Sukeban (Discontinued)

Chapter 47: Actions and Reactions

Mami held her arms crossed over her chest, her body leaned back against the metal lockers with one foot tilted back and pressed hard against them. Her eyes scanned the crowds, watching each of the students pass by them, hoping that a certain brunette would pass by as well. Aina and Hinako were present as they always were in the morning but Tomomi had yet to show… It had Mami a bit worried about where she could possibly be.

When she thought of how Tomomi had yet to show up to school and the bell was only minutes away from ringing, she thought back to how she had reacted towards Tomomi yesterday. It was just a light touch with barely any skin contact and yet Mami had walked away in such a huff. She hadn’t thought about how walking away so quickly would make Tomomi feel; her mind had simply been focused on getting away and not giving into the feelings that told her to wrap Tomomi up in the hug she so desperately wanted to give the brunette. One simple touch had caused an overwhelming swirl of emotions that Mami never wanted to feel.

She had thought that asking Yukako to come be with her would make her feel a bit better about what she had done to Tomomi and about what she was feeling, but it hadn’t made her feel much better at all. She hadn’t counted on Yukako laying into her like that; she hadn’t counted on Yukako saying anything worth truly thinking about but she had. After Yukako left, Mami continued avoiding going home, not wanting to deal with her mother.

She wandered about the streets of Tokyo, her mind clouded by her thoughts of Tomomi and her own feelings. It had been almost 8 at night before Mami found her way back home only to find that her mother hadn’t been home after all and wouldn’t be home that night. For once, Mami wished her mother had been home. With her mother gone, Mami was alone with her thoughts and her thoughts simply wouldn’t leave her be.

The guilt wrapped itself around her heart with a strong grip and adamantly refused to let go. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to know the fragile Tomomi had probably gotten hurt by Mami’s quick to leave action. Tomomi was the kind to get hurt over even the tiniest of actions. Just the thought of having hurt Tomomi, no matter how minimal, was causing guilt in Mami’s heart that she didn’t think she would be able to ever feel. Why did she have to be so hotheaded? Why, just for once, couldn’t she think about how Tomomi felt before doing something?

“H-hi, guys…”

The feeble voice that Mami had come to know so well rang through her ears, instantly capturing her attention and making her turn her entire body towards the left. She felt a wave of relief crash over her when she saw Tomomi standing on the right side of Aina now, her bag clutched in one hand and her other hand absentmindedly twirling her hair. The relief Mami had felt was quickly washed away though when it occurred to her that Tomomi hadn’t made a movement to come near her like she usually did… Was Tomomi avoiding coming near her?

“Tomomi! We were really beginning to think you’d be absent from school,” Aina chimed in, giving Tomomi a smile and a small wave. Mami watched as Tomomi’s face changed to an apologetic smile, her hand moving from twirling her hair to scratching her cheek nervously.

“I’m sorry about that; I just got busy with my parents this morning and ended up running pretty late,” Tomomi told them. Mami’s body tensed and she looked away from Tomomi, instead moving to look down the hall. She had a feeling Tomomi was lying about that. Had she really hurt Tomomi enough where the brunette who hardly ever missed school really considered missing school? The thought was only making Mami’s guilt worse.