Catching a Ride

[CaptainL]

The anticipation was almost worse than whatever would come next. Yuki was still sore from the blow she'd taken, and every twist and turn she made with her back and her hips as she came crawling toward the edge of the platform made her clench her teeth at the aches and pains that rose to the surface. But it wasn't that bad - surely, if she wanted to push herself back to her feet, she could walk away just fine. But she couldn't do that. Not when Angelina was hovering just above her with her bat at the ready, prepared to strike back at Yuki at the slightest hint of subordination. Yuki could feel that threat just over her shoulder - even when Angelina wasn't touching her, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rise, reminding her that that threat was always there. The fact that she was even in a position to be this afraid of what the redhead could do to her was in and of itself another blow to her spirit - it was a reminder of her defeat; her failure to overcome her with so much pressure bearing down on her shoulders. So too, Yuki felt the stares of every bystander who stopped to watch her as she passed. She never looked back at them, but she knew that they were looking at her; that they could see her in such a moment of defeat. That they would remember this, no matter how hard she fought to drag herself back from the brink. That was enough.

When she came to the edge, though, that was when Yuki heard the rumbling of wheels against the tracks off in the distance. For a moment, her face went pale, and her eyes wide, as the blood seemed to freeze in her veins. She sucked in a gasp, and didn't let it back out for what felt like an eternity, but when she did, her breaths quickened into pants. Was Angelina going to kill her!? In all this time she had never even entertained such a possibility - not until she had found herself this vulnerable. Not until where she was in a place where, if the Marauder truly did want to throw her into the path of an oncoming train, she could.

Yet, Angelina didn't do that. She stopped, she deliberated, wandering over a few things in her mind. Yuki's frantic breaths slowed, and she looked back at her out of the corner of her eye. "You mean you don't know-" she began - only to immediately stop and bite down on her lip hard, her whole body cringing at the thought that she might have given Angelina ideas that she'd regret planting in her head. Even still, what Angelina did next was enough to shake her regardless.

Her eyes went wider as she looked up to see the defaced state of the yearbook dangling from the Marauder's fingers. How all the pictures surrounding hers had been scribbled over. Already, she could feel a stab through her stomach. Just as she feared, that sentimental reminder of her younger and more carefree days, before she had to worry about living up to everyone's expectations, that escape she had from the struggles of the present, was gone. She wouldn't be able to look back on her past without being reminded that Angelina had been there, and that she was determined not to let Yuki know even a moment of peace. She wouldn't be able to see the face of that girl who congratulated her on making it to LAW, or that boy who she knew had a crush on her even if neither of them said anything. And with how precariously the book was hanging from Angelina's grip, Yuki knew exactly what she wanted to do with it, even if she didn't say a word.

Her body locked up. Her breaths went still in her lungs. The only words that escaped her mouth were soft and half-muffled from the fear that grasped her by the throat. "...you wouldn't."

[Monsy]

Anyone in her place could think about dumping them into the tracks, right? Anyone could and would, if they had her place and had her feelings. They just need a few bonks on the head. To think freely. And to have the right person. But… Thoughts didn’t mean practical action. Anything and everything she wanted to do was by design, with her own two hands. And less audience. Like the yearbook, markered up to high pirate hell.

She could only interpret her face from this angle. Its movements, where she looked, from the pictures to the tunnel, where the light grew solid, the source on its front and the darkened windshield coming closer, and getting louder. For this particular moment, where the coup de grace was already decided, the reaction anticipated -- and the fact they could do nothing, with herself being fully capable of getting away with it, from now until the final voyage.

Angelina broke into a quiet snicker and hunched at her shoulders. Her bat wielding hand pressed against her forehead as the headache thrived and pulsed. She squinted, bit her lip, and felt so very alive that she began to feel like she was floating on cloud nine. That all the gold in the world was now hers to take, with one simple action.

“Wrong again, Yooks.”

Timed to the train’s arrival, Angelina tossed the yearbook onto the tracks. Its desecrated pages flew up from the skirt by the train wheels, in ribbons, chunks and markered slips. The cover was wholly swallowed and destroyed.

[CaptainL]

Yuki could see the light coming closer - how it flashed up along the tunnel walls, and how the roaring of the engine was getting louder and louder. She let out a yelp, and her body stirred as her heart jumped in her chest. Once again, she was reminded of just how vulnerable she was, and just how much danger she was in. How if Angelina so wanted to dispose of her, here and now, all it would take was a single push. Before this moment, Yuki would never have suspected the redhead of being capable of such heartlessness...but now, when the danger seemed closer than ever, when that very threat was breathing down her neck, she couldn't be so sure.

