Sukeban

Mami’s hands impatiently tapped the top of the wooden desk while her teeth sunk into the soft skin of her inner lip. Her eyes were looking towards the ceiling, focusing on the clock just above the blackboard. The clock that moved at a pace that Mami felt was slower than a snail. All the blonde wanted was for break to be called so she could find the others and figure out if they knew the whereabouts of Haruna. Or if they simply knew anything about her at all.

It had been two days since Rina had made what could have been the biggest mistake of her life and no one had seen Haruna still. Mami knew the boss’ suspension would be up in a few days but she also knew how Madoka was. If the police did pay them a visit, was Madoka really going to let Haruna return to school? Mami silently prayed that she would but she was also scared of what she’d see in Haruna when she did return.

It didn’t matter to Mami though. The blonde simply wanted to see her best friend; she simply wanted to know if Haruna was safe or not. Not knowing the condition Haruna was in was slowly eating away at Mami inside.

The bell surprised Mami when it rang even though she had been impatiently waiting for it. She had been going in and out of her thoughts so much that she hadn’t actually expected the bell when it came. When she heard it, Mami pushed herself out of her seat and grabbed her bag. She didn’t need to put anything away like the other students did, it’s not as if Mami had actually pulled out any of her textbooks or work like the teacher had instructed.

She quickly made her way out of the classroom, ignoring the teacher’s last words to the class. She swerved between the students departing their own respective classrooms, noticing Tomomi coming out of her own that was not too far from her classroom.

“Come on, Tomo,” Mami practically ordered her as she passed. The brunette in question jumped and her eyes darted around. Tomomi still wasn’t used to the girls being so forward about knowing her at school even if it had been some time since her secret got out to everyone.

“Wait for me!” Tomomi called as she jogged to catch up with the blonde who was walking at a pace that told Tomomi clearly how upset she was. Tomomi didn’t dare ask Mami what was wrong but she didn’t need to. She had been filled in on enough from Mami’s outburst at her house that Mami was still obviously upset about what Rina had done even if she didn’t really understand why it upset Mami the way it did.

She silently followed the blonde who pushed through other students, a small red tint to Tomomi’s face as Mami did so. She was used to seeing Mami be so forward about her behavior at school but she wasn’t so used to being a part of that forward behavior. She still wasn’t used to everyone knowing her secret.

The girls continued to walk until Tomomi noticed the others huddled in a small group, pressed against a set of lockers. Mami stopped just in front of them, causing the others to turn to look at her with a confused expression. In the middle of the group was Rina, her bag clutched tightly against her chest and her eyes looking down at the floor. Tomomi couldn’t lie when she said it surprised her how quickly the life had drained from Rina after that day. She had no idea what Mami said to Rina when she left but whatever she had said had definitely gotten to Rina. The others had noticed it as well but unlike Tomomi, they didn’t have a single clue as to why Rina was so obviously upset.

Mami sighed softly, stepping forward and pushing through the others. She wrapped an arm around Rina’s shoulders, rubbing the younger girl’s arm gently. Mami was quick to let Rina go though, not wanting to attract any attention to them at the moment. She looked up, her harsh eyes connecting with those of the others, even Tomomi’s as she slinked to the back of the group, attempting to hide behind Aina.

“Have any of you heard from Haruna at all?” Mami asked. She didn’t feel a need to beat around the bush. She wanted to know anything about Haruna’s whereabouts or condition and she didn’t intend to hide that from the group. She knew they all had to feel similarly to how she did.

Mami had been hoping for an answer but her hope wasn’t that bright. When no one in the group responded, the last hope that flickered in Mami had disappeared. A familiar look crossed Mami’s face, one that Tomomi had never been able to distinguish if it was anger or sadness.

“Mami,” Aina said, being the first to speak up as she took a small step towards Mami. She reached her good arm out, laying it on Mami’s but the blonde jerked her body away. “Is something wrong with Haruna? We haven’t seen her in days and you seem really worried about her.”

