Today would have been an average day for the Kaname family. Or, an average holiday. Thanks to Children's Day being pretty major, everyone got the day off to celebrate. But of course, yesterday having happened, it can't be just another simple celebration.

It's early in the day when Madoka comes to her parents, busy setting up decorative samurai dolls, and tells them with confounding anxiety, "Ah...uh... Mama? Papa? I need to tell you something."

They both turn around and look at each other, then at her, silently expecting a follow-up. Of course, Junko can guess what's probably up, but has to restrain her mischievous grin.

And then she's out with it, "I... I found someone."

"...Found someone?" her father asks, reasonably sure what she means but still needing to be positive.

"I mean that... Someone... Ah..." she starts to stammer, becoming even more unmanageably flustered than she meant to. Then, she hardly whispers, "A lover..."

"Hmmm?" Junko hums.

She repeats it, more confidently, "I have...a lover, now."

Now she no longer needs to hold back. Junko grins widely, and starts teasing her, "Oh really? I wonder, is this that person you were telling me about the other day? When did this happen, hmm?" Meanwhile, Tomohisa is frozen in shock.

Madoka clears her throat, "It was uh...yesterday. I got confessed to, and...yeah. I meant to tell you last night, but I was a bit too excited."

"Oho, and why are you saying it now of all times?" Junko asks.

Madoka blushes harder, "I...uh..."

Junko stands up, puts her hands on her hips, and asks while still grinning, "Were you going to ask us something?"

"Can..." Madoka gulps "Can I invite them over?"

"On Children's Day?" Junko leers forward "Don't they have a family to tend to right now?"

Madoka suddenly shifts from embarrassment to something much more somber as she hesitates to answer, "...Not really. They don't celebrate it, I guess."

This honestly should have tipped her father off, but he was too busy lost in thought to hear her. Junko instead picks up on it and can probably guess who she's talking about. So, she loses the teasing demeanor and bluntly answers, "Alright."

"What?" Madoka looks genuinely surprised.

"They can come over and celebrate with us. It'll be fun." Junko says, turning back around and fiddling with the decorations. "Anyways, come help us make mochi after you call."

Madoka nods happily and runs off to her room. A second later, Tomohisa stands up, "Junko, honey, can you handle the rest of this?"

"Eh?"

"I need to go prepare myself." he says, clenching his fists.

She grins, "Oh? For what?"

He looks down at the floor, "A decade. I have been preparing myself for a decade for this day, when my little girl would grow up. I need to prepare to meet this guy, whoever he is. So can you handle this?"

She chuckles, stands up, and pats him on the shoulder knowing what's going to happen, "You take all of the time you need. I'll be happy to finish everything up. Just watch Tatsuya for me, okay?"

"That's fine." he says with a determined stare into the distance. He picks Tatsuya up off of the floor along with some toy car he was playing with and heads into his and Junko's bedroom.

Once he's gone, Junko quietly cackles to herself, "This...is going to be good."

Upstairs, Madoka pounces onto her bed and starts texting Homura.

[Madoka]
"homura! mama and papa said you could come over!"

[13:15]

[Homura]
"Very well. When should I arrive?"

[13:16]

[Madoka]

"mama wanted me to help with the cooking, so it should take a few hours"

[13:16]

[Homura]

"Do you want me to help with it?"

[13:17]

[Madoka]

"no, no, it's okay! just come over and relax"

[13:17]

[Homura]

"So does three hours from now sound fine?"

[13:17]

[Madoka]

"yeah we'll have lots of mochi done by then! we can eat it together! do you like mochi, homura?"

[13:18]

[Homura]

"It has been a long time since I last had it. I have forgotten what it tastes like."

[13:18]

[Madoka]

"i'll make them super good for you then! I'll see you soon"

[13:19]

[Homura]

"Yes. See you soon."

[13:19]

Madoka smiles widely and hugs her phone as if she's hugging Homura, then excitedly jumps up from the bed and runs downstairs to help her mother.

The typical dishes served on Children's Day are mochi stuffed with Azuki red bean paste and usually wrapped in an oak leaf, and stick rice cakes wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed. Mochi being a rice-based pastry that needs to beaten and rolled a lot. Both tend to come out fairly sweet, especially with additives. "Kashiwa Mochi" and "Chimaki" respectively.

