Ever since the third-years joined Aqours and AZALEA was formed, Hanamaru was taken into the care of two beautiful and confident girls. Both Dia and Kanan looked out for their fellow first-year, and soon enough Kanan confessed, and Hanamaru gladly accepted. But this bond had its own price, and nobody, not even third-years or Chika, saw it coming.
Kanan was unwilling to let Hanamaru escape her sight.
She eavesdropped or participated in every conversation the other girls in Aqours had with Hanamaru, and spent a lot of time at Kunikida family temple, meaning almost all of Hanamaru's free time was spent in her girlfriend's company. Yoshiko didn't quite like it, so she talked to Kanan about it. After one-on-one conversation, however, the fallen angel seemed to avoid striking conversations with Hanamaru. As much as it was weird, the small temple girl knew Kanan wouldn't do anything to one of her girlfriend's best friends. She was quite happy being in Kanan's care. She loved it, and she loved Kanan.
Sharing a bed with Kanan revealed another surprise: the strong no-nonsense girl seemed scared to hurt Hanamaru. She was, however, perfectly content in allowing the quiet temple girl let loose, but Hanamaru didn't really enjoy ending up with only Kanan sporting hickeys and an occasional love bite or two.
One quiet June Sunday was proving to be quite boring, and Hanamaru found herself wishing Kanan was around for her. Suddenly, her grandmother called her from the hallway, announcing she has a friend over. The friend in question turned out to be Dia, which surprised Hanamaru.
"Dia-san? What brings you here?"
"Hello, Hanamaru-san. You see, I'm looking for one particular book, and I need it urgently, so I decided to pay you a visit, if you don't mind," Dia said.
"Oh, of course, Maru's glad to help, zura."
Looking through the huge stacked bookshelf in Hanamaru's room, Dia bit her lips, deep in thought. "Okay, I've made it this far, she bought my excuse. What now?"
"Do you need any help, zura?" Hanamaru asked, concerned of Dia's aimless exploration of book covers.
"No, I found it," Dia replied, pulling the first book she laid her eyes on. "I'm going to make notes on this, is it okay if I do it here?"
"Of course, zura!" Hanamaru exclaimed happily.
Dia was taking notes from random sentences, not really interested in the book. She did pull a random one after all. So what was the point in taking notes in a book you aren't even interested in? She set her pencil down.
"Dia-san, is something wrong?" Hanamaru inquired.
"No… Yes. You see, I didn't come here for the book or anything like that it, was just a silly excuse and I actually came here because I…"
"You're rambling so bad, zura," Hanamaru said, preoccupied with Dia's behavior.
"I like you, Hanamaru," Dia said. The little first year smiled.
"I like you too, Dia-san."
"I… think you misunderstood. I like you… more than friend." Hanamaru kept quiet, looking at Dia, her mouth hanging open of surprise. "I… I…" Dia stood up and started walking briskly towards the exit.
"Wait," Hanamaru said, standing up. Dia turned to face the girl. Hanamaru approached the student council president, then stood up on her toes and planted a chaste kiss on Dia's lips.
"Hana… Maru… San." Dia muttered. She inched closer to the temple girl's face, giving her time to resist. Hanamaru, however, closed her eyes and parted her lips, standing up at her toes again. Dia kissed the smaller girl's upper lip, when, suddenly, Hanamaru uttered: "More."
Dia kissed the small girl again with more intimacy, when Hanamaru's tongue probed into the raven-haired girl's mouth, roaming around, brushing carefully against Dia's own.
Hanamaru's arms locked behind Dia's back as the small temple girl backtracked to her bed. Sitting down on it, she bravely put her hand on Dia's butt, eliciting a surprised gasp from the raven-haired girl.
"Hanamaru-san…"
"Oh my God," Hanamaru said, realizing the situation. "Oh God I'm so sorry, Dia-san, Maru got carried away, zura."
"Hanamaru… are things between you and Kanan-san… working out well?"
"What do you mean, zura?" Hanamaru tilted her head in surprise.
"Well, I don't think you would kiss me like that if everything was okay," Dia smiled softly. The smaller first-year looked away.
