Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Homura was...tired, watching over her world was exhausting, sure nothing happened, Madoka was still separated from her, it’s been weeks since the last time Sayaka got her memories back, Nagisa’s didn’t even seem to try to get her’s back, content with living with Mami-which Homura couldn’t be more grateful for, despite how weird it was to know that the girl was the sweet witch, the person who killed Mami so many times- while Kyoko and Sayaka were getting along, just so close to finally getting together but still being on the fence of it, Homura would strangle them if that didn’t reveal she was watching them so much. Madoka...she lived, like a normal human, with no dangers in sight, was strengthening her friendship with Kyoko, getting hers, Sayaka’s and Hitomi’s friendship back to the level it once was, was getting to know Mami, was...trying to get to know her too

But Homura couldn’t allow for that to happen, couldn’t let her do that to herself, it was painful to constantly deny herself the privilege of Madoka’s company, painful to see the clear disappointment in her eyes, but that was what she had to do

But...everything was going good, wasn’t it? There were no signs of the law of the cycles, her friends were living the life she always wanted them to have, the despair she absorbed hasn’t lashed out in a while, incubators were doing a great job of converting it into energy, her universe was slowly but surely stabilizing

So it was when she discovered she could peek into the other worlds that she came up with this idea, she had even tested if she could do it and the results couldn’t be more pleasant

It was...fun to watch herself fail, fun on a certain level to see herself despair as she deserved, fun to watch herself dig herself deeper and deeper in a hole that she couldn’t climb out of, fun to watch that idiot keep doing things that clearly wouldn’t work, fun to watch that fool continue to do something that clearly didn’t work before, it was especially fun to make sure that version of herself couldn’t succeed no matter what she did

And if it was so fun to mess with one version of herself, so fun to see one version fail so spectacularly and so consistently, how fun would it be if there were more? Of course she had to consider the fact that those version would simply band together and succeeded no matter what she did to interfere, so the easiest solution came to her when she saw a version of herself who was laser focused on Sayaka of all people

She just...had to find version that were in love with different people, didn’t she?

So she did just that, found a version of herself staring at the dead redhead, screaming at the giant witch in the sky, her palm penetrating the world and plucking her out of the light that encased her, found a version of herself crying in front of a beheaded girl and stole her as well, grasped the version of herself that dared to mourn her killers, found a version of herself fawning over somebody she couldn’t remember-probably just a variable, sometimes there were worlds where Sayaka didn’t exist, sometimes there was no Hitomi, big deal- and grabbed her as well before her attention went forward to the first version she found, the one to love the right girl, grinning to herself Homura simply flicked her into her other hand before walking away, six versions of herself, a new world for her to watch, a show that would be much, much more interesting than anything else

So she carefully arranged them into the hospital room, ignored the fact that only one Homura existed there-that was one of the fun parts after all- and let go of her control, let the time start up again in that world

“Ibari, dear, would you please bring some snacks for the two of us? I would ask somebody else...but I trust you much more than any other doll, you know that right?”

Perking up, the doll sprung up from besides her and ran to the kitchen, giggling to herself all the while, smiling, Homura turned her attention back to her new toy and sat back

This...this will be interesting wouldn’t it?

Chapter Text

Homura could pinpoint the time where her luck seemed to just plummet into the ground, it was a timeline like any other, she did things the same way, talked the same way or she thought she did because somehow, someway, everything just continued to go wrong with her every action

And she had no idea why that happened, couldn’t blame it on anything but bad luck, because really, what else would explain it all?

It was...fine, she did her usual preparations, got out of the hospital, called up to the school and made sure she was assigned in the correct class, went out and killed both Oriko and Kirika, dealt with Sasa Yuuki, killed a couple witches that always proved to be just that annoying, proved to change things too much, saved Amy

It was the same as any other time, everything was still in the same familiar pace where she slowly got rid of anything that might threaten Madoka, anything that might push her towards becoming a magical girl too early for Homura to catch

The problems really only started when she got to school

***

Homura had her introduction perfect, played it out so many times it would be laughable if it wasn’t so important, she needed a good first impression to be taken seriously, to make sure Madoka listened to her and kept her words in mind even if just for a little bit longer, so she walked into class with as much grace as she could, quickly wrote out her name on the board and promptly slipped, freezing in the middle of her fall as she stared at the ever approaching floor

this...never happened before

She doesn’t react fast enough, but...at least she had a reason for Madoka to accompany her to the nurse office? A broken nose was...not ideal in the slightest, but she could deal with it, or so she believed until when she used her normally intimidating speech about not changing and heard Madoka snort

Snort, a cute snort sure, but this was not what she wanted, not in the slightest, a blush quickly covering her face whole before she decided that escape was her only option right now

it was humiliating, but not the worst thing in the world, she just...had to perform well in her classes as usual and she might get back a little respect from Madoka, might just win her over just enough for her to remember her warning right?

