6
Coming back from the library, Satoko along with some other of their 'club' were sitting in the lobby, books open. Rika greeted them on the way in. They greeted her back before Satoko made a comment to one of the other girls about their class that hadn't gone well before playfully hitting the girl with the book in her hand.
The movement of the object attracted attention, revealing it was one of the records of previous fragments. Rika's mouth opened as she recalled she had indeed let this Satoko have that kind of information. Turning away quickly, Rika rushed away before the reaction of this girl to a story only a witch of sorts might have access to could be considered.
Forgetting those previous existences had seemed easier as of late. Of course, the connection of Hinamizawa School's club as well as previous Satokos couldn't be found here, but the developments between this Rika and Satoko had been exciting in their own way. Since their first pseudo-date, Satoko always greeted Rika with happiness. The trash literature club was also a nice diversion, and studying kept her occupied otherwise.
But those existences had occurred, in some sense, even if humans couldn't understand, hadn't they? Reading further into them, how would this Satoko react? As a human, could she handle them?
If she could or couldn't, the idea of retrieving them from her incited anxiety, so Rika did nothing. Satoko had seemed so happy upon receiving them for the purposes of reading, so how would any conversation to stop her from doing so go? For that matter, how would any conversation go upon her completing them?
Later, the question would be answered. As Rika sat at her desk with her back to her roommate, absorbed in her assignments, Satoko walked in through the open door, the records in hand. "Good evening Rika-san," she greeted.
"Good evening," Rika repeated.
Satoko dropped the stack of books on Rika's desk. "Oh dear," she exclaimed as she sat down, leaning closer to Rika. The roommate took a hint and left. Satoko raised an eyebrow. "My poor brother," she said with an amused smile. "And 'me' as well. And I do have an uncle by the name. You must have met him at some point, I suppose, since you show his manners are lacking. I don't know him well, but I wonder what he'd think of what you did to all of us."
"I told you it's not you," Rika insisted. "I did nothing."
"Right, I know." Satoko shrugged. "And then that last book, well, 'chapter', that made it clearer that all of these 'chapters' are connected, aren't they? And that last one, of course you had the tragic ending for the poor detective." Satoko sighed. "And no answers? I'm getting tired of it."
"You don't think I was?!" Rika demanded, unable to hold back an outburst as she faced Satoko.
"You're the one writing it, so just change it. Anyway, that Time Killing chapter was somewhat dull, well, maybe more than somewhat. Still no answer to the mystery. You seem to have given yourself some interesting powers though. And everyone loves you, though Mion-san seemed mean to you in that one chapter. Isn't there a word for characters who seem too perfect and everyone loves?"
"Whatever it is doesn't describe me," Rika scowled as she sat up further and considered it. The adoration of others and 'special powers' had often seemed so useless throughout many worlds.
Satoko leaned back in the bed before sighing happily. "Well, I suppose you haven't written more," she said.
"I do have more." Rika closed her eyes before turning her attention back to her organized desk. She took the time to return the returned records to their place. Only a moment of hesitation was had before she took out the ones that came next. She turned to Satoko, hands trembling, then handed them to the girl whose mouth opened in curiosity, smile widening as the filled notebooks were handed over. "You may find some answers in these," she said.
"Oh my." Satoko leafed through the notebooks briefly, perhaps confirming they were indeed completed records. "Rika-san, you're such a prolific storyteller, aren't you?"
"Just keep in mind, they aren't really a story I've composed from scratch myself," Rika said.
"Hm?" Satoko looked to Rika's assignment, spread out on her desk, then back at the notebooks. "It is... It's your handwriting. What do you mean you didn't write it?"
"I wrote it down, certainly. I suppose it's also told using my words, but-"
"Then it's your story that you wrote," Satoko concluded. She held the books close before suddenly putting them on Rika's bed, causing them to spill over. "Oh, right, I wanted to say, you did make that Satoko kind of cute. And Rika-san is cute in the story as well! 'Mii, mii', didn't you try to say that kind of stuff when we were little kids sometimes?" Satoko laughed.
"Maybe," Rika admitted. As if she recalled every memory of this current world. She had gotten some strange reactions when she'd initially transferred to it from that particular verbal tic though.
"But really," Satoko drawled, placing a hand on Rika's shoulder. "I think the real Rika-san is much cuter, actually."
"What... Why..." Rika stammered. Satoko pulled away, the loud laughter emanating from her somewhat reminiscent of another world.
"You two are sure having fun," the roommate said from the doorway, a frown on her face. "What's so funny?"
"I apologize for the noise. Please excuse me then," Satoko said, scooping up the lent records before hurrying out of the room.
The weather that day was temperate, so why stay inside? Many girls had that thought, so they had spread out through the well manicured grounds. Underneath a tree, Rika, Satoko, and the other trash literature club members sat, study materials in hand. "Who can concentrate on this?" Satoko demanded, forcefully backing herself against a tree. "Everything's so nice, who wants to sit here and waste it?"
"It's alright, Satoko," Rika assured, scooting herself next to her crush. "We can do something fun together later, maybe. After the test."
"Yeah, didn't we want to have another meeting soon?" one of the other girls asked. Rika giggled, as she'd been thinking of something else, then giggled more as she realized from Satoko's similarly amused expression that her crush had been thinking similarly. "No? I've been too busy studying lately to finish anything, anyway," the girl said crossly, turning the page.
"I have a few ideas, maybe," Rika said, brushing her hand against Satoko's. She moved it away to grab the next book to keep going with the test preparation. After opening to the correct page, the feeling of Satoko's hand on her shoulder broke any concentration.
"You two seem like you're really cozy lately," another girl commented.
"Maybe we have," Satoko spoke confidently, taking Rika's hand. "I think we've gotten really close."
Their relationship had grown in some ways, even if it was just childish flirting often followed by awkward laughter. "Come on, Satoko, don't you especially need to do well on this test?"
Satoko put her nose up in the air. "I'm fully capable of learning all I need to!"
Rika stifled a laugh as she nodded, knowing this Satoko didn't like to be teased about those topics too much. Without any more fuss, they quietly went back to studying. How nice it was to just be a part of the group like this. Even feeling the true separation from this world, these other girls including Satoko, there was some sort of vicarious enjoyment to be had. As if she were peacefully floating above the scene, Rika completed the day with the absence of the heavy feelings that had plagued her before.