to Smile
Madoka had a little hobby which she kept a secret from her four friends.
A/N: PLEASE NOTE THAT IT'S KINDA LIKE ALTERNATE UNIVERSE OKAY. THINGS WILL BE EXPLAINED IN THE STORY. IF YOU HATE THEN GOODBYE
It was scorching hot. Like really hot.
The sun was shining mercilessly and Homura was almost dehydrated by the amount of sweat she loss. Not just thanks to the sun, but to the effort she put in for moving bricks and stones from places to places. Her shield was a great storage for bulky items, but she didn't have teleportation skills that could helped her to move from one place to another, without having to waste her precious energy that could be used to do essential stuff like beating the crap out of witches.
But it's their base they were building. The base where everyone would be living together, in peace and harmony and friendship blooms with flowers and rainbows and unicorn pee everywhere. It wasn't like Homura wanted to be so sarcastic about this issue, but she and Sayaka never really had any conclusion to their relationship and Homura really couldn't be bothered. But Madoka loved being the middle man, the glue to everyone in the group that patch everyone up to form a beautiful and complete puzzle. That's what Madoka loved to do. Hence the base idea was created and Mami greatly accepted the idea, along with the rest.
In the end, Homura couldn't say no either.
And now, the whole base operations were in process and everyone were doing their respective duties, but who the hell would stick to it for the entire day? Homura quickly moved forward, where all the trees were and found a perfect shade that was needed. She never really noticed anyone else being there since her main priority was to get away from the sun, but once she cooled down, she began to be aware of her surroundings and she noticed Madoka was sitting just a few trees away from her. She was writing furiously in a hand-sized notebook. Not really thick, just the size of an inch.
Homura blinked.
It took Madoka quite a while to realize Homura's existence too. By the time she did, hiding the notebook was a little too late. "Opps, I guess you caught me red-handed for slacking off." Madoka giggled, slipping the notebook and pen behind her back.
"Same here." Homura shrugged.
"Let this be our secret, okay?"
Homura scoffed before looking over at Madoka again. "What are you writing?"
Madoka paused for a moment. "Uhhh... Some of our… notes from the past few battles with the witches."
Homura was clearly unconvinced, but Madoka made no attempt to prove or to give any more convincing statements. She then decided to play along.
"Am I'm part of it?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, of course."
At that point of time, Homura was comfortable enough - to let the wall, barrier, mask or whatever it was that she always used to defend herself emotionally- to shatter and crumble to the floor. Homura gave the faintest smile she could muster. "Remember to write nice things." She added.
Madoka chuckled. "Sure, there's no problems with that!"
.
.
Usually, hunting witches was a piece of cake to Homura. But if we're talking about the preparation for the battle, Homura suffered the worst, out of the five magical girls.
Her greatest magic was to stop time, and that's something really powerful that maybe only God can do. But that's more of a strategy type of magic, rather than an offensive type of magic that Homura really needed to fight witches. And hence, she had to replenish all these weapons every bloody time so she could use them in her next fight, unlike Sayaka and Mami, who had unlimited swords or guns that appeared from their breast of under their skirt.
Homura stopped outside a metal door, and despite how big and strong it seemed, it wasn't even locked. Once Homura grabbed hold of the handle and twisted it, she grabbed the edge of her time shield.
With a light spin and the sand in the hourglass began to flow, the time stopped, just like how it should and Homura made her way inside the secret headquarters she found in the undergrounds of Mitakihara Town. Her heels clacked in the silence and she stopped right in front of the table, which was between two men that was making a deal for smuggling weapons.
Homura picked up one of the rifles from the table and tested it, slightly impressed that the quality of the gun was much better than any rifle she used before. She stuffed the rifles into her shield, along with a box of grenades, bullets, shotguns and other weapons that Homura found useful. Noting that the sand was running out, she quickly made her way out of the small basement and up to the main roads, not really bothered at the uproar that she had caused between the two gangs that were making their transactions.
It was late in the middle of the night, where gangs usually got busy with their business and Homura always used this opportunity to get her weapons needed without having to hunt for them. She slowly made her way back to the base, enjoying the soothing breeze in the empty streets with some lights flickering from lamps and buildings. People would have thought she was a ghost, with her long hair and weird looking costume that looked like - normal citizens may assume - what Death Reaper would wear. All she needed was a scythe.
