Terrifying discovery

"I need to get more Pocky."

Kyouko saw that in the drawer there was a shortage in her survival kit. When she closed it, a small piece of the wooden surface of the bed table detached and fell to the ground due to the impact.

"Damn..."

The foot of the bed, the door, the desk, the dressing table... everything in the room that was made of wood and the water had reached, was bloating and rotting.

When her mother sees this.

However, she and Sayaka were responsible for the house chores. Kyouko never saw Sayaka's mother enter in the room, in fact, she rarely was seen because of the work shift. The father, for what Kyouko knew, was working out of town.

Despite having a family, you have a very lonely life in this house. Kyouko thought as she watched Sayaka at the desk. "So? Did you have any ideas?"

On the desk there were several notes. Maps, addresses and schedules. All that Sayaka managed to keep in her head. Several times she was forced to destroy the material in the hope that Homura did not find out the extent of her knowledge. "I'm still thinking. I don't know how I can make Madoka remember. I need a good amount of time with her, but..."

Kyouko said, crossing her arms. "You had the opportunity on that day that Homura was missing."

"But you saw how she arrived the next day all cheerful. She must have been lying in wait. I'm telling you, it has to be something well planned. Opportunities are illusions in this world, there're only traps." Sayaka said while organizing some sheets.

Kyouko arrived beside her. "Why don't you give up about Madoka?"

Sayaka turned to Kyouko. "Again with that?"

"No." Kyouko gestured. "What I mean is about trying something else besides recovering the memories of that pinkette."

Sayaka became suspicious. She wondered what Kyouko was thinking. "If you think we have a chance against Homura, I say no. Before we make a single step, she'll have erased our minds."

"After what you said, I'm up to give a harsh lesson to her." So Kyouko nodded negatively. "But that's not what I was talking about either."

"Have a plan in mind?" Sayaka was more curious.

Kyouko scratched her neck. "Well... no. I just wanna help you to gather some ideas. The ones who were good with planning was Mami and Homura. I was there to clean up the mess when it didn't work. Heh."

Sayaka sighed and turned her attention back to the notes. "So..."

"Hey Sayaka."

"Um..." Sayaka kept her attention on the notes.

"Why don't we try to contact Mami?"

Sayaka stood for a moment, then looked at Kyouko.

"Like I said. She's good with plans. In addition, she studies in another classroom. Homura can be fast, but I think she can't be in two places at once." Kyouko smiled. "Wouldn't it be nice to have her with us?"

"Of course it would." Sayaka said without enthusiasm. "The problem is precisely the fact that she studies in another classroom. Contacting her is very risky, even more because it's probably that we have to recover her memory."

"Yeah, that's bad..." Kyouko shared the discouragement.

"But I'm without any ideas." Sayaka held one of the papers containing a drawing of the school's map. "It might be worth trying."

"Huh? We'll really try?" Kyouko was perplexed.

"Yes." Sayaka said. "But we need to check on her first."

Kyouko frowned. "Didn't you say she was okay?"

Sayaka was more careful with the words she would say. "If Homura changed her memories again, it's possible that her routine is different too. I just want a confirmation, that's all."

Kyouko closed her eyes and passed a hand in her ponytail. "Oh. Okay. And how you want to do this?"

Sayaka smiled, both for Kyouko accepting her argument as the answer she would give. "By retracing some steps."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

The bell rang, announcing the end of another school day.

Sayaka and Kyouko were the first to leave the room, a routine followed to the letter. The two passed in a hallway where they could see the school gate through the long panels of glass. Many students passed by in a hurry to leave.

Something caught the attention of Kyouko. "Sayaka, I'll buy something in the candy machine."

"Go on. I'll wait." Sayaka was close to the panels to not block the passage of other students in the hallway.

Kyouko threw open a smile. "Hey Sayaka..."

"Huh?"

"Lend me a few bucks?"

Sayaka angered up. "You already spent all the money that my mother gave to you?"

Kyouko still smiling. "Too bad it happens sometimes, no? Heheh."

Sayaka shook her head disapprovingly. Then she opened her bag and took something from there, fist tightly closed. "Here."

