A/N: *pokes chapter* I think I'm satisfied that I won't have to change this any more to preserve continuity. I've been sitting on it over a month and shuffling narrative order and moved some scenes originally intended for the next chapter to this one because it flowed more naturally. Hmmm.

As noted on my profile, Tumblr, etc., my dog died three weeks ago. The first two weeks, I was utterly useless. I'm stabilizing and gradually getting back into writing, but I still have rough grief days. Pupper was in my life for sixteen beautiful and difficult and wonderful years. She was like a sister. Please bear with me. Sewing my heart back together is a work in progress.

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

FÜNFUNDSIEBZIG

TIMELINE X + N + 1

Yoruichi was frustrated. She was used to doing covert missions, yes, but she wanted a brief from Kisuke. The one Akemi gave her in a timestop while talking to Nagisa the previous morning had put her on edge and obviously didn't include any of Kisuke's deeper machinations. She wondered if the plan to revert that girl's Grief Seed and recruit her had worked. No updates. Ugh. Being out in the cold was her least favorite part of covert missions.

It wouldn't be so constantly on her mind if her mission was more difficult. She was being spoiled with the fancy tins of cat food Akemi had given Nagisa and spent her time lazing in the window sill, playing with Nagisa, cuddling Nagisa when she cried, and keeping an eye on her widower father's mental state; if he stayed in bed staring at the wall for too long, she'd go be a typical obnoxious cat and meow and walk on him until he fed her or let her out. He seemed grateful for the motivation after the first time, so she kept it up.

Yoruichi asked to be let out every few hours. She acted like a normal cat, did normal cat things, and patrolled the building's perimeter sniffing for signs of the Incubator before scratching at the Momoe's door to be let in. She scented the Incubator on the rail out front once and the balcony in the back another time; she opted for the typical cat reaction and rubbed her head and tail scent glands all over the railings to scream MY territory, out!

So. She was obviously still needed here, but she was getting restless.

Though she wanted something new to happen, she was unhappy when Mr. Momoe gathered the wherewithal to take Nagisa for an outing that evening. It would be good for them, but make guarding them more difficult. Which she had halfway wanted, but still. Nagisa had looked nervous and cast many glances at Yoruichi as they prepared to leave; Akemi had stressed to her that she should keep Yoruichi with her to keep the Incubator away and a movie theater or restaurant or whatever wasn't going to allow a cat inside.

Challenge accepted.

Yoruichi wiggled out the door before the father could shut her in, then stayed far enough away that he couldn't grab her. He eventually gave up trying to corral Yoruichi and took Nagisa's hand. They walked to a train station; Yoruichi managed to board with them. She followed just out of reach for the entire trip. She did not expect to be traveling south into Shinchi— out of Tomoe's territory and into that aggressive girl's. Yoruichi was on high alert from the moment they crossed out of Tomoe's territory. She followed the pair off the train and through the streets; she was curling around Nagisa's legs by a food cart when she spotted something up high. Yoruichi pretended to chase a few pigeons and watch their flight; with the excuse to look up directly, she spotted the marching band magical girl Akemi had described to her. The girl was standing on a rooftop, half-hidden by a roof access shack but plainly watching Nagisa like a hawk in the orange light of sunset.

Like a predator.

The question was whether she was observing with intent to defend against attack... or hunting.

Yoruichi looked away from the girl and toward Nagisa, who was completely clueless. Backup would be a very good thing right now. But she had no way of communicating without blowing her cover. Her best hope was that someone at the shop was paying attention to her collar's GPS tracker. With everything going on, that was unlikely. She didn't know if Kisuke had programmed a proximity alarm for if she traveled too far. Or what he would consider "too far." Crap crap crap sloppy sloppy sloppy.

She stayed close to the Momoes as they threaded through busy streets and got in line at a discount theater. The magical girl followed them on rooftops, daring to come gradually closer. Nagisa was still ignorant of any threat, swinging her arm with her father as they held hands. Yoruichi risked extending her senses toward the magical girl and cringed internally when she sensed that not only was her reiatsu strong, it was very dark. Alarmingly so.

