“Ouch!”

“Whiner…”

“Whiner? Did you see what she did to me?” complaint Yossi, pointing at her swollen lip while Ishikawa was trying to clean the wound.

“Yeah, I saw it. But I saw what you did to her, too”

That’s right. Yoshizawa had almost forgotten about it, but she was the one who hurt Miki first and, just the idea of her opponent not able to avoid the sword in time, made her froze. How could have that happened? She’d never had a weapon in her hands and, of course, never had that kind of fight before but there, in that square with Fujimoto, her body had reacted by instinct, as if she had spent her life doing that. Even now, she could feel that it was still there, that… strength.

“No one had disarmed Miki before…” said Rika still taking care of the wounds.

“Well, someone had to be the first”

“You don’t understand. She hates losing. If Nakazawa-san hadn’t stopped the fight…”

“You were worried about me?”

Rika’s hand stopped and dropped the gauze which she was cleaning the remains of blood with. Her eyes first glued to the floor as trying to find something to say. Then, she raised her head and looked straight into Yossi’s eyes.

“I can’t help it” was her answer.

Yossi closed her eyes, feeling the warm that came with Ishikawa’s hand caressing her cheek. She knew how the older must be feeling, the fight that must be inside her, because she began to feel it too. Yossi knew she wasn’t her Rika but, even so, she can’t fight that urge to hug her. She spoke like her, she walked like her, she even smelled like her… it was driving her crazy ‘cause, in the end, she wasn’t Rika. As well she wasn’t her Hitomi.

The younger opened her eyes again. She had to make things clear before Ishikawa took a step that she could regret later. Because, if something was clear was that she would leave soon. But, before she could speak, Rika’s index finger sealed her lips.

“I know” she said with sorrow in her voice “But it doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from. The only thing that matters is that Rika will always love Hitomi”

***

There it was that strange feeling again, oppressing her chest since she’d woke up the first time in that strange room. It felt like home… safe… She didn’t feel like that since her sister died.

Hitomi… It wasn’t just that she looked like her… Now it moved like her, fought like her, even the way she stared at Ishikawa was the same. That made Aya feel sick, just like months ago.

She’s not her… I shouldn’t care about that anymore…

But, what if that girl was her second chance? What if fate sent another Hitomi to let her rectify her mistakes? Maybe that way she could forgive herself for being a coward and run away, not just from the monsters but from her own feelings.

“Not hungry?” asked someone sitting next to her.

Returning from her inner thoughts, Aya looked at her plate. It’s true; she almost hadn’t touched her dinner. The confusion in her head was affecting her stomach too. Then, she noticed who was at her side and went back to her usual self.

“It’s none of your business”

Obviously, Yuko wasn’t expecting a kind answer coming from Aya. So, she just smiled and stayed there.

“I know you’re not like that”

“You don’t know how I am” replied Matsuura with her rough tone.

“Well, maybe I don’t know the woman…” said the older, who was trying her best to keep a conversation “…but I knew the child, and you know? You were a good kid… stubborn, annoying and a cry-baby but a good kid. And something tells me that that little Aya’s still there”

Matsuura didn’t answer. She just glared at the woman and returned her attention to her food, trying to not seem interested in whatever Yuko had to say.

“Good.., keep that invulnerable façade all that you want…” Nakazawa stood up ready to leave “But if I didn’t give up with Fujimoto I’m not going to give up with you.”

“And what has to do Miki in this?”

The question surprised both Yuko and Aya herself. For some weird reason, the simple mention of that name caught her attention. Yuko smirked. It wasn’t in her plans to talk about Fujimoto, but she didn’t see anything wrong about it as long as she could keep Aya interested. Maybe it would be a good way to approach her.

“You’re pretty similar, you know?” began to say the woman “Both stubborn to death and with the same need to feel loved by someone…”

“I’m not like her”

“That’s true, there’s a difference” answered Nakazawa laughing “You didn’t punch me yet”

Yuko stared at the younger a few seconds before continue to be sure that Aya wanted to hear the story. Seeing that she didn’t move from her seat, even if she seemed a bit pissed of so, Nakazawa spoke again.

“See those kids?” she said pointing at a group of children playing around the bonfire, throwing the remains of their dinner to each other “They’re here ‘cause someone took care of them, because someone wanted to give them a safe place where they could live and feel loved. Those kids, the same as you did, will grow up being watched by someone who’ll protect them ‘til death”

While hearing Yuko’s words, Aya saw Miki walking towards the kids and trying to stop the pitched battle that had began around the fire. The girl stayed there glaring and shouting to the hyperactive demons to be quiet but she just got to become the target of the attacks.

Matsuura couldn’t help but smile.

“She didn’t have anyone” continued Yuko, staring at Fujimoto with a motherly look in her eyes “We found her half dead five years ago. We carried her here, took care of the wounds and wait until she woke up to know what had happened to her. What we weren’t expecting was that she could hit me right before opening her eyes. With that, she stated that she wasn’t going to allow anyone to help her. Luckily, she was too weak to leave”

“But she recovered”

“Yeah, and faster than anyone was expecting. But there it was Rika-chan to make her stay”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Mysteries of this live. I didn’t asked, either”

“I don’t believe a single word of that story” said Aya “How could you don’t know anything about her and even so to want her to stay?”

“There are times when you don’t need words to know someone, Aya. But if you still don’t believe me, believe the smile in the faces of those kids. I know there’s a reason for Miki to take care of them and I just hope that, someday, someone will be able to find that answer”

The younger looked at Fujimoto who was trying to get rid of a bunch of kids climbing on her back. She really seemed different from the image that Aya had about her at first. Someone who, apparently, cared so much about the people around her couldn’t be so bad, right?

As if she hadn’t enough with her sister look alike…, now she had to deal with that annoying feeling of confusion about Miki.

Labels: Traveler