Chapter 44

deal with that mess later

Memory. It was so strange. Because, no matter how real, how vivid it seemed… what you remembered wasn't necessarily the way it happened. It was more about how you chose to remember it.

Closing her eyes, Kyoko could see the creamy, sun-dappled skin, the glory of a smile shining like a beacon across an endless chasm of confusion and despair. Those twin curls framing that delicate neck, the brilliant gold of her eyes as they gleamed in delight… the image wasn't attached to anything besides itself, no time or place of reference. Just the look, and the feeling…

Some memories, however, were impossible to dismiss. Some were so sharp and brutal and real that, years later, reliving it in your mind was like the day it happened all over again…

Pulse quickening painfully, that wrenching feeling of emptiness in the pit of her stomach making her almost physically sick, Kyoko clamped down hard. There were two specific chains of memories, bound together in a twisted, incestuous spiral, that she just didn't want to get into right now. Sayaka knew about the worst of it, already, and that was bad enough. The thought of anyone else learning her dark secrets was too much to bear. But the call of regret, of shame, was difficult to resist. The tears, the chaos, and most of all that look.

D-Don't leave me, p-p-please! I'm s-sorry!

The three were walking along a street lit by periodic overhead lamps and the occasional passing car, surrounded by closed shops and modest apartments. Madoka and Sayaka had, at this point, exchanged several concerned glances. The pinkette, even more uncertain than usual around the veteran, kept willing Sayaka to do something. She raised her eyebrows expectantly and tossed in a vague motion with her hand. The blunette turned again, worried about some vague little details she was picking up. Something about the slump of the red-head's shoulders, not cocky arrogance, more like tiredness. If it hadn't been Kyoko, she'd have said defeat. The stoic mask she wore, so unlike her… almost a parody of Homura all of a sudden. And the deafening silence...

She'd been disappointed by how short Kyoko's story had been, but she'd expected something like that. The obvious discomfort it had caused, the pain she'd seen in the crimson eyes of her girlfriend… that had been a horrible surprise. She regretted ever pursuing this particular subject, for more reasons that one. Time enough to sort that out later. The only thing that matters now is making Kyoko feel better.

She caught Madoka's eye, ignoring the anxiety she was seeing in her classmate and giving her a sly wink. Madoka blinked, confused, even as Sayaka began to talk.

"Madoka-chan," she began, sliding an arm around the distracted red-head. Sayaka noticed the tense, wiry strength beneath the girl's green sweatshirt, and gave her shoulder a firm squeeze. "I have something I need to tell you."

The pinkette stared at her friend over the other girl's thick, limp ponytail. Even her hair looks sad, Madoka thought in dismay. She looked across helplessly. "Um, okaaaay…"

Ugh, she's not picking up on it. But Kyoko's head was turning- "It's… it's more like a confession," Sayaka added, just to be super obvious.

It worked. Luckily, the older girl had turned to look at the blunette who pulled her close, completely missing the obvious realization and merriment that flashed across Madoka's open face, the sudden understanding impossible for her to mask. "A confession?" she asked exaggeratedly, a painfully intense look of disbelief on her face as she threw everything into her performance.

Oh god Madoka, please don't blow this! Sayaka implored desperately, taking a deep breath and putting on a big grin, feeling the heat of her partner's stare. "Madoka, I can no longer call you my Waifu." Madoka gasped. "My heart belongs to another."

Another gasp, even more theatrical. Sayaka held in an exasperated sigh, and Madoka took that as a sign to begin ad-libbing her part. "What? Who could it be? I don't understand!" The pinkette grabbed at her pigtails, clenching her hair as if in desperate straits indeed.

"It's Kyoko!" Sayaka laughed, looking into the red-head's stunned eyes before planting a firm, if chaste, kiss right on her lips.

"What?!" Madoka cried in surprise. "No way!"

Kyoko basked in the warming glow of the blunette's firm embrace, searching cerulean blue eyes for something she desperately needed… and finding it. Taking hold of herself, she slowly turned her head towards the pinkette with a crafty look. "Nice try, but didn't you see us making out in the closet?"

In truth, Madoka had noticed, but in the amazing aftermath of opening the darkened closet to see the girls' eyes actually glowing, it had been shuffled into her mental category for interesting rather than important. At least at the time. Besides, Sayaka had already told her about the situation beforehand, so it wasn't like that's how she knew. "Wait, that's what you were doing? But that's what Homura-chan was doing to me in there, she told me it was part of the game…" Her cheeks, for some reason, were coloring even as she said it, adding to the effect.

Crimson eyes widened in shock, azure in horror. Despite her best attempt, within moments Madoka was giggling hysterically. "J-just k-k-kidding!" she managed between the tinkling, musical outbursts if mirth.

Kyoko nodded her head in appreciation at the girl's unexpected humor, joining the laughter. Sayaka did after a moment as well, more shocked by her friend's joke. Something about her tone of voice… After a minute, she grabbed Kyoko's hand, leading her away as she determinedly ignored the growing heat of her blushing face. Madoka shot her an inquiring gaze, wiping away a tear of laughter, and Sayaka gave her a big grin and half-hearted wave. "Be right back, Madoka-chan!"

