Sayaka's POV, the kitchen
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"Damn..." I should have known this was going to happen, but it wasn't really important until now... I didn't clean up for almost a week now, so it was to be expected... the kitchen looks like a former battlefield, the sink is overrun by dirty dishes covered in... yucky stuff, I don't even know what that used to be, some of it is getting mouldy already... I just hope there's enough food left to make something, if I'm out of luck most of the vegetables will be inedible by now...
I walk towards the fridge with a foreboding feeling, I'm almost afraid to open the door to see what lurks in there... I slowly open it, prepared for the worst... phew, I guess I got lucky, since I wasn't here to buy anything the fridge is almost empty except for some carrots and cabbage. There should also be pre-cooked chicken breast fillet in the freezer. Well, the cabbage isn't in a very good shape, but it's still edible, Kyouko would scold me if I'd throw anything away...
Yeah, I can make something with this, I guess I'll just stew the carrots with the cabbage and roast the chicken before adding it. I think I'll spice it with... I guess I'll just make some teriyaki sauce. Let's see... soy sauce... check. Mirin... nope, but I can do without it. And some sugar. I take a look at the sugar dispenser, it's almost empty... I guess I'll have to go shopping sometime, but not while I'm supposedly sick, that wouldn't be good...
Hm, some honey as well. I take a bowl out of one of the shelves, next a cup... and the spices. Alright, everything I should need. One cup of soy sauce, half a cup of sake... next four tablespoons of sugar and honey... I should probably clean up that mess at the sink first... I guess there's no helping it, here I come.
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My father should really hire a housemaid or something along those lines whenever I don't do it, this was really disgusting... at least it's clean enough to put it into the dishwasher now, so I won't have to worry about it for a while. Where were we...? Oh, right, the teriyaki sauce. I slowly stir the mixture and add some corn starch, a trace of sesame oil... that should be good enough. Of course some spices as well, let's see...
A touch of garlic, a pinch of ginger... a little more coriander and pepper... Hm, it's not as if I'd need any more, this is good enough. I'm not really in the mood for any strange experiments, though I still want it to be rather good, I guess it could be a small 'thank you' for Kyouko, food would probably be perfect... I should put the rice on a little bit later, the other things will take more preparations. And the vegetables have to be cut before I can stew them. Well, it shouldn't take much longer than... three-quarters of an hour, maybe less.
No, scratch that, probably rather one hour. I want to make tempura batter for the chicken breast fillet and for that I'll need really cold water... Well, I guess it's worth the wait, I can prepare the other things while waiting for the water to cool down.
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Kyouko's POV, after the bath
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That was really refreshing, I haven't taken a bath in... I don't even know when the last time was. I ended up staying much longer than I needed to, my skin's all wrinkled... well, it was fun, especially pulling Sayaka in, the look on her face when she got back up was priceless. We can't really do much 'bout our current situation, but I'm still kinda glad things turned out this way, strange as it might be. Beats dying, I guess. I look through my clothes and get what I was looking for, our Soul Gem.
I didn't really know what I was getting myself into when I did that and I much rather wouldn't be chained to Sayaka... but I can't really do much 'bout that, so I might as well get used to it and have fun. Though I'll probably have to teach Sayaka what that is first, she's way too uptight with all her justice and so on. Well, we should have more than enough time for that from now on, doesn't look as if we'd be able to part ways anytime soon.
A pyjama, huh? I didn't really bother with things like that since I left 'home' or what remained of it, I always felt they were... kinda useless. But I guess I'll wear it for the time being, at least until my hoodie and my pants are clean and dry again. Though I really don't get why she left me some boxer shorts as well, maybe that was accidental. I just dry myself off with the towel and slip into the pyjama, it's actually pretty comfortable, rather fluffy... it even has some pockets, so I put the Soul Gem inside one of them.
And now I'll have to wipe the floor... I always hated that, but I guess there's no helping it, it was my fault... I just use the towel to wipe the floor and wring it out in the bathtub, I already pulled the plug out. Yeah, that should do the trick. Now I'll just have to open the window and I'm done here... I'm actually kind of curious 'bout what Sayaka will make, though I hope it's good. Somehow she just doesn't seem like a housewife to me...
I guess I'll just have to find out for myself. Should still be edible, no matter what she ends up doing. If she wasn't good at cooking she wouldn't do it, she'd just eat instant meals all of the time, just as I do. Unless she was actually talking 'bout instant food... Well, only one way to find out. I open the door and step into the white hallway, I can smell something... if the smell's anything to go by it won't be bad, that much's for sure!
"Sayaka? Hey, Sayaka! I'm done, where are ya?" I guess in the kitchen, I just follow my nose... smells like something fried. And probably some vegetables and... teriyaki sauce. I think it smells pretty good, if it's even half as good as it smells I'll be pleased.
"Ah, yes, I'm here, just come in. It still needs a little bit." So that's the kitchen, second room to the left. And a big fridge, as well as many shelves for food~ That's what I'd call a living. Hm, I still don't know where I should stay, maybe I should just ask Sayaka. At least she'd probably know if there was a place to stay at close to here. Or we'll have to move out of here and search for apartments or something.
