#maruby

You let out a ragged sigh and cracked her neck for that satisfying pop before surveying the chaos around her. She took a defiant step forward, smirking at the muffled crunch of shattered mirror shards beneath her shoes. Carelessly, she tossed the broken leg of a chair over the upturned sofa, allowing it to join the rest of its demolished brethren.

Hmm, was there anything else she hadn’t destroyed at this pathetic place?

Cold blue eyes swept the dilapidated warehouse but found only pieces of furniture that she had ripped apart. This was a hideout of a small gang she had defeated recently and, as most of the members were still hospitalized, she’s been coming and going as she pleased. The remnants of the thugs, after a few more encounters, finally learned to stay the fuck out of her way unless they wanted to be her living punchbags.

Which did happen once or twice.

You cracked her knuckles in mild disappointment. It just wasn’t as entertaining if she couldn’t sink her fists into flesh and bone. She’d prefer cuts and bruises over wooden splinters stuck in her hands. True annoyance, those prickly things. She’s already decorated the wall with fist-sized holes when she inadvertently, as well as deliberately, punched through those thin, wooden planks.

Her phone, purposefully placed at a corner so she wouldn’t smash it by accident, vibrated yet again. Whether it was Mari or Chika she cared not. All she knew was that she cannot face either of them yet, not when she was still in this state.

Or else she would do something she would regret.

Her fists itched again, as if complaining about the lack of thrill from her little destruction spree. It wasn’t enough. She felt nothing. She needed something, a proper outlet for that mess of emotions churning in her heart.

The phone buzzed once more. Perhaps she should go find Mari and fuck her senseless, or vice versa, whichever fit their mood. The older girl had no qualms about rough play, You knew that very well.

Meanwhile, Chika must be having fun with Kanan. Just a friends’ outing, nothing more, and You had vowed to be supportive since the day they went shopping.

So why, why did she feel worse than ever? Whatever clarity she had of the world around her disappeared. All that was left was the desire to hurt.

Kind of like when she first met Mari.

A movement at the corner of her eyes snapped her out of her daze. Instinctively, she moved towards the shadow and swung her fist. Her punch punctured the flimsy plank beside the newcomer’s head, and prevented the latter from escaping.

In spite of her vicious welcome, the dark-haired girl did not even flinch and that earned You’s respect. “You’re sulking here again, oh Lost One.”

You rolled her eyes and grunted as she pulled her hand out of the wooden board. She grimaced at the splinters that were stuck to her skin like porcupine quills, resigning herself to a tedious and frustrating period of picking them out later. The shorter girl merely tilted her head and spoke again in her distinctive, husky voice. “What is it that you look for?”

“What does it matter to you?” You snarled rather savagely, hoping her tone was enough to deter the other girl from asking more. “What are you doing here anyway, Yohane-chan?”

Yohane, if that was even her real name, shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know, but whenever I do find you, you always look like crap, no offense.”

“Don’t give me that no offense bullshit,” You paused and curled her other hand menacingly. “And I am offended. Any last words?”

“Ku ku ku, are you sure you’re ready for Yohane-sama’s breathtaking eulogy?”

Deadpanning, You was very aware of the fight draining out of her body. Exasperation. Complete and utter exasperation. She really didn’t know how to handle this eccentric girl.

Always, whenever she was in this destructive mindset, Yohane would show up and weird her out so that she no longer felt the need to break things. Well, there was that exception, the day she met Mari, but otherwise Yohane never failed to find her.

How did they become sort-of friends again? And she hasn’t seen Yohane for a while actually, not since…

Indeed, how long has it been?

Shaking her head, You began to work on her mutilated hand and sighed again when she noticed Yohane’s intrigued stare. “What? Never seen something like this before?”

“Who do you think I am? I’ve definitely seen stupid many times.”

“Why you little-” You exhaled deeply and shook her head again. Odd, a comment like that would’ve sent any other person into the hospital yet, when coming from Yohane, she only felt exasperation.

And a teensy bit of her agreed with the younger girl that, yes, what she did was stupid.

They didn’t exchange another line while You robotically bandaged her bleeding hand. Somewhat satisfied with her patch work, she looked up to find Yohane’s scornful frown. “What?”

“You’re going to break one of these days, y’know.”

“How observant,” You found herself smiling. “Maybe that’s my goal all along?”

“A stupid goal, that’s what it is. Have you always been that dumb, Watanabe You?”

“What if I am?” You growled, miffed about being lectured by a junior. “Seriously, why are you here?”

“Well, someone’s gotta keep an eye on Bakayou,” Yohane drawled condescendingly, and took a careful step back when You approached her with a dangerous scowl. “Calm down, little demon, you don’t want to be like her.”

Rage consumed her fleetingly and she almost reached for the younger girl’s neck. That surge of anger vanished as sudden as it came, and only left behind a phantom itch she had no access to. Irritated, she scratched her hair and retrieved her buzzing phone, stuffing it in her pocket without sparing it a glance.

“Aren’t you going to check it?”

