Chapter Text

“I wish I could understand my feeling sooner”

A simple wish, a casual phrase, something said in the comfort of her own home. It took 3 weeks for the realization to settle in for Madoka, first one being that she was into girls, the second being her apparent crush on a girl who only recently transferred in her class

Who also was a magical girl, because they were real, and also surprisingly more violent? (The realization that she found that attractive led to another identity crisis a bit later)

It’s important to note, that this phrase has been said after 2 days of no sleep, induced by the horrors of whatever the hell witch labyrinths were, slow and steady realization of her sexuality and of course distracting binging of her old favorite anime

“Is that so? Would you make a contract then?”

Half delirious, on the verge of being asleep, Madoka agreed

***

Surprisingly, the wish changes a few things, but also not much, Madoka now has an additional set of memories, the one where she realized her orientation a few years back

That Madoka, unfortunately hasn’t dated anyone before (or fortunately? it would be really weird to wake up and have a girlfriend that she got vague memories of suddenly)

Which still left Madoka pinning after the dark haired girl, who Madoka realized she didn’t know whenever she was gay or straight

As tragic as that realization is, the awkwardness of meeting that same girl, who had insisting that she doesn’t become a magical girl after she became one, is immense.

Quickly and desperately explaining herself, Madoka can’t help but sigh in relief when the girl quickly concedes that it wasn’t her fault and offers to help her get acclimated with her new powers

Madoka of course, quickly accepts

***

It takes a week for Homura to decide she’s ready for a witch hunt (Madoka still remembers Sayaka, Only living because of her regeneration, beaten and broken what should be beyond help, yet still fighting)

It takes another for her to go by herself

In the span of those weeks Madoka has realized a few things, such as, her magic has given her empathy, a pretty strong one, it was at a level where she could just barely read out somebody’s surface thoughts

Another one was that apparently, bows were extremely easy to use, at least for her, it felt as natural as breathing, like picking up an old game you used to play a lot, was it the magical girl thing? Homura couldn’t exactly answer because her weapon was a shield, in her words “I mostly use it to pull up a barrier, it’s a small shield so using it in combat is a little…”

The third thing, was that Madoka found guns extremely attractive (oh god, did her type form around the brunette? That would be extremely awkward)

And the final thing, Akemi Homura was extremely dense, Madoka was sure she was laying it on thick, constantly clinging to the girl, hugging her, taking her hand in her, practically gluing herself to her, no reaction, was she used to that? She did sometimes talk about a friend she used to have who she was close with, maybe that girl liked physical contact

Her flirting? Taken literary, pickup lines? Taken as jokes, hints? Not picken up on at all

Sure, Madoka could just outright say it, confess to the girl without playing the whole game, but where’s the romance in that?! Sure confessions are romantic, but you also have to find a good moment, get to know the person properly, figure out if the person was interested too

Despite the cold front, Homura cracks, embarrassed at times, small smiles she doesn’t show to anyone but her, furrowed eyebrows in frustration

***

Madoka is laying on the ground, exhausted to hell and back, the world is once again bright, the storm is gone, she looks at her soul gem and knows she won’t last

She knows what happens when it gets full, she saw it happen, she’d seen someone finish off her best friend because of it

Madoka almost asks Homura to kill her before she turns, but the thought of making her do it breaks her heart, she can’t do it can she?

There is debris around her

She sees Homura look at her, grief in her eyes, there is a flood of emotions, bright, burning, scalding emotion that Madoka can barely identify, it’s care, it’s pain, it’s anger turned inwards, frustration and the biggest of them all, Love muddled with hundreds more, Madoka feels like she’s looking at the sun, yet she can’t look away, can’t tear the connection down, she stares

Homura stares at her in turn, it feels like an eternity, Homura closes her eyes as she turns her shield

A pillar of light surrounds the girl, Madoka fights to keep looking

The light disappears and Homura falls, like a puppet without strings, it takes a few minutes of starring at the corpse for Madoka to realize her soul gem is gone

Madoka doesn’t know how to do something like that, so she opts for something simpler, picking up a nearby debris and swings

***

Madoka was listening to the teacher talk, sharing a glances and giggles with Sayaka

It didn’t work out with her teacher boyfriend, once again, this would be the 12^th time from when Madoka was assigned to her class

“Oh yes, I’d like to introduce a transfer student who will be joining us today!”

A few grunts come out from the late announcement from the class accompanied by curious glances as a girl starts to walk in

“Come in Akemi-san!”

Looking at the girl, there’s a flash of understanding, all Madoka can think of is ‘oh, this explains a lot, like a lot a lot, how didn’t I realize this before? This has sparred her a lot of time it didn’t it? I mean at least I realized it when I’m 14 and not in the middle of failing marriage or something’

Feeling a gaze at her Madoka meets eyes with the new girl and there comes a second oh, blushing she hides her face in her hands as her head speedily approaches her desk

She can feel Sayaka looking at her, probably confused, well, she could explain soon, she had a lot of things in her life to go over for now, maybe also day dream a little? Yeah sure, she can do that

***

Looking at Madoka and her unusual reaction Homura had a few concerns, sure she knew that the timelines varied, but surely Madoka’s parents wouldn’t send her to school sick? Was it something else? Did Homura accidentally do something to embarrass her before the timeline started? (Homura didn’t yet know, that this was going to be the start her new normal for a long time and she should just roll with it)

So, filled with worry Homura sits down at her seat and follows the routine laid down from countless repetitions

Chapter Text

“All right, what was up with you when they introduced the transfer student? Do you know her or something?”

Blushing slightly Madoka shakes her head before quietly replying

“No no, I don’t think I met her before? Well I’ve had a dream today and she appeared there but-“

Sayaka is suddenly much closer to her, grinning at her, poking her teasingly

“Oh~? Does someone want attention that desperately~? First those daring ribbons now this~? What, are you friends in you previous life separated by space and time?”

Madoka wants to pout, but the idea is actually really compelling, she almost starts day dreaming right there in the middle of the conversation before Hitomi walks up to them

“Hm? What are you two talking about?”

And Madoka suddenly want to be buried, deep, deep underground, where her friend teasing words wouldn’t reach her, putting her head on the table she simply wait for Sayaka to explain everything, well excluding the fact that she hasn’t yet said

Hitomi is giggling at her before humming, seemingly in thought

“Maybe you met her before and just don’t remember?”

Madoka wants to groan, sure, this does sound more probable than star crossed friends from previous life (maybe more? Madoka wouldn’t actually mind), but it’s also not as appealing, there is also another fact that she has yet to mention

“I mean I’m sure I would remember someone if looking at them made me realize I’m gay…”

Silence quickly spreads around the table, Sayaka looks surprised before grinning with twice the force she had before, Hitomi meanwhile is in deep thought, thinking hard about something

“Ohh~? That’s really interesting Madoka~”

Sayaka is giggling as she starts to poke at her sides

“Here I thought you were my wife, but you were looking at other girls~? Cheaters deserve some punishment!”

Sayaka is very much on her as she starts to tickle her sides, trying to push her away in between the giggles spilling out of her Madoka hears Hitomi sigh deeply

“Ahh, now I need to come up with another joke when you two get so clingy…”

 A second later, another voice is there

“Excuse me? Kaname Madoka-san you are the health officer of this class right?”

Sayaka is quickly off her, before glancing at the new girl, who does so in return for a moment before her attention is once again on Madoka, heat slowly creeps up to her cheeks

“Could you take me to the nurse office?”

Sayaka grins before almost pushing her in the direction of the brunette, laughing all the while

“Sure she can! C'mon Madoka don’t make the poor girl wait~”

Madoka can only quietly nod, and they’re out of the classroom

***

“… right and that’s what happened on our way to the nurse office”

Madoka, Sayaka and Hitomi are sitting together in a fast food place, Sayaka is looking shocked, blinking a few times before suddenly exclaiming

“HUuh? What’s this whole thing about!?”

Madoka shily looks up and asks in a quiet voice

“Do you think she might have been flirting? It’s a bit weird but…”

“No! Madoka, bad! Sure she awakened you or something, but think about it properly! You can’t just let the weirdness slide! I thought she was one of those smart, athletic well-read girls, but she’s like what, a chuni!?”

The blue haired girls lets out a frustrated sound before continuing her rant

“What kind of impression do you want to have on people!? Is that moe!? Is that what moe is!?”

Hitomi is giggling before pushing her shoulder at the defeated girl

“Sayaka, did you also take a liking to Akemi-san?”

Madoka suddenly straightens out, listening very closely as Sayaka turns her head to the side, still laying on the table

“Well, if I did, not anymore, she’s a weirdo!”

Madoka want to defend the girl, really she does, but at the same time she can’t help but admit that Sayaka is somewhat right, that whole conversation was weird

Unconsciously tuning out her friends Madoka’s thought begun to go back to the new girl, how long her hair was, the little bit of a soft smell she felt, the sharp eyes that Madoka wanted to glare at he-

‘Oh wow today is full of discoveries’ is all Madoka can think of the sudden thought before Hitomi stands up

“Right look at the time! Sorry but I have to go”

One hand on her cheek Sayaka lazily asks

“What do you have today? Piano? Japanese dances?”

“Tea ceremony”

Picking up her bag the green haired girl sighs

“We have entrance exams soon, but I guess I have to keep doing this”

***

Walking back to an upper classman house wasn’t the plan for today, learning that magical girls are real wasn’t either

Going through a nightmare inducing whatever-the-hell-labyrinths-are wasn’t either

Well, at least she saw Homura-chan in a cute outfit, even if the situation was a bit… not ideal

She had a shield, how would she use it? It’s pretty small hmm, if she had to shield someone she would have to be pretty close to them…

Jolted out from her thoughts by a push to her shoulder she saw Sayaka looking at her, a teasing smile on her lips, Madoka’s sudden blush not helping in the slightest

“C’mon Madoka~! Sure you have hots for her, but at least become a magical girl before doing the whole rivals to lovers thing~!”

‘Oh wow is this an ant? I wonder where it’s going, maybe I should follow it, learn things, write a p-thesis on it, that sounds like a good thing to spend time on, yep, perfect thing to do, maybe I could ev-’

“Huh? What are you two talking about?”

Glancing up Madoka sees a very confused Mami, glancing between the two of them, Sayaka glances at her before lightly tilting her head to their senpai, is she asking if she should tell her? Giving Sayaka a mild nod her face suddenly transforms and Madoka feels like she made a mistake

A few minutes of teasing explanation later and occasional glances from the blonde Madoka starts to feel her blush receding

Turning her thoughts to another matter, Madoka decides to review the entire day, there is still a bit of walking so she probably has time?

Right, so a new student was transferred to her class, she realized she’s gay, they have a strange conversation that in retrospect might be about the whole magical girl business? After school ends she met with her friends in the mall, eating some fast food before Hitomi had to leave for her extra lessons, Sayaka and her move to a music store so Sayaka can buy a cd for Kyosuke, then a voice appears in her mind-Kyubey-asking for help, a bit of wandering and she sees Homura descend from the roof with chains around her and wow

“I wish she used those chains on me…”

Interrupted out of her thoughts by a snort Madoka looks up to see Sayaka barely containing a laugh and Mami looking concerned, weird why would the-

“Oh god I said that out loud”

Sayaka bursts as she starts laughing, Madoka feels very hot, and Mami looks confused and concerned

They soon reach Mami’s apartment

***

Deep into the night Madoka wakes up and lets out a sigh mumbling

“I wish Homura had cats ears like in my dream…”

“Is that so? If that’s your wish it will be granted”

Still yet not completely awake, Madoka contracts

***

Finishing up her speech Homura looks at Kyoko who contemplates the deal before suddenly looking above her head shocked for a few moments before wildly cackling

Frowning Homura looked up, seeing nothing she lightly went through the top of her head with her hand feeling no-

what

There is something on her head, is that ears?

That’s fucking cat ears

What the fuck??

Why does she have cat ears???

Deep breaths, in and out, in and out, Homura glances at Kyoko before sighing

“So this is what you were laughing about? Let’s just finish this whole thing, you’re in or not?”

The red head cackles before looking straight in her eyes, grinning

“Sure, free food, lodging AND I get to see a real life cat girl? Where else can I find the same deal?”

Homura feels like this would be a very long timeline

Chapter Text

Madoka felt embarrassed, really, really, really embarrassed, she told Mami-senpai that she’d be careful, think her wish through, and here she is, on the exact next day already contracted, Madoka pins at least half the blame to Kyubey, really, she was half asleep! He should have recognized that and didn’t just let her contract right in the moment!

There is also the matter of Sayaka, she already knew she was going to be teased to hell and back for contracting so fast, especially when she learns what her wish is

And oh god was it going to be awkward, they literally met yesterday and she made a wish about Homura, that’s probably weird right? Oh man, they’ve barely talked and she’s already going to be weirding her out

Releasing a long, long sigh Madoka continues to walk

A little down the road she saw Sayaka and Hitomi waiting for her, both of them glancing at her shoulder where Kyu- wait both of them?

Looking at Hitomi to make sure and yep, she was looking at Kyubey with confused, yet interested eyes, her mama couldn’t see him earlier, is it an age thing?

Awkwardly waving at them Madoka joined them, looking around no one else way eyeing her shoulder, weird

“Sorry for making you wait for me, let’s go”

 Hitomi continues to look at Kyubey

“Madoka, I didn’t know you adopted a… cat…?”

Letting out a nervous giggle, Madoka began to explain everything that happened yesterday

***

In the classroom, Homura walked in a minute before the class started, a second later she was staring at Madoka before furrowing her brows and sitting

Madoka suppose she got her wish of seeing the girl glare at her

‘I will find you at lunch, you can invite whoever you want, it seems we need to talk’

Flinching from a voice appearing in her head Madoka looked at Homura before glancing to Kyubey

Moving slightly lower Madoka whispered to Kyubey

“Hey, I heard Homura’s voice in my head, aren’t you the one who connects us?”

The cat(?) thing lazily looked up before a voice once again appeared in her head, this time Kyubey’s

‘Magical girls by nature are connected to each other, only those whose potential hasn’t been unlocked yet need my help to communicate through telepathy’

Nodding slightly Madoka spent the class barely paying attention to the teacher and glancing between her friends and the black haired girl, the top of her hair having more volume than yesterday

When lunch comes Madoka awkwardly sends a telepathic message to Mami and asks Hitomi and Sayaka to accompany her

***

Covering her face with her hands Madoka murmurs

“We didn’t actually agree where to meet did we? She was so confident, but what if-“

Straightening out Madoka looked to the door to the roof, hearing footsteps, it felt weird to hear from so far away, her senses sharpening to such a super human level after her wish, if she focused she could probably hear Homura’s heartbeat even when she was climbing the stairs

It took Madoka all night to adapt to this, the slight sound of her parents breath, the soft beat of their heart, the quiet woosh of their blood moving through their body

Breaking out of her thoughts from the sound of the door opening she saw the brunette walking up to her, before Madoka could say anything the girl sharply exclaimed

“Madoka, I know you’re not stupid so all I want to ask, was the wish worth it? Did you think it through? Is it enough to give away your future for?”

Madoka felt a bit annoyed, sure, she knew her wish was kind of stupid, thought she wouldn’t put as much fault on herself as Kyubey, but she did still choose it, and the most annoying thing about it thought

“I haven’t even really seen the effect of my wish yet”

The brunette looks confused before furry appears on her face sending shivers up Madoka spine as she glares at Kyubey

“What do you mean she didn’t see the effect of the wish!?”

She looks scandalized, furious at the white creature, who in turn tilts its head and calmly responds

“Are you not the one covering up the result of Kaname Madoka’s wish?”

The girl looks confused, starring at the creature before glancing at Madoka, it still takes her a couple more moments before understanding reaches her

“Oh, you were the one to wish for them weren’t you? I thought I just got hit by some magical girl’s experiment...”

The girl sighs as Sayaka is looking between them intrigued while Hitomi sports a more confused expression, Homura’s long fingers grasp her headband before slightly lifting it as 2 pair of cat ears spring up

Madoka’s throat is suddenly very very dry, face hot and her response is only a silent nod as she idly hears Sayaka go into a fit, Mami trying to keep her chuckles to herself and a silent gasp from Hitomi

Homura glances at her before speaking

“I believed Tomoe Mami would at least dissuade you from contracting so early on, but it seems she was too soft, it’s too late so I’ll at the very least help you train”

Her gaze travels to the blonde standing in the watch tower, half glaring at her, they glare at each for a long time before Mami slowly nods

As if satisfied the girl turns around, tossing her hair back and walking to the stair before stopping for a moment and turning back, looking at Sayaka and Hitomi

“It appears that I’m too late to dissuade Madoka, but I will at least try with you, don’t throw your life away for a wish, you might come to regret it, I’ve seen girls die on the job, I’m sure I’ll die that way too, don’t think you’re the exception”

Glancing at Mami she stands for a bit, her expression shifts a few times before seeming satisfied and walking away, silence stretches before Sayaka lets out a loud sigh

“Oh wow she’s intense, I mean we’ve seen her yesterday but today was something else!”

Hitomi nods before looking Madoka straight in the eyes

“So, cat ears huh?”

Sayaka snorts as Madoka feels a blush covering her whole body as she jumps to defend herself

***

Opening up the front door Homura suppresses the surprise at the turned on lights and the sound of TV, she’s the one who made the deal to let her live there, walking to the kitchen to grab a quick lunch she looks at the red head laying on the couch watching the TV

It’s… a bit nice actually, to have someone there, even if it’s because of a deal and no real desire to be with her

“There appeared some complications, so I will not be back by the agreed time”

Kyoko tilts her head to face her before nodding

“yea yea sure kitty, what happened?”

In and out, in and out, you invited her here

“A classmate of my became a magical girl, I believed Tomoe Mami would dissuade her out of making a wish without thinking it through, it seems I hoped for too much”

Sitting up the girl lifts an eyebrow

“What’d the girl wish for anyway? A car? A boyfriend or something?”

Pausing at the door Homura contemplates leaving her in the dark, it would be easy, but she’s also sure Kyoko will find out anyway, so might as well come clean right?

Pointing at her new appendages Homura doesn’t wait for Kyoko to react and closes the door

Chapter Text

Madoka was excited, sure, magical girl life seemed a lot… creepier than what anime and manga tell, but she was a magical girl! A superhero! Future was always a concern, not being sure what she wanted to do with herself as she gets older, she wasn’t as confident as her mother was.

Maybe she would find something to do with herself later, but what if she didn’t? An unimportant office job? Living off her parents? What if she never found anything she would be good at?

But that’s just what if now, she contracted (even if it was not entirely off her own volition) and she had to keep going, do some good like Mami-senpai and… well she was going to be teaching her, so should she just keep calling Homura? Add senpai to her name? She does have more experience than me in the whole ‘be a magical girl’ thing…

Coming to the door of Mami’s apartment an hour early is… well Madoka was nervous ok! You can’t blame her for it surely?

Walking by the door for a few minutes to gather courage she moves to knock when she hears a voice

“…cmon kitty, you can’t just leave me alone after dropping that! You must have known I wouldn’t leave after hearing we’re going to meet the girl who made you a real goddamned cat girl!”

“I was hoping that saying Mami’s name would dissuade you enough”

That’s… Homura’s voice? And somebody else too? Should she wait for them and come with them? Or just go in first? They are pretty far…

But with what Homura’s saying what if the girl DOES decide to go away? They sound close too… if she’s to try and date Homura she has to be friendly with her friends right?

So with that resolution Madoka waits listening to their conversation all the while, she gets to know the other girl name, that her and Homura are living together (friends can do that! Don’t panic yet Madoka!), Kyoko seems to have been present with Homura when Madoka made her wish too

Hearing them nearing her, Madoka quickly pats herself down and tries to act normal, like she hasn’t been listening to them talk for like 10 minutes (wait why does this sound weird? Hmm, she could ask Sayaka later) turning slightly as they move from the corner Madoka waves, forgetting for a second that she’s supposed to be surprised at there being 2 people

Before she could try to act surprised the second girl-a red head with a ponytail- speaks

“Oh hey, haven’t seen you before, you the girl who turned kitty into one?”

“AH, uh, well, yes…?”

Kyoko continued to stare her in the face before grinning

“I see how it is”

Wait what, what does she mean by that, Madoka started to stare in turn, unfortunately her attention quickly moved to Homura, who ignored both of them and knocked on the door

Soon the door was opened

“Come in come in Akemi-san, Madoka-san, we’ll sta-Kyoko!?”

Kyoko throws a peace sign and giving an awkward smile “yo, I won’t be sta-“

“No, no, no, come in too… unless you don’t want to? Are you staying here in Mitakihara or visiting? Do you have a place to sta-“

“Relax relax! It’s fine, me and the kitty have a deal, staying with her currently, she’ll probably rope you into it soon too”

The red head hesitates for a bit before walking into the apartment

***

“Sayaka, Sayaka you have to understand, she literary hurt herself to try and teach me how to heal better, something about understanding how the body works to make it more efficient, she opened up her arm with a knife! And that’s just with someone she met only a few days ago, what will she do for someone she likes!? We have to help her!”

“Hold on, she did WHAT???”

Sayaka slams the palms of her hand to the table, her face twisted in shock

“Is she ok??”

“Oh yeah, magical girls can apparently heal from almost anything”

Lightly tapping her ring she continues

“Apparently this is my soul? Mami-senpai seemed shocked when she heard that, Kyoko too…”

“Your soul? Holy shit, wait hold on a minute, who’s Kyoko? ”

“Oh yeah you weren’t there, she’s Homura-chan roommate, she and Mami-senpai also know each other”

Slumping to the table Sayaka groans

“Man, I wish Hitomi was here too, then I wouldn’t have to suffer through this alone…”

Madoka could only silently pat her best friend in condolences

“Well, at least you’ll get to enjoy watching her get surprised by the information without any distraction?”

“yeah… I guess you’re right…”

Tilting her head up, resting her chin on the table Sayaka suddenly smiles

“Anyway, you sure they’re just roommates~? What if the girl steals your crush eh~? Gotta act fast you know~”

Blushing slightly she turns her head to the side

“I mean I’m pretty sure they aren’t? From what I hear when I listen in they don’t seem to be flirting…”

Sayaka freezes before looking at her

“Listening in? Madoka?? What do you mean by that, Madoka!?”

“Uh, well, you see when I transform my senses are kinda super strong, like I’m pretty sure I can hear someone’s footsteps in Tokyo strong?”

“Madoka, my best friend, my old pal, my magical friend, that still doesn’t explain the listening in thing “

Madoka is blazing as she weakly squeaks out

“…I won’t do it anymore…?”

Sayaka continue to stare at her, sitting straight before coldly saying

“I’m telling Hitomi”

***

It’s been 3 weeks since Madoka contracted, the sweet witch is dead without taking out Mami’s, Sayaka hasn’t contracted, Kyoko and Mami are reconnecting, it’s almost a shame Homura already decided to abandon this timeline

Yet she failed, very quickly at that, Madoka contracted way faster than usual, and she refuses to explain why

Homura could blame it on the unusalness of this timeline, but if she does that it’s almost like admitting she can’t save her

She can’t do that, she promised her, and at some point herself, that Madoka will be able to have a normal life, grow old, find something for herself, marry, start a family, actually get to enjoy the world

Homura would be happy to help, with or preferably without her knowing, being there with her when her best friend cuts a corner for herself in this world, lives a life worth living

…even if this Madoka is a little weirder than usual, like her apologizing 3 days into her magical girl carrier for something? Homura is still not sure what that was about, she sometimes mutters something under her breath and suddenly starts to blush, Homura can’t help but worry, but apparently she wasn’t sick?

The cat ears are certainly interesting, her hearing improved with their existence, but it feels weird to have 2 pair of ears, at least explaining their existence is easy enough, just saying that she lost a bet seems good enough?

Making a deal with Kyoko has been beneficial so far, they hunt separately, sharing a seed from time to time, it has also been… nice to have someone near on such a constant basis

Kyoko and Madoka seem to have become fast friends as usual, everybody is getting closer

And in 3 weeks Walpurgis night will come, tearing everything apart, Homura can only hope they survive

It’s almost a shame she already decided to abandon this world

Chapter Text

Madoka was having an average day, go to school, fail to seduce Homura, go train with Homura and Mami-senpai, maybe hunt a witch, go home and do her homework

What was pretty new however, was Kyoko dragging her to an arcade

Spending a few hours there they moved to a food court, bringing both of them some food Madoka sat down

“Today has been fun! But I’ve been wondering… is there any special reason you only invited me?”

Putting some fries in her mouth the red head took a moment before responding

“Oh yeah, wanted to speak about your kitty, I’ve been getting kinda annoyed at you skirting around ya know?”

“Wha- I’m not skirting around! I’ve been trying to seduce her every morning for the past week!”

Rolling her eyes Kyoko bit her burger

“Yea yea, where’d that get you? Still in friend zone arentcha? C’mon, we’re going to plot today, what do you usually do?”

“Well, I’ve been going slow and steady, trying to slowly make more and more contact! Mama said it’s best to slowly build your relationship up instead of rushing into it!”

Pausing for a second Kyoko nods

“Yeah, that would probably work, well if this wasn’t our kitty, girl seems like she’ll bolt when she’s done with whatever she is doing right now, you gotta act fast, aggressive!”

A few people turn to them at how loud the red head got before turning to their business again

Kyoko gaze hardens as she looks her deep in the eyes

“I don’t know if she told you yet, but in a few weeks queen of witches will come, that girl is obsessed with putting it down, I don’t think she has plans after, I’m not even sure if her plan have her survive the fight, so go get her, give her motivation, a reason to keep going”

There is a brief slice of quiet, comprehending the words before they hit her

“I’ve been doing what I can obviously, but kitty is fucking stupid ya know? Been trying to get her outside from time to time and she always assumes it’s for a witch hunt, always seem surprised when I tell her to detransform”

Taking a couple bites of the food she continues

“But you? I don’t know why but she’s soft on you, not sure if you remind her of someone or she got a crush, fucking stone wall”

“…right, and what should I be doing then?”

The red head grins

“You’re in then? Alrighty, let’s start simple”

***

Casual affection, constantly hugging her, taking her hand, trying to be as close as possible

Madoka felt embarrassed, but the electrifying contact was worth it

The little sighs when she’s comfortable, small readjustment so it’s more comfortable, little smiles

Madoka can’t help but want more, experience more, if what Kyoko said is true, she needs to do more, for both of them

So Madoka moves harder, nuzzling into her, inviting her everywhere, having sleepovers, hanging out with everyone, alone and Homura accepts everything

And Madoka can see what Kyoko is talking about

It’s in the small things, Homura keeps herself busy, she looks at their friends with eyes holding something, something that Madoka desperately want to rip out, smoother her in affection, make her see that’s she’s wanted

Homura tells her, a witch is coming, one that is unimaginable compared to the normal ones

Asking her to leave, to leave dealing with it to the older magical girls

Madoka refuses, she hears a sigh, a mutter “…you never leave do you”

She knows she wasn’t supposed to hear it, so she stays quiet, doesn’t say anything about the phrase, even if it keeps her at night, doesn’t tell anyone about it

***

It’s confusing, how her world flipped so fast

The queen of witches, Walpurgisnacht, the living storm, a witch who doesn’t form a labyrinth and ravages the world outside

The world is spinning, Madoka can hear people screaming, her parents desperately looking for her

Despite her strength Madoka fears, she screams every time it looks like one of her friends is hit only to find them somewhere else the next moment

A rain of concrete and metal is surrounding them

Explosions resound everywhere

Madoka for the first time since she became a magical girl feels death creep on her, reaching for her toes, to drag her to the underworld

They persist

It takes hours, dozens of grief seeds, but the queen falls

It takes a moment to realize that fact, it feels unreal, Kyoko starts to laugh and Madoka can’t help but join in, it didn’t feel like much of a fight, but a desperate gamble for survival

And they won

Madoka looks at Homura, Smilling at her

She’s looking at them, and it feels like something twisted inside her gut

“…Homura-chan?”

The girl closes her eyes

“It’s a shame, you know, this is so close to perfection it hurts”

Kyoko stares, Mami flinches

“…what do you mean by that Homura-chan?”

