Chapter 55
The calm before the storm
A soft moan issued from beneath the blanket. The rumpled, bland grey lump shifted on the floor. Homura froze, the glowing icons on the wall before her losing all meaning as her ears seemed to focus behind her.
"Mmmm." Powering down the wallscreen, the time-traveler could see the figure stir from its position, nestled against one of the low circular benches that was essentially her only furniture. The reflection seemed to flower as the blanket shifted, revealing a shock of tousled pink.
"Mmm. Nnnnnn. Ow." The last came as Madoka rose, a befuddled look on her face. Rubbing her eyes with a fist, the pinkette looked around, blinking groggily. "What? Where- Homura-chan!" she exclaimed.
Unable to continue staring at the wall, Homura turned around, giving the girl a wave with as much nonchalance as she could muster. "Good afternoon, Madoka-chan."
"Goo-" was as far as the pinkette got before bursting into a huge yawn. Blinking hard, Madoka looked at the pale transfer student with a sheepish grin. "Good morning to you, too." The girl's strange smile broke apart as she, too, gave a great yawn. Giggling, the pinkette glanced around, taking in her surroundings. "Wha?" Befuddled, Madoka stared at the black-haired girl, not catching the look that crossed her face. "Oh! I fell asleep here, that's right." Homura could only nod. Suddenly, the younger girl looked wide awake and extremely worried. "Oh no, my mom's going to kill me…" With a moan, she began looking around frantically for her phone.
"Don't worry, I contacted… your mother. She knows you're with me. Sleeping over. Like, a slumber party." Pale cheeks flushing crimson, Homura cursed her stupid tongue.
Madoka didn't seem to notice. The apartment was cool, almost cold. Wrapping the blanket around her more tightly, she stared at the floor where she'd slept. Rubbing a painful crick in her neck, her shoulders sagged with relief. "Thank you so much, Homura-chan. For calling my mom for me, and for letting me stay over, and for protecting me yesterday, and for… searching for Sayaka-chan and Kyoko-chan." She swallowed. "I know we'll find them tod-"
Homura was suddenly beaming, a smile that took the smaller girl's breath away. Her pale features were lit up with excitement, totally at odds with her usual stern composure. "They're okay, Madoka-chan! Kyoko c-called me, last night, and she and Sayaka-" The wind suddenly knocked out of her, Homura stared up at the wide grin of the petite girl on top of her.
"OMYGOD OMYGOD YOU FOUND HER YOU FOUND HER!" Madoka squealed, pounding out with tiny fists in jubilation while her feet thrummed against the floor.
"M-Madoka!" Homura began, squirming under the blows raining down on her chest. She kept her gaze tilted up and to the side.
"She's alright," the pinkette continued. "Just like I knew… wait." Madoka paused, looking down at herself. With a sound closer to a squeak than a shriek, she leapt off of the older girl, rushing back to her blanket. "W-where are m-m-my clothes?"
"Aaaah," Homura began, lifting herself off the floor, hoping the redness of her face would be attributed to the recent pummeling.
Madoka's gaze wavered. "Did… did you-"
"No!" Homura nearly shouted, shocked and offended. "Your outfit is over there; you took it off just before going to bed." Her voice turned sardonic. "Something about wrinkles."
It was Madoka's turn to blush, a look which the time-traveler had to admit agreed with her. She let out a nervous laugh, reminiscent of birdsong. "Oh. Sorry, I was sooo tired. Still waking up," she explained bashfully. "They're okay, both of them." She let out a long sigh at the black-haired girl's nod, smiling in amazement. "Oh, Homura-chan, you've made me the happiest girl in the whole world!"
"I'm glad-" Homura answered.
"Me too!" agreed Madoka brightly
"-you're happy." the words slipped out before she knew they were coming, wincing at the end when her voice broke embarrassingly.
