Chewing on Diamonds

Sayaka missed Mitakihara sometimes. It had been a bustling metropolis with sweets stores and restaurants that served foods of every nationality. The theatres had all kinds of entertainment, from action-packed blockbusters to beautifully tragic operas. There had always been things to do.

But those were only bonuses. What she really missed were the people. Her classmates, teachers (even if they were a bit too open about their personal lives), family, but most of all her friends. She had such wonderful friends. Kyousuke, the budding child musical prodigy. He had so much promise before his accident. But even afterwards, the mix of contentment and pain in his eyes when he listened to the classical CDs she brought him showed how deep his passion ran. Sayaka always wished she had that kind of passion for something she was talented at.

Then there was the beautiful Hitomi. She was the epitome of elegance and young beauty, which earned her tons of love letters, many of which were hilariously poorly written. Nevertheless, Sayaka always wished she got that kind of admiration. Mind you, no one would really call Sayaka beautiful or elegant. They might call her cute and tomboyish, which is fine and good but generally not the best for attracting love letters from silly teenage boys.

There was also the mysterious new transfer student, Homura Akemi. Sayaka had not known her for very long, but she was a friend of hers nonetheless. This girl seemed to follow Madoka around like a lovesick puppy, but when you're in a new place and don't know anyone it's natural to cling onto someone who is such an open and genuinely kind person. Sayaka always wondered what Homura was thinking, and what she could have learned had they become closer. She was an odd one…especially that cosplay outfit she appeared to wearing with the upper-year blonde, strange redhead and little green-haired girl the last time they saw each other…on that day.

And finally, her closest friend of all; Madoka. Sayaka's breath, even six years later still caught every time she thought of her. Madoka was the sweetest and most caring person she had ever met. Madoka had this way of making Sayaka feel like she was incredible in every way; like she could do anything she put her mind to; like she could be, and was a true hero and protector of justice. As cheesy as it was, Madoka was the wind beneath her wings and kept her going.

But things always happen that change people's plans. Kyousuke was going to be the world's next greatest composer since Hans Zimmer, but even after six years he can't move his fingers an inch. Hitomi was going to become an upper-class socialite that any successful businessman would be proud to call his wife, but ever since that awful day six years ago she's still terrified of being arovund too many people. Homura was going to become more confident and open up to people, but she literally disappeared off the face of the earth. And Madoka…Madoka was going to be a psychologist or a veterinarian; someone who could heal and help.

But that's pretty fucking hard to do when you're dead.

And it's then, when Sayaka remembers that strange, very strange, dreadful day where monsters attacked her school killing her teachers and classmates; when Sayaka remembers how she proudly declared that she would go upstairs with Madoka and help save the transfer student; when that piece of wood or something burst through the wall and into Madoka's chest; when the transfer student was suddenly gone.

Sayaka also remembered what came after. The police, asking why some students were covered in blood and the other half were nowhere to be found. Explaining to the Kaname family how their daughter had died, but she could not bring back a body to prove anything. How in a fit of the absolute worst luck, a horrible natural disaster struck a week later, destroying Mitakihara and wiping out almost a quarter of its two million person population in a single night. How her family made her take pills for years. How Sayaka took matters into her own hands and…self-medicated at times.

Some families moved back after the city was rebuilt, but many stayed where they had relocated. Most families went to Kazamino, simply because it was close. Parts of the northeastern part of Kazamino had been damaged too, but it was nothing compared to its western neighbour. Other survivors went to larger cities like Tokyo and Kyoto. Others simply left the country. Hitomi, Kyousuke, and Sayaka's own families were among the many that flooded into Kazamino and made the city of 800,000 boom to slightly less than 1.3 million.

The only bit of condolence from the disaster was that entire families were wiped out a time. Sayaka's mother lost her sister's family, but at least she died with her husband and children. None of them were left alone without their immediate family.

At least the Kaname family died, and didn't have to live on with the loss of their precious daughter. Sayaka had a hard enough time doing that, and she was only her best friend.

Yes, when Sayaka thinks enough about it she misses Mitakihara; but there is no way in hell she would ever go back.

Kyoko missed Mitakihara sometimes. It had had so many witches, and so many grief seeds. After only two weeks of hunting, she had enough grief seeds to last her two months! Also, Mitakihara's arcade was way better than Kazamino's.

The biggest advantage to Mitakihara was that it wasn't Kazamino. Kazamino had too many bad memories; memories of starvation and memories of them. Kyoko liked being in a new city, so she never had to pass by a park and think of the time she and Momo played there, or go into a restaurant and be reminded of the one time her family had enough money to eat there for her birthday.

Before she left for Mitakihara, Kyoko had nothing to live for. She knew it. She could tell herself over and over again how she had herself, and that was more than enough but even she knew those were just hollow thoughts she used to console herself. Mitakihara gave her something, someone to live for.

The only reason she hadn't turned into a witch after her family's death was because she still had Mami, who was basically her big sister. So she still had some family. But then, when she found that poor little green-haired girl sitting in a pool of her abusive parents' blood in shock, she got a little sister who actually needed her.

Kyoko was positive that without Yuma, she would have given up a long time ago. Even if having Yuma made her current situation a bit…less than ideal, it sure beat being alone.

Kyoko was fucked up and she knew that. She never got past an eighth grade education because school would just get in the way of hunting witches. She was great at hunting, and it gave her everything she needed to survive with a bit (ok, a lot) of theft on the side. But Yuma deserved better; Yuma hadn't done anything to deserve her family leaving her behind, or her family abusing her in the first place. Yuma had done nothing wrong but was given a shit hand in life. Kyoko had been kind of ok, starvation aside and threw everything away on her own. Kyoko deserved everything that happened to her, but Yuma didn't.

Yuma deserved to go to school and live a somewhat normal life. The girl had been a dumbass when she was seven and became a magical girl, but if there were two of them, maybe at least one could live a normal, happy life right? Yeah, that was definitely possible.

So Kyoko had decided that Yuma should keep going to school. What she hadn't realized though was that to be enrolled in school, you needed a permanent address. To have a permanent address, you needed money to pay rent. To get money, you needed a job. And Kyoko still needed to have enough time to hunt witches, so it had to be a good-paying job that would give her more than enough money for only three or so days of work per week and didn't need any education to do it. She considered staying at the church, but she wasn't sure if that would count, or if it was even legal.

