A little belated, but here's a MadoHomu Valentine's Day fic.

"Wow, a cat necklace! It's so cute, thank you!"

Madoka put aside the ninth present she'd received so far, feeling slightly overwhelmed. Homura had brought a veritable mountain of gifts over earlier this morning, all expertly wrapped up with bright pink paper, and she'd been struggling to get through them for the past hour and a half. The fact that they were double wrapped - ''For extra protection", Homura had explained - wasn't helping matters. Of course her girlfriend was only trying to be nice, so she couldn't really complain, and it was nice to be pampered.

"Here's the last one Madoka. I-I think you're going to like this one." Homura was still flustered whenever they talked. It was still a little cute, Madoka supposed, but she hoped that she would calm down soon. They'd been dating for five months already after all.

''Heehee, thanks Homura-chan. I wonder what it could be?"

This was a medium sized and weighted box and the contents didn't seem to be moving around when she gave it a light shake. She had no idea what it was, especially considering what she'd had already had.

'Well, there's no point in dragging out the suspense.'

The pinkette eagerly tore off the paper, taking less than five solid minutes with it this time, and saw an unmarked box underneath. Looking up, she saw the dark haired girl smiling in expectation.

'Eeee, the suspense is unbearable! This must be some grand gesture of love!'

Madoka opened the box at last and inside...

"...It's a taser."

"A pink taser! I know how much you like pink!"

Homura sounded proud of this observation.

"...A pink taser."

"Now even when I'm not nearby you can be protected!"

"T-That's very... thoughtful of you, Homura-chan."

Now, Madoka was a polite, nice girl and her mother had always taught her to pretend to like unwanted presents, but right now she was having trouble keeping a suitable expression on her face.

'What was she thinking?'

Homura looked at her curiously.

"Do you not like your present, Madoka?" she asked with concern.

"N-No, uh, I mean yes, I like it! Thank you Homura-chan." Madoka said nervously. She didn't want to hurt the poor girl's feelings after all.

Homura sighed.

"You don't have to pretend Madoka. If you don't like it I can send it back."

"No, no, don't do that! I was just surprised, that's all. Why a taser of all things? It's not like this is a dangerous city."

"I just want to make sure you're safe. The world can be a dangerous place." Her eyes grew unfocused as she said this.

Looking at her face, Madoka suddenly understood.

'She's seen me get hurt so many times that she's still expecting something to happen to me even though it's over.'

She wrapped her arms around the taller girl.

"I get it Homura-chan. Don't worry, I'll take it with me from now on." She leaned up slightly and kissed her reassuringly, rubbing her back lightly as she felt her stiffen. It wasn't like it was a bad idea to have extra protection at any rate, you could never be too careful after all.

"Ah...thank you Madoka."

"No silly, I'm the one who should be thanking you! You're the one who bought me all of these great presents! ...Although now that I think about it, if I have to buy you three times as much as this for White Day, I might end up sending my family bankrupt, or at least throwing my back out~."

"E-Eh? I-I didn't think about that..."

"It was just a joke, relax okay? It's not like there's any actual laws on present buying, right? Just tell me what you want and I'll get it for you."

"Ah, uh..."

"...Or don't and I'll come up with something myself. It's probably more romantic that way anyway."

"O-Okay Madoka."

"Now, let's clean up and put the presents away. If we leave before half past then we can catch the train to the mall!"

Junko was friends with several people who worked at the mall and had managed to book them into a nice restaurant, shouldering the bill herself.

Madoka reached for the wrapping paper, but unfortunately she ended up touching a particularly sharp edge and ended up with a paper cut.

"Ouch! Whoops, I'm still a pretty clumsy girl huh? ...Homura-chan?"

Homura was staring at Madoka's injury-if you could call it that-with an even more ashen complexion and look of general, free floating terror than usual.

"I have failed again..." Madoka heard her whisper under her breath.

Madoka sighed. She had the feeling it was going to be a long day.