Madoka closed the front door of her house, the shape of Homura being left behind. She turned around and looked at the end of the hallway, though she really wasn't seeing anything. Madoka let out an overjoyed squeak, doing little jumps of ecstasy.

She had been able to get closer with Homura. She had even gotten all touchy with her! Between the hug, the hand holding and the beauty that was Homura accepting all of them… she had to go a bit higher and tried to get as close as possible to her and rest her head on the girl's shoulder – something she never had thought she would be able to do – and Homura had accepted it all!

Madoka started getting off her shoes, putting on some slippers in their place, as she started to hum a little song.

Not only had she done all that, they had also said goodbye to each other with a hug. And this had to be the first time they had hugged each other for something other than being emotional support. Now, someone might see that as a normal thing to do… But for Madoka? That was a step as important as humanity going to the moon.

Madoka started to happily walk towards the kitchen; it was pretty late already so her family had probably had dinner already, the empty kitchen with a note in the counter confirming her suspicions.

"Dinner is in the microwave, heat it up a bit before eating. Love, Dad"

Madoka's dumb smile got a tiny bit bigger as she finished reading the note. Not only had she had an amazing day with Homura, but she also had a loving family at home. Madoka opened the microwave to make sure the food was in there – and it was, some kind of fish dish with vegetables was still waiting for her – and turned the microwave on to heat it up for two minutes. The microwave hummed in the background, the food rotating inside it, while Madoka searched for a glass; the girl returning to her previous train of thought.

If anything, the only bad part about the day was that she had to say goodbye to Homura. She really would have wanted for her to stay the night, but between not having asked her parents before – though she was pretty sure they wouldn't be against it – and there being school tomorrow – although they always went together – it really felt like they had to let the other go. She really wished they could spend even more time together.

Her mind wandered into what would happen if Homura was here…

Since there was only food for one person; they would have to make more. They could share the fish as a main dish, but maybe they could make some rice to fill their stomachs up a bit more. And Madoka could show Homura how good she had been getting at making miso soup, something she didn't have an easy way of adding to their boxed lunches. And so, they would start cooking…

But then as Madoka was busy with the soup Homura would approach her from behind and give her a sudden hug, the girl suddenly feeling lonely again – something that Madoka didn't mind; in fact, she loved the sometimes needy side of the girl –. Madoka would tell her that that was dangerous, but Homura would only tighten the hug…

Then Madoka would turn around to face her. Their eyes would meet, and a phantasmal force would start to close the space between them as their lips got closer and closer…

"By the face you are making I take it that your date went well?" suddenly asked her mom, already in her pajamas.

The sudden voice surprised Madoka, making her almost drop the glass now full of water; thankfully, only some spills were made.

"Mom?!" exclaimed Madoka, her cheeks turning red as the image of what she had been imagining came back.

"Hoh?" Madoka's mom put on a smug smile, and a teasing expression Madoka knew all to well appeared on her face "Now, now. What could have my little Madoka been thinking about to react like that?"

"N-nothing" stuttered Madoka as she dug her own grave. She opened the now beeping microwave, trying to get her food out as she tried to ignore her mom's eyes.

"Really?" asked her mom "And here I thought you were thinking about Akemi"

Madoka flinched at her mom's words, her blushing growing deeper. She walked up to the table and placed left her plate on it before she realized she had forgotten her glass of water in the kitchen. She walked back to it, trying to not let her mother see her red face.

"And by the way you are acting…" her mother walked towards the cupboard, getting a whiskey glass from it as she spoke her next words. "I'm guessing they were quite indecent~"

Madoka went back to the table and took a seat, her mother following close behind with a glass of whiskey in her hand; she took the seat right in front of Madoka and looked at her with a playful smile.

"Aaahh… My sweet little daughter is growing into a pervert" lamented her mom in a joking tone. "She is imagining such dirty things that she can't even tell her mo-"

"It was just a kiss!" Madoka shouted just to make her mother teasing stop, or at least for it to not go in the direction she was going. Because if she kept talking about it Madoka was pretty sure she would end up imagining it. "Nothing more, just a kiss!"

"Remembering one?" asked her mom; her voice was still a teasing one, but there was a serious undertone behind it.

"N-no" Madoka said before she started to eat the reheated fish; not as good as it would have been recently made, but still pretty tasty. "We didn't go that far"

"Oh? So, how far did you two go?" she asked after taking a long sip from her glass.

Madoka took her time to answer, using the fact that she was eating as an excuse to get more time before she had to give an answer. Sadly for her, she couldn't keep chewing forever.