"Alright. Hey, Sayaka, ya got any idea where I could stay?" There was no inheritance unless my father had debts and I've been missing since that day, I didn't really need money. I'd have to look for a job, but Sayaka probably won't just quit school... Damn, this could be pretty complicated, with those fifty metres we have. Why would the range of that stupid thing decrease anyways!? Shouldn't it increase if it got bigger?
"Huh? I though that was obvious, you will stay here. Otherwise I'd have to move out and dad would probably be against that since I'm not done with school yet." I... She thinks I can just stay here like that...? Hm, I guess I can, it's not as if I had any obligations. This is actually the perfect solution, I won't have to look for a place to stay at and I don't have to work for it, what more could I ask for? If Homura would offer something like that I'd be careful, but I can expect fair treatment from Sayaka. Uh, probably...
"I can!? Haha, cool, in that case I'll make myself at home!" Yeah, that ought to be better than a crappy attic, though I'm still not sure why I stayed at that place, I could've just slipped into another room... Bah, who gives a damn?! I got myself a home! A home... sure brings back a lot of memories, last time I called a place home was back then... Nah, no point thinking 'bout that stuff now, this is a happy moment!
"Just don't overdo it... You can go to my room and unpack your things for the time being, we don't really have a free guestroom right now." Huh, I guess that means I'll stay in her room for the time being, I'm kinda curious as to what it looks like on the inside... Her room was the last one to the left, the fourth door, if I'm not mistaken. She looks up from her cooking for a moment, flipping her short blue hair behind her ears. "Uh, don't you need me to tell you where it is?"
"I was here to pick you up once, remember?" Truth be told, that wasn't the first time I was here, nor was it the last time... But Sayaka doesn't need to know that, who knows what she'd make of that. If she found out that'd just make our relationship more rocky than it already is and we'll have to get along somehow. I don't mind deceiving her just a little bit here and there, it's for the best, ain't it? Telling the truth is nice and good, but it can cause so much harm...
"You sure have an amazing memory... well, I will call you once everything's ready." She shrugs and returns to whatever it is she's doing there, I get out of the kitchen and follow the long white hallway to its end. The door opens with a faint creaking noise, sure enough, looks like Sayaka's room. Unless her mum's really into plushies and music. Nah, I saw her from the window, definitely her room. Even smells like her. There's even a photograph of that wimp with a violin on a shelf next to the bed...
What does she see in him anyways? I take the picture into my hand and take a closer look at him. Looks pretty average, at least in my opinion. I can't really talk 'bout his music, I never heard it, but classical music never really was my thing. Sure, can be nice, but it just doesn't do much for me, I like faster things more, something catchy that gets right into the blood... Well, was there anything else 'bout him?
I guess his personality, if I can call it that, from what I observed he's got about as much depth as a puddle and his hand obviously wasn't the only thing crippled. I didn't see that much 'bout their little 'love triangle' or whatever, basically just the conclusion, but still... he chose that other girl over Sayaka? I ain't seen her once in the hospital when I was... uh, looking after Sayaka, that's it. Has to be about as superficial as he's stupid...
Whatever. I don't think either of us would be in the mood to see that face right now, so I put it down on the brink of the shelf and 'accidentally' let out a heavy breath, sending it behind the shelf. Huh, the room looks a lot better already, who'd have thought? A lot of cute little plushies, some shelves with books and CDs... I guess it's alright, at least more entertaining than my room back there. Well, I bid you adieu, hellhole, here I come, new life! Though I kinda want a TV if I'm staying here, maybe some games as well...
I guess things are actually looking up, in a way. Doesn't seem like too much of a hassle any more. Sure, Sayaka probably won't stay as sweet-tempered as she's right now, I'll give her a couple of days, a week at most... Then I'll have to bear with her lectures 'bout justice and whatnot, but if we can reach a compromise it might be tolerable. We need Witches every now and then, otherwise we'll turn into them ourselves...
I look through the shelves a little bit, one apparently dedicated to classical music, not really my thing... A lot of books as well. Hm, 'Grimm's Fairy Tales', 'Collected works of William Shakespeare', 'Hans Christian Andersen: Illustrated Fairy Tales and Stories'... those are some of the titles I can read, but there are a lot of books in foreign languages as well, I guess English... well, I never really learned that, I was only taught to read Japanese by...
Whatever. I take the last book I looked at out of the shelf, mostly because it said 'Illustrated'... I don't really have the time to read much right now, so I just flip through some of the pages. I can't make much sense of the pictures alone, but they look pretty good, maybe I'll take a look at the stories, sometime. Standing here isn't really all that comfortable, so I look around for something to sit on. There are some chairs, but...
Yeah, that bed... it looks pretty tempting, I just wanna jump on top of it and try it out... Well, why not. I put the book down next to the pillow and jump right into it, it's so big... and really springy, I almost wanna hop around a little bit... but just lying here while my hair dries isn't bad at all, I feel pretty sluggish right now. Well, that's what a hot bath usually does. It sure smells like Sayaka in here...
