Nagisa walked into the elevator, quickly pressing the close door button once she was inside. The doors slowly closed as she kept her eyes focused on the outside, paying attention to every tiny bit of movement. The doors finally closed, no one else inside the elevator. Nagisa pressed the button for the fifth floor and waited.

When the elevator doors opened, she made sure to look at both sides of the hallway. No one was there. Good. Nagisa started to walk towards her apartment – well, Mami's apartment - and once in front of the door reached for the handle. She turned the handle, but the door didn't open. The door being locked.

"Mami hasn't come yet?" wondered Nagisa out loud, the girl digging into her backpack as she searched for the apartment keys.

"Geez, she gets friends and forgets about me" she joked as she unlocked the apartment door, slowly opening it.

Nagisa took a step forward, entering the apartment. A shiver ran up her back. She took a deep breath and turned around. Two grins welcomed her, the two dolls observing her from the hallway. The familiar with the winter hat and braids took a step forwards, trying to get into the apartment. Nagisa quickly slammed the door shut.

Since she had been found out by Homura the two familiars had stopped being so concealing about their following around. Instead, they had simply started to follow her close by.

Nagisa turned around and walked into the apartment, leaving her schoolbag next to the entrance. She merrily walked towards the kitchen, Mami had been baking something yesterday and it should be okay for her to take one slice, right? Nagisa walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. The huge cake – really, not even Nagisa thought she could finish that in one sitting, maybe Kyouko could have though – loomed over her. She went to pick it up but saw a note on top of it.

"If you eat this, I'm not buying cheese for a month.

Signed, Mami"

"Fuck" whispered Nagisa.

Wait, Mami isn't home.

"Fuck!" shouted Nagisa.

Now that she knew there was not going to be any cake today she didn't even feel in the mood to do her homework. After all, what was the point of doing homework in a world created by the devil? Surely Homura wasn't doing hers! And she, technically, was already dead; why did she have to study?! She didn't have to do anything when she was in the Law of Cycles, just… float? Be there? Exist and not exist at the same time kind of deal. But at least she didn't have to study, that was a plus.

If Homura was going to recreate the world once again then she could have made it so she was in Bebe's form! That way she could expend the whole day eating. And the cake song was fun, bring it back.

Nagisa walked towards the living room, stopping on her tracks as she saw the two dolls sitting on the couch, taking almost the whole thing for themselves. The dolls looked at her with their eternal grins before going back to their own thing, almost as if it had been Nagisa the one that had just invaded the living room instead of them. Nagisa's left eye twitched.

"Move to the side" demanded Nagisa "I wanna watch TV"

The dolls looked at her. The one with the two buns whispered something on the other's ear, getting a laugh from her companion. Two mace-pins appeared out of nowhere, gently resting on their hands. Without breaking eye contact with Nagisa, the dolls placed the pins on the few spots that were free of the couch. Leaving no gap to even sit on.

That's it.

These two felt weaker than the ones that followed Mami. Maybe she could take on them. Maybe she could teach them a lesson. Maybe she should just transform and blast them away. She was one of the secretaries of the Law of Cycles, she was pretty- kind of sure that she could take both of them on. She would ask for forgiveness later, maybe Homura would be in a good mo-

The door to the apartment opened.

"Nagisa! I'm home!" cheered Mami, a happier voice than usual.

Nagisa walked towards the entrance, if Mami was this happy maybe she had gotten herself a nice offer in the supermarket and they were going to eat something good. Or maybe she was simply excited to eat the cake she had worked on yesterday and the only reason she had told her not to eat was so they could eat together, or maybe-

"How you doin' cheese brat?" Kyouko walked in after Mami a big grin on her face, Sayaka followed a few steps behind them; The blue-haired girl was frowning, and with how lost were her eyes she seemed to be thinking about something.

However, what really caught Nagisa's attention weren't the two girls Mami had brought with her. No, what caught her attention were the six dolls that followed them. The troupe walking into the house as they looked at Nagisa and laughed at the girl, not trying to hide themselves from her anymore Nagisa could feel the full force of their magic.

