Interlude II: Kisaragi Rikka

Books were piling up on the table and a little girl sat on the chair reading them one by one.

It's not like she loved reading books that much though it's just that she didn't have anything better to do.

For Kisaragi Rikka reading was a mere activity for killing time. She rarely went out and play outside. Even if she did it's not like she had any friends to hang out with either. Other than reading she only liked to spent time with her younger sister or grandma. Her mom was busy with work so she's always the one taking care of the house chores.

Overall her life was not that bad. She didn't have a father anymore since he died not long after her younger sister was born. But it's not like she remembered much about him either since he rarely at home. But even so just having her current families satisfied her, at least she thought so.

Rikka was a smart girl. She's not the top of the top but she would always reach top 5 in her grade. Since she a lot of time reading books then naturally includes her own study. She planned to become a doctor in the future and it seemed a vast knowledge was required to do that.

Releasing a breath she closed her book and stretched her body. It was already near midnight and she had to sleep soon so she wouldn't be late for school tomorrow.

She turned her body and walked towards her bed. On the bed was a girl even smaller than her currently sleeping peacefully. She smiled and snuggled near her. Her younger sister shared a room with Rikka and they would sleep together like this everyday. After watching her sister's sleeping face for awhile she shut her eyes and fell asleep.

....

Morning came and Rikka opened her eyes while yawning. She raised her body and wiped her sleepy eyes.

"...Again with that dream."

She murmured quietly and recalled the dream she had last night.

It was a strange dream. Right now she's not remember much about it but it was definitely a very detailed and realistic dream during her sleep.

In the dream she was another person. With blood red eyes and long black hair, she slain her enemies again and again with her katana. Her enemies would mostly died with a single cut everytime she assassinate them.

That's right she was an assassin. Along with her small group she assassinated numerous corrupted nobles to rebel against her country and also to save her younger sister from them.

It was a very harsh world where the strong will live and the weak shall die. Rotten people were everywhere and illegal crimes occurred frequently.

Rikka couldn't recall her name during that dream. When she woke up it was quite vague and unclear. She only remembered a few details and the vague line of what she did and what kind of world she was in.

Shaking her head, she got off from the bed and made her way to the bathroom. Today was the start of her 6th grade primary school.

In the morning her mother had not gone to work yet so she's always the one making breakfast while the rest after that belonged to Rikka's work since her grandma's already too old to do that.

After having her breakfast she changed her clothes and prepared for school. Her younger sister was still in 2nd grade primary school and her mother would escorted her before she went off to her company.

Rikka left alone since her school was in another way than her younger sister but she didn't mind that.

She realized today she woke up a little late so she decided to hurry. After making sure there's no one in her surroundings she leapt up high to the roof and made her way to her school buy jumping through the buildings.

This was a secret she never told anyone in her family. For some reason her physical abilities was out of ordinary and she could display superhuman feats effortlessly. She figured that perhaps her abilities came from her dream.

She was extremely proficient on hiding her presence and she moved at an extraordinary speed even far outclass a gold rank medalist from Olympic Games.

As a former assassin people would have a very hard time to catch her in the act. But she's not stupid either to get caught by being careless.

In the end she arrived too early at her school and very few people already arrived there. Landing on a safe place she entered her school and made her way to her new classroom.

As expected no one was there....

No, there's actually someone beside her, arriving even earlier than her. She looked at the seat from the rightmost back and found a little boy with short black hair reading a manga.

She remembered her school prohibited bringing such things though but she decided to keep silent about it.

The boy noticed someone's entered the class and raised his gaze from the book. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Rikka averted her gaze and sat on her chair, the opposite direction from the little boy.

She looked at her right and noticed he's still looking at her but when he realized she noticed him, he immediately averted his gaze back to his manga.

'What's with him?' She thought.

An hour later the bell rang and the class started. Rikka was a serious student so she always paid attention to the teachers' lectures while the majority of her classmates were goofing around.

It was finally lunch time and the students cheered out loudly. Some of them went out of the classroom and some of them took out their bentos from home, such as Rikka. Her mother made the bento and it was very delicious.

Time to time she would glanced at her other classmates. Boys and girls chatting with each other, laughing and smiling while merging their desks and ate their lunch together. Rikka ate by herself since she didn't anyone to eat with.

She glanced at her right and noticed the same little boy looking at her once again. He had a look of curiosity on his face as if he was watching something very interesting.

