Solving Cases is My Daily Life Now: Volume 3

Chapter 16

Friday came and went, and Rina decided to stay home from school that day. She had also opted to keep to herself over the weekend, ignoring any phone calls or messages that she received. She simply laid in her bed with the lights turned off, looking at the ceiling. Rina couldn't help but feel that everything that happened was her fault, that if she had never felt unfulfilled or hopeless, nobody else would have gotten hurt. There were times when she even felt that the others would have been better off if they had never met her. So she found herself skipping school on Monday as well, doing what she did best, which was feeling sorry for herself and burdening her friends with worry. Rina didn't know what time it was when she heard a knock on her door, nor did she particularly care.

"Rina?" She heard her dad on the other side, "Are you ok?"

Rina frowned, it was at least late enough that her father was back home from work.

"I'm fine." She lied naturally, becoming rather used to it.

There was silence on the other side of the door for a few moments.

"Can I come in?" He finally asked.

"I'd really rather you didn't." Rina said, laying the back of her arm over her red and swollen eyes.

"That doesn't sound like being fine to me, sweetheart." Her dad said gently.

"I know. Just...I'd like to be alone right now." Rina said, trying her best not to raise her voice or break down.

More silence followed from the other side of the door.

"Ok. But I'm always here if you need me." Her father finally said, before Rina heard his footsteps trail down the hall.

Rina removed her arm to stare at the ceiling some more, then decided to grab her phone and glance at it. She wasn't particularly surprised to see several missed calls and messages from Suzu. There was one message and one missed call from Masaru, and one message from Fuyuko. All of the messages consisted of her friends letting her know how worried they are in their own ways, with the exception of Masaru simply wondering where she was. Normally she would feel happy that people cared that much about her, but Rina found it difficult for her to feel much of anything at the moment. She sat her phone down on the bed next to her and closed her eyes, trying to focus on anything but the reality. She simply listened to her father speaking downstairs, it was easier if she thought about something completely separate from her situation. But around the time it occurred to Rina that her father had to be speaking to a person, she opened her eyes. She heard a woman's voice respond, one she didn't recognize. She sat up quickly, listening closer to the voice. They were having a friendly conversation, but her dad never brought friends over...

Rina quickly walked over to the door, pressing her ear to it to get a better listen. She heard her father laugh, a laugh she hadn't heard in a decade, and her heart sank. Without thinking, she opened the door and began to walk down the hall. As she approached the stairs it became clear that the voice belonged to a slightly older woman, likely the same age as her dad. She stopped at the top of the stairs, staring down at the bottom blankly. Being completely still, she listened to them speak further, not quite able to make out the words, but still able to tell that it had a very positive nature. Rina slowly went down the stairs, each step feeling heavy as she began to be able to hear the conversation.

"She had a rough weekend, I think something might have happened at school." Her father said.

"It is ok. I can meet her another time. We have no need to force her into it." The woman said.

"I guess you're right...but I really think you two would get along." He responded.

Finally Rina reached the bottom of the stairs, and looked over into the living room. Her father was sitting on the couch, next to a woman about his age with maroon hair tied into a bun. It seemed her dad saw her out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at her.