You make me want to stay… like this… forever…”

Madoka’s voice started to trail off as the warm promise of dreams called for the now comfy girl.

Homura observed as the girl slowly fell asleep, her eyes moving away from the top of Madoka’s head just to end up fixed in the window that was behind the girl. Her hand still caressed Madoka’s hair in the same loving motion as before, a calming gesture that Madoka seemed to enjoy even when asleep.

“Me too” quietly whispered Homura to herself, her voice far too silent to be heard. Her gaze met her own reflection, blood amethyst eyes looking back at her with determination.

Current date: Friday, 30^th of May.

A/N:

I’m alive you all.

Sorry for the delay, lot of stuff got together with a chapter that was already giving me problems to write and I wasn’t able to write something that I liked. This is the third re-write of the chapter, and finally got something I think is acceptable.

Chapter Text

The sun still hanged high on the sky, a small trickle of students going back home from their clubs served as background noise as Madoka watched the metal bucket fill with water, the rhythmic flow of the water that came out of the tap hypnotizing the girl.

There was a small noticeable pulse to the waterflow every time it lost a bit of pressure, without realizing Madoka breathed at the same rate as the pulse would come out.

The sound of the water coming out of the faucet was enthralling in the girl’s blank mind state, the only thing that tried to pull her off such a state being the few droplets of water that splashed into the hand that she was holding the bucket with.

Water filled the bucket slowly but surely. The violent vortex that formed where the flowing water hit, raising and raising to the top of the bucket…

Water spilled out of the now overflowing bucket, completely drenching Madoka’s sleeves.

“-Ah!” 

Madoka frantically went to turn the faucet off, her other hand getting wet in the process. The girl pulled the bucket away from the faucet, a bit of the overflowing water spilling out with the movement and almost hitting her.

“Now I did it…” whispered Madoka to herself with a defeated look in her eyes.

The girl left the bucket on the ground and inspected the damage done to her uniform. The sleeve had been drenched to a miserable state up to the elbow, the uncomfortable feeling of the wet fabric sticking to her arm placing a disgusted expression on Madoka’s face.

The girl let out a long sigh as she bent down to pick up the bucket again. If she had been wanting to go back home as soon as possible before, she sure was wishing to get there now.

Madoka carefully started to walk towards the school garden with the bucket in her hands. The water sloshed around with every step she took, but at least it wasn’t spilling anymore. It did weight quite a bit, and the thin metal handle wasn’t helping to mitigate it either.

Madoka turned around the corner, the school garden now in full view. And more importantly, Homura working in it.

The girl wore her hair tied up in a ponytail and was currently in her P.E uniform – a thing that Madoka realized she should have done too –. Her usual calm face stained by a faraway look in her eyes as the girl gripped with strength the shovel she was wielding. Homura placed the shovel straight into the ground and pushed down on it with her foot, the blade of the shovel almost completely disappearing into the dirt under the girl’s pressure.

“How are you doing?” asked Madoka as she approached Homura, the girl’s lost gaze slowly focusing back into the real world when their eyes met. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine” answered Homura with perfect calmness in her voice, as if she hadn’t been digging a hole for a few minutes already “Just a bit more and it will be deep enough”

Madoka hummed in a questioning tone as she left the bucket next to the tree that they were going to transplant, the apple tree having grown to big for any of the pots they had around was due a new home since a few days back.

Madoka moved a bit closer to Homura, being sure to not get in the way of the girl’s shoveling as she did so, as much as Homura’s gaze had come back to its more usual look… The girl was still off, she had been so for a few days now and it annoyed- no, it angered Madoka. It wasn’t that she wanted Homura to tell her everything, but the girl was clearly troubled about something.

And it was how Homura wouldn’t even tell her what irked her. Madoka wanted to help her, but she couldn’t do so if she didn’t even know what she had to help with.

“Why did you refuse the help from the club president?” asked Madoka, her eyes fixed on Homura’s working form.

“I don’t need it” quickly answered Homura as she lifted dirt off the ground and threw it into a small wheelbarrow that was close to being full “I can do this by myself, he would have been useless”

“Hmmm…” Madoka’s gaze followed the movement of the shovel, the repetitive motion slowly putting Madoka into a trance.

