Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“Guess who’s here!” I called, as Kyouko and I pushed open the door. I presented enthusiastically, lifting bags of shopping above my head.

“Sayaka-chan!” Madoka replied, appearing in the hallway. She was wearing both that innocent little smile of hers, and her full Magical girl garb. 

“Hey, you’re transformed already?” Kyouko asked, scooting past me. “You guys could have waited.”

“Ah, sorry! That was my fault, I’m afraid.” Mami called from the kitchen. “We got carried away.”

“Pssh. You guys are always too eager.” Kyouko said dismissively, dropping her bags and pirouetting, wreathing herself in magical flame as she transformed.

Meanwhile I hurried into the kitchen, eager to offload my groceries. 

“Hello again!” Mami was looking resplendent as ever. “I’m sorry for making you two buy so much…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You’re hosting us, after all. Most of it was on sale, in any case.”

“Oh, I know.” Mami said, who had a sixth sense for bargains. “But still…”

“I said don’t worry!” I said kindly as Kyouko walked in. “Now, where would you like us to put them?”

“Oh, just there on the counter.” Mami said, pointing to her left as she returned to her cooking.

”Hey, Mami-san.” Kyouko said, dumping her bags down unceremoniously. I was right not to put anything that might bruise or break in her bags.

”Good evening, Sakura-san! How did you enjoy your first day back?”

”It was laaame.” She moaned, turning on her heel and skipping back into the living room. In the other room, I could hear Madoka eagerly asking the same question.

”Need a hand?” I offered.

“Oh thank you, Miki-san. But I’m already very ably assisted.” Mami said with a smile, as Nagisa squeezed into the cramped kitchen, carrying a small tray with a pair of empty teacups.

“I’m helping!” She cried enthusiastically, setting the tray down on the counter. 

I gave her a smile. Her Magical Girl getup was even cuter than the outfits Mami bought her, but it only brought into sharper focus just how young she is. To even imagine her being forced to hunt alone like we had was unthinkable. 

”Cool! I’ll keep the others out of trouble, okay?” I said, more to Mami than Nagisa, and followed after Kyouko. With a feeling like stretching out my back after a long day hunched over, I let out my power surge forth, enveloping me with warmth and transforming me into a caped hero. 

It was hard to comprehend why the others didn’t have capes. I bet they felt jealous of how much cooler I looked than everyone else. 

”Hey gang!” I called. Madoka and Homura were sat around the triangular table in the centre of the room. Homura’s Special Mitakihara Map, a heavily annotated colossus longer in each direction than I was tall, was partially unfolded on its surface. Kyouko sat opposite them with her back to me, turning her head slightly to watch me out of the corner of her eye.

Mami’s words echoed in my head. Keep your chin up, and your eyes open.

”Good evening.” Homura greeted me coldly. She’d probably been asked by Madoka to acknowledge my existence. ”We are reporting on our patrols since last time. Would you care to fill out your portion?”

”Ugh, really?” I groaned, crossing the room. ”I can’t even catch my breath before it's nerd stuff?”

”We can relax later, Miki Sayaka.”

I rolled my eyes and took my place next to Kyouko. The map was weighed down by a chaotic rainbow of dots, each one representing a fight to the death with a Witch. Different colours, from safe purple to urgent red, represented a graded scale of Witch threat. So far we’d never had cause to put down a single pin more ominous than yellow - a six, on the Akemi-Tomoe Ten-Point Witch Assessment Scale. The Witch Madoka and I had shadowed Mami’s hunt of back before we contracted was a solid Four, while ten… Would be Walpurgisnacht, the doomsday event that never came. Apparently the scale was logarithmic or something. 

”Alright, where did we leave off?” I asked wearily. 

Kyouko sat intently by my side, chewing on something she’d presumably snagged from the kitchen while I wasn’t looking. She didn’t usually bother to say much during these reports. Not much to work with.

”Almost three weeks ago, on the 16th.” Madoka said helpfully.

”This gathering was overdue.” Homura noted.

”Right…” I cast my mind back to the dim and distant past to recover the details of those battles. Hard as it was to imagine, they did kinda blur together over time.

Dutifully I gave Homura the stats of our recent battles. Nothing especially noteworthy, pushing pins into areas already littered with dots. One down by the South Bridge, one in the overgrown park by the old steel factory, familiars in alleyways and underpasses downtown, and… For the first time, an old car park in a quiet neighbourhood, a little ways off from the multicoloured mesh that was the red-light district.

”And… Here-ish.” I marked it down with a mid-blue dot.

”Ish?” Homura frowned. ”Are you even trying to be precise?”

”I’m not a bloody sat nav, Transfer Student.”

”That’s a well-lit public space. Are you certain you’re reading the map correctly?”

”I’m certain I was there. Sorry it doesn’t match your model, but the Witch was out in the open. Placed the barrier right under a lamppost.” There was a small satisfaction in proving Homura’s oh-so-specific theories wrong.

”There aren’t even many people in the area. Why would a Witch set up there?” Homura insisted. She really didn’t like being wrong.

”Drug deals.” Kyouko said flatly, defending my position. ”Some guys sell product there ’cos its easy to see cops coming.”

”Hm.” Homura nodded, apparently happy to accept my story when it came with Kyouko’s explanation. 

”…Were there any victims?” Madoka asked softly.

”None we could find.” I reassured her. ”Must have been recent, and it was only a Two.”

”A Two?” Kyouko snorted. 

”What’s wrong with that? Gonna correct me, if you know so much?”

”Nah, you’re right.” Kyouko sniffed. ”Just can’t believe a puny lil Two almost took your head clean off.”

”It barely grazed me!” I retorted, indignant. How dare she air my dirty laundry like this?

”Banged your empty head like a drum!” She shot back. Maybe she was still a little mad after my mess-up last night…

”Are you okay, Sayaka-chan?” Madoka asked, concern written all over her huge soulful eyes. 

”I’m fine!” I insisted, rubbing a slightly sore spot I could almost still feel. ”No sense, no feeling! You know me.”

”We agree on that much, at least.” Homura replied. I stuck my tongue out at her. 

”Anyways, that’s all of them. Are we done wasting time on this, now?”

”It’s not a waste, Miki Sayaka. It’s statistics, and you would do well to be more grateful for what they show us.”

”Such as?” I gestured towards the map. ”Kyubey told us that Witches set up near hospitals and prisons.”

”It’s far more valuable than that and you know it.” Homura sniffed. ”We’ve shown that stronger Witches manifest closer to the full moon. We’ve shown that Witches will typically avoid brightly lit and busy areas regardless of negative emotion, and that they will ’deplete’ hunting grounds over time. Would you like to spend all night running from one end of Mitakihara to the other, or would you prefer to know that we won’t have any Witches in the Warehouse district until the end of the Month?”

Now it was my turn to look like an idiot while Homura got to be smug. I folded my arms in irritation.

”Now. Sakura Kyouko, might you take care of your pet barbarian so the rest of us can do all the hard work for her?”

”Hey! You little-” I began, lurching toward her. I’ll show you a barbarian!

At the last second Kyouko reached out and grabbed my cape, yanking me back to my seat.

I coughed, rubbing my throat through my restrictive collar. ”What was that for?” I rasped.

”Mami’d kill us if we got blood on the furniture.” She joked, nudging me with her side. 

I huffed and folded my arms, but to my surprise (and shameless delight) Kyouko didn’t return to her own seat. Instead she leant against me as Homura returned to her precious numbers and Madoka assisted as best she could.

Shortly afterwards Nagisa emerged from the kitchen, handing out cups with the enthusiasm of someone passing out Christmas presents, before disappearing again. Homura took that as a cue to finally get rid of the map, folding it up into a meaty square foot of toughened paper a couple inches thick. She stowed it alongside her Field Notes, a written description of every Witch we’d ever faced.