"Nagisa?" worriedly asked Mami "Are you okay? Your face is completely pale"

"Ah! Yes! I didn't expect you to bring your friends that's all! Was surprised!" Nagisa quickly ignored the dolls that went towards the living room, trying to hide the pression she felt when looking their way. They didn't even feel like familiars when they were all together, hell, the two that were following Sayaka already had more presence than a witch by themselves. Now, Nagisa was pretty sure she had gotten all her memories back, and from what she remembered from her time in Homura's labyrinth these dolls didn't use to be this strong. They felt like familiars that were ready to branch off their witch. Ready to become their own. But something, or most likely someone, was holding them back.

"Surprised enough to look as if you had seen a ghost?" questioned Mami as she frowned "You… you haven't eaten the cake, right?"

"What?! Of course not!" Nagisa said, feeling insulted that Mami would even think that she would do such a thing! Yeah, that had been her original idea but that didn't matter! "What kind of girl do you think I am?!"

"One that has been caught trying to sneakily eat food at three in the morning" reminded Mami before letting out a long sigh.

"Hah…" sighed Kyouko "How troublesome is today's youth"

"You do the same though?" Sayaka looked at the redhead with a confused expression on her face.

"Wrong" Kyouko corrected "I don't do it sneakily; I just go for it"

"Well," Mami clapped her hands together, a warm smile on her face "let's go wait in the living room for now. We'll be taking the cake in an hour or two, want some tea and snacks in the meantime?"

"Yeah/Yes!" Kyouko and Nagisa exclaimed at the same time.

[-]

Mami carefully poured the hot tea into everyone's cup one by one, putting away the almost empty teapot after she finished with hers. Nagisa leaned forwards, trying to get one of the cookies from the couch; sadly, the task was deemed impossible from her current position – she had left the closest spots to Sayaka and Kyouko – and as such she had to get up from the couch to reach the plate. She did make sure to pick up more than one. She wasn't planning on making the same trip twice just for one more cookie.

"What are we waiting for by the way?" asked Nagisa while she munched on the chocolate cookie she had picked.

"Ah right, we didn't tell you" Mami said, going for a sip of tea before talking again. "We are waiting for Madoka and Akemi-san to come"

Nagisa almost choked on the cookie when she heard Homura's name. She looked towards the side, where most of the dolls gathered and played around with some kind of wheel toy. Not only was she going to have to fight against the pressure of the eight dolls that currently were in the house, but Homura was coming too? And not only that, because if what Sayaka had told her about Homura was true – which seeing how things had ended it probably was – it meant that Madoka was also coming by with dolls; probably more than two.

Nagisa didn't catch anyone attention with her almost choking though, most eyes had ended on Sayaka who had actually started to choke at the mention of the other two.

"Are you okay Miki-san?" worriedly asked Mami as she got up from her seat, walking over to the blue-haired girl and offering her the cup of tea. "Here wash it down"

Sayaka obliged, gulping down the entire cup of tea to try and move the cookie's that had stuck to her throat.

"Th-thank you" she said as she tried to recover her breath.

Mami let out a sigh "Really, every time you've come to my house you almost die. First you fainted out of nowhere, and now you choke!"

Does Sayaka remember too?

Nagisa couldn't help but wonder if the girl had recovered her memories and the reaction came from hearing Homura's name. And apparently the dolls that were in the room were all wondering the same thing, everyone looking at Sayaka with piercing glares. One of the dolls, one with short messy blue hair and a black sun hat started to walked towards Sayaka.

The doll placed herself in front of the girl. Her expression didn't change at all, but Nagisa could feel the magic of the doll moving around as it tried to prod for something.

The doll stopped. As if they were one, all of them quickly turned their heads towards the same direction. Their faces didn't change, but Nagisa could almost feel their grins going wider as they all stared at the same place.

BANG!

BANG! BANG!

"What the hell is that?" said a startled Kyouko as she got up from the couch and walked towards the windows of the apartment. "Are those…"

BANG!

"Fireworks?" finished Mami, now looking towards the window as a multitude of differently colored fireworks filled the blue sky over Mitakihara.

"Who the hell throws fireworks during the day?" added Kyouko.

