CHAPPY ELEVEN

"You're in the way," Kyoko said as she tried to move around Homura on the sidewalk.

"Unfortunately, you're just the person I'm looking for." Homura said with a sigh, tripping Kyoko up with her foot, making the redhead stumble. Kyoko glowered at the other girl, determined to continue on her way.

"Fortunately, I'm leaving this place, so you don't have to say anything." Kyoko growled as she said this, striding purposefully away.

"Even if Ryu has it out for you?" Homura called after her.

"Especially since that second-rate bastard has it out for me," Kyoko called back. Homura shrugged and watched the girl go.

"I thought I'd let you know that he's been keeping tabs on you." Kyoko paused at Homura's words, a frown pulling on her lips. If someone had been following her around, they'd be led directly to Sayaka. How troublesome.

"I beat the guy. He should be leaving me alone." Kyoko turned back to Homura, hands stuffed down her pockets. "I'm leaving this city for good, so he shouldn't even be a problem anymore."

"Would you bet on that?" Homura asked, gaze impassive.

"… Fucking chipotle sauce," Kyoko growled under her breath. She wouldn't bet on it. Ryu was the type of guy who wouldn't let a grudge go, even if Kyoko beat him in a fight. And if she wasn't around he might start screwing with Sayaka to screw with her. "Sayaka's not my responsibility!" Kyoko said in exasperation. "Why do you care, anyway?"

"I don't. Not really." Homura answered blandly, moving to stand next to Kyoko. "Rather you could say I'm… invested in Sayaka's happiness."

Kyoko raised a brow. "The reason being?" she prompted.

Homura contemplated not answering, but figured she had nothing to worry about with Kyoko. "Madoka Kaname."

Kyoko tilted her head quizzically in response. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"Nothing… and everything," Homura said vaguely.

"Don't act coy. You want to get in her pants," Kyoko jibed with a smirk. "It's the worst kept secret I've ever seen."

"Don't be vulgar," Homura snapped. "Madoka wears skirts."

Kyoko rolled her eyes skyward. "Whatever. Just tell me what gives people the right to use me to deal with their own relationship problems? I'm leaving," she said pointedly as she stopped walking. Homura looked and noticed that they were near a bus stop.

"You won't," Homura said confidently.

"You think I won't?" Kyoko said angrily. "You have till the bus gets here to convince me to stay."

"You won't because the fact that you care about Sayaka is the worst kept secret in the world."

"I don't…" Kyoko started to deny automatically, but stopped at Homura's knowing look. The redhead narrowed her eyes and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out childishly at the stoic girl. "So what if I do?"

Homura forced herself to draw upon the patience she had carefully nurtured just for dealing with people with thick skulls. "I have information on Ryu, should you choose to stay." Homura watched the other girl with a cool expression. Kyoko kept her expression steady as she looked at Homura. They had something resembling a stare down as streams of people parted around them on the sidewalk.

Kyoko tilted her head as her look became curious. "Why Madoka?"

Homura's eyes narrowed slightly at the turn-around in the conversation. "What do you mean?"

"Madoka. Why do you care about her?" Kyoko prompted impatiently, snapping her fingers at Homura.

The dark haired girl considered the question. She knew the answer right away, she just wasn't sure how to phrase it in a comprehensible way. "Because… Madoka is… she's the only thing in this world that makes sense to me."

"I don't get it," Kyoko deadpanned in a clearly disappointed voice.

"I don't have to explain it," Homura said flippantly. "Why do you care for Sayaka?"

Kyoko mentally flinched at the question and she grimaced and looked away. "I don't know…" she grumbled, hand coming up to scratch at her cheek.

"Then perhaps you should stick around and try to figure that out." The deep rumble of the bus engine marked the arrival of the bus that Kyoko had intended to board. The small crowd at the corner lined up to board and Homura waited to see if Kyoko would too. "The bus is leaving."

"Yeah…" Kyoko looked reluctant to stay, but reluctant to leave at the same time. The bus hissed as the doors closed and Homura looked triumphant. Kyoko finally shook her head. "You know what? I'm not entirely convinced." The bus waited a few more seconds before pulling away from the curb and away from the duo. Homura raised a brow at Kyoko.

"You know what I don't get? You don't need me at all to get to Madoka," Kyoko pointed out, tone suspicious. "Explain that to me."

