Sukeban

Tomomi leaned herself up against the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them tightly. She glanced over at Mami and Yukako, the duo was sitting next to her, fiddling with something that Tomomi hadn’t really paid attention to. Whatever they were messing with, it looked like they were both getting annoyed with it.

Tomomi let her head lean back against the wall, relishing the sense of relief she was feeling right now. Another day had passed without any confrontation with Hana. Seeing as it was Friday, Tomomi knew that now that school was over for the day, she would have the entire weekend without having to worry about Hana coming back to her about that ‘deal’, if she could even call it a deal. That deal didn’t help anyone but Hana; it was merely a one-sided threat. But for right now, Tomomi didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t want to spend her entire weekend in fear, she wanted to try and forget.

Despite telling herself that though, the fear still stayed in her mind. She still worried about when and where Hana would confront her. She worried about the girls finding out. Tomomi’s mind had begun to swarm with an all new worry regarding that. She continued to think of what the girls would think if she told them and then she wondered… Would they blame her for withholding it? It was very possible that they would jump to the conclusion that Tomomi had hidden it out of spite.

Tomomi didn’t know if she could explain her way out of that one if they did. She could try but she never had been the best at expressing herself. She knew she would stumble and trip over her words, making her that much more suspicious in their eyes. That would be a completely different subject than convincing them not to hurt Mao, which was a problem in its own right.

“You okay?”

The sudden familiar voice snapped Tomomi out of her thoughts. She looked back over at Mami to see the blonde was now looking at her with a concerned expression. Tomomi tried to fake her smile but she knew that her smile wasn’t very convincing. Tomomi looked over at Yukako to see the short brunette was busy messing with a Rubik’s Cube, Tomomi could only assume that’s what they had been doing just seconds before.

“I’m fine,” Tomomi lied. Just like her smile, Tomomi knew her words weren’t very convincing. She was doing her best but all of this fear and worry was taking its toll on her. She didn’t know if she could keep this a secret for much longer. She would have to tell someone eventually if Hana didn’t come back to confront her soon… She didn’t know which of those options was scarier to her.

Tomomi could see it in Mami’s eyes; she knew the blonde didn’t believe her just as Tomomi expected she wouldn’t. But Mami didn’t say anything; she only simply nodded before turning her attention back to Yukako. She took the Rubik’s Cube out of the older girl’s hands, much to Yukako’s protests.

“Let me try, you’re clearly not understanding this,” Mami said. Yukako gave Mami a glare.

“As if you’ve been doing any better,” Yukako challenged playfully. Mami rolled her eyes at Yukako’s statement, choosing to ignore it as she picked up where Yukako had left off with the puzzle. Yukako leaned back against the wall, yawning before closing her eyes. Tomomi turned her attention away from them, moving it over to where the others sat across the room.

She could instantly notice the way the boss was staring at her. The hairs on the back of Tomomi’s neck stood up when she saw that. She didn’t like the stare Haruna was giving her. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something off about that. Something that told Tomomi it wasn’t going to end well for her.

Haruna’s attention was stolen from Tomomi when Rina tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to Rina only to have the younger girl kiss her suddenly when she turned around. Tomomi could see that Haruna said something to her before flicking her on the forehead as Rina laughed. Tomomi smiled at that. Even if Haruna wouldn’t show it much, she could see the way Haruna loved Rina. She almost felt envious of the love she saw between them. It was an odd love but it still made Tomomi envious.

“Forget this thing!” Mami shouted, tossing the Rubik’s Cube to the floor. From the action, Yukako burst into a fit of laughter, saying something about knowing Mami wouldn’t be able to do it. Mami huffed at her friend’s laughter, crossing her arms over her chest. “This was stupid anyway.”

“Why did you two even bother?” Aina asked from where she sat near Haruna.

“Well it’s not like we’re doing anything else of importance,” Mami cracked off. Haruna raised an eyebrow at Mami’s comment, seeing the blonde smirk at her. Sometimes she hated it when Mami did this. Mami was always trying to get a different reaction out of her but Haruna didn’t want to react any differently. She didn’t want to show emotion, she didn’t want to be weak like that again. The girl Mami had made friends with was dead and gone; Haruna had made sure to bury who she used to be and she wasn’t letting that weakling come back. She didn’t understand why Mami couldn’t accept that.

