My Torturer Girlfriend Can't Be This Cute!

The following morning, the two set out to Rook Hospital. The woman at the desk sighed as they came up and she saw their badges.

"We're here to visit a patient -- Richard Sharp."

Matoi grinned as the woman started at her computer with no legal argument or resistance.

"Room 309."

"Thank you." nodded Rin, and the two went up to 309. Matoi knocked, and a woman answered, elderly man on the bed behind. "Yes?"

"My name is Rain-On-A-Wedding - I was here to ask Richard Sharp some questions."

The woman glanced back, and gesturing to Matoi, stepped inside with her. "Mr. Sharp is… unable to answer any questions. He's nearing the end of his life. He can barely write. Let alone answer anything, anything specific."

"Because of his cancer?"

"Yes." nodded the woman. "We were actually -"

- and the next scene was instant. A whirlpool appeared underneath the woman -

- and one giant piranha burst out & swallowed her alive; the two barely winced as its teeth tore her apart in the next, maw spitting her out as red chunks, and as another whirlpool appeared underneath Richard's bed -

- Rin threw one red icicle in to it that froze the pool solid before another piranha could jump out; another whirlpool appeared underneath the women -

- and the next scene was instant. A line of missiles erupted out of Wedding's shoulders and flew up; as they hit the ceiling, Wedding's lasers welded them to a solid pole -

- and the women leaped on to it together, Matoi with one arm around the pole and one on Rin, piranha bursting out of the whirlpool below but catching nothing but air. Ahead & below, the frozen whirlpool started to crack -

"( - hold my ankles.)" winced Rin; Matoi held her by her ankles as Rin leaned down, scooping up the elderly & sleeping patient before the piranha could swallow him alive. Glancing right as she grabbed Rin again, Matoi expected another piranha to come from the wall -

- but no whirlpool came; quickly, she climbed up to the pole's tip -

- but no fish came again, two nodding as they realized it, Rin speaking - "( - he -)"

- Matoi threw her hand over Rin's mouth, and the icewoman tried not to smile between her fingers. The whirlpools disappeared below, and Matoi glanced with Wedding ready, hearing somebody murmuring out in the hall. Wedding's lasers curved to disintegrate the pole from eye-level down; they heard footsteps outside, and in the next instant -

- a teenage boy walked in to the room. No reaction but nodding at the chunks of gore, he glanced back -

- just in time for Matoi's stomp from above to throw him to the ground, and the two hit the floor fighting - but none could match the white wedding's strength. Her grip shot to his right hand -

- and snapped his entire arm behind his elbow; he screamed immediately - " - s-surrender!"

- Matoi threw him to the ground, and he started gurgling; one stomp shattered his left shoulder as Rin & Richard landed behind, second stomp popping his socket out of his skin -

" - tell me what you know about Richard Sharp." grunted Matoi, peeling one missile out of her right shoulder. Rin kept one hand on his leg, Sekisetsu ready to freeze.

"I-I - I'll tell you - I'll tell you, just - just don't torture me - p-please - I know you're president and you do that s-shit -"

- Rin started to wonder how many people Matoi had tortured to have someone say that, but blinked it from her mind. She was sure her girlfriend had good reasons for it, and she preferred not to think such things of her Matoi.

"Talk." said Matoi. "Or I'll make sure you never become a man."

"I-I know y-you w-would, too - f-fuck. O-Okay. Maybe - maybe we can make a deal -"

" - start fucking talking -"

" - o-okay! Chill - chill! What - what do you want to know?"

"Why were you here?"

Rin frowned as something started smelling.

"…f-fuck." he said. "I'm - I'm going to attend Urasaria next year, y-you know. I'm in highschool, Panther High, and - y-you know, some, some dude came up to me - outside of school and - you know, asked me if I wanted to make a bit of extra money. By just killing - the - the salary sucks, d-dude -"

" - what did he look like? The man who approached you?"

