Since Valentine's Day is coming up fairly soon, I decided to make this. Thought it'd be good practice to write yuri for a change~
And this, my friend, is only the beginning.
Her heart was beating against her chest, so hard that it was almost as if her arrhythmia had somehow returned, as she stood in an empty glass hallway suspended high over the ground, the sunset displayed in the distance.
She wasn't quite sure why she'd chosen to do this, since it was so uncharacteristic of her, but then again, this was the first time that resetting everything brought her to a date before March—in this case, it had been the middle of January.
The chance of such a thing happening was probably one in a million, but that wasn't important. What was important was that it had happened.
Today was the fourteenth of February.
In other words, Valentine's Day. In other words, if she didn't do this now, then such a chance might never appear, ever again. Even if she failed to defeat Walpurgisnacht yet again in this timeline, she would at least be able to have the satisfaction of knowing the feelings of the very girl that was standing before her right now. At this very moment. In this very hallway. Standing on the same floor. Breathing the same air. Alive. And pure.
"U- um, Homura-chan, I wasn't expecting to see you here… S- s- s- so um, did you write the letter under my desk?"
The pinkette looked tense as she waited for a reply, playing with her uniform's red bowtie to pass the time and noticeably avoiding Homura's gaze, quickly moving hers over to the left or the right in a flustered manner whenever their eyes met. For the raven-haired girl, it was an unbelievably cute sight.
A part of her didn't want to break the silence, but she knew that if she didn't do anything now, then what little confidence she'd managed to muster would crumble away.
"I did."
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Madoka's expression changed into that of surprise, and Homura immediately regretted it. Thoughts were scurrying about inside her own head.
Moron. Couldn't I have said something along the lines of 'No, it must be a coincidence, but there is something I'd like to give you'. Why did I choose a rich, formal letter to use anyway? And a Valentine's themed one at that?! I should've just gone with a blank piece of paper. I'm an absolute moron! Now she'll definitely know that something's up!
Right now, she wanted to disappear. In her spot. She changed her mind! She would rather face a hundred Walpurgisnachts at once than have to do this really humiliating thing!
"O- oh, okay," said Madoka, followed by another moment of silence between the two. "Um… So w- what is it?"
It couldn't be helped.
There was no turning back now.
"I," Homura paused, unsure what to do. Truth be told, she was shaking. She was scared. Despite having known her for a long time now, she couldn't even begin to imagine how the girl standing before her might react. After taking a deep breath, she revealed the item she'd been holding behind her back, a small heart-shaped box of chocolates, and held it out to Madoka. "Please take these."
Couldn't she have said that better? It must've come out as cold and sudden. She messed up. She'd really, really just messed up her only chance!
Madoka received them nervously, appearing uncertain as she held it up and peeked a bit into the contents.
"H- Homura-chan, t- t- these are your handmade chocolates?"
Then she closed the lid again, and opened up her arms to hand it back.
"I- I'm sorry, but I can't accept them." Even though she thought she'd prepared herself, the words still stung. But oh well. It was only to be expected- "I- I- I mean, these are important chocolates that you worked hard to make! It's for someone who's really precious to you, right?"
Homura stared at her in confusion, before saying with a smile, "Exactly," and then she lightly pushed them away. "If it's alright with you, please accept them."
At that, large amounts of red began to flood into Madoka's cheeks as she was beginning to realize the truth of the matter, and as she opened up her mouth to speak, all that came out for a moment was gibberish and stuttering for a moment before being able to form a coherent response. "W- w- w- wait a second, Homura-chan! Me? Really?! W- wait, d- d- does that mean—"
"Yes. You're my best friend."
"Oh," Madoka stated dully, and she quickly tried to clear her misunderstanding after. "S- sorry, I was just curious to know who you'd give chocolate to! I guess it was kinda silly of me. I've always wanted to know who your crush is, that's all, wehehe…"
"It's you," Homura responded instantly before she could stop herself, and NOW SHE FELT LIKE AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT.
She wanted to slap herself.
In fact, she felt like she wanted to crawl into a dark cave, far underground, separated from humanity and from everything else, and just DIE in a CORNER
right
THERE!
Where was the nearest cave?!
Madoka could only stare at her incredulously. "So—"
From there, the words just came pouring out. "I don't care whether you're a boy or a girl, as no other person will ever be able to change what I feel. You're much more than a friend to me—and when I tell you that you're my best friend, I mean it. So believe me when I say that nothing in this world is more important than you, Madoka, because I love you, and everything about you. I truly, truly do. That's why, I'd really appreciate it if you accepted my gift." If anybody is out there, please, just kill me now.
