"Oh, forgive me. That wasn't very ladylike of me."

Shizuki Hitomi yawned once again, next to her two best friends. Miki Sayaka, a boisterous blue-haired girl, and Kaname Madoka. Madoka was never the most assertive of people, but she seemed to shrink deeper into her chair than ever before.

"What's the matter, Hitomi?" Sayaka asked. "Didn't get enough sleep?"

"Yes, I was at the hospital and had to deal with the police until late." Hitomi said.

"What? Did you get in trouble?"

"They said I was sleepwalking or something."

As Sayaka and Hitomi talked about the latter's mysterious ailment, Madoka said nothing. She knew what had happened to Hitomi. So did Sayaka. She had been the victim of a witch's kiss, which had nearly killed her as well as a few dozen more people. Madoka had managed to save their lives, but then had been attacked by the witch. The witch was ready to tear Madoka into pieces…

But then Sayaka had arrived, like a hero of justice. She had made the contract with Kyubey, to become a magical girl in exchange for healing the hand of the one she had loved. With that new power, she had saved Madoka, Hitomi, and everyone else. Yet she easily joked with Hitomi, pretending that she had no idea what had happened the whole time.

How did Sayaka do that easily? Madoka wondered. Sayaka was far braver and cooler than she could ever be. She had dashed in so gallantly to save the day. Just like Mami had done. Before-

No, she thought to herself, try not to think about Mami. Or that day. She had tried to save an entire hospital, had entered a land of desserts, and had easily fought and defeated the witch hiding inside.

Until…

She paused to look over a black haired girl who leaned by the wall. If Akemi Homura, another magical girl, hadn't been there, what would have happened to Sayaka and me? Sayaka did defeat the witch from yesterday, but that one which had killed Mami was strong. Were there other witches even stronger?

SHINK.

Madoka's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the classroom door opening. For a moment, she had thought her teacher, Miss Saotome, had returned. But instead, a short, blue haired girl entered, her school bag on her shoulder. She went to the front and gazed around the classroom until her eyes finally locked on Madoka.

"Eh?"

It reminded Madoka of when Homura had stared directly at her back when they first met, a gaze which seemed to know everything about her. The blue-haired stranger walked directly up to Madoka, a gentle smile on her face.

"Are you Kaname Madoka?" She asked.

"W-what? Y-yes, I-I am…" Madoka trailed off.

"A pleasure to meet you, Kaname Madoka. I am Furudo Erika."

"P-pleased to meet you as well." Madoka said. "Can I help you?"

"If you may." Furudo smiled. "There is something that I would like to talk to you about, Kaname. Could we go on the roof now?"

"T-the roof?" Madoka asked. "But class is going to start soon…"

"It's really important to me, Madoka, and the sooner I can talk about this, the better I'll feel. We won't be gone the whole class. Can you talk to me? Please?"

Erika's smile turned a bit sad. Madoka hesitated for a moment. If this girl wanted to talk to her on the roof, it likely would be a long talk. But Erika had promised that they would not be gone the whole class, and she had said please…

"O-okay."

"Thank you very much, Madoka! Oh, can I call you Madoka? Please?"

"Y-yes, sure."

Madoka nodded, and thus the two left the classroom. Sayaka, Hitomi, and Homura all watched them leave.

"That girl is a senior, right?" Sayaka said. "What do you suppose she wants with Madoka?"

"No idea." Hitomi shrugged.

…

…

It had been way too easy to find this girl, Erika thought to herself.

Given the drawings and the notebook's content, Kaname Madoka was almost certainly a girl around Tomoe Mami's age, which meant that it was highly likely that they went to the same school. Since Erika did not recognize the name at all, it also meant that she was in one of the younger years as well. A quick check of the school registry, complete with a school photograph, and all that needed to be done was to head to this girl's classroom.

"Um, Erika?" Madoka asked as they made their way up to the roof. "Could you tell me what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I think that we should wait until we get to the roof." Erika said. "Like I said, it's really important."

"O-okay…"

As the two walked, Erika did her best to analyze the girl besides her. If this really was a proper mystery like Erika was hoping for, then Tomoe Mami was likely not just gone, but dead. Murdered. Obviously by another human. Was it the girl in front of her?

She certainly didn't seem the type. Erika had done a little asking around about what Kaname Madoka was like, and the meek, passive girl with few friends that had been described certainly was here. Just a teensiest amount of pressure and a "please", and even though she clearly hadn't wanted to, here she was skipping class along with Erika.

