“D-Don’t be stupid! Let go of me!” Satsuki commanded. She tried to lash out in an attempt to break free of Takemi’s grasp, but he was so strong, she couldn’t even raise her arms. “Let...go...!”
Glaring at her defiantly as he held her pinned down by the shoulders, Takemi’s lips curled into a devilish smile. Hoping to knock him off, Satsuki blasted concentrated will through her hateful glare.
Bang! With the loud crack of something like fireworks going off, a flash ran through Satsuki’s mind. Momentarily blinded by the white flash, her head swam so wildly she nearly blacked out.
“...That’s a waste of energy,” Takemi said with a frigid smile before Satsuki as her eyes fluttered in a desperate attempt to remain open. Her face twisted, assaulted by the sudden shock. “Your powers won’t work on me.”
Satsuki had tried to use her powers to knock him off. Alas, Takemi effortlessly blocked the attack and countered with what felt like a jolt of electricity through her mind.
“You’ve led such a coddled life, there’s no way your wussy powers could hurt me...” Takemi said as he untied her blouse’s ribbon.
Horrified, Satsuki grabbed his hands and shouted, “Stop it! Can’t you see how insulting this is?”
But he deftly broke free from her grasp. Clamping both wrists in one hand, he held them out of the way over her head. “So it’s fine when your attendant does it, but insulting when your fiancé does? Shouldn’t that be the other way around?” he chastised.
“S-Since when were you my fiancé? Stop this nonsense!” Satsuki shouted.
“I told you to choose me, remember?” Takemi insisted.
“I’ll never choose—”
Knocking at the door suddenly cut Satsuki off. It swung open without a moment’s pause.
“Forgive the interruption,” Shotaro said with a bob of the head as he entered the room. Shindo left him in charge of chaperoning Satsuki in his absence.
The moment he stepped into the room, he froze stiff with a gasp. Who could blame him? The young lady he served under the unquestioning belief she was chaste was being pinned down by a man on the sofa.
“Miss! Enough of this! What has gotten into you, Mr. Kaido?!” Shotaro shouted.
He had every right to be surprised. The young woman he served was being held down by her hands and shoulders. It was obvious this wasn’t consensual. He tried to dart over to them, but... Right before reaching the sofa, the horrible sense of plummeting from a skyscraper struck Shotaro. As the severe vertigo overwhelmed his senses, his consciousness slipped away!
“Mizuno!” Satsuki’s cry failed to reach him as Shotaro collapsed on the spot.
“Don’t worry. I just knocked him out. When he comes to, he won’t remember any of this,” Takemi said.
“How could you?!” Satsuki cried in a panic, but Takemi didn’t seem the least bit distressed. “Stop it! How dare you humiliate a woman like this?! You should be ashamed of yourself!” she cried.
“I could say the exact same thing to you. Stop lowering yourself by sleeping around with that worthless attendant! As the heiress to such an influential family, shouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself?!” Takemi shot back.
“Shindo isn’t worthless! His heart is far more dignified than yours!” Satsuki shouted in Shindo’s defense.
“Does he really mean all that much to you?!”
“He does! I love him! I love him with all my heart!” Satsuki declared. The second she shouted her words of affection, the air pressing heavily upon her suddenly let up. Able to move her bound arms once more, she realized Takemi had released her. Satsuki glared hatefully at Takemi.
“That’s all the more reason...for you to choose me, Satsuki,” Takemi said, looking down intently at her, but she continued to glare daggers at him. “If you declare I’m the guy you want, I’ll unleash all of the memories I’ve sealed away.”
“...I’m over that... I don’t want to remember anymore,” Satsuki replied weakly. Shindo told her she didn’t need to remember parts of her past that would bring her nothing but pain. Not to mention, she had no intention of offering her body to any man beside Shindo.
“You’ll regret it if you don’t,” Takemi warned, his usual frigid smile suddenly flashing across his face. “It’s a matter of life or death for Shindo.”
“Unhand her at once! Do you realize who you are manhandling in such a manner?!” came a shout undeniably wrenched with personal—not duty-bound—emotions. It forced the gears in Satsuki’s mind that moved at a sluggish crawl to finally begin turning smoothly once more. With the booming voice, the hands holding Satsuki down were pried off. She was forcibly pulled from her position pinned under Takemi.
“If you attempt anything further, we will consider you a sexual delinquent and take appropriate measures. Is that what you want?”
Shindo had burst into the drawing room in an outrage and torn Satsuki from Takemi.
After escorting Hakamada to another room, Shindo was in the midst of instructing a maid to assist the suitor when he sensed Satsuki use her powers. Although he made arrangements for Shotaro to go to the drawing room, he couldn’t shake the sense of foreboding that washed over him. Hurrying through the instructions, Shindo ordered another attendant to take over so he could head back.
The ominous feeling consumed him as he approached the open door. On the other side, he could see Takemi forcing himself on Satsuki. Along with his need to protect her as a retainer and bodyguard, his feelings for her as a man undeniably swung into full gear.
“Shindo...” Satsuki whispered hesitantly with her arms around his shoulders. She was somewhat taken aback by the strength in which he held her protectively as he wrapped his arms around her. It wasn’t like him to yell with such raw emotion in his voice. Even if a sexual delinquent stood before him, normally Shindo wouldn’t raise his voice so violently.
“Talk about timing! Are your hearts bound as one or something?” Takemi scoffed with a snigger as he sat up and rose from the sofa.
“You look like you’re ready to see blood. It’d suck if you killed me, so I’ll take my leave for today, Mr. Shindo,” Takemi said and turned his attention to Satsuki, the frigid smile never dropping from his lips. Held in Shindo’s protective embrace, she clung to his suit with her eyes averted from Takemi. Neither Shindo nor Satsuki noticed the grief briefly flash across his face over how Satsuki refused to look at him.
“Satsuki,” Takemi said, maintaining his usual cocky demeanor as he looked down at the girl who kept her face turned away from him, “if you’re curious about what I said, keep the French doors to your room unlocked for me at night.”
Satsuki’s body visibly shuddered from terror over the implication. As if to hold her still, Shindo held her even tighter.
“But on the condition he isn’t around. I’m not into threesomes,” he declared. Stifling his laughter as he made his way out, Takemi turned back once at the drawing room door.
“The pillow talk will last all night long,” he joked nastily. Turning away from the two clinging together, Takemi left the room with a casual wave of his hand.
Even after the sound of the door shutting filled the air and silence returned to the drawing room once more, Shindo didn’t loosen the tight hold of his arms wrapped protectively around Satsuki. Takemi’s warning still continued to echo in her head, “It’s a matter of life or death for Shindo.”