Cross Me Pt. 2

"Okay. I get it. We'll back off."

"Eh?"

"But in return, I want you to amuse me."

"..."

"Was I not clear? I'm asking you to be my boyfriend, Aybel... or should I say girlfriend considering your looks~"

She giggled not expecting a positive answer.

However, Aybel calmly took a device out of his pocket and placed it at the center of the table.

He pressed play...

Nina's face paled instantly.

"M- No..."

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" Suddenly rushing to her feet, she jumped back knocking over her chair with eyes widened in horror, as each scene unfolded on the screen before her.

"You are a horrible, horrible human being!"

She pointed at the device, almost tripping over her feet in her effort to back away from Aybel. "How... How did you get that!?"

Confusion flickered on the faces of the others.

"I don't really have time to answer your questions. But I have one for you... Are you thoroughly amused?"

"..."

"Very well... How, you ask? There are many ways to achieve the same result - all roads lead to rome, after all... It doesn't matter how I got it. What matters now, is that I have it."

In reality, Aybel had purposefully laid out every detail up to this moment.

The plan was to report Nina to a school counselor... 

I simply didn't want my involvement in this to be found out. So I needed someone to do that for me. 

As for who that person was...

She seemed like a righteous person. Akane proved far more useful than I had given her credit for...

I'm aware that she's a classmate of Nina and they have had prior... disagreements. So I thought it would be a good idea to convince her to do it instead.

However...

Nina Hatamoto is the daughter of Kumo Hatamoto, the owner of Hatamoto Group, a giant company that has close ties to both the school and the government. So there was no way that she would be punished.

But that didn't matter much anyway.

The real plan was to get my hands on Nina's phone information.

Nina is a very cautious and careful person. After barely half a school day of observing her behavior, it became crystal clear what her most important possession was - her phone.

Which, sadly, she kept under lock and key. I thought at the time it would be far too difficult to get her phone without raising her suspicion.

So I decided to create a situation that would force her to leave it unattended.

In her absence, I knew that the lock on her locker was the one with the simplest combination lock, so picking it was quite easy. Added to the fact that I have enough experience with picking locks, but that's a story for another day...

Judging by one look inside, Nina barely used the locker. There was a notepad with a pen and pencil, and a few other small items.

However, one strange item did catch my eye - a student ID card that belonged to Aria. I suppose she took it during one of their 'sessions.'

Swiping the phone, I scrolled through it for things of interest...

To be honest, I was relieved to discover that she didn't have a password or any form of security on her phone. But I guess it makes sense now...

Looking through the phone, it wasn't exactly hard to deduce why Aria had been so silent regarding her situation with Nina. In fact, it was quite obvious Nina always recorded their sessions together.

Anyway... I then installed a hidden tracking application of my design under an app that was already pre-installed by the phone.

As I finished installing the app, I slipped the letter into her locker. The app allowed me to track her location and activities in real-time.

But by far the best part was the ability to remotely activate her phone's camera to take a particular, short, video clip.

A boring chore, but one that ultimately paid off. She has her secrets, and now... so do I.

Deep in thought, acceptance danced within Nina's eyes. Seeing this, Aybel's expression was blank. But underneath... he wore the widest smile to ever grace his lips.

She immediately searched for any sign of mercy in his eyes. "Alright, fine, I'll back off, for real this time. Whatever it is you ask of me, it's yours... literally anything."

"Nina-san..."

The way she bites her thumb... It's... strangely familiar... But It's quite rare to see her so nervous looking, isn't it? She looks pathetic, like a girl ready to be sold into slavery. Indeed. She IS at my mercy...

However...

"Absurd... you've mistaken me for someone who cares about your opinion."

She found no mercy...

Without thinking, Nina lunged for the phone and threw it across the room with all of her might.

Landing against a shelf it smashed into pieces, which in turn caused several books on the shelf to fall.

Thud! Thump! Thump! Thwack!

Aybel stared at the ruined device, almost disappointed. "...My property..."

The library fell silent, as it should be...

Dink-dink! Dink-dink! Dink-dink! Dink-dink!

The girls all flinched at the sudden ringing of their phones.

Tentatively, they all reached for their respective devices at the same time... Nina froze in absolute disbelief, not daring to follow suit. 

"I'm impressed. That was perfectly timed, even for me."

She stared at Aybel almost like she couldn't comprehend what just happened.

Meanwhile, he could picture several students in different locations across the academy, each receiving the shocking notification.

Just like that... a young girls life was ruined. And she didn't even have a say in it...

Summoning the courage, the pixie cut girl lashed out: "Tha... That's unfair!!!"

Aybel's dead gaze shifted to her.

"Do not speak."

Just as she was about to, she held her tongue, biting down immediately. "Ngh!"

It would be very easy for me to expose this little group, but I've decided that it's not worth it, after all...

Aybel rose from his seat. On instinct, Nina fell to the floor scuttling away, wide-eyed.

...I have a strict policy of not paying attention to mediocrity.

Slowly, he moved closer, walking past her frozen herd with utter disregard.

"Wait... stop... why are you..."

Sarina's words caught in her throat, unable to form a coherent sentence as they all helplessly watched.

Nina's life may be ruined...

Aybel's eyes never left her face as if moving in for the kill.

But that doesn't satisfy me...

A look of raw panic spread on her face as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Revenge may be a dish best served cold...

A sudden, primal scream of pure fear ripped through the air.

But right now...

"SOMEONE! HELP ME! PLEASE!" She crawled away from Aybel, trying her hardest to get away from him.

It's best to be ruthless and efficient...

Nina suddenly bumped into a bookshelf, stopping dead in her tracks.

That way...

A children's book fell into her lap, opened to a page that read: "Chapter 5: Believe in yourself! You can be whoever you want to be!"

She'll be completely broken.

Aybel stared down at her with an emotionless expression.

Just like she shattered Aria.

Nina threw the book at him, but he easily swatted it away without flinching.

Crouching, he reached out, taking hold of her chin, gently lifting her head up bringing their faces to eye level.

"To think you're quite appealing to look at when you're frightened..."

Aybel's eyes didn't hold anger, but rather a profound sorrow, for both his sister and herself. 

"I don't mind if you run off crying. The door is open, so feel free to use it, but..." A damage about to be done that would leave scars...

"Before you run away, I'd like you all to do one last thing..."

He slowly released her chin standing up straight.

"Strip."

To Be Continued...