Beta credit goes to Vanui. Thank you.
"Bye-bye, Homura!" the small little boy said. Both parents each held one of his hands as they smiled and waved at the black-haired girl.
Homura looked at the happy trio with a genuine smile on her face. "Bye Tatsuya, and thank you, Mrs. Kaname and Mr. Kaname. I'm very grateful." Mami stood beside her, wearing a faint smile.
"Call us anytime, Homura," Tomohisa said. "Maybe you could babysit Tatsuya for us sometime."
"Hm, I'd like that," Homura said. It was impossible though. Being a Magical Girl was her one and only job, but she'd take babysitting over fighting demons any day. If only she could.
"You babysit! Madoka and you babysit me!" Tatsuya said.
Mixed emotions stirred inside Homura. Though Junko told her not to think too much, Homura couldn't help it: she was always a thinker, always thinking of what to do next. It was in her nature to do so, but this time her thoughts were in disarray over her feelings for Mami. Feelings of which she never tried to understand up until now.
Mami walked up to Junko and whispered something in her ear. Junko whispered back, and the blonde walked over to Homura, avoiding her gaze.
"Such an imagination little Tatsuya has," Tomohisa mused with a smile.
"Yes… Imagination…" Homura said. Was that girl really a part of Tatsuya's and Homura's own imagination now? Homura tried to stop thinking about it. "Farewell now."
"Goodbye, Homura," Tomohisa waved at her.
Junko never said one word through it all. Instead, she merely looked at Homura with a smile, a wave of the hand, and a wink.
Homura instantly over-analyzed that last action. She didn't know what it meant, but one thing was certain: the temperature must have risen. Her chest and cheeks burned as she walked the path to school with Mami quietly behind her.
The two girls walked on the stone pathway, silence surrounding them. Homura didn't know what to say, and she wondered why Mami had her head turned opposite of Homura's direction. It was almost like she was avoiding her…
Homura also noticed that Mami had her right hand bandaged, and she walked strangely, or rather, less assertively than usual. Whatever her thoughts were, Homura couldn't figure them out. She couldn't even figure out her own. She wanted to say something - anything at the least - to Mami, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Rays of sunlight dawned down the path the girls walked on as they continued to walk to school, but still, silence surrounded them. They walked inside the school, passing the many glass hallways until they neared Homura's classroom.
"Goodbye," Mami said with a tired voice. Homura watched her walk away before something compelled her to go after her.
"No, don't leave!" Homura said as she grabbed Mami's right arm. She surprised herself with her own action. Her face flushed, and other students around the two began to stare at them.
Mami's yellow eyes met Homura's violet ones. "I'm sorry… It's not you… I just need some time alone…" Mami said as she shook off the hand that tightly grasped her arm. She ran away, lowering her face, though, that did not stop the rush of tears on her face.
I'm sorry? It's not you? What did that even mean?
Homura stood in place with her hands tightened. She didn't understand why butterflies fluttered in her stomach, or why the sight of the older girl leaving hurt her.
Homura walked into class, sat in her seat, and tried to ignore the many pairs of eyes around her. Just focus on the school work, she told herself.
Saotome walked into the room looking somewhat angry.
"Good morning, class!" the teacher said. Homura remembered the story that Junko told her. She tried her best not to think of a much younger Saotome, but she ended up lightly blushing anyways.
"Teacher, did you get dumped again?" someone asked, near the front of the class.
Saotome's left eye twitched as she smiled like a deranged asylum patient, and the chalk she held snapped in two. Homura sighed in relief. With that distraction, Saotome wouldn't notice Homura.
"Men… Always using women to fulfill their needs, and then when those needs get fulfilled, they just cast them away! Why does this always happen to me?" Saotome sighed before going back to her usual self and started the lesson.
Homura knew all the answers to the questions to the paper on her desk, and due to that, time quickly flew. Before long, lunch started. Homura wanted to make time slow down as much as possible, but time wasn't hers to command. She'd give anything to have that power again.
As soon as the bell rang, the usual girls that pestered Homura crowded up around her. "Who was that blonde with the curly hair from earlier?" one girl asked.
"Did you guys have a fight and break up?" another girl asked.
"She was so pretty, just like you Homura," one more added.
'Homura, Homura, Homura,' was the only thing the Magical Girl could hear. She sighed and stood up.
Now it was time for the usual excuse. "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well." Homura put a hand to her forehead and frowned. "I think I'll head over to the nurse's room. Alone." Her real intentions were to escape to the roof, get a couple fresh breaths of air to calm her mind.
The hallways filled up with students walking around, probably going to meet up with their friends. Homura had no friends to meet at the moment. She was too afraid to talk to Mami, and she thought that she should give her time to herself. That girl probably needed some.
Homura walked over to the stairs leading to the roof. On her way upstairs, while thinking, she bumped shoulders with someone, another girl. She looked at the girl, eyes marginally widened.
The girl smiled. "You should pay more attention to where you're going," she said. She sported short dark hair and a familiar amused smile.
Kirika Kure.
If this girl existed in this new world, then Oriko must have as well. Did Kirika always go to Mitakihara Middle School? If so, Homura never noticed.
Homura cautioned herself against this likely threat, and she looked at Kirika with cold eyes. "Ah, pardon me, I really should pay attention." Pay attention to how your enemies could be lurking by so close.
"Why didn't you chase that girl earlier?" Kirika asked.
"Excuse me?"
"That blonde girl. You grabbed her, but then she took off. You wanted to go after her. You can deny all you like, but again I ask, why didn't you chase her?" Kirika had a smile on her face that couldn't be seen through no matter how hard Homura tried.
"May I ask why you care?"
"I don't, but if that was my lover running away, I'd definitely go after her. I can't stand someone who lets theirs run away."