Sayaka smells like this? Huh, I never really noticed that, but I guess pretty much anyone has their own smell. Of course there's also shampoo and whatnot, but it still smells like her. Well, I don't really mind. Maybe I'll look into the book a little more. could be a while until I get something to eat. If Sayaka can actually cook this could be really great... Maybe, just maybe, magic and miracles do exist...
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Sayaka's POV
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It took longer than I originally thought it would, but it's done now... I can't say it's the best thing I've ever made, I had to improvise a lot. Though I think it still turned out alright, at least it's edible. I open the door of the kitchen and look towards the entrance, there are our shoes and... Kyouko's backpack? Didn't I tell her to move it to my room? *Sigh* Oh well, I guess I'll just take it there. It's much lighter than I expected...
She seems to be okay with staying here, if her smile was anything to go by I'd even say happy. Of course I'll have to ask dad, but he's pretty permissive, unlike mum... If she was still here I could probably forget this and I'm somewhat glad dad isn't home yet, I'll have to come up with an explanation for all of this... I could probably say that Kyouko is a friend of mine, that would even be true, to a certain extent.
But she'll have to stay here permanently, for the remainder of our lives... though that probably won't be as long as I'd like it to be... Well, this isn't the time to get depressed, Magical Girl Sayaka-chan has gained a new supporter and can continue fighting for justice! ... at least that's what would happen in some manga, but I very much doubt it. We might get along right now, but we delicately avoided the difficult questions so far...
We might still have some time for that, but we won't have the time when there's a Witch to fight. There could be normal persons that were lured into their labyrinths and we'd have to decide whether we focus on killing the Witch or saving them... And then there's that thing with the familiars. If we let them go we'll get a Grief Seed later, but for what price? Are human lives really worth so little...? I don't want to believe that, I can't.
"Kyouko?" I step into my room and look around for a moment... Somehow things look different, less tidy, somewhat chaotic... and Kyouko took me quite literally when I told her to make herself at home, she's curled up on the bed with a book of mine, she didn't even ask! *Sigh* Whatever, as long as she doesn't damage anything... Wasn't there a picture of Kyousuke next to my bed...? Maybe I threw it away, my memory of the last few days isn't very clear, it's all a blur...
"Hey, Sayaka. What 'bout lunch?" She really has some nerves, asking me casually like that. Isn't she the guest? Apparently she just takes it for granted... and of course it's about the food... This might be worse than I thought at first...
"You could've offered to help, it would've been faster that way, but I did it already. You didn't even take your things with you..." I put the backpack down at the foot of the bed and look at Kyouko, she seems to be pretty engrossed by the book. Hm, 'Hans Christian Andersen: Illustrated Fairy Tales and Stories', huh? That used to be my favourite book, ever since dad read it to me, I don't even know how long ago that was. I still like it pretty much... "Are you even listening?"
"Uh, of course." She hastily puts the book onto the bed table and looks up. Still, just getting into my bed and using my stuff without even asking... I guess she'll have to learn a thing about manners, probably a lot if I ever want to get her into school... I will have to talk to her about that as well, we can't just stay carefree and do nothing but hunting Witches... though I guess we still have some time to think about it.
"Who allowed you to get into my bed? If you want something you'll have to ask for it, alright?" She looks at me as if that was natural and I was blaming her for no reason... she really is impossible... She even got my bed wet with that long hair of hers... I'll have to think of some way to punish her, I can't just let her get away with all of this... we have to live together, so both of us will have to change, I guess...
"Well, didn't you tell me I should make myself at home?" Judging by her provocative glare she knew full well that she shouldn't have done that... Yeah, this definitely calls for punishment. I take one of the pillows and beat her with it. "Hey, stop that! Well, if you're looking for a fight you got one!" She takes up a smaller one and starts to hit me back, but I soon overpower her and push her down, next I put my left leg over her hip and continue to beat her with the pillow.
"You know well enough that this isn't what I meant! Gah, take this!" She puts up a good fight, but all those years of experience against Madoka and Hitomi finally pay off! They always ganged up on me whenever all three of us had a sleepover together, but I still managed to win, most of the time... I take the pillow far above my head and swing it down again, but she crosses her arms in front of her face and blocks it...
"Now you really did it, Sayaka..." Suddenly she pushes me to the side and the next thing I know is that she's on top of me... I guess I shouldn't have taken her lightly, she isn't the same as Madoka or Hitomi, far from it... Somehow I feel a little bit uncomfortable, it was really harmless when I was on top of her, but that look in her eyes... It's almost predatory. "So, what should I do with you now?"
"How about thanking me for preparing lunch and letting you stay here for free?" Well, it might look a little bit bad for me right now, but I definitely won't back down either. "And while you're at it, button up your pyjama..." Seriously, she didn't even do that right... I look to the side, towards the window, the curtains are drawn... still, this whole position is pretty awkward and Kyouko seems to slowly realise it as well...
