A/N: It's less than a month until my Graduation. Hah hah hahaha. YES! XD
Ah, I promise to proofread my chapters sometime soon, I'm just really busy with uni right now, gomen. T-T
Anyhow, I now present to you the 12th chapter of A Different Kind of Torture!
CHAPTER TWELVE
Trade Business
"HE DID WHAT?!"
Momo's voice echoed throughout the dojo, startling the other club members who were currently sparring with each other.
Aki face-palmed from embarrassment; she knew she shouldn't have told Momo what happened at this time.
She should have saved the story for later when they were finally alone.
But then again, who can blame her? Not when Momo knows how her best friend is feeling after seeing her red and puffy eyes that made it seem as if she was having allergies.
Nope, she had no escape but to tell what exactly happened yesterday.
Or else, the blame might actually go to Feitan, Aki's so-called freeloader housemate.
And Aki didn't want that.
"Momo ssh! You're disturbing the other members. One more peep out of us and master might kick us out." Aki worriedly whispered to her friend.
Momo remained cross-legged in her seat, toying with her kendo stick while Aki fumbled with the sleeves of her own uniform, sitting in the same manner as she.
Her eyes narrowed to no one in particular, heaving out a deep sigh.
"You know Aki-chan, I really would appreciate it if you'd let me kick his ass right now. Enough is enough— he should really know when to stop playing games."
'And no one has the right to cheat on my best friend… or hurt her feelings for that matter.'
Aki did not respond as she continued to fumble with her sleeves, her head hung low.
She still could not forget the scene that unfolded last night; she did not know how much it hurt to see someone you love cheating on you with another girl, or rather, woman… your best friend's woman.
She also could still not forget how she mindlessly hugged Feitan without hesitation— and she was really embarrassed now, especially when the man in concern rejected her hug and pushed her away.
To think that Aki really hated rejection.
And now, because of her reckless decision, she was now stuck in an awkward avoidance situation between her and the sadistic torturer.
Momo, upon sensing the unresponsiveness of her best friend, did not say anything more. One way or another, she understood Aki's pain.
She would not want to push her further into depression by repeatedly talking about Taka.
So she diverted the topic to Feitan instead.
Yep, to good 'ol Feitan.
"Well anyhow, when are you taking me to your house? I really would like to meet this so-called 'housemate' of yours." Momo cautiously said while eyeing her friend.
Upon hearing the word 'Feitan', Aki's cheeks immediately flared up from embarrassment.
'Crap. Thank Momo and her dense nature to bring up another topic I currently don't want to talk about.' She grimly thought.
Her best friend raised a brow as soon as she saw Aki fidget in her seat, clearly red in the face.
'Oh fuck. Could it be that he actually likes the guy? But that would be impossible, since she still feels down from Taka… But still why? What happened? I WANT TO KNOW!' Momo screamed in her mind before skeptically asking again.
"Aki. Did something happen between you and Feitan?"
Aki's eyes widened in surprise as she turned to fully look at her best friend before swiftly averting them and looking at the window instead.
"Nope, none at all. Why did you ask all of a sudden?"
'Hah she's lying.' Momo smirked, amused at her discovery and suspicious at the same time.
"Really now? Then why are you all flustered?"
Aki reddened more at Momo's response, making her look like some swollen tomato, considering how her eyes were still somewhat red and puffy too.
"I'm not flustered you moron." She retorted, puffing her cheeks.
Momo poked one side, earning a glare from the said girl as she cheekily replied, "You cheat. You're lying. I know that something happened, and you just won't tell me."
Momo then attempted to act in mock-surprise as she added, "Oh dear. Don't tell me that you have fallen for him?!"
No response.
…
"…Aki-chan?"
SMACK!
"What the actual fu— WHAT WAS THAT FOR AKI-CHAN?!" Momo shouted, abruptly standing up while clutching her head, a painful look on her face.
