"Kyoko is attracted to Sayaka, but doesn't realize what she's feeling. She complains to anyone who will listen about how Sayaka's magical girl outfit is stupid because it keeps distracting Kyoko in battle for no reason, and her laugh is so annoying - why else would it drown out everything else, always the only thing Kyoko can hear, even from across the room? And her dumb eyes are so blue, and her hair is so cute, it's not fair."

Homura goes about her homework as normally as she can while the older magical girl is sitting on her sofa. The math problems in front of her are incredibly inviting compared to the awkwardness of Kyoko's grievances.

"Seriously, though!" Kyoko pulls a box of Pocky out of her jacket and grabs a stick from it. Munching on the candy, she says, "You know what else? Her damn magical girl outfit."

"Mm." Homura acknowledges.

"It's so distracting! Why would she wear a frigging sleeveless… thing? And then she gets cold and she complains!"

"Maybe she wants someone to do something about it," Homura says dryly.

Kyoko pauses. "Nuh-uh. Nope, she can't be… Do you really think?" She changes the sentence's direction suddenly.

"Oh, sure," she says. She isn't looking up from her paper, but she's sure Kyoko must be staring at her.

"You're being sarcastic."

"Am I?"

"Yeah." Kyoko stands up, and as she storms out she says, "You're no help."

Somehow, Homura thinks as the front door closes, that doesn't really bother her.

"I followed your advice!"

Homura glances up, interested for once. The other magical girl is missing her green hoodie, and dripping wet from the rain outside. There's a trail of muddy footprints leading from the front door to her. Of course. "What advice?"

Kyoko sneezes before continuing. "Remember? You were like, maybe Sayaka complains about the cold because she wants someone to do something about it? So we were done fighting this witch, her and me and Madoka, and she was saying it was cold, so-"

"How does me saying that translate to advice?" Homura loses interest quickly and goes back to her world history homework.

"So, I was like, do you want my jacket? And she took it."

Confused, Homura pauses. "What was the point of that?"

"I dunno, she looked all pale and gross," Kyoko looks away while still managing to be defensive. "Her stupid hair was sticking to her face, and she was going to catch cold or something. And then we'd be out one magical girl for like three days."

"I see."

"So yeah." Kyoko sneezes again. "Can't I borrow a towel? Gosh, some host you are. Obviously I'm freezing here."

"That blockhead got me sick!" Kyoko storms in several days later, this time with her normal jacket on. "That's what I get for helping someone out. What the hell else is new?"

"Is that where you've been?"

"Yeah! But get this… you'll never believe it."

"What?"

"She freaking came to my hotel room! She brought me food!"

Homura couldn't help but be interested in this development. "You mean she took care of you?"

"Yeah! Well, I told her not to make it weird, so she didn't stay that long. But still," Kyoko finishes. "She showed up for like, half an hour. She washed my hoodie and brought it back to me and everything."

All that for Kyoko? That doesn't sound like Sayaka, Homura thinks to herself. "Does that mean you're finished complaining about her?" It's English homework today, and how is Homura supposed to focus on sentence structure when this girl feels free to burst in at any time? Evidently her attempts at sarcasm and disinterest haven't completely dissuaded Kyoko from sharing her thoughts.

"Well today I noticed," Kyoko makes herself comfortable on the couch, "She's got these big dumb eyes. They're the stupidest blue you'll ever see. Like, it should be illegal for eyes to be that blue."

"Wow."

"I know!" Kyoko, this time, is either oblivious to or uncaring for her sarcasm. She takes a package of cheese crackers out of that front pocket of hers, and Homura sighs. The other girl is clearly gearing up for a long rant. "And she's got this annoying-ass laugh," she adds.

"Does she?"

"Yeah! She's always frigging laughing at something. She's too damn happy is what she is, it's not fair."

"Hmm."

"It's like, every time she laughs, it's all I can hear. Doesn't matter what's going on. She could be laughing mid-battle and it'd still be annoying enough to throw me off." She waits a couple seconds for Homura to respond, and when she doesn't, Kyoko demands, "Do you get howdangerous that is?"

"Yes. Looks like you're going to have to fix whatever is going on with you."

"W-with me? No way! It's all Sayaka, that jerk. Why would I have to fix anything?" She grumbles. "She just has to stop…"

"Stop what?" Homura rubs her temples with her fingers, feeling a headache coming on.

"Being dumb," Kyoko finishes weakly.

Homura doesn't say anything. Eventually, she hopes, the other girl will sense the awkwardness for herself and go away.

"But really," Kyoko starts up again, and Homura nearly snaps her pencil in half out of pure frustration.

"Have you ever thought about what, exactly, it all means?"

"What?"

"All this," Homura gestures vaguely in Kyoko's direction. "You've been coming to me and talking about nothing but Sayaka. What does that mean?"

"It means she's annoying me!" Kyoko protests.

"I only ask because I've never been in your position," Homura explains, spinning her chair to face Kyoko and not her desk. No homework will get done as long as she's there, anyway. "Anytime I've been annoyed by someone, I try to ignore them. If you couldn't tell."

"Well yeah… wait, what does that mean?" Kyoko's eyes narrow.

"Nothing. What I'm saying is I don't spend all my time thinking about them and talking about them and doing nice things for them, especially if those things are out of character for me." Homura doesn't even really know where she's going with this, she's just hoping she'll talk and Kyoko will get bored and leave.

The other girl wrinkles her nose in displeasure. "Then what do you think this is?"

"I think you like her."

Kyoko gapes. "Nuh-uh."

"Yes. If you're always distracted by her laugh or her eyes or her bare shoulders, for goodness' sake…" Homura gives her a meaningful glare. "There's really only one explanation. Especially if you're also going out of your way to be nice to her."

"I can be nice without liking someone!" Kyoko says indignantly.

Homura snorts. "Sure. You do it all the time."

"I… uh." Kyoko's resentment at the last comment melts away as realization takes its place.

"And you know? I wouldn't be surprised if she was attracted to you, too."

Kyoko's face takes on a completely unfamiliar appearance, and Homura realizes belatedly that she's blushing, of all things. "Now you're just getting my hopes up. Or something."

"Maybe not, if she's taking your jacket and laughing a lot around you and taking care of you when you're sick. You may as well find out."

"The dumb jerk kissed me!" Kyoko exclaims, slamming the front door behind her. "She wants to be my girlfriend!"

Homura lets her pencil fall to the desk without looking up. "You should probably get out of the habit of calling her a dumb jerk, then."

"Yeah, well. That'll take a while. She's still pretty annoying."

"You find your girlfriend annoying?"

"Of course, if she's gonna keep throwing me off by kissing me or— or anything like that!"

"What a terrible problem to have."

"You're a sarcastic asshole, you know that?" Kyoko stomps over and leans over Homura's desk. "But you know, you give pretty good advice. I should come to you more often."

Homura can't keep the defeated groan from escaping her lips. Her GPA will certainly suffer.