The brunette stays quiet, Madoka feels her throat tighten, she focuses on Homura alone, boring into her expression, focusing on the smallest of changes

“it’s been a pleasure to get to know you Kaname Madoka, Sakura Kyoko, Tomoe Mami”

Madoka doesn’t know when she starts to run, but it’s evidently not fast enough

A pillar of light surrounds Homura

“Goodbye”

A moment later, THE STRINGS ARE CUT

The corpse falls face first

Madoka doesn’t know how long she spent starring at it

The sky has darkened when she felt someone’s arm’s wrap around her

Madoka continued to stare

Chapter Text

Homura felt bitter, more bitter than she usually was, the last timeline has hurt, Madoka contracted, fast, and yet despite that everything else was great

Sayaka didn’t turn into a witch, didn’t even contract

Mami didn’t die, didn’t go insane, formed connections

Kyoko made up with Mami, befriended Madoka

Homura wants to scream

Everyone lived

And that was the most upsetting thing

Almost always, someone died in that fight

She failed and they lived

Throwing a blanket over herself Homura felt weird

“No”

Carefully reaching for the top of her head she patted it down

She had cat ears

The manic laughter didn’t stop for a long time

***

Hunting down some witches Homura didn’t expect to meet Mami, especially this early, the girl was friendly, not yet suspicious

When asked how she spotted her the blonde pointed at the top of her head

Right, that’s now permanent

Coming to an agreement they decide to meet tomorrow to hash out some details of their alliance (and wasn’t it nice? To be on friendly terms from the start, no suspicion from her ex mentor)

Moving on Homura had things to go over, like catching some witches that could potentially kill Madoka, some familiars close to her home and making sure that the stray-Amy- didn’t get hit

Walking around with her soul gem in hand she saw it glow, looking around she saw a hint of pink and decisively ignored it, it wasn’t time yet

Walking into an alley she saw the entrance to the labyrinth, already hatched hmm

Quickly entering she felt the world distort, her thoughts turn heavier, spreading a bit of magic through herself she felt them become lighter, right this witch was annoying wasn’t she?

The surrounding warped, pulling back and forth, ground rising and melting, hardening and polluting, oxygen levels increasing slightly

In a few moments the surrounding are clear

It’s a miniature forest, trees that only ever reach 3 meters in height, looking like particularly large sticks and running between them are tiny goat like creatures with 3 human heads, crying out in laughter, sadness and anger, a mountain in the distance, seemingly made out of metal and bones, misplaced eyes sticking out of it alongside dozens of towers

Pulling out a bomb she lightly throws it to their general direction, making sure to alter its smell to a mixture of grass, cologne and sweat, a few minutes later about 3 dozens of them gather before she decides to detonate it

The amount of familiars in this labyrinth is always the biggest problem, the fact that they’re generously spread out is especially annoying, Homura would not repeat the mistake of missing a few

So she spent her time slowly and thoroughly wiping them out, 473 out of 523, the last 50 being in the heart of the mountain

Stopping time she moves to it, planting explosive around all 15 towers before they can react, moving into the mountain itself she resumes time, explosions resounding as she moves deeper before hitting a wall filled with runes

Pressing her hand into the handprint on it she sewers, stops time and moves back, the wall starts falling down and Homura see’s the witch, a sheep in wolf’s skin, surrounded by the familiars as they jeer it

It takes a moment of her and sheep meeting eyes before it grins and grows, swallowing every familiar there, laughing as gravity increases, shaking the cave they’re in, the next moment it’s full of holes, next one the world is full light

The witch falls and reality adjusts, picking up the grief seed Homura detransforms and hears a very familiar voice, annoying so

“Holy shit what the hell was tha- di-did her clothes just change??”

Snapping her attention backwards she sees a pink, blue and green haired girls starring at her

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me”

***

Holy shit, wow, ok, tired girl just changed her clothes in a second, the world went back to normal, and the tired girl cat ears twitched

Are they real??? Madoka’s world view was already shifting considerably, so when she meets the gaze of the cat eared girl she doesn’t even question her heartbeat suddenly picking up

“A-are you a magical girl!?”

Right, clothes magically changing in a burst of light did seem like a magical girl thing, but don’t they usually have a transformation sequence? Like spinning around, nu- oh

The blush that thought brought all but confirmed Madoka’s budding suspicion about herself

The girl finally responds and Madoka’s throat is suddenly drier than she thought possible

“Yes, I am”

The voice sent shivers Madoka back and freezes her mind for two reasons

The brunette sighs before looking at them

“Follow me, I might as well explain everything”

Madoka quickly follows

“So uh, where are we going miss…?”

The girl briefly turns to her before continuing to walk

“Homura, we are going to my house, it’s not too far and private enough for this conversation”

Madoka hears her friends run up to them as Sayaka pouts at her

“Maaadoka, how could you leave us behind so quickly? You’re so mean!”

Blushing she doesn’t even have time to reply before Hitomi goes for the second hit, gasping dramatically, stage whispering in her ear, just loud enough for Sayaka to hear

“Could it be that you’ve been smitten? Lured by the charm of a magical gi-cat girl?”

Eyes widening Madoka turns away, her blush almost scolding

The teasing continues until they reach their destination

***

“…in Akemi-san!”

Looking into the entrance Madoka is suddenly very aware of everything around her

Homura walks in and Madoka can’t help but remember the manga she’d binged the night before to understand what she’s feeling, some being more… risqué than she anticipated

The fact that she then went to look for more that fitted the now-apparently-her-classmate feels shameful

So Madoka promptly takes a dive into her desks and hopes to forget

She of course, doesn’t

Their talk to infantry does get an answer to something that has been plaguing her since they meet

“…right, Homura-chan, do you have a  mascot?”

Homura seems to take a bit to process the question

“No? What spurred this on?”

“Well, don’t magical girls usually have one? They help you out and you keep banishing evil!”

The girl takes a moment of looking at her before cracking into a small smile that disappears as quickly as it appeared

“That would be nice wouldn’t it?”

***

A few days later Madoka contracts and Homura wakes up to a talking lizard proclaiming it’s eternal devotion to her

Chapter Text

Homura has spent her morning starring at the lizard that decided to follow her, because apparently they know what the incubator is doing and want to stop them?

Right okay, sure, like she’d believe that so easily

Trusting an unassuming creature what got her into this whole mess, what gets her friends into this whole mess, so she’s going to confirm things, through incubator, who from her observation doesn’t seem capable of lies

The lizard called itself Anny

Kyoko looked surprise at it before shrugging it off because “if the rat exists, why wouldn’t there be more of magical creatures”

Which Homura had to concede

So she went to school, the lizard clinging to her ear posing as an earring, apparently it wasn’t quite like incubator and could be seen by anyone

Homura’s not sure whenever this is comforting or not

***

Madoka felt a bit impatient, what would her wish make? Maybe it would be cat? It would be nice if her and Homura matched

Honestly speaking, Kyubey was… weird

Madoka wasn’t quite sure how to explain that feeling, like something is wrong, she couldn’t place it, but well, nothing she can do?

Meeting up with her friends they get to class

A minute before it starts Homura walks in and immediately stares at her and Madoka can barely make out a mumble

“…3^rd time in a row”

Which was weird, maybe she didn’t hear another part or something?

When class ended the cat girl moved to her with a slightly scary look

Sayaka seemed to stare at the girl

“It seems we have to talk, meet me at the rooftop, you can bring whoever you want”

Flipping her hair the girl walks away

Madoka stares for a minute before she starts practically steaming, looking at her friends who both grinned at her

“Well well well, it seems someone is popular eh~? Isn’t that interesting Hitomi~?”

“it really is, perhaps you should finally turn your words true and take her ha-is that a ring!?”

Madoka barely spurts out

“Well, uhh, I became a magical girl”

Sayaka stares at her, mouth agape as Hitomi frowns

It takes a moment before both of them pick her by her arms and drag her to the rooftop

Opening the door they find the black haired girl leaning on a wall of the rooftop entrance

“You’re here, I see you brought Shizuki-san and Miki-san?”

Glancing at her friends she can’t help but note that they were the one who brought her, despite that she silently nods

Suddenly there’s movement besides Homura ears and a small lizard climbs on top of her head

“It’s nice to meet you! I’m Anny!”

Madoka contains a squeal as Sayaka awkwardly waves at the lizard, Hitomi just staring, eyes wide

Homura sighs before pointing at the lizard

“This is your doing isn’t it Madoka?”

“..yes..?”

Madoka can feel the disappointment coming as the girl hides her face in her hands

“…why did you waste your wish on this? Waste your life on this, I’m sure I explained enough dissuade you?”

And she had, maybe if Madoka hadn’t seen how bone tired the girl was on their first meeting, how lonely she seemed, drawn back into herself she wouldn’t make a wish

But her friend(?) wasn’t doing good and Madoka wanted to help, Homura liked the idea of a mascot, even if she didn’t like Kyubey-which was another can of worms that she would open later- but she knew the risks, knows them

“I wanted to help you”

Homura flinches, looking away from them releasing a trembling breath before looking back, colder

“I didn’t need help, I needed you not to contract, to not waste your life away for something that isn’t worth it”

Starring deep into her eyes she walk up to her poking into her chest

“You should’ve just ignored it, live your life and now-“

Madoka feels like Homura isn’t looking at her, like there’s somebody else in her place

She doesn’t finish her sentence, taking a deep breath in before taking some time to collect herself, glaring at the sky and suddenly transforming and pulling out a gun, pointing it at Sayaka and Hitomi

“If you do not understand suggestions maybe you will understand threats, do not even think about contracting, I will make sure you don’t turn into a witch whatever I have to do”

Shuddering at the cold tone Madoka takes a step back before the girl turns to her

“And you - you will follow me after school, we will at least move your death sentence a bit further”

The next moment she’s gone

Chapter Text

Sayaka felt weird

These 2 weeks started out strange, Madoka noticing a girl with cat ears who looked tired and urging them to go check on her when she went into an alley

Appearing in some kind of freak dimension wasn’t what they expected, appearing back in the same alley only a couple minutes later, looking at the girl they were looking for who just up and fucking transform?

Understandably, not the plan, but hey, at least magical girls are real?

The mood that was brought by that fact plummeted when they received the explanation of what being one entailed

Ripping your soul out, fighting, killing what was before another magical girl to not turn into a monster herself, sometimes outright killing another magical girl, to save your own life

Which… yeah

Then she up and joins their class like it’s some kind of anime, excels at basically every class, breaks school records

Well at least she didn’t look as tired as the last time they saw her

She was… cool? Yeah that fit, a bit edgy maybe?

And a few days later Madoka contracts and the girl flips

Who points a gun at people!? How does she have a gun!? Why isn’t the image lea-

Nope, not thinking about that

She was straight, she had a crush on a guy so that meant she was straight

And it’s not like some pseudo crush 

The confusing thing is the similarities that appear, the fantasies of kissing, dating, holding hand, those passing thoughts that aren’t about the boy that was stuck in the hospital, but about her best friends

They were there for a while sure, but then the Neko-chan pulled a gun on her and she remembers her first thought when she left

It wasn’t decent is all she will say, that appeared to have opened the floodgate too

…and well, Sayaka is in a dilemma

So here she is, in a playground sitting on a swing as she contemplates her life decision

“Why the hell is this so hard”

“What, got a boy problem or something tear drop?”

Moving her hands from her face she looks to her right where a girl sat down, munching on some fries

Sayaka contemplates for a bit, she doesn’t know the girl, why should she tell her anything, but at the same time, she doesn’t know the girl, so what are the chances they meet again? Might as well complain right?

“...well not exactly? Partly?”

“What, girl problem then?”

Feeling slight heat climb up to her face Sayaka quickly stutters out

“W-wha-where did you get that idea!?”

The girl grins before cackling

“Just guessing, you give the vibe ya know? Seems like i hit a bullseye”

Changing her posture slightly she turns more towards her and hands her a fry

Sayaka stares as the girl holds her gaze before slowly taking it and biting into it

“So, gonna talk or should I go find some other thing to entertain me?”

“I'm kinda… confused, I’m straight, but then I catch myself thinking of some girls the same way I think about the guy I like and well, aren’t you supposed to pick one? Well not literally pick one, but you know? And then there’s the new girl who my best friend probably has a crush on? She’s…”

Sayaka pauses, before deciding ‘fuck it’ and continues

“Got angry at something that friend did and decided to dissuade us from doing the same with… a gun”

The girl seems to pause

“...a gun?”

“A gun”

Silently the red head pulls out a few more fries before passing them to her, Sayaka feels vindicated, that was absolutely unnecessary 

“Hey by any coincidence, is the new girl’s name Akemi Homura”

Now it was Sayaka’s turn to pause

“...yes? How did you guess that??”

“Oh we’re roommates, girl’s wild, fucking real life cat girl you know?”

The only response Sayaka had for that was a nod

But apparently this wasn’t all

“Did you know how she got that gun? she fucking stole them from Yakuza, just barged in one night and decided to sort them out on the spot, what’d that girl do to anger her though? Kitty doesn’t seem easily aggravated”

Sayaka thought about it, and well, they were roommates, so surely the girl knew right?

“She made a wish, I mean I kinda want to throttle her too! Putting herself in so much danger! What if she doesn’t get enough grief seeds? Turning into a witch sounds hor-“

Sayaka is suddenly grabbed by her collar as the red head furiously glares

“What the hell do you mean turning into a witch!?”

 “Whoa whoa! Calm down! You didn’t know!?”

The girl continues to glare at her before letting her go as she angrily mumbles

“Next time I see that rat I’m skewering it”

“Holy shit you didn’t know?!”

The girl practically screams as she flings her hands up

“Well evidently not! ARGH, fuck it! You’re coming with me for breaking the bad news!”

The next few hours have been spent at the arcade at her cost

***

Madoka was tired, the training has been exhausting, but at least she got better?

Which was nice, Homura seemed to be surprised by her magic that made her able to give, take and store excess magic

Which was interesting, she could feel magic easily, as naturally as she could breath, like it was meant to be, she could feel Homura’s magic and remnants of somebody else’s on her

Which was weird, the best description Madoka could come up for the feeling was a mix of touch and smell

And she could touch magic, she could pull on it, stretch it, move it, compress and she wasn’t even sure where the limit lies

Homura seems impressed, even if she doesn’t outright say it

The training is tough, Homura makes her practice with her bow until her finger can’t move, use her magic until her soul gem gets muddled enough to confuse the pink with red

And maybe Madoka is biased, but she feels care in all of it, deep desire to keep someone afloat

So Madoka doesn’t complain and just keeps up as best as she can

The most interesting thing is when another magical girl comes, she feels like she knows her from somewhere and she’s proven right

“Tomoe Mami”

“Akemi-san, it seems you’ve taken up an apprentice? I think I’ve seen her in the corridors from time to time…”

Homura scowls

“I’d rather she live her life as normal, but there’s nothing I can do here”

The lizard-Anny- on Homura’s shoulder lifts it head and speaks up

“This just means we train her until she can live it even with her current circumstances Akemi-san!”

Homura takes a small glance at Anny before lightly nodding, her gaze soon returns to the blonde

“So, did you have something to speak about other than our chit chat?”

Mami rolls her eyes as her posture relaxes

“Not very conversational are you Akemi-san? I just wanted to check up on you, isn’t that what allies do?”

The brunette gives her a hesitant nod and pauses, looking hesitant before reaching into her shield and tossing the blonde something

Catching the projectile Mami curiously glances at Homura before looking down and grinning

“You’re pretty soft inside aren’t you?”

There’s a slight rustle as she takes a bite of chocolate bar that was thrown at her while the black haired girl turns away

“The training is over for today, you’re improving is… adequate, continue like this and you might live for a few years”

Grim, Madoka notes, but it also sounds optimistic from the girl

Madoka can’t help but find it cute, especially the little twitches in the girl’s additional pair of ears, apparently a wish from her friend

Madoka can’t help but giggle at that, that ‘friend’ probably wanted more

Maybe it’s a sign for Madoka to push harder, if someone wishing cat ears on the girl doesn’t clue her in she might have a mighty task ahead of her

…the first step though, is finding out if she would even be interested

Madoka probably needed a plan

And some advice as well, she hasn’t yet found time to ask her mom, Sayaka had the same romantic experience as her, which was zero, so maybe Hitomi? But she was more experienced in rejecting people than intentionally seducing them…

Oh well, she had time to figure things out, the world wasn’t ending, and while Homura could go to a different high school, Madoka knows she can keep contact

Even if Homura is a little intense…

Pulling out a gun to try and protect her friends was a bit brash if you asked her, but who knows what the girl’s been through?

There’s a sound from her phone notification

Then another

And another

Turning it on she sees a few messages from Sayaka, more incoming

BLUENOTE: holy shit Madoka im bisexual

BLUENOTE: did you know that was an option???

BLUENOTE: why din’t anyone tell me it was

BLUENOTE: didn’t*

BLUENOTE: Ive spent so much time worrying about feeling stuff

BLUENOTE: and its normal??

Huh

Dokidoka: right, what’s bisexual?

BLUENOTE: so, gay people like same gender and stuff

BLUENOTE: oyu have experience with that now don’t you

BLUENOTE: you*

Madoka makes a choice to ignore that tease and focus on the next messages

BLUENOTE: straight well you know

BLUENOTE: apparently there’s an option for liking both???

Dokidoka: that’s great! I’m glad you found out something about yourself!

Dokidoka: where’d you learn that btw?

BLUENOTE: oh yeah, crazy thing

BLUENOTE: did you know that your neko-chan steals from yakuza??

BLUENOTE: met her roommate, she’s cool

Wait Homura had a roommate??

BLUENOTE: anyway, she explained stuff in return to me explaining what neko-chan told us about contracting

BLUENOTE: apparently she didn’t know??

BLUENOTE: like yeah neko-chan said that white thing is manipulative but wow

BLUENOTE: anyway, I gotta tell our princess about my discovery too

BLUENOTE: see ya

Madoka stared at her phone screen

She wasn’t jealous

She wasn’t!

But it was concerning, Kyubey should explain stuff like that right?

Letting a breath out she walks to a bus station and waits

It isn’t long before she’s home

“I’M HOME PAPA, MAMA!”

Hearing her greeting being returned Madoka goes up the stairs to her room

She had homework to do, even if she was a magical girl

***

Walking into her home she isn’t expecting to be cornered by Kyoko as soon as she enters

Raising her eyebrow she looks at her

“You knew that shit about soul gems didn’t you?”

Starring at her to comprehend the question Homura nods

“I didn’t feel the need to tell you, it changes nothing if you know or don’t, losing magic is still death isn’t it?”

The read head scowls before turning away and grunting

“You owe a meal for this bullshit, I need to vent some more”

“Sure”

Homura didn’t really care, her funds were… plentiful after her numerous excursions

There’s no reason to supply only her armory when she went to Yakuza bases was there? So she was stuck with enough money for her not to know what to use it on

It doesn’t matter much anyway, another doomed loop, and it was as quick as the last time

Glancing at the lizard sleeping on her shoulder Homura wonders if it will linger as well, it had been a… satisfying company so far

Their personality were close enough for understanding and far enough for comfort

It was fine, she had another try, if Anny wasn’t there she’d just keep going, like she had every time she lost one of her friends

Homura tries to separate them, they’re not the same people, even if they’re as close as it could be possible, no loop is entirely the same, she can recreate some factors, but the experiences would shape people, would change them

Homura had changed since she’s started this, trying to fulfil her best friend’s request     

It was slightly strange how she acted the last 3 loops, faster affection, more… direct she supposes?

She’s not sure what caused it, but she feels some kind of chain reaction that started 3 loops back, the empath Madoka

…the one who made the wish after a long time of relative success

Did that Madoka’s wish also come with her? It’s only logical that it would

But she could be wrong, she has been wrong before (the witches, the soul gems, Kyubey, how much her friends could take before shattering, how she could make Madoka dislike her, how she could stop caring for them, a failure after failure)

Homura sighs, she has to adjust doesn’t she?

Turning on the projector’s Homura starts to plan

The routine has been changed, that just means that Homura has to adjust, mold herself a little more

She has experience with that

Chapter Text

Madoka has a crush, this much is no news to her

She’s sure a lot of people have picked up on it, her friends, some classmates, a few people she didn’t know

It doesn’t matter much, her thoughts occupied by another-well still related- but another thing

How to confirm whenever she has a chance, even if it’s miniscule

Homura is a lot of things

She’s kind, even if her kindness manifests in a violent matter, she’s protective, purposeful, assertive, focused

She’s pretty, handsome, beautiful

She’s cold, stuck in her mind, hurt, angry

Madoka has seen these sides of her, she’s sure there are more that she hasn’t

She likes her (she wants to love her, but it’s too soon for that)

So she’ll get to know her more, discover more sides of her, see her grow and maybe, one day, she’ll give her a happy ever after

Madoka can’t help but let out a giggle, are all first crushes that intense? Maybe she should tone it down, but at the same time why does she have to?

Madoka knew she needed help, so she went to get some

“Mama? Do you have some time?”

Turning to Madoka her mother smiles

“Sure I do sweetie, give me a minute and I’ll be down there with you”

Walking down the stairs Madoka prepares some drinks to busy herself, calm her nerves

Madoka knows that her parent’s love her, but it’s still awkward to come out, thought they could have already guessed…

Deciding to ignore that thought Madoka hears her mother join her in the kitchen, pulling the chair out as she sits and taking a sip of juice

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Sitting down Madoka takes a couple of seconds to compose herself, run through the conversation in her mind before speaking

“So, there’s this girl in school…”

Her Mom grins

“That Homura-chan you’re always talking about?”

Ah yes, the confirmation that they knew, nodding with (only a slight!) blush she continues

“…so, I’m sure I like her, but I don’t really know how to approach it,  how do I even know if she’s into girls too?”

Lifting her gaze up she sees her mom taking a sip, contemplating what to say

It takes a couple minutes before she speaks

“Well, I think you should take it slow, prod at her, touch her when you can, look at her reaction, slowly but surely increase the forwardness, be a little subtle, look where she looks, at who she looks”

Madoka listens, mentally notes every single word down

She hugs her mother, thanking her for advice, grinning ear from ear

She uses the advice

It’s slow, steady, Homura is calmer, more relaxed (she catches herself, all the relaxation gone, sharp once again, as if afraid of being comfortable)

Madoka persists

She moves faster, picking up momentum

She stares, glances, bores into her whole being, taking in everything she can

She starts to notice things

Her love grows

She’s attentive as she can be

She hangs out with her friends, refusing to give them up for these new feelings

She befriends Homura’s roommate, Kyoko

She learns to incorporate her magic control to her bow, compressing the arrow until it burns to look at, burns to feel

She uses grief seeds as she gets them, storing the excess, keeping it just in case

Madoka gets stronger

She befriends Tomoe Mami

3 weeks from now hell on earth will descend

Madoka doesn’t know

***

“Alright, neko-chan you gotta tell us, what’s your type!”

“I have to?”

“Yep! Girls talk 101!”

Sayaka grins, Madoka lets out a snort as she looks at them

They’re having a sleepover, her, Homura, Sayaka, Hitomi, Mami and Kyoko

Madoka feels content

Kyoko laughs, while Hitomi and Mami both look intrigued

Homura closes her mouth, taking her time with the response

“…I suppose they have to be kind, someone who hopes for better things, works for them, maybe shorter than me? Somebody who’s willing to help out a total stranger, somebody who’d- oh “

The smile that blossomed as she spoke froze as blush overtook her face

“This… explains some things”

Kyoko is the first to speak, poking her with a teasing smile

“What’d ya mean by that kitty?”

Homura averts her gaze lightly squirming as she quietly speaks

“I just realized that I’ve been…describing someone, a girl I used to know”

It takes a moment to register before chaos breaks

All Madoka can do is grin

Step one down, she had a chance (even if the mystery girl worried her)

She had the go ahead to go on the offence

***

How did Homura not realize it? Almost 5 dozen loops and she only just realized she had a crush on Madoka, how did it take so long!?

Burying her face in the pillow Homura holds down the desire to scream

Alright, she loves Madoka, this explains some things, like how it always hurt when Madoka got together with someone, how nice it felt to be in her embrace

It’s nice to acknowledge these feelings, even if they won’t go anywhere

Madoka is… she deserves better than whatever Homura has become

She deserves better than a failure

So Homura will continue, as it always was, do everything for her, just because she realized something doesn’t mean anything changes (nothing ever changes, despite how the timelines alter, she’ll fail again and again, until she’ll get it right)

Homura has sold her soul to protect her, her sins are pressing into her

She ignores them, continues to sin, for she has already been damned

The sin has already devoured her, just as she has in turn

(Unfortunately for Homura, the next week is spent fighting for her life in a different way than usual, desperately trying to not read into the flirting, hugs and other advances Madoka used)

Chapter Text

Kyoko has felt more alive in these few weeks than she had than since she and Mami separated

She felt safe then, sure of herself, confident that she didn’t need anyone anymore

She lied to herself, as if her magic still existed that it didn’t hurt to argue with Mami, her mentor, the closest person on this planet she had left

She adapted, stole, fought, let people die so she could keep going (and oh the irony there, she didn’t know just how accurate that was, she couldn’t survive without magic for one more reason than she thought)

Kyoko made a name for herself, someone not to be messed with, a fighter, one of the most effective magical girls in the country

She put food on the table (table for one)

She swam as others drowned

It didn’t feel bad, but looking back at the life she used to have, compared to what she got now? A lonely figure, someone who felt content, but not happy

It’s night and day

Friends, she hasn’t had any after their fight, hadn’t had much before too, now she had people around her, Mami and her were talking, she met more people, Sayaka and her connected fast, almost unexpectedly so, sometimes it felt like looking in the mirror, a chance to make sure someone doesn’t turn like her

Homura is an interesting case, a lonely girl (just like her and Mami), somebody who broke from the job much more than them (the little twitches, her knowing eyes, just how goddamn tired she looks, like the world itself is on her shoulders, her hands keeping it pinned there)

Obsessed with Walpugrisnacht, so much information it’s almost as if she encountered it before (the hate in her eyes whenever the thing is discussed is almost comparable to one in the presence of Kyubey)

Also a real life fucking cat girl, god Kyoko wants to meet the girl who made that wish, she’d shake her hand

And then there’s her apprentice, Madoka, a bubbly girl who knows what she wants and is moving to get it

It’s hilarious to watch as they interact, Madoka showing obvious interest, keeping close, flirting like there’s no tomorrow, Homura not recognizing such an obvious thing yet becoming embarrassed at the most mundane things

Kyoko hopes it works out for them, better than it had for her and Mami

Hitomi is an interesting case, her not being involved in the magical girl business, her potential being small enough for Kyubey not to bother when it can go for bigger fish

She’s dramatic, restrained with her annoyances, forward as hell, already outside the city grounds

Breathing in the air above the city she looks down at it

It’s all going to shit tomorrow, people are evacuating, the storm is coming they say

Kyoko can feel the pressure of that thing even when it’s so far away, it’s a tiny feeling, a needle pricking

It’s deeply uncomfortable

Kyoko didn’t notice when she started to think about the future

Yet here she is, wishing for the future where all of them are together, better than they are now

Her, Mami, Homura, she knows they’re not healthy, it will probably take years to tackle even a small bit of what’s wrong with them

Laughing Kyoko looks down again

Finishing her lollipop she leans down and falls

***

Kyoko is falling, her chest penetrated by a steel beam

Bits of her soul gem fall with her before they disappear alongside her magical girl outfit

Madoka chokes down on her cry as she continues to fire arrows, sending magic to other girls

She hears impact before the sky is filled with metal and concrete and she has to run

She looks back, trying to remember where Kyoko fell, to find the body later, to a-at least have a body in the grave

She lies in the ruins of the fountain

Madoka turns back and fights

She hears explosions, sound of numerous muskets firing

They continue to struggle

It feels helpless

Madoka doesn’t give up

An hour later the sky is cleared

They stand in the clearing, Madoka doesn’t look at Mami as she cries, they have time for it now, they’re not in a desperate race for survival, they c-can mourn her

She moves to Mami and hugs her with all the strength her contract gave her, burying the girl in distracting pressure, Madoka feels tears on her own face

Homura stares in the direction of the body

Madoka hears Mami curse the world, curse the witches, curse the Walpugris for choosing to come here and let one of her friends die

A moment later a pillar of light hits the ground, turning to it Madoka can feel Homura inside it, her soul gem twitching, magic coalescing around it, swirling

Mami’s mouth opens in horror

Madoka feels like she’s about to throw up

The body hits the ground, soul gem gone, carefully, almost surgically extracted as space broke apart

Madoka can’t hear anything

She doesn’t notice when her knees hit the ground

Mami is besides her as her stomach empties itself

Chapter Text

Homura felt dizzy, sleepy, she suppose it’s supposed to be like that after an intensive operation

Opening her eyes slightly she finds herself in an unrecognized place

There is a girl her age looking between her and an… empty(?) space to her right, looking there hurts her head

It finally dawns on her that she’s not in the hospital, the only option in front of her Homura takes a deep breath collecting herself and turns to the girl

“h-huh, um, e-excuse me? d-do you know wh-where we are?”

