Side Story: Seiko Kimura's Bitter Medicine

It was another dismal, dreary day at Seiko’s middle school, made all the worse by the dark clouds and pouring rain that seemed to show up just to make it even worse. It wasn’t as if she disliked learning, but she was never able to fit in well with her classmates; her many chronic medical conditions made her quite frail, so she could never play very well with the other children, which in turn made her the target of ridicule and ostracization despite her teachers’ best efforts. The fact that she had to hide her malformed teeth behind a mask to avoid constant mockery only made things worse.

Every day she just sat in her seat and waited to go home as soon as she could, today even that would be taken from her as she knew the rain would slow her walk back. The only thing she had to be grateful for was the fact that she thought ahead far enough to bring her umbrella to school that day; if she had forgotten it, then no one would have shared with her.

Seiko looked up at the sky for a moment before letting out a long sigh and heading out into the rain, unable to even summon the effort to complain to herself about her situation as she started walking. She’d learned all too well that it didn’t change anything, and she wanted to focus on avoiding puddles so she wouldn’t get her feet wet.

After a few minutes of walking down the street staring down at her feet, the melancholic sound of the rain hitting her umbrella was suddenly interrupted by a loud screeching noise. Seiko’s eyes shot up just in time to see a car on the road swerve toward a pair of two small, brown dogs, unable to control itself with the wetness of the road. Seiko gasped, but there was nothing she could do but watch as the car collided with the dogs and sent them both flying onto the nearby sidewalk. The car driver, either not noticing or not caring about the dogs, quickly got going again and sped off into the distance.

“Ah! Creampuff! Jellybean!” A girl with pinkish hair and a red coat shouted in horror from the side of the road as she held a pink umbrella, tears welling up in her eyes. “This can’t be happening!”

“Oh no!” Seiko dropped her umbrella and dashed toward the dogs as quickly as she could, not caring about getting wet any longer. She got down on her knees and quickly assessed their conditions; her parents were both ER doctors, and they had taught her quite a bit about trauma and how to treat it.

The first of the two dogs had taken the brunt of the hit; it wasn’t bleeding outwardly, but Seiko could tell it had broken ribs. She knew there wasn’t much she could do, but she gave it a morphine tablet anyways and helped it swallow; that would hopefully keep it from writhing and hurting itself further until it could make it to a vet, or help it pass without suffering. The other dog seemed to be in much better condition, as the first dog absorbed most of the impact, but it didn’t seem to be breathing. Seiko checked for a pulse and found that there wasn’t one; its heart must have stopped out of pure shock.

Thinking quickly, Ruruka took out one of her mother’s heart medications, using her fingers to cut it down to a dose that she thought would work best in a dog that size. She then put it in the dog’s mouth and began chest compressions with her thumbs, hoping to keep the dog’s blood moving long enough for it to take effect. Behind her, she could hear the girl from before sobbing, but her mind was so clouded with adrenaline that she barely even noticed.

After a minute, though, the dog suddenly began to move and yip as it came back to consciousness. Seiko smiled behind her black medical mask and put the dog down as she realized its heart must have started again, but that quickly faded away when she looked back toward the other dog. While she was focusing on the less-injured dog, the other had died, and she could already tell there wasn’t going to be any hope for that one. Even calling for an ambulance wouldn’t do any good.

“I… I couldn’t save it…” Seiko felt her whole body go numb as the depth of her failure sunk into her. If perhaps she had focused on it instead of the other dog, then maybe…

“Creampuff! You’re alive!” Seiko’s despair was suddenly interrupted by the joyous cry of the pink-haired girl, who ran up to the surviving dog and picked it up off the ground. “I can’t believe it! Are you some kind of miracle worker or something?”

“No… no, I’m not,” Seiko replied, the rain running down her face concealing the fact that she was weeping. “I couldn’t save them both…”

“Yeah, but I thought for sure that they were both gone forever!” The pink-haired girl giggled as the dog licked her chin. “That was so amazing; I was just standing there in shock, but you ran in to save them like it was nothing! And that medicine of yours practically brought my little girl back from the dead! What’s your name?”

“My… name?” Seiko repeated a slight lisp in her voice from jagged teeth. “You want to know my name?”

“Of course I do! You’re my baby’s savior, after all!” The girl giggled again. “I mean, I know we go to the same school, but I don’t think we’ve ever actually spoken before… but that’s definitely something we’re going to have to change!”

