Well, this took longer than it needed to. Check the end notes for more details. Anyway, new Homura chapter. It gets a pretty emotional and brushes against the M rating at points so please be prepared.
Enjoy if you can.
Late morning, Atlas Hospital Ward...
Homura pursed her lips as she made her way through halls of the hospital terminal ward, feeling mildly vexed. She had felt a familiar aura signature approaching—a signature that gave a cool and fluid impression. Sure enough, when she had turned around, she saw one Sayaka Miki, staring at her with increasingly curious eyes. It was a breath of relief when the fencer eventually walked away. Homura was worried what sort of questions she'd end up getting if Miki had approached. She was thankful that it didn't come to that.
"You're slipping," Homura grumbled to the boy with white hair walking beside her. "She noticed us."
"She noticed you," Kyubey replied nonchalantly. "You should be well aware that my semblance does not function optimally when used on more than one recipient."
Homura rolled her eyes. The notion that he was slipping was more to spite him than anything.
Kyubey's semblance was a perception mask that compelled people not to notice his target, usually himself. Officially, it hadn't even been a week since he discovered it. In actuality, he had been unconsciously using it for at least two months. Everyone from the Aura Mod Division, including Homura, had been aware of it to some degree.
Given how naturally he had been using it for so long, his understanding of its mechanics must have been instinctive on some level. Homura's understanding of her own power over space and time had been instinctive as well. She recalled a time in her early teens when she accidentally increased the effective capacity of a small glass of water to over a gallon. That had only been a few months after her aura was unlocked.
Madoka was like that as well, now that she thought about it…
"It could also be that she is aura-sensitive," Kyubey added helpfully. "Active use of my semblance as I am doing right now is bound to leave a trace."
Homura did not immediately reply.
She thought the idea had merit. It would explain why she could sense Kyubey even when he had his semblance active. His aura signature was unique, unsettling, and impressionable—quite easy to pick up on.
"As likely as any other explanation," Homura eventually said.
With that, the conversation dropped. No further words were exchanged until they reached their destination.
"Nagisa Momoe," Homura said, looking through the glass viewport of the vacuum-sealed room before her. The little girl with white hair was still on the bed, hooked up to life support, as she had been when Homura last visited. She was still marked for death. "You said it would be some months before her turn came."
"Complications have arisen. Her time table of months has shrunk to mere hours. If we do not put her in stasis soon, she will die."
Homura gave Kyubey a sharp look. "What complications?"
Kyubey stared up at Homura, still smiling. "You don't know about her condition, do you?"
Homura bit her lip. Kyubey spoke with none of the urgency that was expected of the situation.
He turned to Nagisa. "We don't fully understand it either. She's afflicted with a disease of some sort that causes her cells to decay at a rate far quicker than normal. Her body's attempt to repair the damage is taking its toll—and even then, it can only do so much."
Homura bit her lip harder. "Her body is starting to give up," she said through grit teeth.
"That's a close guess but it's not quite on the mark. You see, they unlocked her aura as a stop-gap measure. It had delayed things for a time but it very quickly became clear that it was a mistake in the long-term. She's worse now than she would've been had they done nothing."
Homura joined Kyubey in watching Nagisa through the viewport. She then closed her eyes and concentrated, quickly searching for the wellspring of aura within Nagisa's body. A drop of dread fell into the pit of her stomach when she felt it.
"It was risky, unlocking her aura like that," Kyubey said. "The accelerated healing naturally brought on by an unlocked aura counteracted her cell decay, yes, but her aura reserves are not infinite. I'm sure you can sense the current state of her soul. I imagine it's quite unpleasant."
The pool of energy was all but empty, with only a smidgen of aura seeping in from the ether before immediately being consumed to fuel Nagisa's healing factor. Her soul could not regenerate aura at a rate fast enough to sustain her.
Homura stepped back numbly, pressing a hand against her chest. Her fingers traced a line down where her surgical scar would be under her blouse. Even after over fifteen years—after her aura had saved her from the worst effects of her surgery and past affliction—she still felt a tingle whenever she touched it.
It was always a gamble, unlocking the aura of sickly children. The lucky ones, like Homura, would grow up to become no less healthy than any normal person. The unlucky ones, however...
The unlucky ones would be just like Nagisa Momoe. For a time, they'd suffer less due to accelerated healing. When their aura reserves started running dry, they would suffer the effects of aura exhaustion as their body and soul tried in vain to re-establish equilibrium. The body would sacrifice its own energy for the soul to convert into aura in much the same way the body would sacrifice fat and muscle cells to convert into carbohydrates. Those unlucky few would effectively be cannibalizing themselves and could do nothing to stop it.
In other words, Nagisa Momoe was basically doomed.
Homura turned to Kyubey. "How long until we're clear?"
"We will be cleared to begin stasis operation momentarily. We are merely awaiting an associate from the Hospital Ward to arrive. For the now, we may set up the transport pod here in the hallway."
Homura grunted and pulled out a large suitcase from Tempest Hourglass, setting it onto the floor. With a click, the suitcase began unfolding into a stasis pod scaled to the size of Nagisa Momoe. Once the pod was fully deployed, Kyubey nodded at its console screen with his mask of a smile and began the boot up process. It would take a few minutes, at least.
Even after two months, Homura still found it strange. Her time dilation and ability to distort space were being used in medical procedures—experimental medical procedures, granted, but medical nonetheless. If she had been told a decade ago that she'd be doing what she was currently doing, she wouldn't have believed it. Madoka was the healer. Homura was not. She was a weapon. The most dangerous weapon in Vale. One that could kill in an instant without ever being seen.