As soon as she runs down to tell her mother that she's ready, Junko points her towards the kitchen and says, "The rice should be done steaming, soon. Just go roll up the Azuki for me, I'll be there in a second. Make two dozen."

Madoka nods along happily and skips to work. Rolling up bean paste is a lot harder than it would sound. Like rolling dough without any flour on your hands, such that it just keeps sticking and leaving residue behind that you have to scoop up and re-add, which itself sticks more of it to your hand. It's just really unreasonable. She ends up making a mess of her hands, and drops a little bit of it on the flowery apron she put on just before.

By the time that's done, her mother comes by and asks how it's going, then gives her a look when she notices the mess. Madoka just gives her trademark "wehihi" and washes her hands off while Junko takes out the rice for the Chimaki. Madoka sets out the bamboo leaves, and they begin arranging and rolling them up, tying with string with the efficiency of an assembly line until at least 15 of them and ready to be put in their fancy digital steamer.

The next step is the Mochi, for which they get out a sweet rice flour and just add water. After a bit of whisking and microwaving the product, Madoka gets to be the one to take the pestle and start mashing the mushy, sticky mass until it's a stretchy, sticky, glutinous mass. That probably doesn't sound appetizing, but that's pretty much what a lot of baked goods are. She overdoes it a bit and ends up almost slipping the bowl off of the cutting board that got covered in flour beforehand. But Junko catches it, and they start kneading the rice cake into smooth balls, spreading them out again with rolling pins, and then wrapping them around the bean paste balls. They end up looking like fat, droopy dumplings. Surprisingly, the cakes themselves aren't actually that sticky. Not as much as the rice they use tends to be. The final step is to just put them in the carefully washes and groomed oak leaves.

And it's done. A huge plate full of beautifully crafted mochi. Junko comments as much, "That's...not bad." and pats her daughter on the back.

A little bit later, while cleaning up and waiting for the chimaki to finish steaming, Madoka hears her father in the other room yelling something to himself in some grandiose, overly-manly fashion that fades out as he realizes that what he said is stupid. Something like, "If you want my daughter, you'll have to get through me fi— No, that might come out wrong..."

So she turns to her mother and asks, "Uh...what's papa doing?"

Junko chuckles to herself and whispers to her, "He thinks it's a guy!"

"What?" Madoka looks perplexed.

"I didn't tell him!" Junko continues.

"What!?" Madoka looks slightly offended and concerned at once.

"Shh, shh!" she hushes her "Ah, we're going to play a bit of a joke on him! When your girlfriend comes over, don't tell him that you're lovers. It's gonna be hilarious when he figures it out!"

Madoka grunts, "Ah— Mama, that's mean! You have to tell him!"

"I will!" she insists "Just wait for the right time! Wait until he's wondering where the boyfriend is, and then we'll say it."

Madoka pouts, "Mama... Come on..."

Junko pats her on the head, "Madoka, honey, it's okay! I used to do this all the time, he'll know it's just a joke."

Madoka raises an eyebrow, "'Used to'?"

"Yeah," Junko reminisces "I used to play pranks on him every so often. He thought it was really cute when we were dating, but I haven't really done it in years. Like that one time I made him think that my grandmother's ghost was haunting my parents' house!" she starts cackling "Oh my god, the look on his face when I came in there with the makeup on and the bedsheet! Aaaaaaaaaah!"

In the midst of Junko's hysterics, Madoka just sighs and gives her a small smile, then meekly agrees to keep it a secret for a little bit longer. Then Junko asks, "So, who did you end up picking?"

Madoka shakes her head, then turns and smiles, "That's a secret!"

"Ah." Junko says, thinking to herself, "Did...she just hold a grudge?"

It's around 16:30 when Homura finally rounds the corner to the Kaname house with a large bag full of god knows what (literally), and she notices the bigass flagpole that they seem to have put up in their yard. On top is four carp streamers flying in the afternoon wind: One red, one black, one salmon pink, and one blue in order of size. Clearly, Junko is the one who made them. Or bought them. Upon closer inspection, the first two look painted.

This afternoon, she's decided to not go for anything too special. Just a T-shirt, skirt, and tights. It gives off a very casual street-wear look. She had trouble deciding whether to go with the skirt or the denim shorts, and decided that the latter might come off as too preppy for her more typically refined aesthetic. Though, "refined" isn't exactly what her current attire brings to mind either.

