The shopping mall was filled with people, more than what Homura thought should be on a Thursday; Though it had been… well, technically years since the last time she had gone to one for some other reason than to make sure the Incubators weren't trying to approach Madoka; and even then, she usually didn't go to the zones with lots of people, she could watch her from afar after all.

But now that she had been dragged into a fast-food restaurant by Madoka and Miki; not that she didn't want to spend time with Madoka, she would spend the entire day glued to the girl if she could, but it still felt… wrong to spend so much time with her. She always was on edge when they were together, feeling like at any moment she would be taken away once more.

Of course, that feeling didn't go away after the last incident with Miki Sayaka. From time to time, she would look at the girl's silver ring and imagine the witch runes reappearing on it; or look at Madoka's eyes and see a golden shimmer. Thankfully, they were only hallucinations; something Homura had been getting quite acquainted with these past few weeks.

But even then, Madoka had clearly been remembering things, or at least, the memories were trying to appear but faded only as emotions left behind. As much as this was better than Madoka going back to being the Law of Cycles, the feelings the memories left behind were clearly hurting Madoka; yet Homura didn't know how to fix the problem without having to constantly erase the girl's memories, but if Homura had learnt something about her memory manipulation is that it was everything but perfect; and she was scared of hurting Madoka in the process… though if things got out of hand, if Madoka's lingering memories made her suffer too much… maybe she would have to do some tests in the meantime, just in case.

Homura let out a small sigh as she opened her coffee cup, pouring the small sugar packet that came with it into the coffee and stirring as she tried to hear what the other two girls were talking about to catch on their conversation.

"So, when Kyouko came home and saw me cooking… well, trying to cook the squid we had bought she almost fainted!" Sayaka stopped for a moment to take a sip from her soda "And yeah, it had gotten quite hard, and was a bit burnt; but like it was still edible"

Madoka let out a small chuckle, more as an acknowledgment than as an actual laugh.

"I mean, it's not like we didn't eat it" said Sayaka, leaving her soda on the table and picking a potato fry "It just wasn't good"

Homura took a sip of her coffee… it was horrible, not like she expected much from a fast-food place but still.

"Did Kyouko-chan get angry?" asked Madoka, as she took long sip from her ice tea.

Sayaka finished eating her fries before answering "No, not really" She made a small pause "I mean, she wasn't happy about it; she just looked annoyed"

"Maybe she just wanted to cook the squid in a special way?" pondered Madoka, before looking at Homura as she tried to get her into the conversation "What do you think, Homura-chan?"

Homura took a long sip this time before answering, the coffee was still horrible. She decided to completely turn off her taste sense.

"I don't think Miki-san should have cooked it if she didn't know how to" Homura took another sip from her tasteless coffee, perfect "But I'm sure Sakura-san liked the gesture"

"Right?" said Madoka, a warm smile on her face; Homura wished to always see that smile… wait, no, not wished. Anything but wished. "Kyouko-chan wouldn't get angry with you for trying"

"I know, but Akemi-san is right; I should probably have done something easier!" sighed Sayaka before finishing what was left of her soda. "I kinda want to find a way to make up for it"

Madoka placed her finger to her right cheek, going into a thinking expression for a few seconds. Homura simply observed Madoka, trying to hide the fact that she was looking at the girl; something she had perfected over the years.

"I'm not sure what Kyouko-chan would like…" Madoka looked at Sayaka, putting on a 'it will be okay' smile on "It's not like she would ask anything for such a small thing happening"

"Still…" Sayaka scratched her head, making a bit of a mess of her blue hair. "Well, whatever. I will think about it later"

Good, Homura wasn't sure how much longer she would continue paying attention had the conversation kept going. Homura was already tired of the pair shenanigans at this point, in almost every timeline they would either end up together in some way or die for the other; It got quite boring to hear them talk about what should they do when Homura already knew it wouldn't matter much. The outcome had always been either Miki Sayaka realized she liked the girl or she didn't and the Sakura Kyouko ended up dying as she tried to kill Sayaka's witch.

Madoka got up from her seat, catching Homura's attention.

"I'll be back in a second" Madoka started walking towards the bathrooms, one of the dolls that was stationed nearby, Reiketsu, followed her.