When the train at last came into view, Yuki wanted to jump back and shield herself, but she couldn't - the abject terror had her in its grasp, and every muscle in her body was frozen and unresponsive. She could feel that bat pressing against her head, the razor-sharp wire jutting from its surface seeming closer than ever to her skin, and the fact that it was so close - that if Angelina decided to hurt her with it it would be easier than ever - was enough to make her eyes water. But she wasn't going to. And what she did instead hit Yuki even harder.

With that one push, Angelina pitched the yearbook off the ledge, just in time for the train to come screeching by. Yuki let out a gasp, reeling back a fraction of an inch before the presence of the bat reminded her to be still. But there was never any chance of stopping it. There was a thud. Before the gasp had even fully left her throat, the pages were already fluttering up into the air. No one on the train would even know they'd hit anything. But in seconds, it had passed, and now only smudged scraps of paper littered the track below.

"...n-no..." Yuki's eyes were wide and unblinking, and her jaw dangled limp in a gasp. Tears were flowing from the corners of her eyes, yet her body was too stiff and rigid for her to even sob. She couldn't feel angry, even if Angelina had once again taken something from her - her comeback, her sense of safety, and now her fondest memories. All she felt was numb, consumed by the intensity and the magnitude of the loss that was now staring her right in the eye. She'd never see all those photos and read all those messages of love and encouragement again. And what was more, she had let Angelina win - she'd let her get to her. Yuki wasn't sure what was worse.

[Monsy]

The defaced petals landed with spinning wings, spread all around where they stood, down the platform both east and west. They barrel rolled and flew inside the doors when they opened. Some rested on the window frames and its depth. Most were simply on the tracks. Angelina watched them like sad fireworks. The store bought, go off early at your feet, over-priced sparkler-kind.

Victory was hers. But she didn’t feel like jumping much. She moved her lips to one side, held them there, then glanced down at the ossified Yuki. Their silent suffering was delicious, but it only inspired a shrug. An oscar performance would’ve been to break down and cause a scene. There was hardly a tear, struggle or whimper. Again, Yuki let her down. Her bat repositioned to go over her shoulder.

Final evaluation: breaking even.
"Till next time.” She turned ninety degrees and left her there, mending into the crowd and traversing the steps, leading towards the rest of the station, and three minutes later -- the street. Maybe it’s just the migraine. Or the glass germs melted into her skull and started smothering her amygdala.

Whatever it was. It wasn’t popsy-worthy. This was nap-worthy.

[CaptainL]

To Angelina, it might not have been much. But to Yuki, this was everything. It had only been a few fleeting seconds, but those few seconds were all it took to wipe that yearbook - and with it, all her fondest memories of the past; of her friends, of her rise to fame and of the year she made the jump to LAW - off the face of the earth. That yearbook had been the entire reason Yuki had started this in the first place. Why she had been willing to come to blows. She had been out to wrest that yearbook back from Angelina's grasp, and with it, she hoped to take back control of her life; to set right the failures she'd faced before, and to prove that she wasn't going to let the Marauder walk all over her like this. But when push came to shove, she couldn't. Once again, she'd failed.

To Yuki, the whole world had grown colder and darker. She could feel the weight on her shoulders sink down even lower - just one more reminder of what a failure she was; of how she couldn't back herself up no matter how hard she tried. This was her third chance to beat Angelina, and it was the third time she'd let that opportunity slip through her fingers right when she most needed to take charge. Just thinking about it, she could feel her body growing tense; her teeth clenched to try and stifle a sniffle, but the tears kept running down her cheeks as she stared down onto the tracks. Not just for how much she'd lost, but for how much she'd failed to gain. If she still couldn't beat Angelina, after so many times she'd tried...what hope was there for her?

Even as Angelina turned to leave, Yuki stayed right where she was, her unblinking stare pointed straight down onto the tracks. But, though she didn't say a word, or even turn in the redhead's direction, there was one thing that stuck with her - Angelina's parting words.

'Till next time.

This wasn't over. Angelina knew that just as much as Yuki. Only Yuki could put this all to an end, and she could only do that through claiming victory, once and for all.

But...could she?