The sun hung low in the sky as it heralded the coming of the night. A few crow-like familiars flew in the darkening skies, the constant flare up of magic calling their attention towards their master. Homura paced back and forth in front of Madoka's house, the girl using the stone wall as cover just to make sure that Madoka wouldn't see her being so early.

I've heard from one of the dolls how her yukata looks! Madoka even changed her hairstyle for it!

The voice of the Devil echoed in her mind, accompanied by it were flashes of how the Devil imagined Madoka to look from the description of the dolls. Homura flared up her magic again, trying to make the images go away and take away the little magic the Devil had. She wanted to see Madoka firsthand, not from the absurd imagination of the Devil.

Ah! Since we are staying over tonight, let's get intimate with Madoka~ We are dating now, you can't say it would be wrong now~

"I'm the one dating her. Not you" quickly corrected Homura, trying not to ponder too much about what the Devil could mean by 'getting more intimate'.

Only until I get a hold of your body~

Homura sighed, and flared up her magic again; trying to completely silence the Devil hopefully for the rest of the day.

I wonder if Madoka believes that you don't have to wear underwear under the yukata~

The sudden flash image of Madoka and Homura being in the girl's room, Madoka slowly walking towards Homura with reddened cheeks on her face as she carefully lets her yukata fall off just to see that the girl wasn't wearing anything below, was enough to make Homura lose concentration, her magic slowly going back to the Devil. As more familiars- this time a pair of lotte - approached her, confused by Homura's magic constant flares.

It had been like this for the past twenty minutes, since Homura had reached Madoka's house. Every time she tried to silence the Devil, she would then make her lose concentration and quickly take whatever little amount of magic slipped off Homura's grasp. All because she had started to get more and more nervous about the day as she got closer to Madoka's house.

I feel her walking towards the entrance! Do something good for once and walk over there, I want to see her~

Homura clicked her tongue in annoyance as she walked back towards the entrance and expectingly looked at the doors. She really didn't want to do what the Devil was telling her; but at the same time, she could also feel that Madoka was about to leave the house.

The doors slowly opened as Homura's heartbeat became faster and faster, the Devil's voice quickly fading into background noise as Madoka started to appear into view.

The yukata was of a whitish pink light cloth, its mild colors only helping to attenuate the girl's eyes and hair. White spots in the shape of flowers decorated the yukata in different sizes, making sure that the attire didn't seem too formal. A light yellow obi was wrapped around Madoka's waist, tying neatly behind her back into a big bow.

Homura slowly moved her eyes up until their eyes met, Madoka wearing a small blush as Homura looked at her with wide eyes. Madoka's lip shone slightly under the streetlights that had started to turn on in preparation for the night, Homura's mind only being reminded of the soft sweet kisses they had shared.

"U-um… Hi" nervously muttered Madoka, the girl fidgeting under Homura's gaze. The sun hid behind the night sky as if it had known that the girl was a warm enough light for the world; His services no longer necessary. "Wh-what do you think, Homura-chan?"

Homura couldn't answer.

Not because she was to embarrassed. Not because she was having trouble hearing Madoka with the Devil shouting in her ear. No. She couldn't answer because there were no words that could describe how Madoka looked to her. The simple image of the girl bringing forth not only her lovestruck heart into full bloom, but a deep feeling of accomplishment that hid deep withing herself. A feeling of knowing that the only reason why she was being gifted this moment was because Madoka had finally survived. A feeling of wanting to protect this moment with her life filling her heart.

"Not even the stars in the sky could compare with you, Madoka~" a love filled smile appeared on her face as the Devil spoke.

Homura flinched, instinctively flaring her magic with enough force to make the closest streetlights shatter, a flock of Liese flew away in fear of their master. The Devil was forcefully thrown into the depths of Homura's mind, the door to come back forced shut and its hinges welded.

"Geez… I didn't expect you to say something like that, Homura-chan" said Madoka with a deeper blush now and an embarrassed smile, the girl fidgeted for a second before walking towards Homura.

"Neither did I" whispered Homura her own face turning into a red color as she realized what the Devil had made her say.

"Well…" Madoka slowly made her way towards Homura, stopping right in front of the girl "It still was very sweet of you"

Madoka looked at Homura as she got in her tip toes, reaching for Homura's lips for a kiss far more passionate than sweet. Homura's brain short-circuited, the girl having to use all her strength just not to faint. A kiss from Madoka was already enough to make her go to heaven and back, a kiss with how the girl looked like would have kept her going for a thousand loops more.

Madoka slowly pulled away, Homura had to contain herself not to push forwards in search of her lips. A slight disappointment that it had ended so quickly filling her mind for a second before she could mind slap herself for even daring to ask for more than what Madoka was already giving her.

"I'm glad that you like it" said Madoka with a playful smile on her face.

Homura would not thank the Devil for making her say something that had won her something like that kiss. She would not.

Sayaka bobbed her head from side to side in boredom, the girl trying to imitate a song she had been hearing lately. Kyouko and her had reached the meeting point a good fifteen minutes early and were waiting for the others ever since. The people were coming out of the station in groups, most of them either students or families that shared the same destination as them. Very few people were wearing yukatas, which was making Sayaka feel out of place; and Kyouko being there with her usual clothes certainly didn't help.

Her eyes moved towards the ground until she stared at her own feet. The wooden sandals being a bit more uncomfortable than what she remembered.

"Did it get irritated already?" asked Kyouko, nodding with her head towards Sayaka's sandals.

"No, no" denied Sayaka, raising her eyes to look at Kyouko "I'm fine, don't worry"

Kyouko hummed as she pondered whether Sayaka was telling her the truth or not for a few seconds. "If you say so" she finally said before going back to scroll on her phone.