"I- Wait, what?" As the pinkette glanced at her sharply, Homura turned her head, pretending to look towards the kitchenette. She felt pink-hued eyes boring into her back like lasers. "It's long past breakfast, are you hungry? I don't have a wide selection, but…"
Madoka gazed in silence, waiting for Homura to turn around. Or walk away, or say something else. The transfer student really wanted to talk about something. Or maybe not talk about something. Her own mind felt a bit foggy.
After a moment, the black-haired girl glanced over her shoulder, and Madoka beamed at her again. "I am hungry, Homura-chan," she admitted, feeling half starved. "Thank you for asking…" She looked towards the windows that ran along the wall, but they had the shades drawn. "What time is it?" she wondered aloud.
Homura gave the girl a small smile. "It's one forty-seven."
The pinkette's eyes sprung open, wide. "One? In the afternoon?" Homura couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's horrified expression. She hurried over to her outfit, blanket still held tightly around her. "I gotta get going! I have to go home, and then visit Sayaka-chan, and then-" she paused abruptly, glancing back in the direction of Homura, but the girl was busy investigating what appeared to be a nearly empty refrigerator.
Hastily, the pinkette began to dress.
Madoka had fully expected some kind of lecture from her mom as she returned home. Carefully shutting the door behind her, feeling compelled to return home with as little fuss as possible, the pinkette took off her shoes and entered.
She found Junko lounging on the couch in her yoga pants, hair tied back and flushed from a recent workout. With a smile and a wave, she beckoned her daughter to sit down, turning down the ever-present and incomprehensible babble of financial updates.
"So, did you have fun last night?"
Madoka felt compelled to make up a convincingly boring story, launching into details about the trip to the mall and managing to work in twice how she'd completely and unintentionally fallen asleep and then overslept, not taking a breath for nearly a minute straight.
Junko had just smiled. "Don't let it become a habit; only after you've made your first hundred million yen are you allowed to sleep past noon. But I remember what it was like, being young. Sometimes you find things more important than sleep. Just… remember to call, next time you're going to be out late," she warned playfully. "I hate worrying about you."
"Momma, you don't have to worry about me!" Madoka declared, instantly chagrined at the look of surprise on Junko's face. She thinks I'm still the weak little girlI was last week.
But I'm not. I'm not weak anymore. I can take care of myself! What she couldn't do, however, was convince her mother that was true.
"Madoka dear, we live in a dangerous world." It was all the pinkette could do to keep from blurting out her own affirmation, how she knew without a shadow of a doubt that the world held deadly threats she'd not only encountered, but defeated. Instead, her tiny hand reached up, pressing fingers to her lips. Her mom continued, a droning lesson lost to the vivid thoughts replaying through the pinkette's mind, caterpillars and winged computers and nightmare spider-students... until something grabbed her attention.
"What did you say, mom?"
Junko frowned, less playfully. "Madoka, this is serious. I know you don't like hearing about these things, but this is happening in our own city! Mutilated bodies scattered across Motogawa, this escalation of gang violence that's been in the news… one of the victims was a little girl, not much older than you. I'm sorry sweetie," Junko continued, melting at the look of shock and horror on her daughter's face. "But that's why you need to be careful. Those two young men they found last week, decapitated in the dumpster at the transit station barely a mile from our doorstep…" Catching her daughter's look of confusion, Junko added, "Decapitation means someone's head is cut off-"
"I know what it means," Madoka affirmed, feeling queasy.
"There was some kind of explosion in Kazamino last night, police think it may have been a bomb! The streets are just not safe anymore, at least not-"
"Bomb?" Madoka repeated, her mind whirling with dates and locations. Something was very wrong…
Junko was nodding, a knowing expression on her face. "I doubt it's terrorists, probably just some stupid kids who got their hands on something they shouldn't have. But if it wasn't, if it's somehow connected with the other killings…" Pausing, the woman undid her hair, running her fingers through the intense purple. She sighed with a mocking grin. "Sorry, I've been following it all morning, and apparently can't help jumping on the conspiracy bandwagon."
"What do you mean? Conspiracy?"
