Chapter 13
Haruki had no idea how fancy the new restaurant is going to be when she reached there. There was a doorman opening the door for her, waiter pulling the chair out for her and even a violinist who is playing a song for them right now, while the waiter is waiting for their order.
"I'll have medium rare steak with barbecue sauce and a salad on the side, please. Make that large size." Isuke ordered easily. "And oh, a bottle of this sparkling juice." She returned the menu to the waiter, who took it from Isuke's hand but not before making sure to subtly brush his fingers on Isuke's.
If Haruki noticed it, she didn't make any comment, as her mind was too busy trying to decide what to order that would be within her budget. What Isuke had ordered is way out of her budget. Actually, everything on the menu is way out of her budget. She had paid all the four hundred thousand yen to the loan shark, leaving her with only a few cash in her wallet after settling her monthly repayment for her mom's hospital bill. The only thing she could afford is a plate of chicken salad, if she were to pay for both of their meal tonight.
Finally making her decision, she looked up at the waiter to find that he was blatantly staring at Isuke's cleavage. Isuke, however ignored the waiter and was looking at Haruki instead, with a loving smile.
"Oi, mister waiter!" Haruki shouted to get the waiter's attention so that he would stop drooling all over her girlfriend.
"Yes, miss?" the waiter turned to look at Haruki in a daze.
"I'd like to have a plate of this," she said while pointing to the chicken salad.
"Oh, just this?" the waiter asked for confirmation as he raised an eyebrow, but Haruki could hear the sarcasm in his voice.
"Yes, and a glass of warm water," Haruki said and handed the menu back to the waiter, deciding that she doesn't like the waiter all that much.
Once the waiter took off to place their order in the kitchen, Haruki looked at her surrounding. The restaurant was really majestic and classy. It was her first time being in such a fancy restaurant.
"So, what do you think of this place?" Isuke asked.
Haruki snapped her head up to Isuke. "Oh, it's huge and classy, alright. I've never seen a chandelier that big before," Haruki said, pointing at the large chandelier hanging on the ceiling. "There are even people opening doors and pulling chairs for me. Made me feel like I'm a queen, y'know?"
Isuke could sense that Haruki was nervous being in an environment that she wasn't used to. She could see her fidgeting in her seat and her legs shaking under the table.
"You look very nice, though." Haruki was still talking. "While I look way under-dressed." Isuke was wearing a tight red dress that left nothing to the imagination, while Haruki was just wearing a tank top with a jacket and a miniskirt.
Isuke smiled and leaned over to place her hand on Haruki's, which immediately calmed the redhead down. "Well, Isuke thinks you're a sight for sore eyes," Isuke delivered smoothly, which surprised Haruki. Isuke was always a stuttering mess around her, but this time, it looks like the table has been turned. Maybe being in her natural habitat makes the pinkette more confident, or maybe she is an expert in this dating game. "And relax, Haruki. Enjoy the nice ambience," Isuke said in a soothing voice while rubbing cirles on Haruki's knuckles with her thumb.
Haruki relaxed considerably and smiled. She was about to say something, when the waiter came back with their food.
"A plate of medium rare steak with barbecue sauce large size with salad on the side," the waiter recited out loud while putting Isuke's food down in front of her. "And a plate of chicken salad." He raised an eyebrow at Haruki, before placing the plate in front of her and then proceeded to pour the sparkling juice into Isuke's glass. "I'll come back with your warm water, miss," the waiter said with a bow before leaving.
"That waiter is already on my blacklist," Haruki said jokingly. "Maybe I'm on a diet." As soon as Haruki finished saying that, her stomach growled loudly.
Isuke scoffed. "You dieting? Apocalypse is more likely to happen than you dieting."
When the waiter returned with Haruki's warm water, Isuke asked him for an extra set of cutlery, plate, and glass. The waiter said that it's against the restaurant's policy to give extra empty plates and glasses, but when Isuke gave him a very sweet smile while squeezing his arm very seductively, the waiter immediately agreed.
