so heres the 4th chapter, though some of you guys might have seen the draft of this somewhere else...

also, thanks to Fanatical-Writer561 for being my beta reader for this.


"Oh, good afternoon, Kyouko... why are you still eating your lunch at this time?"

"...it's 'cause I got held up by my English teacher right after she dismissed the class."

Kyouko made a face as she grumbled her irritation to a blond school girl who was sitting on the opposite side of the table from her. The two of them were currently outside of the school cafeteria, sitting down on one of the tables that were under the shade from the nearby trees. Kyouko was eating beef curry while the other girl was just sipping some tea.

"Hmm, so why were you being held up by the teacher?" the blonde asked her. "Did you cause some trouble again?"

"Hey, I didn't cause any trouble this time!" Kyouko shook her head. "Really, Mami, I learned my lessons too, ya know," she said with a sigh.

"Oh, sorry for that one," Mami apologized before smiling slightly. "It's just that, you know, you used to rarely follow the rules back then. A lot of times you barely even listened to what I advised you to do..."

"H-Hey, I did listen to you a few times in the past!" Kyouko replied, blushing a bit. "And besides, that's all in the past. I'm a stickler for rules now."

"Oh, I wonder about that..." Mami said in a mischievous tone. "From what I've heard, you still occasionally eat during class and there were those absences on some of your classes."

"I can't help it if I get so hungry," Kyouko defended herself. "And that last one, I only do that when there's a coupla wraiths in the city, ya know."

"Indeed you certainly do," Mami said with a giggle. "Sorry, I just felt like teasing you a bit."

"Geeze, Mami." Kyouko replied with a slight huff before leaning back into her chair.

The two of them stopped talking for a while as Kyouko went back to eating while Mami was sipping her tea. The two girls remained silent, just basking in the gentle flow of the breeze. Only a few students were outside, most either having finished their lunch already or preferring the conveniences of the school, so Kyouko and Mami were able to enjoy some peace and quiet.

Hmm, so this is why Mami likes it out here.

"...Sometimes, it really feels nice to just kick back and relax." Kyouko said with a yawn as she pushed away her empty plate. "I can see why you like eating out here instead of being inside with all the other students."

"Of course, though it also has something to do with the tea being easier to make outside," Mami said with a small nod before glancing back at Kyouko. "Sometimes, you just want to be by yourself... which I'm guessing is your reason to be here as well?"

"Ugh, I really can't seem to hide anything from you..." Kyouko sighed. "How did you know, anyway?"

"Well, you aren't with your two friends, Miki-san and Kaname-san, for instance," Mami answered.

"But that could be because I was, I dunno, dismissed later than them," Kyouko pointed out.

"Ah, but even I know that you girls tend to hang out on the roof top during lunch," Mami replied with a knowing smile. "And I'm assuming your friends aren't the type to leave that anytime soon without waiting for you."

There was a momentary pause as Kyouko looked down.

I guess I should to talk to someone about it, and Mami is the only one I can talk with this sort of thing...

"...Well, we sorta got into an argument," Kyouko muttered. "I sort of, got a bit too angry there and now I don't think it's fine for me to just go back to them you know..."

"...And why were you guy arguing?" Mami asked after Kyouko went silent again. "Does it have something to do with you getting in trouble?"

"...yes," Kyouko answered reluctantly.

Kyouko started to narrate the events that transpired earlier, starting from how Sayaka had woken up late, them having to run all the way, leading to the argument after they reached the school and how they ended up being late anyway. Mami silently sipped her tea during Kyouko's recounting, waiting for her to finish up.

After Kyouko finished, fidgetting slightly, Mami set her teacup down and gave an exasperated sigh.

"...you already know you were in the wrong there, right?" Mami asked her to be sure, then continued after Kyouko nodded. "While Miki-san was responsible mostly for being late, and thus you had the right to be annoyed, you were a bit too harsh on her there. You have to take the time to think about what you're saying sometimes, Kyouko."

"Yeah, I realized that a bit too late..." Kyouko hung her head to the side at Mami's lecture. "It's just that... I'm sort of a bit worried about Sayaka."

Mami, who had opened her mouth to say something, blinked in surprise instead and looked at Kyouko strangely. Kyouko didn't notice Mami's stare as she was still looking at the ground.

"Worried...?" Mami repeated before leaning slightly forward with a concerned expression. "Why? Is there something going on with that girl?"

