A number of the girls were crowding around Madoka asking her about her time in America with one girl commenting on Madoka's cuteness. Sayaka made a mental note that that girl was likely gay just in case she was ever feeling a little lonely after a particularly stressful mission. Hitomi had gone to the bathroom and Sayaka was trying to decide on how she wanted to approach her old friend, especially since her friend was starting to look overwhelmed. Maybe Sayaka could sweep in and play the hero, one of her favorite roles to play. Madoka would then feel grateful for the save and Sayaka could use that to get into the other girl's house where she could start planting bugs to monitor the Kanames. That was when Homura Akemi, a girl who Sayaka was certain had never met Madoka before in her life, approached the girl.

"Everyone, you'll tire Kaname-san out, bombarding her with questions like that. You should give her a moment." Sayaka agreed, but she had the strangest suspicion that Akemi was doing exactly what Sayaka had been considering doing and playing the hero to get Madoka's gratitude. The girls departed in a hurry, likely scared off by the admittedly intimidating emo girl while Akemi introduced herself. Then Akemi said, "May I call you Madoka?"

Akemi was definitely playing a similar game to the one that Sayaka had been considering. Nobody got to manipulate her friends except for her! Sayaka considered stepping in, but that would just make her appear overly antagonistic and ultimately Akemi was not the target. Madoka was and it was up to Sayaka to prove that they were not involved in any kind of espionage plot.

The situation became even worse. Akemi leveraged Madoka's gratitude and inability to say no to get the other girl to follow her, presumably to show her the school. Sayaka may not have been a genius, but she did not need to be a genius to know that Akemi was trying to get Madoka alone.

Sayaka waited a few moments watching the direction they went in through the windows of the classroom and then after giving the two enough of a head start, set out after the two.

Akemi seemed to be leading Madoka in the direction of the nurse's office. When Sayaka saw this, she slowed her pace so that if either were to look back they would not see her, but she could still get occasional glimpses of the two mixed in with the crowds through windows along the path, though only because she knew exactly where the two were going. Sayaka knew there was an often abandoned hallway along that path to the nurse's and she stopped just outside of it.

Sayaka seemed to have arrived just in time. In the glass lined hall, a bridge that connected two parts of the building, she could hear the two speaking, though Madoka's voice was too quiet to make out any words. Then strange lights erupted out of the hall. Sayaka was sure she saw stars, nebulas, and galaxies. The view tugged at something inside herself, something in the abyssal ocean that she somehow just knew was her soul. In that familiar light, something inside Sayaka woke up, but the spy forced herself to stay focused on her mission. Madoka was depending on Sayaka to prove the girl had no connection to foreign agents. It was her purpose to protect Madoka.

Suddenly the light show shifted to show the beautiful night sky like it would be seen from the countryside away from the city, like Sayaka had seen it on one of her trips into Siberia. Whatever projector one of the two was carrying must have changed what it was displaying. There was no other explanation for what Sayaka was seeing, but why would Akemi be showing Madoka some kind of slide show animations? Was she trying to impress the girl? Did Akemi have a background with graphic design?

Something must have happened as Madoka cried out, "Homura-chan?" So they were now both calling each other by their first names. "H-Hey! What…?" Sayaka had to stop herself from charging into the hall and killing Akemi. The only reasons she did not were that her friend would probably not appreciate witnessing an execution and without more information there was no way to know just what was happening. For all Sayaka knew Akemi could have just had a nervous breakdown, though Sayaka found that less likely than the possibility of Akemi attacking her friend.

Sayaka was just taking off her wrist watch which also had a small camera in it with a tiny screen for looking around corners without being noticed when she heard a choked sob, just barely audible. It was not the sound of Madoka crying. Sayaka guessed Akemi was actually having some kind of breakdown and she assumed this was the reason for Madoka's alarming reaction. After a moment's thought however, Sayaka's paranoia told her the more likely situation was Akemi was only faking having a breakdown to play on Madoka's nurturing side.

Between the white knighting earlier, the artistic show Akemi just put on, and now the usually cold girl showing a sensitive, vulnerable side, Akemi would have Madoka willing to say yes to whatever scheme the girl proposed. Sayaka was not sure if she was more disgusted or more jealous that Akemi pulled all this crap before she could. At least Sayaka had the excuse of trying to protect her friend.

