Chapter 29: One Night

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This is another chapter I feel does need its own warning. So please be warned that this chapter contains strong content and contains a strong trigger warning.

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Rina’s head was tilted upwards, her eyes looking up at the sparkling night sky as her legs carried her down the sidewalk. She had no idea where she was going; she was simply wandering around aimlessly. She kept herself in a small area though; she knew not to wander too far. The last thing she wanted to do was get lost on the streets of Tokyo and not be able to find her way back to the meeting area in the morning.

Rina shuddered at the thought of going back in the morning. She had told the girls that she was staying with Haruna tonight and by morning; she knew they would find out that it was a lie. She knew they would be mad at her for doing this but really, what other option did any of them have? Rina couldn’t go back to Yukako’s; it simply wasn’t an option after the fight today. Her parents would be far too angry at her to let any of her friends stay over for any reason.

Rina couldn’t go to Haruna’s because she knew that woman was still there and Mami’s mother would never let her come over. Aina’s and Hinako’s parents weren’t much better than Mami’s was, they simply didn’t like their daughters inviting any friends over to their houses. There was no one for Rina to go. She was sure that the girls could work something out but it would just be a burden to them.

The young girl knew she could survive a night out here. All of the other girls could easily survive a night out here and Rina knew she could as well… At least, she could only hope that she would be able to survive a single night on the streets. She was praying it was just one night, she already didn’t like this. She didn't want this to become reoccurring.

Tokyo showed a new side of itself at night. The normal bustle of the city had died down, fairly few people on the streets. The ones that were sent a chill through Rina’s body. She was probably just being paranoid but so many of them gave her a bad feeling. She was just trying not to think about anyone around her or anything around her.

All she wanted to focus on was the sparkling sky.

At some point, Rina knew she would have to find a place to sleep for the night, but she had no idea where to even begin with that. She had never actually spent a full night out on the streets before, one of the girls always tracked her down first or something came up to stop it. Tonight would be the first time since she was kicked out.

Rina sighed softly, finally tearing her eyes off of the sky. She looked down, her eyes scanning the dirty sidewalk that she continued to walk down. She could see people sitting, leaning up against the buildings. She knew right away that many of them were in the same spot she was, homeless with nowhere to go. But they looked so much worse than Rina did. She could see the tattered clothes matted with dirt, proof of how long they’d been out here for.

It scared Rina. What if she ended up like that? What if one of the girls ended up like that? To think of any of them going into such a terrible predicament made Rina feel scared and worried, she never wanted a fate like that for her friends. She couldn’t convince them otherwise though. All of them believed they were lost causes, all of them believed they would never become anything else other than the delinquents they were today. She had even heard a few of the girls say on occasion that they’d be surprised if they lived past 25.

It depressed Rina but she couldn’t say she thought any differently. Life hadn’t been kind to any of them. Whenever the girls did get a break, it seemed like life would just kick them back down again twice as hard. No matter what they did – no matter how they tried – they always failed and fell flat. None of them were being given a chance to improve their lives and no one was trying to help them.

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