#homura did many things wrong but she's allowed to and gets a pass to be Murderous

[itsuki-minamy]

“K - THE FIRST STORY”

CHAPTER 4: BLACK OR WHITE (Part 2)

* K - The First Story (List of Chapters) * Projects & Chapters

Translation: Naru-kun Raws: Ridia

Inside the lunch box, alongside the white rice, the colorful and well-balanced garnishes are well packaged. The boy thinks it's like being full of "happiness".

The boy loves it because it looks like the treasure chest with an unbalanced brown lunch that is filled with "special" items like meat and fried foods that are always blessed with recommended side dishes. However, he was impressed by the desperate lunch that Kuro prepared as a harmonious world.

From the lunch box, the boy takes a plump, beautiful yellow egg with chopsticks and puts it in his mouth. The sweetness spread through his mouth. He asked Kuro to do it yesterday, the rolled egg was delicious too, but the sweet flavored egg grill is good too.

While trying with a smile, he heard a clear voice next to him.

"Shiro has his own lunch with side dishes!"

Kukuri opened her eyes and looked towards the shrine that surrounded the lunch box with Kuro and Neko in the coffee shop. For whatever reason, he have two lunches on his hands.

He decided to advance through school with his own face, saying he was a "transfer student."

This school is located on an island, isolated from the outside, and basically he cannot enter the site without a pass. However, probably because they were relieved by safety, the people on the school island were enthusiastic about the safety aspect. Even the seemingly suspicious Kuro and Neko are accepted as "I'm a school person because I'm here with a natural face."

By the way, he managed to calm down Neko, who doesn't like clothes, and put her in the Ashinaka school girls uniform (when the boy praised Neko in uniform like "cute!) However, Kuro is still in his uniform. Also, even though he had a sword on his waist, the people around him naturally accepted Kuro's existence, probably because the boy was with him.

Kukuri looked at the contents of the boy's lunch box with a surprised look, and the boy put his hand on his cheek.

"This time it is my beloved wife's lunch."

"If you just say stupid things, I'll stick my tongue out at you."

Kuro draws his sword threatening to cut off the boy's tongue.

As for Neko, he has already eaten Kuro's lunch, and she looks at Kukuri's lunch and makes a voice that waits, "Are you hungry?" Kukuri opened the lunch box and asked, "Do you want to eat?" She opened the lunch box, but for some reason there was no main food, such as fried or roasted salmon, and various kinds of vegetable side dishes such as slow-cooked dishes, salads, and hot vegetables were packed in the lunch box. She wonders if she is on a diet.

Despite the interaction between Kukuri and Neko, the boy looks towards a PDA.

"Oh, what's up? It's different from the school's designated PDA."

Kukuri said, paying attention to the boy's PDA.

The boy's PDA has disappeared, therefore he borrows Kuro's. By the way, a handmade plush doll hangs from Kuro's PDA. When he told him that he thought it was a hobby that did not suit his face, it seems that it is a doll that he made himself, imitating the appearance of Miwa Ichigen, and from there he began to sigh the story of how wonderful Ichigen was. So sorry to ask. Frankly speaking, Kuro's emotion when he talks about "Ichigen" is very disgusting.

The boy squeezed Kuro's PDA and made another comment.

"It's from my wife."

"Do you really want to separate yourself from your tongue?"

Kuro draws his sword again threatening to cut off his tongue. He's not sure if he's unexpectedly good or if he's really mad, because he can't even pull a joke, but his reaction when he hit him is a bit funny.

After a little tantrum, Kuro regains his mind and turns to the boy looking at the PDA.

"Did you find out something?"

"No, it is an unclear image..."

What the boy sees on Kuro's PDA is that video of a person, who looks exactly like the boy, killing a person.

This was transferred from his classmate Mishina. He said he found this video on a website. With the curiosity and drive of a healthy high school boy, Mishina is good at watching erotic videos and images, avoiding the security restrictions placed on school-designated PDAs. Some of his classmates also have part of the videos that Mishina found. Yesterday, Mishina intercepted the boy in an uncrowded corridor and told him a secret story: "I found a bad video yesterday."

Although the boy does not have a young and perky sex drive like Mishina, he looks at Mishina's PDA with the feeling of "Well, if he wants to show it, I can't wait to see it." But, it was not an erotic video.

It is the video of a murder that was shown on a huge monitor in Shizume.

However, Mishina believed that this video was false. It seems to be treated like a naughty video even on the net. However, the criminal's face looked exactly like the boy, so he became interesting and came to show him.

Mishina laughed mockingly, saying, "If you did something wrong, should you be selfish?"

In fact, the boy cannot tell if it is a fake video. But if the person was actually killed and this was false, it would probably mean that the real criminal had redesigned the footage to replace himself with the boy. However, this video was taken by the murderer himself, and from what the video looks like, it appears that it was taken with a retro camera rather than a PDA. The video itself is also owned by "Homura", whose partner is the murdered person. Could the criminal have tampered with the video? If that is not possible, is it the crime of a person with the appearance of the boy? Is that possible?

The doubts have no end, but what the boy must do is not pursue the truth, but prove his innocence.

The boy never does. The boy who lives in the dormitory has rarely left Gakuenjima except to run errands these days.

The boy looks at the picture. It says "12.07 23:45". It's been a week. Of course, the boy does not remember leaving Gakuenjima at that time.

"Are you seeing it multiple times?"

Kukuri looks mysteriously at the boy's hands.

"Hmm, this is a mysterious video delivered by Mishina."

"Eh, Mishina-kun?"

Kukuri overreacted to Mishina's name. The cheeks are slightly tinted red. The boy suddenly remembered the incident that would save himself at Kukuri's appearance.

++++++++++

Fushimi snorted as he watched the scenes projected on the many monitors in the information room.

Each image in each location is displayed one after another on the monitor. Not only the city's surveillance cameras were collected and analyzed, but also all kinds of data such as personal camera images of PDAs and the content of private communications.

Knowledge of the system. As long as the system is up and running, there will be no privacy for the people of this country.

It was a system that prioritized investigations into people's human rights, which could be triggered by the special "Real Level" information disclosure request issued only in emergencies where an undetermined number of lives are in danger. Since the approval of the activation also requires the permission of the Prime Minister, the order of the "Golden King" Kokujoji Daikaku has also been obtained.

He doesn’t want to activate it to find a child.

Fushimi was alone in his heart and ironically distorted his mouth while looking at the private lives of strangers.

"It is quite a masterpiece."

"Help me if you have free time."

Awashima takes Fushimi's words as dislike without raising her eyebrows.

"I am not free."

Fushimi looks back at his desk and slides his finger over the keyboard.

On Fushimi's desk monitor, there was a video of the murder posted by "Homura." A bullet was fired into the roof of the Hirasaka building, in the Western District, at 11:45 p.m. on December 7.

Tatara Totsuka was not good for Fushimi. When he was in "Homura", even if he showed that he didn't like that Fushimi didn't get used to it, he didn't care and felt like he would stop him and see through the line that he really didn't want to step on. He saw it with his eyes. It was not good for those eyes.

He was a man of the opposite nature to Fushimi, and he always laughed with a face that everything he saw was funny.

"Totsuka-san, you are dead."

A whisper came from Fushimi's mouth.

Fushimi stared at the image of the man whose face was always smiling, falling on the concrete without force.

Suddenly something happened. Akiyama, who was doing the compilation work, called out to Awashima in a whispering voice, "Lieutenant Awashima!" The voice turned the eyes of everyone in the briefing room towards Akiyama.

