"Ugh... I can't believe you did that. I seriously cannot believe you did that."

Kyouko looked mournfully at her now empty box of pocky, a somber expression on her face as she glumly trailed after the deceitful glutton known as Miki Sayaka. How could she have prepared for such a betrayal from the Gate? Not that they had a camaraderie or anything, but this was food they were talking about here! Food! You don't do that when there's food involved!

"Hey, I'll buy you another box, okay? If you were going to get this down about it, you shouldn't have offered..." The girl's voice — her annoying, piggy voice — interrupted Kyouko's thoughts. The redhead shot a look strange look at her, clearly torn between emotions.

Sayaka had stopped walking now, instead pausing on the sidewalk to look at the girl, a hand on her hip and a rueful sort of expression on her face as she waited for a response. It had been a crazy night, and she really wanted to get home, but here she was wandering the streets in the middle of the night, looking for food because of her new... "companion," she supposed.

"I didn't think you'd eat all of them! You're taking me to dinner, why would you need to eat all of them!?" Sayaka rolled her eyes at the complaint Kyouko threw at her. Had she already forgotten what had transpired just a short while earlier? If her supposed "bodyguard" was this forgetful, she might be better off getting her baseball bat from home to use as self defense rather than relying on this girl.

"Well, you said..." Sayaka tried to defend herself, but Kyouko was having none of it. This was going well.

"Who cares what I said? If you're the one paying, how can I stop you from buying something for yourself?" Kyouko shook her head, as if such was common sense, before glaring at the empty box as if it too was just as guilty for being eaten — like it had seduced Sayaka with its tasty, chocolatey wiles. "Use your brain, seriously... Mana doesn't restore itself ya know..."

Forcing a sheepish laugh, Sayaka had to admit to herself that giving this girl a chance had not been going at all like she had expected.

While she had expected explanations to be coming, once things seemed to have settled down between the two of them, instead, the girl — Kyouko — had informed Sayaka that she was hungry. Sayaka had suggested that she have some more of her pocky, since it had looked like she had still had plenty of it left, but that...

"What're you saying? That punk's after you, stupid. I'm charging you a bodyguarding fee. Here, you can have some of these to snack on if you're hungry. Now take me somewhere nice. I'm starved!"

... had just ended up with the box in Sayaka's hands.

So she'd eaten it all. Yes, all of it. There hadn't even been that much left, and she had been hungry.

Now Kyouko, this rough and tough magical "savior," was acting like a little kid. It was as amusing was it was annoying... And even though she was getting just a bit frustrated with this turn of events — she had school in the morning, and she was absolutely not looking forward to that — she was kind of glad, all things considered. It was proving to be an entertaining enough of a distraction from everything that had been going on.

That thought led to a sigh and a downcast, regretful, angry look from Sayaka. Spotting this, Kyouko's own pout slowly slid from her face. She had forgotten a lot of the context of their meeting once the prospect of a getting to sit down for a good meal at a real table had been put on the metaphorical one.

"Hmph... You're darn right you can get another one." Deciding to leave the subject at that, Kyouko strode forward and snatched Sayaka's hand in her own, catching the blue haired girl off guard — even more than she already was off guard, that is. "Okay, forget the nice place. We're going to sit down at the first place that's open and eat and then that'll be the end of this, got it? Good."

Taken aback, Sayaka could only nod and blink as she found herself getting tugged down the sidewalk. She was pretty sure there was a fast food place around here, but considering everything, even she had decided not to be so stingy as to take her newfound... whatever Kyouko was to that place, especially after how bothered the pocky thing had made her.

"Oh hey, that Burger Kween is open!" Wouldn't Sayaka know it, Kyouko actually seemed to want the place too — at least if the yanking on her arm was anything to go by. "Okay, schoolgirl, here's the deal. You pay for everything without asking questions and I'll explain the situation you're in from the top. You probably have a ton of questions and I don't want you whining later because I left any details out."

Doing her best to keep up with the increased pace of the hungry hungry wizard, Sayaka tilted her head at the suggestion.

Sayaka had already agreed she was going to pay. There was no need for added incentive to pbe put on the table. It was completely unnecessary.

Not that she knew it at the moment, but, appropriate scowl starting to form all the while, Kyouko was having similar thoughts about that as well. She had gotten too relaxed and let something unnecessary slip out. It was annoying. Gates never talked to her like this, or when they did, they weren't her age. It ticked her off — and she was already plenty ticked off because the Phantom she had chased here had given her the slip.

Sayaka, unaware of Kyouko's internal ruminations, couldn't help but begin her own internal thoughts — not the best thing to do right now given her circumstances. The flickering doubt, tainting this kind break away from the reality of what had happened with Kyousuke, ignited in her chest once more... This little vacation from reality quickly became foggy as thoughts of what Kyouko's intentions might really be began to seep into her tired, weary mind.

Is she doing this on purpose?

