Burn Out [Souls Beyond Time Bonus 4]

In contrast to my last one, this one I got done in a week's time. This might actually be the fastest I've written anything ever, and I'm more than proud of that.

This is it though, the final ever installment to Souls Beyond Time. After this I plan to go back through the series, clean up previous chapters that had a few outstanding issues in grammar, spelling and typos, and finally swap out the characters for similar but ultimately different ones to create my own holistic work. The prospect of publishing this collection of sixteen short stories as a complete set excites me beyond belief and I cannot wait to unleash it for mass consumption around the world!

When that happens, there'll be a post here, as well as an announcement on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the Discord server. In the meantime, if you watch any of my other fanfic accounts, I have an incredibly ambitious Little Witch Academia one-shot that's basically a novella in form being released in the coming days (as soon as my Beta and me finish revising it).

Special thanks to FatmanFalling again for giving me critical feedback on this (even if it was very minimal this time around; not sure if I've gotten better or he's going soft)!

Well, no more stalling. For the... two of you that maybe came her for this, this is the conclusion of Souls Beyond Time. I hope you enjoy! :D

---

Burn Out

O/o\O

"No."

"Kyoko..."

"No, no, no."

"Kyoko!"

"No, no, no, no, no!"

"Kyo, you're not even listening to me!"

Kyoko peaked out from her hand though left her thumb and middle finger squarely attached to her temples, "I'm not hearing this Momo, this has 'bad idea' written all over it!"

"It's not an 'idea' Kyoko, it's a feeling, and you know just as well as I do you can't control those!" Momo growled back, pushing a strand of blood red hair behind her ear.

"You're glancing over how you just said you want to go after both of them, I think that qualifies as a 'bad idea'!" Kyoko snapped back.

Momo slammed her palms to the table, shaking the empty plates that cluttered it, "It's the only option I have, isn't it? I can't just choose one of them!"

When Momo had asked Kyoko out to one of their favorite cafés for a little sisterly bonding she'd leapt at the chance. It was still a sore spot that the two hadn't been able to be together for some of the hardest moments in their lives, where a sibling would have been a godsend in this Topsy-Turvy world, so it was even more disappointing when after reuniting their schedules made it almost impossible to hang out without sacrifice. Luckily Momo had chosen a particularly calm day to do this on and the stars aligned to give them this brief moment of quiet.

However, after eating a rather generous meal (Kyoko's treat; no sister of hers was going to starve!) she had not expected to hear pleas for romantic advice. Romantic advice for her baby sister. Who was in love with two people at once. Two people she wanted to be in a relationship with at the same time.

A number of eyes were attracted their way from the patrons of the café. Kyoko glared at every one of them to stand down and reached the desired effect, though she had a sinking suspicion she and Momo might get blacklisted from this particular shop by the end of this conversation. Damned to that though, her sister came first, and if that meant a little boisterous tough love, then she'd take that hit.

Wait, they have that really good cheesecake her and Nagisa liked sharing. Maybe she should reconside- No! Family first!

Managing to repress a sob of distress, Kyoko grabbed her sister and pulled her back down to her seat, probably leaving a bruise on the younger girl's arm. Her mouth tightened to a scowl, her fang at full prominence, "You can and you will. Trust me when I say you're going to get yourself way in over your head!" If she was lucky she could play this smoothly and still be allowed back in the shop.

"Oww, oww, oww, Kyo, that hurts!"

Yeah, definitely a bruise. May have overdone it.

She released her captive, prompting the smaller girl to rub the injured limb well, not that mere ministrations could heal the wound, "Look, if you're alone in your room at night I couldn't care less what you think about, but when you try to go to bat for two people all you're asking for is a fucking mess."

"But... I'm pretty sure that they feel the same! About me and each other!"

"Oh for Christ's- That's not my problem Momo!" Kyoko sighed. She folded her hands into a mutter, "You've been hanging out with Madoka too much..." Elbows resting on the table she leaned forward, "I've been involved in crap like that before... I mean, I never participated, but I've watched the fallout of that crap and I don't want to see you get as hurt as they did. We only just got mom back, can we just take a breather before any more insanity rolls in?"

Momo hopped up in her seat, "You haven't given me a reason why it’s a bad idea though! You his keep saying that it is and don’t offer anything to back it up!!"

"It’s not exactly and easy thing to explain!" Kyoko groaned, "Do you even understand how much work goes into a relationship already? An insane amount! We're talking a minimum of an hour of lost sleep over rethinking everything you said each week, and that's if you're crazy lucky!" She picked up one of the many forks littering the table and added a second to her hand with flair as emphasis, "You are actively asking to double all of that strain, drama, anger; everything."

"But doesn't that also mean doubling the good things too?!" the shorter girl retorted, one of her pigtails landing over her shoulder with the Bob of her head.

"Say one more sappy thing like that and I will personally strangle Madoka," the older sister deadpanned.

"Her wife would kill you before you could."

"Homura can go fuck herself with how irritating miss piglet has made you; I'd happy take that risk."

Mono gapped at her, shock flying to her eyes. Fake shock.

"Listen here twerp, you ain't exactly the biggest saint either, especially with this whole 'pining over everything that moves' shtick you got going for ya," Kyoko blinked.

"It's not everything! And my love for TsuTsu and Yuma are pure as the driven snow!"

Kyoko rolled her eyes, "That just makes me think you want to plow both of them."

