Authors Note: Hey, thanks for stumbling up on this story here. This is an AU as the summary proclaims, and a HomuSaya one at that. I do hope you enjoy reading it.

It was a sunny day out in Mitakihara, the midday sun shining high above in a near cloudless and beautiful blue sky. Birds sat in trees or perched on building edges and chirped their springtime song. A light breeze would flow through the air helping to cool down any person out in the warm outdoors. It truly was the picture-perfect definition of a beautiful day.

Beautiful enough that it only added to the despair those trapped in school felt as they waited for the agonizingly slow clock to move. There was still several more hours until they would be set free to take advantage of the day while the sun was still up, but several students acted as though focused glares at the clock would speed it up.

One particular student just let out a groan as she slouched over in her seat, forehead hitting the desk with a dull 'thunk'. Blue eyes cracked open to stare at the pink-haired girl standing next to her.

"Madoka, you're too cruel," Sayaka complained, lifting her head just enough to face her friend. Was she being over dramatic? Yes, she was. Was she aware of it? Again, yes, she was. "How can you abandon your poor frail wife to be all by her lonesome tonight?"

Madoka gave her an apologetic look, hands wringing against each other as she looked at her distress. "I'm sorry, Sayaka-chan, but I already promised Mami-san I would help her tonight."

Propping herself up onto her arms, Sayaka frowned, not wanting to upset her friend any more than she was starting to. "Fine, fine," she mumbled almost reluctantly, pouting a little just to be childish, "but since when were you friends with an upperclassman?"

"We just met a while ago," Madoka explained, giving a sheepish laugh. It had been quite a meeting and she did not think Sayaka would believe her even if she told her longtime friend. "But I'm really sorry, I'll make it up to you, promise!"

Waving her off, the blue-haired eighth-grader assured her that it was okay, along with the order of introducing her to the upperclassman one of these days. She could go visit Kyosuke in the hospital after school so it wasn't as though she was going to have nothing to do without her best friend there. She wouldn't know however, that the events Madoka would do with this Mami were witch hunting. The girl would be left unaware of the dangerous life that her best friend lived.

There were still a few minutes before class would resume and lunch would end, and a few students were already trickling back. One in particular caught Sayaka's eye as she stepped in and tried to get to the back of the room unnoticed by the few in the classroom already. It was the new transfer student that had joined their class this morning, Akemi Homura.

Sayaka didn't particularly know the girl, no one did. All she knew was the same as the rest of the class: that she had been in the hospital prior to joining them due to a heart condition. Though her shyness was obvious enough, she nearly cried from the stress and embarrassment earlier when asked to solve a rather difficult math question in front of the class. Though Madoka seemed to think she was a nice enough girl after she returned from taking her to the nurse's office.

She basically had to rescue the poor girl from the students surrounding her, and Sayaka wondered if any of them had even realized how much the transfer student hadn't wanted the attention they gave to her.

Apart from that, Sayaka didn't pay much mind to her, and before long the rest of the students came into the class, all rather eager to get in their seats before Saotome entered and dished out detentions for being late. Last to enter was their teacher and lessons started without much wait for the others. Sayaka had to stifle a groan as she dived right into it, taking out her notebook and starting the futile struggle to keep up with the teacher and write down her notes.

Homura made her way down from the school with her head hung low and gaze fixed to the ground as she passed a few other students here and there. She just couldn't bring herself to meet any of their gazes, let alone to look at them. All the girl wanted was to sink into the ground and disappear.

For so long she'd been so excited to go back to school after being in the hospital for six months straight. With her parents out of the country, she'd been left to do the paperwork herself and the pride she had felt had been unimaginable. She felt as though she was taking control of her own life by doing that task, and the thought of going to school? While being around so many new faces had scared her, she felt like this was her chance to be normal.

But then she stepped into the classroom, and had felt all eyes on her. Homura couldn't bring herself to look at any of them, her voice had left her and so had any of the fake confidence she had felt.

