So I really usually prefer platonic BroTP KyouHomu, but I wanted to write this as a little spot to write out headcanons and dumb bro scenes. I thought they'd be pretty hilarious trying to figure out how to romance together, given how awkward the both of them are. It's still a little MadoHomu and KyouSaya, I can't ignore canon things for the sake of this.

Takes place after Madoka Portable's best ending. This was also mentioned as a one-off line in Confessions, but like One More Drink became a full fic of its own. Prior knowledge of those are not required, it's technically a prequel. Probably the last I'm gonna do in this mini-series of post-series linked things.

Also this fic is written completely, and I'll be uploading a chapter daily or so as I edit it. So expect quick updates.

Chapter 1: Wanna Make Out?

Homura wasn't sure when she and Kyoko first became friends. Some time between the fighting, she started asking for her help with more personal problems, confiding her wish even. Conversations with her turned into casual chatting, until she found herself being contacted even before they went out to hunt witches.

When she asked why Kyoko so frequently brought problems unrelated to being a magical girl to her, she was met with a noncommittal shrug. "We're friends, aren't we?"

It was an unfamiliar concept at the time. Her only friend was supposed to be Madoka, but she felt differently about them. Kyoko could keep a secret, while Madoka was a good listener but too chatty to keep anything hidden. Being with Madoka made her happy and they would laugh for hours, while Kyoko's company made her happy when laughing at her expense, but rarely laughing aloud. And there were those once-confusing feelings for Madoka that always turned her insides that she never experienced with Kyoko.

Most importantly, if plans with Madoka were canceled, Kyoko was her backup, while Madoka was never as low as a second option. Most often, these backup plans included a lot of frustrated tears and anywhere from minutes to hours of consoling.

Kyoko came to her with the same problems with Sayaka, often angrier. She was satisfied to solve anything with sparring to relieve pent-up stress. It was worth the potential toll on her soul gem to make a friend feel better, she found.

She looked at her last sent text, to Madoka. "That's alright, it's not due tomorrow so we can reschedule." Madoka loved being helpful, and though it was a little underhanded, she often asked for her help with homework as an excuse to spend time together. It was their first year of high school, so she was eager to help her not struggle through the very beginning.

A few hours before this exchange, Tatsuya was run to the doctor for a high fever and other unspecified symptoms. Madoka was with the rest of her family, sure that he was okay, but too worried to not sit in the waiting room. It was understandable, she told herself, but that didn't make it hurt any less that she was going to be alone tonight.

As her usual last resort, she pulled up her contacts and dialed Kyoko's number. She didn't have to wait long before getting a short, "Yeah?"

"What are you doing right now?" There was no need for introductions, she would've seen the caller ID.

"TV at Mami's. Why?" She didn't sound busy. "Don't you have plans tonight?"

"No." She did, but not anymore.

"Do you need me to come over?" She picked up the situation on that one word: Madoka canceled and she wanted company.

Homura was quiet for several seconds, swallowing her pride just long enough to say one word. "Please."

"I'll be there soon." Kyoko hung up without giving her a chance to say anything. She tossed her phone onto the couch cushion next to her, laying back with a loud sigh. It felt absolutely pathetic, relying on someone else over some unrequited fuzzy feelings. But if she was going to sit through Kyoko's problems, she was going to use her just as much. As a friend.

It never took Kyoko more than a few minutes to get to her apartment; she really did rush when it came to this. But it was an agonizing wait when she was left with nothing but her own thoughts and she was expecting to have company. That was the most disappointing thing, she decided. After years of being alone for so long and finally adjusting to spending time with others, having plans like this fall through was even lonelier than being alone all the time. In this situation, she couldn't undo time and try again for a better result.

There was a knock at her door that disrupted her from staring at an empty wall. The clock read later than she thought it was – she swore she was only sitting there for a minute – and it was probably Kyoko given the heavy-handed beating her door was receiving. She pushed herself up with great effort to answer before she kicked it in.

"Yo." Both hands were stuffed in her jacket pockets, and Homura assumed she must have been actually kicking it. She walked in without being invited, tossing a candy bar at her as she crossed the doorway. "I picked this up for you."