Momo's face immolated in a hot second, "N-n-n-n-n-no! K-K-K-K-Kyo! Don't try to embarrass me like that!"

"Oh please, it's only natural," the older girl shrugged, scrapping at the remains of her milkshake with a long spoon, "Which only raises further questions; you're twenty-one now, right?"

"Y-yeaaahhh..." her sister drawled. Oh, oh yeah, Kyoko knew that she knew where this question was going.

"And Tatsuya is fourteen?"

"May... Maybeeee..."

Kyoko pointed her spoon, the classic accuser's stance, "So then you realize if you two get together you'd be breaking the law pretty hardcore, right?"

"I'm telling you it's nothing lewd like that," Momo cried, her face renewing that fresh-virgin shade of red.

"Don't bullshit a bullshitter Momo, I found those Yaoi mags under your bed the last time I was at the house. They were anything BUT ‘PG’. Besides, he's fourteen, and if common knowledge is reliable boys are even hornier than girls at that age; considering how I was, that's scary. He might expect you to put out on the first date."

The smaller girl floundered for a second before gritting her teeth and seemingly composing herself, "TsuTsu isn't like that! He's calm, reliable and always listens to both Yuma and me when we have a problem."

"Great, so Madoka's brother is a bitch, got it," Kyoko crowed. 

"He's a sweet and kindly boy," Momo seethed, "And I don't see the big deal considering what you told me about your relationship with Mami."

"Uggghhhh," Kyoko through her head back in frustration, only quieting the groan as she rolled back forward, "Mami and I were the same age and both of us were thirteen at the time... at least I think we were... It's been a while... So it was perfectly legal! You're way too old and he's way too young."

Momo pouted and crossed her arms, "That's stupid and not fair at all."

"Scratch that, he'd be the cradle robber since you're apparently five years old," Kyoko glared. Seeing the joke did nothing to lighten her sister's mood, she sighed," Look, my point is, relationships more often than not get hot and heavy, and regardless who pushes first you'll be breaking some laws. Now, I'm usually okay with that kind of thing, but you've got a spotless record and tons of crap going for you. I don't want you labeled a pedophile for the rest of your life."

"I know, I know…" Momo groaned, dropping her head to the table, "I just don't know what to do. I... love them both so much it hurts..."

Kyoko bit back the temptation to make a joke about her sister's digestion; at some point humor would only damage the situation. She decided sympathy was a good route, "I do too... Well, Yuma at least, I don't really talk with Tatsuya. Actually, now that I think about it, Yuma's sorta my little sister too, so wouldn't that make things a little squicky with the two of you too-?"

"Kyoko you can't convince me to not love someone!"

Right, that's off topic. Kyoko's relationship with impish little Yuma was far different than Momo's.

"Sorry, sorry, this is weird okay?" she mumbled, "The last time this kinds thing happened one disaster sunk the whole thing. Hell, even when I tried to arrange a no-strings attached situation it fell through pretty hard and only served to make Sayaka and me angry for like a week afterwards. Some of the best sex of my life after that but fuck if I'm going to tell you it was worth it." Kyoko leaned on the table and looked her angelic little doppelganger in the eye, "Please, just promise me you'll think this through more before going with it and take my words to heart. Ultimately I don't want to see you or Yuma... or even that little Kaname pest hurt, okay?"

"Uh... Yeah, I mean, I'm really thinking about it now, but uh..." Momo pulled at the collar of her polo, "There's a bit of a problem with that middle part. So you know how I tried to glance over my ‘ideas’? Y-you kinda glanced over that I was talking in the past tense..."

"Momo, now is not the time for one of your word factoids of the da-..."

Kyoko paused, mid-spoon wave.

"Y-you... You didn't..."

Momo's shoulders converged on her neck as a pained smile weaved up from her throat, "I already asked them both out...?"

Kyoko wanted to scream.

So she did.

O/o\O

Momo was dating two people at the same time. Two people who were also apparently dating each other. Three-way dating. Kyoko's eyelid twitched.

Yuma was a very responsible girl, a surrogate sister that had kept Kyoko in check after she was passed around the foster home circuit like a hot potato. Dependable, smart and insanely shrewd, the grunette was talented beyond what Kyoko was ever capable of, especially with the promise of an art scholarship backing her path through college. 

If Momo were just dating her it'd have been weird, but Kyoko would have known both her real sister and her surrogate sister were in good hands. Now, however... the sanity of everyone involved was called into question.

All of this left Kyoko in a delicate situation. From all of her past experience (eg, what Sayaka had told her about years ago) the bonds between people in three way relationships were insanely tightly wound, but that just meant that substantial trauma would make those ties sever like high-strung rubber bands.

Every action Kyoko took with the three had to be careful, calculated, and refined.

"YUUUUMMMMAAAAAAA!!!"

There was a green smear as Kyoko shoulder checked into the younger girl, sending them both careening down the river embankment to the shoreline. The two became a tangle of limbs as they slid through the grass, dirt and splits of mud meshing into their clothes.

Kyoko, having plotted this attack beforehand, was the first to recover, but Yuma's athletic inclination meant she was close behind, even managing to get the first words in edgewise after the two disengaged.

"WHAT THE SHIT KYOKO?!" Yuma screamed, brushing a few loose blades of grass from her jogging shorts.

"I thought you were the sane one!?" Kyoko growled, finger lasering in on her emerald friend.

Yuma stared at her, dumbfounded, "WHAT THE SHIT KYOKO?!"

