Chapter 17
Sleep Deprivation
Two figures stumbled through the city, their shadows picked out sharply under the harsh illumination of the street lamp. It was all the more stark in the engulfing darkness surrounding them, the city blocks ahead of them almost pitch black.
Kyoko's keen eyes picked out the shattered sockets of the lights ahead of them-purposefully destroyed, no doubt by someone who preferred darkness... probably to hide their dirty deeds. She glanced down the street, searching, but found nothing obvious hiding in the shadows.
They'd been pumping magical juice through their bodies for hours, and now the exhaustion was catching up. Their ability to awaken themselves by using a jolt of power had ceased being a viable way to extend their ability to function. There was an element of diminishing returns in many of their powers, especially ones relating to their own body, and they'd reached the point where there wasn't much they could do... other than sleep. That's what they needed more than anything. Sleep.
Sleep, a tiny part of her insisted seductively. It was almost tempting; Kyoko had slept on the hard, stinking pavement of city roads before, and imagined she'd do so again. But not here or now.
It looked like a bad part of town... but ahead of them, several blocks away, she could make out an towering hotel coated in light, a beckoning glow in the distance.
After a moment of resting, panting with relief as they realized the barrier had gone down, that they'd won... Sayaka had noticed they were no longer in Mitakihara. Kyoko was inclined to believe her. She'd begun, despite her own long-lived-by rule, to trust the girl's instincts, and thought that she'd have recognized that twisted high-rise building from her reconnaissance of the city upon her arrival last week. Some kind of residential building, from the look of its lobby, its appearance was... distinctive.
The resemblance to the black tower of the spidery master Witch had been eerie. Kyoko wasn't used to feeling creeped out, and didn't enjoy the sensation.
They had immediately begun walking, neither one taking the initiative, but rather seeming to flow perfectly in tandem, away from the building. Furiously, a block away, Kyoko realized she'd forgotten to grab the Grief Seed, almost smacking herself as she turned around, explaining her lapse to the younger girl. She'd noticed Sayaka turn around, following her as she returned to the street beneath the dominating residential structure. Together they hustled towards the seed, its utter blackness visible even on the darkened, half-lit pavement. She felt silly, embarrassed even, at the comfort she found in the blunette's presence.
Four blocks later, coming out of the maze of darkened office buildings, they'd entered some sort of industrial sector, cement and metal plants and large vehicles dotting the terrain.
Two blocks after that, Kyoko began to realize how tired she was. She watched Sayaka stumble, taking a knee, and held out her hand. Then all hell seemed to break loose.
A group of shadows lunged out of the darkness, rough hands grabbing Kyoko's arms, pinning them behind her. "Hah, boys, look at this. What are you lovely ladies doing out in such a dangerous part of town at this hour of night?" She heard Sayaka gasp. Her own wrenching at the meaty, gripping hands, was interrupted as a dimly lit figure wound up and punched her in the stomach. Her breath left her in a whoosh of pain. "You're lucky we found you, otherwise you might have gotten in some trouble." The man holding her arms dragged her roughly, bringing her back into the alley. She fought to regain her breath. "We're gonna take real good care of you, don't you wor-huh?"
A gleam of sapphire shone from her left, erupting in a flash of pale light, Sayaka using a burst of power to overcome whoever had been holding her. In the brief flash of light, despite her pupils contracting painfully at the brilliant assault, Kyoko had noticed many figures, and the glint of steel-gun or knives, she didn't know nor care.
Finally getting her wind back, she took advantage of the furiously blinking man holding her, hooking her leg behind and dropping his fat ass to the ground. He started to utter a curse, but suddenly cut off, staring into eternity, the spear tip protruding from his back having completely hollowed out his chest. A small radius of furious crimson illuminated the street, and the shady looking characters confronting them.
Sayaka fought as well; the men initially taunted, then shouted, finally cursed, panicked, hopelessly fled, then futilely wept. And somewhere in there they had died. The five of them had been scattered about.