Sayaka was so lost in her own thoughts that she missed whatever the girl said next and only realized her blunder when the night sky image disappeared. While she was mentally kicking herself, she heard Akemi say, just on the edge of hearing, "Kaname Madoka, do you treasure this world?" Speaking from experience, Sayaka knew that nothing good came of that line of questioning. This was actually one of Sayaka's rival Miss White's favorite lines and was even on the brochures and business cards for her mercenary company known to the intelligence service only as White Water. "Do you consider stability and order more important than desire?" And now Akemi was going to try to make the sale's pitch on why freedom and rights are wrong and strong man dictatorships are the way to go.

Sayaka had heard enough petty dictators make the same speech before and even had the pleasure of putting one in the ground. To be fair to Akemi, Sayaka had also used these exact same rationalizations to justify her own actions and those of the agency, but she had never lost sight of her goal of helping and protecting her friends.

"Well, I… Um…" said Madoka, which was about what Sayaka would expect from anyone suddenly confronted with this line of questioning, "I-I do treasure it. I guess I do think it's kind of bad to break rules because you feel like it." Sayaka agreed, but she was also experienced and self aware enough to see that the rules were not always just and that they did not always protect people from agents like herself. She knew she was held accountable by almost nobody and she knew some agents abused this power. She also knew that governments were far from the only wolves out in the forest with their agents prowling about.

"I see… Then I suppose someday, you will become my enemy as well…" said Akemi. Sayaka's mouth dropped. She had expected Akemi to try to get Madoka on board with whatever nefarious organization she was a part of, although she definitely thought Akemi was moving too fast to actually be successful with a recruitment pitch, but instead Akemi was testing Madoka. More than that, Sayaka now knew just what Akemi was! She was not a spy, or at least not for a rival world government; she was an anarchist!

On top of this Akemi might have just alienated Madoka when she let her true beliefs show like that, but before Sayaka started celebrating her new rival basically backing out of the race, she would first see how this ended. Unfortunately for Sayaka, Akemi's next words were the opposite of an admission of defeat, "But I don't care. Because even then, I will continue to wish for a world in which you will be happy." Yep, definitely an anarchist and possibly a violent one. Sayaka felt like a balance between the two extremes was necessary, but she was not going to bring that up with Akemi. Better to use her new knowledge of the girl to her advantage.

"H-Homura-chan, um…" Madoka clearly did not know how to take this strange confession.

"They really do look better on you after all." said Akemi. Sayaka had absolutely no context for this remark until she saw Madoka hurrying away as fast as she could while remaining polite, but now with red ribbons in her hair. The poor girl did not even notice that Sayaka was there.

Akemi who stepped out from the hallway that the two had been talking in did notice Sayaka. Their eyes met. Almost too fast for the human eye to see, Akemi was on top of Sayaka pinning the girl against the wall. "You were listening to our conversation." It was not a question, "What do you think you know?"

It was then that Akemi noticed the hand on her chest as well as something poking against her stomach. Sayaka may not have been able to think fast enough to keep up with the swiftness of the attack, but she did not need to be able to think quickly when she had three years of training. Akemi had Sayaka's TI-84 pressed to her abdomen. At the press of a button Akemi would be electrocuted and Sayaka could then easily push the other girl away. A little known fact was that you could touch somebody who is being tasered and not be tasered yourself.

Akemi looked down at the TI-84 calculator and then into Sayaka's eyes. In an utterly deadpan voice she said, "You better not be about to say something stupid like, 'Your days are numbered'."

Sayaka paused. She had been about to say something like that. Thinking for a moment, she instead said "Do anything to Madoka and there will be no limit to your suffering."

Akemi blinked, opening and closing her mouth, then said, "We don't cover limits for another two weeks." Akemi paused for a brief moment seemingly in thought, "You read ahead? No… Who are you and what have you done with Sayaka Miki?" Akemi actually sounded scared.

Sayaka was slightly hurt that the other girl thought so little of her, that the idea of her reading ahead was so anathema that the other girl immediately assumed Sayaka had been replaced with a double. She had once been replaced by a double, but that was not the point. Also, Sayaka was a little confused because she was actually a relatively high scorer in their classes, nowhere near Akemi's level, but definitely not as bad as Akemi made her out to be.

Sayaka even had to deliberately get problems wrong to avoid standing out too much. Above average was fine, but do as well as Akemi and you only draw attention to yourself, not that she had any hope of matching the prodigy in front of her. Hitomi with her army of tutors was still only second or third best in each of their classes.

Still, Sayaka could not let this slight to her honor go completely unanswered or at least she could get away with responding without jeopardizing her mission, "For your information I do study."