Seiko hesitated, unsure if she really deserved something like that. “It’s… Seiko. Seiko Kimura.”

“Seiko… it’s nice to meet you.” The pink-haired girl extended a hand to help Seiko back to her feet. “My name’s Ruruka Ando. It’s nice to mee- beep beep beep”

Seiko’s eyes shot open as her alarm clock started going off, rousing her from her slumber. The pharmacist sighed from underneath her grey bed sheets as she reached over to turn it off; she had a lot of nightmares when she slept, but it was always the happy dreams that annoyed her the most. It always seemed like they only existed to mock her.

As Seiko pulled herself out of bed, she started her day the same way she always did; taking the medication that, without it, she wouldn’t be able to live. It was a very special medication for a rare condition that, even with government insurance, would have cost her millions of yen per year to buy. So, ever since she was little she compounded her own to save her parents money, unwittingly starting her down the path to her current career as the Ultimate Pharmacist.

She then went to her kitchen in her matching black bra and panties and began to cook her breakfast; fried eggs with bacon and sausage. Her home was completely devoid of any noodles, rice, jelly, or bread since consumption of too much sugar would interact terribly with her medication, causing a terrible stomach upset at best and threatening her life at worst. When it was finally ready, she sat down at her lonely dining table and ate it piece by piece, the same way she had every morning. She then took out a large basket full of orange pill bottles and swallowed the two that she knew she knew she had to take with food; and then, she stared at the clock on her wall for exactly ten minutes before downing the rest of her medications. It was a heavy pill burden, to be sure, but Seiko never minded since she knew how important they all were to her. The only one she didn’t take before she stood up was her anxiety medication; she always took that right when she began work since it would help it last throughout the whole day.

She then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, where she winced when she saw her reflection in the mirror. There really wasn’t any reason for her to react that way, since surgery and braces had taken care of her dental issues long ago, but she still couldn’t help but do it on reflex; years of mockery for her mouth made it hard not to see it ugly even to this day.

“Augh… I really need to stop doing that. There’s nothing to be ashamed about.” Seiko took a deep breath and tried to practice smiling to herself, trying to increase her confidence. She thought back to what Shuichi had told her about being a lovely woman and how she deserved respect, and it seemed to work at first. But, the longer she stared at herself the more a sense of shame and dread returned to her. “Sigh… maybe some other time.”

Seiko took out her toothbrush and closed her eyes to clean her teeth blindly, just as she always had for the last few years. She then spat her toothpaste out and removed her clothes before getting into her shower, where she scrubbed the rest of her body clean. She then finished her morning routine by donning her usual light green suit, white coat, and black medical mask before heading outside to catch the next bus to the town’s famous red-light district.

It was still very early in the morning, so the sun hadn’t fully risen over the area yet, but that was just the way Seiko liked it; it meant that the sidewalks were empty and that she’d have time to get her pharmacy ready for the day. Seiko wasn’t proud of much, but as the owner of the only independent pharmacy in the city, and the only medical office located in this part of town, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride whenever she opened her door and was met by the smell of medicines and disinfectants.

The first order of business was to take stock, making sure that nothing was stolen and that she had enough of each medication that she needed; and the ones that she was low on she ordered more of straight away with her computer. Then came the dusting, the cleaning, and the preparing of prescriptions that she knew needed to get picked up that day. It would normally take a whole pharmacy team about an hour to get them all ready, but Seiko’s trained hands and fingers were able to get them all ready in only fifteen minutes.

This left the pharmacist with some spare time before she officially opened, and she spent it trying to relax as best as she could, reading from a book of poems that her father had gotten her for her last birthday. It did its job for the most part, but as the time to open approached she knew she couldn’t keep reading all day so she put the book away and moved her mask to the side to swallow her anxiety medication.

She shivered and felt her muscles relax the instant she swallowed the pill, a calm air of professionalism descending upon her almost like magic. Seiko knew that was just a placebo effect - the medicine would need several minutes to start being absorbed - but that didn’t stop it from working as she went to the window at the front of her shop and flipped the ‘Closed’ sign to ‘Open’.

Her first customer came in through her front doors a few minutes later in the form of a short woman with red hair, a black witch’s hat, and a black cloak that just barely hid the fact that all she was wearing underneath was an incredibly skimpy bikini: Himiko Yumeno.

“Good morning, Koko,” Seiko greeted, bowing respectfully as she referred to Himiko by her sex worker name. “How may I help you? Do you need a prescription that needs filling?”

