Hitlist

8- Rivalry

She fumbled through the girl's room, determined to find something. 'I have to be quick... she will get here soon.' She opened a drawer and messily looked through it, finding something worthy of reading. Suddenly, she heard the thumping of someone walking up the stairs. 'Shit..' She picked up the pieces of paper and attempted to tidy the area a bit, so it didn't look like she had been there. The bedroom door burst open, but she had already made her escape. There she was, crouching down outside the window, already out of sight.

Sakurai wandered along the paths and into various cafes, looking for her best friend. Michiyo's mum had asked Sakurai to keep her updated, because Michiyo's mum was close to calling the police. Sakurai tried to keep calm, yet her heart was pounding every time Michiyo wasn't to be found. After a few more minutes, Sakurai was walking around the neighbourhood and spotted a moving shadow. Sakurai swore she saw the figure of a girl, so her first instinct was to run over to it. The shadow had moved fast, but Sakurai was a pretty fast runner. The strange shadow jumped out of sight, but if it was really Michiyo, then Sakurai needed to find it.

"Michiyo?! Where are you?" Sakurai raised her voice, as it echoed through the streets. At first there was no reply, but then a voice called back again.

"Sakurai!!" Michiyo ran out of nowhere, frantically waving her arms around.

"Oh, thank god!" Sakurai quickly pulled out her phone to text Michiyo's mum that she had found her. "Where on earth were you?! Your mum said you were never home!"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to be outside, you know, fresh air," Michiyo replied, nervously. Sakurai raised her eyebrows. It sounded a lot like an excuse to her, but she was more intrigued about whatever Michiyo was holding.

"What is that?" Sakurai asked, pointing at a sheet of paper, which was folded into quarters. Michiyo's eyes widened slightly, before putting the paper into her pocket.

"Oh, that's just a shopping list. I just came back from the shops." Michiyo smiled innocently.

"Well, where's your groceries then?" Sakurai crossed her eyes, glaring at Michiyo.

"OKAY FINE. It's not a shopping list, it's just homework."

"You could have just said that in the first place." Sakurai turned around, dragging Michiyo with her. Michiyo breathed a sigh of relief. "Your leaving our school in a few days, you cant spend your last few days skipping school."

"I know but-" Michiyo began, before stopping suddenly. "Okay, fine. I understand." Michiyo smiled again, knowing that Sakurai was still sad to see her move schools.

"Good." Sakurai and Michiyo carried on walking for a while, as the sky turned darker. They parted ways again and Sakurai was sure that Michiyo was going to be in a lot of trouble when she arrived back again. Sakurai let out a small chuckle. 'I sure am gonna miss her being at school.'

Wednesday, at school, breaktime~

"Oh, hey look! It's Ayano over there. Should we go over there?" Sakurai asked, tapping on Michiyo's shoulder. Michiyo's eyes darted over to Ayano, who was leaning on the doorway. Ayano noticed Michiyo staring at her, and narrowed her eyes. Michiyo's hand was clenched into a fist, and so was Ayano's. Sakurai realised the tension between the two of them.

"Did you fall out with Ayano or something?" Sakurai asked. Michiyo suddenly snapped out of it, and turned to Sakurai, grinning again.

"S-some thing like that. I'll explain later. For now, let's just go." Michiyo grabbed Sakurai's wrist and led her away from the courtyard, where Ayano was. Ayano scowled at the pace of them as they left, before leaving in the opposite direction herself. When Michiyo was sure they were alone, she turned her voice to a whisper.

"Sakurai... there is something I really need to talk to you about." Michiyo said, heading for the school exit.

"What? Now?? School hasn't ended yet, we will get in so much trouble!" Sakurai stopped, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Please, this can't wait any longer." Tears were forming in Michiyo's eyes. Sakurai gave in and went in the direction of Michiyo's house with her. "Both my parents are at work during the school day so we can go there." Michiyo said.

When they arrived, Sakurai followed Michiyo up the stairs to her room. As soon as Michiyo entered her bedroom, she began looking through the drawers, looking for something buried under everything.

"What are you doing?" Sakurai asked. In a rush, Michiyo pulled out something and held it up for Sakurai to see.

"Look what I found in Ayano's room yesterday."