Synchronized Heartbeats
Written By: TCOOKIES777
Chapter 45: Locked Hearts
"Guess what? Last night, Mom actually cooked dinner for us. I mean, it was just hamburgers, but it's been so long since I had her cooking. It kind of reminded me of what it was like eating dinner when you were still around. Well, almost… Gou sped through her dinner. I've never seen her scarf down her food so fast—I kept worrying that she would choke. Last night was supposed to be our last dinner together and I think that's why Mom took some time off to spend time with us. It didn't work out so well, but at least she tried, y'know?"
Sighing, Rin lowered his gaze down to the ring he'd been fiddling with. Even beneath the grey sky, the sapphire stone sparkled like the gentle sea on a summer day. The metal band remained ice-cold against his numb fingers.
Squatting down, he hung his head low in shame. "I don't know what to do about Gou anymore. I messed up real bad and I don't know if she'll ever forgive me. I tried to explain to her but everything just came out so wrong and… well, the reasons don't change the truth. I went behind her back and kept it a secret. I thought I was protecting her, but I ended up hurting her and no amount of apologies can make up for that.
"I don't even know why I'm telling you this… I just wish you were here, Pops. I wish you could tell me how to fix all of this. Help me—guide me…" Rin paused and then shook his head. "No, if you were still alive, you'd be upset over what I've done to my own sister. I bet… I bet you'd think I had raped her. 'Cause I'm supposed to take care of her, right? I'm supposed to… to be a good brother to her. But how can I when my heart feels this way?" Brushing a hand through his hair, Rin mumbled, "Maybe it's better that you're not alive after all…"
He glanced up at the sky. It had snowed heavy yesterday, leaving many gravemarkers topped white with snow and burying the flower bouquets left behind by other visitors. But, Rin thought to himself, better snow than rain. He hated visiting his father on rainy days; it was too reminiscent of the day he'd died in that storm.
"Anyways," standing up, he sucked in a breath to steady himself, "I'll be flying to America in a few hours, so… this is the last time I'll see you in a long while. Give Mom and Gou my love for me, won't you?"
He reached out, touching the cold stone of the grave marker to brush aside the new layer of snow that had piled during the half-hour he'd been here.
"See you later, Pops."
"Are you sure about this, Gou?" Sousuke asked her, his voice quiet and deep on the phone.
"Yes," she breathed, wiping the tears from her eyes and hoping she didn't sound like she had just spent her time in the shower crying. "I've made up my mind and… I think this is what's best for the both of us… Onii-chan and I… just because we love each other doesn't mean we're meant to be together."
"If you let him go, he might never forgive you."
"He doesn't have to," said Gou as she tried to ignore the pain in her chest. "He just has to live his life without me by his side. If I tell him the truth now, I know it will only hold him back."
Ah, why did it feel like her heart was about to burst? Why… Why did it feel like she was suffocating inside?
"You won't even say goodbye to him?" Sousuke pressed her. "If you don't give a proper goodbye… you might really regret it for the rest of your life."
Gou shook her head, "No, I… I don't think I'll be able to hold it together if I see him."
"All right then," he spoke gently as if she were made of glass, and right now she felt exactly like that. "If you change your mind later, I can pass him a message for you."
"Thanks, Sousuke-kun. For everything."
"Of course, Gou."
Glancing at the clock, Gou noted that it was half-past ten.
It's time.
As if on cue, she heard her mother shouting from downstairs, "Gou, your brother's about to leave! Come say goodbye!"
Silence filled the house in response and Mrs. Matsuoka sighed as she and her son waited for the youngest Matsuoka to appear.
Rin knew exactly what to expect, but the disappointment still stabbed him right in his bleeding heart.
They waited for almost a minute before Mrs. Matsuoka rolled her eyes, huffing with impatience, "Honestly, this girl! I hope she's still not in bed. She always stays in her room these days."
Rin forced a smile on his face and turned to his mother. "You know what? She probably is, so I'll go up and see her and I'll meet you in the car, okay?"
