CHAPTER 7: Been There, Done That

Homura awakened from her rest and sat up in her bed. She rarely slept anymore, there was really no biological need for it as a Magical Girl, but on those nights before her first day at school, she'd always make sure to set aside a couple hours for a nap.

Once upon a time, this was the day she would properly get to meet Madoka Kaname. A day she used to always look forward to. Sometimes she wouldn't even wait for the teacher to finish introducing her to the class, before she trotted over to Madoka's desk and blurted out how much she was looking forward to working with her. But now it was just another day to prepare for, another day to calculate the odds of certain events repeating themselves, of planning the proper tactical countermeasures. In other words, it had turned into a day exactly like all the other days.

Homura briefly checked her reflection in the mirror. She tied together her big red bow tie, unwrinkled her school uniform and tossed her hair. It had become such a rote routine, maintaining the appearance of even caring about one's appearance. She only did it so as not to look too scary to Madoka. She straightened the bow, put on her miniskirt and shoes, picked up her book bag and departed for school.

At the third crosswalk Homura stopped and looked around. Homura sensed she was being followed, nay, stalked, from the very moment she left her home. And her pursuer wasn't being particularly adept at it. This was no surprise to Homura, the stalker was, after all, only Sayaka. One of the only things consistent in every timeline was Sayaka Miki's lack of subtlety.

Homura scanned the faces surrounding her while they waited for the signal light to change. None of the faces matched Sayaka's, but her magical energy signature was unmistakable. Undoubtedly she was wearing an even more sophisticated version of her disguise provided by her alien benefactor. She was probably testing to see if Homura could still recognize her through the new disguise.

Two blocks down the path, Homura discreetly turned and headed down an alleyway, where she crouched behind a dumpster. Her Soul Gem flashed from her finger, transmuting into a purple diamond on her wrist. A ball of energy consumed her entire hand, as it swept over her body, changing her school uniform into her Magical Girl uniform. She spun her buckler, then took off in a dead run for the other side of the alleyway.

There her target stood, motionless in the middle of the road: A small black cat. In over ninety percent of the other timelines, this cat was just moments away from being run over by a passing motorcyclist. Homura scurried between the frozen pedestrians, cars and cycles and gently lifted the cat up from the road. The cat suddenly cried as she clutched it to her chest. Whatever creature Homura touched while her buckler was spun would also become unstuck from the suspension of time. Homura trotted back toward the alleyway, setting the cat atop the dumpster before resuming time and changing back into her school uniform.

"It's okay. You're safe now." Homura calmly uttered trying her best to soothe the agitated animal with her gentle touch. While it seemed to be nobody's pet, it was at least friendly enough to acquiesce to Homura's overture of affection. The sensation, petting an animal's soft fur was one of the few things Homura still took a small pleasure in doing.

"Yo- Did you just save that cat?" A much more polished version of the disguise she had at the hospital, now with brown eyes, and jet black hair in a pixie cut style. She also wore a grey sweatshirt and light beige coat over her school uniform, her stalker had at last revealed her new self. Homura turned her head to study this different Sayaka at the other end of the alleyway.

"I did." Homura flatly replied as she stroked its back. "Did that woman not warn you that Kyubey already knows of your existence?"

"I'm fine. He doesn't know who I am."

"Even so, it's unwise for us to be seen together. It's too much of a risk." Homura tossed her hair and walked past Sayaka. "Stop following me."

"Why'd you help the cat?" Sayaka asked.

"Why does it matter to you?" Homura countered.

"I just can't figure you out. Why is it worth your time to go out of your way to rescue a cat, but you don't use your powers to save people who get swallowed by Familiars?"

"Destroying familiars requires too much time, too much energy, too much planning and too much exposure to danger, with no material reward for the effort. They're simply not worth the risk. Saving a cat is just saving a cat."

"You don't get anything for saving a cat." Sayaka pointed out.

"I don't need anything from it. But minor satisfaction."

"That's what I felt when I was I was fighting familiars."

"And that almost led to your ruin. Now stop following me."

"Owch. For a sec I almost thought maybe there was a decent human being hiding behind that condescending attitude of yours."

"I am simply communicating the critical flaw in your approach. If you think that is condescending, then that's your problem." Homura sped up her walking pace.

"On me? You're the one still putting on airs, Ms. Superior." Sayaka kept the chase.

"I've had a lot of experience. I know what to fight and what not to waste energy doing."

"Mami had a lot of experience. She kept fighting familiars."

"Mami Tomoe doesn't know the things I know. Or even know the things you've since learned yourself."

"Then let's tell her! We need her on our side! 'Hey Mami, that little thing right next to you is really an alien and he's only helping us so he can make off with the Grief Seeds'! Would that really be so hard?"

"I've tried that. It never worked. Stop following me."

"Well scale back on the snobbery and try it a-!"

Homura had turned a corner and vanished before Sayaka could finish. "Dammit! Why is she-"

"I won't let you become popular with the boys, Madoka!" Sayaka heard a familiar voice coming up rapidly behind her.

"Crap!" She quickly jumped aside into the bushes. "Someday, I'm going to make you my wife!"

"Wehehehe!" Madoka playfully giggled as she ran past. Sayaka's frolicking counterpart quickly caught her friend and picked her up in a big, warm embrace.

"Ahem!" Hitomi Shizuki walked past and ended their moment of fun.

Sayaka laid there in the bushes for a few more minutes, as those halcyon memories played out before her. She slowly peeked from behind the bushes, making sure that everyone else had gone inside the school. "I'm never going to get used to that." Sayaka took a few deep, reassuring breaths as she mustered together the courage to follow herself and her two best friends.


"Gooooooood Moooooorninggggg, class!" The enthusiastic new teacher's voice cheered. "I'm your new teacher, Miss Jones!" She excitedly wrote out her last name in hiragana, katakana and Kanji. "Teacher Joyce Jones."

"Good morning, Jones-Sensei." The class said in unison.

"Sensei?" Miss Jones paused for a moment. "Anywho, I am going to be teaching this fine class until the end of April, when your regular instructor returns from her vacation."

