Lin Ye had refused to use it on Yukino, denying Haruno the chance to see it with her own eyes. But now, through the wall, she could hear the stifled sounds Meguri Shiromeguri was making inside that room.
Haruno's mood lifted considerably. A small measure of satisfaction, at least.
It was Meguri and not Yukino, but she was hearing it all the same.
Still, this was nothing compared to the screams she herself had let out that night.
Lin Ye must be going easy on her.
"No Hypnosis. Damn it."
Because of the Hypnosis, her body had turned abnormally sensitive, and every sensation had come multiplied several times over.
Even her own touch on her own skin had carried a level of stimulation she couldn't put into words. And the sensations that came from Lin Ye, especially against the most sensitive places, had left her whole body shuddering and convulsing.
Just recalling it now sent faint tremors through her.
Meguri Shiromeguri's voice was stirring her up so much that certain parts of her were conjuring up ghost sensations of their own.
Haruno dragged her faintly aching body over to the guest room door.
She listened to the noises within, and after hearing Meguri Shiromeguri let out a string of cries, she rapped lightly on the door. "Ahem, ahem. Could you keep it down a little?"
"Not so loud."
"It'd be bad if the neighbors heard."
Her tone was perfectly ordinary, but the corners of her mouth were fighting a smile.
Meguri's reaction right now had to be priceless. How she wanted to see it!
"Sis Haruno, I--"
At the sound of the voice outside the door, Meguri Shiromeguri instinctively tried to explain herself.
But before she could get the words out, Haruno spoke again. "Lin-kun, Meguri is an innocent girl, you know. You... mustn't be rough with her! Be gentle."
That drew an even bigger reaction. "Sis Haruno, we-- we didn't-- we were only-- mmph--"
A casual movement from Lin Ye reduced the girl to a whimper.
Meguri Shiromeguri felt wretched. She had known all along that Sis Haruno could probably hear the sounds she was making, but knowing it and living it were different things, and she couldn't face it.
Just picturing Haruno standing right outside the door made the shame burn hotter and hotter inside her.
"Okay. Let go of me. Stop--"
"That's enough!"
Meguri Shiromeguri spoke up.
Lin Ye did not stop.
"Miss Haruno resisted too, last night. She begged. But I couldn't stop. This is all in service of granting your one small wish, President -- to experience it for yourself."
"Mmh..." "Mmm-- mmh..."
Meguri Shiromeguri was going out of her mind.
She wanted to leave, and she simply couldn't. Lin Ye gave her no such opening.
The whole ordeal came in waves, stopping and starting.
Meguri Shiromeguri really was losing her mind.
And at the end of it, she had lived through it herself. Now she knew what Sis Haruno had endured last night.
"The marks... why..."
"What Miss Haruno experienced was a great deal more intense than yours. Rope was necessary to keep her from struggling."
Understanding dawned on Meguri Shiromeguri.
She had assumed Lin Ye used whips and candles and other such items to make Sis Haruno satisfy some perverted notion of his.
Thankfully it hadn't been that.
She'd been bracing for the worst possible scenario.
But in the end, Sis Haruno had paid a price all the same -- a price she never would have chosen to pay.
"What else?"
The question slipped out of Meguri Shiromeguri before she could stop it.
"You want to know."
She nodded at once.
"Then let your body find out for you."
Meguri Shiromeguri jolted as though struck by lightning and nearly bolted upright, but Lin Ye pinned her down.
"No-- no, that's not necessary. I don't need to know."
"That won't do. I really must tell you, my esteemed President."
Lin Ye had no intention of letting Meguri Shiromeguri off. He moved straight into the second phase of what he'd done to Haruno and began the assault.
Meguri Shiromeguri was going numb. Going insane.
She'd genuinely had no idea such a thing was even possible.
Five minutes later, Lin Ye looked down at the thoroughly wrecked Meguri Shiromeguri. "Do you still want to know what happened to Miss Haruno after that?"
She wanted to. Of course she wanted to.
But she absolutely did not want to find out through her own flesh.
So Meguri Shiromeguri shook her head, projecting an attitude of complete disinterest.
And she truly, genuinely did not want to experience one more second of it.
"You're sure you don't want to know?"
"No. No, I don't."
"Fine. If the President doesn't want to know, then I won't say. Though I will mention that afterward, Miss Haruno agreed to a few things for me."
Meguri Shiromeguri: ???
