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.

11. Chapter 11

Part II – The Catalyst

Chapter 11

Kyoko lounged lazily in her black leather arm chair. It was one of those luxury executive chairs that was way too expensive to actually justify the cost. It was more for status than function. The bass boomed from the lower level of the club.

She glanced at the money counter as it rapidly flipped through the hundreds of notes of yen. It finally stopped and flashed the number 1,678,500. Those were last night's, Friday's cash earnings. Last night's costs of food and alcohol was a bit less than half of that.

They did well last night. As usual. Kyoko smiled.

She unlocked the bottom drawer of her cabinet. It was full of stacks of high value yen. She pulled out a wad of bills, adding them to the machine. It flipped through the notes again.

This time it flashed the number 3,828,500.

Much better.

She stretched back and yawned. She wondered if she could get away with a quick cat nap. She heard a gentle knock on her office door. She frowned.

Guess not.

"Come in."

They knocked again, but more insistently this time.

"COME IN!" She yelled. The door opened quickly. Sango cowered in front of her, as she always did. Kyoko had never actually done anything threatening to Sango; she just had that effect on people now more than ever.

"Sorry Sakura-san. They're here. Room B." They were early today.

"Thanks Sango. Hope I didn't scare ya." She flashed a grin that was meant to put the girl at ease, but her fang gave her a menacing look that did the opposite. The girl squeaked and closed the door gently behind her. Kyoko shook her head.

At least Sango was pretty damn good at her job now. Kyoko regularly gave the girl bonuses and gift certificates to spas as thanks. The added benefit that spas were supposed to help relax people was a plus.

Kyoko got up and twisted around until she felt a good crack. She grabbed the box of pocky on her desk for a snack. She was remarkably calm, considering that someone she had the displeasure of knowing was going to die tonight. She strode with confidence through her domain to the infamous room B.

"You're early again. I told you to stop doing that." She didn't really care that much, but she really could have used that nap.

Her good mood disappeared as soon as she noticed one man she wouldn't have minded never seeing again:

Watanabe James.

"What can I say? We just can't stay away from the good ol' club." Watanabe grinned, slinging back a shot of sake. "And I was hoping for a warmer greeting than that! Didn't you miss me?" He had been away on a 'trade mission' to California, Hawaii, and countries in the southern Pacific she had never heard of. She hadn't actually seen the man in four months.

"Nah, you were still a pain in the ass when you were gone." Her grin was insincere. They laughed obnoxiously hard. Shallow formalities.

This was the first time she had met with all of her business partners at once in a long time. Watanabe, Tomi, and Kurosawa Fusao were all enjoying drinks. She would enjoy her pocky.

She didn't take her eyes off of Watanabe.

"So the Americans are being difficult. They found out we're mixing the products together. They want all diamond or nothing. What do you all think?" Watanabe asked as if discussing the weather.

So that's the way you wanna play this? Alright. Let's play it. Kyoko could be civil, especially in the presence of Tomi and Kurosawa.

"Leave them. They're the hardest to export to anyways. We've got plenty of distributors who are happy with what we have and sell out within a day. We're already running much lower than we anticipated from demand as it is. We don't need them if they want to use up the rest of our supply for themselves. Greedy Americans." Kurosawa sneered. He had never been a fan of the American market. He found them to be quite rude. From what Kyoko had heard, they were cutthroat and happy to abandon her enterprise's men on a second's notice for something locally made or cheaper and Mexican.

"Let's lay off them for a while. But when they buy, they buy a lot, yeah? We've almost figured out the recipe, so let's not rule anything out yet. They might be good customers when we got a fresh supply coming in." Kyoko argued back. Their idea to try to hand out the Diamonds in small increments went to hell pretty fast; there was so much international demand and they were willing to pay premium when the interest was renewed and high (no pun intended). They decided they would try to make their own and sell that once they had the cook perfected.

Trying to figure out the damn recipe had been one of the banes of her existence the last few months. It was obvious the diamonds weren't pure meth; they wouldn't be the colour they were otherwise. But it was laced with other things that, according to their users was fantastic and basically made it a new kind of drug on its own; it was something like an incredibly powerful aphrodisiac. They just needed to find out what was in it and approximately how much.

Alright, so they weren't really close, but they had figured out that it was high quality meth combined with something else which was a good start.

"I agree with Kyoko. There's still time for us to figure it out. Let's not burn any bridges when we haven't even started out." Tomi always backed up Kyoko when it was between her and Kurosawa, even when she was wrong. When she was wrong, Tomi would tell her afterwards why she was wrong and how to spin the next idea to what Kurosawa had originally suggested, but make it sound like her own idea. They were jerks.

Kurosawa was still getting flak from all of them because of their intense dislike of his father, nearly nine months after the man was arrested.

"Good point. I'm happy with that." The young Kurosawa was generally agreeable and easy to work with. He also put up with their asshole antics quite well. His phone beeped as an alarm went off. "It's starting."

Everyone nodded. About damn time. They sat in comfortable silence enjoying their vices of choice.

Kyoko checked the geocaching app on her phone. She smirked. One of the three flagged locations went from being marked black to turquoise. Damn, they got a point on me.

Kurosawa's phone rang. He answered but said nothing in greeting. Kyoko heard the voice on the other side of the phone.

"It's done."

They hung up. Everyone stayed quiet, nothing but the obnoxious bass booming from outside. Kurosawa took a shot of vodka and poured himself another. He raised the shot glass in the air.

"If you'll all join me?"

Kyoko poured herself a shot, not that she wanted one. It was just polite to do in this case.

"To Kurosawa Yuta. May you burn in hell with our fallen friends, Tsubasa and Suki. Kanpai!"

"Kanpai!" They all cheered, clinking glasses and taking the shots.

"You did the right thing Fusao. It takes a lot of strength to do that." Watanabe shot Kyoko a meaningful look. She returned his look with a steeled gaze.

"And I appreciate that I was the one to make that decision. No one else." Kurosawa nodded, his glance moving between the two.

"For sure." She kept her eyes on Watanabe. The tension in the air was palpable.

The decision to have the older Kurosawa one did not come lightly. The man had remarkably not sold anybody out. That said, it was likely because he was only facing significant charges for tax fraud; if he threw the others under the bus for drug trafficking, his own sentence would probably have been extended beyond the one year stint in minimum security he was stuck with. He did it to save his own skin; not out of any loyalty to others.

Everyone chatted amicably for a bit before they left; they kept up appearances, but everyone knew it was best to get out of there as quickly as possible. Some money was exchanged. Kyoko went back to counting her money, doing orders, and checking the books before closing up.

She was proud to say that she had completely turned Kyo's Gentlemen's Club around when she rebranded it as Club KYO. It was basically a rave every single night but with professional strippers. A number of girls quit after the Kurosawa incident and she had trouble replacing them at first; she went out on a limb and hired some male strippers which was the best idea she'd ever had. It had shocked everybody how popular the club became among young women. The place was packed every night with a drug and sex-crazed maniacs. It got a number of the hottest clubs in Kazamino and New Mitakihara shut down, even TK Club.

Naturally, the cops were up her ass all the time. Luckily, none of them seemed to think she herself was involved with any dealings downstairs, which she wasn't. That was all small-time stuff and would have been way too obvious. She made efforts to keep drug consumption to a minimum downstairs because when things get out of hand, things get broken. It at least looked like she was trying to keep the drug use to a minimum, so the cops generally let her go.

When Sayaka was still a cop, Kyoko saw her there. A lot. It even became a running gag that Sayaka would bring taiyaki with her. Sayaka never suspected her because Kyoko took very, very delicate care to keep her club life and magical girl life separate. It helped that Sayaka viewed Kyoko through rose-coloured glasses more than was sensible for a detective. The cops never suspected her, because it never occurred to them that a drug lord would be so stupid as to publicly run a club that was full of them.

But others did. Some were addicts hoping to find the stash for themselves. Others were from rival gangs who wanted to steal the stash to sell. In any case, they were dangerous; or they thought they were. They might have been dangerous to ordinary humans. That's why she made sure she was the last to leave every night. And tonight would be no different.

It was four AM and her sleek black car was the last in the parking lot. She subtly checked around. She saw them. Another black car was parked across the street. It could be nothing. It could just be a black car parked in the middle of the night in the most industrialized part of downtown Kazamino, where there were no apartment buildings for blocks.

She decided to test it.

She pulled out her phone and went to the geocaching app. There was a message from team SaYu, or team Sayaka-Yuma mocking her for falling behind in the game. Saturday nights were busiest at the club, but they were also the busiest for witches. So Sayaka and Yuma would go hunting on their own, and Kyoko would hunt on her own at the end of the night if she still had energy. If they killed the witch, the location was marked turquoise. If Kyoko got the witch, it was marked red. At the end of the month, the team with the least markers bought the winner dinner.

Kyoko had lost the last two months, but they were pretty neck and neck this month. She sometimes wondered if Sayaka, who was the one actually finding the witches during the day, was cheating and not recording every witch she found for Kyoko to see too.

Nah, she wouldn't play dirty like that; not if humans' lives were at risk. She's too good for that.

That seemed more like something Kyoko would do.

There was a witch about a fifteen minute drive from the club, down near the harbour. She shifted into gear and went racing out of the parking lot. Now that she could actually drive stick, she couldn't imagine even trying to drive automatic. She was speeding in honour of the race car witch, of course; not because she was a speed demon or liked breaking the law. Of course not.

She glanced in her rear-view mirror. Surely enough, she was being followed. She shook her head.

They never learn.

The harbour would be the perfect place to take them. It seemed like a place someone would hide a stash of drugs.

A dumb person with no creativity would, anyways.

Kyoko materialized her soul gem. She could feel the witch in the area. She parked the car in a back alley and made a show of putting her dark green hood up and checking for people around her. She wanted to make it look like she didn't want to be followed. She entered the maze of sea cans with her soul gem out, trying to find the entrance to the real labyrinth she wanted to confuse people in.

She had five followers. They were trying to be subtle. If she were a regular human, she probably would have never known she was being followed. She could hear the light clack of their shoes from sixty meters behind her. She could smell their adrenaline through their sweat.

