Ah, I forgot to put my usual author comments up here.
Um, this is still kind of filler since it was originally meant to be the other half of 31, but I didn't want to post any angst yesterday.
So it's kind of short. :3
[Chapter Thirty-Two -- When Evil Intentions Get Worse...]“Man… I didn’t realize how hungry I was until we got there… I feel a lot better now.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you eat so much, Kumai-chan. You’re like a-”
“Don’t say bird, Erika-chan. Just don’t say it. I know you’re gonna say it. Just don’t. Just say no.”
“…duck?”
“…Are you saying that I waddle around, quacking all the time?”
“No, no! I didn’t mean it like that! …But you said not to say bird… so duck was the only thing that came to mind…?”
“… … You couldn’t think of a less-awkward flying creature to blurt out?”
“Ah… sorry…”
Yurina, Erika, and Risako were wandering around the city after a pretty satisfying meal, bored, and with nothing much to do. Though the two taller females seemed to be quite fine chatting with each other and poking fun, Risako had been extremely quiet the entire way, which was pretty unusual for her. Usually she was the loudest and most upbeat of the group…
She wouldn’t respond when either of her companions attempted to speak to her, either, and so they were beginning to grow worried. Yurina leaned over as close to Erika as her crutches would permit while she hobbled along, keeping her voice low. It wasn’t as though Risako would have noticed, anyway.
“What do you think is wrong with her…?”
“Maybe she’s upset that Tsugunaga-san didn’t want to come with us?” Erika suggested, shrugging and stealing a glance at their younger friend over her shoulder. Risako was staring down at the ground as she watched, almost as if she was counting the cracks in the sidewalk or something.
“I’m not sure if that’s it… Momoko-chan hasn’t been with her the
entire time, and she hasn’t acted like that before… I’ll bet it has something to do with that girl…”
“What girl?”
“The particularly lecherous one.”
“Oh…
that girl.” Erika hadn’t quite been able to shake that experience from her mind just yet. She had nearly fainted during the encounter with Maiha. And, as if by magic, or some strange twist of fate that had been listening to Erika’s thoughts, the flirt rounded the corner, and she and the trio stopped, staring each other down.
Well… Yurina and Erika were mostly just blinking… The other two were the ones having a stare-off. Risako looked indignant and upset, and Maiha showed absolutely no expression for the first few seconds or so. Then, slowly, an amused smile spread across her lips, and as if nothing had happened there at all, Maiha turned around and began to walk away without a word.
Risako obviously hadn’t expected that, and as soon as she regained her composure she started to call after the flirt.
“What the heck was
that! What are you trying to
do, Maiha?!?”
But Maiha never turned around, and she kept on walking, like she couldn’t hear a word that the other girl was saying. Risako let out a frustrated groan, and turned around, stalking off in the opposite direction…. leaving Erika and Yurina behind, both confused and at a loss for words.
“…Should we go after her?”
“If this was a normal occasion, I wouldn’t really care but… now that Momoko-chan’s around, we should probably keep her cousin out of trouble, or she’ll kill us. Come on, Erika-chan.”
-----------
“Shit…”
“Airin… would you mind moving away from me a bit? You’re starting to bleed on me, and I can’t stand the smell of it.”
The fire escape platform of the dilapidated building creaked as the younger female shifted to comply with her partner’s wishes. Her scuffle with the small police officer had earned her arms a few scrapes and cuts, thanks to the fact that the cop had knocked her onto the concrete in an attempt to take her in. They were still bleeding a bit, and stung like crazy. The only pleasure she got from it was knowing that she had given that officer a nice souvenir that would probably scar later…
“What the hell are we doing up here anyway, Miracle?”
“Patience… I thought it would be proper to let you rest a bit after our little run in with the law…”
“Like hell you did… I’m not stupid. What’s the real reason?”
Koharu stood up and began to descend from the platform, ignoring the shrieks of protest the ancient metal was giving her with every step. Airi followed after her without a word, and the two of them slipped out of the alleyway, merging effortlessly into the city’s ever-moving crowd and blending in with ease. The younger female was soon able to figure out what they were doing, as she spotted a familiar figure walking along a ways ahead of them, oblivious to the fact that she was being followed.
“I thought you wanted her out of the way… If that was the case… wouldn’t we be dealing with her later on with all the rest of them?”
Koharu made no attempt to mask her twisted grin.
“I do… but… a thought has occurred to me… I didn’t really think about it until we ran into our old friend back there in the alleyway.”
No emotion passed over Airi’s face.
“…What are you thinking about?”
“Well… she does happen to be rather attractive, doesn’t she…? If Maasa doesn’t manage to keep her from the theatre… then I might just have to steal her. Not only does it hurt our dear Sudou-chan… but I win a little bit more in the end as well.”
The older girl was chuckling deep in her throat, and Airi did little more to nod in reply. She had learned a long time ago never to let Koharu know how she was really feeling on the inside, because her partner percieved it to be weakness, and Airi knew how the other girl dealt with…
weakness. You ended up like Maasa. She was bristling with something similar to jealousy on the inside, however, that this outsider had managed to catch Koharu’s attention.
But there wasn’t much she could do about it. Once again, she had just been made painfully aware that she was just a tool to be used by Koharu, and would never be anything more than that.
A pawn in this chess game of life… I am…
…disposable.------------
Overwhelming anger. It’s rising to the point where I feel like maybe it’s gonna crush me…
I think I’m running now. I can’t tell. I’m much too desensitized to know that right now. I’m not sure that I really care, either. I think even that other part of me wants to get away from everyone at the moment. The one that I pushed back into my subconscious… the weak one.
She was… upset. So I took control away. It’s better for me to be in charge while she’s like that, so she doesn’t have to suffer through the nightmares… if only for a moment. It’s weird. She and I are one and the same… but still I continue to refer to her as a separate person entirely.
Perhaps I’m getting even worse…
I can smell blood. I think it’s mine. I slipped a little bit when I was climbing back off of that building. The pain will come later, though… I won’t even feel it until I become her again. That’s probably the only reason I can keep on running… I’m not exactly sure where I got hurt.
Doesn’t matter. I can see the fire everywhere now, and I need to get away from it.
…I just need to get away…
Topic: ::Heartbeat Tempo:: [Chapter Forty-Six -- Nightmare] (Read 156648 times)