@kahem: I know its sad, I felt bad writing about her death
@kurosawa87: Well Rena's been stopped by Jurina now but you're right Yuki/ Yuu-chan is a very important character in this fic and eventually all will be revealed
@hikari_043083: Thank you so much for your comment! Its things like this that make me really glad that I started writing fics
I'm glad you enjoyed my first attempt with Tomodachi no Koibito, I know that it's a bit cruel for Jurina to end up alone but I really wanted to focus on the special friendship that she shares with Rena as something that may even eclipse love. However I have started working on a epilogue for that so that Jurina can end with a pairing but that may take a while since I don't want it to look forced.
As for X the anime that inspired me it is called "Black Cat", the main inspiration I got from that was the gun with a number engraved, and yes you are right in thinking that Yuki and Yuu-chan are in fact the same person. I also like your theory of Jurina being Yuki's killer and it is very close to the truth but not quite what I have in store, so I hope I can surprise you with what actually happened then.
Well this turned out to be a long reply
and again thank you for the comment
@mo-chan: haha yeah Rena is acting like quite the tsundere, pretending that she doesn't care about Jurina the lost cat
It's funny you say that, when I wrote it down it felt like I was switching their personalities at that point, it also makes them really similar but so different at the same time lol.
A/N: Hello again people! I apologize for the long wait for the update but this has turned out to be twice as long as what I normally write so I hope that can make up for it being a longer wait! I’ve said this every time but your comments me a lot to me so please keep them coming, also a shout out to the silent readers and I hope you’ve enjoyed the story.
Chapter 5- PunishmentHeavy. A huge burden was forcing itself down onto me. Pinned to the cushions I managed to turn my aching body around. My eyes were still full of sleep and I could barely make out the face in front of me. Wait why on earth was there a face on top of me?
“Kyaah!” Shrieking I kicked the body and sent the body soaring across the room. The sheet then rose up from the ground and let out a dazed voice.
“Mou Rena-chan why did you wake me up like that?” As soon as Jurina’s pouting face emerged from under the cover it morphed into a huge grin. “I know as a punishment you have to hang out with me for the entire day.”
“I refuse.” Without even giving her idea any thought I deadpanned and got up from my couch. “In fact what the heck were you doing sleeping with me in the sofa? I specifically let you sleep in my bed.” The girl started fidgeting with the corner of the sheet and stared up at me with watering eyes.
“I just wanted to be with Rena-chan…” I was still struggling to get over the fact that this girl used to be a killing machine like me. Those adorable eyes couldn’t have belonged to a cold blooded killer like me. I could feel my heart melt and decided to concede to her pleading.
“Well I’m not exactly doing anything so I could hang out with you.” All of a sudden Jurina came rushing toward me with joy filled in her eyes. Before she could squeeze me to do death I placed my hand on her head to stop her progress. “However there are several conditions.” This seemed to drain the enthusiasm out of her but I kept my guard up and continued to hold her away from me. “Firstly no unnecessary body contact between us. Secondly you’re going have to get at least, let’s see ten? Yeah you have to get the bounties of at least ten people tonight, and finally I refuse to be seen publicly with someone as scruffy as you so I’ll let you borrow my clothes for today.” Jurina followed me into my room and immediately started rummaging through a drawer. I went into to the wardrobe of older clothes to try and find something to lend her.
“Err Rena-chan won’t I get really cold just wearing this when I go out?” Jurina had a piece of my lingerie in each of her hands. In a flash I snatched them out of her hands and shoved them back into the drawer and slammed the drawer shut.
“Those are my things. You can go choose from that wardrobe over there.” I pointed her to where I was just a second ago and Jurina went diving head first into the clothes. Almost as soon as she went in, she came back out holding a frilled white one piece and a cream cardigan. “Good once you get changed in the bathroom then we can get going.”
“Yay, I’m really looking forward to this Rena-chan!” I avoided eye contact with Jurina as she bounced out of my room. As I pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and skulled shirt it suddenly dawned on me that Jurina had managed to pick out the few things that I have that actually belonged to Yuki. Who knew that such a strange thing could happen? Maybe this girl really is something special; maybe she can fill the void in my heart. It’s not like I’m getting any closer to getting to finding Yuki’s killer.