There was a child on the monitor that Akiyama showed. The facial recognition matches the criminal boy that Fushimi just confirmed. Fushimi's expression also tightened slightly.

"Do you know where he is going?"

"Yes, please wait a moment."

Akiyama immediately responds to Awashima's question and runs his finger across the keyboard. Review the points on the web in chronological order. He was at the foot of a bridge where he is captured by Shizume's surveillance camera, an ordinary PDA camera trying to capture the confusion caused by "Homura's" people, and finally the boy.

A connecting bridge that spans from Tokyo Bay and leads to an artificial island. The boy goes over the bridge and enters the island. That was the last appearance of the boy found by "Yuishiki" (Wisdom).

Awashima looks at the map of the place where the boy was last seen.

"The Ashinaka school island?"

It is a gigantic school that is very independent and does not allow outsiders to enter easily, partly because the whole island is one site.

He hears Awashima mutter under her breath, saying it was troublesome.

++++++++++

Anna finally did.

Yata was running. Anger and fighting spirit burn the flames of the body. From that day on, he couldn't find a place to hit and was swirling in his stomach, turning Yata into a fiery bullet with the target he should be heading for now.

A motorcycle gets next to him and they run side by side, they seem to fly in the landscape around them. There was a huge body that he knew on the motorcycle.

"Yata-san! What's wrong?"

"Oh, Kamamoto! Very good, you are coming too!"

"Where you go?! What happened?!"

Yata looked down the road and told him to sharpen his eyes and growl.

"We're going to the school island."

"Gakuenjima? The school island in Tokyo Bay?"

"Just a moment ago, Anna's skill finally found out where it was!"

Kamamoto took a deep breath.

Anna is a member of the "Homura" clan, but has more power as a Strain than the power of fire. She has always been searching for the criminal's whereabouts with her sensitive ability.

It finally showed results.

Yata remembers the bar just before. Anna spread the map on the table and stared at the many red marbles rolling on it. Its responsiveness detects the criminal's signal, and the marbles move and gather towards a point on the map. Beneath the bright red marble is an artificial island in Tokyo Bay.

“Here.”, Anna's transparent voice said like a decree. The criminal is there.

Yata holds his hand tightly in his fist. That night, it was a hand holding a bloody body. This hand knows the cold body that fell on the rooftop in the middle of the night and the warmth of the blood that was spilled.

Yata gritted his back teeth tightly and said, "Kamamoto, take me." He put his hand on Kamamoto's shoulder and jumped into the back seat without slowing the skateboard propelled by his skill. At the same time, he kicked the skateboard and lift it to catch it in the air.

"Speed ​​it up! I'm going to Gakuenjima to kill that damn guy!"

"Hey!"

Kamamoto twists the throttle grip to accelerate the motorcycle. Grasping Kamamoto's thick back, Yata puts his strength into his arm holding the skateboard.

"Wait, you fucking bastard!", he whispers into his mouth.

++++++++++

In the locker room, which was simply installed by pulling a curtain in the classroom, the boy dressed in a khaki kimono and looked at the borrowed PDA. The video plays on the PDA.

“The date shown in that video that was shown in the city was at 11:45 p.m. on December 7th. Given the distance between the school and the crime scene, it is not possible to move in an hour."

"And so..."

Kuro was also dressed in Japanese clothes. With a short sleeve and a hakama, the original long black hair hairstyle collected and the sword attached to the waist match, and it looks like a samurai.

The boy wears a yellow garment over a khaki kimono. It's a hand-sewn costume for a female student, but it's pretty cool.

"Yes. If it is proven that I was at school around 11:45 PM on the 7th, my alibi will be established."

"But you're in a single room. If you slept alone in the room, it wouldn't be an alibi."

Kuro turned his eyes to Neko. Neko also wears kimono. Although she was wearing it, she didn't seem to know how to wear the kimono, so he could see the white skin with the front wide open.

Neither the boy nor Kuro did not change their complexion because they got used to seeing Neko naked. Perhaps he couldn't see Neko playing with the obi in her hand, and when she approached him, he wrapped the obi around Neko's body with one hand as if he was gathering an old newspaper.

"I'm telling you! I don't accept this testimony as an alibi!"

"Kurosuke, you are stupid! Shiro has been with me since I met him! Wagahai's Shiro is a good Shiro!"

"Shut up. You're saying you don't trust me. If I find out you were responsible for this, don't worry. I'll be prepared."

The boy opened his mouth sweetly, looking at Kuro and Neko as if they were really like a dog and a cat.

"Well, it's my fault. That day was the day that preparations for the cultural festival were allowed at night, and as I recalled earlier, it was a day where there were many incidents."

"Incidents?"

The boy trusted the mysterious Kuro.

"So there must be someone who can prove that I was there too."

The boy used a bird hat to finish. A beard is also attached to the mouth.

"Hmm! How many times do you change your clothes while chatting!"

Feeling free to open the curtains on the simple wardrobe, Kukuri stuck her face inside.

"Oh, it looks good! Shiro-kun, you are a valuable person to look good like Ebisu-sama even if you are not fat at all."

The boy, Kuro, and Neko were forced to try on the costumes they would wear to the main event of the school festival. On the night of the school festival, they will wear these costumes, carry a sword and pull a horse to parade to the shrine behind the school.

The Ashinaka school school festival has a mysterious flavor, in part because it overlaps with the annual shrine festival.

Kukuri was in a good mood when she saw the three people wearing costumes, and while saying to Neko, "Wagahai-chan is a beautiful woman!" On the first day, Neko who hated wearing those clothes and had trouble with the boy's hands, was also happy to be told that she was a beautiful woman.

Well, the boy changed his expression.

He has been living at school almost normally for the past half day, but his life is involved. He has to ask someone to testify that he was at this school that day.

The boy saw Kukuri. The girl who started the confusion that night.

Yes, it started with a runaway boy who fell in love with her.

--- Testimony of the classmate, Sota Mishina.

Oh sure, it was around 11:45 PM on December 7th. There is no doubt that the preparations for the night of the school festival had just finished.

He climbed the stairs of the clock tower with the determination of a generation.

In progress…

#k #k project #k the first story #k novel

[oumiyuki]

The Daily Life of Loving a Really Cute but Dense Vampire Ch22

Ch22 - Umi has a lot of things to say

The doorbell rings and Maki puts the book she was reading to the side, an empty space on her "princess bed" as a certain gingerhead vampire calls it, though it's actually a queen size bed. The redhead could not help but glance at the windows before starting for the main gate downstairs.

Not there, huh?

"Umi." Maki greets with a nod as she opens the doors.

"Good afternoon, Maki. Excuse the intrusion." The ever-polite bluenette returns the greeting as she enters the large Nishikino apartment.

"You're stiff as ever." Maki comments as she lets the door shut on its own, bonus of having autolocks.

If it was Honoka... Why am I even thinking of her anyway?

Umi shakes her head as she makes her way to the second floor. "It's common courtesy. Even Honoka practices that."

Honoka?

The redhead thinks of the rulebreaker gingerhead in an incredulous tone and snorts a laugh. "Yeah, yeah. When she uses the front door and there's an adult there, she does."

Not that I don't understand that it's respectful and is courtesy...

Umi furrows her eyebrows and turns to look at her childhood friend. "Front door?"

Yeah, front door, Umi. The uncommon method to entering a house for Honoka.

Maki just stares at the bluenette for a good ten seconds to see if Umi would make a smart guess, but since Umi wasn't reacting. "Honoka never visited you via the window or something before? I would think she does it at least fifty percent of the time."

