I should've put in the AN last night (originally I forgot half the AN anyways) that, yeah, I said knowledge of the fics this is a prequel to isn't required. But I should give a fair warning that the one line that led to this was that they weren't together very long. It's still an excuse to write the kissing and the dating and explore their dynamic, but it's not a bait and switch so I don't want anyone disappointed if they were expecting a happily ever after together.

Chapter 2: I Wanted to Show Off My New Girlfriend

Homura woke the next morning almost hoping it was a ridiculous dream. It had been so long since she'd had dreams that real, but there was always that chance. She was upset, and Kyoko was just at the front of her mind. The thought nagged at the back of her head, but she still had to brush her hair and change into her uniform before she left her room. Curiosity wasn't an excuse to break habit and not get ready for school.

Hopes of everything being caused by a runaway imagination didn't last long; Kyoko was sprawled out on her couch, right arm and leg fallen off and brushing the floor. She thought she would be disappointed, but rather she was somewhere between content and not regretful. It could get really lonely, so maybe this could be worth the time. But today she had school, so it would have to wait.

"Wake up, I'm leaving for school soon." She shook her vigorously by the shoulder.

Kyoko yawned and rubbed her eyes, cracking one open to look up at her. She gave a sleepy smirk. "Mornin', babe."

Homura acknowledged her just long enough to roll her eyes. "I don't have a spare key, so if you want to stay here you have to stay in all day." It might be more convenient to print her a copy, regardless of their new relationship. She trusted her enough to not steal and pawn everything, and it would give her somewhere to be.

"Nah, I'll crash Mami's place, brought her key with me." She kicked the blanket off and propped herself up on one elbow, pointing across the room. "Toss me my clothes."

"You can get them yourself, I'm making breakfast." Her morning routine was strictly calculated and she didn't want to break it just so that Kyoko wouldn't be mildly inconvenienced. She was already running behind; staying up that late made it harder to shake off the sleep and drag herself out of bed. "Do you want any?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." She pulled her shorts on and stretched upwards, joints popping so loudly that Homura could hear them from the kitchen. "Damn, I slept on my neck badly."

"You can always stay at Tomoe-san's." Mami had a spare bedroom that would have remained empty if Kyoko didn't frequently occupy it. It was definitely more comfortable than her couch.

"S'not that bad." She paused to pull the borrowed shirt up over her head. "Better than before I came back to Mitakihara and made up with Mami."

"You can stay here whenever you like, then." She expected that she would still spend more nights at Mami's, but she couldn't care less where Kyoko stayed.

"So what do you think about last night?" Kyoko pulled her own shirt down and straightened it out.

Homura had to stop and make sure she didn't miss something. "I didn't talk about last night."

"That's why I brought it up, we need to talk about it." It would be immature to dodge the topic, but she really didn't think they needed to go into it further.

"What's there to talk about?" It happened, she was still on her couch in the morning, and even if she wanted to reset time to erase it she wasn't going back to the month before Walpurgisnacht.

"You don't regret it or nothing?" She went into the kitchen to put bread in the toaster, helping Homura get breakfast out a little faster.

"Why, do you?" It wouldn't change her life any if Kyoko didn't want to date her.

"Nah, just making sure you aren't getting the wrong idea. Like I came in while you're all vulnerable and took advantage of you." She shrugged as if it was any other inconsequential question about her day.

"No, I trust you that much." Kyoko had several other opportunities if that were the case, and if she suspected as much, she would have fought her right there in the kitchen.

"Yeah, you're not really feminine enough to be vulnerable like that." She took two plates out of a cabinet, oblivious to the glare she received. "Can I hold onto your house key? I'll run and make a copy while you're at school and drop it off during your lunch."

"You could just wait inside the apartment when I come back." Or stay at Mami's like she already said she was doing.

"Change of plans, Mami texted me and I gotta meet her at the school anyways." Kyoko normally avoided their high school during class hours. Without a uniform she clearly wasn't a student, but girls her age should have been in school at that time.

"What about?" She slid the keys across the table and moved the food from the pans to the plates.

"I dunno, stuff." Kyoko picked up that tone she used when she was hiding something. Homura wasn't going to be able to pry it out of her before she left, she'd just have to ask Mami at lunch. "Where you gonna be at lunch? Roof again?" she asked around a mouthful of bacon.

"If we aren't, you can find us." She finished eating quickly, long before Kyoko, who was in no rush to leave.