Sayaka let out a small appreciative smile for the concern before giving her attention back to the crowd that was pouring out of the station. Her eyes jumped from person to person, trying to find pink and black hair together. From time to time, she would see some blonde hair that would catch her attention, only for it to not belong to Tomoe and the disappointment to appear in her face.

They waited for ten more minutes, neither of the others had come yet. Sayaka looked at her phone and the text message she had sent Madoka a few minutes ago asking where they were, the text had been received but Madoka hadn't opened it yet.

"Why are they being so late" complained an annoyed Kyouko while locking her phone and putting it away.

"Maybe the trains are full?" wondered Sayaka, the sea of people that had been coming out of the station had not dwindled in any capacity during the whole time.

"They could have sent a message or something if that was the case"

Kyouko pulled out a box of pocky, getting one for herself before offering Sayaka to pick one. Sayaka obliged, knowing that refusing it would probably irk the girl more.

"Madoka did say that Akemi didn't like crowds, so maybe she is waiting for the train to be less crowded?" suggested Sayaka before biting on the chocolate pocky.

"Even if that was the case, Homura would insist that its fine" Kyouko sighed "Hell, if Madoka were to say that its okay if the came here a bit late Homura would just pay for a taxi so they would still come here on time"

"You think so?"

"I've seen her spend money for Pinky before. If she thinks that coming here earlier would make her happier then she will get herself in debt to do so" Kyouko shuddered "I can still hear her sliding her credit card over and over and over just for a dumb plushie."

Sayaka let out a giggle at the sight of Kyouko having experienced her first 'rich friend'. Sayaka had already had a bit of experience when going out to buy clothes with Hitomi, just seeing the prices of the stuff the girl bought had been enough to make her feel uncomfortable the few first times. Now she just used the opportunity to try some expensive clothes on together with Madoka, the clerks couldn't really complain since Hitomi was going to buy stuff anyway.

"That goes all out of the window if Madoka tells her 'No' though" said Sayaka.

"I know, noticed it way before you did" smugly said Kyouko before letting out a sigh "Homura stops being independent the moment Madoka is around"

"Akemi stops being independent even when Madoka isn't around" corrected Sayaka "When we were trying to find who Madoka liked she spent their whole date looking out for who the guy may be. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure she still was able to enjoy herself with how much Madoka tried, but if she loved Madoka she should have just spend the day with her and not worry about that stuff"

"Says the girl that couldn't confess to violin boy because her friend said she liked him too"

"This and that are completely different things!" pouted Sayaka "I knew Hitomi and didn't want to get in her way, Akemi didn't know who the guy even was!"

"You cared about your friend being happy, Homura cared more about the person she loved being happy" Kyouko sighed "Different words, same result"

"Well, it doesn't matter. I'm glad that I wasn't the one to go out with Kyosuke in the end, not after hearing from Hitomi how the guy is as a boyfriend" Sayaka thought about all the times Hitomi had complained to them how she could not get a hold of the guy, how he always placed his recitals before her "Actually, Kyosuke and Akemi are like… total opposites when it comes to dating. From what I've heard and seen, Kyosuke tries to get a place in his schedule and if he can't he just says sorry and carries on as if it didn't matter… Meanwhile, Akemi would leave her whole life behind if Madoka told her to do so"

"That's just how she is"

"But that isn't healthy"

Kyouko looked at Sayaka with a questioning look for a few seconds before letting out a sigh as a defeated smile appeared on her face.

"And I'm guessing that you want to fix that" Sayaka nodded in response "You should also get your knight in shinning armor complex checked out, just so you know"

"Oh~ Jealous that I haven't directed it towards you yet?" joked Sayaka, getting a weak punch from Kyouko as an answer that Sayaka was able to dodge in the last second, the girl having seen it coming.

"Anyways, I'll help out"

"You talk shit about me for helping people a lot, but you are always doing it yourself" teased Sayaka, the girl at the ready to try and dodge another punch that never came.

"I'm worried about her" simply said Kyouko with a more serious tone than usual "She feels as if Madoka was the only thing keeping her alive"

Sayaka looked towards the sea of people once more, a blob of pink accompanied by a blob of ebony black walking towards them. "She really does…"

"Ah! There they are!" exclaimed Madoka as she increased her pace a bit, walking in a straight line towards Kyouko and Sayaka; her arm locked with Homura's since the moment they had left the train. The small surprised jump the girl had done when Madoka hugged her arm had put a playful smile on Madoka's lips ever since, and so she had not let go of Homura ever since; the slight blush the girl had on her face only making her want to keep doing it.

Sayaka shifted her weight and placed one hand in her waist, looking at the pair with teasing eyes as they came into view.

"You two are late!" She said, her eyes focusing on their locked arms "What, got too busy being all flirty with each other?"

"Mayyyybe~" teased Madoka as she clutched Homura's arm closer, pressing her body against the girl's arm with obvious ill intentions. Madoka could hear Homura's heartbeat getting faster. The girl had been reacting way more than usual to Madoka, which only made Madoka feel prouder of how much she had made sure to look perfect for today.

"And she admits it!" theatrically gestured Sayaka, the girl pressing her hand against her forehead before bending back in fake pain "Can't believe what my best friend has become! A lust filled demon of all things!"

Madoka let out a small chuckle, releasing a bit of her grip on Homura's arm but still making sure to stay glued to the girl. Madoka looked up at Homura as she did so, the girl's stoic face was still on but the slight blush that decorated her cheeks was a clear indication of how she was feeling. Madoka remembered how the girl had looked at her after what had been her first attempt at more than a peck for a kiss, the almost pleading eyes of the girl as she pulled back had made her almost lose control of herself and go back in.

That had been just a small tease though. Madoka wanted to play around that kiss a bit more, leave her wanting more so that the next time she kissed her she would be looking forwards to it. If anything, the only problem was that Madoka also wanted more.