"Oh... oh, I'm sorry, I guess you're right." She hastily buttons up her pyjama and gets off me. Well, I don't really mind, I know how that is... I couldn't even count the times I found myself in similar situations with Madoka. Well, it's just fun and games and I don't mind if there's no one else around, most of the time not even if someone is, they should just mind their own business. Kyouko looks pretty embarrassed though...
"It's alright, no harm done. So, do you want to eat something or not?" And she seems to have forgotten all about her previous embarrassment, in a matter of seconds... That kind of reminds me of a dog I used to know, food had the same effect on him... though her general behaviour is rather like that of a cat, I guess she has a bit of both... as sluggish as a cat on a hot summer day and as gluttonous as a dog, great combination...
"Sure, let's go already!" She jumps out of the bed and hurries to the kitchen, she's a real piece of work... Maybe I got more than I asked for, sure, it's nice when things are a little bit livelier, but this... Well, I should probably follow her if I want to get something to eat... I follow Kyouko towards the kitchen, she's already eying the food I prepared with so much effort... Well, it's there to be eaten.
"Bon appétit!" I don't think I should wish her that, otherwise I should probably prepare the next course... I take a seat on the other side of the table, Kyouko is sitting right in front of me. Somehow she is strangely hesitant, I was expecting her to dig in right away... I think it came out pretty good, the teriyaki sauce was a success, there wasn't anything I could do wrong with the rice, the fried chicken in tempura batter came out perfectly. Well, in terms of taste, it doesn't really look perfect.
"Wow, this looks amazing..." Well, it was a good bit of work, I had to get out the wok to get the right temperature for the chicken and we'll still have to wash the dishes afterwards... Kyouko seems to finally bring herself to trying it, she takes the fork I placed next to her plate and brings some rice with sauce closer to her mouth, but sniffs at it first... It's not as if I was trying to poison her or anything...
"It won't bite back, don't worry." I feel a little bit insulted, she eats her fast food without a second thought, but the meal I prepared with a lot of work... Well, I won't make anything else for her, that much's for sure. And if she doesn't like it she'll have to cook on her own from now on. She finally takes a bite, I was really getting worried there... Huh? "Kyouko, are you alright?" She started crying all of a sudden...
"It's nothing, just... just something in my eye..." I don't exactly believe her, so I stand up and walk over to Kyouko. She's rubbing her eyes now, I'm pretty sure it's something else. And it's not related to my food, it isn't bad enough to make someone cry, I'm sure of it. I tried it already, it's rather good. So this has to be about something else... I put my left hand on her shoulder, not really sure about what I should do...
"It's alright, you don't have to worry about it, I won't laugh at you or anything like that if you'd like to talk about it. It's also fine if you don't..." She suddenly lets the fork fall and hugs me tightly while she's still crying, I don't understand a thing... but maybe it helps her. I just put my right hand on her head to stroke her slightly and remain like this for a while. I never expected to see Kyouko like this... or to hold her like this...
"I'm... sorry." She finally seems to calm down as she pulls herself away, so I let go of her. It was slightly embarrassing, but probably even more so for Kyouko... Well, I'd be glad if it helped her, though I don't even know what the problem might be... I've never seen Kyouko cry, if my memory serves me right. Well, there was that one moment yesterday, but I don't remember it well. At least I don't think she cried because of sadness...
"Hey, it's fine, there's no need for apologies." Somehow I feel genuine concern and sympathy for her, she looks so different, so... vulnerable. Well, I guess anyone would feel that way, I'm actually surprised that she didn't cry back then in the church... though I'm curious as to what made her feel so sad now, there's nothing that should trigger it...
"Well, you see... I just somehow had to think of... my family. How we'd all sit together at a table and eat dinner... though dad always prayed before eating. It's kinda... it makes me remember those things. I didn't really eat something other than fast food for years and... sitting here at the table with you... yeah, sorry." Oh, I guess that makes sense. It must be really hard to remember happy moments and know they'll never come back...
"What are you getting all apologetic for? Are you really Kyouko or just some impostor!?" I poke her cheek and put on my best 'serious' face. For a moment Kyouko looks genuinely confused, but the next moment she bursts out laughing while still wiping her eyes...
"Gee, way to ruin the mood, though I should thank you for that. You want proof? Well, have at you!" Her hand suddenly darts forward, towards... my plate! She stuffs the piece of fried chicken into her mouth before I even have time to process what happened... I guess there's no doubt, this is something only the real Kyouko would do... not that there ever was any real doubt to begin with. At least she seems to be cheerful again...
"Hey! That was mine... great way of thanking me you have there..." Of course she'd go for the chicken, the best thing... *Sigh* Well, it's definitely better than the mood we had before, though I think that was what Kyouko really feels... I really can't compare to that, it would be like losing my mum and dad, Madoka, Kamijou-kun and everything else I ever held dear... "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't, I guess..."
"Oh, so you call me the devil? You know, be careful of what you wish for... wishes might come alive." Now she gives me a pretty smug grin... Well, she isn't really that bad, it would be far worse if I was stuck with that transfer student...