And yet, still, in all this time, Kyouko didn’t pull away. I didn’t even realise she could keep still this long. I was starting to feel restless myself, actually. What were you supposed to do when the person you loved lay against you, anyway? I kinda wanted to stroke her hair, but that felt a little… Personal. As did wrapping my arm around her, or anything like that. But what if she got the wrong idea from my stillness? Maybe I should- 

“Sorry to keep everyone waiting!” Mami called as she entered the living room, laden down by a tray piled high with food. Nagisa followed her closely, similarly burdened. A full half of it would probably end up in Kyouko’s stomach, eventually. I swear she has hollow legs. 

“At last!” Kyouko cried, springing away from me at the first sight of plated food. I sighed as subtly as I could, trying to hide my mixture of disappointment and relief.

Dinner was pretty great. Better with company, and the wait for it. We started off almost in silence, happy to just dig in. I almost envied Nagisa, for getting to eat food this good every day.

Pretty soon were in full swing, laughing and chatting and generally having a great time. It was a far cry from our first ’team meeting’ back in April - that had been a grim atmosphere. Kyouko and Mami were still barely on speaking terms, Nagisa still cried at the drop of a hat, Homura was going through some kind of long-term breakdown of her own, Madoka was terrified of everything, and I… Well, I was practically an empty shell, unwashed and lifeless.

Now, though? Mami beamed with pride in all of us, Kyouko played with a carefree Nagisa, Madoka looked as contented as anyone I’d ever seen, and me? It had taken months, but I’d slowly pieced myself back together again. 

Homura… Well, some of us have come further than others.

After dinner, conversation quickly fizzled out. Something in the air had changed, as soon as we stopped eating. In silence, we piled up our plates and set them to one side. Operating on sheer habit, we produced our Grief Seeds. Homura had two, Mami had three, and Kyouko had ours. 

As our ritual continued, we placed the Seeds in a tight circle in the middle of the table, then manifested our Soul Gems and placed them in a tight ring around the Seeds. Our combined colours glowed like a rainbow throughout the apartment, which suddenly seemed a little darker than before.

With a collective sigh of shared relief, corruption and despair flaked off of us like dandelion seeds in the wind, swirling inwards to the twinkling darkness in the centre. The glow grew stronger as the burdens on our shoulders grew lighter.

As usual, my Soul worked out a shade darker than the others. 

It was a full ten seconds before Madoka broke the silence. 

“Do… Do you think we could get another use out of these?”

I shook my head.

“Nah.” Kyouko confirmed. “And even if we could, I doubt they’d keep until next time.”

This was hardly any surprise. It was pretty rare to get more than one use out of anything below a level 4 for all six of us, even though we hardly deteriorated at all.

”My turn, wasn’t it?” Mami said softly. She retrieved her Gem and we followed suit, bundling up the Grief Seeds and following her in silence to the front door. 

We crossed the corridor to the lifts, and with a little burst of Magic the security locks were overriden and we could head all the way to the roof access. 

Not a word was spoken in the lift, or even as we stepped out into the frigid, windy air high above the streets. We never spoke for this part. 

Carefully, we lined up the Grief Seeds in a row on the wall at the edge of the building, the city we kept safe soaring out in all directions around us. 

Once we were clear, Mami let out a deep breath that was snatched by a gust of wind, then summoned a barrage of rifles - one for each Seed. In perfect synchronisation, they were blown to smoky wisps carried away on the night air.

Kyouko had been the first to suggest we destroy the Seeds, after we drove the Incubators out of town. There had been a lot of debate, but in the end nobody had a better strategy. 

And maybe destroying them in this way brought them more peace than whatever those slimy little rats did with them. 

Hopefully.

By the time we made it back to Mami’s apartment, the mood was a lot better. Dessert was a strong contributor. Still, as much as I would have liked to spend all night there, like a normal girl with normal responsibilities and a normal life… All good things come to an end. Madoka announced that she had to leave, which obviously meant that Homura had to walk her home (like she’s some sorta toddler?). That felt like as much of a cue as anything for us to leave too, and we made our goodbyes. 

As per Homura’s precious statistics, we headed straight north from Mami’s apartment, on our way downtown. There were a hundred places we could scope for Witch activity there, so the odds were good that we’d be busy until late tonight. 

The basics of Witch-hunting were easy. I’d picked it up on my first time - it was just about waiting until your Soul Gem started resonating with the Seed. Everything beyond that, though, was a little more nuanced. 

”I can’t believe you seriously think a lion could beat a grizzly bear in a fight.” I said, whipping my Soul Gem out to check. Nothing.

”It’s speed vs strength! Lions are nimble!” Kyouko replied, speaking around the pocky stick in her mouth. 

”Nimble- isn’t that a pretty tricky word for you?” I teased, moving on from the karaoke bar we were scouting. 

”Go do one.” She retorted. ”I’m still right.”

”You’re not! Bears are like five times the size of a lion, it’s no contest!”

”Pfft. Shows what you know- oh, let’s check the love hotel, next- lions always hunt shit what’s bigger than ’em.”

”If you can’t tell the difference between a bear and a zebra then I don’t know what to tell you.” I replied, heading off towards the hotel.

”You’re the one who doesn’t know the difference between a lion and a kitty-cat.” She snorted. 

”You’re unbelievable!”

The banter felt right - felt natural. 

The street we were walking down was busy - every few minutes we were bumping shoulders with some drunk salaryman - but the bright lights and loud sounds washed over the tight bubble of our intense conversation. For as long as we talked like this, nothing around us mattered. 

”Watch TV sometime dumbass, lions are-” Kyouko began, glancing at her Soul Gem concealed in her pocket. ”Oh- jackpot.”

I checked my own. It pulsed with a rhythmic light. Already, it was a strong trace. I rotated my Gem a little in my hand.

”Looks like… This way?” I asked, pointing out ahead of us.

”Ha! Told you it’d be that hotel.”

”Psh, as if.”I shot back, as we broke into a jog, weaving through the crowd. ”That place is miles away.”

Peeling off from the drunks in our way, we dipped down alleyways and sidestreets that kids our age definitely shouldn’t be nipping down to hit our quarry as quick as possible. I could only hope we got there before it caught anyone. 

The expected seconds before we stumbled onto the barrier stretched to minutes. The trace only grew stronger and stronger. When we finally broke out onto the street again, greeted by peeling pink paint and a huge neon sign, my heart dropped to my stomach.

”Ha! Told you I was right.” Kyouko said smugly, giving me a shove. 

”Yeah, good for you and everything, but - didn’t we pick this up from quite a long way away?”

”Mm.” Kyouko grunted, swaggering towards the love hotel. ”Best tread lightly, huh?”

”What, you’re just gonna walk in there?” I asked, horrified. Surely she wouldn’t-

”What, you stupid or something? ’Course not. But it’s probably in there, we need to get inside. C’mon.”

She darted to the side, slipping into a grimy little gap between two buildings I wouldn’t even call an alleyway. Easy for her, all skin and bones like that. 

The street was quieter here, but I still sprinted across to avoid being seen. It was all well and good for her to get seen outside a place like this, but me?

As soon as we were off the streets, we transformed again, and scrambled up the walls onto the second floor. Kyouko gestured quietly to a window that presumably looked out onto the wall of the building next door. 

*Are you crazy? What if there’s people in there?*

Kyouko grinned a smug, goofy grin at me. *These places only put windows in hallways. Do you know anything?*

I rolled my eyes. *I know more about bears than you do, at least.*

Kyouko giggled quietly, opening the window for me. I slipped inside, making sure the coast was clear. 

Kyouko followed after, and we sneaked through the grotty old place with our Gems raised like flashlights. There was something uniquely humiliating about being here right now. To see the gross old-fashioned 'romantic' decor, the idea of what might be happening behind each closed door we passed... And of course the fact that I was here with her. Even worse, she was acting like it was just any old building we'd broken into. How could she be so indifferent?

The trace was really strong here. So strong I could even feel it, like palpable anxiety in the air. We followed it down the hall to the back of the building, until we came to a room - identical to all of the others, but dripping with ominous promise of what lay within. 

*Guess this is it.*

*Ugh, I really hope it’s empty.* I thought,  as Kyouko tried the door. 

*What, you gonna leave the Witch if it’s not?* Kyouko teased. 

