Major trigger warning for the start of this chapter, although it's nothing worse than what has previously happened in this story. Thank you for all the reviews.
Gakushuu felt as if his lungs were being filled with flames with ever breath he took. His heart was hammering, his limbs were aching and his could feel sweat dripping off his forehead. His hands were still shaky, but as the adrenaline ran out the pain from were Akabane had hit him became more and more noticeable. Still. He kept running without stopping even for a second even as his breath became more ragged and his legs became weaker.
Nagisa. I have to make it home before the Chairman lures him in.
It was late enough for the bus and train service to have stopped for the night, so Gakushuu had no choice but to run home. Even calling for a cab wasn't an option; The waiting time was longer than it would take him to run home at full speed. The street lights blurred as he passed them, pedestrians gave him confused looks, but Gakushuu didn't care; All he cared about now was getting home before the Chairman managed to do anything to Nagisa.
This is a stupid idea. Nagisa thought as he walked along the street full of large houses en route to Gakushuu's place. Sneaking out of home late in the middle of winter to meet an Ex in secret is a stupid idea.. what if mother notices I'm gone? I don't even want to think about what would happen.. And Karma the (person I'm currently seeing!) wont be happy. He'll get angry again.
Nagisa sighed, shoving those thoughts to the back of his head. There was no point in letting them consume him now.. He'd already made his choice. He was choosing to help Gakushuu, there was no going back now.
I want to feel better.
Gakushuu's text ran through Nagisa's head over and over again. He had a lot of mixed feelings about it; Obviously, he didn't like the idea of Gakushuu feeling bad, but the fact the other was asking for help filled Nagisa with a sense of hope because Gakushuu was finally, finally reaching out to another person after all these years. Nagisa didn't know exactly what problems Gakushuu was facing in his life, but he could guess; Perfectionism, overwhelming pressure to do well both internally and externally.. a questionable parent. Gakushuu's relationship with the Chairman was one subject he explicitly never spoke about, but it didn't seem normal to say the least.. Nagisa wondered if it was as dysfunctional as his relationship with his mother. Admittedly, he could never imagine the Chairman staging a suicide attempt to guilt-trip his son, but Nagisa knew there were other ways that parents could scar their children.
Lost in thought, Nagisa almost walked past Gakushuu's house. He stopped suddenly, realizing he was here; The large, eerie blandness of it was unmistakable. Nagisa gulped before walking down the path towards the front door. Gakushuu had instructed him over text just to knock on the front door. It took Nagisa a moment to gather his courage before doing so; Something about that large oak door, currently a ghostly silver colour in the moonlight, seemed terrifying.
Man up! How are you supposed to help someone face their problems if you can't face knocking on a door!
With one last deep breath, Nagisa knocked on the door, the sound reverberating throughout the house. Silently, he waited in the cold for an answer.
The door seemed to open almost instantly, but the one stood there wasn't Gakushuu. No. It was a taller, larger figure with darker hair and a suit on; Stood before Nagisa was non other than the school Chairman himself, Gakuho Asano. Nagisa couldn't help but let out a strangled gasp. He felt his stomach twist with a sick sense of shock, a feeling similar to when you miss a step. He backed away a few steps on instinct, almost tripping over backwards.
"I didn't mean to startle you." The Chairman said, with a relaxed smile, looking vaguely amused at Nagisa freaking out. "I assume you are here to see Asano?"
"Ah- Um. Yes. I am. Sir." Nagisa choked out. He did not expect to see the Chairman here. The fact that Gakushuu had invited him over made Nagisa assume the Chairman was out somewhere, because that was how it had always been in the past. "I can leave- if it's a bad time.. I know it's late."
The Chairman only chuckled at Nagisa's garbling. "And have you come all this way for nothing? I wont here of it. Asano is inside. Please do come in." The Chairman said with an amiable smile. Nagisa wasn't sure about this whole situation, but Gakuho Asano was the type of man who's requests you just couldn't refuse, so still feeling like he'd missed a step and fallen down the rabbit hole, Nagisa stepped inside the house.