Yoruichi was struck by a sudden realization as she eyed the girl's costume sideways again: The marching band Witch in the briefs from the last timeline. The powerful one Ukitake and Kuchiki fought. Took out a team in Shinchi. Marching band costume. Magical girl on the edge.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Dilemma: Sneak into the theater to directly guard Nagisa, or stay outside and keep an eye on the dangerous magical girl?

Backup would be really good right now.

§ x § x §

Sayaka was pretty pleased with how things were going until dinner ended and Mrs. Kaname lightly asked if they had done their homework. She managed to hold in a groan of dismay but knew it was all over her face. That was something she'd have to work on. Time to show she could be a diligent student and earn magic lessons! So they all got their homework out and clustered around the table— even everyone from wherever the hell they snuck in from. Karin and Yuzu had schoolwork, but their brother and his friends bent over super old books and took notes on laptops. The books Ishida used were super duper extra old and had words on the covers that used the alphabet she knew from English class but Sayaka would be damned if she could understand any of it. She didn't want to look dumb and ask, but wondered what Chronik des Echten Heiliges Römisches Reich Bayerischer Reichskreis Band VII 1500-1550 could possibly mean. Even Dr. Kurosaki and Mrs. Kaname were doing serious things on laptops. Tessai and Magic Man disappeared into the deep part of the shop to do God only knew what.

Kyōko, the only teen who didn't have schoolwork or research to do, looked bored. She briefly glanced at the math Karin was doing, scoffed, and wandered over to the kitchen. Sayaka wasn't sure why, but it surprised her that Kyōko helped Madoka's dad with dishes. Tatsuya got bored and started fussing and shouting to help, so Mr. Kaname fetched him from the high chair, plunked him on the counter, and had Kyōko "help" him dry plates. Kyōko looked cool with that, so Sayaka reluctantly turned to her homework.

She hated math. She could usually do it, but slowly. Like, horribly slowly without book guidance. Like, too slow to finish tests, forcing her grades down. It sucked. And there Homura, Karin, and Hitsugaya were, blasting through their math with enviable ease. Sayaka stared at her page and began.

When the math genius trio looked like they were wrapping up, Madoka was the first to break and ask, "Um, can— can someone help me?"

Asking for homework help didn't usually bother Sayaka, but she was now trying to look like she was capable of learning things super well. She was reluctant to admit slowness in front of the adults, but she had to learn somehow. Sayaka took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, me too?"

Karin was just as good a tutor as Hitsugaya and Mami were at their previous sessions, but Sayaka actually latched onto her words better and didn't need as much repetition. The girl explained the things with a steady stream of sarcasm and... metaphor? was that the word?— like, asymptotes are electric fences that your line can't cross without getting fried but this hyperbola is a spiteful daredevil and will go as damn close to that electric fence as it can possibly get because screw those jerkass asymptotes— and things just... clicked better. Sayaka hoped the humor would stick with her like straightforwardness didn't.

They eventually moved on to other subjects; Sayaka wished she had a better attention span. She was bored and impatient. But she saw Homura eyeing her speculatively and doubled down on her effort, maddening as it was. She refused to fail at Step One of her grand plan.

When they were packing up, Mrs. Kaname said, "Sayaka, have you checked in with your mother?"

Sayaka cringed. "No."

"I recommend you do so. We don't need your parents actually calling the cops."

Sayaka sighed and fished her phone out of a pocket. She turned it on and watched notifications pop on the screen, fervently glad she had set it to Do Not Disturb so she didn't have to hear ringtone interrupting ringtone interrupting ringtone. She hadn't bothered checking after she went to her place to get things with Homura and found... nothing. No note, no parents, not even the usual guilt-absolving "apology" gift on her bed. Like they didn't care she was gone.

"You... may be jumping to conclusions," Homura had murmured to her oh-so-carefully.

"Pfft. What other conclusion could there be?" Sayaka had demanded.

Homura had cocked her head to one side and suggested, "Perhaps they simply do not know how to react, so they chose to do nothing."

Sayaka had scoffed and tossed more clothes Homura's way to be to be stored in her shield. "Oh, yeah, parents of the year, there!"