"H-He - I-I dunno, man, I didn't - "

- Matoi kicked where she shouldn't -

" - FUCK - BROWN - brown - brown-h-h-hair, I d-don't know! S-S-Some - s-s-shorter than me - ow, fuck, I - I - sorta, sorta s-skinny -"

" - is that all you have? He asked you to kill Richard Sharp?"

" - a-and - the room - i-if it didn't - hurt so fucking much -"

" - I could have used Wedding and made you a falsetto."

"That's - that's a-all I can - that's a-all I got, man, he - he looked super fucking skinny a-and -"

" - what's your name?"

"B-Brett Bachs."

"…fine."

"A-Are you going to arrest me?"

Matoi glanced at Rin smiling, who nodded.

"Sekisetsu." she said, tapping his knee -

- and he froze solid in the next instant. Rin snapped her fingers, and he shattered in to frozen shards.

"They'll have to mop him up once he melts." mumbled Rin as she set Richard back on the bed, and Matoi laughed while she relayed in Japanese what he had said. "A ... highschool, then." Rin frowned. "Yes. We should go there next?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I may need you to ask around about him once we're there. Any civilian student would immediately recognize me."

(You may call bullshit, readers, but there are no bigger fans of female Urasaria students than teenage boys: for every reason one might expect.)

Rin nodded, but felt a little nervous. "Erm, okay. In English."

They went back to Matoi's car, and with little else to fill the drive, Rin spoke of the situation back home in Japan, where the recent rise of far-right politicians was making her feel that she did not even recognize her country. Matoi felt again how she had with Daishi's own naivete, yet they soon swapped stories of their childhood rivals and friends. As usual, Rin was interested in hearing more about Moriko; perhaps because Matoi was usually more open when she spoke of her.

"Her father was a typical salaryman, and he worked very long hours. I never met him myself, though he seemed to treat Moriko and her mother well. Moriko often told me that he often seemed distant with her, as if he was afraid he might make a mistake with her that - due to his hours - he would be unable to resolve until weeks later. It's often like that with children, where the last contact with their parent becomes frozen. Moriko was much more attached to her mother early.

But she once came home to her father and mother talking. They ushered her off to her room, though her father's posture seemed weaker, and he no longer seemed to walk like her full image of a man. This was around 2008, and his company had undergone mass lay-offs due to the economic recession. Of course, there were the usual reassurances that they would be re-hired when the economy recovered, but Moriko's father, along with a few others, were not.

It affected him rather strongly. His weakness grew; his posture and way of walking were greyer, as Moriko described it to me. Even at that age, I felt I might have been able to predict it, as I already had picked up how Japanese men feel towards their work. It's obviously difficult for them to bear such hours, so they derive a sense of appreciation or societal duty from their careers -- it becomes a little thing that has much bearing upon it."

Rin looked off. "How did Moriko and her mother take it?"

"It wasn't something Moriko usually discussed with me. I imagine she was imitating her mother, whose reaction seemed to be putting the suicide behind her - at least publicly. Part of the usual stigma against depression. I suppose I had already possessed a more American viewpoint of individuality and suicide; because I understood his decision, slightly, and despised my father even more for his ability to circumvent such a cruel system."

"Well, I think I understand a little bit. It isn't a good answer to these problems, but... you know my history with that, so I don't really want to get into it. Um, but about your father. I read something recently. I understand how much you hate him, and from what you've told me, you should. He was a dishonest crook. But I read about your friend, who has a father...?"

"Mia? Yes, but Mia's father isn't a violent criminal. He robbed a bank after helping raise her in poverty for fourteen years. He also thought he could circumvent the system, and perhaps he did, in some ways, but I see how his imprisonment affects her. Especially with the anger she lets out when drunk, and her r-..... I don't think it's appropriate to talk about her here."

"Well, yes, but what about a system where someone would feel compelled to..." Rin frowned. "Oh, Matoi, you know I'm not very smart at this stuff."

"I know you aren't."

Rin smiled, then: "Hey!" She pinched Matoi.

