Work Text:
It was becoming something of a habit, the seemingly increasing number of times that she found herself at some kind of fast-food joint in the middle of the night, covered in alien blood and her hair looking like she had just gone ten rounds with a woodchipper.
This was definitely not the way that Madoka Kaguya had pictured she would be spending her high school years. She should be at home sleeping and getting ready for her upcoming archery tournament, not striking out after her junior during the dead of night with her bow and quiver slung across her back to go fight creatures out of a low budget B-movie.
Yet here she was, once again, camped out at a late-night ramen cart, barely touching her own food, as she watched her companion work her way through a bowl of ramen in a manner that could only be described as ‘fighting for her life’.
Hikaru Hoshina, her junior.
Best friend?
Girlfriend?
Oh, doesn’t matter. It’s complicated.
Whatever they were, didn’t really matter to her right now. The two had been through enough together, from saving their town to saving the universe, that what exactly described their relationship wasn’t exactly at the forefront of Madoka’s mind right now.
What did matter was getting the blue stains of alien ichor out of her dress. Oh, and figuring out why strange aliens seemed to be aiming to kidnap Hikaru in the first place.
I don’t want to know what being more concerned about a stained outfit, than fighting off aliens that show up about once a week says about my life.
Madoka thought, as she scrubbed at the splatters on her outfit, while occasionally checking that the gurgling sound she heard beside her wasn’t Hikaru somehow drowning in noodles. Maybe letting her send out that signal from the observatory had been a mistake after all. All it had seemed to do was attract every stereotypical abductor-alien instead of the friends that they dearly missed.
Well, whatever the case, at least my aim has definitely improved from all of this.
“Hey…” said Hikaru as she leaned herself onto her shoulder. “Earth to Madoka…”
“You still there? Or am I going to have to get back on that spaceship to bring you back down here?”
“Please don’t joke about that,” Madoka replied with a sigh, “I just barely managed to get you off the last one in time.”
“I’m kidding,” Hikaru responded. The pink-haired girl glanced at a small clock in the corner of the cart, before pulling something from one of her pockets.
“Here, I got this for you.”
“Huh? You got me something?”
“Yeah, did you really forget what today is?”
“Well, I’ve kind of had a lot to think about,” Madoka replied, a list of responsibilities she had yet to fulfill pictured clearly in her mind. “You know, with the whole fighting aliens earlier, all the student council work I still have to finish, the archery tournament in the morning, not to mention—”
Madoka would have continued to list off her shirked responsibilities, if she hadn’t found herself cut off by a quick peck on the lips and a small gift box being shoved into her hands.
“I get it, you’re stressing out again. I can tell by that look in your eyes,” Hikaru whispered from her place on Madoka’s shoulder. “But luckily, at least one of us remembered your birthday.”
Oh.
She thought to herself, taking a quick glance at the time on her phone.
Huh, what do you know?
3:17 a.m., November 23.
It is my birthday today.
“I guess, I didn’t even notice,” Madoka said, leaning further into Hikaru. “I can’t believe I forgot."
"It happens, you have a lot of stuff going on. So…aren’t you going to open it?”
“If you insist,” Madoka replied as she popped open the little box, before letting out a small gasp as she saw what it contained.
Inside was a new hair bow, made of translucent purple cloth with a crescent moon design placed in the middle. It looked just like the ones she’d worn whenever she had been able to transform into a precure. Except it had one key difference.
“So…what do you think?” Hikaru asked her as she took in the sight of the shining star nestled between the crescent moon’s curves.
“I made it myself. It took forever to get the stitches right, but my grandma was able to help me to get it almost perfect. But I thought you’d like it cause it was practical, you know, along with being something that could symbolize…us.”
“It’s very twincool. I think I love it,” Madoka replied, wrapping the younger girl in a hug. “And the girl that made it for me.”
“Do you think you love me enough to pass me your bowl, cause if you aren’t going to finish it…”
This is definitely not how I expected to be spending my high school years…
Madoka thought to herself, imagining how the ribbon would look on her during the tournament later that day and smiling as Hikaru happily slurped her way through her meal.
But honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.