She pulled harder, yanking the older girl down a side-street, finally stopping behind a building. Just out of view of Madoka.

We're just out of view of Madoka, Kyoko thought excitedly. The dull, dreary world she'd stumbled through during her earlier reverie had disappeared, replaced by sparkling color and sharp definition. The sheer detail of the world, so many things to see, flooded her with a feeling close to appreciation. Then a messy head of blue hair and a pair of dazzling, radiant eyes had taken up all her attention, as Sayaka leaned in. "I meant it, Kyoko. I mean it. M-my heart. It's yours." And with that she pressed her lips against her partner's, hoping to show what she inelegantly was trying to say. Eyes closed, she gently parted the red-head's lips with her own, slipping her tongue inside.

An indeterminable amount of time later, Kyoko felt her knees weaken, grabbing on to her girlfriend's waist for support. She tilted her head, leaning into the kiss, trying to show the girl how she felt through the sheer force of their encounter. Sayaka pushed right back, and their tongues met, sometimes battling furiously, sometimes caressing delicately..

Kyoko pulled back, breathing shallowly. She was burning up, and needed to get it out. She saw Sayaka's mouth open, the blunette's adorably flushed features announcing that she was about to make some kind of proclamation. But what Kyoko had to say needed saying first.

"I need you," one girl said, just as the other, simultaneously, uttered "I need you."

They'd stared at each other, blinking. Then they both said:

"DId you just finish my-"

Then: "Were you going to say-"

And finally: "Stop copying me!" The broad, incredulous smiles the pair shared went beyond friendship, admiration, or even passion. It felt like some kind of cosmic connection, and they continued to gaze into each others' eyes, infused with a strange and wonderful feeling of intimacy.

Until a hesitant voice had called out from the darkness.

A few dozen meters away, Madoka waited uncomfortably. She was glad Kyoko didn't seem so sad anymore, but she didn't want to get stuck out here alone for long. It had easily been five minutes; she was positive because if felt like it had been twenty. Eying the surrounding darkness with increasing anxiety, she started to worry. Not about Witches, or monsters, but the kind of people who weren't afraid to target a young girl, alone at night on the streets… She shivered, hugging herself, not making the connection that one of her arrows could have dealt with ten such attackers, lined up in a row. The thought never occurred to her.

She took a deep breath. "Sayaka-chan? G-girls? Are… are you ready?"

They'd walked together another six blocks, finally approaching Madoka's neighborhood. By then, the pinkette couldn't stand it anymore.

"Um… could you two… please. Stop. Kissing?" Madoka asked, her attempt at a sweet voice sounding rather forced.

"Ahem! Sorry, Madoka-chan," Sayaka grinned, blushing. Madoka stared as she wiped her lips on the sleeve of her shirt.

"I'm not sorry," Kyoko muttered, trying to mask the stupid grin threatening to unleash itself with a grumpy glower. Not entirely successfully.

"Stomach problems again?" the blunette inquired, her voice full of innocent concern.

"What? No-" but there she stopped, seeing the mischievous grin her blunette was wearing, and as she felt the girl's elbow nudge her in the ribs, she couldn't help a brief burst of laughter from escaping. Wow, how does that even work?

"I'm glad you two are… having fun," Madoka chose from a plethora of options. "It's just, cars keep honking…"

"What?"

"Huh?"

Madoka sighed. "The cars? The last, like, four that passed us? Them, honking, remember?" The pink haired girl sighed, amazed at the uncomprehending looks the other girls were giving each other. "I'm pretty sure they were honking at you."

"I didn't hear anything," Kyoko stated firmly. "But I'll stop since you asked, buddy." Madoka winced as she caught the smoldering glance the red-head cast towards her classmate, as if she wanted to make certain the girl knew she was, in no way shape or form, going to stop-

The pinkette shuddered. And… buddy? "Th-thank you? Kyoko-chan."

Sayaka was wondering to herself. It was possible she'd been so oblivious that the noise just hadn't… and then Kyoko was giving this kind of Death Stare and her racing heart left whatever she'd been thinking about far behind. That thought that had been tickling the back of her mind reared its ugly head, feeling that silky smooth skin, baby soft… she'd twice almost reached down and-

She wished she had thought of it herself, even if the idea made her wince just considering it.

"Madoka-chan," she began, realizing that soon they'd be around Homura and Junko, and might have to be a little more… discreet. "This, um, thing we've shared with you-"

"That's what we have? A thing?" Kyoko muttered.

"This beautiful thing we've shared with you," Sayaka tried again, rolling her eyes at the look of probationary approval from her partner, "let's kind of keep it, ah, between us. Okay?"

"Okey-dokey," Madoka replied cheerfully, more than anything relieved that the wet, sloppy sounds the girls had been making were finally over. That, and the sick, funny feeling it had given her, had been the worst part of this whole adventure. "It'll be our secret."

