"What is the meaning of all this?!"
The tone in Mika's voice raised a few decibels enough for Michiru to flinch and lift her hands in front.
"What're you talking—" She halted mid-sentence the second her irises caught the solo name at the beginning of a text message.
While scrunching her eyebrows, Michiru demanded, "Did you look at my phone?!"
"Answer my question! I recognize the kanji in the name…this person is Kawakami Bansai The Manslayer, isn't it?!"
Though sucking in more air, Michiru's lips pressed at her assumption in the midst of growing heat washing over. Along with clenching her fingers and her muscles tensing like prior.
When no response came about, Mika added with her voice suddenly quieting, "It is." Trailing off, she lowered her arm to where the phone inadvertently slipped. It landed on the tatami mat with a thud.
Taking a step back and planting a hand over her brows, she asked despite barely in her normal tone, "How long have you been seeing him?"
The tautness in Michiru's shoulders furthered along with her throat constricting.
Mika's mouth was ajar. "Are you going—"
"Since this summer when I was still a waitress!" she interjected in a split second.
Intaking a sharp breath, her sister began the succinct information in her mind as she inched from her forehead. Mika's irises glued to Michiru's red-tinted face but her mindset slowly went blank.
"So about five months, huh?"
As much as Michiru wanted to give an initial answer, she however paused upon her voice flattening.
Mika added when lowering her eyelids, "I see. All this time, you've lied to me." Her fingers dug into her palm. "I knew something was up but to think you've been seeing someone like him behind my back."
Shifting her gaze and taking a steady breath, Michiru faltered, "I mean, that's not wrong."
"'Not wrong'?" she repeated in a light scoff, narrowing her eyes at the woman. "All you can say is I'm 'not wrong'? Do you have any idea how much of an understatement that is?"
"That isn't the point—"
"Not true." The firmness brought Michiru to bite her lip. "I have told you time and time again to not take walks in the dark and what do you do? Sneak out in the middle of the night to meet up with an assassin."
Mika flared her nostrils before proceeding in a growl, "Even getting heard by Otsu-chan from you yelling out 'Bansai'." A pause occurred, soon broken in her voice deepening.
"You fucked him, didn't you?"
Michiru repressed a cough from choking on her saliva, returning a shooting glare. "What kind of a question is this?"
"Don't try dodging the subject; what else would you do? I heard you cry out his name from your room the night before the concert. Does that mean you thought of doing it with him again?"
"Well…" Her gaze shifted side to side as the calamity in her worsened, refraining her hands from making the slightest shift.
"Why am I asking this? Your expression gives it away. Not like you're gonna be able to lie to me at this point anyhow."
A thick ball of saliva went down Michiru's throat.
"Why with him of all people?!" Once again, her sister's voice raised but a crack interjected followed by a rasp. "Did you forget who he works for at that point?! They wanna overthrow the government and you're doing this shit?! Meanwhile, I worry about you every time you get involved with a criminal and have to try to calm you when you go through a breakdown. Is this the thanks I get for trying my best to support you despite going through some turmoil myself?!"
"Don't make it sound like I want you doing all this." The severity in her features and gut grew strenuous to set aside yet she sucked in a heavy breath. "I understand how you feel and my meltdowns can at times happen beyond my control. That doesn't mean you need to essentially watch my every move!"
"Michiru, we lost our parents at six years old for crying out loud! Even with the few other people we trusted enough growing up, we never had any close relationships with them! The fact that you went as far as fucking an assassin floors me! Did he coerce you into doing it?!"
"Absolutely not! Do you seriously believe he'd go that far?! Do you think I'm blind at what he generally does for a living? It's true I kept this from you but it was more for personal reasons! I couldn't bring myself to confide because I knew you would react this way!"
Scrunching her face and adrenaline flowing through her veins, Mika inquired, "So you're saying you didn't trust me?"
Michiru cried without thinking ahead, "That's not it at all!"
"Then why have you been doing this for almost half a year?!"