Well, and now Homura was alone with Miki; If the girl remembered something this would be the time for her to say something to Homura. Let her know her memory alteration didn't work. Of course, giving this information would be a dumb, suicidal, and illogical thing to do; which meant Miki Sayaka would probably do it.

"Akemi-san"

Oh, there it was. Homura didn't actually believe it would happen. As always, Miki Sayaka was a chaotic piece.

"What is it, Miki Sayaka?" Homura put on her usual mask, the one she had perfected over the loops.

"Can I ask you something?" she made a small pause "Or rather, can I ask you for your help?"

Well, that was unexpected. Homura was pretty sure this had been the first time, at least that she remembered, that the girl had directly asked her for her help.

"It depends" at least this meant she didn't have her memories back; Homura relaxed a little.

"Well, you see" Miki made a small pause, looking towards Madoka who was just getting into the mall bathroom "Kyouko told me something, apparently Madoka likes some guy that may be problematic"

Homura froze, had her brain been a machine it would have let out sparks. She was sure that if it hadn't been because of her becoming the devil her soul gem would have blackened a lot with what she had just heard.

No, no. She had promised herself to not get too close to Madoka, the girl would eventually find love. She didn't have to be part of it, she was fine with just looking at Madoka be happy. Now then, the problematic part was something she would have to look.

"Akemi-san?" Miki looked at her with a bit of a worried face, Homura couched to recompose herself.

"So, who is this boy?" asked Homura, trying to calm her voice; but it came out as quite the aggressive tone, Miki Sayaka had clearly noticed.

"Ah, I see you think like me" Miki said, though Homura was pretty sure that was incorrect "I, obviously, don't care if Madoka has found someone she likes, good for her actually, but the whole 'problematic' bit has me… anxious you know?"

Actually, yeah, they thought the same.

"I understand, Miki-san" said Homura, now in a calmer tone; "Again, who is the boy?"

"That I don't know, and Kyouko won't tell me" Sayaka sighed "I don't know if it's because of the squid incident or if she just doesn't want to tell me for whatever reason"

So, Miki Sayaka didn't know, what good did the girl do then? Should Homura just use her powers to see who this guy was? And in case that he would hurt Madoka in any way, of course she would dispose of the trash instantly… No, she shouldn't do that; Once again, another step into Madoka's privacy that she wasn't willing to cross. Maybe she should ask her dolls? No way, most of them would probably use the show of doubt on Homura to, not only not follow orders, but to constantly harass her. Reiketsu would probably answer, but the doll would see this as Homura becoming soft and might stop doing her bidding so willingly…

The best option seemed to get the information the way she used to before becoming the devil, through pure investigation of Madoka's surroundings.

"I see, I will make sure to find who this guy is" Homura took a long sip from the tasteless coffee, almost finishing it.

And eliminate him, no one other than us should get close to Madoka.

…

Homura took a deep breath, calming her emotions. Right, the Devil. She had to be careful not to distress herself to much, even if it was harder for the Devil to appear now that there was less grief, she was still there.

"Great!" energetically added Miki before finished the few fries she had left "We will start working tomorrow then?"

Wait? Did the girl really think they would work together? All the previous times she had been nothing more than a nuisance, the problem maker rather than the problem solver. Homura would be better doing this alone.

"I'm sorry, but I work better myself" Homura said, trying not to be too aggressive.

Miki seemed to think for a second with a frozen expression before actually talking.

"Nope, can't do." She said, pointing with a finger to her chest "I'm not gonna let you do this alone"

A small pause, her prideful smile appearing; the one that had gotten Madoka into so many troubles in other times.

"Besides, Madoka is my friend. It will be better to have two persons finding who this guy is"

Homura let out a tired sigh.

"You may have gotten quite close to Madoka in a few days, that's true" Sayaka kept talking "But you haven't interacted with anyone other than her and us! Don't you think it will be better to have someone who knows more people?"

That…

That was a valid point. Homura didn't really pay attention to most, if not all, of the students. And knowing those that could be problematic beforehand would probably be an easier time than trying to find who was and who wasn't problematic without knowing them at all.