Point at the ground. Dig in. Dig out.

Madoka wasn’t really sure what was in Homura’s mind. Or rather, she wasn’t sure what could trouble someone like her. And if she didn’t know, how was she supposed to help her?

Point at the ground…

Well, of course there was something that the girl could be worried about. The rumors had only been getting worse, even more now that word that they were living together was spreading around.

Dig in…

But was it that what troubled Homura? The girl had always said she didn’t care about such things… but of course Homura never said anything that could worry Madoka. She never did anything that wouldn’t benefit Madoka.

Dig out…

Maybe she was trying to think of a solution to the rumors? That would very much be a Homura thing to do. Try to solve a problem until she ended up hurting herself in the process.

Point at the ground…

All the while Madoka was here just doing nothing to try and solve it. Just standing around hoping that things will get solved on their own. Depending on everyone but no one depending on her. Not like she could do anything, right?

Dig in…

Like right now, Homura was digging a hole and she was just watching. She was pretty sure that Homura had told her to go gather water so she would feel as if she was doing something. And she was more than sure that Homura would not let her help move the tree either.

If the club president was useless, then…

Dig out…

“I guess I’m useless too huh…”

The shovel stopped mid swing, the dirt that was on top of it spilling to the sides at the sudden stop.

The lack of movement made Madoka realize she had said that out loud. The girl’s eyes nervously raised from the shovel blade to see Homura’s face, the girl’s expression full of emotions that fought to be shown just in the girl’s eyes; surprise, anger, indignation, grief.

“Ah- It- I didn’t want to say that out loud! Don’t worry about it, Homura-chan!” quickly tried to rectify Madoka “It was just a dumb intrusive thought!”

“Madoka-” Homura muttered.

“Really! Please don’t worry about it!” interrupted Madoka “I know you don’t think that way! I was just thinking about stuff and kind of went into a dark direction that’s all!”

Homura’s eyes were still fixed on Madoka with a worried look on her gaze. The girl dropped the shovel and almost took a step towards Madoka, Homura clearly restrained herself.

“It’s fine, really!” tried to reassure Madoka one more time.

“…What made you think that?” asked Homura, her voice barely loud enough to be heard. A hushed hurt undertone in her voice that the girl couldn’t hide.

Madoka fidgeted in place the girl not sure if she should even tell Homura that it had all started because of her not talking about her problems. If she should maybe just lie and say that it had been the rumors and not Homura not relying on her.

How would Homura even react? Would she get angry at her? Would she blame herself?

What would she do if she said it had been the rumors?

“I…” Madoka nervously gulped, a knot forming in her throat as she imagined the worst case scenario and tried to come up with a way to mitigate the consequences.

“You have been troubled lately by something and…” Madoka’s brain tried to work at full capacity, just searching for what she thought were the best words to tell Homura without hurting the girl in question “I just started to wonder why you wouldn’t tell me what it was… If I had done something, or how I could help you, and… it kind of went downhill from there…”

Madoka’s eyes met Homura’s once again, the girl’s eyes open in surprise for a second before they slowly were filled with that warm melancholic gentleness that they sometimes carried.

“Of course it all started because you wanted to help me” Homura sighed, deep in her gentle gaze a crimson flame soared with strength; a clash of emotions dancing around it.

“Homura-chan?” Madoka took a step forward, the look in Homura’s eyes filling her with an inexplicable worry that pushed her to act.

Yet she couldn’t grasp what ‘act’ meant in this case.

“It’s okay, Madoka. You don’t have to worry about that.” Homura closed her eyes “That’s not a problem anymore, I already found a solution”

Homura slowly opened her eyes, the flame now gone from the deep amethyst eyes of the girl that felt strangely off in color.

“I didn’t tell you because you shouldn’t have to worry about such things”

“B-but I want to help you!” jumped Madoka, Homura’s words bringing her concentration back to the conversation as her mind started to forget about what she had seen almost too quickly “I want to be there for you when you are feeling down” 

Homura looked at Madoka with a longing look, her lips slowly curving into an appreciative smile.

