Hitomi
When she woke up, Hitomi found herself in the warm covers of a bed. There was a familiar scent to it. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it reminded her of someone.
The room was medium in size. The walls were painted purple, and the door was to Hitomi's left. A desk sat opposite from the bed, and on it a column of books, a pencil case, and what looked like a journal or diary. This was definitely a girl's room.
How had Hitomi gotten here? Her memory was fuzzy. She went to school, went to class, then for lunch she... It all came back to her instantly. Kirika, the arcade, Magical Girls, Kyubey, demons, the black creatures, and then fainting from shock and blood loss.
Her leg didn't hurt any more. She feared what shape it might be in. Would there be scars? How would she explain to her parents and Kyousuke? Her fingers slowly grasped the purple sheets. Her pulse rose slightly. She gave it a look.
What she found was something unusual. In most situations it would be normal: her leg was perfectly fine, and her black sock wasn't soaked in blood. She ran fingers where the creature had cut her. The skin was as smooth as ever. It seemed as though Kirika defeated the black creatures and healed her. Hitomi got out of the bed, and neatly folded the blanket. She would have to thank the crazy girl for saving her.
When she tried opening the door, it wouldn't budge, even though it was unlocked. Magically sealed? Maybe Kirika was trying to protect Hitomi from dangers like demons or those creatures they had encountered. She knocked on the door.
Moments later, she heard footsteps. Hitomi didn't expect the one who opened the door.
The girl's face was the same as it had been since they talked earlier at school, and she was still dressed in her uniform. She combed a hand through her long hair.
"How are you feeling?" Homura asked.
"I'm well, thank you," Hitomi said. "You saved me?"
"Not exactly. I only brought you here. A friend of mine healed your leg. She's downstairs."
"Where are we, and what is her name?" Hitomi had a hunch of who it was already.
"My house. Mami Tomoe."
Thought so. Kirika had been honest about Mami's name too. "I'll have to thank her. Now, may I ask why I was locked here, in your room, I suppose?" Not that you'd answer honestly. Homura had already lied to Hitomi before.
"Just in case Kirika somehow managed to slip past Mami and I and take you somewhere else. Mami's keeping her under watch."
"Why?"
"We interrogated her and suspect she planned on manipulating you into becoming a Magical Girl."
"Are you sure you're not lying to me or hiding any details this time?" Hitomi said.
"I have no reason to lie to you, since Kirika has told you about Magical Girls and the things we do already."
"But why did you lie to me about Sayaka back at school?"
"Several reasons. Would you have believed me at the time if I told you she died fighting magical creatures, that she fought in world normal people won't ever see? And look, now that you do know the truth, you almost died today."
That was a fair point. "So you were trying to protect me?"
Homura nodded.
"I never asked for your protection," Hitomi said bitterly. "It wasn't fair that you left me in the dark about Sayaka."
"You're right. It wasn't fair. You were her friend, you did have the right to know, but the right thing for me to do back then was to make sure you didn't get involved with us, with Magical Girls. Since I've failed, I'll tell you everything you want to know. But before that, my other reason is because of the Banshees."
"Banshees?"
"So Kirika didn't tell you about them, I see." Homura explained it all to her, how they would bring a legion of demons with them to shroud the city in anger and despair, and how other Magical Girls were coming to the city to help fight them.
"...And that's part of why I didn't tell you."
Homura was wise not to tell Hitomi. It only gave her another reason to contract, to protect her family and Kyousuke.
Kyousuke... she'd have to apologize to him after all of this. For a few things at that.
"I know you have some ideas going on in your head, more specifically about Sayaka," Homura continued. "I'd like to discuss them downstairs with the others if you may?"
"Of course."
"Sit down," Homura said, pouring tea in a cup, below a pendulum that swung back and forth. Hitomi wasn't going to bother asking why this room looked so strange. She chalked it up to Homura's personal tastes combined with magic. Mami Tomoe, Kyubey - he was indeed real - and a tied up Kirika sat around the pendulum. "Tea?"
Hitomi shook her head.
"Sorry, Hitomi," Kirika said, a smirk not on her face. "I failed to protect you."
