Sukeban

Tomomi’s eyes scanned the sides of the houses as she padded down the side walk, one of her arms holding the stack of papers tightly against her chest while the other one gripped her school bag tightly. Tomomi diligently searched for the correct address and nameplate no matter how much her mind yelled at her for it. Tomomi’s mind was urging her to turn back and give up on the task. She could think up a lie to tell the teacher as to why the assignments didn’t get delivered.

The brunette didn’t even fully understand how she had found herself in this position. She had been sitting innocently in class minding her own business when she heard the teacher call on her. It turned out that when she was busy spacing out, the teacher had been looking for volunteers to take Mami’s assignments to her. No one volunteered; no one would ever want to get that close to such a personal space of hers. So the teacher simply picked a volunteer and Tomomi got to be the lucky one who got picked.

Tomomi had thought it would be simple. After all, she did think at the time that she would just see Mami after school; Mami did say she would see Tomomi today when she left her house yesterday. But that’s not the way things went. When school had ended, Tomomi found out from Rina that Mami wasn’t planning on being with them at all that day despite what Mami had told Tomomi. Hearing that, Tomomi knew she had no choice but to track down Mami.

Tomomi sighed softly as she recalled the thoughts on how this had all happened. What had she done to deserve this? It was like the universe was trying to punish her for something by putting her in all of these spots. Tomomi had felt so comfortable around Mami yesterday but today would be completely different. They were at Tomomi’s house before, now she was trying to track down Mami’s.

With how protective all of the girls seemed over their houses, Tomomi was thinking the worst about how Mami would react to all of this. The girls had made it clear to the brunette that they didn’t want her figuring out about their home lives and Mami did have a tendency to let her temper get out of control… Another sigh fell from Tomomi’s lips as she shook her head. What ridiculous thoughts. Mami couldn’t possibly be that angry over this, there was nothing to worry about. Tomomi was just being irrational.

Her walking came to a slower pace when her eyes laid on the set of numbers her teacher had given her. She walked closer to the small fence that surrounded the house, noticing that the plate did indeed have the name Sasazaki on it. Tomomi’s body froze as she looked over at the house in front of her. At that moment, Tomomi was really wishing she had told Rina why she had asked for Mami so Rina could be doing this instead of lying and saying she was only curious. Things would be so much easier if she had only had the common sense to do that.

Tomomi shook her head again, shrugging off the thoughts that plagued her mind. As she pushed open the iron gate, she let her thoughts wander back to yesterday. Why was she thinking all of these bad things about Mami? Tomomi remembered how much fun and how sweet Mami was with her yesterday, she didn’t really think Mami would actually hurt her anymore. It was just in her nature to worry about things, even if those worries may not have the littlest chance of becoming reality.

Tomomi took a deep breath as she raised her hand, knocking loudly on the front door. She stepped back, picking up her bag again from where she had set it down to be able to knock. She stood back on her heels, waiting for someone to answer the door. It didn’t take long before Tomomi heard the lock click and the door be pulled open.

“Can I help you?” Tomomi heard the soft voice ask. She looked up at the older woman now standing in front of her, the woman’s body slightly leaning on the door. Right away, Tomomi could see the resemblance between this woman and Mami. The way the woman’s long black hair fell around her face, framing the similar facial features that reminded Tomomi so much of Mami.

“I have some assignments for Mami from the teacher,” Tomomi said after a brief silence. The brunette could see the stunned look cross the woman’s face.

“That’s surprising; Mami usually doesn’t get any visitors.” Tomomi was a little surprised by the woman’s words. She had been sure that the other girls would visit Mami’s house from time to time but based off of her words, Tomomi wondered if she was wrong about that. “Mami is in her room, why don’t you come in and I’ll show you where that is?”

“That would be nice, thank you,” Tomomi replied politely, bowing quickly to the woman. The woman gave her a smile before stepping aside, letting the brunette into the house. Tomomi stepped in slowly, stepping off to the side and turning back to the older woman behind her.

“Come with me,” the woman said. She walked past Tomomi, motioning for the teenager to follow her. Seeing as she didn’t really have another option, Tomomi followed who she figured was Mami’s mother down the hallway.

Tomomi could feel the dreary and strange atmosphere of the house as she was led throughout it. The outside had looked quite normal but now that she was inside… There was something off about it. The brunette couldn’t pinpoint what was causing her to feel that sort of atmosphere in the house, the only thing she really knew was that it was there and she couldn’t shake it. Even with the friendly behavior of Mami’s mother, Tomomi couldn’t get rid of the feeling that was bearing down on her.