The house was as fancy as always with it's simplistic yet stylish interior decor with cool, neutral colours. It always reminded Nagisa of a hotel, because it was obviously fancy but very impersonal. There were no unique decorations and certainly no family photographs. Anyone could live here. As soon as he walked in, Nagisa felt his teeth set on edge. He had an awful foreboding as if he were walking deeper into a spider's trap- Was the Chairman going to scold him and call his mother because he'd been wandering around after curfew? Was he in trouble? Nagisa had no idea, he felt as if he had no choice but to silently follow the man deeper into this labyrinth known as the Asano's home. He was lead down the hall through a door he'd never been through before (Gakushuu had only ever taken Nagisa straight to his room).
"You look nervous." The Chairman commented without even turning to glance back at Nagisa. Nagisa jumped at the sudden break in silence, finding himself scrambling to process the words and find the right answer.
"I- yeah." Nagisa answered lamely, taking a deep breath. He couldn't see the Chairman's face, but he was sure he was grinning at Nagisa's nervous response. Once again, silence set in as Nagisa was lead into another room. He had no idea what was going on or What the Chairman wanted. He could only imagine that he was in trouble for coming to visit so late.
The Chairman stopped when they reached what appeared to be a living room. It was small and was actually cosy-looking; There was thick red carpet underfoot and a cream white sofa there were wooden cabinets along the side which were lined with ornaments and pictures. There was more of a personal touch in this room than there was in the entire rest of the house combined.
"Sit." The Chairman commanded simply, indicating to the plush cream sofa in the middle of the room. Nagisa bit his lip and once again felt compelled to follow the Chairman's command. Tentatively he walked over and plopped himself on the sofa, pulling his arms into his chest to make himself as small as possible. What's going on? Where is Gakushuu Nagisa glanced around the room at the small collection of pictures on the cabinet; The first one he noticed was the picture of a much younger Gakuho in a suit, next to him stood a beautiful western woman with blond hair and blue eyes. That must be Gakushuu's mother. He's never mentioned her before. Her high cheekbones, fair skin and long lashes reminded Nagisa of Gakushuu.
"It's awfully late for you to be coming out here to visit." The Chairman commented, breaking Nagisa away from his train of thought. "Do your parents know that you're here."
Nagisa briefly considered lying but then thought better of it. The Chairman would easily be able to verify if he was speaking the truth. "No." He admitted. "My mother doesn't know I'm out the house."
"You shouldn't hide things from your parent." The Chairman scolded, grin still in place. Nagisa was expecting him to call his mother or something, but instead he just opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a crystal bottle full of liquid and poured it into a glass, also produced from the cabinet. He passed the drink to Nagisa, who took it.
"oh- I'm not thirsty.." Nagisa tried to say, but the Chairman cut him off.
"You're a guest. I'm not rude enough to allow a guest to go without a drink." The Chairman said insistently. "it's just fruit juice. Drink."
Nagisa glanced at the cloudy amber liquid in the glass, before drinking. It tasted like normal juice, if not a little saltier than usual. "Thank you." he mumbled. looking down at the floor and not at the man stood over him.
"You only mentioned your mother. So you come from a single parent family?" The Chairman asked. Nagisa blinked at the incredibly personal question.
"Um- yes. My father left a few years ago." Nagisa admitted, not feeling comfortable in the slightest discussing this. His father's departure may of been years ago, but it was still raw in his mind. Keen to change the subject, Nagisa said. "If you don't mind me asking.. were is Gakushuu?"
"You two must be close if you call him by his given name." The Chairman commented. Nagisa almost choked on his drink as he realised his slip of the tongue (He was only supposed to call Gakushuu that when it was just the two of them). "He doesn't usually allow people to address him so informally."
"Not really- I mean. We're not really all that close." Nagisa said, feeling at a loss. He took another large sip of the drink in an attempt to calm down. "He just helps me with my school work, occasionally."
