Preparing for the first day of school was always a strange feeling for Homura. It was her last chance to decide on a lot of her plans. How she wanted to approach people, what bystanders had to think of her, and how she would deal with Madoka and Sayaka. Even with just a glance at how things had changed, Homura could tell she needed a different approach for this loop.

Last timeline, she had angled to keep her distance from Madoka and the rest, handing out ominous warnings and generally acting in the shadows. It had its upsides, but if it worked she wouldn't be here now. Madoka had contracted all the same, something she could now prevent with an alternative. One that could be equally dangerous, but it did not guarantee death. Only some bad injuries.

Homura remembered her first adversary, causing her to glance at the two watches around her wrist. She had taken both from his body after taking it out of her shield. It was a bit morbid, but Homura never acknowledged it as such. Her focus was instead drawn to the smartphone in the man's hands. It had a message app opened, with a message sent towards someone named 'Messalina Perturbator', in a familial but angry tone. The small description of her and a guess at time-stopping as her ability left her altogether worried. Hopefully this wouldn't set the entire yakuza after her.

She fastened the ribbon on her uniform with a sigh. Kyubey had been right about her life becoming harder. If Fate had changed in the way it said, hopefully it came in her favour soon as well.

Preparing for the umpteenth day of school had, for Madoka Kaname, never been a special thing. Her morning routine had grown completely familiar, down to the moment of hesitation before she steps away from the mirror. Despite her pink eyes and hair, Madoka often thought of herself as looking exceedingly plain. Her mother, Junko, had given her a pair of red ribbons she had tied into her hair for pigtails. It certainly helped, but she felt underdressed for the occasion. As if something big was on the horizon, something she had to be ready for.

She thought it might have to do with a strange dream she had last night. She never remembered the specifics of her dream, but she knew she felt scared, she saw something insurmountable, and a girl that was fighting it. It didn't feel like a normal nightmare, and her intuition was honestly very good. It was one of the few things she was very confident in.

Still, she didn't mention this dream to her friends. It was all so vague, they wouldn't believe her, maybe even find it funny. At least they took her mind off of the dream quickly, caught up in conversations about the dramas and sitcoms they watch, nice and mundane.

They arrived in class, on time as always, discussing their after-school plans. Sayaka wanted to pass by the music shop today, so they could go to one of the mall's many cafes afterwards. Unfortunately their teacher, Kazuko Saotome, walked in before they could decide on the cafe of their choice.

"Now, before we begin properly, I have an important question for you all. Please, pay attention!" She spoke with authority, tapping her pointer on the board loudly. "Should an egg be served sunny side up, or sunny side down?"

As usual, Ms. Saotome's question was met with silence. She often asked these judgemental questions at the start of the day, one of her many ways of complaining about her short-lived relationships during class. None of her poor students wanted to figure out this landmine. Luckily for them, one amongst them was willing to take the bullet. Well, willing…

"Yes, Nakazawa?"

The brown-haired boy in question flinched in surprise, as if he wasn't the one called on for every single one of these questions. He replied in the same way he always did: "I-it's just 'subjective', right? There's no right or wrong way to 'serve an egg', I think?"

After a tense moment of silence, the teacher clapped her hands with an ominous smile. "Correct! Something like food is almost always a matter of opinion, and you should never judge someone, especially not your partner, on how they like their eggs!"

The judging intent in her voice was quickly replaced by something happier as Ms. Saotome turned on her heel, towards the classroom door. "Now, on a happier note, today we're introducing a transfer student into our class. She hasn't been to school in quite a while, so please be nice to her while she settles in!"

The teacher called for the transfer student, 'Miss Akemi', to come in. Madoka, who had zoned out while Ms. Saotome talked, quickly focused on the new girl that strutted in.

Akemi was just a bit taller than her, with purple eyes and long, flowing black hair parted towards its end. The girl walked with the grace of a dancer, expression stoic as if she was looking straight through everyone.