"E- e- e- e- eh- EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"
Waving her arms about in utter embarrassment, Madoka had been taken completely off-guard. She was clueless, with absolutely no idea how to react, and was frantically moving about on her spot in a circle as she struggled to come up with an adequate response as to this sudden, passionate confession from her very best friend. And a girl at that! Though Homura tried to guess, she couldn't even begin to imagine the turmoil that must be going on inside her head.
"Y- y- y- y- you do? You really mean that?" A nod. "I- I- I- I- I'm not s- sure what to say!"
"Just calm down, and say what you want to."
"O… Okay."
Madoka forced herself to remain still, taking a deep breath, and now Homura could see that her face was blushing heavily. She briefly wondered if her own face was doing the same, and judging by how tense she was and how fast her heart was beating, how anxious she was to hear the response, it likely was.
"Okay, um… Homura-chan. I'm not that great. I'm clumsy. I never know what to say, and I'm not good at doing anything. But…if you don't mind that, then thank you," As Madoka said those last words, her eyes began to water up. "Thank you, Homura-chan! You know, I also like you a lot!"
Upon hearing that, Homura's heart stopped. She'd probably died on the inside out of bliss, and the only reason she was conscious right now was because of her Soul Gem. "A- are you serious?"
"Y- y- yeah," Madoka confirmed nervously, her face a deep red, and opened the crimson box in her hands before taking out a circular chocolate bar to relieve the tension. "So um, let's split this chocolate and eat them together!"
"Eh, eh…?" Homura gave her a baffled look as she split the bar into two pieces and handed one over.
Unable to protest, they both took a bite at the same time. Too tense in this very awkward, yet joyful moment, she couldn't remember what it had tasted like, but there was definitely a feeling of strawberries left in her mouth from it.
"I should be the one to say 'thank you'. It's thanks to you that I'm having a wonderful Valentine's," remarked Homura, with a blissful smile on her face that wouldn't have removed itself even if she wanted it to, and she looked at Madoka in the eyes with newfound courage.
Unlimited strength flowed throughout her entire body, making her believe that she could do anything, even defeat Walpurgisnacht!
"Can I hold your hand?"
"U- um, sure- huh?!" Before Madoka could finish what she was saying, Homura's hand had already wrapped around hers, their fingers perfectly fitting together. The pinkette's skin felt warm, smooth, with an unmatched gentleness, with such a pure radiance that nothing in the universe could hope to match it, and within seconds they relaxed within each other's soft touch. "Homura-chan, this is… Kinda embarrassing…"
She was so fragile. And yet, so sweet, so strong.
"If you haven't noticed, there are people around us already. It's too late. You're mine now," Homura whispered sneakily into her ear, paying no need to the students who had just finished extracurricular activities and noticed them—the Valentine's box that Madoka held in particular. "But don't worry. I won't let anything harm you. Ever. I promise you that."
Unable to control herself, Homura moved to kiss Madoka's cheek in front of all those onlookers, ignoring her surprised yelp as she did so.
In that very moment, the girl swore to herself that she would never let go of Madoka's hand, ever again.
…the fourteenth of February.
In other words, Valentine's Day. In other words, if she didn't do this now, then such a chance might never appear, ever again. Even if she failed to defeat Walpurgisnacht yet again in this timeline, she would at least be able to have the satisfaction of knowing the feelings of the very girl that was standing before her right now. At this very moment. In this very hallway. Standing on the same floor. Breathing the same air. Alive. And pure.
"Homura-chan, I wasn't expecting to see you here," Madoka stated dully, with a flat look on her face. Was she surprised, or annoyed? With the distance between them, it was somewhat hard to tell. "So erm… Did you write the letter under my desk?"
The pinkette crossed her arms as she waited for a reply, meeting Homura's gaze directly with a fair amount of reluctance within her eyes, as if she'd rather be some other place than here. It gave the raven-haired girl a bad feeling, but she remained strong.
A part of her didn't want to break the silence, but she knew that if she didn't do anything now, then what little confidence she'd managed to muster would crumble away.
"I did."
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Madoka's expression changed into that of shock, and Homura immediately regretted it. Thoughts were scurrying about inside her own head.
Moron. Couldn't I have said something along the lines of 'No, it must be a coincidence, but there is something I'd like to give you'. Why did I choose a rich, formal letter to use anyway? And a Valentine's themed one at that?! I should've just gone with a blank piece of paper. I'm an absolute moron! Now she'll definitely know that something's up!
"Oh, okay," said Madoka, followed by another moment of silence between the two. "So what is it? If you need help with homework, maybe you should ask Hitomi-chan instead?"
It couldn't be helped.
There was no turning back now.
