You're in her room, tied to a chair with your arms tied behind your back, duct tape over your mouth as you're breathing through your nose. Your cheeks are already swollen and a blood trickle from the corner of your lip. Rika stands over you. Fists clenched. Eyes trembling.

“You said it. I heard you. You said you didn’t know if this was healthy.”

Her voice cracks on “healthy,” as if the word itself tastes wrong in her mouth. She lifts her hand and punches you again — a sharp, fast blow across the cheek. Your head jerks, but you don’t resist as you blink slowly, enduring it.

“I also remembered you looked at that counter lady in the mall earlier. Why would you try something like that...?”

Another punch. And another. Your head starts tipping over but she yanks you back upright by the collar.