The sound of an alarm clock pulled Madoka away from her deep sleep. The girl shifted under the bed covers with still closed eyes, her arms tightening around the plushie she had been hugging all night… The odd feel of the plushie made her open her eyes with a slight confused frown on her still sleepy face. But instead of one of her plush toys, what her gaze found were deep violet eyes looking at her, with Madoka's arms tightly perched around the other girl's waist. Realization came over Madoka as she remembered yesterday's events, a fond smile that was accompanied by a slight blush appearing on her face.

"Good morning, Homura-chan" Madoka moved her face forwards, giving the already awoken girl a small kiss.

"G-good morning, Madoka" replied the other girl, a flush appearing on her cheeks after Madoka pulled away from the kiss.

[-]

"Did you two sleep well?" asked her mother as she brushed her teeth.

Madoka and Homura were side by side, the two of them also in the middle of their morning routine. Madoka hummed for a second as she finished brushing her own teeth.

"Yep! It's a bit crammed but it's not like we mind, right Homura-chan?" asked Madoka, giving Homura a warm smile as she asked her question.

"Yes" answered Homura, her face not changing from her usual stoic mask. Her slightly blushed cheeks that had been on the girl's face since this morning did not escape Madoka's eyes though.

"Besides, we were the ones that didn't want the futon; so don't worry, Mom" said Madoka, a reassuring gleam in her eyes as she picked up her hairbrush and began taming her wild hair.

"Still" said her mom, now starting with her make-up "Homura's bed will be arriving in a few days, I cannot have you two sleeping in such a small bed all the time"

Madoka really didn't mind, sleeping together with Homura was nice. The girl didn't move at all while she slept, her warmth helped her sleep better than ever, and this night had been the first night in weeks since she hadn't had a weird dream. Besides, after seeing how Homura had cried when she told her they would be together forever she really didn't want to leave the girl alone at any moment; even if it felt a bit too possessive. At least as long as Homura didn't complain.

"A futon would have been enough" said Homura, the girl still working on brushing her hair.

"Nope~" said Madoka's mom before applying her lipstick, turning her head after she finished with it to look at Homura in the eyes; the other girl felt smaller under Junko's gaze, though Madoka could understand how strong willed her mother could come off as "I'm not letting anyone in my house sleep in a futon for more than three days Homura"

Homura didn't change her expression, but Madoka could still easily feel that the girl was trying to find a way to refuse her mother's kindness.

"At least let me pay for it-"

"Homura" Junko looked at her with a more serious look now "I already told you to not worry about the money. You are living with us because we want you to do so, you are not renting our place, you are not a nuisance to us" Her mother's eyes turned softer, a motherly look on her face as she pierced Homura with her gaze "Treat this as your own home, Homura"

There was a moment of silence as Homura and Junko locked eyes together, the softer look on Madoka's mom going against the still cold looking eyes of Homura. After a second of hesitation Homura looked away, accepting her defeat in the matter.

Madoka couldn't hold back a small giggle at the interaction. She knew that Homura was prideful in some things, her independence being one of them. That pride was bound to clash with her mother's own pride. Though Madoka was pretty sure that as long as it wasn't something very important for Homura, her mom was bound to win every clash. Homura was stubborn, but Kaname Junko had not gotten where she was by being complacent either.

"Besides!" Her mother started talking again, trying to take away from the more serious mood that had set around the bathroom "do you really think I make so little that a bed would be a problem? Just relax," her mother turned towards Madoka, giving her a sly look that already foretold her intentions "you can use that money to go on dates with Madoka instead"

"Mom!" pouted Madoka, following along with the light teasing of her mother. Something that had clearly been the right choice when she looked at Homura's reflection on the mirror just to get glimpse of a slight smile on the girl's face.

The sound of people talking around them as they made their way to the school was accompanied by the chirping of some birds. Sayaka waited as she looked at her phone, they had been waiting for Madoka and Homura for five minutes already; Madoka hadn't sent a message saying she would be staying home today so they probably were just late.

