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A sigh of relief escapes Rika’s lips as her exhausted body slides itself down the wall of the hiding place her an Ai had found themselves in. Hopefully, hiding in here should buy them some time from the see-no-evils, she hoped. It’s certainly not an ideal situation but it’s not too bad, she’s not alone after all, she has Ai with her.
She only met her fairly recently but they had grown pretty close. Rika would have course never tell her it to her face but honestly she admired her. To Rika, it seemed like Ai had been through a lot and yet she was still standing with so much confidence.
Rika yearned for that confidence, the authentic kind, not the kind she uses as a mask and pretends to have.
Her an Ai had been told to protect these girls Miko and Mako who are massive fans of the idol Yu-yu, Rika is sure they will manage no bother, but its pressuring regardless when you get told you must protect these girls. She signed up for it though so she can’t complain too much, all this for Chiemi.
She will forever feel guilty about what she did to that girl. An apology… hopefully Rika can provide one soon
“Rika!” Ai squeals, pulling Rika out of her depressing daydream “Your cuts, they’ve not healed!”
Crap-
She hadn’t even noticed that when she slid to the floor her jacket had fallen off her shoulder revealing each and every one of her scars.
She needed to think of some excuse, or atleast some explanation. If she told her what they really were, how she really got them, Ai probably think she’s weak or pathetic like everyone thought when Rika told them.
She quickly pulled her jacket up over her shoulders, concealing the tender lines on her arms.
“Oh, those are old, don’t worry about them.”
She raises an eyebrow, like she’s clueless to how else Rika could have possibly got such scars. “Oh- alright…”
The silence between them is deafening for a moment.
“Are you alright Rika?” She asks.
“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be?”
A sad smirk of sorts appears on her face. “You don’t need to pretend Rika, I’m not stupid. You’re hurting, aren’t you?”
She rolls her eyes, it’s sweet, what Ai is trying to do, but for some reason it just feels like pity. “I don’t need you to treat me like some sort of mentally ill freak. I used to hurt okay? I’ve not hurt myself in like 6 months, I’m over it and I sure as hell don’t need your sorrow and pity! So don’t start babying me just because you now know I used to cut myself okay?”
Her mean words echo and she falls silent.
God, why am I so rude? She was only trying to help. I just, can’t stand when people find out and then make it out like that’s all there is to me. It’s happened before and I can’t let it happen again. Because, I am so much more than my old bad habits, I single handedly got sober, all on my own and I’m tired of people disregarding that just because I had the addiction in the first place.
Rika thought.
“I’m sorry Rika, I didn’t mean to-“
“No.” Rika interrupts. “It’s not your fault Ai. If anything, I’m sorry.”