Homura tapped her fingers on the back of her hand. A pained smile tugged on her lips.
Things weren't all that different, though—Vale was simply swapped for Atlas. She was still operating in secrecy. She was still a weapon. She was still a tool for killing.
That wasn't all it amounted to anymore, though. She was helping as well. Healing.
Healing like Madoka…
"It is done," Kyubey said, stepping away from the stasis pod. "The pod is now ready to accept its payload. Now, we wait."
Homura took a deep breath and leaned against the wall opposite the room's viewport.
"Will it ever end…?"
Seconds ticked on…
Many years ago, forest of Forever Fall…
Homura and Madoka's first mission outside the walls had been a simple one. They, and a handful of other teams, were to kill every creature of Grimm within a given sector of forest. Once one sector was clear, they'd move on to the next. The process would repeat until they cleared the entire coastline of Grimm—at least until more of them spawned.
They had also been assigned a huntsman to bail them out if the situation became too dangerous. The huntsman hadn't intervened much. He mostly just drank alcohol and barked orders. He was a little unpleasant, if Homura would be honest.
"Kaname, I need eyes in the sky," the huntsman ordered after they dispatched a pack of beowolves.
From the trees, Madoka took to the air and began surveying the area for concentrations of Grimm. "This area looks clear!" she announced from above. "Though I see a huge flock of nevermores swarming around a patch of forest a mile and a half north west of here!"
"Probably another clearing team! Ignore it!" the huntsman called dismissively. "Unless you want to crash their party! Go ahead and try! See how that works out for you…! Well!?"
Homura felt a rush of emotion through her mental link with Madoka. Madoka was flustered. "I…! Uh…!"
Homura resisted the urge to tell the huntsman off and called out to Madoka, trying to exude as much calm through their connection as she could. "What do you see along the river!?"
"Oh!? I…! I see an alpha beowolf eyeing me from the treeline! It hid as soon as it saw that I noticed it! Quarter-mile down the river!"
"That's in the next sector," the huntsman muttered. He started walking. "Akemi, Kaname! Let's go!"
As Homura followed the huntsman through the trees, she checked to see if all her weapons were loaded. Where there was an alpha, a pack was almost guaranteed to follow. Another fight was coming. It would be awkward if she still had an empty magazine loaded when it began.
Madoka dropped to the ground behind them and ran to catch up. "How are we doing this?" she asked as she approached. "Same as before?"
"Same as before," the huntsman replied. "Do I still need to say you need to scram? Now git!"
Madoka pouted and once again took off, disappearing into the canopy of reds and violets.
Visibility in the forest was limited and Madoka was ill equipped to deal with enemies at close range. Sure, she could still hit things with Rose Rain but a composite bow wasn't exactly an ideal blunt instrument. She was forced to keep to the trees and give supporting fire. Thankfully, her arrows coated in gravity-dust bore holes into Grimm skulls just as effectively as bullets.
"Buckshots and hollow points, Akemi. Gun down the small-fry as quickly as possible. You can do that much, right?"
Homura cocked her shotgun in response. "Understood sir." She then pursed her lips.
Buckshots were shotgun cartridges with large, dense pellets. They had a lower spread and better stopping power, more easily able to punch holes through the armor plating of older grimm.
Hollow points were bullets that expand as they pierced through material, essentially exploding inside of a target. They caused devastating injury to anything without armor—and still dealt good damage to anything with.
Her supply of both types of ammunition were vast but she was still wary of making use of them. They were not cheap. Maintaining her arsenal was expensive enough already without the added costs of a second type of ammo she needed to keep stocked. She needed a good reason to make use of them. Mowing down lesser Grimm ranked low on her list of good reasons.
Still, orders were orders.
"Grimm, on our right!" Madoka announced from the trees. "Open fire!"
Homura slung her shotgun over her shoulder and switched to her assault rifle, firing a spray into the forest. Distant pained howls reached her ears as the pack came into view.
Homura then crouched down and started firing bursts of hollow-points at the unarmored parts of the beowolves' arms and thighs. The short stream of rounds literally tore holes into their flesh, severing the muscles needed for them to run. The ones in the front toppled to the ground. The rest of the pack trampled over them only to be shot, toppled, and trampled on themselves. Madoka finished them off with a clean arrow to the neck, just under the armored skulls on their heads.
Homura reloaded and switched back to her shotgun, eyeing the trees warily. "That was too easy," she muttered. "There has to be more."
In the back of her mind, she felt Madoka nod in agreement. "I don't see any more beowolves, but…"
"Stop standing around, ladies. If the alpha wants to lay low, it'll stay low. If it attacks, we kill it. Now, get moving."
Homura had no rebuttal. The huntsman was correct. Alpha behavior couldn't be controlled. They just had to adapt to whatever it threw at them.
Madoka once again took to the skies and surveyed the area. Homura held her shotgun raised, ready to pull the trigger on anything that moved.
They pressed onward, waiting for an ambush.
Late Afternoon, Homura's Apartment...
Homura eased into her bed, feeling a tired numbness overcome her. Her day had been a spent wound-up from a constant gnaw of worry at the back of her mind. It was not ideal, considering what she was forced to do that day.
The portable stasis pod had not worked as intended and Homura had to manually maintain stasis on Nagisa Momoe as she was transported to the labs. It had taken its toll on Homura, both emotionally and physically.
One they arrived, the scientists got to work on getting Nagisa stable. At the moment, they were still analyzing her status to determine how long before they could perform the soul transfer. They had given no exact date—just that it would have to be soon. Homura wasn't sure how long Nagisa would last, even with stasis. She hoped 'soon' wasn't too long a wait.
