Eleven at night. The wealthy district where Fujiwara's villa stood was dead silent.
In the bedroom, Seiji Fujiwara lounged against the sofa, gazing at Yukino Yukinoshita kneeling before him.
The faint twitches from the Pop Rocks detonating inside her mouth still lingered on her face. In those ice-blue eyes, a rare flicker of genuine shame and humiliation had surfaced.
That kind of vivid expression was far more interesting than her numb doll's face.
Seiji savored it for a moment, then issued the next humiliating instruction in a tone that brooked no argument:
"Now. Hold them in your mouth. Don't swallow, don't spit."
"Go down to that twenty-four-hour convenience store on the corner. Buy me back something... more interesting."
Yukino's eyes widened in horror.
Go... to the convenience store?
While holding... this in her mouth?
The absurdity of the order made her brain crash on the spot.
Instinctively she wanted to protest, but the sugar crackling and snapping inside her mouth let her produce nothing more than a humiliated little "mm-mm."
"Looks like you understand," Seiji said, nodding with satisfaction. He drew a black bank card from his wallet and tossed it casually in front of her. "Money's right here. You have fifteen minutes. If you go over, or if I find out you slacked off and didn't keep my candy in your mouth properly, the consequences... I think you can guess."
His devil's whisper and that toying smile sent a shudder through her whole body.
She knew there was no room for refusal.
She could only stretch out her trembling hands and accept that black card with her fingertips, as if it burned hotter than a branding iron.
Then she rose silently. She did not change out of the shameful maid uniform; she just mechanically pulled a loose trench coat on over it.
The coat was long, falling almost to her knees, just barely concealing that out-of-place outfit underneath.
Head lowered, stiff legs forced into motion, she walked step by step out of that sinful bedroom, like a condemned prisoner walking to the execution ground, leaving that gilded cage behind.
...
The late-night street was empty and cold.
Yukino Yukinoshita walked alone toward the convenience store.
The night wind lifted her long hair and the hem of her coat, occasionally exposing a sliver of black maid skirt and pure white lace.
Every step was unbearably difficult.
The Pop Rocks in her mouth, not yet fully dissolved, kept "exploding" wildly. The fine, prickling, itchy sensation made her feel sick with shame.
She had to keep her facial muscles tense at all times, just to maintain the cool composure she wore as a disguise.
She didn't dare imagine what she would do if there were other customers in the store, if the cashier spoke to her.
The moment she opened her mouth, that ridiculous sound would tear her every disguise to shreds.
And that, perhaps, was exactly what that demon wanted to see.
He wanted to use this method to tell her that she was no longer the lofty Yukino Yukinoshita, just a lowly plaything who couldn't even control her own mouth.
As Yukino, drowning in boundless humiliation, was about to reach the brightly lit convenience store, she failed to notice a girl on the other side of the street, in the same school uniform, with long purple hair and a cold air about her, watching from a distance with confused, worried eyes.
Saki Kawasaki.
She had just finished an illegal shift at a nearby izakaya.
On her way home, she had unexpectedly spotted that legendary ice queen of their school, Yukino Yukinoshita.
In Saki's mind, Yukino lived in a different world from her.
Distinguished family, breathtaking looks, top-tier mind. The kind of person born to stand in the clouds. Pure, upright, untouched by a speck of dust.
But now, this "pure" Yukinoshita-san, why was she walking to a convenience store alone, late at night, in some odd trench coat?
And her expression... it looked so pale. So... wrong.
A bad feeling rose in Saki's chest.
Yukinoshita-san... was she in some kind of trouble?
An inexplicable impulse pushed Saki to a decision.
She didn't approach immediately. Instead, she quietly kept her distance and followed.
She wanted to see what kind of trouble this perfect Yukinoshita-san had run into.
If it was within her power... she didn't mind playing the "hero" for once.
...
...
Under the bright fluorescent lights, the twenty-four-hour convenience store was empty.
Yukino Yukinoshita pushed open the glass door and stepped inside.
The wind chime by the door gave a crisp "ding," startling the clerk who had been dozing behind the register.
"Wel... welcome..." the machine's voice said.
Since it was an unmanned convenience store, there was no actual cashier.
Yukino kept her head down and walked briskly into the depths of the aisles.
Her heart pounded violently from nerves.
The Pop Rocks in her mouth seemed to sense her tension and exploded even more fiercely. She had to clench her teeth tight to keep that shameful sound from escaping.
She didn't dare look up. Didn't dare look at the clerk's face.
She only wanted to finish that demon's task as fast as possible and flee.
Something more interesting... what exactly did that man want?
Yukino's gaze swept rapidly across the dazzlingly stocked shelves. Snacks? Drinks? Or...
Her gaze finally settled on a corner of the bottom shelf.
What was lined up there were various brands of... condoms, along with some items she didn't recognize but whose packaging alone made her feel they were unspeakably obscene. Adult toys.
Yukino's cheeks flushed crimson in an instant, all the way to the tips of her ears.
That bastard... that demon... he actually... made her come buy this kind of thing?!
Massive shame surged into her brain like lava, leaving her mind blank.
And every bit of it was being watched, clear as day, by Saki Kawasaki, who had quietly stayed outside and was peering through the glass display window.
