(Thank you all for being patient. There's more to come, but it will take just a little bit of time.)
Ayano was normally an expert when it came to putting on a mask of fake expressions to fool anyone around her. Even if she was frustrated, she did well in hiding her true emotions.
Embarrassment wasn't an emotion she ever felt in her life. There was "shyness" which she DID feel, but only around her senpai. Shyness could be seen as a reaction similar to embarrassment, but it wasn't quite the same. The big difference between the two was "humiliation".
Ayano has seen plenty of peers (mostly girls) become embarrassed over countless situations the either involved spilling something on their school uniforms, or falling in the middle of the hallway. Ayano could SEE how this would feel disastrous to someone, but what she couldn't see was how they could let themselves be so stupid in letting it happen!
Clumsy! They were all clumsy. If you're being clumsy and careless with your actions, then you deserve to have something humiliating happen to you. This is how Ayano saw it. The girl rarely had anything like this happen to her. The most recent incident was spilling a small bottle of green paint on her skirt when trying to steal chemical remover from the room where Art Club resided. The actual plan was to pour it in a rival's bottle of tea, thus making her ill and unable to attend school for the rest of the week.
Sure it was frustrating that she ruined her clothes, but they were easily replaceable, especially when she had someone to help her with favors. All she needed to do was make one text and she had a brand new uniform in less than two minutes.
Mistakes like this were not worth feeling utterly humiliated over! She would think from time to time when seeing a girl run to the restroom to hide after an embarrassing incident.
Bottom line, Ayano couldn't remember the last time she felt embarrassed.
But that was changing.
For the first time, she was at a loss for words or reactions. Blood rushed to her face and it wasn't over the shyness of senpai this time.
Or shyness in general.
"Thank you, my dear." Kyoryoku responded when taking his fancy pen from her hand, which didn't lower after the object it supported left. She looked like a silly statue when stuck in her frozen state. The man smirked, his silver eyes not leaving hers.
"You really did do me a favor there. So please know that I appreciate it. Very." He added on to his gratefulness of Ayano putting in the effort to get on her knees and fish for the lost utensil that belonged to him.
Ayano's pupils were half their normal size as her face remained locked in an immobile state.
"He's still referring to fetching his pen, isn't he? THAT favor?" She wondered in her mind.
"Or was he referring to helping him out with his other pen-" Ayano mentally smacked herself for both thinking about this and using an immature term for the male organ.
"PENIS! If you're going to talk about it, just say the real damn word! For God's sake, you think about Senpai's all the time, what makes THIS so different?" She argued in her mind.
"The difference is that he's a grown man, unlike senpai.." She came to conclusion. This was a grown man, someone that didn't cross her mind when thinking about a boy's "part".
He's thanking you for letting him get a real nice look... Her mind prodded at her.
"Yeah, I knew that. Shut up about it!" She responded to herself.
"This is a bit sudden to ask, but would you mind coming with me? It'll be a couple hours before I'm 'due' to make an official appearance down here, and I'd rather not hang around in the living room. I'm more comfortable in my own chambers.. And.. There's a bit of information I'd like to share with you. Important actually. So please, follow me." He started talking again without giving Ayano much of a choice on this next "request".
Finally lowering her arm (that she hadn't moved until he ceased talking), Ayano hesitated but proceeded with small baby steps after the gentleman.
Information? Her mind repeated.
On what? What could possibly be so important that he had to chit chat and share it with a schoolgirl? She kept wondering.
Doesn't matter. It was of no real value to you and you can just sell it all back to info-Chan. Info-Chan! A greedy smirk grew on the girl's face as she followed the man to a corner of the massive room.
"It'd be much faster to take the elevator." He explained when pressing a bright button, triggering a door to open from the wall. Ayano's eyes shined in awe at how impressive this monstrous mansion of a house was.
Kyoryoku waved his hand, signaling Ayano to go in first as he waited like a proper gentleman. Ayano didn't hesitate on this part and hurried inside the elevator that was surprisingly small for such a large building. Despite this, it had a decent number of buttons. They were all options to choose when using the elevator obviously. There might have been close to twenty different choices, but Ayano didn't let herself count before Kyoryoku stepped in and pressed the button that was second to the highest. What she didn't know was that the highest room belonged to the Saikou founder, Kyoryoku's father and Megami's grandfather. He was the only man above Kyoryoku.
Give it time. It won't be much longer. Especially with his health constantly deteriorating. He's already struggling in his wheelchair. Kyoryoku would think whenever his father would remind him that he still wasn't free to make every decision in the Saikou Corp. It was a frustrating reminder to the man, but he never dwelled on it.