“Nyeh… good morning,” Himiko said with a yawn as she walked into the store, rubbing away the sleep that was still in her eye. “Don’t worry, I’m not here for your alchemy today; I’m just here to pick up some more ‘party balloons’ for my magic show.”

“Huh? Oh, you mean condoms!” Seiko reached underneath her front counter and pulled out three boxes; they were easily the most popular item in the store, so she always made sure to keep them close. “I’m surprised you’re back for more already; didn't you come by for more just a few days ago?”

“I know, but my familiars keep eating them,” Himiko explained. “They have an endless hunger for rubber… and flat chests.”

“Well, I am happy to hear that you’ve been getting good business.” Seiko scanned the barcodes on the boxes and opened her cash register so she could take Himiko’s money. “Thank you for stopping by; please let me know if you need anything else, okay?”

“Nyah… no problem.” Himiko opened the boxes and turned around; Seiko couldn’t see what she was doing, but she suspected that she was stuffing them into hidden pockets in her cape - not that Himiko would ever admit to that. “See you later.”

Himiko then trashed the empty condom boxes and began making her way lazily toward the exit. But, just before she stepped outside, she paused and turned back toward Seiko.

“Actually, since I’m here… could you tell me how effective these condoms are at stopping pregnancy spells?” Himiko asked.

“Well, if used correctly, male condoms prevent pregnancies 98% of the time,” Seiko explained.

“Hmm… and how much do your pregnancy tests here cost?” Himiko asked.

“About 900 yen per test,” Seiko answered. “Why do you ask? You’re not concerned that you might be pregnant, are you?”

“Hmm…” Himiko thought silently to herself for a few moments. “No, of course not; magical girls never get pregnant. And if they do, it’s only because they meet their one true looooove.”

“R-right, of course,” Seiko replied. “But if you ever change your mind about that test, you’ll know where to find me.’

“Thank you.” Himiko bowed and left Seiko alone in the pharmacy, though she didn’t stay alone for very long before her next customer came in; the ever beautiful Kaede Akamatsu, clad in a casual pink sweater and long, music-patterned skirt.

“Ah, good morning, Kae,” Seiko greeted with another swift bow. “I don’t believe that your prescription refill was due today. Did something happen to the pills I gave you last week?”

“It’s good to see you again, Kuchibashi!” Kaede greeted with a warm smile. “My pills are still good, but I’m afraid I’m here for another reason; I had another bad John last night who couldn’t follow instructions and finished inside me.”

“Oh, dear!” Seiko put a hand over her mouth in shock. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Eh, it's not too big of a deal, but it’s still really annoying. Naturally, I reported him to the blacklist app as soon as I could,” Kaede replied. “Anyways, I’m just here to pick up a morning-after pill before I started doing my errands for the day.”

“Very well.” Seiko retrieved a small plastic packet containing a dose of the contraceptive and handed it to Kaede in exchange for a small stack of bills and a swipe of her insurance card. “I trust you know how to take it and what the side effects might be?”

“Yep! You don’t have to explain it to me again.” Kaede took the pill out and swallowed it down with a water bottle she had in her purse. “Thanks again, Kuchibashi; you have no idea how much of a lifesaver having a pharmacy in this area of town is! Sometimes I wonder how the red light district ever functioned without you!”

“Please; I’m not that big of a deal, honestly.” Seiko blushed behind her mask as Kaede turned to leave the pharmacy. “Wait, Kae… there’s one more thing I wanted to talk about.”

“Huh? What is it, Kuchibashi?” Kae asked, stopping in her tracks.

“It’s… that actually; that name.” Seiko’s voice was sheepish and barely audible even in the quiet room. “Could you maybe, perhaps… stop calling me Kuchibashi?”

“Huh? Why not?” Kaede asked curiously. “Haven't I been calling you that for years now?”

“Y-yeah, but… I never actually… liked that.”

“... eh!? Are you serious!?” Kaede gasped in shock. “I’ve been calling something you’ve hated this whole time? I’m so, so sorry! I didn’t mean it, I swear!” Kaede ran back to the checkout counter and got down on her hands and knees. “I swear, if there’s anything I can do to make up for it, I will!”

“I-it’s fine, Kae! I don’t blame you at all; it’s my fault for not telling you earlier,” Seiko said hastily. “But.. if you really do feel sorry for it, do you think you could start calling me… Amethyst as my nickname instead?”