But you never could know what people are really like on the inside, Erika reminded herself. Hadn't her former boyfriend taught that to her better than anyone else?

The two of them finally reached the roof. Madoka entered first, and Erika paused for a moment to fiddle with the door and check out the area. Good. There was no one around.

"So, Furudo, could you tell me what you needed to talk about?"

"Of course." Erika replied. She walked a bit away from Madoka and leaned by the roof fence.

"Let me get straight to the point, Kaname Madoka." Erika declared, her earlier politeness completely gone. "Where is Tomoe Mami?"

…

"Eh?"

Madoka could not believe her ears at first. So she asked Erika to repeat the question.

"Where is Tomoe Mami? She's a classmate of mine. She wasn't at school yesterday, nor was she here this morning. And she still hasn't called the teachers to let her know she's sick, which is quite unusual for a student who's as responsible as she is."

"I, I, I….."

Madoka stammered in a panic. What should she say? Should she lie? No, she shouldn't lie, but…

"I, I, I-I don't know where she is. Why…"

"You don't know where she is?" The blue-haired girl asked. "Well, thank you very much, Kaname. If you didn't know who Tomoe Mami is, your first question should have been to ask that. But you didn't. So, you know who she is, don't you?"

"W-what?"

Madoka had barely said anything at all, but this girl had already figured that out? What did she know? Was she another magical girl? If she was, and with Sayaka not here, Madoka realized that she was in actual danger. B-but if she wasn't, and then she told the truth about Mami…

"I don't know where she is."

With a lack of options, Madoka clung to her old defense. Erika stared right back at her, her face clearly disbelieving. She then sighed and shrugged.

"Fine. Then when and where was the last time you saw her? I know it was very, very recently, so don't bother lying about that, okay?"

Madoka's eyes grew even wider. Just how much did she know? She looked around, at a tower where Mami had once stood watch over her the first time Homura confronted Sayaka and her on the roof. But Mami was gone. Sayaka and Homura were at class. And Kyubey…

She looked around for the white creature, but he was nowhere to be seen. That was a bit odd, Madoka realized. Kyubey had always been nearby, especially when there were few people around. Every time she had been in the slightest distress, he had shown up, asking to make a contract to become a magical girl. Sure, he wasn't there yesterday in the warehouse, but that was because he had turned Sayaka into a magical girl. So where was he now?

"Are you going to answer or not?"

Her thoughts were broken by Erika's words. What to say, what to say, what to say…

"I-I don't remember." She stammered out again. "I-I don't know where she is."

She could have just admitted that she had seen Mami at the hospital, she then thought. But she didn't want to talk about it. She just wanted to forget everything that had happened on that day, of the grief seed, of Mami fighting and seemingly defeating the witch, until…

A tear dripped down Madoka's cheek, but Erika seemed to take no notice. Instead she reached into her own schoolbag.

"I really didn't want to have to bring this out, but if you're going to continue to be stubborn about this, I might as well show you this."

And with those words, Erika pulled out Madoka's notebook. Madoka couldn't help but give a small squeal of fright, one which Erika visibly picked up on.

"So you do recognize this, don't you? It's yours. I found it in Mami's apartment. And it was left there extremely recently."

W-when? Madoka wondered. She had left that there just yesterday. When did this girl show up in Mami's apartment?

"Hey, don't tell me…" Erika sked, a slow, cruel smile forming on her face.

"Someone was in Tomoe Mami's apartment very recently. Someone who wasn't Tomoe Mami. It was you, wasn't it?"

This was bad. She had to get out of here.

Without replying at all, Madoka ran towards the exit. Erika made no move to chase her whatsoever. If Madoka could just get to the classroom, this girl couldn't bother her anymore, not with Miss Saotome and Sayaka and Homu-

"What?"

The door to the roof was locked. Wait, did Erika-?

Madoka never had a chance to finish her own train of thought. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and then she was pushed onto the hard, cold roof floor.

…

This was way too easy, Erika thought to herself. Way too easy…and yet way too hard.

She knew how these interrogations were supposed to work. Madoka was supposed to deny, deny, deny everything at first. But with Erika's pressing and the presentation of evidence, she would be able to force Madoka to confess what she knew about Tomoe Mami's disappearance. It's not like Erika thought Kaname Madoka killed Tomoe Mami – that would make this mystery all too easy, really. But she definitely knew something about the disappearance, and it was up to Erika to find out. One way or another.

