In one of the non-existent worlds where Mitakihara existed, the Witch called Walpurgis Night was defeated by six magical girls: Madoka Kaname, Homura Akemi, Mami Tomoe, Sayaka Miki, Kyouko Sakura, and Hitomi Shizuki. After the defeat of the Stage-Constructing Witch, most of Mitakihara was in ruins, while the magical girls had to do their part in making sure that the community did not descend into chaos.
That is not the main topic here now, though, as the following story will talk about the girls' friendship.
After many days of protection and restoration, the six magical girls who defeated Walpurgis Night now had a strong bond of friendship, a bond which had faced various trials and battles that they had faced. They were close, so close...so close that...it ended up being somewhat uncomfortable for one of the six during certain moments.
One such uncomfortable moment happened during a hangout that the girls had in a game center. The place seemed almost dark with all the glowing dark blue lights among the few shining white lights and the glowing lights of the gaming machines. Children, teenagers, and young adults vented out their pent-up stress into the various glowing systems that released various melodies, while the various melodies danced in a disorderly fusion that would be mostly tuned out by the ears of so many people inside the game center.
Among the clumps of people inside the almost dark space, there was one group gathered around a dance game machine, with a ponytailed redhead playing in its center.
"Woohoo! Go, Kyouko!"
"Wow...Kyouko-chan is awesome..."
While the redhead danced with the help of her well-trained footwork, a short-haired blunette and a twin-tailed pinkette expressed their awe at the dancing flame in front of them. Meanwhile, the other three spectators wore different sorts of silence. A raven-haired girl wore bored silence as she watched the redhead, glancing or staring at the pinkette now and then. A blonde with hair with drill-like curls watched with elated silence as she saw her friend dance happily, free from the pressure that her work as a magical girl gave her. A green-haired girl watched with interested silence, attempting to memorize the redhead's dance moves so that she could do them properly and have more fun with her friends.
After what seemed to be several minutes worth of upbeat music and mesmerizing dance moves, Kyouko Sakura spectacularly cleared another stage with a perfect combo, ending with a twirl and a pointer finger for her little audience.
"And that," she said with a wide smirk and a tilted head, "Is how the masters work."
A few moments of silence shot by...and then...
"Whoo! You. Are. Awesome!"
"Kyouko-chan is amazing!"
"Hmph...not bad, Kyouko Sakura."
"As expected from Kyouko. Amazing, indeed."
Praise was rained on Kyouko, and all of her friends expressed their praise through words, except for the green-haired Hitomi Shizuki, who decided to clap her hands as she found it difficult to form suitable words for Kyouko.
"Thank you, thank you," the redhead said with deep bows, "I don't feel like bowing to all your praise would be enough for a poor girl like me, so I shall hug all of you!"
And then Kyouko jumped on the blonde, Mami Tomoe, and hugged her so tightly while rubbing her face on the blonde's neck and chest.
"Um, Kyouko, you don't need to do that, aha-Ah! Kyouko, please stop!"
"Alright, alright, Mami-san, I've got enough of your...your, uh...melons," Kyouko blushed and said as she let go of Mami, who was blushing as well, "So I'll go for this jerk next!"
"Huh-Ugh! Get off, Kyouko Sakura!" Homura shouted with a high voice that shocked her friends. "Stop tickling me! It's not funny!"
Kyouko just stared as she was knocked off by Homura, dumbfounded for a few moments upon hearing an unusual voice come out of the most stoic person in their team.
Meanwhile, the other team members who were staring at the ebony-haired girl were also staring with disbelief in their minds and blushes on their faces.
"Homura-chan..."
"That...that was..."
"So cute..."
As Homura heard those remarks from her friends (Girls can't love girls! Hitomi silently thought as she tried to shake her blushing away from her face), she blushed and looked away. "It's not funny, and it's not cute," she muttered.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." said Kyouko as she folded her arms and shook her head. "Homuhomu doesn't know the true extent of her charm..."
The ebony-haired girl shot a glare at the redhead.
"Shut up, Kyouko," Homura growled, still blushing. "And don't call me 'Homuhomu.' It's embarrassing."
"I think you'd be okay with that nickname," the smirking redhead answered as she walked to and put a shoulder around the twin-tailed pinkette's side, "...if your wife here called you that, don't you think?"
Homura Akemi's eye twitched as she watched Madoka, her most precious friend, get pulled more closely towards the teasing Kyouko's side.
"She's not my wife, Kyouko," the raven-haired girl said, still with a face that was as red as a tomato. "And let go of her right now, or I will-" She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. "You know what, forget it. You wouldn't be stupid enough to put Madoka in danger."
