Yurika's Tale

“Did you hear that?”

“What?”

“I heard Yurika was spotted going to a hotel with Teacher Masuda.”

“Wow, seriously?!”

“Isn't Teacher Masuda…”

“Yes! He's already married. Doesn't that make her a third wheel? I can't believe she did that.”

Yurika could only stand in front of the door, listening to her classmates' chatter and the harsh words from the people she thought were her friends. She almost couldn't hold her tears anymore. But no—they might think she's playing the victim if she cried. While rubbing her eyes, the announcement rang. 

‘Student Yurika Hanae from Class 12-2, please proceed to the principal office.’

Hearing that, she decided to go to the principal office first. When she arrived, there was already Teacher Masuda and her parents. At that moment she knew that no one would be on her side. So she just stood there, listening to those people rambling, her father screaming, her mother playing victims, and Teacher Masuda, who pretended to know nothing.

She really hoped, either one of them, would stand on her side. But until the end, until the verdict from the principal came, no one did that.

“It is judged that Student Yurika Hanae did an immoral thing by seducing Teacher Masuda. So she will be expelled from the school from this day onward.” The principal decided, while touching his mustache by pretending to be serious.

“No! You can’t do that Mr. Principal! Expelling her is too severe! We can at least accept that she’s grounded for a few months, but not expelling her!” She said hysterically.

“Relax, dear.” Her father said, gripping hard on her mother’s arm. At least, it made her silent.

Nudging his glasses, her father said, “Really, Sir, we can’t afford to let her be expelled. You can ground her however long you want to, but our bottom line is no expulsion” 

While wiping his nonexistent sweat, the principal said, “Let me think for a while. In the meantime, why don’t you all sit first?”

They all nodded, ignoring Yurika as if she didn’t exist. 

“Teacher Masuda, we’re very sorry for everything that happened to you.” Her father said while shaking hands with Teacher Masuda. They had small talk between men while her mother just sipping her tea on the sofa.

Not long after, the principal came back with his verdict on Yurika. Yurika was fed up with the farce but she was powerless. She was only an 18-year-old girl– too young to be those adults’ opponents. 

“Ahem. Well, I decided to ground Miss Yurika Hanae for 2 months to be her punishment. Please bear in mind, that you will not repeat this act anymore when you come to school. Do I have my words clear, Miss Yurika Hanae?” 

Yurika thought the principal was ridiculous. He tried to act high and mighty, but he was just a paper tiger. He just followed the majority and had no opinion of himself. But this kind of adult could control her. It made her so irritated. 

Yurika realized that something had changed. People often said that she was an elegant and demure child. She can keep her act together and be a model child for other children. Her parents often brought her everywhere to showcase herself in front of other parents. They often brag about how obedient she is, how a sweet child she is, etc. She often felt like a doll before. She just needed to smile and her parents would control her in everything she did. 

She thought perhaps even though her parents were like that, they still loved her and would stand on her side. But reality slapped her hard. They are actually getting munchy with the perpetrator. 

xxx

“Miss Hanae, it’s already late. Why are you still at the school?” 

Suddenly hearing someone talking to her made Yurika startled. She raised her head and saw Teacher Masuda standing in front of the lamplight, his expression couldn’t be seen. Her intuition told her she needed to go back, anywhere was fine, just to avoid Teacher Masuda. The sudden intuition puzzled her. Teacher Masuda was known to be well-liked by the students. So where is this sense of fear coming from? 

She decided to follow her intuition and planned to go home by taxi, instead of waiting for the never-come bus. So she said, “I’m sorry teacher, I need to go home. See you tomorrow.”

She tried to move swiftly but he caught her hand before she was able to pretend to walk to the main road. She didn’t know if it was her illusion, but she thought he rubbed her arm suggestively. She felt a shiver down her spine. She tried to take back her arm but to no avail.

“Let–”

“Miss Hanae, it’s not safe to go to the main road alone at night like this, especially since you’re a girl. Let me take you home.” He said while forcefully taking her to his car.

“Teacher, I don’t need–”

“Now now, be good Miss Hanae. It’s okay, I’m not a bad guy. I’m your teacher, remember?”

“But teacher–”

“I said be good!” He yelled. Taking a deep breath, he tried to put his already crumbling mask. “There, there. Did I surprise you? Sorry, didn't mean it that way. Now, let's get going, shall we?”

He opened the car's door and shoved her inside. Then he entered the car and brought her to the hotel. He put his arm around her shoulder, looking intimate from afar. 

Yurika was terrified. She didn't know the consequence of falling asleep in class was this disastrous. She tried to think of a way to ask for help. She didn't hear a thing Teacher Masuda said and just focused on blinking and asking someone for help. 

Finally, a guy looking macho and scary saw her request for help and went towards both of them. 

