Chapter Text
Knowing you're going to die young is a painful thing to grow up with.
When Homura was 5, her parents were hopeful that her heart only had a minor blip. They comforted her and assured her everything would be alright.
When Homura was 8, her parents were worried but told her she would stay in school and they would get her the best care in Japan.
When Homura was 10, her parents were resigned. They stopped making promises, stopped always being there and stopped talking about the future.
When Homura was 12, her dad asked Homura what the point of a child who wouldn't even live long enough to inherit his legacy was.
Homura is now 14. The last time she saw her parents was 4 months ago; she doesn't know when she'll next see them. Or if she even wants to. (That's a lie, of course she wants to know they still care about her. Even if she knows they don't)
The doctors have assured her that after her surgery, as long as she has her medication, she should at least live till 20. She can even finally go back to school.
Her parents left her a massive stipend that is probably not even a hundredth of what they earn a month, a nice but entirely empty flat and a note that she will be enrolling in Shirome Junior High rather than Mitakihara Middle School like she had planned. Apparently, her going anywhere else would be an embarrassment to them. Though not enough of one for either of them to tell her in person.
Homura can't help but regard that particular choice stolen from her with some level of despair. Mitakihara Middle School was her chance to meet people who would never think to ask about her parents. A small, stupid chance for Homura to try and work out who she is outside of the shadow of a mother and father who are no longer there for her.
Not that it matters much, she supposes. Not like a person who spent the last two years spending more time in the hospital than out of it, and the last half a year entirely bedridden, has any idea how to make friends with normal people. Or that she actually has time to work out who she is.
6 years means she's more than two thirds of the way through her life. Yet she doesn't have any friends, any family who care about her or anything else other than an empty house without even the barest scraps of personality.
Homura does have the money to fill said house with whatever she wants, but she doesn't actually know what she wants. Suddenly going from the routine of the hospital to being given complete agency isn't freeing; it just leaves her adrift.
She spends the days she has before transferring into school trying to catch up on the material she's going to be learning. Though all that does is make it clear how behind she really is. Shirome is a school that supposedly has high expectations. Homura, on the other hand, has been in hospital dealing with her heart trying to die off. Which was never the most conducive environment for study. Nor did a 50% success chance for the operation make a particularly motivating environment for worries about the future.
She was really assuming she wasn't going to win the coin toss. Which means now she has to live with the fact she's almost a year behind where all her classmates are going to be.
Still, even if she's behind on everything, can barely participate in physical classes due to her having spent so long bedridden and needs to take medicine every school day, Homura is still determined to give it a try.
This is the first chance she's had to live a life in years. Not only that, it's the only one she's going to get. So she needs to make a good first impression and maybe make some friends. Sure, she's been nothing but a dying inconvenience to everyone for her entire life, but maybe she can be more?
So Homura does her braids, puts on her glasses, gets in her school uniform and sets off to Shirome.
Before immediately getting lost on her way to her first class.
Shirome did have an orientation that included a tour, but she was lined up for surgery that day and missed it. Which means being told she needs to go to room 214 for her lesson may as well be gibberish.
After a failed attempt to find where she's meant to be going, which only serves to get her more lost, Homura finally manages to get the attention of a teacher and explain her circumstances.
Thankfully, he gives her directions and promises to send someone to give her a tour after her class, so this doesn't happen again. Homura thanks him profusely before setting off at a fast and slightly tiring walk to her class.
By the time she gets there, she's slightly late, but thankfully, the teacher seems understanding. Homura manages to stumble through her introduction, only stuttering on half the words, before sitting down at a desk.
She barely understands what the teacher is talking about, something that, based on the way the people around her seem to be following without issue, spells trouble for the future. Still, as it's her first lesson, she's not called upon, and she gets to retreat out of the class without revealing just how behind in everything she is.
Once she leaves the classroom however, everything gets worse. She finds herself surrounded by at least half the class, all swirling with questions.
Half of them are innocuous things like what school did you go to before, or what are your hobbies? The other half are things that make Homura want to hide in a corner.
"What does your family do?" "I swear I've heard Akemi before. Are they in politics?" "No, I think they're in business" "Does that make you an heiress?"
Not only do the questions come in so fast that Homura can't answer them if she wanted to, but just like she knew would happen, she's already being overshadowed by her parents' name. Her lack of a future and failure to be what her parents wanted already being thrown, inadvertently, in her face.