"Are they even going to come?" complained Kyouko, the redhead balancing on the small boulders that separated the small water stream from the path.

"Madoka hasn't said anything" replied Sayaka, letting out a sigh "And I don't think that Homura would tell us if she were to not come"

Kyouko hummed as she tried to turn around with a jump, the girl quickly balancing herself back on top of the stone she was in.

"Maybe they are too busy with each other to come to school" Kyouko implied with a raised eyebrow.

"Oi" said Sayaka, glaring at the other girl in response "Madoka wouldn't do that"

Kyouko just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, though this time just in questioning instead of implying something. A look of incredulity in her face.

"Sayaka… You've seen how Pinky acts around Homura already" Kyouko said, her words putting doubt on Sayaka's image of her childhood friend. "You really think she won't take an opportunity to 'deepen' their relationship?"

Sayaka was at a loss of words, the thought of Madoka being that assertive felt so alien to her; and yet, now she could easily imagine her best friend doing such a thing. Something had clearly changed when she started to be around Homura, and the boldness that Sayaka had thought was just the girl getting a bit of a confidence boost was clearly a gargantuan confidence boost. At least as long as the confidence was about making a move on Homura.

Really, Sayaka had been scared of Homura taking advantage of Madoka when all this time she should have been worried about it being Madoka the one to take advantage of Homura. Between the newfound assertiveness of Madoka and how submissive Homura was around the pink haired girl, Homura had quickly become the one in danger.

At least they had been trying to come up with a plan to fix the girl doing everything Madoka told her to do. Not that it would be easy, but Kyouko's plan of getting the girl to owe her one had been very much successful; they now had one day in which Homura would have to do whatever they wanted to do, and the plan was to use it to get her away from Madoka for at least a day.

"You know what Kyouko" said Sayaka, looking at the girl that had now started to jump from boulder to boulder "You are right, Madoka very much would do that"

"Told you so" said Kyouko with a small smug grin before she almost lost her balance after a jump, the girl reactively jumping back to the path as to not fall into the water.

"Sorry for being late!" an almost breathless shout came from the other side of the path, Madoka and Homura quickly entering their field of vision as the two girls ran towards them.

Madoka stopped once she reached them, the girl stopping to try and recover her breath as Homura gently placed a hand on the girl's back and told the other girl to breathe. Homura was perfectly fine, showing almost no signs that she had just been running.

"What took you two so long?" demanded Sayaka in a playful tone, hands on her waist as she tried to look imposing.

"I'm… sorry…" tried to speak Madoka, the girl clearly in pain from all the running "We… got… distracted… during… breakfast…"

There was a slight frown on Kyouko's eyes before she properly turned towards the tired girl.

"Wait, 'we'?" Kyouko asked, looking at Homura for an answer as Madoka was still trying to recover her breath.

Homura looked at Kyouko for a second that seemed almost too long before answering, the girl's face not changing in the slightest as she did so.

"Yes" she threw her hair behind her "I've been living in Madoka's house since yesterday"

Sayaka's eyes went wide at the declaration, her gaze moving to the tired Madoka who wasn't denying Homura's words. Her eyes then moved towards Kyouko, who showed the same degree of surprise as herself, as far as Sayaka knew the redhead had expected them to go quite fast but Sayaka was pretty sure she hadn't expected them to start living together in less of a week of being together.

"Ah right" Sayaka tried to think of something to say "You had a free room; I'm guessing she is staying there?"

Madoka seemed to have gotten enough of her breath back to talk now, the girl straightening her back before answering Sayaka's question.

"Well, yes…" Madoka trailed off, a small ashamed blush on her cheeks.

"Yes… but?" Kyouko pressed; eyebrow raised at the girl.

