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"Good job out there, Madoka. You just...uhm...need a little more work." ~ Mami Tomoe
A week has passed since Madoka and Sayaka agreed to become magical girls. Throughout the past week, Sayaka has been making a ton of progress to the point that Mami had nothing left to teach the blue haired swordswoman. Madoka, on the other hand, has been very clumsy and sloppy for her first week. Mami has been patient of the young pink haired middle schooler for now, but even she has her limits. A part of her was even questioning if recruiting Madoka was a good idea.
Pushing such thoughts aside, Mami gave Madoka's recent performance the best feedback she could without letting her real thoughts leak. Madoka wasn't oblivious though. She knew she was terrible at the job, and she could tell Mami was looking down on her. Even so, she took whatever compliment she could get for now. After today's training, the three girls went their separate ways and headed for their respective homes. However, Madoka wasn't heading home. She was heading for her second training mentor.
"it's about time! I was thinking you were never going to show."
"S-Sorry I'm late! I-I'm ready for my lesson. Please treat me well."
In the day, Madoka was training with Sayaka and Mami. At night, however, she was training with Kyouko Sakura. The difference in how she was trained was very noticeable indeed. Mami was professional and wise in her guidance. Through simple to understand instructions and demonstration alone, Madoka understood her assignments crystal clear. It was pretty clear that today's performance was all on Madoka's incompetence. Kyouko's guidance, on the other hand, was much more straightforward. If Madoka had to describe it in a short sentence, it would be: "just do it and you'll figure it out." While it wasn't as clear as Mami's help, it did give Madoka results. Actually, it was giving Madoka much better results than Mami's guidance as much as the pink haired middle schooler wants to admit. Through harsher battles, Madoka understood her role, understood her power, and most of all, understood the risks. With Mami's training on knowledge and Kyouko's training in brute strength, Madoka can tell she's improving in pure skill and movement. The only thing holding her back...is herself. For as long as she can remember, Madoka was always relying on others to make up on what she lacks. Now that she's a magical girl, she hopes that will change soon. For now, it might take longer than she wants.
"Great job there, rookie. You're not as bad as I thought", Kyouko says to Madoka, handing her half of a chocolate bar. Madoka blushed at the praise, taking the half of candy. The pair sat on the roof of a now closed grocery store after a hard day's work. Everything still didn't feel real to the pink haired girl. Madoka Kaname, a real-life magical girl. If you ever told her something like this would happen to her any time before this, she would call you silly. Despite the potential danger ahead, Madoka can't help but smile at the thought of her dream coming to reality. Maybe now, she can become the girl she always wanted to be.
"Bye! See you tomorrow!"
The next day, another school day has ended and Madoka was on her way to meet up with Sayaka and Hitomi at the mall until a familiar face awaited her at the front gate. "Yo, what's up rookie!" It was Kyouko, her mentor of the night. Madoka looked at Kyouko with confusion on her face. "Huh? Kyouko, what are you doing here?", Madoka asked. "We got a job to do, and I need you right now.", Kyouko answered with a smirk. Madoka was conflicted at first but instantly agreed as she understood what Kyouko meant. After putting her outfit on, Madoka sent Sayaka and quick test saying she won't make it. As much as she doesn't want to lie to her best friend, she wants anybody to know of her relationship with Kyouko. The reason for this was selfish, but she also had the feeling that Kyouko and Sayaka would mix as well as water and oil. With the text sent, she went to work.
"Careful! This one may be slow, but it hits hard!" The demon the pair is fighting this time is a giant snowman calling himself King Frost. Despite its slow speed (and admittedly airheaded personality), the ice power it shoots were incredibly powerful. Madoka bet that even one hit could give her frostbites for months. But thanks to their training, both girls managed to dodge its attacks and defeated the giant monster. "Ow! That really hurt ho!", King Frost exclaimed. Kyouko tilted her head unamused. "Well, that what you get for causing such a mess. Anyways, say goodbye ya creep." Just as Kyouko was about to deliver the final blow, to the girls' surprise, the demon begged them to not kill him. "H-Hold it ho! I won't cause anymore hee-ping havoc! Just let me go and I promise you this ho!" The pair looked at each other for a moment, and in the end, decided to let him go. "Fine. Just don't cause any more trouble. Understand?", Madoka said, trying (and failing) to be intimidating. King Frost nodded in delight and even gave the girls a pair of snow globes as thanks before leaving. "Well...", Kyouko finally says, "...that took care of that weirdo. You wanna grab a bite to eat? I'm paying." "Sure!", Madoka said with a smile. One thing Madoka soon learned during her first week was that demons come in many shapes and sizes. This includes their personality. Some demons are rotten to the core, while others are actually pretty friendly. In a way, demons were no different to humans or even animals. If only fiends could be like this, Madoka thought to herself. Perhaps they would've rested in peace.