"Homura, blink twice if she is holding you against your will" jokingly said Kyouko.

"Madoka isn't-" Homura looked at Madoka, her eyes travelling between her lips and eyes as her blush deepened. The gesture only making Madoka's smile grow wider "I'm here out of my own volition…"

"Geez Pinky, what have you done to Homura?" Kyouko said, looking at Madoka with an approving smirk on her face.

"Just showed her how much I love her!" the words got a flinch from Homura, who was unable to completely hide back a smile. "Right, Homura-chan?"

Homura took a moment to calm herself, the girl closing her eyes before she answered "Yes"

Homura let out a cough to try and show her usual composure, looking at Kyouko and Sayaka as she did so with questioning eyes.

"Has Tomoe-san not come yet?" she asked, clearly trying to steer the topic of the conversation away from her.

"No, but at least she had the decency to tell us they would be late" Kyouko said, throwing a glare between Madoka and Homura.

Sure, Madoka may not have heard the message until they had gotten out of the train already, but she had a reason to do so! A very valid reason at that: getting closer to an embarrassed Homura and seeing her reactions had simply been too entertaining. If anything, they were lucky that Madoka had been able to see the message before getting off the train just a minute or two ago.

"Yeah, said that Nagisa couldn't find her purse" added Sayaka "Though they should be coming here soon"

And almost as if they had been summoned the two of them appeared from withing the station, Mami wearing some comfy clothes and a big carry bag while Nagisa wore a simple brown yukata; the younger girl seemed to be slightly angry, while Mami reached them with a worried expression her face.

"I'm so sorry for being late" Mami apologized, doing a small bow "We couldn't find Nagisa's purse anywhere, it somehow ended up inside the freezer"

"I'm sorry, inside of what?" questioned Sayaka with a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"I'm as lost as you are" admitted Mami with a sigh.

"Which doesn't make sense at all" said Nagisa "Since I left it on the sofa before going to sleep" The girl looked at everyone, her eyes finally landing on Homura "It was almost as if my dolls had gotten up in the night and hid it from me"

Homura looked at Nagisa with her usual mask, though Madoka could see the girl was thinking over Nagisa's words.

"If I were you, I would give them a stern talking to" said Homura, her serious tone almost forgetting she was talking about toys "But as their owner you are still responsible for the things they do"

"Yes, you are right" said Nagisa, the way she was saying it not really reflecting her own guilt but rather as if she was saying that it was someone else's problem.

"You've watched too much Toy Story" said Kyouko with a laugh "You sure it wasn't you hiding it for the joke? Seems like the kind of thing a kid your age would do"

Nagisa turned her whole body towards Kyouko and directed a killing glare that should have never been on a girl her age. "You being an idiot when you were younger doesn't mean I am too"

"Nagisa!" exclaimed Mami.

"Nope, deserved that one" said Kyouko with a grin as she gave Mami a reassuring pat on the back. "We should get going to the festival though, don't want the food stalls to run out of food"

[-]

The amount of people that was around them started to increase as they got closer and closer to the festival, and Madoka couldn't help but worry about Homura. The girl had gotten just a bit more tense, not enough that one would notice in a normal situation; but with Madoka hugging the girl's arm she had very much noticed it.

"That's a lot of people for a spring festival" said Kyouko as the group had to come to a stop a few meters before the start of the festival itself.

"Mitakihara always brings a lot of tourists, it makes sense that things would be like this" added Mami, the older girl holding Nagisa's hands to make sure they didn't get separated. "But this is… a few more than what I had expected"

"Good thing this is outside, can't imagine how this would be inside a building" grunted Sayaka as the group started walking a bit further into the queue of people. "Seems like there is a bit of bottleneck at the entrance… but I can't see why from here"

Sayaka and Kyouko tried to see a bit further ahead by doing small jumps that didn't really help. Madoka looked at Homura, the girl had her usual face on but the blush had disappeared and Madoka could see the girl's eyes darting around as if they were in search of something.

"Homura-chan?" whispered Madoka "are you okay?"

Homura looked at Madoka with her cold eyes before they were able to soften, the girl's mind slowly realizing it was Madoka what they were looking at.

"It's okay" said Homura, the forced smile the girl put on being more than enough to let Madoka know she was lying "Just not used to being in the middle of big crowds without an exit, that's all"

Madoka looked at Homura with worried eyes before looking back to the others, Sayaka had been looking at them and had a pensative expression on her face. Sayaka poked at Kyouko in the arm the next time she landed and whispered something in her ear, the redhead nodding after Sayaka finished telling her whatever she was saying.

"Hey cheese brat"

"What is it" said Nagisa, the look on her eyes being enough to know that she didn't really appreciate the nickname.

"I'll lift you up, see if you can see a way with less people"

Kyouko extended her arms towards the girl and waited for her. Nagisa seemed to hesitate for a moment before walking towards Kyouko with a sigh. Kyouko made sure to properly hold the girl in a way that wouldn't hurt her under the girl's waist and raised her over her head.

"What do you see?" said Kyouko.

"Lots of people, can you put me a bit higher?" said Nagisa patting the girl on the arms as if it was some kind of horse.

Kyouko took a deep breath and completely straightened her arms, Nagisa being able to basically step on Kyouko's head – which she did. Nagisa kept looking around as if with all the time in the world.

"Be quick please!" said Kyouko as her arms started to shake from the strain they were being subjected to.

"Hmmm…" Nagisa hummed, the girl perking up after a few more seconds "Ah! I see a small alleyway, there are a few people coming out and in"

Kyouko quickly put the small girl on the ground again, the girl massaging her shoulders afterwards as Sayaka patted her back with an apologizing smile.

