Chapter 2
"Mio..."
"Yeah?"
"I think I saw someone who really looks like you at school."
"Really? ? Who?"
"A pretty guitarist, her name is Nakano. She's the darling of the school newspaper."
"Ohh... you must also think she's prettier than me."
"Nah, how is that possible?"
"Why isn't it?"
"Even if you had a twin, I would always fall for you."
When Mio decided to move to a university in a neighboring town, her best friend Yui asked her, "Why do you want to move there, Mio-chan?"
The answer was simple, because Ayame's ashes were buried there.
This was her hometown.
And since Ayame had nobody that would take care of her grave, Mio made it as her responsibility.
Ayame was all alone in the world, and yet she still took care of Mio.
This was the only way she could repay her now.
"...Hey, Ayame."
The Yoshida family grave was not really far from the university dorm, although she did have to walk for fifteen minutes or so to reach it. There was actually a way to make the route shorter by cutting through a park, but she didn't mind dawdling, her thoughts were overflowed with happy memories they spent together when she was alive, and for her, it was a good reminiscence before she properly burnt some incense for her.
"You know, I thought you were insane when you spent your parents' inheritance to buy a funeral plot."
'...But then again, I should've caught why you did it at that time,' Mio thought sadly.
Ayame Yoshida was only four when she escaped death in the form of a nearly fatal disease of an unknown origin. She was suddenly found on the floor in a dead faint and was quickly rushed to the hospital, where she regained consciousness but unable to get up from bed for several weeks.
During those painful times, Mio could only hold her hand from the bedside and tell her what happened at the school that day, or how she fooled the school bullies and made a dash for it, or simply told her how much she wanted to play with her again.
The doctor told Ayame's mother that her days were numbered, and even Ayame herself thought it was curtains for her, but they were wrong.
Ayame managed to survive.
The experience somehow became her road to Damascus as she damned the consequences and decided to chase her dream in music she used to dabble in. Her mom almost cut her out of her will because of that, but she didn't feel daunted at all.
The disease never showed itself again for sixteen years and Ayame was in her way to become a professional drummer. In fact, her band was about to cut their first disc when Death tried to steal her life again.
This time, Death succeeded.
In a flash, it brought down the curtains on her distinguished career as a musician, and also, the only joy left in the life of her dearest person...
"I dare say..." Mio said, "...that you wanted the monument to be daubed with yellow or orange paint just to add a dash of color to it."
'But you didn't get to do it...'
It all happened very quickly, didn't it...
She didn't even have a chance to hear her voice for the last time…
"...Talking to yourself is creepy, you know."
As soon as Mio heard that voice coming from behind, she thought, 'Dang it.'
She went out to visit the grave this early in the morning because she thought nobody would ever follow her before dawn broke.
"You were following me, weren't you? Such a stalker you are," she replied without looking back.
"I come to talk since you didn't speak to me at all yesterday, from dawn till dusk."
Obviously that meant she wouldn't want to talk to her today either.
"...What do you have to say now after you see this? 'You're such a kid for doing such a cushy job instead of moving on and enjoying life like me'?" Mio asked angrily.
"You do know I was damned if I knew she has passed away two days ago when I said all those things to you."
It was true that Ayame didn't clearly mention her death at all in her letter.
"I won't apologize for what I said about her."
Mio wanted her to just get lost already. "I've know damn well that you really are a jer-"
"But I want to apologize for making you cry."
It was either the gentle wind that happened to blow against her face, or those words that somehow calmed the rage in Mio's heart. She chose the former.
"And doing a 'cushy' job like this," Ritsu said as she crouched beside her, "...is not a bad thing, either."
"What do you mean by that?" Mio asked, watching Ritsu touch the letters engraved on the monument.
"Dead people can't come back, but what's left from them can be kept, right?" she said again, "Keeping memories alive is as good as making them."
So she was capable in giving advices too.
Not that it impressed Mio.
"...You don't have to tell me that. Even kids know it."
Ritsu pouted at her response. "Oh, I'm sorry, because you really look like a big fat infant."
"Who are you calling fat? ?"
If there were two topics in the world that you had to evade when talking to Mio Akiyama, they were Ayame and body weight. There was only one person who could manage to mention them both in two days after meeting her, though.
"W-wait, what's that fist for?" Ritsu said, "Whoa, I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I'm sorry for calling you fat! Stop th—!"