“Hey buddy, where do you plan on taking a minor to? I only saw hotels around here, though.” He said while putting his hand around Teacher Masuda's shoulder. At the same time, he separated Teacher Masuda's grip over Yurika. 

“It's not your problem, Sir. And I think you misunderstood us. I'm her teacher and we're going to have a midnight class now.”

“Midnight class? Don't make me laugh. Are you trying to fool a 3-year-old child?! Now Miss, come here.”

Without second thought, Yurika ran to the stranger that helped her. Being with a scary stranger was more reassuring than with Teacher Masuda. 

“Tsk. Well, see you tomorrow at class, Miss Hanae.” He said, smiling eerily. 

“T-thank you so much, Sir!” Yurika said while bowing her head towards the stranger. 

She was so grateful he was willing to step in and help her. She was honestly terrified. She never knew Teacher Masuda was a predator. Did he often do that? Does that mean there are a lot of unfortunate victims that she didn't know? 

“Now now Miss, you better go home now and forget about all this. Take a nice warm bath and go to sleep.”

“Okay, goodbye Sir.”

Yurika then went home. No one was asking her why she went home late, not even her parents. She felt something seemed off, but today's experience was too much for her so she just went to take a warm shower and go to sleep. 

Then her nightmare started. 

                                  xxx

At home, when she listlessly entered the house, before she could gather her thoughts, a sudden pain woke her up. She then realized that her father slapped her hard in the cheek. She was dumbfounded. It took her a while to process the fact. 

“Why must you make it a big deal like this! Where are you going to put my face?! Are you happy now that everyone will know you're a bad girl?!” He yelled, pointing his finger to Yurika. 

She wanted to look for her mother, she wanted to look for support, but to her surprise, her mother only sipped her tea, who knows from where she got that cup of tea, just like in the principal office. 

She felt a chill crept in. This was outrageous. This was her parent. Has the world gone crazy? 

Clack

The sound of a cup hitting on a table woke her up. She turned her unfocused gaze towards the sound and saw her mother putting the cup on the table. 

Her mother then said, “It'd have been better if you just followed him to the hotel. That way everyone is happy. Now, because of your struggle, everyone is unhappy. Do you know how wrong you are?”

Yurika was flabbergasted. She was confused. Is this her wrongdoing? Then she realized–

“Y-you knew?!” Her voice was quivering. 

“Of course–” Her mother said while playing with her nails. 

“Honey–”

“It's okay, dear. It's better for her to know. That way, she might do it voluntarily next time.” Her mother said, while crossing her feet. She continued, “Our company is in trouble right now. We tried to look for help everywhere but no one bothered to help. It's like they all evaporated.”

She took the tea and sipped it before continuing again. “Then, one day, we met your teacher. He said he'll help us, but he wanted to play with you for a few days. We think it's okay, because it's your duty to help your parents. So we agreed. That's all.” She said simply. 

That's all?! So the truth is my parents sold me to Teacher Masuda? How could they?! 

“... won't…”

“What?”

“I won't help you!” Yurika screamed and then ran towards her room and locked the door. 

What the hell?! So all my effort this time was meant for them to use me as they please?! Fuck it all! I need to find a way. I want revenge! Think Yurika, think! 

She scanned her room, looking for ways to exact her revenge. She then spotted her computer. She turned it on and started searching online. She then stumbled into a weird website. 

‘Goddess of Revenge is everywhere. Pray and your wish shall be granted.’

“How to pray…” She murmured. 

Then the text changed. 

“Pray with all your heart, think deeply about what you want. Then your prayer will be heard by the goddess.”

Dear Goddess of Revenge, I want revenge. I want everyone to regret what they did to me! 

[Will you be willing to trade your soul?]

Yes! 

[Contract signed. Now your soul is mine. Have a nice revenge.]

Two weeks later. 

“Breaking news. A group of teachers and students from school xxx was found dead due to a bus’ brake failure. It was found that they had an outing yesterday but suddenly the brake was broken. There was no survivor.”

One week later. 

“Breaking news. A massive congestion at road xxx due to a severe car accident. It was found that the victim was alive but the perpetrators were dead. Two bodies of confirmed perpetrators were found inside the car wreckage. It is confirmed that they are husband and wife.”

[Are you happy now?]

“Yes! I didn't think of killing them at first but they might hurt other people so it's better to just send them to the afterlife. At least, they could reincarnate, even as a cattle, whereas I can't. So they are lucky.”

[... ]

“I'm right, ok!”

[I declined to answer. Well, shall we depart?]

“Yes. Let's go!”

Yurika thought that she had won. Sure, she needed to work herself out for a few thousands of years to cleanse her soul before it could be consumed by the Goddess but she managed to overthrow an evil force. So she would gladly work for her new boss. She couldn't wait to help her fellow sufferers out there. What an exciting adventure!