But this girl wasn't doing it right at all. It was blatantly clear from her sobbing, her obvious lies, and her expressions that she did indeed know something. But she wasn't doing anything. She wasn't claiming that she barely knew Tomoe Mami, she wasn't denying that the notebook was hers, she wasn't giving up some excuse for how that notebook got there that Erika could strike down, she wasn't doing anything but standing there, weeping like a slug. This stupid girl wasn't trying to defend herself at all, but she still wouldn't confess to what she knew about Tomoe Mami. And rather than actually battling it out with logic, she tried to run away. Run away? No one when accused of a crime did that! And there wasn't even a challenge there, because she hadn't even been smart enough to just unlock the door!

Argh, she thought as she dragged Madoka across the roof floor and flung her onto the fence, why do human beings have to be so DIFFICULT?

"I'm asking for the truth, Kaname." Erika began. "The total truth. And you need to tell me the truth. Where is Tomoe Mami? Where did you last see her? What do you know of her disappearance?"

"I-I don't know where she is…"

"Is that your truth? What will you say when I take this notebook to the principle, or the teacher, huh? The teacher is worried now that she hasn't called in for two straight days. The police will get involved if there's no word from her. Are you still going to say nothing? Tell me the truth, Kaname Madoka. Where is Tomoe Mami?! Where did you last see her?! What do you know of her disappearance?!"

Erika's patience had seriously begun to run out, as her last sentences were now as much of a scream as they were a question. But Madoka still said nothing. And going to the principle, or the police would not be a real victory. Erika wanted the prize of solving this herself, without the police or the teachers or ANYONE getting in her way to take some of the credit. But this stupid girl continued to cry, completely given the impression of one who had been utterly beaten – but she still wasn't surrendering!

Erika raised her hand to strike the stupid girl and then-

"What?"

She didn't know what had happened. One moment, Furudo Erika was standing in front of Kaname Madoka, her arm outstretched to slap her. But then she all of a sudden could see nothing.

No, she realized, it wasn't that she could see nothing. It was that her face was planted into the roof floor. As Erika picked herself up, her hand moved up towards her cheek. It hurt. As if she had not just been slapped, but punched there.

For a moment, Erika wondered whether Madoka had sucker punched her in a way that she had lost consciousness. But as she staggered onto her knees, she saw that Madoka was still there, trembling by the wall where Erika had flung her. But now a black haired girl stood in front of Madoka. Her face seemed calm, but Erika could see her body trembling with rage.

"How dare you. How dare you attempt to hit Madoka?"

The girl asked a question, but Erika did not answer. Instead, she looked at the roof door. It hung open. But how? Erika had locked the door. Madoka herself had tested the lock. So…

"W-who are you?" Erika asked. "How did you get in here?"

"There's no need for you to worry about that." The girl said. "And what is a senior like you doing? Skipping class to assault one of your juniors? Should I tell the teacher about this?"

"Tell the teacher!" Erika laughed. "I'm looking for a classmate of mine, and this girl knows something about it. I even have proof! If she won't confess, then I'll just go to the principal and-"

"Is this your proof?"

The black-haired girl waved the notebook which Erika had discovered in Tomoe's apartment.

"W-wait, what? I was just holding that. How did you-"

Without even giving a response, the girl tore the notebook in half. As Erika watched in shock and horror, she then flung it over the school roof.

"You-you BITCH!"

Erika charged the girl and swung a fist. But the girl easily dodged, and before Erika could react, planted an elbow in Erika's back. Erika thudded onto the ground.

"Guh!"

"H-homura?" Madoka shouted.

"Quiet."

The girl, Homura, raised an arm to bar Madoka. Erika lay on the ground, though slight movements showed that she was still awake. After looking at Madoka, Homura then walked towards Erika, and then grabbed her by her long blue hair so that the two were face to face.

"Madoka is completely innocent of what you accuse her of." Homura quietly said to Erika. "And neither do you. You will tell the teacher that you did not see Tomoe Mami. And that will be that. Go on, and live an ordinary life. Do you understand?"

Erika said nothing. Her eyes didn't even look like they were focusing on Homura's face, but rather past her. Eventually, she gave a small grin.

"Heh, you think that I'm going to run from the truth- OWWWWWWW!"

Without hesitation, Homura yanked on Erika's hair, completely ignoring her shrieks of pain.

"Do you understand?"

"Y-you, do you think you can make me stop with OWOWOWOWOWOWWWWWWW!"

