CHAPTER SEVEN

"All I did was troll the guy, then Sayaka got pissed at me! All I wanted was candy apples, but I can't even have that? The asshat deserved it anyway." A disgruntled Kyoko relayed her tale as the group walked to their destination.

"I see." Homura commented in disinterest. Madoka glanced at her and leaned in close to the taller girl.

"You understood that?" Madoka said in confusion.

"Kyoko did something that wasn't nice, so Sayaka is trying to discipline her, but Kyoko doesn't agree with the disciplinary action taken." Homura whispered back.

"Oh. Thank you." said the smaller girl, flashing a quick grateful smile at her companion.

"No problem." Homura inwardly glowed. Kyoko had the thought that those two were really obvious despite being annoyed that Homura had to 'translate' what she had said.

Homura cleared her throat as she recovered from Madoka leaning close to her. "Still, I'm rather surprised to know you decided to live with Sayaka Miki."

"You know Sayaka?" Kyoko asked with an uncaring attitude.

Homura nodded. "We're in the same class with Madoka." Homura chose not to elaborate, but she knew Sayaka pretty well. From research, of course. When Homura took a liking to Madoka, she noted that Madoka's best friend Sayaka seemed to be mistrustful of her. Homura hadn't been sure what to make of the girl. Was she a rival in love, or merely an annoyance? After studying her for a few days Homura concluded that Sayaka was just overprotective of Madoka, and merely an obstacle for Madoka's affections.

It had never really occurred to her that maybe she should try to gain Sayaka's trust.

Kyoko shrugged. "For the record, I'm not 'living' with Sayaka. I'm just in it for the free food and bath. Sayaka is an idiot if someone can take advantage of her so easily." Kyoko played with the hem of her dress as she walked.

"That may be true, but you two get along really well!" Madoka pointed out.

"They do?" Homura raised an eyebrow.

"We don't." Kyoko corrected.

"Well, Sayaka acts really lively around you." Madoka told Kyoko.

"I find this unlikely." Homura reasoned. Kyoko nodded eagerly at the agreement. "They're total opposites. A living arrangement will only lead to disaster. Or death."

"That's scary, Homura-chan!" Madoka exclaimed.

"I apologize, Madoka. I was merely making an assessment." Homura placed a hand on Madoka's shoulder to let her know she wasn't being completely serious.

"Well, save your assessments, Homerun. I think I can figure out on my own that I want to shove my foot up that girl's ass every time she opens her mouth." Kyoko snapped. However, a little guilt registered on her face as soon as she said it and Homura immediately picked up on it.

"Kyoko-chan, try to get along better with Sayaka-chan. She's kind of having a tough time right now." Madoka sighed.

Kyoko scoffed. "Tch. With that boy? She told me all about it." Madoka stared at her with her mouth agape and Kyoko was confused as to what she said that made Madoka look at her like that.

"She told you about it?" Madoka looked so hopefully at the redhead that Kyoko recoiled a little.

"Yeah..?" When Madoka went to grab her hands, Kyoko nearly instinctively punched the girl in the face. But Madoka was surprisingly quick and she grasped one of her hands in both of her tiny ones.

"You two really do get along well!" Madoka said with a beaming smile that nearly blew Kyoko's flesh right off her face. She was too dazed at the outburst to notice Homura glaring daggers at her over Madoka's head.

"I don't really get what you're saying. What's the big deal if she told me she had a crush? It was obvious." Kyoko grumbled, gently pulling her hand away from Madoka's grasp.

"It is obvious, isn't it?" Madoka chuckled. "Sometimes she pretends that everything's fine and lies about her own feelings. Ever since we were little, Sayaka felt like she had to be strong. She always wanted to protect me and not worry me. I don't think she means to, but she sort of pushes me away when she does that. And it just makes me worry even more." Madoka looked down at the pavement with a hint of sadness. But she got over it quickly and looked back up at Kyoko with a hopeful and determined look. "But she opened up to you, right? That's really amazing!"

"No, there was nothing amazing about it." Kyoko looked away guiltily. "She didn't really do it willingly or anything. It was more like I cornered her and she snapped..." Kyoko still felt a little bad about it. Sayaka's crying face was brought to the forefront of her mind and she wondered if she was wrong in telling Madoka about the incident if Sayaka was apparently a hard ass about her own feelings.

"People who aren't strong shouldn't try to be strong. Therein lays Sayaka Miki's problem." Homura remarked. Madoka turned to her with a defense on her lips, but someone beat her to it.

"You're wrong." Kyoko responded to Homura, though she was looking thoughtfully ahead of her as if she wasn't quite sure why Homura was wrong. "I wouldn't really call her 'weak'. More like… Extremely stupid." Kyoko smiled slightly when she thought back to how Sayaka just refused to stay down no matter how many times she beat or threatened her. And how even after she threatened and beat her, the dumbass still attempted to come to her 'rescue'. All extremely idiotic things to do that Kyoko just didn't understand, of course. But she couldn't help finding these actions… charming. In a stupid way that didn't even make any sense to her. A scowl replaced the hint of a smile and her brow furrowed. 'Ugh, I don't even know what the hell I'm trying to say!'

"Is there a difference between weakness and stupidity?" Homura asked, genuinely curious as opposed to insulting.