“Rena-chan are you ready yet?” My Train of thought was broken by Jurina yelling from the hallway. Without replying I put my pistols in their holsters, grabbed my black leather jacket and joined her. “I hope you’re ready to have fun.” Her face had a beaming smile stretching across it.
“So would you like to tell me where we are going?” Jurina simply giggled at my question.
“You’ll find out soon enough. Now let’s go!” She took a hold of my hand and rushed out of the door, only to have to stop and wait for the lift. “Ah I forgot about this thing. Isn’t there a faster way down?”
“Well there are the stairs but…” Before I could finish she hoisted me up in her arms and kicked down the door to the staircases. “You might want to hold on tight.” She looked down to me and gave me a flirty little wink before leaping over the railings.
・・・
“Next time we take the lift.” I was still recovering from the crazy ride that Jurina had just taken me on.
“But wasn’t it really fun sliding and jumping off the railings. Plus it was a lot faster than that boring lift!” She was still giddy with excitement from that treacherous descent. “Also there’s going to be more of that kind of thing where we are going. In fact we are already here!” She was pointing at a sign which read as Tropical Land.
“You can’t be serious.” Jurina was staring me at with determined eyes, telling me that she was extremely serious. “Well aren’t you a little too old to get excited over a theme park?”
“I’ll have you know that you can never be too old for something unless there’s an age limit, and the last time I looked there aren’t any for theme parks.” Letting out a huff she stormed off into the park and started searching for the first ride that she would drag me onto. “Hey Rena-chan this big one over here!” She was pointing at the monstrous steel structure towering over everything. Its tracks were coiling between each other in a jumble of various loops, twists and dips. Jurina was already trying to queue up for the ride but her way was being blocked by a member of staff.
“I’m sorry but you’re not tall enough to get on this ride.”
“But I’m fifteen years old! I should be old enough to go this ride!” Jurina was whining and stomping the ground.
“I’m sorry but your age doesn’t matter. We don’t have any age limits only height limits.”
“Looks like your own words came back to haunt you.” I placed my hand on her shoulder and dragged her away from the staff before she could cause any more trouble.
“Rena-chan it looks so fun.” Just as she finished her sentence a group of screaming people came zooming by on the steel tracks. Jurina’s eye had a small tear in them. “I drank all that milk but I’m still too small, it’s not fair.” She began to swing her fists at me in frustration.
“Look, stop acting like a child and find another ride that you’re tall enough to go on.” We walked further into the park in search of something that Jurina could actually ride.
Eventually she found another jet coaster she wanted to go on and rushed straight toward the attendant who was overseeing the queue.
“Hey mister I’m tall enough to go on this right?” With her back against the wall Jurina was desperately trying to stretch her body beyond the red line. Mildly entertained with the girl’s hectic attempt to grow he took off the chain and let her into the queue. “Look Rena-chan I’m allowed on this ride and the queue is also really small!” Jurina took off running down the winding maze of chains and disappeared into a building.
Before I followed her I gave an apologetic nod to the amused man then entered the rows of chains. As I made my way toward the building I noticed it had a rather decrepit demeanour to it. All the windows were at awkward angles and there was an abundance of ivy all snarled up with each other over the rotting boards. Once I reached the entrance I noticed that the upper portion of the door had a phrase written across it with a sticky crimson liquid.
“Enter at your own peril.” I giggled at the ride’s feeble attempt at trying to scare me. Though I’m kind of surprised that Jurina went rushing in; I didn’t think she would be the type to enjoy horror. The door creaked open to reveal a dark gloomy room aligned with dim candles and disturbing portraits. Entering the corridor I could swear that there was a faint sobbing coming from somewhere in the hallway.