Her name was swiftly written on the board behind her, finished with a dramatic flourish. It was a pretty uncommon name, Madoka thought.

"My name is 'Homura Akemi'. It's good to meet all of you, I hope we can get along." She said, briefly regarding the whole class. While her eyes wandered across them, they eventually settled on Madoka.

Madoka quickly noticed just how intense Homura's expression actually was. Despite the warm glow coming from those eyes, there was a hardness to it that made her seem calculating. Like she was seeing something the others didn't. It gave the pinkette goosebumps!

Class soon moved on, with Akemi taking a spot close to the window. With every passing subject, the girl proved herself much smarter than Ms. Saotome had implied. She solved equations with ease, spoke English with perfect grammar and was somehow beating records in gym class. If this was what Akemi could do after being in the hospital for so long, modern medicine must've advanced further than Madoka thought!

In the moments between classes, Akemi hadn't revealed herself as the most amicable of girls. That was something a hospital couldn't solve after all. She had been put up to fielding questions from a gaggle of girls. It was enlightening, but the noriette seemed unenthusiastic about it. Apparently she had been following online classes from her old school to keep up in the hospital, and her physical therapy allowed her to grow strong despite her medical condition. The girl didn't seem particularly keen on answering questions, so after a few minutes Madoka decided to step in, already having a reason ready.

"E-excuse me," She started, approaching the group. "It's time for Akemi to take her medication, so I need to take her to the nurse's office."

The girls nodded sympathetically and let Madoka and Homura through, out of class. Walking Homura to the office was mostly just a formality to make sure the girl wouldn't use it to skip class, but Madoka took it as a chance to talk to Homura in a more relaxed way. The pinkette had grown very intrigued, but felt she had to tread carefully. It made her thankful that the other girl spoke first:

"...thank you for that. It was starting to get a tad much over there."

"No problem!" Madoka smiled, glad to know she was on the mark. "I-i know my class can be a bit much sometimes, it's hard to get used to." She hopped forward and turned around to face Akemi. "I'm Madoka Kaname, by the way. You can call me Madoka."

"Ah… It's nice to meet you, 'Madoka'." Homura nodded, pausing for a second. "You can call me by my first name as well, if you want."

"Really?" Madoka perked up, glad that Homura seemed to like her. "Tip-top! I'm glad that's okay with you. It's such a pretty name, it'd be a shame not to use it."

"You think so?" Homura gave her a curious glance. Madoka could swear that she saw a fond look in those eyes. "I'm usually told it's a 'weird' name, as much as I like it."

"Of course I like it! It sounds cool, and it can be read in a really interesting way." At Homura's confused glance, she continued. "Your name usually means flame, but there's three words hidden inside it: Home, Uhr and Ra. Home is where the hearth is, so that burns in it's own way. Ra is the Egyptian god of the sun, a ball of flame and the sign of the times like Uhr, the German word for hour. Isn't that interesting?"

Homura seemed surprised at the sudden stream of words, but did nod after some thought. "I've never heard my 'name' in that way before. It's… not very fitting, but pretty in its own way. Are you a 'poet' of some kind?"

"I-i'm not that great with words, honestly." Madoka shook her head. "I kind of know all the cool words, and I'm good at overanalyzing stuff, but I'm terrible at English grammar. When I say something like just now, it doesn't mean much at all."

"I'm not much of a wordsmith either, despite my theoretical knowledge. Sometimes saying less says more." The noirette shrugged. "I'll have a better time living up to my name's 'original meaning' than trying to find out how to summon the sun god."

Madoka giggled at that. "Who knows? My mom says cities like Mitakihara are full of opportunity, maybe you'll find some sort of altar here."

"It would not surprise me, given how 'bizarre' cities like this can be. You must've seen stranger things than an altar like that."

"N-not really, if I'm honest. It's all been pretty normal for me." Madoka shook her head, sounding a bit despondent about it.

