Homura helped Madoka sit on one of the infirmary's beds. The bleeding had stopped long before they even reached the infirmary, and Homura had of course examined her body with magic in search of anything serious, but it had all thankfully turned out to be skin level wounds and nothing more.

Not that them being small wounds would still take away from Homura's irresponsibility. Once again, she had made the mistake of not paying enough attention, the mistake of not having all her being devoted to protecting Madoka. He had dropped her guard, and Madoka had gotten hurt.

"Thank you, Homura-chan" Madoka said with a grateful smile, the girl taking a look at her closed wounds. "Can you get me the alcohol, please? It's on the third shelf of that cabinet"

Homura nodded before making her way towards the cabinet, getting the alcohol bottle, a wet wipe, and a big square band aid for the leg wound. The resulting scab would get stuck in her socks, the friction would open the wound again, so it would be better to cover it up.

Homura walked back towards Madoka, crouching down as she opened the wet wipe package and carefully cleaned the girl's wound.

"I can do it myself, you know?" Madoka embarrassedly laughed.

"I know" Homura stated, still focused on properly cleaning the wound. She could use magic; she could heal it in less than an instant. She could make it so it didn't even happen, restart the day and make sure that Madoka wouldn't even get hit in the first time. But this was her mistake, a reminder that she couldn't stop paying attention if she wanted Madoka to be safe. "I want to do it, that's all"

"Oh…" Madoka embarrassedly muttered.

Homura, of course, had omitted how she wanted to do it because it was her fault. She knew Madoka wouldn't accept that. She knew that telling her would only make Madoka worry about her. So, she decided to do the best thing she could do; the thing that had worked during the time loops: she would just keep it to herself, Madoka shouldn't have to worry about her problems.

Because every time she did, she would get hurt.

Homura finished cleaning the leg wound. It wasn't as big as she had first expected, the amount of blood a small wound like this could let out was still surprising to her. Homura took the square bandage and carefully placed it on the wound, making sure to align it properly with the scab.

Homura got up and walked towards a chair, pulling it over to the bed before she sat on it and began working on the other wounds Madoka had. She made sure not to look at Madoka in the eyes.

"You are good at this, Homura-chan" Madoka spoke in a quiet tone "Have you been the nurse's aide before?"

"No" Homura finished with one wound before swiftly moving on towards the next, slowly making her way from the upper arm towards the hand in a meticulous motion. Memories of tending to wounds not caused by witches but that she never wanted to heal with magic coming back to haunt her for a second "I learnt how to tend to them myself"

"That's great!" Madoka stuttered "W-well, not great that you got hurt that many times, but great that you learnt-"

"I knew what you meant" Homura said, not letting the girl go into a downwards spiral to try and explain herself. "I know you wouldn't want anyone to get hurt"

"Y-yeah" Madoka sheepishly smiled.

Silence fell between the two while Homura finished taking care of Madoka's wounds. She thought back to the girl's torso, where her schoolbag had transferred the full brunt of the impact into the side of her torso. It wasn't too serious, but it would leave a bruise for a few days.

Homura finished with all the wounds and got up from the chair, walking back to the cabinet to store the alcohol bottle and to throw away the wipe and it's package.

"Ey Homura-chan" Madoka muttered as Homura carefully threw away the packaging. "You are still blaming yourself, aren't you?"

Homura perked up, the accusation catching her off guard.

"…No"

"Don't lie" Madoka got up from the bed, walking towards Homura before giving her a gentle hug "Your face isn't as inexpressive as you think it is"

Homura stood awkwardly in Madoka's embrace. Her body longing for her to return the hug, to properly let herself bathe in Madoka's kindness. Her soul fighting against it, her old determined self was disgusted at how easy it was to make her resolve waver.

"I could have saved you" Homura whispered, Madoka's hug tightening as her worries were confirmed.

"It was just a bad fall" Madoka whispered back, her soothing voice washing over Homura.

