Chapter 1

"Hmph... Save me from them he said... and he ended up using me too." She groused as she walked down the empty street away from the studio where she had left him covered in food. At least in Kyoto she was protected by the owners of the "ryokan". In Tokyo, there were so many unknown variables. If she chose to practice the craft that she had been forcibly taught in this large city, there were several criminal elements that she would have to pay homage to if she wanted to survive. In the end, he used her the same way his parents did, for money.

{"She's trash. She cooks, cleans and takes care of my needs. That's all she's good for. All she's ever been good for." He told his manager in a mocking tone.

"Sho! You make it sound like she's a maid and a whore combined." She exclaimed.

He laughed. "Well, all things considered, that wouldn't be too far off the mark. She was sold to my parents and worked in a brothel. She knows all of the ins and outs. If you know what I mean."

Shoko Aki grimaced in disgust and shook her head. "I thought you said it was a ryokan that your father owned."

He shook his head and smirked. "I guess you could call it one, but a whore by any other name is still a whore."}

She knew the truth. Kyoko had known the truth for a very long time. She knew that someone had sold her to the Fuwas. She had known since she was old enough to know the difference between a man and a woman what was expected of her at that "ryokan". She knew that they catered to certain foreigner's unusual tastes in young females. That was rudely pointed out when she was very young, The Truth that she didn't know, was how Sho really felt about her. Now she knew. To him, she was just another whore in his father's stable.

A wave of fear washed over her at the realization. She had left with Sho. They had run away together and his parents couldn't possibly be pleased with that notion. She quickly made her way home and began packing everything she owned. She had a hunch that someone would come looking for her soon. She would need to make some changes if she wanted to keep her freedom and health.

The talk from the other girls she met on the street had led her to this little establishment. It didn't look like much but it showed promise. It was a little salon called Magix. She had been told to ask for the "Witch" if she needed a complete change, and that is exactly what she needed if she didn't want to be found by Master Fuwa or, any of the others that would surely be looking for her. She was told that the woman that she would meet wouldn't be known by any other name and the Witch would know exactly why she was there if asked for in such a way.

As she walked through the door, she could hear the sound of hair-dryers and the bells of the door. "How can I help you today Miss?" A small, curly-haired woman asked from the front desk.

"I need to speak to the Witch." Kyoko told her nervously as her eyes scanned the room.

The woman with the name-tag that read "Jelly" smiled and stood from her seat. "Follow me please." She beckoned her to follow her to a small office at the back of the shop. They entered the small office and she motioned for Kyoko to have a seat, then sat on a bright pink sofa across from her. "What can I do for you?"

Kyoko stared at the floor in shame. She had never told her entire story to anyone. She hadn't even told parts of it. Now she was going to have to tell this stranger, if she wanted any semblance of help.

"I... I was sold to a brothel when I was six." She murmured. "I ran away last year and the person that helped me escape only brought me for what I was sold for." She felt the heat behind her eyes. This was something that she had been avoiding in thought for a very long time.

Jelly Woods swallowed the pain from the familiar story she was about to hear and sat next to the 16 year-old girl. "Why don't you tell me everything..." and with that request, she did.

She told her everything, from being a house-keeper to advancing to a cook; from being a cook to being an entertainer; from being an entertainer to being the entertainment at the tender age of 12.

Stories like this always hit Jelly the hardest. She knew that if the girl had been the "entertainment" at the age of 12, her "training" had begun long before that. It was disgusting how some adults could use a child for something like that to line their pockets with cash and what made it worse, was this girl had been betrayed by the only one that she thought had been her friend in such a dark world.

She held the girl tightly in a hug and reassured her. "Don't worry Sweetie. Darling and I will help you start over."

Kyoko looked at her with hope in her eyes. "You can help me?"

Jelly nodded and smiled softly. "First we need to change your look. We can't have them finding you."

Kyoko nodded. "How much will I owe you?"

Jelly laughed. "Sweetie, you will owe me nothing. All I ask, is that you break away from your past. Darling and I will help you do that."

It seemed too good to be true. Everybody always wanted something and this was a very big something that she was asking for. A new identity.

In the office, in the salon known as Magix was another room. It was filled with clothing, wigs, hair extensions, makeup, mirrors, a tanning booth, a shower, a beautician's station and so much more. It had everything that one would need to become a new person.

"First we need to change your look. You have a pretty unique color of eyes. That needs to go." She had the girl sit in a chair and placed a pair of strange goggles on her. "This machine will measure your eyes so that the color contacts I give you will be comfortable."

Kyoko nodded and complied to any demands the small woman had and before she knew it, she had a box of silver-blue contacts in hand.

"Go try them on and then we'll get started." Jelly commanded.

Kyoko nodded and stared into the bathroom mirror. She opened the lens case and carefully popped the contacts into her eyes. She looked once again and marveled at the dramatic difference. She never realized how much of an impact her eye color actually had until now. She blinked and then smiled. "I could get used to this." She placed the box of contacts in the bag the Witch had given her and moved on to the next phase of her transformation.

Jelly gave her a once over inspection and hummed to herself. "Short or, long?" She asked.

Kyoko looked at her with confusion.

"Should we cut your hair or, make it longer?" Jelly mused.

"What do you think would look good?" Kyoko asked.

Jelly looked her over again. "I really don't know this time. You seem like the type that could go with just about anything and no one would be the wiser. I'm thinking long blonde hair with pink highlights, but that's me. Oh! I spoke to Darling and he is going to assign you a new name. He says you would make a really good Setsuka."

Kyoko nodded. As long as no one recognized her, she really didn't care.

"Can you speak English?" Jelly asked as she began organizing her workstation to begin the next phase.

"I speak it well enough. I had to when I was in Kyoto for the clientèle." Kyoko informed her as she sat in the beautician's chair.

Jelly just stared at her. "Wow... That was a perfectly clean British accent. You sound like you're from London."

Kyoko smirked. "Thank you."

Jelly nodded. "Very well. From this point on, you will only be known as Setsuka Heel. You are from London and you are here in Tokyo for your modeling career."

"Wait! What? Modeling career? I don't know how to model!" She panicked.

Jelly shook her head. "Sweetie... When I'm done with you, no one will ever know and Darling has already arranged everything." She told her as she nodded back to the computer behind them. "Don't worry so much. There are more people here to help you, than you think. The best place to hide is in plain sight." She told her as she spun her seat around and the large, black styling cape fluttered around her then settled. "Now, sit back and let me do my magic." She smiled as she patted her on the shoulder and began her work.