The girl flinches before looking at her, her mouth agape before she blushes and turns away

“W-well uh, you’re at my home? Y-you’re in Mitakihara if that helps?”

The pink haired girl gets up, glancing at her from time to time

“I-I’m going to call someone, they could… probably help?”

The girl rushes out and soon Homura is alone, in a stranger home, apparently still in the same city? At least it doesn’t look like she was kidnapped, you don’t leave the windows open when you do right?

Glancing around the room Homura tentatively stood up   and looked around the room

It was a nice room, glancing at the bed full of plushies Homura smiles

A few minutes later she hears the door opening, turning to it she sees someone else instead of the girl

“Madoka? Are you alright I heard a thu-huh, you weren’t here before”

An older woman looks at her, a lazy smirk on her face as she lightly laughs

“Who would have thought, Madoka’s sneaking girls into her room! I for sure thought Tatsuya would be the one to do it”

Homura’s eye widen as she freezes, unsure what to do she stays quiet

She feels a burst of… something, the air tingles with energy for a brief moment before the feeling is gone

The pink haired girl-Madoka walks in and freezes at the sight of her mother

“M-Mama! S-sorry for not warning you, this is… Akemi-san sister, I t-think she was lost? I called her to come pick her up”

Sister? Wait did she say her surname? Does this girl know her?

“Hmm? Akemi-san huh? The one you usually go on and on about ever since she joined your class”

The older woman is grinning as the pink head freezes

Thankfully a phone rings, the girl looks confused before accepting the call

“Hello?”

“Ah Homura-chan it’s you! Sorry, I didn’t know your number”

Homura?? That’s… probably a coincidence right?

“You’re already here!? Alright I’ll bring your… sister down now!”

The call ends as the blushing girl looks at her, lightly taking her hand, noticeably ignoring her mother

It doesn’t take long to reach the front door, when its open Homura is met with her own face, glaring

Homura notes that the reflection(?), copy, twin she didn’t know about? Doesn’t wear glasses, her clothes seem like a school uniform

She’s starring at her

The girl takes a deep breath in before gently taking her hand, giving a slight nod to the pink haired girl and leading her away

When they’re a few streets over she speaks

“I’m not entirely sure of the situation, but everything points at you and me being the same person”

Homura can’t help but feel ridiculed, but the girl continues

“I suppose I should start with the fact that magic is real”

As if to confirm her point light surrounds her and her clothes are different, there is a shield on her arm

“I’ve sold my soul to save a friend, giving me access to magic, tell me, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Homura chokes on the blatant admission of selling her soul, disturbed by the concept itself

 “T-the surgery, March 15^th”

The girl-her, another her, cold, so absolutely different they could pass as different people- nods, as if it makes everything right, make sense

Homura stares at the fun house reflection of herself and wonders why they are so different

The cat ears are certainly one of the more interesting differences

***

Its uncomfortable to look at her, what she used to be, free of the sins she carries, yet chained by her own weakness

She’s a coward

Homura can’t help but feel jealous

***

Kyoko has lived alone for a while, sneaking into hotels, robbing ATM’s, grabbing things that weren’t nailed down if she needed them

So when someone offers her to live together on the base of cooperation against a big fuck off witch coming in a bit over a month?

Easy deal

The fact that the girl is a real life fucking cat girl is great too

The little lizard hanging around her is interesting though, Kyubey never mentioned other magic companions

The girl is interesting, a bit of a weirdo if Kyoko had to say, but that made it all the better in her opinion

So when she brings an almost exact copy of herself Kyoko barks out a laugh and says nothing

The new one-glasses-is different, she’s shy, timid, Kyoko can feel the fire that burns inside the older one, it’s nothing but embers at this point, but even embers can start a forest fire

Trying to spot the differences between them becomes Kyoko’s hobby, hanging out with glasses becomes another

Kitty is busy forging documents for glasses, being made from a wish apparently doesn’t make you exist legally, sucks

Kitty claims that glasses is how she was before she contracted

It disturbs her, how someone can change like that, well, Kyoko’s not one unfamiliar to change, her old self sure as hell would hate her

So Kyoko ignores it, it’s not like she can do jack shit to this situation outside of poking around kitty, making her go outside for reasons other than witch hunts and school

It’s going… fine? It’s hard to tell with her, she doesn’t say no at the very least, going along with her

***

Madoka is panicking, sure she had plans for giving Homura a family in the future, but those plans were a bit different from today’s result

And her mom thought she snuck the new Homura in

Groaning into her plushie she laid in bed, her mind slowly turning to the girl her wish made

Which… wasn’t planned

Or how she thought that would turn out

Blurting out a ‘wish’ after having a dream of being… well that’s beside the point, she didn’t expect her wish to actually happen

The only thing she could take from this whole thing was that second Homura (she got to find a better way to refer to her) was cute

That was a nice surprise, sure, Homura had her moments of cuteness, but those moments seemed to appeal only to her

The small lost look at the timid touches, subtle smiles that Madoka could stare at for eternity, the cat ears…

Well the cat ears were agreed upon to be cute, so Madoka supposes she couldn’t include that

While the wish Homura (hmm, still sounds wrong) was just so cute!

Staying up until deep into the night, her thoughts swirling around the aloof girl Madoka hoped to continue the dream that started this whole mess, now updated with the result of her wish

It’s easy to conclude what dreams Madoka had for the next few weeks

Chapter Text

Madoka wakes up groggy, her night spent on reading instead of sleep

She feels enlightened on certain topics

Well, that doesn’t matter right now, first she had to go to school, explain herself to Mami (she really didn’t have the time to on that night, accidentally making a wish and asking for a way to contact Homura)

She’s been delaying it for some time already

It’s a bit hard to look Mami in the eyes, she said to be careful with her wishes and here she is, making a wish that made an entire new Human (well is she really new if it’s a copy of Homura? Madoka can’t quite tell)

It is much harder to look Homura in the eyes, but it was also hard before, for a different reason sure, but now she had 2(maybe 3?)

So she finds the spiral haired senpai and they decide to meet at lunch

“…so that’s how I made my wish”

Madoka was burning up, she barely managed to weasel out the exact dream she was having, but the details she did tell were already embarrassing

Sure she didn’t tell just how much she was pressed into, how much contact there was, what kind of contact was happening

It’s not like Mami-senpai was malicious with her questioning, she seemed genuinely confused

“I see…”

Her mentor hums to herself in thought before continuing on

“I don’t think it’s your fault your wish was made like that, I will have a stern talk with Kyubey after this”

For a few moments silence spreads around them before Mami coughs into her fist, a slight blush on her face

“I’m sorry if this is insensitive but Kaname-san… Do you like Akemi-san?”

Madoka can’t help but stop at that and stare at Mami

“…You didn’t know? I’m pretty sure everybody but her knows??”

Mami starts to blush harder as she swats her hand

“W-what? How come everyone knows??”

Madoka felt at a loss of words as she stared

Mami wasn’t able to hold her stare and looked away even more flushed

“Mami-senpai you’re pretty oblivious huh”

“wh-sowhatifiam!”

Madoka let out a giggle at the fast reply, feeling a slight desire to continue teasing the older girl

***

She’s having some junk food with Sayaka and Hitomi when they see her

“Hey Madoka, doesn’t that girl look like your favorite Neko-chan?”

Turning to take a look, Madoka can confirm that it’s braids Homura (still doesn’t sound right) with another girl leading her somewhere

Madoka suppresses the tint of jealousy at them holding hands, friends did that surely, and even if they were more than friends Madoka still had the original

‘Oh wow that sounds scummy as hell’

Breaking out of her thought by Sayaka pushing her shoulder with a smirk Madoka quickly says

“O-oh it’s her sister, I’ve met her once”

Without missing a bit Hitomi decided to chime in

“Meeting in laws already? How scandalous Madoka! You’re 14!”

Sayaka starts cackling as Madoka slams her head into the table, barely audibly speaking

“It’s not like that…”

An extra quiet murmur adds

“Yet”

The sudden increase in Sayaka’s volume makes Madoka realize that she heard that

***

“Do you think she’d let me bite her?”

There is no hesitation in the response “Yes Madoka, she would”

“At least pretend to think about it for a moment Sayaka!”

***

“…while this one is pretty explicit it’s very cute as well! The main couple get together pretty fast and you get to see them acting cute together! I’m sure you’d like it Mami-san!”

Mami stares at the cover, looking between it and Madoka

“…why do the girls look like you and Akemi-san?”

Swiftly ignoring that comment Madoka pulls out another one

“This one is a little slower, it’s a slow burn, the main couple get flustered a lot! Sayaka was the one who showed me it! It’s just that they still aren’t together after 50 chapters…”

***

It’s a normal school day

That is if Saotome-sensei didn’t introduce another transfer student

“Come in Akemi Harue-san!”

Madoka is suddenly much more interested as she sees the girl shyly walk in and awkwardly write a name on the drawing board

“I-it’s nice to meet you all!”

She bows as well (so polite and cute!)

Homura shields her away from most of the attention, a quick glare or two makes overeager classmates fall back. But they still stare, their interest not decreasing

Harue doesn’t do well, behind on most classes and physically too weak for P.E.

A stark contrast to Homura

People whisper, Homura stops them as quickly as she can

They do it behind her back

Madoka invites both Akemi’s to have lunch with them

Homura has to nudge Harue to agree

The lunch is nice (the fact that Madoka gets to ogle both of the girls isn’t the only reason!)

The Akemi’s are awkward with each other, unsettled, Madoka hopes it gets better (it’s her responsibility to make sure it does, it’s her fault this entire situation happened isn’t it?)

So Madoka talks, as much as she can to fill the silence, Sayaka helps too, clearly feeling the atmosphere, Hitomi chimes in from time to time as does Homura

Harue remains mostly silent, content to listen

“I’ve been wondering… why don’t you have a tail eh neko-chan?”

Homura stares at Sayaka, slightly tilting her head in confusion

“It wasn’t part of the wi-bet”

Hearing that Sayaka grins, slamming her hands to the table

“Then we’ll fix that! AKEMI HOMURA I CHALLENGE YOU TO ROCK PAPPER SCISSORS, WHOEVER LOSES HAS TO WEAR A TAIL FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR”

Homura shifts in her seat, her eyes glinting

“Is that a challenge?”

“Of course it is Neko-chan! Gotta complete the look you know~”

Homura’s eyes sharpen as she stands up

“I accept, let’s begin”

The blue head grins

“Best of five!”

The next moment Sayaka groans as she loses the first round

Her eyes widen as she loses the second

“H-hold on, I’ll get you next round!”

True to her words she does

Homura stares at her hand, feeling betrayed before going once again

Loosing another time, both girls look at each other tensely, nodding together as they move their hands

The result is Homura starring at her hand, paper before looking at Sayaka’s scissors

“shit”

Chapter Text

Madoka was excited, sue her, Homura was going to wear a cat tail belt for the rest of the year! It’s big deal! Madoka wasn’t able to get a wink of sleep because of that

Pressing magic into her brain to relief the fatigue, feeling lighter she waits at her seat, staring at the door intently, waiting for the girl to enter

As usual, a minute before class starts she walks in, only this time Harue is with her, which adds even more glee to Madoka

And yep, the tail is there

It takes Sayaka putting a hand in front of her eyes to snap out of her… thoughts, yes let’s say thoughts (what thoughts exactly? Let’s skip that detail alright?)

“Enjoying my tribute eh~?”

All that leaves her mouth is a stutter before she decides if her mouth doesn’t work, she might as well just use her head and nods

Sayaka grins at that before glancing at Hitomi, who seems almost as taken as Madoka

“Oh wow, Neko-chan stealing the hearts of both of my best friends~! What am I to do~? Should I just get a crush on her too hmm~?”

Hitomi goes absolutely bright, her hand slamming into the edge of the table in her panic as she yelps in pain, swiftly glaring at Sayaka and her as they start to giggle

The bell rings and class starts, stifling their laughs they sit at their tables

***

“Homura-chan, Harue-san, would you be willing to join us for lunch again”

Homura fights not to stare too long, the realization of her crush still lingering on her mind, so she turns to Harue-her newly appointed sister from now on (probably, every other wish followed her, Homura doesn’t think this will be an exception)

She looks right back at her, fidgeting slightly before nodding

Turning back to Madoka Homura softly smiles

“We’d love to Madoka”

Harue stares at her, fiddling her ribbons, thinking about something

Homura makes the decision to ignore that and just enjoy lunch with her friends, it’s been… actually not that long, last loop was pretty friendly all things considered, it still felt a bit unfamiliar after so long, but at least Homura had a buffer of a few weeks in the last timeline when she got more used to it

Sitting down at the opposite side of Sayaka and Hitomi she feels Madoka’s shoulder touch her

‘Huh, she’s getting close again, it’s been happening faster since the empath Madoka…’

Pulling out her bento filled with rice she begins to eat, Madoka looks at her meal and frowns slightly before opening her own and dumping some of it to her, Homura blinks at the gesture before returning it, even if the exchange isn’t exactly fair, at least Madoka seems happy with it, beaming at her

“So, how are you getting used to becoming a full on cat girl?”

The moment is interrupted by Sayaka, her lips turned upward in a teasing smirk

Shooting her a mild glare Homura bites down on her meal before speaking

“Not bad, even if my roommate was annoying about it”

Feeling 3 curious gazes at her Homura thinks back, wondering if she should have given that information

Harue is smiling, quietly nibbling at her own meal, courtesy of Kyoko, apparently she owed her a favor and Harue decided to cash it in as a few bentoes

Homura can approve of that decision, Kyoko’s taste is certainly good

“I made a deal with her, she will help me with something on May first”

The curiosity in the gazes that bore at her doesn’t decrease, but Homura stays quiet and continues to eat, quietly thanking Madoka for sharing with her

Lunch passes quietly

***

Harue… it was weird to have a new name, especially when she was near someone who had her old one, she doesn’t really mind, she didn’t legally exist, magic not accounting for that when she was made (pulled out from the past? They’re still not sure what exactly happened)

Homura-her newly appointed big sister- wasn’t a bad person from what she saw, she was… messed up

The girl that was once her, turned into something entirely different, Harue sometimes had hard time to see their similarities beyond their looks (being practically twins on that front, besides the extra pair of ears Harue didn’t have)

it was a stark realization when she noticed the crush Homura had, for one, because of how clear it looked, two, because what that meant for her

Well, if one version of her was gay, she was probably too right?

Harue spent a lot of time on research, trying to confirm or deny her suspicion

“Huh, so we are both gay”

Homura looked up from the sofa for a moment before going back to the hologram (how the hell did she get those?? Weren’t they set to release in a few weeks?? Did she break in and stole them??)

There was another factor in her life, Kyubey, coming to see her from time to time, seemingly avoiding Homura

‘There’s no reason to waste my bodies when I could just avoid her in non-optimal situations’

Is what it said on the topic

Harue had to ponder the deal it offered, a wish, anything she wants and she could get it (just like Homura did, sell her soul to the closest thing to the devil on earth, fight until you die, forgotten by everyone)

She didn’t think she’d agree, just the prospect of fighting scared her to a point, especially with what Kyoko described witches to be

But the option was there, so it was wrong not to consider it right?

Chapter Text

Harue was invited to hang out with Hitomi, it seems her other friends were busy, with no reason to refuse she decided to agree

They go to a coffee shop, the first few minutes are shrouded in awkward silence before Hitomi moves the conversation forward

“So, how is to reunite with a sister, you didn’t know existed, I imagine it’s quite weird?”

Letting out an exhausted sigh Harue nods, looking to the side as she sips some of the coffee she ordered

“It’s… weird to say the least, to have someone who’s so similar to yourself in a lot of the ways and different in others, but we’re managing, I think, at least we’re not alone in the house, it’d be way more awkward if Kyoko wasn’t there”

Letting out a slight laugh she continues

“Kyoko likes to pretend she isn’t a good person and then drags me outside, tries to drag Homura too, often succeeding, but Homura can be stubborn at times”

Hitomi smiles as she softly says

“She sounds like a good friend”

Nodding Harue looks outside, a small smile on her lips

“Yeah… you know it’s almost hard to believe how many people want me around now, I’ve never really been good at anything, nothing to latch onto, but here comes Kyoko, Madoka, Sayaka and you”

Harue notices a slight frown on Hitomi features that instantly disappears as she smiles at her

“It is wonderful? I’ve had time when I had something… not quite the same, there were so many people who wanted to latch onto me, like a parasite ”

Shaking her head Hitomi resumes, venom from her last words almost entirely disappearing

“But then Sayaka walks into my life and wrangles me around, Madoka always with her, and suddenly we were like some ducklings following her around, always dragging us around somewhere”

Harue smiles at the image

“You know, it’s really surprising how taken Madoka is with Homura, almost like they knew each other before”

“Is that so? I’m a bit interested in what got Homura to like Madoka so much too”

Hitomi raises her eyebrow before it seemingly hits her, her mouth slightly parting, a quiet ‘oh’ leaving it, a few seconds later she stares intently at Harue, debating something

“So, is Homura also in love with Madoka?”

Harue looks confused, deciding to take a sip of her drink when she realizes what the girl meant, a shine appeared in her eyes as she smiles

“I believe so”

Both of them sport a smile, Hitomi’s much more like a grin

“Do you want to bet how long it takes them to realize?”

Harue nods and speaks

“3 or more years”

Hitomi gasps, covering her mouth with a hand, her eyes crinkled as she tries to stop the laugh from escaping her lips

“How little faith in your older sister! How little faith in my best friend too! That truly is unforgivable! I shall tell about this travesty in detail to Homura!”

“Wha-don’t you dare! You won’t te-you’re making fun of me”

The panic is quickly replaced with a pout as Harue tries to glare at Hitomi, which only makes her laugh harder

***

“Back from your coffee date?”

Feeling the heat surround her face Harue glances at Kyoko, who’s… playing on a console she was pretty sure wasn’t here a few hours ago

“We were just hanging out! Everyone else was busy!”

Cackling Kyoko turns to her and smirks

“Sure sure~ if you need some kissing advice I can give some for almost free~”

Picking up one of the pillows on the couch she throws it at Kyoko

***

Madoka was annoyed, she was supposed to hang out with Hitomi and Sayaka (Maybe also Harue and Homura?) today, but then she felt a witch and had to cancel!

Calling Mami they set off inside the labyrinth

Feeling the world part itself open, clashing lights as reality molded itself into the form of despair before they were surrounded by wires and cassette film

Looking up Madoka saw hollow squares, just barely below the celling, wires falling down from it

Glancing at Mami for confirmation, receiving a nod they start to move

The few familiars they did see were plastic figures without a head, their arms opening up when they came near as sonic waves were sent their way

Fortunately they weren’t durable, so a few muskets and arrows was enough to deal with them

About 30 minutes later they reach a narrowing tunnel, light shining at the end of it, a few minutes of walking they see a stage, hundreds of heads sitting on the seats, all humming just a bit outside of harmony to another, not one matching the other

At the center of the stage lays the witch, a legless microphone with hands made of cartoony thunder, 3 heads on top of it, singing in chilling harmony

Glancing at Mami Madoka waits

Mami seems to think before giving her a smile

“Madoka, do you have a cooldown on your magic?”

As she speaks she forms a musket and hands it to her, Madoka takes a second to understand before grinning and pulling on her magic, it’s a weird process, the magic feels like math as the next moment there are 2 muskets in her hand, the next there are 4, next one 8

Mami smiles as muskets start to spread out, thousands of them filling out the room

A bit of sweat appears on Mami’s face

“Well, I always thought that making them was the hard part, seems like controlling a few thousands is a little above what I’m used to”

Light forms and soon the witch is no more, grief seed falling down as Mami pulls out a tea cup and takes a satisfied sip before turning to Madoka

“This one is yours, I wouldn’t be able to finish it that quickly without you, my soul gem doesn’t need much cleansing so I can wait for another witch”

Hesitantly picking it up Madoka notices a shadow, looking there she swears she could see Homura for a moment before she disappears

Chapter Text

Mami’s life had a clear line for when it changed, a clear date that has been imbedded into her mind to forever remember, grieve over

The day the car accident happened, the day she made her wish, the day she realized she could have wished to save them too

The day she fought her first witch

Mami entertains the thought sometimes, what if she didn’t become a magical girl, what if that car hadn’t lost control, what if the accident never happened? Would she be happier?

The answer is easy

Yes she would

Yet the world moves forward, past staying the past, she has to move forward to keep up, to not be left behind and die alone and unknown (she was so close to it, a week after she met Madoka, Sayaka and Homura she almost died, if Madoka hadn’t contracted she’d be dead, if she hadn’t met them nobody would even notice)

The guilt at the admission-so easy-chases her almost every day

The world is brighter nowadays, she’s not alone again (The constant nagging of them leaving her doesn’t disappear, what if she messes up again? What if she drives them away? She shudders even thinking about it before the guilt moves back, shouldn’t she be better? She shouldn’t be so clingy)

It’s been nice

There’s also Kyoko… she felt her a few times, out, probably hunting, always leading to Homura’s house

It was comfortable in a way, to have her ex mentee being so close (not another city), having the option to reach out, talk (even if she never did)

Sayaka is… a righteous person, someone who holds onto their belief as if her life depends on it (Mami wishes she had the same devotion sometimes), she had potential, she could become a magical girl at some point if only she made a wish (Mami felt sick when she hoped she would)

Madoka is a bright person, a hopeful girl who accidentally made a wish, creating a copy of the girl she liked (how did she miss that?? It took Madoka herself explaining where the idea of her wish came from for Mami to get it, did everyone really knew about it? Was she the last to notice? Wait no, Madoka said Homura hadn’t noticed either)

It feels nice to be with her, to have someone with her, Sayaka was also there with them, still deciding if she should make a wish, but it was different, to have somebody fight with you, the trust that forged, the warmth it spread for someone to trust their life to you as you trust yours to them

Hitomi was nice, they didn’t meet often, the girl was busy with the classes her parents piled up on her on near constant basis, from what Mami saw, they could be friends (and wasn’t that wonderful? Wasn’t that greedy?), it was always great to speak with her

And then there were the Akemi’s

Homura was… weird person to get along with, looking at her sometimes, like she knew her for a lifetime, being cryptic on near constant basis, a brash girl who seemed to care a lot, the rare smiles she showed to her makes Mami understand Madoka’s feeling slightly better

An anomaly is what Kyubey speaks of her, someone who made a contract he doesn’t remember, his only speculation that the mikomitoka-the lizard always sticking to her-has learned to create a contract of their own, yet he still finds it improbable

Then there’s the product of Madoka’s wish, the newly named Harue, a soft girl, shy, deep in self-deprecation that Mami deeply knows, it’s hard not to reach out to the girl, to bring her out of the same hell she has been building herself

It’s a slow process, the same way Mami’s still digging up herself, so has started Harue and who wouldn’t like another pair of nails as you dig your way out?

Mami has learned that the world isn’t fair

So when she loses her arm it isn’t too much of a surprise

It’s almost a wonder it didn’t happen sooner

Madoka is pale, horrified it seems

Sayaka is panicking

Mami wants to hug them and tell them that it’s alright, that it’s fine, she knew the risks when she went on to fight, yet the worlds didn’t leave her mouth, pain clouding her mind, feeling lightheaded as blood kept pouring out

Mami muses that it would only be one extra arm that will help Harue dig

The thought almost makes her laugh

Homura is here, Mami doesn’t notice when she got here

Mami doesn’t hear her words at first, the ringing in her ears consuming all other sounds

Homura stares into her face before grabbing the stub

Mami feels her flesh close itself

Homura grabs her face before shouting

“Y--RE N-T --ING, DON’- --U DA--“

She’s worried huh, it’s the most expressive Mami has seen her, it’s a shame she had to lose her arm for that, she would rather it would be something happy that broke that steel shell (she feels disgusted with herself at being happy that the girl cares)

***

Sayaka made a wish for her to get her arm back

Mami cries

It’s her fault the girl wasted her wish

She does her best to suppress the happiness she feels at having another one of her friends to fight alongside

Chapter Text

Sayaka wasn’t sure how she felt about being a magical girl, she was a hero, she saved people who needed help, she destroyed evil, she finally could keep up with Madoka and Mami (if only just barely)

It felt great the first week, to be the one who saves people, to discover that her magic could make Kyosuke’s hands better, to fight together with her friends

The next week she learns that she no longer can be called human

Fiddling with her soul(gem) in between her fingers she stares at the window, Sayaka doesn’t think she’d regret her wish, it was made in a panic sure, she didn’t really think it through, but her friend was in one piece

She wouldn’t die

And then that idea was shattered

Because as long as your soul gem exists you will remain alive, wounds won’t kill you

It feels like a waste

(It feels worse to think it is)

And then Homura strolls in and she knew, of course she did

(Is that why she was so against contracting? Gods couldn’t she be clearer?)

Well, at least she met the roommate, kind of a bitch if Sayaka had to say so herself

A really selfish one at that

Well, with a living legend of a witch coming she can see why Homura asked her for help, she was strong (even if Sayaka will never say that to her face, she doesn’t need her ego boosted any more)

And that’s another thing isn’t it? In 2 weeks the city will be under threat of destruction, enough that they needed any help they could get

5 magical girls should be enough if what Homura said is right (wow the girl was grumpy when she was explaining that, wonder what’s the reason behind that)

Despite how annoying the whole thing is, Sayaka closes her eyes and finally tries to sleep

(The memories of a crushed arm, buried deep into the ground, pieces of bones protruding out of it as blood marred them lingered in her dreams, engraving the reason for her wish deep into her irises)

***

Madoka has had a bad week, a bad two weeks, first she sees her friend-mentor lose her arm to a witch that was already on the brink of death (the blank look Mami gave her arm stuck inside her mind, the way she was barely surprised when it was taken off and crushed crushed crushed into the ground)

And then she learns that her soul was separated from her body, removed from it confines and turned into a jewelry, her very own soul held in her own hand

And of course there was the third thing, the queen of witches, whatever that meant (if a normal witch could so easily kill them, what about their queen?)

At least Homura had a plan for that, prepared beyond a reasonable doubt, possible locations, abilities, familiars, strength, durability… there was a lot of information on it

They would prepare, Madoka was s-hoped they will live through this, survive another day, so one day she could confess, so one day she could enjoy the life at its brightest, finish high school, college, settle down (don’t die forgotten, useless, not leaving even a slight mark at your own existence, don’t get to experience love at its brightest)

It takes hours to get through everything, Madoka can almost believe they will certainly win

The memory of the dying witch doesn’t let it become a full belief (the horrible sound, how easily it did it when they got distracted, how it could have been something besides the arm, how easily it could have been someone else who got hit)

***

The queen of witches, Harue didn’t know if this was a literal title, if she ruled above other witches, able to control them or something, or if it was a simple denomination of her strength

Homura was stressed, Homura, the one person Harue hardly saw struggle with anything expect picking up hints apparently

And this same girl didn’t have full faith that they could win without anyone dying

5 should be enough, the chances are high, they have great probability to win

Harue can’t help but think about the scenario when not everyone comes back, a world where Homura doesn’t come back (her new sister, somebody who cared when she doesn’t know she could), a world where Kyoko is no longer in the same house (she kept using Harue owing her to drag her out, to make sure she wasn’t cooped up and then said she was selfish in the same breath), a world where she wouldn’t see Sayaka tease her friends (a firm person, she cares, she wants to help so much), a world where Madoka no longer exists (her creator, the one who made that wish, the girl who gave her life, the one who Homura loved, the one who loved Homura), a world where Mami wouldn’t be there as a quiet pillar (alone for so long, Harue knows, Mami knows)

Just the thought alone makes her feel nauseous

So Harue locks herself in her room and stares at her notebook, trying to come up with some wish that could turn the tides, make sure they all come back together

She found friends that cared for her, found people who didn’t abandon her when they learned how weak she is, how behind she is (how utterly pathetic she is)

Selling her soul to fight is the least she can do, all she had really

What’s the price of a soul when you were made from someone’s wish? Did she even have one? Presumable yes, if the contract could be done

It didn’t matter, the world hadn’t given her much help from the beginning, so what if she would eventually die fighting, so what if her soul would get ripped out of her body, she will do whatever she can to protect people who hold her dear (she would treat them as her world, for anything else would be a disservice to their kindness)

Chapter Text

Madoka stared at her phone, text app already opened, the message was already typed out and all she had to do was send it

It wasn’t as if it was provocative or something, it wasn’t exactly daring either

Just asking to hang out together

…even if she was going to treat it like a date, it wasn’t one

Gathering her courage she finally hits the formidable send button

Dokidoka:Hey Homura-chan! Are you free tomorrow? Maybe we can hang out? Just us 2

A beat later she receives a reply

AkemiHomura:sure, what do you want to do?