Akemi seemed to think about this for a very long moment, her face twitching through a variety of barely noticeable micro expressions, "Ah, Shizuki is making you study and she is the one reading ahead. It all makes sense now."

Sayaka considered agreeing, but if she did and Akemi found out the truth, the situation could get even more nasty. "Actually Kyoko is my usual study buddy since the only class I am having any difficulty in is literature. Hitomi and I used to practice English together, but usually we just hang out or talk about music and stuff."

"But, you and Kyoko are thugs. I would expect you both to struggle to even pass your classes, much less… nevermind. I suppose this is just a strange byproduct of your codependency on each other."

Sayaka was rather hurt. She was never quite an honors student, especially when she also now had to get problems wrong on purpose, but her cover was not nearly as bad as Akemi made her out to be, and Kyoko actually had some subjects she was genuinely talented at.

Sayaka thought for a moment. She did not really care that much about defending her honor. Well she kind of did, maybe a little more than she should, but not as much as she did about defending Kyoko's honor. Thinking about what she was about to do, she felt she could defend her friend without endangering the mission or revealing information that was not already readily available. The fact that revealing this information would also confuse Akemi was also a useful bonus. Keeping your opponents off balance was usually a good thing, often denying them the initiative or even helping them to make mistakes.

"Hey, Kyoko's is only average in math and science." technically she was actually struggling just to be average in math and as a result of that her science grades were perfectly average, but neither was actually bad or even that concerning and the goal was to get Akemi to question everything which would hopefully increase Sayaka's chances of leaving this encounter alive. Afterall, Akemi had to know that checking the other student's class rankings would be relatively easy meaning lying about them would serve very little purpose, especially a lie about being average.

The only slightly better than average score in literature was not something Sayaka was proud of. She and Kyoko both wanted to be much better than average, so they had an arrangement. She had started helping the other girl with her math studies and in exchange received help on the classical literature with its weird premodern kanjis that she really did not have enough time to learn about.

Sayaka continued, "She is above average in every other class and second best in the class in both literature and English. She is even better than Hitomi, and in any other year group Kyoko would actually be top of the class in those subjects." There was no need to mention who the highest scorer was. Akemi's academic and physical abilities were as incredible as her lack of ability in socializing and making friends. "The girl has even been learning latin on the side. Soon she'll be fluent in that, at which point she'll basically be trilingual."

Akemi leaned back slightly with a tiny flicker of what might have been horror on her normally expressionless face, "No! This can't be! How does removing Madoka from the equation make the two of you actually… competent in school. Madoka's presence should make everything around her better!"

Sayaka blinked, trying to process the weird statements from the girl in front of her. It occurred to Sayaka that the other girl really did not know that Sayaka was an operative with a hidden agenda. An agent with a hidden agenda would rarely be described as a thug who was struggling to pass basic middle school classes unless that was their cover. Given how much Akemi brought up Kyoko and Hitomi, she probably thought Sayaka was just a regular classmate and that Sayaka was only interested in Madoka, because they were old friends or because Sayaka was nosy.

This meant that even though the two were literally on the verge of trying to kill each other at the start of this conversation, Sayaka's cover was far from being blown, in fact her cover might even be better since any suspicious actions she took could be reinterpreted in whatever weird demented light that the girl in front of her viewed the world through. This meant Sayaka, so long as she thought through her actions to make sure they matched this narrative, could probably do whatever she wanted. Even better, Sayaka might even be able to play this girl just like this girl was playing Madoka.

Sayaka smiled at the thought, "I guess Madoka is just really distracting."

Akemi stared off after where the pink haired girl had gone, "She is, she really is."

Akemi definitely was not an agent then. Instead, Akemi was a stalker. This especially made sense with how the other girl was not hiding her talents the way someone trying not to be noticed would. Sayaka would still need to keep an eye on her, in fact she might need to keep even more of an eye on her given how deeply infatuated the girl seemed to be with Madoka. Sayaka eyed the other girl who seemed lost in thought. Akemi's deep infatuation was hard to explain. The only reasonable explanation that Sayaka had for the other girl's behavior and apparent preparations was that this was not the first time that Akemi had met Madoka.

Akemi snapped Sayaka out of her thoughts, "I've figured it out, Kyoko's dad is alive isn't he?"

Sayaka blinked at the other girl, "Yes, yes he is. In fact most people at this school have parents who are still alive." So, Akemi might also be more unhinged than she thought. She was not just a stalker, but maybe something more like a creepy yandere stalker like in the cartoons Sayaka used to watch and sometimes still watched with Kyoko when the two had some of their rare free time together.