She slipped, time and time again, a puddle of water seemingly always following her, she almost wondered if she was cursed by some kind of witch and didn’t notice, as ridiculous as this curse was

So she sat in the shadow of the tree and stared at the ground, deep blush covering her face whole as she tried to ignore the whispers around her, it was all fine, her public image didn’t matter! It didn’t really! She just had to save Madoka and if that meant she had to be a laughing stock!? She would bear that too!

Her reputation with Madoka always took a hit when she started to hunt Kyubey anyways, if it started a bit lower, it wouldn’t be that bad right? She thought that would be the case and on large? It was...fine, Madoka was just a little more distant from her and that just...hurt, hurt so much more than she thought it would, she thought she was used to it, thought that the distance between them couldn’t possibly get larger and here there was proof that it in fact, could, that Madoka could avert her eyes, could be so clearly uncomfortable with her while trying so desperately to give her a chance

Homura barely stopped herself from giving up right there and then, but...her resolve wasn’t that weak, so she marched on forward, her goal was still the same, she had to save Madoka, had to make sure she wouldn’t contract, wouldn’t get fooled by the devil

So she ignored the painful burn inside her heart and continued on with her job, tried to lead Mami away from the witch and saw her die again, saw everything spiral again when Sayaka made a wish, when she made Homura an enemy

When Sayaka actually said things that were right, called her incompetent, called her weird, said she was selfish beyond doubt, said that she didn’t deserve to carry out Mami’s legacy and she just stared at her as she spewed out every single word and accepted them all, there was no point in getting frustrated with the truth, was there?

She resigned herself to killing Sayaka again, resigned herself to go back again, try again, try to earn their trust, try to save them, maybe...she should try another way, but what would she even do? Should she even do anything? This was...it was the worst case scenario wasn’t it? Everything went wrong, she couldn’t just disregard this approach because one failure was bad enough

So when she saw Kyoko die for Sayaka, Homura listened, moved Madoka away from it all and hid away in her house for the last few days, school no longer held any importance within it, Madoka...most of the time she already contracted by this point, was likely to contract by now

So when she saw the girl break the window down, magical girl uniform adorning her body, she accepted it easily, it was just a little surprising she would make a wish for her, but...it was Madoka wasn’t it? She was far too kind, seeing her worry so much over somebody she clearly didn’t feel comfortable around only made Homura fall for her a little more

She doesn’t tell her this time, there was no reason to when she was already contracted, it would be better if she forgot about her as just one of the people who died too young

It only hurts a little more than usual when she leaves this world

***

Homura wakes up and finds that her heart surgery failed, finds out that something went wrong and she would have to stay in the hospital for more time, wakes up with an intense pain in her chest that she could barely stop

It’s bitter feeling to realize she wouldn’t be able to go to school again, bitter to know that her meeting with Madoka would be extended further down, it felt painful to stay confined in the hospital room for more than necessary

She still tries her best, it’s harder to meet Madoka, harder to save Amy and come back before she’s discovered, harder to move around with the messed up heart that ached far more than it ever had

She wonders sometimes, if the reason she was still alive in this timeline was because she became a magical girl in time, ignores that train of thought in place of simply doing what she can

“...You...do you come to our school…?”

It was in the mall that Sayaka asked her, just a moment after she caught the witch, staring at her with confusion on her face, it takes a moment for Homura to remember that she wasn’t enrolled this time

“...I was supposed to”

“Huh? What do you mean-”

“I will give you a warning, under no circumstances should you contract, do not contact Kyubey, do not speak to it, pretend you don’t see it, do anything to stay clear of it”

Falling in front of them, Mami glared at her

“Well isn’t that a threat, are you really that scared that somebody would take your share? Going after somebody who hasn’t even contracted yet…”

“...share?”

