A bell rang. The hallways were filled with loud and messy teenagers, running into each other as they tried to make it to class in time.

At this very moment, a pale redhead was standing outside the door to his classroom, trying to gather up the nerve to enter. Yes, Tala was scared. He hated English. It was his worst subject, and he had the worst teacher. A shiver went down his spine as he thought about it. Professor Hiwatari. The young man always yelled at him. Tala seemed to be his way of getting rid of some aggression.

Finally, he took a deep breath, and entered the classroom. Professor Hiwatari wasn't there yet. The redhead steeled himself for what was to come, as he quickly went over to his desk at the very front of the classroom. Professor Hiwatari had insisted that Tala was sitting in front. That way it would be easier to torture him.

"Open your books!" a dark voice commanded, and Tala jumped in his seat. He hadn't noticed Professor Hiwatari entering the room. Apparently, no one else had either, because the entire class just stared puzzled at the man.

"Now!" Hiwatari ordered. "That includes you, Ivanov." A wicked smirk graced the man's face as he added the last bit, making Tala growl in frustration. Professor Hiwatari was after him, he was sure of it.

The class went by slowly. Tala was listening to Hiwatari, reading and taking notes at the same time, and he was sure he could see a vicious glint in his teacher's eyes once or twice.

"Okay, that's it for today," Hiwatari announced as the bell rang, declaring that the class, and in this case, the school day, was over. "I've finished grading your essays; collect them on your way out."

As Tala was about to leave the classroom, he felt a strong hand grab a hold of his shoulder. The startled redhead turned around to see his teacher's face only inches apart from his own.

"Ivanov. My office."

"Y-yes, sir," Tala stuttered in reply. The young teacher scared him, and he wasn't ashamed to let it show. It had been that way since Tala had first come to the school three years earlier.

After the rest of the class had left, he followed Professor Hiwatari along the hallways for what seemed like eternity. The only thing he could think about was what it was he had done now, and how the teacher was going to punish him for it. They finally reached a door that had the teacher's name written on it. Professor Kai Hiwatari. It wasn't like the place was unfamiliar to Tala. He had been in Hiwatari's office by several occasions. Mostly to "discuss" his horrible grades.

"Sit down," the man said, and Tala obeyed. If he did as he was told, maybe he would get to leave soon. Hiwatari sat down behind his desk, staring at the redhead. He then threw Tala's essay on the desk.

"Another D, Ivanov. What do I have to do to make you realize it? This is not a joke! You will have to do better than this. But I assume that speech won't get to you, seeing as you haven't exactly improved from last time."

"I'm doing my best, sir," Tala whimpered, avoiding looking into his professor's ruby red eyes. "If only you didn't have such a hostile attitude towards me, I'm sure…"

"You're doing your best? So you're saying there's no room for improvement. What do you intend to do, Ivanov? Bribe me to get a better grade?"

"No!" Tala protested. "I do not know what you think of me, professor, but I would never do such a thing."

Hiwatari didn't seem to listen to him. The man stood up, walking around the desk, stopping as he was right behind Tala. "If that's the case, I know one thing that could persuade me to give you a higher grade." He leaned down over Tala, talking softly into the teenager's ear. "Would you like to improve you grade, Tala?"

"S-sir, you just called me Tala."

"I asked you a question, Tala. Do you wish to improve you grade?"

"Yes, professor." Tala was literally shaking now, as his teacher placed his hands on his shoulders, rubbing them softly. He then walked in front of the redhead, bending down, and – to Tala's great alarm – starting to unbutton his shirt.

"P-professor, what are you doing?" the redhead stuttered, his eyes wide in shock and horror.

Hiwatari ignored him as he pulled the teenager's shirt off, attempting to take Tala's pants off as well.

"Stop it," Tala said, his voice shaking, as he pushed the professor's hand away. "I… I don't want this…"

"Shut up," Hiwatari groaned, relieving the redhead of his pants only with a few simple movements. He then quickly got rid of his own clothing. "It's either this or failing. Frankly, Tala, you don't have a choice."

He pushed the redhead in front of him, making him bend down over the desk, his pale chest colliding with the cold surface.

"No…" Tala whispered in desperation. "Professor! No! Don't… please, don't…"

But his prayers weren't heard. Instead, a sharp pain shot up his spine as his professor thrust into him. He cried out in pain, but Hiwatari ignored him, and kept moving forcefully in a steady rhythm. Again and again Tala cried, screamed, shouted, whimpered and cursed. He was scared. There was nothing he could do. The professor was much too strong for the redhead to be able to put up a fight.

Then, finally, he could feel Hiwatari coming inside of him, the firm rhythm slowed down, and he realized that it was over. He tried to stand up, but fell back into his teacher's arms. He fought himself out of the rough grip, sinking down on the floor, sobbing.