Homura sighed as if the thought aggravated her. "Sayaka is… opposed to me. I believe a happier, more open-minded Sayaka would allow me to have better chances at being closer to Madoka." Homura eyed the redhead. "From what I've seen, she's only like that when you're around."

Kyoko felt her chest tighten slightly at Homura's words. "You're nuts!" Kyoko accused. "She'll be happy to get rid of me. And why don't you just try to get along with her yourself?"

"I don't mesh well with Sayaka," Homura explained.

"So? Put some effort into it if you like this girl so much."

Homura mentally cringed. "And how do you propose I do that?" she asked, half sarcastic, half curious. Kyoko probably knew Sayaka better than she did at a personal level, she might actually offer up some useful information.

"Hmm," Kyoko closed her eyes and crossed her arms in thought. How could the idiot Sayaka and the idiot Homura get along? A really entertaining thought occurred to her with a smirk. "Let her see you naked."

"… What."

"I'm serious!" Kyoko grinned as she remembered a random detail about Sayaka. "You wanna know how Sayaka claimed she could trust me? She said it was because she saw me naked!"

"… That's the single stupidest thing I've ever heard." Homura shook her head, wondering why she even bothered asking.

"Pretty much," Kyoko agreed, laughing. "She said that she knew I had nothing to hide that way." Her look grew sly. "Want to give it a try?"

"Stop joking, it's not funny." A disgruntled Homura exhibiting the closest thing to a pout Homura would ever do.

"Aren't you serious about Madoka?" Kyoko was having too much fun with this. "The way to Madoka's heart is by showing your goods to Sayaka!"

"I'm serious, not crazy." Homura glanced at a hovering digital clock hanging over the street. She noted she was short on time.

"Well, sometimes you gotta stoop to an idiot's level to get what you want. Better than involving me in your silly theories, I think." She grinned wickedly suddenly, remembering a trick she had used against Sayaka. "If you really want to make Madoka yours, there are better ways to do it. Go to her right now and smash her limbs—"

"If you finish that sentence, Kyoko Sakura," Homura's voice sounded the same as always, except there was now a very distinct power to it that gave Kyoko a cold shiver, "then it won't be Ryu you'll have to worry about."

The fanged girl drew a breath in an attempt to disperse the goose bumps that emerged as a result of Homura's chilling words. Just who the hell was this chick anyway? Kyoko looked to see if another bus would stop again anytime soon. If not, she was perfectly capable with walking on her way out. "I would say it was nice knowing you, but you aren't nice and I hardly know you." Kyoko could have a threatening tone too.

The dark haired girl shrugged. "Fine. Good luck out there."

Kyoko blinked at Homura's dismissive tone. "What happened to all that confidence a minute ago?"

"I'm not going to waste my time on you if you're set on leaving," Homura reasoned, turning away from Kyoko and heading back the way she came. "You asked why I cared for Madoka. To explain myself further, I care for her because she acknowledges me." Homura voice grew slightly fonder of the thought, but was dislodged from that fondness by Kyoko's dripping mockery.

"Laaaame," Kyoko drawled behind her back.

Homura smirked at the expected response. "I guess that explains why you won't answer the same question." Her words provoked a scowl to cross Kyoko's face. "You can barely acknowledge yourself." She continued walking on her way, back in the direction of school. She had accomplished what she had come for. She just needed to wait about three more seconds. Two more seconds. One more-

"… Wait." Kyoko's annoyed voice called out to her, prompting her to turn back around. Kyoko was tapping her foot, face all business and slanted eyes daring Homura to comment on her change of heart. "Tell me what you know about Ryu."

.-.-.-.-.

Sayaka was alive.

No, that was a lie. She was a dead woman walking.

"A zombie." Sayaka reaffirmed. Yes. The thought brought her great peace as it summed up her emotional state quite nicely. She was quite surprised to have made it through the school day with only one or two breakdowns! But hey, if she thought of herself as detached from her physical body then she might be able to withstand the soul-crushing emotions of rejection a little longer. Stamina she would need now that the school day was over and she had another hurdle to stumble over: softball practice.