Later that afternoon, she fulfilled her obligation to Winter Schnee—a little sparring match.
The fact that she had to fight someone after her earlier exertions was unfortunate. Neither her state of mind nor her aura reserves were optimal for battle, especially battle with a huntress as powerful as Winter. Even more unfortunate was the fact that she had agreed to said sparring match nearly two weeks in advance. She was perfectly willing to agree to a battle and not show up for it, disrespectful as it may be. However, doing so when the person she'd be fighting was Atlas' second in command was, likely, a terrible idea.
Thus, she fought and won, making use of her time dilation once again to stack the odds so heavily in her favor that she won in less than ten seconds. Winter was left humbled, the crowd was left disappointed, and Homura was left feeling like she had run a marathon she didn't want to run—not that she allowed her exhaustion to show.
It was so tiring. She wanted nothing more than to sleep and let exhaustion take her. Already she felt her consciousness slipping.
It hurt. Everything hurt. From her aching limbs caused by aura exhaustion to her aching head caused by mental exhaustion. It hurt and she wanted it to stop.
She rolled to her side and curled up, cradling her hand against chest. She closed her eyes slowly. Sleep found her soon after.
There was a sea of red in all directions, so vivid that it made her eyes bleed.
"NO!"
A vile mass of blackness churned with the crunch of meat and bone.
"Madoka, get up! I can't keep them off you forever!"
Gunshots and howls resounded. Her mind was blank with pain and panic.
"MADOKA!"
Homura gasped as she jolted awake. A shiver ran down her spine, reminding her that she was in the present once again. She blinked away her daze and rolled to her back.
From what she could tell, only an hour at most had passed. Had it been more, her room would be bathed in the blue of twilight instead of the orange of sunset.
Ever since discovering her semblance, flashbacks and flashforwards had been ever present interruptions to her deserved periods of rest. Sometimes they lasted for hours. Other times, less than a second. Even after all these years, she still didn't know how to cope with them.
"And they've only gotten worse," Homura mumbled to herself, rubbing the tears from her eyes and cheeks.
"Homura Akemi?"
Homura shot upright and glared across the room, to the shadow imposed on her curtains. "Why are you here?"
Kyubey was sitting on the railing of her balcony, his small frame backlit by the setting sun. "I was in the area and noticed familiar aura flares from the direction of your apartment," he said with his usual casual cadence. "I was curious to see how you were doing. Evidently, you were in distress."
Homura's eyes narrowed on the boy. Curious, he said. "I doubt curiosity is enough to get you to leave the labs. What are you getting at?"
The boy tilted his head slightly. "Your physical and emotional wellbeing is vital to this project." His body swayed playfully, like a blade of grass in the wind. "We cannot afford to lose your abilities."
Homura was torn between cynical amusement and genuine endearment towards Kyubey's show of concern. She refused to allow her conflicting feelings show, however, and kept her face hard. Of course his concern would be tied to her involvement in the project. Why else would he ever ask?
"There are no problems, Kyubey. Please leave."
As the sun continued to set, the shadow across curtains grew darker, making the red glow of his eyes even more prominent.
"I'll keep that self-assessment in mind. Please remain healthy, Homura Akemi. Both physically and mentally. For the good of the project."
With that, his shadow sunk into the shadow of the balcony, disappearing from view and presence fading slowly. The last thing Homura saw before he was gone was his eyes, staring ever widely. The sun had fully set by the time his presence faded fully.
Homura shook her head and sunk back into the folds of her bed. She was tired. She wanted to go back to sleep, nightmares be damned. The softness of her pillow was already beckoning her back to restless slumber.
Minutes passed. With just ticking of her clock and the distant sound of traffic from the streets outside, her ears were left ringing.
"I'm forgetting something," she muttered to herself as she realized that sleep was not coming to her.
After a moment's contemplation, she remembered. The realization was sudden but it did nothing more than make her want to curl up into an even tighter ball.
"I still have to meet Kyouko tonight…"
Homura again sighed with tired resignation.
"Of course there's more today…"
She was so caught up in the madness and tragedy of Nagisa Momoe that she forgot about another obligation she had walked into that afternoon—an obligation to one Kyouko Sakura.
What had Kyouko called it? A date? Really, it was more of a counseling session about Kyouko's hang ups—as if Homura didn't have enough hang ups of her own.
"I should never have agreed."
Once again, Homura got out of bed and began combing her closet for another outfit to change into. She felt a strange obligation to pick an outfit that'd look good—one that Kyouko hadn't seen her wear before. She didn't know why she bothered, though. Kyouko would simply wear the same pants, shirt, and hoodie she always wore. Homura could do the same. Appearances were not important to the wild red huntress.
A tiny voice in the back of Homura's mind pointed out that Kyouko was still quick to compliment appearances, however.
Not that it was relevant. It wasn't even really a date. It was a farce. Kyouko would find a way to make it entertaining anyway, though. That was the only reason Homura was going at all.
"I suppose I can afford to indulge Kyouko's whims for another night," she muttered. "And given what's happened today, I suppose I deserve a night of entertainment." She continued appraising her clothes.
Many years ago, forest of Forever Fall…
What made alpha beowolves so dangerous, aside from their size, was their above average intelligence. Normal beowolves were nothing more than mindless killing machines that attacked any human in view. An alpha had the capacity for tactics, planning, and even communication. Taking one down often required its pack to be wiped out just to even deal damage to it—and even then, it might retreat to another pack that's in close proximity. They were wily creatures, not to be underestimated.