"It's fine." Hitomi sat. "You've helped me enough already." If Kirika really had planned on making her become a Magical Girl, Hitomi wouldn't care as long as Sayaka came back. She turned to Mami. "And thank you, Tomoe-san. I feel inclined to repay you sometime."
"You're welcome, it was no problem," Mami said. She had tea and a plate of cake in front of her. There was an inherent air of class around the girl. Hitomi felt like they could become good friends, depending on how she stood on bringing Sayaka back. "So, this is the first time we've actually spoken to each other. I guess I should formally introduce myself, but you've heard about me and I've heard some about you."
"It's nice to meet you." Hitomi bowed. "Was Sayaka the one who told you about me?"
"Same to you, Shizuki-san." Mami bowed back. "Yes. Sayaka admired your maturity and intelligence, and was a little envious of your looks." Mami smiled but her voice was sad. "You wish to bring her back, correct?"
"I will," Hitomi said. Her resolve was strong.
Kyubey hopped on the table. "That can be arranged, Hitomi Shizuki. Just make a contract with me, and become a Magical Girl-"
Homura grabbed Kyubey by the nape of the neck and placed him on a chair beside her. "Let me tell you a few things first, Hitomi."
"You can't stop me," Hitomi replied. "Whatever you say isn't going to change my mind."
Homura calmly sipped her tea, stared at Hitomi unblinkingly. "That's probably true. However, I'm going to explain why you shouldn't contract."
"I'm listening." Some part of Hitomi wanted to hear what Homura had to say. She was afraid of the idea of fighting demons and Banshees and whatever else existed.
"I believe she had no regrets."
Hitomi froze. "And you know this for sure?"
"No, but I knew her well enough."
"There's no way I'm believing any of that." The thought that Homura knew Sayaka in a way Hitomi didn't, hurt. Hitomi felt jealous. Best friends, she thought. We were best friends and she couldn't even tell me about her being a Magical Girl. "I knew Sayaka better than you... I knew her. She had to have regrets. It was because of me... and you too. You failed to protect her. That's why she's gone!"
"She gave up her life of her own free will. She didn't have to use up all her magic to finish that last demon, but she did anyway. Whatever Kirika told you about that situation, it wasn't true. I'll play devil's advocate here - put it this way: if you do wish her back to life, you can ask her yourself."
Kirika rolled her eyes. "Okay okay, maybe my info wasn't a hundred-percent accurate but it was pretty close." Kirika had lied, then, about Mami and Homura and the other girl watching Sayaka die. For now, Hitomi would keep this to herself. She wanted to hear more about Sayaka.
Mami offered her plate to the bounded girl. "I'll feed you if you keep quiet."
Kirika grinned, nodded briskly. Mami put a slice in her mouth. The girl chewed voraciously.
Homura continued with another question, "Do you know why Sayaka didn't tell you about her Magical Girl life?"
"I wish she did." Hitomi balled her fist on her lap. "I would have supported her... I would have let her have Kyousuke."
"Sayaka knew she couldn't date him. Her duties wouldn't allow her the time to go out for dates. Instead, she decided to protect him. And you too, through fighting the demons. She saw that you and Kyousuke made a good couple and accepted it."
"That's too cruel..."
"You'll be in a similar position if you contract. You won't have time for fun any more. Sayaka will be alive, and what will you do then, let her have Kyousuke? Even if Kyousuke was willing to trade you for her, both you and Sayaka would be too busy fighting demons."
"I'm wishing her back without a contract."
"You could do that, but her wish was to heal Kyousuke's hand. If she came back as a normal girl, you'd undo that wish. I'm sure neither of you want that to happen. So, Hitomi Shizuki, are you truly willing to give up the life you have to bring Sayaka back?"
"T-there has to be another way."
"There isn't. Think of how Sayaka would feel if you contracted and brought her back. She'd feel like she did what she did for nothing."
Hitomi thought about the Banshees. "Well, I'm not just doing this for Sayaka," she said. "For my family, and Kyousuke. I want to protect them from the Banshees and demons and those other creatures too. What Sayaka feels is important, I know, but protecting them is just as important. She can understand that much, right?"
Homura lowered her eyes and frowned. "Mami, what do you think?"
