The first rays of light of the morning sun embraced the still sleeping pinkette. The girl moved a lot during her sleep, now hugging her pillow and using one of her stuffed animals as a pillow. One of the few rays of light that got into her room was hitting her right in the eye, waking the girl up a few minutes before her alarm had gone off.

The girl hugged her pillow a bit tighter as she moved around, trying to dodge the sunlight. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet, so if even just one more minute remained then she would be taking it. It wasn't like she had many things to do today other than go to class…

A sudden memory came to her, Homura and her in front of her house. The raven-haired girl moved her beautiful light pink lips and Madoka tried to remember the words she had said.

"I would love to accompany you to school, Madoka"

Madoka quickly stood up. A big smile that she tried to hide accompanied a small blush that had started to appear in her cheeks. She looked at the clock, twenty minutes before her alarm would go off. But at this point she knew there was no way of her going back to sleep with how much her heartrate had increased.

"That's right" she started to make her bed "I'm going to school together with Homura-chan"

As she placed her stuffed animals in the places where they usually went Madoka finished relaxing before getting out of her room and going down the stairs.

In the kitchen her dad had already started to prepare today's breakfast. Madoka really thought there was no one who could cook better than her dad, not even when she had tasted Kyoko's cooking; Something the redheaded girl had taken as a challenge. The main advantage of her dad being so good at cooking was something Madoka discovered when she started to prepare a lunch for Homura. She had found her dad's help quite necessary, not because she didn't know how to cook but rather because he had way better ideas when it came to making a balanced lunch. And that was something that Homura really needed, the sleep schedule of the girl might be a harder problem to solve, but at least her diet seemed to be quite the easy task now that she had accepted Madoka's lunches.

"Good morning, Madoka" said her dad, the same gentle smile Madoka would use on her face.

"Good morning, papa" Madoka answered as she got behind the kitchen counter, searching for her and Homura's lunch boxes.

"You are up quite early today, aren't you?" asked her dad, the man took out a pan and handed it to Madoka who let out a small chuckle.

"The sunlight woke me up" she said, hiding the fact that it had been Homura's memory the thing that had actually awoken her "Besides, I can get more time with breakfast this way"

"Just make sure you sleep enough" her father said, a smile on his face.

"What should I make for today?" asked Madoka, who had already made sure the lunch boxes were clean.

"Maybe some salted salmon, some eggs, and for the vegetables…" her dad went thinking for a few seconds "what about some sweet pepper and onion confit?"

"Sounds good!" said Madoka as she started to take out the necessary ingredients for the confit.

And with that she started cooking, her father giving her some tips about the seasoning as time went on. And after around twenty minutes she had already finished making everything and was filling the boxes.

Around a third of the box was rice, the thing that would actually fill up their stomachs, some small bits of minced garlic could be seen between the rice giving off a nice fragrance. The other two thirds were divided in half, the confit in one side while the salmon and tamagoyaki on the other. Still, Madoka felt as if something was missing.

"Should I add something green?" asked Madoka to her dad, who looked at the lunch box before nodding.

"Some boiled broccoli with salt would look nice" her dad made a small pause "Do you know if she likes it or not?"

"She said anything I made would be fine…" As much as that had made her happy in the moment, though she was probably reading way too much into it, it hadn't really answered her question.

"Well, you should put it in then" her dad said as she prepared a pot to boil the water. "If she said that I don't think she is going to reject the food even if she doesn't really like it"

"What do you mean?" a confused look on Madoka's face. As much as Homura had accepted her requests so far, she was sure that if Madoka gave the girl something she didn't like she wouldn't accept it.

"You'll see what I mean one day"

With that conversation not going anywhere else Madoka finished preparing the lunch boxes as she added the broccoli, the green popped off making the whole thing look better than it was. And stored them in her bag.

"I'll go wake up mom" said Madoka, her father giving her an appreciative nod in response.

Madoka opened her mom's room door, the woman was still sleeping below the bedsheets. Really, as much of a successful business woman she was, as much as she looked amazing during the day, it was times like this that really made her mother feel like a person rather than a robot. And besides, Madoka had to have gotten her desire to sleep in from someone.

Madoka opened the curtains, the sunlight completely filling the previously dark room, and walked towards her mother's bed. She clutched the bedsheets with strength and quickly pulled them away from the bed.