And that was how she started working at Tomi's Gentleman's Club, the shadiest yet most upscale strip joint in Kazamino. Normally, it takes at least two years of experience at a lower class joint to get a job, but Kyoko could prove pretty fast that she was more talented on a pole than any of their current staff. There are professional advantages to fighting dangerous creatures with a giant spear every night.

There are certain…requirements to work at Tomi's. For one, you had to be very, very sexual. That was a given, but just moving your hips a few times wasn't good enough. You had to sell an illusion to these men that they were powerful, handsome, and desirable; you had to make them believe that you, a beautiful young woman genuinely wanted them.

There were many ways to do this. Kyoko sold the wild, untameable amazon-type. She tended to attract weak men who wanted someone to take the lead, or leaders who wanted to break her in. If she wasn't a magical girl who could whoop their asses in five seconds flat, she might have been concerned about the latter. However, Tomi's has only one very strict rule for customers, and plenty of intimidating bouncers to enforce it; the girls can touch you if you pay for it, but you never touch the girls. So seeing wealthy business men with their hands at their sides, or draped on the backrest of a couch while scantily clad young women gave them lap dances was the norm.

The second rule, and arguably more important rule was that what happened in the club stayed in the club. They attracted all sorts of high-profile clientele, and many of them were not exactly the most reputable of characters. Kazamino had lots of organized crime, particularly drugs and loansharking since the influx of devastated refugees from Mitakihara six years ago; thousands were left with no homes, money, or friends. In short, they were the perfect targets.

And these crime lords loved to have their business meetings at Tomi's. So Kyoko and her coworkers knew about a lot of pretty fucked up and really illegal things in Kazamino. And they would never tell a soul.

From her work over the years, she built certain…connections you could call them. And from those connections, she managed to start a little entrepreneurial venture of her own. She was occasionally employed as something of an independent contractor, doing odd jobs for people of all sorts of backgrounds. She'd stolen back incriminating photos from a paparazzo. She found runaways who owed money to loan sharks. She delivered "messages". These jobs were by far her favourite and paid the most for her time, but were few and far between. However, that also made it harder for any authorities to catch her.

She was an outlaw in every respect. She still stole most of the groceries (what? She was good at it, and it was a lot cheaper. She's supporting a poor, starving girl so it's ok). She used her fake ID, Sakura Misaki, inspired by her late mother on all sorts of official documents like her rent contract before she turned 18. And she turned to prostitution once, only once, and never wanted to do that again. But if she did the illegal acts, Yuma wouldn't have to.

She had basic standards, at least. She would never kill (too messy). She would never sell drugs (too time consuming and borderline evil). She would never go into trafficking (too evil). She wasn't an angel in any way and she knew that, but she wouldn't call herself the devil either, though her late father might disagree with that.

Sometimes, she made the mistake of wondering what he would think of her now; daughter of a clergyman, who sold her soul to the devil and used her powers to fool the innocent, serve evil and be the best damn stripper in Kazamino. If she really mattered to him, he wouldn't have gone off the rail and killed himself and their whole family. It took a few years, but she finally managed to move from self-loathing to just loathing.

All in all though…things were pretty good. She had a family. She had Yuma. And she was giving Yuma a good life. Yuma did well in school and even got to take part in the art club after school on Tuesdays, which was perfect because it was a surprisingly good night to work the pole. Yuma was praised by her teachers and peers alike her for "spectacular, interpretive paintings of the darknesses of mankind"; she was just painting witches she'd fought, or the witches she thought they'd become. It was how she coped, and it worked well for her. Yuma got to be a (moderately) regular kid. The police and social workers liked to stop by for surprise visits sometimes when Yuma showed up to school with bruises, which was a pain in the ass (and more terrifying than Kyoko would ever admit, since it was always a bit of a guessing game to figure out what they were showing up for).

Kyoko missed Mitakihara sometimes…but now that she had someone to live for in Kazamino, it really wasn't so bad anymore.

"Miki, loosen up! Roll your body, roll it!" The personal coach, Mei shouted. Sayaka had never dreamed that part of her job as a police officer, and true defender of justice, would be learning how to pole dance. But the other officer who was supposed to do this, a young beautiful officer with a few more years experience got knocked up and the department's connection would never be able to get a pregnant woman into Tomi's.

"Good, practice climbing with the left leg now. You rely on your right too much." Fuck, Sayaka hated climbing with the left. She fit the pole between the outside of her left foot and inside her left knee, squeezed, and hoisted herself up. She climbed up the pole from floor to ceiling in fifteen seconds, making sure she looked sexy the entire way up.

"Great, now slide down slowly and land in jazz splits." She did it no problem.

"Show me your ground work." Sayaka dutifully rolled onto her back, felt up her sides while doing slow, sensual bicycle motion with her legs, then rolled onto all fours and moved her bum in circles.

"Get up doing Madonna." Sayaka rolled back onto her feet, opening and closing her legs so they almost resembled a butterfly preparing to fly and body rolled up.

"Get inverted and show me scorpion." She went upside down and used only her leg and stomach skin to hold her on the pole.

"Slide down and show me your hand stands." She slid down the pole and then showed how she could do the splits and move her legs in all sorts of beautiful ways while upside down. And the next forty five minutes went on like this, with the moves become more challenging, faster, and flowing together. By the end of it, Sayaka was panting but doing her best to not let it show. Her long blond wig kept falling in her face throughout the workout, which still bugged her but at least she was used to it. And this way, hopefully, no one she was trying to get information on from the club could recognize her outside of it. Plus, she totally rocked the Lady Gaga "Poker Face" look, if she did say so herself.

"So, what do you think Mei? Is she ready?" Sayaka's supervisor, Ryo asked. She and two other younger officers had been in training for the last six months, but they narrowed it down when they decided she would be best to go undercover. She was thrilled that by the age of 19, she was already going undercover! She wasn't convinced that she would be the ideal candidate to go undercover, but she had gotten pretty good at keeping secrets and pretending over the past few years. She also knew who to look out, what street names to listen for, and where to go. Being a former junkie (yes, former, she doesn't really do it anymore, seriously!) had its perks, but she would never let anyone else know that's how she knew these things.

A silence hung in the air. She had been training for fifteen hours a week on top of her normal parking cop duties. She wanted to get out of that. She wanted something more exciting. She wanted to take down bad guys who took advantage of people like her and her friends now.

