Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 20: Suspicions

Tomomi leaned herself up against the wall, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them tightly. She glanced over at Mami and Yukako, the duo was sitting next to her, fiddling with something that Tomomi hadn’t really paid attention to. Whatever they were messing with, it looked like they were both getting annoyed with it.

Tomomi let her head lean back against the wall, relishing the sense of relief she was feeling right now. Another day had passed without any confrontation with Hana. Seeing as it was Friday, Tomomi knew that now that school was over for the day, she would have the entire weekend without having to worry about Hana coming back to her about that ‘deal’, if she could even call it a deal. That deal didn’t help anyone but Hana; it was merely a one-sided threat. But for right now, Tomomi didn’t want to think about that. She didn’t want to spend her entire weekend in fear, she wanted to try and forget.

Despite telling herself that though, the fear still stayed in her mind. She still worried about when and where Hana would confront her. She worried about the girls finding out. Tomomi’s mind had begun to swarm with an all new worry regarding that. She continued to think of what the girls would think if she told them and then she wondered… Would they blame her for withholding it? It was very possible that they would jump to the conclusion that Tomomi had hidden it out of spite.

Tomomi didn’t know if she could explain her way out of that one if they did. She could try but she never had been the best at expressing herself. She knew she would stumble and trip over her words, making her that much more suspicious in their eyes. That would be a completely different subject than convincing them not to hurt Mao, which was a problem in its own right.

“You okay?”

The sudden familiar voice snapped Tomomi out of her thoughts. She looked back over at Mami to see the blonde was now looking at her with a concerned expression. Tomomi tried to fake her smile but she knew that her smile wasn’t very convincing. Tomomi looked over at Yukako to see the short brunette was busy messing with a Rubik’s Cube, Tomomi could only assume that’s what they had been doing just seconds before.

“I’m fine,” Tomomi lied. Just like her smile, Tomomi knew her words weren’t very convincing. She was doing her best but all of this fear and worry was taking its toll on her. She didn’t know if she could keep this a secret for much longer. She would have to tell someone eventually if Hana didn’t come back to confront her soon… She didn’t know which of those options was scarier to her.

Tomomi could see it in Mami’s eyes; she knew the blonde didn’t believe her just as Tomomi expected she wouldn’t. But Mami didn’t say anything; she only simply nodded before turning her attention back to Yukako. She took the Rubik’s Cube out of the older girl’s hands, much to Yukako’s protests.

“Let me try, you’re clearly not understanding this,” Mami said. Yukako gave Mami a glare.

“As if you’ve been doing any better,” Yukako challenged playfully. Mami rolled her eyes at Yukako’s statement, choosing to ignore it as she picked up where Yukako had left off with the puzzle. Yukako leaned back against the wall, yawning before closing her eyes. Tomomi turned her attention away from them, moving it over to where the others sat across the room.

She could instantly notice the way the boss was staring at her. The hairs on the back of Tomomi’s neck stood up when she saw that. She didn’t like the stare Haruna was giving her. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something off about that. Something that told Tomomi it wasn’t going to end well for her.

Haruna’s attention was stolen from Tomomi when Rina tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to Rina only to have the younger girl kiss her suddenly when she turned around. Tomomi could see that Haruna said something to her before flicking her on the forehead as Rina laughed. Tomomi smiled at that. Even if Haruna wouldn’t show it much, she could see the way Haruna loved Rina. She almost felt envious of the love she saw between them. It was an odd love but it still made Tomomi envious.