It was a practice that she had been neglecting, specifically skipping the last few days. She had hoped to avoid today's as well, but Madoka had gently reminded her before heading to her own archery club that if she continued skipping, she'd be kicked off the softball team. Her friend also tried to help further by suggesting that playing softball might relieve some of Sayaka's stress. So the blunette sucked it up and dragged her feet to fulfill her sports duties.

Surely no one noticed she had been missing from practice lately—

"MIKI!" A voice caused Sayaka to jump in a very startled, non-zombie like way the moment she tiptoed into the locker room.

"Y-Yes?!" Sayaka stood at attention after failing to be inconspicuous about rejoining the team in the locker room. The voice that called her out belonged to their infamous team captain, who didn't look too happy to see Sayaka. Or rather, Sayaka assumed the captain wasn't too happy to see her, since she couldn't tell at the moment. The captain was too busy trying to remove her school uniform over her head, as if her head was too big for the hole in her shirt. Sayaka goggled the captain in awe, figuring she was either psychic or Kyoko was right about Sayaka's lack of stealth skills. Kyoko couldn't be right, so the captain was obviously psychic.

"You've been scrimping, Miki!" the softball team captain yelled when she finally popped her head from her shirt.

"I-It won't happen again, captain Jun!" Sayaka replied nervously, aware of the attention of other changing girls shifting to her.

"It better not. I don't like excuses, Miki." the older girl chastised. "Ten extra laps around the field for you. One for every day you skipped!"

Sayaka blanched. "I didn't skip that many days!"

"Ah." A pause. "Well, I wasn't keeping track. An extra lap for trying to correct me!" the upperclassman ordained.

Sayaka winced at the punishment and sulked towards her locker. This day was really shaping up to be one of the worst days ever. "I'm a zombie. Zombie~" Sayaka chanted to herself through gritted teeth.

Mami shook her head at the unnecessary commotion as she opened her own locker. "Jun, don't you think that was a bit harsh?" she said in a low voice to the girl who was currently kicking her skirt off. "I heard that Miki-san's had a rough day."

"Hm?" the softball captain hummed absentmindedly. "You worry about your archery girls, I got this." She turned back to Sayaka.

"MIKI!" It seemed she enjoyed how her voice made people jump out of their skins. "I heard you got rejected!"

Sayaka concluded again that this day definitely sucked.

"So let me give you some relationship advice! The only balls you should be playing with are mine!" There was an awkward silence in the locker room after Jun spoke that sentence. Some random teammate muttered, "I knew it!"

"You know what I mean!" Jun turned back to Mami. "See? Handled."

The blond gave the other girl a skeptical look as she retrieved her kyudo gear. "I think you handle balls better than you handle people," Mami commented with her harmless sarcasm.

Jun huffed and ignored the archery captain. "Last one to the field has clean-up duty!"

.-.-.-.

Mami's split-toed socks padded quietly across the wooden floors of the dojo designated specifically for kyudo. It was an unusual structure in the fact that it was built quite differently from the rest of the glass school. The wooden structure was built traditionally, and Mami found it to be rather refreshing. Unfortunately, archery was a small club, with only a few girls in attendance. But thankfully a few passionate participants can make up for the lack of members through sheer enthusiasm for the way of the bow. And Madoka Kaname had enthusiasm in spades.

The dojo had one of those sliding doors that had to be opened manually, a kind of novelty nowadays in Mitakihara. Mami stopped to look through the doorway, smiling when she saw that Madoka was already inside, always the first to arrive.

The pinkette had her bow and an arrow in her gloved hand. Without any wasted movements, she notched the arrow, slowly pulling the string to its limit. Mami was always fascinated with the way Madoka handled the bow. She was such a slight girl, but the bow never wavered when she held it. Her control showed a calm inner strength that most people might be surprised by. She also had an odd habit of closing her eyes right before she was about to release the arrow—almost as if she were offering up a prayer. Mami liked to think she was praying for the safety of her imaginary target, because Kaname-san was cute like that.

Madoka's pink eyes snapped open as she released her notched arrow with her gloved hand, the bow giving nary a quiver as the arrow was sent flying towards its paper target twenty-eight meters away. But the arrow missed the target completely and 'thwumped' into the straw behind it. Mami smiled secretly at Madoka's reaction. The younger girl appeared absolutely flabbergasted at having missed the target. She clearly had untapped potential and a natural talent for this if she got polished up. Mami liked and admired unpolished gems. Rather, she liked being the one to do the polishing.