"An alleyway…" pondered Mami "If I remember correctly it should lead to one of the secondary streets of the festival"

"All right, we are going over there then!" announced Sayaka, the girl positioning herself in front of Madoka and Homura together with Kyouko, both of them acting as a spearhead for their group. "Sorry! Comin' through!"

Sayaka looked back at them, though her eyes laid for longer on Homura as she probably tried to read her face to no avail. Madoka looked at Sayaka instead, catching her attention as Madoka gesticulated a 'Thank you'; Sayaka giving one of her 'don't worry' smiles in return.

After a bit of struggle the group was able to break of the main influx of people into the festival as they slowly made their way towards the alleyway.

Madoka understood why people weren't really taking this path towards the festival, there was no light in it. People were using their phones to be even able to see where they were stepping. But it still was a better path than the main one. Kyouko took out her phone and turned on the flashlight.

They waited for another group to get out of the alleyway before them going in themselves. With only enough space for one person to walk comfortably Madoka had to let go of Homura's arm in the meantime.

"Anyone knows where this alleyway leads exactly?" said Sayaka, turning back to look at Mami as she asked.

Mami seem to think for a few seconds, the girl trying to remember the map of the festival by the face she was making.

"Shouldn't be too far away from the main street, but I think it's mainly filled with gift stalls"

"No food there then?" asked Kyouko.

"Sadly no, only the main street has food stalls" Mami said with a gentle smile that understood the girl's worries.

"I'm sure we can jump into the main street from there!" Madoka said as she tried to lift the girl's spirits "The crowd was mainly at the entrance, right?"

"Yep!" said Nagisa from behind "It thinned out the further ahead I looked"

The group kept walking through the long alleyway, having to stop midway to let another group that came in the opposite direction pass. After a few more seconds of walking, they were finally able to get out of the alley.

The change in lighting was like stepping into another world. The darkly lit alleyway was suddenly replaced by bright oranges and reds that came from the hanging paper lights the city had placed for the festival. A few decorative signs hanged above their heads, mainly with the name of the festival written on it. The sound of people walking around and chatting with each other surrounded them, the voices of the vendors rising above every noise in the street.

They got out of the alleyway one by one. When Homura, who had been behind Madoka, walked out Madoka didn't waste a second to go and grab her hand; the girl only acting surprised for a second before returning the grip with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"The main street is to the left" said Mami, the girl now leading the tip of the spear. "I can see the turn from here"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" excitedly said Kyouko "Let's get going!"

Kyouko and Nagisa cheered on as they all marched towards the main street, leaving behind the gift stall for later.

"Takoyaki stall!" cheered Nagisa as she pointed towards one of the stalls before quickly rushing towards it. Kyouko following closely behind, wallet at the ready.

Homura couldn't help but think that they both acted like kids. Nagisa at least had the age of one – though with her having the memories from back at the Law of Cycles Homura wasn't so sure if that was an excuse for her demeanor – but Kyouko? The girl was basically cheering along Nagisa every time they got close to a new food stall.

"Do you want to buy some, Homura-chan?" asked Madoka, the girl only being even more beautiful under the lights of the festival. Her lips still shinning brightly under the lights only brought back the sensation of their last kiss.

"I'm fine, thank you" said Homura, the girl trying to control herself. If for whatever reason her determination was to faulter, or worse the Devil appear without her noticing, she might not be able to contain herself and just kiss Madoka on her own.

Madoka pouted, making Homura's hear skip a beat with how cute the girl looked as she did so.

"Remember that we are supposed to eat something around here for dinner" reprimanded Madoka "Make sure to eat something, please"

Homura closed her eyes as she let herself be bathed by Madoka's worry born kindness. A kindness a person like herself did not deserve, but why should a devil like herself care about what they deserved or not? She would not seek it. She would not pursue it. But if Madoka wanted to give it, she wouldn't let it go to waste.

"I will" assured Homura, getting a smile from Madoka in return.

They walked towards the others, getting close to the takoyaki stall as they did so. Kyouko and Nagisa were excitedly waiting for their food to be served, the man behind the stall skillfully turning the octopus' balls around in the specialized grill. In less than a minute the two girls got themselves six freshly done takoyaki.

Nagisa did not wait, she did not blow on it. The girl simply took one of the takoyaki with the wooden skewer and threw it into her mouth, not thinking about the consequences that would come. And come they did, the girl quickly brough her free hand to cover her mouth as she tried to cool it down by quickly breathing.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" Nagisa cried with her mouth still full.

"I always tell you to be careful with hot food!" reprimanded Tomoe, the girl watching with defeated eyes at the Law of Cycles messenger that had just burn their mouth.

Nagisa, full of bravery, quickly chewed the smoldering hot takoyaki and gulped it down. The girl letting out a contained shriek of pain from the heat that now resided in her stomach. Madoka, Kyouko and Sayaka laughed at the girl's theatrics while Mami simply looked at her with a mix of worry and amusement in her face.

"Didn't you say before that you aren't an idiot like I was at your age?" teased Kyouko, the girl wearing a smug grin on her face as she blew on her food before eating it. "Not looking too bright now, are you?"

Nagisa simply pouted at the comment, knowing that nothing she could say would clean her image after this.

The group walked away from the stall and followed the path, the crowd had definitely thinned the more they had gone in; but there were still enough people around them to have Homura in high alert, her old self still poking through as the girl expected an attack from another magical girl that could not possibly come.

She tried to calm herself, to let her foolish mind understand that there was no threat that could hurt Madoka in this world. Yet, as she reminded herself that no magical girl could even try to attack them out of nowhere – Oriko Mikuni's few interferences in the past had left the girl more paranoic than before – the only thing that her brain answered with was that there could be other threats. She had made the mistake of being completely caught off guard when Kyouko ran into Madoka. She would not make the same mistake again.

Sayaka approached them, the girl pointing towards one of the stalls a few meters ahead of them.

