Some children were known for making childhood promises that would either be forgotten or inevitably come back to haunt them in later years.
In particular, promises of love and of marriage seemed to be the most dangerous. Girls who promised their hands to boys were without a doubt promising themselves years of longing and sadness.
Ruruka was happy to know that she not like the other little girls.
"When we get married, I'm gonna be the one to bake our cake. It's gonna be my masterpiece."
Ruruka already understood their marriage was something that was already determined, you see. She was already getting a head start on planning the wedding.
For his part, the boy in her lap had no complaints with the plan. So long as she was happy and he could lay in her lap and have the sweets she made for him, he was happy.
And for Ruruka? It really didn't take much more than the three of them — her, her husband-to-be, and her best friend — sitting on a bench together to make her happy.
Even then, still not even old enough to use the kitchen without pushing around stools of various heights, Ruruka knew that this was all she would ever need.
She knew that this promise would never haunt her. She knew that this important, precious wish was something she would never forget.
Ahhh, why was she so tiiireeeed every time she woke up...? Couldn't they wake her up all the way if they were going to keep pulling this? She hated falling asleep when Yoi-chan wasn't around too...
Of course, it couldn't be helped. It wasn't something she could control. This whole stupid mess was like that. At some point during her pursuit of that traitor, the timer had gone off and everyone in the building had been forced to go to sleep.
It didn't matter. Not to Ruruka. Her business, she was sure, wouldn't interfere with whatever madness everyone else was concerning themselves with. With all the chaos going on, there was no way that anyone that mattered would have been hurt.
... Not unless something had accidentally fallen into that girl's shadow while they were all out...
No, that wouldn't happen. No one would go to her when the real players in this fiasco weren't near her.
That left her all for Ruruka to deal with, didn't it?
Just like she wanted. This was her business. Hope and despair, hers was all here.
She wanted to deal with Seiko-chan the traitor personally after all~
Couldn't have gotten far now! All she had to do was step on her shadow, and it was game over!
Rounding a corner, she popped open her bag of treats. They were Yoi-chan's favorite, so she always made sure to have plenty on hand.
When she saw what lay in wait for her once she turned, however, the treats she poured her heart into were anywhere but in her hands.
Yoi-chan was sleeping as soundly as ever. It was one of her favorite positions and his.
It made for a good chance. Grinning mischievously, she peeked over at the girl next to her. She was reading something. She read a lot of stuff. She was really smart. Ruruka only ever read cook books, but the things her friend read were a lot more amazing. Ruruka couldn't understand a word of any of it!
"Seiko-chan, Seiko-chan, listen... I have to ask you something. It's important."
"W-What is it, R-Ruruka?"
She checked to make sure she hadn't disturbed the sleeping boy resting so peacefully on her thighs. It wasn't likely, and as expected, she hadn't. She couldn't help but stop to grin at him - they were gonna be together for-eeeeee-ver! - before she turned back to her friend to ask her super important question.
"When do you think you'll be able to eat sweets? How soon?"
Right away, she already could see the answer by the way Seiko-chan looked away from her. Her stomach sank. Was it really so bad? Really really...?
"That's..."
The girl's face fell. But... She couldn't lie about it... She couldn't do that to Ruruka.
"I... I don't know..."
"Awwww..."
Ruruka shook her head. It was much harder for her friend than it was for her. A life without sweets and all the other foods Seiko-chan couldn't eat was a life Ruruka couldn't even imagine living... She didn't have to make it harder on her. She wasn't in a hurry. Sitting like this with Seiko-chan was enough for now.
She was happy enough just to have Seiko's friendship, after all! Seiko-chan was amazing! Seiko could do so much! Even when all she could do was cook, it was like Seiko-chan could do anything... It was seriously amazing...
Ruruka just wished... Ruruka just hoped...
"Will it be someday? When we're grownups? Do you think... maybe then?"
"I..."
Her friend scrunched up really, really hard. Seiko-chan seemed to seriously think about it for a few moments. Ruruka knew she could trust whatever Seiko-chan was about to tell her. No matter what it was.
Her heart felt like it would burst into cupcakes made completely out of frosting when the other girl nodded.
"Y... Yes! I-I'm going to make a new medicine someday! F-For sure! So... So... So, um... So one day, when we're grown ups, I'll... I'll definitely be able... to eat it... Yeah..."
Ruruka beamed.
"Good... Good! Great!"
She didn't even care if her happiness woke up Yoi-chan. She was that happy!
"'Cause... When you do..."
She would finally be able to do it.
She would finally be able to show Seiko-chan the thing that she could do — and give her the tastes she hadn't been able to have all this time.
The Super High School Level Confectioner stared blankly at the wall. The thing on it. What was stuck to it.
How was she supposed to describe what she saw?
How was she supposed to react to this?
Serves you right! ... was that what it was supposed to be?
Oh, guess you weren't the attacker after all! ... was it that?
No, she couldn't manage any of these. Was she letting down the audience watching from the outside? She didn't care. She had already long since forgotten this was being broadcast anyway.
