The sunlight shone through the glass windows, warming Kyouko's shoulders. She looked out the window at the familiar streets in confusion, as if she suddenly remembered something: a smile, a wisp of blue hair, and in the next moment nothing. Every day was pretty much the same - school, dinner, TV, bed - and no one really understood her, at least not like the person once did. Huh? Which person? Sometimes she wondered if she was stuck in a never-ending reincarnation.
She spent a lot of time alone, but she didn't feel lonely, she was used to being alone, and anyone else who tried to talk to her would stop paying attention to her anyway because of her cold demeanor, even if she didn't try to scare them away. It was only sometimes, very rarely, that Kyouko felt like something was missing, maybe it was something, maybe it was a person, something that had been there but was lost, vague, she wasn't even sure of its existence herself.
The doorbell rang. It was the sound of "To Alice", a piano piece. Kyouko tried several times to change it to the normal "ding-dong" sound, but the doorbell was persistent. At first she thought it was the wrong person, who would be looking for her at this hour? But by the second ring, she was at the door. The doorknob turned and the wooden door was gently pushed open, a warm voice, not very loud but clear, came from behind the door.
"Is this Sakura Kyouko?" The person said, dressed in shiny leather shoes, pleated school skirt and blouse school uniform, and her heart sped up a little as Kyouko's eyes moved to her face. The girl's eyes were gentle and Kyouko didn't understand what she was thinking right now, she was a little confused.
"I'm Miki Sayaka." The girl continued, not reacting to Kyouko's sudden stiffness, her blue hair blowing in the breeze, a few strands blocking her face.
Her name, her voice, seemed to come from some distant place, and Kyouko's fingers trembled a little as her heart skipped a beat. That was an extraordinary feeling, one second your heart is still beating at this constant tempo, but the next, it just stopped, like your blood freezes and your breathing gets difficult, but after a beat, or two beats, it just continues like normal. Why did it feel like this, she couldn't remember who this girl was, but she was almost certain they hadn't met.
"Did you...you have the wrong person." She muttered under her breath, trying to calm herself, it was just a stranger.
Sayaka was visibly disappointed, but she replaced the look on her face with a wink of a smile as she turned to leave, "Sorry to bother you, Kyouko, I'd rather come back another time."
"Sayaka...," Kyouko muttered softly.
"Kyouko! You remember me, don't you, does anything come to mind? " it was Sayaka, shouting towards Kyouko on her light blue bike, nearly crashing into a trash can.
She shook her head helplessly, it was obvious that she had only met her once, why did this person keep pestering her. This was the fifth time that Sayaka had tried to get her attention every day after school - after dinner when she went out to take out the garbage, to be exact - and had been very successful in doing so.
"Hey, Kyouko." Sayaka tapped Kyouko on the shoulder as the two were sitting on a bench, "You say you really don't remember anything?"
Kyouko shook her head, she was starting to get tired of this blue haired girl who acted like a heel, whatever it was that she forgot, she didn't know what it was anyway.
"I have a little something, would you like to hear it?" When Kyouko didn't respond she continued, "We used to be Puella Magi."
"Huh?" Kyouko wanted to laugh a little, aren't those just toys that you hold in your hand and play with when you're a child, like Barbie dolls.
"It's not what you think!" Sayaka panicked and defended, shaking her head vigorously, "It's the kind that saves the world and protects ordinary people."
"About the Puella Magi you said last time, I do have a tiny something of it." Sayaka jumped up and almost hugged Kyouko tightly, "Either some sturdy memory or a bunch of ... weird, messy patterns, enchantmants?"
"Yeah."
A hard knock sounded at Kyouko's door and she sleepily opened it, the blue haired girl outside the door walked right into her room, "I know this might be a bit sudden for you, but I've always had a feeling like I was missing something. Especially ..." she paused as if she wasn't sure how she was supposed to phrase it, "Can't think of anything after meeting you, Kyouko."
Kyouko let out a big yawn, "Why don't you tell me tomorrow," she glanced at the clock on the wall, "It's twelve o'clock and I have to sleep."
Sayaka ignored her but continued, "But now I remember, but I feel like I can't tell you now, you need to take your time and figure it out on your own."
Kyouko knew her face must look really ashen because she, like Sayaka, had forgotten something, as if the gods had stirred up her memories like a bottle of honey. She pondered for a moment, "So, do you have anything else to say?" Sayaka seemed unusually calm tonight, much like the first meeting.
Sayaka's eyes perked up instantly, stepping briskly to end up in a chair across from the couch, while Kyouko slouched on the couch, her legs tucked underneath her. It was only now that she realized the blue- haired girl looked haggard, not just from lack of sleep, but more like some news had distressed and pained her. Kyouko smoothed her wide t-shirt; it was only just the beginning of fall, so there was no need to change into a thick robe and pajama pants just yet.
"Would you like something to drink, there's black tea and coffee." Kyouko broke the silence, fiddling with the small bags of tea bags and instant coffee on the bar.
"Black tea it is then."
She brewed herself a cup of coffee to try and refresh herself, and Sayaka didn't speak again, just quietly sipped the tea in her hand and waited for something.
"Actually, I'm just like you." Kyouko intended to speak, "Feeling trapped, a cage like. Something forgotten, something missed, something even seemingly lost in your own ordinary life." She sighed, lowering her head to stare at her bare thighs, feeling a chill run down her spine.
Sayaka smiled, she was quiet as she listened, "I understand that perhaps some mysterious bond was cut short in time and space, as if one didn't quite fit in with everything in this world, trapped in the ..." she paused, "past. Perhaps one comes to this world in search of one thing, one person."
Sayaka's words struck a deep chord in Kyouko's heart, not a rude one, but a gentle one, a familiar one. "Maybe we're the same!" She suddenly cried out, "Maybe something happened between us!" She had stood up, bracing her hands hard against the coffee table as if it was the only thing she had to lean on.
The blue-haired girl was still sitting very stoically in her chair, her hands folded in her lap, but Kyouko knew that the girl had the same fire burning in her heart as she did. Not fuel that would suddenly explode, but a warm fire in the fireplace on a cold winter day.
"Maybe we really did have something!" Sayaka stood up as well, her eyes glittering with excitement as she took one of Kyouko's hands in hers, "Maybe we missed something before." Her voice was no longer so agitated.
Instead of shaking her hand away, Kyouko unconsciously held it tightly, so tightly that she was afraid that if she let go Sayaka would disappear and this moment would turn into a dream. They didn't speak again, the moment was peaceful, as if they were the only ones, not confused but full of longing for the future.
It was a moment where they picked up the bonds that were scattered all over the place.
"Perhaps we can meet again, if you wish of course." Sayaka lifted her head and looked at Kyouko firmly, "Now I'm going to go, maybe we can talk more later, slowly."
Kyouko nodded silently and squeezed Sayaka's hand gently, "I'm glad, it's good to see you."