"Okay…" She peered at her wristwatch, clicking her tongue disapprovingly. "But don't take so long because your train will be leaving soon and you still have to get the last of your stuff in your dormitory."
He nodded, remembering that he still needed to turn in his dormitory key to the school's residential office once he was done gathering the last of his things.
"And Rin?"
"Hm?" Pausing at the top of the staircase, he turned to look back at his mother who had both hands propped on her hips.
The expression on her face was stern, but motherly, and a wave of nostalgia hit Rin as he remembered the days when she would catch him and Gou roughing each other up after a particularly nasty spat over something dumb.
"Be kind to her," Mrs. Matsuoka said. "I have no idea what happened between you two but, no matter what, you're her older brother."
Those last few words squeezed at his heart and not in a good way.
"I know, Mom," muttered Rin. "I'm trying to be a good brother to her. Really, I am."
"I don't know what you did to make Gou this upset, but I won't ask," she said. "You two are old enough to not need your mom to arbitrate, but you're both still at a young age when your emotions get the best of you."
He shifted his feet around, trying to hide his discomfort at being lectured in such a long while. "I'm not the one that's angry."
"Yes, Gou is angry, but she doesn't love you any less, Rin."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because you're her big brother," Mrs. Matsuoka replied with a reassuring smile. "You're her family."
If only you knew how much of a failure I really am, Rin couldn't help but think to himself.
"And when I'm gone," his mother continued quietly, "you are the only family Gou will have left. You are the only one whom your father and I trust to take good care of your little sister. You're siblings, so you two are free to fight and be angry with each other as often and as much as you want, but just remember… that will never change the love you have for each other. Do you understand?"
Caught off guard by the sudden lecture and the words of wisdom imparted, Rin stared back dumbfounded for a moment. "Y-Yeah…" he answered, rubbing his chest where the ache had subsided slightly. "Yeah, I get it, Mom."
"Good," she smiled, shoulders dropping immediately. "Now hurry and go say goodbye to your sister."
"Hey, Mom?"
She stopped at the threshold, car keys jangling as she turned expectantly to her son.
Rin hesitated for a second, and then, "I do love Gou. So… you don't have to worry."
"I know," she said, her smile widening with a bright happiness. But the utter innocence of it made it difficult for Rin to smile back as his stomach twisted.
He had told his mom the truth, so why did it also feel like he'd just lied to her face?
Gou jumped at the sound of the soft knock on her door although she'd been sitting in front of it for quite some time already. Still, no amount of time could have prepared her for this moment.
She stood up and cautiously approached the door, but did not unlock it.
"Hey, it's me…" Her brother spoke quietly from the other side of the door. "Listen, I… I gotta go now. My flight is still later, but I gotta catch the train back to school first so that I can grab the last of my stuff there. Um…"
Stepping closer, Gou pressed a hand to the door, imagining she was touching his chest instead.
"I understand you're still mad at me," Rin sighed. "I know I was in the wrong for not telling you the truth. I want to tell you everything that happened. I want to explain it all, but that's also why… That's why I still want to know the truth about your accident."
She froze. The picture she'd been keeping on her person these past days suddenly felt like a brick weight in her pocket.
"I can't do this, knowing we're both keeping secrets from each other. I said I'd give you as much time and space as you needed," her brother continued, "but instead of turning to me for help, you turned to Sousuke and I… I got jealous. I want to be someone you can rely on, so it hurt when you chose Sousuke over me... I thought that, if it was something you couldn't go to me for, then it has to be because I'm to blame for it, right? So I want to tell you everything, but only if you tell me everything too. If you would just tell me what I did wrong…"
You did nothing wrong!
"Was I… Was I too rough with you?" Rin pleaded with her.
No, it wasn't the sex…
"Is it that I missed Christmas with you?"
No, that's not it.
"Is it…" she could barely hear him as he asked through the door, "is it that I said we can't have a baby?"
She bit her lip, hard enough to force a fresh wave of tears to her eyes but not hard enough to draw blood.
"You don't have to forgive me, Gou… but at least tell me what I did wrong for you to go to Sousuke and not me."
