The Gifts of the Magae. A Christmas themed Kyo/Saya Story.

Helloooo everyone!  Back with the third out of four chapters for the Madoka Magica story.  Hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading these so far!  I’ve been attempting to spend more time on a weekly basis to post here, or write some.  Unfortunately, recently my time has been dedicated to prepping for MTAC.  Super excited about that!  Maybe I’ll have some pics of my cosplay up there later!

* * *

Kyouko Sakura sighed and pulled back her long, thick fiery red hair.  Running her fingers though her hair after a hot shower always felt nice.  She knew several of her friends at work were super jealous.  It’s silky smoothness was something that she often took for granted.  It was just her hair, nothing special about it.
“Your hair is amazing, Kyouko!  What did you do to it today?”  Kotori had said earlier that day.

Shaking her head, the fiery redhead responded with a laugh.

“Absolutely nothing!  I woke up like this, don’tcha know?”

The two laughed at their silly exchange.

“For real though, I wish I had hair like yours.”  The young woman said as she played with a lock of her light brown hair.

“Naw, it’s too much maintenance.  You really don’t want my locks.”  Kyouko had said with a huff.

“It really can be a pain sometime.”  Kyouko said to herself, waking up from her trance.  She looked into the fogged up mirror and wiped her hand across the length so she could see better.

“I wonder if Sayaka ever has this much problem with her hair.”  Kyouko said with a smile.

Out of everyone in the world, there was only one other person’s hair she loved running her fingers through more than her own.  And that was Sayaka Miki’s.  Kyouko giggled like a small child as she looked down at her hand.  Imagining it running through Sayaka’s short, bright blue hair.

“Ah!  I can’t wait till she gets back from work and I can give her that hairpin!”  Kyouko nearly shouted with glee.

Then she realized.

“Oh FUDGE CAKES!”  She quickly threw the bathroom door open, and ran into her room.  Grabbing her phone off of the counter she quickly looked at the time

4:30

“FOUR FREAKING THIRTY!?”  The young woman screamed as she slammed her phone down, then bolted back into the bathroom to throw on her clothes.

“Why the hell did I have to take such a long shower anyways?!  Damn it!  If that place is closed by now, I’ll kill myself!”

As Kyouko lamented her current crises, she threw her classic green sweater over her black top.  Biting her lip, she ran out of the bathroom one more time, grabbed her phone, the bolted for the bedroom door.  She threw it open and stomped her way to the coat hanger by the front door.

Stoping for a brief moment to take a sigh, the fiery woman grabbed a large brown fur coat and headed out into the cold.

“GOD!  It’s cold!”  Kyouko shouted as she walked into the night.  She shut the door behind her and rubbed her arms as the brisk air nipped at her nose.

“Why does Christmas have to be so damn cold!”  She huffed as she walked along the sidewalk, trudging her way through the dense snow.  

The trip to the hair salon wasn’t far, really.  A few streets down, then Kyouko would be on the main road that would take her straight to the salon.  But the cold made it feel like a much longer excursion.

“Geez, Sayaka.  Is there anything I wouldn’t do for you?”  She complained as she headed across the street.

The young woman walked on silently as she crossed the street.  It was quiet for a typical Christmas Eve.  But then again, Kyouko didn’t usually spend Christmas Eve walking downtown in the dark.

She took a right at one of the lights then stopped to catch her breath.  She was finally on the main street to the salon, but that meant her trip was only about halfway done.  Reaching down to pick up her phone, she slid her hand into her coat pocket, but stopped herself.

“No.  I don’t want to know what time it is.  I need to just keep walking.”

The cold was getting to the point where it was almost unbearable.  Kyouko found herself regretting not putting on thicker leggings as she walked through the snow.

“Why couldn’t I have just remembered this before I got home from work!  It would have made things so much easier!”  She lamented.

She took a few more steps down the dark cold walkway, but had to stop at one of the light posts to catch her breath.  And that’s when she heard it.

