"Hey if you don't mind, I'm gonna take a quick bath. I'd really prefer not going to school with frosting in my hair tomorrow."
"Yeah it's cool," Kyuoko was quick to respond. "But, uh, what am I supposed ta do in the mean time?"
"Play a video game or something. I don't know. There's cable too. Look, I'm only gonna be in there for 15, maybe 20 minutes. I trust that you can keep yourself busy without breaking something or taking off to find entertainment."
"Jeez, ya act like I'm that untrustworthy, why are you even letting me in here then?" She was slightly upset by Sayaka's last comment. "I'll be fine. Nothin' will get broken or stolen or anythin' I promise."
"Good," the blue haired girl smiled. "But if you take off, I'll find you and we'll have a rematch on that fight we never got to finish long ago." Her smile changed to a smirk. She headed into the bathroom, leaving Kyouko to her own devices in the living room.
"...wait what?" Kyouko said to herself. She laughed at the threat, remembering their previous duel. Heh. What was I even fighting for that night? Did I really have that big of a point to prove? I really was such a kid at that time, thinking I had it all figured out. And that how I was doing things was the only way. She grabbed the remote and turned the TV on to avoid getting lost in old memories.
Meanwhile, Sayaka was struggling to get the cake out of her hair.
"Stupid frosting!" she announced in frustration. After letting out a sigh, she submerged as much of her hair in the water as possible. Stupid Kyouko, couldn't you save the antics for another day? You sure know how to make an entrance..
.-.-.-.
Sayaka emerged from the bathroom to notice Kyouko laying upside down on the couch, watching some drama show, and surprisingly, Hitomi. Before they even ad a chance to greet her, she had dashed to her room.
"What's her deal?" Kyouko asked, looking over towards Hitomi.
"I think she's embarassed," Hitomi laughed.
"At what? We're all girls. We have public bath houses all over the country. I dun't get it," she tossed a chip in her mouth.
"Oh, that's Sayaka for you. She was the same way as a child, too."
"But the last time I was here she forced me-"
"I'm sorry for the wait!" Sayaka called, cutting off Kyouko as she emerged from her room. She had thrown on a plain white t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts. "So, what brings you here Hitomi?"
"Well the teacher asked if I me to bring you the assignments for the day. You should know by now that even if you skip school you'll still have to study and do work," she jested. "And on that note, don't forget to study for the English quiz next week!"
"I know. But not to sound rude, why didn't this get sent with Madoka or Homura?"
"They weren't in either. People thought you might all be sick with something, since you're always together."
"Wait," the blue-haired girl proclaimed in shock. "They seriously made me ditch school so they could ditch school together? What am I gonna do about those two?" She sighed, and let out a half-hearted laugh.
"I suppose it can't be helped," Hitomi sighed. "Although, Kyousuke's never invited me to skip school or anything. Eh, I'm pretty sure Madoka's mother is far more lenient than mine on the subject anyways... In any case, I need to be getting home now. Your papers are on the table." She waved as she walked out of the apartment.
"Ok, I'll bite," Kyouko began. "Are you two still friends after everything before or..?"
The blue-haired girl laugh in amusement. "Kyouko, it's been two years. I mean, yeah, it can be a bit awkward at times, like if she goes on about a date or something. But really, I think I'm past it all, for the most part. I guess I kinda realized that I shouldn't let it ruin our friendship. It was kinda bad at first, and with me being a magical girl there's kind of a whole world between us now, but I've worked through it all. I'm trying."
"Well that's good then. I mean it's hard, fixin' friendships and crap," memories of her old friendship with Mami and the events that followed flashed through her mind. She decided it was best to change the subject. "So er, what was that all about Madoka and Homura?"
"You see," Sayaka paused. Is it okay to tell her? Might as well since Hitomi basically said it. "They've kinda been, well, dating for a while."
"What?" she nearly spit out her food. "You mean ta say they're actually..? Well I guess it doesn't seem to far off judgin from what I saw of them back at Mami's. But still, damn. Is everyone okay with that sorta thing?"
"Not many people know," the blue haired girl responded. "Aside from Hitomi, Mami, myself, and now you, the only ones who know are Madoka's family. I remember they sat down with Madoka's mom to talk to her about it and they all decided it's probably best to keep it quiet until at least after high school or something like that. Junko was really cool about it though. I'd be terrified to tell my mother something like that. But it's been over a year, maybe they'll decide to be more open or something. But until then you can't say anything about it outside of those of us that know, ok?"
"Ok, I get it! Who the hell would I tell anyways?"
"True," there was a pause. Remembering Kyouko's Christian background, Sayaka spoke again. "You're uh, ok with that right?"
"'Course I am! I've been all over this damn country. Seen stranger things than that. Met a few girls like 'em too. Don't worry 'bout that."
"Good. Eh," she paused. "I have something I've wanted to tell you.."
"Huh?"
"It's just," Sayaka almost immediately regretted starting. Kyouko looked blankly at her, waiting. "I never really got a chance to thank you properly for saving me all that time ago. I probably would be dead if you haven't. So thank you, for being a hero."
Kyouko took a moment to look up at the girl talking to her. Although they had been close in height back when they met, Sayaka was now clearly the taller of the two, by a good 7-8 centimeters. Her figure had filled out a bit too, although she still wasn't on the same level as Mami. She caught herself staring, and immediately shook herself out of it.
"Eh, don't worry about that. You don't owe me anythin.'"
"Kyouko, this isn't a matter of debt. It is an honest expression of gratitude for saving my life. Please just accept it as that." Her face had turned bright red, contrasting the blue of her hair.
"Look, yer welcome. I don't really know what to say. It's not like it was planned or nothin' I just, did what I thought I had ta at the time. It's gettin' kinda late though, you should probably do that school work Hitomi brought ya before ya get tired."
Sayaka agreed, deciding that was probably best. As she sat down to do her work, Kyouko brought her attention back to the TV, with a strange fascination. Before long, Kyouko had passed out at that strange upside down angle. Upon finishing her work, she picked up Kyouko to lay her down flat. She found the red-haired girl surprisingly light, considering how much she ate. Laughing to herself, Sayaka went into her room to grab blankets and pillows. Putting one blanket under Kyouko, and a pillow under her head, she then shut the lights off. She paid her pillow down on the floor next to the couch and curled up under the blanket.
"Goodnight, Kyouko," she whispered, knowing there would be no response. She slowly let herself drift to sleep..