The most delicious fruit is that which is forbidden.
Or at least that's what Kyoko Sakura's father used to say back in the day. Until now, the redhead hadn't been in a position to examine the truth or lie of the situation.
Now there was food in front of her that she wasn't allowed to eat.
"Come on, Blue, just a taste," whined Kyoko, snaking her long arm around her best friend's waist, trying to distract the other girl.
Whack!
Kyoko jumped back in surprise, she hadn't expected the sudden movement, but the frenetic fencer really did have a skill for this. Sayaka Miki was not one to fool around, especially when it came to baking.
"No way, Kyoko! This cake is for everyone. It's Christmas Eve, and none of us have boyfriends, so you're just going to have to wait for the Christmas party," she said matter-of-factly.
Kyoko pouted, she didn't care about the whole boyfriend thing. It had never really interested her before she became a magical girl, and now that she was one, well, a lot of things didn't matter anymore.
The scarlet haired siren adjusted her ponytail and crossed her arms, pouting a little bit as she did so. "Why do you care so much about that anyway? It's not like any of the others would care if I had a little nibble before you even bake it," she replied, eyeing the juicy red apples with a kind of jealous squint.
The blue-haired magical girl sighed heavily.
"Look, I want it to be special, and it's a bit of a surprise, "she remarked, tapping the wooden spoon against the side of her apron.
Kyoko had to smirk a little bit. Sayaka had been working on her cooking skills lately. Something that she'd previously neglected. It was like she was trying to transform into the perfect wife. Kyoko almost wished that she would be the one that the blue-haired beauty would marry someday rather than some boy she had been mooning over.
"And it'll still be special, it just might be missing a gingerbread man or something," she said, her Kansai accent becoming clearer as she got more emotional. She didn't want to discuss the real reason why this bothered her. It wasn't that she was being denied cake. It was the fact that she had to share it with everyone else.
"Then why don't you go out and get one?" asked Sayaka, "I know you know where the bakery is."
Now it was Sayaka's turn to pout, her strawberry pink lips trembling back and forth.
"Look, the other girls will be here in two hours. If you can wait until then, I promise you it will be worth it," said the busty blunette adjusting the straps of her apron. It was a relatively cheap one, the image of a large cartoon bear reaching out to hug the viewer, another recent purchase and one that tempted Kyoko. She almost wanted to embrace Sayaka, to kiss her.
"Fine!" She crossed her arms and left the room.
"Where are you going?" Called Sayaka.
"Out!" replied the redhead petulantly. She was feeling a little hot under the collar.
Sayaka sighed again but felt confident in standing firm. She couldn't let Kyoko always get her way. She was a little like a feral child, sometimes throwing a tantrum when she didn't get away. It could be infuriating.
Still, there was a good reason why Sayaka had decided to stand firm here even if she did endorse spoiling Kyoko. It wouldn't be the same if she saw it being made.
She pulled up her sleeves and made a small whistling noise between her teeth. It was time to get to work.
Kyoko felt very stupid when she reached the corner convenience store and realised that she had gotten angry over nothing. It was stupid and childish, and even she knew that. A tiny part of her understood that her selfish streak was the product of her circumstances, but that didn't excuse being mean to Sayaka. She exhaled heavily, letting her warm breath turn into crystals in the air. It still impressed her that she still needed to breathe at all. Was it a conscious thing? Something that her soul gem compelled her body to do? Or was her body breathing on its own and her will merely directing the conscious thoughts? It didn't matter. Stupid philosophical questions were best left to the damn bunny cat and, so long as she could live her life free of any regrets, she didn't care much about the details.
She dug her hands deeper into her pockets, unsure what to do with herself. She hated this time of year. It brought back too many unpleasant memories. Her dad had been really into Christmas, saying it was the time when the church brought people to God. Kyoko had to laugh at the irony of that. Most of what she saw was a combination of greed and horniness. Christmas was a farce, no point in getting attached to it.
"Merry Christmas Kyoko Sakura."
As if her day couldn't possibly get any worse.
