Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 15: Advice

“Rina, can we talk for a few seconds?” Tomomi asked the younger girl in a small voice. From where she sat reading a book with Sumire, Rina lifted her head, cocking it to the side at Tomomi’s question. The older brunette stood in front of the duo, her hands clasped behind her back, her head looking at the ground, and her body rocking back and forth gently on her heels.

“Of course. Is it okay if Sumire stays or…?” Rina deliberately let her sentence trail off, waiting for Tomomi to answer her question.

“It’s fine if she stays,” Tomomi answered. She didn’t mind Sumire being here to hear these questions, Sumire was about as gentle as Rina was, she hadn’t learned the things that other girls knew just yet. For now, Tomomi knew both of the girls would be able to keep this quiet if she asked them to.

Tomomi didn’t even know why she was doing this. Once again, her emotions were controlling her and leading her in a direction that may very well end badly for her. The logical part of her told her to stay away from this, to just forget what she ever saw yesterday and pretend like it never happened. She knew that she’d find trouble for herself if she let herself get too involved into Mami’s problems.

But the emotional part of her and the part that cared for Mami urged her forward. She wanted to find a way to help Mami. She couldn’t be completely useless, there had to be something that Tomomi could do in order to help Mami. She thought that maybe Rina could give her some insight on how to do that exactly.

“Come sit down with us,” Sumire said, motioning towards the open spot next to Rina. Tomomi nodded in response, taking small steps closer to the duo. She lowered herself to the floor, sitting next to Rina and pressing her back up against the chain-link fence the duo were also leaned against. Tomomi brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs.

“What’s wrong, Tomo?” Rina asked her softly. Tomomi looked over to see the Sumire had pulled the book aside, bending the edge of one of the pages as a makeshift bookmark. Both girls were now looking at Tomomi who wasn’t doing the best of jobs hiding the fact that something was wrong with her.

The brunette gulped softly, redirecting her sight down to the ground. Even if her emotions pushed her forward, the logical part of her still fought back. If word got to Mami that Tomomi had spied on her, how would Mami react to it? The thought of Mami being mad and losing the friendship she had created with the girl was what scared Tomomi most about this. But she couldn’t just ignore it, not when she knew Mami was being treated like that.

“Please tell us,” Sumire urged her in the same soft tone that Rina had used. Taking a deep breath, Tomomi decided it was time to speak.

“Do either of you know what Mami’s home is like?” Tomomi began. If the two girls didn’t know what was going on in Mami’s home then she couldn’t really tell them, it wasn’t her place to do something like that. She couldn’t interfere that much.

When Tomomi’s question was met with silence, her turned her head to look back at the two girls. Both of the girls had looked away from Tomomi but the brunette could see it clearly on their faces that they knew just as well as she did what was happening to Mami.

“So you do know,” Tomomi continued. Both of the girls nodded in unison, neither one still not saying a word. Tomomi sighed softly, dropping her head. This was one of the worst subjects Tomomi could ever think to bring up.

“How do you know though? Did Mami tell you?” she heard Rina ask.

“Not exactly. I had to take some assignments to her yesterday and when I was leaving, I kind of just saw it happen through the window,” Tomomi admitted. She could hear some shuffling beside her. She looked over and noticed that Rina had scooted closer to her, the younger girl staring right at her now.