"Fine, just don't get in my way." said Homura

If Miki had taken offense from the comment, she didn't show it; instead, she bumped her chest with her closed fist and put on a smile "You can count on me"

Homura really hoped this wouldn't backfire. Even if she had to work together with Miki Sayaka, it would all be to help Madoka. She was sure she could stand the bluenette for a few days until they got their answer.

"What can she count on you for?" Asked Madoka, a curious look on her face that was still adorned with a smile that made Homura's worries disappear if for only a second.

"Ah!" Miki got lost on her words, she probably hadn't noticed the girl approaching until now. "Well… y-you see, we were just…"

"I just gave Miki-san some tips for cooking" quickly said Homura, a small lie to protect Madoka; just like she used to do "Told her she still has a chance to redeem herself"

Miki took a moment to catch the thread Homura had thrown her. "Yeah! Exactly that!" God, that was a horrible way to lie.

Madoka thought for a few seconds before saying something "You could have asked me you know; I also know how to cook"

"Ah… well" Miki really had gotten herself stuck, was she just incapable of lying? No, Homura had seen her do it before, she probably just was surprised.

"Miki-san said Sakura-san would easily notice if you helped" Homura placed on a gentle smile, or at least tried to "After all, your cooking has a special taste, Madoka"

Homura could see the girl blushing a bit before she hid the redness of her cheeks with her hands, she really was bad at taking compliments. Always getting embarrassed for facts, like how when Homura told her she was cute she would always blush; really, the girl needed to get used to the compliments, after all she would end up getting a lot of them from all the inevitable people that would fall for the most precious person on earth.

"I- I… I see, thank you Homura-chan" she said, as she sat back to finish her ice tea. After taking a long sip Madoka spoke up again "Do both of you want to go somewhere after this?"

Miki went into thought for a few seconds, throwing herself back in the process to make the chair balance in two legs. Meanwhile, Homura didn't really mind to keep going around with Madoka for the rest of the day; every time she thought she shouldn't be as part of her own punishment, the memories of the new promise she had made to Madoka quickly shut down her doubts.

Instead of answering, Homura simply started to take a long sip until she finished her coffee. It was Miki the one to speak up.

"I do want to get some new CDs" Miki properly sat this time, letting the chair go back to using its four legs. "Maybe they've put something new"

Madoka nodded on response and finished her drink, Homura did the same. They all got up from their seats and went towards the music shop, where they mostly looked at stuff by themselves. Homura listened to some random songs just to make it look like she wasn't bored.

[-]

Homura and Madoka were walking alone on the streets, except for the few neighbors that walked around saying hello to the two girls or a simple nod of acknowledgment. The sun was still up, probably an hour or two until it settled, but they had decided to end their outing a bit sooner than usual just so they could have more things to do when Sakura was there with them. Or, at least, that was what Madoka wanted; Homura wasn't so sure on wanting to go out with everyone again; Of course, if it was just the two of them she would be delighted.

After a few more minutes of walking with nothing more than some small talk to break the silence from time to time, they reached Madoka's house. Both of them stopped in the entryway.

"Well then" started Homura, going into a small bow "I'll see you tomorrow, Madoka"

"Right, see you tomorrow, Homura-chan" Madoka said, her beautiful smile blessing Homura.

Homura simply finished her bow; she turned around and started to walk away, only to be stopped when she heard Madoka's voice.

"Ho-Homura-chan!" Homura turned around, to look at the girl.

"What is it, Madoka? Do you need something?"

"Ah… Well, I was wondering if… If you would like to maybe spend, you know… some more time together" The start of a blush started to appear on Madoka's face, slowly turning her cheeks into a pink color.

"Wouldn't that have been better when Miki-san was with us then? I'm sure you would have had a better time that way"

"No… I mean… I like to spend time with everyone, but…" The girl was now fidgeting around, her slight blush become a deeper tone of red "I- I wanted to spend more time with you… alone."

Homura completely froze on place, her brain going into a short-circuit.

This is it! Hurry, go in there make sure she forgets that boy.

No, no, no. Homura had to properly think this through, Madoka was in love with some boy (even if Homura wouldn't approve of him until knowing who he is at least); Madoka wouldn't go against her feelings for someone else, that's not the kind of person she is.