She bet the witch could too.

She knew how to play this game. She counted down from ten in her head before making a run for it. Like clockwork, the men following her did the same. She darted through rows to make it look like she was trying to lose them. But she would let herself be cornered.

She would let herself be cornered right in front of the entrance to the labyrinth. This one's insignia looked something like a jagged music note. But the men couldn't see it. They all had their guns pointed at her.

"Give it up! We know you know where the Diamonds are." The leader spoke eloquently. Kyoko put her arms up in surrender to humour them. Kyoko didn't think he was high. She guessed he was from a rival gang. Even better; you would probably eventually be on my hit list anyways.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't." She shrugged, hands still in the air. She wasn't going to beg or pretend to be scared. There was no need to degrade herself by pretending to be a damsel in distress. She already won. She had these pricks right where she wanted them.

"Would you mind if I grab some pocky from my coat here?" She nodded towards her right pocket. "I'm pretty hungry. Don't worry, I don't have a gun."

"We're not playing around. Give us the location, and maybe we'll let you live. It would be such a shame for a beautiful woman such as yourself to die in an ugly place like this." He sounded damn sure of himself. Some of his goons chuckled. Kyoko did one last glance around for security cameras. None. Even if there were some, they wouldn't be able to see her face. But for what she was about to do, it was easier if there were not cameras at all.

"Good thing I'm not playing either. And I think this looks like the perfect place for you to die."

Each man was surprised by the red diamond lattice that materialized out of nowhere and bound them. They were even more surprised to see that each of them connected to ropes Kyoko held in her hand. She leaned back casually to fall into the barrier, pulling the men with her. Sayaka had already checked this one out so Kyoko knew what to expect.

The labyrinth looked like a sleazy bar full of smoke. It was even hard for her to breathe. The men she had bound could barely breathe at all. The familiars were giant china dolls high above them who switched between drinking martinis and clapping politely, but they never shut up. The dolls never looked at the stage either, which could have passed for a stage for mice. The tables were ten times as tall as Kyoko was. Giant empty peanut shells and gnawed on bones rained down from the tables, threatening to crush anyone who was standing in the wrong place below them.

Kyoko could see the witch on the comparatively tiny stage. There was a tall, willowy, cut out paper doll with a giant hat swaying behind a microphone that was only slightly skinnier than she was. The microphone was emitting a dark gas out of its head, filling the air of the room. Kyoko could already tell: the microphone was the witch, not the mannequin. She'd be easy to kill if Kyoko was fast, which she could be.

She heard something in the chaos that didn't sound right. It sounded like something scurrying away, but all of the familiars were sitting still. Kyoko whipped her head around, looking for the source of the sound. Is there someone else in here?

No, there couldn't be. She'd have noticed the entrance of the barrier shifting if someone was. And whatever it was, it was gone now.

The men were coughing and gasping.

"Who…who are you?" The leader wheezed. She transformed into her magical girl garb, wielding her massive lance to the amazement and horror of the fools who thought they could kill her.

"I'm the one who makes things disappear."

As Kyoko left the disappearing carnage with her grief seed in hand, she grabbed the pocky out of her right pocket to munch on.

---

Sayaka lounged lazily on the dark blue couch in Kyoko's apartment. She had a tub of ice cream on the ground, reaching down with a spoon, then ate it sadly. Sometimes drips of the melted confectionary would drop on the floor but she didn't care; Kyoko had made a spur of the moment decision to buy a roomba that both vacuumed and steam cleaned automatically. She felt like all she did nowadays was sit on Kyoko's couch and watch reruns of old cop shows that played on daytime TV. The eleven AM timeslot, which was the one she was currently on, tended to be particularly painful. Sayaka could have been a lazy ass at her place, but Kyoko's was so much nicer.

She had gone out checking for witches a few hours ago. She loved riding the white and blue motorcycle Kyoko got her to make scouting faster. It was something that added a thrill to her day. She monitored a few witches so that they knew what they would be up against. None of them seemed to be causing any trouble yet. She found a new one this morning and added it to the app game they were all playing.

She wondered if she should go out again. It was better safe than sorry, and she wasn't doing anything anyways. She could maybe try to kill one or two of them herself.

Sayaka dispelled the thought from her head. If the witch didn't kill her, Kyoko would. Sayaka was lucky that she got such a strong team so quickly after becoming a magical girl; but it also meant she never got the hang of fighting alone, especially with witches that could use her reflective shield as a weapon against her. That, and Kyoko hated it when either Sayaka or Yuma fought without backup; she was pretty fiercely protective of them that way.

Sayaka furrowed her eyebrows when she thought of her fiery red-headed friend. She was an odd one; that was for sure. Sayaka got the feeling that Kyoko was supposed to play a big role in her life. She wasn't sure why, she just did.

It worried her, her and Kyoko sometimes. They were friends, fighting partners and sometimes…sometimes Sayaka let things get complicated. She felt awful admitting it, because she appreciated everything Kyoko had done for her; but Kyoko felt more strongly about Sayaka than Sayaka felt about her. That was really saying something, because Sayaka was so grateful to have as strong, reliable, loyal, passionate, and fun as a friend as Kyoko. She was the kind of person Sayaka could have dumbass and serious, emotional conversations with. Kyoko was one of the best friends Sayaka had ever had. The difference was there though, and it was the elephant in the room. A storm was coming eventually….Sayaka didn't even want to think about it. When Sayaka had all this free time, she fell into the nasty habit of overanalyzing things.

She sunk further into the couch cushions. She was counting down the days.

Just seventeen more days before she could finally go back to work after nearly four months off on disability. It was the most frustrating thing she'd ever been through. She was obviously better and ready for action!

Sayaka got shot while chasing down some small time drug traffickers. Twice. The one she got in the front wasn't bad; it grazed her shoulder so even a regular human would have survived it.

It was the one that got her in the back that was the problem. It hit her right in the middle of her spine where her shoulders meet her neck. A regular human would have been paralyzed for life; doctors were still scratching their heads as to how she was essentially unharmed. As Sayaka had learned over the months, she had a remarkable knack for healing magic. She was ready to go back to work by the time the ambulance showed up. The doctors were spooked though and decided she should be on light duty for at least six months. Light duty wouldn't have been the worst thing; she could still do desk work around the office or research for her colleagues in the field.

But no. Everything about her shooting had been weird. No one could figure out how she got shot in the back when the perps she was chasing were in front of her. At least Sayaka thought they were all in front of her.

The whole incident was set up for disaster. Ayumi was covering her. Sayaka always advocated going in first because she knew if shots were fired, she was way more likely to be okay than a regular human. Turns out these dealers were addicts themselves and had branched into heroin too. They were high out of their minds when Sayaka broke into their house and tried to arrest them. They were freaked out and threw an open bag of heroin at her, getting tons of it on her coat. She had to chase them. Ayumi fell for one of the oldest tricks in book and crashed through a trick floor board, so Sayaka was chasing the perps through a back alley alone. Then she got shot twice. No one could figure out how she got shot in the back if there supposedly was no one behind her.

Someone investigating the incident noticed that Sayaka was a recovering addict and was covered in heroin. They brought up the theory that she was high and had no idea what was actually going on. Hell, they were even speculating that she accidentally shot herself. She was relieved when they finally ruled that that was physically impossible.

And that's how Sayaka got a four month disability leave to deal with her addiction issues. Ryo had to bargain to get it down to four months instead of six or a year. No one except for her partner and close friends believed that she wasn't high out of her mind when it happened.

She had never seen Ryo so disappointed in her.

In fifteen days, they would do a full physical and mental examination of her to see if she was fit for duty. She even researched what kinds of questions they might ask to make sure she answered them right. She was working out and in just as good of shape as ever.

She was getting back on the Force. She was getting back in the field again. Whether Kyoko and her parents liked it or not.

The door to the apartment opened. The way the keys were thrown haphazardly on the counter and some curse words were muttered made it evident the person coming in was exceptionally tired.

Well, speak of the devil.

"Hey, you." Sayaka greeted from the couch, looking over her shoulder. She couldn't see anything past the back of the couch, but she sort of made an effort.

"Hey, ya lazy cripple. Not working at your Dad's?" Kyoko yawned, sliding over the top of the couch. She landed on top of Sayaka, making the 'cripple' make an 'oomph' sort of sound.

"You could have just sat over there or asked me to move." Sayaka muttered in irritation while scooting forward awkwardly. This was a fancy deluxe couch that had more than enough room for them to lie down together. Kyoko had money and she knew how to spend it. Kyoko settled in behind her so she was the big spoon and Sayaka the little one. Sayaka looked over her shoulder to see the redhead's eyes were already closed.

"This works." Kyoko mumbled back. Sayaka felt her stomach curl in knots. She shouldn't let Kyoko do things like this, but she looked so tired.

"Dad doesn't have any work for me today. It's boring there anyways. Going there to sit around all day is a waste of time for me and money for him." Her parents had noticed Sayaka was going stir crazy and offered to let Sayaka work as an admin person at her Dad's bookkeeping businesses. It was quickly apparent that they didn't really need anybody; but when her Dad offered to let her take online bookkeeping courses to pass the time, their end goal became obvious.

Other friends tried to help her too. Kyousuke would bring her to his concerts or invite her to his apartment down the hall to watch some TV. Ayumi and others on the Force would get lunch with her. Her parents brought her to group counselling religiously. She went out with Hitomi quite a bit. Yeah, out. Hitomi was slowly but surely getting out of her apartment more, challenging herself to go to a place that was slightly "riskier" each time. They usually met at a café around the corner from Hitomi's building, which was the easiest. They went to the grocery store. They even made it halfway through a movie at the cinema once.

Sayaka could see right through what she was doing: Hitomi was trying be functional to get Kyousuke back.

"Hmm. You found a new witch?" Kyoko was making lazy conversation. She was going to be asleep in a few minutes.

"Yeah. I'm thinking I'll just finish it off myself."

"Don't be a dummy. I'll go with ya in a bit. Just let me relax for a bit first."

