“You actually came,” Rina said, a hint of surprise in her voice as she saw her classmate come to a full stop in front of her. Rina had to admit that she didn’t actually think Tomomi would come. She figured Tomomi would get too scared and back out; she just didn’t seem like the kind of person to go through with something like this. She had to hand it to her classmate; Tomomi had more courage in her than Rina had given her credit for.
“Of course I did,” Tomomi said, faking her matter of fact tone. In truth, Tomomi was scared. Whether she was more scared of speaking to Haruna or the prospect of joining a gang, that was something even she didn’t know. The young student pushed down the worry that bubbled in the pit of her stomach. Rina flashed her classmate a smile, turning on her heels and strutting down the sidewalk without another word to the girl. Tomomi walked a slow pace behind her, unsure of what else to do.
“Now, when you meet senpai, there is one very important thing to remember.” Rina paused her sentence, stealing a glance over her shoulder at Tomomi, who was looking around aimlessly. “Never make her angry.” Tomomi couldn’t help the bitter laugh that escaped her throat at Rina’s sentence. Everyone knew not to make Haruna angry. She had seen the things that girl was capable of when she was angry and she definitely didn’t want to be the cause of that anger. No one intentionally made Haruna angry unless they had a death wish.
The two girls continued their trek in silence, not knowing what else to say to each other. There wasn’t much to say. Rina and Tomomi weren’t friends. They never talked and they never came near each other before this. Tomomi would never associate with a member of a gang, so she didn’t know much about Rina and she didn’t want to say something that would harm her chances of impressing the leader. She only knew enough about Rina to know how close she was with Haruna.
The girls didn’t seem to have walked for long before Rina came to an abrupt stop, almost making Tomomi slam into her. Tomomi looked around at the setting around her, taken back a bit by what she saw. She hadn’t even noticed they had crossed into such a bad neighborhood; she was too lost in her own thoughts to notice. Many of the buildings looked worn down, graffiti covering the sides of the building with grime covering almost every other part. Every building at either boarded windows or ones with bars on them. The streets were covered with trash, filthy looking people strewn about the streets. This was one part of Tokyo that Tomomi would never have come to if Rina hadn’t led her here.
“I know you’re scared, Ogawa, but you need to suck it up. Don’t show fear in front of any of these people. Fear doesn’t fly well around these parts.” Rina voice was much darker now, the cheeriness disappearing from her tone. It was like this was a completely different person standing in front of her now. “Let’s continue, it’s not much farther.”
“O-okay.” Tomomi made sure to stick closely to Rina, ignoring her advice about not showing fear. She was too scared to listen to that kind of advice. She began to wonder how Rina had gotten used to this. Rina was such a sunny person, but as the duo walked along these streets, her body language and voice stayed dark. She was like a different person, a much stronger person.
“We’re here.” Tomomi’s eyes jolted forward to look at Rina who was now standing in front of the metal fence. “You’ll have to climb the fence but don’t worry, it’s not hard.” Immediately following her words, Rina tossed her school bag up and over the fence, climbing the fence with ease after it. She landed on her feet on the ground with a soft ‘oof’, turning around and beckoning for Tomomi to follow along.
“Here goes nothing,” Tomomi mumbled, tossing her bag over the fence as Rina had done. Tomomi had never climbed a fence before but really, how hard could it be? Just put your hands and feet in the right holes and hoist yourself up, that’s what Tomomi figured at least. The student had managed to get herself to the top before swinging a leg over in an attempt to begin going down the other side. As she swung her leg, Tomomi felt herself lose her balance and toppled to the ground with a hard thud. She groaned softly, hearing her companion begin laughing softly. Rina lied; climbing a fence wasn’t as easy as she had made it look and sound.
“Nicely done, Ogawa,” Rina said between her laughs, the familiar shine coming back to her face. Tomomi was beginning to learn that Rina was a good actor. She hid her real emotions. That’s what that was about back there. Rina extended a hand to her classmate, helping her off the ground before handing her bag to her.
“So this is it?” Tomomi asked, looking up at the grey building they stood beside. Rina nodded, before turning around and walking around the side of the building. Tomomi followed, finding Rina pushing open a door in the back of the building. As the duo walked in, Tomomi took note of the scenery of the building. There were only a few people in the dimly lit room. On the left side of the building, leaned against a wall sat a girl with blonde and teal hair. She growled softly at the small DS she held in her hands. Directly across from her, two other girls sat at a table, talking about whatever it was they were talking about. The room was pretty barren except for a few chairs and tables that laid around the room.
“Senpai!” Rina called, running into the room and drawing the attention of all three girls. Tomomi drew in a shaky breath, following Rina into the room. She instantly noticed the three sets of eyes that now watched her every movement like a hawk. “I brought her!” Rina’s voice was filled with a unique happiness that Tomomi had never heard from her before. It was somehow different than her usual brand of happiness. Tomomi stood behind Rina as she looked straight ahead, noticing a figure on the bench in front of them. The figure pushed itself up, stretching and giving a small yawn before they pushed themselves into a sitting position.
Haruna.
Tomomi drew in a sharp breath as she gazed at the gang’s leader. This was it. There wasn’t any going back for her now; she had to face the leader. Haruna looked directly at the girl, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes narrowed into a glare.
“What is she doing here?” Haruna spit out, continuing to glare menacingly at Tomomi. She knew who this girl was and she knew that she didn’t belong here. Tomomi was the smartest girl in school and everyone knew her parents. She had her entire life going for her. She would never belong here. Besides, she was a goody two shoes and a snitch above all else. She didn’t know what Rina had been thinking when she had led her here.
“Well… She asked me during school to take her to come see you. I thought you might want to meet her. Even if she’s not material, what’s the harm in bringing her just to see?” Rina asked, her voice softening by the end of the sentence.
