#tw cyber espionage
At a young age you learned a vital lesson: never hesitate. Whether you’re rejecting a confession or staring down the sight of a gun, split second decisions have been ingrained in your blood, so when your best friend is brutally murdered the choice is simple.
You’ll stop at nothing to exact your revenge on the man who took her from you, even if it means facing the three men you’d spent years running away from.
Can you survive a deal with Embertide University’s very own Archdemons, or will your dark history with them bring everything you’re working toward crashing down?
Pairing: Fem!Reader x Step Brother!Suna, Iwaizumi, and Matsukawa
Word Count: 2.5k
Warnings: pseudocest, minor character death, breaking and entering, cyber espionage, mentions of: bullying, mafia dealings, human trafficking
A/N: HELLO FRIENDS! Welcome to the first chapter of my newest series! This is a pretty mild start to introduce the characters and story, so I hope you enjoy it! Thank you to my beta readers @/krystalgaia for looking over this for me!
Track: I Shouldn’t Be Here- JP Saxe
Series Masterlist |Next
As always my content is 18+ only MINORS DO NOT INTERACT.
Coruscating light dances along the edge of my vision, dimmed by the dark tint of the town car’s window. Someone new, someone who didn’t look too deeply, might be blinded by the falsity of this place. Fall for the mesmeric facade the Mayor struggles to maintain. It’s easy to feel that Ember is an innocuous haven, an escape from the cruelty of the other, larger cities nearby.
But I know better. I grew up on these streets. Have seen the monsters that linger in the shadows of the dark alleys.
Ember isn’t any safer than the rest of this world. Miscreants lurk around every corner, waiting for their chance to pounce- to maim and devour the unfortunate souls caught in the web of lies that surround the city. They aren’t even the ones you should fear, not here. Ember’s real villains hide in plain sight, a masquerade only money and power could keep intact. The Embertide Elite, alumni from the local University. Generation upon generation of mendacity. A hierarchy of outdated principles, harsh expectations, and condescension.
A life I escaped long ago.
I shouldn’t be here, yet here I am, sitting in the back of a fancy car and barreling toward everything- everyone- I had run from. This is a mistake. I can already feel the dread seeping into my bones as I edge closer to the monstrosity that is the Embertide Auditorium. Packed inside of the carefully sculpted bricks and manicured lawn are the best and brightest- Embertide University’s source of pride. In reality they’re just a bunch of pampered bullies, but the world would never view them that way. Their success would blind everyone to the truth, just as it always has.
The car pulls to a stop entirely too soon. My fingers tremble on my lap, vision swimming as my head begins to feel light, breaths coming in short bursts as I glance out the window to the crowd of waiting media workers.
“Y/N.” I manage to tear my gaze from the window, glancing to the front and meeting Tanaka’s gaze in the rear view mirror. His smoky Aegean eyes say everything without a word passing through his firm lips. Fluttering my own eyes closed I draw in a deep breath, holding it for a ten count and blowing it out through my nose. I’m here for a reason, I just need to focus on that.
Tanaka rounds the car, opening the door and holding a hand out. I accept it, easing myself from the seat and standing tall. This is just the beginning.
A single step on my journey to revenge.
It’s an odd sensation, having every eye in the room on you. A weird mixture of empowerment and overwhelming anxiety roars through my veins, my heartbeat pounding against the inside of my skull. I shouldn’t be here. I don’t belong, not any more.
I can feel the weight of the judging stares and harsh whispers. My body defies their rules, a testament only proven by the harsh glares sent my way from beneath their ornate masks. The floor length golden dress I donned for the evening sports double hip high slits in the sides, revealing too much skin to fit the modest expectations of the crowd. Each step I take down the grand staircase showcases the dark swirls of ink that cover both of my thighs. The deep v along my chest reveals the same swirls. It’s everywhere. Down both arms, across my full chest and back, my thighs. A story permanently etched into my skin. My tattoos are just another reason for condemnation here.
I can hear my step-grandmother rolling in her grave. I already know she’d have colorful words about my appearance. Unsightly. Inelegant. Offensive. The marks of a delinquent. I chuckle to myself, frowning slightly at the noise before schooling my features back to their usual placidity.
The hair on the back of my neck raises, goosebumps spreading across my exposed skin. My fists close to fight against the instinct to wrap my arms around myself. Scanning the room I find them, the piercing eyes that have haunted my every nightmare and wet dream for as long as I can remember.