The only good thing that Homura could think that had happened to her was talking to Madoka on the way to the nurse's office. The nurse's assistant had brought a small smile to her face by commenting on how Homura's name was cool, telling her to live up to it.

There was no way that Homura could do such a task though. She couldn't become as cool as Madoka saw her name to be, and any attempts would just let the girl down and make her realize Homura wasn't worth the time. It was just another reason why she was a failure.

With the day over and time to return to her empty home, Homura could hear the whispers in her mind. A siren's call repeating to her all the insecurities she had, all the painful truths about her as it offered to her a blissful end. A gateway to leave a world that had no need for someone like herself. It sounded so very nice. It was right, maybe she should just-

"Hey! Transfer student!"

The voice called out through the air, breaking the silence and snapping Homura out of her reverie. What had she just been thinking of? Homura couldn't quite recall, it was now a memory just outside of her mental reach.

Turning around however, she was met with a blue-haired classmate jogging to catch up with her.

"H-Hello, um…" Homura started but trailed off as she struggled to connect a name to the face before her.

"Miki Sayaka, we're in the same class," the girl offered helpfully.

With an embarrassed nod, Homura pushed her red glasses up a bit and ducked down to look at the ground. "R-Right, sorry."

"It's fine," Sayaka said with a smile, waving it off as nothing, "it's your first day, you've got a lot of names you have to memorize. Not going to blame you for not having them all down in such a short time." As Homura gave another shy nod to that, Sayaka pointed down the way she had just been heading. "Anyways, you don't want to go that way. A lot of bad things have been happening there, a lot of deaths. It's not really safe."

"But it's the only way home I know."

Her attempt to argue was brushed off as Sayaka shook her head, heaving her bag over her shoulder. "I can help you find a different way home, so long as you don't mind a little detour?"

Not able to find it in her to decline her classmate's offer, Homura gave a weak nod for the third time. "Not at all." At her agreement, Sayaka gave her a smile and began unknowingly leading her away from what would have been a fateful meeting with Madoka and Mami in the witch's labyrinth.

The walk had taken a little longer than they had originally estimated, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Homura gave Sayaka her address, and the bluenette ran it through a mental map of the city. The path she steered Homura from was the fastest and most direct path from the school to her home, that much was sure, and as she considered the size of the 'Danger Zone' as she dubbed that particular area, she decided that it would be a little more than a small detour.

Though if Homura had any objections to it, she didn't speak any.

The air was filled with idle chit-chat, mostly one-sided on Sayaka's part as she found it rather difficult to get the transfer student to speak. If she did respond, it was usually a yes or no answer spoken with a quiet voice. If Sayaka managed to get her to say something other than that, the words Homura used in answer could be counted on one hand.

Sayaka could tell though that the lack of participation in a conversation wasn't out of any sort of spite; she knew social anxiety when she saw it.

The sun had already begun setting by the time the managed to find the shortest and safest route to Homura's home. A task like that would have likely been completed sooner, but the pair had stopped multiple times to rest whenever Homura got rather out of breath. But they had made it to her home and the mission was completed.

Now, standing awkwardly in the doorway of her home, hands gripping the wood of the door tightly, Homura looked about uncertainly before clearing her throat. "T-Thank you, for your help in finding me a new way home," she said and almost looked pained as she continued talking, "d-do you want to come in for a drink?" She didn't really want to invite Sayaka in, but it would have felt impolite not to, and she didn't want to insult her classmate who took the time to bring her here.

With a smile, Sayaka shook her head. "Thank you, but it's alright. I should probably start heading home anyways," she said, taking a look at the time on her phone. It was late, and she did have a bit of homework to get done. It also looked like she wouldn't be visiting Kyosuke today, not when the hospital was on the other side of town. Turning around and starting her walk, she raised a hand in the air to wave goodbye. "It was nice talking to you, Akemi-san! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"B-Bye, Miki-san," Homura responded with a shy wave of her own, and a small smile that Sayaka would not see on her face.