Yet, somehow, Homura still did exactly that…
Homura wholly expected the ambush that was awaiting them as they delved deeper into the forest. She wholly expected to be in immediate threat of death the moment they were attacked. She wholly expected to need to use her time powers for the chance of a safe escape. She did not expect a pair of ursae and three alphas to come at them at the same time from different directions.
The grimm came so quickly that Homura barely had enough time to process what was going on. By pure reflex, she had channeled her aura into Tempest Hourglass, plunging her world into bright desaturation. Only then did she realize the extent of how terrible their situation was.
They had followed rocky shore of the river until they hit a bend where the waters were quite wide but looked shallow enough to wade through. Hiding behind particularly large boulder to the north was one ursa major which had casually picked the boulder up and chucked it in their direction. From the treeline on their side of the river came two of the alpha beowolves and a huge pack of lessers, lunging out of the red brush like cannonballs with teeth and claws. From the deceptively deep waters of the river emerged the third alpha and second ursa major, significantly bigger and more armored than the others. All of them were upon the huntsman and huntresses in an instant.
Homura's mind raced, eyes darting around at time-accelerated speeds to mark her targets and note any openings. Due to their connection, Madoka had been time-dilated as well, analyzing the situation as Homura was. The huntsman had not been not affected by the time-dilation but that didn't stop him from reacting faster than Homura and Madoka. Already, he was unfolding his poleaxe to chop down at the boulder hurtling towards them.
They were both keenly aware of each other's presence in their minds, their heightened emotional states strengthening their connection to the point where they completely in sync—as if they shared a single consciousness. They both immediately knew what the other was thinking and found that the idea they had was actually quite sound.
Homura and Madoka shared a smile and stepped directly behind the huntsman as he cut the boulder clean down the middle. The two halves flew past them, slamming into the grimm one either side that were milliseconds away from mauling them. Alphas and Majors were smart, but that didn't mean they could make fool-proof plans.
With the halves of the boulder having cleared them some space and bought them some time, the two began their counter attack—Homura, emptying her magazines of buckshots and hollow points; Madoka, emptying her quiver of concussive arrows. When it looked like the time they bought was nearly over, Madoka took hold of Homura by the waist and shot to the sky, both with a powerful flap of her wings and an aura augmented jump.
They surveyed their battlefield with calculating calm. Their actions had thinned the grimm's numbers significantly. Unfortunately, the alphas and majors just refused to die. Homura had earlier shot the larger of the ursae with three buckshots to an exposed patch of neck and it continued fighting. Nothing they did was working.
"He's down there alone," Madoka said, her consciousness receding from Homura's slightly.
The huntsman was currently engaging the ursa that threw the boulder with several lesser beowolves trying to swarm him. The wolves seemed more annoying to him than actually threatening as they were easily dispatched, all while he was dodging the ursa's attacks.
"He's alone and he's winning," Homura noted, pulling out three grenades from Tempest Hourglass. "Don't worry about him. Keep circling." She threw the grenades into the churning mass of black that threw rocks at them back. Three explosions later, much fewer rocks were being thrown at them.
Homura frowned as she struggled to pull more grenades from her shield while Madoka flew. "This could probably be more efficient. See any good ledges?"
"Yeah. Gimme some bombs."
Madoka dived to the nearest cliff and deposited Homura neatly on the highest part of it. Without even stopping her momentum, she kicked off and began tossing grenades into the battle as she flew by.
As Madoka did this, Homura revealed from her shield a new, unwieldy, and exuberantly expensive addition to her arsenal. It was an anti-material rifle that was as large and heavy as Homura herself. She braced it's bi-pod onto the cliffside and began shooting at the ursa she had tried very hard and failed to kill earlier. It took all five shots she could afford to supply herself with but, eventually, Homura managed to damage the ursa major's skull enough that the last round pierced straight to the brain.
The beast fell. With it, a large swath of the pack scattered.
Homura put her large rifle back into her shield and replaced it with her standard bolt-action sniper rifle and began picking off the stragglers.
Mid-evening, Outskirts of Atlas City…
Homura sat across the table from Kyouko. She had a glass of lemonade mixed with a shot of gin she had been nursing for several minutes now. She had no desire to drink it.
Kyouko seemed upset by this. "C'mon, Hom, you're makin' me feel bad. You got a glass but I'm the only one drinking. Like… you don't need to drink as much as me. Just… lighten up, ya know?"
Homura rolled her eyes and took a sip from her glass.
Kyouko frowned at this gesture and stared guiltily at what had to be her fifth glass of whiskey that night. "If this silent treatment's because you're a lightweight, you coulda' gotten water."
Homura said nothing and kept drinking slowly.
She was, indeed a lightweight—she wasn't very tall nor all that heavy and hadn't been exposed enough alcohol to have built up a resistance. She still didn't get drunk easily, though. Short of drinking pure alcohol, her healing factor flushed her body of the substance faster than she could drink it. It was a bit of an anomaly, even among those with unlocked aura. No doubt, she could drink Kyouko under the table if she wanted to.
Kyouko never needed to learn about that, though. Let the wild red huntress from Vacuo have her assumptions.
Homura set her glass down and crossed her arms onto the table. "I'm waiting for you to speak. You called me here to vent, yes?"
Kyouko leered from behind her whiskey as she downed what remained of it. The moment her lips parted from the rim of her glass, she immediately ordered a sixth serving.
"Aight, we both know this isn't an actual date but you could at least pretend," Kyouko grumbled. "Seriously. The whole point we're in this bar in the first place is so I can relax. You're kinda ruining it."
The ghost of a smile flashed upon Homura's face as Kyouko's sixth order of whiskey arrived at their table. She once again took a sip of her mixed drink.