Sayaka looked... distracted. Not again, she thought as her conscience stabbed her for killing another human... several... again. Turmoil from conflicting emotions raged through her. She felt like something had been quenched inside her.
Kyoko looked... satisfied. Never again, she thought, her own perspective focused on an entirely different interpretation of events. It took her some moments to calm down enough to be concerned for her companion: the reddish glow of her Soul Gem bathed the scene in the color of blood... which she thought was ironic since only the darkness hid the fact that the area was indeed, literally, covered in the vital fluid.
"Sayaka. Hey. Hey!" Kyoko walked over and gave the girl a hard, strategic poke. "We need to get out of here, now. Unless you want to try and clean this mess up..."
"What w-were they-why would... we j-just... they're all..."
"You know exactly what," the red head replied shortly, feeling a little nervous at the thought of a police cruiser arriving on the scene. Bad part of town or not, some of the screams had gotten pretty loud, especially the one her blunette had... well, Kyoko was still a little too disgusted and amazed by what had happened to dwell on. Well, the punishment fit the crime, she thought pragmatically, feeling better. "Also, unless you're completely clueless, you know the why. We did what we had to do, when you think about it," she rationalized, not being entirely honest that she'd rather enjoyed the experience, finding it as empowering as always. "Not only for ourselves but anyone who'd have to come in contact with those filth... even just having to pass them in the street," she ended with a mutter, under her breath.
The pretty-but soft, Kyoko reflected, still-younger girl seemed to be struggling with something, no doubt related to the two bodies Kyoko had discovered on her way into the train station, hours that felt like days in the past. She was tired, and couldn't exactly remember the circumstances, but she recalled them having a scummy look about them, too. She remembered the gore encrusting Sayaka when she'd met her-the bizarre feeling of being disturbed and, somehow... it had made her pulse race, feeling breathless-Sayaka had looked dangerous. I've got issues, she thought to herself, ruefully but without the self-blame her father had encouraged in her, so long ago. It felt more like amused acceptance.
"You do what you have to do. Those fools made a choice," she said, kicking one of the round objects at her feet down the street, rolling oddly, unbalanced. "So did we. And we were right. But only because we won."
She leaned into the blunette, who's eyes seemed to glow an electric blue as she gazed into them raptly, laying a hand on the white-cloaked shoulder. She could almost see her own crimson eyes reflected back in them, despite the dimness.
"You are only right if you win, Sayaka. Only if you survive. That is what comes first. You can't be right, and dead. You are only just dead."
She couldn't tell if the girl had understood her, or even listened. Grabbing an arm, she helped her dazed companion get to her feet, and start walking through the darkness, toward the light of their destination. Magical outfits fading, Kyoko embraced the darkness that had seemed so threatening moments before. She realized that, of all the dark and dangerous things the blackness held, nothing could compare to the dangerous darkness hidden within Team Kyoko Sayaka.
The night manager at the long, expensively inlaid table in the hotel lobby stared, watching the two shabby figures approach. Two young girls, filthy, skinny, and haggard looking. Obviously junkies, probably selling their diseased bodies for the next fix, runaways and dropouts living a half-life dominated by the need to find their next source of drug to feed their pitiful, self-destructive addiction.
He picked up his phone, finger pressing down on the security team's private number as one of the girls, a tired looking red head, approached. Half a minute later, seeming to jerk out of a trance, the man became aware of furious requests from the receiver he held halfway to his ear. "Nothing, ah, so sorry Yojimbo-san. It is nothing, everything is perfectly in order."
Through the receiver, the hollow sound of his voice, far-away and even more unemotional than usual, went unnoticed. The red head, however, wore a wicked grin, her canines like fangs in the strong light of the lobby.
Sayaka was dead on her feet-funny, she thought loopily, that the body I'm controlling is pretty much dead, a walking zombie. She felt her friend grab her arm, leading her somewhere, but hardly noticed the change of lighting or scenery until the elevator began to ascend, the pulling feel of the rapid acceleration disorienting her but also waking her up at the same time. She'd rather have been allowed to sleep.
