"Say, Homura-chan..."

As she was spoken to, the time traveler turned her head towards the gentle pinkette she was accompanying. Madoka no longer looked uncomfortable being around her which she did not know how to put. This was the second day they went around town together, seeing that Mami started to tutor Sayaka. As this happened, the other veteran volunteered to go patrolling and insisted on the one human of the group coming with her. As she was asked for the reason, she simply stated that her ally had her hands full with making sure that her junior was not going to get herself killed, so no one could actually watch over the pinkette.

She won the discussion with this argument even when Madoka herself was a bit reluctant to let her friend alone.

"What is it?"

"Um..."

Now she became nervous, though. Fidgeting with her skirt, she searched for the words to say before looking up at her again. "Yuri-chan said that you lost a lot of people you care for..."

In fact it had only been one person... over and over. However, Homura now understood why the other girl was so reluctant; she did not want to bring up bad memories. So the time traveler just flicked her hair. "I lost count on how many a while ago so there is no need to be shy about it. Yes, I did."

As the sinking sun engulfed them in a relaxing, orange light, Homura could feel its warmth on her face. However, Madoka's sad expression was at least a bit worrying but still, she would not tell her any specifics. If she did, the tragedy from last time might repeat itself.

"But... you seem to cope with it... isn't it hard for you?"

A measuring glance was sent the pinkette's way, then Homura shook her head. "This is mostly a matter of acceptance. Once the contract is made, one exchanges everything for her wish. Most girls can't accept this but I had no problem with it. This is another reason why people like you are not cut out to become Magical Girls", she added with a sharp look although it became blank a mere second after before she sighed about the surprised expression she was shown. "The more you have to sacrifice for this wish, the more you will come to regret it afterwards. I had nothing to begin with so I had no troubles parting with what I thought was the life I had to live."

"But..."

She knew this sympathetic expression. She knew it all too well... Madoka was just too kind.

"But that's so sad... fighting for the rest of your life..."

A few tears started to well up in her eyes and if Homura could do as she pleased, she would have wiped them away, hugged her and told her that it would be fine... but she could not, so she did not. Even when it hurt her to see her single best friend cry.

"This is the world I entered and there is no..."

This was one of those sentences she would never finish. The sheer surprise of what Madoka had just done stopped her from doing anything; the pinkette practically jumped at her and hugged her tightly, although the time traveler could hear her sniffling.

There was no one around to see them but this was still... Homura felt her cheeks redden and her mask break to display her surprise openly. At least Madoka could not see it...

"This is so sad... even when I want to believe you that you manage, I... can't..."

The slender arms wrapped around her back squeezed tighter and threw the Magical Girl into a storm of emotions. Slowly her own arms rose and slid around Madoka's shoulders, pulling the slightly surprised girl in a bit more.

"Huh?"

Apparently she did not expected to be hugged back but Homura had lost control over herself. She was not breaking but this had still been too much. A single tear found its way out of her eye and rolled down her cheek as she whispered something into the slightly smaller girl's ear: "You are far too kind... Madoka..."

As she was called by her first name without any honorifics, another surprised sound escaped the pinkette's throat. Then however, she increased the force in her arms and just held her. Or was it Homura holding her? She was not sure. The warmth where their bodies touched felt nice, though.

.

.

.

"Mind if I ask you something, A... Homura?"

Slowly, the time traveler's eyes rose from the cup she was holding and met the curious blue gaze as Mami and Madoka watched the two. "What is it?"

In response the blunette rubbed her temples sheepishly as if she was unsure on how to voice her question. Going by what she said next, she appeared to have decided on taking the direct approach: "What's the matter with your sister? I haven't seen her for three days now, what's she doing all this time?"

Homura took another sip of tea as she pondered the question. Lilly already told her how to respond to this one in particular so there was really no need to think about it much. However, she had to think about what the other girls were to think. Though... this should be no problem. So the raven-haired girl put down the cup and gave the rookie a stern look. "From what I heard, she feels quite well doing things her own way. Though this might also be connected to the fact that certain 'people' stepped on her nerves a bit too often."

