Chewing on Diamonds

by Don'tKillKenny

Six years after the Mitakihara disaster, Sayaka has become an undercover cop at Kazamino's upscale strip club. What she doesn't know is that the girl training her is not only superhuman, but may be one of the criminals she's there to take down. Continuation of Oriko Magica timeline. KyoSaya, drugs, gore, crime, yuri, dubcon, hinted abuse, PTSD, other warnings inside. Chp 1 edited.

3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Sayaka hated the long walk from her apartment to her parent's house. Some days it was great because it gave her plenty of time to think. Today it was awful because it gave her plenty of time to think.

She was getting in over her head. If she pulled everything off, she would be the hero of the squad! If she fucked up, which seemed more and more likely, she was going to wind up face down in the river in town.

The files KPS had on Kurosawa and the Miyamotos were much larger than the ones she had been dealing with before. The problem with the files is that there was never any solid evidence that could convict them; just things other undercovers had heard that they had done. This was the first time that anyone from the force actually had direct contact with them outside of a police station or court setting.

The files gave her more than enough to go off though. It was a lucky thing she had no idea who they were going in; she had no doubt in her mind that they might have caught her lying had she known what to expect. The threats these people posed were not to be taken lightly at all. She could see what Sango was warning her about.

The Miyamotos were not husband and wife, but rather twins who just did not look a thing alike. They were the top 'suppliers' for human trafficking in this region of Japan; primarily for the sex trade, but if you offered the right price they could do organ trade too. What terrified Sayaka the most was how they got their victims; they picked up addicts and homeless from the streets. She made the mistake of wondering how many times she may have been at risk of being caught by them.

Kurosawa was the chief drug supplier for this and the neighbouring region of Japan. It looked like he had lived in Tokyo before, but once the Mitakihara disaster happened which crippled hundreds of thousands of people emotionally, he saw a business opportunity and moved to Kazamino. He had been successful in Tokyo as well, but here he had no competition; he ran a monopoly on all of the drug trade, except for marijuana.

These three were big fish that the force had been trying to take down for years. They all knew they were the ones at the top, but no one could get close enough to them or prove anything. No one knew they seemed to be on friendly terms with each other either. Now, she was going through additional training so she could be the one to get them; the recovering addict who joined the force a little less than a year ago. What could possibly go wrong?

Sayaka sighed. She knew she couldn't go about thinking like that; that would make her nervous and more likely to fail. Besides, she had a strong ally at the club who could get her involved with them: Kyoko. She could help Kyoko get more tips. Kyoko could help her get more information. It was a win-win.

In some ways, it was too bad that she got the information that she did. Someone else had gotten word of the shipment from the Philippines coming in and the squad was planning to bust that and make a ton of arrests. Unfortunately, because she heard of it and she was the newest agent, they had to cancel that. No doubt Watanabe and Kurosawa would look for people who would have known about the shipment to find out who the rat was. Sayaka was the newest person who had heard; they could easily have assumed that she was the one who told. It was difficult and frustrating that they had to sit by and let a few crimes happen before they would feel comfortable taking any sort of action.

The biggest problem is that because her role involved her wearing little to no clothes, getting a wire in was going to be difficult. There were talks of trying to get a micro one to fit underneath her wig. They were going to experiment more with that later. But without a wire, they were just going to get more he-said-she-said evidence in courts; the most common way that Kurosawa in particular got off the hook.

She couldn't help but cringe at how she was getting involved with them too; she got into a private room with them so they could watch her have sex with a girl she had just met. Sayaka was a bit surprised at herself for having done that; at the same time, she couldn't ignore her gut feeling that they were dangerous. Professionally, it was a great move on her part because she now had access to top notch information; who would suspect that a cop on duty would resort to what could be called prostitution to catch criminals? On a more personal, ethical standpoint…Sayaka didn't want to think about that. What was done was done, and her supervisor, one of the best officers KPS had ever had, was thrilled and proud of her. That's what counts, right?

She sighed in aggravation. She had spent the whole day tormenting herself about the developments in her assignment. It was making her tense. And if there were any people she didn't want to look tense around, it was her parents.

She walked up to the apartment building her parents had been living in ever since they moved to Kazamino. It was very similar on the outside to the one they had rented in Mitakihara. However, inside the layout was completely different, with entirely different furniture. Everything had been destroyed in the storm. Her family lost a lot of their prized possessions, including an antique tea set that had been passed down her father's family for six generations. That had crushed him more than anything else; even more than the loss of his business.

Her father owned a small bookkeeping firm before. It had gotten fairly big by their standards; there were seven staff including him who had more than enough work to keep them busy. At the beginning, it was only her father there. Her mother had owned a little Laundromat and was going to expand into doing tailoring and dry cleaning too; she had gotten loans from the bank lined up and everything. But when the storm hit, the business literally collapsed and the insurance she got wasn't enough to get started by up again. Ten of the sixteen washing machines made it, but she had nothing to do with them. They still have a few of them in the damn apartment.

They were exactly what the French would have called "petite bourgeoisie"; in both the politically correct meaning and the derogatory one. In the politically correct one, they were middle class and owned their own businesses, but they still had to do the same work their staff did; they did not make enough to be able to, or even have to focus solely on the management side of their businesses full-time. In the derogatory sense, they liked to pretend they were richer than they were.

They used to have huge problems with overspending on stupid stuff, in Sayaka's opinion, like suits and ball gowns that had nowhere to be worn to; a sports car, when everywhere they went was a ten minute walk away and had no parking; they even almost bought a boat at one point, but after seeing the docking charges thought better of it. They had been damn lucky that Sayaka didn't want to go to university; there was no way they would have been able to afford it.

Their ridiculous spending stopped after Sayaka's addiction though; having to pay back loans on the destroyed Laundromat in Mitakihara and Sayaka's hefty treatment bills left her family in a constant state of borderline bankruptcy. They never told her, but she saw the mail: "First warning", "Overdue", "Final warning", letters from collection agencies, and more.

Sayaka rung the buzzer on the building.

"What's the password?" Her father asked. They had developed this little tradition after she had joined the force.

"Kazamino Police, open up!" She said in her authoritative cop voice.

"You'll never get us alive!" He shouted back. Nevertheless, the door buzzed, indicating she could go in. She smiled, shaking her head a bit. Her dad was an oddball.

They lived in one of the larger units on the second floor; a two-bedroom. Sayaka encouraged them a few times to move into a smaller one-bedroom, especially because they never used her former room for anything. They kept it exactly the same as the day she left when she was eighteen, aside from the missing furniture that she had brought with her.

No one ever said it, but she knew it was because they were prepared for her to relapse and have to move back in at any time.

She unlocked the apartment door with the key they never took back. She could hear some kind of upbeat music and a woman said "and one and two" from the living room; her Mom must be doing one of her workout DVDs. When she pushed to open the door, it was blocked, clanging against something that sounded heavy, hollow, and metal.

"Seriously Dad? You're going to go that far with the game?"

"What are you talking about?" He yelled from the kitchen. She could see him walking towards the door through the few inches it opened; not nearly enough for her or any human to be able to get through.

"Miko, one of your machines is blocking the door! Sayaka can't get in. Can you help me move it?" He yelled to the living room. The music and peppy female and instructor stopped.

"That man from the website was going to come over to buy it today! I have no idea why he's not here yet." She complained. Sayaka's mother had a sweet voice; many people said Sayaka's voice sounded just like hers.

She could hear some rustling on the other side of the door. If anyone should be moving that machine, it should be her. Her mother was very out of shape, clearly on the "mad workout and healthy eating" binge of her monthly diet cycle again while her father's knees and back had been getting progressively worse over the past few years.

"Don't hurt yourselves!" She shouted. They were a loud family; probably way too loud to be considerate neighbours in an apartment building.

"We're fine, fuzz." Her father reassured. "Ready honey? One, two, and three!" He said, both parents making a strained sound as they picked up the machine and moved it back a few inches. Sayaka heard the clang as they dropped it more unceremoniously than they should have.

"Try opening it now, sweet pea." Her mother said. The door opened a few more inches, but it was enough for her to be able to slide in if she sucked her stomach in enough.

"Got it!" Sayaka chirped happily.

"The fuzz is here! Quick, hide the stash!" Her father grinned. Sayaka just smiled and hugged him. When Sayaka became a cop, her mother was so proud that she got a job and was a functional, living member of society; she swore that her father was more excited because he got to keep calling her 'Fuzz', and it made sense. When Sayaka had been a baby, according to her father she was very "fuzzy" so that had always been his nickname for her; more than a few people found it endearing and more than a few people found it odd.

Sayaka's father was a tall, well-built man. Tan skin which Sayaka sure didn't inherit and dark blue hair that was starting to go grey, which Sayaka somewhat did. In primary school, many of Sayaka's classmates called him very handsome. Sayaka therefore assumed he was handsome, but would never actually think that herself because she figured it was weird to judge her parents' physical attractiveness.

She turned to hug her mother and they gave each other a kiss on both cheeks. Her mother had seen that posh westerners did that in a movie back when she was a teenager, so they had done that ever since Sayaka was a baby. Sayaka remembered she terrified Madoka once when they were five and she did that to her; poor girl asked her parents if she and Sayaka were married afterwards. That had been a fun phone call for her mother.

Sayaka's mother had a more average height. She was quite pale and had light brown hair and eyes. Aside from the hair and eyes, Sayaka was a spitting image of her; same skin, same face, and same body type….well, before Sayaka had developed a problem.

Sayaka's mother had put on a great deal of weight when Sayaka began her cycle of leaving the house in good condition and coming back as a mess looking for more money. Sayaka knew she stressed her out, and when her mother was stressed she would cope by eating sweets and cheese in particular. Over Sayaka's two year battle with addiction, she had gained about one hundred twenty pounds. She had now successfully lost about sixty of it.

She used to be a fashionista, back when she felt comfortable buying new clothes every two or three months; she wore bright colours to match her exuberant personality. She was beautiful. But now she had only been to second-hand stores after Sayaka's stint in rehab, and most clothes for overweight women were drab and unflattering. She smiled, pretended it didn't bother her; Sayaka could see right through it. And she felt guilty about it every time she saw her.

"Welcome home, Sayaka." She smiled, hugging her again in her baggy black t-shirt and sweat pants. She was sweaty and gross, but Sayaka hugged back happily. Sayaka knew her mother liked to hug her as much as possible because, as she revealed one session, for months she thought she would never be able to do that again. She felt that indulging her need to have regular body contact was the least she could do after all she had put her through.

And that was part of how their new routine came to be. Every Monday and Thursday evening, she would come over for dinner and a group recovery session. Every Sunday afternoon, they would have brunch and an activity that rotated in three week cycles; one week something special with her mother, one week something special with her father, and one week they would do something altogether. Sayaka figured that even if she lost all of her friends, her parents would be happy and able to keep her social life going just with them. It was a sad but comforting thought at the same time.

"I'm going to finish my workout; I think it only has five minutes left."

"Have fun." Her father said with a bright smile.

"So Fuzz, tell me about this undercover work you're doing! Taking down bad guys yet?"

"Not yet Dad, but I hope I will soon!" She replied earnestly.

"Let me know when you get a movie deal out of it. I want to take part in the casting decisions. I think someone like that guy who played Bond in the new James Bond movie would be alright to play me…might need to work out a bit more to look as good though." He said as he mock-admired himself in the mirror.

"Might need to lose a bit more hair too."

"My daughter, you wound me."

The looked at each other and grinned. Walking past the living room to the kitchen, where a tantalizing smell was coming from (Baked Mac and Cheese; my favourite American food!), her mother was doing squats with chest flies. Her mother was breathing heavily. Sayaka caught her father's eyes following her mother's ass as it went up and down. She cringed; she hated thinking that her parents actually had sex, but at the same time she was glad to know that her Dad was still attracted to her Mom; she could only imagine what would happen to her Mom's self-esteem if he wasn't.

The oven beeped.

"Kenji, take the macaroni out of the oven!" Her mother yelled from the floor. She had made it to the cool down stretch, and looked like she needed it.

"Done!" He yelled back. He turned the oven off (an ability he recently acquired, much to the joy of her mother) while Sayaka set the table. They started eating as soon as her mother finished.

"So sweetie, how's your undercover work? Are you staying safe?" Her mother asked. Sayaka took advantage of the fact that she had taken too large of a bite of macaroni to answer right away. She was not sure how to answer that. She didn't seem like she was in any danger yet.

"Yeah." She said quickly and nonchalantly.

"Can you seriously not tell us what you're doing at all? Come on, we won't tell. Bookkeeper's honour!" Her father grinned, putting his left arm over his heart.

"Seriously can't Pops. Sorry about that." She wasn't sorry at all.

"I'm just so excited to see you moving along the ranks so quickly. You've really found something you're good at! I always told people that you don't need a university education or the best grades to succeed." Her mother beamed. Sayaka nearly flunking high school and not going to university had been a bit of a sore spot; not because her parents thought she had to go, but it seemed like some of their friends thought she did. And by friends, Sayaka meant the Shizukis and Kamijous; Hitomi and Kyousuke's parents.

The three families had been good friends for years before the disaster. Sayaka's father did the bookkeeping for Kyousuke's father's law firm; a much larger and more successful business than her father's own. Both of their wives had been pregnant at the time and bonded over that. The two mothers-to-be quickly became good friends. They had actually hoped that their kids would get married someday. Sayaka had too, at one point.

Then in sixth grade, the Shizukis moved from Kyoto to Mitakihara for Hitomi's father's job. He was a museum director, and an excellent one at that. He quickly met the Kamijous at some sort of social function, who then introduced them to Mikis. Sayaka and Hitomi sort of got pushed together after that.

