As both girls proceeded further into the building, the metallic doors behind them closed shut. Madoka glanced around her, the lights that lit the white corridors shun brightly, causing her to squint her eyes as a result of staring too much at them.

Still walking hand in hand, Homura led the way, while the pink haired girl awed at her new surroundings. A couple turns here and there, the two had finally made it to the lounge room, where usually all girls hanged out when it was a resting day.

Aside from a red head, no one was present for the moment.

"Huh, what's this?" the red headed girl spoke, noticing the new face. "Who's the stray pup, Hom?" she asked as she approached them.

"I found her while I was out exploring for some things," Homura spoke, "And her name is Kaname Madoka by the way."

Madoka simply nodded, trying her best to smile without revealing that she felt a bit intimidated by the red head.

"I see," the red headed girl grinned, her fangs showing, "I'm Sakura Kyoko, nice to meet ya Madoka!"

She extended her hand, and the pink haired girl extended hers in return to shake it, "Nice to meet you too, Sakura-san." she replied timidly.

Kyoko couldn't help but to laugh, "Ah kid, you're just like a newborn! Relax, there's no need to feel shy around here. After all, this'll be your new home from now on."

Upon hearing that last sentence, Madoka's eyes widened with excitement, "Y-you mean I can stay here as long as I want..?" she asked.

"Sure ya can!" Kyoko, chirped, "All we need to do is let Yuki know that we have acquired a new family member."

"Yuki?" Madoka repeated curiously.

"Higurashi Yuki-san is our leader," Homura stated.

Kyoko pulled Homura into a bear hug before nudging her head, "Lighten up Ice Princess, stop being so formal. Try to sound more welcoming to the newbie here, your coldness is going to scare her away."

Annoyed, Homura pushed Kyoko away from her, fixing her hair shortly afterwards. "If anything, it's your wild behavior that's going to scare her off." she said. "Now, where exactly is Yuki-san? I need to inform her of the new arrival."

Kyoko motioned for the two girls to sit on the couch, "You two go ahead and wait here, I'll go fetch her." Before Homura could reply, Kyoko had already sprinted down the corridor halls, her steps fading away into the distance.

"She seems nice," Madoka spoke, smiling at Homura.

Scoffing at the pink haired girl's comment, Homura rested her head against the couch's arm rest, "Wait till you actually get to know her." she said.

Madoka ended up scooting a bit closer to Homura before lightly tapping on her shoulder, "Hm? What is it?" Homura muttered.

"I just wanted to say 'thank you' again," Madoka smiled, "Thank you for saving me today, Homura-chan."

Ruffling through her hair a bit, Homura bit her lower lip before speaking, "You don't need to keep thanking me, you know…" she sighed, "but you're welcome, again."

/./

After a while, footsteps started echoing through the corridor, growing closer and closer towards their direction.

"Here she comes," Homura stated, "Kaname-san, it's time to present you."

With that said, both girls stood up and walked a few steps until they were facing the corridor. The leader had arrived, here she was, face to face with the new girl.

"I hear you were rescued by Homura here," she smiled.

Nodding, Madoka smiled back at her, "Yes, it's true, ma'am."

Cupping Madoka's face with her slender hands, Yuki examined the girl's face, as if she were searching for something in particular. The sudden action had caused Madoka to let out a faint squeak.

"S-she's virus free.." Homura reported, causing Yuki's attention to shift to hers.

"I see, that's good then." she smiled, releasing Madoka. "Well then, welcome aboard, young lady!" the leader chimed, "Tomorrow morning I'll be assigning you your new position. You'll be roommates with Homura, considering everyone except her already have one. So then," she looked at the raven, "why don't you start giving her the grand tour, Homura?"

Nodding obediently, Homura turned to face Madoka, "Alright then, Kaname-san."

"Yes?" Madoka blinked rapidly.

The raven haired girl motioned for her to follow her, "I'll be showing you around now."

/./

Both girls were now standing in front of a door, the nameplate had Homura's name on it. "This concludes our tour," Homura merely states. She opens the door to reveal the interior of the room. Only half of the room was being occupied, while the other half remained empty. "The empty side of the room, that's your half."

