Chapter 24

Not Quite A First Date: Part 2

Kyoko's chain's spun back into her hand, reforming the long spear that she'd just used to slay the Witch. Number two so far. This town seemed to be thick with them. The thought brought a smile to her face, and Sayaka noted with alarm the look of excited greed her friend wore as she stooped down to pick up the Grief Seed.

This Witch had appeared to be some kind of moving pile of rotting garbage. They had actually trod on it before the being had tried to engulf them in a mass of stinking refuse. Sayaka had cut away swaths of the stuff with a spinning ring of swords, while Kyoko had speared what had appeared to be the thing's heart, or brain, or something. Whatever it was, it had been vital, and they now found themselves back on the streets of Motogawa under a cloudy sky.

Sayaka shared a significant glance with her partner, flashing a brilliant smile; the first Witch had been almost as effortless, but that occasion had been filled with fear and anxiety. She remembered that overwhelming sense of almost paralyzing doubt... the only reason she had entered the barrier was because of the red-haired girl beside her.

Standing outside the first barrier, Sayaka had been extremely hesitant to enter.

"What if we find ourselves back in another barrier with multiple Witches? What if they, and their familiars, are as powerful as ones from before... or worse? What if we end up somewhere even stranger when, if, we get out the other side? "

Kyoko scoffed. "What, are you saying we shouldn't go in?"

"No... I was just, well, voicing my concerns I guess..."

Kyoko considered. It didn't really make sense to her, admitting to fears and concerns... at least when they were unavoidable or unknowable. In regards to tactics, those very concerns could be of great benefit in understanding and reacting to the worst contingencies. However, she couldn't help wondering how it helped to openly dwell on problematic circumstances you were powerless to change.

That didn't mean she wasn't just a little terrified herself. But what was the point in admitting it?

They were Magical Girls; they needed to hunt Witches. They'd talked about it in the penthouse, talked about it while strolling around town, egg-shaped souls cupped in their hands as they searched for Witch activity. It had not taken long.

Sayaka wouldn't meet Kyoko's eye. Looking down, the red-head noticed the trembling hands, and focusing more closely on the girl, noticed her shallow breathing and wide, darting eyes.

"You're so cute when you're scared and trying not to show it," Kyoko grinned, trying to lighten the girl's spirits. Sayaka looked at her, glaring, but her hands still shook. The veteran, mentally annoyed with herself, reached out. Sayaka made as if to draw back her arms, step back... but she stood her ground, glowering at her shoes.

"I... I'm s-so ashamed-" the blunette stammered, between gasps. Her sapphire eyes were suddenly brimming with tears. "I'm s-s-so s-scared!" Kyoko felt the girl's hands tremble, and squeezed them tightly, feeling the current of energy flowing between them. It was almost as if she could feel the girl's terror, the uncertainty about what lay ahead weighing on her mind far more than whatever potential danger they may find inside the labyrinth.

"Look... whatever happens, we'll be together." Pulling the blunette to her, Kyoko embraced her in a tight hug. Sayaka tried to bury herself in the strong arms, the green hooded jacket, the wild red mane of hair. The squeezing calmed her racing thoughts and rapid breathing. Kyoko turned her head, admiring the golden hair clip that held back the blunette's bangs, and whispered in her ear. "Fear is nothing to be ashamed of. We confront it every day of our lives. It's how you react to it that counts." Her friend appeared to have gathered herself, so Kyoko reluctantly let her arms relax their grip.

"I... wish I was... fearless, like you," the blunette said, wiping her eyes with a sleeve, the soiled white shirt almost a complete loss with various stains, wrinkles and a large rip along the sleeve. She kind of felt it was a reflection of herself, and the battering she'd taken over the last couple of days.

An idea of what to say hit Kyoko like a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky. "Sayaka... you are brave. Don't you get it? When I walk through that barrier, are you going to wait out here? Are you going to allow this thing to escape, killing other... people? Of course not, so stop beating yourself up about freaking out. I'm trying not to think about all the bad stuff that happened last time we went inside!"

The blunette watched her, unbelieving misty blue eyes staring up from her hanging head. Kyoko went on. "I'm not fearless... nobody capable of thinking can be. I've said this before, but I want you to understand... you have to be afraid to be brave, because that's what it is. Overcoming the fear. Learning to... deal with it."