"Don't play dumb!" Kyoko shouted, slamming her fist into the ground, "You, my sister, the Kaname twerp!"

Yuma coughed out another fleck of soil, "What does any of that have to do with tackling me in the middle of my workout?!"

"I was angry," the redhead sniffed, standing, "I wanted to hit something and you're more than fair game right now."

"I swear to whatever god is listening I will deck you, "the artist snarled, jumping to her haunches.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes, "If there is a God, there's only one and I promise you he's in my corner on this one."

"Randomly assaulting people doesn't seem very kosher."

"What? It wasn't random in the slightest!"

"Gaaahhh," Yuma looked to the sky and rubbed the crown of her head, "Alright, look, what do you want? I have to get home and study for an art history test."

Momentarily Kyoko's rage was replaced with confusion, "Wait, I thought you went to college to paint art..."

Yuma's mouth sagged open very gently, "There's more to art than just making it..."

"That's stupid. College is stupid."

"Oh for Pete's-, Kyoko, why are you here?!"

"Right, right," the redhead blinked, "What the fuck are you three thinking?"

Yuma leaned to one leg, eyebrow raised, "That two of us are consenting adults and one is a kid mature beyond his years. Look, Momo already told me what you're going to say, don't think body slamming me preempted that."

"Like hell she did!" Kyoko snapped, "She got a different earful than I have planned for you. See, Momo and Tatsuya are softies. I know how smart you are, which is why I'm confused as to why you're being so goddamned stupid. You know how dangerous crap like this can be, I told you about Sayaka's whole stint with it, why aren't you stopping it?!"

Yuma pulled at the drawstrings of her cat-eared hoodie, cerulean eyes casting a wide net over the river, "Well... because sometimes you can't let reason control you." Her face colored a bit around her petite nose, the very tip reddening more than the rest, "You taught me that, Kyoko. If anything, I thought you'd be the first one to accept... us... Which is why we had Momo go to you first..."

The redhead stood, mouth agape, her left eye stuck with a frenetic twitch. A moment was all she needed to comeback on all cylinders, fingers flying from her brow to become claws by her kidneys, "There's being emotional and then there's being stupid, stupid!"

"Like you're one to talk!" Yuma smiled back, "You do stupid shit all the time and expect people to bail you out! Momo told me how you got both of you kicked out of 'The Tiniest Duckling'!"

Inside Kyoko's hellscape of a mind was a smaller, more sensitive Kyoko that cried a quiet tear over all the future cheesecakes lost to the void because of her brash and wholly unrestrained screech. That tragedy would need to be set to the side though; bigger fish to fry. They just wouldn't be fried in any cafés named 'The Littlest Duckling' anytime soon.

"Of course I do stupid shit all the time!" she snarled, "I'm your role model, it’s how I roll!"

Yuma contorted with bafflement, "Are you supposed to set a positive example?"

"Pfeh," Kyoko laughed, "Like I could actually pull that off. No, I get myself into shit so you guys know exactly what to avoid."

"How noble of you, but it doesn't exactly mean you're the font of knowledge on all things romance," the artist drawled, "Honestly, at the very least I thought you wouldn't care..."

"If it were anyone else, I wouldn't, but family takes the front seat when it means keeping them safe!" the redhead hissed. "You're my sisters and even putting aside how friggen squicky this is for me personally, I don't want either of you getting locked up for sleeping with a minor!"

Yuma stomped her foot and dragged hard on the drawstrings, making the hood bunch round her neck, "Holy shit, Kyoko, we are not going to be sleeping with him too soon. We all vowed to wait until he's old enough! Even Madoka has our backs! She understands what her little brother wants, why can't you?!"

Throwing her hands in the air, Kyoko roared, "That doesn't friggen matter! Have you met Tatsuya's mom?! Our parents have been out of the picture long enough it doesn't matter what they think, but Mrs. Kaname is terrifying! She'll gut both of you like pigs if she even thinks there's something funny going down!"

The grunette blinked, physically taking a step back at the words. If Kyoko had to guess, Yuma hadn't quite thought of that little snag. Well, if her facial expression was anything to go by, it was more than just a little snag. 

"Sh-she...she's very open minded! Remember when Madoka and Homura g-got together? She was all open arms fo-"

Kyoko pleaded her arms forward, mouth still agape; how had someone as smart as Yuma not thought this all through?!

Well, love was kinda distracting. Maybe her and Momo were being genuine... Not important right now!

"That is a WAY different situation. For one, they were both adults! For two, Homura fought tooth and nail to get home across like two continents! I think that earned her a little sympathy from Mrs. Kaname. So unless you can magically age Tatsuya up or decided to go off to war for a couple years, I don't think winning over mamma bear is going to even be possible!"

Yuma's lips were glued shut, their corners ripping and tearing in an attempt to rend itself from her face entirely. Kyoko noticed, slowly, that the taller girl was trembling, blue eyes layered with crystalline droplets.

"We're...We'll make it work, Kyoko!" she snarled. Often Kyoko likened Yuma's tantrums to a kitten mewling for milk... now though it was more like a tiger stalking prey, "Dammed the torpedoes, we'll make it work! We couldn't give less of a shit about what any of you think about us!"

"Y-Yuma..." Kyoko faltered as the other girl turned on her heel and sprinted away. Then she got angry. "Yuma, get back here!" she shouted, trailing after her. Despite their matching physiques, the younger girl had already worked up a heady lead and by the time Kyoko felt her lungs burning she was already well out of sight. The redhead tripped into the floodplain, rolling to a halt a moment later.

