꒰ঌ Ruby & Weiss 7
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It was lunchtime, and we were in the clubroom.
"This is a bit tough…"
We couldn't fix the mistakes no matter how hard we tried, so we showed the game to Sasuke, and he came back with a rather unfavorable response.
"You can't fix it?"
"I can. But we have to start by figuring out exactly where and what the bugs are, and that takes time."
"How much time?"
"Well… even if I got the president to help me… I really don't think we can get it done in a week. So… I don't think we can make it in time for the contest."
"Seriously…? Dammit!"
"I had heard that Akatsuki has studied how to make games before, but this is her first time actually trying to make one, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Ruby didn't answer, so I answered for her.
"Then that's already more than enough. To think that she could make this much content on her first try is already really amazing."
"Yeah, that's right. You really did a great job by yourself. You had enough work that even with a group I thought you would barely make it, but you really did much more than I had expected."
The president also praised her like that (although, he completely ignored me).
"Hey… Ruby…" Knowing that my kouhai was probably pretty disappointed right now, I called out to her with a kind voice. And when I did that, I heard Ruby mumble.
"So, what you're saying is that there are bugs in my game that you can't fix very quickly, and we won't be able to make it by the contest deadline, right?"
"Yeah, that's pretty much it." The president nodded.
Ruby turned her eyes downwards and fell into thought for a bit. But then… she quickly turned heel, her shoes making an audible scraping noise against the floor.
"Hey, where are you going?"
Ruby didn't respond, didn't even turn back, but just quickly walked out of the room. I managed to get a small glimpse of her face when she left, and I saw that she was firmly biting down on her lower lip…
I chased after Ruby. She just continued to walk through the hallway at a quick pace, not showing any signs of noticing that I was following her. I had no intention of stopping her, but she was pretty hard to catch up to. So I just kept up with her and followed her. Before long, we arrived at a first year classroom. It was the class that Ruby belonged to.
What in the world did she think she was doing? I have no idea what this girl could be thinking. Probably because an upperclassman like me had shown up, the hallway was abuzz with murmuring. I could feel curious looks piercing through me. But it's not like I could just glare at them and make them scatter.
Ruby threw the classroom door open strongly and entered. She attracted her fair share of stares as well. After all, she was usually the loner, and she had just charged back into the classroom looking flustered… people were probably wondering what was going on. Ruby headed straight for a certain seat. And in that seat was none other than Weiss.
Weiss the clean freak, the brocon, the person who couldn't forgive anything that wasn't proper… and also the closet fujoshi. I wonder what she thought about herself right now. Of course, I had no way of knowing for sure, but I could make a guess. After all, when it came to things that weren't proper, there was nobody that knew better than I did. She was annoyed, probably. Annoyed at herself. She was probably angry at her own hypocrisy of disobeying a rule that she herself had set out.
The presentation hadn't gone as well as she had planned. After that, she disobeyed the club's rules and ran off by herself. Like that, she began to sulk, not able to admit to her own mistake. It definitely wasn't uncommon. And I wasn't in a position to blame her for it. I mean, I was similar myself. In fact, I feel that everyone has gone through something like this before.
Seeing Ruby approach her, Weiss paled and bit her lower lip.
"What are you doing, Akatsuki-san? Everyone is trying to eat their lunches and you're being quite noisy."
"Shirayuki-san. Please, I need you to lend me your strength."
Weiss had steeled herself for what was coming, but at that she opened her eyes wide and froze.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Bugs showed up in the game I'm making. At this rate, we won't be able to make it by the contest deadline."
"And?"
"You should be able to fix it, right?"
"Why… do you think that?"
"Because I listened to your presentation… and I played your game. You used some really complicated programs to make your game run more efficiently, but even then there were no bugs. I wouldn't be able to do something like that. Nobody in the club could do something like that. If you help me, then we should be able to get the game done in time."
"And that's why you want me to lend you my strength…?"
"Yes."
Ruby answered in the affirmative, and Weiss fell into silence with a conflicted expression. I could also feel that this wouldn't be an appropriate time for me to butt in. The murmuring in the classroom slowly got louder. Her classmates probably knew Ruby as a rather quiet person, so this was most likely the first time they saw her speak so openly like this. But in the next instant, all the murmuring came to a complete stop. Ruby was bowing her head down towards Weiss.
"Please, make a game together with me."
This was Ruby we were talking about. A girl who was proud, shy, and who was almost never honest with herself. Each and every person in that room was lost for words. And for good reason. I was shocked as well. I blinked over and over, wondering if I was just seeing things. Ruby's fists were clenched tight, and her legs were slightly shaking.
This must've been really frustrating for her. I could imagine that this was the first time in her life that she's done something like this in front of an audience. But despite that, this girl could bow her head sincerely to someone. Seeming to recover from her amazed stupor, Weiss took Ruby by the hand and tugged on it.
