She hated nights like this.

Sayaka had been tossing and turning for at least half an hour but sleep wasn't coming. No matter how tired she was, her mind and body were still too active to allow sleep. She was going to be exhausted in the morning but nothing she could do would make her fall asleep faster.

A sharp tap at her window made her jump so badly that she almost fell out of her bed. She scrambled upright to peer through the window and felt her jaw drop. Perched on the concrete rim outside of her window like a gargoyle and grinning in at her was Kyoko. The blunette swung her legs out of bed and hurried over to the window to let her in.

'Kyoko! What are you doing here?!'

The redhead was clothed in her Magical Girl garb and seemed at ease on the narrow ledge of concrete. She shrugged as she waited for the window to open. 'I was bored,' was all she sent in reply. Sayaka pulled the window up and Kyoko slid inside. With a glance at the bedroom door, she opted to stick with telepathy. 'Looks like you were, too.'

Sayaka glared suspiciously at the redhead. 'Looks like… How long were you there?' The question was met with an even wider grin.

'Just a few minutes.'

'You were just sitting out there watching me try to sleep? Jesus, Kyoko, even for you that's weird.'

Her shoulders shook with silent laughter. 'Yeah, well…I wanted to see if I could catch you dealing with your restlessness without me.'

It took Sayaka a few seconds to pick up on what Kyoko was suggesting, at which point she punched her on the arm.

"Ow! Jesus, Sayaka. That's no way to treat a house guest!" she complained as she rubbed at her shoulder.

"Shh!" Sayaka stared nervously at the wall separating her room from her parents'. 'No one invited you. You're not a guest, you're unwelcome visitor.'

"Tch." 'Guess I'll be taking my leave, then.' Even in telepathy it was impossible to miss the sulky tone of the words. She headed back to the window and sat on the sill. 'But only if you come with me.'

Sayaka blinked in surprise and folded her arms, her scowl returning quickly. 'And do what?'

The other girl shrugged. 'Hang out. Go hunting. Get something to eat. Whatever people do when they're out together.'

She closed her eyes and kneaded her forehead in exasperation. 'You want me to run around the city with you in the middle of the night, on a school night, with no plan or destination in mind?'

'Pretty much.'

'Forget it.'

Kyoko sighed and leaned back on the window sill, her expression devoid of the good humor that it had had when she arrived. 'Fine. Have fun staring at your ceiling.' She tipped backwards and rolled right out of the window; Sayaka peered over the edge to see her land gracefully five stories below and start to walk away, her hands shoved into the pockets of her hoodie as her battle outfit vanished.

A twinge of guilt dug into her heart. Of course it was ridiculous to suggest they go out aimlessly so late at night when she had school in the morning, but the way she had shot Kyoko down had been a little mean. The blunette sighed and flopped back down on her bed, no more tired than when Kyoko had shown up, and regretted her attitude. Kyoko had looked hurt before she left; it wasn't like they got to spend much time together, these days.

Before common sense could change her mind, she had pulled a pair of jeans over her pajama pants, grabbed a jacket and her shoes and leapt out of the window. Sayaka transformed in midair and landed lightly on the ground; the magical attire faded as she ran to catch up to Kyoko.

To her credit, the redhead didn't retain any hard feelings for Sayaka's previous dismissal. There was only a childlike glee on her face from the fact that Sayaka had decided to spend time with her after all. Halfway through Sayaka's reaffirmation that she couldn't stay out very long and needed to sleep, Kyoko grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.

Mitakihara was almost as busy at night as it was during the day. They went to the arcade first, where Kyoko had shoved a handful of tokens at Sayaka and insisted that she play something physically active to wear herself out a little, so she chose a samurai game with a motion sensor sword. Kyoko made snide remarks about Sayaka's obsession with honor and knighthood even when off-duty and some off color comments about her supposed fixation on swords, which Sayaka countered with a barb about Kyoko's spear that caused the redhead to burst into laughter.

In spite of the teasing and in spite of her better sense, she was enjoying herself, and not because of the video game. For a brief moment, it felt like they were just normal kids again, sneaking out late at night to enjoy each other's company.

When Sayaka had finally gotten a game over, Kyoko grabbed her wrist again and pulled her over to the DDR machine, where she put in money for both of them and beckoned Sayaka to join her. The blunette had to admit that Kyoko's attempt to tire her out was working nicely, and in the corner of her mind she recognized how sweet it was that the girl was trying to make it easier for her to fall asleep soon even though it meant that Kyoko's time tonight would be cut short.

In the middle of a particularly difficult song Kyoko startled her by reaching over and grabbing Sayaka's hands, at which point she pulled the protesting blunette into an improvised couple's dance. She couldn't help but laugh at Kyoko's antics, nor could she fail to notice the gleam in her eyes as she danced with Sayaka. It was great fun until they were asked to leave for misusing the DDR pad. Kyoko didn't seem bothered and slipped her hand into Sayaka's as they walked out.

