As the boy was pinned to the locker by thick, sweaty hands, the blue-haired wore the school uniform with rolled-up sleeves, his collar unbuttoned and a cocky smile still plastered on his face. Hideki let out a low grunt when Takehito slammed him against the lockers again, growing agitated by the smaller student's constant mocking. But Hideki kept his cocky smirk, his left cheek bandaged as the taller boy barked in his face like an angry bulldog.
"I know you and Tezuka made one of my boys give those fake forms to the office! Spill it already so that you'll have an easier time with me and my pal over here," Takehito gestured to the friend behind him that slammed his fist into an open palm to intimidate Hideki, but all the two got from him was a mocking chuckle in response. Takehito looked like he was going to bust a nerve.
"I am so surprised that someone like you figured that out. Oh, do you want a prize for that, I'm sure you like shiny stuff, right?" he responded with bitter sarcasm and Takehito, gritting his teeth, slammed a fist into Hideki's abdomen to shut him up. Hideki grunted, vomiting a little as his breakfast leaked from his mouth and dripped to the floor. Coughing out his brunch, too, Hideki wiped off the drops of vomit around the corner of his mouth with his hand, couching between words, "Meh, I've been through worst beatings. You can do better than that, asshole."
Behind the lockers, Homura whispered to Yuri, telling her stay still as she leaned in closer from the left. Getting this boy out of trouble would be a good chance for her to meet him and fulfill her goals. Saving him would definitely put him in debt to her. Even if Homura looked to be as thin like most girls, she was a Puella Magi, and she has faced down monsters and demons that would make even the coldest men cower in fear. Two bullies wouldn't be much to her.
Homura rolled up her sleeves and prepared to dirty her hands.
"Spill the beans so that my boys won't be annoyed by that Council President anymore! She won't take anything without proof!"
The blue-haired boy pondered about his answer for a few minutes to annoy him, answering his demands with a smirk, "How about 'no'?"
Tired of the constant string of insults that came from his mouth, Takehito lifted Hideki up from the ground and threw the boy into the locker behind him which was the same one Homura and Yuri were hiding behind. Homura placed a hand over Yuri's mouth so she wouldn't scream and pulled her away as the impact made a loud noise that echoed through the room. The locker itself toppled over, falling to the ground with a thundering crash as Yuri was shaking in Homura's arms, gripping onto the black-haired girl's clothes in terror.
Homura heard the sickening crack of a bone and a low grunt of pain, "OK, that hurt."
Still unsatisfied, Takehito grabbed him by the collar again and slammed him against another locker. He crashed his fist into the boy's abdomen again, making him close his eyes and grunt in pain as Takehito liked the sound of his suffering. Bringing him to eye-level, Takehito sneered in Hideki's face, "I can do this all day, Hakamichi. After all, you never could fight back even if your life depended on it. You know what? I'm sure your mother would be proud to see you like this."
Peering over the locker again, Homura and Yuri saw Hideki curl his hands into tight fists at the insult. His smirk turned into an agressive frown and his eyebrows furrowed. His sarcastic tone lowered into a furious, low growl and his eyes flared with anger. The change was almost instant, as if that simple insult was all it took to flip his switch. Hideki on the other hand, obviously wasn't just going to let someone besmirch his beloved mother and get away without a least a single black eye and a broken jaw.
"Aww, is the Mama's boy 'gonna crack another insult, now?" Takehito mocked and laughed with his friend.
"The only thing I'm gonna crack is your fucking skull," Hideki spat, his voice rising.
Homura heard the cracking of knuckles preparing to fight and she gestured Yuri to stay still.
She was going to intervene in this fight until a familiar voice rose up and rang through the locker room, causing all to freeze on spot from its hardened and scolding tone.
"Stop this, immediately! Before I send you two the Principal's office myself!" Makoto's came marching into the locker room with a towel around his sweaty neck and towards Takehito who immediately dropped the blue-haired to the wet floor and along with his friend, bowed at the sudden appearance of their Club President. Hideki coughed and grimaced, clutching his stomach while on the floor.