Not that Sayaka minded, of course. Hitomi was nice, if not a bit shy and conservative compared to her and Madoka. But her comforting and rational presence quickly became a core part of their social group and turned the dynamic duo into the terrific trio, as dubbed by Madoka. Sayaka joked that Madoka was really lame for naming their group, but part of her kind of loved it.

Things had started to go downhill after the incident at Mitakihara Middle School though. Kyousuke wasn't there, and wasn't impacted in the same way that Hitomi and Sayaka were. None of the parents really believed what the kids had told them, but Hitomi had mentioned that Sayaka had led them up to the center of where the monsters were to try to defeat them. Hitomi's parents thought she was crazy and sent her away to a "recovery camp" for the summer and silently blamed Sayaka for their daughter's newfound mental instability. Still, they found that Sayaka was good for quelling their daughter's anxiety and hoped that she would help her get over her agoraphobia.

It only got worse after Sayaka started struggling with addiction. Both the Kamijous and Shizukis tried to get their children to stop talking to Sayaka, which looking back on it was completely understandable. They excommunicated her parents from their social group too. After Sayaka started to get clean, the parents gradually began to talk again. The Kamijous pretended to be oblivious to anything they ever did having been harmful while the Shizukis simply never talked about it. Sayaka's parents smiled to them to their faces, but had spent many hours trash-talking them to anyone who would listen behind their backs; mostly Sayaka.

"As long as you're happy with what you do, right Mom?" Sayaka smiled politely back.

"I don't know about that. I like the western way of thinking. My daughter didn't end up on the pole, so I succeeded as a father!" Kenji joked. Sayaka laughed and took a big drink of water, looking away awkwardly.

Sayaka's mother's phone rang.

"Excuse me for a moment." She said, clicking the button to allow a video call to go through.

"Good evening Miki-san. Oh my! You look flushed. Have you decided to start working out again?" Mrs. Shizuki; Hitomi's mother. Beautiful and elegant like Hitomi, but had the bad tendency to say things that were bitchier than she meant them to be…at least according to Hitomi.

"Ah, yes, I have Shizuki-san, thanks for noticing." She said awkwardly. "How can I help you?"

"Can't a friend simply call to talk?"

"Well, in that case I'm actually in the middle of having dinner with-"

"Never mind, I'll make this quick. My husband and I have tickets to a gala next Saturday. I was wondering if you and Kenji wanted to come? The Kamijous already have tickets, so it would be nice to get the three couples back together, hmm?"

"Oh, thank you but I'm afraid we'll have to pass-"

"Is it because you're worried you won't have anything to wear? Fumiko-chan, you don't need to worry about that! I might be able to find an old thing of mine if your size if you'd like? I still have a few dresses I bought from when I was pregnant with Hitomi."

The tension in the air got so thick so fast, you could cut it with a knife. There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Mrs. Shizuki was very talented at directing her harsh comments right to anyone's weak spot.

"Thank you, Shizuki-san. I'm afraid I have plans that night."

"I'm sorry, did I offend you Fumi-" Her mother ended the call. She looked down at her plate that was only half-finished.

"Mom, are you-"

"I'm not hungry. How about I get cleaned up and we go?" Her smile looked strained. She picked up the plates, threw out the rest of the food, and went to the bathroom to have a shower.

---

Kyoko hated the long walk from her apartment to her father's church. She never liked going; it was the epitome of a bad reminder. She usually went just to make sure that it was moderately clean and not collapsing (though she had evidently done a shit job of it) and to keep teenagers and gangs out. She had no intention of having the church seized by the police and then sniffing at her. The more she could stay off the radar, the better.

This part of town was rough. It used to be nice; a blooming industrial area that was attached to both Kazamino and Mitakihara. It was now known as the old industrial district, because after the disaster, no one really bothered to fix it. All of the development in Kazamino and new Mitakihara extended away from the disaster sites. The two cities were no longer directly connected; but they were only about a ten minute drive from each other, so it certainly wasn't bad.

There had been talk for years about ripping down all the buildings here. And it was true that none of them, except for maybe the church, were particularly attractive. They were desolate and attracted all kinds of homeless who sought shelter from the terrors of the street or chills of Kazamino's winters. Some of the buildings, closer to the church than Kyoko would have liked, also attracted people looking for a high that only some form of harmful substance could provide; there were a lot of crack houses around here.

Kyoko had dealt with her fair share of druggies. Hell, she'd found a few dead ones in the church. She always just moved them closer to one of the crack houses or into a witch's barrier and disinfected the stone floors of the church. It was a good thing they didn't stain.

It was mostly because of the fucking druggies that she came back about four times a week to check up on things. That, and this area seemed to be a witch feeding ground. She smirked mirthlessly at how many of the drug addiction awareness groups cited the statistic that 35% of addicts on the streets of Kazamino go missing, assuming there are some deranged serial killers loose; there easily could be a murderer or two, but the majority of them just wound up as witch food. Easy snacks too; not like they could run very fast when they were high out of their mind.

So Kyoko always had reasons to come by. She tried to leave as quickly as she could when she was there. Today, she had a feeling she might be there for a while though.

She cursed to herself when she saw the building repair contractor's truck already outside the church. She thought she was early! Her plan had been to clean up as much inside as possible to make it look presentable, and hopefully less in need of repairs. This was the third one she had to call out. The first two looked and actually quoted significantly higher prices than the City of Kazamino had predicted; turns out, the appraiser was an internal contractor, so that would be the price the infrastructure department would have charged the city. Commercial contractors were way, way more expensive.

When she called the city to ask about it, they apologized for the confusion (fucking dumbass tools), and said there was a counter-offer on the table: she could sell the property to the city for 100,000,000 yen and they would do all of the repairs themselves…or tear it down. She told them to go to hell.

"Hey, you're early!" She greeted, aggravation evident in her tone.

"Sorry Sakura-san. I had a weird amount of time free between my last job and this appraisal. From the files you sent me, it looked like we were gonna be here for a while. Could I ask your name again?" This man had a large beer belly that was not hidden particularly well underneath his overalls. He reminded Kyoko of an overweight Bob the Builder. He also spoke very slowly and had a voice that reminded her of Kermit the Frog. She immediately got the impression that this man was very, very stupid.

"Sakura Kyoko."

"Oh.." He looked confused as he flipped through the folder in his hand. Kyoko had given him permission to get the file from the city. He refused to come out without it. "Uh, you're related to the Sakura family that owns this building, right?"

"Of course I am, why the hell else would I care?" She snapped back. She took a deep breath and quickly recomposed herself. Fuck, I am going to have to learn to be a lot more patient with these people.

"Sorry, sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. Yeah, I'm the one who owns this place."

"Oh. Ok."

They walked towards the doors together. Just as Kyoko was about to heave it open, as it was difficult to move (the hinge was stubborn since the door frame was slightly tilted now; you really had to yank to pull it open of closed), chubby Bob the Builder made a sound that Kyoko inferred meant he wanted her attention.

"What is it?"

He chuckled nervously, removing his hard yellow hat to rub at his sweating bald scalp. Kyoko found him very unattractive.

"This might sound kinda silly. I guess I always watched too many of 'em horror movies but…have you ever seen a ghost in there?" Oh God, he's an idiot and doesn't even speak properly.

"What." Kyoko asked, but it didn't sound like a question.

"Well, you know the story 'bout this place, right? The priest went crazy and murdered his whole family before he killed himself. I heard his family's ghosts still haunt the place. Some people have said they've even seen 'em!" Kyoko let out an aggravated sigh.

She wasn't sure what was worse: the fact that this was the third contractor she had to have come out, or that he was the third contactor to ask if this damn place was haunted.

"No it's not fucking haunted." She snarled. "If you want, I can even go inside and check for ghosts for you. Heads up: the more important question would have been if there were any junkies or teenagers hiding inside. They're your real problem." She cringed to herself. Dammit Kyoko, you can't say shit like that! This dumb fucker needs to think he's safe!

"Ah, er, yeah, I heard. I'd have some of my guys put up barricades to keep 'em junkies out. Can't imagine they'd be too much of a problem. We've dealt with 'em before. Threaten to call the cops and they go runnin'!"

"Good, I'm glad to hear you're ok with them." She smiled flirtaciously. Play up the charm, play up the charm. "It's always nice to know there's a brave, strong man around to keep me safe when I go in here." She said as she traced her fingers up his muscular arms. The man blushed and smiled.

"Aw, well shucks Miss Sakura-san." He said bashfully. That just sounds ridiculous.

She heaved the door open and the man made a note in his book. She was surprised the guy knew how to write.

"What are you writing?"

"We're gonna have to fix the foundation an' your door Miss Sakura-san."

They walked into the main congressional hall. Kyoko had removed most of the pews she had bashed in various fits of anger. It looked much bigger now that there were only about ten left, oddly displaced around the room. She considered moving the fortunate survivors so they would be close together at the front; she never got around to it. That, and they were nailed into the floor and Kyoko didn't know shit about tools.

The man next to her started scrawling down notes rapidly.

Yeah, the church looked worse for wear; Kyoko admitted that. Some vines that had been growing along the outside of the church before her family died had crept inside some of the broken windows a long time ago. One of the Sakura blossom trees, which her little sister had adored simply because of the name, from the cemetery had also invaded the hall through the windows. She had to admit though, in spring, the combination of the blooming flowers and the way the sunlight came through the windows made the place hauntingly beautiful. She felt bad that those branches were going to have to be cut down so the window could be repaired.

The roof was still intact. One of the rafters was broken though; it was the one Kyoko's father had hung himself from. It was the second thing in the church she had destroyed. Looking back on it, she was damn lucky that rafter hadn't been necessary to hold the roof up; having the roof collapse on her would have hurt like hell.

The first to be destroyed had been the baptismal font. It was, or rather had been a fountain in the back corner of the church. Maybe it was the fact that Momo's favourite part of her father's masses had been when they did baptisms that made Kyoko hate it so much; it was the biggest reminder of happy times. Kyoko had used to be the one to dress in the robes and carry the towels to help; Momo took over later when Kyoko was given collection duty instead. Her father loved baptisms too; he said it gave him faith that another soul in the world would be looking to make it a better place, and they only needed one to make a difference.

What a fucking dumbass.

Bob the frog came up behind her.

"How did that happen?" He pointed at the former fountain. Kyoko shrugged.

"Probably the Mitakihara disaster. This place got pretty beat up."

"Really? These look like they were made by humans." He pointed to scratch marks on the ground which Kyoko doubted a junkie could have been strong enough to do; she must have clawed at it at some point. She really lost herself sometimes in her tantrums in that first year after they died.

"Not sure what I can tell you. It might have been a junkie. I hear meth can make people think they are covered in bugs so they claw their own skin off."

"I heard that too. Scary stuff."

They stood together in silence for a moment before he continued his walk around the place. He kept scribbling down notes as he went.

"Wow, does this place have cat combs?" He asked excitedly, pointing towards stairs that led to the basement. The stairs were actually a bit hidden; just a narrow stairwell in the corner to the far right of the altar, behind one of the pillars. It would be easy to assume they were not there at all unless you walked behind the stone mass and looked directly at them.

"What? No, we don't have any cat combs. Why would we have those?" Kyoko squinted at him. There were some strays that walked in, which was good since there were probably mice in here, but she sure never groomed them.

"Aw. I heard some of 'em fancy old churches in the west had 'em. It would be cool to see one." Ah, now I get it.

"You're thinking of catacombs, not cat combs. And no, we have a cemetery out back. The basement was just where we kept some stuff in storage."

"Oh." He was still disappointed. "I have to go down there anyways. The city said the foundation is a wreck. I need'a check it out."

"Yeah, I heard that too."

They walked down the stairs. The wooden door had to be pulled harshly to open, but there wasn't as much resistance as the stone doors at the front of the building had. The wood was so rotten now that there were streaks of rot on the ground from where the door opened and closed. It was pretty gross, Kyoko knew that, but she never had much of a reason to go down here anyways.

She flicked the light on. It reeked of mold down here. Kyoko didn't even remember them having so much wood down here, but she never checked often; she was usually in the main area to clean up. She had regretted that since having the contractors come by.

The area looked very crowded. Some of the storage shelves reached straight to the ceiling like the room was too short for them. She noticed some of the dolls that they used for the nativity scene sitting high on one such shelf. She and Momo used to sneak down here in the summer months to play with them. She would have to get on top of the wooden platform at the base holding up the shelf if she wanted to reach them; she didn't want to risk falling through it in front of the contractor.

Kermit the builder scribbled more notes.

"I don' think the City did a damage check down here." The others had said the same thing. Kyoko sighed.

"Yeah, the others said the same thing."

Kermit wandered around. He pressed his foot on a mould covered carpet underneath a shelf that held various decorations for Lent.

"The wood under here needs to be replaced. Feels like it's gonna cave in soon." He said as he lifted the rug to check. Kyoko didn't even remember that thing; maybe she would have recognized it if it wasn't so green and blue.

"Did ya have any flooding down here? Looks like everything on the floor musta' gotten soaked at some point."

"I wouldn't be surprised." She sighed, looking away. She never claimed to be an expert at building maintenance, but this was just embarrassing. She had really let things go over here.

They went back upstairs.

"Do ya want me to look at the house part too?"

"Sure, why not." She sighed. The house was a wreck too; burned and rotting. She only went in there when she was feeling particularly nostalgic.