She comes up to the door and knocks; given the door is glass, it's hard to do without feeling like she's about to break it. Then, from around the corner, she can easily see Madoka's head poke out and suddenly break out in a huge grin. She runs to the door, followed by her mother peeking over to see who it is, subsequently giving Homura a knowing stare. As soon as the door is unlocked and Homura comes in, Madoka nearly tackles her to the ground with how eager her hug is.

"Homuraaaa!" she coos, nuzzling into her cheek. Her mother starts chuckling in the background, then goes back to her business.

Homura is probably just as surprised as she is, "Madoka!? Ah...what are you trying to do?" she hugs back.

"Whaaat?" Madoka slurs, still firmly attached. She whispers, "I just looove you, Homura." then covertly kisses her on the cheek.

Homura sighs, "You're awfully excited, aren't you?" then coyly returns the kiss. Of course, nobody else is watching right now.

Slowly, they part, but with their hands still connected when Madoka notices the bag. "Hm?" she wonders "What's that?"

Homura shakes her head, "Oh, nothing much. Just some things I decided to bring over. I think you'll like them."

Madoka tries to peek in the bag, but Homura keeps moving it away from her, "Uh...hey, hey! Madoka, stop!"

Madoka leans over her should to try to get at it, giggling playfully, "Come ooon, show me!"

Homura grumbles, "I'll show you later, now come on; let me get my shoes off."

Madoka gets off of her, "Oooh, alright."

Slowly, Homura takes off her shoes and proceeds into the house a little ways, following Madoka who leads her giddily into the living room. Homura can't really take her eyes off of her; the pink hoodie and shorts she's wearing are so unbelievably cute that she could almost faint just from thinking too hard about them. Granted, it must be hot under there. "Yes, hot. Very hot. Very, very..."

Tomo looks over his shoulder, having finished his "practice", and is playing with Tatsuya: they just finished folding a paper kabuto helmet and putting it on him. "Oh, homura, welcome! Didn't expect you, but make yourself at home."

Tatsuya yells, "Yaaaaah!" and starts waddling towards Homura with his hands outstretched. The paper helmet is too big for him, so it slides down and covers his eyes, making him stumble around.

Homura can't help but put a hand over her mouth and start choking from holding in a laugh. "Oh my god..." she says quietly "That's...so adorable!" coincidentally, Madoka seems to be thinking the same thing, as they both chuckle to each other. Madoka picks him up and fixes the helmet, "Tatsuya! Do you like Homura?"

"Yeah!" he says, but it really just sounds like unintelligable shouting.

"Wanna say hi?"

"Yeah!" he says again, but then hugs Madoka.

Homura huffs, then brushes back her hair, "Well, he has the right idea." and then casually hugs the both of them. "Madoka, your family never ceases to amaze me." she comments.

"Hm?" Madoka says "I don't get it, but thanks?"

Meanwhile, Junko stares at them, a hand on her chin and thinking, "They'll make good parents. Definitely." Then, she stops spacing out for a second and quickly takes her phone out to snap a photo of the three. The shutter sound alerts everyone.

"Eh?" they all say at once, looking at Junko, who smiles smugly. Madoka cries out, "Mamaaaa! What was that?"

Junko laughs it off, "Sorry, sorry! You kids just looked so cute together I had to take a picture!"

Not making any further facial expression, Homura blushes lightly and steps back. Junko turns her attention to her and asks as she puts her phone away, "So, Homura, what do you think? The place looks nice, doesn't it?"

At this point, she takes a moment to actually look around. There's streamers strung around everywhere, probably bought from a party supplies store. Very western. Plush Samurai dolls are set up on a few tables and shelves, miniature pieces of iconic armor around them, and then she turns around... Staring her in the face next to the television of their living room is a massive set of actual armor, complete with a katana on a stand and a bunch of flowers. It's all hung up in such a way to look like an actual samurai sitting in seiza, and is actually rather impressive given how goddamn expensive it must have been.

Her mouth hangs open long enough for Junko to ask, "I guess you're impressed by that piece over there?"

Homura stutters back, "O-Oh, yeah! I guess that was hard to put up, wasn't it?"

"Well, he was the one to put it up." she motions towards Tomohisa.

"I see." Homura says, looking at him.

He stands up, "Yeah, it took all day, yesterday. Couldn't get the helmet to stay up!" he laughs.