“It doesn’t concern you, Aina,” Mami told her harshly. She didn’t mean to be so harsh but she knew that bringing the others into this mess would be of no help. It was bad enough that she had accidentally gotten Rina so involved in it.

“She was just asking a question,” Hinako shot back at her in Aina’s defense. Mami shot her a glare, causing Hinako to instinctively take a step back. Mami coughed lowly, brushing the ground with her feet and looking down at the tiled floor.

“Just trust in me when I say that you can’t get involved with what Haruna is going through,” Mami told them in a much softer and kinder tone than she had previously been speaking in. The girls in the group exchanged a glance before their body language all softened, understanding of Mami’s words.

Rina said nothing and did nothing. She kept herself pressed against the wall, her eyes remaining trained on the ground. She still had no idea how deep the problems at Haruna’s house ran but from the way Mami had reacted, she knew they were worse than she could have even thought. Mami couldn’t have just reacted that way for her disdain of police; it had to be something with Haruna and whoever those people were.

But how was she supposed to figure anything out? Mami wouldn’t speak to her and the blonde was adamant that Rina wasn’t allowed to go anywhere near Haruna’s house anymore. She could sneak off on her own but sneaking off without any of the others noticing was a lot easier said than done.

“Rina Suzuki, please report to the principal’s office.”

Rina’s head snapped up for the first time since she had joined the group after classes were let out. Her eyes widened and she could see everyone looking at her with worry. It was never good when any of them got randomly called into the principal’s office over the P.A system like that, but it was even more concerning for it to be Rina. She never got called in like that.

The brunette pushed herself off the wall, preparing to leave but Mami intercepted her, stopping her in her tracks. The two locked eyes and Rina understood Mami instantly.

“I’m going with,” Mami said. She told it more to the others than Rina, already knowing that Rina understood. The other girls didn’t say a word as the blonde left with Rina trailing behind her.

Together, the two of the girls made their way down to the Administration Offices, both of them feeling the stares of the students who had all heard Rina get called in. Mami silently cursed the principal; he couldn’t have waited until they were back in class and sent a messenger for her? She didn’t see the point in calling her out like that and embarrassing the student who was already hurting enough.

As the duo made their way into the office, the secretary stepped away from her desk, coming around and stepping in the pathway of the girls. She coughed lowly and shook her head, making sure to keep a safe distance from at least Mami.

“Miss Sasazaki, the principal has no need to see you. You were not called. Kindly depart the offices and go back to class, the bell will be ringing soon. Miss Suzuki is the only one that he is interested in seeing,” the secretary explained as best as she could. Mami growled lowly, clenching her fist that wasn’t holding her bag and sending a short chill through the secretary. The blonde’s body only relaxed when Rina placed a hand on her arm.

“Go back to class, Mami,” Rina murmured softly when Mami turned to her. The older girl could only stare at Rina for a few seconds before sighing softly. Without a word, the blonde reluctantly agreed to leave. She shot the secretary one last look before slowly making her way out of the room.

The secretary loosened with Mami out of the room, feeling more comfortable with it just being Rina. Even she knew enough about the notorious gang to know that Rina was fairly harmless on her own.

“You can head in, he’s expecting you,” the secretary said in a less than enthused tone. She made her way back around her desk as Rina slowly walked towards the principal’s office, her heart beginning to pound.

What did the principal want her for? She hadn’t done anything since she had been at school. She always did hate facing the principal alone, especially under such uncertain circumstances. She took a deep breath regardless of her fear, laying her hand on the brass doorknob. She slowly turned it, instantly getting the attention of the principal inside.

As the student pushed the door open, she froze when she saw the other body already in the room. The uniformed male stood up when he heard the door open, turning to face her. He gave her a gentle smile and silently beckoned for her to come farther into the room. Rina’s body was completely frozen at the sight of an officer standing in front of her with the principal that she couldn’t move an inch.

