Hanada-sama has returned.

For reasons that need no explanation, I am not happy about that.

To make things even better, he has ordered me to come to his office.

I should view this as an opportunity to get the answer to the question that has been eating away at me like a parasite, but in light of my past visits, that's not exactly easy to do.

Regardless, I do as he has commanded.

"Shut the door behind you," he says, without looking up from his paperwork.

That cold, strict tone does not bode well for me. My fear incites even more.

I shut the door and walk a few meters, keeping just enough distance between him, me, and the door. It would be foolish of me to try to escape should the situation escalate, but I feel a little more confident knowing that I have an escape route. "What is it you wanted to see me about, Hanada-sama?"

He finally looks up, scanning me. If he was expecting me to arrive clad in transparent lingerie with a defeated look in my eyes, then he is sorely mistaken. But if he is, he doesn't show it. He takes in my silver faerie ear shells, forest green dress shirt, ivory white waistcoat, choker, gloves, and onyx black breeches and boots. His gaze lingers longer on the dragon head of my cane, facing him, and on my devil-horned hair and the asphodels, tansies, and lobelias weaved throughout. I had considered substituting the flowers with deadly nightshade berries instead, but it's better that he doesn't see me as a threat. However, what he cannot see are the two poisoned daggers I've concealed in my boots, something I never dared to do whilst meeting him until now.

I may be afraid, but I am a demon, a fallen angel, a phoenix, risen from the ashes to destroy anything and everything.

I summon as much courage as I can from that.

"There is more than one matter I want to speak to you of," he responds. "Take a seat. This will take a while."

There goes all the courage. Warily, I sit. This is the first time in years he's asked me to sit in his office; before, I just stood in front of his desk as he talked. What makes this even more problematic is the extra five seconds it would take me to stagger to the door. An infinite number of things can happen within a meager five seconds.

"First, Scorpion has been missing for weeks." At my puzzlement, he elaborates. "The Pro-Hero you were sleeping with." So that was his hero name. Shame, he was an insult to the scorpion species and my zodiac. But why do you make it sound as though it was my choice to bed him? I keep my expression neutral, even though my thoughts are spiraling. "You don't seem surprised or saddened, Selene. Why is that?"

Now I let go of that facade. I scoff, "Do you actually expect me to care a shred for a rapist? Honestly, I'm elated he is missing." I'm elated that he is dead.

"Come now, Selene. It was a business partnership," he says, voice silky it makes me want to choke him right here, right now.

Instead, I suffice for coughing. "Yes, a business partnership where I was the barter piece. By all means, I should shower him with praise and treat him like a god. I don't recall you being so sentimental during all the other 'business partnerships' you made. In fact, I bet not once have you contacted any of them once the contract terminated, am I right? You don't know whether they are dead or alive, and you don't need to since you have amassed so much blackmail on them. So what makes this Pro-Hero so special?"

Hanada-sama's eyes narrow. "Your tongue has grown sharper. Were you always like this, or is this a new development? Regardless, a sharp tongue is no match for a sharp tooth. Watch yourself, Selene."

This is another development: not my growing wit, but Hanada-sama's threat. There has always been an unspoken threat hovering above my head like the sword of Damocles: step out of line and suffer the consequences. Which of course I did on numerous occasions; I bear their scars to this day. This is the first time he voiced that threat.

I do not like this series of firsts.

Instinctively, I stiffen the muscles of my shins to feel the prick of blades against skin. My 'sharp teeth' to match my 'sharp tongue.'

Hanada-sama continues. "The Pro-Hero is not special, but he is intriguing. Rather, the timing of his disappearance is intriguing because the police state that he disappeared on the last night you slept with him. The police also say that his neighbors testified that they did not see him return to his apartment. That makes you, Selene, the last person to have seen him. Of course, the police don't know of that little detail."

The Pro-Hero's neighbors probably minded their own business, and that's why they did not pay attention when he entered his apartment. Despite my irritation, my caution rises. I have to tread carefully; one wrong word and I will never see the light of day again. "Enough with the insinuations. Ask whatever you wish to know clearly."

"Why bother when you understand what I am insinuating?"

I feign nonchalance, but not exaggeratedly so. I lean against the back cushion and cross one leg over the other. "Why answer when you have your response already?" He frowns, much to my delight. I imagine an alternate universe where Hanada-sama is pinned to the knife-throwing wheel of the circus, and I am the knife thrower. Each sentence is a dagger aimed at his heart. A poisoned one. The image only brings me more delight. "My only interaction with him was in the bedroom. Whoever he visited, whatever he did, wherever he went, whenever he went, I didn't know. I didn't care. All I wished for was for him to leave, and leave he did. Hearing this, you probably think I had something to do with his disappearance, right?" One more dagger. "I wish I did, but pity, I did not."

So much for watching myself. I will regret behaving like this immensely, but Hanada-sama's bitter, barely restrained expression of anger is unforgettable. A vein pulses violently in his forehead. Reign in your anger before you burst a vessel from high blood pressure! It takes an effort to stifle my laughter.

"Fine. The next matter I want to discuss with you might change that jovial mood of yours. I heard that you had a traumatic relapse at school the same day of the disappearance. I had wondered if these two events were connected somehow, but I'll take your word for it. However, that doesn't mean a scene was not created, my reputation was not in danger. What happened, Selene?" His voice carries a strong undercurrent of menace at the end. The sword of Damocles swings above my head, held by a single thread, ready to slip and impale me at any moment.

And he's right. My jubilation takes a fatal stab. "I was eating lunch. Pro-Hero Endeavor's son, Todoroki Shouto was accompanying me. Something - I don't remember what - triggered me and elicited a relapse. Seeing my behavior, he called for help and medical attention. It was not my intention to make a scene or threaten your reputation." Despite my loss of good spirits and ever-growing fear, I will get my answer.