Have you ever jumped into a river in the dead of winter? That’s what it feels like to be caught under the curious gaze of Suna Rintarou, my step brother. I can’t decide if I want to run away or fall to my knees before him, obsequious to his every desire.
I hate it. I hate the way my very soul reacts to him. Aches to be in his presence.
Forcing my eyes off of him, I notice his two best friends Iwaizumi and Matsukawa standing to his left. Their eyes are pinned to me as well. For the briefest moment I feel panic bubble up my throat, my mind screaming at me to run while I can. They don’t recognize me, they can’t. Not with this intricate golden mask obscuring half of my features. Deep breaths.
“Now what is someone as breathtaking as you doing attending an event of this stature alone?”
Turning to the side I’m met with a very tall, broad shoulders man. He’s dressed in a more simple suit, the top two buttons of his white dress shirt undone. A rule breaker, at least his attitude conveyed that he seemed to think so. His mask is as plain as his suit, but the startling chestnut eyes shining from beneath it hint at a hidden beauty that on any other day may have pulled me in. A quick glance out of the corner of my eye confirms my next actions.
If the barely noticeable furrow in Rin’s brow is any tell, our interaction won’t last very long anyway.
“I actually just moved to the area. My uncle asked me to attend in his place. He’s not a very social person these days.” A lie of course. For tonight, at least, no one will know who I am. As far as Ember is concerned until 9 am tomorrow LN YN left and decided to never come home.
I bite back a grimace as he takes my hand, pressing a kiss to the back and grinning at me. “Well then, allow me to be the first to welcome you to Ember, Miss..” He trails off, expectancy written in his eyes as he waits for my name.
“Come now Touma, surely you don’t think that someone so enchanting would ever give you the time of day if she saw you outside of the Masquerade. Why waste your time?” It’s hard to breathe, the sound of Rin’s voice alone setting every nerve in my body on edge. I really shouldn’t be here.
“Suna. I see you and the rest of the volleyball goons decided to come drink the bar dry,” Touma responds dryly, not bothering to drop my hand from his grasp. Rin’s eyes narrow on the link between us, his lips turning down at the corner just slightly. He’s annoyed.
Oh how I am enjoying this.
Taking half a step closer to Touma, I flutter my eyelashes up at him, feigning innocent curiosity. “A friend of yours,” pausing, I duck my head a little, imitating shyness before adding a soft “Touma?” I stifle a laugh. It’s too easy. Anyone nearby could see the way his eyes light up, the little golden hearts that seem to fill them. Barely even a minute into meeting me and he’s wrapped around my finger, putty in my hands. It’s disappointing really. I love a good challenge.
Touma stands a little taller, his cheeks coloring a bright red. “This is Suna Rintarou, Captain of the universities’ volleyball team.”
I finally turn to face Rin, ignoring the sharp glare he is throwing Touma. He turns his attention to me, eyes glowing with a possessive desire that threatens to steal the breath from my lungs. Really, I shouldn’t revel in how easily Touma melts for me when one glance from my step brother and I’m practically a puddle. I don’t even have time to address him before a firm weight clamps down on Touma’s shoulder. Iwaizumi’s thick fingers digging into the boy’s shoulder as he issues a rough greeting.
I’m not surprised when Touma suddenly excuses himself, his face much paler in the face of the three deviants. Archdemons, I muse. A fact Noya had dug up for me. The royalty of Embertide University. A crock of bullshit if you ask me. They’re still the same insecure bullies they’ve always been. The only difference is now they have an entire college campus to terrorize instead of the high school.
“Dance with me.” A command, not a question. Rin’s arrogance has only amplified since I left him behind during my first year of high school.
“I’m sorry, I don’t-”
“You can trust me,” he interjects. Bile rises in my throat at the words. Trust him? That’s laughable. The best goddamn joke I’ve ever heard. But for tonight I’m not me. Y/N doesn’t exist right now, and neither does our history. So I slide my hand in his, allowing him to pull me further into the crowd.
I really shouldn’t be here. If a single glance from Rin had me melting, the feel of his large hand settled on my waist, his fingers on the other hand entwined with my own as he guides me in lazy circles, is debilitating. I’m surprised my brain has managed to function well enough to follow his lead.