*You can’t pretend like being here doesn’t bother you.*

*Maybe I’m just not childish like you.* When the door didn’t open, she dropped to one knee and held her Gem up to the door. 

I looked around again, to make sure nobody was watching us. At least I didn’t have to worry about CCTV. Magical Girls didn’t show up on them, for some reason. 

With the beep of an electronic lock, the door clicked open and we slipped inside. 

*You gotta teach me how to do that, sometime.*

Mercifully, the room was empty. But it was filled with such concentrated dread that approaching the big, heart-shaped bed took physical effort. 

There, attached to the wall, was a dancing ring of thorns and geometric shapes glittering in the darkness. 

We raised our Gems.

With a dull flash and an unidentifiable series of sounds, our gems resonated with the Witch barrier and tore open a portal. 

“Here we go…” I murmured.

”Let’s get this over with.” She replied, looking over at me.

As one, we leapt forward, through the Barrier and into the Labyrinth. 

The first thing I noticed was the sheer scale. Most Witches favoured tight, claustrophobic environments, but this place was a huge, sprawling landscape of gentle hills and not much else. Instead of grass, there were just a few scraggly shrubs, and a handful of twisted, sickly-looking trees dotted the horizon. It was like a savannah with all the life sucked out of it. 

The colour was sucked out too - almost everything was black or grey. The plants were grey, the earth was black and scorched, and the sunless sky was pale. 

We were standing on a lonely platform of glittering black stone, standing slightly proud over the featureless plain. Hanging over us was a street-sign, twisted into the tortured impression of a tree, with the single drop of colour in sight- a huge, neon heart, with twisted and flickering letters below it - those same weird runes that popped up whenever Witches were involved:

I shivered, stepping down from the platform and drawing my sword. Kyouko followed suit, spear at the ready. It felt comforting to have my weapon in my hand, but…

”Something’s wrong.” I said. My voice was hollow, like any echo was swallowed up by the Labyrinth.

Looking around, aside from the sign, there wasn’t a single element of this Labyrinth lifted from the hotel it was housed in. Even the strongest witches had some aspects of the real world bleeding through. Not only that, but…

”No Familiars.” Kyouko replied, finishing my thought for me. 

We walked in silence for another few minutes, scanning the horizon for Familiars, Witches, signs, anything - but without a shred of luck. Just messed-up grass, messed-up trees, and the feeling like we were in the deepest shit we’d ever been in.

”Kyouko, I think this one’s gonna be really strong…” 

”A Six?”

”…Yeah.” The strongest type of Witch any of us had faced.

Instinctively, I found myself turning my back to Kyouko, and she turned hers to me. I felt surrounded, even though I couldn’t see a thing.

We needed help.

”I’m… I’m gonna call Mami.” I said quietly, staring out at the hills like I expected them to jump me.

”The fuck? What for?” She growled. 

”In case we need help? Why do you think?”

”We can handle this alone! I don’t need her.” Kyouko’s voice was weird. She sounded hurt. I wanted to turn to face her, but I felt like I couldn’t take my eyes off the horizon line.

”You wanna bet your life on that?”

”It’s our night! Our hunt, our problem!”

”As if we’ve never hunted with her before!”

”We can do this, Sayaka! You sound like a coward!”

”And you sound like a child! What’s your problem?” I didn’t expect anything like this reaction. 

”I just… Can we talk about this later?”

”Fine. But I’m gonna call Mami. She can be on standby.”

”…Fine. Standby. We won’t need her though.” She sighed, the venom dropping slowly from her voice. I could feel her shoulders relax behind me, and a quiet rustling in the silence told me she was eating some kind of snack.

“If you’re so sure, why does it matter to you?” I teased, stuffing my hand into where my pocket should be to grab my phone.

“It doesn’t!” She huffed, as I called Mami on speed dial. She was number 4, after mum, dad and Madoka.

The phone barely rang for a few seconds, before Mami picked it up, sounding breathless.

“Miki-san!” She cried. “Is everything alright?” Her voice was garbled by interference from the Labyrinth, but I could make her out alright.

“Ummm… Right now, yes…” I said as conversationally as I could, looking around us. We were still alone. It was unheard of to remain undetected for so long, fully transformed with our weapons drawn. 

“What are you not saying?” Mami said. She still sounded concerned. 

“Ah, well… We’re in a Witch barrier now, and I don’t want to worry you unnecessarily, but it looks to be a six or so.” I said, as Kyouko and I started to move deeper into the labyrinth. 

“A six? Are you two alright?”

“At the moment, yes.” I said, watching as the landscape rippled slightly. That wasn’t right. Was it just a trick of the eye? “Look, Kyouko thinks that we can handle it alone, but I wanted you on call as backup. That okay?”

“Yes, of course.” Mami said quickly. “I’ve already put Nagisa to bed. Where are you both?”

”The uh… Love hotel. Near the arcade downtown.” Just saying it out loud was embarrassing.

“I… Think I know where you mean.” Mami replied, sounding thoughtful. “I’ll be there as quick as I can.”

“Thanks, Mami-san.” I said, relieved. “Just wait outside, and I’ll call you again if we’re in trouble.”

“Okay, Miki-san.” Mami said. “Thanks for calling me. I’ll see you two outside the barrier, once you’ve killed it. Okay?”

“Sure thing!” I replied, more cheerful than I felt. “See you soon!”

“Bye!” Mami called out, and the phone went dead. I put it back in my pocket.

“There we go.” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. 

“Great. Can we find that Witch, now?” 

“Care to point out a direction?” I asked, sweeping my sword out in a wide arc. “This place is empty.”

“You reckon Witches ever abandon their Labyrinths? I ain’t heard of it happening.”

As she spoke the ground rippled again, closer this time. Something had changed, like the hills had moved away. Not only that, but… I could have sworn there were more plants around earlier. Now there was nothing.

Or… There was something. High in the sky, a twinkling yellow dot had appeared.

“I… think I’ve found something.” I said, pointing at the dot as it grew larger. 

“Yeah, that’s definitely… Getting closer. We should move.” Kyouko said, changing tone rapidly.

“Mm.” I nodded in agreement, and we leapt apart as the dot became a ball of fire screaming towards us.

I landed a few metres away, just in time to see it hit the ground. I expected an explosion, but instead there was only a tiny splash and a ripple, as if it had been gently dropped into water. I stood upright, cautiously approaching the place where the curious yellow orb had vanished. The ground, despite still being solid earth, began to ripple and bubble. 

Before I could shout a warning, the ground burst beneath us. We were thrown aside, and I landed hard on my back. Kyouko rolled to her feet easily on landing, twirling her spear defensively as she looked for me.

“Sayaka!” She shouted urgently, as I pulled myself up.  “I found out where the Witch is! It’s-”

A deafening, shuddering shriek ripped its way through me like a physical force. The ground between us stretched and warped like taffy to form a spiked pillar of blackened earth, ten metres tall and topped by a huge yellow eye, glowing like a lantern and held in place by an ornate framework of wrought black iron that twisted around its base and formed a sort of cage around it. This was the Witch.

Without warning thorned vines erupted from the floor at my feet, trying to ensnare me. I cut them back, but the moment I took my eyes off that pillar a spike as long as a bus shot towards me. It was all I could do to stop myself getting impaled. 

Like always, Kyouko tried to take advantage of its attention on me. But while I was still countering spikes and thorns, Kyouko’s meteoric spear-strike was blocked by a second pillar shooting up like a shield. 

I pushed myself to go on the offensive. With one eye on the vines and the other on the spikes, I did my best to overwhelm the Witch’s defenses and bully it into a mistake. 

No luck. Pinpricks of pain scattered my body, and none of the strikes I landed on that pillar had any effect. Kyouko’s best efforts didn’t make for much either. It seemed to fight her with the same ferocity with which it attacked me, even though its hateful eye was fixed on me. 

I darted back and forth, trying to keep my footwork light. I varied my strikes, divided the Witch’s attention, every trick I learned to wear her down and-

My foot sank into the ground. Instinctively I glanced down, my eyes off the Witch. The blasted earth has swallowed me up to the ankle like a mouth, wreathed in barbed vines.