The magical girl had frowned. "I did not say it was a wise decision. But... it is a decision I have made. And known others to make. When... overwhelmed. A form of freezing. Of fear."

Sayaka had scowled as she rummaged through a drawer for a distraction. "Why are you on their side?" she had sneered.

"I am not," Homura had replied as she neatly folded a shirt and slipped it into her shield. "I merely think you are... too close to the problem to see it objectively. Them, as well. Things look bigger than they are when you... press your face near them." Homura had stepped toward Sayaka and lifted another blouse, holding the cloth so close to Sayaka's face that it brushed her nose and she went cross-eyed looking at a button.

Sayaka had shoved the shirt away. Resentment boiled in her heart. "Psssh. I bet they wouldn't even react if I just dropped off the face of the planet or died or something. As long as I didn't make a scene of it in front of a client."

Homura had gone very, very still and looked at her with such searching intensity that Sayaka couldn't break eye contact. It had felt like the magical girl was digging in her mind or something. Homura had frowned and firmly said, "You are wrong."

"Oh— oh yeah?! What would you know?!" Sayaka had snapped defensively.

Homura's eyes had drilled into her more deeply before looking away. She just repeated. "You are wrong."

Sayaka still didn't know what to make of that exchange.

When her phone finally settled down, Sayaka ignored the voicemail— the inbox had filled that first night so there'd be nothing new in it— and scrolled through the texts. No mention of the evidence of her presence she had deliberately left around the condo when she snuck in with Homura— pots on the stove top, her bed's pillow and blanket on the couch as though she had lain there for awhile, a few other things that should have screamed that she had been there while her parents were away. No mention of her extra clues of taking all the photos of her and her friends off the walls and furniture in her room, of emptying her shelves of manga and music and anime figurines into Homura's shield in a fit of pique to leave her room looking bare and un-lived-in. Her father's texts were angry, talked about how she had messed with his work, and completely missed the entire point of why she had left them— as expected. Her mother's showed more concern, but half of it boiled down to what will other people think if they find out about this? and derailed into worrying about worst-case scenarios like Sayaka throwing her education away and becoming a delinquent like Madoka's mom had done in her teens. She thought Junko Kaname was a bad role model.

Which, like... did not concern Sayaka at all considering how Mrs. Kaname had turned out. But whatever. If that's what they thought she was going for, Sayaka would just have to prove them wrong.

Sayaka unpacked her homework again and ignored the others' confusion as she laid it out on the table and took pictures of every page. She emailed both her parents with the photos attached. She went for the fanciest, most formally cold pseudo-Homura language she could muster.

Dear Sir and Madam,

Please see attached my completed school assignments. I have sought high-quality tutors and take my education seriously. I remain physically safe. As you have demonstrated no regret for or understanding of the issues I cited during our previous communications and do not even seem to have noticed that I visited our residence yesterday, I will maintain my distance for the time being to preserve my sanity and self-esteem.

Regards,

Sayaka Miki

Send.

So there.

"What did you just do?" Mrs. Kaname asked slowly. Her tone made it sound like did you just set something on fire?

Sayaka sat straight and handed her phone to the woman. She'd get it. She hoped.

Mrs. Kaname read it; her face struggled with reactions and settled on a snort and dark baring of teeth. "Well, I don't see this making things any better than they are, but that's a very politely-worded screw you. You could do well in business writing when you grow up."

Everyone looked at Sayaka curiously but didn't ask. Sayaka puffed up in pride. Madoka's mom gave the best compliments.

Sayaka closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and reopened them to pin Dr. Kurosaki, the only trained magical adult in the room. She lifted her chin and asked, "Dr. Kurosaki, would you be willing to teach Madoka and me some magic?"

The man looked surprised, then curious. He weighed her with his eyes, then looked at Madoka, who had perked up and was also trying to look as determined as possible. Dr. Kurosaki glanced at his laptop speculatively.

Oh, he was doing... some kind of research. Uhhhhhhh, how to recover and not be a demanding child? "Unless, uh... are you too busy?" Sayaka said hesitantly. "I— I'd understand— I mean— um."