"Goddamnit Yuma..." Kyoko spat, rubbing her bruised knee.

O/o\O

She pulled her knuckles away from the door, leaving a resounding series of knocks hanging in the air around her. Kyoko rubbed her nose and tightened the ratty green goody around her shoulders, staving off the cooling evening air as best she could. Curse her affinity for jean shorts, but her legs were a gift to the world damnit!

A few seconds passed before the door opened and a plume of pink bustled into view.

"Kyoko...?" Madoka asked, pitching her head to the side.

"Hey there piglet," Kyoko nodded, though she also narrowed her eyes, "Wait, what are you doing here? You and Homura on the rocks'r somethin'?"

Madoka reached forward and lightly slapped Kyoko's shoulder, flashing a wry smile, "Not all of us are like you and Sayaka, Kyoko. No, Homura and I come over for Sunday dinner every week.” The pinkette stepped away, motioning the redheaded rascal into the house, "Come on in, we were just finishing up cleaning the dishes. If we'd known you were coming we would have saved a plate for you."

Kyoko rested a hand over her chest, mocking shock and horror, "Madoka, don't flirt with me like that, I'm married!"

The pinkette let out a slew of giggles and was quickly joined by the redhead, the laughter breezing them through Kyoko removing her shoes.

"So what has you stopping by?" Madoka asked. Her brows lowered, "You're not here to try and convince Homura to advertise your food cart in her next novel again, are you?"

"What?! No...! Even if it is an awesome idea you should ask her about for me..." Kyoko skewed, "But like I said, I didn't even know you two were here. I actually came here to see your brother."

The brief flicker of levity on Madoka's face leveled back to a more dour picture, "Oh... I see. You know I heard about it from him an-"

The redhead raised a hand to her face, "You can stop there, piglet. I already know your opinion on the matter and I couldn't care less for it." Kyoko spared no leeway in her tone; she would talk to Tatsuya herself and Madoka's input would be given on her own time. 

Madoka pouted and pushed Kyoko's arm away, "It's rude to interrupt you know..."

"When my family is at stake I don't like mincing words," Kyoko rumbled, one hand caressing a narrow, metallic weight in her jacket pocket.

"He's my family, Kyo."

"And that’s why I'm fucking confused why you're not as concerned as I am about this."

The line was punctuated in a stare down between the two, with Kyoko's magma slipping below the fuchsia clouds of Madoka's eyes.

"Is everything okay in here?"

The words made Kyoko blink and back off. As adamant as Madoka would be, as long as the passion of an argument came from good intentions she could never really sink any claws into anyone. Her wife, on the other hand, was the complete opposite, a sheep dog on the prowl waiting to strike anything threatening its heard of one. And even though the intensity behind Homura's death glare had waned with age, she was still one of the few people or even things to strike fear into Kyoko. Not that fear had ever really stopped Kyoko before, but it was still an annoying sensation sliding down her spine.

Madoka looked away, offering a soft smile to appease her hound, "Everything's fine, Homura, just a difference of opinion is all!" The cheery tone was a far cry from the defensive stance she'd been in not ten seconds before and it constantly baffled her why Madoka had never considered being an actress. Then again without her beau around she often devolved into a flustered mess after only a day or two, so maybe that was why. When Madoka spoke again, her smile was a touch strained, "Kyoko here came to see Tatsuya, isn't that nice?"

"Very," Homura nodded, appraising the redhead. Without breaking her stare, she continued, "Madoka, your mom wanted your help putting the dishes away. I'll take Kyoko to Tatsuya's room."

Madoka gave quiet nod, the strain on her lips relaxing into something more natural. As she passed by the raven haired woman she whispered in her ear, no doubt instructing the bloodhound to try converting Kyoko as well. It wouldn't work.

And as predicted, it only took a half minute navigating the Kanames' swanky house for Homura to play Madoka's hand.

"You should just let them be together," the author stated, her head never curving back yet her voice clear as day; it was unsettling.

"Christ, fourth time’s the charm, right?" Kyoko snarled back. "I've heard it before. I don't want my sister getting hurt, sue me for having emotions."

"I mean," Homura corrected, cocking her head briefly to gaze at Kyoko with a single amethyst eye, "Let them get hurt."

Kyoko paused.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Ever."

Homura flipped an onyx strand of hair aside, "Is it? Sure they'll be distressed over it, but they have so many people around them to turn to for guidance in the aftermath, so much that none of us really had growing up, except for Madoka, and she is arguably the most stable of all of us now. If they wind up like her, even if it means a little pain now, isn't that ultimately for the best?"

"That's..." she stammered, "That's really fucked up, Homura..."

"But it’s true. And it’s the worst case scenario," Homura nodded, "If they manage to maintain themselves, so be it, but everyone will be there for them if they crash..." Receiving no response, Homura turned around to look her friend in the eyes, "Tatsuya is my brother by law, so my attachment to him is minimal, but his importance to Madoka makes him more than emotional liability to her. Believe me when I say I've given this situation a fair amount of my own thought. Madoka's sentiments are pure but I've taken it upon myself to be ready for the worst if it ever comes."