“This is her room,” the woman said, snapping Tomomi out of her thoughts. Tomomi looked in between the sweetly smiling woman and the door before giving her another nod.

“Thank you,” Tomomi said softly. The woman gave her another smile before making her way back in the direction they came from, leaving Tomomi alone to confront Mami.

Tomomi let out a shaky stream of breath as she took a few small steps towards the door. She continued to remind herself not to be scared, repeating it in her head like a mantra. This was Mami. While Mami may have been scary before, she wasn’t scary now. Mami wouldn’t hurt her; she had to keep reminding herself of that. Tomomi was just being silly with all these negative thoughts.

The brunette laid her hand down on the cold doorknob, twisting slowly and pushing open the bedroom door. She poked her head inside, her eyes scanning the room as a soft melody floated into her ears. Her eyes soon laid on Mami, the blonde girl sitting cross-legged on the bed with a guitar balanced on her lap. Her head was tilted downwards, her bright blonde locks falling down her shoulders and settling just in front of the guitar she held.

Tomomi’s breath hitched in her throat, her eyes widening as her grip on the doorknob tightened. Mami looked so beautiful right now. Tomomi didn’t really want to disturb her, but she really had no other options. It’s not like she could just stand here and secretly watch her.

“Mami,” Tomomi called the girl’s name. Mami didn’t budge, Tomomi figuring that the blonde had just not heard her. Letting out a soft sigh and clearing her throat, Tomomi spoke her name a bit louder, this time getting her attention.

Mami’s head snapped up when she heard her name, her eyes widening when she saw the familiar brunette standing in the doorway. She reacted quickly, jumping off the bed and leaning her guitar up against it. What on earth was she doing here? How did she even find her house? This was about the last thing Mami wanted Tomomi seeing at the moment.

“What are you doing here?” Mami asked her, voicing the inner thoughts that flew through her mind. She could see Tomomi falter back, a look of fear flashing through her eyes. But the brunette tried to hold herself firm, clearing her throat and taking a few small steps closer to Mami.

“The teachers asked me to give these to you,” Tomomi said before she thrust the stack of papers towards Mami. The blonde raised an eyebrow at what Tomomi was offering her, taking the stack from her hands. She scoffed when she looked through it, tossing the stack onto the desk in her room.

“Our teachers are dreamers, aren’t they? As if I’m going to do their work when they suspended me,” Mami scoffed out, rolling her eyes to go with. Tomomi let out a small laugh at her words, she had a feeling Mami would say something like that. Truthfully, Tomomi didn’t even know why their teachers were bothering giving her schoolwork through her suspension. She barely did her work when she was at school, what made them think she’d do it at home?

An awkward silence worked its way in between the two girls, neither of them knowing what to say. This was more awkward than anything for Tomomi. Tomomi clasped her hands behind her back, beginning to rock back and forth on her heels.

“You sounded really good by the way,” Tomomi mentioned to her finally. She didn’t want this silence to continue between them so she had said the first thing that came to mind in order to break it. She could hear the blonde let out a soft chuckle before she saw Mami shake her head.

“I’m not that good, I’m just beginning,” she responded to her. Tomomi wanted to respond to Mami, but she didn’t really know what to say to her. She had a feeling her compliments would only make things that much more awkward. She stayed quiet, allowing the silence to wedge its way back in. She scratched the back of her neck nervously, her eyes darting down to the ground.

“So…” Tomomi began.

“I think you should leave now,” Mami said quickly once she had heard Tomomi speak up. She watched as the brunette’s head shot up, her eyes widening and Mami could see the hurt in them. She knew Tomomi would take that the wrong way; she took everything the wrong way. She didn’t particularly want Tomomi to leave but she’d rather Tomomi leave than let her stick around and have her mother start in.

“But, Mami…” Tomomi tried to reason but found herself being cut off yet again by the blonde.

“Don’t take it personally, Tomomi. No one is allowed over at my house. Thank you for bringing this to me but I think you should get going,” Mami continued to insist. Tomomi let out a huff of air, her eyes darting to the ground and her grip on her bag tightening.