"Y-Yes, C-Captain Makoto!" they apologized in unison and the senior was standing in front of the two with crossed arms. Never had Homura nor Yuri seen him so angry like this and Homura was just as surprised as the young girl. The boy wasn't their leader just for show, as he had the attitude and discipline to prove it.
Scanning the scene, Makoto look around the locker room and noticed Homura and Yuri standing behind some lockers. He looked surprise at their presence and lowered his voice as if not to scare them any further. He turned to his underlings, "Leave us," Makoto ordered and the two ran past him, only excusing them because he himself had business with Hideki and was worried more about the two girls.
Homura was surprised by Makoto's arrival as she saw him offer a hand to the boy that was still on the floor. Hideki waved off the help, rubbed his injuries and got up to his feet by his own accord. His injuries looked like something that had to be tended by the school nurse, but Hideki got up as if he was used to the wounds and let out tiny wince. The fire in his eyes were gone and he went back to his dry and sarcastic tone.
"You should learn where to be at the right time," Makoto advised, shaking his head, "Those two would have beaten you up. Again. I'm sure Narita is getting tired of you being sent to her office."
"Whatever. I had it under control, anyway," Hideki shrugged and arched his back until he heard a satisfying crack. He grimaced and rubbed his abdomen again with a free hand, "Whew. Much better," Hideki looked to the lockers where Homura and Yuri were behind and quipped, "You two can come out now you know. You don't really have to hide behind there anymore. Probably smells like crap there."
Homura walked out from behind the locker while Yuri ran to Makoto's side, hugging by the waist like a scared kid. Makoto patted her on the head and gave Homura look of surprise, asking curiously, "What were you two doing here?"
"I-I was showing her around the locker room," Yuri explained, still shaking in Makoto's grip, "I d-didn't know there was a fight going on here. S-Sorry."
Hideki leaned on a locker and clicked his tongue, putting his arms behind his head to relax, "Well, at least you two didn't lose your breakfast."
Makoto shot a glare at the boy and scolded him, "It was your own fault they assaulted you, Hakamichi. You used my members to enlist fake forms and they just spoke their mind about how they felt. No matter how many times you try, I thought I already warned you that you and your friend, Tateyama, are not good enough for the team? Do my warning just fall on deaf ears?"
"Hey, I've been practicing!" Hideki protested, his voice turning bitter, "And Tateyama's been trying to fix his problem for days now. I'm sure we'll be 'team material' right before the tournament starts, so why can't you just let us in?"
"That doesn't mean you and your friends can just use my club members as tools," Makoto shot back angrily at his junior and pushed away Yuri. Very quickly, the conversation between the two turned sour and both Homura and Yuri felt very awkward to be in the locker room as the two began to argue. Yuri slowly shifted to Homura's side and hid behind her while she simply waited for the two to calm down and stop bickering. This was not how she planned for things to go.
Hideki huffed and placed his hands in his pockets, turning on his heel, "Anyway, I'm outta here. Later, Takamatsu."
Before the boy exited the room, Makoto grabbed him by the shoulder and gave him a fair warning in advance, "I will be reporting you to the Student Council after this. Tezuka can't stay away from punishment forever. No one can."
Hideki merely shrugged and shoved away Makoto's hand from his shoulder, "Good luck on that. Even if he's a smug bitch, he's the brains of our group for a reason," Hideki then walked off and left the locker room without another sarcastic quip from his lips.
Makoto let out an exhausted sigh, bringing a hand to his face and rubbing his forehead. Makoto turned around to the silent pair behind him and apologized for what they had to see, "I suggest you two continue with whatever you were doing. I have business to attend to," the two nodded diligently at the senior and made their way out of the locker room. The two were absolutely relieved to be out of that place, but Homura was disappointed that she lost her chance to talk with Hideki.
