Chapter 5: You're My Best Friend
It had been cloudy all day, and Homura was glad to have had the foresight to bring an umbrella. The rain came down pretty heavily, half the students caught walking under overhangs to stay at least a little dry. She lived several blocks from the school, and while she wasn't going to get sick from the rain, it would have been a miserable trip.
She was almost there when she saw Kyoko on the other side of the street, jacket hood pulled up. "Is that you?" she asked, making sure she wasn't about to call out to a complete stranger.
Kyoko's head snapped up when she said that. "Yo, Homura!" She dashed across the street and ducked under her umbrella. "It's rainin'."
"I hadn't noticed." It wouldn't be a surprise that Kyoko was out at this time, but she usually stayed inside on rainy days. "Why didn't you bring the spare umbrella?"
"Didn't think it'd be this bad." She huddled in close, and Homura's left arm was getting wet from being against her.
"You can stay under here as long as you don't get me wet." It was already an annoyance to raise it a little higher for her.
"No fair if you're the only one not wet." Kyoko kicked puddles as she walked, splashing water around their ankles.
"You were the one who left without an umbrella, don't drag me into your bad decision." A little water had already gotten into her socks.
Kyoko got that grin that warned she was about to do the opposite of what she was told. "Nah." She pulled her into a tight bear hug.
"Ah- get off!" Homura pushed her away, but she swung around and slammed her into a wall, thoroughly soaking her back. "Kyoko I mean it!"
"Babe I just love you." She kissed along her jaw, an excuse to rub her wet hair all over her face.
Homura managed to push her off, drying her face off with her sleeve to no use. "I'm going home without you."
"Woah, hey, I didn't think you'd be that mad." She walked alongside her, trying to get back under the umbrella. "It's just water."
"Then you should have no problem." She had things to do at home anyways.
"Lemme make it up to you." She grabbed her by the forearm. "Aren't you curious where I'm goin'?"
"Not at all." Admittedly the thought crossed her mind, but she lost interest after the hug.
"There's an arcade around the corner, you should come."
"I'm not interested." She never had time for video games, they were pointless.
"Come on, don't be so boring. When's the last time you went to one to have fun?" They reached a standstill at the next corner when Kyoko tried to take the turn, and Homura wanted to go straight towards the apartment.
"I've never been." Hospitals didn't exactly discharge patients early for things like trips to the arcade. After becoming a magical girl, she had more things to take care of than Kyoko did. The only time she had gone inside was to find Kyoko, and discussing Walpurgisnacht was more important than joining her in a game.
"Ya never... Well yer gonna today!" She pulled her away harder, but both of them had trouble getting purchase against the wet pavement.
"I have other things to do." If Kyoko held her any tighter, her arm was going to bruise.
"Not anymore. This is more important." She put more force into pulling her; Homura walked along so that they weren't going to continue fighting on the street corner.
"I doubt it."
"Lemme guess, homework? I've seen your grades, it can wait a day." Homura huffed at her tone that implied it was a ridiculous excuse. Homework and studying were very important when you actually had school. "Come on, please? I fucked up, I can at least try and show you a good time."
Well, they were already on their way there. "At least you're sincere."
Kyoko grinned, relief visible on her face. "It'll be awesome, you won't regret it."
"I doubt that as well." It was nice to forget about homework and slack off sometimes, even the time was instead spent watching Kyoko play dance games.
"It's just right there. If you don't like it, it's not far to walk home." That was a fair deal.
While Homura had been inside the arcade before, this was her first time actually looking at the cabinets closely. The bright eye-catching animations and loud noises only served to deter her attention, but Kyoko was already making her way towards a machine.
She put in a 2,000 yen note and it spit coins back out at her. "What do you wanna try?"
"I don't care." She didn't know much about video games, other than what she had seen Kyoko playing. Each looked more uninteresting than the last.
"How about Dog Drug Reinforcement?" Homura gave a dry stare at her assumption that she knew titles. "That one."
Kyoko pointed at a large machine near the middle, the loudest and brightest in the building. "No." For once she recognized a game, and this was the one she knew she wouldn't enjoy playing.
"Come on, you'll love it." If she thought Kyoko was being serious, the smirk gave away that she didn't have any motivation to bring her there other than to embarrass her.
"You look ridiculous playing it." There was no other way to say it, nobody retained dignity after playing it.
"I just wanna see you shake that fine ass, baby." Kyoko rocked her hips to the side, dancing out of reach when Homura tried to grab her shoulder to stop her. "Alright I get it, we'll try something else."
"I appreciate it." Anything else would be better than putting herself on that stage where people would see her bouncing around like a child.
"How about a fighting game? You're good at fightin' already." She followed Kyoko to the end of another aisle. "Just watch me first."
