The sounds of people walking around and young people laughing filled the WcDonalds. A warm, joyous feeling all around the air. Everyone in the fast food restaurant were happily talking with their groups.

Well, everyone but Sayaka and Tomoe.

Kyouko, Tomoe, and Sayaka had decided to wait for Madoka and Akemi to finish with their club activities in the mall, and it had all been pretty normal until Kyouko had to go to work; Sayaka suddenly realizing she had never talked alone with her senior make her start to feel a bit awkward around the girl.

They had been sitting in silence for twenty minutes already, both of them looking at their phones to try and get away from the awkward situation. Every bit of small talk quickly died down, neither of them really finding something to talk about. Sayaka had never wished for Madoka to be with her so much in all her life, the girl had like a superpower to speak with people she didn't know much. Hell, even if Akemi was to come now she would be happy, she could at least try to tease that girl. But Tomoe… what did she know about her? She baked, she took care of Nagisa, and she… studied? Oh she wanted to have a flower shop, right? Talking about school didn't feel right, and it wasn't like Sayaka knew Nagisa that much either.

"Hmmm… Miki-san?" called Tomoe.

"Oh-! Wh-what is it, Tomoe-senpai?" It looked like Tomoe was going to try to spark up small talk again. Sayaka really hoped this one would start an actual conversation this time.

"I thought that maybe we should exchange Line numbers? Since we are all getting together tomorrow only having Kaname-san number could become a problem" The way her voice sounded felt like the girl had been clearly trying to think about what to say for a while now. It felt almost like a practiced line.

"Of course!" happily said Sayaka, maybe she could learn something about the girl from her bio or the profile picture. Sayaka held out her phone so Mami could add her, the friend notification coming through shortly after. Sayaka opened the girl's profile.

The profile picture was one of her and Nagisa together, both girl's smiling. Sayaka had expected as much. Now, the bio that felt like it used the 500 character limit? That was a surprise. The bio containing everything from age to things she liked and things she didn't. The overly extensive made Sayaka check if the girl posted anything in the social media aspect of the app, and… Yep, very much so. Pictures of cakes, flowers, and some sunsets were plastered all over her page.

With how Tomoe acted she had expected her to be pretty bland with her bio – not as bland as Akemi's empty bio though – and she had always thought that Tomoe felt like the kind of busy person that didn't have time to post stuff online.

Instead, she had found that the girl seemed to have a pretty deep understanding of social media, and with how good some of the photos she took looked even photography knowledge.

"Do you like taking photos, Tomoe-senpai?" wondered Sayaka as she scrolled down the girl's profile, at least five photos per week.

"Oh, that… I started doing it before Nagisa lived with me to keep myself busy with something" Tomoe admitted, the girl leaving her phone on the table as to pick up her drink and take a sip from it "I guess it kind of became part of my routine, and if I see something interesting I take a photo of it"

Sayaka hummed as she kept scrolling down the profile, the pictures started to change from a lot of cakes and some flowers to more landscapes. Their frequency increased, going from five per week to almost twenty.

"They are really good" said Sayaka, putting her phone away to look back at Tomoe who had fallen silent once again. "Did you study photography?"

"Oh no, no. I just read some articles about it" Tomoe embarrassedly giggled "They only look good because of how good the phone camera is, I almost don't have to do anything"

"What? No" Sayaka denied, she went to take a sip of her soda but the drink had been empty for a while now "My photos look horrible compared to yours, you know what you are doing"

"It's not like it matters much now anyways" sighed Tomoe with a gentle smile on her face "I haven't been able to take a lot of them since Nagisa came into my life…" she made a small pause "Not that I want to go back to those days, but between school, Nagisa, and the house I don't have a lot of time."

"Man, I don't know how you do it to be honest. I only have school and I still find myself thinking that I want more hours in the day!" Sayaka reclined in her chair until she was being hold by only two of the legs. "You are amazing Tomoe-senpai"

Silence fell between the two once more. Tomoe seemed to be fidgeting around with her drink a bit as she tried to come up with something more to say.

"I don't-"

"Ah! There you are!" Madoka rushed towards the two of them, Akemi following her. "What were you talking about?"

"Oh, Tomoe-senpai knows how to take photos. We were talking about how she learnt"

"I wouldn't say I know how to take them, I just let my phone make most of the decisions" Tomoe embarrassedly pointed out. "I simply point at what I want to take a picture of"

"Eh~ Can I see them?" asked Madoka, the girl's smile beamed strongly enough that even Sayaka, who had built a resistance to it over the years, would have said yes to the girl.

"S-sure" said Tomoe as she took out her phone and started showing her some of the pictures, Madoka reacting to almost all of them with a gasp or a giggle.

Akemi looked at the girl with what seemed to be a bit of disappointment at first before she sat in the other chair that was free next to Sayaka; probably noticing that the photo show was going to take a while. Sayaka turned to face the girl, a bit of a teasing smile on the blue haired girl's face.

"Oh~" Sayaka whispered "Sad that she left you?"

Akemi didn't answer, throwing an annoyed side glance at Sayaka that said more than enough. She knew what was coming.

"With how you were left hanging before I saw her rushing here, you two were holding hands or something right?" Sayaka playfully poked Akemi's arm as she spoke "Poor Akemi, you are going out with Madoka; She is unable to not show affection to everyone."

"I know" answered Akemi, her voice had a certain edge to it; Sayaka's teasing starting to annoy the girl "It's one of the things I like about her"

"Oh? And you think you will be able to stand it?"

"Yes"

"Even after your honeymoon period ends and she isn't as glued to you as she is now?" Sayaka said with a devilish smile, getting a frown from Akemi as her words left her mouth.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice sounded the same as it did but Sayaka could feel a bit of a worried undertone.

"Oh you know, around six months I believe it was, where everything is fun and carefree in a relationship" Sayaka pointed at Madoka "Then things get a bit more complicated as you learn stuff about your partner… Secrets they didn't tell you, things they've done… I heard that a lot of relationships end then"

"You are lying" Akemi said, though her voice almost wavered.

"Nope, look it up if you don't believe me" Sayaka said "What? Worried that Madoka would learn something about you? Uh oh~, be prepared for when the time comes" Sayaka said with a smirk.

Akemi stopped looking at Sayaka to look at Madoka instead, her gaze fixed on the girl for a few seconds as she seemed to be remembering something. A small smile appeared on her face.

"Ah, that would explain why Madoka isn't that affectionate towards you nowadays, ten years was it?" Akemi didn't even look directly at Sayaka, only giving her a side glance. "She already got bored of your shenanigans"

"At least it took her ten years" Sayaka smiled, glad that Akemi was seemingly playing along "How long will it be for you?"

"Who knows" Homura said before looking back at Madoka, the girl now finishing to look at Tomoe's pictures. Madoka hadn't been here for five minutes and she had been able to make Tomoe be happier than what Sayaka had been able to do in the past half an hour.

Oh well, at least she had been able to tease Akemi.

Madoka looked away from Tomoe's phone, the girl setting her sight on them instead. There was a bit of hesitation before she took the sit next to Tomoe, Sayaka even thought about getting up from her seat so she could seat next to Akemi, but the pink haired girl really hadn't given her enough time to react.

"I was wondering" started saying Madoka "What are you going to wear to the festival?"

Tomoe shifted in her seat to look at Madoka, the girl had a confident smile on her face. "I will have to go with normal clothes, though I would like to get Nagisa in a yukata… I don't know if the girl has used one before"

"Ah, that" sighed Sayaka "I will probably go with my yukata, if I don't, I will never give it use you know?"

"Oh! The new one you showed me pictures of?" asked Madoka, Sayaka could feel Akemi melting next to her as Madoka bathed them in that beaming smile. "The blue and white one, right?"

"Yep! Only got to use it once, and it was so expensive that I feel bad about it"

Madoka shifted her gaze to Homura, the girl had her stone cold mask on; but Sayaka could see a small blush on her cheeks when Madoka looked at her.

"What about you, Homura-chan?"

