It's been a long time, a long long time... Sorry about that. Writer's block is a pain. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It has been brewing since last chapter(before the halloween one), but I could never really get it started since I have trouble with writing Sayaka. I don't mean this as a bad thing, but she is just so normal. It is much easier for me to write personalities that are heavily focused on one thing(Homura is super stoic, Madoka is hyper cheerful, Kyouko's a tough girl with a soft inside, ect). Enjoy.

"I'm glad we got here in time. They had almost run out of coupon tickets!"

The sun was shining overhead, crowds were bustling in the streets, and the girls were out making a shopping trip. The local supermarket was having a sale where if you buy 4000 yen worth of groceries, you would be able to get 600 yen off your next purchase, but only for the first two hundred customers. Mami and Homura had teamed up together to find the best way to use this sale to their advantage. Feeding five girls wasn't cheap after all.

They decided on splitting into groups of three to take advantage of it. Kyouko and Sayaka were sent after the meat and other frozen goods, Homura and Madoka took care of the vegetables and fruits, while Mami dealt with the other miscellaneous foodstuffs they needed. Each group went to the checkout line and left five minutes apart, with Madoka and Homura going first since their food could sit out in the sun, and Kyouko and Sayaka last as they needed to get home fast to avoid spoiling.

"Ya know Mami, aren't you the one who came up with this idea? Didn't take you for the type to do a spitball like this." Kyouko lightly elbowed Mami in the side to emphasize her point.

Giving nothing other than a soft smile, Mami responded. "We didn't break any rules, so there is nothing to worry about."

"They are the ones who didn't account for someone taking advantage of their rules like this, so we did nothing wrong." Knowing what Mami was attempting to very politely say, Homura clarified.

Sayaka attempted to run the math in her head. If 12000 yen could pay for two weeks' worth of food for them, it would end up costing the Kaname's… A lot of money to take care of them. "It does take a lot of money to feed us all. I have to wonder how your Mom brings in the money to pay for stuff like this Madoka."

"Actually, it wasn't Mama who pays for this. It was Papa."

Sayaka and Kyouko did an auditory double take. "Your dad? Isn't he stay at home? Where would he get the money?" Sayaka asked

Madoka racked her brain searching for an answer, but nothing came to her. "Umm… I don't really know how he gets it, but I know it has something to do with "stocks"."

"Stocks? What are those?" The gears in Kyouko's head could almost be seen turning. Despite being the oldest, she had some of the least knowledge of the adult world, the office and business aspects at least.

"They can be rather complicated, but think of it like buying a tiny portion of a company. Anytime that company makes money, since you own some of it, they give you a small portion of their profits." Mami gave out a hyper simplified answer to Kyouko's question. "There have been reports of kids around our age being given 4500 yen or so to put into stocks by their parents, and leaving with more than five times that. Of course, if you don't play it smart, you can lose money just as easily."

Steam began rising from Kyouko's ears. She was trying her hardest to understand what it must be like, buying and selling stocks. Tell her to map out the best route to and from a food stall without being seen, and she could do it in her sleep. However, telling her to manage finances beyond simple debit style accounts would cause her brain to meltdown. Despite the three-year difference between the two girls, Kyouko often came to Sayaka asking for help with the redhead's bank account.

"Think of it like an apple farm. If you own one or two trees, each time the farmers harvest the apples, they need to give you the ones from your tree." Sayaka said, using her free arm to give Kyouko a slight hit to grab her attention.

The moment Sayaka spoke up, the steam coming from Kyouko's vanished. The air seemed to radiate around her head as she beamed with a smile. "That ain't complicated at all."

A brief moment of silence passed as all four girls mentally asked why Kyouko didn't get it the first time then, but it quickly faded.

Finally reaching the park, the girls sighed with relief. The park meant that there was only another twenty minutes before they got home. Then Mami could start cooking dinner alongside their father, and then they could have a nice meal before they would spend the rest of the day relaxing.

Or at least, that was the plan.

The unofficial plan they had set up came crashing down when Sayaka stopped walking. It took the girls a few moments to realize she had lagged behind the rest. Turning around to call to her, Madoka was about to speak up when she saw the look on Sayaka's face. One of a combination of surprise and terror.

