Sukeban

“Haruna, are you sure about this?” Mami looked up as she said her words, her eyes peering over at the girl who stood directly across from her. Haruna was leaned against the brick wall behind her, one leg reached up and pressed tightly back against the wall. Her arms laid crossed over her chest while her head stayed bowed, her eyes remaining trained on the ground. She never made any movements to look up at Mami.

“I’m sure.”

Despite her words, Mami didn’t think Haruna sounded so sure about whatever it was that she had planned. She couldn’t call Haruna out on it though; Mami knew very well that the girl’s stubborn attitude would never let her admit something like that. It would just cause more problems.

When the girls were headed to their hiding spot, Mami considered backing out again. It would be her last chance to after all. Once this started, she knew she wouldn’t be able to just back out of it. But when she considered doing that, she also remembered everything that she had promised to Haruna and everything she had been through with Haruna. No matter how much of a bad feeling she got, it didn’t change the friendship she had with Haruna. She was going to see this through to the end no matter what, just like she always did.

“Do you know what to do, Mami?” The blonde let the soft sigh pass her lips as she nodded her head, her eyes darting back to the ground. She shoved her hands into her jean pockets, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. This wasn’t like Mami. Whenever they did things like this, Mami usually never minded it. But this time… Haruna was acting so odd. It made the blonde uncomfortable; it gave her a really bad feeling. She couldn’t make the bad feeling Haruna’s odd behavior was giving her go away.

“I know what to do,” Mami responded finally. Haruna had made the beginning of the plan perfectly crystal clear to Mami before they had even begun their trek over here. Mami was supposed to get Hana to Haruna no matter what, and the blonde already had a good idea on how to do that. She could just do it the same way she’d done things so many times in the past.

The girls let the silence overtake them again, neither one knowing what else to say to continue a conversation like that. Every so often, Mami would peek around the corner, looking for the familiar teenager they were waiting for. Haruna had done her research and knew that this was an area where Hana often passed on her way. It was the only place they’d be able to accomplish this. It would only give them a few seconds window but for someone like Mami, a few seconds was all she needed.

“She’s coming,” Mami said after a few minutes, her eyes staying trained on the black haired teenager she saw coming towards them. She had her head down, her hands messing with her phone and Mami could see the headphones connected to it. Hana really was going to make this too easy for her.

“Good, you know where to bring her. I’ll be waiting.”

Mami couldn’t find it in her to respond as she watched Haruna turn, making her way further back into the alley. Both of the girls knew better than to do this so close to the street, the last thing they wanted was for someone to see and intervene. It would be more of a challenge to get Hana back to where Haruna was waiting but nothing was impossible for Mami.

Mami pressed herself against the building she stood by, one hand pressed tightly against the cold wall while the other one clenched tightly at her side. Her eyes stayed on the senior girl the entire time, her mind counting the seconds as she watched each step her target took.

When the teenager got to the perfect spot, Mami reached out quickly, grabbing Hana’s arm and swinging her around. She could hear the girl let out a pained cry as her back slammed into the wall. Mami quickly moved in front of Hana, punching the senior girl in the jaw, leaving her in a temporarily dazed state.

“Let’s go, Hana, there’s someone who is dying to see you,” Mami murmured to the dazed girl. She let Hana slump to the floor before hooking her arms around the older girl’s arms, beginning to drag her back to where she knew Haruna would be waiting.

It didn’t take long for Hana to begin stirring in Mami’s arms, causing the blonde to curse softly under her breath. She must not have hit Hana hard enough. She had to hurry if she didn’t want Hana coming back to reality before she was supposed to.

Mami let out a soft grunt as she closed the rest of the distance, attempting to lift Hana back up into a standing position. She could feel the girl’s legs beginning to move on their own, her head shaking slowly. Seeing no other choice, Mami let the girl drop to the ground before she could come to, her head hitting the pavement hard. That wasn’t the plan but it would have to work for now.

Mami wiped the sweat from her brow, walking back over to the girl sprawled out in the floor. She could hear a soft groan slip past Hana’s lips as she brought a hand up to rub her head slowly. Mami looked down at the girl, bringing her foot down hard on Hana’s ribcage, earning herself a cry of pain from the girl.

