Sukeban

Tomomi leaned over slowly, setting the glass of water down in front of Mami. She was careful not to touch the blonde as she pushed herself back up, turning on her heels and walking back over to the sink. From behind her, Mami stayed sitting at the kitchen table, her fingertips gently rapping on the wooden tabletop. She stared at Tomomi, carefully watching her every movement.

The girls had made it back to Tomomi’s house. It took a bit of convincing, but Mami finally got Tomomi to agree to come downstairs with her and give Haruna and Rina some alone time. Mami knew that Tomomi was uncomfortable with the boss being in her house and she knew it made her even more uncomfortable now that the boss was alone in her house and in her bedroom nonetheless. But in a way, Mami found it kind of amusing. Tomomi’s reactions to things were just entertaining, she overreacted to so much.

Mami watched as Tomomi retrieved another glass from the cupboard, pouring herself some water from the tap. She watched the younger brunette take a small drink before she turned around, leaning herself against the counter. Mami could see the way Tomomi’s eyes widened when she saw the blonde observing her.

“You’re so nervous,” Mami pointed out. Tomomi’s feet shifted uncomfortably beneath her, her grip on the glass tightening. “You can calm down you know.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Tomomi mumbled. She didn’t think she had said it loud enough for Mami to hear, but Mami had heard anyway. The blonde let out a small chuckle at the brunette’s words, shaking her head.

“Tomomi, about the fight earlier… I’m really sorry you had to see that but you’re going to need to get used to it. You’ve been with us for long enough already, you should know this. What happened today is part of being with us; if you want to stay then you need to learn to deal with it. But you don’t have to be scared of me; I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t know what more I can do to make you see that.”

“W-who said I was scared of you?” Tomomi asked in a sudden motion, a soft squeaking sound coming out in her voice as she said them. Tomomi winced from the sound of her own voice, she hated it when she did that, it always gave her away.

Truth was though, Tomomi wasn’t scared of Mami. At least, she wasn’t scared of her anymore. At one point after the fight, she had been scared of the blonde after she’d seen what Mami was truly capable of. What she’d seen at the fight wasn’t what was keeping her away from Mami. What was keeping her away was the feelings that Mami’s hug from earlier had given her. One simple hug had brought up all of these things in her mind. It was so small and simple, it shouldn’t have meant anything. But it had meant so much that Tomomi was beginning to get scared of what her real feelings for the blonde could be.

But she would never tell the blonde that. She could only imagine the fun someone like Mami would have with a confession like that. She didn’t even know why she was thinking about it anyway. She knew Mami had only done it because she felt sorry for her. She could tell by the way Mami was acting now that she was back to her usual self, that moment of sweetness was long over.

“Well, you won’t come near me and you’re acting like I’m going to do something wrong. Call it a hunch,” Mami replied with a hint of sarcasm to her tone. Mami hated it when people tried to lie to her, so she wasn’t very pleased with Tomomi at the moment. “I saw the way you were looking at me earlier. You were terrified of me. I thought the fear had worn off by now but… I guess not.”

Tomomi took a small drink of the water she held, her throat beginning to dry up from the nervousness that was really washing over her body now. Taking slow steps, she went back over to the table, taking a seat across from Mami. She sat the glass down on the table, the water inside it wavering as her hand shook.

“I’m not scared of you, Mami… I’m just thinking.”

“What are you thinking about?” Mami turned around in her chair so she was facing Tomomi fully now, her eyes flashing with curiosity.

Tomomi let out a soft sigh, her eyes looking down to watch the still water held in the glass. She couldn’t tell Mami about her real thoughts; she had to think of a cover up.

“Back there… When Rina said she didn’t have any parents… What did she mean by it?” It seemed like a good enough cover up. Whenever Tomomi asked questions like that, she never got answers so she figured she wouldn’t get an answer this time. Mami would refuse to answer as she always did and it would be just enough to distract the blonde.

This time, it was Mami’s turn to sigh. She raked a hand through her blonde locks, giving her head a small shake. She should have seen that one coming. It would have taken a miracle for the curious girl to not ask about Rina’s confession. And now Mami had to decide what to do. If she refused to tell Tomomi, things would get awkward between them again. But if she agreed to answer the question and Haruna heard it then she would have to face Haruna’s wrath later.

Mami was leaning towards dealing with the awkwardness over Haruna’s wrath but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Tomomi. Tomomi had been with them for some time now and the others still weren’t really including her in anything. She was doing her best to fit in but they weren’t giving her a real chance. If anything, they were simply using Tomomi as their scapegoat. Tomomi was putting in so much effort to please them but they weren’t willing to put in that same effort for her. It made her feel guilty.