Fingers tugged near the collar of her yukata, simultaneously sensing her heartbeat quickening. She went on, attempting to keep her composure, "Look, I didn't think we'd continue seeing each other after he gave me this scar, but as time went on, I…" More of the fierce heat coursed through, bringing her toes to dig in the mat.
"I've grown fond of him."
Mika's eyelid spasmed. "He scarred your leg and then all of a sudden you have feelings for this man?"
"No, you're not listening. My overall feelings have nothing to do with my scar. He only wanted to see the rhythm in my song."
Gawking at her sibling, Mika asked, "Are you serious?"
Michiru cursed at herself in the midst of chewing on her lower lip again.
"'See the rhythm in your song'? Have you gotten close to where you have a love language now?" Mika's fists clenched until her knuckles started whitening. "Michiru."
She gaped at her and sucked some air through her nostrils.
"You have to cut contact with him."
"Eh?" Uttering, Michiru mirrored her wide-eyed stare.
Mika pointed a finger in her direction before adding, "You cannot be with someone who murders people for their benefit. Even though you hold onto your shuriken, you're in no way a samurai. It also sounds an awful lot like you're saying he's more important than me."
Michiru gritted her teeth together, narrowing her eyes as droplets of perspiration trickled down. "I've never said or even implied such a thing. You are important to me."
A second scoff slipped past her twin's lips. "Oh sure, I'm definitely important when you've been walking on eggshells up till this point." The piercing glare returned though her eyes lacked highlight, pupils pinpointed.
"You didn't respond to my warning. I forbid you from continuing to meet him; it's for your good."
Breathing tensed, teeth clenching, and blood flowed through her veins at a pace Michiru couldn't keep up. Upon parting her lips did she release a lone word with an equal amount of intensity lacing.
"No."
A vein pulsed in Mika's neck. "Excuse me?"
In addition to the knot in her torso strengthening at her sister's darkened glare, Michiru swallowed. "I'm not a child anymore. You're in no position to treat me like one."
"I just told you it's for the sake of your well-being. How does that signify I treat you like a kid?" She grunted through clenched teeth, fists quivering as well.
"I've never forgotten what happened to mom and dad. However, you're making it seem as though I'm completely naïve which feels condescending. Stop controlling the way I'm living when I'm more than capable enough to defend myself."
"Until something manages to remind you of when you saw their corpses. You really aren't trusting me."
"Mika…" Chest visibly heaved as patience wore thin on Michiru.
"You don't seem to have any sense of self-respect either!"
The coil in her head snapped, jolting the sensation towards her feet and subsequently stomping them towards her way.
Michiru swung a hand across before Mika had the chance to say something. By the time there was an ample amount of space between the duo, her palm made hard contact with her cheek. A sound filled the living area. Mika snapped her eyelids wide and sharply inhaled, for a second assuming against reality. Her feet stumbled back a few steps but pressed them into the flooring, stiffening her legs.
Shaky breathing parted past Michiru's lips, hardly making an effort to suppress at this point.
"You…" Raising both hands to the spot, Mika squinted her eyes while water started forming from the stinging sensation.
After a silent gasp behind closed lips did Michiru's sight jerk to her hand.
"How could you?"
Michiru turned to her twin at the involuntary whimpers trailing through her words.
"I—" She faltered, vision focusing back and forth between Mika and her quivering hand. Making a step shortly without much thought. "I didn't mean—"
When reaching out, Michiru received an abrupt shove against her chest.
"Get away from me you hypocritical asshole!"
Turning around and tugging her fingers on the handle, Mika used the same amount of strength to slide the shoji.
Michiru grunted, the force of the push tripping her until the back of her calf abutted a corner of the kotatsu. Sudden sharpness didn't only startle her; she let out a cry the more pressure the woman perceived. Almost soon after averting from the table, Michiru's back slammed into the wall.
She caught a glimpse at Mika's feet leaving the entrance with her sandals omitted.
"Wait, Mika!"
No response. Footsteps reverberated away on the outside dirt.
By the time quietness surrounded, Michiru's legs palpitated until weighing down to the mats. Wrapping her fingers around the spot she accidentally hit. Laying her legs beside her did she plant by a wall within reach.
