A/N: Hello, everyone. Thank you for your reviews, as always. :)
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DREIUNDVIERZIG
TIMELINE X + N + 1
Homura repeated her first day at Mitakihara Middle School yet again. This iteration, she remained cool and competent but allowed Madoka to pull her into her little circle of friends instead of isolating herself. Aside from Madoka, Homura got along best with Shizuki. Mostly because the girl was so calm and polite. Doing anything with Miki but sitting back and watching her enthusiastic babbling and gesturing could get exhausting so she just let Madoka handle her.
Homura gave her usual answers to her classmates' usual gushing questions: She was so good at the lessons because her previous school was a bit ahead of this one; her English was good because of her uncle's business and her time at the Catholic school in Tokyo; yes, she had been ill, but surgery and therapy had let her become athletic; no, she didn't know much of anyone in town. This time she added an affirmative when asked if she had any pets and talked about Yoruichi. Madoka would jump in to gush over the cat so Homura could fade back and let her take over the conversation.
Actually, Madoka was always good about seeing when their classmates' questions began to wear on her and redirecting their attention. Every timeline. Homura was grateful.
When the girls were wandering away from the school that afternoon, they found Yoruichi waiting for them, meowing from her perch in the treeline. Homura sighed and held her arms out as they passed the tree and caught the cat when it jumped down. Yoruichi purred and nuzzled her cheek. Homura sighed more deeply. "Yes, yes, I forgive you."
Madoka giggled. "You said that yesterday, too."
"Aha, a regular troublemaker?" Miki asked with a grin.
"You could say that," Homura answered. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Would you three like to come to the sidewalk pastry café with me and Yoruichi? My treat."
"As if I'd ever say no to free cake!" Miki crowed.
"Your standards are low, Sayaka," Madoka teased.
"Are not!" Miki put her hands on her hips and snobbily inclined her face skyward. "Anyone who offers free cake to someone they just met is a generous person worth befriending."
Homura wasn't sure what prompted it, but before she knew it, words that sounded like a more polite version of something Karin would say came spilling out of her mouth. "Ah. Do you accept candy from strangers, then?"
Miki tilted her head back and looked at Homura sideways from wide eyes, then burst into delighted laughter. She slung an arm around Homura's shoulders. "Pfft. Stranger danger's for strangers, duh."
"You just met her today," Shizuki said as she tried to keep a straight face. "She practically is a stranger."
"Naaahhhhhh." Miki waved dismissively then leaned into Homura and leered. "Are you saying you have some candy for me, Stranger Danger?"
Madoka and Shizuki giggled while Homura's lips quirked up into a little smile.
She... she kinda missed this version of Sayaka. Miki.
"I'd love to come," Shizuki answered the original question. "I can only stay maybe twenty minutes, though."
"Tea ceremony?" Miki drawled.
"Ikebana," Shizuki corrected.
"I can never keep them straight."
Homura made a show of looking confused.
"Oh, Hitomi's mom makes her take a lot of extracurricular lessons," Madoka explained.
"Ahhh, the plight of the wealthy young heiress!" Miki moaned dramatically, holding an arm to her brow as though she would faint.
Shizuki sighed. "I hope she doesn't expect me to continue at this pace when I need to prepare for entrance exams next year."
"Worry about the future when it comes," Miki said with a little twiddle of her fingers. Then she struck a determined pose and sharply pointed skyward. "Today there is cake to be eaten!"
The girls and the cat claimed a table at a sidewalk café. The time while Shizuki was with them was spent gushing over desserts, fending off Miki's playful attempts to steal from everyone else's plates, and Homura quietly basking in Madoka's sunny presence. When Hitomi left, Madoka asked Miki if she was going to the hospital that day. After explaining that her friend had physical therapy that afternoon, Homura coaxed Miki and Madoka into doing their homework with her at the table— she wanted to monopolize as much of their time as she could. Both needed help with math and English, they were provided endless refreshments, and a cute cat took turns nuzzling the girls to be petted, so they didn't exactly put up a fight. They sat there for a couple hours, losing track of time until the sun began to set. Madoka squealed and packed up in a rush of apologies then bolted for home. Miki packed up more slowly and laughed at Madoka as she disappeared around a corner, then waved goodbye to Homura and strolled away.