"I'll see you 'round noon then." Homura slipped her shoes on and lifted her schoolbag over her shoulder. "Oh, wait!" She launched herself over the arm of the couch.

"Make it quick, I'm in a hur-" Kyoko quieted her by leaning down and planting a light kiss on her forehead.

"For good luck or somethin'." She grinned. "We're supposed to do that now."

"Y- yeah..." Up until that dose of reality, it like the start of any normal morning after a sleepover, as friends. "I'll see you at lunch."

"Not gonna do it back?" Kyoko asked as she put a wide smirk on her face.

Homura sighed like it was troublesome, but really it was just abnormal. This was a big change, and she had only recently adjusted to natural things, like seasons and weather. Kyoko was taller than her, so for the first time she had to stand on her toes and hold onto her shoulder for balance in order to reach.

"Was that so bad?" She rolled her eyes. Not bad, just...different. Kyoko's skin was almost tough from spending so much time outside and never bothering with those facial washes. She could only bring herself to describe it as not unpleasant.

"I'm running late." She didn't have time to stand around discussing this.

"Yeah, I'll see you at lunch."

"What did you want to talk to Kyoko about?" The first thing Homura did when she got to school was telepathically reach out to Mami.

"Sakura-san? She texted me this morning before school and said she wanted to talk to me at lunch, but she never explained." Mami sounded confused.

She wasn't sure if she could hear her loud sigh. "I see."

"Do you know what's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Everything was fine last night, I doubt there's anything to be concerned about." She did promise herself that if Kyoko was gonna make a big, dramatic reveal out of their relationship, she was going to make her pay.

"Hm." She sounded skeptical, but let her drop the subject. Their lunch hour was only a few hours away, much sooner than it would take to pry an answer out of her.

Other than that brief conversation, the school day went as normally as ever. Kyoko was already sitting on the rooftop to meet them when they arrived.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to be here during school hours." Sayaka was a complete stickler for the school rules when Kyoko was around, although she never enforced them as strictly. Her constant reminding grated against Kyoko, and they expected it was the only reason she still insisted on bringing them up when applicable.

"Relax, I'm just here for Homura." She tossed her key at her. "I made a copy, you can have yours back."

"Surely you didn't contact me so that you could give Akemi-san her keys." Mami crossed her arms.

"Nah, course not." Kyoko sat down next to Homura, throwing an arm over her shoulders; she buried her face in her hand, preparing for Kyoko to say something really stupid. "I wanted to show off my new girlfriend."

"Your..." Other than Mami voicing her surprise, it was quiet.

"You can't just..." Sayaka waved her arm around vaguely. "I'm sure there's something you're not allowed to do that you're doing."

Homura tuned out the two arguing, turning her attention to Madoka, who was trying to calm Sayaka. She seemed more concerned with settling Sayaka's frustrations - "You can't just bring your girlfriend to school so you're both breaking the rules!" - than the news itself. So she didn't care. Then they would just be friends, she wasn't interested in her.

It was hard to be upset as she thought she would be, surrounded by her loud friends. And Kyoko was always there to cheer her up, so having her right there was almost comforting.

"I ain't stayin' past lunch," Kyoko argued. "Nobody's gonna catch us."

"Sayaka-chan please calm down we've never gotten in trouble before." Madoka held an arm across her lap like she was about to leap out of the bench and throttle Kyoko.

"Just don't do any gross stuff around us," Sayaka huffed.

"Gross, huh?" Kyoko laughed it off, but Homura recognized the disappointed edge to her voice. "Yer just jealous."

"Like hell!" In response to Sayaka snapping at her, she grabbed Homura by the collar and kissed her again. She pushed her back by the shoulder, out of habit.

"Sakura-san, stop antagonizing her. And Miki-san, please stop shouting." Mami scolded both of them with a stern expression.

"Yeah, yeah." Kyoko let go of Homura and dug through the grocery bag she brought, presumably containing her lunch. Sayaka grumbled something about it being Kyoko's fault.

"Akemi-san, is this true?" Mami looked at her. "Is this what you believed she was going to tell us, when you contacted me this morning?"

"Yes," she said, in response to both questions.

"Then I think this calls for celebration!" She clapped her hands together and smiled.

"That's not–" She began to protest, but was drowned out by the others cheering.

"Alright! Mami has the best parties!" Kyoko was the loudest, one fist raised above her head. It wasn't how she planned on her first relationship in the final timeline to go, but it was hard to feel disappointed when everyone around her was so happy.