A/N: NaNoWriMo came and went, and I didn't win, obviously. But at least the semester is over, so I can devote more time to writing various things. That has to be good, right? Well, another chapter here. Enjoy.

The time spent at the fair had been a fun experience for all, as far as Sayaka was concerned. True, she had become lost at several points in the conversation while listening to Mami, Homura, and Hitomi debate various aspects of artistic style and the like, and she had also found herself impressed by the depth of knowledge they had on the subject. It had been put to good use with the various portraits, sculptures, and paintings that they has seen.

At last though twilight had settled, and the group had departed the festival. They had split up as well, Mami leaving with Homura on their own while she and everyone else had walked off together.

"Well, that was a lot of fun," the blunette said as she headed along the sidewalk, leading them for now. At the moment it wasn't too bad, though a chill was setting in concurrent with the deepening of night. The sun was long gone, and street lamps bathed them in an orange light that came them some idea of what time it was.

"Yeah," Madoka agreed with an emphatic nod, looking over to her friend at the same time. "I didn't think you were that interested in that sort of thing."

Sayaak shrugged, meeting her gaze as she addressed that comment. "I'm not really. I just enjoyed listening to all of you guys talk about it." It was fun to watch, compared to when she herself got into serious arguments with people.

"Oh." Madoka got it, just as she had expected. It wasn't as if there was something wrong with that anyway, so it didn't even come close to earning her ire.

Hitomi chimed in then, currently standing on the opposite side of Madoka as they walked along. "Well, I appreciated your input. You brought up some interesting points, especially with that last set."

Sayaka let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh, you know, I've got a good eye from all that sports. That's all." Though she would admit that the inverse might be the actual case, but what could she say? She just had a sharp attention to detail.

"Still, it was nice of you," Madoka noted. "We know how you can get when you're doing something that you don't like." While Sayaka might do it, she would not be the happiest of campers. And she knew that well enough herself.

By the same token though, that raised some annoyance on the part of the blunette. This she showed as she grabbed for Madoka's cheek or ear, whichever she could get. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"She means you have a bit of a temper," Hitomi replied then from her position of relative safety, a place that was rapidly growing less safe as Madoka attempted to dodge the encroaching blunette. She was successful for now, but it wasn't as if either of them was trying particularly hard.

With Madoka attempting to take refuge, Sayaka turned to what Hitomi had said while trying to dodge past her in the process. "I prefer to think of it as a selling point, you know," she commented with a grin. "How else am I gonna make sure that no one messes with you guys?"

Madoka whirled around as she kept her efforts afloat. "We can take care of ourselves Sayaka," she protested in the middle of doing so. "Really."

Of course Hitomi didn't exactly approve of this whole sequence of events, and made her opinion known as she stepped away from the two of them. "That's true. Though I can't help but notice that you've gotten a bit nicer since you started getting tutoring."

That was unexpected, and it brought Sayaka up short in surprise, at least for a moment. "Really?" She certainly didn't see it herself. But then again, she was hardly the picture of impartiality.

Across from her, Madoka came to a stop as well. "Yeah, I guess so," she agreed after a moment of thought. "Now that I think about it, you haven't gotten in any fights lately."

That earned a protest from the girl in question as she folded her arms across her chest. "Hey, it's not like I enjoy fighting, you know? I just haven't had any reason to do it, that's all." It was never major fights anyway. Most of the time it was just small scuffles, putting people in their place for what they said about her, Madoka, and Hitomi, and stuff like that.

As usual, Hitomi would represent logic while continuing to placate. "Of course not," she replied respectfully, as proper as ever. "I suppose there's less time to devote to that sort of thing when all your energy is going into schoolwork."

"Yeah, something like that," Sayaka admitted sheepishly, but not quite ashamed of that statement. It was taking a lot of time and effort after all. Still, she was determined to defend her friends if need be, no matter the cost of doing so. She had standards after all.

At that point Madoka found it safe enough to stop running, instead returning to Hitomi's side as the trio began to walk again. "I'm glad to hear it," she said then. "I don't want you to get in trouble for fighting, or to get injured again."

