" so... that means no coffee for me? "
KAORI was planning on doing what she does every single day. Until fireworks and a strange blackout brought her onto a place where she would have to play some twisted games to survive.
" i don't know who's in ch...
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A WHITE TEE SHIRT AND JEANS picked in a random store were on the tiny stool in the changing room. But Kaori was shaking in front of her own reflection as her mind replayed the images of Asuka's death in a never ending loop.
She had never seen her dead body up until this grueling camera footage forcefully shoved down her throat without a single warning. Now, she could associate the sound of her best friend dying with an actual image. The one Asuka had made sure she would never see by leaving the room just before being killed.
Kaori's eyes were now glued on her own figure —the one she desperately wanted to avoid ever since, painfully aware that this game had successfully completed its task, making her hate her own reflection.
Not for the way she looked but for what she was capable of doing to survive.
She hiccuped, not bothering to cover the sounds of her cries. She didn't care one bit that the rest of the group could hear her, she was suffering like hell and it wasn't because of the wound on her temple.
A gentle knock on the changing room's door pulled her out of her thoughts, "What was her name?"
She recognized Kuina's soft voice and let out a shaky breath, "Asuka."
"That's pretty..." she pointed out. "Tell me your favorite memory with her."
Kaori frowned, wondering how she could ever pick one. Asuka had been such a constant in her life, someone she could just stay with for hours, silently, and appreciate every second. Being herself with her had always been the easiest thing in the world and she recalled finding it so bizarre how they were both so different yet perfectly aligned all at once.
"It's... hm, it's many memories all at once."
"Sure, it still counts," Kuina said. "I wanna hear about them."
"We had this... routine," Kaori started, flinching at the word that reminded her it would never exist again. "Once a week, we'd have a coffee together before I would go and open my store."
Outside of the changing room, Kuina sat down against the wall, listening as she saw Usagi, Arisu and Chishiya doing the same thing a few feet away.
"She'd do most of the talking because my life's quite... boring? She'd snap if she ever heard that but it's true, my life's never been eventful like hers," Kaori said. "But it's fine, I like listening."
Kaori closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She would give everything to go back in time. "And sometimes, on Sundays, she'd come over and spend the day in my apartment."
She could hear Asuka bursting in her apartment, throwing her shoes and purse by the door before jumping on the couch, giving her infamous doe eyes and Kaori would comply, pouring her a coffee and throwing random snacks her way.
