-(Disclaimer: This goes for all the chapters, if any more, and their contents. Any character, material, company, or anything I write about, are not owned by me. I own only the story, and its plot. Nothing else.)-

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(A.N.: A.U. as the description says. This is a parallel universe where the girls never came into contact with Kyuubei. And also some time passed, so they are in high school. The out of character is almost canon, altered only to fit the plot.)

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[Chapter 1: Of Coffee and Cupcakes]

The girl with the pitch black hair was surprised that no rain had touched her.

The rain fell heavily, obscuring her vision, and hiding everything behind a misty white veil. The occational gust that blew past her seemed like white scarves. Her cheeks were cold, and she walked slowly, only to stop for a moment to observe her surroundings.

She squinted, through her glasses, and saw a small house. Nothing else seemed visible then. So taking no more time, she rushed to that place, hoping to find a place to find shelter in.

Every step she took reminded her that the people in that house cannot possibly let a stranger take shelter in their house, much less a clumsy little girl. She was being pessimistic, she told herself, as she shook the bad thoughts away and walked ahead.

The sight of the house seemed clearer now, but to her dismay, it appeared to be a cafe, with brick-red decals on its somewhat large windows. She looked around. The rain seemed to only increase in its intensity, and at that moment, she knew she had no choice. Sighing in disappointment, she folded her umbrella, and took a step in that unknown cafe.

The sound of the rain in the streets seemed muffled as soon as she shut the door behind her and put the umbrella on the coat hanger. 'For a cafe, this place seems like someone's home', she doubted, for a moment, but noticed that a bell hung by the door. The small bell was still trembling, paying testament to the arrival of the raven haired girl.

The girl in question looked around, and she felt immediately at home.

The cafe had a western setting, with two sofas facing eachother at every table by the windows, and there was a counter right next to that. Behind the counter, there were many shelves built into the walls, housing different blends of coffee, tea and other things she couldn't see.

The most interesting part about the place was, however, the atmosphere. There was this dark orange hue spread across the cafe, which eminated from hanging orbs from the ceiling at different heights. Most of the lights were switched off. So she wondered what the place would have looked like had all of them been turned on. Still, the atmospheric ambience was soothing, and the muffled sound of rain from outside the cafe seemed to add to it. She felt...warm.

Taking no more time to loiter, the girl took a seat. She had a window to her left, somewhere with moderate lights. The glass beside her were tinted, so little light from outside came in. She felt like this isolation from the world was all she had craved for.

This morning, her parents left for an important task somewhere, and left her a note with some breakfast. They wouldn't be arriving till evening. So she didn't feel like she should call home. Soon after, her life's thoughts caught up with her.

After school had ended, she felt empty, like always. She had a good book, which she had recently finished, so she had nothing else to occupy her life at the time being. Her calm demeanor, hair tied to two neat braids, and her glasses gave her the appearance of someone who did little else except reading books (which was actually true, despite her denial).

Achieving the best scores on the tests, and being bad at sports, she had close to nobody to talk to. So she took the earliest train home, with nobody to go with her.

But when the train was mid way to her locality, it started pouring. She felt cozy in her seat, the sound of the rain calming her down so much, that she dozed off.

And she woke up an hour later, disoriented and confused. She noticed that she should have reached her destination about half an hour ago, and had no idea where the train now was. It would take a lot more time for the train to round back into her locality, so she got down at the next station. The rain was still ongoing, she noticed, as she got her umbrella out and continued down the street, looking for shelter.

And that brings her to the present.

"Oh, I messed up pretty bad today...", she mumbled and groaned meekly as she put her head down into her folded arms on the table.

"Really?", a new, girly voice interrupted her groaning session, "What did you do?". The owner of that voice seemed quite curious, and there was some humor embedded into it.

The girl with dark hair lifted her head up, with slight embarassment, and looked at her right. What she saw made her sit up staight, as her thoughts came to a screeching halt.