“Amethyst?” Kaede stood back up. “That sounds like a lovely name. Now that I think about it, it matches the lovely color of your eyes. Did you come up with it yourself?”

“N-no, not exactly.” Seiko lifted her mask further up her nose to make sure it hid her blush completely. “But I’d prefer it more than Kuchibashi in any case, okay?”

“Of course, Amethyst.” Kaede bowed once more. “I promise I won’t make that same mistake again.”

“... thank you, Kae. For everything.” Seiko returned the bow as Kaede finally left. “Wow, she actually called me Amethyst. That felt… surprisingly good.”

But before she could spend too much enjoying that new feeling, another customer walked into the pharmacy; this time, one she didn’t recognize. She had wild brown hair that looked like it hadn’t been combed or brushed in years, a tight white shirt that just barely held back a ridiculously-sized bust, and a short red skirt so short that her shirt almost covered it up.

“Oh, uh… hello there; can I help you?” Seiko asked curiously.

“Hey there; you’re some kind of doctor, right?” the girl asked curiously as she approached the counter confidently. “The kind that gives shots?”

“Uh, I’m a doctor of pharmacy, yes, and I am licensed to give shots,” Seiko answered. “Are you here for a vaccination?”

“Yeah, unfortunately.” The woman crossed her arms with frustration. “I’m starting a new job soon and I have to get all my shots before they let me start working. It sucks, but there’s nothing I can do.”

“Alright then; just give me your name and I’ll look up your vaccination profile.” Seiko turned to her pharmacy computer.

“It’s Akane Owari, but I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.”

“It’s so I can look up your health record to check what shots you’ll be needing.” Seiko typed in Akane’s name several times in multiple variations, but nothing came up. “Huh, that’s odd… are you from around here?”

“Nope; just moved here a couple months ago,” Akane answered. “That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”

“Not necessarily. Do you remember what shots that you needed to get?”

“Hmm, I dunno…” Akane scratched her head. “All of them, I think.”

“... all of them?” Seiko repeated. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah; they didn’t exactly have a lot of shots to give out where I’m from, so I’ve never actually gotten one before,” Akane explained. “But that’s not a big deal, right? I’ll only need one or two to get caught up.”

“One or two!?” Seiko gasped. “N-no, you’re going to need a dozen shots before you get caught up! I won’t even be able to give them all at once; you’ll have to come back in a few weeks to get even more!”

“Augh, seriously? That’s such a pain.” Akane groaned and rolled up her right sleeve. “Well, whatever; just give me the ones you can now and I’ll be back later for the rest.”

“Are you sure?” Seiko sanitized her gloves and began taking out her pre-made vaccination needles that she kept in her fridge. “There’s nothing wrong with giving most vaccinations concurrently, but it’s going to make your arm very sore afterward.”

“Eh, that’s fine; I once wrestled a wild dog for over a hamburger once when I was five; and I won!” Akane recounted proudly. “If I can handle that, I think I can handle this.”

“O-okay then.” Seiko sterilized Akane’s arm with an **** swab, let it dry, and then gave the woman her first flu vaccine. That vaccine was followed by another and then another, until she made it halfway through and switched to the other arm so she didn’t have to pierce Akane’s one arm too many times.

“Alright, we’re all done.” Seiko put the last bandage onto the tan woman’s arm. “Now, be sure to keep both your arms moving and they shouldn’t get too sore. You might feel a little sick too, but that’s perfectly normal.”

“Heh, don’t worry; I’ll be fine! I didn’t even feel a thing.” Akane cracked her neck and stood up to go to the door. “Thanks a lot, doc! I’ll be back for the rest of the shots when my boss bogs me to get them.”

“W-wait, hold on! You can’t go yet!” Seiko called out. “You have to stay for at least 15 minutes in case you have an allergic reaction!”

“Pfft! Like I have time for that; I’ve got stuff I have to do,” Akane scoffed over her shoulder as she left. “If I kick the bucket then I’ll come back from the grave to kick your ass or somethin.”

“Sigh… what a strange woman. I hope things turn out okay for her… and that she comes back for the rest of her shots.” Seiko disposed of the last needle and got ready to start dispensing again. “It’s a good thing she didn’t come in when I was really busy, though… Maybe it’s about time I bit the bullet and hired an assistant to handle things like that for me. Even if that does mean… having someone else around.”

Seiko shivered at the thought; as lonely as her pharmacy could get, she was an introvert at heart, even just thinking about spending so much time with another person – someone who might judge or look down on her – gave Seiko hives.

