BLACK CHERRY / The Game (Chapter 15)
Title: The Game (Chapter 15)
Fandom: BLACK CHERRY
Characters: Ryo x はるき
Genre: Romance, erotica
Table: One
Prompt: 085. Hate
Word Count: 1288
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The rules of The Game were very simple.
Author's Notes: Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
The Game
Chapter Fifteen
(085. Hate)
The next few weeks in Prof. Mikura's class turned out to be surprisingly uneventful.
Haruki expected to be called out incessantly, requested to stay after class like Prof. Hirose used to do, but since the first day of the term Prof. Mikura didn’t so much as look in her direction again.
It was a welcome change she accepted with open arms. She had enough schoolwork to worry about than be involved in any more trouble. Prof. Mikura was paying her no heed and Prof. Hirose was steering clear of her. For the first time in a long time Haruki was feeling at peace again, able to focus more on her studies.
On a Monday afternoon in English Literature class, Haruki sat in her usual spot at the farthest, leftmost corner of the room. Midterm papers from last week were finally being passed around, and Haruki couldn’t wait to find out her results. Thankfully Prof. Mikura's wasn’t the type to burden them with homework or pop quizzes. The midterm exam was the only requirement in his class so far, and the entire bulk of her grade rested on it.
“Your scores are in the back,” Prof. Mikura reminded up front as the sound of papers shuffling filled the room. The girl next to Haruki let out a squeal of delight at her A-.
Haruki’s pulse stilled at the red mark on her paper.
C-. Without a single comment or explanation.
Everyone else around her seemed to be ecstatic at their high scores. Haruki had exceeded her essay by over three hundred words and had a full list of references. What was going on?
Dread began to seep into her veins, but Prof. Mikura was busy laughing with the other students up front when she looked at him.
Her paper slightly crumpled in her hand. The mere thought of approaching him made her want to gag, but an explanation was in order. A C- was unacceptable, not after everything she put in her work.
Haruki released a low breath. After class, she would speak with him.
It took forever for the students to file out at the end of class an hour later, what with everyone else always trying to chat up or flirt with the professor. After five minutes of waiting, watching girls giggle and fawn incessantly over their teacher, Haruki snapped and surprised even herself by walking straight up to Prof. Mikura.
“Sir, I need to talk to you about my paper,” she said aloud, cutting through everyone’s laughter.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, girls.” Prof. Mikura chuckled at their departure without so much a glance at her. When he finally faced her, the full force of his steel blue gaze nearly made her blood run cold. “What can I help you with, Miss Shinjo?”
Unable to stand looking at him a second longer, she dropped her gaze to her paper. “I need to know why I got a C- in my midterms.”
He walked back to his desk and began slipping papers into his satchel. “Did you enjoy reading Charles Dickens, Miss Shinjo?”
“I did, so much that I exceeded your word limit,” she answered with narrowed eyes. “I don’t understand how I got a lower score than everybody else when I put in more effort.”
“Your paper comprised of only one question: what theme you believe represents Great Expectations the most. Hope or fate. And your answer was?”
“Hope,” she reminded him through gritted teeth. “Our circumstances don’t define who we are. People can change.”
“To an extent, but the cards you are dealt with play a larger role in affecting the outcome more than your decisions ever can,” he said, teeth baring into a smile. “Just like where we stand now, Miss Shinjo.”
“You son of a bitch,” she whispered as her paper crumpled entirely in her hand. “You gave me a low score on purpose just to tell me this?”
“Who are we fooling, really?” He raised his eyebrows. “Neither you nor I have forgotten. How come you never fought back, Haruki?”
“Fight? I don’t want anything to do with your stupid game anymore,” she snarled in a shaky voice. “Just leave me out of it.”
Prof. Mikura zipped his bag close. He placed his palms flat on his desk and leaned forward, his gaze bright with sick amusement. “You’re scared. It’s still so easy for everything to go wrong for you. I mean, all those videos…”
Her fists clenched and unclenched as she fought not to punch him. “Are you threatening me? If I go down, I’ll take you all with me.”
Prof. Mikura softly laughed before leaning away. “Don’t worry, Miss Shinjo. I’m not going to blackmail you into anything. In fact, I’m going to give you a choice. A chance to take control of your own situation, for once.”
She warily eyed him. “What are you talking about?”
Prof. Mikura slung his satchel over his shoulder. “Walk with me?”