Dr. Kurosaki scratched the stubble on his chin and glanced between them again as even the other magical girls started paying attention. "I... could actually use a break from reading about missing and dead girls. I can talk you through a basic exercise, but after that I think it would save us time if you read up on it while I do research. Or Tōshirō could teach you more— he's quite advanced. Karin and Yuzu have been studying theory between training sessions."

Written lessons. Ughhhhhh. She was way more of a hands-on learner. But Sayaka would persevere. She nodded firmly and asked, "Where would I get the reading stuff?"

"Mr. Urahara gave me some books," Homura offered.

"I took pics of every page of the first book so I could read it over and over when I have nothing to do," Karin volunteered. "I can send them to you?"

Sayaka looked in Karin's eyes and decided that the girl knew exactly how she felt about wanting to do something. So Sayaka gave her a small smile and a firm nod. "That'd be great, thanks."

"Um—"

Everyone looked at Mami, who wavered a moment before continuing. "If you three are studying it, is it a kind of magic that magical girls can learn?"

"Yep!" Karin said with a grin. "It's kinda the same, kinda different for us. But it works. Inkblotter is gonna be sooo surprised whenever we actually let it know we've turned on it."

"I wanna learn it, then," Kyōko said from the kitchen. Everyone looked her way; she was leaning over a counter toward them, mouth curved into something that definitely wasn't a smile but Sayaka didn't know what to call it besides bloodthirsty. "I wanna be full'a surprises for that jack—" glance at Tatsuya, who was close enough to hear her— "jerk when I rise from the dead like a fuh— freakin' zombie."

"I would also like to learn," Mami said with determination.

"Sounds like a plan," Dr. Kurosaki said with a fleeting smile.

"That's all well and good," Ishida said with a glance up from his ancient book, "but the first thing you should do is teach Kaname and Miki some form of flash step so they can dodge or flee threats."

Dr. Kurosaki looked intrigued. "Good point." He stood and beckoned with a wave of his arm. "C'mon, kids. Let's go outside in case we have some... surprises happen."

Meaning in case they were complete disasters at whatever he was gonna show them. Sayaka appreciated the tact, though.

The teenagers all trooped out to the front of the shop and perched on the edge of the veranda. Dr. Kurosaki gave a goofy-yet-helpful lecture that sounded like a less sarcastic version of something Karin would say. Sayaka forced herself to pay attention. Then the man called her and Madoka out onto the path and talked them through some kind of mental looking-for-magic thingy.

"Close your eyes and listen to my voice," he said.

Sayaka obeyed.

She didn't know how much time passed as she and Madoka struggled with the thing he was trying to teach them, which reminded her of meditation stuff in manga. Kinda like Sailor Mars when she was with her sacred fire or the mountain waterfall or someth...

The... waterfall...

Sayaka thought she might feel something vague and slippery, hear faint rushing, but it kept disappearing. It was nearly in her grasp when Madoka gasped and Sayaka was knocked off her feet. She opened her eyes and gaped.

The yard was awash in pink light and the scent of roses and a strong outward wind-like pressure for a long minute. A column of light splashed against something invisible overhead— the wards? The crystal beads on Madoka's charm bracelet exploded, then the light and pressure flickered on and off while Madoka clasped her hands over her heart, face confused and afraid and strangely dazed. The pink magic swirled through the air around her longer and longer with each flicker; she looked more and more lost.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, you're doing great," Dr. Kurosaki said reassuringly, waving his arms to try to get her attention. "You found it. Let go of it now, okay? Let go of it."

Madoka blinked and reacted slowly. "What?"

"Madoka!"

Sayaka turned to the shop and saw Mr. Kaname mid-leap from the porch. His face was panicked. Hitsugaya and the magical girls on the porch behind Mr. Kaname all looked stunned. Ichigo and his friends tumbled out the door with wide eyes; Tessai and Magic Man followed a moment later, faces serious.

"Madoka! Madoka, are you okay?!" Mr. Kaname shouted, frantic.

Madoka looked around dreamily and said, "Papa?"