“Ah, sorry, I am Tomoe Mami, a magical girl just like the girl there, the share I’m speaking of-”

Homura stared at them, stared as she saw both girls get more and more excited by the moment as Mami droned off about everything sweet and perfect world of magical girls

Saw Sayaka glance at her, suspicion clear in her eyes before using her magic to disappear from their sight

First step and she already failed and things didn’t get better either, the previous world curse seemed to disappear, but despite that fact everything still continued to spiral, to go wrong, the only good thing out of it all was that her being in the hospital allowed her to kill the sweet witch before she could kill anyone

Sayaka contracted regardless, as always just a bit faster than Madoka would, it was frustrating to see her do it all over again, go into the same cycles again and again because a certain idiot couldn’t make it clear he wasn’t interested, sometimes she wondered if just killing him would change things up, would move them in a more...positive direction

The thought alone felt nauseating, the fact that it kept coming up felt even worse, so the best she could do was ignore him, put him out of her sight and attempt to pull Sayaka out of the abyss she was oh so eager to jump into it, which only meant she didn’t pay enough attention to Madoka, it was a shock to see her contracted, shock that she killed immediately as she realized it was about time she gave up on this one too

When Mami killed Madoka, Homura wanted to laugh, wanted to cry herself to sleep, instead she went out and buried three bodies in the nearest graveyard, carved out their names on stone she tore off from the mountain

Laid in her bed listlessly to the end of the timeline, watched walpugrisnacht ravage the world, watched it fly towards her and remembered the hurry with which the personal ran away, the hurry in which they forgot her, it was convenient if anything else

She didn’t have to hide, could reach some sort of catharsis as she watched the city that kept burying her friends inside it’s open maw that tried to devour more and more of them, because something decided to burrow itself inside their world and keep on taking from it, dissatisfied with their natural end

It was...horrifying to watch it rampage with nobody to stop it, letting it be by itself was a mistake

So she moves to fix it, her shield clicking and in a moment, she was back, the same hospital room she was in a moment ago, yet there was still life inside it

Homura breathed it in before starting her preparations again, there was no time to rest right now

***

Staring at Madoka, in a magical girl uniform trailing after Kyoko who was rolling her eyes at her, Homura barely restrained a scream into the sky, why...why was Madoka in another fucking city this time!? How did that work!? Why was she already a magical girl!? Did she have a stray here too!? Who was that orange haired girl following after the two of them!?

At the end of the timeline, Homura stared at her watch with confusion as she waited

And waited

And waited…

And...waited

Checking the weather app, Homura stared blankly at the clear sky prediction before she suddenly got a certain feeling, taking a look at Kazamino’s forecast, she let out a sigh before using her magic

Of course Walpurgisnacht would follow Madoka...

***

When she realized Madoka wasn’t in the same class-all of them this time actually, Madoka, Sayaka, Hitomi, neither of them were there-she suddenly regretted not checking Kazamino at the start of the loop, but...she could just be sick? In another class...there were many other explanations right? She just had to go through the first day and check the next one!

So she let out a sigh of relief when she spotted her in the mall, it was...not as different as a whole other city this time, though...she did look taller? All three of them did? The uniform was a little different too, so did she go to a different school this time? That...was a little annoying, but she could deal with that, should probably add checking which school Madoka went to as something she needed to do at the start of the timeline too

Still, confirming that they were there, Homura moved to the insides of the mall, starting her hunt of Kyubey, but of course it still succeeded in luring Madoka and Sayaka into the labyrinth, so she had to interfere, or at least she tried to, because the moment she saw Mami-also taller for some reason?-she sighed, there was her chance, if Mami was already here…

So she simply waited for the whole thing to end before Mami called her out, so she walked into the light and watched them

“Oh you’re...younger than I thought”

“...younger?”

“Are you still in middle school? Oh dear, how long have you been doing this?”

“...what are you talking about?”

“I should have a talk with Kyubey after this...would you like to come with us dear?”

It took Homura a couple more moments before everything suddenly fit like a puzzle

Was...was everybody just older than her in this one? Is this why Madoka wasn’t in the same class? Was...were they high schoolers now? Does that mean her chances are even smaller this time!? Sure an older Madoka was...attractive, but her chances with a normal Madoka were already so low, how much lower did they go with this…

Of course, Homura still agreed to Mami’s suggestion, there was no reason to decline when this was one of the rare occasions Mami seemed to hold some kindness for her so early on

Glancing to Madoka and away, Homura continued this cycle before she saw Sayaka stare at her with a grin on her face

“Ah so sorry to tell, but you can’t have her Akemi-chan!”

Ignoring the way her heart skipped a beat, Homura composes herself in a moment and asks

“W-what are you talking about?”

“Well of course I’m talking about the fact that she’s already taken by me!”

“Sayaka! Stop it! This was so long ago!”

“Oh c’mon Madoka, you never said anything against it before!”

“Because I thought we stopped talking about it!”

“Well, sure, but it’s still in effect isn’t it?”

