Mami Tomoe headed towards the roof of her apartment complex, cradling a picnic basket in her arms. Hot tea, cups, cake, napkins, silverware… She was absolutely sure she had forgotten something but she simply could not remember what it was. She continued to ascend the seemingly endless stairway, trying her best not to get too sweaty before she met up with Madoka. "Of course the elevator is out of order" she grumbled to herself as she finally reached the last flight of stairs. She held out her hand to push open the door to the roof and paused. Plates… I forgot the plates! she thought, gasping at the realization. She groaned and continued through the doorway, deciding that while eating out of the plastic cake container was not exactly ladylike, it would have to do for today.
"Mami! You're finally here!" Madoka exclaimed, running over to relieve her friend of the basket. She lugged it over to a nearby picnic table, and then promptly ran back to give Mami a big hug.
"Sorry it took so long!" Mami said as she gently embraced Madoka. "The elevator was out of order for some reason."
Madoka released her vice-like grip of Mami and tilted her head in confusion. "I don't think it was..." She said distractedly as she tugged at a loose thread on her skirt. "I just took the elevator up here!"
"But the sign clearly stated that the elevator was not to be used while it was being worked on…" Mami began, trying her best to envision the piece of paper she saw taped to the elevator doors.
"Yeah, starting tomorrow!" Madoka replied cheerfully, grabbing Mami's hand and dragging her over to take a seat at the picnic table. She let out a small giggle as she opened the picnic basket and began to set up their afternoon tea. "It's not like you to be so inattentive Mami!"
Mami let out a deep sigh and rested her chin on her hand. "My day could definitely have gone better..." She began before she stopped herself and changed the subject. "But I'm sure our tea will turn things around!" She turned to smile at Madoka and joined her in setting up the table.
"Definitely! I'm sure it's nothing some delicious cake can't fix!" Madoka said, as she hungrily eyed the beautiful pink and white frosted dessert. "Everything is set up! All we need now are the plates."
Mami's smile faltered as she remembered her blunder. "I forgot them." She said curtly, rubbing her forehead. "I apologize, but we'll have to eat out of the container".
"Well that's ok... That just means less dishes for you to wash later, right?" Madoka prompted, sensing her friend's discontent with the situation.
"I enjoy doing the dishes." Replied Mami, a hint of irritation creeping into her voice. "I find it calming."
Madoka decided that now would be a good time to change the subject. "What kind of tea did you bring? Is is that yummy mango tea?"
"The mango white tea?" Mami scoffed "Why would I pair a sweet tea with a rich dessert, Madoka? I brought black tea, of course."
"Right, of course!" Madoka said, trying her best to hide the hurt in her voice. "That was silly of me..." She looked down at her lap and began to pick at her thumbnail, as her lips began to quiver slightly.
Mami, realizing that she had hurt Madoka's feelings, fell silent and focused on pouring the tea. She silently slid over the delicate china cup, hoping the peace offering would make up for her harsh response.
"Thank you!" Madoka said politely, as she looked up and busied herself with dividing the cake into two even pieces.
"You're quite welcome." replied Mami, as she aimed a meek smile towards Madoka. What is wrong with me? Mami silently scolded herself. Madoka didn't do anything wrong! Why am I acting like this?
"Oh my goodness Mami, this cake is amazing!" squealed Madoka, distracting Mami from her self-admonishment.
"Is it…? It's nothing special, I just picked it up at the grocery store…" Mami mumbled, reaching over her tea to grab a bite of cake. Before she realized what was happening, her tea cup tumbled to the concrete floor and shattered into a million pieces. "Oh SHIT!"
Madoka's head violently turned towards Mami as her mouth dropped open. She covered her mouth and silently stared at Mami. Not once in their time together had she ever, ever, heard a rude word escape from Mami's mouth, let alone a word like that.
"Mami, are you ok?" Madoka asked quietly as she slid off the bench to pick the tiny shards of broken china.
Mami couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with Madoka. She didn't know if she ever would be able to again after her shameful outburst. She silently stood up and stepped towards the doorway, but Madoka quickly got up and grabbed her wrist to keep her from leaving.
"Mami, please tell me what's wrong! I just want to help!"
Mami choked back tears as she feebly tried to tug her arm away from Madoka. "Let me go" she mumbled.
"No!" Madoka tightened her grip on her friend's wrist and pulled as hard as she could. "Not until you talk to me!"
Mami turned to yell at her for being such a nuisance, but hesitated when she met Madoka's eyes. Madoka's face showed nothing but concern and love, even after she had been so rude to her. Mami felt tears well up in her eyes as she tried to think of something to say.
"I don't know why I'm acting this way!" Mami sobbed, unable to stop the tears from streaming down her face. "Everything went wrong today… but that's not an excuse for how childish and terrible I'm being".
Madoka pulled Mami in for a hug, but when her face brushed against Mami's cheek her eyes widened in shock. "You're burning up!" she exclaimed as she placed her palm against Mami's forehead.
"Burning up? Like... from a fever?" Mami stammered as she wiped the remaining tears off her face. "I'm not even sure if that's possible Madoka…"
"Well it must be, because you are. As the nurse's aide it's my duty to get you to your bed as soon as possible." Madoka said matter-of-factly as she placed her hands on Mami's shoulders and guided her towards the door. "That's probably why you've been acting so weird today!' Madoka said in an irritatingly cheery voice
"You're the nurse's aide at school Madoka" Mami retorted as she tried to scoot out from under Madoka's hands, but instead she stumbled and tripped, landing on the concrete with a solid thud.
Madoka quickly helped her friend up and winced when she saw bloody patches of skin peeking through the fresh holes in Mami's tights.
"Don't worry, it'll heal in a second" Mami said as she leaned on Madoka for support. "I'm more upset about ruining my tights!" Mami directed a weak grin at Madoka in an attempt to convince her she was fine.
Mami slowly hobbled towards the stairway door as she waited for the sharp pain shooting down her legs to fade. She opened the stairway door and tenderly placed her foot on the first step, but immediately regretted it as the pain intensified. "Madoka, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it all the way to my apartment." Mami said as she carefully lowered herself to the step. "I'm not sure why this injury is healing so slowly..."
Madoka knelt down and glanced back and forth between Mami's eyes and the bloody patches on her knees. She was silent for a long time before she finally whispered "Mami… It's not healing at all."