"Look Madoka, they are selling bubble tea" Madoka and Homura's eyes followed the girl's finger, a small stall clearly owned by a company that was trying to promote their products had an offer for the festival. A relatively long queue forming around it "It's been pretty long since last time, wanna get one?"

"uhm…" Madoka looked at Homura, her eyes spelling the girl's worries even before she opened her mouth to say them "It's pretty crowded over there so…"

"I'll wait here" said Homura, knowing that if she were to go with her Madoka would only be worried about her. She should have never said she didn't like crowds, it just made Madoka worry more about her. All because of an old habit of hers. "Don't worry, Madoka"

Madoka looked at her with a mix of sadness and understanding in her eyes before leaning in for a small kiss.

"I'll be back soon" she said as their hands drifted away. A pair of shadows that were lurking around the building jumped and quickly placed themselves behind Madoka as the girl walked away, the dolls taking protective positions around the girl.

"Get me a milk tea one!" shouted Kyouko as the girl placed herself next to Homura, getting a thumbs up from Sayaka as an answer.

Homura watched them walk away, a slight pressure on her chest as the figure of Madoka disappeared between the crowd.

Madoka would be fine. The dolls would protect her, and even Sayaka would attempt to do so. Madoka would be fine. Nothing bad was going to happen.

"You okay?" asked Kyouko with a raised eyebrow, the girl already eating the last ball of takoyaki she had bought less than five minutes ago.

"What do you mean" asked Homura as she broke the trance that she had thrown herself into.

"With the crowd and all" said Kyouko, the girl looking around for a trashcan to dispose of the container her food had come in. "You seem out of it, more than usual I mean"

There was a mix of emotions inside of Homura. On one side she had been waiting for this day to happen, she was excited for the first time in years. Being able to spend a day with Madoka and the others had been – and still was – one of her dreams after her loops began. At the same time, the situation was new. It was out of her control. And her mind was only racing with all the things that could go wrong. Her dolls were all on patrol, trying to make sure nothing dangerous could even approach Madoka; yet she still felt like something was waiting to jump from withing the crowd and take her away.

If it was a real sense of danger or just her mind playing tricks on her she did not know.

"I'm fine" Homura answered while she turned her head towards Kyouko as to face her. "This is all new to me, that's all"

"Never been to a festival?" Kyouko asked with a slight surprise in her eyes "That sucks"

"Not once in my life" Homura admitted "My old frail body wouldn't have survived it, or at least that's what they used to tell me"

"Hmmm…" Kyouko hummed, the girl folding the paper container to keep her hands entertained as she thought "Well, that just means you've gotta make this one as memorable as possible" Kyouko's face was filled by a fiery smile "Let's make a little competition, what do you think?"

Homura looked at Kyouko with a deadpan look in her yes. The girl had always been competitive in one way or another, but if she knew something about Kyouko was that there was always a penalty for losing.

"Go on" said Homura, the girl's eyes looking towards the stall for a quick second as she noticed a strand of pink hair between the crowd.

"Very simple. Win a festival game, you get a point. The one with more points before the fireworks wins" Kyouko grinned.

"And what happens to the loser?" asked Homura.

"The loser…" Kyouko's smile widened "has to do whatever the winner says for a day"

Homura narrowed her eyes in suspicion, the penalty was way too broad of a punishment. Not only that, but there was nothing that Homura could really win from it, she had no use for having control of Kyouko for one day. And yet…

"I'll accept under one condition" Homura said, eyes still full with suspicion.

"Depends on the condition" said Kyouko with a raised eyebrow.

"If I lose you cannot order me to do anything that would hurt Madoka" Homura said, now having her full body face the redhead "And I get to say what counts as hurting her"

Kyouko laughed.

"God, of course that's the condition" she said between breaths "Yeah sure, seems fair to me"

[-]

Homura picked up the plastic rifle that laid on the table, loading in one of the small pellets. The weight was completely off. The handle wasn't properly placed. And she was more than sure that the weapon didn't have much strength to push the pellet with enough force to actually do something to the cups.

"You can do it, Homura-chan!" Madoka cheered from behind her, the girl having been the one that said Homura should play this game with how good she had been at the arcade.

Not that Homura had any choice, she had made a deal with Kyouko after all.

Homura looked forwards and fixed her eyes on the cups. Four shots, three objectives; at least she would have a practice shot to see how horribly calibrated the air gun was. Homura took aim at the cup in the middle, held her breath and steadied her aim. Her finger pressed the trigger – too soft, thought Homura – and the pellet left the gun; hitting the platform in which the cups were laid.

A deviation of twenty three degrees to the left and a drop of around five centimeters from this distance. Thought Homura.

"Failing the first shot? Not a good sign" Kyouko teased next to her, the girl getting ready for her own shot. She aimed and hit the cup to the left, giving Homura a smug grin as she did.

Homura ignored the comment as she loaded the next pellet, took aim for the left cup and adjusted the gun for the previous calculations. The pellet flew through the stall and hit the cup dead center.

She didn't wait for a comment this time, instead quickly reloading the next pellet and hitting the cup to the right with only an error of a few millimeters from the center.

"You… fucker…" whispered Kyouko with her smug grin having been erased from her face, Homura simply looked at her with her usual stoic mask; which only seemed to irk the girl more.

Kyouko took aim, and shot. The pellet hitting the wall behind the stall instead of its target as the girl reloaded with a click of her tongue before trying to aim back at the objective-

"Kyouko! Don't let Akemi win, games are the only thing we can try to surpass her in-"

"You are distracting me!" Kyouko quickly turned back to face Sayaka, her finger slipped on the trigger and shot the pellet that found nothing but a wall "FUCK! Look what you made me do!"

"I was just trying to cheer you!" screamed Sayaka back.

Kyouko turned back to the stall and started to reload her last bullet, taking a side glance at Homura whom was looking at the girl.