Or 100% here...

Umi's face changed into one of enlightenment before she smiled wryly with a short head shake. "Our garden, yes..."

That's Honoka...

They each take their respective positions in Maki's room by the bed before Umi adds. "I scold her each time she does too."

"Why am I not surprised?" Maki teases, her violet eyes twinkling slightly.

That's Umi.

Umi feigns a scared and worried look, a hand to her mock gaping mouth. "This is bad, Maki...We're getting too used to Honoka's antics..."

It only took a second for the two childhood friends to break into a loud, unbridled laughter.

"So...what did you want to talk about? It sounded rather urgent too." Maki recovered first and brought them to the point of this weekend's meetup.

It's rare for Umi to call and ask me to make my weekend or at least Saturday free would have to clear her schedule too after all.

"Ah." The bluenette straightened her posture as her facial expression relaxed; taking a moment to gather her thoughts and consider how she wanted to inform Maki of the current status - she was in a friend-relationship with two vampires who are their classmates. And will soon include Maki.

However, that time of thinking got Maki overthinking.

Is this very serious? What happened? Does it have to do with the hospital so she didn't want me helping Papa and Mama today? Is this..!

"Is this about Honoka?" Maki asked hurriedly, obviously worried.

"What?" Umi blinked at the sudden change in mood as a whole. "I suppose you could say Honoka is involved..."

No...

"Is Honoka alright? What happened Umi? Are...Are Cold vampires involved?" The doctor's apprentice frowned in concern, getting into a standing position.

If Honoka is in the hospital or even have a cut, I want to be the one to patch her up. To make sure she's okay...

The slow to the uptake vampire raised both eyebrowsslowly, at her childhood friend's unexpected barrage of concerned questions. "Maki? Honoka is fine. She's most probably helping out at Homura right now. Hopefully."

Honoka is fine..?

The redhead relaxed considerably but was still tensed.

"No Cold vampires involved too. Thankfully." Umi cracked a smile while Maki had a perplexed look on.

"Then what?" Maki is getting a tad irritated for not getting a straight to the point answer.

If Honoka is involved-

"Don't tell me this has to do with Kotori." Maki frowned, she was feeling that upset feeling which she have yet to fully understand in her again.

Umi wore an amused smile as she observes Maki's blatant jealousy for a certain dense gingerhead. "It's about Nico actually."

Maki was surprised as her fine red brows rose. "Nico-chan?"

What does Umi have to say about the short and foolish class idol- Oh, right. She's vampire and Umi knows. Not that it concerns me.

Umi nods. "And Nozomi..." The bluenette sighs as she thinks about the up to mischief purplenette.

"Toujou-san? Why?" The doctor-to-be was growing more confused.

Umi this time went straight to the point. "Nico and Nozomi are vampires."

"What?!" Maki stood up from the sheer surprise - two of her classmates are vampires?

Umi nods as affirmation. "That's what I learnt and confirmed yesterday after school when I spoke to Nico."

Have they noticed or found out about Honoka? N-Not that it's my issue!

"Nico-chan told you and you took her word for it?" The redhead always played the devil's advocate as she sounded some doubt.

"I saw Nozomi displaying a not human speed, Maki."

"Huh... Alright. Now I know, I won't tell, you know?" The redhead sat back down.

Umi smiles. "I know. But Nozomi is going to approach you and greet you as a vampire friend on Monday. So I thought I'd give you a heads up...If you haven't noticed...Nozomi can be...rather eccentric? She'd probably get on your nerves with teasing."

Toujou-san is going to speak to me more than usual? ...

"Can we not?" Maki crossed her legs to the other side, showing signs of discomfort from considering having to interact with someone other than Honoka or Umi...plus the mysterious vice class president's cheeky smile appeared in Maki's mind.

Umi chuckles a little. "Be nice, Maki. Nozomi just wants to be friends."

"Friends... Not that I don't understand... I mean, I don't care for making more friends!" A blush graced the redhead's cheeks as her hidden desire to make friends surfaced for a moment, and she twirled her hair nervously.

The bluenette knew and decided to give Maki a break, simply replying with sarcasm that Maki is very familiar with. "Riiight, I believe you."

Maki groans at Umi's respond, for Umi was sure to be thinking that Maki is even a little bit happy for a chance to expand her friendship circle by one.

More vampire friends huh..? Sounds fun. Especially since they are good ones...

Maki smiles as she pictured herself, Honoka, Umi and her additional friends - Nozomi and Nico hanging out in the Sonoda's large garden...Not an impossible future.

The guilty of various mistakes vampire (as verdict by her childhood friend) was currently panicking in her family's store. "Ah...what should I do? Is one box of blood manjuu enough? Maybe I should bring two? Umi-chan is definitely going to scold me..."

Type A, type B, type AB... I should pack them all..!

"Honoka. Words." Honoka's mum chides from behind the counter about her eldest daughter' choice of words where a human customer could step in and overhear.

Ah! I said the taboo word blood!

"Sorry..." The gingerhead lowers her head towards her mum as an apology, though she was holding it with both hands out of stress.

"Onee-chan should be scolded anyway. I'm with Umi-san on this." The youngest Kousaka commented smugly from behind the counter.

Uu...Yukiho is a meanie...

"Yukiho~~" The older sister without a dignity, at least when it comes to discipline, whines as she was unable to rebut, she knew she crossed one too many lines in Umi's book of 'Good and disciplined vampires' and could only wait to accept her punishment.

Not that it's stopping the silly vampire to hope that some blood manjuus could make her punishment less punishing (more manjuu in Umi's mouth means less nagging from Umi's mouth! Honoka's logic.)

Yukiho~~ help out your sister~~ please~~

The smaller redhead rolls her eyes at her older sister's childish display in requesting assistance as she passes her older sister a box of blood manjuu meant as appeasing gifts for her older sister's cool and dependable childhood friends. "Make sure to show that you know you've done wrong."

I know...

Honoka pouts as she accepts the box of sweets. "I will... Thank you, Yukiho!" The gingerhead hugs her younger sister out of the blue as thanks.

I know you'll always be on my side! Hehe~

"Mou! Onee-chan! You'll get the manjuus or jumbled up! Let go already!" Yukiho shouts, attempting to break free from her older sister's warm hug, a smile on her lips.

Opps! Wouldn't want to present to Umi-chan a box of messy manjuus... If all the blood splatters... It'll be like a warzone inside!

Honoka simply giggles before running for the door with a wave. "See you later!"

May Umi-chan be in a good mood today!

"Honoka should be arriving soon." Maki comments as she looks towards her room's sliding windows.

"And you think she'll be by the windows and not the door..." Umi shook her head as she smiled wryly; she knows that entering through windows or some other unorthodox way is something her playful and full of surprises friend would do, but she can't stop herself from wanting Honoka to not live life so dangerously - what if someone saw her "break in"!

"We could make a bet." The redhead challenges with her own playful smile.

It's kind of rare for Maki to start a game so Umi took the bait. "You're not allowed to plead for Honoka later if she enters through the door."

Maki wore a look of disbelief. "Since when have I pleaded for Honoka?"

Umi deadpanned. "Any time Honoka hugs you for an extended period, begging you to take her side and ask me to forgive her."

"I don't-"

Maki wanted to deny but-

"And you would look at me with those eyes that says 'Forgive Honoka, Umi? She's too cute to not be forgiven.'" The bluenette laid out the message she gets from the redhead when Honoka seeks help from the very same redhead.