"It could have been worse" Homura grimaced, what if she hadn't been paying attention when they were crossing the street? What if it had been a car instead of Kyouko? How many times in the past had Madoka died because she hadn't paid enough attention?

"But it wasn't" Madoka sighed before she let go of the hug, grabbing Homura by her shoulders with a reassuring grip instead. "Homura-chan, you are my girlfriend, not my bodyguard"

Homura locked eyes with Madoka, letting herself be lost in the beautiful pink jewels that they were. She had always been protecting Madoka, she had always tried at least. Even after she had disappeared from this world, she fought to protect what she had created.

"I was distracted-"

"You said that before, but with what were you distracted?" Madoka frowned "Is something bothering you, Homura-chan?"

Homura opened her mouth as to speak, but a sudden sense of embarrassing filled her as she thought back at what had been bothering her since seeing Madoka this morning. At how she had expected the girl to be as close as she had been the day before. At how she had realized how much she had been daydreaming about receiving more of Madoka's affection.

"I can't help you if you don't tell me" Madoka's tender smile beamed like a star, her kindness almost completely blinding Homura.

"I was worried about why you seemed… so distant" Homura muttered, her voice being almost nothing but a whisper that tried to fade into the air before reaching Madoka's ears. "You walked further away than usual from me. You greeted me with less motivation than the previous days… I thought that maybe you were regretting yesterday"

"I wasn't!" Madoka shouted, her eyes filled with guilt "I was just- There is no way I would regret yesterday!"

Madoka tried to control her breathing, slowly letting her grip of Homura soften before she walked towards her schoolbag and started to retrieve something from it. Madoka opened whatever she had grabbed from her bag, letting out a disappointed sigh in the process, before she closed it and walked towards Homura; the familiar black lunchbox in her hands.

"You see, I tried to make a- well, special lunch for today since we are dating now… and, well you know" Homura could tell Madoka was hiding her own disappointment and sadness, in a different situation the girl would have probably cried. "And it came out pretty great! But, well, I was scared that it would get messed up on our way to school so I really couldn't move around and…"

Madoka handed the black box to Homura, who took it between her hands and carefully opened the cover.

"I realized that hugging you or stuff like that would probably mess it up" Madoka let out a disappointed chuckle "Though I guess it didn't matter in the end"

The contents of the lunch box were in disarray. There was a lot of seaweed that seemed to have been cut with great care, but it had all gotten bundled up after the rice jumped around from the impact of the fall. With how much seaweed was in each side, Homura deduced it probably had been two shapes; and the seaweed on top indicated some kind of message. The only thing that had survived the impact were the heart shaped carrots.

"It was supposed to be us" Madoka pointed out "It took me quite a bit of time to make them as good as I could… I should have taken a photo to be honest"

Homura felt her lips take the shape of a smile as she imagined Madoka working on the lunch. How many times the girl would have pouted in disappointment and annoyance as she failed to get a proper shape of their heads.

"I didn't tell you anything because I wanted to surprise you at lunch" Madoka started to get more and more nervous as she realized Homura was simply staring at the messed up lunch "I should have told you, that way you wouldn't have worried pointlessly"

"No, I'm sorry I doubted you" Homura said, looking up form the lunch Madoka had made and staring at the girl with a smile. "I should have asked"

Madoka looked surprised for a second before she returned the smile to Homura.

"Well, I guess lunch won't be as nice as I wanted it to be" Madoka laughed while she took the lunch box from Homura and closed it before putting it back on her schoolbag. "I wanted it to be a bit more special, and is going to end up being the worst one" Madoka let out a weak chuckle.

"I like it" Homura said, catching Madoka's attention as the pink-haired girl turned to face her "You worked hard to make it; I will show it the same appreciation as if it was in perfect condition"

Madoka smiled at Homura, gratefulness showing in her smile "Thank you"

Homura knew this wouldn't be enough for Madoka to simply accept the outcome. She had seen the girl aim towards something and how disappointed she felt whenever she failed. She knew she always wanted to do something more exceptional than jus her average works. Madoka always wanted to aim for something bigger, it had always been one of the reasons she had contracted in the past.