Was Kyouko trying to lower Sayaka's defenses?

Could this have been her plan from the beginning?

It would make sense. It would, wouldn't it?

Hadn't she let something slip by mistake just a few moments ago?

"Mana doesn't restore itself ya know..."

Sayaka wasn't sure what she was talking about, but considering all of this talk about eating... The monster inside of her probably had a lot of "mana" too, didn't it? So if Kyouko ate, she got some, but if she "ate" Sayaka... Or at least, whatever was inside of her... Would she get more...?

If she thought about it critically... Wasn't this a perfect setup? It was, wasn't it?

"That just makes two Phantoms for me instead of one. I was getting hungry anyway."

Sayaka shook her head, angry with herself. She was overthinking this. Worse yet, she was thinking like some cheesy super villain. She was being horrible. She wasn't like that. She was a good person. She didn't think about things like this. She didn't.

That hadn't been what Kyouko had meant. It couldn't have been. When she said that, she must have just been taunting...

... Sayaka...?

No!

No, that couldn't be it!

The monster was what she had been taunting, that was what was going on there!

... Right...?

R-Right!

This girl may not be the most trustworthy, but she had saved her. She had definitely saved Sayaka. Sayaka couldn't doubt that action, she just couldn't. What kind of person would it make her if she did that? Kyouko may have had her reasons and maybe she wouldn't have minded if Sayaka had died so the monster apparently inside of her had come out, but Sayaka hadn't died. Or despaired or... whatever. And iIt wasn't like she was killing her to get it to come out or anything, right?

Would she really stop it if it was on the way, though...?

Before Sayaka knew it, these thoughts quickly began to swallow up all the trains of thought leaving her mental stations, and she hadn't even realized that Kyouko had dragged her into the restaurant and that they were already standing in line. She fought an internal struggle, trying to shake off the suspiscion that this girl who had helped her might be out for her life... Would it be so strange after everything else that had happened so far?

Wasn't it stranger of her to trust someone so quickly, if she were to take that route...?!

She... She had to think about this.

That's what she had to do.

Everything had been a jumbled mess inside of her ever since that phone call, and she hadn't even had a moment to stop and sit down and think. Not one moment's break since then. There was so much she had to take in. She just... needed a chance to do it. That was all she needed. She'd be fine after that. Wouldn't she?

"Erm... Miss...?"

She just needed to stop and think for a minute or two. Surely she would find the answer she wanted if she did.

Sadly, the world had other plans for her.

"Miss? I said 'What will you have?'"

"Hey, you listening? The heck's goin' on in there?"

Sayaka blinked slowly, finally returning to the world around her.

That's right... She was in a restaurant with the girl that she had just been thinking about. She really had been out of it, huh? That wasn't a good sign. The girl who she had been thinking like that had gotten her in here without her even knowing it. She should be worried about that, right? The girl she was worried was out to butter her up and eat her like a piece of bread had managed to... No, that was not what was happening.

Sayaka was wrong. She had to be. The girl just wanted her to pay for their really-really-late-night-dinner. That's all.

And speaking of their dinner...

"Miss?"

She was being asked her order.

Forcing a smile onto her face, Sayaka nervously scratched the back of her head and looked around. She had no idea what she wanted, and right now, she didn't even really care. She couldn't very well keep everyone in the restaurant waiting, though. Shooting a look at the redhead that had dragged her here, the blue haired girl quickly nodded in her direction and gave her order.

"Oh! Hahaha, sorry about that." Sayaka pointed towards Kyouko, forced grin firm on her face as she looked at the cashier with a false sense of cheer. There was a booth in the corner that she could see out of the corner of her eye that she wanted far more than anything on the menu. Once she had herself a seat there, then maybe she could get her head on straight. "I'll have whatever she's having! Same thing, hahaha! Oh, and a glass of water."

Despite what she thought had been a fairly simple request, Kyouko and the cashier both stared at Sayaka like she had just declared she wanted to eat a live pig.

What? What had she said...?

"Thank you! Your total comes to 5840 yen. Would you like to add..."

Sayaka paled, losing focus momentarily again. This time, however, it was for a much more dire reason than the magical nonsense that had been plaguing her these past few hours.

Nearly 6000 yen for fast food in the middle of the night...!?

No wonder they had been staring at her! She must look like as big a pig as...

"Huh, if you're askin', I'd totally like a-" Sayaka's eyes widened. Kyouko was about to add more! More! This would be all the money she had! Quickly, the blue haired girl reached over and covered the redhead's mouth before any more damage could be done — ironically putting the person she was afraid wanted to "eat" her in the perfect position of doing so. "Mmmph!? Mmm! Grmph!"

"N-No, no no no, that's fine! We're good! Just let me pay you now, h-hahahaha..."

As soon as she paid, a feat that was nearly impossible to pull off considering she was trying to stop the magical mouth with legs from ordering more (6000 yen!? A sandwich was only a few hundred...!), Sayaka tugged Kyouko to the side and gave her a stern look.