As soon as Isuke turned her attention back to Haruki, she could tell that the redhead was fuming as she wasn't doing a very good job at hiding it. Isuke just ignored her and started working on her steak. Upon seeing that Isuke had started her food without any explanation as to why she had to flirt with the waiter to get the unnecessary empty plate and glass, Haruki chomped down her very bland salad with a huff.
When the waiter returned to their table with the extra utensils, Isuke thanked him with another sweet smile. Before the waiter left, he subtly slipped a note into Isuke's hand. Isuke had to bite her lips from laughing out loud as she saw how Haruki was glaring angrily at the waiter until he was out of sight. She knows Haruki is jealous.
Now, Haruki understood how Isuke felt when Aimi was all over her. The redhead kept her attention focused on her food, so she was surprised when Isuke pushed the extra plate that was now filled with half of the steak to her.
"This is yours," Isuke said nonchalantly and when Haruki looked at her in confusion, she explained. "You think Isuke can finish this all by herself? The reason why I ordered large size is because I want to share it with you. Knowing your appetite, how can a plate of chicken salad satisfy you?" She proceeded to pour the sparkling juice into the empty glass. "And try this sparkling juice. It's very nice."
A string of protests was already at the tip of Haruki's tongue, but Isuke beat her to it. "Don't you dare try to protest, Haruki. Isuke will feed you if she has to," the pink-haired girl said seriously.
"Alright, alright. I'll take it. I'm really famished, anyway," Haruki said while pushed her awful plate of chicken salad away and replaced it with the plate of half steak that Isuke had given her. "Is that why you were flirting with the waiter just now? And what did he slip into your hand?" she asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible but failed terribly at it.
"Why did you ask? Could you, maybe, be jealous?" Isuke teased and Haruki's face reddened.
"Yeah, yeah, you got me right there," Haruki said, defeated, as she started to work on her steak. "But if the reason why you flirted with him is for my benefit, then I should not let your effort go to waste," she said with a mouthful of steak and winked charmingly at Isuke.
"Idiot," Isuke murmured under her breath.
Still rowdy, still unrefined, and Isuke normally wouldn't even associate herself with people with this kind of attitude, but she was inexplicably attracted to Haruki's unsophisticated charm. And normally, she would not let her previous girlfriends know anything about her, but with Haruki, she felt the need to be honest with her.
"The waiter just gave me his phone number, but I've already let it accidentally dropped from my hand and onto the floor," Isuke said, snickering. "And yes, the flirtatious gestures to to waiter is for your benefit."
"Ahhh then I'd better show my appreciation towards your generosity later, Isuke-sama," Haruki said, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Yeah, you'd better," Isuke said, while smirking suggestively. She upped her game and rubbed her leg slowly against Haruki's leg under the table. Haruki suddenly choked on her food and looked wide-eyed at Isuke, shocked that Isuke would do this in public.
Isuke quirked a perfect eyebrow and looked at her questioningly with a calm expression on her face. "Is something the matter?" Isuke asked innocently.
Haruki cleared her throat. She suddenly had difficulty swallowing. "Um… I think I'm done with my food. How about you?" she asked as she wiped her mouth with the serviette.
"Isuke's done too. Now, the only thing Isuke wants to devour, is you," the playgirl said, her voice an octave lower as she cast Haruki a smouldering look.
With a speed of lightning, Haruki gulped down the rest of her sparkling juice and raised her hand to ask for the bill. As soon as Haruki saw the waiter from before approaching their table to hand them the bill, she prepared herself to show him that Isuke is already taken. She scooted her chair closer to Isuke and took her hand in hers, before bringing Isuke's perfectly manicured fingers to her lips and kissed them delicately.
Isuke was about to ask the redhead what had gotten into her when she heard a male voice clearing his throat behind her. She turned around and saw that it was their waiter, a bill in his hand, but what was more obvious is the disappointed look on his face.
