Pocky and Soulmate (Akuma no Riddle / Madoka Magica - Crossover Fanfic)

Chapter Three

     Kyouko narrowed her eyes when I asked her how to become a Magical Girl, and she grimaced. “You don’t want to know.”

     Haruki was confused. “I do! Why shouldn’t I?”

     Kyouko just shook her head. “Being a Magical Girl isn’t all you’d think it is. Every time you fight a Witch, you risk your life. I’m not going to tell you how to become a Magical Girl because I just saved you, and it would be pointless if I got you killed. And also…”

     “Also?”

     Kyouko grinned. “It would mean competition to get the Grief Seeds. And trust me, you don’t want to see what I do when I’m short on Grief Seeds…”

     Haruki took a step back, disappointed and scared at the same time. She thought that maybe, if she became a Magical Girl and saved people’s lives, it could balance out with occupation as an assassin—though she realized now that that kind of thing doesn’t work like that. Killing people is killing people, even if you’re saving others on the side.

     “Well… fine” Haruki looked down at her shoes, having nothing else to say for herself.

     Kyouko nodded sagely and grinned again. “So what were you doing here, anyway?” She changed the topic, and her face grew a sly look. “There a cute boy here, Miss Stalker-chan?”

     Haruki quickly brought her gaze back up to the red-haired Magical Girl who was now eating another stick of pocky. “No! No, it’s… It’s not like that…”

     Kyouko laughed, obviously enjoying this. “Oh really? Then why were you here, Haruki-chan~? You were on this person’s lawn. We still are! In the middle of the night, too! What do you have to say for yourself~?”

     Haruki looked away, opting to stay silent.

     “You know, you almost remind me of a friend of mine! She was so silly, you know. Back… when she was still alive, that is. But that’s another topic entirely—and I mean, I did give her a spectacular end!”

     Haruki’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

     “Oh, it’s a long story—but the heck with it, I have all night, and a box full of pocky. You see, at one point I was a Magical Girl in a town called Mitakihara, but I wasn’t alone. There was another Magical Girl, who was new, and her name was Sayaka-chan. Sayaka Miki. We argued for quite a while, and just as I thought I’d befriended her, she…” Kyouko’s cheerful attitude suddenly became one of misery. “She turned into a Witch.”

     “What!?” Haruki gasped.

     “When a Magical Girl uses up all her magic, and doesn’t restore it with Grief Seeds, she turns into a Witch… and that’s what happened to Sayaka-chan. I confronted her Witch, though, and I tried to end my own life along with hers by destroying my Soul Gem… but somehow, after the explosion, I woke up, my Soul Gem intact. I can only assume that Sayaka somehow managed to regain some semblance of self in the Witch and stopped me at the last second.”

     “That’s… awful.” Haruki said slowly.

     “Well, it was quite a while ago. I left Mitakihara after that, because I couldn’t bear to be there any longer. But now I can say with a smile on my face that I regret nothing, and that Sayaka-chan changed me for the better.” True to her words, Kyouko smiled again.

     “So… why do I remind you of her?”

     Kyouko got the sort of ‘oh yeah’ look and grinned. “Well, she had love troubles with the boy she liked.”

     Haruki shook her head. “I told you, that’s not why I’m here!”

     “Then why are you here?”

     “I…” Haruki gulped. “I’m… an assassin. The man who lives here is my target.” She said it. She didn’t know why, but she said it.

     Kyouko’s eyes widened, her mouth gaped, and she dropped her pocky box. She shook her head. “So I’ve been talking to an assassin. I saved the life of a murderer.” Her voice held nothing but pure disgust. “Enjoy the life I saved. You don’t deserve it.”

     Kyouko picked up her box of pocky—and jumped over the fence and walked away.