I've always had an attitude. It didn't matter what I said unless my 'super-friendly-work-mode' was on; I always have an attitude. I've also had the issue with never being able to bite my tongue. I'll own up to it every day, but it might be one cold day in hell when I swallow my words when angry. My family attributes it to my mental health, as I seem to be the lucky child to end up with the worst of the genetic dump. Anxiety and major depressive disorder were the main culprits. I've suffered with those since I was a child so I never think of them as a big deal any more.
I come from a fairly prestigious family, well known throughout Japan as one of the ancient bloodlines. As a child I was forced to learn to play piano, learn to speak English and French, and went to a boarding school here in Tokyo itself. But after a nasty fight about my health issues, I left my family completely. Apparently, I chose to have all these issues and it's my fault that they've gotten so bad not my mother's belief that medications don't do anything. My mother had always been ruthless to me, neglect was a common theme in my childhood.
Now, at the young age of twenty-three, I've moved out of my parent's house and to Tokyo, where I work as a hotel maid at the prestigious Tres Spades Hotel and Casino. A hotel maid with anxiety, sounds great, right? Surprisingly it works, I never get anxious with guests and the compliments I get mellow me out a great deal, making me feel like I'm not just a doctor's bill waiting to happen. My life is as normal as can be: eat, sleep, woke, and get wasted on my days off.
Well, at least it was that way for like a year. Then I got myself sold at a black market auction.
I still stand by the fact I spoke respectfully after they bumped into me in the storage room. But no, that stolen statue had to be replaced. With me. I still don't understand why a priceless statue equates to hotel maid it those mobsters' minds. But I guess it doesn't matter now, since I'm waiting in this golden bird cage for the idiots who bought me. Twenty million? That's absurd. Ten million would have gotten the job done. And after what seemed like hours two men in masks finally came and got me.
"Awh, she's shaking like a dog when it gets in trouble!" The man with a caramel colored hair exclaimed, far too happy with the fact I am is terrified.
"Ota don't tease her. Not only is she in a cage, but she was just sold. I don't think she feels as light hearted as you." The other man laughed out. He has chin-length brown hair and a red suit jacket, had she seen him somewhere before? No, it cannot be him. The same man who was the whole reason I was at that party in the first place. Oh, I was going to let him have it given the chance. "Come on, let's get this pretty lady out of that cage." The man offered out his hand to her after opening the door.
Ignoring the offer to help, I stumbled up onto shaky legs. The white dress I was put into tangled around my legs while my bare feet felt the cold floor. I kept my head down, but I could tell that my actions cause a little displeasure, or was it surprise, to go through their faces before the plastered smiles came back.
"Hah! She completely disregarded you, Baba! Can it be, a woman who refuses your charms?" The other one laughed as he watched her every move. I could feel a tight grip on either of my elbows as they lead me to an elevator.
"Where are you taking me?" My voice was small, completely unlike me.
"A place that could be said resembles dreams," the man in the maroon jacket exclaimed.
"Or it could be like a nightmare," said the other man, sticking his tongue out for me to see. He swiped a fancy gold keycard into the elevators. Wait, that card is reserved for the penthouse suites only, does that mean these two are VIP guests at the hotel? Possibly the ones who live in those special rooms?
When the elevator stopped I was led out down a hall way with only four single doors on the walls and a double door at the end of the hall. The two men threw the double doors open and ushered me inside. It was lavish. Checkered flooring, a large TV mounted on the left wall, the right wall was just windows, there was a sitting area composed of couches and arm chairs that looked to be purple velvet. But why were there five men in here with her? I thought I was bought by one person, not a group.
"We brought her," the long haired man said, nudging me forward as he walked to join the others. Looking closely at everyone's faces I recognized four of the five of them. The long haired man was definitely the man who forced me down to the I.V.C party room, then the caramel haired man was Ota Kisaki the famous Angelic Artist, there was the scary man from before that was speaking Chinese and doing an illegal gun trade, and the last man took the air out of my lungs completely. It was the King, the same man who I had been thrown into earlier today and my boss.
"We bought you," the King said nonchalantly. As if this was the most normal thing in the world. 'What are you doing today Jim?' 'Oh you know, human trafficking, nothing huge.'
Then the mafia man spoke up, "So we caught you after all." Yeah, you did. Guess no worries for him now that I'm here, as if choking me in a hallway didn't do the trick. Good for him.
"You know this woman, Soryu?" the King muttered in disbelief to the man sitting beside him, eyeing me closely. What did he think I was a part of the mafia? That's a stretch, even for a rich boy.
