" . . . authorities are unsure as to what caused the accident, but there are many sources claiming it to be the latest part of a strange serial murder case dubbed 'The Scarlet Killings'."
The news was quickly replaced by anime as the channel was changed, and with it Homura's attention was wrested from the television. She could feel a headache coming on, one that was becoming familiar to her rather quickly of late; ever since that vampire had come to Mitakihara, things had gone from the usual 'bad' and taken a frighteningly bizarre turn towards 'worse' -- not 'worst', admittedly, as the vampire had made it very clear having now seen her proposal about Walpurgisnacht that she was very eager to test her might against it . . . but, it was still undeniably 'worse' and worsening.
Where earlier in the week Tomoe Mami had been incapacitated for the second time in almost as many days, now the attentions of the vampire had made it so that she was aware again -- aware, alive, and mostly-functional, despite only being a severed head. Homura desired no knowledge of how, only of how long it would take before boredom would lead to a change in state for the poor girl.
Miki Sayaka, on the other hand, was something of a wreck. Miki's abject terror at the prospect of facing the vampire again after that disastrous encounter had been enough for her will to be broken to pieces, only for her mistress to build her back up again -- giving her renewed confidence and drive to become stronger, though no more in the name of justice; instead, Sayaka was now the official guardian of her mistress -- the person who, in the vampire's own words, was 'the first test for prospective enemies,' equated to her older sister's door guard.
Admittedly, Sayaka's new worldview led her to be somewhat less critical of the time-traveler, but the present situation made that victory a hollow one at best -- Homura was only in this position for the sake of Madoka; no more, no less.
Further spoiling her mood were the presences of the last two people Homura would want within even ten yards of Madoka: Mikuni Oriko and Kure Kirika. Apparently the oracular girl had foreseen the vampire's actions leading to this end, and had opted to -- in lieu of direct manipulation, quickly realizing that doing so would be worse than fatal -- act as a benefactor so that things would progress as they had. It was only the fact that these events hadn't resulted in Madoka's death that stayed Homura's still-itching trigger finger -- that, and the mistress's word.
Speaking of whom, Homura's distraction had kept her from her self-appointed task; earlier, the mistress had been running low on pencil lead, so she'd spent a bit of her own money to acquire more during the day's shopping trip. Yes, Homura was still playing the role of maid; after recent events, how could she not? It was the only way she could not only ensure the vampire's cooperation come Walpurgisnacht, but also Madoka's safety. Thus, as with anything she did with Madoka's well-being in mind, Akemi Homura was doing the best she could; living alone for so long had prepared her well for the role, with maintaining the household -- cleaning, shopping, budgeting funds, the lot of it -- coming to her naturally.
Admittedly, though, cooking remained the one domain she suffered in, but she had begrudgingly accepted lessons from the Mikuni heiress to change that. Until then, she would carefully supervise the seer's duty as a temporary chef -- she still could not completely trust her, despite the mistress's requests.
"Ah, Homura-chan, there you are!"
Speak of the devil -- no, not 'the devil'. Even now, Madoka was not a devil. She was, however -- by way of the increasingly strange and distressing circumstances that had brought this household together -- the mistress of the manor (the vampire having had no real desire for the position herself), and a vampire besides. Yes, the vampire had turned Madoka into one of her kind, and while this had rather effectively spared Madoka from the fate of being a magical girl it had also brought along its own set of challenges. More than once had Homura needed to halt time to come to Madoka's rescue with an umbrella as even now she continued to adjust to her new lifestyle; dietary restrictions, while less restrictive than one would think (roasted soybeans were taboo, and garlic disliked by the vampire), still led to several stopovers by Homura to local blood banks and hospitals; and family . . .
The matter of family was its own headache. Through a mixture of the truth (fed through a blender) and a touch of mesmerism, the families of Madoka, Kure, and Miki all had come to accept their children living on their own together (alongside the rest of the household), yet the Kaname family still visited now and again. The results of these visits were events that Homura remained certain would see her hair turn silver by Walpurgisnacht, but thankfully they seemed to get along surprisingly well with all present, the vampire included.
Despite all of these issues, however, Homura refused to despair. Though things had gone horribly wrong, they were all together and more importantly Madoka would remain safe, never to become a magical girl . . . and maybe if she kept telling herself this, she might actually begin believing it.