"I don't own a yukata, as such I will be wearing one of the outfits you chose for me"

"Oh? Madoka chose clothes for you?" asked Sayaka, a mix of genuine curiosity and excitement for a possible new teasing opportunity showing on her face.

"Yes" Homura reply was sharp, the girl throwing a menacing side look at Sayaka as if she knew what could come of giving her more information.

"Yeah! Homura-chan wasn't used to buying clothes so she was okay with me choosing for her!" Madoka quickly spilled the beans "It was pretty easy choosing the clothes, she was okay with it as long as it was comfortable so I took her to H&N"

"Oh~? Were you really okay because they were comfortable?" asked Sayaka, her teasing voice cracking through as she looked at an ever more annoyed Akemi. "Or was it because Madoka chose them for you?"

Akemi clicked her tongue, trying to look away from Sayaka as to not show her reaction. Sadly for her, that in on itself showed more to Sayaka than she needed.

"You were so happy that she was choosing them that you didn't care what they were right~?" Sayaka said, trying to lean a bit more into the table so she could see the girl's probably embarrassed face.

"Oh no, that isn't it" said Madoka, making both of them turn to face her. "We weren't going out yet, there really was no reason for Homura-chan to accept them if she didn't like them"

Sayaka looked astonished at how dense her best friend could be, but she was able to regain control of herself quick enough to face a blushing Akemi; her mask broken by a surprised expression on her face. Now this was an opportunity.

"Madoka, Madoka" Sayaka waved a finger in front of her "You are getting it all wrong"

"Hmm? What am I getting wrong?"

"Akemi here didn't accept those clothes because they were comfortable." Sayaka did an exaggerated gesture to point towards Akemi, the girl trying to recompose herself and failing miserably "She did so because the person she had a crush on was choosing them for her. She wanted to wear something that you found cute."

Sayaka could see Akemi going through a different million thoughts, the girl raising her hands as if to clap. She stopped, thought about it a bit more and left her hands drop again. Madoka on the other side of the table slowly came to a realization, as she finally processed the real reason as to why Akemi had accepted the clothes she had chosen. A similarly deep blush appearing on her face when she did so.

Two birds one stone, as easy as that. But maybe she could drive one of the birds a little bit deeper with information the other one probably didn't have…

"Ah! That would explain why you were more than okay in helping me!" Sayaka saw Akemi flinch as she understood what she was going to say.

"Help you?" asked an embarrassed Madoka. "W-with what?"

"Oh, you see~ when Kyouko told me you liked someone, I wanted to find out who it was" Sayaka looked at Akemi, a death stare like none other she had ever seen on the girl's face. She knew nothing would come of it though; or at least she hoped nothing would. "And so who better to hel-"

"Miki Sayaka-san" Akemi's voice felt like knives in the air "You should stop talking"

"Homura-chan?" asked Madoka with a bit of worry in her voice.

"Oh? Why should I? Are you embarrassed?" questioned Sayaka with a smug smile on her face.

"I fear for your safety were you to keep talking" Sayaka had never heard the girl speak in such a passive aggressive voice, and yet it felt too familiar to receive this kind of threat from her. "I recommend changing the topic before someone gets hurt"

Now, that threat felt real.

"Homura-chan! Don't' say that!" Madoka said, a bit of anger in her voice. "Is it really that bad that you don't want me to learn about it?"

Sayaka, by experience, could see that things were going to quickly go south if this conversation kept going. So she decided to get between the two before a dumb teasing joke became an actual problem.

"Don't worry about it Madoka!" Sayaka tried to quickly grab the girl's attention "It was just a joke. Akemi and I always do stuff like this when you aren't around, right Akemi?"

Sayaka looked at the girl in question, a look of 'follow my lead' on Sayaka's eyes that Akemi seemed to be quick to understand.

"Y-yes" Akemi was able to recompose herself enough for her next words to not feel like the half-truth that they really were "It's just a game"

Madoka seemed to be confused, a normal reaction really. As far as Sayaka knew the girl had never seen Akemi throw a threat around like that. Which made sense, since Akemi had only ever done so when Madoka wasn't around.