It was quite barren now. Most of the things had been destroyed in the fire. Anything else that really had any value was stolen; she felt so guilty when her mother's diamond bracelet, a gift from someone Kyoko couldn't remember was taken; she remembered how many times that bracelet nearly got pawned off for food. Her mother had been so happy when their luck turned around and she could keep it.

Now, there was just some beat up dusty furniture in parts, maybe a few trinkets here and there. Kyoko could see how people would find the house haunted.

While Bob walked around investigating walls, roofs, and floors, scribbling about, Kyoko walked upstairs. If she was here, she might as well go check out her old room. She lost track of how many stories she used to act out for Momo with finger puppets before bed to keep their minds off their empty stomachs.

As she opened the door to her room, the first thing she noticed was a horrible stench, like bad body odor combined with sewage. That's weird; that wasn't here earlier.

She walked further into the room to try to find the source of the smell. In the corner of her eye, she saw it: a corpse of an old woman with frazzled white hair, rotten teeth gnawing at her chapped lips while she rummaged through old drawer. Kyoko nearly jumped out of her skin. Then she got a better a look.

Oh thank God, it's just a junkie. She sighed a bit in relief. She was letting those fucking haunted house stories get to her head.

"Hey, get the fuck out!" She whispered harshly. She didn't want Kermit to hear her and get freaked out. He said he had no problem with junkies, but she figured if he found one while he was here he might up the quote.

"I'm looking for treasure." She replied in a low, raspy voice; she sounded like she had smoked too much. Kyoko was willing to bet this one would be dead within a month. Maybe even a few minutes if she didn't get. The fuck. Out.

"That's great, look for it somewhere else. There's nothing here." She said as she grabbed the woman and pulled her to her feet.

"But I need the treasure." She complained without any resistance. She was skin and bones, which was practical because it made it easier to throw her out.

She checked to make sure Bob wasn't looking before she walked the woman outside. It was warm enough out now that she didn't feel bad about kicking the woman out without a coat. She was wearing a loose t-shirt that Kyoko guessed used to be white and tattered jeans. Meth heads were never particularly well known for their excellent wardrobes.

"Miss Sakura-san? Where are you?" Bob asked from inside. Fuck!

"I'm outside! I just had to take something ou-"

"I NEED THE TREASURE!" She screamed. Kyoko whipped her head around, just to see the glint of a knife coming down at her out of the corner of her eye.

She dodged it easily enough. She was used to all sorts of sharp objects coming at her, and they were usually much faster and with more force than this one. She didn't hesitate to whip the back of her fist against the woman's jaw, hearing a cracking sound that couldn't have been painless. The woman crumpled to the ground, screaming in agony. Kyoko didn't even flinch throughout the entire ordeal.

"Miss Sakura-san, are ya ok?!" Kermit asked, a bit out of breath. He must have started running when he heard the junkie's battle cry. Thank you God he didn't see that.

"I'm fine. Nothing happened; she just fell down. Don't worry about her." She said nonchalantly as she discretely kicked the knife away from her, using just a bit of magic to nudge it through the metal bars on the sewer hole. The woman on the ground groaned.

"Should we call an ambulance?"

"Probably not much point for that one." They probably should, but she sure as hell didn't want the cops involved. She'd already had one unpleasant encounter with them at this church, and she didn't want another. Plus, she decided that the woman was a bitch who deserved whatever came to her; fucker tried to stab her and didn't even do a good job of it. Bob looked profoundly uncomfortable.

"She didn' try ta harm ya, did she?"

"Nah." She lied. In her case, it didn't really count. "Let's go back inside. Is there anything else you need to see?"

---

They got ready to go to the rehab session in silence. Kenji had tried to give Fumiko a pep talk, but it clearly had not been that effective. The donuts they bought for dessert, a new tradition since Sayaka joined the force, were left on the counter unopened.

"Do you want to go to that gala?" Her father asked hesitantly. His wife didn't spare him a glance.

"Of course not. Shizuki's right, I have nothing to wear. We can have a nice night here, just the two of us." Her smile was hollow as she gave him a quick peck on the lips. Sayaka frowned.

"You two don't need to worry so much; I'm fine! It doesn't bother me, really. I bet this time the weight will come right off. When we sell that last machine, we'll have a bit of extra cash and I can try that new diet pill everyone's been raving about or join an actual gym." She smiled. "Speaking of which: Sayaka, sweetie, could you try to move it back a bit more? I don't think I'd be able to fit through the door like you can."

"Can do!" She said cheerfully; she didn't feel cheerful though. She pushed the machine back towards the wall, hoping that she wasn't supposed to lift it to avoid any damages. She pushed it too fast and knocked some papers off the end table where all of the random junk usually got tossed carelessly. She bent down to pick it up.

A simple white envelope, with "Unit 204" in handwriting was on top of the pile, opened; it had a bright red stamp that read "urgent". She glanced to her parents to make sure they weren't looking; they were off somewhere else.

She quickly glanced at the letter.

"This is your final warning"…"three months overdue"…"Unacceptable"…"Further actions if necessary"…"eviction".

Fucking hell guys she thought worriedly. She knew their financial situation was bad, but she had no idea it had been this bad. Her mother had only found a job as a manager that didn't pay well at a local restaurant; she never told any of their old friends though.

Their rent was 125,000 yen per month; Sayaka had memorized that from the many times they told her to go upstairs and drop off the cheque at the landlord's apartment. He was a reclusive elderly man who lived on the third floor. She also remembered going up there a few times to get messages for her parents when the cheques bounced.

It was hard for her mind to not wander to all of the paper yen that was hiding in her coat pocket; all 150,000 yen. She couldn't think of anything better she would spend it on (or should). She snuck out of the apartment and went up to the third floor, knocking on door 305.

Please be home, please be home, please be home, please be home. If Sayaka remembered correctly though, there was no other place he would be. Surely enough, the door opened.

"Ah, Miki-chan, hello." He said kindly, though a bit awkwardly. Sayaka was sure he felt bad about the situation; he was a bit of a grouch, but he was a nice man. He even let her parents off the hook that one time she had been high and smashed the front door in. He pretended some street thugs did it, even though everyone knew it was her. Most of the building refused to look at her family anymore.

"Hi Tanaka-san. I just wanted to drop off some of my parents' rent, with interest." She said as she handed him the paper money. "I hope this will be enough to cover December's rent?" He counted the wad of money in his hands with a surprised expression. That was fair; most people didn't' carry that much around in paper cash.

"Yes, just the 125,000 yen for December will be enough. You can take the other 25,000 back."

"Well, could we just consider is part of January's rent then? I think I can get the rest for you next week."

"Uh, sure, of course Miki-chan, thank you." He smiled. He wrote a receipt for her and started to close the door.

"Oh, excuse me, Tanaka-san?"

"Yes?"

"Erm…this may sound odd, but could you not tell my parents about this? They're a bit proud, and I think they might be a bit embarrassed if they found out about this." It was half-true. Tanaka looked very uncomfortable.

"Miki-chan, I'm afraid I have to ask this, just considering your history. Where did you get this money? I don't want to be involved in anything-"

"It's completely legal." She interjected. He looked at her, clearly skeptical.

"Really, it is. I'm a cop for god's sakes. I got this as kind of a…bonus." Oh fuck, I sound like I took a bribe. She rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "I'm not sure if my family told you, but I've been working undercover recently. As part of my work, I get a lot of paper cash. It's completely legal, and if I didn't take it I would look more suspicious and blow my cover. It's completely fine." That's not giving away too much information, is it?

"You didn't need to turn that money in to the police?" Good question.

"No, they said I could keep it as a bonus. Danger pay, I guess." It was true; Ryo had let her keep it. One of the other girls who was training for the job, Ayumi, had asked if they could keep tips. He did say to keep it. Nice guy, Ryo.

Tanaka still looked hesitant.

"I…suppose I can trust you. If the police come by asking about any dirty money though-"

"You should pin it on me. Don't worry Tanaka-san, it's completely fine with me." She smiled genuinely. She could understand where his doubts were coming from.

"Thank you Miki-chan. I look forward to getting the rest next week." He nodded with a small smile. They bowed to each other before he closed the door. She snuck back downstairs to see her family waiting by the door.

"Where were you?" Her mother asked.

"I went to the car. I thought you guys were right behind me." She lied effortlessly.

"Well come on, we're going to be late."

The ride was mostly silent except for the sounds of the poor car's struggled puttering. They had sold their sports car years ago and got this used small car instead. It was an ugly colour; sort of a rusty mauve. Her parents had swallowed their pride and drove this to get-togethers with the Kamijous and Shizukis; the Kamijous pretended to be oblivious that the car was hideous while Mrs. Shizuki made regular snide remarks, particularly about the broken muffler. ("Really now, would it actually be that expensive to fix it?")

They pulled up to the community centre and parked. Sayaka silently prayed to whatever deity was out there that it would start again when they left.

They sat in an indoor gym that reminded Sayaka of the one her elementary school used to have. The metal foldout chairs were aligned in rows and facing a lone microphone at the front. This is how meetings always started. Anyone who wanted to share in front of the group went up first and then they would break into smaller group circles.

They tried to have a combination of families in the group circles. Some might be trying to have an intervention. Others might be there worrying that their addicted family member was going to die; frequently, said family member was not in attendance. Other times, the family member had already died. Lastly, they might have one success story.

Sayaka's family was frequently shown as the success story. It gave her both a sense of great pride and fear. Being the beacon of hope for so many people was a big responsibility to uphold.

"Good evening everyone, thank you for coming out. I can see a few new faces here tonight, so to you I say welcome. To everyone who has been coming regularly, or has come back after a bit of a break, welcome back." A young man named Daisuke with blonde hair and a kind face, around thirty years old said into the microphone. He was a drug and addictions counsellor and one of the facilitators here. Sayaka met him in rehab. He had referred her family to this program.

"Before we begin, I believe Miki-san has an announcement she would like to make." Her mother smiled and went up to the front. Fumiko dove headfirst into all of the family support groups that she could. Actually, it had been great for her family; they may all sorts of new friends and business connections for her father. Heck, Fumiko got her job from the father of a young cocaine addict.

"Thank you Daisuke-san. Again, thank you all for coming out. As you know, addictions awareness month is coming soon, and we at the Parents Supporting Addictions and Treatment, or PSAT for you new folks, need to start getting ready. We will be holding meetings on Monday evenings from 7:00-8:30 pm for anyone who would like to join and there will be-ah, yes Karana-san?" She stopped as a middle-aged woman raised her hand.

"I think instead of just awareness this year, we should focus on action. As you all know, 35% of our city's homeless addicts go missing and the police and politicians are doing so little to stop this. We should start a campaign to demand that more be done. What good is a police force if all they do is sit on their asses eating donuts all day! Oh, no offense Miki-chan." She quickly turned to Sayaka.

"None taken." She waved her hand and pursed her lips. There was totally offense taken, but she wasn't going to be the one to cause a scene. Her father patted her knee in support. She understood why the woman was upset; her daughter had gone missing over a year ago and very little had been done. Sayaka had checked the files and she had disappeared without a trace. There was only so much they could do without any actual evidence.

"That sounds like a great idea Karana-san, and I hope you will be coming out on Monday to share your thoughts." Fumiko said politely. Karana nodded enthusiastically. "As well, there will be complementary snacks and beverages for everyone who attends. We hope to see you all there!" There was a brief round of applause. She went back to sit next to Sayaka.

"Thank you Miki-san. Now, does anyone have any thoughts or feelings that they would like to share? The floor is open."

No one made a move. Sayaka's mother looked around before enthusiastically raising her hand.

"Yes, Miki-san, please come up." She had a little smile that Sayaka recognized; it was the smile she had when she was brimming with excitement and had something to say, but didn't want to make it too obvious. She liked it when her Mom smiled like that.

"Thank you Daisuke-san. Last night, I…I had a terrible nightmare. But I guess it wasn't really a nightmare and more of a memory. For those of you who don't know, my family has been struggling with addiction for the past four years." Sayaka was never sure if she found it sweet or that it bugged her that her parents both said that the whole family struggled with it when it was mostly just her; she felt like it made them sound like fuck ups too. "I dreamed that I hadn't heard from my daughter, Sayaka in three weeks. She was just a kid at the time, seventeen. I called the police five times a day, just to ask if they had found her, or anything left of her." She paused and started rubbing at her eyes. Sayaka hated this story.

"Suddenly, I got a phone call from Sayaka's phone. I'm so happy. I'm ecstatic, because my baby's finally calling home. I answer and the first thing I hear is not her voice, but a stranger's asking 'Are you Sayaka's mother'? I have no idea who this person is. I'm terrified because I'm wondering why they have her phone, and why they're calling me. It's so hard not to assume the worse. I think 'this is it. It's over. It's actually over. She's dead. She died.'" Her voice started to break. Sayaka looked at her feet guiltily.

"I just answer 'yes, yes I am. Where is she?' And they tell me they're at that old abandoned church in the old industrial district; the area where all of the homeless go missing or die. I just think 'some crazy murderer got her, didn't they? They just found her body. Or she overdosed at some party'. I'm getting ready to call the funeral home whose" She paused to swallow "phone number I had taped on the fridge a few months ago. I'm not surprised that she's gone, you know? I prayed every day that she would get through it, but part of me just…

"I woke up crying. My husband was there, and I am so lucky that I've had him. I don't think I could have done this alone." Her tone increased in pitch on her last word. Sayaka could feel her father starting to squeeze her hand painfully tight. She hated seeing them showing any kind of weakness. Growing up, they always seemed like super beings to her: strong, caring, perfect and invincible. It shook her to her core to see just how human they were, especially when she was the one that made them that way.