“I’ll ask for your help next time”  

Madoka studied Homura’s eyes in search of any trace of a lie, but she was only met with the girl’s gentle gaze; just a bit off. She should have let it drop there and then, to stop worrying about it. But something deep withing her simply insisted that Homura wasn’t okay.

That there was a hidden resolved sadness in her gaze. That the girl had somehow taken the worst possible solution to her problem. That she had set herself in a self-destructive path out of fear and false conviction.

“Homura-chan I-!”

“There you are!”

Madoka turned towards the voice, the sight of Kyouko and Sayaka running towards them not being enough to erase the clearly irritated frown on her face. A frown that got a questioning look from Sayaka as she approached them.

“Sorry, are we interrupting something?”  asked Sayaka.

Madoka opened her mouth to speak, but Homura was faster than her.

“No, it’s fine” said Homura the girl picking up the shovel again “Hadn’t you two gone to your house already?”

“We did yeah” answered Sayaka.

The sound of the shovel cleaving into the dirt way more violently than before made Madoka make a small jump. The annoyed clicking of the tongue that Homura did before going at it gentler the next time was enough to let Madoka know that the girl had not intended to do it so strongly.

“But we also thought that you wouldn’t come if we didn’t pick you up…” added Kyouko, the girl trailed off as she raised a brow towards Homura “Okay, sorry, but what’s with the hole? Are you going to bury a corpse or something?”

“You think she would bury a corpse?” asked Sayaka

“Hmmm… no, no, you are right” nodded Kyouko “She is more the type to melt the body with acid to get rid of all evidence… like, to hide the fact she was going to sell meth or something” 

“Who are you even comparing her to? I don’t think she would do that” added Sayaka with a playful tone that felt alien to the still worried Madoka.

“I mean… she is good at chemistry” finished Kyouko.

Madoka looked at both girls with a confused look, her mind still too focused on Homura to even understand what they were talking about.

“You really think I would get rid of evidence in the middle of the day? It’s just for a tree” finally answered Homura, seeing that the other two had stopped talking.

Sayaka and Kyouko looked at each other with raised eyebrows before looking back at Homura with entertained looks in their eyes.

“We knew it was for a tree Homu” mockingly explained Kyouko.

Sayaka failed not to laugh at the slightly annoyed frown that Homura had in her face which clearly spelt ‘why would you ask then’

“We just wanted to joke around a bit, didn’t expect you to take us seriously” added Sayaka.

Homura indifferently looked at them for a few seconds before she went back to work in the hole, the annoyed frown in her face slowly going away as she focused on digging.

“Girl, you’ve been getting more annoying lately huh” complained Kyouko, her attempt at a taunt not even getting her a glare from Homura.

“She still won’t tell me what’s wrong…” lamented Madoka as she walked closer to the other two.

“I’m fine” said Homura, the girl’s eyes completely focused on the hole.

“Eh, not sure about that. It sure doesn’t look like you are” added Sayaka, only to get ignored too as Homura took one last big swing with the shovel.

After Homura made sure that the hole was deep enough, she left the shovel on the ground and walked towards the potted apple tree.

“Let me help” proposed Kyouko, the girl rolling up her sleeves as she spoke.

“No” cut Homura as she approached the potted tree.

“What do you mean ‘no’? There is no fucking way you are moving that by yourself” Kyouko exaggeratedly gestured towards the tree “That thing is like twice your size”

“I’m with Kyouko on this one” added Sayaka “you will just hurt yourself. I can’t even believe that Madoka would let you do this alone”

“I tried to tell her not to, but…” Madoka trailed off.

“There is no need for that” affirmed Homura as she placed herself in front of the tree and used the bucket that Madoka had brought to soften the soil around the tree. With a small garden shovel she started to dig out the roots while being careful not to break most of them.

“I know you are strong and all that, but really, you are going to hurt yourself” pressured Kyouko, now walking towards the tree too. “Just let us help”

Homura forcefully shoved the garden shovel into the dirt next to her before standing up and embracing the now loose apple tree from the trunk.

“Homura-chan please, let them help” pleaded Madoka, granting her a pensative side glance from Homura “I don’t want to see you get hurt, please”

“Do I have to remind you that you have to do what I say today?” barked Kyouko, an angry look on her face “Let us help you dumbass”

Homura let go of the tree and turned around to face them directly. The girl raised a hand, presenting the tree to the other two.