Does it even matter~ They aren't going out yet, it wouldn't be anything bad!

Even if Homura were to go into her house, she was sure she wasn't going to try anything. No, Madoka's friendship was more than she deserved; there was no reason for her to try and make the girl like her. Besides…

If Madoka really liked a boy that meant Homura had been wrong all these years? So… Madoka wasn't like her then? Of course, that would make sense. Homura never asked the girl anything about it, and she didn't seem to take offense whenever Shizuki said her 'girls can't love girls' motto. So, all this time… all this time Madoka had been straight…

And? So is spaghetti until it gets wet.

Homura had to fight both the blush that threatened to appear on her face and the urge to hit herself, even if it had been the Devil, for even daring to think about doing that to Madoka.

"Homura-chan? You don't have to if you don't want to…" Madoka started saying, her embarrassment clearer now than before.

Homura had to quickly come up with a reason to not go there. This was too much for her right now, didn't want to risk the Devil filling her mind while alone with Madoka.

"Sorry, I was trying to think if I had time" Homura finally said, trying to come up with a good excuse. "I would like to, Madoka"

A joyful smile appeared on the pinkette's face.

"But sadly… I have been leaving behind some house chores, and my fridge is empty so I should go buy groceries before the stores close" Homura kept talking, Madoka's smile disappeared. "I'm really sorry"

Madoka stopped to think for a moment, looking at Homura as she did so. After a while a different smile appeared on her face.

"No, it's alright!" she said, trying to force excitement out of her voice and hide the previous embarrassment behind it "I should have asked you with more time"

Madoka made a small pause, taking a brief deep breath before talking once more.

"See- See you tomorrow then!"

Homura looked at the girl, a small gentle expression appearing on her face.

"Yes, see you tomorrow, Madoka"

The bell rang just once, signaling the end of the period. Some people stayed in their seats, others got up and went to talk with their friends. Which is what Sayaka would have usually done, but not today, today she had something to do.

A quick glance at Akemi let her know that the girl was ready; After having texted each other to make a plan they had finally come up with one. And now was the perfect opportunity to put the plan on motion.

Firstly, they had to get Madoka out of the classroom; were they to be right about their initial hunch the girl would probably be looking at him, so in order for the girl to not notice what the two of them were doing they needed to make her leave. This may haven proven difficult, but Akemi said she had thought of something and that I shouldn't worry about it.

Akemi was looking at Kyouko, almost as if she was waiting for something to happen… And it sure did. Sayaka saw Kyouko's face turn completely white, and the girl suddenly reached for her stomach, doing some low growls of pain.

Meanwhile, Akemi went up to Madoka; told her something while pointing towards the suffering Kyouko and within a second Madoka was up from her seat and was running towards Kyouko.

"Are you okay Kyouko-chan?!" almost shouted Madoka.

"I don't know why my stomach started hurting, like a lot suddenly" Kyouko groaned, still holding her stomach with one hand.

"I will take you to the infirmary" Madoka started to get the girl up from her seat "Here, you support yourself with me."

"Thanks…"

And with that the two slowly got out of the classroom, telling the class representative where they were going on their way out.

And just as they left, Akemi looked back at Sayaka from Madoka's table. Well, that was… A way to get Madoka out of the room, that was for sure. She didn't agree with the method, but she would scold her later; right now, they had something to do.

The first person they thought could be Madoka's crush. The only guy in class who they saw talk with her, even if it had been just because they sat next to each other.

Nakazawa.

Sayaka went from the left, while Akemi took the right, surrounding the guy so he couldn't escape (Though, there really wasn't a reason to do so). The guy did obviously look confused.

"Do you need something?" he said, moving his eyes between Homura and Sayaka.

"Just wanted to ask some questions, nothing big really" said Sayaka, placing her hand on the boy's desk.

"Sure, I don't mind" shrugged Nakazawa.

They had decided that Sayaka would do most of the talking, at least as long as the guy seemed cooperative. Not because Akemi didn't find herself capable of getting the information, no; her reasoning had been that since he knew Sayaka more, Nakazawa would probably prefer to speak with her instead.

"So, have you and Madoka been talking lately?" asked Sayaka.