"Yes. She's ready. Get a photographer and call Tomi." Sayaka wondered what they needed a photographer for.

"Sakura, loosen up! It won't be that bad. I've heard this one's exceptionally talented from a very good friend of mine." Tomi tried fruitlessly to convince Kyoko that taking on a new "little buddy" in the club could be fun. Kyoko hated training new girls, especially ones who had never worked in clubs before. They had no idea what their stage persona would be, and they copied her exactly because they could see that she was good. They usually didn't get many of her tips, but it was enough that she couldn't take Yuma out for ice cream after a good (or bad) witch hunt.

"You know what happens every. Single. Fucking. Time. Give her to someone else. I don't want some stupid newbie trying to copy my act."

"For god's sakes, look at her photos! She could never pull off the bad girl, and even she must know that. She looks way too sweet for that." It was true. Every applicant had to submit nude photos so they could see exactly what the club would be getting. This girl had long, straight blonde hair, big green eyes, and very pale skin; she looked like a very uncomfortable doll due to her nervous facial expression. She would definitely be suited to an angel personality. Kyoko didn't know why, but for some reason she didn't like her eyes or her hair. They almost didn't look right to her.

"You're the best dancer we have, Sakura and one of the most familiar with our clients. I know you can show her the ropes. I'm making sure that this girl couldn't steal your style, even if she tried." He further tried to convince. Kyoko wasn't buying any of it.

"I'll give you an hourly wage of $50 on top of your tips. And won't charge you for being late ever again."

"Ok deal."

"So I won't see you after school anymore?" Kyousuke asked sadly. It had become tradition that after his classes on Thursdays, he would roll beside Sayaka on her weekly shifts at the university. Parking duty wasn't all that exciting, so it was pretty easy for him to come along without anyone getting overly upset about it.

"Yeah, I've gotten a new assignment so I'm off parking duty. I'm sorry I can't give you any more details than that." She really wanted to tell them all about it; what she was excited about, what she was worried about. The three of them had become inseparable after the disaster, and it felt strange to keep secrets from them. Well, there had been four of them but Sayaka preferred not to think about him.

"You're actually going undercover. That's so exciting Sayaka-chan! I'm so proud of you! This is exactly what you wanted, isn't it?" Hitomi asked pleasantly.

"Well, yes and no. Again, I can't go into too many details. But this gets me closer to what I'm going for. How are your classes going? Do you have exams coming up?"

"Yes. I hate exam season. They let me take all of my classes from home, but then they make me go to such a crowded area to be tested. I'm always so worried I'll fail from claustrophobia." Hitomi never even came close to failing; she's way too smart for that. But it's never easy for her to leave her apartment, which is why they were there now. After the incident at Mitakihara Middle School, Hitomi developed major social anxiety which evolved into something like agoraphobia, something that worries Sayaka and shames her aristocratic family daily. She's probably the only sociology major Sayaka had ever heard of who is afraid of society.

"I have a lot to study for, but most of my courses are very interesting so I'll be happy to review them. Sexuality is terrible though." Kyousuke frowned. He had to take at least three science courses for his degree, so he tried choosing ones that sounded easy. He had been right about botany being a bird course, but science of human sexuality has been hilariously difficult ("Girls have three holes?"). It was conversations like these that made Sayaka glad she didn't bother trying with university and went with the police academy instead. It's not like university would have even been an option for her with her grades, but that was beside the point.

After another hour of joking and complaining about work, family, and professors, it was getting fairly late.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and watch a movie with us Sayaka-chan? I have popcorn!" Hitomi tempted.

"Haha, no, I wouldn't want to be a third wheel on your date! You lovebirds have fun. Besides, I have a long day tomorrow and need to get up early."

"Fair enough. Good luck on your new assignment Sayaka. I think you will be great." Kyousuke smiled. Whenever she saw that smile, she remembered why she had been so in love with him all those years ago. But he and Hitomi fit together so perfectly and had been dating for a few years now. Besides, Sayaka couldn't deny that Hitomi needed Kyousuke much more than she did, and Kyousuke loved the feeling of being needed by somebody. Their relationship was a bit dysfunctional in ways and Sayaka still felt lonely sometimes, but this was better for everyone.

"Thanks guys. I really needed the pep talk. Good night!" And as she turned to leave, she heard the familiar click of Hitomi's apartment door behind her.

"So I won't see you after school anymore?" Yuma asked curiously. She didn't care much at this point, since she knew she would always see Kyoko eventually…usually.

"Not for the next few weeks, no. I need to train this new bitch. And it looks like I might be getting another contract soon, if what I hear from around the club is true." A politician had been being blackmailed by an anonymous culprit recently, and one or her reputable-for-being-unreputable friends had let her know that he'd passed on her business name.

"Think she's going to try to steal your tips like the last one did?"

"I'd like to see her try." Kyoko smiled mischievously, showing her characteristic fang. Yuma smiled.

"Well, it'll be nice being able to stay in the art room more days after school. And maybe I can get some more studying done for my exams. Are you sure you'll be ok to hunt witches after all of that?"

"I'll make it work. I've fought and won under worse conditions."

"You've also fought and lost under better conditions." Yuma joked. "Luckily, you had the young, prodigal me to come and save you! Do you like having arms and legs, Onii-chan?"

"Yeah, yeah, stop being so full of yourself you little punk." Kyoko said while ruffling Yuma's hair.

"Stop messing up my hair! You know how much time it takes for me to get it to even look presentable. Just because you like having crazy hair, doesn't mean I do too."

"Well, I think this matches your magical girl outfit better, Miss Poofy Pants."

"I was seven when I picked my outfit, so shut up!"

"Is that any way to speak to your elders?" Kyoko laughed as she pounced on Yuma to tickle her.

"No! No! Stop! You're gonna make me pee!" Yuma screamed angrily between laughs.

When they finally settled down (only after Kyoko became legitimately concerned that Yuma might make a mess on the carpet), Kyoko made them a quick dinner of noodle stir fry.

"Are you done your homework?"

"Finished it over lunch and before you came to pick me up, like always."

"How's your soul gem looking?"

Yuma pulled hers out, a deep forest green. It was usually a bright lime green.

"It could definitely be cleared up a bit. How's yours?"

