Chapter 21: The Scent of Danger

I cannot focus. I am a live wire. Every time she moves, every time she turns a page, I flinch. She is not a girl; she is a nuclear bomb. She is the calm, quiet, beautiful center of a terrifying, violent, invisible machine. And I am her "anomaly."

The day is torture. I do not go to the roof for lunch. I cannot. I am too wound up. I just sit at my desk, my head down, trying to breathe.

The final bell rings. I am out of my seat like a shot. I grab my bag. I have to get out of here. I have to get away from her. I have to think.

I am halfway down the hall when I hear it. "Minatawa-kun."

Her voice. The polite, 'Kaichou' voice. I freeze. I turn, slowly.

Ayako is standing there, her school bag over her shoulder. The hallway is emptying around us. "You are avoiding me," she states. It is not a question.

"I am just tired," I lie. "Long day."

"Your correction," she says, her voice low, "was adequate."

My blood runs cold. She knows. Of course she knows. Kenichi reported to her. Her father reported to her.

"You knew?" I whisper.

"Of course," she says, as if it is obvious. "Kenichi is my asset. My father is my Kaichou. Their procedural updates are my concern. You were tested."

"Tested?" I hiss, my fear turning to anger. "I was kidnapped! I was beaten! I was interrogated by a yakuza boss! That is not a test, Katsumi! That is insane!"

"It was a correction," she says, her voice like ice. "You were a messy variable. Now... you are an approved one."

"Approved," I repeat, my voice flat. "So, what now? Am I in? Am I a yakuza, like you?"

"That is a childish and inefficient term," she says, her voice cold. "You are an associate. You are family. And... you are mine."

She takes a step. The hallway is empty now. It is just us.

"You are my anomaly," she whispers, and she is close now. "You were not afraid of my father."

"I was terrified of your father!" I snap.

"But you did not break," she says. "You were adequate." She takes another step. She is right in front of me. "But... you are afraid of me."

"I..."

"You are," she says. "You are afraid of me now. Why? Because you met my father? Because you know my name?"

"You are a YAKUZA PRINCESS!" I hiss.

"I am the Successor," she corrects, her voice a whisper. "And I am also Ayako. Your classmate." She is too close.

"You were not afraid of me in the dojo when I corrected you."

"You were not afraid of me in the council room, even after I put your face on the table."

"That was DIFFERENT!" I gasp. "I thought you were just crazy! A psycho martial artist! Not THIS!"

"What is 'this', Shoujo?" she whispers.

I am trapped. Against the lockers.

"Does the name change who I am?"

"You are afraid of a NAME," she says, her voice laced with disappointment.

"I am not afraid!" I lie, my voice cracking.

"Yes. You are."

She leans in. I flinch. She stops. And she sniffs. She sniffs my neck.

My brain just shuts down. ERROR 404. I cannot breathe. I cannot move. What is happening?!

She leans back, just a little, her lips almost touching my ear. "You still smell like sweat," she whispers. "And conbini bread... and fear."

"It is a very inefficient combination."

She is TEASING me!

"GET OFF ME!" I sputter, my face on FIRE. I try to push her. It is like pushing a steel statue.