“If you insist,” she murmured softly. She didn’t really want to leave. Tomomi was no longer scared, the fear had disappeared when she had seen Mami and the gentle way she reacted to Tomomi being here. In a way, Tomomi wanted to stay. It was still awkward being in Mami’s house when the girl desperately tried to hide her home life from Tomomi but Tomomi kind of liked it. She had grown to just like being around Mami no matter what sort of situation they were in.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“You said that yesterday,” Tomomi grumbled. She thought she had said it low enough that Mami hadn’t heard her but the laugh that the blonde let out after her words made it clear to Tomomi that Mami had indeed heard what she had said.

“Getting attached to me, eh?” Mami said with a sly smile on her face.

Tomomi could feel her cheeks heating up again. She let her head bow, her long locks falling in her face in an attempt to cover the blush she knew was creeping up on her. She was not getting attached to Mami. No way.

“I’m sorry for ditching you all today but something came up, I promise I’ll be there tomorrow.” Tomomi peeked up through her hair, noticing that Mami was giving her a sweet smile. Tomomi gulped when she saw how Mami was looking at her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Tomomi choked out.

“Come on, I’ll take you back down,” Mami said. She walked closer to Tomomi, making her way past the brunette and out of the room. She stopped shortly, turning around and staring at Tomomi. The brunette took the hint, jumping slightly before she quickly made her way over to Mami. Together the two of them made their way through the house and back out to the front door.

“Bye, Mami,” Tomomi said softly. She gave the blonde a small wave, smiling when she saw Mami return her gesture. With that last goodbye, Tomomi left the house, closing the door behind her.

When she was safely outside, she let a sigh slip past her lips, a hand running through her hair. As much as she would like to, Tomomi couldn’t deny it anymore. Ever since she first began feeling like this, she tried to deny and ignore it, but she couldn’t do that anymore. Somewhere along the way and through all the chaos Mami and the others had put her through, Tomomi had found herself developing a crush on the headstrong blonde.

How could this even happen? Mami was the complete opposite of what Tomomi’s type was. She’d never fallen for a person quite like Mami. She’d never fallen for someone so hotheaded and out there. She never even thought she would, people like Mami were never the type of person she would enjoy being around at all. There was something about Mami that attracted Tomomi to her, even if Tomomi didn’t have any idea of what it was. She hadn’t even realized what was happening to her feelings for Mami until it was too late to stop herself.

Tomomi shook her head as she began to take the first steps away from Mami’s house. She didn’t want to keep thinking about this right now. She didn’t get very far before she could hear the familiar voices floating out through an open window of the house, the voices stopping her in her tracks.

“I’m surprised you have any normal friends at all.”

It was Mami’s mother, and that little bit made Tomomi curious. Against her better judgment, Tomomi found herself now wandering in the direction of the window. She was curious. Her mother had sounded so angry just now and Tomomi still didn’t know how Mami had ended up injured, she wanted to find out and maybe this could help her. She wasn’t really thinking too much about it, her body had decided to move on its own. She knew spying like this was wrong on so many levels but she was far too curious not to do this.

Tomomi ducked down when she got closer to the window. She slipped through the bushes before slowly pushing herself up, her eyes peering over the window sill. She looked into the kitchen, seeing Mami sitting at the table, a coffee cup clutched tightly in her hands. Her eyes moved over slowly a bit and Tomomi could see that Mami’s mother was standing near the counter, her arms crossed over her chest and a glare on her face.

The look of Mami’s mother sent a chill down Tomomi’s spine, she looked so different. She didn’t look like the same happy and kind individual who had so warmly welcomed Tomomi into their house. Right now, even with Tomomi standing outside, she couldn’t help but feel a bit scared of the woman. It was just the way she looked at Mami so angrily that sent a small fear through Tomomi.

“I hope you and your little delinquent friends won’t corrupt her, she seems like such a nice person,” her mother continued, shaking her head. Tomomi’s eyes flicked over to Mami, the girl never having moved an inch. She stayed stationary; her only movements being made were to lift the cup so she could take a small drink. Mami’s behavior was beginning to scare Tomomi. She was just being so…quiet. So unlike the Mami that Tomomi had come to know.

Tomomi was considering leaving when the silence overtook the kitchen for what seemed like forever. Neither Mami nor her mother spoke for what seemed like ages. Mami only continued to stay silent while her mother’s glare at her deepened bit by bit.

“Don’t ignore me, Mami,” her mother said in a dark tone, breaking the silence finally and convincing Tomomi to keep watching. Tomomi’s attention turned back to Mami when she could hear the soft clink of the cup being set down onto the table.