Sayaka sighed. When Madoka had a secret, it was like a Pandora's Box just waiting for an unsuspecting comment to trigger a sudden and violent release. "It's not some dirty little secret, Madoka-chan," she chastised, "let's just, um, be discreet."

Not kissing on the street would be a good start to that, thought the pinkette. But she said, "Your secret is safe with me, Sayaka-chan!" with a big grin.

"For now… keep it on the down-low, alright?"

"Interesting phrase, if you know where it comes from," Kyoko murmured, almost to herself. The other two girls looked at her, puzzled.

"Down-low? Like, keep the volume down low on something, right?" Sayaka asked. It was pretty obvious.

"Don't worry, I will. It's probably for the best," Madoka finished simply.

Sayaka glanced at her, waiting for her reasoning. "Why do you say that? I mean, you're right, it's simpler this way, but…"

"Well," Madoka began thoughtfully, "you know that I cherish you as a friend, and just want you to be happy, Sayaka-chan. You too, Kyoko-chan. But, well, there are other people who are less… tolerant? About, you know, some things," she finished with an embarrassed blush. Sayaka looked at her in dismay, the nagging concerns confirmed by the least judgmental person she'd ever known. "Like, um, Hitomi-chan, for example? Or your parents?"

The blunette saw Kyoko's eyes narrow at the mention of her parents. "They are kinda traditional, but…" She paused. "Well, as long as they don't find out…" Hitomi was a blabbermouth; if she found out, she'd undoubtedly tell her parents, and they in turn would contact Sayaka's parents. Hmm, this might be complicated, she thought, already feeling tired.

"I'll come clean when the time is right," the blue-haired girl stated, utterly determined that her nebulous promise would prove both true and beneficial. There had to be a good time, and any time was better than now, freshly grounded and possibly suspended. With a startled look, she nervously checked her phone, but it showed no activity. Probably safe for the night, she thought gleefully, enjoying the last minute of opportunity to hold the red-head's hand.

Kyoko, meanwhile, was having a internal debate about how she felt being exactly what Sayaka had said she wasn't: the blunette's "dirty little secret." She grinned wolfishly, finding the idea very appealing. Mostly, anyway. For now.

"Oh!" Madoka cried suddenly, causing both girls to jump. "Oops, sorry. I just realized, now that you're a couple, you should figure out your name!"

"Huh?" Sayaka didn't really get it. "We're not exactly getting married," she began, before suddenly looking at Kyoko in near panic. The red-head shook her head as if to say, Are you crazy? Why are you looking at me like that?

"No, silly," Madoka giggled. "Like, you know, when the big celebrity couples get together?"

"Uhg, and they mash up their names? I don't think the celebrities do that, I think it's the people who write about celebrities that do that." Sayaka couldn't help grinning at the thought however. Kind of like a word jumble; she'd liked those. Too bad they hadn't constituted actual class work since the second grade. "What's that called? A couple name or something?" she inquired, beginning to warm to the idea. Cute, romantic, couple-type things were much easier to appreciate when you were part of a couple yourself.

"Portmanteau," muttered Kyoko, herself lost in contemplation. It was silly, but…

"Bless you," the blunette said absently.

The pinkette was suddenly tapping the phone she held in her hands, stumbling occasionally as she continued forward. "Uni-name? That's not very creative. Or fun to say. I guess you just mix up your first names."

"Sakuki? I don't like it," the red-head stated. "Mikura is equally blah."

"No, sorry, I mean your given name. Me and Kyousuke will be Kyoudoka!" Madoka said with feverish excitement.

Hmm. According to her, that's what Madoka and I would be called as well. "Why did you say first name, then?"

"Or maybe Madosuke," the pinkette tittered to herself. "Oh! What? This website is in English, and well, you know. They have their given name first, then their family name."

"What?!" cried Kyoko, whose limited reading and even more restricted television consumption meant she'd never been exposed to the idea. "That makes no sense!"

"And yet," Sayaka supplied with a grin, remembering her exact same reaction to this startling revelation. When she was seven.

"How do they, like, alphabetize medical records for families? And wouldn't everyone choose 'A' names for their children to get them to the top of the list?"

"Robots do most of that stuff nowadays, anyway. Don't they?" Sayaka asked Madoka, who shrugged, not looking up from her phone. "And what kind of list are you talking about?"

"I don't know, but I remember in school, Akemi somehow always get to go before Sakura."

"You went to school with-"

"It was a hypothetical example." Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Miki would come before Sakura, too."

"Okay, I've come up with some options," Madoka interjected. "And your both right, it doesn't make sense, and it is true. So stop arguing." The other girls glanced at one another, chafing slightly under the pinkette's chastising. "Okay, Sayaka and Kyoko, what do you think about: Kyoka?" Sayaka made a wry face, and her partner stuck out her tongue. "Sayakyo?" The blunette gave a thoughtful nod, but Kyoko remained unconvinced. "Kyosaya?" That had a strong, dangerous ring to it, Kyoko thought to herself. Her enthusiastic thumbs-up was moderated by Sayaka's neutral, hand-out-turnining-back-and-forth conveying moderate interest. "Sayako?" Kyoko shrugged, unimpressed with it's similarity to the earlier name.