“Then I’m getting a divorce Sayaka”

Stumbling, Sayaka quickly catches herself before turning towards Madoka in shock

“H-hey what!? Why are you-”

“It’s a stupid joke anyway, we’re not elementary students are we? Plus weren’t you planning to ask out Kyosuke a week ago?”

“T-that...alright fine! But then…” Sayaka looked between her and Mami, her eyes pausing at each of them for a moment before she let out a sigh “...guess I’ll have to wait for tomorrow, I did always think of Hitomi as the second wife, this will be a great opportunity to confirm that with her eh~?”

Rolling her eyes, the older Madoka chuckled

“Not even a day into the divorce and you’re already moving on? How heartless are you Sayaka?”

“W-hey! You’re the one to do divorce me in the middle of the street! In front of our...child!”

“-do not call me that”

“Ah oops, sorry?”

Staring at the face that held no apology in it, Homura sighed to herself

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad right? If they’re older, they should be smarter as well right? And even if calling Sayaka senpai is going to be annoying, if she just waits their age difference out…

***

Watching Sayaka ignore her as she sat on the bench, Homura hesitated for a moment before lightly tapped her body and watched her fall over, not a single shred of resistance, no attempt to catch herself, just...a puppet falling over

Ah, she was too late

***

The next reset seemed to be...normal, everything was moving as it should have, Madoka was still in the same class, Sayaka and Hitomi didn’t vanish, Mami was still just a year older than her, everything was...normal

Homura walked over to the board, making sure to be extra careful and glance under her feet to make sure there wasn’t anything she could trip on and wrote her name, no mistake, nothing happening

There was a piece of her heart that unclenched, piece of her soul that relaxed, just a little bit

She was back to familiar, but that didn’t mean everything was going to be fine, she still needed to be cautious, still needed to follow her plan—could actually follow her plan again—and make sure everything went well this time

She warned Madoka, did well in her classes, didn’t trip once, it almost felt too good after the last couple of loops

And then she found the thing that was happening this loop

Sayaka was staring at her, transfixed as she watched her every movement that made Homura want to curse, why was she so suspicious already!? She didn’t even know Homura was a magical girl yet! At least that would make sense, would have some sort of reason for it, but she just met her!

At least that was what Homura assumed because the moment where she threw something at Homura, she didn’t run away and simple stood there frozen, almost...heartbroken before following after Madoka

That...was weird, but shouldn’t change things too much, right?

Well, she thought that was the case, somehow, for some reason, Sayaka kept giving her more chances, kept trying to get to know her, kept being more...talkative, friendly with her, which while it did feel a little weird, was also pretty nice

Sayaka being willing to listen to her was...nostalgic

Her being more clingy ever since Hitomi does her usual deal was a slight bit confusing, but it wasn’t something that lead to something negative in this case, just...annoying

So it was a shame to abandon this timeline when Madoka contracted

Well, nothing she could do

***

Waking up, Homura paused as she realized something, she...wasn’t in the hospital, there was a slight breeze, everything looked bigger and…

Looking down, Homura stared at the fur, at the paws that were evidently her own

Was...was she a fucking cat?

***

Homura did not want to open her eyes, so she just laid there and tried to ignore the sound of more people in her room, because after the last loop? She was fucking done, might just walk up to Madoka, ask her out, get rejected on the basis of just meeting her and go die in a ditch somewhere before she tries again

Homura didn’t even know how she got as far as she did when she was a fucking cat, it made people more likely to trust her sure, but she was also unable to talk to them, because even her thoughts somehow were turned into fucking meows, if Homura knew who was responsible for all this bullshit, she wouldn’t wait a second to shoot

(Somewhere distant, a black haired devil snorted)

So she just...laid there, her hair still in it’s braids, glasses still on her face, taking a moment to think, Homura sighs before sitting up and opening her eyes, freezing mid undoing her braids as she realized just who the other people were

It were...her, people who looked like her, a quick look around room had her count five people besides herself in it

Grabbing her pillow, she ignored everybody and screamed into it, screamed as hard as she could before her breath ran out and screamed some more as she forced her magic to extend her breath just that little bit longer

It took her two full minutes before she felt herself exhaust too much magic for her liking and she pulled it away from herself, her eyes glaring daggers at the...clones? Clones of herself, each of them staring at her, a couple with worry, other annoyance and one confusion

As she looked at them, she took a moment to think before letting out a sigh, a quiet mumble moving past her lips

“...this...isn’t so bad, I can use this, right”

Clapping her hands, she took a moment to take everybody in, a small spike of confidence crossing her mind as she saw a soul ring on each of their bodies, there were also the fact that they looked...subtly different, accessories that weren’t fully right, like one clone having a pair of silver hair clips instead of hairband, another still wearing her glasses but no braids, the other being the exact opposite, one that looked much like her, the only difference being the color of their hairband, and the final clone with a single braid instead of two

“Alright! You...all of us are time travelers, correct?”