"There isn't a bed in there yet so…" Madoka fidgeted a bit with her hands "We've been sleeping together in my bed"

Once again Sayaka was at a loss of words. Kyouko's previous statement had become true earlier than she had expected, the quiet, timid, embarrassed Madoka she knew had quickly transformed into some kind of demon just with the presence of Homura.

"Wait, wait, wait" Kyouko pointed an open hand towards Madoka, her other hand pinching her nose bridge as she tried to understand Madoka's words "Do you mean you two slept together, or that you two slept together?"

There was a second of hesitation before Madoka finally understood what Kyouko was trying to imply, her face quickly reddening before she looked at the other girl with an attempt at looking angry.

"Kyouko-chan!" she shouted, at least as loud as Madoka could do so "We just slept! Nothing more! Right, Homura-chan?"

"Y-yes" Homura flinched when she was addressed, a slight blush that seemed to say the complete opposite on her face.

"There is no way you just slept with how Homura reacted!" Kyouko retorted, the girl bringing a hand to cover her mouth "Oh my god, you two fucked"

"WE. DID. NOT" complained Madoka, her red face more of an indication of how embarrassed she was than of her anger. "Why does everyone assume that?!"

"But look at her!" said Kyouko as she pointed towards Homura, the other girl had an embarrassed blush of her own and was trying to avoid looking at anyone in the eyes; her hands tightening around her schoolbag. "I've never seen her show any emotion and now she looks all embarrassed!"

"We just kissed and slept hugging each other! Nothing more!" explained Madoka, her anger quickly turning into desperation to properly explain the situation. When the words got out of her mouth though, Homura seemed to get even more embarrassed, the girl's blush increasing in hue.

Would Homura really get this embarrassed just from sleeping together with Madoka though? The girl always acted like an ice queen around others, though it was true that she was a bit more expressive around Madoka…

Sayaka's eyes moved to the side as she heard some snickering behind her, another group of students talking in whispers as they passed them.

"Ehm… We shouldn't talk about this here" said Sayaka, realizing now that there still were some of the late groups walking around them; most of them giving them looks and quickly looking away when they looked back.

Madoka's embarrassed face became deeper as they all became silent.

"Sorry" quietly muttered Kyouko, the girl now looking around them as she threw glares at whoever was still looking at them.

"Don't worry about it" said Madoka, now completely calmed down. And as if the whole thing they had been loudly arguing about wasn't already bound to start rumors about Madoka and Homura, the girl just… grabbed Homura's hand. "We should get going, class is going to start soon"

"Right…" said Sayaka, eyes still fixed on Madoka's and Homura's hands.

The sound of the cafeteria was as obnoxious as always. Groups of students being noisy just to be noisy, people speaking louder and louder just to try and get their voices heard over the other groups that were doing the exact same thing; it all resulted in an endless feedback loop of noise that Homura disliked with all her heart.

The two culprits of why they had to eat here today walked over to the table with their food trays, Sayaka carrying some curry while Kyouko brought forth a bowl of udon; an accomplished smile on her face.

Homura opened up her own lunch as the other two sat in front of them, Madoka had already started eating just a minute ago but now her eyes were fixed on Kyouko's lunch.

"Oh? Is that the curry udon?" Madoka asked, a curious gleam in her eyes.

Kyouko puffed up her chest with pride, the girl took her chopsticks and quickly separated them. "Yep! Finally was able to get some!"

"Almost killed a guy for it though" said Sayaka before putting a spoonful of curry on her mouth.

"I traded the guy in front of me his ticket for mine" said Kyouko with a side look directed towards Sayaka "He, and his kind heart, accepted the deal"

Sayaka gulped her food, looking towards the other girl with a judging look in her eyes.

"You pushed him against a wall, and your offer was more of a threat than an actual trade" said Sayaka, pointing to Kyouko with her spoon.