Kyoko parted her lips to speak, only to close them again. Homura rested a hand on her shoulder and nodded, leaving the redhead at the foot of a heavy-set door to pace her way back the direction they came. She watched the raven girl go, her malformed fang popping over her lip as she grimaced. There was a shared respect between the two of them, what with their mutual histories of orphanage (actual and practical) and the difficulties they’d faced during their adolescence, so Kyoko knew for a fact that Homura wasn’t bullshitting her. The girl genuinely thought that sounded sane.

The redhead rolled her eyes. If this was the kind of advice PTSD encouraged then it was no wonder veterans lead rocky lives. Her snarl sharpened; this was no time for judgment calls on people she didn’t know. Homura was being cold. There, proper judgment made.

She cracked her back and gave an annoyed huff as those inky tentacles of hair vanished around a corner. Finally alone with the door, Kyoko knocked. It was sudden and faint, but she was confident she heard someone invite her in, prompting her to twist the knob. There had never really been an occasion for her to go into Tatsuya’s room; heck Madoka had only lived at home for only a couple months after she’d met the girl, so there was barely any time to hang out in her room either. Still, what little experience she had with the Kaname household did not prepare her for a visual overload.

Where there had been simple white walls sat a series of monitors and tiles, where there had been well vacuumed carpet there was a tangled mess of wires, where there should be a desk was a switchboard probably the length of her body and where there would presumably be a proper lamp was instead a series of microphones propped up on polished aluminum stands. It took maybe about four blinks (and even a few head shakes) for her to process the ludicrous, almost bizarrely gorgeous mess that sat in front of her. Great God, there was barely any room for the bed!

“Oh, Kyoko?”

A head of rosewood hair popped up from behind the microphones, a cherub-faced boy bounding out with a pair of over-sized headphones framing his head, one of which was peeled off his left ear. It, along with everything else, looked either brand new or well worn and taken care of. Damned rich kids. Lucky little bastards.

“H-h-hey there, kid,” Kyoko eeked out, still not quite sure how well her brain was processing the insanity of his room, “You… Your room always been like this?”

He looked behind him, is brow tight, giving everything around him a solid glance before some kind of recognition came to roost, “Oh! Yeah, sorry. Is this the first time you’ve been in here?”

“Uh-huh…” she nodded. She stepped in, closing the door behind her as she did and doing her damnedest to avoid a pesky pile of wires that had been naturally coiled together by the door’s repeated pushing. “Y’know, Madoka said you were some kind of singer, but this is kinda crazy…” she mumbled, managing to tiptoe her way to his bed, “Mind if I sit kiddo? I walked all the way here.”

“Sure, sure, sure,” he stumbled, rushing to the bedside to clear some sheets dotted with lines and bars that had wound up strewn across his comforter.

She sat and marveled at how plush the bed was; most of their friends group had western beds these days, and while she was thankful for how comfortable they were, she did sometimes miss the simplicity of a futon. Maybe when she gets home she should pull one out and force Sayaka into a little slumber party; it’d give her a good excuse to crack open that package of gummy bears she’d been saving.

“I can guess why you’re here,” he smiled, tapping the pages on his desk before laying them aside. Right, right, sisters in a three-way; man she needed to get like, medication or something with how often her mind got off track. Tatsuya turned to face her, sliding his headphones to his neck, “I think you’ll be surprised to learn that you won’t be able to convince me to say ‘no’.”

Kyoko rolled her eyes, “Don’t get cocky kid, I’ve basically resigned myself to that after talking with Yuma; if I can’t talk sense into her, then no one’s going to listen. Least of all a kid like you.” She leaned back, crossing her arms and letting her eyes sag closed, “You’re really impressionable and neither of them should have put you in this kind of place, but don’t think this means you’re going to be cool kid on campus having two older girlfriends.” A single eye peeled open to wholeheartedly glare at him, “I don’t take you for the type to get a big head about things and for your sake I hope you never do, but you’ll learn soon enough that one girl is difficult enough to handle and that two might just be too much.”

Tatsuya visibly shuddered as an exhale left his lips. He bounced in place, “I’m relieved to hear you say that; I promise I won’t.” A finger looped around the cord of his headphones, a soft blush peppering his skin, “Yu and Mo aren’t some trophies; they’re my dearest friends in the world, and boyfriend or not I’d help them through anything!”

“Uhhhh, gag me with a spoon,” the redhead groaned, “Look, I get enough of that crap from your sister.”

“Heh, sorry. I guess I get pretty mushy when I talk about them,” he ran a few errant fingers through his short curls. “I’m just happy that you’re so accepting. Both of them adore you, so I was really worried about your opinion of me.”

Kyoko pushed the growing smile on her lips to pull a little further up and her eyes to widen a touch more than usual, “Oh, who said that I was so ‘accepting’?”

The muscles in Tatsuya’s face contracting were the only warning his body managed to send him before the girl was upon him, grabbing him by the forearm and slamming him to the bed with the force of a gorilla. He looked from her, to his computer, to her again, keeping the same smile the whole way through though obviously not by choice, “You’re… very lucky my headphone cord is so long.”

“Stow it, twerp,” Kyoko snarled, “If I have to deal with Yuma and Momo being in a relationship with you, that means you’re the only one of the three that I can actually go all-out big-sister on, so you’re getting ‘the talk’ right here and now.”

The only words that tumbled out of his mouth were, “Oh God please…”

She pressed her hand down to his chest, holding him in place. His own arms looped up to press her off but her physique was nothing to scoff at, even with a year or two of rust.

“You’re a minor, got that? Three years till you’re legal, right?” she glared.