It was the sound of a young girl crying.

Kyouko clenched her fist.  She hated hearing that sound.  She looked around quickly to see if she could figure out where the child was.  Her eyes stopped suddenly when she saw a dark alley way that she hadn’t seen before, tucked away behind one of the shops on the street.  She knew that’s where the sound was coming from.

Biting her lip and forcing herself to move forwards, Kyouko walked back behind the dark alley and closer still to the sound of the crying child.  After a few brief moments of walking, Kyouko found the little girl, sitting on a pile of boxes in the back of the alley.

The girl had long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes.  Her clothes were torn, and certainly weren’t the kind of clothes one should be wearing in the dead of winter—let alone a cold night like tonight!

Kyouko cleared her throat and slowly walked towards the little girl.

“Hey, are you okay?”  She asked quietly.

The girl suddenly stopped crying and looked up at Kyouko with wide eyes.  Her breathing was soft and shallow.

“It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you.”  Kyouko said with a smile.  “Want some Pocky?”  She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a box of Pocky.  Opening it up, she pulled out a stick or two and handed them to the small child.

The girl looked at the sticks and slowly reached out.  Taking them into her hand, she slowly brought them to her mouth and took a bite out of them.  The chocolate covered sticks tasting even better than usual due to their being frozen from the cold.

“There, see?  Everything’s going to be alright.”  Kyouko smiled as she knelt down next to the girl.  “My name’s Kyouko!  Who are you?”  She said as she held out her hand.

“My name is Akira.” The girl reached out and shook Kyouko’s hand.

“Alright.  Well, then, little ms. Akira, it’s nice to meet you!” 

The girl smiled as she looked up at Kyouko.

“So what’s got a cute little girl like yourself all down in the dumps?  Literally.”  Kyouko said as she looked over at a couple of garbage bins near the back of the building they were behind.

“Well,” the little girl started, “I wanted to get my brother something sweet for christmas, but I couldn’t decide on what to get him.  And now it’s too late to get him anything!”

Kyouko frowned.  That didn’t make a lot of sense to her.

“So, what?  You couldn’t get anything and now you’re crying instead of getting something else?  You know it’s not the end of the world, right?”

“Y-yeah, but when we were about to exchange presents, I got too nervous and ran…”

“Oh geez!”  Kyouko sighed as she face palmed.  “You ran away from home?!”

“I couldn’t just not get him nothing!  I can’t face him and be like, ‘Yo!  I got ya nuthin!’”

“Then whey the hell didn’t you get him something else!?”  Kyouko almost found herself shouting.

“There was nothing else to give him!  The donut shop was closed!”

“The—WHAT!?”  Kyouko groaned and dropped her head.

“He loves donuts…”

“You ran away from home.  Because you couldn’t give him DONUTS?”  Kyouko asked, completely dumbfounded at how stupid this little girl seemed to be.

“It felt like a better idea at the moment…”

“I’m sure it did.”  Kyouko sighed again as she stood up.  “Look, kid.  We’ve got to get you back.  Your family’s probably worried sick about you.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”  Kyouko looked at Akira.

“I can’t go back.”

“Because you don’t got the donut, or what?”

“Because I don’t have anything.”

Kyouko facepalmed once more, then looked around.

“Well, there’s got to be something we can get for your brother.”  She stopped when she looked at the dumpsters, then suddenly realized where they were.

“Hold on…”  Kyouko frowned as she turned to look at the backside of the building they were behind.  “This is the donut shop!  Why did you run all the way back—“

“Don’t ask.”

Suddenly Kyouko put two and two together.

“You went dumpster diving on Christmas Eve for your brother, didn’t you?”

The girl was silent as she avoided eye contact with Kyouko.

“Oh my god.  Seriously?!  Kid, that’s disgusting.”  The fiery young woman scolded.

“I’m sorry!  I had to try to find some donuts for him!”

