A.N.: Hello, everyone! Brand, spanking-new fanfiction here for you all, or at least the start of one. This may go a little long, and will definitely turn mature in the future. Starring one of my favorite unpopular ships! I love the tension and dynamic between these two! 3

I wanted to make a shoutout to the fanfiction Soul Intercourse, which got me into this ship in the first place, which was co-written with another author by my favorite writer on the site, Angel0Wonder. Go check it out if you're interested!

Also, I sorely wanted to credit the artist of the cover photo I used, but I can't for the life of me find them. And if I could, I would need google translate because all research points to them being a pixiv artist. Anyways, without further ado:

Chapter 1

Sayaka stared vacantly up at the ceiling, watching the coin spin up in the air before landing on her abdomen. Picking it up, she balanced it on her thumb another time, flicking it back up in the air.

"Can't you find something less repetitive and irritating to do while you wait?" Homura asked, pouring over her work, which had already consumed the past hour.

"Like what? You have annoying habits too!" Catching the coin, Sayaka considered obeying Homura and stopping, but rebellious streaks were hard to break, and she opted to instead allow herself this small victory by spinning it right back up.

"I do not. Name one." Homura challenged in an even tone, Sayaka sat up instantly, looking over at Homura, who was still leaning over the papers, glasses on.

"Flipping your hair." Caught off-guard, Homura reached up to toss her hair aside dismissively, but paused halfway upon realizing that would only serve to solidify Sayaka's point. Snickering, the less experienced magical girl lay back down on the couch. "What'cha workin' on anyways?"

"Scheduling. Though it's likely my supervisor won't approve of it regardless." Homura said, her pen hovering over the paper in front of her, motionless as she stared out the window.

"Anything wrong?" Homura paused as though hesitating before she answered, stacking the papers and pushing them aside.

"I'm just having trouble concentrating. Today's been a bit trying. Let's go grocery shopping, we need to do that anyways and I need to go to work soon anyways." She looked over at Sayaka, "Would you like to come along?"

Her roommate had already sprung to her feet and thrown on the closest sweater she could find.

"You bet your ass I wanna come along!" Cabin fever had struck Sayaka hard-now even an excursion as small and uneventful as shopping seemed attractive.

x-x-x-x-x

"Come on, spoil me a little!~" Sayaka tittered, leaning on the shopping cart as Homura reached forward and took the package of cookies from her hands, sparing them a single glance before replacing them on the shelf.

"No, we have enough financial troubles without you getting any ideas about needing to be spoiled. Between your freeloading-"

"Hey, in my defense, you said I COULDN'T get a job." Sayaka retorted, huffing at Homura, who continued past her along the aisle.

"-between your inability to work, and my job paying me just enough for the two of us to get by, with a little extra to save in case of emergencies, I don't think we need to splurge." Homura shot a look back at the sweets, frowning. "I didn't even know they made cookies that expensive."

"They're gourmet. I didn't say I wanted to be spoiled by a cheapskate." Sayaka grumbled, giving one last look back at the package as Homura sighed and looked over their list.

"If sweets are that important to you, then go find some cheaper ones, I'll buy whatever you scrounge up." Shrugging, suddenly off-put, Sayaka crossed her arms and scuffed the ground with her shoe, sticking her hands into the spacious pockets of the baggy grey hoodie she was wearing.

"Nah. Forget about it, if it's that much trouble." Homura paused, having spent enough time around Sayaka let her know some of the other girl's intricacies. She turned around and looked back at the box on the shelf, the white and red speckled bow looking oddly familiar.

"I've seen those before. They're the same ones you bought on your anniversary. For-" Catching herself in time, she looked back to see Sayaka clenching her forearm morbidly, eyes turned towards the ground, Homura turning to save her face and grabbing hold of the cart. "Apologies."

"Whatever." Sayaka responded, jerking her head forward and walking ahead. "Let's keep going. I have a show to catch in an hour."