Tatsuya managed a nod but not a word.

“Good. So you, Momo, and Yuma will not approach anything even resembling a bed together, am I clear?” All she heard was a swallow and that’s all she needed to continue, “Additionally, if anything dips lower than their waistline you forfeit your right to have it attached to your body, and this also applies if anything dips below any other girls’ waistlines. If I hear any goddamned rumors that you and anyone are doing anything that you wouldn’t do in a church, you are to immediately do as much damage control as possible to make sure those rumors never reach the police and to reassure me that those same rumors are certifiably false. I am not having my sisters put on any kind of watch list nor am I having them put up with a two-timer. Am. I. Clear?”

He nodded, but she grabbed his collar and slammed him back to the bed.

“Out loud.”

“Y-y-y-y-yes, like the night sky!” he yelped.

“Good,” Kyoko huffed, leaning back a touch. She kept her hand to his chest and after letting the fear sink in a little, she leaned back down to add one more cherry to the proverbial sundae of terror. “And one more thing; if I learn either of them are pregnant…” Kyoko’s hand exited the pocket of her hoodie, a weight filling her hands, two metal slabs tacked in the middle that she slid to rest below the hand that had him pinned.

Tatsuya’s face went paler than his sheets.

Kyoko’s smile never faltered, never flinched, and when she pulled away there wasn’t a single indication that the smile wasn’t genuine. Stuffing the utensil back into her pocket, she hummed.

“Alright, Ken Hirai, I think we’re all squared away,” Kyoko chimed, opening the door. “Have fun with those two; real spitfires when they want to be, the both of them,” she punctuated it like a threat, closing the door behind her. And then her choice of words struck home and the door opened again, though only briefly, “And remember; not too much fun.” She kept her eyes locked to his as she shimmied back out the door; the boy was stuck to his bed in what she could only guess was mind-numbing fear.

Closing it behind her for the final time, she was met with a puffy pink pout.

“Sup Madoka?”

The pinkette crossed her arms, “Did you just threaten my little brother.”

“Yep,” she admitted, feeling exactly zero shame in having threatened a boy eleven years younger than herself.

“Don’t act so casual about that!” Madoka barked. Oh. Oh, the creampuff was angry. That was rare. Pouting was one thing, but genuinely angry was another. Kyoko smiled.

“Oh, so now you care about the consequences of your brother’s actions, huh?” she shrugged, walking past Madoka. “Get your priorities straight, piglet. A little threatening goes a looong way towards keeping my sisters out of jail.”

She heard a foot stomp behind her, “You can’t just threaten people into doing what you want them to!”

“Of course I can,” Kyoko sighed, “Governments do it, police do it, hell, even Homura does it. Circle of life, strong and the weak, yadda-yadda-yadda.” A crane of her neck and she was eye to eye with Madoka, “Look, he’s a good kid right? Keeps it in his pants for three years and I promise you he’ll be a-okay. Hell, I’ll honestly be impressed.”

“H-Homura doesn’-!”

“Yes she does, don’t try to play naïve,” Kyoko rolled her eyes so hard she wound up facing forward again, “If you want to keep your brother intact I recommend keepin’ an eye on him yourself. Don’t just play the protective older sibling; be one.”

She let the conversation slide away on that single line, feeling satisfied at how much drama she’d milked from this. There was a sweet kind of entertainment she got from playing the brash, roguish voice of reason, even if it often made her the bad guy amongst her friends group. Seeing that look on people’s faces, the one where they realize she’s right but they really don’t want her to be, never failed to really brighten her day. Well, okay, she could maybe think of a few times where it didn’t quite help. Luckily her friends knew that most of it was coming from somewhere genuine, so it almost always blew over eventually, though when Madoka got angry it tended to simmer a week or so. She was suddenly thankful for how busy managing a food cart kept her.

“You say I’m fucked up, yet you threaten a minor?”

Of course Homura was going to be waiting for her. She’d perched beside the front door, her brow raised. The shadow that haunts the Kaname household; make her a little paler, maybe add a touch of blood her and there, and Homura would be the archetypal horror movie girl.

“How… did you hear all that?” Kyoko asked, swapping eyes between Homura and the roundabout path she took from Tatsuya’s room.

Homura brushed her hair to the side, a dramatic flip she did whenever she was trying to look mysterious and intimidating; it never really impressed Kyoko, “I have my ways.”

Ah, a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ response. Classic. That just meant Kyoko could have fun with it, so she chose to imagine Homura hiding just out of sight of her and Madoka talking before quietly sprinting off to pose artfully at the front door as to not be caught.

Actually, judging from the small but extra labors to her breathing, that might just be the case.

“Look, what you’re talking about is more than likely going to come to pass since no one is really stopping this thing,” Kyoko sighed, shaking her head, “And more than likely it’s not going to be any of the things I threatened him with. I was careful, I was specific, and the things I hung on him were things I don’t think he’d even consider doing willingly.”

“So the threats were empty?” Homura hummed.

Kyoko glared, “Not empty, just unlikely. I’ll take a pound of flesh the minute I’m in my right to.”

The raven girl sighed, opening the door and tapping Kyoko’s shoes forward, “Well, I’ll keep my eye on them for you. Madoka is too kind to them.” She walked up to the redhead and rested a surprisingly warm hand to her shoulder, “Junko and me are on your side, I think the three of us just have… different ideas about how to handle it.”