"Um," Madoka looked uncomfortable. "We shouldn't be talking about Sayaka-chan behind her back..."

"The difference is," Kyoko spoke over Madoka, glaring at Homura. "The capacity to overcome weakness if her brain cells weren't shooting out of her ass every five minutes."

"That's a contradicting statement." Homura deadpanned, looking slightly amused at the way Kyoko chose to phrase her words. "What you're basically saying is that you think Sayaka Miki has the capacity to be strong if her emotions weren't in the way all the time. Correct?"

"Right."

"I see. In that case, the two of you aren't as different as I had imagined." Homura stated with a considering look on her face. Kyoko paused in her step and looked at Homura questioningly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the redhead asked, regretting starting this conversation with the stoic girl.

"In terms of using emotion in a fight, you're probably the most emotional fighter I've ever encountered besides Sayaka." Homura said in a blunt manner, disregarding Kyoko's offended look. "You just know how to harness your feelings better and allow them to fuel you as opposed to making you sloppy."

"And what about you, Homerun? Do you even have emotions?" Kyoko shot back sarcastically.

Homura was silent for a moment. "Unable to compute." she drawled. There was a beat of silence. "That was a joke."

"Yeah, I got that." Kyoko fought down the smile trying to make an appearance. Not that Homura's joke was funny or anything, but it was just so lame it was funny. Next to her, Madoka burst into a fit of giggles. Homura's cheeks pinked in response to Madoka's laughter and she walked ahead slightly faster than them.

As they walked an interesting thought occurred to Homura. 'I can use this knowledge to my advantage.' The knowledge Homura was referring to was this strange new relationship between Sayaka and Kyoko. Homura wasn't exactly approving, but if Kyoko was able to occupy Sayaka's attention then it would be easier for her to get closer to Madoka.

"On second thought, maybe it is better for you to live with Sayaka Miki." Homura voiced. She looked back at Kyoko seriously through her glasses. "Sayaka is the type of person that needs to be needed. And you, well, you just need somebody."

Kyoko frowned at the dark haired girl. "You know, the way you assume you 'know' me really rubs me the wrong way." Her tone had the barest hint of a growl in it. "I would back off if I were you."

Homura shrugged, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "Like I said, I was merely making an assessment."

Kyoko's scowl deepened in displeasure. "I don't need anybody." she said in a slightly quieter tone than she had intended, as if saying it to herself. Homura's knowing silence irked her. It irked her a lot.

Homura continued walking, ignoring what she knew to be Kyoko's annoyed glare at her back. In all honesty, she respected Kyoko. The girl was very effective when it came to surviving despite her circumstances. But perhaps this arrangement with Sayaka will benefit the both of them.

The feather light touch of Madoka's fingers on her arm prompted Homura to look at the small girl questioningly. Madoka wasn't looking at her but rather at something beyond her. Homura followed Madoka's gaze to land on something that was hovering ominously in the sky beyond a few buildings.

"What the hell is that?" Kyoko exclaimed when she noticed the strange thing.

Homura started feeling uneasy as she looked up at the large blue object. "Walpurgisnacht."

"Wow!" Madoka breathed, an excited smile spreading across her face. "There's no way we'll get lost this time!"

Kyoko stared up at the strange sight like a kid that just discovered firecrackers. "I'm gonna go check it out!" she said a little too eagerly, quickening her pace until she was jogging past them in the direction of the circus.

"Wait for us, Kyoko-chan!" Madoka cried out after her, not wanting to run after her.

"I'm going on ahead!" Kyoko hollered over her shoulder as she ran straight ahead, quickly disappearing from their sight.

"Whoa, she's fast!" Madoka looked after Kyoko with a disappointed look on her face. Homura shrugged indifferently. "Do not concern yourself over her, Madoka. It's probably best you two aren't associated." Homura continued walking ahead of the smaller girl.

"… What's that supposed to mean, Homura-chan?" Something in Madoka's tone made Homura stop walking and turn back to her companion. Madoka's eyebrows were drawn together and the corners of her mouth were turned downward as she looked at Homura expectantly. Homura's expression faltered. She had never faced Madoka's 'upset' look. It was quite adorable.

"… She's a bad influence, Madoka." Homura reasoned after a moment's hesitation. "I'm not saying she's a bad person. Just that her lifestyle is outside of your knowledge. You should be more cautious in who you choose to befriend." Madoka still had that look on her face. "I'm just looking out for you."

Madoka sighed. "I know you are. But I'm getting a little tired of people 'looking out' for me." She started walking past Homura, who was stunned by Madoka's adult declaration. "I'm a big girl, Homura-chan. It'll be nice if I had friends who supported me instead of deciding that I need to be protected." Homura followed after the shorter girl, a hint of a smile forming on her lips.

"And I might not know Kyoko-chan that well, but I can tell she's a good girl. Just like I can tell you're a good girl, Homura."

"I'm very proud of you, Madoka." Homura said, sounding sincere. Madoka raised her brows in confusion and paused to look at Homura curiously. "It makes me happy to see you standing up for yourself. I hate to see you get pushed around so often. It's one of the reasons I feel like I have to protect you." Homura admitted, looking straight ahead as she tried to communicate her feelings. "You should learn to be less of a pushover." she concluded with finality.

"Uh," Madoka looked amused. "Sure, if you say so."

"You were supposed to say 'no'."