Kyouko narrowed her eyes and tipped her sixth glass accusingly at Homura. "I get the distinct feeling that you're fucking with me right now."
Homura gave a small but sharp smile. "You can say that."
Kyouko shook her head. "Remember when I said I missed this sarcastic and teasing side of you? I take it back. I take it all back. This side of you's terrible."
As Kyouko threw her head back and drank, Homura suppressed a chuckle.
A voice in her head earlier had told her she'd enjoy herself. It had been right. She was enjoying herself. She did need this.
"In case you haven't realized yet, I am treating this like an actual date," Homura said, swirling the mouthful of liquid still in her glass. "Take what you can get, Kyouko. Remember, you're the one who asked me out."
Kyouko averted her eyes, pulling her drink closer to her chest. Her face seemed to flush even more. "You must not get laid much if this is how you treat your dates."
Homura didn't did not dignify this with a response, instead drinking what remained of her glass.
Kyouko's face was flush and eyes droopy. It was very likely that she was already drunk—though, the fact that she was even halfway coherent was impressive.
Homura still needed her to start talking, though. That meant more alcohol.
"A glass of what she's having," Homura said to the nearest waitress.
Kyouko raised an eyebrow, slowly bringing up her own glass to her face. "What are you planning?"
Homura flashed a sardonic smile. "You wanted me to drink? Fine. I'll drink. I'll even match your pace. Just remember: you're the one paying."
Kyouko stared in confusion for a moment before cackling wildly. "Fucking hell, Hom. Way to make me regret egging you on. You're gonna kill my wallet tonight."
Homura's glass arrived and they both tapped them together in cheers.
Later…
It was a few minutes before midnight when Homura finally left for home. Unfortunately, she exited the bar carrying a Kyouko Sakura who was so inebriated that she couldn't walk even with assistance. Homura could feel both the heat of Kyouko's skin and the intensity of her aura as body and soul purged the alcohol from her system. Kyouko would be down for at least the rest of the night.
Homura grimaced.
She knew quite well what kind of person Kyouko was when sober. Being drunk only exacerbated her more extreme traits. By the time that she had enough alcohol to loosen her lips and finally talk about her problems, she had already picked a fight with the largest most threatening individuals in the bar.
A brawl had ensued as these situations always devolved into. It started with insults and challenges to arm wrestling. Fifteen minutes later, tempers were lost and the first punch was thrown. A minute after that, someone drew their weapon and everything devolved into absolute chaos—a literal storm of projectiles and dust flying wildly about the room.
Thankfully, Homura and a handful of sober patrons had quickly led all the aura-locked civilians to the nearest exit before the worst of the fight broke. There was no one injured—just rattled.
Also impressive was that there was no property damage to speak of. The bar catered huntsmen and huntresses regularly so it was quite well-equipped to deal with bouts between aura-users. The floor, ceiling, and walls were all soundproofed, extremely well insulated, and reinforced to the point where they were nigh bulletproof. From the outside, the bar showed no indication that there was an ongoing fight.
By the time Homura re-entered the bar to drag Kyouko out, everyone was passed out on the floor with nary a scratch on any of them. Kyouko was lying prone on top of the pile, seemingly in pain—likely caused by a stomachache rather than any injury during the fight.
"As the designated sober person, I'm supposed to bring you home," Homura muttered to the half-conscious girl in her arms. "You realize I don't even know where you live, right?"
Kyouko groaned and batted Homura's face feebly with her hands—like a newborn might when picked up and jostled.
Homura rolled her eyes. "Right. I'll see what I can do…"
Many years ago, forest of Forever Fall…
Homura felt a satisfied smile tug at her lips as she began picking off the grimm that were retreating. Between her sniping and Madoka's fly-bys, the pack was both small enough and injured enough now that they were barely a threat. With both ursae killed by the huntsman and Homura respectively, the only particularly dangerous grimm remaining were the three alphas. They were still alive despite the multiple high-caliber rounds, explosives, and deep poleaxe cuts they'd been subjected to. Just a few more minutes of fighting and they should have the sector clear.
Homura's feeling of satisfaction did not last, however. A sudden pain erupted from her shoulder.
Madoka quickly relayed information to Homura, using impressions and ideas rather than words but still easily interpreted. A rock had hit Madoka's wing and caused her to crashland in the middle of the chaos.
Homura grit her teeth and aimed her sights at where Madoka's body lay helpless on the ground, violently getting mobbed by Grim like a ragdoll.
Madoka's aura shields were close to shattering. She'd be vulnerable until she regenerated enough aura to bring them back. Homura would need to cover her until she could fight again.
Homura felt the shield give way to teeth and claws.
NO!
Homura activated her time dilation and blasted the heads off six lesser beowolves who sought to kill Madoka while she was down.
Come ON, Madoka! Get up! I can't keep them off you forever!
Homura felt a chill down her spine when Madoka stirred, a reply echoing in her mind.
"I'm doing my best, here, Homura. Ten more seconds."
Ten seconds… Right…
Homura let her wry amusement and relief bleed through their connection at the annoyed and impatient response Madoka had given. Her aura would replenish soon. They just needed to hold on for ten seconds.
Nine…
With time dilated, ten seconds took nigh an eternity—but if time wasn't dilated, Homura wouldn't have been able to see the grimm gearing up for an attack on Madoka.
Eight…
She shot them all with sniper precision, taking down a beowolf every time she pulled the trigger, making sure to cripple the ones she didn't have a clear enough shot to kill with one bullet.