She leaned her forehead against the door, straining to hear him and be as close to him as she would allow herself to. Two inches of wood were all that kept them separated from each other. It would be so easy to cross that divide and touch him. Temptation dragged her fingers to the door handle, but Gou stopped at the last minute. Her fingertips trembled atop of the cool metal before she wrenched her hand back, balling it into a fist to control herself.
"Is it about Ami? I swear, there's nothing between me and her! There never was and there never will be! Everything that I did, I did it all for you… Please, Gou, you have to believe me!"
The better half of her did believe him. The other half wanted to, but the seed of doubt had already taken root deep in her heart, nurtured by the jealousy she held towards the fact that Ami could be with Rin in a way that Gou never could. But no, Ami had nothing to do with her decision. What happened between Ami and her brother only opened Gou's eyes to the reality of their situation.
"I'm sorry," Rin's voice broke, but he repeated his apology again. "I'm sorry for lying and hurting you. I'm sorry for everything…. But I'm not sorry for loving you the way that I do."
Clasping a hand tightly over her mouth, she held back the urge to cry. To not let him hear her and know how much those words meant to her. Her sobs remained stifled, but hot tears began to blur her vision.
"Even now, I want to hold you tight and kiss you and never let you go," her brother murmured against the door and it almost felt like he was speaking right into her ear with how close he was to her. "You're wrong about me, Gou. About us. I love you much more than any brother should towards his little sister…. I love you more than you will ever know."
I want to kiss him… I want to kiss Onii-chan!
I want him to hold me in his arms again and feel him on me one more time…
I don't want him to go… I want…
"I don't want to see you," she forced herself to say.
"P-Please… please don't make me leave like this, Gou."
The desperation in his voice clawed at the vulnerable pieces of her fractured heart, threatening to break down the wall she'd built between them.
"Please just go away," she whispered, swallowing back the sob trying to tear its way up her throat. "Just go."
"... I love you, Gou," she heard her brother whisper through the door. "Don't you ever forget that I love you with all my heart. Only you… It's only ever been you."
There was a long pause that was broken by the abrupt honking of a car. She heard Rin slowly take a step back—away from her—and then another. The inches of space increased between them as Gou listened to her brother walk away. The front door closed shut, bringing in a silence that was familiar to her, but far more painful than usual.
"So? How did it go?"
Rin breathed deeply, training his eyes on the luggage he shoved into the trunk of the car. "Yeah, it went fine."
Inwardly, he prayed that his mom wouldn't ask him to define 'fine' because he really was not in the mood to relive one of the worst moments in his life all over again.
"Did she cry this time as well?" Mrs. Matsuoka asked, a nostalgic smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I remember when you left for Australia for the first time, she cried so hard that she ended up throwing up before passing out."
"Um, no," he shrugged. Stupid suitcase was jammed in the corner. He put his weight into it, finding the right angle so it could slide in all the way. "She didn't cry."
"Really? Your sister always hates sending you off. I was sure you'd find her in a puddle of tears again."
"Yeah, well, she's not exactly a little girl anymore, Mom." There was a bite in his tone that was unintentional and Rin couldn't help but wince.
"I know, I know," Mrs. Matsuoka sighed, pressing a hand to her cheek. "The fact that boys are already asking her out is more than enough to tell me that my daughter is no longer that same little girl who would always hide behind her brother whenever she met someone new. Ah, you two grew up so fast."
"You know, you should talk to Gou more often."
"Huh?"
Throwing in the last of the luggage, Rin stepped into the car, settling in with his mom following suit. He waited until they both had their seatbelts clicked into place before saying, "Since it's only you two in the house, I bet Gou gets pretty lonely some days."
"What do you mean? I'm there with her."
"Yes, but are you really there for her?" Rin spoke slowly, "When Dad died, I used to be jealous of my classmates who still had fathers they could hang out with and ask for advice from. I lost that privilege… But you? Gou has only one mother, and I bet it sucks when you still have a mom but she's too absent all the time to really be a mom for you."