"Your obi is coming undone, Kaname-san." Mami's voice was soft, but carried presence. Madoka was startled a little at the unexpected audience and smiled sheepishly.

"I haven't figured out how to tie it yet…"

"I'll help you," Mami offered, walking up to her protégé and untying the thick belt around the smaller girl's waist. Madoka blushed demurely, looking away.

"I missed the target," Madoka spoke up apologetically to fill the silence. Mami laughed patiently, retying the obi around the pinkette's waist.

"So?" Mami secured the obi around Madoka's navy blue hakama. "Your poise was rather lovely." Madoka still looked unsatisfied as Mami finished up tying the obi expertly. "You need to remember, Kaname-san, that the way of the bow isn't just about hitting a target. It's more about spirit than it is technique."

Mami retrieved her own bow and stood next to Madoka, gloved hand expertly placing the arrow in its proper place. "In this sport, the only opponent is yourself." Mami explained patiently as she slowly pulled her arrow back and aimed. She took her shot and released the arrow, the projectile sailing gracefully through the air and impaling the papery target right in the center.

"Of course, it never hurts your self-esteem to hit the target." Mami finished, smiling kindly at Madoka. Her kouhai clapped, clearly in awe at Mami's dead-aim shot.

"I wish I could have confidence like that!" Madoka said eagerly, but Mami waved the words away with her hand.

"Nonsense, all that just now was merely technique. You have the upper hand in this sport compared to me." At Madoka's confused expression Mami attempted to elaborate. "Technique improves the shooting, of course. But shooting with the spirit can improve the person." Mami tapped her index finger against Madoka's chest to emphasize her point. "I get the feeling you take away a lot more from this than I do."

Something in Mami's words seemed to have struck a chord with Madoka and she nodded absently, staring at the round targets meters away. "You might think this is a little silly, but," Madoka smiled to herself, "I feel like every time I shoot an arrow, I get closer and closer to finding my true self." Madoka's hand went to her tied-up hair sheepishly. "Does that make any sense?"

"As long as it makes sense to you, Kaname-san." Mami retrieved a second arrow, willing Madoka to do the same. "Shall we get a little practice going before the other girls start trickling in?" she asked with a friendly wink. Madoka smiled excitedly and nodded in affirmation.

.-.-.-.

By the time Sayaka ran her laps around the field, and her eleventh punishment lap, practice was already nearly wrapped up. Sayaka stumbled around until she found a bench to sit on, chugging at a water bottle between breaths. "MIKI!"

Sayaka choked on her water and dropped the bottle at the voice.

"Hit the cages for the rest of the practice!" Jun ordered, pointing at the batting cages the school had set up near the field. "Hit a hundred balls out of the park before you leave!" She threw in as an afterthought. Sayaka groaned after she finished coughing up her water. She picked up an additional water bottle and dumped the contents over her head to cool down before heading over to the batting cages.

"I'm a zombie. A zombeh zombie." Sayaka muttered to herself darkly, putting up with the pain. She was trying to go back to the way she used to be, bundling up her feelings and pretending everything was okay. But it was proving to be extremely difficult. After confessing to Kyosuke, it seemed she was unable to keep her emotions under control, but she was still trying to stubbornly close the door to that part of her life as quickly as possible. She wanted the pain to stop, right now. She didn't want to feel anything.

Sayaka set the ball pitching machine to a hundred balls, stuck on a helmet and picked up a metal bat. She gripped the handle securely and took a deep breath. She felt oddly calmer now, focusing her mind sharply on batting her feelings away. She brought her elbows up and set her feet firmly in the batter's box, awaiting the first incoming ball. The motion sensors in the pitching machine sensed that she was ready and spit a ball in her direction, which Sayaka smashed away with a sharp metal 'ping' of her bat.

Sayaka was actually a very talented batter for a freshman. She would always put everything she had into a hit. She doubted she would be able to hit every single ball out of the park, but she sure as hell was going to try. Her grunts punctuated every swing and metallic ping. Ball after ball came at her and whether it only glanced against her bat or sailed right past her, she just waited for the next volley.

"URRRYAAA!"

PING

"HA!"

PING

"TAKE THIS!"