"Huh?"

"You're letting me push you over. Let's try this again,"

Madoka released a baffled laugh. "Homura, sometimes you're a little hard to read!"

Homura whirled around to face Madoka mid-step, making the smaller girl halt. "I'm worried about you. Isn't that natural? You're much too trusting of people. What if someone takes advantage of your kindness?" Genuine worry registered in Homura's voice and eyes and Madoka was taken aback by it. The pink haired girl took a step toward her friend and smiled up at her.

"That won't happen," she let Homura know gently. "Because I have so many people looking after me whether I want them to or not. Especially you! And I love everyone for it!"

Homura blushed and looked away. "You shouldn't really trust me either…" she murmured.

"Eh? Why? I trust you a whole lot!"

Homura blushed even darker at those words. "And it makes me very happy to know that. But… sometimes… around you…" Homura couldn't seem to get her words out. "I get these… thoughts…" Homura trailed off until her voice was unintelligible.

"Oh, I already know about those!" Madoka waved her away with a laugh. "I don't mind at all!" Homura actually looked extremely alarmed by that revelation. "You're thinking that you want to be closer friends with me, right?" Madoka looked up at Homura innocently.

The dark haired girl gulped. That wasn't what she was trying to say at all! "Of course, Madoka. What else could I possibly be thinking about?" Her voice had all the sincerity of a drug addict convincing a doctor that they needed prescriptions. Madoka smiled at her again, took her hand, and proceeded to walk a deflated Homura to the circus.

.~.~.~.

Sayaka was the first to arrive at the place. It was extremely hard to miss because of the giant balloon they had hovering over the entire lot suspended by ropes with mulit-colored flags on them. Sayaka stared up at the strange huge balloon, which was in the shape of an upside-down clown with gears coming out of the billowing blue dress. It was massive and held up the large tent where the event was to take place. The lot was surrounded by stands selling food and merchandise. There were dancing clowns dotting the area and entertaining the crowd, and the perimeter of the circus area was marked by tall torches that spouted colorful flames. Truthfully speaking, the sight of the massive floating balloon over the entire lot unnerved Sayaka a bit, but was quickly distracted when a familiar voice called out to her.

"K-Kyosuke?" Sayaka said in surprise. The young man was maneuvering through the crowd toward her with a friendly smile on his face. Sayaka suddenly felt extremely self-conscious and ill prepared for this meeting. A hand went to her hair and she tried to comb it with her fingers before realizing that Kyosuke was already in front of her.

"Hey Sayaka. I didn't know you would be here too." Kyosuke greeted.

"… Hey!" Sayaka managed a semi-cheerful greeting. Truthfully, she just wasn't in the mood to have a fun night. Kyoko's earlier behavior irritated Sayaka enough that not even seeing Kyosuke bolstered her spirits completely. And knowing Kyosuke was there meant that Madoka had probably invited Hitomi along as well. Something she should have fully expected, considering Madoka's excitement when it came to having an opportunity for everyone to be together and have fun.

This lack of foresight meant that Sayaka was about to be subjected to a night enjoying the pure and lighthearted interactions of her two best friends, one of which she was in love with. Ah, the memories and fun of youth. The thought made Sayaka's heart drop into her stomach to be chewed away by corrosive acid.

She almost regretted not bringing Kyoko along. Anything to distract her from this torture.

'Stop it!' Sayaka chastised herself with a small shake of her head. 'Kyoko is not a distraction. If anything she's a full-time in your face engagement.'

"You seem a little distracted." Kyosuke observed. Sayaka jumped from her musings and laughed guiltily.

"Sorry. Just wondering when everyone else will get here." Sayaka said. Kyosuke looked at his fancy wrist watch.

"We're a bit early. Hitomi texted me a few minutes ago saying that she was going to run a little late."

"I see." said Sayaka. She decided she would do a bit of digging. "By the way, how's it going with Hitomi?" She nudged Kyosuke playfully with an elbow. "We've known each other since we were kids, but you don't tell me when you get a girlfriend? You wound me!"

Kyosuke coughed to stifle an embarrassed laugh. "I guess it came as a surprise to me as well." he admitted bashfully. "I mean, I've always admired her from afar ever since you introduced us a few months ago,"

Sayaka was honestly stunned to hear that he'd liked Hitomi for a while. How come he had never mentioned this to her before?

"So I was really happy when Hitomi confessed to me. I figured since you were her friend that she would've told you even before me."

"Well, she did, I guess." Sayaka answered, now reflecting on Hitomi doing her best to let Sayaka be aware of her feelings. "I guess I just never took her seriously." The thought brought another black cloud to hover over Sayaka's head. The realization that she been blind to Hitomi and Kyosuke's feelings for each other was like a kick to the back of her head. When she caught Kyosuke's inquiring look at her sad tone, Sayaka did her best to recover herself. "I mean, who in their right mind would like you, right?" Her laugh sounded fake even to her own ears, but Kyosuke didn't seem to pick up on it. He looked around them before leaning closer to Sayaka, making the girl lean back reflexively from surprise.

"Perhaps you can help me out with something?" The boy said in conspiratorial whisper. Sayaka gulped.

"With what?" her voice cracked the tiniest bit.

The grey haired boy pointed to a line of stands leading to the tent entrance selling goods from souvenirs to food standard carnival booths. "I think it would be nice if I got something for Hitomi before she got here." Kyosuke said with embarrassment. "Could you tell me what she would like?"