"You could say that," Soryu replied coolly.
"So this is an awesome reunion and all but can we get this going?" I bluntly say, not really thinking of the exact position I was in.
"Wow, we spent twenty mill on a ball of attitude, didn't we?" The long haired man laughed as the two sitting on the couch gave me pointed glares.
"You're the reason I'm in this mess since you couldn't keep your date then forced me to come with you and left me down there." I snap right back at the man, what was his name again? I huffed at the men, "I wouldn't have been down there wandering if I had been left alone to just do my job."
"Baba what is this woman talking about?" Soryu asked from the couch, frown etching deeper on his face.
"Oh, I knew I had recognized you from somewhere! This pretty lady was my date to the I.V.C tonight!"
"You lead her down there? Fully knowing that she couldn't access the elevator without the special keycard? A worthless woman like her," Soryu growled at the man. I could have sworn ice was starting to form on the ceiling that glare was so cold.
"Enough," the King interrupted, "Woman, you are not permitted to speak unless we give you permission."
"Awh, Boss, you should be nice to girls. Besides, we need to decide who gets her!" Baba stated with more gusto then I would have preferred.
"Yeah, I'm pretty fond of her already," Ota snickered at the other men.
"I don't want to waste any more of my time of this," as the circle of four men closes in on me each with their own freighting expressions, "I'll let you choose," the King finishes.
"Oh great, I get to choose between the King, a mobster, a womanizer, an artist who said I look like a dog, and…." I cast my eyes over to the man who has just been sitting at an open window smoking the whole time. He looked as put together as a bum that found a suit. I finished my thought with a tug of a smile on my lips, "a mute? Mime possibly?"
He'd let me choose, eh? Well he never said what I could choose. Shaking my head I just looked at the men in the eyes, and said, "I choose freedom?" And as the question left my lips I broke out into a sheepish smile, giggling at my own joke. I always found situations like this funny. It was how I stopped from getting irrationally anxious. A defense for myself and others.
The only one who laughed was Ota after the other four men had expressions of pure disbelief. All the glares and sinister smiles were replaced with wide eyes and mouths slightly agape. Even the mute by the window almost let his cigarette fall out of his mouth. Ota and I giggled to ourselves until Soryu breaks the tension.
"I can drown her in the bay if you would like, Eisuke." His tone was low, but I couldn't let myself get scared. Getting scared just meant a panic attack which would not do me any favors in this situation.
"I've always wanted to learn how to swim," I say, casting my gaze to the ceiling, a broad smile on my face. No, I can make it through this, as long as anyone but the King buys me. His eyes searching me creep me out, the other men I can just annoy or get some sympathy from. I don't really care for the threats they make. My mother made enough of those growing up. The Tokyo Bay actually being one of them.
"Woman, do you think this is a game? You belong to us now, do you understand or are you too stupid?" the King spat out.
"No I get it. Truly I do. But I don't really care to belong to any of you, ya know?" I say honestly while shrugging my shoulders.
"Hm, fine. Time's up then." Before I could even ask when there had been a time limit, I was already throw over someone's shoulder. Shit. The exact person I didn't want. He carried me up the back stairway up into what I presume was the actual penthouse of the hotel. He threw me down on the bed and glared at me.
"Can I help you, your highness?" I say sarcastically as I sit back up and straighten my dress back out. I look up to his ice cold eyes that, even though they were a warm brown, were glaring down at me.
"The rules for staying here and being my toy are as follows," his voice filled the quiet room, "One, do not talk back to me. Two, you may answer my questions with either 'yes' or okay'. Three, I bought you so I can do whatever I want with you." He pulls my chin closer to him as he say this before throwing my head to the side. "If you understand, undress."
I looked up at him with disbelief. Undress? How about I don't, I like that option. But of course I shrug and resign to doing what he says. I mutter to myself the entire time, choosing to ignore the absurd first two rules, "It's just like back at home, I swear he sounds just like my mother. Always thinking she is better than anyone else that has ever lived. I bet the both of them think they're better than the Prime Minister himself. How many times has mother forced me to undress in the living area or kitchen because she disproved of my outfit? Even that one time we had quests over. I was fine for dinner why was it an issue once the party itself had started? I will never understand that woman." Eisuke was carefully watching me, listening to me compare him to my own mother. I didn't really care all that much though.
After finally getting the dress over my head I turned to him in my undergarments. "You happy? Can I redress?" He started at my chest as if he were looking for something.
Huffing he turned on his heel to leave, "You can redress, woman."
"It's Kai. Not woman. Kai."