What had attracted that thing to my house?

Was it my dad, getting overworked to the bone, looking like he hasn't had a single good night of sleep in years and never even getting a "thank you" for all his trouble? Was it mom, who feels alone and left out because dad's never home, I'm always in my room and she hasn't a single friend? Was it me, playing video games all day because I'm afraid of thinking about what to do with my life?

A nightmare monster had to show up at my home for me to notice how bad things really were, but now I could work on setting things right. Although it felt like there wasn't much I could do.

Saturday came, school ended, and I got on the train home, thinking of how I could make the most of this new shot at life I had been given... while pretending I hadn't glimpsed into some hidden world nobody but a handful of people seemed to know about. One of those people being the sweetest girl I had ever met in my life.

But there was no point on dwelling on that anymore, I had much bigger fish to fry.

"Yo! Romeo!"

A familiar voice pierced through the train car. I didn't look. It couldn't have been for me.

"Romeo! I'm talking to you! Come here!"

It was one of Madoka's friends, I recognized her voice, but I still didn't turn my head.

"Satou-kun! Come on! Just look over here!"

I gave in. It was the blue-haired girl, waving from her train seat, Madoka was cowering right next to her.

"Come on! Get over here!" She kept going, people on the train were visibly annoyed, alternating between looking at her and me. She didn't mind, but I did. I walked over as fast as I could, trying to not look like a pushover.

"So, what's up with you? Given up already?"

I was dumbfounded, clearly this girl and Mami weren't on the same page. She kept looking at me with an amused smile, while Madoka clutched her bag and held her head down.

"We were just talking about you, weren't we, Madoka-chan?"

"S-Sayaka!" Madoka finally looked up, first to Sayaka and then to me. She looked really flustered. I found it adorable, but I couldn't help but feel a little hurt as well.

We both looked away from each other's eyes. I could feel my face getting warm and my palms getting sweaty. I was very confused, why didn't Madoka tell her friend she wanted nothing to do with me? Was Sayaka just messing around with both of us?

"Oh, I see, I see what's going on now..." Sayaka abruptly broke our awkward silence and grabbed her chin in mock contemplation before loudly stating “you’re just a couple of mousy little dorks, ain't ya?"

She laughed hard, neither me nor Madoka said anything at all. Sayaka suddenly stood up and placed her hand on my shoulder, "I'm about to get off, why don't you keep Madoka-chan some company?"

"W-what!?" Madoka nearly stood up from her seat as well, "Where are you going?"

"I just remembered I got to buy some stuff, don't sweat it, I can get home on my own... so Romeo, how about it? You're not going to leave Madoka all by herself on the train, are you?"

The train was about to arrive to the station "Well, see you later!" she cheerfully told Madoka, then she turned to me "You better sit down quickly before someone else does, Satou-kun".

The train came to a stop and Sayaka made her way out. People flooded the train in an instant, and before I knew it, I was sitting right beside Madoka. I felt terrible, she probably was dreading every moment she spent next to me, and I really didn't want to be more of a bother than I already was.

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"I'm sorry, I'll just sit somewhere else."

"You don't have to do that" she quickly but politely replied, "besides, there aren't any empty seats"

"I see"

I took out my phone and she did the same. I figured we had both planned on ignoring each other until one of us got off, but I was wrong.

"How have you been? Is your family alright?"

"Well... it's complicated."

"Did something happen?" she turned to face me; I could hear the concern in her voice.

"Not really, no. But I can't say that we are alright."

"I'm sorry to hear that, if there's anything I can do for you--"

"Actually yes, what do you know about those things?"

I just couldn't contain myself. The question had completely caught her off-guard, but she knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Satou-kun..."

"You don't have to tell me all of it, I swear I will never bother you again, I just need to know exactly how to prevent it, I need to know what those things are. It’s just hard to believe that negative emotions it’s all it takes to make them come get you"

Her concern had turned into despondency, and she looked away from me. This was precisely the reason why she had wanted to avoid me, but I just couldn't contain myself, I had to know.

"I'm never going to tell anyone, I swear. I'm never going to get in your way, I'm just... I'm just scared"

Madoka was looking down at her shoes with a disheartened look on her face, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"You must think I'm a horrible person"

She was clutching her bag, still looking at her shoes.

"The truth is that I don't know, Satou-kun. I actually don't know if it's just that. I don't know what they are, I don't know how many of them are out there... I just don't know. I'm sorry."

I could feel a pit growing in my stomach. Mami made it sound as if Madoka had all the answers, but she genuinely looked as clueless as me.

"And the truth is that I'm also scared, very scared."

I felt horrible hearing that. I really was an ungrateful douchebag like Mami said. I couldn't think of anything to say, so I began looking at my shoes as well, wondering what people around us were making of our conversation. She raised her head and began speaking again, her voice more resolute

"But even if I'm scared, I will still fight. I will never let anything bad happen to you or anyone else."

She looked at me the same way she did back at the cafeteria, like a parent reassuring their child that everything would be alright. It felt as if a different person had replaced the docile girl who was riding the train with her friend a moment ago.

"You're not alone in this, Satou-kun. You have your family, and now you have me. I'll do my part, so you do yours, alright? Avoiding negative feelings might not be all there is to it, but it sure helps a ton."

"You're amazing" was all I managed to say in response. I felt really dumb, but it was enough to make my heroine blush.

She looked so frail, so perfectly cute that I still struggled with the idea of her fighting anything at all, let alone a monster several times her size. Yet here she was, acting like the mighty protector of the innocent and weak, and living up to it.

"I'm not amazing" she humbly replied with a smile, still blushing, "if I were, I would have told you all of this yesterday instead of sending Mami-san over"

"Oh yeah, Mami-san..." hearing her name made my skin crawl a bit, but also made me think about her relationship with Madoka. The more I thought about it, the more I could tell that either Madoka was lying to both of us, or both Madoka and Mami knew much more than they pretended. I really didn't want to think that no one knew what was going on.

"I hope this doesn't get you -or me- in trouble, I don't think I could handle another nagging session with Tomoe-san"

She laughed a little, with worry, "I think it would be better if we keep this a secret, don't you think?"

I felt ashamed of how easily I had lost my nerves, still, the fact that our mighty protector knew so little of what she was doing was worrisome, that is, if she was telling the truth at all. Just shooting straight questions wouldn't work; If I wanted to get anywhere, I needed to be much more tactful.

The train signaled it was about to arrive to the next station "Oh, this is my stop, Satou-kun, guess we'll have to continue talking later"

That was music to my ears., "Sure! And thanks again for everything you're doing, Kaname-san"

"It's not just me, Satou-kun, we're a team now, so don't give up!"

A huge smile appeared on my face, I waved at her as she left along with the crowd. It occurred to me that I could've walked her home, but maybe that would be overkill. I had to start small and be really careful with what I said and did.

Even if it was dangerous, I was glad I could be a part of her world.