Sokudo: Villains Always Win (ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ)

Chapter eleven | a bittersweet reunion

She almost snapped at her, the words got inside her head and whispered in her eye. "They got what they deserved, simple karma, don't you think?" She closed her hands into tight fists and her feet came to a halt, she threw her body around to face Miyoku and ─ and... And she froze, before she could raise her hand and do something she never thought she would do. Throw a punch at a friend, like an actual punch out of anger. It was odd, she never had any problems with anger in the past, in fact she rarely ever felt the slightest hint on anger in her veins. So for her to get worked up over something so small so quickly...

"I-I'm sorry, I just... please, don't say something like that again." She hung her head low in shame, shocked by her own actions. "Can we please move on from this now?" She begged, there was no way Miyoku could have said no, no matter how dense she was ─ it was obvious how much Chieko wanted to change topics.

She slightly lifted her head to see Miyoku's reaction, expecting to see some kind of surprised expression, or a disappointed gaze staring down at her. She saw neither of those, instead, she swore it must have been her eyes playing tricks on her, but for a second she swore she saw a malicious smirk spread tugging at her lips. But she blinked and it was gone, replaced by a guilty look as the brunette gave a nod.

"Of course... sorry for not realizing it sooner. Come on, let's get you home," she sounded so understanding, Chieko must have mistaken that smirk and her comments for something else. It must have just been her imagination, and she overreacted. Yet, something in the back of her head told her something else. She ignored it, shaking her head and glanced at Miyoku, forcing herself to bring on a smile.

She followed after her and an ever-lasting silence began, but it quickly became uncomfortable. She glanced at Miyoku, who continued looking ahead with a blank stare. Despite how she tried to fill her head with positive thoughts, such as seeing her mother again who'd be much more understanding and caring, but it didn't weaken the sickening feeling in her stomach. As the silence grew longer, it only became worse, but she swallowed it and tried not to care.

The walk home could be described in three words, long, uncomfortable and silent. It seemed to drag on for ages, Chieko almost thought they took a wrong turn despite knowing the way back like the back of her hand. She couldn't get rid of the uneasy feeling, especially when she looked at Miyoku, it grew worse.

Eventually, it got so bad that she wanted to just leave Miyoku and go the rest of the way on her own. Surely it'd be done a lot quicker and the horrible feelings that seemed to be attached to Miyoku would go away. But she couldn't do that, she already almost rose a fist to her for no reason, she can't just suddenly decide to dump her. Surely that'd be the end of their friendship.

So she tried to get rid of all the horrible thoughts building up in her head, and just focus on what's ahead. It felt like it had taken a lot longer than it should have, but eventually they left the city outskirts and in the distance Chieko saw her house and in that moment she had never felt so relieved. She let out a deep sigh and sped up the pace, but stopped when she realized that Miyoku wasn't beside her anymore. She froze to a stop and turned around, seeing the brunette standing not far behind her, just... standing there.

Confused, she made her way over to her. Miyoku simply smiled with her eyes closed and moved a hand to her neck, "I'm really sorry for today, but it was nice to see you again. Perhaps the next time we meet, we could have a proper conversation and if you're not too busy, there's a café that recently opened up." She sounded so sincere, and when she opened her eyes she gave a small wink.

If this had happened without the conversation about Minji happening, then surely, she would have gladly accepted the offer. Though, she hesitated, and when she opened her mouth not a single word came out. She felt more awkward than anything, she didn't want to disappoint her, she was genuinely sorry and it's not her fault she overreacted. She could be a good person and accept the offer, or at least take it into consideration, but she... it just didn't feel right.