"Excuse me," A voice cuts through the noise. It sounds warm but has an authoritative edge.
The noise immediately quiets down. Homura notices a few glares being thrown at the tall blond girl who just stepped into the conversation.
"What do you want, Mikuni?" One of the girls around Homura asks.
"Nothing much, I am simply doing my duties as student council president", the girl responds before turning to Homrua, "You are Miss Akemi, correct?"
"Um. Yes," Homura isn't quite sure what's happening, but now that only a single person is talking to her, she can at least respond.
"I'm Mikuni Oriko. I was asked to show you around the school since you apparently missed orientation"
Seeing the chance, Homura steps away from the crowd around her and steps toward Oriko, getting a smile in response.
"Follow me. I should be able to show you how to get around without much issue"
Homura nerviously follows Oriko, who seems to be moving with incredible confidence. Something about her seems graceful, and her smile feels real, even if Homura's sure it's just to make her feel more comfortable about the inconvenience she must be giving Oriko right now.
She seems like everything Homura isn't.
"I'm sorry about all of that. I'm sure it was rather a lot to deal with at once. Once people get a better idea of you, they should act more calmly"
"No... It's ok. Thank you for the help" Homura manages to just about avoid stumbling over the words.
"No need to thank me. Getting the chance to actually do something to help is a nice change"
"You said you were the president of the student council?"
"Yes, though that position means a lot less now than it used to. Still, I'm reliable enough that the teachers here still trust me for things like this" There is something slightly melancholy to Oriko's tone at the first part of the sentence, but it doesn't last long enough for Homura to ponder it.
Homura stays quiet for a while, letting Oriko explain what the numbers or letters of rooms mean and how she can find her way around the school. Oriko is unfailingly polite, and when Homura tires out, she stops without prompting and lets Homura take a break. As embarrassing as that is. What type of person gets that exhausted from a flight of stairs and a few hallways?
Homura knows it's due to her hospital stay, but that doesn't change the fact that she hates it.
Eventually however, as they go down one of the school's hallways, someone decides to interact with Oriko rather than ignore her existence or sometimes shoot her a dirty look.
Homura's spent the entire walk tempted to ask the reason behind those, but that would be unbarably rude, so she just stays in silence and lets Oriko lead her around.
"Why were you not in maths, Mikuni? I had to answer all of the questions because someone was absent. I saw you walk past the classroom"
"Hello to you, too, Komaki. I am currently giving Miss Akemi a tour of the school. As such, I was excused from the timetable for that slot"
"A tour? Isn't it a bit late for that kinda thing? Are you that scared I'm going to embarrass you in class that you need to start making excuses? Because that would be kinda humiliating, you know"
"If you must know, she was in hospital recently and so missed the first part of the term. Hence why she requires said tour"
"Huh, wait, why'd you get asked to do that?"
"I am still student council president, you know. So I was asked to"
"You are? I was sure you'd been kicked off that by now"
"Elections for that are held at the end of the year, and there is no involuntary removal process. So I do still hold the role, despite certain people's opinions about that"
"Guess that makes sense. Good on you, being an irritant. The entire student council is made up of pretentious people, so they deserve the annoyance"
"I notice you didn't exclude me from that judgment"
"Yeah, because you're pretentious as hell. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy you being a thorn in everyone else's side though"
"As pleasant as our chats are, I was about to lead Akemi to the nurses' office to pick up her medication and finish the tour"
"Yeah, sure, get on with it. She doesn't seem arrogant enough to be one of those old family posh people, considering she's spent this entire chat practically hiding behind you, so I haven't got anything against her. Maybe I'll see you again at some point, Akemi"
Komaki then sets off without saying goodbye to Oriko.
"Who was that?" Homura asks as the intimidating girl who had been acting kinda rude towards Oriko leaves.
"Asako Komaki. She's a rather caring person, if overly blunt. Though considering she's in the year above you, I doubt you and she will be interacting much"
"She seemed kinda rude to you"
"Komaki thinks of herself of something of a rival to me. Still, she is much more polite to me than some people, so I don't count it against her"
Homura opens her mouth to ask about said 'some people' before closing it again. She doesn't want to make things awkward, especially since, while Oriko's been nice to her, she is a third year. So it's not like Homura will be interacting with her much past today.
"You were going to ask about why some people seem to find me distasteful, were you not?" Oriko asks, seeing right through Homura.
