Mami's apartment-Early Evening
Homura's words hung in the air. Mami sat still by the table, silently trying not to move due to Homura's "magic" effects, but was evidently resisting bursting into some form of emotion.
Madoka, meanwhile, was still processing her words.
"Oh...a magical girl, huh? Sounds like a lot of fun." Madoka replied weakly.
Homura still remained adamant.
"You don't have to answer now. My time is almost up, and I'm sure Mami will be suspicious."
10 seconds
"Madoka, I need to give you something before my magic runs out. Please accept it."
Before Madoka could even ask, she felt the warm embrace of her lips, a moment truly frozen in time. Even Mami couldn't help forcing the same expression.
6...Why did I do this...
5...It's so soft...
4...Just a little more…
3...A little longer, Madoka…
2...Time's almost up…
1...I'm sorry…
Homura pulled away, unreleasing her shield, making a short sound effect to go with it, or maybe not. Madoka couldn't remember. All she could remember was the deep shade of red covering her face.
Walking back towards Mami, Homura bent down to meet her eyes.
"I'm sorry, but I won't actually be needing the spare room. Kaname Madoka and I can talk to each other more at a later date."
Mami shook herself back to awareness, her face a little red.
"O-oh...I-is that so? Well, I hope you're not scheming anything." She responded, regaining her composure. "I'll hand back your gem, but I'll be watching."
"I-I understand." With that, she took the remainder of her slice, bolting out the door into the sunset.
Mami shrugged her shoulders.
"Such a weird girl, that Akemi Homura." She stated. "Still, it seems like the two of you would make a cute couple. Isn't that right, Madoka?"
Madoka, meanwhile, was still an incoherent mess.
"Ho...Homura...kiss...gem...cake...couple…"
"Must be an aftereffect of the trauma with the witch. It's natural." As she said this, she looked off at the cake nearby, a slice still remaining.
"Everything alright, Mami?" Sayaka asked.
"Looks like neither of them are coming…"
"Everything's fine. Don't worry." She responded. "I think it might be a good idea if Madoka's taken home. In the state she's in, I'm not sure here is the best place for her to be."
Sayaka walked up to her, Madoka's face simply a blank stare into...somewhere.
"Come on, Madoka. Let's get you home." Sayaka stated, slowly walking her by the arm out the door. "You've had a long day, and it's probably for the better that you get some rest."
"Rest...home...Homu..."
She ignored her ramblings, taking her off into the streets below.
In the end, none of them ended up studying that night.
The next day after school, Madoka and Sayaka found themselves at the cafe. Madoka had, thankfully, regained herself, but was still evidently in shock.
Sayaka needed to ask.
"Are you sure you've never met her before? Like, is it possible that both of you were in the same class together at one point?"
"Not that I can remember...nobody that I was close with, at least…" She stated. "Besides, we've been together since as far as I can remember. You would've noticed her too."
"Good point."
A moment of silence passed over them.
"Okay...What if she's, like, super obsessed with you? Wants you all to herself and all that? Like, in those anime we used to watch late at night?"
A shiver ran down Madoka's spine.
"Please don't talk about it like that. I'm sure she's not like those people." She responded. "Besides, I still get nightmares about that."
"Some say that nightmares are the result of witches, you know."
Sayaka and Madoka turned around to face Mami at the door, carrying another girl by her side. The girl's hair was a silky white, and wore an orange cape along her back along with a toy gun and a bubble wand in her hand.
"Recruiting children into your little magical girl fun, are you?" Sayaka asked. "Honestly, you shouldn't be dragging kids like into this."
"Um...I'm-" The girl shyly began.
"I mean, you're going into such dangerous places. She could get seriously hurt. Honestly, think about what you're doing." Sayaka continued.
"My name is-"
"And think about the parents as well. How do you think they'll react? I mean, you're dragging us along on your adventures. Fine, but not her. Where did you find her anyways?"
"If you'll just listen-"
"Oh, I think I get it now. You probably waited outside their school for them to show up, tempting them with the promise of fun adventures, didn't you?"
The girl cleared her throat, facing Sayaka directly.
"My name is Nagisa Momoe. I'm...her little sister."
That shut both of them up.
Nagisa jumped back.
"Sorry. Adoptive sister. My mom…"
"She lives with me. I would have introduced her to you last night, but she didn't get home until really late." She interjected. "She's been a magical girl with me for a long time. She'll be safe."
Sayaka and Madoka looked at each other.
"I assume you want us to come along, don't you?"
Mami nodded joyfully.
"It's usually just our small group, so it would be nice for her to see some new faces." She looked at the two of them with a pleading look in her eyes. "Besides, it doesn't look like you're doing much else, are you?"
In truth, the two of them really had just been killing time for the past hour. Hitomi hadn't shown up either, and while Sayaka wanted to go see Kyousuke…
Madoka looked off at the two of them, slowly getting up off her chair.
"Sure, I'll come along."
Sayaka sighed, getting up with her. Nagisa joyfully jumped in the air, her bright mood filling the room.
"Alright. Let's go take down the bad witches." She exclaimed, making her way to the door. Under her breath, she whispered the words "witch hunt" over and over.
The three followed her trail. Madoka felt a hand on her shoulder from Mami, along with a whisper of the words "Thank you so much."
And then the world was back, Mami joyfully following her lead, Sayaka still slowly walking, and Nagisa in front.
As for Madoka, she still couldn't shake the strange feeling she had.
But that was a problem for later.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading my story. Sorry if the updates are slow and little, but I hope you don't mind that too much.