It didn't took her long for her to return to the base. It was located a little north from Mitakihara Town, with trees and tall grasses around to cleverly cover up the door to the base. It wasn't easy to find a spot like this, not having the need to even mention about building it, but they managed to do it. They could have located at some isolated mountain or high up in the sky because idiotic children might get curious like every fairy tale stories and they would eventually uncover the whole secret of magical girls and doom were to befall everyone on the planet, but no, Madoka suggested to locate near the town, well, so she could still see her family.
Family... She walked down the small steps and into the quiet and dark living room.
Homura transformed into her normal clothes and dragged herself towards the small kitchen, without turning on any lights. They had been staying in this base for the last three years and even if she didn't want it, she was already familiar with the layout even if she closed her eyes.
Mami's room was the closest to the kitchen, followed by Kyoko, Sayaka, Madoka and then her own room. Even when she was standing in the center of the kitchen, she could hear Kyoko's snores.
She poured herself a glass of water, hastily gulping them down before setting it in the sink and silently walking past each and every room before she reached her own.
Just when she was about to go into her room, she noticed light coming from the thin gap at the bottom of Madoka's door. Homura raised an eyebrow. It was already three in the morning (Homura could tell the time without even looking at the clock or watch) and it was rare for Madoka to stay up. Something compelled within her to knock on her door to ask what she was up to, but another part of her mind was telling her that she shouldn't be intruding Madoka' privacy, not at a time like this.
Homura didn't know how long she had stood outside when she could hear feet shuffling inside Madoka's room. Realizing that Madoka must have noticed her presence, she quickly went into her room without giving a thought and shut the door behind her. In that split second, she heard Madoka's door opened and Homura could imagine Madoka's curious look on her face, popping right out of her room, her pink hair were probably let down.
After a few seconds, Homura could hear the door close.
.
.
"Morning!" Madoka chirped. After Madoka initiated the greetings, everyone followed suit.
Homura blinked and nodded in acknowledgement.
"Stocking up your weapons again?" Mami closed the magazine she was reading and looked up from the table.
Everyone was gathered around the breakfast table, with toast and eggs and other scrumptious food that Mami prepared early in the morning for everyone, all laid across and filling up the table with no space for anyone to even put their head down if they are tired, like what Homura wished she could do right now, but since she was already by the table, she thought she might as well start on her breakfast before it was gone.
Homura rubbed her eyes when she realized she hadn't answer Mami's question. "Yeah, came back a little later than usual." She pulled out a chair and sat right in between Sayaka and Mami, across her was Madoka who was happily nibbling on her peanut buttered toast like a kid. For a moment, Homura almost forgotten that everyone weren't kids anymore. At least physically, not mentally.
Everyone were teenagers, and sitting around breakfast table and eating like some happy picnic had always been a routine every day, but even after so long, Homura always felt that it was a dream.
"Pass me the knife, would ya." Kyoko nudged Madoka.
Madoka beamed and did what she was told.
"Don't you have hands? You can reach for the last slice of cake even if it's ten feet away but you can't reach for a knife when it's barely and arm's length." Sayaka scowled.
"Do you hafta comment on every single thing I do?" Kyoko frowned, spreading chocolate over the bread.
Homura began her meal, ignoring those small pitiful attempted fights the two always make in the morning. It was so consistent that even Mami given up talking to them about it.
"Everyone knows their own schedule right? It's Kyoko and Sayaka's shift today," Mami turned to face them after they both stopped their quarrels. "Just in case you two need a reminder again." Mami finished her sentence.
"Are ya serious? I thought I worked with her like two days ago? Not again?!" Kyoko grumbled.
Sayaka rolled her eyes. "Do I look like I'm enthusiastic about it either?"
"We draw lots, so it's fair." Mami reminded them.
"Well at least I'm working with you this Friday, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka chirped.
Sayaka smiled. "Something I'm looking forward to."
"Well, aren't ya excited that we're working together tomorrow?" Kyoko put out her hand and wanted to give a high five with Homura but she didn't high five back, the only reaction she gave back was to dust off the crumbs from her toast that had fallen on her thighs.
.
.
The base was quiet, thanks to the absence of the talkative and noisy duo. It wasn't like Homura hated their presence or anything, but she felt the need to have some peace to herself occasionally and this was the perfect moment. And for the bonus, Mami went out to get some groceries so all that was left to take care of the base was Madoka and Homura.
The base wasn't huge. From the main door, to a short corridor, to the main living room which was split into two corridors that leads to the kitchen and to a training room and down the kitchen was everyone's' bedroom. So when their home was not very big, at least not much bigger than Homura's old home, it was unusual when she couldn't find Madoka with one glance around the house since pink was something their base lacked of.
