Chapter 16: The Black Limousine

The walk home is a blur. The adrenaline from the fight is gone, leaving a deep, throbbing ache in my knuckles and my ribs. The knife wound is just a scratch, but Ayako's correction is what really stings. She did not just save me; she humiliated me. She, the perfect, untouched goddess, is a better fighter than I am. She did not just fight; she corrected. She used my own move, the one she taught me, and did it better.

I turn the corner onto my street, my mind a mess of confusion, anger, and a weird, cold respect. That is when the black limousine slides to a silent stop right in front of me. It is the same one. The one from the alley. The one from the hospital.

I freeze. This is not good. This is the opposite of good.

The back door opens. It is not a suit this time. It is the suit. The mountain. The bear. The one who called me "asset." Kenichi. He is standing there, his face as flat and hard as a concrete wall.

"Minatawa Shoujo-kun," he says, his voice a low rumble. It is not a question.

"What do you want?" I growl, dropping into a low stance. My body is aching, but I am not going down easy.

Kenichi does not even blink. He just looks tired. "The Ojou-sama requests your presence."

"The Ojou-sama?" I spit. "You mean Ayako? Tell her I am busy."

I try to walk past him. Kenichi moves. He is not fast like Ayako. He is not a river. He is a rock. He is just there. My path is blocked.

"That was not a request, asset," he rumbles.

"I am not your asset," I snarl, and I swing. I use the "corrected" form. I pivot. I am messy. I am a river.

My fist connects with his chest. It is like punching a brick wall. My knuckles scream. Kenichi does not move.

"Your form is inefficient," he says, his voice bored.

Before I can even blink, his hand, a giant paw, is on my shoulder. He does not grab. He just holds. I cannot move. I am pinned.

"This is problematic," he sighs. "You are being corrected."

He just lifts me. He lifts me off the ground like I am a bag of trash and just places me in the back of the limousine. I land on the plush leather seat, my mind short-circuiting.

The door slams shut. The locks engage. Kenichi gets in the driver's seat. He is not even breathing hard.

"What is this?" I yell, grabbing the handle. "This is kidnapping!"

"This," Kenichi's voice rumbles from the front, "is a procedural update. The Ojou-sama is special. And you, Minatawa-kun, are a very, very messy variable."

The car glides forward, silent and smooth. I am trapped. I am being taken. And I have a horrible, sinking feeling that I am about to find out exactly what the "dragon's den" really is.