I set my weight against my other foot, bringing my sword down to free myself even as I looked back up - just in time to see a wall of stone barrelling towards me. 

I didn’t feel the impact. I didn’t feel myself flying through the air. I did feel hitting the ground after, though. Tumbling, end over end, dazed and crushed. I came to rest in a glittering, thorny bush, the air driven from my lungs. Hot blood trickled down my forehead as I fought to inhale and stand, swords drawn on blind instinct. 

Pain lanced through my ankle as I tried to put weight on it and I stumbled, still starved for air. 

It was sprained, badly. Not the end of the world for me - my inability to breathe was worse.

in the distance, the Witch traded blows with a frantic Kyouko.

She needed me! 

A shadow fell on me from behind.

I whirled around, almost blind with panic, pouring myself into the strike. 

A hill loomed over me, seeking to crush me flat or bury me alive. With the strength of desperation and a flash of blue light I cut it in two, darting away on my one good leg.

I landed hard on my bad ankle, and with a gasp of pain I finally drew a breath. It hurt, but it bore my weight. Already, my mistakes were correcting themselves.

”Sayaka!” Kyouko yelled, crashing down by my side. Her breaths came in huge heaves, and her matted hair stuck to her face and neck in clumps with sweat. ”You okay?”

”I’m fine!” I reassured her. ”But how do we fight this thing?”

”Aim for the eye! Gotta be.” She panted. ”S’the only thing it protects.”

I hurled my swords with all my strength, one after the other. The first thudded harmlessly into the pillar like so many others as it surged towards us. The second was caught by a sudden protrusion, before it could pierce that big dumb eye right in its pupil.

”You’re right.” I said, drawing two more swords as it fell on us.

”Can’t you take my fuckin’ word for it?” Kyouko yelled angrily, as the Witch drove us apart like a wedge. 

The fight continued. Against a strong Witch like this, we usually preferred a battle of attrition. Witches don’t really get tired like people do, but they’re not that smart and they can get bored - or at least predictable. 

It’s tactics like these in which I shine, with my unnatural endurance and thick skull.

Kyouko, though, wasn’t going by the playbook today. She dove recklessly forward without warning, weaving between attacks like a dancer. Forced to improvise I joined her, pushing that Witch into overextending through sheer, bloody-minded violence and-

Bright, sudden pain lanced through my legs up from my feet - across the way, Kyouko cried out in pain. 

For twenty metres out in every direction, the floor was now made of needle-sharp spikes. We both leapt away, landing heavily. My long-suffering feet got right back to work mending themselves, while Kyouko took a little longer getting to her feet. 

I darted over to defend her, swords raised, trying to predict the ways in which the floor might try to kill us. 

Nothing. in the distance, the Witch, still surrounded by spikes, warped and shifted her ”body”. The rough, rocky shape melted away, in favour of a wicked spire of curved blades that glinted like blackened steel. 

For whatever reason, the landscape didn’t twist and attack us, even as the Witch finished changing and started racing towards us. Almost like its influence only extended a certain distance from that eye…

With a flashed grin and a nod my way, Kyouko hurled herself back into the fray, and again I chased after her. 

This time though, it was different. The Witch’s new body was immune to all but our strongest attacks, and with the sea of spikes threatening to turn our feet into colanders we were forced to stay well clear. 

We needed someone comfortable with fighting from a distance. 

”We need Mami-san!” I yelled, wiping blood out of my eyes from the last attack I’d barely parried. 

”We’re fine!” Kyouko shot back. She didn’t have her usual immortal confidence, though. “Let’s finish this!”

Easier said than done. I’d given it my all, and I don’t think Kyouko had much more in her either - this Witch was stronger than us, without question. 

Surely though… it wasn’t smarter than us.

The idea hit me, at the same time a heavy blade almost took my legs out from under me. 

The eye - without the ground nearby, it was defenceless. And when it was far away, it either wouldn’t - or couldn’t - control the ground to attack us. 

It had a weakness. 

”We gotta- We gotta get it up in the air!” I yelled, desperately fending off its latest assault. ”Far as we can!”

Kyouko didn’t need any further encouragement. One last push, everything we had. We dove in headfirst, exploding with multicoloured light as we blasted through its defences and struck that pillar with a boom that shook the ground.

The eye blasted straight up into the sky like a rocket, winking out of sight above the heavy grey clouds. The pillar, the spikes, the needles, all melted away into nothing.

A beat of silence. Scraggly bushes rustled upon an imaginary breeze.

”…Now what?” Kyouko asked, looking at me.

”I…” I didn’t think that far. ”We gotta catch it before it hits the ground, obviously-”

Three massive pillars, thicker than any we’d seen so far, burst out of the ground around us. High above, the pillars met and began swelling, building a rough, misshapen, blocky form directly over us. The floor beneath our feet sank and fell away, as if feeding the growth overhead. It soon expanded into a huge, deep crater - ringed at the edge by a fringe of spikes. 

The Witch fell directly into the titanic growth above, staring down at us from the direct centre of this massive, blunt-spiked face that looked just like…

A meat tenderiser.

”Kyou-” I had just enough time to cough out before the massive thing dropped down on us. 

Twinkling crimson chains cascaded all around us at Kyouko’s instinctive command, creating a mighty barrier that-

The Witch crashed into them with a rolling boom like thunder, and the chains shattered on impact. Just scant centimetres above our heads the Witch stopped, then slowly rose again for another strike. 

Immediately I made to leap for the crater’s edge, spikes be damned - but my feet had been pulled into the ground like quicksand, almost up to my knees. I yelped in surprise. 

Kyouko stared at me in shock, just as trapped as I was. We’d never faced a Witch this strong before. 

That could only mean one thing:

A Seven.

Homura was going to be thrilled.

The tenderiser fell again.

From deep below the ground somewhere Kyouko called forth three colossal spears, each the size of a bus, rising up to meet the falling hammer blow with a deafening crash. 

Kyouko flinched with the effort of holding it all together, wincing in pain - but it worked. Crumbling stone trickled down onto our heads, but this massive thing was too huge, too strong, for us to break in our state. 

The fringes of the crater crackled and bristled, creeping towards us. The spikes and vines were back. 

We were caught between two different ways to die. 

How many Magical Girls fought this Witch alone? How many Soul Gems shattered in this Labyrinth?

I glanced over at Kyouko. She was helpless, fixated on stopping the Witch from crushing us flat. Trapped as I was, I couldn’t reach her to keep her safe. Instinctively I reached out towards her, but there was nothing I could do.

Or… There was one thing.

A move I’d never used in anger before - Mami called it my ”Symphonia Caerulea”. A dozen swords materialised around me with a swish of my cape, each one animated and levitated - following my command. Concentrating on each one, memorising its position, its heading, is sharpness and strength… It took everything I had not to lose them all.

Mami can hold five times this in her head without trying, I reminded myself. I don’t even need to resolve the physics of a gunshot. I can do this. 

The swords jerked, this way and that - a far cry from the smooth dance of blades I had imagined - intercepting spikes and slicing apart vines as quickly as I could see them. 

Another devastating crash. Kyouko almost dropped to her knees. 

We locked eyes. Even now, she couldn’t ask me to do it. But I could see the urgency in her eyes. 

I grabbed my phone. 

Two of my swords were swatted aside by powerful strikes, disintegrating into twinkling blue dust as soon as I lost control over them. 

I hammered the ’four’ button and held it to my ear. 

Another sword became hopelessly entangled, vanishing beneath spreading undergrowth.

The phone didn’t even ring twice before Mami answered.

“Miki-san! Is something wrong?” She asked, her voice tense. 

“We need your help!” I said simply, glancing across at Kyouko. “It’s so much stronger than anything I’ve seen before.”

“Alright, I’m on my wa-” Mami began, but I interrupted her.

“No, wait! I need to tell you! The whole barrier is the Witch!” I pressed, clutching the phone tightly to my face.

“Understood.” Mami replied, and the phone went dead.

“She’ll be here any second!” I called up to Kyouko, who nodded. 