"Is that… Is that how you feel?" Mrs. Matsuoka looked to her son, brows knitting together to create a concerned wrinkle that already made itself home in her aging face.
"This isn't about me," Rin shook his head. "This is about Gou. You should spend more time with her while you still can. Gou may act like an adult, but that's only because she's forced to. She had to grow up at a young age, but deep down… She's still a child who needs to be reminded that she is loved. She needs a family."
His sister had never asked for much ever since Mr. Matsuoka passed away, but Rin knew that her heart's desire had always been to have a family. A proper family who could fill the house with warmth and laughter. Truth be told, he dreamt for those things as well.
"You know that I try my best," Mrs. Matsuoka said quietly. "But with work and getting the money for your kids' schooling and extracurriculars… It's hard to balance everything."
Rin was no father, but he completely understood what his mother meant. It was difficult being a parent, and it was especially difficult being a single parent to a son and a daughter. He was no father to a child, but he was a big brother to one, and Rin had learned at a young age that sacrifices often had to be made for family. For Mrs. Matsuoka, her sacrifice was constant.
It'd been years since Mr. Matsuoka's untimely death but, in a way, his wife had never completely managed to move on. Instead, she'd merely buried her grief with piles of work to keep herself busy. It'd been her coping mechanism ever since, and to take that away from her now… Rin didn't know what that would do to her. He was afraid to find out.
"I know that you try your best, but do you think you could try just a little harder? For Gou's sake," he added.
For a while, Mrs. Matsuoka didn't reply. Instead, she started the car, the engine rumbling for a hot second before she finally nodded. "Of course."
It felt like something had lifted off his chest at that response, though the ache from earlier still remained, dull and throbbing with a grief he made sure to keep hidden from his mom. Turning his face to the passenger window, Rin watched the second-floor window on the left side of the house, eyeing the closed curtains for as long as he could as the car pulled away.
The ache of the silence was so profound within her that Gou could no longer find the strength to hold herself up. She collapsed to the floor, the sob tearing out of her throat as if a ghost had reached in and plucked it out with a vengeance.
A ghost, yes. That's what it felt like.
Memories of a loved one that would now haunt her for the rest of her life.
Even now, she could feel the oppressing silence bear down on her, leaving Gou alone to dwell on the pain that ate her from the inside out. The echoes of Rin's presence only seemed to amplify the pain. Once the tears had run dry and her throat became too sore to carry out so much as a whimper, Gou understood why.
It was that void inside her.
That void she had felt the day she learned her father had been lost to a storm.
The void that had expanded over time as her mother slowly disappeared from the picture with each passing day that Gou stayed in the house alone.
That void she fell into as the abortionist pulled out what remained of her baby.
That same void that she felt right now, eating up all she felt and all that she was.
The happiness she had enjoyed being with Rin, loving him and receiving his love in return, had been more than enough to fill that void until even the all-consuming hole had been sated.
But now?
Now she was alone again.
'If you don't give a proper goodbye… you might really regret it for the rest of your life.'
12 years earlier…
"Do you see her?!" Rin shouted over the roar of the rain. He stumbled slightly as a cold sheet of rain slammed into him, every thick drop hitting his skin. There had been no time to grab a coat since he'd bolted out of the house as Mrs. Matsuoka had started phoning the police.
"Rin, wait!" Sousuke chased after him. "We should go back! Your mom said help is coming."
"I… I left her!" He panted, bracing his hands against his knees. One knee was scraped from when he'd slipped around the corner, but the cold numbed the pain. "I left her… alone… all because I wanted to go swim! I'm such an idiot!"
"Your mom should have been keeping an eye on her!" Sousuke argued, wiping his face of the rain.
"But Otou-san…" He grit his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut to force back the tears. "Otou-san made me promise to look after her! It's my responsibility and I… I can't fail him!"
Sousuke watched him, the rain soaking into their clothes and wind lashing at their faces. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Rin met the steady gaze of his friend. The bright blue of his eyes, filled with understanding and determination, seemed to calm Rin down. "Okay," Sousuke nodded. "Let's go find your sister."