Seeing a small nod from everybody, Homura smiled

“Good! That means we have one goal, save her”

Another nod, more confident this one, oh Homura couldn’t wait, maybe this time…

“So...let’s do it for her, for Madoka!” / “for Sayaka!” / “for Mami!” / “For Kyoko!” / “For Mabayu!” / “For Kirika and Oriko!”

...huh?

Turning her gaze towards the one who spoke the longest, Homura slowly processed the words everybody else said

“...hey hey, what do you mean Madoka? I mean she’s nice but…”

“Sayaka? Really?”

“Oh don’t you dare say that to me while you’re doing this for Mami!”

“Oh!? Or what!?”

“I mean, why argue when both of you are wrong? I mean have neither of you met Kyoko?”

“Wait wait, we need to talk about the last one, Oriko!? Kirika!?”

“...you’re right actually, them? Two of them? Really?”

“W-wait, what’s wrong with them? T-they’re both so kind it’s-”

Covering her face with her hands, Homura wanted to hit herself for being optimistic

Of course, of course even when she meets herself, she would have to deal with some sort of bullshit coming from these changes as well

Maybe...maybe a couple more minutes of screaming would be nice?

Chapter Text

Homura didn't even realize when she got swooped into the arms of the girl, wasn't sure how she even got to the bridge there, her memories feeling hazy as she yelped, grasping onto the girls arms as she looked down and saw the ground being much higher than it realistically had any right to be

Barely orientating herself, Homura tried to look at her…savior? Her memories coming back to her as she realized with horror what she was about to do, but before she could do anything else, she felt herself tilt slightly, glancing down(to the right) she paused as she realized that they hit the bridge…pillars? Her savior adjusting her legs the moment they hit it before jumping again

Letting out a scream, Homura burrowed her face in the girl's shoulder pads, her eye closed tightly as she tried to calm herself down despite her thundering, physically painful heartbeat

Feeling light pats on her head, she burrowed her head a little tighter before she heard a small laugh

"It's fine now! C'mon, no need to act out a koala on me! You're safe now!"

Hesitating, Homura slowly moved her head out of the shoulder pads, her eyes trailing towards her savior's face before she froze

"Huh? Oh wait you're the new girl! What's your name…umm…Homura, right? Sorry you got into this so soon-"

With a small thud, Homura flinched, her hands digging into the blue haired girl's hands as she saw a blonde girl land near them

"Sayaka-san, please be a little more careful, what if you over shot it?"

"T-that…sorry senpai, I'll try better…?"

Sighing, the blonde turned towards Homura, a gentle smile appearing on her face as she leaned down to her

"Are you alright?"

"…I…t-think so? My legs a-are a little shaky…"

"Hm…I guess you'll have to carry her the whole way then Sayaka-san"

"W-huh!? N-no I c-ca-"

"Hm? Sure? I mean she's pretty light…"

"Well, if you say so…Homura…may I ask your full name?"

“A-Akemi Homura, but um...w-what are...how did you two...do that?”

Glancing around the seemingly endless bridge, another question quickly arose

“And..w-where are we?”

“That...will be a little hard to explain, would you mind waiting for a bit? It would be a much easier conversation if we have some tea alongside it”

With no real other option, Homura quickly nods, earning a smile from the blonde girl

“Alright then, Sayaka, please watch over her here while I deal with the witch?”

“Huh? But I wanted to watch!”

Glancing between the two, Homura quietly asked

“Then...can’t you j-just leave me here?”

“What!? Of course not! What if a familiar finds you! I’m not that reckless!”

“Oh…b-but what’s...a familiar?”

“It’s...kind of a monster? Sorry I don’t really get it that much myself, Mami will explain it properly when this is over!”

Letting out a small sigh at the direction the blonde went, Sayaka looked back towards her

“Anyways, since we’re here, let’s try to get to know each other?”

***

“A-are you sure it’s alright? I b-barely know them!”

“Yeah duh and this is how you get to know them! They’ll like you! Don’t worry about it, plus, didn’t you and Madoka talk on the first day?”

“I...guess? We didn’t talk much...i-it was a little awkward...”

“Well...I’m here now! Having a mutual friend would make it better! So let’s go already, I want to introduce you to Madoka and Hitomi already!”