"Rise and Shine!" Madoka shouted.

[-]

The big bathroom of the Kaname house was currently being used by both Madoka and her mom. They were in the middle of their daily routine, something they had done together for as long as Madoka remembered.

"Something interesting going on?" asked Madoka's mom, who was in the middle of cleaning her face.

Madoka thought for a second before answering.

"Not really…" said Madoka.

"Are you sure? What about that Akemi Homura girl you've been talking about?"

Madoka's cheeks blushed a bit, something Madoka didn't notice as she went to grab the towel to dry her face.

"I mean, she was okay with me making lunch for her"

"Oh? She asked you to make more?" asked her mom, looking at the girl with a side glance as she started to put make up on.

"N-no. I was the one who asked" said Madoka, a small sigh coming through her voice "I don't think she would have ever asked herself"

"As long as she accepted how it happened shouldn't matter" said her mom "Though make sure she isn't taking advantage of you"

"You too? Sayaka said the same thing" Madoka made a small pout, almost as if she felt insulted because of people disrespecting Homura like that "She isn't that kind of person."

Madoka made a small pause as she went without a doubt for the red ribbons Homura had gifted her the first day there.

"Sure, she can be a bit weird. But she is always nice! Even when she has to say no, she stops to think for a second before possibly hurting someone with her words"

"And even then, Homura-chan was quite hard to get to accept my lunch you know?" she made a pause before looking at her mom "I needed the help of Kyoko to stop her before she could run away to even give it to her!"

Madoka finished tying her ribbons and looked at the mirror, making small adjustments on her clothes.

"She always has this melancholic aura around her and still tries to put a smile on as not to worry people." Madoka scoffed "she is an amazing person, and it feels more like I'm the one taking advantage of her to be honest"

Her mom placed a small smile as if she had finally understood something, Madoka unable to decipher the meaning behind it.

"So…" her mom started to speak "you only are making her lunch because you wanted to help, right? No other reason?"

Madoka looked at her mom with a confused expression.

"Well… yeah? We are friends after all" Madoka made a small pause before a nervous grin appeared on her face "Or atleast I think we are…"

"You also invited her to last Saturday study session, right?"

"Yes! She said she had fun too!"

Madoka thought back on the study session they had held. How Homura looked really cute in a casual outfit, how she saw the girl's angry expression after having explained the same thing to Sayaka for over twenty minutes… And how she had promised Madoka they would walk to school together...

Wait.

"OH NO!" lamented Madoka, her mother suddenly looking at her with a surprised face.

"Are you okay Madoka?" her mom looked worriedly at the girl.

"Homura-chan and I were going to walk to school together…" Madoka

"Where is the problem in that?" asked her mom, genuinely confused.

"We didn't choose a place to meet at" Madoka made a pause before letting her shoulders fall from the loss. "And I don't have her phone number either, so I can't tell her where to wait"

Madoka's mom froze for a second before she started laughing, Madoka didn't know it yet but her mom had already quite the clear idea about what her daughter was going through.

[-]

Madoka looked defeated as she was eating her breakfast, still thinking about the dumb mistake she had made two days prior. No, it was a mistake that went a few days back; she should have asked for Homura's phone number the moment she gave her the first lunch. If she had she wouldn't be in this situation.

"Did something happen?" Asked her dad as he set Tatsuya's food in front the little kid.

"She forgot to tell Akemi-san where to wait for her" Madoka's mom looked at her dad with a look that seemed to send all the information her father needed to understand the situation "And now she will have to wait until getting to class to see her"

"Madoka! Madoka! Mistake!" chanted her little brother, Madoka sinking deeper into her seat as even the 3 years old was mocking her.

"Homura-chan…" Madoka sighed "I always ask for people's Line IDs as soon as possible, how could I have forgotten to ask Homura-chan for hers!?"

The Kaname family kept eating breakfast, Madoka slowly accepting her mistake. After a while Madoka's mom looked at the clock before getting up from the table.

"I have to go now" she said, leaving her coffee mug in the sink.

"Isn't it a bit early?" Asked Madoka's dad, the time being around ten minutes earlier than usual.

"Yes…" she sighed "but the roadwork they've been doing since Friday has been making a bit of a traffic jam near the office. I don't want to risk it"

With that she gave her husband a goodbye kiss and Madoka a high five before heading out.