Homura turned her head away. "She's not…" Homura stopped and wondered what Mami really was to her.
"Well then, bye-bye for now, Homura Akemi."
"How do you know my-"
"You mean Kyubey hasn't told you yet? I see... we'll be quite disorganized then." Kirika laughed and slid down the hand rails. "By the way, those last sentences were Oriko Mikuni's. She wanted me to tell you that, and you'll get to know her soon enough."
Kyubey planned something without the need to tell Homura? Just what was going on? The girl wondered while walking up the stairs. The sun shined brightly and the sky had few clouds today. Homura looked at those clouds with her hands clutching the roof's fence.
She knew someone or rather, something, was behind her but she didn't bother looking at him.
"Why was I not informed of Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure being present in Mitakihara? What's going on, exactly?" Homura asked.
"I was about to inform you, but it seems Kirika has, partly. I plan on contacting more Magical Girls around this territory, and I've spoken with Mami on these affairs already. She seemed fine with it, but will you be too?"
"Did you talk to Mami this morning?" If he didn't, then Homura would have to talk to her as soon as possible.
"No, I talked to her last night. Back to what's going on, the demons are-"
"Multiplying, I know that already. My guess is that you don't believe Mami and I can handle this on our own so you've decided to increase our chances of survival."
"Yes, that's correct."
"What would those girls you've contacted have as a reward for this matter? It's extremely useful if they plan to ditch their own territories to help us."
"This isn't the first time in history where an unusual amount of demons have come to human civilizations that house so many of you."
"Get to the point."
"When too many humans live so close to each other, a vast amount of negative emotions are bound to wander in the air, waiting for demons to find them. Sometimes those emotions get sought out by extremely powerful demons known as Banshees. They are much older demons that have evolved over the centuries they've existed in. They tend to wander where humans don't. They know how to fight Magical Girls, and in a one on one fight, they would most definitely beat any of you, no matter how powerful; even you, Homura. The grief cubes they drop are extremely potent, and a single one can clean a soul gem 108 times, initially. I predict this city will be visited by at least one Banshee in a few weeks."
"You're certain of the Banshees' powers, and their grief cubes? And what do you mean by initially?" Homura asked.
"I know for a fact. It's even rare to see large groups of Magical Girls actually beat them. I'd rather have you flee than stay, but Mami has convinced me that neither of you will leave. By initially, I mean that after their grief cubes get depleted, regular grief cubes can transfer their power to a Banshee's, and a single grief cube's power doubles when they transfer over."
Homura looked at the blue sky, taking in the ridiculous explanation, but now at least her thoughts could be focused on something else. Talking with Kyubey, of all people - or creatures - somewhat put her at ease. "How many Banshees usually appear in one area?"
"Usually one or two, three at the most and that's only been recorded once in history. The situation ended with the deaths of all the girls involved. Each Banshee will also accompanied by a thousand weak demons. The city will be crawling with them."
A thousand for each Banshee? The small herds were already enough to deal with alone, but this situation seemed impossible to overcome, even to Homura, but that wouldn't stop her from trying. After all, the world of Magical Girls basically consisted of the impossible. "We'll prepare for the worst case scenario, then. Bring in as many girls as you consider necessary. I do hope that you make careful decisions about who joins us, though I'm certain I can take down any who try to take over Mitakihara," Homura said. "One more thing. Have you talked to Kyouko about this yet?"
"I did, earlier this morning, and I told her everything I just told you."
"Will she be coming back?"
"She said she's not interested in 'dying in a shit hole.' Is that alright with you?"
"It's fine. I can't blame her; this whole thing must sound suicidal. Do you know of her whereabouts?"
"I do, but Kyouko told me not to tell you. She said she didn't want you and Mami to waste time worrying about her."
"That's fine. Go contact everyone else and make sure you tell me anything you can about them before they get here."
"Alright then, I'll be on my way."
Homura turned around for the first time since coming up to the roof, and the Incubator was gone just like that. Now, there was much extensive planning to do, but first Homura had to find Mami.
Just when she was about to go downstairs, yet another person decided to bother her. Green hair, green eyes, and an elegance that equaled Mami's, nervously approached.
Hitomi pouched her lips out. "Um, Miss Akemi, or should I say Homura? I have some questions for you, if you don't mind."
"Just call me Homura, and please make them quick. I have business to attend to."
"Were you close to Sayaka Miki?" Her hands gripped the handle of her bag tightly.
Hitomi was someone Homura didn't want to speak with, and Sayaka was someone she didn't want to speak about. "No, not particularly. I had some tiny chats with her during class, but other than that I hardly saw much of her."
"Really? I could have sworn I saw you with her outside of school with a redheaded girl and that blonde girl you were with earlier..."
Homura had to fix the situation quickly. "Those other two girls are friends of mine, and we decided to help Sayaka with schoolwork. One day I noticed her bad grades, and I offered to help her study with those friends of mine. I could tell she was never the smartest of girls when it came to academics."
Hitomi frowned. "Well… do you know anything about her disappearance? Any leads or clues would be much appreciated. The police haven't had much luck with their investigation…"
"If I knew anything, I would've spoken up a long time ago. I'm sorry to have wasted your time." Homura ended the conversation right there with a hand running through her hair and walked off before the other girl could even give a response. There was much more important business to attend to, and Hitomi had a good life; she had a boyfriend and loving parents. She wouldn't be so depressed as to do something extremely irrational. "Have a good life, Hitomi. Don't do anything to destroy it." Homura didn't look back.
Homura thought of going to Mami's classroom, but she didn't think she'd find her there.
Mami… I know you're there… we need to talk… There was nothing. Homura had to get a little out of her comfort zone. I don't know what's going on with you, but… I'm here for you. So please talk to me. I'll be in the nurse's room.
