It had been a full week since the storm, since the fight...and since the deaths of Madoka and Mami. A melancholy had filled the school when classes resumed in the aftermath, students and teachers alike mourning for the loss of two of their own. Both girls had been well liked in their grades, and they were missed dearly. Many students had gone to the funerals and offered their condolences to the Kanames. No one knew the truth of that night, but they didn't need to know what happened. Let them believe that the two girls died as a result of the storm, not that they died protecting the city.

Of course, many were taking the deaths hard, but some had taken it harder than others...

"Thank you for bringing her schoolwork and notes here," Miki Chiyo said, giving Homura a grateful smile as she leaned against the door frame and looked back to her daughter's room. "The only time I've still seen her leave her room is to walk...or stumble to the bathroom, poor child."

Homura followed the older woman's gaze, feeling a tug at her chest. Sayaka was one of the ones who took Madoka's death hard, no she was probably the one who took it the hardest, save for Madoka's own family. She hadn't left her home since Madoka and Mami were declared dead, and it seemed she'd spent that time shutting out her own parents.

Homura wanted to talk to Sayaka, see that she was okay, help her so she would be okay.

"May...may I come in? I want...I would like to visit her," Homura asked shyly. Sayaka's mother just gave her a sad smile and moved aside for Homura to enter. A thankful nod in response as Homura slipped her shoes off and slowly made her way towards Sayaka's room after being told where it was.

This would be her first time entering the bluenette's room, and she honestly would have wished it was under better conditions.

"Miki-san?" Homura asked uneasily, giving a light knock on the door before pushing it open and peeking inside when no response came.

The room was dim as the lights had been switched off and the curtains closed so as to let in as little sunshine as possible. Looking around for a moment, Homura soon spotted a big enough pile of blankets on the bed to hide her friend. So, placing the papers on the desk by the door, Homura took a few cautious steps towards the bed.

"Miki-san?" she repeated.

"Go away."

Homura felt an ache in her heart at the toneless answer, but didn't back off. Instead she sat at the edge of the bed and began peeling off the layers of blankets. "Miki-san...come on, you'll roast to death under all of those," she mumbled, hoping that a little joke would get something from the other girl. But it did nothing. "The class misses you, you know. Shizuki-san has been worried, and has been coming to visit too, or trying to. But I guess you already knew that."

Homura had been trying to visit Sayaka often too, coming over after school every day, but she, much like Hitomi, had never been able to get past the front door before today.

Soon the last sheet was pulled back and Sayaka was no longer hidden under the thick mountain of blankets. It pained her to see the girl she had come to care for so much in a little over a month, the girl she had always come to view as strong and steady, look so frail and vulnerable. Her eyes were still red and puffy from crying, and her cheeks were still damp from the tears. She clung to the pillow which hid half of her face, glaring up at Homura for taking away her protection from the outside.

"Why won't you just go away?"

"I'm worried about you, I just-"

"Just go away already!" Sayaka yelled, shoving herself to sit up and angrily repeating her previous question. "Why won't you just go away?"

This was the first time Sayaka had ever yelled at her, had ever shown so much anger at her, and Homura was scared for a moment that she would reach out and hit her. "B-Because you're my friend, Miki-san, I miss you!"

Sayaka laughed bitterly. "Friend? Some friend I am," she said, burying her face in the crook of her arm to try and prevent more tears from falling. "My best friend was keeping things from me, ditched me over and over, and the icing on the cake is that now it can't ever be fixed because she's dead and it's my fault!"

"No, it wasn't your fault."

But Sayaka just gave her an empty smile, arm lowered so that Homura could see her face, see the fresh tears running down her cheeks. Her unfocused stare showed clearly all the pain and misery she had been feeling the past few days...no, it was probably older than that. "You...you don't know what happened, Homura..." she whispered. "The night before...I...we got into a fight. I yelled at her...at Tomoe..." She could have reconciled this with Madoka if she hadn't lost her temper. Madoka could have still been alive, she could have still been with them. She trembled slightly and opened her mouth to speak, only to let out a choked sob.

It wasn't until a few moments, or perhaps a few minutes, had passed that Sayaka managed to find her voice again. "Maybe if I hadn't...if I hadn't lost my cool...so they were dating...I overreacted, I...I could have done something. There had to have been something I could have done to keep her alive!"

Homura just watched with a pained expression before pulling Sayaka into her arms.

"I didn't know Kaname-san that well, and I know I can't replace her," she said, holding her close, running her fingers through Sayaka's short blue locks in what she hoped was relaxing or comforting to her, "but...but I know that Kaname-san wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this, wouldn't want to see you like this. What happened was an accident, a storm, and there was nothing any of us could have done." Homura hoped with all her heart that her words were getting through to her and doing some good.

"Kaname-san was your best friend and I know I could never replace her but...but I'm still not going to let you slip away!" she yelled, holding Sayaka tighter, and now fighting back tears of her own. She could feel her friend stiffen in her arms. "I just...I don't want to lose you...so please, Sayaka, don't push me away."

Sayaka was silent for a moment, but was soon returning the hug, clinging to Homura tightly as though her life depended on it. She buried her face into Homura's shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably into the increasingly damp fabric, sobbing out "sorry" though it was near unintelligible, and Homura just whispered words of comfort, telling her it would be okay over and over again.

She'd get through this, and Homura would help her every step of the way.