Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 21: The Past Comes Back

Rina’s hands danced around the handle of her schoolbag, the young brunette resisting the urge to reach out and grab onto Haruna’s hand. As much as she wanted to hold Haruna’s hand, she knew the older girl wouldn’t like it. There may not be a lot of people on this street but there were still people around, Rina knew that even this was still too public for the older brunette. Rina never did understand why Haruna was like this. There were times when she would let it slip and wouldn’t mind showing affection to Rina in public but most times, Haruna was dead set against it. She would never explain to Rina why that was though. Rina had learned to stop asking, she had learned to just accept it.

The young brunette wanted to hold onto her girlfriend because she could tell there was something wrong. She could tell that from the moment Haruna had asked to speak with Mami and Yukako alone earlier. Her mind had begun to swirl with worrisome thoughts about what Haruna could want from them. When Haruna came out acting so absentminded, it only made Rina worry that much more. She could see it in Haruna’s eyes, there was something wrong.

Haruna’s face might remain emotionless but her eyes told a different story. Most people didn’t notice it but Rina did, she noticed the emotions in Haruna’s eyes. No matter what Haruna’s facial expression showed, Rina knew that Haruna’s eyes would always give away her real emotions.

The two girls continued their walk down the familiar path in silence. Despite her thoughts, Rina was enjoying the silence. She was just enjoying having Haruna around. Rina had become so attached to the feisty and violent girl; she never wanted to be apart from Haruna ever again. When Rina first met Haruna, she knew there had to be a reason why Haruna acted the way she did. She wanted to help her. Even if she still didn’t know Haruna’s full story, she knew enough to know that deep down, Haruna was a good person. The person who she was deep down was what Rina had fallen so in love with.

The blissful walk didn’t last long though as the two girls neared Haruna’s house. Once they had gotten close enough, Haruna’s footsteps stopped abruptly, her body stiffening. Rina could notice this instantly and her footsteps came to as stop as well. She turned around, cocking her head to the side in curiosity.

“Haruna, is everything okay?” Rina asked the question she had been dying to for so long. Haruna didn’t answer her. Instead, the older girl simply pointed in front of her towards the house. Rina turned back to it and instantly, she could see what had Haruna so on edge all of a sudden. In the house, against the faint glow of the sunset, Rina could see that there were lights on in the house.

Rina knew that she and Haruna had turned off all the lights before they had left the house that morning. There was no way the lights could be on… Unless Haruna’s parents had come home. That’s what had caught Haruna off guard; both of the girls knew right away that Haruna’s parents were indeed home.

“What are we going to do?” Rina asked in a soft and barely hearable voice. She could hear Haruna let out a shaky stream of breath before she heard the footsteps. Haruna grabbed Rina’s shoulder, turning her around abruptly and grabbing onto both of her arms.

“Listen to me carefully, okay? I need you to go around the back and hide. I’ll go inside and see what’s going on. I’ll come get you once I can and we’ll get you up to my room, they’ll never know you were here. Can you do this for me?”

Rina desperately wanted to tell Haruna no. She wanted to grab onto the older girl and cling onto her for dear life. She didn’t want to let her go but she knew they didn’t have a choice. Haruna’s parents would never allow Rina to stay here; they couldn’t know she was present. Rina had to be strong for Haruna.