Tears fell from Erika's cheeks as Homura now pulled with all of her strength.

"OW, OW, OW, FINE!" Erika finally screamed. "Fine, fine, fine, now get off of me!"

With a final yank, Homura let go. Erika massaged her scalp as she struggled onto her knees, wincing in pain. Homura turned towards Madoka.

"We should get going. Miss Saotome was looking for you, Kaname."

"O-okay…"

Even though she had been yelled at, accused, and physically attacked by the blue haired girl, Madoka still looked at Erika with worry and pity at her state. But with a cold stare from Homura, the two headed towards the roof exit.

"Homura!"

However, they stopped as a shout came from Erika. Homura closed her eyes for a moment before she looked at the swaying girl.

"What is it?"

"How did you know that I was investigating Tomoe Mami's disappearance? I never said anything about her while you were here."

"I have no reason to answer that." Homura responded. "As I said, it is absolutely none of your business. You are getting in involved in matters which are utterly beyond you, and thus I will be honest in telling you to stay out. Did you forget your promise, or do I have to remind you again?"

Erika glared at Homura.

"I will tell the teacher that Tomoe was not there, but I won't talk about you two. For now. But let me ask you one more question then."

"What is it?"

"Homura, what do you do after school?"

Homura tilted her head.

"What does it matter to you?"

"Well, you see," Erika smiled, her teeth baring. "You are a schoolgirl. You should not be doing anything unusual. Except the problem, Homura…

Is why did I smell explosives when you lifted my face up to you?"

For the first time in their conversation, Homura's eyes widened for just a moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She finally answered. "You must be mistaken. Madoka, come on."

Without waiting for Erika to respond, the two finally left the roof. The minute they left, Erika plopped herself down on the roof floor and lifted a hand to her face.

"That bitch." She muttered. "I'll get her for this. I'll get her, and Madoka, and I'll get the truth out of them one way or another. I don't care what it is. I will find the truth and I will smash the mysteries that those two are hiding from me.

And not just this mystery. Everyone has secrets. Everyone has secrets they don't want to talk about. Including you, Homura. I will find out what secrets you have. Every. Last. One. And I will use them to destroy you, you hear me?"

She brushed herself off after those words and headed for the door. But she stopped once she took a look at it. This door was a mystery. Homura had somehow gotten on the roof even though Erika had locked the door, something which had been confirmed by Madoka. She examined the door, but what she saw confused the detective even more.

"It's been blown off?"

She had not been able to tell from a distance, but the door actually only hung onto the frame with a thin strip of wood. The knob and the hinges had been destroyed, and then Homura must have kicked it in. Erika got down on her hands and feet to look around for clues, though it only took her a moment to find something.

"Two shotgun shells?"

This did not make any sense. With the shotgun shells and the broken door, the obvious conclusion was that Homura blew off the door in order to reach Madoka. But this made no sense. There's no way Erika could have failed to miss that noise. Even if she didn't, Madoka should have – yet that sniveling girl had made no indication that she had heard such a loud noise. A silencer? No. This was a shotgun, not a pistol, and that still wouldn't have been able to cover the noise of the door being broken down. So how did Homura break open the door and move across the roof without Erika noticing her at all.

In addition, Homura had no shotgun when Erika saw her. She could have hidden it. But that was odd too, Erika thought. The only way to have hidden the shotgun in a way that Erika could not have seen would have been to leave it inside after she blew open the door. Yet that posed a risk of it being seen by someone who came up. If Homura had used a shotgun to blow open the door, then she should have taken it with her – what was Erika going to do to her even if she did see it?

She should have returned to class, but Erika's brain was too frazzled, both by her simmering rage against Homura as well as everything she had noticed. Erika sat down on the nearby stairs, and with her hands covering her head, began to think.

…

The last bell for the day chimed, and Madoka packed her bags.

"Hey Madoka! So what was that about earlier today?"

Sayaka stood in front of her, bag already prepared.

"Sayaka." Madoka said. "That was fast."

"W-well", Sayaka blushed. "I need to stop by the hospital as soon as I can. I want to see how Kyosuke's doing. Now that, h-his hand's better and all that. But never mind me Madoka, what happened to you? You saw how Miss Saotome made a fuss when you came back, but you looked so depressed."