She didn't really like his look and wondered what's so interesting about her. She realized the boy was eating with a few male friends together. Apparently those guys shared the same interests at him since the topic they were talking were all about fantastical and fictional stories she recalled from games and cartoons.

Although Rikka was an avid reader but she rarely read any mangas. She'd not that interested and preferred classical or literatures novel. But her main focus was definitely regarding pharmacy and medical books since her goal was to be a doctor.

A few days later Rikka attended class just like usual until at lunch time someone approached her.

"Hello."

'Nn?' Rikka raised her head and looked towards her right.

"You're...."

"Uhh good day, you're Kisaragi right? If you're alone would you like to eat together?"

"...."

The boy from before greeted her and invited her to have a lunch with him and his friends.

She was dumbfounded at his offer and looked towards his friends on his desk eyeing her. She felt shy from their gazes and turned her face.

"...It's okay, please don't mind me."

She decided to refuse.

Starting from that day the boy who introduced himself as Sugimura Haruto often invited her for lunch but she would always refused his invitation.

A few weeks later.

It was time to change seats and Rikka once again placed at the second most back row far from the board. She liked to be placed on the front though, since she could paid attention better, even though her senses was very sharp but having no obstructions in her vision was definitely better.

Classes went by as usual and Rikka was taking notes for the lesson. Just when she's about to finish noting, a finger poked her side.

"Kyaa!?" She shrieked.

Rikka turned her head to the back and saw Haruto grinning mischievously.

"W-What are you doing!?"

"Eeh? Nothing~"

"Both of you please keep silent!"

The teacher scolded them from the noises they made. The other students too turned their gaze at both of them.

She gritted her teeth and glared to her back. "This is because of you!" was what her eyes said. Haruto just chuckled and ignored her glare.

She never realized that boy was actually sitting right behind her seat!

After that instead of inviting her to lunch, Haruto started to tease her at every chance he got.

Rikka sighed and exasperated at his deeds so she tried to ignore him but he would always be clever and managed to attract her emotions much to her frustration.

Before she knew, she started to talk to him normally, greeting each other every morning (though all of it was started by Haruto and she responded begrudgingly)

The other classmates would often glanced at their banters interestingly. And before long some of them started to approach the two of them and joined their conversation.

Rikka began to make some friends and they would often invited her to play or had lunch together. She was so embarrassed by also happy that some people tried to get close to her.

'Could it be he was doing that on purpose?'

Teasing her and chatting with her at every attempt. Very much different then his usual image where he would always spend his time with his male friends and ignored the other girls.

But she remembered his annoying grin and shook her head. 'No, it can't be.'

Still it went inside her mind and her attitude towards Haruto began to soften and time to time they would smile and started to laugh together.

"Hee, so you wanted to be a doctor huh?"

By now they've already in middle school and somehow they got into the same school and entered the same class.

"Yup, I was studying hard for it, what about you Sugimura-kun?"

"Me? Well..."

He suddenly hung his head before making a strange pose by crossing his hands and closed one of his eye with his hand.

"I will save the world with the power of my left eye!"

He said.

Naturally Rikka did not understand what he meant and what he's doing. Is the world even in danger? By what? And what's wrong with your left eye?

Maybe she should began to train her abilites seriously...

And so she believed him just like that.

A year passed by and they entered the second year of middle school, once again placed on the same class.

They just interacted like usual while she spent times with her other friends. She smiled and laughed a lot these days ever since she gained so many friends. Unknown to her Haruto would smile gently at her everytime he saw her interactions with her friends.

Sometimes she would hear some rumors about Haruto and random girls, gossiping about their relationships. Rikka heard that rumored silently she thought that perhaps Haruto has someone he likes. But she didn't really understand about such things unfortunately.

Days passed and on a certain day Haruto was absent from the class. She wondered what happened to him and thought maybe he was sick.

Suddenly the announcement speaker rang out and the headmaster told something to the students.

She found out from the announcement that Haruto's parents got into an accident and passed away. She was very surprised to hear the announcement and wondered if he was okay. She asked her grandma to accompany her on their funerals.

She saw Haruto crying silently in front of his parents altar while sitting next to her was unfamiliar woman she never saw before. She figured that might be his older sister he sometimes told her of. She couldn't help but let out some tears seeing their sorrowful faces. Their parents were gone that mean they were an orphan now.