All of a sudden a hand shot out from the shadow and grasped onto my ankles. “Help me…” An eerie voice echoed throughout the entire room. Another white hand reached out and began to tug on me even harder. A frosty breath wheezed against my leg, sending shudders down my spine. A bedraggle body began dragging itself out from the shadows and continued to cry. “Please help me… Rena-chan I need you…” How on earth did this thing know my name? Was this really some kind of haunted house that the park was built around?
“Let go of me!” Yelling I lashed out with my leg to free it from its captor and backed up against the wall. Then I decided not to hang around any longer and rushed down the corridor to catch up with Jurina and the queue.
“No, Rena-chan don’t leave me!” Looking back down the corridor I saw an extremely pale faced Jurina crawling towards me; her eyes completely blood shot from the incessant tears rolling down her face.
“Jurina, what are you doing back here?” She slowly got up to her feet and continued to make her way toward me. Her entire body was trembling in fear, sweat dripping from head to toe.
“Rena-chan I’m really scared of this place.” Huddling up to me she turned me back toward the entrance. “Please take me out of here.”
“But you’ve only just come here.”
“I don’t care! Just get me out of this horrible place.” Sighing I lead Jurina out of the house and back past the confused attendant. I then continued to lead her round the park and found a bench to sit her down on.
“You do realize that the whole point of theme parks is to go on the rides.” Folding my arms across my chest I gave her a disapproving glare. It’s one thing to waste my time by bringing me to such a childish place but to not even go on any of the rides. That just defeats the point of being here. At least these rides would distract me from this unbelievable boredom.
“But the first one wasn’t my fault and the second ride was—”
“Wait.” Right then I noticed a large building across from us with the words “Wild West Shootout” written across it. “We’re going on that ride over there.” Taking a hold of Jurina’s arm I strode straight into the building only to have my progress halted by the bodies all queuing up for the ride.
“Rena-chan what are we queuing for?” Jurina had a puzzled look on her face.
“I don’t know and I don’t care. You wanted to go on a ride so here we are going on one.” The fact that we hadn’t even come close to getting on a ride was starting to get me. Who knows maybe I was more desperate to go on a ride than Jurina was. She was surprisingly quiet considering how animated she was earlier in the day.
“Err Rena-chan does this count as unnecessary contact…” Stammering a little Jurina gestured to her hand. Our fingers were somehow intertwined with each other’s. My face became flushed and I immediately withdrew my hand and shoved it in my pocket.
“Th-that meant absolutely nothing!” I took a step away and spun my face away from her. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a crestfallen frown on her face. Dammit I wish things like this would stop happening, it’s just going to result in more tiresome misunderstandings. Then again why was she so obsessed with me? As far as I remember I’d never met her before that day in the underground. There must be more to Jurina’s story than she revealed. Maybe I could ask her more questions while we sat in this queue. “Hey Jurina can I ask you something?”
“Huh yeah I guess…” She was still carrying a disappointed expression, tracing her finger over the palm where my hand once was.
“Why are you so obsessed with me?” I wasn’t going to beat around the bush so I was just going to be blunt about the entire thing.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Jurina was either still sulking about my actions or just playing hard to get. Whatever it was she kept avoiding any sort of eye contact with me.
“You know what I mean. I’m asking you to tell me why you like me so much!” Raising my voice caused the surrounding crowd turn their attention onto us. I lifted the collar of my jacket up, trying to hide as much of my scarlet face as possible. Why did I say it like that, it just makes me sound like such a narcissist. Slowly the length of the queue was shortening, although the distance between me and Jurina was still as large as ever, and eventually we got onto a cart.
Jurina then twisted round in her seat to say. “You’re right Rena-chan I do like you but I’ll only tell you if you beat me.” She then pretended to shoot me with the laser gun that we had received. The grip of the toy revolver had a small screen with several red zeros. “Highest score wins!” Shouted Jurina as the cart sped off into the realm of the Cowboys.
・・・
“Again. We are going on that again.”
“But we’ve been on loads now. Look it’s become dark now.”
