Soft Thorns ❦𝙺𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚞𝚒❦

Thirty-Two

Ririka looked weirdly at Shiori, furrowing her brows and narrowing her eyes as though she were a book she had difficulty reading because the words were a size too small.

Shiori puffed before stretching her legs, not too much so as to not trip over the expensive coffee table and laptops. "Let me tie your hair since I have a spare elastic here." Her ponytail swished as she took one big step toward Ririka, landing on her toes silently.

The older girl gasped when she felt her shuffle behind her. Shiori opened her legs and dragged her lower body across the smooth floor, almost touching Ririka's back as she kept her chest at a mouse tail's breadth.

"I didn't even get to agree to this..." Ririka whispered.

"You would've had to either way," Came Shiori's voice, heavy with bitterness. "Because you're nothing but a shadow of your sister, right? So you have to let yourself be treated like a doormat by everyone, right?"

"Shiori!" As she knew no other way to express how horrified she became at what Shiori had just said, Ririka threw her head over her shoulders to try and see behind her.

"Don't!" Shiori wailed while burying her face in Ririka's hair and roping her arms around her body. "Don't... Turn around, please. I don't want you to see me like this."

"Shiori," Ririka took a deep breath in, forcing herself to stay put. "What is going on?"

"I'm sorry," The arms around her waist tightened, "I'm sorry, forgive me. I'm angry and I'm taking it out on you. It's not a healthy method of coping." Shiori's hot breath disturbed a few strands of hair near Ririka's ear, which made her tremble in response.

It was unbelievable, how a person's nature could change so quickly. How one could bare their teeth and then sink them into warm flesh, poisoning those around them. Drawing thick red blood, sucking the very life out of them before there only lingered a wrinkled soul, persisting, yet so far away from the vitality they once had.

Shiori didn't want to burden Ririka with her troubles because this was neither the place nor the time for it. She had been experiencing such intense feelings, not only tonight, but ever since she enrolled at the academy, that she didn't know how to deal with them.

Her emotions had always been plain, logical, and clear from the beginning, with an occasional surge of adrenaline whenever she'd do something dumb with her former friends. But what was she to do with the surplus of them when Yumeko showed her hedonistic nature? Or when Mary, whom she thought to be an egocentric jerk, wound up being so lovely? Sayaka and Kirari, two of the people she most hated but now wouldn't dare to mistreat? For god's sake, Ririka hadn't even been perceived as an individual with a mind of her own by her standards up until this point, when she had admired her and realised just how gorgeous she was.

She had acted out under the pressure of her frustration, and for that she was ashamed. She had cut at Ririka's throat with sharp words, and she had managed to make a fool of herself in front of her.

"I just..." This confession was going to be difficult to let out. Shiori prayed the afterthoughts wouldn't haunt her for being vulnerable. "Don't understand how I can like Kirari. She's horrible, yet I'm giving in to her influence. What is this stupid gamble? Why did I agree to participate? Why didn't you retaliate when you had the opportunity to avoid getting dragged into this predicament?"

Everything came crashing down. A buildup of unresolved emotions it seemed, with no end. Ririka was shocked by Shiori's outburst, as well as impressed with the level of control in her voice. She didn't know what to do; should she speak or should she let Shiori pour her heart out?