Akemi seemed to forget about the girl she was currently pinning to the wall as she muttered to herself, "He must be helping Kyoko with her homework."

Sayaka thought about how it was not that simple since while Kyoko was currently learning latin from her father and because of her upbringing also had a good grasp on English with her only problem being that some of her word choices were more than a little antiquated due to literally being straight from the king james bible, the help of Kyoko's father would not explain Kyoko's interest and competence in classical japanese literature. Sayaka had seen some of the few books Kyoko owned and actually read that were not shounen manga and some of them were very old like the girl's copies of The Bansenshukai, The Book of the Five Rings, some books on Shinto Spiritualism, and multiple collections of death poems. The most recently written book on the other girl's tiny bookshelf that did not include pictures would probably be a biography of Hattori Hanzo that was written a few decades ago.

What Sayaka said however was, "She does call her family most nights if she doesn't go to visit them in person, so it would explain a lot." Sayaka saw no reason to disabuse this girl of her mistaken perceptions of the world any further, at least not yet.

Akemi nodded then looked back at Sayaka, "So, I take it that because you can't just play with your friends or run off to the mall with them as often, that you have been having a lot more time to study."

"Yep, life has been boring with Madoka away." A lie, but one that Akemi would happily eat up. Sayaka honestly did not stress about or even get that bored with homework anymore. Homework stops being as stressful when you are fighting for your life on a weekly basis and sometimes the tranquil normal life can be a refreshing change of pace. Whenever time became a concern for the spy, she also knew ways to cut corners without having her grades slip below what was expected to maintain her cover.

"You are lucky you are only bored by her absence, because I lost my reason to live when she went away." said Akemi confirming both that she had met Madoka before and that she was a creepy yandere stalker. Sayaka was also pretty sure she was not supposed to be hearing this, but the other girl was probably more than a little emotionally vulnerable given that she was just reunited with her reason to live who then basically ran away from her.

Sayaka unfortunately had some experience with creepy yandere girls like this from having to deal with Miss White's yandere henchwoman, a weird chuuni girl named Miss Black who liked running around with an eye patch and maid outfit while carrying out her mistress's evil bidding, evil bidding that usually involved sniper rifles and metal claws.

Hopefully that experience would pay off here. Maybe a little prompting would get the other girl to open up even more, "But Madoka is back now."

Akemi got a crazed look in her eyes, "Yes, she is real, she is alive, and she is back, and you're not going to take her away from me." Akemi once doubted that Madoka was real and alive? Sayaka supposed that was weird, but might be useful later.

"Why on Earth would I be trying to take her away from you?" Aside from the obvious about Akemi being slightly unhinged.

"You overheard our conversation didn't you? You heard how she'll go back if given the chance and…" Akemi was peering deep into Sayaka's eyes. Sayaka's danger sense was blaring. "You remember something don't you?"

Need to calm the girl down a little, "I don't think her family is going back to America anytime soon. They bought a house and everything, so I am pretty sure they're here to stay for at least a few years no matter what Madoka thinks on the matter."

"Don't play dumb with me." growled Akemi.

"I'm not playing at anything. I don't see how anything I could say or do to her would make her go away." Sayaka tried to smile in a disarming fashion. She hoped it worked. Funnily enough she actually could get the Kaname's kicked out of the country, locked up, or even killed, but Akemi definitely did not need to know about any of that.

"You don't?" asked Akemi. It looked like she was examining Sayaka's face for signs of a lie, "You actually believe that, don't you, hmmm… and you have never been good at lying." said the girl who barely spoke with anyone in their class to the espionage professional.

Sayaka pushed gently against Akemi's chest, never having taken her hand away, while smiling at the girl to try and get herself free and hopefully finish diffusing the situation when Akemi suddenly put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder and pushed. The other girl was surprisingly strong and Sayaka found herself bent slightly backwards, her hand still on Akemi's chest with the back of Sayaka's head pressed against the wall. Akemi leaned over her quietly growling in her ear, "If you do tell Madoka anything that you know would make her leave, I will destroy you and everything and everyone you hold dear," Out of the corner of her eye Sayaka could see a twisted smile on the other girl's face as the girl growled these words in her ear. Sayaka just smiled up at the girl, ignoring the pain in her back and shoulder as well as the other girl's hot breath against her cheek.

There was a clattering sound as something landed on the floor just a few feet away from the two. They both looked over to see a shocked Hitomi and Kyousuke staring at them.