"Well," Junko began, as if hesitant to voice her opinion, "it's been a rough couple years for the Prime Minister due to those foreign policy blunders we've discussed, and the Diet's approval rating is as low as it's been in decades. There's a lot of strange little details; the body armor one of the victims in Motogawa was wearing, and the reports of mysterious gunfire. Nobody ever sees anything, but… they've found evidence of bullet holes, or what they think are bullet holes, and there's a similarity to some of the murders. The decapitated men and the gang slaughtered in Motogawa were both chopped up, and… Madoka?"
Madoka, pale as a ghost, stared at the television, feeling like the world had just turned upside down.
Fifteen minutes later, Madoka had worked up the courage to inform her mother that she was going out again, to visit "a friend".
"Be home by nine. It's a school night, remember."
Slightly confused by the non-issue, the pinkette excused herself, heading toward her room.
"Madoka?"
She froze. "Y-yes, mom?"
"Miki-san called me this morning. Very upset. It appears that Sayaka has ran away." Purple eyes bored into Madoka's soul, laying it bare. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"Um… I… I… Ah…"
"I didn't think so," Junko smiled. "But, if somehow you should happen to run into her, please let her know that her mother is looking for her, and ready to call the police if she doesn't make herself found." Pausing, the woman stared up at the ceiling, looking thoughtful. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed. "Madoka, she's not out on the street, is she? Or worse, some abandoned building?"
"N-no, no she's not. Or, at least, I don't think so." She didn't really know where Sayaka was, not with one-hundred-percent, seen with her own eyes certainty.
Nodding in satisfaction, the woman gave her daughter an appraising look. "Can't say I can find fault with her decision, all things considered. Those Mikis… well, in case you get hungry later, we have plenty of food in the pantry if you want to bring some snacks along."
Madoka nodded, misty-eyed and barely able to keep from rushing over to hug her mom. Instead, she turned and headed to her room, pausing halfway up to call out "Thanks, Mom!"
Six minutes later she was cleaned up, freshly dressed, and stepping out into the afternoon sunshine with a backpack full of junk food.
Bouncing on her toes, Madoka reached out and pressed the button, giving a pink pigtail a little tug. It had been weeks since she'd been here. Suddenly nervous, she dropped her hand to her butterfly-filled stomach, taking a deep breath. Keeping her eager grin from wavering, the pinkette tried to ignore the feelings bubbling up inside. The shock of the blonde's sudden death, how lost and alone she'd been the last time she'd stood here. Walking in with a feeling of being watched by a ghost, a horrible sense of the finality of loss lingering in the air, choking her.
The door clicked, and Madoka blinked, looking up hopefully-
"Oh, hello Kyoko-chaaaaa-"
With a sardonic expression, the tall redhead opened the door wide, beckoning the smaller girl to come in. As usual, Sayaka's friend was looking wide-eyed and confused. Or was that shock?
Looking down, Kyoko shrugged. Everything was covered. The damp towel was wrapped tightly around her chest, her long, unbound hair wet and stringy. Flushed cheeks puffed out a burst of air, pushing away an errant lock of crimson. "Come on in, Madoka," the veteran stated, a little more sharply than she'd intended. The girl blinked, striding inside looking determinedly cheerful.
Shutting the door, Kyoko felt a pang of awkwardness. She didn't really get to play host often; and felt out of practice. Am I supposed to do something?
Madoka made a show of looking around, although everything looked basically the same. Slightly more disheveled, she thought, stepping over to the couch to rearrange some of the colorful pillows. A strange drone, like a fan, could be heard in the background. "So, how do you and Sayaka like staying here?"
Kyoko stared across the room thoughtfully. "It's… good." For a moment, she struggled to define exactly how she felt. Too many things were spinning around her head to make much progress, though. Giving up, she shrugged, and grinned toothily. "It's fun."
"That's great!" Madoka said emphatically. She continued to look around, getting more impatient by the moment. She was so excited-
"Am I supposed to be doing something?" Kyoko asked.