Homura looks around a bit more, noticing the huge plate of mochi sitting on the table. "Ah" she says "I guess you made that, Madoka?"

"Me and Mama!" Madoka says proudly.

Homura smiles at her fondly, "Well, I can't wait to try some." Madoka goes to pick one up, but Homura interrupts her, "As a snack."

Madoka blushes, "Ah..." and then remembers "Oh! Papa, what's for dinner?"

He comes around and pats her on the back as he proceeds to the kitchen, "You're just now thinking about that? Well, I was thinking Yosenabe. Just a full pot, with all sorts of things. After all, we have to be hospitable for your..." he clears his throat and barely manages to say it "...lover." and then he looks at Homura. "And besides, we'll need something big for two extra people."

Homura raises her eyebrow at this, then looks at Madoka, "Uh..." Madoka starts covertly motioning towards her mother, who then gives Homura a mischievous wink, trying to suppress her hysterics but about to fail miserably. It takes a moment, but it eventually clicks. "Ah." she just says. "Right."

She's about to suggest the girls all go up to Madoka's room to explain what the hell is specifically going on, but then Tomohisa speaks again, "You know, you could probably all go out to the park while I make this. I'll call you when it's about done."

Well, it's convenient enough. Junko jumps on the opportunity, "Sounds like a good idea! Kids, get your shoes on!" Then she remembers Tatsuya and goes to pluck him out of Madoka's arms, "Well, you come with me."

Homura sighs, "Jeez, I just got here... Oh well. Mado—" Before she can finish, Madoka runs up and links their arms together, swinging about and leading her outside.

This marks the second time she's been in their car. And next to Madoka. Except this time, it's less of a calm and quiet retreat and more of an excited adventure. As adventurous as going to the park is, anyways. Instead of resting her head on Homura's shoulder Madoka is bouncing in her seat and Tatsuya is mimicking her, and the entire damn backseat is shaking.

"Madoka!" Junko yells "Calm down, jeez! You're gonna break the car in half!" she starts laughing. Madoka laughs with her, then settles back down into her seat. Though, Homura can easily tell she's still overwhelmingly excited. Junko calls out as much, "Eager, aren't you? I guess this is sort of your first date, isn't it? Unless you count all those other times."

"You knew?" Homura asks.

Junko proudly confirms, "Come on, I knew from the moment she came out that it would be you! You're all she ever talked about!"

Homura tries to hide her blush, "...Really?"

"All the time." Junko says.

"M-Mama! Don't talk about that!" Madoka complains and pouts to no avail.

Junko chuckles, "Come on, it's not like you're still playing footsy with her!" Madoka blushes, looking down. They've been doing exactly that for this entire conversation. Both of the girls fall silent as Junko continues to laugh, "Ohoho, you were? Aaah! That's too rich!" Of course, after that fit fades away and they're about to the park, she tells them, "Hey, you two just do whatever you want. I'll take care of Tatsuya, so just enjoy yourselves. There's a couple of kites in the trunk if you want one."

The girls don't say anything, but Madoka smiles enough to show thanks, and they nuzzle up against each other. In a minute, they've arrive. Junko parks, they all get out, and proceed to the wide open field area. Madoka and Homura prompted not to go flying anything, and sort of just wander away from the other two and into a much more comfortable shaded area beneath some trees where they lay out a blanket and just sort of sit together with their fingers intertwined.

While looking up at the veritable parade of carp kites being flown by the crowds a little ways away from them, Homura starts with something simple, "This...is really nice."

"Hm?" Madoka smiles at her.

"This. Just relaxing on a day off. With you. And your family is really nice. I..." she starts to well up with tears again. Madoka immediately notices and lunges to hug her. "I'm so happy. I never thought I could have something like this..."

Madoka wipes away her few tears before they can fall, kissing her on the cheek, "Well, now you have it. You'll always have this, so you don't need to be sad anymore."

Homura can't help but smile, "I'm not sad..." she says "...I just..." she sniffles "I love you."

"I love you too." Madoka holds her tightly, and Homura hugs back so hard that it feels like she's about to crush her. "It's...! It's okay, just let it out!" Instead of fighting, she just keeps smiling and patting her head, enduring just long enough for Homura to finally loosen up. Madoka gasps quietly, "Okay...tight. Wow. Um..."

Homura apologizes, "Sorry. Just got a little..."

