Spoiler Warning: If you haven't seen the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, then prepared to be spoiled.

I own neither Puella Magi Madoka Magica nor Black Clover. They belong to their respective owners. For entertainment purposes.


Yuno could hear the now familiar crash of Asta falling out of bed from across the hallway. Taking this as his own signal to get up, his hand fumbled around on top of his night stand until catching his glasses. Placing them on, he neatly got out of bed and went about changing out of his sleepwear. After wrestling into his school uniform and grabbing his Soul Charm, he exited his room and nearly crashed into Asta, who was too busy trying to fix his tie to notice where he was going.

"Whoops," Asta said with a sheepish grin, "Sorry, Yuno!" His volume was near a shout, but Yuno knew that this was Asta's version of an 'inside' voice. If anything, it seemed like the whole house used Asta as an alarm clock if the slight muffled sounds from around the hallway, where the little ones lay, were any indication. Asta, on the other hand, gave no hint whether he was aware of this fact as he continued mangling his tie. Yuno lifted an eyebrow up in a silent 'need help?' gesture. Asta paused before shaking his head. His grin widened as he proclaimed, "I'm not done yet! I'm not giving up!"

"Not giving up is my magic!"

The ghost of an echo resounded in his mind as his head began to ache. When had he heard Asta say those words before? His chest tightened, and he must have had a strange expression on his face because Asta stopped whatever rant he was going on. The shorter boy leaned closer to inspect him.

"You okay?" Asta asked as a frown began to form on his features. Yuno blinked before realizing how close the other actually was. He bent back with a dust of red on his cheeks.

"I-I'm fine."

Asta didn't look like he completely believed him, but he didn't press the issue either. Instead, some unidentifiable emotion flashed across Asta's face before disappearing entirely as he turned towards the stairs. "You're probably still tired," Asta proclaimed over his shoulder, "Breakfast will fix that!" He took an exaggerated deep breath before continuing, "I can smell Sister's hash-browns from here!" He glanced back at Yuno and smiled once more, "Come on!"

Yuno fought down the urge to reach out towards Asta as the other disappeared down the stairs. His hand still twitched, and he shoved it in his pocket to hide the impulse. An irrational seed of fear, that Asta would vanish the moment he left Yuno's sight, had planted itself in him. Which was foolish. Asta wasn't gone. He was just down the stairs and probably waiting for Yuno to catch up. Shaking his head, Yuno moved to follow.


Around the dining table, Father Ofai was reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee waiting in front of him. The little ones were all chatting amongst each other though some were fighting over a second portion of hash-browns. Nash was running a hand through his brown hair, most likely praying under his breath that the school bus would come soon. Sister Lily was in the kitchen cooking another serving of breakfast, silently laughing at the family's antics. Yuno moved to sit down, but Asta stopped him.

Asta grabbed two pieces of toast. Shoving one in his mouth, Asta handed the other to Yuno and hooked him around his arm. He herded them towards the door. "I forgot we're supposed to be meeting Noelle and Kahono today," He groaned, "Noelle will scold my ear off if we're late!" Waving goodbye as Yuno awkwardly mimicked, they exited the church.

Once they were down the steps and on the main walkway, Asta released Yuno's arm. Yuno resisted the urge to touch the rapidly cooling spot in vain attempt to keep the warmth there a second longer. Instead he quickly ate his piece of toast.

The flapping of wings alerted the two of them to Nero as the bird made a nest in Asta's hair. "Aw, really?" Asta huffed, "Why does it always have to be my head?" Still, he made no move to dislodge the bird. Yuno stared at the pair together, a small pit forming in his stomach.

He clutched his schoolbag's strap a bit tighter as he tried to keep his breathing from speeding up. His head ached softly as he tried to recall a reason as to why the bird was so unsettling. It just helped them on Incubus hunts, and it never gave any indication of ill will. Besides, it didn't even seem interested in Yuno. The bird was always hovering around Asta. Yuno swallowed the lump forming in his throat at the thought.


"Good Morning'!" Asta exclaimed as he waved to Noelle and Kahono, spooking a few birds in the area. Yuno trailed behind Asta, wincing out at the volume of the other's greeting. The two girls stopped their conversation with their attention falling mostly on the louder of the two. Yuno worried at Noelle's annoyed look as she stood with her hands on her hips and her tapping foot, but Asta showed no signs of distress. Perhaps this was normal. Kahono didn't seem phased as she took out her ear-buds for the phone in her schoolbag.

"You're late, Dorksta."

"We were beginning to think you'd never show up."

"I guess the fight last night wore me out more than I thought," Asta said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Noelle rolled her eyes while Kahono giggled at her reaction. For a split second, Noelle turned her gaze to Yuno. But by the time he blinked, she was already refocused on Asta.

"Sure," Noelle snorted in disbelief, "If that's the case, then you're losing your edge." Asta opened his mouth to protest, but she interrupted his oncoming rant with a wave of her hand in dismissal. Adjusting her bag's strap, she turned on her heel towards the school. "Either way, you owe me a treat," She added over her shoulder, "I'm feeling like a milkshake today." Asta shook his head but smiled in resignation.

"If that would please 'Her Highness'," He sniffed as he gave a mock bow behind her back. He then laughed at the glare she responded with. Turning to Yuno and Kahono, he gave a 'Come, on' gesture as he turned to catch up with Noelle.