On the rooftops of the now empty school, Madoka and Kyouko were chatting while eating lunch. Through this conversation, Madoka learned quite a bit about her red-head mentor. Some good, some silly, and some even sad. Despite knowing her for more than a week, Madoka could feel a bond forming between her and her mentor. Actually, in Madoka's mind, it was probably safe to say that they're no longer teacher and student. Rather, they are now equals. Although Madoka is happy with this development, she can't help but feel guilty for choosing someone she knows recently over her best friends. After all, they've helped her for almost all of her childhood. Is this really how she would thank them after all this time? With all this clouding her mind, Madoka decided to cut her time with Kyouko short and get ready to head straight to the mall. But before she leaves, she heard something that made her stop in her tracks.
"Hey rookie..."
Madoka turn to Kyouko. "Yes?"
"You did great today. I'm proud of you, partner."
Hearing those words of praise, the pink haired heroine couldn't help but smile with a light blush on her face. She doesn't know why it felt good hearing it from her now former mentor, but she wasn't really thinking too hard on it. She's just glad she's making progress. Now, it was back to her other friends...
"Sayaka! Hitomi! Are you guys still...here?"
Madoka made it to the mall and only spotted Sayaka. it didn't take long to conclude that Hitomi probably left for home. "Oh. Hey, Madoka. I didn't think you would come." Sayaka was surprised, but also slightly unamused that Madoka managed to appear after cancelling plans. "I'm sorry, Sayaka! I had to do something and-" before Madoka can explain any further, Sayaka patted Madoka on the head with a smile, reassuring her that everything is fine. "You goofball...", Sayaka said with a chuckle, "I'm not mad at you or anything. Jeez, you always overreact to the smallest things." Despite the reassurance, Madoka still felt guilty for betraying her friend. Not only did she lie, but she also ditched her to hang out with someone else. "I-If you say so... I'm still really sorry."
"Yeah well, next time there's trouble, don't be afraid to rely on me."
"Huh?"
"You know, with the monster. That was you who defeated it all by yourself, right?'
It was then that Madoka realized that she forgot that Sayaka also can sense when a demon is nearby. However, if that were the case, why didn't Sayaka come in to help? Did she sensed Kyouko and mistake her for Mami? Or perhaps it was something else? For now, Madoka put that thought aside and selfishly took all the credit in defeating King Frost (even though Kyouko did most of the work). Sayaka chuckled. "Well good job, little miss heroine! If I had a gold star, I would give you a hundred!" Madoka pouted at her friend's exaggerated joke, but the atmosphere changed when Sayaka turned back to her with a now sadder expression.
"Seriously though... Don't go off on your own like that again. I know yesterday was hard on you, but I didn't say to rely on me just make fun of you. I just...don't want to lose you. Got it?"
With a silent nod, the two friends gave each other a firm hug before walking home together. If Madoka wasn't feeling bad before, she does ten times over now. All that time, Sayaka was worried about her wellbeing. She was afraid that she wouldn't see her best friend's smile again. If it wasn't for Kyouko's energy, Sayaka probably would've jumped in by now. In fact, without Kyouko at all, Madoka probably wouldn't have survived her encounter with the demon. The pink hair middle schooler reflected on her actions and concluded that she has a long way to go to truly become a magical girl. For that brief moment, she almost forgot a magical girl's biggest strength: her bond with friends. True, she formed a new bond with Kyouko Sakura, but she should never forget her bond with Sayaka Miki.
And with that, her true story begins...