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Sakura Kyouko. A delinquent. A criminal, as far as I was aware. Rude, loud and boisterous. Everything I’d been told my whole life to avoid.
She was also my dear friend Sayaka’s girlfriend.
That on its own had been a surprise, but a few months had long-since dulled that edge, along with the pain of… what came between us in the Spring.
I was ready to put it all behind me, and Sayaka seemed to feel the same way!
Sakura Kyouko was the only problem.
Since the day we’d met, she’d never spoken to me. She’d never even looked at me, except to glare.
At first I’d chalked this up to her naturally standoffish nature. Perhaps she was also shy.
She didn’t seem to be. No, in fact as the weeks passed and my attempts to get to know her grew more insistent, the fact that she was being intentionally rude became clear.
And that simply wouldn’t do. I could excuse many things, but rudeness was a stretch too far. So I did some things I never would have expected of myself.
I snooped. I asked around, I kept my eyes open, and I even recruited the assistance of Kyousuke just to find out where I might find Kyouko when she wasn’t hanging around outside of school.
The arcade. I’d never been here before. The loud noises and flashing lights were a little overwhelming, and my parents had always told me that arcade games were no better than gambling.
But, against all recommendation, I was here.
And so was she.
I saw her almost immediately, despite the chaos and clamour of the place. That long, swishing ponytail caught my eye from the other side of the room, and she always seemed to wear the same clothes.
As she danced in front of some strange machine, she glanced back. A dark look from the corner of a ruby-red eye caught me through the crowds, even though there was no way she’d know I was here.
Did I follow her here? Did she see?
No turning back now. I girded myself quietly and approached her.
”Sorry to intrude, Sakura-san, but-“
Nothing.
”Sakura-san, we’ve known each other for a while now, and I’d really like to-“
She didnt even look away from the dancing figures on the screen. Her face was stony, almost disinterested, but the way she moved was graceful - her bare legs were long and balanced, and she held herself with a dancer’s poise.
What kind of delinquent is she, anyway?
Well, I’d never know if she kept acting like I wasn’t there.
“I know you can hear me, Sakura-san. It’s very rude that you’ve been ignoring me all this time, and…”
Ignored. Ignored! I’d never been ignored with such dedication in my life!
“Look, would you just talk to me?” My demand came out shrill, forces through a choke of frustration.
My voice made her flinch. She stumbled, lost the beat. The flashing lights chastised her.
Sakura Kyouko stopped, took a deep breath, then paused the game. Turned to face me.
Her expression was like thunder.
“I promised Sayaka I'd stay outta your way.” The first words she'd ever spoken to me.
The first time she'd ever looked me straight in the eyes.
She was slight. Not… slim, but wiry. Her face was sharp, like the piercing eyes she was fixing on me, and her lips were curled up in something of a snarl.
A thin sheen of perspiration from the dancing made her shine in the multicolour light of the arcade. Strands of hair clung to lightly freckled cheeks.
She was… rather captivating, in a slightly scary way. From the privacy of my own mind I could admit that Sayaka had a beautiful girlfriend, even if she was a brute.
I could hardly fault her for her taste.
“What.. whatever for? Why would you do that?”
“A kindness. For her sake more than yours.” She stepped down off the game platform, just a few inches from me. Now we were on the same level I could see that I was actually a little taller than her - from a distance she might as well be a giant, with all her swagger.
“Look. I don't know what you think I've done to you, but Sayaka is one of my oldest friends. Her relationships matter to me, and I-”
“What I think?” Kyouko echoed, stalking closer. I fell back a step. “You think I’m stupid or something? I know what you did. To her, not me.”
My blood ran cold.
“Look, if this is about-“
”Of course it is! What else could it be? What did you think happened when she disappeared for over a week? Think we were having tea parties? Is that why you didn’t come looking?”
”I-I didn’t-“ This wasn’t the conversation I wanted! I wasn’t expecting her to throw this in my face like this. “I couldn’t go to see her! She didn’t want to see me, it only would have made things worse!” It was an excuse. Rehearsed in my mind so many times I almost believed it. Out loud, it sounded hollow.
”And who was left to pick up the pieces with her? Did you even suffer? Shit, you got everything you wanted out of it! You even got her back!”
”I suffered! How dare you-“
She cut me off by stalking forwards a pace, forcing me back to maintain distance between us.
“You’re a spoiled brat, look at you! All made up in your designer makeup, all fragrant with your designer perfumes! I've seen that fuckin’ castle you live in! I’m here strugglin’ to stay fed and you live in a palace! Probably got your own chef! You and that boy of yours are everything I hate in this world.” She took another step. I fell back into an arcade machine behind me. Trapped.