"She totally needed one, if you ask me." The Other Sayaka quipped.

"Indeed." Miss Jones continued. "So, what particular subject do I have the privilege of imparting upon your developing young minds? Quantum entanglement? Analytical Chemistry? Stellar Cartography? Differential Logic?" The class looked around at one another, absolutely confused. "Or maybe Lambda Calculus? No? Maybe more artistically bent? Art History? Musicology?" Miss Jones looked down at the books and notes left for her on the desk. "Ah. It would seem that I am to be your new 'Ang-glesh' Teacher." She shuffled the notes around and under her breath uttered a disappointed "Languages. Ssssssweelllll." She hastily added the Romaji and English versions of her name to the board. "J-O-N-E-S."

"Personally, I'd much rather learn about those other ones you mentioned." The class nervously laughed at Sayaka's silly joke. "They sound so much easier."

"Ah, so you must be the Class Clown." Miss Jones countered. "Nice to meet you Miss Clown."

"Show some respect, Sayaka." Hitomi whispered to her friend.

"Eh, sorry." Sayaka apologized.

"But before we begin our grand educational adventure, I must first introduce you all to our new students. Yes, students." Miss Jones signaled towards the door. Homura punctually stepped into the classroom.

"Wow, she's gorgeous." Sayaka remarked.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Homura Akemi." Homura robotically bowed to the class, stepped toward Miss Jones, took the digital pen and wrote her name on the digital blackboard. She put the pen down and took her seat.

"And now it's time to meet our next student…" Miss Jones signaled towards the door. A full minute of awkward silence settled, before Sayaka breathlessly rounded the corner and rushed through the door.

"I'm sorry! I'm late! I'm sorry!" Sayaka panted out in apology. "Sorry!"

"It's alright. Introduce yourself properly now." Miss Jones smiled.

Sayaka let her breathing settle first. "I'm Sayak-." She stopped. Almost slipped again. "Saya Otonashi. Pleased to meet you all." She turned to the digital blackboard, picked up the pen and very slowly wrote out her name.

"Didja get lost in the woods on your way?" Her own voice cracked from behind. The class burst out in collective laughter. Sayaka turned around and glared at her other self.

Miss Jones calmly approached Sayaka and grabbed something sticking out of her back. "There's some twigs and leaves and berries on your back and in your shirt. On it." She whispered. She promptly tossed the brush in the trash and cleaned what she could of the berries away with a wet cloth.

"As far as the seating arrangement goes, take that seat next to Akemi. Apparently, its occupant, Mr. Nakazawa is away on vacation, too."

"Oh. Uh, okay." Sayaka apprehensively sat and glanced over to Homura, whose arms were folded and whose focus seemed to be exclusively on Madoka.

"Now, then. Let's begin our day." Miss Jones smiled and cycled through her notes. "It looks like the esteemed Miss Saotome had a test prepared for you all to take next Monday. But I think, what better way to gauge your collective aptitude than to have you all take it today?" The entire class except for Homura and Sayaka groaned in unison. "Now, now! There's no time like the present. Or so an old friend of mine kept telling me. Eventually took it to heart." She walked from desk to desk, scribbling on the back of each test as she handed it to a student. "Each and every one of you is going to have a bonus point question on the back page. Tailor-made for each of you and answering is completely optional. Prefer you did, though. It's my way of getting to know you all a bit better."

"And for you, Miss Clown," Sayaka reluctantly reached for her test paper. Miss Jones swiftly yanked a lock of hair from the top of Sayaka's head.

"Ow! Hey, what the heck was that for?"

"Levity." Miss Jones wryly smiled and moved on.

"And one for you Miss Shizuki. And for you…" She jotted her question on the paper. "Miss Kaname." Madoka nervastly grabbed her paper. Miss Jones continued her way up and down the rows.

"And, for our new girls." Miss Jones handed Sayaka and Homura their papers. Homura grabbed it and immediately went to work.

Sayaka looked over the test. She remembered taking it before, a time that had seemed so long ago, before she had decided to become a magical girl. She also remembered failing it, quite badly. But by then she and Madoka met Kyubey, and after learning stakes in Mami Tomoe's magical world, the idea of studying for tests and exams just seemed so silly and unimportant. Now, after all that she has seen and experienced since, it felt even less so.

Sayaka checked on Homura, who was now already making her way through the second page of questions. For a split second Sayaka was impressed, but then she remembered that Homura had probably already taken this test before, many times. She already knew all the answers rotely by this point. Still, Sayaka was amazed that Homura willing to go through any of the motions at all, which was more than she could say about herself Sayaka took a deep, resigned breath, picked up her pencil and went to work.

She skipped directly to her 'Bonus' question: 'What does 'Sensei' mean (I seriously would like to know)?' It seemed like such a random question, but she remembered from their chat in the restaurant that Miss Jones isn't actually speaking Japanese. That she and her ship were psychically translating words, or something to that effect. So maybe, for whatever reason, 'sensei' wasn't translating right. Sayaka pondered over it for a moment, thinking about the sorts of adults she'd normally attached that word to.

'An experienced elder who is highly skilled and knowledgeable at certain professions, like at schools, hospitals, or courts and churches. Somebody who's totally trusted by everyone in the room.' She wrote, for a moment impressed with how elaborate her answer was.

Several minutes later, Sayaka heard Homura put her pencil down, get up from her seat and approach Miss Jones's desk. "I've finished the test. I need to go take my medication. Will you please have the class health officer escort me to the office?"

"The health officer?" Miss Jones checked her notes on the seating chart, and looked up at Homura. "Ah, yes. Of course." She sat up in her chair. "Miss Kaname?"

"Madoka Kaname." Homura promptly approached Madoka at her desk. "Will you please take me… To the nurse's office?"

"O- Okay." Madoka meekly complied.

Sayaka watched the two girls leave out of sight, put her pencil down, stood up and spoke. "Miss Jones… May I- May I please go use the bathroom?"

"The bathroom? You gonna need an escort too?" Sayaka motioned her head at two girls leaving. "Fine. Be quick and stay outta trouble. You know where to go?"