Sayaka rolled her eyes. Kyoko wouldn't wake up for another five or six hours. Hell, Kyoko could sleep like that for twenty-four hours and she would probably still be behind on sleep. The middle of the day was her nighttime. Sayaka knew that realistically, she wasn't going to move much for the next hour so it didn't make much of a difference. The girl behind her draped a possessive arm over her and snored lightly while Sayaka watched her cop show.

Kyoko had confided to Sayaka a few months ago that she slept best when Sayaka was in the same bed. Kyoko had been awake for four days straight at that point and Sayaka suspected she was getting a little loopy. Sayaka indulged her more regularly than she knew she should. She was at Kyoko's apartment more often than her own anyways; it didn't bring her any satisfaction to see her so exhausted all the time.

They had had the uncomfortable conversation a few times when Sayaka asked why she had even bought the club in the first place. Yeah, she had gotten an incredible steal on it and had done so much with it. She was making a lot more money and had more control over what went on there. But Kyoko wasn't a regular human who had the luxury of a moderately normal life; she's a magical girl. She has to fight witches too. And though they had had been reduced to almost nothing, she still had the threat of magic attacks looming over her shoulder.

Sayaka exhaled before letting her eyes close. She'd just rest them for a few minutes.

When she opened her eyes, the sun was setting and she was covered in a blanket. Kyoko was still dead to the world; still clutching Sayaka close to her. Oh shit, I overslept!

It was so easy to make the agonizing boredom pass if she took two naps a day.

She moved to get up and felt bad when she heard Kyoko make noises of protest behind her, tightening her grip. Sayaka looked over her shoulder to tap the reluctantly awakening girl behind her.

"Come on, sleeping beauty. Time to get up."

The bags under Kyoko's scowling eyes, drool hanging down her chin, and messy hair made her look anything but; at least compared to her regular appearance.

"Fuck off and let me sleep. It's only…" Kyoko checked her phone. The speed at which she sat upright knocked Sayaka off the couch. "FUCK why didn't you wake me up?! If we're gonna try to hunt that dog-looking witch, we need to go now. I've got work after this!"

Sayaka glared at her from the ground, where she had been knocked flat onto the empty ice cream container that was now crushed. It was sticky.

"You looked tired. I thought you needed some sleep. Going into a fight when you're exhausted seems like a good way to get one of us killed." Sayaka was speaking from experience. Kyoko had screwed up a battle badly a few weeks ago which resulted in Sayaka having to break formation to cover her ass; Sayaka lost her left foot until Yuma reattached it.

Kyoko snarled.

"An even better way to get one of us killed is by going in with a distracted mind. I don't want to be thinking about getting to work while we're fighting a witch. And that last time with the foot? That was completely your fault."

"My fault? If I hadn't gone over there, you'd have been swallowed whole and my shield couldn't have done anything for long!"

"You broke formation. We had a strategy and you ignored it. I would have been fine because I would have cut that bitch up from the inside. It was all part of the plan. You're the rookie, you need to follow my lead. And if I didn't say anything, guess what I would say and do it! And you can damn well guess that I wouldn't have wanted to sleep for seven hours!" Kyoko was standing tall, staring down at Sayaka who had never gotten up. A few months ago, this would have intimidated Sayaka and she might have even cowered and nodded.

Not anymore though. Sayaka scoffed at her.

"Are you serious? You're not the boss or this great super-fighter or whatever! You're so damn busy trying to run your sketchy club that you can't put your all into hunting witches! You can't even put half of your all into hunting them! Yuma and I fight way better on our own than with you because we both have our heads in it."

Kyoko looked furious, indignant, and mostly hurt. Sayaka had gone too far. Kyoko opened her mouth, ready to scream more insults at the other.

"You both suck. Can we go now? Sayaka said the witch didn't look like a bad one so I can probably finish my math homework tonight if we're quick." Sayaka hadn't even realized Yuma was back when she came out of her room holding a mug of green tea.

Kyoko kept her mouth open for a few more seconds. Sayaka could tell she was debating internally whether to keep going with this or to drop it.

"Whatever. Get your coats on. I'll drive."

Sayaka exhaled in relief that Kyoko didn't want to keep going. She was backing down; so could she.

"Thanks. And…sorry for that. I didn't mean it. You're great to fight with. I feel safe with you." Sayaka flashed Kyoko a sweet little smile, hoping it could be water under the bridge.

Sayaka was sincere in what she said, but she was being manipulative right now. She couldn't resist Kyousuke's puppy eyes and Kyoko couldn't refuse hers. She used it to her advantage more than she cared to admit. Kyoko could be pretty damn terrifying if you were on her bad side, and Sayaka had always had the amazing ability to piss her off in five seconds or less; having a 'get-out-of-jail-free' card was the only way she could have survived this long partnering up with her.

Kyoko melted. "No problem. I just hate seeing you get hurt, and you do that when you're being a dummy."

"Well I'll just let you get swallowed by a witch next time." Sayaka joked. Kyoko grinned.

"Nah, you shouldn't let me sleep so much next time! That's the lesson you should be getting from this!"

"Sayaka couldn't wake you up because she was sleeping just as much as you. You're both lazy." Yuma quipped, ready in her winter gear. "Hurry up, let's go!"

Sayaka flushed with embarrassment. Of course Yuma saw! Who else would have put the blanket on us?

Kyoko got that shit-eating smirk that Sayaka resented.

"Is that so? And here I was thinking you were just being a really nice person. I guess getting paid while sitting on my couch is pretty hard work; that would tire anyone out."

"Oh screw you! Your body's warm and I get exhausted just looking at you!" Sayaka shot back while doing up her coat.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hot."

"That's not what I meant!"

Yuma rolled her eyes. She was six years younger than them, but acted six years more mature. Sayaka and Kyoko bickered the entire way down the elevator.

---

For something Kyoko was willing to sacrifice everything for, it seemed odd that she would show up late for it. However, running a legitimate business, an illegal business, and hunting witches could take up a lot of time.

She was the last one to show up to the Open Eyes Church Society's board meeting. They always held the meetings in a crappy meeting room at an equally crappy community hall and sat around a round table you would likely find in a high school cafeteria. Kyoko, following Tomi's advice, was not actually on the executive. She was a regular committee member, but she was an active and vocal one.

She wouldn't have had to be so vocal if the others on the Board didn't piss her off so much. Everyone had their own agenda and it didn't fit hers.

Following regular protocols when the Society was set up, an ad was released asking for interested Board members. They had been astonished by how many people asked to join. There were local business people from an organization that was trying to revitalize the Old Industrial District; a professor of religion from the University of Kazamino; a journalist; a local amateur filmmaker; an unemployed graduate who was shamelessly trying to get experience to fluff up her resume; a tourism operator; and a few civilians that Kyoko had no idea why they wanted to join. In hindsight, they should have rigged the process so the board members were people Kyoko wanted on; but they had been so busy setting everything else up that this fell to the bottom of their list of priorities.

They had no idea that the Church was funded by illegal means, which was just the way Kyoko and Tomi intended it. He knew some hackers who were able to get many small donations made in a bunch of people's names from around the country. She never realized how much magic he could really work until she started working with him in this capacity.

They all had their own kinds of magic, she supposed.

Kyoko noticed some of the other board members cringe when she walked in. They were hoping she wouldn't show up. She didn't care.

"Thank you for joining us Sakura-san." The Chair, one of the members of the Old Industrial District revitalization committee. "We were worried you weren't going to be able to attend today."

"Yeah, I was busy at work. Is everyone here now?" She looked around the room unimpressed. Spending the next hour and a half with these people didn't appeal to her at all.

"We were only missing you, Misaki." Though Kyoko had always preferred her first name, particularly after her father did what he did, in these meetings she preferred being called Sakura. Tomi insisted that in this case, she use her fake identification that made her older and not the daughter of the family. There was something weird there, but Kyoko never had the urge to find out what after last time. She had more than enough to worry about something that she was assuming she would rather not delve into.

The Chair of the board knew she preferred being called Sakura and was being an ass. Two can play at that game.

"Good. I hate waiting. Let's get started." She sat down and pulled an apple out of her pocket to munch on loudly. The other board members looked peeved. She didn't give a damn.

"Well, as we all know the reconstruction of the Church is almost complete. Our Opening Gala is just three months away. Some catering companies from the District have agreed to do the event at a discounted rate, which is very fortunate for us."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. It probably meant they would be making twenty percent profit instead of fifty for food that wasn't all that good, and the board would have to kiss the chefs' asses in gratitude for it.

"Did anyone else hear back from potential sponsors?"

"Yeah, I know a bunch of business owners who've got it covered. We don't need to worry." Kyoko waved off the concern. She was going to pay for it. Apparently all new historical sites had to go through a bullshit opening gala where the Mayor would come and cut some ribbon, everyone would clap, and no one would look at the Church again. Just the way she wanted it.

"Actually, I have someone who wants to be a platinum sponsor!" The overly cheerful tour operator announced. She was a stout, portly woman with a smile that seemed permanently plastered to her face. Kyoko didn't believe that anyone could actually be that happy. "Kazamino Ghost Tours has offered to pay for the full entertainment of the gala, so long as they are allowed to choose the music. They were thinking of a spooky operatic theme. It sets an atmosphere, but it's still classy! I think it's a great idea and it would be fantastic to start off the Church as an attraction!"

"That sounds awesome! I'd love to get that on the Ghost Tour. I also have some director friends from Tokyo who want to check out the Church as a location for their next film. They think it could be Japan's next big horror blockbuster!" The film maker, a pretentious man who wore glasses that needed no lenses, proclaimed in kind. There was excited chattering from the other board members.

Kyoko sat there, becoming increasingly blind with rage.

"The Japanese Atheists' Society has also agreed to be a platinum sponsor. They said they would cover all advertising and promotion. In return, they want to use the Church as part of their new campaign against fanaticism. Does anyone have any problems with that?" Another man practically whispered compared to the volume everyone else spoke with. This was one of the random citizens who joined the Board. He was a meek young man with greasy copper hair and wore what was clearly old, second-hand clothes. Kyoko rarely heard him speak.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kyoko screamed with pure venom and hysteria. She stood up as she slammed her hands on the table, nearly making the cheap plastic buckle under the force. Everyone shut up.