"He must like you then. Asano normally only helps those from his own class." The Chairman mused. Before Nagisa could protest that, the Chairman continued. "How did you two come to know each other? I've never heard Asano mention you before"
"We were in the light music club together in middle school." Nagisa answered almost automatically. He realised that the Chairman hadn't answered his question about Gakushuu's whereabouts and he felt stupid asking him again. "- I should go, it's late."
"You're right. It is late. It isn't safe for you to be wondering the streets by yourself, something could happen. Wont your mother worry if she wakes up in the morning and you're not there?" The Chairman said.
"She'd probably just think I was at school." Nagisa said without thinking. He was doing that a lot this conversation. For some reason his tongue felt looser. "I mean.. I wont go wandering around at night again, I'm sorry."
An awkward silence followed his words and the Chairman stared at Nagisa with an intent purple glare. Nagisa squirmed under his gaze, feeling like an insect under scrutiny. Well, at least now he knew were Gakushuu learned all his intimidation tactics whenever he wanted Nagisa to feel powerless or uneasy.
"I wonder what my son see's in you?" The Chairman said suddenly, causing Nagisa once again to almost choke on his drink. "To take the time to tutor you specifically."
"I.. don't know." Nagisa replied. The atmosphere in this room was so suffocating he was starting to get lightheaded. He bit the bullet and asked again. "Where is Gakushuu?"
"He'll be here soon." The Chairman said offhandedly. He took a step closer to Nagisa. "I'm curious; what do you think of my son?"
"He's um.. Very clever. A good leader. You must of raised him well" Nagisa replied, forcing in a compliment at the end for formalities sake. He wasn't sure why but it was getting harder and harder to find the right words. It felt as if there was a disconnection between his brain and his mouth, as if he were moving in slow motion. He wasn't sure what the Chairman's game was, why he was trying to engage him in conversation rather than doing something. And were the hell was Gakushuu anyway?
"It seems we have a differing of opinion. I think he's an overemotional fool who can't do anything by himself. He's always been too sensitive and needy" The Chairman said coldly. Nagisa wasn't sure what to reply to that one, his head was swimming far too much for that but he did know that 'overemotional' 'sensitive' and 'clingy' weren't words he'd ever apply to Gakushuu. He must still be sick because he was suddenly feeling very tired. All his energy was put into staying awake and sat up. It was late after all. "But I did create him, so he belongs to me, and I don't like other people touching my things without permission."
"What?" Nagisa said weakly. It was a struggle to keep his eyes open and keep upright. His body felt light as if it was floating in space. Nothing felt real, Nagisa felt like a character from a play, detached from himself somehow. He was vaguely aware that the Chairman was still talking to him, but his words were impossible to follow when Nagisa was feeling as if he were suspended in the air. This isn't right, this isn't normal.
"If you belong to him, by extension you also belong to me." The Chairman's disembodied voice was saying maliciously.
Suddenly Nagisa could feel strong, unfamiliar hands grabbing at him and could see the Chairman's face right in front of him. Logically, he knew he should be terrified and try to fight back, but his body felt like a unmovable, lime a lame puppet with the strings cut. His emotions felt cut off too, he watched impassively as his body was moved against his will. In his last few moments of consciousness, Nagisa realised something. The drink the Chairman had gave him.. it was spiked.
The Chairman used rohypnol on Nagisa. Yeah, Date-rape drugs. This story has gotten that low but it wasn't ever exactly a cheerful story. Also sorry Karma wasn't in this chapter, but he will be in the next one.
I was surprised by all the reviews I got last chapter! I hope that means people enjoyed the twist last chapter. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to review it makes me think this story is worth while writing. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter and what you think could or should happen next chapter.
Reply to guest reviews;
Guest: I really liked writing the fight scene between Gakushuu and karma so I'm happy you enjoyed reading it.
NekoHex: I'm glad you liked the twist! Thank you for your consistent reviews.