"And since I don't have to worry about the lunch messing up anymore…"

Madoka walked towards the girl with an impish smile on her face. She reached her, and as Homura's mind started to realize what was happening, the girl got on her tip toes and kissed softly kissed her.

"You can't just tell me you were worried because I wasn't showing you affection and not expect me to give you lots!" said Madoka before jumping to the girl, entwining her arms behind her neck, and giving her a longer and deeper kiss.

The class was as boring as they usually were, the math's teach tried to make it interesting – and Kyouko was sure it worked for some of the kids – but between her usual disinterest in the subject and the sharp pain that she had started to feel in her arm… Every second had started to feel longer than the last.

Kyouko moved her arm around a bit, the pain intensifying around her elbow when she did. She really hoped she had only dislocated it and nothing more.

The doors opened, the figures of Madoka and Homura coming in through the door. Homura carried a strange flush on her face, though Kyouko quickly deduced the reason as she saw Madoka's eyes glimmer with a sense of accomplishment and proudness.

"Sorry for being late!" bowed Madoka "I fell on the way to school and Homura-chan accompanied me to the infirmary"

"I see. I hope you are well now" the teacher said, whispers could be heard all throughout the room as everyone fixed their eyes on the pair. "Go to you seats and open page 47 of the book. Prepare the homework that was due today and I will pick it up later"

Both of the girls nodded before they started to walk towards their seats, Madoka trying to sneak a smile at Homura – though by the increasing number of whispers in the class she had failed to conceal it.

"As I was saying…" The teach went back to explaining, trying to get back the attention of the class. Though many were still commenting on the pair that had come with blushed faces and shining eyes.

Kyouko looked at Homura with a raised eyebrow and a questioning smirk as she passed her, the raven haired girl wasn't even able to look at her in the eyes.

What have you done to her, Pinky?

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as a surge of pain came back to her. That was going to be a pain to deal with.

[-]

The school bell rang, indicating the end of the lesson.

"Try to finish this problem at home, and bring the page 49 exercises done for tomorrow" concluded the math's teacher before he started to get his things ready to leave for his next class. The students taking this opportunity to get up and talk with each other as they waited for the next teacher to come.

Kyouko started putting away the math's book, trying not to move her injured arm too much. Though it clearly was a hard task, seeing how it still hurt anyways and had started to swell.

"Say, you think those two did something?" Sayaka said as she leaned on Kyouko's desk without taking her sight off Madoka; the pink haired girl getting up from her seat and walking towards Homura with a smile on her face.

"Of course they did" Kyouko blatantly declared as she held back the pain coming from her arm. "Didn't you see her eyes? If it wasn't because it's Madoka we are talking about I would even think they fucked or something; but seeing it's pinky and Homura they probably just made out"

Sayaka looked at her with a thinking expression "I don't know about that. Madoka becomes bolder the more confident she is" An amused half smile appeared on Sayaka's face "And this is the most confident I've seen her"

Kyouko sighed "Even if she got bolder, I don't think she would be 'do it in school' bold y'know?" Kyouko tried to point with her injured arm without noticing, the sharp pain making her flinch before she used her chin instead to point at Homura "And even if she were, Homura there wouldn't let her"

"I would have agreed with you any other day" Sayaka chuckled "But after seeing Homura basically eating out of Madoka's palm? Yeah no, she isn't fighting against her"

Kyouko and Sayaka both stared at Madoka and Homura, the other two girls happily talking with each other. Madoka had a beaming smile, Homura her usual stone face; though Kyouko had come to learn that Pinky was somehow able to read through it, so it probably didn't matter to the pink haired girl that her girlfriend didn't really express herself a lot. No, knowing Madoka the girl probably thought that just made the times when she did show emotions all the more precious.

