Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent

CHAPTER 32: Christmas Presents

CHAPTER 32: CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

High school ended.

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I swallowed the lump on my throat as Rei continued to approach me with an enraged glare. I moved backwards with every step he made towards me, stopping only when I bumped against my desk. "W-When… When did you…"

"When did I arrive?" Rei raised his eyebrows. "I came just in time to know about everything you’ve been doing behind my back.”

"I… It's just… I…" my lips quavered wildly. "R-Rei-kun, I… It's just that… his mother… asked me to… Look! It's just a billboard!"

"DON'T MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME!"

"R…Rei-kun!"

Rei suddenly reached for my arms and grasped them tight, "You were with him last night!"

"I…"

"Don't you even think of denying it!"

I forcibly removed his hands from me and pushed him back, "So what if I were?! And since when has it become my obligation to explain everything to you?! You expect me to tell you every single thing that happens in my life?!"

"Why?! You're asking me why?!" Rei shouted. "We planned this revenge for eight years! EIGHT YEARS, AYANE! We're supposed to work together to crush the Spectra! I went to Switzerland to check the weapons and the lilies – I barely slept, barely rested to make sure that everything goes well… just to find out that you're here, having an affair with the leader of the Spectra?!"

"You're making it all sound as if I'm the one indebted to you! Are you forgetting that the Vault was passed on to me, not to you or to your father?!" I replied back. "You're just… just… TAGGING along in this revenge… so if I wanted to stop, EVERYTHING WILL STOP!"

"STOP?! What the hell are you talking about?!" Rei said. "The Vault was passed on to the Silver Crescent, not to you! And… stop?! Do you know what you're saying?!"

"I know what I'm saying," I clenched my fists. "I'm calling it quits, Rei. I don't want to do this anymore."

Slap!

I held my reddened cheek that tingled in pain after Rei hit me with the back of his palm. This was the very first time I had seen him so angry – his eyes were burning, his fists were clenched tightly, and his voice roared like a berserk beast. I felt his wrath and his power with the blow he inflicted.

"No one is quitting the Silver Crescent," Rei said.

"And no one," I replied to him, glaring, "tells the Empress what to do."

Rei gasped unbelievingly. "What about your mother? Your friends? The innocent ones who died eight years ago because of YOU?! ARE YOU WILLING TO THROW AWAY EVERYTHING WE'VE PLANNED JUST BECAUSE OF YAMAZAKI KOSUKE? CAN YOU REALLY GIVE UP EVERYTHING JUST SO THAT YOU CAN SATISFY YOUR OWN SELFISH DESIRES TO BE WITH HIM? SO THAT YOU CAN KISS HIM AND HAVE SEX WITH HIM JUST LIKE WHAT YOU DID LAST NIGHT?!"

"You… didn't…"

"I saw EVERYTHING!"

I shook my head repeatedly, stepping back with my eyes wide in shock. Myriads of possibilities clouded my mind as I felt every inch of me turn numb.

I suddenly found myself looking around my room, surveying every corner and item worth of suspicion. I had no idea what I was looking for, yet it did not take quite long until the objects materialized before my eyes.