"B-but how?" the younger girl asked.

"Focus on the positives." The blunette was nonplussed. "We're about to beat the crap out of some Witch, ending her existence and the threat it poses to humankind, while gaining a delicious Grief Seed in the process. We'll get to fight. To smash and stab and slash and kill things. It will be fun!"

"Hmmm." Sayaka continued to look dubious. Kyoko tried another tactic.

"That works for me, anyway. Sometimes it helps to have a goal... something concrete you can think about. It sort of motivates you. For me, the Grief Seed is usually enough, but you..."

"If this is just a regular Witch, I'll be so embarrassed. I mean, I hope it is, but I'm not scared of them. I don't want... the last time, it was too close, too many times..." The blue hair spun through the air as she shook her head. "Whatever," she muttered, trying to put everything from her mind, a moon that bit her in half, the murder of her best friend by her own hands, the skinless horror of Kyoko's face, being eaten alive, and most of all those disturbing, disgusting memories...

"Ending a threat posed to humankind..." Kyoko heard the blunette mutter to herself, a look of determination settling upon her features. She seemed to grow larger, standing up straight, shoulders broadening as the hunched posture she adopted in submission to her fear slowly dissolved. The red head smiled, knowing that the fear wasn't gone, but at least her friend was hiding it better. When the blunette took her hand and walked toward the barrier, Kyoko reminded herself that it probably was just a "regular" Witch, no underwater traps involving severed heads or confrontations with dead ex-loves were likely to occur. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the labyrinth with her girlfriend.

She was feeling much more confident when they emerged, a scant seven minutes later.

With a Grief Seed apiece, the two had begun to consider their next course of action when they noticed something coming from a shipyard along the waterfront. Kyoko had recognized the signs of a familiar, and raised an eyebrow at her partner questioningly, already knowing the answer. Sayaka merely nodded with a look of determination, so the red-head bit back a sigh and followed her over the chain link fence. They'd felt confident enough to split up; the place was a maze of row after row and stack after stack of large, rusting shipping containers, and midnight was fast approaching.

Sayaka was just about to hurl her sword at the fleeing familiar when the chain slashed down toward her head. She dodged, rolling along the cracked, weed-infested pavement, hearing the hissing of its passage centimeters from her ear. She rolled onto her back, heaving her legs in the air and pushing off the ground with her shoulders. Spine curving, she landed on her feet, her cold blue eyes following the length of chain up... and up.

A shadowy figure stood on top of a stack of cargo containers, coiling the length of chain around her left arm. The far-off industrial lights of the shipyard were powerful enough to cause the object in her hand to glint. "What the hell's your problem?" Sayaka shouted at the figure, thinking to Kyoko Someone's here, another Puella Magi.

Careful, came the veteran's forceful reply. On my way. Sayaka was conflicted; on the one hand, she felt safe knowing that Kyoko would be there soon. On the other, it was galling to realize that Kyoko thought she needed protection... she could handle herself!

But then, as the two other girls materialized from behind nearby towering stacks of the massive rusting boxes, any thoughts of bravado disappeared. More. Three.

Dammit. Kyoko took a huge leap in the direction she knew she'd find her partner, heedless of the energy cost. A group of three or four Magical Girls... depending on how Sayaka's thoughts were interpreted. Things were about to get interesting, as long as she could get to her friend in time.

As the two girls took up positions behind Sayaka, the one standing on the container stack hopped down. Landing a few meters from the blunette, her features became easier to distinguish... she wore a dark cloth or cap over her head, and appeared to be covered in black leather and silver chains. Some kinda emo goth chick? Sayaka wondered. She holding what looked like a sickle in her left hand, forearm wrapped with the long chain that had whizzed by her head... She noticed a weight at the end of the chain hanging off the girl's arm.

"You're in our city, little girl." Sayaka bit back an acidic response... the girl addressing her was hardly much older than she was. But she was heedful of Kyoko's warning, and instead stared at her questioningly, or so she hoped. "Our city. You have to get out of here. Tonight. Otherwise... we'll have to make an example of you."