Mami sipped her tea. "It's obvious our words won't reach you, Shizuki-san, no matter what argument we give. I have a question. What will your wish be exactly? As Homura already said, if you wish for Sayaka to come back as a normal girl, Kyousuke loses the use of his hand. If you wish Sayaka back with a contract, she will have to fight again, and there's no telling how stable she'll be mentally, knowing that you gave up your freedom to fight alongside her. Make sure you think about it carefully. Give yourself a few days to think about it. There's no reason to rush."
"I've done enough thinking already, and there are plenty of reasons to wish now," Hitomi said. "I... I will honor Sayaka's wish. I'll bring her back as a Magical Girl..." It pained her to say that but: "I think she'd want to defend the city from the Banshees anyway. She'd just have to accept that I've become a Magical Girl and that there's nothing she can do about it. Plus that's two more members to help fight them."
"Two beginners," Homura said in a correctional sort of tone. "Sayaka wasn't a veteran or exactly gifted at fighting. You won't be either."
"Yes, that's true," Mami said. "Not to sound insulting, Shizuki-san." She crossed her legs. "Please don't be so hasteful. You have an indefinite amount of time to decide if that wish is worth risking your life for. You've only known about the truth for about an hour now."
An hour... Hitomi had been unconscious for too long. Her parents and Kyousuke had to be worried sick now. Perhaps it was time to go home, lay in bed, let all the information she had gained really soak in, and think more about her wish, as Mami suggested.
Hitomi sighed. "Does the school or my parents know where I am?"
Mami shook her head. "Not yet."
"I think I'm going to head home, if you two are done trying to persuade me." That sounded more spiteful than Hitomi meant it to be.
"You're not going to do it, then?" Mami asked.
"I apologize for my tone." Hitomi bowed. "I'll think about what you said."
"No need to apologize. I can only imagine how it is to be in your shoes right now." Mami smiled. "I'm glad you'll give it some thought."
Hitomi glanced at Kirika. The girl was humming to herself. In a way, she didn't seem so dangerous; she was like a child, but Hitomi felt she might have had some other motive.
"What are you going to do with Kirika?" Hitomi asked.
"Nothing bad," Homura spoke up. "She'll be taking me to whoever put her up to this."
"And if she doesn't?"
"She will. I know this because we share a... history together. It's a long story. One I'm sure will bore you."
"You said you would tell me everything," Hitomi found herself saying. She felt the need to protect Kirika, despite only meeting the crazy girl today.
"Prepare yourself. This will take a while to explain."
"I am."
Explain Homura did. Out of every thing said today, this tale was the most unusual and unbelievable. Homura going back in time over and over to protect a girl named Madoka, who apparently had been good friends with Hitomi and Sayaka, witches created from soul gems, and Madoka wishing to erase the world of those witches and becoming the embodiment of hope for Magical Girls at the cost of not existing in this space and time, and no one having memories of her except for Homura and Madoka's little brother. Homura had encountered Kirika and a girl she worked with named Oriko in a timeline unlike the others.
On top of that, Homura gave Hitomi evidence of being from another timeline by telling her things that the magical girl shouldn't have known, like Hitomi and Sayaka's last conversation about giving her one day to confess to Kyousuke.
It was all too much for Hitomi to take in.
"I-is that all?" Her brain felt like it was thumping in her skull.
Mami nodded. "I know how impossible it all sounds, but I believe everything Homura said."
Kyubey approached Mami, undulating his tail along the way. "You believe Homura now? What made you do so?"
"A charming little boy." Mami winked.
"I don't understand," Kyubey said.
Mami petted the creature. "I doubt you'd believe it either."
"I believe it all," Hitomi muttered. "I... I think I'll go now..." She felt light-headed.
"Allow me to assist you," Mami said, noting Hitomi's confused face. "Let's exchange numbers. That way you can contact Homura and I if you see demons or those creatures again. We'll come as soon as you warn us."
After they traded numbers, Hitomi went to the front door with Mami beside her. Homura was staying behind with Kirika, and Kyubey said he had other things to do, so he left.
When she opened the door, Hitomi took in the sun's rays. I'm sorry, Sayaka. You'll have to wait a little longer, but I'm definitely bringing you back, no matter what. Even if you end up hating me for it.