“Does this mean you’re bored, Sasazaki?” Haruna asked her. Mami’s smirk only grew when Haruna addressed her. She was going to do her best to get Haruna laughing; she would always do her best to accomplish that. She would someday change Haruna back.

“Yeah, pretty bored, Ono,” Mami responded, saying Haruna’s last name just as sarcastically as Haruna had said hers. “We’ve just been lounging around for hours; it’s not as if we’re doing anything so I thought I’d give me and Yukako something to do.”

“Well forgive me for thinking you all deserved a break,” Haruna shot back. Tomomi glanced in between the two of them. She wanted to think Haruna was angry at Mami from the look on her face but she didn’t think Haruna really was. The smirk on Mami’s face told her the two of them might be joking or something like that. Tomomi couldn’t be sure; she always had trouble reading the two of them when they interacted like this.

“Are you sure you want to give us a break and not that you were just being lazy?” Mami countered.

“You’ve really got a knack for getting yourself in trouble, don’t you?” Haruna asked her. Mami laughed softly, looking rather proud of herself.

“Trouble is my special talent, isn’t it?” Tomomi looked at Haruna, her eyes widening when she saw the faintest smile on Haruna’s face. She had never seen the boss smile unless she was preparing to hurt someone in some way. Right now though, it looked like the boss was smiling because she honestly enjoyed Mami’s rhetoric.

The smile didn’t last long though, the unemotional demeanor that Tomomi saw so often on Haruna quickly made its way back to the eldest brunette. Haruna had let hers control slip for only a moment for she regained it. Haruna did have to admit to herself though; it felt nice to let her control slip, even if just for a second.

“What time is it, by the way?” Sumire asked. Aina was the one to look at her phone to read the time.

“It’s almost five, I guess this means we’ve got to get you home now, huh?” she asked the young girl. Sumire nodded her head, looking quite sad at the prospect of having to go home. Aina noticed this, slinging an arm over her shoulder and pulling her into a half hug. “We’ll see each other tomorrow; I’ll be there to get you right when your parents leave.”

“Go home, Sumire. I don’t want you getting into any trouble again, it took us long enough to untangle you from the last time you almost got caught,” Haruna told her. Sumire nodded, fully understanding the boss’ words. She knew the boss wasn’t being uncaring of her situation; this was just how Haruna acted towards everything. She had grown used to it.

Sumire’s parents were rather hard to deal with; they never wanted her going anywhere. They always thought their daughter stayed home by herself as they wanted her to. They certainly would never let her out of the house ever again if they knew she was hanging around people like these girls. Sumire’s parents were the cause for all of this though. If they weren’t so strict with her, she never would have found the urge to act out and she never would have met Haruna that fateful day. She was happy she had though; she had never had friends before Haruna let her join.

Aina helped Sumire to her feet, the two of them bidding the group a small goodbye before they left together. Back in the room, Yukako yawned again, stretching her arms above her head.

“Why don’t we all head home? I think it would be best for all of us,” Yukako suggested. The boss tilted her head to the side before sighing in agreement.

“You’re right, it might be best. I’ve got no qualms with that,” Haruna agreed. She pushed herself off of the ground, pulling Rina up with her. Knowing they were going to be leaving, Rina grabbed the mask she had become so accustomed to wearing lately, much to Haruna’s dismay. Haruna hated seeing her with that on but she understood why Rina felt a need to have it on. She was still struggling with being ashamed of the marks Hana had left.

“Tomo, will you be okay going home alone?” Mami asked her, commanding Tomomi’s attention back. Tomomi gave Mami that same fake smile she knew was fooling no one.

“Of course, Mami. Remember, my house isn’t too far from here,” Tomomi told her. Mami smiled at her, nodding her head before she and Yukako pushed themselves off the ground. Hinako and Tomomi joined the others in standing. The group prepared to leave when Haruna spoke up again.

“Yukako, Mami, hang back for a second, will you? I need to talk to you two,” she told them. Yukako and Mami exchanged glances but nodded nonetheless, they knew better than to tell Haruna no.

Tomomi looked at Mami with a raised eyebrow only to have the blonde chuckle and shake her head. She knew that meant Mami wasn’t going to be telling her anything to satiate her curiosity. She felt Hinako link arms with Tomomi before giving her a soft tug, silently telling her it was best that they leave. Hinako and Tomomi weren’t told by the boss to stay and Hinako knew that meant they had better leave quickly if they didn’t want to make Haruna upset with them.

