Sukeban

With every step that Rina took, she winced a bit. The knife wound on her leg felt like it was tearing open a bit more with each step; it definitely wasn’t a pleasant feeling for Rina. The young brunette knew the wound hadn’t reopened yet. After all, she wasn’t feeling any blood running down her leg yet, so she just assumed it was still closed. Rina hoped it would stay that way. She didn’t want to lose any more blood, she was already worrying about the wound being infected from spending the night in the park, but she could worry about that later. Right now, she just wanted to get back to the meeting place.

Rina was hoping that she would have stopped somewhere close to the meeting place but she hadn’t done that. Or maybe she had, Rina didn’t really know. She was so exhausted when she woke up that she had ended up getting herself all lost and turned around. It took her hours to get herself back on the right track and headed in the right direction. Rina had looked at some clocks in the windows of the stores she was passing and she could see it was nearly 3 pm. She was beyond later, she had woken up late and being lost had put her at an even worse time.

She didn’t know how any of the girls would react when she walked in.

Surely by now the girls must have figured out that Rina had lied about spending the night over at Haruna’s house. She knew that if she had taken Haruna’s cellphone with her, they would probably be blowing it up looking for her. But she’d left the phone with Haruna and with not having one of her own; there wasn’t a way for the girls to contact Rina. They were completely in the dark until Rina returned.

The young brunette pushed herself forward regardless of the pain. She knew that she was almost to the building and she knew that she couldn’t stop, especially not in a neighborhood like this. She didn’t want a repeat of last night’s episode. Even just thinking about it was enough to send a shudder through Rina’s spine. The memories would be permanently etched into her mind.

Within a few more minutes, Rina had successfully made it to the building but now she had another problem. Getting over the fence. It didn’t seem very possible with her injured leg but she was going to have to try, it’s not as if she had much of another choice. Rina took a deep breath, exhaling slowly and mentally preparing herself for the agonizing pain she knew she was about to feel.

She had to do this though, she had to be strong. She could take the pain. If the others could take pain then so could she. She could be as strong as they were; she just had to push herself… But that was easier said than done. Rina shook her head, inhaling and exhaling once more before she approached the fence. She wound her hands into the holes of the chain-link fence before slowly beginning to hoist herself up.

Just as she expected, a searing pain shot through her leg as she began climbing. She let out a small whimper but pushed herself forward. She couldn’t give up. She always gave up and ran to someone else for protection but right now, there was no one to protect or help her. She had to do this herself; she had to learn how to do things for herself.

By the time Rina had gotten up and over the fence, there were tears flowing down her cheeks from the pain. Her leg almost felt like it was beginning to go numb for how much effort she had to put in to get her leg to carry her up the fence. Rina took in a deep breath and wiped the tears from her eyes before setting off around the building.

She paused just outside the doorway, the panic beginning to set it. How was she supposed to explain herself? She didn’t have an alibi; she didn’t even have a lie prepared to tell them. She could only go with the truth unless she could think of something on the spot. Rina let out a defeated sigh; she would just have to get this over with. She did want to see the girls again; she just didn’t want to deal with the questioning she knew was going to come.

Rina slowly pushed the door open, peeking her head into the dimly lit room. The young brunette gulped when she was met with complete silence instead of the usual chatter she would always here upon coming in here. Sucking in a deep breath, Rina made her way into the room, the door creaking as she did so. The creak sounded loudly through the dead silent room, attracting the attention of all seven girls over to her.

Her eyes surveyed the room, taking in what each girl was doing. She could see Aina and Hinako sitting up against a wall. Of to the side a bit, Sumire sat next to Tomomi, doing her best to comfort her. To the back of the room, Rina’s eyes laid on Mami, the blonde hunched over with her head in her hands. Yukako sat next to Mami, one arm laid on the blonde’s leg while the other was tied up in a sling.

Finally, Rina set her eyes on the one person she was scared most to see. Leaned up against the wall, standing completely alone was Haruna. Her head was cast downward and her hair created a shadow over her expression so Rina couldn’t see it. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her right hand fingertips tapping gently on her arm that was covered by the long sleeves of her white colored sweater.

