“...Satsuki...Tsujikawa...?” The man—no, the teen—straddling the motorcycle said her name. He was sporting a black motorcycle jacket with jeans. He pulled off his motorcycle helmet. The finely chiseled features of his handsome face were rather fetching. Mesmerized by his good looks, Satsuki was unable to peel her eyes away.
The young man’s eyes were icy. They were the type of piercing, cold eyes that lost all hope in the world. Whoosh... A passing breeze gently ruffled his hair. While the handsome features of his visage only emphasized his icy eyes, they were softened greatly by his wavy hair tousled in the breeze. The air about him somehow brought Shindo to mind.
The young man curled his lips in a sneer that didn’t touch his eyes. A deep voice passed through his lips as he said, “I’ve finally found you...Satsuki...”
His smile was so cold, it could freeze a person in their tracks. Satsuki couldn’t shake the sinking feeling she had seen his frigid smile before...
“Stop it! Kaido!” came a desperate shout accompanied by someone grabbing the teen’s hand latched onto Satsuki’s arm. “Get your hands off her! Do you have any idea who you’re messing with?!”
It was Alice. With eyes bulging in disbelief at the events unfolding before her, her face was contorted in fear.
The young man snorted disdainfully at Alice before poking Satsuki’s nose. She’d been staring at the rude biker who appeared out of nowhere as if he were an exotic animal.
“Satsuki Tsujikawa, the president of Tsujikawa Corporation’s only daughter. Reputed to be ‘delicate as a flower, beautiful as an angel,’ you earned the title ‘Tsujikawa Sacred Blade’ with your great beauty and superior intellect...”
The lines sliding off his tongue seemed complimentary at first, but after a moment’s pause, he snorted disdainfully once more before continuing, “But in reality, you’re just a naïve baby doll who’s completely dependent on that coddling attendant.”
“Kaido!” Alice snapped. It was obvious she knew the delinquent. Unable to endure any more of his outlandish insults, she started to stomp toward him. But Satsuki flung her arm in front of Alice to stop her from coming forward. With a loud “Crack!” she slapped the boy’s finger off her nose.
“You shouldn’t point at people. Didn’t you learn that as a child?” Satsuki asked belittlingly, staring with sharp eyes into the boy’s condescending gaze. His brows furrowed before the strength of her eyes, but quickly countered by returning the hard stare.
“My bad, Miss,” he mocked. This time he grabbed Satsuki’s chin with the hand she slapped away. “You’ve got nice eyes... I should’ve expected as much from the Sacred Blade.”
His repeated insults toward Satsuki made the surrounding girls fly into an uproar. Taking advantage of the ruckus, his voice dropped to a hushed volume meant for Satsuki’s ears alone, “Do the voices of these moronic human hearts...still give you grief...?”
Eh...? The harsh gaze Satsuki held on the boy suddenly softened. What...did he say...?
“Do they still plague you...?” Just as Satsuki’s countenance softened, his expression changed to one of pity.
What...is this person talking about...? That question led Satsuki to an unlikely hypothesis. Could he somehow know I have psychic powers? But that was impossible. The only people privy to the knowledge she possessed powers were her parents and Shindo.
Satsuki left herself wide open as she peered questioningly at the young man. Seeing that vulnerability, his look of pity returned to his initial cold smile. With her chin firmly held in his grasp, he slowly drew his face toward hers.
“It’ll be a pleasure...getting to know you, Satsuki.”
Scream-like squeals rose from the surrounding girls. After all, some insolent biker was about to steal the lips of the Tsujikawa heiress, revered as the “School Angel,” right in front of the entrance to Sakai Private High School for Girls’ main building. While some girls screamed, others hushed them to keep quiet. The security guard on the grass frantically rushed to intervene, but—
The ruffian didn’t so much as touch Satsuki’s lips. The moment he began to lean in, his hand was torn from her chin. He fell off his bike and crashed onto the ground as if flung. Actually, “thrown off his bike” might be a better description.
Dashed against the ground, the teen pushed himself back up. He looked up at the towering man in a dark gray suit trying to block Satsuki from sight. Accustomed to the man who appeared out of nowhere serving as her shield, Satsuki reached out and placed her hand on his back. Struck with a sense of relief, she couldn’t help but crack a smile.
“...Shindo,” she breathed.
On his way back from parking the car, Shindo heard the commotion near the entrance and returned to Satsuki as quickly as he could. When he discovered the young man on a bike leaning to kiss Satsuki, he raced over and pinioned the delinquent from behind before yanking him off the motorcycle. Of course, slamming him onto the ground was purely...intentional.
The teenager rubbed his battered body as he rose to his feet. Gripping the handles in both hands, he leaned out over the body of the bike and glared balefully at Shindo.
“Heh... I guess that’d be you, huh? The ‘attendant’ spoiling the princess,” the biker spat.
In response to his challenging glare, Shindo didn’t so much as bat an eye as he replied calmly, “If you leave now, no harm will come to you. But if you’d like to get hurt, let’s take this off school grounds. It would inconvenience the Miss if we proceeded any further here.”
It was unusual for Shindo to act so hostile of his own volition, adding oil to the fire. Even in a situation like this, he would normally defer to Satsuki on how to handle the matter. If she told him to “deal with the boy,” he would deal with the boy in whatever way deemed appropriate, whether in a fight or otherwise. But he would never take the gauntlet thrown without consulting her first.
It went to show just how far he was from inner peace. This delinquent brat approached Satsuki while he was away. Although he didn’t know what transpired in his absence, he did know that the louse put his dirty mitts on her. On top of that, he was trying to steal first base! As her retainer—her bodyguard—that was unforgiveable. Of course, he was most certainly assaulted by another emotion as well...
Straightening, the youth heaved a sigh with his hands in his pockets and smiled faintly. “It’s not like anything good’ll come from getting physical here... I love getting physical with the ladies, but I hate getting physical with guys,” he said, delivering the vulgar joke in crude tones that made Satsuki’s face twist with distaste.
Standing at her side, Alice noticed Satsuki’s look of disapproval from the corner of her eye. She nervously admonished, “Stop it! You shouldn’t say things like that...”
“Shut it, Alice! I’ve had enough of you butting it!” he suddenly yelled at Alice. She fell into silent submission, her whole body trembling.
The youth threw his hands up in a derisive shrug before effortlessly mounting the bike. Catching a glance of Satsuki from behind Shindo, he waved to her with one hand and said, “See you around, Satsuki.”
Revving the engine to full throttle, there was barely time for the loud boom unique to motorcycles to sink in before he spun off with tires screeching.
Alice hesitantly approached Satsuki, who was left staring at the uproar that consumed the school grounds and main entrance. She timidly asked, “Are you okay, Satsuki?”
Not wanting to worry the clearly apprehensive classmate, Satsuki flashed her a smile out of consideration. “I’m fine. But honestly, I’d like to thank you. You spoke out on my behalf, didn’t you?”
“...O-Oh, it was nothing... Alice responded. She opened her mouth to continue but the loud ping of the first bell disrupted her words.
“We best get to class.” Satsuki said making her way toward the school doors.