Dokidoka:I was thinking going to the pizza place near the plaza and then go walk around the park

AkemiHomura:ok, what time should we meet up?

Dokidoka:Well, how about 12:30?

AkemiHomura:alright, I will meet you there

Grinning from ear to ear Madoka stands up and goes to her wardrobe

“Now, for this part…”

***

Homura was staring at the messages, it wasn’t often they texted each other, this loop they haven’t had much time for one on one hanging out

She hasn’t been alone with Madoka much since she realized she loved her

Sure, this was just hanging out together, but who said she can’t do two things at the same time, have fun with her friend and treat it like a pseudo date, fantasize a little

No one will ever know anyway

Just one problem really, she hadn’t bought clothes other than those that were required for school this loop

***

Coming 30 minute early should have been enough to arrive early, at least this was what Madoka thought, but coming to the pizza place she spots Homura-chan waiting by the entrance

It takes a couple of minutes spent staring at her before Madoka moves to greet her, her attention constantly moving to the braid on her back, the pale purple turtle neck and the long dark blue skirt

Using the last few moments to compose herself before greeting her, she finally speaks to her

“Homura-chan! Looks like we’re both early!”

The girl looks surprised before a soft smile graces Madoka with its presence

“It seems so, let’s go inside”

Fighting the blood urgently moving to her cheeks Madoka grins and nods, before she can try to, Homura is already holding the door for her to enter

Smiling gratefully at her Madoka enters the pizza place

***

Coming an hour early was probably a little overkill, but it’s been a while since they’ve had a one on one hang out, if she wanted to treat it like a date she had to act like it was one (minus a few things, but oh well, it will still be nice)

She got a few odd looks as she stood there in front of the entrance, but that didn’t really matter, so when Madoka greeted her, she felt a smile appear without her prompting it to

Madoka was in a pink jacket, a dark teal shirt beneath it, a chestnut skirt and dark brown stockings

Quickly tearing her gaze away they entered the store and order a small pizza alongside a strawberry smoothie for Madoka and a chocolate one for her

“So, how is it changing schools Homura-chan?”

Pulling her mouth away from the straw Homura speaks

“It’s interesting, I’ve been to catholic school before being pulled out for my… health problems”

It’s weird to admit, probably the dozens of loops she spent in the same month, repeating the same days, already used to and bored off the same classes that were once new-

“Uh, sorry Homura could you repeat that, I got distracted for a second”

Giving the girl a surprised look she saw her cheeks burning brightly with a blush, so smiling, Homura repeated herself

***

‘Wow, ok Madoka, you have to actually listen you know! You can’t just stare at the girl’s lips when you asked her the question yourself!’

Shaking her head Madoka quietly speaks

“Uh, sorry Homura could you repeat that, I got distracted for a second”

Seeing the surprised face Madoka felt even more of a blush climb up to her face, she didn’t have it in her to fight it this time

Seeing Homura smile at her made it worse

Barely holding it together Madoka actually heard the answer this time

“Have you been enjoying the classes then?”

“I have, it’s especially nice with friends there”

Madoka had to fight the squeal at the girl’s cuteness from coming out

“It is great isn’t it? I remember the year Sayaka was placed in a different class from me and Hitomi, it was so annoying!”

Receiving a chuckle was probably a good sign right?

It sounded nice at the very least

Wait no, focus, you can’t just miss what she says like last time!

***

Finishing lunch Madoka launches herself to the door, holding it out herself this time, seeing Homura giving her a soft smile made it worth it

Madoka contemplated the idea for a while, it was something friends did, hell she did it with Sayaka and Hitomi plenty of times, but the thought alone made her palms sweat

Absent mindedly wiping them on her skirt Madoka decided to go for it, the worst that can happen is her letting go

So she takes Homura’s hand in her own and continue to walk, trying to act like it’s nothing

Feeling the grip around her hand tighten Madoka felt a smile find a way to her face

The walk was quiet as Madoka enjoyed the moment, the contact of their hands, just the fact of being together like this

Even if this wasn’t technically a date, both sides had to agree for it to be one

***

Homura felt ecstatic, even if this was a bit of a waste of time, spending time with Madoka alone was great, her fantasy of this being a date helping her enjoy this much more than it would have been otherwise (not that it would be bad either way, she was with Madoka, there wasn’t anything that could make this bad)

When Madoka held her hand Homura had to send some magic to her heart to slow it down to normal level

The walk in the park was nice, walking around looking at other people enjoying themselves, being close to nature (was it really nature when they were still in the city? Who Knows?)

Ending the day with the ice cream was good

Bring Madoka home was only polite, standing in front of her house as both of them kept glancing at each other uncertain was… interesting to say the least

Well, if this was a date you would end it with some sign of affection? Kissing is… well early she supposes, professing her love wasn’t in the plan until the loop ended and she could move on after getting rejected

This left a hug, so Homura moved in and embraced the girl

***

Feeling Homura’s hands wrap around her neck as she hugged her was unexpected, being pressed into her shoulder was a nice bonus

After a few moments of awkwardly having her hands in the air she moved them to hug her around the waist

A few minutes later they separated and Madoka finally entered her home, the next moment she saw her mom grinning at her

“So, it seems the date went well huh~?”

“W-It w-wasn’t a date mom!”

***

The moment she got home she heard Kyoko loudly ask

“How did the date go?”

Deciding to take her time in responding, Homura slowly removed her shoes and only answering when she was in the same room as the girl

“It went good”

The redhead grinned at her

“Not even going to try deny it eh?”

“I was treating it as one anyway”

Deciding to end this conversation, Homura went to her room, changing clothes before going to bed, hugging her pillow as she reminisced of the day she had

It was a good one, one she will remember for a long time

Chapter Text

Madoka was still thinking about the hug

It was probably not exactly normal to continue to do so, but the only one to judge her was herself

Because she wasn’t letting this slip to anyone

“What, still stuck thinking about your date~?”

“Not exactly…”

Fuck

***

Walking out of the school, Madoka saw Kyoko standing near the gates

Spotting her the girl gave her a wave before continuing to look for someone, Sayaka scoffed near her while Hitomi curiously glanced between them

A few moments later Kyoko spots what she’s looking for and grabs the Akemi’s, Madoka feels a slight disappointment at not being able to invite them herself

What she gets for being slow

“Well, I suppose it’s just us this time, don’t worry Madoka, you’ll get to invite your girlfriend another time”

Composing herself enough to send a glare at Sayaka, Madoka huffs at turns away from her

“It’s been a while since we hanged out just us right Hitomi? This will be fun!”

Sayaka lets out a surprised sound as Hitomi smirks at her

“You’re right Madoka, it has been a while, just us two here”

“HEY, don’t just start ignoring me like that Madoka! And Hitomi don’t just play along with her!”

Hitomi stifled her giggles as Madoka continued to walk, not even looking at the other girl

“Where should we go Hitomi? How about the coffee place by the mall?”

“Sure, that sounds good”

“Ugh c’mon, it was one joke!”

***

Sayaka was still sulking when they got to the coffee shop, ignoring that Madoka went to the worker and ordered something for everyone, 2 mocha’s for her and Hitomi and a cappuccino for Sayaka

Coming to sit on her seat she chatted with both of the girls, keeping the topic off the magical girl stuff, making sure to relax instead of keep piling up stress onto themselves, what kind of outing would this be if they just talked about it the whole time? A not very relaxing one that’s for sure

“So, what actually went at the date huh?”

Well, Madoka already knew Sayaka would latch onto it, especially after her slip up in the morning, still she tried to reason with the girl mumbling out

“It wasn’t a date”

Sayaka only rolled her eyes, lightly pushing Hitomi in the shoulder as she pointed at Madoka

“Would you look at that! She can’t even convince herself and tries with us!”

“It makes me wonder what happened there more… was there perhaps a… kiss involved?”

Freezing, letting out a few pathetic sounds that didn’t even sound like words Madoka felt a fierce blush overtake her before standing up and pointing at both of them

“W-what no! I-it was j-just a hUG!”

Madoka tried to ignore the way her voice pitched up at the end

Hitomi smirked at her

“Just a hug? What’s next! Are you going to bring us a niece~? I don’t think I’m quite ready yet~!”

Sayaka grinned at those words

“Ehh, I think I’m perfectly ready, but I would appreciate some more time anyway you know~?”

Madoka held herself together and did not slam her hands at the table, instead choosing the alternative of glaring at her friends as hard as she could

Unfortunately, all that produced was some coo’s

***

While they were walking to a mall Madoka received a message from unknown contact

Checking it Madoka involuntary stopped in her tracks

It was a photo of Homura cleaning Harue’s face

“Augh”

“Huh? Madoka?”

“Ough”

“Madoka??”

Staring at the picture Madoka felt a hand on her shoulder before she heard snickering

“Ah of course, that will do that”

“Madoka it’s a … casual photo…? Are you really that easy?”

“S-shut up!”

A ping from her phone stole her attention the next moment as she saw a message

Feed:hopefully you enjoyed that sample, fuck if I know your taste, just don’t ask for lewd shots or something and I can provide, just treat me sometime -Kyoko

Madoka read the message 3 times before responding

Dokidoka:tjank you

Dokidoka:thanl

Dokidoka:thank

Feed:I suppose this fit your taste then

Dokidoka:yes

Feed:good

Madoka had to wonder if this was too weird, it’s not like she would ask for more right? Just this once was good enough for her

“Oh wow you’re desperate, I mean I knew it before, but this puts a whole different perspective on it”

Ah yes, Sayaka and Hitomi were there too

***

 Spending the day with her friends has been pleasant, it’s been a few weeks since it was only them, sure Madoka wouldn’t mind more people, even invite others (the fact that she had a crush on one of them doesn’t matter)

Just three of them being alone was nice, the jokes they developed in the years of knowing each other, the teasing, walking around together, the familiarity of it all made it all that much better

It made the decision to fight all that much easier, to have the future in the same town, to not worry about tomorrow’s day

She would fight, she wouldn’t die, she would get to live

She wouldn’t let the walpugrisnacht take that all from her

***

Kyubey sat in the large room, the darkness overwhelming it

Footsteps sounded out, soon a young girl walked in

“Kyubey you’re here”

‘I am’

The girl nervously twirled her hair as she looked at it, wondering about something before walking to her laptop and opening a document

“Any wish right?”

‘Of course, as long as your potential allows for it, most wishes don’t cross that line of course’

It was curious, to see humans be so serious about it, Kyubey much preferred the specimen who made their wish on the spot, it was much easier to mature them to completion

Though with Walpugrisnacht approaching, the chances of the death of this one’s ‘friends’ would likely push her over the edge anyway

‘Still deciding on your wish? I thought you already picked one yesterday?’

“Just… making sure I thought about it enough, there’s no problem with that right?”

‘But of course, it would be quite unpleasant if you regretted it’

Observing the girl Kyubey waited

15 minutes later she finally stood up and walked up to it

“Kyubey, I wish… to be there for my friends, to be able to help them!”

Feeling the chill of the wish algorithm Kyubey nodded, beginning the process

A minute later Shizuki Hitomi has become a magical girl

Chapter Text

“So, Homura, do you have any plans today?”

“Not particularly, I was thinking of spending the evening looking for a witch”

Harue smiled at her, nodding to herself as she grabbed her hand when they were near the gates

Homura saw something red amongst the crowd and suddenly understood what was happening, so she resigned herself, not like she could escape without hurting Harue

So she was pulled into where Kyoko stood

“So, we’re going out today! You had your little date, now you spend some time with us!”

Rolling her eyes Homura went along with them

Nothing was supposed to happen today, no critical witches to kill, no other wishes to prevent (she failed every single one of them), nothing

So she let herself be dragged to an arcade Harue and Kyoko frequented

***

Some games very easier than others, shooting games, throwing machines, holding to a stick as long as you can while it vibrates…

Those were easy, something she was used to

Thought it seems Kyoko noticed something weird going on when she disconnected the nerves from her hand to not send signals to her brain

When asked about it, Homura just noted that she was using her natural advantage as a magical girl

The claw machines are another beast, a pure hell of a game

Homura spent half the trip to the arcade desperately trying to win at least something

She failed

Harue and Kyoko were having their own fun all the while, Kyoko dragging Harue from one machine to another, whenever Homura felt bored or too angry she would watch them

It was nice to see them happy, enjoying themselves

Homura was going to leave this world, just like the previous ones

Reset and go back in time again, because she failed another time

The only one to follow her will be Anny, apparently attuning their magic together connected them to a point

Yet no one else will remember this

Homura can only hope the next timeline will allow this friendship to begin again

***

Convincing Harue to drag Homura into their hang out was easy enough

It didn’t seem like the girl wasn’t enjoying herself so Kyoko had to count that as a win, even if she got a bit weird by the time they left the arcade, well this wasn’t going to end this early thought, so grabbing their hands, earning a resigned sigh from glasses and an eye roll from the kitty

They didn’t question her so it was good enough

Finding that one family restaurant she used to come to she went in

Quickly finding a table and sitting the shut in’s Kyoko got the menu

Ordering some food they talked

Of course she had to take the brunt of the conversation, the Akemi’s were the listening sort it seems

So she told stories from her magical girl days, some school one’s, stories about beating the shit out of overconfident smart asses

Homura gave some commentary, it was better than nothing so Kyoko took it

After finishing the main course they ordered some desserts

When the cake was delivered, slices split between them Kyoko quickly ate hers, pulling out her phone when a familiar voice surprised all of them

“…Kyoko?”

Mami huh, well, they already met once since they split off and Kyoko got here, it was still awkward between the two of them

“…hi Mami”

Looking back Kyoko suddenly laughs, Harue furrowing her brows at the cake smeared on her cheek

“Don’t make fun of me, I got startled!”

Opening the camera on her phone Kyoko unfortunately isn’t fast enough to catch the caked face, instead she got a shot of Homura wiping her face

Well, at least it was something

Glancing back to Mami Kyoko speaks up

“Ah c’mon, just sit with us already, stop standing there awkwardly!”

A surprised looks flashes on the blonde’s face before she gratefully smiles at her and sits down with them, quietly ordering some tea for them all

Soon the conversation picked up again, this time Mami giving her some room to breathe as well, making her not being the only one to speak

It was good to talk with her again, the time spent away from each other evaporating, settling into the old rhythm they have long since developed

Homura adding into it, as if she already knew that same rhythm by heart, easily integrating herself

Harue seemed content to listen, laughing when she found something funny, smiling at pleasant memories

The evening was spent in blissful moments

Later Kyoko sent the photo she got to Madoka, why not use it right?

***

Harue was waiting

She knew that it would come, it did so every other night

Meeting up at night in some alley wasn’t perfect, wasn’t exactly safe either, but Kyubey unfortunately wasn’t able to enter their home (or was it fortunate? She could have made the contract without knowing that her soul would be ripped out inside her own home, this provided some insensitive to not do it, even if she was ignoring it at this moment)

Harue was afraid of this, making a wish that forever changed her soul, where would she go after she dies? Souls exists, so afterlife probably does too?

But would she be allowed there? In some time she will sell her soul, the motivation will probably not matter with her action

Will she be barred from eternity? Left to nothing after her soul extinguishes?

(Did that matter?)

‘Ah, Harue, you’re already here I see’

Glancing at the devil she nods

‘Did you decide then?’

As if it didn’t already know, yet she still gives it a nod

‘So, what wish will you make? What should make your soul shine?’

Harue speaks

“I wish to have the ability to protect them, to make sure they all come back alive”

The next moment pain engulfs her, for a moment she feels the sun being forcefully pulled out of her body

A moment after that she feels different

She feels something inside her

Something to the right of her entire being

It feels familiar, moving back and forth, spontaneously stopping from time to time (it doesn’t belong, it shouldn’t be here)

***

Homura startled in her sleep, waking up as she looked at her chest

Something was blooming, a feeling of something to the left of her sparking into existence

There was nothing there physically

The familiar pull of magic, yet different (wrong, this is wrong, this isn’t supposed to happen)

She feels herself in the bedroom

She feels herself 2 streets down

And it keeps blooming

Chapter Text

Logic told her that two additional magical girls will make this easier

Reason told her that it didn’t matter, this timeline was doomed long ago

Her emotions burned thought, the red hot anger that it happened, that somebody else had doomed themselves to this fate because she wasn't attentive enough

She spent her afternoon hunting down every single incubator body she could find, she lost count of how many she killed

It took days for Homura to relax

Still, the new assets had to be used (no matter how little time they have, they’ll die, they’ll die and it would be her fault for not noticing sooner)

So she runs them through it, as much as she can

Their magic is not offence orientated, so she makes them improvise

Harue wish resulted in ability to produce magical barriers with healing properties

There was also something else, she could use Homura’s own magic, as does Homura her (wrong, this isn’t supposed to be possible, wrong, wrong wrong-)

They practice combine these two, the pangs of wrongness she feels whenever Harue uses her magic is most probably mirrored, they ignore it

Her magic isn’t too complicated, easy enough to instantly use in battle, it would take much longer for her to face a witch alone, but it’s possible

Her shield is painfully similar to her own, expect that the mechanisms don’t just open, they expand outwardly, making it easier to block, its full diameter being around a meter

Hitomi magic is different, a link between people that she could go across, instantly moving between connected people, the link itself allowing the girl to enhance others, be it their magical output, speed, durability or something else

It would be useful, even if they would have managed without it

Her weapon a staff that produces the links, after spending some time on it they learn that links can be made corporeal, latching them into things and taking instead of giving

The effect seems to work well on witches, enough for them to be easily finished off

It’s perfect for what’s coming (Homura feels sick that she hoped this’d happen sooner, that she’d known this was possible)

***

Homura knows this feeling, used to it after dozen of fights, the feeling of impending doom trying to absorb her, the pressure of the sky trying to crush her into the ground

Homura doesn’t think she’ll ever get over it

She killed that thing a dozen of times, never alone, but always ending in failure

The largest obstacle in her goal, the thing she hates the most after incubator’s kind

There are 6 people with her

It doesn’t inspire confidence

They will kill it, Homura knows for sure, she won’t let it live after all, the fury in her heart, the hate inside it (the fear she harbors) wouldn’t let her

So when it appears, she doesn’t hesitate, time stops as Harue glances at her in the black and white world

Grabbing a rocket launcher she fires, and fires, and fires, and fires, and fires, and fires, and fires, and fires

Time starts moving and explosions color the world in light

The witch laughs

Homura’s personal hell descends yet another time

***

Madoka knew that this would be hard, she knew that this would be the deadliest fight she would probably go through

She knew all the details about the witch, knew all its tics, knew how it moves, knew what it would do in almost every single situation

She still wasn’t ready

Madoka knew on some level, that knowing about something wasn’t the same as understanding it

The world feels like it’s spinning as the fight progresses, the familiars feels overwhelming even with their combined magic

There is not a scratch on the queen yet

It feels hopeless, yet she fights

7 magical girls, a full team, they’ll win

***

Mami thought she knew all about magical girl life, spending 2 years of her life dedicated to it

She was wrong 2 times

Soul gem being her soul was a shock, one she doesn’t know when she will recover from (her trust in Kyubey and for what? For him to rip out her soul out of her chest, continue to do so with other girls, all because no one ever asks)

Waplugrisnacht, she had thought it would be just a witch, a stronger one for sure, but still something not beyond reason to defeat

It was a natural disaster instead

Normal people, those without potential thought of it as a storm, it might as well have been one

Blasting through as many familiars as she could. Sending as many shots at IT as she could manage, didn’t make a dent

It stood tall

(It laughed)

In the first few minutes of the fight she almost dies 5 times

3 of those times are prevented by Harue

1 by Homura

1 by Sayaka

Spreading ribbons through the city as far as she can, creating some ground to stand on, stopping IT from moving as freely (it doesn’t do anything, it moves as freely as before, the slight resistance before they snap doesn’t last for as second)

The fights moves on

Because her opinion’s and thoughts don’t matter to that thing

Only her eventual end

***

Sayaka had expectations, even after the reality check fighting a witch she still expected something different

Grinding herself into the army of familiars, breaking bones and healing them, tearing her muscles and replacing them the next moment, filling up holes and healing up slashes she moves forward

Replacing blood isn’t hard, it’s as easy as any other movement of her magic, it doesn’t normally cost much, yet today, when she can’t heal herself fast enough before another wound is dealt to her, it feels like something is sucking her magic out

Grief seed after grief seed she throws herself into the blender that this fight is

She doesn’t feel like a hero, she doesn’t feel good, she feels exhausted, but she keeps moving, because if she doesn’t who would take her place? (If she dies, who would be next?)

Death scares her

Letting her friends die alongside her scares her more

***

Kyoko expected worse

The world loved to fuck with them, so why wouldn’t it now right?

Yet Homura’s prediction remained true, her information holding up

Kyoko felt some hope enter her thought before she squished it, not yet, not when that monster is still alive, not when her normalcy, her friends are still under threat of death

It’s hanging over them, the sickle that will take their heads at any moment, an execution ready to happen

So Kyoko claws, bites, but does not go down, throwing spear after spear, moving between familiars, killing one after another

The unblemished image of the witch stays in the air, still perfect

A moment too late she notices one of the familiars attacking her, aiming for her head, a death sentence before, but certainly not now when she knows the truth

It doesn’t hit her though, a barrier appearing before her, moment later she slashes the familiar in half, sending a quick thank you through the telepathic connection before continuing to fight

Kyoko knows what to expect this time, it doesn’t feel any easier

***

Harue feels glad that she contracted and curses herself in the same moment for doing so

It’s terrifying, to go against it, something so powerful, so malicious

The fact that it didn’t do anything by itself yet fills her with more dread

It’s a struggle to remain alive, to make sure they are safe, her mind feels used up

The feeling of someone (Homura) reaching deep into her being and channeling her magic through herself is uncomfortable

Knowing that she does the same makes it easier to endure

Harue keeps looking, keeps making sure they don’t get hurt as much as she can, keeps blocking attacks that could kill them, keeps holding a barrier on each and every one’s soul gem

She feels like she’s in hell

When building start to float, launching themselves into them, she’s sure she is

***

Hitomi keeps making the link, positive and negative, channeling the taken durability to Sayaka, speed to Kyoko and Homura, output to Mami, Madoka and Harue

It’s a constant game of juggling, one familiar dies so she sends the link to another, moving between her links to her friends to dodge

When building starts to rain down she starts moving her friends to her instead

If before she was juggling flaming balls, now she juggled chainsaws

She goes through grief seeds fast, perhaps too fast, but it doesn’t matter, she will make sure to help as much as she can even if that kills her

And looking at the fight? It just might, she’s afraid, she might die here, she might never see her parents face again, never get to date, never have a life beyond middle school

Hitomi doesn’t regret it

A selfish choice to be there, to put herself in danger so she could make sure, to help where it might not be necessary

She laughs as another building is sent to her, a moment later she’s next to Madoka, sending negative links to all surrounding familiars

She fights on

***

Homura knows this witch as much as she knows her own home, as much as she knows the first day of school, as much as she knows her own body

It’s never easy, never will be, its hell that she has to move towards every single day, prepare for every damned day

The amount of times her friends died to it, she’s not sure how she’s still alive at this point, be it luck, or something else, that is already behind her, because at this point it’s just a play, a play which script she already knows by heart

She rewrote it a hundred times, yet it always ends in tragedy

(Will there ever be a happy ending for her? Will she ever leave this loop? Will she ever save Madoka? She doesn’t know when, but it will happen, another option is simply unforgivable, to die is the greatest failure she could manage)

They work well together

Stopping time, unfreezing Madoka, duplicating as much explosives as possible before using them on the witch

It’s hurt, it cries out in pain, it thrashes when hundreds of amplified explosions hit it

It’s music to her ears

The familiars are almost gone by now, Kyoko joining them in pelting the witch with her spears

A building is sent towards them, stopping time and dragging the girl away they continue

They fight and fight and fight, soon all familiars are defeated

It’s been 2 hours since the start

Strings from Hitomi’s staff latch onto the Walpugrisnacht

It still takes another hour to beat it

Homura watches as Kyoko falls onto the ground, laughing

She watches as Mami sits down near a collapsed wall

She continues to watch as Sayaka face plants to the ground, grumbling as she lays there

She watches when Hitomi grabs onto a broken wall not to fall down from exhaustion

She watches when Harue lays near Kyoko, breathing in and out

She watches as Madoka looks at everyone

Nobody died again

Homura is thankful she doesn’t have to see that again

She watches them as disbelief slowly moves away from their gaze

She turns away and starts walking, it hurts to watch

She climbs as high as she can, gazing at the city in it destroyed glory

An imperfect world, her promise failed again

At the very least Madoka isn’t dead is she? She’s still there, alive and breathing (as alive as you can be after making a contract)

Homura failed, so she turns her shield

She feels light embrace her

It’s familiar

It’s weird

Her soul shakes

She feels something, to the left of her (nononononononononononono)

She feels herself in the light

She feels herself flying to the light

She feels connection, she feels whole, right

(She already was, this is wrong, wrong wrong wrongwrongwrongwro-)

***

Madoka watches as everyone falls down exhausted, the fight took a lot from each of them

It still feels like the fight didn’t end, Madoka feels on guard, she watches them, to see that they’re fine, it takes a moment to realize Homura left, she still felt her, so Madoka didn’t say anything, with all the info she had…

Maybe she needed some time to breathe, to let it sink in that this was real

Madoka will go to her a bit later, for now she’ll stay here

Watch over them a little longer

(Make sure they didn’t die)

Madoka can’t help but smile when Mami starts to laugh, it finally setting in what they did

Kyoko grins to her

Sayaka soon joins in

A pillar of light appears and suddenly Harue starts to convulse

Her soul gem rising

They react to slow, it flies away to the light

They move, running after it as hard as they can

(The pillar… it appeared where Homura went, is she alright? Should have she went with her?)

The light disappears, when they arrive all that meets them is a corpse

No soul gem in sight

Chapter Text

Homura felt her head splitting up as memories spilled in, she kept remembering her life before the loop (the half-forgotten fragments once again together), remembers the night before the operation, the next day waking up in somebody else’s house, remembers acquiring an older sister, friends, remembers learning of the soul gem truth, remembers preparing to make a wish, to make sure her dear people come back whole

Remembers the pain of her soul shaping itself into something more

Gasping for breath, clasping her chest as she kept trying to force more oxygen into her body, feeling magic overflow, much more than she could ever hold before, she manifested her soul gem

The pattern has changed, a completely new pattern has been made of her soul gem, reflecting the state of her soul

Homura choked down the laugh she felt bubble up as she thought of incubator

‘The anomaly got more mysterious didn’t it?’

Wasn’t that something?

For a low low price of absorbing her own fucking sister

Making sure to keep herself in check Homura went through the procedures

The only variable was Harue (different, she’s not her, not the one she devoured)

Homura decided to stick to the girl for a bit, hugging her until it felt real, didn’t feel like she was seeing a ghost of someone she killed

***

Using witches as anger relief was pretty convenient, no one is harmed, Mami somehow finds her again (does she have a sense for the cat ears?? This is getting ridiculous)

She discover that Harue’s magic persisted with her, feeling it shine inside her soul alongside her original magic

It will be useful, to fool incubator, to protect them

(It will be a memento she can carry, will carry everywhere she is)

So Homura goes into barrier after barrier, gets used to the new aspect of her soul

It doesn’t feel wrong anymore, not in the same way perhaps

It will take time to be as proficient as she is with her time powers, fortunately enough she has all of eternity to perfect it

Maybe along the way she can find a way to hide the cat ears from Mami

***

Harue was worried

Homura was acting weird ever since the operation

When she saw her she practically jumped on her, hugging her for half an hour before finally letting her go, her eyes tracing over her

It was almost as if she was making sure she was real

Honestly, it should have been in reverse, Harue wasn’t the one with a heart condition, wasn’t the one who was operated on for hours, wasn’t the one who could have died

And then she kept going on ‘walks’, long long walks

Harue was worried, didn’t know what was happening

It was still her, but she somehow changed overnight, Homura always preferred to play strong for her, it took an embarrassing amount of time for Harue to notice, that her older sister wasn’t as invincible as she tried to make herself seem

It was still there, magnified by a hundred times, yet it seemed more real, as if an edge of reality was added to it

She tried to keep up the normalcy, acted as she always did, welcoming her home, coming to her to be near (everyday, instead of once a week)

She prepared for her sister to join her in class, to introduce her to the friends she made

It was the least she could do

***

“Madoka, could you walk to that store where they sell that banana-mint ice cream and buy me some? You can get something for yourself as well”

“Sure mama!”