The two at the sidelines exchanged a glance; apparently they understood that she meant the blunette in front of her. Said girl was still looking at her in confusion, though that became more of an understanding expression once Mami spoke: "So she is holding a grudge against Miki-san?"

"Wait, what? Why me?"

Understanding she did now, but only that it was her that Homura spoke about... now Madoka chimed in, displaying the slightest note of anger... although only the time traveler might hear it. "Because you kept teasing her, Sayaka-chan."

"Actually", Homura interjected before anything else could be said, thus gaining everyones' attention again, "this is mostly because of you contracting. Yuri actually expected you to listen instead of just throwing away the effort she made the instant she was not around."

Before the newly contracted Magical Girl could answer, Homura waved it off while still displaying her usual blank expression. "Just give her a few more days and she will join us again. Up until then, you should train."

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. . .

.

"Yo! Where've you been this morning?"

With a smirk, Kyoko waved at the raven-haired girl that appeared out of nowhere as she was walking down the alleyway. She actually jumped the first time that happened but got used to her doing that after it happened for the whole weekend. Apparently, the Witch made it a routine to tell her when she arrived. Yuri appeared around noon today when she came to Kazamino far earlier the last few days so the redhead was curious whether something happened. Maybe trouble with Mami?

She only got a cocked eyebrow over her question, though.. "You might not be aware of it but today is Monday. I can't skip school even when I want to."

So that was it. School. This ominous thing she herself did not care about. But hey, this strange girl would have her reasons.

"Whatever. Found something interesting?"

At this point, she was well aware that she made the right decision in accepting the deal. Yuri was like a hunting dog, could smell and track down even the most hideous of Witches with apparent ease. And every time they met, she told her of about one or two Familiars that were close to being completely fed and where she could find them. So at this point, Kyoko's stockpile consisted of six Grief Seeds and was therefore higher than ever before.

However, the Witch shook her head and started to walk by her side. "Not today. I think I was a bit too eager with the hunting..."

Now what did she mean with that? At the inquisitive stare she was given, Yuri sighed and held out a small box to her. Unadorned and simple, so not a present. Kyoko did not expect one, either. But she took it and looked inside only to almost drop it.

"Holy..."

There were about a dozen Grief Seeds inside, all neatly arranged and from the look of it, completely unused. The sight stunned the veteran to the point that the stick of Pocky she had in her mouth fell to the ground and was forgotten. Just how did this girl get so many?

"As I said, I overdid it... there should be... one or two Witches left in Kazamino and you have to wait for new ones to emerge..."

Wait a second, was that an apology?

Kyoko smirked and shrugged. "Whatever, I can hold my feet still for a month with these. Didn't expect you to bring that many, though."

As she closed the box, she took another stick out and after a moment of consideration, held out the pack towards the Witch in front of her. "Want some?"

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. . .

.

With a sigh, Lilly sat down on the couch and leaned back. Homura was busy doing homework or so it seemed. However, when the human-shaped Witch had entered the living room, her 'sister' stopped and looked up.

"How did it go today?"

The other girl opened one eye to look in Homura's direction but remained in her position otherwise. "Well enough. Kyoko seems to get used to me and I do think that my little present from two days ago impressed her."

And who would not? More than half of all the Magical Girls never even saw twelve Grief Seeds before they died, let alone twelve at once. Though she really could have taken one half for herself... however, Lilly was proud about her superiority, so she would keep her word. Never would she be as lowly as a human and break it, especially when Sakura Kyoko surpassed human standards with her being a Magical Girl. So all the Grief Seeds went to the redhead, whether she liked it or not.

"That impressed even me, so yes", her 'sister' confirmed. The look she had given her after she displayed the results of three days of constant hunting was priceless, after all. This was her specialty, hunting down the weak, finding them wherever they moved and burning them down. Though... she had not burned most of those Witches she hunted but instead started with eating their minions and barrier if that was possible. Additionally, she used her Telekinesis as often as possible and got quite a good grasp on it. Literally and Figuratively.

However, this was still just the basics...

"How is your training going?"

"Hm? Oh, right."

She forgot to tell Homura up until now, so her 'sister' must be curious. Even when she was still just receiving a blank stare, Lilly could tell that much and smirked. "I think my fire became a bit stronger. It knocked back the last few minions I burned down. Also... well, I still can't grab any living creatures with my mind lest I make them a puddle... but I got the gist of moving lifeless objects that don't move by themselves."

