They decided on Lilly not practicing her Telekinesis for now, mostly because the risk of getting seen by Kyubey was too high. However, the Witch kept their bond active for as long and as often as she could.

The next few days were rather peaceful. Both Madoka and Sayaka remained curious, but also cautious about the world they had been shown, so Lilly accompanied them at times to "protect them". Homura suspected something else, especially when she knew her 'sister´s' feelings for Madoka, but she did not say anything. Instead, she concentrated on leading Mami to places where she would definitely not encounter the other group. Since they formed a temporary team to see whether it worked out, this was rather easy to do although she really had to be careful. However, the older girl did not object when Homura volunteered to plan their routes.

Right now, the time traveler sat at a certain table and ate a certain cake while her new partner carefully looked over the route for today. After a few more seconds, Mami nodded with a smile. "This looks good. You are really good at planning, Akemi-san."

"It was nothing", she answered as usual, then layed down her fork. "It should be about time."

"Ah, yes. Shall we get going?"

Homura did not even need to reply. Instead, she rose to her feet and waited for the other girl to do the same. Apparently, she had understood that the time traveler's cold behaviour was not meant to offend her by now, so they got along rather well. Even when she knew that this might change at any moment, when Kyubey finally found out or either of the Akemis made a mistake. Tomoe Mami was sharp, so there was always a possibility for that to happen.

At least she could stay in contact with her 'sister'. As she had been told, their bond worked on waves just as cellphones and the like did, so Kyubey would most likely not notice. Also, Madoka's presence could overshadow Lilly's aura just fine, especially when she used only small amounts of energy.

'I really hate this... have to swallow two thirds every time I need more energy or the rat notices...'

Also, they had reached a stage where they could directly speak to each other. It was rather quick, but apparently, this ability was one that grew fast.

Additionally, Homura could understand what the Witch meant now, seeing that she was told before just what exactly her statement was about. She could only release a set amount of her power with what she called a "Heartbeat", so most likely her Grief Seed releasing the eldritch might into her body from her heart. If she needed smaller amounts, she had to swallow the rest back down. And that was... disgusting. Two days before, the Witch sent her the feelings she had to endure every time she did it. As a result, the Magical Girl suffered a sore throat for a few hours and developed more respect towards her 'sister'. To believe that Lilly would go to such lengths for secrecy's sake was almost admirable.

Also, they noticed that her Witch-aura grew in strength when Lilly released more power. That was positive, seeing that she could at least hide while having some of her might ready at the same time.

As Homura left the apartement directly before Mami, she sent a telepathic answer at her 'sister': "I rather have it like this than the Incubator already knowing."

The reply came at once with what sounded like a smirk: 'Yeah, says the girl that ruined the carpet because she couldn't hold against the feeling. Admit it, you're just happy that you don't need to endure that.'

"I admit it."

She flashed a smile upon feeling Lilly's anger. Since even their thoughts were connected, they had grown closer up to the point that Homura could actually enjoy her 'sister`s' presence. She did not worry about her having a secret agenda anymore, at least not often. After all, she realised that there had been one thing that remained true since the beginning; Homulilly was the same as Akemi Homura. They shared their body, their mindset, their memories, their will, their anger, sadness, despair and hope. They shared their love.

So when they were the same, there was no reason to be so cautious. The time traveler ever since accepted the fact that she would become aone of those eldritch creatures in the end. So when she had come to terms with it, why should she turn down the actual Witch she was to become?

There was no reason the raven-haired girl could think of. She was not yet at the point where she actually trusted Lilly, but she stopped to distrust her at least.

"Akemi-san? You look so deep in thought, did something happen?"

The curious question had her look to the side where Mami was walking. After a moment of consideration, she nodded. "It did. My sister and I had a few issues we could get out of the way not long ago."

"Ah, I see."

A small bit of envy flashed over the blonde's face, but it was gone as fast as it appeared. The other veteran was experienced with her own mask, Homura had to give her that.

"I'm glad that you get along again, then."

She nodded slightly, then concentrated at sending Lilly a message:

"Where are you right now?"