"Here's a hint: If you meet a big scary wolf you've gone too far." Blared her Duplicate's voice.

"Ughh. Fool." Sayaka muttered as she made towards the exit.

"Madoka Kaname. Do you treasure the life you currently live, and do you consider your family and your friends precious?" Sayaka remembered Madoka relaying the gist of Homura's words to her after they'd first met Homura. At the time, Sayaka dismissed it as Homura simply being a total nutjob.

"Well, I uh… Of course I do. I mean I… I do. My family, and my friends... I love them very much and yes they're very precious to me!" Madoka replied. Sayaka cupped her ears around the corner of the hallway.

"Do you mean it?" So she really is going at this again? Sayaka leaned in around the hallway corner. Her words didn't go over well last time… What made Homura think it would be any different now?

"Absolutely! I couldn't lie about that!" Couldn't she tell how uneasy it made Madoka? And an uneasy Madoka only leads to an irritated Sayaka. Both of them.

"Good. Because if that's the truth, then you wouldn't try changing the life you have, or the person you are. Otherwise, you'd lose everything you love." Sayaka slapped her forehead. Homura was being way too cryptic. This is exactly what she was trying to tell her on the way to school. Tone it down a notch!

"Don't change. Stay as you are, Madoka Kaname. Stay as you are, for-" Homura paused and shot a dissatisfied glare across the hallway. Sayaka had been discovered. Oops.

"Do… Do you need something?" Madoka took two steps toward Sayaka at the corner.

"I was just… Looking for the bathroom." Sayaka stepped out of hiding. "I- I didn't mean to snoop." Her obvious lie made Homura fold her arms and almost glower at them both.

"The bathroom's the other way." Madoka pointed in its direction.

"I was uh… Trying to go to the one by the Administrative Office." Sayaka uncomfortably glanced at Homura as she meekly stepped closer to Madoka. "It's the one I went to. At orientation."

"Oh. Well if that's the case, I can show you where the other one is." Madoka turned around. "Can you make it the rest of the way to the Nurse's Office, Homu-" Homura was already walking away from the two of them.

"So um, Miss Otonashi? Sayaka told me she'd met you a few days ago." Madoka tracked behind. "So where are you from, uh originally?"

"Uh, from?" Sayaka replied, checking behind them to see whether Homura was following or not. It didn't appear that she was. "Uh, Okinawa."

"Oh. That's pretty far away. Did your parents have to change jobs? Is that why you left your home?" Madoka did a second look back herself.

"No. I'm living with… An acquaintance of mine. For now."

"Oh? That has to be a pretty stressful thing. Having to go far away from home, without your family or friends or anybody to support you."

"I don't think too much about it. I'm just doing whatever I'm told." Sayaka slowed her pace.

"Ah. I remember when I first moved here to Mitakihara. I was walking to school alone and it was raining, and some boys snuck up on me and tried to steal my umbrella."

"Brats." Sayaka recalled.

"But that was how I found my first friend. Sayaka she-" She reflexively smiled. "She found me and she chased them away! And she walked to school with me the rest of the way. And then she did it again the next day too. And the day after."

"I'm sure she was just doing the right thing. Protecting you."

"Protecting me…" Madoka brooded. "Yeah. Ever since, she's always been there for me. She's always put me before herself. Cheered me up whenever I cry. She speaks up for me when I'm quiet. Protecting me even when she got in trouble for it. I'm so thankful to have her as my friend." Her pacing slowed. "But..."

"But what?" Sayaka gazed at her friend.

"I… I can't remember any time I've done the same kind of things for her." She stopped dead in her tracks. "To be honest, I'm not sure I'd be able to. I- I'm not fit to be her friend."

Sayaka could not believe what Madoka had just said. Homura's esoteric ranting about friends and what's precious had made Madoka all doubtful about her own value. "Madoka Kaname…" Sayaka whipped around and stared deeply into Madoka's eyes. "Do you believe she-" She paused. "Do you think Say-" She paused a second time, trying not to confuse herself for herself a third time. "Do you think she... Sees you as her friend?"

"Well of course she sees me as her friend!" Madoka laughed nervously. That same laugh. Those same wide eyes. The same twin-tailed hair. Even the same pair of red ribbons. The good times they had were all the good times they had, too.

"If there was ever any situation where her life was at stake, do you think you'd lay down your own for hers?"

"Well I uh…" Madoka hemmed over the gravity of the question. "I think I would…" She uneasily clutched her miniskirt. "Yes. I would put her life before mine if I absolutely had to." Yes, this is the same girl. The kind girl who Sayaka last rebuked purley out of resentment and spite. That same girl who then proceeded to stand alone against a city-leveling monster as Sayaka failed to go to her side. This Madoka thinks that she's the bad friend? No, Sayaka simply could not abide by her self hating mindset.

"Then you're fit to be her friend. Don't let yourself think anything different." Homura should've been there taking notes. Madoka simply smiled humbly.

"The bathroom's right behind you." Madoka pointed to it.

"Thanks." Sayaka gave her a reassuring thumbs up.

"I think you'd make a really good friend." Madoka waved as she walked back to class.

"No." Sayaka lurched into the bathroom and muttered to herself. "I'm the one that's not fit to be anybody's friend."


"So what was your bonus question, Madoka?" Sayaka asked. She and Madoka were sitting together at a restaurant table, having ordered their after school meal at the mall. Hitomi was refilling her tea.

"If I could have any wish granted, what would it be?" Madoka replied.

"Easy. Wish for a million wishes." Sayaka jested.

"I said that I would free the world from all misfortune."

"Bwahahaaaa." Sayaka giggled. "That's like a beauty contestant's answer. Haha, I can already picture you with long flowing hair in a bright white gown." Sayaka pointed to Madoka's bow tie. "With a big shiny pink gem on your chest." Madoka's face was glowing beet red.

"What was your question, Sayaka?" Hitomi asked the same.