"You don't remember. How strange, Selene. Memory has always been one of your strengths."

"Even those with the best of memories can forget. Then again, mine ended at a very young age."

He scrutinizes me for a few moments. It's discomforting, but I refuse to show it. "I can't believe I have to say this but control your emotions. You do know what would happen if someone were to know? Especially the prodigal son of Japan's Number Two Hero?"

Here's my chance. "I know what would happen to me, but I do not know what would happen to him. You would be smart not to hire an assassin to kill him and his family. That leaves you with bribe or blackmail. Which would it be?" If I have learned anything about Todoroki-kun in these past two months, it is that he is honorable. He is righteous and has a moral code he adheres to. He is the opposite of me in that respect, but I admire that. Even if someone were to offer him 10 million yen in cash, he would throw each stack at the person's face, telling the person to get lost and never show their sorry face again. Bribe is out of the question. Blackmail remains. And his family history is indeed worthy of blackmail.

"Clever, Selene. Of course, I wouldn't even think of having the entire family wiped out. As you said, I would resort to bribe or blackmail. There are rumors of a strained relationship between Endeavor and his wife and children. If those rumors are true, I could make the entire family keep quiet." Hanada-sama bends over the desk and grabs my wrist. He pulls it toward him, pulling me out of my seat. "I am going to investigate these rumors, so the next time you have a 'traumatic relapse,' no one will be there to help you. Understand?" He bends my index finger back, causing tremors of pain racing up my arm.

"Y-yes," I stammer through the pain.

He lets go, and immediately I cradle my hand. He nearly broke my finger. I can't even breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that I moved the Damocles' swords hanging above Todoroki-kun's and his family's heads to my own. Maybe it's good that I don't.

Hanada-sama doesn't waste another moment. He proceeds to his next, and what I hope is his final, topic. "On the matter of Pro-Heroes, the U.A. Sports Festival is arriving, is it not?"

"Late next month."

"Selene, I need you to rank in the Top 3. I don't know how you'll do it, given your debilitating condition, but I expect it nonetheless. I'm sure you realize just how advantageous that will be to the Hanada Group of Companies."

Everyone underestimates the cripple. "I do. I will do my best." My next words are brazen. So brazen that I'm surprised myself. "But on one condition: I get a reprieve for one month from all torture - rape, beatings, insults. Tell your sons to vent their frustrations somewhere else for thirty days, and don't make any deals involving me."

This infuriates Hanada-sama. He loses control. He slaps me hard across the cheek, the sensation ringing for seconds before I register it. Making no effort to conceal my terror, I look at him. "That tongue of yours has grown too sharp. I'll have to sever it before it turns into a blade." He grabs my face and brings it toward his. From somewhere I can't see, he brings out a kitchen knife and caresses my face with it. "Selene, this is all you're worth. You're smart, but even more, you're beautiful. That is where your true values." He presses the blade into my cheek, not deep enough to cause bleeding, but enough to cause the light to glint off its surface and blind me. "Your body is ruined, your face is the only thing unmarred, but even so, you have a full, voluptuous figure. And that's what I profit off when I make those deals. But just one slash, and you'll be the most hideous creature in existence. Not even your curves will be enough to salvage you. I'll throw you in the streets if that happens." My eyes widen, and he smiles cruelly. "You name it torture, I name it as justice. A prostitute you were destined to be, a prostitute you shall remain. You were the equivalent of coal at that orphanage, but I turned you into nothing less than a diamond. You're my trifle, my trophy, my prize to show off and use as I see fit. So just who do you think you are to negotiate with me?"

After what seems like an eternity, he lets me go. I stumble back into the chair, my eyes never leaving the knife, even as he sets it down on the desk. "You made a grave mistake, Selene, stoking my ego like that. You will have to be punished. My eldest son has had some trouble organizing a partnership with a client. He appears quite frustrated in the mornings and drinks late into the night. I would have sent you to him had the Pro-Hero not been in the picture. But now that your schedule is free, I'll inform him that you're available. He can 'vent his frustration' out on you. Go get ready. He'll be in your room soon."

My emotions are in turmoil as I leave Hanada-sama's office: fear for what awaits me in the bedroom; misery at my fate; relief for Todoroki-kun; and rage. Intense rage. Murderous rage. An avalanche of rage. The circus throwing wheel is not enough. This time, I imagine the sword of Damocles suspended above Hanada-sama's head. His darling sons' heads. His metaphor of coals and diamonds rings in my head. I would rather be coal than diamond if it meant never having to live this life. Even coal is respected. At the orphanage, I longed for a loving couple to adopt me. But even then, I was happy. What good did becoming a diamond do? I simply became an object to be priced, flaunted, used.

But if I am to be a diamond, I will carve my contours. I will not be cut into cabochons or fractals. I will become a sword. A glimmering, lethal sword. You will brandish me like a trophy, ignoring that I can slice your hand. You will underestimate me, forgetting that I can make you bleed. And when the moment arrives, I will strike. At that moment, I will sever my thread of bondage to sever your thread of life.

I am not ruined. I am ruination.

A line I once read in my novels surfaces in my head: "The field of battle is my temple. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release."

What an apt metaphor for my vengeance.

And as Damocles' sword, I intend to see it through.

I vow upon my godforsaken soul, I will end him and his bloodline.

Citations:

"A sharp tongue is no match for a sharp tooth." - How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

"I am not ruined. I am ruination." - Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

"The field of battle is my temple. The swordpoint is my priest. The dance of death is my prayer. The killing blow is my release." - An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir