Seiran Academy

Chapter 10

“Minako, you were brilliant!” shouted Mariko from deep within the crowd that had gathered in the ballroom of Seiran Academy. The ballroom seemed overcrowded with the many family members and politicians who were mixed with a variety of students, including Mariko, Sage, and Belle, who had all stood off to the side together. Minako could not help the anger that had mustered in the stomach at seeing the three of them together. She also could not help the suspicion that they were being nice to Mariko as a price to Minako.

“Thank you,” Minako said modestly.

“Minako, may I see you for a minute?” Mr. Evans asked, interrupting the small group of friends. Minako was half grateful and half angry. She wanted to be alone with Mr. Evans, more than anything, but she was in no mood to be lectured. She felt brilliant, she felt as if she had accomplished something great, she had finished the rhythm, that was worth so much to her!

Minako followed Thomas Evans away from her group and further into the center of the room. Was he going to ream her right in front of the entire ballroom? She had hardly been within the room for five minutes, she was sure she was not ready for anything he was going to say. You can imagine her shock when he said, “You did wonderfully tonight,” in an exasperated type voice and reached out and gave her a warm friendly hug. “You made me proud; you played the strings and finished beautifully.”

“You aren’t mad?” Minako asked a little standoffishly.

“Furious,” Mr. Evans smiled down at her, “but more at your co-partner in crime. I believe you could have handled yourself better, but my audacity was taken over by the power of your playing. Minako, I have never been prouder of you.”

Minako’s heart soared and she felt herself flying on his words. She had this overwhelming childish urge to ask him, “For truth?” Instead she remained silent and smiled, giving off a small bow of appreciation.

Akane Aino was the first to walk up and spoil the party while her husband, the brilliantly dazzling Daisuke, came up behind her. “Mr. Evans,” Akane smiled at her daughter’s teacher, “tonight was such a pleasure. Your finale was brilliantly played; it almost looked like you really had given up trying to conduct the two.” She was being backhanded, and while Mr. Evans played it off like he had meant it all along, the Aino family were not truly being kind. Akane was a malicious woman who did not match the outer shining goldenness, much like the daughter she had passed her looks down upon.

“Thank you very much, Mrs. Aino,” Thomas said kindly. “Minako has always been a pleasure to work with.” Was Minako imagining things or had he put an extra lilt onto the word pleasure?

It was then that two people came up to barge into the circle, and for the first time Minako was not unhappy to see either of them, though she had to admit to a sudden rash of jealousy while looking over Fatima, who linked her arm through Mr. Evans’ and looked at the crowd with disdain. It was Nemesis though that put a possessive arm around Minako’s waist and pulled her intimately close, almost like the two had been in cahoots to interrupt during the same instant.

“Mom, Dad,” Minako said happily, “I would like you to meet Fatima, a very close friend of Mr. Evans, and this is Nemesis…”
“…a very close friend of Minako’s,” he assisted, and for the first time she would not correct him. She allowed her parents the impression that he was her boyfriend, and she enjoyed every minute of watching their faces fall.

Akane was the first to recover. “Well nice to meet you, Nemesis… You look vaguely familiar.”

“Probably because I was just on stage with your daughter,” Nemesis said bluntly.

Akane let out a short laugh, no longer than was necessary to admit to something being amusing, even if it was not. “I meant elsewhere, young man.” She said this as if Nemesis were centuries younger than her instead of less than two full decades.

“That is because he is my son.” The look of horror on the faces of the Aino parents was worth a snap shot, and be damned that none of the teenagers had brought a camera. Bartholomew Rose stepped into the crowd, looking every bit as imposing as he seemed on stage playing his instrument of choice. “It has been a long time Akane, Daisuke.”

“Mr. Rose…” Daisuke Aino said with little less than a complete impressed flourish. “It truly has been too long since we have last set eyes upon you.”

“How do you three know each other?” Minako could not help impolitely asking.