Haruki would rather walk over hot coals, but what could he possibly do to her with the thick crowd down the hallways outside?
Begrudgingly, she fell into step next to him but retained a full arm’s distance.
“You know, you’ve instilled quite a change in our good friend Prof. Hirose,” he said in a casual tone, as if they were only discussing the weather. “He’s a naturally competitive person. Do you know he’s won the game twice before?”
Haruki’s ears began to ring at the mention of her old teacher, but she focused on one step at a time, keeping a passive face at Prof. Mikura's words.
“For the first time, he’s decided not to participate this term. Now I hope you’ll take this in good humor, but I asked him if I could possibly choose you as my pet this semester. Do you know what he said? He told me, ‘I give you my blessing.’”
Haruki’s chest tightened so hard she nearly froze in her tracks. She could hardly continue walking, her pace slowing in the middle of the swamped corridor when she looked at Prof. Mikura in disbelief. He wasn’t smiling, but his eyes seemed intent on her face, keenly observing her expression.
“‘If you can manage,’ he added too, mind you,” he said, stopping before her. “You’ve left him positively complacent, Haruki. Now he’s put you up for grabs, and yet he thinks he’s the only one who can still have you despite everything.”
Haruki’s heart was hammering so fast inside her, it pounded furiously up to her temples. In the middle of this crowded corridor, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to breathe in a few seconds’ time. She needed to get out of here.
“Ah, speaking of the devil,” Prof. Mikura said. In the middle of her reeling thoughts and clouding vision, she realized they’d stopped in front of Room 212. More students poured out of the doors, until the crowd parted and there stood Prof. Hirose, still as stone while he eyed her standing next to Prof. Mikura.
She wanted nothing more than to drive a knife through Ryou at the mere sight of him, but there was a strange pleasure to be derived in the way his eyes had gone cold and murderous on her. She held his hard gaze with defiance even as Prof. Mikura leaned in, his breath hot against her ear.
“My, someone’s looking rather glum. Is he jealous, I wonder?” he asked in a singsong voice. In that moment, she’d never seen Ryou look any more terrifying in her life.
“I know how to get back at him, Haruki,” Prof. Mikura murmured. “What do you say? Are you in?”
Haruki finally looked away and turned on her heel.
“I’m in.”
to be continued
Fandom: BLACK CHERRY
Characters: Ryo x はるき
Genre: Romance, erotica
Table: One
Prompt: 085. Hate
Word Count: 1288
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The rules of The Game were very simple.
Author's Notes: Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
The Game
Chapter Fifteen
(085. Hate)
The next few weeks in Prof. Mikura's class turned out to be surprisingly uneventful.
Haruki expected to be called out incessantly, requested to stay after class like Prof. Hirose used to do, but since the first day of the term Prof. Mikura didn’t so much as look in her direction again.
It was a welcome change she accepted with open arms. She had enough schoolwork to worry about than be involved in any more trouble. Prof. Mikura was paying her no heed and Prof. Hirose was steering clear of her. For the first time in a long time Haruki was feeling at peace again, able to focus more on her studies.
On a Monday afternoon in English Literature class, Haruki sat in her usual spot at the farthest, leftmost corner of the room. Midterm papers from last week were finally being passed around, and Haruki couldn’t wait to find out her results. Thankfully Prof. Mikura's wasn’t the type to burden them with homework or pop quizzes. The midterm exam was the only requirement in his class so far, and the entire bulk of her grade rested on it.
“Your scores are in the back,” Prof. Mikura reminded up front as the sound of papers shuffling filled the room. The girl next to Haruki let out a squeal of delight at her A-.
Haruki’s pulse stilled at the red mark on her paper.
C-. Without a single comment or explanation.
Everyone else around her seemed to be ecstatic at their high scores. Haruki had exceeded her essay by over three hundred words and had a full list of references. What was going on?
Dread began to seep into her veins, but Prof. Mikura was busy laughing with the other students up front when she looked at him.
Her paper slightly crumpled in her hand. The mere thought of approaching him made her want to gag, but an explanation was in order. A C- was unacceptable, not after everything she put in her work.
Haruki released a low breath. After class, she would speak with him.
It took forever for the students to file out at the end of class an hour later, what with everyone else always trying to chat up or flirt with the professor. After five minutes of waiting, watching girls giggle and fawn incessantly over their teacher, Haruki snapped and surprised even herself by walking straight up to Prof. Mikura.