Madoka walked towards her half, she was amazed to see that, even though said side wasn't being used, everything was still neat and clean. The bed was made, dust wasn't invading everywhere,no cobwebs, and the closet wasn't cluttered with anything. "Do you clean this side of the room often?" Madoka asks, while sitting on the soft bed.

"Yuki-san asked of me to always keep that side of the room looking presentable, just in case if someone were to ever join and move in here with me." Homura quietly answered Madoka's question, while sliding her backpack off and unzipping it.

"Your hard work paid off then, Homura-chan," Madoka smiled warmly.

"It was nothing really, it's just cleaning." Homura replies, focusing her gaze on the different objects she was pulling out of her bag.

"Homura-chan?" Madoka leans forward in order to place her elbows over her knees, cupping her own cheeks afterwards, waiting for the other girl to turn her direction.

Homura's lavender eyes glance over her shoulder, focusing on the other girl.

"Let's get along!" Madoka beams, her features carved with a warm smile.

"Mhm."

/./

"Everyone, report to the lounge at once. I need to introduce the new recruit to you all. I repeat: everyone, report to the lounge at once." Yuki's voice echoed through each corridor and room in the headquarters.

"Ah… that's right, I haven't met everyone yet." Madoka sits up from her bed, shuffling her body towards Homura's direction. "How many people are there here exactly, Homura-chan?" she asks.

"Not many, just seven people. Well, you already met both Sakura-san and Yuki-san. So really, you just have to meet five more people." Homura replies, her attention still engrossed over whatever it was she was doing.

"You're right..." Madoka smiled before lowering her head a bit.

Two minutes of silence passed before Homura decided to speak again. "They're waiting for you, you do realize that, right..?"

No response.

Sighing, Homura places down the pieces of metal she was holding in her hands, she shifted her body towards Madoka, facing her fully now.

"They're waiting for you, Kaname-san." she repeats, her tone a bit louder, due to her having to repeat herself again.

Nothing.

The raven haired girl tapped her fingers, slightly annoyed at the silent treatment she was receiving from the other girl.

"Hey. Are you listening?" she asked, her eyes narrowing down on Madoka now.

Once again, no response.

Sighing in exasperation, Homura rubbed at the nape of her neck. "Fine, do as you like. Whether you go to them or not, it's not my proble-"

"Do you think they'll like me?" Madoka's sudden interruption caused Homura to widen her eyes a bit, before her stoic like features resurfaced again.

"What?"

Madoka balled up her fists against her knees, wrinkling the fabric on her jeans, she kept her gaze down. "Do you think they'll like me..?" she whispered, loudly enough for the other to hear her.

Homura crossed her arms, looking away from the pink haired girl. "That's…. that's up to you, is it not?"

"Eh?" Madoka looked up, her voice a bit louder but still quiet, "What do you mean?"

Homura ran a hand through her hair before speaking again, "What I mean is, if you want them to like you, then just try your best and be yourself or whatever." she gazed at her before looking away again. "Besides, they're all really friendly if you ask me, and you seem just as cheery go lucky as they are, so you should be fine."

Madoka blushed slightly at Homura's blunt description of her before giggling softly. "You're right. Thank you for the words of encouragement, Homura-chan."

Checking the clock on the wall, the raven haired girl glanced back at Madoka, "You should hurry then. They're waiting for you."

"Ah, you're right!" Madoka quickly rose from her bed. "Let's go then!"

"I'm not going."

"Eh?" fixing her gaze on the raven, Madoka cocked her head sideways, "Why not?"

Lavender eyes stared back into pink ones. "Because I already met you. The meeting is for those who haven't met you yet."

Shaking her head slightly, Madoka took a firm grasp on Homura's wrist and pulled lightly. "Homura-chan, did you not hear Yuki-san correctly? She said, 'Everyone, report to the lounge at once.' Everyone, meaning you too."

Homura furrowed her brows before looking away, a bit embarrassed at the misunderstood message she had half heartily paid attention to.