Haruto was absent for a week from school and Rikka was worried about him. But the next day he finally returned and greeted her.

There's still trace of sorrow on his face but more than that he seemed a lot more mature and resolute compared from before. He never spoke weirdly or making a strange pose any longer. He also did not tease her that often compared from before.

Rikka tried to cheer him up and encouraged him even though he never seemed to be that sad or anything in front of her.

They entered the third grade and this time they were separated from each other. She felt sad from the fact but it cannot be helped.

She met her new classmates and to her surprise there's a lot of a new face she never seen before, both males and females. She'd like to befriend them but realized she never approach someone on her own before.

She told Haruto about that and asked for his help. To be honest she would like him to accompany her. But Haruto frowned hearing that and didn't seem to be so keen on helping her. She was confused at his refusal since usually he would gladly help her.

But to her surprise Haruto actually helped her the next day and approached her new classmates together with her and they chatted with each other for a bit.

But in the end Rikka did not feel very fun with them since she's still kinda shy and did not talk that much apart from Haruto. Chatting and talking with Haruto was much better than all of them, she felt happy and having a lot of fun with him.

But for some reason Haruto seemed a little distant from her ever since that day much for her confusion. They would talk with each other every time they met but Haruto did not approach her as often as before.

She decided to spend times with her female friends and hang out with them when he's not there. Still, she prefered to play with him.

A few months past by and the culture festival had finally arrived. She was quite curious about this festival and looked forward to it. She was astonished when Haruto suddenly invited her to stroll around the festival together. She happily accepted his invitation and he smiled brightly.

They strolled around together while laughing with each other. As expected she felt so much fun spending time with him compared to her other friends.

At the end of the festival Haruto took her to the rooftop because he had something he wanted to say. She didn't know what he wanted to say and followed him quietly.

"I...Like you Kisaragi."

"Eh?"

Never would she expected him to say that suddenly.

'Li..ke? He likes..me? Like in the terms of romance...? But...why? Didn't he have someone he likes? So it was...me?'

"Why?" She voiced her thought.

"Umm how should I say this... I don't really know myself, it's just you appeared a lot in my mind ever since we've met, I thought you're really cute and smart but for some odd reason you were alone. Even though you clearly wanted to have some friends... So somehow I got attracted to you and by the time I realized I already like you..."

Rikka's eyes opened wide. She was cute? Is he joking? No one ever told her like that...

Her mind was in chaos and she didn't know what to say, it looked like Haruto was waiting for her response but just how should she answer?

Did she like him? She didn't know.

Did she like to spend time with him? Yes she did.

Did she happy being with him? She did.

So does that mean she love him? That's...

It was the first time she felt this way and she really didn't understand, how she wish she could asked her friends and family but Haruto was waiting for her answer.

Usually at this time she could always said to wait for her answer but for Rikka she was very unfamiliar with this kind of thing and it didn't cross her mind. In the first place she didn't even know how liking someone feel like.

"....I don't know. I'm sorry..." She said.

"You..don't know..?"

"...."

"I see..."

They were silent for sometime before Haruto suddenly ran away without looking back. She really felt like she did something bad and her heart clenched tightly but she just didn't understand. In the end she sobbed silently alone, hating her clueless self.

They never talked to each other again ever since then. Even until they graduated they didn't talk a single word. Rikka was extremely sad, she felt so empty inside her heart.

They went for a separate high school never in contact with each other again. Two years passed by and she was 17 years old the same age as him.

She would always thinking of him, never for a moment she felt this lost in her entire life. She started to understand more about romance but she still quite unsure. But at least she could comprehend what he felt and meant that time.

One day she decided to visit his school to search for him, hoping to fix their relationship. When she arrived she couldn't find his figure so she asked someone.

"Excuse me, umm can you tell me where Sugimura Haruto is? I would like to meet him."

"Sugimura-san? Ah that second year kid. You haven't heard about him yet?" An upperclassgirl said.

"Heard..?"

"He died, yesterday. He was stabbed by a criminal and passed away."

"!!?"

As if her entire body was struck by a thunderbolt, her eyes opened as wide as they can and her body jolted.

'Died...? Who? Sugimura-kun is?'

Her body was trembling furiously. Her eyes were hollow and she couldn't process her thought.

'I won't see him again? His smile, his teasing, his laugh, everything....?'