Sayaka deposited a note of money well kneaded on the hands of Kyouko.

"You have to take better care of your money, you buy food with it." Kyouko snapped.

Sayaka opened the bag again. "You can return then."

Kyouko held the note hard, kneading it further. "Thank you." She went to the vending machine.

"Tsk... tsk..." Sayaka sighed and stared at the people outside.

Kyouko slipped the note where the markings indicated, but the machine rejected, spitting out the currency. "Shit..." She rubbed the note in her hands and tried again. The machine refused again, because one end of the note was still folded.

The corridor was getting emptier.

"GO klunker!" Kyouko punched the side of the machine.

"What now, Kyouko?" Sayaka questioned.

"This stupid machine isn't accepting the money."

"Hmmm... Keep trying." Sayaka remained watching the people passing by the school gate. Where are you?

Rubbing again the note, Kyouko saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. In the glass reflection of one of the classrooms, long dark locks fluttered. "I've decided what I want. It will be peanuts covered in chocolate. And you?"

Sayaka's eyes widened. This is the signal that Homura is around. "I want gumdrop."

"Right. I gonna use my secret technique." Kyouko blew her palms sometimes before scrub the money note. As if by magic, the note was stretched, with none of its ends folded. "Now it will work."

Come on. Come on. Show up! Every second that passed Sayaka's distress increased.

Then, in the crowd out there, she recognized those blonde curls with a flower-shaped hairpin. It's her! It seems she's going away with two colleagues. Wait, but...

"Sayaka!" Kyouko offered the bag with gumdrops. "Let's go! We're already late."

Sayaka took the candy. "Yes, by a lot. Let's get going."

The two walked through the empty halls. The only sound came from their steps.

But that was not true for Kyouko. Not for someone who walked alone in the dark alleys of Kazamino. In the long nights, she met people who did not deserve to be saved from the clutches of demons. In such environment, even a magical girl had to be very careful.

Something is wrong with Sayaka's footsteps. Kyouko realized that the sound was something else. It was the steps of another person.

Whoever was following the two had taken due care to synchronize their pace.

Sayaka, completely ignorant, was eating the candies.

Kyouko concluded that warning her could worsen the situation, the best thing to do was to pray. Don't look back. Don't look back. Don't look...

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

"So she was following us?"

Sayaka and Kyouko had entered in a convenience store.

"Until we got out of school. I'm sure." Kyouko was grabbing the Pocky boxes on the shelf and putting in her uniform pocket.

Sayaka suspected. "Hey! You'll go to the cashier, won't you?"

"Of course. I brought money with me." Kyouko winked. "And how's Mami?"

"Well... I saw her accompanied by two other students. She shouldn't remember anything."

Kyouko pulled a smirk. "We can solve that. Right?"

"Yeah, but..." Sayaka became more serious.

"What is it, huh?" Kyouko frowned.

"I didn't see her with Nagisa. I know that the two were together and..."

"Nagisa? Who?" Kyouko interrupted Sayaka.

"Oh, right! You don't know." Sayaka smiled. "You know her as Bebe."

"Bebe..." Kyouko's eyes widened and opened her mouth wide in joy. "That talking doll is here?!"

Sayaka raised an eyebrow. "Yes, but she's actually a magical girl too. Her name is Nagisa Momoe. Remember?"

"Yeah..." Kyouko was rubbing her chin. "She had a very long, fair hair, right? She seemed to be a brat... Ah! It's difficult! A lot was going on at that time, it looked like a crazy dream."

"Hey!" Sayaka pushed Kyouko's shoulder by hand. "That was real."

"Hopefully it is." Kyouko held Sayaka's hand. "So she's with Mami."

"Now I don't know." Sayaka returned to be serious and pondered. "That day I saw Mami with Homura, it may be that she was after Nagisa."

Kyouko spoke in a tone of concern. "Do you think Homura..."

Sayaka looked deep into Kyouko's eyes. "You won't understand, but I say that Homura met Nagisa in other circumstances. I fear she may have committed something terrible."

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

A sip.