"Ohhhh…" Sayaka took a sip through her straw. "If I ever found out a friend was seeing a boy that I liked, what would I do about it?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"A trap. Probably." Sayaka pounded the table. "She's already pegged me as the class clown, I think she's fishing for a way to knock me down a peg."

"My, that's unusually distrustful of you." Hitomi got up and went to retrieve her food.

"Eh, I just wrote 'Talk our feelings out, and ask the boy who he likes more.' She didn't say anything about our answers being truthful."

"What would you really do?" Madoka asked.

"I'd punch her lights out." Sayaka's response made Madoka spit out a mouthful of her drink. "Hehe. Sorry. Just joking." Sayaka hastily grabbed some paper napkins and wiped it up for her.

"Madoka," Hitomi Shizuki returned to their table with her drink in hand and sat down. "You had the chance to speak to the new girls. What were they like?" She and Sayaka both attentively leaned in.

"Well the second girl, Saya, she didn't say a lot. Just that she came from Okinawa and she's not living with her family or friends."

"She didn't say a whole lot in the office a few days ago, either." Sayaka added. "She must just be one of those shy, quiet girls."

"So I did most of the talking and eventually she…" Madoka stared appreciatively at Sayaka.

"She shat?" Sayaka shrugged.

"She helped me figure out something... That I think I already knew." Madoka quickly sipped her drink.

"What about the other girl," Hitomi asked. "Miss Akemi?"

"She was… A bit stranger."

"How so?" Her friends asked in unison.

"She did most of the talking, and acted overly familiar… With everything. As if she already knew everything about our school. She insisted that I call her 'Homura'... Then while we were in the skyway hall she…" Madoka's face blushed as she recalled the conversation. "Turned around and asked me if I treasured my life and considered my family and friends to be precious. When I told her they were precious… She told me… That I shouldn't change or I'd end up losing everything."

"She said whaaaaaat ?" Sayaka exclaimed.

"It doesn't make any sense, does it?" Madoka sighed.

"And there I was thinking she was this awesome, gifted girl but it turns out she's a total psycho! Auggh! I hope she doesn't think acting like a mysterious transfer student is cool. That's so moe it makes me sick! Ughh!" Sayaka's head dropped right to the table.

"Perhaps there was a misunderstanding." Hitomi chimed in. "Is this really the first time you've met Miss Akemi?"

"Hmmm… I guess the sensible answer would be 'yes'.

Sayaka's head perked up. "Okay what do you mean by 'sensible?' Either you met her or you didn't."

"Well it's like… You're going to think I'm weird, but I first met her in my dream. Or something."

Hitomi and Sayaka both burst into laughter at once.

"That's awesome! The anime character in you is popping out today!" Sayaka chuckled.

"C'mon! That's mean! This is really bugging me!"

"I got it all figured out! You guys knew each other in a past life and fate has reached across time and space to bring you back together again!" Sayaka cracked.

"In your dream, what happened when you met her?" Hitomi pressed.

"That's the thing. I can't really remember what happened in it. All I know is that it was really strange and spooky." Madoka paused and pointed at Sayaka. "And... I remember you being there, too! Really far away, but I knew it was you somehow!"

"Ohhhhh no! Leave me out these wacky dreams of yours! It was silly enough when you thought you had to tell me about that dream where I was really mad at you. I'll play no part in your cosmic harem."

"Sayaka, you said you weren't going to talk about that!" Madoka heatedly shouted.

"Oops." Sayaka dropped her hot dog onto her plate.

Hitomi looked at them both, puzzled. "What do you guys mea-"

"Nothing!" The two girls shook their heads and waved their arms at once.

"Nothing at all." Sayaka grabbed her food and penitently shoved it in her mouth.

Hitomi stared at them both in perplexed silence. "Well, if you want my opinion," She finally changed the subject. "I think it's entirely possible you met Miss Akemi somewhere before. You might not remember meeting her, but your subconscious certainly took note of it. When you were having that dream, your subconscious simply brought up the image of her."

"Seriously?" Sayaka said through her food. "That's a heck of a coincidence, don't you think?"

"Perhaps." Hitomi checked her phone. "Uh-oh. Look how late it's gotten." She got out of her seat and gathered her things. "Excuse me, but I really should be going now."

"What do you have today? Piano lessons, or Japanese Dance?" Sayaka asked.

"I have Tea Ceremony practice. Even though exams are coming up my mother still wants me to keep doing them."

"So glad I was born petit-bourgeois." Sayaka watched her friend depart the restaurant.

"Shouldn't you be going too?" Madoka whispered to Sayaka.

"What?"

"Don't you remember? You have that softball team meeting this afternoon!"

"Oh, crap! You're right! I gotta go home and change clothes and get my bat and glove! Gah! I'm going to be soooo laaaaate! Maybe I could just tell Miss Yamazaki I was visiting Kyosu-"

"You shouldn't lie about such things!"

"Ugh. But I reaaaaalllly needed to go the CD Store this afternoon!"

"Another gift for Kyosuke?"

"Hehe. Perhaps."

"You can just give me the money and I can go." Madoka offered. "Is there a CD in particular that you're looking for?"

"Well I uh," Sayaka scratched her head. "I had a couple in mind."

"Write them down for me." Madoka suggested.

"They're kinda hard to find, though."

"Even if it takes me the whole afternoon, I'll find them for you." Madoka cheerfully assured.

"It's your time." Sayaka gathered her belongings. "Your really don't mind?"

"Not at all! I know how much Kyosuke matters to you."

Sayaka tore a piece of paper from the back of her class notes. "These are the ones I've been looking around for. You only need to find one for today."

"I promise I'll find it." Madoka smiled. "You can count on me!"

"I know I can." Sayaka slung her bag around her shoulder and smiled back at her best friend. "See you later!"


"You're going to need this." Homura pulled a grenade launcher from her buckler and stuffed it inside a duffel bag. She proceeded to stuff a dozen grenades inside along with it. She was preparing Sayaka to fight a witch, due to appear near the mall construction area. For this was the witch encounter that first introduced Madoka and Sayaka to the world of magical girls and witches. This time, Homura and Sayaka had willingly, though reluctantly, paired together to avert a repeat in the chain of events. Homura was arming her with an entire amory's worth of grenades and explosives.