Wasn't the punishment supposed to continue?
But the more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Two rounds of that -- she couldn't have held out either. Even Sis Haruno would have caved.
To escape it, Sis Haruno had made all sorts of promises.
And what were those promises?
"Tell me..."
"What were they..."
"You said yourself you didn't want to know, President."
That one line from Lin Ye made Meguri Shiromeguri's eyelid twitch. Displeasure welled up in her.
For a moment she was certain he'd been playing with her -- that all of this had been deliberate. How else could it have gone this way?
"Say it..."
"And what can you offer me in return?"
Meguri Shiromeguri: "..."
She fell silent.
She knew Lin Ye's real objective was about to surface.
This was the moment the dagger came out from under the scroll.
Before long, Meguri Shiromeguri spoke, slowly. "What is it you want..."
Then she reconsidered the phrasing. "Whatever I can agree to, I'll agree to. But I have one condition first."
Whatever terms Lin Ye set -- warming his bed, serving him at night, none of that was a problem.
But she had one condition. One she was going to make him accept.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
"From now on, you don't get to bully Sis Haruno. Never again. You can't come at Sis Haruno in any way at all."
Meguri Shiromeguri's voice was dead serious. "Agree to that, and I'm yours to do with as you please. I'll accept any condition, any demand."
How many men would have had their hearts racing at an offer like that?
How many would have said yes on the spot -- taken what they wanted first, and simply broken the promise afterward? Agree now, renege later. If a man has no morals, nothing stands in his way.
Enjoy it first.
With no morals of your own, no one can use morality to threaten or shackle you.
But Lin Ye was not that kind of man. From the very beginning he had never harbored a single improper thought about Meguri Shiromeguri.
"I can't agree to your condition."
Lin Ye turned her down.
"Pick a different one."
"I don't have a different one."
"Oh?"
The smile that spread across Lin Ye's face sent Meguri Shiromeguri's pulse racing, a terrible premonition flooding through her.
Don't tell me--
The sensation that ran through her body confirmed the thought instantly.
Lin Ye had started again.
"Hahaha..."
"Stop--"
Meguri Shiromeguri struggled and pleaded, trying to make him quit, but on the matter of his terms she gritted her teeth and held the line. She would not agree.
Even Lin Ye was mildly surprised.
This girl's willpower was the real thing. So was her moral standard.
Whatever she agreed to, she clearly intended to actually do. Otherwise she could simply have pretended to agree and gone back on it afterward.
But Meguri Shiromeguri did no such thing. She would rather endure the torment than cave and give her word.
Which made her nothing like Haruno -- a woman with no morals, no scruples, and no bottom line.
Haruno could agree one moment and refuse the next without the slightest twinge of guilt.
That kind of resolve wasn't something the average person could manage.
In the end,
Meguri Shiromeguri passed out.
That's right.
She fainted.
Lin Ye had no choice but to stop.
And that was that.
He left the guest room with a resigned sigh and went to wash his hands in the bathroom.
Haruno trailed after him, grinning. "All done?"
"Mm."
"Meguri tasted pretty good, didn't she?"
"I don't mind letting you experience it again."
Haruno's heart lurched, and she shook her head at once. No thank you.
Her body's reaction told her that she truly, absolutely did not need a second helping. Not the faintest inclination.
"You caused this, so you clean it up."
"Now hold on, I wasn't the one bullying Meguri just now."
"Heh heh."
That short laugh from Lin Ye had Haruno nodding immediately. "All right, all right, I understand. I'll handle it. Worst case, Lin-kun ends up with one more secret lover -- and honestly, what's so bad about that?"
Haruno seemed entirely unbothered by the prospect.
She had long since accepted the fact that Lin Ye would never have only one woman in his life.
The question was who would be the principal wife. That was the real issue.
She hoped it would be her. And failing that, Yukino.
Yes -- she wanted her Sister to stay far away from Lin Ye, but as things stood, she knew the odds of that were vanishingly small. Yukino and Lin Ye ending up together was only a matter of time.
What shape that relationship would finally take, though, she honestly couldn't say.
And so,
if she couldn't be the principal wife, then let Yukino be. Her Sister had the best odds of anyone, after all. Lin Ye liked Yukino -- that much had been settled a long time ago.
"You're welcome to try."
That tone snuffed out every scheme forming in Haruno's head.
Where Lin Ye was concerned, Haruno now carried scars. You could even call it fear.