"Yep! Just like how Kyouko and I fight all the time" Sayaka tried to get back Madoka's attention, not letting her dwell too much on the details. "We started with the whole joke because of how I used to treat her. It's all in good faith! I promise!"

Madoka frowned, the girl trying to ascertain what their real motives where. Thankfully for both of them, Madoka was good at reading people's emotions; not minds. And Sayaka was pretty sure she could lie about this kind of thing to her friend, the only real problem would be if the girl were to ask someone she could read like the palm of her hand.

"Homura-chan" Madoka said with a serious expression on her face.

"Yes?" Asked Akemi, even through her stone cold mask Sayaka could feel her fear; and if Sayaka could Madoka was more than feeling it.

"Is Sayaka telling the truth?"

A moment of silence as Akemi tried to look at Madoka in the eyes. She didn't last too long, the girl quickly moving her eyes away from her. Madoka sighed, not really needing an answer after that.

"At least Sayaka doesn't mind" Madoka sighed, putting on a smile afterwards.

"I'm sorry…" apologized Akemi, even doing a small bow with her head.

"It's not about you not being able to joke with them Homura-chan" Madoka said, looking at the girl with gentle eyes "But that didn't sound like a joke. If you keep doing that you will only push people away from you"

Akemi felt smaller than Sayaka had ever seen the girl like. Though Sayaka wasn't sure if it was because she was actually thinking about what Madoka was telling her or if it was just because Madoka had gotten angry at her. With what Kyouko had told her about how these two worked Akemi would treat Madoka's words as absolute… Yeah, they had to change that.

Sayaka was pretty sure Madoka wasn't doing it on purpose; but Sayaka was more than sure that if Madoka were to tell Akemi to jump off a cliff the girl would only ask 'Head or feet first?'.

Well, at least she now had a new mission to take care of. From trying to find who Madoka liked, to helping such person to not be just Madoka's lap dog.

Kyouko would be helpful with this one.

"Well! Doesn't matter anymore!" loudly announced Sayaka, trying to change the conversation topic into something less heavy "We were talking about what to wear right? What about you Madoka?"

Madoka smiled at Sayaka, clearly seeing what she was trying to do.

"I was thinking I would be using my yukata, it's been a few years since I wore it"

"Are you sure it will still fit?" Asked Tomoe, the girl hadn't been feeling to comfortable with the discussion though Sayaka had seen her try to speak only to be quickly cut off by someone else. It felt weird, as if she should be way more confident but was missing the thing that made her go the extra mile. "If you haven't worn it in a few years it might be too small for you"

Madoka let out a disappointed sigh.

"I haven't grown that much these last three years…" Madoka looked at Tomoe with a bit of an embarrassed expression "Probably the sleeves will be a bit shorter, but nothing more. I still look like a child to be honest"

"You don't" Akemi interrupted, the girl trying to recover a bit of her pride as she acted with her usually stoic façade.

"Thank you, Homura-chan" Madoka looked at the girl with a bit of a sad smile "But I am the shortest of the group-"

"By six centimeters, really not that much"

"I'm the only one that still collects plushie, I don't think someone would look at that and say that it isn't childish?" Madoka offered, as if she was trying to get the girl to admit she was right.

"You enjoy them, it doesn't matter what other people think about it"

"Well, but if someone were to see my room they would definitely say I'm a child"

"And I would personally explain to them why they are wrong"

Silence fell in their table, the 'discussion' coming to a stalemate. The one to break the silence being Tomoe.

"I don't think that a fourteen year old collecting plushies is childish" commented Tomoe, getting an approving nod from Akemi in response.

"I don't think anyone collecting them is" added Akemi "It's just a hobby that Madoka enjoys"

"Well- but-" Madoka tried to come up with something to say, her whole argument of her being childlike being dismantled by whom she probably considered the two more mature people of the group. "In that case, what kind of hobbies do you have Homura-chan? I'm sure they are way more mature than plushies!"

Akemi looked at Madoka for a few seconds as she tried to think of an answer. Every time it seemed like the girl would come up with something to say she would shake her head and go back to thinking.