So maybe it was time for Mami to take matters into her own hands.

“You know, Haruna doesn’t want us telling you things like that,” Mami pointed out finally after a few seconds of silence. Mami could see the way Tomomi’s face fell from the answer she’d gotten from Mami. Tomomi really was an open book, she couldn’t hide her emotions. Her emotions were easy to twist and turn. She was an easy person to control. “But… I think I can make an exception this time, I kinda feel like I owe it to you anyway. But you’ve got to promise me one thing… You will never tell anyone that I told you this. This is our little secret, it stays between us, got it?”

“Of course! I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Tomomi said, her tone perking up instantly. Mami laughed softly at the sudden cheery attitude of Tomomi’s. It really was just too easy to control her. She was so easy to make upset and scare but at the same time, she was also an easily happy person. She was the kind of person who wore their heart on their sleeve. “Did Rina’s parents pass away?”

Mami smiled at Tomomi’s comment. So naïve. That’s probably what many people would think when someone tells you they don’t have parents. It’s the most logical one after all. Mami was interested to see how Tomomi would react when she found out the truth.

“No, Rina’s parents are still alive. In fact, they live right here in Tokyo. At least… The last time I saw them, they still lived in Tokyo. Maybe they’ve gone make to Osaka since then, I’m not sure. It has been at least six months since the last time I saw them… Since Rina last saw them.”

“What… What happened to them?” Tomomi was hesitant to ask her questions and keep pushing Mami. She hadn’t ever expected to get a real answer out of Mami and now that she was, she didn’t know quite how to handle it. She’d thought about the things she’d say before but thinking it and living it were two completely different things. Now that her thoughts were becoming a reality, her mind was going completely blank.

Tomomi saw Mami give her a small smile, but Tomomi could see the sadness behind her smile. Mami was not only answering her questions now, but Tomomi was also seeing different sorts of emotions in the blonde.

“Rina was kicked out by her parents.”

Silence overtook the girls as Tomomi’s mind tried to process what Mami had told her. It didn’t make sense. Even if Rina’s birth parents had disowned her, wouldn’t she have been put with a foster family? Rina was only fifteen, there’s no possible way a fifteen year old would get away with having no legal guardians.

“Does Rina live with a foster family?” Tomomi asked slowly. She sounded like she was forcing the words out. Really, Tomomi just wanted to stay silent and let Mami take the reins of the conversation, but she knew she’d have to keep asking questions to keep getting answers.

“No, Rina doesn’t live with a foster family. I guess you could say that Rina is homeless; she doesn’t really have a set place to go. For the last few months, Rina had been jumping between our houses. Whenever one of ours parents’ leave town, we’ll let Rina come stay with us. Of course, she has to leave when our parents come back but there’s so many of us that Rina almost always has a place to stay. Most of the time she’s at Haruna’s house since Haruna’s parents are away so often. Do you remember when Haruna paid you? Do you remember how we were going to let her keep the money?”

“Yeah…” Tomomi’s words continued to come out hesitantly.

“At the time, Rina was staying with Haruna. Haruna’s parents have a habit of disappearing on her for days on end, sometimes even weeks. When they’re gone, they don’t provide her with anything, about the only thing they do is making the bills are paid. Everything else, Haruna has to afford on her own. And with Rina there, she had to provide for Rina as well. Rina’s with Aina for now though since Haruna’s parents are back again.”

“How is that possible though? Wouldn’t… Wouldn’t the police get involved? Or someone?” Mami laughed softly at Tomomi’s senseless babbling. She looked and sounded so confused; she just didn’t understand any of this.

“I guess that’s what would normally happen with these things, but nothing seems to go normally when the lot of us are involved. Tomomi, this is Rina’s secret for a reason. No one knows about it. No one except us. Rina didn’t want anyone knowing so we’ve helped her hide it. We’ve done well so far. None of the teachers or anyone has wanted to speak with her parents. At least… Not in person. Over the phone, it’s easy to fake. When the school called Rina’s parents today, who do you think they really called?”

Tomomi didn’t answer Mami’s question. She didn’t have an answer to it, although she didn’t know if that was a real question or a rhetorical one.

“It was Aina. Whenever the school calls Rina’s parents, they’re really calling Aina. She’s good at fooling people, it’s her specialty. As long as Aina stays around and no one asks to meet her parents, we’ll be fine keeping this a secret.”