"Hmm," Sayaka considered dramatically. "Is there an order? Like, where would the girl's name be? Beginning or end?" Kyoko's eyes narrowed, not liking where this was going. She was a girl, but she wasn't the girl. Was she? Her cheeks colored as she thought back, suddenly worried. Maybe I am! Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, it's just not how she envisioned herself.

"Um, it doesn't really say." The blunette made a 'gimme that' gesture with her hand, and reluctantly Madoka parted with her faithful companion. Sayaka thumbed through some text for a few moments.

"There's some examples here, Bennifer and Brangelina being at the top." She paused, clicking on a link. "Who the hell is Ben Affleck? Must have been rich or a famous athlete or something," she muttered to herself.

"I think that he's Batman," Madoka added helpfully. The other two stared at her blankly.

"Well, it looks to me like the wife's name goes last, Waifu," Sayaka said in mock commiseration, delighted in the flustered look on Kyoko's face and pointedly ignoring several counterexamples to her findings. "We'll have to take some time to think about it, Madoka-chan." She shrugged in her girlfriend's direction. We'll worry about it later, she tried to convey. But secretly, to herself, she and her partner were already Team Sayako.

As they'd approached the Kaname residence, the front door had opened, revealing a long, intimidating shadow stretching across the path to the house. It wasn't until they had gotten much closer that Kyoko's stomach settled down, recognizing the silhouette of the slender transfer student.

"Homura-chan," Madoka exclaimed. "I thought you were my mom! Did… did you get here early?" she inquired with a puzzled look, stepping over the threshold and squinting in the suddenly bright illumination. Kyoko wrinkled her nose, getting a strong whiff of Madoka's mother's distinctively un-motherly scent. What did she do, get into Junko's perfume or something?

"Yes, your mother let me in a little while ago," Homura began, explaining, "I had some things to bring over, I hope you don't mind. Everything is up in your room. Shall we?"

Madoka, wide-eyed, shrugged. She glanced back at Sayaka, taking a hesitant step forward. Kyoko headed to the kitchen, pausing as she felt something tug at her sleeve. Understanding the look her girlfriend was giving her, Kyoko sighed and turned to the pinkette. "Is it alright if I grab something to eat," she stated. The younger girl's head had time to bob only once before the girl had spun around and headed toward her destination.

Girl's on a mission, Sayaka thought with a fond smile, feeling very proud of Kyoko at the moment. She followed the other two upstairs, wishing she'd asked the red-head to grab her a soda and something salty, but realizing that being alone in a room with her at the moment wasn't the best of ideas, not if this was going to be kept on the down-low.

Kyoko walked into the kitchen, still smelling that distinctive perfume... and almost walked right back out. Unfortunately, the shapely form bent into the open refrigerator spun around too quickly, and she found herself staring into the narrowed, thick-lashed eyes of the only adult whose name she currently remembered. "Uh, hey there, Junko-san…"

Purple eyes, more vivid and equally as arrogant as the other pair she was familiar with, regarded her for a moment. Junko stood, closing the door. "Hello, Kyoko-san. I trust you've been enjoying yourself this evening?"

Kyoko held the gaze, clenching her hands behind her back. "Yeah, we've been having lot's of fun."

"Glad to hear it," Junko stated, approaching. Kyoko caught herself from taking a step backward, taking the opportunity to scan the room for her half-ruined treats. "How was the… walk? Is that what you were doing? I forget…"

Dammit. Kyoko realized that she should have been listening in during the whole 'What we're going to tell Junko' planning session. "Um, it was great. Very, ah, peaceful. Relaxing."

"Chilly out. And rather late. And dark."

"Yep. But on the plus side, less people." Kyoko couldn't keep herself from swallowing obviously as the purple-haired woman stared at her, trying her best at a confident smirk. It must have worked, since the intimidating eyes narrowed, crinkling with amusement, and the woman started to laugh.

"Oh, Kyoko-san, you are a treat." Junko was slowly but surely decreasing the distance between them, the red-head noted with alarm. "How long have you known Sayaka-san? If it's not too personal a question…" She smiled disarmingly.

"Oh, a little while, I guess," Kyoko said, wincing at the sharp look the woman gave her in return. "A few weeks."

"How darling. Sayaka has been a friend of the family for years and years. I always… well, in the back of my mind I wondered about her. It all makes sense now, and you two look adorable together."

Kyoko felt herself blushing intensely from that particular sentiment. I mean, I know she's hot, and I'm hot, and together we're like, exponentially hot… but to hear someone like Junko say it… "Wow, ah, thanks?"