"It's as if she's scared to lose me, be it anyone approaching me or her pushing me away, zura. It's somewhat off-putting, it feels like she's afraid to even touch Maru sometimes. Maru's getting tired of always being in control, but Maru doesn't want to make Kanan-chan uncomfortable."
Dia blushed at such sudden revelations. She obviously knew of their sexual relationships, if hickeys adorning Kanan's neck are anything to go by, but to think that a girl like Kanan would give control over herself to another person?
"I want her to turn tables. I want her to dominate. But she doesn't even want to hear it. She's too scared of going too far." Hanamaru then turned to face Dia, a sudden light in her eyes. "It doesn't have to be Kanan-chan, though," she said, pulling her shirt off, much to Dia's surprise.
"Hanamaru-san, what are you…" Dia didn't get to finish her sentence as the smaller girl peeled her bra off, turning the stoic student council president's attention to her breasts. She didn't say anything as she swoop Dia in a tight hug, kissing her deeply.
"No hickeys, no bites, nothing to give it away, she won't know if you don't talk," Hanamaru whispered into Dia's ear. The raven-haired third-year merely nodded before kissing Hanamaru again.
An hour later the only thing that indicated the quiet yet all-consuming flame of lust that happened between the two girls was a slight blush on their cheeks. Hanamaru saw Dia off and both girls walked to the front gate of Kunikida family temple without uttering a single word.
"What if Kanan-san finds out?" Dia asked.
"I told you, the only way she finds out is if you talk. You just found out yourself that Maru can be quiet, didn't you?" Hanamaru smirked at her comment.
"Well then…"
"Dia? What are you doing here?"
Both Dia and Hanamaru felt their hearts skip a bit. As if on cue, Kanan was walking towards the temple, surprised to see her best friend here.
"Hello, Kanan-san. You see, I needed to work with a certain book so i figured Hanamaru-san might have it."
"Did she?" Kanan asked, looking at Dia's purse.
"Yes, as expected of the most prominent book-lover of Aqours. Well, I'll be going then. See you tomorrow." Dia barely kept up her facade without breaking a nervous sweat as she walked past Kanan.
"Be seeing you," Kanan said, then stepped forward and hugged Hanamaru.
"Is there something I should be aware of?" Kanan asked coyly as the two girls entered Hanamaru's room and she sat on her bed.
"I don't think so. She did in fact come for the book, there wasn't any sort of ulterior motive." The look on Kanan face was enough for Hanamaru to understand: Kanan wasn't buying it.
"Can you swear it?" Kanan asked, looking her girlfriend dead in the eye.
"Zura?" Kanan stood up and closed the distance between herself and Hanamaru.
"Swear to me that nothing happened between you and Dia before I came in."
"I swear," Hanamaru said after a very short pause. This tiny pause, however, was enough for Kanan.
"Okay," the ponytail girl said. "I gotta use the bathroom real quick."
Entering the bathroom, Kanan turned the faucet, then looked at her face in the mirror. "Disappointment" seemed like the only emotion plastered on it. Hanamaru lied to her. It hurt. It hurt even more than the fact that she had sex with another girl. Hanamaru tried to hide it, and by some divine (or infernal) intervention Kanan was able to read her. "Okay, Dia, if you want war, you'll get war," she whispered to herself.
Now that the mood was completely ruined, Kanan didn't feel like staying at Hanamaru's for long. She thought it was over. She thought there were no such feelings as before. Their hug, however, was still as warm as ever, and Hanamaru's lips were still ready for Kanan's loving kisses. But it all felt different for Kanan. It's like her happiness was taken from her all over again.
Coming home from Hanamaru's place, Kanan texted Ruby to help her out with "a little something." She opened her drawer, running her hand against two pill bottles. One contained a sedative, another is supposed to bolster sexual arousal. Kanan grinned at the images of Ruby, helpless, aroused, completely at her mercy.
"Kanan-chan? Where are you?" Ruby called out, entering the shop.
"Come on in, I'm in my room," Kanan replied. When Ruby entered and sat on Kanan's bed, the ponytailed girl walked to the door and locked it, which scared the meek redhead.