"Um… what?" Madoka replied, her neck craning until she was staring at the redhead. "D-drying your h-hair?" she guessed, a pained look in her eyes.
"No," Kyoko explained patiently, "is there something, I dunno, hosts are supposed to do?"
"Ah, well, let's see," the pinkette considered. "You might offer a guest something to drink, or eat."
Kyoko eyed her suspiciously. "Are you hungry?"
Madoka took a moment to shrug off her backpack, eager to share what was inside. "No, I'm fine, thank-"
"How about a drink?" Kyoko asked, heading towards the kitchen area.
"No thank you," Madoka smiled. As Kyoko opened the refrigerator door, Madoka heard the distinctive noise of glass bottles clinking together.
"You sure?" Kyoko's eyes poked up over the open door, narrowed in disbelief. "We got like a hundred drinks in here."
Madoka shook her head. "I'm sure-"
"Pink guava. Come on, I bet you'd love that."
"No, really Kyoko-chan, I don't need anything."
Kyoko shrugged. More for me. This host stuff wasn't too bad after all. "Suit yourself."
"Um, where is Sayaka-chan?" Madoka asked, glancing around the room as if looking for the blunette to appear.
"Oh, she's… uh-" Kyoko began, then stopped. Adjusting the towel, she looked at Madoka with a strangely sheepish grimace. "Actually, I have to finish getting dressed. I'll… I'll be right back," she began, turning toward the bedroom. The fan, or whatever it was, suddenly quieted.
Deeper into the apartment, a door opened. Madoka spun around-
"SAYAKA-CHAN!" Kyoko watched the pink-headed blur zoom past her, feeling a distinct breeze at her passage.
Sayaka had been shaking the hair from her face, grimacing at the slightly burnt smell. Oh well, it happens. As the mass of freshly dried, nearly shoulder-length hair bounced back from her vision, her hands seemed to fly up of their own accord at a screaming figure hurtled toward her. "M-Madoka!"
Madoka slammed into her best friend, all the fear and tension and worry evaporating at the sight of her friend, in the flesh. "I'msogladtoseeyouIwassoscaredlastnight-" the words burst out of her in a torrent as she clung to the taller girl. Something slowly began to sink in; the dampness, the soft skin of the blunette's shoulders and back, the tenseness of her muscles. Madoka gave a little gasp, then made a choking noise, pushing herself back and turning away, flushing brilliant crimson. Kyoko marveled at the shade, until she realized something. Suddenly awkward in her own towel, she wondered what to do with herself.
"G-good to see you, S-Sayaka-chan!" she said, her voice sounding forced and manically cheerful, still not meeting the her friend's eye.
Sayaka stared over the pinkette, finding Kyoko's eye and giving her an exasperated shrug, managing to convey both a Thanks for the warning! and a What now? What was her sweet, innocent friend going to think, with both of them strutting around the apartment wrapped in nothing but silky-soft, ultra-plush towels, Kyoko's hair dripping wet and faced flushed with a delightful glow-
"Kyoko," she blurted, thinking fast as her own face seemed to catch on fire. "The shower's all yours." She shot the redhead a meaningful look, nodding at the mortified pinkette.
Kyoko frowned. Bathing once a week was more than she was used to; no way she was going to do it more than once a day! "What? But we just-"
"Kyoko! I'm done in there, it's all yours," the blunette urged with an attempt at pleasantness that fell rather far from the mark. The grin she gave Madoka was sincere and encouraging, Kyoko noted with annoyance.
"But I- oh. Oh." Kyoko winked exaggeratedly, drawing a horrified gaze from her girlfriend. "Thanks, I need to go… take another shower. Take a shower, for the first time, I mean." Impervious to the blunette's groan of despair, the redhead proudly marched into the bathroom, shutting the door with a slam.
After Madoka's brief account of the previous evening, Sayaka shook her head with a smile.
"I can always count on you, Madoka-chan. I'm the luckiest person in the world to have a friend like you."