Her whole figure went still, mindset rumbled with more thoughts beyond comprehension.
Images of her twin's piercing blue eyes watering stuck inside her head. Pupils shrunk as well as veins visible in her sclera.
A mantra of Mika's screaming insult internally echoed. The longer those words repeated, the blurrier Michiru's vision gradually got from the water prickling. With little, if any awareness, salty drops trailed down her cheeks and dripped to her knees and the flooring. More so upon her kisses towards Bansai—the last one she saw most gentle—imprinting thereafter.
Teeth digging below her lower lip, Michiru compressed her eyelids amid closing herself to the wall.
.
.
.
.
.
Bottom feet stretched out on the ground, perceiving countless amounts of pebbles digging in said feet, also dirtying her garment.
Despite the perpetual stabs, Mika physically pushed to continue. Passing between streets and the number of citizens increased the further she sprinted. Initially panting at the fresh remembrance whilst dismissing potential stares within earshot, another sound reiterated. Unlike the ones encircling her, this was trapped in her mind.
Michiru's slap.
Having nothing else to consider and refusing to halt in her tracks, Mika cried out with a string of saliva between both rows of teeth. The second she brought her palms to her damp eyes, however, something slammed into her whole leg.
During a subconscious higher-pitched scream, gravity pulled her until the side of her body was thumped on the ground. Upon turning, an individual originating from a small building shouted, "Hey, what do you think you're doing to my sign?!"
Lips quivered as her peripheral vision darted toward the person. Mika turned before her legs began jerking on their own. Dirt smeared across her stockings along with a tad of gravel piercing in.
While damnedest to repress a wail, Mika thrust herself and went on her trail. At the end of the area, she made a sharp turn toward the left.
Water formed in the corners of Mika's eyes, gritting teeth together with unbidden thoughts roaming.
Excessive but ensuring the same concern.
Why, Michiru?
.
.
.
.
.
Pants and wheezes parted Michiru's dry lips as she froze her feet to the ground between bigger architecture. Losing track of how many times she did so as of now.
Checking her cell phone, her eyes broadened at the time.
"It's been almost an hour," Michiru mumbled. "She didn't bring her phone either."
Inserting her device back, she faced an alleyway from both sides. Neither side had a person in them. They solely contained trash cans.
Murmuring her twin sister's name in a shaken tone, Michiru resumed albeit at a more leisurely pace. Perspiration trickled her features to where she swiped a knuckle across her eyebrows.
Mika's whereabouts wandered in her mind since leaving. Not only disregarding needed items but at a point in time street lights switched, illuminating most of the district.
Michiru swallowed. Unexpectedly bolting from the house would've been one thing coming from Mika. The fact her cheeks stained with many tears chiefly for her action and, in hindsight, puffy eyes…
Though tears threatened to discharge, she drew in a breath while squeezing her eyes shut. In doing so Michiru leaned beside a building. What of, no knowledge on it but mattered zilch as long as she went out from the increasing number of citizens. A handful of them went inside different buildings but Michiru pressed her feet to the ground with her lips curving down. Still too many to supervise an opportunity to keep going.
Finding her sister alone between crowds in the streets? Her head shook, more so upon observing the more adult-oriented places.
Few moments passed before a faint sound entered Michiru's perked ear. When stepping to the end of the building, she slid into the alleyway, the first one going in since starting her search.
Being alone in this particular one and furthering herself, tightness in her muscles attenuated. Michiru emitted a sigh.
Perception of the previous sound reiterated, although now lucid.
Someone letting out chronic sniffling amid some hacking. Sensing the noise from the left side, Michiru took a few deliberate steps forward. As soon as an ample amount of space was held, she peered her head over a wooden edge.
Despite the cramped pathway and rooftops blocking any lighting, a figure facing down came into her view. Convulsing while having legs against their chest, feet barely visible in addition to their head practically planted to the ground. Michiru made a step or two forward, eyes adjusting to the darkness.
Perceiving light color and lack of footwear, she muttered, "Mika…?"
A bolt stabbed in the small of her back as a tad of saliva caught in her throat, leading to a coughing fit. After dying down did she turn her head until spotting Michiru from the corner of her eye.