"They should take a few weeks before they start growing…" Madoka walked away from the small cat faced flower pot, the heliotrope seeds had been covered in a bit of soil and a heating mat made sure to keep the temperature stable. "But after that they shouldn't take long to go into bloom"

"Hmmm" Homura hummed in answer, making sure to put away the things they had used to plant the seeds and gather the bit of soil they had spilled off the table.

Madoka walked around the table where Homura was cleaning, a timid smile on her face as she got closer to the girl. Once she was right next to her, Madoka simply observed Homura's face as she finished cleaning the table. Homura couldn't contain the blush that started to appear on her cheeks as the pink haired girl pierced her with her shining pink eyes.

"Say, Homura-chan" Madoka fidgeted in place, the girl starting to help Homura clean to keep her hands busy with something "I-I've been thinking…"

Homura looked at Madoka for a second, quickly having to look away as the memory of her soft sweet lips came back; the memory threatening to make her once sick heart explode.

"S-so since- since I like you…" Madoka voice became meek, the embarrassment still apparent in her voice. After having calmed down from the… situation they had – Homura's mind wandered to Madoka repeating 'I love you' over and over again –, the realization of what had happened started to settle on both of them and things had been awkward since. "And… you like m-m-me too… right?"

Homura nodded.

"We-well, I thought are we like…" Madoka looked away, trying to hide her face from Homura "A-are we like dating now or…"

Homura's heartbeat fastened as her heart tried to escape from her chest. Where they going out now? Wait- had Madoka actually confessed to her? Madoka had said she loved her? Madoka- Madoka loved her?

Not only that but Madoka had kissed her. The thing she had so shamefully dreamt of more times than she could remember, and it had been just like she expected. Madoka's lips had been sweet, soft, warm, and kind as the girl they belonged to. Homura felt like she could let herself melt away in them.

"O-of course if you don't want to-!" Madoka rectified, seeing as Homura wasn't giving her answer.

"N-no! I…" Homura tried to speak, the weak meek braided girl she had been in the past coming through at the worst possible moment. A knot formed in her throat, words getting caught up in it.

Homura looked at Madoka, the pink haired girl trying to hide her embarrassed face. Madoka's hands were shaking as she waited for an answer.

"If- If you want…" Homura started to speak, she had to say it. Madoka had been the one to declare in the heat of the moment, but now that they had calmed down the pink haired beauty was probably thinking she had done something wrong.

Memories of old dreams came back, and the realization that this wasn't like how she had dreamed her declaration of love was supposed to go out flood her. She had always thought it would be something more romantic. For years she had dreamed of the perfect declaration: defeat Walpurgisnacht, everyone is saved, she confesses both her journey and love to Madoka. Instead, she had gotten a mess of a declaration: They kissed before even saying they loved each other, then Madoka was the one to confess instead of Homura… And then they stood around for almost an hour without even knowing if they were going out.

She wasn't going to complain though.

"If you are okay with me-"

"Of course I am!" Madoka jumped, the girl seemingly having taken such a proposition as an insult. "You are amazing Homura-chan! The problem is if you want to go out with someone like… like me"

Homura faced Madoka with eyes as wide as plates.

"I mean…" Madoka kept talking, looking at her hands as she played with the empty package of seeds "I'm not good at anything… I have to put a lot of work to even keep up my marks, I'm very much average on sports… And I'm not as beautiful as you are"

Madoka looked at Homura with pained eyes, her smile wavering as she spoke.

"It would be insulting to even let someone like me go out with you" Madoka let out a forced nervous laugh.

"…No" Homura muttered. "You are wrong, Madoka"

Homura took a step forwards, closing her distance with Madoka and giving the girl a hug. Trying to be as gentle with her touch as Madoka had been before for her when she had needed it.

"You are an amazing person, Madoka" Homura whispered, slowly stroking Madoka's back in a gentle movement "You are the kindest person I know; you would sacrifice yourself if you knew that by doing so you would be helping someone; You are the strongest and bravest person I know; You are my guiding star, Madoka"

Homura slowly let go of the hug, facing a surprised Madoka still processing her words.

"Does that mean…"

"I would love to go out with you, Madoka"

We would spend the rest of our days with you if we could.

