Seiran Academy

Chapter 4

“Well if it isn’t our new best friend,” Sage scoffed as Minako stepped out onto the roof of the school and looked over at him in complete and utter shock. “How’s your leg?”

“What are you doing here?” Minako scowled. She was hardly in the mood for any of the degenerates from the Dark Trio at the moment, or ever again. She stepped out and watched Sage turn around and noticed the cancer stick in his hand, dripping ash onto the floor of the roof, an oxymoron.

“The school is open, I am exercising my right to be at school while it is open,” Sage pointed out. “How does your leg feel? You certainly don’t look like you got much sleep last night.”

“How do you know about that already?”

Sage shrugged and took a drag off of the cigarette in his fingers, seemingly enjoying the smooth feel as much as he would a lover’s caress. “I had a midnight visitor last night who told me all about it,” he explained.

“I know Belle did not tell you,” Minako snapped. “She slept soundly.”

“Despite the bruises you put on my friend.” For the first time Sage showed emotion and seemed a bit angry as he stood up straight and eyed the golden girl. “You should be thanking me right now, since I think I’ve managed to squash the rumors that began to spread. You were so mad at Belle for lying about you being raped, and by your step-father, you lunged at her.”

“What makes you think one lover’s whisper is going to be enough to stop a rumor?” Minako said, without adding that it was true.

“I have a great power of persuasion,” Sage pointed out. “If you want me to, I will sleep with every girl who heard it so I can kill the rumor. Would you like me to?”

The lecherous smile on Sage’s lips turned Minako’s stomach, but against her better judgment she stepped further out onto the roof and leaned against the railing along beside him. “Why are you sticking up for me?”

“Our intentions were not for everyone to know your secret,” Sage explained. “If everyone finds out your secret then what is the point of it being a secret?”

“You seem to be setting me up for something more later on,” Minako replied sadly.

“Well, I know it is not your only secret.” Sage smiled treacherously at Minako’s shocked expression. “I know of the other things you have done in your life, but, that is for another time. For now…” Sage moved faster than Minako expected him to, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest, hard. She felt his arms go around her and to the hem of her skirt, pushing it upwards despite her protest and her struggle to escape. “…tell me how it felt to have him inside of you,” he whispered in her ear. “I want to hear, from your own words, how it feels to oof!” Sage doubled over when Minako’s elbow struck him square in the solar plexus and left him breathless. She hopped away from him and turned on him, her anger encouraging her to keep moving.

“You bastard!” she snapped. “And for a moment I actually thought you were nicer than those other two. You three deserve each other.”

“Just like you deserve us!” his voice followed her into the hallway and down the stairs. She ran from him as fast as she could, down the stairs and into the music room, nearly locking herself in the room displaced away from all human existence. There was nothing but the brass and wind instruments to move her now. She cowered in a corner and hated Sage more and more, she hated Belle, she hated Nemesis. How could the three of them be so cruel, and what made them decide to do this to her? What had she done to deserve their attentions? How had they found out anything about her when Mariko did not even know the truth?

Minako’s quiet was broken by the sound of the sliding door opening on the other end of the room. She had just enough time to duck behind the instruments before the feet and voices carried into the room. Why was she hiding? She had every right to be in that room, just like everyone else.

“Sage told me that it wasn’t true,” a shrill voice pointed out to the person beside her. “I guess I believe him. He would know, he seems to know everything.”

“That’s too bad,” another voice said sullenly, lower than the other one but still positively feminine. “It would have explained why she is so solitary. I mean, really, her only friend is that Shinobu girl, and that girl doesn’t deserve a girl like Aino Minako as her friend.”

“Oh, and you do?” asked a third voice from the hallway, a voice Minako could not have mistaken no matter what the circumstances.

“Nemesis!” the two girls seemed to cry happily in light of the entrance of the darkest of the trio. Minako rolled her eyes and gagged silently, praying the girls did not come any further into the room.

“Hello ladies,” he said in his sultry voice and Minako recognized her own jealousy when she heard that voice used on the vixens who were trying to seduce him with their nervous giggles. Perhaps Minako was jealous because she thought she had been special to earn their attention, but she knew now it was just another form of taunting with them.

“What are you doing here?” the shrill voice asked happily.

“I came to practice,” Nemesis said flatly. “After school I am going to be trying out. You two should come and hear me play.”