"No, I, I mean", Homura quickly stammers
"It's ok. I take no offence. It's natural to be curious. To put a complex matter simply, my father was a rather respected politician who had a rather ruinous scandal before committing suicide. I am, to an extent, judged for his actions as his daughter"
"Oh, I'm sorry" Now Homura just feels really bad for speculating.
"Don't be. You bear no responsibility for what has occurred. Though I would recommend that you don't speak too fondly of me after today. Regardless of your beliefs, I am something of a pariah here, and you don't deserve to suffer by being associated with me. Though the tour should pose no issue, considering it was mandatory"
"Was it?"
"No, but no one can prove otherwise. So the fact I took you around is the fault of the staff here rather than your choice"
The idea that someone can be so hated for something like that feels awful to Homura. If one of her parents does something, will she be judged for being their child despite barely interacting with them?
"Th, that shouldn't be how things work"
"Perhaps not, but it is the world we live in. As cold as it is to say, having friends here will be very useful to your future, no matter what you wish to pursue. As such, disavowing this experience will only be to your benefit"
"But you didn't do anything wrong"
"Do remember I'm the person narrating this. For all you know, my reputation is deserved. Now I believe this is the nurse's office. Will you need help getting to your next class after this?"
"No, I'm fine", Homura says, not wanting to inconvenience Oriko even more than she already has.
"You seem like a very kind person, Akemi. We probably won't be meeting much in the future, so I hope your time here goes well. If you do end up needing any help, I will be around. Though what I advised earlier does still stand"
"Thank you", Homura replies, her voice almost a whisper from how softly spoken the words are.
"You're welcome. Goodbye Akemi"
After that, the day continues. Homura manages to not be late to her next class thanks to Oriko's advice, but still ends up hating it when she's called up to answer a question she doesn't know the answer to. Based on the disappointment on her teacher's face, Homura gets the idea that it shouldn't have been complicated for her. Even if the teacher does then announce that Homura is behind because of her hospital stay. Like the excuse makes it seem like any less of a failure.
In physical education, Homura can't even get through warmups. She can hear people talking about how behind she is. Even if the words aren't meant for her ears.
By the end of the day, Homura feels like the most pointless person on the planet. The only person she actually liked in school was Oriko, and she's not only the year above, but only helped her out of responsibility.
This fresh start of Homura's suddenly feels like it's just another one of life's torments. A new way to show just how useless and worthless Homura is.
Why is she even bothering with this game of pretend? It's not like there's any reason she's alive. Or that she has anything to live for.
Why
Not
Just
Di-
Homura stumbles.
"Where... Am I?" The road home has disappeared. Replaced by somewhere Homura doesn't recognise at all. Was she feeling so awful that she stumbled down completely the wrong way?
Then Homura looks up and sees the sky writhing. Like the clouds that blanket the sky are agitated nests of insects rather than what they're meant to be.
Homura steps back shocked, before looking around and realising it's not just the clouds. The buildings around her, that Homura is quickly realising do not fit Mitakihara's architectural style at all. Seeming more rounded and made of some strange dark material. Are also writhing. Seeming to have constant movement around them and under their surface.
Then insectoid things begin crawling out of the building nearest to her, and Homura knows she's in a nightmare.
They look nightmarish. Spiders, ants and flies the size of people crawl out. Each of them has strangely mutable forms, seeming to shift between species of whatever insect they are.
When Homura gets a very unwanted closer look at a spider with teeth large enough to rip her throat out, she realises why they seem so weird. The spider is made up of some sort of almost liquid substance that has other spiders climbing in and out of it. Occasionally changing its makeup as they do.
Homura stumbles back but realises those strange buildings. That she's coming to realise must be some sort of hives, are everywhere. Though she tries to run before long, she's exhausted, and her mouth tastes metallic from the sudden exertion.
"Please wake up," She finds herself whispering to herself. But pinching herself only hurts rather than getting her out. The nightmares are getting closer, and Homura's rapidly coming to the realisation that she is never going to get the chance to die at 20.
She's going to die here, eaten by horrific bug monsters.
Now she's lost the ability to move quickly, and she finds the things closing in. The terrifying absurdity of the situation is almost funny. Turns out things really could get worse.
Will anyone even report her missing? She lives alone, and she's only turned up to school once.
As she's about to close her eyes to not see whatever is about to eat her however, a blinding light lances out from behind her. The things that were about to kill her being erased by the beams of white light that spike through them.
"Good job, Mikuni," A vaguely familiar voice says before Homura feels an arm help pull her up from where she had collapsed after failing to run away.