While waiting for the answer, Homura sent the older girl next to her another glance. She did not let on about anything bothering her, just showing her usual confident smile. However, the time traveler knew her better than to fall for that facade. Actually, the other girl was almost melting from holding back. So to keep her appeased, she voiced something that had to happen eventually. "I shall introduce you to her once we have some time."

"Huh?"

While her partner returned her gaze in surprise, Lilly's answer came in: 'At the hospital, Miki wanted to come here. Besides, I think I found... you know whom. Kyubey is closeby, I assume.'

Ah, right. They figured that the Witch of Sweets would appear around this time, so at least one of them kept an eye on the hospital whenever it was possible. At least it was unlikely that she was bound into place by Mami upon entering this time around, so there might be a good chance to save the blonde from almost certain doom.

"My, how nice of you. I am looking forward to meeting her then."

She received a smile that was more grateful than happy, but she did not mind at all. In fact, she acted as if she did not notice and nodded again. "So does she."

For different reasons, though. However, that was everything they spoke about for quite some time, seeing that Mami seemed to worry over letting Homura some space and the time traveler herself did not mind the silence at all. Especially when a certain Witch kept sharing her thoughts with her.

'Poor thing, she's... ten, maybe eleven. Looks like it's always the younger girls falling for Tomoe, be it her behaviour or her looks.'

That was a rather cruel joke, but she did not really think it a bad one. It was not funny, but at least contained some truth. After all, she herself had fallen for that mask of confidence so long ago. Now she wore a mask of her own.

In a way, they were now rather similar, hiding away who they really were.

Apparently, she accidentally sent this thought to Lilly, who replied with a mental chuckle.

'You know, you're actually similar to Sakura Kyoko and Miki Sayaka, too. After all, your wish was for someone else as well. But of course, neither of them would want to be compared to you.'

The Magical Girl sighed at hearing this and decided not to answer. Yes, the Witch was right on that matter. However, neither Miki nor Kyoko showed the dedication she carried. At the thought, her stride became more purposeful as they went towards the usual spots where Witches could be found.

. . .

In another part of Mitakihara, three girls sat on a bench within the hospital, two of them waiting for their friend, the third sitting at a small distance and averting her gaze from them. However, her unkempt silver hair and the black bags under her yellowish red eyes had the pinkette next to her look in worry. Apparently, the smaller girl was somewhere deep in her own thoughts, not noticing them at all.

As Madoka moved to talk to the little one, a slender hand was placed on her shoulder and had her stop to look to the other side, where an unreadable face looked back at her. Lilly shook her head slightly, indicating for the other girl not to do it. However, the expression her secret love wore right now was more than enough to know that she would not give in, so the Witch sighed and whispered at her: "I tell you now that you will regret it."

She let go while her momentary protege looked at her almost chidingly for not wanting to help. However, it turned into surprise when she moved before the pinkette could, walking over to the grade schooler in her pink dress. Or was that a school uniform?

"Excuse me?"

She had no intention to be overly kind, but she could at least keep her manners. With all the sadness this girl emanated, she was definitely going to become a Witch not long after contracting. With her being here at the hospital, there was most likely a relative of hers that would die soon. So she had both cause and effect already figured out.

At first, the girl did not react. Only after Lilly lightly nudged her shoulder, she actually looked at her. "Hmmm?"

"Are you alright, young miss?"

She did not sound particularly kind, but she tried to make a reassuring impression. Though she expected to fail miserably, but whatever. The girl did not seem to mind, seeing that she took a few seconds to process the question and then nodded a few times in rapid succession. "Uh... yes, Nagisa's fine."

Of course she would answer like this. The Witch sighed inwardly and continued to look at the younger girl. She was well aware of Madoka observing the scene, but that did not stop her nature. She knew and her expression told Nagisa that she did. After a few seconds of nervous silence, she started to fidget with her uniform before adding something: "Actually... Nagisa is worried about her mother. She sleeps so much lately."

"Mhm..."

Lilly pondered that. If it was her mother, that made even more sense. By now, she was absolutely sure that this girl would become a Witch soon. Whether it was the Witch of Sweets or another one, she could not know yet. However, her frequent presence at this place indicated this.