Nakazawa took a second to think, both about the answer to give and why were they asking him such a question.

"No, not anything our of the ordinary" he stopped for a second "Why? Have I said something that offended her?"

"Would you care if you did?" suddenly asked Akemi, a piercing gaze on her face.

"I mean, yeah?" Nakazawa put on a completely confused expression now "Isn't that normal? To not want to hurt people?"

Akemi didn't reply, Sayaka wasn't sure if this was because she agreed with the guy or because she would have said 'no' to the answer. Whatever it was, Sayaka had to make sure to move the conversation where they needed to.

"Have you noticed something weird with Madoka lately?" asked Sayaka, catching the guy's attention.

"Yeah"

There it was! A thing they could follow. Maybe even if Nakazawa didn't end up being Madoka's crush they could use whatever new information to find the guy in particular.

"What was it?" asked Sayaka, her voice peaked in interest.

"Well," Nakazawa looked back at Akemi "She has been together with Akemi-san most of the day, hasn't she?"

Something they already knew… Yeah, Madoka had been using a lot of her time with Akemi; but that was normal! The girl had been able to become her friend of course she wanted to make sure she didn't run away. Sayaka let out a long sigh.

"So, you are sure you and Madoka are the same as always? And that other that with Akemi-san you haven't seen her talk with anyone else?" asked Sayaka.

"Well, yeah. Kaname-san and I speak from time to time since we are right next to each other; It's mostly about class stuff though." Nakazawa shrugged, once more "What was this all about?"

"It's nothing, sorry" Sayaka scratched her head as she started to walk away from the guy's seat. Akemi promptly followed.

"He might still be it" whispered Akemi. "He could be either lying or unaware"

"Nah, who would be unaware of someone completely dotting on you?" proudly said Sayaka "Only person I know that could be like that would be Kyosuke"

"Yes, I guess you are right…" said Akemi, looking at Sayaka with her cold mask; Had she been thinking something she wasn't showing it.

"We are back to square one…" Sayaka looked around class, trying to see what guys could be Madoka's crush. But no one seemed to fit. Madoka did talk with the whole class, be it only because she tried to helped someone, but not everyone was close enough to even be called friends. "I guess we can still check on the gardening club prez?"

"I will next Monday" said Akemi as she started to move back to her seat. "Observing how Madoka talks with him would be more useful information than just asking"

"Yeah, good luck" Sayaka started walking towards her seat, it being in the same direction as Akemi's they went there together. "How did you know Kyouko would get a stomachache by the way?"

Akemi stopped after passing Sayaka's seat and turned back to face the bluenette.

"I just gave her some spoiled food" her tone completely distant.

"That was quite the precise timing" said Sayaka, a bit of a doubting tone on her voice.

After a brief moment, Akemi finally answered.

"It was plain luck"

And with that she kept walking towards her seat, her hair following behind as she turned around.

"You technically poisoned her…" Sayaka sighed, she really hoped Akemi wouldn't do many things like that again.

"Don't worry Kyouko-chan, we are pretty close now" said Madoka, the pinkette voice sounded distant; the echo of the almost empty glass hallways not helping against the illusion.

The stomach ache Kyouko was experiencing was one out of this world, it felt almost as if her entire guts were fighting each other in a bloody war. The pain had started really suddenly too, one moment she was fine the next Madoka was all over her to see if she was okay. It really wasn't like any other stomach ache she had experienced before, which had been many.

They way to the infirmary had been a longer trek than she remembered, the halls almost seemingly distorting; though this was probably because of the pain, her balance had been pretty off to because of it. She could feel almost as if her life was being sapped away.

"Madoka…" Kyouko tried to talk with all the energy she had left "If I die… Please… Delete my phone search history"

"Don't joke with that Kyouko-chan!" Ah, now that Kyouko could see it, pinky really was getting worried.

"Sorry…" Kyouko groaned before their movement came to a stop in front of the infirmary door.

Madoka carefully opened the door, trying not to drop Kyouko as she did. And they went inside. The pinkette looked around for a few seconds before she went into the room, placing Kyouko on one of the beds, Kyouko moved around in it as she tried to find a pose that didn't hurt as much.

"The nurse isn't here; I will see if I can at least find some painkillers" and with that Madoka started to look in the different closets that adorned the room.

