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

Hello, everyone!  I know it’s been forever since I’ve written, but that’s excusable THIS time.  What with having a blast at MTAC, attempting to recuperate and readjust back to life without a con—it’s harder than it sounds!—and then truck issues…  Loads of fun!!  But anyways, here is the long awaited conclusion to Kyouko and Sayaka’s sweet little Christmas story.

  As always, leave a comment!  Let me know what you think!  Or if you have any fun ideas for a future project you would like me to attempt, let me know!  No matter what, I love hearing from you guys!  

  Stick with me though!  Just cause this one ended doesn’t mean I don’t have other things coming up…

* * *

Sayaka Miki made one more circle around the room.  The table had been set, the candles lit, and everything was ready for their big night.  Well, the definition of ‘big’ of course, was up for personal interpretation.

The meager table was the only item that sat in the dining room—with two small chairs, old and broken down, of course, sitting on opposite sides.  To call it a vintage set would be giving it all too much credit.

But it was theirs.  And it was where they made their memories.

Sayaka sighed and looked over at the dining room table from across the kitchen.  Kyouko was running a little late.

“But there’s no surprise there.”  The young woman said with a smile.  She looked outside as the gentle snow began falling.

“It’ll even be a white Christmas, and she’s going to be late.  Silly girl will be late for her own funeral.”

Sure, Kyouko always had some reason and some excuse for why she was always so late, but the truth of it was, she just was bad at time management.  One of the worst, actually.  It was always an accomplishment when she would arrive on time for work.

Sayaka shook her head as she exhaled when suddenly the kitchen timer on the oven went off.  She bolted up, shaken from her daydreaming, and turned around.  Pulling up the plaid colored oven-mitts, she gently opened the oven and pulled out their meal.

A meager, slightly burnt, overly crispy chicken emerged from the heat as Sayaka pulled out the pan.

“Just perfect!”  She said with a smile as she sat it down on the oven top.  

The smoke from the oven would have been enough to set off the fire alarm, if they had any.

Sayaka waited for the chicken to cool down, and then reached into one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled out a knife.  Reaching over around the chicken, she began carving the smokey meat.

As she carved the chicken, her thoughts wandered to the rest of the night.  What would she do when Kyouko came home?  Should she hide and yell out “surprise!” when she arrived?  Or should she just wait at the door for her?

“Maybe I’ll just sit at the table…”  Sayaka’s hand slowly stopped moving as she looked down.

“But she won’t know that I cut my hair…”

The used to be blue haired woman slowly brought her hand up and ran it over her now smooth bald head.  She looked down at her shaking hand and clenched it into a fist.

“It was for Kyouko.  She’ll understand when I show her the gift I got for her.”

But.

“Maybe I should warn her…”

Sayaka put down the knife and reached over and picked up her phone.  Flipping it open, she typed a message for Kyouko.  Once finished, her finger hovered over the ‘send’ button.

“Kyouko, please don’t freak out when you get home.  I changed a little, but I’m still the same Sayaka you know and love.  Can’t wait to see you later!”

Sayaka bit her lip and stared at the message before quickly deleting the entire thing.

“I can’t do this!  I can’t just tell her!”  Sayaka shouted as she began to panic a little.  

“What if I made the wrong decision?  What if she won’t accept me anymore?”

The young woman hit the countertop with her hand.  No.  This was Kyouko she was talking about.  They had been with each other for years.  Years.  There was no way on planet Earth that Kyouko would freak out and embarrass her.

“Especially over a gift I struggled to get her.”  She said aloud.

Sayaka went back to her phone and typed up a different message.

“I cut my hair.”

“What the heck, I can’t say that!”  Sayaka shouted and tossed her phone behind her back.  There was a soft, wet thunk as the phone sunk into the chicken.

“Oh crap!”  Sayaka quickly spun around, tossing her oven-mitt onto the ground, she stuck her hand seen inside the chicken and reached for her phone.

“Ewwww!”  Sayaka grit her teeth as she pulled her phone out of the grease and tried to wipe it off with her hand.

“This is disgusting…”  Sayaka groaned under her breath as she plopped her phone down on the counter.  She looked around for a napkin to wipe her phone off.

Not finding anything she sighed with frustration and opened up one of the cabinets where the extra paper towels had been located.  She pulled out several and wrapped her phone in it, attempting to soak up all of the grease and clean it off.

“So stupid…”  Sayaka exhaled as she pulled her phone out and wiped the rest of the mess off.  

She looked at her phone and tested it to be sure it wasn’t ruined.  The buttons and screen still worked, so everything seemed fine.  She opened up her messages screen and looked back at her messages to Kyouko.

