Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

「Don't struggle」

「Uh...」

It's a lie.

This is a lie. There's no way that Izumi Chihiro would do something like this.

Riko looked up in confusion and saw his cold face.

Somehow, she thought, he resembled Fukami Maria's face from yesterday.

If that's the case, is she going to be killed?

At that thought, a chill runs down her spine, and her whole body goes rigid. But as soon she did so, the tips of his wooden swords rained down on her in rapid succession.

Arms, legs, stomach, neck. She is attacked here and there, hard and without mercy. The thrusts hurt, and slowly but surely took away Riko's will and resistance.

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...Izumi, is he really this powerful?

His blow is heavier than Riko's. He is a boy too, despite his languid and cute face.

He's no match for her and so she thought.

――"What could I do in this situation if my strength was no match with him?",

「Oh no... oh no...」

Her pride is gone.

With tears in her eyes, Riko squirmed like a child. But it's just a facade she's been trying to put on. Then. once Riko herself felt that she could not wear the mask, all that remained is a weak little girl.

Still, Chihiro continued to swing the wooden sword at Riko, who kept crying and repeating, "No, no, no!". He must have bruises all over her body. But, more importantly, she doesn't have the energy to move it anymore.

Riko had lost.

Riko had lost to Izumi Chihiro.

「Noo!」

However, she still can't admit it.

It's not defeats if she doesn't give in to her heart. And Riko clings desperately to that principle.

But then, Chihiro got on top of her, threw away the wooden sword and grabbed her thin neck.

「Ugh... you...」

With the feeling of his fingers sinking into her, she finally feels despair.

She thought, "I'm going to die. If he does that, I'll really die".

She shakes her head as if to say no, but the force of the finger grows stronger without regard to that.

「G, uh... ah...」

Her consciousness becomes dim. Her airway is blocked and her breathing is restricted.

It's painful. Painful. Her eyes are blurry, her arms and legs slump down, and her eyes and mouth are filled with tears and drool.

But she is released just before she falls.

She coughed and looked up at Chihiro. For some reason, he also looks back at Riko with a bored look on his face.

「Nishizaki-san, you're so tough, aren't you?」

Does that mean he's too quick to give up the chokehold?

Still, she didn't want to endure such a thing.

And because of that, Riko felt an unfathomable fear at Chihiro's behavior that seemed to think that the sight of people suffering is "fun" or "boring".

If she only looked at what he is doing, he is not so different from Riko herself. He didn't even notice that fact.

「Well then...」

Chihiro puts her hand on Riko's chest and removes the school's ribbon. After tossing it aside, he put her hand on her blouse.

*Buchi Buchi*, the buttons came flying off.

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「W-What...」

"If he does that, I will have nothing to wear. And how am I supposed to get home?", she thought.

But then, as he stared at her blouse, Chihiro suddenly turned to her.

As soon as he did, their eyes meet.

Before she knows it, the illusion of her sunglasses has disappeared. Riko must have lost her mental focus when he strangled her earlier.

Thus, Chihiro can read her mind. The emotions conveyed to him are fear and despair.

「Could you try saying "I'm sorry" a lot?」

「Hey, who do you think...」

「Okay」

*Buchi* *Buchi*

Before she could finish her word, Chihiro carefully tore off the buttons on the sleeves and ripped off Riko's blouse. And it made her wear only her underwear on her upper body.

Now, she is exposing her skin to a man, to Chihiro. Naturally, she felt her cheeks turn red with shame.

「I'll take off your skirt too」

With that said, Chihiro pulls her, rubbing her skin and forcing her down. If Riko's knees or feet got tangled, he would move them by force, and so the skirt could be pulled off and thrown on the floor.

After doing that, Chihiro stands up and searches his pockets.

He then pulls out a smart phone.

And from the lens of his camera, which is pointed at Riko, a flashlight shines in the room.

「No, don't... don't do that!」

「I'm sorry, what?」

「...」

Riko bite her lip.

And then the sound of a shutter clicking echoes through the room.

Again, and again.

「Ah, ahh...」

Chihiro is truly ruthless. If he hesitates even a little, he will do it without hesitation.

And if he took even one picture...

Riko will be left with an image of herself in her underwear forever.

*Click* *Click*

The sound of the shutter continues to echo. With each sound, Riko's fragile self-esteem is being eroded.

But she can't move her mouth.

She just can't apologize.

After a few moments, the shutter sound stopped.

Chihiro manipulated the screen with his finger and nodded.

He then leaned on Riko again and said plainly.

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「The photo, I've sent it」

「...Eh?」

「It's no use taking the phone」

There is no way to get it back.

Chihiro put the phone in his pocket and grabbed Riko by the hair. He turns her around and looks down at her.

"No, I can't let him read my mind again", she thought. But...

「You're a scaredy-cat, Nishizaki-san」

「Ah...」

He really pointed out.

Chihiro's words penetrated Riko's heart easily, and confronted her with a weakness she had been trying not to be aware of. She became scared and tried to close her eyes, but he forced her eyelids open with his fingers.

And then, he sees it.

He is looking into her mind.

And Chihiro laughs.

「You can't win. Nishizaki-san can't beat me」

It was the last thing Riko ever wanted to hear.

Yeah, but... he's true.

In Riko's mind, she is scared. She's afraid of him. And she is sure this fear won't go away even if he lets her go now. Moreover, that big fear is getting stronger and stronger as Chihiro stare into her eyes.

And then, a new tear welled up in her eyes.

「...Ok」

「...Nnn?」

「...I'm sorry」

Finally, Riko said it.

At the same time, Riko's heart gave in to Chihiro.