“Why the hell are donuts so important to this kid anyways?!”

“It’s tradition!  Every year we always share a donut on Christmas Eve!”

“Kid.  That’s got to be the dumbest tradition I’ve ever heard of.”  Kyouko stared at Akira with a deadpan expression.

“I know…  It’s silly…  That’s why…  I wanted to do something different, but I couldn’t figure out what.  And I ran out of time…”

Kyouko sighed in frustration as she sat down next to the little girl.

“Look.  Just pick something, and give it to him tomorrow.  He’s not going to be upset about a late present.  If anything he’ll just be mad that you ran away like you did.  Hell, I would.”

“You’d hate me for running away?”  The girl whimpered as she looked up into Kyouko’s eyes.

“The hell!?  Where’d you get that from!  I said I’d be MAD!  You get mad at people you love, damnit!  You don’t get mad at people you hate.  That’s not possible.”  Kyouko said as she thought back at how many time’s she had been mad at Sayaka.

“Then…  He won’t hate me if I go back with nothing?”  The girl looked away from Kyouko and down at her empty hands.

“Absolutely not!  He might yell at you like I did, but he won’t hate you!  That’s for losers.”  Kyouko said with a smile.

“You promise?”  The girl looked up at Kyouko, a couple tears in her eyes.

“Absolutely.  Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll even walk you home.  Deal?”  Kyouko smiled as she held out her hand again.

The little girl looked down at Kyouko’s hand, then back up at Kyouko’s smiling face.  With a nod and a grin that only a small child could make, she took her hand and pulled herself up.

“Deal!”

“Alright, let’s get out of here then, I’m freezing my ass off.”

“Can I ask a question, Koko?”

“Geez.  It’s Kyouko, but sure, fire away.”  Kyouko sighed as she stood up and the two of them began walking out of the alley.

“Why do you curse so much?  Mommy would get mad and spank me if I said half of the bad words you say.”

“Oh come on!”  Kyouko shouted.

* * *

The two of them walked on in silence for a while.  Kyouko deep in thought, and the little girl, Akira, skipping and humming along next to her.

‘What the hell…  I just totally blew any of my chances to get Sayaka anything for Christmas.’  Kyouko thought to herself.

‘But I can’t really be mad at myself…  Not after just telling this little girl that Christmas is more than just silly gifts.  I’d be a hypocrite.’  She sighed as she kept walking along.

‘But if I get Sayaka nothing, and she gets me something…  Then I’ll look like a fool.’  Kyouko reached up and fingered her necklace as she kept walking.

‘Whatever.  It’s Christmas.  I shouldn’t be so worried about what Sayaka thinks.  I’ll just tell her I got stuck helping a little girl out, and she won’t get mad at me.  Right?’

“Here we are!”  Akira chimed suddenly, waking Kyouko from her trance.

“Oh, huh?  So this is where you live, then?”  Kyouko looked up at the mediocre sized house.  It’s small humble appearance fitting in with the rest of the neighborhood and reminded Kyouko of her own childhood…

“Uh-huh!  Do you want to come in and meet Mommy and Daddy!”  Akira asked excitedly.

“I, I’d better not.  It’s best if I get going.”  Kyouko said as she looked at the little girl.  “They’re waiting for you anyways, so you’d probably better get inside.”

Akira smiled as she looked up at Kyouko.

“Hug?”

“Wha—?”

Suddenly the little girl jumped up and gave Kyouko a large bear hug.  Kyouko couldn’t help herself from laughing and returning the hug.

“Alright, you’re too cute.  But now it’s time for you to get outta here and be with your family.”  Kyouko said as she put the little girl back down.

Akira smiled and nodded.  Slowly turning to walk back to the house, the girl suddenly turned around and looked at Kyouko.

“You have a pretty necklace.”

Kyouko smiled then looked back down at her necklace.

“Yeah, I suppose I do.  My family gave it to me…  It’s all I have left to remember them.”

