Disclaimer- I don't own Puella Magi Madoka Magica
This is the first multi-chapter I've started in a long time. Celebrations are in order! *Pulls party-popper* Wootz! Okay, moving swiftly on. This is essentially just an AU version of the anime; focusing on the serious under-lying shoujo-ai undertones of the series. There's not enough shameless, no-strings-attached fluffy yuri in this fandom, dammit. Without the whole contracting Puella-Magi thing, I mean. Now, without further ado; enjoy!

Chapter 1
New Arrival

~Prologue~
In all honesty, she hadn't been expecting much out of her highschool experience. She didn't feel that way because of a gloomy view of life. On the contrary; she was quite the optimist.

It was just that Madoka was expecting nothing more than to get in, and get out. To enjoy the experience and make new friends, to progress through this step of education then move onto university. Just another compulsory chunk of life to complete – then to look back on with fond memories when she was older.

And up until now; that had been how it was working. She had been in the same class as her childhood friend Miki Sayaka since junior year, and they had both gotten close to the class representative Shizuki Hitomi as time progressed. They had a decent clique going on, sharing lunch hour together and conversing on their free time, helping each other through any complicated school work.

She had nothing to complain about. She had friends, a loving family, decent grades, and nobody disliked her enough to tease or taunt her. Therefore – she had never seen why people got so caught up in lusting after more when they had all that they needed. Life was good, and she was content with what she had.

Until the first day of term after Halloween break in her fourth year of highschool. The day that everything began to change. Though she had brushed it off as nothing more than a momentary lapse of odd behaviour at the time – Madoka knew deep down that something strange was beginning to work its charm over her.

Because when she saw that girl at front of class, she had just stared. Of course, she wasn't the only one. Everyone had looked longer than they had to. This mysterious newcomer was undeniably pretty, and had a sense of secrecy about her. Combined with the fact of being a transfer student; it had made for a very interesting appeal.

"I'm Akemi Homura." A deep bow. "It's nice to meet you all."

The first words she had ever heard the girl say still rang in Madoka's head. But she would never forget that day. For the very first time, something inside her snapped. And she finally knew what it was to yearn.

*X*X*X*X

"Man, she's cute!" Sayaka kicked her chair around turning to face the one in the desk behind her. "Looks like Hitomi's got competition with the love letters." She threw a glance over her shoulder to the front of the class – where the new girl was being flocked around and asked various questions. When she got no answer, she waved her hand in front of her friend's face. "Hey, come back to planet Earth!"

Madoka blinked hazily and shook her head, expression vague. "Huh?" She dropped the hand that she was perching her chin on back to the desk. "Sorry, what?"

"Her." The blue-haired girl jerked a thumb behind her, rolling her eyes. "Hot or not?"

"Hot," she blurted thoughtlessly in reply.

"Well, seems like she's made an impression on you." Her friend grinned in mirth, raising her eyebrows in amused disbelief and stretching her arms lazily above her head. "Not like you to be so blunt. Maybe you'll be one of the ones to contribute to her undoubtable future abundance of love letters!"

She pulled a face and looked away. "Don't be weird, Sayaka-chan."

"Hey, I'm not judging." The latter held up her hands in mock surrender. Apparently something caused the chatter at the front of the room to escalate, and she glanced behind her. When looked back, she was grinning devilishly. "Don't look now, but I think your prince is coming to sweep you off your feet."

Madoka soon realized what she meant, and felt her cheeks flush with heat as she saw the topic of conversation walking straight for them. "Shh! Don't say things like that, she might hear you." She swallowed anxiously, trying not to gawp and kept her eyes on her friend.

"I think that's the point. If you don't let her know about your undying love, how can it be so? Not like I'd let it be so – I have dibs on you. You'll make a good wife, I think."

She hung her head and groaned, hiding behind her pink bangs. Sayaka was her bestfriend, but she really did torture her via over the top teasing sometimes.

"Kaname-san, can you take me to the nurses' office?"

An unfamiliar but recognizable voice sounded from right beside her, making her jump. She dragged her sight from the floor, bringing it to meet the piercing lilac eyes that looked back at her. That gaze made her feel exposed, and she knew that she was blushing.

"Are- Are you sick?"

"To an extent," was the ambiguous reply. Brushing a stray strand of ebony hair from her face, she regarded the group of students that had been bombarding her with questions for the past ten minutes out of the corner of her eye, distaste playing over her features.

"Yeah – sure. I'll show you." Much to her chagrin; she nearly tripped over her own feet as she stood up. The sigh she got after doing so made her feel even more insecure.

"I'll see you later," Sayaka said, doing a terrible job at keeping a straight face. A snicker slipped out – and Madoka took this as her cue to get moving before another god-awful joke was made.

Walking down the hallways to the infirmary; she couldn't help but steal the occasional peek at the one in-pace beside her. She noticed that Homura was about half a head taller than herself, and the girl's hair was longer than most – hanging loosely down to her hips. Another thing to take note of was that she wasn't exactly a conversationalist. So, she took it upon herself to try to learn a bit about the transfer student. Or at least drag a few words out of her.

"You'll have to forgive them." Madoka rubbed the back of her neck in unease when she felt that stare on her once again, looking right through her. "They're not usually so clingy. The class, I mean. We just rarely get transfers, especially this late on." They rounded a corner, their destination up just ahead.

"I can't blame them for being curious. They'll get tired of me soon enough though; I'm not a very interesting person." Reaching the infirmary, they both grinded to a halt. "I think I'll be fine from here. Thank you, Kaname-san."

"Heh – no problem." She was starting to wonder if this girl was capable of emoting beyond the same passive expression. "I'll see you around, then." A curt nod was her reply, then the door was slid open – and the dark-haired girl was gone.

Madoka heaved a sigh of relief, finally able to breathe easy now that the overwhelming presence had gone. She started back towards class. `Not an interesting person.'…Ha!

First chapter down. All in one sitting! I'm so proud of myself :B Deerrp. Anyways, let's hope this was up to decent standards. Yes, I've opted badass Homura in lieu of her shy-as-hell counterpart. Because where's the fun in that? I'd appreciate reviews – feedback is always awesome.
-Obsidian
X3