The next day, Tsugumi decided to call a meeting with everyone. But, Ran never showed up. They waited for a while, but it didn’t appear as though she would be coming anytime soon. She wouldn’t answer her phone when they started texting her.
“Should we go check on her?” Tomoe asked.
“This is normal behavior for her, though. I don’t think we need to worry too much.” Himari replied.
“She knows what this meeting is about, right? And she doesn’t want to come because of that.” Moca guessed as she looked at Tsugumi.
Tsugumi hesitantly nodded. She had hoped their conversation would’ve convinced her to open up with everyone, but it appeared that wasn’t the case. She regretted letting Ran go home. She could've forced her to talk if she had slept over.
“Well, what did you wanna talk about then?” Tomoe asked.
All eyes made their way to Tsugumi. She nervously gulped. What should she say and what shouldn’t she say? She promised Ran not to mention what had happened the previous night, but maybe it would be best she did tell them some of it. Tsugumi didn’t know what to do about that.
“Well… we talked yesterday and… she said the bullying is still happening and that it’s getting worse.” Tsugumi started off. She was safe to talk about that stuff.
“How much worse?” Moca questioned.
“She said they’ve gotten physical now.” Tsugumi explained, “And, apparently the school isn’t doing anything.”
“We really need to find these people and give them a whack over their heads.” Himari grumbled.
“Is that all?”
This was where things got difficult. Should she tell them? What if that broke the trust Ran had in her? She didn’t want that, but things were getting out of hand. What if Ran got hurt or hurt someone because of this? Would she be to blame for not telling?
“I… I promised her I wouldn’t tell… so, please don’t mention this to her.” Tsugumi said, deciding what she would do, “She’s… not been using the best coping methods…”
“What has she been doing?” Tomoe asked, a bit of an accusatory tone coming into her voice.
“Tomoe, calm down. I’m sure it’s nothing too bad.” Himari said.
Tsugumi didn’t think that statement was true. She knew they’d react badly to what she was going to say. She hesitated saying more. Tomoe was a little agitated right now. She might go and yell at Ran for it. That wasn’t what she wanted.
“What is she doing, Tsugu?” Moca prompted.
Tsugumi looked at her, a slight hint of worry on her face. She nodded to Tomoe, hoping to convey the message. Moca seemed to understand as she nodded.
“Tomoe, promise that you won’t go and confront Ran about whatever it is that Tsugu tells us.” Moca said as she clung onto one of Tomoe’s arms.
Tomoe didn’t say anything for a while, but eventually she muttered, “Fine… I won’t mention any of this to her.”
Once that was determined, everyone turned back to Tsugumi. She took a shaky breath. This was not going to be a good conversation, she just knew it.
“She’s been drinking.” Was all Tsugumi said.
"What!?" The other three all yelled collectively.
Tsugumi didn't know if telling them Ran's reasoning would make things better or worse. She decided it would probably make things worse so she kept quiet.
"You expect us to sit back and just let her do this? No. We need to talk to her." Tomoe stated.
Tsugumi gulped. Tomoe was getting aggressive again. She tended to be like that when it was about Ran. It ended up causing fights at times.
"How do you expect to talk to her?" Himari asked, "If you go in and just start yelling, nothing good is gonna come from it."
"Maybe she needs that." Tomoe muttered, "Nothing else seems to be working."
"U-um… I might know a way." Tsugumi said.
"What would that be?" Moca asked.
"Well… Everyone here likes her… right?"
"Eh?" Everyone looked at each other in disbelief.
"So… maybe if we show her more love, maybe she'll realize she can open up to us more?" Tsugumi explained.
"That might work."
"But, how are we gonna do that?" Himari asked.
"Well… how about we stop getting mad when she hides things from us." Moca offered, "From things I've read, doing that makes someone less likely to come to you in the future. We should try to fix that and show her that she doesn't need to be afraid to tell us."
"Alright. Um… should someone go check on her, then?"
"I suppose so."
"I'm going." Tomoe declared as she stood up.
"Promise you won't be harsh on her." Tsugumi asked.
"I promise…" Tomoe mumbled.
…
Tomoe's POV:
I made my way to Ran's house. I'm a little nervous. I could really mess things up if I don't approach this the right way. Then everyone will be mad at me.
It wasn't long before I stood at the door. I took a deep breath and knocked. No one answered right away. Maybe no one is home?
I was about to give up when the door finally opened. Ran peaked out. She warily watched me. I don't think she trusts my presence here.
"Hey, can I come in?" I asked.
"What do you want?" Ran questioned.
"Just wanted to see how you're doing, since you didn't show up to the meeting and all." I replied.
"I'm fine. Go away."
"I just want to hang out." I stated as I held the door open, "That's all."