"You… come here for a minute…!"
Weiss dragged Ruby along and quickly rushed in my direction. I tried to dodge out of the way, but she lightly knocked into me as she passed.
When I looked back, I saw Weiss walking out of the room with Ruby in tow. She was probably planning to take her somewhere private, like she did to me in the bookshop. Somewhere where they could talk. Immediately after they left, I began to chase after them.
"Geez, think about where you are when you say things like that…! I can't believe you." Weiss had brought Ruby to the back of the school. "Why did you have to go that far? Bowing your head to me in front of such a big crowd…"
Weiss looked irritated as she pressed against Ruby. Ruby was pinned between the wall and Weiss's body, like I had been that other time. Weiss was gripping Ruby's wrists, and from what I could tell she was gripping them with quite a bit of strength.
"Also, what does this have to do with me anymore? I've already been scouted by the public morals committee, so I'm planning to quit that pointless club."
Hearing those words of rejection, Ruby swung her arms and got out of Weiss's hold. She leaned in close to Weiss until their noses were almost touching and gave her an intense stare.
"I… I want to finish this game no matter what I have to do. And if possible, I want to win a prize in the competition."
"I know that! What I was asking was why you had to go that far! What is it? Is it that if you don't win the competition, you'll be cursed to death or something like that!? To be honest, seeing how you're acting, I'm starting to think that that's actually the case!"
Weiss seemed to be the one in the most pain as she spat out her anger. Ruby responded to Weiss's sarcasm.
"It's close to that. If I start something, I will see that something to completion. I will hold my goals up high and exhaust all my strength striving to complete them. I learned to live my life like that from a certain someone. If I don't do that, then I will forever be a loser… I will just continue to wander around aimlessly with malice in my heart. And my pride will not allow me to live like that."
"What… are you saying?"
"Right now, I was talking about an infuriating friend who has already gone off somewhere far away."
"This person… is this the same person you said during the presentation that you wanted to beat down?"
"Yeah, that's right… I want to make her kneel at my feet and lick my boots. And to do that, no matter how shameful or unsightly it may be, I will fight and struggle until the very end."
A light but charming smile rose up onto Ruby's face. She moistened her lips with her tongue, looking almost like a cat who had found her prey.
"Hmph… to think she could make me feel like this… I'll have to make sure she is paid back in full. I won't forgive her for winning and then making a run for it. Next time I meet her, I'll definitely make her speechless."
She wanted to be able to hold her head high when Naruko came back. She had to look deep inside herself and improve. At least, that's what I heard in her words.
"So…" Ruby looked straight at Weiss. She wasn't wearing her color contacts… but I could swear I saw her eyes glowing a sinister red. "So please join me, Shirayuki Weiss. If you're still unsatisfied, then I can beg if you want me to."
"Akatsuki-san, you…" Weiss looked at Ruby with a bewildered expression. "Why is it that you haven't blamed me for anything yet? It's strange for me to be saying this myself, but aren't I the worst? I lost during the presentation, but just because I didn't like your plan I ran away… and on top of that, you ended up being the first one to bow your head…"
"Who was wrong or who apologized first is not important. What's more important is that I want to make a game with you."
Ruby fluidly communicated what I believed were her true feelings. She didn't want to lose to a certain someone, would complete her game at all costs, and didn't want to give up. Her words were probably born out of that motivation, but… she probably never imagined that she would have to ask Weiss for help. Then, feeling completely cornered, she let her true feelings flow out. And I'm sure those feelings got across to Weiss.
"Friends are more amazing than you could imagine. If there's something you can't do by yourself, then join up with another person… or maybe two… and you might be able to do it. If there's a time when you feel helpless and can't move forward… with another person, you can gain the courage to do so. If you try and try but nothing pays off, if you just continue to recklessly exhaust your efforts and hope to be rewarded for it, but even then you don't get results… and the plan backfires just as much as the effort you put into it, and you find yourself close to tears… if there is someone who will hold you up at those times, then you can get through it. And then, just a few words… just a few trivial words are enough to repay all your efforts… mm… yes, that's right…"
For just a fleeting, fleeting moment, I saw Ruby smile nostalgically.
"If I have friends to help me, then I still have energy to spare. That's something I learned recently."
And so, she wanted Weiss to make a game with her. Her cheeks were just a bit flushed, but Ruby had spoken with a serious expression. I'm sure that a year ago, Ruby would never have said something like. And so, over this past year… I wasn't the only one who had changed.
"I see." Weiss dropped her shoulders and the tension left her body. Almost as if Ruby's words had seeped into every fiber of her being. She let out an exhausted chuckle. "So? Is the game data in the clubroom?"
"Ah, so you'll help?"
"I'm not helping. Rather, we're making the game together, right?"
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