“I don’t feel like it,” You muttered and stormed out of the warehouse, deeming it useless to stay any longer.

To her bemusement, Yohane followed silently as if she were a gliding ghost. She’d better not comment on it or else the self-proclaimed fallen angel would consider that a praise. She walked down the street, swerved into an alleyway, out onto the sidewalk, crossed an intersection and even jogged down a trail through the local park.

There was an inexplicably disquieting sensation as soon as she stepped into the area, and Yohane was still walking a careful distance behind her.

Groaning, You halted and whirled around. “Don’t you have better things to do? How long are you gonna follow me?”

“Until you open your eyes, duh,” Yohane said as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ha? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, it’s You-san.”

Blinking, she turned to face the speaker and vaguely recognized her and her companion as Yohane’s friends. However, the two girls both wore sombre expressions as opposed to the friendly smiles as she remembered.

Hanamaru, the petite brunette, glanced at her up and down, her gaze lingering at her bandaged hand. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“And why is that? Why can’t I be here?” You thought she must have imagined the flicker of animosity in Hanamaru’s unreadable eyes.

“No reason. I’ve just never seen you around here, that’s all.” Hanamaru said flatly without her characteristic dialect. The pigtailed redhead, Ruby, nodded mutely and scooted a little closer to her friend.

The two girls appeared so harmless that You felt rather silly for being wary of them. She glanced at the silent Yohane and shrugged. “I didn’t even know I would end up at this park. I was trying to shake off your friend. Now that you’re here, go take her back.”

She shooed the black-haired girl towards them, and was mildly puzzled by the lack of retort when the latter obediently did as she were told. Hanamaru was still staring at You though, and her seemingly all-seeing eyes were quite unsettling.

“You’re here to see Riko-san, aren’t you?”

Surprised by the brunette’s words, You could only look between the three juniors. “Why would I-?”

“Kanan-chan was with her,” the younger girl added, “We saw them over there.”

Dread and anger slowly filled her mind. Wasn’t that accursed person supposed to be spending time with Chika? Sure, Chika knew about Kanan and Riko, but that didn’t mean she should endure being together with those two. You knew fully well how such torture was like.

Ruby tugged at Hanamaru’s sleeve, prompting the latter to sigh and pat her hand in a comforting manner. “Yes, Kanan-chan was here but she left already, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

You’s shoulders drooped in slight relief. Good, Chika wasn’t stood up. Fury quickly flooded her senses again though, as she pondered about Kanan’s actions. Mari and Riko and even Chika were all being played, weren’t they? And Hanamaru and Ruby, who probably didn’t know any better, were being involved somehow.

“I should really tell one of them about Mari-chan,” You whispered darkly and tried to regulate her breathing. “Heh, if Riko-chan knows about what they’ve been up to… well, that should finally wake Kanan the fuck up. She won’t get away with this.”

Just how many people were entangled in Kanan’s network of convoluted relationships? And to think, she claimed she loved Riko too…

“No, You-san,” Hanamaru’s voice was as clear as it was cold. “You’re the one who needs to wake up.”

Before You could snap a reply, she saw Yohane sadly shaking her head and pointing at her pocket. Her phone was vibrating again. All that negative emotion drained from her tense muscles and she decided to let it go.

“Perhaps,” she told the three girls curtly. “But I’m the one who gets to decide that.”

Without waiting for a response, she left the park in a hurry. Yohane didn’t follow her this time and, already, the calming effect of being in that peculiar girl’s presence was disappearing. It was only after she was several blocks away that she took out her phone from her pocket.

Ah, there were several texts from both Mari and Chika, as well as a missed call from the latter. You skimmed through the messages, which were more or less what she expected from those two. Mari wanted to meet up again, while Chika was saying how Kanan liked the music box and wanted to thank You too.

How nauseating.

Still, she was rather curious about the missed call, since Chika usually never called her. She tried returning the call but reached the voicemail.

Disgruntled, she re-dialed the number and couldn’t reach Chika this way either.

Again and again, she tried calling but Chika didn’t pick up her phone.

Worried now, You paced around the block as she went through a list of where her friend could be and wondered if she should just drop by her place. Chika could be home already and napping. You checked the time and nodded to herself. Sometimes Chika even slept the whole afternoon and only woke up in time for dinner.

But the whole situation still felt off. That eerie sensation since stepping foot into the park hasn’t faded.

After the umpteenth try, her call finally connected.

“Chika-chan? Geez, did you fall asleep or something? I tried calling you so many ti-”

You’s blood chilled upon hearing that wretched voice.

“Ah. Hey.”

“What the fuck are you doing, answering Chika-chan’s phone… where is she, what have you done to her?”

“What have I done to her…?” Kanan spoke slowly and emotionlessly. “Well, that’s exactly it.”

“Wha-?!”

“She can’t exactly answer you right now,” Kanan’s voice was so quiet as if she was far away from the speaker. You frantically pressed her ear against her phone, straining to listen for any clue of their whereabouts.

Was that the tick-tock from Chika’s clock? What was that other sound?

Then You heard it.