"My option was more expensive than his, so he ended up winning" said Kyouko as she started to grab some of her food with her chopsticks "I'm sure he didn't mind"

Kyouko finally got some of her curry udon into her mouth, the girl almost melting from joy as she started tasting it. Homura had never seen the girl eat so slowly, well slowly for how Kyouko would usually eat that is.

"Man this is the best" she declared, her gaze meeting Homura who had been looking at her as she ate; curious about what they had been talking more than anything. Kyouko's eyes turned sharp when she noticed "I'm not giving you anything Homura"

Homura scoffed.

"I don't want your food" she said, looking back at the lunch that Madoka had prepared for her. "Nothing will ever taste better than Madoka's food"

Homura ended her statement as she placed one piece of omelet into her mouth, the mild flavor of the egg welcoming her. Though she could taste that Madoka had changed something from the last time she prepared this… had she used more pepper perhaps? The omelet did also feel a bit puffier this time.

She took the small thermos with some green tea that Tomohisa had insisted she should carry to school to drink a bit more. Madoka had probably noticed that Homura didn't really drink anything throughout the day other than coffee sometimes.

"You are just brainwashed" said Kyouko, the girl pointing towards Homura with her chopsticks to try and drive her point further in "Got those tastebuds of yours filled with her taste-"

Homura choked on her green tea, Kyouko's statement catching her completely off guard. Madoka placed a hand on the girl's back, eyes filled with worry in case that the girl was actually choking as her instincts as the nurse's aid kicked in.

"Which means" Kyouko kept talking, not caring about Homura's now calming down coughs "That you just don't have an objective opinion on the matter"

"Well, it makes me happy to hear that Homura thinks that way" said Madoka, covering for Homura as the girl finished recovering from her coughing fit.

"Of course it does" commented Kyouko, giving them a smug look before she went back to her food. There was no need to say the words that she had left unspoken: 'that's why she says it', both of them understood what she was trying to say.

Madoka returned her attention to Homura, the girl now completely recovered was just glaring at Kyouko.

"Are you okay, Homura-chan?" asked Madoka, a slightly worried smile on her face as her hand moved from Homura's back to her shoulder.

"Yes, thank you" replied Homura, trying to give back a smile of her own to Madoka; though the other girl could easily see that it was a forced one.

Homura glared at Kyouko, the other girl simply eating with a winning smile on her face. Homura let the subject fall, there was no point in arguing with Kyouko about this; the other girl wouldn't relent anyways. And it wasn't like Homura needed to convince anyone that Madoka's cooking was the best, the truth of the matter wouldn't change anyways.

"Eh~? They are very close, maybe it's true?" Homura heard a whisper, whoever had said it was on another table.

"Won't they get in trouble for doing that though?" another whisper asked. By how the rest were looking around Homura was pretty sure that at least Kyouko and Sayaka had heard them too.

"Wait, so Akemi-san is lesbian? That's such a waste…"

"And with Kaname-san of all people…" another voice said, and by how Madoka had flinched she was also hearing them, the words had taken Madoka's smile out of her face. It took every ounce of self-control that Homura had to not delete whoever had said that.

The whispers kept coming, almost as if the whole cafeteria had suddenly decided to focus on the same subject.

"Someone told me that they apparently came late to class one day from the infirmary. Apparently, they both came into class with ruffled clothes and tired!"

"Wait, they did that in the school?!"

Most of the cafeteria had now started to speak about them, the rumors jumping from table to table; spreading like a wildfire in a gasoline covered forest.

Homura couldn't care less about what other people thought about her, but what she was not going to let pass was the fact that they were clearly affecting Madoka. The girl had now started to eat her lunch to try and distract herself, but Homura could see her hesitation every time she heard a new fake or exaggerated rumor about them.

Homura directed her attention towards Madoka, the girl was still slowly eating her food, no smile on her face. The Devil had appeared by her side, looking at the girl with a worried expression, and Homura felt the same; whenever Madoka wasn't smiling it always hurt. This world was one in which Madoka was supposed to be happy, not one where people's opinions should hurt her.