I lost two more swords. Just seven left. A shard of a spike broke through my defences, thudding into my leg. I dropped my phone to the floor, desperately trying to regain control over the situation. My blades were a shining blue blur around us, but the safety zone I’d created was rapidly shrinking still. An ache, like a knife pressed between the halves of my brain, started to grow. I wasn’t cut out for this kind of fighting. 

Another savage boom, as Kyouko bore the full brunt of the Witch’s wrath. A glob of blood burst from her nose from the mental strain, and she almost toppled. 

Another hit like that would break those spears. 

”Sayaka!” Kyouko shouted, looking at me with more intensity than I’d seen since- ”If we don’t make it, I need to tell you-”

There was a barrage of explosions, and for a brief moment the perpetual twilight of the Labyrinth was banished by bright, clear daylight. 

Tomoe Mami. 

When the smoke cleared the massive hammerhead was cracked, and one of those huge support pillars was crumbling. 

The tight, crushing hold on our feet eased.

We didn’t need to wait for a better cue than that - we broke out of the crater as the broken hammer fell, just remembering to snatch up my phone at the last second.

There she was - She’d made a delicate lattice of golden ribbons atop a nearby hill to hold it in place, and had spawned a battery of huge guns that maintained the cannonade keeping us safe.

“Mami-san! Glad you made it!” I panted, tumbling down next to her and pulling the spike out of my leg with a grisly squelch. 

“So am I!” Mami replied, not letting up. “I was horrified to see you in such danger!”

“We were… Fine,” Kyouko slurred, shaking her head and steadying herself. “Jus’ didn’t wanna waste you comin’ out here.”

Mami’s response was drowned out by her continued fire. The crater, the hammer and the pillars all collapsed in on themselves, folding and crunching like crumpled paper. 

”Only thing that matters is the eye!” Kyouko yelled over the barrage. ”You gotta-” 

Spikes exploded upwards, tearing through Mami’s ribbons. We scattered again, just recovered enough to be ready to fight again. 

Standing tall at the centre of the spiked formation was the Witch. Like before it was a wicked, formidable formation of blackened blades, but now the eye was protected from all angles by a thick hood. 

With a groan, it started to pepper us with needles, the hills melting around us into a churning mess of sharpened stone.

Tired as I was, tired as Kyouko must have been, we hurled ourselves at the Witch with new ferocity. Mami was with us now, how could we lose?

Like acrobats we darted about the sea of shifting earth and ravenous thorns, binding a world in ribbon and chain and holding it in place with a hundred swords. Mami was a relentless storm, a hail of magical bullets lancing through the skies from every direction, each one hitting exactly where she planned it, locking things up tight with the cancelling power of her ribbons. 

If Mami was the storm, then Kyouko was lightning. While we held the Witch at bay and weathered its attacks, she flitted about the Labyrinth like a spark, striking out with her spear like a scorpion and leaving brutal gashes and craters wherever she struck. 

As I watched, a wordless synergy formed between Mami and Kyouko - the years between them fell away, and a master plan fell into place around them. With me running defence they were free to let loose, brains and brawn complementing each other perfectly.

Maybe even better than Kyouko and I.

Finally though, under our combined assault, the Witch was falling back - taking glancing blows, bleeding! Sprays of thick, yellow-orange liquid splattered across the black earth as it fled.

But it couldn’t escape us! With dead-eyed accuracy Mami hooked a ribbon around its twisted metal cage and managed to rip it loose from its ‘body’. Kyouko anchored the ribbon in place with her spear as Mami swung it out in a great wide arc, releasing it and pulling loose the one tied around her neck. With a mighty flourish she drew the ten-foot cannon that had captured my imagination so long ago, took aim and fired with an earth-shattering boom.

She missed. Mami’s look of plain disbelief was the most powerful, but my mouth fell open too. I’d actually begun to suspect that Mami never missed.

Against the odds, the Witch had managed to throw up a spike, severing Mami’s ribbon and casting it out wide. There was a rather embarrassing silence as the eye soared away from us, still trailing what was left of Mami’s ribbon.

“S-sorry, everyone.” Mami said, as the ground rose up in the distance to grab the distant yellow dot like a catcher’s mitt.

“Not your fault.” Kyouko panted, whipping her hair back out of her face. 

“It’s coming back…” I warned, as a pillar formed, racing our way.

Before Mami could even draw her rifles, the Witch was upon us. This time, its whole demeanour was different. It singled out Kyouko, streaking toward her with sudden and alarming speed. She danced out of the way, blocking blades that speared out of its body as best she could, but it was relentless.

“Little help?” She called. 

Mami and I pursued it as best we could, but when it was facing Kyouko all we could do was bounce our attacks off its armoured hide.

 The Witch threw up great spikes to stab and slow Kyouko as she dodged, but she leapt between them like a hare, springing from spike to spike as they formed. But no matter how much she weaved or dodged, the pillar was right on her tail. My mind raced for some way, any way, to get some distance between her and that Witch. 

Sakura-San!” Mami cried. “Use Rosso Fantasma!”

“Huh?” Kyouko grunted, glancing over at her. And in that tiny moment of hesitation, I saw hell unfold before my eyes. 

The Witch caught up in a fraction of a second, slamming into Kyouko’s midriff with a sickening crunch. It smashed her to the ground, dragging her several metres across the rippling landscape.

Mami cried out in horror, but the sound was distant in my ears. A pain like a sickening sucker punch hit me right in the gut, and I nearly doubled over in agony. I stumbled forward with everything I had, finally catching up to the fucking Witch. Months of training, of caution, of risk assessment and proportionate response - all flew out the window, as I saw her arms spread limply on the floor in a growing pool of blood. I tore open the floodgates on my Soul Gem, swinging with wild abandon at this thing that was trying to take my Kyouko away from me. 

The Witch fought back. Oh, it tore at me, stabbed at me, bludgeoned and clawed at me - but it might as well have been happening to someone else entirely. What did something so petty as pain matter, when Kyouko was so badly hurt?

Suddenly - Kyouko was in view. In my mad panic I could barely see anything else. Above me now that foul, bleeding eye glared hatefully down at me. It was between me and her. Almost without thinking I took my crackling, bared soul in the form of my sword and rammed it to the hilt straight in the middle of its pupil.

The howl of pain it delivered blew out my eardrums with an irritating ’pop’, and its body finally crumbled. I flung it away, forgetting it almost immediately in my rush to get to Kyouko.

I dropped to my knees. She was ashen pale. Somewhere in the distance I felt cannonfire, and the world briefly flashed in brilliant yellow. Kyouko didn’t flinch. 

I grabbed her hand in mine. It felt cold. The horrifying mess it had made of her stomach… I could scarcely look. She was mangled. Her eyes were half-closed and her mouth hung open. 

Her Soul Gem, miraculously untouched, was fading by the moment.

I wasn’t too late. I couldn’t be. There had to be something I could do.

I poured myself into her. Pain - stabbing, crushing, throbbing, burning pain started to seep in at last, as I surrendered every ounce of protection for her sake. Her flesh boiled and bubbled grotesquely as the blackened earth and pool of blood melted away to reveal the grubby hotel room floor once more. 

There was a deep, surging feeling from my gut. I’d never felt anything like it. Before my astonished eyes I forced that nightmare gash that exposed the carpet through Kyouko’s midriff closed, healing that mortal wound faster than I ever could have on myself. 

My body started to sag. There wasn’t a whole lot of me left. An aching, burning tiredness suddenly hit me behind the eyes, and it hurt like hell just to hold myself protectively over Kyouko.

As I slumped forward, warm hands found my shoulders. Held me up.

Mami. 

I’d almost forgotten she was there. 

The silent seconds dragged by. My breaths were gasps. The ghastly hole became a grisly wound, became a messy injury, became a gnarly scar surrounded by tattered and bloodstained robes. 

Somehow, I’d put her back together.

“Kyouko…” I muttered dully, grabbing her limp form by the shoulders and hugging her possessively to my chest with shaking arms. I hefted her higher, pressing my ear to her soft, warm chest.