"It really isn't that hard Akemi" said Sayaka "Just what do you do in your free time?"

"That's…" Akemi put on a frown as she tried to think harder "I mainly study for school?"

"That's not a hobby!" reprimanded Madoka "What do you do that makes you happy? Something that you think about doing all day!"

"Something that makes me happy?" Akemi seemed to think for a few seconds before talking again "The only thing I can think of is spending time with you"

Madoka blushed, her previous fighting spirit quickly dying down as an embarrassed one appeared. If Homura had felt like a small animal when Madoka was angry with her, then Madoka felt like she would disappear in the chair with how small she felt.

"Oh, that was a low blow Akemi-san" giggled Tomoe, Sayaka nodding along.

"I just said the truth" reaffirmed Akemi, the girl driving Madoka's blushes to an even redder shade.

Sayaka couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as she looked at Madoka. Akemi may be pretty dense, but the girl did say some things which such conviction that it felt like they were premeditated or a bullseye to make Madoka blush. It was the same kind of brutal honesty she used to tell people off, but applied to a way kinder side of the girl. And with how easily Madoka seemed to be able to tell what the girl was thinking she was sure to notice that it was a complete truth and not just some cheesy pick up line.

"Akemi what did you before talking with Madoka? You had to do something right?" Sayaka asked as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder "I won't believe that you spent your whole life doing nothing other than studying just so you know"

Akemi frowned a bit, but tried to think of an answer nonetheless.

"I guess… I liked reading while I was in the hospital" Akemi admitted "Though lately I haven't been doing it much, I have only been reading the same books over and over"

"See, that's a hobby" said Sayaka as she gave the girl a small pat on the shoulder "Even if you don't do it much nowadays. Sometimes people just don't have enough time"

"Yes, in fact if it wasn't because Nagisa likes cakes I wouldn't be doing my hobby that much either" admitted Tomoe.

Madoka seemed to recover from the previous hit, coughing a bit as she tried to calm her still red cheeks.

"That's right you used to read before classes started right?" asked Madoka.

"Yes, though they were all books I had already read" admitted Akemi, the girl looking for something in her schoolbag before she took out a small pocket book, with how it looked it had seen a lot of use throughout the years; the title 'A Silver Garden' in the front cover "I've read this one enough times to almost know it by memory"

Madoka extended her hand to pick the book, Akemi complying without a word.

"Is it that good?" asked Madoka.

"Not really, but I enjoy its familiarity" Akemi said, her words coming through as if she had already explained this before "A simple story with a happy end. It was a positive constant in my life, and I haven't been able to get away from it. How I came upon the book meant more for me than the story itself"

"How you came upon it?" asked Tomoe, who was reading the summary of the book as Madoka held it.

"It was a gift" Akemi drily added, making Madoka look up from the book with a melancholic look in her eyes; she probably understood whom had given the book to Akemi.

Madoka waited for Tomoe to finish reading the book summary before giving it back to Akemi, the girl carefully putting it back into her schoolbag.

"Well, do you all want to go somewhere?" asked Sayaka her whole body already being tired of having been sitting for so long in the fast food restaurant.

With that they got up and started to go around the mall window shopping, the group not wanting to spend money in preparation for tomorrow's festival. There was no worse fate than going to a festival without money to do things in it after all.

Current date: Saturday 24th of May.

A/N: Well, these chapters feel so… empty I guess? With things now stabilizing a bit we are getting into slice of life again. So it feels like a nice time to remind everyone that this fanfic has always aimed to go for an everyday type scenarios. Even more now that I can bounce off the group's relationships finally starting to flourish between other people than just Madoka and Homura. So we are going to be having quite a long calm period of people just bonding (Summer it's quite close too, though close by this fic standards probably means another 100k words)

Of course we are still getting a lot of MadoHomu, it's what I sustain my mortal body with after all.

Next chapter is the spring festival, I would like to try and make it into a special like Madoka's and Homura's date was in chapter 11. So expect a pretty long chapter for the next one.

As always, thanks to everyone who has read this far and a special thanks to those that leave a comment with their thoughts. It's always fun reading them.