PING

"AND THAT!"

PING

The rest of the softball team was turning in, jogging back to locker rooms past Sayaka's little ball cage of misery. Jun stopped to watch the freshman.

"MIKI!"

"What?!" Sayaka all but snarled in answer, tired of hearing her own name.

"You're not being very gentle with my balls there!" Jun threaded her fingers through the chain-link fence, leaning forward. "You're allowed to turn in too, when you're ready." Her voice had softened only a little, but it felt a million times calmer than usual.

Sayaka glanced at her captain, face indifferent and voice somewhat detached. "But I haven't hit all one hundred balls out of the park yet."

The softball captain shrugged after a moment, releasing the fence. "Can't say I don't like your attitude, rookie." The ball pitching machine resumed when it sense Sayaka was facing it, and the rest of the team disappeared from sight when they entered the locker room doors.

Finally alone, Sayaka gritted her teeth and continued her streak of busting balls. Well, at least she thought she was alone. From the corner of her vision she saw another spectator by the fence, watching her. Sayaka's heart nearly stopped when she realized it was Kyosuke. The young man's face was solemn as he regarded the girl he was separated from by a chain-linked fence.

"Can we talk?"

.-.-.-.

"…So why are we here?" Homura wondered aloud when she found herself crouching behind a large water fountain with Kyoko in front of one of the more prominent skyscrapers in the city.

"Simple. I find Ryu, give him hell, wrap up this stupid little problem permanently so that I can leave without any loose ends." The redhead growled, eager to wash her hands of the mess she had created in this city. She wanted to conclude her business here so that she didn't have to worry about Sayaka getting caught up in it, and Kyoko could leave without having regrets. It sounded good in her head.

Homura nodded politely to the people giving them odd looks for crouching suspiciously around the entrance of an important business building. "I'm still trying to figure out how you came to this conclusion with the information I supplied you with."

"You told me Ryu's interning here!" Kyoko explained angrily, eyeing the building.

"Well how do you plan on bursting in without a security clearance?" Homura asked, removing her glasses to wipe them clean with a handkerchief.

As if on cue, a crowd rolled past the duo heading for the building entrance led by a very colorful and loud lady. "Step right up, the Rebirth Pharmaceutical tour is about to begin!"

"Oh, convenient!" Kyoko ran after the group. Homura considered just going back to school, but she had to know the outcome of these events.

"Rebirth Pharmaceuticals is leading the world today with the most advanced pharmaceutical products ever created." The tour guide recited happily as they made their way through the lobby of the very high-tech building. People in suits and lab coats wandered the area, not taking any heed of the passing tourists. "The Research and Development department has opened the doors to many possibilities, including nano-technology. Many of the things that make Mitakihara such a unique and advanced city in this day and age is due to the continued advancement of this company!"

"What's your plan now?" Homura whispered, raising a brow at Kyoko, who was trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible. Kyoko looked out of place in this environment, whereas Homura fit right in.

"We'll split from this group and we'll look for Ryu," Kyoko laid it out as simply as possible.

"Why do you assume I'm here to help?" Homura asked, genuinely curious. Kyoko looked even more annoyed.

"Then why are you here?" she asked the glasses-wearing girl. Homura was about to answer when an unexpected voice called for her attention.

"Homura, is that you?" Junko Kaname beamed when Homura stopped and turned around, confirming that it was indeed her. Kyoko lowered her head, attempting to walk ahead with the tour group. However, the group halted when the tour guide recognized Junko.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Junko Kaname, a growing star in the business management of Rebirth Pharmaceuticals."

Junko waved and smiled at the group, a natural charmer.

"I thought I saw my daughter's special friend here." Junko said to Homura after the attention was diverted away from her. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Homura was thinking quickly, knowing she had to get out of this situation or risk leaving a bad impression on Madoka's mother. "I've… been thinking about your offer, Kaname-san," Homura said respectfully.

"Oh, about being my intern?" Junko placed a hand on her hip. "Changed your mind?"

"Well, no," Homura grabbed Kyoko by the collar and pushed her forward, much to the redhead's surprise, "but my friend here would be very interested."

"Hah?" Kyoko squeaked, feeling like she had just been thrown under a bus.

"Her name is Kyoko Sakura. I was hoping you could talk to her about the program." Homura held Kyoko in place while she talked to Junko in a pleasant voice.