"Ah. Sure." Sayaka agreed with a slight slump of her shoulders. What did she expect? She should really learn to not get her hopes up like that. It was like getting punched in the stitches, threatening to open a patched-up wound. Looked like this trip was really going to challenge her mental fortitude.

Sayaka dragged her feet following Kyosuke as they passed by several stands, the vendors advertising their goods with encouraging yells before the big show started. Kyosuke eventually stopped at one that was selling smaller trinkets like cell phone straps and jewelry. He held something up for Sayaka to see.

"What about this?" he asked, presenting a bracelet with froggy figure dangling from it. The present brought a smile to Sayaka's face.

"It's cute!" she said. Kyosuke looked relieved.

"Really? I guess I'll go with this then." he said to himself, peering at the object more closely to look for a price. Sayaka hesitated when she realized that while she thought it was cute, it wasn't Hitomi's cup of tea. For a single petty second Sayaka considered not telling Kyosuke that Hitomi wouldn't like it. Then she thought about how Hitomi wouldn't bat an eyelash if he gave it to her. Rather, she'd accept it gratefully and wear it every day and treasure it. Sayaka developed an awful guilty taste in her throat when the thought materialized. 'I'm such a terrible, pathetic friend.'

"Wait, Kyosuke," Sayaka could barely speak over the lump in her throat.

"Hm?" The violinist inquired when Sayaka reached for his arm.

"Fail." She stared at the floor while she said the word.

"Fail?" he repeated in confusion.

Sayaka lifted her head when she managed a bright smile. "That was a test, Kyosuke. You failed! Hitomi would never wear something like that! What kind of a boyfriend are you?" she grabbed the bracelet and tossed it back to where he got it.

"Oh…" Kyosuke was genuinely dejected over failing. Sayaka helped him look around some more until they found something she was sure Hitomi would like. Kyosuke purchased it and they headed back to the entry point to await everyone else.

"Thanks for the help, Sayaka." Kyosuke smiled at her.

Her heart fluttered and she looked away shyly. "No problem." They settled into a comfortable silence, watching eager groups of people walk past them to take part in Walpurgisnacht. Sayaka felt warm inside. It has been a while since the two of them had hung out together on their own. It was a nice feeling.

Peeking at the boy from the corner of her eye, the blunette wondered if she would even stand a chance fighting for him. Sure, they knew each other since they were kids, but he basically treated her like he would treat everyone. It was one of the things she liked about him; how he was equally kind to everyone he met. It made her a little disappointed when considering that she probably wasn't anything special to Kyosuke at all. But if she didn't stand a chance fighting, could she bear standing by? Would she honestly have no regrets if she didn't at least try?

"It's been a while since we've hung out together." Kyosuke's words made Sayaka jump slightly. "Tell me what you've been up to." His smoke colored eyes looked at her expectantly.

"What I've been up to? Well, uh," Sayaka's mind went to Kyoko. "I guess you can say I've picked up a stray." An amused smile slipped out as she said the words.

Kyosuke laughed slightly. "That's nothing new. When we were kids you always found some kind of animal to bring home and give your mother a heart attack."

"Yeah, well, this time it's a bit different." Sayaka said nervously, trying to think of a good way to explain Kyoko and realizing there was just no good way of explaining Kyoko.

"Whoa! Look at the size of this thing! It's huge! Haha, oh wow!" A loud familiar voice exclaimed over the crowd with boisterous exclamations. Sayaka couldn't help staggering at this convenient 'speak of the devil' moment.

"So what breed of dog are we talking this time?" Kyosuke inquired, missing the voice and Sayaka's physical reaction to it.

"Breed, you ask?" Sayaka laughed anxiously, turning her head this way and that as she looked for the source of her anxiety.

"Oh, it's a clown! They didn't want us looking up her dress, haha!"

"The noisy kind." Sayaka grumbled, narrowing down her search when the voice sounded closer.

"What are you looking for?" Kyosuke looked around his surroundings curiously, trying to pin down what exactly Sayaka was interested in.

That's when the blunette spotted her, jogging around excitedly like a kid in a candy store. "Excuse me a moment!" she apologized quickly to the boy as she took off after the redhead. 'This idiot, this jerk!' were her seething thoughts as she ran at Kyoko from behind. 'I'm so gonna-'

"Hey!" Kyoko let out a surprised shout when arms wrapped around her from behind. For a moment she thought she was being attacked, but there was hardly any force behind it. Instead, the effect was like she was being glomped from behind. But why the heck was she being hugged?

"What are you doing here?" Sayaka's voice asked quietly next to her ear, arms still wrapped around Kyoko's waist to hold her in place. Kyoko was startled by the question and the fact that she wasn't smashing an elbow into Sayaka's face for grabbing her like this.

"…" Kyoko couldn't get her body to respond and could only gulp in sudden nervousness. "Last time I checked I didn't take orders from you." Her voice came out as quietly as Sayaka's had been. Why were they whispering?

"Heh," Sayaka squeezed her around the middle for a moment before releasing her. "You're right, I guess. I can't tell you what to do. You wouldn't listen to me anyway."

"Damn right," Kyoko agreed, straightening out her yellow sundress before turning around to glare at her assailant. To her surprise, Sayaka was smiling at her.