And that was how Ritsu Tainaka received her first smack on the head in front of the grave of Ayame Yoshida.
"It still hurts..." Ritsu said while holding her head and crouching on the ground.
"You asked for it," Mio replied uncaringly, heading toward the track leading out of the graveyard.
Ritsu, completely unaffected by her crude remarks, stood up and said, "What're you going to do after this?"
"I don't have classes for today, so I will go shopping for some stuff."
She spent so many tissues yesterday for her eyes and face that she had to buy more.
"Stuff? Tissue?"
Unfortunately, she forgot that she shared a room with this moron. Most probably because if Ritsu was not trying to start a conversation with Mio, she was gorging herself on instant noodles and coke.
'Damn, don't tell me she knows that yesterday I...'
"You cried a lot yesterday right?"
Oh, what the heck, of course she knew.
Mio's ego quickly took over and she said, "Okay, I lied, I actually wanted to go somewhere else."
"Where?"
She should have expected that question.
'Give me a break,' Mio thought wearily.
She was seriously getting tired of being stalked around. "Don't follow me. Don't you have classes today?"
"This is far more interesting, so I'm skipping."
If she tagged along, Mio wouldn't be able to buy any tissues!
She decided to escape.
"Where are you going?"
"Go away!"
Why was she so persistent? ?
"Hey, you left your incense on the ground!"
Oh, crap.
"I, I left it on purpose!"
"Am I supposed to believe that you want Ayame to burn the incense for herself?" Ritsu asked, "Hm? What's this?"
Mio watched in horror as Ritsu picked something up from the ground.
Mio quickly shoved a hand into her pocket. She really had dropped it.
"You left this too? What're these keys for?" she said, waving them in front of Mio.
"Ah, uhm, that's..."
She didn't have time to retaliate when Ritsu said, "If you don't tell me, I won't give this back."
Jerk.
Mio thought the only thing Ayame left for her was a ring of keys.
However, that was before she found out that Ayame sent a letter directly to the dorm room she was moving into, which turned out to be a huge mistake.
As a result, she ended up inside the Yoshidas' traditional wooden Japanese house with the person she least expected to do it with.
"It looks nice," Ritsu commented, "Did she give this house to you?"
"That's what I heard," Mio said, pulling back the curtains, "The nurse said she wanted me to have it, no other message, no letter, nothing else. Well, she might drop dead back then so she didn't have time to write anything."
"Oh..." Ritsu said, her voice lowered, "So you weren't with her when she..."
"You don't need to pity me," Mio said, trying hard not to snap, "It doesn't matter whether I'm near her when she's on her deathbed or not. It's just because I'm the only available person to inherit anything from her."
It was true.
When Ayame died, Mio found herself struggling with an emotion she shouldn't have: anger.
She was the only one who could inherit the most important thing that she left for her, it was eternal damnation.
She left painfully happy memories, she left suicidal guilt, and she left a permanent scar in her ability to love another.
Mio would never find anyone that could replace Ayame's place.
Why not just kill me then... than simply leaving me in this horribly disgusting state?
"...You know, Mio, I've been thinking of something."
Mio turned around and found Ritsu staring at the boxes at the corner of the room. "What is it, Ri—wait, why are you calling me by my first name?"
Instead of getting any satisfying response to her question, Mio received an annoying grin. "Why don't we try digging into stuff?"
"...Huh?"
For a second there, Ritsu's grin looked as if she had just arrived in a gold mine. She seemed to have noticed it, too, because she cleared her throat and was no doubt trying to make up a plausible explanation.
"It's the first time you visit the house after she passed away right? It looks dusty," she began.
That point was true, so Mio didn't make any complaints and said, "All of her belongings are stored here after she died, and I never touch them..."
"So in order for you to get over Ayame," Ritsu said, full of energy, "Let's start by, digging into her stuff!"
"W-what? ?"
That didn't make any sense!
"I always want to learn more about lesbian culture!" she said again, her eyes shining.
"You want to do a cultural learning in a dead person's house? ?"
Mio didn't understand if this girl was teasing her or was just freaking stupid.
"C'mon, you said all her belongings are stored here!" Ritsu said, already making her way toward the pile of boxes like a lioness chasing her prey. Mio, sensing a danger in this action, immediately blocked her way.
"Hey, wait! That doesn't mean you can just dig into her stuff!" Mio said, holding onto her.
