Chapter 37

Dori chuckles as he twists the lock back open, the sharp click echoing in the room.

“Relax. I’m just playing with you,” he says.

He steps into Yuki’s space, his gaze tracing the wide-eyed fear etched across her features. He leans in close, his voice dropping to a low, appreciative hum.

“You’re so adorable when you’re afraid. That look on your face..”

His pupils dilate and he traces the line of her jaw with a fingertip.

“I love it.”

Yuki stands frozen, her breath hitching as she stares into his eyes.

He smiles, drinking in her paralysis, then pulls back and turns to the door again.

“Anyway,” he says as he reaches out. “We should probably play by your grandma’s rules, hm? Or she might come stomping up here and I don’t know if I.. well, I don’t know if I can keep being this patient with her.”

He pulls the key out and opens the door. But as he steps into the hallway to place it on the table, he freezes.

Haruka stands at the top of the stairs, breathing heavily as if she sprinted up in a panic.

He tilts his head, looking at her with curiosity as he tosses the key onto the wood.

“Ma’am?” he asks. “Is everything alright?”

Haruka’s eyes narrow, her gaze flickering from the room behind him to his face. “I heard a loud bang,” she says. “It sounded.. violent. Is everything alright in there?”

“Oh, that..”

He looks toward the hallway window.

“That was outside, ma’am,” he lies. “I heard it too. Probably a trash can being knocked over or something.”

Haruka stares at him for a long, searching second, her expression unreadable―until she sees Yuki peeking out from the bedroom. She holds her granddaughter’s gaze for a heartbeat before offering a short, stiff nod to Dori.

Satisfied, Dori turns to head back inside.

“Wait.”

He stops. He doesn’t show his frustration, but his shoulders tense for a fraction of a second before he pivots back to face her. “Yes, ma’am?”

Haruka ignores his question, her eyes stay on his face with a measured intensity that leaves the air heavy.

“How old are you?”

The question is so sudden and strange that Dori’s brow furrows, and his mind immediately starts racing.

Why the f*ck would she ask that out of nowhere? Does she suspect something?

“I’m in the same grade as Yuki,” he says.

Haruka blinks, looking a bit surprised. “Oh, really? I had no idea. That’s good to know,” she admits.

A pause.

“What’s your age then?”

This f*cking old hag..

He keeps his smile fixed in place, though it feels tight.

“I’m twenty-one,” he lies, his voice coming out soft and a little sheepish, as if he’s ashamed to be behind.

“Twenty-one?”

“Yeah I know I’m a bit older than the rest of the class. I had to miss three years of school because of some.. health issues. I’m just trying to catch up now.”

Haruka studies him, her eyes scanning his face with lingering suspicion. Finally, her shoulders drop, the tension in her posture easing.

“I see,” she says, her voice regaining a trace of its warmth as if she feels guilty for her suspicion.

Then her gaze shifts toward his left eye.

“I apologize if this is rude, but that’s quite a mark. When did you get it, if I may ask?”

Dori’s smile falters.

When?

His fingers twitch at his side.

Normally people asked how he got it. They wanted the story.

But when?

It’s like she’s verifying a timeline.

Does she remember me?

His heart hammers against his ribs.

Is she actually checking.. if the kid she knew back then is the same one standing here now?

“When?” he echoes, tilting his head. “That’s strange. People usually ask how I got it.”

Haruka’s gaze remains locked on the scar, her eyes glassing over with a flicker of distant memory.

“It looks like an old wound,” she says slowly. “I’ve seen a mark like that before. A long time ago. I just.. I wondered if you were someone I once knew.”

F*ck. The senile b*tch actually remembers.

Beside him, Yuki’s brows knit in a look of quiet confusion. She glances from the scar on Dori’s face to the strange, far-off look in her grandmother’s eyes.

“Three years ago,” Dori says―lies. “It was a car accident. I got injured badly, and was trapped inside the car for a while. It started to catch fire, and I thought that was it for me.”

He pauses, glancing toward the door as if looking for an exit. “It’s why I’m a bit behind, like I told you. My body took a long time to heal, but my head took even longer.”

Yuki bites the inside of her cheek, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. Liar.

“Goodness.. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry into such a traumatic memory,” Grandma says. “My mind must be playing tricks on me, seeing ghosts of people from the past in everyone I meet lately.”