"I have to admit, I'm a little relieved that you didn't listen to me." Sayaka admitted, sheepishly looking away. "I was afraid I'd have to endure some major awkwardness for the rest of the night." Sayaka was referring to being subjected to being a witness to Kamijou and Hitomi's date.

Kyoko raised a confused brow at the girl, not knowing what she was talking about. "Didn't you say you were going to the circus 'by yourself'?" Kyoko said the last part a little mockingly, much to Sayaka's chagrin. "Well, I'm here 'by myself' too, for your information."

Sayaka grit her teeth in sudden irritation. Going from relief to annoyance in a mere instant reminded her of why exactly she had been mad at Kyoko's attitude to begin with. Why the heck did she even run over here when she could have been spending valuable alone time with Kamijou? "Fine. Whatever, I don't care." Sayaka snapped back in response.

"I don't care that you don't care." Kyoko grumbled away under her breath.

The two girls huffed and were about to turn away from each other and walk back to their respective corners of the world when a certain boy stood in Sayaka's way. Sayaka jerked back reflexively with a blush on her face. "Kyosuke?" Behind her Kyoko paused to see what was happening. Kyosuke smiled pleasantly at them.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" he asked.

"Uh," Sayaka hesitated. She wasn't sure how to introduce Kyoko to him. "This is… She's my…"

Thankfully, Kyosuke was good with greeting people himself. "Hello there, my name is Kyosuke Kamijou. I'm also a friend of Sayaka's. A pleasure to meet you."

Kyoko merely regarded the boy standing in front of her with a measuring look before saying "Kyoko Sakura. I know it's a pleasure to meet me."

Kamijou laughed at her comment. "I'm sure! I was surprised when Sayaka ran off and hugged you. I don't think she's ever mentioned you before."

Sayaka's face colored at the fact that he had seen their exchange. She hadn't been hugging Kyoko! She was restraining her!

"Well, I've certainly heard a lot more about you than I ever cared to know." Kyoko responded honestly with a fake civil laugh. She checked to make sure that Sayaka was indeed getting redder by the second and felt a sense of satisfaction.

"Oh? Well you two must be close." Kamijou winked at Sayaka. "Hopefully Sayaka has only told you the good bits about me."

Sayaka, who had been mortified by the conversation so far, managed to get her lips to work in response to Kyosuke's words. "There are no bad bits about you…"

Kyoko rolled her eyes skyward at Sayaka's shy response and snorted audibly. She did this openly without caring that Kyosuke was watching her. He didn't seem like much to her. Sure, he was tall; her eyes only reached his shoulders. It annoyed her that she had to look up at the guy. His features were boyish, but were obviously maturing into what was sure to be a refined man. And he has been nothing but pleasant to her so far. Kyoko wasn't exactly sure why, but she disliked the guy already.

Now, Kyosuke Kamijou was smart enough to know when someone didn't exactly like him. Judging from the responses he'd been getting from this girl Kyoko, it was obvious she'd rather be doing something else rather than talk to him. He was perfectly okay with that. If he had time to worry about what people thought of him he would never be able to be his best at all times. His position in life that he'd worked hard for was a place that warranted either adoration or resentment from his peers. Not that he cared for either reaction since he just wanted to focus on his studies, but learning to deal with each type of person was something he had learned to do a long time ago. This girl would be no exception, no matter what reason she had had in mind to regard him with ill-will.

Kyosuke opened his mouth to address Kyoko, only to find she had disappeared from his sight when he blinked.

"Holy shit, an elephant! And it's green! Sayaka! Sayaka, look at this! Look at the green elephant! Have you ever seen anything like that?" Kyoko yelled from afar. That girl was really fast.

Sayaka wanted to facepalm at Kyoko's attention-span. "My god, she's like a little kid." Sayaka complained. Yet she moved without hesitation to where Kyoko was at, bouncing and pointing at what was indeed an elaborately decorated bright green elephant. "You wanna go check it out?" she quickly asked Kyosuke over her shoulder.

He shook his head. "I'll wait just in case anyone else shows up." Sayaka smiled at him before she headed over to where the redhead was. Kamijou didn't have time to remark how Sayaka was like the doting parent if Kyoko was the child.

Instead he watched curiously when Sayaka joined her new friend and seemed to become almost as excited as that Kyoko girl as if it was a contagious disease. Within minutes he watched as Kyoko grabbed Sayaka's hand and practically dragged her away to witness something else she must have found interesting or amazing. Sayaka allowed herself to be taken farther away from him as if she had forgotten he was there. In all honesty, it made him sad to see her go. But a prompt sound from his pocket dashed his mood and he immediately retrieved his cell phone with the eagerness of a puppy sick with love as he read a text from his new girlfriend.

"Sayaka, what about this mask?" Kyoko asked, trying on a facemask of the circus's mascot, Kyubey.

"It's creepy." Sayaka laughed, pointing out the mask's beady eyes and three-shaped smile.

"Eh? It is not. This one is creepy." Kyoko pulled down a bizarre knight's mask with three eye holes and a crown sprouting from its head. "It's perfect for you. Here." Sayaka could here Kyoko's muffled smirk from behind the mask.

"You've got a bizarre sense of what's perfect for me if you picked this out." the blunette groused, but took the mask from Kyoko's hand anyway. After she pulled it on, one of the booth workers offered to take their picture for free.