"Let me informally welcome you to the family, Sayaka being such a close friend," Madoka's mother began, extending her arms and displaying the impressive chest that strained against the tight, expensive looking sweater. The woman had changed into it at some point during their time away from the house; the red-head remembered a snazzier button up blouse from earlier. Paralyzed, Kyoko felt her warning senses going off as the graceful woman closed the gap, her arms circling around-

*Sniff sniff*

Kyoko's discomfort turned to panic, but she was trapped. Arms hanging limply, she felt the other woman press against her in a distractingly squishy manner, a chill running down her spine as the woman began to speak softly, almost whispering.

"If you hurt her, of course, well, you seem like a reasonably intelligent young woman. I'm certain you can connect the dots. But just to be clear, I'll shove my foot up your ass so far, you'll be shitting out three inch stiletto heels for a month." She pulled back, placing her hands firmly on the red-head's shoulders. Unable to resist herself, Junko gave the tense muscles a playful squeeze, staring right into the shifty crimson eyes. "And in the future, don't ever, ever take anyone else's bacon. Ever."

Kyoko swallowed. Then she gulped, before finally squeaking "Sorry."

Junko let go, taking a step back. "Now that that bit of unpleasantness is out of the way," she smiled brilliantly, "I have to say Sayaka has done quite well for herself." Kyoko felt the woman's gaze travel up and down, feeling a bit like a piece of meat. "Quite well indeed…"

"Ah, can I go now?" Kyoko hated the pleading note in her request. And even worse, the wicked, almost predatory grin that appeared on the purple-haired woman's face.

"Oh no, I'm afraid we're just getting started, Kyoko-san. You owe me." Kyoko opened her mouth, but Junko continued. "Two pounds of bacon, to be precise."

"T-two?" the red-head stammered. She'd stuffed her pockets, sure, but she was certain it hadn't been that much. "More like one."

"Well, when you pick through them and end up touching every last piece, it makes them rather unappealing to consider eating. Especially when you factor in your earlier… stomach issues."

Kyoko's cheeks were on fire. "I washed my hands," she growled, successfully keeping two separate uses of 'fucking' from the sentence.

"Never the less." She paused for a moment, staring. "My, those cheekbones of yours…" Shaking her head, sending the vibrant lilac hair whipping through the air, Junko couldn't keep a sense of wonder out of her voice. "And no make-up?" Kyoko shook her head, again feeling off balance; her father hadn't believed in wearing that crap… she hadn't believed in it. She still didn't, really, but for an entirely different reason. Amongst other things, it was an art she'd never learned. Glancing at those thick, dark eyelashes, the subtle color around her eyes and that spectacular shade of her lips, Kyoko felt the tiniest stab of regret about this gap in her education. "Just a natural beauty. Well, you know the saying; there's nothing god's made that can't be improved by the hand of man. Or, more accurately, woman...

"Hmmm." Junko appeared lost in thought, deeply contemplating something, and the red-haired girl made a move towards the door. The violet gaze snapped back into focus, on her, and the woman waved a hand towards the pantry. "Take whatever you want, drinks are in the fridge. You can tell Madoka that, tonight only, you girls can eat in her room." When Junko knew a rule was going to be broken regardless, she'd pre-emptively relax that rule. It avoided power struggles, and made her seem to be the very cool mom she most definitely was. It made her a pretty good parent, and a marvelous administrator. "Just make sure not to spill, we don't need another ant infestation."

Kyoko began rifling through the cupboards, trying to find what she needed as quickly as possible.

Sayaka grinned for a second as the door opened, but her look changed quickly to bemusement as the her girlfriend slammed the door shut with her butt. Kyoko looked flustered, and frankly a little panicked. "You okay?" she asked, walking up and putting a hand on the girl's arm. The red-head nodded, a slightly haunted look in her eyes. She held out her arms, and the blunette relieved her of the bounty they held.

Chocolate cookies, chips and a bag of store-bought mochi, plus two bottles of water and several varieties of soda. The girls took a moment to partake of the goodies, Sayaka digging into the chips and uncapping her bottle of cherry soda, Madoka selecting something strawberry flavored and a handful of cookies, while Homura contented herself with a bottle of water.

As Kyoko gathered the remnants for herself, she noted with an odd feeling that the Sayaka and Madoka sat on the edge of the pinkette's bed, staring toward the girl's desk, where Homura stood. Back turned, Homura was fiddling with the computer, and the red-head had a strange feeling of deja vu. Something, a long forgotten memory, was bouncing around inside her head, desperately seeking escape, but it seemed too stupid to find it's way into her thoughts. Glowering, she tried to ignore the feeling, but then Homura straightened up, turning around with a prim, know-it-all look on her face and Kyoko knew exactly what this reminded her of.

School.

She sat down next to Sayaka, striking a bored pose. On the other side of the blunette, Madoka raised her hand. "Yes, Madoka-chan?"

"Can you repeat that stuff, again? Kyoko-chan wasn't here, and, um." Closing her mouth, the pinkette decided not to try putting her confusion into words.

