The night sky was clear, flashing the waning moon's smile over the town of Mitakihara. A young girl was stumbling around the empty streets, arms wrapped around herself in a vain attempt to stave off the chill of the nighttime air. She was cold, scared and confused, unsure of how she got there, where she was and most frightening yet, who she was. Grasping at the vague, distant memories dancing at the edge of her mind, the only thing she could remember was her name, Sayaka… Miki Sayaka.

Shuddering as a sharp breeze brushed by, Sayaka took a seat on a bench having grown weary of walking. The lamp overhead flickered slightly and a car rolled by, the music playing within just loud enough to be heard as a low rumble, growing distant as the vehicle pressed on. Sayaka stared up at the sky, devoid of any natural light save for the moon, trying to breathe more clarity into these fragmented memories.

The thrill of combat… The pain of a broken heart and… The grief of loneliness…

But there was something else. She could just make out the undefined image of a red clad figure, the person, or so she assumed it to be, was speaking to her but she couldn't remember their words. So engrossed in her fruitless efforts to remember anything at all, Sayaka didn't notice a shadow moving behind her. It wasn't until she felt an unnatural chill at her back, did she jump to her feet and spin around finding herself confronted with a horrible looking… Monster! That's the only thing it could be.

The monster drew back an arm and sent the bench the helpless girl had just been perched upon flying, causing Sayaka to stumble back into the street, falling flat on her back. The monster approached, looming over her in a terrifying fashion, she was too stunned to scream.

Before the creature could take advantage of its defenseless prey however, the jangling of chains followed by a blur of bright red sent it reeling. The figure flashed by again, this time leaving a long gash in the midsection of the monster. With a terrible screech, the creature flailed around, its wound exuding a bright ray of light. When its assailant scored their weapon across its back for the second time, the monster burst into a hundred fragmented pieces, followed by the scattering of tiny black cubes. When the scene settled, Sayaka looked up to see a girl with ruby hair, garnet eyes and an extravagant outfit to match standing over her, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Sa… Sayaka?" The scarlet girl asked tentatively, Sayaka blinked up at her and scrambled to her feet before the other could offer any help. "Who are you?" Sayaka asked warily "How do you know my name?"

The open night sky stretched over the town of Mitakihara, bathing it in incandescent moonlight. It was late, very few trekked the streets at this hour save for the occasional vehicle drifting seemingly nowhere. Unbeknownst to the silhouette of a young girl blindly wandering about below, another girl adorned in wild shades of red was perched atop one of the towering buildings. The scarlet figure smirked to herself at the sight of the hapless girl and whispered a song under her breath, "I don't think little big girls should…" The lost girl below seemed to give up her search and took a seat on a nearby bench, oblivious to the demon that stalked her from behind, "…Go walking in these spooky old woods alone."

Kyoko tightened her grip on her spear, she had hoped to dispose of the demon without attracting the other girl's attention, but as it proceeded to creep up behind her it was clear Kyoko wouldn't accomplish this with any kind of stealth. All of a sudden, a bitter smile trailed across the tired girl's face, a year ago I would have simply let that thing have its way… But if I did that, she never would've let me hear the end of it.

A loud crash brought Kyoko out of her reverie, the demon had thrown the bench the other girl had just been sitting on to the side. Forcing the image of fierce blue eyes to the back of her mind, Kyoko sprang to her feet and leaped from the building. With a hard but steady landing, she charged after the demon. Weird, she thought to herself, I've never seen a rogue demon before…

Kyoko sped by the demon, whipping it with her chains causing it to back off its victim. If she was careful, the victim might not see her after all. Skidding to a halt, she turned and sprinted by again, this time scoring her spear's tip across the demon's torso. While it frantically threw its claws around, trying to hit anything at all, Kyoko sneaked behind it and swung her weapon as hard as she could, slicing the demon in half. With a loud screech, it burst into fading pieces and scattered its grief seeds.

Quickly snatching the cubes up, Kyoko noticed the victim was still lying on the ground. Concerned, she couldn't help but approach the girl and peer down at her only to then make a stunning realization… No way!

"Sa… Sayaka?" Kyoko dared to say. The girl, with the unmistakable features of Miki Sayaka, scrambled to her feet, making sure they were a good arm length away before saying, "Who are you?" Wha…? "How do you know my name?"

Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of my first fic!

Reviews would be amazing, and feel free to be harsh. I love a tough critic!

Thanks again, and until next time! - Lily