Apartment Above Luke's, Tuesday

[spin_kick_snap]

It was Tuesday. Kathy knew she was supposed to be getting to work sometime this afternoon, doing stock or cleaning or trying to find people to come work for her or any number of countless, pointless projects. She had a routine and routines were important, at least according to what little poking around she'd done on the computer for Helpful tips

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[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo, when she'd finally pushed Crazy Apple back into the little corner of her brain that kept her other persona, had almost immediately rushed out to find Kathy. She'd been halfway out the door when she'd caught herself.

Kathy had said that she was hurting. That she'd wanted her kohai to be there for her. And Ringo hadn't been. And if Ringo just rushed over, she'd almost certainly fall apart all over her senpai, and that wasn't what Kathy needed. So Ringo had spent days working out what she'd say, practicing it in her head so that she could be sure that she'd be mature and helpful and not a burden

[spin_kick_snap]

"Come in!" Kathy called down, because leaving the couch for anything beyond necessary bathroom breaks was for chumps. She was in a blanket burrito on the couch and that was just fine by her.

[soniaroadsqueen]

That familiar voice made Ringo hesitate again, but she shook her head sharply. This wasn't the time for second thoughts!

She took a couple of deep breaths, made sure she had a casual, happy smile on her face, and opened the door. "Hello?" she called, keeping her voice light and cheery. "Anyone home?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy groaned into a pillow. She did not have the spare anything to deal with Crazy Apple today and if that girl thought she was going to apologize...! But then Kathy really thought about the greeting she'd just heard. That hadn't sounded like Crazy Apple. Crazy Apple didn't emote.

"...Ringo?"

[soniaroadsqueen]

That hadn't been exactly the greeting she'd been hoping for, but that was because Ringo hadn't really thought about the fact that Kathy had no reason not to expect more of Crazy Apple. It's not like they looked any different, at least not at first glance.

But she kept up that smile and sort of skipped into the room. "That's right!"

Of course the skipping sort of faltered (though she managed to hold the smile) as she prepared to deliver her whole practice apology.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Really Ringo?" Kathy asked, a little suspicious. Because that smile definitely did not look genuine. "Because if you're not my actual kohai you can fuck right off."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo blinked, sort of pulling up short, her smile faltering into uncertainty. It was hard enough maintaining a semi-fake smile when you were worried about how you were going to properly apologize. She hadn't been sure what kind of reception she'd get, but she hadn't prepared for this one.

"Oh. Um. I'm, uh, really me?"

She blinked a couple more times, fighting to regain that smile.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy sat up straighter, peering at Ringo. "Really?" she asked, still sounding like she wasn't quite sure she believed her. "Then come here."

[soniaroadsqueen]

A couple of hesitant steps brought Ringo closer, within a couple of meters of Kathy. She really wanted to fidget with her fingers, but her hands were full of pastry box. So she took a deep breath, then jerked forward into a deep bow, eyes aimed at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Kathy-senpai," she announced, words coming out in a rush.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Quiet," Kathy ordered, peering closely at Ringo. She reached out and tugged on Ringo's shoulders, pulling her up so she could look into the girl's eyes. Whatever she was searching for, she found, because a few seconds later, she was tugging Ringo in for a deep, tight, hug.

"I am so sorry," she whispered.

[soniaroadsqueen]

Kathy had interrupted Ringo in the middle of her prepared speech, and getting pulled into a sudden hug, while pretty awesome, further derailed her train of thought. So now Ringo was off-balance, and had lost the tightly-practiced apology she'd been holding onto for stability.

She didn't really register the fact that her vision was blurred, just dropped the pastry box to wrap her arms around Kathy in return. (Maybe they'd get lucky and no one would squash it.)

"No," she said, shaking her head and trying to speak coherently around the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry. So, so sorry. I made you think I didn't want to see you."

[spin_kick_snap]

"We can both be sorry then," Kathy declared, tears gathering in her eyes again. She'd probably be crying even if this weren't a weepy-kind of day. "I was awful and I said some even more awful things, and..."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo wanted to deny it, to reassure Kathy that she hadn't done anything bad, but she couldn't quite do that. So she just settled for clinging tightly and trying to catch enough of a breath to get some coherent words out.

"I've missed you so much."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I've missed you, too," Kathy said, petting Ringo's hair. "But I'm not sure that you've got me back." Wait, no that wasn't quite right. "Rather, I'm not sure how much of the original me is back to not miss anymore."

[soniaroadsqueen]

That earned Kathy a shake of Ringo's head, which basically just meant getting eyeliner smeared onto her shirt.

"You're still my senpai, though, right?" she insisted, half-afraid Kathy might shoot that down.

They could work out the details later.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I...I don't know, Ringo," Kathy confessed. "I'm not sure how great a senpai I am. You can do better than someone who fucks off and gets killed and then comes back a broken mess."

You could point to almost anybody on the island and find someone who had more of their shit together than Kathy did. What kind of role-model was that supposed to serve?