Madoka slowly cups her cheeks, then closes in and kisses her again. "A little carried away?" she finishes.

"Yeah." Homura says. Then they go at it again, not quite as hard as the first time they kissed, but enough that it's readily apparent to anyone who glances that they're making out. Because goddammit, Madoka just can't control herself anymore. Gotta let it out somehow. Of course people are starting to stare. But they didn't expect...

"Oh my." a familiar voice says from not too far away.

Both of the girls look up from their session, and Madoka exclaims, "Mami!? How long were you standing there!?"

Mami chuckles, "Long enough! I couldn't believe my eyes, so I got a closer look; but it really is you two, isn't it?"

They both blush and try to look away but end up looking at each other, then down into their laps. Nagisa, who's tagging along with Mami and holding her own kite, comes up from behind her and asks, "Mami, what are they doing?"

Mami pats her on the head, "Oh, they're just showing how much they love each other!" She then turns to the lovebirds and says, "Well, I didn't expect to see you both here, and much less kissing in public. So when did this happen?"

Homura looks up at her, "You mean you're not upset?" Of course, Homura knows what Mami's orientation is, and thus already knows the answer to that question. She only asks to provoke the answer for Madoka to hear.

And Mami does answer, "Of course not! I'm not exactly much different, you see. Ah, I might have been crushing on a couple of you all when we had tea and cake that one time!"

"Really?" Madoka asks with intrigue.

Mami nods, "But I guess it just wasn't meant to be..." She looks sad at first, but quickly jumps back to her usual demeanor, "But oh well! As long as my friends are happy, I'm happy. And I have little Nagisa here to keep me company!" She looks down at Nagisa, but is met by a strange glare from her. "Ah, Nagisa...?" she tries to ask.

"I wanna kiss Mami!" she yells, ignorant of the implications.

"Wh-What!?" Mami is taken aback.

Nagisa re-asserts herself, "I love Mami! I wanna do it toooo!" She puckers her lips in an exaggerated fashion and tries to do it, but Mami just holds her back with one hand.

"Nagisa, no! That's not what that means, it's different!" Mami tries to tell her. Alas, she does not give up.

"How is it!?" Nagisa demands to know.

"It...It just is! I'll explain it later!" Mami yells.

"But—!"

"No buts!" Then she starts tearing up, which elicits a unison "Oh no" from everyone. Mami stops her, though, "Hey, you can have some cake later if you calm down, okay?"

Nagisa immediately stops. Homura thinks, "Ah, bribery. That's just like you, Mami."

"I'll see you two at school, tomorrow! Have fun!" Mami tells them as she herds Nagisa off.

Homura then yells to her, "Hey! Don't tell the others!"

"I won't!" Mami yells back.

Madoka chuckles, "Wow, that was close. I never would have guessed, right?"

"Uh, sure." Homura agrees nervously. They would have gone right back to kissing, but she then had something else to ask, "Say, Madoka...what was with your father? Have you not told him?"

Madoka shakes her head, "Well...I kind of did. But, well, Mama is playing a bit of a prank on him."

"A prank?"

Madoka explains, "Yeah. He doesn't know I like girls. Mama wants to surprise him. I guess during dinner or something."

Homura shakes her head and rolls her eyes, "She is something else...but...I guess I'll play along. Won't be too long."

And then, silence. A minute or so passes as they watch the time go by before Madoka decides to curl up on the blanket and lay on her side. Homura looks down at her as she reaches up and says, "Come here..." And she does, they both curl up beside each other and just stare into one another's eyes while holding hands.

"You're pretty." Madoka compliments out of nowhere.

Homura retorts, "You're beautiful."

"You're gorgeous." Madoka says right back.

They both smile and kiss again, briefly. Then again, for a bit longer. Homura tells her, "It's a nice day. All of these kites are too, but I can't help but just look at you."

Madoka turns red and half-moans, "Homura..." which makes them both get a little hot and bothered. "Let's...just stay like this for a while."

"I would love to." Homura agrees.

And then they just lie there, staring at each other and sometimes kissing, — it's almost become a habit already — ignoring the entire world for each other. They lose track of time. Well, it might as well not exist. If she could get away with it, Homura would actually freeze everything right here. But alas. Soon enough, Junko gets a call that dinner is just about ready, and she has to go over and cut the girls' lovey-dovey time short. They're a little disappointed, but it had to end at some point anyways.