“Please come in and join us, Miss Suzuki. We’d just like to ask you a few things,” the principal told her when she hesitated. Rina didn’t respond to the principal’s words, her body stayed frozen with her hand tightly gripping the door handle.

She took a few seconds longer to process what was possibly going on in front of her before shakily letting go of the door handle that she had been clinging to. She took in another deep breath before wearily walking forward, her shaky steps telling both of the men in the room how nervous she was. When she took a seat, the officer took his again and the principal leaned back.

“Miss Suzuki, if I do believe correctly, I was set to visit with your parents by the end of the week, correct?” The principal began. Rina’s body tensed and both men could notice the way it had; the brunette was too terrified to attempt to conceal her emotions. She hadn’t even noticed how her body had so instinctively tensed at the question. She had completely forgotten about the planned meeting. With everything she’d find out about Haruna, her mind was a bit preoccupied on things she found more important.

“Yes, sir,” Rina replied as calmly as she could. She sucked in her breath, attempting to stop the shaking she had now taken notice of. Why couldn’t she conceal her emotions like the others could? Why couldn’t she just learn already?

“When the date came, would they have actually shown up? Or would they have conveniently called it off?” Rina didn’t know how to take the next set of words that left the principal’s mouth. She didn’t even want to think of what the principal meant by that but she knew she would find out whether she wanted to or not. “Whose number did you give me when I asked for your parents’ number?”

“It was my parents’ number, of course,” Rina responded almost automatically. She glanced up at the principal, seeing the way a disappointed emotion crossed his face. He sighed heavily, leaning forward onto the desk.

“I know that’s a lie.” Rina could feel her heart stop beating when she heard the words leave the principal. She could only sit silently, staring at him with wide eyes and waiting for the principal to speak again. But the principal’s voice would not be what Rina heard. Instead, she could hear someone cough lowly beside her and she rigidly turned her attention to the officer.

“Suzuki, I’m sure you remember the call you made to the police a few days ago about a teenager named Haruna Ono?” The officer began. Rina didn’t respond; she couldn’t find it in herself to speak or to make any movements. She didn’t think her call could possibly lead to all of this; she didn’t think Omar would ever lead the police to her. The officer coughed again before continuing. “My name is Officer Minami and I am one of the two that was assigned to investigate the call. Abuse calls are things we take very serious and we investigate to the fullest amount to ensure the truth is unconvered.”

“I-I see…” Rina murmured softly. She gulped loudly, turning her head down. She looked at her hands that were now tightly gripping her school skirt, beginning to bunch it up slightly around her legs.

“We have done investigating on what you told us, but we also found some troubling information regarding yourself. I’m not here to scare you but I would like you to come with me. My partner is waiting back at the station. If you could come back there with me for the questioning, things would be a lot easier,” Minami explained to the slightly shaking girl.

“Rina, please comply with the officer. The officer has told me of troubling things. They simply want to help you; you need to go with them and honestly answer any questions that they have,” the principal urged her. Rina glanced up slightly, looking between the principal and the officer.

Despite the way they phrased their words, Rina knew she didn’t have a choice. The officer had found something out about her and that was something that Rina hadn’t considered when she had made the call. She hadn’t considered a lot when she had made that call. She’d only been thinking of Haruna’s well-being, but now she was beginning to see that she had even endangered Haruna’s well-being with her call. She’d messed everything up when she’d only wanted to help.

“I’ll go with,” Rina replied eventually, with a soft and reluctant sigh.

****

Rina sighed softly as she leaned her body forward, slightly leaning it against the small table in front of her. Her head was bent down, her brown locks falling into her face while she willed the tears away. The dimly lit interrogation room was cold and lonely as she sat alone, waiting for the officers to come back and continue their relentless questions. Rina had done her best to not answer them or be as vague as possible, too scared of what they might do to Haruna to be any more in-depth than she was being. She knew the officers weren’t appreciating it though and it worried her to think of what they would do to her when they did come back.