Homura ignored the Devil, not because of her words – she agreed with them – but because right now the only thing that mattered was Madoka.

They both stood in silence once again, the awkwardness in the air slowly changing into a more a comfortable silence. Madoka slowly approached Homura once more, their heartbeats quickening as their faces got closer and closer. Homura could feel Madoka's breathing, their lips mere centimeters apart-

The door opened. The club president and the other girl walking in.

"God, I hate those people at class 3-2! Can't they take care of a basic fern without destroying its leaves?!" complained bonsai guy.

The girl sighed before looking up at Homura and Madoka. A bit of a surprised expression on her face as she observed both of them standing next to each other, reddened cheeks in full display.

"Oh, are we interrupting something?" she asked.

"Ah- No! Homura-chan and I just finished putting everything away!" Madoka said, moving a bit further away from Homura with a bigger blush on her face "Don't worry about it, Ayumi-senpai"

Homura cursed the other two for barging in and stopping what had seemed like another possible kiss from Madoka. Having to contain herself from actually cursing them.

They spent the rest of the club time cleaning in silence, exchanging knowing smiles with each other from time to time.

Sayaka leaned forwards to take another cookie, trying to avoid the bickering Kyouko and Nagisa on her way to the plate.

"You've eaten more than I have!" complained Nagisa, trying to uselessly take the plate of cookies from Kyouko's hands.

"Who knows? Haven't been keepin' count" smugly announced Kyouko as she took another cookie and ate it.

"AAAH! That was the last chocolate one! You- You bastard!" shouted Nagisa, trying to climb on Kyouko to reach the plate of cookies; Kyouko laughing at the girl's attempt. Really, she liked to tease people too much.

"Nagisa!" scolded Mami from the other side of the room, an embarrassed expression on her face "I will buy more another day, please stop annoying Kyouko"

"But-" Nagisa looked at Mami with pleading eyes that were only met by an angry look. "Ugh! Fine!"

Nagisa walked away from Kyouko, sitting back on the couch before angrily taking a sip of her tea.

"I'm sorry Kyouko-san" sighed Mami "She can get a bit… out of hand when it comes to food"

"Gee, I wonder who she reminds me of" whispered Sayaka to herself, but judging by the sharp look that Kyouko gave her the redhead had heard her.

"Don't worry 'bout it Mami" said Kyouko, leaving the plate back on the table and sliding it towards Nagisa. "I just wanted to tease her a bit"

Nagisa looked at the cookies tray for a few seconds before finally giving in and grumpily taking a cookie.

Silence filled the room once more, the sound of eating being the only one that was made. Eventually Kyouko wasn't able to stand the silence anymore and spoke up.

"How long is gonna take those two to come?" she complained with a tired sigh "Shouldn't they have come by like ten minutes ago?"

"Maybe they got lost?" wondered Mami, getting out her phone and opening the Line app.

"Madoka is usually good with directions" added Sayaka "I don't think she would get lost"

"Yeah" sighed Kyouko "She would have sent a message if she had gotten lost too. And as much as Akemi does whatever Madoka tells her I don't think she is one to lose time getting lost"

At the mention of Akemi, Sayaka's mind wandered into her previous realization. Madoka had been trying to get close to Akemi before, that much was true. But ever since the day she had asked Akemi to go to the shopping mall with her she had gotten way more attached to the girl…

Wait, had that been a date? Oh god, that was a date. That's the only reason why Madoka would have preferred to go only with Akemi rather than as a group with everyone else…

Wait, and Akemi didn't know either? She hadn't told her at least, and she was in the game of looking for whoever Madoka liked as much as Sayaka had been herself…

Well, at least she wasn't the only dense one. Yay, Sayaka…

And Kyouko knew… because Madoka had told her? Then, she was there to help Madoka on her date? God it all made so much sense now.

Still, Madoka liking Akemi? The girl wasn't ugly sure, and she had good grades, and was athletic, and definitely helped Madoka with anything she asked… Okay she could see why Madoka would fall for her. She still had that weird feeling about her, but she also understood what Madoka had meant before.