"Don't be silly," protested Madoka, flushing with pleasure at the comment.
"Thanks, for coming after me… and for helping Kyoko out. She may not show it, sometimes, but she really appreciates what you did. I do, too." Sayaka grabbed the shorter girl, giving her a one-armed hug, the other held below her throat making sure the towel didn't come loose.
"Um," Madoka began.
"What?"
"Feel free to, you know." The pinkette looked up with a pained expression. "Get dressed?"
Sayaka laughed, releasing her petite friend. "Sorry, be right back!"
Ear pressed up against the door, Kyoko listened intently. Not eavesdropping, really. She just wanted to know when it was safe to come out. The clinging haze of moisture had instantly frizzed out her hair, much to her annoyance, and the smell of Mami's scented soaps was cloying.
How long do I gotta stay in here? she complained to herself. If her blunette wanted to spare the kid from all the gory details, that was one thing. There were dark secrets, necessary secrets… but there were secrets that were fun as well. On the other hand, she was getting hungry and she'd already eaten the rest of the strawberries from before.
The pinkette stared for a long moment at the contents of the cupboard. "Wow, that's a lot of treats you got there, Sayaka-chan," she commented.
"Huh? Oh," Sayaka grinned, remembering the delighted expression on Kyoko's face as they'd dashed through the aisles, heedless of the throngs of people in the market. "Well, we figured… why not just get the good stuff?" Her smile faltered, noting the shorter girl's hesitation in returning it. "What?"
"Well," Madoka demurred, looking down, slowly turning her head to the side. Sayaka followed her gaze to the refrigerator filled with soda and "juice drinks".
"We'll get real food later," the blunette blurted hastily. "It's just, well, this was more spur-of-the-moment. Like... remember when we'd stay up all night and watch movies, back in primary school? We used to get so much junk on the way home, there was that one little shop we'd stop in, what was it called…"
Madoka smiled, mentally shrugging. Her friend was reveling in a new-found freedom, was there any wonder that everything in Mami's kitchen was sugared or chocolate-coated or fried and salted?
Mami… Madoka couldn't help feel she would have been disappointed. Although she had enjoyed sweet treats as much as any of them, the store-bought variety had not met her standards. And as for this… this junk-
She vowed to keep the treats she'd brought a secret. She wouldn't be doing Sayaka any favors by adding more temptations to the mix. "With all these snacks, I hope you're brushing your teeth twice as much!" Madoka chided playfully, feeling more amused than anything. Sayaka's grin faltered, and slowly color began to bloom in her cheeks. Madoka paused; her friend might be a blank screen to the strange sense of empathy she'd been feeling, but the blunette was easier for her to read than anyone.
"Er," Sayaka tried. How could I have forgotten that?
"Yes?" the pinkette inquired sweetly. When nothing was immediately forthcoming, she made a guess. "You don't have a toothbrush?" Madoka groaned exaggeratedly at the blunette's guilty nod.
"I forgot!" Sayaka stated, feeling defensive. Kyoko and her mad dash to the candy and chips and pastries!
"Sayaka-chan," Madoka said, shaking her head with a wide grin. "Where would you be without me?" she joked, and the pair began laughing together.
Hearing the roaring laughter, Kyoko readied herself, slipping out of the bathroom and dashing down the hallway.
"Sayaka-chan, your mom called my mom. She was… worried, and scared for you. My mom talked her out of… of calling…" Madoka gulped. "The police," she finished in a whisper.
Sayaka rolled her eyes. "She wouldn't do something like that," she stated dismissively. "Probably just trying to find out where I am from your mom."
"Well, maybe, but…" The pinkette hesitated, then looked up, returning Sayaka's inquiring gaze with a level stare. "My mom thinks she was about to do it. She's at her wit's end, and my mom thinks she's ready to snap. Even if… if it wouldn't look good, or help, or… whatever, people do crazy things when they're driven over the edge." Madoka tried to read her friend's expression.
