A few days have passed since Kana was released from the Hospital. Ruby had visited her house every single day, sometimes Mem-Cho came along, but it was mostly just Ruby. Yet Kana never opened the door to her room; she never even responded. Ruby doesn't even know if Kana really is inside her room; only a faint glow comes through the cracks of her door, which is telling her that somebody might be in there.
31st of December, 4:00 pm, Streets of Tokyo
The beautiful afternoon sun is shining down from the sky, feeling warm on Ruby's skin. It's a stark contrast to the cold wind blowing through the streets. Ruby walks down the streets. She is on her way to visit Kana once again.
Around her are only a handful of people, mostly mothers with children or teens around the same age as her.
Ruby, who is lost in thought, pays no attention to any of that; her movements must seem robotic from an outsider's perspective, but she's oblivious to that.
Suddenly, she feels an impact and tumbles back a bit. Without noticing, she had walked into a man who was walking in the opposite direction.
After the initial shock, she apologizes; her voice is filled with embarrassment for her mistake.
"I am so sorry."
She raises her head to look at the man's face. His hair seems quite disheveled, obscuring one of his eyes. Ruby can see his yellow teeth as he smiles while replying.
"Don't worry… It's not your fault. I should've looked where I was going, but I was destracted…"
The situation is resolved, yet neither Ruby nor the man looks away for a long moment. Eventually, Ruby makes the first move, stepping to the side and walking past him.
She turns around again after she had walked a few meters, just to see that the guy still hasn't continued walking.
Why is he still standing there? Is he like… okay? Maybe he's just high on something, I mean, the way he looks is not the way someone looks who takes good care of themself… What am I thinking? When did I start judging people by their looks?... No, stop wasting time thinking about him. I'm already running later than usual.
She turns back and continues strolling down the sidewalk, about to dive back into the same thoughts she was pulled out of just a minute ago, but then she realizes something. Prompting her to turn around once again. The man who was standing in the middle of the sidewalk just 20 seconds ago is gone now.
Wait? I definitely knew that guy from somewhere; I have definitely seen him before. Oh no…
Maybe we knew each other from a shoot or something, and he expected me to recognize him… And when I didn't, I hurt him…
I mean, I would certainly be a bit offended if someone I know didn't greet me… How rude of me… Oh damn it, should I go looking for him?
But Kana… I wouldn't want her waiting… He is gone anyways, when I see him again, I'll apologize.
With a heavy heart, Ruby turns, walking further down the sidewalk, trying to forget about the encounter altogether.
…
20 Minutes later, she finally arrives at Kana's house and rings the doorbell. Ruby can hear noises inside, and a moment later, the door is opened.
Ruby is met with an annoyed gaze as the door is swung open by Kana's mom, still wearing a nightgown.
"Can't you just finally stop visiting her? If you always treat her like a baby and enable her stubborn behavior she'll never grow."
Ruby, who stood slightly bowed, raises her head again, meeting the gaze of Kana's mom with her own eyes.
"I just have a different approach when it comes to this, okay?"
Kana's mother reluctantly takes a step to the side, inviting Ruby in.
"What would a brat like you know about what someone in Kana's situation needs?"
Ruby, who has taken a step forward and was just about to pass by Kana's mother, freezes for a moment, her eyes turning empty before she catches herself again.
"You're right… I probably don't know the first thing."
Before Kana's mom gets the chance to reply, Ruby has already passed by her and walked down the hallway. She waits till she hears the front door shut and the distant noise of a TV program resuming before knocking on Kana's door. Right after, she sits down with her back against the door.
"Hi Kana… I made you some soup, so you get well again. I know this typically only works for the flu, but here's hoping. You can just grab it once I'm gone. Or maybe you could come out now and grab it?"
Ruby places her ear against the door to listen for any movement inside the room. Clearing her throat after she can't hear any.
"Anyways… Uhm, Mem-Cho and I will soon hold auditions for a new member. Maybe you'd like to help us pick one."
Ruby stays silent for a moment, listening for movement, and thinking about what other trivial topic about their life she could bring up to draw Kana out.
"Aqua and Akane have been spending a lot of time together the last few days… So if you still want to shoot your shot you should hurry up with it, otherwise she might just snatch Aqua away from you…"
-…-
"No... I'm sorry for saying that. You should do this at your own pace."
Ruby continues to talk about her life, making small breaks for Kana to fill, breaks which are only filled by silence.
After talking for about 25 minutes, she can't find any new topics anymore.
"Kana, I think I'll get going now. Text me… or maybe even call me if you want to talk."
With that, Ruby gets up and walks away, the steps turning more and more distant until they eventually completely disappear.
Kana is sitting on the other side of the door, leaning against it with her back, the same way Ruby did. After she is sure that Ruby is gone, she opens the door by just a few inches, peeks her head outside, and grabs the soup. Quickly shutting the door again.
…
Her once so clean and tidy room had turned into a chaotic hellhole over the past days. The bowls Ruby brings to her every day are empty, standing on top of almost every surface there is.
Her wardrobe is empty. Its contents are scattered across the floor. In between the clothing are pictures of herself; some are ripped up, while others just have her face crossed out with a black marker.
Kana begins to quietly slurp down Ruby's soup. It is the same kind of soup Ruby brought her the past few days.
Huh, slightly different than yesterday once again.
She must be trying to improve her recipe.
I hate this. Why waste so much time on this?
I don't deserve tasty food, not after all this trouble I've caused.
But I also can't just throw it away…
No, it was Akane's fault; I trusted her…
If she hadn't been there then…
then…
Then it wouldn't have ended, and everybody would still be in danger.
I can't put the blame on Akane.
It wouldn't be fair… She took initiative when nobody else did.
I bet she's pretty distraught about all of this, too.
And I just make it worse and worse for her by staying inside all day long.
I could go outside… For her sake.
Kana finishes her meal and heads into the bathroom, picking up her makeup for the first time in what seems like ages, walking back to her desk with it in hand.