“Go ahead” said Homura in her dismissive tone.

Sayaka and Kyouko looked at Homura with a mix of disbelief and a tint of anger at the girl’s tone. Kyouko let out a defeated sigh before she tapped a clearly annoyed Sayaka in the shoulder, shaking her head to let her know that it wasn’t even worth it, and started to walk towards the tree.

Each of them got on a different side of the tree before they carefully picked it up and started to move it towards the hole. Slowly they guided the tree into its new home until its roots rested comfortably in the hole. Homura picked up the shovel while the other two held the tree in place and started to fill the hole in silence.

When there was enough dirt around the tree, Sayaka and Kyouko let go of it. Homura kept filling the hole back up and stomped the ground to make sure it wasn’t loose.

Homura left the shovel on top of the wheelbarrow before she turned towards them, a cold look in her eyes.

“I guess we are leaving now”

“Yeah” answered Kyouko. “That’s the plan”

“I’ll go after I put everything back and get changed” said Homura before she started to wheel the wheelbarrow into the storage room.

“I- I’ll help” jumped Madoka, maybe getting her mind busy with something would help not to think about everything.

“There is no-” Homura stopped herself, looking back at Madoka “right, thank you, Madoka”

Madoka weakly smiled at the girl before picking up the bucket and the gardening shovel, and walked behind her. Sayaka and Kyouko simply waited for them to come back.

Madoka and Homura entered the poorly lit storage room, the smell of humidity and dust quickly making it harder to breathe. Madoka dashed towards the shelf where the things she had gathered belonged to, trying to finish before Homura could leave the place.

A task that probed quite easy, seeing as how Homura had to make her way with a wheelbarrow through narrow hallways.

“Homura-chan?” asked Madoka from behind the girl.

“Yes?” asked Homura, eyes still focused on where the wheelbarrow was going.

“Uhmm…”

Madoka stopped to think for a second, should she press the girl a bit more? Should she leave her be for now, hope that she will follow her word and tell her the next time she is in trouble? Should she be worried about the solution Homura had found to her unknown problem?

Homura stopped walking, turning back now to face Madoka with a slight worry in her eyes.

“Madoka?”

“Sorry, it’s nothing. Just wanted to say goodbye away from other people” said Madoka as she tried to put on a smile that felt sincere.

Homura looked at Madoka with languishing eyes, a small tender smile appearing on her lips as she spoke.

“I understand” said Homura in her ever calm tone “I’ll be waiting to see you again tonight”

Madoka truly smiled this time, her eyes filling with melancholic happiness as she spoke.

“Me too”  

Their eyes were kept locked on each other, soft smiles on their lips and a comfortable yet doubtful silence surrounded them. Madoka took a step forward after a moment of hesitation, only to stop dead in her tracks before she even finished moving forward.

“Well, see you tonight Homura-chan” Madoka stopped for a second “Please be safe and don’t do anything dangerous”

“I won’t” smiled Homura “See you, Madoka”

Madoka stood in place, their eyes still looking directly at each other before she gathered enough courage to turn around and start walking outside.

She had to take a peek behind her, not sure if Homura would still be there when she looked.

Homura closed the door behind her, the soft click telling her the lock was on.

She walked towards the locker where her clothes laid, the door easily opening with a beep after she showed it her student ID.

“I want to talk” spoke Homura as she started to undress herself.

“Oh? You do?” sarcastically said the Devil, her form appearing behind Homura with her raven wings encompassing the room and blocking the light that came through the window “Thought you were trying to kill me rather than talking”

Homura threw the Devil an uninterested side glance as she finished pulling off her shirt, the big scar on her chest the only remainder of who she used to be.

“We both know you won’t die” added Homura as she neatly folded her shirt. “I just want to take back what was mine”

“How are you sure you are the real deal though? As far as we are concerned-”

“I don’t care who is” interrupted Homura, her earring glowed with a deep blacker than black light as the Devil’s form was stripped of her wings; her fake body forced to feel gravity falling to the ground in the process. “But I know that if I take you back, I’ll be able to protect Madoka”

“You won’t last a week” smugly said the Devil as she got up, putting on the same strong front that Homura always used “I know what you want to do with our full power…”

The Devil walked towards Homura until their faces were mere centimeters away. The Devil’s hand grabbed Homura’s chin and forcefully raised the girl’s face to meet the Devil face to face, full crimson blood eyes looking straight into Homura’s own blood tainted amethysts.