"We went to a café together" her mom simply nodded along, letting her know she was listening in. She may tease her about it, but there was actual interest in hearing how her day had gone in her mother's eyes; this made Madoka speak with a bit more confidence "Homura-chan invited me to a drink and some cake"

"With how much money you told me she spent last time you should have refused the cake at least" reprimanded her mother.

"I know" Madoka let out a giggle "But by Homura's face I'm pretty sure she would have gotten it for me anyways"

There was a small silence between the two as Madoka took a bite; her mother using the opportunity to take another sip from her drink, the cubes of ice shifting as she placed the glass back on the table.

"So, Homura-chan sat next to me and we talked for a bit" Madoka sighed "But then she started to apologize for making me go there with her"

Her mother raised an eyebrow.

"She had suddenly asked me to go there with her because she wanted to spend more time together" Madoka made a small pause as she remembered when the girl asked her in front of the school gates "She looked… scared; scared of being alone I think. At least I'm sure that she didn't want to be alone."

"Do you know if she had been acting weird before?" worriedly asked her mom as her expression changed into a completely serious one.

"Well… she had been trying to get closer than usual today" Madoka tried to think of anything else Homura had done during the day "She walked right next to me, sat as close as she could…"

"So, other than clearly trying to make a move on you; nothing wrong right?"

"There is no way Homura-chan would do that" Madoka nervously chuckled "I'm the only one that's in love, she just feels alone. And since I'm her friend she just gets close to me"

"Madoka…" her mother sighed "You have to give yourself more value"

"It's just the truth" Madoka said after drinking some water "Homura-chan is amazing at everything she does; And I'm just… well, me"

"Yeah, just you" her mother's voice was a supporting one, but Madoka could hear a bit of annoyance in it "A beautiful girl, the kindest person I know, someone that always tries her best for other people, who knows how to draw pretty well, who knows gardening and who has been improving her cooking for someone she loves? Yeah, just you"

"You only say that because you are my mom" Madoka embarrassedly said, the compliments still reaching her even if she didn't want to admit it.

Her mom took a long sip form her drink, letting out a tired sigh afterwards.

"Time will prove me right" said her mom "Anyways, what happened after she apologized?"

"I told her I also wanted to be with her" Madoka made a pause as she remembered the promise "Told her I wouldn't let her feel alone ever again, and gave her a hug to make sure my words reached her"

Madoka took another bite out of her food, trying to make sure it wouldn't go cold before she could finish it.

"After she calmed down a I got closer to her and we snuggled together a bit" Madoka said, the comforting warmth of Homura and the lavender fragrance of her hair returning in the form of memories.

"And afterwards?" asked her mother, now having finished her glass of whiskey she was playing with the still melting ice cubes inside the glass; her eyes completely closed as she waited for an answer.

"She walked me home and we said goodbye to each other with a hug"

"I see. Well, good job" her mom opened her eyes, meeting Madoka's eyes. "If I think she is the kind of person she is pressuring her to go a bit further ahead might have been a bad idea"

Madoka took another bite as her mom got up from her chair and walked back to the kitchen sink, cleaning her glass before storing it away.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" asked Madoka after she finished eating her dinner and walked to the sink where her mother was.

"Of course."

"What should I do now?" asked Madoka as she opened the sink faucet to clean her dish, fork and glass "About Homura-chan I mean. I want to get closer, but…"

"Hmmm…" her mother thought for a few seconds, speaking once Madoka finished cleaning and drying the dishware she had used "Honestly, just keep doing what you've doing. If anything, try to make sure you don't lose today's progress"

"What do you mean?" asked Madoka, turning to face her mother.

"I mean that you should keep the physical contact up" her mother said "Try to get as close as you can, hold hands, snuggle more, whatever you can think of. As long as Akemi doesn't look uncomfortable try to keep it going"

"You really think that will work?"

"Of course," Her mom put on a grin "It did with you father after all"

Sayaka finished cleaning the dishes. The extra set of dishware not really adding more than a minute or two at most of work; what had really taken a chunk of her time was storing all the paella that had been left, a total of four plastic containers had been filled to the brim, and cleaning the pan they had used. Why? Because Kyouko had decided that, yes, buying the biggest pan possible was a good idea. She had turned on all four of the stove fires, because if she hadn't it would have never gotten hot enough, and started cooking enough food for nine people.

Sayaka let out a long tired sigh as she finished storing the last dish. The food had been a lot, true, but it had tasted amazing. Kyouko really had made sure to make the best dish she could have to welcome Sayaka's dad back, and she had completely delivered. Though Sayaka was not about to tell her that after having complained about the big pan, because if she did, she would not stop hearing about it for at least a week.

