Desire

Episode 8

TW: Abusive parents, bullying, toxic friends

It was after school. Kyoko-san, holding a brown paper shopping bag in her arms full of red apples, and I were on our way to Sayaka's house. We were holding hands, as she as trying to comfort me from the events of last night. I also had a nightmare that I was on the same pain Kyubey put me through but worse. It was for real. My innards were being crushed with the power of its paws. How fun. Kyoko-san was there to help me cope with it. Through her tough and selfish personality, she had a small soft spot for me and the same goes for me for her.

"Kyoko-san, you really didn't have to hold my hand," I sighed. "I'm fine now."

"First off, drop the honorifics," Kyoko-san let go of my hand to take an apple and took a huge bite out of it. "Second off, you're not. You had a nightmare last night." She bit into the apple more violently, as of she was mad now. "It should of been me," she growled. "It should of tortured me so it could make its point. It shouldn't of tormented you!"

"Kyoko-san," I assured, placing a hand on her arm. "I asked for this, right? To be able to protect those I love?"

"Yeah, but not like that!"

"Regardless of how I should protect those I love, I have the power to do so."

We stopped in front of Sayaka's house, not going to her porch. Her bedroom window had curtains pulled, not letting any light in. She's been like it all day today, no doubt Kyubey telling her what it told us. Kyoko-san bit into the apple before sending out her telepathic message. How long are you planning to sit up there and mope, blockhead? She yelled.

A minute later, the curtains were drawn and we saw Sayaka. She was in her pjs, her short blue hair sticking up like rooster feathers. She had dark circles under her eyes and a scowl on her face. Can you come out for a sec? Kyoko-san asked nicely, the nicest she's been to Sayaka ever since they met. We wanna talk, she added.

Sayaka stared at us for a few moments before drawing her curtains again. A few minutes later she opened her front door and stepped out, fully dressed in her school uniform, closing it to lock the door before going up to us. "What do you want?" She asked with annoyance.

"Come with us," I gestured. "You better hurry-it's a bit of a way there if we are going to walk it."

*~*~*~*~*~

I have no idea why Kyoko-san and I chose not to transform and take Sayaka with us to where we wanted to take her, but probably because we wanted to stay away from being Magical Girls as long as possible ever since our meeting with Kyubey last night.

The sun was setting and we were walking through a dirt path in the overgrown trees by a town. Waves of nostalgia went through me as I remembered taking this road very well. Silence had filled the void between the three of us ever since we started walking. "Guess you're really regretting it, huh?" Kyoko-san asked, filling the silence that entertained us for hours. "This whole zombie thing...as far as I know, I'm okay with it. How about you, Rei?"

"Hm," I nodded in agreement, not really in the mood to talk.

"I mean, whatever the details," she continued, going through the bag of apples she managed to last throughout the walk. "It was only after I got the this power that I was able to live like I wanted. So I guess it's not so bad that I regret it."

"It's just 'you get what you pay for' to you, right?" Sayaka said with a monotone voice.

"Exactly!" Kyoko-san smiled, finally getting through what she's trying to drill into Sayaka. "'You get what you pay for'-that's how Rei and I live. And you only live to benefit yourself, you've got to pay for your own mistakes, too. So I don't hold it against me anymore, and I don't regret anything. If you live like that, you can take the most of anything without getting down."