Chapter 4: "A secret love can be love that is kept in the dark behind closed curtains. Secret loves can be for mystery, fun, and adventure or they can be used as concealment for wrongdoing."
-Lamar Cole
Nao felt... conflicted. The following days since the confrontation she would find herself avidly following Natsuki with her eyes. The fact that she was beginning to act like a schoolgirl with a secret crush was embarrassing enough; realizing that she was indeed a schoolgirl with a secret crush mortified her beyond belief. It was kind of disturbing... to feel so excited and disgusted, or fascinated and disdainful at the same time... whenever she thought about the older girl. For the past few days she had done everything in her power to force these contradictory feelings to go away. She went from avoiding Natsuki to flirting shamelessly with everyone else. She had even gone so far as to bury herself in her churchly duties-- activities that she usually loathed with a passion.
Sadly, despite her attempts to work it out of her system, the overwhelming need to watch Natsuki grew stronger by the day. Until finally, she surrendered to the inevitable and reluctantly acquiesced to her heart's desire. Besides, this stupid little crush would go away eventually. She would just have to be patient. 'But...'
Nao brought her hand in front of her face and pretended to check her nails while peering between the fingers to watch Natsuki walk past the third floor in her routine ascent towards her rooftop hideaway. The redhead felt her stomach flutter at the sight of her.
'...she's really cute today...' She thought with a small smile before quickly replacing it with a scowl. 'Yuck. I'm so pathetic.' She stiffened when she heard giggles.
She turned her head to casually look around and saw a group of girls whispering to each other. But it looked like they were talking about something else and hadn't seen her secretly spy on Natsuki after all. She perked up when she heard them utter the name of her secret crush and pretended to file her nails while she eavesdropped.
"Hey, hey... I heard another new rumor about the Kuga slut today."
Nao rolled her eyes. 'What's up with these morons and these rumors about Natsuki? Don't they get tired of talking about her all the time?' Indeed, she had never known rumors to circulate this much nor had she known someone to be its subject for a long, long time. It was almost as if... somebody was fuelling these rumors intentionally.
"Did it come from him?"
'Him??'
"Yeah! Yeah! Did you know... that she was actually raped last year?"
Nao dropped her nail file with an loud and resounding clang, causing the gossiping group to look at her curiously. 'Rape?' Her mind reeled. It was another dumb rumor, she knew. But lies or not... the gossip sounded like it had a ring of truth in it which was enough to damage Natsuki's reputation beyond repair. Nao was not blind, she had seen how deeply the rumors had wounded the older girl. And if this got back to her...
No! Nao would not allow it!
She gave the girls a false, saccharine smile as she inserted herself easily in the group. She had to approach this carefully or risk arousing suspicion. "Oooh... That sounds juicy! Is it really true?"
"Is what true?"
"That she was... raped?" Nao licked her lips in a manner befitting a cat that had eaten, savored, and swallowed a canary. "I thought she was supposed to be the type to sleep around." Then, she haughtily lifted her nose in the air. "I've heard of worse things and I know they're true. Rape sounds highly unlikely."
"But it's true!" One of the girls insisted, growing angry at the other girl's condescending attitude. "I heard it from Kanzaki-sama himself!"
"R-really?" Nao felt the blood from her face drain at the revelation. 'Oh my god... So it's true? She was...' "How did you hear about it then?"
"He comes around once in a while to help Kikukawa-kaicho with student council work." The girl looked triumphant and proud as she informed her. "I overheard them talking."
---
Yukino nearly dropped her glass of water when the door to the student council's office slid open and Nao stormed inside. "Where is he?!"
"Yuuki-san!" The bespectacled girl exclaimed and winced when Nao loomed over her dangerously. She corrected her glasses nervously and slowly looked up into the other girl's glinting green eyes. "What is this about?"
"Were you in on it too?" Nao leaned closer until their faces were inches apart. "You hypocrite... Tell me, was it fun playing with Natsuki's emotions like that? Did you and Kanzaki enjoy breaking her, seeing her miserable, seeing everyone treat her like shit?"
Yukino was shocked at the accusations. "What?! W-why are you saying this? Of course I don't!" Nao invaded her space even further which overwhelmed Yukino with a feeling of being cornered by a rabid beast. It was times like this that she wished Haruka was here. But she wasn't... And she had a promise to keep to her bestfriend-- to do her best as the new student council president. "We would never do that to Kuga-san." Yukino declared firmly and sincerely. "I don't know why you are assuming Reito-san and I would do such horrible things. But if you care to tell me what this is all about, feel free to sit down and talk to me about it."
"You're not planning to bullshit your way out of this, are you?" Nao pressed, and stared down into Yukino's eyes, unblinking. The other girl did not dignify her question with an answer and stared back at the redhead instead. Finally, Nao grabbed a chair and straddled it. "Someone's been spreading rumors about Natsuki."
'Natsuki.' Without the honorifics. Nao had been saying that a lot lately, and Yukino was certain it was not out of spite. "Everyone's spreading rumors about her." The meek girl offered logically. "While I am concerned about the issue, this hardly explains why you think Reito-san or I had anything to do about it."
Nao narrowed her eyes darkly. "Really? Then why is it that I've been hearing rumors about Natsuki being raped?"