“…And let me tell you something, ” The Devil’s flame roared with the same passion that had created this universe, Homura’s eyes recovering their violet tone as it did so “you can’t be a god and live as a mortal, Akemi Homura”

Bony wings started to grow back from the Devil’s back as she held Homura’s head in her hand, the light in the room slowly dimming around them.

“That’s just how the universe works” finished the Devil.

Homura slowly closed her eyes, focusing on the war that had been happening since this morning in her mind and trying to push back.

“I don’t care” Homura opened her eyes, red tainting them once again as her purple gem turned black. She didn’t feel when the Devil grip tightened, nor did she care. “I’ll forsake the laws of the universe as many times as I have to for her”

The Devil’s hand started to rot away; the Devil hurriedly pulled away from Homura only bone being left on her hand. Homura looked at the irritated Devil for a second before she turned around once more and started to put on her school uniform.

“I didn’t call you here to ask about your opinion” said Homura as she carefully unraveled her clothes “I want to ask a favor of you”

The Devil focused on trying to put her hand back together, the flesh and skin slowly forming back into their porcelain skin. The black glove that had been melted away crept down from her forearm, coiling around the newly formed hand in a second.

“Why should I even help you?” hissed the Devil as she tried to take back more power from the now unstable flame.

Homura finished putting on the top of her uniform, the girl adjusted the big ribbon as she spoke.

“Because it will be the only opportunity that I’m willing to give you to be near Madoka” Homura stopped for a second as she looked outside the window “You’ll make sure that she doesn’t reach the Law of Cycles while she’s alone”

The Devil stared at Homura until the other girl finished properly adjusting her ribbon, her mind still processing Homura’s words.

“Oh? So you are accepting my deal then?”  said the Devil as she tried to recompose herself “You were being so aggressive before though~”

Homura untied her ponytail, her hair flowing down to her hips in an almost unnatural manner as she turned around and faced the Devil.

“Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not planning on letting you go completely unchecked”

Homura focused all her power on trying to take more of that passionate flame for herself, the forceful manner in which she did so making a single crack appear in her soul gem, if it could even be considered that at this point.

“I know you plan on doing something. I know you will try to backstab me”

The same black liquid that emanated from the grief sphere at the center of Hell slowly filled the room until it reached their knees, the liquid promptly gathered in different spots until various Lotte soldiers appeared in position, their spears pointed at the Devil.

“But unlike with the Law of Cycles, I can easily take care of you”

The Devil locked eyes with Homura and took a step forward, the Lotte reacting to the movement by readying their weapons.

The Devil’s gaze remained focus on Homura before she kept walking forward, the Lotte at guard but never attacking.

“You think I am scared of some simple familiars?” The Devil reached Homura and towered over her thanks to the high heels she carried herself in. “I have the dolls on my side, you know it”

Homura raised her eyes to meet the Devil, her face completely stoic as she talked.

“They’ll follow whoever they think is stronger”

Homura ignored the Devil, turned towards the door and started to walk away. When she reached the door she reached for the handle and held her hand over it.

“If you still think you are stronger, then go ahead and use them”

Homura focused on the Devil, using her power to give her a real body like that of a doll. A sharp pain hit her head the moment she did so, a nauseating sensation from completely separating a part of herself overcoming her as she heard another crack appear on her soul gem.

“I hope you make yourself useful and keep Madoka safe” Homura strained to talk, having to use magic to make her voice not come out broken.

Homura grabbed the handle and opened the door, getting out of the changing room the Devil was now in with a body to use.

Current date: Friday, 30^th of May.

A/N:

Sorry for being late again, been sick for these past two weeks but recovering already!

January has been the worst month for me, glad it’s already over and I can hopefully get back on the right track.

Also, we reached 200k words! Yay!