"Geez, where'd you get those? You go loot a JSDF base or something?" Sayaka said.

"Yes." Homura next pulled a gas mask from her buckler. "And you're going to need this too."

"A gas mask? What's that for?"

"For the gas." Homura handed Sayaka the gas mask and next pulled a set of tear gas canisters. "It disorients the familiars."

"So I take it you've fought this witch before?"

"Numerous times."

"What prevented you last time?

"Kyubey. He tries to make contact with Madoka earlier and earlier with every timeline." Homura strung the grenades along a belt and tied the belt across Sayaka's shoulder. "If Miss Jones wants one captured, it should happen before he tries to make contact with her."

"I don't see why I have to be the one who fights the witch. I'd much rather be the one who goes after Kyubey. Been itching for a shot at it." Sayaka gazed at the ring on her finger. "And besides, you're better than me anyway." She admitted. "At the magical stuff."

"Only because I always plan ahead." Homura continued "Aside from that, wherever Kyubey goes, typically Mami Tomoe is not far away. And she is definitely not to be trifled with."

"You sound afraid of her."

"Afraid of her ability to adversely influence Madoka's judgement, yes. And I…" Homura paused. "Properly respect her pure magical strength."

"If you really respect her, then tell her the darn truth!"

"I told you, I tried."

"Well try hard- Oof!" Homura shoved the bag hard into Sayaka's gut.

"Do you think you're the only person who idealized Mami Tomoe? The only person who witnessed her nobility and kindness and made a contract aspiring to be just like her?" Homura's face showed a small glint of anger.

"I-" Sayaka reflexively grabbed the duffel bag.

"The fact of the matter is," Homura explained. "She has absolutely no reason to trust our word over Kyubey's. He is the reason she's alive, in her mind." Sayaka remembered Mami telling her wish, a dying plea for life after a major car accident. "To challenge that trust, for now, would be to her a challenge upon her very sense of identity, her purpose." She stuffed another gas canister in the bag. "And believe me, the last thing we want, under any circumstances, is Mami Tomoe questioning who she is." She brusquely zipped the main compartment shut.

"Fine. If you say so." Sayaka acquiesced.

"Lastly, take this." Homura handed Sayaka a phone. "It won't get a signal inside the labyrinth. So if there's a problem, retreat and call me and I'll kill the witch."

"Retreat. Tch. Admit it. You only trust yourself to get the job done. You can just say that. I get it." Sayaka said glumly.

"You don't have to defeat the witch. Just preoccupy it long enough that it doesn't find its way to Madoka."

"Ah, for Madoka. Of course." Sayaka slung the bag around her back. "I'm not important at all."

"It would be very problematic if you were killed in battle. My alliance with Miss Jones is largely contingent on your safety."

"I was referring to The Other Me. Don't forget she'll be around too. But thanks for your concern. It almost sounded like you care about me."

"That Sayaka is going to be at softball practice. Or have you already forgotten?"

"Oh, yeah… That completely slipped my mind." Sayaka scratched her head. "Wait, how do you know about that? Are you really stalking them?" Sayaka tilted her head and stared at Homura.

"Of course not." Homura grumped. Miss Jones told me all about the restaurant incident."

"Still, there's a chance she'll be there. I suck at remembering when I'm supposed to be somewhere." Sayaka worryingly rubbed her forehead. "I still can't believe how exactly alike we are. She even flubbed that flop in gym class."

"You always flub it." Homura checked the time. "Where is Miss Jones at the moment?"

"Still at the school." Sayaka sighed. "Getting to know the other teachers."

"She wanted to arrange another meeting."

"She didn't say anything to me about it."

"It was my bonus question."

"Ah."

"I don't know how she could possibly balance repairing her ship, building devices, and helping us, in addition to pretending to be an educator."

"She strikes me as the type of person who's convinced that, if they ever stopped working, or doing stuff and settled down, they'd die. I've got an aunt who's the same way." Sayaka surmised. "And, you know, she's not really as human as she looks."

"Hm. Still, she might have closer qualifications to that word than either of us." Homura's Soul Gem flashed, as she became encased in a brilliant flash of violet light. "Do you believe she can do all the things for us that she's said she can?"

"Wait, you actually want my opinion?"

"You're better at assessing people's true intentions than I am."

Sayaka's eyes widened. "Oh, wow! Was that a compliment? From you? For reals!"

"No. Merely an observation."

"Ah- Heh. Honestly, I don't know if she can do all the things she says. But I do get the sense that she's trying to do her best to help."

"Let's hope that's enough." Homura strode off on her mission. "Begin searching in the construction area. There's over an eighty percent chance it will be located there."

"Will do." Sayaka started off. "Good luck! And happy Hunting." Sayaka waved a goodbye.

"You, uh... Stay sharp." Homura stiffly waved back at her. "Your lack of talent is somewhat mitigated by your ability to think on your feet."

"Eh, you really gotta work on those compliments." Sayaka smiled. "Get better, and you might be able to pass for a real girl someday."

"I wasn't making a compliment."


"I can still make it! I can still make it there! Gotta go fast!" Sayaka took off in a dead run from her apartment complex toward her school. She had a little under ten minutes to make it on time. "Gotta go fast!" She huffed and panted as she leapt over bushes and cut across private properties. "Faster!" A quick rush of adrenaline kicked an as she dashed past the woods and climbed the steps of the pedestrian bridge. "Faster! Go faster!"

"I can make it! I'm going to-'' She tripped over the last step. Sayaka's nose instantly made contact with the ground. "Owww! Owwwwwwwwch!" She opened her eyes to the sight of rushing blood from her nose.

"Owwwwwch!" She turned over and tried to sit up. Her knee had gotten badly scraped as well. She covered her nose and examined the damage on her school uniform, its tannish fabric being dyed red with her gushing blood. She grabbed the first soft piece of cloth she could feel, and applied it to her nose. Unfortunately for her, it was also her new team uniform.

