Mitakihara, Japan. Recovering from a hurricane that hit a few months ago.
This is where we'll begin our story. A story that has only been known to a few, but one I will tell.
Two girls were heading on their way to middle school in their school uniforms, taking a familiar walkway that one of them has taken with a friend so many times. One of the girls has short blue hair and eyes, and the other has long red hair tied into a long ponytail and red eyes. Their names are Sayaka Miki and Kyoko Sakura.
Another girl caught up with them having been late. She has pink hair that is tied into short puffy twintails with red ribbons, pink eyes, and the same school uniform. She appeared tired, but she was mostly exhausted from running up to Sayaka and Kyoko.
"Late again, Madoka?" Kyoko leaned a bit. "This is the third time now, and it's only been only six months since that storm hit this place."
Madoka Kaname. She is Sayaka's closest friend since childhood, having known her since childhood. She has a unique personality; Sometimes she's naive and gentle, and at other times, she's confident. It doesn't really bother her friends at times, but they have taken notice.
The storm that Sayaka mentioned struck Mitakihara hard, causing severe damage to most of the houses. But the three girls knew that this was more than just a storm.
"Sorry, I just couldn't get that much sleep since that day, Kyoko-Chan." Madoka sighed, rubbing her eyes a bit with one of her hands.
"Why are you having trouble sleeping?" Sayaka questioned.
"...A nightmare," Madoka hesitantly replied.
"A nightmare?" Sayaka raised an eyebrow.
"I don't really know how to describe it." Madoka looked down with her hands together.
"I'll be heading to school right now, you guys should catch up." Kyoko walks off with her hands behind her head. "I'll be waiting at the entrance."
Sayaka sighs and pats Madoka's shoulder. "Hey, we can discuss this another time. Mami decided to invite us for dinner at her place later after school. I'm surprised the city found a place for her to stay while her apartment is being rebuilt."
Madoka nods. "That'll be nice."
In the hallways of Mitakihara Middle School, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Madoka encounter their other friend, Mami Tomoe. She appears older than the three with yellow hair with twin curls and yellow eyes. She's a very kind and cheerful friend to have around, and she's quite formal with Sayaka and friends.
"It's good to see you, Mami-san," Madoka happily greeted with a bow.
"It's good to see you too." Mami returned the bow, and she looked at the three. "Where's Homura?"
Homura was another friend in their group, and she was very important to them for she had kept the group's friendship strong. She hasn't shown up at school yet for some reason as Mami has noticed.
"Weird, she's never this late," Sayaka acknowledged.
"Then again, she sometimes gets late," Kyoko pointed out.
"Yeah, your right," Sayaka agrees, "But still..."
"I hope she's alright," Madoka commented in assurance, "Maybe she just caught a cold and couldn't attend."
"I'm sure that you three will hear something about Homura from your teacher," Mami declared, "I must go now. I'll see you three afterschool."
After saying farewell, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Madoka headed to their class, taking their seats at their desks along with the other students that are present. There was only one empty space in the class, and it was the place where Homura was supposed to sit at her desk. Once the teacher arrived, she had an announcement for the class.
"Everyone, I have some bad news about one of our students in this class," the teacher reports, "Homura Akemi will be absent from school until further notice for she is going through medical treatment at a hospital."
This concerned some students, including Sayaka, Kyoko, and Madoka. When Homura first came to Mitakihara Middle School, she returned from being hospitalized due to heart disease. Now this disease has somehow come back in the worse condition? This was unusual for the girls.
Sayaka and Madoka meet up with Mami after school to tell her about what happened to Homura. Mami, not wanting their friend to be left out, decided that they should visit her at the hospital. She wanted to continue their meeting she planned, and she also wants to assure Homura that they're hoping for her to get well soon.
Later, Kyoko was asked by Sayaka and Madoka to check on Homura at the hospital early while they search for a get-well gift. When Kyoko entered the room, Homura was in bed, wearing a hospital gown. Red nerdy glasses, two purple ribbons, and a black hairband were set next to a glass of water and a ring on an end table beside her bed.
Homura has purple eyes and long black hair. Kyoko can see terrible scars on Homura's chest, colored in ominous shades like that of bismuth and peacock ore. Yet, she didn't look ill despite the scars. She was glad to see Kyoko came to visit.
"The girls and I heard about you getting sick," Kyoko began, "I'm sorry to see you like this, Homura."
"It's alright, I didn't really expect this happen either," Homura quietly replied, "where are the others?"