"It's just a saying..." We get back to our food, Kyouko got done with her plate faster than I had anticipated... well, there's still more and we should probably celebrate this. It isn't exactly a happy occasion, considering the mess we're in right now, but it's definitely... something? Yeah, still bea-
"I have returned to gather more data." Gah! That stupid little...! I almost swallowed up the chicken I had in my mouth... "Sakura Kyouko, would you show me your Soul Gem? I think it might have changed..." Changed...? Kyouko gives Kyubey a quizzical look, but she does take it out. Kyubey jumps onto the table and takes a closer look at it... "Yes, it seems as if this would support our newest speculations..."
"Would ya mind telling me just what the hell you're trying to say!? What speculations!?" It doesn't look much different to me, but maybe Kyubey can 'sense' it or something... Or maybe it wasn't about our Soul Gem in the first place?
"It might be difficult for you to see, but the synchronisation of your Soul Gems has progressed." Both of us look at him dumbfounded. "I should probably rephrase that... The violet line has grown. Do you understand that?" Oh, yeah, I guess it did, a little bit... "You see, I have observed you and you seemed to get along rather well, considering previous interactions. I think there is a resonance in you Soul Gems, they react to each other."
"Huh, sounds a little bit like chemical bond, is that close enough?" Kyouko looks just as confused as before, but it might help me to put this into a context I understand... I think I understand what he's getting at... "Just to make it simpler for all of us, let's go through your terms. Synchronisation refers to the part where our Soul Gems are merging. Resonance... you're saying our Soul Gems are reacting to each other, but how?"
"Your comparison to chemistry is a rather helpful one. You seem to understand the part about synchronisation, both react and become a new substance, good... and the resonance... I didn't mean that in a scientific way. All I said was that your Soul Gems respond to each other, depending on your behaviour and thoughts towards each other. Your behaviour is basically like pressure and other things influencing reactions in chemistry. I will need to observe this a little longer, there could be other explanations as well, the time we had so far is too little to draw a conclusion."
"So, you're saying... that we'd merge if we get along and divide if we fought all the time?" If that was the case all we'd have to do is fight again and we could be free...? I'd feel kind of bad about doing that, just when I started getting along with Kyouko, but...
"Not so fast. Your assumption could be correct, but that's rather unlikely. It wouldn't exactly divide your Soul Gems, I think the right word would be... decompose." What!? If we don't get along our Soul Gems DECOMPOSE!? "I think that would rather kill you, but I suppose it's your choice, you can take the chance... It's just speculation so far, we'd have further data if you tried it, but we'd rather observe this phenomenon a little longer."
"I was kind of wondering about that before, you've been doing this for a while, haven't you? How come something like this never happened?" I don't really know much about Kyubey, but I think he's been here for a long time, at least he hinted at that... If he and his predecessors had done that for a long time something like this would have to have happened before, right?
"We have observed and interacted with humanity almost since they started walking on two legs. I suppose that the chances were always rather low if you consider the requirements... Two Magical Girls have to meet, that isn't very common in the first place. That is not to say that none have ever attempted what you did, of course. Some tried to use the Soul Gems of fellow Magical Girls as Grief Seeds, others just pushed theirs together for different reasons... However, this is the first time two Soul Gems started to merge because of it."
"So, like, what's so different 'bout us?" Exactly my question, we never really got along or anything... though we've been getting along surprisingly well so far... Well, no easy way out, apparently. We could risk it, but I'm not really a fan of decomposing... Yeah, who knows just what exactly that's supposed to mean, I don't think I'd even want to know that... yeah, I guess I'll rather stick with the devil I know...
"Well, we don't know, to be honest. It could have something to do with your emotions, whatever they might be. Then again, Soul Gems can defy logic and it's rather difficult to determine any general constants." Not much help, but at least he's honest, I guess... both of us resume eating. Come to think of it, I should probably make my call to school, if I don't do it now school will be over...
"One more thing... since we pretty much share a Soul Gem, does that mean we share our resources as well? As in our magical power and the condition of our Soul Gem?" I'm not even sure if I should call it a Soul Gem or two, I guess I'll just stick with one... Well, I might as well see it as one Soul Gem, we can't separate them, so it might as well be one... it's pretty confusing...
"We would think so, it's possible that one half isn't as tainted as the other. But if we're not mistaken either of you turning to a Witch or either half of the Soul Gem shattering will affect the other individual in the same way." So we'd better watch it, I guess... One of us dying or turning would be bad enough on its own, but both of us... I'm pretty sure that the transfer student wouldn't be able to handle both of us as Witches at once...
"Well, thanks for the info. Kyouko, I'll make a call, see you in a moment." I stand up and walk towards the door, Kyouko just gives me a short nod, she doesn't even look up... Geez, she should really learn a thing or two about manners... I guess I admire her for that a little bit, somewhere... sometimes I'd like to be like that, not giving a care about manners or morale... but that just wouldn't be me, would it...?