"You wouldn't have had time to stop by the store if you were at Tomoe-san's." It was a regular chocolate bar with almonds. Not something she made a habit of eating, but she wasn't about to turn it away.

"I had some extras on me." She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but it really was. In middle school, Kyoko had a well-earned reputation as a food hoarder, but lately she'd been sharing without a second thought. "No one else is home?"

"No." Her schoolbag was still in the living room propped up against the table. She hadn't bothered to put it away even though she didn't need it anymore.

"C'mere." Kyoko pulled her closer by her forearm and dragged her into a hug. "How are you feeling?"

Homura was the slightest bit shorter, just enough of a difference to comfortably lean her head on her shoulder. She found it difficult to directly say how she was feeling, even though it should have been easy to put into words. "I'm fine." Not hurt, not in danger, technically she was doing alright. "Just disappointed."

"You wouldn't have called me if you were fine, you idiot." She thumped her in the back of her head with her thumb and let her go. "Let's go talk this out of you."

"I don't need to talk." Dealing with this had gotten much easier since last year, and she didn't feel the need to talk her ear off into the late hours. It was just homework and studying, not like a real date.

"Yes you do. Sit." She dragged her to the couch and pushed her onto it, taking a seat next to her. Contrary to what she said about talking, Kyoko picked up the remote off the table. "What do you want to watch?"

"Nothing." If she wanted to watch TV, she would have already had it on.

"Yes you do." She let it settle on some movie she didn't recognize on a cable channel.

"What movie is this?" Kyoko held the remote out of reach when she tried to take it to check the guide.

"Doesn't matter, it's not quiet in here now." She tossed it across the room, where Homura couldn't get to it unless Kyoko let her stand up. "It's not gonna make you pay if that's what you're worried about."

Her cable bill was the last thing on her mind. "What do you want?"

"Nuh uh, it's about what you want. You called me here." That was hard to refute. "What's bothering you?"

Homura opened her mouth to say it was nothing when Kyoko held a hand up and cut her off. "Don't say nothing."

She glared and came up with something else. "I don't know why I called you if this is what you planned on doing."

"That's nice." She hardly noticed the insult, or didn't bring it up. "What were you doing before I came here?"

Kyoko didn't wait for an answer – she hadn't come up with one anyways – and took her phone from where she left it on the couch. "Who's texting you?"

"Hey- Kyoko!" She threw herself at her, but she expected that and jumped to the side. Her arm was fully extended to get the phone as far away as possible as Homura pinned her belly-down to the arm of the couch, one arm twisted behind her back. She laid across her, arm out to try and take her phone back.

"I'm really sorry," Kyoko read aloud. "Maybe we can meet up tomorrow instead if Tatsuya feels better."

"Give it- nng." Her fingertips brushed against it as she stretched further, and Kyoko handed it back.

"I figured that was it. No need to hide it, ya know." She struggled under Homura, trying to shove her off so she could sit up properly. She made this difficult for her, sprawling out to lay across as much of her back as possible. "Yer gonna crush my lungs, geroff."

"You don't need to breathe." If she suffocated, her soul gem would fill her lungs with air again and she would be fine.

"Don' take this out on- ack-" She coughed, rolling herself to her side and tossing Homura off. "Damn you're heavy."

Homura glared at her from the floor, but accepted her hand to pull herself up. Kyoko sat sideways on the couch and dragged her into her lap. "Would you-" Homura began to protest, when Kyoko thumped her on the nose to shut her up.

With her arms wrapped around her tightly – it felt more like she was being restrained than hugged – she said, "How are you feeling? Don't tell me disappointed again, what's really going on?"

"That's all it is." It was natural to be disappointed when plans didn't work out.

"No it's not. You wouldn't call me if your rice cooker broke, that's disappointment." Homura didn't put Madoka in the same category as a rice cooker for more reasons than that. Kyoko's outlook was too different from hers for analogies.

When she didn't respond to that, Kyoko tried again. "Look, just cry so you can get over it?"

"What?" If she could turn around to glare at her, she would have.