"Sayaka sent me to check on you," Kyoko explained, "Madoka and Sayaka are meeting with Mami to tell her what happened, but I'm sure they're coming here afterward."
Homura nods. "Thank you."
Kyoko takes a seat somewhere. She then noticed Homura's look being gloom; Homura's looking down at her own hands, putting them together. Kyoko wonders what's on her mind.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Kyoko asked.
"When the doctors were diagnosing me, they said they never expected my heart condition to return, especially when it's becoming this worse. They even said they have never seen anything like this," Homura worried, "I'm really afraid of what they're going to tell me. I'm scared—"
"Don't think like that, Homura," Kyoko argued, "You've managed to go through this before. I'm sure you can do it again. Remember to have hope!"
Homura looked at Kyoko whose eyes were filled with confidence and encouragement.
"We don't want to see you go so soon like this, not after what we've done for Mitakihara and the world," Kyoko cheered, "We're friends, remember that!"
Homura shows a smile and tears. She then gave a nod as to say "thank you". Kyoko smiles back.
The door opens again, and this time Madoka, Sayaka, and Mami were the ones that came. They were now worried now that they saw Homura's current condition, and all they can do is hope she gets well. They did bring a get-well-soon gift for her: a basket with sweets, a teddy bear, and a balloon. Homura appreciated the gift.
Mami decided to continue the meeting without Homura. There was something urgent she had to report to Sayaka, Kyoko, and Madoka; Eventually, someone would have to fill Homura in on the details of Mami's report tomorrow.
The five girls had another life outside of school and outside of their home. They possess small egg-shaped crystals called a soul gem which grant them the power of a being called the Puella Magi — magical girls. They were granted this power by a being called an Incubator whose name is Kyubey. One contract, one wish for one girl — that was all that was required. The purpose was to fight despair-inflicting monsters called witches and their servants called familiars. Killing a witch produces grief seeds upon defeat, and it preserves the powers of a Puella Magi by "purifying" a soul gem.
Together, these five girls worked as Puella Magi under the alias, the Holy Quintet.
Mami's temporary residence was small but comfy and welcoming enough for Sayaka, Madoka, and Kyoko. During this meeting, Mami served some sweets along with new recipes she tried out. Tea was a common drink that the Holy Quintet usually drinks during their meeting.
After dinner was finished, discussions began with a topic relating to the Puella Magi.
"Kyubey's warned us that this will happen ever since he disappeared," Mami reported, "There's been a fluctuating presence of witches for the past six months now, and recently, most of the witches I've encountered never yielded a grief seed. I only manage to get one out of the four encounters this week with Kyoko."
"Wouldn't they be just familiars if they didn't yield a grief seed?" Madoka asked.
"No, these truly were witches," Mami confirmed, "It's unusual for one to not yield a grief seed like this."
"And they aren't as threatening as they were," Kyoko points out, "Usually they cause some trouble for Mitakihara. They're not like the witches that we were used to."
"I guess we'll have to put in some more effort in these witch hunts," Sayaka commented.
"Then tonight we'll be splitting up in two," Mami devised, "Kyoko and I will travel to the neighboring cities, Asunaro and Kazamino, to see if we can other magical girls and see if having the same problem. We'll need you and Madoka to keep watch of this city and Homura while we're gone."
"You can count on us then!" Sayaka approved.
The storm that Sayaka mentioned earlier was more than just a storm; In reality, it was the Holy Quintet's battle against a great witch called Walpurgisnacht, who threatened the world with everlasting despair. Homura was the one who suggested that the five magical girls work together to fight it with the power of hope. And in the end, Mitakihara and the Holy Quintet endured and so did the world.
The aftermath of their victory was uncertain now that Mami is reporting unusual witch activity.
Madoka had something on her mind, regarding these events.
Madoka showed off a ring with a pink gem. She then turns it into a pink soul gem which she held on the palm of her hand, holding it out in front of her.
"You guys still remember that day, right?" Madoka hesitantly asked, "That day six months ago?"
The room was silent for a moment.
Then Sayaka took out her ring and revealed it to be a blue soul gem, smiling. "Why would we forget about that?"
Kyoko shows off her red soul gem next. "We'll never forget that time, Madoka."
"And as long as we and Mitakihara have hope—" Mami took out her yellow soul gem. "—Anything could be possible."
"And it's also thanks to Homura that we worked together to win," Sayaka added.
Madoka smiles. She then replied, "Then let's hope for Homura to get well, and for us to hope for the best in Mitakihara's future."
"Right!" The four then had one more cup of tea.
"Cheers!"
The sun is setting.