Then she leaned forwards while her smirk intensified. "So, how's it going on your end?"

She had been tired for the last few days so there had been little conversation before. However, since she decided to do a bit less hunting and focussed on finding a good spot to train properly, the strain was mostly gone now. Kyoko would only get mad if she ate all of the Familiars anyway.

"Tomoe Mami became suspecting of Kyubey but not to the point where she actually distrusts it. Miki Sayaka is doing rather well up until now, but if I take into account just how the events of this timeline unfolded... Shizuki Hitomi will confront her in less than a week, I suppose."

That in itself was not good. Esepcially since they could not just kill Hitomi... well, they could. But that would not help their cause.

Though... there was one more thing she wanted to experiment with. Lilly would think about that later. Now, it was time to tease her 'sister' a little. Her smirk widened and she winked at Homura. "Actually, I meant between you and Madoka. Don't tell me she didn't make a move when you two were alone."

There it was, just as she expected; a slight tinge of pink on Homura's face that told her everything she needed to know. For once her plan actually worked as she wanted it to.

"What do you... wait..."

The stare the Magical Girl gave her mixed surprise, suspicion and a small bit of anger into an interesting combination. "You didn't..."

Now her smirk became a smile and she nodded. "I did. Though I didn't believe that it would work this fast."

She managed to... somewhat set up Homura with the girl she loved. That was a good start to that, Lilly thought. Now she had to make this timeline the last one lest all this work would have been for nothing. But anyway, her 'sister' deserved at least some appreciation so she would get as much as the Witch could give her.

Homura just shook her head. "You're unbelievable..."

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. . .

.

"Mami-san?"

As she was spoken to, the blonde tore off her eyes from her own notes and towards the timid pinkette on the other side of the table. "What is it, Kaname-san?"

The younger girl was a nice person to be around, seeing that even Homura seemed to be a bit less cold at those moments. Mami put a liking to her as well even when she had not much time to socialise with her. Although that was mostly because they agreed on the fact that she herself was the better teacher for Miki, so she would not complain. The cheerful blunette was a good girl as well after all.

"I was just wondering... being a Magical Girl must be really hard work, so... how can you keep up with it?"

Now that question was unexpected. The blonde had not thought that anyone would ask for something like this, but she was happy nonetheless. Someone actually asking about her was a rare occasion. But then again, this was not a nice thing to think about; she had no friends apart from those girls that currently sat with her and learned for an upcoming test and even they went more under 'acquaintance' than 'friend'. Neither did she have any hobbies aside from baking, although the blonde herself had never been unhappy about it.

Still, her smile was somewhat wistful as she answered to the pinkette. "Actually, I manage my time rather well. Though... I have almost none for myself, seeing that the spare hours between school, homework and housework are completely filled with patrolling the city. So as you said, it is hard work. One has no time to have fun or go out anymore, but I am fine with that especially since all of you keep me company as of late."

Now both her and Miki smiled. However, the blunette got a hit on the back of her head from Homura and went back to look at her notes under inaudible curses. The third-year giggled at seeing that. In the end it might have been a bad idea of her pupil to ask the stoic veteran for help. However, the other Magical Girl seemed to have a good grasp on the subject even when she was not required to take this test because of her having transferred in no two weeks ago.

Though Mami wondered what the other Akemi-twin was doing in Kazamino all the time. Maybe she actually stumbled over Kyoko... but then again, those two would not really get along, right?

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. . .

.

"Wait, what?! You've got to be kidding me!"

At the redhead's disbelieving stare, Lilly shook her head with a stern expression. "No, I mean it."

Interestingly, Kyoko kept quiet after that for a while, munching on a Taiyaki as the Witch that sat next to her on the bench was still savouring the flavour of the latest used-up Grief Seed. About the time she was done, the redhead continued: "I thought you didn't eat humans?"

To that the Witch just shrugged and sighed. "And I don't want to, either. But I have to at least try to make sure. Besides, I wanted to experiment on something else as well. Mind helping me to find a few good targets?"