Maki was appalled as she slammed both hands on her quilt soft bed, an angry and indignant pout on. "I never said that! N-never thought that!" Maki stutters as she knew she always thinks that Honoka is cute every now and then, though she denies those thoughts immediately after. "Umi does it too!"

The bluenette was caught off guard that Maki shot arrows back figuratively, an honest blush on the archer's face as she knew she did fall prey to the annoying, relentless and yes, cute gingerhead's beg for forgiveness and help when it was Maki who was the one scolding Honoka. "E-Even so Maki..."

Maki huffs and crosses her arms, looking the other way before speaking through stubborn jaws that did not really want to admit that she found a pleading and hugging Honoka cute. "Fine..."

"What's that?" Umi teased, Maki grumbled her agreement which humans won't be able to catch, but a vampire could.

Maki glared at Umi for a second. "I said fine. The bet's on."

Umi smiles. "Okay."

After some comfortable silence for the two to cool down. "And you're going to ask Honoka to hang out with us more if she comes by the window..."

Umi chuckles at Maki's request that the redhead again mumbled at a really soft volume. "You miss her?"

"I don't." Maki was quick to deny - how obvious.

"Jealous of Kotori?" Umi continued, ignoring her own slight twinge of jealousy.

"No!" Maki grabbed a baby pink feather cushion to throw at Umi.

Umi catches the cushion with a laugh. "Alright, alright. I'll stop." Umi says in between chuckles.

Maki could only frown for two seconds before a smile pulled on her lips - be it these relaxing moments with her childhood friend(s) or the future of spending time together, it puts a smile on Maki's face, even if she will deny it if someone mentions it to her.

Honoka being Honoka loves doing what's more fun and possibly the easier choice, meaning Honoka transformed into a bat the moment she was one street from her home, plastic bag of blood manjuus at her bat feet as she flapped her wings and flew for her amazing doctor friend's house.

"This way is so much faster~ hehe~" Honoka-bat loves the feeling of wind blowing pass her face and wings before she does a loop she probably shouldn't be doing with manjuus in hand. "And fun!"

Oh! Better be careful with these..!

Honoka-bat chuckles nervously at her carelessness.

Please be okay, o great blood manjuus! I need your strength to defeat- I mean appease Umi-chan!

Honoka-bat tug the bag of manjuus closer to her as a show of respect to the o great blood manjuus that she beseeched help from, and with that almost crashed into a lightning pole.

"Wah! Woah! Ah, sorry! Are you okay? Please be okay! Hehe..." Honoka-bat manages to make a sharp swerve in the nick of time, the bag of manjuus perhaps only grazing the pole a little as she exclaims her apology to the unharmed pole and concern for the manjuus.

I really gotta be more careful... If the manjuus get damaged Umi-chan will be even more angrier!

If the box of manjuus could speak, they would tell Honoka that her childhood friends would be more concerned and upset if she was hurt, not the manjuus. But alas, the oblivious gingerhead did not even consider that.

"Ooh~ I see Maki-chan's house!" Honoka-bat almost did a bubbly loop de loop, but stopped herself at the last second, refocusing altitude.

I usually would go to Maki-chan's window...But I guess it would make Umi-chan happier if I go from the front door?

Honoka transformed back to human form, gift box in her hand safely as she looked at the grand gates of the Nishikino apartment, a nervous grin on her lips.

Let's do this!

Not needing a second thought, Honoka attempts to open the gates which shook at her attempt, the metal bending a little from her unintended use of vampire strength but still closed as a locked gate should be.

"Oh, right. Doorbells!" The gingerhead who is rather used to simply entering any of her childhood friend's home laughs to herself before ringing the bell.

A buzz sounded by the security box and the gingerhead's childhood friend also daughter of the apartment voice sounded. "Honoka you idiot."

"Eh? What I do?" Honoka pouted, she expected a friendly greeting, not to be scolded right off the bat!

Was Maki-chan angry at me too? Did I do something?

"Just get in already." Maki was clearly annoyed, but Honoka could make out Umi's chuckle in the background.

"Kay..." Honoka replied as she went through the gates and front door, a worried and puzzled look on her face.

I should have brought some tomato snacks too...Or was Maki-chan grouchy because of Umi-chan..?

Honoka could not quite believe that Umi would upset Maki though, since Umi was perfect most of the time.

"I'm here..." Honoka announced her presence timidly, carefully as she opened the door to Maki's room as carefully as she could too, knowing that if it slammed Umi would get angry.

"Just hurry up and get in already." The still upset for a reason Honoka wasn't sure of redhead spoke.

"Ah, mmph!" Honoka hurried in and just as the door was about to slam itself close as the vampire accidentally puts in way too much force in the push, the gingerhead spun around and grabbed the knob, heaving a loud sigh of relief. "Phew..."

That was a close call!

"Honoka." The bluenette that Honoka was being careful around of calls, which makes said vampire jump.

"Y-yes?" A crooked, guilty smile.

I can't tell what Umi-chan is thinking!

Umi keeps the stoic expression and gestures for Honoka to sit.

Well, now or never! O great blood manjuus, please make Umi-chan happy and willing to forgive my slip ups!

"Umi-chan! These are for you!" The gingerhead was in front of Umi in the next moment, in a seiza position as she proferred the box of Homura's sweets. "I know you're not picky, so there are all the types of blood here which you can enjoy too!"

Umi-chan will see that I'm thinking of what she likes and forgive me! Should.

The guilty as charged vampire raised her head with a wavering smile to see her friend's expression.

"Honoka..." Umi began and Honoka gave her full attention - back straight, still in seiza. A smile poked at the bluenette's lips. "I'm not angry, Honoka."

"Y-You aren't?" The gingerhead smiled hopefully.

I guess I didn't had to worry so much? Umi-chan is really understanding after all!

"No." Honoka propelled herself up on her feet and hugged Umi.

"I love you, Umi-chan!"

"But! I am still going to scold you." Umi cleared her throat as she steeled herself to not be overly affected by Honoka's warm hugs; someone has to be the one to teach Honoka about responsibility.

"Ehhhh~~ Uumiii-chaaan~~" Honoka goes into full blown whining, pouting as she shook Umi's shoulder. "I- I know I was wrong already, there's no need to nag!"

Umi raised both eyebrows - a simple act that made the gingerhead gulp audibly. "I mean there's no need to scold me...I really understand what I did wrong!"

If Umi-chan isn't angry...she shouldn't have to scold me...

"Really now, Honoka? What's the first mistake you made then?" Umi offers Honoka a chance to reduce the nag as she takes a type AB blood manjuu out to snack; the smell was too enticing to wait.

Eh..? First mistake..? Which was it again...

"I forgot to do my math homework?" Honoka made a wild guess.

Umi frowns and Honoka can see her fate already. "That's inconsequential right now, Honoka. And have you done it?"

Wrong guess! Math..? One question is something right?

"I...I started on it!" Honoka quickly replied and Umi breathes out of her nose - not a good sign. "I-I'll finish it by this weekend!"

"Finish it by tonight." Umi stated, ignoring Honoka's expression full of protest.

Tonight is way too much... I forgot to do one exercise last week, and there's another for this week...so it's twenty math problems!

"Umi-chan is a meanie..." Honoka mumbles.

The bluenette shakes her head. "The first thing you did wrong Honoka, was to even forget that we were going to hunt together." Understanding or memory of that day daunts on Honoka. "Do you have any idea how important it is to keep a promise-"

"I was!" Honoka defended to no avail.

With Kotori-chan...