Chapter Text

The streets of Mitakihara on a Friday afternoon bustled with life as a sea of people walked from one place to another, the city center being a commercial and tourist stop only making it busier. The different conversations that people held around them were only drown by the engine of those cars that had dared fight against the heavy traffic that plagued the city center. The traffic light, still red for pedestrians, amassed an ever increasing amount of people around the crosswalk.

Completely nailed in place by the people that surrounded them, Sayaka could only turn her head as she tried to look at the currently frowning Homura. The girl in question looked back at her almost instantly, her frown still present. Sayaka opened her mouth to speak, only for the crowd around them to start moving.

The crowd pushed her forwards, the traffic light now green, as two rivers of people intermingled with each other; every person somehow being able to dodge everyone else as they crossed the road.

Sayaka looked straight ahead, her gaze fixing on Kyouko’s red hair that worked as a guiding light in the sea of people they found themselves in; The other girl’s confident steps opening a path for them as if she was an ice-crushing boat in icy waters.

Eventually they were able to get out of the main sea of people, now enough space between each group of people as to move around a bit. Their steps, still guided by Kyouko, slowly slowed down. Sayaka stood slightly besides Kyouko, still making sure to not leave Homura completely alone behind them, and looked at Homura; the girl’s tired eyes looking back at her.

“Sorry for making you come to somewhere with this many people” said Sayaka with an apologetic smile on her face “But this is like, the best place to come to when you don’t know what to do”

“I have to do what you two want me to do” stated Homura with unfocused eyes, the girl’s attention not on them, the girl’s gaze focusing far away “How I feel about this really doesn’t matter”

“For the love of God, can you drop the annoying bitch act?” complained Kyouko as she looked over her shoulder “Like, I get you are tired of people but could you like, relax for once? Or at least tell us what the hell is wrong, I don’t know, anything but having to deal with that”

Homura closed her eyes for a second, her gaze focusing on them as she opened them a second later.

“I don’t have anything to tell you. My problems are my own”

Sayaka frowned, the girl’s words more familiar than ever.

“We want to help though” said Sayaka.

Homura huffed, her cracked mask breaking for a second before the girl tried to recompose it.

“Yeah, and since Pinky isn’t here there is nothing to worry about you giving her trouble, right?” added Kyouko “We won’t tell her”

Sayaka nodded as her gaze moved from Kyouko to Homura, the girl seemed to think for an answer before her gaze unfocussed again, her tired eyes the only expression left on Homura’s face.

“I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t have anything to share with either of you two” she stated “I will follow whatever plan you have prepared for today, but I don’t have to tell you anything”

Kyouko sighed, the girl knowing that keeping a controlled temper would be best when treating with Homura. On the other hand, Sayaka barely held her own temper, the thought that the girl was going through some rough patches bringing her back to a calmer state of mind instead of lashing out at her.

Homura had to be affected by everything that was happening to them, it was normal that the girl was feeling a bit off. Of course, that did not give her the right to treat them like she was doing sure, but Sayaka wasn’t that sure she wouldn’t act the same.

“All right…” Sayaka let out a sigh as she calmed herself down, focusing her mind back on the job at hand “So, anything you wanna do, Homura?”

“No, not really”

“Oookay…” Sayaka looked forwards for a second as her mind started to think of something to do, Kyouko looked behind at Homura in her place; somehow both of them felt as if the girl would disappear if they stopped looking at her.

“What do you like to do in your free time?” asked Kyouko “Cause I don’t believe the ‘I don’t do anything’ bullshit you gave us last time”

Sayaka glanced behind her back just in time to see Homura throw an unamused look at Kyouko. The girl slowly blinked in silence, whether Homura was properly giving thought to Kyouko’s words or merely was regretting ever accepting the bet wasn’t something that Sayaka could discern.

“I study. I used to read. And now I do whatever Madoka wants to do.”  Homura tried to flip her hair, the amount of people that were around them making her stop before she could follow through “That’s it”

“Man, you are boring” sighed Kyouko “Way funnier to be around you when you get all annoyed about something dumb”

Kyouko drew her hand towards her hoodie pocket, the girl pulling out a box of pocky with practiced ease. She took one out of the box before she presented it towards Sayaka, another stick of pocky peeking out of the box to be easily held. Sayaka picked it without a word, now used to the girl sharing snacks from time to time.