Rina didn’t move. She simply closed the door and stood where she had entered. What did she do? It was clear to her that everyone knew she hadn’t stayed with Haruna last night but no one was saying anything. It looked as if none of them even wanted to speak to Rina right now. Rina couldn’t blame them, it’s not as if she was saying anything either. She didn’t know what to say.

“So, you were staying with Haruna last night?” The voice cut through the silence, stunning everyone in the room. Rina looked over at its owner, the blonde now looking up at her. Her hands were laid over her knees, her eyes boring into Rina’s shaking form. Rina sniffled back the tears before whimpering softly and looking down. “I should have known. I should never have let you walk out of here alone yesterday.”

What should she say? She couldn’t say no but her mind also wouldn’t let her admit the truth. Her mind wouldn’t let her say anything, all she could do was whimper apologetically and frightened. Rina’s hands began to pick at each other, her fingernails digging into her skin and leaving marks on the once flawless, pale hands. The silence was taking over again and Rina wished someone would say something – anything. She just didn’t want this silence to go on.

“What were you thinking?” Mami asked her. She could hear the blonde sigh but she still didn’t respond. She didn’t know how to explain what she was thinking, she was wondering if she had really been thinking at all last night when she lied and decided to spend the night on the streets.

“I… I… I’m sorry…” Rina murmured. She wasn’t sure if anyone in the room could hear her or not, she had spoken her words so lowly.

“Get over here, Rina.” The brunette’s body tensed when she heard her girlfriend speak; it didn’t help that her tone was so low and foreboding. That was usually a sure sign that Haruna was upset with you when she spoke to you like that.

Regardless, Rina found herself slinking over to Haruna. She kept her head down, a few small whimpers escaping her. At the moment, Rina resembled a puppy that had just gotten in trouble with its owner. Rina’s shaky footsteps came to a stop just in front of the boss, the young brunette still not looking up at her girlfriend.

“Look at me.” The brunette gulped but did as she was told to anyway. She felt it was better not to make Haruna any angrier than she already seemed to be. Rina took a deep breath, raising her head and letting her eyes settle on the form of her girlfriend. The young girl’s heart began to beat quicker when Haruna pushed herself off the wall, taking a few steps to close the gap between her and Rina. The entire time, the boss kept her head down, refusing to let Rina see her emotions.

Without warning, Rina could feel Haruna’s hand come down hard on her face, the sound of the slap resonating throughout the room. From behind Rina, the six girls watching cringed. They could all hear how hard Haruna had just hit Rina. The brunette’s head snapped to the side from the impact, a tear slipping down her face.

Haruna had hit her. She had really hit her. It had been ages since Haruna had struck Rina like that; it had been ages since Haruna lost her temper with Rina like that. Haruna was always so gentle when it came to dealing with Rina. After the last time she had struck Rina, she had promised the sensitive brunette that she’d never lay a hand on her again. But that promise had been broken now.

Rina turned her head to look at Haruna again. The boss slowly lifted her head and an involuntary gasp left Rina. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Sparkling in Haruna’s eyes and trailing down her cheeks were tears that shined in the dim light of the room.

Haruna was crying.

“H-Haruna…” Rina said softly. She reached a hand up to wipe Haruna’s tears away but the older girl caught her wrist, flinging her hand back down to Rina’s side. Haruna tried to glare at Rina but the younger girl could see that she wasn’t angry. She had never been angry. All this time – all that foreboding behavior – was just telling Haruna’s pain.

“Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been about you?” Haruna asked lowly. The boss’ arms were now at her sides, her hands clenched into fists. Her fingernails dug into her palms, creating small crescent marks in the porcelain skin. Haruna gritted her teeth, inwardly cursing herself for crying.

She couldn’t stop it though. When she had gotten here this morning, she was asked by Mami where Rina was and why she wasn’t with Haruna. That was how Haruna found out about Rina’s lie; that was how they all found out about Rina’s lie. From the moment Haruna had heard about Rina’s lie, she could feel the tears creeping up on her. She wasn’t able to hold them back. The thought of Rina having been out on the streets alone all night was too much for Haruna to bear. Haruna had never been more scared of losing Rina then she had been at that exact moment.