"And how important it is to make sure you quench your thirst? Look what it led to with Maki-"

Ah...The nag has begun!

"Wahh! Maki-chan! Make Umi-chan stop! I'm really sorry for forgetting already!" Honoka hugs Maki from the waist, and directed her distressed, puppy dog eyes at the redhead who pushed at Honoka's face in a weak attempt to get the gingerhead to go away.

"Honoka..." Maki looks to Umi but regrets at vampire speed as Umi's eyes spoke:

"You promised, Maki."

"I know, I know. It's not like I was going to take Honoka's side and get you to stop..." Maki responded with her eyes too.

"You were already..." Umi continued but Maki had already turned away.

"What if it wasn't Maki, Honoka? What if you made another mistake and drank another human's blood..." Umi continued chiding while Honoka pleaded the redhead who decided to shut her eyes, not looking at Honoka's pitiful but cute display helps to not waver.

"Maki-chan..~~"

Maki-chan isn't helping me today... Why? Ahh! Umi-chan is nagging about something else already!

"And Honoka! How could you skip classes along with Kotori? You're leading astray the poor girl who seems obedient and certainly not a rule breaker." Umi shakes her head disapprovingly.

Kotori-chan..? Oh, right...But that's because Kotori-chan wasn't feeling well...and she didn't have lunch...

"I'm sorry..." Honoka apologized as she understood where Umi was coming from - skipping classes is bad, and of course, forgetting to quench your need for blood and taking Maki's is wrong too.

If Kotori-chan started skipping classes, that would be bad...  I like sitting beside her.

Umi releases a long breath as she finished reprimanding Honoka. "You understand now, Honoka?"

"Yes..." Honoka was genuinely apologetic and didn't want to upset Umi further really.

Umi smiles gently and pats Honoka's head lightly. "Good. Don't do it again, okay?"

Umi-chan...Thank you!

Honoka plops herself beside Maki and Umi both happily. "I'll do my best!"

Umi nods satisfactorily and grabs another blood manjuu. "Good."

"That's three cases settled." Maki comments from her side of the bed.

"Oh! Maki-chan do you want a snack too? I can get it for you!" Honoka smiled broadly, she really should have packed some normal manjuu too.

Tomato? Strawberry? Bread?

The redhead considers for a moment before placing her order. "There's a sandwich in the kitchen."

"On it!" Honoka was up and out the door already.

"Was that supposed to be your lunch?" Umi questions.

"Kind of."

"Consume your lunch at the correct timing, Maki." Umi chides as Maki rolls her eyes.

"I just chose not to finish all of it."

"Back!" Honoka accidentally slams the door close, earning her a grimace from Umi as she mouthed her apology.

Ah. Doors always slam...

"Thanks." Maki took a bite of her tomato, cheesy, smoked salmon sandwich with a satisfied "Mm~".

Hehe~ Maki-chan is enjoying her sandwich!

"Oh!" Honoka shouts suddenly.

"What is it, Honoka?" Umi asks after swallowing her fourth manjuu.

I just remembered something fun!

"Are y'all free tomorrow?" Honoka asks, excitement in her entire existence from the tone of her voice to her shining blue eyes and vibrating body.

Umi gestures for Honoka to continue while Maki nods that she was supposedly free.

"I'm gonna play with Arisa-chan and Eli-chan, so I was wondering if Maki-chan and Umi-chan would play with us too! It will be super fun!" Honoka bounced on the bed like a child, looking between each of her childhood friends for her desired answer.

I hope Maki-chan and Umi-chan will be free! And I can show off my Heroic side more~ hehe~

Maki could go to the hospital to help out and Umi could go for more archery and kendo training, but at the look of Honoka's expectant blue eyes, there was no way they were going to tell her no.

"Sure."

"Yay~~!" Honoka cheers and pulls both the redhead and bluenette close to her after linking their arms with hers, which got the three of them laughing. "I can't wait!"

#honokoto #kotohono #fanfic #fanfiction #kousaka honoka #nishikino maki #sonoda umi #minami kotori #yazawa nico #toujou nozomi #ayase eli #hoshizora rin #koizumi hanayo #love live #honoka x kotori #kotori x honoka #love live! school idol project #vampire au

[carolnein]

cleaned up some old pmmm fics for reposting. got three homura-centric rebellion ones in here, under the readmore

1) Kyoko finds Homura’s earring, worries about her once she hears it

2) AUish/continuation. Everyone regains their memories, Homura and Madoka talk about it some

3) Same continuity as 2. Homura convinces Kyoko to join her (cw for emotional manipulation and intentionally triggering someone)

[1, Kyoko and Homura]

“Homura!” Kyoko pounded at her door, the lizard earring clenched in her fist. This thing could break for all she cared, it didn’t matter that it didn’t belong to her. Nothing good was going to come from the little monster. “Open the door before I break it!”

Kyoko was seriously considering smashing her foot into the handle when it finally opened, and Homura stood in the doorway with that silently-angry expression. “Give it back.”

“Not yet.” Kyoko opened her hand just enough to show that she had it, and used up nearly all of her willpower to not drop it in disgust when it started wriggling. “We need to talk first. What exactly is this?”

“It’s mine.” Homura reached out to try and grab it, but Kyoko held her hand up above her head, too high for Homura to reach. “Kyoko, I’m serious.”

“I’m being serious, too. Explain.” Kyoko made her face as stern as she could. “What the hell are you doing to yourself?”

“Inside.” Homura yanked Kyoko through the door by her collar and locked the door behind her. “It’s magic, I can’t explain it all.”

“Then what can you explain?” Kyoko’s remaining composure was spent not falling apart under Homura’s withering glare, and she tossed the earring back. “I’m not leaving until I’m satisfied.”

She watched with mild horror as it crawled its way up Homura’s shoulder and settled around her ear. That thing was just creepy.

“It’s… part of my contract. You know I won’t talk about that.”

"What could that have to do with anything?” Kyoko crossed her arms. “Is this why you hate yourself so much?”

“I don’t—”

“Don’t give me that crap.” Kyoko was absolutely not in the mood to put up with Homura’s denial. “I heard the things it says. Why are you putting yourself through that?”

“Because I have to.” Homura turned away to take a seat, but Kyoko followed her to the couch. “I’m not telling you any more.”

“Then let me talk. I know you have my number, we’re arguing all the time,” Kyoko said. Arguing was fun, but now she worried that their bickering might’ve pushed Homura closer to the edge. “So when you have to listen to that thing, just call me instead.”

Homura raised an eyebrow. “So I can listen to your chewing?”

“Make fun of me all you want, it’s better than hearing that thing.” Kyoko narrowed her eyes at the earring. “Is it talking to you now?”

“It doesn’t always.” Homura didn’t give a real answer, but Kyoko didn’t bring up how suspicious that was.

“I’m gonna call you, and you’d better answer.” Kyoko was going to call her five times a day, just to make sure she picked up at least once.

“Why?” Homura looked confused; not upset like Kyoko thought she might, just confused.

“Because you’re my friend, you damn moron.” Kyoko stood, letting Homura know she wasn’t going to pry any further right now. “I’m worried about you.”

Homura looked away, not acknowledging it. “I’ll lock the door behind you.”

--

It was the third time Kyoko tried calling since that afternoon, and Homura finally picked up with a blunt, “What do you want?”

“Nothing, I’m just calling. What are you doing?” Kyoko was nursing a large bag of chips while watching TV; maybe Homura was doing something more entertaining.

There was a pause on the other end before Homura answered. “TV.” So not anything more fun. “Is there a point to this call?”