"Sakura-san…I understand you are somehow related to the Sakura family but-" The Chair looked like he was treading carefully, trying to diffuse the situation. It was far too late for that.

"You don't understand shit! M…" She had to stop herself from saying 'my father's church'. "This church was a place of hope. Father Sakura was trying to make the world a better place and everything went to shit for him. Turning the church into some horror show or propaganda against religion is just disrespectful to his and his family's memory. You always talk about class, but none of you have a piece of it to rub together!"

Everyone stayed silent and looked at one another awkwardly. Kyoko could tell what was going on. They wanted to find a way to get her to back down without making her angry.

The meek young man stood up, face beat red and eyebrows downturned in his own anger. He spoke at a reasonable volume.

"Hope? You think this Church brought hope? This wasn't a Church, it was a cult and it destroyed my family. My family was happy. My father had been a middle manager at a respectable company for almost twenty years. He was plenty charitable and kind. Suddenly, he started going to this Church and was convinced the world was a horrible place and he wasn't giving enough to save it. He donated our entire life savings, his retirement money, our school money, deposit accounts, everything! He stopped making payments on our home and we got evicted! They only had a year of payments left on it! He quit his job and started volunteering full time at some animal shelter while we starved! I'm still working a dead-end job and trying to go to school at night so I can get out of the rat hole of an apartment I live in! And that's hope to you?!"

That felt like a slap to Kyoko in the face. She hadn't considered what would have happened to her father's followers. Of course, she knew the truth behind it and couldn't explain it without sounding crazy.

"That wasn't his fault…"

"That wasn't whose fault?" The copper haired man spouted back.

"Father Sakura. It wasn't his fault. I'm sorry that happened to you and your family. Father Sakura never meant for that to happen." Kyoko hated the feeling of guilt, and she felt her gut getting heavier and heavier with it.

"I don't care what he meant to have happen. It happened. And then the coward killed himself because he couldn't face the destruction he caused." The man's fists were clenched and he was trembling. He was furious. He took a deep breath and sat down.

Kyoko was the only one standing. Everyone looked at her with empty eyes.

Empty like the eyes of her father's bewitched followers.

She blinked away tears and sat down quietly. She didn't speak or look up for the rest of the meeting while everyone make plans as quietly, quickly, and respectfully as possible.

When they were finally dismissed after what felt like an agonizing two hours, everyone rushed out, desperate to go their separate ways. Except Kyoko; she had a mission.

She chased down the copper-haired young man outside.

"Hey, you! Wait up!"

The man whipped around and began trembling. This time in fear.

"Sakura-san! I…I apologize. I hope I didn't upset you in there. It was not my intention, I-" Kyoko rolled her eyes. She could tell the man was scared shitless by her and was overtaken by a rare moment of anger in there. Almost everyone with a shred of sense was.

"How much money did your Dad give away?"

"Uh, wait, pardon?" He looked at her with wide eyes.

"Your Dad. How much did he give away?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. I was only a teenager at the time so-"

"Just guess. How much do you think he gave away?" Kyoko was getting impatient. She had other places to be rather than interrogating this sad excuse of a person.

"Uh, like I said, I don't know. Maybe 30,000,000 yen? That might be high, I'm not sure. Why are you-"

Kyoko nodded. She pulled her chequebook for the "official" bank of Hideki out of her back pocket. She enchanted it to look like a cheque from a lottery corporation; she had mastered the art of enchanting items to fool human eyes and not machine's.

"What's your name?" She had never bothered learning the names of anyone on the board. She never really cared until now.

"M-m-Miyagi Ebisu."

She wrote out a cheque, taking interest vaguely into consideration.

"Did I get your name right?" She asked nonchalantly. He looked at the cheque and gasped.

"Sa…Sakura-san, this is 37,500,000 yen! I can't take this, it's too much!"

"Did I get your name right?" She repeated with more bite to her voice. She didn't want him to protest this. He wasn't going to remember what it was anyways.

"Yes, but Sakura-san, please listen to me I-"

Kyoko cut him off by placing her right hand on his forehead. He looked at her with shocked eyes, gazing into hers. She felt her magic like it was beating from her heart, but it wasn't much; over the past few months, her enchantment magic had become nearly perfected again. She had had to use it many times. Practice makes perfect.

"You bought a lottery ticket last week. You did not win the jackpot, but you won a substantial prize of 37,500,000 yen. You will cash the cheque at an international money transfer organization, not a bank. You will share that money with your family. You will go move into a reasonably affordable apartment in the nicer part of town and go to school full-time. Your siblings will also go to school. You will not realize what happened until I am out of your sight. Do you understand?"

"Yes…" He looked dazed as his pupils pulsated. Kyoko let go of his forehead and walked leisurely towards her car. She kept walking as she turned the corner, but listened carefully.

"I can't believe it! I won! I won! Thank you God I won!" She heard the young man crying out in jubilee. She smiled softly.

Redemption tasted so much sweeter than revenge.

---

For something Sayaka was willing to sacrifice everything for, it seemed odd that she would show up late for it. She wanted to get back on the Force so badly, but at the same time: these regular psychiatric reviews were such bullshit and she hated going. Also, Yuma forgot her lunch and she had to drop it off.

"So how have you been feeling, Sayaka?" The same man who Ryo had bribed to let her back on the Force before asked with such a saccharine voice, she wanted to punch him in the face. I'm spending way too much time with Kyoko.

"Bored. A bit anxious, I guess. But mostly bored. I want to get back to work." She wasn't sure what the right tricks were, but she heard from an inside source (Ayumi) that when she was trying to impress them before, they thought she seemed fake and wanted to extend her leave.

"Anxious? Why anxious?" He leaned forward to listen closely.

"I'm afraid the Force won't let me back on. I guess." She shrugged.

"Why would the Force not want you back on?"

"I think some people might not like me after some of the arrests I've made, and the commotion I've caused bringing up charges of corruption." She gave a rueful smile. It was true. She was the only detective that every official of both the KPD and NMPD knew by name, and they were very familiar with her career. Getting Miyamoto Suki, Megumi, and Atahiko at once was by far her most spectacular feat, but she was also credited with assisting with Kurosawa Yuta and played a critical role in what ended up being two fairly major drug busts shortly before she was shot. Some people were saying they suspected she would be in Ryo's job as Captain of the Organized Crime Unit before long.

The man nodded. "You're not afraid of being wounded again?"

"I've survived death so many times, I think it would take a lot more than a bullet to take me down." She grinned. It was true. She had magic now. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to go into situations recklessly! I'll always be cautious, especially if I have a partner or others covering me."

The man nodded again, scribbling notes. He seemed to be taking his job more seriously now. I guess the new corruption investigation has everyone on their toes now.

"I've noticed that your past urine tests all came back negative for drugs. So you're staying clean?"

"Yep. I haven't touched anything in almost three years now."

"That's very impressive. You should be proud of yourself." He gave her a genuine smile. "And I see you've been attending group counselling sessions regularly."

"I'm always diligent, Sir." She nodded.

"I think that's all we need to discuss today. I will say your psychiatric evaluation is complete. Your physical examination is coming up, correct? Have you been able to do regular exercise?"

"Yes." Sayaka smirked. That's one way of putting it.

"Then I suppose we will see you then. We will have one more meeting before it is decided if you are suited to return to work." He nodded and she was dismissed. She was glad. She checked the time on her phone to make sure she wasn't going to be late for her next 'appointment' too; if Hitomi beat her to the café, she'd flip out. Sayaka may have gone a bit too fast on her motorcycle, but she made it there five minutes before her nervous greenette friend joined her.

"Hey Hitomi! Glad you made it. How was your walk?" It was usually the walk itself that caused problems, not the café. The café had a homey vibe to it and was never too crowded. The streets on the other hand…

"Oh, you know. The usual." She was trying to calm her breath. Sayaka could tell: she had been hyperventilating. "I think these new medications for my anxiety are working though. They had offered to prescribe them to me years ago, but they were experimental back then. My mother didn't want to risk my health, so we didn't try them. But they passed the medication board and now I have them, and they work just fine. I am very happy-"

"Hitomi." Sayaka grabbed her hand and smiled. When Hitomi was trying to hide her nerves, she babbled. A lot. "Breathe. You made it on your own. You're getting better every time."

Hitomi took a deep breath and nodded, smiling.

"Thank you, Sayaka. Would you like anything? I can get it."

"No, no silly! You're a student. I kind of have a job. I have more money. I'll get it."

They enjoyed their tea and slices of peach cake in peace. They chattered inanely about what they were up to, shows they had watched, the cold weather, upcoming festivals, and the like. Sayaka liked these conversations with Hitomi; they were more cultured than she was used to. But Sayaka knew the pleasantries were going to end eventually.

"So Sayaka. How's Kyousuke doing?" Hitomi appeared nonplussed. Sayaka had fallen for that trap before and she wasn't going to do it again.

"I think he's alright. We don't talk much. I'm pretty busy-"

Hitomi looked unimpressed.

"Alright, so I haven't been busy in a conventional sense, but I have been! I'm…doing my physiotherapy." That was Sayaka's code word for 'hunting witches' for her non-magical loved ones. "I've been going to so many group therapy sessions my head could explode. Dad's office is doing well. So, you know. I've been doing stuff other than watching TV."

Hitomi sighed and relented.

"I'm sorry for implying you didn't do much. You just always talk about how bored you are. Your Kyousuke's neighbour, so I'm just wondering…if you noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Sayaka asked around a mouthful of cake. Kyoko was really starting to rub off on her.

"I don't know. Anything. Anyone, maybe."

Here we go again.

"I haven't, but I haven't been around my apartment much. I stay with a friend most of the time."

Hitomi looked confused.

"Why? You have your own place?"

"Oh, uh…theirs is closer to my physiotherapy." Sayaka rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. She hated getting asked questions that indirectly related to her alter-ego life. Hitomi didn't look like she was buying Sayaka's excuse.