"I'm not actually that sure..." Kyouko said hesitantly. "It sort of feels like Sayaka is not quite as cheerful or carefree as she used to be. She's also a bit gloomy or looks troubled sometimes."

"Really?" Mami asked with a frown. "From what I have seen and heard, Miki-san seems to be quite an energetic and happy person."

"Well, it only happens a few times and Sayaka snaps out of it quick enough that others barely notice anything is off," Kyouko explained. "But when she thinks no one is paying attention to her... I don't see her smiling so cheerfully," she said dejectedly.

"Hmm... if you say so," Mami nodded slowly before smiling slightly at Kyouko. "You must have really been looking at her a lot to be able to notice something like that," she teased the red head.

"I w-wasn't really paying that much attention to her," Kyouko sputtered. "It was just by c-chance that I caught those little moments!"

"I'm sure you did," Mami said, still smiling. "Watching over her, I mean."

"L-like I said, i-it's not like that at all!"

Kyouko feebly denied the accusation, while Mami continued to look unconvinced and was starting to giggle at her reaction. Eventually, Kyouko just raised her hands in defeat and slumped down on the table, muttering "idiot Mami". Mami had stopped giggling and was now consoling the embarrassed redhaired girl.

Though that was what Kyouko appeared to be doing, she was secretly smiling underneath. The heavy atmosphere from earlier had dispersed now, and she was starting to relax again and feel at ease.

Wait, don't tell me this was what Mami was aiming for? Ah, whatever.

Kyouko shook away the thought and decided to just bask in the atmosphere rather than start thinking about depressing things again.

"But truly," Mami said after a while. "It is quite a good thing that you do care a lot about your roommate, Kyouko."

"Well, of course," Kyouko answered, raising her head back. "I do owe that girl a lot, even if she's an idiot."

"Oh yeah, that's right..." Mami nodded slightly. "I really should thank Miki-san sometime, for her help in setting you back on the right path after that happened..."

"Mami," Kyouko scowled. "Don't tell her about that. I don't want Sayaka to know about my past. She might also find out about us being magical girls."

"... If you don't want her to know yet, then I'll keep silent about it," Mami said with slight reluctance. "But I will advise you that keeping it a secret might cause some problems in the future."

"I know that..." Kyouko muttered back. "But as long as there's no need for Sayaka to know about it, then I won't tell her. She'll just worry unnecessarily about it."

Mami just smiled back faintly in response and poured out the remaining tea from her teapot to her cup before humming a tune to herself.

Kyouko had pulled out her signature Pocky and stuck one of them into her mouth, as she started to think back on the past...

It had been roughly a year since she had been taken in by Sayaka's family. The girl's parents were pretty great and didn't really divulge much of her background, if one were to ignore how they tended to be out, leaving Sayaka to care for herself. Though that may have been a good thing for Kyouko's case, as there would be less fuss about her attitude, and she wouldn't have to struggle as much to keep her identity as a magical girl a secret.

Of course, it wasn't easy for Kyouko to just get along and be a part of their household. She often did get into small fights with the blue haired girl, but Sayaka had really put a lot of effort in making her comfortable and be acquainted into her new home. There were a lot of bumps during her stay, usually with her ideas and decisions clashing with Sayaka's, but overall they had gotten along well. After several months, Kyouko had grown comfortable enough to call the place her own and considered Sayaka to be a great friend and benefactor.

Though she doesn't like to be called the latter.

Kyouko chuckled lightly as she recalled on the happy times she had experienced since then, almost pushing away all the painful memories of her own dead family...

"Oh? Is that Homura-san over there?"

Kyouko's reminiscence abruptly stopped as she followed the direction where Mami was looking at. True enough, there was long dark haired girl wearing the same uniform as them, who seemed to be walking around the area, frequently glancing at her sides.

"Is she looking for something?" Kyouko thought out loud.

Mami opened her mouth to reply, but stopped when Homura seemed to have noticed them and was now walking towards their direction.

"Good afternoon, Kyouko, Mami-san." Homura nodded at each of them. "What brings you girls here?"

"Good afternoon, Homura-san." Mami raised her tea cup as a greeting. "I was just having tea by myself, that is, until Kyouko decided that she was going to have her lunch at my table."

"Yo, Homura," Kyouko greeted her as well. "I came here after I was finally done with Saotome-sensei. What are you doing here too?"

"Nothing really..." Homura trailed off as she glanced at the side again. "Was just checking up on the area, making sure that everything is... fine."