"Goodbye!" the rest of the Kaname family said in unison.

Madoka kept nibbling her strawberry jam toast before looking at the schoolbag that she had set on top of the kitchen counter, thinking about the lunch boxes she had prepared today. Maybe she could use the excuse of asking her if there was something she didn't like to get her number. No, she had already said she would be fine with anything she made… Maybe so that Madoka could tell her when she was sick so she knew she wasn't going to get her lunch. Yeah, that could work…

Though, getting sick…

Maybe Homura would visit her to see how she was? Homura would go into her room, Madoka being really weak from a fever…

Her ebony hair would fall on top of Madoka's face as Homura checked her temperature with her forehead…

These days it has been getting hotter, so maybe she would be sweating a lot. And maybe, only maybe, Homura would tell her to let her clean of her sweat…

And then while Madoka didn't have a shirt on-

"Madoka?" Madoka's thoughts were interrupted when suddenly her mom came back, peeking from the hallway a bit of a worried look on her face.

"Huh? W-What is it?" Madoka tried to hide her blush, why did she imagine that?!

"Your friend had long black hair, right?" Madoka's mom asked "Long legs? Kind of a cold look on her purple eyes? Has a purple earring?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?" Madoka had described Homura before, but had she described her in this detail?

"…" Madoka's mom pointed with her thumb towards the door "I think she is waiting outside"

"EH?!"

Madoka got up from the table and rushed towards the door, she quickly put on her shoes and got outside.

Sure enough, waiting out of the Kaname household was Homura. The girl was placed in such a way that for someone to see her they would need to completely get out of the house first, as she was using the house's fence to cover herself from the rising sun.

"Homura-chan?!" asked Madoka, still in shock. Homura looked at her before putting on a warm smile.

"Good morning, Madoka"

Homura and Madoka walked next to the small canal that led towards their school. Homura had been trying to walk a bit behind Madoka, but the girl had been adjusting her speed constantly just so they would stay next to each other. After a while, Homura had given up in that regard.

"You could have knocked on the door you know!" said Madoka, she had been lecturing Homura since they had gotten away from her house.

"I didn't want to bother your family so early in the morning"

In reality Homura had been thinking since she had reached Madoka's house about whether she should walk this morning with Madoka or if she should use the excuse of not having set a time and place to walk away from this one. As much as she had promised, she still wasn't sure if the Devil would try to take control of her once again. Sadly, as she was still thinking about what to do Madoka's mom came out of the house earlier than she had expected and gave away Homura's location.

"If something like that ever happens again" Madoka placed herself in front of Homura, completely cutting her off, a small pout on her face that made the girl look cute enough to almost make Homura blush "knock on the door, okay?"

Ah~ Madoka~ I will do whatever you want me to do.

"I- It won't happen again, sorry Madoka" said Homura, the Devil's voice making her flinch.

There she was, it felt less intruding than what she had gone through in Hell, but she could still feel the voice not being her own thoughts. It felt like the things that she had regarded as intrusive thoughts since she had made this new universe, so the Devil's influence had been there since the start?

"Anyways…" said Madoka as she placed herself besides Homura, a bit closer than she previously had, and looked a bit embarrassed "I'm still happy that you came…"

"I promised I would" said Homura, trying to focus as hard as she could on her own mind.

"Thanks"

Madoka fidgeted a bit, catching Homura's attention.

"I was thinking… Just so this doesn't happen again…"

Madoka pulled out her phone, grabbing it with more strength than was needed. She had never seen Madoka this nervous, or at least she didn't remember seeing her this nervous. A few of her memories felt weird ever since Madoka had ascended to godhood, and becoming a witch didn't really help in that regard.

"Maybe we should exchange phone numbers" Madoka looked up, her eyes meeting with Homura's "J-just so we can keep in touch in case something happens"

"Yes, that's a nice idea" said Homura, them being able to contact each other wouldn't be too bad. It wasn't like they would talk every single day, just the days some of their plans changed. And Homura also felt that denying the girl something by text would be way easier than doing it in person.

They exchanged numbers, Madoka kept a big smile afterwards looking at the 'I'm in your care' text Homura had sent her to start the chat between them. Homura wasn't much different, her smile more concealed yes, but a smile nonetheless.