Kyoko's hands moved too quickly to find sensible action. Shaking the joystick around, smashing the buttons on the right…something about that made the two characters on the screen zip back and forth in an impossible flurry. She had pulled off some crazy stunts but she was sure most of those attacks defied gravity itself.
She put another coin in the slot when she won. "Now you just do that."
"I have no idea what you did." Her hands were on the controls the same way, but that didn't suddenly enlighten her on what to do. She picked a random character on the select screen.
Kyoko came at her mercilessly, but Homura was barely watching the screen. Rather, she watched Kyoko's hands, trying to imitate but giving up after only seconds. "What's wrong? Ain't ya good at everything?"
"I'm good at the things that matter." The match ended after only seconds, thanks to Kyoko's practiced combos.
"Okay I'll show you a little more." The second round started, but Kyoko didn't rush her this time. "Yer supposed to be able to pick them up and just play."
"I assume that rule only applies to people with prior experience." She tried to take in the lecture; left left attack was a forward charge, down left up was a flip kick, left right left was a long-distance shockwave…. And then she zoned out and couldn't retain any of the information.
"Ready now?" Kyoko didn't wait for an answer and started with no other warning. She tried for a moment to do anything she just learned, and deciding it was too hard to pull it off fast enough, shook the joystick and pressed the buttons with no rhyme or reason. Still, she lost.
"You just button-mashing?" She shot her an angry stare.
"I don't understand it." This video game was frustrating and pointless, she would rather spend the time really training.
"At least try to learn." The game ended, but Kyoko put another coin in.
"I'm going home." Homework was slightly less entertaining than this, but it at least made sense.
"Hey, come on, let's at least play this out. I put in all that money." She did look a little apologetic, but that was going to be a lot of time. "And…you kinda have the only umbrella."
Homura sighed, chiding herself for believing Kyoko might have an honest reason for wanting her to stay. "You can spend 1,000 yen and then I'm leaving. You can choose to follow me at that time."
"Thanks." She grinned and gave a thumbs up, not forcing Homura to play against her again. "It's a pretty crappy date I guess, but they can't all be winners."
If there was anything that became more tolerable with time, it was Kyoko's ability to kiss. Her attitude could grate when they butted heads, but this had no room for her sarcasm. Anything to keep her quiet, but she would be lying to herself if she said this didn't have other benefits.
For once, it was a first experience that didn't make her scared or anxious. When you only had a month to start and be in a relationship, there wasn't a lot of time for your partner improve. She'd been through the first week of awkward new kissing countless times, noticeable improvement was a something positive and exciting to feel for the first time.
It helped that they found far more time to practice in the past two weeks than she had in any past timeline. A relationship with Madoka meant nose boops, sudden kisses on the cheek, lots of cuddling. Kyoko considered time spent watching something they didn't care about on the TV to be time wasted. They often didn't bother to turn it off first; it provided background noise even now.
She was sitting on the couch normally, Kyoko straddling her lap and keeping a comfortable weight against her chest and shoulders. Homura held her hands limply at her waist, while Kyoko had a loose handful of hair at the back of her head and another holding the back of her neck.
Kyoko pulled away for breath first. "You ain't got any better since the first time." She gulped and steadied her breathing. "How do I know you don't just suck?"
"I'm good at everything." Maybe there was room for a little sarcasm. It was best when it was a give and take.
Kyoko gave a quick ,"Heh," and moved back in. Homura breathed in sharply as her tongue brushed against her lips again.
She never got used to the feeling of her teeth, whether it was against her tongue or brushing across the corners of her mouth. Too sharp, and she didn't hold back with them enough. It had gotten better, her first few times she seemed to confuse kissing and eating, but she was still working on it.
It was distracting. Unfamiliar still. Pulled her away from the feeling of another tongue sliding against hers. Homura brushed Kyoko's cheek with her hand, feeling the way her jaw opened and closed slightly as her mouth moved against hers.
Again, Kyoko broke off. "So, am I getting any better then?"
"You've been improving." There wasn't anything to gain from lying or teasing her about that. If anything it could be a deficiency.
Kyoko leaned in close, close enough that she could feel her breath against her face when she spoke, but staying just far enough away that they weren't touching yet. "Then I need more practice, right?"
"It couldn't hurt." Homura started it this time before she could answer, and Kyoko deepened it.
The tiny gasp that escaped from the back of Homura's throat was embarrassing, but Kyoko was too busy to bring it up. She wrapped her arms around her completely and tilted her head back as Kyoko pushed herself a little higher, forcing Homura to sink into the cushions.
Homura rarely regretted anything she said, and couldn't recall any time that she regretted saying something to Kyoko specifically. Her words were calculated, straightforward, and honest. However nothing would be able to cover up her mistake, the soft moan of, "Madoka…."