"What are you going to share with us that's so important and mysterious?" Kyoko asked with the tiniest hint of belligerence. Homura detected it, and narrowed her eyes.

"That's what I'm trying to address," Homura began with a half-truth. "Four days from now, this city will be engulfed in a storm so powerful it may not survive. Five days from now, it's possible that none of us in this room will be here." You, because you're dead, and suddenly two months younger while I repeat all this over again. But despite the gloomy thought, she realized she was feeling hopeful. Maybe this time...

The mood died as the pronouncement hung in the air.

"Walpurgisnacht is four days away. I've explained about my previous efforts, and the difficulty in navigating the timelines to a successful… yes, Sayaka-chan?"

The blunette looked confused. "Um, by previous efforts, are you saying you've fought this Witch before? And… what do you mean by timelines?" She watched the black-haired girl glance at Kyoko for guidance, and felt a spark of annoyance that threatened to erupt into full blown outrage as the red-head looked at her guiltily.

Madoka, seeing the significant glances the two veterans were casting at one another, was instantly overwhelmed by the awkwardness of the situation. And so soon after she was kissing Sayaka-chan, she thought, scandalized. "This is what I was talking about, Sayaka-chan," she interrupted, taking matters into her own hands. She gave a suddenly baffled Kyoko a very stern look. "Homura-chan is a… um, a… a time-traveler." Even in her own mind, it sounded ridiculous. Saying it out loud…

"Excuse me, what?" Sayaka blinked hard, as if trying to establish she was awake. She turned towards Kyoko, leaning in close. "I told you she was crazy," she whispered, obviously keeping watch on the raven-haired girl from the corner of her eye.

"No, um, I kind of believe her," Kyoko began.

"Kind of?" Homura hissed.

"What? How… wait, both of you knew? Both of you? Why-" Sayaka's look of confusion had disappeared, replaced by one of hurt. I hate being the last to know. And she never even mentioned it to me! She glared at the target of her ire, seeing the red-head's own pained expression. You better feel bad, she thought vindictively.

Five minutes later, after a brief discussion, two heated arguments and a full minute of awkward silence, Kyoko snuck a glance behind the pinkette's shoulder, trying to catch Sayaka's eye. The blunette, however, stared pointedly ahead. She'd moved to the other side of Madoka, and Kyoko couldn't help regard the pink-haired metaphorical wall with regret. I was going to tell her, just not tonight. Why did Homura have to open up now? She shot the transfer student a withering glance.

"Before I begin," Homura began, "Let me make this clear. I divulged the nature of my powers to Sakura-san earlier today, and Madoka-chan when we thought you were dead. I asked Sakura-san to keep my secret, just for now, Sayaka-chan. I would have told you, but… well, we've gotten off on the wrong foot, and you were already so suspicious of me, I was hoping it could wait.

"I apologize for the clumsy way in which I introduced the idea. And thank you for at least hearing me out, and not immediately laughing at me," she finished with a long look at Kyoko.

It was that, more than anything, that broke through Sayaka's inner fury. The image of her girlfriend, laughing in Homura's face. The supposed time-traveler's excuses were unimportant. It didn't matter what Kyoko had promised: they were supposed to mean more to each other than anyone else. Right? Isn't that how relationships worked?

They were going to need to sit down and… discuss some stuff. There were a lot of things she was no longer absolutely sure about, things she realized she had no right to feel certain about anyway. Sayaka made this as clear as she could when her narrowed eyes met the red-head's adorably uncertain glance. But she didn't move back.

"Walpurgis is a special Witch. Through painstaking research, I've tracked down bits and pieces of what I can only describe as a vast puzzle. So far, I've failed to put the pieces together, and if you'll allow me to extend the metaphor-"

"Who talks that way?" Kyoko inquired. "Why would we stop you?"

"-in some ways, it's like I don't even have a clear idea of the big picture." She pressed some buttons, and various diagrams, timetables and ancient photocopies of mysterious lunar charts and even astrological data began scrolling across the screen in an indecipherable mess of confusion. "As you can see," Homura continued, "Walpurgisnacht occurs on the same day each timeline, but the event itself can play out differently. One of the strangest links is that between the Witches in Mitakihara and Walpurgis."

"What do you mean, link?" Madoka asked.

Homura sighed. She gave Sayaka and Kyoko a look, each in turn. "Some of the things you mentioned, on your adventure… the multiple Witches. That got me thinking." She tapped a button, bringing up a new image, one that caused the three girls to lean forward.

A gigantic, obese shape took up most of the shot, out of focus and vaguely surreal. Around the top edge, there were glowing shapes, standing out starkly against the darkness of the main mass. "Walpurgis. And it's Familiars. Or so I had thought." She zoomed in, picking out details, the suggestions of hair, a skirt. "These familiars always perplexed me, that and the lack of a Barrier. They appear to be, for lack of a better term, the ghosts of Magical Girls."

"G-g-ghosts?" stammered Madoka, looking terrified. They're real, too? Witches are bad enough!