Hitomi appeared to have tears in her eyes, her lunchbox fallen on the floor spilling out a mix of artistically arranged fluffy white kinmemai rice, red algae like would be used in sushi, a single boiled quail egg appearing almost indistinguishable from a chicken egg, and what only a very discerning eye would recognize as otoro. Apparently, Hitomi had asked her chefs to make her something resembling a normal student's lunch, likely so the other girls would not stare at her or whisper as much about her behind her back. Without saying a word Hitomi ran off down the hall.

Sayaka looked back at Akemi who looked back at Sayaka. The two quickly realized the position they were in with a furiously blushing Akemi leaping away and Sayaka ducking out from under the other girl's arm.

"I do not have any of those sorts of feelings for Sayaka Miki. I was just warning her to not get between me and Madoka." said Akemi to Kyousuke who was glancing between where Hitomi was running down the hall and then back to the two girls who had just disentangled themselves. He looked torn, unsure of what to do next.

Kyousuke was saved from having to make a choice between going after his girlfriend or interrogating the two girls when Hitomi ran into the girl's bathroom at the far end. He turned his full attention to the two. "Some warning huh. I swear, I thought this sort of thing only happened in anime." said Kyousuke with reddening cheeks, "Sayaka, aren't you dating Kyoko? How would she feel if she knew… you know?"

"Woah, Kyoko and I are not dating! Also, Akemi was the one pinning me against the wall. I had no say in this." said Sayaka happily throwing Akemi under the bus. Hopefully word of this would reach Madoka and thereby protect the girl just a little from her rather aggressive stalker.

Kyousuke turned his gaze onto Akemi. "I had to make sure she didn't see, hear, or think anything she wasn't supposed to!" said Akemi, "Why am I explaining myself to you? Out of my way." and with that Akemi stalked off her face morphing into a cold mask.

"So, that was all Akemi?"

"Yep."

"I guess she wasn't denying it, but I know I saw you… smiling up at her… while she was…um… growling." he coughed and looked away, "Should we report Akemi?"

Sayaka was tempted to say yes, but she would rather keep that option in reserve, at least for now. Leaving Akemi on the loose would only be a danger to Madoka if the girl was not already going to be under basically twenty four hour surveillance. Leaving the girl on the loose also allowed Sayaka to justify sticking to Madoka whenever she had free time, "Not yet. There is not much we can say since it would just be our word against hers, and I wasn't hurt anyway."

"And you're sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

Kyuoske nodded and went to walk down the hall that Hitomi went down with Sayaka following, "So," said Kyousuke after a few steps, "You and Kyoko aren't dating?"

"No?" said Sayaka, sounding a little unsure of this herself. Was Kyoko going around claiming to be her girlfriend. Surely she would have told Sayaka if she was, if only so Sayaka could help keep the ruse going.

"But, you two live together and do so much together, and you're both constantly brushing off Hitomi and I, especially in the evening to go out and do stuff together. How is that not dating?"

Sayaka coughed at the excuses she and Kyoko would both sometimes use when one or both needed time away from their friends and studying to do their secret part time jobs. "We're just doing those things as friends."

"So, she won't be upset if you and Akemi have…um… anymore interrogation sessions?"

"Upset? No way or I don't think so at least."

Kyousuke stopped, "Look, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but she might be upset if she hears about what Akemi did."

"Huh?"

"I am actually really good at noticing when people have feelings for someone, and I think Kyoko has a crush on you."

"You are good at noticing when a person has feelings for someone?" Sayaka asked. It was only after she said these words that she noted the small amount of anger that had slipped in. Oops, looks like her mask slipped a bit, but she really could not believe this guy sometimes.

"I am," said Kyousuke unfazed by her outburst, or more likely, at least in Sayaka's mind, incapable of catching onto the anger or what it implied about Sayaka's own feelings towards Kyousuke .

Sayaka let out a sigh and looked towards the girl's bathroom that they now stood in front of. She could point out some things to Kyousuke that he missed or she could go comfort her friend who was probably convinced Sayaka was going to Hell or something equally stupid. Somehow dealing with Hitomi's surprisingly intense homophobia was still somehow better than dealing with Kyousuke the feelings guro. Sometimes Sayaka really hated these people she fought so hard to protect.

What is Hitomi's deal? Will Kyousuke catch on to Sayaka's feelings for him? Find out next time on The Spyaka That Loved Meki! We are now at the end of the movie, so everything from here will be new material. Hope you enjoyed and let me know your thoughts.

Next chapter will be coming soon, but I will try to update Beltane Is The New Samhain first.