"Hello, Kyubei," she said in a voice that radiated icicles.
"Now now, that's not the proper decorum for today," said the strange long-eared creature as it jumped off the wall. "This time of year is very important to humans."
"What do you care? You're a…. What exactly are you anyway?" Asked Kyoko, grateful for the distracting conversation despite its unpleasant source.
She didn't hate Kyubei, not like that Homura girl seemed to, but she could appreciate something was unsettling about the little creature.
"I just thought I should inform you that there is a witch nearby. You should probably go and kill it," said the little rabbit cat without a hint of regret or malice, seeming to ignore Kyoko's petulant mood completely.
"Why would I risk my neck? My soul gem's pretty good for the moment!" Said Kyoko, half inclined to give the little monster the finger.
"It's your solemn duty as a magical girl, but if you don't want to do your job, I guess I can go and find Sayaka Miki instead," remarked the little demon creature, its expression never shifting and its mouth never really moving. The longer you interacted with Kyubei, the more you realised that what you saw wasn't what you were dealing with.
Kyoko felt her fists tense. Blue wouldn't hesitate at all. Kyoko felt a strange sensation in the back of her throat that made her feel ill. She'd already acted like a jerk to Sayaka, so if she could solve this problem by herself… Well, it's not like she wouldn't need the grief seed eventually.
"Okay, Kyubei, show me where the witch is."
The town's streets were always bright, but a professional witch hunter knew exactly which signs to look for. A witch's familiars always looked a little inhuman at the best of times, but the garish Santa Claus figures that wandered around as drunken bears would probably have said her senses off eventually. Kyoko felt her soul gem seizing as the flaming power that flowed through her veins again.
She was in a witch's Labyrinth. A normal human would be prey here. Luckily she was a predator.
The ravishing redhead gripped her spear, feeling the heat as she muttered a spell under her breath. "Doing her duty" was exactly what she needed. To get out of the house, get some exercise.
She leapt upwards, feeling the ecstasy as she journeyed deeper into the twisted dimensions of the witch's psyche. They were always so weird and surreal, but Kyoko had long since discovered that this was her element as she effortlessly avoided the trap the familiars had set for her. She dodged a pair of tiny elf minions and slashed through another Santa Claus effortlessly. She didn't want to waste too much energy on them, but it was a good way to blow off some steam if they got in her way. Bright lights, colourful snowmen, it was almost comical the combination of joy and despair that seemed to permeate every inch of this Labyrinth.
She saw her goal, a scuttling multi-limbed creature, six long tapered deer legs that joined to the bottom of a wooden sleigh. A cascade of garishly coloured gifts fell from the witches body, exploding as they made contact with the ground. Kyoko felt the fire burning in her veins as she thrust her weapon forward. It was almost like she was flying and then she realised something unexpected.
Not all of the gifts had exploded, and there wasn't just one witch in this Labyrinth. There were two. As her spear cleaved through the misshapen head of her prey, one of the gifts opened up and spewed a razor-sharp tongue around her leg. She cried out in pain, trying to fight back only to find her original prey wasn't quite dead.
The two monstrous creatures were working in tandem pulling at either side of her body. Kyoko felt her trapped leg snap and a jolt of pain giving her a warning moments before her magic dulled all sensation. She stared up to the heavens, a sense of regret dripping through her soul. So this was how Kyoko was going to die? It was almost stupid. The worst thing was she felt guilty about Sayaka at a time like this.
"I'm sorry blue," she muttered to herself as she struggled against the death grip of the two monsters on the brink of tearing her apart.
BLAM
The monster holding Kyoko's leg exploded in a shower of rainbow confetti. Kyoko wasn't sure whether to be relieved or angered as she used her newfound mobility to push her trapped weapon right down the throat of the grotesque sleigh abomination.
The silhouettes of her rescuer hovered over her for a moment, an avenging announcer of divine intervention before Kyoko felt her strength fail and her body flop onto the newly crushed snow.
Kyoko lay on the ground panting heavily, her spear gently laid beside her.