“How could you do this?” Haruna asked her. Rina couldn’t answer. She could only stare at the sparkling tears running down Haruna’s face. She couldn’t ever remember seeing Haruna crying but here she was, standing right in front of her and doing something Rina didn’t think possible. “Answer me!” Haruna shouted when she was met with silence.

“I just thought that… Everyone was so busy and I didn’t want to be a burden and I-I thought I could handle it,” Rina mumbled in a quickened tone. She let her head drop again, the shame washing over her. She could feel the stares of the other six girls on her; she knew they were all staring intently at the exchange between Rina and Haruna.

“A burden? How could you ever think you’d be a burden to us?” It was Rina’s turn to cry now. The tears slipped down, her hands clutching the end of her uniform shirt. Her legs shifted uncomfortably beneath her, she was beginning to notice the pain in her leg again. She was also starting to wonder if anyone had noticed the wound. It was covered a bit by her skirt but it was still noticeable from the part beneath the skirt.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry anyone; I just didn’t want to cause trouble for anyone again.” Rina knew it was fairly ironic. She’d done this all to prevent causing trouble for the girls and yet, this had all ended with her causing everyone so much pain. Rina could hear Haruna let out a heavy sigh. She looked up and through her bangs; she could see the boss wiping away her tears.

“Did anyone hurt you?” Rina lifted her head fully now at the question that the boss had asked. She sniffled softly, tilting her head to the side.

“Huh?”

“You heard me, Rina. Did anyone hurt you last night?” Rina let out a soft sigh, nodding her head. She might as well come clean; the girls practically knew everything else. They deserved to know this too. “What did they do to you?”

“I-I’m sorry, Haruna,” Rina began softly. Her hands began twisting themselves in the material of her shirt as she willed herself to keep looking at Haruna when she explained this. Haruna was going to be so mad when she found out about the money. “They took the money you trusted me with.”

“What?”

“They took all the money…” Rina repeated softly.

“What do you mean they took the money? Who is they? Did someone rob you?” Haruna was asking so many questions that it was catching Rina pretty off guard; it was hard for her to keep up with all the questions being tossed out to her at once. “Please tell me, Rina.”

“I’m sorry. I let them take it. I failed you, Haruna. I know how much we needed that money.” Rina could feel a new wave of tears hit her. She brought her hands up, covering her face as her body shook gently from the tears. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

Rina’s pleas were met with silence. She could feel Haruna wrap her arms around Rina’s body, causing the younger girl to drop her hands from her face. Her hands dropped to her side as Haruna pulled Rina’s body close against hers. The shorter boss laid her head down onto Rina’s chest and the younger girl could feel a few small droplets of water hit an area of her exposed skin.

“Damn it, Rina. I don’t care about the money. I care about you.” Slowly, Rina raised her arms, wrapping them around the body of her girlfriend. She hugged Haruna tightly, feeling more droplets land on her skin. For the second time in one day, Haruna was crying. “You’re such a moron, Rina. Don’t ever do this to us again. I don’t… I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

“Haruna…” Rina didn’t know what else to say. In the years she had known Haruna, she had never seen the boss open up like this. Haruna was always so careful and meticulous with her emotions, she was always so sure to keep them in check and never show any “weak” emotions to anyone. For her to be this emotional was certainly odd to Rina, it had caught her completely off guard.

Haruna pulled away from Rina suddenly, wiping her eyes again and sniffling softly. Rina gave Haruna a small smile, stepping back from her girlfriend.

“Did anything else happen?” Rina’s body tensed at the question. She had to tell them. They could probably help her get the wound fixed; it would surely get infected if she didn’t get it treated soon.

Taking a deep breath, Rina nodded her head. Here went nothing. Her hands dropped to her sides before they moved to the side of her skirt. She continued to look at Haruna as she slowly lifted her skirt up a bit. She watched as Haruna looked down, the boss’ eyes widening when she knew they had landed on the knife wound.

“What happened?!” Haruna shouted when she had seen the wound on Rina’s leg. She could hear Rina whimper softly, her hands falling away from her skirt. Haruna impulsively grabbed onto Rina’s shoulders, forcing the girl’s attention back on her. “What happened to you?”

