"A ga?" Haruno's pitch lifted with instant interest. "Does it involve... Shizuka-sensei?"
"Smart." Seiji smiled. "Last ti, you seed to enjoy watching bully your teacher. So this ti, I'm giving you a chance to get in on the action yourself."
"Get in on... the action?" Her breathing quickened.
Her heartbeat picked up against her will, anticipation and guilt sparking through her in equal asure.
"That's right." Seiji's voice was patient, coaxing. "I'm going to help you tease Shizuka properly. What do you think?"
Silence on the other end.
Haruno's sharp mind caught the trap woven into his phrasing almost imdiately.
Help tease my teacher?
She nearly laughed.
The real goal is to get both of us teasing each other.
But so what?
Her body and soul had already fallen past the point of rescue.
What a wicked man. The complaint rang petulant inside her head, but the corners of her lips curled into sothing sultry that she couldn't suppress.
"Leave it to !"
The words spilled out bright with anticipation.
...
After hanging up on Haruno, Seiji dialed Shizuka's number.
The phone rang for a long ti before it was grudgingly answered.
"...What do you want?" Shizuka sounded exhausted.
She sat alone in her dim apartnt, several empty bottles lined up on the table in front of her.
"Shizuka, you don't sound great." Seiji's tone was teasing.
"Wonder whose fault that is." A sharp click of the tongue.
"Still hung up on Haruno's betrayal?"
Silence.
But her breathing grew heavier, audible through the receiver.
The humiliation of being sold out by her most cherished student still lodged in her chest like a poisoned thorn.
"What if you could... get even?"
Seiji's voice dropped low, the whisper of the serpent in Eden, laced with fatal temptation.
"Get even?" Shizuka blinked, then let out a cold laugh. "Not interested."
She'd already lost. Already given up resisting.
But that didn't an she'd sink further.
"Really? Not even a little?" His voice curled with persuasion. "Picture it, Shizuka. You and her. Roles reversed. That perfect student who always hides behind her flawless mask, the one who played you like a fiddle... imagine her stripped of every disguise, crying and begging in front of you. Imagine her tasting exactly what it feels like to be stabbed in the back by soone she trusted."
Every sentence hit Shizuka like a punch to the chest.
Revenge.
Make Haruno taste the sa humiliation I suffered.
The thought stayed. Wouldn't leave. Got louder every ti she tried to push it away.
Shut up!
Reflex pushed back.
But the scene Seiji had painted blood unbidden behind her eyes, bringing with it a sick thrill that frightened her.
"I... I'm not falling for your tricks again!" Her voice trembled.
"I'm not tricking you." Seiji sounded wounded, sincere. "This ti, I'm on your side. All I want is to help you get your revenge."
"And besides..." His tone shifted, turning intimate. "Have you forgotten what happened last ti you got drunk? The way you begged ?"
"You... that's a lie!" Her face flooded scarlet.
"You know whether it's a lie or not. Or would you like to refresh your mory?" A low laugh, each word brushing against her raw nerves.
Under the combined weight of alcohol, humiliation, and the revenge fantasy that had been forced alight inside her...
Shizuka's reason collapsed again.
"...Ti. Place."
The words ground out through clenched teeth.
The next morning, she woke from a hangover, saw the confirmation ssage on her phone, and was swamped by regret.
She flung the phone aside and buried her face under the covers, willing the whole thing out of existence. Half an hour of thrashing later, she sat up, irritated and resigned.
I've already beco this. What's left to be afraid of?
She was an adult. Words spoken were debts owed.
And besides...
A small, hot ember of vindictive satisfaction still glowed inside her chest.
She wanted to see what Haruno Yukinoshita's perfect mask looked like when it shattered.
...
Shizuka walked into the familiar villa living room with the grim resolve of a warrior crossing a river she'd never cross back.
She saw her target.
Haruno sat on the sofa, a cup of tea in hand.
"Shizuka-sensei?" Haruno's face showed the sa startled confusion Shizuka felt.
Their eyes t.
The living room went dead silent.
Both of them froze, dumbstruck.
The silence lasted less than three seconds.
Then two equally intelligent won arrived at the sa conclusion simultaneously.
They'd been played.
"You..."
"You..."
They shot to their feet at the sa instant, fingers jabbing at each other, faces contorted with the fury and sha of the deceived.