"Well, you see…"

The two of them left the classroom and walked down the school hallway, at which point Madoka began to recount what had happened on the roof. Sayaka's eyes grew wider as Madoka continued, though her mouth turned into more and more of a frown. When Madoka finished, Sayaka slammed her hand onto the nearby wall.

"Furudo Erika, you said her name was?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Well, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!" Sayaka declared. "Why didn't you tell me the minute you got back, Madoka? No one threatens my best friend and gets away with it!"

Sayaka wheeled right around and for a moment, it seemed that she was going to march up the stairs to the senior classrooms.

"No, no, Sayaka!" Madoka cried. "She already suspects me. She already suspects Homura. I don't want her going after you too!"

"After me too?" Sayaka laughed. "I'm a magical girl, Madoka. And not just any magical girl. I'm going to follow in Mami's footsteps, protect this city from the witches. You think I should be scared of another girl?"

"Well, what if she's another magical girl?" Madoka asked.

"Huh?" Sayaka said. "Didn't Kyubey already say that there were only two magical girls in Mitikihara? Mami and Homura?"

"That's right. I did."

The voice came from a nearby window. As both Madoka and Sayaka turned to look, Kyubey, the white creature who had turned Sayaka into a magical girl, sat by the window. Students bustled here and there, but not a single one noticed or paid the slightest attention to Kyubey. Of course, this was because Sayaka and Madoka were the only two who could see him.

"Kyubey." Madoka breathed. "Did you see what happened on the roof?"

"I did." Kyubey stated. "I could not do anything to help you, Madoka. That is, unless you want to contract to make Furudo Erika forget-"

"No!" Sayaka broke in. "Madoka should fight for something which she believes in. I found it. I found what I wanted to fight for, for Kyosuke. But Madoka, you can't use your wish for something like that, you hear me?"

"I-I-understand."

"Very well." Kyubey said. "But since you will ask, I will state it. That girl, Furudo Erika, is not a magical girl. And she does not possess the potential to be one."

"Is that so?" Sayaka said. "Well, then there's nothing to worry about, Madoka. I'm going to go up there and give that stupid senior a piece of my mind and make her leave you alone, you hear me?"

She moved once again towards the stairs, but Madoka grabbed her arm.

"But what about Kyosuke?" She cried. "You said that you needed to see him, to make sure he was better. Don't you need to hurry?"

Sayaka looked at Madoka for a long moment. But then she sighed and turned back towards the entrance.

"You're right. That girl can wait. I need to see Kyosuke with my own eyes, make sure he's happy and alright. I can deal with her later. It's not like she can do anything to threaten you.

But Madoka, if she ever threatens you in the slightest way, just let me know, okay? I'll beat her down and make her apologize to you. After all, I can't forgive bad people who hurt my friends!"

Sayaka gave a confident grin, and then with a wave of farewell, dashed out of the school. Madoka smiled.

"I need to go back to the classroom, Kyubey. I want to talk to Homura."

"Okay then. See you later!"

Kyubey gave a smile as he saw Madoka dash off, but then as she left, he began to think. He had told them the truth about that girl, Furudo Erika. She had no potential to become a magical girl. But Sayaka and Madoka didn't need to hear the important thing about her.

To say that Kyubey was totally without emotions would not be completely correct. True, he didn't understand why magical girls always panicked whenever they discovered the truth about their Soul Gems. He didn't understand why humans were so unwilling to sacrifice a few girls not just for the good of their species, but for the good of the entire universe. He didn't feel fear when he had been chased by Akemi Homura, nor did he feel joy when he made a successful contract.

But he did, at a fundamental level, had things he liked and things he disliked. He had no reason to soak in a tub of warm water every morning at Madoka's home, but he did it anyway. He had no reason to eat part of her lunch, but he did it anyways. He liked those things, and while he did not feel fear when he was being chased by Homura, he certainly didn't like it, nor did he like how that girl seemed to be doing everything in her power to prevent him from making a contract with Madoka. And he also did not like that new girl.

But why didn't he like this girl, Furudo Erika? Because something about her made Kyubey uneasy. So uneasy that rather than pressure Madoka into contracting again, he had ran down to seek help – and he had even asked the stronger Homura as opposed to Sayaka, even though the latter was so much easier to manipulate. But why did she make him uneasy? Kyubey didn't know, and that was problematic.

Still, even if he did not like Furudo Erika for whatever reason, there was no need to do anything about her. If anything, he should do nothing to stop her.

After all, he thought, if I can get this Erika to pressure Madoka enough, it could be another way to get her to make a contract with me.