"That was bad luck" excused Kyouko.

"You shouldn't put your finger on the trigger if you are not going shoot" said Homura, the girl trying to actually give advice to Kyouko. Kyouko didn't take it as such though, the girl clicking her tongue before aiming again and shooting the middle cup accurately enough to send it flying back.

Homura went back to look at her last standing objective, if she hit it she would win the game. She took aim, making sure to adjust it for the gun problems, and pressed the trigger.

The moment the pellet left the gun Homura already knew something was wrong, it flew too slow compared to the other shots. By the time it reached the cup it had lost most of its strength, hitting it but not being strong enough to make the cup fall.

"Aha! A tie!" Proudly announced Kyouko, the tension leaving her shoulders as she saw Homura's last shot fail.

Homura frowned at the gun, knowing that had it properly worked – as it should have done – she would have easily won the game. A gun that had this many problems shouldn't even exist, when was even the last time this thing had gotten any kind of care? Any kind of maintenance? It felt unfair that just because a tool was this bad she had just lost. If this had been a real gun then she wouldn't even have to do the test shot-

"You were amazing, Homura-chan!" Madoka cheered as she grabbed the girl's arm, pulling her out of her thoughts "I can't even get one shot in this game, and you almost won!"

Madoka hugged Homura's arm in a warmth embrace, the girl trying to cheer her on.

"Pinky, like I get she is your girlfriend and all but like… I also almost won? Don't I get some kind of praise?" said Kyouko.

"Ah well, I mean you already played before, right?" said Madoka "This is Homura's first time playing it so… y-you still did great though!"

Kyouko looked completely defeated, understandably so. Afterall, before Homura had started to hang out with Madoka the girl had been the reliable one of the group. The one that would win prizes, and the one that somehow always pushed through every problem. That was what had happened before inside the fake Mitakihara of her labyrinth.

"We have a winner!" the man from the stall announced, making everyone look to the side.

Mami had the gun in her hand, the rifle being held with natural skill, and the three cups that were her objectives rolling on the ground. The girl had a surprised expression herself, quickly realizing she had won before changing it into her – disgustingly fake - confident smile. A smile that Homura had come to hate over the years. A fake mask that had done more harm than good. Homura could almost see her in her magical girl outfit and all the times she had pushed Madoka to contract-

Homura breathed. This Mami had done nothing wrong. This Mami would never despair over witches. This Mami could become the proper senior Homura had once thought of her as. Unlike herself, this Mami could be the person she once was.

"You guys missed it!" said Sayaka with surprise and - venomous - admiration on her eyes "Tomoe-senpai didn't miss a shot!"

"I didn't know Mami-san was good at this kind of games!" said Madoka from her side, Homura didn't have the strength to check if her eyes were also filled by the same admiration as Sayaka's.

"I- Well, it felt right-"

"Of course she is!" Interrupted Nagisa, letting the words stuck in Mami's throat as the blonde tried to hide an embarrassed blush "Mami is amazing at many things! You should see how much she prepared for today!"

Mami simply looked away as she picked up the bear plushie the stall owner was giving her, the girl using the prize as a cover for her face.

The crowd had thinned out enough for there to be more than enough space to walk without a problem, which made it so Kyouko and Sayaka could stop being the spearhead of the group and just walked next to them too. The night had completely taken hold of the sky, the fireworks a mere hour or so away.

Sayaka looked at Madoka, the girl still completely glued to Akemi. Really, how was Sayaka supposed to make Akemi stop doing whatever Madoka told her when her best friend had her basically eating from the palm of her hand. Literally.

"Here Homura-chan" said Madoka as she presented the honey bathed dango stick she had bought not a minute ago to Akemi. "Try it it's really good!"

Akemi looked at Madoka with a blush – the girl didn't even show any kind of emotion a few weeks ago and now Madoka had her being all embarrassed – before slowly opening her mouth and leaning forwards to take one of the dango balls; her free hand making sure that her hair wouldn't fall forwards and touch the food.

"Do you like it?" asked Madoka with a beaming smile on her face. Sayaka knew that the girl had to be embarrassed by this too, or at least she would have in the past, but her face was completely covered by a bright smile as she watched Akemi eat.

"It's… really sweet" quietly said Akemi.

"Right?" cheered Madoka as she ate another one herself "Though… there is something sweeter that I would prefer to eat right now"

Ah there it was. Akemi was looking at Madoka with those eyes that clearly spelt 'tell me what it is and I will get it'. Really, how had Sayaka not noticed before that Akemi loved Madoka when the girl looked at her with those eyes?

"What is it?" asked Akemi.

Madoka looked at her with an impish smile on her lips and a spark on her eyes. Sayaka felt almost sorry for Akemi who still didn't see what was coming.

"You" Madoka made a small pause, basking herself in her girlfriend's reaction, before sighing "But I guess I will have to wait until there isn't this many people around us to taste it…"

Yep. That's enough hearing other's conversation for now.

Really, when had her best friend become this bold? She had noticed that since she was going out with Akemi, Madoka had gotten a boost to her confidence. But if she was this bold in public Sayaka could only imagine what the girl would do when the two of them were alone.

As she looked away from the pair her eyes landed on another stall, a few people were scooping some goldfish with a paper net.

"Oh, hey" She said, getting the attention of the group "We can play that one"

"Hmm?" hummed Kyouko as her eyes travelled towards the stall, a plotting smile appearing on her lips when she saw what the game was "Great idea, let's go"

The group walked towards the stall as they waited patiently for the last group to end. Now, Sayaka hadn't chosen this game just to run away from the lovey-dovey pair shenanigans. No, she had chosen this game because this was the easiest game for her to win. Years of practice had perfected her technique to a point that she was sure no one could ever beat her. And she had been wanting to beat Akemi at something since coming here. Enough of the girl being perfect in both studies and athletics, festival games were Sayaka's specialty!