"Kanan-chan, what's go…"
"Shut up," Kanan barked authoritatively. Ruby yelped and closed her mouth with both her hands. "Your sister took the most important thing in my life from me. So in turn I'm going to make her suffer." She then slowly turned to look into Ruby's eyes, her gaze cold and focused. "I'm going to do whatever I want to you. And if you say something to anyone, well…" A sudden gleam of switchblade's sharp metal caught Ruby's attention. "I can't guarantee Dia's safety. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your sister, now would you?"
Kanan approached terrified Ruby, then pulled something from her shorts pocket. "Open your mouth," she said, and Ruby complied, her lower jaw shaking slightly from terror. Kanan put two pills on the smaller girl's tongue, then forcefully closed her mouth and pinched her nose, cutting off Ruby's air supply. "Now swallow," she ordered. As soon as Ruby swallowed the pills, Kanan snaked two fingers into the smaller girl's mouth, running them under her tongue, making sure she did swallow the pills.
As Kanan's fingers explored Ruby's mouth, the redhead felt heat in her nethers. Concentrating on this feeling, however, proved to be difficult, as her mind struggled to keep up with what's going on. "The meds will keep you just on the verge of sleeping and being awake, so feel free to take anything you see and feel as a dream." Ruby barely registered a light cool breeze on her inner thighs and loins as well as slight pressure forcing her legs apart. "Let me know if you actually fall asleep," Kanan's voice called out from somewhere on the edge of Ruby's mind drifting away. "Oh wait, you won't," the voice added as Ruby's mind slipped away.
The senses return started from the very edges of Ruby's eyesight. Slowly but surely, the two sides of a picture expanded, finally meeting in the middle to show her a slightly blurred image of a ceiling lamp. Trying to move, however, resulted in a severe soreness and dull pain in her shoulders and inner thighs. She then realized she's completely naked and lying on her back with her legs spread wide apart. The otherwise barely noticeable pain in her nethers now spoke volumes. Ruby closed her eyes as tear were rolling down on both sides of her face.
"Close your legs and get dressed," Kanan barked at her. Standing up on her shaky legs, Ruby awkwardly put her clothes back on when suddenly Kanan grabbed her from behind and pressed her pocket knife's blade to Ruby's neck.
"You need to remember that you're doing this to protect Dia and Hanamaru. If they know…" Kanan traced Ruby's vulnerable neck with the tip of her knife, then whispered menacingly: "Make sure they don't know."
Back home, Dia had absolutely no questions about Ruby's visit to Kanan, which surprised the younger Kurosawa. In her room, she checked her body after waking up, and tears bubbled up in her eyes. Hickies were all over her shoulders, and Kanan dug her teeth pretty deep into her right one, leaving prominent bite marks with dried up blood behind. Three blue-ish bruises on her inner thighs served as icing on the cake of Ruby's drugged-out sex. Taking a few deep breaths, Ruby calmed herself. She has to be strong for Dia and Hanamaru. She has to protect them from Kanan.
The next day, when Dia asked Kanan about Ruby's visit, the ponytailed girl fed her a hastily-thrown lie about helping her check diving equipment. But when Dia asked why she needed Ruby's aid instead of asking Hanamaru, Kanan struggled with coming up with a response.
"Just tell the truth about asking Ruby-chan out for a date," Mari said jokingly. Dia merely smiled at it.
"Kanan-san has Hanamaru-san, so I think she asked Ruby to hang out together and she's just nervous about what Hanamaru-san will say. Right?" Dia turned to face Kanan.
"Yeah. You're right," Kanan nodded, mentally thanking Mari for unknowingly bailing her out.
"Well, Ruby-chan is Hanamaru-chan's best friend, so I'm sure everything is going to be a-okay," Mari reassured Kanan.
Over the course of practice Ruby was nervous. She snuck glances at Kanan she thought nobody saw, but Dia did notice it. She didn't say a word about it, however. Kanan, on the other hand, was certain her threats worked. Hanamaru and especially Dia didn't pin her to the wall over what happened, which means Ruby didn't talk.
"Is there something going on between you and Ruby-chan?" Hanamaru asked when she and Kanan walked from school together.
"What do you mean?" Kanan inquired, a seed of doubt now planted in her mind.
"Well, she said she came to your place to help you out in the shop yesterday, but Maru has a hard time believing it. I know her for over three years, zura."