“But, Mami, wouldn’t things be better for Rina if she had an actual house and family? Wouldn’t it be better for her if she was in foster care?” This time, the laugh Mami let out was a dark and bitter one. She could understand Tomomi’s naivety, but the brunette was quickly crossing a line that she wouldn’t want to go over.

“You really don’t understand, do you, Tomomi? Do you really think the best thing for her is to be tossed around from family to family? You say she needs a real family, but she’s already got a real family. We are her family. That’s something you don’t seem to understand.”

Tomomi was almost taken aback by the new fierce and fiery tone that Mami carried in her voice. Tomomi had really pushed her buttons when she had said her comment about Rina needing a “real family”. She didn’t know it would affect Mami that badly.

“Mami, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean it like that. I just… You’re right, I don’t understand. None of this makes sense to me but I am trying to understand it.”

“I know it seems like this isn’t the best type of life for her and you’re right, it’s not. But it’s all she’s got. It’s all any of us have. None of us have model lives and we’re all barely scraping by. We’re all in different situations, but we all feel the same. There’s a reason all of us are where we are and why we’re part of this.”

“Why did you join?” Tomomi’s question was followed by silence. Mami let her eyes fall down to the table, biting down on her lip.

“I joined for Haruna. During my last year of middle school, she asked me to. I didn’t see a reason not to, so I agreed to do it. I’ve been here ever since. You have to understand something, Tomomi. We’re not like you. Most of us don’t have parents who care. Most of us don’t have a future to look forward to. Most of us aren’t going to be going anywhere in life. We’re leading dead end lives. We are all probably going to end up dead or in prison after high school anyway, we have no future. We have nothing but each other. We’re just doing what we have to in order to survive.”

Tomomi felt herself reaching out towards Mami. She wrapped her hand around one of Mami’s giving the blonde a tight and reassuring squeeze. The two girls stayed silent, Tomomi and Mami locking their eyes. But Mami didn’t let it stay that way. She pulled her hand back, looking away from Tomomi. She didn’t want Tomomi pitying her.

“That’s not true, Mami. Everyone has a future. No matter where you come from, you have a future. But your future is what you make of it. Things can get better if you try to make them better.” Mami scoffed at Tomomi’s “wisdom”. She really didn’t know anything. She was so privileged that her words meant nothing to Mami. She was appreciative of Tomomi for trying, but Tomomi really had no idea what she was talking about.

“That’s sweet of you to say, but you’re wrong. You’ve always had good things come to you; you’ve never had to experience what it’s like for no one to believe in you. I was always destined for failure. All seven of us were. If any of us believed in the future – if any of us believed we had a purpose – then we never would have gotten involved in this. This is what we have to do to survive. That’s why we kept trying to scare you off. You’re a bright girl, Tomo. You’ve got a bright future and you’re going to go far, don’t give it all up.”

“I’m not giving anything up,” Tomomi insisted. She saw Mami shake her head, her blonde locks falling to cover her face. Tomomi felt like it was time to change the subject; she could see how bad of a turn Mami’s mood was taking. “Can I ask one more thing?”

“Go for it.” Mami didn’t see why not. After all, it’s not like Tomomi’s questioning could get much worse.

“How did Rina meet Haruna? How did she get into the gang? All of you have ragged on me for being so weak and unable to fight but… Rina’s the same way.”

The last thing Tomomi was expecting Mami to do was laugh at Tomomi’s question but that was exactly what the blonde had done. The blonde was looking back up at Tomomi now, that familiar smile back on her face again. She’d been wondering when Tomomi was going to ask that.

“You know, you’re pretty observant at times. I was wondering if you had ever noticed that. Do you remember what I told you earlier? Did you think about why you were let in?”

“I thought it was because I had stood up to Haruna?”

“That’s only partially why you were let in. The other reason was pity. After we left, Haruna wanted to force you to leave by scaring you off. And trust me, you don’t want to know how Haruna intended to do that. But we didn’t let her. We felt sorry for you and we wanted to give you a chance. None of us thought you’d last over a week anyway. Think about it, Tomomi. You’re like the school nerd. You get perfect grades and you’re always excited for school. You’re the good girl who never does anything wrong and you have practically no strength in your entire body. Before we saw you stand up to Haruna, you were practically begging us to let you in. We felt sorry for you.”

Sometimes, Tomomi really hated how brutally honest Mami was. Would it hurt her to pull her punches occasionally? She could soften her words at least once for Tomomi.