Matoi smiled, though it sometimes still seemed an alien thing for her. "Still, I was never able to completely tell how it affected Moriko. She seemed to grow more self-destructive -- not through anything like drugs, but consciously or not, she was slowly embedding bad decisions into her life that might eventually sum up the person I worry she became: a weak-willed person who would accept increasingly abusive treatment with sickening obedience. There were several times where I needed to pull her out of places she wasn't supposed to be, or prevent her from hanging out with certain boys who were always on the periphery of our class. These were the types of people that, like the Urasaria student I described to you, tended to centrifuge themselves onto the outskirts of society. I worried Moriko would as well.

But, as you know with me, I communicated this to her *very* directly. I remember once listing off all the reasons why she should treat herself better, trying to appeal to her via her family, and she replied that it didn't matter, because what did her father care about all of it? He was already dead.

So I was bizarrely in the position of appealing to sentimentality. I almost wondered if she had unconsciously picked up my scornful attitude towards idealism, even at that age. My mother's very realistic. But, for Moriko... it seemed that some of her gravitation towards abusive men was that they confirmed for her that she should feel as bad about herself as she did. And obviously, as you know from what I've told you about her, she still had that tendency when I left Japan."

"...well, with mentioning her father, and how she relied on you. You told me about that. Do you think she was only able to view herself through another's eyes? I mean, that she had convinced herself that so long as her father was alright with her, then there was no issue with whatever she was doing?"

"I imagine so. If I had to describe any trait of Moriko's, it was how little an internal impetus she possessed. I'm not certain how much of that had been caused by her molestation, admittedly -- it never affected my other friend to the same extent."

Rin nodded. "It reminds me a little of - oh, I shouldn't say who it is, but you'll probably know as soon as I say it. There's this student at Ueno, and she's a little chubby."

"A little?"

"Matoi!" Rin giggled. "Okay, she's fat, and you clearly remember her. I should be in awe of your memory. She came up to me once and began talking very secretively. She asked me if I thought she was fat. Oh, I can't be honest like you, I said no. Apparently, it was because that while the new students were doing their weigh-ins in January, she saw another fat student who was the same weight as her."

"She had convinced herself?-"

"Yes, she had convinced herself her weight was no issue, until she saw what this number meant for another person. Do you understand what I mean? Um, with Moriko?"

"I do, yes."

"How did she react when you left Japan?"

"I continued to stay in contact with her for a... small amount of time. She still didn't seem to understand the pieces and bits of myself I had attempted to imprint on to her, or any self of self-assurance, and she ... eventually stopped replying to me entirely."

Rin frowned. "Oh, Matoi. I know you won't agree with me, but I'm a little glad to hear that."

"You think it was good?"

"I do. You came to a point where you could do no more for her. If she had no appreciation for that, she deserves what she got afterwards."

"I suppose, but--"

"But nothing. You've told me to be more forward with my opinions, and that's what I believe. There's some girls who just try to drag everyone down with them. I've known people like that, and by known I mean *known*. I put them out of my life. Why should you feel guilty for someone's poor decisions?"

Matoi nodded and said nothing. She had always tried to practice a degree of solidarity with other women, and she wondered if Rin's strong reaction was something she had observed before; an urge to feel society had rules, as if a competition one might win, and how some women looked down upon those who lost it or did not care for it. Was she denying Rin's free will in this, or was life a construction of scenarios around them with no regard for how we act?

She dropped Rin off at a local highschool to investigate, let her know the nearby cafe at which she would be waiting, then thought over these things as she sat, and within minutes was interrupted by -

"Matoi-kun!" shouted Rin at the door; Matoi shot up as her girlfriend rushed inside, and as she saw a brown-haired & thin man at the door -

- she liked how all the breath emptied out of his face as soon as he saw her - " - oh, you've gotta be fucking -"

"( - don't use your missiles!)" shouted Rin as she came up beside - "( - coral!)"