Homura was in her great hall, still dressed in her school uniform, sitting on the edge of a long table. Her children were also in their seats. She put the cup on the saucer.

"How was it?" Nagisa was sitting in a chair next to Homura. She wore a black dress with red polka dots. Her orange eyes showed anxiety.

"Black tea is excellent." Homura smiled, her mind wandered into distant memories. "It's similar of Tomoe-san's."

"Really?" The joy radiated in Nagisa's face. "I saw how Mami prepared, but I could only start practicing after I went back to being a girl."

"I see." Homura was quick to drink more of that tea.

"Ah! Polina. Here." Nagisa saw her familiar carrying a tray of chocolate chip cookies.

Homura watched how the familiar was struggling to find a space on the table full of sweets. There was such abundance that her children was using them to throw at each other.

Homura clapped her hands, the gem in her earring flashed. "Mind your table manners, children."

Nagisa helped Polina with the tray, but not before eating two cookies. Her smile was full of bran.

That scene made Homura think. I can make someone happy. "You know, witch..."

"Huh?"

"I checked on Madoka today. She doesn't remember anything about me."

Nagisa was more serious. "It's to be like this, isn't it?"

"It is... to be so..." Homura agreed without enthusiasm. "Unfortunately, Madoka still very isolated. I made a mistake."

"And what was it?" Nagisa was curious.

Homura took another sip before continuing. "About the capacity that Madoka has in making friends, I overestimated it. Her only friends were Sayaka Miki and Hitomi Shizuki, especially Miki-san. Making her a transfer student only worsened the situation. I should have explored another solution."

"And you always protecting her..." Nagisa said.

"Exactly. Soon she'll understand this as an act of friendship, of an approach, and then..." Homura sighed and put a hand on her forehead. "I need to end this vicious circle."

"You want me to be her friend?" Nagisa smiled.

"No!" Homura said incredulously.

Nagisa bowed her head. "Then why did you tell me all this?"

Homura looked away. "Well... I..."

"Oh... I understood." Nagisa said in a calm tone. "You just wanted someone to talk to."

Homura promptly replied, shaking her head. "No... it's just..." There was no time for her to find more words due to a pie hitting her face.

Nagisa heard the deafening sound that dolls were causing, hitting the cutlery on the table. Certainly it was one of them, but which one? She would never know. "Polina! Bring napkins."

Homura gestured. "No need. You know that." Her face was covered with a white cream with green dots. She ran her fingers to remove what was at eye level and placed it in her mouth. "Mmmhhmmm... lemon pie with zest. Delicious." She focused on Nagisa. "So witch, I look like you now?"

Nagisa covered her mouth with her hand. "Ehihi. I think I'm more beautiful when I have this kind of face."

"Fufufu."

Despite the good time, Nagisa did not want to leave the more serious matter aside. "So Homura-chan... you want to make someone a friend of hers?"

Understanding the intonation on the question of Nagisa, Homura said. "It won't be necessary. Actually I want everything to follow the natural course." She ran her tongue in a circle, removing the cream around the mouth. "I just want to facilitate."

Nagisa was pleased with the response. "I also think better not to force anything, it may end up hurting someone's feelings."

"Still sharp, witch." Homura licked her fingers.

"Don't say that Homura-chan... I'll get embarrassed." at this Nagisa looked in the cup. "Ah! Sorry, I didn't even see it was empty. There was a little more in the kitchen. I didn't prepare much because I didn't know if it'd be fine. Do you want some?"

Homura continued sliding her fingers on her face, removing what was left of the pie. "I'd love another cup before leaving and you can make a greater amount next time."

"Thank you!" Nagisa took the saucer with the cup and ran into the kitchen.

When the door that gave access to the kitchen closed, there was a brief moment of silence in the hall.

" .ikiM akayaS "

Homura was checking how much her uniform was dirty. "Yes. I'll try that first, if all goes well, I'll be solving two problems at once."

Her children at the table were whispering to each other.

Homura took a cookie on the tray and was examining it. "I can just imagine the expression that she'll do when she finds out."

The cookie broke in two parts.

"Fufufu..."

Next chapter: Blind hearts