Suddenly her eyes went wide and she stared at the messages.

“I cut myself.”

The sent message read.

“NO NO NO NO NO!!!”  Sayaka shouted as she quickly began to type another message back to Kyouko.  But before she could, Kyouko’s response came through.

“You what?  I told you that you didn’t have to cut the dang chicken without me.”

Sayaka stared back at Kyouko’s message before she came up with a response.  

“No, I mean, it’s okay.”

“You’re weird.”

“Thanks…”  Sayaka finished before putting her phone away.  She sighed and leaned back against the countertop.

She looked back over at the dining room table and shook her head. The food still needed to be prepared and set.  Even though Kyouko was always late, she didn’t want to leave anything undone.   

“Guess I should finish up while Kyouko takes her time to get home.”

* * *

Kyouko stood outside the door in the cold and sighed.  Her breath coming out as steam as she remained motionless and rubbed her hands.

‘Sayaka’s in there, waiting on me.  Probably bleeding to death, wondering what the heck we’re going to do for dinner now.’  Kyouko thought to herself as she shook her head.  Her long red hair flowing behind her.

She reached down into her jacket and pulled out a small box that she had wrapped on her way home.  Inside, was Sayaka’s hairpin.  The one she had always wanted.  

“The one I traded my necklace for.”  Kyouko said to herself as she felt around her neck.  Her smooth skin reminding her that her necklace was forever gone now.

But it would all be worth it.  As soon as she was able to see Sayaka’s reaction to her gift!

As soon as Sayaka would be able to wear her hairpin, just like she had always dreamed of!

As soon as Sayaka would leap into her arms with gratitude and—

“NOPE!  Stopping right there.”  Kyouko nearly shouted as she shook her head with a slight blush.

She closed her eyes and steeled herself before putting the key into the lock, and opening the door.

“Sayaka!  I’m home!”  She shouted as she walked in and shut the door behind her.

“O-oh!  I’m uh, I’m in the kitchen!”  Sayaka’s shaking voice returned.

“Are you sure you’re okay?  You sound almost as weird as you did over text.”  Kyouko said with a snark as she walked into the kitchen area.

“Where are you?  I thought you said you were in the kitchen?”  Kyouko said as she frowned.

“I’m behind the fridge…”

“Behind the—what?!”  Kyouko shouted as she looked over and saw that, yes, in fact, the fridge had been moved enough to where someone could hide behind it.

“Sayaka…”  Kyouko said dumbfounded.  “The heck are you doing…?”

“I, um.  Did you see the chicken?”

“Yes, I saw the chicken.”  Kyouko said as she turned to look at the chicken that Sayaka had placed on the table.

“Actually, hey!  You burnt it!”  The red head shouted.

“Do you hate me for it?”  Sayaka almost whined.

“Wha—!?  Sayaka, you tell me what’s going on right now!”  Kyouko said as she stomped her foot on the ground.

“Just answer the question!”  Sayaka shouted from behind the fridge.

“I—I mean, no?  I couldn’t hate you for that.  Why would you ask such a stupid question!?”

“Could you ever hate me?”

“No!  Of course not!  You know I love you!  What’s going on!?  Why are you asking me this?”  Kyouko shouted, she was starting to get frustrated with Sayaka’s weird act.

“Is there anything I could do to make you regret being with me?”

“Sayaka…”  Kyouko sighed as she took a step forward and held a hand to her chest.

“You know how I feel about us, Sayaka.  You know I would never abandon you.”

“No matter what?”

“Geez…  What is this, a wedding?!”

“Just answer!”

“FINE!  No!  There’s nothing you could do that would make me want to abandon you!”

“Okay…  Just…  Try not to freak out…”  Sayaka said slowly.

“Are you going to come out from behind that stupid fridge yet, or am I going to have to—“

Kyouko’s threat was interrupted by Sayaka walking slowly around the fridge.

“Sayaka…”  Kyouko said as she slowly took a step back and raised a hand to her mouth.

“I’m sorry, Kyouko…”  Sayaka said as she slowed to a stop.

“Why the heck are you wearing a paper bag on your face?”

“Oh, did I put a bag over my face?  Oops.”

“Please take that bag off.”  Kyouko said deadpan.

“You sure?”

“Take the damn thing off before I do.”

“Okay…”  Sayaka slowly raised her hands up and grabbed the bag.  She slowly raised it over her head until only her face was visible.

“Better?!”  Sayaka said with a giant smile.

Kyouko frowned.

