//Grandma passed away. I need you over here asap. Bring Shochu. Lots of Shochu.//
Jen stared at the text message he just received from Rika. He needed a moment to grip what she was saying, because her words were too cruel to accept.
Other than her grandmother spending the past few weeks in the hospital, Jenrya did not know many details about Seiko’s illness. Ruki didn’t dare to talk about it – she was afraid to jinx something really bad. At least that was her reasoning. He was convinced that she did not want to deal with emotions towards a thing the doctors might have told her.
Nausea crept through his body as he truly realized what happened. A beloved human being was ripped from this world way too early. And she left her granddaughter behind. The one person Ruki trusted most in her family. He remembered his own emotions from the moment his grandfather passed away, or when Terriermon was gone. It was traumatizing. The grief was so heavy that he feared not being able to get up from the ground ever again.
But he needed to be strong for her now. It was time to give the comfort to a friend he wished he got when he needed it.
The doorbell of the Makino mansion rang, and Ruki didn’t waste a single second before she got up from the couch and stormed to the entrance. The door swung open and revealed her best friend – with empty hands.
„Where is the Shochu? Didn’t you bring any?“ Her face turned from neutral to angry when she looked at Jenrya.
„It’s not like a 17-year old can just walk into a convenience store and buy some. And this is really not the time to get drunk.“ Jenrya raised a judging eyebrow.
„What are you – my father? Ugh!“ The girl turned on her heels and was ready to hustle back into her house when Jenrya grabbed her hand. „I don’t want you to do anything stupid in the current state of mind. Come with me.“
„What – where do you want to take me? I don’t wanna go out, let me just stay -“
„Lee – stop being so mysterious and stupid, where -“
Jen answered with a pleading look. „Come on. Please trust me. You need this.“
Ruki mumbled something he didn’t understand, but obeyed. She quickly slipped into her trainers. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Her mother was sobbing in the bed room, and didn’t provide any comfort to her daughter that way. Ruki couldn’t stand it. Getting out of this house was suddenly a welcoming change.
She stared at the hand Jen was offering her. She considered snapping it away, but decided she would just take the gesture of affection from her friend. „Rena, I’ll be out. Don’t worry, I will be back in time.“
Ruki found herself walking in a little forest, not too far away from Shinjuku. It was empty and quiet, just the sounds of birds and critters were audible. She already missed the noise of the useless TV shows that were airing in the background at home. They didn’t let her think too much and distracted from the emotions she was trying to hold back.
She turned to Jenrya, her face in a frown. „What do you want me to do here? Bore myself to death?“
He laughed a little about her angry demeanour which only cost him another glare from the amber haired girl. „I know you like silent places. I thought this is a good place to be, away from people who will visit and call you in the next few hours, speaking their condolences.“
„Oh.“ When she realized that Jenrya had saved her a lot of trouble, she looked to the ground, ashamed of reacting so harsh to him once again. He knew her so well.
Apparently, he wasn’t yet done with his reasoning. „Also, I want you to scream. It’s the perfect place. Nobody hears you and the forest swallows the noise.“
„Yeah. Scream. Shout out your problems, let them go. It helps, it really does. I come here often when I feel frustrated. It helps to channel the anger.“ He seemed serious about his suggestion. Ruki just laughed at him. „No way. How embarassing that is!“
Jenrya shook his head. „Okay, I mean it. Let me do it first, I have a lot of frustration going on. School sucks at the moment.“
He shook his arms lightly and sidestepped, as if he prepared a little ritual. Then he breathed in and out and took a little break, probably to think about what he was going to say. Ruki watched him, amused. Suddenly, the usually calm boy started screaming and she was surprised to ever hear something of that volume coming out of him.
„I HATE ECONOMICS! THERE IS NOTHING MORE BORING THAN ACCOUNTING! PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS JUST CARING ABOUT MONEY AND PROFIT, HOW TO MAXIMIZE IT AND PUT THE SMALLEST EFFORT INTO SOMETHING THAT MAKES THEM THE MOST INCOME! I HATE IT! WHERE IS THE TRUE HARD WORK BEHIND THINGS AND NOT SCAMMING PEOPLE!?! GAAAH!“
Jen had given everything and was visibly out of breath after this. But he collected himself, folded his hands and thanked the forest for listening. And when he was done, the girl next to him bursted into laughter. She wasn’t able to stop for a significant amout of time.
Looking at her, Jen was relieved. For a few moments, he could make her forget the grief she was feeling. Seeing her laugh brightened his heart. But forgetting her feelings was not his primary goal. Ruki was one to suppress them, and this has never ended well in the history of humanity. He was terrified of the results of such strong emotions being held back.
She calmed down and was able to breathe normally again. However, she could not push back a comment on Jenrya’s recent actions. „I didn’t know you can get that angry!“
„Oh believe me, I can and I do, quite often in fact. But I already feel better.“ He stepped towards Ruki and crossed his arms. „It’s your turn now.“
It looked like his little demonstration had worked on her, because Ruki didn’t throw up her hands in protection like she usually would. Instead, she cleared her throat and took her own long breath in and out.
„Okay. I’ll try. But don’t laugh at me, understood?“
Ruki quickly wondered what her first topic of frustration would be and quickly came to the conclusion that a certain someone deserved the peak of her anger.
„RYO AKIYAMA, YOU DUMBASS DOUCHEBAG! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUR FACE AND YOUR STUPID GRIN AND THE FACT THAT YOU CHEATED ON ME FROM THE BEGINNING!!!“ This was not the worst first try.
„YEAH RYO, YOU IDIOT! LETTING GO A QUEEN LIKE THAT!“ Jen chimed in, and it made Ruki burst into another episode of laughter. This time Jen wasn’t able to hold back either, and they both dropped to the ground, holding their bellies. How silly they must have looked for everyone who saw them here, screaming and laughing in a lonely place. But the tears that formed from laughter didn’t stay those. She started to tear up more, staring at the countless trees that were surrounding them. Something in that confession opened up a plug in her head.
Ruki crawled back to her feet, tears running down her face.
“WHY DOES EVERYBODY LEAVE ME?! THAT USELESS MAN OF FATHER, YOU JEN, THE CHEATER, AND NOW YOU, GRANDMA? WHY?! JUST…“ She lost the strenght to shout, so the last few words came out as a mere whisper. „Why did you have to go when I needed you the most?“ She started sobbing into her hands, a steady, heartbreaking sound of pain and despair.
Seeing her cry like this was unusual and hurt him, but it still formed a smile on Jenrya’s face. Those were the emotions she needed to face. Despite knowing that you better don’t touch Makino Ruki, he embraced her from behind, holding her as close as she let him. Ruki sunk into his hug, but her sobbing didn’t stop. She was just glad somebody was there to keep her from the fall.
„Here we go… let it all out.“
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