When Madoka had told her that Akemi always looked like she was alone, like she was suffering… Sayaka really didn't see it. The girl always looked the same to her after all, always with her cold face on and glaring down anyone who had dared to approach her. But now that she had seen her more… Whenever Akemi was with Madoka she felt like a different person. Hell, she smiled sometimes whenever she and Madoka were together. And after their little deal to find who Madoka had been in love with – an ironic search now – Sayaka had come to realize that the girl wasn't that bad… At least not when it came to Madoka that is. She still had given food poisoning to Kyouko.

"I promise if they don't come in the next five minutes, I'm eating Akemi's slice of cake" announced Kyouko.

"There is more than enough for seconds" giggled Mami.

"Then the brat can get the other slice" said Kyouko, looking at Nagisa in search of her opinion.

"I approve of that plan!" the kid happily said.

The doorbell rang.

"Oh, speaking of the devil" said Sayaka, the last word leaving a strange sensation as she spoke it.

Mami got up from her chair, gently leaving her teacup back on the table before walking towards the door; disappearing from their view as she turned a corner. A few seconds later the sound of a door opening was heard.

"Hello Mami-san! Sorry for being late"

"Don't worry about it, did you two get lost?" asked Mami, the steps of the three of them walking towards the living room could be heard.

This was it, after the cake Kyouko was going to take care of Akemi and she could ask Madoka to confirm who she liked. Sayaka thought she had pretty much figured it out already, but she could still be wrong. She had been about Kyouko after all.

"Oh no, no" corrected Madoka, Mami now came into view as the blonde girl turned the corner back into the living room "We just got distracted on our way here"

Sayaka's eyes went wide in surprise. Madoka and Akemi came into view at the same time, Madoka attached to the raven haired girl arm's as if she was to die were she to stop clinging to her.

"Hello again, Kyouko-chan, Sayaka-chan!" said Madoka, almost as if the fact that she was completely glued to Akemi was completely normal for the two. "You too Nagisa-chan! It's been a long time since I last saw you!"

Sayaka looked at Kyouko, only a smug grin on her face as she approvingly nodded.

"Took you long enough" she said.

"We got distracted, sorry!" said Madoka.

"Wasn't talking about that" muttered Kyouko before moving to the side to leave a place for Madoka and Akemi to sit on.

Madoka guided Akemi towards the couch, only letting the girl's arm go for a second as they took their seats before grabbing onto her again.

Do I even need to ask her?

"I'll brew more tea and get the cake, please wait a minute" said Mami, taking the teapot with her and a smile. "Is Chamomile tea okay, Akemi-san?"

"Ah, yes" Akemi said making a small pause as she looked at Madoka for a second "Thank you, Tomoe-san"

Mami gave her a smile before going back into the kitchen with the teapot.

"I-I'll help her!" Nagisa said as she jumped off the couch and rushed towards the kitchen.

Madoka looked at the table, seeing the tray of cookies that laid on it, and leaned forwards to take one. She bit half of it, her face going into a smile as she ate the sweet.

"This is really good!" Madoka turned towards Akemi, offering the same cookie she had taken a bite out of to the girl "Here Homura-chan try it!"

Akemi hesitated for a second, her cheeks blushing in a deep red, before carefully eating the cookie that Madoka offered; Sayaka couldn't believe her eyes, Akemi Homura the girl that had been tagged as 'ice queen' blushing like an idiot.

"Is it good?" happily asked Madoka, clearly more content with being able to feed the girl than with hearing her opinion about the cookie.

"Yes" Homura said her cool voice not matching her blushing face, the girl trying to put on a façade in front of the other two.

"Right~?"

Sayaka wanted to say something, anything, but the whole mood that the two of them had going seemed rude to break. She looked towards Kyouko in search of help, hoping that the usually more direct approach of the redhead would make it easier to talk; but when she saw Kyouko the girl had taken out her phone and was scrolling through her socials as if she was alone in the room.

Sayaka sighed.

[-]

"Mami this cake is delicious!" joyfully said Madoka as she finished eating a piece of the cake Mami had served them.

"My, thank you, Kaname-san" Mami let out a practiced refined laugh "You sure are happy today, did something good happen?"