"Haruno, I'll remind you one last time. Some things come with a price when you do them. My tolerance for you has limits."
In the face of that warning, Haruno nodded hard to show she'd gotten the message.
For now, at least for the near future, she could stay quiet and avoid provoking Lin Ye again.
Or else...
she'd find the right moment.
A moment after she and Lin Ye had grown closer. After that, she could afford to be a little willful, a little mischievous, and Lin Ye would be far more forgiving toward her.
"I'll leave the rest to you."
Lin Ye had no intention of staying any longer.
He'd swing by the apartment, take John out for a walk, then drop him off at the pet shop.
He'd be in Tokyo for both days of the weekend, after all.
Boarding John at the pet shop was the better option. He could hardly leave the fellow cooped up in the apartment for two days and two nights.
Click.
With the sound of the door swinging shut,
Lin Ye left the apartment.
A little over half an hour later, he was back at his own place.
The instant he stepped inside,
John came barreling out, panting happily as he threw himself at Lin Ye. He had no idea why Lin Ye was home so early today, but he was thrilled.
Food. Walkies.
And soon enough,
his wishes were granted.
Lin Ye took him out for a walk.
John ran flat out the whole way, drinking in that glorious, unfettered freedom.
Lin Ye was happy to let him.
It was about time John got to cut loose.
Half an hour later,
John was flat on the ground like roadkill.
Thirty minutes of pure euphoria had finally run him into the dirt.
He wanted to fire back at Lin Ye's laughter, but after two feeble whines to register his objection, he gave up.
"Come on, up you get."
"Woof..."
A limp, listless bark.
"Get up, time to eat. Beef, lamb..."
"Woof woof woof--!"
And just like that he was fired up, sheer force of will hauling him to his feet.
Food. His one true love.
"Good. Very energetic."
"Woof."
"Eat this meal and there won't be another one."
"Woof?"
He blinked those big dog eyes, gazing up in wide-eyed curiosity.
At the same time,
a certain association seemed to form in his head.
A very bad premonition.
"I'm boarding you at the pet shop for the next two days. I'll come get you after that."
"And from now on I'll find someone else to help look after you."
"Woof woof woof--"
Oh, so that was it!
John understood now, and let out an enormous sigh of relief.
He'd genuinely feared he was facing his last supper today.
One man and one dog, walking down a street bathed in sunlight.
...
The final bell rang at Sobu High.
The Service Club had no activities today, so the members were dismissed and sent straight home.
Sometime that afternoon, Yukino Yukinoshita had messaged Lin Ye asking what he was up to. When he said he was walking the dog, she abandoned any thought of tracking him down.
This time she simply packed up her things, left Sobu High, and went back to the apartment.
She knew Lin Ye was going to Tokyo for the weekend to meet Mai Sakurajima. It wasn't that the idea of going to Tokyo alone hadn't crossed her mind -- but in the end she let it go.
There was no point. None at all.
Even if she went, there was no guarantee she'd find him.
There was really no reason to make a special trip to Tokyo. She couldn't change anything anyway.
Everything she could do, everything she needed to do, she had already done.
As for the rest,
that was up to Lin Ye now.
Click.
Yukino Yukinoshita opened the apartment door.
The living room was empty.
"Sis?"
Had Sis already gone home?
Yukino Yukinoshita called out again.
"Coming, I'm here!"
Haruno's voice came back quickly -- from inside Yukino's room.
That gave Yukino an immediate bad feeling.
She strode over, her eyes sweeping the room the moment she reached it.
"Yukino, what's with that look?"
"I was worried you'd been doing something unspeakable in my room, Sis."
"Ah... that hurts. That genuinely hurts. How could Yukino say such a thing about me?"
Haruno dabbed at her eyes, pouring out the bitterness and heartbreak in her soul to Yukino Yukinoshita.
Yukino Yukinoshita, long since inured to it, didn't react at all.
"So? What were you doing in my room?"
"Taking a nap. You know perfectly well how brutally Lin Ye bullied me yesterday."
Haruno was wiping at tears as she said it.
Yukino remained utterly unmoved. Not a flicker.
"There's a guest room."
"Lin-kun used the guest room today."
"Hm?"
Yukino Yukinoshita didn't quite follow. What did she mean, Lin Ye had used it?
What was that supposed to mean?
Unless--
A thought took shape in her mind.
...
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