"Whenever this happens, you get pissed off for a few days. I don't wanna deal with that anymore, so cry." She said it too matter-of-factly.

"I'm not going to cry, Kyoko." Nor did she need to.

"Yes you will." Her grip around her loosened, but she still pulled her in closer. "You're just stressed out, let it go."

"This is ridiculous." She moved to sit up from between Kyoko's knees, but she locked her in again.

"Hear me out at least, then you can go if you want." Kyoko slackened her grip, and relaxed completely when Homura didn't try to escape. "Alright, think about what you wanted when you asked Madoka to visit. You didn't really need help with your homework."

"I wanted to see her." Her apartment was always much more lively with someone in it, especially Madoka. Kyoko too, but for entirely different reasons.

"And then what? You could've gone anywhere if you wanted to see her. Peek in her window, even." She laughed a little at her own joke.

"This was convenient." Despite Kyoko's frequent teasing, she would never spy on her like that.

"You don't need to go to the store? Could've said that, but you invited her over here instead." She was running a little low on rice, and suspiciously lower on snacks with Kyoko's visits increasing in frequency, but that wasn't a cause to drag Madoka out. "You wanted her here because it's private."

"No, that's not it." She denied it, but it was hard to ignore the way her stomach twisted. The end goal for her relationship with Madoka was hardly platonic, and she made no effort to hide that from Kyoko. But she didn't invite her with some lewd ulterior motive in mind, she was allowed to enjoy her company.

"Of course it's not." She leaned in closer and rested her cheek against the back of her head. "So you never thought about hugging or anything?"

"We're friends, we've hugged." Madoka hugged everybody, it wasn't a romantic gesture at all.

"Nothin' else?" Kyoko raised her arm to rub the spot between Homura's neck and shoulder. "Didn't think about after that, or if she was gonna touch ya just to touch ya like this? Betcha her hands are softer than mine."

"Doesn't matter." There was a growing pit in her stomach, and she hunched over to rest her chin on her knees.

"Yes it does, that's why you're so upset." She followed her and leaned in closer, breath ruffling the small hairs on the back of her neck. "And because you're never gonna talk to her, she's never going to."

"Stop," she said, forcing the word out around the lump in her throat. Kyoko immediately let go, sitting up properly against the back of the couch. Her eyes burned, shortly followed by tears staining her cheeks. "Dammit, Kyoko."

"Can I hug you again?" She nodded, not trusting herself to speak clearly. "Sorry. You can be mad at me for now, but you'll feel better."

She didn't feel better. Kyoko wrapped her arms around her again, pulling her head to her shoulder. "Just let it out, be angry for a little while."

That was easy, she was mad at Kyoko and how useless she was. She only asked her to come over and keep her company for a few hours, and she was already crying while she held her like a child. Too often she had Kyoko over and regretted it within the first hour, even if that eventually passed.

It hadn't been long before she started to calm down, eyes no longer stinging and breath even. Kyoko kept an arm around her shoulders the whole time, staying quiet and letting her fume in peace.

"Feel better?" she asked after she'd settled down.

"Not at all." She felt a lot less frustrated than before, and appreciated that she was there to relieve that stress.

"Good." Kyoko let go of her and pushed her to sit up, detecting her sarcasm. "Still mad at me?"

She huffed and brushed her hair past her shoulder before answering; that question was much harder. It was embarrassing and she didn't feel it was necessary, but she did feel better. "A little."

"I can take that." She stood and stretched backwards. "What do ya have to eat?"

"I haven't gone shopping since last time you were here." Her life was too busy for her pantry to keep up with Kyoko, who had already left to look through it.

"I'll make us...whatever this is." She glanced at the directions on the back of the first box she grabbed. "Can I stay the night?"

"You aren't going to stay with Tomoe-san or Miki-san?" Kyoko normally stayed with Mami since they made up, as she had no parents to question the visitor, but had frequent sleepovers with Sayaka.

"Nah, you look like you need the company." She tore through her cupboards for a pot, knocking them noisily side to side. "Unless you really wanna be alone all night."