Seven…
She just had to keep shooting. The grimm were attracted to pain and fear, both of which Madoka was currently feeling strongly. She had to keep shooting to keep Madoka alive.
Six…
Just keep shooting. Just keep shooting. Just keep shoot—
Five…
The three alphas had converged to attack Madoka, shrugging off every bullet Homura shot. She panickedly emptied her magazine into the beasts and was still not able to slay them even then.
Four…
Homura fumbled as she tried to reload. That sealed their fate. Madoka was doomed. Homura couldn't save her.
Three…
In that moment, Homura was gripped with a primal terror and screamed.
"MADOKA!"
There was a blurry flash of steel. Suddenly the huntsman was upon the beowolves, decapitating all three in one strike, his weapon smoking.
There was a moment of stillness as both Homura and Madoka watched, utterly surprised by the turn of events. Eventually, Homura's grip on her rifle loosened. She released a manic laugh and cried tears of joy.
Madoka was safe!
Her vision blurred and the world spun.
Madoka… was… safe…!
Her thoughts slipped away, just as her consciousness did.
Past midnight, Homura's apartment…
Homura slowly lowered Kyouko onto her bed.
The journey home was somewhat boring. Kyouko, for the most part, had been relatively passive. Of course, she still moved more than an actually unconscious person would have. If it were otherwise, Homura would have flown them instead calling a taxi. As it was, Kyouko was too unruly to carry while flying and public transport had already ended operations for the night. A taxi was really their only option. Thus, Homura rode a taxi to her apartment, babysitting an incoherent mess of a huntress for the entire ride.
"Hom… you fucking traitor," Kyouko rasped as Homura tucked her to bed. "You left me to fight on my own there… How could you…? I thought we were supposed to fight together…?"
Homura stared at the look of betrayal on Kyouko's face, finding it strangely amusing. She was unsure if she wanted to respond with deadpan snark. After a moment's contemplation, she decided that not responding at all was the best course of action.
Instead, she placed a hand on Kyouko's brow. "Get some rest, Kyouko," she said gently. "I'm transferring some aura to you. I hope this helps."
She reached into her aura reserves and began siphoning some into Kyouko to hasten her recovery. There was a bit of resistance at first. Kyouko's shield had sprung up to block the foreign energy attempting to enter. However, the shield soon relented and allowed Homura inside. The transfer finally began unhindered.
"Hey…"
Homura raised an eyebrow at Kyouko whose half-lidded gaze masked a strange twinkle in her eyes. She reached for Homura's other hand, laid idly on the side of the bed.
"Don't… Don't go… I don't want you to go…"
Homura's entire arm suddenly seized up for an instant when Kyouko touched her, as if a jolt of electricity had pierced straight through her gloves upon contact. She was left with a warm tingling sensation as Kyouko squeezed her hand.
"If we're gonna fight… we're gonna fight together… right…?"
Homura glanced to her arm with concern but very quickly realized what had happened—and what was going to happen if she answered Kyouko. The gem in her glove was already flaring up. There was nothing she could do to stop it. Homura closed eyes and smiled wryly.
"Until the very end."
Another sigh of resignation escaped Homura's lips as she opened her eyes and whispered. "Yes, Kyouko… We fight together."
Immediately, memories flooded into Homura's mind. Kyouko's life was laid bare before her in the blink of an eye. In that instant, she felt thirty years of thoughts and emotions flow through her, leaving her with a sense of longing that she could not fathom.
Homura gasped when the flashback ended. She had half a mind to immediately just cut their connection. Kyouko's mental state was influencing her, leaving her, not quite drunk, but dazed.
"Whoa," Kyouko breathed, similarly dazed, though looking significantly more sober than she was earlier. "Homura, the fuck was that…?"
Homura's mouth twitched as Kyouko's mind brushed against hers. A shiver ran up her spine. She had an immediate urge to pull Kyouko into an sobbing embrace. She felt a level of intimacy she hadn't felt in years. Even the multiple transfers she had performed was nothing compared to feeling what Kyouko felt as they stared into each other's eyes. It was all at once comforting and terrifying.
"This feels weird," Kyouko mumbled, sitting up. She looked to Homura in confusion. "I can tell you're happy… even though you look sadder than I've ever seen you…"
Homura nodded, her face slowly becoming as flushed and numb as Kyouko's. Her mind, too, became fuzzy and incoherent. She was feeling what Kyouko was feeling. She was connected to her.
Her vision blurred as tears welled in her eyes.
Kyouko put a hand on Homura's cheek, delicately wiping the tears. "I don't really get it, but… I think you need this…"
Homura nodded again, not trusting herself to speak. Her feelings spoke well enough for themselves.
Kyouko leaned forward placing her other hand on Homura's face. "She thinks you need this too, huh…?"
Homura nodded once more. She opened her mouth and only a suppressed whimper came out.
Kyouko gave her a kind yet foolish grin and leaned further forward, planting a kiss on Homura's lips. As she pulled away, amusement surged through their connection. "Does this technically count as a threesome?"
Homura allowed herself a small smile before leaning forward herself, pushing Kyouko back onto the bed.
Kyouko may have been sober enough to think, but she was still very much drunk. Based on the way Kyouko's aura was flaring erratically, she was as much drunk on power as she was drunk on alcohol. Once the high of their initial connection subsided, Kyouko would likely fall unconscious and remember nothing of that night.
They kissed once more, Homura running a hand through Kyouko's hair as Kyouko rolled them both over, leaving Kyouko atop Homura.
Homura realized that she too would likely forget much of what was happening. The moment she cut their connection, the thoughts and emotions they shared would start fading—like a half forgotten dream.