"Sayaka?" she softly called out.

No response from the bluenette. Realizing that she was staring at something, Mami followed her gaze across the park. Sayaka had been staring at a couple sitting on one of the park benches talking. A grey-haired boy with an arm heavily wrapped in gauze, alongside a blonde dressed in a black dress with white trim.

Mami had never seen the blonde before, but the grey-haired boy looked very familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen him.

"Isn't that… Kyousuke?"

Hearing his name, something seemed to click inside of Sayaka. With an almost catlike agility, she dropped her shopping bag and dashed behind a set of bushes near the bench Kyousuke was sitting on.

"What are you doing!" Kyouko said in a loud whisper. "Get over here, we gotta get this stuff back home!"

No response.

"Sayaka!" Kyouko's voice was beginning to rise, but Sayaka didn't pay any attention. Letting out a groan of frustration Kyouko turned around and grabbed the bag Sayaka was carrying. "Let's leave her, the food's gonna spoil if we don't get home. She can take care of herself."

Mami looked between Sayaka hidden behind the bushes, and Kyouko walking back towards the house. Letting a small pout cross her face, she sighed and began to follow Kyouko. "I hate to say, but I agree. We need to get the food home for dinner."

Madoka took several slow steps in the direction Mami and Kyouko went, but kept looking back towards Sayaka. She knew Sayaka would be fine, but she still didn't want her best friend, now adopted sister, to be alone when she wasn't paying attention to her own safety.

Suddenly an idea popped up in Madoka's mind. Spinning to face Homura who was patiently waiting next to her, she held out her hand.

"Homura? Would you mind staying with Sayaka and making sure she will be fine? I can take your grocery bag home."

Homura stayed quiet for a few moments before blinking. Reaching out to hand Madoka the bag she was carrying she gave a small nod. "Alright."

Madoka, beaming with a smile far brighter than a human should be allowed to have, quickly gave her thanks before turning and running after Mami and Kyouko who had already gone a fair distance away.

Homura honestly didn't want to have to watch over Sayaka. The bluenette was obnoxious and got on Homura's nerves a lot of the time, though she figured that came with the territory of having a younger sister. It must be hell for Mami or Kyouko to have to deal with so many younger sisters. However, being a request from Madoka, Homura didn't have the heart to turn it down.

People liked to tease Homura over her obsession with Madoka. What people said never really bothered her, because regardless of what may be actually going on, people will interpret it their own ways, which was fine, so long as they didn't get irritating with the teasing. While she did care for Madoka more than any of the other girls, there was something much deeper to it than that, something more personal.

Walking over and crouching down next to Sayaka, Homura watched Kyousuke and the unknown woman talking. They were sitting close together, looking over papers inside of a folder the woman was holding. Every so often one of them would point to something, and then the women would either erase or write something with her pencil.

Looking sidewise towards Sayaka, Homura could tell it was irritating her. Between her tightly shut mouth, narrowed eyes, clenched fists, and the slight red color spreading on her face, it was pretty obvious that Sayaka was mad.

Sayaka acted as though no one really knew, but almost anyone could tell she had a crush on the grey-haired boy. Ever since the two had met in grade school band club, they kicked it off very quickly.

Kyousuke was, for his age, a master at the violin and was quite popular for that reason. Sayaka on the other hand, was mostly a failure in the club. She tried to play the French Horn because it would be cool. However, during her time in Band club, she had almost never even played a note correctly, leading to her dropping out early on. Before she did drop out, she heard Kyousuke's violin playing and began to talk to him about music. Soon enough they became friends and the crush only developed from there.

Or at least that is what Homura had heard. One night her adoptive mother Junko had come home heavily intoxicated after a long day of work, and Homura was the only one without homework so she had to watch over Junko until she recovered. One thing led to another and suddenly Homura had gotten herself stuck listening to a long story about all of Madoka's grade school friends.

A suddenly shuffling from her side snapped Homura out of her thoughts.

"They're moving…"

Looking back towards the bench, Sayaka was right. Kyousuke and the woman had begun walking away together, still continuing their conversation.

Sayaka stood up and darted behind a nearby tree. In a comedic fashion, she would peek out and then dart to another piece of cover nearby in an attempt to follow them. Homura on the other hand, just stepped onto the walkway and walked normally, staying generally near Sayaka.