Thump thump… Thump thump… Thump thump…

The most beautiful sound in the world. She was alive. Above all else, no matter what - Kyouko was still alive.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry…” Mami murmured. Instinctively, I bundled Kyouko up protectively in my arms so that she was lying with her back against me, her head resting against my chest. I blinked to clear my eyes of tears. 

“Sorry? What was that?” I demanded. What had she even said? She’d almost gotten my Kyouko killed with that stunt!

”I… I… I-it just came out, I wasn’t thinking…” I’d never seen Mami look so apologetic - so small. ”She- We… Before.”

She stopped herself, straightening up and stepping away from me. There was blood staining her pristine outfit. When she closed her eyes and took a deep, shaky breath, she looked more tired than I’d seen her in months.

”It’s not my place to talk about this.” She said softly. ”But in the heat of the moment, the only thing my mind could conjure was her wish magic.”

”Her-” my breath hitched in my throat, and I looked down at Kyouko quickly. ”Wish magic? She’s never mentioned it to me.”

My ears bubbled painfully as my eardrums started to mend themselves, and the discomfort brought me back to the present. 

I took a deep breath of my own. Put it behind you. We all make mistakes. You know what that’s like better than anyone.

”Is she alright?” She asked. Kyouko still hadn’t moved. It might have been the longest Mami had ever seen her lie still. 

”She’s alive.” I croaked. All this healing was starting to really wear me down. ”Just unconscious. I think.”

Mami knelt down by our side, taking Kyouko’s limp hand gently.

”I don’t think I’ve stopped worrying about her for a single day since she left.” She said quietly. ”I’m so glad she has you, Miki-san.”

I looked down again. Kyouko looked so harmless, so sweet…

Brushing aside her hair, I planted a little kiss on her forehead, marvelling in the smoothness and softness of her skin. 

Mami didn’t say a word, turning her head away politely.

Suddenly, and much to my surprise, Kyouko stirred in my possessive grip.. I sat bolt upright faster than I thought possible, fighting to control a sudden blush. She lifted her head a little off my chest, and I loosened my grip so that she could move a little more freely.

“Mami…” She grunted, sounding drunken and disorientated. Mami, still sitting in front of her, leant forward.

“Sakura-san?”

Reaching out, Kyouko punched her in the top of her head. Even as weak as she was right now it must have hurt a lot, because Mami almost crumpled.

“Rosso Fantasm- Mami, what the fuck were you thinking?” Kyouko shouted angrily, trying to push herself up a little.

”I’m so sorry, Sakura-san! I don’t know what came over me, it just slipped out-”

“Ah, whatever.” Kyouko rasped, waving her hand and slumping back into my arms. The anger seemed to vanish as soon as she struck her. “I’m alive. and if you hadn’t come,  I guess we’d both have-” 

She paused, looking down and placing her hand on top of mine thoughtfully. Then, suddenly, her head shot back, and she stared up at me. “S-Sayaka!”

“Hey there, soldier.” I said in a smaller voice than I intended. “You gave us quite the scare back then…”

“Tell me about it…” Kyouko groaned, trying to sit up a little. ”Ugh, be honest… How do I look?”

“Gorgeous.” I replied, before my mind could remember that saying that was a horrible idea.

Kyouko coughed, doubling over in pain. 

”Wh-what?”

”I mean- Just admiring my handiwork, you know? You looked like an abstract painting, now you’re just impressionist!” I laughed, deflecting frantically. Somehow, I managed to find the energy to feel embarrassed.

”Hilarious…” Kyouko grumbled, holding her arms over her stomach. There was clearly a lot of healing still for me to do.

”Hey, let me get that-” I said, reaching out for her stomach.

”Worry about yourself!” Kyouko snapped, shoving my hand away. ”I mean- I’m fine, focus on your own shit. You look terrible.”

I rolled my eyes. ”Wow, thanks Kyouko.” 

”Not like that!” She scrambled her way out of my grasp and hauled herself to her feet. Both me and Mami readied ourselves to catch her if she fell. ”You know what I mean!”

”Of course, but please take it easy, Sakura-san.” Mami urged.

”I’m fine! Hard as nails, me.” To emphasise her point she flexed her biceps and grinned.

As impressed as I was that she was standing at all, I could see the masked pain in her eyes. She probably felt even worse than I did.

“Look, I… Perhaps you two should take the rest of the night off? You could both probably use the rest…” Mami said cautiously. 

“Well… Maybe…” I said, wincing a little. I didn’t like the idea of leaving Mitakihara without a protector, even for one night. I’d seen what happened if we turned up just a little too late, so I didn’t want to think about what might happen if we didn’t turn up at all.

“I’d be happy to take over for the night…” Mami suggested helpfully.

“Not on your own.” I said firmly, getting to my feet. Kyouko stood by my side, opting not to join in. “Not after what just happened.”

”Like I haven’t handled a night on my own before?”

”But we don’t-”

”We can bend the rule for tonight. I’ll keep you updated via text, and if I need you I’ll call.”

I frowned. This didn’t feel right.

”Do you really think Sakura-san can go home all by herself in this condition?”

“No, mum, I need Sayaka to hold my hand when I cross the road.” Kyouko replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Sakura-san, I know you’ve been through a lot just now, but the attitude isn’t appreciated at the moment.” Mami said flatly, and Kyouko stopped in her tracks. 

”It wouldn’t be easy…” She muttered sullenly. 

”Thank you, Sakura-san.” Mami said with a gentle sigh. ”I’m sorry for snapping. And I’m still sorry for everything that just happened.”

”I get it, I get it.” Kyouko waved her off. ”I already said it’s okay. You were there ’cos we needed you. None of us are perfect.”

”Alright - if we’re gonna go, let’s go.” I insisted, mimicking Kyouko from yesterday. ”We probably can’t hang around here forever.”

Mami nodded, making her way to the door. She’d propped a chair under the handle, probably while she was waiting for me to call earlier. 

As we slipped out of the room, Mami silently pressed something small and spiny into my hand - an ornate, barbed Grief Seed.

Quickly we sneaked back down the corridor and out of the window. Mami silently insisted on lowering us down on her ribbons, then scaled the wall up to the rooftop alone. 

We returned to our ’normal’ forms as we emerged from the alleyway, our tattered Garb melting away into our untouched uniforms.

Still though, we looked terrible - exhausted and dirty, even though the transformation got rid of most of the blood. 

I glanced up at the sky as we left together. Mami stood tall on the roof of the hotel, her hair and skirt blowing gently in the wind. She looked down at us.

*Thank you, Miki-san.* She said into my mind, but when I tried to ask her what she was thanking me for, she was already gone.

Alright, I’m taking first bath.” I grumbled, after we fell in through the front door. I’d never been so tired in my life. It had been late enough as it was, but we had to take such a long route to get home in order to avoid too many uncomfortable questions, and then Kyouko had insisted we stop at the nearby Seven-Eleven to get doughnuts… I had enough trouble saying no to Kyouko at the best of times, but what kind of monster would deny her treats now? 

”Sure, sure.” Kyouko replied. She sounded beat. Even at our lowest I hadn’t heard her so tired. She padded into the living room, while I dragged my weary bones to the bathroom.

I looked myself over in the mirror. Kyouko was right… I did look terrible. Having used all my strength to put her back together, I was black and blue with bruises and my whole body was littered with cuts and scratches.

At least the hot water felt nice on my slowly-healing wounds.

I was too shattered for any lengthy bathtime introspection tonight. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open while I got myself clean and dry, and stepped back out into the apartment in my towel.

”Kyouko?”

”Living room.”

True to her word, she was in the living room - splayed out on the sofa sideways with the TV on. 

”Your turn.” I told her tiredly.

”Got it.” She said, rolling wearily off the sofa and hauling herself to her feet. ”See y’in in a bit.”

Despite the fact that I’d just abandoned her to take my own bath, the sight of her wandering away from me, swaying a little from tiredness, lodged an uncomfortable pit in my stomach. 

I wanna stay close to her. I wanna say something.

She was almost to the door now, her bloodstained ponytail swaying stiffly.

”Hey…” I pushed the word out. No going back now. ”Let me wash your hair.”