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Kyouko's POV
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"Alright, now get lost..." I shoo that stupid thing away. I guess my... our situation hasn't really improved, huh? 'Till death do us part' or what? Probably, at least there's no solution in sight and our lives aren't exactly endless... Well, if her cooking stays as good as it is I don't think I'll really mind it all that much. That's gotta be the best I ate in years... though I surprised myself back then when I just started crying all of a sudden...
Though Sayaka's reaction was by far the bigger surprise... I guess she does care for me, somewhere behind all that justice she puts up. At least I don't think she truly believes in it as much as she'd like others to think... or maybe I'm misreading something, I dunno. Frankly, I don't even care, but it felt good... I didn't have anyone to turn to for the last few years, it's good to know that there is someone like that...
Of course that doesn't mean I'll do that on a regular basis from now on... but it felt kinda relieving, sharing all of that stuff with someone... I don't really know why I told her in the first place, but I guess it all worked out, in the end. What we have right now is better than what I had in forever and I'll protect it. Sayaka as well, I won't just stand by and watch her getting beaten halfway to death any longer...
That's right, from now on those aren't 'her' fights or 'my' Grief Seeds, it's all 'ours'. Our fights and our Grief Seeds. I guess that kind of thinking will need some time until I'm getting used to it... it was just 'me', ever since I left Mami. I'm actually surprised she made it so far, I'd have expected her to kick the bucket after a year or so... but it's been three years since then and she only died recently...
Come to think of it, I never asked what happened to her... I guess it doesn't really matter, we didn't talk for three years. And now she's dead, just like that... I guess that's how life as a Magical Girl goes, you kill a couple o' Witches, get some Grief Seeds if you're lucky and survive some years, if you get really lucky... then you're killed and no one remembers a thing. Well, if you're lucky, apparently...
Yeah, that's the kind of life we can look forward to. Kinda sucks, now that I think about it... then again, that hasn't changed at all, it's been this way for a long time now, at least I'm not alone with it any longer. Of course I wouldn't tell Sayaka, but I'm actually... kind of happy that things turned out the way they did... Tch, what am I even thinking!? Am I going soft or what? Yeah, like hell!
Well, maybe being just a little bit softer wouldn't harm me, at least with Sayaka... I didn't let anyone get close to me, I didn't want to lose someone or be lost, but... I can't lose Sayaka and she can't lose me, even if we wanted to lose each other. If I die so does she, if she turns into a Witch so do I... that's a really unsettling thought, but it also... makes me feel at ease, somehow. I don't have to worry about losing something important again...
Gee, I feel as if I was losing it. Just what am I thinking? Being glad that we'll die together or turn into twisted versions of our former self? *Sigh* I just dunno how to describe it. It feels disturbing, but at the same time it's strangely comforting. Well, if we're good enough we might make it for a year or two. Heck, who even said that we can't live longer?! If we grow strong enough there'll be nothing that could kill us...
Right, I've made my decision. I will live and so will Sayaka, we'll have a happy life in spite of all that crap, one way or another! I guess I'll have to help Sayaka getting the hang of fighting, she did really well, considering how little experience she had so far, but she was way too reckless. Sure, she can heal some scratches, maybe even a whole limb, but if her whole body go crushed by a Witch or something...
Nah, I can't let stuff like that happen from now on. She'll have to learn how to fight and I'll have to learn teamwork, I guess. It's been a long time since I last gave that a shot... I guess I was going to try it with Homura, but I don't think we'd make a great team... we're both lone wolfs and don't trust each other. It'll be pretty difficult to get used to all those things again... Sayaka on the other hand... I don't think she'd be bad at teamwork, but she lacks experience.
And our relationship was always pretty rocky. At least now I don't need to prove that she can trust me, even if she thinks that I'm completely selfish after all of this. If she gets killed I'm screwed and it goes the other way 'round as well. We really don't have much of a choice, other than trusting each other. We'll also have to pay attention to our Soul Gem... I pick it up from the table again and take a closer look at it.
It's kinda pretty, Sayaka's part looks like a clear lake while mine reminds me of a rose, in terms of colour... just a little bit brighter than blood. And the small violet line, apparently separating them... but I guess it's rather what's keeping us together... There's a small musical note with some lines as well, that has to come from Sayaka. Yeah, she made her wish for that little wimp... way to go, throwing her life away for him... Well, then again, I'd never have met her if it wasn't for that wish...
Then again, I'm not really one to talk... Anyways, my point is that it looks good, I can't see a trace of the taint and we'd better keep it that way. I could see for myself how well we got along when it almost got too tainted yesterday... Another thing to watch out for, huh? If I'm not mistaken we just end up fighting when our Soul Gem gets tainted and that would make it grow darker even faster, I guess...
Heh, I can see tons of problems for us with all of this already... but that doesn't influence my conviction in the slightest. I think I'll just grab Sayaka as soon as she gets back here and tell her. We'll make it through all the crap the world throws at us, together. And if we want to make it through we'll have to do it together. So we'll have to figure out how we go 'bout all of this. Hunting Witches should be obvious, but what should we do with Familiars...?
