Rika beamed, as she had finally managed to convince Satoko to carve their names inside a heart onto one of the trees in the forest behind their house with her.
"Mii, no one will see it if we go deep into the woods. You can set some traps around it as well. And since almost nobody knows this forest anywhere near as well as us, it's highly likely that no one will ever find it! It'll be an extra special thing just for the two of us to know about."
"Alright, alright. I-it does sound pretty nice, I suppose..."
"And with how incredible your traps are I bet no one else will ever get to lay eyes on it for hundreds of years!"
"Oh...ohohoho! Don't you know that flattery gets you nowhere, Rika...!" Satoko tried to laugh the compliments off, but it didn't sound all that convincing.
After they finished carving into a nice tree together, Satoko asked Rika if she would like to climb it. Satoko fondly recalled how she had been the one to teach Rika how to climb trees in the first place, when they were a bit younger, but they hadn't climbed trees together in a long time (many decades for Rika, but Satoko didn't know that). Satoko didn't even set traps up in trees that often anymore. Most of the traps the Yamainu fell for in their big battle were old ones.
Rika agreed with eagerness, but it still took her quite a bit longer than Satoko to get up on the highest branch. It was only then that... Rika realized that she might actually have a fear of heights. Or maybe it wasn't even a fear of that, exactly. Sure, when they were even younger, danger didn't really have a meaning to them. So now that they're older, they realize a bit more how potentially stupid some actions can be.
But that's still not it... Danger was something entirely different for Rika than normal people, considering all she had gone through. And she couldn't count on repeats anymore. If she fell from this tree right now by accident...she would likely get very hurt. No, it would probably be worse than that. She imagined herself falling, her neck snapping like a twig against the ground, so simple, ruining all of their efforts in this world in a second, making those decades of suffering meaningless-
"Rika?" Satoko's voice came in like a savior to snap her out of those awful thoughts.
Rika's throat still felt like it was filled with cotton, however, to the brim of bursting. She couldn't muster a decent reply, try as she might. Satoko didn't mind that, though. She could already tell something about Rika's mood changed drastically, she even noticed her friend shiver some.
Satoko held her hand and smiled reassuringly at her. "Would you like to head home?"
Rika managed to shake her head. "M...mii, the fun has barely started, though."
"You don't need to force yourself to do things you don't like, Rika, you know?"
Rika appreciated her friend's sweet words, but she couldn't keep her face straight anymore: Satoko's slightly scolding voice mixed with that out of place pout, it was too cute. Satoko wasn't too enthusiastic about Rika giggling at her, sighing slightly, but...the color was coming back to Rika's face finally, so that mattered most to her. She felt a squeeze on her hand.
"I do want to stay a little more, truly. Just a little more."
"...Alright then." Satoko smiled, looking up. "It's a pretty sky today, huh?"
Rika followed her gaze, her eyes softening. "Yeah...it's so bright. It makes me feel energized." Rika kicked her feet a bit. "Hey, Satoko...you'll help me get down okay, right?"
"Of course...I won't let you get hurt on my watch!" Satoko sounded alright and cheery at first, but then she seemed to take a dark turn. "...I won't let anything...like that truck happen again...if anything, that helped me realize just how precious every moment is...and how dangerous any little thing can be."
"S-Satoko..." Rika felt guilt surge through her.
"H-hey, that wasn't your fault at all...that was all on me...I was being stupid and careless. You even tried to tell me back then, but I treated it like you were joking. As if you would make a joke about something like that. Looking back, I don't know how I could ever have disregarded your tone." Rika clenched her fist slightly.
Satoko's terrifying screaming of her name was the last thing she had heard. It was her fault that those horrific sounds came out of Satoko. Even if the damage to her body wasn't anything as bad as what Hanyuu had lied about at first...it might as well been. She couldn't imagine what Satoko did see, and how she felt. How everyone felt.
"Rika..."
"Besides, like I said in the hospital room. I won't get into traffic accidents anymore. Nipah~!" ...Rika's tone fell flat.
She looked down, her expression becoming more serious. "I've truly decided to no longer treat my life so frivolously. I realized I need to live to fullest. I thought I had learned that already, but I turned out to be deeply wrong, and had to go through something so unfortunate first. And it's not like it only affected me anymore..." Rika closed her eyes tightly.
I...I have to stop with being...Bernkastel...
"But I have to wonder sometimes, maybe I still haven't learned..." Rika laughed.
"Then...I'll help teach you!" Satoko seemed back to her normal self. "Everyone else and I will help teach you. I've also considered that you have an issue with treasuring yourself, you know?"
Rika stared dumbfounded. She seemed to recall Satoko saying something similar in the last world, too.
"And you know, it's not like it's shameful or anything to have others help you learn, sometimes. You don't have to suffer alone. You don't have to teach everything to yourself constantly." Satoko crossed her arms. "Or have you just become cocky, with all your great marks in school~?"
Rika smiled wryly. "That reminds me, didn't you get a C- on the last math test?"
Satoko's face turned slightly pink. "You need to learn how to bite your tongue, too!"
"Err...actually, you know, I've started getting B's myself...does that make you feel better?" It was true. Rika had relied too much on memorizing lessons, and repeating the same things over and over. She didn't spend much time furthering her education on her own, as much time as she had...
