Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 31: Confessions & Plans

“So what’s your plan then?” Mami asked her.

“I want to destroy, Hana. Simply fighting her is no longer enough; she will always just go and cry to some adult who’ll pity her. She’s as fake as they come and she’s charismatic. Even more so than Aina is.” Haruna glanced over at Aina who was now sitting with her back leaned against the wall. “Every time we’ve fought her, it’s ended the same way. We’re always the ones to get in trouble while everyone pities Hana and her perfect little friends.”

“So what then? We’re just not going to bother?”

“Stop jumping to conclusions, Sasazaki, and let me finish.” Mami knew Haruna wasn’t happy when she heard the boss use her last name; that was always a sure fire way to tell when Haruna was mad with one of her girls. She would always resort to using their last names instead of first.

“I have to agree with Mami. It sounds a lot like you want to let Hana off for this,” Hinako chimed in.

“You’re all jumping to such conclusions,” Haruna mused, turning to Hinako now. “Hana will not be let off for this; we will get back at her for it. We’re just going to get back in a new way.”

“I’m listening,” Mami said with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Hana’s reputation is important to her. She needs to have people bowing to her and looking up to her; she needs to be popular. It’s her lifeline. I’m positive that Hana couldn’t even imagine the thought of everyone finding out about who she really is and hating her for it. That’s where we’ll hit her. We’ll get her where it’ll really hurt her, by ruining her reputation.”

“How exactly do you propose we accomplish that?” Yukako spoke now. “It’s not as if people are just going to believe us if we tell them what Hana really is and we’ve got no proof of it either.” Haruna sighed softly at the words.

“I haven’t gotten that far; that is something we need to figure out,” Haruna admitted. The boss knew what she wanted to do to Hana but she had no idea how she was going to accomplish it. Yukako was right with every word she spoke. The girls were at a huge disadvantage and they really had nothing on their side.

So they would just have to find something.

***

“Haru, can we talk?” The boss looked up from where her eyes had been trained on the ground. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Mami standing in front of her, her hands clasped behind her back. It had been awhile since the girls had first started talking about Hana, quite some hours had passed since they had first began at this point. When they couldn’t think of anything, they had decided to take a break. Haruna had been standing here silently, not even conversing with Rina and that was what had Mami worried. She had expected Haruna to practically cling onto Rina after yesterday’s incident.

“What do you need?” Haruna answered. Mami took in a shaky breath, preparing herself to ask the question. She was not at all sure how the boss would take this question. She had been so high on emotion and so unpredictable as of late that even Mami couldn’t see what she’d do next.

“Are you okay?” Mami asked finally.

“Of course I am,” Haruna responded nearly instantly. Mami would believe her but she really didn’t, the quick response Haruna had given didn’t really make Mami believe it any more either.

“Are you sure? You’ve been acting strange today.”

“I told you that I am fine,” Haruna said in a rough tone. Mami was a bit taken aback by the rough and tense tone Haruna had used. The more Haruna spoke, the less Mami believed that she really was “fine”. “Why can’t you just take that for an answer and leave me be?”