"I won't make it." She sniffed some blood down her throat and just as quickly coughed it back up. She guiltily stuffed the uniform back into the bag as she searched for something else to stop the blood flow. She settled on her quiz paper from class, already reddened with ink from all the check marks and corrections.

"I can't make it." She frustratedly crumpled the paper and put it to her nose. "Why does this stuff always happen to me?" She wheezed in anguish, flopped flat on the bridge and dispiritedly watched her nosebleed form a flowing river between the cracks in the brickwork.

Sayaka's heart sank. She could already picture what was going to happen next: She was going to be late. She was going to get kicked off the team. Her parents were going to find out, and then her mom would make her get that braindead dreadful dishwashing job. Washing dishes. Barely making it through middle school. Washing dishes. Failing right out of high school. Washing dishes. Eeking out a meager existence at the edge of town. Washing dishes. Never mattering to anyone. Washing dishes. Her life was over. Her fate was sealed. The tumble might as well have killed her. "Why am I such a screw up?"

Was there a point to even getting up and trudging on? To trying anymore? It was just going to lead to more humiliation and failure, to everyone around laughing at her. "I'm not good enough." Her wheezing gave way to sobbing. "Not for my parents. Not for Kyosuke. Not for Madoka." Her soul was crushed. She could feel all her passion for life being sucked away from her body. "I'll never make it."

"Maybe it would be better if you just died!" A child-like voice spoke to her from beyond.

"Yeah. Maybe it would be better..." She repeated. Her eyes sank closed.

"That's right! You should just die!" The voice encouraged.

"Yeah. I should just…"

Sayaka stopped herself and her eyes snapped open. She was no longer sitting on the bridge. Somehow she had found herself transported into a strange realm, a place that looked to her like some kind of bizarre art museum.

"Where am I? What is this place? What's going on?" Her frightened questions echoed through its halls. Sayaka anxiously clutched at the bat in her bag, and uneasily wobbled to her feet. She checked on the path behind her, the steps on which she'd tripped moments before were gone, replaced with a white wall. She took her bat from her bag and pounded on it, hoping its solidity was just an illusion, but her repeated strikes against it were futile. It seemed that the only way out of here, was to go forward.

"Hello?" She clutched the bat and pressed it to her shoulder. "Is there anybody there?" She reluctantly proceeded along a red-carpeted walkway, her only signpost. "This has to be a cr- crazy dream! I must've hit my head really hard!" Her words echoed throughout the halls.

"Thiiiiiiiiiiis wayyyyyy!" The childish voice from beyond playfully called to her. But somehow, Sayaka instinctively knew this was a voice not to be trusted.

Her walking speed quickened, the adrenaline was pumping, her heart beating practically out of her chest, she turned a corner, and suddenly found herself face-to-face with a half-dozen grotesque, humanoid creatures.

"No! S- Stay away from me!" She swung as hard as she could at one, striking it right in its deformed face. A second creature lurched at her. She aimed for its torso, hit, and turned to run in the other direction. That's where another creature appeared. Sayaka struck it in the leg.

"Get away! Get away! Get away!" Sayaka had gone into full panic mode, her attacks doing little to deter all her pursuers from giving chase.

"Teeheeheheheeee!" The child's voice mockingly laughed throughout the halls.

Another creature lunged after her and grabbed her by the leg. "No! Get off of me!" She bashed at this one with her hardest swing yet, but it was too late. The other creatures had closed in.

"Noooo! Let me go! Let me goooo!" The creatures collectively took her body and hoisted her above their heads. Wherever these creatures were intent on taking her, she could no longer resist. The walls around them suddenly vanished, as the ceiling morphed into a menacing reddish-orange skyline. And she knew, to the very core within her soul, that this nightmarish hellscape was going to be the place where she died.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" She thrashed and screamed in abject terror. Was she beyond all help? Was she beyond all hope? "Heeeeeelllllp!" She made one final plea into the ether.

"Oy, guess I can't just sit n' watch this crap!" A voice shouted behind Sayaka. She opened her eyes. To her utter amazement, her captors had all been decapitated. Their bodies dissolving like puffs of smoke, Sayaka fell hard to the ground.

"Whaddaya know! The little fuzzball was right!" Sayaka's savior chuckled. "This town's just crawlin ' with big fish! Second big catch of the day!" To Sayaka's sheer surprise, her hero appeared to be a girl somewhere around Sayaka's own age. With a Pocky stick dangling from her mouth, she had red eyes and long, flowing hair the same color, with a thick black ribbon tied on top in such a way that gave the appearance of a pair of wolf ears. She was clad in a darker red dress, with white ruffles along the bottom and a strange jewel on her chest, this odd looking heroine stood triumphantly over Sayaka's body still splayed on the ground. "I just saved yer ass so, ya' better do the smart thing and butt out of this battle. This witch's Grief Seed's allllllllll miiiine"!

"W- Witch?" Sayaka cautiously rose to her feet. "Wh- What's a Grief Seed?" She sheepishly asked.

"Ya' gotta be kidding me! What are you some idiot rookie? Has Kyubey not even explained the basics to ya'?"

"Q-Who?"

More grotesque humanoids sprang from the ground and charged at them, but the girl skillfully stymied them with a simple wave of her hand, conjuring a thick lattice-shaped barrier between them and the attackers.

Then the redhead grabbed Sayaka by her wrist and studied her hand. "Hey, wait a… No way! I thought for sure I'd sensed you had magic in you! But ya' ain't got no ring! You're only a human! Shit!"

"Magic? What do y-" The cadre of humanoid creatures collectively wailed and were now pounding on the redhead's barrier like a horde of ravenous zombies. Sayaka found her lost bat and anxiously stood ready to fight them away.

"Nope! That thing's not gonna do you much good." The redhead remarked.

"They're coming!" Sayaka screamed.

"I save yer ass, ya' bring me food. Deal?" The redhead said.

"What?"

"I'm not in this business for heroics or kicks y'know! Ya' gotta make it worth my while!" The redhead smirked self-confidently.

"I'll do whatever you want… Just get me out of here!" Sayaka replied.