By the time they get home, Tomohisa is already setting out the bowls and utensils. Everyone else decides that it's probably a good idea to take a shower. To Madoka and Junko's surprise, Homura opts to go in separately. They assume she's just very shy about her body. Or perhaps something else. When that's done, dinner is finally ready: they all sit down to eat. Tomohisa and Junko on one side, Madoka and Homura on the other, Tatsuya in his high chair to the side.

Once everyone's seated, Tomohisa speaks, "Well, here it is. I made enough so that everyone could have a little bit of everything. Steak, Udon, eggs, mushrooms, leeks, Tofu, and fish."

"It looks amazing." Homura comments. Madoka nods in agreement.

Junko starts them off, "Well, I guess it's time to eat, isn't it? Everyone..."

They all say thanks and start picking the whole pot dry at the seams. Tatsuya, on the side, gets a much more manageable helping of dry food and fresh vegetables. Junko takes the majority of the steak and eggs, Tomohisa gets a lot of tofu but is otherwise balanced, and Madoka mainly goes for eggs and noodles. Homura barely gets anything and Madoka notices.

"Homura, eat! You're gonna be all bones if you don't!" she complains.

"I'll be fine. Just enjoy yourself." Homura dismisses.

Madoka pouts and crosses her arms, "Do I need to feed you again?"

Homura coughs in an attempt to cover her gasp, which doesn't really work well, "N-No! That won't be n...necessary at all!" Inside, she's screaming, "Madoka, what the hell!? In front of your parents, at a dinner table, with soup!? That's too much!" Unbeknownst to her, she is clearly blushing, and only Junko can see. She grins, thinking it's one of the cutest things she's ever seen.

"Then eaaat!" Madoka drones on, poking her with chopsticks until she starts to get more actual sustenance.

Then, Tomohisa speaks up after eating a slight bit, "So, Madoka... I suppose your 'lover' isn't going to make it?"

"Uh..." Madoka hesitates. Junko also perks up, looking for her time to strike.

"Well..." he continues "I guess he just didn't have the guts." He scoffs "I guess facing me was just too intimidating for him!" He...looks so proud of that.

Madoka looks away, almost disappointed with him, "Er... Papa..."

Meanwhile, Junko is trying as hard as she possibly can to hold herself together. She's literally shaking.

He goes on, "And here I was, thinking I would finally be able to test someone who's worthy of my daughter!"

By god, his tone has become straight up haughty. Madoka is so embarrassed that she can only plant her face in her hands and lay them on the table. Even Homura is starting to grin at how stupid this setup is.

"Maybe he..." he's about to keep going, but then notices everyone is snickering. "What?" he asks.

Junko speaks up in the midst of letting herself slip, "Madoka, Homura, girls...!"

They take it to be the cue. Madoka sits up and tells him, "Dad...I don't have a boyfriend. I like girls. Homura...is my girlfriend."

Homura blushes, smiles, and just waves as the two of them reveal they've been holding hands the entire time he was ranting.

And then...silence. As if his entire life just crumbled to pieces in front of him and the universe were revealed to be a simulation, he just gazes into the open with a thousand-yard-stare, trying to comprehend how he has been bamboozled. Then, he slowly turns to his wife and asks, "Did you...?"

His question is promptly answered when he sees her just burst out in pained laughter, patting his shoulder as a consolation, although it does nothing to ease him. Then, he lurches forward, scoots out his chair, and circles halfway around the table with that still-stunned look in his eyes. He then picks up Tatsuya and holds him in the air before suddenly yelling, "TATSUYA!"

"Weh?" Tatsuya...makes a sound.

"YOU'RE GOING TO GROW UP AND BE BIG AND STRONG, RIGHT!?"

The baby starts sucking its thumb.

"YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE MAN OF THE HOUSE ONE DAY, RIGHT!?"

Tatsuya starts trying to play with his glasses.

"IT'S UP TO YOU, NOW! YOU HAVE TO GIVE US WONDERFUL GRANDCHILDREN AND KEEP THE FAMILY GOING!" he cries out on the verge of tears.

Tatsuya coos at him, not understanding or really caring about whatever his father is going on about.

Tomohisa lowers him along with his voice while Junko is laughing so damn hard she's about to fall out of her chair. He then says, "You'll meet a nice woman, and have a happy, productive life just like me! Right!?"