“Ah, I guess I can think of that later; it’s time for the morning rush,” Seiko said to herself as she saw a group of people approach her doors. “Time for the real day to begin…”

For the next few hours, Seiko dealt with what felt like an endless stream of customers, each wanting something different; some needed hygienic supplies, others stopping by to pick up their prescriptions, and still others coming by for basic tests and physical examinations. Of course, one of her most popular services was the dispensing of Kibofil, which was popular with over half the Johns and sex workers in the city. She always had to make sure that no one was watching too closely whenever she gave those pills out, but she wasn’t too worried about the police coming by to place her anymore; they knew there’d be a riot if she stopped selling, and the local police had much bigger problems to deal with.

One prime example of that being a young Japanese woman stumbling into the pharmacy with a large cut on her right arm and a limp in her right leg that did not look good.

“O-oh, dear! A Yakuza!? Oh, not again!” Seiko ran over to the woman and helped her to the pharmacy’s waiting bench. “I thought fighting was forbidden in this part of town?”

“Don’t worry… it’s just a scratch,” the woman replied, her voice laced in the usual cocky tone that almost every gangster in this city had. “I’m just here for some painkillers, nothing big.”

“You’re going to need more than just painkillers!” Seiko rushed to get some bandages, ice packs, and her home-made morphine pills. “Okay, now take these every 4 hours as needed for pain, and go straight home to rest!”

“No can do doll face; duty calls, after all,” the Yakuza woman said as Seiko patched her up. “Until peace finally gets declared, things are going to be pretty tense around here; and that means I can’t rest. Ever since previous Queen Kiara and the sex workers kicked us out of the red-light district, we’ve had to start our whole organization over from scratch; and the Triads don’t want to share their parts of town. Ah!” She winced as Seiko sanitized the cut on her arm. “They really, really don’t want to share.”

“Well, just promise me that you won’t get killed out there, okay?” Seiko asked, staring up at the woman desperately.

“Don’t worry, doll face; I’m not planning on taking a dirt nap anytime soon.” The woman then pulled herself to her feet and began heading back to the door, her normal walk mostly restored. “Now, I better get going before I get spotted here and one-eye gives me another earful. Here; keep the change.” The Yakuza woman took out a large wad of bills and tossed it to Seiko before she left out the door and the pharmacy clock struck twelve.

“Phew… that could have been a lot worse.” Seiko sighed and locked the front door of the pharmacy, putting out her lunch hour sign. “The fact that she came here at all is a bad sign, though. I just hope things don’t get even worse out there…”

Seiko headed back behind her front counter and opened the small fridge she kept back there, where she kept her lunch; a salad with a boiled egg lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. But, just as she was about to take off her mask to eat it, she nearly dropped her food to the ground when she heard the back door to the pharmacy suddenly unlock.

“Hello? Kuchibashi? Are you there?” Ruruka’s voice called out as the door opened.

“Augh… what is it, Ruruka?” Seiko asked as she put her food back into her paper bag. “You don’t need more of those pills already, do you? I just gave you a fresh bottle.”

“No, that’s not it at all, actually,” Ruruka replied. “Can’t someone drop in on their friends to say ‘hi’?”

“Yes, but… you never do that,” Seiko pointed out.

“R-right.” Ruruka reached into her purse and pulled out a stack of bills. “I was actually hoping that I could pay you back for the pills that I took last time. This should be enough to cover everything, right?”

“Huh?” Seiko blinked, not believing her eyes as she looked at the money. “Y-yes, it does, actually. Thank you.”

“Great! I’ll, uh, guess I’ll be going now!” Ruruka turned to leave but found herself stopped by a hand on her arm.

“W-wait just a moment!” Seiko demanded, her voice raising above a whisper for the first time in the conversation. “This only covers the one batch of pills! You’ve ‘borrowed’ them from me hundreds of times!”

“Yeah? So? I don’t have that kind of money on me right now!” Ruruka replied with a hint of agitation in her voice. “Besides, I didn’t have to pay you back at all! You gave me that stuff as a friend, after all!”

“Friend?” Seiko spat the word from her mouth so hard it nearly blew off her mask. “Do you really think taking advantage of me like that makes you my friend?”

“Of course I’m your friend!” Ruruka shouted, struggling against Seiko’s grip. “What’s gotten into you, Kuchibashi? Why are you like this all of a sudden?”