Collecting the money Madoka slowly walked there, enjoying the city as she went

10 minutes later she entered the store, seeing that there was still a lot of that ice cream left, deciding to take it last she wandered around the store, picking something

A couple of minutes later she went to the store clerk and paid for her things

Deciding to take a shortcut, Madoka walked into an alley

An unfortunate mistake

She felt a hand grab her by the scruff of her shirt and the next moment something cold was next to her throat, a deep voice growled into her ear

“Alright, nothing is going to happen if you act good, just give me the wallet and we separate, like nothing ever happened, ok?”

Frozen Madoka tried to scream before a hand covered her mouth, the skin on her neck was pressed into what was probably a knife

“Nonono, you won’t be fucking screaming, don’t you fucking dare, if I hear as much as a-”

Click

This time Madoka wasn’t the only one to freeze

“W-what the hell, is that a gu-“

“Shut the fuck up, you have two options, release her and I only shoot you in the leg, try to do something stupid and the bullet goes through your head, understand?”

She felt the knife on her neck tremble slightly

“What the fuck you psycho!? You think you can thre-“

BANG

Madoka felt the grip relax, quickly looking back she saw the man on the floor, trembling as he looked at the bullet hole near his foot

Taking a step back Madoka finally saw her savior(?)

It was a girl about her age, black parting hair, wearing a black cardigan with a knee length red skirt, a pistol in her hand pointed at the man, frown on her face

Madoka stares as a face comes to mind

The girl turns to her, and at that moment her features relax, her gaze turning comforting as she softly asks

“Are you alright?”

“A-ah y-yep!! I’m t-totally fine! Nothing to worry about!”

The girl looks at her a moment longer before her gaze travels to the bag in her hand, scowling at the man she kicks him before looking back at Madoka

“Would you like me to escort you? So nothing as… unpleasant doesn’t happen again”

Madoka doesn’t even give herself time to think before she’s already nodding

‘Holy shit I’m a lesbian and this is how I discover it, from a friend’s sister threatening to kill someone for me’

The girl offers her the hand that Madoka gladly takes

They soon separate when Madoka gets home

As soon as she does she goes back to her and Sayaka’s old text messages, trying to find an old link, sure she should probably message Harue too, but that could wait, now Madoka had to satisfy her newly discovered identity and… interest

***

 A few days after encountering Madoka, Homura wakes up early, going to the bathroom to brush her teeth before moving to the kitchen, putting a kettle on as she opens the instant noodles and waits

10 minutes later Harue wakes up, lazily waving to her before going to the bathroom

The kettle boils

Pouring the boiling water to her noodles Homura waits

Food wasn’t exactly necessary sure, but burning magic for no reason was a bit stupid

Harue walks into the kitchen and picks up a cup of instant noodles for herself as well

It’s a quiet morning, a comfortable one

Harue gets ready for school, Homura feels a smile on her face

Harue is different, for the better really, no heart problems, just slightly physically weak, forced to follow her as she went from one hospital to another, still awkward, but actually used to human interaction

There is a knock on their door, raising her eyebrow at Harue she receives a shrug, going to the door she opens it slightly, there are 2 men in suits on the other side

Noticing the door opening one of the men speaks

“Ah Homura-sama! We’re here to escort Harue-sama to her destination!”

Homura feels compelled to transform and point a gun at the man, to get how he knows their names, why the formalities before something hits her

She know his name, there is an unfamiliar string of memories in her head, Suzuki Akira

Homura feels like she already knows what’s going on

Groaning she looks up at the sky

‘Madoka… could you please stop making wishes so fast...'

Chapter Text

Madoka didn’t know what she expected to happen after her wish, well, maybe a few things that have yet to happen

Getting another set of memories was an interesting experience, if disorientating

The wish changed a few things, made her single uncle who visited every other year an actual yakuza boss, his personality remaining mostly the same

It was a bit jarring that her accidental wish did that, just went and changed somebody like that

Unfortunately Madoka couldn’t really do anything about that, her wish used up

The day was mostly normal, she went to school with Sayaka and Hitomi, meeting Harue in class, thought Madoka did feel like someone was watching her when she was walking to school

…it was probably the bodyguards she remembers meeting once

It was a bit weird to have them follow her, Hitomi didn’t have those!

Well, might as well get used to it, it was probably for the better to have them with her than not

…even if she was a magical girl now, most probably much stronger than them

Well that was beside the point really, having someone look out for you felt nice

Seeing Harue, Madoka had an urge to walk up to her and confirm her suspicion, the girls looked almost identical really, it was most probably true, even if Harue’s description was a bit different from the girl she met

It wasn’t a bad different though!

She unfortunately had to wait, class was going to start too soon for her to get any worthwhile information (Like what type of flowers she liked, any types of dates she would prefer, if she was even into girls? A lot of things needed to be checked!)

“Hey Madoka~ you know, you’ve been staring right~? What, you were caught in our dear Harue’s charm?”

Jumping up slightly Madoka faced her friend with a pout

“Not… exactly? I think I met her sister a few days ago?”

“Hooo~? Not exactly huh~? Well alright then, you’re spilling at lunch!”

Madoka was about to protest when she saw Hitomi shake her head at her, a grin on her face

“You’re not escaping this easily Madoka~ This might be your first crush!”

Groaning Madoka let her head hit the table as she mumbled out

“You’re the worst actually”

All she got in response was laughter

***

“That does sound like her, at least what she wore…”

“Oh? What do you mean by that Harue?”

“Well… Homura has been kinda… different ever since the operation? Less expressive, more… clingy? Ugh that doesn’t sound right, affectionate? Kind off tired…”

Letting out a sigh the girl in front of her massaged her forehead before mumbling

“Where did she get the gun though? Did she borrow it from one of the uncles?”

Sayaka propped her head on her hand

“Yeah I’ve been wondering that myself, what, do your uncles work as cops? That’s kind of bad weapon management or whatever it’s called if a 14 year old could steal it”

Harue seemed to freeze, awkwardly smiling

“A-ah yes, police, that’s what they do”

Sayaka grin froze

“Harue, my dear friend, you’re really bad at lying you know?”

Harue avoid meeting her eyes, turning away

Madoka can’t help the giggle that escapes her

Hitomi lightly taps on the table and casually says

“You don’t really have to worry Harue, Madoka here is also related to some criminal stuff”

The girl seems to shift a little more, slightly turning to Madoka

“Is that, uh, true…? “

A few days ago the answer would have been no, but then Madoka woke up to a wish granting cat who apparently made a contract with her

Now she had history of being related to a yakuza boss, no matter how strange that felt, Hitomi just casually pointing that out while Madoka herself hasn’t yet fully processed it

She still nods

Harue seems to brighten a small bit before quietly whispering

“Well, our dad used to be a boss of this one Yakuza group, when he died his right hand decided to take care of us, something about returning the favor?”

Sayaka seems to be freed from her stupor before she lightly elbows Madoka, smirking

“Well that’s perfect! Our Madoka here has a Yakuza boss uncle for herself too! Maybe she’d get to live through one of those arranged marriage stories too!”

Hitomi giggles while Harue looks between them, seemingly confused

Madoka meanwhile tries to purge all the fanfics that she read after meeting Homura, sure they had that premise there, but the other parts…

***

When Madoka heard that Homura was going to come to school today, she had a few unrealistic expectations, the scenes from one of those manga’s she read where a limo stops before a school, a row of men in suits roll out a carpet and a girl walks over

Surely things like that wouldn’t happen right?

Apparently, they did, though Homura didn’t step out of the limousine, just walking alongside it, scowling at the men constantly looking around

Straight up kicking the shins of the person trying to roll up the carpet

This would have looked intimidating, perhaps if the girl’s face wasn’t perpetually red

Madoka was barely containing the squeal that was building up inside her

Madoka was sure of one thing, even if she fails, she will make sure to try her best in seducing the girl

***

Madoka wasn’t sure how she got here, a senpais home, where Homura has led her after class, saying she needed to give her some advice

…should she be eating such a delicious cake right now?

She was sitting here alone, Homura and the blonde haired senpai went into another room to talk to each other about something, so Madoka was waiting, enjoying the best homemade cake she ever tasted, maybe just the best cake? Having double the memories that overlap makes it much more confusing than it has to be…

Soon Homura walks in and sits down, the other girl looks worried as she sits down as well

“Right… so what is it that you wanted to speak about Akemi-san?”

Surname huh

“I will start with the fact that everyone here is a magical girl”

Madoka froze as her eyes widened, the other girl just nodded, not surprised at all

“Wh-huh??”

“The second thing I wanted to tell you is to be careful with your soul gem, as the name states, it’s your soul, you can confirm this with Kyubey”

“what”/”WHAT”

“Well, this is everything I wanted to tell you, any questions?”

Chapter Text

Sayaka was positively bursting with energy, she was a magical girl, a real life magical girl

Really, this was the most exciting thing to happen to her! She did kind of waste her wish, but it’s not like she had many options there, she either made a wish or fight the witch as a normal human

So she wished to get out of the labyrinth

At least Kyubey seemed satisfied

Sayaka was kind of wondering where the limit of wishes was, what she could have used it for instead?

Well, she’s not going to find out now is she?

At least Kyubey said that there were already a few magical girls in her school who could teach her, one almost as new as her

If this was a manga, Sayaka would honestly suspect Harue and Homura, transferred in the middle of school year, Homura’s apparent sudden change in character overnight, maybe she wished to be different?

Sayaka wasn’t sure about that

Of course it could be someone entirely different, someone she just never crossed paths with, that would be fun too!

Maybe Madoka was one of the magical girls? Wouldn’t that be nice, to have a friend in the business (?)

Honestly, her life did seem like a manga premise at this point

Two entirely different Yakuza faction sending their successors to the same school, the sudden change in one of them, discovering that magical girls are real, all that was left was finding a love interest really!

(Some part of her brain went to the image of a boy in the hospital)

There was even some yuri bait!

Really, life was seemingly turning around in a massively more interesting direction!

***

School was kind of boring as usual, well not like anything would suddenly change in that department right? Maybe she would have to skip to fight witches or something? That would be nice… even if her record will suffer because of that

Sayaka did notice Homura staring at her for a few moments when she walked in, frowning and then looking away

A bit weird, but who cares right?

Well unless there were some dark magical girls or something and Homura was one of them? Like maybe she got possessed?

Sayaka really hoped that wasn’t the case, the girl just got done with her surgery from what Harue said, to be possessed right after? Evil

Falling on her desk Sayaka loudly complained

“Maaan, why is math so complicated, when will we even use that formula in real life!”

Hitomi stifled her giggle and pat her on her back, lightly saying

“There there Sayaka, it’s done for today”

“I guess it is…”

Hearing some footsteps she looks to her right and sees Homura walk up to her

“Miki-san, would you be able to follow me? I want to talk about something”

“Huh? Well sure?”

Nodding the girl starts walking

Well this has got to be a magical girl thing right? She became one yesterday and the exact next day she is asked to come over to talk about something, not revealing details in the open

So Homura was most probably a magical girl huh, was that gun Madoka talked about her weapon or something? Madoka didn’t really describe it so who knows how it looked...

Maybe

Soon they walk to the stairs, where another girl stood

“Akemi-san, is this the girl you were talking about?”

“Yes, she’s the new magical girl I sensed, would you please explain everything I told you yesterday to her as well? I have something to take care of after class”

Wait wait hold on, talked? When did they have time? Homura didn’t even pull out a phone! This was a magic thing wasn’t it, it was, she was sure of it

The blonde girl frowns

“Do you need any help? I’m sure I can speak to…”

She speaks up quickly, giving her name to the girl

“Miki Sayaka”

Giving her a kind smile the girl continues

“… to Miki-san after helping you with your business”

Homura sighs as she slowly shakes her head

“It’s… family stuff I suppose, not magical girl things, some sort of meeting I have to attend”

Oooh right, she forgot in her excitement that Homura was related to Yakuza, is it that? Or just some regular family things? The way she talks about it doesn’t really make it likely in her opinion, so probably the former

The older girl nods

“I see, well then, Miki-san, would you like to accompany me today after class? There are some… unfortunate facts that I learned recently about the contract that you ought to know”

Well that’s ominous, what’s the worst that could happen? Some kind of big bad coming soon or something? Magic receding? Corruption that turns you to the dark side?

Hiding her excitement Sayaka nods

Really, no matter what, Sayaka was sure being a magical girl will top whatever downside it has

***

What the actual fuck

Her soul ripped out and he never said a word about it

Sayaka was going to rip that thing to bits when she gets to it

Annoying enough though, it’s nowhere to be seen, just vanished from face of the earth

Sayaka contemplates teleporting to another city to look for it, get some more answers

But apparently magical girls can be sensitive about their territory, so that was a bad idea

At least Tomoe-senpai was nice, Homura seemed to be… kind in her own weird way

Then there’s the whole ‘keep your soul gem clean or you basically die’ thing to worry about

Why would Kyubey even do all of this? What reason is there to make it so magical girls are always on their last breath? Why take their soul out? Sayaka would be getting answers, she just…

Has to find that darn cat, how hard could it be?

Chapter Text

It was about time, the extra business she had with Madoka’s wish delayed it slightly, but if she wanted to defeat Walpugris, making a deal with Kyoko was the correct choice (the fact that she got used to her being there didn’t matter, it was just 4 loops, just half a year)

But there was a certain nuance now, she didn’t live alone, so either she convinces Harue to let the girl live with them, or rents a house for her

Homura wasn’t exactly set on the latter choice, it would be much more convenient with her here

So she went to her sister, making some tea beforehand (she tries to follow the instruction that Mami once told her, it feels age’s ago since she heard them, her memory of them imperfect, it’s not quite right)

Harue seems curious

Homura sits her down before taking a seat opposite to her, taking a sip of tea she made (doesn’t taste right… she guessed wrong… should she ask again? It’s not like Mami is hostile this loop)

Harue squints at her before taking a sip herself, surprise blooming on her face

“I have this… project I’m working on”

Startling slightly Harue looks at her again, nodding

“There’s someone who’s perfect for helping with it, I wanted to ask for their help in exchange for letting her live with us, she’s about our age”

Harue face is once again colored by surprise before she frowns

Lowering her cup after taking another sip Homura continues

“This is not strictly necessary, I have other options for striking the deal, this way is just the most convenient, if you do not want that I’ll figure something out”

Harue frowns, taking her time to respond, Homura waits

They finish their tea before Harue finally responds

“I… don’t know right now, can you wait a few more days? Until the end of the week, your project isn’t urgent right?”

Was it? Not really, telling them could happen any time as long as she does it 2 weeks in advance, letting her friends memorize the information, letting them get over the fact that they very well could die, letting them have a chance to leave

(Homura is never not disappointed when they don't)

So she smiles as soft as she can

“No, it’s not, take your time”

“Thank you”

(Even if Kyoko’s not here, Homura isn’t alone, she will live)

(in the end, Harue agrees)

***

Kyoko was on a roof, looking down at the city while having some snacks when she felt it

A flare of magic, practically begging her to pay attention to it

So Kyoko answers this dumbasses begging and come to her, ready to beat the shit out of some overconfident newbie who decided that she wasn’t ‘heroic’ enough, really, those girls in their first few months always have the largest sticks up their ass

What she finds is something else though, the girl is calmly waiting, her eyes closed

“You’re here Sakura Kyoko”

Ok, so she knew her, big deal, every other magical girl in this city did

What was unnerving was the confidence she radiated, a feeling of someone who knew what kind of shit they stepped in, different from her and Mami, yet similiar

“Yeah yeah, that’s me, what do you want? I don’t think you came here just for a visit”

“I didn’t”

Knew it, at least she's honest about it

“So, kitty, what reason did you come to poor little me then?”

The girl looks at her, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them and speaking

“I would like to make a deal”

“Ho? Is that so? I have to warn you in advance, I’m not sharing this territory, shit is dry without another magical girl here”

The weirdo shakes her head

“I’m not interested in that, Walpugrisnacht, you most likely know about it right?”

…right, that thing, where was she going with this?

“I do, what does it matter?”

Kitty takes a big breath in and speaks

Kyoko listens of course

The deal is simple really, she will come with the girl to Mitakihara, hunt down the queen when she comes and in exchange she’ll get a place to stay, food there and help with a witch with no need to share the grief seed

When it’s all laid out Kyoko has trouble believing it’s real, that this golden goose came to her, just to go and help her fight some big ass witch she was going to hunt down at some point anyway

So Kyoko grins and shakes her hand

***

“Oh right, I forgot to say, I live with my little sister, she doesn’t know about the magical girls, we… probably should come up with some code”

Kyoko laughed, that girl really couldn’t find the better time? They were right in front of the house!

They walk up the stairs when she feels it, something cold pressed into the back of her head

Fuck, it was a trap huh? Should have just ki-

“Daiki-san, if you do not remove the gun from her head, I will personally make sure your remains will not be found”

Kyoko felt a shiver go down her spine, the cold barrel left her

“Y-yes Homura-sama, I apologize!”

The girl stares at the man, murder in her eyes

“You are to inform everyone else that if they try something like that, I will personally deal with them, if I’m bringing someone here that means I want them here”

The man shakes in place, bowing before practically sprinting out of here

Kyoko turns to the girl, hissing out

“What the fuck was that”

She frowns

“It appears I haven’t prepared enough… do not worry, I will make sure nothing like this happens again, I wouldn’t want to spoil our partnership”

What a non answer, whatever, fucking crime boss magical girl, least she kept her guy off her

“Fucking hell, I’ll just stab the guy next time”

And the fucking cat girl crime boss nods, sure whatever

“So, does your sister also not know about that?”

“Oh no, she’s perfectly aware of this side of things, maybe more than me”

…and wasn’t that creepy, a pair of sisters, one a magical girl and the other probably a crime boss, fucking hell should she just leave? If her sister is as intense as her this mi-

“Homura!”

The next moment Kyoko stares as a carbon copy of kitty without cat ears knocks her ass to the ground, tackling her, inspecting her, before going bright red when she finally notices Kyoko

Well, at least that one doesn’t seem as intense, this might be salvageable

Chapter Text

Something was going on, Harue was sure of that, she just wasn’t sure what it was exactly

Homura’s project was weird, she was collecting guns, a lot of them, she was pretty sure some of them weren’t from their group’s armory

Which was worrying, was she in danger? Was she trying to make an army or something? Why does she need so many guns???

There was also the fact of her making pipe bombs in her spare time, sometimes Harue walks in on her sitting there at the kitchen table assembling one

Of course soon after she seems to remember that this really isn’t a place for that and goes into her room (which is still worrying, what if something goes wrong??????)

Then there’s the other girl

Kyoko, she wasn’t really doing anything, mostly staying at their home and going out doing… something

She doesn’t really know and asking the uncles to spy on her will probably not end up well

It was also kind of… mean? Bad? Weird?

Yeah all that

Plus Kyoko was nice, so it would feel extra bad to do something like that to her

So Harue had to find another way to learn what the hell is going on

She had a theory though, why would her sister go out of her way to invite some random girl to live with them? She said she had a project that she wanted to do

But what if she lied?

Kyoko wasn’t doing anything really, so what help was she for that project?

So Harue came to a conclusion, the reason for this, a reason to keep a girl here, something that could need an excuse

Harue was a bit offended really, if her suspicion turned out to be true

Really, Harue wouldn’t think of her sister any different if she liked girls, that would be stupid!

(Plus the idea of having another sister almost guaranteed was nice)

She just had to approach this topic carefully, make sure she feels safe

So Harue begins her research

***

Madoka felt it, it was weird to extend her new sense, but she did it, she felt her magic reach out, felt it in a way similar to touch, the girl in front of her explaining it all the while

“I feel it Mami-senpai!”

“You do? That’s great!”

Sayaka grumbled besides her before falling on her back

“Ugh, I get that this is a whole new sense and all, but how come it’s so hard!”

The older girl softly smiles as she reassures Sayaka

“Don’t worry, it took some time for me to get used to it as well, just give it some time and you’ll get it”

“Ugh, yeah yeah, I’ll be patient senpai”

Mami smiles before going to the kitchen, soon reappearing with some snacks

“I suppose this warrants a break anyway, let’s relax for a bit”

Sayaka cheered as she grabbed some of the cookies presented

“ahh, senpai you’re the best!”

Madoka felt herself chuckle as a smile bloomed on Mami’s face

It was a good day

***

“ok, so my sister brought a girl home, and I want to show that I will be supportive of her if she wants to come out, I’m not 100% sure they’re dat-“

“Wh-huh??? She brought a girl home? W-why is it suddenly that they’re dating? S-surely there can be another reason right?”

Harue stares at, slightly frowning

“I mean sure? She said it was for some sort of project, but that girl isn’t really doing much, she just hangs around! Madoka, are you homophobic?”

Harue leans in across the table as she points at her, Madoka stumbles backwards, panic etched on her face

“What!? No! I’m a lesbian!”

Harue’s eyes widen, her mouth opens slightly before she closes it, at the same time Sayaka grins as she pokes her side

“That doesn’t answer the question Madoka~”

Harue’s eyes once again stare into her own

Madoka glares at Sayaka, before barely managing to stutter out

“I-I’m not h-homophobic!”

Harue seemingly melts in relaxation, stress practically visibly leaving her

“…that’s good, I don’t think we’d be able to remain friends if you were…”

“Y-yep, anyway, w-what about that project? M-maybe the girl’s help is needed a bit later and Homura just asked her to come early?”

Hitomi decides that watching was finally enough as she adds in

“That could be it, maybe her role is for later stages, was she hurrying to get the girl there?”

Slightly shaking her head Harue looks down

“…did I misunderstand?”

Hitomi softly speaks, trying to encourage her

“Its fine isn’t it? You didn’t do anything drastic yet, only asked for advice with us”

“I guess… you’re right”

Harue turns to Hitomi, shinning a smile at her

“Thank you Hitomi”

 Hitomi’s face twitches slightly before she nods her head

“Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing”

***

“Homura, are you interested in women?”

Huh, she figured that out? Wonder how, Homura didn’t think she was really that obvious with her feelings towards Madoka, but who knows

“I am, why are you asking Harue?”

Her sister tilts her head

“well, you brought a girl our age over, acted overly protective for her, you said it was some kind of project but she hasn’t really done anything yet, at least I haven’t seen you two work together on something”

Ah, well, wrong target but that did sound a slight bit suspicious huh

“It’s only a matter of our deal, the project is very much real, it’s just slightly difficult to explain it currently, it should conclude on May first”

“I see… will you tell me then?”

That’s… not something she thought about, but well, she would most probably find out by herself at some point

“If you don’t find out yourself, I will”

Pausing for a bit, Homura continues

“If something offers you a contract, come to me first, alright?”

Receiving a nod, Homura smiles satisfied

Good enough

Chapter Text

Madoka was bored this evening, her magical girl practice was over, her homework done

She could draw, but the question was what to draw

Sure, she could make a few more doodles of Homura, but at this point it’s better to get another sketchbook just for her

Still, what should she do?

She could go back to her laptop and read some more stories, she didn’t have as much time nowadays, there’s probably at least a few updates right?

Before she could do that though, her phone rang

Looking at the unfamiliar number, Madoka hesitantly picked up the call

“Hello?”

“Madoka, are you able to talk currently?”

Oh, oh this is Homura, ok, calm down, don’t panic

“Yes I am!”

“That’s good, there is something I need to speak about with everyone, I wanted to ask when would you be free this week”

Huh, well, not a personal call but can’t complain much

“Well, I should be free from Friday to Sunday!”

Madoka hears a soft hum, a few scratches of a pen

“Alright, thank you Madoka, I will hang u-“

“HOLD ON”

Feeling some blush climb up at her outburst Madoka takes a deep breath

“Could we talk some more? Just… casual talk?”

The other line stays silent for a moment, Madoka feels tension fill her

“…sure, I would like that”

a grin replaces her worried expression, tension rolling off from her shoulders

“Thank you Homura, I really wanted to talk to you”

A moment later Madoka hears something light fall to the floor on the other side

“I-I… I wanted to talk to you too”

“…really?”

Madoka wants to slap herself for the desperation in her voice, be calm! Relax!

“Yes, you’re a good person, someone I enjoy to be with”

OH WOW

Thumping her fist on the bed Madoka tries to calm down enough to respond

“I a-also enjoy b-being with you!”

“…thank you”

Ok, you can breathe Madoka, it’s easy really, in and out

This is also a chance, sure you haven’t discussed this yet, but Sayaka and Hitomi wouldn’t mind if she invited someone else too right? The more the merrier!

They were just going to arcade, maybe she can talk with them about inviting Harue too?

Well later

“So, Homura, are you free tomorrow after school? Me, Sayaka and Hitomi were planning to go out to the arcade for a few hours, would you be able to join us?”

There is a long pause

The call isn’t dropped, Madoka checked a few times

“…sure, there’s nothing that can’t be postponed for later”

Launching her fist into the air Madoka lets out a quiet, satisfied “yes!”

“Hm? Yes to what?”

Blush overtaking her Madoka quickly responds

“O-oh nothing, it just slipped out!”

***

Kyoko was doing well, really well, her score going closer and closer to her best

Her previous record on this machine not comparing

A grin built up, excitement shooting up

A few more seconds

…and she miss times the last step, getting distracted by somebody speaking “Wow! That’s crazy!”

“urgh fuck!”

“Huh? Isn’t that the new best? Why are you so upset?”

Snapping her head at the new voice she scowls at the blue haired girl

“Well maybe here, but I was so close to beating MY best! If I didn’t fuck up in the last second I could have beat it!”

Stomping down on her desire to kick the machine she gets off, catching her breath

“Oh man, that sucks, maybe next time?”

Right, that girl, if she didn’t say anything…

“You know, if you didn’t say anything that’d be the next time? You owe me!”

“Wh-Huh!? No I don’t! what are you even gonna ask!?”

“Nah, you so do! Buy me some snacks and we’ll be even, see! I’m not even asking for much am I?”

Grinning as the girl slowly grumbles out

“If my friends miss me, I’m blaming you”

 “Yeah yeah whatever!”

 That was easier than she expected, but oh well, better easy than nothing

“Kyoko?”

“Eh, Homura?”

“Homura? You’re already here-wait hold on you two know each other!?”

Kitty looks at the blue one

“We’re roommates, she’s the magical girl I… haven’t told you about yet, I was planning to bring it up on Saturday”

“Wait is this the girl Harue thought you had a crush on?”

Oh? Well this is interesting

“Oh ho? Tell me more?”

The blue one smirks (ooh she liked that!)

“Can you imagine, there we were, sitting at lunch when Harue springs up to us and drops a bomb about how to make sure her sister felt safe to come out! Saying she invited some girl for a project she never seen them work on together, how scandalous!”

Kyoko cackles in response, glancing at Homura, who’s ears twitch as she frowns at the both of them

“Ooh you don’t even know the half of it! Did you know that she went to a whole other city to get me?”

Blue gasps with as much dramatic flair as she can manage

“Another city~! How dedicated!”

“Right… should I talk about something as well?”

Huh?

Homura smiles at them

This… doesn’t feel quite right

“Hmm? Talk about what?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe about that boy you visit so often?”

Kyoko lets out a snort as blue blushes

Unfortunately kitty’s gaze moves to her soon after

“Should I talk about Mami too?”

