Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 45: Catalyst

Rina led them only a short way into the house, just far enough for them to get into the living room. She went to sit on the couch and Mami moved with her, but the others kept themselves against the wall, forcing to Tomomi to stay with them instead of following after Rina and Mami. They all felt that this was something better left for Mami to handle; she did appear to know more about this whole situation than any of them did. Omar came into the room with them, sitting in a chair just across from the couch.

“Rina, you need to give me answers now,” Mami started nearly immediately once everyone was settled. “Who is this man and why are you here? What did the police do to you? Are you okay?”

“M-Mami, please…” Rina’s former smiling demeanor crumbled now that they were all sitting on the couch. It seemed to Tomomi as if Rina had finally remembered that Mami was going to be asking her a slew of questions and wasn’t looking forward to them. “One question at a time…”

“Who is he?” Mami asked in a venomous tone, pointing a finger accusingly at Omar. She didn’t like Rina being with him. Haruna had never made any mention of someone named Omar and Mami couldn’t imagine she’d let Rina hang around with someone she didn’t know well enough.

“Careful there, kid,” the male butted in before quieting down to allow Rina to speak. Rina shifted uncomfortably; the first meeting between Omar and Mami was going about as well as the first meeting Haruna had with him.

“His name is Omar,” Rina began in a soft tone that the girls against the wall could barely hear. “The last time Haruna and I stayed out, we-we ran into some trouble. He helped us get out of it and gave us a place to stay for the night.”

“What did the police do to you? Did they hurt you?” Mami began her next question, not bothering to give a response to the response that Rina had just offered her. So Haruna had known Omar but Mami got the feeling that the boss wasn’t overly fond of the male or else she would have mentioned him. Rina did seem fond enough of him though…

“They didn’t hurt me…” Rina’s tone was soft and it wavered just enough to tell Mami that the police had hurt Rina. Rina didn’t seem hurt physically but with as frail of a person as she was, the blonde knew it was very possible that they had hurt her emotionally, intentionally or not.

“What did they say to you?” Mami asked in a demanding tone to let Rina know she wasn’t going to be getting out of answering this one. She could hear Rina whimper softly, her hands beginning to pick at each other. Her teeth began to sink into her bottom lip and her eyes looked everywhere but Mami. The blonde’s own eyes narrowed; Rina had just given herself away in the biggest way possible. “Tell me what they said Rina.”

“T-they asked me questions about Haruna and I… So I answered them but then they…they started asking questions about my home life.” Rina’s sentence trailed off, her eyes still refusing to look at the blonde who was now staring at her in bewilderment. Mami knew where this was going, as much as her mind didn’t want to admit it.

“Rina,” Mami began in a warning tone that she hadn’t truly meant to use. “Please tell me that you didn’t tell them anything.” Mami was attempting to be vague about her words seeing as a stranger was sitting right there, perfectly within earshot. But she had to figure out what had gone on with Rina; she had made a promise to Haruna and she fully intended to keep her promise. She was going to bring Rina back safely no matter what the cost.