"Are you ok, Akemi?" That is a voice she does recognise. Oriko. She's here somehow?
"W, wh, what's happening?"
"You got caught in a rather nasty witch's ward", Oriko explains.
Now she has the chance to look at them. Homura realises the other person was that Komaki person she saw earlier today. Though rather than uniform, Oriko is wearing a flowing white dress that seems almost princess like, while Komaki seems to be wearing an armoured outfit that ends in a skirt.
Komaki seems to be holding some kind of axe. Oriko, on the other hand, has metallic orbs floating around her.
"We're here to help", Komaki adds.
"You're?" Homura looks at them in wonder.
"We're magical g, g"
"Magical girls. Komaki, you really must get over your embarrassment"
"It just sounds so childish"
"What's childish is stumbling over it because you find it childish. Anyway, Akemi, as Komaki said, we're magical girls. People tasked with protecting this world from creatures of despair, like the witch that brought you in here"
As they're talking, Homura notices more of those things are crawling out from around them.
"There are more of them", Homura finds herself saying as she looks around in horror.
"Don't worry. We will protect you," Oriko adds before the orbs around her glow bright and blast concentrated white light towards the nightmares, banishing them.
Komaki slays the rest, sweeping her axe through them in a series of impressive displays of strength and skill.
Once the things are killed, Oriko and Komaki confer.
"The witch is just down this way. If you put your shields around Akemi, she will be safe for the fight"
"Won't we need those for the witch?"
"Not in this case. We should be able to deal with it without them"
"Guess it will keep her safe. You sure about this?"
"Have my visions been wrong so far?"
"I suppose not"
Oriko steps back towards Homura.
"You must be very scared and confused right now. I promise I will explain everything once we have slain the witch. For now, could you please try to stay with us?"
"Yeah", Homura replies. Before taking a wobbly step forward and almost falling over. Getting caught by Oriko before she can.
"Are you ok to walk?"
"Um, yeah. Just give me a second" All of this is just so overwhelming.
Once she regains her bearings, Homura sticks close to Oriko and Komaki as they walk through the witch's ward. Komaki killing anything that jumps out at them, while Oriko batters other insects around her with her orbs, occasionally vaporising the more sturdy ones with that destructive light her orbs can produce.
Finally, they reach an area where the ward shifts. Those building things disappear, and the entire place seems more self contained. The writhing clouds overhead are lower down.
"I'm going to put up some barriers to protect you from the witch. Just stay still, ok?" Komaki mentions before creating what seem like planes of glass around her. Except on feeling them, Homura realises they seem to lack substance despite being impermeable.
Once Komaki seems satisfied with that, she and Oriko step forward and face the witch.
It hovers in front of them. Held up by the beating wings of dozens of species of insect, all buzzing at differing speeds. It too seems made of that weird solid liquid its minions were made of.
Unlike them, however said liquid falls off the flying mass of insectoid limbs that creates the massive and grotesque creature Homura can see. The lumps of falling liquid form into new insects that begin charging towards Oriko and Komaki.
Komaki fights defensively, killing anything that gets close to her or Oriko and cutting off any extremity of the witch that gets too close to them. Oriko, meanwhile, attacks the witch with her orbs. Sundering massive parts of it with her beams, while using her other orbs to crush the thing's wings so it can't hold itself up.
Before long, the witch falls to the ground, and Komaki smashes the thing's head with her axe, finally killing it.
Reality returns to normal, and Homura finds herself early on her route home. She notices something falls to the ground before being picked up by Oriko. Who taps it to a gem she then turns into a ring before handing it to Komaki.
The two of them have returned to their school uniform.
"Would you like to come over to mine? If I'm going to explain all of this, it should be somewhere comfortable," Oriko offers.
"Ok Miss Mikuni"
"Please feel free to call me Oriko", Oriko offers.
Homura isn't going to take her up on that. She doesn't feel like she deserves it.
"You can call me Homura", Homura offers quietly. It feels wrong to make someone who just saved her stand on formality.
"Komaki, can you come?"
"I need to meet up with Koito this afternoon. That's why we did this hunt so early, remember?"
"In that case, I will catch you up on what we discussed tomorrow. Do have fun with your sister, Komaki"
"I'll try. See you, Mikuni. I'm sure you can catch Homura up with things"
"I will"
With that, Komaki sets off, and Homura walks along with Oriko, about to be introduced to a world entirely unlike her own.