Chapter Text
Madoka doesn’t think of the whispers around the school, her mind unable to focus on them as she walked through the corridors, Homura by her side, a quiet comfort slowly etching it’s way into her brain, it was...probably not going to ever go back to how things used to be, to the life she had with four best friends, two who were always by her side and two that were far far away, Harue and Homura were here, she couldn’t ask for anything more, couldn’t hope for things to get better
It getting worse was just a natural occurrence, if something couldn’t get better, of course it would get worse, of course it would go downwards, Madoka just...didn’t expect it, didn’t expect it to come so soon, maybe she just didn’t think about it all
She should have
She was happy for a little too long wasn’t she? What has she ever done in her life that amounted to anything? She got one thing for herself, got something to prove that she wasn’t as worthless as she looked and where does she lead that to? To having her friend killed by the monsters she was supposed to hunt, because she couldn’t find it in time, because she refused to go out along with them, because she thought she had something more important to do
Sayaka said it right didn’t she? If she just said yes...if she was just there when it happened…
“Madoka?”
“...huh? O-oh sorry I got lost in thought...what is it Homura-chan?”
“It’s just...the look in your eyes, are you feeling ok?”
Blinking, Madoka wonders what Homura meant by that, the squeeze on her hand growing stronger as Homura’s eyes carefully inspect her once more
Swallowing, Madoka turns away from her
“I...yeah I am, about as good as I can feel right now”
Staring at her for a couple more moments, Homura slowly nods, as if not believing her, as if her words weren’t enough to convince Homura that she was doing ok
It was the truth so she couldn’t blame her for noticing either
The whispers grew louder, Homura’s eyes wandering around for a brief moment before they went back to her, a squeeze of her hand against Madoka’s own as if a declaration that she was only paying attention to her
Giving her a shaky smile, they continued walking, whispers growing louder, the crowd around their class making Madoka wonder what else could have happened
Slowly making their way through the crowd, Homura frowns as she does, sighing before looking over at Madoka with an annoyed expression on her face, muttering out
“...what are they so obsessed with, did the principal put in another transfer student or something...but why would that happen”
Smiling, Madoka softly replied
“Well, we didn’t expect you either Homura-chan, so who knows?”
Turning her eyes back to Madoka, Homura sighs as her eyes soften slightly
“...right, I guess it can happen after all”
Finally entering the classroom after Homura gave a few scary looks, Madoka walked over to her seat before she had to do a double take, the edge of her vision having green that wasn’t supposed to be there, turning her head to Homura, she saw a surprise on her expression too, bitting into her lip, Madoka slowly turned to the green hair
Turned to Hitomi who stood there, like nothing happened, like she wasn’t dead a week ago
Like Madoka didn’t see her corpse in her dreams
Tears gathered up in her eyes when she saw Sayaka awkwardly walking over to her, her head hung low
“T-that...I’m...f-fuck just...this is my apology...you get it right? I’m...i said something stupid so—”
Pulling Sayaka into a hug, Madoka pushed her face into her shoulder, tears constantly running from her eyes, sobs picking up as she gasped for breath, Sayaka’s arms slowly pulling around her back
“...y-you didn’t have to I...t-thank you...thank you f-for bringing her back...t-thank you so much Sayaka”
“...not like I did it alone, make sure...make sure to thank Harue as well, she did the hard part”
“I...I will…”
A third voice appears near them
“Madoka? Are you...crying?”
Lifting her head off Sayaka’s shoulder, Madoka turns to Hitomi, a smile on her face as she weakly responds, tears clouding her vision—
“O-of course not! You’re...you’re back! How can I cry now?”
—so much so that she didn’t notice the expression on Homura’s face at that moment
***
“FUCK! YOU CRAZY BITCH, STOP CHASING ME!?”
Rolling her eyes, Kyoko bit down on her lollipop before lazily slashing at the girl’s legs who just barely blocks it with her staff, crazy look appearing in her eyes as she tries to stumble away once more
“How rude, you call me that after stealing from me?”
Hitting the wall, the girl turns back to Kyoko, her eyes full of panic as she raises her staff with shaky hands
“HOW IS IT STEALING IF I WAS THERE FIRST!?”
“Well obviously I was fattening up that familiar for myself! Honestly, you come into my part of town and don’t even follow the goddamn rules?”
The girl’s eyes fill with hopelessness, staring down at Kyoko as if she was some sort of monster, frowning at that look, Kyoko kicks her staff away before using the but of her spear to slam into her thighs sending her to the floor
Raising back her leg, Kyoko sighs
“Maybe I should move again...nobody has any respect here”
Kicking the girl into her gut, Kyoko looks down to the grief seeds on the ground, not wasting a moment before using it to clear up her soul gem
Starting to walk away, Kyoko spares her a glance, a small furrow appearing in her eyebrows when she spots the dire state her soul gem was in, staring at it for a couple moments, Kyoko scoffs
“...not my problem, she can drop dead for all I care, wonder if I’ll be able to recognize her...”