"Do what you want." She forced irritation into her voice, but she didn't realize how nice it sounded until it was offered.

"I'll text Mami, tell her I won't be there tonight." It was also nice to have someone cooking for her when she couldn't be bothered to get up and do it. Kyoko hadn't been a

complete freeloader in the past few months, she was willing to cook or bring some ingredients of her own in exchange.

"This stuff finishes quick, huh?" Kyoko kept talking the whole time, even if she didn't respond. The atmosphere just became heavier with every moment of silence, but she kept it as lively as she could without annoying her.

It was almost 11am when they were considering going to sleep. Kyoko wrapped herself in a spare blanket on the couch, changed into nothing but an oversized shirt she borrowed from Homura and watching TV next to her. Their dishes sat unwashed in the sink, they could be dealt with tomorrow. It had been a rough night, chores didn't need to be added on top of it.

Homura had just opened her mouth to announce that she was moving to her room for the night when Kyoko dropped the bombshell. "Wanna make out?"

She was too surprised and confused to shut it, and froze while she processed that question. "What?"

Kyoko had asked it confidently, but when asked to clarify she looked away and messed with the edge of the blanket. "You and me...you know. Kissing and stuff."

"Go home, Kyoko."

"Hey, I'm serious." She crossed her arms and sighed. "You ain't been with anyone, right? I haven't either. So why not?"

"I don't have time for this." Or enough patience. She started to return to her room.

Kyoko grabbed her forearm before she could leave. "I mean it, just...hear me out. We haven't gotten anywhere, and we're in high school. No reason to spend all that time alone. You're plenty gorgeous, and, come on, just look at me." She was more confident when gloating. "We're already friends, so I think I can tolerate ya long enough to try."

Homura sat back down to think while Kyoko sat back and waited impatiently for a reply. If she gave that much reason, then she was serious. But she took so long to accept that they were friends, and this was a big change. She had been with Madoka romantically before, in previous timelines where she died. This wouldn't be her first experience, despite what Kyoko thought.

She had chalked up Madoka's current disinterest to a change when switching timelines. Sometimes that boy Kyousuke played violin instead of guitar, sometimes Madoka's friend Hitomi would be an unlikely obstacle between them, and apparently she had ended her fight on a timeline where Madoka wasn't interested in other girls. If that was true, she really wasn't going to have a chance with her.

"Alright." Even if it didn't work out, there were times they had tried to kill each other. If they could bounce back from that, then they could stay friends after a botched relationship if it didn't work out.

Kyoko acted nonchalant about it, but she grinned when she said that. "So uh, what do we... I'll just..." Her confidence left her as she leaned over her, one arm against the back of the couch next to her head. She hesitated before bringing her mouth to hers.

Homura was surprised at how different it was from every other kiss, even though they were all with another girl. The first thing she noticed was the faint smell from having someone else so close, dust and sweat rather than cloying strawberry-scented soap. Her teeth were sharper, too, a completely different feeling across her tongue. Neither feeling unpleasant, just different. She held the back of Kyoko's head and absently lost the ends of her fingers in her hair.

Kyoko kept a careful distance between them, and it was uncomfortable to push herself up since she wasn't leaning against her like Madoka always did. Soon after they stared, Kyoko broke it off and panted like she'd been holding her breath the whole time, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "Uhh...damn."

"What does that mean?" Kyoko pushed herself away and sat next to her.

"Nothin'. You sure that's your first time?"

"Positive." Explaining the timelines would make her seem crazy, especially after that.

"You're just good at everything, aren't ya?" She shrugged and pulled the blanket over herself. "I'm gonna...bedtime I guess."

"Good night." It was a good time to sleep.

"Sure you don't want my company in there?" She glared at her over her shoulder, but Kyoko laughed it off. "Kidding. 'Night."

It was too late to stay up any longer, but she still couldn't stop thinking. She'd spent so long with one goal in mind and for this outcome...she wasn't sure how she felt. Not regret, at least. As a way to just pass time in high school, there were worse things to do.

They both agreed it wasn't serious, it was just a last resort for both of them. For convenience's sake. Nothing serious.