“You’re not allowed to go for 15 minutes, then you can hang up.”

There was a load groan on the other end before Homura said, “I’ll be counting.”

Neither of them said much for the time, but Homura faithfully waited until exactly 15 minutes had passed to hang up without warning.

“Heh, moron,” Kyoko said to the dial tone. She would have to do this tomorrow, too.

[2: Homura and Madoka]

It wasn’t even eight PM, but Madoka laid in her bed, facing the ceiling. She tried counting all the little dots just to focus on something, but never made it past five. Her eyes would glaze over, or she would just completely forget the next number like a child who was still learning to count to ten. If something changed and all that mattered in the world was counting every speck on the walls and ceiling in her bedroom, that would be an improvement.

She remembered. Not once did she think that there would be a memory so awful that she would rather forget it, but today she learned that happened. And she couldn’t figure out what she did wrong that caused it.

Counting some barely-visible dots in the dark was more appealing, anyways.

Her phone rang, the cheery ringtone directly conflicting with her mood and almost bringing it down further. If it didn’t display Sayaka’s name she probably wouldn’t have answered it. But Sayaka remembered, too.

“Are you okay?” Sayaka’s voice was aggressive and sudden. It was supposed to be a comforting question, but she sounded as angry as Madoka was tired.

Madoka wanted to say yes, but the word wouldn’t leave her throat. “I don’t know.”

“I still can’t believe this.” Her voice held a rough grumble from keeping it low; her parents would still be awake at this time. “I can’t figure out what we can do to fix it.”

“Me neither.” She didn’t tell her that she hadn’t even thought about it. Every time she tried her mind and body froze, stuck in some feeling between drowning and crying so hard it was a struggle to breathe.

“You don’t sound okay.” It was like a threat directed at no one. That was wrong, though; Madoka knew every single bitter word Sayaka said was aimed at Homura, even though she wasn’t there. Sayaka had insisted that this was all Homura’s fault, but Madoka didn’t agree.

“I’ll just go to sleep soon, it’ll be okay.” When she woke up, surely she would still remember all of this. The world was still messed up. She wasn’t going to be okay.

“No, I’m coming over.” There was a brief silence. “When my parents go to bed, I’m coming over. Leave your window unlocked.”

“Sayaka-chan, it’s fine. Stay at your house.” She just wanted this horrible day to end. Sleeping wouldn’t fix anything, but it might refresh her mind enough to do anything except lay in bed and wanting to cry.

“I mean it. I…I just think both of us need some company right now, you know?” It wasn’t just an offer, Sayaka needed her. This was a confusing request; Madoka had already proven to be completely useless when relied upon. Sayaka could have gone anywhere else.

“I’ll see you later….”

“Be ready for me.” Sayaka hung up first, thankfully before she would hear Madoka’s breathing become unsteady as she was left with her own thoughts again.

If she didn’t unlock the window, Sayaka would probably break through. It took that fear to drag her out of bed to flip the lock open. When she went to return to the comfort of her blankets, she noticed someone else in the room.

Madoka couldn’t tell if her heart was racing out of fear or excitement. Her mind tore at her with past memories and new memories, ripping her in different directions. The new fear that drove her to hide or scream, but the old habit to happily rush forward. She was frozen instead, pained by her inability to move or even know how to feel.

“Homura-chan…”

“Isn’t it dangerous to leave your window unlocked at night?” Homura couldn’t have looked any different from her. Calm and composed despite the many, many things wrong.

“It didn’t stop you from coming in.” Madoka wished that sounded as threatening and accusatory as she intended, but the way her voice cracked gave away how unsure she was.

“Wouldn’t it be a shame after all this, it was just a simple burglar that ended it all?” She sat in one of her chairs, with the posture of a queen right out of a storybook. It matched the twisted expression that Madoka only now realized wasn’t just from being tired.

“Why do you look like that?” Madoka asked, with nothing else to say. Those dead eyes and cruel smile were uncharacteristic of the Homura she thought she knew.

“Hmm?”

“Don’t make that face.” Her hands clenched into tiny fists and she looked down, unable to stare at Homura any longer. “I…I don’t like it.”

“Then why don’t you do something to fix it?” Madoka wasn’t looking, but she was sure she held the same expression. “Didn’t you always like to help others?”

“I can’t….” Everything she did, and everything still turned out like this. “I can’t help you.”

She wanted Homura to say something to distract her, but she was quiet for a while. Eventually, she just said, “Why not?”

“I lost my chance. I ruined everything. And I tried to save you, but I couldn’t.” Her wish was to save magical girls, so that Homura could live a normal life. And she really did mess that up, so badly that Homura had to take control. “Just leave and do what you have to.”

Again, silence. Madoka didn’t risk glancing upwards when she heard a shuffling noise and soft footsteps. Homura stopped in front of her — Madoka could see her legs from there — and touched the edges of her hair. “You kept my ribbons.”

“They were mine,” was all Madoka could say.

“Of course, they always were.” Homura’s hand lingered there for just a moment too long before she pulled back, frozen in the space between them. “What is it you want?”

“I just want us to be happy again,” Madoka said, voice wavering. “I can help you, if you don’t think I’ll get—”

“No.” Homura never raised her voice, but it was forceful enough to stop Madoka from speaking. Normally Homura was emotional, and the new memories showing Madoka her old role as her rock only supported that. But not now; Madoka wasn’t used to Homura being so together. “I want you to do nothing.”

Madoka couldn’t force out a confirmation. Homura thought she was useless. She really was, but to have someone so important to her agree with it, she was speechless. Homura’s hand started to move towards her face, and Madoka backed up with a squeak to shut down a shocked cry, and squeezed her eyes shut.

Unexpectedly, she didn’t feel Homura’s hand against her. So, so quiet, nothing but the sound of their breathing. She cracked an eye open to see her holding it in place, only inches from her face but respectfully distant.

“Now that you remember,” Homura spoke first, “are you going to oppose me?”

“I….” Madoka said, thinking it over for the first time. Sayaka immediately decided they needed to fight. But they were happy in Homura’s version of the world. When Madoka ruled, Sayaka was dead and Homura had just died. But they were all here now, and everything was happy until she remembered the time it wasn’t. It would have been better to forget, and not know how badly she ruined everything. “I don’t want to fight you, and I don’t think you should have to do this alone….”

Madoka flinched when Homura lifted her hand to touch her chin with her thumb and forefinger, not forcing her head up, only resting them there. “I have to do this alone, because nobody else can.”

She gulped hard before speaking again. “I think it’s my responsibility to help you, since I caused it.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Homura said gently. Madoka expected to hear something more accusatory, to drive in the point that it was her fault. “I’ll take care of everything now.”

“But you don’t look happy with this.” Madoka stopped when she felt Homura’s thumb move along her jaw, but mustering the tiniest remains of courage, she continued. “It’s not fair that we can’t be happy, and if you would just let me help, we could be.”

Her hopes were only as high as she would allow them to be, but even that small bit crashed down when Homura finally said, “I can never be happy with you, Madoka.”

Homura’s hand dropped, but Madoka wanted her to stay. She needed an explanation, or any sort of validation. All she wanted was Homura’s happiness even above her own, but…. “Why?”

“You could never understand.” She stepped away, and Madoka snapped her head up to stop her. “Your friend Sayaka Miki is coming soon, correct?”

“She is later.” That wasn’t going to be for a while. “But Sayaka has nothing to do with us right now, you don’t have to go.”

“Goodbye, Madoka.”

“Please, just tell me why!” Homura disappeared in a short flash of darkness, exchanging no further words.

