The night fell upon Mitakihara city like a black blanket. It was a sad, starless night. Dark clouds were covering the moon, which so willfully tried to shine through. The demon was walking through a familiar park in the middle of the city, oblivious to the cold wind. Homura Akemi, the demon of love, as she liked to call herself, absentmindedly danced around white corpses.
Their emotionless pink eyes were staring at her in horror. They should have known better. Human emotions were just too dangerous and powerful, there's no way they would ever be able to take a full control of them.

"Homura Akemi… Is this really what you want? Are you happy with your existence as a demon?" One of the Incubators asked. It was one of the few who were still alive, but barely. Then again, Homura couldn't really kill them. She could only keep destroying their spares and make them eat curses. The Incubator has never felt so much pain before and it was driving it crazy. It did the only thing it could do. Plotted a plan against Homura Akemi.

"How many times are you going to ask me, Incubator?" Homura was patient with them. She always saw through their plans and eventually punished them. Kyubey just didn't know better. It was in Incubator's nature to be cunning, even though they claimed to not understand the concept of tricking people.

Kyubey didn't answer immediately. They had this conversation so many times and it always ended the same way. They watched Homura's graceful moves, as she danced in circles tirelessly. Deciding to drop the previous topic, Kyubey spoke in Homura's mind once more, asking her another question. "Would you be so cruel to every single one of our species?"

Homura paused in the middle of her movements. She straightened her position and shot Kyubey a suspicious glare. Kyubey stared right back at her. She hasn't heard this question yet. What is it trying to do?

"Aren't you always the same one? No matter how many bodies I killed, you always came back the same. The same Incubator with the same memories."
"Yes, we have many spares and we all think alike. Our minds are connected and we share our experiences, which lets us to continue right where we left at, if something happened to our current body. We can have many spares active at once, as it doesn't take up as much effort and energy as one might think. It's very helpful when we need to make multiple contracts in different places. Or should I say… It was very helpful? You are monitoring us so closely we haven't been able to make a move." Kyubey explained briefly. The whole concept of its existence was too complicated to explain, so he had to choose wording the demon would understand. Maybe after becoming a higher being she had a deeper understanding of the universe, but he was sure that she wasn't as experienced as she'd like to think.

"So what did you mean by asking me that question before?" Homura frowned. She did not like where this was going. Even though Kyubey was all talk at times, she couldn't forget that it always left out some very important details. She eventually found out about all… or about most of the secrets about magical girls in the past.. Why didn't it tell them about their cruel fate? Because they never asked.

Kyubey's pink eyes shone brightly in the dark. "The birth of an Incubator is a very complicated process. We are made out of bits of energy. The same kind which is used to power the universe, which is why we are able to do the things we do. But sometimes, when a new spare is created and the flow of energy is weaker, the body doesn't absorb as much of it as it needs to function properly. We have experimented on these strange individuals and unfortunately, we aren't able to connect with them as we can do with our other spares. It's because of the lack of energy. They still have some of it inside of them, but they aren't able to control it. We have tried to charge them, but even if they receive more energy, they never recover. In human terms, it would be like trying to fill a bottomless hole. We found out that they can't even contract. And after spending too much time in human company, some of them developed a rare mental disease - emotions. So my question meant… Would you be so cruel to every single one of our species? Even to the ones who bare the same mental conditions as humans?"

Homura blinked and thought. Yes, she could recall that sometime in the past, they would have a conversation about emotions being a mental disease in the Incubator's eyes. That was when she realized that Kyubey is never going to understand them. It won't understand the suffering and the pain all magical girls had to go through because of its contract. That is why the only way to punish them was to curse them and take out their spares slowly one by one. It's the minimum she could do for them. To make them experience the same pain she has been going through for years. Years of repeating the same month over and over, in hopes to save her. Only then to live without her after she sacrificed herself…
A tear was starting to form in the corner of her eye. She quickly wiped it away. Then she came closer to the active Kyubey and stepped on its head. It was lying helplessly under her foot. She won't give in today. Now it's not the time to be so emotional. She pressed more and more, until the Incubator's head popped.

"Disgusting little shit." she mumbled, as she wiped Kyubey's white insides from her shoe with tissues. She could have easily cleaned it with magic, but maybe it was a good thing that she still has human-like instincts.
Kyubey's consciousness transfered into a new, healthy spare. The Incubator appeared out of nowhere and jumped right in front of Homura. Without a word, it got to work. It began eating its previous spares, which were spread around the park. It was one of its duties. Because of how Homura rewrote the universe, it lost the ability to be invisible to people. Homura told them to clean up their spares immediately after they got destroyed. She really didn't want her to find one.
"An Incubator with emotions, you say…" Homura spoke slowly. She watched the Incubator, as it ate another useless spare. Disgusting, so disgusting. "I still can't believe such an individual exists between your species." She said truthfully. She couldn't imagine Kyubey treating them like they mattered.

"Oh, believe me. We were also surprised when we found out it can happen." The Incubator finished its duty and sat in front of the demon.

"I still don't understand why did you ask me about it. You wouldn't do anything out of pure curiosity. I have to think about it a little longer." Homura was tired. As a demon she didn't need any basic needs, like sleeping or eating, but those activites helped her body to stay healthy. Yes, she could just use magic to heal herself, but she had to keep some of her humanity. For her sake.

"Of course. Let me know if you'd like to meet with said individual. I think it would be… an interesting experience for you." Kyubey waved its tail. Of course he had different intentions than that. Homura was aware of it as well, but she was still curious about the Incubator's request to meet another individual of their kind.