Yoruichi stretched and looked up at Homura. She tilted her head in inquiry. Homura stared at her for a minute then smiled slightly and bent to pick her up.
§ x § x §
A fluffy white tail swished in the shadowed branches of a tree as the pink-haired girl rocketed past in a full sprint.
Not today, it seemed.
Beady red eyes observed the human newcomer as she gathered her educational supplies and departed with her domesticated feline.
An unexpected interloper. Bothersome.
Worse, the interloper felt like a magical girl. Yet it could not call up a memory of a contract with her.
It did not like confusion.
§ x § x §
"So I did some thinking when I was exploring today," Yoruichi said over a slab of salmon that night.
Homura hummed inquisitively as she ate her own dinner. They had come to a silent mutual agreement to not talk about the scene in the wee hours.
"Yesterday you said you've tried explaining everything to them. Right?" At Homura's nod, she continued, "Was that before or after the little monster shows up?"
"About half and half, for those times I bothered trying." Homura took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. "If it is after they meet it, they think I am sowing dissent or something to gain an advantage for myself. If it is before they meet it, they think I am insane for talking about magical girls. Sakura will sometimes believe me because she is already contracted and is cynical about the world in general, but she has no bearing on the others this early in the timeline. I outright avoid approaching Tomoe since the time she... snapped." Homura's eyes went distant, vividly seeing the horror in Mami's crazed face after Sayaka's fall, her mind replaying the sharp rattle of Mami's musket as the girl shook like someone had taken a jackhammer to her spine.
"Not at all since that time?" Yoruichi asked quietly.
"No."
The cat tilted her head. "You know, finding out the way she did is probably what broke her. If you do it in a way that isn't as traumatic as seeing her protègée Hollowfy and try to kill everyone, she could take it better."
Homura sighed. "I tried a few times before then but she just will not see it. I do not know if it is a defense mechanism or denial or what."
"Hmmm. So you need to focus on Kaname and Miki for now, since they haven't contracted." Yoruichi thought while she ate some more. "So, if you tell them about everything before they meet the little monster, they think you're nuts. How do they react once they're approached? Do they heed your warning?"
"Madoka does more than Miki. But they often end up distrusting me. I think what happens is they bring up my concerns and the Incubator talks around them. It is tricky about trying to get them alone to talk to them without my being there to draw attention to its word games. I am never quite sure what slant it puts on its information. There have been slight variations over the cycles. By the time I counter the recruitment speech, Miki is usually too wrapped up in her own little drama to listen to me and Madoka is hesitant but her concern for Miki— and Tomoe— drives her to accompany them on Witch hunts even though she has not contracted. After the first dozen or so loops, Madoka became most likely to contract when her friends were in dire straits in a labyrinth or when faced with Walpurgisnacht. She knows the consequences, but..." Homura shrugged. "She is too selfless for her own good."
"The same could be said of you, you know," Yoruichi commented.
"I am not selfless."
"Oh?"
Homura stared at her flatly. "I have become too familiar with the ways wishes function and malfunction to claim such. Many 'selfless' wishes are anything but when you look beyond the surface."
"Even yours?"
"Even mine."
Silence weighed on them as Yoruichi watched the girl thoughtfully. "Anyway," she eventually resumed. "When you tell them before the Incubator approaches them, how do you do it?"
Homura shrugged. "I tell them."
"Just like that?"
"Yes."
"Do you transform or anything?"
"Sometimes."
"Maybe you're too blunt?"
"That is possible." Homura frowned down at her rice and vegetables. "The problem is that if I am gentle about it, the Incubator usually butts in and derails the conversation. Or it or Tomoe imply they think I have ulterior motives for wanting them not to contract before I can adequately explain. Tomoe is a very competent veteran. She inspires new magical girls. She is likable outside of magical girl duties. She is reassuring. Patient with girls who have never fought, a good teacher, and she has a strong moral code. She urges caution with wishes and sounds reasonable. If she doubts me, the other girls doubt me."
"Hmm." Yoruichi hummed and twitched an ear. "What if you emulate her role to Kaname and Miki?"
Homura tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I read your testimony about how things go. Tomoe tends to save them from labyrinths, right? So what if you keep cozying up to them as their mysterious new friend, then you manage to be with them and coincidentally stumble into a labyrinth?"
Homura's eyes widened. She stared for a long minute. "...Go on."