“I don’t care I refuse to be beaten by you.” The girl had defeated on many previous rounds of the ride and I was still desperate to beat her. Though by now it had nothing to do with the answer she promised but my competitive nature that drove me back on to the ride. In a massive huff I brought Jurina back to queue which had doubled in size since last time. I figured that this might have been a good time to ask her another question, maybe she’ll actually answer this time. “Jurina tell me, how the heck are you so good at shooting?”
She just replied by waving her finger at me. “Tsk, tsk Rena-chan. You shouldn’t be asking me another question. You haven’t come close to beating me yet.” The wagging finger and her cocky tone just added to my frustration.
“Jurina please tell me who taught you how to use a gun.” Through gritted teeth I tried to get her to answer me regardless of her conditions. Several ideas seemed to enter and leave her mind before she finally decided on a plan.
“Hmmm… Well I guess you have made a valiant effort to beat me so I shall reward you for that but...” Damn, there was always but when it comes to these things. “We are not going back on this ride instead we are going on the Ferris wheel.” Her finger was now pointing at a large illuminated circle.
“Fine but you start answering the question now.” I wasn’t really in any position to demand anything but I was just annoyed with losing to her so often that I couldn’t contain myself.
“Sure that’s ok.” She signalled by forming a loop with her finger and thumb. “This way the time in the Ferris wheel will be more special.” The grin on her face just kept getting larger and she started skipping towards the flashing wheel. “You see it was my dad who taught me everything I know. My mum died when I was born so it was just me and him from the start and because he was a bounty hunter thought it would be a good idea to teach me about guns when I was still really young. He did tell me about other things though since he kept telling me to drink milk so that I wouldn’t be as small as him. He used to be like, this tall.” Giggling she held her hand just below her chin and joined the back of the queue, but to me it looked like her actions were at little more forced than they should be.
“How could he used to be that tall? Did he just suddenly grow one day?” My words caused her to fall into a slower more depressed state.
“He’s dead.” All the emotion had vanished from her face and she was speaking to me with an eerie monotonous tone. “You must have heard of the incident with the bomber in the underground from three years ago.” Hesitating I nodded my head. It would be hard to find someone that didn’t know about the catastrophe that took place that day. “Well my dad was on that train and he died because of the suicidal maniac. That was also the day I got my first kill as a cleaner. I wanted revenge for my father’s death but the man who killed him had already killed himself. It was then that I met Mayu for the first time and she told me that he was part of some huge gang so I decided that I would have to take my revenge on them instead. In doing this I learned that the incident that killed my father was requested by some kind of government member. Turns out that this sort of thing happens often and that people without bounties were just as bad as those with one. Eventually I became consumed with the superiority I gained from killing people, well that was until Yuu-chan came along…” Jurina’s words faded and we got to the front of the queue. “Come on Rena-chan I answered your question so let’s have fun now!” It was amazing how easily this girl could switch between emotions. I followed the bounding girl into the capsule and sat down opposite her. She just sat there gazing out of the windows marvelling at dazzling view of the city.
The sight of the girl enjoying herself brought a smile to my face. Maybe meeting this girl wasn’t so bad after all. These days I was actually starting to appreciate her company and if I was being honest I would have to say that today was actually kind of fun. It’s been a while since I was able to be so carefree about things and it was refreshing to see energetic Jurina act like such child, though she’s always acting like that it felt special with it being in a place like this. Though I found myself feeling a little guilty for asking her all these questions. I have no idea how much she knows about me, the fact that she decided to follow me and she also knows Mayu I assume that she must know a bit about me. Still maybe I should tell her about Yuki, be honest and tell her that I still intend to kill the person who murdered her.
“Jurina I have to confess. You know how I said I wouldn’t kill people anymore, well that’s not strictly true. There’s someone I need to take revenge for…” The shame in my voice was clearly audible, but Jurina’s reaction was far more subdued than I expected. Her face carried a more solemn look but other than that there was nothing she just continued to stare out into the night.
“Really? Do you have to take revenge for someone? Also would she want you to do this?” Jurina quietly muttered these words still refusing to look at me. I took a hold of her shoulders and forced her to match my determined gaze.
