Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 21: The Past Comes Back

“I can do that but… Promise me you’ll come back, okay?” Haruna smiled at the naivety and innocence of Rina.

“Of course I’ll come back. It may be a few minutes but I swear to you that I’ll come find you, you don’t have to be scared of that,” Haruna assured her. Rina sniffled a bit but gave Haruna a bright smile. She stepped forward, breaking out of Haruna’s grasp and stealing a quick kiss.

She quickly turned on her heels, dashing over to the side of the house. She looked back at Haruna quickly to see the older girl nod her head in confirmation. Rina smiled at that before turning back around. She ducked down, making her way stealthy around the building and making sure not to get caught.

Once Rina was out of sight, Haruna let out a heavy sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. This was quite a predicament but it was all Haruna’s fault. Haruna didn’t know when her parents would be back and she shouldn’t have been so careless. She should have expected that they would return unannounced like this, she should have found Rina another place to stay as soon as possible. She hadn’t even tried though and now she had to pay for being so reckless and careless.

Haruna tightened her grip on her bag as she stepped forward, making her way into the house. Haruna quickly removed her shoes, eager to get this little reunion over again so she could get Rina in the house and out of the cold. Haruna’s legs automatically carried her forward to the living room but when she got there, her walking stopped again.

Her eyes scanned the living room, her heartbeat increasing by the second as her eyes moved over every face of the four adults in the room. It couldn’t be… They left years ago! They moved hours away, Haruna had been so sure that she would never see their faces again in her life.

But here they were, sitting in the living room with fake smiles plastered on their faces.

“Oh, Haruna darling! It’s been so long, it’s so good to see you again!” The new elder woman gushed. Haruna gulped nervously, her wide eyes staring at her aunt. How could she be sitting there right now? This had to be a nightmare. Haruna wouldn’t accept that woman sitting there to be a reality.

Her aunt pushed herself off of the couch, hurriedly running over to Haruna. The elder woman reached out her arms in an attempt to hug Haruna but the teenager wouldn’t let it happen. Impulsively, Haruna jumped back and away from her aunt without even thinking about her actions first.

Haruna didn’t want to go anywhere near that woman and she certainly didn’t want that woman touching her.

Haruna could see the way her aunt pouted at her, placing her hands on her hips. It was so fake. Haruna knew that every bit of that ‘sorrow’ her aunt was showing right now was fake. There was no way her aunt could have changed so much to be an actual caring person, it just wasn’t possible.

“Haruna!” her dad scolded loudly, a glare on his face. “That is no way to treat your aunt who has come all this way to see you. The least you could do is show her a bit of respect, even if you can’t show anyone else some respect.”

Respect… It was almost laughable. This was the woman who made her childhood a living hell, and her father was telling her to respect this woman.