The two swept with the speed of light back -

- just in time to avoid a pillar of coral bursting up ahead; its branches tapped the ceiling & grew -

- and smashed every ceiling light in the cafe, more walls of coral blocking the front windows and plunging the room in to darkness. The two stepped back against the wall, and a single missile burst out of Wedding's shoulder; one laser hit its case -

- and a flash of light filled the cafe; they saw their foe staggering on the other end, biolumescent coral growing above his eyes, more branches growing on the floor & towards them -

" - Sekisetsu!" shouted Rin; her hands swept down -

- and turned the floor to ice, freezing the branches in their tracks; another tap turned the wall at their backs to ice, and another missile blasted their exit as they swept back & in to another cafe, forty feet separating them from their foe on the other end. Sekisetsu restitched the frozen wall's wound, no sight of their for as Rin spoke -

"( - he's more aggressive than before -)"

"( - it's desperation.)" said Matoi, and in the next instant -

- a hundred coral spikes burst out of the wall & towards them -

- but Rin's chilling touch turned them frozen before they could grow any further, Wedding's lasers melting the red children to red water as the two stepped back, and in the next instant -

- another hundred spikes -

- and another freeze & melt kept them safe as Matoi spoke.

"(He's still within range.)"

"(Yes. I - I could do the same thing if he's close, but - last time didn't go so well.)" Rin laughed nervously and Matoi nodded.

"(Thin your wall.)"

Rin snapped her fingers, and her wall lost enough weight for them to see him standing on the other side; a pinhole opened up in the ice -

- and a minimissile flew toward it; Wedding's eyes shuddered as it flew -

- and one laser set their foe blinded & staggering back. Rin melted her wall to red water as the two rushed towards him -

- but the next scene was instant. A cage of coral burst up around the man and locked him inside -

- and the two sighed as they swept back just in time to avoid another tendril from below, foe only twenty feet away but locked in a prison of his own design.

"(Missiles.)" said Rin, tapping Matoi's shoulder, and her girlfriend nodded.

"( - they'll shatter.)"

"(Yes.)" nodded Rin, and a cage of coral spikes reinforced the man's prison ahead. "(We - need to break it, but...)"

Matoi glanced forward, coral blocking the windows gone & light returning to the cafe, civilians huddled under their tables. "(Can you surround him with ice?)"

"(Yes.)" nodded Rin, and a dome of ice formed over his. "(Do you want to fire a missile in?)"

Matoi's head shook as she walked left, looking for an electrical outlet on the wall. "(No - he might still die. We need him alive.)"

"(…hm.)" Rin nodded as she crouched down, tapping the floor and turning a section underneath the man to ice. "(I can try to get him to suffocate, but…)"

"(Coral produces oxygen.)" smirked Matoi, relevantly, and Rin laughed nervously. A line of missiles burst out of her shoulder, and Wedding welded them to a solid pole. She set them in to an outlet and Rin nodded as the electrical current came.

"(Much better.)" chimed Rin, Wedding's insulation keeping Matoi safe as she set it inside the dome of ice, and as its metal tip touched the dome of coral -

- it twitched -

- and Rin laughed as red water started filling the enclosure, only enough space for the improvised rod to make it electrical. "(And now, he'll be uncomfortable.)"

"(I could find more outlets - but I doubt we'll need it. We'll wait a few minutes.)"

"(Mm. Alright.)"

The two waited a few minutes, and in the next instant -

- the dome of coral disappeared -

- and the two laughed at their unconscious foe inside. Rin rushed up and tapped him to an ice sculpture, and Matoi scooped him up. Unbeknownst to the two, the electricity had killed the algae keeping his oxygen going.

"(Good.)"

"(Yes.)" nodded Rin. "(Should we question him, then?)"

"(Not until his Revenant is removed. Another student and the police can handle that - we've already done enough for the day.)"

She was starting to get annoyed at how long it was taking. Ironically, Mia & the rest were coming back tomorrow and she doubted they'd be finished by the weekend.

