Alinea

"I'm glad you're safe…"

Ara blinked several times, not really understanding what happened. But it's rude not to say anything.

"T-thanks?" she answered, and the both of them lapsed into an awkward silence.

"Well, let's sit down first," Ichihara Midori invited after a while, giving her a genuine, but shy smile as she ushered her to the empty seats near them, and Ara got more confused.

Being the supposed heroine of this story where the villain had nearly done her harm, Ara was expecting Ichihara Midori to stay away from her. But here she was, initiating contact, and even seemed to be planning to have a long talk with her.

As soon as they were seated, Ichihara stared at her face wide-eyed in amazement. "Your eyes really changed color," she commented, and Ara removed her eyeglasses to humor the girl who was so curious with her eyes.

Her silver-grey pools locked with her curious brown ones until the other girl finally snapped back to reality, and smiled in embarrassment.

"Did it hurt?" Ichihara asked, but she didn't wait for her answer. "Ah, how silly of me. Of course it hurt. You nearly died after all," she continued, her embarrassment increasing by the second that Ara finally found her funny.

Ichihara Midori's character was a cross between Rin's and Miharu's, with a little bit of stubbornness, but not disagreeable.

"Well, I'm better now," Ara assured her, and the smile on Ichihara vanished, replaced by a seriousness that she'd never seen the girl wore on her face before – not even when she scolded her publicly months ago.

So, she was angry at her after all? Ara almost laughed, but didn't because she was wrong.

"Why haven't you told everyone who really did it until now?" Ichihara suddenly asked that surprised Ara again.

This time, the girl sounded livid, and Ara realized that in spite acting so carefree, this was one smart girl. She probably already guessed what happened that night of the accident, that's why she was not angry at Ara.

The deity who had just learned how fun it was to be mischievous was sad. With Ichihara knowing what's going on meant her days of dealing with her problems had been cut shorter yet again. It must be her divine inheritance attracting luck at work.

"Who are you talking about?"Ara asked innocently, and the girl scowled at her.

"Okada Koharu – who else?" she told her matter-of-factly, that Ara had no choice but acknowledge her intelligence. It would be an insult to this girl if she denied her the truth, so she sighed and smiled.

As if it was the only affirmation Ichihara had been waiting for, her fury increased as she tapped the table with her hand. "I knew it! I knew it was that girl's fault."

After expressing her anger, the girl seemed to lose energy, and leaned back on the seat to look at Ara again.

"How did you find out?"

Ara was curious. Okada Koharu was an expert at being a damsel in distress that she's able to fool everybody well, and nobody ever suspected her until now.

"I didn't at first. That was why I was not happy whenever I saw you. I thought you were a thick-skinned piranha who was hell bent to snatch my boyfriend but couldn't fight for him in person, you had to send your minions to annoy me for years," Ichihara said apologetically, making Ara laugh. "That wasn't funny. I was thinking badly about you for a long time, you know?"

Ichihara Midori sounded truly distressed about thinking badly of Ara that the latter felt a little touched. This girl was not bad.

"So?"

"So, I really thought about it, and realized how weird it is," Ichihara continued. "For someone who was said to be crazy in love with someone, you never even once came to meet him in person. Other girls in love would have pestered their love target to oblivion. But you didn't – and when we have classes together, you don't even glance at Hiroaki, it was strange!"

"How are you sure I don't look at your boyfriend?"Ara teased.

"Because as a love rival, I was always looking at you," Ichihara admitted. "Aside from being not in love, Suzuki-san you always appeared like you didn't care about anyone at all – except for Okada-san."

At the mention of the name, Ara's smile vanished. She recalled the confrontation between the two of them. "I'm so sorry about that time. I had the impression you pushed Koharu that I got angry."

Ichihara Midori shook her head. "It's okay. If I was not sure I didn't even touch her, I would think I really pushed her the way she acted so pitiful!"

Ara laughed again.

"It was after that incident when I started getting suspicious of Okadasan. I realized it's not you but her who's in love with Hiroaki. All the time she was trying to get in between us because she said she was doing it for you, it was all for herself. And she also said that the love letters she delivered almost every day was from you!"

"Love letters?" Ara was beyond amazed at Koharu's talent.

"Yes, perfumed pink flowery ones,"Ichihara sneered and Ara shuddered.

"And all this time you thought they're mine?"Ara was aghast, then her eyes widened. "Wait, Sonoda-san didn't show them to the judo club members, right?"

Sonoda Hiroaki was the judo club's vice captain.

At Ichihara's sheepish smile, Ara g.r.o.a.n.e.d as if in pain. "No wonder those jerks looked at me weirdly all the time."

"Well, they won't anymore," Ichihara said, and Ara raised a brow in question. "I will tell them the truth about the love letters. It's easy to check the handwriting with Okada-san's anyway."

"Up to you," Ara simply said. It was not her truth to tell. The decision lay in Ichihara's hands if she wanted to clarify the issue about that.

"What about you? When did you find out?" Midori asked her, and Ara's lips tightened, remembering the original Ara's pain for the betrayal.

"That night of the accident," she answered making the other gasp.

"But that – "

"That day, she suddenly asked me to take you home because your house is far from the station and it'll be late when we finished with the project."

As if she too could recall that day clearly, Ichihara nodded. "I was surprised she knew where I lived," she uttered. "I thought it was strange, but she looked so harmless that I pushed aside my suspicions."

"I heard her talking to someone in the restroom. She had someone sabotage my car." Ara let out a bitter laugh, the same one she let out when she saw the battalion of archers who came to kill her in her other life.

Ichihara nodded again. "When you suddenly said you will not bring me home after all, and she insisted you should many times, I realized something was really wrong. She was actually mad and badmouthed you when you suddenly left, not caring even if I was still there to see her like that. She had gone insane. Then your accident happened, and I realized what she wanted to happen all along."

Thinking how she narrowly escaped death, Ichihara shuddered. Then, she remembered something.

"If you already knew about her plans, why did you still get in that car?"

With that, Ara gave her a sad smile. "A life for a life," she answered simply.

"There was a point in time when I was so down and she was there. Even if it was fake, a rescue is a rescue. A debt is a debt. If I didn't get in that car, I would never have been able to pay her back completely. But since I did, we're even now."

Ara spoke from the original's memories. When her parents died and Aki started becoming busier and busier, she had been so lonely. When high school started, Koharu's companionship kept her from falling into complete depression.

It was why she was protective of her before. It was why even if she found her annoying sometimes, she was still there for her – until that day. The Suzuki Ara who had driven that car to her death with a smile had finally paid her debts.