”Hah?” Kyouko whirled around. 

”Let me wash your hair.” I repeated, somehow with even less confidence. 

”What do you wanna do that for?” She sounded weird. Uncertain.

”You’ve… been through a lot. Let me pamper you a little.”

”I don’t really ’do’ getting pampered…” Kyouko warned - but she didn’t turn me down. 

”C’mon, you don’t wanna do it yourself, do you? And it’s caked in blood.”

Kyouko ran a hand through her ponytail, grimacing as her fingers caught.

”…Fine. Lemme wash up first.” She took another step towards the bathroom.

Somehow, that feeling deep within me was satisfied by the answer.

“Mind if I have one of these doughnuts?” I asked, rattling the box. 

“Knock y’self out. Taste like cardboard anyway.” She grumbled, stretching.

I saw my chance to poke a little fun.

“Oh, ‘cos you’d know what cardboard tastes like, huh?” I teased, taking one despite the warning.

“Surprised?” She shot back, turning her head back to face me. “I guess you wouldn’t, would you? Never been that hungry, have you?”

Crap. A wave of panic swept over me. Why do I always say such stupid things??

“Ah- I didn’t mean-” I backpedalled.

“Whatever.” She snapped, stalking off to the bathroom and slamming the door. The silence left in the wake of our exchange was tremendous. 

Then Kyouko started laughing. Quietly at first, from behind the bathroom door, but before long she was full-on cackling with the mirth of a stupid little good-for-nothing that had just beaten me again. I seethed quietly for a moment. Of course, that wasn’t a real fight, she was made of sterner stuff than that. As per usual, Kyouko was just winding me up and I had fallen for it. 

What did she love about getting me so riled up anyway? She was such a cretin.

“You’re unbelievable!” I yelled at the closed door.

“Got you, Sayaka!” She said between laughs, continuing until I heard her unceremoniously splashing into the tub.

Meanwhile, I sat myself down on the sofa to check my phone.

Miki-san~

Heading home for the night. No more Witches spotted, though I did defeat a Familiar.

Treat yourself kindly, and I hope you both recover soon.

Best regards,

Tomoe Mami.

I sighed in relief. Mami was alright. She was even comfortable enough to text me like my grandmother.

I took a bite of a doughnut as I typed up my reply, thanking her profusely for saving our skins. Even if i did chafe a little at the memory of them so in sync…

Kyouko was right, they did taste like cardboard. Must have been ready to go stale.

After that, I was unfortunately left to my own devices long enough to start thinking.

Now the adrenaline had worn off, I was left staring in the face of the last twenty-four hours of my life. My revelation last night felt like it happened a month ago. My frustration at Kyouko getting on my nerves in class was just a few hours ago, but it already felt like petty ancient history. 

And then there was my conversation with Mami. Keeping my chin up, looking out for clues, trying to understand Kyouko’s heart - all of that was earlier today! And Kyouko’s heart had almost been ripped from her-

I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t let myself think about that.

Couldn’t I? Shouldn’t I? Would every night now be a night where I had to worry that Kyouko would be taken from me? And what about that-

”Oi, Sayakaaa!” She drawled, snapping me back to the present. ”You still awake?”

”Uh… Yeah!”

”You can… Wash my hair now! If you still wanna.”

”Y-yeah!”

Forgetting to be nonchalant about it for a second, I leapt up from the sofa and bounded to the bathroom. 

I just needed to see her again.

Inside, Kyouko had already gotten out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel, sitting on the little stool that lived under the sink and facing away from me. Her hair was tied up in a massive, messy bun that clung to the back of her neck.

Feeling like the bathroom was entirely too hot, I took my position behind her. 

”Hold on-” she mumbled, reaching up and fiddling with her hair. It sprung out and down in a great crimson cascade down her back. She sighed in relief and shook her head gently, easing it out with one hand. The other hand fell to her lap, tightly gripping something I couldn’t quite see. 

Kyouko looked great in the rich orange light of the bathroom. Her wet skin glistened like gold, and her sinewy arms and shoulders rolled as she moved. She tapped her feet gently against the tile flooring as she waited for me, adjusting the way the towel rested on the top of her chest. 

“Come on, Sa-ya-ka!” She said in a soft, sing-song voice to the beat of her feet, rocking her head from side to side. “Can we wash my hair to-day?”

“Okay, okay!” I laughed as she sang my name, pulling myself together. All other thoughts about earlier in the evening were essentially forgotten as I knelt down behind her, bottle in hand. Her hair really was a tangled mess up around her head, even though it wasn’t tied up anymore.

“Man, for someone with such pretty hair, you really don’t look after it.” I said, studying her split ends.

“Eh, it’s not so great.” Kyouko replied, looking up at me. “Your hair’s way nicer.” As if to emphasise her point, she reached up, pinching a lock of my fringe between her forefinger and thumb.

“Oi! Hands off, you!” I scolded lightly, patting her arm away and trying to hold back the faint blush that I could feel spreading across my face. “My hair isn’t nice at all. It doesn’t style, it just… musses up everywhere. It doesn’t even look good long.”

“Long ain’t everything! Short hair is cute on you.” Kyouko stated obstinately, turning away to face the front again.

“I…” I stammered, the heat in my face starting to feel like a fire. “Y-yeah, sure, Kyouko. You just take better care of your hair from now on, okay?”

“If you insist!” Kyouko said brightly, tapping her feet on the floor again. 

“Or do you want me to wash your hair all the time?” I asked, smiling as I upended the bottle over her head and squeezed. 

“Ah! Cold!” Kyouko winced, her shoulders tensing up as I squirted the pale pink ooze onto her head. The faint smell of passion fruit filled the air. “That depends.”

“Depends? Depends on what?” I said, placing both hands on her head. Man, her hair was so silky and soft! It wasn’t fair that she never did anything with it.

“On how good a job you do.” She replied smugly, leaning back into my hands as I coated her head in suds.

“I should just walk out of here and leave you like this.” 

Of course, I didn’t. She’d challenged me to show her a good time! And I could never turn down a challenge.

That said… Even with a case as bad as Kyouko’s, forty-five minutes was too long to spend in a bathroom full of steam, eagerly and happily running my hands through Kyouko’s luxurious hair again and again. I must have rinsed out her hair a dozen times that night, each time giving it that little extra conditioner until she shone like the sun. Not that she didn’t already. 

And yet, through the whole thing, she just sat there and took it. I fully assumed, for all her sudden enthusiasm, she’d start trying to fight me off after about five minutes. Instead, for the whole duration, she never complained (Except for when I had to untangle a few really difficult knots), she never whined, or fidgeted too much. In fact, by about twenty minutes in, she had closed her eyes and was humming softly to herself as I obsessed over her hair.

All good things do come to an end, though. For a start, I’d run out of product, but also if I stayed here much longer I might just pass out or something. So I rinsed her down one final time, then gently toweled off the water that I could. 

I leaned back, admiring my handiwork.

Her hair, smooth as silk and red as wine, shone like polished mahogany. Her soft skin glistened like gold in the warm bathroom light. 

I could just give her a little massage… I bet she’s holding onto a lot of stress, and she’s earned it…

Haven’t I earned it too?

I reached out. All of a sudden I felt nervous about touching her. Maybe it was because she was so quiet and still. Normally she got way too restless for this sort of thing. Maybe it was all the steam making me light-headed. 

It would be so easy to-

“All done!” I said enthusiastically, throwing my arms around her and banishing the thoughts before they could take any further hold of me. 

“Whoa, hey!” Kyouko shouted, jumping in surprise. “Could have given me a heart attack!”

“Oh, hush you. It’s time to go.” I said, smiling. She smelled of passion fruit. 

“I’m going nowhere with you limpeting on me.” Kyouko said stubbornly, but it didn’t sound like she minded too much.

“What? A big strong girl like you, can’t carry little old me?” I asked teasingly. 

”After the night I’ve had? Pull the other one.”

”Ha! Maybe you’re right. Want me to carry you instead?”

Kyouko paused. I could feel her tense up a little.