“Get up,” she ordered, giving her another kick. She watched as Hana rolled over onto her side, her shaky arms trying to push her now bruised body off the floor. Mami turned when she heard the footsteps. She turned in time to see Haruna walking over to them. Mami knew there was a possibility that Haruna wouldn’t be too happy with how far back Mami had gotten Hana but it was as much as the blonde could manage.

The black haired teenager in-between the two coughed slightly while she pushed herself up to her feet, her eyes glaring at the brunette who stood in front of her now. Haruna had a sweet smile on her face, and that was probably one of the scariest looks the boss could ever have at a time like this. Her feet backed her up slowly but she’d been so focused on Haruna that she hadn’t noticed the blonde teenager standing behind her. As Hana got closer, Mami reached out, giving her a rough shove back in Haruna’s direction.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Mami growled out lowly. Hana turned slightly, her glare turning to be directed at the blonde. Mami smiled, her arms coming to cross themselves over her chest as she stood in-between Hana and her only means of escape. In such a narrow passageway, Hana would definitely have to find a way to get past Mami if she wanted to get out of here.

“I’m glad you could join us today,” Haruna said, commanding the teenager’s attention back to her. Mami watched as Hana’s hands curled into fists and she knew that the teenager was doing her best to try and intimidate Haruna.

“You’ve picked such a dreary place for a reunion,” Hana replied, a soft chuckle leaving her. Mami could distinctly hear the low growl that Haruna had let out and she knew the boss’ anger was already beginning to reach its peak.

“I think we need to have a talk.”

“A talk? Whatever do you mean?” Haruna clenched her fists; nearly using everything she had in her not to hit Hana. She didn’t want to just yet; she wanted to have her fun with Hana still.

“Mami, grab her.” Mami stumbled back at the sudden order for the boss but she reacted nonetheless. She grabbed Hana’s arm, twisting it behind the girl’s back before she had a chance to react. She saw the flash of motion, knowing full well that Hana was going to try and hit her with the arm Mami hadn’t grabbed. Mami reached out, managing to grab Hana’s wrist right before it hit her, twisting it behind Hana’s back much like she had done with the first one.

She brought one knee up; slamming it hard into the girl’s back, making her stumble forward onto her knees. Mami leaned down, settling close to Hana as she kept the teenager’s arms restrained. On her knees with Mami holding her tightly, Hana wasn’t going anywhere until Mami let her go.

“That’s quite a compromising position that you’re in, Hana,” Haruna stated, taking a few steps towards the two girls entangled together.

Mami looked up through the blonde locks that had fallen in her face, her breathing slightly heavy as she could feel the small beads of sweat beginning to roll down her forehead.

“Does it remind you of anything though?” Haruna continued. Mami could hear the soft laugh come from the girl in her arms, her head bowing and her black hair falling forward.

“You mean the time I gave your girlfriend a lesson she deserved?” It was only seconds after Hana had said her words did she feel the fist connect with her face again. Only this time, it had come from Haruna and not from Mami.

Hana’s head snapped up to glare at the girl who had struck her. Haruna had stepped back, her own eyes narrowed into a glare and her temper finally reaching its peak. The only thing Haruna could feel right now was anger.

“Deserved? That’s funny because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re the one who deserved the lesson,” Haruna countered her. Hana smiled up at Haruna, her mind going through all the ways she could reply to Haruna. Even if one of Haruna’s little minions had her held down, that didn’t mean she was just going to let Haruna win like that.

“You know, Hana, those bruises look quite nice on you,” Mami chimed in. She could hear the new laugh that had left Hana at her words.

“Do they? I wonder if they look as good on Rina--” Hana’s sentence was cut short, Haruna striking the girl in the face again. Hana could feel the soft trickle of blood trailing down her chin and she knew that Haruna’s hit would leave a nasty mark on her. She was getting real tired of these two leaving all these marks on her face like this.

“Don’t test me,” Haruna warned her.

“I’m just answering your questions, you know,” Hana countered. Haruna scoffed, rolling her eyes at the girl before taking a few more steps towards her. Haruna was done playing. She hadn’t even started to really play yet but she didn’t even want to look at Hana right now; it was time to get this over with so she could get far away from her again.

“Now, Hana, I think your memories of that night might be a little skewed. But I’m sure Mami remembers it just as well as I do,” Haruna said, her attention turning to the girl holding Hana down. Mami shook her head in an effort to get the hair out of her face as her eyes connected with Haruna’s, the boss giving her a silent order to speak.