Homura took a peek inside the training room, to find her sitting at the corner, her knees up and her eyes focused on something that was set on her thighs. Homura tilted her head and took a few steps towards the petite girl. Madoka didn't even realized that Homura was approaching towards her until she was standing right before her.
"Homura-chan!" Now the rare seriousness in those pink eyes were gone and frantic was clearly shown on her face. She scrambled up to her feet and hid some things behind her back. "I didn't know you were here."
"I guess now you know."
"Hahaha, yeah."
Homura inched the top part of her body to Madoka's back and Madoka immediately turned her body away so her body was blocking the items she was hiding. Homura raised an eyebrow and Madoka chuckled sheepishly.
"Are you writing your secretive battle tactic notes from last time?"
Madoka blinked, her face blank, not really understanding what Homura was saying. Only after a few seconds when realization dawned upon her when she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Yeah, those notes." She grinned.
"It's still a secret?"
"Not really a secret; just embarrassed if people were to know."
Homura knew the feeling of embarrassed much better than anyone else. She nodded in understanding and backed away, signalling that she would leave Madoka alone when the latter stopped her in that instant.
"I can show you in the future." Madoka urged.
Knowing that it was her kindness speaking instead of what she meant from the bottom of her heart, Homura shook her head. "It's alright, I don't mind."
.
.
"Our first catch!" Kyoko gave a toothy grin and picked up the lone grief seed that was standing perfectly on the ground. She handed it over to Homura. "It's your turn to keep."
Homura carefully took the seed and swiftly stored it aside. She still had enough magic and powers to last her one more rounds of witch hunting, if, the next one was as weak as the first one they fought. The two then transformed into their usual clothes and headed out of the isolated warehouse.
Kyoko placed two hands behind her head, strolling down the quiet and empty road as the orange light spread across the field in front of them, lighting up the grass like magic. The redhead glanced over at Homura.
"Where next?"
The soul gem on hHomura's hand was lighting up normally, showing no signs of any witch barriers nearby. "There's no signal, yet."
"Damn, another round of waiting," Kyoko stretched. "at least you're tolerable."
Pairing up was Mami's idea. Apparently she loved to work with other people, sharing battle tactics and talking about strengths and weaknesses faced during each battle. And working in pairs had more advantages than disadvantages and Homura didn't find any reason to object to that idea either. At least it wasn't more than three members in a team, that would have been troublesome.
The thought about it made Homura wondered what sort of tactics or strategies Madoka was writing about in her book.
She worked with Madoka a few times and there was a few times when she would take out her book and began writing while waiting for a witch to appear in the district. Homura respected her and left her alone every time, but occasionally, she truly wondered if she would ever know what she was furiously writing about. The real truth behind it.
"You've worked with Madoka just last week." It was more of a statement than a question.
Kyoko stared at Homura, realizing she was actually talking to her. She lazily nodded. "What about it?"
They found a long bench, nicely placed right at the end of the field. Kyoko quickly skipped towards it and Homura followed closely behind, liking the idea to take a sit instead of walking around pointlessly.
"Have you ever seen her writing things in a notebook?" Homura continued the conversation.
Kyoko pulled out a chocolate bar out of her jacket and began unwrapping it "I think I did, but it's not last week though. It's before that. It's like she suddenly got an inspiration to write something out of nowhere and while we were walking around the town, she stopped and wrote some stuff down." Kyoko began munching on her chocolate and offered Homura the next bite.
"No. Thanks."
Kyoko took the second bite. "So... You're interested 'bout da book?" She spoke with her mouth full.
Homura stared at Kyoko.
"I did ask her what da book was about since it's not the first time I saw it anyway." Kyoko swallowed hard and waved her chocolate around. "She wouldn't say though. Said that it's some secret thing."
Homura slowly nodded and looked away from her gross chocolate-colored lips.
"Maybe Sayaka knows."
"I doubt so."
Kyoko leaned forward in surprise. "How would ya know?"
"I just know." Homura then stood up from her seat and exhale heavily. "We've wasted enough time. It's going to get dark soon, we should hurry."
Kyoko sighed and pushed the rest of the chocolate bar into her mouth, pulling the wrapping out skillfully. "Maybe it's a diary. Most girls like writing diary."
"Do you write a diary?" Homura asked, her tone sounded mocking rather than curious.
"I'm not like most girls." Kyoko smirked, flicking the wrapper right into the bin that was conveniently beside the bench.
.
.
