"W-Wha....is this...?"
Kirika was surprised at Keiko. They were both in the girl's locker room where they were changing clothes.
Keiko and Kirika joined the archery club and it was time to go home.
They were both changing clothes but Kirika got a request from Keiko. She was hesitant as other club members were in the locker room.
"Can I ask for a favour, Kirika-san?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Can we go to the corner and can you cover my back?"
"...Yes?"
Kirika was confused and investigated more about the reason for that strange request.
But Keiko had a worried and embarrassed face as she replied with, "Just come..."
Kirika could not really dig deep into that matter so she reluctantly went with Keiko to the corner of the wall.
Kirika used the pretext of changing her clothes over there and used it as an opportunity to hide Keiko's back with her uniform.
It was effective as no one suspected a thing and it covered a wide region.
A chance for Keiko, she quickly undressed her top and revealed her blue bra.
"Wha-?!"
Kirika was more than shocked, she froze. Keiko revealed more than just her bra. Without wasting any second, Keiko had already put on her uniform.
Then, she proceeded to put on her blazer. All of this was happening but Kirika was still in a daze.
Keiko noticed this so she stopped Kirika from staying in that pose.
"It is alright now. Stop it."
Kirika realized what she was doing and she retracted from her frozen posture. More than that, she observed Keiko because she had a smile on her that was oblivious to any worries.
It made Kirika furious.
"Keiko-san, what was that?" She leaned closer to Keiko's ear and whispered angrily.
"Ah, that? Just some scars."
"Just some scars...?" Kirika was stupefied at Keiko's casual and unbothered tone.
The reason why Kirika got angrier as shown by the way she squinted her eyes is because it was not just some scars.
"It is not 'just some scars'!"
".....You are talking too loud Kirika-san. Calm down, everyone is looking at us."
With that said, Kirika glanced behind her and saw everyone was staring at her and Keiko. However, it was the least of her concern right now.
She grabbed Keiko's wrist and led her outside. Everyone just observed those two as they exited the locker room.
No one exactly knew what was going on except for the fact that Kirika just had an outburst for an inexplicable reason. That was from their perspective.
From Kirika's though, it was terrifying.
Keiko and Kirika were both alone. Keiko voiced her concerns to Kirika.
"Are you okay, Kirika-san?"
"...I should be the one to ask that."
Kirika was genuinely distressed about Keiko's situation.
She reminisced about what she saw just a minute ago.
Countless scars covered almost her whole back. Some small round cigarette burns around the region of her shoulder. Even some bruises were here and there.
It was....abominable to look at. Anyone would think like that. But Kirika was different. She felt sympathy and angry for her sake.
"How...did this happen?"
Keiko was troubled by the question so she evaded it.
"It is okay Kirika-san. You do not have to worry about that."
"Why!?"
Kirika grabbed both of Keiko's shoulders and screamed at her. She gritted her teeth and wanted to knock some sense into her.
In the end, she dispelled that thought and calmed herself down by inhaling and exhaling a huge amount of air.
She let go of her grasp and did not coerce Keiko into divulging the cause of those atrocious scars.
Even thinking about them made Kirika's blood boil and she wanted to know who was responsible for this.
"If you don't want to tell me, that is fine but..."
She stared right into Keiko's eyes and courageously said.
"...If anyone hurts you, you tell me. I will do anything to protect you."
".....Kirika-san.....why go so far...?"
Keiko was perplexed by her behaviour. Never would she have thought that Kirika would be so caring and so meddling than others.
The way Kirika acted when she saw those scars, it was like she was the one that was hurt and not Keiko.
Kirika glanced downwards whilst Keiko waited for her answer. With a determined look, Kirika looked at her and stated.
"Because I am your friend."
"...."
Keiko had a lonely smile that could not help but appear on her face. The orange light that shone on them revealed each of their feelings and the distance that closed between them.
Keiko took up on that offer with welcoming arms.
"Yes. Thank you. Kirika-san."
"No problem."
"You know, I feel that I will be ruining this moment if I told you this but-"
"I don't mind." Kirika denied her with a straight face.
"...U-Um, the one that was responsible for this, has already been taken care of."
"Huh?"
"Yes, you heard me right. It has already been solved."
"....Is that so? Then I am glad."
"I am happy though!"
Keiko proceeded to hug her and it took Kirika by surprise.
"E-Eh?"
"Because what I have just attained is not just a friend, but a true friend."
Those words that entered through Kirika's ear made her cheeks flush red. Her ear was also not escaping from being red and so Kirika was fully embarrassed as she recalled what she just said to Keiko seconds ago.
Nonetheless, Kirika slowly lifted her arms and embraced Keiko with a gentle grasp.
Keiko felt that she was in safe hands. Kirika fought with her bashful attitude to let out the words she wanted Keiko to hear.
"If you have anything to say, don't hesitate and let me alleviate that burden that you have."
Keiko stepped back in response and she had the most cheerful smile that Kirika had ever seen before.
"Yes! I will, Kirika."
She dropped the honorifics and closed the distance of the relationship between her and Kirika.
The slow breeze gracefully made both of their hairs flow as if being pulled away by a calm and serene river.
Kirika closed her eyes for a second, grinned carefreely and pouted at her.
"If you don't then I will scold you harshly, Keiko."
"W-What!?"
Keiko was taken aback as she had her mouth agape.
"W-Why are you so shocked?"