“But it would appear that the tables are turned this time, wouldn’t it?” Mami asked. While she said her words, Mami dug her nails into Hana’s exposed arms, making a whispered hiss of pain be released from the girl. Haruna smiled at what Mami had done, closing the distance that was left between her and Hana.

While she did so, Mami let her mind began to drift off back to that night. Back to the night where nearly everything began to come unraveled for Rina. Mami didn’t even know how it had happened or how Hana had accomplished it but as much as Mami would like to pretend it was just a bad nightmare, she couldn’t. She knew it was a reality.

Mami remembered the night clearly as if it were still recent despite having been done months ago. She remembered how Haruna had come to her house in the middle of the night nearly in hysterics; it had been the first time in forever that she seen the headstrong girl crying. Haruna showed her the weird text messages that she’d been getting from Rina, she had begged Mami to come look for Rina with her. The girls had called everyone, but no one seemed to know where Rina was at. No one had seen her for hours.

The girls hadn’t been searching for long before they started getting directions from Rina. They followed the directions, being led to the familiar park. They searched the park for what felt like forever to the two worried girls before they found the group of people they’d been waiting for. There was a part of Mami who regretted finding them even though she knew that it was best for Rina that they be found.

Mami could remember walking up to the group as they finally came into view. She remembered the first thing she saw too. She saw Hana, leaned up against a tree, a knife clutched tightly in one hand and her other one tossing Rina’s phone up and down in the air. Her eyes had darted to Rina, the bloodied and battered girl being held down tightly by one of Hana’s friends. The rest of the night was nearly a blur. Mami could remember Haruna losing control, attacking Hana for what she had done. It took every ounce of strength that Mami had to pry Haruna off of the teenager and convince her it was more important to get Rina to a hospital. They didn’t know how badly Rina had been injured, it was their only option. The girls would find out later that Rina wasn’t anywhere near as badly injured as she had looked; she only had a few cuts up and down her arms.

It was at the hospital that Mami lost control herself. She could remember hitting and yelling at Haruna, demanding to know what she had done to Hana. Looking back on it, Mami regretted it. She knew that Haruna was hurting and blaming herself, but she also knew that it had been Haruna’s fault and that is why she had freaked out on Haruna like that. Mami knew that there was no way Rina could accomplish making someone so angry that they would turn to something like that.

To this day, Mami still didn’t know what Haruna had done to the teenager. She didn’t know what had triggered Hana’s actions. She believed that Haruna would tell her when she was ready to; she wasn’t going to push the subject. She still believed Haruna would tell her eventually.

Mami was snapped back to reality when she felt Hana start to thrash in her arms. The blonde grunted lowly, her nails digging into Hana’s arms again as she attempted to hold the girl still. She dug her knee into the girl’s back, finally feeling her start to calm down. When she had, Mami’s eyes trained in front of her to see Haruna was kneeling in front of Hana. She had one hand laid on her leg that was covered by her blue jeans as her other arm laid motionless by her side.

“I have a surprise for you, Hana,” Haruna said. The two girls watched as the boss pulled her hand behind her back. Haruna dipped her fingertips into the waistband of her jeans, curling her fingers around the small object she had hidden. She pulled it out, letting it open with a soft shing and watching as the two girls’ eyes widened in fear.

Haruna had a knife.

Mami could feel Hana begin to squirm in her grasp again. She quickly pushed her knee against Hana’s back again, forcing her to calm down quickly. Mami’s eyes never left Haruna; she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the leader. She watched as the boss pushed herself up into a standing position, stumbling back a bit away from where Mami held Hana down.

The knife that Haruna had wasn’t very big; it was a mere pocket knife. Mami knew that the knife couldn’t be used to kill or seriously harm Hana, but it still gave the blonde a sick feeling. It was just large enough to make decent sized cuts on anyone. This was one thing she never thought she’d see the boss even thinking about doing. Haruna had done a lot of things and she was a lot of things, but Mami always thought she was above this.

“Hana, I don’t think I ever paid you back properly for the first time. You’ve shown me that I let you off too easily last time and now, after what you’ve done, I don’t intend to make that same mistake. There’s an old saying, I’m sure you know it. An eye for an eye, does it ring any bells?”

