ɪ ʜᴀᴛᴇ ʙᴇʟʟ ᴘᴇᴘᴘᴇʀꜱ [𝓐𝓺𝓾𝓪 𝔁 𝓚𝓪𝓷𝓪] {𝒪𝓈𝒽𝒾 𝓃𝑜 𝒦𝑜}

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟞 ~ 𝕃𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕌𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕃𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕌𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕃𝕚𝕖𝕤

Kana POV:

I didn't know what was louder, my frantically beating heart or the voice in my head telling me I had made a mistake.

"What.... what's going on?" Ruby asked, her face a mask of confusion, but her hurt eyes betraying her. "Who were you talking to? And why... why did you lie?"

I was so shocked I couldn't answer, indesiciveness fogging up my sense of judgement. Should I make up a lie again and throw her off? But would it make her more suspicious?

"You don't really have to rush to hospital because a friend is hurt... but you told that to the person you were on the phone with." Ruby said slowly. "You said you were originally going to go over today, but you didn't want to at the last minute. And...." her eyes dragged to the open drawer I had been searching. "You're looking for the bracelet."

"Wh- what? How do you know I lost a... a bracelet?" I tried to force confidence into my voice, but the tremor in my words betrayed me.

What shocked me even more was when Ruby held up the very bracelet, her face still confused but her eyes accusatory. 

"I saw you trying to hide that drawer this morning," Ruby narrowed her eyes. "So after you left the room I opened it to see what you didn't want me to know about. And there was this bracelet... so I took it with me to school to find out more about it. It looked like a normal bracelet... I didn't understand why you wanted to hide it."

I gulped. Hard. Why hadn't Ruby figured out everything? If she had, it would be so easy. So easy to make the choice. But right now she was giving me a choice to lie. 

I had covered everything up, smothered in lies, about the bracelet because I didn't want people to misunderstand the situation. I didn't want them looking at me with suspicious eyes, clearly thinking I had stolen the bracelet when I hadn't. I just wanted my small mistake to pass over.

My plan had been simple. Hide the bracelet for a day- go to Machistar studio again- give it back- never have anything to do with that company again. But Ruby had ruined everything. Or rather, it wasn't her fault- it was mine for lying again and again. Eventually the lies would come back to take revenge, and I had finally learnt my lesson about lying.

But there was no time to think about that now, because I wasn't sure if Ruby would believe me.

This would have been so much easier if it was MEM-cho. But it wasn't her. It was Ruby. Ruby, who already thought I was a liar. Ruby, who had believed Aqua over me. Ruby, who had forgiven me for my 'lie' (the lie I didn't lie) but clearly still thought I was a liar.

Ruby, who I could never feel at ease with again. 

If I told her my real situation, she could really get trouble for me. She would tell Ophelia lies that would make her call the police, and then I would get a criminal record on my name that I didn't do anything to deserve- it was too much to risk.

"I wasn't trying to hide the bracelet. It was a gift for a friend- I was just searching for it just then because I was worried I had lost it. This morning, I put it in the empty drawer because I didn't want to lose it." I lied again, but this time convincingly. "The person I was talking to was an extra-curicullum teacher. I needed to go bring the bracelet to my friend, but I forgot I had class today. I made up an excuse because I couldn't bring myself to tell my teacher the actual situation. She's really strict and everything."

Ruby's face cleared a little, but she still looked suspicious. "But why would you go to such lengths? Couldn't you give the bracelet to your friend another day? You could have just asked for a day off from your class. What's the big deal about this?"

"My teacher doesn't allow day offs. I... I already put off giving this gift to her a lot of times. I really didn't want do it again- and I promised her I would give it to her today." I said, then made a show of looking at my watch. "Oh no, I'm going to be late... I'm meeting her at the park at four."

"Oh. Okay then." Ruby slowly handed me back the bracelet. "I guess I'll see you later then." She left the room without another word, and I sighed in relief, glad everything was over.

I quickly put the bracelet into my pocket, then rushed out the door while dialing Ophelia's number again.

"Hello?!" I almost shouted in the phone. 

"Oh! Hi again, darling. Did you need me?"

"It turns out the hospital my friend is at isn't open to visits so I can make it today!" I said while running to the studio. "Is that okay?"

"Oh, of course!"

"Thank you!" I shouted before hanging up and started climbing the stairs to the second floor.

Once again, I pushed open the heavy black door with the tacky sign that I had vowed never to open again- and almost crashed face-to-face with a familair girl.

A/N: What music do you often listen to? Ghibli instrumental is go-to for me 🥹