She remembered her time with him. How he suddenly approach her all of a sudden. Inviting her to have a lunch together and then teasing her at every attempt. He realized she always desired a companion, a friendship, to clear her loneliness. But she did not realize his intentions.

'Did I even say "thank you" to him even once?'

And then she remembered his confession. How long did he like her and developed a crush on her. She didn't realize this too and misunderstood him for liking someone else. And for the worst part to actually ask for his help to interact with other people including boys, just what would he feel like that?

'What have I done?'

Unconsciously she attended his funeral, no one from her family accompanied her. She heard a very loud screaming from a woman's voice. She noticed the hysterical woman to be his older sister Asami.

She looked at his altar and gaze at his picture. Before she knew it she already let out drops of tears and cried loudly. Immense regret and guilt filled her heart from the overwhelming sense of lost. She cried for an unknown time before she calmed down a little. Rikka noticed someone was looking at her and realized it was Asami.

Right, his sister was left alone. She learned from the surroundings that they didn't have any relatives. Seeing his only sister left alone by him she secretly swore inside her heart.

'At the very least I will definitely take care and protect his older sister.'

Rikka would like to invite her to her house but someone's already beat her to it. She felt a very disgusting feeling from the man next to the old lady offering their pity. She really had to take her on her house.

But she couldn't decide that without informing her family so she secretly followed them to make sure she's alright. After confirming the man didn't seem like making a weird move soon she decided to deal with her other objective...

To get revenge on Haruto's death.

That's right she was an assassin, she killed countless people during the time in her dream. Even now it felt very real and she could feel power filling inside her body the moment she thought of killing someone as if a switch had turned on inside her mind, without knowing her eyes had already turned bloody red.

She didn't feel repulsed. As if it was a very natural thing. Too bad she didn't have the katana from her dream but equipping herself with a kitchen knife was already sufficed, after all her target was an insignificant weakling.

For the next few days she tracked the killer of Haruto. Using her keen smell and vision by investigating the crime scene and infiltrating the police station, she finally discovered where his killer was.

Without much effort she killed him silently surpassing even a professional hitman. Before she killed him she learnt of the fact that the man she felt a very disgusting feeling before was actually the mastermind of everything.

'Unforgivable.' Rage filled her heart.

The next day after shool she immediately head to Asami's neighbor house, already informing her family about her intention to take care of Haruto's big sister.

Her family already learned about Haruto and symphatized with her. But they also scolded her for being clueless and Rikka accepted their anger since she deserved it.

She arrived at the front door and it was locked. Suddenly a scream was heard an she became alert in an instant.

Kicking the door violently with her leg she broke inside the house and ran forward to the source of the voice.

She opened the door and immediately swung her schoolbag towards the man's head while he's pinning Asami's body.

The man fell unconscious from her blow and she looked at Asami. As expected she was severely traumatized so she spent a lot of effort to assure her.

Unfortunately she couldn't kill the man in front of Asami since it would strengthen her trauma. That's why after she sent Asami to her home she decided to pay 'a visit' to the man once again.

When she returned the lady had just came back from her shopping and she was shocked seeing her front door destroyed. Rikka went to her back and chopped her neck to knock her out. It didn't seem like this lady was involved with her husband's sins so she pardoned her life.

But not that man. Just him she would definitely make him suffer as much as possible. She wouldn't kill him so easily until he begged to die.

She kidnapped the still unconscious man to an abandoned warehouse. She immediately take out her "tools" and watched the man's face without any expression with her red eyes.

That day until late at knight, a painful scream that no one could hear resounded inside the warehouse. The next day someone discovered a badly mutilated corpse that no one would be able to recognize his current figure.

Rikka mourned for Haruto and gave her apologize in front of his graveyard after she killed all his enemies. She knelt in front of his monument and cried loudly.

A month passed by and Asami had recovered quite a bit inside her house. She decided it was about time she went out of the house.

She took her to a nearby park, making sure it was quiet and lack of people. She spent time walking and talking with her even if she only gave faint responses, she didn't mind.

When she decided to go back and turned her body a light suddenly glowed from her side. She turned her head and saw Asami surrounded by a pillar of light. Her body was pushed away by the light and she fell on her knees.

"Asami-san!"

She didn't know what happened but that's definitely not a good thing. So she ran forward and extended her hands inside the pillar of light. Her body immediately sucked by the pillar of light and together with Asami they disappeared from that place.