“T-these men found me and-and they took the money before…before…” Rina couldn’t say it. She didn’t want to put those awful memories into words. Haruna seemed to understand though. Her expression softened even more and she pulled Rina into another hug. Haruna did understand perfectly; she understood perfectly that they had badly hurt Rina.

“It’s over, Rina. They’re not going to touch you ever again; I’ll make sure of it. You’re never going out there alone again, I promise you one of us will always be there for you,” Haruna told her softly.

Haruna stepped away from Rina again, giving her another smile before she gave her a small pull. She guided her over to the wall that Haruna had been leaning against previously. With kind and gentle movements, she guided Rina into sitting on the floor.

“Yukako, get over here,” Haruna said just loud enough that she knew Yukako had heard. The brunette pushed herself off of the bench she had been sitting on with Mami. She crossed the small way over to where Rina and Haruna were.

She knew right away that Haruna wanted her to take a look at the wound on Rina’s leg; she was probably the only one who could fix it if the wound was fixable without a hospital visit. Yukako knelt down next to Rina, pulling up her skirt a bit. Her face twisted in confusion when she saw the wound on Rina’s leg. It definitely needed to get cleaned out soon, she knew wherever Rina had slept last night was not the most sanitary place from how the wound looked right now.

“Aina, get my bag and come over here. I’m going to need help fixing this,” Yukako asked loudly. Aina was quick to react. She stopped to get Yukako’s bag before coming to kneel on the other side of Rina.

Satisfied with seeing the two girls helping Rina, Haruna turned around to face the remaining girls. She let out a heavy sigh, running her hands through her hair. She shook her head, trying to get rid of the nasty emotions swirling in her body. She hated having lost control of herself like that. After everything that had happened, the one thing that made her lose control was the thought of losing Rina.

Haruna walked closer to the center of the room, her eyes scanning the remaining girls. She supposed it was time to get down to business; she did want answers for why Hana had gone after Tomomi yesterday. After remembering that Mami had something she wanted to tell Haruna about the brunette, Haruna was even more interested in the cause of the fight. But first, she had to make up for that little display.

"Let me make it clear right now that if any of you tell anyone about this, I will ensure that you never speak again," Haruna threatened. Haruna could see the silence she was met with and for a moment, she wondered if the girls knew she meant the crying or thought she meant what happened to Rina. Really, Haruna wanted them both to stay secret. The silence Haruna had been met with didn't continue for too long.

"And our lovely boss is back, ladies," Mami cracked off. She smirked at Haruna who scoffed at her comment. For Mami, it had been oddly nice to see Haruna cry again. She hated the circumstances it had come under but for her, seeing Haruna cry was something she didn't think she'd see again. It meant that maybe - by some miracle - Haruna might be returning back to the girl Mami once knew.

"Shut it, Sasazaki, before I do it for you," Haruna sneered at her. The response only made Mami chuckle. Mami pushed herself up into a full sitting position, pressing her back against the wall.

She and the others watched as Haruna began pacing back and forth, probably searching for the next words she could say to keep this conversation going. They all knew what she wanted to talk about but no one wanted to bring it up first. They only stared at the boss who paced like an angry tiger.

"Hey, tiger girl, you want to stop pacing and come sit down?" Mami asked her with her usual brand of sarcasm. Haruna's pacing paused from a moment while she looked at Mami. She simply shook her head before going back to pacing, she was too riled up to sit.

"I'm not interested," Haruna responded simply. Mami didn't buy it. She could see the way Haruna still walked with a limp and she knew Haruna was hurting from what Hana had done to her yesterday. Haruna was just being stubborn as usual.

"Haruna, come sit down with me," Mami tried again. Haruna growled lowly, stopping her footsteps and whipping around to look at Mami. She glared at the girl who raised an eyebrow when she saw the angered look.

"I said I don't want to, now drop it," Haruna said lowly. Mami was taken a bit aback by the tone Haruna had used. Mami knew she was being sarcastic with Haruna but she hadn't expected such an angry tone at her words. The blonde would just chalk it up to Haruna being worried about Rina.