"Pretty much the same." Kyoko had checked earlier and saw that her bright blood red was a deep crimson.

"We have two grief seeds left for the two of us, which can keep us going for a bit but they won't last and I think we'll both be busy over the next few weeks. You feel up for hunting a bit tonight? I bet those familiars from two weeks ago must be witches by now." Yuma speculated.

"I bet you're right, kiddo. Make sure you have everything packed up for school tomorrow and we can head out."

"Don't call me kiddo. I'm thirteen years old. Almost as old as you when we first met!"

"And I was a kiddo until I was twenty, so you're still a kiddo."

"You're twenty now."

"Exactly, so I'm not a kiddo anymore."

"What'll happen when I turn twenty then? Will you finally acknowledge that I'm an adult?"

"By that point, I'll have only stopped being a kiddo when I turned twenty-five."

"You're the worst, Kyo!"

"No!" Sayaka woke up with a start with tears in her eyes. She looked around frantically, recognizing her bed in her one-bedroom apartment and the familiar sound of her heart pounded in her ears. It had been the Madoka nightmare again.

"Homura-chan is up there! I need to go save her!" Madoka shouted terrified. The strange, root-like looking monsters were in the corner, devouring the corpse of a student they could no longer recognize. Sayaka had never even heard of anything like them on any of the weird nature documentaries her mother loved to watch. These things ate people, swelled up, and exploded leaving nothing behind. There was no trace of human bodies anywhere.

"Homura-chan is our friend too, so we all need to go save her together!" Sayaka shouted back, holding up her makeshift bat made of a diamond rope she and Hitomi climbed up. She was the only one with a weapon and had fended off a few of the strange monsters already. Madoka would be eaten on her own without Sayaka and her bat. "We can take on anything!" Sayaka cheered.

Madoka nodded and turned to run while Hitomi reluctantly followed. She didn't want to be alone in this odd checkered pandemonium. It didn't take them long before they heard what sounded like a battle and maniacal laughter.

"They must be in there." Madoka said, with a determination in her yes that Sayaka had never seen before. Sayaka nodded and they approached the door, Madoka slightly ahead of her.

Without warning, there was a loud crash and a wall exploded. Sayaka jumped back, shielding her eyes and Hitomi from the debris. After the dust settled, Sayaka pulled her arm away from her face, noticing that it was covered in blood. But she didn't feel hurt. She wasn't injured. Where was the blood from? Oh my god, where is the blood coming from? She barely heard the sound of herself screaming over the ringing in her ears.

She noticed just inches in front of her, Madoka lying on the ground, eyes wide and terrified but unseeing, and a large piece of wood protruding from her open chest, blood and innards leaking out.

"Madoka!" Sayaka screamed, hoping, praying that her friend was ok, was not dead, was just minorly hurt and would be ok and back to her normal, cheerful self tomorrow. She was ok. She had to be ok, right? That wasn't her blood. Those weren't her intestines.

Faintly, in the back of her mind, she could recognize Homura in the corner of her eye falling to her knees with a look of pure disbelief, reaching what looked like a large watch on her wrist and suddenly disappearing, never to be seen again.

After vomiting in the bathroom, Sayaka got up from her knees and looked at her reflection. She looked awful, much paler than normal. Whenever she was stressed about anything, she had the nightmare which just made things worse. She slid the bathroom mirror to the side to find her pills behind it and popped an anti-anxiety pill in her mouth, washing it down with a swig of the vodka she hid with the cleaning products under the sink. It calmed her down, and the combination sometimes made her see beautiful colours.

"I can't be thinking like this. Tomorrow, I need to be on my A-game." Sayaka said to herself while taking deep breaths. She would go to the station at 8:00 to get instructions for her assignment and to look at the prepared profiles of criminals the force knew frequented the club. She had memorized theirs faces, what groups they were associated with, and their criminal records. But she had to look at them again, just to be sure.

At noon, she would go to Tomi's for the first time for an interview. It sounded like it was more of a formality, but she still had to impress. Then she would have to show a dance, one of the dozens Mei had choreographed for her on the pole. She had to be perfect.

"I can do this. I can do this. I'll just go back to bed, and I will be able to do this." As she walked back into the bedroom, she noticed the lights on her alarm clock blaring "3:42". There wasn't much time left, but it was still better than nothing.

"What happened then never happened again. It was a one-off event and will never happen again. I am safe, my friends are safe, and this will never happen again. If anything like this ever happens again, I'll know what to do to keep them safe. We'll be safe. We are safe."

"No!" Kyoko woke up with a start with tears in her eyes. She looked around frantically, recognizing her bed in her one-bedroom apartment and the familiar sound of her heart pounded in her ears. It had been the Mami nightmare again.

"Mami, this witch is way too big, we can't fight it!" Kyoko yelled to the buxom blonde standing on another damaged building. She was panting hard, clutching her arm which had most likely been broken.

"We can't leave it, Sakura-san. Look at it! It will destroy everything and kill thousands of people!" She yelled back. Kyoko couldn't help but remember mirthlessly how only a year ago, she and Mami were convinced they could defeat a Walpurgisnacht together. Now, with the two of them and a magical girl whose entire wish was based on helping Kyoko against it, they had no chance.

"It's going to kill us! We're going to die! We need to pull back and run! We can still get out of here alive if we leave now!" Kyoko jumped over to the building Mami was standing on.

"Please Mami. We just started talking again. We don't have a shot in hell of beating it, or even holding it off long enough for more people to evacuate. We've done all that we can. Please. I…I don't want to lose you again…I don't want to lose my family again…" Kyoko held Mami's uninjured hand. She had never been this open about her feelings before. She hated it. She liked being closed off. It was safer.

Mami looked at her with tears in her eyes. She squeezed Kyoko's hand for a moment before letting it go.

"I'm glad we've been talking again too…Kyoko. I've missed you much more than you realize. But I'm sorry, I can't leave this witch to destroy the city. You can leave if you have to though. I won't hold it against you." Mami smiled kindly with that sad look in her eyes. Kyoko hated that face, but it seemed so often that that was only facial expression she really had.

"Mami…"

"KYOKO ONEE-CHAN!" Yuma screamed from another building. She was terrified. She had only been a magical girl for ten days, she was seven years old, and she was up against a mega witch.