"Y-Yeah!" Rubbing his eyes, he nodded back in return. "She can't have run far. I'll go take a look under the overpass. You go check the park!"
They went their separate ways, splashing through puddles as they dashed down near empty streets. The black clouds above shifted and rumbled and it felt as if the very ground was quaking in fear of the sky.
His lungs felt as if they would burst, but Rin pushed on, running and looking wildly around for any glimpse of hair as vibrant as his.
"Wah!" His shoes skidded on wet pavement and he crashed onto his side, skinning his palms the same way he skinned his knee. "Ouch…"
Leaning against the wall of the overpass, he inspected the injuries, clenching his teeth from the throbbing pain of his hands. It was the soft sound of sniffling that drew his attention and he peeked around the corner, heart leaping in his chest at the sight of the little girl sitting in the shadow of the overpass and bawling her eyes out.
"Gou!"
"Huh? Onii-chan?" The girl looked up at the sound of her name, chubby cheeks splotched red and stained with tears.
"You shouldn't have run off like that!" He said as he caught up to her, scanning her small form for any injury. "Especially in the middle of a storm! Okaa-san had to call for help… Why did you run off? You could've gotten hurt or… or worse!"
"Because… because…" She spoke in between hiccups, and then she tossed her head back and cried out, "Tou-san is g-gone! I… didn't even… get a chance to… to say goodbye! He just left… and never came back! I want him back!"
"Gou, Otou-san is… Otou-san is…" His bottom lip began to quiver and he balled his hands into fists, the nails digging painfully into his scraped palms. He swallowed back the lump in his throat and said, "He's dead! Don't you get it?! He's never coming back! He can't!"
"Then… Then Kaa-chan..." she began to wail even harder, "Kaa-chan will die too, won't she? She'll go away just like Tou-san without saying goodbye!"
"... Yeah, you're right… Someday, Okaa-san will disappear… no, Okaa-san will die too!" Hot tears and snot dripped down his face and Rin swept an arm across before grabbing his sister firmly by her shoulders. "Otou-san is dead and, one day, Okaa-san will be dead and gone like him!"
Gou tipped back her face and wept harder.
"But…!" Rin pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her, tight enough that he believed not even the storm that killed their father could ever rip her away from his arms. "But I'll always be here for you! Even though our parents will die and leave us behind, I'll never leave you!"
"Never ever?" She sobbed into his chest.
"Never ever," Rin smiled down at her, blinking back his own tears. "When Otou-san and Okaa-san are no longer around, I'll still be here to love you, and take care of you, and be there for you no matter what! Because that's what big brothers do!"
"Really? You won't d-disappear like Otou-san? You'll really be with me always?"
"Well, since I'm older than you," he hesitated, "there might be a day when I have to leave you for a bit. But only for a little bit! And I promise that when that day comes, you and I can say goodbye to each other properly, okay? I won't just disappear. Not without a goodbye."
She raised her face to look at him, hope shimmering in her wide, innocent gaze. "You promise?"
He knelt down on one knee, offering her his pinky finger. "I pinky-promise."
"What's a pinky-promise?" she asked.
"It's an unbreakable vow," he answered, wrapping his little finger with hers. "Pinky-promise!"
The sound of the front door slamming shut jolted Gou back to her senses. She dashed down the stairs, nearly colliding into her mother who was still shaking the snow off the umbrella and mumbling something about the weather.
"Gou?" Mrs. Matsuoka watched her daughter hurriedly slip on her boots. "Where are you going in your pajamas? At least take a coat with—wait, Gou?! Gou!"
She kicked the door shut before stomping down the front steps of the porch, nearly slipping from the thin layer of ice coating the steps. It was chilly and snowflakes drifted down heavily as she began running towards the train station. The morning jogs that Sousuke had forced her to take with him during the past few weeks had helped get her back into decent shape, but she pushed herself to run as fast as she dared to.
The thick piles of snow dragged at her feet and several times she fell almost face first.
Faster, she told herself. Faster!
At least… At least let me say goodbye to him!