"Of course, Homuhomu!" Kyouko responded as she rubbed her cheek on Madoka Kaname's neck. "I'll go play with your wife for a while, so go on with your missions while I give your wife the time of her life!"
"Hey!" the blunette interrupted with mock anger, jumping to hug Madoka and pull her away. "Madoka's not your wife, and she's not Homura's wife! She's MY wife!"
And Kyouko immediately surrendered the pinkette to the blunette, who immediately began disturbing her friend's sides.
"I will not fight Sayaka in stuff like this," the redhead declared while stepping back, shaking her head, and forming an X using her arms. "Not now, not ever. I don't want a repeat of the Most Despair-Inducing Tickling in the History of Humanity."
"Ah...Sayaka...stop it...it tickles!"
"You're mine...mine, mine, mine, Madoka!" Sayaka giggled with a grin so wide, it seemed like her face was widening as well.
"Sayakaaaaaa..."
"See?" Kyouko pointed with a thumb. "See what I mean? It's freaking despair-inducing!"
"I...don't see what you mean, Kyouko," Mami replied as she tilted her head in confusion. "How is it despair-inducing?"
An exaggerated smile formed on Kyouko's face as she slowly shook her head with wide-open eyes. "Don't you dare ask about it, Mami-san. Don't you freaking dare ask Sayaka about it."
Meanwhile, Homura and Hitomi were shooting stares at Madoka and Sayaka. The staring duo watched with wide-open eyes and wide-open mouths.
Girls can't love girls, girls can't love girls, girls can't love girls...
"Did I hear someone asking for the Most Despair-Inducing Tickling in the History of Humanity?" Sayaka asked, still grinning widely as she turned at started wiggling her fingers towards Mami. "Don't worry...You won't die, Mami-san...hehehe..."
At that moment, Hitomi's discomfort reached a threshold.
"WHY ARE YOU GIVING SO MUCH AFFECTION!?"
The people in the game center suddenly went silent for a few seconds. The silence and stares from strangers didn't last long, but as for Hitomi's friends, their silence and stares were understandably longer.
"What...?" asked a confused Sayaka.
"What's wrong with giving affection, Hitomi?" Kyouko added.
"I-It's not that I don't like giving affection..." the green-haired girl answered as she looked down and fiddled her fingers, "You...you're giving so much that I don't know if you think of each other as...as...just...just friends..."
"..."
"..."
Silence passed by again for a few seconds.
Laughter from the redhead and the blunette followed after that.
"Ahahaha! Really, Hitomi?" Kyouko asked as she held her shaking sides. "Haha...We're just friends-haha...Right, Sayaka?"
"Pfft, haha...Ah, yeah!" Sayaka agreed as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "We're not that serious about the whole wife thing, you know! Even now, you're still worried about that, Hitomi?"
"Well, yes!" Hitomi shouted. "Girls can't love girls, you know!"
A hand landed on Hitomi's shoulder, surprising the green-haired girl.
"Hitomi, Hitomi, Hitomi..." the redhead casually replied with a shaking head as she held her worried friend's shoulder, "You gotta lighten up. And you know what, Sayaka and I have a song just for you. Sayaka, you got your player and earphones ready?"
"I got it!" Sayaka exclaimed as she raised her iPod and earphones up. "I'll be singing the verses, and you do the choruses, Kyouko!"
"Sweet! Now then, let me tell you about what some dudes call...
Sayaka played a song, and then a man's voice (which was quickly masked by Kyouko's higher and louder voice) sang in what seemed like English:
BROOOOOOOOOMANCE...
BROOOOOOOOOOO-O-O-MANCE...
And then Hitomi stared and listened with wide-open eyes and ears, attempting to understand what was coming out of Kyouko's and Sayaka's mouth. The green-haired girl was not worried about being unable to understand a lot of English, though. As something that was expected from her by her well-to-do family, Hitomi and had been diligently learning English even before she became a magical girl, as being good in reading, writing, and speaking English could open lots of business opportunities in a world dominated by that language.
"What...? I don't understand...What are they singing?"
Unfortunately, Kyouko and Sayaka's subpar English-speaking skills (Oh, I forgot that these two are bad at English...) hindered Hitomi's attempts to understand the song. Still, she managed to hear words from Kyouko that sounded like "Nothing really gay about it," "Shouldn't be ashamed or hide it," and "I love you," all of which were words that sent the green-haired girl into further confusion. She also did not know what the word "bromance" meant, and she was not sure about whether Kyouko and Sayaka knew what they were actually singing.
So, while the green-haired girl's ears tuned out the singing duo's bad pronunciation, Hitomi awkwardly approached the one who she thought was calm and smart enough to help her.