"Picture?" Kyoko suddenly sounded unsure. Hearing the hesitation, Sayaka threw an arm around Kyoko's shoulders.

"C'mon, it's free." Sayaka held the other girl in place, eager to get the other girl to take a picture. Sayaka flashed a victory sign at the camera before the flash went off, pressing her masked face to Kyoko's for a good pose.

A picture was produced immediately and the photographer pressed the picture to Sayaka's hand and thanked them. The blunette removed the mask from her face to get a better look and was satisfied by the results. "We came out pretty good, didn't we?" She turned the picture around for Kyoko to see.

The redhead took a good long look at the picture. "Funny, I don't remember the last time I've ever had my picture taken." Kyoko admitted sheepishly. Sayaka's eyes widened.

"For real?" Kyoko nodded, scratching at her cheek, her mask now sitting atop her head. "Then, this is now an important thing!" Sayaka exclaimed, pocketing the picture for safe-keeping. "Kyoko's first picture."

"That sounds lame." the redhead grumbled, though hints of happiness poked at her like an insistent mosquito. She was glad she had been able to get away from that guy and that awkward exchange. She also felt a little smug that she had been able to get Sayaka to tag along.

By the time Sayaka had a mind to look around her and notice that they had somehow managed to wander pretty far into the fray, they had already lost sight of Kyosuke and the entrance. "Wait a minute," Sayaka suddenly piped up, brows creasing together. "How did this even happen?"

Kyoko turned too-innocent crimson eyes to her. "Hm? How did what happen?"

"This!" Sayaka gestured between them vaguely. "I said I would come here by myself. You said you were here by yourself. And now what? I'm mad at you, you know." Sayaka pointed out, sounding more concerned for their combined sanity than angry.

Kyoko pulled her Kyubey mask down over her face and tilted her head cutely at Sayaka. "Well, if you wanna get all technical about it, we could say we're 'by ourselves together'." Sayaka narrowed her blue eyes at her. "Fine! Fine, I'm sorry." Kyoko yielded uncaringly. "I'm sorry I got you kicked out of your favorite restaurant. Happy?"

Sayaka looked unconvinced. "You're not sorry."

Kyoko looked guilty as she pulled her mask off her face. "Alright, I'm not sorry." Kyoko owned up to what Sayaka already knew. A fang appeared as she smiled mischievously. "I had way too much fun to be sorry."

"Yeah, I could tell." Sayaka whacked Kyoko lightly on the arm using her knight mask. "I can't believe how shameless you are."

"Yep, that's me. Shameless." Kyoko drawled. "Honestly though, that's me. I've done bad and stupid things in my life, but I don't see the point in regretting my actions. As long as I live for myself, my own problems are my own fault."

"Aren't you just getting what you deserve?" Sayaka piped in crossly.

"Yeah, getting what I deserve, that's a great way of putting it." Kyoko didn't let Sayaka's tone affect her. "If I think of it that way, I can take just about anything."

"But you weren't alone," Sayaka pointed out. "You got me dragged into it."

"You chose to be there with me." Kyoko said back. "I never asked you to do anything for me."

"Well, that's me." Sayaka mimicked Kyoko's earlier words.

"Nosy hero? Yeah, I think I got that, you Blue Power Ranger wannabe."

Sayaka opened her mouth to say something, then changed her mind and shook her head instead. "This is getting us nowhere. It seems like every time we start talking we just go around in circles." She gave Kyoko a look that was equal parts sad and resigned. "We're never going to see eye to eye, are we?"

Kyoko also appeared accepting as she looked at Sayaka. "Probably not." For a moment it was silent between them, though all around them were the festive noises and tension of the pre-circus crowd.

"Why don't we make a deal?" said Kyoko. When Sayaka remained silent to hear her out Kyoko resumed her idea. "I think we get along pretty well. When we're not trying to convert each other to the other side of the Force or whatever the hell it is we're doing." Kyoko took on the look of shyly uncomfortable when she said her next words. "I'll admit that I've had some fun with you, even if you ruin it every time you open your mouth." Sayaka opened her mouth indignantly. "Hey, don't ruin it!" Kyoko couldn't help laughing.

"You still haven't told me what this deal is." Sayaka sounded curious and impatient.

"What I'm saying is," Kyoko groped for the words she was trying to express. "In your head there's a line that you won't cross, one that I've already crossed because I don't believe in lines. But I think we're thinking too much about lines. So we should just ignore it. The line, I mean." Kyoko looked at Sayaka's face to see if she was following.

Sayaka stared blankly at her. "I have no idea what the heck you're trying to say."

"Over the line!" Kyoko suddenly said loudly.

"Enough with the lines!" Sayaka responded, confused beyond all reason. "What's with the lines? You're obsessed with lines!"

Kyoko couldn't help laughing. They were getting sidetracked, and it was all too amusing how easy it was to do that with Sayaka. "Okay, forget what I just said," Kyoko said, getting her amusement under control. "The deal is, we stop trying to change each other. Simple as that."

Understanding finally dawned on Sayaka's face, though she still appeared skeptical. "You mean, like, we just accept each other?"

"Yep." Kyoko nodded.

"Just like that?"

"Exactly."

