“I swear, rich chicks are in a class all of their own. Most girls would go ‘No’ or ‘Stop it,’ but you were all ‘Desist at once,’” Takemi goaded, rising to his feet and brushing off his pants as if dismissing the entire event.
With a big grin, he stretched and asked, “Did you tell that retainer guy ‘Desist at once,’ too?”
Satsuki stared at him in surprise. Did he read her mind to find out she also kissed Shindo? If he did, then he knew that although only briefly, they had kissed with hearts as one. Her feelings for Shindo would no longer be a secret...
“What? I called it?” Takemi sniggered upon noticing Satsuki’s reaction. “I didn’t actually snoop around your mind all that much. I caught wind that ‘Miss Satsuki and her retainer are a thing,’ is all.”
Takemi still didn’t know about the forbidden love shared between the two.
He walked up to Satsuki and combed her beautiful, pitch-black hair with his fingertips. Her hair cascaded smoothly, slipping through his fingers. Soft and silky, simply the touch of her hair sent Takemi’s senses reeling in a wave that started at his fingertips.
“Man, I’d love to see your hair spread out across the bed... I wonder how it’d ripple...” he mused.
“Please refrain from talking like that around me. That isn’t the sort of thing you should casually mention in front of a lady, now is it? You’re being extremely rude, Mr. Kaido,” Satsuki chastised.
“Call me Takemi, Satsuki,” Takemi said, presumptuously referring to Satsuki by her first name after she pointedly used his surname. Slipping the hand used to comb her hair around her shoulders, he pulled her into a side hug.
“For you to get so worked up over a measly little kiss, I bet you haven’t gone the whole way with that attendant yet, have you? It’s all the more reason for me to tousle your hair in bed as your future husband.”
“That is enough...!” Just as Satsuki was about to give Takemi a piece of her mind for his incessant crass remarks, a knock came from the Student Council Room door.
“Is anyone there? Satsuki, are you in there?” came Alice’s voice.
Class should have started by now, so what was she doing here? As if sensing the trouble that would ensue if he ran into Alice here and now, Takemi raced out the glass doors. After being left open all this time, the doors slammed shut the moment he made it over the threshold.
“I’m coming in,” Alice announced. Although no one answered her earlier, the door was unlocked. Figuring it would be best to check to make sure the room was indeed empty, Alice swung open the door. She found Satsuki standing in front of the desk in the supposedly vacant room.
“Satsuki...!” Alice cried. She quickly shut the door behind her and briskly strode to Satsuki.
“Alice, is something the matter? Shouldn’t class be in session by now?” Satsuki managed to muster a smile, suppressing the shock she suffered at the hands of Takemi. She intentionally avoided mentioning he was there only moments ago.
Normally that smile would fill Alice with a soft, airy sensation, but failing to give rise to such feelings in her this time, she shot a condemning look at Satsuki.
“What are you doing here, Satsuki? You know class has started! And do you have any idea how worried Mr. Shindo is about you? Any at all?” Alice rounded on her. I feel just awful for Mr. Shindo. Why would she put him out like this?!
“He is worried sick. He went to look for you in the library...but I believe he should be here soon,” Alice continued. I’m so jealous of the way you make him lose his head!
“What is going on, Satsuki?! You haven’t been yourself all morning. I’m worried about you!” her tirade continued. I wonder what happened between her and Mr. Shindo. They usually get along so well... So well it makes me jealous at times...
“But it isn’t right to upset Mr. Shindo like this,” Alice postulated. Mr. Shindo takes such good care of you...
The thoughts initially flowing from Alice brimmed with concern for Shindo and disappointment toward Satsuki for troubling him. Ultimately, they grew jealous in nature.
You get to keep his smile and arms all to yourself... What more could you want?
“Alice...” Satsuki’s voice dropped to a warning whisper as she repositioned herself to face the girl head on. Eyes burning with the flames of jealousy from the inner depths of her heart, she glared at Alice. “Do you love Shindo...that much?”