It wasn't like they didn't want more manpower to fight the increasing number of witches in Mitakihara Town. They just didn't want people to regret like how they once did.
Their lone base, far away from the city, was to prevent people from finding out about their identity, the truth about the world's frightful disasters and despair were none other created by innocent girls. Kyubey was no longer around to tempt girls with wishes and tricking them to join this club of cute magical rangers, but there were other Incubator that were around to cause trouble, at least they were not in this town for the time being.
But everything was alright, at least for now. It took a lot of trust and time for them to come together and even be together, years in fact, and now they were still together. In the blink of an eye, they've grew up and living together and they're nearly the end of their teens.
Among the five of them, Mami was considered the leader, someone everyone looked up to. Sayaka and Kyoko were both the ones that kept this group alive, talking about silly things and making ridiculous comments that was not necessary to the society, but it did bring some joy, even if Homura refused to admit out loud. Madoka was the peacemaker and the one that everyone would tease in a nice way.
And for herself, she wasn't sure what the point of her existence was. There were times when Homura felt like being alone, but it was always Madoka that brought her back. It was always Madoka that helped her. It was always Madoka.
Today was a nice day, with clouds hovering over the town and light breeze occasionally happening now and then. Homura couldn't stand the heat, since her long hair would be sticky to the back of her neck and she hated it. It was Madoka and Sayaka's shift today, which means that the rest would be having their usual off days and letting the two of them to bear the responsibility of protecting the town. Homura had finished stocking up her weapons last night and she decided to do a little shopping for herself.
Homura tried a few clothes and got what she wanted. A few bags in one hand and the other used to browse through the socks section.
She moved on to her tea break, and then to a small book store that just opened a few months ago.
Apparently, it was still the grand opening of the shop, despite opening for so long, since the sign that wrote GRAND OPENING OFFER! was pasted right outside the window. The store was quiet and empty and an old man was sitting by the counter with a book in hand. She had wanted to go inside to take a look since the very start, but she always forgot as it was located at corner where people least paid attention to.
When Homura walked in, the old man immediately lightened up and smile. "Welcome." He softly spoke.
Homura smiled back weakly and headed to the end of the store. The book shelves were just slightly taller than her, with two rows in the middle while the walls were covered with books. As she stood at the end, she wasn't sure where to start and what to find.
"Can I help?"
Homura turned, the old man was standing right behind her, still with a smile on his face.
"I'm not sure. Just an interesting book to read once in a while when I'm bored."
"Any genre you're interested in?"
"Erm, adventure, I suppose."
"Come with me."
Homura followed as the old man limped towards another side of the store. "Here's the adventure section. Take your time to look."
"Thank you."
He moved away.
Homura eyed across the shelf. To be honest, adventure wasn't what Homura wanted to look for. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to read in the first place. But no harm in looking around and maybe she would get a good read. Giving a quick scan at the author's name and the title that was neatly printed on the spine of the book, her eyes then stopped at a white looking book as she reached and pulled it out.
Printed in bright yellow, the author's name showed: K. Mad
For some reason, Homura almost read out Kaname Madoka. She frowned at herself for the silly thought and turned the book to the front cover.
It was a plain, white looking cover with its title being printed in dark purple instead: The Girl called Flame
Something was feeling out of place.
Homura dropped her bags and flipped the book to the back.
It was a fantasy adventure type of book. The summary didn't reveal much, but the girl name Flame was in some kind of the adventure to seek the truth about her past. Homura flipped to the first page and then the next, wanting to start reading the book when she stopped and froze. Slowly, her trembling fingers flipped the page back and she was on the first page again. It was the dedication page.
To H, you have nothing bad to write about anyway.
That conversation that happened few years ago, under that beautiful tree that Homura remembered came flooding into her mind and it was bursting in her brains. The back of her neck turned hot and she almost couldn't remember to breathe.
"Is there something the matter?"
Homura was snapped back to reality as she turned her head so fast she thought it would break, she gave a shook of her head. "Nothing." Homura closed the book and picked up her shopping bags. "Is there a sequel or a prequel of this?"
"We do have a sequel." The old man rubbed his hands in glee and picked it right from the shelf in seconds. He handed it to Homura. This time, the book was dark purple, the same purple that used for the title, with bright pink color for the current title; The Girl with a Shield
She frantically took the book from his hand and flipped to the first page.
For that friend who needs to remember to smile more often.
"It's a really nice book. Quite a huge fan base for a book that was published just two years ago." The old man said. "There's still a third book, but no one knows when it will be out. No one knows who the author really is either. Rather interesting." He added. "Especially H."