Taking that as a sign of acceptance, Madoka simply smiled, and dragged Homura away with her down the corridors.

/./

"Alright everyone." Yuki boomed, with her confident voice echoing a bit. "I have called you all here because there is someone I need to present to you."

Mutters from the of the girls could be heard. A red head seemed unfazed by it, she simply continued biting into her pocky stick.

"Hey Kyoko." A blue haired girl whispered, catching the attention of the red head.

"Hm?"

"Who do you think it might be?" Sayaka continued on, "Do you think it might be an old friend of Yuki-san? Oh! Or maybe, a highly trained assassin, ready to show us how to improve our skills?" she awed at the built up image she had made.

Kyoko snickered, before nudging Sayaka lightly, "Idiot, I've already met her. I'll burst your bubbles right now and tell you that no, she is neither of those. She's a rookie, a scared pup at that."

"Ehh, really?" a crease appeared on Sayaka's features. "I-I see…. so it's none of that." She sighed, disappointment still visible on her face.

A blonde looked around, searching for the new arrival, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Yuki-san," she spoke.

"Yes, what is it Mami?"

"The new arrival… where are they?"

Everyone but Kyoko and Yuki looked around aimlessly, wondering where exactly this person was.

Before anyone could say anything else, footsteps caught their attention and they all shifted their gazes towards the sound of it.

There she was, a pink haired girl they have never seen before, she was standing hand in hand with a stoic Homura.

Yuki walked towards the girl and stood next to her, pointing at her. "Everyone, this is the new recruit. She was brought in by Homura."

"Ah, so you went girl hunting earlier, Homura?" Mami smiled warmly at the lavender eyed girl.

Homura embarrassedly looked down, her hand pulling away from Madoka's. "N-no. I just happened to bump into her." she spoke.

"Well then," Yuki smiled, "introduce yourself." she looked at Madoka, and the girl nodded back.

She stepped forward, timidly looked at the faces staring back at her, and she bowed before them. "M-my name is Kaname Madoka. I uh, I'm 14 years old, and I was found by Homura-chan. She saved me and I'm grateful to her for that. L-let's get along..!" she squeaked.

"Nice to meet you Kaname-san. My name is Tomoe Mami. I'm the head cook of this household." Mami smiled warmly at her.

"I'm Momoe Nagisa, but everyone calls me Bebe! Oh also, do you like cheese, Madoka-san?" Nagisa asked excitedly, quickly earning a nod from the pink haired girl in response. "That's cool! We already have something in common!" Nagisa beamed.

"Nice to meet you too, and yeah, let's get along. I'm Miki Sayaka by the way!" Sayaka smiled at her.

Kyoko grinned at Madoka, "Yo, we already met earlier, but nice to meet ya again."

Hitomi bowed right back at Madoka and smiled at the girl. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kaname-san. My name is Shizuki Hitomi."

"And I'm Higurashi Yuki, the leader of this place, but you already knew that." she laughs, "You can address me as Yuki or Higurashi-san if you wish. But I prefer when you all address me by my first name, it gives us a more friendly relationship, does it not?"

Nodding quickly, Madoka smiled at the kind leader. "You're right. And same goes for me, you can all call me by my first name as well!"

There was silence shortly after that and everyone but Madoka shifted their gaze in synchronization towards Homura, who had been looking bored the whole time. She stared back at the girls, and tilted her head in confusion.

"What is it..?"

"Oi, Ice Princess. It's your turn to introduce yerself." Kyoko smirked.

"But I already introduced myself to her."

Yuki leaned over to ruffle Homura's hair a bit, before smiling at the girl, "Doesn't hurt introducing yourself again, does it?"

Madoka turned towards Homura now, smiling at the girl. She extended her hand towards her, "I'm Kaname Madoka. Nice to meet you!"

Homura stared at Madoka's extended hand for a bit, before reluctantly shaking it in return. "Akemi Homura…"

"Let's get along Homura-chan!"

"…"

/./

With the meeting over, all girls were in the lounge area, huddled over Madoka, asking her all sorts of questions. Well, all except one, Homura wasn't there.