"I'll take it as a deal then!" The redhead chewed up the rest of her pocky and gracefully twirled her spear above her head.

"They're gonna come through!" Sayaka yelled. The horde of creatures were pounding and smashing at the barrier.

"Yup! I'd say we have another minute or so before they do, though." The redhead nodded. "Quick, what's the craziest or grossest looking thing in this area?"

"Is that a serious question?"

"Magical Girling One-Oh-One, For The Dummy Human: This place that you and I are trapped in is a Witch's Labyrinth. Those gross things attacking us right now are its Familiars. The Witch controlling them is usually either the biggest or the craziest and grossest looking thing around. Kill the big Witch, they go away too. So what fits the description?"

"I don't know!" Sayaka jerked her head as she looked for any clues. But everything around looked to her like some loosely-cobbled together work of tacky art. "Tha- That arc thing over there is pretty big!" But there was something that did particularly catch her eyes. It looked like a twisted version of a French landmark.

"Y'know, I thought that looked suspicious, too!" The familiars were steadily breaching the layers of her barrier, they only had a couple dozen seconds left. "But I wonder if it's the whole piece or just that creepy-looking figure up top?"

"What difference does it make? Just chop it all up!" Sayaka begged.

"Hmmm… That'll take a few seconds extra. Still, it's a plan. But I'm going to need someone to keep those familiars offa me!" The redhead glanced over Sayaka's bat. "You up to the job?"

"I- I'll do what I can!" Sayaka tensed her bat to her shoulder.

"Alright then! Let me give you a little edge first!" The redhead gripped onto Sayaka's bat. In a red flash the bat had been transformed into a magnificent, double-edged golden sword.

"Woah!" Sayaka gasped.

"Heh! Saw someone I knew turn a broomstick into a gun once. Figured if she could turn a broom into a gun, then I can turn a bat into a blade!"

"They're coming!"

"They look pretty braindead, so they're probably gonna rush you. Swarm you. Just slash and dash, ya' got it? Slash again, and dash! Don't let 'em touch you! And most important of all, stay the hell outta my blade's way!"

"I'll try!" Sayaka gulped.

"Ready?" The last barrier fell as the redhead vaulted right over the oncoming horde using her spear. "Heeeeere they come!"

Sayaka slashed and dashed. Their bodies fell slain. So she dashed, and slashed again. More bit the dust. So she slashed and dashed a third time. And a fourth. Sayaka was thriving on the pure instinct and adrenaline of the moment. From her perspective, time was warping, the battle stretching out as she persisted, seconds extending to minutes, as that single minute felt like a whole eternity.

But every single creature that got close, whatever monster came within a step, she slaughtered with all her desperate might. And in the heat of that moment, Sayaka sensed something, a voice from deep within herself. This was her destiny calling, at last she had a purpose, a reason to exist, a sense of importance, a real use in this life. More than adrenaline, she was thriving on the thrill of the kill. She made one last charge and dash before finally collapsing from exhaustion, her body finally having had enough of the fight.

She witnessed a bright red and orange flash all around, the next thing she knew, she was lying down, facing up on the pedestrian bridge, looking up into the bright afternoons sky, wondering if everything that had just happened to her was all just a dream. Was this wonderful thrill only going to fade away once she came to?

"Hey, not bad!" She heard the mysterious redhead say. "I wouldn't be surprised if Kyubey comes and sees ya' soon." Sayaka's vision was rapidly blurring. She was about to pass out. "Just remember now…" The redhead's cocky, grinning face was the last thing she saw. "I'm gonna hold ya' to that deal!"


"A witch's kiss," Sayaka cradled the unconscious woman's body in her arms. On the nape of the woman's neck marked a butterfly insignia, a type of supernatural branding the witch used to lure its victims to their dooms. Fortunately, Sayaka had managed to incapacitate this poor unsuspecting lady before she could enter the creature's lair.

"She was right." A butterfly lined portal formed almost exactly in the area Homura had predicted. "There it is. Oh, boy." Sayaka took a deep, focused breath. She removed her hair clip, and with it her disguise, and in a blue flash changed to her magical girl form. She conjured a sword from her cape with one hand, picked up the duffel bag with her other, and proceeded vigilantly into the Witches' realm.

"Now where was it again?" Sayaka jogged down the corridors. She already knew this particular witch from the world she left behind, it was the first labyrinth that she and Madoka had wandered into, subsequently the first witch hunt Mami took them on. The first time, Sayaka remembered claiming that she wasn't scared, but she knew deep down it was just bravado, trying to make it appear to Madoka that there were two tough girls by her side. But her heart was racing as frantically right now as it was at the time.

It was not hard for her to remember what the witch looked like, but it was far less easy to remember the particular path they took to find it. "Outta my way!" Sayaka slashed an attacking multi-eyed, mustachioed flying minion in half with her blade. Two more charged in its wake. She sliced them away with just as much effort. Sayaka headed down a corridor on her right. A dozen more mustachioed creatures awaited in ambush.

"Take this!" She shouted in a momentary retreat as she pulled the pin on a flash grenade and chucked it in their faces. That gave her a moment to slip her gasmask on. "Alright! Almost there!"

She came to a bridge overlooking an army of mottled familiars waiting to attack. "Man, Mami sure made this look easy!" Mami used a spray of musket fire to disperse them. Not nearly as gifted, Sayaka needed to rely on Homura's bombs and gas grenades. "Heh. Starting to see why she likes these things." She chucked a couple more grenades behind her.

Sayaka spotted the door leading to the witches' inner lair. In rapid succession she pulled the pins out of six gas grenades and tossed them along the path. She sprung off the bridge and charged on the moment she landed, frantically tossing flash grenades as a horde of flying familiars buzzed above. In a flash the doorway to the witch's lair was open, Sayaka was escorted to a balcony overlooking the monstrous Witch, in repose on an enormous couch in the center of the room.

"I won't let you get anywhere near Madoka! Not this time!" Sayaka pointed her blade threateningly in its direction. "Huuuuuup!" She heroically leapt off the balcony and made a mad dash for the misshapen monster. Her offensive was immediately thwarted, as the witch tossed its seat in her way and took off into the air. Distorted shapes of butterflies and roses writhed around its visage as it moved.