"Sayaka, are you seeing someone?" Hitomi gasped. "Why didn't you tell me? Who is he?"

"No, it's not like that!" Sayaka blushed. Hitomi's expression hardened.

"Are you sleeping with Kyousuke?" This was not the first time she'd asked that. She had had suspicions for years, as it turns out. Sayaka banged her head on the table in aggravation.

"No! How many times do you I need to tell you, no! He's like my brother!"

"Then tell me about this guy you've been staying with. You're not sleeping with him?"

Sayaka opened her mouth to retort. Like a dumbass, she faltered though.

"What's your definition of 'sleeping with'?"

Hitomi's mouth and eyes opened wide. She looked scandalized. "Sayaka! What kinds of things have you been doing?"

"Shit, that's not what I meant! It's not like that with her, it's just-" Sayaka was flustered and beet red. Hitomi wasn't the first to question her on this. Her parents were confused as to why she was never at her apartment either. In fact, they had met Kyoko and sometimes called Kyoko's phone to try to get a hold of Sayaka. When they tried to tell Sayaka that they would support her no matter what….oh that had been a terrible conversation.

"Her?! It's a her?! Sayaka, that's forbidden love! Oh no wonder you were afraid to tell me. I, I mean, I…"

"Hitomi. It's not like that. I literally sleep in her bed with her. We don't have sex. We just sleep together."

Sayaka ignored the bad feeling that was starting to make her gut twist in knots when she said that.

"Two girls can't even have sex." Hitomi stated like it was a simple fact of nature.

"Oh, they can. Believe me." Sayaka tried to keep her face from getting any redder thinking of past memories. "Want to go to the library? That was your next place on your list, right?"

Sayaka was relieved when they left. Even though walking a new way was guaranteed to make Hitomi an insufferable ball of nerves, she'd rather have that than the conversation they were having before.

Hitomi's posture was rigid throughout the entire walk. Sayaka wasn't sure if she was even breathing. They had planned it carefully and made sure to take a route that was direct, but did not cross by anything like dark alleys or "inappropriate" stores. Sayaka wasn't sure why a sports store was a problem, but she wasn't going to press it.

The library was a historic picturesque stone library that looked out of place amongst the modern buildings surrounding it. From the heavy exhale Hitomi released when they got in, Sayaka could see that no, Hitomi had not been breathing as much as she should have. Hitomi panted for a few minutes, hiding behind a large pillar.

"You did it. Great job!" Sayaka whispered to her, rubbing her back in as comforting a way as she could. Hitomi didn't seem to be listening to Sayaka's words but she nodded.

"Sayaka. I am going to take out a book on the history of classical music in Japan. I have decided this." Hitomi stood upright, looking proud and determined. Sayaka couldn't even tell her friend had been hyperventilating just a moment before. She reminded Sayaka far too much of her regal mother. But Sayaka knew what this meant: if Hitomi took the book out, she should have to return it. Hitomi was making the commitment to come back again.

Or she'll make me return it. Sayaka had a devious plan though. She would keep putting it off until Hitomi went berserk and returned it herself. She wasn't sure whether that made her a good friend or a terrible one, but she frankly didn't care.

Hitomi researched where the book would be and walked through the aisles to find her ideal piece of literature that she hoped would make her appealing to Kyousuke. Sayaka was granted permission to sit at a table and flip through trashy crime novels.

There was almost no one in the grand building. The internet had truly diminished the need for libraries like this. Every footstep echoed. So did every clack from a nearby keyboard that was starting to drive Sayaka nuts.

Sayaka looked over to see a frazzled young woman and a little girl who Sayaka suspected was her daughter. Both had dark chestnut hair cut short and big brown eyes. She thought their matching outfits and haircuts were adorable, even though the incessant clicks from the keyboard were aggravating as all get out.

"Mommy, mommy, look at this manga! There's this girl who's magic and can transform into a lion and she-"

"Mika-kun, I need to work on this paper, alright? It's due tonight. Can you read your story and tell me about it later? You can make a book report and show me later." The woman had a sweet, encouraging tone. Sayaka noticed she didn't have a ring. Sayaka suspected she was a single mom who was trying hard to make ends meet. She admired that.

"Okay Mommy. I'll find more books." The girl smiled sadly and trotted off. Her sense of dejection was obvious. Sayaka empathized with her. She knew a thing or two about having parents that tried to do the right thing, even if that meant not being able to spend a lot of time with their kids.

As the girl disappeared into an aisle in the children's section, Sayaka noticed something small and white dart out from the shelves to follow her. Sayaka felt a pang of worry and anger shoot down her spine. She got up as quickly as she could, resulting in her chair making an unfortunately loud scuttling sound that echoed. No one looked up and Sayaka wouldn't have paid attention if they did. She went down a different aisle to not make it obvious that she was following a little girl through the library.

Her suspicions were right. The girl was fishing through magical girl manga on the shelf, taking every single one. Kyubey sat next to her growing pile of books, tail wagging and implanted smile looking more malicious than ever. The little girl did a double take when she saw Kyubey, before smiling and petting him.

"Wow, a stuffed animal!" She cooed quietly to herself, picking him up.

"That's enough." Sayaka snarled as quietly to feline as she could. The little girl looked up with her big eyes.

"Sayaka, I would have to ask that you not interfere. I need to recruit more magical girls and she looks like an ideal candidate. She appears to have a wish in mind already too."

Sayaka wanted to punch the rodent, but the girl was looking scared. She had to approach this carefully.

"I'm sorry little girl. This little rascal seems to keep getting away from me. He's a naughty little cat, don't you think?" She smiled and spoke in a high pitched voice. The girl returned her smile, accepting Sayaka's act.

"It's a cat? I thought it was a stuffed animal. I've never seen a cat with wings before."

"Well, uh…he's a magic cat, but he's pretty mischievous so-"

"She's right Mika! I am magic. And I can grant any wish you want and make you magical too! Contract with me and become a magical girl!"

The girl's eyes lit up.

"Wow, he talks! That's so cool! Where did you get him, Lady?" She exclaimed too loudly for their quiet surroundings. Sayaka tried to be as kind as possible when she pressed her index finger to her lips. Mika made a little 'o' with her mouth before shooting Sayaka a sweet timid smile.

"A store from a very, very, far away and expensive place. You don't need to go. It sells bad stuff like this. Trust me, he's no good. I'll just take him ba-"

Kyubey ducked her reach and hid behind the girl.

"She doesn't own me, Mika. My name is Kyubey. I find girls like you who can become magical girls and fight witches that make people sad. If you make a wish, you can become a magical girl and help protect people's happiness!"

"I could do that?" She looked dazzled.

Sayaka guessed she was six years old at most. Sayaka quaked in anger.

She put a sturdy hand on the girl's shoulder, giving her a hard, serious look.

"Don't listen to it. It's trying to trick you. Nothing good comes from making a wish for it to grant. He's not a genie, he's a monster. Never become a magical girl." Her warning was awfully foreboding for a six year old girl, but she had to do it. She had seen what happened to Kyoko and Yuma, who both contracted far too young; she didn't want it to happen to this girl too.

The girl looked scared and Sayaka could see tears forming in her eyes.

"Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing with my daughter?" The young mother looked like a bear ready to pounce to protect its cub. Sayaka tried to offer a gentle smile to diffuse the situation.

"Sorry ma'am. I misplaced something and was asking if she'd seen it. You have a very nice daughter. Please keep a good eye on her." Sayaka knew she sounded creepy, but she figured that could work well in this instance; if there was a creep in the library, the mother would keep a close eye on her daughter and Kyubey couldn't contract her.

"Come on, Mika. Let's go home and read some of your magical girl manga. Right now, let's go." The woman tried to herd her daughter away as soon as possible.

"I…I want to read different books instead. Is that okay Mommy?" Mika sounded frightened. That was good; that was what Sayaka wanted.

She was glad that Hitomi was ready to check out two books so they could get out of there before the mother called her coworkers on her. That wouldn't help her psychiatric evaluation at all. Sayaka escorted Hitomi home without incident.

Kyubey approaching that girl had disturbed her. She didn't like anything about it. She wanted to call Kyoko or Yuma to talk about it.

She didn't have time though. She felt like she swallowed a rock.

A witch just emerged from right near the library.

---

Kyoko was alarmed when Sayaka called her. She wasn't sure why Sayaka was so panicked and upset, but the girl was rushing to fight a witch near the Kazamino Main Library. Kyoko could only assume it was dangerous and an immediate threat.

Yuma texted saying Sayaka called her too and she was almost there. Kyoko was furthest away, but she could be there in ten minutes if she rushed. The twelve minute drive felt like the longest twelve minutes of her life.

By the time she arrived, she could see that Sayaka and Yuma must already be inside fighting. Kyoko didn't hesitate before jumping head first into the barrier whose insignia looked like a cherry.

The labyrinth wasn't complex. Sayaka and Yuma had already found their way to the middle so the doors were already opened. It looked like a pink and purple bakery. There were ovens that held each others' oven mitt hands and danced around, spitting out various cakes, milkshakes, and desserts with cherries on top that hopped over to Kyoko.

Quick generation of familiars, alright. Kyoko figured it would be best to stay away from them.

She was right. She got too close to a milkshake that exploded.

Cherry bomb. Cute.

She didn't spare another thought to it before she jumped over the ovens and into a door that led to the middle. The bakery set up was the same, but this one had a disjointed rainbow theme going on that was painful to look at. The exploding confectionary looked like fireworks with sprinkle-like shrapnel. Kyoko sure hoped she wouldn't get hit by one of those.

She noticed a woman holding a child that looked just like her in one of Sayaka's cerulean barriers. It disturbed her how the girl wasn't moving.

"MIKA! MIKA! WAKE UP! MIKA! WHY WON'T YOU WAKE UP?!" The woman was shaking the girl. Kyoko figured out why Sayaka had been so disturbed on the phone.

Just don't be stupid, Sayaka. The kid's a witch now. It's too late.

Kyoko had never stopped running since she entered the labyrinth. She thought on her feet, like she had learned to do. She took careful note of her surroundings and made up a strategy as she went. Standing still could get you killed.

