Class had just about finished, and the teacher wrapped up the lesson quickly in order to dismiss her students to lunch. "Very well class, for today's homework, all you are required to do is read pages one through nine." Saotome sensei chirped, "Tomorrow there will be a test, so please be prepared." With that said, everyone rose from their seats and bowed in synchronization.
Half the class exited the classroom, heading for the cafeteria while others took out their bentos from their school bags, ready to eat then and there. Everyone seemed to be in their own little group of friends, everyone except one, and that one person happened to be Akemi Homura. The dark haired girl was reading a book, she seem uninterested in whatever it was she was reading though. If anything, it just seemed at this point that she was only trying to seem interested in the book to make it seem like she was doing something.
A pair of pink eyes were looking at her from behind, observing just what it was that Homura was doing. Even though Madoka transferred to this school about three weeks ago, she had already made some friends, both Sayaka and Kyoko were quite nice to her and had shown her around the school campus when she had first arrived. And just about everyone she saw were with their own groups of friends, so why wasn't Homura in one of those? Why was she alone?
"Hey um, Sayaka-chan..?" She looked at her friend, eyes still somewhat filled with thoughts. "Hm, what is it, Madoka?" She asked in between bites of her sandwich. "You've been here since the beginning of the year, and I don't know much about everyone yet, so I was wondering if you knew why Akemi-san is always by herself." She spoke in such a soft tone, afraid that Homura might overhear. "Ah, well, I don't really know to be honest." Sayaka sighed, putting her sandwich down, "I mean everyone thinks she's pretty cool and all, but I guess she's just one of those people that loves peace and quite." "Eh, really..?" the pinkette scrunched her eyebrows, "it's still sorta sad that she's always by herself. Doesn't she get tired of not being able to talk to anyone?" Thinking for a bit before she replied back, Sayaka's face lit up as if she had just remembered an important detail. "This one time, a group of girls asked her if she wanted to hang out with them, but she flatly rejected their invitation. Sooo, I'm pretty sure she prefers solitude."
The smaller girl wanted to ask more, but out of the corner of her eye, she had noticed that Homura was leaving the classroom. Without wasting time, Madoka followed after her, not bothering to put away her lunch. "Hey Madoka! If ya don't come back in less than five minutes, I'm eating your food!" Not looking back to glance at the owner of the voice, Madoka waved her hand as a "Yeah okay" signal.
Grinning, Kyoko bit onto her pocky, "Hell yeah, more for me!" This earned her a look from the bluenette next to her, her facial expression gave off an annoyed one.
"What?"
"Have you no shame?" Sayaka hissed.
"Hey, the day I waste food is the day I turn atheist okay." She pouted.
Going from corridor to corridor, the pinkette glanced around, looking for any signs of the tall ebony. "Jeez, how hard is it to find someone in a place where the walls are transparent?!" She yelled internally. Her feet eventually led her to the last floor of the school building, she ran up the stairs, hoping to find her there. As soon as she reached the last turn of the staircase, she immediately screeched to a halt. Homura was at the end of the corridor, staring outside the window. Approaching her with hesitant footsteps, Madoka began, "A-Akemi-san..?" Glancing back to the sound of the voice, Homura narrowed her eyes on the pinkette, "Yes?"
"Um, what are you doing here all by yourself?" She asked.
Clicking her tongue, Homura focused her gaze back on the landscape that the window presented before her. "Am I not allowed to be by my lonesome?"
"U-uuhh no! I didn't mean that you weren't allowed to. I was just-"
Madoka's face dropped her gaze to her feet, "I was just wondering why you're always alone. I mean, doesn't it hurt to always be by yourself?" Sighing deeply, Homura closed her eyes, her lips curving in sick amusement. "Who cares if it hurts or not, I'm used to this already, Kaname-san. It's better for me to not befriend anyone, it's better to be like this." She turned to look at her, "Becoming attached to someone, and then suddenly realizing that you can't see them anymore… it's just too much trouble to go through."
Madoka just listened, feeling some mixed feelings at the same time Homura was making such speech. "Plus, I'm not really worthy of such bonds. If anything, I'm the lowest scum you could find in this town." Homura's voice seemed to have cracked towards the end. "Why do you say such bad things about yourself?" The smaller girl questioned, taking closer steps towards the girl in front of her.
"Because it's true, and once you regain y-"
She bit her lower lip to stop herself from blurting it out, no, she couldn't tell her that she stripped her of her memories. Not yet.
Running a hand through her bangs, the dark haired girl's lips once again curved to form a smirk, followed by a small chuckle. "Why are we even having this talk, Kaname-san? You shouldn't be talking to me."
"Why not? D-do I annoy you..?"
Homura shook her head, "No, you don't. But you shouldn't associate yourself with someone like me, you're too good of a person, and I'm the total opposite of you."
I've done enough damage to you as it is, Madoka. The least I can do to make up for it, is to give you the good and happy life that you deserve. And this sick screw up should stay away from you as much as possible…
"So, for your own good, stay away from me and-" Unable to finish, Homura was pushed against the window, eyes slightly widening at the action, she stared at the pinkette in silence.
"For my own good?" She belted, "What do you know what is good for me or not, Akemi-san? Why do you shut people out? Just what are you so afraid of?"
The taller girl's lower lip began to quiver, her body slipped lower and lower until the ground halted her from going further. Bringing her knees up to her chest, Homura pondered all of Madoka's questions. "W-why you ask..?" She merely whispered.
Afraid she had hurt Homura's feelings, Madoka knelt down before her, "S-sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. You must have a good reason for wanting isolation." She rambled, "I have no right to demand answers from you, I'm really sorry. I just- I wanted to be friends with you is all. I don't want you to be alone."