“It’s alright. I understand.”

Haruka gives a weary nod. “Go on, then. I’m sorry to have kept you.”

She turns and walks away, but she doesn’t head back downstairs. Instead, she walks toward her own room, which is right next to Yuki’s, and as she passes the small side table, her hand makes a quick motion: she sweeps the key off the wood and tucks it deep into her pocket.

Dori’s eyes narrow into thin slits. He watches the old lady slip into her room, closing the door behind her.

She didn’t believe a word of it, he realizes, his fingers twitching with the urge to do something reckless.

She’s just putting on a show to lower my guard. That sly old snake. She’s going to sit in there, listening through the walls, waiting for one little slip-up.

He turns toward Yuki, his hand firm against the small of her back as he pushes her gently but insistently into her room―he follows. Once they are over the threshold, he reaches back and nudges the door, until it’s barely ajar.

“Your grandmother,” he hisses. “She’s starting to get on my nerves. Do you have any idea how much self-control that took? To just stand there while she interrogated me? I swear, she’s pushing it, and every second she spends hovering, I get closer to just―”

He doesn’t get to finish.

Something inside Yuki snaps. It isn’t a slow build-up; it’s a sudden, violent explosion of adrenaline that drowns out her fear entirely.

She steps forward, invading his space until she’s nose-to-nose with him, her eyes burning with a look he hasn’t seen from her before.

“Don’t you dare,” she chokes out, her voice raw and shaking. “Don’t you even think about it.”

She holds his gaze, refusing to blink, even though every instinct in her body is screaming at her to run.

“I know what you are,” she continues. “I’ve seen what you can do. But if you touch her―if you even look at her the wrong way―I swear to God, I will kill you myself.”

Dori stares at her, his expression frozen. He blinks once, twice, his eyes wide open as they search her face. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t even seem to breathe.

Then, slowly, a wide, crooked smile spreads across his face.

His chest begins to heave. He starts to make a strange, gasping sound as he tries to choke back a laugh. His body shakes with the effort of holding it in, and his cheeks begin to flush red. It isn’t just from the strain of not laughing; he is genuinely turned on.

He has spent so long watching her, believing she was nothing more than a quiet, terrified girl he could easily control, and the realization that there is a lethal edge hidden beneath her skin thrills him to his core.

“My, my,” he whispers, his voice thick. “Look at you.”

Yuki’s stomach drops as she realizes her threat has only seemed to excite him, which is the last reaction she wanted.

She tries to scramble backward, but Dori is faster. His hand snaps out, clamping firmly onto the back of her neck, and he yanks her forward until their faces are mere inches apart.

He presses his forehead against hers, his breath hitching in ragged, shallow gasps.

“Oh, you really mean it, huh?” he rasps. “You’d actually kill me to protect that old hag; get your pretty little hands dirty just for her, huh?”

He shifts his head, his nose grinding against hers, and his lips trailing hot, wet grazes across her mouth with every word.

“I’d love to see you try, sweetheart―oh, I’d love to see you try,” he murmurs.

Yuki scrunches her face in disgust and snarls, trying to shove his chest to pull away, but his grip remains like iron.

“F*ck,” he chuckles, “you look so damn good when you’re mad.”

His lips brush against hers again, and his voice drops to a needy whisper. “Come on, baby. Do it. Show me that fire. I want you to f*cking try to end me. Put your hands on my throat, and squeeze.. squeeze―”

He’s breathless, his words stumbling over each other. “Dig those nails into my skin, make me bleed―I f*cking dare you.”

Suddenly, the vivid memory of the alleyway flashes through Yuki’s mind―the suffocating weight of him pressing her against the cold brick and his hands roaming over her body while he forced his mouth onto hers.

She panics. She jerks and thrashes violently, catching him off balance; they stumble across the small room as they struggle for control, until Dori tackles her with a sudden, forceful shove.

They tumble backward onto the bed, and he lands heavily on top of her, pinning her down instantly.

Yuki gasps, feeling his hips pressing between her thighs. She whimpers, but Dori quickly slams his hand over her mouth.

He leans in close, whispering into her ear, “Quiet now. Because if your granny hears, and decides to walk through that door―”

He shifts slightly to adjust for the growing pressure in his pants, moving his hips down to get more comfortable against her.