Just before the two girls left, Tomomi stole a glance back into the room, her mind beginning to wonder why Haruna wanted to talk to the two of them alone. Once she saw the two girls were gone, Haruna turned to Rina.

“Will you go wait outside for me, please? I promise this will only take a few minutes. I’ll be quick about it and we can go home,” Haruna asked her. Rina let her head bow, feeling a bit scared of what Haruna wanted with the two of them alone.

“But, Haruna…” Rina let her sentence trail off when she felt Haruna lay a hand on her cheek. Rina tilted her head into Haruna’s touch, feeling a bit more secure from it.

“It’s nothing bad, I promise. Please just go wait outside, okay?” Rina sighed softly but agreed nonetheless. She gave Haruna a quick kiss before making her way outside.

With just the three of them, Yukako shuffled nervously on her feet. Her mind was running with thoughts about what the boss could want from her and Mami. This wasn’t the first time the boss had wanted to speak to them alone. Whenever Haruna needed them to pick up a tab or pay someone a special visit, Yukako and Mami were usually who she got to do it. They were notorious for their violent and threatening ways; they were always the best ones to do it. But as far as Yukako knew, there wasn’t a reason for Haruna to want them to do either of those things right now.

“So what’s up?” Mami asked, knowing full well that Yukako wanted to ask the same thing. Haruna sighed softly, turning her back to the two girls and running a hand through her hair. “Is something wrong?”

“You two have noticed it, haven’t you?” Haruna asked, interjecting Mami’s question. Mami and Yukako looked at each other confused. Hearing the silence, Haruna decided she needed to be a bit more specific. “Tomomi. You’ve noticed her strange behavior over the last few days, haven’t you? She’s more jumpy and quieter lately.”

“Yeah… I’ve noticed it,” Yukako mumbled.

“So have I,” Mami admitted it. All three girls could tell there was something wrong with Tomomi; she was making it far too obvious. Tomomi had never been one to hide her emotions well. She always made it obvious ever since the first day the girls had met her.

“Something is wrong with her, she’s hiding something. This is where you two come in.” Haruna turned back to face them as she said her last words before she continued. “I don’t know if Tomomi is trying to betray us or if she’s in trouble but I want you two to find out what it is. I do not want you confronting her when you figure it out, however. I will decide what to do when we find out what is troubling Tomomi. Am I clear on this?”

Mami gulped. She feared that was what Haruna was going to ask when she had first started her explanation. Mami knew there was something wrong but she was worried about what it was. She didn’t want to think someone was giving Tomomi trouble and that Tomomi was trying to deal with it on her own, she wanted to believe Tomomi had come to trust them to ask them for help. But she also didn’t want to think that Tomomi might be considering betraying them. She didn’t want to face either of those things.

“Will you do it?” Haruna asked after she was met with silence again. Yukako sighed softly, looking over at Mami. The two girls nodded their heads, knowing exactly what to do. Even if neither of them wanted to face those possibilities, they had to know what Tomomi was up to.

“We’ll do it,” Yukako answered. She could tell from the look Mami had given her that she was okay with doing this too. Haruna nodded to the agreement.

“Good. You can take as long as you want but I’ll be asking you again in a week if you’ve figured anything out. That’s all I wanted to ask of you two, you can go home now.” After Haruna had finished her sentence, she walked past the two girls, making her way out to find Rina.

Being left alone now, Yukako turned to Mami. She linked her arm up Mami’s, giving the blonde a small smile. She could see it in Mami; she knew that Tomomi was something special to her. She didn’t understand why Mami had taken to Tomomi in the way she did but she didn’t question it. She thought it was a nice change for Mami to become so attached to someone in such a special way.

“Don’t worry, Mami, I’m sure it’s nothing. Let’s just do our best to figure it out,” Yukako tried to assure her. “Want to come to my house for a bit? I guess we’ll need a bit of planning on how we’ll stalk Tomomi.”

Yukako was pleased when she heard Mami chuckle. The blonde took her arm away from Yukako, slapping the shorter girl on the back.

“All right, let’s go do some planning at your house.”