"I'll be happy to," Junko said with a broad smile, appraising Kyoko. "Since you suggested her, Homura, I'm sure she's a very interesting girl."

"H-Hey, just wait a sec," Kyoko managed to spit out, the situation changing quicker than she could keep up with.

"She is," Homura nodded, feeling a bit tongue-in-cheek as she thrust Kyoko into the spotlight. This might actually help her plan. "Well, I'll leave Kyoko in your care while I head back to school." Homura gave Kyoko a 'go get 'em' pat on the back while she turned and headed back to the entrance.

Kyoko stared at Homura's back in disbelief before slowly turning her head to look up at this random business woman who had just ruined her plan.

"Kyoko Sakura, right? Junko Kaname." Junko greeted her professionally while maintaining a hint of mischief in her gaze. "So you're interested in this hell hole?"

Kyoko was really gonna kill Homura one of these days.

.-.-.-.

"It's been a while since we've played like this," Kyosuke commented while he tossed a ball up into the air and caught it with a gloved hand. They had moved to the field and he stood on the pitcher's mound.

"Well, you started playing the violin more and more as we grew up." Sayaka swung her bat around in the air, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. "Speaking of, aren't you skipping your violin practice right now?"

Kyosuke tossed the ball into the air once more to cover up his embarrassment. "This is more important."

Sayaka blushed, but felt inexplicably angry by the comment. He rejected her this morning, so why was he treating her all nice now, making her feel like she was actually important to him, making her like him even a smidgen more? She felt like he was being cruel, even if her mind reasoned that that didn't make any sense. She took a deep breath, imagining the words sliding off of her like water.

"L-Let's just hope you still don't throw like a girl," Sayaka muttered half-heartedly.

Kyosuke huffed playfully. "I prefer to think that my hands are too important to put my full strength into throwing."

"Stop trying to save face and give me your best shot!" Kyosuke threw the ball to her and Sayaka swung carefully, making the ball skip across the dirt. Kyosuke stooped to grab another ball from the makeshift pile by his feet.

"So…" Kyosuke started off awkwardly, fiddling with the ball in his hand. He was the one that wanted to talk, but now he didn't really know what to say. "How are you?"

"Okay, I guess." Sayaka hit the next ball Kyosuke threw. She chose not to comment on his rather girl-like throwing arm. "Can we just not talk about this? I'm trying to forget it ever happened."

The musician's face showed instant disapproval. "But it did happen, Sayaka. I can't just stand by ignorant of your feelings like a fool any longer." He gave the ball a stronger toss this time.

Sayaka grit her teeth and she hit the ball with her bat harder. "Well, you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine!" she insisted.

"No, you're not!" He tossed, she swung.

"Yes, I am!" Her voice was getting progressively louder and angrier. "I'm trying to be a zombie here! I'll be okay as long as I try not to care about you as much as I do! Why are you making it so hard for me?" Sayaka lashed, feeling her face and eyes betraying her hurt, her zombieness not helping her in the slightest.

Kyosuke clutched the ball so hard in his hand that his knuckles were turning white. "You suck at being a zombie! It's obvious that you're hurt and I'm trying to make it right!"

"Oh, now you know how I feel? Really?" Sayaka said sourly. "A little late to start minding my feelings now, wouldn't you say?"

"You should've just been honest with me from the start." Kyosuke sounded particularly frustrated.

"Honesty? You want honesty?" Irked, Kyosuke threw the ball as hard as he could at the blunette. The batter rotated her body, snapping her elbows and wrists to hit the ball with a loud crack. "ITHONESTLYHUUUUURTSSOOOOOFRE AKINGMUUUUUCH!"As Sayaka yelled, she let out every ounce of hurt and frustration into that one swing.

Kyosuke felt her feelings hit him in the gut painfully.

Or was that the ball?

Ah, it was the ball. Kyosuke kneeled to the ground, clutching his abdomen. Sayaka's eyes widened when she saw the ball hit him and she tossed her bat to the side in an instant.

"Kyosuke!" She was at his side in a moment, her legs taking her there without her having to think. "I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Kyosuke lied through his teeth. It was so obvious he was lying that Sayaka panicked, scooping him up in her arms and carrying him like a newly-wed would his wife. There was a brief thrashing period as Kyosuke kicked in protest and Sayaka struggled with his weight. In the end she dropped him on his back by accident, resulting in more pain.