"WHAT?!" Yukino shot up so abruptly the chair behind her tilted and fell back to the floor. "Where did you hear this from?!"
"From the both of you. Where else?" The redhead looked at Yukino carefully who started to pace the small confines of the office, looking very distressed and pale. "C'mon Kikukawa... Don't tell me you haven't noticed it! There's a new rumor about her almost every week. No one's tired of talking about her. Everyone thinks the stories are true. Someone's doing this on purpose! And the evidence points to the both of you!"
Yukino paused to take a deep and calming breath before facing the redhead sternly. "I admit that Reito-san and I were careless to discuss such things in this office. But truly, we had nothing to do with this." She bent to pull the chair upright before she sat down. "And you are right about the rumors. I have long suspected that someone is pulling the strings behind it. But what can I do? There is no evidence to pinpoint the perpetrator, and I can't stop everyone from talking about it. I hate what these people are doing to Kuga-san... But there is nothing I could do."
"So you're doing nothing?!" Nao exclaimed incredulously.
"Yes." Yukino was remorseful. "Rumors never last long, Yuuki-san. We should just let it run its course."
Nao stood up and glared at her. "Bitch." She spat out hatefully before walking out of the room and slamming the door behind her with such force, it rattled the windows.
The insult stung. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket with trembling hands before she dialed a familiar number. "Hello, Reito-san? This is Yukino." She paused to listen to the voice on the other line greet her warmly. "I'm fine. I wanted to ask you something." Another pause. "Did you have anything to do with the rumors about Kuga-san?" Then there was another pause. "I am sorry. I just had to ask. But... if you really were involved then I'd like to ask you to stop."
---
Nao had to find her. She had to find Natsuki and do some damage control. The urgency of getting to Natsuki first before the news did put wings on her ankles and she practically flew up the stairs. She had to stop for breath when she finally reached her destination. There was a lone figure standing behind the railing with her back to the entrance. But it was not Natsuki.
"Tokiha!" She called out and jogged over to the surprised girl. "Where's Kuga?"
"You heard about it too, huh." Mai answered instead and tenderly rubbed the side of her face with a pained expression. Upon careful inspection, Nao could see a vivid, red hand print on the other girl's left cheek. "I told her about it. She got upset and ran away. I... I don't think we'll be seeing her for a while."
---
The doorbell had been ringing insistently and loudly for the last few minutes. Tomoe was forced to cut her bath short as she angrily stomped out of the bathroom to answer it. She was covered in nothing but a towel, and left wet footprints on the lush, carpeted floor on her short journey across the living room. She swung the door open then stopped, mid-yell, when she realized who the annoyance was. Natsuki's eyes were red and misty. But other than that, her face held no other hint of emotion. "Can I come in?" She asked in a stony and controlled voice.
"Sure," Tomoe answered and stepped aside to allow the other girl entrance. She said nothing when Natsuki made her way towards the music room and followed after her without a sound. She leaned her shoulder against the doorway and watched Natsuki select a CD before putting it inside the player. When the stereo was on, the volume at its fullest, Natsuki sank to the floor and hugged her knees close to her body. Tomoe did not ask what was wrong. Instead, she sat beside the other girl and waited.
"I want to get high." Natsuki said, after a moment's pause. She turned to Tomoe with dark and haunted eyes. "Please... I want to forget."
"My supply is kinda low today." Tomoe said. "The drugs don't come for free you know?"
"I'll pay you."
"Don't be silly. I have enough money." The younger girl waved a hand dismissively and gave Natsuki a small, regretful smile. "It's just that... I'm going to another live house tonight, and I'm saving it until I find a girl to fuck." She could almost hear the wheels in Natsuki's head turn as she desperately thought of a way to appeal to Tomoe's better nature. There was only one way, of course... And it wouldn't be long until her naive and broken prey took the bait.
Then, Natsuki turned around completely to regard the other girl with an intense stare. "Let's get high now." Tomoe pretended to look surprised as Natsuki reached out towards the knot of her towel and pulled it open. Her slate, gray eyes fluttered close in pleasure when she felt the small and calloused hand cup one of her exposed breasts.
---
The sex had been unexpected... not because Tomoe hadn't seen it coming but because she hadn't expected Natsuki to be so rough and violent about it. Tomoe shivered at the memory of the possessive hands, the knowing tongue-- as they taunted her with pain and pleasure. Everytime the raven-haired girl drove her fingers inside of her, Natsuki would look at her with icy, belittling eyes. Tomoe had never submitted herself to anyone before and she was almost unnerved at how quickly she had surrendered, and how small and insignificant Natsuki made her feel. Yet, the fucking had been pure ecstasy... and Tomoe couldn't get enough of it.
It was nighttime. She was not lying when she said that she had a live to go to. But the aftereffects of their incredible sexual tryst had rendered her lazy and incapable of movement.
They were still lying naked and sweating on the floor. None of them had bothered turn on the air-conditioning to dispel the heat and lingering smell of sex and burnt marijuana. Tomoe turned her head to face Natsuki, whose back was facing her, and saw that she was shaking in silent tears.
---
Footnotes:
I hate abusing Natsuki like this. I really, really do! It feels like the story is dragging, but the details I put in was necessary to the plot. Plus, I'm all about realistic pacing and consistency. But fear not! This chapter is one of the first turning points of the story, and we can finally move on to the heart of the plot.