"Likewise. I'm not sure how much longer my parents would be able to endure me spending time with a hooligan." A false statement on Hitomi's part, since her parents most definitely didn't have that impression, but Sayaka wasn't the only one who could make jokes.

That, in turn and as expected, earned a further protest from the blunette. "Hey, I'm a perfectly respectable member of society. If anyone's the hooligan it's Kyouko." She certainly fit the image better, and did nothing to dissuade from that impression.

The comment earned a mere sigh from Madoka, since she had no desire to restart the argument that had taken place earlier on this very topic. Instead, she simply went to defuse the situation at hand. "I think she was joking."

Sayaka grinned, nodding at the same time, "Yeah, I know. I was just messing with you." She deserved a bit of payback for that insidious slander earlier.

Madoka's lips curled downwards in a hurt frown as they crossed an intersection together. "That didn't sound like a joke," she pointed out, to which Sayaka didn't have a good answer. After all, it wasn't as if she thought the statement wasn't partially true.

So she did the only thing that she could do in that situation, for lack of a better option. "Sorry," she apologized. "Guess I'm just tired."

"I suspect we're all a bit tired," Hitomi admitted with a graceful nod. It had been a long day, and they all been pretty active. "We should just let the matter drop."

"Yeah," Madoka agreed with a nod. For someone averse to unnecessary conflict, it was the best solution to the dispute at hand.

So they did, turning to other topics as they crossed familiar paths and moved past more familiar landmarks. It was much like on their way to the festival, talking about school, future plans, and the things that had happened during the time they had all been together. Hitomi even shared some rumors she had heard about fellow classmates with them.

Soon enough, they reached their destination, the point along the sidewalk at which the three of them would separate to head on home individually. Now that their day had concluded for the most part, there was nothing left for them to do together.

"Well, guess that's it. See you guys later," Sayaka called with a wave as she stepped back, ready to leave them and head back to her house. There was the lingering desire to spend more time with them, but she didn't quite have that luxury, and so she was forced to turn and go.

"See you both at school," Madoka agreed, splitting off in her own direction. Just like the rest of them, she seemed eager to get on with the rest of her night even if she was reluctant to leave.

"Goodbye," Hitomi concurred, nodding before she stepped away when it was her turn to do so. That brought the meeting to an end, and their time together wrapped up as well. They all walked off on their own paths, lit by streetlights as they went to different portions of the city.

Sayaka hummed to herself as she walked along towards her house, a spring inherent in her step. Sure, there were things she still needed to do before the night was over, but that was something to be confronted later. For now she merely basked in the warm afterglow of the pleasant evening she had just left behind.

Overall she had had a good time at that fair. It had been fun to spend time with all her friends, and she had learned quite a bit. But now she had to head home to end her day, and deal with the lingering items on her agenda that she really didn't want to handle, even if she had no say in the matter.

After some time her house at last came into view. It was a two story building, painted in warm colors and well maintained besides. Sure, it wasn't like Hitomi's place, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. The only problem was the people living in it.

Now to be fair, she didn't exactly hate her parents. She just didn't like them, and the disconnect that she saw between them and her didn't help either. They were always getting on her about this and thT, which was annoying from her own perspective. She could handle her own life, and didn't need them getting on her day after day. Perfectionists, the both of them.

Arriving, she wasn't surprised to find a couple lights on as she made her way up the front drive. It seemed that both of her parents were home already. With how late it was that was to be expected, and she would deal with it as need be.

She stepped up to the front door and, after making sure that it was unlocked, stepped inside. "Hey, I'm home," she called to whomever was in hearing range.

The inside of the house was warm and comforting, at least to some extent. There were tacky decorations from vacations past, relics from her parents, and the like. She knew it was tacky though, and such familiarity made it hilariously mundane to her as one might expect.

She took her shoes off, leaving them by the front door. "Welcome back," came a call from her mother, currently out of sight in the family room. "Where were you?"

Sayaka shrugged, walking through the main hall as she answered that. "I went to an art festival with Madoka and everyone else," she explained. "I thought I texted you guys to let you know. Did you not get it?"