Mr. Kaname ran up to her but was suddenly knocked back as though clotheslined when he was a couple meters away from his daughter. His breathing became labored and he looked dizzy. "Mado— ka—"

Madoka swayed and looked at him. Through him. "Oh." She rolled her head around her neck in a jerky motion like a poorly-controlled puppet and absently asked, "How... do I turn... it off...?"

Dr. Kurosaki stepped closer to her, red magic faintly glowing around his body as he pressed through the pink light to grip Madoka's shoulders. He got Madoka to stare him in the eye and he quietly talked her through something or other. Whatever he was saying seemed to be working because the bursts of magic became shorter and less intense. Mr. Kaname was able to stand and approach his daughter with some difficulty; he hugged her from behind and she relaxed. The magic eased off drastically until there were just random pink sparks in the air.

Magic Man barked something at Tessai, who darted into the shop.

Everyone stared as Madoka wobbled in her father's arms and the air around her shimmered with pink glitter.

"I feel like I just shot happy drugs straight into my jugular or something," Karin said numbly.

She was right. Sayaka felt ridiculously cheerful. Suddenly, giggles welled up in her chest and poured out her mouth and she was laughing and rolling around on the ground and laughing and laughing and couldn't stop. Tears ran down her cheeks and she could barely breathe.

Something poked her face. Sayaka opened her eyes and looked up to see Kyōko bent over her. The magical girl jabbed a finger in Sayaka's cheek again. Sayaka giggled harder.

"Is it possible to get drunk on magic?" Kyōko asked with a sorta morbid fascination.

Sayaka's laughter rose into a shriek at the hilarious idea and she wondered if the tear streaks on her face looked like rivers and she pictured some famous waterfall or other on her face and laughed harder and—

—her vision blued out.

She hadn't known vision could blue out.

In that moment, it felt like... something broke. Like a dam. It was there and gone in a blink and then she felt... floaty and dazed. Sayaka was content to stay like that but Kyōko's indignant shriek caused her to open her eyes.

Sayaka was sprawled out in a pool of water rapidly turning the ground into mud. Kyōko, Dr. Kurosaki, Madoka, Mr. Kaname, and Sayaka herself all looked like they had been out in pouring rain, drenched with water. They were all staring at her. There were still some pink sparkles in the air but Madoka looked like the impromptu shower had jarred her out of whatever magical shenanigans she'd set off.

The remnants of Madoka's magic had Sayaka giggling at their hilarious faces.

"I think you nailed it with 'drunk,' Kyōko," Karin called out.

People tried to talk to Sayaka but she was too busy giggling and picturing herself throwing buckets of water at people or little gray storm clouds floating over the others' heads and raining on them or Sailor Mars meditating in that mountain waterfall and—

"Will you stop it with the goddamn water?!" Kyōko shrilled.

Sayaka just giggled and rolled around in the new mud.

Karin started cackling.

Madoka started giggling in her father's arms. Pink glitter sparkled around like little fairies. Madoka's dad started chuckling behind her, but his face was confused.

Sayaka giggled harder.

There were suddenly two geta-clad feet in the mud in front of Sayaka's face. Magic Man's voice said, "Miss Miki, can you hear me?" somewhere in the distance beyond the muffled sound of ocean waves.

"Y-ye-yeahhhhh," Sayaka said to the geta through her snickers.

"I need you to control yourself."

Sayaka had an idea.

"Miss Miki, focus on something. Focus all your thoughts on something."

"Your-or shoe-oos are sink-king," Sayaka gasped through giggles. Idea idea idea!

A pause. "So they are." Said slowly, like talking to someone who had lost all touch with reality. Rude. "Can you sit up?"

That sounded like a challenge to Sayaka, so she scrabbled around in the mud and dragged herself upright because she was awesome and that was easy. She looked down at how her legs were sprawled beneath her at weird angles and laughed.

"Good. Focus on something, Miss Miki," Magic Man said somewhere above her still.

Sayaka stared at the geta.

"Miss Miki?"

They really were hilarious shoes. Why had they been invented? Something about keeping feet from getting wet or muddy, wasn't it?

"Miss. Mi. Ki."

She lurched forward and stuck her hands in the mud puddle and looked at the geta more closely. They were doing their job.

