Blackmailed by the School Hearthrob
by Permintcake

Chapter 1: The Chemistry Exam

The sun began to rise, and with it came a vibrant warmth. As the sunshine blanketed the world, water evaporated into the air like misty ribbons of silk dancing in the breeze. Upwards they ascended to meet fluffy white clouds who acted as captains of a blue sky ship, while a symphony of birds sang from high treetops and acted as the conductor's wand - declaring spring had arrived.


Kakeda was spellbound by his surroundings, as if nothing else mattered; a smile that belonged there sparked on his face. Surrounded by friends, he chatted with ease - his cheeks rosy from the joys shared between them. The air had a sweet smell of cinnamon as more people filled into the room. He couldn't help but felt an unknown energy within himself; was this happiness?

The minutes passed and so did the teacher, leaving behind a classroom full of bustling students and their uncontrolled energy. It was truly a rare sight.

The room was tense. Every eye in the classroom drew towards Ms. Thundermarch, a feared and reviled teacher who had an unshakable reputation for ferocity and complete contempt for her pupils. Red flames danced in her eyes as she surveyed the class, searching for a student brave enough to provide an answer to an unfathomable question even the world's most intelligent mastermind wouldn't know.

Suddenly, Michiko's pocket began to vibrate. He sneakily glanced at his phone as a text message appeared on the screen -- "I know what you did". Kakeda had used an alternate number that no one knew of, threatening to reveal the truth if anyone were to try and outrank him.

2 days ago

Five choices, one student in distress. No prizes for guessing who it was. Scholarship was on the line. High expectations were on the line. It felt as if everything she had worked so hard for was about to slip from her grasp with just one wrong move on this fateful day. Let her decipher Edgar Allan Poe's poems and short stories, recite the entire anatomy and physiology of the heart or solve functions and polynomials but chemistry? Not today!

Seated quietly at the back of the class, her chest tightened as every second passed by. Desperate times called for desperate measures: cheating was her only shot at redemption; not that she wanted it to come to that. But what choice did she have? Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself against whatever fate awaited her.

This was just going to be a onetime thing, right...? Right. Naturally, fleshy pink lips arched a rather craven smile; hazel-hued eyes stared at the bubble sheet, now accompanied with the test paper. She then bit her bottom lip after a swift glimpse underneath her desk was taken.

"Alright, class. You may begin."

˗ˏˋ TOCK. ˊˎ˗

Serpentine-like fingers slithered beneath and slid the cellular phone close and a yellow pad paper to which contained the possible answers. With her phone she opened an app that could easily solve stoichiometry through just a tap: a chemical reaction calculator. Thus, it began. Tap after tap, the graphite of a bright yellow orange pencil shaded the answers. To make things less suspicious, she solved - or at least 'tried' to solve - from her scratch paper. She even purposely answered a few items wrong.

As soon as the examination ended, the desperation that was written in her eyes got replaced by exhilaration. She was so relieved that it was already over. Looking around her fellow students, a rather coy smile graced her lightly glossed lips. No one saw a thing.

*****

Her friends, like a colony of bees, then swarmed around her seat and shared all of the latest buzz. From the so-called 'bubbles' printed on a sheet, she was now on her usual bubbly and wholesome self. This went on until the second class, Algebra, started.

˗ˏˋ BEEP. ˊˎ˗

Absentmindedly, her ears heard the notification, eyes then glanced on the screen of her cellular phone. Hazel orbs widened in horror upon seeing a text. Imagine the terror of five words that told a harrowing story: I, know, what, you, did. She was no longer paying attention to her circle of friends. This had to be a text that was sent by a mistake. She could have sworn that no one saw her, not even their teacher. She cautiously looked around her and simply witnessed the chaotic liveliness of the classroom.

"Oi, Michiko. What's wrong?"

"I... I-I'll be back in a sec," a soft voice, ever delicate, whispered out.

Standing up, soles from her school shoes began to step against the flooring. She scampered out of the classroom and into the girls' restroom. Hands gripped on the marbled sink; eyes stared on her reflection. It was difficult to breathe again. Slowly but surely, composure was regained before she picked up her phone and read the message again. She began to deduce the possibilities. She thought of the chance of being a mistaken text at first.

She then thought about the people who knew of her contact number. But it just did not add up.

'Now or never,' the star-crossed student named Michiko Megumi thought, mustering up the courage to respond.

➥ Who is this?

"Chemistry exam" Kakeda replied ignoring her question.

Those two words was hopefully enough to baffle and confuse the female into submission. The algebra class was smooth sailing from the get go, the students either taking notes or not except for Kakeda who has been motivated to catch her off guard. His phone vibrated, a text was sent to him, yet he didn't want to read and reply just yet. He wanted to let that phrase dangle for a moment before sending a reply after 10 minutes.

"Yellow Pad Paper".

He refused to answer her questions but instead he gave her the impression that somebody knew her dirty deed. Kakeda for a fact knew she hid her phone underneath her desk, which she used for cheating.

She thought nobody knew but now everyone in her class was a suspect. Kakeda didn't want to let her dirty deed just be forgotten. She practically stole something from him and it was his top 1 rank. 

Seeing she was under his spell, there was an explosion in his brain. The good sort. The type of excitement that carries more possibilities than he could be conscious of but there were hundreds of ideas there in that buzz of electricity he could feel it. It was the calling card of adventure, of paths awaiting his feet. 

Whatever was ahead could be a great excitement, but there could be tears, but it was his adventure to take and so he smiled. The ideas would come, probably when he least expected it...as Kakeda stepped forward into the unknown, on what fate will bring their way?