The elevator started and Ayano was unaware that she had pushed herself against the wall quite hard, feeling a hint of uneasiness when the elevator gave the first "push" of movement.
She was cramped and too close. Too close to him!
Kyoryoku looked completely calm and collective on the other hand. He casually adjusted the wrist cuffs of his suit and looked back at the girl, noticing her discomfort, but not having much sympathy toward it. If anything, it made him smile, which looked more like a crude smirk.
"So tell me, Ayano, what are you up to these days?" He struck a forced conversation with the nervous girl. Ayano dug in her mind for an answer (real or not) so she didn't look awkward in a silence.
"I..I'm in school." She replied.
Now she was REALLY smacking herself mentally.
"You're in school? No shit! Tell him something he DOESN'T know!" She screamed at her conscience. He didn't show any facial expressions that shared her thoughts of self-stupidity. He kept his interest.
"You go to the same one Megami does, don't you?" He asked.
This was another obvious.
"Yes. Sometimes I see her in the halls, sometimes I don't. She doesn't really talk to me." Ayano answered, not hiding the vibes that told Kyoryoku that Megami hated her.
He was well aware of this anyway.
"Of course! I don't expect her to. I must apologize for her distasteful behavior when it comes to you. I normally don't care for what she does around other..citizens, but I DO have my exceptions.." He stated.
Why was he apologizing for Megami being rude to her? Ayano raised a brow. Her nervousness was getting slowly replaced by bold curiosity again. She had an act for recollecting her nerve right after losing it. It was a specialty of hers.
"So how are your parents?" He asked.
"Huh?" Ayano was taken aback by the quick change in subjects.
"Your mother. She doing..alright? Haven't seen her around lately. Did she leave somewhere?" He questioned further in greater details.
"Um.. Well, they just left the country." Ayano answered with honesty.
"Really?" Kyoryoku's expression looked like a mixture of surprise and suspicion. He rested a few of his fingers on his chin, resembling the stereotypical image of someone who was investigating a strange case.
"Did they tell you they were leaving?" He asked.
"No. I woke up to a letter from my mom. She only stated where they went and didn't know when she was coming back." Ayano continued with truthful answers. Kyoryoku raised his own brow, narrowing his eyes at this information. There was a small detection of displeasure in his emotions. What he could be displeased about was beyond the girl.
A jolt went through Ayano when she randomly "noticed" more physical details about Mr. Saikou.
There wasn't an ounce of deformity or imperfection on him. He looked to be quite in shape. His features were rare and altogether..
"Attractive. He looks attractive. And his position of power was..a plus!" Ayano admitted, feeling a spark in her that was familiar but still so foreign. Her legs felt hot.
"You've been by yourself this whole time?" He asked.
"Y-yes." She answered, her lower body heavy and weakened.
Little by little, she was consumed by a physical feeling that never entered her nervous system unless she was around one particular person.
Senpai.
"Think about Taro.." She begged in her head.
"I don't mean to be rude, Mr. Saikou, but why exactly did you invite me here? My family isn't what you would call..'important'." She slowed down the distortion in her motor skills by asking a rather fair question.
It made Kyoryoku wipe the look of suspicion off his face. He moved away from her (making Ayano just now realize that he had moved closer to her minutes ago) and began straightening his tie as if he had messed it up.
"That's a question that will be answered here shortly. It's what I'm about to discuss with you actually." He replied, stepping out of the elevator and into the fresh hallway.
There was ANOTHER detail that Ayano had stupidly missed. The elevator had been open for a long time while they just stood there with their weird conversation.
"Don't fall behind, please." Kyoryoku hadn't bothered to let Ayano out first this time and even instructed her to keep up as he began his walk down the eerily long corridor that held a number of rooms.
Ayano found herself obeying his words and didn't linger more than ten steps behind him.
"Now then.." He began without looking back at her once.
"As you're clearly aware, everyone that I invite has a specific REASON why they're wanted here. Whether it be just as friendly business partners, favored employees, or..old friends." He started with the first part of his explanation as to why Ayano had business here.
Ayano slid her phone out of the skirt pocket just barely, ready to pass on the upcoming information to her text buddy. She put the device on silent so the man before her wouldn't hear the vibrating buzzes and learn that she was texting in the middle of his talk.
"In this case, it's as an old friend. You may not have been 'friends' with me, but..let's just say you're the closest thing that person." He kept going, hooking Ayano's attention. She whipped her head back to his direction.
"Though it would have made more sense to just invite THEM..there's a reason why I can't. I can't because..they are not available. And I mean in every way possible." Kyoryoku's voice deepened when revealing this vital piece of information.