"Hey, this isn't just for me," Ritsu said, her tone became calmer all of a sudden, "It is so you can accept it."
The grip on Ritsu's wrist loosened.
"...I don't get you."
"You never bother to touch her belongings again," Ritsu said with a smile, "Don't you want to keep the memories of Ayame alive?"
Instead of sending out barrages of protests as she intended to do, Mio found herself in complete silence.
...This girl...I really don't get her.
"Because if you keep saying, 'it's painful to touch it' and you choose to run away," she continued, "You'll never get over it, you know! You didn't try your damnedest."
Was it possible that...she was speaking from experience?
How else could she get all that confidence from then?
"...I don't intend to run away," Mio said, "I brought those keys today, to see if I can finally step inside after so long..."
She thought Ritsu was going to tease her, but she just said, "That's the spirit!"
Although if she was to be honest to herself, it was much easier than she thought.
She had spent weeks just looking at the house from afar with the keys in her hand, but was unable to even just make it to the doorstep. She always ended up wasting money for the train ride.
However, today when Ritsu suddenly ran so cheerfully toward the front door with the keys and Mio had to chase after her...
Now that she thought about it, she was so distracted that she didn't even think of anything when she stepped inside.
This girl could be unexpectedly useful in this kind of thing.
Maybe getting along with her once in awhile wasn't a bad choice, either.
She would never tell Ritsu about this, though.
"Whoa, what's this? ? This is the damnedest thing I've ever seen!"
"H-hey, don't just go digging into her stuff without my permis..." Mio's voice trailed off when she realized 'the damnedest thing' Ritsu was examining.
Of all the things she could find, why did it have to be that? ?
"How do you use this with her? ? Did she insert this into your-"
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF THAT THING NOW!"
"Whoa, fuck, I've discovered your dark secret!" Ritsu said.
She seemed to be enjoying this very much.
"Give me that!"
"Make me!" she said, sticking her tongue out.
In a few seconds, she had fled from the room with the sex toy in her hand.
Soon, Mio and Ritsu were caught in a cat-and-mouse chase around the Yoshida family house.
Mio felt like she really wanted to kill someone.
'I take that all back,' she thought, panting, 'I don't want to get along with this idiot! !'
After that long, tiring day, Mio and Ritsu were finally back inside their room in the dormitory.
Mio felt like she was drenched with sweat from head to toe.
"With a bit of practice, Mio, you can be an excellent runner."
"Shut up! ! And don't call me by my given name!"
Luckily she still had the power to shout in anger.
"I want to take a shower first, and don't protest, since it's your fault I got sweaty all over!" Mio said, furiously taking out new clothes from her trolley case.
In the end, they couldn't finish cleaning the house since Ritsu spent every opportunity to either hide an object or getting chased around the house by a pissed off Mio.
"Where are you going?" Ritsu asked, stretching like a kitten on her bed.
"I've told you! I'm taking a shower first!" Mio replied, storming her way to the bathroom.
"Hmm..." Ritsu said, "I mean, why don't you take your clothes off here?"
...There was a limit in making fun of people, you know.
"Well, because you're a girl!" Mio said, a bit louder than she intended to, "And I'm not straight, so I can't!"
Ritsu raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Whaat? Then just think of me as a guy!"
"Can't you say anything that makes sense? ?"
This was getting more and more outrageous.
"You've seen mine under here," Ritsu said, pointing blatantly toward her chest, "Now we have to make it fair, don't we?"
"...We've gone over that already!" Mio said, almost stuttering, "I've accompanied you yesterday!"
"Why are you making such a big deal about this?" Ritsu said, obviously finding her reactions queer, "Surely you've changed with your friends in high school, or went to an onsen together in the old days, or something like that?"
"T-that's different, I always tried my hardest to make sure they didn't see much of me."
Why the hell did she have to admit this to her?
"Well, there's a first time to everything," Ritsu said, "You have seen mine, so I have to see yours. See? No harm done!"
Watching her sitting impatiently on her bed like that, Mio was reminded of the time when Ayame first asked her to take off her clothes.
It was also their first failed sex, since Ayame was just joking all along.
Wait a minute...
If Ritsu was like Ayame, there might be really no harm to take off her clothes.
She still wasn't sure of Ritsu's sexual orientation, but Mio knew Ritsu would hide it just for the sake of annoying her.
All of her actions were just for teasing her.