Mami could feel Hana stiffen in her arms and she knew that the fear was finally beginning to set in for Hana, but it was also beginning to set in for Mami. The boss had completely lost it this time. For someone who had known Haruna for so long, the boss had become fairly predictable to Mami but right now, Mami didn’t know at all what the boss would be capable of.

“Haruna…” Mami began but she was quickly silenced when Haruna shot her a harsh glare, which Mami knew told her to be quiet. Mami bit down hard on her lip, her head bowing downward as she shut her eyes tightly.

What did she do?

She knew that Rina couldn’t know what Haruna was doing today. If she did, Rina never would have agreed to this. Haruna was doing this without Rina’s knowledge; she was doing this without anyone’s knowledge. Mami knew that Haruna was only trying to protect Rina, but she also knew that the boss was going about it in completely the wrong way. Mami knew that the boss was only seeing red at this point, the only thing registering to her was wanting to make Hana pay for what she had done.

If Haruna went through with this, Mami knew that she’d get in big trouble for it. Haruna had escaped a lot of things but when it involved someone like Hana, there was no way she would be able to escape it this time. She couldn’t run from it and she wouldn’t be able to talk her way out of it. People would find out it was her; they’d take Haruna away. She couldn’t let Rina lose Haruna like that…. She couldn’t lose Haruna like that.

“Haruna,” Mami said again, her tone becoming harder this time. Unlike the last, Haruna didn’t acknowledge the blonde. Instead, she turned her full attention to Hana.

“I think you need to understand what real pain is, Hana,” Haruna began, walking back over to Hana.

Mami let out a low growl, her hands finally freeing Hana’s. Haruna was going to be mad at her for this, but it was better for Haruna to be mad than in prison. Mami let go of Hana, pushing herself off the ground and launching herself at Haruna. She grabbed the older girl’s wrist, using her other hand to shove Haruna against the wall.

“Drop the knife!” Mami ordered her, holding her tightly where she had been pinned. She could feel Haruna beginning to struggle underneath her but she didn’t intend to let her go. “Please don’t do this to yourself.”

“Let go of me!” Haruna shouted at her. Haruna raised her free hand, balling it into a fist and bringing it down hard onto Mami’s back. She could feel the blonde’s body falter, but Mami wouldn’t let her go. She held her stance, continuing to press against Haruna tightly. She had made her decision, she had to stop Haruna. Since the boss wasn’t making any movements to drop the knife, Mami decided she had to force Haruna to drop it.

She sunk her fingernails into Haruna’s arm, slowly turning her hands. She could see the claw marks begin to appear, the blood rushing to the surface and leaving bright red marks on Haruna’s pale skin. She heard Haruna cry out from the pain, her hand unclasping and letting the knife drop to the pavement. When she had, Mami let the boss go, quickly grabbing the knife and stepping away from her.

“Pathetic, you’ve gone soft, Mami.” The blonde turned to look at the teenager who had said her words. Hana had pushed herself off the ground, having taken a few steps away from the struggling girls.

“Why you little--” Haruna growled. Mami reacted quickly, grabbing the boss’ arm and holding her back. Mami could see that Haruna had lost control of her emotions. It was how she worked and that would be her downfall someday. When she got upset enough, she let her emotions take control. She stopped being cold and calculating and started working on impulse. It had often led Haruna and the others into doing stupid things because the boss had stopped thinking clearly.

“Oh, Haruna, you shouldn’t be so hasty, you know. We’ve got plenty of time to talk to people,” Hana mocked. Mami could swear she could feel Haruna’s blood boiling the leader was so visibly angry. “I guess I can assume that Rina didn’t pass along the message?”

Mami and Haruna exchanged glances with each other before looking over at Hana again. They had no idea what she was talking about. Rina had never told them of any message but then again, they hadn’t really given her the chance to. She was passed out the majority of Thursday and they all tried to ignore what had happened the day after.

“What message?” Mami asked. She heard Hana scoff at her question.

“What an idiot, can’t even complete a simple task,” she mumbled under her breath, but both of the girls had heard it loud and clear.

“Watch your mouth,” Haruna said, her tone low and threatening.

