They went out again after dinner. This time, Kyoko didn't even bother to try convince Sayaka not to come.

By the time they stopped for a break, the sky was jet black. Kyoko suggested they visit a convenience store for some snacks and drinks. The cashier shot them a strange look mixed with curiosity and concern, and it was then that Kyoko noticed the digital clock on the wall and realized how late it was.

"You should call it a day." She told Sayaka as they walked on the desolate sidewalk.

Sayaka opened her mouth to say something, probably to insist she could still go on. A small yawn escaped her mouth instead. She glanced at Kyoko sheepishly.

"Come on." Kyoko sighed. "I'll walk you back."

"To where?"

"Your home. Idiot. Seriously, your parents are gonna notice."

Sayaka looked away, rubbing her arms. "Maybe."

"Why'd you want to stay in that apartment anyway? Weren't you complaining the sleeping bags aren't comfortable enough?"

"I was…" Sayaka turned her head further away. Her expression shaded by her long bangs. She seemed to shrink into her tank-top and mesh T-shirt. "…I meant it as you should get a proper bed."

Kyoko remembered all the furniture that now occupied the apartment. It was beginning to look like a proper home. She frowned.

"Sleeping bag is good enough for me."

"…of course it is."

Sayaka was an open book, but sometimes Kyoko just couldn't understand her.

"Well," she tossed the last dango into her mouth and stretched. Her joints popped. "Anyway, you should go home."

"And you?"

"I'm thinking about staying out a bit longer." She was honest. The cool night took her mind off from everything else. "Feeling pretty good now."

The opposition was on Sayaka's lips, but she refrained and just hugged her elbows with a sort of nervous energy. "Things did go pretty well so far."

"Which is surprising."

"Hey!"

Kyoko shrugged. It was the truth.

No matter how experienced someone was at evading or killing Wraiths, there was nevertheless always a risk simply being in the vicinity of one.

Even for veteran like Kyoko and Mami, death was just one lapse of judgement, one tiny step too far or too close, or one fraction of an instant moving too fast or too slow, away.

It was astounding how neither of them had sustained any serious injury yet.

Okay, and kind of relieving.

"So gotta ride the wave… or whatever that expression was. You know what I mean?"

Sayaka nodded, but she still did not relax. "I know. But… why not go back together? It's kinda late. You should get some sleep. We're gonna walk Yuma-chan and Nagisa-chan to school tomorrow, remember?"

First of all, she never actually agreed to that.

"Eh, I don't need a lot of sleep." She lied.

Sayaka gave her a look. "…I find that hard to believe."

"Fine, fine. You caught me. I hate waking up early." Kyoko threw her hands up in fake surrender. "But so what? I can always catch up on the sleep later in the day."

"…don't forget you also need to come meet us after school."

Okay, now she was just assuming stuff. That was supposed to be a one-time deal.

"Look, just-" She scratched the back of her head, resisting the temptation to snap. "Just give me the key to the apartment, and let me walk you home."

Sayaka blinked at the open palm Kyoko was holding up, then to her impatient face. A peculiar expression overcame her, like she was trying not to laugh.

"Why would you need it?"

"Unless you want me to sleep on the street, which I can. Or if you'd rather I bust the lock, which I also can."

Oh wait, she can also pick the lock or use magic to open the door. But she usually didn't care enough to do either. Kicking down doors was way easier.

"No! I mean, why would you need it with me around?"

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Really? It's not like you're living there now. And what about when you're busy with something else? Like school or you own life?"

Sayaka mumbled something.

"What's that?"

"No-nothing! I just don't have much else going on. You can always count on me to be about."

Kyoko squinted.

"You do realize it's considered normal, and even sensible to not trust people you just met, right?"

"What?"

"As in, I won't get offended if you don't want to give me the key. I'd just rather you be honest about it."

Sayaka blinked a few more times before she began shaking her head in mortification.

"But I do! Trust you! I mean."

Probably too much. Kyoko regarded her with wry amusement. She hadn't ask about Kyoko's life, past or recent. She didn't pry into her business. But she treated her like they were lifelong friends.

She acted like she knew Kyoko. And not just as Mami's former pupil. Or as the last surviving member of the Sakura family. Not even as Sakura Kyoko the fiercely territorial Puella Magi. Sayaka treated like she actually understood Kyoko. Like she saw a side of Kyoko hidden from everyone else.

That sort of pissed Kyoko off, because even she herself sometimes didn't quite understand herself.

"What?" She smirked humorlessly. "Are you worried I'll run away again?"

Sayaka did not rise to the bait. She turned fully to Kyoko, halting both of them, and looked squarely into her eyes.

"No." All bashfulness vanished from Sayaka's tone and expression. She didn't look so naive anymore. There were weights behind her words. A determination fueled by regret. "No, and even if you do, I'll find you and drag you back. I'll always find you."

It wasn't too difficult to believe. She had been kind of pestering Kyoko.

Kyoko was going to make a joke here. Say something like 'Jeez, what are you? An overly-attached girlfriend?' But something else about what Sayaka said caught her attention.

"Well, that didn't answer my question. Why won't you give me the key then?"

The timidity returned to Sayaka's face at once. She combed her hair and fidgeted a bit.

"Be-because I want to be there when you come back." She blurted out in a whisper, which grew quieter and quieter with each word. "Because I want to tell you 'welcome back.'"

Kyoko frowned. This was so cheesy she could make a pizza out of it.

"I said I don't want-"

"Pity?" Sayaka gathered enough courage to look at her again. Her gaze piercing, imploring. "Then you don't need to worry. This isn't pity. This is for me. I'm sick and tired of a home without family. Of being ignored. Of all my efforts leading to nothing. I'm doing this because I need it."

Kyoko could empathize with that. After her father found out about the contract, home stopped being a place of comfort and safety. Everyday she dreaded returning to the cabin behind their church. Everyday she lingered a little longer outside.

And after her family's death, it was nothing short of agonizing to walk in the empty church and empty house. But she did it anyway because it was the only place left that still reminded her of who she used to be. Of the kind of person she had always wanted to be. It was similar to how these past few days-

Hold on there.

As if someone had pulled aside the curtain, Kyoko saw plainly the source of her frustration.

She wanted a better life. She wanted to be worthy of the kindness and affection the other girls so liberally given her. She actually wanted to stay here.

She was frustrated because she had yet figured out what to do with herself. Because she felt the desire to lead a more honest life despite all the hardship along the road. It was strangely refreshing. She wanted to give life another try, even though there was no reason to believe there would be a happy ending.

And now, it was like she finally found that rope that would stop her from her downward spiral.

"Stay with me then." She blurted out.

Kyoko felt more surprised than Sayaka looked. She berated herself for making such suggestion knowing Sayaka had an actual home - however empty - to go back to. She opened her mouth to tell Sayaka she didn't mean it.

Her mouth parted loosely, uselessly. Nothing came out.

Because, under the moonlight, there it was. The most breathtaking smile she had ever seen.

Oh.

Oh.