Mami knelt and tilted her head towards her fellow magical girl, her array of ribbons streaming out of her like a pair of angel wings, a halo of golden and light.
"That could have been fatal," scolded the golden-haired goddess of kindness, wiggling her finger back and forth.
"It's not like you to be this sloppy Miss Kyoko," she added, placing one of the grief seeds on top of her fellow magical girl's chest.
"I don't mind sharing since there were two witches, but I'm surprised you didn't see the second one coming. Is something bothering you?"
"Why the hell do you care?" Asked Kyoko, crossing her arms and exhaling loudly.
"I genuinely don't know," replied Mami with a gentle smile. "I guess I can't help but root for you and Miss Miki."
Kyoko went bright scarlet."I dunno what you're talking about."
Mami grinned and placed the tip of her finger on the exhausted magical girl's nose.
"Unlike you, I am not blind to the ways of the world," said the older magical girl with a gentle but distinctively sad smile. "We don't live very long lives, and even the best of us will eventually die. Anything we can embrace that brings us happiness, we should probably embrace."
Kyoko was curious about the older girl for the first time in a long while. Mami was someone she used to be close to, before she screwed things up and went her own way. Kyoko knew that she didn't want to fight her. Kyoko wondered if perhaps the strange feelings she felt in her heart weren't as unique to her as she originally thought.
"Are you saying that, well, Sayaka and me…" She stammered, surprised that she couldn't get the words out.
"It's pretty obvious that she cares for you a great deal, as to whether it's mutual that's up for you to decide," said Mami, rubbing her hands together. She smiled, digging into her bag and pulling out a pair of bright daffodil coloured mittens.
"Why would I care about another person? Last time I tried, it didn't work out for me," said Kyoko, moving her arms back and forth unintentionally, making a snow angel.
"I noticed," said Mami sadly, her eyes growing oddly sad like the memory hurt her, If I knew the answer to that, I somehow doubt I'd be a magical girl," said Mami, "all I know is that you're very lucky to have each other. I only wish I had someone who felt the same way about me. Sadly I need to go, I have an errand to run tonight, so I won't be able to make Sayaka's party. Please send her my apologies."
Kyoko nodded, barely paying any attention as the other magical girl left.
"I like Sayaka," she said softly as if the words had finally filtered through her head.
Kyoko shuffled awkwardly in the entrance hall as she shucked her boots and slipped on the slippers.
She didn't know if Sayaka would accept the gift. But she had picked something up on the way home. The box sat in her hands, feeling heavier by the second as she entered the dining area and received a party popper to the face.
Sayaka Miki sat alone with her legs under the kotatsu. Her beautiful athletic body stretched on display for the mouthy miscreant that was Kyoko.
"Merry Christmas, Kyoko," said the younger girl motioning towards the gorgeous cake sitting in the middle of the table. On top of a mountain of cream and strawberries, a pair of gingerbread girls, one decorated with blue icing and the other with red, could be seen holding hands. Around the outside of the cake, pink, yellow and black frosted gingerbread girls were singing.
Kyoko blushed, a tear forming in the corner of her eye. The cake's theme was why Sayaka hadn't let her into the kitchen.
"So, where is everyone else?" She asked awkwardly.
"Madoka called about half an hour ago, they're helping out at a soup kitchen tonight, so it looks like it's just you and me," said Sayaka petting a cushion next to her. "What's in the box?"
"An apology present," said Kyoko, taking the seat and passing the box to her friend.
"I definitely deserve one of those," said Sayaka, grasping the box and opening it.
The aqua-haired avatar of water opened the box and gave a wide smile as she pulled out a single individually wrapped scarlet apple.
"Look, I know it's not much, but it's not stolen or anything…." Said Kyoko shuffling her feet awkwardly under the kotatsu.
Sayaka smirked, leaning in just enough, surprising Kyoko with her boldness.
"Hey, what are you doing?" She protested mildly.
"This!" said Sayaka, kissing the other girl gently on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Kyoko,"
"Merry Christmas, Blue."