“T-that...ok”

Giving her a quick hug and dragging a small squeak out of Homura, Sayaka grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the other two girls, one of them eyeing her with some...interest? Glancing between them at-ah their hands, of course

Homura tried her best to ignore the blush rising from her neck and glanced to the other girl, Kaname-san, her eyes were...a little more curious than the green haired one, a small, polite smile on her lips

“Sorry for being late! This is Homura, our new classmate, I met her yesterday while I was hanging out with that senpai I told you about and we met her, so I thought since we’re in the same class, why not hang out together, right?”

“Well...disregarding the mysterious senpai Sayaka doesn’t let us meet...it’s nice to formally meet you Akemi-san”

“Um, it’s nice to meet you too…?”

Trailing off, Homura suddenly realized she already forgot the name Sayaka has just said to her a couple minutes prior, embarrassment growing even more

“Shizuki Hitomi”

Thankfully the girl simply smiled and introduced herself

“R-right, thank you, it’s also nice to meet you again Kaname-san”

Giving her a slight nod, Kaname-san smiled towards her

“It’s nice to meet you again for me as well Homura”

“Well, the introductions done, where does everyone wanna go? Our food court? That music store? The bubble tea place?”

Taking a look at the two other girls girls, Homura kept quiet, she didn’t really have much opinions considering the fact that she never visited even one of those, more than happy to go along with whatever everybody else chose

A couple minutes of discussion later, they were on the way towards the food court, at some point, Shizuki-san tapped her shoulder with a smile before loudly speaking up

“I must warn you Akemi-san don’t fall for the wicked fiend that is Sayaka!”

“H-huh?”

A grin appeared on the girl’s face as she covered her own mouth a finger, Sayaka glaring at her from the side, already ready to retort something, but being cut off by Shizuki-san continuing

“She already has a wife, but is so friendly to you, do you not think it’s suspicious? And she even dares to do it in front of her!”

“A-a w-wife?”

“Yep! Our dear Madoka, she snatched her up so young...yet here she is playing around with her heart!”

“Hitomi!”

Completely ignoring Sayaka, Hitomi stepped up to her, moving just a little closer before speaking into her ear

“You know, when they were little, Sayaka even forced little Madoka to have a cere-”

“Alright if you don’t listen to words, we’re doing this by other means!”

Suddenly jumping at the girl, Shizuki-san stumbles, the new weight on her back making her yelp, Sayaka grinning at the girl, her hands grabbing under her armpits

“W-wait Sayaka don’t you da-”

Homura watched in confusion as Sayaka suddenly started tickling the girl, eventually sending both of them falling onto the floor, a victorious grin on Sayaka’s face and a small glare on Shizuki-san’s

Feeling a small pat on her shoulder, Homura turned to see Kaname-san look at her friends with a slightly pained expression

“They’re...just like that a lot”

“...oh”

“Uhm, so just...get used to being dragged into this type of things now”

Lightly nodding, Homura saw Kaname-san smile at her before walking a bit over, Homura herself suddenly freezing in place as the implications of those words hit her

She...wanted her to stay with them?

***

Staring at Sayaka’s corpse, Homura stood there until she didn’t, at some point of time her legs giving in, her knees falling into the small puddle as she continued to stare at her first friend

‘Tomoe Mami’s body is currently a few streets over, would you like to see it as well?’

No words came out of Homura, her eyes blankly staring at the body of the girl who saved her, who dragged her into friendship with her own friends, who made sure she wasn’t excluded, who made sure Homura would have fun too, made sure to pay attention to her so much more than anybody else in her life

A weak voice left her

“K-Kyubey...I...I can make a wish, r-right?”

‘Yes, you can, did you finally make up your mind?’

Taking a deep breath, Homura exhaled, her eyes steeling as she turned towards her last magical friend

“I...I want to redo our meeting, I want to be the one to protect her”

Kyubey stares at her, something Homura would call a smile appearing on it’s face as it nodded

‘If this is your wish, so be it’

***

“Miki-san, I became a magical girl just like you!”

Turning beet red, the girl quickly grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the classroom, realization slowly dawning on Homura as horror spread through her whole body, meekly following after the girl

Reaching somewhere without anyone nearby, she feels herself be slammed into the wall, Sayaka staring deep into her eyes

“You...how did you know? Who are you? Don’t even try to escape, I already called senpai over here”

“H-huh, w-what do you mean Miki-san? I-It’s me! I-I made a wish so...y-you...you don’t remember?”

Sayaka’s expression shifting slightly, she slowly shakes her head

“O-oh, I...I guess it makes sense…”

“What...makes sense?”

“I...I wished to redo our meeting and a-appeared six weeks back...”