"The train!" Gou leaned heavily against the window of the booth which the stationmaster was currently occupying. "The train…" she panted, struggling to get the words out, "when did… when did it leave?"
"Twenty minutes ago."
"I need to go to Kanoya… the institute…"
"Well, the next train you can hop on is arriving in…" the elderly man squinted at the silver pocketwatch, "fifteen minutes. Are you in a hurry?"
"He… No, I didn't…" she began to babble as the stationmaster looked her up and down, the wrinkles on his kind face deepening with concern as he noted the way she was ill-dressed for the winter weather. "W-We didn't…"
"Why don't we wait in the break room where it's nice and warm, hm?" He stepped out of the booth, his frail hand touching her shoulder to guide her. "I'll get you some tea and a blanket while you wait for your train."
Gou shuffled right behind him, still muttering to herself. "We didn't get to say goodbye… We… We have to say goodbye…"
The hallways of the dormitory building were surprisingly empty for the most part, but Rin guessed it was because it was a weekend. Most students, especially the locals, preferred returning home to spend time with family and friends. At least this gave Rin the chance to clear his room out, making frequent trips around the dormitory offices without the usual student traffic. Sousuke had offered to help as soon as Rin had arrived, but he'd refused his friend. It wasn't that he did not want the help, but simply that he wanted the time to himself. Time to recover from the heartache that plagued him.
He sighed, filling out the last of the documents the residential assistant required from him.
"Just leave it there," the student gestured to the corner of the front desk when Rin held out his dorm key to return it.
"So it's true," the voice behind him raised the hairs on the back of his neck, "you really did sign with Bob Bowman. Just as I'd expected."
His sweater suddenly felt too tight, choking his neck and making Rin break out into cold sweat. Swallowing hard, he slowly turned around and asked, "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"I live here," Ami answered, blinking her doe brown eyes at him to portray the picture of innocence. But the smirk on her glossy lips told a different story. "Or have you forgotten that too?"
Rin's mother had raised him to always respect women and never hit a girl. So he kept his hands balled at his sides, at least to hide the way his whole frame had begun to tremble with a silent rage. "I haven't. But it feels like we've been running into each other a lot lately."
"What a coincidence!"
"Doesn't feel like it," he narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you following me?"
Ami rolled her eyes, brushing by him and leaving a trail of that disgusting artificial strawberry perfume she'd been using since he'd asked her out to ramen that one time. He wrinkled his nose as she approached the residential assistant at the front desk. "Relax, I'm just here to restock my toiletries."
Rin watched as she signed her name on the clipboard for two rolls of toilet paper.
"It really is a coincidence that I managed to catch you before you go," Ami turned to him, smiling calmly as if they were old friends holding a pleasant chat. "There's something I want to tell you."
"I don't give a fuck about anything you have to say to me," spinning on his heel, he walked away from her, forcing himself to keep his pace steady instead of rushing.
To his chagrin, Ami was as stubborn as he was and moved to catch up to him, one hand juggling the toilet rolls and the other hand reaching for something in her pocket. "Wait, I just wanted to give you a congratulatory gift!"
"I don't want your shit!" he snapped at her, not slowing down one bit.
Ami stopped as he continued on. For a moment, Rin thought he'd finally gotten rid of her until she called out to him, "You don't want this?"
He should've ignored her. He should've continued on and returned to his room to grab his stuff and go. No matter what, he should not have looked.
Rin hesitated.
Slowly, he turned and looked at this gift Ami was talking about.
He squinted at the white stick she held out to him.
His heart nearly stopped.
"What… What is that?" he croaked out.
Ami stepped forward and pressed the stick into his cold, clammy hand. Raising herself up onto her tiptoes, she whispered into his ear, "Congratulations, Rin."
Frozen with fear, all Rin could do was slowly lower his gaze to the gift she'd left in his hand. The stick was still warm from having been kept in her pocket for what had to be a while. But it was the single blue line in the small window of the stick that captivated his attention.
"Wh-What the fuck does this mean?" he hissed at her.