"KYOKO ONEE-CHAN, YUMA IS SCARED!" She screamed. She had tears and snot streaming down her face. She had never been this scared before, not even when that witch ripped her parents apart.

It was like slow motion for Kyoko, watching the monstrous witch slowly rotate upside down beneath what looked like a large gear, laughing its chillingly human laugh. The face with that overly large smile finally turned to face Yuma and stopped. It just stood still, laughing. Kyoko knew what was going to happen.

"YUMA!" She screamed as she darted to the next building, grabbing her just in time to avoid another building being flung at the exact spot she had been standing just moments before. They escaped, but Kyoko's right arm was shattered.

"Kyoko onee-chan! Yuma's sorry, Yuma was scared! Please don't leave Yuma, she's sorry!" She cried. Kyoko just looked at her, with no expression just thinking 'she's safe. She's safe. Thank God she's safe'.

Kyoko turned back to Mami, who had prepared another Tiro Finale, firing it at the witch's face. She hit it dead on, but it did nothing but make the witch laugh louder. Mami started to cry and looked at Kyoko with a pleading expression.

Kyoko looked down, seeing the little green-haired girl who had come into her life just twelve days ago. It felt like it was the first time God had truly blessed her in a long time. Her blue eyes were teary but focused, brows furrowed in concentration as she worked on knitting together the bones of Kyoko's arms. She was so inexperienced, so young; she didn't stand a chance, even with Kyoko protecting her. Kyoko looked to Mami again. A single, silent tear fell from her eye.

"I'm sorry…" she said in a quiet voice to Mami. She knew she couldn't hear her, but she could see from reading her lips what she'd said. Mami cried harder, but nodded and turned back to the witch. She prepared another set of muskets. Kyoko had her answer, and Mami had hers.

Kyoko grabbed Yuma, surprising her younger protectee and ran. She ran as fast as she could from the witch with Yuma slung over her good shoulder. She didn't look back, not even when she heard a series of crashing buildings from right around where Mami was standing. She just kept running.

"It's fine. You're safe. You're here. Nothing's going to hurt you. You're not alone. You're ok." Yuma held her, rocking back and forth gently.

"Shh, you're ok. I'm here. I've got you. You're safe." Yuma chanted gently, a mantra they had both repeated to each other many nights before. The life of a magical girl was never easy, even though it had brought them so close over the years. They both lost families from magic and gained new, arguably better ones.

After a few minutes, Kyoko calmed down. She realized she couldn't remember when Yuma stopped talking in third person.

"Thanks…sorry about that." She said pulling away, wiping the tears from her eyes. She hated it when Yuma had to comfort her. It should always be the other way around. The kid was twelve.

"It's ok…it happens to both of us. Which one was it this time?"

"The Mami dream." Kyoko said after a moment. Yuma just nodded, familiar with that one herself even though her nightmare generally focused on the witch itself and not the blond-haired girl she didn't get the chance to know. But Kyoko had told her the whole story and knew how close they had been. She also knew that she owed everything to Mami, because without her, her big sister who saved and gave her a new life never would have survived the murder-suicide of her family. Yuma hugged her again.

"Think you can go back to sleep, or should we just get up? We might be able to hunt another witch or two before school starts." Kyoko contemplated the offer. Fighting might help her get her mind off of this, but she was still tired from their fights last night. They got three grief seeds, an especially good night.

"No, we're fine for grief seeds and I don't think my head would be in the fight. I think we're more likely to just end up getting hurt. Thanks though. Let's go back to sleep."

They lay back down, still holding onto each other. It always hurt, thinking that in order for her to gain one family member, she had to lose another. But she still thanked God every night that she had Yuma.

She fell asleep to the familiar sound of Yuma breathing next to her in a disturbed, dream-filled sleep.

This was going to be a bad day and Sayaka knew it. When she got to the station that morning, Ryo saw her pouring over the information and decided that she was probably just psyching herself out more by reading it "for what has to be at least the eightieth time" he said (Megumi Akihiro, Drug Dealer; Hiroshi Hideki, Loan Shark; Atahiko Osamu, Trafficker; Dresden Ophelia, Accomplice). Then, her appointment got put off until 2:00 pm so she had too much time to just hang out at the office, so she got put on park duty until noon.

She walked around a park near Kazamino High. It was known for having quite a few drug dealers (some of whom she remembered personally, and locked away personally), but they weren't stupid enough to be out and about this early in the day. So most likely, it was just going to be her walking around the park for a few hours. But at least it was a nice park, drug dealers aside.

She fed a few ducks for fun (oh, if only the taxpayers could see what their money was going towards). She almost got one to eat out of her hand, which was kind of cool.

She came up to some kids who were playing on skateboards. She asked if they were supposed to be in school, but they were on spare. It was surprising that they weren't studying, but she wasn't one to judge. There was a reason she never went to university, after all.

She did a few tricks with them and they put her photo on Instagram tagged as #coolestcopever which she was happy to accept. She wasn't undercover yet, and might as well enjoy her easy day until she had to start.

She checked her watch and saw that it was 11:30. Only twenty minutes before I should start heading back…she thought with some dread.

She was walking by a sweets vendor when she couldn't help but notice a particularly striking young woman. She looked to be around her age, with long, wild red hair. She appeared to be in a rush.

I wish my hair looked like that Sayaka thought to herself absentmindedly. She lazily watched her for a bit, admiring her. She really is gorgeous.

She noticed her subtly take one of the fried snacks. Oh shit, you've done it now! Sayaka thought excitedly.

"Excuse me, ma'am." She said boldly. She had to uphold that hand of the law after all.

The red-head looked at her with a blank expression, but she could sense something behind those crimson eyes. It wasn't fear, more like annoyance or hatred.

"Yes officer?" She asked, innocently.

"I noticed you took that pastry, but you didn't pay for it. Could you give the man the 400 yen for that?" For god's sakes, it's only 400 yen woman. You don't look like your homeless or anything.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about. I paid for it." Oh hell, she did? I look like an ass now.

"No she didn't." The vendor said saucily. Phew!

"Ma'am, please pay for the pastry or else I'll have to write you a ticket."

"For a 400 fucking yen pastry?! Come ON, don't you have anything better to do with your time?!" Not yet, no. But this is still important!

"Any theft, no matter how small, is theft. Please pay for the pastry or return it, or else I'll have to give you a ticket ma'am."