"I'm not saying to play the hero, but... well, actually, yeah, play the hero. You become the first magical girl they know of. Also, the magical girl who saved them. Bring them back here and explain things to them. Only play up that you were tricked into it and you are concerned for them because they have potential and most other magical girls don't understand the trick." Yoruichi cocked her head. "You trust Kaname, right? Have her do the hundred meter test with Miki watching."
Face white, Homura tried to speak but stopped and stared at the cat, her lips tight.
"You did once say the doll/puppet/zombie dynamic was highly distressing to them. If anything could scare them off contracting, seeing you all but dead should help."
Homura made a strangled sound.
Yoruichi looked at her levelly. "I'll be nearby, you know," she said gently.
Homura covered her face and breathed deeply. Yoruichi let her think. The girl finally tilted her head way back and looked sightlessly at the ceiling. "That sounds... doable. It has potential."
"I wouldn't have suggested something that serious if I thought otherwise," the cat said. "Pair that with nullifying the need for Miki to contract and you could have more control."
"Miki's wish. Kamijō's hand. Right." Homura centered herself, breathing slowly. "I would like your opinion. If I am capable, should I heal his hand completely or partially? Or partially for now with another healing later?"
"Take me with you. Let me see his chart. I think we should aim for believable improvement but I don't know if that's even possible. Things can get screwy sometimes when you combine living bodies and reiatsu. If you're inexperienced, you may only be able to start out with something very basic anyway." Yoruichi stood and stretched. "I have a lot of training in healing. I can walk you through something more specific than just dumping reiatsu into the injury and hoping for the best. If that works, I'll have you devour information on the anatomy of the human hand and go from there." She padded over to the door. "Shall we?"
§ x § x §
On the way to school the next morning, Yoruichi whispered an idea to Homura. Homura was doubtful, but Yoruichi had said to trust her and that it was part of her training to strengthen her sense of humor and friendliness, which Karin had said she needed. Homura had not been aware anyone was taking such comments seriously. It was simple enough, though, so Homura complied and made a small purchase at a convenience store. She then found the three girls waiting on the path for her.
"Heeeyyyyy, Stranger Danger!" Miki called with a wave.
Perfect.
Homura stopped by them, reached into her bag, and held her hand out to Miki with a solemn face. "Here."
Miki blinked, then held her hand out eagerly. "A present?!"
Homura pulled her hand back. Miki looked down, was silent with surprise for a moment, then started cackling so hard she couldn't breathe.
"Oh, my. Candy?" Shizuki said with a smile.
"If I am to be a stranger, I must do it properly," Homura said gravely.
Shizuki and Madoka giggled. Miki wheeeeeezed. Homura felt a moment of warmth.
The school day passed much as the previous one, though Madoka's friends had lost their hesitance about Homura and treated her as one of their own. They went to the sidewalk café again after school, though Shizuki had to leave for yet another of her mother's required lessons and Miki begged off doing homework to go visit her friend at the hospital. That suited Homura fine— she had the entire afternoon with Madoka. Madoka invited Homura to come to her house with Yoruichi instead of sitting at the café, to which Homura agreed.
§ x § x §
Red eyes watched the girls walk away from under a car.
Not today, it seemed.
Patience was its nature, though. The right moment would come.
§ x § x §
Homura conveniently escorted Madoka home, then both of them skived off homework to play with little Tatsuya and an indulgently gentle Yoruichi. Apparently Madoka wasn't the only Kaname to adore cats. Even Tomohisa had a soft spot for Yoruichi, who played up her cuteness, shamelessly rubbing against his legs and purring until he dropped cooking scraps down to her. She had then cozied up to Madoka's mother when the businesswoman staggered in the door, exhausted.
Homura ate dinner with the Kaname family that night. It was like a far calmer version of eating with the Kurosaki family— not as wild, but just as warm. She was coming to find that she liked to eat with families.
§ x § x §
Sayaka was so deliriously happy that she literally skipped home from the hospital. Kyōsuke had been hopeful for the first time in weeks. He had proudly showed her that he could flex his fingers better and said that the numbness had faded a bit in two of his fingers. It wasn't dramatic, but it was progress after a long stretch without any. Sayaka had gushed about the new therapy from the previous day working. Kyōsuke had joined her and excitedly rambled on about the further therapies he wanted to do, how he thought he could really get better if he could strengthen it, how his doctors were so pleased, how his mother had cried.