Homura looked up.
"The dedication page of the first book that stated H. Everyone was wondering who it could be." The old man chuckled. "Is it a friend? Or something more?"
She gave no comment and handed the book back to him. "I'll take these."
"Sure." They made their way to the counter.
.
.
"They're still not back?" Homura walked into the living room, watching Kyoko as she was lying on the couch, a bowl of chips lying on her stomach as she stared sideways at the television. She lifted her head off the arm rest.
"Oh you're back." Kyoko widened her eyes when she stared down at the amount of bags Homura was holding. "Are you shopping for your next life?"
Homura's face was blank.
"Yeah yeah, they're not back, obviously." Kyoko laid her head back on the armrest again.
"Don't let Mami see you like this. She'll rant."
Kyoko waved her off. "She's probably busy attending her baking lessons or whatsoever."
Homura sighed and headed to her room. She closed the door behind her and threw her stuff on the floor, except for the bag that carried her two books. She scurried to her desk and slumped on the chair heavily, pulling out the two books from her plastic bag as the cover of the book stared at her and she stared back.
"Writing notes... diaries..." Homura scoffed to herself.
Putting down the sequel, she began on the first book and slipped the soft cover and pressing it down to create the crinkled line on the spine. Homura then began to read.
Despite the title similarity, there was not much or clearly nothing that could link Homura and the main character together. There was no mention of witches, soul gem or anything that relates to magical girls at all. The girl called Flame was just a wanderer orphan who seeks revenge on her dead parents, until she met another girl as they set on a quest to reach their common goal; to get the truth from King with some dark powers. Along the way, many things happen with magic, enemies and more friends crosses paths.
Homura closed the book. Indeed, it was a nice read and Homura never put the book down for once. Partially because she wanted to know if there was any resemblance to reality and also partially because she wanted to know what happened next. She stretched and noted that three and a half hour just passed like it was nothing.
She quickly kept the books safely in her drawer, making a mental note that she should read the sequel as soon as possible. Right on the cue, a knock came from the door and she almost leaped in fright.
"Homura-chan, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She cleared her throat and walked towards the door, opening with a swing.
"Kyoko-san said you've been inside your room for six hours! I thought something happened."
"It's just three and a half hours. She spouting crap."
Madoka smiled. "Glad you're alright. You want to join us for supper?"
Realizing that she had an empty stomach since tea break, Homura nodded and followed Madoka outside and to the table. Pizza and waffles and some leftover cakes were spread across the table. Homura felt fattening just by staring at the food, but she couldn't bother to argue when she's too hungry to complain.
As the five of them sat on their usual seats, they began their supper with the usual conversations that Mami would be the first to bring up. How was the fight? What type of witch did they encounter? Did anything happen? and many more. The conversation alone was enough to last to midnight.
"Get a good rest. Kyoko, we'll be the ones in charge tomorrow." Mami smiled.
Kyoko groaned to herself. "I thought I'd have another day off."
"You're always so lazy." Sayaka commented.
They started bickering in a second.
.
.
The only way Homura could safely read her book was to do it in her room. It's rather unlucky, or to put it in a nice way, a little inconvenient when the author of the book was actually at home too.
She stared hard at the dedication page for the umpteenth times that day.
For that friend who needs to remember to smile more often.
Madoka had tons of friends, even outside these magical basement that she had been trapped for the sake of these bonding and special moments so they could work perfectly like some power rangers. Homura knew some of Madoka's friends, through her tales and pictures and they all smile so much that Homura's mouth was aching for them.
to smile more often.
that friend
Homura stood up from her seat, walked towards her bed and spread her body out, setting the book on her chest. That friend... is me...?
For Homura, she would feel weird to say "She's my friend!" or "You're my best friend!" to somebody else. She wasn't confident enough to be someone's good friend, not even Madoka's because it just didn't feel right. How do you become someone's friend? By quarrelling with each other? By talking about something in common? Being able to share happiness and sorrows with each other?
But what if that person was a burden? Just a troublesome baggage that follows the other around, being useless to do anything that serves any fun or purpose in their life?
She closed her eyes.
"Homura-chan?" A muffled voice came from behind the door.
She sat up and the book fell onto her lap instantly. She stared down, eyes turned wide and she quickly picked the book and stuffed it right under her pillow.
"Yeah?" Homura responded.
"Just wondering if you want to have lunch with Sayaka-chan and I. We've cooked some food."
"Y-Yea. Sure. Be outside in a moment."