Interestingly, she was rather sure that the worst that could happen in this situation was Kyoko declining. The other girl would neither scold nor resent her for what she planned on doing; such was the convenience of having lower morals.

Again, silence engulfed them. The Magical Girl was thoughtfully munching on a few sticks of Pocky while the Witch watched their surroundings. It was not yet evening so she might get at least one human today. The mere thought had her stomach hurt but she could not avoid it. Even when she was superior... no, exactly because she was, she had to make sure that humans tasted as disgusting as they smelled. If she did not, her conciousness would remind her of the possibility forever. After all, maybe there actually was a delicacy hidden behind these strong layers of dirt.

"You know what? I'm in. But don't get the wrong idea, I'm just curious."

That was about what Lilly expected. She smirked at Kyoko. "So am I."

.

.

.

In retrospect, she should have known.

Their choice fell on a seedy looking woman close to her thirties whom her companion barely knew except for the fact that she was on the brink of getting eaten by a Familiar anyway. So they went there, Kyoko kept a hold of the scared human and the Witch started to experiment, first with whether her kisses could influence people. The answer was yes. However, she would not do that often, seeing that it demanded her to actually kiss the persons neck while infusing her lips with magic. At least that stupid woman stopped crying after she found the right spot and got her under control. This blank, thoughtless stare felt way better.

Then she just had her cut her own throat with a sharp piece of metal. Of course she could have done it without her prey killing itself, but this was easier... and the right choice, seeing that at least the smell stopped once her soul started to flow.

Well, that was about where it went wrong. No, that was when Lilly understood that it did.

A human soul is an interesting thing; it has no actual form because it is an essential part of the body itself. However, once a Witch extracted it, it formed a small greyish orb of about the size of an eye.

It stunk of all kinds of emotions and she should have understood what that meant beforehand but even if she had, there would have been no chance to avoid what she had to do.

The result... was a very disgusted Kyoko.

In her defense, Lilly had to admit, only very few would not be disgusted from being able to slightly smell the bad stench of the extracted soul first, then having to see someone actually chew on it... and empty her stomach right in the middle of this alleyway. Just that it was not regular vomit but some kind of black goo. Once that hit the ground, it disintegrated the stone until there was none of the substance left.

On the other hand, this was not that bad; this way, Lilly learned two things and did not have to learn another: She would never try to eat a human again and she could actually spit acid at opponents if necessary. Fortunately, there was no need to experiment with said acid because there was none left.

But still, she lost a lot of magic because of that. And went home earlier because her sore throat completely killed the good mood she was in before.

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. . .

.

Another day of classes ended at last. Homura was rather glad about it, not because she had any trouble but mostly because Lilly might be close to killing someone again.

One or two days ago, someone found it a good idea to bully her 'sister'... that was, until a loose lamp fell onto the girl's head and sent her unconcious. Of course that was the official explanation and both Akemi's knew who was responsible for that. Thankfully, Kyubey had not noticed seeing that they tried to ambush Lilly after P.E. and the Incubator received several lectures about not going near the girl's changing room because of... several incidents. However, since it revealed its lack of gender to defend itself, Mami's distrust had grown some more. With every bit of new information she could lure out of the creature, the blonde became less sure of it which was a good thing in general. Yet, should the other veteran start to ask certain questions, things might get bad rather soon.

Now that I think about it, Kyubey has been awfully quiet for the last few days.

This in turn was never a good sign. It meant that the rat was investigating on its own, checking data and preparing for a large revelation. She could only hope that it would take a while longer until it found out about the Witch she was sheltering.

With a sigh, Homura dodged an incoming grade schooler who stopped when he passed her, turned and bowed in an apologeptic manner before storming off. Lilly chuckled as she saw it, waiting at the usual spot alongside Madoka and Mami. But strangely, no Sayaka... or... Hitomi.

Not good...

Of course, since the wish to heal the boy was made sooner, the confrontation with Miki Sayaka's friend would be sooner as well. There were few other explanations for this constellation of people. Just why had she forgotten about that?

At least her blank expression concealed the mental self-beating, though her Witch nodded at her understandingly, apparently having done the same right now. So she had forgotten as well.

This might become a problem very soon...