❀ ◝ ᅟ ℛiyo 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 ⢝⡫ 𝗢𝗢𝟭

The atmosphere at the Cleaners' base felt heavier than usual for Riyo. Sitting in a shadowy corner, the crimson-haired young woman played distractedly with her Jinki. Her vibrant energy and mocking smile had been replaced by a vacant, discouraged gaze, fixed on a figure laughing in the distance.

Riyo grit her teeth upon seeing her. There she was, the girl who kept her awake at night, the one who made her heart race, laughing at Zanka's mediocre jokes, forcing a normality that burned Riyo from the inside out.

— "It's funny, isn't it?" —Riyo whispered to herself, her voice laden with a bitterness she rarely allowed herself to show.

She remembered the moments alone, the way their fingers had «accidentally» brushed while they worked, and the glint in the other's eyes that said much more than her lips dared to admit. But now, in front of the others, she returned to her safe role: that of the girl who only seeks a man to fit into a world that does not forgive difference. She stood up abruptly. It wasn't just sadness; it was the rage of seeing someone she loved denying her own destiny out of fear. Riyo knew what would come next: years of pretending to be the perfect wife, waking up at midnight with her head in her hands, realizing that the life she chose is nothing more than a mask.

— Good luck with that —she murmured, turning around to lose herself in the shadows of the hideout.

She didn't need to see any more. She knew that, even if she left, the memory of what they could have been would continue to haunt the other girl in every fake kiss and every lie whispered into the ear of a stranger.