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Rinko knelt, cleaning the floor. Her arms moved back, forth, back, forth, scrubbing it as if she were a robot. There were no thoughts in her mind to suggest that she wasn’t. She had no senses, there was nothing outside her or within.
The low hum of the air conditioner.
The buzzing of insects and beetles outside.
Water dripping from the rooftop, the last of the rain that had fallen before the beautiful sun appeared.
It wasn’t real.
Rinko knew they weren’t real. They were lies from that fairytale that everyone told her. The fairytale where people had jobs, went grocery shopping, made polite small talk with their baristas, watched movies, played scary games, hurt each other, made messes. That was just real life. A scary, dark place, where people hid their true feelings and were mean to each other. A story that would drag on forever with no happy ending. It wasn’t actually real. It couldn’t hurt Rinko. After all, she had escaped; severed the last remaining knot that trapped her there.
She stopped cleaning, dropping her rag in the bucket and drifting across the room. She gingerly leaned down by the bed, not daring to breath lest she disturb the arrangement.
“Right, Ako-chan? You don’t have to stay there, either,” Rinko whispered, smiling. “You’re really free.”
Rinko brushed back her purple bangs and kissed her forehead one last time. Then a noise from across the house disturbed her daze, and she jumped up, running to take the cleaning materials back to the bathroom closet where they were stored. She had to make sure everything was in place before her final puzzle piece arrived.
She carefully checked her hair in the mirror, smoothing down her skirt and making sure her collar was straight and even. Her heart fluttered at the prospect of seeing her, a warm blush spreading over her face, and she practiced giving a small smile in the mirror.
...
...
...
No...
No, this can’t be. She didn’t look right. Her smile was unnatural, she looked terrible. Her sweet pose crumbled, but she couldn’t let herself cry. She forced herself to breath normally, and realized that the answer was obvious. She ran back into the bedroom, grabbing the first heavy object she could find, and slammed it into the mirror, shattering it.
Footsteps came running across the house, and Rinko rushed to shut the door to Ako’s bedroom before anyone came. She got both doors shut just as Tomoe entered the hallway.
“Oh, Rinko! Ako didn’t tell me you were coming over today,” she said.
Rinko shook her head, smiling. She was happy. She could smile now, the mirror was broken, so she wasn’t ugly anymore. “I came to see you.”
Tomoe’s eyes widened, and she blushed slightly. Rinko stared at her, truly entranced. She crossed her arms, and Rinko’s breath hitched. All she could think about was being touched, moved, swept away in her intense rhythm...
Tomoe was almost past her by the time Rinko realized she was walking towards the door Rinko had closed. Panic swelled in her, and she grabbed Tomoe’s hand.
“Y-You can’t go in there... Ako is asleep...” Rinko whispered, looking up at Tomoe without blinking.
“I’ll be quiet, I just wanna see her. Are you... okay? Rinko?” Rinko didn’t know what she meant. Of course she was okay, everything could be perfect now. It would be okay as long as Tomoe stayed with her always. Tomoe was the only one who could save her. Ever since Rinko had realized that, the veil had been lifted from her eyes. At this point, it was too late to go back. She couldn’t let everything fall apart.
Rinko knew the right thing to say. “I’ll check on her... you relax... I’ll make you some tea,” Rinko smiled up at her, motioning back towards the living room.
“I-It’s okay, I’d just rather see her with my own eyes, just real quick” Tomoe laughed nervously. As she made to get out of her grip, Tomoe wrapped her fingers around Rinko’s wrist-
Warmth.
Security.
Her grip is so strong.
She really is beautiful.
Rinko could see her biceps tensing as she tried to get out of Rinko’s cold and shaky but desperate grip.
Thoughts raced through Rinko’s mind, imagining those arms around her, pinning her down, protecting her from the monsters in that fairytale. Her knees shook and her face burned red, the fire covering everything.
But then Tomoe let go.
Fire was replaced with ice cold waves, tides pulling her deep beneath the surface, where there was only darkness. The monsters became real when she thought about them. Overcome with dizziness, Rinko stumbled but caught her lifeline again.
“You can’t go! Please, you can’t go! I’ll be alone, I’ll be alone again, so please, please, please, please don’t go, please don’t, please please please please I’m sorry I’m sorry please...”
“I’ll be right back!”
As Tomoe yanked her arm from Rinko’s hands, her nails grazed her wrist and left a small cut that soon began to pool with blood, causing Rinko to scream.
She saw red. It was the monsters that followed her before, surrounding her after every mistake, every encounter with another person, the shaky, nervous, hot feeling. The color of smoke, filling her lungs and suffocating her. Killing her. They came back because Rinko did something bad. She hurt Tomoe, Tomoe was in pain because of her and she would never forgive her but she had to she had to she had to because there was no other choice. Rinko would die.
Rinko sank to the floor as a storm surrounded her, her chest heaving with the struggle to breathe...
It...
It’s over
It can’t be over.
A blood-curdling scream echoed from inside Ako’s room. It was Tomoe.
Rinko rushed inside to see a horrific scene. Tomoe had pulled back the covers. She wasn’t supposed to do that. She screamed at Rinko, but she didn’t respond.
Ako...
...
...
...
Was she dead?
Rinko steeled herself. Death was the biggest lie. It was the final boss, the one that was so scary it resigned people to keep fighting the other monsters. But it was a lie all the same.
There was so much blood. Rinko had cleaned as much up as she could, but there was just too much. Tomoe didn’t know what it was yet, but Rinko saw everything so clearly.
Tomoe fell to her knees and cried, but Rinko knew she would be okay. After all, Rinko knew how to escape. Tomoe hadn’t realized she was trapped yet, but Rinko would be there for her until she did, and they could be together forever. Tomoe would protect Rinko from the monsters, and Rinko would show Tomoe the truth. They would be happy. Together. Forever.
No one to bother them.
No one to hurt them.
No anxiety.
No fear.
No loneliness.
Happy.
Together.
Forever.