Oh you gotta be fucking with me

Fortunately this conversation stops pretty quickly, 2 other girls walking in, one of them being glasses, the other a green haired girl

Blue-Sayaka- stirs the conversation away as hard as she can, sending careful glances at kitty who just smiles at them, which is honestly hilarious to see

…Kyoko will find out how she knows about Mami though, she hasn’t told that to anyone

Soon the final girl walks in, apologizing for being late

Kyoko decides to tag along, at least no one complains about it

***

Later that evening, Kyosuke Kamijo kills himself, his body found near a lamp post, blood pooling around his head

Chapter Text

Funerals weren’t something she was used to

She hasn’t been at one since she was 5, when her grandfather died

She doesn’t really remember it

It felt… unnatural to stand there, to be expected to believe it

That Kyosuke killed himself

That he is actually dead

That he’s gone

It all felt like some kind of trick

Yet it wasn’t, Sayaka seen the body, was looking at it as it was laid in the casket

She was expected to say something, tell a story, last words she would have wanted to say, something, just say a few words

Staring at the people at the podium, Sayaka couldn’t think of anything

She stood there, opening her mouth, trying to say something, speak out

Soon after she was gently lead away

Sayaka wished she would wake up

***

Sayaka wasn’t sure when she realized that she hasn’t ate for the past week

It was an idle thought

Maybe that explains her soul gem corrupting faster

Was she using magic? She wasn’t exactly human anymore, so perhaps some body needs could be alleviated with magic

It was convenient, Sayaka didn’t want to eat

She didn’t really want to do much nowadays, the only thing occupying her was hunting witches and reading that little booklet Homura made

She memorized already

It was kind of long, detailed, really detailed, animosity practically drenching from the stack of papers

(Sayaka wonders if she would make something like this if it was a witch that had killed him)

Everything else feels… dull? Without reason?

Why should she try to study really? There wasn’t much of a point was there? She could just die one of these days, forgotten after being declared missing

Would there be a funeral for her?

It felt selfish to wonder about this, it was her friend who died (who taken his own life), and here she was thinking about herself (practically done the same thing, just slower)

She was worrying them, Madoka, Hitomi, her parents

They looked at her, eyes full of pity, painful looks, following her with encouraging words

It… didn’t make it better

Homura was there, bringing her grief seeds, accompanying her on her witch hunts, sometimes just sitting there, Harue joining her in the quiet company

Kyoko had dragged her outside, just plain walking, complaining all the while, making her listen

Mami was a mix of both, inviting her out, to just sit there, drink some tea together, casual conversation flowed

People look at her, expecting her to break down, stop putting up a ‘façade’

Sayaka wished she was doing that instead of whatever this feeling was

***

“Have you ever moved on?”

The answer was immediate

“No, I don’t think I ever will, my situation was… different”

“Oh”

***

“Will it hurt less?”

The blonde looks outside of the café, closing her eyes for a brief moment

“No, you will grow around it, but the pain won’t lessen, you’ll remember it, you’ll feel it when looking at things that’ll remind you of them, but it will get easier, it’s good to find something to do, to keep yourself occupied, change the routine”

She grips the cup harder

“I don’t want to forget”

Mami turns to her, her eyes full of understanding

“You won’t”

***

Hitomi tells her she used to like him, how she wanted to ask him out when he would be released, how she wanted to give Sayaka an ultimatum, to make her act on her feelings

How silly it all felt when he was gone

(Sayaka ignores her friend’s tears, tries to act the same as she does, match her dimming energy, to bring it back to how it should be, it doesn’t work)

***

She wakes up drowning

Her lungs burn, she tries to swim up, find a way out, yet the water never ends

She hears a voice, a symphony of sounds surround her, she can’t understand anything

There are voices, figures that remind her of something

She doesn’t remember who she is

Was she someone?

That doesn’t feel right

She should have a name

What should she name herself?

Music, musician had impressive names didn’t they? Was she a musician?

She has to have a long one!

But something’s not right

She’s not born yet

How unfortunate, she really needs to get out of here, spread her music, her orchestra!

But is that what she wants?

She wants the other to stop resisting, to let her have her fun, she had 14 years to be in charge, when will it be her turn?

She feels scales grow, it’s right, it’s perfect, how she should be

Maybe she won’t have to wait long

In the meantime she has decided

'Von, I have to have that in my name'

She thinks with glee

The ocean of the other’s sorrow will fill up soon, then she can flip the door open and be free

(she doesn't notice when her lungs stop burning)

***

Homura watches it happen, she was a moment too late

Sayaka drops dead

It’s been a few loops since she saw it happen, since someone she knew turned into a witch

(Since she had to kill them like that)

She feels her chest tighten like it always does

Homura supposes she should have expected it

(She can pretend, when the witch wasn’t someone she knew, when she never saw them twist from a girl into a tool for the ‘saving’ of the universe, yet she always remembers the first time when it’s them, when it’s Sayaka, a dead body, learning that there’s nothing they can do, a gunshot, a crack, another two dead bodies)

Homura will make it quick

It’s the least she can do, finish this as soon as possible, don’t let her hurt anyone, let her pass on howether a magical girl can

Half an hour is all it takes

She studied that witch’s labyrinths to the point of obsession (all of their labyrinths, they wouldn’t have liked to drag someone in, wouldn’t have liked to hurt anyone, it’s a mercy she can grant them, a mercy she can grant herself)

Homura stares at the grief seed in her hand

In 2 days Walpugrisnacht will arrive

It’s never easy to use them, but does she have a choice? The moment Madoka used the last grief seed on her she had a duty

She already done plenty of horrible things

So she will use Sayaka, let her help beyond the grave, squeeze out as much magic from her as she can

They won’t need to know, no one but her saw it, no one but her will carry that burden

She'll lie like she always does when nobody is there to witness it

(Homura feels tears build up, she forces her magic to stop them)

Chapter Text

Madoka cried when she heard about her death

Sayaka, the same girl who was always looking after her, always with her, the one who claimed her as her own, not allowing anyone to bully her, to mock her

Dead from a witch, her soul gem shattered

Homura said they were lucky her body wasn’t damaged

Madoka doesn’t know how she should feel, grateful for the small mercy?  Angry at the killer? Disappointed she couldn’t avenge her friend herself?

Yet she can’t think about that

Something much scarier is coming tomorrow, there is no time to grieve for her

Madoka has to prepare herself, for the last moments of peace

She wonders, if people will think Sayaka died because of the storm

***

Mami remembers looking at the body

A girl she was supposed to protect, teach, fight alongside

Dead, getting to a witch too fast, deciding to fight it alone and paying the price

Mami would admit that Sayaka could become better than her, Teleportation being much easier to use in combat

Mami remembers the way Sayaka imitated her, the swords she made, the swords she sent at the familiars and witches alike

Mami remembers the kind girl

Mami thinks back to when her and Kyoko just separated, how her mind wandered to her mentee, how she checked if she was alive, how relieved she felt when she knew she was

How she doesn’t have that option anymore, Sayaka is dead, because she didn’t teach her enough, because she didn’t prepare her enough to fight alone

So maybe Mami could repent, kill the queen

Avenge the girl she left to die

***

The queen is the same as always, overpowering, towering, a wall

Incarnation of hell

Her greatest tormentor

The damned storm

She knows how this goes, knows how death will follow when it’s here

So Homura braces herself

She starts with her usual opener, just with more explosives, leftovers from last timeline

Time stops

When it’s once again allowed to move forward, the world brightens

It screams in pain

There was no need to take longer than necessary

Just kill the witch and go to the next one, her mission remained the same, her goal stayed steady, her resolve standing tall

Nothing but death will stand in her way

***

Kyoko didn’t know the girl for long, yet she felt her death ripple

She saw how it affected them

Knew how different Mami became, how different she behaved

Saw how Madoka shattered at the news

Felt the melancholy from Homura

Felt herself get worse

Death, Kyoko wasn’t as used to it as she thought

Not as used to it as Homura seemed

Wasn’t that disturbing?

It doesn’t matter in the end

She’s dead, a witch got her, all they can do is live on and to do that, they needed to kill the fucking queen

One after another really, if Kyoko hadn’t heard about it before, didn’t know that it would come here…

She’s not sure, but it definitely wouldn’t be good

Fuck

Was it ever really good?

***

Harue can’t help but remember when they were kids, when her sister cried near her for the last time

It was the day they learned that chances are, she wouldn’t live long, wouldn’t see the end of high school

Harue cried alongside her that day, afraid of not having her sister with her, just because Homura was crying, because the prospect of death never before crossed her mind besides occasional wandering thoughts of their parents

Harue remembers when Homura started to act brave, to put up a front, trying to lighten her burden

Harue believed for a long time

When mister Furugaki entered their lives, protective, generous

It all got easier from then

Harue had a chance to see the truth regarding her sister

And here she was, watching her fight against the flying giant, a creature she didn’t know the name of

The project that she was working on

Harue stared at her sister

Saw her fears

Saw her anger

Saw her resignation to it all

It was unfair

She didn’t have to do everything alone did she?

“I wish I could help”

‘That can be arranged ’

Startling Harue turns back, nothing is there

‘A little high ’

Her gaze snapping to the floor she sees a white creature staring at her, red beady eyes staring in turn

“W-what are you? No, what do you mean it can be arranged?”

‘It’s simple really, make a contract with me and become a magical girl, then you would be able to help your sister fight off that witch ‘

“A… witch?”

‘yes, a creature made out of human despair, it’s a duty of magical girls to fight them, that duty of course, doesn’t go unrewarded, you get to have a wish, anything that your potential allows and with how high your is, the ceiling is quite high ‘

Harue stares at the witch, stares at the army that follows it, there’s a choice to make here

The thought of using a wish for herself is nagging at her, yet her sister is out there, her friends with her, fighting for their lives and Harue can’t imagine making a wish that doesn’t help them

So she turns to the white creature

“I wish the witch didn’t have any help”

‘How interesting, consider the contract signed, Akemi Harue ‘

Soon, pain eclipses all her thoughts

***

Homura sees all the familiars vanish and only then does she feel it

A familiar feeling of magic

Her sister contracted again

How unfortunate

At the very least, her wish made it all the much easier to kill the queen, whatever it was

(A waste, she should have made it for herself, it never ends well when you wish for somebody else)

The fight doesn’t last long after that

The queen falls

Kyoko is missing a leg

Homura feels Harue jump at her, embracing her into a tight hug

She awkwardly hugs back, she will restart soon, this doesn’t matter, but she allows herself this

The false sense of victory

She steps away from the hug

Harue runs to the others

Homura smiles

Her shield turns

Bright light eclipses her

She’s in one place, complete

There is no feeling of wrongness when she’s gone

It’s back to how it should be

***

Harue stares at the corpse of her sister

T-they won, the queen was dead, Kyoko lost a leg, but magic is real so maybe it’s fixable right?

Yet the truth stares back at her, her sister’s corpse laid down in front of her

Harue wails

Chapter Text

Madoka dreamt of a girl

She didn’t remember much of the dream, only that it always ended in her heart breaking apart

She vaguely remembers three more girls

Two completely unfamiliar

One a girl, someone she recently get to know

Harue

A new classmate, a new friend

She was a nice girl

Though it was weird that she appeared in her dream, as a magical girl of all things

There was also the first girl…

They looked similar, her and Harue, was this how she imagined her sister to be? Ugh Madoka can’t tell anyone about this, this is so embarrassing

Sure, occasionally she dreams about being a magical girl, a hero of justice and all, but not like this! Not about someone she never met before being there with her

Still, she has to get ready for school doesn’t she?

***

The walk to school is the same as always

They giggled and trade jokes

Sayaka teases her

It’s when they reach the school that something new happens

A limousine in the dead center of the gate, a girl scowling at men looking over every single person (bodyguards? They kind of look like her own…), near that girl is Harue, coaxing the girl to move forward

Was it her sister?

Oh wow she was cute

“…huh?”

Sayaka gives her a questioning look before Madoka quickly turns away, hiding the slight blush that crept up to her face

Ok, alright, so she thought that the girl was cute, nothing weird right? Just… a statement of a fact?

Ok yeah she isn’t fooling nobody, not herself at the very least

Stealing glances at the girl Madoka catches her return her gaze

‘Ok wow those eyes, I could look at them for days, wait wait wait no BAD Madoka, you just met her, haven’t even talked to her! Be better!’

Unfortunately, she wasn’t better

Madoka continued to stare at her, stealing glances whenever she could

She felt her crush strengthening every glance

Oh god she had it bad

At least Sayaka didn’t pick up on it yet, that was good

(It was a futile hope that she won’t, her friend was too observant sometimes, even if she denies what she sees sometimes)

Unfortunately, it seems Hitomi did

Thankfully her friend just smiled at her, a bit menacingly if she had to be truthful, gods Madoka feels like something is going to happen very soon

It does

“Harue, Akemi-san, would you like to join us for lunch?”

‘Hitomi, I will curse and thank you’

Hitomi doesn’t even look her way, but Madoka KNOWS

The sisters exchange quick glances before Harue nods, taking the hand of her sister and dragging her along

(fuck fuck fuck, Madoka, collect yourself, you can’t be a mess this early on, you JUST met her!!!!)

Madoka tries to act normal

She fails

***

“…so, miss do you like girls huh?”

“Shut up”

So, she got a little confused and mixed up some of her thoughts into what she said, so what!

“Oh c’mon Madoka! It’s your first crush! I get to tease you a little about it, especially if you’re like that about her”

Like that?? Ok so she’s a little bit of a… mess when she’s there, she’ll get over it!

“Sayaka is right, I certainly wasn’t expecting something like that”

“S-shut up already! So what if I got a bit confused! She didn’t seem to mind the question anyway!”

Madoka tried to glare at her friends

Sayaka and Hitomi exchange glances right in front of her, before looking back at her and grinning

“Soo, when are you planning to ask her out hm?”

“It would make things interesting with Harue, but I’m sure you could manage”

Glaring at them Madoka responds, trying to make her voice as cold as she can

“As if either of you have a leg to stand on?”

Seeing both of them blush felt immensely satisfying

***

Homura stared at the boy

The one responsible for the death of Sayaka again and again and again and again and again and again and again and aga-

Homura wonders if she should kill him

Take out the risk factor, make it look like an accident, it would pain Madoka and her friends, but would it be worth it? to make sure Sayaka doesn’t waste her wish? To make sure she doesn’t get herself turned or killed because of him?

Homura stares on

The world stood still as she contemplated it

It would be easy, she could even do it plainly, she would not get caught

Does it matter? Did he matter enough to keep him?

Homura wasn’t sure

So she left the room and let the time flow again

It didn’t matter when she would do it, so she let herself have more time

Walking to the exit Homura feels something, subdued, unused magic

Snapping her eyes to where she felt it she sees a young girl

It doesn’t take long to notice the ring

…She hasn’t seen her before, is she visiting?

(Is she one of the witches that she kills?)

She walks up to her, having another ally will be beneficial, she could use her

“Hello”

The kid looks around before looking back at her

“Um, hello? Were you… talking to me?”

Homura looks over her, skittish, bitter

“I was, I noticed the ring and wondered if you want to talk?”

Homura raises her hand with her soul gem in its ring form in front of her, showcasing it to the kid

The white haired girl freezes

“You’re a..!”

Homura interrupts her, causing a scene in the hospital isn’t the best option

“I am, would you be willing to come with me? I’ll treat you as we talk, do you have any preference?”

She looks uncertain

A few moments of contemplation and she nods, shyly walking closer to her, her voice barely above a whisper

“…um, something with cheese?”

A small smile grows on her lips as she gently takes the girl hand

“Cheese hm? I think I know a place, I’m Akemi Homura, would you be willing to tell me what’s your name?”

The girl shines at the touch (Homura fights the wince that threatens to escape, she’s better than that)

“I’m Nagisa!”

Chapter Text

Livid, the emotion that Homura felt

Her entire life, traded away for a cheesecake

“Is... something wrong?”

Ok, Homura, you can’t explode on a child, deep breaths, you’re better than that

“I’m just… surprised how simplistic your wish was”

The little girl frowns

“…should I have wished for something else? I… probably should have right? I should have just made my original wish…”

Shit she messed up, alright, calm down a kid, you can do it Homura, how hard can it be? You deal with witches for god sake, you fought Walpugrisnacht four dozen times, you can calm down a kid

“It doesn’t matter anymore, you made your wish, so you live with it, it’s about the only thing you have left after making the contract”

“B-but I made my wish j-just to spite my mom, can I really continue o-on after doing that?”

For somebody else this might have been complicated, for somebody this question would be uncomfortable, yet it was all so very simple

“What else can you do? You move forward, despite it all, your wish was ill advised, you could have made a better one, something that would have helped you, but you can’t change it, so you live on”

Live on, because you don’t know how painful it is to reach for perfection

***

Harue wasn’t sure what to think when her sister brought a young girl home

The kid-she introduced herself as Nagisa-was a nice enough kid, a bit quiet really

Homura paid attention to the young girl, her speech and movement slightly awkward, but overall she looked almost used to it, as if she often spent time with young children

Were there kids in the same wing as Homura? Did she talk with them? Did she try to look out for them as she did for her?

The girl looked almost guilty of something, so Harue followed her sister’s example and tried to be there for the girl

Homura walks away to make a phone call

A bit later Nagisa gets a room in the apartment next to them

***

Madoka wasn’t sure what to think

Did Harue and Homura have another sister? They didn’t look too similar, but maybe they took after different parent’s right?

Was she their cousin?

Seeing them leave the café shortly after she got in, Madoka suppressed the urge to follow them, that was weird, you can’t be doing that Madoka, especially if your interests aren’t pure enough

At the very least, Madoka enjoyed seeing the girl in another set of clothes

Wait no, shut up brain, she was here to meet up with Sayaka! You can think of this later, when she’s alone and she won’t be embarrassed by being out of i-

“Madoka? Come on~! I was standing there for a few minutes already you know?”

Feeling pink dust her cheeks Madoka spins to look at her friend

“You’re lying”

Sayaka snorts, poking a finger at her chest, grinning at her

“Nuh uh, I was here for your staring session you know~”

Madoka tries to defend herself, but unfortunately she wasn’t fast enough as Sayaka suddenly gasps, leading the back of her palm to her forehead

“Ah I see it now~! You were using me, how cruel Madoka~! You only invited me here so your stalking session doesn’t seem suspicious right~!?”

Feeling the intensity of her blush increase Madoka glares at her friend

“I know people Sayaka”

Sayaka laughs

The conversation flows normally after that

***

Sayaka wasn’t’ sure what she was seeing

The world was distorted just a moment ago, grey layered on green and blue, almost as if it was a painting instead of reality, the rolling heads looking like they were taken out of a sketchbook, incomplete, rough around the edges

And then Homura fucking Akemi rolled in and crushed them with some kind of barrier-force field? A tiny girl she thinks she saw in the café looking at her in wonder

A barrier incases her as Homura looks at her

It doesn’t take long for the world to go back to normal

Sayaka stares at the two girls with an open mouth

“What the hell was that”

“A witch labyrinth”

A very quick, short answer that also coincidentally didn’t tell her anything

“And that means?”

Sure, Sayaka might sound a bit rude, but she almost died to whatever the hell that was, so she was freaking out a little, sue her

Homura looks her in the eyes, her own flash with something before she explains everything

Magical girls, witches, wishes, Kyubey, the soul gems, Nagisa pales at the last bit (did she not know?)

“…any wish? That’s… insane”

Homura nods, for a quick moment her eyes go towards the small girl that came along with her before going back to Sayaka

“It’s for the best if you don’t enter the contract, no matter how tempting a wish is, it’s not fair”

Sayaka could understand it, it would take a lot out of her to sell her own life, allow someone to pluck her soul out

“…but you did, didn’t you?”

Homura’s gaze hardens, there wasn’t anger in it but Sayaka still flinched at it

“I did, I didn’t know everything I do now, but if I had a second chance… I’d make the same wish, again and again, until I manage to fulfil it”

***

Madoka woke up from a dream

It wasn’t anything like the ones at the start of the week

It was a simple dream, her at home, preparing dinner alongside someone, a child drawing on the table behind them

A domestic dream, one that made her heart feel full

‘Do you have a wish Kaname Madoka? ‘

Blinking slightly, trying to wake herself up a bit Madoka mumbles out, almost instinctually responding to the question, Sayaka would torture it out of her anyways…

“I wish me and Homura were married outside the dream too…”

Suddenly feeling a shiver go down her spine Madoka’s eyes snap to the source of the voice, evidently not Sayaka’s, something small and white

She doesn’t get to see the details before pain erupts

***

Homura wakes up and feels another ring on her hand

Letting out a resigned sigh Homura wonders out loud

“What is it this time…”

Chapter Text

Homura had a sudden realization deep in the morning

Feeding a growing child instant noodles was absolutely not a good idea, already having invited Nagisa to breakfast Homura couldn’t just say ‘ah sorry I forgot that I can’t cook, maybe next time?’

So Homura went to the fridge and tried to assess what she could make

After a few minutes of spying into the fridge she came to a decision, taking out eggs, pulling up her phone and searching for some recipes she gets ready

She wasn’t completely useless at the kitchen, those baking lessons back in the early loops made sure of that (it has been a while since she baked some cookies… maybe she should come to the store after school and get some supplies, for old time sake)

The result of her cooking is a simple omelet, taste testing proves that it’s not the worst thing she’s eaten, but it’s not exactly good either

Frowning at the product of her cooking, Homura slowly finishes it and moves to make another, trying to follow the recipe more, piece together what makes what taste good

3 omelets later, Harue wakes up and groggily walks into the kitchen, surprise blooming on her face before she awkwardly walks up to the table and awkwardly looks at the four plates, one currently empty

“Homura? I know you invited Nagisa-chan for breakfast, but why are there 4 plates?”

“I forgot where the lunch boxes are, so I decided to put the food on the plates until I find them”

A look of understand crosses Harue face as she nods, glancing down at the plate

“Is this… for me?”

“Hm? That one is mine, it’s a bit cold, the one to the right of you should taste better”

A knock on the door interrupts Harue, glancing at the still cooking eggs she stands up

Finishing it up and laying it on a plate, Homura moved on to make the last one

School lunches almost complete, it might get cold, but if she lays on a simple enchantment that problem will easily disappear

It might be a little bit of a waste, but the amount was negligible, with Anny’s help the small amount of grief will be cleansed before they set off

The breakfast is peaceful

Sending Nagisa off Homura gets moving to her school as well

***

Madoka was slightly horrified as she looked at the rings that weren’t there yesterday, one much more ordinary than the other

She had… spotty memory of last night, she remembers waking up from a good dream before hearing a voice that asked about her wish, she remembers blurting out… well you know, she also remembers the pain that quickly knocked her out

Unfortunately she didn’t have much time to ponder over it, school didn’t stop working because of a weird night, so she followed her morning routine and went ran to school

Soon, Madoka catches up with her friends who were in the middle of a conversation

“…right, so you agree right?”

“It’s a bit strange to think about, but yes, I wouldn’t trade my soul out of my body”

That’s… a weird conversation topic

“Huh, what are you guys talking about?”

Sayaka spins around and faces her

“Oh nothing much, just a thought I had, read something silly on the internet”

Her gaze quickly travelling to her fingers, a grin spreads for a second before shock comes

Frowning Madoka walks up to her and lightly taps her

“Are you ok?”

“I-yeah, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it”

Hitomi and her exchange glances before Sayaka collects herself and they continue their walk to school

***

“Oh? Harue you have something besides rice in your lunchbox today?”

“H-huh? Oh yeah, Homura was cooking today… it’s new, I’m glad she found something… even if she made 6 omelets just this morning… I wonder why”

Sayaka lazily looks up from her own meal, smirking at them she sighs

“Well obviously she decided that she needs to learn to feed her new wife right~? What a responsible girl~! If she wasn’t taken I might’ve taken a shot myself~”

The last words were sing songed while directly looking into her eyes

…it took a couple of second to realize that she was glaring at Sayaka

Quickly changing her expression Madoka busied herself with her own food

Sayaka’s teasing was bad enough before, but now that she made them married…

***

“Madoka, we need to talk”

Ah, the consequences of her action, well, she was a brave girl (well not really, but she’ll try)

So Madoka nodded and went along with her

…the sound of Sayaka whistling and general gossip was swiftly pushed down her mental list of things to worry about

Stopping in a corner besides the steps to the third floor Homura turns to her, her voice deceptively calm as she lifts up her hand, a golden ring standing out against her skin

“This is the effect of your wish, correct?”

Holy shit she knows, oh god she messed up so bad, she’s not going to talk to her anyway would she? She’s going to ignore her, file for a divorce, take half of every-

Homura speaks again, her voice more gentle this time

“I’m not… mad too much, I’m thankful you got lucky and didn’t get someone else, that wish was irresponsible and dangerous Madoka, what if instead of me you got someone older than you? Someone who has ten years over you? Twenty? Thirty?”

Her words speeding up as her speech went, worry seeping into every word

‘S-she didn’t realize??? Oh god, okay, she has a chance, play it cool Madoka, admit to it, apologize and maybe your relationship won’t be ruined before it started’

“I-I’m very sorry! I wasn’t fully awake when I mad-“

“What do you mean you weren’t fully awake!?”

Oh god, Madoka was probably supposed to feel more scared than she currently was

“I, well, I was having a dream? And then when I woke up I heard a voice that I thought was Sayaka? It asked me if I have a wish so I said I wished me a-I was married like I was inside my dream…?”

Homura stays quiet for a long, long minute before her voice breaks the silence, barely above the whisper

“I’m going to kill that thing”

A flash of purple surrounds her and suddenly her clothes change, she spares last glance to Madoka, saying her last words before vanishing

“I will find you a bit later, I’ll help you get used to the… job, if I don’t meet you for two days, come to Mami Tomoe, she’s our senpai in class 3-B, she can help you as well”

Madoka is left with a gaping mouth, staring at the place the girl was in, one thought permeating her mind

‘…would that count as a study date?’

Chapter Text

Isao Okamura was a simple man with a simple story, his life starting in poverty before turning to small time crime, eventually moving onto the Yakuza life, being gracefully accepted by his late boss Akemi-sama

Isao remembered when he first held his son in his hands, remembers when he was taken from him, court deciding that he was unfit to look after a child

So when Akemi-sama died, he threw himself into protecting his daughters, Furugaki-sama was supportive in his decision, so he spent most of his time with them

It was hard to look at them sometimes, imagining his own boy in their place, but he had to repay all the grace he has received, had to try be better and actually succeed in giving a child something good to remember him by

He doesn’t get to do much, twins too scared of his looks, so he stays in the shadows, looking after them when they’re not aware

Taking out threats before they reach them, guarding them on their walks

When he learns of Homura-sama diagnosis he fights himself to not rush in and hug the child as hard as he can

Yet he doesn’t, it’s not his place, not his comfort to give

The world is terribly cruel, yet Homura-sama persists

She fights tooth and nail for another day, keeps every disappointment to herself, doesn’t let herself affect her sister

So when she recovers, Isao is relieved almost as if it was his own heart that was defective

***

When Isao meets Homura-sama face to face for the first time in years he’s not in front of unsure girl, a girl who kept herself confident just to make her sister peaceful, he’s not in front of a little girl

The girl in front of him is cold, detached, so sure of herself it’s almost as if it’s her second go at life, someone who is ready to kill

It’s almost a stranger

Yet Isao still sees the care in her eyes, still sees that the confidence isn’t entirely there, a ploy, an illusion, just refined to the point of overlapping with reality

Isao still sees the little girl he looked over

So he ignores the changes, ignores the strangeness of her orders and gives it his whole heart to serve her

He doesn’t question why a little girl needs an entire apartment next to them, doesn’t question that amount of explosive materials she asks for, doesn’t question the amount of bullets she gets, doesn’t question it when other groups start to lose their weaponry

Everything has a limit of course

When the young miss gets married he looks into it, searches for the reason, finds out who it is, what they do, how they know her

Kaname Madoka, niece to Takuma Ageishi, the next in line to take their group forward

A classmate of Homura-sama and Harue-sama

Friend of Shizuki Hitomi, heir for their corporation

Child of a successful Kaname Junko and Kaname Tomohisa

Isao wasn’t sure what to make of her, the first urge upon discovering her uncle was to call her a threat

Yet he saw the way young miss shined with her, just being in a proximity of the girl made her happy and those feeling seemed to be returned

So he backs off and watches as he always has, because so little seems to make the young miss happy these days, so little takes of the edge that appeared so unexpectedly, so little actually makes her smile

Isao long knew that he would die for those kids, his resolve only hardening every day since the 16^th, every day since she changed so much and so little

***

Homura has mostly forgotten how to bake, yet it was all coming together to her once again, her memory parting open and revealing the little things, details that were obscured by all the data she gathered on numerous witches

It was relaxing, like almost nothing else has been for so long

(It felt like a waste of time, but Homura had to make sure Nagisa remained content, remained stable, didn’t turn, didn’t make her put her down, so she persisted, continued to make the dough)

Yesterday has been annoying, it took her a long time to purge enough of the incubator bodies to calm down

Yet it took all but 15 minutes of working on dough, shaping into stars, hearts and sparkles and she felt much more refreshed

Weird…

She wasn’t going to complain, it felt nice, she felt more aware

She felt more ready to protect Madoka (even if she failed already)

Putting the cookies into the oven she sits there, waiting for it to finish when she remembers that she was supposed to talk with Madoka

Frowning slightly she gets her phone, types in Madoka’s number and calls

6 rings in she answers (slightly below average, usually it’s 8^th or 9^th)

“Hello?”

