A/N:Thank God! This story reached 10k reads! Thank you very, very much for everyone who read, voted and commented. It makes me very happy!
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I sent a message to Ryo, he didn't respond.
I needed to resolve this soon to return to Oya, so I went to Senomon.
I was already standing at the gate and several boys in red uniforms were passing by me, they stared at me but ignored, I have to admit that I was a little scared.
But soon I saw Amagai passing among the boys, he looked like a king and everyone looked at him.
And every king has his bodyguard...
"What are you doing here?"Amagai asked, looking at me as if I were inferior. The two were standing in front of me, but Ryo seemed very far away. "Did you call her here?"
"No... I..." Ryo was surprised when he saw me, I saw his expression change, he's nervous.
"I came to talk to you." I said as firmly as I could, looking only at Ryo.
"Then you guys can go somewhere else, you can't stay here, girl." Amagai responded, his words dripping with arrogance. Then he walked away, going back into the school, but before he got there he turned around and said."Ah, Suzaki! Remember what I said."
Then finally he walked away, leaving me and Ryo standing in silence.
"You want..."
I interrupted him. "Let's go to the lake."
Neither of us said anything on the way. The lake was the place where we always went to talk, but today I couldn't even enjoy the view, everything seemed a little lifeless, the wind didn't seem to have the strength to make the water move.
"So...what did you want to talk about?"He asked looking away.
"I need to ask something..." I took a deep breath, looked at Ryo, the boy with the beautiful smile, that seemed to be just for me and I realized that today his face was hurt, I think about the Oya boys, they were tired and with their faces stained with blood, could this just be coincidence. "Were you at Oya today?" It came out as a whisper, as if I was desperate for the answer to be no.
There was no response.
Ryo just sighed.
I understood...
It was like putting out a fire with ice, a feeling that I can't explain, a mixture of anger, sadness, a feeling of having been deceived.
"Why?!" I shouted. "Why would you do that?!"
"Amagai wants Senomon to take Oya's place. And to do that we need to prove that we are stronger." He said finally looking at me.
"So you just attacked them because Amagai told you to?" I asked, but I knew the answer.
Ryo ran a hand through his hair as if he didn't want to explain. "You don't understand."
"No matter what you try to explain to me, what I know is that several of my friends are in the hospital right now, because of your unfair fight!" I said louder.
I remembered my friends' faces, some of them so hurt that they weren't even there when I arrived and I could only think that Ryo, who was so sweet and sincere to me, had been part of this. It wasn't about fighting, it was about power, about Amagai.
"You also kept secrets. You never told me that your friends were from Oya, I gave you so many opportunities and you didn't!"Ryo spoke, his calm almost slipping.
I didn't respond right away, because what he said made me think. Every time he asked me questions about my friends,every time he hinted, he always knew, he just wanted me to admit it.
"How did you know?"
"Your bandana. Amagai said that the former Oya leader wore a bandana, and that he had trained someone before leaving, it makes a lot of sense, since you said it was a parting gift. Amagai said you didn't want to tell me, that you were keeping this secret the whole time." This time he seemed angrier.
"Did you really think I was hiding it from you?!" When he didn't respond, I remember what Amagai said to Ryo today, he was trying to turn Ryo against me. "Once one of my friends told me that I should just tell you about Oya if I really trusted you. But I thought he was wrong, because I trusted you so much that I thought it didn't make any difference what school my friends go to. Apparently I was wrong! Because it mattered so much that you got into a fight with them behind my back!"
Then I felt tears flowing, maybe it was the fact that I remembered Tsukasa that was the last straw.
"Amagai said I shouldn't trust you, but I thought you just needed time..."
"And did you say that to him? Or did you just nod your head as he spoke?" Ryo didn't respond again, which meant a statement. "Jesus, Ryo...I trusted you!"
"Believe me, all the time we spent together was very important to me. I couldn't tell you!"
I think about all the moments I thought everything was okay. Meanwhile Ryo was part of a plan to take Oya down.
"I told you over and over how much my friends meant to me and you did that even though you knew who they were?!"
"The plan was made before I even met you, I couldn't just say I wouldn't do it." Even irritated, Ryo remained calm, while I am a nervous wreck.
I couldn't hold it in, I wanted it to be a nightmare and that I could wake up soon.
"Haruka, I..." Ryo moved his hands to touch my face but I moved away.
"Where's Tsukasa?! What did you do with him?!"Tsukasa was strong, if they managed to get him from Oya to Senomon, he's not well.
"I can't tell you. Amagai would be..."
"Ryo, I'm not talking to Amagai. I'm talking to you!" I said a little, louder, trying to keep my voice steady so I wouldn't sob.
"Haruka, please listen to me!"He made one more attempt to put his hands on my face and this time I let him, It wasn't like it used to be, his hands were cold."I did what I had to do, the top doesn't belong to Oya..."
"You didn't have to do anything, you have a choice, Ryo." I whispered. "And you chose to help attack Oya, in the most cowardly way possible, even though they didn't do anything to you. Do you think that's the way to get to the top?"
"You should know how hard it is, to be side with someone no one would choose to help." His voice trailed off as he said that.
"Don't compare my friends to Amagai. My friends don't make me fight their fights for them, nor do they even treat me like a pawn in a ridiculous board game."I pulled away, I felt his hands leave my face." I hope in you until the last second and now I can't even think straight if everything we experienced meant to you, or if I was always just a way for you to pretend that you weren't part of a scheme to dominate the city."
"You mean a lot to me." I saw his eyes, he was being sincere. But now that's not enough.
"You also mean a lot to me." I sighed, too tired. "But you made your choice and I'm making mine..."
I pulled away and started walking.
"Haruka..."I heard Ryo call me in a weak voice.
"Warn Amagai, Oya is much stronger than he thinks." I turned one last time to see his face and then walked away.