Sayaka was feeling surrounded, which made sense since the three strange Puella Magi had encircled her. She was nervous, not scared but... she hadn't become a Magical Girl in order to fight other Magical Girls... although of course she had in her brief time since Contracting. Mostly with Kyoko, in fact... the thought gave her a much-needed surge of confidence in the face of her antagonists. "First off, back the fuck off. Second, I didn't see your name written anywhere." Sayaka tried to keep her voice level, but the adrenaline pumping through her system made her sound shaky, so she intensified her glower to compensate. "If this is your city, I gotta say you do a pretty crappy job keeping it clean of Witches."

One of the girls behind her gasped, and the one addressing her looked on in disbelief. She wore a black bandana, with just the faintest suggestion of dark hair poking out the back. Chains adorned her outfit; sleeveless leather vest, tight leather pants, elbow-length black leather gloves... black black black. Except for the glinting silver of the chains of all varieties that adorned her outfit, chains that seemed to dangle, shaking, as the girl moved... but without even the faintest clink or rattle.

Sayaka didn't like her face.

"Why you stupid little... listen, bitch, you're about to get your ass handed to you unless you give us whatever Grief Seeds you managed to steal, and leave this city." She took a step forward, pointing her sickle threateningly towards the blunette. Sayaka, in turn, readied her sword, eyes focused on the threat before her, but other senses trying to account for the two girls flanking her, and hoping-

A tremendous impact shook the ground; a thick cloud of dust seemed to rise from the aging pavement, and the bandanna-wearing girl lost her footing, falling backwards as the ground seemed to undulate beneath her knee-high leather boots. Sayaka glanced around quickly, noting the shock on the other two girls' faces-a black-haired one in an outfit reminiscent of a samurai, the other in a gown that would have been at home in a Kabuki theater, her head framed by long green braids.

"Is there a problem here?" Kyoko emerged from the dust, spear shouldered, and strolled over to Sayaka. Inside, she was wincing as the bones in her feet magically re-knitted themselves. She'd come in pretty hard, even for her...

"Another poacher? Look, I don't know how stupid you both are, but the familiar you're chasing won't even drop a Grief Seed! There's no point in killing it!" Kyoko couldn't help but feel embarrassed for a moment; her own thoughts still ran at least partially along those lines. But since it was important to Sayaka...

"This is our city, everything you've taken, you've stolen from us. Give us the seeds, and get the hell out of our territory," the short, bandanna-wearing girl shouted, standing up and motioning to the two girls on either side. Sayaka noticed them share a hesitant glance, the two warily brought their weapons up, advancing on the two girls from Mitakihara. From the looks on their faces, some intense telepathic conversation was going on.

Sayaka felt trapped... the situation was unraveling fast, and she had absolutely no interest in fighting other Magical Girls who seemed to be doing nothing beyond defending their territory, even if the leather chick was being a complete ass. When it's kill or be killed... But surely it wouldn't come to that.

Kyoko made a show of yawning, twirling her long spear around her head in great arcs. Her pulse was thrumming, but had nothing to do with anxiety or worry. She was ready to kick some ass... and fighting another Magical Girl was always a huge rush for the veteran. Pitting herself, one against one, on the field of battle... there was just no substitute. It was Proof, capital "P."

When she won, it was proof that she was better. When she lost but survived, it proved she was tough. She knew she was tough and felt no need to prove it, and happily went along re-affirming her self-worth every time she laid another girl down in the dirt. Sometimes, however, being a loud and obnoxious jerk trying to pick fights and generally making a scene wherever you went... it could leave an impression. Not always a good one, either.

"I know you..." The strange bandanna-wearing girl said. She held up her hand, the evil sickle blade and wrapped chains glinting in the dim light. The other two girls stopped, watching the out-of-towners with wary unease. Kyoko felt the one circling around her glance at her friend, not the one who just talked but the other girl trying to flank the pair. She could have used the stupid mistake-nobody took their eyes off Kyoko in a fight-and ended the girl then and there. She'd noticed the Soul Gem on the girl's right wrist, some kind of bracelet or bangle. But, for the moment, and especially in light of the new comment from their most talkative opponent, she wanted to see where this was going.

She wanted a fight, but was willing to let the other side set the terms. Besides, Sayaka probably wouldn't like it if she threw the first punch.

The other side, specifically the girl in the black outfit, had taken on first a surprised, then disgusted, and now finally hateful expression, cycling through in the span of seconds. "You... Kyoko. Sakura Kyoko. I'd remember that arrogance anywhere..." She broke off, continuing to stare at the veteran, who didn't even try to place the face of the girl threatening her... there had been too many battles, to many enemies made, for her to remember even most of them with much detail.

