I Will Always Be By Your Side

Chapter 2

"I'm home." Jurina said as she entered their house. "Jurina! Where have you been? Do you know what time is it already?" Her mother said worriedly. "Sorry. Me and my friends decided to hang out for a bit after class." Jurina said as she take off her shoes. "And why are you dripping wet? Did you forget your umbrella again? Go and take a warm bath so you won't get sick. Geez, do you know how dangerous it is to stay out late? What if something happened yo you?"

Jurina paused for a while upon hearing those words and she suddenly remembered what happened earlier. If it weren't for that girl who helped her, who knows what has happened to her already. Her thoughts were broken by a slap on her arm. "Ouch!" "I told you to take a bath already! You'll get sick if you stay on your wet clothes for too long." Her mother said. "Okay okay! I'll go now." Jurina said then she went straight to her room.

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Rena remained standing under the shed as she stare at her hand. The bright smile of that girl has remained on her mind. Never has she seen someone smile so bright like that throughout her eighteen years of existence in this world. Before she knew it a smile drew on her face.

"Miss!"

Rena looked outside and saw her guards running towards her. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about them." She said to herself and just then she also noticed that the rain has already stopped.

"Let's go home now." She said to her guards then they started walking back to their family car.

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Rena arrived at their house and found her mother standing in the entrance with her arms crossed. She got out of the car, but before she went inside, Rena turned to their guards. "Don't ever say a word to my dad about what happened tonight or we will all get punished."

"Where have you been Rena?" Her mother asked. "I just bought something." She replied without looking to her mother as she went inside their house. To Rena's surprise, her mother grabbed her wounded hand. "You went outside to buy something and went home with a bleeding hand?"

"I... I just..." Rena tried to pull away but her mother wouldn't let go of her hand and instead her mother dragged her to the kitchen.

"You sit there." Her mother said, pointing at the stool beside the kitchen counter. Rena sat obediently without saying a word. "Come on Rena, you can tell me everything and I won't say a word to your father." Her mother said as she removed the handkerchief that wrapped Rena's hand and just as she was about to throw it out, Rena spoke. "Don't throw it."

"Huh? This handkerchief?" Her mother asked. Rena nodded. "Why? It's already soiled with your blood."

"Just... Just don't throw it." Rena said before grabbing the handkerchief from her mom.

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Jurina kept tossing back and forth over her bed as she couldn't sleep. The scene from what has happened to her earlier kept on replaying on her mind like a movie.

Jurina couldn't help but think about how that girl helped her. How she fought with those bad guys who tried to harassed her. The way she gracefully dodge on those punches. It's as if Jurina was watching an action movie where the female lead fights against the bad guys.

After a few turns on her bed, Jurina decided to went out of her bed and sat on her chair beside her study table. She pulled out her sketch book and she turned on her study lamp. She started to draw that girl that she met earlier and stopped when she was about to draw her eyes. "Those eyes..." Jurina said to herself as she remembered the girl's eyes when she was wrapping her wound. "It's full if loneliness."

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A few months later

Rena was lying on a bench at the rooftop of their school. She pulled out something from the side pocket of her jacket. It was the handkerchief that that girl wrapped around her hand.

"M.J."

"Are you still thinking about the owner of that handkerchief?" Rena sat up and looked at the direction where the voice is coming from.

"I'm just wondering what happened to her, Yuki." She replied.

Yuki nodded and sat on the other bench beside her opening her book. "If that's what you say so."

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The next day is like their typical school day until their class adviser entered the class room followed by a new student who looked somewhat familiar.

Rena's eyes widened upon recognizing the familiar face.

"Hello! I'm Matsui Jurina. Nice to meet you." The new student said and much to Rena's surprise, the girl smiled brightly when their eyes met. Again, after a few months, Rena has seen that smile again. The bright cat-like smile that she saw that night. A smile that she could never forget.