"What did you buy?" Glad for the distraction from her concerns over this situation, Sayaka crossed her arms over her chest and looked over Kyouko sternly. This little big was really the person she had been worrying about? Seriously? She could have spent all that time much more wisely — like paying attention to what had been being ordered! "Can you even fit it all in there?"

"I didn't buy anything, you did." Realizing that something seemed to be up with the Gate that she was supposed to be protecting, Kyouko swiftly dodged the questions and shrugged. She was... concerned. Things had been fine before they'd come in here, and it didn't seem like the girl had anything against Burger Kween's food. So what was it? She really didn't want to have to play therapist for this girl, but if it came down to that...

For once, the peanut gallery in her belly didn't comment. Good.

"Wha- That's not..." Sayaka frowned. Kyouko was toying with her now. If her words didn't make that clear, the pensive expression that almost seemed to want to turn predatory that she wore on her face certainly did it just fine. It should have brought her concerns back to the forefront, but oddly enough, she couldn't even focus on them now. "That's not what I meant! Sheesh... What did you order then?"

Kyouko didn't even miss a beat. Her eyes flashed dangerously and she offered a fangy grin, as if she had been waiting for exactly that very question to leave Sayaka's lips.

"Same thing you did."

"Argh! Forget it!"

If this girl didn't kill her, she was going to annoy her to death first, Sayaka was sure of it...

Watching Sayaka go to the counter to pick up their order, Kyouko simply sighed to herself, wishing she had some of that pocky left. Sticking sticks in her mouth in situations like this were something of a comfort to her. For now, she just had to wait. Something about this girl, though... She just got under Kyouko's skin, like they naturally couldn't get along — or that they could, but both of them were denying it for some reason. She had from the start. From the moment Kyouko saw her, she'd been judging, looking down on her, and inside, Kyouko wondered if she was still doing it.

"Tch."

She scowled, turning to go find a table.

The sooner she could be rid of this Gate, the better.

"I see. So you claim that there is a human capable of using magic in this town? A wizard, even? That won't do... No, that will not do at all." The young girl's voice was calm despite the news. She ran a hand through her long, silky hair, eyes not moving. She was looking outside her window. She hadn't once moved since he entered her hospital room, even after he introduced himself and explained his situation to her. She displayed no surprise nor fear nor any other emotion — she simply waited and listened.

He likely thought all sorts of things about her, but they were of no importance to her. If he thought she sounded calm because she was airheaded, let him. If he thought he could take advantage of her, let him. The truth was that she had known the Phantom was coming as soon as he entered the hospital. She had sent for him personally, after all. He knew what was going on on the outside, and she needed to know that.

He didn't need to know any of this. It would simply be information that got in the way. He knew all he needed to know, and that was the bare minimum.

"Very well. " She closed her eyes. She grew tired of this charade. "I've heard your plea and I have no objections. Would you go now? I was resting. This body is weak."

"Oh... Yes! Well then, I'll be seeing you." His voice was full of confidence. Obviously, he was sure he had won her over — or that she was so small minded that whether or not she had been won over wasn't his concern. He'd gotten what he wanted. "I look forward to seeing you again."

With that, the Phantom known as Incubus left the room, slithering away like a snake. From start to finish, she didn't look at him once. Disappointing. He should know that her body should be fine. She was a Phantom, after all.

No matter. The more foolish he was, the better it was for her.

When she was sure he was gone, she finally turned away from the window — her gaze now was trained on the bathroom door.

"You all can come out now. He's no longer in the building."

Slowly, the bathroom's door slid open, creaking open bit by bit until there was enough room for those inside to step out. From this opening, figures of varying sizes stepped out, their presences all completely masked. Incubus had had no idea that the Phantom in the hospital bed who he had come seeking hadn't been alone in the room.

"My, my... He really thought we didn't know already. That's too bad. He's not going to be very useful at all, is he?"

"It's not important. What's important now is dealing with the wizard."

"Yeah! We hafta get to work so that new Phantom can come out!"

"I don't intend to get rid of anyone right now. That is his problem. I have no interest in that Phantom at the moment either, but I'm keeping it in mind."

"Huh? What do you mean? What're you gonna do, huh? Huh?"

"Yes, what is your plan? It wouldn't be that hard to deal with the wizard right now when they don't know about us."

"Maybe I don't want the magic user dealt with at all... I want to confirm something first. If I'm correct, I'd much rather have a chat with them than that buffoon that was just here."

The figures that had emerged from the bathroom exchanged confused looks, unsure of what the figure in the bed was implying.

Running a hand through her hair, the girl in the hospital bed smiled devilishly as the figures surrounding her, her eyes twinkling with the stars that shone through her window.

"It's simple. 'Akemi Homura' is going to be returning to school tomorrow."