Unable to bring about any reaction, Ruruka found herself frozen in place. The confections she had made before everything had gone to hell, the ones she had been carrying around and had slowly been picking at, they rolled around on the wet ground, almost meeting a lone, wrapped piece of candy. But just not quite.
There was a body. Strung up. It was dead.
It? Dead? Body?
It was a she. She. That couldn't be an it. No, it was. It was an it. Dead body. Corpse. Dead dead dead. Never to live again.
Ruruka was accepting this too quickly. She understood this.
Yet much as she wanted to deny it, she had seen too much of this horrible world to bring about the ability to do so.
Instead, she laughed a short, hollow, gleeful, empty, hysteric laugh.
She had finally found her voice.
"You really did it this time... God, you love screwing things up for me, don't you?"
She glared at the woman on the wall.
"You goddamn TRAITOR!"
She screamed. She screamed as loud and hard as she could. The only response she earned was an echo of her own voice.
What a coward. Couldn't even give her a proper response, after all this time?
Only silence. Silence silence silence silence.
Not even sputters and stammers like when they were in school? Was this her newest way of betraying her leaving her betraying running away from her betraying her letting her down betraying her breaking her heart betraying her?
What a showoff. Always thinking of some new, smart ways to do things, while dumb stupid simple Ruruka who could only cook her sweets just kept on doing that. Was that her message?
"Typical... That's so typical of you."
She kicked at the ground with all her strength, splashing some water with the things she had dropped onto the body. She didn't care that this would make things harder for the detective later. Why didn't all of those people just kill themselves? Seriously.
Really...
She just...
She really didn't care about much of anything at all right now.
This treacherous woman just had to keep taking things from her, didn't she?
And now she wouldn't even speak up and own up to it?!
"You... You're such a bitch! You hear me, Seiko-chan?!"
She couldn't help but swear now. Her voice was cracking, and the only person she trusted enough to ask for ways to treat it had gone and gotten herself killed. Can you believe it? How selfish!
How absolutely... selfish.
And... And while she was on the subject, who was going to give her something to help her catch her breath...?!
Who the hell was going to do that now, huh?!
Who the hell would see her soaked in this filthy, bloody water and tell her she needed to clean up and give her something to take just in case?!
Who?! Who?!
Who could possibly ever...
Who else could but...
"Hey... Hey..."
She glared at it-her. She must have gotten some of the water on her face. That was why... That was why, right?
She couldn't be crying for a traitor.
"Hey..."
But she was.
She sunk to her knees. Water splashed around her, soaking into her clothes, into her skin, but she didn't really feel it. What she was feeling was swallowing her from within. No amount of water outside could compare to the ocean drowning her within.
"You... You know..."
She couldn't stop.
"Didn't you get it...? Didn't you... Didn't you understand...?! I thought you were smart! Why were you so stupid?!"
Her voice was shaking. Salty tears ran down her cheeks without any sign of stopping, tainting her lips with a flavor that seemed so foreign to a mouth that only ever filled itself with sweetness.
"Why did you take this from me too?! Why... Why can't you stop betraying me like this, huh?!"
Ruruka could still see it in her mind's eye.
It was her wedding day. The three of them were there. A stranger might have wondered if three people had been wed rather than two.
"I can't do it if you aren't there...!"
Her husband's face was smeared with frosting. He would be pigging out, in the slow mannered, good natured way he tended to pig out that made people wonder how he wasn't three times his size.
Her best friend's face would be cleaner. Unable to keep back from smiling wide at how good it tasted, after having gone so long without having had something so yummy, she'd be trying not to make a mess and only just barely succeeding.
"You have to try it...!"
And she would be in the middle of them, her own face stained with frosting and happy tears. The two people she loved more than anything eating her greatest, sweetest, most delicious, yummiest sweet ever.
It was going to be the happiest day of her life.
"You have to... be there... to have that... Just that..."
That's why she was crying so hard.
That's why she was sobbing hysterically, screaming, begging, denying, pounding, pleading into her best friend's chest without restraint, with no one stopping her and no end in sight.
"Even if you don't ever have anything else I ever make..."
This was a happy occasion after all. Those screams of hers, they're squeals of joy. Whoever would stop a happy bride on her happy day from embracing her best friend as she was?
Just look at how hard she's hugging her good friend. They really are inseparable.
She was happy, you know? So happy you'd get diabetes just watching, that's how happy she was.
"I can't marry him if you're not there next to me enjoying the wedding cake I made with us... I can't do it, Seiko-chan... I can't... I can't, I can't...!"
These were happy tears. That's all they are.
Can't you see? Just look at how happy she is!
"I can't... I can't do it without you..."
Because this is the happiest day of her life.
The day she's waited for and dreamed about all her life.
"So please... please, Seiko-chan...!"
but
no matter how much regret
no matter how many tears
no matter
how much
DESPAIR
"...please...you don't even have to eat anything..."
the day that would
never
ever
ever
be more than
"...just don't leave me...please!"
just
a
dream
"...please..."