"So Madoka, what kind of life did you use to live before everything went to chaos?" Sayaka asked.

"Ah, well… my mom, she used to be a successful businesswoman and my dad was a stay at home dad, he cooked and kept the house clean. Both him and my little brother Tatsuya stayed at home, he was 3 years old, so he still didn't go to preschool. And me, well, I was just an ordinary school girl."

"That sounds like it must've been a good life." Mami smiled, while brushing Nagisa's hair.

"It was. There was nothing to complain about really. Well actually, no, there was." she corrected herself, smiling a bit sadly this time.

"And what might've that been, if we may ask." Hitomi questioned, her tone polite as always.

"I really didn't have any friends at all." Madoka replied, her tone a bit quieter now.

"Hm? Why's that?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised at the pinkette's statement.

"I don't know, really. Maybe I was too nice or something?" Madoka blinked rapidly, "That's why I was a bit nervous today, I thought that maybe, you might not like me. It already seems like Homura-chan doesn't like me, so…"

Sudden laughter caused Madoka to widen her eyes a bit, Kyoko was laughing, but was she laughing at her?

"Don't worry bout Ice Princess there," Kyoko leaned forward, offering the girl a piece of pocky. Madoka gladly took it and began munching on it. "It's not that she hates you or anything, she's simply apathetic towards everyone she meets. Don't take it personally."

"Yeah," Sayaka smiled, trying to reassure Madoka a little more. "Why do you think we call her Ice Princess? It's because she's always so serious and stuff."

"Now you two, please, don't tease Akemi-san." Hitomi scolded lightly.

"You see, Madoka," Mami began, "Homura's just… a bit antisocial due to her past. Even though she seems cold at first, she's a really caring, smart, talented, and kind girl. She just has to warm up to you."

Both Kyoko and Sayaka couldn't help but to burst out laughing.

"Mami-san," Kyoko said in between giggles, "Are ya sure we're-" she kept laughing, clutching at her abdomen.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Homura?" Sayaka finished Kyoko's sentence, trying to sustain her snickering.

Madoka simply glanced back to the corridor that was behind the couch they were all sitting at.

"Homura-chan's…. past.." she murmured to herself.

/./

After hearing about everyone's fair share of their own background stories, it was already late, so everyone decided to head back to their rooms. Madoka yawned and trudged to her new room. A lot had happened today, and it wore Madoka out. But even though a lot of the events that took place were overwhelming, the girl smiled brightly. She was able to meet new people, and they were all nice to her, so there was no reason for her to feel unsure with the new lifestyle she would be about to adapt to.

Before she could walk into the room, she decided it was best to knock, just in case it might've been considered rude of her to simply barge in, regardless of whether it was her room now too. She softly knocks three times on the door.

"Homura-chan, may I come in?" she asks.

"It's your room too, is it not?" was the faint reply she received from the other side of the door.

She twisted the door's handle and opened the door, closing it behind her lightly. She was greeted with the backside of Homura, she was still working on whatever it was that had her so occupied earlier. Madoka sat on her bed and kicked off her shoes, before sighing with relaxation.

"Kaname-san." Homura mummbled.

"Yes, Homura-chan?" the pink haired girl fixed her gaze on the back of the other girl.

"I took some time earlier while you were with the rest of the members to put in some clothing in your closet. You can take a shower right now if you wish."

Upon hearing about the nice gesture Homura did, Madoka couldn't help but to smile brightly at her. She lunged herself at the raven haired girl and hugged her lightly. "Wow! Thank you Homura-chan! You didn't have to, but I appreciate your nice gestures a lot!"

Homura stiffened at the sudden embrace, letting out a faint yelp.

"Oh sorry, did I scare you? I'm sorry." The smaller girl let her hands drop to her sides and she backed away a step.

"It's alright. Just, don't do it ever again. I don't like being hugged…" Homura replied.

"Ah, is that so? I'll keep that in mind then, and again, sorry." Madoka bowed apologetically repeatedly.

Homura, her back still turned towards Madoka, simply waved her hand to her, "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"Alright… well, I think I'm gonna go take a shower then. I'll see you in a few minutes, Homura-chan."

