Rikka washed her face quickly and sighed. She felt very sick and unwell. After having something like that done to her, she had no strength to eat. The smell of the groceries Haruka bought for Teras.h.i.+ma Lila made her feel nauseous. So Rikka rushed to the bathroom. Why did she even fall for Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka? It"s not like he treated her very well from the moment they met. He only ever liked her for her body at the start. Even after he saw her again, that"s all he ever wanted from her.…
Two days later - Star Park
To clear her mind of the stress that had been building up over the last few days. Rikka blocked all calls from her father and skipped work. What she needs is a day by herself. A day alone, shopping and strolling around town. Anything that would take her mind of the recent events. However, it seemed like she was doomed to fail. Recently, it felt like she was running into Teras.h.i.+ma Lila quite a bit. Currently, the girl had fans and reporters chasing her. Rikka sighed; she supposes it can"t be helped. Once the girl got close to her, Rikka immediately grabbed hold of Lilas"s arm and pulled her behind the tree.
The two waited until the crowd left before speaking up.
"What are you doing here?" Rikka asked. She did not think she would find Teras.h.i.+ma Lila in the park - at least alone. Why is Haruka not with her?
Lila sighed, "I"m protesting."
Huh?
"Haruka bailed on our date even though I canceled my work today."
Ah…
"Some things don"t change…"
"But, hmm," Lila looked her up and down. "If he isn"t with you, maybe he"s with the other one? He seemed very occupied that he couldn"t answer my call."
"That doesn"t worry you?"
"It really worries me! I"m worried about it so much that I lose sleep," Lila exclaimed. But then she sighed, "Still, Haruka isn"t the type to cheat on me. If he wanted to, he could have done so a long time ago. I know there is still a chance for him to do that in the future and that I shouldn"t let my guard down. However, I believe in his feelings for me."
"Believe in his feelings?" Now that Teras.h.i.+ma Lila mentions it. When she was still dating Haruka, she was very uneasy every single day. She already knew how many women flocked to him, and she knew about his clients too. Haruka"s phone was filled with different messages from different women. But even then, Rikka thought things would be fine. He only ever kept pictures of Teras.h.i.+ma Lila on his phone.
Even the pictures they took together, he deleted them. Rikka never got offended when he did this. She understood from the start that he already had somebody in his heart. It was her job, her role to make sure he got over that woman.
"Say Rikksan, do you have plans today?"
"I was thinking of doing some shopping and walking around.."
Lila beamed happily, "Then let"s go around together."
"Huh?"
"I mean, I"ve wanted to spend time with you. Haruka doesn"t let me save your number on my phone, either. It"s unfair!"
He does that? Does Haruka think she will do something to Teras.h.i.+ma Lila? Is that how low he thinks of her? Rikka shook her head; there is no use thinking about it too deeply.
"I"ll give you my number."
Her eyes brightened, "Really?"
"I"ll also accompany you today too."
....
Rikka was having a lot more fun than she thought she would have. At first glance, Teras.h.i.+ma Lila is not the type of person she would get along with. But, it turned out to be the complete opposite. The two of them were browsing some books in the library. It turned out they both liked the same books.
"Say, what do you think of people who have that strange symptom?"
Lila paused for a moment before she spoke up. "I think they are lonely beings."
"Lonely?"
Lila nodded, "Even though they"ve become a criminal, it doesn"t mean their evil. After all, they only became that way because they learned the truth or noticed a flaw within the world. Individuals who become too exposed to the truth and begin to understand people"s actions are the ones that are the loneliest beings out there."
People who understand others so much, huh? Rikka recalled how Haruka seemed to understand everything she was thinking.
"Let"s use uh Kiryu as an example."
"Austin Kiryu?"
Lila nodded.
"He"s strong, powerful, and everyone respects her. Yet when he first worked in the underworld, so many problems cropped up. Because of his views, and his viewpoints on certain things were so complex and detailed. Others stayed away from him, thinking how could he understand the minds of criminals so well? All the enemies they faced, they managed to defeat them, not because of their powers. But because Kiryu guided them on what to do."
"Why did you ask?"
Rikka averted her gaze for a moment before mumbling Haruka"s name.
"I see, about Haruka, huh? Then I can answer that. That guy is lonely," Lila said, "No matter where he went. People would always view him as abnormal, the system recognized him and yet didn"t accept him properly. He wanted to be accepted, that lonely child inside him was screaming out, "I"m here notice me." Yet, for the longest time, no one came for him."
Lonely, ah… That would make sense, although the three of them were mismatched as friends. She still got along with Sophia then. However, Haruka was different, no matter how many times they hung around together. That look of loneliness would not leave his face at all, "Has Haruka ever mentioned Voltaire to you?" Lila asked.
"Yeah, he said that nothing could justify his actions at all. But " It is neither an excuse nor a justification. I am just showing what my...peers of the past believed. If the system commands for someone to die, n.o.body questions t. Is it not the same as I do? Take the lives of those that are better of dead?" Actually when he said that...somehow...I could agree with him. After all, this existing system in the world - whether or not the individuals have powers. Killings always happen. People die; people suffer. It"s a cycle that repeats," Rikka said.
Indeed Rikka thought that before. That what she thought wasn"t wrong, even now that hasn"t changed. Perhaps it was the influence from reading too much. She didn"t truly understand it very well. But even so that person, she never once saw that person as evil.
Rikka always felt that a connection existed between Haruka and her.
A pained expression appears on Lila"s face, one that he could not read at all. "Yes, it is something that repeats. Then let me change the question. What do you think of the delinquents that have lived both as a human and a delinquent? As a normal human, they lived their normal lives, but as a delinquent, they are bound to their mission to protect the balance of the world. Though there"s a revenge factor also if it comes to choosing between revenge and mission, they"d still choose the mission," Lila said. "To only have two options is boring, but sometimes you cannot control the outcome of the world."