Sayaka followed Kyousuke and the woman, trying to listen in on their conversation while Homura tagged along behind not caring much about the creepy stalking her younger sister was doing. Eventually they reached a small restaurant.

It was a sort of hole-in-the-wall style place. The building wasn't that large, but it made up for room by having several tables outside. Due to the time of day it was rather slow, only one couple were sitting at an outside table. Kyousuke and the woman went inside, and after several moments went back outside to seat themselves at a table.

Sayaka paused to think for a moment before trying to sneak past Kyousuke's gaze and move inside. Even with both her lack of skill in sneaking, alongside her oddly colored blue hair, she somehow managed to avoid his gaze and get inside the restaurant. Homura, like before, simply walked past uncaring of whether she was seen or not.

The two girls were greeted by a waitress who told them to sit wherever they liked. Sayaka moved back outside and sat down at the table next to Kyousuke's, seating herself so her back was to Kyousuke's back. Homura sat herself across from Sayaka and let out a sigh before picking up the menus pre-placed on the table. All that was missing from this scene was Sayaka somehow pulling a trench coat and a hat out of nowhere and putting them on.

Leaning back, while still trying to stay hunched forward, Sayaka attempted to listen in on the conversation. Homura caught a few words she had heard from Mami and Sayaka's conversations, things like "Maestro", "Chord", and "Duet". She assumed Sayaka must know what the terms meant, as they seemed to be related to music, a subject Homura never really had much interest in.

Soon the waitress from inside came out to their table and went through the usual introduction, and asked for their order. Homura ordered just an appetizer, and considering Sayaka was so engrossed in listening into Kyousuke's conversation, she ordered something small for Sayaka as well. The girl may irritate her the majority of the time, but it wasn't with ill intent and she still was Homura's sister.

After sitting quietly, thinking over what she should do when she gets home, what Madoka might be doing right now, and a variety of other topics, the food finally came out. At the same time, the woman Kyousuke was with left the table to take a phone call. Deciding she had enough of following Sayaka around, even if it was a request by Madoka, Homura spoke up.

"Sayaka. The food's here."

Glaring at Homura with the force of an explosion, Sayaka violently hissed a "Shh" at the girl. Suddenly Kyousuke perked up and began to turn around, causing Sayaka to freeze.

"Sayaka? Is that you?"

With a cold sweat now running down her face, she slowly turned around letting out an obviously forced laugh. "Ahahahah. K-Kyousuke! What a surprise! I didn't see you there."

"I thought I heard your name! I didn't know you knew about this place Sayaka. It's pretty small, but I really like coming here." Catching that he failed to greet the ravenette properly, he faced Homura and gave a quick bow. "Hello Homura. It's been a while, but thanks for your help with the stage lighting during the last school concert.

Nodding back, Homura responded. "Of course." Several months before Kyousuke's injury, Homura had helped the school with the technical side of things for one of the violinist's concerts. She was slightly surprised he remembered her from back then.

Kyousuke turned to face Sayaka again. "I don't see you outside of school too often. How did you find this place?"

"I… er…" Sayaka begun freezing up now that the spotlight was suddenly on her. Homura, feeling oddly generous, pulled a cover story out. "We got hungry on the way back from the park and decided to stop here. We haven't been here before." Pausing to take a drink of water, Homura decided she had been nice enough for one day, it was time to start the teasing.

"We saw you in the park earlier with that lady. You two seem awfully close."

Rubbing the back of his head in a shy manner, Kyousuke responded. "Y-yeah. I've known her for a really long time. Miss Lunasa is very important to me…"

The set up was almost too perfect. "So… Is she your girlfriend?"

A massive blush burst across both Sayaka and Kyousuke's face. The grey-haired boy almost jumped up from his seat rapidly firing off responses

"No no no no! No way! I mean I like her, but not at all like that! She's my old violin teacher!"

Homura glanced over to Sayaka who seemed to be still recovering from the idea of Kyousuke having a girlfriend. A small grin spread onto Homura's face, and to hide it she took another drink from her glass. "That explains it. Doesn't it Sayaka."