"For fuck's sakes, it's 400 god damn yen!" Petty criminal and a filthy mouth…

"Exactly, so please pay it ma'am."

There was a moment of tense silence where Sayaka and the woman just looked at each other.

"Do you take credit or debit?" The red-haired woman asked impatiently.

"Do you see a bank machine?" The vendor replied with the same spunky tone as before.

"Officer, I just spent all my money on my little sister's school supplies. Please understand, our parents died a few years ago and I've been doing my best to make ends meet. It was stupid of me to do this. I just really miss having any sort of luxury, I do everything for my sister. But I understand that this was wrong of me to do…" That sounds like a load of bull to me.

"Bullshit!" The vendor snapped.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, but I can't forgive any theft I saw. I'll have to write you a ticket ma'am." Even I feel like this is getting ridiculous.

"Oh come on, I said I was sorry! I'm sorry park guy!" She apologized hurriedly, clearly trying to get out of the situation.

"I want my money!"

"I told you I don't have any! If you want, I can go to the ATM and bring some back in ten minutes."

"Like you'll do that! I want money now!"

"Well I don't have any!"

"Then give me back my pastry!"

"Fine! Here!" She said as she took a big bite and handed it back. Sayaka's jaw dropped at the spectacle. This was going to be a good story to tell the others at the Station.

"Officer! Do something about this!"

"Ma'am, could I see your ID please?"

"Why do you need it?!"

"I need to write you a ticket ma'am."

"Well what if I just don't give it to you? You look like rookie on parking duty." She looked like she felt like she had just won the match. Sayaka clenched the pen in her hand tightly, shaking with anger. She hated it when people said things like that to her.

"Then I'll have to arrest you for theft and refusal to obey an officer. Please show me your ID." The red-head looked angry again, as she reluctantly pulled out her wallet, throwing it unnecessarily harshly to Sayaka.

You want to do this the hard way? Find, we can do this the hard way.

This was going to be a bad day and Kyoko knew it. She woke up with a sense of dread, her troubled sleep the night before not helping any. When she glanced to her alarm clock, it was 10:45 am. Shit! How the fuck did I oversleep by that much? I need to be completely ready in less than 15 minutes to get there and I haven't had a shower in three days!

She quickly looked beside her, ready to shake Yuma awake and get her to school. But the bed was empty, except for a note:

Good morning!

I knew that you didn't have anything until noon today, so I figured you deserved a day to sleep in. Don't worry, I'll get ready and to school on time on my own because I can be an adult too!

I completely forgot that I needed to pay the art club for some more painting supplies, so I took 5,000 yen from your wallet. I hope you don't mind.

Hope you have a nice morning Onii-chan! See you tonight! I love you!

-Yuma

Kyoko grumbled at her little sister's good intentions. Fuck…I can't get ready in that amount of time. She picked up her phone and noticed 8 missed calls, all from Tomi. Super fuck!

"Good morning Sakura-san, I was wondering if we could move the time for the new girl from noon to 11:00?" –Call from Tomi's new secretary at 8:00 am

"Sakura, where are you? Could we move it from 11:00 to 11:30?" –Call from 8:23 am

"Sakura, we're meeting at noon again." -8:28 am

"Sakura we're meeting at 10:30." -8:45 am

"Sakura, you're not responding, we're meeting at noon again." -9:07 am

"Sakura, call me! Does 12:30 work for you?" -9:35 am

"Sakura, please answer your phone! We're doing noon again." -10:02 am

"I sent the candidate the wrong time this morning. We're meeting at 2:00" -10:14 am Thank you God!

Still, she wanted to run a few errands before meeting this new girl. She clearly had to run to the ATM now thanks to a certain someone. First though, she'd call Tomi to confirm the 2:00 time…

After doing that, having a shower, shaving everything and getting the base for her makeup on, she noticed that it was already almost 11:30. Son of a bitch…

Running through the shortcut in the park took no time at all. As she did that, she felt that nasty, gnarling grumble from her empty stomach that she was all too familiar with. Fuck, I'm supposed to be showing the noob pole tricks. I can't do that on an empty stomach.

She noticed a vendor with some taiyaki who wasn't paying attention. She was hungry and supporting a young, growing girl. A 400 yen taiyaki to her would basically be a donation to a good cause.

And then fucking Officer Blue showed up and now she was in this mess.

The officer looked through the wallet, but paused and raised one eyebrow sceptically.

"Why do you have two driver's licenses with your photo but different names ma'am?" The red head's face paled and paused for a moment. Oh shit… Kyoko doubted her unreliable enchantment magic was going to be able to get her out of this.

"Um…well…remember when I told you how my parents had died? Well, they died before I turned 18. I had to get a job to support me and my sister, or else we'd have to go to a foster home and I just didn't think we'd do well there. And well…the place I needed to work to be able to support us needed me to be at least 18 so I got a fake ID…" That's completely true.

"When did your parents die?" The officer asked with a look of sadness in her eyes. I can recognize that look anywhere…a Mitakihara survivor. They were such suckers.

"Six years ago. In the Mitakihara disaster."

"Ah…I see. Well, ma'am I can see from your ID with the younger birthdate that you are over 18 years of age now, yes…" Sayaka quickly glanced down at the ID "Sakura Kyoko?"

"Yeah, I am now. I don't use the other one anymore, really."

"Well Sakura-san, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to confiscate your fraudulent forms of identification. I'll also have to write you a ticket for the theft…" Oh come on! Fake IDs were not easy to come by, and they were always useful. Kyoko could get away with a lot of shit with it…it was just her deceased mother's name that was being dragged through the dirt with the police.

"Please officer…" She looked at her badge and saw her name "Miki! You can write me a ticket for the pastry for any amount you want, I'll accept that!"

"I'm glad to hear that but I still need those IDs. Have a nice day Sakura-san." Officer Miki nodded and handed her a ticket for 1,000 yen. Seriously? You wasted all my time for that?

"Excuse me, Officer? Who's going to pay for that pastry?" Chinsy bastard.

"Ah, my apologies sir. Here you are." The officer said while paying him. Goody two shoes.

"Have a nice day sir, ma'am." Officer Miki nodded to them and left.

Kyoko stood there, feeling even more pissed off than before. That actually just happened.

"I don't want you in jail or anything. I just wanted the money for my stuff." The vendor looked uncomfortable.