"I know, and we did. I was just making sure." It hurt that her word apparently wasn't trusted all that much, but Sayaka was used to it. She'd had her own spats and gotten in trouble before, and even now she was feeling the lingering effects of it.

Arriving in the family room she at last came in sight of her mother, who was currently seated on the old pastel brown couch folding clean laundry. Unlike her daughter, she apparently did not share the same disposition towards exotic hair color. Instead it was a brown that verged on dull red that didn't quite compliment her appearance. She was on the short side in terms of height, and as far as Sayaka was concerned she was otherwise unremarkable. But that was just her opinion.

"So where's dad," she asked, plopping down in one of the maroon armchairs. That earned a sigh of relief as her aching and tired legs were allowed to rest from their previous burden. There was nothing like relaxing after a long day, as far as she was concerned.

Folding a pair of jeans, her mom glanced over before she answered that. "He's downstairs in the basement doing some thing for work."

"Ah, okay." Sayaka nodded in understanding, gaze turning to the dark night beyond the window nearby. Her father was an engineer, and with the way that the economy had been rising things were looking up for them. Even her mother was working part time at a home for the elderly, or something like that. So long as it gave them something to do besides bug her, she didn't mind their absence.

With that worked out, it was her mothers turn to comment on her own concerns and questions. "Did you have dinner already? There's some leftovers in the fridge if you want them."

"Nah, I had dinner with the group," Sayaka replied with a shake of her head. It was true, but it also served a double purpose. No offense to her parents, but their cooking tended to be subpar at best. Especially when compared to, say, Madoka's dad. So she'd spare herself the suffering if she could.

As expected though, that was hardly the end of the inquiries aimed her way. "Okay then. Well, did you have fun?"

"Yeah," Sayaka confirmed with a grin and a nod. This was something that she could freely answer, with little fear of rebuke. "I didn't think I'd like it, but it was actually pretty interesting." They knew that she'd gone to the festival, so she didn't feel a need to explain more about it. They could figure it out themselves.

It earned a smile though, her mom taking a small break from putting folded laundry in piles to look at her. "That's good. It's nice to see you trying new things, expanding your horizons."

That wasn't the sort of terminology that Sayaka would have used, but she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. She was always a sucker for praise as opposed to criticism. After all, even she had an ego. "I'm just lucky that Hitomi and Mami were around. Otherwise I would have been totally lost." Sadly that was hardly an exaggeration on her part.

"I see. Well, as long as you had a good time." Sadly though, such appreciation couldn't last long, as Sayaka knew from long experience. "Is there any work you need to get done tonight?"

The blunette could only sigh internally as she ceded to the more serious subject forced upon her without much warning. "Yeah, some. I was just going to take a small break before I go do it, that's all." Was it too much to ask for a second to breath or something?

Apparently it wasn't, though it didn't save her from a stern look. "Alright," her mom ceded. "Don't put it off for too long though. We wouldn't want you going downhill again."

"Don't worry," Sayaka replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. No, she really wanted to return to bad grades and being grounded, sure. It was difficult to determine if it was possible to be more sarcastic there. "I'll get to it soon."

Falling silent, her head tilted back as her mom returned to the task that she had been doing. She basked in the warmth of home, doing just as she had said that she would do for the moment. Her muscles enjoyed it, if nothing else.

That silence she enjoyed lasted for a few minutes before the tv flickered into life near her. After a few channel flips it settled on some late night sitcom, with laugh track and all. There were moments that were genuinely funny, but it more just served to irritate her. How could people like this stuff?

But it definitely worked, if her mom had some purpose in mind. She rose from her seat, glancing over at the tv as she stretched a bit. "Well, guess I better get to it then."

"Alright." His mom was focused on the tv, letting Sayaka go off on her own, to do as she wished. It was annoying to get driven off by a tv show, but she would survive the humiliation. She just had better preferences than other family members in her household.

So she walked off, heading back into the main hall before swinging up the wooden stairs. It rose up and then turned, terminating in an upper landing as one might expect. From there she turned to the left, passing by pictures on the wall and a bathroom before she arrived at her room. Opening the door, she stepped inside before closing it behind herself, now secluded from the rest of the house.