Kyoko blinked, “Wait, Mrs. Kaname knows? How the hell did she find out and not immediately blow up the neighborhood?”

Homura nodded, “She had her suspicions. Madoka’s mother is… scary in how intuitive she can be…” Kyoko wasn’t sure but did she just bond with Homura on something? That of a deep, primal, and almost unnatural fear of the Kaname matriarch. The two shared shuddered before the survivor continued, “She’s been doting on them as a couple… er… trio. Her theory is that if you don’t leave them alone, they can’t get into trouble.”

The redhead choked back a chuckle, “She has never seen me and Sayaka then…”

“Oh believe me, she has,” Homura replied quickly, her eyes going dark, “all of us have.”

There was suddenly a warmth to Kyoko’s face and it almost left her completely speechless, “I… look, I could give less of a damn about that! We’re married, aren’t we?!”

“As are Madoka and I,” Homura answered smoothly, ghostly fingers trailing along her bottom lip, “And I promise you we’ve not been caught nearly as many times as you and Sayaka.”

When her face resembled her hair, she knew it was time to check out of the situation. Instead of retorting Homura, Kyoko simply grumbled past her, slipping on her shoes and taking her first steps out the door, “Friggen’ perverts the lot of you Kanames.”

Even after years of rehabilitating in the real world, Homura rarely laughed. So to know that all of what she heard was directed completely at herself left Kyoko furious, embarrassed, and, oddly enough, a little bit proud.

O/o\O

Kyoko was almost done laying out the futon in front of the TV when Sayaka got home, making curse at her own reflex to fill bowls with sugary garbage first and not get the ambiance set up second. Well, no matter, she could roll with it.

“Kyoko, what’s all this?” she asked, dropping her keys in a dish by the door and brushing a clot of blue bangs from her eyes.

The shorter woman finished spreading out the plush mat, giving it a firm pat as she did, “Well yesterday I thought it’d been a while since we slept in a futon, so I thought why not make a little night of it since neither of us have work tomorrow. A sleepover kinda deal.” Even as she spoke she could feel the heat creeping up her neck, leaving her to flounder a bit under her wife’s gaze. There were usually three ways her wife would react to something stupid like this; either she’d be all on board in a blink of an eye, she’d laugh at the redhead about how much of a sap she really was, or…

“Pfffft,” Sayaka gripped at her stomach, doubling over as a fit of giggles visibly bounced against her cheeks. In a second she’d cast away her jacket and her purse and she’d flopped down beside Kyoko, spreading herself on the futon like a cat in the sun. That sunbeam grin and those dancing blue eyes tickled the back of Kyoko’s chest and left her with a hammering heart. “You’re such a softie Kyoko,” the azulite laughed, bopping her wife on the nose. Just as she was about to get redder, Sayaka pulled her in deeper and kissed her, soft, sweet, and long, “My softie.”

The two came together again and only parted when air became a concern, though Kyoko knew that being flushed like a chili pepper had nothing to do with oxygen.

“So,” Sayaka smiled, flopping back down, “Did you still cook dinner, or are those chips over there supposed to be our nutrition for the evening?”

She motioned to the bowl and Kyoko reached to grab the two others that at behind it, “Not just chips but other goodies too.” Sayaka raised a skeptical eye, prompting a laugh, “And I have teriyaki cooking on the stove.” She spared a glance over to the clock on the TV, “It has about ten more minutes before it’s ready, but we can eat it down here and put on a shitty rom-com or something.”

“That sounds wonderful,” the azulite nodded, “Shit has been hard at work, lately. Taxes are coming in and everyone’s got their panties in a twist. Bless Junko for being on top of everything or else we’d be out of legs to stand on.”

“She’s a wily one, she is,” Kyoko hummed. Junko Kaname, mother of Madoka and Tatsuya Kaname… bleh, there went Kyoko’s good mood.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Sayaka said, popping out of a stretch, “How did things go with Tatsuya yesterday? I came home so late you were asleep before I could ask you.”

Kyoko rolled to her side and sighed, “Shitty. I was right that Yuma and Momo got to him first. All I could do was work damage control.”

Her wife gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze, “Hey, I know you’re worried about them, but sometimes you have to make mistakes before you learn what’s really important to you…” She pushed a fleck of blue hair behind her ear, her face glowing pink and dropping some of it’s cheer, “I’m living proof of that…”

Kyoko reached out her hand and gripped it, pulling the two into a tight embrace, “I hate how right you are… I just… I don’t want to see any of them going down those roads. Momo and Yuma already went through so much… Don’t they deserve to be happy? Without some kind of sword hanging over them the entire time?”

“They do, but we both know life isn’t fair like that,” Sayaka muttered, playfully tugging at the bow sustaining her wife’s pony tail, “They’ll learn, they’ll get hurt, they’ll learn. So long as they’re not dead by the end of it, I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“Heh,” the redhead laughed, “You sound just like Homura.”

“Maybe there’s something to be said for people who’ve come close to dying,” Sayaka chuckled back, “Seeing your life flash before your eyes kinda gives you a strange perspective on things. I like to think it helps you realize what’s really important to you.” She kissed her wife’s head, forcing Kyoko to duck down deeper into her collar.

“I’m not sure how to take that, Sayaka; I don’t want to be grateful you tried to do that…” Kyoko muttered.

“Sorry, sorry,” the azulite cooed, brushing a finger through the tongues of fire on Kyoko’s head, “I’m not fond of that memory either, really.” She pulled away and scooped Kyoko’s face into her hand, “I am fond of every memory with you, though, so it puts it in a weird grey area for me.”