“Sir, I need to talk to you about my paper,” she said aloud, cutting through everyone’s laughter.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, girls.” Prof. Mikura chuckled at their departure without so much a glance at her. When he finally faced her, the full force of his steel blue gaze nearly made her blood run cold. “What can I help you with, Miss Shinjo?”
Unable to stand looking at him a second longer, she dropped her gaze to her paper. “I need to know why I got a C- in my midterms.”
He walked back to his desk and began slipping papers into his satchel. “Did you enjoy reading Charles Dickens, Miss Shinjo?”
“I did, so much that I exceeded your word limit,” she answered with narrowed eyes. “I don’t understand how I got a lower score than everybody else when I put in more effort.”
“Your paper comprised of only one question: what theme you believe represents Great Expectations the most. Hope or fate. And your answer was?”
“Hope,” she reminded him through gritted teeth. “Our circumstances don’t define who we are. People can change.”
“To an extent, but the cards you are dealt with play a larger role in affecting the outcome more than your decisions ever can,” he said, teeth baring into a smile. “Just like where we stand now, Miss Shinjo.”
“You son of a bitch,” she whispered as her paper crumpled entirely in her hand. “You gave me a low score on purpose just to tell me this?”
“Who are we fooling, really?” He raised his eyebrows. “Neither you nor I have forgotten. How come you never fought back, Haruki?”
“Fight? I don’t want anything to do with your stupid game anymore,” she snarled in a shaky voice. “Just leave me out of it.”
Prof. Mikura zipped his bag close. He placed his palms flat on his desk and leaned forward, his gaze bright with sick amusement. “You’re scared. It’s still so easy for everything to go wrong for you. I mean, all those videos…”
Her fists clenched and unclenched as she fought not to punch him. “Are you threatening me? If I go down, I’ll take you all with me.”
Prof. Mikura softly laughed before leaning away. “Don’t worry, Miss Shinjo. I’m not going to blackmail you into anything. In fact, I’m going to give you a choice. A chance to take control of your own situation, for once.”
She warily eyed him. “What are you talking about?”
Prof. Mikura slung his satchel over his shoulder. “Walk with me?”
Haruki would rather walk over hot coals, but what could he possibly do to her with the thick crowd down the hallways outside?
Begrudgingly, she fell into step next to him but retained a full arm’s distance.
“You know, you’ve instilled quite a change in our good friend Prof. Hirose,” he said in a casual tone, as if they were only discussing the weather. “He’s a naturally competitive person. Do you know he’s won the game twice before?”
Haruki’s ears began to ring at the mention of her old teacher, but she focused on one step at a time, keeping a passive face at Prof. Mikura's words.
“For the first time, he’s decided not to participate this term. Now I hope you’ll take this in good humor, but I asked him if I could possibly choose you as my pet this semester. Do you know what he said? He told me, ‘I give you my blessing.’”
Haruki’s chest tightened so hard she nearly froze in her tracks. She could hardly continue walking, her pace slowing in the middle of the swamped corridor when she looked at Prof. Mikura in disbelief. He wasn’t smiling, but his eyes seemed intent on her face, keenly observing her expression.
“‘If you can manage,’ he added too, mind you,” he said, stopping before her. “You’ve left him positively complacent, Haruki. Now he’s put you up for grabs, and yet he thinks he’s the only one who can still have you despite everything.”
Haruki’s heart was hammering so fast inside her, it pounded furiously up to her temples. In the middle of this crowded corridor, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to breathe in a few seconds’ time. She needed to get out of here.
“Ah, speaking of the devil,” Prof. Mikura said. In the middle of her reeling thoughts and clouding vision, she realized they’d stopped in front of Room 212. More students poured out of the doors, until the crowd parted and there stood Prof. Hirose, still as stone while he eyed her standing next to Prof. Mikura.
She wanted nothing more than to drive a knife through Ryou at the mere sight of him, but there was a strange pleasure to be derived in the way his eyes had gone cold and murderous on her. She held his hard gaze with defiance even as Prof. Mikura leaned in, his breath hot against her ear.
“My, someone’s looking rather glum. Is he jealous, I wonder?” he asked in a singsong voice. In that moment, she’d never seen Ryou look any more terrifying in her life.
“I know how to get back at him, Haruki,” Prof. Mikura murmured. “What do you say? Are you in?”
Haruki finally looked away and turned on her heel.
“I’m in.”
to be continued