Aki, on the other hand, remained seated, Momo's Kendo stick in her hand while she looked at her with dead-fish eyes.
"I'd rather fall for a stray cat than him." She bluntly said.
'But in some ways or another, Feitan could be considered as a stray 'cat' you know.' Momo amusedly thought, grinning at her now-glaring best friend.
"Really now?"
A vein popped on Aki's forehead.
She honestly hated it when she was shipped with other people, especially now that she was taken.
"Really. Never dare to pair me up with the likes of 'him', please." She glumly said.
Momo raised a brow before yanking the kendo stick away from Aki before she gets the chance to whack her again in the head.
"So then why is your body reacting otherwise?"
Aki paused for a minute before finally responding.
"Well… I accidentally hugged him last night when I couldn't take it anymore… and it was really embarrassing because after a moment or so he roughly pushed me away. I honestly regretted doing so, because I am fully aware that he was never a touchy person, and never will be— which was also one of the reasons why I let him stay at my house; I'm assured that he wouldn't attempt to rape me or anything."
'And I honestly think that it was somehow my fault, for I was like, invading his personal space.' she silently thought.
Momo looked at her first skeptically, thinking, 'Well he does indeed seem to put a distance between himself and Aki-chan when I last saw them together.'
Momo's thoughts were broken as Aki interrupted. "What? Still don't believe me?"
She raised her hands in mock surrender as she stood up, and then extended her hand towards Aki to pull her up as well. "Fine, fine. You win for now. I just wanted to make sure you know."
Aki gratefully accepted Momo's hand as she dusted her uniform, standing up as well.
Both of them planned to leave— in fact they were almost at the door, that is… until their sensei stopped them.
"Oy! You two! No skipping during club practice! Just because you two pipsqueaks are graduating students doesn't mean that you can just come in and out of the dojo as you please." He said with a disapproving look on his face.
Aki and Momo gulped as they sweat-dropped, fearfully looking at their sensei.
"Well?"
"No I'm not trying to skip Master, but Asada-san is." Momo innocently said, while smirking at Aki when their sensei's attention was diverted to Aki instead.
Aki murderously glared at her best friend before worriedly looking at their sensei.
In all honesty, their master was never gentle whenever it came to his students… or rather, disciples.
He actually was very cruel and pushy to them, reasoning out that it was merely for "improvement" purposes; that he was just resorting to those means in order to make them stronger.
And Aki knew about his nature, since she was once one of the many unfortunate victims who were given harsh punishments during her 'rebel' days.
"Nope, Momo merely misunderstood sensei. I was only about to go out to buy some soda from the vending machine." She cautiously replied, while mentally murdering her best friend.
He raised a brow before finally giving up and giving them a scary smile instead.
"That's good to hear then. Alright, now I want you two to spar and show your kouhais what it really is like to spar the proper way."
Both of them gulped once again as they swiftly nodded their heads, immediately getting their kendo stick and shakily standing.
"Crap. This is your entire fault, you doofus. Look at what situation you put us in now." Aki grumbled as she went into a defensive stance, ready for the spar.
"Heh. It's not my fault I'm this crazy." Momo grinned, ready to fight as well, charging at Aki while the latter sidestepped to avoid her hits.
'Feh. Girl has stupid moves. She can barely live in life or death battle with her skills. Katana will be put to waste with her using it.'
Unbeknownst to the two who were busy sparring, Feitan was observing them from above the tree across the dojo, smirking at the amateur way Aki held her sword.
Despite what happened last night, as soon as Feitan woke up early in the morning (while Aki was cooking breakfast to be exact), he felt the awkwardness from Aki's blunder completely ebb away. He didn't know why, but for some reason, his body wouldn't allow him to feel strange and avoid the girl, by which the latter was actually doing otherwise.
Sometimes, he didn't understand Aki and her personality— rather, he didn't understand why the girl should be flustered and avoid him after being pushed down from the hug.