Kyouko moved around the bed constantly, trying to find a position that would make the pain go away, or at the very least make it go down. She could hear Madoka move some boxes around, Kyouko opened her eyes just in time to see the pinkette getting out one pill and moving towards the sink to get a glass of water.

"Here Kyouko-chan" Madoka offered the painkiller and glass of water to Kyouko, though she was worried an attempt of a calming smile was on her face.

Kyouko sat up, the pain clearly telling her not to do so, and threw the pill into her mouth; chugging the glass of water that Madoka hurriedly offered.

"Thanks pinky…" the pain still strong.

"It should start working in a few minutes" The girl tried to hide her worry behind the calming smile she was showing "I will stay here until you get better or the nurse comes back"

"You don't have to" Kyouko groaned as she laid back onto the bed "You are gonna miss class"

"We have English now; I think I can manage." She said letting out a small chuckle. "Besides, I don't want to leave a friend alone when they are in pain"

Kyouko scoffed before sitting on the bed, letting her back rest on the wall.

"Guess We can talk for a bit then"

"You should rest, Kyouko-chan" worriedly said Madoka, looking at the girl's pained expression. "Really, I'll just stay here in case you need something"

"No, can't do. I'm starting to feel a bit better, see? I" answered Kyouko, now trying to hide the pain "don't wanna make you just waste your time"

Madoka trying to examine the girl, had she noticed Kyouko was just hiding the pain she didn't say anything; Be it because she knew Kyouko wouldn't back down or out of kindness to let the girl win this one.

"So," Kyouko started "anything bothering you? You've been more sensible than usual"

"Well…" Madoka went to pick one of the chairs and placed it besides Kyouko's bed. "I guess I have… In fact, I kinda wanted to talk with you about it"

"Oh?" Kyouko kind of guessed what it would be about, but decided not to say anything.

"You see… It's about Homura-chan" Madoka started to blush a bit, nervousness started to appear on her as she played with her hands. "I don't know what it is… But I just feel weird around her"

Kyouko simply kept listening, waiting for the pinkette to be able to say everything she had to say; with how nervous the girl was getting she was probably still thinking about what to say, or rather, how to say it.

"I always end up looking at her… And when we are together, I have this warm feeling in my chest" She stopped for a second before letting out a small chuckle "I would have asked mom about it, but I thought you would know more about… well…"

"About?" asked Kyouko, trying to get the girl a little more embarrassed even though she knew about what she was talking.

"Well, you know… About liking girls" Madoka started to look at her hands, which were now holding themselves "Since you like Sayaka-chan, I thought you would know if what I'm feeling is… love" the last part came out in the quietest tone Madoka had ever spoken in.

Kyouko looked at the ball of nerves that was Madoka for a brief moment before letting out a long sigh.

"So, you finally noticed that you like her then?" said Kyouko.

"I… I think so."

"Well, then that's it. You like her" firmly said Kyouko.

"But… How do I know that it's love and not just… well, because she is very pretty after all… it could be that I just…"

"Nah, you don't want to just fuck her" plainly said Kyouko, her words giving Madoka a deeper blush "I've seen how you act around her, you are completely love-struck pinky"

There was a moment of silence as Kyouko waited for the pinkette to recover a bit, and in a few seconds the girl did so.

"What do I do then?" asked Madoka.

"Well, now you just gotta make her like you back" Kyouko made a small pause "Which I don't think will be hard"

"I don't think that will be possible!" hurriedly denied Madoka "She is perfect in everything, and I'm just… completely normal"

Kyouko moved to the edge of the bed, getting closer to the pinkette; the painkillers seemed to be taking effect, she couldn't almost feel it now. Kyouko placed a hand on Madoka's shoulder, making the girl look up at her.

"Trust me, I'm the expert after all"

"You really think so?" Madoka asked with a bit of hope and doubt mixed in her eyes.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Kyouko, trying to give some energy to the girl with her voice "Besides, I will help you do so"

"Thank you… but, how are we going to do it?"

"Well, you see." Kyouko looked at Madoka's eyes, full with confidence "I've got plan to make her completely fall for you"

Current date: 16th Friday, May.