Sayaka remained extremely unconvinced. "That's easier said than done, Kyoko."

"It is." Kyoko agreed. "I think you're stupid and naïve. You think I'm some sort of selfish criminal."

"Because it's true."

Kyoko allowed herself a smirk. "You got me there. And yet, we somehow ended up together. As Homerun would say, 'it's not logical'."

"Who? What?" Sayaka was getting frustrated with the redhead. "Cut the crap, Kyoko. The reason we sometimes get along is because we don't completely believe that of each other."

Kyoko snapped her fingers at Sayaka, glad she was catching on. "That's what I'm saying!"

Sayaka fiddled with the picture in her pocket as she considered Kyoko. It wouldn't be easy for her, she knew. She had it in her head that she could change Kyoko for the better. She had seen with her own eyes that Kyoko was a good person choosing to do bad things for reasons that Sayaka didn't understand. Same went for Kyoko as well. The redhead couldn't stand the thought that Sayaka thought herself to be righteous, with a black and white view of the world. But perhaps, at least for the sake of having a good time without divulging into arguments, they would be able to understand each other better.

"So the deal is that we just deal with each other without complaining." Sayaka repeated thoughtfully.

"Something like that, yeah." Kyoko pulled the white Kyubey mask back over her face. "Want to make it a contract?"

Sayaka snorted with amusement. "This deal is way too vague for a contract." She pulled the knight mask over her own face. "But I'll take the deal. But just for today. You can't complain about my helping you, and I'll try not to punish you too much for everything you think is justified."

"Just for today, huh? I can live with that." Kyoko held out a fist, and Sayaka bumped her own fist against it in agreement. Behind their respective masks, they couldn't help grinning at each other. Despite their differences, there was no denying they enjoyed each other's company, and this deal would allow them to be more at ease.

"Your phone's ringing." Kyoko suddenly said.

"Ah." Sayaka reached into her pocket, only to find that her phone wasn't there.

"Hello, thank you for calling the toilet seat factory, this is Hugh Jass." Kyoko said merrily into Sayaka's phone. "Oh, hey Madoka."

"Hey!" Sayaka protested having been pick pocketed.

"Yeah, I'm with Sayaka... I guess we have!"

"Give me my phone back!" Sayaka demanded, trying to snatch the phone from Kyoko's wandering hands. Kyoko dodged her easily and continued talking as if the blunette wasn't there.

"Alright, we'll be there in a minute." Kyoko quickly hung up and tossed the phone back to a disgruntled Sayaka. "C'mon, apparently everyone is waiting for us."

"Kyoko, you can't just-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Kyoko crowed triumphantly. "We had a deal, remember?"

Sayaka was actually speechless. Kyoko had her there completely, she couldn't do anything. Had she just unleashed a demon? The girl demon in a cute yellow sundress aiming that impish grin at her? She could not in good conscious let Kyoko do whatever she wanted. What had she been thinking when she made that deal?

"Hey, Blue Power Ranger," Kyoko placed a hand on Sayaka's shoulder, noticing how distressed Sayaka was starting to look and gaining her attention. "You need to relax- I'm not nearly as bad as you seem to think I am."

"Yeah, but still…" Sayaka peered up at Kyoko uncertainly.

Kyoko's face lit up with an idea and said, "Wait right here, I'll be right back." before she took off running, disappearing into the crowd before Sayaka could stop her. And she did come right back, this time clutching two shiny red candy apples on sticks. She held one out to Sayaka. "Want one?"

Sayaka, too caught up in Kyoko's contagious energy, took the offered candy apple. After Kyoko started digging into her own was when it occurred to her that this was suspicious.

"Kyoko, how did you get these candy apples?"

"I bought them." Kyoko said through a mouthful of the sweet treat.

"Oh," Sayaka smiled with relief. "That's all right then." She brought the candied apple to her lips.

"With your money." Kyoko mentioned as a sort of afterthought. Sayaka immediately went for her pocket and was surprised to find her wallet was still there. "I've already put your wallet back." Kyoko said, a smirk playing on her lips. Her badass effect was lost since the bottom half of her face was smeared with caramel from the candy apple.

Sayaka looked at her in stunned disbelief. But looking at Kyoko's glistening mouth and chin prompted a laugh from her. "You're impossible!" Sayaka laughed, brandishing the heavy end of the stick at Kyoko.

Kyoko blinked in confusion, not really sure what Sayaka found so funny.

Looking at Kyoko, looking childishly ridiculous after such a cheeky move for food, Sayaka let her shoulders relax and ran a hand through her short hair in defeat. Just for today, she'll just not dwell on it. "Fine, then go on with your bad self." she drawled sardonically, letting her bangs fall back against her forehead.

"I plan to." Kyoko responded, also feeling much more at ease now. She wasn't sure what exactly it was that finally loosened the other girl up. It had to be the delicious candy apple, Kyoko reasoned as she went back to taking unreasonably big bites out of the object in question. She was already nearly finished when Sayaka started on her own.

Sayaka held back her laughter as she pointed to her lips. "You have a little bit of something…" Sayaka motioned to Kyoko's face.

"Ah," Kyoko stuck her tongue out and licked the corner of her mouth. "Did I get it?"

"Uh…" Sayaka nearly snorted. Kyoko had barely made a dent in the mess that was currently half her face. "Sure, you got it."

