35 Worlds Apart- No (1/2)

For Ruby to use the word 'judge' was enough for him to listen. To be honest, it was natural for anyone to see the wrong in her story. How Ruby- was wrong.

She started from a faint memory in middle school. Ruby, unlike the queen known to most of the students, had her fair share of being a normal girl in school. She laughed and cried with her friends; she celebrated and cursed life moments with them. One of these people was a wonder girl who was capable of doing almost everything lawful, and she was the group's treated leader: Hamada Tohru.

Tohsaki Ruby and Hamada Tohru shared the same middle school, the same classes, the same circle of friends, and the same source of happiness. In their circle of friends, these two were inseparable. Most of them thought it was because Tohru leeches on Ruby's money to get all the things she wanted, while some thought it was because Ruby showered herself with Tohru's golden reputation. They were dubbed Alexander and Thais* behind their backs, but the two cared so little they even laughed as they ridiculed those who wanted to destroy them.

However, they were still normal middle schoolers who get crushes. These was one of the few things that they did not share: the ultimate crush on this guy named Morikawa. Morikawa was the school best basketball player, leading to Tohru's fondness of playing the sport- and cementing her dedication to heal herself through the game. However, Ruby was not interested in the man. He was nothing but a musclehead in her secret opinion.

”Ah, look! He's passing by!” Tohru, who was still a giddy girl back in her younger years, quivered in excitement. She turned to Ruby and asked with fear. ”I-Is my hair fine? It is good?”

”Don't worry, you're so pretty today. I'm sure he'll like you!” Ruby patted the blond locks Tohru had. She hated the way her best friend bleached her hair just because the guy said he will only talk to blond girls. However, she felt the urge to encourage her still. ”Don't forget to smile!”

”Morikawa-kun!” Tohru soon ran to him as he got closer. ”Are you available tomorrow? The athletic meet will start, and we have tickets for the opening ceremony.”

”Ah, the athletic meet? Really? Must be a pain to get them.” He only chuckled, forcing to interact with one of the school's most popular girls. His gaze strayed to Ruby before shifting it back to Tohru. ”Are you two going to watch?”

”Yes! We have an extra so do you want to come with us!?” Tohru showed her enthusiasm so much, that her voice had gotten rather loud.

That was not the last time Tohru had asked Morikawa to come along. For some reasons, he just kept on coming... only when Ruby was with them. It did not take long before Ruby discovered that nightmare unfolding before her.

It was one of the times when Tohru invited him to eat with them. Since the she-jerk was the one fetching the orders, she left Ruby and Morikawa together in their table. There was not much people in the place, and so they got a table with a long seat that was shaped like the letter C. Ruby was fiddling on her phone while waiting for her friend to come back. The man, who was sitting across her, scooted to her side as if hoping to strike a conversation. Ruby was not interested so she only glanced at him and brought her gaze on her phone.

His hand suddenly flew to her thigh, just above the knee. Ruby froze at the action and glared at the man next to her.

”You know you're a lot prettier than Hamada. Why do you stay behind her all the time?” Morikawa trailed his hand higher, caressing the skin exposed by her skirt. ”A lot more guys would be after you.”

She was silenced by fear and confusion. Her hold on phone tightened. The rich girl took a deep breath before picking his hand up and tossing it away from her leg. ”Don't touch me.” Her voice was soft, but not weak. Anger flared inside her auburn eyes as if wanting to sock him right in the face.

”Haha, I like feisty girls like you.” He blew some air against her ear.

All she could do was let out a sharp, terrified gasp before taking off. The man tried to grab her, but she evaded his hand. She ran outside of the restaurant, only to find the man chasing after her. The poor girl had to run towards the police station, while her best friend stood in front of an empty table. Tohru picked up Ruby's phone from the floor, and proceeded to eat by herself.

Days passed, and Ruby received calls from Morikawa more and more. He began using Tohru as his entry point to her body. Knowing how much Tohru liked the man, the rich girl committed a mistake she did out of good will and desperation. Her best friend managed to go out with Morikawa, and stayed that way unless Ruby stopped letting him have his way with her. The soiled woman had become a bed warmer of a man who got so shrewd, and because of a friend who was blinded by infatuation.

Graduation was approaching, and Morikawa started getting bored with his fun with Ruby. It was when he played with her grades and school reputation. He threatened to destroy her permanently through the lie she lived. However, the red stone had hardened, and so did her heart.

”Go ahead. I've already lost everything.”

Chatters exploded along with the news of what was happening behind the back of Hamada Tohru, the greatest wonder girl in school, and the very best friend of the whore. Tohsaki Ruby walked the school hallways with whispers and chattering announcing her presence. Soon, she stood in front of Tohru with the rest of their friends in the school grounds.

”How dare you do that to me!?” The blond yelled at her, eyes and cheeks stricken with tears. ”I trusted you! You were like a sister to me!”

Ruby stood quietly, her cold auburn eyes staring at her best friend. She did not say anything to defend herself, or even made the man look bad. She only stood there... until Tohru grabbed a stone from the grounds and threw it on her head. Blood dripped from her wound, but Ruby stood still. Soon enough, their other friends began stoning her.

The two women separated in bad terms, and they had gone through their lives, changed.

After sitting through a long story, Arata barely had any time to think. He had always thought that Ruby was a classy cruel duchess ever since she was a little child. He wanted to console her after going through the trouble of telling such a painful story. Then again, there was something else that stormed the back of his mind.

Instead of a sorry statement, he began to chuckle. He cared so little that Ruby frowned at his direction. He then waved his hands at her, plastering a grin to stop himself from giggling. ”I'm so sorry! I don't mean any offense!” He huffed and scratched his head. ”It was just I kept on noticing that you two were too similar, but are like two faces of the same coin. Hearing about your background...”

”You're not going to say anything about me?” Ruby pushed away his thoughts and asked for something more important to her.

”About that, I'm pretty sure you knew you made a mistake, but you chose not to apologize and accepted your punishment without defense.” Arata hummed as he pulled his knees to his chest and held on them out of the searing cold. ”I don't know why you chose to delude Tohru instead of giving her the harsh truth. Is there something you're scared of?”

”...I... don't want to lose Tohru,” she whispered under her breath. ”I thought that garbage excuse of a human was more important to her than me. I didn't expect her to see it differently.”

”Differently?”

Ruby moved her head to the side, but her wet hair failed to follow. ”After what happened to me, I heard that Tohru broke Morikawa's jaw and his right arm. She was allowed to graduate, but she received rehabilitation for her violence.” She closed her eyes. ”The next thing I know, we're in third year high school. We ran into each other on a rainy evening like this.