A/N: Another one of those ideas I keep having. Popped into my brain when I was writing something else, and then the ideas for that other thing stopped. So I guess that this is the new thing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Madoka Magica
Warnings: Standard procedure for detaining a lunatic
Pairings: Nothing I guess. Homura and her padded cell.
Edit #1: Fixed up a few inconsistencies pointed out by Deltahalo241 (thank you!)
One eye eased open slowly. Her vision was blurred, but she could see well enough to know that she was not where she had been before. Homura Akemi attempted to sit up, but he found that she couldn't. Her arms were bound. She pried her other eye open, and blinked several times to clear her vision. Looking down, she saw that she was very obviously in a strait jacket.
"What the hell is going on?" she thought. The last thing she could remember was taking a shortcut through some back-alleys… after that, it was almost like she had blacked out.
She tried to swing her legs off the small bed she was on. She placed her feet on the floor, all too aware of the fact that they were chained together. She walked over to the heavy padded door of her cell, and looked out the small window that had been provided.
Beyond the window was a surgically clean corridor, white paint on the walls and ceiling, blue-green lining on the floor. Every few meters along the walls, there was a door that she guessed was much like her own.
"I guess this is some sort of institute. But why the hell am I here?"
She could not think of any situation where she would need to be detained like this. Growing more confused by the second, she decided to try calling for help.
"Hello! Is anybody there?" She received no coherent response. Instead, she was greeted by a chorus of screams and desperate cries.
A thought occurred to her. What time was it? Surely if she were in any kind of mental institute, she wouldn't be locked in her cell unless either it was late at night, or she was a high security patient. And she still had no idea why she was there in the first place.
She sat back onto her bed, and began running over the list of possibilities that could have led her to being landed in this cell. The thought occurred to her that she could be dreaming, but there were no signs that her environment was a dreamscape or anything like that, it felt too real.
The cries from outside her cell had subsided somewhat, so she stood back up and walked over to the door. Looking out the window, she saw that a person was pushing a steel trolley along the corridor.
"She must be the nurse. Maybe I can finally get some answers."
As the nurse approached her door, Homura called out to her through the window. The nurse glanced sideways at her.
"What can I do for you pumpkin?" she said through the small holes in the window.
"I just want to know where I am," Homura responded bluntly.
The nurse smiled at her. "Why, you're at the MICI of course."
"Mitakihara Institute for the Criminally Insane. Well what the hell am I doing here?"
To the nurse she said, "Would you mind telling me how I ended up here?"
The nurse's a-little-too-kind smile faltered for a second. "I'm surprised you don't remember that pumpkin. Your little incident caused quite the hype. It's been all over the news for a couple of days."
"Days?! I've been in here for days? Oh god, mum and dad are going to kill me." And to the nurse, "What do you mean by my incident?"
The nurse's smile vanished, to be replaced by a much grimmer look. "You don't remember do you?"
"Remember what?!" Homura was growing increasingly irritated with the nurse's vagueness.
The nurse looked her in the eyes, as if attempting to decide whether she could be trusted with the information.
"Look, I really shouldn't be telling you this, plus I'm on duty, but you look stable enough to take the news."
"Yeah yeah, just tell me already!"
The nurse sighed. "Three days ago, you went a bit crazy in the middle of the street."
"Crazy how?"
The nurse looked as though she was having second thoughts about telling her this, but she eventually said, "You lost it, and started attacking people at random, babbling something barely coherent."
Homura's blood froze. She had attacked people? Why didn't she remember any of what the nurse was saying? There had to have been a mistake.
"You put at least a dozen people in hospital before they could detain you, and… well… you killed a person."
Homura's icy blood solidified, and for a moment she felt she might faint. She had killed someone? Impossible. She wasn't exactly the epitome of physical health. Her heart prevented her from doing even basic physical activities. She had trouble swatting flies, and more importantly than that, she would never kill. She was the type of person who wouldn't hurt a fly if they could avoid it.
Obviously her disbelief registered on her face because the nurse shook her head sympathetically. "The doctors know it wasn't your fault love. They know you weren't in control. That's why they've postponed your trial until you can receive treatment."
"My trial? Oh wait, of course there's a trial. If what she's saying is true, then it's probably the death penalty for me."
Homura fell back onto her bed without thanking the nurse, and wished for all the world that her hands were free so that she could wipe the tears cascading down her face.
"What the hell happened? Why don't I remember any of this? I shouldn't even be here!"
Suddenly, she heard the door to her cell open. Into it, stepped three people. The first two were obviously security personnel; their uniform was enough of a giveaway, to say nothing of the nine millimetre pistols they wore at their hips. The third was a woman, a very pretty woman. She had pink hair, matching eyes, and a face that radiated kindness. She was rather well built too. If it were any other situation, Homura might've allowed her eyes to wander past the white lab coat she wore over her uniform.
She placed the fold out chair that she was carrying on the floor, and sat down, leaning forward to Homura. She noticed that the security guards both tensed when the girl lessened the distance between herself and Homura, and her eyes narrowed with dislike.
"So, Miss Akemi Homura, born first of May 1998, educated at Mitakihara Middle School, current occupation, painter?"
Homura realised that it was a question, and stuttered to answer. "I-uh, yes."
"Okay then. So Homura- do you mind me calling you Homura?"
"No, it's fine."
"Good. Akemi-san sounds a bit too formal for this situation. After all, we're going to become good friends, okay Homura-chan?"
"I suppose so," Homura said, uninterested.
"Good. Now, before we get down to business, I'd better introduce myself."
Homura grunted in acknowledgement, but this did not deter the girl's cheerful spirit.
"My name is Madoka Kaname. Now, what do you say we get out of this stuffy little room and talk somewhere more comfortable?"
A/N: Well that was fun to write. I'm enjoying this universe already. I think the story might progress past the point of backstory establishment (I'm finally getting serious about a project!) Anyways, R&R and until next time, stay cool.