"Okay!"
Homura glanced back at the hidden book. She stood up from her bed, running her fingers down her hair and opened the door to the kitchen. The smell of fried chicken immediately hit her.
"We've cooked plenty!" Sayaka cheered and sat down after she put down all the plates. "Now I can enjoy some food without Kyoko eating them all."
"It's still nice to have her company when we're eating," Madoka sat in the middle of the two. "It makes the food more delicious when more people enjoys it!"
"Enough about her." Sayaka rubbed her hands in glee. "Well let's dig in! Homura, do you want some chili sauce?"
"Ok."
They started their lunch with bits of chatter happening here and there. Homura dropped a few comments occasionally, but not too much to form a new conversation out of it. Homura knew it very clearly, about her solemn and neutral attitude to all types of different topics the others tried to bring up, but she felt like doing nothing to change herself.
Not like she didn't try to change herself before. She did go through a major change once, but nobody remembers her old self anyway to notice that change; the shy and timid self that she loathed.
It was tiring, very tiring. And also... she just didn't know what to say to people and how to answer to their enthusiasm or questions.
"By the way, what's up with the late night thing you're doing?" Sayaka jabbed the fork into some fries and dabbed them with some mayonnaise as she directed her gaze at Madoka. "You've been staying up, haven't you?"
Homura looked up from her plate. This new conversation definitely captured her interest.
"It's hard to sleep nowadays," Madoka rummaged through her fries and gave a soft nervous laugh, "so I stayed up to read some books."
Sayaka narrowed her eyes. "Why do I have a feeling that you're not saying the truth?"
Madoka continued laughing sheepishly. "Reading and some other stuff."
Sayaka leaned against the table and waved the fork in the air. "Homura, you're curious too, aren't you?" Sayaka smirked.
Homura blinked, only to realize she was staring so intently at Madoka all the while. She quickly looked down at her food and began eating again. "It's not exactly my business though."
"Even if it's not, you're still curious aren't you?" Sayaka glanced back at Madoka. She put down her utensil and started wiggling her fingers in a disturbing way. "If you're not telling, I'm forcing you to!"
"N-Not at the dinner table!"
Homura frowned at the disturbing thought.
Sayaka then launched herself forward and started tickling Madoka's stomach and the latter began kicking around on her chair, laughing and almost tearing up. Homura watched the two silently, nibbling the food and enjoying the show.
All of the sudden, Madoka leaped out of her seat and hid right behind Homura, her hands on Homura's thin shoulders. "St-Stop it Sayaka-chan!" She exclaimed, trying to catch her breath.
"Not until you tell-"
Madoka blinked and raised her head to get a better view of Sayaka
Apparently time had stopped.
"H-Homura-chan?"
Homura sighed and turned back, scrutinizing the pink blush that started to form on Madoka's cheek. "Do you want to continue eating or get tickled to death during Sayaka's interrogation?"
Madoka's hand never left Homura's shoulder, because she knew what would happen if she did, so in their awkward position, Madoka laughed embarrassingly. "The way you phrase it, it kinda says the answer, doesn't it?"
Homura stood up from her seat and noted the sand in her shield was slowly running out. She quickly led Madoka back to her room, in a weird way as Madoka's hands were still on her shoulders and they were walking as if they playing some game.
"Thank you Homura-chan. Your magic really helps a lot in such situation."
"You're just temporarily avoiding it."
"...Yeah."
"What's so secretive about the thing you're doing?" Homura asked, her back facing Madoka.
Madoka glanced away. "Well..."
Homura combed her hair through her fingers. "It's fine."
On the cue, the time started to move around them in a slow and steady way. In an instant, Sayaka's voice roared in the room.
"Madoka!"
"Talk to you later!" Madoka lifted her hands from Homura shoulders and ran to her room, closing it behind her with a loud locking sound.
Homura transformed back into her casual clothes while Sayaka held a fist in the air. "The interrogation was going perfectly!"
"There's no point forcing her to tell us. You could just let her tell us in her own way." Homura trudged back to her seat and continued on her chicken.
Sayaka leaned back on her seat, an eyebrow raised. "I don't want to say it out loud but it's really obvious that you're always siding with Madoka, you know."
"Because I feel like it." Homura shrugged.
"Whatever," Sayaka cleared her throat and clutched her fist, in a heroic way. "I'm going to find out whatever Madoka is doing no matter what."
Homura stared stoically. "Maybe she's really just reading some book."
She made a face. "You really believe that?"
Homura would say yes, but she knew it wasn't the truth.