Sayaka and Yuma were in their regular attack pattern. Yuma at the back, Sayaka somewhere between Yuma and the witch to target Yuma's energy shots. The witch looked like a pale yellow gelatinous pile of…something…that was surprisingly agile. The shots would burst through it, but the mess just come together. There was a little dark red speck darting around in it. That must be the witch. It was still a pretty small and nimble target, making it hard for them to hit.

It would be best for Kyoko to get up there.

"COVER ME!" She yelled loud, assuming both girls could hear. She focused her magic and produced two perfect copies of herself. One copy ran up the middle while the other ran up the right near Sayaka. They were the diversions.

Kyoko ran up the left, trying to be as fast and discrete as possible to avoid the witch's attention. She wanted to make this fast and painless.

"MOMMY I'M SCARED!" A high-pitched scream echoed that was far too young to be Yuma's. So the girl was okay. That was good. Kyoko focused on the witch, as she knew Sayaka's shield was around them.

She glanced over to Sayaka before her feeling of control over the situation slip. Kyoko could see it like it was slow motion.

Sayaka turned around to look at the girl, excitement and relief evident on her face. Her shield was facing away from the witch.

A cupcake familiar bounded out of an oven on the wall towards her, right behind her.

"SAYAKA!"

---

Sayaka was alarmed when Kyoko called her. She hadn't even known the girl was in the barrier with them. She was so upset, thinking about the little girl who wasn't moving and her bawling mother when she got in. Her warnings hadn't been enough. If only she had tried harder, or explained more, or did something differently.

Kyubey was just sitting there, looking like a cat that caught the canary.

Sayaka was glad the mother couldn't recognize the witch as her daughter. The only fate worse than losing your little girl would be seeing her become a monster and then losing her. Sayaka's parents probably knew a thing or two about that.

Sayaka had been fighting with tears in her eyes. The damn witch was too fast, small and protected for them to get with the energy balls, but Sayaka didn't feel confident being able to hold up a shield around two people so far away while focusing on not getting blown up herself. All Sayaka could think was that this would be so much more effective with Kyoko here. Her first instinct when she heard Kyoko call out to her was to be even more relieved.

But then the tone of Kyoko's call clicked in her mind. It wasn't an authoritative call, or an encouraging one, or a general asshole one.

It was a scared one.

Sayaka looked over just to see Kyoko jump behind her.

Then she heard the explosion and saw sprinkle spikes burst through Kyoko's arms.

"NO!" Sayaka watched her partner collapse in a heap on the ground. Her back was covered in pink and purple candy glitter and red, so much red.

"Ky-Kyoko!"

"SAYAKA, THE WITCH! GET THE WITCH!" Yuma screamed out behind her. It pained Sayaka to leave Kyoko there, but she erected a quick force field and ran for it. She would have to make it work somehow. She clutched her sword and shield and sprinted to kill the witch that was once a girl she never knew.

There were more and more explosive desserts the closer she got, but her shield had her covered from all directions when she focused on it. She felt disjointed, trying to hold up three at once. A particularly strong blast hit her, and she felt the amount of shields she had up be reduced to two. She had to do this quick.

She pounced at the witch and let her sword morph to finish the job. It sounded like she was cutting through flesh when she did it.

The labyrinth dissipated.

Sayaka grabbed the grief seed before it could even hit the ground and ran back to Kyoko, where Yuma was leaning over her. The area looked like such an inconspicuous courtyard now. The woman and daughter sat in the distance, trembling and clinging to each other as they watched the three magical girls cluster together.

"Kyoko, Kyoko, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. This is my fault, it's all my fault." Sayaka rambled, voice thick with tears. Yuma was focused over Kyoko as they were enveloped in a green effervescent light. Kyoko gasped as her lungs were mended back together. Sayaka felt next to nothing as the burns she got were healed.

Though the wounds had looked bad, they were simple for Yuma's magic to heal. Yuma held Kyoko's hand as Sayaka made an undignified scene, practically forcing herself on top of Kyoko and holding her in a crushing hug that could have suffocated a regular human.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She was getting tears and risked getting snot everywhere. Sayaka felt herself get smacked upside the head softly. She pulled back to look down at the redhead beneath her.

"I'm fine, dummy. We're done. You did it."

The grief seed was enough to fully cleanse all three of their soul gems. Sayaka still felt like she was walking on wobbly legs. She hadn't even noticed that Yuma wasn't beside them.

She looked to see Yuma talking to the mother and daughter. She was healing them too. Kyoko supported Sayaka as the moved towards them.

Sayaka was stunned to see that the mother had been burned.

"Your shield around them dropped when you went to the witch. They got hit a bit, but not hard. They would have been fine without me healing them." Yuma shot a supportive smile to Sayaka, but it didn't reach her eyes. The little girl, Mika looked up at Sayaka.

"Are you a magical girl?" She looked at her in nervous awe. Sayaka didn't like it. She nodded though.

"Is this why you told me not to be a magical girl?"

Sayaka nodded again. The girl nodded too and started crying.

"I don't want to be a magical girl! I never want to be a magical girl! Mommy, I'm scared." She completely melted down. Sayaka had never felt so glad to see a little girl cry.

She wasn't glad enough to smile though. She looked at Kyoko who was standing confidently like she hadn't just had a bomb explode on her; a bomb she had gotten in the way for to protect Sayaka. Kyoko steadied her a bit before letting go and putting her hands to the mother and daughter's foreheads.

"You're going to go home and go to sleep. This was just a bad dream." Both got a blank look before nodding and walking home in a daze, hand in hand.

"Let's go. I parked by the library." Kyoko ordered in a gentle voice that suited her oddly well. The three walked towards the car. Sayaka didn't let go of Kyoko.

I fucked up. I fucked up. Oh my God, I nearly killed Kyoko. I fucked up.

"It's fine. It all worked out. Calm down, Blue." Kyoko rarely called her 'Blue'. It was something of a term of endearment, along with 'dummy'. She only called her 'Blue' when she was trying to soothe her.

It worked every time.

"It's not fine. It was my fault. Why aren't you getting mad at me?" Usually Kyoko loved to point out her flaws in battles.

"You know what went wrong and you're punishing yourself more than enough."

Sayaka hiccupped as they got in the car. No one spoke on the long ride back to Kyoko and Yuma's. Kyoko hadn't even bothered asking if Sayaka would rather be dropped off at her house. Sayaka wasn't sure where she left her motorcycle and didn't care.

She walked like a zombie into the spacious penthouse apartment. She flopped onto the couch and stared at the blank TV screen. She wondered how miserable a show about her life would be.

"Yuma, can you sleep in your room tonight?" Kyoko asked the greenette in a hushed voice.

"But I-"

"Just do it, Yuma." There was no room to argue. Yuma seemed to accept it reluctantly by the way her feet padded against the floor down the hall. Sayaka never turned around. Kyoko sat next to her, thigh to thigh, shoulder to shoulder on the couch.

"You're too quiet. You're not alright." Kyoko stated it factually. "I told you, I'm fine. I've had way worse."

"Why would you do that?" Sayaka asked with a hollow voice.

"What?" If Kyoko were speaking louder, she might have sounded appalled. It brought something to life in Sayaka.

"Why would you do that? Why would you put yourself in the way like that? Do you have a death wish?!" Sayaka's voice started to rise. She could recognize that getting angry wasn't the right reaction to have right now, but she couldn't process her present emotions any other way. "I could have put my shield up in time and even if I didn't, my healing magic is way better than yours! And you're way faster than me and you could have taken that witch out better than I did! Why would you jump in the way?!" Sayaka's voice was officially raised. She was angry.

She was angrier when she saw Kyoko smile.

"Why are you smiling?!"

"Because I was worried you were broken for a second. I jumped in the way because you were an idiot who left her back wide open. I don't like seeing you get hurt. You know that."

"You literally stabbed me in the back the first time you saw me as a magical girl."

Kyoko rolled her eyes, but more in fond exasperation than anything.

"I thought we were past that. It was a long time ago and I said sorry! Things are different now. And clearly you have to get your act together if your back was your weak spot then and still is now. Come on, you're a rookie but you shouldn't still be such a noob. You've been at this for way more than six months."

"Oh, fuck you. Seriously. My back was open those two times! It was dumb, yeah, but two times!"

"And you should be happy you didn't get the shit bombed out of you for it, right?" Kyoko looked like she was trying to reason with an agitated monkey. It just pissed Sayaka off more.

"No, I screwed up so I should face the consequences! You shouldn't have to get hurt like that because of…because of…." She started to cry again, thinking of the pain on Kyoko's face as she took the hit.

"C'mere, dummy." She pulled Sayaka to her chest for a tight hug. "It's fine. Everybody made mistakes today. But we won. We beat the witch. We're okay."

"You shouldn't have gotten hurt for me." Sayaka muttered into Kyoko's chest. Kyoko rested her forehead against the top of her head.

"If it means so much to you, we can say you owe me one, kay?" Kyoko probably meant a meal. Sayaka knew that. It didn't feel like enough though. And Sayaka knew what she really wanted…what she always wanted.

Sayaka lifted her head so she could give Kyoko a forceful, tear-stained kiss.

Sayaka refused to be in debted to Kyoko for something like this.

---

Kyoko lived for moments like this. They were invigorating, because Kyoko never felt more alive than when the blue-haired girl was writhing underneath her as Sayaka, not "Rin". They were rejuvenating, because Kyoko felt whole whereas she usually felt broken. They were satiating, because for some reason she felt like she had been craving this closeness with the girl for so much longer than she could have been.

But they were sad, because they were so infrequent. They were pathetic, because she took and savoured every scrap she got like a neglected dog. They were awful, because Sayaka was never in the right frame of mind when they did this.

Neither was sure exactly when they started flirting with this as a way to express themselves. Kyoko could pinpoint the first time they actually did it though. Kyoko could count on one hand the number of times they had done this since they officially started fighting together.

The first time was after Sayaka got shot. Sayaka was frustrated and upset. Kyoko felt guilty, but not guilty enough to confess to anything.