Saki saw Yukino's face flush a deep red in an instant, written all over with humiliation and shame.
She also followed Yukino's line of sight to that corner. The adult section. The one she herself had once snuck a curious glance at, but never dared to touch.
Condoms... lubricant...
Yukinoshita-san... she... she was buying those things?
Why?!
A pure, noble fairy like her, how could... how could she need anything that obscene?!
Saki's mind plunged into massive confusion.
The "Yukino Yukinoshita" she knew, that pristine image, in this very moment, developed its first ugly crack.
Inside the store, after a fierce internal struggle, Yukino finally surrendered.
She closed her eyes, like someone walking to her death, reached out a trembling hand, and grabbed a box of condoms and a bottle of lubricant from the shelf at random.
Then, like a thief, she clutched the two items tightly in her palm, kept her head down, and hurried to the register.
After the scan.
The machine totaled the amount and spoke.
"Beep. That'll be 3,280 yen."
Yukino didn't say a word. She just placed that ice-cold black card and the two items that left her with no place to hide on the counter together.
She kept her head lowered the whole time, her long hair shielding a face hot enough to fry an egg.
The clerk was clearly surprised that such a beautiful girl would come to buy this kind of thing late at night. He couldn't help glancing at Yukino several times, his eyes full of probing curiosity.
That gaze sliced like a blade into Yukino's fragile pride.
Finally, after enduring those few seconds that felt like a century, the payment went through.
Yukino snatched the items and fled the convenience store without looking back.
Outside, Saki watched Yukino's panicked retreating figure, and her confusion and worry hit a peak.
Something was wrong. Very wrong!
Yukinoshita-san had to be being threatened!
The thought made it impossible for Saki to stand by any longer. She stepped out of the shadows and hurried after her.
"Yukinoshita!"
She called out loudly behind her.
Walking ahead, Yukino froze the instant she heard that voice, as if she'd been encased in ice.
Was that... Saki Kawasaki?
Why was she here?!
The huge panic of having a classmate witness her most shameful moment seized her heart in an instant.
Instinctively she tried to quicken her steps and escape.
But Saki Kawasaki had already caught up and grabbed her wrist.
"Yukinoshita! Wait!" Saki's voice was urgent. "Are you in some kind of trouble? Tell me! Maybe I can help!"
Yukino was forced to stop and turn around.
Under the dim streetlight, Saki saw Yukino's face, paper-white and written all over with panic.
It was just then that a strange, murky scent drifted faintly from Yukino's tightly closed lips.
Saki froze.
What... was that smell?
Her gaze fell instinctively on Yukino's slightly puffed-out cheeks.
An absurd thought flashed through her mind.
Yukinoshita's mouth... she was holding something in it?
And it was that kind of thing... a man's?
The discovery shocked her even more than seeing Yukino buy condoms had.
The elegant, dignified Yukinoshita she knew, actually... actually walking the late-night streets with something in her mouth?
This... was simply impossible!
Just as Saki's mind went blank, a voice like a ghost's, laced with cold amusement, suddenly sounded from not far behind them.
"Oh? Ran into a little trouble on her way home, did she?"
Saki and Yukino both shivered violently and whipped their heads around.
There, in the shadows beneath a streetlight not far away, a tall figure stood quietly.
Seiji Fujiwara.
A cat-toying-with-a-mouse smile of amusement played on his face. Those deep, dark eyes watched the dramatic scene before him with great interest.
He walked slowly forward, came to Yukino's side, and with an utterly natural, blatantly possessive gesture, reached out and pulled the girl, already frozen stiff with fear, into his embrace.
Then he lowered his head and murmured softly into her ear, in a lover's tone:
"My little Yukino, you seem to have been... a bit disobedient."
"Didn't I tell you not to talk to anyone?"
The scene, those words, made Saki Kawasaki's eyes go wide.
She realized in an instant.
This man before her was the source of everything!
"It's you?!"
Saki Kawasaki stared at the man holding Yukino like a Possession in his arms. Flames of fury blazed up in her eyes.
Coercion!
This man must have used some despicable means to threaten Yukinoshita-san!
A powerful sense of justice overrode the fear in her heart.
"Let her go!" Saki took a step forward, glaring at Seiji. "You bastard! What did you do to her?!"
"Me?" At her words, Seiji's face took on an extremely innocent expression.
He bent down, lightly nuzzled Yukino's icy cheek, and asked in the most doting voice imaginable:
"Little Yukino, tell this... concerned classmate of yours, what have I done to you?"
Yukino's body trembled violently.
She could feel the man's hand at her waist suddenly tighten. The warning in that pressure made the blood in her veins seem to congeal.
She knew she had to say something.
Something... that would make Kawasaki give up completely.
She slowly lifted her head and forced a smile uglier than tears onto that paper-white face.
She looked at Saki and, in a voice she herself found foreign, hollow and numb, spoke each word distinctly:
"Kawasaki, you've... misunderstood."
"Mr. Fujiwara... he hasn't done anything to me."
"We're... we're just... dating."
The word "dating" stabbed into Saki's heart like two knives.
"Da... dating?" Saki repeated the word in disbelief.
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