That actually sounded kinda sad, didn't it?

"What are you supposed to do in this one?" asked Akemi as she and Madoka squatted down to get into position.

"Just scoop as many goldfish as you can" explained Sayaka, the girl didn't even know what the game was? This was going to be easy.

"The net breaks easily, so be careful" added Madoka, giving a tip that Sayaka would have preferred Akemi not to have.

The group paid for a try, except Mami who only paid for Nagisa's Sayaka noted, and went to play.

Sayaka picked up the bowl and filled it with a bit of water before she started to look around the fish, trying to see which one was swimming towards her, when she heard Madoka raise her voice.

"Homura-chan! Don't leave the net under the water!" exclaimed Madoka.

Akemi quickly took out her net at Madoka's words, the paper net being completely soaked and broken. Homura looked at it with her usual deadpan, the girl quickly understanding her mistake.

"You really didn't know shit about the game, huh" said Kyouko from besides Sayaka, the girl scooping a second fish already.

"No one ever mentioned the net was made of paper" said Akemi before discarding the net and looking at the fish. Sayaka tried to discern what kind of emotion the girl was hiding, but there really was nothing she could see different from usual.

"Wanna try again, miss?" said the owner of the stall.

Akemi looked at the man before giving a quick glance at Kyouko, the girl letting out a sigh before nodding.

"Yes, thank you" Akemi took out her wallet once more and paid for another try.

Sayaka went back to focusing on her own game, knowing that it really wouldn't feel great to beat Akemi at this if the girl was so utterly bad at it. She sighed. Well, at least she had to keep her pride as the best and beat the others.

She took note of the fish that were moving towards her before with a swift and smooth movement scooping two of them at the same time; making sure to use the plastic part of the net to hold most of the weight. Now that her net had gotten wet the timer started, every second that passed was a second lost as the paper slowly got frailer and frailer.

One scoop. Two scoops. Three scoops. One fish more with each.

Sayaka took a peek at how the others were doing while she waited for another fish to get in range. Nagisa's net had broken, but the girl had been able to get two fishes out before it gave out. Kyouko was already on her fourth fish, one behind Sayaka, but was getting ready to get a fifth; with how wet the net looked she wouldn't more opportunities after that one.

Another scoop. Another fish.

Madoka had been able to get three fishes, but her net broke as she went for the forth; the girl had played almost as much as Sayaka at the game, the only difference between the two being the three years Madoka had spent in America. Akemi-

Akemi had broken her net again, no fish was in her bowl, and Sayaka could clearly see the girl slightly frowning as she looked at how many the others were getting. Ah, she knew that face; Akemi was annoyed.

Another scoop. Two more fishes in one.

And with that Sayaka's net gave out, the last fish going through it instead of off it as they fell into her bowl. A total of eight fishes, short of her record by one. Akemi looked at Sayaka's bowl with the biggest frown she had seen in the girl so far, almost as if the girl thought that her eyes had to be lying to her.

"Hah! That was an easy win!" Kyouko said, looking at Akemi with a smug grin on her face.

Akemi stood up, leaving her empty bowl behind, and threw her hair back before speaking back "The are still other games" she said with a competitive edge to her words "The fireworks haven't started yet"

Madoka looked at Homura as the girl threw a ring, the object missing its target and bouncing off towards the ground. Homura tried to hide her annoyance, but Madoka was able to see how piercing her gaze had gotten as she failed another throw.

"Well, well, well" said Kyouko, the girl placing herself next to Homura as she increased her mocking tone "I got seventeen points, how are you doing?"

Homura didn't answer, instead trying to take aim for the next – and last – ring throw. The ring flew, falling into the six instead of the nine that Homura had clearly aimed towards.

"What's that? Only nine points in total?" said Kyouko, patting Homura in the back. The girl didn't even have enough points to get a consolation prize. "I guess that means you lose, how are we now? 3 to 1? I don't think you are catching up anytime soon"

Now, Madoka would have gone and stopped Kyouko from over teasing Homura like she was doing. But ever since this… competition? The two of them had started Homura had slowly relaxed; the girl focusing her attention on the games instead of on the people around them. The few moments that had been empty of games, mainly when they ate as they walked towards the next stall, being filled by Madoka making sure the girl didn't fall back on anxiously looking around them as if something was going to jump from the shadows.

Between this and Sayaka and Kyouko opening a path for them to walk without having to get too close to other people, Madoka had to remember to give her thanks to the duo. Even more Sayaka, the girl having gone from hating Homura to caring for her had been a really nice progress. It felt like everyone could be friends now, and even Homura was more open to talking to the rest. Not to other strangers yet, but she had to start somewhere.

Madoka walked towards Homura, grabbing the girl's hand the moment she got next to her. Homura's expression going from her annoyed one to a soft and loving look in her eyes the moment her eyes met Madoka's. Madoka couldn't help but feel a jolt of joy whenever the girl did that, the mere knowledge that Homura was happy just by seeing her made her brain turn into love filled mush.

Madoka had to hold back as to not just jump in and give the girl a kiss in front of everyone. Only because Homura would be too embarrassed if she did so though.

"We should head to a nice viewing spot for the fireworks" announced Mami, the older girl looking at her phone as she held the prize she had gotten from the shooting game under her arm. "They will start in thirty or so minutes"

"Where should we go tho?" asked Kyouko, the girl coming back with some kind of plastic mask from an old Gundam tv series as her prize. "They are throwing them over the port, right?"

"With the amount of people that were in the festival the place is going to be filled" sighed Sayaka.

Mami giggled, her confident smile on as the girl pulled out the maps app on her phone.

"Don't worry, I searched for a place before coming here"

"Uohh! That's Tomoe-senpai for you!" cheered Sayaka, only making Mami raise her chest in pride even more as they followed her outside of the festival.