For now.

She giggled deviously and wiggled her fingers in the mud.

"Miss Miki, what are you do—?"

Plop. She scooped two handfuls of mud onto Magic Man's feet. This was the funniest thing she had ever done in her life, so she laughed so hard she got dizzy.

"Yeah, she's gone!" Karin crowed.

Madoka's giggles turned into full laughter, bright and buoyant. More pink light wisped and sparkled around them. Sayaka saw Kyōko sway on her feet and giggle in her peripheral vision. The redhead immediately slapped a hand over her mouth and tried to control herself; she glowed with red magic that made Sayaka think of a person-shaped red light bulb. Hilarious. Sayaka laughed until she cried and crying made her think of water and her vision went blue again and Kyōko let out a wild sound that started as an angry scream and ended in choking laughter and there was more pink light and—

"Well. This was unexpected," Magic Man said mildly. "I don't think I've ever seen a... magical feedback loop quite like this."

The last thing Sayaka heard was Dr. Kurosaki sighing, "I think we're gonna have to sedate them."

§ x § x §

Homura hadn't exactly been surprised by the volume of Madoka's magic. It did feel... wilder wasn't the right word. Freer? Less focused than when she was contracted. What she still wasn't used to was the effervescent cheer that washed over everyone within range. Isshin had managed to maintain control by countering with his own magic but Sayaka, so much less powerful and in possession of absolutely no control, collapsed into a puddle of laughter.

Homura kind of felt badly for the girl. She had noticed how hard Sayaka was trying to be responsible and attentive. And there she was, rolling on the groun—

Mud. Rolling in mud because her magic flared in Kyōko's face and suddenly the air in the yard condensed into mist; as soon as the flare sputtered out, the water droplets all collapsed onto everyone near her.

Homura glanced aside at Hitsugaya's sharp intake of breath. He met her eyes and answered her unasked question. "She pulled water vapor out of the air," he nearly whispered, using Karin and Sayaka's laughter to hide his voice from others.

She raised a brow at him. Obviously. So?

Hitsugaya's brow twitched into brief annoyance. "Without cooling it."

Homura cocked her head and looked at him oddly as another cloud of moisture washed over the people in the yard and Kyōko screamed.

Breath hissed out through Hitsugaya's teeth and he looked more annoyed. "That's not easy! She shouldn't be able to do that at this volume without training, especially unconsciously, unless she has more p—!" He visibly bit his cheek and stopped, eyes darting to Mami. Probably something about previous timelines, then.

Homura turned to look at Sayaka speculatively and watched the laughing girl roll in the mud as she thought back to other timelines. Sayaka had always heavily relied on her cutlasses and brute force paired with draining self-healing to make up for what she lacked in skill and finesse. The barriers she made to bounce off of were musical staves, not water. Her affinity for water had always been obvious in the feel of her magic, but she hadn't used it much. Homura frowned and lightly probed at Sayaka's magic; it recoiled and made a... shimmying sensation, as though ticklish. Homura didn't recall it ever being so... reactive.

Sayaka and Madoka's magic plummeted as they were both knocked out with that sleep kidō. Homura didn't pay much attention to the cleanup and the carrying of the unconscious girls, trailing behind absently as others laughingly laid out a rotating path of towels for the muddy people to navigate the building.

Homura sat and drank tea after the wakened girls sheepishly went off to shower and change. Listening to Karin harassing Kyōko to just take some of her clothes was entertaining, but she was unsettled. Something didn't add up. The more Homura thought about it, the more she wondered why Sayaka was always so inept as a magical girl. She had thought it to be Sayaka's average-at-best power, hotheaded impulsiveness, unwillingness to learn, and uncompromisingly black-and-white standards, but... it looked like more than that, now. Maybe? The differences between past Sayakas and this Sayaka weren't just novel, but... disturbingly mysterious, now that they stacked up.

"Unless she has more p—" Hitsugaya had said.

More power than thought? More power than she actually had before? More potential than the shinigami thought? Than Homura had thought?

Homura felt deeply uneasy.