"Um...Homura-san...what are they singing...?"
Usually, Hitomi did not start conversations with Homura, as the raven-haired girl was a girl of few words and a girl who did not like to talk much with anyone who is not Madoka (Speaking of which, why is Homura-san so warm around Madoka?), and thus, Homura was the friend Hitomi knew least. Still, Homura's calmness was a valuable asset to the team in various situations ranging from life-and-death situations like hunting down Witches to mundane situations like shopping for clothes. She was also smart, considering that she made it to the top of her class multiple times at school and that she could correctly answer the teachers' tough questions to her without showing a sign of nervousness. Homura Akemi's calmness and intelligence was something that Hitomi briefly wondered about (I wonder...is she really as old as she looks...?), but she decided to push thoughts about that back into the depths of her mind, as Hitomi needed to understand what Kyouko and Sayaka were singing.
"...just friends," Homura answered.
"Pardon, Homura-san?" Hitomi asked with a nervous smile.
"They're saying that we're just really close friends," the raven-haired girl said calmly, not even bothering to lock eyes with the green-haired girl. "They don't think that there's anything wrong with being gay, though. And if you're worrying about them not understanding what they're singing, I helped them in understanding the song, so there's no need for you to worry about that."
"Oh...is that so...? Um...thank you, Homura-san."
And Hitomi went back to release a sigh and look at the singing duo, who, while singing, were now doing some sort of handshake and a dance that contained a lot of tight hugging, cheek rubbing, and playful punching. Hitomi was still thinking "Girls can't love girls!" but she felt relieved that she, Mami, Homura, and Madoka were friends in Sayaka's and Kyouko's eyes. While she watched, she observed her other friends. Madoka was letting out giggles at the duo's performance, Mami seemed like she was trying hard not to laugh, and Homura...just watched, still shooting seemingly longer glances at Madoka.
Hitomi suddenly felt a small but nagging feeling that was telling her to protect Madoka and keep an eye on Homura. She dismissed that feeling after a few seconds, thinking that she was overthinking things. Homura doesn't seem to be that bad, Hitomi thought.
After a while, Kyouko and Sayaka finished their singing and dancing, and they approached the green-haired girl, putting their hands on her shoulders.
"So, do you get it now, Hitomi?" Kyouko asked, smiling while putting her face closer to her listener's face.
"Really, do you get it now?" Sayaka added, also smiling while putting her face closer to Hitomi's.
"Um...I think so," Hitomi replied, feeling a little uncomfortable because of the distance between her face and her two friends' faces. "So...you consider us friends, then?"
"Well, yeah!" the redhead energetically declared. "If I looked at one of you as if they were more than just a friend, then I'd probably be acting really really shy and awkward around them!"
"What Kyouko said, Hitomi!" the blue-haired girl followed. "So don't worry! We just like being touchy-feely towards our dear dear friends in order to show how much we appreciate you all!" And then Sayaka pointed to the air. "Speaking of appreciation, let's go eat at Mami-san's house! I'm really hungry right now!"
"Heehee...Okay then," Mami concurred with a bright smile. "I feel like making lots of cake today too, considering how relaxing this day is."
"Alright, more sweets! See ya at the house!"
"Thank you so much, Mami-senpai! And wait up, Kyouko!"
Kyouko and Sayaka immediately ran out of the game center, with Sayaka giving a slap to Kyouko's rear as the blunette caught up. As for Mami, Madoka, and Hitomi, they walked out with smiles on their faces as they watched two friends being happy.
"Homura-san?" Hitomi called, turning around to look at their friend who was still standing in place, probably staring at somewhere near Hitomi.
"...I'm coming," Homura replied, still wearing that stoic expression. She walked fast, going past Hitomi and towards Madoka's side. Without looking at Madoka, she said:
"...You have a pretty face, Madoka."
"Um...thank you, Homura-chan..." Madoka meekly replied, "But I think your face is prettier than mine..."
"At least we're both pretty, right?" the raven-haired girl said as she looked with a smile and a light blush at the pinkette's eyes.
"Well...yeah!" the pinkette answered with a blush and a giggle.
And the pinkette and the raven-haired girl left the game center with smiles and blushes on their faces.
"Hitomi? Is there something wrong?" Mami wondered, as Hitomi had suddenly stopped walking.
"..."
Hitomi was looking with suspicion at Homura and Madoka. She suddenly had another nagging feeling, and this time, that feeling was telling her to keep a keener eye on the pinkette and the raven-haired girl.
I feel like I'm going to have another headache sooner or later, Hitomi thought with a frown before she quickly started walking again.