"What do you say, Sayaka? You got time for one more thing before you head back?" The cornflower-haired girl considered it. It was now much later than she would ever choose to stay up on a school night and her restlessness had been replaced by weariness, but the look on the childish redhead's face was so hopeful that she couldn't bring herself to say no.

They walked to a part of the outdoor mall that had vendor stalls open at night and Kyoko bought them each a crepe, Sayaka's full of strawberry cream and sliced bananas. It was a little cliché, she supposed, but it was nice and they enjoyed their treats in silence as they walked back to the apartment building where Sayaka lived.

She had to admit, even though she would be exhausted tomorrow she had had a lot of fun tonight. There had been an intimate feeling about the past hour or two that washed away the concerns of her life and left a strange feeling of contentment. It was…it was like a date, wasn't it? she wondered.

The realization made her lose track of what Kyoko was saying, but the redhead didn't seem to notice. If that's what it really was…it was their first date. Sayaka didn't know how to feel about that. Some weeks prior they had acknowledged a mutual attraction between them and had shared a few light kisses in that time, but neither of them had made a move to actually start dating.

They were back at her home before she knew it. Kyoko took one look at Sayaka's fatigued face and knelt so that she could climb on her back. If she hadn't been exhausted she never would have agreed, but right now the climb up the side of the building was more than she could handle, even with enhanced speed and strength. Kyoko transformed and carried her easily up the side of the building to her still-open window and Sayaka slipped through. Her bed was looking a lot more inviting now than when she had left, but there was one thing she had to take care of first.

Sayaka turned back to Kyoko, who seemed unsure of what she should be doing now.

"Kyoko…" she said slowly. "Was this a date?"

The redhead looked startled for a split second but recovered quickly to a neutral expression. "Sorry, was this…?" she repeated to buy herself time.

"A date," Sayaka said patiently.

Kyoko looked down and scratched her head, looking uncharacteristically shy and flustered. "Yeah, I mean…I guess so? It isn't what I had been meaning when I came to your room, but…I guess it kind of turned into one."

Kyoko's nervous rambling settled Sayaka's own nerves and she started to chuckle. Kyoko stared at her, nonplussed, and Sayaka knelt in front of the window.

"Then thank you for a wonderful evening," she said, and she cupped Kyoko's face and kissed her.

She could feel the redhead's nervous tension leave her and she put her hands on Sayaka's back. The kiss was chaste, but lasted longer than their previous kisses. Sayaka's mind cleared of distractions until all that registered was the softness of Kyoko's lips and the tiny, embarrassing moan in her own throat.

They separated at last when they ran out of breath and knelt on opposites sides of the window, both flushed in the face and panting a little, neither of them really sure what to do now. Kyoko looked away, took a deep breath and faced Sayaka again.

"So…I don't suppose you'll invite me in?" Kyoko asked with an attempt at her usual smirk, but Sayaka could see the anxiety beneath it. Because it was Kyoko, Sayaka knew exactly what she was referring to, but for once the redhead wasn't making a crude joke; she seemed earnest, and Sayaka's response was kinder than usual because of it.

She just smiled softly and shook her head. "Not this time, Kyoko." She leaned through the window again to give her a brief peck on the lips. "But maybe someday. Good night."

The lancer grinned awkwardly and scratched her neck. "Didn't think so, but…" She shook her head. "Hey, we'll, uh, do this again sometime, right?"

There it was. Without actually saying the words, Kyoko was asking if they were dating now. Sayaka was secretly relieved that Kyoko was the one to broach the subject, even in an indirect manner. She had spent the entire walk home deliberating on this exact matter.

So she smiled back at her and nodded. "Yeah…and I'll pay next time."

The redhead grinned and winked at Sayaka, her usual cockiness back now that things had turned out well, and stepped off of the ledge. Sayaka peered down to the ground and saw Kyoko back in her street clothes and sauntering back towards the street with her fingers laced behind her head. The sight brought a strange warmth to her chest and chuckled for reasons that she didn't quite grasp.

The blunette pulled off her jeans and jacket and flopped back into her bed, more than ready to sleep now. She would have a lot to tell Madoka in the morning.

A glance at the clock made her wince. She was going to be miserable tomorrow, but…

She traced her fingers lightly across her lips.

Worth it.

A/N: Not my best work, but I'm going to be away for about a week and wanted to put this up before I left. I do have two other stories (a two-part story, actually) that are written and almost ready to post, and are also about dates-no particular reason for this sudden theme. I hope to keep writing brief stories for this collection for a little while, but I don't know how many more I'll do before closing Rigors and moving on to something else.

Please review if you have anything to say; it keeps me motivated to know that my work is appreciated (constructive criticism is also appreciated).

And thanks for reading!