But until the night was over, they would spend it in each other's arms, filling their longing with the passion of their hearts and souls.
Kyouko began stripping. Homura did the same. When the gloves came off, a gem fell onto Homura's bare stomach. It glowed warmly at them, radiating aura at an alarming rate. They felt vague sense of encouragement ease into their minds.
They were connected…
Kyouko placed a hand on Homura's chest, fingers tracing a line down her surgical scar, ending on the gem lying atop Homura's skin. They gave her goosebumps.
They were together…
Another tear that fell down Homura cheek as Kyouko leaned over, a curtain of hair surrounding their nearing faces. Eyes of scarlet glowed tenderly at her.
They should cherish the moment while it lasted…
"I'm sorry," Homura muttered.
"Don't be. You want this. I want this. Even she wants this. Just let it happen."
Kyouko kissed her again.
The night continued and so did they.
Many years ago, forest of Forever Fall…
By sunset on the first day of their mission, they had cleared four sectors—one near the northern walls of Vale, the rest stretching towards the coast, following the river. The huntsman assigned to them said they'd continue in the morning so they made camp on a high cliff overlooking said river.
Madoka was actually quite pleased with how the camp turned out. The cliff had an overhang, under which she flew and drove stakes into the cliff face. She then tied a multi-person hammock to said stakes. Homura used her semblance to make more space inside the hammock and produced a blanket, thermos, and foldable table from Tempest Hourglass. Within ten minutes of reaching their camp site, the two had set up and were snug and cozy under their covers, drinking tea and eating pastries.
"You think he's jealous that we're this comfy?" Madoka wondered as she let the tea in her cup cool. "Like, he's gonna to sleep in some tree while we're gonna sleep here."
Homura nodded limply and sipped her own cup. "I suppose…"
Madoka nudged Homura's shoulder, pouting. "He saved me, Homura. I'm fine."
"You shouldn't have needed saving. I should've… should've…"
Madoka poked Homura's cheek. "We're students. He's a professional."
Homura downed what remaining tea was in her cup in one gulp. She then slammed said cup onto the foldable table. "We almost died, Madoka. We need to get stronger. Faster. Smarter. We can't just keep doing what we're doing. I can't—"
"Hey."
Homura immediately stilled as Madoka's voice resounded in her mind, coming as much from within as from without. Thoughts and emotions sprung into her consciousness in a slow trickle, tinged with the signature of Madoka's soul. It was… calming…
Madoka took Homura's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "You don't have to be this scared," she whispered gently. "I'm scared too—I know you can feel it—but that's fine. We're in training. We've been training. There's only so much progress we can make in a short amount of time. A near-death experience or two won't change that."
Homura nodded quietly.
"If anything, we can at least learn something from this experience. Look at the huntsman assigned to us. Whatever he can do, that's what we've been training for—what we'll become in a few years time."
Homura averted her eyes and relented. "Yeah… I suppose he's impressive in that regard. He killed three alphas in one swing…"
Madoka smiled gently and set her cup onto the table. "We'll be good enough to do that someday. We'll be good enough to do a lot of things. Kill Grimm. Fight bad guys. Help people. Some day." She leaned back into the hammock to stare at the rocky overhang that served as their ceiling. "That day probably won't be tomorrow but it'll be soon…"
Homura nodded once more. "Well… We still have a few years at Beacon. By the time we're done, we'll probably be around that level."
"You think so?"
"Yeah." Homura join Madoka in lying down. "But… You know partnerships and teams don't last that long after you leave for the academy, right? Huntsmen and Huntresses have to be distributed evenly across the continents to help wherever necessary."
Madoka rolled over to face Homura. The seeming uncertainty in her eyes were all but confirmed by the feelings entering Homura's awareness.
"I know," Madoka mumbled.
Homura shifted her weight, putting a hand on Madoka's. "I don't want to leave you," she mumbled back.
"I don't wanna leave you either. And… I don't want you to leave me… But…"
Homura's lips quivered as a sad smile found itself on her face. Madoka's feelings were overwhelming, threatening to completely overshadow Homura's own. It was difficult to find the emotional resolve to tip them back into equilibrium but she did.
"I've been thinking about this for a while, actually," Homura admitted. "We could specialize. Get ourselves positions in and around Vale so we can still be close to each other…"
Madoka's uncertainty seemed to lessen at that. There was a spark of hope. "Would that really work?"
Homura averted her eyes and tilted her head slightly. "Honestly, I'm not sure. If you spend a few months training to be a healer, you could probably apply for search and rescue. You semblance is even ideal for it."
Madoka squeezed Homura's hand. "It's worth a shot," she said, the heavy emotions lifting from Homura. "And you could apply to be a teacher," she then said with a chuckle.
Homura smiled wryly, shaking her head. "Please try to be serious about this, Madoka."
"You don't think I'm being serious? You taught me hand-to-hand. I think you're a great teacher!"
"Tutor," Homura corrected. "Or mentor or whatever. I'll accept those. But teacher?" She shook her head. "I'm not good with groups and I'm not good at keeping an agreeable pace."
Madoka pouted. "I thought your pace was plenty agreeable."
"You pick things up quickly. That, and you're a natural." Homura chuckled when Madoka hummed, unconvinced. "You didn't even know the basics of unarmed combat and you disarmed and pinned me by pure instinct. You're a natural born fighter. You should be proud."
Madoka's unconvinced hum became an annoyed one. "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
"Um… uh… Yes…? I get the distinct feeling that you didn't take it as one…"
Madoka pushed herself up and threw her weight to the side, falling atop Homura's chest. It knocked the wind out of her.
"Oof—!"
