Chapter 2

  “Akemi-san, where did you go to school before?”

  “Were you in any clubs?”

  “Did you play any sports? What about art?”

   “Your hair's really long! It must take time to wash it every morning.”

     “I…uh…”

    I stared down at my lap and tried thinking of something to say. I really wanted to become good friends with them, but for some reason it felt a lot harder to talk to them than it did with Miss Miki and Miss Sakura.

   Ah! What do I say??

    “Akemi-san, you need to go to the nurse's office, right?”

    A bright, cheery voice said. I looked up to see a girl with pale pink hair pulled into pigtails and cherry red eyes. She had a warm smile on her face. For some reason, just seeing that girl made me feel many complicated emotions.

   “Do you know where it is?” The girl continued.

    “No…” I mumbled.

    “I'll take you then there. I'm the nurse's aide for this class.” The girl said cheerily.

    “Sorry everyone. Akemi-san has to check in with the nurse during breaks since she woke up from a coma.”

   Eh? No one told me about this!

   “Oh? Really? Sorry for taking up your time.”

    “Talk to you later, Akemi-san.”

  ….

   The girl led me down a hallway and for a while, everything was silent. I could feel a little tension coming from the girl, and I felt even more awkward and self-conscious than I did in the classroom.

   “Sorry about that.” She said suddenly. “They weren't trying to be rude. It's very rare for students to transfer here, so they were just excited.”

  “No, it's okay… Thank you.” I said shyly.

  “No need to be that nervous. We're classmates!” The girl smiled warmly.

   “My name is Madoka Kaname.”  Miss. Kaname said.

   “ I…it's fine.” I looked down so I wouldn't see Miss. Kaname's expression. I didn't feel like I have the right to say her first name. For now, I'll just call her Miss. Kaname.

   “Could I call you Homura-chan?” Miss. Kaname asked.

   “I…  Haven't been called my name very much. It's a really weird name.” I said softly.

  “No, that's not true.” Miss. Kaname said. “It feels really exciting and cool.”

My head snapped up and I looked at Miss. Kaname. Did she really mean it? But even so...

 “… I'm nothing like my name, then.”  I muttered.

  For some reason, that made Miss. Kaname stop in her tracks. I froze at her determined expression on her face.

  “You shouldn't say that!” She cried. “You have such a wonderful name, so you should just be cooler to match it!”

   I stared at Miss. Kaname's smile as a light blush spread across my face. I could feel my heart thumping in my chest. I looked at the floor and put a hand to my heart. It's the first time someone has ever said that to me…

…

    “Homura-chan!”

    I looked up from my desk and saw Miss. Kaname handing me a note.

    “U-um, this is…”

    “It's for today's lesson.” Miss. Kaname said.

    Ah, I see. I whispered thank you and looked at the note. It was a single math problem on it with steps to solve it. Is this how people studied for lessons now?

   “How about you solve this problem?” Ms. Sataome asked.

   I nervously left my seat and tried to ignore the stares from my classmates. Ah, the math problems looked so hard! Wait… it looked exactly like the problem Miss. Kaname gave me. I didn't want to look dumb in front of my classmates, so I just wrote down everything from the note.

   “Well done, Akemi-san!” Ms. Sataome said, even though she had a slightly surprised look on her face. I quickly returned to my seat and stared at the desk as Ms. Sataome started explaining the problem in detail.

  How did Miss. Kaname know what was going to be on the board? Why would she help me? Despite myself, I looked over at Miss. Kaname. She stared back and smiled warmly at me. I blushed and quickly looked down again.

   …

   “She got light-headed from warm-up? That's kinda bad.”

    “Well, she was in a coma for a year. She's not really in shape.”

      …

     School was over soon, and I was going to leave the school when someone grabbed my arm. I jumped and saw Miss. Kaname grinning at me with a mischievous smile.

   “Do you have any plans today, Homura-chan?” She asked.

   “No, not really…” I was just planning on going home and helping Haruki cook, but Miss. Kaname's face lit up at my response.

  “Why don't you hang out with me and my friends!” Miss. Kaname said.

   “F-friends?”

    “Yes! You've met Sayaka and Kyoko, right? And I think you'll like to meet Mami and Nagisa!”  Miss. Kaname is very excited.

   I didn't really want to hang out with a lot of people at once, but with Miss. Kaname being so happy, I couldn't really bring myself to say no. Plus, I think I'd like to spend time with Miss. Kaname…

    “That sounds nice…” I said with a small smile.

    “Great! Hey, I'll give you my phone number, okay?”

    I was convinced that today really wouldn't be great, but somehow, I feel a lot lighter.

      A/N: There were a lot of things I wanted to do with this chapter. I was planning having Madoka, Sayaka, and Kyoko sit out with Homura, but in the end I didn't. I'll probably change this chapter on this site where that happens. .>.

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