#lovelornings

❛ everyone who ever helped me is dead. i don’t want that to happen to you. ❜ ( To either Diluc or Yuuki from Yumi ? )

𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

Moving to a new school is always a difficult thing for a child. With her father being a member of the UNSC military, Rebecca had to move constantly from location to location depending on where 197 was stationed at. Most of the time it was on Earth as 197 didn’t want his daughter to move too much. This time the two found themselves in the country previously known as Japan before the United Nations became the Unified Earth Government. Rebecca was to go to one of the local high schools that was near the UNSC base that her father was stationed at. She was always so nervous when going to a new school. Would she be able to make friends? What differences were there from the other schools? Questions such as that.

At first, everything seemed to be fine for Rebecca as the new girl. Everyone in her class seemed nice at first. It seemed like she might actually make some friends. That was until she had revealed the fact that she was adopted. That fact alone was a death sentence to her social life. there was a stigma in the school that if one was adopted that the person was either dumb or was cast away by their parents as an unwanted child. That wasn’t the case for Rebecca but it didn’t matter. Her ‘friends’ soon stopped talking to her, people started to avoid her, and when some of the popular kids heard about it they began to bully her relentlessly. They pushed her down in the hallways, slapped her lunch out of her hands, and even wrote on her desk in permanent marker vile messages about how no one loved her and she was just worthless. They even began to spread rumors about Rebecca being a promiscuous student around the school. Rebecca hated going to school after everything started. She didn’t know why they were being so mean. There would be one place where Rebecca could be safe from most of the bullying and that was the drama club. 

She had made some actual friends in the drama club. Misato who was the club leader and Yumi who worked backstage. Rebecca tried to audition for more of the smaller roles while she was there. There were times where she would try for a major role but if someone seemed upset about not getting it, she would switch off with them and be the backup actress if needed. Some people including one of the popular girls who bullied Rebecca would fake being upset to get the role from her. 

Today was Rebecca’s birthday and she had invited her only friends over for a small party. She was very ecstatic for the day as it was a time where her father would also be home as well. 197 was glad that his daughter was able to make some friends after everything she had gone through. It boiled his blood to see Rebecca so upset and try to hide that fact from him as to not bother him since she knew that he was very busy. He couldn’t solve her problems for her but he would try to help her as much as he could. Rebecca had gone to get something from her room so it left Misato and Yumi alone with 197 who was in his power armor. 

“I want to thank you two girls for being friends with my daughter. She’s had a hard time trying to make friends and for the ones she does make, it’s hard for her to stay in touch with them as we move around because of my work. If there is anything I can do for you two, let me know.” He said.

« Kotoko - are you happy when you rehearse? » Misato’s question seemed to come out of nowhere as they retired to their shared room for the evening; eyebrows furrowed in concern « If you’ll forgive my straightfowardness - you seemed quite, well - disconnected. »

☆     𝑘𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑘𝑜 𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑖 .      ☆

          is   she   happy ?      the   question   alone   gave   her   pause .      because      —      of   course   she’s   not .      being   happy   was   rare   enough   as   it   was      —      &&   rehearsal   was   only   work ,      anyways .      it   didn’t   matter   if   it   was   professional   or   at   school   anymore      —      the   same   things   were   expected   of   her .      but   she   couldn’t   say   that ,      could   she ?      not   when   she   was   surrounded   by   people   who   wore   their   passion   &&   dedication   for   their   craft   on   their   sleeves .

          it   would   be   admitting   that   she’s   a   fraud .      that   she   was   only   there   because   it   was   the   only   way   she   could   think   to   get   away   from   home   before   she   turned   eighteen .      the   guilt   lingered      —      because   someone   else   deserved   her   spot   more .      but   she   couldn’t   give   it   up .      so   even   if   she   admitted   it   &&   every   other   student   in   the   school   chose   to   turn   on   her   &&   do   everything   in   their   power   to   make   her   time   there   hell      —      she’d   have   to   deal   with   it ,      because   the   alternative   was   worse .