She should know that he was a very, very, untouchy person, right?
And to top things up, she actually had the audacity to be the one to avoid him first, not the other way around.
Take this morning for example. As soon as Aki heard Feitan scuffling his feet towards the kitchen, she immediately finished her breakfast and ran out the door, leaving a big platter of bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes for Feitan to consume, by which the man raised a brow at her hurried exit.
She also actually avoided him last night, refusing to look at him in the eye and talked to him in a stuttering and hurried manner as soon as she went back downstairs to hurriedly stash up packs of chocolate and lollipop while he ate his 'midnight snack' in the kitchen.
Feitan leaned his back on the tree trunk as he watched Aki who was now flinging her sword around like some mad cat. His eyes twitched in disapproval; that was definitely no way to handle a sword.
His thoughts drifted again to the girl's peculiarity. Awkwardness aside, he found her whole persona to be actually tolerable after all these months. True, they had a rough start… but now he felt as if somehow, even for just a little bit, he could let down his guard.
This was also one of the reasons why now he didn't mind to immediately tense up and do into a defensive stance whenever Aki went downstairs in the middle of the night as he slept.
'Strange' he thought. It was so unlike him to actually become somewhat comfortable in her presence, aside from the Genei Ryodan.
Genei Ryodan… he thought. His comrades seemed to be so close to him and yet so far away.
'Tch. Stupid worry overtaking mind again' he grimly thought as he decided to stand up and vanish into a blur towards what he would now somewhat call, 'home'.
"Ah! I'm so beat. I swear I'm gonna take a long shower when I get home." Aki muttered as she gulped on her big bottle of Pocari sweat. It has actually been a while since she had a serious spar like that— if only they weren't threatened by their master, Aki would most likely have skipped practice.
'Speaking of which, I can't believe that I'm finally going to graduate in two weeks. One way or another I'm going so somehow miss school. No wait scratch that, I'll miss the dojo.' She mentally sighed as she started to fumble for the keys to the house.
Sometimes, she wished that Feitan was nice enough to open the door for her, she thought.
She knows that the man is home, as always; he rarely got out of the house… well, according to her knowledge.
But little did she know that the little sadist occasionally went out to simply stalk on her… or rather spy on her in suspicion that she might do something that would pose a threat to the little torturer.
She turned the knob and came in, announcing a lazy 'Tadaima' as she removed her shoes; somehow it became Aki's habit to announce that she's home ever since Feitan came.
She actually missed saying that one word whenever she came home— she never got to say it anymore as soon as her parents died.
'Typical. Of course he'd never answer... after he rejected me and stuff, of course he won't.' She glumly thought as she headed towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, fanning herself from the perspiration that never seemed to go away.
As soon as she got to the kitchen, she was surprised to see Feitan sitting on the high stool, staring at her with serious eyes; his face mask prevented her from seeing any other form of expression aside from the intensity of his eyes.
Immediately Aki turned red from embarrassment and was about to turn around and hurry to her bedroom when Feitan's eyes suddenly turned upwards, a mischievous smile forming under his mask.
"Girl got stupid moves. Heh."
Aki's eyes widened in surprise as her eyes swiftly darted to his, her sky-blue irises wide.
Feitan, amused at her expression, decided to be nice and enlighten her.
"I saw you practice in dojo. You stupid spar, pink-hair girl is better than you." he mocked, removing his mask and popping another chocolate into his mouth.
Yup, the leftover chocolates from last night.
Halfway through the box, his stomach automatically gave up eating last night; it seemed that he could not handle too much sweet food the way Aki could.
Hence, it now served as his afternoon snack.
Aki somewhat turned a bit red from embarrassment upon seeing Feitan eating the chocolate she shoved into him last night.
The chocolate that she was supposed to give to Taka.
She shook her head and decided to clear her thoughts of Taka for now. She would fix her relationship with him, she thought.
But it would not be for now.
