Authors Note: Updated version of the chapter! A thanks to Evertide for going over it and proofreading, and to the reviewers who pointed out mistakes made!
A few days later had found Homura sitting in the shade of a tree while in her gym uniform. A towel was draped over her face with the purpose to protect her from the heat, collect her sweat, and shield her from the snickering classmates who made little attempt to be unheard. They made comments and laughed at Homura as though the bespectacled girl couldn't hear their rude remarks.
She couldn't refute them or tell herself what they said was wrong, however, not when her own mind was agreeing with the insults they slung at her.
The past few days, Homura had learned a surprising lot about herself: she sucked at everything she did. She couldn't stand at the front of the class and answer a simple question without breaking down, and she couldn't even do the simple warm ups without being left out of breath and dizzy. She wasn't even allowed to participate in anything else but the warm ups by doctor's orders.
She was near tears as she thought of her own pathetic nature and as a result had not heard the students being yelled at and chided by some other girl. Nor did she hear soft footsteps approaching her until a new shadow was cast over her, nearly sending Homura into a panic from the surprise.
"Sorry, did I scare you? Sorry," Sayaka apologized, rubbing the back of her neck which was damp from sweat. She looked over at the students she had chased away that were now across the track. "Why did you let them say all of that about you?" Why didn't she stand up for herself?
Homura didn't answer, drawing her knees closer to herself and leaning back into the tree almost as though she was hoping that it would gobble her up so she wouldn't have to talk.
With a sigh, Sayaka plopped herself down next to her, changing the subject as was silently requested. "You're having a hard time, aren't you? You looked like a fish out of water trying to do those sit-ups." It was amusing to some but just painful to others to watch her struggle like she had.
"I-I'm...I don't...I-I'm not doing too w-well," Homura finally admitted, leaning a little away from Sayaka. She was still feeling short of breath, and her chest still ached from the exertion. Her body wasn't used to this much activity, and now she wondered if the warm ups were even something her heart could handle.
But Sayaka just gave a snort of laughter at what Homura had said, and looked at her with a friendly smile. "Well, duh. Everyone can see that." She gave her a playful shoulder punch. Homura just blushed, rubbing at her shoulder and wondering if a bruise would form because of that. "I can help you tomorrow with warm ups, if you want?"
Blinking at the offer, Homura turned her head to look at Sayaka with wide, confused eyes. She didn't see any sign of an ulterior motive, and so far she had no reason but to think that Sayaka's offer was genuine. Giving a hesitant nod, she quickly turned to look at the ground, at the side, anywhere but at Sayaka. "S-Sure! I mean, if it's, if it's not too much of a hassle," she said meekly, earning a laugh from the other girl.
"Don't worry, it won't be a hassle," she assured her, standing back up as the teacher blew the whistle alerting the class it was time to head to the locker rooms to shower and change. She offered her hand to Homura who was still on the ground. "Hey, if you're not doing anything later, want to hang out after school? We can grab a bite to eat and maybe do some shopping?"
Hesitantly taking her hand, Sayaka pulled her up and Homura stumbled for a bit to regain her footing. She wasn't sure at first if she heard the bluenette right, but she was not mistaken. Her answer would be a soft-spoken "Yes" that brought a wide grin to Sayaka's face and the promise that it'll be a fun time for Homura.
The last few classes rolled on and as the bell rang the students rushed out of the room with their things hastily thrown into bags, acting all for the world like a stampede as they raced outside to claim their freedom from the prison known as school. After Saotome left following the herd, only a few stragglers were left in the classroom, taking the time to give some organization to their items as they went into the bags, or just talking to their classmates. These were the few who were in no big rush to leave the building and didn't feel like being trampled by the other students in an attempt to leave.
"Hey, Madoka," Sayaka said as she came to sit on the edge of her friend's desk with a wide smile, ready to leave. "Akemi and I are going out to eat, you coming?" she asked, though it didn't feel needed. She knew her best friend was going to join them.
But to her surprise, Madoka shook her head and bowed her head in apology. "I'm really sorry, Sayaka-chan, but I already had plans for today."
"With Tomoe Mami," Sayaka said, already knowing that it was that blonde upperclassman who Madoka had made these plans with. The look on her face just confirmed it and Sayaka sighed. She wasn't going to get jealous, she wasn't going to let herself get jealous over this.
"I'm sorry, Sayaka-chan." Grabbing her bag, Madoka sent another apology as she rushed out of the room, nearly bumping into Homura by accident in her hurry to meet up with Mami.
The transfer student wasn't meeting the other student's eyes, and she had recoiled back into her desk when Madoka went past her. But she wasn't staring at the floor with that "I want to disappear" feeling about her like earlier. Waiting a few seconds, Homura picked up her bag and approached a sulking Sayaka, giving her a quizzical look. "Is Kaname-san not coming?" she asked, looking to the door where the pinkette had ran out of and then back at Sayaka.
"Nope, she's hanging out with a ninth-grader today," Sayaka said, getting off the desk. It was a bit of a bummer, really. She had wanted Homura and Madoka to hang out a bit; a feeling told her they would have been great friends. But it looked like that wasn't going to happen today. "Hitomi can't come either since she had things at home to take care of. So it's just the two of us, it looks like."