As she continued to think, the girl continued: "She can't even eat cheesecake with Nagisa anymore..."

The statement had her stop and change her last train of thought; this was definitely the Witch of Sweets.

At this point however, Madoka chimed into the conversation by patting the younger girl's head with a bright smile. "Don't worry too much about it, Nagisa-chan. I'm sure your mother will be fine soon."

"Huh?"

As the girl looked up, the sheer kindness that swept over her from the pinkette had the sadness decrease a lot. Fortunately, neither of them saw Lilly's surprised expression since they were looking at each other. Nagisa smiled upon receiving affection and nodded. "Yes, you're right, miss. Thank you."

"Ah, don't mention it. What's your name?"

At that, her gaze wandered between the human-shaped Witch and the gentle pinkette, then she showed both of them a bright smile. "I'm Nagisa! Momoe Nagisa!"

Madoka smiled right back. "And I am Kaname Madoka. This is Akemi Yuri."

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "Kaname-san and Akemi-san, alright!"

As she said that, one of the nurses waved at her and she practically jumped out of her seat. "Ah, I have to go. Thank you again!"

She bowed quickly and ran off, passing the returning Sayaka as she went. The blunette looked after the long silver hair in surprise, then turned back to her companions. By now, Lilly stood straight again. Once the third member of their small group reached them, she pointed towards where Nagisa went off to. "You know her?"

To that, Lilly nodded slightly. "Since five minutes ago. Though you surprised me a bit there, Kaname-san. I didn't think that you could cheer her up this much."

The statement had Sayaka laugh heartily and pat Madoka's shoulder. "Ahaha, you know, Madoka just has this something that makes people happy."

Tell me something new.

Of course she knew that the pinkette had this effect, she just did not expect it to work on a complete stranger. Though this had been a little girl, so...

"Good thing you talked to her, then", Sayaka added with a somewhat sad look. As she saw their questioning expressions, she elaborated: "I've heard the nurses talk about her on occassion. Her mom has cancer and can't be cured."

Upon hearing this, Madoka's expression fell. "A-Are you sure, Sayaka-chan?"

However, the blunette did not manage to answer. Lilly sighed and gained their attention with it. "See, that's what I meant. I don't blame you for trying to help, though."

Slowly, they got moving to leave the hospital while Sayaka looked from her to Madoka and back a few times. "What do you mean?"

Again, the human-shaped Witch sighed. "I have a good eye for people, so I already figured that it might turn out like this. Children are cheerful after the initial shock of a relative getting hospitalized. The only times where they look like this is when it takes a long time and gets worse."

She shook her head as they left the building, the other two looking at her. "As I said, I'm not blaming you. Maybe this girl can be happy for a few days again."

As Madoka started to look sad, her friend grabbed Lilly by her shoulder and turned her around to look at her eye to eye with fury in these blue orbs of hers. "Just who do you think you are?! Stop being mean to Madoka and stop hurting her!"

The surprise because of the sudden action had her stop for a single moment and simply stare at this daring girl, then her mind kicked in and formed an answer she would have loved to spit back at that cocky human...

I am Mortal World's Witch. I observe humans and understand why they act the way they do. I am a being far more majestic than you, Miki Sayaka.

Of course, she did not say that aloud. Instead, she silently returned the angry stare while Madoka already moved to stop the blunette. However, she did not get a word out before Lilly started to smirk. "Right, sorry. I'm used to have my realistic big sister around me, so I tend to forget that other people are more delicate than her."

It was a bit difficult to not continue glaring, but she somehow managed.

"Ah... okay." With that, the tomboy slowly let go of her shoulder and bowed slightly. "Well, uh... sorry for that."

She even apologized? How unusual. But that showed just how much this timeline was out of order.

"Don't mention it."

With another smirk, she started to move again, the pinkette and her friend following somewhat reluctantly. As no one said anything, Lilly used the pause to send Homura a message: "We're leaving the hospital, I think I'll walk them home now. Besides, I think the girl I saw earlier will witch out tomorrow."