"Well…" Madoka took a side look at Akemi, the girl flinching a bit as she did. "You could say so, yes"

"I'm glad" added Mami as she ate a piece of the cake.

Akemi went to take a sip of the tea, trying to hide her slight blush with the teacup.

"Soooo…." Started saying Kyouko who was sitting right next to Akemi, leaning forwards to look at both her and Madoka at the same time "what did you two do at the club?"

Akemi started to choke on her tea, bringing the back of her hand towards her mouth to cover it as she coughed. Madoka started to pat her in the back.

"Well… we planted some heliotropes" said Madoka, still helping Akemi recover from her coughing fit.

"Heliotropes?" wondered Mami "Those are quite beautiful flowers"

"Right?" said Madoka with a smile, Homura now recovered went for another sip of her tea.

"What did they mean though…?" started to wonder Mami, taking a long sip from her tea as she went into deep thought "Ah, wasn't it something like 'eternal love'?"

"Yes! Undying love and passion" corrected Madoka.

Akemi started to choke again, this time only coughing a few times, before she left her teacup back on the table; having given up on trying to drink. Madoka was looking at her with an entertained smile.

Something definitely had happened between the two.

"Who chose the flower?" asked Kyouko as she grabbed the strawberry that was on top of her slice and popped it into her mouth.

"I did" said Madoka. "It's a beautiful violet flower"

"Isn't it a bit of hard plant to take care of as your first though?" asked Mami, handing another slice of cake to Nagisa who had gone a bit further away from the rest.

"It isn't recommended no" Madoka looked at Akemi, a smile with more meaning behind it that Sayaka could see on her face "But I'm not leaving Homura-chan alone with it, we are both taking care of it; right, Homura-chan?"

"Y-… yes" Akemi tried to hide her stutter. Keyword being 'tried' because Sayaka had clearly noticed it, and by Kyouko's grin she had to.

Time went on as they finished eating the cake, most of the work being done by Nagisa and Kyouko. The conversation quickly becoming a vent of how much schoolwork they had. After a few minutes, Kyouko looked at the clock and nodded to herself before getting up from the couch and stretched her whole body.

"Well, I'm feeling like eating something salty"

"You still want to eat?" asked Sayaka in amazement.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go to the convenience store" She looked towards Madoka "Anyone want something? It's on me"

"Ah- Yes! Some chips may be good actually" Madoka unnaturally said, a line that felt almost rehearsed.

"Cool, Akemi come with me" Kyouko started to walk towards the door.

"Why?" said Akemi with a frown on her face.

"I'm sure you will choose something Madoka likes more than me, now come"

"I don't see how-"

"Can you please go with her Homura-chan?" asked Madoka as she held the girl's hands.

"I…" Akemi's frown deepened. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly "Okay, I'll be back soon"

Akemi walked out of the apartment, the shadows almost seemingly shifting as she closed the door behind her. A minute in silence passed before Madoka broke it.

"So, Sayaka-chan" Madoka moved to face Sayaka. "Did you want to ask me something?"

The girl's eyes beamed with newfound confidence, whatever had happened today had given her childhood friend a boost in her self-confidence. Sayaka just hoped it wasn't a temporary one.

"Eh? Ah- right" Sayaka looked at Mami, if Madoka had started this here she guessed that Mami hearing about it was alright "So… who do you like?"

Mami raised her eyebrows in surprise at the question, taking a long sip of her tea as she made sure to hear Madoka's next words.

Madoka took a deep breath, a warmth filled smile on her face as she spoke.

"Homura. I love Homura"

Mami nodded with a satisfied smile, almost as if she had known – or at least guessed – and her suspicions had been confirmed.

"Does she know?" asked Sayaka, the initial surprise had been taken away from her own deductions. Even if they had been quite late.

Madoka didn't say anything, the girl closing her eyes as she thought of an answer to give. A dumb smile on her face that made Sayaka guess what the answer was going to be.

"…Yes" Madoka finally said, getting an approving nod from Mami.

"Since when?" asked Mami, to curious now to let herself out of the conversation.