The two dragged the ice sculpture back to their car and back to the police for interrogation. Yet as they left, and how she sometimes wondered around Rin, Matoi's thoughts were brought back to her childhood friend Moriko. It was not necessarily someone she enjoyed talking about, despite how she usually bullshit others about it. But with such a boring investigation she found little better to distract herself in but the past.

So as she laid with Rin that night, her thoughts were not on the sex they had just had, the investigation, or of Rin falling asleep on top of her; no, it was of the flip phone that she kept in her nightstand drawer. It was not or she had used since leaving Japan, but it had been her primary phone when texting Moriko to let her know she would be late walking her home or that she had tennis practice today. While much has been said of Moriko, further background is still needed to understand Matoi's view of her and subsequently Rin.

What had happened to Moriko as a child and made her not wish to think too much, and she wished that she could turn her feelings off; in her misery she desired death often, not for what it was but for what it was not. If Matoi had a character of steel it seemed Moriko had one of a molten metal that swam fixedly in whatever vessel it filled, abetted by a mother who in her sensitivity never pushed her daughter for much else. A good student Moriko was, but not one who had developed an ability to cope with life untethered to what Matoi had tried to teach her.

Other children thought of Moriko as a loser, a dependency, a parasite. Usually the girls were the meanest because they knew Matoi would never threaten them as strongly as she did men. Time only softened her tie to reality, and whenever challenge on her beliefs or why she acted certain ways, Moriko often retreated to some void behind her eyes just as she did when confronted with many difficulties in her life.

Matoi almost reasoned that Moriko's mother and the concomitant absence of her father was worse than her own father, for in his criminally he had at least set Matoi's human image in rebellion to his own, whereas Moriko had only apathy. Humans need to believe they have been mostly self-created, lest they no longer feel the architect of their selves, and sprout unknown atolls of internal geography that they circle warily as any ghost island. This was how it was for Moriko, no matter the prodding she received from Matoi. The advice Matoi gave her she did not absorb critically, whether on boys, life or mentorship; she did not accept them but rather subjugated herself to them.

On one event she frequently disagreed with Matoi, and that was of her own molestation. Her attempts to sublimate it only succeeded in imprinting it further. Sometimes she believed it had been multiple men, other times she was seven or even nine. It was as if she was already an aged woman, recounting childhood events that she had only the dimmest of mists with which to fill the cracks of her memory, for it all seemed realer than reality to her, and informed her various paranoia. The flaw of all memory is not in what it forgets, but in what it creates or imbues.

It was almost host-esque how even a minor dismissal from Matoi could restructure Moriko's mentality, which on occasion would be used to guilt Matoi or extract some needless praise for her, even if Moriko was likely not even aware to how she did so. She sometimes dreaded walking home with Moriko, for she needed to always be on the defensive. Perhaps Moriko was a user, but she was still female, and belonging to the softer sex Matoi always sympathized alongside. She sometimes wondered how much of Moriko's plight was her own fault, or whether the ways she acted were merely how life bad conditioned her. Her aforementioned ability at mental actualization made Matoi question her own sense of self, what she knew of life, what a shift in perception could have changed in her own deep country.

So, before she left Japan, she had told Moriko that she would text her her new number (as she would be getting a new phone in America), so they could continue communicating: of course, she had not, and this was the last conversation of the two Japanese girls. A lack of resolution was the best way, Matoi felt, to help toughen Moriko. It was not a conclusion she enjoyed, yet she had come to it not in spite of her love for Moriko but because of it. Had this dependency continued Matoi worried it would reach to where Moriko never developed a personality separate from her. Perhaps it was late to realize so, yet she knew that it would lead to problems later in life for the girl.

Yet with her recent trip to Japan, she wondered if there had beeb other factors in her abandonment of Moriko, for it had also been a time where she wanted no connection to Japan, and was trying to forget her own father. Despite how she spoke of Moriko earlier to Mia, in Japan, she had brought this phone with her recently to the country in some nourished hope it might reactivate, but even if it had, Moriko herself likely had a different number by now; and Matoi wondered why Moriko herself had never written another reply.