It took a while until her 'sister' answered. Until she did, Lilly pondered just how much of an effect Madoka's kindness had had on this Nagisa-girl. She had not believed that anyone was capable to do this, but she should have expected it from this incredible, gentle, pink-haired girl she loved.

'Understood. We are at the construction site right now, so walk Miki home first.'

"Roger that, Onee-chan."

Even when it was a voice coming from her mind, the teasing tone was conveyed properly. She loved just how fast this ability had evolved to something that was really, really convenient. Homura did not respond, though.

"Say, Akemi."

"Hm?"

She turned her head to look at Sayaka who had her hands folded behind her neck and sent her a curious stare. "I'm just wondering... ah..."

. . .

At first, she wanted to ask why the other girl was even walking with them. Then, her sense for etiquette hit her in the neck and stopped her. It was not nice to ask something like this when she even apologized before.

Of course, Sayaka was not the most thoughtful person, but she did not want to stir up trouble when there was no need to. Especially since Madoka apparently liked the transfer student, the blunette wanted to go a bit easy on her. She might not actually have liked her at first, seeing just how Yuri and her sister had acted around her childhood friend. However, with the younger twin effectively protecting them from Witches for the last few days, she had at least been able to get over her first impression. Which was a rarity.

After a while of thinking up a better question and failing miserably, she sheepishly scratched the back of her head and laughed. "You know what, never mind. It's not important anyway."

The other girl just nodded and turned her face back towards the road. Actually, Sayaka was glad about Yuri's not-so-caring attitude right now, seeing that it prevented a major insult or embarassment. But even then, she kept wondering... without even knowing about what. There was not an actual question she could ask about her, nothing coherent. She just wondered why this raven-haired girl felt so strange to be around. Maybe this was what Madoka meant with her question a few days ago... about them noticing the younger twin feeling somewhat off...

"It's getting late, so I will walk you home again. If you don't mind, that is."

As she heard that, Sayaka exchanged a glance with her friend and shrugged. "I don't mind, though that's quite the curfew you're putting us under."

She got a sideway glance and a snort. "The town can be dangerous at night, so you should be home before sunset."
"Um... I don't mind, either. Thank you, Yuri-chan."

Madoka received a small nod and the transfer student stopped for a moment to take in her surroundings. Then, she turned around. "Today, Miki-san will be the first to get home. Objections?"

There were none. After all, it was only fair when they walked Madoka home first the day before.

"None? Good. Lead the way, then."

With a slight bow, Yuri had the blunette take the lead. Sayaka did not really mind, especially when the other girl might not exactly know where she lived yet. Or not remember correctly.

As they went in the falling sun's rays, silence remained for several minutes and Sayaka thought more about the strange girl walking behind her. Something was off, but she could not put it. And the more she thought, the more her head hurt, but she did not reach any viable conclusion. After a while, she discarded the thought and felt good to be done with it. Fortunately, Madoka chose this moment to break the silence: "Say, Yuri-chan..."

"Hm?"

As the tomboy looked behind herself, she saw the other two walking next to each other with Yuri casting a sideway glance at the smaller pinkette, who looked at her quizzically. "I just wondered... you said that Witches were bad before, but then there is a Witch that actually helps the Magical Girls..."

She did not continue, but her question was obvious. And it brought Sayaka back to that topic as well. By now, she felt as if what happened a few days ago was more like a dream than a real event. However, they did little detours at times and she was not so stupid as to believe those to be anything but meant to prevent any Witch from getting close to them. At least she figured that this was the reason.

Had she heard about Magical Girls in another context, Sayaka realised, she might have jumped at the opportunity and joined them. As she was introduced by what happened in this field instead of what one could do with this magic, she felt more inclined not to do it.

Of course, the transfer student told them a few things that were possible with magic and how exactly those contracts worked yesterday, but the blunette still felt as if there was something amiss in her explanation.

However, she could not continue pondering that question, seeing that the raven-haired girl sighed heavily. "Look, there are as many different Witches as there are different humans. However, there is a main difference between the two; Witches consist of the negative spectrum of human emotions. Greed, envy, hatred, maybe even lust. They do not hope, know no happiness except their own, twisted version of it. As such, you can say that every Witch is a monster by birth."