She didn't lose to Ayame back then, how could she possibly lose to Ritsu now?
Also, she was an adult. The time where she had to take off her clothes completely in front of any girl could come any day now, just like Ritsu said.
"...F-fine! It's just taking off some clothes, I can do it here."
If she did it quickly enough, she might not have to suffer from Ritsu's teasing.
However, something unexpected happened when she started pulling off her T-shirt, revealing her bra.
Ritsu, now lying on her stomach with her chin on her palm, was watching her every move so closely that Mio began to feel uncomfortable.
What was this feeling...?
No, Ritsu was just watching silently... Mio didn't feel like she was being teased with that action or anything. It seemed like Ritsu was saving her comments for later.
Then why...?
When Mio had lifted her T-shirt wide enough for a full view of her cleavage, her eyes met Ritsu's and she felt a sudden pang in her chest.
'...A...ya...'
...Ayame.
She swore her eyes had lied to her.
For a brief second, when Ritsu smiled at her, she felt like she saw Ayame lying on that bed instead of her.
Mio knew from day one that they resembled each other, but it was not that Ritsu was a dead ringer for Ayame...
She evaded her eyes, unable to look at Ritsu anymore as she unhooked her bra.
However, the feeling lingered.
The feeling of being watched...by Ayame.
'No, Mio...she is not Ayame...' she told herself, 'She is not... Ayame.'
"...Mio...strip for me..."
The sensation quickly ran from her head to the lower parts of her body. As if acting on reflex, her legs immediately closed the gap between them against her will. The small friction it made already drove her mind wild.
She noticed Ritsu's eyes were fixed on her breast and she felt that certain parts of her body were unexpectedly reacting against her favor.
Her breaths quickened, her mind was dizzy, but she tried to ignore them all and proceeded by taking off her pants.
It was when her hand touched her panties that she felt something she could not just ignore.
'...Why...?' she thought, her hand shaking, and the contact it made with her already sensitive part caused a gush of guilty pleasure in her blood.
'Why? ? I don't feel...anything for her!'
Yet...her body was...hot, and her private parts were burning as she continued to sweat, her long hair getting even messier than before. She debated with herself if she should say anything, but in the end she couldn't help herself to do it.
As she stood there trying to control her breathing, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Ritsu had stood up.
Her heart, which was already pounding so hard that her pendant was almost bouncing off her chest, accelerated its pulse when she watched Ritsu walking closer to her, emptying Mio's mind with every step.
Slowly and surely, she was becoming dead to all emotions but fear.
She wasn't ready for this.
She unconsciously took a step back and realized it was already a dead end in the form of a wall.
She could hear the laughs of the girls next door.
It was not soundproof.
Anyone could hear if she made any sounds while being cornered to the wall like this.
'If she touches me...' she thought, trying hard not to shudder, 'My body will...!'
With the last piece of common sense she desperately tried to save, Mio grabbed her towel and clothes and made a dash to the bathroom as fast as her shaky legs could carry her, her ears deaf to any words that came out of Ritsu's mouth.
In a complete daze, she slammed the door close behind her and locked it.
As she slumped down against the door, still unable to control both her emotions and breathing, she pondered on what in the world just happened to her.
She was just taking off her clothes, and Ritsu was watching her, and then... and then...
For a second that lasted like an eternity, it dawned on her that she was turned on by that action.
In a mere attempt to assure herself she was right, she touched the lower part of her panties once more.
It was damp.
She was really aroused.
How could this be?
With a girl like that, who teased and lied as she much as she pleased?
She disgusted herself.
"...Hey, Mio... I didn't mean to scare you."
That faint voice from outside the door was enough to make her heart jump once again.
"I just wanna tell you," she continued, "It's a lie if I say I'm not interested in you."
Which? Which was the lie? She couldn't understand anymore.
"So... I don't mind if you think of me as a replacement of Ayame."
How Ritsu could guess what had been bugging her all this time, Mio could never know.
At that time, Mio was so confused and distracted to even think about it.
She couldn't believe what ran inside her thoughts after she heard those words.
'...Was it in a friendly way...' her unconscious mind would say, '...Or a sexual way...?'
A/N: Here we are, guys, heading to the 'right' direction *shot*
Hopefully I've done a decent work here!
Thanks a lot Little Donkey for beta-ing the chap for me (and what you did next. you're unbelievable..)
Thanks for reading, R&R please! !