“Or what?” Hana challenged her. Mami felt Haruna break her arm away from Hana but she wasn’t about to have any of that. She was fast to move, grabbing Haruna’s arm again and shoving her against the wall. There was something more to this; she knew the best option was to hear Hana out, even if that wasn’t what either of them particularly wanted to hear.

“Would you like to find out?” Haruna growled. She didn’t try to break away from Mami this time; she knew that the blonde would just grab her again.

“Well you could show me your threat or we could stay civilized and talk about what the message was.”

“You? Civilized? That’s funny, what you did doesn’t seem very civilized to me,” Haruna mocked her.

“What was Rina supposed to tell us?” Mami added in quickly before Haruna had a chance to open her mouth and say something else.

“I’m so glad you asked, Mami,” Hana responded, smiling sweetly at the blonde. The look on her face was enough to make Mami feel sick, that smile of hers wasn’t a good sign. “I know your secrets. Or, at least, I know Rina’s secrets.”

“You’re such a liar!” Haruna shouted on impulse. Haruna could feel Mami’s grip on her arm tighten and the brunette shot her friend a glare. She was going to have to have a talk with Mami about this later.

“Oh don’t be so delusional, Haruna. If I was lying, how would I know that you and Rina are together?” Hana’s smile grew as she saw the shock cross Haruna’s face. “But don’t worry, it gets better. The fun stuff has only just begun. I also happen to know that Rina is homeless, isn’t she? Poor thing, even her parents hate her.”

Mami didn’t even see it happen. She remembered hearing Hana’s words and before she could even think, Haruna had ripped herself out of Mami’s grasp, launching herself at Hana. The blonde cursed lowly, springing into action. She wrapped her arms around the shorter girl’s waist, pulling her back just before she managed to get at Hana. She swung Haruna around, slamming her face first into the wall. She really didn’t want to be doing this to Haruna of all people, but the boss wasn’t giving her any other choice.

Mami held Haruna tightly against the wall, the older girl growling at her friend as she did so. The blonde was really going to be in for it later at this rate. Mami’s breathing had gotten heavier as she turned to Hana.

“How do you know all of that?” she asked. She could feel Haruna starting to squirm in her grasp but Mami was determined not to let her escape again. She’d find a way to calm Haruna down when Hana was far away from them, she couldn’t let Haruna get near to her. She was positive that Haruna was so angry she could probably kill Hana if she wanted to.

“Who told me isn’t important, Mami. What is important is what you are all going to do to keep Rina’s secrets, well… Secret.”

“And if we don’t agree?”

“Don’t be stupid, Mami. You know very well what will happen if you don’t. But let me spell it out for you anyway. If you don’t agree to this, I will tell everyone Rina’s secret. The students. The teachers. Even the administrators, everyone will know. I’m sure it would reach the police in no time and I’m sure they’d love to know how a little fifteen year old is living all by herself undetected.”

“Or I could just shut you up right now,” Haruna threatened. Mami pushed her harder against the wall, a small hiss of pain leaving her.

“You need to stop being so quick to threaten people, Haruna. Do you really think I’m the only one who knows? My girls all know and if anything happens to me, they’ll know to spread it around the school. Hurting me isn’t going to stop it.”

“What do you want from us?” Mami asked. She could see the harsh look Haruna had given her, one that asked her what she thought she was doing. In truth, Mami didn’t know. She didn’t know why she was thinking of making a deal or why she was even bothering to hold Haruna back from injuring her. She was doing what she thought she had to do; it seemed like their only option.

“I don’t want anything from you right now but when I do, I expect you to listen. If you don’t… Well you know what happens. Behave yourselves until then,” Hana said with a newfound smirk on her face

Mami was helpless to do anything but watch as Hana turned on her heels, walking away from the two girls. This had not gone in their favor at all. As soon as Hana was gone, Mami stepped away from Haruna, fully expecting the boss to swing around and smack her.

But that’s not what Haruna did. In fact, the boss didn’t move at all. Haruna had taken a few steps back, but she remained against the wall. Her head leaned down on the cold bricks, her eyes fluttering shut.

“What are we going to do, Haruna?” Mami asked softly. She felt more fear right now than she had throughout the entire day. It was always a scary thing when the loud boss was tis quiet. The next response Mami got from Haruna was one she never thought she would hear the boss say.

“I don’t know.”