Finally, Junko grabs his shoulder and holds herself back just long enough to speak, "H-Honey... Dear... Oh my god, stop! It's too much, I can't...!" Subsequently, he puts Tatsuya back in his high chair, who goes back to eating like nothing happened. He then goes back and takes his seat, breathes deeply, and then goes back to relative normality.

Junko, who is still in tears from losing her sides asks him, "You... You better?"

"Better." he answers, going back to his food.

"It has been too long." she says. "Anyways, you know they can just adopt, right?"

He stops eating again to stare at her. Apparently, he hadn't considered this obvious solution. Then he remembers why, "Wait, isn't adoption illegal for them?"

"Well..." Junko tries to think of a loophole for that.

But then Homura interrupts, with the sweetest smile on her face, "Oh, I don't think we need to worry about that." Her voice carries something a lot different from usual. Normally, it's monotonous and depressive, maybe a bit sultry at times. But this... It's almost arrogant. Or possibly threatening. "...Yes, I don't think that will be the case for much longer." And then she claps her hands cutely. "Well, let's get back to dinner!" She uncharacteristically starts to pig out a bit on it, and manages to finish before everyone else.

Madoka, though surprised and confused, is happy for her. For the rest of their dinner, Madoka's dad regains his cool and expresses relief that Homura is the girlfriend, given they already kind of offered a place in the home. He just didn't expect this in particular. A decade. He had spent a decade preparing for the moment when he would defend his daughter from any guys who wanted to get their hands on her. And now she comes home with a girl. It's somehow both a good and a bad thing, but he finds no reason to not just accept it. Junko, meanwhile, endlessly teases him about how pranked he just was. Honestly, she can be a bit childish at times.

After dinner, everyone decides to go and try their hands at making crafts. Namely, paper carp. It was mostly for Tatsuya, but the girls joined in just to have something to do. Homura intentionally held back her creative skills and just made a normal one, while Madoka's ended up looking frankly generic. But she doesn't mind. Nobody really does. Predictably, Tatsuya's is a total mess and he does not give one iota of a shit.

After they're done, Madoka and Homura find themselves both seated on the couch, with the desserts laid out on the coffee table in front of them. Everyone is just laying around, enjoying the moment.

"Homura!" Madoka calls out, picking up a ball of mochi from its leaf.

"Yeees?" Homura coos back.

"Open your mouth!" she demands.

Homura chuckles fondly, "Of course." and does so.

And then she just sort of plops it in there like it's a piece of candy. Homura bites down and her mouth is immediately filled to the point of looking like a bunny. "Mm?" she hums, trying to speak. Madoka giggles at her trying to chew it. But she manages to swallow eventually, and just asks, "The whole thing?"

"Sorry." Madoka apologizes while still smiling.

Homura chuckles again, "It was good. Wonderful. I'm sure I'll love anything you make." She kisses her on the cheek and rubs her head, to which she hums pleasantly.

Then, Homura takes one and does the same thing, but just gives her a little bit. "Bite." she says, and Madoka tears off a piece.

"Mm." she says "It's good!" and gets fed the rest.

And they just sort of go back and forth like that until Homura finally remembers, "Oh! The bag!"

"Hm?" Madoka hums in the middle of chewing some mochi.

Homura then retreats back to the entrance and grabs the bag she nearly forgot about, bringing it back. "I have a few things..." She then pulls out at least three slices of store-bought cheesecake, a bunch of chocolate bars, and finally...a solid black stuffed salamander. One that...looks just like the earring Homura is constantly wearing.

Madoka lifts it up for a moment and just stares in awe at it. But eventually she cracks a smile and then nearly tackles Homura while giggling, "Homura, I love it! It's so cuuuuute! Just like you!"

Homura giggles back, "That's good. I know you like plush things, so I couldn't help but think of you when I saw it. I'm glad you love it so much."

"Mm..." Madoka hums, nuzzling into her, "But I wonder if I'll still need stuffed animals when I have you."

She doesn't get it at first. Not until a few seconds later when she buries her face into Madoka's hair and makes the most adorable squeak while hugging her.

At that point, while watching, Junko decides to get up and go talk with her husband about something in private. Homura decides not to eavesdrop, but whatever they said, it causes Junko to go rummaging around in the basement for something. About ten minutes later, after coming out and going outside, she comes back in asks Homura, "So, I suppose we should probably welcome you formally!"