They kept walking on complete silence, Homura too focused on the Devil to say anything and Madoka just giving the girl some side glances as she seemed to remember something embarrassing.

Go and hold her hand, she would look so cute with her face completely red~

No, Madoka had been clearly showing awkwardness when Homura had hugged her before. And this time the Law of Cycles wasn't doing anything, so there was no reason to touch Madoka and scare her.

She wouldn't be scared. Look at her! I'm sure that if we pulled out our glasses now, she would keep staring at us.

Homura tried to ignore the Devil, maybe starting a conversation with Madoka would help. Maybe if she didn't think much the Devil wouldn't be able to speak.

"I see that you are still wearing the ribbons I gave you" Homura said, a smile on her face.

Madoka stuttered a few times, surprised by the sudden conversation, before she raised her hand to touch the red ribbons that were tying her hair.

"Y-yeah" Madoka made a small pause, a smile that made Homura's heart skip a beat appearing on her face "They just feel… right"

"I'm glad you like them." Homura returned the smile "They look good on you"

Madoka's cheeks blushed, the girl's smile breaking into a nervous one.

"T-thanks" she made a small pause before looking at Homura "It looked nice on you too"

Madoka stopped to think for a second about what she had said, Homura looking at the girl waiting for her to clear her thoughts. She knew the words only came from kindness, nothing more.

"It's not that I don't like your current look! You-your headband also looks good on you of course!" finally said Madoka, who somehow felt smaller than usual before saying something in such a quiet voice that had Homura not been the devil she wouldn't have heard "Well, everything looks good on you…"

Madoka shook her head before walking a bit faster.

"W-we should hurry up. I don't want you to be late because of me" she chuckled.

And with that they both increased their speed as they reached the school grounds, people were starting to come into the school, and Madoka seemed to notice a pair in between the masses of people.

"Sayaka-chan! Kyoko-chan!" Madoka waved towards the duo, who turned around to see Madoka and Homura walking together a surprised look on both of them.

"Good morning, Sakura-san, Miki-san" said Homura, hoping that Miki Sayaka wouldn't try to start fight and was in the same mood she had been during their study session.

"Yo" said Kyoko, her surprised look quickly turning into a grin that gave off a 'I knew it' aura.

"G-good morning Madoka… and Akemi-san" said Sayaka before letting out a bit of a nervous laugh "I- I didn't expect you two to come together, hahaha…"

"Yeah" Kyoko made a small pause "I mean, I kind of expected this would happen. Just not so soon"

Kyoko gave Madoka a smug look before speaking up again.

"I guess pinky really went on the offensive huh"

"Madoka just asked me to accompany her to school" Homura interjected "I saw no reason to say no"

"Can you even say no to her?" asked Kyoko with one of her brows raised in a questioning glance "You've been having a week of just accepting what she says"

That was a good question. Homura was able to say no, even more if she knew saying no would benefit Madoka's happiness. But the Devil seemed to have other plans for her…

"Homura-chan is just really kind" said Madoka, cowering a bit "Even though I've been bothering her this whole week she didn't complain once"

Homura was about to deny what Madoka had just said, but Kyoko was way faster than her.

"Nah, she isn't like that" Kyoko looked at Homura "You've seen her talk with other people in class, right?"

"Ahh…" started Sayaka "Didn't she reject someone in front of everyone like two weeks ago?"

"Yeah" Kyoko laughed a bit, getting closer to Madoka "Don't you remember the guy crying right there? She didn't even take the letter he tried to give her"

The redhead smacked Madoka's back with an open hand, making Madoka tumble a few steps forward.

"So don't worry about that, the girl clearly doesn't mind speaking her mind" said Kyoko with a smile.

The convo seemed to work as Madoka's worried face turned into her usual happy expression. The girl nodding before looking back at Homura.

"Right, sorry I doubted you" said Madoka "I know you wouldn't lie to me, Homura-chan"

Homura felt all her sins going back to her. All the times she had lied to Madoka, even if it had been to protect her, suddenly rushing into her mind. She tried really hard to keep her composure together, though she was quite sure her hands were shaking a bit. Not only had she lied to her many times, this whole world itself was a lie.

Well, that one hurt huh. Even I could feel it.