Her room was relatively modest, all things considered. Besides the bed that sat next to the window there was a desk with a wooden chair, a dresser, a closet. There were a couple posters of bands that she tended to enjoy, a bean bag chair, and a fish tank with a couple goldfish in it.

Looking around, a sigh filled the air as the blunette walked over to the fish tank, with it's tacky decorations and current inhabitants. "There you go," she told them as she sprinkled out some fish food from the nearby can. "Sorry I'm late."

The fish, of course, didn't say anything, but she liked to think that they appreciated it. She wasn't the best with pets, but even she could manage a couple fish. Though admittedly, there might be a bit of a power trip to it as well that she kept hidden from everyone else.

With that all worked out, she left the fish tank behind as she moved over to her desk, taking a seat in front of her laptop. She placed her phone on the desk before starting the computer up, screen flickering to life as she settled into her seat. Now was as good a time as any to get to work.

As the time needed for the computer to boot up passed by, Sayaka considered what she should do first. There was math, history, and English to do, and she was only really a fan of one of those. But regardless of her own feelings, she still had to do it. The misfortune and ill luck would simply have to be fought through, as she had trained herself to do.

But she held off from a decision for the moment, instead reaching into her bag to produce assigned worksheets. Maybe they would help her choose if she found a good assignment. Hey, it was a legitimate strategy!

Well, English wouldn't provide much help there. It was all about conjugation and tenses and stuff like that. She really didn't understand why they were required to learn this language, when it was just so confusing and complicated. How did the English themselves even keep it straight?

Sadly for her, there were no Americans conveniently on hand to explain it to her. Instead, she merely placed that paper off to the side and pulled out another. Hopefully she would have more luck this time.

Next was history, a subject that always seemed to blur into a bunch of names and dates for her. Which was unfortunate since she did enjoy learning about battles and wars and all that fun stuff. It was exciting to learn about, at least from her perspective. Luckily it was just a worksheet to go with some assigned reading, so it wouldn't be too hard.

After a moment she ceded to her subconscious desires, and decided to work on history first. It wasn't overly difficult beyond memorization after all, just boring about three fourths of the time. She'd much prefer to bash her head against this wall than the wall that was English, if only for her own sanity.

She let that paper rest on her desk as she went searching, and eventually her textbook joined it there. It took a quick search through the heavy book to find the relevant chapter, but once there she began to read away. The development of democracy in the 1920's wasn't exactly the most interesting thing, at least to her, but it was bearable.

The minutes ticked away as she read, doing her best to take it all in. It would be all too easy to let her eyes glide along the page, reading without really registering and recording anything. Still, she was glad for the pictures that showed up, since it meant less for her to read.

At last she finished the chapter, skipping over the list of sources and further reading related stuff since it didn't really interest her nor did it matter. She glanced out the window, letting the darkness rest her eyes for a few seconds, before she picked up a pen and turned to the worksheet that now waited for her.

Overall, it was what one might expect from something like this. There was a lot of repeating what she had read, events and individuals, and the causes and effects of those. But there were a few questions that were more opinion based, and she appreciated those opportunities. It relieved the boredom for her as she was allowed to express herself and her viewpoints.

The sound of scratching on paper was dim to her ears as she leaned forward over her desk. She just needed to get this done, and she focused on that as best she could while still trying to keep a good eye out for quality. Not an easy task, that was for sure.

Eventually she managed to finish, writing the last word triumphantly and then placing her pen down. She let out a yawn, leaning back and stretching as she worked out the kinks from sore muscles that had accrued due to sitting for so long. That was one down, and two more to go.

Rather than move straight on to another topic though, she decided to take a break. Just for a few minutes, to relax her brain and recover. No one could really force her to go on, not in the privacy of her own home.

Turning to the computer, she grabbed the mouse and got to work, clicking over to her Favorites as she went to those websites that she tended to frequent a lot, opening multiple tabs at the same time. Most of it was social media, but there were a couple entertainment and sport journals, as well as some forums. Let it not be said that she didn't have a variety of interests.