“Ah! I know!” said Kyouko as she presented a stick of pocky for Homura to pick. Homura slowly moved her hand towards the stick of pocky “Why don’t we go to Kururu mall? There are so many claw machines over there! I’m sure you’ll have fun~”

Homura flinched, even if only slightly, before she finished taking the pocky Kyouko was offering her.

“I would prefer not to” said Homura before placing the pocky stick in her mouth.

“C’mon! You like ‘em!” teased Kyouko, the girl’s energy coming back with the smug grin that had formed in her face.

“I don’t”

 “She was pretty bad at it huh” reminisced Sayaka “I remember your date with Madoka being almost an hour or so of you failing at them”

“Ohhohoho, you know nothing Sayaka~” Kyouko said with the biggest grin Sayaka had ever seen on the girl.

Homura moved away from Kyouko with an annoyed frown and a click of the tongue, the smug energy Kyouko was radiating being even too much for Sayaka.

“You see~ This girl right here played claw machines by herself afterwards~” Kyouko teased.

“That isn’t weird though?” asked Sayaka, a bit of empathy for Homura making itself known in her eyes “Probably tried to get better or something like that”

“No, no, no. It isn’t weird, that’s not it” said Kyouko as she shook a finger for a second before suddenly pointing at Homura “She simply failed to get a single item for hours, and god knows how much money she spent!”

“She had to get something; I know they help you out a lot when they see you spending a lot of money.” Said Sayaka, a brow raised in disbelief.

“Nothing. Even with my help it took her hours. The plushie would just bounce out of the winning area every time it got close. She has like… a special talent for sucking at claw machines or something”

“They are a scam” interrupted Homura, an edge to her voice that betrayed her attempt at a calmed face “A trick. You are only able to win when the machine wants you to do so”

“Nuh uh” Kyouko wielded her smug grin as a spear that stabbed right through Homura’s pride with every word she spoke “You just suck, admit it.”  

Homura’s gaze remained fixed on the smug Kyouko; the girl’s stone cold expression betrayed by a twitching eye.

A moment of silence fell upon them as the two girls held their gaze, both unwilling to relent. Homura, even with her bruised pride, too prideful to give up; Kyouko, confident look of superiority plastered all over her face, too entertained by Homura’s reaction to give way now; and Sayaka, too curious about how the situation would unfurl to try and fix it herself.

“Admit it~” kept teasing Kyouko.

“I am not going to give you the satisfaction of doing so” answered Homura after a brief pause.

“C’mon Homu~ Say it with me~” Kyouko attempted to imitate Homura’s voice “‘I am horrible at claw machines, and not even God could help me get better at it’”

“You are a kid” replied Homura, a proper frown appearing on her face.

“A kid that knows how to win at a claw machine” smugly said Kyouko, as if that statement alone had made her the winner of the whole argument.

Homura held Kyouko’s gaze for a couple of seconds before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Homura held her breath for a second or two before finally slowly letting it go, her eyes opening afterwards, her expression calmer.

“I don’t have a reason to be here if you are just going to slander me.” Homura tried to walk past them, her path abruptly stopped by Kyouko’s stretched arm earning the redhead a frown.

“C’mon, don’t be like that. Sorry if I went too far” Kyouko sighed, putting an arm around Homura’s neck which won her an annoyed side glance from Homura, and a small frown from Sayaka. “We can go somewhere else, just wanted to break the ice a bit”

“There are better ways of doing that” annoyingly stated Homura “and get off me”

“Eh~ But you are so cold to the touch! It’s refreshing in this kind of weather” Kyouko got closer to Homura, cheek to cheek with the girl and a big grin on her face “God you are like a portable AC unit. Now I understand why Madoka is stuck to you all day”

Sayaka’s frown imitated Homura’s own, a small angry pout on her face as the other two’s conversation faded to the background.

When had been the last time Kyouko had done something similar with her? She couldn’t even remember it, and here she was getting all touchy feely with Homura instead! Right in front of her to boot!

Of course it wasn’t like Sayaka wanted Kyouko to be like that with her. It just seemed… unfair. Yeah, there was no other reason other than being fair. Homura already had Madoka for all that stuff! So Kyouko should be with Sayaka then!