Hearing Kyubey's name, Homura's face went white in an instant.
She never imagined that before she could even go looking for it, that thing would dare to show up on its own. Even worse, it had appeared directly in Su Mo's house.
This meant both Su Mo and Madoka were now on Kyubey's radar—the worst-case scenario she was trying to avoid by leaving home.
Needless to say, Madoka's potential as a magical girl made her a prime target for Kyubey, which was dangerous in itself. Her overly kind nature made her especially susceptible to Kyubey's manipulations, easily swayed into making a wish to become a magical girl to help others.
As for Su Mo, while he wouldn't become a magical girl, the fact that he could see Kyubey at all was unbelievable.
No matter how she looked at it, this emergency could not be ignored.
"Big Brother Su Mo! Wait for me, I'm coming back right now!" Homura was suddenly frantic.
"Oh? Didn't you just say you might not be coming back? Weren't you planning on running away?" Su Mo's teasing voice came from the other end of the line.
Damn it! He heard me!
Homura's momentum faltered, and she quickly shook her head. "N-No! I mean, I'll be good from now on. I'll report to you wherever I go. I'm coming back right now!"
Announcing her departure on the very first day would surely lower Su Mo's opinion of her. Homura could only try her best to salvage the situation.
"Is that so? I thought you were dissatisfied with me for some reason," Su Mo continued to deliberately provoke her.
"N-Never!"
This time, Homura was so flustered she was on the verge of tears. Racing back while being verbally bullied by Su Mo, she found herself unable to cope. She took a deep breath and shouted, "I-I like Big Brother Su Mo the most... so, please don't say a single word to that Kyubey. You have to wait for me to get back!"
Hearing the girl's mortified voice, the person on the other end of the line finally gave a satisfied nod, forgiving her earlier words.
Homura finally let out a sigh of relief. Then, to save time, she simply activated her time stop.
Big Brother Su Mo, please, whatever you do, don't let Madoka walk down that path of no return!
With that prayer in her heart, the girl disregarded the cost and frequently used her time stop.
Finally, within a minute, she made it back to Su Mo's house—or rather, her own home.
When she arrived back in her bedroom, she found Su Mo and Madoka already awake. They were sitting on the bed, and perched on the TV in front of them was a creature that looked pure white and flawless, yet had ruby-red eyes that held an ominous gleam.
Madoka was wrapped in a blanket, leaning against Su Mo, looking at the white mascot with great curiosity. Su Mo was also chatting with Kyubey with keen interest.
Even from a distance, Homura could still hear words like "alien," "magical girl," and "emotional energy."
Seeing Madoka looking completely enthralled, Homura panicked.
There was no time for greetings. She immediately pulled out a handgun and fired three shots. As she vaulted through the window and into the bedroom, the bullets accurately struck Kyubey's cat-like head, killing the white mascot on the spot.
"Eh? Eh? Eh?!"
Seeing the mascot, a staple of shoujo manga, die on the spot, Madoka was stunned by the development. She first looked at Su Mo in surprise, then turned to Homura in confusion. "Homura-chan... what are you doing? Why would you suddenly do something so awful to Kyubey?"
Seeing the confusion in Madoka's eyes but no real resistance in her expression, Homura breathed a small sigh of relief. It seemed Madoka hadn't formed too negative an impression of her because of her violent actions.
"Kyubey is not a good thing," she said, putting down her gun. With a look of disgust, she picked up Kyubey's corpse and tossed it out the window, then turned to Madoka with a tense expression. "Madoka, you didn't listen to its manipulations and agree to become a magical girl or anything, did you?"
She hesitated, then glanced at Su Mo. "Big Brother Su Mo, it didn't try to persuade you to do anything, did it?"
Hearing this, Madoka blinked and covered her mouth in mock surprise. "?!"
Homura's eyes widened, and a look of immense regret crossed her face. I leaked the information this time?
"Wait, if Kyubey wasn't trying to convince you to become a magical girl just now, then who was it here for?"
"Lord Su Mo, of course!" Madoka said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It couldn't possibly be looking for me!"
In her self-perception, Madoka felt she was not only an ordinary person in the chat group but also in the most ordinary tier in the entire world.
Although the existence of superpowers in this world was a surprise to her, in Madoka's eyes, it had nothing to do with an ordinary person like her.
Even if an opportunity arose, it would surely be for Su Mo, not her.
"Big Brother Su Mo?" Hearing this, Homura was even more surprised.
After nearly a hundred loops, this was the first time she had ever heard of Kyubey dealing with a male. Conventionally, anyone who wasn't a girl of a suitable age shouldn't even be able to see or hear Kyubey.
Thinking of this, Homura grew nervous. "Wait, Big Brother Su Mo, don't tell me Kyubey just said you have the potential to become a magical girl... no, a magical boy?"
She had no doubt about Su Mo's gender. Both his handsome features and what she had accidentally touched when she woke up could prove that.
So how strong would Su Mo's potential have to be for Kyubey to be tempted to the point of breaking its own rules?
Faced with this question, Su Mo gave the anxiously concerned girl a slightly exasperated look. "A mere mascot is worthy of judging my potential?"
That would be elevating Kyubey's status a bit too much.
Besides...
"Before I answer that, I'd like to hear you repeat what you said earlier. You said... you like who the most?"
"..."
Remembering the nonsense she had blurted out just moments ago to stop Su Mo from questioning her, Homura's cool, pretty face suddenly burned.
Aaaah! What did I just say?!
Just then, Madoka leaned in with a mischievous grin. "Ehh? So I'm not the one Homura-chan likes the most?" This kid had learned a thing or two from Rin Tohsaka.
Faced with the double stare from Su Mo and Madoka, Homura froze. For her, this was a life-or-death question, like "Who do you like more, Mom or Dad?" How was she supposed to answer that?!
"Homura-chan, you have two choices now." With her hands on her hips, seeing Homura frozen speechless, Madoka kindly offered her a way out.
"Either explain why you were trying to run away from home, or pick which one of us you like the most!"