Madoka looked down after hearing that. As Sayaka knew her, she thought that it might be possible to get along with those creatures. Of course that was impossible. She was sure of that.

"However."

Oh, what would come now?

Now, both of them got a hard stare. Wait, why was she glared at as well?

"As some philosophers of old put it: 'Man is not born good or bad, but with the ability to choose between them'. So even when Witches are what many call evil, they can overcome their nature by triumphing over those emotions of theirs with the power of their will. Unfortunately, there are very few actually capable of doing that."

Now, the glare became a smirk. "The unknown Witch that kills her own kin seems to be one of those."

The elaborate explanation was difficult to understand, at least in Sayaka's opinion. She did get what the other girl meant, but that could definitely have been said in easier words.

"Say, why's this so difficult?", the blunette inquired further while walking backwards, once in a while looking behind her to make sure there was nothing coming her way. Yuri just looked at her. Looked with a disbelieving expression and then laughed. "Really now, isn't this obvious?"

A sideway glance was sent Madoka's way, but she got a curious expression there as well and sighed.

"I guess not. Say, why are you Sayaka? What makes you Sayaka and why don't you change to become... let's say Madoka?"

"Huh?"

What was that? Those questions were strange because the answer was... natural. However, even when she opened her mouth to respond, no words came out. She could not think of anything.

As the silence went on for a while, the raven-haired girl sighed again. "See? You take your own being for granted and don't see any reason to change, right? There's nothing wrong with how you are, so you don't feel the need to do so in any way."

As she said it, Yuri grimaced and clasped her hands behind her back as the other two stared at her in confusion. The tomboy was rather glad that her gentle friend did not understand it, either.

"Good grief... it is the same with Witches; in their opinion, there is nothing wrong with what they do, seeing that they lack both human morals and positive emotions. So when there is nothing wrong, why change? Why stop being the way you like? There is no reason except if you realise that there is something wrong about you. Only very few humans are actually capable of reflecting on the problems in themselves and the same goes for Witches."

With the face she made, the lecture seemed to be over. But even then, all of this was hard to get her head around, Sayaka found. At first, it sounded so easy. But the moment she started to think about it, it became more difficult to understand. Fortunately, Madoka was smarter than she was as she started to ask: "So basically... Witches are evil because they don't see anything wrong with what they do?"

The transfer student nodded at the pinkette, but added something after a moment of consideration. "Granted, there are some that act while knowing just what harm they do, but there are humans like that as well."

"I... see..."

Madoka did not look happy, but she seemed to understand at least. Sayaka had some more trouble with that, but she decided to think about it more later on. However, there was something off about what they were told right now... and after a while of thinking about that matter, she realised what it was.

By now, they had walked about three fourths of the distance, so Sayaka would seperate from the other two soon. Which meant that she had to ask quickly. At least that was no problem since her companions remained silent for a while now. Knowing Madoka, she might still feel a bit uncomfortable around the new girl. Why Yuri kept quiet... no idea.

"One more thing, Akemi."

"Yes?"

She did not sound really interested, but Sayaka did not bother herself with thinking about the reason. Instead, she asked her new question: "Now why exactly do you know all this stuff? Is that, like, common knowledge among Magical Girls or something?"

This actually got a reaction out of the other girl; a surprised stare followed by an amused smirk that somehow made her a bit proud for having defeated whatever thoughts this girl had about her before.

"Now that was a good question. No, this is not common knowledge. However, Homura is a veteran and fought countless Witches. You just start to notice certain things if given enough time. And while she might be my big sister, I'm the smarter twin, so I took the information she gave me and created a hypothesis. By now, it has never been falsified, so the chance of me being right is high."

That sounded a bit different than before, no longer a certainty but a probability. However, Sayaka still did not know what to make of it. Now there was the chance that this explanation Yuri gave them before was wrong, but how could she tell when she never even saw a Witch?

As she kept pondering this, they reached her home and parted ways. The blunette and Madoka exchanged waves, then she vanished inside the building and went for the elevators. All the time thinking about what this transfer student told them before, her bag simply hanging at her side.

No matter how much she thought about it, she still felt as if she did not get it.