"Sometimes, that's for the better. Back in the day, 'may you live in interesting times' was considered a curse."

"It was?" Madoka hummed, putting a finger to her chin. "I guess all the 'interesting times' were pretty scary."

"Indeed. At least we can spice up these 'boring times' in our own way. A 'less dangerous' way." Homura hummed, hoping this wasn't an awkward segue. "Do you have any hobbies, perhaps? I didn't end up doing a whole lot in the hospital…"

It was an awkward segue, but neither of them really minded. It was an easy way to steer away from potential doom thinking, and by the time they reached the nurse's office, the two felt quite acquainted. Before they parted, Madoka asked Homura if she was interested in going to the mall with her and her friends. The noirette agreed after some hesitation.

Madoka was quite glad about that. The girl hadn't been talkative at all until they were alone, so she would need a bit to really get out of her shell. Hopefully her friends would be a good influence there!

"Why do you talk like that?"

Madoka couldn't help but think that was a bad thing to ask a quiet person.

Homura hadn't fit in like a glove, but was accepted by her friends. Hitomi Shizuki, green-haired and wealthy, had immediately gotten along with Homura's polite demeanor. Sayaka Miki, a boisterous girl with blue hair, had found her fine. A bit quiet and strange, but fine. She was quick to pop that question, however.

"What do you mean, 'Miki Sayaka'? Is there something strange about the 'way I talk'?"

"Kinda! There's this weird 'emphasis' you put on 'words'. It's not bad or anything, just curious."

Homura looked like she only now noticed that she did what Sayaka described. Madoka herself had barely even noticed it, either. "I wasn't 'aware' I did that. I suppose it's to make people pay 'attention' when I speak."

"Oh, that makes sense. You're pretty quiet, so it helps, huh?"

The bluenette seemed satisfied with the explanation, much to Homura's relief. She was probably going to be thinking about her manner of speech for a while, now.

The quartet had gone to Mitakihara's largest mall, though Hitomi had to leave early due to one of her mother's many arranged lessons. Homura had a strong enough knowledge of the way timelines worked that she knew to expect a witch here. Since keeping Madoka and Sayaka ignorant to magical matters had proven completely impossible, she decided to introduce them to it on her own terms. It would certainly let her build the trust and bonds she usually avoided building up, intentionally or not.

The pass through the music shop was familiar to her: Sayaka picked out a record for Kamijou Kyousuke, whose situation she had quickly explained to Homura as she rifled through the CDs. It was unchanged from last time: Violin Prodigy whose hand was paralyzed because of a car accident, still in the hospital for recovery. She still hoped for a fateful timeline where she wouldn't have to deal with that.

She and Madoka, meanwhile, spent their time going through the shop in general. Madoka had a taste for poppy music, while Homura had lost any taste for that through the hospital's cafeteria. Not that she'd listened to any music properly in a long time, her tastes had probably been shot through regardless. She and Madoka ended up demo'ing a few albums that sounded interesting, and Homura ended up purchasing a record of electronic music she felt weirdly drawn to. Perhaps Fate had grown a bit more expansive than she thought.

Once they were done music shopping - and window shopping at the more expensive establishments - the trio went to a cafe Madoka had described as 'the best around'. Of course, Homura had been there many times, with enough memories for her to agree. The taste of good food and drinks was something she could never get used to.

They soon settled into comfortable conversation, with Homura listening more than she talked. It was mostly banal stuff about life and shows she mostly knew through context clues. It was comforting, but at the same time Homura couldn't help but glance at her ring every few seconds. The witch would usually be a floor above them, so it would react accordingly if she was right.

"Hey, Homura, what's up with your ring?"

And sure enough, it started glowing right as there was a lull conversation. Homura made a show of looking surprised, looking between Sayaka and the glowing gem embedded in her ring.

"That is a 'long story', but to keep it simple…" She held up the palm of her hand. The ring glowed more brightly than before and seemed to rise up through her hand, forming into something resembling a faberge egg. Its settings were gold, shaped around a purple gem similar to what was in her ring. "Something dangerous is approaching."