"I'm sorry!" Sayaka apologized again, horrified by her own actions. Kyosuke groaned on the ground.

"It's okay," Kyosuke flexed his fingers. He smiled, reassuring her. "I'll live."

A weird sensation of sudden exhaustion came over the girl and she sat down heavily next to Kyosuke. That had certainly escalated quickly. Now she knew a little bit about what Kyosuke was feeling, trying to help her since he was the one who had inadvertently hurt her.

"When I first heard you play the violin."

"Hm?" Kyosuke tilted his head in befuddlement, pushing himself up to a sitting position.

"I've loved you more than a friend when I first heard you play the violin," Sayaka said quietly, hugging her legs and setting her chin atop her knees. Kyosuke's eyes widened.

"That long?"

"Yeah," Sayaka smiled shyly, face flushed. "I'm sorry I never told you."

The grey haired boy sat back, leaning on his hands and looking skyward. "That's a lot to take in." He whistled, shaking his head. "You'd think I would notice my best friend having feelings for me this whole time."

"Your best friend has feelings for you too?" Sayaka deadpanned quite seriously. What, does everyone in the whole world like Kyosuke?

"I'm referring to you, you know." Kyosuke lowered his gaze from the sky back to his friend. "You're my best friend, Sayaka. And I should've known better."

"Oh." The blunette's face clearly only registered surprise at the revelation that she was his best friend. "Oh." She hid her face in her legs. "Oh..."

Kyosuke tilted his head, trying to get a look at her face. "You didn't know?" Sayaka's hand reached out blindly to smack at his shoulder.

"It wouldn't have hurt to let me know!" Sayaka grumbled into her knees. Kyosuke laughed.

"You're right. I've just been so busy lately. People expect a lot from me, and I expect a lot from myself as well. I have a big dream, you know."

Sayaka nodded even as her face was still pressed against her knees. Kyosuke rubbed his jaw in search for more words.

"I'm sorry for my obliviousness."

"Cut it out, Kyosuke." Sayaka raised her face, a soft smile on her lips. "You don't have to apologize so much. We're friends. I accept that." Her accepting smile grew to outright grinning. "I give up!"

Kyosuke blinked, confused. "You give up?"

"Yeah." Sayaka took a very deep breath, mentally finalizing her decision. "On you. On being a zombie. On having regrets," she explained, pulling herself up to a standing position. She offered her hand to Kyosuke. The violinist grasped her hand and let himself be pulled up.

"Everyone's right! I suck at pretending that I'm okay all the time." Sayaka held onto Kyosuke's hand, looking sheepish. "You, Madoka, and Hitomi have all told me that. Heck, even Kyoko knew!" Sayaka let go of Kyosuke's hand and sniffed. "I was the last one to realize it. I don't want to have any more regrets. I've sure wasted lots of years on you!" Sayaka laughed, teasingly swatting Kyosuke's shoulder with the back of her hand.

He looked at his own hand that she had let go of. "Are you okay with this?" Kyosuke asked hesitantly.

"I will be." Sayaka dusted herself off. "You should focus on your dream, and Hitomi." Sayaka smiled warmheartedly when she thought of her friend. She valued her friendships with these two people too much to risk destroying these connections. Kyoko had told her to fight or move on. Sayaka was choosing to move on. She closed her eyes and swallowed thickly. Letting someone go like this was weird. She felt at peace, yet it hurt. But she embraced that hurt, finally ready to move on. But more importantly, she thought, she was finally willing to move on.

"She's too good for you, that girlfriend of yours."

"She is, isn't she?" He tentatively let a smile grow on his face. He felt relieved. He hadn't known what to expect when he came to confront his childhood friend. But she seemed to exude resolve— a resolve that she had found herself without his help at all. In that regard he felt a little useless that he hadn't been able to really help her, but grateful at the same time that he hadn't emotionally crippled her. Not that he knew of anyway.

"So we're okay?" Kyosuke asked hopefully. Sayaka smiled at him in a reassuring manner.