"Haruno! Why are you here?!" Shizuka fired first, lungs ready to burst. That bastard said he'd help her get revenge on Haruno!
"I should be asking you that, Shizuka-sensei!" Haruno shot back without missing a beat, her own face burning with the indignation of being made a fool. "Master told I was here to discipline you!"
"Master?!"
The word sent Shizuka's rage through the ceiling. "You shaless woman!"
"Hm." Haruno's eyes narrowed, sweeping over Shizuka with cool contempt. "Being Master's dog still beats being a washed-up teacher so pathetic she plots revenge against her own student. And that look on your face right now, Shizuka-sensei? Not a flattering one."
"You... you..." Shizuka choked on her own fury, shaking from head to toe.
They went at each other like a pair of fighting roosters, accusations flying, each trying to bury her own embarrassnt under an avalanche of righteous anger directed at the other.
And the architect of this farce, Seiji Fujiwara, leaned against the second-floor railing with the easy posture of an audience mber settling in for the show, watching the chaos below with open amusent.
"Hey! Seiji Fujiwara! You bastard! Get down here!"
Once pointing fingers at each other proved futile, Shizuka redirected her aim at the real culprit.
She craned her neck toward the second floor and roared.
"Liar!" Haruno looked up too, her gaze brimming with accusation and wounded resentnt.
Seiji smiled. He descended the staircase at a leisurely pace, hands in his pockets.
"Did I lie to you?" He stopped in front of them both, palms spread in a gesture of perfect innocence. "Didn't I tell you, Shizuka-sensei, that I'd help you get revenge on Haruno? And didn't I tell you, Haruno, that I'd help you discipline your teacher? You're both right here, in front of . Go ahead and take your revenge on each other. Discipline each other. Doesn't that count as keeping my word?"
The sheer brazenness of the logic, shaless and airtight in its own twisted way, left both won speechless. They stood there shaking with rage, unable to form a single rebuttal.
"Shaless!"
"Despicable!"
Fury overrode their quarrel with each other. They didn't care about assigning bla anymore.
The only thought left was escape. Get out of this place and its unbearable humiliation.
"I have lessons to prep at school! I'm leaving!" Shizuka's face went cold as she turned for the door.
"I have an ergency board eting! If you'll excuse !" Haruno seized on her own excuse and moved to bolt.
They didn't make it two steps.
Seiji materialized in front of them, blocking the path.
"What's the rush?"
"The ga's only getting started."
He produced a remote from his pocket and pressed a single button.
The villa's front door swung shut with a hydraulic whisper.
Then ca the sound of electronic locks engaging, one after another.
The color drained from both won's faces.
"Open the door!"
Shizuka threw herself at the entrance, wrenching at the handle. It didn't budge. She pounded on the floor-to-ceiling window beside it and found reinforced glass that didn't so much as rattle.
Haruno kept her composure a beat longer. She pulled out her phone. The "No Service" indicator on the screen made the corner of her mouth twitch.
"Master... you ca prepared."
"Of course."
Seiji pulled both of them against him, one on each side, arms locked around their waists.
"Let go of ! You bastard!"
Pressed against him, surrounded by that aggressive, familiar scent, Shizuka's rage erupted. She thrashed like a cornered lioness, driving her elbow hard into his ribs.
It landed like a pebble thrown at a cliff face.
Seiji caught the blow without effort, his arms tightening.
"Still feisty, Shizuka." A grin spread across his face, sharp with amusent. "Looks like last ti's lesson didn't sink in deep enough."
"A woman who only knows how to use brute force... isn't cute at all." He let contempt drip from every syllable, goading her deliberately.
"Lucky for you, today I'm going to make sure you rember."
He turned to the other side, to Haruno, who trembled faintly but had already stopped resisting.
"Haruno."
"Yes, Master." The response was instant and obedient.
"Wait for on the sofa." The command left no room for discussion. "I need to teach your disobedient teacher a proper lesson first."
The order sent a visible shudder through Haruno's body.
She glanced at Shizuka, still struggling, face flushed crimson. Then at her Master's eyes, dark with intent.
A complicated sympathy welled up inside her.
But she didn't hesitate for a second.
"Yes, dear Master."
[Read 90 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon/NiaXD]
Reviews
All reviews (0)