“Is this Madoka?”

There is a brief silence before she replies

“A-ah Homura-chan! Yes it’s me!”

Briefly glancing at the clock Homura asks her

“Are you free currently? I would like to continue our discussion from yesterday”

There’s some rustling on the other side

“Yes! Yes I am!”

Wincing slightly at the volume Homura continues

“Ok, I will send you the address, go to it and we’ll talk there”

Waiting for Madoka to say something for a few moments Homura ends the call

Opening the text app she sends her address

Glancing at the timer she sighs

20 more minutes

And she has to go pick up Kyoko today as well…

***

Harue gets home to an empty apartment

A quick search later she finds a note on the kitchen table

It’s not very long, only fourteen words long

It read

‘Going to be late today, will come back late in the night, I’m fine’

It’s… not exactly reassuring, so Harue decides to wait for her, busying herself with homework and when it’s done she moves on to watching the anime Sayaka recommended, something about a music band?

Hearing the door open Harue rushes to it, grabbing her sister sleeve and glaring at her, opening her mouth to scold her as much as she can for worrying her

She doesn’t get the chance as she stares at the newcomer

“…Homura, who’s this?”

She receives a confused look before Homura’s eyes go wide

“Ah… I forgot to talk to you about this… I invited this girl to live with us in exchange for her helping with a certain project of mine down the line”

Chapter Text

Sayaka had a suspicion

Not even a few days prior she learned that magical girls existed, that the new girl was one alongside a younger girl

Learned that this fate was one that lead to early death, because no matter how good you are, you will get caught unaware, that no matter how careful you are, somebody could catch you by surprise, no matter what you could not let your soul gem stop shinning

The soul gem was your own soul, a product of your wish becoming corporeal

Sayaka has seen it in its ring form once, Homura showing her it, explaining everything about the magical girl world

It was already bad enough to know your friend’s sister may die at any point, just vanish into thin air because she got unlucky, to know she will be the only one who would know what happened, what she sacrificed

And Sayaka saw it once again, at least she thought she did, she couldn’t know for sure

Madoka’s finger held it

Her best friend, if she was right? She practically saw a death warrant

And she couldn’t do anything

There was no way back, the only way you could ever reverse the transformation was if somebody with higher potential made that wish

When she asked Kyubey, she learned that her suspicion was true, that her friend contracted, that she couldn’t unmake it, her own potential miniscule compared to her

She felt useless

“Did you know?”

“I felt it when I came to class, she wasn’t contracted when I told you everything, we talked about it, I know someone who can show her the ropes, their magic similar enough that she would know better how to teach her”

Homura looks to side, guilt filling her eyes, she sighs before mumbling out

“I failed this time, but at the very least I’ll give her the best chance at survival I can”

Sayaka wants to shout, wants to kick something, wants to let her feeling out in some way

Shakily she asks

“Can I… do anything at all? Something that helps her?”

The brunet hums, her eyes softening significantly before she softly speaks

“Be there, keep her stable, make sure she doesn’t get caught up in negativity, that’s the best thing you can do”

Sayaka stays silent for a few seconds before a hesitant smile shows itself, her voice straining itself to switch from its tense tone to something more casual

“Hey, isn’t that supposed to be your job wifey? Sure I joked about taking her as mine, but you guys actually sealed the deal, well if you want me to join it’s not like I’d complain~”

It’s almost worth it when the girl scowls, her ears red as she starts walking away on air

***

Sayaka wasn’t sure how to approach her friend about the whole thing

‘hey so I learned about magical girls from your wife like a day before you got married and noticed the second ring, so I talked with Kyubey and her so I know you’re a magical girl, want to hang out? Just so you feel positive and don’t drop dead?’

Oh god does she even know about that part of magical girls!? She should right? Homura knows so surely she told her as well

Most of all it just didn’t feel right to talk about it

Like she violating something, sure she figured it out herself for the most part, but shouldn’t she have just waited for her friend to tell about it herself? Shouldn’t she have let Madoka the chance to choose if she wanted to tell her? Yet that wasn’t possible now, she knew and nothing could change that besides a wish

So instead, she just invited her out with their other friends

It would have been nice if Kyosuke was already out by now, but he was healing and that was good enough

So it was just them, though it would probably feel awkward if she invited him with them, being the only guy in a group of 5 girls…

Well it didn’t matter for now, they went to watch some film, something about bombs being planted around the city as some random guy keeps finding them by accident fooling the bad guy’s plan

It was fun, but what was even more fun was looking at the newlyweds being completely awkward, blushing at the slightest touch

Putting them together was a great idea

***

Mami was… unsure what to think of the new magical girl, apparently a wife to her new ally

It wasn’t hard to figure out her wish, even if her mind treated their marriage as fact there wasn’t much that could explain it

She knew that Homura got out of the hospital only just recently thanks to Kyubey being too much of a worry wart, sure it was weird for him not to remember her, but she was a good person, she cared about people, didn’t skip out on her duties (talked to her, alleviated her loneliness)

She didn’t think the girl was acting, far too awkward for it to be false, far too natural in her awkwardness, far too broken to fake

So when somebody uses a wish to tie themselves together she felt… she wasn’t actually sure what was it that she felt

It just wasn’t right

The problem was that she couldn’t hate the girl, she was kind, apologetic, so unsure of herself, so eager to help, actually happy to get to know her

Homura trusted her to help her with the newly acquired magic, so she wouldn’t betray that trust and train her

It was nice to have a mentee again

It was nice to have someone trust you so much after so long, Homura and her worked together, but it wasn’t the same, there was a wall between them that separated the two of them, not quite letting them be completely in sync

Mami didn’t know from who that wall began its roots, as nice as it was to have an experienced magical girl work with her, there was still a tingle of worry, no matter how deep she stuffed it inside herself it existed

The wall trembled, that same wall that sometimes felt so huge it would be impossible to cross, there was a chance for them to get closer

So Mami waited, taught Madoka as best as she can, stuffed her fears and insecurities away and tried to put as much trust in Homura as she could

Maybe someday they would be in sync

Maybe someday they would trust each other instinctively

(like Kyoko had before)

Chapter Text

Nagisa wasn’t sure when the other shoe would drop

It wasn’t like she wasn’t thankful to Homura, she looked after her, fed her, sent her off to school, trained her, taught her everything about magical girls she knew

She even baked with her!

But things were never simple, there had to be something, something she just didn’t notice yet

So when Kyoko moves in with her she asks

“Hm? Well she asked me for help with a witch that’s going to come here, it’s kind of a legend you know? Walpugrisnacht, the queen of witches and all that jazz”

“Is… is Homura training me to help fight it?”

The other girls pauses, her fork stopping mid air

“…I don’t think so, she’s too much of a softie for that”

So that was it

Homura was going to die wasn’t she? The protector dying to take out the legend, it was just like her stories

But she didn’t want it to be like them, didn’t want Homura to leave her, didn’t want her teacher to die, wanted to grow up with her, wanted her to stay with her

But could she do anything? Tragedies happen regardless of human desire, no matter how much a princess wants her beloved to live, his remains will still be scattered away from her grave

Could she do something? Could she prevent it?

But she was a magical girl wasn’t she? Wasn’t she free?

Wasn’t it her decision what to do? What did the world matter? She already became a bad girl when she let her mom die, so what if she becomes worse?

She’ll do what she can, but she will make sure big sis doesn’t end up like in one of her stories

***

Letting out a little sigh Madoka opens the door home, feeling exhausted from the training with her senpai, slowly walking in she notices something

Her parents were sitting at the kitchen table, staying quiet as they looked at her

“Ah Madoka you’re here, sit down with us for a bit”

Madoka’s mind raced as she tried to come up with something she could have done, did she warn her parents? Yes she did, she said she was studying with her upper class friend, she didn’t miss school or something, she did her chores as well, did she forget to do something? Did she DO something badly? Did she-

“Madoka, don’t worry, you’re not in trouble, we just want to have a talk, you didn’t do anything really”

 Tentatively sitting down Madoka waited

Her father stands up and a few minutes later all three of them have tea

Taking a nervous sip Madoka waits

When her mom speaks she lets out a little sigh in relief

“So, how are you getting along with Homura? It was quite surprising when you both got married, so we at least want to make sure you’re satisfied with each other”

Her sigh gets sucked back in as blush overtakes her

“W-we're getting along fine…?”

Madoka holds the stare her parents give her

Seemingly confirming something they look at each and quietly whisper to each other, it doesn’t take long before they look back at her

“Madoka, do you know where she lives?”

“Huh? Well uh yeah, I visited her once, why?”

It was her dad who spoke this time

“well, you and Homura only recently got to know each other, so me and your mother talked about it and came up with a solution for both of you to get closer, we plan to suggest you guys live together, changing your habitat once a week, swapping between our house and her, you two will get a feeling for living together and get to know each other better”

T-that’s…

Madoka had to force her mouth shut with a clank as she stared at her parents

“Of course, first we need to talk with her about it, we wanted to do it in person so that’s why we wanted to know where she lives”

Her mother sighs before continuing after her father

“Of course we have some concerns, you being away from us will make us worry, but this is an opportunity for you, you already married each other so the only thing we can do is try to support you as much as we can”

Madoka just barely managed to not flip the table as she ran around it and hugged her parents

If Homura agreed…

***

Homura was having an average day, trying out a recipe so she could feed the girl under her care better, trying it out, making improvements, feeding her sister before making two more portions, one for Nagisa and another for Kyoko who seemed especially interested in her learning, giving her tips she learned herself

Hearing a knock on the door wasn’t exactly expected, the reports from the boys wasn’t supposed to arrive for another couple of days, Kyoko already left, it didn’t seem like she forgot something so that ruled her out, Nagisa was there in the kitchen drawing

Coming to the door she opened it enough to see who was on the other side

“Ah Homura-san? Are you able to talk currently?”

That… wasn’t who she would expect to be here

Opening the door fully Homura lightly stepped to the side, allowing Madoka’s parents to enter

As soon as their shoes were off she led them to the kitchen table

Nagisa blinked at them, looking confused before continuing to draw, her eyes darting back to them from time to time

Quickly preparing some tea Homura sits down as well

“I’m sorry for my unpreparedness, I haven’t expected many guests today, it’s nice to meet you…”

“Junko and my husband’s name is Tomohisa, I’m pretty sure you’re already aware of who we are, aren’t you?”

…of course she knows, Madoka’s mother is always impressive

“I do, it’s a great pleasure to meet Madoka’s parents”

Tomohisa-san smiles at her and softly speaks

“It’s good to meet you as well Homura”

Giving them a smile Homura asks

“Is there a reason to come here besides a visit?”

Junko-san grins at her

“Ah you already caught on! How nice! You see, we came her to discuss the possibility of you and Madoka cohabitating, we would have preferred to have this conversation with an adult, but seeing as there isn’t one we came to you, see, While you and Madoka did get married-”

Homura fights back the sweetness that tries to break out, she can grin like an idiot about that little fact later

“-You didn’t really have time to get to know each other, so me and my husband thought of an idea, would you like to listen to it?”

Homura nods, words escaping her

(Nagisa stares at them, not even pretending to draw anymore)

***

Harue looks as Madoka waddles into their apartment, Homura moving to help her with her baggage almost instantly

‘Three girls, she tried to bring three girls here this month, only one of them being her wife’

Letting out a deep sigh Harue looks at her sister and mumbles out

“I suppose at least I had a warning this time…”

Chapter Text

Madoka woke up confused, looking at an unfamiliar ceiling before she remembers

Right, she was living with Homura for this week, just the thought brought a small flush to her skin

Shaking her head she stands up, she had to get used to it, if they stay married they would have moved in together anyway, this could be… practice yeah, this could be practice!

Quietly leaving her room she smelled something, slowly walking into the kitchen Madoka feels herself stop, her heart speeding up as she looks at Homura as the girl lightly moved around

A few minutes later she hears a whisper

“…Madoka? Are you alright?”

The squeak that leaves her is loud enough for Homura to turn to them, glancing over them she simply points at the table and continues

Awkwardly shuffling to the table Madoka sits down, Harue looking at her with a surprised face as she joins her

It doesn’t take long before Madoka is back to staring, she tries to hide it more of course, but Harue seems to notice anyway, her eyes jumping between them both

Turning her gaze to the table Madoka waits, unsure what to do

A plate is put there soon enough, it’s sunny side egg with cooked sausage alongside them

Taking a small sniff Madoka smiles

“Thank you Homura-chan”

The tiny crack of a smile she receives shines, bright as the sun to her eyes

A knock on the door stops Madoka from staring anymore as she quickly looks down to the food and quietly starts the meal

Soon enough a little girl Madoka remembers seeing with Homura from the café comes in, she stares at her for a few second, frown marring her features before she quietly sits down

Homura puts a plate in front of Harue first, before finishing cooking the other one and putting breakfast in front of the little girl

The white haired kid smiles at Homura so brightly she might as well have received candy

Madoka wondered if she saw her as an evil step mother?

That’s…

Her thoughts get interrupted by another girl walking in, red hair done in a ponytail with a black ribbon being the most eye catching part of her

The girl looks at Madoka before smirking

“I would ask if Kitty picked up another stray, but it seems she did a little more eh?”

The blush that covers her is scalding

***

Madoka checks for the third time that she warned her friends to not wait for her, embarrassed not to say why

She did send it

Looking at Homura walk the girl to her gate she lets out a tiny sigh alongside a smile

‘Cute’

…it would be better if Nagisa wasn’t so suspicious of her, though to be fair to her, Madoka did make a wish that made her and Homura married…

Homura walks up to her, lightly patting her shoulder before they start walking

***

Harue was feeling something going on

Glancing back at her bodyguards tensing themselves as they continued to look around, their hands on their guns

Was someone spying on them? Sure they weren’t exactly stealthy with their connections, but with the amount of people around them surely nobody would be stupid enough to try right?

Down the road she sees 3 men stand in their way

Harue moves to the side

They try to follow before an ice cold voice shatters the tense silence

“What are you doing?”

Snapping to the source of the voice Harue sees Madoka glaring

A moment later she walks past Harue, the men tense

“What, are, you, doing?”

One of the men takes a step forward, opening his mouth to speak

“W-we were-“

“Clearer please, I don’t want to misunderstand”

Harue stared

This was… new, completely new, what the hell

“We wanted to check –“

“Why? Did anyone ask you?”

Glancing at her sister all Harue saw was a slightly confused, flushed face

…at least she’s fine with it

Walking closer to her she whispers

“…should we go or wait for her? I’m sure she can handle it, but our classes are going to start pretty soon”

Homura looks at her thoughtfully, it takes a couple of moments before she pulls out a gun-ok, why did she bring it with her, they’re going to talk about this later- and aims it at the men

“I’m sure you didn’t have any bad intentions, but I should warn you that if something happens to the people I care about you will be the first to go”

Harue hides her face in the palms of her hands and sighs, that wasn’t what she meant in the slightest…

***

The school goes on as normal, the slight hiccup on their way to it ignored

Madoka was going to have a talk with her uncle, really! They were m-married! They can’t just go in and try to warn her, can’t go up to her sister and threaten her

Can’t do anything that will hurt them, shouldn’t they have realized that before? She supposes she was tiny back then so her threats could have gone ignored…

Well, she had to go train with Mami-senpai so she purged all those thoughts from her mind for now

She could make a call when she was home

(Madoka tried her hardest to ignore the white hair trailing after her)

***

Nagisa wasn’t spying! She was just making sure that… Homura’s wife (ugh) wasn’t doing something bad! She acted kind, but what if that was a trick? What if she tricked everyone into believing her?

She had to investigate!

Who was going to do it if not her? Harue was already enchanted for sure! Kyoko probably also was affected when she met the girl

Soon enough the girl walks into an apartment

Looking around Nagisa decides to transform, moving to the other side of the building to look into the window and see what the pink one was doing here

Before she can do that though, yellow ribbons catch her

“…huh? You’re quite… young, why are you here?”

Nagisa freezes

Looking straight at the source of the voice she tries to open her mouth, but no words come out

The yellow haired girl frowns, Nagisa feels herself shiver before a voice breaks through

“Ah Mami-senpai! This is a girl Homura-chan is looking after, I’m sure she didn’t mean anything bad”

The spirally girl looks surprised before glancing back at Nagisa

“Is that so?”

A flash of contemplation enters her eyes before she gently smiles at her and offers

“Would you like to come in and drink some tea? I’m going to tutor Madoka here and it would be a bad idea to leave you alone, as soon as she’s done you can leave with her”

Nagisa doesn’t hesitate to agree, if she can watch her train she might figure out her weakness as well!

Chapter Text

Nagisa was bored

She could be training with Homura, could be looking at her cook and trying to learn, could be in an arcade with Kyoko, could have watched cartoons with Mami

But she had school

Because of course this was more important than what she could be doing

She could be doing so much more important things, but Homura and Harue both said that school was important, so it must be true

So Nagisa will be a big girl and only complain a little bit

Nagisa didn’t have much trouble in class, her classmates weren’t mean, nobody bullied her, her teacher was kind

It was simply not interesting

Playing with her ring she felt someone look at her, glancing she saw a girl from the other class looking curiously at the ring

Nagisa looks at her once before deciding to ignore her, so what if she sees it? It doesn’t matter

So she lets her thought wander to what she should ask Kyoko to teach her how to make, she just had to find a good bribe…

***

The next time she sees that girl her glasses are gone, a ring on her finger

Nagisa doesn’t pay attention to that

Three days later she goes missing

***

It’s weird

She doesn’t know the girl, never talked to her, seeing her only from time to time

Everyone felt bad, scared, sad

Nagisa supposes she felt that it was a waste, she should have talked to her, maybe she could teach her like Homura was teaching her, like Mami was teaching the pink one

It didn’t matter anymore, not really

She’s supposed to care more, wasn’t she? There were girls who made fun of the girl’s disappearance, but they weren’t good

Was Nagisa good?

Kyoko would say that it doesn’t matter if she was, Mami would reassure her, Homura would comfort her in her own way, Harue would hug her

Nagisa didn’t like what happened, it was the same as Homura, a tragedy that should not exist

But it was too late to worry about that

***

Kyoko was expecting to meet her at some point

It was her city after all

She still flinched when she heard her voice

“…Kyoko?”

Right, okay, this is fine, you have an ally (friend) here, you’re visiting to help her with something

Slowly turning around Kyoko makes her face form into a grin and greets the girl

“Yo Mami, been a while hasn’t it?”

Kyoko doesn’t react to the flinch, doesn’t look too deeply into the girl’s nervousness, her eyes glancing over her quickly (healthy, pale, probably from shock, but healthy)

“It… certainly has been”

They stand there in the middle of the mall, awkward silence stretching out around them

Fuck, this really couldn’t be easy and with no third person to attach to, she was left with memories of her fuck up, of their argument

Grumbling to herself Kyoko walks up to Mami and grabs her hand, dragging her to a restaurant, she’s not letting this shit fester when they’re already here

Might as well reconnect, or at least try to, Mami doesn’t seem to want to shoot her on sight, so Kyoko will take her chance

Mami only looks confused for a second before she catches up to Kyoko and walks alongside her

…still knows her huh

Ordering some pasta she sits down, waiting for Mami to make her order

A few minutes of deliberating leads her to mashed potatoes

They sit in silence, one much more comfortable than the one before, waiting for their food

Not too long after the food is there

Mami speaks first

“I’m sorry”

Kyoko’s breathe hitches before she strangles it back to normalcy

“Its fine, I’m over it, I’m sorry too”

The awkwardness is back with vengeance, permeating the entire space they occupy, the food feels blander than it was a moment prior

This wasn’t it, not at all

“Alright, both of us fucked up, messed up whatever it was that we had, starting from blank wouldn’t work so let’s just say we owe each other, figure out what we want from each other and make ourselves fulfil it, no questions asked”

Mami shows a hesitant smile

“Oh you sure? You know, I had some ideas for names since you went away”

***

“You know Madoka, you should ask her on a date, you’re married sure, but if you neglect her what do you think will happen?”

Madoka chokes on the drink

Looking at Hitomi she sees her face being completely serious, not a hint of teasing in it

“…I-I mean can I? Sure, I like her, I’m happy being married with her, I would be more than happy to go on a date with her, but it wasn’t really her choice to marry me, can I really ask for more?”

Hitomi takes a sip from her own drink, her eyes glancing upwards as she thinks of something, it doesn’t take too long for her to reply back

“Well, it already happened hasn’t it? So why not? It would be good for you to get to know each other better anyway, Homura doesn’t look like she dislikes you, it would be a good start for both of you won’t it?”

That’s… fair enough

Sighing Madoka lets her head thump on the back of her chair

“You know, we should probably talk Sayaka into confessing as well, Kyosuke is going to be released soon, somebody could snag him up before she has a chance”

Hitomi shifts slightly and suddenly Madoka’s full attention goes to her friend

“…Hitomi?”

“I… don’t think I can do that, I plan to do something… similar if you could say so”

That’s curious

It takes Madoka a few moments to realize it

“Wait, Hitomi you also…!”

The girl blushes and gives a small nod before turning away from her

Leaning across the table Madoka grins

“So what’s your plan Hito-hime?”

When Madoka hears the plan she can’t help but stare at her friend

“… a day?”

“Uh, yes? Is there something wrong? “ 

Hitomi looks a Madoka’s face before continuing on

“…Is that too little time?”

“A week at the very least”

“Really?”

Hitomi looks puzzled at that, actually confused

“Sayaka is… stubborn with her crushes, it’s good to push her, but a day is really not enough for her”

“Ah… ok then…”

They say their goodbye soon after, paying for their drinks they separate

On the way home Madoka brainstorms, a date didn’t sound like a bad idea at all

All she had to figure out, is what they should do

Chapter Text

It was weird to move out of her apartment

The same place she spent years in, the same place she planned every single detail of a loop

The place where Madoka and her had their first sleepover

It was weird, especially so when there was somebody else to occupy the space while she was gone

…why did things start to be so confusing a few loops ago? Did she unconsciously start doing something?

Well, it didn’t matter much, she was already getting used to it, planning for the next loop

The crux of the issue, she found it, the reason for Madoka contracts repeating time after time

Incubators changed their strategy, it wasn’t the first time it happened, but this was the most confusing one so far, perhaps it’s due to the half-awake nature of Madoka’s wishes

The world bent to her will, unfortunately that will was in the state of haze

Hugging Harue as a goodbye, she picks up her bags, a few set of clothes, some textbooks and notebooks for school, her wallet

There wasn’t much she needed, most of the necessity already stored inside her shield

After saying a quick goodbye to Nagisa she moves with Madoka, slowly walking back to her home

***

It’s only slightly confusing to wake up to a different room

Blinking slightly Homura stands up and stretches before making the bed

Quietly entering the bathroom Homura quickly washes her face before moving down to the first floor

It’s only when she enters the kitchen that it occurs to her, that coming into someone else’s kitchen and cooking there might be bad manners, her new habit of waking up extra early to test out recipes not helping her so she sits down and wait, perhaps she could ask to help

About 20 minutes later Madoka’s father walks in, his face showing surprise before he greets her

“Ah good morning Homura, you’re an early bird aren’t you? How are you?”

“I have been recently, I would like to ask, would I be allowed to help in the cooking process? I’ve been picking it up recently and it would be inconvenient to stop now”

Tomohisa-san looks her over before smilling

“Of course, I plan to make omurice today, do you know how to make it?”

Shaking her head she receives a kind smile in response

“Then let me teach you, first let’s start with-“

***

Madoka was psyching herself up the whole previous week

It was unsurprisingly hard to invite her out

But she already bought the tickets to the film, already bought tickets to the amusement park after

All she had to do was ask

She already used her allowance, so she had to invite her

…she hadn’t really been able to sleep, planning the whole night away

She might have been overthinking it, but it didn’t matter, she was determined to go on this date with her!

Even if she wasn’t going to call it that to Homura

It didn’t really need to be a date, they just had to get to know each other better and hanging out was a good opportunity to

The opportunity came fast, walking down to the first floor she saw Homura walk up

Her face flashing with surprise for a brief moment

“Ah, I was coming to go wake you up, it seems I was a little late”

“Oh really? It’s perfect to meet here then isn’t it!”

Feeling the force of a small sun at the little smile the other girl gave her Madoka closed her eyes

“So, I wanted to ask, are you free today? A-after school I mean”

“I should be, why?”

Perfect! Alright, just stay calm, don’t get overexcited Madoka!

“I was wondering, would you like to go hang out? Just us two?”

Homura closes her eyes for only a moment before her smile seems to bloom into thousands of suns, shinning with force that made Madoka’s knee buckle slightly

“I would love to”

***

Madoka wanted to bash her head into something

She didn’t really remember the film they went to, most of the screen time having spent staring at her companions hand and face

…they weren’t even holding hands or something, that would justify it if only slightly

So the amusement park was the place to redeem herself

…hopefully, it was slightly awkward trying to hold the conversation about the movie she only remembered fragments off, at least Homura enjoyed it a lot

She remembered some piece, something about an unknown book? An apocalypse coming, a bridge collapsing and a bunch of zombies appearing

…she should probably watch it again at some point, the way Homura’s eyes sparkled as she watched it made her think of how happy she would be to talk about it with someone

There was a quiet hum of happiness radiating from her

Madoka hoped she would continue to provide it, continue to be allowed to observe it

***

Homura wasn’t sure what to do in an amusement park, never having spent much time here

Sure there was that one time all the girls went there to relax, but Homura didn’t know what to do then either and she changed too much from that girl by now to learn from that experience

It felt foreign sometimes

Well aside from that she had a few things to note

Rollercoasters were a drag

Perhaps it was her bias, no it was her bias, but they were just… boring really

Why would she ride on a rollercoaster when it didn’t compare to half of what she did on her hunts?

At least the swinging ship was more interesting, feeling gravity disconnect for a moment was exhilarating

The excited scream Madoka let out was in agreement with her

Of course they ended their trip on a Ferris wheel, Madoka insisted on that, something about it being a famous cliché?

If it made her happy Homura didn’t mind it

The view wasn’t bad, the little lights going around as darkness encroached, as lamps started to light up, groups of people walking by

“It’s a great view isn’t it Homura-chan?”

“It is, though I think I know a better one”

A spark ignites in her eyes as she leans closer to Homura

“Really? Can we go there sometime?”

“I… of course, how about tomorrow?”

“That would be perfect!”

The hug that she receives is as perfect as any other she gave Homura, so full of love and gentle care

Homura didn’t think she could get tired of her

Chapter Text

Nagisa didn’t really know how she got here, well that would be a lie

Nagisa knew exactly how her heading to check on Homura sneakily ended with her babysitting the pink one’s little brother

“Naisa! Naisa! Look! This one is sho big! It’s so cool!”

…at least his dinosaur collection was interesting

She didn’t know much about them, but big lizards that used to live a loooong time ago? It’s just cool! Thinking back, does Anny know more about dinosaurs? They are her as-ant-anceptor

So it wasn’t too bad listening to Tatsuya talk about them, even if she had to pause him and ask to repeat some stuff, he was speaking way too fast!

The most distracting thing was the pink one smiling at them, what was she trying to do? Nagisa won’t be caught as all the others have been!

Glancing at her from time to time to make sure she wasn’t doing anything, Nagisa continued to play with Tatsuya

She had to wait for Homura anyway, she had to come here when she wasn’t there!

No matter what anyone would tell, she wasn’t sulking when she learned that!

Hearing the door being opened both Nagisa and Tatsuya’s head snapped to it

Seeing black hair Nagisa launches herself to the door

Slamming into the older girl’s stomach she feels arms go around her

“Homura!”