"You think… this is my fault? That I'm the one driving her over the edge?" Sayaka could barely believe her ears.
"No," Madoka assured quickly, her tiny hands waving as if to ward off the very thought. "No, it's just… sometimes, it's hard to see from another person's perspective." Seeing the blunette ready to breath fire, Madoka charged forward. "Like, take Homura-chan, for example. At first, I thought she was, well, a little…"
"Creepy," Sayaka supplied, in what Madoka assumed was a helpful manner.
"Spooky," the pinkette decided. "But," she continued, seeing the blunette start to open her mouth again, "after we talked, and she let me see her side of things, it became clear that she wasn't a bad person. It's just, what I saw sort of framed my whole understanding, and what really mattered was what was going on behind all that."
Sayaka stared long and hard, digesting the thought. Where did that come from? "Uh, okay, I get your point," Sayaka started, her tone defensive.
"Well, think about how… how your parents feel right now. Sayaka-chan, you're always so considerate of others, that's part of what makes you an amazing person. But sometimes you are less than charitable with yourself. Or your parents. I… I just don't want you to… to be unhappy."
"Who's making Sayaka unhappy?" Kyoko inquired forcefully, and both girls' heads spun towards the kitchen, taking in the redhead who rose up from behind the open fridge door.
Madoka, whose heart had begun to thrum painfully, took a deep, calming breath. Sayaka looked at the other girl quizzically. "How did you-" Her question was interrupted as Kyoko bent over the counter, pressing down on something with her palm that caused a clink and a brief hiss. As the redhead greedily lifted up her drink, guzzling the red liquid like she was dying of thirst, Madoka found herself thinking about vampires.
"Nobody's making me unhappy. At least nobody but myself." Tearing her eyes away from her partner, now bent over and digging around inside of the refrigerator again, the blunette gave Madoka a thoughtful nod. "Kyoko," she stated, standing up suddenly with a look of determination that sent a thrill down Madoka's back. "Madoka and I are going to go visit my parents quick."
Kyoko's startled glance turned into a frown. Hopefully a thoughtful one, Sayaka silently prayed. "Just to let them know I'm alright, so they don't call the cops on me." She flashed a smile, and was pleased when the redhead returned it.
"Need company?" Kyoko asked, not really wanting to go but feeling obligated-
Madoka had the gall to stare at her, with a surprised grin and an impressed look in her eyes. "Just me and Madoka," Sayaka smiled knowingly.
Thank fucking god, Kyoko thought.
The walk to the Miki's apartment had flown by. Once inside, the afternoon had stretched on into forever. And now...
Madoka walked in silence next to her friend. She hadn't known what, exactly, to expect, but that had been-
"Well, that didn't go nearly as bad as I thought it would," Sayaka mused, the angry frown long faded into something more morose and thoughtful.
Madoka winced. So much shouting… loud voices always made her cringe, and those laced with anger and hurt and frustration were the worst. "Do…" They walked half a block before she tried again. "Do they always get so loud?"
The blue-haired girl couldn't contain a rueful chuckle as they crossed an intersection. "Not always, but…" She shrugged helplessly. "Often enough." She dug her phone out of her pocket. "At least I got this."
"And your toothbrush," Madoka pointed out, sounding distracted.
"Yeah, thanks. Thanks for coming, Madoka-chan. I needed you there; just having you around gives me courage."
Madoka smiled, but Sayaka noticed the strain in it. "Sayaka-chan… when you and Kyoko were in Motogawa-"
"MIKI-SAN!"
The two girls glanced backward, both instantly recognizing the young man's voice.
Kyoko had been sprawled across the couch, one leg propped up on the arm of a chair while the other lay upon the low glass table, a brand new controller in her hand as she stared at the screen.
Sayaka explained her parents' reaction, watching as Kyoko shot her way through dozens of army-type men.
