Runners at the Corners

Part 2

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Part2
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"...What?"Diya grunted irritably, having no idea what stupid meme Akarsha wasleaning on this time.

Akarsha began clamping and unclampingher sweaty palms together until they started making 'poot' noises, atimid grimace about her the whole while.

Diya groaned gently,shoving her disheveled hair back over her shoulders as she satupright, her sneakers dangling off the end of her bed, with how tallshe was.

Akarsha took a couple more wary steps closer, rollingher eyes, her whole body kind of flowing with the gesture."Sooooo...yeaaaaa..."she whispered, still avoiding Diya's dull dagger glance.

Akarshawas dressed in a tacky windbreaker with 90's era Playstation logos onit. She had her hair down, an unusual sight, though Diya had noticedshe'd been growing it out. Maybe for Noelle? Wasn't sure. Either way,Diya could never commit to that kind of thing. She'd hold out as longas she could but always ended up cutting it back down once it startedgetting irritating to manage.

"Noelle send you?" Diyamumbled.

Akarsha finally went to meet her gaze, but the splitsecond this occurred, Diya's eyes dodged away to her paisley-floweredbed sheets.

"Yep," Akarsha replied. "Says you, like,bailed mid-convo on her? Somethin'...-?"

Diya dragged herknuckles across her mattress and shoved her legs out and off theside. She rubbed at her dampened eyes groggily before letting herelbows settle on her knees, her cheeks sagging into herwrists.

Akarsha observed bluntly, "Damn, gurl,this whole thing's got you wrecked, huh?"

Witha slow, frustrated inhalation, Diya let her arms cross down over herknees and gave Akarsha a stoic, deadpan look, right in theeye.

Akarsha's expression wavered uncertainly, and she shrunkback a bit, hands in her pockets.

"Readin' the room,"she muttered nervously. "It's tellin' me you just wanna sit in yourcorner n' drown yourself in Vanilla Twilight."

"What doyou want?" Diya quickly asked, her tone like a winterbreeze.

"Dude, look, I've been giving youspace all week, but, man...-" She shrugged with some exasperation."Emo's a bad look onyou, D."

"It's in season," Diya dryly quippedback, bobbing her head at the dusty floorboards beneath her.

"Whatseason is that?" Akarshacountered. "Order of the Phoenix?"

"That-...What?...That'snot even...-"

"'Cuz he was so emo in thatone."

"Stop."
"I'm just...sayin',h-"
"No."
"'Kay."
"You going to stop?"
"...Willit help?"
"...I don't know."

Diya's voicewavered a little, there. She swallowed, and it stung a bit. A heavypause followed. Not too heavy.Like, water cooler jug heavy. Inconvenient. But manageable. If youput in some effort. Like, any. Too bad Diya wasn't in the mood forany effort.

Akarsha dropped the humor at last.

"She'llbe out in, what, two weeks?"

"Two and a half," Diyacorrected. Every single day made a difference.

"Yea. Thatain't bad. My old roommate was in for like, six months. Mingot off easy, man."

"Was your cousin already struggling toget a degree in order to turn his life around?"

"Uh...Thata-...Is this...like, rhetorical, or...-?"

"It's bullshit,"Diya winced, her nails digging into her palms a little, with how hardher hands clenched at the frustration of it all. "She needs me.She needs...us. Notsolitary confinement."

"Uh, not to damper your whole,like, downer vibe and all that, but...it's county jail, it ain't likeArkham Asylum or some shit."

"It's wasted time, eitherway. Time she could be-...She could be improving. Getting better. Shewas gettingbetter."

"You gonna try telling your cousin that?"

"Heknew how she'd react.He-...He knew." She rubbed at her eyelashes, dust having dried upin them from her crying.

"Family's an 'F word,' I guess,"Akarsha said with a tired shrug and a sigh. "Just 'cuz they finallyflipped Prop 8 doesn't mean all the assholes go away..."

Silencedrifted along. The muffled sound of some acoustic guitar reverberatedfrom the first floor of the flathouse. Akarsha leaned against Diya'sbedpost, scooping up her old hat.

"How bad'd she fuck himup, anyway?" she mused. "Like, what level of beatdown was this,anyway? We talkin', like, Frieza on Vegeta? Or...-?"