"Another pleasant day," Kahono smiled. She popped an ear bud in her left ear, letting the cord dangle as she pocketed her phone in her schoolbag. Her gaze switched to Yuno as she clasped him on the shoulder lightly, but that only served to make his shoulder twitch slightly and his grip tighten. She paused as she removed her hand and said, "Oh, I didn't think I'd startle you." Her expression furrowed for a moment before smoothing over, whatever troubling her being pushed aside. "I just wanted to say nice work last night," She amended, "It's nice having another person on the team." With a small laugh, she said, "You worked so well with us that it's like you've been here for months rather than weeks." She didn't wait for Yuno to respond as she turned to catch up with the others.

As Yuno himself caught up to them, his head began to pound slightly as her statement registered with him. There was nothing strange about it, but it left him feeling like her words were truer than he would have liked. The tight sensation in his chest returned and so was the whisper that something was off. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. A sudden yelp from Asta tore him from his brooding.

"I forgot about the reading today!" Asta proclaimed as his hands flew to his head and disturbed Nero. The bird seemed to huff at his antics as it flapped its wings at him. It hopped off of him and perched on Kahono's shoulder instead.

"Well," Noelle said as she closed her eyes, "You better hope Mr. Yami doesn't call on you in class today." At that, Asta paled. Before he could open his mouth, Noelle continued as she opened one eye to look at him. "And no," She added, "I'm not letting you copy me for the homework you missed either."

"You better step up your game," Kahono teased, "Even Yuno and I got our work done." She turned her head towards Yuno for confirmation. He shyly nodded as he straightened his glasses. Kahono grinned victoriously as she snapped back to Asta. "See?" She hummed.

"It's expected Yuno would," Asta proclaimed, "He's my rival for a reason!" He gave Yuno a thumb's up and his own grin. Yuno couldn't help the smile on his face. Noelle groaned and gave Asta a small shove.

"Stop trying to butter him up," She scolded. "He's not going to let you copy his homework either," She added while looking at Yuno with an eyebrow raised in a 'Right?' gesture.

"I wasn't doing that!"

"Then stop flirting with him. Better?"

The red that danced across Asta's face probably matched the warmth Yuno could feel across his own. The choked noise Asta made immediately after her amendment didn't help the embarrassment. Asta stumbled for a moment, trying to come up with a comeback.

"Yeah," Kahono piped up as she skipped slightly over to Noelle and hooked her lightly around the shoulders. Nero returned to perching on Asta's head. "Save the flirting for the professionals," she smiled. It was now Noelle's turn to combust as she slipped out of Kahono's hold.

"K-Kahono!" Noelle whined as she batted lightly at the other's shoulder. Said girl just laughed off her antics as she ran just out of Noelle's reach. The two of them ended up running in circles around Yuno and Asta as Noelle tried to catch her. Their antics left Asta laughing and even got a couple of chuckles from Yuno.


The little ones at the Church begged Yuno to go inspect their work in the park fields just ten minutes away. They seemed so proud to be a part of the community's project to brighten up the city. Yuno couldn't say no to them. Leaning down, he inspected the pink carnations before his fingers.

"It's great, right?"

Yuno jumped a little before looking over his shoulder and seeing Asta. The other wandered over and crouched beside him. Yuno nodded, not trusting his tongue at the moment. Asta smiled and turned his gaze over to towards the flowers Yuno was looking at.

"I believe the little ones planted these when you got here," Asta observed. He paused before adding, "Hard to believe it's been a month already though." Yuno nodded at his statement, trying to calm the beating of his heart. He could hear Asta begin to settle down and followed suit. Leaning back, he could feel the grass blades slip between his fingers.

"Everything's feels so familiar," Yuno admitted, "It feels like I've been here a lot longer." Asta hummed slightly in response but didn't comment. The two of them sat in relative silence with only the occasional flap from Nero bringing the atmosphere some noise. Yuno felt it was odd to see Asta so silent, but at the same time, the silence was comforting in a way.

"This may sound odd," Asta said slowly, "But I'm glad I bumped into you tonight."

"Me too," Yuno agreed softly. He glanced over at Asta to see the other watching him. Biting his lip slightly, Yuno swallowed the lump forming in his throat. Fighting back a blush crawling up his neck, Yuno forced himself to maintain eye contact as he continued. "I feel like I've wanted to talk with you for a while," Yuno amended. Curling his fingers slightly and disturbing the blades of green between them, he added, "Even though I see you every day…" He paused and forced a laugh. "It's strange, right?" he asked, not expecting a real answer.

"Maybe," Asta responded with a grin as he shook his head. Leaning back further until he was laying on the ground, Asta looked up at Yuno and added, "But I feel the same way." Focusing his gaze on the stars, Asta clarified, "That I've been wanting to talk with you for a while." Crossing his arms behind his head and resting on them, he added as he let out a small sigh, "Not to mention, I've been wanting to spend time together like this again."

"Again?" Yuno questioned as he laid down on the ground next to Asta. He looked over at the blond who seemed to have frozen momentarily. Before Yuno could get a glimpse of his expression, Asta let out an embarrassed chuckle, wiping the previous emotion away.

"I meant relaxing without worrying about having to fight Incubuses," Asta amended. He freed one arm to gesture to the sky. "It's also nice to see the stars once in a while," he added. As if jinxing it, the night took his words as a cue to fade into the sewn patterns of a quilt an incubus weaved. "Never mind," Asta snorted as he moved to get up. Grumbling, he said in a tone that suggested he was talking to himself, "Can't go five minutes without being interrupted."

Yuno accepted the hand that Asta offered as the other helped him stand.