“―things are going to get incredibly messy.”

Yuki stares up at him with wide, terrified eyes, her breath hitching under his palm. She frantically tries to push him away, digging her hands into his chest and shoving with all her might. She bucks her hips and twists her body, desperate to get him off her, but he doesn’t budge at all.

Instead, Dori lets out a strange groan.

Yuki freezes. She looks up and sees the unmistakable pleasure crossing his face. She blinks confused, then lowers her eyes to glance down between their bodies.

A sickening realization hits her: her desperate twisting and turning is pressing her hips against his crotch, and every time she moves to get away, she is actually rubbing against him, creating friction.

“Don’t give up now, baby,” Dori murmurs. “Or do you actually enjoy having me on top of you?”

Yuki frowns deeply at his words.

He chuckles, looking down at her with confidence.

“Oh, come on, you do. I know you do,” he says, a smug smile on his lips. “You can keep telling me that it was all ‘just roleplay’ or that you don’t want this in real life, but we both know that’s just you being scared. I mean, you literally said a hundred times you wanted me to be real. You’re just shy, nervous, and you’re trying to protect yourself, but you don’t have to keep lying to me―or to yourself. I know exactly what you crave, Yuki. It’s only a matter of time before you stop fighting it and finally admit that this is exactly what you want.”

NOT this again. I thought he finally understood! Why’s he so darn stupid?!

Yuki aggressively shakes her head against his hand, her eyes wide with disgust as she tries to reject his words.

But Dori’s smile only widens.

“Oh, you’re going to deny it?” he asks, leaning in closer. “Like last time, when you cried and slapped me?”

He chuckles.

“I didn’t get it at the moment, but I’ve been thinking and.. that’s exactly how you acted in our roleplays whenever you wanted me to get rougher with you. You cried, yelled at me, or hit me, knowing it would just make me lose control and give you exactly what you were secretly begging for. I can’t believe I missed the hint back then..”

Yuki’s stomach turns at his delusion. She uses every ounce of her remaining strength to thrash against him. Twisting her head violently, she manages to part her lips and sinks her teeth deep into the flesh of his hand.

Dori yanks his hand back, hissing sharply in pain. He glares down at her, a dangerous edge instantly replacing his smug smile.

Before Yuki can even breathe a sigh of relief, his hand flies to her throat. His fingers wrap around her neck, squeezing tightly enough to cut off her breath and pin her head to the mattress.

Yuki desperately tries to shove him away, but he stops her; with his free hand, he seizes both of her wrists in an iron grip and slams them down, pinning them securely above her head.

Yuki’s vision begins to blur at the edges as the pressure on her windpipe intensifies. Her chest burns as she struggles to find air, and her body shakes from the lack of oxygen. Panic rises in her throat, making it hard to think, but deep down, a spark of survival instinct flares bright and hot.

She knows she cannot overpower his raw strength, so she stops fighting his hold and shifts her tactics. As Dori leans closer to hiss a threat, she sucks in a breath and spits in his face.

The spray lands squarely across his eyes and cheek, catching him completely off guard. Dori freezes, the words of his threat dying in his throat.

He slowly pulls back, his shocked expression going slack, replaced by a strange, unreadable stillness.

His fingers loosen their grip on her throat, though he doesn’t pull his hand away immediately. He releases her pinned hands as well, but Yuki doesn’t even try to move. She just lies there, completely paralyzed by the lingering fear that any sudden movement might trigger another attack.

Dori reaches up slowly, his fingers brushing against his cheek where her saliva still clings. He stares at his fingertips for a long, agonizing second.

Then, the corners of his mouth twitch, stretching into a slow smirk that doesn’t reach his eyes. With his gaze locked intensely on hers, he brings his damp fingers to his lips and slowly licks the moisture from his skin.

A wave of nausea rolls through Yuki as she watches him savor the taste with such depraved delight. He then shifts his weight, reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone.

Without saying a word, he brings the phone to her ear and plays the horrific audio recording of Mei’s last moments before getting killed by her own father, Mr. Hanekawa.

Mei: “Father? What’s wrong? Say something. You’re scaring me..”