"...no, I didn't think that you were capable of having that expression."
"I am going to seriously scold you now."
"Spare me!" Keiko clasped her hand together and asked for forgiveness from the cold Kirika.
After a momentary silence, a burst of laughter lack of any burden filled the surrounding.
Their friendship strengthened as strong as tungsten.
...........
Meanwhile, a few minutes ago when Keiko asked Kirika to cover her back, the situation was similar with Yoichi and Naoko.
"-!?!?!"
Yoichi put on the school uniform then the blazer with such astonishing quickness.
Nonetheless, no matter how quick he was, he was not able to hide a single thing from Naoko as he was blocking everyone's sight with his body.
There were so many scars on his back and front that there wasn't any place that his skin got spared from this cruelty.
Unbearable to look at.
Yet, the most eye-catching one was the large burn mark that covered the whole of his upper back.
He unwillingly wondered what exactly happened to Yoichi. What was he subjected to get this kind of injury?
"All done, thanks."
Yoichi veered to him, expressed his gratitude and went back to his locker. Alas, he was stopped by Naoko.
"Wait a minute. Care to explain to me what was that?"
The most serious face that Naoko ever pulled in front of Yoichi, it was a first for him.
"Ah, that? Th-"
"Don't lie to me!"
Naoko got the feeling that he would lie his way out from it. He was already thinking ab0ut the worst possible scenario.
".....Are you misunderstanding something here, Naoko?"
Naoko could not say anything because he does not know the truth about those scars.
If Naoko shows signs of hesitation, then Yoichi might change his story he will take advantage of his uncertainty.
Whereas if he stays confident about this matter, then Yoichi may reveal the true reason.
So, he acted neither unsure nor guilty as he said.
"Am I?"
"......I think you are."
"Then tell me the TRUTH about those injuries."
He emphasized 'truth' and induced the veracity of his answer.
Yoichi turned red as he felt abashed about the circumstance that came upon him.
"U-Umm, it is a bit embarrassing..." He pointed both his index fingers to each other and started tapping lightly.
"Huh? What is so embarrassing concerning those scars?"
"...Don't tell it to anyone, okay?"
"...Okay..."
Yoichi was reluctant, he gazed on the floor unable to look into Naoko's. He told Naoko to come closer. He heeded to Yoichi's request which made his confidence rise a bit.
He got closer and whispered,
"The truth is, I got pushed into a dumpster. There were some stray cats in there so they kind of a little...angry when they saw me suddenly barge into them....."
Naoko's eyes widened and stared at Yoichi oddly.
Yoichi saw Naoko's corner of his mouth twitch and his eyes started to waver. His whole mouth quivered gradually and his cheeks lifted a little.
'Oh god.' Yoichi prepared for the explosion.
"PHUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!!!!!! A DUMPSTER!!???! WHAT THE HELL!?!? AHHAHAHAHAH!!!"
'Yeah, I expected that.' Yoichi's dead eyes observed his friend. Every other club member were bewildered by Naoko's laughing fit so they inquired.
All they got were just laughing so they gave up.
After some time, when the volume of his laughter died down, he asked another question to Yoichi.
"Haha.....Who pushed you?"
"....My little sister..."
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!! So weak that you got pushed by your little sister? So funny!!!"
"No, it is not." His denial got shrouded by Naoko's laugh.
He did not bother calming him down. Suddenly, he felt a vibration in his pocket.
Yoichi searched for his phone and a new message was sent. It was from Keiko. He opened it and it said:
'Gonna come home late. I'm with Kirika. She wants to know about my scars.'
Yoichi was unperturbed and seemed indifferent, however, his mind was contemplating on various stuff.
He typed: 'Okay. Do your best.'
She replied: 'I will, later.'
Then she sent an emoji of a military man saluting. Yoichi went along with her playfulness and also sent the same emoji.
On the other end of the phone, Keiko giggled and murmured, "He is trying his best too."
............
"Hahahahaha!! What's with that funny story!? I can't breathe!!"
"Ah mou! Not you too!"
Keiko heartily ridiculed Yoichi's story. Catching a breath was really difficult for Keiko as she could not resist the laughter that came up to her mouth automatically when she recalled Yoichi's fake story.
She could not control herself and rolled over to the sides every time on the bed. Her legs stomped on the mattress while her arms also did the same.
Yoichi, who was seated on the chair next to his desk, pouted with anger, nonetheless, that was all he could do at the moment.
Both of them were relaxing in the brother's room. Yoichi had some homework to do. The same could be said about Keiko but when Yoichi asked, she replied, " I already did it."
"So fast!" Alas, Yoichi was the only one who hasn't yet completed his homework.
Yoichi, who was still the victim of Keiko's laughing fit, asked about her end on how it went with Kirika.
"How about yours? What did you say?"
"Ah, mine? I just kept it simple and said that someone bullied me and they got punished by the law. It was not far off from the truth so it was easier for me to act."
"Punished by the law huh..."
As she heard him mumble she chuckled and had a laugh yet again.
"This is funny in its own way. Hahahahaha!!!"
"....."
She covered her sight with her forearm and reminisced some memories that she should not have but couldn't.
Unconsciously, her cheerful contorted into a malicious one.
"It's funny that I told Kirika that the bully got punished by the law. What she doesn't know is that..."
She removed her forearm and turned her head towards Yoichi.
".....the law is next to me."