Sayaka walked towards the living room, where Kyouko was sitting on the couch and playing some kind of fighting game – though by the looks of one of the characters Sayaka guessed it probably was Fatal Kombat. Sayaka sat on the couch next to Kyouko – actually a bit closer than usual – and took one of the chips from the bag that laid open on the table in front of them.

"Next time you cook that" Sayaka took a bite off the chip "You are the one cleaning it"

"Sure, next time you cook then" teased Kyouko, a grin on her face; though she was still completely focused on the game.

"You are the one that doesn't let me cook" replied Sayaka as she focused her eyes on the tv, the buttons from the controller clicking at a fast pace as the character in the game tried to follow all the movement Kyouko was making.

"Because you suuuuuck at it" said Kyouko, who had been able to get her opponent stuck in one side of the screen and was spamming the same set of attacks so he couldn't get out.

"Whoa, that's unfair" commented Sayaka at Kyouko's play, ignoring the remark Kyouko had made about her cooking; Sayaka knew it was true, at least compared to Kyouko… or well, anyone with any kind of cooking skill "You are not even letting him play"

"Shouldn't have gone into ranked if he didn't want to end up like this" said Kyouko, the life of her opponent quickly draining for a few more seconds before the K.O screen appeared.

"That's really scummy of you, you know?" reprimanded Sayaka "It's a game, why would you ruin that person's fun"

Kyouko sighed, going to the main menu before she faced Sayaka.

"He had been trying to get me into a loop too, that's why he had that character" replied Kyouko "He throws a dynamite stick and wacks you, dynamite stick and wack, and again, and again... Not like he was going to pull that off on me though"

"So, everyone is an asshole, got it"

"Pretty much, yeah" confirmed Kyouko before leaning in and getting herself a handful of potato chips. After less than five seconds the chips were gone, how Kyouko was able to eat as fast as she did still baffled Sayaka to this day "Wanna play?"

"No way" said Sayaka "You are going to destroy me"

"Ey now, I will go easy on ya" grinned Kyouko, Sayaka knew that what she really meant was 'I will go easy until I start losing'. Kyouko took the other controller and offered it to Sayaka "C'mon, just one game"

"…Fiiiine" complained Sayaka, though it wasn't like she was against playing with the girl. Hell, she was actually quite happy about it. More than usual. Finding a moment where she can be alone with Kyouko and just… chill together, was nice. Even more when she didn't have to think that there was a possible that her and Madoka-

No, it wasn't the time to think about that. Madoka had told her that she would say who she liked, she simply had to wait. Until then there was no reason to think about it. None at all.

Kyouko quickly went through the different game menus before a character selection screen came up. Sayaka looked around them, letting the select animations of those that caught her eye play, before she settled on an ice based one called over-zero.

"Well, I gotta pick this one then" Kyouko said before she placed her character selector over a character that looked very similar to over-zero but instead of ice its theme seemed to be fire, the announcer saying his name out loud as she did 'Skorpioff'. "Gotta follow the tradition"

And with that they started playing. The first round went by as Kyouko simply explained the control to Sayaka, and told her some combos; though she only remembered one in the end. The second round was Kyouko basically letting herself be hit or blocking most of Sayaka's attacks before dealing the same amount of damage she had dealt but in a fraction of the time she had taken.

"Alright" started saying Kyouko, the third round about to start "This one is gonna be a bit more serious, try to win"

"Easy to say" groaned Sayaka as she pushed the controller buttons like she had never done before. Sometimes a combo she didn't knew about would go off and catch Kyouko off guard, most of the time she simply used the same two attacks though. The clock showed only ten seconds left, and Sayaka was winning by almost three times the amount of health Kyouko had left.

Though of course – as Sayaka had already predicted – Kyouko wouldn't let her win. During those ten seconds Sayaka wasn't able to do anything that wasn't jumping, which only lead to her being knocked off the air by an attack.

"Ey! Stop!" shouted Sayaka as she threw her body towards Kyouko, trying to get the girl to make a mistake "Oi!"

But Kyouko wouldn't relent, she kept playing even as Sayaka was basically on top of her. And while Kyouko was basically laying down she still was able to completely empty Sayaka's health bar, her character staying in some kind of stunned state.

"What's going on?" asked Sayaka who hesitated for a second before getting up from Kyouko; giving the redhead back her place on the couch.

Kyouko didn't answer, instead she did a set of inputs and started a brutal animation where her Sayaka's character was executed before the word 'FATALITY' appeared on screen.

"That wasn't fair!" exclaimed Sayaka "I was still learning the two first rounds!"

"Well," Kyouko laughed "We can always play another round, if you aren't too scared of losing again that's it"

And with that they started another game. This time Sayaka with more confidence now that she knew the basic controls. She was sure she was going to win. Why? Because she had a plan; she would spam buttons until something cool happened.