"I couldn't figure out why I had that dream. I only have it when I'm very stressed or on anniversaries. I wasn't feeling stressed so I looked at the calendar and I saw…" A huge smile broke her reddened face. "Today marks the twenty third month that Sayaka's been clean. My strong, beautiful, amazing daughter has been clean for almost two years. And as some of you may have figured out, she has since become a police officer and is moving up the ranks very quickly. She's done so much, and I'm so proud of her." She started crying, but with joy. Sayaka was feeling incredibly embarrassed, but she couldn't not smile.

It was moments like this that she saw that she really was her Mom's pride and joy.

She didn't feel like she deserved it.

The room burst into applause. After a few more stories, most of them somewhat similar to her mother's beginning but with much sadder endings, they broke into smaller groups.

These rehab meetings were like clockwork. It got to the point where Sayaka confused others' stories and names all the time. She could recognize their faces though. And of course, a few stories stood out for her for various reasons.

"Hi everyone. My name is Tatsuya and I've been clean for eight months." A young boy, maybe a bit taller than Sayaka said quietly. He had scruffy auburn hair, big brown eyes and sweet smile; he looked like a tall seven year old.

There were a few reasons why Tatsuya stood out for her. For one, he had the same name as Madoka's little brother. In fact, she imagined that had Tatsuya had the opportunity to grow up, he would look a lot like him.

A second reason Tatsuya was special was that he and Sayaka had the same sort of story. They had originally been into lighter drugs like marijuana and steadily devolved into harder ones, like shrooms and acid to cocaine, heroin, and at one point for Sayaka, meth. It disappeared from the market a few years ago though, which was probably for the best.

The third reason, and arguably most important one, was that Sayaka had known Tatsuya's older brother. Had. He had been a quiet boy who mostly kept to himself; she didn't really know him that well. But he was always sitting a few desks to her right; he usually played videogames during breaks instead of socializing.

Sayaka's most vivid memory of him was watching those horrific worm creatures licking and gnawing on his exposed spine like her grandma's dog used to do to those bones her family bought from the supermarket.

She rubbed her eyes in masked frustration, hoping her parents wouldn't see that she was reliving the unpleasant memories she relived every damn time. There was a name for this: posttraumatic stress disorder. She knew it and she hated that word. Soldiers were supposed to have PTSD; brave men and women who fought in wars. Not people who have basically been on parking duty like her. She got all the bad and none of the glory.

The night overall was uneventful. Everyone talked about their progress or their slip-ups. Sayaka didn't have much to say, aside from the fact that she was still doing well. She felt a bit awkward at times; all these people saying how hard their lives were, like they couldn't go on, and she was just sitting there like "been there, done that! And still good!"

Being the beacon of hope was cool. She would never deny that. And feeling like she was an idol or a hero or something like that was even cooler. She always wondered if she deserved it.

She always wondered why she deserved to have everything she got, while Madoka died.

XX

Kyoko felt exhausted. The contractor's visit hadn't gone well. 600,000,000 yen was the lowest quote she got for repairing the church. She had no idea it had gotten so bad.

She flopped down on the ground in front of her father's tombstone; a beautifully carved stone that looked the exact same as it had seven years ago. She was careful to maintain the lonely tombstones whose families had forgotten the ones buried beneath them. Many of their families died in Walpurgisnacht. Others simply had moved on. At least she was better family than them, right?

She leaned against the tombstone, as she had done many times before. She looked to her left, seeing her mother's tombstone with a few decaying flowers she had left there a few months ago. She looked to her right, seeing her sister's with a little red ball that had deflated years ago and a few trinkets. It was a sad sight. She closed her eyes to block out the image that had been burned underneath her eyelids years ago.

Beyond her sister's grave was the only tombstone that had been destroyed by Walpurgisnacht. It was the closest one to the dead garden surrounding the cemetery. She had no idea who was rested there, because the grave looked like it had actually exploded. She had tried looking for all of the pieces of it once to put it back together, but some of them seemed to be missing. She figured it wasn't worth the effort and gave up. No one came to visit it anyways.

"What are you doing here so late?" A curious and familiar voice asked. Kyoko didn't need to open her eyes.

"What are you doing here so late? It's a school night kiddo." Red eyes opened to stare up at her little sister, best friend, and partner in combat. Yuma didn't say anything, but sat down in front of her.

"Do you remember what my wish was?" The question irked Kyoko more than it should have at this point.

"Of course I remember, dumb ass. Six years and I'm still pissed at you for it." Yuma smiled sadly in response.

"I know. I wanted to help you. You know I can always sense when something is wrong with you, right?"

Kyoko knew it damn well. It was an eerie feeling knowing someone could partially read your mind from anywhere. It was incredibly convenient in battle, part of the reason they worked so well together. They hadn't understood what it was when Yuma first started being able to use this ability. Kyoko had figured that Yuma must just be able to tell what kind of food Kyoko was craving based on her "monthly cycle", so to speak. Once Kyubey had actually explained it to them, it disturbed her a bit. Yuma was so dependent on Kyoko and tied to her it was disgusting. Kyoko couldn't handle that kind of responsibility.

But she did her damned best anyways.

She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"What's going on?" Blue eyes were looking imploringly into hers. She could tell they were trying to use magic to snoop it out by the ways her pupils dilated and contracted like a pulsing heart. Her own magic, enchantment did the same to hers when she used it. She looked away, irritated.

"Cut that out. It's nothing to worry about. I've got it."

"I might not be able to read your mind right now, but I know you well enough to know you're a shit liar."

"Watch your language."

"You don't watch yours."

Kyoko turned her eyes back to glare at her. "Don't talk back to me." She muttered. Yuma huffed, but otherwise said nothing.

"Can I help you with anything?" She asked that loaded question that Kyoko hated.

"No." She replied quickly. She decided to ignore the hurt look on Yuma's face.

"You really can't do anything about this. And it's not a big deal, I've got it, so there's nothing to worry about." She lied effortlessly. Maybe if she said it enough, she would believe it too. She could enchant herself. Yuma didn't seem to buy it though.

Kyoko stood up and ruffled Yuma's hair before offering her a hand. Yuma didn't protest to her hair being messed up and got up on her own. Fuck, she's upset.

Kyoko slung an arm around Yuma's shoulders as they walked, trying to avoid debris from the lonely, destroyed grave. She ignored the way Yuma tensed her shoulder blades together, like trying to give Kyoko's arm as little a space as possible to rest. Kyoko didn't let this deter her.

Yuma shrugged Kyoko's arms off and walked faster into the church. Kyoko slowed for a moment to give the girl a bit of distance before following her more closely. Yuma sat down on one of the surviving pews with a thud that resonated throughout the empty, partially destroyed church. She curled up, legs to chest and face down so Kyoko couldn't see her. Oh dear God, please don't let her be crying.

Kyoko could hear Yuma sniffle. She sighed. After all, Kyoko had basically told her she couldn't do what she had sold her soul to do.

"Sometimes I just don't understand you." Yuma said, trying to pretend she wasn't choking on her sobs. Kyoko furrowed her eyebrows as she sat down next to her so they were hip to hip. She slung her arm around her shoulder again, leaning her head against hers.

"What do you mean?"

"Who do you see as being your family, Kyoko?" Bright blue eyes flashed into her red ones angrily. She was definitely crying.

"Uhh…" Kyoko was confused. She couldn't tell where this was going.

"Fine, I'll rephrase that. What does it mean to be family, Kyoko?"

Kyoko was silent for a few moments, not really pondering the question at all. She was just trying to figure out what Yuma was getting at.

"Families love and help each other."

"We tell everyone I'm your sister, so that kind of makes us family! Let me help you!" She cried out.

"No, this isn't like that. It's got nothing to do with you, it's my-" She cut herself off, before she accidentally said 'actual', "first family. This is something that should stay between the four of us. It's not your problem."

"Your Dad murdered your Mom and sister and left you alone to starve, yet you're always crying on his grave. Do you really think he's family? Do you really believe he loved you?!"

Kyoko was taken aback briefly before nothing but anger flooded her vision. Before she knew it, she had stood up and slapped Yuma across the face.

"Don't say shit you know nothing about!" She yelled. The palm of her hand stung a bit. Yuma eyes were wide, surprised, tears still flowing from them.

"I had a family that didn't love me either. My Mom would hit me, saying it was my fault that Dad stayed out at bars hooking up with whores. She always made excuses for him to convince herself that he did love her."

"Those have nothing to do with each other. My father was a wonderful, loving man until I fucked everything up by making that wish. Your mother was just a stone cold bitch."

"Do you wish you could take that wish back? And everything that happened after?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't?!"

"You saved my life because of that wish. That witch would have killed me with my parents if it hadn't been for you. Do you regret that too?"

"Okay, aside from that obviously. Don't put words in my mouth." Kyoko groaned in frustration.

Yuma touched the side of her face tenderly and winced when she touched it.

"Sometimes it seemed like hitting me made Mom believe that my Dad really loved her. Did hitting me make you feel like your Dad loved you?" Yuma asked dejectedly. Kyoko's breath caught in her throat. Fuck, I actually hit her. I haven't done that in years…

It was true. The last time Kyoko had hit her was when Yuma had proudly declared that she became a magical girl. That was also the only time she had hit her until now.

"As long as it makes you feel better, it's ok." Yuma said quietly as she turned the other cheek to Kyoko. Kyoko noticed Yuma trembling a bit in fear, eyes shut tight and waiting to be hit. It was times like these that Kyoko wished she could travel back in time to before the witch killed Yuma's bitch of a mother so she could kill her herself. Kyoko sat down again and pulled Yuma into a half-hug, half-strangle sort of position. She couldn't figure out which she wanted to do more.

"Stop being an idiot. I'm sorry I hit you, ok?" Kyoko said quietly. "It was wrong of me to do that and it doesn't make me feel better at all."

They sat like that for a few minutes as Yuma's breath started to slow down. Kyoko checked a few times to make sure it was because she was calming down, and not because she couldn't breathe.

"I thought you said hitting idiots made you feel better." Her voice was slightly muffled by Kyoko's body.

"I like hitting other idiots, not my idiot." Kyoko smiled softly. She couldn't see Yuma's face, but she figured she was smiling a bit too from the way she snuggled a bit closer into her chest. Kyoko started to comb her fingers through Yuma's hair soothingly.

"Can I ask you something I've wanted to ask you for a long time? It might make you mad." Yuma asked timidly.

Kyoko sighed. "Go ahead." She was going to ask eventually anyways.

"Every time I see you crying in the cemetery, you're crying on your father's grave. Why not your mother's or your sister's? There was never any doubt that they loved you, by anyone's eyes."

Kyoko was quiet, pausing her hand. Her mind was blank. The sat like that for five minutes.

Kyoko started moving her fingers again, deciding to avoid the question she had no answer to.

---

Sayaka was exhausted. After getting home from the support group last night, she crashed. Worries, negative thoughts, and regrets kept her up almost all night.

"Sayaka, you idiot, what are you thinking?" She asked her reflection which looked worse for wear. At least it accurately reflected how she felt. It seemed to be the most honest thing about her all week.

She was a prostitute. There was no two ways about it. She was being paid to have sex with someone else (even though she might have had sex with said person without pay if she had been really, really drunk). Not only that, but she was doing it to get dirt on the people watching, so she wasn't even an honest one. She was the lowest of the low.

"Just do whatever you have to do." Ryo's words echoed through her head.

She had never actually gotten all of the details of Ryo's undercover stories; no one ever really had. He was a sort of legend known across the entire force for taking down one of the city's worst mobsters, someone suspected to be one of Kurosawa's guys when he was only a few years older than Sayaka. Everyone knew he must have played dirty to be able to get that far, but no one ever asked what he did.

An image of Ryo having sex with a mob boss like Kurosawa flashed through her mind. She had to cringe, stifle a laugh, stifle a sob and splash her face with water again.

Her adrenaline had been pumping so hard on that first shift, she hadn't really been thinking too straight. She fucked everything up.

On the bright side, they would never assume that a cop would stoop to such depraved acts in order to get information….right?

Right. Because no one else in their right mind would do what she had done. Everyone else had more sense than her.

Maybe all those years of using really had fucked up her brain.

She splashed water on her face again so she couldn't tell what was water and what was tears.

She decided she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep any time soon, so she found a stupid comedy movie online to watch. Those always calmed her down.

---

Kyoko was exhausted. She and Yuma decided to pick up a greasy pizza (got to hand it to the Americans; they know how to make good comfort food) and watched a stupid, overly violent movie. Yuma had picked it, but Kyoko knew that Yuma was hoping to choose something Kyoko would want to watch. Kyoko watched violent action movies to calm down. Yuma liked to watch dramas.

Kyoko was displeased to find that watching someone getting their head violently sawed off did nothing to ease her nerves. That usually did the trick.

Yuma got up and returned with a large bowl full of sweets and a bottle of juice.

She could tell the movie wasn't working too.

Kyoko grunted her thanks and continued her high-calorie binge. Thank god for magic and exercise.

The movie had a predictable ending where the only two survivors, who were always hinted at as being love interests wound up together and walking away from the carnage behind them….or some bullshit like that. Kyoko had stopped paying attention after about 20 minutes. So had Yuma evidently, who was doodling things on the tablet Kyoko had bought her for Christmas last year.

Kyoko looked over Yuma's shoulder to see a sketch of an obese Kyoko wearing a pointy witch hat and was surrounded by flying candy wrappers and walking pizza boxes. Yuma smirked and saved it as "The Fat-Ass Witch".

"Oh you little-" She was cut off by Yuma laugh-shrieking and running away, Kyoko grinning and hot on her heels.

