Part I

Chapter 27

Minamo's shoulders slumped down with exhaustion, the massive amount of tension that was now present in the air weighing heavily upon her body.

I...I can't deal with this...

She stared on in despair at the two women that were on opposite sides of her apartment's entrance, her mother and best friend glaring at each other with nothing short of pure disdain, and the misery that Minamo was currently experiencing, after having just gone through such a brutal examination of her life's faults, began to greatly intensify.

...please, Yukari, don't make a scene. Please, please don't...

Her friend tilted her head up then, Ms. Kurosawa a bit taller than the average woman. "What are ya' doin' here, witch?"

"What is she doing here, Minamo?"

Yukari snorted, having just been completely ignored. "Hey! I'm talkin' to you, lady!"

Ms. Kurosawa looked behind her. "Well, Minamo?"

Minamo's voice was barely audible, distress muffling it. "She...she was just...coming to visit me, ma'am."

The woman focused on Yukari again, eyeing her suspiciously. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, that's 'so', lady." She put her hands on her hips with annoyance, her minute amount of patience quite visibly leaking out from her irritated demeanor, the drinks in the bag she was carrying rattling around as she moved. "You got a problem with that?"

"I do."

"Oh, yeah? You wanna' explain what that is to my face then, lady?"

"It's the same problem that I've always had with you: you're a degenerate."

Yukari instantly exploded with rage. "What the hell did you just call me?"

"A degenerate."

The woman pointed an accusing finger towards Ms. Kurosawa in dramatic fashion, her mouth wide open as she prepared to launch one enormous, aggravated assault towards the individual who had just insulted her, but her arm soon went limp, her expression becoming sheepish. "Uhh...so...what's that mean, anyways...?"

Minamo sighed.

Ms. Kurosawa let go of the door handle, folding her arms. "Maybe 'idiot' is more appropriate for you. That's in your vocabulary, isn't it?"

"Oh...oh!" Yukari's face brightened. "Yeah, ok, now I get what yer' say-" She blew up again, theatrics returning to her posture. "Hey, wait! You take that back, you stupid old goat!"

"The same ignorant loudmouth as always." Ms. Kurosawa shook her head sadly, unfazed by the shouting. "It doesn't seem as if you've matured even in the slightest since the last time we met."

Yukari growled. "Yeah, well, seems like you're still a stuck up, snooty windbag."

The comment bounced off the woman harmlessly, Ms. Kurosawa staying perfectly cool as she glanced down towards the bag in the woman's hand. "Is that beer?"

"Eh?" Yukari appeared confused for a moment, the abrupt change of topic catching her off guard. "Oh...uh...maybe..."

Ms. Kurosawa turned around, glaring at her daughter. "Is this how her 'visits' normally go? She comes over with alcohol, and you both just get drunk?"

Minamo shivered nervously, that biting, inquisitive tone back in her mother's voice, and it fully renewed the great fear that she had of her parent, her panic silencing any sort of reply that she could offer.

Ms. Kurosawa sighed. "It appears as if you really are just an irresponsible child, still."

She felt her mood sink even further than it already had, the continuing disapproval injuring her once more.

Her mother returned her attention to the apartment's newest visitor. "Go home, Tanizaki."

"What? No fuckin' way!" Yukari clenched her fists tightly, her voice becoming angrier by the moment. "You go home!"

"Why? So that you can freely mooch of my daughter's hospitality again?"

"That's right! I...err, no, wait, that's not what I meant...uh..." She let out a timid chuckle, eventually regaining some ounce of seriousness. "...look, yeah, I came over here to get wasted and eat Minamo's grub. There ain't no gettin' around that fact. But this ain't your place, so you can't tell people what the hell to do, so get your ass outta' here already!"

"This isn't your place either, yet, you still seem to act like it."

"I'm just sayin' what Minamo won't ever tell ya'!"

"And what gives you the right to do that? I'm her mother, so I would say that I have more authority to speak on her behalf than you do."

"Maybe if you weren't such a shitty one, you would."

Mrs. Kurosawa laughed. "And I suppose I should respect your opinion on that matter? You've had plenty of experience with terrible parents, after all."

Yukari's voice went ice cold. "...what'd you say?"

"I said your mother and father are as inept as you are."

The temperature around the room increased tenfold then, Minamo quite tangibly feeling the heat of the intense fury that was now radiating out from Yukari. The woman was just staring silently at her adversary now, the most vicious face upon her as she struggled to contain herself from fully erupting. "H-hey...mom...that's no-"

Her mother tossed a quick look behind again. "Be quiet."

Minamo silenced herself without a second thought.

Ms. Kurosawa returned her attention to Yukari. "So, are you going to throw your usual tantrum now, or not?"

It took all of the woman's might to subdue the rage that was inside of her, Yukari grinding her teeth together as she fought against succumbing to the woman's taunts. "You...stupid...slimy...wrinkled..." She sneered. "You ain't...gonna' do that to me again. Not this t-"

"Why do you still associate with a temperamental buffoon like this, Minamo?"