Homura gave the girl another wave of the hand as a response, and with that said, Madoka picked up some fresh clean clothing and left for the showers.

/./

"Gee, that sure was quite a refreshing bath I just took." Madoka sang, as she continued walking down the hallways, heading to her room. "Come to think of it, when was the last time I took a bath..?"

It had seemed like such a long time ago to the girl, she literally had no idea how long she's been on her own, trying to survive everyday by herself. How long ago was it that she had lost her family? How long ago has she been completely alone? Those same thoughts were circling around, repeating themselves again and again. Tears were now forming on the girl's eyes, she quickly shook her head, trying to repress such melancholic memories. "No," she whispered to herself, blinking rapidly in order to rid herself of the tears, "I shouldn't cry… not now, not now." But her tears, they kept falling and falling.

"…. Mom, dad, Tatsuya….." she fell to her knees, her eyes swollen with the running tears that kept appearing one after another nonstop.

/./

After crying for more than ten minutes, Madoka had reached her room, she noticed on the nameplate that her name was written on it as well. She couldn't help but to smile. "Homura-chan is really thoughtful," she thought.

She knocked on the door again, same three soft knocking patterns as earlier. "Homura-chan, may I come in?"

She received the same, "It's your room too, isn't it?" response from Homura again. Madoka opened the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind her quietly. Without another word, the pink haired girl hopped onto her bed and pulled the covers onto herself, shifting herself to a comfortable position afterwards.

After yawning and rubbing her eyes lightly, Madoka glanced over at Homura, who was still sitting on her desk, still working on something.

"You're not going to sleep, Homura-chan?" Madoka asked, while rubbing at her eyelids again.

"No, I need to finish something by tomorrow."

"Why's that?"

Homura glanced back at Madoka for a bit, before answering cautiously. "Why do you wish to know?"

Madoka sat up on her bed as soon as Homura made eye contact with her, "I don't know… maybe because I just want to get to know you better?"

The dark haired girl squinted her eyes at Madoka before turning her back on her again, "It's a gift for someone," she finally said, her voice barely a whisper.

"A gift? For who?" Madoka's eyes beamed, and for a second there, it almost seemed as if her sleepiness had gone away.

"Eh…" Homura bit her lip and slouched her shoulders before continuing, "It's for Tomoe-san…"

Madoka jumped off her bed and pulled up a chair next to Homura. "That's nice! Does she know you're giving her a present tomorrow?"

"No, she doesn't. It's a surprise actually." Homura muttered.

Madoka couldn't help but to smile at the taller girl. The way she was acting was such a refreshment for the pink haired girl, "You like giving people gifts, Homura-chan?"

Homura fidgeted for a second before shaking her head, "No, I don't. I just thought that maybe… um.." she looked away from the girl, unable to finish her sentence.

"Hm?" Madoka leaned a bit forward, in order to search for those lavender eyes that were hiding from her sight. "You thought what, Homura-chan?"

"I just thought that she might like the gift, considering I overheard her say she wanted one of these…" she pointed at the object she had been working on half of the day.

"Wow," Madoka's brows rose in surprise and awe, "did you make this, Homura-chan? Is this what you were working on?"

"Yes."

Madoka placed a hand on Homura's shoulder and gazed at her. "Homura-chan, I'm sure she'll love it."

Upon hearing Madoka's words of encouragement, Homura's eyes dilated, and her features soften for a bit, before she pulled her gaze away from her. "Thanks, I hope she does. And you should go to sleep already, you have a full day ahead tomorrow."

"I will, I will." Madoka smiled, while rising from her seat. "But you should get some rest too, Homura-chan."

Once again, Homura replied with a wave of a hand before focusing back on her task.

"Goodnight, Homura-chan."

A/N: Sorry for the late update, I've just been really lazy and I needed inspiration to continue this story. I watched all the resident evil movies and played tomb raider and the last of us to get more of a sense of survivalists and whatnot. Anyways, I'll try to upload the next chapters withing next week or a few days or so! Till then, see ya!