Deciding to ignore Feitan, she proceeded to take a glass from the cupboard and went to the fridge to help herself to a glass of water; she was still sweating profusely after the spar she just had, by which after their master made her and Momo run 10 laps around the whole school courtyard.
Talk about sporty torture.
Feitan, on the other hand, raised a brow at her lack of response.
'Girl must still feel awkward' he mischievously thought.
Feitan stood up to go back to the room when Aki suddenly flinched, a third of the water from the glass she was drinking spilling on the floor.
'Shit. I thought he was going to do something murderous by now.' She gulped, momentarily forgetting the fatigue she was feeling right now.
"What? Scared I hurt you from last night? Stop it stupid girl. You start to look more stupid." Feitan smirked, whispering into her ear which made Aki yelp in surprise and throw the glass of water at Feitan, who was currently behind her and was now drenching wet.
Feitan's eyes twitched in annoyance as soon as he got into contact with the water Aki was drinking; he would have been able to avoid the girl's blunder if only the fridge was behind him.
Aki's eyes widened in surprise, realization hitting her as soon as the glass dropped to the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces.
"Crap oh god I'm so sorry. I don't want to die just yet so please calm down and let me fix this mess!" She frantically said as she scurried around to get a broom and dustpan, but not before offering Feitan a clean towel from the cupboard for him to dry his hair and face with, which was currently dripping from being too drenched.
'Please don't kill me. Fuck, I still want to graduate! Is this somehow the same as the saying that senior graduates usually get into accidents just before their graduation?' she worriedly thought as she tried to tidy up the mess she made.
Feitan didn't utter a word while he was silently drying himself, annoyance gradually building up with every sweeping sound Aki's broom is making as the seconds tick by.
Aki gulped anxiously as he hurried to sweep everything up the best as she could.
A few minutes later, there were still no words exchanged between the two even after Aki was finally done cleaning her mess.
And surprisingly, it was Feitan who actually decided to break the ice this time.
"You stupid girl. You should be more alert. That's why you so weak even if you have potential." He said, making Aki freeze in her spot.
When no response was made, he internally wanted to slap himself. Somehow, he thought, the girl was still thinking about Taka no matter how hard she tries to hide it.
His eyes narrowed at the girl in concern, then finally gave up at trying to piss her off.
Yes, in the long run, Feitan has learned how and when to stop when he's about to lose an argument or teasing session.
Little did he know that Aki was actually trying to gain the courage she needed in order to answer him back.
"At least I have a katana that exceeds yours in style. Pfft, who has an umbrella for a weapon?" she mocked back.
Swish!
In the blink of an eye, Aki could feel a sharp blade pressed on her neck, a trickle of blood dripping down due to its sharpness.
"You naïve girl. A beauty of a sword cannot be seen by its appearance alone." Feitan murderously glared at Aki from her right.
Aki gulped at the sudden threat that was given to her.
It actually has been some weeks since she was last physically threatened by Feitan.
'Ugh. And to think that I was feeling awkward with him just yesterday and a while ago.' She mentally sighed.
Feitan, feeling impatient, pulled the girl's hair back, shifting his sword towards her hair.
"Answer."
'SHIT SHIT SHIT WAIT DON'T TELL ME HE'S GONNA CUT MY HAI—'
Snip.
"Oops." Feitan smirked as strands of brunette hair fell down his hands. Her once long and scene-styled hair was now reduced to a big bob with thin strands of long hair, making it look like a tail.
No words could describe Aki's anger at the moment.
Nobody touches her hair.
Nobody.
Letting her animalistic instincts take over her thoughts, she mindlessly pushed Feitan's sword away and tackled him to the ground, taking the said man by surprise. She then continued to attempt to yank his hair as well, only to be immediately stopped by a strong pair of hands.
Infuriated, Aki screamed in anger as she attempted to yank her hands away, exerting every effort she can in order to take hold of Feitan's hair… and cut it.