"Oh, yeah. It can fly. Forgot that." Her memory of her opponent's abilities were a bit hazy, at the time her attention was much more focused on Mami, and how cool she made this gig look.

"Let's try this then." Sayaka conjured dozens of swords around herself, tossing each at the witch in rapid succession. The results were no better, the Witch was too quick to be touched. "Damn it!" She agonizingly shouted.

Was it time for that strategic retreat? No... Sayaka dismissed the idea. She hadn't bought enough time, and would only prove her own ineptitude to Homura. Perhaps this Witch was as vulnerable to flash grenades as its flying familiars? Sayaka felt for the grenades along her belt. She still had seven remaining. If she could toss her remaining lot at strategic points, maybe she would corral the beast to a spot where she would unleash an all-out charge with her body. It was worth a try.

Sayaka fired a grenade with the grenade launcher in front of the Witch. It screamed a most wicked roar, and fled in the opposite direction. "Gotcha now, freak!"

Her plan coming together, she readied her charge, when suddenly she felt something tug her hard around the leg. The familiars along the floor had discreetly strung themselves together, daisy chaining their bodies into a black, barbed vine that kept Sayaka from charging. The next thing she knew, her body was getting flung from wall to wall. Now she was at this thing's mercy. Only the overwhelming surges of pain kept her conscious. Her mind scrambled to think of how she once figured out how to block her physical pain, but there was too little time to dwell.

As the Witch pulled Sayaka towards its body, Sayaka had just one option left: Throw her hand grenades, just as the Witch was going to bring her near. A suicide attack. Take the thing down with her. Only, Sayaka knew it wouldn't be suicide for her, so long as her Soul Gem stayed intact. It would hurt, and her body would be mangled, but she would be able to recover with her rapid healing magic.

As the Witch reeled her in close, Sayaka removed the C-Shaped Soul Gem affixed on her belly button and clutched it firmly in her hand. She closed her eyes, took a breath and reached for the two hand grenades on her side belt.

"You were on the right track there, luring it into a spot to attack, but unfortunately you didn't pay attention to your surroundings and left yourself open to capture. Lucky for you, I made it here just in time." Sayaka's eyes popped open. This confident voice belonged to someone amazingly familiar.

A volley of musket fire rang throughout the lair, several of which struck the black vine of familiars that held Sayaka tight. Sayaka fell toward the ground, where a web of glowing yellow ribbons caught her and rolled her to safety. Sayaka astoundedly gazed at the regal-looking form of her liberator.

"Just remember, you've always got to think things through completely. There's always other options to consider before a suicide attack." Mami Tomoe stepped up and reassured her. "For now, just hang back and let me take care of this Witch. You tried your best."

With her second, more massive volley of musket fire, the Witch panickedly retreated right into Mami's trap, where it was ensnared in a bigger web of ribbons. "Let's wrap this up!" Mami said. She untied the bow around her collar and whipped it around herself as it morphed into a gigantic, single shot gun.

"Tiro… Finale!" Mami exclaimed. She aimed and fired her trump card. The shot penetrated right through the creature, eviscerating it. It vanished into a sea of yellow light, as the lair around them slowly shifted back to conventional reality. Mami landed gracefully on the floor, sipping a cup of tea calmly as the defeated Witch's Grief Seed fell to her side.

"Now that it's safe to talk, why don't we formally introduce ourselves." Mami's magical uniform dissolved in a golden yellow flash. She picked up the Grief Seed laying beside her. "I'm Mami Tomoe. Pleased to meet you!"

She used the Grief Seed to cleanse her Soul Gem and lobbed it over to Sayaka. "Seeing as you did your fair share of the work, you can have it. It should be good for at least one more use." Mami politely smiled at her.

The sheer swarm of conflicting emotions Sayaka had, upon seeing this lady alive again were almost completely overwhelming. The sheer joy of victory, the pure gratitude she had for saving her life, the surge of relief that she wouldn't need to resort to a painful desperation attack. But above them all, she had the uncontrollable urge to just go up and give Mami a great big, friendly hug.

"That's a pretty cute outfit." Mami held out her hand. "Why don't you take that gas mask off, so I can see your face?" And yet… She also had other feelings, much more cautionary ones, congealing in the pit of her stomach. As much as Sayaka wanted to rip that mask off and explain everything , she dreadfully realized Homura was right: This Mami Tomoe had never met her before. This Mami Tomoe had no reason to take anything Sayaka had to say seriously. This Mami could just as easily see Sayaka as an upstart rival spouting lies. No matter how much she wanted to show her face, she knew that letting Mami see her could mean letting Kyubey see her. Which would put everything Miss Jones was working on at risk. Sayaka carefully tucked the Grief Seed into her duffel bag, and took a few steps back.

"Th- Thanks." Sayaka said stoically through her mask.

"I am curious to know, just how you managed to obtain such an allotment of explosives? Where'd you get them? From whom?" While Mami's was trying her hardest to sound cordial and inquisitive, her words, to Sayaka's weary ears, came across as rather calculative and detached. She already knew who gave Sayaka those bombs. This Mami was more interested in poaching useful information, not actually trying to be her friend like last time. This Mami, was unfortunately to Sayaka, not someone she could trust yet.

"I have to go." Sayaka uttered regretfully through the mask. She turned her back and started walking away.

"Awwwww… You're just going to leave? Not even going to introduce yourself to the girl who just saved your life? At least tell me your name!"

"I can't." Sayaka swallowed. "Sorry."

"So that's how it is, then." The pain and disappointment in Mami's voice was palpable. "Then tell your partner who it was that came to your aid today. And for your sake, take my advice about minding the things around you." Sayaka's walking retreat hastened in pace until she was clear of Mami's sight.

"Must we all be rivals?" She whispered to herself in the dark. "Is there never going to be a better way?"

"Mami… Help me!" A familiar voice pleaded directly into her mind. Dear Kyubey was in danger! No time for her to ruminate over anything else!