"Are you kidding, I'm scarred for life! Feels great!" She said it so casually Kyosuke considered hitting himself in the gut again. The blunette chuckled to herself. It was true, she felt pretty darn okay despite not being okay. In a way, she was closing a chapter of her life and starting a new one.

"Now do me a favor and help me pick up all these balls." She pointed out that they were surrounded by dozens of balls scattered around the field.

"Ah." Kyosuke made a face. "You sure busted a lot of balls today, Sayaka."

.-.-.

Homura Akemi tried not to make a habit of cutting class. The reason for this was Mami Tomoe, who definitely had been making a habit of gleaning time with Madoka while Homura was away. Also, Mami made Homura retrieve everyone's arrows for being late to archery.

"Just because you're very talented doesn't mean you're allowed to arrive five minutes late," is what Mami had said in front of the rest of the class the moment Homura had arrived.

Homura was currently putting a plethora of long arrows away in the sports equipment shed. Actually, "shed" was putting it mildly. It was more like a two-story storage facility for all things sports ever. Calling it the shed was mostly for the sake of tradition.

'Just because you have drills for hair doesn't mean you can…make me do stuff.' Homura was thinking sullenly to herself as she put away the arrows she had spent the last half hour painstakingly yanking out of papery targets or bales of straw. It had seemed Mami had gone out of her way to deliver even more arrows for Homura to clean up afterward.

First she had to deal with Kyoko, now Mami. Today was starting to fray on Homura's nerves.

The dark haired girl felt annoyed at herself. When had she started forming these half-baked rivalries with most of the girls she met? Before, she had only been extremely socially awkward. Now, she was… Well, still extremely socially awkward except now she was better at covering it up with coldness. It was difficult to explain. She didn't quite understand her own feelings.

She was finishing up putting away the last of the arrows when she heard someone else enter the sports equipment shed. Looking over she could see Sayaka Miki walking in holding a crate full of softballs. Sayaka spotted her too, but had no reaction to her presence whatsoever.

"Hey transfer student," Sayaka nodded to her, sounding tired. Homura nodded back, curious about Sayaka's current state of mind. She had witnessed Sayaka confess to Kyosuke Kamijou like so many others in the class and felt compelled to know the outcome. Homura had yet to confess her own feelings to her own crush and had considered the possibility of getting rejected. Just the thought sent a spear of fear through her, and she wondered how Sayaka was handling all this.

Homura shifted, pausing in putting away the very last of the arrows. "How are you?" she decided to ask awkwardly, trying to pry without making it seem like she was trying to pry.

Sayaka sighed. "I'm tired of people asking me that." She walked past Homura to get to the wall marked Women's Softball, where there were many lined shelves. "It's not like you care anyway, right?"

"I wouldn't say that." Homura responded. "You could say I'm… interested. In unrequited love." The dark haired girl said this rather haltingly.

"Is that so?" Sayaka looked over at Homura with a perceptive blue gaze that the other girl held. Shrugging, Sayaka put up her crate of balls on one of the shelves. "Well, I'm tired and done with unrequited love. That's all I'll say about that."

Homura found herself at a loss as she was barricaded from speaking further. She briefly panicked, wondering what she should do next and Kyoko's earlier suggestion sprung unbidden within her mind. 'Should I let Sayaka see me naked?!'

"I'm out of here," Sayaka said, stretching her arms over her head as she walked past Homura. "I'm going to eat all of Kyoko's ice cream when I get home!" She declared with a small smile on her face. Homura let her go, relieved. She had been starting to have crazy thoughts.

Sayaka tried the door's keypad, but was surprised to find the buttons on the keypad not responding. "… It's not opening."

Homura's anxiety crept up again at those words.

"That's weird. This is the twenty-first century, this doesn't happen anymore!" Sayaka forcefully laughed, opening a panel next to the door that was labeled 'You are not locked in.' Inside the panel was a small paper tag that read 'OUT OF ORDER.'

"The heck is this? Even in a modern society nothing works!" Sayaka exclaimed.

Behind her, Homura was unbuttoning her skirt in a panic.


A/N- Wow, fifty million internet years have gone by.

Anyway, I've been getting lots of anonymous reviews, so thanks for those. I usually like to thank people in a more private way, wink nudge.

MAJOR CREDS to RPPuzzle, the beta's beta. And to Ryhno Holter, who motivated me with his boobs.