"Y-YOU! YOU LITTLE ARGH! GIMME YOUR HAIR YOU JERK! GIVE IT TO ME!" she shouted, her face reddening from anger.
Feitan stared at her amused, despite the fact that she was currently straddling him with his back to the ground.
'Stupid girl looks funny when mad.' he thought.
Snickering, he responded. "Why? It suits you stupid girl."
"FUCK YOU!" Aki spat as she tried to continue to yank her hands away, but ended up pulling him instead, making her fall to the ground with him on top.
'Crap. He's so heavy fuck. Fuck. ARGH I HATE HIM SO MUCH!' she mentally screamed as she attempted to stand, only to be blocked by Feitan, who now has a mischievous smile on his face.
"Are you monkey? You so restless and you look stupid, stupid girl." He mocked as he restrained both her hands, much to Aki's frustration.
Aki let out another bloodcurdling scream before her mouth was roughly stuffed with a piece of cloth, or specifically, Feitan's bandanna.
Feitan glared at the girl before coldly saying, "Shut up and calm down."
'How could I calm down when I'm being assaulted like this?! This bastard definitely doesn't know the true definition of personal space, despite how much he hates it when it's his personal space that is being invaded.' She angrily thought, trying very hard to avoid rolling her eyes at him.
After almost a minute of silence, Feitan suddenly spoke again.
"Good." He smiled and stood up, feeling satisfied that the rebellious girl somewhat listened to him now.
Aki roughly removed the cloth from her mouth and restrained herself from throwing it at him, opting to mentally murder him instead.
'Why did this chaos happen again?' she thought as she stood up as well.
Oh…
…
"Well then, if you're so good at swordsmanship, then why won't you teach me instead?"
Feitan turned to glare once again at the girl.
'Did she just ask me to teach her?'
Feh.
In her dreams, he thought.
"No."
Aki frowned; although she half-expected Feitan to refuse her request, she still felt frustrated.
"I'll bake you cookies." She bargained, attempting a smile in hopes of changing his mind.
Feitan sighed deeply and shook his head. Nope, he was never going to have any of this.
"Sweets I hate. No."
"I could give you free clothes."
"I'm a thief. I can steal."
"Free meals?"
"You do that for so long now."
"Err uh… my body?"
SMACK!
"Okay okay I'm sorry! That was meant to be a joke, I know you're a very untouchy person so chill." Aki whined, clutching her head in pain. 'To think that I just did this to Momo when we were in the dojo.'
"Then what do you want?"
Feitan stared at her in a 'are-you-stupid' look, raising a brow.
'What would he be interested in?' Aki thought, staring at him hard, only to earn a harder glare from him.
Think Aki, think.
Think.
…
Without a word, Aki's eyes suddenly lit up as she immediately went up the stairs, only to return back down with a pile of books in her arms.
"What you doing stupid girl? What is that?" he suspiciously asked as he took a step towards her.
Aki continued to make a toothy grin as she held up the books in her arm.
"Well, I thought that you might like these books, since you claim to be a sadist and all. I personally find these books interesting myself, hence, my collection.
Oh how hard she wished that she had a camera with her right now.
Feitan's eyes were lit up as well, turning into a mischievous smile as he greedily took the books in Aki's arms.
Ah, now this his heaven, he thought. It has actually been a while since he last read these.
If there was one thing you can woo Feitan with, it would definitely be Trevor Brown books.
Yep, Trevor. Brown. Books.
'Feh. I knew it. I was actually right.' She smugly thought.
Before Aki could say a word, he interrupted her.
"I no good teacher, girl. Every afternoon until night, at this time. You be late or no show, deal's over." He concluded, immediately going to the living room to hide his newly-found treasures.
Bingo, she thought, smirking in triumph.
"FUCK! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU MOVE SO FAST?!" Aki complained, her body now drenched in sweat. Her school uniform was now a mess and in tatters, mud and grass staining her clothes.