"We can always do this another day, when the others aren't busy," Homura offered, always wanting the path that would be the least bother for others.
Sayaka shook her head at that suggestion, taking a trip back to her better mood for Homura's sake as she wrapped an arm around the frail girl's shoulders. "No need, besides now that it's just the two of us, we can do more things and not worry about trying to appease everyone!" They wouldn't have had any problems with making everyone happy even if the others had been there. But she didn't want Homura to think it was better they not go, and wanted her to know it would be just as much fun without the others.
She couldn't explain it, but she felt a need to protect her. A desire to keep Homura safe and happy. Maybe it was because of what Homura had been through with her poor health and isolation, and maybe it was because of Sayaka's own desire to be a dashing hero like in fairy tales. Always saving the princess and always protecting the innocent, which in this case was Homura. Though Sayaka didn't think much of why, she also didn't care much for it. She hadn't even consciously noticed when she stopped using the honorific "-san" at the end of Homura's name.
She was Homura's friend, and she wanted to be a good friend for her.
Sitting at a booth across from each other, Homura quietly nibbled on the corner of the sandwich she bought as Sayaka dabbed one of her fries in the pool of ketchup. Beside Sayaka were a few new CD's she'd bought while they were in the music store earlier. They were rather diverse in type: a few disks she'd gotten to give to Kyosuke when she visited him later, and a couple CD's for herself.
Though she had been bubbly and talkative during most of their time here, when they sat down to eat the girl had fallen into silence, lost in her own thoughts as she numbly picked at her fries and rested her cheek on one hand.
"Miki-san? Are you alright?" Homura began, placing her sandwich down and staring at Sayaka with a concerned expression. The girl had been silent the entire time and, well, Homura was starting to feel worried. Did she do something wrong again?
Sayaka gave a lightly startled jump and looked up at Homura, blinking with the look of a deer in headlights. There was a pause as her mind scrambled to put together what Homura said and form an answer. When she recovered enough, she gave a few rapid nods. "Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking."
"Oh?" was the response, and Homura pushed her glasses back up a little. "You looked...upset? Is something bothering you? I-I'm sorry if I said something t-that upset you!" she said quickly, assuming she had done or said something wrong and was the one at fault.
"What? No, no, you didn't do anything wrong, Akemi," Sayaka shook her head, taking a quick bite out of her fry, "I was just thinking of Kyosuke, and, well, Madoka. How they've been lately," and how she felt helpless when it came to them now.
Kyosuke was getting worse. His hand was healing but he would never play the violin again, it seemed. He was getting depressed and angry at the world, lashing out at everyone, but there was nothing Sayaka could do to help him but try to lift his spirits. Even when he would yell at her in his anger she still tried to brighten his day up even if by a little, and it was a tactic that was becoming less efficient each day.
Madoka was a different story however. She felt like she was losing her best friend to Tomoe Mami. The girl she'd never met apart from seeing glimpses of her with Madoka was stealing her friend from her.
But thinking of it that way just made Sayaka feel guilty. Madoka didn't belong to her and she could be friends with whoever she wanted. She knew that. But being ditched constantly for the upperclassman did leave a rather nasty sting on her.
"I'm sure that they'll get better," Homura offered quietly. There wasn't much she could say in this situation when she didn't know much of them or have any experience in this kind of thing. "Just...give them time, I think that's all you can do."
With a sigh, Sayaka leaned back with her arms behind her head. Homura was right, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "I know, I know," she said, nodding her head, "I'm just a bit impatient, you know?" After that, she leaned forward and grabbed a fry, wanting to change the subject. "Hey, Akemi. Think fast."
Before Homura could react, a fry was flung her way and hit her smack dab in the middle of her forehead. Sayaka brought a hand to her mouth, stifling her laughter into a snort when it slid down onto her glasses and stayed there.
"That wasn't nice," Homura murmured, plucking the piece of potato off her frames and placing it on the table before wiping her glasses clean.
"But it was funny."
"Still wasn't nice."
The two stared at each other for a moment before breaking off into laughter, Sayaka's loud and hearty while Homura brought a hand to her mouth to try and stop herself, resulting in tiny giggles. But she didn't conceal the smile on her face.
Seeing her smile, Sayaka couldn't help but feel triumphant at having been the cause of it. "You look so much prettier when you smile, you know that?" Sayaka said offhandedly without even thinking, watching as Homura's face turned bright as a stoplight at the comment and she dipped her head down so she didn't have to look at Sayaka.
Laughing and shaking her head at the cute reaction, Sayaka threw the last fry in her mouth and stood up from her seat. "Come on, let's go look at some more stores," she said, offering her hand to the black-haired girl who hesitantly took it, being pulled out of her seat almost roughly, "we've plenty to do and little time to do it!"
Homura could only give a weak nod, trying to adjust her glasses as she was dragged away from the table, giving a light smile nonetheless at Sayaka. It was hard not to smile at what Sayaka did; though sometimes idiotic, it was still endearing. Was this what it was like to have a friend?