Yoshiko's POV:
I woke to my alarm. Today I have to meet up with Ruby. We have to work on a project for school. I regret not doing it sooner. It's a lot of work to do in one day.
I got out of my bed. I changed into some new clothes and then went to grab something to eat. I made some toast. I ate it quickly and then set off to go to Ruby's house.
I got there on time. I rung the doorbell and waited. Moments later, Ruby answered the door.
"Hey, Yoshiko!" Ruby smiled at me.
"It's Yohane." I stated.
"Come in?" Ruby stepped to the side.
I walked into her house. Everything was the same as usual. Ruby started leading me to her room. She paused at the steps and smiled. What's she smiling about?
"Aren't you going to say hi to onee-chan?" Ruby asked.
"What are you talking about?" I asked in confusion. Dia isn't here.
"She's right there. Why are you being so rude? It's been too long. Will you stop this joke already?" Ruby huffed.
I awkwardly looked at where Ruby motioned to, "Um... hi, Dia."
"Better." Ruby said.
Ruby drug me up to her room. I'm very confused. Why was she telling me to say hi to Dia? Hadn't she gotten over it yet?
We sat in her room for a bit. Ruby seemed a little upset. I am very very confused. What is her deal?
"You ready to start?" I asked.
Ruby nodded. We got to work on our project. Ruby didn't seem very happy with me still. I wonder if there's anything I can do to make it better?
DIVIDER--
The next day, Ruby confronted me at school. She asked to hang out for lunch. She took me to a secluded area to sit. That gave it away that she wanted to talk to me about something serious.
"Yoshiko, why are you and everyone else always ignoring onee-chan? What gives?" Ruby asked.
"Um... Ruby, Dia isn't here... she's not at home with you." I said.
"She is. She came home from college." Ruby replied, "Why won't you talk?"
"Ruby, it's... it's hard to explain..." I sighed. I don't think she'd take the news very well. I don't think she'd even believe me if I told her.
"Stop ignoring her. What has she done to you?" Ruby said.
"Ruby..."
Ruby stood up. She seems mad. I don't get what's with her. Dia isn't around. She's been gone for a while. What is Ruby seeing? Should I try and get her to a therapist or something?
I stood up after Ruby walked away. I have to do some research. I need to figure out what's going on with Ruby. This is concerning. It's getting out of hand.
I stared at Ruby for a little bit. She stared back at me. Eventually, I moved to go sit somewhere else to eat my lunch.
DIVIDER--
Ruby had been giving me the silent treatment. She hasn't spoken to me since that day. She still hangs out with me, but won't talk. Did I make her that mad?
I had done some research of what might be up with Ruby. I think I know how to stop this once and for all. It's just a matter of figuring out how to do it. This is a risky thing. I could get in a lot of trouble if this goes wrong.
Ruby came up to me at the end of the school day. I want to do my plan today. I need her to work with it. That's tough. I don't know if she's planning to do anything today and she won't talk to me.
We started walking home. I said goodbye to Ruby and went my way. I went home. I changed into some comfier clothes. I went to the kitchen. I stared at the knives for a while.
I have to do this. I took a knife and hid it on me. I started walking to Ruby's house. I'm going to put an end to this once and for all. I made it to her house a while later. I rung the doorbell and waited.
Ruby answered it. I wasn't too sure how to start this. This is going to be very tricky.
"Where's Dia?" I asked.
"I'll get her." Ruby replied.
Alright. Part one is done. Now just to figure out how to make this look realistic. That's a lot harder to do. Ruby soon returned to me. There was no one else with her. I looked beside Ruby, assuming that was where Dia was supposed to be standing.
"Why'd you want her?" Ruby asked.
"To do this." I replied.
I pulled out my knife. Ruby's eyes widened. She was frozen in place. I started stabbing the air where I assumed the Dia Ruby was seeing was. I started stabbing at the ground as if I had knocked her down. I hope this looks realistic enough. I hope it also looks real to Ruby. That's the main point of me doing this.
Ruby was screaming. She must see it as me killing Dia. That's good. That's what I want her to see. But, to me, there's nothing but air that I'm stabbing. Ruby lunged at me and tried to pull me away. I held my ground and kept stabbing the air.