"You aren't going to give up, are you?" Ran sighed.
She seems tired. Not like she's just physically tired, though. More mentally tired than anything. This really has been taking a toll on her, hasn’t it? And we never really noticed.
"No. I really do just want to hang out." I said as honestly as I could, "I want to apologize for how I've been treating you."
Ran raised an eyebrow. I don't know that she truly believes that. But it's the truth. If we want her to feel okay talking to us, I need to fix the wrong I've already done.
"Fine." Ran stepped back and allowed me to enter the house.
I walked inside before she could change her mind. I don’t think I’ve ever been in her house yet. I looked around.
“Are you the only one home?” I asked.
“Yeah…” Ran mumbled. She didn’t seem very comfortable.
“Well, um…” I didn’t know what to say.
“Come with me.” Ran grabbed my arm and started tugging me away.
I soon found out where we were going. Ran took me to her bedroom. She closed the door and then sat on her bed. She nodded to the spot beside her, so I sat down as well. It feels a little awkward, but I need to do this.
“So… well, anything you want to know?” I asked, “Y’know, if you wanna know what we talked about.”
“I don’t care.”
“Okay… then, I guess I’ll start. I am sorry about how I’ve been reacting to you. I know yelling isn’t really the best response. It’s just… I get frustrated with you and…” I trailed off.
Whenever Ran would finally admit something, or we would find out by ourselves, it ended in fights. We’d get mad at her for not saying anything and then she’d yell at us. It was a mess. And, I guess I may have been the worst one. I still feel protective with her. Kinda like how I am with Ako, but a little different. So, it hurts a lot when she refuses to confide in us.
“I’m the one who keeps hiding, so why are you apologizing to me?” Ran whispered, “I should be the one saying sorry.”
“Because we’ve realized that what we’re doing makes you less likely to want to talk to us. It’s not your fault.” I stated, “So, can we start over? From now on, we won’t yell or get mad about these things, okay?”
Ran didn’t say anything for a while. Is she debating if she’ll accept it? Does she not trust us to keep that promise? I’m overthinking these things again.
“Is… that what the meeting was about?” Ran asked.
“Pretty much. Tsugu told us about the bullying and all and… well, Moca kinda told us the whole thing about how yelling wasn’t gonna help.” I nodded.
“I see… sorry I ditched…”
“So, can we start over again?” I asked.
“Yeah… let’s try this all again.” Ran nodded.
“So, anything you wanna talk about? That was all I really wanted to say.” I hope this isn’t an obvious thing. I want to see if she’ll admit about the drinking, but I can’t just flat out ask if there’s anything I need to know. That’d be too suspicious.
Ran just stared at the wall for a while. I guess she doesn’t want to talk. I can’t force her too. Should I leave? She would’ve just said no if she didn’t want to talk, though, right? Maybe she just can’t find the right words to say.
“Did… did Tsugu tell you guys anything else?” Ran asked.
Oh. She’s trying this approach. I can’t say yes, right? That wouldn’t be good.
“No.” I hope she doesn’t sense the slight hesitance in my voice.
“She told you, didn’t she?” Ran seemed to see through my lie, though.
“Told me what?” I still was going to try and play it off.
“About how I’ve been coping. You’re not hard to read, you know.” Ran sighed, “It’s fine… it was gonna come out sooner or later…”
“Fine… she told us… She made us promise not to tell you, though.” I gave up lying. It wasn’t doing me any good.
“Not gonna say anything about it?” Ran challenged.
Is she testing the promise? I think she might be.
“You’ve probably heard it already. You shouldn’t be drinking. It’s not good for you.” I shrugged. I’d like to scold her more, but right now I need to gain her trust.
“I have yet to hear an alternate method.” Ran stated.
“Go to the police. Next time they get physical, take photos. Document it. Report them and then it’ll be dealt with.” I replied.
Ran’s eyes went wide. Was she not expecting an actual response? This girl is hard to read sometimes. I swear.
“O-oh… Yeah… forgot about that…” Ran dryly chuckled.
“Well, I should get going.” I stood up.
“W-wait!” Ran grabbed my arm, “Um… I don’t mind if you want to stay longer…”
“I have things to do.” I replied, “Sorry.”
Ran let go of me. She sighed. Is there more she wants to talk about? Or does she just not want to be alone? I’m thinking it’s the latter.
“You wanna come with me? I’m just doing some shopping. I wouldn’t mind the company.” I offered.
Ran nodded. She stood up. I smiled at her. Ran blushed slightly before she smiled back. I grabbed her hand and tugged her to the door. We did say we should show her more love, so that’s what I’m doing now. I hope she’ll appreciate it.
I’ve made progress. I bet they’ll be happy when I tell them that.