Ch. 42

                                    

                                          
𝑹𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒐.
   𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞. This had been the worst day for her since officially accepting the distanced mission just weeks ago. The mission being the first one to send her far outside the limits of Tokyo, and she was deeply missing her twin, who she gained a new respect for after firsthand learning the hardships of being sent abroad. 
   The days and weeks beforehand weren't the easiest but they weren't as bad as being practically torn open the way she was earlier. Her blood had painted the hotels squeaky clean flooring with intermittent drops while her body struggled to heal itself as she clung onto the last of her blurred consciousness. 
   It left her feeling weak, hopeless, unable to be relied on. She was so far below the others that it had finally caught up to her in the form of a special grade cursed spirit that plowed through trees and forested telephone poles like they were mere ants. Her hands were tied full with that spirit, all until it broke one of her wrists while she tried to part ways with a timbering tree. 
   It was brutal, the shape of her broken bone, the way her bone pierced the skin and stared her in the eyes. It all cascaded down into a  bloodcurdling scream that left her throat, one that was somehow enough to send idle birds into a frightened flight into the sky. She shook her head sorrowfully to push away the reminisced pain slowly creeping it's way onto her nerves. I need to think of something else.
   As her already bitten nail slithered it's way between her lips and teeth, her mind flashed the memories of all the times she was left alone to the safety of their dorm room when Satoru left her for these same distanced missions; the times when her and Suguru were slowly growing closer and closer together. 
   A smile broke the dry crack of her anxious lips to ease her own euphoric feelings. Those days were warm and fuzzy to her, especially since he was now her boyfriend, unlike his previous standing when he used to be nothing more than her brothers best friend. 
   Suguru, too, was almost at the very top of her missing persons list, of course being second to her twin only. But, he had managed to make the distancing somewhat easier, just by calling her hotel room frequently and sending flowers for her to see when she exhaustedly approached the barely secure door of her temporary room. 
   He always knew to pick out her favorite flowers as well, just to brighten her day the most he possibly could. If anybody knew how hard it was dealing with someone being away, it was him, since he was the one who had to constantly deal with Shoko and Satoru being gone, long before Rintaro had stepped into the picture. 
   But, he was also worried about her mentally, specifically since the death of her close friend being just months ago, it was easy to tell that she was not making any progress in recovering from the untimely passing. She refused to speak about him most of the time and even refused to attend his memorial. He wasn't able to recall a single memory where she had mentioned going to visit his grave. 
   He further knew this was the case each time he visited the grave and found himself cleaning off the stone to indulge in his own therapeutic means. Unlike Rintaro, who only pulled herself away from everyone around her after nobody put the time in to try and understand her impulsive thought process like she wished.