"Oh, sorry. We didn't notice you here," Haruki said with a cocky smile as she lowered Isuke's hand from her lips but not letting go of her hand. "My girlfriend and I were too engrossed in each other here."
Isuke could barely suppress a chuckle seeing Haruki being so possessive of her. It was strangely turning her on. She had never allowed any of her previous girlfriends to get possessive of her, but with Haruki, she wants to belong with her. "Haruki, you need to let go of my hand so that I can take my purse," Isuke whispered.
After a few minutes of debating who should pay for the food, Isuke won the argument when Haruki saw the total amount on the bill.
They could barely keep their hands to themselves before they reached Isuke's limousine. Once they got inside the backseat, Haruki pulled Isuke into a bruising kiss while gently guiding her to lie down on the seat. Isuke moaned into the kiss and fought to take control. She bit and sucked on Haruki's lower lip until she could taste Haruki's blood.
"Ouch!" Haruki yelped and Isuke immediately let go. Haruki licked her own lips and tasted her own blood, mixed with Isuke's taste of lipstick. It was strangely arousing. "You weren't kidding when you said you want to devour me, huh?"
"Yeah, sorry," Isuke said sheepishly. She had never gotten so carried away before. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
Haruki smiled. "I kinda liked it though. But don't bite my lips again. It's very tender now."
Isuke smiled and pulled Haruki closer. "Then let Isuke nurse your lips back to health," she said seductively, before kissing and licking Haruki's lips, gently seeking permission for her tongue to enter Haruki's mouth. Haruki complied immediately and once their tongues caressed each other's, they both sighed.
As they were kissing, Isuke slowly shifted to sit on Haruki's laps, straddling her. With their height difference now, Haruki moved her lips down onto Isuke's neck and started placing open-mouthed kisses there. Her hand wandered to Isuke's cleavage and she slipped her hand into the dress until she reached Isuke's bra-padded breast. She wasted no time to cup a feel, experimentally squeezing on it. This elicited a sharp gasp from Isuke, which spurred Haruki on. She slipped her hand into her bra, taking her time to feel Isuke's soft flesh until her fingers reached a pert nipple. She rolled her nipple between her thumb and forefinger. Upon feeling Haruki's gentle yet calloused fingers on her sensitive nipple, Isuke moaned wantonly.
"You're so ravishingly hot, Isuke-sama," Haruki rasped against her collarbone, while breathing her in.
"Well, I find you so irresistibly hot when you get all possessive with me," Isuke gasped airily as she buried her fingers into Haruki's wild hair. Haruki could feel Isuke tugging on her hair to encourage her to go on, so she continued palming Isuke's breast and kissing Isuke's neck until she was a quivering mess on top of her.
Suddenly, Isuke rolled her hips once onto Haruki's toned abs. Taking it as a cue to proceed to the next level, she removed her hand from Isuke's breast and wandered all the way down to her thigh and underneath her dress. When her hand reached her desired destination, she stroke once on Isuke's panty-clad slit, revelling in the moist fabric she found there. Isuke gasped and opened her eyes. She immediately grabbed Haruki's hand to stop her from going any further.
"S-sorry," Haruki stammered nervously, all the arousal in her body gone. Did she do something wrong? Isn't that what Isuke want? Had she read wrongly into it? "Did I do something wrong?"
"Don't apologize," Isuke said breathlessly as she leaned her forehead against Haruki's. "You did nothing wrong. In fact, you did everything right."
She got off Haruki's laps and sat next to her, tidying her hair and clothes. "Believe me, I want this as much as you do. But before we get to third base, there's something I want to tell you first," she said, before taking Haruki's hand in hers.
"All my previous dates always end up in hot, meaningless sex," Isuke began, her tone of voice unusually soft and serious. "But with you, I feel that it's different. It's like, I want to get to know you better, and let you get to know me better first. I-I've never felt this way about anyone before, Haruki. A-and…" she trailed off, too nervous to continue.