"Thisisn't funny," Diyamoaned lifelessly.

"N-...No, yea, Iknow, I just...-"

"She beat him badly enough topress charges."

"Yea? Well." Akarsha softly and coollymused, "Maybe he'll think twice before opening his fuckin'mouth..."

"Maybeshe will just-...justdo it again the nexttime some jerk goesand...-"

Diya's chest swelled with fire, and a trembling,stifled laugh spilled out. Not a good laugh. Scared one. Before sheknew it, she was sobbing again. All of the built up pressure from thepast two weeks was really becoming a problem.

Akarsha ploppeddown in the bed beside her, giving her back a rub with onepalm.

They sat like this for a couple minutes, until Diya'sbreathing calmed back down. Now her sleeves were all gross.

"Whyain't you seen her lately?" Akarsha wondered, breaking thesilence.

"Scared," Diya

"Of what?"

"Ofthe possibility that she still hasn'tlearned anything from this..."

"I mean...-" Akarsha lether thought hang in the awkward stillness for a sec. "Do I gottasay it?" she

"Saywhat?" Diya sighedtiredly.

"You two've been together for how long?And she ain't changed. I mean, yea, shehas, but not with this shit."

"Sheneeds to."

"...Imean, the legal systemwould totally agree with you. So, like...yea. But."

"ButI'm getting...tired ofthis, Akarsha."

"Yea. Mm. Mmkay. Sure. I feel you. Noelleand I, ya know, we get into our spats, but-"
"Noelle doesn'tbeat people with a batwhen she wants to steal theirpopcorn. Noelledoesn't slam peopleinto lockers when theymake fun of her. She doesn't constantly threaten...death onrandom strangersoutin public. And Noelledefinitely doesn't...beatthe hell out of herin-laws at Thanksgiving..."

"W-...'Kay, butlike...don't you find that hot?"

"What?"

"Yourwife, all, like, puffin' up her chest, gettin' all like a madchihuahua when her master's in trouble. I mean, you marriedher, my dude, the hell'd youthink she was gonnado?"

"I'm not saying I'meven thinking of...-"

"Forbetter and worse 'n all that shit."

"Yes."

"Thisseems like the exact kinda reason they have you say that stuff. Isall I'm sayin', D."

"OK. Youdon't have to tell me, I...-"

"You'rereally in a tizzy'bout all this, huh?"

"Obviously."

"Dude-dude-dude,"Akarsha spat, giving Diya a sideways hug. "'S OK, gurl. She's gotthis. 'Cuz of you.Right?"

"..."
Diya'sstomach gurgled.

"You got her here," Akarsha pointed out."You really think she'd have gone to college onher own?"

"..."
Did Diya really think Min was goingto finish college? Atthis rate? A yearbehind, as it was?

"You're gonna get her through all thismess, too."

"..."
(Mess.Real mess.)
(Hisblood was all over her knuckles...)

Leaningin, Akarsha whispered, "Believe it." She pounded Diya's back withthe meat of her skinny hand. "Sure as mah boi Naruto'sgon' be Hokage some day, you two'regonna get through thisshit. You know, really, whenyou think about it, Min's more like Naru than I bet she'dlike."

"..."
Diya was tired. She was so, sotired of being the one pulling.

"They both got bigger barksthan bites..."

"..."
Min had to push Diya out of hercomfort zone, sure.

"They both catch their enemies bysurprise..."

"..."
A push, a shove here and there, itwas different from...pulling.

"That's 'cuztheir enemies are all constantly underestimatingthem."

"..."
Constantpulling. And now it was more like dragging.

"They're bothoutcasts. They're both angry as fuuuuuuck butstill got gushy soft sides."

"..."
It wasn't deadweight, was it?

"They're both gayyyy fortheir childhood bff...Like, even straight down to thevows."

"..."
Even if it was, it wouldn't alwaysbe.

"They both have nine tails..."

"..."
Diyawas big. Strong. She could handle the weight for a whilelonger.

"They both create multiple copies of themselves tospin chakra into balls of death..."

"..."
A whilelonger. After that, though...

"Damn, though,but what about you and Sasuke?"

"Compare me to himand I will hityou."

"...DANG, D,pull outcha SHARINGAN onme like that..."