“I’ll bet your family is as amazing as mine is!”  The little girl chirped as she walked up the stairway and to her front door.

“Yeah…  They’re pretty cool.”  Kyouko said sadly as she turned and walked away, hearing the little girls’ family open the door and welcome her back in with shouts of joy.

“Damn.”  Kyouko kicked the snow as she walked back home, defeated in her quest to get a present for Sayaka.

“Now what am I going to do…”  She looked back down at her necklace and sighed.

“I like your necklace.”  A voice said suddenly.

Kyouko turned around quickly and saw a small white creature standing in the snow, looking at her.

“Who-who are you!?”  Kyouko shouted defensively.

“Right now, I’m the only one that can help you get that hairpin for that Sayaka Miki you love so much.”

“How—how do you know about that?!”

“Never mind HOW I know, is that really all that important?  I’m offering you a deal.  A fair trade for that hairpin you want, you can take it or leave it.  But I’m your last chance, and you know it.”  The white creature’s beady red eyes stared unblinkingly at Kyouko from the distance.

Kyouko looked down at the creature, then back up at Akira’s house.  She nodded then turned back towards the trader.  Half of her begged her to leave, to get out of there and to find a way back home from the cold.  The other half wanted to listen to this creature, see what it was offering.

‘If he’s really offering me a chance to get Sayaka’s Christmas present…  I can’t just stand here and do nothing!’  She thought to herself as a grin crossed her face.

Pulling a candy bar from her coat pocket, the young woman took a bite, then addressed the wish giver.

“Alright.  What do you want?”

The Gifts of the Magae. A Christmas themed Kyo/Saya Story.

Phew!  It’s been a while since I’ve written!  So many things going on recently haha!  I guess the biggest news is that I will be attending an anime convention soon.  Cosplaying as Hinata from Angel Beats with my two best friends who will be Yui and Otonashi!  If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll even have some pics soon of the cosplays. ;)

Anyways, that aside, here is part two of my Madoka Magica Kyo/Saya story.  Again, more of a Christmas themed story, but I believe you will enjoy it nonetheless!  Leave a comment, let me know your thoughts and opinions!  I love getting feedback!  And if you wish to keep up with me, be sure to subscribe!

Now without any further ado, I present, chapter two…

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The Gifts of the Magae
Chapter Two

Sayaka Miki shivered as she walked alone down a busy sidewalk.  The fresh snow from the night before crunching under her feet as she went.  A constant reminder of how cold it was.  Clearing her throat slightly, the young woman pulled her warm jacket even tighter around her.

“I can’t believe how cold it is!”  She found herself exclaiming to no one in particular as she watched her breath escape and evaporate into the chilling air.

She stopped at an intersection and waited for the traffic to clear before taking a step out onto the frozen asphalt.  Her foot almost slipped a little as she stepped off of the curb, but she caught herself and quickly readjusted to avoid falling.

The blue haired girl laughed at herself as she walked across the street.  The sun hadn’t been up long, so the fresh snow hadn’t melted.  Not that it was going to warm up much that day, anyways.  In fact, the weather forecast only predicted more snow.  Which would have been awesome if she didn’t have to walk in it to work everyday.

She and Kyouko were too poor to afford any form of transportation.  They sold their car months ago, and as time went on, the two of them had to forgo any form of public transportation that came with any kind of fee.

It wasn’t all bad though, the two of them didn’t live too far from their respective jobs.  Kyouko typically jogged to work, while Sayaka, however, enjoyed a nice brisk walk.  With somedays taking a little bit longer to enjoy the scenic route.

Today was not one one of those days, however.  She couldn’t risk being late to work today!  Not with it being Christmas Eve.  She knew the cafe was going to be insanely busy.  What with all the tourists and Christmas regulars.