Her eyes widening, Sayaka blurts out

“Wait...you’re a time traveler!?”

***

“...and then I um...made my wish?”

Letting out an exhale, Tomoe-san sits back

“I see...you do understand that that’s a little hard to believe right? I’ve never heard of a wish like that”

“...I understand, b-but you gotta believe me!”

From the side, Sayaka suddenly speaks up

“Aw c’mon senpai, look at her! Does she look like she could even harm a fly? I believe her!”

“Well...I guess she doesn’t, but it’s still-”

“Even if she’s not a time traveler, isn’t it fine anyways? Having a third person on our team would make hunting witches easier right?”

Slightly nodding, Mami slowly turns back to Homura

“On that note...what magic did you get from your wish? I presume you want to work with us, it would useful to know”

***

“M-Miki-san...can I ask what wish you made?”

“Huh? Didn’t I say to call me Sayaka already! Jeez...but I mean, yeah? It’s nothing much really, I just...well my friend has this stray she looks over, cute little kitty—I’ll show you her tomorrow actually­—and I just...happened to walk into it getting hit by a car so I uh, panicked a little, thankfully Kyubey came to to the rescue so it’s safe now, completely healthy! I kind of wish I could actually choose what I want but...I don’t regret it at all”

Looking at her with awe, Homura watched as Sayaka started to walk a little faster before turning back with a light blush on her face

“...c’mon already, let’s not be late for our first group hang out!”

Quickly nodding, Homura quickened up her steps, matching Sayaka

***

Homura choked down her tears as she stood in front of the dead girl, this...this was supposed to work out! Why...why was she so useless? She even figured out how to use her magic to fight and she still…

Letting her head fall on Sayaka’s chest, Homura sobbed as she held her tightly

At some point, her tears slowly dried up, a dead stare towards the sky slowly filling up with anger

“...next time”

Filling her shield up, her magic spins, an unfamiliar feeling surging from her soul gem before everything goes back, the hospital room coming in view as she let’s out a sigh of relief, it worked, she...she had another chance

***

Homura was grateful when Kana-Madoka joined them, another person on their team gave them better chances, even if she felt a bit jealous at the fact that the girl was both Sayaka’s old friend and now a partner in being a magical girl as well, but that didn’t matter, they just had to win! Beat that stupid witch and then...then Homura will have all the rest of her life to befriend Sayaka! Get on the same level as her

When a new girl—Tomoe-san’s acquaintance joins—the feeling of jealousy only grows, there was...something between her and Sayaka, something that Homura didn’t recognize, but felt threatened by

She ignored it, stomped down on that ugly feeling until she could stand to watch them again, repeated the process when she couldn’t

It was almost a relief watching Sayaka turn into a witch, to have something else to focus on

***

“...hey, Homura, you...y-you said you’re a time t-traveler right?”

Laying on the ground completely exhausted, Homura barely lifted her head to turn to Sayaka, giving her a small nod when her mouth refused to open

“Can you...c-can you do me a favor? Don’t...don’t let me contract, d-don’t let Madoka do it either, s-stop everyone you can, please...I don’t...I don’t want to turn into a witch, don’t want others to feel it either, p-promise me please”

Homura nods in a silent pact, the promise burrowing deep inside her soul

Smiling brighter than ever, Sayaka’s head fall onto the ground, tears running down her face

“Good...thank you, Homura”

Magic envelops Homura

Turning her head towards Homura, Sayaka grins

“G-go save us, hero”

It’s the last words she hears before she’s back in the hospital room

***

Homura really should have realized sooner what the emotion in her chest was, the answer was right in front of her for so long, yet she had to have it spelled out for her, it made so many things make so much more sense in retrospective too!

Of course she would fall for somebody she clearly didn’t have a chance with

***

It was...frustratingly hard to make Sayaka not contract, if it wasn’t Amy, it would be that guy who was taking so much of her attention, if it wasn’t him, it would be somebody else getting hurt, if it wasn’t that, she would wish for something different every time

Homura...barely knew how to tackle it, but she tried to anyways, it was just that...the distrust she showed hurt, hurt so much more than each failure, each appearance of the mermaid

She persisted anyways, because she made a promise and even if she can’t be a hero, she had to at the very least save her

***

The first time she saw Kyoko kiss Sayaka, Homura almost jumped to separate them, jumped into a fight with the girl

She restrained herself, endured it by knowing the simple fact that this was already a failure for the fact that Sayaka contracted

It was only made harder when she realized Sayaka was kissing her back

***

“Homura-chan...is everything alright?”

