Rain.

So much. Damn. Rain.

Raksha swiped at her face with her hands, fruitlessly trying to clear her eyes. Fuck it all to the nine levels of goddang hell, why did the damn rain have to come down right now!? She would've preferred it stayed hot until...oh, maybe next month?

Inwardly, she knew the rain was important for the three elderly women she was staying with, for they were a considerable distance away from the village well and they weren't getting any younger either way, but that didn't mean she had to like it when it came down hard on the one day she had succeeded in licking most of her wounds clean.

Naturally, she would've sought shelter, sought out somewhere dry, but this time she just let herself be soaked to the skin, barrelling her chest to take the brunt of the cold shower against it. Rain wasn't much of a problem for her, temperature and health-wise. Her bionic parts were well-insulated against extreme temperatures, and due to their specialised workings which allowed them to be nourished and maintained by her blood, the risk of a tetanus infection from rusting was zero.

Yet tonight, the rain felt colder than usual, and despite trying her best to deny it, she knew it wasn't the right move.

That wouldn't be the first time she ever got into a heated verbal argument with Malini, nor would it be the last at the rate they were going. Malini, especially, was the type she avoided verbal arguments with whenever it could be helped, since she always skipped straight to the threats and blaming and wouldn't be thinking straight at that point, and as usual Raksha would yap at her to can it before she said something she literally could not take back.

Yet this time, they had tossed a lot of things they couldn't take back at each other, and they had now gone their separate ways for an indeterminate amount of time.

Raksha, for her part, didn't really care. She had no use for her phone nor any of the other things she kept back in her room in that ratty old flat. The former was still with her, but it hadn't been turned on ever since she had left, so it wasn't dead just yet. Frankly speaking, Raksha hadn't really taken much, only stole back once or twice in the dead of the night to pilfer a few chosen items before leaving, bolting the window shut as she always did.

As she used to always do.

"Raksha. Hey, Raksha"! a husky voice called out to her.

"Yes"?! she called back, her voice only just cutting through the gale.

"Come inside, ma, or you'll come down with a fever", Mariyayee, the person the husky voice belonged to, reminded her. "Its very cold tonight".

Grumbling incorrigibly, Raksha stalked back into the house, shaking herself dry at the door as she did before padding into the warmer-and significantly dryer-living room. Mariam and Ah Ping had already gone to bed, but Mariyayee was still awake, sipping on a mug of hot, sweet milk tea that had a tempting smell while reading the daily newspaper. Raksha inhaled a huge whiff of hot milk tea-scented-air, then padded into the guest room and shut the door.

Normally, she would've locked it before she started changing, but this time she couldn't care less, pulling off her rainwater-soaked hoodie, shirt, pants and socks and tossing them aside. Then, after a brief period of consideration, she took off her bra and panties and looked at herself in the mirror.

She definitely hadn't changed the slightest since growing from the tiny bite-sized kid to the lithe and deadly cyborg she was in the present day. The latex skin that covered her two bionic limbs and one half of her upper face and clavicle had already worn off, exposing the shiny grey metal underneath. A few scraps of tan brown latex still clung to the back of her elbow, though those were already about to fall off as well.

Raksha pulled the scraps off and tossed them aside into the dark room. She hadn't bothered to light the lamp, despite it already being full and the matchbox and kerosene can lying nearby. She wasn't in the mood for the pleasant yellow glow tonight. Only the white glow of the moon provided any form of lighting in that room.

Of course, she damn well knew what was getting under her skin this time. It was her argument with her sister. Yes, that was what was digging itself under her skin like a jigger flea into the skin under her toenails. That argument.

She set her jaw grimly and looked at the clock. Two hours before 2:00 a.m.. If she could just sacrifice 30 minutes of comfort tonight, she could pilfer a few more items from her room before calling it a day and never going back. No, she would never go back. Not now, not later, not ever. Malini didn't need her, a freak of nature as unpredictable as the weather, around. She was going to get her degree, marry a good man and live a good long life with kids of her own. She didn't need her in the picture to mess it all up.

Or did she?

Raksha gave her long mane a swift flick, shaking more water out of it, before laying down on the mengkuang mat and pulling the thin blanket over her naked form. It wouldn't be the first time she slept naked, but it would certainly be the last time she ever let her guilt chase her back to her sister.

This time, she wanted Malini to see the truth for herself.

Are you sure? her subconscious asked her, its tone almost sardonic. Are you really sure you don't want to tell her yourself? Is this really the hill you plan to die on? You know what your folks are like, and you know they won't stop at just you. Why let another victim fall into their clutches?

"Not all victims ask to be victims", she growled internally.

True, that voice continued. But you have no idea of what you've just triggered.

"Shut up", Raksha growled again, then pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and slept off.