It had probably been an ordeal trying to raise the money, considering her father was a regular salaryman and her mother was a housewife, so Asahi should have been more considerate toward her parents. However, her parents were no exception to the favoritism rule; they probably worked their tails off because they spoiled Asahi rotten. Because of that, there she was, and Ruri’s high school life ended up being a living hell. Ruri was practically begging, on the inside, for Asahi’s parents to learn to discipline their own child.
For her next tactic, Ruri studied like a woman possessed in order to enroll in a prestigious school for the academic elite. When Asahi bombed the entrance exam, she found herself pumping her fists in triumph.
She even moved to an apartment complex close to her university in order to get as far away from Asahi as humanly possible, but, for some very odd reason, there Asahi was, moving into the same complex.
When asked, she explained, “I managed to get into a two-year university close to your university, and I figured that I might as well live in the same complex while I’m at it. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t get the apartment next door.” It was an explanation, but...
(I finally thought I got away from her! Alright, who the hell was it?! Who told her which complex I’d be living in?!)
After that, the university became her place of respite, as it was the one place Asahi couldn’t get into. She even went there on the days she didn’t have class, but there was a high likelihood that she would be grabbed by Asahi on her way out and good-naturedly (to Asahi, at least) escorted to school.
To avoid that, she tried leaving her place later than usual, but she would somehow get nabbed, nonetheless. Case in point...
“Ruri-chan, wait up~!”
(I’m positive this girl has smelling and hearing on par with most wild animals.) Despite the beckoning of this she-devil, Ruri’s pace didn’t slow.
After catching up to Ruri’s speedwalk, Asahi looked at her with her cheeks puffed out, sulky. “Geez, you promised that we would walk together whenever we had class.”
(I sure as hell didn’t make you any promises. You know damn well I said it wasn’t necessary, but you ignored what I said and took the decision upon yourself anyway!) Ruri thought, cursing in her mind and trying to focus on walking and nothing else.
This was the countermeasure Ruri came up with to combat Asahi and her complete inability to listen to what Ruri said, no matter how many times she repeated herself.
(She’s the air, nothing but the air...)
As she thought that, Asahi continued to blather on without paying the silent Ruri any mind. Her inability to read between the lines, and, for example, merrily chatter away to a person who was completely ignoring her, was so unusual that it should have been on the endangered species list. And Ruri wasn’t ever going to talk to her so long as she had no reason to.
As Asahi’s university drew near, a group consisting of three boys and one girl came their way, greeting Asahi with smiles on their faces. They were a group of classmates that Ruri knew from middle school. The second they saw Ruri standing next to Asahi, their expressions turned sour in an obvious manner.
“Hey, you’re back at it again?”
“Asahi-chan, I know you can’t just leave her alone because you’re too nice, but you shouldn’t associate with girls like her.”
“Guys, stop saying things like that; Ruri-chan is my best friend.”
(Wait, wait. Who is whose best friend? You’re just talking out of your rear end.)
Ruri wanted nothing to do with her and tried to distance herself, but, for whatever strange reason, Asahi wouldn’t tag along with the people fawning after her but instead stuck to Ruri despite the fact that she barely gave her the time of day.
Asahi always had a crowd around her—a crowd that was, of course, composed of people who worshiped Asahi like they were some sort of religious organization. From their perspective, Ruri, who Asahi treated like her best friend, was nothing more than a thorn in their sides and a threat.
This was how it went: anyone who didn’t spend time with Asahi saw how odd everything was and would look at Ruri in a sympathetic light since she was seemingly being harassed by Asahi on a daily basis. But once they started hanging around Asahi, they ended up being hostile toward Ruri. There wasn’t much she could do about it.
Thanks to that, she hadn’t been able to make a single genuine friend. And even if she did, it was impossible that they wouldn’t somehow find themselves with Asahi, since she was by her side every waking moment. The moment they met her, they transformed from “friend” to “follower” at the drop of a hat.
It was torture to have people hate her because of Asahi, but no matter how hard she racked her brain, no matter what she tried, all attempts at getting away from Asahi, all of them, ended in failure.
She tried prayers with large sums of money at the shrine donation box every year and even tried buying some shady good luck vases, but none of it yet showed any sign of working.
(Dammit, maybe I should try some black magic next...)
As she shut out the annoying clamor around her and sank into a meditative state, something glittering floated past the corner of her vision.
She turned to see several particles sparkling in mid-air. She found herself reaching out, but her hand passed right through them. At the same time, the sound of a metallic tiiing, like a bell ringing, filled her ears.
As she looked around in search of the source of the sound, the glimmering particles multiplied even further. And they didn’t just grow in number—they seemed to be getting gradually larger in size as well.
These particles gathered neatly around Ruri and the others. Looking down, it appeared as though they were gushing from the ground below them.