Kyōsuke had smiled at her for the first time in over a month. That was a treasure to Sayaka.
The world was a wonderful place.
§ x § x §
Homura and Yoruichi had another stop-and-go strategy session late that night as Homura methodically pulled stolen weaponry and ammunition out of her shield to prepare them for immediate use in battle. Again, Yoruichi went quiet whenever the girl was handling the more dangerous items.
"So, I thought I'd let you know my plans for tomorrow," Yoruichi eventually said. "Just in case."
The magical girl raised a brow. "Oh?"
"You remember the disappearances from last time around, right?"
"Yes. Not the specifics, but in general."
Yoruichi watched her own tail lashing. "Tomorrow is Thursday the twenty-fourth of March. Last time, Sumire Akane went missing overnight, gone by Friday morning. I'm going to go to Asunaro early and follow her around all afternoon and into the night. See if she's a magical girl or whatever. See what happens to her."
"Ah," Homura said in understanding. "Once we part tomorrow, I shouldn't expect to see you until Friday, then?"
"Yep."
Homura paused and stared at the cat expressionlessly. Yoruichi waited. Finally, the magical girl said, "Be careful."
Pleased with the sign of concern, Yoruichi chimed, "I will~!" She cocked her head. "Your plans?"
Homura pursed her lips as she unpacked more bullets. "Tomorrow, the Rose Garden Witch's Familiars may generate a labyrinth on the floor of the mall that is closed for renovations. I like your idea and I think it would be safest to try with a Familiar labyrinth. I may have to hold off on the hundred meter test if you will be away, but I can lay a foundation, at least." She sighed. "I just have to figure out an excuse to get them to come to the abandoned floor with me. Last time, I was chasing the Incubator and it called Madoka for help. Assuming it shows up there. My different tactics this time around may have changed things just enough for it to be somewhere else."
"It being the Familiar or the Incubator?"
"Both," Homura said with an unhappy shrug.
"Hmmm. Well, if all else fails, you could just look disturbed and hurry away like you're looking for something. If you don't say anything, they may follow you."
Homura sniffed disdainfully. "Miki would definitely do that."
Yoruichi made a satisfied sound. "Well, now that's settled... Your friends are adorable."
Homura's lips quirked up.
§ x § x §
Homura's... friends were surprised when Yoruichi wasn't there to greet them after school. Homura shrugged and said the cat was probably exploring and that they could go somewhere different since they didn't have a cat with them. Shizuki suggested taking Homura to the trio's usual café in the mall. Homura neutrally mentioned she had never been to the mall. Miki's face firmed into determined mission-mode as she declared they had to fix that. Homura acquiesced.
No one could claim Homura orchestrated the situation if Sayaka Miki was the one who practically dragged her there, after all.
After Shizuki left for another lesson, Miki dragged Homura and Madoka to a music shop. After she bought something for Kamijō, she led the girls around the mall. Madoka smiled indulgently and played along with the tour guide act. They were near the hall that led to the restrooms and staff stairs when Homura paused and looked down the corridor.
The Familiar. She felt it. Yes!
Madoka noticed she had stopped and turned to her after tugging Miki's sleeve to make her stop. "Homura?"
Homura didn't reply. She pasted a disturbed look on her face and stepped down the empty hall.
"If you gotta go, you can just tell us," Miki said with amusement. "We won't make fun of you."
Homura walked past the bathrooms. Miki and Madoka looked at each other in confusion and silently agreed to follow her. Homura walked just slowly enough to let them trail her up a floor, through a door with DO NOT ENTER plastered on it— Madoka whined—, and across a dimly lit room with a black and white checker tiled floor until they reached a short set of stairs. Both girls should know it was the entrance to a community art gallery, but its hours of operation sign was covered with a different sign that read THIS FLOOR CLOSED DUE TO RENOVATIONS. The fancy staircase was roped off, but Homura dodged around the obstacle and climbed the stairs.
"Hey, Stranger Danger! Where do you think you're going?" Miki hissed loudly.
Homura stopped mid-step and looked over her shoulder at them. Miki was a contrary sort, so instead of inviting them along Homura mildly said, "It would probably be best if you stayed here."
"Like hell!" Miki objected. She took a challenging step forward.