"Call them shadows, reflections… Familiars. I don't know exactly what they are. They, at the very least, maintain a shape similar to that of a normal girl, rather than a monstrous Witch, and they resemble, well, see for yourself.

With dawning horror, Sayaka gazed at the image, the silhouette very suggestive. "Puellla Magi," she agreed, shocked. Things kept getting worse; now, beyond ultimate destruction or transformation into a psychotic killing machine fueled by grief and pain, there was the looming threat of somehow being turned into a ghost, or used by a Witch-

Used by a Witch…

"Kyoko," Sayaka began, and the girl's hopeful crimson eyes betrayed the calm demeanor she wore, slowly turning in her direction. "Does that remind you of anything?"

"The Soul Gems! Homura-chan, Sayaka-chan and Kyoko-chan found Soul Gems, inside the Witch they fought!"

Purple eyes stared. "What? What happened to them?"

Sighing, Sayaka stood up and quickly transformed, taking the three slowly dimming gems from the folds of her cape. Homura hissed sharply, and Madoka looked on with a pained expression. Throwing the white cloth behind her, she caught Kyoko admiring her shoulders, and decided to remain in costume for a little bit longer. "We don't know, just found them when we were inside…"

"Refresh my memory, I recall the Witch you fought at the end, but don't remember any mention of these-"

Fifteen minutes later, Sayaka was getting tired of the grilling she was receiving courtesy of the raven-haired Puella Magi. "It's just like I said, it seemed like we killed it, or it's head, at least, but then… the flash, and, well, it would appear again. It's eyes changed color, too, when it did it."

"What do you mean by that? It's eyes were flashing colors?"

"No, like… they started out green, and when it reformed, they were red or something. Yellow? I can't remember, just that it changed."

"Some kind of energy transfer?" Homura mused, profoundly disturbed by this development. The path to Witchdom was one way: a girl falling into despair, usually relating somehow to her wish, would burst into that alternate form, supposedly releasing an enormous amount of energy in the process. Witches were not supposed to capture Magical Girls, use them, feed off them. It struck her as extremely unnatural, and more than a little terrifying.

Perhaps the Soul Gems were tied in some way to the multiple barriers? Certainly, they had been actively used by the master Witch the pair had fought, the last of three. Something was nagging her, something about… "The colors, on the pillar. You saw five?"

"Five or six, maybe four. More than three," Sayaka confirmed with absolute certainty.

"Your exactitude is appreciated," Homura muttered wryly. "And you went inside the Witch? Why?" she asked, aghast at the thought of putting herself or someone she cared about in the clutches of one of those poor, tragic monsters.

"Well, what choice did we have left?" Sayaka answered, sounding defensive to Homura. Intrigued, she continued to stare at the girl, who slowly became more fidgety. "Besides, it just, I dunno, felt right." Sayaka looked over at the other girls, obviously just an excuse to break eye contact. It was just such a strange choice: who unknowingly jumps into a predator's jaws, hoping that would somehow save them? It defied reason.

"You're sure there's nothing you're leaving o-oOWW!"

Sayaka ducked, turning her head to watch the pillow hit Homura square in the chest. Normally, a pillow wouldn't have enough force to sent a person reeling backwards, staggering into a wall. Her head impacted with an audible thump. Normally, acknowledged Sayaka with an equal mix of amusement and disappointment, it wasn't Sakura Kyoko throwing the pillow.

As the raven-haired time-traveler picked herself up off the ground, Sayaka's half-grin faded as she realized who the intended target had been. Sure enough, as she spun back, another pillow was coming right at her-

Kyoko watched with bitter disappointment as Sayaka caught the second projectile, crimson eyes widening as the blunette hurled the thing right back. Kyoko tried to leap above it, but too late, and felt the soft, fluffy object connect with such force that she was spun, literally, end over end before hitting the ground like a pile of bricks.

Madoka, who almost never laughed when another person tripped, or slipped on ice, or got nailed in the crotch, couldn't help the giggles that erupted upon seeing the red-head whoosh through the air, spinning and trailing her long ponytail like, uhhh, a tail. Of a comet, or some great cat. "Sayaka-chan," she said haltingly between bouts of laughter, "you just made your waifu go head over heels for you!"

Sayaka grinned in delight, hoping the older girl could see the amusement in the situation. Kyoko had landed pretty hard on her shoulder, and was a bit slow getting up. Homura had recovered, and was reaching for the pink-encased object that lay by the wall. She paused upon hearing the pinkette's words. "What?! Did you say Kyoko is Sayaka's waifu?"

"Shut your trap, Akemi." Groaning, Kyoko slowly got up, favoring her right arm. "And baby, I thought we were just having fun," she growled, turning on Sayaka with a smile now feral and dangerous. She started to reach for the nearest fluffy thing to throw, in this case one of Madoka's stuffed animals, which had been placed, neatly, on the floor at the foot of her bed. The giggles abruptly died. "Kyoko-chan, please-"

WIth a crazed smile of triumph, the red-head grabbed the most obvious choice: a sixty inch banana, and turned around-

And the room was suddenly full of feathers.