"Far from home, aren't you, Kyoko? What was the name of that dump of a city called again...?" Kyoko didn't respond, wanting the other girl to reveal her intentions, although from the look on her face... "You don't remember me at all, do you?"

"Actually... no. Nope. Not at all." She shrugged.

Their antagonist laughed, a dark, mirthless chuckle. "Keiko-san, Noemi-san... let me introduce you to one of the biggest bitches in all of Japan, Sakura Kyoko. She's a-"

"Don't you talk to her like that, you goth skank!" Sayaka shouted, advancing with her sword, the earlier hesitancy dissolving in the outrage that coursed through her. Nobody talks about my girlfriend that way! She felt Kyoko grab a handful of her cape, and allowed herself to be stopped... barely.

The stranger in front of them laughed again, sneering at the blunette's threat. "So... whatever happened to that blonde bimbo with the huge rack you were hanging off of last time we met? This scrawny thing isn't half as cute... and here I thought you had standards."

Kyoko was tempted to close her eyes and cover her face with her hands. Shut up already! Instead, she seemed to lean forward, toward the girl just a bit... and like a lightning strike, her spear spun off her shoulder, darting forward at the girl's face.

Wondering, trying to decipher the strange things she'd just heard... hanging off of was very different from hanging out with... but Kyoko's stab caught her attention. She felt dismay at the sneak-attack for a second, then put the thought away, preparing to attack the two other strangers who had tensed up. No matter how she felt about the situation, she had her partner's back. She eyed their weapons held at the ready, a polearm topped with a slim, curving blade, and a strange crossbow like contraption that seemed to have a narrow box and a lever mounted on top. What the hell? she wondered.

The girl confronting them flinched; felt a yank, and opened one eye. Kyoko dangled the bandanna from the end of her spear, giving the girl a long, hard stare.

Sayaka stared at the girl, seeing her furiously twisted face, the hateful dark eyes, the spiky, dark red hair seeming to bristle with antagonism...

"Sachi-san..." the stranger in the robe said, hands that were hidden beneath long sleeves clenched white around the grip of her weapon. "The plan was-"

"I know what the damn plan was, Noemi! These two are hunting in our city! We can't trust Kyoko, she's dangerous and has no honor! If we don't kill them-"

"Kill them?" interrupted the robed girl named Noemi.

"Kill us?" interjected Sayaka, amazed at how far things had gone.

"Kill us?" intoned Kyoko, incredulous at the absurdity of the notion.

"Shut you're filthy mouth, you dirty..." Sayaka heard the enraged girl complete her insult, the most crude and vile word that can be used against a woman. Her senses seemed to dull while focusing at the same time, a kind of tunnel vision where the only thing in the world that existed was her target...

Kyoko stared in amazement as her beautiful blunette, always the source of constant surprises, again shocked her by advancing on the other red-head... defending her honor? The fire inside the veteran died down a notch as she watched Sayaka warn the other girl to back off through clenched teeth... Maeko, that was her name, Sachi Maeko... something about her had been strange...

Conflicted, she shouldered her spear, watching her girlfriend dodge out of the way of the girl's chain as it spun through the air. Sayaka's sword was extended, an almost liquid shimmer of distortion that extended for several meters. Kyoko smiled, happy that her... protege... was adapting to the fight already, preventing the other girl from gaining too much advantage from the long length of her twirling chain.

Sparks seemed to fly as the translucent sword met shining chain, the clang echoing unpleasantly within the corridor of rusted metal crates.

This should be interesting, thought the small, white figure watching the fight below.

Oh, the beautiful reviews, how I love them so. Please keep it up. I haven't been keeping up the pace I'd originally set for myself, so apologies for the wait. You guys are seriously awesome, thanks for all the detailed responses!

Thanks especially for feedback regarding the progression of their relationship and whether or not it seems feasible, all the cool thoughts and ideas about body-less Soul Gems, yakuza, and most of all the delightful worry over that shamelessly misleading introduction to ch23. Hope it makes sense now, and comes as somewhat of a relief, and not as a mean and spiteful trick.

Also, Shadow... different city = different magical girls = conflict... awesome observation. It is honestly so fun when people guess what's about to happen, whether or not it happens or not. Keep it up please!

Hug demanded, hug recieved.