Madoka got out her phone and started to search for something to show to Homura. During those seconds were Madoka wasn't looking at her, Homura's eyes darted towards Kyouko and Sayaka, her eyes practically trying to kill them; almost as if the girl had somehow been able to hear their conversation.

"Oops" Sayaka muttered.

"How the fuck does she know" Kyouko wondered.

"Maybe she has like super hearing or something" Sayaka joked "She feels like the kind of person that would have a double life as a superhero"

"More like a supervillain with how she looks at people" Kyouko stated, getting another glare from Homura. This time, the redhead waved her with her good arm and a smug smile on her face. Madoka seemed to notice, the girl suddenly looking at them and waving back with an honest smile.

"I don't know if I want my childhood friend dating a villain" Sayaka said while she smiled at Madoka's gesture before looking back at Kyouko. "And she just looks at people like that when Madoka is mentioned"

"Took you long to notice" Kyouko snorted, getting her a playful hit on her arm – playful if it wasn't because it was the injured one, that is. Having to hide the pain was pretty hard if someone just came and punched her in the arm.

"Should have told me from the start" said Sayaka with a grin on her face.

"Everyone, go back to your seats~!" announced Saotome, the teacher having gotten into the classroom a few seconds ago.

"At least we have gym class after this" sighed Sayaka before going back to her seat.

Kyouko had forgotten they would have gym class next period. And with how her arm was there was no way of hiding it during that class. Still, she really didn't want to admit she had hurt herself; she was more than sure that doing so would sour Madoka's mood, the girl would probably find a way to blame herself for it. And by God that the girl deserved to be all happy with Homura for their first proper day as a couple.

Still, Sayaka wouldn't know what do with it. Going directly to a teacher would result in Madoka learning of it too, since she was the nurse's aide. Maybe asking Mami? She didn't even know where her classroom was, and it would feel wrong to barge in and be like 'broke my arm, help'; Kyouko was pretty sure that Mami was going to grow white hairs with that whole thing of basically being a single mom at the age of fifteen.

That only left one reasonable option.

[-]

The bell rang, everyone got up from their seats and started to gather their things. Kyouko tried to do so without injuring her arm more than it already was, an arduous task since even leaving it hanging made it move around enough for the pain to intensify.

The class quickly divided into two groups by gender, each of them going towards a different changing room. With Kyouko having taken longer than the rest to get her things, she had to quicken her steps to reach the other three as Madoka and Sayaka talked, Homura next to Madoka.

Kyoko reached the group and trotted until she walked next to Homura, catching the others attention as she spoke.

"Hey Pinky, mind if I steal your girlfriend for a minute?"

Madoka's went wide at the question, a mix of confusion and embarrassment going through the girl's face before she looked at Homura.

"What is it, Sakura-san" asked Homura, an undertone of irritation that she tried to hide on her voice.

"Just need your help with something, can you follow me for a sec?"

Homura looked at Kyouko with a frown, her inquisitive eyes trying to gather any kind of information on what Kyouko could be guiding her towards, before she looked back at Madoka.

"I'll be back in five minutes" stated Homura with confidence, the pink haired girl smiling in return.

They parted ways from the group, and Kyouko started to guide Homura through the school until they reached the bathroom. Homura stopped in front of the door, a confused look on her face.

"Sakura-san, I don't know what you need help with but this seems-" Homura started to back away from the bathroom.

"Oh for fucks sake, just come in it's nothing weird I promise"

Homura looked at her with eyes that practically screamed 'that only makes it seem like you will do something weird' before she hesitantly followed Kyouko inside the bathroom.

Kyouko turned around and looked at the girl. She raised her injured arm with the help of her other arm and offered it to Homura.

"I think I broke something when I crashed into Madoka" Kyouko explained, Homura started to walk towards her as to inspect the arm "Didn't want to say anything to the teachers so Madoka wouldn't think it was her fault"

Homura took her arm and inspected it carefully, feeling the swelling near the elbow and making small movements as she tried to ascertain the situation.