There was some more fun but they all went to bed early and woke equally early. Homura returned the red ribbons to Madoka. Yuzu cooed at the waves in Homura's hair and somehow Yuzu and Madoka ended up convincing every girl who was going to school to braid their hair.

Probably just to play with Homura's hair again, but Homura didn't particularly mind.

Of course, Karin had loudly cried, "TŌSHIRŌ, YOU SHOUL—"

"NO."

"But you'll match!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Just a little one! To control your shaggy bangs!"

"MY BANGS ARE NOT SHAGGY!"

"STOP LYING TO YOURSELF AND C'MERE, TŌSH!"

And that was how Hitsugaya and Karin had come to spend half an hour running around the building having a shouting match while Hitsugaya dodged the comb and hairtie in Karin's hands. They occasionally broke into brief spars. None of their hits connected with anything serious, but still.

Kyōko looked torn between being highly entertained and intensely disturbed— mostly when she looked at the adults as though they would go ballistic; then she seemed to be confused that they didn't. It struck Homura as oddly skittish behavior for the redhead. Well, maybe not; now that Homura thought about it, she had never seen Kyōko interact with adults who weren't in some kind of customer service role, like arcade management or restaurant waitstaff. Huh.

"Ahhh, friendship," Isshin sighed nostalgically over his coffee as something crashed and Karin screeched.

"They're like two puppies play-fighting, careful with the teeth," Mrs. Kaname cooed. "So cute."

Kyōko eyed the adults like they had lost their minds.

"Puppies. Hah! I need to remember to use that one on them," Isshin said with a grin. "They'll scream at me in unison."

"Oh, Mama, are you going to work today?" Madoka asked as a chunk of ice the size of a soccer ball skidded into the room accompanied by a victory shout from Hitsugaya and a howl of defeat from Karin.

Homura peered at the ice. The comb was trapped within. Nice.

…She probably shouldn't be this calm about the crazy, but... Kurosakis. They made everything they touched ridiculous. Even Hitsugaya. The Kanames and Sayaka had all acclimated quickly, it seemed. Only Mami remained uncertain about the playful faux belligerence. Well, aside from Kyōko, whose semi-paranoid face made Homura wonder what her own had looked like when first adjusting to Kurosaki shenanigans.

Mrs. Kaname winked at her daughter. "Nope! Tessai and Kisuke have something for me and Papa to do."

Homura had wondered why the two men weren't at the table. Suspicious.

"Is it— is it dangerous?" Madoka worried.

"We're just gathering some information," Mr. Kaname said cheerfully as he gave Tatsuya a sippy cup.

Homura eyed both Kaname parents. That had not been a no.

"Tessai's been chatting with someone online who has been collecting information about missing girls for years," Mrs. Kaname explained. "We're going to be meeting her in a cafe. Tessai and Kisuke will be watching us."

"Who would that be?" Homura asked slowly.

"A detective," Mrs. Kaname replied. "Misako Ishijima. I chatted with her a bit. She's been frustrated because her superiors won't take her investigation seriously. It sounds like she believes in magic. Dances around admitting it, though."

Homura frowned and racked her brain. She vaguely recalled a newspaper article mentioning something about a detective collecting evidence of recently missing girls. Mr. Tsukabishi and Urahara must have tracked her down somehow. Huh.

Why didn't they just go themselves? Why involve the Kanames?

"Anyway, have fun at school, kids!" Mr. Kaname said pointedly.

Sayaka choked on her food and jumped from the table. "C'mon, guys! We can't be late!"

Homura complied, adding another entry to her list of Unbelievably Responsible Things Sayaka Miki Is Capable Of If Properly Motivated.

"Have fun at school, Braid Brigade 'n Shaggy Bangs!" Karin shouted from the front porch as they approached the gate.

"NO! NO FUN!" Kyōko yelled. "REMEMBER TO BE SAD THAT I'M DEAD!"

Karin turned to Kyōko. "WHOA, YOU LOOK PRETTY GOOD FOR BEING DEAD, KYŌKO!"

"DAMN RIGHT I DO!"

"WOW WHAT'S YOUR SECRET?"

"JEWELRY CLEANER!"