In the back of her mind, Madoka hoped her parents hadn’t heard that outburst. Most pressing on her thoughts was that she wasn’t sure what to do with the sudden flood of emotions. Couldn’t call Sayaka, she was coming over for that exact reason. Couldn’t call Homura either.

She was too stunned and exhausted to cry, although that seemed the obvious course of action. This wasn’t a problem she could bring to her mother, no matter how she tried to phrase it to sound mundane. It was too early to sleep, but she was sure she couldn’t even if she tried.

Before this, she was lying in bed. That was a good place to start. Just lay in bed waiting for Sayaka, so that she could tell her the other ways she messed up.

[3: Homura and Kyoko again]

Fighting with Homura had never been unusual for Kyoko. Starting from the day they met, it escalated from passive-aggressive jabs to petty arguing, and occasionally sparring taken a little too far. She wished she could say there had never been any hurt feelings involved, because until recently that was true.

The emotional pain should have been enough on its own, knowing somebody out there was horrible enough to have taken down their god figure like that. Kyoko hadn’t decided if it was worse that, that person was such a close friend, or that she hadn’t noticed a close friend was in that kind of trouble. Every conversation came back to her, from Homura insisting that she just couldn’t sleep because of school, to some blatant statements about what God meant to her. It was inexcusable that Kyoko didn’t force an answer out of her.

She stood in front of Homura’s apartment door now, too long after their last fight. She lost track of how long it had been since they last saw each other; Sayaka said it had been about two weeks.

Kyoko was still in front of the door, paralyzed by her thoughts. She wanted to trust that she and Homura could have a calm talk about this, but here she was, already transformed, with the tip of her spear pointed at the ground displaying the most trust that she possibly could. After what she heard, she lost all faith in her ability to predict Homura’s actions. Madoka and Sayaka couldn’t have been making any of that up.

Still frozen. She touched the bracelet on her wrist like it could give her some sort of magical courage, as if she wasn’t already aware of what magic was and wasn’t capable of. It was meant for a child’s wrist, and the elastic pressing into her skin was going to leave impressions in the shape of the plastic crosses and beads.

The old memories of her family were a happy place for Kyoko, like Momo was holding onto her hand to face a monster in the closet. “Lord, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” With a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

As tense as she was, she expected some grand dramatic entrance, or to immediately fight her way to safety. But it was just an ordinary door opening to reveal someone standing in the doorway, still in her school uniform like a nerd who was too lazy to change after school. Homura looked as tired as ever, maybe even more so now, knowing what was wrong.

“That was probably the quietest I’ve ever heard you knock,” Homura said flatly.

Kyoko acted like nothing was wrong, or like they’d just seen each other a day earlier. “You, uh…” Kyoko wanted to break the ice, but anything light she could say wouldn’t come out of her mouth as such. “You look like shit.”

“I appreciate the input.” Any sarcasm that would have been in Homura’s voice was gone, replaced by a terrible bitterness. “Were you planning on putting that away?”

“Not really.” Kyoko only tightened her grip on her spear. If Homura was going to be on the offensive, then so was she. “We need to talk.”

“I agree. I was about to come looking for you.” Homura opened the door wider and beckoned Kyoko inside. The inside of Homura’s apartment didn’t look any different, as bare and tidy as ever.

“Really?” Kyoko hoped Homura didn’t notice how sweaty her hands were, making it hard to hold her spear properly. It was risky, but even if it was a trap, she trusted that she could escape. She trusted her ability to fight past Homura more than she trusted Homura herself.

“Would I lie?” Homura picked up the intention in her glare. “Alright, I know. But I have no intention of fighting right now.”

“Yeah, I’m more comfortable like this.” Kyoko didn’t take a seat; this was going to be a short trip. Knock some sense into her and get out.

“You are aware that a quicker access to magic won’t help you defend yourself anymore, aren’t you?”

“Tch. Cocky bitch.” That wasn’t out of the ordinary for a conversation, but normally Kyoko would challenge Homura right then. Now she was afraid that calling the wrong bluffs would put her in real danger for the first time. “What’d ya want?”

Homura crossed her arms over her chest with a distasteful stare. “You showed up at my door. You explain first.”

Kyoko grumbled again, but that was fair. It didn’t change her plan any, at least. “I wanted to talk. Make ya come back.”

“Hmm?” Homura’s face was unreadable.

“You did some dumb things, but…you can be forgiven.” The tip of Kyoko’s spear rested against the carpet so it wouldn’t shake. “If you wanna talk yer problems out or somethin’.”

Kyoko didn’t think that would work, but she definitely didn’t think Homura would start giggling. “Oi, what’s so funny?!”

“I was going to make the same offer, actually.”

“You…wanna come back?” If she wanted that, she didn’t need Kyoko to do it.

“No, of course not.” Something about Homura’s dead-eyed, unsatisfied smile gave Kyoko chills throughout her entire body. “I wanted you to help me.”

“Oh hell no.” Kyoko instinctively held the pole with both hands, raising her spear just off the ground.

Homura didn’t seem phased. “Funny you should bring that up.”

“What’s that?”

“Hell.”

“It’s where yer goin’ if you don’t cut the crap!” Kyoko wasn’t even referring to Homura’s declaration of being a devil now. Even without that, she had done some terrible things.

“Kyoko…Sakura.” Homura’s face still held that unnerving expression. “Do you honestly believe all people who acted wrongly go to Hell?”

“That ain’t on me to decide. But… come on, this is wrong.” Kyoko grit her teeth. “Ya get that, right?”

“Do you think your father was allowed into Heaven for what he did?”

“This ain’t about that!” Kyoko impulsively widened her stance to stabilize herself and pointed the sharpened end of her spear directly at Homura. “You gonna get some sense in that head or no?”

Homura, unfazed, pushed her spear to the side and walked closer. Kyoko only glared harder the closer she came, but if Homura wasn’t on the offensive, Kyoko wasn’t going to provoke her. Silent and ignoring her aggressive stare, she took Kyoko’s wrist and held firmly enough that she wouldn’t be able to pull away easily.

Homura looked at the bracelet, face again expressionless. “Isn’t this a little small for you?”

“S’not mine.” Homura reached up to touch it with her other hand, but Kyoko yanked backwards, still not broken free. “Don’t!”

After a tense few seconds, Homura let her go. “Was it Momo’s?”

“I’m here to talk about you and me, nothin’ like that.” Kyoko held her hand close to her chest and out of Homura’s reach, weapon still out in case she needed to collapse it into a chain and buy a few seconds.

Homura’s smile came back; Kyoko couldn’t remember a time when Homura smiling wasn’t something to be happy about or laugh at. “No, it is related.” Homura then explained herself unprompted while Kyoko was still collecting herself. “Were you happy?”

“Whaddya mean?” Of course Kyoko wasn’t happy; right now, at least, on the verge of a fight.

“In your past. At any point in history, actually. Tell me about how you felt.”

“We already talked about that.” Kyoko frowned, assuming there was a point to all this. “Guess I was pretty happy as a kid. Then uh… not, later. And I was doin’ pretty well now until ya pulled this!”

It was absolutely infuriating how Homura’s face never changed. She was never an expressive person, but right now, being watched with an unchanging, almost-accusatory stare was only stressing Kyoko out and making it harder to answer. “And the memories you retrieved?”

“What about ’em?” The fact that Kyoko didn’t want to linger on them should have been enough of a sign that they weren’t great. It wasn’t normal to remember your own multiple deaths.