"I," Homura paused, unsure what to do. Truth be told, she was shaking. She was scared. Despite having known her for a long time now, she couldn't even begin to imagine how the girl standing before her might react, and all of her senses were screaming to her not to do this—but at the same time, this may be her only chance to do so. After taking a deep breath, she revealed the item she'd been holding behind her back, a small heart-shaped box of chocolates, and held it out to Madoka. "Please take these."
Couldn't she have said that better? It must've come out as cold and sudden. She messed up. She really, really just messed up her only chance!
Madoka received them hesitantly, appearing uncertain as she held it up and peeked a bit into the contents.
"Homura-chan, these are your handmade chocolates?"
Then she closed the lid again, and opened up her arms to hand it back.
"I'm sorry, really, but I can't accept them." Even though she thought she'd prepared herself, the words still stung. But oh well. It was only to be expected- "I mean, these are important chocolates that you worked hard to make! It's for someone who's really precious to you, right? It's not like you have to give chocolates if you have no one like that…"
Homura lightly pushed them away, and said, "I don't want you to misunderstand. That's exactly what you mean to me. If it's alright with you, please accept them."
"Er… Alright, alright, if that's what you want." With reluctance in her expression, Madoka held the box.
There was something wrong.
There was definitely something wrong here, which was only proven when she let out a shaky sigh and began muttering inaudibly under her breath, in a very disappointed tone, "I have the worst luck with guys, don't I? The second time I'm given a present on Valentine's, and it has to be another girl… Do I look like a lesbian? Is it the way I act? Or maybe it's the pink hair…?"
Unfortunately, since Homura happened to be a magical girl, her enhanced hearing senses enabled her ears to catch it all, and what little strength she had left collapsed into tiny shards. So this is the extent of Madoka's feelings… Well, at least I know.
Knowing that she would have to somehow apologize for acting weirdly like this, perhaps take her words back somehow and make it all look it one big prank, or something, she opened her mouth to speak.
"Madoka—"
"Homura-chan, I do appreciate your feelings. I'm sure you put a lot of effort into the chocolates you made me, and I'm sure it took a lot of courage for you to write that letter," said Madoka, trying to smile despite being dismayed, "But, how should I say this? I only think of you as a friend… I'm straight. I like boys. I have crushes on boys. One of my dreams one day is to grow up and marry a really cool guy."
"That's fine. At least I know now," replied Homura in as cool a voice as she could muster, lowering her head. "So… I don't want to seem like a creep, but are we still friends? Can we still have our friendship?"
"Eh, why would you think that?"
Suddenly, Madoka took a few steps forward before taking Homura's hand and holding it up. Having just said that she was straight, this act confused the raven-haired girl, who looked back up at her with wide eyes.
"Of course we can still be friends, Homura-chan, if you're okay with that. Even if my friend's a lesbian, I don't mind. I'm totally okay with that. Sorry I can't return your feelings, but I'm sure that there's someone else out there waiting for you. You're a wonderful friend, Homura-chan, so you just have to keep looking. I'm sure that someday, you'll find her!"
"S- seriously? You mean that?"
Yes, it was so obvious. There was no way she could ever forget. Even if they didn't feel the same way, all of their experiences in the past timelines weren't false. Their friendship was true. That was the reason why she had fallen in love with Madoka. Because she was so sweet, so strong, so wonderful. And yet, so fragile.
"Besides, even if it's a girl, I'm glad that I'm not totally unlikable, wehehe~" joked Madoka, which confirmed it.
She was still the same Madoka as always. The exact same person as ever. The exact same person she had sworn to protect, when she made that wish to Kyubey a very long time ago.
"Don't put yourself down, Madoka. You're so, so much more amazing than you think you are," Homura uttered with determination in her eyes, moving closer until their faces were only inches apart from each other. "When you fall in love with a guy, I hope he recognizes just how special you are. I hope he treats you like a princess, because you deserve nothing less. And if he ever does anything to hurt you, I'll be sure to beat him up, I promise you that!"
"Eh? Um… Thanks, I guess, Homura-chan," Madoka replied awkwardly, and she couldn't help but blush a little as she was able to see in the other girl's eyes from this distance just how deep those feelings for her actually were.
"Anything for a friend," said Homura.
…
"Sooo are you going to let go or not? People might misunderstand, you know. I wouldn't want to ruin your chances."
"O- oh, right. Sure."
Madoka hastily released her grip on Homura's hand.
Thanks for reading, dear reader!
After this, it'll be Kyouko's turn, then Sayaka's, then Madoka's, and finally Mami's turn will come on Valentine's Day! I wonder if I can update that regularly? I have no idea! And for those who were looking forward to it, sorry but I won't be deviating from any of the main pairings (so no MadoSaya or HomuKyo...). I wish I had that much time, but eh... Oh well. There's always Mami to look forward to, right~?
Anyway, if you liked this, then feel free to review~ thankies for that~