It wasn't like what Sayaka had seen in movies: not big, feathery-looking feathers. Instead, it was tiny, snowflake sized puffs of white fluff, only recognizable as feathers when she held one up right in front of her face. She put a hand over her mouth, standing up and heading towards the door.

"What happened?" Madoka was crying. "Kyoko-chan, if you ruined Mister Banana…!"

Guiltily, Homura dropped the torn, mostly empty pillow-casing, kicking it underneath Madoka's bed as she glanced around shiftily.

Kyoko had, quite naturally, gasped in surprise at the sudden assault she'd been confronted with, having been solely focused on the assault she intended to commit. Unfortunately, she sucked in not only a quantity of high quality oxygen to help fuel her musculature from whatever danger she was about to face, but also an unhealthy dose of top-of-the-line goose down. Coughing and choking, she felt her hand being grabbed and followed the insistent tugging gratefully.

Crestfallen, Madoka shut the door to her room. In a way it was beautiful, like a winter wonderland, a magical transformation. In another way, a very real way, it was going to piss off her mom.

As if summoned by the thought, Junko appeared, for some reason carrying both the regular make-up bag Madoka watched her use every morning, as well as her entire case of cosmetics; dozen of miniature drawers and compartments containing every imaginable hue and type.

Junko stared at the bedraggled girls, Kyoko still coughing violently, Sayaka beating on her back, contemplating the Heimlich maneuver given the amount of concern on her face. Madoka staring up with those caught-in-the-act eyes of hers, and Homura, looking delighted and surprised.

"Well, I can see you girls are having fun," she commented. Kyoko gave one more hacking cough, and then it was silent except for the sound of nearly a million tiny goose feathers slowly settling upon the floor.

The two sides stared at one another. Junko, on the landing, her eyes moving from one girl to the next, still holding her most prized art supplies. Madoka, Homura, Sayaka and Kyoko stared back, sometimes an individual gaze dropping to the floor, or glancing at one of the others. They were covered in tiny white bits of fluff, and looked utterly ridiculous. And guilty.

Junko took out her phone, snapping a picture.

"We'll deal with that mess later," Junko promised, leading the quartet into her study. The video screens were on, but muted. She extended her arm, and Sayaka felt a sense of disquiet as she noticed two chairs sitting in the middle of the room. "Who's first?"

Homura was already sitting in the chair; Madoka looked at the red-head and blunette, noted their hesitation, and hopped in the other. "Alright, ladies, it's makeover time, Junko-style!" She looked first at Sayaka, then Kyoko, gesturing towards her tools. "Let's get going, girls."

"I don't, um…" Sayaka began, embarrassed. Kyoko immediately picked up several objects, all of the same shade, and approached Homura from behind.

"I'm here to help, of course," Junko tried to reassure the blunette, helping her pick out some colors that would work on Madoka's complexion.

"My time to do you, Homura-chan," a husky voice whispered in the transfer student's ear. She jerked violently, startled and nearly falling out of her seat, before strong, none too gentle hands grabbed her firmly. "Oh no, you're not getting away that easy. You'd better not ruin Junko's little game here, either. Remember, we're guests," she finished, feeling smug at being on the other side of this particular conversation. It was much more fun, even if the time-traveler was staring at her murderously. She glanced down, selecting one of the cosmetics at random. "Now hold still…"

Sayaka watched Junko begin to apply a bewildering variety of objects, powders and creams to her daugher, the overall effect completely changing the look of her face. More angular, less soft. Sayaka helped occasionally, but more often than not caught herself looking worriedly at her girlfriend, toiling away on Homura.

"And… yes. Like so. And there's that, now on to the eye shadow. Subtly is the key, here, unless-"

"Can I please see myself in a mirror," Homura was saying, almost demanding. Kyoko snickered, not bothering to hide the mean-spirited laughter. She was going to wait until the black-haired girl asked nicely. Or, more precisely, begged.

Junko peeked over, and her eyes seemed to drink the girl in. "Interesting, Kyoko-san. I'll leave you to it," and returned to keep Sayaka from ruining what she'd accomplished with Madoka.

"Has Homura told you the good news," Junko asked, innocently. She was certain the willowy girl was far too modest, and private, to bring it up herself.

"What?" "Good news?" "Huh?" Everyone except Homura was confused. Homura was blushing in her seat. Not how I would have chosen to announce it…

"It's official! Homura-san and I are going to-"

Sayaka's phone, at that instant, rang extremely loudly. She'd wanted to be extra careful, just in case she'd been otherwise occupied. Fumbling the device out of her pocket, she glanced at the display, reading the name she'd dreaded seeing. "Oh shit," she whispered. Where had she left that poster? She rushed out of the study, ignoring Junko's expression, heading to the door of her friend's room as the phone began its third ring...

Keep letting me know the good, the bad and the ugly.