Kyoko continued to hold her arm, and she laid her blue-haired head down on those muscular shoulders, smelling the musky sent of her friend's unwashed hair and worn green hoodie. She took a deep breath, inhaling the comforting smell...
"Wake up, Sayababe," a gentle, but annoying voice insisted, shaking her. She felt a prick at her neck, and gasped, startled awake. "That's better," Kyouko muttered, licking her sharp canines.
"Whudid you.." the blunette slurred, feeling bricks of exhaustion tied to her eyelids, pulling them down. Her head tilted backward, and she watched the floor number continue to climb... passing through the middle levels, approaching the upper, expensive floors...
Slightly less tired now that her mind was occupied, she wondered where Kyoko was taking her. The elevator started to slow down at the third floor from the top, rolling on through the second, before gently halting to a gentle *ding* as the doors opened, revealing the immense penthouse suite that occupied the entire top floor.
"Holy shit, Ky... what is this place?" Removing the special key card that the night manager had so willingly relinquished, the red head stepped out of the elevator, glancing at her companion, smiling smugly. She wanted the exhausted girl focused on where they were, instead of how there were there. Kyoko had a feeling that Sayaka wouldn't exactly approve, but now was not the time for quibbling over codes of honor.
They made their way, arm in arm, through the marble floor, over exotic rugs, past ornate furniture, through the kitchen. There Kyoko almost paused, but instead helped her friend past, vowing to return later. The place was immense; huge windows revealed a slowly growing pink light illuminating the eastern horizon, a city of tall, shadowy buildings. It was immense, larger than downtown Mitakihara.
Plopping her blunette down on one of the many sofas throughout the room, Kyoko picked up the phone, dialing a single number. She had a short conversation, then went to wake up her sleeping partner. She wanted to get something inside of her before she fell asleep. They hadn't eaten in... hours.
The ice cubes woke Sayaka right up, the freezing cold on her back eliciting a sleep-husky shriek. Kyoko had ordered ice cream, in delicate pastry cones, hand-delivered by one of the kitchen staff, the gentle knock coming at 4:44 AM according to the fancy clock-screen on the end table next to the sofa, which the older girl claimed was lucky. Sayaka could have done with something a little more... solid, but accepted the treat graciously.
She caught herself watching the older girl eat, staring at the pink tongue darting out, carving concentrating rings in the icecream, twirling it around, opposite the way she spun her-
"What's wrong?" the red-head asked suspiciously, catching Sayaka watching her oddly. She rubbed a green sleeve across her mouth. "Do I have something on my face?" she inquired, feeling strangely embarrassed the girl had been watching her eat. She'd never been one for table manners... but didn't want to look like a hobo in front of this girl either.
"Uh... no. No, it's..."
"What?"
"It's good ice cream. I... thought it would be weird-the ice cream, this early in the morning... but its kind of nice."
"Its delicious," the red head stated, diving back into her cone with reckless abandon. Sayaka licked at the drips that threatened to run down her hand, her gaze once again focusing beyond the cone. Feeling a strange feeling... a sort of really tired excitement.
And... if she was honest with herself, and she was too tired not to be... a increasingly familiar sense of hunger, although something inside her doubted the frozen treat she held would be able to satisfy the craving. She sighed, closing her eyes, forbidden visions dancing through her sleep-deprived head.
Kyoko half carried, half dragged the mumbling blunette past a long window, sighing as she caught sight of the bed... the titanic, circular shape looking more like a work of modern art than a place to sleep. Sayaka pulled her arm away, moaning in a good imitation of a zombie before dropping into the cushy mattress fully clothed, legs sprawled halfway off.