---

Sayaka was grateful to not have anything to do that morning. Ryo finally decided that there was only so much running through the same information over and over again was going to do. He also decided that he wanted Sayaka to have full concentration on her undercover work instead of worrying about parking duty.

Sayaka was sadder than she cared to admit that she wouldn't be wearing the blue police uniform anymore that she had worked so hard to get to wear. Instead, she would be wearing next to nothing at all…something that a lot of junkies did.

In any case, she got to sleep in which she really needed. She hadn't slept well at all.

Her second shift was tonight, and she figured a strip club would be bustling on a Friday. She would have to look her best.

She wondered if the Kurosawas, Miyamotos, or Watanabe would even be there.

Part of her hoped they wouldn't, and they would never come back again so Ryo had no reason to keep her at the club.

Part of her secretly hoped she could just be on parking duty again.

---

Kyoko was grateful to not have anything to do that morning. Yuma was being a whiny little ass, claiming to have period pains and that she had to stay home. Kyoko called her on her bluff (they lived together so they were pretty much perfectly synced, and Kyoko had finished hers last week so nice try, brat).

Kyoko fell back to sleep right after Yuma left for school. Okay, maybe a bit before that. Fine, basically right after the lying-period conversation or whatever. Kyoko groggily hoped she actually went to school like she was supposed to and didn't hide out in a hotel or somewhere. She had taught her how to live the life of a street rat a little too well.

After properly waking up at 2:00 pm, she decided she had to get down to business. She had no choice but to get a financial plan put together to pay off the church repairs as soon as possible.

She quickly entered in Tomi's newest pay-as-you-go cellphone number into her own pay-as-you-go phone. It was a major pain in the ass changing them every two weeks, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Moshi moshi Kyoko! How can I help you?" He was sounding oddly chipper. It pissed her off.

"Moshi moshi. I was wondering if I could get a few extra shifts? I'm a bit short for rent this month." This was a lie and they both knew it. It was a code in case anyone could hear them.

"I think I can make something work. We have a few stag parties coming in which we could use your help at." More code, meaning that there were some more potential jobs coming up. That's interesting; it was usually lucky if she could get one job every two weeks. She just did one a few nights ago.

"Sounds great. Are there any special requests the patrons had for this party?"

"Actually, there were. Are you free now to come in and discuss them?" Urgent, eh? The pay cheques should be higher then.

"Can do. See you in thirty minutes."

---

Sayaka adjusted her wig again before doing a last time once-over of her outfit. She was virtually unrecognizable. She liked that. It was easier to pretend it wasn't her.

For god's sakes, Sayaka stop being a little drama queen!

Part of her felt like feeling like a prostitute shouldn't be considered dramatic. A logical part also reminded her that she had probably done worse before.

She was feeling so damn conflicted it was physically painful. Her stomach was in knots.

She quickly left through the back door of her building, checking to make sure no one was watching. Realistically, she shouldn't have to worry about the possibility of being watched yet, but you could never be too careful.

The subway ride was uneventful, aside from ignoring the leers of a few (disgustingly) older male riders. She felt the need to clench her legs closer together to be safe.

She walked into the dressing room at 6:30, exactly half an hour before she had to start. Her perfect timing didn't make her feel as proud as she thought it would. She quietly put on even more makeup, as it would seem suspicious if she didn't do any touch-ups in the dressing room and went to pick out an outfit.

"Precious! I heard you had an eventful first shift." Sweetie said with a wink. Sayaka blushed and looked away.

"No kidding. The bitch went up stage without any fucking regards for the rules and stole the best tippers!" A girl with lavender hair who she didn't recognize snapped. Sweetie went to try to calm her down. Sayaka turned away to pick through the outfits.

"It's nice to see her like that with someone other than me." A calm voice said from the other side of the rack. Sayaka pulled apart some of the clothes to peek through and see the owner of the voice.

She was speechless.

The girl looked just like the transfer student, Akemi Homura.

Well, actually, no she didn't. She had long straight black hair, sure. Her eyes were brown though instead of that sort of grey-lavender Akemi had. This woman also had a much narrower mouth and fuller lips that looked like she was stung by a bee, as well as a more aristocratic and pointed nose. All things considered, her face seemed to have a disproportionate skin to facial feature ratio. She had an intriguing appearance, and not in a bad way.

Maybe it was just her demeanor that reminded her of the transfer student.

When she looked at the girl's outfit, her jaw dropped.

"That's beautiful!" It actually was. She wore long, violet satin robes over a surprisingly tasteful black dress which still showed off a fair bit of toned leg. The robes reminder her a lot of a traditional kimono. They also highlighted that she had very, very wide hips.

Now that Sayaka really looked at her, this woman was kind of funny-looking.

"Thank you. I never really cared much for the skimpier outfits." As she said that, a girl wearing a cliché nurse's uniform passed. "Or the sexualized stereotypes."

Sayaka hadn't seen a cop uniform yet, and she was glad. It would probably pain her.

"Yeah…I don't think I could pull off the classy look like you can. I wish I could though."

"Are you new here? I haven't seen you yet. I'm not here very often, so perhaps we have just missed each other." Sayaka realized that maybe 'calm' wasn't the best way to describe her tone. It was sort of monotonous…borderline robotic. Maybe that's what reminded her so much of the transfer student.

"Yeah, this is my second shift. Ah, sorry! I'm Rin. Nice to meet you." She said with a bow.

"Your stage name or actual name?"

"Oh, right. I'm Precious. Nice to meet you." She said with a bow again. The woman made a sound of mirth, but her face didn't move to reflect it.

"I'm Geisha. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She was really formal for a stripper. It seemed odd to her. There was a silence that did not seem to bother Geisha any, but definitely bothered Sayaka some.

"So…how long have you been working here for?"

"The past three years, but I only work every week or two."

"Ah…that sounds nice, actually." It did. Sayaka wouldn't mind only being part-time….very part-time.

"Do you not enjoy work here?"

"No, no! Of course, I had a great first shift here-"

"Hell yeah she did, she got luck-ay!" Lady screamed behind them. The other girls in the room hollered in jest.

"Precious, come over here. We need to get out there soon. Koko's running late so she'll meet us up there." Lady said while pulling Sayaka away.

"Up where?"

"The private room. Same as last time." Lady winked.

"Ah, right!" Sayaka tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her gut. This should be a good thing.

"Which room is that?" Geisha asked. Sayaka noticed Lady bristle.

"Room B." She replied tersely. It looked like there was some bad blood here. "Anyways, Precious, have you found what you want to wear yet? I think you would pull this off well." She shoved a pink Lolita dress into Sayaka's arms. Sayaka thought the thing looked tacky. "Go put it on. Your makeup and hair look fine. Let's go."

"We still have ten minutes before we need to-"

"Let's go, Precious." Lady repeated. Sayaka went to one of the backrooms meant for girls who were shy about changing in front of others and shot Geisha a quick apologetic look. What the hell was that about?

After getting changed, Lady led Sayaka upstairs to the same room from two nights ago.

"Did Koko go over some of the rules we have here? Like, the unofficial ones?" Lady asked.

"Uh, yeah, a few. Why?"

"Because that cow you were talking to is the epitome of why you should follow them. Especially the one about not stealing clients." Lady said with gritted teeth.

"Did she do that?"

"Yeah. And she still does. She has a way with the rich ones in particular, which are the best clients. She stole one from me a few years ago. She stole clients from so many girls that we had made a petition to get her fired. Too many clients liked her though, so all we could do was get her down to barely working here at all. Watch her, because I have no doubt in my mind she will try to snap up baby Kurosawa from right under your nose. She can't be trusted."

"Is that so?" The robotic voice echoed behind them. Sayaka noticed Lady tense again.

"You know it, bitch. Why are you coming with us?" She asked in a way that made it sound like she wasn't asking a question. "Just know that James is mine, and if you come close to him I will rip your long, pretty hair right out." Holy shit!

"That will not be necessary. I am actually going to be servicing my regular client, Miyamoto-san. Geisha replied with a hint of what Sayaka supposed was an attempt at a smile. "So you have caught the attention of this crowd, have you? Has anybody….told you about who they are?" Geisha spoke to Sayaka directly. "They tip well, but they are not the safest bunch to be around."

"Sango warned me about that. They're a bunch of oddballs!" Play it off, play it cool.

"And you are still alright with them? From what I have heard, you are quite a talented dancer and could likely catch the attention of a client who is less risky by nature, but tips just as well. Perhaps a businessman could be better?"

"Thank you, but I'm alright with these guys. I think they just take some getting used to is all." Sayaka smiled. Play it off, play it cool, play dumb.

When she entered, the familiar guests made a sort of sound of greeting, but clearly weren't paying them much attention. The parties of the room were huddled together, speaking quickly. Sayaka noticed that only the Miyamotos and Watanabe were present.

Suki's eyes snapped up. "Where's Koko?" That's a damn good question, where the fuck is she?

"I'm sorry I don't know Miyamoto-san." Sayaka apologized. She fiddled with the frills of her dress, to make her look cuter and because she was nervous. She wasn't quite sure what to do without Kyoko or the Kurosawas here.

"I would suppose she is with Kurosawa-sama. Will he not be joining us today?" Geisha asked as she snuggled in next to Tsubasa, stroking the arm of his suit.

"He should be coming. I would guess that you are right about them though." He smiled warmly to her. Sayaka was pretty sure that was the most she ever heard him say.

"Indeed." James said, eyes overcast with an emotion Sayaka couldn't place. "Well, when the cat's away, the mice will play! We're all in agreement then?" James asked, clearly to the twins sitting adjacent to him.

"Of course." Suki agreed with her brother quietly nodding beside her. Fuck, I bet I should have been in the room for their conversation.

"Great. Well, since we're waiting. Precious, why don't you do a little dance for us! I'll pick the song." James smiled before choosing a sultry song off his ipod which was already connected to the small speakers in the corner of the room.

---

Kyoko adjusted her ponytail again before doing a last once-over of her outfit. The meeting went longer than she thought it would, so she didn't get much time to get ready. That, and all the good outfits were gone. She picked the tacky, slutty cop outfit to be ironic.

She was not surprised, but glad to hear that Kurosawa had been pestering Tomi for some time about getting more work from Kyoko.

"I think it's now or never if we want to take control." He had gestured over to his son, who had sat quietly beside him throughout the entire meeting. "There aren't many on their side left after the big raid from the feds last month, and if we wait too much longer they will recruit enough to put their numbers back up."

Kyoko remembered hearing about that. Someone got some insider information on Kurosawa's rivals, a gang that called themselves "The Black Dragons". They had been around before Kurosawa came, but never got very big; they had been more a group of low-level thugs who robbed convenience stores and dealt marijuana. They exploded and became more organized after Walpurgisnacht though.

One rumour had said that it was someone from the club that tipped off the feds. Kyoko doubted it, since the Dragons basically never came here. This was Kurosawa territory, as much as she hated to admit it.

"I agree with you wholeheartedly Kurosawa-sama."

"Since we have you on board, we can move forward with our plan. Saturday night two weeks from tomorrow, we will be hitting the last ten bosses of the dragons. They are all going to be in their homes, so it will be a long night for you. Our men will be getting them at these locations and times." Kurosawa said as he passed her a note scrawled with geographic coordinates and army times between the latitude and longitude coordinates. Nobody else would have any idea what this was, but Kyoko was familiar with this trick. She was pissed because she would have to dig that old GPS out again…almost as pissed as she was that she would probably need Yuma's help to bait a witch to follow them to all of those houses. They were spread out across town! Most witches don't even like to move that much.

"We want you following about twenty minutes behind our hit team. You don't have to clean all of the scenes, just the last one; we have some other guys who will do that for you so you can keep following. They aren't as good at disposing of bodies as you are, but they can at least clean alright. We'll supply you with a car at the port that night at 23:00 hours. After you're done, bring the car to the train station on 42nd. Leave it there with the keys inside. Make sure you don't leave any traces of you or any of the bodies. Understand?"

"Yeah, do you think I'm an idiot?" Of course I know not to leave any traces asshole.

"Excellent. Thank you for your help Ophelia." Kurosawa smiled. He smile morphed into a taunting malicious smirk when he saw Tomi's displeased expression. Always worried about the bugs in the scarcely furnished room that he checked for thrice a day.

Kurosawa was going to make her work hard; that was for sure. But a good offer was promised: 12,500,000 yen upfront, another after the job was done. That certainly wouldn't be enough to cover all of the repair costs, but it could at least give her a good start. Plus, Tomi had some connections to crooked stock brokers that may be able to help her double her money in weeks, which could help move her along too.

She entered room B confidently, ignoring how sticky the latex boots made her calves feel.

"Theeeerrrrrre's Koko. We were wondering where you were." Suki crooned. "We missed you." Her mock pout drove Kyoko up the wall, but she ignored it.

"I'm sure you did. There's a lot to miss, aint there?" She winked. She looked around quickly, letting her eyes stay on Rin's body sliding down the pole longer than she had to, and was unpleasantly surprised to see the robot bitch in the corner. She sometimes got to fool herself into believing the client-stealer had quit with how few shifts she actually got.

"Geisha. It's been forever." She taunted. "How've you been? Getting by?"

"I have been very well, thank you Koko-kun." Bitch! "And yourself? I trust you have also been well and plenty supported financially and emotionally?"

This weirdo always confused Kyoko. She was sure her facial expression made it clear that she was confused. She talked weird and acted weird in Kyoko's opinion, and had no idea how she was so successful with the clients. Kyoko always suspected that clients mistook her utter lack of people skills and ability to not have a stick up her butt as being classy and mysterious…something most of the girls here were admittedly not.