"What!?" Ayano was rightfully confused. Mr. Saikou had slowed his pace when reaching the middle part of the corridor for some reason. It triggered the girl to slow her own speed and she was soon almost tip-toing to stay behind him. He still hadn't looked back at her.
"You see…I went to the very same school as you back when I was your age." He started again with new facts. Ayano's thumb was like a pecking hen when typing this.
Her eyes darted from her screen to Mr. Saikou, being careful as she could.
*Okaaay?..* Info messaged back, greatly hinting that she wasn't impressed by this.
It wasn't useful to her.
"During that time, I was going through the same training as Megami's going through now. My father was teaching me to juggle so many situations at once and handle business with him. I was becoming a leader at a young age." He continued. Ayano scowled, unsure of how this had to do with her being here.
"Let it be known that even Gods can get lonely.." He suddenly added.
"God". Kyoryoku was referring to himself as such. With how powerful his family was, he saw himself as above so many..it was only naturally to feel this kind of arrogance.
"Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of the opposite sex constantly at my feet for many obvious reasons, but..none of them were..what's the word? STRONG. Sure, some of them were in martial arts, but I could tell that their delicate spirits would break before their bones ever could. Behind all of their pretty faces were nothing. An empty cranium. They would do me no purpose, and if they held no value of their own other than being an anchor to me, then they were not worthy. They're just ants amongst the rest of the insects around us." He explained with aggressive pride, throwing his right hand around as he spoke.
"But then..There was a girl..same grade as me. She had been in the school for as long as I have, but..I never truly NOTICED her. For longest time, I thought she was part of the average group that held no importance. The average school kid. I only saw her passing in the hallways every day, symbolizing how much of a broken record the days of my life were at the time. It was all the same, until..I saw what she could do. What she DID do and continued doing. All without punishment. Because she was smart. Because she was clever. Because she was STRONG." Kyoryoku had stopped for a moment as he delved back into his memories.
"On one particular morning, I had been roaming the hallways during lectures. Like Megami, I was president of student council and hardly needed class. A few times of the week, I'd take a morning walk during the start of the first class. It helped my mind wake up and think. Prepping for the rest of the day I guess. I took my usual route. Around the top floor, then to the second. Then back UP to the third floor, and then..she appeared." Kyoryoku was walking again, but taking smaller steps.
"This wasn't part of my looped routine. What I had grown so used to. I thought I had known everyone at that school. I thought I knew their personalities well, and what they were capable of. But she.. she broke the pattern that I set in my head. It was so damn unexpecting.." Ayano listened to his concerning speech as she took notice of the wall decors. There were pictures and portraits everywhere. So far, it was nothing out of the ordinary. They were all of Kyoryoku and his father.
Megami's mother? Ayano wondered if the man was referring to the woman that birthed Megami. This made her stiff after thinking about it.
Mr. Saikou wasn't married. Nor were there any pictures of a female (other than Megami) in the building. Not that Ayano saw at least.
"Dear thing almost ran into me, she was in such a rush. I of course was taken by surprise. I waited for her to explain herself, but all she did was look at me and then run downstairs without saying a word. I sensed something about this. Something wasn't 'right', and to add on to it, she had splashes of..blood on her." Mr. Saikou spoke like he was fascinated about this certain part. Ayano's eyes widened. It all seemed familiar, even though she had yet to commit murder herself.
"My instincts told me to look inside the girl's restroom, the place she had ran out from. At the time, I was thinking that I should've gotten a teacher, as it was more appropriate. However, my curiosity would have other plans for me. I was quick in taking a peek, praying to every God there was that I wouldn't accidentally catch a girl in there and anger her. And to think.. I was risking my entire reputation by doing this.. Inside held a sight that I thought I'd never see in my life. There was indeed another girl in there, but she was lifeless. On the floor and ..just gone..with her blood oozing out of the gaping wound she had on her neck." Ayano's eyes were wide in shock by this part of the story, her mouth cracked slightly.
"Now I wasn't a dunce, like the rest of the school was. I KNEW who caused that murder. You might think I was in some panic like a normal person would've been. However, that wasn't the case. I SHOULD'VE gotten the staff involved. I SHOULD'VE notified the police immediately. IF..it wasn't for my..utter fascination. Yes, Ayano, I was fascinated with the one who caused that murder, but before I go any further, I'll stop wasting guessing time and just reveal to you who exactly that girl was." Kyoryoku turned his head slightly back, but didn't look at the girl completely.
"Ryoba Aishi." He said in a half whisper.