Homura peeked up at Madoka, shaking her head slightly before looking down on the ground. "You just don't understand, do you?" She muttered.
"I'm afraid not… sorry."
Unaware of how close the pinkette had gotten to her face, Homura tried retreating backwards, but the window behind her reminded her that she couldn't. "I can't do this… you've always been so kind to me. This is unbearable, Madoka!" "Eh?" She pushed Madoka away from her and rose to her feet, her left hand reaching for her left ear, her earring glowed a somewhat pale purple.
Transforming beyond her eyes, Homura wasted no time into lifting Madoka up to her feet. "A-Akemi-san, what are you-" She was cut off by an embrace, the taller girl's hand snaked her way to the top of Madoka's head. "You need to wake up now…" She whispered into her ear. Madoka jolted her head forward, the sudden rush of memories being poured into her very head was too much to casually take in. "H-Homura-chan!" She yelped, burying her face onto her shoulder. "Madoka, hang in there, just a minute more…" She managed to say in between breaths. After her memories had all rushed in, Madoka went limp and Homura staggered a bit, but managed to keep both of their balances steady. Finally, after a few minutes or so, Madoka regained consciousness, and looked around her surroundings in puzzlement.
Noticing that her full transformation had been a success, Homura backed away from Madoka. "Homura-chan…" It took her a second before she stood in a defensive way, "I can't believe you did that, Homura-chan. How can you be so stubborn?" Homura didn't respond right away, in fact, she hesitated to answer. "Why didn't you let me purify your soul gem? Just what the hell were you thinking?!" Her voice rose as each sentence progressed.
"I…. I wanted to give you and everyone else the perfect life." She finally spoke, but avoided eye contact with the goddess before her. "I just thought that it may have been what you have wanted. And I know that what I did was wrong, I know that. But I gave you back your memories." "Homura, that doesn't-" "I know it doesn't make everything between us okay. The damage is done, I've tainted our friendship with selfishness and evil, which is why again, I gave you your memories back. You have a say in what it is that you want, Madoka. And I've become the ultimate evil, so you must destroy me now."
Madoka couldn't believe what she was hearing. Homura had screwed up big time, but it was no reason to kill her. Just the thought of killing Homura with her own hands triggered Madoka's body to shiver. She couldn't do it, she didn't want to kill the most important person to her.
"I'm not going to oblige to your death request, Homura-chan." "W-why not? Do it now before I change my mind and make things worse." Homura begged. "No, I will do no such thing!" The goddess yelled in return. She walked towards the dark demon, "I don't want to hurt you in any way, you're too important to me." Homura knew too well that Madoka wouldn't attack her unless she provoked her, she scowled at her, "Do I have to provoke you? Is that it?" She hissed. "Oh? And how exactly will you do that, Homura-chan? I'm ready for anything." They were face to face, Homura still taller than Madoka, as usual.
"You think you know me so well, don't you?" Flashing the demon a bright smile, Madoka nodded, "I do. I know you better than you know yourself." She took Homura by the hands, pulling her closer, "Though there was one thing I never figured out about you." "And what would that be?" She scoffed, staring the shorter girl down.
Trying to keep her blush hidden, Madoka looked away for a second, " I-I was never able to figure out if you liked me or not…" All that graceful composure Madoka had a minute ago, had washed down the drain as soon as she said that last sentence. "What?" Homura looked at her in shock, "W-what do you mean by that?"
"Eh, I mean that I like like you, I've always had, I just never had the nerve to tell you an-"
"W-wh-why of all times, are you s-saying this now?!" The flustered demon retreated from her, breathing heavily at the love confession the goddess had just made.
"Well, seeing as how you're overreacting now, I'm glad I didn't. You would've think I was weird for liking you. You're thinking that now, aren't you?" She asked, afraid to hear her response. Homura, however, was covering her face with her wings. "M-Madoka, I like you too! But I never would've imagined you felt the same way!" "H-hey, keep your voice down."
She tried finding Homura's face as she made her way through her feathery wings. "Why are you hiding your cute blush from me?" She giggled. "Madoka, this isn't right, did you forget about what I've done?! Focus and banish me now!" Her whining was muffled by the feathers she was hiding in. "I'm not doing that. Now that I know you feel the same way about me, I want to spend more time with you." Her face was serious now, and so was her tone. At this point, Homura had stopped struggling, staring back at the golden eyes. "Please, Homura-chan, I want to be with you. We can continue where we left off." She smiled warmly at her.
The demon goddess couldn't help but to return the smile, "You sure are stubborn… but okay. If you're okay with someone like me, then alright." Madoka hugged her tightly, "Yay! I love you, Homura-chan." She squeaked. "I-I love you too, Madoka." The two enjoyed each other's warmth for a bit before pulling slightly apart to look into each other's eyes. None of them said a word, but they both knew what the other wanted, it was written all over their faces.
The two leaned closer until their faces were an inch apart. "Go ahead…" Madoka whispered. With that said, Homura closed the gap between them, kissing her ever so softly. The pinkette moaned in between breaths, bringing Homura more closer to her. This was pure bliss for the both of them, they had made up, and the dark haired girl was happy for the first time in such a long time. Eventually pulling apart to catch their breaths, both of the girls just stared into each other's eyes. "This marks our new beginnings, not only as two goddesses protecting this world, but as a couple too." Madoka smiled. "Yeah, it does." Homura smiled back, gently pressing her forehead against Madoka's.
"New beginnings in which we can both be happy."
A/N: Well well, looks like the weenies made up after all. Hooray for them. This one shot was alright I guess haha. Anyways, feel free to leave a review, those are always good to receive! Now if you excuse me, I am going to sleep for my eye sockets feel like they are on fire, so good night!