The second time was after Sayaka got in bad fights with her parents, Hitomi, and Kyousuke within a two day window of each other near Christmas. She didn't talk to any of them for three weeks. Sayaka was lonely. Kyoko was sadistically happy that she had the girl to herself, especially near the Holidays which was when her own family had died.

The third time was after Sayaka and Kyoko got into a bad fight near Valentine's Day. Kyoko was trying to convince her to quit the Force to be a magical girl fulltime. Sayaka was angry. Kyoko was domineering.

And then there was this: the fourth time.

This could be the last time before Sayaka came to her senses and realized this was unhealthy; or worse, if Sayaka went back to work and discovered who, what Kyoko really was, it could be the last time Sayaka would even look at her.

Kyoko greedily swallowed the moans, curses, and tears of the girl she was madly in love with, but who would never reciprocate her feelings. She greedily touched, licked, bit, grabbed, and sucked every inch of alabaster skin that she could. She greedily stored every miniscule detail to memory so she could remember them later.

Kyoko went further down her body, stripping Sayaka of her clothes before she buried her lips and tongue into Sayaka. She loved the way Sayaka gasped.

"You nearly got blown up by a cupcake today, why are you the one doing that?"

Kyoko couldn't help it when she let out a slight breathless laugh, even though she was annoyed as she was doing it.

"Stop trying to ruin the mood, dummy. I want to do this. If you're still thinking about anything, I'm really losing my touch." With a quick grin, Kyoko shot back in. Sayaka looked like she was going to say something before her legs started to shake and she let her head fall back onto the couch. Kyoko wasn't sure if it was that good or Sayaka was just stroking her ego but hey; she wasn't going to complain.

She loved it when Sayaka started to pull on her ponytail, harder and harder until she was basically yanking it. It was the best kind of pain Kyoko could imagine.

"If you…keep doing….that" Sayaka said through soft pants, interspersed with light moans. Kyoko doubled down on her efforts, keeping the same pattern. Sayaka's legs were getting more and more spastic and harder for Kyoko to hold on to.

"Fffffuuuu….stop stop stop." Sayaka tapped on Kyoko's head. She had no idea what the problem was but was irked by this change.

"Bedroom. And give me your soul gem."

Kyoko blushed hard with excitement.

This. They had only done this once before; when Sayaka was lonely.

Kyoko nodded and got up, helping the other girl to her feet. They closed the bedroom door as Kyoko held her soul gem out to Sayaka in a combination of nerves, anticipation, and ecstatic happiness. They had discovered that doing things to their soul gems could feel amazing. Sayaka had accidentally dropped her soul gem into a cold glass of water on a hot summer day; she said she felt like she had jumped in a pool. When Sayaka was lonely…they tried using their soul gems a different way.

"Not like that. Change its shape like you did last time."

Kyoko's face was so red she felt like she could burst, but she obeyed. She changed the soul gem into a smooth glowing cylindrical shape. She didn't want to acknowledge what it could have reminded her of. There was a gold band in the middle with the crest of her gem.

Sayaka accepted it that time.

"How does this feel?" She licked it. Kyoko trembled. It felt like something warm and soft was going up the right side of her body.

"G-good." She stuttered.

"And this?" Sayaka darted her tongue out to touch the middle of the soul gem, the band. It felt like a solid hot touch on her left thigh. The girl was teasing her.

"Warmer." Kyoko panted.

"This?" Sayaka watched her intently as she pressed her tongue, moving it lightly around the crest.

Kyoko practically screamed as she collapsed onto the bed. Sayaka kept doing it for a few more seconds. Kyoko felt like she was about to explode.

She wanted to punch the girl when she stopped.

"Clothes off." Sayaka carefully laid the altered soul gem on the bed. Kyoko nodded and helped pull everything off so she was just as bare as Sayaka. She swallowed hard as she scooted back on the bed so Sayaka could sit between her legs. Kyoko kind of liked it when Sayaka took charge like this; it made her able to fool herself into thinking she was wanted just as much.

If only for a minute.

She shivered when Sayaka picked up her soul gem again. She hadn't even noticed she was making a light mewling noise.

"Poor Yuma." Sayaka looked embarrassed. Kyoko groaned when Sayaka got off the bed and went to Kyoko's closet. She tosses Kyoko a red scarf and black shirt.

"Stuff the shirt in your mouth and tie scarf around your head. You know, make a gag. You're going to be way too loud." Kyoko complied, core throbbing at the promise in Sayaka's words. As soon as she was done, Sayaka put her tongue back to the crest and crawled up to the bed to Kyoko.

The gag was a good idea. She hadn't realized how hard she must have been trying to hold her screams in before. She let it go and it felt so, so good.

She shook even more when she felt Sayaka put her fingers in her, stimulating her body and soul gem at the same time. Kyoko felt any walls she'd had crumble as what felt like the best pleasure of her life consumed her. It almost felt painful after.

Sayaka pulled back to let her breathe. Kyoko's chest was rising and falling dramatically.

"One more thing."

Oh god.

She watched in wonder as Sayaka guided the soul gem between her own legs. Sayaka made a point to look the other way, but Kyoko watched her intently. They had never done this before. Kyoko fantasized a lot, but they had never done it.

It felt even better than she thought it would, her whole body being enveloped in a tight, amazing heat. Her brain shut down. She had never felt as close to the other girl as she did at that moment.

Or those moments. Or those hours. Or that lifetime. She wasn't sure. Time didn't feel like anything anymore.

She suddenly like she was being hugged even tighter and she crooned. She felt so loved and safe.

Then she felt so, so cold.

She protested and glared at the girl who was now cleaning her soul gem as gently as she could. Kyoko couldn't really move to do anything more than that.

"I wasn't going to keep doing that forever." Sayaka said with a heavy bashful blush. She handed the gem back to Kyoko. It turned back to normal. Sayaka had to undo the makeshift gag for her. Kyoko's arm felt like stones after that.

Kyoko kept panting. She wasn't sure she remembered the last time she moved.

"Are…are you alright? You look kind of spacey."

"I'm gooooooood." Sayaka smiled.

"Good. I wasn't sure if I was going to smother you or something." She looked self-conscious. She pulled up the white and red blankets around them. With great effort, Kyoko lifted her arms to pull Sayaka's body against her own.

"That. Was. Awesome." Kyoko laughed quietly. Sayaka returned it, but with a bit more restraint.

"I'm happy." She said. It seemed like an odd choice of words, but it was perfect.

Kyoko fell into a blissful dreamless sleep quickly after, Sayaka not far behind. She had no idea that Yuma was having nightmares replaying all of the times Kyoko had nearly died. None of them would talk about that night in the morning.

---

Sayaka lived for moments like this. It wasn't often that she felt like she was actually good at something. She felt her heart pumping and endorphins flowing.

She blew past all of the police academy trainees in the obstacle course. She easily jumped over the wall and swung across the ropes. She aced her shooting test, which was the main one she was worried she was out of practice on. Actually, the hardest part was not looking too superhuman.

"Miki, you were shot. In the spine. How long ago?" The test evaluator was the same man who had trained her when she was at the Academy almost two years ago. He seemed like a harsh man at first; his buzz cut and track suit looked intimidating on his tall, muscular frame. His shouts could make even the toughest recruit jolt. Once you got to know him, he was a big softie who learned everyone's name. That was a lot of names to learn, because this police academy trained officers for both NMPD and KPD.

"A bit over four months." Sayaka beamed. The test evaluator looked stunned.

"You must be the luckiest person alive. I can tell you that you've passed your physical exam with flying colours. You did even better than your first final exam. I'll fax it to the KPD Central Station right away."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She enveloped the man in a tight hug, physically lifting him off the ground. The man spluttered.

This was it. She had passed her psychiatric exam already. She was back on the Force.

She had to have a shower and get changed first. She had been presumptuous bringing a black coat and what she called her "detective shoes" with her. She thought bringing them would put her in the right frame of mind; make her motivated or something. She wasn't even at her motorcycle yet when her work phone rang.

Ryo.

"Hello?" She greeted.

"Congratulations Miki. I hear you passed your exam." She had to admit that he did not sound as excited as she would have hoped he would be.

"I did. With flying colours, the Instructor said." She felt like her boasting was deserved. Even though she was kind of cheating.

"Don't get too cocky. I want you to report to my office at 8:30 AM tomorrow. You've got work to do."

They hung up. She whooped in excitement as she jumped up, pounding her fist in the air. A few civilians gave her odd glances but didn't comment.

I'm back, bitches!

---

Kyoko cursed under her breath. She wasn't surprised, but it still wasn't what she wanted.

"I want you to report to my office at 8:30 AM tomorrow. You've got work to do." The voice of one of her enemies congratulated, albeit without as much enthusiasm as her companion seemed to have. Kyoko listened carefully to them through the headphones attached to her laptop. She sat alone in her dark office.

"I look forward to it Captain!" Sayaka sounded chipper. Kyoko knew how much her friend wanted to go back to work. Her boss didn't say anything about what kind of work she would be doing.

Kyoko closed the German surveillance program on her laptop. The bug was Kurosawa's idea. Watanabe supplied it. Kyoko implanted it in Sayaka's work phone. It could pick up all calls, emails, and texts that went in or out. It also tracked her location whenever the phone was turned on.

If Sayaka ever found out, she would murder Kyoko.

It wasn't like Kyoko wanted to do it. She had to. And it had saved her on a few occasions. She listened in once and noticed that Sayaka was at the southeast end of the Kazamino Harbour where most of the docks were regularly unused. She was doing a spontaneous shipment check. It was that same night that a huge amount of diamonds were being exported from that exact dock.

Had Kyoko not warned Watanabe, they would have been busted trying to ship 100 kilos.

Kyoko wasn't looking forward to telling the others at the meeting tonight about this. Kurosawa and Tomi thankfully understood the advantage of being connected to Sayaka. They didn't understand even a fraction of the depth of their relationship, but they understood she and Sayaka spent a lot of time together.

It was Watanabe and their 'contractor', who didn't appreciate it. At all.

