Chapter 25

Mei’s breath caught, her glare faltering. “Yuki did?” she echoed, the name slipping out in disbelief.

Dori locked the door again and leaned his shoulder against it, arms folding loosely over his chest.

“Yeah, she was there that day. She came back to grab something she forgot,” he said.

“Then she heard a noise, checked the door.. and there you were. All over that old man in the grossest way possible like the f*cking wh*re you are―doing whatever it took to get the grades you’re too lazy to get on your own,” he sneered.

“She recorded it, grabbing the chance she had to get back at you for all the shit you put her through.” He let out a sharp sigh, his eyes drifting to the floor.

“But she chickened out. Knowing how far you’d gone before.. especially with her best friend. She was terrified of the possibility that you’d go even further this time.”

A sly, twisted smirk curled across Mei’s face at the thought of Yuki being so scared of her, but she quickly forced her lips back into a neutral line the instant Dori’s eyes met hers again.

“As if you’d even get the chance to strike back,” he drawled.

Mei swallowed.

Then his voice dropped, almost bored. “So, yeah. I took the video and decided to do the job for her.”

He pushed off the door, unlocking it again. As he pulled it open, he glanced back at her, his expression flat.

“Don’t forget. Tomorrow. On your knees―”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you,” Mei snapped, turning her face away. “F*ck off already.”

Dori let out an amused chuckle and slid the door fully open. He didn’t bother looking at her again as he stepped out, letting the door swing shut behind him.

Mei tried to rise, but pain exploded through her broken knee, forcing her to collapse back onto the floor. She gritted her teeth, dragging herself forward on her hands and the one good leg, each movement sending searing jolts up her body.

Through the haze of pain in her knee, she suddenly heard faint footsteps in the hallway.

“Hey! Help me! Somebody! I’m hurt!” she screamed.

They grew louder, coming closer. Then the door creaked open slowly, inch by inch, and a figure appeared in the gap. 

Hajime.

He peeked inside, worry etched on his face―and the moment his eyes fell on Mei’s bloodied, bald head and battered body, he gasped.

For a heartbeat, his brows shot up, and his mouth parted slightly, as if he couldn’t quite process the sight.

“Hey, the f*ck you staring at, moron. Help me up! And call a f*cking ambulance!” she barked.

The boy blinked, then, almost abruptly, the tension left him. A dry, humorless chuckle escaped his lips.

The concern had vanished completely, replaced by amusement tinged with malice.

“Well, well,” he said, his tone mocking. “Looks like someone finally got a taste of their own medicine. Can’t say I’m surprised. Who was it?”

“None of your f*cking business!” Mei snapped. “Move your ass already! Can’t you see I’m hurt?! I’m bleeding out!”

Hajime raised an eyebrow. “Bleeding out, huh?” he said dryly.

In reality, the streaks of blood on her scalp were hardly serious. “Dude, it’s just a scratch, chill. And, seriously.. tell me who it was. I really want to know.”

Mei glared up at him, breath shaking. “What are you even gonna do with that? Just call an ambulance, idiot!”

Hajime didn’t even blink. “I’d like to thank them,” he said simply. “Tell them they did a great job.”

Mei screamed, letting every ounce of rage pour out of her.

“F*ck you! You piece of shit! F*cking idiot! You’re dead, you useless a**hole! F*ck off!” Her voice echoed off the restroom tiles, raw and ragged.

Hajime watched, a slow, satisfied smile spreading across his face. He shook his head, amused, and without a word turned and walked out, letting the door swing shut behind him.

Mei sagged against the cold tile, her chest heaving. Under her breath, she spat a shaky, bitter, “F*cking hell..”

Then she sucked in a breath and screamed again, louder. “Hey! Is anyone there?! Help me!”

For a moment, there was only silence―then footsteps.

“Help me! I’m in the girls’ restroom!” she screamed again.

The handle rattled, and the door swung open.

“Mei?”

Isamu came inside and froze, his face draining of color as his eyes landed on her, wide with shock.

He didn’t move for a moment, like his mind couldn’t catch up to what he was seeing: the blood, her shaved head, her broken posture, the tears and pain etched across her face.

“Babe,” she whispered, then choked on the word, as more tears spilled over.

Then he snapped out of his shock.

Without a second thought, he hurried forward, dropping to his knees beside her, and gripping her shoulders gently.

“Are you okay?! What happened?!” he blurted as his eyes searched her face desperately, but before she could even form an answer, his panic took over.

“Stay here,” he said quickly, already pushing himself back to his feet. “I’m getting a teacher. I’ll be right back.”

“NO!” Mei shouted suddenly, and lunged forward instinctively, pain ripping through her knee as she grabbed at his leg, fingers curling desperately into the fabric of his pants.

“Don’t.. ” Her breath hitched as she shook her head. “Everyone will come if you do. I can’t.. I don’t want anyone seeing me like this.“

She lifted a trembling hand and pointed across the restroom toward her phone lying on the tile near the sinks.

“My phone,” she gasped. “It’s over there. Just call an ambulance. Please. Don’t let anyone else in.”