"Hey," Haruki murmured soothingly, taking Isuke's hand and playing with her delicate fingers, before bringing them to her lips to kiss them. "You can tell me anything."
Isuke took a deep shuddering breath and exhaled. She looked at Haruki fondly while trying to stay focus. It wasn't easy with the redhead kissing her fingers like they were the most precious treasure she had ever discovered. "I've never done this with anyone before, but I'd like to ask you if you're free this Sunday?" Isuke asked. "There's some place I'd like to take you and someone for me to introduce to you."
Haruki stopped kissing Isuke's fingers and looked at her, not knowing how to respond.
"It's not my parents, don't worry," Isuke added hurriedly. "It's just… someone who is very important to me. I will only explain it to you once you meet him."
Haruki smiled genuinely. "Yes, I'm free this Sunday to meet this important and mysterious person of yours, Isuke-sama."
Isuke smiled and gave instructions to her chauffeur to start the engine and bring Haruki back home. As she sat at the backseat of her limousine with Haruki and glanced shyly at the redhead, who was still holding her hand, she decided that it's time to let Haruki into a part of her life that nobody knows of.
A young Isuke was running in a dark alleyway. Beads of perspiration were dripping down from her forehead as she continued running into the endless darkness. Something or someone was chasing her. Suddenly, she saw a light at the end of the alley, so she ran faster. She needed to outrun whoever or whatever that was chasing her. The light was getting nearer, but as she reached the light, it faded away and showed up at the opposite end.
So, she started running towards the opposite direction, but as soon as she got near the light, it faded away and appeared at the other direction. It seemed like she can never reach the light because the light disappeared and reappeared at the other end of the alley every time she gets near.
She was getting tired. She had to stop to catch her breath. The shadow was getting nearer to her. Isuke could practically feel it breathing down her neck. Horrified, she started running again. The alleyway started contorting and suddenly, she found herself in a very rundown house. She looked around her surroundings and saw herself in a mirror. She is now a grown up. A creaking sound on the right made her turn around.
Suddenly, she felt something tugging at her skirt. She looked down, and it was a boy of about five years old.
"Onee-chan, onee-chan," the boy said. "Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me here with them?"
Isuke took a step backward but the boy walked a few steps forward. "You did this. You did this to me, onee-chan," the boy was still saying as he suddenly turned into a teenager, all grown up. "You did this and now you're too ashamed of me!" the teenaged boy shouted accusingly at her as his face contorted in pain and anguish. "It hurts, it hurts so much!" he screamed in pain as he pulled his hair.
Isuke kept on walking backwards until her back hit the wall. She had no place to go. Stuck. Couldn't escape.
"I-I'm sorry," Isuke sobbed while shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't know."
"LIAR!"
That was the last thing she heard before she heard a blood curdling scream, waking herself up. The scream was from her. Isuke was now sitting on her bed, beads of perspiration forming on her face. It was just a nightmare. The same nightmare that always ended the same way. She should have gotten used to it by now but she never failed to wake up from this nightmare feeling guilty.
All her life, she had been running away from her past, trying to forget all about them. She had let go of most of the events that had happened in her past life, but this is the one thing that she couldn't let go of even though she had lied to herself and tricked herself into believing that she had let it go. She was done running. She was done being ashamed.
Tomorrow… tomorrow, she is going to face her past and her guilt by sharing it with someone whom she deemed worthy.
Tomorrow, she is going to share it with Haruki.
When Haruki got into Isuke's limousine on a very early Sunday morning, Isuke had told her that it would be a long journey towards their destination. The redhead just waved it off with a jovial smile on her face. She tried to strike up a conversation with Isuke a few times, but the pink-haired girl didn't look like she is in the mood to talk.
