^sooner than you can say ishiyoshi for 1444 times..
UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #10.5
Rika was on the floor, naked in a fetal position, having an asthma attack.
Hitomi quickly opened Rika’s bedside drawer and got Rika’s inhaler. Hitomi took a towel and wrapped it around Rika. She knelt in front of Rika and gave her the inhaler. Rika took two puffs from the contraption and gave it back to Hitomi, her breathing eased a little.
“Rika…” Hitomi took Rika in her arms and carried her out of the bathroom. She sat Rika down on the bed. Hitomi wiped her body dry with the towel. “What happened?” Hitomi reached for the sketchpad and marker and sat down beside Rika. She handed the items to Rika who did not take them from her. Rika’s tears started falling again. Hitomi placed the items back where she got them and wrapped her arms around Rika.
“Hicchan…I love you… so much… …” Rika said, muffled against Hitomi’s shoulder.
Rika spoke… Hitomi was surprised to hear Rika’s voice.
She did sleep talk last night. She was relieved that Rika finally spoke but there were more pressing matters right now that needed Hitomi’s immediate concern.
Rika tried to pulled away from Hitomi. “…but please… don’t touch me… not like this… I don’t deserve you…”
“What’s wrong?” Hitomi held her tighter.
Rika used all the strength she had and successfully pulled away from Hitomi’s embrace. “You’re smart and handsome and kind and you have such a great life. I don’t deserve to be a part of that. I have nothing, I don’t have a family, I have a messed up life. All this… all you’ve given me, I don’t fit in.”
“Rika, why are you saying this to me now?”
“I think you should know something about me…”
“Okay… tell me…” Hitomi took Rika’s hand and held it tightly.
“Before you… … found me, I lived with my stepmother and her boyfriend… He…” Rika couldn’t say it. Her voice was shaking.
Hitomi knew what she was going to say but didn’t interrupt. It would be best to let Rika breathe it out of her system..
Rika closed her eyes to keep the tears from falling. “He… … he raped me…” Hitomi wanted to tell her that he didn’t. But the thought of telling Rika that she already had that checked stopped her That could cause Rika to distrust her..
“Do you want me to get back at him? … I can do that for you… Even without leaving this room…”
“Hicchan… I don’t deserve this… I wanted to be good enough for you… ”
Hitomi took her other hand “… Why do you want to be something you already are? … ”
Rika shook her head. “… Hicchan… I’m scared…”
“I’m here… I’ll protect you…”
“No… … it’s been more than a month… ... ... ... ... and I haven’t had my period yet…”
That struck Hitomi. She got what Rika meant and understood why Rika is scared. “I had you taken to the hospital, remember? They didn’t say anything about it…”
Rika looked at Hitomi. “… … … Hicchan… ”
“Bit if you want… you can see the doctor again…”
Rika fell silent. She was unmarried and after five years of residence in this country, Rika knew that going to an ob-gynecologist in the Philippines as a single woman is bound to merit some negative name-calling.
“Don’t worry… I’ll go with you…”
“… What if I really am pregnant?”
“… … I’ll take care of you… and the baby… you would make a great okaasan”
“… I don’t know if I can be a good mother to a child of a monster… …”
“The baby’s not his… it’s gonna be our baby…”
Rika looked at Hitomi. “… our baby…”
Hitomi took the folded blanket on the bed, unraveled it and wrapped it around Rika’s nude body. “Look… I love you… and you said you love me… … Whether you are pregnant or not, I’ll stand by your side… if you are… I’ll be your baby’s otosan…”
Rika buried her head in the crook of Hitomi’s neck. “Why are you so good to me?”
“Because… I love you…”
“But our lives are so different—“
Hitomi interrupted. “Rika… … now that given me your trust… I think it’s time that I tell you something about me… … when I was seven, my mother…” Hitomi closed her eyes. “… she was raped… my father was there but he couldn’t do a thing to save her… I was hiding in the closet… but she knew I was there… ”
Rika touched Hitomi’s face. The tears started to fall. “If you’re going to ask if that’s why I intervened that night, the answer is yes. I thought that man was going to rape you. I told myself I was going to save you unlike my dad who was kept by a rope from saving his own wife…”
Hitomi sadly smiled. “For a while, you reminded me so much of Mama… but there was one thing where you two differed… you cried out for help…” Hitomi gently touched Rika’s lips with her fingers. “She didn’t… she didn’t call for my father… she begged her rapist to kill her… he stabbed her to death… right in front of me… she gave up on life and on me... … Rika... please... ... don’t give up… ”
Rika pulled Hitomi closer.
“Rika-chan… this good life that we have now… enjoy it… you deserve to enjoy life… Positive Charmy… you deserve this smart, handsome and kind Hicchan…”
Rika smiled. “I promise to be Positive Charmy for Hicchan and never give up…” She wrapped her arms around Hitomi with tears running down her cheeks. “Thank you… I love you, Hicchan…”
Topic: Runaway from the Past (Read 377366 times)