The first thing Sayaka did when she got home was pull off everything and change into her pajamas. It was warm out, so the bottoms she went for were pink shorts covered in a fine layer of soft fuzz. The top was just a plain T, the same pastel pink as the bottoms, with a small pocket over the left breast. In spite of wearing her pajamas, Sayaka had no intention of going to bed just yet. Watching the others work their way through absorbing the work she and Ariez had put together, and then taking that information and formulating their own parts, had instilled in Sayaka a feeling like she needed to finish a song on her own. Now that it seemed it would only be a day or two before the song they'd made together would be finished, she was determined to finish at least one of the songs she had on the line before then.

She looked through the different songs that were her current works in progress, idly humming the tune of each one as she looked over them. She looked over the first one, the one closest to being done, and started singing it out to herself. "I try so hard to be with you, but I fall apart like I do." She trailed off, humming the rest of her way through the chorus, moving on to the next song. She quickly scrolled past it to the one after that, deciding she didn't have the patience for it. "Hmm... hmm... yeah." She took her headphones and slid them on over her ears, pressing play.

Song: Toxic Princess - Artist: Sayaka Hino - Genre: Thrash Metal

There at the bottom of the well.
On a throne placed so high.
She sits waiting for the dead.
To come before her.

There's a story no one can tell.
For when you see her smile.
You will know you are dead.
And come before her.

She's the phantom of the graveyard courts.
The ruler of all our dead hearts.
Swaying hold is holding sway for ought.

She's the devil's daughter, bloody bites.
Treading water in the night.
Breeding contempt in our hearts for aye.

In the depths of poisoned Earth.
Giving no one any hope.
Her red eyes watch for us.
To come before her.

None of us have any worth.
By gun or knife or glass or rope.
Dust to life to death to dust.
We come before her.

She's the phantom of the graveyard courts.
The ruler of all our dead hearts.
Swaying hold is holding sway for ought.

She's the devil's daughter, bloody bites.
Treading water in the night.
Breeding contempt in our hearts for aye.

Stand before her now.
Bow ever further down.
The toxic princess.

From the cradle to the grave.
No one's safe, no one is saved.
From the toxic princess.

She's the phantom of the graveyard courts.
The ruler of all our dead hearts.
Swaying hold is holding sway for ought.

She's the devil's daughter, bloody bites.
Treading water in the night.
Breeding contempt in our hearts for aye.

With her eyes closed, Sayaka listened to the song, paying close attention to what she thought needed adjusting. Once it had finished, she had picked out something that didn't sound right. Clicking on her computer, tapping away at her keyboard, she calmly adjusted the volume levels for the drum, reducing a few particular aspects and slightly increasing others. When she closed her eyes to listen through the song again, she found it a little better in some ways, not so good in a few others. Groaning, she paused the song and went back into the mix. Now the sharp popping sound of the drums wasn't so overbearing, but in its place there was a dull thud. She adjusted certain things back, but not as far, crossing her fingers that the problem was solved.

She pressed play again, and closed her eyes, immediately pulled out of it by a sound like someone stomping a cardboard box. That was not what she'd intended at all. This was going to lengthen the process in ways she did not care for, but now she would have to adjust every different aspect of the drum sound one by one, increment by increment. It would probably take all night. Grumbling to herself, because no one else was there to grumble to, she got up to get a shower. She knew if she actually took the time to learn how to use the programs she was using, it would most likely take a lot less time, but she hadn't been able to find any reliable tutorials. She desperately needed a professional to show her the ropes.

Sloppily pulling her top up over her head, pulling one arm down in through the sleeve, and then using that arm to help pull the other in before bending forward at the waist and tugging the whole thing free of her body so it could be tossed aside, she stumbled her way through the washroom door. Approaching the shower, she drew back the curtain and reached in, tapping on the control pad to activate it.

A smooth male voice filled the room. "Good evening, Sayaka. Would you like to start a shower?"

Reaching down, she slid off her bottoms, stepping out of it and tossing it out the door. She answered the automated shower with a chirp. "Yup."

"I'll prepare two dry towels for ten minutes. Standard temperature?"

"Yes please. Oh, and twenty minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure." She stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain across, tossing her hair over her shoulder with a flick.

"At your current rate of water consumption, you will exceed your monthly allowance five days before the end of the month. Confirm?"

Sayaka was nonplussed. She appreciated Mother was only looking out for her, but she didn't always enjoy having her life micromanaged. "I'll skip showers a few days. It's fine."

"Statistics advise against that action. As a girl, your attractiveness is already lower than would be standard for your height, build, and bodyfat-"

"Start the damn shower."

"Affirmative. Would you like something to view?"

"Yes I would. Whatever's next on my recommended feed, please."

"Affirmative."