But the main reason she couldn’t be late today?  This was the day the employee of the month was chosen!  Not only did the employee of the month get their picture framed in the break room, they also took home a sweet cash prize!  And rumor had it that this time, the December prize would be nearly double what the previous prize was!

There was NO way Sayaka was going to lose this competition.  Sure, some of the others worked extra hard, took a couple shifts here and there from others and made it abundantly clear that they were willing to work longer hours, but Sayaka had taken the more traditional route.  Something that’s always seemed to work out for her in the past.

In place of attempting to butter up the boss and play his good side, she always arrived early, ready to work, and even stayed late.  Every day.  But she kept a smile across her face!  There were a number of times that the boss even mentioned her by name to some of the customers, apparently her smile was quite contagious.

There was no way Sayaka was going to lose the employee of the month.  She beamed with excitement; a brisk in her step as she thought about what she would do with the cash prize.  The obvious answer?  She would finally buy Kyouko that precious gem she always ogled whenever they passed the jeweler’s.

“I can do this!”  Sayaka shouted as she leapt into the air; a random passerby giving her an awkward look before turning and speeding up his pace.

* * *

“Um, excuse me, but could I have some extra sauce for my food?”  A young man, in his mid twenties asked politely as he pointed at the sushi on his plate.

“Yes, master!  Anything you wish!”  Sayaka Miki said with a bow, clutching the menu board close to her chest.  She quickly popped back up, flashed the boys sitting at the table her signature smile, then turned on her heels and headed back into the kitchen for the hundredth time that day.

Yes, Sayaka was a maid at a maid cafe.  But it wasn’t something she was ashamed of, necessarily.  She found it to be quite enjoyable sometimes!  The customers were nice, for the most part, and the people she worked with were—

“Watch it, Sticky-Miki!”  Saniko shouted at the blue haired girl as she bumped into her on her way out.

“I could have dropped my order!  Baka!”  The dark haired, brown eyed, fair skin wonder of the cafe’ said in disgust.  “Do not make me mess up today of all days!”

“Yes, ma’am!  I’m really sorry about—” Sayaka offered but the kitchen doors swung shut in her face as Saniko left without waiting for a response.

“Maybe next time I’ll just run into you on purpose…”  The blue haired maid muttered under her breath with a sigh.

Saniko Hashimoto was clearly the cafe favorite.  Many people came in requesting her specifically.  Her tall and slender features only made her increasingly popular with time.  Add to that her hair was always perfect and at a beautifully long length, she was a force to be reckoned with.

Oh, Saniko was also the previous holder of Employee of the Month for the past year.  Every month Saniko would win.  People would get upset, claim that the boss was playing favorites, but at the end of the day, there wasn’t much these girls could do about it.

“Sticky-Miky!”  A shout jolted Sayaka back to reality.

“Y-yes?!”

“The heck are you doing back here!?  Here, make yourself useful and carry some food out for me.”  One of the chefs said as he loaded a large order meatball soup onto a plate and slid it down the counter.

The plate skidded to a stop, spilling some of the soup over the edge of the bowl, running down it’s length and onto the plate beneath.

“Oh great!  Look what you did, Sticky-Miki!  Clean that up!”

“But—I didn’t do that!  That was clearly your fault!”  Sayaka shouted as she pointed at the chef.

“Hey boss!  Sticky-Miki's at it again!”  Saniko shouted as she walked back into the kitchen, having just forcefully opening the doors with her hips; tossing the now empty plate she was holding over into the kitchen to be washed.

“Miki!!  Don’t make me come out of the office again!”  The boss shouted from his hiding place.

Sayaka bit her lip and inwardly screamed as she pulled some napkins from her maid outfit’s front pockets.  She quickly cleaned up the mess then headed out of the kitchen, not even bothering to ask where the soup was going.

‘They wouldn’t tell me anyways.’  She thought to herself.

She wasn’t entirely sure why she was always the brunt of the jokes for the employees there.  But it certainly got on her nerves.  The only good thing about it?  She learned quickly to channel that energy into a positive force: making the best smiles in the world.

