Chapter 41: The Asset's Liability

I am in the Student Council room. The door is locked. Hina is on the other side. And Ayako is staring at me, her eyes black.

"Manage," she whispers.

"Katsumi-san!" Hina calls again, her voice muffled but insistent. "Please! I just want to talk to Shou-chan! Just for a minute!"

I look at Ayako. Her face is a mask of cold fury. She is still reeling from her defeat at the port. I do not know it yet, but I can feel it. The war is real, and she is losing her patience.

"This is your mess, Shoujo," Ayako whispers, her voice a razor. "You will handle it. Now."

I take a deep breath. My heart is hammering. This is the test. I walk to the door, but I do not unlock it.

"Hina?" I call out, my voice loud, trying to sound normal.

"Shou-chan!" Her voice is full of relief. "Thank God! Are you okay? Open the door! Let's get out of here!"

"I... I cannot," I say. I am looking at Ayako. She is watching me, analyzing me.

"What do you mean, you cannot?" Hina's voice is turning cold now, just like her father's. "Is she stopping you?"

"No!" I say, too fast. "It is Student Council business. It is confidential. I am helping her with budgets."

"Budgets?" Hina repeats, her voice full of disbelief. "You? Budgets? Shou-chan, that is the worst lie I have ever heard. Open this door!" She rattles the handle.

Ayako flinches. Her control is slipping.

"Hina, please," I say, my voice low. "Just go. It is complicated. I am fine."

"You are not fine!" she yells. "You are afraid! I can hear it! She is a monster from a yakuza family! My father told me! She is dangerous!"

Ayako closes her eyes. This is bad.

"Hina," I say, and my voice changes. It is cold. It is flat. It is her voice. "You need to leave. Now."

The hallway is silent.

"Shou... chan?" Hina whispers. Her voice is broken.

"This does not concern you, Aizawa-san," I say, using her family name. "This is our business. My business. Go back to class."

I hear a gasp. I hear footsteps... running. She is gone.

I let out a breath and rest my head against the door. I did it. I feel disgusting.

I turn around. Ayako is watching me. Her face is unreadable.

"You were efficient," she whispers.

"Yeah," I say, my voice hoarse. "I feel great."

"Your feelings are irrelevant," she snaps, her fury returning. She is lashing out. She is angry about the port, about her failure. And I am her only target.

"This war," she says, "is real. The Hitsune-kai are stronger than we thought. They are dangerous. And you," she says, "are in the middle of it."

"I know," I say. "I am your asset."

"You are not an asset!" she screams.

I flinch. She screamed.

"You are weak!" she yells, her voice shaking. "You are slow! You are emotional! You are a liability!" She is breathing hard, her eyes wild.

"This training was a mistake," she says, her voice choking. "You are not salvageable. You are just a kid who likes to brawl."

"Ayako, what..."

"This is over," she says, her voice dead. "The training is finished. You are no longer my asset. You are nothing." She is pushing me away. She is terrified. Not of me. For me. This is her twisted, yakuza way of protecting me.

"Get out," she whispers. "Do not come to the dojo. Do not speak to me. Stay away from me. If you are smart," she says, "you will run to Hina and her father and ask for protection."

She turns her back to me. "You are dismissed, Minatawa-kun."