The way he’s watching me isn’t helping either. I know that look. It’s just how he used to look at me. Back before everything changed. Before our parents got married. Back when it was just Rin and Y/N. My chest aches with an all too familiar pain, one I had buried years ago. I swallow thickly, forcing myself to watch the crowd around us in a weak attempt to push that feeling back where it belongs.
“Do I scare you?”
Rin’s voice is soft, but the curve of his lip tells me exactly what he wants my answer to be. “No,” I snort, shoulders tensing as the sound escapes me. Peeking at him from the corner of my eyes, I notice the way his eyes have narrowed slightly. Shit. Time to go, this is too reckless. I’m not here for him- for them. I let myself get too lost in the anonymity of the event. A small taste of the life I’ll never have. A life where they’re just Rin, Hajime, and Issei. Where I’m just Y/N. A life without this gaping hole in my heart that happens to look just like them.
“You should be.” His breath is warm against the shell of my ear when he leans in. It sends shock waves straight to my core, lighting a fire I’d thought long extinguished. I can barely contain a groan when his nose presses against the soft skin below my ear, breathing me in. The room seems so much warmer now, sweat beading along the back of my neck. I have to get out of here.
My mind races, searching for an excuse, when a voice clears over my shoulder. Issei stands behind me, eyes raking along my exposed back hungrily before flitting to Rin’s face. “That special donor Coach mentioned just arrived.” It sounds sketchy, the way he puts emphasis on the word special. I’m not surprised they’re doing business here. With the massive crowd to cover their brief disappearance. It’s the perfect place and time for a meeting with Embertide’s mafia kingpins.
Rin pulls away. My body aches at the loss of his touch, his warmth. “I’m afraid I have duties to attend to, pretty girl. Thank you for the dance.” His eyes bore into my own as he lifts my arm, lips pressing a ghost of a kiss against the inside of my wrist.
YN.exe has stopped working. Pretty girl. Holy fuck. What I would do to hear those words fall from his pretty lips again-
I deflate, shoulders dropping. I’m not Y/N tonight. If I was he’d certainly never have called me something so sweet. My permanently bruised heart aches. I already knew I shouldn’t be here. I don’t know why I am letting myself feel so hurt.
Ignoring the sudden need to scrub his touch from my skin, I watch them walk away, getting swallowed by the crowd, I grab my dress and head in the opposite direction. The Embertide Archdemons aren’t the only ones here to work tonight.
Pushing through a side door I quickly shimmy out of the bright gold dress, pressing it into a bag that Tanaka had stashed by the back door. I slip into a pair of black skinny jeans and a dark sweater. Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I creep across the empty campus- it’s time to get what I came for.
Breaking into a college Dean’s office really shouldn’t be so easy, but it is. Or maybe I’m just so used to a good b&e that it seems easy. Suga had hacked in and looped the cameras earlier in the evening, so I slip into the room unnoticed, accessing his computer and planting a program that Suga had designed to mimic his antivirus while providing us constant access to any files he opens.
It is an invasion of his- and everyone he interacts with- privacy. A small part of me feels guilty for what I’m doing. But really if he doesn’t want his computer to be hacked or his phone bugged he shouldn’t be knee deep in a criminal organization with rumored ties to a large scale human trafficking ring. I can write off a lot of crimes, but dealing in people will never be one of them. Whatever happens, he deserves it. He’s just a stepping stone for me anyway. I have much more important heads to cut off of this hydra.
Tanaka is waiting at the far end of the campus when I make it there. Gone is the fancy town car he had ‘borrowed’. Instead he leans casually against his motorcycle, arms crossed over his chest and head tilted back. We’ve been friends for a few years. Met when my father and his wife, Rin’s bitch of a mother, had shipped me off to some hell hole school for troubled teens.
We had only become closer recently, after his sister, my best friend, had been brutally murdered. A shiver runs up my spine at the memory. All they’d even recovered of her was a single tooth and a few nails. Instinctively my hands grip the necklace tucked beneath my shirt. Her necklace. I’d cleaned the blood off of it, knowing she’d hate to see it so ruined. Tanaka’s eyes fall on me, noticing the way I cling to the jewelry.
“Mission accomplished?”
He doesn’t mention Saeko. Like me he knows that nothing either one of us could say would bring her back. The only thing we can do is move forward. Which is exactly why I’m here, returned to this shithole of a town, to willingly face down my own demons. “Mission accomplished.” I grin as I climb onto the motorcycle behind him.
Nothing heals the wounds in our hearts like a healthy dose of revenge.
