I must've been the first person to get to the school gates that day. I tried to keep it cool, to not look like I was head over heels for a girl I barely knew, but I could hardly hide my anticipation. This wasn’t a date, but it sure felt like it.

I kept scanning the people leaving school, hoping I'd catch a glimpse of Madoka's cotton candy hair. Instead, I caught a pair of bespectacled purple eyes looking at me from afar.

It was Madoka's silent friend, the one with the braids, walking by herself. She was giving me a weird look again, something between worry and pity. I looked away, pretending I hadn't seen her, but I could still feel her stare.

People kept leaving in droves, but Madoka was nowhere to be seen. I took my phone out to check the time and began toying with the idea of simply calling her. Would it come off as pushy? Creepy? I didn't have much time to dwell on it though.

"You must be Satou-san, correct?"

A student I had never seen before was standing in front of me, a blonde with curly hair and... notorious hug deflectors. A gentle smile was drawn across her face.

"I'm Kaname-san's friend, my name is Tomoe Mami, nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too"

"Could you please come with me? We need to talk about Kaname-san, but we should do it somewhere else"

"She's not coming?"

"I'm afraid not, shall we go now?"

Her complacent attitude was rubbing me the wrong way. I didn't know who she was or how much she knew, but there was no choice but to play along. We walked out of the school gates together; she walked slightly in front of me with confident steps. For a while we walked in complete silence, I had no idea where we were going. Eventually we found ourselves walking along a grassy riverbank, very few people around.

She began speaking without turning around "I heard about what happened in the cafeteria the other day"

"Yeah?"

"It must have been quite upsetting for you Satou-san, that whole scene. The entire school is talking about it, rumors are going around. It must be tough."

I could hear her smiling as she told me this, but I didn't know what she was getting at. She slightly turned to look at me as she walked.

"Kaname-san can be really clumsy sometimes when expressing her feelings, I hope you didn't get any wrong ideas"

I stopped dead on my tracks, feeling quite humiliated, "It's not that! I didn't think anything, I just..." I stopped before I gave away too much information, after all, I had no idea who this person was beyond being one of Madoka's friends.

She turned around, her face still smug "Well, that's good to hear, Satou-san. I was worried that you had misunderstood her gesture. You know why I'm here telling you all this instead of her?"

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"No"

"She was afraid she would have to reject you herself. Like I said, she's really clumsy with people, especially boys. So, she asked me to set things right. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, she's just really shy."

I could feel my heart sink into my stomach. It hadn't even begun, and it was already over. I suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore. If this is what this was all about, then I had gotten the message loud and clear.

"Don't worry about it" I tried to not sound too dejected "Is that it?"

Mami didn't seem to notice -or care about- my sudden mood shift, so she kept on talking "Actually, no. She saved your life, didn't she?"

I was jolted back to alertness. Mami dropped her smug little smile and looked at me with concern, "She told me all about it. "

"Really?"

"Yes, yes! It's a very important secret. It's crucial that you never tell anyone about it, Satou-san" she sounded as if she were talking to a little kid, "Not your friends, or your family, no one!"

"Yeah, yeah I got it. It was never my intention to tell anyone. I just want to know what was that all about, what was that... thing she killed"

"I don't know much about it either. But from what she has told me, those monsters are attracted to extremely negative emotions. Satou-san, is everything alright with you? With your family?"

I was completely nonplussed. Everything was fine back home, it had to be. But then again, why would that thing appear? Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention to my family... or maybe this girl was full of it. I suddenly felt really annoyed at her condescending attitude.

"Why are -you- telling me this? I mean, about the other thing... fine, I get it. I get why she wouldn't want to see me; I don't care about that. But this is important! Don't you think it would be better if she told me herself exactly what the hell that thing was?"

Mami’s demeanor totally changed, "Who do you think you are?" indignation showing in her voice, "Do you have any idea what she has to go through? I don't think you can even imagine what it feels like to go against one of those things. She already has a lot on her plate, don't you think? She saved your life, that's not enough for you?"

I didn't have anything to say, couldn't even look her in the eye anymore. Once Mami saw I had totally given up on getting answers, she calmed down but kept going like a nagging mother.

"Look, I understand that you're angry because she didn't show up, but she has her reasons, ok? Don't take it personally. She's carrying a really heavy burden, particularly for a person as gentle and meek as Kaname-san. You can understand that, can't you?"

I nodded silently.

"So please, Satou-san, please understand that she has more than enough going on in her life... and keep your distance from her."

Hearing her talk was grating, tiresome, but I didn’t want to say anything.

"You have a second chance at life, you know how lucky that is? Keep living your life, live it to the fullest. That's what she wants, that's why she fights"

The point had been made, there was no reason to keep this conversation going. As soon as she shut her mouth, I turned to see her.

"Negative emotions... got it. I'll see if there's something going on back home. I won't bother Kaname-san anymore, but can't you help me understand what's going on?"

"I know about as much as you do" she said without even considering my proposition, "Kaname-san keeps a lot of things to herself for a reason, but if I ever learn something relevant, I'll get in touch."

What a reassuring response, "Sure, thanks."

There were a couple of blissful moments of silence. I looked at our distorted, elongated shadows on the river. I was about to just say goodbye, but Mami beat me to it

"Well then, I guess I better go home. I'm sorry if this is too much to take Satou-san, but I trust you will keep to your word. Remember to check on your family as well."

"Sure" I replied without turning to face her. Her shadow receded from the river.

I took my phone out to check the time, then I opened my contact list. I was going to delete Madoka’s number, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.