"Well… I didn't mean to hide it from you, but we're hanging out. It's not an affair or anything, so you don't have to worry about it." Kanan was certain her lie was obvious. She was certain anyone who'd spend as much time with her as Hanamaru would pick up on her lie. But Hanamaru just smiled.
"Maru hopes you two are having fun, then."
Coming home, Kanan called Ruby over again. This time, she fed Ruby only half as much sedative as last time, but the dosage of pill that bolstered Ruby's arousal was kept unchanged. As a result, Ruby was fully conscious and aware of all the things Kanan did to her body, but couldn't do anything about it.
Hickeys and bites covered more of Ruby's body over the course of the week, and Kanan even stopped giving Ruby any pills. She reveled in Ruby's cries of mixed pain and pleasure, in the small girl's yelps as she spanked her and roughly tugged on her hair, in the way Ruby's eyes were always watery and her tears rolled down her otherwise blissed out face. She could tell Ruby's body was enjoying it, even though the small delicate redhead was an utter mess of hickeys, bites and bruises, but they could be covered by her uniform, her practice outfit, or her nightgown.
But while Ruby's body was a mess, Kanan mind became a mess. Before this week, her thoughts on the future were herself and Hanamaru, living happily ever after. But, with every "session" with Ruby the meek redhead appeared more and more frequently. Images of happy future with Hanamaru were slowly but surely replaced by images of hedonistic pleasures with Ruby. Thursday night's sleep were a breaking point for Kanan. There, in an idyllic happily ever after, was no Hanamaru. There was Ruby.
Kanan woke up. Her mind was racing. Surely it was just her lust taking the best of her. She loved Hanamaru, even though she could see her lies distance them. There is absolutely no way she loved Ruby. But the more she told it to herself, the more it seemed like she was trying to convince herself of it. Over the course of those five days, Kanan fell for Ruby.
The athletic brunette barely forced herself to take her morning run. The thoughts of even letting anyone figure it out through her body language kept her awake through the night and, along with lack of sleep, were killing her. She let out a huge yawn going to school.
"Trouble sleeping?" Dia asked, catching up to her.
"Had a bad dream. Couldn't fall asleep again."
"I know what you mean. Ruby barely sleeps this week at all. Weird." Kanan's heart sunk. It wasn't that hard to make a connection. She realized Ruby was hurting more than she let out.
After a pretty uneventful day and cowardly (as Kanan herself put it) running off from spending time with Hanamaru, Kanan called for Ruby once again. When the redhead arrived, Kanan ordered her to strip naked, then examined her body. She noticed Ruby was covering her left wrist, and when the brunette pulled Ruby's hand off, she saw several cuts on her wrists.
"What is this?" Kanan asked, her voice dripping with anger. "Are you cutting yourself? Are you trying to get exposed? Are you challenging me? You think I won't hurt Dia? Trust me, if she comes here looking for war, I will kill he-"
"SHUT UP!" Ruby yelled, looking at her toes, shaking. Kanan then took her chin and lifted it to look into the redhead's eyes to see that Ruby wasn't in fact shaking with anger. She could barely hold out not to cry in front of Kanan. "Please…" the redhead pleaded, her teary emerald orbs gazing deep into Kanan's amethysts. "Don't touch them. Kill Ruby instead." Tears were rolling down Ruby's cheeks. Kanan let her go, and the small girl immediately cupped her face, crying loudly. It was then when Kanan's resolve shattered.
"Ruby," she called out gently, patting Ruby's head. "Put your clothes on, go home and talk to Dia about everything that happened here over these past few days."
Ruby looked at Kanan, alarmed. "But Onee-chan… She will…"
"It's okay, Ruby. Everything's going to be okay."
"Ruby doesn't understand." She did, however, put her clothes back on and left the room, casting one last worried look at Kanan. The brunette offered her a calm melancholic smile in return.
"I'll fucking kill her!" Dia yelled when Ruby disclosed the nature of her visits to Kanan's diving shop. She dialed Kanan's number, red with fury.