“What does that have to do with Rina?” Tomomi asked suddenly, cutting off Mami. She really just wanted to get the subject off of her.

“Rina was let in for practically the same reason, because Haruna felt sorry for her. Haruna and Rina have a lot of history with each other, but that’s not my place to tell you. One of them will tell you when they feel you’re ready to know. Rina has been with us for around a year and a half now I think. When Haruna asked her to join, she was a third year junior high student. She had known Haruna for two years at that point. Rina was getting pretty badly bullied in school. She was always a quiet girl so she made for an easy target. It’s always the quiet people who are targeted after all.

Haruna invited Rina to join the gang because she thought it would protect her. She had good intentions but it was a pretty naïve thing to do, especially for such a seasoned boss like Haruna. She really should have known better. Haruna thought that by letting Rina in, people would stop targeting her if they had us to deal with. And she was right. Her old bullies stopped picking on her but she got introduced to an all new level of danger, but I guess you already saw that. In a way, it was part because Haruna pitied Rina and part because she wanted to protect her. But Haruna was naïve to think letting Rina into this would protect her, she’d been through enough gangs to know there was nothing protective about it. But she was desperate. We tried to teach Rina how to fight so she could protect herself but it never stuck. She’s a lot like you in that way.”

Tomomi didn’t really know what to say to that. She wanted to say something – anything – but she found herself unable to think of anything. The only thing she could think of was another question.

“Mami… Was the reason Rina got kicked out because of the gang?” Tomomi could see Mami look away from her again; her eyes being taken over by that same sad emotion that Mami had started with.

“I guess you could say that…”

“What happened?”

Mami almost wanted to stop talking at this point. This was all getting a lot more personal that she thought it would get; she didn’t think Tomomi would push this in-depth and try to go this personal with her questions. But she’d find out eventually and if Rina thought it was fine for her to know then it was best she did find out.

“What happened with Hana today is not the first time it’s happened. She’s gone after Rina before. You’ve never seen Rina without her uniform on, have you?” Mami looked up at Tomomi just in time to see her shake her head. “There’s a reason she’s always wearing the winter uniform. Hana and Haruna have had problems with each other for ages. What all started as petty fights between them escalated into something bigger and eventually, we all got drug into it. When Haruna asked Rina to join, she didn’t take into account the fact that Rina would be our weakest member. That was her biggest mistake.”

“Why doesn’t Rina just leave then?” Mami laughed at Tomomi’s naivety. Sometimes, it was really sad how naïve and sheltered the brunette was. When it came to academics, Tomomi was about one of the smartest people you’d ever meet. But when it came to street smarts, those were something Tomomi didn’t appear to have.

“You really don’t know anything, do you? You can’t just leave. You can’t just pretend like you were never a part of this. Even if she leaves, do you think people would really forget what she’s helped do?”

“What happened between Hana and Rina?”

“Nothing really. Hana and Rina had never spoken before. Hana’s problems with Rina were always about Haruna. She targets Rina not just because she’s our weakest member, but also because she knows how close Haruna is to Rina. I know you don’t see it, Tomomi, but Haruna is a lot softer than she lets on. I don’t know what caused Hana to attack Rina that night. Haruna claims nothing big happened between her and Hana, but I don’t believe that. Some stupid schoolyard fights wouldn’t make anyone do that but I don’t blame Haruna for not telling anyone what happened. She probably still blames herself for the way Rina was hurt.”

“What did happen to Rina?”

Tomomi’s body tensed as she saw the odd look Mami was giving her because of her question. Tomomi couldn’t quite put her finger on how to describe Mami’s look, but she knew that it meant Tomomi would probably regret asking that question.

“Tomo, no offense, but I don’t think you’re ready for that. If today affected you that badly, you still have a long way to go before I’ll tell you that story.” Tomomi’s eyes darted down to the table. She was disappointed that Mami’s confessions seemed to be dwindling down, but she understood why. She could tell that just from the way Mami sounded, what had happened was probably hard for her to talk about.

Mami leaned back into the chair she sat in, her head tilting back as her blonde locks fell over the back of the chair. Her body shuddered as the thoughts of that night returned to her. She always hated thinking about it. Whenever she did, all she could ever think about was how she felt seeing all the blood and seeing Haruna lose control of herself like that. The entire night was a nightmare, both to live it and remember it. After that night, Mami stopped being surprised by anything that happened to them. She never imagined something like that could happen to them; they were only petty thieves after all. The only things they were capable of were robberies and fighting, nothing that would ever get them into that much trouble.

