That Broken Heart She Wore

by reminiscent-afterthought

[pre-season] When Ruki got a shirt with a heart, she took a marker and drew a jagged line right through. It disgusted her, and now that it was maimed it disgusted her mother too.

8. before

That Broken Heart She Wore
8: before

It's not that her mother doesn't love her, or didn't before. Neither of them can help Ruki inheriting next to no similarities from her. They were all from her father: the hair, the eyes, distaste for the spotlighted world…and sometimes it looked like Rumiko was a stranger instead.

But looks don't replace blood, and Rumiko is Ruki's mother, despite everything. She can't help looking, hoping, that they'll develop some common similarity, that she'll develop a taste for her daughter's fashion or Ruki will tire of her jeans and fall in love with dresses instead, or they'll find a compromise somewhere.