When she heard the sound of a door opening, her body bolted back upright into a sitting position. She hesitantly turned around, relaxing for a second as she saw Omar enter before tensing back up only seconds later when the officers follow after him.

The officers made their way around the table, instructing Omar to sit beside Rina. Minami in particular hadn’t wanted to bring Omar into the questioning of Rina but the young student was being so difficult and uncooperative that bringing in Omar was the only idea Minami had left to get her talking. They couldn’t move forward with anything if the girl kept refusing to talk.

“I hope the presence of someone familiar to you will make you a bit more comfortable,” the second officer who had introduced himself as Officer Moto first spoke up to Rina. She glanced up at him before her eyes darted down. The two of them were the classic example of a good cop and bad cop that was so stereotypical, with Moto being the good one.

“You need to answer our questions,” Minami spoke up next in a harder tone than Moto had spoken in, earning himself a disapproving look from Omar. “I will ask you again so we can start from the beginning… How and when did you meet Haruna?”

“Minami,” Omar spoke up instantly, “I feel that question is irrelevant for what we really desire to know about Rina. We don’t have much time so I suggest--”

“Don’t try to call the shots, Karim,” Minami shot back at him. Omar sighed softly, squeezing the bridge of his nose. This young cop was simply impossible. He looked over at the shaking Rina, beginning to feel sorry for the fragile teenager. They had to do this to her though, for her own benefit. “But fine, we will do things your way for now if you think it would get us farther.”

“Thank you, Minami.” The officer in question cleared his throat before turning back to the teenager.

“Where are you parents, Suzuki? We have found out that you’re not living with them currently but at your age, that’s quite a rare thing. Did they agree to let you live here on your own in Tokyo for school?” Minami began his next set of questioning. Rina gulped loudly, her hands beginning to get clammy as they clenched and unclenched around the material of her skirt.

“My parents… My parents are…” For a moment, Rina considered answering the question honestly… But what would happen if she did? They would take her away. The others always warned her that they would take her away if they knew. She didn’t want to leave Haruna or the others… Haruna… She had been so scared of the police that she hadn’t thought about asking them the condition of Haruna.

Rina’s head snapped up at the realization. Her eyes looked between the three men surrounding her and they could see the concern instantly take over Rina’s expression. Omar reached out a hand, gently laying it on her shoulder and gaining her attention back. What had she been thinking of that had gotten her so worked up that quickly?

“Haruna… Where is Haruna? Is she okay? Did you go see her? Did you find her?” Rina asked, a sense of urgency taking over the shy and fearful tone she had once spoke in. Her eyes never left Omar’s but she slowly began to wish they had as the sorrowful look came to his expression.

“We did pay a visit to the Ono residence,” Moto was the first to respond to Rina’s urgent questioning. Minami could only stare at Rina, wondering where her sense of urgency was coming from, whether it was from concern for the older teen or from fear of the older teen. “We, however, did not encounter Haruna. She was out of the house when we visited and we’ve not heard anything about her whereabouts since.”

Rina could feel her heart sinking like a stone. Haruna had to be in that house… It was the only place for her to be. She wasn’t at school still and no one had seen her, there simply wasn’t another option. How could they have missed her when they went to the house?

“You have to go back,” Rina said, directing her words more to Omar than the officers. “She’s in the house and she’s in trouble. We saw…”

“We? Who else are you talking about?” Minami asked suddenly, interrupting Rina’s worried and urgent words. Rina sniffed softly, turned her head back down towards the ground. She knew Haruna would be mad at her but she had to do this. She’d rather Haruna be mad at her than risk Haruna getting any more hurt than Rina had already seen. She didn’t even want to think about how angry Mami was going to be when she found out about this…

“M-Maybe about a week ago,” Rina began in a shaky voice, “Mami and I… We went to see Haruna.”

“Who is Mami?” Minami asked when there was a pause in Rina’s words. The young teenager took a deep breath, gripping onto her skirt tightly for support.