“What do you want me to say?” she responded with a soft tone. The tone Mami had used had sent another chill through Mami’s body. It was weird for her; Mami never spoke so low like that. She was always being so loud and obnoxious about everything.

Tomomi watched as Mami turned her body to face her mother after a few moments of silence had come in between them. Mami’s hands laid on her lap in front of her, her eyes staring straight at her mother.

“I don’t know what you want from me,” Mami continued her words. Tomomi could see a strange emotion on Mami’s face. In a way, Tomomi thought it almost looked like sadness. But that couldn’t really be what she was seeing in Mami. Mami was never sad like that.

“You’re so useless, Mami.” Tomomi winced from the reply Mami’s mother had given her. That was so harsh and so out of line; it looked like a completely random insult just to hurt Mami. What had happened to the kind elder woman who had greeted Tomomi at the door?

Tomomi could hear Mami’s mother scoff, causing the brunette’s vision to slip back over to the older woman. Mami’s mother had pushed herself off the counter, taking a few small steps in Mami’s direction.

“If you can’t even figure out what to say to me, then how do you expect to really accomplish anything in life? You should at least be able to talk to your mother, but you can’t even do that.”

Her vision slipped over to Mami again and she watched as the blonde scoffed at her mother’s comment. She turned her body back towards the table, looking away from her mother. Tomomi could see the way Mami let her head drop, her hair falling into her face. This was so odd for the brunette. If that had been anyone else who had insulted Mami like that, the blonde probably would have lost her temper by now. But Mami didn’t look angry at the words her mother said, she only looked sad.

“I told you not to ignore me,” her mother growled out after the silence returned between them. She closed the rest of the gap in between her and Mami, slapping the blonde hard in the back of the head. Tomomi gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened. “You ought to show a little more respect for your mother, young lady.”

“Respect? That’s funny, I didn’t know you knew what respect was,” Mami muttered darkly. Tomomi could see the anger on Mami’s mother’s expression get worse, Mami’s words clearly not having pleased her. Her mother reached up, repeating her last action and hitting Mami again.

“You’ve always been such an unruly little brat,” Mami’s mother huffed out.

Tomomi could feel her breathing hitch in her throat as she saw Mami’s walk around the table to stand on the other side the teenager. Even from this distance, the brunette could see the way Mami’s body tensed and she knew the same fears that were going through her head were going through Mami’s as well.

“I don’t understand where I went wrong with you; you’ve always been such a mistake. You never acted like a good child. I always did my best to reel you in but nothing ever worked on you,” her mother continued.

Tomomi was surprised by Mami’s next actions. Mami had been so quiet that Tomomi wasn’t expecting the outburst. The blonde had shoved herself out of her chair in a sudden motion, slamming her hands down onto the tabletop. Mami had heard enough from her mother. She hated it when her mother did this. She hated it when her mother acted so innocent and perfect.

“You don’t know where you went wrong?” Mami growled out. Tomomi gulped softly from the low and dark tone that Mami had used. The blonde’s behaviors had done a complete turnaround as the anger began to consume her. “Maybe you’re right, maybe you don’t know. After all, you’re always so drunk when you slap me around, aren’t you? Funny though how you were completely sober when you threw me into the counter this weekend. You’re sober a lot more often now and yet, nothing has changed. You’re sober right now, aren’t you? It’s funny how that works.”

Tomomi could feel her blood run cold from Mami’s words. The pieces of the puzzle were finally connecting together for Tomomi. She was finally realizing that the cut on Mami’s face had been done by her mother. That was something Tomomi could never imagine happening to anyone but now it was happening right in front of her. Tomomi didn’t want to believe it but she had no choice with everything she was witnessing.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that,” her mother scolded. Mami shoved herself away from the table, pushing past her mother as she walked angrily out of the kitchen. “Where do you think you’re going?” her mother called after her, following her daughter.

“I’m leaving!” Mami’s shout was the last thing Tomomi could hear before the shouts and fighting disappeared further into the house. With tears pricking her eyes, Tomomi slowly backed away from the window, turning around and quickly leaving the grounds of Mami’s house. She wished she had never let her curiosity get the better of her so she never would have had to see that.

The brunette wiped the tears away as she made her way quickly down the sidewalk. She wanted to help Mami but really, what could she do? She was so weak and fragile; there wasn’t anything Tomomi could do for her. All Tomomi could do is what she normally did, which was to run away.

She wanted to do something for Mami, but she was completely useless to do anything.