.
.
It wasn't long until Homura finished the sequel, two days seems alright for her since she had to read it in secret and being secretive in the base is hard with so many people under the same roof.
The book was good, like what she expected. Until now Homura couldn't understand what was so secretive about writing a book and being an author.
A knock suddenly broke her thoughts
Homura turned from her seat. "Yes?" She placed the book on the table and stretched, suppressing a yawn.
"It's me." Madoka's voice could be clearly heard. "Just wondering if you want to go a little shopping with me."
Usually Madoka would accompany Mami or Sayaka out and only among the times when both of them were busy at the same time, then she would approach Homura and ask her out. Not like Homura minded being a replacement or whatsoever because she wasn't that childish to think this way, but she clearly remembered that it's Kyoko's and Sayaka's shift today, so Mami should be free.
"Ok." Homura shouted. "Give me ten minutes."
And in ten minutes, Homura was ready to go.
Mami was sitting on the couch and watching some news and it made Homura puzzled even further at Madoka's sudden invitation. Is there something Madoka wanted to buy but didn't want them to know? But if that's the case, why ask me along?
"Heading out together? That's nice." Mami gave a peaceful smile like always.
"Might as well." Homura shrugged nonchalantly.
Madoka bade goodbye and they were out and heading to the city where the malls were located. It was a quiet journey, but it was filled with comfortable silence instead of those awkward ones.
But there were still quite a distance to cover before they reached the closest shopping mall and Homura couldn't wait to receive an answer by then. "So, what are you going to buy?"
"Some pens." Madoka seemed to be contemplating as she tapped her chin. "And maybe a few notebooks."
"Why didn't you ask Mami along?"
"Well, for the longest time, I always wanted to go shopping with only you." Madoka beamed. "It is so rare that you're a little freaked out by my invitation?"
"N-No, I'm not." Homura quickly answered. She wants to go shopping with m-me? O-Only me? And why the hell am I stuttering in my thoughts?
She quickly continued the conversation, in hopes of covering that embarrassing situation she had caused. "Notebooks... for your little battling strategies again?"
"Yeap!" Madoka replied immediately.
Her voice didn't even waver nor did she showed any signs of hesitation. She must have been used to replying this sort of question for so many months that she was trained to give a beautiful answer, but Homura wasn't stupid to believe her act because she had the evidence. So basically, everything was an act. It's like an acting competition.
Homura nodded her head. "Maybe I should do it too. We can share information together." How about this line? I suppose this line never appeared in your script before.
"Uh well... Maybe... Ahahah...Yeah!" Madoka laughed nervously.
It was too easy.
They reached the mall after five minutes and they were making their way to a stationary store without even saying anything else. For fun, Homura bought the same notebook as Madoka did, although they differed in the amount they were buying, with Homura buying just one and Madoka buying five of it. They bought some pens and made their way to pay for it.
"You're really writing battle strategies?" Madoka seemed excited. "It would really be cool to see what ideas you have!"
"Can't wait to see yours too."
Madoka turned away and nodded slowly.
Maybe I should stop making her uncomfortable. Homura sighed inwardly. She clearly knew why Madoka would invite her out of everyone on every other days because Madoka knew Homura would respect her privacy, well, to an extent of not tickling her to death during an interrogation.
"Well, let's go."
Madoka beamed, her usual self came back. "Sure!"
.
.
GRAND OPENING OFFER!
Homura wasn't sure if the old man was just too lazy to take down those stickers or he was just trying to attract some customers' attention even though the plan seemed to be failing.
"That looks cool, want to go and have a look?"
Maybe it was starting to work.
Homura raised an eyebrow but she didn't say anything to refuse or accept her offer. Madoka then skipped towards the book store and Homura watched her sceptically as she entered the small shop.
She wants to keep her secrets a secret yet she's inviting me to a place where her secrets is hidden. For a moment, Homura wasn't sure what Madoka was exactly thinking. Perhaps she was really interested in reading books, but she never expect her own books to be sold here too. Homura flipped her hair coolly and walked towards the bookstore.
Madoka was already scanning through the books with a cheerful grin on her face. The old man had greeted her and letting the pinkette to roam around freely, and once Homura stepped inside, the old man's soft voice spread across the small room.
"Ah, you're that girl from before. So how's the book? It's nice isn't it?"
Madoka glanced up.
"Yeah it is." Homura gave a necessary polite smile back and headed to where Madoka was.
"You've been here before?" Madoka gaped.
"Once. I've bought two books from here too."