Feitan merely smirked in response. "You still too slow, girl. You have to be alert and heighten senses. Don't put your Katana to waste."
Aki shakily stood up and slowly raised her Katana, wiping the sweat off her forehead with her other hand.
"Crap. Can't you be more gentle with me?"
"I told you I no good teacher."
"Ugh."
"Again."
Aki attempted to run again towards him, charging with her sword in her right hand. But as soon as she was about to slash Feitan, he immediately disappeared and appeared behind her, flicking his nen-induced finger at her, making her stumble down.
'This is too easy.'
He should have done this sooner, he thought. It was just much too fun to see Aki frustrated and in pain.
An hour later, Aki was sprawled on the ground, unconscious.
Feitan sighed as he glared at the girl; her body was still physically too weak.
'She needs stamina practice.' he concluded, grumbling as he contemplated whether he should bring her inside the house.
The small drops of rain answered him.
Feitan narrowed his eyes, cursing at the heavens as he started to easily hoist up the girl over his shoulder. Her clothes were now torn, her bra started to reveal from within the mess.
It was actually a good thing that Feitan was never a pervert, or else Aki's purity and innocence would have long been tainted by now.
'Feh. I expect a good meal tomorrow brat.' He cursed, tightening his grip on Aki in an attempt to wake her up.
All he got in exchange was drool.
Yes, drool.
"Crap crap why must it rain so hard now? It's a good thing Aki's house is just around here." Momo worriedly said, as she immediately ran towards Aki's house, opening the door with her key and letting herself in.
As soon as Momo got in, however, she froze.
Eh what?
Momo snapped out of her thoughts as she now charged inside. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"
Feitan was about to go up the stairs when suddenly the door opened, until a blob of pink charged towards her.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!"
Feitan easily side-stepped as soon as Momo tried to charge towards him, letting Aki's upper clothes slip down in the process.
Momo stared at Aki for a moment before her eyes widened in horror.
"W-w-what… WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO AKI-CHAN?! WHAT IS THAT BITE MARK I SEE? HOW DARE YOU RAPE MY POOR BEST FRIEND?"
Feitan's eyes twitched.
Rape?
If only Aki was awake, she would have face-palmed in response.
Kalluto hurried inside headquarters, surprising Shalnark and Phinks who were currently playing cards.
"Eh? What is it Kalluto? Why are you in such a hurry?"
Kalluto stopped, breathless, before standing up, a small smile forming on his face.
"I think I found her."
A/N: Who did you find, Kalluto? WHO?! D:
Isella of the wolf tribe: Yay! Thank you so much. ^_^ Hihi soon, my dear friend. Soon.
Ruby720: I know! Ah, I will be considering that scene. Cheaters are honestly pains in the ass. T-T Hah! I might say that Feitan's jealous… kidding. XD Aww and thank you so much for that, I feel very honored. :`)
Rinrikapyon: Thank you~! n-n Yup! There will indeed be more AkixFeitan moments in the future chapters. :D Hihi I hope Fei falls for her soon enough though XD
SilverSapphire34523: Arigatou~~! True, Taka will get his dose of karma soon though. Pretty soon~ *u*
Chiikaboom: alkjdaiwjdaidjaw OMG OMG Thank you so much for that wonderful review~~! No words can express how much I really appreciate it TuT Worry not, the smut chapter will be pretty soon. It'll probably take about a few more chapters *u* Fufu, true. I'm actually quite tempted to have Fei's hair cut in my story. XD Oooh and I used your suggestion by the way. It was an amazing one, thank you! ^-^
Misheru25: I know! I'm actually thinking of killing Taka. HAHA… but Aki might get mad at me. /slapped Worry not, there will definitely be more AkixFeitan moments in the future chapters. *u*
Comments, reviews, suggestions, criticisms and whatnot are very much accepted and highly appreciated, thank you!