Homura was, as usual, sporting a calm and collected expression as she got closer to them. It always impressed Kyouko how the girl could maintain that expression most of the time, even when they were fighting against wraiths. She seemed to only smile a few times during class as well as grinning in rare moments when she was poking fun at her and Mami, the rest of the time though she wore a poker face that made it hard to read her.

"Is that so?" Mami said."Why don't you take a seat with us as well, Homura-san? I still have some tea left over here if you want," she said, pulling out a spare tea cup from her bag.

"...I'll take up your offer on that then," Homura accepted the tea cup from the blonde and sat down on one of the chairs. She sipped on the tea, commenting on how good it was, and its name apparently, but otherwise did nothing else.

"You have any more?" Kyouko asked, feeling a bit parched herself.

Mami nodded and poured another one for her, which she drank slowly and carefully, not wanting to piss off Mami. The taste was good, just like all the tea she had tasted from Mami.

"By the way," Homura started after finishing her tea. "What were you guys talking about?"

Oh no you don't, you're not embarrassing me any more for today, Mami.

"Oh uh, nothing really," Kyouko answered. "We were just talking about how I got late because of Sayaka and stuff." She glanced sharply at Mami, already guessing what the blonde was going to say with that grin of hers. "That was all we talked."

"...Sayaka Miki." Homura muttered as she just stared at her tea, not noticing the expressions on their faces. "Is she the reason why you were late?" she asked as before fixing her eyes directly on Kyouko, boring her down with those dark violet eyes.

"Um..." Kyouko started hesitantly, not quite sure if telling Homura was something she should do.

"Apparently, she had a nightmare last night," Mami answered for her. "While I can generally recover from nightmares and go back to sleep, who knows what she saw? It may have been something really bad that she couldn't sleep easily." She raised an eyebrow at Homura, guessing already what the girl was thinking.

Good one, Mami.

"...you have a point there," Homura agreed after a pause. "It's true that not everyone is the same when dealing with something horrific. Some are just too weak to handle these types of experience."

"...Hey." Kyouko narrowed her eyes at Homura. "Are you implying that Sayaka is a weak person?"

"No," Homura answered easily without missing a beat. "Just saying that maybe you shouldn't worry about her so much, if you're going to end up getting in trouble for it."

"Homura-san!" Mami tried to intervene but stopped when Kyouko raised her hand.

"...Sure, Sayaka's a pain in the neck sometimes, and maybe it's true that the things she experience pales in comparison to ours," Kyouko admitted before slowly rising from her seat. "But that girl's been there for me a lot, sticking her nose into dangerous situations just to help me. She's also helped me quite a bit in my studies, at the very least, she helped me take it seriously again. Sayaka aint a burden, and she aint weak!"

Kyouko had raised her voice and slammed her hands on the table, rattling Mami's tea set. Luckily no one else was the vicinity, so the only ones who noticed her outburst was a stunned blonde and a stoic brunette. Minutes passed as Mami recovered from her shock and Kyouko calmed down enough to sit back down, while Homura kept wearing her stoic expression. Then Homura raised her hand slightly, before hesitating and putting it down back again with a shake of her head.

"...Looks like you have someone you really care about, Kyouko," Homura replied after a while.

"W-what you mean by that?" Kyouko said defensively. "Isn't it n-normal to care about people like that?"

"No, that is – never mind." Homura sighed. "I guess I can understand what you mean, somewhat."

What the- is this really Homura?

After she said that, Homura's expression shifted from being blank to something like... sadness? Kyouko and Mami weren't able to make sure of it, as they were more surprised that brunette's admission, and she had already shifted her face back to being neutral.

"I guess it's time to go," Homura said out load as she started walking away, leaving behind the two surprised magical girls. After a few seconds, however, she turned back to face the two girls. "Are you guys going to stay here? It's nearly time for classes you know."

Kyouko and Mami blinked once, then glanced at the time on their cellphones. It currently read as 12:57 PM, just three minutes away from their classes to begin.

"W-wait up for us," Kyouko called out to the dark haired girl as she picked up her bento box and helped out Mami gather her tea set. Once all the things were gathered, Kyouko and Mami quickly dashed towards the building, making use of their magical powers to boost their speed; Kyouko couldn't use it earlier because of Sayaka's presence. They whirled past Homura who was walking at a leisurely pace. Time stop had its advantages.

Though, I wonder what was going on in Homura's mind from earlier...


reviews would be helpful and appreciated.