Sayaka was suppressing surprise, not wanting to cause a scene, while Madoka seemed very curious.

"Follow me. You've found yourself in interesting times."

She stood up, staunchly leaving the cafe with Sayaka and Madoka quickly following on her heels. By now she had known the route by heart: Up the stairs, past the tape, into the renovated area. She was surprised to see the other two following with little hesitation, Sayaka looking very curious and Madoka being concerned.

Once her gem glowed at its highest intensity, Homura reached her hand forward. A sigil grew out into the air, beckoning for her to enter.

"Madoka, Miki." She turned around to the other two, who seemed completely lost. "What is about to happen will be confusing, perhaps scary. If you two choose to 'proceed', stay close by me. Am I understood?"

Sayaka nodded first. "Of course! You can't just do all this weird stuff and expect me not to follow after!"

Madoka was quick to agree, in a more sensitive way. "If this is… scary, I'd rather make sure you aren't alone than wait here."

Homura nodded, signalling for them to follow her as the sigil 'opened', engulfing them in a world far unlike the one they inhabited: Colourful, littered with strange furniture, colours and paintings, each wrapped in thorny vines that seemed to constantly propagate. Walking along various grassy paths in this twisted world were strange creatures with woolly faces and bright mustaches. Their paths seemed random, but it was clear they were getting closer.

"What the hell?!"

"What's going on?"

Madoka looked around in confusion, disoriented beyond anything she felt in a long time. Before losing her mind too badly, she took a deep breath. Four seconds in, four seconds hold, four seconds out, four seconds without air. Focus, keep breathing. Sayaka didn't seem as weirded out by the whole ordeal, strangely enough, looking around with an expression somewhere between wonder and fear.

"Homura, what is this?" She asked after what felt like a while.

Homura turned around, her expression somehow more serious than before. "This is what we call a 'Labyrinth', a magical space intent on harvesting 'human life'."

Homura held up her hand, the egg on her palm lighting up as her body caught flame. Soon, her school uniform burned away and was replaced by a white-and-grey dress with crimosn linings, shimmering like a heat haze. Her shoes were replaced with a fusion of high heels and tights, the former of which looked dangerously sharp. Finally, once the gem flowed onto the back of her hand, a steel buckler with an intricate design manifested on her left arm.

"I am going to destroy it now. Please, cover your ears."

Both girls followed the noirette's advice as she reached into her shield. Once her hand returned into sight she somehow held a heavy machine gun, quickly set up to unleash a barrage of bullets towards the strange creatures. It rattled loudly as it fired, with every bullet that hit its mark causing a loud popping sound, nonchalantly taking down the horde of strange creatures.

Though the Labyrinth had arrived with much fanfare, it fell like an untrained dancer, wobbling and fading out of existence like nothing happened. The only difference that remained was Homura's strange outfit and the large, frankly intimidating machine gun set up in front of her.

"I trust you both are unharmed. Apologies if I scared you, but I didn't know quite how to do this."

"That's… Alright? I guess?" Sayaka shrugged, somewhat dumbfounded but clearly interested by what she had seen. "You could've warned us better, you know."

"Would you have believed me?"

"Doubt it. But I would've appreciated it."

Homura sighed, deciding not to think about that too deeply as she transformed back into her normal clothes. She was thankful it was still a familiar labyrinth, she didn't have to waste too much of her recent heists on it.

"Both of you are due an explanation. Follow me, and I'll do my best to provide one."

Madoka hardly hesitated to follow, prompting Sayaka to come along. She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to trust someone with weapons like that, but she wouldn't let Madoka go alone either. Homura had a lot to explain for just one day of being here, that was for sure.

Somewhere close by, a pair of red eyes followed the trio.

This had not been what it expected. But it could turn this into a proper advantage with time.

The incubator quietly pursued, curious as ever.