There stood a girl with pink hair, tied up to a short ponytail. She wore a blue shirt, with folded sleeves going up to her elbows, a pair of white shorts, and striped stockings covering her legs. Over all that, she wore a green apron, that hugged her slender form at the waist. On her apron there was a nametag that had something written in simple english letters.

"Kaname Madoka."

But the girl with raven hair seemed to be fixated at one thing. Her eyes. A mysterious shade of pink, and full of brightness, as opposed to the dull gray of her own.

"U-um...", the new girl, Madoka said, slightly flustered. "I'm sorry I asked such a weird question!", she added, hands waving to show apology.

That is when the other girl broke out of her thoughts and noticed she was staring too long. "I-its fine...", She seemed even more flustered, "I-I fell asleep on the train and missed my stop. It was raining, so I came here…" She was embarassed of making her first impression seem like an utter mess. "I am sorry to intrude. It seeems like the cafe is closed."

Hanging her head low in embarassment, and apology, she waited for a reply. She could feel her ears burning.

But no reply came.

So she looked at the girl again.

The pink haired one had her head tilted slightly, lips forming a subtle, and small 'o', as she stared at her, seemingly confused. But after some moments, realization struck.

"Oh, no. Don't be. Our last customer left just before the rain. Father asked me to close up the shop if there were no customers." She looked out of the window. "Doesn't look like anyone would come here in this rain" She sighed before gleaming up. "But, you're here! I can keep the shop open just a while longer."

"Oh… I see", the black haired girl responded in understanding. "C-could I please...have some coffee?", she said, her fingers fiddling.

"Sure! Coming right up."

And with that the pink haired girl went to another room, humming an obscure tune.

There were more than a hundred thoughts clouding up the mind of the dark haired one. But she chose to shove those thoughts to the back of her head because she knew they wouldn't have any answers. So shutting her conscious mind down for a temporary period of time, she gazed out of the window to her left and let herself get lost in the sights and sounds of the ever so peaceful heavy rain.

But a few minutes later, her trance was broken, and curiosity rose in her grey eyes, as the moisture in the air heightened her sense of smell. The scent of fresh coffee beans reached her nose, and she had goosebumps in moments. The suspense for the coffee was killing her by now.

Then came Madoka, her ponitail waving slightly as she walked towards the table, her hands grasping a tray on which sat two decorated cups of cofee, and another plate having two cupcakes. Madoka set the tray down, and sat opposite the girl at the table. The two sat facing eachother, the aroma of the caffeinated beverage surrounding them like a lingering memory.

"I hope I am not intruding or anything", Madoka spoke in an apologetic tone. "I just wanted to chat."

"Oh no, its fine...", The other girl said, a little embarrassed that she was being apologized to. "I have nothing to do, so its okay."

Madoka smiled at her reply.

"I'm Kaname Madoka. Its nice to meet you", she chirped and held out her hand with a friendly smile.

The other girl's mind raced. She had never had friends. This interaction was new to her. The manga she had read throughout her life showed her that these moments were very significant in a person's life. But she never thought she'd see this day.

The experience of the bookworm, attained from countless comics, urged her to forge that bond.

"I...", the dark haired one gulped down her hesitation. "I'm Akemi Homura...", Her face took on a light shade of red.

She looked up to see Madoka's eyes were closed; she was smiling, her hand held out for Homura.

Taking another gulp, and strengthening her heart, she forged her first friendship with the apron-clad maiden.

"Its... n-nice to meet you too...", Her hands trembled slightly as she took Madoka's hand in her own, shaking it. To others, it might seem like a common social gesture. But to the young, inexperienced Homura, it meant the world.

Words couldn't define the happiness she had felt at that time, making her first friend.

Homura's world started to seem different.

The rain outside continued as it was, and nothing in the environment changed. Madoka remained smiling as she was. But Homura felt herself shaking with bliss.

For the first time in her life, her dull eyes shone with pure, unadulterated happiness.

-(End of Chapter 1)-

Let me know what you think. Tell me of my strengths, or weaknesses, criticise me as you please. But if you like it, please let me know. I will continue only if you would like more.

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Stay safe,

DSH99