Miwa | Rika

心の底から - From The Heart

The next morning, Rika received a call from Miwa which woke her up from her sleep. She was still in the sleepy-mood which caused her to mumble in her talk. 'Mm.. hello?' she answered. Miwa sounded as if she was in a public place full of crowded people. 'Wake up, sleepy head.' Miwa giggled. 'It's time for work.' As far as Rika knows, she didn't have a job yet. 'Miwa,' Rika let out a tiresome laugh. 'I'm not working.'

'Oh, yes, you are. Alright, see you.' And after that, Miwa ended the call. This was confusing for Rika. 'Work?' she said quietly. Then, Rika received a text from her new friend which displayed an address of a place. Well, she didn't have anything to do that day so, she decided to go to the place in a black short-sleeve shirt, a grey vest and maroon skirt with the length a little above her knees. After looking at the address on her phone once again, she saw Miwa in a dark blue long-sleeved blouse, a light brown scarf-like tie and off-white jeans. 'Miwa..?' Rika asked. 'What's going on?' Without any hesitation or any answer to her question, Miwa pulled her arm, introducing her to the manager of the radio network company; Shizuka Kobayashi.

'Congratulations.' Shizuka let out her hand to Rika. 'You're my new assistant.' Her smile was comforting. Rika was surprised. 'M-Miwa..? What is this?'

'Oh..' Miwa began. '..I applied you a job. Aren't you happy?'

'Y-Yes.. I mean, this is so sudden. I mean, I should be happy now but I mean.. thank you!' Rika gave her best friend a tight hug. Miwa mouthed the words "thank you" to Shizuka as they hugged. Shizuka mouthed "no problem" back to her.

As the two friends left the building, they started talking about other stuff. 'Also, since it's Wednesday and you're still new to all this, you can start next week, on Tuesday. Alright?' Miwa informed. Rika thanked her once again and went home with Miwa. On the way, they bumped into Takako. Once Miwa and Takako realised each other, Miwa ran away with Rika. 'Miwa! Wait! MIWA!' Takako screeched. 'Oh, God.. please spare Rika.' After reaching home and locking the door, Rika asked Miwa all sorts of questions. Obviously, her heart was racing. What happened back there? Besides all that running and out of breath situation, Rika admired the beautiful scenery of the interior of the luxurious home. 'Please, make yourself at home.' That was the last thing Miwa said before marching towards her bedroom.

Rika didn't know where to start. There were so many places in the house to go. It's like a playground! Except... you couldn't play because... there were what-seemed-to-be priceless furniture and antiques sitting around, so, she had to explore with care. Rika walked to the backyard with beautiful plants and flowers. Everything stood out perfectly, especially the fountain which was in the middle of the maze-like garden. Most of the plants were red roses with spiky thorns surrounding them. Rika tried to be careful not to touch them. She was afraid there might've been some poison lurking around in those dangerous thorns. Besides that, the hidden roses looked fragile. They were only red; no pinks, no blues, no yellows... only red. Well, Miwa had the choice so, Rika respected her choice. Then, she found a rose without any thorns surrounding it. Inspecting the insecure flower, she noticed it was different; the colour was white. It seemed special since it was different than the others. It reminded Rika of her own self; alone, insecure, with no one else in her life... but then, remembered Kaoru. She didn't want to lose him at all. Kaoru has his own life to lead though. He can't be with her forever. Kaoru was right; Rika needed someone. She needed someone to take care of her, to hold her tight, to protect her. 'Rika?' Miwa called out from a distance, walking to her friend. 'What are you staring at? Oh, this little fellow... she's very special. This white rose is undecided with her life, unsure of what to do. I pity her. But let's not be bothered with things like this. I made lunch. I made it extra special because I'm sure you didn't have breakfast.'

In the meantime, Takako sat down on her bed, still in her nightgown. She pulled her legs close to her, thinking about Rika. What do you plan on doing to her, Miwa? she thought carefully about the situation she was in.