"Oh well," was Sanbey's response, popping out of the bag, "We still got plenty of time. Why don't we find the other two?"
As time passed during Homura's tour of the school, the two toured through more places like the large cafeteria which was one of the biggest places in school, the track-and-run fields outside where Sanbey had popped out of the bag to roll the freshly-cut grass and the more places that was at the top of Yuri's head. This time, the tour was more quiet and silent, but Homura did not spot any of the boys she was looking for.
Now at the school library, large, towering shelves that almost reached the ceiling were filled with books as they surrounded the two with students quietly reading the books in their hands or at the reading tables. The librarian was dozing off at the counter, her rounded glasses barely sitting on the bridge of her nose. Homura kept her eyes open for the other boys, looking left and right constantly, until Yuri tugged her by the sleeve to get her attention.
"A-Akemi," she called in a hushed tone as to not bother the other people in the library.
"What is it?" Homura answered, eyes still peering left and right.
"T-Thanks, for just now," she said in a grateful tone, also sounding less nervous than earlier this morning, "I never liked it w-when Makoto argued with someone. So... thank you, again," again, her shrinking violet attitude reminded Homura of someone that she just couldn't remember. Her attitude was so familiar and Homura couldn't help but pat Yuri on the head without knowing.
She retracted her hand when she realized what she had done and went back to her cold façade immediately. Homura waved off the thanks and proceeded to the library's main doors with Yuri behind her, "There is no need to thank me."
"No. Really - Thanks. To be honest, when I first s-saw you, I think you were... urgh... kinda cool at first... Although you didn't look very happy..."
This all felt very familiar to Homura. She remembered Madoka saying the same thing about her name. And 'happy'? When was the last time Homura felt happy in her life after going through so much despair and suffering? She had forgotten when was the last time she smiled, when was the last time she was truly at peace and felt that everything in the world was going to be alright. Turning around, she averted Yuri's gaze and loosened her shirt's collar, saying monotonously, "Thank you for the compliment."
"Hehe..." Yuru smiled at Homura, "And Akemi... If you ever need to talk to someone, m-my sister and I will be there to listen, okay?"
Homura turned to the door, expression unchanging, but Yuri kept smiling and followed her outside the library. The two had paused the tour for a short break near the vending machine to quench their thirst. But when they resumed the tour, Homura realized Yuri was now lost in navigation. The little girl looked left and right, taking out a small map of the school, but to no luck of getting back on track where they were. All that talking just now probably made her lose focus of where they were going, Homura guessed in her head. In her bag, Sanbey had dozed off during the tour.
"Do you require help?"
"O-Of course not," she replied, scratching her head in confusion, "I'm the s-student council president's sister. I can handle this."
While she was in her dilemma, Homura leaned on the wall, patiently waiting for the girl to snap out of it since she would prefer not to disturb her focus. She took out her list of targets and double-checked it for errors. The corridor was pretty wide and quiet, and Homura cherished the moment of silence while Sanbey continued to take a nap in her bag. The dark circles under her eyes were more visible than before since she had spent the night discussing with Sanbey endlessly, questioning about him and getting only one answer every time she asked about his origin: "I don't remember".
As she sank into a small nap, Homura began to think. What will she do after she accomplishes her goal? What will she do with the Magical Boys? Will they be as powerful as Sanbey had promised? Can they even fulfill her goals? All of these thoughts flooding into her tired mind, and were cut off when Homura heard the creaking of wheels heading towards her.
"Is there something I can help you with, Miss?" a young, mature voice came from her left and Homura opened her eyes, not noticing she had been asleep. To her surprise, a young boy with stumps for legs, sat on a wheel-chair beside her and was smiling at both Homura and Yuri. Homura was surprised at the boy's calm expression, despite his visible disability, and couldn't help but stare. The boy also looked familiar as well, as he bore a faint resemblance to one of the boys in her pictures. Calmly, not minding Homura's gaze, he scratched his short, brown hair and chuckled, "Again, may I help you two?"