Perfect.
Madoka gasped. "Homura, your ring is glowing!"
Homura lifted her left hand and splayed out her fingers. Her Soul Gem ring was indeed glowing purple. Good. She glanced back at the other girls. "You can see it?"
"Of course we can see it!" Miki snapped.
"That's a really strange question, Homura," Madoka said worriedly.
Homura stared at them more, then finally said, "Maybe you should come with me after all. I can protect you that way."
"P-protect us?" Madoka squeaked.
"From what?" Miki demanded.
"I suppose you will see soon enough," Homura said as she crested the stairs and opened the door. "There is no time to explain right now."
Miki took a deep breath and stomped up the stairs. Madoka whimpered and followed on her heels.
The empty art gallery was dark, lit only by the faint green light of exit signs, occasional red emergency lights to mark paths, and fading daylight from the distant windows on the other end of the building. Construction materials were strewn about between concrete pillars. Homura brazenly walked through the forbidden room. Miki, apparently set on edge, shoved her bag at Madoka and grabbed the first potential weapon she could find: a fire extinguisher.
Homura stifled a sigh. Miki always chose that fire extinguisher as a weapon. Not the loose chain with a hook on the end, not the easier-to-hold pipes. Always the fire extinguisher. It was like some kind of cosmic joke now.
The girls followed Homura to a section that was barred by a chain link fence. Homura looked down at her ring, which was glowing more brightly, and turned left. She followed a series of chains hanging from the ceiling, then halted.
"Here it comes."
"Here what comes?" Miki demanded.
The air suddenly became misty. Lights flared and dimmed at random. Before Homura, a large vertical circle made out of dead butterflies pinned to vine wreaths manifested and spun towards them, followed by another and another. It felt like moving through a tunnel. Their surroundings flashed through a series of images like rapidly changing art slides. The pillars and construction supplies all reappeared flat and papery as though pieces of a collage. Multicolored doily-like mandalas spun in random places in the air. Signs featuring runes, German words, and black mustaches scribbled in marker were dotted about. The distant walls were studded with paper cutouts of fancy windows. Barbed wire-like brambles and papier maché butterflies were everywhere. Chains draped at random from above. Something— many somethings— giggled and clattered in the shadows.
Perfect.
Madoka was so frightened she forgot to let go of the book bags when she threw her arms around Miki. "What's happening?!"
Homura glanced over her shoulder and opened her mouth, but the rattling was joined by chanting in children's voices as big, jittering cotton balls jerked out of the shadows.
"Das! Sind! Mir! Unbekannte! Blumen! Ja! Sie! Sind! Mir! Auch! Unbekannt!"*
"W-what the hell?!" Miki rasped.
"Schneiden! Wir! Sie! Ab?! Ja! Schneiden! Wir! Sie! Ab! Die! Rosen! Schenken! Wir! Unsrer! Königin!"
"W-what's happening?!" Madoka wailed again.
The cotton balls had mustaches pasted on them and were mounted on black stems that ended in butterfly wings, which functioned as their legs. Thorny vines darted through the air, trailing behind many pairs of snapping scissors that sounded like machetes cleaving brush.
"Und! Die! Schlechten! Blumen! Steigen! Auf! Die! Guillotine!"
"Guillotine?! Did I just hear guillotine?!" Miki shrieked.
As the monsters drew closer, the girls could see grotesque mouths made from paper cutouts of sketches of lips and teeth shifting about with the chanting. Dark holes served as eyes. The scissor-briars had apparently sprouted from the eye sockets, as every eye had multiple vines coming out of it.
"JA! SCHNEIDE! SIE! AB! JA! SCHNEIDE! SIE! HERAUS!"
"Stay together!" Homura ordered. "I'll take care of this!"
With that, Homura triggered her transformation, violet light rushing around her and replacing her school uniform with her battle costume, finishing with the manifestation of her shield. She stood firm and glared at the Familiars as she conjured her rarely-used barrier. A purple sigil that mirrored the swirling designs on her shield appeared on the ground beneath them. The magic burst upwards like vines and coiled into a swirling domed cage of light. Madoka and Miki gaped as the force of the magic whipped at all their clothes and hair. Homura thrust her shield arm skyward and took a deep breath.
She'd never actually tried this before. It was an idea she'd toyed with while thinking about the strange "kidō" spells she had seen the shinigami use in the big battle.