Once in a while, Haruki would steal glances at Isuke. Isuke was being unusually quiet and even Haruki's most radiating and charming smile didn't seem to work on her girlfriend today. From the way Isuke was drumming her fingers on her thigh, Haruki could tell that she is nervous as well. She wasn't being her usual self; there wasn't any snarky remark from her when Haruki made some corny jokes. The pink-haired girl had even dressed down, with a simple button down blouse and a pair of skinny jeans, away from her signature sexy midriff crop tops looks.
"Whoever she wants me to meet, must be very important to her," Haruki thought.
She scooted closer to Isuke and took hold of the latter's hand that was fidgeting, and squeezed it lightly, silently assuring her that she is there for her. Nothing was spoken between them but Isuke understood the gesture and squeezed her hand back appreciatively. Isuke returned Haruki's smile when she saw that her girlfriend had been looking at her with an adoring smile on her face.
"We're here, miss," the chauffeur announced as he drove through an opened gate and into a building.
Haruki peered through the limousine window and caught the sign on the gate: Centre for the Disabled and Gifted.
Isuke's mood shifted considerably as the chauffeur drove into the driveway and stopped at the entrance. Wordlessly, she opened the car door and stepped out, with Haruki following suit. As soon as the chauffeur drove off towards the VIP parking area, Isuke and Haruki entered the building.
Haruki, as puzzled as she was, just followed Isuke behind as she looked at the surrounding. Each and every staff greeted Isuke every time she walked past them. When she reached the receptionist counter, the staff smiled widely at her and bowed.
"Isuke-sama. He had been throwing tantrums waiting for you because you're not here yet," the staff said and handed a visitor card to her.
"Yeah, I had to make a stop first, so I was a bit late today. Another visitor card, please," Isuke said, while clipping the card on her blouse.
"Oh, you've brought a guest today?" the staff asked as she eyed Haruki up and down worriedly, while handing the visitor card to her.
"Yes, but don't worry. I'll explain it to him first before she meets him. Where is he now, by the way?"
"In the garden with the rest. The nurses managed to calm him down."
Isuke nodded her acknowledgement and walked towards the garden, with Haruki not far behind. Once they reached there, Isuke turned to Haruki. "Haruki, wait here first. I need to talk to him first."
Haruki just nodded and stood on the spot as she watched Isuke walking towards a boy who was roughly around the same age as them. The boy was sitting in a wheelchair, his face vacant as he looked into the distant. There were other patients playing in the garden, some just sitting with their nurse on the bench, but the boy didn't seem to be present with his surroundings.
When the nurse saw Isuke approaching, she immediately let go of the wheelchair and let Isuke took hold of it, before bowing and leaving. Haruki saw how the boy's face lit up instantly when he saw Isuke approaching. Isuke leaned down and talked to the boy. At first, he wasn't happy after listening to whatever Isuke had told him, but after a while, he looked past Isuke's shoulder and made eye contact with Haruki. Haruki just waved awkwardly at him. Haruki saw him nodding his head to Isuke, and so Isuke got up and took the wheelchair handles before pushing the wheelchair towards Haruki.
Haruki just smiled awkwardly at the boy as she watched them slowly approaching her. Isuke stopped the wheelchair in front of Haruki and walked towards her.
"Haruki," she began, and the redhead could hear the nervousness in her voice. She smiled encouragingly at Isuke, waiting for her to introduce the boy to her. "I'd like you to meet my younger brother, Reiji."
Yeah, I know I've been late in updating this latest chapter. Life suddenly got busy, but I've not forgotten about this fic!
Also, this is where it will start branching away from Isuke's original backstory. It's something I've been thinking about exploring.
Everyone, if you are a fan of Akuma no Riddle (of course you are, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this fic), and would like to chat with fans of this show, you can join this server! discord. gg / WrxPrS3 Remove the space.
This server doesn't belong to me. I'm just helping the owner to promote it to keep the fandom alive! I mostly hang out there.