"Oh go fuck yourself." She felt no need to be civil.

Kyoko quickly checked the time on her cell phone.

Shit, I need to get going.

Sayaka arrived at Tomi's out of breath. She still wasn't very familiar with putting in coloured contacts, but everyone figured that the less they could make her look like her, the better. After putting on the wig, contacts, and makeup, she barely recognized herself. She had a cute face, as people generally told her, and frequently had a sort of impish expression. With her new look, any trace of that expression was gone; she looked like a china doll. The makeup made her eyes look bigger and lips look fuller. Her cheek bones were contoured and brows perfectly drawn in. She didn't even know she could look like this. And she was grateful that she didn't sweat too much on the jog in, because she would be giving an awful first impression if she came in with smudgy make-up.

She hadn't had time to finish all her bureaucratic duties yet. She still needed to hand in the fake ID she found and had to write up the report.

Looking around her, she could tell that this wasn't the main part of the bar. It looked more like it was a dance studio with mirrors lining every wall and a pale tiki wooden floor. There were 8 poles throughout the room. This must be where they do their extra dance lessons.

"Hi, I'm so sorry I'm late! My hair was being very stubborn today." She joked to Tomi. Strippers had to care about their appearance, right?

"That's fine; your mentor isn't ready yet. I know you're new to the industry, but just so you know if you're late again, I'm going to charge you." He said noncommittally. Sayaka was confused.

"I don't understand…"

"Thanks for waiting boss. I've had such a shit day, you have no idea…" A familiar voice said from behind Sayaka. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…

The stunning redhead walked with a sort of confidence that left Sayaka speechless. She had full makeup on, and was wearing an attractive black leather jacket with skinny jeans. Her black stilettos made her legs look like they went on for miles. Her dark smoky eye makeup accentuated her uniquely beautiful eyes, while her pale pink lips underplayed them. The focus was definitely on her eyes. Oh my God, I'm working with her and gave her a ticket today!

"Not a problem, Sakura. I guess I promised you that you wouldn't get late charges for doing this…" He said, slightly agitated.

"Alright new girl. What song do you want?" Sakura asked while looking through Sayaka's ipod. Sayaka had never been in a strip club herself. She wasn't really sure what the best strategy to follow would be. I really should have cleared this with Mei first.

"Would you rather see artistic or strip club?" Sakura and Tomi both raised an eyebrow at Sayaka's question. Sayaka was nervous she'd asked the wrong question.

"Show us artistic…" Tomi said, with what may have been a bit of interest in is voice. Sayaka prayed to every deity she knew that it was interest.

"Can you play 'Rads des Shicksals' by E Nomine?" Sayaka had seen a beautiful performance by a woman in Moscow to this song. Of course, it was actually a pole fail video because the pole fell down, but it was beautiful before that.

Sakura nodded and found the song while Sayaka walked up to the pole, then faced away from it.

"You ready?" Sakura asked. Sayaka nodded. Just stay calm, you've practiced this so many times.

The song opened by a man speaking German. Sayaka didn't move. As the high piano notes began to play, she bent her back backwards so her shoulders were against it, moving her leg up and back to stroke along the pole. She let her hands run slowly, lazily, lustily along the contours of her body before they came up behind the pole where her shoulder was resting against. Once the female vocals started, she brought both legs up, looking like she was walking up stairs before she settled with her legs about forty five degrees from the pole, cycling her legs slowly. Her abs were killing her.

She pulled her legs into the pole and moved her body up so her core was facing the ground. She reached her arms behind her again to show how far she could be her back.

She used where her arms were gripping against the pole to let go with her legs, trying to do a sort of windmill with her legs. It would have looked better if the pole could spin.

Her feet landed against the ground as she did a pirouette before starting to climb the pole. Once she got near the top, she gripped the pole between her thighs with one leg over the other, looking like she was sitting in a chair. She moved the upper part of her body to the front of the pole, looking like she was bowing. Mei said this would stop hurting my thighs by now…lying bitch.

She unfurled her body and went into an inverted hang, allowing herself to slowly slide down the pole. Her skin against the pole created a squeaking sound as she went down. She hoped they didn't hear that.

Landing against the ground in a hand stand, she showed how she could come close to doing the splits in both directions before bending fully backwards, showing how she could come very close to touching her feet to her head. For a second, she thought she was stuck.

Carefully trying to conceal her difficulty getting out of that pose, she flung her legs back to the front so she could get up again. Barely avoiding hitting her head against the pole as she got up, hoping they didn't notice that either, she continued her dance. By the end of the four minute song, she was trying to not breathe too hard.

Both Sakura and Tomi had unreadable expressions on their faces and looked at each other. They seemed to be having a telepathic conversation.

"What's your name, darling?" Tomi asked.

"Yamasaki Rin." Sayaka had rehearsed that many times. It was a unique enough that it sounded real, but generic enough that it would be hard to find out Yamasaki Rin the stripper didn't really exist.

"Well Yamasaki, welcome to the club."

Kyoko arrived at Tomi's out of breath. She couldn't believe how awful a day she'd been having. At least the appointment with the new girl had been pushed back two hours. Tomi recently hired an attractive young personal assistant named Sango, who was horribly disorganized. Some of the strippers joked she was as bright as a mango, even though the names didn't really rhyme, and guessed she slept with Tomi to get her job. Kyoko knew that the poor girl was actually the daughter of one of Tomi's potential business partners and had been struggling to get a job for some time. The girl's disorganization saved Kyoko's sorry late ass today though.

"Sakura! Sorry for the confusion this morning. Are you ready yet?" Tomi asked with a hint of disdain in his voice, both for her assistant and Kyoko's appearance. He could see that her hair was messy and her makeup wasn't ready yet.

"Just give me a sec-" Her phone rang. It was the generic ring tone, so it wasn't Yuma or anyone from the club. From checking the number, she recognized it as Yuma's school. That's odd…

"I have to take this." She said hurriedly as she walked into the back.

"Hello, Sakura Kyoko here." She greeted quickly. She guessed it was probably Yuma calling, but it seemed odd that she called her from the school phone. Kyoko bought her a cell phone last year for exactly this purpose (and telling her when she found a witch while she was out, of course).

"Hello Sakura-san. This is Miss Kurasaki, Yuma's art teacher. I was wondering if you would be able to come in some time to discuss Yuma's performance in my class." Huh? I thought Yuma was good at art.