Her grip tightened around his leg, desperation flooding her voice.

“Please, babe.”

Isamu hesitated for only a second, then nodded sharply.

“Okay, I’ve got you,” he said gently, and eased her grip from his leg carefully. He moved across the restroom to pick up the phone.

As he dialed the emergency number, he stepped toward the door, ready to stop anyone from coming in. That’s when he noticed the keys dangling in the lock―something that didn’t belong.

His brow furrowed.

Mei’s gaze snapped to them too. Dori had left them.

“Lock it,” she said sharply.

Without a word, Isamu’s hand moved automatically, locking the door. He lifted the phone again to call for help as he walked back toward Mei, but a sudden notification made him stop in his tracks.

The message on the screen read:

“Just in case the head injury messes with your memory.. Tomorrow, on your knees, in front of everyone, apologize to Yuki. If you don’t, I’m leaking this video.”

Attached was the video itself, the one showing Mei with the principal.

Isamu’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the screen.

Mei’s brows furrowed, her voice shaky and uncertain. “Hey, what’s happening? Why aren’t you calling?”

Isamu murmured under his breath, almost to himself, “What the hell..”

His thumb hovered for a moment before he tapped the video. The screen lit up, and as it played, the volume blared suddenly, filling the restroom.

Mei froze.

The sounds―the principal’s voice, her own muffled moans―hit her ears. Her eyes went wide as horror and shame washed over her.

“No! No, stop!” she screamed, realizing exactly what he was seeing. 

Isamu’s stomach twisted, and without a second thought, he slammed his thumb down, stopping the video instantly, unable to watch another second. 

His eyes stayed wide, fixed on Mei, and he slowly turned the phone toward her.

“What the f*ck is this?” he whispered, low but sharp, each word vibrating with tension.

His hands trembled slightly, and his eyes pierced hers, demanding an explanation for what he just had witnessed. 

Mei shoved herself upright as best she could and snatched the phone from his hands.

“I need a f*cking ambulance! I’ll explain it later!”

Isamu’s eyes stayed locked on hers, wide and unblinking. He slowly shook his head, jaw tight, and his gaze flicked back to the phone in her hands.

“No need. I’ve heard enough,” he said quietly. 

He let out a slow breath and his eyes lifted to hers again. “The fact that you can’t even blurt out an excuse says it all. And you don’t even look remorseful.”

For a moment, Mei just stared at him.

Then she laughed.

It was sharp and ugly, ripped straight from her throat, and the sound made Isamu flinch. Not because it was loud―but because it wasn’t defensive. It was annoyed. Like she’d been caught pretending too long and was sick of it.

“BECAUSE I’M NOT, YOU A**HOLE!” she screamed, her voice raw and savage.

“I don’t even like you! I never did! You’re ugly and soft as f*ck! Boring, pathetic, pathetic little prude! I’d never, ever fall for someone like you!”

She jabbed a finger toward him.

“I was just using you, dumb*ss! As a cover for my real boyfriend! My dad expects me to be with someone respectable, not some gangster. And he found out I was seeing someone, so I needed something normal, something fake to show him. You were my alibi!”

Isamu just stood there, staring at her, the words sinking in piece by piece. His jaw clenched, then loosened. He didn’t answer right away.

“..I see,” he said at last, his voice low and strangely calm.

The silence that followed was heavy. Not awkward. Final.

“Well,” he added, almost flat, “I’m glad, then.” His lips twitched, not quite a smile. “Because I was using you too.”

Mei’s eyes flickered, just slightly.

“To forget Yuki,” he continued evenly. “But it never worked. Not for a second. So yeah. I’m glad your true colors came out. I don’t have to feel guilty anymore. I don’t have to keep pretending or worry about hurting you.”

Mei tilted her head.

“My true colors were always out, dumb*ss. You were just too f*cking blind to see them. Everyone saw them. Everyone but you.” She let a small, amused sound slip.

“It actually surprises me,” she murmured, “like even when I cut Yuki’s hair and made her lie to you, that she didn’t like you and all.. you believed her immediately. You didn’t even stop to question it.”

She leaned back slightly, smirking. “Or even when Madi almost died, you didn’t realize it was my doing.”

Isamu frowned, and for a moment, he just stared at her, trying to process what she had just admitted.

Then his eyes widened, and he took a small, unsteady step back.

“What..?” His voice was barely more than a whisper. 

Mei scoffed.

“You really are something else. Come on.. you get such good grades, you’re supposed to be smart or whatever. Why are you so f*cking dumb? You can’t even notice the obvious.. it’s kind of adorable, in a pathetic way.”

Isamu’s fists clenched at his sides, knuckles whitening.

Mei noticed, of course, and her smirk widened.

“You know,” she said, leaning forward slightly, voice low and teasing, “Yuki actually liked you back then. She really did. You had to see her cry after you left that day. It was far worse than when I cut her hair. That was nothing compared to this. She was shaking and sobbing so hard. You must’ve meant a lot to her.”