Akane cleared her throat and Daisuke seemed to shrink in on himself, the only time the stunning older man ever looked unsure. Mr. Rose was the one to point out their exact origins, though it still seemed highly suspicious to Minako. “They used to be protégés of mine,” he admitted. “Minako, I am surprised you do not remember me. You and Nemesis used to play together as children, and even as you grew older, I was always at your family parties.”

Minako swallowed hard. She remembered little of her families parties, she remembered little of her real father at times, she just remembered how her mother had chosen to marry Daisuke. Minako closed her eyes and simply shook her head. “I’m sorry, to me that was eons ago,” she whispered hoarsely. “Nemesis, will you take me to get a drink?”

“I see Nemesis seems to be fond of your daughter,” Mr. Rose said as the two retreated away from the group of parents. “It is little wonder…” and the words were lost in the crowd.

“Parents are trying, are they not?” Nemesis asked casually, grabbing a glass of juice for Minako and further leading her from the ballroom towards the halls of the schools.

“For once I am in complete agreement with you,” Minako nearly cried out. Her nerves were jangled and she felt her hands shaking hard.

“Okay,” Nemesis said in almost a resigned voice when the two of them had reached the depths of the hallways, “I know I knew you were raped and all, but apparently my sources did not know enough about your history they should have. Your mom is still with the prat who raped you?”

Minako smiled bitterly and nodded. “They have been married for four years now.”

“Wait,” Nemesis’s rage was starting to rub off and Minako hated the feeling of the dredged up anger. “So it wasn’t even an old marriage where she is trying to forgive him. This is a new marriage. What did he do, start fucking you the moment he married your mom?” Her silence was his answer. “What the Hell?”

“I don’t want to talk about this, Nemesis,” Minako said coldly. She stepped away from him and started in the darkened direction of the hallway. She kept moving swiftly with fervor, knowing very well that Nemesis would not stop following her, and a quick listen down the halls told her she was right, until she heard other footsteps. She stopped and saw what she did not want to see: Thomas Evans and Fatima. The two of them were wrapped tight in one another’s arms and pulled close together, whispering sweet nothings into the darkness. Minako turned away and rammed right into Nemesis. She pushed hard at his chest, trying to shove him away, but instead he wrapped a hand around her chin and brought her mouth heavy to her own.
Minako was sad to know this was her first real kiss, and even then should she call it real? It was being forced on her, as all of her others had been? Still, she did not pull away. She was aware of Thomas and Fatima turning down the hall, coming back from the darkened parts and towards the light only to find Minako and Nemesis locked in an embrace, their lips melted together, the fierceness of their bodies slamming together in a heated passion that had nothing to do with sexual heat. It was anger, both of them were so full of anger that the only way to cure it was to do something that melted it away. She answered the swelling batter of his lips with her own sweltering heat, kissing him deeply and enjoying the moment when Thomas walked passed, Nemesis slipping his hand over Minako’s breast and squeezing tight, giving the teacher and his girlfriend a good show. Nemesis and Minako feigned innocence and pretended not to notice the two who walked passed them.

Thomas did not stop Minako’s debauchery, and she did not know how to take that. Was he leaving her out of anger? As a teacher he should have been stopping his student from a sudden burst of passion in the middle of the hallways where any teacher or parent or politician could walk out and see the two of pressed to one another.

“Stop,” Minako finally muttered as Nemesis’ lips moved down to her neck and kissed around the silver necklace that decorated her. “I… I don’t want this.”

Nemesis pulled away and looked down at Minako and she realized then she had misinterpreted his need. She had met his passion with anger, he had never been angry. He could contain his pride and anger, but the driving lust he felt for her always remained on the surface of things. He was still gripping her waist, his other hand trying to slip up the long ankle length white skirt, pulling it upwards, even while his lips stopped moving over her, he still needed. She shuddered with her own sudden rush of this overwhelming need to be touched. No, this was not how she wanted her second time to be. She wanted it to be between someone she felt this love for, like normal couples. She did not want to randomly let her desire to be heated and touched take her over.

“Minako…”

“Come on,” Minako cut in and pushed him off of her. She started down the hall before he could compose himself completely. He did manage, in the end, and followed her back into the ball room. The ballroom, which still held the horrors of teenage angst.