"Since… since today" Madoka admitted with a bashful expression on her face, the girl's cheeks becoming red in embarrassment. "I told her after… something had happened"

"Oh~? What was her answer?" excitedly asked Mami.

Madoka fidgeted in her seat, a love dumb smile on her face as she squeezed her own head to try and contain her own excitement.

"She said she also loves me… and we started going out" Madoka's voice was between a small timid voice and a squeal full of joy.

"Oh my! Congratulations!" said Mami, her words only making Madoka blush more.

Sayaka looked at her friend, seeing how happy she looked. Her childhood friend had found someone she loved, and she was happy. Sayaka knew Akemi wouldn't try to hurt Madoka, at least not on purpose. And even if she did, seeing how happy Madoka was right now… well, if something bad happened between the two she would be there for her. And of course, she was going to held Akemi accountable for what she had said when they were searching for the guy Madoka liked, she really hoped she would treat Madoka well like she had hoped others would. And if not? She would talk some sense into her.

Sayaka had thought that learning who her friend liked would make her angry, maybe surprised, maybe disappointed even… but all it did was make her happy as she saw the so deserved happiness Madoka got from it.

Besides, Madoka loving Akemi somehow felt right.

"Thank you for your purchase!"

The automatic doors of the convenience store closed behind them, Kyouko carrying the bag where the chips they had bought were in.

"Thank you for paying for it" said Kyouko without looking at Akemi following behind her.

"Madoka asked for them" Akemi stated, really the girl only thought about pinky huh. "It's only natural that I would"

They walked in silence for a few meters before Kyouko looked over her shoulder, seeing Akemi walking with a lost stare behind her. The girl didn't even seem to be there.

"So, how did it go with Madoka" asked Kyouko, facing forwards once again.

"What do you mean"

Kyouko sighed "I mean who was the one to confess. My money is on pinky"

"How do you…?"

Kyouko stopped on her tracks, turning around to face Akemi with an incredulous face.

"Madoka was, literally, glued to you. And way happier than usual too" Kyouko remembered the mood the two had going between them when they came into Mami's apartment "Well, and Madoka felt extra flirty with you, though knowing you you probably didn't even notice it"

"No… I did" corrected Akemi, a bit of a blush on her cheeks.

"If you did that just means that something definitely happened" Kyouko's smug grin grew even harder as she threw the bag with chips over her shoulder "So, who was it?"

Akemi took a moment to answer, the girl probably still debating on whether she should tell her or not. Not like it mattered to Kyouko though, she would ask Madoka later if she didn't get her answers here.

"It was Madoka…" finally admitted Akemi.

"I knew it"

"She kissed me twice before saying anything and started to confess over and over until I answered…"

Kyouko's eyes went as wide as plates, her mouth hanging open.

"Holy shit, Pinky had more guts than I expected"

With that said they kept walking, Akemi hanging close behind. Madoka having been the one to confess was as expected, with how dense Akemi was there was no way she was going to be the one to confess. Though Madoka kissing the girl before even asking her if she liked her was more of a surprise, that takes either a lot of confidence or stupidity on her part. She would ask later for details to make sure it was the first one.

"Can I ask you a question, Sakura-san?"

"Call me Kyouko, Sakura is way too stiff" there was no answer from Akemi, Kyouko looked over her shoulder to see the girl looking at the ground "What is it?"

"I… I don't know if I took the right decision"

"Are you talking about Madoka?" asked Kyouko, getting a nod as answer from Akemi "do you like her?"

"I would break the laws of the universe for her" stoically answered Akemi.

"Cool, do you like her?" insisted Kyouko as she dismissed the cheesy line.

"…Yeah, I love her"

"Then you did"

"But there could be consequences-"

"Worry about those when they come" Kyouko couldn't even think of what kind of consequences the girl was talking, but knowing how weird she was it could be anything "You love her, spend time with while you can"

Kyouko quickened her pace, the faces of her family flashing on her mind.

*Static*

The dead body of Sayaka on her hands as she slowly disappeared from the world together with her soul gem.

*Static*

"You never know when it's the last time you will see them"

*Static*

*Static*

*Static*

Current date: Thursday 22nd of May.