Mr. Hanekawa: “I have spent my life building an empire, Mei. I have built a reputation that spans continents. And you.. with one act of pathetic, shortsighted recklessness, have invited a cancer into my house. You’ve become the very thing I despise.”

[Silence]

Mr. Hanekawa: “You.. and the principal.”

Mei: “U-Uh? W-What? I don’t understand..”

Mr. Hanekawa: “Don’t bother lying to me. I’ve already seen the video.”

Mei: “W-What? I.. wait.. Father.. I can explain! It’s not what it looks like, I was―”

Mr. Hanekawa: “It is exactly what it looks like. You are just like her. Exactly like your mother but worse. A pathetic, restless wh*re.”

Mei: “My mother? Father, what are you talking about? Mom.. Mom never―”

Mr. Hanekawa: “She did. She was a filthy, ungrateful sl*t, just like you. Smiling and whispering with that man in the garden.. ‘Innocent’, she called it. But I knew better. I saw the way she looked at him, and I knew what people would say if the truth got out. I couldn’t let her tarnish my name or make a laughingstock out of this family. I don’t leave loose ends, Mei, and I certainly don’t let a scandal destroy what I’ve spent decades building. I took care of her before anyone could find out, and I made sure she never had the chance to say another word to anyone.”

Mei: “What..? Wait what? What do you mean? What the f*ck do you mean?”

Mr. Hanekawa: “Yeah. I killed her. And I’ll kill you too.”

[Silence]

Mei: “You’re lying.. Say you’re f*cking lying..”

Mr. Hanekawa: “I’m not, b*tch. I strangled her and threw her into the river. That letter too, I wrote it.”

Mei: “Are you f*cking―you said she jumped! How could you?! YOU MONSTER! You told me for seven f*cking years that she walked out on us and threw her life away because she didn’t care about me! I grew up HATING her! I cried for months, then I burned every picture, every memory! I hated her for leaving me! ALL THIS F*CKING TIME! I spent EVERY DAY cursing her! I thought she was selfish! I thought she didn’t love me enough to stay! That she left me behind with the f*cking monster that you are! And now you’re saying.. it was you? It was always you..?”

Mr. Hanekawa: “Hating her was a gift, Mei. I gave you a clean narrative. I gave you a reason to move forward without looking back at a disappointment.”

Mei: “SHE WAS ALL I HAD! She loved me! I LOVED HER! You killed my light! You killed the only good thing in this house, you absolute, soulless bastard! Look at me! LOOK AT WHAT THE F*CK YOU MADE ME BECOME!”

Mr. Hanekawa: “I didn’t force you into that man’s office. You chose to be a wh*re all on your own.”

Mei: “IT WASN’T A CHOICE! I spent my entire life terrified of you! You told me if I didn’t get at least a ninety-nine percent, I didn’t deserve to eat, or sleep, or exist! You beat me until I COULDN’T STAND for missing a single question! I did what I had to do to survive another day under your roof!”

Mr. Hanekawa: “If you had studied with the same desperation you use to justify your failures, you wouldn’t have needed to beg the principal for points.”

Mei: “SHUT UP! SHUT YOUR B*TCH *SS UP! *SSHOLE! YOU STUPID F*CKER! I hope everything you’ve built burns to the ground! You’re just a sad, lonely, little coward who can’t handle a single f*cking thing he doesn’t control! Go ahead! Kill me too! I don’t care! I mean, look at me―I’m half-dead anyway! What the f*ck do you think you’re taking from me? My body is already broken, I can’t even move. So go ahead! My life’s over either way. Not that I ever really had one. You never let me live, you just kept me on a leash in a cage until I wasn’t useful anymore. I’ve been dead since the day you buried Mom. F*CK YOU!”

[Spits]

Mr. Hanekawa: “Ugh-! You little brat!”

[Slaps]

[Screams]

Mr. Hanekawa: “Give it to me. I’ll do it myself.”

Subordinate: “Yes, sir.”

Mei: “F*CK YOU! YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!”

Mr. Hanekawa: “I will, b*tch. Watch me from the dirt as I do.”

Mei: “Wait―hey! Not like that! Please, not like that! No! DAD―”

[Screams]

[Cries]

[Choking]

[Gurgling]

[Choking]

[Silence]

TO BE CONTINUED..