“I’m sorry, Mami…” The blonde’s attention was brought back at the soft, whispered apology of Tomomi. Mami moved her eyes back to Tomomi, a sensitive smile coming onto her face when she saw the girl looking down at the table, the tears sparkling in her eyes. She was a bit of a crybaby, but Mami liked that about her. “I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“You apologize way too much,” Mami said with a hint of amusement to her tone. Tomomi’s head snapped up, her eyes blinking hard to try and blink the tears away. Mami laughed softly, pushing herself out of the chair. “I think it’s time Haruna and I got home. Your parents will be home soon, won’t they?”

“Yeah…”

“What are you going to do with Rina?”

“I’ll keep her in my room. My parents don’t go up there usually, so they’ll never know she’s here.” Tomomi couldn’t believe the words that were leaving her mouth. She never lied, especially not to her parents. But here she was, offering to keep Rina hidden. She was preparing to tell a huge lie to her parents.

“How do you plan to get Rina out of the house without your parents noticing?”

“I….didn’t really think about that.” Mami laughed softly, shaking her head. Typical Tomomi. But Mami was happy even if Tomomi hadn’t thought this all the way through. She was still making her best effort.

“Do you have a pen and paper I could use?” Tomomi only nodded to Mami’s random suggestion, pointing over to the counter top.

The brunette watched as Mami walked over to where she had pointed, grabbing the small notepad that laid on the countertop. She watched the blonde scribble something down on it quickly before coming back over to her and handing the paper to her.

“That’s my number. When you leave for school tomorrow, I want you to hide a key to your house hidden outside. Text me or call me to tell me where it is and when your parents will be gone, I’ll come get Rina, she should be able to move by tomorrow. She just needs rest.”

“But what about school?”

“I’m suspended, remember?”

“Oh… Right. Sorry,” Tomomi apologized softly. That little fact had kind of slipped her mind. She could hear Mami laugh again before the blonde patted her head.

Tomomi didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of letting Mami into her house alone, but she figured it was time to trust her. She was one of them now, she had to learn to stop being so distrustful of them. Mami seemed trustful enough and she didn’t really have a choice if she wanted to keep this secret from her parents.

“All right, I’ll let you know tomorrow,” Tomomi replied finally. Often times, Tomomi’s parents left for work before she even left for school, so it was the perfect plan really. Tomomi saw Mami smile at her, nodding her head.

“Good. I’ll go get Haruna; she probably needs some rest as well. I’ll see you after school tomorrow for your lessons.” With those last words, Mami turned on her heels, walking out of the kitchen and leaving a stunned Tomomi behind.

“Mami, wait!” Tomomi called, rushing after the blonde and following her upstairs. She had really hoped that Mami had forgotten about those “lessons” she was planning but clearly, she wasn’t getting out of it. No matter what she did or what she said, it was going to happen whether Tomomi liked it or not.

Tomorrow wasn’t going to be very fun, Tomomi could already sense that.

***

“Haruna, what are we going to do about Hana?” Mami asked as the two girls made their way down the sidewalk. Mami could see Haruna’s grip on her bag tighten at the blonde’s words. She didn’t know if now was the appropriate time to bring it up since the wounds were still fresh, but it was better to bring it up sooner than later.

“Do you trust me?” Haruna asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Of course.” Now Mami was confused. She didn’t see what that had to do with her question. “I’ve been through everything with you, I trust you with everything. Why do you ask?”

“I know that every Saturday, Hana goes to a dance studio. That’s in two days and that is when I’m going to get her back for this. We can find her friends at a later right but for right now, I want to focus on Hana. But I don’t want the others there, I only want you there.”

“Why only me?”

“That’s not important,” Haruna said as her footsteps stopped. Mami stopped abruptly, her body turning to face Haruna. “I need you to come with me; I need your help. But I also need you to promise me that you’re not going to interfere. I need you to be there to make sure Hana doesn’t get away from me. Will you do it?”

Mami really wanted to tell Haruna no. If Haruna was planning to confront Hana without the others there, then she knew Haruna was planning to do something the others may not approve of. Just that thought was enough to make Mami not want to go, but she could see the determination in Haruna’s eyes. Even if she said no, Haruna would still go alone and there was no way that Mami could let Haruna jump into the fire alone.

Taking a deep breath, Mami finally gave Haruna her answer.

“I’ll do it.”