Instead of stopping time and using her weapons, Homura focused on her magic as it flowed through the whorls of the barrier and mentally made it behave like when she would shoot bolts of pure magic at the Incubator. Violet rays lanced straight out from the dome in all directions, skewering and destroying the Familiars. Homura let the dome fade out of existence as cotton balls disappeared and their butterfly feet flew away. The nightmare world wobbled and faded, leaving the three girls back in the dark renovation area. Homura felt a bit disoriented but was satisfied with her first experimental technique— it wasn't particularly strong, but it got the job done with minor Familiars. She blinked rapidly and turned to the others.
Miki was frozen with the fire extinguisher brandished in front of her. Madoka was clinging to her waist like a vise to stay upright, knees too weak to stand and school bags dangling from each hand. Both stared at Homura with wide eyes.
Homura pushed her hair over her shoulders and stepped closer to them as the magical dome shimmered and burst away like a popping bubble. "Are you injured?" she asked calmly. The girls shook their heads, still gaping silently.
Then Miki snapped back to herself. "W-what the hell was that?!" she demanded. "What the hell is that cosplay?! What the hell is going on?!"
Homura sighed. "This is not cosplay. I am a magical girl."
"Say what?!"
"I am a magical girl."
Miki sputtered. "I heard you the first time!"
"Then why ask?"
Miki squawked and tried to come up with a response as Madoka finally dropped the school bags and lunged for Homura. Madoka wrapped her arms around Homura's waist and cried. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I was so scared!"
Homura sadly patted her hair. "You are safe now. I will protect you from those things to the best of my ability from now on."
Madoka jumped back and looked up at Homura with damp eyes. "There are more of them?!" she asked fearfully.
"Yes."
"What are they?" Miki demanded again, trying to hide her fear with shaky bravado.
Homura took a deep breath and released her transformation. Things were actually going as planned for once in her life. It made her uneasy. "I think you should come to my house so I can explain in private."
§ x § x §
Yoruichi paced restlessly at Homura's door as she waited for the three reiatsu signatures to reappear from the pocket dimension. She was incredibly tense.
To say her reconnaissance had not gone as planned would be putting it lightly.
She had reached the northern edge of Mitakihara around noon, thinking she'd go to Akane's school and camp out until classes let out for the day to stalk her. It had seemed a perfectly logical plan until she actually crossed into Asunaro city limits.
She felt subtly odd at first. Two blocks in, she stopped in her tracks and wondered why she was even there. Yoruichi racked her brain.
Magical girls. She was going to follow a girl to see what caused her disappearance. It was part of the investigation of a threat against girls and Soul Society. That threat could also be wandering the streets of Asunaro, as it did Mitakihara, so she had to be watchful. It looked like—
Like—?
The threat was called—
Blank. She knew this!
The threat was—
Looked like—
...A black cat wearing a white scarf? No, that didn't sound right.
It was a threat because— because—
The enemy was—
Nothing.
Something was not right. Something was deeply wrong. This wasn't like her. Yoruichi ran through her options and experience from her time in charge of the Thirteen Divisions' Covert Operations. Checked herself, checked herself—
A chill ran down her spine. Something like a complex, passive kidō had ensnared her so smoothly she hadn't noticed. Was affecting her memory. Had made her forget who her enemy was.
The cat haltingly turned around and retraced her steps to Mitakihara. As soon as she left Asunaro city limits, her mind supplied Incubator – white cat-rabbit thing that eats Soul Gems and so on. Obviously, the enemy was the Incubator.
Yoruichi had stared back at Asunaro for a long time, profoundly disturbed.
Now she paced and paced around a package a delivery person had left. It smelled of Yuzu and baked goods, which was soothing. She relaxed minutely when the girls' reiatsu reappeared. She hoped Homura's experiment had gone better than her own mission.
Yoruichi needed to talk to Kisuke. Immediately.
§ x § x §
§ x § x §
§ x § x §
WITCH DATA
?
?
Minion: Anthony. His duty is landscaping. His mustache is set by the Witch.
A/N: Somehow, my characters keep making up new nicknames for Homura.
* The German chanting is taken directly from the PMMM anime.
This chapter was replaced with an edited version on November 1, 2019. Reviews with timestamps before that date refer to a slightly different version of the chapter.