"So here's something weird. I… I ran into Kyousuke today. Poor Madoka-chan! You can imagine…" Sayaka's grin wavered at Kyoko's guarded expression as she turned from the game, giving the blunette her full attention. "He invited Madoka and me to a concert he's performing in-"
Kyoko snorted, rolling her eyes and laying back, reaching for the controller. "How'd-" Sissy-boy just sounds petty, "...he take the news?"
Sayaka frowned."Uh, I didn't, um… it's not like I go around announcing-"
Shaking her head in exasperation, Kyoko grinned despite herself. "Not us," she began, but the word seemed to hang there, tangible and present for a moment, choking her up. Sayaka looked contemplative all of a sudden.
"Us."
"Yeah." Kyoko felt flustered. "Not that. Was he disappointed? I want you to describe the look-"
"Disappointed? I… I don't-"
"That you turned him down?" The veteran felt a strange sense of fondness for her partner's thick-headedness. In other people, it was a trait that usually it annoyed the hell out of her, but the blunette was… it was like they were somehow in tune with each other-
"I didn't," Sayaka said, sounding uncertain. It may have had something to do with the sudden change in the older girl's expression. "It's t-tonight," the blunette blurted.
"What?" Kyoko asked in horror and revulsion. "What do you mean? You want to go? Tonight? You're going to a… a concert?" The questions burst out in an overwhelming barrage. Waste a night we could have together, one of the last before… whatever happens?
Gritting her teeth, Kyoko tried to douse the growing resentment and fear with cold, dispassionate reasonableness. She can do what she wants to do. In fact, it will give me some more time to play these games. The concession rang hollow even in her own head, and deep down Kyoko felt uneasy. Almost a little like she was being abandoned.
Sayaka felt lost. "I thought…" It had seemed like a good idea. Having this one time to spend together, in public, with friends. To get a chance to go out and just be people together, now, while they still had time. Still had each other. Promises and plans for after Walpurgisnacht had begun to feel increasingly tenuous, a murky possibility she'd likely never reach herself. Despite her earlier protests, now that her parents were fully aware of the situation, she had no problem with the thought of letting the world see her arm-in-arm with the redhead. In fact, the thought had sent a delicious thrill of nervousness and anticipation all mixed in a confusing blend. "I thought it would be… fun."
"It sounds like the opposite of fun to me," Kyoko muttered, not quite to herself, or at least not convincingly. "But I hope you enjoy yourself." The veteran nodded, proud of the sincerity in her voice. Reaching over, she grabbed the controller and powered it up.
"Oh. You… you don't want to go." Games could be fun, but this had promised to be an adventure. "I see-"
"Hell no. Wait. Why does it matter if I…"
"I just thought... it was free, and we've never really gotten to go out, not for real, and-"
"So it's not a hypothetical question? You want to take me?" Eyes gleamed crimson with a sudden epiphany. "You'd take me instead of Madoka?"
Confused at the abrupt shift, Sayaka took a moment to catch up. "No. I mean, yes…" She made a noise in her throat that sounded like she was getting ready to spit. Kyoko instinctively readied herself, just in case. "Let me start over. I got tickets for us to go to the symphony tonight; if it's not your thing, which it apparently isn't, I completely understand. We don't have to go."
Kyoko frowned. "Now, don't jump to conclusions." She ignored the look of baffled outrage that flashed across her partner's face. "I didn't say that."
"You-"
"Not exactly," Kyoko continued, looking up thoughtfully. "I thought-" You were ditching me, Kyoko finished, feeling an unfamiliar pang of shame. "Anyway, if we're both invited… I won't make you suffer through that alone."
Wow. Smooth, Kyoko. Sayaka didn't even try to hide her eye roll. "So, you do want to go?"
"Hell yeah, I'll take you to the concert," Kyoko agreed reasonably.
The blunette couldn't let that stand. "Oh no. I'm taking you. They're my tickets, after all. And…"
"Wait, there are conditions?"
"You have to dress up."
Kyoko stared. What have I gotten myself into?
As always, your comments and thoughts are greatly appreciated.
And if someone could enlighten me: is getting your face rabu'd a good thing or a bad thing?