"Err, yeah, definitely."

"She makes it rain every night she's here, and she's here most nights." Lady boasted.

"Oh girls, stop this cattiness! There's plenty to go around!" James smiled broadly, hands full of large bills while he gestured to the table full of mostly eaten appetizers and untouched alcohol.

"Indeed. Thank you for your generosity Watanabe-sama." Geisha gave a discrete bow that Kyoko found obnoxious. She didn't care if it had anything to do with her damn stage character or not.

"Always so formal! Please, just James is fine. I was never really good with all the Japanese formalities."

"You're laid back and relaxed like an all-American cowboy." Lady swooned, leaning in towards him with hands inching dangerous close to his crotch. For fuck's sakes…

"My apologies James-sama. I just meant to be as courteous to you as possible." She bowed again. Is she capable of speaking without bowing?

"Speaking of being courteous, isn't some service in order." Kurosawa turned his gaze, or rather his leer to Kyoko. She plastered a half-sneer, half-smile on her face that almost looked like her trademark toothy smirk.

"I dunno. Isn't payment in order?"

Kurosawa laughed, handing her a 10,000 note. She took it as she crawled onto his lap, mind wandering off. And eyes wandering off too to the blonde sensually writhing on the floor by the pole. And her eyes weren't the only ones that had been watching.

"Father, would you mind if I excused myself for a moment?" The younger Kurosawa asked, voice almost inaudible.

"You're not needed at the moment." His father dismissed with a wave of his hand, his own eyes not leaving Kyoko's small breasts. She chose to pretend he wasn't looking there while she moved rhythmically in his lap. His son nodded, only to Kyoko's notice.

"Rin, could you come with me? I'd like a private show please." There were groans of disapproval from the other clients in the room. Kyoko wasn't happy herself, having lost a good distraction, but kept quiet. Rin nodded and left the room with the son of her employer and tormentor.

"Get closer." Kurosawa growled out. She did as told, and cringed internally when she felt the tent in his pants rub against her.

"So what took you so long coming in?" James asked casually. Nobody in the room would fool themselves into believing that it was actually just an attempt at small talk though.

"None of your concern, my friend. Just chatting with my son." He smiled, crows' feet crinkling in a deceptively friendly manner.

"How is his…apprenticeship going?" Suki prodded.

"It's coming along. Not as quickly as his brother's had, but it's coming." He sighed.

"Are you planning on giving him control of a segment of operations anytime soon?"

"Why are you so insistent on asking me my business strategy? I hope you're not trying to get information from me to sell to my competitors." He smiled. It was a smile that promised a great deal of pain. Kyoko turned away on his lap, so it was her back to his chest. She hated looking at his face when he was talking 'business', as they called it. She hated looking at his face, period. The things I'll do for money…

"Why don't you just use your magic to get him to give you everything you need?" A familiar, androgynous voice asked. Her eyes snapped up to see the strange feline-ferret creature she despised staring at her from the armrest next to her least-favourite human robot.

"Get out." She mentally snapped. She did her best to keep her composure. She was great at what she did, sure, but she might get let go if anyone suspected her of schizophrenia. And she was sure tempted to skewer that damn white rat thing that had ruined her life so long ago.

"No need for hostilities Kyoko. I'm merely asking a question. Why don't you use your magic? You're still fairly proficient with that form of enchantment magic, aren't you?"

"Fuck off and leave me alone. I'm busy. I actually have a job now."

"Do you enjoy it? I have detected strong signals of disgust, distress, and humiliation when you are here. Why do you subject yourself to something like this when you don't have to?" Of course she didn't like this job; if she were on her own, she would have never done something like this. But she wasn't on her own.

"You know damn well why I do." It was baiting her. She wasn't going to take it. Not right here. Not right now.

Kyubey had been asking these questions for years, especially when she first started working. The first year had been particularly rough; she wished a few times that she could make a second contract with Kyubey, sort of like taking out a second mortgage. She would have made the same mistake she made the first time, and made a wish for someone else's benefit. That someone else had made a wish for her benefit, after all.

The strange creature flicked its tail. That was probably the closest it would ever come to expressing irritation. Kyoko didn't trust people or things that didn't show emotion; she felt like they were hiding something.

That was probably why she didn't like the overdressed woman across from her, who was now staring at her.

"Is everything alright, Koko?"

"Just fine."

---

Sayaka wasn't completely sure what to expect, but she doubted she would enjoy this much. All things considered, the younger Kurosawa was much less…creepy than his father? She wasn't sure if that was the word she would use, but she liked him more than his infamous parent.

As they crowded into the cramped booth like the one they had been in just two days earlier, she began to feel very awkward.

"So, uh…how are you?" Oh shit. Strippers aren't supposed to talk, are they?

His lips, which looked so much like his father's, started to quiver. Then he started sobbing.

"Ah…uh…I'm sorry! We don't need to talk!" She rushed to hug him, unsure of what to do. Do I try to smush my boobs in his face, or what? She sort of jerked her chest upwards.

"No, no." The choked out between sobs. "I'm sorry, this is…fuck." He said aggressively rubbing at his eyes with the sleeves of his now wrinkling shirt.

"It's ok. It's ok. We all have those days." She tried to be comforting. She was sitting next to him, but only half on the seat as it was only designed for one person to sit on it. She tried to her best to ignore her protesting back. She just held him and rubbed his back in circles, like her mom used to do for her whenever she had nightmares as a kid.

"I know I'm not supposed to, but can I hug you back?" He asked quietly, nervously. A hug was innocent enough. She nodded.

Being hugged tightly while being only half on the seat was really uncomfortable.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Ah…I shouldn't but…"

"It's ok. I won't tell. Promise." She smiled sincerely. Maybe.

"It's just family stuff."

"Your dad seems like a…unique individual." She would have used other words, such as corrupt, immoral, an asshole, etcetera but figured that would be a good way to stir up some bad feelings.

"He's a terrible person. It's ok to say it."

"Ah…well, I don't really know him well personally, so I don't think I can say." From his suspected crimes, I can though. "I guess I can't really say much about you either. But from my first impression, you seem like a really nice person to me. I guess the apple can fall pretty far from the tree, huh?"

He scoffed a bit.

"It can, I guess. My father wishes I didn't though. I wasn't even supposed to be the one taking over."

"You weren't?"

"No…my younger brother was. He was always the more ambitious and business-savvy of the two of us."

"What happened?"

"His hobby was drag racing. He died in an accident two months ago. Crashed into the wall of a parkade going 90 kilometers per hour. He watched too many American movies and thought he could do it."

"I'm so sorry for your loss." She said, with genuine sympathy. She had never lost an immediate family member, but she felt like she had lost a sister a few years ago.

"Thank you. It was more of a loss for my father. My brother and I didn't get along much. I personally thought he was a reckless idiot, and he proved that right."

Sayaka nodded, unsure of what to say. Is agreeing with that offensive? I have no idea what to do right now. Even though Sayaka attended plenty of rehab sessions with people pouring their hearts out, she still had no idea how to properly comfort someone.

"Have you ever felt like you're doing the wrong thing with your life?" He asked quietly.

"I'm a stripper." She answered in a deadpan voice. He let out a brief, quiet laugh.

"Good point."

They were quiet for a few moments that felt longer to Sayaka. Her back really was not supposed to stay this way for an extended period of time.

"I was never supposed to be in the family business. My father ignored me for years because I had no aptitude or interest for it. I like it that way." He whispered. "I just finished school to be a chiropractor. That's all I ever wanted to do. I was going to open my own practice." He looked down at her. "Speaking of which, you should not be sitting like that, you're going to completely misalign your lower back. Here." He manoeuvered her so she was sitting much more comfortably on his lap. "Do you mind sitting like this?"

"It's way more comfortable than before." She answered honestly. She couldn't feel anything…hard pressing against her so she didn't mind this position as much as she had her last shift.

"You wanted to be a chiropractor? Really? I thought kids wanted to be firemen, or astronauts, or…" Don't say cops, don't say cops "dancers!"

"I was a weird kid." He smiled. "We got into a car accident when I was very young. I got whiplash, so I had to have a chiropractor fix me up. I thought he did cool work, so I wanted to do it too. Did you want to be a dancer?"

Don't say you wanted to be a cop.

"I wanted to help people, I guess. So maybe something more like a nurse or a doctor?" Sounds more like Madoka than me.

"What happened?"

"A ton of shit." She hadn't prepared much of a background for Yamasaki Rin yet…not that far back anyways. He nodded, dropping the topic which she appreciated.

"What's it like? Working for your father's business?" She wasn't even trying to get information for the force, at this point.

"Hard. I'm not sure if you know this, but your boss Tomi is paranoid of people watching him, or trying to kill him. I heard he can't even sleep for more than 15 minutes at a time. My father is confident that he has…or is going to have the city under his thumb. I think I'm somewhere in between them."

"I'm honestly not sure what you guys do…" Liar. "But I kind of got the impression it was…not completely legal?"

"That's one way of putting it."

"What do you do?" If I can get something like a confession, something, anything… she wasn't sure if she was pushing to get his family's operation shut down, or just to no longer have a reason to come here. He sighed.

"You're a nice person. I can tell. I would hate for someone innocent like you" Ha! "to get caught up in all of this. Trust me, it's for your own safety."

"That bad, huh?"

"Yeah. That bad."

They were quiet again. But at least now her back didn't hurt as much.

"So is the pressure getting you down today?"

"Something like that."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Maybe if she was lucky, he would want to vent about them.

"No. No there's nothing you can do at all. There's nothing anybody good can do."

They sat together for twenty minutes in silence with his head resting in the crook of her neck. Her back was hurting by the end of it.

---

Kyoko wasn't completely sure what to expect, but she doubted she would enjoy it very much. Shortly after Rin left with the baby crime lord, Kurosawa excused himself to take an urgent phone call. She vaguely remembered the biblical story of the man left in the lion's den; her father used to tell her that story. She sort of doubted that her faith in God would help her much here though.

"Geisha, Lady, could you get us two orders of chicken wings and a round of sakes for the table? Don't come back until you have them, please." James asked pleasantly. Shit.

Lady did not look pleased to be dismissed with her far-from-favourite coworker, but she did as told. As soon as the door closed, though no one moved or said anything the tension in the room thickened.

"I assume you won't say anything, being the good little pawn you are, but what were you talking about with the Kurosawas and Tomi?" Suki. Of course she had to throw that thing of being a pawn in there. Kyoko was surprised to see Tsubasa and James throw Suki dirty looks.

"You assumed right."

"Please forgive my sister's lack of manners Kyoko. She has been very…on edge recently. Particularly with Kurosawa's recent behaviour." She said nothing, in an effort to not make it evident that she had no idea what they were talking about. She thought he was being just as much of an asshole as ever.

"He has been trying to take control of all of our operations, see. Without our consent. And without an investment either." James explained.

"Not even any brains to make things run better." Suki added.

"So you're pissed off. How's that my problem?"

"Do you enjoy working for him?" Tsubasa asked with what seemed like innocent curiousity, but she knew better.

"None of your business."

"So you do not, correct?"

"I didn't say yes or no. Don't put words in my mouth. What I do for him and how I like it is my and his business, and ours alone."

"You're asking the wrong questions, Tsubasa-kun. Kurosawa may not be the one to target." James smiled. "Do you like getting paid what you do?" That piqued her interest. It clearly showed.

"Again. That is our business."

"That's great, but we all know what you get paid. We also know what you're going to get paid in two weeks for cleaning up after all of those Black Dragon corpses. We also know you're only getting forty percent of the costs Kurosawa's paying to cover everything up. Did you know that too? That seems like it could be your business."

She was beyond pissed. She was furious. But she tried to keep her cool.

"No. No I did not know that."

"Of course you didn't. After all, the only reason Tomi's even involved is to keep secrets. They're not as well kept as they think they are." Suki said, getting up and walking towards Kyoko.

"It seems ridiculous to think that Tomi gets sixty percent of the profits for your work when he doesn't even keep his side of the deal particularly well. You're the star of this operation. We all know that. Don't you feel that way too, Ophelia?" Something about the way she whispered that name in her ear set even further on edge.

"Kurosawa is a lot dumber than he thinks he is. He's reckless and greedy, which we look down upon, though that may surprise you. We all know" James gestured to himself and the twins "that the only reason he's done as well as he has is because he's always had the right people doing his dirty work for him. And he's never been afraid to throw them under the bus."

"A real leader should be on the floor helping their workers and taking as many risks as possible for them, in my opinion. He's just a fucking coward." Suki sneered. Kyoko had heard about Suki's participative efforts. She always assumed she did it because she was a sadistic cunt. Maybe both.

"Without the right people, his whole house of cards is going to collapse. It's not going to stay up. Do you really want to be there when it falls? It would be so sad for poor…what's her name…Yumi, Yuma is it? It would be so sad for young Yuma to lose her onee-chan." Kyoko leapt forward, hands grabbing Watanabe's collar and holding him off the ground.

"How do you know about her?!" She screamed. She didn't have a mirror, but she was sure her eyes were wide and crazed with fear.

"Sakura Kyoko" Suki started with some kind of emotion in her tone Kyoko couldn't quite place; it almost sounded ironic. That was odd. She had never heard her call her by name. "Don't worry. No one will touch her. You have my word that I will even make sure of that. We never touch family."

James raised his hands in surrender, though it looked pretty insincere to Kyoko. "You have my word. But you may not have Kurosawa's."

"He knows about-" She began distrustfully.

"He gets dirt on everyone. Spies on them. Finds out what makes them tick." Tsubasa began.