"Thank you, Madoka. For trusting me" How much did those words pain her.

And you keep lying to her? Here I thought I was the devil here.

The group traded some smiles before beginning to walk towards class once more. Slowly Kyoko dragged Madoka away from Homura, while Sayaka stepped in. Homura started to get a bit nervous, she didn't know if she would be able to speak with Miki Sayaka without the Devil coming out.

She took a deep breath in preparation. As long as Sayaka was there to do her usual 'You are a demon' thing everything would be fine. A snarky comment here, maybe a smug look to irritate the bluenette more. That would be enough to calm Homura down and be able to take control of the Devil.

"Ey…" Sayaka said in almost a whisper "I wanted to apologize"

You even get Miki Sayaka's kindness? You are outdoing yourself Homura!

"Why?" Asked Homura, trying to ignore the Devil's voice. God, please let this be quick.

"Well, for this past month." Sayaka raised her voice a bit, but it was still quiet enough that only Homura should be able to hear her "Don't get me wrong, I don't think that what I did was wrong"

Oh~ Does the time traveler want her other friends back too?

Shut up.

"But I shouldn't have been such a… bully about it" Sayaka kept looking in front of her as she walked "I talked with Kyoko and she is right. You don't seem that bad"

I'm sure Miki Sayaka would be delighted to find about what you did too! Great, now you can disappoint two people at the same time!

I said, shut up. Go away.

"So yeah, if you want…" Sayaka looked at Homura's face "We can try to be friends, or something"

Hah! There it is. Go ahead, say yes, you want to say yes right~?

"Akemi-san?"

Are you really going to not answer her? What is it, are you embarrassed or something?

Leave me alone...

"Ey, are you ok?" Sayaka's face grew a worried expression, Homura looking down at the ground.

Just kidding. Of course, I know what's going on~

"Madoka!" Sayaka not knowing what to do called out to the pinkette, who turned around her expression quickly changing to a concerned one. "Akemi-san doesn't look well, maybe we should-"

You are scared, aren't you? Scared of relaxing too much around them. Scared that if you let your guard down something might happen. You are…

"Homura-chan!" Madoka started to run towards her.

Scared of me.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Homura screamed out loud, everyone coming to a stop with a mix of confusion and worry in their eyes.

"Homura-chan?" asked Madoka, the first one to try and get closer to the girl. But before she could reach her Homura spoke up again, this time in a quieter and colder voice. Her usual façade up.

"I'm sorry." She started to move ahead "I'll go to the infirmary to rest. Please go to class without me"

And with that Homura rushed past the group, not even Madoka trying to stop her.

The school bell rang, Sayaka stood up and headed towards a lonely looking Madoka. The girl had been like this since this morning, Saotome-sensei had even approached the girl after her class ended to see if she was okay. Probably more out of concern for the girl as a friend of her mother than just as a teacher.

"Madoka" said Sayaka, touching the girl on the shoulder so that she would pay attention to her "Should we go eat?"

A few seconds passed before Madoka nodded and got up from her seat. The girl bent down to get her school bag and started walking towards the door. Kyoko, who had joined them a second ago, looked at Sayaka and exchanged worried looks.

"What should we do?" said Sayaka, she really wasn't used to seeing Madoka like this.

"Can't do much" answered Kyoko "She is like this because of Akemi, and I'm guessing the girl is either in the infirmary or she has been sent home after all… that"

Sayaka had imagined many different scenarios that could happen when she apologized to Akemi Homura. The girl just accepting the apology without thinking any of it, the girl laughing at Sayaka, even an insult would have been appropriate. But the girl suddenly screaming like that…

It had been something she would have never imagined the cold looking girl to ever do.

"I really don't want Madoka to be like this all day" Sayaka sighed.

"I don't either" said Kyoko "But unless you are able to get Akemi here there is no way you are changing her mood"

Kyoko made a small pause before frowning.

"And I'm not even sure that would ease pinky's mind. She would probably keep being worried."

"Yeah…"

Sayaka had some memories of Madoka not letting anything that hurt someone be easily forgotten. The girl would often forget other things, often more important things, but if she saw someone having a problem she would ask that person if they were okay until she was completely certain that they were. It had happened before, the moment Madoka saw Hitomi and Kyosuke going out together it had taken two weeks of Sayaka saying she was already over it for her to stop asking.