It took a moment for her to realize that she was being spoken to, her mother still looking at Yukari. "I...we..."

"Are you just that desperate for a drinking partner? That's the only possible explanation that I can think of."

"...she's...my friend, ma'm..."

"Oh, please." Ms. Kurosawa waved around a hand dismissively. "I can't believe that you still refer to her as that. She's been nothing but a parasite to you, and yet you still choose to have her in your company for some strange reason. "

Yukari snarled. "What the fuck are you talkin' abo-"

"You don't know? I'm sure you do. You're just an annoying leech that everyone but my daughter has learned to remove from their lives."

"...look, lady...you just keep on ta-"

"People still avoid you even today, don't they, Tanizaki?"

Yukari's anger suddenly became sedated. "...what?"

Ms. Kurosawa leaned against the door frame. "I remember your past quite well. All the other people you knew never wanted to be around you, because they realized what an annoying, shallow child that you were. Has that changed at all since then?"

The woman didn't respond, her face now washed over with a coat of gloom.

"I didn't think so. And how about your efforts to satiate your ego through your students? How is that going?"

"...yo-"

"That's the entire reason that you became a teacher in the first place, wasn't it?"

Yukari's lips fumbled around, a response trying to assemble itself.

"Are they impressed by you at all? Or have they found you as bothersome as I do?" Ms. Kurosawa took out her phone, looking at something on the screen. "I'm sure that they do. Those children aren't stupid. They don't want to be around you as much as your 'friends' do, correct? I'm sure that they even go to other faculty members for help before ever coming to you, and that would only be out of real desperation."

It was a surreal sight to Minamo, of what she was now witnessing. Yukari, who was normally so belligerent and ferocious whenever she was involved in some sort of confrontation, had now become completely cowed by her mother's words. A pained expression was splattered across her friend's face, her mother quite obviously having just struck at some deep insecurity of hers, Yukari appearing to have no idea at all on how to fight back and defend herself from the accusations of her character.

...I'm sorry, Yukari...

Her pity went out to her friend, knowing exactly what she was going through now. While Yukari's overwhelming personality could make any other person in the world quite easily submit to her, her battles with Ms. Kurosawa had always been an entirely different story.

The woman pounced on Yukari's hesitation. "So, does anyone actually really need you, Tanizaki? No, and neither does my daughter. Unfortunately, she's always been much too sympathetic towards people of your ilk, so she's become blind to as ever having noticed you sucking the life from out of her. How much of her money have you used? How often have you given her grief with your stupidity? Surely even you must wonder why even one person would put up with all of your narcissistic antics."

Her friend look completely gutted now.

Ms. Kurosawa placed her phone back into her pocket, recasting her stare to the woman before her. "I know full well how miscreants like you operate. You have no real place in anyone's life, so what do you do? You force yourself into one, and unfortunately, that happened to be my daughter's." She turned her head. "Who's far too ignorant to have ever realized that she's never actually needed your company."

Another bout of despair went through Minamo.

Her mother raised her voice. "You need to get this through your head, Minamo: this woman's simply been using you all of your life because she has no other people to bother. She does something nice for you once in awhile, so as to cover up the rest of the time when she abuses your hospitality. How much trouble has she given you so far? You know that it's true. How many times have I told you this before? You've never listened to me, and now look at the rut that you're in...just drinking yourself to death."

Minamo bit her lip.

"If you had only never met her..." Ms. Kurosawa sighed. "Maybe your life would actually be a decent one, since you wouldn't be babysitting this imbecile."

She grimaced, the insult causing her emotions to get the best of her again, and she began to sniffle.

"But I suppose you'll on-"

The rattling of cans suddenly filled the air, Minamo becoming startled as Yukari quickly brushed by her mother to come stand in front of her, the woman peering right at her face.

"...what's wrong with your eyes?"

Minamo looked at her in confusion, gasping as she did.

Whoa...?

A moment ago, Yukari's expression had been so weary looking, the woman appearing as if she had just lost some tough, arduous struggle. But now, that had all dissapeared, and what was left was a face that was filled with nothing short of the most absolute, purest concern.

...what...just happened to you? And...why...

She felt a warm, comforting feeling flood her cheeks.

...do I feel like I've been here before...?

"Are you ok? They're all red. Wait...were you cryin' before I came here? I thought you sounded kinda' weird."

It took a moment for her to digest what her friend was talking about, and she looked away from her when she finally did, lifting a forearm to cover her face as she shook her head.

Yukari threw her bag down, a metallic crash emanating from it. "What happened? What'd she talk to you about?"

She kept silent, not daring to say anything that would rile her mother.

"Hey, come on. What's wrong with you? Tell me what she did."

Ms. Kurosawa watched on curiously.

Minamo began to whisper. "N-nothing...I'm fine. Just leave it alone, Yukari..."

"Just tell me what's up. Was she givin' you shit again? That's what happened, didn't it?"

