𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 (𝐃𝐚𝐛𝐢 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

16

You stared up at the man standing before you. Zankoku's crisp, black suit was paired with a red tie made of silky material. His hair was shorter than it had been the last time you'd seen him, and the subtle smell of his cologne had begun to permeate the air surrounding you both. The commissioner looked well put together, respectable. 

But you knew better.

Ignoring what he'd said, you tried to step around him, but Zankoku blocked your way. You looked up with an apologetic smile, praying that he wouldn't try and start this game again. "Excuse me." 

This man, he knew the power that he held. Not only over your job but over your entire life. You could see the smugness in his eyes as he kept you from exiting the stairwell. "I'm trying to have a conversation with you. It's awfully rude to leave so quickly."

To calm yourself a bit, you focused your gaze on his nose instead of his eyes. "I think you're well aware of why we shouldn't be speaking with each other. Or would you like me to speak with the president and have her remind you?"

It was an empty threat and you both knew it. The president was no better than a lapdog to the higher-ups. Zankoku took a step closer, you stepped away. "Big words coming from a girl who doesn't even deserve to be here. You should be honored by the fact that I'm giving you my attention."

"I've had your attention before. Trust me, it isn't something that any girl would want." As much as you tried, you never could seem to be polite to someone like him for long.

"I think we both know that that isn't true," he said. "You're just a different kind of girl. A freak who should watch her tone when speaking to someone so far above her." Zankoku took another step closer.

Your heart was pounding. This was the worst possible place that you could've run into him. There were no cameras in the stairwells, meaning that if you needed to do anything to defend yourself, there was nothing to stop him from saying you attacked him unprovoked. 

Of course, though, you spoke before thinking about the consequences your attitude could have. "Personally, I don't think being quirkless makes me more of a freak than a guy in his thirties that goes after teenage girls."

His face hardened. "Still trying to spread those lies, are we?" He moved closer again, and you moved to try and keep distance between the two of you. "Why would a guy like me go after some weak and pathetic girl like you?"

The small room was beginning to feel claustrophobic. "Kinda sad that such a weak and pathetic girl could give you such a noticeable scar." You continued to stare at the line going across his crooked nose. It had been straight when you'd first met him.

When you saw the look on his face after that comment, the satisfaction from saying it faded instantly, and you internally cursed yourself for your pridefulness. Although Zankoku hadn't pressed charges after the incident, you'd been forced to pay for treatment for his broken bone. Unsurprisingly, he'd gone to one of the top doctors in the country. You didn't know their name, but you knew that getting treatment from them cost a fucking fortune. You and Ami had both been forced to go into your savings to pull all of the money together, which you'd felt incredibly guilty about, but she'd refused to let you pay her back. In the end, there was no way to keep the injury from leaving a scar, and Zankoku was a man whose looks were well known. To him, the mark was a sign of imperfection, an imperfection that you were responsible for.

That part was funny to you. Men like him were always saying how women were too obsessed with their looks, but as soon as their faces got any sort of mark, it was the end of the world.

Zankoku stormed forward, and you tried to back away further but your back hit the wall and he was on you before you could try and get to the stairs. "You think this is funny, huh? You oughta be grateful that, because of my kindness, you aren't in jail for assault right now."