“Were they happy memories, under a god you were defending?”

“It’s just the past, that don’t matter.” Kyoko was angry right now, and Homura was trying to divert her rage anywhere but at herself.

“That’s all that matters right now. Sayaka Miki is alive now, isn’t she? Don’t you remember what happened to her under Madoka’s laws?”

Kyoko grit her teeth. “She just used up her magic or somethin’, that Law of Circles thing.” Sayaka had died before they had the chance to talk very much. “That could happen at any time.” If the world never changed, Kyoko would never have been as close to Sayaka as she was now.

“But it hasn’t. I was able to bring her back, unlike Madoka.” Homura hadn’t changed expressions, Kyoko was sure. But she looked different now, like she was more empathetic. “So what’s wrong with this arrangement?”

“Because Madoka wasn’t a damn nutcase.” It was wrong accepting a divine gift like that from someone so twisted.

“I think we’re long past the point of morality by now.” Homura smiled, more intimidating than warm. “It made you happy, didn’t it? I’m your friend; you can trust me.”

“Friends don’t do…anythin’ you did.” In truth, for the very first time it was hard for Kyoko to refer to Homura as a friend. Her arm twinged with the light ache of holding a weapon outwards for too long, but she didn’t dare put it away.

“Then what about God? Would you say He is fair?”

Kyoko wanted to hit her to see if that would put a more tolerable expression on her face. “Of course.” She didn’t even bother asking what the point of the question was. This entire conversation was Homura spouting senseless crap and turning it to her favor.

“Including your family?”

“No, I already said this, we ain’t talking about that.” If Kyoko could glare any harder, she would have. Her hand was around the pole of her spear and tightly as she could grip. Her jaw was clenched, knees locked, every muscle flexed and stiff. She couldn’t possibly express any more anger even though rage was building further.

The corners of Homura’s mouth tugged into a tighter smile. “You always sounded confident in your family’s devotion. And can you remind me how they were repaid?”

“That wasn’t Dad’s fault or God’s.” Kyoko couldn’t say whose fault it was, but it wasn’t either of theirs.

“Nothing happens without reason. What would you say caused it?”

“It… it was his followers, they didn’t understand.” There was no excuse to not listen to Kyoko’s father. “They drove him to…” It wasn’t fair.

Homura moved in the tiniest bit closer, and Kyoko found herself fighting intimidation from someone smaller than her, in every sense but her overwhelming presence. “Drove him to what, exactly?”

“Already told ya.” Kyoko tried to sound bitter, but only came across as reluctant to her own ears.

“Then I’ll remind you. Your father was hanging from the chandelier, correct?”

His body was still limp when she walked through the doors. It wasn’t moving at all, he was dead long enough that the chandelier wasn’t swinging.

Kyoko took a step back, succumbing to whatever fear Homura was putting out. “Stop it.”

For every step she took back, Homura closed in equally. “And your mother and sister, burned to death.”

They had only recently been bringing in money again. She wasn’t used to smelling meat cooking when she walked up. It was darkly amusing to think that her mother was so out of practice with cooking that she burned it. Never could she imagine humans could smell like that.

Kyoko couldn’t even look at Homura. “Stop it…”

“Could you see their faces? Did they look peaceful like everyone says? Or were they scared?”

Her father looked surprised, drooling, eyes nearly bulging out of his head. She didn’t look at him for long, but her gaze found her mother and Momo next, charred beyond recognition and only differentiated by size. Even if she could look at them long enough, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to identify an expression.

“Stop!”

“Was anything I’ve done any worse than those memories?”

Kyoko didn’t answer; she only yelled. She dropped her spear to the ground, took a step back, and swung her fist as hard as she possibly could towards the center of Homura’s face. It hurt her hand, but she looked back to see that Homura never even moved. Her fist deflected off something unseen between them.

Surprisingly, Homura didn’t return the attack. Kyoko would have been able to handle a fight better than facing such restraint. “I don’t know why I expected you to think about this logically or quietly.”

“Damn you!” Kyoko’s eyes stung, a culmination of the frustration and fear that had no other outlet.

“Curse me all you like, I’m only explaining that I’m correct.” Homura knelt down to pick up the fallen spear, passing it back to Kyoko shaft first. “And I have an offer.” Kyoko answered by taking the weapon and not attacking her again. “I want you to join me.”

“Like hell!” Kyoko could barely stand being in the same room as her; she couldn’t help someone who had done so much wrong. “Why would you think I’d do that?!”

“You’re strong, intuitive, and you’re loyal.” Homura smiled wider this time, more natural and familiar. “And you’re my friend. I trust you. I’d enjoy working together with you again.”

“Then get your ass back from whatever fantasy you’ve been living and come back with me. We’ll work together on something right.” Kyoko was just sick now. Tired. Wanted nothing more than to go home and bring Homura with her, and maybe take a nap.

If Homura noticed how close her voice was to cracking, she didn’t mention it. “Promise me you’ll think about it.”

“Whatever.” Kyoko transformed back into her shorts and jacket, not looking to draw any more attention than she already might have.

“I mean it. I’ll be waiting for an answer.”

Kyoko slammed the door before Homura could hear the strangled crying fighting its way out of her throat.

--

Kyoko didn’t plan on thinking about it. She left Homura’s apartment angry and vowing to never talk to her about it again. But every time she spoke to Sayaka, she couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like without her. When she was bored with nothing to do, she remembered having little free time because she had to fight so often.

It wasn’t wrong to passively enjoy this kind of gift, was it? She wasn’t thanking Homura for it, or doing anything to further whatever heretical plans she had in mind. Her only sin was selfishness, by not changing her lifestyle knowing that things were different. Kyoko could handle being selfish.

Another day passed, and another. And with each one, she thought more and more about it. It was impossible to not change her life knowing that she could have lost even more than she already had. Sayaka complained that she was too clingy, but she didn’t understand.

She couldn’t talk to Sayaka about her internal conflict either. The only answer she would get was that of course Homura was wrong, everything she did was wrong. But Sayaka didn’t understand. The only thing she lost in the gap between their memories was that musical block of wood, and Sayaka was long over that guy now that she had Kyoko.

That’s how Kyoko ended up standing up in front of Homura’s door only three days later. She knocked on the door as politely as she was able, dressed casually. Her soul gem was held firm in her fist; she was willing to risk the seconds it would take to transform this time.

Homura didn’t look any different from the last time she was there, and unfortunately just as intimidating for someone who was previously a quiet loser. “Have you made a decision?”

Kyoko didn’t waste any time saying it as soon as the door was closed behind her. “You were right.”

“Hmm? What about?”

Kyoko was too tired to argue over Homura’s feigned naivety. “Everything. We’re all happier now.” It was hard to admit it, but she was so wrong before. The instant she thought about the proof Homura showed her, everything made sense. “Even Sayaka. She won’t admit it, but we’re all happier.”

“I’m glad you were able to see reason.”

“Yeah…” The back of Kyoko’s mind still yelled at her that it was wrong. But the only thing wrong about it was that it was new. The whole world was different, so she needed to adopt a new philosophy to match it.

Still lost in thought, Homura came up to her for a strong hug, stopping her mental processes short. “You’re a good friend,” Homura reassured her.

“You are too.” Kyoko hugged her back, maybe a little too tightly due to her shaking. But she was going to help make the world better, like she always wanted to.

#kinda light editing tbh but hopefully it should all be clear now; some of it reads fuzzy #this stuff is so old it's embarrassing to read it unedited lmao what a mess #pmmm #madohomu #chriswrites #kyouhomu