"Quite." Satoko replied sarcastically. "Oh, please let me take your problems off of your shoulders and onto my own, Rika, it would be my pleasure."
"C's aren't that bad of a grade, either..."
"I wonder..."
"It's better than the D's and F's you used to get~" Rika pointed out.
"Ugh. Please don't remind me."
"It's cute how sometimes you cheated and looked over at my sheets, too."
"R~ika~!"
"I'm not judging. Everyone does much worse things in club activities, after all."
"I'll jump right off, you know!?"
Rika suddenly took Satoko's hands again. "Thank you."
"...For what is this for exactly?"
"For comforting me. And saying you'll help teach me. And your usual good advice."
"...I don't think I ever say anything particularly special."
"No, you do." Rika shook her head. "At least, you always remind me of things that should be so easy and simple...but I always forget."
"Well, I'll always be there to keep jogging your memory, then. Perhaps next time I should use a bucket?"
Rika giggled. "Whatever you like."
Then, Rika had an amazing idea. She giggled some more, then she kissed Satoko's cheek.
"W-wha...! W-what was that all of a s-sudden, Rika?"
"Rika and Satoko sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g~" Rika sang.
Satoko buried her burning face into her hands, not knowing how to respond to that.
"I told you, it's okay!"
"...Are you sure?"
Satoko was trying to coach Rika out of the tree. She was a little exasperated at how long it was taking, but she supposed she signed up for this. Plus...
Rika really was like a cat. A poor, proud cat stuck up in a tree, not knowing how to get down. Did not think it through when she went up there. Satoko strictly told herself in her mind not to laugh, hence she risk being scorned by Rika forever. Or scratched at. Or both. Plus, it was actually mainly her own fault this poor kitty was stuck in the first place.
"Here, Ki...R-R-Rika!" Satoko caught herself, trying her best to play it off. Even so, the phrase was so familiar...
Thankfully, Rika didn't seem to notice. She seemed too preoccupied trying not to tear up.
"Satokoooo..." She whined.
...Satoko felt rather sinful for somewhat enjoying this.
"You're almost there... You can jump the rest of the way, if you want." Satoko opened her arms. "I'll catch you!"
Rika was about to tell her to stop joking, but when she looked back and saw Satoko...
Thump.
"Rikaaa? Will you or not?"
...Well. She supposed she had a good 112 year lifespan. She closed her eyes and jumped.
...The next thing she felt was a warm embrace. She couldn't feel her feet on the ground, though. She snapped her eyes open and looked around. Satoko was holding her up off the ground even, Rika's chin slightly above her head.
"...It wasn't that much left, you know?"
Rika flushed. "...I know that."
She put more of her weight down again, prompting Satoko to also lower her so he feet touched earth once more. Rika slightly stepped back, brushing off her sundress, patting her behind, then coughing into her fist.
"It's also not very smart to close your eyes like that."
"...I'll keep that in mind."
Satoko sighed and smiled, removing her hands from her hips and spun around to head home. She didn't make it too far before feeling a tug at her hand. Or maybe less of a tug, and more like an anchor holding her in place.
"...Hm?"
"Mii...can we walk back like this?"
"Still shaken~?"
"...Not really... It's just... Satoko has to protect me. Yes, that's it."
"...Eh?"
"You have to protect me always. That's your job. You promised."
"U-um...well, I don't think that's quite what I said, you know...not...that I'm necessarily a-against that- "
"Then," Rika softly began, "You did say you wouldn't let me get hurt on your watch, at least. So that's why, I must stick very close to Satoko. If a bear comes "roar roar" suddenly, or such, Satoko will defend me!"
"Just who do you take me for exactly?" Satoko exclaimed.
But...she knew there weren't any bears or anything in this mountain, anyway. Plus, you're actually not supposed to aggravate nor run fast from them, you know?
"Alright, you'd better not tail behind even a little, then!"
Rika smiled and nodded slightly, moving closer. Satoko blushed slightly as Rika pressed her forehead on her shoulder.
"Not that close, Rika." Satoko joked. Not that she really minded that much in actuality...
"I know... Just until you start moving."
And after about minute, Satoko did.
A/N: Oh boy, the original version of this was only about 20 sentences. I was supposed to only rewrite a few sentences and spellcheck but then I wanted to expand upon the line about Rika's "fear of heights" and well... I just kept adding and adding and thinking of weird things. I like it a lot though. Writing about some Saikoroshi wounds and issues was interesting, too.
And maybe Rika jumping with her eyes closed was kinda dumb, and kinda went against the whole "be smarter and safer!" themes but...whatever. I mainly just randomly thought of ~Princely Satoko~ type stuff and was like oh heck yeah, I need this right now somehow. Must write Rika jumping into Satoko's arms for some reason. Must write the cutest, sappiest SatoRika shit possible mantra in my mind always. Anyway, since I made this so immensely longer and different from the original, I'm also posting it as it's own story and not in Collection. (This makes a bit more sense if you read the A/N for Collection Chapter 4. Yep, I'm lazy).
The "Satoko taught Rika how to climb trees" part is actually a tidbit I took from the actual Saikoroshi VN, too. What else... I noticed how much I used "you know?" for some reason, and it became like Satoko's catchphrase as well. It was just me trying to make Satoko sound more mature and convey her very polite type speech she has some more. Alright, think that's it. Enjoy!