In truth, Haruna did want to sit down. She had been practically standing all day and by this point, her leg was killing her. It was practically begging her body to sit itself down to give it some rest but Haruna wouldn't allow it. Sitting wasn't all that possible for Haruna. Whenever she did try, it would irritate the fresh welts still present. Haruna was perfectly capable of lying on her side but besides standing, that was all Haruna could do. The boss would take the pain in her leg over the pain of sitting.

"It's time to get down to business," Haruna said, attempting to direct the conversation to what she felt was far more important.

Hinako was about to ask what Haruna meant until she saw the boss turn to Tomomi, she knew instantly then what the boss wanted to talk about. Tomomi saw the look as well. The young brunette whimpered softly, bringing her knees up to her chest and looking as if she was attempting to hide behind her legs. Haruna sighed softly at the action, looking away from the pathetic girl who sat in front of her.

"I'm sure we're all aware of what Hana did yesterday," Haruna started. Her eyes scanned the room, settling on Tomomi again. "Somehow, Hana found out about Tomomi being involved with us. I want to know how and I want to know why Hana went after her."

Haruna paused, waiting for an answer. No one had one though, none of the girls had any idea how Hana had figured out about Tomomi. Two girls did have somewhat of an idea though. Mami and Yukako's eyes met and the brunette tending to Rina nodded her head. The two girls hadn't seen Haruna before Hana got Tomomi first. They hadn't yet told Haruna about what they'd seen.

"Haruna, I don't have an answer to your question but... Do you remember how I told you that Yukako and I had something to tell you about Tomomi?" At the sound of her name, Tomomi's body tensed. She looked up with wide eyes at Mami. Was it possible she really knew? But... If she had... Why hadn't she tried to stop it?

"That's right, you did." Through her problems and Rina's knew problems, Haruna had forgotten all about the message she'd received from Mami before being locked up Saturday. "Now is your chance, Mami. What did you want to tell me?"

Mami sighed softly, running a hand through her straight blonde locks. She hadn't wanted to say this around the other girls but if looked like she had no choice anymore. What Mami and Yukako saw could help get Tomomi to confess to them; she had to do this.

"Yukako and I followed Tomomi just as you asked us to..." Mami paused to look at Tomomi; she noticed the look of hurt and worry cross her face. Looking away, she continued. "We followed her Saturday morning and when we did... We saw her with Hana."

"What?" Haruna growled.

"Let me finish, Haruna." The boss glared at Mami for her tone but let her continue, going back to glaring at Tomomi. Mami had better not say what Haruna thought she was going to. "Tomomi was alone for a while but eventually Hana came over and she had someone with her."

"Who did she have?" Mami inhaled a deep breath, praying Tomomi wouldn't get too upset with her for telling Haruna this.

"She had Mao." Haruna furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She knew that name but right now, it wasn't ringing a bell. Mami noticed this too. "It's Tomomi's best friend."

Mami instantly looked over at Tomomi and it looked like the brunette was about to cry. Mami did feel sorry for Tomomi but she had to say it. She had orders and she was desperate to try and convince Tomomi to confess.

Haruna glared at Tomomi, her hands clenching into fists. What was her friend doing with Hana? Haruna's mind instantly went to thinking Tomomi was teaming up with Hana. She knew they couldn't trust this rat. She knew Tomomi would betray them.

"Haruna, it's not what you think," Mami spoke up. "Tomomi didn't look like she wanted to be near Hana. She looked scared so I don't think she's aiding Hana."

"Is that true?" Haruna asked Tomomi in a low voice. Unable to speak, Tomomi simply nodded her head.

Tomomi couldn't speak from a combination of the fear she was now feeling and the shock that Mami and Yukako had spied on her. She had never even noticed them spying, but it did explain their odd behavior over the weekend.

"What is your friend doing with Hana? Do you have anything to do with that?"

Tomomi could feel her heart sinking. She had been cornered; it was lie or tell the truth. And she didn't know which was a worse option. If she lied and they found out, they'd go after her and Mao. If she told the truth, they'd go after Mao. No matter which path Tomomi chose, she was going to lose unless she could think of something.

She just had to figure out how to do that without panicking.