The first half of Homura's second day at Yamaku had passed fairly quickly. She was more than a little bit surprised when the bells suddenly rang to signal the start of lunch. As she followed the group of students meandering their way to the cafeteria, she gave a bit of thanks that she had been paired with Sayaka. Homura's usual shyness didn't matter as she couldn't actually talk to the bluenette.

Though, she had to admit it came back from time to time. Sayaka was, er, nice to look at, shall we say. And then there was Sayaka's friend, the bubblegum haired girl. What was her name again?

The cafeteria was packed, the loud murmurings of several hundred students passing through the air. White linoleum floors. Tables that brought back memories of elementary school were spread out in long rows, packed end-to-end, with occasional breaks to make an aisle.

The line is really long… But I'm in the back of the group…

Maybe I'll just wait for it to clear…

Homura glanced around. She wasn't sure who she was looking for. Sayaka, maybe? How would she get her attention, though? Still thinking on it, she saw a familiar dome of golden hair.

"Mami!" Homura called out, making her way over. The blonde glanced up at the sound of her name, looking around.

"Hello, Mami!" Homura said, now standing just a few feet away.

Mami faced Homura, a small smile crossing her face. "Ah, Miss Akemi, is that you?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's me," Homura said, a bit thrown off guard by being asked such a question.

"How is the line looking?" Mami inquired, glancing towards the general direction of the lunch line.

Homura suddenly remembered the thin white cane Mami had tapped the door with last night. Or, maybe she just noticed it in Mami's hand. Two and two together… Is Mami blind?

"Miss Akemi?" Mami asked, looking a bit confused.

"Oh, sorry, I-um," Homura took a quick look at the line, "It's thinning out, do you want to get in line?"

A look of relief washed over Mami's face. "Yes, please. And, uh, if you don't mind…"

This change in Mami's tone, her placing an "uh" in her sentence seemed so wrong. That is, until she grabbed onto Homura's sleeve.

"A-again, if you don't mind."

"N-no, it-it's fine," Homura said, giving the blonde a thumbs up, even if she'd never see it.

With Mami on her sleeve and a blush on her face, Homura guided the blind blonde towards the lunch line. She handed Mami a tray, whom took it with a grateful nod. As Homura began loading up her tray, she noticed the dismayed look on Mami's face.

"Oh, I-uh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Homura quickly apologized, realizing her companion had no idea what might be available, only that Homura was getting some.

"It's quite alright, Miss Akemi," Mami rectified, that beaming smile coming to her face again, "What breads do they have?"

"The breads are just ahead, I haven't gotten to them."

A puzzled look crosses Mami's face. "Then what've you been putting on your tray?"

"Noodles." Homura always loved noodles, taking them at any opportunity at her old school. Mitakihara Middle School had rarely stocked any kind of noodles, so every time they appeared was like finding the holy grail. Except you didn't turn to dust if you grabbed the wrong one.

"I'm not particularly partial to noodles," Mami grimaced, "My parents made them far too often."

"My school rarely had them," Homura said, "It was like a little treasure whenever the cafeteria had noodles."

Mami giggles, smiling brightly.

"Here's the breads," Homura said, grabbing Mami's attention, "They've got, let's see…"

The raven-haired girl listed off all the different types of breads they had for Mami.

"They've got quite the selection," Mami said, a tad daunted, "Maybe I should've just grabbed some noodles."

Homura chuckled at this. "There's no one behind us, we could go back if you want."

"No, no it's fine, it's just," Mami sighed, "There's a number of different kinds. They all sound so delicious." Mami puts a finger between her lips, thinking. "This one," She said, pointing at a random sandwich. The woman behind the counter pulled it out, placing it onto Mami's upheld tray.

The two girls find a table, a small round one in the corner beneath a window. Homura pulled a chair out for Mami, guiding her into it.

"So gentlemanly," Mami giggled, sitting down. She collapsed the skinny cane, setting it on the table. Her fingers glided gently across her tray until they find the silver wrapped sandwich. She unwrapped it, before taking a bite. A small, contented sound escaped her lips.

"Made a good choice?" Homura asked, smiling.

Mami nodded, smiling. Homura turns to her noodles. All three types she grabbed.

Maybe she shouldn't've skipped breakfast…

Passing across the lawn, Homura was, for the third time today, guiding Mami Tomoe along. The blonde was latched to her sleeve, groaning about how her teacher had given them a "surprise pop review test" on trigonometry. Pythagorean theorem, sine-cosine-tangent, even the laws of sine and cosine.

"If she goes on like this, there may well be a revolution within class 1-C," Mami giggled.

"Our teacher is still doing introduction games," Homura said, smiling, "Today we played one where you have to come up with something you like that starts with the first letter of your name, and then you have to recite what everyone else before you liked."

"That sounds complicated. And unfair to people that get stuck at the end of the group."

"I thought it was kind of fun," Homura admitted guiltily.

"I was just saying it sounded unfair, not un-fun."

The two approached the dorms, walking up the short steps. The dorm buildings are on a slightly raised area, a little above the lawn.

Homura nearly ran into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there," She quickly apologized.

The girl she nearly ran into shook her head, as though shaking herself into reality. And with the slowly draining dazed look in her eyes, she may well have been doing just that.

"It's alright, I was just thinking," The girl said, a smile covering her face, "Sayaka always tells me to go think somewhere else. But you'd never believe the ideas you get standing in the weirdest spots."

"Sayaka," Homura said thoughtfully, "You're one of Sayaka's friends?"

"Mm-hm, that's me. You're her deskmate, aren't you?"

"Yes, Homura Akemi." Homura held out her hand.

"Madoka Kaname," The pink haired girl grinned, holding out a little stub. The sleeves of her shirt, which happened to be the shirt from the boy's uniform, were tied off a few inches above where her elbow should be. It was also now that Homura notices that the pinkette was wearing boys pants, too.

Madoka pulled her arm back, giggling. "I would ask you to shake my hand but…"

"I'm sorry," Homura blurted, trying to apologize.

"It's alright," Madoka grinned, "And who's this." She pointed a stub at Mami.

"Mami Tomoe," The blonde said, nodding respectfully, "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Kaname."

"Well, I'm sure Hitomi's boring Sayaka with talk of her daddy's business, so I've got to go save her. See ya later!" With that, Madoka walked back towards the dorms, waving one of her stubs in the air.

Mami giggled. "She's a character."

Homura simply smiled. "Ready to go now?"

Mami nodded, giving a small "Mm-hm" for an answer. Homura guided her to the dorms.

"Watch out for the step."

"I have this cane for a reason, Miss Akemi."

"Right, sorry."

The two made their way to the second floor.

"213, 214."

"And here we part ways again." Mami sighed.

"Lunch tomorrow?" Homura asked.

"It would be my pleasure. So long as you can actually tell me what is available."

"Right, of course."

"Then I'll see you there."

With that, the two girls parted for their rooms. Homura spent a few hours reading, until her clock flashed 21:00 in it's red numerals. She changed into her pajamas, dozing off to happy dreams of the life she had found here at Yamaku.