"Begone." She made a gesture with her hand. The Incubator was still for a second, then slightly bowed before her and disappeared into the shadows. Homura was alone again, with only her thoughts keeping her company.

She walked out of the park and continued down the street. Mitakihara was so quiet at night, a complete opposite of it in the daylight. Homura reached her destination after a few minutes. She grabbed her keys from her pocket and unlocked the door of her apartment.

Homura always liked to make her apartment look surreal. She discovered her ability to do this in one of the previous timelines. It started by projecting her own memories, then her feelings. The shadows of pendulums were purely for aeshetic, though she found their sounds very relaxing. If she had a theme song, it would be a similar kind of sound… Repeating melody.

Of course, whenever someone came over, she made everything look normal. She had to hide her identity as a magical girl. Well… as a demon, now. She couldn't allow her to find out about any of this. She couldn't allow her to regain any of her memories. Homura sighed loudly and sat down on her couch. It wasn't comfortable at all. She didn't deserve comfort or any kind of happiness. Sometimes, she just felt like crying for hours.

She was supposed to be a higher being. A demon. To protect her and make her have a happy life. But she didn't want any of this. She tried to play the big villain in front of others, to make herself appear powerful, so no one could mess with this new world… but she felt so weak.

This time, Homura didn't bother wiping away her tears. She let them go down her cheeks, like the beginning of a heavy rainfall. How long is this going to last? She couldn't keep doing this forever. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something terrible will happen. But till then… She has to keep up with this and stay strong. For…

"Madoka." she whispered quietly. So quietly, that she wasn't even sure if the name just popped up in her mind or if she truly said it out loud. "Madoka." She said it again, this time louder. "You're… doing this for Madoka. She never gave up on you, so you can't give up either." She told herself. Her voice was shaky and unstable, just like this rewritten world.

Suddenly, a loud beep filled the room. Homura took her phone, which was lying on the table. Her eyes went wide, as she read the message.

Though her first encounter with Madoka in this new world didn't go as well as she would like, she managed to meet up with her a few times when she walked alone from school. They had a very awkward small talk, during which Homura apologized for scaring Madoka. And the next time, Madoka was rushing home because her father cooked her favourite meal for dinner. She only greeted Homura and gave her her phone number, so they could talk later. Madoka called in the evening that day, but it was a very quick talk.

It has been a week since then and Homura didn't have any opportunity to talk to Madoka. Even though she could do what she wanted in this world, she didn't want to interfere too much. She'd rather let everything play out naturally. Her social anxiety was also preventing her from talking to Madoka directly and she refused to talk to her when she wasn't alone. And she wasn't sure about messaging or calling her. She didn't want to force herself onto Madoka.

Hi, Homura-chan! Are you awake?

The message said. Homura briefly checked the clock. It was two in the morning. It was very unusual for Madoka to stay up so late. From what she knew from the past, Madoka would always try to go to bed before nine. Homura frowned. Is something wrong? And how would Madoka know she's awake right now? Did Madoka regain her goddessness and now she's spying on Homura? She started panicking, but tried to remain calm. She thought for a moment, before typing a reply.

Hello, Kaname-san. Yes, I am awake, how did you know? More importantly, why are you awake at this hour?

Homura felt cold sweat on her forehead. She suddenly got very nervous, looking out of the window every second to see if something unusual was going on with her world. If she became a goddess again… After five minutes, Homura's phone beeped again. She hurried from the window to check the new message.

I'm sorry! I didn't expect you to reply, I just thought that you might be awake? You always seem so tired at school, I figured you don't get much sleep. I don't want to bother you

though, I'm sorry if you're busy or… something.

Reading the reply, Homura calmed down. She was still a little bit worried though. Why didn't Madoka sleep? She avoided her question. With a frown, she typed.

I like to stay up late. Why aren't you sleeping though? Is something up? You do not need to apologize for anything, you'd never bother me.

This time, the reply came faster.

It's nothing, I just… had a strange dream. About a black cat. But a car hit her and then… I saved her? I can't get it out of my head. Sorry, I know it's silly.

Homura blinked, surprised. That scenario seemed so familiar... She didn't dream about Amy, did she?! Homura started sweating again, this was a bad sign. Amy was a black cat and the reason of Madoka's contract in the very first timeline. Homura remembered that in the other timelines, she always had to save Amy before Madoka. Some timelines played out differently. In some cases, she killed Kyubey instead and let Amy die. And in the other, she simply killed Amy beforehand. She hated that the most. Homura loved cats and it was painful to see Amy die. But it was better than Madoka making a contract.

The fact that Madoka is remembering this now bothers her. She held the phone in her shaky hands, trying to think about a sensible reply, something to make Madoka think about other things than cats.

You're so kind, Kaname-san. It was just a dream, you should get some sleep now. Speaking of animals… and sleeping… Did you know that brown bats sleep for about 20 hours a day?

And… she tapped 'send'. Homura facepalmed. Seriously, Akemi?! Random animal facts?! You're too old for that. What is Madoka going to think of you now…

"Fuck this, I'm so stupid." She got up from the couch to lay on her bed. She threw her phone next to her. So tired… And the bed was so soft. Too soft for her liking and softer than she deserves. She felt the tiredness overcoming her, but before she went to sleep, she checked the newest message.

Wow, really? I didn't know that! You're so smart, Homura-chan, I wish I could be a bat and sleep so much! And I already told you before, you can call me Madoka. You're right though, I should get some sleep. Good night, Homura-chan.

A brief smile crossed Homura's lips. She couldn't help it and imagined what would it be like if Madoka wished to become a bat. Homura giggled. Madoka was too kind to her… No matter which timeline or which world, it was the one thing that never changed about her.