Why was Minako’s heart beating so fast and betraying her by feeling anything about what this man was saying? She scooted a little further back against the floor and closed her eyes tight to the voices that continued to carry.

“We will be here.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Then I will see you then,” Nemesis said dismissively. “Now if you do not mind I would prefer to practice alone, to give you all a big show after school.”

The girls retreated, anxious to see their latest heartthrob’s talents. Minako cursed herself now for hiding. She was stuck while he was going to pick up a violin and play, and if he was anything like his father he might lose himself in that music and continue to play until the night was dawning upon the horizon and Mr. Evans finally walked in to begin his audition. Minako shook the dreamy thought from her head, trying to stop picturing the dark brooding man with the cross choker and the unbuttoned shirt from invading her mind with an instrument as eloquent as the violin in his hands, playing with those eyes closed and his mind on the stars.

“Hello my little goddess.” Minako nearly flew out of her skin when Nemesis stepped around the instruments and found Minako huddled there, hiding away from the evils of the school, him being one of them. “What are you doing down there?”
“I’m, I was… looking for my violin,” she stuttered.

“You mean this one?” Nemesis asked, reaching through the instruments to her case, the only blue case of a lot of black cases, the only one with gold engraving for her name, the only one that stuck out and was hard to miss. He leaned further in, reaching over Minako and pulling the case off of the ground. “How could you have missed it?” he whispered as his body moved closer to hers. This was the third time she had felt uncomfortably close to someone in less than twenty-four hours, no, fourth! What was with these three?

“Thanks,” Minako said boldly before reaching forward to grasp it. As she sat up, moving forward, Nemesis moved in and his lips were upon hers before she had time to react to his sudden movements. At first she simply froze, his lips were so soft and gentle, this was not some hard forced kiss, but the simple kiss that teenagers were supposed to first give one another.

He moved closer to her, crawling over her, still holding her violin and trapping it between their bodies, a barrier to keep the two of them apart. Minako felt her eyes falling closed and accepting his kiss, her lips moving in tune with his, softly, just kissing, holding, leaning into one another, with her trapped beneath him.

“All right children, this room is not for making out,” a teacher proudly interrupted from the door of the music room. “Plus you will be late for class.”

Nemesis helped Minako out of hiding and all of them stood in shock, and embarrassment, when looking from one person to another. Mr. Evans stared in absolute horror at seeing Nemesis, a man the teacher already suspected was a playboy, with his favorite student, who looked blushing red and slightly disheveled, which was more from the wind on the roof, but that was not how the teacher saw it.
“Miss Aino,” Mr. Evans said, staring over at the young girl, “it seems I keep catching you at the wrong moments lately. Is this what Belle and you were fighting about?”
“Mr. Evans, you have it all wrong-” Minako tried to defend.
“Enough,” he cut in. “Go to class. Mr. Rose I will see you after school, Miss Aino, I will see you in rehearsal.” Dismissed. He did not even care that she had been asked to sit and listen to Nemesis play, only that she had been there with him, alone, and covertly hidden.
Minako hurried out of the music room, Nemesis close behind her. She could not bring herself to meet Mr. Evans’ eyes, staring straight at the ground as she moved. Nemesis walked with his head held high and his usual smirking grin plastered on his face until they were both in the halls. Despite their being in the halls together Minako was doing her best to walk ahead of him.
Nemesis hurried to be by her side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders casually, yet possessively. “Looks like you have fallen out of grace with dear old Mr. Evans,” Nemesis said clearly happy with himself.

“Whatever,” was the only comeback Minako could think of, and she was not impressed with herself.

“It’s good this way,” Nemesis explained. “Now your attention can be off the good boy teacher, and back on us, who are now a part of your destiny.”

Minako turned on Nemesis and glared at him. “How did you find out?” she asked of him suddenly.

“Do you want to talk about this here?” Nemesis asked, indicating the other students walking down the hallways.

Minako, aware she was drawing in too much attention, looked back and forth and then sighed and started ahead of Nemesis on to class. Nemesis once more hurried to catch up to her and the two of them entered the classroom together. The whole class was there, including a bruised Belle and a smiling Sage. All eyes turned to them in the ultimate form of curiosity and watched them walk to their seats.

Minako was feeling more miserable already.