roubai | i. wakasa

八

When Sunday arrived, the four Akashi siblings spent it by going to Shibuya to have fun. Senju and Haruchiyo were begging both Rini and Takeomi to take them to the arcade, seeing as their request was harmless, the two older siblings agreed to their wish.

"Why can't you be nice to Haru for once?" Rini asks, arms crossed over her chest while standing besides Takeomi and behind the two, watching them muster their luck on a crane game. "You're always so hard on him, you even yell at him too." She lets out a 'tsk' sound when she caught a familiar minty smell wafting in the air. "Go outside if you want to smoke. Don't let them breathe the same air as you."

"Geez. Chill." Was what Takeomi says, going over to the trash can to diffuse the lit end and going back to her. "Playing mother and father to them is hard. I know you know that."

"Of course I do." Rini responded, almost immediately. "I can't help but juggle my studies and taking care of them. I can't even barely date!"

"Oi." Takeomi spoke, sending her a look of warning. "You and Wakasa have gotten a little close. Maybe a little intimate." He begins to say, "You aren't dating him are you?"

The girl made a face before shaking her head. "Just because I hang out with him doesn't mean I want to date him already." She reasons. "And maybe you're forgetting the fact that I don't like delinquents. Just why would I date one?"

"Sure." Takeomi says, "She says she hates delinquents but shares a lollipop with him."

"Oh." Rini piques. "Don't you share your lollipop with your friends too?"

"That's different!"

"Were back!" Senju happily spoke, holding onto a plush hamster plushie while Haruchiyo holds onto a blue dinosaur one. "Haru nii is really good at crane games! He's the one who won this for me!" Senju then happily extended her arms up to show Takeomi and Rini what she's holding.

"Did he now?" Rini smiles, squatting in front of them while looking at the toys in their hands. "Do you two still want to play more? Or are you two hungry?"

"I want to play more!" Haruchiyo replies

"Play! play! play!" Senju beams

Giving into their request, the four of them roamed around the arcade and would stop whenever the two of them found a machine they wanted to play. For now, the two were invested on playing whack a mole again.

"Can you look over them?" She asks Takeomi, looking up at him. "I just want to check something real quick." 

"Be back quick." Is all Takeomi replied before Rini could turn around her heels, leaving the arcade place to freely roam around the mall on her own. Now that she's alone, her usual stop would be looking around to see if there is a camera shop nearby, but for today, she decided to give in to her personal needs.

It was moments like this that Rini wished their mother is physically present with them. If she is, then Rini would ask her a lot of questions, but she isn't. And so instead, all the problems a girl faces in her age, she'd bottle it up. Besides, she didn't even have female friends to ask these things. Most of the girls in their school would either glare at her or stare at her menacingly because Wakasa's talking to her.

Entering a lingerie store wasn't something Rini did until now. The fruity and vanilla scent wafting in the air and the dimly bright lights were alluring her. As she continued to walk inside the shop, she couldn't help but let her smooth palm and the pads of her fingers touch softly against the fabric of the lingerie. From silk to cotton to lace - she wondered inside her mind which would look best on her.