“No, she would probably hate me for doing this but I’ve already made my decision and I will do this no matter what.” We went over the apex of the wheel in silence, Jurina averting her eyes to try and avoid mine. After a while she let out a lengthily sigh.
“If you feel that strongly about it then I guess I’ll have to help you find this person.” She was clearly unhappy about this but she seemed to have resigned to the fact that nothing she would say would alter my decision.
Suddenly the rattling sound of gun fire pierced through the air. Leaning against the window I could see hordes of people all fleeing from a smaller group near to the merry-go-round. There was a tall burly man in the centre of the group who set his rifle to the side and took out a megaphone.
“This is an emergency announcement, would Matsui Rena please come to the merry-go-round. If she doesn’t comply with this then I cannot guarantee the safety of everyone in the park.” This must be another gang trying to get their own back on me for taking out their other members, but more importantly how did they know I was here? “I repeat would Matsui Rena please come to the merry-go-round and please don’t attempt to hide. Let’s just say that a mouse squeaked and told us you would be here.” It was bizarre hearing such a gruff voice using such well-spoken language but what on earth did he mean by a mouse squeaking?
“Rena-chan how many people do you think are there? It must be more than ten right?” Jurina unhooked the door then began to open it.
“Wait Juri—” Before I could finish she had already leapt out of the capsule and onto the frame of the wheel. In one fluid motion Jurina rapidly bounced between the pipes and gracefully flipped down to the ground in a flash. She then dashed toward the merry-go-round and aimed her gun at the leader. They stood there for a couple of seconds before he lifted his rifle and began shooting at Jurina. Avoiding the bullets she dove behind one of the bobbing horses circling the ride and shot back at the group.
Eventually the capsule was close enough to the ground so that I could jump out and follow Jurina to the merry-go-round. From the distance I could see Jurina dancing between the horses, slowly picking off her enemies as she switched between attacking and hiding behind cover. By the time I got there her movements were beginning to become sluggish from the fatigue of her having to constant dodge bullets.
“Arrrggghh!” Jurina was clutching onto her shoulder trying to hold in the blood that was flowing out but she had managed to roll behind a carriage to hide from the continuous barrage of bullets. Still sprinting I reached under my jacket and took out my guns and put several bullets into two of the four men. This caused the other two turn around and point their guns at me but before they could pull their trigger I slammed my entire body weight into one of them and sent us crashing into the carriage that Jurina was hiding behind. I immediately picked myself up and joined Jurina before storm of bullets could get anywhere near me.
“Jurina are you ok? You can still shoot right?” She replied with a simple nod but she was clearly suffering from several cuts and grazes across her body and more importantly she was still holding onto her bleeding shoulder. “Right well give me your foot, I’m going to give you a boost and you’ll take him out.” I locked my hands together and Jurina out her foot on top of them. “Ready? Three, two, one…”
Using all my strength I launched Jurina high up into the air causing her to rise high up above the carriage. Her right hand still protecting her shoulder she shot multiple times hitting her target with every bullet and the clattering of the rifle finally ceased.
“Rena-chan, catch me!” Jurina was screaming as she came falling back down with her legs flailing around. Instinctively reacting I stuck out my arms and caught her by her shoulders and knees. Our faces were now dangerously close together, only a very thin layer of air separating our noses. Her gaze met mine and I felt myself being entranced by her beautiful eyes. Frantically I tried to look elsewhere but my eyes just kept being drawn back to the enchanting black pearls, they caused my cheeks to burn bright red and they grew rosier as her short shallow breaths brushed along them and onto my parted lips. Then for a split second I felt another moist, velvety sensation cover my lips then part away just as quickly. Jurina pulled away from me and had a shy grin across her face.
“That is your punishment for lying to me.” Her finger was accusingly pointing at me as she pursed her lips. “Now let’s go back home Rena-chan. Today was so fun but now I’m really tired.” She directed her hand over her mouth to stifle a drowsy yawn.
“I guess it was ok.” I sighed and headed toward the exit with Jurina still in my arms and my head in a spin. The lips that Jurina had just punished were still tingling with excitement. Maybe I should lie to her again sometime…
TBC