"You don't like my gift for you?" Ami asked, brows raising as if she was genuinely surprised by his reaction. "Shame. I thought it'd make you happy. Most men are."
It was clear that she had no intention to answer any of his questions and Rin had learned the hard way that Ami was the kind of woman who preferred to receive answers rather than hand them out.
Glancing both ways to make sure they were alone in the hallway, Rin held up the pregnancy stick and snapped it in two like a twig breaking in his hands. The pieces fell to the floor and Ami watched as one of the pieces skittered and bumped her shoe. She raised her eyes back to Rin, showing no sign that she was affected by the action.
"We're done, Ami. I'm leaving and I don't plan to ever see your face again," Rin said.
"Let me tell you something, Rin," Ami continued to smile at him, but he noticed it was as fake as everything else was about her. "You'll make it to the Olympics. Maybe get a medal or two—bronze at this rate, possibly silver, and gold if you're really lucky. And then once it's over, you'll be forgotten. Your mark in history will never appear. No one will remember your name. You won't even make it to the next Olympics. You know why? Because you're still holding yourself back, just like how you're holding back the predator within you. You'll make it to the Olympics all right, but I can help you make it big in the Olympics. I can teach you how to let go. How to become the winner who takes all."
"I don't want it all," he snarled at her, taking a threatening step forward. "I don't want anything from you either."
To his satisfaction, she took a step back, though the smile remained on her face like it'd been plastered on.
"Of course you do," Ami purred. "Because you're just like me. I told you, we're more alike than you think."
Rin shook his head, scoffing in disbelief. "I am nothing like you, Ami! I can manage just fine on my own unlike you who is so desperate for attention."
Something flashed in her eyes—pain, or maybe anger—and Rin took pleasure in the fact he'd finally cut her deep.
"How is that girl you're so in love with?" she suddenly asked. "The one you worked so hard to get that ring for? Did she accept it? Did she accept your love?"
"That's none of your fucking business," muttered Rin.
Ami watched as his smug grin fell away as quickly as it'd appeared, and she laughed. Shaking her head and clicking her tongue, she said, "Oh, my poor Rin. What did I tell you? How could she love someone like you? You're just too much for her to handle…" Manicured fingers reached out and dragged down his sweater until her index finger caught on the drawstring of his sweatpants. She tugged on it, revealing a peek at the deep v-cut of his abs leading further below. "You terrify her. Maybe not your pretty face, but the monster inside you. She saw you for who you really are and didn't like what she saw. So she rejected you, and now you'll have to watch her fall into the arms of another man sooner or later."
He snatched at her hand, squeezing hard enough so that Ami winced at his painful grip on her. Still, Rin did not let go.
"I told you to just make her yours if you want her that badly," she whispered, dark eyes gleaming with a crazy light. "Take her."
"Like you took me?" Rin asked through gritted teeth. He squeezed her hand harder upon noticing the way the light in her eyes danced with both lust and pleasure. Pain filled her expression and Ami gasped, finally wrenching her hand away from him. "This isn't over, Ami," he raised his finger at her in warning. "I swear, someday, you'll pay for what you did to me."
"Really? How so?" The smile stretched further across her face as Ami leaned in, polluting his space with the pungent scent of fake strawberries. "So let's say you go to the police. You tell them you were taking a shower… and then what? You got your protein shake drugged with who-knows-what and you ended up having sexual intercourse with a girl in the boy's locker room? You, a six feet tall guy who works out almost everyday with muscles that can knock a full-grown man out… doing the nasty with a five-foot-three girl. That's your rape story? Hm, well, you know what the best part of that story is?" She moved in closer and whispered, "No one will ever believe you."
Patting his shoulder, she walked away, leaving behind the sweet stench of perfume and Rin with the broken pieces of her pregnancy stick.
A/N: Before anyone panics, one line on a pregnancy stick means the test is negative. Ami was just trolling Rin. That's why she said 'congratulations' but Rin, being a guy, doesn't know what the one line means. He can figure it out later with the power of the Internet, but in that moment, he doesn't know what the test result means.