“Ah, Madoka I’m...fine, just tired”

“Then...why don’t you skip today? Sleep in? I’ll take notes for you!”

“I appreciate the offer, but...I don’t particularly want to miss school”

“O-oh...sorry for saying something stupid then…”

Giving her friend a small smile, Homura shook her head

“It’s fine, you just didn’t know right?

***

One of the few things that really kept Homura sane was the fact that for some reason, Madoka always wanted to be her friend, no matter how suspicious Sayaka was, no matter how much she would fuck up, the girl continued to be her friend, was one of the few people she consistently told about the time travel, about her feelings too from time to time, the consistent encouragement that she could do it, that she would save her could only be undercut by another appearance of that cursed mermaid, by the rare appearance of the witch that stole her friends upper half

She held on regardless, she wouldn’t give up just because of another failure, if nothing else, she would have the next Madoka and the next one too

The only annoying part was trying to forget the time Madoka discovered Sayaka’s wish and felt so grateful, it somehow turned into the two of them starting to date each other

Homura told herself that she would not give up on her friend just because one version of her got to date her crush before her and so far? She managed to keep true to that

***

Staring at the younger Sayaka, Homura looked up to the sky, complicated emotions flooding her brain, protective instincts flaring up even more so than before

Meeting Mami and Madoka, similarly aged down only made her curse under her breath

Since when did her time travel change things this much!?

***

“Bow to the grand emperor!”

Faltering for a moment, Homura quickly glanced around the room, sounds of heads hitting the table almost in unison going through the classroom, quickly following suit, she peeked at the so called emperor

It was...a white haired kid, a yellow cloak dragging on the ground, too big for the girl as she coughed into her fist, her crown sliding down her head, somebody off screen catching it before it can truly fall

Staying silent, the girl looked into the camera before speaking

“From today on, today is um...sweets day! Everybody has to eat sweets only! And cheese is banned!”

“Yes grand emperor!”

Flinching at the thundering response from her classmates, Homura lately joins into the chant

What...kind of timeline did she get into this time?

***

Sitting on the floor as glasses Homura and braids Homura argued between who was better, Kyoko or...somebody named Mabayu? Honestly Homura was slightly curious who that even was, she didn’t remember meeting anyone like that before, but also there was a one braid Homura who feel for Oriko and Kirika, so there were many more incorrect decision she could do than she thought, because really? Them? The Sayaka killing fuckers whose only goal is to make her life worse?

Still, there was another thing that made her confused, despite the fact of how many versions of her choose incorrectly of course

Why...was there only one bed? Why were the rest of them on the floor​? Bed Homura was still covering her face with a pillow, occasional screams in it already becoming a background noise that Homura could begin to ignore, but she probably didn’t know either

There was...something that could point to it, it didn’t really make sense for Homura herself but…

“Hey...quick question, does...everybody here have heart problems”

“Huh? Obviously yeah?”

“Yes? Is this even a question?”

“Not for long but...yes”

“...why wouldn’t I?”

Glancing towards bed Homura, Homura decided there was no real reason to wait for her response

“Well it’s just that...why is there only one bed? Logically, if we all existed in this world...wouldn’t there be more?”

Silence overtook the room, even bed Homura slowly moving the pillow out of her face stared at her

The second hairband Homura whistled

“You know...despite the fact that you chose Sayaka, you’re pretty smart?”

“Oh shut the fuck up you-wait what do we...call each other?”

“Oh that’s...a valid point? What do we call each other...”

Another bout of silence stretched out, after a couple minutes, braids Homura raised her hand

“Well...I personally have been c-calling myself Tomoe Homura in my head…?”

Taking a moment to appreciate the boldness of the girl, Homura frowned

That...would make the distinction pretty easy wouldn’t it? They just...would have to make sure neither of them slipped up in front of somebody besides them

“It...seems like it would work pretty well?”

Glancing to glasses, Homura watched the room agree

“Right...so that makes me Miki Homura”

Tasting the words on her lips, Homura ignored the slight blush and focused on how...nice it felt to say

“And me...Sakura Homura?”

“...Aki Homura…”

“...isn’t this a little too embarrassing? Guess...I-I’m K-Kaname Homura then…”

“...but um...since I’m doing t-this for two people, how do I...call myself?”

Taking a moment to look at her, Homura looks at the other hers before Bed or well...Kaname suddenly speaks up

“...Traitor Homura”

“H-huh!? Wait what are-”

“Sounds about right!”

“It rolls of the tongue so well too…”

“Great idea Kaname!”

“Couldn’t have chosen a better one myse-well…you get it!”