Kyoko snapped her head up, nothing but shock on her face. Homura probably looked horrified, and she covered the deep blush immediately heating her face with her hand. There was an awkward silence between them until Kyoko broke it with obnoxious laughter.
"You absolute fucking loser!" She tossed herself to the side, off of Homura's lap. "I can't believe you, damn!"
She didn't answer, burying her face deep into her hands while Kyoko composed herself just enough to sit up straight. "Shit, you still ain't over that?"
It had been over a week since she even thought about that consciously. The problem, she was sure, was that she wasn't thinking right then. "It's not really working out for you, is it?" Kyoko was right, if that was where her mind went.
She spoke seriously now, but that giggle was still on the edge of her voice. "I guess I'm not really feelin' it either. I figured you were more into it."
"If that's true then it's better we talk about that now." There had to be a better way for this to be brought up than that mortifying slip. Her life was one mess after another.
"Well, if you're not goin' for it, then I'm not, so why would we do this?" Kyoko shrugged. "Just me?"
"No, that's for the best." If this was just a waste of time, they should at least acknowledge that and not continue to pretend this was going anywhere. "We're…still friends, right?"
"Of course, more than friends!" Kyoko didn't take long to shake it off, but there was still that edge to her voice. Something strained that she couldn't identify.
"More than…. But didn't we just-" She felt Kyoko's hand slam down on her shoulder, and she grinned wider than she'd seen in a long time.
"Yep, you're my best friend, even if you are a desperate nerd. That's more than a friend, to me."
Homura smiled the slightest bit. "Yes, best friends." It surprised her how great it felt to hear that.
"And if you ever wanna hook up again, you have my number." She backed up and cackled before Homura could think about swatting her away. "I might still be on your couch, actually." Even if their relationship changed, Kyoko hadn't. But it wouldn't be the same if she wasn't a persistent jerk sometimes.
Homura left her with a promising, "If you're lucky."
"What's been bothering you, Madoka?" Sayaka often invited Madoka out for lunch when she was upset. And if she didn't accept the invitation, she was dragged out of her house, often with help from Junko, to find out why.
Madoka sighed, twisting the straw in her cup. When she didn't answer, Sayaka ventured a guess. "It's Homura, isn't it?"
"Yeah…." She looked down at her lap, pulling the straw in and out to produce a squeaking noise against the plastic lid. "I just thought she was straight before this, but...I guess she doesn't like me."
"You can't get hung up on love at this age. We're still young, you should have fun with yourself and your friends while you can!" Sayaka was never a good listener, but she made up for it by doing her best to beat the depressing out of anyone. "I think you're doing a pretty good job of that."
"But Kyoko-chan too. Didn't you like her?" Madoka lifted her head up innocently to ask this.
"Wha- No, hell no." She waved her hand in front of her face. "What gives you that idea?" Kyoko was ridiculous and impulsive and definitely not her type.
"I just always thought you did." Madoka shrugged and picked through her French fries.
"No, that's ridiculous. She's just a moron that I happen to spend time with because she's a magical girl." Sayaka took an angry bite of her hotdog.
"That sounds like sour grapes to me, Sayaka-chan."
She swallowed quickly to answer. "It's not, alright? Anyways, we're here to talk about you."
"But I don't want to talk about me." She slouched her shoulders over and sulked.
"You should. Look, you keep evaluating yourself based on her, but it's not worth it. If she doesn't see how great you are, then you're too good for her." Sayaka wouldn't be satisfied until she was absolutely swollen with pride. "And if she was with Kyoko then how great can she be?"
"Really great." Madoka crossed her arms and sunk into the seat with a strong pout. "You think so, too."
"J- just drop that, there's nothing between Kyoko and me." It was hard to hold this conversation if she kept bringing that up. "We're gonna keep on this until you cheer up."
"Hey, Sayaka-chan. You and me aren't…are we?" She motioned between them with a confused expression.
"Ah, that…." This wasn't a good direction either. "No, sorry, you're just my friend."
"Oh, good, I was just making sure. Since they're friends too, ehehe." If she was laughing, then she had to be feeling a little better.
"Jeez, don't scare me like that, Madoka."
Thanks for following this one, especially if you're usually on my page for MadoHomu. I mainly wrote this because I love their dynamic, as friends or girlfriends they're so much fun together. The second inspiration was the average social assumption that two lesbians can't be just friends (or two gay men I assume too), which applied to these two. That thought led to, "What if they hooked up because they were single and thought they were supposed to date because they were sexually compatible?" and now we're here.
Most of my planned fics from here on out aren't nearly this happy and I'm settling back into my angst comfort zone for awhile. But I do hope to come back to this post-Portable series between fics, and/or hopefully get some more stuff to write for these two because just imagining these two is too much fun.