…

…

She lost.

"Again" said Sayaka, starting a night that would end up with both of them going to sleep at one in the morning.

Madoka stopped at the still closed front door of her house. She looked towards the side, checking herself on the mirror; she adjusted her hair a bit, making sure that the ribbons Homura had gifted her were properly in place. She did a last check, looking for anything that could be amiss – checking to see if she had strawberry jam on her face; checking that her clothes were properly in place; and finally testing some smiles on front of the mirror, trying to guess which one would be the best to greet Homura with.

After everything seemed in order, she inhaled deeply…

I just have to keep myself close to her…

Five seconds passed.

Make sure to keep up with what they had going on yesterday…

Ten seconds passed.

And make sure that Homura isn't uncomfortable with it…

Madoka exhaled, her breathing becoming a slower but deeper one. Her heart calming down.

"You can do this" She nodded to herself in the mirror.

Madoka turned towards the front door and placed her hand on the doorknob. She paused for a second before turning it and opening the door.

"Good morning, Madoka" said Homura, her voice becoming gentle as she said her name.

Homura stood at the entrance of her house, and had turned at the sound of the door opening. The ebony haired girl had her usual face on, though a hopeful smile cracked through the mask.

"Good morning, Homura-chan" smiled Madoka as she walked towards the girl, taking a place right next to her before they started heading towards school.

After a few minutes of walking Madoka decided to start with her plan. She wanted to make sure that Homura was comfortable with it first, not wanting to impose herself on the girl that clearly had trouble saying no. So first she checked if Homura wanted to be close or not. And the only way she could think of was to take a step to the side, putting some distance between them. As she did Madoka could swear she had seen Homura's brows twitch in confusion for a split second before returning to her usual cool face.

But Homura didn't close the distance back as they walked, almost a minute had already gone by. Madoka's heartbeat started to rise, as she felt a tinge of pain in her chest.

I messed up. I messed up. I messed up.

What if she thinks now that I did that to get away from her? God, why did I do that. That had to be the worst possible thing I could do. Great job Madoka, you really can't-

Her thoughts were suddenly brought to a halt after she noticed Homura had taken half a step towards her. The girl had tried to hide it, but with Madoka being hyper focused on her steps it proved to be an impossible task. Madoka decided to take a quarter step herself, getting a bit closer to Homura as to say 'It's fine, get closer'.

It didn't take Homura more than a second to take another step towards Madoka, completely closing the initial gap that she had placed between them. Homura was actually trying to get close to her… So, she either was – as Madoka thought she was – just wanting to be close to her friend, or her mom was right…

The thought of it being the second option make Madoka's heart flutter. A feeling of hope appearing in her mind. She wouldn't mind her mom 'I told you' if that was the case – in fact, she would more than gladly accept it.

"Homura-chan" Madoka said; the girl trying to get a conversation going "Did you sleep well yesterday?"

"…Yes, I did" It took a moment for Homura to answer. "I was calm throughout the night"

"I'm glad!" exclaimed Madoka, a bit louder than she wanted to. An awkward silence fell between the two for a few seconds before Homura spoke up again.

"Did you?" she asked, her eyes weren't looking at Madoka but rather they simply stared in front of her as she walked.

"Ah- It took me some time…" Madoka nervously laughed as she remembered how she had stayed up drawing until two A.M. At first what had been some simple doodles, quickly became an attempt to draw a background; which quickly became a drawing of herself and Homura snuggling together at the café "But I think I slept enough in the end"

"Make sure to take care of yourself" said Homura, now looking directly at Madoka. "Sleep is important"

Madoka looked at Homura, her amethyst eyes seemed to be almost pleading her to listen. But what caught Madoka wasn't only that, but the deep dark circles that were below them. Madoka raised an eyebrow.

"You don't seem to sleep much though" said Madoka before letting out a chuckle.

Homura let out a weak laugh at her own hypocrisy, her face settling into a smile afterwards. "I guess you are right"

Madoka looked in awe at Homura. This had been the first time she had heard Homura laugh. The sound of her small laugher quickly imprinting itself on Madoka's memory; with how few expressions Homura usually used (and most of them being forced ones) a laugh like the one she had just made felt like gold. Madoka wasn't satisfied by it though, now that she had gotten a taste of the girl's laughter, she wanted to actually see her laugh from joy.

They kept walking towards the school. Most of the time they stayed in silence, though Madoka would often try to start some more small talk between the two; an excuse to hear the girl speak.

Current date: 20th of May

A/N: I've realized that I got a lot of MadoHomu and too little KyouSaya… gotta fix that.