"Listen here, bitch, how fucking dare you…"
"Oh… hey… Dia…" Kanan's voice on the other side of the line was weak and interrupted with heavy panting. "It's great that…" Kanan gulped audibly. "You called…"
"Kanan, I expect you to explain yourself before i rip your fucking head off."
"You know… I barely have the strength… To talk… It's so scary to go like this…"
"Kanan?" Dia's face adopted a concerned expression, and Ruby stood up from the couch.
"Please… Save me… Ruby…"
"We're on our way! Hang in there!" Dia shouted into the microphone, then hung up and took Ruby's hand before running out of their home.
When they arrived at Matsuura diving shop, their lungs were burning and their legs were giving in. The door chime rang proud, announcing guests' arrival, but nobody came to greet them. "Kanan?" Dia called out, going further into the shop. She pulled the phone out and dialed a number. The two sisters then heard a phone ringing from within the building. Ruby ran to the sound, and a few second later the whole building was shaken by her terrified screech.
Dia rushed to Ruby, who was standing in front of an open bathroom, her hands cupping her mouth. The raven-haired sister looked inside to see what scared Ruby so much.
It was Kanan, sitting on the toilet seat, her head reclining against the wall, staring into nothing. Dia pulled her gaze downwards and saw Kanan's left arm, two deep cuts going from her forearm to her elbow. And the blood, oh gods above, so much blood. Her left arm, her shorts, both her legs were painted red with her blood, a huge puddle pooled up on the floor. With shaking hands, Dia pulled her phone and dialed a short number, her lower lip quivering.
"Hello, there's a dead body at Matsuura diving shop. Suicide."
The police didn't waste much time questioning the two girls while the medics rolled Kanan's body covered in white sheet into the ambulance. It was a suicide, after all. Dia decided to let out the details on what led to it, much to Ruby's gratitude.
Coming home, Ruby seemed to be still in shock after seeing Kanan like that. She spent entire evening in her room crying into her pillow. Dia was surprised by such behavior. She thought Ruby would hate Kanan after going through so much pain and abuse. But here Ruby was, face down in pillow, crying for her departed friend.
Ruby didn't come for supper, but she reluctantly agreed to take a bath. Lying in a bathtub, she recalled Kanan's last words. "Everything's going to be okay." Did she think her death would make it right? Would anyone's death make it right for others?
In that moment, Ruby hated herself for being the catalyst of Kanan's demise. She stood up and looked at the various bathroom stuff scattered on the sink. Her sight stopped on dad's razor. Without thinking, she grabbed it and took the razorblade out. When she pulled it to her forearm, she wondered if she was ready to die for Kanan. After all, Kanan herself died for Ruby.
With a sigh of determination, she sunk the blade into her arm, then yanked in up. The familiar feeling of cold metal giving way for hot air tickling violently on her nerves was almost too overpowering, the sheer amount of blood gushing from the sliced open vessels into the clear water was somewhat… mesmerizing. Ruby looked at her arm, a deep wide cut going from her wrist to her elbow. She wanted to scream, her self-preservation and regret kicked in, but her strength was leaving her body alarmingly fast. Her head grew light while her eyelids grew heavy. She didn't notice how her gentle fingers let go of the deadly piece of sharp metal, or how her head was now submerged into the water dyed pink from her own blood. As blood rushed out of her body and water filled her lungs, she gave in to the comforting darkness.
"Ruby? Is everything okay?" Dia knocked at the door some 10 minutes later. "I understand if you want to be alone to think, but I need to bathe as well." The lack of response put Dia on her toes. Such silence didn't end well last time. "Ruby? I'm going in." She opened the door and looked at the tub.
"Oh my God! Ruby, no!" Dia rushed in, jumping into the water, painting her blue dress black from all the blood inside. She picked Ruby up and tried to perform a mouth-to-mouth, but then her gaze dropped at Ruby's forearm. "No, not you too. Don't do this to me." Crying, she pulled Ruby's body close, pressing her wet head to her breast, wrapping her arms around Ruby. She screamed aloud, but there was nobody there to hear her cries. Dia's heart was breaking over and over as she kissed Ruby's face, trying to imprint the feeling of feeling of her sister's tender skin into her memory.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't do more for you. But fear not. I will live on for you. I will live on for us. I love you, Ruby."