"Sure, if you need me to. Is there a problem?"

"Oh no, not at all! I apologize if it came across that way. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I wanted to discuss a potential opportunity for her, but I wanted to talk to you about it privately before telling her about it, in case it wasn't possible for her to go for whatever reason. I wouldn't want to get her hopes up." Kyoko was confused and wondered what the woman was talking about. She tried to finish her hair and makeup while talking.

"Alright. I'm busy for the next few hours, but I think I can come over after school hours. Will you be there at 4:00?" Kyoko wasn't sure if she'd be able to do that herself, but the curiosity was killing her. Her shift didn't start until 7:00 anyways.

"Wonderful. I will see you then. Thank you Kyoko-san!" They said their farewells and hung up. After quickly putting on makeup so the new girl could see what a lot of the girls looked like on a typical night, she came out. It was five minutes after 2:00.

"Thanks for waiting boss. I've had such a shit day, you have no idea." She grumbled. And then noticed the new girl standing right there. Well shit; I look irresponsible now.

She couldn't help but look over the girl. She looked exactly like her photo, except her hair was a bit more windblown this time around. Her blue bando top complemented her skin nicely, but didn't seem quite right with her eyes. Her eyes still looked wrong to Kyoko.

Her green short-shorts worked with everything though, as well as her aqua blue ballerina heels. Kyoko wouldn't have picked shoes like that to dance in, but that was part of why she was agreeing to do this; the girl had a completely different act and wouldn't steal her clients.

"Not a problem, Sakura. I guess I promised you that you wouldn't get late charges for doing this…" He said, slightly agitated. She could read the hidden message behind it: "You're going to be late every time now, aren't you? I wish I didn't make that deal."

She noticed the new girl's ipod sitting on the ground near her purse and picked it up, beginning to scroll through it. Classical music and boy bands? This girl has an even stranger taste in music than Yuma. She smirked to herself at the thought of someone dancing to a boyband song. The girl, interestingly, picked something classy though.

The girl walked to one of the poles to face away from her audience. She has a nice silhouette and a great ass. Good starts to working here…

"You ready?" Kyoko asked. The new girl nodded, so Kyoko hit play.

The song started with a man speaking in a language she didn't recognize, and the girl just stood there. You're gonna have to do better than that.

Once some soprano notes on a piano started playing, the girl began to bend backwards, tracing her hands along the contours of her body. It wasn't an advanced pole move in any way, but the sensuality of her actions caused Kyoko's breath to hitch in her throat.

Kyoko had admitted a few years ago that she…appreciated feminine beauty more than masculine. She wasn't sure if it was genetic, environmental in that she was surrounded by kind-hearted women and pig-headed men, or if it was some deep-seeded desire to make her clergyman father as ashamed of her as possible. Of course, part of his teachings were to be more accepting of homosexuality, but she would never know if he would have been upset for his own daughter swinging for the other team.

As a female vocalist began to sing, the new girl started showing what she could do. She immediately went inverted, holding her body away from the pole. She already proved that she had more strength than a lot of the other girls did, frankly. Her body moved in acrobatic ways perfectly in time with the music, showcasing her strength, rhythm, and flexibility. Kyoko was almost feeling her mind slipping to dirty places.

The girl's skin made a painful sounding squeak as she moved down the pole, but she continued to dance nonetheless, clearly undeterred. As she bent her body almost completely backwards, impressing Kyoko, she kicked her legs back to stand up next to the pole. Kyoko thought she was about to hit her head when she got up so quickly. She continued with her dance, though some of the moves that clearly would have been more spectacular had she had a spinning pole instead of a stationary one (Does she not know that the pole five feet away from her spins?), but they were impressive and well executed nonetheless. Even Kyoko, who was by far the best dancer at the club, was impressed.

After the song was over, the girl was clearly trying to keep her breath in check. Kyoko admired the effort. She and Tomi looked at each other, but after having known each other for so long they could understand that the other one voted yes to hire her.

"What's your name, darling?" Tomi asked the new girl.

"Yamasaki Rin." She answered quickly.

"Well Yamasaki, welcome to the club."

AN: Thanks for reading this everyone! I want to give credit where it's due. I got the idea to continue the Oriko Magica timeline from jackkel dragon, whose story is great! I would definitely recommend reading it, and I want to thank jackkel for letting me loosely use their idea!

I originally wanted this to be a oneshot, but I can tell that this is going to be waaayyy too long (I think I'm a tenth done this max; maybe I can try doing this for NanoWrimo? I've never entered that before but always wanted to). I'm nervous I won't finish this, because I have done that with every single other non-oneshot story that I've written. I drive myself crazy, but in some cases (like my South Park one), I just can't write the characters right anymore or in others (my early day Inuyasha ones…yeah…) I cringe when I see how I wrote them.

I want to apologize if there are any cultural errors in this story. The way that the stripping industry works is based on the Canadian industry (no, I don't work in it but I've had family who've audited them and friends who've worked in it so they told me how it works). I do pole dance, so that's how I know about all the moves. As for Sayaka as a cop, I know how long it takes to graduate the police academy in Canada (could very easily be different in Japan) and as for how going undercover works, that's totally based on movies I've watched, so that could VERY easily be wrong.

This story has quickly been getting bigger and bigger. Originally, Kyoko wasn't a hit man or anything, just a stripper. Sayaka wasn't an addict at any point (you'll have to bear with me for the next few chapters; I swear I'll explain why I think that happened) before, but she was now. I honestly have debated a lot about Sayaka's past. After (re-)reading Oriko Magica (again), I found out just how traumatized Hitomi was, and how easy it would be to blame Sayaka for Madoka's death. And of course, adding in those two details completely changed how the story was going to go.

If you notice any plot holes, please don't be afraid to let me know! There is one that I know is in there, but that's foreshadow for now ;) However, if anything hasn't made sense, please let me know and I'll try to clear it up in the next few chapters! I'm trying to make, what I think, is a realistic continuation of Oriko Magica so if anyting is clearly wrong (which it easily could be), I'd love to try to work it out.

Also, this is rated M because it's going to be a smutfest starting next chapter (and honestly, my first attempt at smut; fingers crossed I'm decent!). You have been warned!

Thanks for reading this so far! Please feel free to drop a review or let me know if you have any ideas for the story!