"What?" she looks dumbfounded. "Have you not already?"

Junko shakes her head, "Dunno. Not properly at least. But I figure today is the perfect time. Come on, get up, let's go outside."

Madoka and Homura just look at each other in shared confusion, but just follow her. Tomohisa picks up Tatsuya again and heads out behind them. Junko leads them out into the yard, in clear view of the streamers, but the girls aren't quite sure why they're outside.

Junko and Tomohisa both face the flagpole and beckon the girls to look as well. The former asks, "Well, here it is."

"...What?" Homura continues to not see it.

Junko laughs, and Tomohisa explains a bit, "Well, ever since Madoka introduced you to us and you both started getting along so well, we've welcomed you here like one of our own. But you already knew that. But now that you two are really together, she thought it was a good time to welcome you properly. Not just as a friend, but as someone she might spend the rest of her life with."

Junko nods along, "I've heard your story, Homura. I can't remember if you told me, or he did, or whatever, but... If you don't have a family, handmade is fine, right? And my intuition tells me that Madoka isn't going to let go of you so easily."

Homura is still looking around, trying to figure out what they're trying to show her, when Junko taps her shoulder and tells her to look up, "The streamers. Count them. Red, black, pink..." she intentionally stops.

Homura continues, "...Violet, blue. Violet, blue... Vio—" she suddenly stops when she realizes the violet one wasn't there before. Red, black, pink, violet, blue. Five streamers. Five of them, including her. She stares up at them for a while longer, silently taking the sight in. The others look up as well, then eventually down at her, expecting a response. Instead of formulating anything coherent, she just starts tearing up and repeating the phrase Junko told her, "Handmade...is fine. Hand..." She starts to choke up a bit, which transitions into restrained sobbing as she tries to wipe away her tears, but they just keep coming.

"Homura..." Madoka reaches for her, slowly embracing her and letting her cry into her shoulder again. It seems to be her favorite place, after all. Soon enough, the entire family is gather around in what must be their second ever group hug. Between the choked cries and inaudible mumbling, Homura manages to spit out something they can't quite understand. But eventually, when she calms down a little, she says it, "Thank you... Thank you so much..." and then goes right back to it.

They end up standing outside and comforting her until the sun starts to set. By then, she suddenly realizes, "Oh... Oh, I should probably be...getting home. It's getting dark."

Of course, Madoka tries to protest, "What? No, stay here! I don't want to leave you alone right now."

Her parents have parted from them.

"It's okay." Homura insists, still trying to clear her eyes. "I'll be okay."

Madoka looks absolutely distraught over this. She looks at her mother, who gives her a similar look, and then back at Homura. "But..." she tries to argue.

"No." Homura stops her "I just need to be alone for tonight, okay? Don't worry, please."

Madoka doesn't want to accept this, but she can't think of any way to stop her, so she just meekly agrees. Homura, seeing that this isn't going to go well for her, decides to promise her, "Madoka... A while back, I said you could spend the night at my place, right?" She nods. "Well, we never really did that. But if you want, I promise I'll let you stay over sometime soon. This weekend, maybe?"

Well, that puts a smile on her face. Madoka nods along, "Yeah...I want to see Homura's home, too!" She giggles, "Homu-home!" and pokes Homura's nose. Now they're both grinning like idiots.

"...Well, I'll get going now. Thank you for everything. Goodnight."

Not willing to let it end right there, Madoka lunges into her as she tries to back away and says, "I love you!" before kissing her again, this time more like their first, but Homura doesn't quite let it go so far you'd be tempted to put an R-rating on it. Junko is impressed she had the gall to actually do that in the open, and Tomohisa doesn't know what to think anymore. He just accepts it.

But Homura eventually pushes her away and laughs, "Madoka! Come on, I love you too. But I need to go."

Madoka nods sadly, "Okay... See you tomorrow." They wave at each other. Homura passes by the adults and explains things briefly, and they wave goodbye as well.

As they head back inside, Homura can hear Junko teasing Madoka about the kiss. Honestly, it's adorable. Almost as much as Madoka herself is. And by the time Homura gets back to her apartment, she's literally so relaxed that she just collapses into her bed, ignores the mess the clara dolls have made (it's baaaad), and immediately falls into a blissful slumber.