And that had been only about a childhood crush. Seeing that Akemi clearly was having quite the psychological problems would probably mean either a really truthful answer from the girl or quite the good number of weeks of asking if she was okay.

The trio stopped at the door of the rooftop. Madoka went to turn the keys that hung from the door to unlock it.

The door didn't unlock. Instead, it opened a bit, the door had been already unlocked.

"Did we leave it open yesterday?" asked Kyoko.

It wasn't like they were the only ones that could go there. But the rest of the schoolgrounds, mainly the cafeteria, were so much comfier that people didn't really go to the rooftop. And the few that went felt like they were intruding in the group's private spot. Not wanting to break the unspoken rule of 'whoever got there first owns it' that the schoolyard had they never came back.

"No, I am pretty sure I closed it" said Sayaka, looking at Madoka.

Madoka finished opening the door, a small creak coming from the metal hinges.

Sitting on the bench they usually sat in was Akemi Homura. The girl looking through the golden fence and towards the horizon.

Madoka was frozen for a second before running towards the girl, her pace getting slower as she got closer. Probably rethinking what she was about to do.

"Homura-chan!" exclaimed Madoka a few steps away.

The girl answered by looking at Madoka in the eyes. A guilty look on her eyes sent a shiver down Sayaka's spine, as Akemi Homura spoke up while raising her two hands together.

"I'm sorry"

A clap was the last thing Sayaka heard.

[-]

The sun was hiding behind the clouds, though there was still enough light getting through to eat comfortably. Madoka was talking about how she had found Akemi outside her house waiting for her, an embarrassed smile on her face. Kyoko was lying down on a close-by bench, looking at the pink haired girl as she told her story.

A small buzzing sound playing on Sayaka's head, she massaged her forehead trying to make it go away. The sound quickly becoming smaller.

Right, they had been eating their lunch for a few minutes now. Madoka and Akemi had come together to school, but the raven-haired girl had to miss the first three periods as a teacher called her to sort some legal paperwork. So, when they came into the rooftop Akemi was already waiting there, not having wanted to go into the middle of class and interrupt the lesson.

Madoka seemed to finish venting about how Akemi should have called her if she was in front of her house, and turned to face Sayaka who had stopped eating and was had a bit of lost gaze.

"Are you okay, Sayaka-chan?"

"Huh? Ah… yeah" Sayaka said before she brought another piece of fried chicken to her mouth. Something felt wrong, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"Maybe it's the stress from the upcoming tests" said Akemi, one of those smiles that only Madoka could seem to read plagued her face "Have you been resting properly, Miki-san?"

"Maybe not" sighed Sayaka "I guess you are right. I should try to relax more; my head feels like it's about to explode"

"I don't know about that. You were sleeping pretty deeply" Kyoko changed her posture on the bench, sitting instead of lying down, and faced the group "I had to turn off YOUR alarm this morning after all"

"Someone not waking up from loud noises can signal a deep tiredness. Trust me on these things" Akemi signaled to her own eyebags that never seemed to go away "I know a bit about being tired"

"You should sleep too!" said Madoka, a small frown on her face. "You shouldn't be tired all the time, Homura-chan"

"Thank you for worrying about me, Madoka" Akemi gave the girl a smile, it seemed to be a real one from Madoka's expression. "But I'm fine, really"

Akemi looked at Sayaka, an expression that somehow felt wrong showing on her face: a soothing one.

"Maybe you should try to take a small nap here, Miki-san" said Akemi "There still are around thirty minutes left of lunch break, we will wake you up"

Why was Akemi so friendly with her? Had something happened? Maybe Madoka had a talk with her as she had done with Sayaka? Or was it…

Oh right, Sayaka had apologized this morning to her. And Akemi had accepted her idea of them trying to become friends. Even if it had only been like that because of Madoka, it still meant the two wouldn't really have to fight anymore. And Madoka seemed to be happy about it too, so there really wasn't any downside.

"I'll try, thanks" Sayaka finished the small amount of food that she had left and went to lie down on one of the benches, using her schoolbag as a pillow.

Consciousness quickly left her body, the echo of clap still ringing in her ears.

A/N: A bit of a shorter chapter, I know, but it felt right to end it there.

Current date: Monday 12th, May.