She pushed open the kitchen doors with her hips, and took a couple steps out onto the floor before shouting in as sweet a voice as she could muster.

“Meatball soup for my one and only!”

“Heck yeah!  That’d be me!”  A voice shouted from across the room as an all too familiar face poked his head above the others.

Sayaka inwardly sighed as she brought the soup over to the man.  He was one of their regulars, and always, always asked for the newest, cutest maids.  He’d become so annoying to the girls that the ‘joke’ apparently was to always send Sayaka out to serve him.

“Stuck with you again, eh?”  The man laughed as Sayaka made her way to him and gently put the plate with the soup down in front of him.  She took a quick bow, and reached down for a spoon and carefully placed it in the bowl of soup.

“Will that be all, master?  Or can I do more for you today?”  Sayaka bit her lip as she asked.  It wasn’t uncommon for this guy to jokingly ask for other favors that bothered Sayaka.  Nothing that could get him banned from the cafe or anything of the like, but enough to where Sayaka knew why the girls always forced her on him.

“Nope!  That’ll be all for today sweetheart!”  He said with a laugh as he pat her arm.

Sayaka smiled and slowly pulled away from the man before he grabbed her suddenly and stopped her.

“Actually, there is something you can do for me, now that I think about it.”  He said with a grin as he looked her over.

“A-absolutely, what would please you today?”  Sayaka asked, as per the script.  Even though inwardly she was screaming to run away.  But it was all for a good cause, she told herself.

“If you could get a picture of Saniko for me, I would really appreciate it, sweety.”

Sayaka furrowed her brow.  That was a new one.

“See, she’s really pretty, and my friends won’t believe me when I tell them how beautiful that babe is.  I think they’ll understand when I bring home a picture of her.  Oh!  And if you could get it autographed, I would love that so much.”  He said with a sly grin as he let go of the young woman’s arm.

“O-of course.  Anything for you.”  Sayaka said with another quick bow, this time being sure to leave enough distance between the two of them.  Turning to head back into the kitchen she heard a shout from across the room.

“Excuse me!  Sayaka?  My sauce?”

“Yes, yes!  I didn’t forget, master!”  Sayaka shouted as she ran back to head into the kitchen, flustered that she had completely forgotten about what she went in there for in the first place.

She quickly threw the doors open and was greeted with a cold thud on her forehead, quickly followed by a warm wet splat all over her chest.  A clang, crash, and then ring of the all too familiar sounds for her, then came the verbal assault from Saniko screaming all sorts of expletives.  

“WHAT THE ****, MIK!?”  The girl shouted as she threw her hands into the air.

“Are you TRYING to sabotage us, or something!?”  The chef from earlier shouted as he threw his spatula on the counter and crossed his arms.

“No—I—I’l clean it up!”  Sayaka offered as she frantically looked around the room for some napkins strong enough to clean up chicken parmesan off of her dress, and the floor.

“Don’t even bother.”  A voice said, causing Sayaka to suddenly look up.

“Oh cake sticks!  It’s the boss!”  The chef said as he quickly grabbed his utensils and hurriedly went back to cooking.

“Miki, you’ve had a rough day.”  The older, more heavyset man said as he reached over and put an arm on her shoulder.

“Take the rest of the day off.  I’m afraid you’ll only hurt yourself more at this current course.”

Sayaka couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  She began to break down and cry, tears flooding her eyes as she tried to fight back.

“But…but… I’ve worked so hard, I just, I really—I can’t without that bonus!”

As soon as the words escaped her mouth, everyone in the kitchen began laughing at her.  The chef nearly dropped his hat in the fried chicken while Saniko doubled over, clutching her sides as she roared with laughter.

“SILENCE!”  The boss said as he raised a hand.  Instantly the place fell deathly quiet.