"And you chose to told me because?" she asked, still inspecting the arm.

"Had a hunch you would know what to do" Kyouko flinched in pain as Homura moved her arm in a painful way.

Homura hummed before she stopped inspecting Kyouko's arm, the girl slowly letting go of it as to not cause her more unnecessary pain.

"It's just dislocated" she said, looking at Kyouko with a questioning look before she spoke again "I can fix it, but it will hurt"

"Can I use it in gym class?" wondered Kyouko.

"You can, but really shouldn't" declared Homura "It can snap out again"

Kyouko looked at Homura's calculating eyes. The girl was very much serious about this, though Kyouko was more impressed at how quickly she had accepted the situation without even questioning it.

"Just do it. I will worry about that later"

Homura shrugged before confidently picking up Kyouko's arm and forearm and properly aligning herself in anticipation.

"Can you like count down so I'm-"

With a loud snap Homura made a swift motion, properly returning the joint to its normal position. A pain that Kyouko couldn't describe shoot from her arm, her eyes going wide in pain as the girl held back a scream.

"Fucking hell!" Kyouko took her arm out of Homura's hold, caressing the previously dislocated elbow as the soaring pain started to subside. "I told you to let me know so I could be prepared!"

"Anticipation would only have made it worse" Homura calmly said "You should be able to move it, but I would advise against putting to much strain on it for a few weeks at best"

Kyouko moved around her arm as the pain started to numb down. It certainly was fixed, she sighed.

"Thank you"

Homura scoffed at her. "This wouldn't have happened if you and Miki-san hadn't run like that. What even was the reason for doing something so foolish?"

Kyouko, now sure that her elbow wasn't going to pop out at any small movement, looked at Homura with guilty eyes.

"I somehow slept through all my alarms. Sayaka even tried to wake me up for over half an hour before I woke up" Kyouko remembered how well she had slept, so well that if Sayaka hadn't waken her up she would probably still be sleeping "I somehow slept deeper than I ever have, and I'm usually a light sleeper"

Homura's eyes seem to widen at Kyouko's explanation, the girl suddenly having a guilty look of her own on her face. Homura threw her hair behind her before turning around and starting to make her way out.

"You should use more alarms next times" She said with a meek voice "Let's get going, I don't want to make Madoka wait"

"Yeah, yeah" Kyouko said as she followed Homura closely behind.

Madoka sat on one of the many stands that surrounded the field where the students were currently doing a relay race. She opened her water bottle and took a sip from it between tired breaths, her group having finished already. Her eyes darted around the field in search of black hair, quickly finding it waiting for the baton to reach her. Of course, Homura was the last relay; an important position that clearly belong to her amazing girlfriend.

A dumb smiled appeared on Madoka's face, the thought of calling Homura her girlfriend still making her all giddy and fluttery inside.

Sayaka walked over to her, the blue haired girl had also been on her group, and sat next to Madoka with her own water bottle. Sayaka was clearly less tired than Madoka, which either spoke positively of Sayaka's athleticism or badly of her own.

Probably both.

"It's too hot for having us run around this much~" said Sayaka as she let herself collapse on Madoka's shoulder, getting a giggle from her

"Make sure to stay hydrated" reminded Madoka as she handed Sayaka one of the water bottles from the stash next to her.

"There is the nurse's aide doing her job" Sayaka said as she took one of the bottles and took a long sip, draining almost a quarter of the bottle before she let out a contented sigh and looked back at the field. "Oh, Kyouko's got the baton"

Madoka looked back to the field, Kyouko's red hair making it easy to spot the girl as she dashed across the field. Her ponytail followed her, the girl running fast enough for it to basically flow behind her. Kyouko quickly passed one of the other girls, getting some shouts of praise from both Madoka and Sayaka in response. Kyouko seemed to notice, the girl looking at them for a second with what seemed like a grin from this distance.

"Kyouko sure is amazing at sports, isn't she?" Madoka wondered in awe.