“She’s a snitch! She could rat us out! Did you stop to think about that?” Haruna boomed, pushing herself into a standing position now. Rina let out a small whimper, cowering away from Haruna who could only sigh in return. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. Tomomi, get over here.” Tomomi was a bit taken aback by the use of her first name; she hadn’t expected Haruna to address her so casually.
“Go on,” Rina whispered, noticing Tomomi’s hesitant behavior. Rina gave her classmate a little nudge, encouraging her to move forward. With a small gulp, Tomomi walked closer to Haruna, stopping just in front of her.
“What do you want with us?” Haruna crossed her arms over her chest once again, the menacingly glare coming back.
“I-I want to join your gang,” Tomomi stuttered out, inwardly cursing herself for stuttering in front of Haruna. That wasn’t going to make a good impression on the boss. Haruna laughed softly, shaking her head in response to Tomomi’s statement. She wanted to join? What a joke.
“You want to join us? Why? Who put you up to this?” The questions came one after the other, bombarding Tomomi before she had time to answer any of them. “We know you don’t belong here. You know you don’t belong here. So who put you up to this? This couldn’t have been your idea.”
“No one did!” Tomomi shouted instinctively. She shrunk back a bit, noticing the threatening glint that had passed through Haruna’s eyes upon her outburst. “I asked Suzuki to bring me here because I wanted to join your gang. I’m tired of being the weak one who does what everyone tells me to do! I want to be stronger and I want to be more daring.”
“We’re not your experiment, kid. You’re too weak for a gang anyway.” Haruna turned around, waving Tomomi off. “Leave. Now. You have no business here.” Tomomi growled under her breath, her hands clenching at her sides. She had to do something to prove to Haruna that she wasn’t this weakling anymore. She had to stand up to the very person who struck fear in the hearts of almost everyone at school. She had to stand up to Haruna Ono; it was now or never. She had to stop running away from things.
“Then let me prove it,” Tomomi stated, a demanding tone to her voice. Haruna’s movements paused as Tomomi heard a low laugh come from her. Haruna didn’t say a word as she took a seat on the bench again, leaning back and staring up at Tomomi.
“You wouldn’t be able to prove it anyway,” Haruna said, a smirk playing on her face. She knew she was getting to Tomomi and she wanted to see exactly what Tomomi would do. Tomomi’s fists clenched tighter, her mind pushing down the fear that was bubbling up. There was no turning back.
“Why won’t you at least let me try?” Tomomi asked, trying to keep her composure. Haruna only shook her head in response, refusing to acknowledge the girl before her any longer. “Are you scared of me proving you wrong? Maybe you’re just a coward after all.” Tomomi wanted to slap a hand over her mouth after she said those words but she resisted the urge. She wanted to grovel and beg for forgiveness. How could she say that? She just called the Haruna Ono a coward. She was in for it now.
“What did you just say to me?” Haruna growled, her tone sinister. She pushed herself up, closing the small gap between the two girls, coming almost nose to nose with Tomomi. She had to say that she was impressed by Tomomi’s words, but she wasn’t going to let anyone get away with calling her such names. “I’ll make you regret that,” Haruna whispered to her. Before Tomomi could react to anything, Haruna had drawn her fist back, bringing it down hard on Tomomi’s face. Tomomi let out a scream, falling to the ground from the force of the blow, her hands instinctively flying up to her face.
“Senpai, stop!” Rina shouted, racing over to Haruna. Rina wrapped her arms around Haruna’s waist, holding her senior back. “Don’t hit her.” Haruna’s breath was coming out in short huffs as she glared down at the girl on the floor.
“You’re lucky Rina is here to save you. Now get out,” Haruna growled, turning around and breaking from Rina’s grip. Tomomi groaned as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, a hand gently covering the bruise that was already forming on her cheek.
“You know, Haru…” Everyone’s attention focused on the direction of the voice which had come from the blonde and teal haired girl. “That was quite a stunt from her, don’t ya think? After all, who would dare call Haruna Ono a coward? Certainly not someone who was a coward themselves.”
“Where are you getting at, Mami?” Haruna asked, slumping down on the bench as Rina took a seat beside her, a small hand laid gently on the boss’ shoulder.
“Just think about it for a sec, okay? This girl had the guts to stand up to you. Don’t you think that shows some potential? Stop being angry for a second here and use your head. We could use a girl like her.”
“I agree with her!” A black haired girl said, shooting up from her position on the floor.
“I’m with Mami and Hinako!” Her brunette partner said. “She’ll be good for us. At least give her a chance to prove herself.” Haruna cocked her head, thinking about Yukako and Mami’s words. They did have a point. No one ever dared to stand up to Haruna unless they wanted a fight. And even if Tomomi didn’t last, Haruna could put her to good use in the meantime.
“Alright fine, you all win. I’ll give her a task. If she completes it without getting caught, then she’ll get to join us. If not, I get to have a little more fun with her. How does that sound to you, Ogawa?” Tomomi could hear the sinister tone in her voice, especially how it accented her last name. She knew Haruna was angry if she was switching to calling her by her last name now.
“That’s fine with me.” Tomomi wanted to slap herself for agreeing. She knew Haruna’s idea of “fun” would be to beat Tomomi senseless for her prior backtalk, but she knew things wouldn’t end well if she had said no either.
“Good,” Haruna said with a smirk, “we’ll leave as soon as the others get here. I’ve got the perfect way for you to prove yourself to me.”
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Word Count: 2,399
..................I had way too much fun writing Haruna punching Tomomi. I couldn't resist. Someone had to get hit by her eventually, it was just Tomomi's luck that her character had to be the first. :c
I already feel bad for Timo. Will things get better for Timo? Well.... Nah, I'll let you all keep reading and see if things get better for her. ;)
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