"Never knew you're the type that read books, Homura-chan." Madoka clapped her hands merrily, the notebooks and pens ruffled in the plastic bag.
"Yeah." Homura felt her throat tightened.
"What book did you buy?" Madoka asked.
Homura pursed her lips together. "I've forgotten the title."
"It's The Girl called Flame and The Girl with a Shield." The old man answered.
"Thanks for replying." Was what Homura would have said, but she didn't. Her lips were still glued together.
Homura felt the temperature in the room dropped tremendously and Madoka become as silent as she did. She scrutinized Madoka carefully, apparently she hadn't broke down in laughter or tears or anything at all. Her face was blank.
After a long silence passed, Madoka finally came back to earth. "Y-Y-You r-read th-t-tho-those b-boo-book?"
There was a lot of stuttering involved and Homura almost couldn't figure out what Madoka was even saying in the first place. Homura closed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I've suddenly remembered the titles. I've bought and read those books." She calmly replied.
"Do you want to see too?" The old man walked out of his counter and approached the two of them. "I still have some left in the shelves. It's sold out soon, especially the sequel."
"No thank you." Madoka said, her usual tone that was filled with happiness and politeness were suddenly gone. "Homura-chan. I have something on, you can head to the base first." With that, she turned and ran out of the store.
Homura was faster.
"Wait." Homura grabbed hold of Madoka's wrist and stopped her instant. The grip was tight and Madoka tried to wriggle her way out, but she couldn't.
"We'll come again another day." Homura gave a quick bow and led Madoka out of the bookstore. When she turned to see her, Madoka's face was red, bright red, even redder than her own hair.
"What's wrong?" Homura said, her grip never loosened because at that moment, she knew if she were to let go, Madoka would surely run. And she couldn't use her magic, not in public when there were so many security cameras everywhere in the mall. She hated running too.
"I'm- nothing's wrong." Madoka choked on her saliva. Homura pat her back with her other hand. After a while, Madoka regained her composure and Homura knew it was alright to let go. She did and Madoka didn't run like she predicted.
Homura sighed.
"You're the author, right? Madoka." She said, deciding to cut to the chase.
"Huh?"
"Those books," Homura sighed again. "You're the author."
.
.
It wasn't a big deal.
So Madoka explained everything from when she started publishing books to why she kept this whole issue as a secret. Basically she started writing when she first met Homura, and got it published thanks to one of her mother's friend help, who insisted that she had the potential to become a best-selling author in Japan. But Madoka didn't want those fame or anything, she just want to share her ideas and her beliefs, hence she kept them as a secret.
And also, it was embarrassing, to her if someone she knew read something she wrote. Homura could understand how she felt, so she made no point to convince her otherwise.
So, this was one secret between the two of them that no one else ever know about.
Homura helped Madoka out, by using her time-stop to get Madoka out of some sticky situations when Sayaka's sudden curiosity made her go crazy, leading her to run around the base and attempting to tickle her to get some answers. Sayaka soon suspected Homura knew Madoka's secret, or at least something since she was always helping Madoka, but of course, tickling Homura was something a stupid person would do. At least Sayaka wasn't stupid to that extent.
Mami knew the definition of privacy in the dictionary and Kyoko was bribed, by food, obviously.
To get further protection from Sayaka, Madoka often slipped into Homura's room when both of them were having the same break and she would write her stories on her desk. As for Homura, she would lie on her bed and sleep, clean her weapons or do anything that could at least make her stay in the room with Madoka.
As the time they spent grew longer and the silence grew shorter, their relationship slowly blossomed into something that Homura never dared to dream of.
They were the best of friends. That friendship that Homura never thought she would ever have. Even when Madoka stopped coming to Homura's room to write, to get that silly protection from Sayaka, their bond never break and they only get closer... and closer...
Homura didn't ask Madoka when the book was going to be published, but she began checking out the bookstore every single day, only a few months later then the latest book was finally out. Not even bothering to read the title or the summary of the book, she flipped to the dedication page and smiled.
It was important to her, because she wanted to know.
You meant a lot to me and thank you for everything, H.
I love you.
.
.
A/N:
peaceful smile
The ending sucks but cashbanky sucks her butt so it's the same thing
THIS IS BLOODY LONG AND IT TOOK ME ETERNITY AND I'M LIKE FORCING MYSELF TO END THIS INSTEAD OF COMPLETING IN ANOTHER CHAPTER BECAUSE I'LL ACTUALLY NEVER FINISH IT
YOU CAN'T STOP ME