Almost three hours passed and there were still some girls standing at the party, although the younger ones went to sleep already. Nakazawa, as a good host, ordered to arrange a room where her guests could stay, but just Kaoru used it that night. Rather than follow the younger, Maki remained at the party, trying to discuss with Yuko some details about the possibility of moving there as Hitomi wanted, something really difficult when the listener is completely drunk. On the other hand, Yossi couldn’t leave Rika’s side. She was sleepy to death, but the need to know more made her stay awake.

She stared at the older sitting next to her. Rika hadn’t said anything in a while and Yossi felt a bit guilty for was going to ask.

“So… What happened?” Yossi stuck her eyes on the floor, regretting the question even before asking it “I mean… Why Aya seems to… hate you so much…?”

Rika refused to look at her after hearing the question and stood up, moving away from the younger. Yossi thought that she was going to leave and tried to take back her words.

“Sorry.., I can ask someone else if…”

“It’s ok” said the older still with her back turned to Yossi “It’s just… I don’t know where to start…”

“Well, you could start with the reason why Aya thinks that the people here’s the enemy”

The older finally turned to her, with her arms crossed and a sad smile on her lips. Then, looked at the sky, lightened with the first rays of sun, and began her story.

“You can call it the ‘Yoshizawa effect’” she said “I never knew him, but people say that Hitomi’s father was a rough and stubborn man that never accepted help from the others. So, I guess that Aya’s got his temper. Luckily, her own daughter was completely different and, when her father died, Hitomi tried to sort out all his mistakes…”

Rika kept telling her story, sometimes with her eyes glued to the clouds in the sky… sometimes staring at the other girl when Yossi didn’t notice.

All began like almost everything began in their world; with a battle. The difference was that the enemy was another kind of monster. It had passed no more than a week since Hitomi’s father died and the situation was chaotic. The few men remaining in the group didn’t want to follow a girl and she wasn’t willing to leave the people she loved in the hands of a bunch of haughty men. So, they fought. Not just verbally but a real fight, with long sharpen knifes and blood. Of course, no one was expecting for Hitomi to win… After the brawl, the men left and she took the control. Her first decision; to talk with and old acquaintance of her father.

She wasn’t probably more than twelve the last time she saw Nakazawa and Hitomi was glad to see that all the things that her father told about Yuko weren’t true at all. Maybe her character was a bit special, but she was a good woman, with good intentions, who received Yoshizawa’s idea with delight.

“One of the days that Nakazawa-san was going to meet with her, she brought me and Miki too. I didn’t know Hitomi ‘til that day ‘cause Yuko always took Kaori and Nacchi with her and, honestly, after hearing the stories about her father, I was expecting to find some kind of rough manly woman. But she was…” Ishikawa paused a moment and looked straight at Yossi “…she was like you, a kind smile and a determined look in her eyes. It may sound stupid but, when she looked at me, I felt as if I’d been waiting for that moment my entire life”

They night after they met, for the first time, Hitomi didn’t return home and stayed with them. After that, they reached a point where Nakazawa realized that she wasn’t wanted at the meetings and left the youngers alone, but not without asking Miki before to take care of them.

“Hitomi knew that she had to tell Aya soon or later if she wanted to take the girls here, but her sister had grown with the same stubbornness than her father and it was difficult to persuade her to talk with us” Rika breathed deeply before continue “The day we finally met everything went wrong…”

“It was when…”

Ishikawa nodded before Yossi could finish the answer and tried to face the next part of the story with fortitude.

“Aya came with the firm idea to make her sister return home and forget about her plans and, right from the start, she made clear that she didn’t like us. Miki’s not the type that keeps her thoughts for herself and they began to argue. Hitomi saw that the situation was out of control and shouted at Aya. Of course, she shouted back and, before leaving, told her sister some things about their relationship with her father that really hurt Hitomi. I told her to calm down and go after Aya to try to clear things up but then… they…”

The girls didn’t have time to react. They were in the full sun and, before that day, the beasts had always attacked at night. That’s why they weren’t expecting them to surround them so quickly.

“Aya tried to come back to help but her sister told her to run away. Miki was trying to open a path through them to reach a safe place and I was paying too much attention to what Hitomi was doing to see what was coming towards me…”

“She protected you”

“When we realized it was too late…” tears began to roll down Ishikawa’s cheeks “Miki took me out of there the best way she could a…and… she…”

Seeing the tears overflowing Rika’s eyes, Yossi couldn’t help but took the older in her arms. She never could stand to see the other girl crying, even if it was a different Ishikawa. Besides, she felt guilty to make her remember all that painful memories.

“Do you love her?” asked Rika with her head buried on Yossi’s chest.

“Who?”

“The other me. The Rika of your world. Do you love her?”

Yossi didn’t know how to answer that question. Did she love her?

Maybe years ago, when they were so close that the lines between their friendship and something more began to blur.., when the secret whispers made the other girls to burst in jealousy.., when a single kiss meant a world… Maybe then she’d be answered ‘yes’ without doubting…

“I…”

Yossi’s words were interrupted by a persistent knock on the principal door. In fact, more than knocking, whoever it was was kicking it.

“I’m gonna kill someone if you don’t open the damn door now!”

To be continued...