"Madoka?" quietly asked Homura, her voice making the girl look her way.

"What is it, Homura-chan?" said Madoka as she forced a smile. The gesture making Homura's heart ache as if it was still her old ill heart.

"You should ignore them" Homura tried to reassure the girl "their opinions couldn't matter less"

Madoka gave the girl a small chuckle, though it was still filled with aching pain "I know, thank you Homura-chan"

Madoka looked at her food for a few seconds with a pained expression on her face, the girl's hand shaking a bit faster than before as she failed to pick up a piece of her omelet.

She could just completely erase those rumors from everyone minds. She only had to take care of not messing up with Madoka, Kyouko, and Sayaka's memories; every other student that was talking badly of Madoka though? She couldn't care less if she went too overboard with her memory manipulation and erased more than necessary.

Do it.

The Devil placed a fake hand over the girl's shoulders in a protective embrace that Madoka couldn't feel.

They are hurting her. You should just completely erase them to be honest.

And Homura couldn't agree more, but erasing them wouldn't make Madoka happy. She just had to stop the rumors from spreading.

Homura started to raise her hands-

A loud noise made her jump in surprise, her eyes moving towards the source of the sound. Kyouko had hit the table with her hands with enough strength to make every other plate on it jump; the noise making the whole cafeteria go silent as they focused their eyes on the redhead.

"Ahhhh…" Kyouko loudly sighed, making sure to project her voice loud enough that everyone could hear her; the girl put a violent undertone to her voice "These upcoming tests are stressing me out man, maybe I should find something to beat up so I can relax?"

"You can count me in Kyouko" said Sayaka, the blue haired girl imitating Kyouko's tone. "Maybe something that should stop talking about stuff that doesn't have anything to do with them would be nice to punch in the face"

"What a nice idea Sayaka!" loudly declared Kyouko before she started to look around the room, her eyes piercing everyone that was still looking at them "But where could we find something like that, I wonder…"

People slowly stopped looking at them, everyone in the room quickly catching the message. The conversations on other tables started once again, this time about other topics that didn't include either of them. Only a few scared glances were thrown over at their table, but no other word was spoken about them.

Kyouko finally relaxed on her chair, the girl letting out an exasperated sigh before she picked up her chopsticks to keep eating her food. The girl clicked her tongue after swallowing the food she had eaten, an angry scowl on her face. "Great, now I'm too angry to properly enjoy it"

"Please, don't go and actually beat up someone" said Sayaka with a small apologetic smile on her face.

"I won't, school won't let me work if I did so" answered Kyouko as she quickly finished the rest of her food, her annoyed look not getting off her face.

"I'm sorry…" muttered Madoka, the girl's hands shaking a little as her chopsticks hovered over her own food.

"Don't be" quickly said Kyouko, the girl pushing the food tray aside now that she was done with it "It's not your fault that people are fucking stupid"

"It's amazing how quickly rumors can spread huh" wondered Sayaka before going back to her food.

"Fuckers are starving for something interesting in their life, that's all" said Kyouko, the girl leaning against her chair until it was in its hind legs. "They have to compensate for their bland day to day"

Homura looked at Kyouko, her eyes meeting the redhead's intense glare before Homura nodded as thanks; Kyouko simply made a dismissive gesture with her hand, the girl pulling out her phone to try and relax a bit.

This wasn't the best solution, that much was true, but at least she knew that both Kyouko and Sayaka were on their side. Madoka may be hurt, but she was strong, she was the strongest person that Homura knew. This was just part of a normal life, and Homura just had to make sure to compensate every bad thing with as many good things as possible.

She would make sure to make the rest of the day the best day that Madoka could have, and since she had to get a hold of a certain cat anyways… Homura was sure that Madoka would be more than happy to meet Amy again.

And if the rumors ever ended up getting completely out of hand…

The world could do with less people anyways.

Current date: Monday, 26th of May.