As the water started to pour, warm streams massaging her head and running down her body, the control screen lit up with the moving images of two men. She leaned over the screen, watching closely as the two bodies moved closer together. She felt her face heating up as one of the men began undoing the other's belt. Before long, they were embraced and moving in rhythm. Other parts of her body were heating up, and her hand found its place in exacerbating her condition. Between gasps and moans, moments where she couldn't keep her eyes open, she fixed her stare on the screen and let out a perverted laugh. If someone had been in her apartment, outside the washroom, they would have been startled by a sudden pleasured cry and subsequent loud moans.

Standing with one hand firmly between her legs and the other pressing up against her breast, Sayaka was startled by a sudden sputter from the shower. The computer voice explained itself. "Ten minutes have passed. I recommend using the remaining time as intended, by actually taking a shower."

"Ugh." She reached up and took the showerhead off, pulling it down. "If I want your advice, I'll say so."

At this point, she really did take the automated advice, and started washing up. Some shampoo and soap later, and she felt doubly refreshed. Admittedly, most of that was her adventure during the first half of the shower, but that was just the normal course of things. As the water shut off, she pulled the curtain aside and stepped out of the shower. The colder room temperature washed over her, causing certain points to stick up, and she hummed in delight at the sensation.

A shelf opened in the wall beside her. "Two dry towels."

"Thank you." She took the top towel out and wrapped it around her hair, to keep it out of the way for now. The second towel, she wrapped around herself, running it over a few spots that needed a little quicker dry. After a few minutes of drying off, and a few more of taking care of her hair, she got back into her pajamas and sat back down in front of her work station. This was the real computer, the one that only did exactly what she told it to. She stretched out a few stiff joints and settled in to work. Before she started, though, she shook her hands to loosen up. Of course, she had to get her blood pumping, so she quickly got out of her seat for five pushups, and then sat back down, ready to go. A few stretches later, and it was time to get moving. It was at this moment that she realized she'd let stuff pile up on her desk, so she needed to take care of that first. "Fuck me." Sayaka punched herself in the face.

It was super effective.

Three hours passed, with Sayaka changing the mix by just the tiniest bit, then listening, stopping, and adjusting a tiny bit further. It was long, arduous, and painstaking, but by the end of three hours, she was done. Either the song now sounded perfect, or she was too tired to be able to tell any longer what was and wasn't good. She sat back and listened through it one more time. Her fog of exhaustion made it difficult to tell, but it really seemed to be what she wanted.

"Sayaka."

Sayaka bolted upright at the sound of the voice, looking around her so frantically her headphones flew off. It took her a full twenty seconds before she came to the conclusion that she'd imagined it, at which point she reached down and took her headphones off the floor, placing them back where they belonged. It was at this point the male computer voice came back to her again.

"Sayaka, you need to prepare for school. As it stands, you will be at least five minutes late for your first class today."

"Oh." Sayaka threw off the headphones, and her pajamas, racing to put on her school uniform and jacket, grabbing her bag and rushing out the door, slamming it behind her. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" She ran out of her apartment building and down the street to the nearest stairs, which led up to the next level of the city. Running across walkways and jumping over a fox, she reached the nearest bus stop to her home. She looked at the time. Another bus would not be by for fifteen minutes. "You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

A taxi flew by overhead, causing a wind that whipped her hair up into her face. She staggered for a moment, grabbing onto the bus stop sign and wrapping her arm around it while she unwrapped her hair from around her head. Once it had passed and she was able to see again, she looked down at the city. She could see nearly a hundred stories below her. Sayaka did a double take, quickly recounting. It was only ninety-seven floors down to the tertiary ground floor that covered the base of the quaternary city. She looked up and down the street to see where her actual bus was on its way to her actual stop, two stories up.

"Mother..." Dashing away from the edge of the sidewalk, she ran again to the nearest stairs and clamored up them, even pulling herself up with her hands. She turned on a dime and rushed up the next stairs to reach the correct level and bolted to the bus stop, grabbing onto it to stop herself from careening off the edge. She leaned out, holding on by one hand and waving to the bus. It approached and slowed to a stop, the door opening. Sayaka ran her hands down her uniform, smoothing it out, and stepped onto the bus. "Sayaka Hino." Once she said her name, there was a flash as the bus scanned her face, and she quickly took a seat.

Once the bus started moving again, Sayaka slumped forward in her seat and let out a long breath. The bus went into a dive, and she hit her head on the seat in front of her. Reeling back, hand on her forehead, Sayaka was about to let out another curse when she caught herself. She was in public now. She needed to not say something like that. Taking her hand off her head, she steadied herself with her arm, propping herself up against the back of the seat in front of her, and looked around. There weren't that many people on the bus, but there was a girl from her school directly across from her. She clearly had seen what just happened, and was stifling a giggle at Sayaka's expense. Sayaka had half a mind to teach her a lesson, but at the moment her head was rattled and she wasn't exactly sure what lesson that would be, and since it felt like she only had half a mind altogether right now, it was best she didn't.

Then Sayaka realized that, if she was going to be at least five minutes late, then so was this girl. Small victories.