Isamu slowly shook his head, his mouth opening slightly as if to speak, but no words came. His chest tightened, a painful, tight knot forming in his stomach.

“She.. what..?” he finally breathed.

“Mhm, you heard me. But she’s moved on now, though. She even got a boyfriend―Dori, the transfer student.”

Mei let out a slow, sharp sigh.

“Poor Isamu..” she murmured, almost pitying, but the tone was laced with mockery. “If only you weren’t so.. dumb, hm? So oblivious. So easy to fool. So damn f*cking blind.”

His mind raced, replaying every memory she mentioned, every moment he hadn’t noticed, every chance he had missed―while each “dumb,” cut deeper than the last.

The word “dumb” wasn’t just an insult to him―it was a trigger, a scar from years of hearing it from everyone around him: classmates sneering, teachers sighing in disappointment, his parents’ frustrated faces, even his own friends making fun of him.

He had worked hard, studied harder, tried to prove himself, tried to erase that label―but here it was again, ringing in his ears, a reminder that no matter how much he tried, it never changed.

His chest tightened, fists curling at his sides, knuckles white. His vision narrowed, the world around Mei fading except for her smug, sharp smile. 

“Anyway,” Mei said lightly, waving a hand as if brushing off something insignificant, “you’re still pretending to be my boyfriend.” Her tone was almost bored, like she was circling back to a minor detail she’d forgotten to mention.

A harsh, incredulous laugh tore out of Isamu before he could stop it. “Like hell I am, b*tch!” He scoffed, sharp and dismissive. “The f*cking audacity..”

Mei’s smile didn’t falter. “Careful,” she said calmly. “You don’t want to end up like Kenji.”

“Kenji?” he repeated, confused.

Kenji had been in their class last year, but he got arrested. Everyone said it was for s*xually assaulting Mei. The memory made his stomach twist.

“What are you talking about? What does he have to do with this?”

“Kenji was my first choice. But he refused.”

“Huh?”

“To pretend. To play my boyfriend. So I made him regret it.”

She looked at him then―really looked―head tilted, eyes sharp, watching for the moment it finally clicked.

And it did.

Isamu’s breath caught as the words rearranged themselves in his head, ugly and precise.

“No way.. You framed him?”

Her lips curved, faint but cruel.

“Exactly. With the help of some dangerous guys that worship me. They planted what needed planting, and voilà.”

She made a small, dismissive gesture with her hand, like the outcome had been inevitable. “He’s been rotting in jail ever since, all because he refused to play along.” 

Her eyes locked onto his. “So now that you finally understand.. don’t tell me you’re still thinking of refusing.”

A hot, cold knot tightened in Isamu’s gut until he could barely breathe. “No way.. What the f*ck.. This is f*cking crazy..”

Mei burst out laughing. She threw her head back, clutching her side as if the pain in her leg was nothing compared to the amusement she was getting out of this.

“Look at you,” she cackled. “God, I love that expression.”

Her fingers fumbled for her phone, nails scraping the screen as she unlocked it, and laughter still shaking her shoulders while the dial pad lit up. But before she could press a single number, the phone was knocked clean from her hand, spinning through the air before clattering across the floor.

The sound snapped her laughter off mid-breath. She barely had time to look up before Isamu’s palm cracked across her face.

For a split second, she just stared at him, stunned.

Then she exploded.

“How dare you?!” she screamed, clutching her cheek, eyes blazing. “You know what?! I changed my mind, f*ck*ss! I’m not even giving you a choice!” she spat.

“I’m doing the same thing to you. Actually―no. Not the cops this time.” Her smile twisted into something unhinged. “My dad. I’ll tell my dad.”

She laughed again, sharp and broken.

“You know what he does to people like you? He won’t call the police. He’ll make you disappear. You’ll be lucky if they ever find your body.”

Her eyes burned into him, pure venom. “You just ruined your own life, you dumb piece of shit.”

She snatched her phone back, thumb already skimming to call an ambulance, but the motion was half automatic―her attention slid right back to him before she could press call.

His head was bowed slightly, shoulders rising and falling in harsh, uneven breaths. Too fast. Too deep. Like he was dragging air into lungs that refused to cooperate.

Mei frowned.

“Hey,” she scoffed, irritation slipping into her voice. “What, you’re gonna cry―”

He lifted his head.

And she stopped.

His eyes were unfocused, glassy, fixed somewhere just past her. His breathing grew even louder, harsher, almost feral.

Every insult she’d thrown, every memory she’d dragged up, every threat she’d just made seemed to stack inside him, compressing into something unstable.

His jaw locked so tight it looked like it might crack, and a low, strangled sound slipped from his throat.

Mei froze, suddenly aware that he wasn’t just angry or scared―he was on the verge of losing control completely.

The soft, nerdy boy she had always known was gone, replaced by something sharp, desperate, and dangerous.

Every muscle in his body screamed readiness, coiled like a spring about to snap, and the room held its breath with him, waiting for the inevitable.

Then he snapped.
  
 
TO BE CONTINUED...