Kyoko shivered as those gentle words caressed her ears. Goddamned, she was a punk! A total hardass! Weren’t spouses supposed to get sick of each other?! Why was she always putty in Sayaka’s hands?! It completely ruined the image she’d practiced so hard to maintain!

“You play dirty, Miki,” Kyoko snarled without hinting a single ounce of genuine animosity.

“I play to win, Miki.”

At that the redhead bristled and stood, trying to hide her blush and failing miserably because it had practically covered her entire body at this point, “I’m… going to go finish up dinner. Settle in and I’ll be back with food in just a second.”

Just as she was strutting away, Sayaka caught her hand, prompting the two to lock eyes.

“I love you,” Sayaka smiled.

And damnit if Kyoko couldn’t resist a smile herself, “…I love you too, you sap.”

O/o\O

“Do you think Kyoko might be right?”

Yuma frowned and looked at her girlfriend, “What do you mean? You were the first to say she was wrong, weren’t you?”

Momo’s fingers found purchase in the grass beneath them, casually pulling the blades and flicking them without a thought, “I know, but, like, I’m really worried that we’ve just kinda been hardheaded about it. If we don’t really think about it, maybe it’ll come to pass?”

“Momo, she threatened TsuTsu with castration, Kyoko isn’t exactly the most stable voice to take advice from.”

The hand in her left palm clenched tight as a shudder transferred from her boyfriend’s body into her own, “I… really wish she didn’t do that… I was never planning any of those things to begin with…”

“We know TsuTsu,” Momo trilled leaning over Yuma to clasp her hand over theirs, “Kyoko was just being mean. She does that when she gets protective. I promise she’ll treat you better when she sees how important you are to us!”

Yuma was about to break in as well, but another voice from farther along the camp grounds caught her attention.

“Hey Momo, Yuma, Tatsuya! The grill’ll be done in five minutes! Get over here!”

The grunette glanced across the field at the platinum-haired woman waving their way, her smile infectious. She waved back, “Okay Nagisa! We’ll be there in just a bit!”

Nagisa nodded, and used her almost disturbingly long legs to strut back to where a kindly blonde woman was quick at work fussing over a number of improvised grills and cooking utensils, the cacophony only being spurred on further by Yuma’s surrogate sister who was helping manage the cluster of fire hazards.

“It’s nice that we do this each spring,” Momo sighed, letting her head rest on Yuma’s chest. Tatsuya rolled over to let a hand rest across both of them, nuzzling in close too.

“TsuTsu, Kyoko is going to kill you, you realize that?” Yuma muttered, doing absolutely nothing to discourage the behavior.

He laughed and nuzzled in even tighter, “I’ll die happy then. Besides, cuddling wasn’t off the table, just the stuff that comes further down the pipeline. I think we should take the victories where we can.”

The artist shook her head, “It amazes me you’re not considering a career in law.”

Momo pouted, “But then you we wouldn’t get to hear his pretty voice all for us!”

“If you call half the trash he sings ‘pretty’, then sure, I guess you’re right.”

“Hey!” Tatsuya jolted.

She gave his head a pat and smoothed down some rebellious curls in his rosewood locks, “A comment on the genre, not your voice, cutie.”

He groaned and flopped back down on her stomach, maybe a little harder than he needed to on purpose, “That doesn’t make it much better.”

The three were quiet, letting the night winds blow past them, the festival in the distance creating a pleasant hum to the air as onlookers crowded for the coming fireworks. They were all keenly aware that this little moment was fleeting, that they’d have to get up and socialize and eat and party with everyone else sometime soon. But they were content for this moment and for all those small moments surrounding it.

“I think we’re going to be alright,” Yuma smiled, watching as the first fireworks entered the air, prompting a wave of awe from the masses below.

“What makes you say that?” Tatsuya asked, “Not doubting you, just curious why you’re so confident.”

“I know, I know,” Yuma nodded, “Kyoko, Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, Homura… Nagisa, too… they all lived through so much, really went through the wringer and their relationships were forged like iron over a hot flame.” She looked to her girlfriend, then to her boyfriend, curving down to kiss them atop their heads despite the protest of her neck and her back, “I think… if we just watch them, if we learn from them… we can still shape our bond out of iron like theirs… maybe there’s enough residual heat to forge us just as strongly as them.”

“’With more of their strengths and fewer of their weaknesses’…” Momo hummed, kissing Yuma’s shoulder as Tatsuya laughed.

“Just couldn’t help but quote Bob Sagan, could you?” he asked.

Momo shrugged, “An inspiration is an inspiration, and lord knows it sounded fitting.”

“I like it,” Yuma grinned. More fireworks began to ignite the sky, burning brighter than any sun ever could, “All of those speeches and posters telling us that ‘we are the future’? Let’s prove them right. Together.”

“Here here!” Momo cheered, laying her hand on Yuma’s stomach.

“I second that!” Tatsuya smiled, resting his own over hers.

Yuma cupped their hands in her own and kept her eyes to the sky.

Maybe there would come hardships. Maybe there would come pain and suffering and loss. But she had everything she needed right here beside her to get her through every second of it without fail. Even if life ended up dealing them a bad hand, they knew they could weather it in turn.

Who needed luck when you had love?

With that last thought in her head she glanced past the flames to the stars, and dared the world to bring it on.