However, there was not much time to continue thinking, seeing what awaited her when she unlocked the door of her family's flat. Of course her parents were not home yet, but it looked as if they put something for her on the table. Though... she was not sure why.

Is this... a plushed animal?

She quickly threw her bag on the couch, then crouched in front of the table and took a closer look at the thing that sat there. If this was a toy, she had never seen one like this before; it had white fur and a fluffy tail, but two sets of ears... one that looked like cat-ears and the other pair was as long as those of a rabbit. Additionally, it had golden rings around the rabbit-ears at some point.

Also, the look from its eyes was unnerving somehow. It seemed to stare right into her very soul.

Just what... and why...

Why would her parents -or anyone, for that matter- give her a stuffed animal, especially one that looked as creepy as this one? Madoka came to mind, seeing how many stuffed toys the pinkette had, but her friend preferred cuteness... and she would have just given it to her instead of putting it here.

As she was face to face with that thing, she noticed something else a moment later: it blinked.

Wha...

With a suppressed scream, Sayaka fell backwards and crouched away from that not-so-lifeless thing as it tilted its head. Then, a high-pitched voice echoed in her head, sounding somewhat cheerful as her back hit the wall: 'Good evening, Miki Sayaka. Please don't feel alarmed, there is no need to be afraid of me.'

As it spoke, the tomboy rubbed her eyes and looked at it again. Sadly, it did not just vanish like the trick she thought her mind played on her.

"You... are you for real?"

'But of course! I'm sorry for suddenly appearing in your home. My name is Kyubey!'

It did not move its mouth, it just sat there swishing its tail back and forth. However, when the surprise subsided and her brain started working again, Sayaka's eyes narrowed. Could this be...?

"Are you the guy going around making contracts to create Magical Girls?"

Her suspicion was answered in the the same cheery voice: 'Indeed I am, it's good that you already know. I take it that Akemi Yuri informed you about me?'

She nodded slowly. So those two knew each other?

'Would you mind telling me what exactly she told you? I'm curious about whether she stated everything correctly.'

Again with this unnerving expressionlessness. Kyubey just stared at her from those red eyes, blinking once in a while and waiting. After a while of them looking at each other, Sayaka sighed and sat down at the table with her legs crossed. She could tell him to go away, but here she had an opportunity to find out if what the other girl said was true, even when it might be dangerous.

"She said that your contract consists of you fulfilling a wish of a girl, then create a... um..."

She had forgotten the term. However, her uninvited guest helped her out: 'Could you mean a Soul Gem?'

"Ah, yes. Thank you. So, you create a Soul Gem for that girl and she has to fight Witches until she dies."

That was about it, the other stuff was way too much to summarize it right now, especially when Sayaka only got her head around half of it.

'I see. This is about right, though the emphasis on the wish seems to be missing. I can fulfill almost any wish one has, provided the girl in question has enough potential when it comes to more elaborate wishes.'

Then, he turned his head a bit and rose to his feet. 'But I have not come here just to converse with you. You see, you do have the potential necessary to become a Magical Girl.'

As he said it, Sayaka's head shot up and she looked at the small creature in surprise. But why was she so surprised when the transfer student told her just that days ago already? Whatever the reason, she shook her head at once, very well remembering what she had been told. "Nope, not going to happen. I'm not one for fighting all my life... especially when I don't have a wish I would fight for."

The idea of being a fighter for justice was promising, but she could not possibly throw her life away. Yuri had given them a short speach about what they were to lose if they made the contract. Sayaka somewhat understood that this really meant to sacrifice anything for the one thing they wished for. And as she just said, there was nothing she could possibly want that was worth this.

Kyosuke came to mind for a moment, but she still believed him to have chances on healing naturally, so that would not happen.

'That is very unfortunate, then. However, should you change your mind, just call my name.'

With that, Kyubey leaped down from the table and walked towards a rather shadowy corner, then turned around to meet Sayaka's gaze that followed him. 'I have to continue looking for girls that are inclined to form the contract with me. Have a good night, Sayaka.'

After that, he went into the darkness and vanished, leaving behind a really, really confused middle-schooler.