“Sayaka, I’ve made up my mind.”  The man said as he gently escorted the blue haired girl to the back door.  “Go on home, come back when you’re feeling better.”

At this point, the poor girl didn’t even bother to say anything.  She nodded, then ran out the door, tears flowing behind her as her legs rushed to put as much distance as she could between her and the cafe.

She ran, and ran, and ran.  The snow crunching between her feet as she sped past buildings, intersections, busy street corners; she didn’t stop for anything as she kept crying.  Her warm tears burning as they made their way down her face before freezing from the cold.

She didn’t care about the laughter.  She didn’t care about the embarrassment of running around in the freezing cold in only a maid outfit.  She didn’t care about what people thought of her, or how she must have looked.

All she cared about was how she just blew her only chance at getting Kyouko a gift for Christmas.

“I’m sorry, Kyouko!  I’m so, so sorry!”  She cried out as she fell to the ground.

She punched the snow with her fists as she shouted.

“I’m so stupid!  So, so stupid!”  She screamed and allowed herself to fall down backwards in the snow.

“Well.  It certainly looks like you’re in quite a predicament.”  A calm feminine voice stated.

“Huh-wha?!”  Sayaka quickly shot up and looked around her.  Somehow she had ended up in the middle of one of the back alleys of Mitakihara City’s suburbs.

She sniffled, both because of the cold and from her tears, and looked around for whom had spoken when suddenly a strange creature seemed to take form in the snow before her.

“May I ask, what has a girl like you crying so much?  Shouldn’t you be out enjoying the holiday?”  The white rabbit-esque creature asked as it looked at her.  Its red beady eyes seemingly boring straight into her very soul.

She didn’t know why.  And she never quite understood it.  But she told the creature everything.  About Kyouko, the jewel she wanted so desperately to get for her, and how she screwed everything up at work.

“Well.  That is quite an interesting situation.”  The creature said.  “But, allow me to introduce myself, real quick.  My name is Kyubey!  And I think I might have a solution, just for you.”

“You—you do?!”  Sayaka said, hardly containing her excitement.  “W—what is it?!”

“Well, I just happened to have come across a gift card to that very store you speak of.  And it happens to be for the same amount that jewel is as well!”

“That’s rather… Convenient.”  Sayaka said with more than a hint of doubt in her voice.

“Let’s just call it your Christmas Miracle and say it’s good, mkay?”  Kyubey said.

“Okay, sure.  And you’re just going to give it to me?”  Sayaka asked wearily.

“No, of course not!  That’s not how miracles work.  There’s always a trade, right?”

“I guess…  So what is it?  What do you want from me?”  The blue haired girl asked as she brushed a lock of her hair out of her face.

“That.”  Kyubey said without moving, or making a face at all.

“That?”  Sayaka echoed as she looked around her for ‘that.’  “Where is it?”

“No.  No.  You’re not looking in the right place.”  Kyubey tried to help as the poor girl looked all around her.

“Ah!  I don’t get it!  Just tell me!”  She shouted in frustration.

“I thought I just did, but I will again for clarification purposes.  I meant your hair!”

Sayaka froze.

“My what?”

“Your hair!”  The white creature chimed in response.  “It just so happens to be the exact kind that I’ve been needing for a special project I’ve been working on!”

“I’d really hate to know what that project is.”

“No, it’s nothing like that.  So what do you say?  Your hair, for the jewel?”

Sayaka looked down at her hands and thought.  ‘Really, this is a no brainer.’  She said to herself as she bit her lip.

“Deal.  Let’s do it.  My hair, for the jewel.”  Sayaka said with a confident nod.

“Awesome!  You won’t regret this decision!”  Kyubey said as the area around the two of them began to glow a brilliant white, brighter than the sun glaring off the crystalline snow.

 Then just as suddenly as the creature had appeared, he disappeared.  Leaving Sayaka Miki all alone in the alley.  A single gift card in her hands the only reminder of what had happened between the two of them.