"...please, don't make things tougher for me now. She's just going to yell at me again..."

"...she was yellin' at you?"

She was about to address her friend again, but panicked as Yukari spun around, the woman taking a step towards her mother.

"...w-wait...!"

Minamo threw her arms around one of Yukari's, holding her back, whispering to her more. "W-what are you going to do? Don't...just let it go, I'll be fine. Don't cause any trouble for me...please don't..."

"What'd you do to her before I got here, lady?"

She looked at her in surprise, her friend's voice sounding so different now. It was coming out loudly, almost to the level of a shout, but there was this bold confidence to it that still made it seem so controlled, so precise.

Ms. Kurosawa shrugged. "We had little heart-to-heart chat over matters that don't concern you."

"You always makin' Minamo feel like shit concerns me."

W-what...?

The gentle, soothing sensation that had been running through her skin increased in intensity then, Minamo just staring absently at her friend now as the faintest grains of memories began to streak across her eyes. Yukari's posture and mannerisms, the assured way in which she was conducting herself, all of it was so foreign to the usually brash and impetuous woman, but still, somehow, Minamo knew that she had witnessed this transformation of Yukari's before, had seen it at times in her past when she had felt as equally despondent as she currently was.

...this is just like...when they always...

She hardly noticed herself doing it, but at that moment, Minamo began to tightly grip the arm that she held of her friend's, softly resting her body against hers.

Her mother let out an exasperated sigh. "Please. You know Minamo has always been terrible with any sort of criticism regarding her l life. Any display of emotions on her part, then, is a quite natural thing for someone of her weak constitution to do."

Minamo ducked slightly behind her friend, trying to somehow avoid the pain that the remark had inflicted, and became startled as Yukari almost seemed to understand what she was doing, the woman positioning herself as to block her mother's view of her.

"Besides, are you really one to talk, Tanizaki? I can remember quite a few times when you've made her life very difficult, and I'm sure that practice hasn't changed at all."

Yukari took a second to gather herself. "Yeah, I know. I've done some stupid stuff to her, and...maybe she'd be better off without me. I'm just a piece of shit. I get it..."

For a moment, silence took over the apartment, the woman now pausing as she considered something, before she began to roar.

"...but she's not. And you know what? Even if I've been like an idiot to her sometimes...I'll tell you one thing that I'll never do to her, you stupid hag. I'd never, never go out of my way to make the nicest damn person that I've met in my entire life cry like you do, because there ain't a damn thing Minamo's ever done to anyone that makes her deserve somethin' like that." The woman stamped her foot down with a heft that she didn't seem to be capable of. "So damn you and your stupid standards. Maybe she's just a P.E. teacher or whatever, but it's a good thing that she never turned out like you at all, 'cause if she had, then she wouldn't know how to treat people well like she does, and that'd be a real shame, 'cause..." She leaned forward, glaring menacingly. "...'cause then a whole lotta' people out there woulda' missed out on seein' the kindest damn smile on the whole fuckin' planet!"

The last few words had barely been audible to Minamo, another sound filling the entirety of her consciousness now, drowning out all other stimulus around her.

...*thump*...

In reality, even if she hadn't heard everything that Yukari had just said, she would have known what the content was in any case. She had lived through this same moment before, time and time again, and she remembered her friend as how she now was, standing like a guard dog in front of her, not allowing any harm whatsoever to pass by, to reach that which she was protecting.

And Minamo remembered what she herself had done during those old encounters as well, because it was exactly the same set of actions that she had just undertaken during her friend's thunderous defense of her against her mother.

'...smile...'

Her head now rested gently on Yukari's shoulder, Minamo feeling the most peaceful, addicting bliss that she could possibly experience as her heart pounded furiously. Her body had moved on its own accord, some imprisoned form of her self, having been chained for so long, now free to do as it pleased, completely controlling her as it craved to feel the warmth of her friend, Minamo holding onto Yukari's arm like a child that never wanted to let go again, that never wanted to be without her.

Everything was so perfect now. She was off in another world, her fear gone, her troubles decimated. Yukari had spoken well of her, and that's all that Minamo wanted, all that she had ever wanted, to just hear this amazing woman think of her like no one else ever had, to be the closest one to her, to be the only one in her care.

...she won't let them get me. She won't...she won't...and that means...I'll be with her, just her, and nothing will ev-

"You know...perhaps you are right, Tanizaki."

Minamo glanced at her mother during her reverie, and then everything collapsed.

Yukari snorted. "Yeah? About what?"

"...perhaps...these matters do concern you."

She saw that burning glare focused upon her now, those piercing, eagle eyes of her mother's running straight through her, watching her as she held her friend closely.

And it made her want to vomit.

...stupid...!

All the chains were set back in place again, and a thousand locks clicked together at once.

"Psh..." Her friend rolled her eyes. "Now what are you babblin' on a-"

"Yukari."

The woman looked back at her, Minamo having just let go of her arm. "Ye-"

"Go home."