"Sarcasm isn't very nice, Homura."
Homura made the token effort of getting Madoka off her but nothing became of it. She let her arms fall limp onto Madoka's back in a tired sort of hug.
"Alright, I guess I deserved that," she rasped, out of breath. "I'll try to sound more genuine next time…"
Madoka was silent for a while. The rise and fall of her chest and the beating of her heart was the only thing Homura was aware of for that time. That, and the feeling of Madoka's breath against her neck.
"Why not a teacher…?" Madoka eventually asked.
Homura patted Madoka's back and the girl in pink shifted to roll them both to the side. Homura took a moment to catch her breath. "Teaching," she then said. "You have to have a sort of passion for teaching—a passion for imparting knowledge. I… I don't have that kind of passion…"
Madoka shifted back and gave a meaningful look. "Then what do you have…?"
"I… well… I have powers over time and space," Homura muttered. "That gives me some leeway. I can think of a few things that could work. Dealing with internal threats, for one—like terrorists and crime networks. I figured that's still something huntresses do, right?"
"So… what, like a spy?"
Homura nodded. "Yes."
Madoka chuckled again, trying hard not to burst out laughing. "You really want your future job to be cool, huh?"
Homura coughed into her hand innocently. Their connection made it nearly impossible to hide things from each other. That being said, the amusement Madoka currently felt was bleeding into Homura through said connection. Homura found herself smiling as well.
"Don't you think it fits?"
"I think it's perfect," Madoka said, eyes twinkling. "We'll be partners, fighting death, terror, and the creatures of darkness and despair."
Homura's smile widened despite herself. "It'd be definitely be cool," she relented.
"And romantic." Madoka drew closer, whispering gently, "That'll be our future. We fight together. Until the very end. I can feel it."
Homura did not have the heart to voice her worries about the future but hearing Madoka speak those words gave Homura resolve. They'd be together. Madoka could feel it. Homura felt it too. A few near-death experiences wouldn't change that.
End of Chapter
So, there went another four-ish months. There's a number of reasons for the delay.
Firstly, it took awhile for my update cycle to get to this story. I'm working on, like, seven concurrently updating fics? My creativity and time is split between all of those. It's madness, I know, but I can't help myself.
I also got a new job. This chapter was supposed to come out in August but adjusting to a new work schedule has been difficult for me. Even three months into said job, I'm still having trouble managing my time.
But anyway, here we are with my second longest chapter so far. Did you enjoy it? Because I enjoyed writing it.
It's been a relatively long time since I wrote from Homura's perspective. It was a little difficult for me to immerse the prose with her analytical personality without making it too wordy. A lot of scenes went through over five revisions before I was even remotely happy with them. Two scenes had to be consolidated into one, for example. Even now, I think I could have have made some scenes more concise. Ah, well, doesn't matter now that it's out.
The hospital scene about Nagisa pulls triple duty, being together a point of relatability for Homura, a gentle reminder that she's doing her job for Madoka's sake, and an excuse for me to explain the mechanics of aura exhaustion. It feels like a super weak first scene, though, not gonna lie. The emotional weight isn't heavy enough for my liking.
The first apartment scene is the aforementioned consolidated scene—set after Homura's fight with Winter and conversation with Kyouko. The two originally-planned scenes presented the same message so I simply inserted the important bits of one into the other. Homura's tired and has had a shitty day. She should be allowed to relax. But of course, she still has things to do. Again, I coulda written it to have more impact but it works for what it is. Taken in tandem with one of the flashback scenes, I think it can stand pretty well.
The bar scenes are just me indulging in my desires for interesting character interactions. Again, it serves multiple purposes: explaining an aura mechanic, giving trivia about the setting, reinforcing Homura's character and her dynamic with Kyouko, and delivering on (I hope) amusing dialogue. It was my personal favorite scenes to write.
Now for the flashbacks.
This is the first chapter I've written that has a higher flashback word count than present day. It's for good reason, though. I introduced the concept of soul-linking three chapters ago but it hasn't really been important to the story. Homura doesn't have anyone to soul-link with (until now), so flashbacks are the only way I can show it off. Hopefully this was enough to quell people's curiosities, assuming you guys were curious about it at all.
Additionally, I've been musing on the notion that interpretations about Homura where Madoka isn't her focus just makes her not Homura. This fic kinda plays with that idea. On one hand, the ways Homura approaches problems and the fundamental way she thinks is just part of her character. Her past-self's personality is crafted in a way that's plausibly comparable to her present-self's personality—just less cynical. On the other hand, her backstory is one wherein her interaction with Madoka is vital to how she progresses from awkward analytical prodigy to infamous Angel of Death. I'm not really sure whether I consider this matter good or bad. All I know is that Madoka is important to Homura in this story.
And finally, there's the fade-to-black-before-sex scene. It's actually one of the first things I wrote for this chapter. Nothing much to it. Just Homura in a moment of sudden and unexpected vulnerability, nudged along by a helpful little friend to allow another friend to help in her stead. I tried to make it as much about Kyouko genuinely wanting to comfort Homura and Homura genuinely trusting Kyouko to comfort her. Given the fact that they're soul-linked during the latter part of the scene, it's pretty much impossible for them to not be genuine. I think there's something heartwarming about it. Not my favorite scene in this story—not even favorite for this chapter—but I think I did well with it.
Welp, this author's note is already long but there's still one more thing I want to say.
Thank you to PUM (asianpotter1), Zaulte (FalseAlarm00), and Anonymous for the help with editing this chapter. You've all been a huge help with getting this chapter out.
Thank you as well, reader. I hope you enjoyed. Until the next chapter!