“It’s good to see you as well Nagisa”

“Where were you? I wanted to ask you to train me today but it’s already so late by now…”

“Ah I was…”

Nagisa suddenly realized that they weren’t in the comfort of magical girl only area (plus Harue, but she was a honorary magical girl anyway!)

“…fighting a big bad witch, a real meanie head”

Suddenly her eyes shining Nagisa leaned in

It was like a secret code! One only they (plus the pink one…) understood!

Nagisa felt someone tug on her arm, looking to her right she saw the little brother of her glancing at them, his own eyes sparkling as he gasps

 “A witch?”

Giving the little boy a sagely nod Homura whispers out

“A big and mean one”

***

They were meeting in Mami’s home, Homura asking everybody to come to talk, Mami suggesting her place for the conversation

Madoka wasn’t sure what was going on, but she will learn today right?

Nagisa still seemed wary of her for some reason, it was kind of silly to look at (even if slightly upsetting, she wanted to get along with the girl, she was practically Akemi’s youngest!)

They got there early

It was still shocking to see half the room filled with white void, Mami glancing at them with an awkward smile

Nagisa on the other hand looked in wonder

It doesn’t take long for the void to swallow the whole room

It was kind of worth it to see Kyoko stumble into the room looking absolutely baffled, it was a missed opportunity to record it…

Oh well, too late now

Homura turns to them, a small cough into her fist and all their attention is on her

A snap of her fingers and holograms float up into the air

It’s a bunch of numbers, maps, old records

“I invited you all to discuss a witch that’s coming to this city and how we will deal with it”

Mami’s eye widen as she stares at a name

‘Walpugrisnacht? That’s a weird name, actually do witches have names? Sure she gave them nicknames before binding them in her red string and shooting them down with her bow, but did they have a proper name that they could learn?’

“This is walpugrisnacht, it’s other nickname is the queen of witches, approximately two weeks from now it will come here and raze the town to the ground”

Shiver went down Madoka’s spine at the seriousness of her voice

…that was bad, really bad

Yet Homura didn’t stop speaking

“Of course it’s not called the queen of witches for nothing, the uniqueness of this witch is that she doesn’t need a labyrinth, no protection for ordinary people, but also no disorientation from entering the labyrinth, of course just the fact that it doesn’t need a labyrinth speaks for itself”

The room grew colder

“I will not allow it to live”

The discussion after consist of strategy, weaknesses, every tiny detail about the witch that exists

***

It’s after the fact that Homura walks up to her and ask her

“Madoka, I know the most likely answer but I’ll still ask, please leave the town with your family, let us handle it, take Nagisa with you, just… make sure to be safe”

“I… can’t do that Homura, the thought that all of you will be fighting while I’m hiding away just… doesn’t sit right, I want to help you all”

“… I see, so that’s your answer, alright then, I will join your training with Mami-senpai and bring you to a level that should be… appropriate to the witch of this caliber”

Hesitantly reaching out, Madoka grasps Homura’s hands and speaks with as much reassurance as she could, speaking it into existence

“We will get out of this fine, we’ll make sure that Walpugris will fall and you won’t have to see someone die again”

The flinch is expected, yet still so heartbreaking

They’ll get out of this, they will beat it, they will all get out of this alive

Madoka will make sure of it, just as Homura will, as Mami will, as Kyoko will too

“But uh, Homura-chan, how do we convince Nagisa to leave the city?”

The other girl freezes

“…I haven’t thought about that yet, you could try to persuade her?”

“…she doesn’t trust me for some reason, I don’t think she’ll listen if I try to do that”

Homura looks at her baffled

“She doesn’t trust you???”

A resigned nod follows the question

“She doesn’t trust me”

The surprise doesn’t leave Homura’s face even when they get home

Chapter Text

“Harue? Do you have a few minutes?”

“Hm? Yeah… I guess I do, why?”

Turning around Harue faced her sister, her geometry homework wasn’t going anywhere anyway, even with the notes Homura gave her it was tough, shouldn’t she have been the one to give the notes though? When did Homura have time to study? Well it didn’t matter much

Focusing back on Homura she waited for her to continue

“I wanted to ask you something, a witch is coming, a witch that is… much different from the other ones, this one will not hide away and will attack the world without restraints of the labyrinth, so I hoped that you could take Nagisa and leave Mitakihara in a week”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to deal with it”

Her voice sounds dead, like a walking corpse stating a fact that will never change, her eyes pools filled with exhaustion

So Harue nods, hesitantly

It’s the only thing she can do unless she contracts

…and that would be horrible, to her, to her sister, how much she hates Kyubey there must be a reason right?

Yet Kyubey doesn’t remember ever contracting her, doesn’t know what he did

So she will help, do what she was asked

It’s not easy, but it’s what she had to do

***

Sayaka didn’t confess

There were plenty of opportunities, yet she chickened out

At least Hitomi looked happy

It was a surprise when Hitomi asked to talk to her privately, when she told her about her own feeling towards Kyosuke, about the ultimatum

So here she was, mopping because she got too scared to confess and Hitomi didn’t hesitate

Really, she was more disappointed in herself than heartbroken

It felt shitty to realize that they won’t work out, but she also knew him for years, saw the best and the worst he had to offer, she liked him plenty to fantasize, to want to date

But it didn’t feel particularly hard to start moving on, she lost her chance and that was it

…she felt happy for Hitomi

Really, the thing driving her mad the most was how easy she gave up, how hard it’s been to even think of confessing, how her throat closed up on itself whenever she tried to

She didn’t doubt she liked him, the ache in her chest proving that it did hurt, maybe it was because of how long they’ve know each other that it was so hard to confess, tell her feeling, maybe it was because of how long she held onto them as a private secret only she (and apparently her friends?? She never told them that!) knew

So she went to an arcade to unwind, she heard from Madoka about a new friend she made that knew a lot about those feet controlled game, dance machines?

It sounded more and more appealing, to burn out her energy with some sense of rhythm, some distracting sound

***

She turned out to be shit at them, much harder than she anticipated them to be

Catching her breath as she leaned on a wall across the machine she saw another girl walk up to one, interest quickly rising she looked as she played

A few songs later the redhead turns to her

“So, whatcha staring at? Going to ask for my number or something?”

Feeling her face heating up she hissed out in response

“Wh-no! I was just resting!“

The bland look the girl gave her made her double down

“Resting! Maybe trying to figure out how you played so good, but nothing more!”

The smirk that grew on the other girl’s face instant made Sayaka’s own crumple, already expecting to be hit with another line

“Ah I see! So you were just staring at my body instead~”

Smart answers long gone from her mind she decides on something easy, a classic really

She ignores how she felt her neck burn

“Fuck you”

“Meh, maybe later, gotta go pick up a friends sorta kid from school today, we can reschedule though”

“I-I stop twisting my words!”

A moment later the other girl cackles, her head going backwards, about half a minute later she finally starts to slow down and looks at Sayaka with a smirk

“Alright alright, let me teach you some tricks as compensation, then you can stare with permission this time”

***

Madoka was in the middle of tea time with Mami-senpai after their training when she got the text

Bluenote: Madoka, I blame you for this

Dokidoka:???

Dokidoka:whst did I do???

Dokidoka:what*

Bluenote:talking about those dance machines

Dokidoka:?????

Bluenote:you don’t need to know more

Dokidoka:??????????

Dokidoka:explain

Dokidoka:Sayaka epxlian

Dokidoka:I will find out no matter how much you’ll hide it

Bluenote:.\=/.

“…what happened with her?”

***

“So, had any fun in school”

“No, it was soooo boring! We didn’t even have gym class today!”

“Yeah sounds about right, that would be boring”

“…Kyoko could we go to the book store? I want to get a new story, the one’s I had are getting boring”

Putting every ounce of her cuteness into the puppy eyes Nagisa looks up to the older girl

It doesn’t take long for her to break

“I, yeah sure whatever”

Slamming herself into the older girl Nagisa squeezes as hard as she can

“Yay! Thank you so much!”

Grumbling under her nose Kyoko looks away, slightly petting the smaller girl

“Yeah yeah, it’s literary nothing, I’m not even paying”

Chapter Text

“NO! I’m staying! You can’t make me go!”

“Nagisa please-“

“NO NO NO, YOU CAN’T MAKE ME”

Homura tries to reach out, but the girl runs into her room, slamming the door closed

Taking in a long deep breathe, Homura walks up to the door and silently sits leaning to a wall next to it

“Nagisa”

She doesn’t receive an answer

Is this how it feels to deal with rebellious teenagers?

“Nagisa, I don’t want you to get hurt you know that right?”

Waiting for a few seconds for a reply, Homura moves on

“This isn’t the same thing as any other witch fight, you’re too young to fight here, too young to die, magical girl’s lives are already limited, I don’t want you to shorten your own anymore”

“…and you can? What about Harue, she’s going to miss you”

“…she will have a life worth living instead, and why are you so sure I’ll die?”

Silence regains its hold over the hallway

It takes a little more time before she gets her answer

“…we’re not in a comedy”

“We aren’t”

“It always happens, in the stories, somebody has to sacrifice themselves to finish off the big bad”

Dryness hits Homura’s throat

It does usually take somebody’s death before they can finish it off, two people, three, it doesn’t matter, the memory of Kyoko with a steel beam in her chest flashes through her eye, the memory Mami’s upper body crushed under a building, Sayaka’s body in chunks of meat spread throughout the city

The memory of Madoka, dead to her own hand

“I won’t let it happen”

“…do you promise?”

“Of course”

It has always been the plan, the perfect world she’s striving for, the one where’s everyone is alive, the one where Madoka would be at her happiest, the world where they’re all healthy, where they don’t know the truth, where they don’t have to know it

(The one where she doesn’t have to look at their corpse)

“…you going to have to make pizza when you’re done, maybe then I’ll agree, a-and also toasts, umm maybe also cookies?”

Huffing out a small laugh Homura allows herself to relax if only slightly

“Of course, I promise I’ll feed you enough that you’ll get sick of my cooking”

***

“Sayaka”

The girl turns slightly in her direction

“Hm? Homura?”

“I came to warn you, leave this town before May first, its… not going to be safe, visit some family, find an excuse, just… something”

Perhaps feeling her seriousness the girl look at her cautiously

“I… sure yeah, I’ll try”

“Thank you”

***

It’s always nerve wracking to prepare for it to come

She’s always a little sick as she places the bombs, counts up all her weapons, makes as many bombs as she can

Yet it’s never enough, the most often the reason for their victory is Madoka

Homura is never enough

So she prepares

For that is the only thing she could use as her weapon

Her only weapon, her control over time, her never ending month, the eternity in her hand

The weakling, the lonely girl, a coward, the miserable wretch that took control of the hand of the clock

She will find a way or die trying

For that was what she was molded into with her own hands

***

The heavy oppressive feeling shook her

Madoka was prepared, she was sure of that, her training sessions with Mami and Homura preparing her enough

‘Was’ of course, is a past tense

Looking at the thing with her eyes she felt weak in her knees

The word dangerous couldn’t be enough to describe it

Natural disaster, uncontrollable, unbeatable with human hand

She heard a laugh to her side

Madoka couldn’t discern whose it was in her daze

Yet she had to get herself together, she promised that they’ll live after this, that they all will make it

So she creates her bow, thousands of red strings burst forth as she sends them to hold the witch down

The witch isn’t deterred by them, snapping them like a spider web in its way

The world bursts in a song of chaos

***

Kyoko had to admit, Madoka was strong, really strong for a newbie, she understood why Mami thought she would be the strongest magical girl she will ever see

Glancing at the cracked, barely holding on barrier over her soul gem, she was afraid to admit it might not be enough

They were all strong, the strongest group of magical girls Kyoko’s ever seen, but she supposes the Queen of witches was a legend for a reason

The ground on another street exploded, decimating every familiar there

Glancing to another monster Kyoko wondered where the girl got so many damned explosives

Homura was a mystery, Kyubey not remembering every contracting her, the talking lizard almost always with her

And now a second magic, Kyoko could get healing barriers, sure whatever, it was a useful ability, she could kind of attach the barriers to her infinite storage shield bullshit

But then inside one of her barriers time stopped

A hail of bullets later all the familiars inside it were dead

***

A building drops on Mami, a stab from a hiding familiar breaking the barrier before both of them get buried beneath the tower of concrete

***

Kyoko is the one to make the last hit

Her soul gem shatters afterward

Homura stared ahead of herself, not daring to look at her body

Bringing up her shield, she allowed light to surround herself

***

Nagisa was on her way from a book store when she felt it

A witch labyrinth

It didn’t make sense to her, she hadn’t felt a witch yet, hadn’t seen an entrance

Snapping her eyes to Harue she transformed, ready to defend her older sister

She felt something try to penetrate her forehead, a sense of magical suggestion, eyes widening Nagisa spun around to see Harue, her forehead holding a mark of two broken rings

A cursory glance around her Nagisa saw all the other people on the street holding the same mark

The world spun

She was in a garden the size of the world

Flowers grew around them

It finally hit Nagisa then, that Homura failed

***

Waking up in the hospital Homura stared at the ceiling

She had to change strategy, she had to be more active in preventing Madoka’s contract

She had an idea on how to accomplish that, she just had to wait for the evening, when Anny would appear again

But for now, she changed her clothes and searched for white hair

She had a promise to fulfil

Chapter Text

Meeting Nagisa goes as planned, making foundation for their relationship, to get her to know there are people out there who will look out for her

Getting out of the hospital is easy enough, check out and go home alongside Harue, hold some small talk while they walk home

It doesn’t take long for Anny to arrive, it takes even less to convince her of the plan

“You’re right… her potential is great, it would be a shame for a young girl like her to lose her life because of incubators thirst for longevity”

They come to an agreement, Anny would watch over Madoka, sending Homura flares of emotions through their connection and Homura would eliminate every single one that comes close to the girl

Not a single incubator get's within a hundred meters to Madoka on that week

***

Homura was getting used to Madoka’s reactions to her joining the class, it was different from how they were in the start, but after five times in a row when she saw the girl turn red after seeing her, it was already expected

Madoka standing up in the middle of class with her mouth hanging open was new

Every gaze in the classroom jumps to her, a moment later blush extending to her hands she quietly sits back down, hiding herself in her arms and desk

Curious, what was with this reaction?

Unfortunately she couldn’t be stuck on that, she was going to end it all with this timeline, so the stray thoughts had to be purged

This was it

***

Madoka and Sayaka met Mami

Unfortunately Mami was less… receptive to her after Homura’s Kyubey slaughter

It was expected, even if the girl met her before the warnings, if she continued to slaughter it, it would complain to Mami about the ‘waste’

It’s only natural she grows more distant

After a couple of loops where they were back to being close like before, it hurt to go back to this distance (At least it wasn't the same distance that she got used to, the borderline antagonistic relationship they held in those loops was... unpleasant to the extreme)

But seeing Madoka sell her own soul every, single, damn, time?

That hurt much worse

So she ignores it, stares at them from the top

Mami stares back, something like frustration claws into her eyes, self-pity, anger

Though before they can go into their usual argument about taking other people choice’s (as if it was a choice, with so little information told about the contract) Madoka speaks up

“Um, Homura-chan, a-are you by chance, um… engaged?”

That…

Was she?

Putting a hand up she quickly pulled her phone out and made a call

A few rings later Harue answered

“Yes Homura?”

“Am I engaged?”

“Yeah? I think so? Let me ask uncle Furugaki”

The call ends

A couple of minutes later she receives a call again

“Homura, may I ask why you’re asking whenever you’re engaged or not?”

The voice sounds… panicked?

“. . .”

Glancing down at the other girls below her Homura steadily ignores the weirded out looks Mami gives them, Sayaka just looks at her with additional wonder, glancing between her and Madoka

“Someone asked me if i-“

“SOMEONE DID WHAT!?”

“-was engaged”

The voice on the other side- Furugaki-san most likely, she didn’t talk with him much last two loops- growls out

“Yes, yes you are, to a lovely lady named Kaname Madoka, so tell that little trouble maker th-“

“Ah I see, thank you”

Turning back down Homura looks at Madoka as she ends the call

“I am, it seems you are my… fiancée”

Homura does her best to remain calm, forces her heart to slow down a notch

…this should have been expected, yet the prospect was simply too... exciting? Yeah that

Ugh wait she was getting too distracted

Turning around Homura begun walking towards the escaping witch

Tilting her head back she looks at Madoka and speaks as steady as she can

“I’ll find you l-later and we’ll talk more”

Stopping time Homura slaps her cheeks to calm herself down before running after the witch

***

Madoka was happy, really happy

It all started when she vaguely recognized Harue’s surname

It was a bit weird, she didn’t remember meeting her, but there had to be a reason right?

So she asked her parents

Akemi, apparently, was the surname of her fiancée

Though the name was different, so Madoka went with it being a coincidence

A month later, Homura walks into class and Madoka hoped it wasn’t

So when she asked (in most probably a bad time to ask such a thing, really, who asks that while someone is in a stand off!? What did she think?) and receives the answer that yes, they are engaged to each other, when the girl said she will find her later?

Excited

Bouncing as she walked home she saw Sayaka glancing at her from time to time, slightly frowning

Ignoring that Madoka wondered how she should prepare, what dates she should plan, at which point they could do couply things? They were engaged so that would come with time, but Madoka would much prefer it sooner than later

Just imagining hugging the girl... kissing her... maybe even-

She broke out of her fantasies the moment her head collided with a pole

Sayaka’s laughter wasn’t appreciated in the slightest

***

“You knew, did you not? At least expected it”

“Mami-san”

A curt response, Mami knew that the other girl wasn’t exactly great at talking, so she powered through

“Is this why you don’t want them to contract? Because Madoka is your future wife?”

Glancing at the slight flush on the other girls ears as she nods, Mami tries to compare it, the idea she had of the girl from before and the image that is forming now

“…I don’t want anyone to contract really, until they know everything that comes along with the job, the bad sides, the little things, things you yourself don’t know despite the years you spent as a magical girl”

Feeling her face scrunch up in frustration, Mami asks, her voice strained as she tries to keep herself calm, not lash out, they were allies, even if Homura’s hate towards Kyubey was annoying to her

“What is it that I don’t know?”

It was quiet for a moment

“Soul gems, what are they?”

That’s… obvious isn’t it?

“They’re the source of our power?”

“Of course they are, but why are they called that? Why SOUL gems? Why isn’t it called something like heart gems? Hope gems? Any other name really”

“That… I… don’t know”

Homura looks at her, something close to pity in her eyes, yet distant from that emotion all the same

A moment later she speaks with venom spitting out of her mouth, yet clear as night’s sky

“Ask Kyubey, as much as that thing avoids telling things, it won’t lie when you ask directly”

The other girl doesn’t wait for her to move out of shock before leaving

Grumbling slightly Mami walks away, going back home, the question Homura asked was nagging at her

Why were they called soul gems

***

The next week was spent getting Kyoko (this time remembering to warn both the bodyguards and Harue), making sure Nagisa doesn’t contract and helping her out, helping her move in next to them, meeting Madoka and figuring out the whole… engaged thing

She was of course, the most excited about the last thing

Madoka was likely just being her kind self, wanting to get along with someone she assumed she would be married to in the future (so smart!)

So when she suggested going on dates to get to know each other better Homura almost fainted

Of course she pulled herself together and agreed, cooling down her body and manually stopping the blood flow

They planned to have the first one at the end of the week

***

Homura didn’t expect to meet Sayaka there, though logically she probably should have

“…Homura?”

Plan A: ignore the girl

Failed

“Hm? Ah yes Sayaka-san right?”

“Yeah, didn’t expect to see you there, what are you here for? Wait shit im so-“

“Ah it’s fine, don’t worry about it, I suppose Harue told you about my heart problem then? Don’t worry, I’ve recently fixed it, I’m here for… volunteering should be a good word for it”

The girl cast a curious glance at her

Pointing at her soul, Homura spoke

“I’m not entirely specialized in it, but healing is one of my strong points”

Sayaka’s eyes widened, mouth parting a tiny bit

“O-oh really?”

Biting her lip she looks around before hesitantly looking Homura in the eyes

“Could you… heal someone I know? My friend he’s-“

“Of course, I’m here for this anyway, aren’t I?”

Relief floods the other girl, her shoulders visibly relaxing

“Thank you, you know, you aren’t so bad when you don’t go full chuni are you?”

Homura wondered if she should pretend to stop humoring her request at that moment

***

Nagisa wasn’t sure how she got there

First her mom gets sick

Second Kyubey appeared before her, suggesting she becomes a magical girl

Third a random girl who was getting checked out played with her

Fourth, that same girl was apparently a magical girl

She haven’t seen Kyubey much since she met Homura

When her mom died Homura suggested she moves in close to her, so she could look over her

Nagisa agreed quickly, not wanting the offer to be pulled back if she thought too long about it

Homura did warn her, that another girl was going to come live there soon too

And then things got confusing

Homura had a fi-fien-future wife

She was… nice

Though it was annoying that Homura only cooked what she liked when Madoka visited, paid so much attention to her!

Meeting Mami was slightly weird, being pulled into a witch's labyrinth (which she was later explained more about)

It was scary really, the world changing into a huge parody of a bedroom, figures in posters moving, laughing, pointing at something sitting on the bed, toys sprawled on the ground, something leaking from the ceiling

Thankfully Mami appeared only a minute later, destroying everything in her way! She was so cool!

She was Nagisa’s favorite (after Homura and Harue of course!)

They went to get some tea before Homura walked in to take her back home, after a brief conversation, Nagisa was sph-scheduled to hang out with Mami tomorrow!

There was also Kyoko

She was fun, really fun! She knew the best games!

She taught her how to climb a tree on her own too!

Really, what did she do to deserve everything going so well for her so suddenly?

Nagisa could only hope things would remain like that as long as possible

***

“You should sleep Homura”

Again? Didn’t they discuss this? As long as Madoka was at the risk of making a contract she wasn’t going to rest, as long as Madoka viewed contracting as a possibility she couldn’t lower her guard

“I can’t Anny, and you know it”

“This isn’t good for you, isn’t good for Madoka, what if you get caught off guard because of how tired you are?”

Scoffing at the lizard Homura kept assembling the rifle

“You and I both know that it won’t reach that point for a long time, magic does wonders”

“It’s not enough though”

“Is it really? Because I’m sure I could hold on to maximum awareness for at least 3 months, with only slight decreases every consecutive month”

“Sure your body will hold, but magic won’t protect your mind”

Taking a deep, long breath Homura looked at her tiny ally

“Drop it already, I made my decision”

Anny continues to stare at her for a few more minutes before leaving back to Madoka in the other room

She wasn’t so fragile, she will hold up

She will make sure to do so

Chapter Text

Sayaka wondered, how did she keep steady?

“Ah, how annoying”

Mami looked sick

Madoka was on the girl, panicking

Homura lost an arm

“I suppose I should take a medical leave while I heal…”

A barrier surrounded the stub, soon enough it started to slowly heal

What the fuck

Moving the stub slightly, Homura frowns before awkwardly using her other hand to pull out her phone, the labyrinth collapsing around them

“Hello? Yes, this is Akemi Homura, I would like to take a sick day for tomorrow, I don’t feel so good, yes, I should feel better after a day of rest, uhm, thank you Imachi-sensei”

Ending the call Homura frowns

“Ah… I suppose I should tell Harue about the magical girl thing…”

Sayaka wondered, who was the outlier in this situation as she looked at Mami and her panicked gaze

She pukes soon after

***

Homura wasn’t entirely sure why Madoka decided to accompany her home

Though the glances at her stub it was probably that, taking the long unused route she had plenty of time to steal glances at it

…was it that bad? She supposes her idea of a bad injury… changed after so many loops, after so much time as a magical girl

The newfound healing ability probably moved that goal post even further

How bad was a loss of an arm to a human?

Thinking back, that boy didn’t even lose his arm and still couldn’t be fully healed

Frowning slightly Homura revaluates her understanding of injuries slightly

She should probably look into how bad those injuries are…

Well, at least Homura had the privilege of Madoka holding her hand

Losing her arm was barely worth enough for that opportunity

***

Anny stares at her sometimes

She doesn’t say a word

She doesn’t need to

***

Enchantment was easy enough

Layer the thought, the needs, your desires, almost making a wish, changing the structure of something, enhancing it

Homura wonders sometimes, if the contract is just the peak of enchantment

Weren’t they tool to incubators?

Yet the differences were there

The contract, no matter how much was left untold, still could benefit both sides

The contract could alter the fabric of the world itself

The contract could spin time like yarn

***

“Ugh, I wish I could just understand that girl, she lost an arm and treats it like nothing!”

‘That’s easy enough ‘

Tensing Sayaka turns to Kyubey

“Isn’t that a waste? I could just… take my time I don’t know”

‘It could be, but you also could never really understand her, the decision is ultimately up to you isn’t it? ’

“I… no, that’s not it, I won’t wish for that”

‘Hm, how unfortunate, alright then, should you not start on your homework?’

Laying down next to her Kyubey glanced at her

Ugh this guy, Sayaka swears that if it was human it would be the type to remind the teacher about the homework…

“I guess…”

Pausing slightly Sayaka looked at it again

“…should I get you a cat bed or something? You’ve been spending some time here anyway, I don’t think they cost too much”

‘If you want to, it would be more comfortable’

Chuckling slightly Sayaka smiles

“Alright then! Tomorrow is a shopping day!”

‘I see, now that the planning is done, should you move on and start with your Japanese assignment?’

“Ugh, you’re such a buzzkill sometimes!”

***

Madoka was preparing for her date

A date!!

With Homura!!!

With her future wife!!!!!!

This was of course a big deal, even if it was their fourth one

Picking her outfit took her half an hour before she settled for a black jacket with yellow shirt underneath it, a purple skirt and black flats

…should be good enough, right?

Well, she didn’t have much time to wonder anymore, picking up her purse she runs outside, saying goodbye to her parents before speed walking to the coffee shop they agreed to meet at

Homura was already there

Madoka took a moment to appreciate the girl’s outfit, a pink jacket with a black shirt beneath it, jeans covering her legs with some sport shoes

She fights the urge to run up to the girl and incase her into the hug that would evolve into a kiss

No matter how good that sounded in her head, they weren’t that close yet, Madoka didn’t even know if she liked her back!

Hopefully she did

Walking up to her fiancée Madoka taps her shoulder and receives a soft smile, the one that made her body turn slightly to goo

“Madoka, you’re here”

“Of course I am! This is our date isn’t it? I wouldn’t miss it for anything!”

Homura’s body twitches slightly, going… slightly red to paler?

And it was back to normal

Already knowing to ignore it Madoka takes her hand and ignores the small shudder of excitement that goes through her body, the little current of electricity going from her hand deep to her heart

After letting go of the girl’s hand they sit down to their seat and order for themselves

Madoka prepared herself, she had to pay for this one! Homura already paid for two of their last ones!

Plus she had to treat her, she lost her arm not so long ago, she deserved it

The image of it… it was still deep in her mind, how one moment before the witch was dead she made a last swoop of her claws and took the arm, the labyrinth dissolving alongside it

Just how apathetic Homura was to it

The blood that seeped from the stub, the bone that sticked out

Madoka remembers the acid seeping into her throat

Remembers clinging into the girl for comfort, when she should have been the one to give it

And now, only a few days later the arm was as good as new

It was unnerving to think about, especially with how casual Homura was, did something like this happen often?

Feeling a gentle touch on her hand she realized just how out of focus she was

Quickly glancing to the cashier she saw that Homura already paid for it

Dang it!

***

Mami wondered these days, just how much didn’t she know, just how much information did Kyubey hold from her

How much did Homura learn, how did she learn it

How many people did she lose?

It wasn’t hard to see it, the constant expectation of death she put on them all

Resigned to see them die and suffer because of it

Mami wonders, how did the girl herself react that her soul was transformed into a trinket

Was that the reason she was so angry at Kyubey? Was there something more that Mami didn’t yet know?

It was possible, with how little of a reaction Homura shown at her arm being taken…

Kyubey explained, that their senses of pain were dulled

Could they control them?

Or was Homura just so used to pain she didn’t care enough to scream?

***

Anny sent another signal

Stopping time Homura runs, finding the spot she searches the area

It takes an hour to make sure she found all of them

She puts a bullet in every single one

Sixth time today

Taking a look at Madoka, Homura let out a smile before leaving the area

There was no more reason to stick around

***

Kyoko wondered