Ever since Homura took her in, Sayaka had done her best to stay amicable. It was unlikely she'd ever be able to go back home, so learning to get along with her new housemate was just another part of the process.

Though it did require a lot of tolerance. Conflict was common, but they now knew how to handle it, neither finding a resolution, but instead just turning the other way and taking a few minutes to focus on the perks of NOT beating one-another into a fine paste.

It worked in its own strange way. For the moment at least.

"We're going to need to find a more permanent solution about your living habits." Homura said, crossing another item off their shopping list.

"You saying you want me to move out?" Sayaka asked, half-heartedly arranging the pile of groceries in a pyramid, trying to keep her voice even; without Homura, she was completely alone in the city. Despite their differences, she knew that the stoic Magical Girl was her only chance at getting by without complete independence.

"I didn't mean to suggest that. All I'm saying is that, if we can disguise your identity properly, you could potentially get a job. Or at the very least, you could get back in school." That sounded a lot more tempting than it should have. During her stay in Homura's house, Sayaka had learned two things. One, that having nothing but free time is not all it's cracked up to be, and two, that self-teaching things is hard.

"Well, I'm more than up for that. We can have a brainstorm sesh once we get home." Wheeling towards the checkout counter, Homura shook her head.

"I told you, I need to get ready for work once we get home. And you have chores you've been slacking on. Why do you think I woke you up early this morning?" Sayaka, reminded of her early rising, let out an exaggerated yawn.

"Because you like watching me suffer." Homura contracted the yawn in turn, trying to cover up her mouth before giving Sayaka a weary frown. The bluenette slipped a pack of gum into the pile of supplies. She meant what she'd said; a little splurging never hurt.
x-x-x-x-x

The apartment door opened, and the pair walked through, Homura used the same step to pivot and kick it shut behind her before turning back to Sayaka.

"Here." She said, dumping the bags into Sayaka's arms unceremoniously. "Put these away. I'm going to go get ready."

Begrudgingly complying, Sayaka turned to place the bags on the counter, burning another three seconds to forget about them. Procrastination was always a strong suit of hers.

About to throw herself on the couch, Sayaka felt an thought strike her and turned to fetch her favorite idea-crusher.

Throwing open the door to Homura's room, she walked in. It was as organized and lifeless as always, the only personality around taking shape in a few simple drawings framed and clustered in one side of the room.

"Hey, Homu—" Homura stool in the corner, her back turned, torso bare save for the strap of her bra, trying those long, glossy black trails of hair up in a bun as she half-turned and gave Sayaka a cold glare.

"Out." In a single motion, Sayaka pivoted and left the room as Homura walked towards the door, firmly closing and locking it, her voice halfway between a scoff and a growl. "I swear, who opens others' doors without knocking?" Swallowing her apology, knowing it would only get her more chastising, Sayaka instead continued with her thought.

"I...was just gonna ask. About the whole going back to school thing, maybe we might be able to change my hair color with magic. Do you think that would work?" Silence was the only thing that came from the other end before the lock clicked open and Homura emerged in her work attire, the bun fastened more securely, giving a thoughtful sigh.

"It's an idea. People would still be able to recognize your face, and we'd need to enroll you under a fake name and keep you away from any old classmates. So long as you stay away from your neighborhood, it should be a fair cover." Grabbing a few papers from the counter, Homura turned and opened the door. "But we'll discuss that once I'm back. I'll be later than usual, so let's not have a repeat of last month."

Sayaka crossed her arms, her cheeks coloring red in embarrassment, trying to save face. "It was your birthday."

"Irrelevant. You still spent the better part of your day cooking only to have it grow cold while I was working overtime." Stepping out of the apartment, Homura closed the door behind her unceremoniously as Sayaka walked over to one of the old, stiff couches and dropped her weight into it before the door opened again. "And if I come back and those groceries aren't put away, I'm throwing you off the balcony." Groaning, Sayaka rolled over on the couch as the door closed again, with finality this time.