The red head considered her situation. Gingerly, she picked up the younger girl's ankles, pulling her legs fully onto the bed. She debated undressing the girl, but decided against it, not wanting to risk creeping her out in the morning. She looked at the sleeping face of the girl below her, free of care and worry, innocent and sweet. No trace of the sadness she so often chose to carry inside, but also none of the fiery passion that Kyoko had grown to love so deeply.
Love. Really Kyoko? Surely, appreciate is what you meant. And maybe, just a little admiration...
She removed most of her clothes, a damp, ice cream-stained green sweatshirt and the faded, short-cut jeans laying in a messy pile on top of her shoes at the foot of the bed. Before grabbing something to eat from the kitchen, she couldn't resist stroking her companions silky blue hair. Gently laying down on the bed, Kyoko ran her fingers through the hair of someone who increasingly meant... a lot. Meant the world to her. Confused, trying unsuccessfully to pin down what, exactly, she was feeling, she closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of Sayaka.
Coconut, she thought dreamily. Smells kinda like coconut...
She woke up with a start, dreaming of the dark tentacles that had sucked out heat, freezing her leg... pins-and-needles.
She was luxuriously cozy... bundled up under the covers, the press of firm warmth across her chest, arm draped over something hot and soft and precious, holding it tight... Kyoko cracked open an eye.
Her leg was asleep. Sunlight blazed through the wall of windows. Kyoko realized, with a kind of horrified excitement, that her right leg was sprawled out, trapped tightly between the hot flesh of Sayaka's thighs. Her heart rate tripling, she took several shallow, rasping breaths, careful to breath upwards to avoid blowing on the tangled blue hair just inches from her face.
She pulled back the covers-she didn't remember getting under them last night, just laying down next to her sleeping partner... and realized that at some point during the night, her companion had removed her clothes as she stared at the blue bra strap running across Sayaka's otherwise naked back. Her eyes roved down the curving spine, admiring the blunette's defined shoulders and smooth, pale abdomen.
Her girly little panties did nothing to calm Kyoko's racing pulse. Closing her eyes, as if to resist temptation, she slid her hand down, getting a hold of her partner's right calf, gently spreading her legs apart... slowly extricating her own leg from the vice-like grip.
Unfortunately, Kyoko's leg, fast asleep, flopped like a fish, nudging Sayaka's other leg. The red head froze, afraid the beating of her heart could be felt vibrating through the bed, sure to wake up the sleeping blunette even if her own traitorous limb did not. She heard a soft snort, adorable, but detected no movement.
Gently, delicately, Kyoko shifted her grip on the younger girl's leg, sliding her hand up below the knee, prying it apart from her own. Carefully, she fully removed the last of her leg from the danger zone, slowly letting the leg drop. Kyoko rubbed her own leg, squeezing and kneading blood back into the tingling limb.
She lay there, panting slightly, having held her breath for a good portion of the time since she'd awoken. Unable to resist, she ran her hand down the girl's flank, feeling the ridges of her ribs, tracing the curve of her midriff.
Goddam. Kyoko turned over, pulling the blanket above her head, breathing slowly and deeply for some time before falling back to sleep.
Sayaka smiled, still half asleep. Not fully understanding what had been going on, she nevertheless had enjoyed whatever it was. The feeling running up her leg, the tickling traces along her back... she would have liked it to continue. Drowsy, she tried to go back to her dream.
More to come.
Please let me know if you'd like a cool, refreshing glass of pink lemonade sub-story, I won't indulge (or at least post) for my own gratification...
Skip the rest if you don't want to hear me rant about a delicate issue.
The "assaulted by men" is cliche, but hopefully ends somewhat uniquely. Something like 1 in 6 women in America can expect to be assaulted in such a fashion over the course of their lives. Most of those are not results of random gangs of evil dudes, but close friends and relatives... unfortunately there's not many victims able to transform into bad ass wielders of magical weapons. Learn Aikido instead. Report the bastards if you ever become aware of something wrong like that happening-over half of all attacks go unreported. People like that need to pay, even if for some reason we refuse to accept castration as a legitimate penalty.
It would fit the crime, after all.