“Mami Sasazaki, she’s a friend of both of ours. She was going to check on Haruna because we hadn’t seen her in a few days and I forced Mami to take me with her to go to Haruna’s house. When we got there, the woman who answered the door insisted that we couldn’t see Haruna and told us to leave but we didn’t. We snuck around the side instead.”

“You realize that’s unlawful trespassing, Suzuki, correct?” Minami warned her. Rina tensed and Omar shot him a look. Minami apologized softly, urging Rina to continue. The teenager drew in another breath, continuing to attempt to unsuccessfully steady herself enough to keep speaking to the officers. She had to get through this for Haruna.

“We looked in through one of the windows and… We… We saw Haruna leaned up against the couch before someone Mami had called Madoka started yelling at her.”

“How could you hear what was being said?” Minami questioned.

“The window was opened just a bit…”

“Very well, continue then,” Minami said. Rina looked up, glancing at Moto who was writing something down before looking at the dreary floor again.

“Madoka started yelling at her,” Rina picked up again. Her voice was growing shaky and her hands began moving to match. She tried to keep a grip on her skirt to keep her calm but calmness seemed to be just out of her reach. “She started accusing Haruna of telling us something.”

“What did she mean by that?” Moto was the one to speak now when Rina had let her sentence abruptly trail off. Rina quickly wiped a tear away that had come from recalling the memories before shaking her head. “Did anything else happen, Suzuki?” Moto asked her in a calm voice. Rina sniffed again before choosing to answer.

“Haruna said something and Madoka got mad… She… She had been holding a cup and she threw it at Haruna…. Haruna looked like she had been in so much pain from it…” Rina didn’t want to speak anymore. She didn’t want to be here anymore. Recalling the memories of all she had seen done to Haruna was more than just slightly painful for the already pained brunette.

“Suzuki, we will confess that we have requested a warrant to search the residence,” Minami began. Rina looked up a spark of hope in her eyes but Minami coughed lowly again, a sign Rina was beginning to see as a bad one. “We will not be paying the residence another visit until we have the warrant though. It should be only a matter of days.”

“O-oh…” It was the only response Rina could muster. That wasn’t what Rina had been hoping to hear; it was nearly the opposite of what she wanted to hear. What could happen in “only a matter of days”? From in front of her, Minami reluctantly gave Omar a look, nodding his head and silently telling the older male to move forward with the plan.

“Now, Rina,” Omar spoke gently, “We’ve answered you questions about Haruna. You need to answer the question that was asked before…. Where are your parents? We know they’re in Osaka. How is it that you are here but they are there? We only want to help. Did you run away? Did Haruna force you to come here? Is she hurting you?”

“No!” Rina’s response was loud and quick. It was an instinctive response to Omar’s allegations. All she had heard was the allegation of Haruna hurting her and that had been enough to invoke a response from Rina. How could he? Sure, Haruna had been rude every single time they had seen Omar, but how could he ever think she would be capable of hurting Rina?

“Rina…”

“Haruna has never laid a hand on me.” Rina knew that was a bit of a lie but the moments when Haruna had were rare and just in the heat of the moment. Rina knew that Haruna would never intentionally hurt her. Haruna wasn’t that sort of person. “Haruna saved me. She wouldn’t ever hurt me.”

“What do you mean she saved you, Rina? What exactly has happened to your parents and where are you living?” Omar continued to urge, his voice getting slightly more demanding. Rina glanced up at him, the tears evident in her eyes as she shakily let her hands release the skirt she had bunched up the entire time.

“If I tell you, will you separate us?” Rina hesitantly and fearfully asked in a quiet tone. Omar could feel remorse for her but shook his head nonetheless.

“We won’t separate you.” Omar knew that promise might be one he couldn’t keep but he knew if he didn’t say it, Rina wouldn’t speak to him. He had to lie to her to keep her talking.

The young teenager nodded. She had gotten them into this mess and now she had to get them out.