Kyoko would tell them though. If she didn't, he would. Kyoko really, truly, deeply despised Chief Yoshikuba of the NMPD.

The hours passed painfully quickly as she reviewed the books and made some orders for her legitimate business. The bass had started up again.

She heard the knock on the door. She got up and opened the door, surprised to see Tomi.

"What's this I hear about a 37,500,000 yen cheque to some random person?" He didn't seem to be accusatory. He'd seen that Kyoko was able to pull off amazing things that shouldn't have been possible.

"Don't worry. He thinks he won the lottery."

"Uh huh. Why?"

"I wanted to." She shrugged. Tomi looked at her like she was crazy.

"And you're sure he's going to think he won the lottery."

"Positive."

"How?"

"Magic." She looked at him with a completely deadpan expression. He stared at her blankly, trying to process her odd behaviour.

"That must be it. Because I have no idea how you keep pulling shit like this off. We're all in room B when you're ready."

She nodded and followed. She locked her office. Kurosawa, Watanabe, and Yoshikuba were waiting for her. Sango was taking their orders.

"Miki's back on the Force." She wasn't going to bother with any greetings. She figured it would be best for her to say it up front, before there could be any speculation that she was trying to hide the news. Evidently the news hadn't reached Yoshikuba or the others yet; they all seemed to process the news differently.

"Sakura…" Watanabe started. She glared. He shut up.

"I think that's great news. We've been having problems with the KPD Organized Crime Unit. It's about time we had someone on the inside again. After all, it appears that you do not." Kurosawa was looking straight at Yoshikuba as he said it.

"That's KPD. There's nothing I can do about them. That's not why I wanted to meet today. I wanted to ask what the hell happened with Kurosawa Yuta! He was murdered in prison in my jurisdiction and you didn't give me any warning!"

"Why should we? We pay you to get things like this checked out and dismissed. Besides, we planned it carefully. We had someone in there who made it look like the Black Dragons did it. It shouldn't have been that hard for you." Kyoko appreciated the opportunity to change the topic away from Sayaka. Besides: this guy was giving them plenty of problems, all on his own.

"Such a serious matter should be cleared with me first. We already look bad enough for not letting KPD do their little investigation of our Force with theirs!"

"You had very legitimate reasons for refusing that, if I remember correctly." Tomi looked at the man as he sipped some beer.

"It still makes us, and me, look bad. I'm sticking my neck out for you every single day and you're barely paying me-"

"You get plenty. 7,500,000 yen per month is plenty." Kyoko glared. That was more than enough, on top of his cushy job.

"It's nothing compared to what you must be making from my silence." The greedy bastard had been pushing to get a percentage cut instead of a fixed amount for ages.

"I'd be more interested in paying someone important in the KPD. After all, Kazamino is where we have to make all of our big shipments. I may be wrong, but I think our products are stored in Kazamino too." Watanabe being on her side seemed rare, but it was warranted in this case. A few months ago, the cities of Kazamino and New Mitakihara agreed to allocate all of Kazamino's uglier harbour to industrial shipping and all of Mitakihara's nice, new docks to tourism and marine research. All of their shipping had to be done through Kazamino, which was where the majority of their product was going through.

"You still use Mitakihara's road systems to get your products to the rest of this island."

"Which is next to nothing of where our product goes." Kurosawa retorted.

"Are you testing me?" The Chief glared at them.

"No. What I want to know is how the NMPD-KPD merger you keep talking about is going. You keep on saying it will happen and then you'll be able to help us in both cities. We've been waiting for this for years, Yoshikuba." Kurosawa had this element in his tone that Kyoko couldn't place, but reminded her a great deal of his father. She didn't like it.

"Whether the merger happens or not, I'll be able to get both Departments together on this. The Chief of KPD is officially announcing her retirement tomorrow and they have already begun internal screening for candidates. If Sabe, who I'm personally recommending gets picked, I know he'll be on board. If you give me a percentage of the sales, I would be happy to share those with him."

"So that's if he gets picked. Who's he going up against?" Kyoko was pretty familiar with the big shots at both KPD and NMPD.

Yoshikuba looked like he was hoping she wouldn't ask.

"Who's he going up against?" She repeated, a bit deadlier this time.

"Goura Ryo."

They all roared with aggravation. Fucking, fucking, fuck!

Getting Goura in there would be a disaster. It was his pet project, the Organized Crime Unit, or the OCU, that had been giving them so much trouble.

"Relax! Sabe has many more years' experience and Goura has a reputation from his earlier days' of being difficult to work with, and he regularly violates regulations. He got results, but not lawfully a lot of the time. No one would feel confident having him as Chief."

"He's popular and got some major breakthroughs with the Miyamotos and Kurosawa. Everyone knows he is completely opposed to any kind of corruption. When KPD is already investigating it internally, something the Golden Boy himself started up, what makes you so sure they wouldn't want him to clean the place up?" Watanabe looked pissed and nervous. It was basically how all of them felt.

"It won't happen. I will see to that."

"Yeah, like you saw to those two shipments that Sakura's pet detectivecaught!" Thathad been the original major source of contention. It cost him over a million American dollars in losses, as he had reminded her numerous times. Sayaka caught two of Watanabe's shipments and Kyoko wasn't able to stop either in time. Yeah, she had bugged Sayaka's phone but she couldn't listen to it every minute of the day. She refused to let anyone else monitor her phone though; she worried what they might do with the information. A lot of unfriendly people would pay good money for it. Both shipments were in the early evening, when Kyoko was usually getting things ready for the Club to open.

Goura, from what Kyoko understood, used to be in the game himself until he went all goody-goody. He had been clever with the type of cop he picked for his OCU: naïve, overeager, fiercely loyal, stupidly brave, and easy to get hyped up. They were hard workers who weren't afraid to stoop low to get information. They had people undercover selling drugs for months, offer to do "hit" jobs…even pretend to be strippers, junkies and prostitutes. The main reason they were upset about Sayaka going back to work was that she was another body on the small, but incredibly effective unit.

The unit did well and practically idolized him. It made Goura popular. Sabe didn't rock the boat. He did his job and went home to his partner and dogs at the end of the day. He hadn't had anything even close to the same level as glamour in his career that Goura had. In Kyoko's opinion, Sabe didn't stand a chance.

"We'll consider a partnership if Sabe is successful and agrees to come on board. Otherwise, we have no reason to invest in you. If you would please see yourself out, I would like to discuss private matters with my associates." Kurosawa looked down his nose at the older man, dismissing him. Definitely like his father.

The Chief spluttered. He was about to argue further when he looked to the door and saw Sango, standing meekly by in the corner. He composed himself and left in a dignified manner, escorted by Kyoko's operations manager.

"Are you alright?" The girl had asked quietly as they left.

"I'm fine, thank you." He sounded agitated.

The door closed and Kyoko no longer cared.

"So what do we do about him?" She turned to her 'associates', as Kurosawa called them. The others shrugged.

"Wait and see, I suppose. Everything is in their hands now." Watanabe threw back another shot of sake. Kyoko hated the men she worked with more and more every day.

---

Sayaka cursed under her breath. She wasn't surprised, but it still wasn't what she wanted.

She was hoping to get a welcome back cake, or donuts, or something. Instead, no one seemed to notice she was back. The Station was a flurry of phone calls, chatter, documents, and typing. It seemed slightly busier than normal today but otherwise; it was the same old Station. Hadn't changed without her.

She sighed as she made her way back to her desk. Everything was kept the same. Even the case files she had been working on were kept in the same place. She hung up her winter coat on the back of her ratty used office chair and turned on her computer. She wondered if she was still expected to file the reports she had been working on months ago or if they were already done. She felt sick to her stomach thinking of how many emails there would be to go through.

"MIKI, MY OFFICE NOW!" Ryo shouted from his office. Yep, definitely the same place.

She entered obediently. Ayumi and Ryo were already there, looking solemn. She was surprised by what she saw on Ryo's desk: a large Ziploc bag full of white gems.

She recognized them. They were supposed to be gone.

"Are those-"

"Yeah. White diamonds. We'd been seeing small bits of it for a while, but we thought it might just be leftovers from years ago. A huge shipment was found on the border between Kazamino and New Mitakihara at around 4 AM. This is only one of the bags that was confiscated. There's got to be more. We're not sure if it's just that someone found the rumoured stash of it or if someone is actually producing it again. We're not sure what to think because Kurosawa Yuta was murdered in prison a few weeks ago."

"Oh shit..." Her first day was definitely off to an interesting start. Ayumi and Ryo shot each other a meaningful look.

"You weren't aware of that?" Ryo looked at her stoically. Something in her gut started to squirm; she didn't like the way he asked the question, but she couldn't pin down why.

"I've been off duty. No one told me about that." She did her best to maintain eye contact with him. It was hard when he was staring at her with such intensity. What the hell is going through his head?

He grunted.

"Miki…we've heard that the younger Kurosawa still goes to that Club, and it's a fucking cesspool of drugs now. Ayumi went in, but she just didn't strike the same gold mine that you did. We just have to get some shred of information about where these are coming from, and if Kurosawa's murder has anything to do with it."

Sayaka looked at Ryo, not liking where this was going. He looked her straight in the eyes.

"We need you back in that Club."

---

AN: And another chapter done! Haha, this was a much faster update, wasn't it? I guess that's the advantage when I'm working on a chapter that I've been excited to write and have some spare time. The next update won't come nearly as quickly, I'm afraid. There are going to be a few more chapters in part two than one, but I think they might be shorter if this chapter is anything to go by.

As promised, there is finally officially real KyoSaya. Yay!

Once upon a time, Ryo had a last name. I forget what and it was only mentioned once in over 600 pages of writing. I thought it sounded something like "Goura" though, so that's what it is now. If anyone finds the original last name, kudos to you! If you know what chapter it was in and would be willing to let me know, that would be awesome; I'll go and change it to Goura.

Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you enjoyed it. I had fun writing it. I would love to hear some feedback because the story is definitely going to get a bit darker with Kyoko as an anti-hero. Reviews, faves, and follows are always appreciated!

Cheers!

-Don'tKillKenny