Chat boxes sprang to life, heralding greetings to her as her fingers tapped away at the keyboard. She sent her own in turn, before launching into conversations about how her life was going, current events, and nothing so serious as to prove a downer to casual conversation. She did this to escape, not to get dragged down by stuff like politics.

At the same time she also texted Madoka, so she would have someone more familiar to talk with. There wasn't really a need to, but she hardly ever had a reason when she did it. She knew that the pinkette would appreciate it anyway.

'Hey, how are you doing' she typed into her phone before sending it off. She'd give Madoka a few minutes to answer, since she might be distracted, or had left her phone off again.

It came back quickly enough though, proving any worries that she might have had unfounded. 'Good, Just got done helping Papa with some housework.'

Sayaka wasn't surprised to hear that, and she grinned at the mental image that formed. That was just like Madoka, and it was good to hear that her day hadn't abruptly soured when she got home. That sort of thing would just be cruel.

'Nice,' she replied in turn. 'I'm just taking a break from homework right now.' She really should get back to it, but she wanted to wrap things up first so she didn't keep people waiting on her. Though she might anyway, if only for a little bit...

As if exactly in line with that thought, the hair on the back of her neck stood up, and she got the distinct feeling that she was being watched. Placing her phone down, she twisted her head to look behind herself and to confirm it at the same time.

Her gaze quickly fell on the interloper, her father poking his head through the doorway that he must have silently opened while she was distracted. That made it hard to tell how long he had been here watching, but she could only hope that it hadn't been too long. Otherwise this would be awkward. "Hey, need anything," she asked cheerfully.

"No," he replied, shaking his head as he opened the door fully and stepped inside now that he had been spotted. She wouldn't hesitate to call him 'reedy', currently wearing jeans and a polo, head beginning that slow trek towards not having any hair at all. Not to say that he didn't look bad, it was just a lot different from the old pictures of him that they had around the house. "I was just seeing how you're doing."

Sayaka nodded, glancing back to the computer screen. "Fine, just taking a break right now." He was the stickler, the one who would always get on her about how bad she was doing in school, and if she could end this confrontation now that would be nice.

There was no harsh response yet, though she could feel herself being scolded at the same time. "Alright. Just make sure you do a good job," he told her. "We wouldn't want all your hard work to go to waste."

"Don't worry, I got it," Sayaka affirmed then. She hardly needed the reminder from him, and she knew exactly what she was doing. He could worry all he wanted, but it wouldn't change a thing.

Still, it did succeed in earning a smile and a nod on his part, not expressing any skepticism that he might be feeling. She was grateful for that, and fate seemed to intervene in that moment to bring her some reprieve from her current torment. "Okay. I'll leave you to it then."

With that he departed, giving Sayaka a last look over his shoulder before firmly closing the door. That left her alone, and she was glad for it. Her nerves had been shaken, and she was more than glad to turn back to something else that would distract from it.

For a moment there was silence, before a groan filled the air and her head fell. There was a dull thud as it impacted against her desk, fists clenched at the same time as she let her frustration be known in private. Her venting in public wouldn't change anything, so this was the only place she could really feel comfortable doing so, at least as far as annoyance with her parents mattered.

"Seriously," she grumbled to herself. "Of course he has to show up in the couple minutes when I'm not working on homework. What kind of timing is that?" It was like fate was determined to mess with her, or something like that.

Well, she supposed that she should get back to it anyway, if only so she didn't have to worry about him spying on her later and finding out that she hadn't done what she said that she would do. Still grumbling, she quickly sent out apologies to the people she had been chatting with before switching to the 'Away' status and putting her computer in sleep mode at the same time.

That done, she reached into her bag and pulled out her English homework, annoyed determination guiding her to choose the most difficult subject she had left. Then she would have an actual reason to complain if he came around again, and she didn't have a problem with that.

Laying it on the table she swiftly got to work, annoyance and anger fueling her desire to work as she scribbled away, muttering under her breath at the same time. And yes, it was as difficult as she had expected that it would be.

It was effective though, as she dug into the work. She was going to finish this, prove her parents wrong, and then get back to enjoying her free time, and that was all there was to it. So as she wrote the night continued to deepen, heralding new events to come, whatever they might be.