Karin and Kyōko cackled maniacally. Homura had been horribly, horribly right about them getting along.

Beside her, Mami quietly chanted, "Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh, it'll be watching, don't laugh." She was looking down, half-curled on herself, and shaking. A tear rolled down her cheek. But her gold braids didn't hide her face as well as her voluminous pigtails would have in the same pose; it was plain that the shaking wasn't suppressed sobs, but suppressed laughter.

Utterly bizarre. Just over forty-eight hours previous, Homura had been near certain Mami would plunge into despairing insanity. And here she was, struggling to suppress genuine mirth. Amazing.

Homura would miss this timeline if she really did abandon it.

§ x § x §

Mami chanted the cover story in her head the entire way to school to keep a smile off her face: I braided my hair in remembrance of my dead friend and my other friends copied me to be supportive.

Which was, frankly, a heartwarming story. Kyubey wouldn't believe it, since Kyōko didn't braid her hair, but Sayaka said Homura's foot would crush Kyubey's skull at the speed of light if he— it showed itself, so it wouldn't be around long enough to ask. Mami had glanced at Hitsugaya, remembering his own eviction of the Incubator from her apartment, and found his face grimly serene. So each of their classrooms would have a Kyubey-kicker.

Maybe Mami could beat them to it.

Hitomi was waiting for them on the path when they approached. She expressed concern and support for Mami, who lied and said she had been at her "dead friend's" funeral on Sunday. Then Hitomi commented on the braids. Mami quietly gave the cover story while staring downward. She didn't expect to see Hitomi's bag drop to the ground, nor for Hitomi to kneel next to it and rummage through it with near desperation.

"Whatcha lookin' for?" Sayaka asked, fingers twirling the paintbrush-like tail of the little side-braid Yuzu had managed to make in the longest section of her hair.

"Hair ties," Hitomi responded, voice determined. She rose and held up hey hand, victorious. "Hah! Only one. Hmmm. Madoka, will you please braid my hair?"

Mami stared, speechless, as Hitomi stayed kneeling and Madoka swiftly pulled Hitomi's wavy hair into a French braid. Hitomi met her eyes and smiled the entire time. Mami was completely surprised by the tears in her own eyes.

The girl's concern was based on a lie, but if it had been true...

Mami was genuinely sniffling when Hitomi hugged her upon standing.

They all walked to Mami and Hitsugaya's class first. Of course, Kisa and Hanako noticed all the braids and asked. When Mami explained the cover story again after the younger girls left, they both looked at each other fiercely and darted off. Mami stared after them. Kisa was trying to borrow hair ties and finally near-shouted, "I NEED A RUBBER BAND." Hanako tugged at her dark hair after casting around and said, "ME, TOO."

"Your hair's too short— you won't get enough together for a rubber band," another girl commented.

"CRAP." Hanako frowned in thought.

A boy a couple rows back jeered, "Just staple it to your skull."

"PAPERCLIP!" Hanako shouted as she turned to raid the teacher's desk.

"You have good friends," Hitsugaya murmured.

Mami's heart ached and she teared up again. She missed them.

Neither girl managed to get their hair braided before the bell. Hanako was repeatedly scolded for playing with her hair and paperclips. Braids were finally accomplished during their first break. Come lunchtime, the two tagged along with Mami and Hitsugaya to join the lowerclassmen on the roof. It was quite lively; Sayaka, Hanako, and Kisa instantly and gleefully clicked in a way that made Mami wary. Especially considering their glances between Mami and Hitsugaya.

Still, though. Terrible things had happened. Her world had been thrown off-kilter, she had been drawn into a conspiracy of sorts, and her future was uncertain, but she firmly decided it was worth it based on the sole fact that she was now surrounded by friends. She wasn't alone anymore— truly, truly wasn't alone anymore!— and that balanced out literally everything. If this was possible, anything was.

Mami wouldn't be like the magical girls before her who had lost control when exposed to the truth. She would be useful and a faithful teammate and prove herself worthy of everyone's friendship.

She could do this. She wasn't afraid of anything anymore.

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

§ x § x §

A/N: I love these kids.

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.