"He's known about her since you started here when you were fifteen." Suki finished…with something akin to pity. That stung like nothing Kyoko had ever felt from one of her jabs before. She had no idea they even knew her real age. The fact that Kurosawa was a client of hers since the start became even more disturbing.

"Why did he never say anything, huh? Why did you never say anything if you're any better?" She hissed. She felt like a wounded animal against a wall.

"You never gave anyone a reason to say anything. And I can guarantee you that we would never hurt your sister. As I said: we don't touch family. I'm not sure if that means anything to you or not. At least you know that we know. That was more important to me than you actually joining us as a direct employee with a complete cut." Kyoko didn't believe Suki's ethical bullshit for a second.

"The human trafficker, the one who literally kidnaps girls and sells them into the sex trade has morals?"

"I never said I was a good person. I don't care about people like that. I care about people I know and their families. Beyond that, things get too complicated. Don't pretend you care about every person you pass on the street either."

There was a quiet, nearly inaudible beep from Tsubasa's phone.

"Someone's coming. Stop talking."

Surely enough, twenty seconds later Rin and baby Kurosawa came back in. Shortly followed by Lady and Robobitch with food and a very, very smug looking Kurosawa.

"Well, now that we're all back, how about a show ladies?" He asked with a shit-eating grin and prominent erection.

"I would rather all of you lovely ladies leave for a few moments, if you would not mind." Watanabe asked genially. "You are all lovely, trustworthy ladies I know, but there are some dirty things you shouldn't have to listen to."

"Everyone except for the two leave. They put on a show while we talk. Surely we can multitask, can't we James? I thought you Americans loved to do everything at once."

James sighed. It was clear he knew he couldn't win.

"Fine. Precious, Koko, if you will." Geisha and Lady left the room quietly and politely, as they have been conditioned to do here. The door shut as Kyoko led a surprisingly hesitant Rin to the stage. "About this rat problem you have Kurosawa-san…"

"Are you ok with this? You seem nervous." Kyoko whispered as she put in a slow, seductive sounding jazz that she hoped would lessen the tension in the room. She wasn't sure. Music was never really her thing.

"Yeah! Yeah, of course. Let's do this!" Her enthusiasm seemed very misplaced for this situation, but someone eager was better than a dead starfish. Kyoko wasn't going to pretend that she fully believed her for a second though.

"Oh god, I just looked at what you're actually wearing." She said, looking in horror at the cop outfit.

"A cop and a child. We should coordinate better next time. I think there's a prisoner outfit downstairs that should fit you." She replied noncommittally. Truthfully, she didn't really care. She just wanted something to get her mind off of Kurosawa, and there was a curvaceous blonde right in front of her literally waiting to be touched.

"You realize this man is a cop, yes? You can't just kill him. That would raise far too many suspicions." James prodded Kurosawa, ignoring the spectacle they were putting on. It was a bit frustrating, because it seemed like Rin was ignoring their spectacle too.

"Come here." She ordered discretely. She didn't even bother to waste time with quick gentle kisses. She went straight to biting and hair pulling and grabbing body parts rougher than she should have.

Do you enjoy it?

She could block it out. She could block it all out.

"Of course I knew that. I check everyone, you know that. This was a good way to give the pigs a sense of security. I know where his family lives. He has a pregnant wife and four year old son. We can use all of this to our advantage."

Her ruby eyes flashed up to find emerald open with horror. That's right. This was the first time she heard them talk real strategy, wasn't it?

"But he wasn't supposed to find out about Tuesday's shipment. What am I supposed to tell my people in the Philippines? To call it off? To stay at risk but housing the load for an extra few days? To make another bribe to the harbour officials? This puts us at risk of a major loss, both financially and of man power."

"Either ignore them or leave." She said from above her. Rin stammered below.

"I will take care of things here. You will take care of things there. That's our arrangement so do something. I can't control the occasional slip ups of some of my lower staff, but I can guarantee you that this will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately."

"No one will judge you if you leave." She felt awkward essentially sitting on top of this clearly distressed new girl whose neck was now splotchy and red with hickeys and bites (oops). Was she supposed to comfort her or…?

"I can block it out. I can block it all out." She nodded earnestly. Kyoko winced inside. This girl was about as ok as she was.

"Is everything ok over there?" James asked. Shit. "I think it would be better if you two left."

"Maybe you're right. My apologies girls. Come back in five minutes with a dry martini for me." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"N..no! It's fine! Really!" With a sort of agility Kyoko hadn't expected, Rin sprung up knocking Kyoko onto her back and bumping their heads painfully in the process. Kyoko reached up to touch her forehead where she could feel an impressive lump forming, but a blonde head was already in the way kissing with fervor. While she appreciated the passion and enthusiasm, it was clear to Kyoko that this girl had it for all of the wrong reasons.

"You can stop Rin." Baby Kurosawa said quietly. It was enough to make her come up for a breath and look at him. A few tear drops fell onto Kyoko's face. Looking closely, it wasn't obvious to others she was crying. Her eyes looked amazingly clear. But Kyoko could tell and it was enough for her to know that she had to get this girl out of here before any more drama occurred.

"Maybe we can keep going another time." Kyoko said with a wolfish grin, aimed at both her show partner and the crowd. With a quick nip of her new kouhai's lips, she pushed them both upwards and ushered them out of the room as quickly as possible.

"I'm really, really sorry." She barely heard muttered behind them as the door was closed.

"Come on. Let's get you to the dressing room. We can get you cleaned up a bit."

---

That was terrible. That was absolutely terrible. She fucked up so badly and all she wanted to do was call her Mom and cry. She broke down in the change room.

"Well. You've had some eventful first shifts." Kyoko said conversationally. She looked in the mirror to see the older girl's reflection. She was rubbing her forehead, which had a nasty looking bump on it and had her eyes focused on the ground. It's nice of her to try…

"I'm really sorry for freaking out." Sayaka said sniffling and rubbing away her tears. "I just wasn't expecting something like that."

"Are you sure you still want to do this? You're going to hear things like this and worse. No one will hold anything against you if you leave. Seriously. It's a revolving door of workers with those guys and they know it. They really, truly, don't care." There was a second's pause. "And they definitely won't go after your family or anything if you're just a stripper. Uh, not saying that you're just a stripper, but to them you are, but you know, you're more than that and…uh…" She's trying damn hard it's cute.

"I get what you're saying. I appreciate it. Thank you. But…." I need to be there to find out more things like that so I can warn my coworkers and their families when they are in danger? I need to tell them now! It's not only me!

She was about to puke. She could feel it. Oh god, she was about to puke.

"Could I speak to her for a moment, Koko?" Geisha asked. "Privately?"

"Why should I let you do that?" She seemed to challenge.

"I mean this as kindly as possible, but when you first arrived, that set of clients seemed like a type you would have already been familiar with and therefore more adaptable to. I can see Precious here has not encountered this type, and neither had I when I first started. I thought that perhaps I could relate to her more familiarly than you could." It struck Sayaka as an odd and unintentionally rude way of saying 'I think I can relate to her more than you could because you are a sketchy individual and we are not'. Kyoko seemed to think so too.

"Fine. I'll be back in two minutes to check up on her. We need to go back soon. And I need to get him a dry martini." She remembered with a snap of her fingers and walked to the main area to get the drink ready. As soon as the door closed…

"You need to consider your next course of action very carefully. I was not there so I cannot say how they may be interpreting what happened, but you should be very, very cautious."

"I know, I know I messed up. I just…wasn't expecting that is all. I can keep it in better in the future."

"There may not be a future if you make the wrong move or say the wrong thing. I don't know what they were thinking sending you there when you're so young and inexperienced." Again, unintentionally rude. It rubbed her the wrong way, but she tried to shrug it off.

"I think Ky-uh, Koko's right. I'm just a stripper. They won't go after my family or anything if I seem uncomfortable. I'll just get fired is all."

"You are missing the point completely."

"No, I think you're reading too far into this. I appreciate your concern, I do, but I'll be fine! Uh…they haven't gone after stripper's families before, have they?"

"I am not familiar with that group of clients killing ay workers here, but I have heard of others who have killed strippers outside of clubs, either for leisure or political purposes if they feared they knew too much. It is a very real risk to you." Ah…well then.

Kyoko came back holding a drink.

"Are you done now? We need to go back."

Geisha nodded and left the room. It was only Kyoko and Sayaka.

"Can I ask you what may be a ridiculous question?" Sayaka asked.

"Go for it."

"Do you think they're going to kill me for leisure or political purposes after what just happened?"

Kyoko blinked at her.

"Uh…what?"

"Do you think they're going to kill me for leisure or political purposes after what just happened?"

"Ah. I was hoping I had heard that wrong. No, no I don't think they'll kill you for…leisure or political purposes, did you say? Fucking hell, what did Robobitch tell you?"

"That if I act too freaked out or shady or whatever, they may kill me for leisure or political purposes."

"Gotcha…I guess. No, they're good with the whole don't-kill-strippers thing. If someone has to be fired for getting freaked out or knowing too much, I take care of that."

"You kill strippers for leisure or political purposes?"

"No! I am very convincing in making sure that they won't say anything. And just like that, if you get too scared, which is fine, I will just convince you to make sure you won't say anything."

"That seriously works? Come on, you really think that works?"

"I can be very persuasive." She said darkly. "Robobitch was trying to freak you out so she could take the younger Kurosawa for herself. She's done shit like this before. She once convinced a new girl that a client was working in human trafficking and trying to lure her into becoming a prostitute. The guy was a loan shark for god's sakes, and she knew it too. Now are you coming back or not?"

Consider your next course of action very carefully.

It's not just for me anymore. It's for everyone who has been tracking these monsters for years.

"Yeah. I'm set. How does my makeup look?"

"It looks fine. Let's go."

---

That was terrible. That was absolutely terrible. Kyoko beat herself up that she let things get that bad. That she let everything…the church, the job, Yuma, everything get so bad.

She was a fuck up.

"One dry martini for you Kurosawa-sama." She said with an insincere fanged grin.

"Thank you Koko. Are you girls up for performing that show now? I think we would all like to see it."

It didn't look like he was lying. This was the first time she had ever seen James without some sort of cocky grin. He just looked worn out. The Miyamotos looked frustrated, though they showed it to different degrees.

She turned to Rin. Ah fuck, we should have changed outfits while we were down there. "Could I convince you to join me on stage?" She grinned, stalking over to the girl, swaying her hips for Kurosawa and licking her lips. She was playing up the big bad wolf game. But truth be told, as long as Rin was actually emotionally stable, she wouldn't mind letting loose a bit.

"Ok…" She mumbled.

It was much smoother than before the mini meltdown, but it wasn't nearly as electrifying as last time. She seemed more hesitant now. It had never occurred to Kyoko to follow up with her today about how she really felt about last shift. However, if the young girl's moans as she thrusted down on her fingers, the way her tongue was almost out of her mouth, the way she was getting so wet were any indication, she was just fine.

She ignored that way Geisha in particular seemed to stare at them.

She really ignored the way Kyubey's tail swished back and forth as it watched them. Fucking perverted ferret thing.

---

She was so relieved that the night was over. That had been hell. She looked over her shoulder to entire way home to make sure no one was following her. She went the roundabout way Ryo had taught her designed to lose people who were tailing her. She got changed at the right place to make sure she really messed with their heads. She did everything she needed. Now she needed to decide her next course of action.

She wanted to call her parents and spend the night there. Hell, she wanted to sleep in their bed with them like she was a little kid who just had a nightmare. But she couldn't be that weak. Not yet. Not now.

"Miki? Why are you calling so late? What's wrong?"

"You need to evacuate the Kurosawa undercover's family. They have known for a long time that he was a cop, but he wasn't supposed to find out about Tuesday's shipment. They know he has a family and are going to target them."

"Shit. I'm on it. Good work Miki. Are there any other pressing matters?"

"No, that's all I know. Please do something fast!"

"Got it. Have a good night. We'll talk on Monday."

They hung up. She exhaled in relief. She dialed the first number on speed dial. Her parents had caller ID. They would pick up and be there in a heartbeat. They always were. It only took two rings. She sometimes wondered if her mother could ever have a sound night's sleep again.

"Sayaka? What's wrong? Are you ok?"

She wanted to say yes. She wanted to say everything was fine. But somehow, when she heard her mother's concerned voice, she just broke down.

"No Mom." She sobbed. "No, I'm not ok, can I come over?"

"Of course, honey, of course! Do you want us to come pick you up? Your father…" She heard a silence and a snort. She suspected her mother just jabbed him awake "your father is awake and can be there to come get you in about ten minutes."

"Ok, I'll be ready and will see-" She heard a noise…a car coming to stop outside on the street. She looked out the window. Across the street, parked inconspicuously in the shadowed area not lit by street lamps was a black car she had never seen before. Her vision wasn't good enough to see inside the windows. Who was in there? Was it Kurosawa? The Miyamotos? Watanabe? Some goon?

Geisha and Sango's warnings echoed in her mind.

And her parents were about to come over.

"Nevermind. I think I'll be fine." She tried to keep the terrified tremor from her voice.

"What? You were just sobbing and begging us to come over! We're coming over."

"No! You can't come over!"

"Why not!?"

Why not? I'm doing direct undercover work of some of Japan's worst crime lords, and they may be tracking me. They may try to find anyone close to me they can use against me, like they did to that other undercover.

"I…I've relied on you guys for so long. You have been there for me time and time again, especially over the last few years. I need to learn to stand on my own two feet…"

"That's bullshit." Sayaka couldn't remember a time she heard her mother say that. "That's bullshit in every way and you know it! We're your parents, so I don't care if I have to drive across the damn country when I'm 90, if you need me, you need me! We're coming over now and you can't stop us."

Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no!

"I lied Mom! I'm sorry! It's a work thing. It's a scary work thing I can't get into, but I'm scared that if you and Dad come…you'll be in danger too." She whispered hurriedly. There was almost a sense of relief in admitting that she was terrified about what she was getting into, but it didn't even come close to outweighing the fear she felt from thinking that Kurosawa was outside, watching her, trying to find information on her.

The phone was silent.

"Sayaka, what's going on? Why are you in danger?" She sounded calm. Surprisingly calm.

"There's…" She wasn't sure how to respond. Should she lie? She felt like she had been doing too much of that, and her parents could see right through her anyways. "There's someone outside. I don't know who, but I'm worried about who it might be."

"Can you describe the person outside?"

"I thought I was the cop."

"And I'm your mother, so I don't care what you do, you're still my baby. Who's outside?"

"It's a black car in the shadows. I can't see who's inside. But they haven't moved for a few minutes."

"Where are they parked?"

"Across the street from my apartment. Near the red apartment building."

"And you're sure they're not waiting for someone inside that building?"

"Uh, well…" And surely enough, a young women in a low cut black dress came out smiling and got in the car. The mysterious car drove off. "A girl in a black dress just got in the car and they drove off. I guess they were waiting for someone. Haha…false alarm." She finished weakly.

"False alarm." She heard her mother repeat. In the background, she heard her father apologize and say it was a false alarm.

"Did you guys call 911?!"

"You said there was someone outside your apartment, of course we did! Sayaka, I have no idea what this new work you're doing is, but it sounds terrifying and it's making you paranoid. I don't think you can handle this with where you are in treatment."

"I've been clean for almost two years Mom, I'm not in treatment anymore." Bullshit lie, and she knew it.

"You're never fully in the clear. You're putting yourself at risk and we are coming over to get you right now."

"That may have been a false alarm, but you don't know who's out there! I don't want you coming over. Not tonight. Please, just not tonight. Tomorrow. I'll see you first thing tomorrow, I promise. Just don't come over tonight. Please Mom, please." She was crying again. She was begging. She felt pathetic.

"Do you understand what you're asking us to do? You're asking us to leave you alone when you're clearly terrified. I don't even know what's going on, but I can't leave you alone like this."

"I'll call someone from work to stay with me. I can even have them call you from my phone to prove that they're here. They are way more qualified to provide protection than you. Please Mom, just don't come over tonight."

Silence again.

"Fine. I expect a phone call in 30 minutes from your phone and to speak to someone whose name I know. If I don't hear anything, we're coming over."

"Thanks Mom. I love you." She meant it.

"I love you too. More than anything." She heard some rustling in the background. "Your father says he loves you too, and together we love you more than anything. We just want to make sure you're safe."

"I know. I'll call them now. Talk to you in half an hour."

They hung up. She called Ayumi, a friend of hers from the force with only a bit of extra experience. She was also considered for the Tomi assignment. Ayumi was surprisingly good about it and came over. Twenty-seven minutes later, she phoned her parents to let her know she was staying over.

Ayumi brought wine, which would have pissed off her parents. "Sounds like you really need some", she had said. They talked about work, but not about many of the finer details of the Tomi assignment. They bitched about Ryo. They went to bed. One thing stood out to her more than anything though, which Ayumi only said after a few drinks.

"At first, I was pissed that I didn't get the assignment. Especially when you got that killer lead on the first night. But I just got a text from Eito saying he had to help an undercover pack up his family and leave town and now you're like this. I'm sorry Sayaka, but I'm glad you beat me. I hope I never get an undercover assignment."

"I hope you don't either." And she hoped she would never get another again after this was all over.

---

She was so relieved the night was over. There was way more drama than she would have liked, on top of all of the bullshit that was already happening with her.

She tried to be as quiet as possible coming in. She didn't want to wake Yuma up.

She was pleasantly surprised to see everything clean and sparkling. They generally lived in a bit of a pigsty, even though both of them liked clean places. Actually taking the time to clean was not something either of them liked to do though.

She was unpleasantly surprised to not find Yuma in bed. Or the bathroom. Or anywhere in the apartment. She found a note on the table.

"Hi Kyo!

"A friend from art club invited me out tonight. I would have texted, but I knew you were working and stressed and didn't want to bother you. I'll be back by midnight!

"Love, Yuma"

She never signed anything with "love", which concerned her. Secondly, it was almost three in the morning. Where the hell was she?

She picked up her phone and was about to text her.

"Kyoko! This is bad!" A familiar voice warned her telepathically. It was the damn fur ball again. However, she had a feeling he was going to be bring very important, and clearly very bad news. What the fuck did you do Yuma?!

"Where's Yuma?" She asked verbally.

"She tried to fight a witch on her own. She got badly injured. There may not be much time! She's at the park nearby."

That was all it took for Kyoko to transform and jump out the window. Thankfully, along the skyline it only took her three minutes to get there. Three minutes too many…

She could sense the witch's barrier immediately. It was warped, so there was clearly a fight inside. She jumped in.

The barrier reminder her a race car park. A crowd of colourful faceless familiars who seemed to do nothing but cheer littered the stands. But where was the witch?

"Help! Help us!"

Kyoko looked over to see a group of four young people, probably in their teens who went out for the night. She noticed one of them in particular; a young blonde girl with pigtails. She looked like she was only Yuma's age. They were being crowded in the stands, almost trampled by the familiars. Then she looked at the track.

Yuma was there. She was lying down against the walls. Kyoko bounded over to her.

"Yuma!" No response. "Yuma! Answer me!" She shook her. That was when she felt it. She pulled her hand back.

Red.

Blood.

She turned Yuma over, and was horrified. Her back was completely open. The skin was ripped off. Her spinal cord was exposed and clearly broken in numerous places. Her soul gem on the back of her neck wasn't cracked, but it was getting darker pretty quickly.

"Help us! Please, help us!"

She heard an engine revving behind her.

She found the witch.

A huge gaudy armoured pink race car with spiked tires sped towards them. She knew she could hit it, but she didn't know if she could stop it.

The car was going to run over Yuma if she couldn't.

Her split second decision led to her grabbing Yuma and dodging. Damn good thing too because it decimated the wall, sending cheering familiars flying.

Yuma wasn't responding.

The four people were screaming for help. The stands seemed to be getting more and more crowded…

"It's too bad you never learned how to use your magic again. You could have sent a copy or two to go save those people."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I suck."

She could carry Yuma over one shoulder. She could maybe carry one of the people over the other.

There was no way she could save all of them. If Yuma hadn't been injured, they could have each taken two.

Could she even save any of them?

"Please, help us!" The blonde one screamed. She looks like Mami. Her companions seemed to be unconscious now. She knew which one she was saving.

She jumped, trying not to get caught in the colourful mosh pit. She sliced away a few layers of familiars to uncover the girl's upper body. It was difficult, but with enough arm power she could pull her out.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! My sister, her boyfriend, and his friend are still in there!"

Kyoko jumped away, running as quickly as she could away from the center of the labyrinth.

"No! Go back! We need to get them still! Go back! GO BACK!"

"Sorry kiddo. I only have two arms." She cringed internally. She knew she should have been more sympathetic, but when you're trying to run from a fucking race car with two pubescent girls on your shoulders, it's hard to find energy to be kind. For Mami, being kind was effortless. For Kyoko, not so much. Not even for Yuma.

"Yuma, you fucking idiot, why didn't you call me?!" She screamed to the unconscious corpse (no, no! Not a corpse! Just a beat up body, but she's fine. She's not a corpse, she's not dead! She's not dead!).

They reached the outside of the labyrinth, emerging a few blocks down. Further away from the apartment where they had the extra grief seeds that Kyoko didn't bring with her, of course.

Her back was knitting itself back together nicely, but her soul gem was getting very, very tainted. Yuma was using her power subconsciously. She couldn't stop it. She couldn't conserve her power. She had to get her back to the apartment immediately.

"Please! Can you go back and get my sister? At least just my sister, please!" The girl had big brown eyes. She really did look a lot like Mami. Poor Mami who just didn't want to be alone…

"I need to take my own sister" she nodded down to Yuma "to fix her up. If I don't, she'll die. I really am sorry." She meant it.

"You can contract with me and become a magical girl just like them! Maybe you can save your sister and friends yourself." Kyubey messaged the girl telepathically, but allowed Kyoko to hear the conversation.

"Really? I could do that?" She asked hopefully.

"He's lying! Don't do it! They were already dead!" She called over her shoulder. She didn't stop though. She left, hoping but doubting that the girl heeded her advice. To be honest, she wasn't sure if they were dead or not, but she figured it might help quell any temptation to be an idiot. If they weren't dead then, they must have suffocated by now. Had Yuma not been on the verge of becoming a witch in her arms, she would have stayed and tried a bit harder.

She jumped over the tall skyline to the penthouse apartment where the window was still open from where she jumped out. She really should have just used the damn balcony.

They had a stash of three grief seeds built up. Just one and a half or two should do the trick, but then they'd start to be a bit low.

Yuma's soul gem cleared up nicely. It was going to need to be purified again soon based on the amount of magic she was going to need to regrow and fix her spine. Kyoko tried to place the bones in as correct a position as possible. If I fuck it up, she can just fix it later…right?

Three grief seeds probably wouldn't be enough.

It pained her, but she was going to have to leave Yuma to kill the race car witch. Just one more grief seed should make her right as rain.

The barrier was gone when she got there. Of course, a RACE CAR witch would be gone by now. Who the fuck becomes a race car witch? I mean seriously?!

She could sense one nearby though. It wasn't the same magic residue, but it was definitely a witch. A witch is still a witch.

She found it quickly and jumped in. Kyoko was familiar with the patterns of many labyrinths. They were usually creepy, and fairly spacey, like a pin drop could create a loud echo. And there were usually at least a few chambers to go through.

This one seemed to take her straight to the center. And it wasn't spacey at all.

It was like she was back in that mosh pit, but she was underneath it. It was like quicksand that moved quickly and violent. Above, she could see red and green shapes moving back and forth. She was able to extend her spear to pierce a red shape which pulled her out.

Once she was out, she recognized the familiar.

It was her.

"I really am sorry." It said in a distorted, low voice. In the centre, she could see what looked like a yellow lollipop with wings sticking out of the head struggling in the pit much like she had before. There was no doubt about it. In the ten minutes she had been gone, the girl contracted and became a witch.

She was a quick witch to kill. Even quicker than her time as a magical girl.

The barrier dissipated and a grief seed fell. Kyoko picked it up and looked at it.

"You got a grief seed. Aren't you happy? You should bring it back to Yuma now."

"What happened here, exactly?" She asked tersely. She stared at the grief seed. She couldn't stand to look at the little white demon beside her. Papa was right; I did sell my soul to the devil.

"She contracted to have the same powers you do. She went back into the labyrinth and found that her sister and friends had already died, just like you said. Then she became a witch."

"Didn't you tell her she could save them?"

"I said she could maybe save them. I had no way of knowing if they were alive or not. My duties do not include supervising witches or their victims; I only supervise living magical girls until they transform. So from my standpoint, it was true that there was a possibility that they were alive and she could save them. Isn't that what the word 'maybe' means?"

She gripped the grief seed tightly.

"Technically, yes. But that's not how we would use it in that case. We would have explained that she probably could not have saved them at all and told her to move on with her life!"

"But she didn't ask what the probabilities of saving them were. If she had, I would have told her it was about two percent. How can you be upset with me for a negative outcome that was based on her lack of rational reasoning? I don't understand you humans sometimes."

"I doubt you ever will, devil."

She got back to the apartment shortly. Yuma's spinal cord was already fixed and reattached, with her back mostly healed. It did take another grief seed. She used the other one that had been in their stash.

She wished this would all be over soon. But it wouldn't. After all: she had sold her soul to the devil.

AN:

Hahahaha, I thought this chapter was going to be short! 51 pages later, with most of the things I had intended to have happen not in there to cut down the length, I have been proven wrong. Wow.

I'm really sorry about how long this took to get out. A bad combination of work, new ideas for the story and this chapter just getting away from me made this take much, much longer than I had intended. I'm going to work a bit harder at "cutting the fat", so to speak. This chapter got really long because I was setting up a lot of plotlines (bonus points if you can figure any of them out!) that were going to be coming up so there should be a lot more action going forward. I am very sorry to anyone who felt that this chapter was tedious.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to review, particularly those who took the time and gave constructive criticism! It has really helped me out and motivated me. I want to let people know a few things going forward.

Some have mentioned they missed the love-hate relationship. Don't worry, I love that too, and it is going to be coming very soon. Maybe not between "Rin" and Kyoko, but definitely between Sayaka and Kyoko, and it might start in the next chapter or two.

As you have noticed, there are quite a few OCs. I myself am not a big fan of them, but I try to make them as developed as possible if I need to have them. I also only have OCs that are important to the plot of Sayaka and Kyoko's development. Sayaka's parents are actually only semi-OC. The characters are based on what I'm pretty sure were her parents in the anime (there was a scene where she was a kid watching Kyousuke's performance; I decided that the two adults sitting on either side of her were her parents). Gen Urobochi said in an interview that her parents were "petite bourgeoisie", so I made my own personalities for them based on that. Think of the short story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and you have my inspiration for these two! I can promise you now, there are no more significant OCs going forward.

For the writing the same conversation between Sayaka and Kyoko from both points of view being boring, I completely agree; it was also boring to write. That won't be happening again!

As usual, I love feedback and would love to hear more from you guys!

Thanks for reading!

-Don'tKillKenny