          sometimes   it   was   all   she   could   think   about .      the   fear   that   if   she   didn’t   do   well   enough   she   would   be   kicked   out .      that   her   lack   of   passion   couldn’t   be   overcome   by   hard   work .      &&   if   misato   had   already   seen   through   her      —      she   was   already   failing ,      wasn’t   she ?      only   proved   that   she   needed   to   work   harder .      make   sure   the   others   thought   she   was   just   as   excited   to   be   there   as   them .      it   should   be   easy .      she’d   been   acting   her   whole   life .      it   was   the   only   thing   she’d   ever   been   good   at ,      so   why   can’t   she   do   this ?

          but      —      it   was   harder   when   she   spent   almost   every   hour   of   every   day   around   these   girls .      before   at   least   she   was   safe   when   she   was   alone   in   her   bedroom ,      but   sharing   a   dorm   room   made   that   impossible .      wasn’t   as   if   misato   was   a   bad   roommate      —      she   was   just   so   passionate   about   acting .      the   idea   of   confessing   the   truth   to   her   was   terrifying .      but      —      she   was   so   tired .

“Of course!” She beams, she was glad to see that Yumi was alright- naturally, she had been a little concerned by the absence, but she wasn’t sure if they were close enough for her to ask around about it ( although she had gotten quite close to doing so a couple of times ) and she didn’t want to overstep. She’s just so glad she’s alright!

“Oh, you don’t need to apologise, it’s only natural to take a break when you’re sick,” she nods with a smile on her lips as though to tell her not to worry about it, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her a little bit, and show it’s fine that she took some time off. “As long as you’re feeling better, right?” 

          SHE’D   ONLY   BEEN   PLANNING      to   retreat   to   the   library ,      where   she   almost   always   ended   up   on   the   days   she   skipped   class .      but   today   was   different .      the   hallway   to   the   library   was   occupied      —      evident   enough   by   the   sobbing   she   heard   from   just   around   the   corner .      her   first   instinct   was   to   take   a   detour .      or   maybe   going   back   to   her   dorm   room .      it   wasn’t   any   of   her   business .      the   nurse   was   probably   talking   to   someone .      or   maybe   a   teacher .      &&   even   if   there   wasn’t ,      was   it   her   place   to   get   involved ?

          she’d   edge   around   the   corner ,      though .      overly   cautious .      trying   to   take   in   the   scene   without   drawing   attention   to   herself .      recognized   the   girl   in   the   wheelchair .      a   girl   in   her   class      —      yumi ,      if   she   remembered   her   name   right .      not   one   she'd   ever   spoken   to ,      but   she’d   always   seemed   like   the   calm ,      quiet   type .      there   had   to   be   something   going   on ,      right ?      or   would   that   be   too   intrusive ?

     HEART WAS RACING, thudding, a thunderous clap in her chest.  It was dark in the ink blackness of the room, and her vision had yet to adjust, but she wasn’t about to just lay there and accept whatever was about to happen.  Granted, Cat couldn’t even RECALL how she had come there, but the adrenaline and panic rushing through her veins were enough to let her know it didn’t matter.  Something bad was stirring, and the obvious factor was someone had indeed intended to trap her in this place - this room.  Mouth felt as though c o t t o n had settled in it, dry throat begging for water, but interest in that shoved to the side temporarily.

              The door was attempted, of course, her picklock was searched for in her pockets... Gone, which was to be expected.  There was no need to attempt locating windows, the eerie haze of just black over her vision told her light wasn’t coming from much of anywhere but the crack around her one escape.  What the fuck?  It seemed someone had gotten quite the jump on her, and head pounded mightily a suggestion that it had been a h a r d hit to take her out.  Soon enough, footsteps caught her attention before the door, and Cat found herself finally freezing in her actions.