"What are you doing!? Stop!" Ruby pleaded.
"I'm doing this for your own good, Ruby." I told her.
I continued to stab the air for a while longer. I pulled away. Ruby fell to her knees. It looked like she was shaking someone. Ruby's eyes flashed with realization. It's probably not the realization I'm looking for. She probably thinks that I killed Dia. Let's hope she won't attack me for this. I need her to just listen to me.
"Why... why did you do this..." Ruby cried.
"Ruby, Dia's gone. She's been gone for two years." I replied.
"No... she's right here." Ruby cried.
I shook my head, "Ruby... don't you remember? Dia died two years ago. She got hit by a car."
"N-no! She lived!" Ruby protested.
"What you see isn't real. This Dia you see is fake. I'd guess you saw her still from the trauma..." I explained.
"Onee-chan..." Ruby cried.
"I can show you proof. Will that get you to believe me?" I asked.
Ruby nodded. I helped her up. I handed her some tissues. Once she had calmed down a little, I started leading her away. I'm going to take her to the cemetery. There's no way she can deny the truth once she sees her grave.
We soon made it. I led Ruby to Dia's grave. Ruby read the inscription. She ran her hand over the carving. I knelt beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder. I don't know how she's going to react to this.
"She... she died..." Ruby whispered.
"Yeah... I'm sorry..." I said.
"Onee-chan!" Ruby started crying in anguish.
I wrapped my arms around her. She clung to me. She sobbed and sobbed. Is it ever going to end? I didn't think she'd get that upset over it.
"Shh... it's okay... it's gonna be okay, Ruby..." I whispered to her softly.
"Why... why did this have to happen..." Ruby whimpered.
It feels like today is the day Dia died. I guess to Ruby, it does feel that way. I'll have to do my best to console her.
"Would you have rathered you had died? She saved you from being hit instead. That's why I believe you saw that fake Dia. Because that was the way you coped with the trauma of the event." I explained, "It seems you also forgot about it... didn't you?"
Ruby nodded, "I don't remember it... I just... thought I remembered her waking up..."
"I'm sorry about this... I just... I just couldn't let you live like that..." I sighed, "What if someone tried to hurt you? People don't like people who seem crazy..."
"It's okay..." Ruby tried her best to smile bravely at me, "I... I'm glad you told me..."
"Why don't we go back inside?" I suggested.
"Okay..." Ruby mumbled.
I helped her to her feet. The two of us walked back to her house. I went and made some tea for us. I made Ruby sit in the living room. She needs some time to recover from this.
I brought the tea in. I wrapped Ruby in a blanket and then handed her a cup. I sat beside her with a cup of my own. We sat in silence for a while.
"She... saved me?" Ruby quietly asked.
I nodded, "Yeah... you had frozen up... the driver was drunk so, they didn't care..."
"Why did she do it? Was it because she was the closest or..." Ruby trailed off.
"I was going to run out instead... but, she pushed me away and... you know what happens next..." I whispered, the day playing in my mind again, "I wish I could give you the ability to see it... just so you know what happened."
"You..." Ruby didn't need to say more for me to know what she was asking.
I nodded, "Ruby... I... I love you... I didn't just want to do nothing."
"Why didn't you say you loved me sooner?" Ruby asked.
She set her tea down and made me set mine down as well. I stared at her, unsure what she was planning. Ruby connected our lips together. I kissed back. We pulled away soon.
"I... I was too afraid to tell you..." I admitted.
"I love you too, Yoshiko." Ruby told me, "I've always been too nervous to tell you."
"Ruby... would you have rathered I'd had died?" I asked out of the blue. I reeled in shock at what had just come out of my mouth. Where the hell did that come from?
"I'd have rathered no one died." Ruby stated as she held my hands in her own.
"Yeah... sorry about asking that..." I mumbled.
Ruby leaned closer to me. She smiled at me. I smiled back at her. I'm glad this went well. Ruby seems like she's taking the news okay. I was really worried for a while.
I hope I can help her recover from this.