Michiru's feet stopped before any thoughts had the chance to occur. Taking a long breath, she started, "I finally found you."
Mika's eyebrow furrowed, tears flowing out of her glistening irises.
"Why're you here?"
Her question triggered a sinking sensation in Michiru's gut. No. She forbade this to take over her twice.
Breathing in an adequate amount of air for the umpteenth time, she responded, "You left in a panic. I was worried about you."
"But you slapped me in the face."
She shifted her gaze whilst resting her hands in front of herself. "I know."
"You've never done such a thing to me, your own sister." Mika's voice raised and although not nearly as loud as at their house, Michiru's skin tensed, goosebumps forming even.
"I'm still flabbergasted by what I read, hearing those words come out of your mouth and your actions." A crack slipped in her vocals, leading the blubbering twin to reach for her own throat and use the pads of her fingers to drag in a circular movement. "What happened to you?"
Digging nails in her knuckles, she said, "Nothing happened. I guess my emotions got the better of me at that moment and I took it out on you. Even so…" Toes dug in her sandals as well as her fingernails continuing to do it in unison.
Michiru elevated a hand up to her chest, discerning her heart quickening.
"...what I did is inexcusable. I got frustrated at you for not listening to what I tried explaining, yes, but it doesn't change anything. I still did something awful."
Mika turned her figure. Raising her torso and sliding her legs to one side, eyes narrowing in Michiru's direction. In spite of the internal feeling in her gut and the back of her mind pushing for another shout, Mika instead pursed her lips. Gliding hands up her arms then each clutching a sleeve.
She leaned her eye view towards Michiru's features. The latter lowered her glance to the ground, water dripping out upon a few blinks as eyebrows hardly tautened.
Stiffness in Mika's cheeks started subduing; rubbing her palm over her eyelids along with a snivel.
Michiru added, a notable croak in her vocals, "I'm really sorry I slapped you."
Using her weight on one foot, her sibling soon rose as she planted a palm over the wall of a random house.
When gulping the accumulated spit, Mika inquired, caution lacing throughout her tone, "What about the Manslayer?"
Michiru perked her head up once more, movement in her features scant. "I won't stop my contact with him."
"Figured you'd say that…" Giving out a nearly muted sigh, Mika laced a whole hand through her hair.
"You have the right to be angry at me; I'm not suggesting otherwise. All I'm asking is for one thing."
She took two moderate steps toward her twin, enclosing the space between the two.
"Will you please at least try communicating with me?"
Loosening her grip, strands of deep red bangs dangled over Mika's droopy eyes and evened brows.
"I…" Her gaze went to her feet, at this point fixating on her muddied feet. Despite her vision perpetually blurring from the uncontrollable water, Mika pushed herself to answer, "I can't right now."
"I see." Her face fell but lacked any more of a reaction than that. Michiru placed another step before holding the straps to a pair of sandals in front. "Here. You left these."
When accepting them, Mika slid her feet in.
The quietude pressured over their shoulders, bringing Michiru to wrap a hand on the back of her neck, giving a tight squeeze.
"Well…let me know when you're ready to talk, okay?" She tried pushing her lips to curve up but with little to no avail.
"Yeah…"
"Why don't we go home and eat? I'm sure you've had an exhausting day."
No answer this time. Instead of words, Mika extended a hand over to Michiru.
Though widening her eyes a tad, Michiru did not object and wrapped her fingers over.
The pair of twins started through the narrow alleyway at last. Amidst the silence, a shot of them being in their youths played in Mika's headspace.
Tears poured down while she dashed behind Michiru, hand locking onto her wrist as both breathed unevenly. Surroundings nix, only a white void with seemingly no end in sight.
By the time background sound seeped in her eardrums, a spike hit her cranium.
No running but a gradual stroll. Breathing audible yet no sign of it being dense. Sight perceiving a nightly dark pathway save for a handful of hanging lanterns.
Sparing a glance at the back of her sister's head as well as part of her face, Mika's lips pressed together.
Straining to muffle down an nth choked sob for the remainder of their way home.
To be continued…