“Don’t you dare! Don’t fucking call me that name!” Seiko lashed out as she let Ruruka go and aggressively tossed her mask down onto the floor. “My name is Seiko, and I’ve always hated that nickname! Don’t you ever call me that again!”

“K-kuchibashi!? But… what’s wrong with that? It’s always been your nickname!”

“No! It was what you called me after I first showed my real face to you! I thought you of all people… my first real friend… I thought that you wouldn’t make fun of me but you just… you just…” Seiko turned away, tearing up so much now that she couldn’t speak anymore.

“Seiko… I’m so sorry, I… I didn’t know-”

“Well, you should have known!” Seiko interrupted harshly. “Do you have any idea how much that name has haunted me over the years? If you’d just asked I would have told you! If you just paid attention, you would have noticed! But you never paid any attention to me; just what I could do for you! You never cared about me at all, you self-absorbed bitch!”

“Hey! Don’t act like I never cared about you! You were my friend too, you know! My only real one!” Ruruka shouted, her blood starting to boil herself. “Whenever I was in trouble or down on my luck or... when my mom abandoned me, you were the only one I could ever count on! You were… you were everything to me, Seiko!”

“Your everything?” Seiko held back another sob. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t you act like it!? I’ve been by your side for so many years, but you never showed me any appreciation at all; just those stupid sweets that you know that I can’t even eat!”

“I know; that’s why I came here to begin with!” Ruruka screamed, crying now too. “So are you going to be grateful for the money or what!?”

“I’m sorry, Ruruka; but you’re a few years too late for that. It’s… over between us.” Seiko wiped her nose on her coat and turned around.

“N-no! Don’t you turn your back on me! You can’t turn your back on me!” Ruruka shouted, but Seiko didn’t react. “Don’t you dare ignore me! Please… please don’t! I… you’re the only one… the only one I have left. Please don’t leave me…” Ruruka dropped to her knees, her tears now flowing without stop. “Alright, I’ll admit it. I’m a terrible person. I used you. I took advantage of our friendship for my own self-interest. I gave you that nickname and neglected your feelings all these years. I shouldn’t have done that. And I didn’t just treat you horribly… I did this to almost everyone I ever met. I did it because I thought I had to, but… it was just an excuse. I don’t blame you for hating me, Seiko; the truth is that I’ve hated myself almost my whole life. And I don’t think I deserve anything good in my life anymore. Not you… or him either.”

Ruruka pulled herself to her feet and walked back to the exit. “Goodbye, Seiko. You won’t have to see ever again. I really wish… I was better to you.”

But before she could leave, Ruruka was once again stopped; but this time not by a hand, but by a pair of arms wrapping around her chest.

“S-Seiko?” Ruruka gasped. “What are you doing? Didn’t you hear what I said, you dummy? I’m not worth your time.”

“I know… and maybe I’m crazy for saying this, but… I can’t deny it to myself. I do still care about you,” Seiko whispered. “And if you’re really willing to say that all to me… if you really want to try and change then maybe… maybe we can start over.”

Ruruka was completely speechless. Here she was, at the end of her rope, suddenly being given a second chance by her friend that she didn’t deserve. Everything was so overwhelming in emotion in her head right now that her leg sank to the floor.

“Seiko…. I’m really tired. I’ve always been so tired of my life. I haven’t had a drink in over a day.” Ruruka pushed Seiko away and put a hand to her forehead. “I have a problem, and I think I need to go to rehab or something. So that I can fix myself. But I don’t know what to do. I’m so scared that I’m too broken to be fixed.”

“You’re not broken, Ruruka; just a little bit sick.” Seiko wiped the tears from Ruruka’s eyes. “You can still get help, I promise; and I can help you.”

“Thank you, Seiko, but… I can’t take your charity. Not anymore,” Ruruka insisted. “If we’re going to do this, then I have to take the first step on my own.”

Ruruka reached into her coat and gripped the sunshine bottle she had close to her heart.

“Just drop me off at the closest rehabilitation center that you can find. I can handle the rest on my own”

“Okay, but… are you sure you can’t stay just a little bit longer?” Seiko asked. “I have some informational pamphlets about alcoholism and withdrawal, and I’m authorized to lorazepam if you start convulsing, not to mention I know the names of some good behavioral therapists-”

“Seiko, please.” Ruruka pressed a single index finger on Seiko's lips to prevent her from rambling. “Let me do something selfless for once in my life.”

“…okay. Let me close shop first and grab my umbrella. I think it’s going to rain later…”