“Sayaka…  Take.  It.  Off.  NOW!”  Kyouko leapt up and reached over to grab the bag herself in an attempt to rip of off Sayaka’s head.  But before she was able to grab anything, Sayaka quickly stepped back and dropped the bag behind her.  Revealing her now hairless head.

Kyouko’s eyes went wide as she stared.

“Sa—Sa—Saya—…”  She stuttered as she took a step back and brought a hand up to her chest.

“What…  What happened???”

“See!  I knew it!  I knew you would hate me!”  Sayaka shouted with tears in her eyes.

“N-no!  Shut up!  I don’t!  I don’t hate you!”  Kyouko shouted back.

“But you’re mad about my hair!”

“Well no duh, I’m mad about your hair!  Why the hell would you do that?!  Do you hate me or something!?”

“What?!  Of course I don’t hate you!  Why would you say such a thing!?”

“B-because!  I—I got that stupid hairpin for you!”  Kyouko shouted as she threw Sayaka’s present at her.

Sayaka gasped as she quickly reached into the air and grabbed the small box that was thrown at her.

“You…  You what?”

“I got you that stupid hairpin and you decide to go BALD on me?!  What the heck, Sayaka!  Did you want the damn thing or not!?”  Kyouko shouted as she slammed her fist onto the countertop.

“Damnit!  I do all of this to get a present for you, and you play this kind of prank on me?  Well Merry Christmas to me, I guess!  Looks like I sold my necklace for nothing!”

Sayaka’s eyes went wide and she dropped the small box Kyouko had thrown at her.

“You—You did what?”

“I sold my necklace for you!  And now my gift is worthless!  I wanted so badly just to see you smile tonight, Sayaka!  That’s all I wanted for Christmas!  Just your happiness!”

“Kyouko…”  The bald young woman reached back into her back pocket and slowly held up a small wrapped gift.

Please…  Open this.”  Sayaka said with a tear in her eye.

“Wha—?!  N-now?!”  Kyouko turned to look back at Sayaka and stopped when she saw the tears in her eyes.

“Sayaka…  What’s wrong?”  Kyouko asked as she reached her hand out to grab the small present.

“Just…  Just open it.”  

“Okay…”  Kyouko took the small present and opened it up.  As soon as her eyes beheld the gift, she inhaled a sharp gasp.  She looked back up at Sayaka, tears in her own eyes now as she shook her head.

“You…  You didn’t.”  

“I sold my hair for the pendant, Kyouko.  I wanted to be sure I got you what you really wanted because I wanted you to be happy this year as well.”  Sayaka said as she began to cry.

Kyouko tossed the pendant to the side and grabbed the young woman in front of her.  Her best friend, her most favorite person was crying; and seeing that was more than enough to make Kyouko herself break down into tears.

“It’s okay!  Hey, hey.  It’s alright.  I love it Sayaka.  I really do.”  Kyouko said as she rubbed her friend’s back.

“But now you can’t use it, so it’s worthless!  And I made your gift worthless too!”  Sayaka cried as she hit Kyouko’s shoulders.

“No!  No!  Listen to me!  I don’t care about that, Sayaka!  I did this for you because I love you!”

“You—what?”  Sayaka choked as she looked up at Kyouko.

“You heard me right!  I love you, Sayaka!  I love the way you always care for me!  The way you always smile the right way to cheer me up, the way you seem to always know what to say, and how to say it!  Everything about you!  Hair or not, I love all of you!”

Sayaka smiled as she leaned into Kyouko’s embrace.

“And I love you too, Kyouko!  I love everything about you!  Even when you’re always stubborn, and late, and sarcastic and—“

“Okay, okay, I get it…”  Kyouko grumbled.

Sayaka giggled.

“Seriously, I love you so much Kyouko!  I’m sorry I cut my hair and made your gift worthless.”

“Oh shut up.  I’m sorry I made yours worthless, but you know what?  I’d do it again in a heartbeat if it’d make you happy.”  Kyouko said with a smile as she looked down into Sayaka’s eyes.

“You would?”

“Heck yes!  Your happiness is worth more to me than any stupid necklace!”

Sayaka smiled as she looked back up into Kyouko’s eyes.

“And your happiness is worth so much more than my hair!”

“Yeah, you say that now, but what will the girls at work say tomorrow?”

Sayaka went white and her mouth dropped.

“Oh crap…  I didn’t even think about that!”

“Well, that’s whatcha got me for.”  Kyouko smirked.

Sayaka laughed as she squeezed her favorite person.  She held her there, staying in Kyouko’s warm embrace for a moment before she looked back up into her eyes.

“Merry Christmas, Kyouko.  I love you.”
 “Merry Christmas, Sayaka.  I love you, too.”

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?”