It's going to be difficult to convince Sayaka of letting some familiars escape... I'd prefer leaving them all alone, but I guess that's outta the question... Yeah, I guess the whole thing with us turning into Witches if we don't get enough Grief Seeds is a pretty good argument. We should probably discuss those things soon, if we aren't ready... well, there will be no time to do that while we're fighting a Witch.
I'd rather have things clarified when the time comes. That'll probably breed bad blood, but it's not something we can avoid forever. The sooner we get it all out of the way the better. As soon as Sayaka's done with her call we should have a talk 'bout that... I finish the remainder of the food, it really was something else... The whole fast food just can't compare to real lunch, I guess.
"Hey, Sayaka? What's taking you so long?" She's been out for ten minutes or so already, that's way too long for some call to school or something. I stand up and walk towards her room, looks as if she was still talkin' to someone...
"- know, we'll meet you later." Yeah, doesn't sound like school. Probably involves me as well, who else would she be talking 'bout? I raise my eyebrows as she ends the call by pushing a button, she heaves a heavy sigh. "That was Akemi Homura, she wanted to talk to us about our situation later on. She also mentioned Walpurgisnacht or something, she said you'd know what she means by that?"
"Oh, right, you didn't even know 'bout that. It's basically just a really big and mean Witch, much stronger than anything we've ever encountered. We're talking about the magnitude of some cities being flattened, smaller hurricanes, earthquakes and the like." Obviously I've never seen one of those, but I've heard tales before. Always shrugged it off as stupid gossip, but Homura isn't the type to get all riled up by fairy tales and I believe her story so far.
"Is that so? Why didn't you ever tell me about that? I would have been willing to help you with it, even if that meant teaming up with you..." Hm, I guess so, but there wasn't really that much time for that, I guess we kind of forgot...
"Sorry, but we didn't really get an opportunity for that, you weren't exactly responsive to either of us. I can already see the conversation play out in my head... 'Hey, Sayaka, wanna come along and kill a really strong Witch with us?' 'You are just trying to trick me, aren't you? I'll never work with scum like you. If it comes I'd rather face it alone...' And after that you'd get depressed and mope around or something."
"I don't think it was that bad... besides, that's your fault just as well, isn't it? Who came into this city and talked bad of Mami-san after she died? Who attacked me all of a sudden, without any explanations, and tried to kill me the first time we met?" I guess I had this one coming, though I did give her an explanation... but it didn't help much. All Mami's fault, she just had to go 'round and talk big 'bout justice, what's right, yada yada yada...
"Hey, I told you that you shouldn't hunt familiars. Kyubey told me the city was free and it's a better hunting ground than Kazamino. Besides, I wasn't really going to kill you..." It was just a fun little match, wasn't it?
"You could have just tried to be reasonable about it... and you wouldn't have stopped back then. If Homura hadn't arrived when she did... the crater is all I had to see in order to know your intentions." Huh...? What crater? Uh, maybe that went a little bit different from what I remember... I'm pretty sure I didn't try to hurt her too much, right...?
"I don't really remember any of that..." It doesn't look as if she was lying, was I really going for it back then...? I guess she pushed me further than I thought... well, she did give me an impressive fight, considering how little experience she had at the time. She doesn't have much more experience now, but I'm glad that we won't fight any more. She was kinda scaring me during the fight against a Witch, on an instinctive level or something...
"Well, too bad, I can show you the place if you don't believe me." I guess that did happen, huh? Strange, I really thought I was going easy on her...
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry 'bout all that. Really. Both of us did a lot of crap and I guess I did a little more, fine. Tell you what, why don't we just forget 'bout all that and start over?" I offer her my hand, though she seems to be rather reluctant 'bout it... just when I'm about to lower it again she takes it, though her grip is pretty weak. Her hand is really warm though... Well, this went better than I anticipated...
"*Sigh* It's not really something a handshake will make up for, but... If we work together from now on there'll probably be opportunities to make good for all the things we did to each other. You're right, I wronged you as well. Now would be as good a time as any, we should talk about our course of action from now on, right?" I was kinda avoiding that topic, but I guess she's right...
"Yeah, I was thinking 'bout that as well. We should compromise, otherwise we won't make it far. We can hunt some of the Familiars, but we have to get enough Grief Seeds for both of us. We'll have to see how it goes, depending on how fast it gets darker we might have to let more Familiars get away." Sayaka seems to be fairly calm, considering what we're talking about here... Maybe there is some hope that this can work out...
"I hate to admit it, but you have a point. I thought about that and... well, I basically reached the same conclusion. We'll have to see how many Familiars we can take without running low on Grief Seeds..." She clearly isn't happy 'bout that, but she seems to understand it. I put my right hand on her shoulder and smile at her, she looks pretty surprised. I guess I'll have to cheer her up from now on, as her... partner.
"Come on, don't beat yourself up over this. It won't be all that bad, don't worry. But let me tell you one thing. Maybe I was right, maybe the balance between hope and despair is always zero, in the end. However, I went through more than enough shit for both of us, so you'd better work towards a zero. Got it?" I've been close to becoming a Witch or committing suicide more than once, but no more... I'll make sure that I get to keep the change.