Snapping back to reality, the bluenette began another forced laugh. "Hehehe, yeah. I thought you two were dating or something. It's nice to hear she is just your teacher."

Homura winced internally. "Nice to hear"? Homura didn't have much room to talk, but Sayaka really doesn't have much experience with boys if she let something like that slip out. Thankfully Kyousuke didn't seem to have noticed it.

"She is a close friend of my family. She called to see if I was willing to help her with a piece she was composing. I might even help her preform when it is finished. Assuming I get this off in time for it." Kyousuke held up his left arm which was wrapped in gauze bandages from the wrist to the elbow.

She knew that Kyousuke had been injured, potentially permanently, which caused him to spend several weeks in the hospital, but she didn't realize he was actually recovering. "I didn't know that you would be able to recover."

"I didn't expect it either. After the nerves in my left hand got hurt that badly, the doctors said I wouldn't be able to play violin ever again. Suddenly my parents got this call from a big name in the music world who said they would be willing to pay for a brand new highly specialized treatment that would help, and in return once I get out of high school I would go play for them." A massive smile spread across his face. "I'm still recovering from it, so I can't do much with this hand. But if it means I can play my violin again, I will wait as long as I need to.

"Kyousuke?"

Looking up from her meal, Homura noticed the woman had returned.

"Ah, Miss Lunasa."

"Who are these two young ladies?"

Taking a closer look at the woman before her, Homura was rather surprised by her appearance. A fully Japanese face, yet natural, undyed blond hair. Her name wasn't very Japanese, considering it was meant to be pronounced with the English "L", a sound the Japanese language lacked. Despite having perfect Japanese, she was also able to pronounce foreign words just as easily.

Pushing her thoughts aside, Homura introduced herself. "Hello. Homura Akemi."

"I'm Sayaka Miki. We are classmates of Kyousuke's."

Lunasa clapped her hands together in excitement. "Is that so? It's nice to hear that Kyousuke is able to make friends outside of music." She reached over and ruffled Kyousuke's hair, much to his dismay. "I knew you had it in you!"

"Miss Lunasa! Please stop it!"

Letting go of the boy's head, Lunasa looked between her table and the one Homura and Sayaka were sitting in. "Hmm… By chance, would you mind if we joined you at your table? I would like to be able to talk with you both some more."

Sayaka responded happily, while Homura just gave a nod.

Pulling out their chairs, Kyousuke and Lunasa moved their drinks over and sat down on opposite sides between the two girls.

"I have a very important question for you two girls, since you are his classmates. What types of things does he get into during school? Does he have a girlfriend? Or maybe does he swing the other way?"

Almost immediately Lunasa scooted close to Sayaka so that she could tease Kyousuke. Sayaka, understanding what the older woman was attempting to do, backed her up and played along.

Homura found it interesting how Sayaka would change from being timid and shy around Kyousuke, to being open as long as there was someone else with her. It almost felt like the bluenette mimicked the emotions of those around her. If others were outgoing and happy, she would be too, but if they were introverted and sad, she would be as well. It was just one of the many things she would have to learn about her new sisters.

Well, it seems Sayaka was all set now. There wasn't any need to hang around any longer. But at the same time, being around others like this, it sort of felt… nice.

Maybe she would stick around a little longer. She needs to watch over her younger sister after all.

I think this chapter came out well, at least most of it. I still don't like the ending, but I wanted to get it out in time for Valentine's day. And for those wondering, yes Kyousuke's teacher is based on Lunasa Prismriver from Touhou. I like the Prismriver sisters, and I felt with how Lunasa is literally a ghost formed from a violin(and memories of it's player) she would work as a violin teacher.

I also hope the stuff about Kyousuke was alright. This series is meant to be light hearted(Which is why I removed the halloween chapter and made it it's own story) so I didn't want him to never be able to play violin again, but it was hard coming up with an idea that wasn't just a Deus Ex Machina that had no connections to the main show. I figured that due to how fancy his hospital room was, his parents must either be extremely rich, or someone interested in his playing was willing to pay the bills. The latter seems more likely just because we know nothing of his family, so I picked that for this story.

Anywho, stayed tuned next time when Kyouko takes a day off to bond with her new father and little brother.