”…Yeah.” Her voice was so quiet I almost didn’t hear her.

”What’s that?”

”Don’t make me say it again!”

”Heh. Alright Pint-size, climb aboard.” I turned around, holding my arms out to piggy-back her.

”Pint- I’m only two centimetres shorter than you, Stupid.”

”Oh, so you admit it at last? Come on, before I change my mind!”

Kyouko huffed quietly, but the next thing I knew she collided with my back, swinging her legs up past my hips for me to catch them. 

”Woah! Warn me next time?” I yelped, only just managing to catch her and keep my footing.

”Onwards, noble steed!” She cheered, ignoring me. 

I rolled my eyes and carried her through the apartment to the bedroom, trying not to think about how warm she was, or how she rested her chin on my shoulder.

For all she ate, she barely weighed a thing.

“Last stop, lazy-bones.” I called, reversing into the bedroom. She loosened her grip and I finally released her, dropping her lightly to the ground.

”Thanks!” She chirped brightly, scampering into the room. I ambled after, fetching my pyjamas from my bed.

“I’ll get changed just out here, okay?” I continued, pointing to the door.

“Huh? Oh, okay.” Kyouko grunted, as she walked over to her sleeping bag. The heat of the bathroom must have gotten to her too, because her face was almost as red as her hair.

I stepped outside into the darkened landing, closing the door behind me before I removed my towel and dried myself off. Yeah, it might not have been too weird if we’d gotten changed in the same room if we’d both just looked the other way or something, but… that would have been treating Kyouko as a really close friend, nothing more. And we are close friends! But in a weird way, I kinda want it to be awkward between us. I want it to be awkward, because if she feels uncomfortable with me looking at her, then maybe it’s because she’s been looking at me the same way. As unreasonable as it might be, I really want her to find me attractive. 

She did say my hair was cute…

Not that it meant anything. Understanding Kyouko was like trying to understand meaning in the universe. Despite my best efforts to follow Mami’s advice and keep my eyes open, I hadn’t learned anything about how she felt.

I sighed, adjusting the way my pyjamas sat on my shoulders slightly and pushing the door open.

Kyouko was waiting inside, lying down spreadeagle on my bed. She was wearing one of my sets of pyjamas, a long sleeved set of airy blue clothes that were just a tiny bit baggy on her. Personally, I think it made her look adorable, though I’m sure she chafed at wearing my clothes.

She let out a quiet sigh as she saw me, rolling sideways off the bed and onto her feet. 

”I tell you Sayaka, I’m knackered after having my belly ripped out. I’m gonna be starving in the morning.”

“When are you not?” I joked, slipping quickly into bed. Looking over at little Kyouko though, getting into that sleeping bag (Or rather, wriggling her way in like a grub) all by herself… It didn’t sit right. That same discomfort at letting her be alone swept over me again. Surely though, I couldn’t-

“A-actually, Kyouko…” I said, before I had the chance to stop myself.

“Hm?” Kyouko grunted in response, looking up at me. 

“Do you wanna… Sleep in my bed with me? Just for tonight.” I think… I needed her close to me right now. Needed her in my line of sight, to make sure nothing was going to take her away again.

“Really?” Kyouko gasped, looking up at me with the huge eyes of a child that had just been told they could have as much ice cream as they liked. As if I could have ever said no to that.

“Sure. Come on up.” I said, moving away and patting the side of the bed closest to her.

“Yay!” She cried, scrambling out of her sleeping bag and diving under my covers from the side, worming her way up next to me with a grin. “Thanks, Sayaka!”

”I’m not just doing this for you, y’know.” I said quickly, before I could stop myself. 

Kyouko blinked in surprise for a moment, then gave me a small smile. ”Whatever. Bein’ a bit selfish is good for you.”

”If I could… Be a bit more selfish?”

”Hm?”

I have to ask.

”What… What was all that back there?”

”Back where?” She was dodging.

”In the labyrinth. Don’t play dumb.”

Kyouko made an uncomfortable face, squirming a little. ”Do we have to do this?”

”Do you not want to tell me that badly?”

”I don’t! Hate talking about feelings and weaknesses and shit.”

”What, don’t I have a right to know? We fight together, is this rosso whatever gonna get us hurt?”

Kyouko groaned loudly, pulling the covers up over her face. ”Ugh, I wish you hadn’t heard any of that… Mami and her big mouth.”

I pressed my position. ”She said it was something from before, but… said it wasn’t her place to talk about it.”

She snorted from beneath my blankets. ”She already said too much.”

”Look, can you just open up and talk to me so we can-”

”Rosso Fantasma.” She cut across me, slowly pulling the blanket back down to expose her face. ”Some Italian shit. A trick I came up with back when…. Back before I abandoned her here all alone.”

”Isn’t that a bit-”

”What, do you think I didn’t? I knew she needed me, I knew how much extra danger she puts herself in. I threw away my wish and Mami all in one go.”

”I don’t-”Kyouko was getting carried away, from this close I could almost feel the rising panic in her tone.

”And now I come back, I almost kill you, she almost kills me, and then all of a sudden she’s acting like nothing happened between us! She should hate me!”

”If I could say anything-”

”I never even got to apologise! So yeah, when she drags up an old power I can’t even do anymore, it gets under my skin!”

”Would you just listen?” I snapped, finally with enough strength to shut her up. She stared at me like I’d slapped her. ”Calm down! I just wanna know what’s going on.”

That wasn’t… entirely true. The part of me that wanted to know her inside and out begged to let her continue, to pour her soul out to me… But the part of me that cared about her needed her to calm down. 

One thing at a time.

”Ugh. Sorry. I just… hate looking back like this, y’know? I wanna live in the present. Nothing for me in the past.”

My heart almost broke as I looked across at her miserable expression. 

”I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have pushed you on this, especially today, I just…”

”It’s whatever. I gotta open up sometime.”

”… So you have powers you can’t do anymore…?”

Kyouko nodded hesitantly. ”My Wish Magic. S’gone.”

”I didn’t… How did that happen?”

”Turned my back on it. After… You know.”

My stomach squirmed uncomfortably. She really did have so much in her past to avoid.

”Can it come back?”

”Not according to Kyubey.”

”Kyouko…” I mumbled quietly. Against my better judgement I slipped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her a little closer. To my surprise, she didn’t even try to stop me. Maybe she really did want to let me in. 

”Don’t pity me, Sayaka.” She warned, snuggling closer. ”I won’t forgive you if you do.”

”It’s sad, Kyouko. Let me feel something for you.”

”I’m fine. It’s in the past anyway.”

”What was… your Wish Magic, anyway?”

”Illusions. Funny, right? All I wanted was for my dad to show people the truth. I ended up with the power to lie. Making people see things, hear things, believe the shit I said, y’know?”

My eyes went wide. That was… an incredible power. And a dangerous one.

”Didn’t have much use for it, to be honest. Back when I had it I was still a good, honest girl. As soon as I needed it, it was gone. Can’t ever catch a break, can I?”

”You’ve got good friends now, at least.” I offered.

”Yeah.” Kyouko smiled distantly. ”Good friends.”

”And a nice place to live too, right?”

”Sure do. ’Till one of your parents comes back. How long do I got?”

”A few more days.” I admitted quietly. I didn’t want to think about that. I didn’t want to deal with the conflicted feelings that the parents I missed so much got between me and Kyouko to the point where I almost wished they’d stay away longer.

”Mm.” Kyouko grunted quietly, snaking an arm across my stomach. ”Better take advantage while I can, then…”

”Yeah.” I mumbled, starting to feel a little flustered. She was so close, so needy… I didn’t know she could be like this.

Is this one of those signs I should be looking out for?

”One more thing…” I said quietly, staring up at the ceiling. ”Back in the Witch fight, before Mami showed… You said you wanted to tell me something. What did you wanna say?”

Silence.

Slowly, I peered over at her.

Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted. While I watched, she took a slow, gentle breath.

Asleep.

Convenient, I thought to myself. 

But it’s not like I was about to wake her. Not after all she’d been through today. I sighed, settling down and preparing for a sleeplessly awkward night.