"Yeah" Sayaka agreed with a nod before getting up from the bench and stretching her whole body. "Can't tell her that or she will get all smug about it though"

Madoka let out a giggle before looking back to the field. Kyouko was about to reach the next and last runner of her team, Homura. The two girls looked at each other with decisive eyes, Homura getting in position as Kyouko extended her arm and passed the baton to Homura. With no hesitation in sight Homura ran off, quickly reaching her maximum speed as she started to close the distance between her and the other two teams that had the advantage.

"She doesn't even feel human" mentioned Sayaka as she looked at the speed at which Homura was running. "Really, she's been blessed with everything huh"

It was around the half-way point where Homura finally caught to them, closing a difference of a few seconds in by herself and passing the other two teams showing almost no effort. Madoka couldn't help but jump from her seat and cheer Homura as she crossed the finish line. Homura slowly coming to a stop as the rest of her team went to congratulate her. Homura looked at Madoka from the field, a smile appearing on her face as their eyes met.

"I wonder how many people in class have noticed already" said Sayaka as she looked with an impish smile at Madoka. "You two certainly aren't trying to hide it"

Madoka huffed with a bit of embarrassment. "Why should we? I couldn't be prouder of going out with her"

"You really become bolder" Sayaka whispered to herself, the statement getting a bit of an annoyed pout from Madoka.

Homura and Kyouko made their way towards them – the two of them talking, though mainly it was Kyouko –, Madoka got ready to hand them water bottles as they got closer.

"I'm telling you: you wouldn't have been able to win if it wasn't because of me closing the gap first" Kyouko proudly announced, Madoka wanted to support her too of course, but she was still pretty sure Homura could have done it herself… And that wasn't her talking as a girlfriend, no sir. Not at all.

"I'm sure of it, Sakura-san" dismissed Homura between controlled breaths that almost felt fake.

Kyouko made a final push to get one of the water bottles that Madoka was offering them, muttering a thanks before opening and chugging half the bottle down – which Madoka was sure wasn't the best thing to do, but not like she could really stop her. Homura on the other hand calmly walked towards Madoka and took the bottle that Madoka presented to her with a smile, carefully opening it and taking small sips from it.

"You two were amazing!" Madoka said, proud of both of them.

"Thanks" Homura said with a small voice, a bit of a blush on her face before sitting next to Madoka, who didn't even think twice to close the gap as much as she could.

"Of course we are" proudly admitted Kyouko as the girl stretched her arms with what seemed like a bit of discomfort. "When do you two have to go run again?"

"After the next group" said Sayaka, the girl noticing that a group of people were coming over helped Madoka distribute the water bottles. "I would like for it to be sooner rather than later, I'm starting to cool off"

Madoka sighed, impressed by the girl's energy.

"I hope not. My legs are still tired" she complained, letting her head rest on Homura's side. Homura reciprocated it by letting her own head rest on top of Madoka's.

The group stood around in silence for a minute as they watched the next group getting ready to run. Madoka, still on Homura's shoulder, looked around for the other runners that had just finished; making sure to do her job as a nurse's aide and notice if anyone looked like they were having a heatstroke in this horrible heat.

"Oh right" said Sayaka as she looked back at the group "Are you two going to this Saturday's festival?"

"Hmmm…" Madoka pondered, nudging her head on Homura's shoulder a bit more "I would like to go with everyone… will you come, Homura-chan?"

"If you are going, I will go too" Homura stated.

"We should invite Mami" said Kyouko, who had laid down on the lower bench from where they were. "And the cheese brat too"

"Yeah!" Madoka agreed, looking at Sayaka and Kyouko for confirmation "So, 6pm in front of the station?"

"Works for me" declared Sayaka, Kyouko nodding along.

Homura absent mindedly hummed in agreement, the girl felt like she was going to fall asleep on top of Madoka's head.

Current date: Thursday 22nd of May.

A/N: The week hasn't ended yet in some part of the world, so I'm technically posting this on time.