“Huh? Uh, what do you mean...?” Alice fumbled, thrown off by the unexpected question. “Ummm...” she hesitated, but could see from the way Satsuki looked at her that her classmate was serious. The expression on her face made it clear she wanted an honest answer.
Averting her gaze from Satsuki, Alice dropped her eyes with flushed cheeks as she answered, “...Yes, I love him.”
Something in Satsuki’s heart snapped with a loud crack.
“I know it isn’t right to have feelings for the man serving as your retainer... Please find it in your heart to forgive me,” Alice apologized. I’ve loved him since I first laid eyes on him. He’s the first true gentleman I’ve ever met...
“It’s why I look forward to seeing the two of you come to school every day. When you come, it means I get to see him,” Alice confessed. Although it’s really annoying the way you show off how close you are...
“That’s why I hate to see Mr. Shindo put out so much,” Alice explained. Just because he’s your retainer is no excuse to give him a hard time. I think you’re acting like a spoiled brat.
“He seemed troubled again today, so I... I knew class was about to start, but I wanted to be of some help to Mr. Shindo, if even a little... So I set out to look for you...” Why are you giving Mr. Shindo a hard time? You’re being simply awful!
Envy toward Satsuki bloomed in Alice’s heart, giving rise to jealousy. Condemnation akin to hatred was short to follow. Those emotions flowed into Satsuki unabated, eating at her heart.
“Alice,” Satsuki said in a voice that came across as cold to the other girl. “Don’t you have a... fiancé?”
Alice raised her head with a gasp. Satsuki was glaring more haughtily than she had ever seen before. Intimidated by her imposing air, Alice stiffened.
“You’re attracted to Shindo when you already have a fiancé? Wouldn’t you consider that being insincere?” Satsuki demanded, ice dripping from her words.
“Uh, well...” Alice tried to defend herself, but couldn’t force the words out under Satsuki’s icy stare.
“I can’t believe your heart is pining after another when you’ve already been promised to one man... It’s scandalous...” Satsuki sneered.
“No...” Alice whimpered. You’re cruel, Satsuki... I really do love Mr. Shindo...!
Alice’s heart screamed louder as if to make up for her fumbling mouth. But the words of her heart—how she truly felt—only served to rattle Satsuki to the core.
I love Mr. Shindo. I have since I was a first year... I’ve loved him ever since I saw him when I first enrolled in this school... What is so wrong with that? I just fell in love with Mr. Shindo is all!
Tearing her eyes away from the girl, Satsuki had to hold herself up with her hands on the desk. Among Alice’s thoughts, there was one word that greatly upset Satsuki’s own heart. It was the word “love.”
Kaido is only my fiancé in name. I only love Mr. Shindo! Alice’s thoughts were accompanied by mental images of Shindo. One was of him smiling gently. Of him smiling when he talked to her. Of when he set her heart aflutter that time he first took her hand.
I love Mr. Shindo. I love him... I couldn’t care less about that fiancé.
Crack... Crack... The cracking sound came from Satsuki’s heart. It was the sound of the word enclosed in an unbreakable glass case fighting to get out. It was the word “love.” Suffering in agony in that glass case, it was going berserk.
That was the one word Satsuki could never say. Not to Shindo. It was forbidden to tell him that. She could never say it to him. Buried in a glass case deep in her heart, Satsuki could never release this word.
It didn’t matter how much “I love you...” filled her thoughts. Regardless how badly her heart was tormented with the desire to utter those words, she couldn’t.
I love Mr. Shindo!
It was prohibited for Satsuki to ever say such a thing.
“Stop it...” Satsuki whispered with tears in her eyes. Her chest was filled with such horrible agony, she couldn’t breathe.
“Don’t...” she forced out. Why couldn’t she say it? “Don’t look at Shindo like that!”
The moment Satsuki shouted, a heavy pressure crashed upon the air in the room! Under the crushing air pressure, Alice nearly lost her hold on consciousness. As she struggled to stay conscious, pieces of the broken whiteboard turned into sharp, deadly weapons that flew toward her...!