Kaname household-Early Morning

The sunlight filtered through the windows, the beam of light resting over Madoka's eyes. She slowly opened them, letting the beam softly blind her for a moment before immediately closing them and turning on her side. For a few moments, she laid there, attempting to grasp at the weird dream she had, but as quickly as she tried to remember it, the dream faded. Something about a giant monster in the sky, and...buildings?

"Dreams are so weird…" She softly whispered to herself, attempting to fall back asleep before quickly realizing what time it was.

Madoka slowly got out of bed, still half awake, walking out of her bedroom to the sound of Tatsuya in Junko's room. She shook her head a little, walking towards the room where she was probably still sleeping. Madoka flung open the door, the scene exactly as she expected it. She approached her, flinging the covers off her sleeping body.

"Rise and shine" She excitedly said to her. Her mom was temporarily panicked, but quickly understood what was happening.

"Huh?" Was all her mom could respond.

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Madoka stood in front of the mirror, silently debating whether to wear the red or yellow ribbon. Junko gestured towards the red one in her hand.

"You don't think this is too flashy?" She asked.

"Don't worry about that. You'll have admirers all over you"

Madoka blushed a little, tying the ribbon in the form of a short twintail, if one could call it that. She had to admit: It looked fitting somehow.

She walked down the stairs, taking the slice of toast off her plate and rushing out the door. As she ran to meet Hitomi and Sayaka, she began to slow down a little. She couldn't describe it, but she could swear she was being followed.

Madoka turned around, looking around at the riverside road behind her. There was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, at least at first glance. She would have investigated further, were she not already on the verge of being late, but she was, so she didn't.

"I-If you're there, please stop following me." She nervously stated.

Maybe it's one of those admirers mama was talking about…

She shook the thought from her mind. An admirer wouldn't go and start stalking her...would they?

"I-If you're an admirer, you don't have to stalk me. I'll be happy to talk to you later, if you'd like…"

A voice behind her sent her back into reality, but all too late.

"Ohh, Madoka, my sweet Madoka...my sweet little flower. Please go out with meee….I'll do anything for yooou"

Madoka slowly turned, watching Sayaka make a point of passionately kissing the air in front of her. She couldn't hide the redness in her face as she watched this go on. Hitomi, meanwhile, tried to suppress a laugh, but only succeeded in muffling the sound.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry…" She managed to get out before returning to laughter after Sayaka began bringing the air closer to her, locking "eyes" with the invisible figure. Madoka looked away, but couldn't help letting out a laugh herself, despite her embarrassment.

The 3 girls only stopped when they began to notice the people brushing past them, making their way to the school in the distance.

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The morning went on as they had thought it would, aside from an especially...passionate rant on how eggs should be cooked from an annoyed Saotome. Sayaka leaned in next to Madoka.

"Looks like it didn't quite last" She whispered.

"Guess not…" Madoka replied, slightly exasperated. To her slight surprise, Saotome cleared her throat.

"In other news, we have a new transfer student. Come on in." She stated, gesturing towards the door.

"Shouldn't she have mentioned that first?" Sayaka asked.

The girl walked in, evidently shy with everyone watching her. Her black pigtails seemed to flow in an invisible wind, purple ribbons holding them together. The bright red glasses over her eyes were shaking almost as much as she was. What really caught Madoka's eyes, however, was a black piece of jewelry in her hand.

"M-my name is Akemi H-Homura. P-pleased to meet you"

As she wrote her name on the board, Saotome continued.

"Homura has been in the hospital with a heart condition for a few weeks, so she'll need some catching up. I'm sure someone would be willing to share notes" The girl walked down the rows of chairs, taking her seat in front of Madoka, and putting the small gem onto her desk.

"Um...Miss Akemi? We ask that you not leave jewelry out in the open like that. Please keep it in your bag…"

"I-It's important. I-I'll make sure it's not too bothersome, though."

Saotome let out a sigh.

"Alright, but if it gets stolen or lost, you're responsible for it."

Homura nodded excitedly.

"I understand"

"So, what do you think of the new girl?"

Madoka and Hitomi looked over at Sayaka, casually looking at Homura in the distance.

"What do you mean?" Madoka responded. "She seems fine to me."

Hitomi nodded in agreement.

"You don't think she's the slightest bit odd? A new girl transfers to our school in the middle of the year, carrying a gemstone that's supposedly incredibly important to keep out. You don't find that weird?"

Madoka and Hitomi looked at each other, then back at Homura, trying to keep off a crowd of people asking her questions.

"Plus, she has a really weird vibe about her. That girl isn't normal, that's for sure." Sayaka added.

"Don't say that" Madoka interjected. "She's new here. We should try to make friends with her." As if in response, Homura approached her, the trail of people seeming to follow her like a magnet.

"I'm not feeling too well. You're the nurses aide for this class, right miss…"

"Kaname Madoka. I'd be happy to take you to the nurses office."

Madoka got up out of her chair, taking Homura by the hand and walking her out the door. The two of them traversed the hallways, Homura looking around at everything she could get her eyes on with deep fascination.

"Um...Miss Kaname?" She asked nervously.

"Please, call me Madoka."

Nothing was said for a short time after that, until Madoka realized that Homura had stopped following her. Instead, she stood in the hallway, a worried expression crossing her face as she pulled out the little gemstone she had been eyeing all morning, clutching it to her chest.

"I-If you could wish for anything you wanted, w-what would you wish for?"

Madoka took a step back, taking a moment to process the question she was just asked while dealing with the hundreds of others crossing her mind.

"I...I don't…" Madoka looked up at Homura's face, seeing it as an even brighter shade of red than her face was in.

"I'm so sorry. That came out of nowhere, and I'm still very new to this." Before she could ask more questions, Homura interrupted her thoughts.

"The nurses office is just down the hall, right?"

Madoka nodded her head, though questionably.

"Yes, but…"

"Thank you so much, and I'm so sorry." With that, Homura bolted down the hall, leaving her standing alone in the hallway.

Her mind replayed the conversation, attempting to find some sort of sense in what she had asked.

What would you wish for?

Maybe Sayaka was making some sense after all…

A/N: This was just an idea I had out of the blue, so I started writing about it. I hope you enjoy it, and I will see you next chapter.