When they arrived at the designated meeting place, Madoka, Homura, and Hitomi were already there. To be more specific, Kyosuke was in the middle of giving Hitomi her new gift the moment Sayaka and Kyoko arrived. If Sayaka had been in the mood to throw her heart into a cauldron of boiling acids, her timing couldn't have been more perfect. And of course, since no one would ever have the desire for that particular sensation, Sayaka had been somewhat unprepared despite knowing this would happen. Being with Kyoko had made her forget all about it, and just a moment ago her heart had been floating in a state of content, and as a result it now had a further distance to plummet.

Hitomi was predictably delighted upon receiving the gift. Sayaka had helped pick out the gift after all, and knew she would love it. She was happy enough to give a blushing Kyosuke a kiss on the cheek. Sayaka really wanted to run away somewhere and hit something. The only thing that kept her from doing so was the awareness that Kyoko was watching her.

'Fight or accept it.' Kyoko advice from earlier flitted through Sayaka's head and she forced herself to stay in place and watch. She tightened her fist and grit her teeth. 'If I can't at least face them, then I won't be able to do either of those things.'

Behind her, Kyoko could see Sayaka visibly plant her feet and keep her eyes open, resolve and stubbornness radiating in her stance as she watched those two lovebirds over there. It was all a very trivial matter in Kyoko's head. But she couldn't help feeling a little proud.

"Kyoko," Sayaka turned to Kyoko, nearly startling her.

"Yeah?"

"Your face, it's all dirty. I don't want you meeting Hitomi looking like a walking candy apple."

"It is not- Oh." Kyoko had reached for her cheek, but now her hand was stuck to her face.

"You're hopeless. Didn't they give you napkins with those? Give them here." Sayaka quickly grabbed the napkins from Kyoko, trying to be quick before their group spotted them. She tried wiping Kyoko's face but the syrup was already dry against her skin and she ended up making the mess look worse, with bits of napkin stuck to Kyoko's face. Kyoko peeled her hand from her cheek slowly and then tried to lick her hand. Sayaka smacked her hand away.

"Hey, that's perfectly good food!"

"You're worse than a toddler." Sayaka left the napkin stuck to Kyoko's face and tried to be stern. Kyoko stuck her sticky hand to Sayaka's cheek in retaliation, much to the blunette's horror.

"You're looking sour, Sayaka, just trying to sweeten you up." Kyoko grinned innocently in a way that wasn't innocent at all.

Sayaka automatically exacted revenge as if it was a reflex, sticking her own hand against Kyoko's cheek. "You're going to kill me with cavities, Kyoko." Sayaka used her other hand to pick off the pieces of napkins from Kyoko's other cheek. Kyoko couldn't help blushing at their close position. Sayaka was looking at her real close, and Kyoko was suddenly struck with nervousness. She must have looked like an idiot.

"Oh my," said a quiet gasp from behind them. Sayaka had a flat look to her face that clearly said 'I knew this was gonna happen.' Turning her head slowly revealed to her that they had obviously been spotted, and their entire group was watching them with varying degrees of amusement playing across their faces. Madoka had been the one who gasped and was blushing at their position.

"… Don't mind us," Kyoko spoke up, wrapping her free arm around Sayaka's waist to hide the other girl's raging embarrassment. "As you can see, I had a bit of a mishap and we'll get back to you once Sayaka here is finished grooming me."

"Yeah," Sayaka tried to remove her hand from Kyoko's face, but it stuck there like a flytrap and she was stretching Kyoko's face in a way that threatened to make this situation comical. "Our hands are a little full at the moment."

Kyosuke coughed. "I'm sure there was a restroom set up over there." he pointed in the indicated direction.

"Alright then," Kyoko said, trying not to let her own embarrassment get to her.

"Move along." Sayaka insisted to the others, pretending this was an everyday occurrence.

"Nothing to see here."

"Yeah, nothing."

"These aren't the droids you're looking for." Sayaka pinched Kyoko's cheek at that.

Madoka looked even more embarrassed than they were. "Let's get inside, they want their privacy." she said with a blush. The group repressed a laugh much to their mortification, but moved away anyway to head for the giant tent. Only Homura stayed back and looked at the pair further.

"What are you looking at, Homerun?" Kyoko narrowed her eyes at the other girl. They watched as Homura slowly raised a hand to her mouth and let out a single, almost imperceptible, laugh of amusement through her lips. "Heh." This was the finishing blow to both girls who had managed to keep their composure thus far, and blood quickly flooded their faces.

"I advise you two to hurry; the show should be starting soon." Homura said calmly as if she hadn't just laughed at them. With that piece of advice, she turned perfectly on her heel and strode after the others, her hair swishing behind her.

"… I kind of dislike that girl." Sayaka grumbled after a moment.

"I know the feeling." Kyoko mumbled, finally finding something they both agreed on.


A/N- Yeah, I know it's been a while! I've actually been hella-busy this past month as opposed to being just lazy (as is the case most of the time, I'll admit). This chapter was gonna be a whole lot longer, but since I wasn't finished with the whole thing I chose a good spot to end it and went ahead and posted it up since I think too much time has already gone by. The next part should be out a lot quicker since I've already written most of it.

Anyways, thank you guys again for all the words of encouragement! If you see any grammatical errors, go ahead and point them out for me and I'll correct them really quick.