"Why?" he asked, if the question was directed at himself or the professor, he wasn't sure of. "Why?"

"Relax," the cold voice of Professor Hiwatari sounded. "You're not going to tell anyone about this. If you do, I will fail you. Okay?"

Tala nodded, his teary ice blue eyes rising to meet his teacher's crimson orbs. "Why are you doing this to me, professor?"

"Let's just say it's a personal reason." Hiwatari sat down next to Tala, pulling him into a gentle hug, but the redhead fought himself out of it. He didn't want to – no, he couldn't – be close to Professor Hiwatari.

He sat like that, on the floor, crying for what felt like forever. He felt veins pulsating viciously in his forehead, but was unable to stop the everlasting flow of tears.

"It hurts…" Tala whispered as he finally managed to push the tears back. However, more tears emerged in his dull blue eyes immideately. Professor Hiwatari, who had gotten dressed as the redhead was crying, sat back down and put an arm around the naked teenager. Tala didn't have the strength to push him away.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I'll go easier on you next time. I promise."

Tala nodded. The teacher's words made him want to throw up. Next time.

"You should get home," the young man mumbled after a few minutes. He helped Tala to his feet, and then helped the redhead with getting dressed. He still looked like a wreck, though.

"I'll drive you home," the professor offered, receiving a nod from Tala. The redhead wanted to refuse. He didn't want to be in a car with the man who had just raped him. But he didn't have money for the bus, his mom was at work, so her picking him up was out of the question, and he wouldn't be able to walk all the way home. So he settled with having his teacher driving him home.

All the way home, Tala tried his hardest not to think. He tried to forget the fact that he was in a car with Kai Hiwatari, his teacher through three years. And more importantly, he tried to forget what the man had done to him.

"Well, here it is," the teacher said as he stopped in front of the small house in which Tala lived together with his mother. He wasn't sure if he would be able to go in yet, though.

"Professor," he started, without really knowing what to say. Hiwatari's auburn eyes settled on the redhead, a curious look in them.

"Yes, Tala?"

Tala tried his best to come up with something to say. He couldn't start a sentence without managing to end it, for God's sake! "How old are you?" he settled with.

A sad smile graced the teacher's pale lips. "I'm twenty-seven."

Tala nearly panicked. Sure, Professor Hiwatari looked young, but he had never imagined that the man would be under thirty. Then again, he had never imagined that he English teacher would rape him, and that happened, didn't it?

He should probably be running away. He should be scared to death, trying with all his strength to escape from the man who did this to him. He probably would too, if it were anyone else. But he knew Hiwatari. He had always been afraid, yes, but he knew him, nevertheless. Besides, the professor hadn't really hurt him, had he? He hadn't wanted to have sex with the man, but he wasn't injured. Just shocked, and slightly more scared than what he usually was around his teacher.

"I'm going now," he said quietly, getting out of the car. "Thank you for driving me home, Professor."

"Call me Kai."

The redhead nodded before closing the car door, and watching as the car disappeared into the dark. It was only about four in the afternoon, but the sun had almost set completely already. Well, that was how it was every winter. Tala liked the dark more than the light anyway.

He walked up to his home and unlocked the door, as his mother hadn't come home yet. He spent the entire walk up the stairs and into his room trying to convince himself that he would be okay, that everything would be fine, that it didn't matter what Professor Hiwatari… what Kai had done to him.

Then he broke down on the bed, crying.

---

Kai looked at himself in the mirror. Truth to be told, he was disgusted with himself. To take advantage of a child like that… It was unforgiveable.

But Tala isn't a child, a voice within his mind whispered. He is eighteen now. He's an adult.

"That doesn't change the fact that I raped him," he said out loud. Hearing himself say if loudly, he felt tears emerging in the corners of his eyes. Ever since the first time he laid eyes on Tala, he had wanted, no, needed, to have sex with the boy. For three years he had kept his needs at bay.

He wasn't going to make any excuses. He could have stopped himself. He did posses self-control. But he hadn't wanted to stop. He wasn't going to pretend what he had done wasn't wrong either. Because it was. It had felt good at the time, but now, afterwards, Kai felt horrible. Yes, he had wanted to have sex with Tala. But he had wanted the redhead to want it too. What pleasure was there in having sex, if the other person didn't want it?

No, he corrected himself. It wasn't sex. It was rape.

He decided there and then that he would never do such a thing ever again. He had hurt Tala. He had caused serious mental damage to his beautiful Tala…

Okay, okay, this is the last "new" story I'm going to be writing until I have finished the ones I'm currently working on. I just needed to get this idea out of my head and over with. And to be honest, I think it turned out fairly well. Updates for both Reaching for the sky, Love game and Betrayal are coming up soon, by the way.

Anyway, please review, everyone! Let me know whether I should keep writing or not xo