[-]

"Ehm… are you sure we can be here Mami-san?" asked Madoka, grabbing on Homura's arm as they walked up the darkly lit stairs.

"You don't have to worry Kaname-san" said Mami, looking back to give the girl a reassuring smile. "I made sure to check that everything would be all right"

Their steps echoed throughout the staircase, the eight floor sign welcoming them for a second before they kept going.

"Yeah, don't worry Pinky" said Kyouko from behind her, the girl using her phone flashlight to illuminate the stairs "Besides, the door was open. If they didn't want people coming, they should have closed it"

Madoka still wasn't sure about this. Mami had led them to an empty building, the metal door that welcomed them being rusty enough that Sayaka and Kyouko had to work together to push it open. A few doors of the many abandoned apartments were open, other missing completely, and Madoka could swear that she had seen faces with blue eyes and big grins looking back at them in a few of them.

Homura seemed to notice how Madoka was acting, the girl pushing Madoka closer to herself in what Madoka assumed was an attempt at calming her down. And well… it kind of worked. It didn't make the faces disappear, but at least she felt safer.

"Still, how did you even find this place Tomoe-senpai?" asked Sayaka, the girl pointing to a piece of rubble so the others could see it and avoid it.

"Well… When I saw where the festival was taking place I just kind of… knew that this place had its doors open?" Mami said, her expression turning into an apologetic one "It just felt like I had been here before and I knew the door would be open, so when I came to check and it was open… well, I thought it would be a great spot to see the firework show"

"Huh, talk about coincidence" said Sayaka as they crossed into the ninth floor and started walking towards the tenth.

"Still… these are quite the number of stairs" complained Kyouko.

"You are just too old" said Nagisa, the girl quickly going up a few steps over the rest as if it didn't tire her at all. "You should do more exercise!"

"Oh yeah?" said Kyouko, looking at Nagisa with a hunting look on her eyes "Well, then you better start running!"

With that Kyouko sprinted past them, trying to reach a now screaming Nagisa as the two of the quickly disappeared over the next turn; the scream that Nagisa let out and their steps the only thing letting them know they hadn't just disappeared.

"Be careful!" shouted Mami, a bit of tiredness on her voice.

"How the hell can Nagisa run with the yukata on?" wondered Sayaka, the girl having walked next to Madoka after Kyouko ran behind Nagisa as to not be left behind.

Madoka really wondered the same thing. With all the time they had been walking before and now going up ten floors of stairs her feet had started to kill her, and the wooden sandals really did not help to cushion anything at all. They went up two other flights of stairs before the group made the last turn, the last flight of stairs showing a door that had been opened; the night sky bleeding into the building from the opening.

As Madoka walked out of the building and into the roof the view of the port being completely in front of them welcomed her. From here they could easily see the place from which the fireworks were going to be fired, they could see all the people that had gathered around the port to watch them, they could see almost the whole city.

"Get… back… here…" said Kyouko between tired breaths, the girl trying to catch a still energetic Nagisa that simply mocked her as she run. Kyouko finally gave up and sat on the floor, and even though Madoka couldn't hear her she could imagine that she was cursing under her breath.

"This place does have quite the nice view" said Sayaka as she walked a bit closer to the edge of the building. "Though with how tall we are it makes sense"

"I'm glad you think so" said Mami, the girl getting out one of the many bottles of water she carried inside her bag before handing it to Kyouko. Kyouko took the bottle with a mumbled thanks and downed it in two gulps. "The fireworks will start soon, so try to recover a bit from the trip here"

Madoka nodded before letting her attention go back to Homura. The girl had been looking around the place with almost a sense of déjà vu plastered all over her face.

"Is something wrong, Homura-chan?" asked Madoka as she tightened her grip around Homura's hand. The girl looking back at Madoka as she came back to her senses and forced a smile on her face.

"Everything's fine" lied Homura with her fake smile. Madoka, not wanting to make a scene before the fireworks started, simply let it go. Homura looked at the sky, the few stars that shone brightly enough reflecting off the girl's violet eyes in almost a magical way.

"The stars are really pretty, right?" said Madoka, trying to at least make it so Homura didn't think about whatever she had thought that had soured her mood so badly.

"They really are" she muttered as a melancholic sigh escaped her mouth.

Madoka looked at the few stars that decorated the night sky. The few strong clusters that were able to outshine the city lights captivating her as if they were doing an hypnotic dance.

"I wish I could float among them" said Madoka with a longing sigh "It would be so calming and beautiful to be part of something as big as they are"

Madoka felt Homura's grasp around her hand tighten, making her look at the girl that still stared at the sky with a sad look in her face. A few tears forming near the edge of her eyes.

"I would prefer if you stayed here" Homura whispered, almost too quietly to be heard. The sound of her voice coming through cracked and with a strong tint of pain.

Madoka went to open her mouth but the sound of her voice was muffled as a loud bang was heard in the distance. The lightshow of the fireworks reflecting on Homura's crying eyes. The girl didn't look at the fireworks, her eyes were still fixed on the stars as tears slowly flowed through her cheeks.

Madoka looked at the girl for a few more seconds before tightening her grasp around Homura's hand and looking at the fireworks that unfolded in front of them.

"I will stay" Madoka said, her voice being hard to hear between the fireworks. The multi colored lights that surged from the earth vastly outshining the stars, the sound of the fireworks shaking her whole body. "This place is more beautiful than the sky anyways"

Madoka leaned towards Homura, the girl resting her head on Homura's shoulder and clasping Homura's hand with both of her hands. Homura's tears flowed freely, some of them falling on their tightly held hands. "You are here after all"

They were not tears of sadness, the only thing they carried was relief and happiness.

Current date: Saturday 24th of May