"I... yeah, I think so. You really are strange..." You know what? Screw the change, I'll get myself a refund. I guess I'll just take Sayaka for the time being, not the worst price I could imagine. ... Uh, that sounded... not the way I thought it would, I'm glad I didn't say that... Well, whatever, I have what I want and I'm happy with that. I didn't even know I wanted something like this, but now...
"Heh, of course I am. But strange doesn't even start to describe you, ya know?" We're pretty much laughing again, I could really get used to this. Who cares about all of that crap with Witches and whatnot either way? Or other people, I don't care if some Familiars get them. Of course I won't say that, that would probably destroy everything we've worked out so far. Yeah, I'll just have some fun and get my money's worth.
"Alright, you got me there. To be honest... I appreciate it. You being here with me, or how you saved my life... You're right, we were wrong about each other. I thought you were just scum after what you did back then, I doubted you until just yesterday... but I think I can trust you, believe in you, from now on. Just... don't do something stupid to destroy that, alright?" Heh, I guess I feel the same way...
"I didn't really risk my life to save you yesterday just so that I could throw that all away again, you know? Would be pretty stupid and I'd get nothing out of it. Fair enough, I thought you were just some naive kid, swinging 'round your sword in the name of justice and love, thinking of yourself as some kind of knight or hero, but I guess you weren't too bad, you know? I started to think... 'Maybe I could believe in those things again.', so don't screw this up either."
"I guess you were right about that, at least to some extent..." Uh... maybe I shouldn't have said that... Sayaka looks pretty down, I guess she... thinks she failed or something...
"Hey, come on, don't make a face like that. I didn't mean it like that. And if you don't believe in justice and all that crap, who will? You didn't do anything wrong so far, so just get your head back up and be proud of yourself, alright? Others wouldn't have tried to keep their friends save in a situation like that." Maybe it isn't such a good idea to reinforce her belief, but I guess she needs it...
"You know, I almost... yesterday, I almost killed two men in that train... How could I walk around and talk about justice after all of that? I even thought... maybe it would've been better... if I hadn't saved Hitomi from that Witch." Crap, that didn't really help... Hitomi was that green-haired girl, the one who took that boy, wasn't she? I'll have to think of something to say, hopefully something that won't worsen her mood...
"Hey, it's alright, doesn't that prove my point? You almost killed two men, but you didn't. Maybe you would've almost let a Witch get that girl, but you didn't, right? You could've gone there as a Magical Girl and killed her anytime, no one could prove a thing, but you didn't. You didn't do any of that. Doesn't that mean that you were being just?" She looks pretty surprised, almost as if she hadn't thought about it that way at all...
"Yeah, you're right, but... with thoughts like that, how could I be the hero I wanted to be...?" Pfft... and here I was, thinking she had done something, after all... It's just her trying to reach some impossible standards she set up for herself, after all...
"Come on, cut yourself some slack. Of course you could still be some hero or something, you didn't do any of those things. I'm pretty sure that any hero you'd hear 'bout wasn't as pure and noble as the tales tell. If you just thought those things and didn't do them you could still reach your own standards, right?" I guess I got through that thick skull of hers, at least it looks that way...
"Yeah, I guess you're right... but still... I hurt Madoka, the things I told her..." Geez... How can she look so miserable because of such trivial things? I guess there's no helping it... I slowly put my arms around her, that's just repaying the favour for what she did earlier... Somehow this doesn't work so well when I do it, I'm just a little bit smaller than her, but I still feel silly about doing this... "K-Kyouko...?"
"Come on, don't worry about that stuff so much. Just take your phone and call her or something, all you need to do is apologise, that should make everything alright again, right?" I don't really know very much about that girl, Madoka, but I think she'd be more than happy to talk to Sayaka again. At least that's the impression I get. Yeah, otherwise she'd have never been able to keep up with Sayaka...
"I... I guess you're right." I give her a little squeeze, though it doesn't look as if she's going to cry, after all... " Uh, could you... let go? I kind of need the phone if I want to call her..." Great, now I just feel silly, that's what I get for trying to help her... I let go of her, though probably a little bit faster than I should, and stumble backwards... Sayaka just looks at me strangely for a moment and gets her phone again...
She dials the number and I can hear some bleeps. Still, that was awkward... Seriously, why did it feel so natural when she did it, but now that I wanted to help her out... whatever, who cares. We wait a little, but after a while Sayaka just hangs up. "She isn't responding?"
"No, I tried calling her on her mobile phone, she should have break right now... well, maybe she doesn't want to talk to me, or she forgot to recharge it. Well, let's get back to lunch for now. And... thanks." Yeah, I guess I'll just stick with lunch, shouldn't get so awkward... besides, I wouldn't mind another helping...
...
Author's note: Well, sorry 'bout the late update, we were working on some other stories and kinda lacked time and inspiration lately... but we'll keep updating, next time hopefully sooner. Hope you enjoyed it!