”You ever been hungry? Like, really hungry? Eat your own fingers hungry?” She scoffed. “I doubt it. Look how soft n’ plush you are.” She reached out, pinching my stomach painfully.
”Ow!” I gasped, pushing her hand away. “Sakura-san, don’t touch me!”
She snorted. “Oh yeah? Or what?” She went in again, and I pushed her again. “What you gonna do, beat me to death with all that money of yours?”
All my life, I’ve lived to the rules of propriety. All my life I’ve endeavoured to be kind, polite, and gentle. But never, in all my life, had I met someone who tore at the very core of my being like this. Never had I met someone who, in such short order, had insulted me so brazenly, picked at old wounds, and put her hands on me like this.
Something within me snapped. Almost unbidden, my hand rose and swung out, straight for that sneering face of hers-
She caught my hand at the wrist, faster than I could see her move.
Her grip was tight. Like iron. Her skin burned hot to the touch, and when I struggled impossibly firm muscles held me in place. I didn't budge an inch.
A half-second later, she blinked, taking in my frozen hand. Like she hadn't even noticed what I'd done.
“You tried to hit me?” She asked, her voice low. A open-mouthed, threatening smile spread its way across her lips.
All of a sudden, her eyes took on a new shine. They blazed with the intensity of a hungry predator, animal panic rising up in me like the feeling of suddenly spotting a tiger, staring straight at you.
“I asked you a question, Hitomi~” she taunted. “You just try to slap me across the face?”
“... yes.” I squeaked, cowering as best as my arm allowed me.
Kyouko leaned in closer. Death was a colour, and she was red.
Then that sinister, sharp-toothed smile widened, tugging at the corners until-
Kyouko grinned at me. The animalistic light left her eye. She laughed.
She laughed.
“Ha! Fuck, Hitomi! You really went for it!” She dropped my hand. I shot back a step, but she didn't pursue me. She didn't even stop laughing.
“You really did! Tried to slap me across my face! Damn, I really didn't think you had it in you!”
“I’m… sorry?” I ventured, even though I was sure I shouldn't have been the one apologising.
“You do got a spine, after all! No wonder Sayaka’s still friends with you!”
“Were you… were you testing me?”
“Wha? Oh, no.” She stopped laughing, wiping a tear from her eye. “I meant every damn thing I said about you. But you showed me you got guts - that you're willing to stand up to me, not just… fuckin’, ‘how do you do Sakura-san’ stuff.”
“I've been polite with you!”
“That's the problem! Why do I wanna talk to someone who cares more about being nice than being real?”
“I… I can't believe Sayaka spends time with you.”
“That's what you wanna call it? Besides, you best believe it. I tell it how it is. Sayaka likes that. You know, when me and her first met we shared sharper words than these, Shizuki-san.”
Even when she used the honorific, it felt mocking.
”But look at us now. She’s the best thing I’ve ever known.” Her expression softened as she talked about Sayaka, and she stepped back a little.
”She’s a wonderful person, Sakura-san.”
”Call me Kyouko, for god’s sake. Only Mami calls me ‘Sakura-san’.”
”Kyouko… San.”
”Mm. But she is. I suppose, in a weird way, I’ve got you to thank for that. If you hadn’t done all you did…”
”I-I want to make it clear that I didn’t expect for any of-“
“I know.” If she would let me finish a single sentence! “But it happened all the same.”
”It did.” I said quietly, stepping out from my position against the machine. My heart was still pounding. In that moment, she didn’t look like the rude delinquent I’d met before. She didn’t look like the savage beast she’d revealed a minute ago, either. Right now, she looked like… A protective girlfriend, watching out for someone I care about.
”Listen, Hitomi. I don’t like you. I wanna be clear on that.” She fixed me with a stare with those striking red eyes, and my poor heart skipped a beat. Why on earth did it do that? “But… I think I can learn to respect you. A little bit.”
”I would… like to be closer to you, even if we can’t be friends.” I stood my ground. She respected that, it seemed.
“Good. Let’s see. If you can beat me at DDR, we can talk. Wanna show me what you’re really made of?”
I glanced behind her, at the gaudy, flashing machine.
“I…” I steeled myself. “I’ll have you know I practice traditional dance after school, and I won’t go easy on you!”
kyouko laughed, a big hearty guffaw that leapt out of her from nowhere. “Traditional- oh, Hitomi, you’re funny! No wonder Sayaka keeps you around.” She bounded up onto the dancefloor with unbelievable grace, crossing the room in a heartbeat.
I followed after, and when she held out a hand to help me up - I turned her down. I didn’t need her help.