Author Note: I am going to include some real stories of comfort women. Below is the web site where I found them.

./about/exhibits/comfort_

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Kim Young-shil
"It was 1941. One day I encountered a well-dressed man in western clothes. He asked me if I wanted to have a good job. Thinking that any job would be better that working as a maid, I accepted his offer and followed him to where there were already eight other girls ahead of me. They were all about 14 or 15 years old.

So we all got on a truck. . . . A soldier came up to me and put a name tag on my chest. It had a Japanese name 'Eiko' written on it. He then told me, 'From now on, you must not speak Korean. If you do, we will kill you. Now your name in Eiko. . . .'

I was totally exhausted. I could keep neither my sense of humiliation nor my dignity. I felt like a living corpse. When soldiers came to my room and did it to me one after another, it was done to a lifeless body. Again. And again. And again…"

Kim Bun-sun
"One day when I was 15 years old, I went to a nearby field to gather edible wild greens with my four-year old brother. A man dressed in a Japanese policeman's uniform approached us. Suddenly he seized me with force, put me on a truck, and drove off to Tageu City from the field. . . .When the truck arrived at a strange place in Tageu, I saw about ten young Korean girls like me who had already been forced to go there. . . . They boarded us on a ship for Japan. . . . Soon more and more Korean girls were brought there, and for a week we were all taught the Japanese language. . .

Taiwan was the first place we were forced to serve as 'comfort women' for three months. After that they took us to Manila where we were joined by Filipino 'comfort women.' This kind of life lasted four years until I was 19 years old. . . .

I was infected with venereal diseases a number of times. . . . I cried often and ran away several times. Each time guards caught me, brought me back, to the house and physically punished me. The beating was so severe that my back was permanently injured, and my face became mangled. People used to tell me I was pretty until then."

Hwang Keum-ju
"[T]he Japanese sent us a draft notice for girls. . . . I wasn't kidnapped, I was officially drafted. . . . All of the girls thought that we were going to work at some kind of factory. But when the guards finally let us off the truck, we saw only Japanese soldiers on horses and motor vehicles in a vast Manchurian field. . . .

I saw so many deaths, so much illness. The Japanese injected us with so many drugs like '#606' that we would have miscarriages. Sometimes our bodies would swell up like balloons but the Japanese soldiers did not care. They would line up for sex day after day. They did not care if the girls were bleeding or what. The would still force sex on them."

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Chapter TWO:

Naru impatiently woke me up at freaking 8 in the morning! When I had gone to bed at 2! Only six hours of sleep does not make me beautiful, in fact the "whoa??" with a quick swipe to the mouth to check for drool did nothing for my attractiveness I am sure. He of course was dressed and looking great. Sigh.

"Mai, Lin and I are going to the base. Get dressed and join us as soon as possible."

I blinked in Lin's direction, hmph he was dressed and ready to go too. Guess that is how sharing the room is going to work they will get dressed before waking me up… hold that thought if I had woken up 15 minutes earlier I would have seen a half naked Naru!

"Mai? Mai are you awake yet!?"

"What?" I mumbled coming out of my lustful daze. I watched him get up and start to leave.

"Wait! Will you be ok?"

"Ayako is in the next room." He left.

"Oh"

I got dressed. A cute jean skirt, simple white shirt and white sandals; and then stepped into the bathroom to wash my face, comb my hair and brush the morning breath away. I frowned at the scars on my forearms. I had been injured on our last case quite severely by a demonic zombie. The good news is that from that case we learned that Naru could focus his powers without bodily harm if he was in contact with me. He had to be touching me, which meant that I got to hold Naru's hand a lot. Go me! Masako threw a royal fit when she realized that this meant during a case I had to be in close proximity to Naru at all times. Helps explain why I am in the same room as Naru, beyond the whole lone man-killing ghost problem. I am just hoping that this means I will be in the same room as Naru in all the next cases. What? A girl has needs and I am hoping this will make him decide to act on some of them!

When I stepped into the base room I saw that everyone was gathered around the low tea table eating the breakfast provided by the Inn. Mmmm rice, miso soup, grilled fish and veggies.

After breakfast we all lingered over tea to discuss the night shifts.

"Any activity?" Naru asked

"Nothing" John shook he head. Bou-san and Ayako nodded.

Naru shook his head. "Our investigation will be much harder this time. We can't place video camera in occupied rooms, but the activity only happens in occupied rooms…"

"AAHHHHHHHH!!!" A scream echoed across the Inn's courtyard.

We shared a look and then jumped up from our tea.

"Wait!" Naru stopped us. "We can't leave the equipment! Lin, Mai stay here!"

"WHAT!? Why can't I go?" I huffed and turned to Lin.

"No male can be alone Mai, remember?" He turned back to the monitors to view the drama as it happened in the hallways.

I face vaulted and then came-up bright red. Fist hitting the side of my head. Duh!

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Later I learned that there had been a party across the courtyard. Soldiers from the Japanese Naval base and some local women had been celebrating some leave time. At some point one of the men had wandered off and passed out in an unoccupied room. This morning he was found dead. His body had been cut up and he had died of a large cut across his throat. I felt bad for the man, what a horrible loss.

Everyone was quiet. We felt as though we failed. Even though this has been going on for a long time and we have only been here for one night. Naru was frustrated because the police who were in charge of the investigation weren't going to share details with a civilian.

"Lin, check the newspapers and internet. There has too be something connecting all the information. Mai go back to sleep."

"What!?"

He grabbed my shoulders and steered me towards the couch. I heard the muffled giggles of Ayako, Bou-san and John. Bou-san tossed a Western pillow at us. Naru caught it with one hand and put it on the couch. I turned and sat down. Bou-san came up with a blanket. "Face it Mai, this is one of the best ways to get information…letting you sleep on the job!" I laid down pouting a bit about how that sounded about my work ethic. Bou-san took my shoes off and covered me with the blanket. Actually it felt like he was tucking me in. Comforting and nice to have someone care about you like that. I looked up at Naru who was still standing over me, rolled my eyes at him, then turned over and with my back to the room made my self comfortable.

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AN: Every time Mai speaks in her dream she also says it out loud in the Base room. From "Dead Attractive" they already know that she has a spirit guide; who uses the images of the people in the group for the different dream scenarios. They don't know that "Naru/Gene" is always the spirit guide.

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When I opened my eyes I was floating over the building. I glanced over and there was Naru, hand out waiting for me.

"Naru." I whispered.

"Mai, I will help you for the sake of the ghosts trapped here. But remember; never leave me alone when you are awake. Ever. The women here do not like men."

I nodded. "So only women are trapped here?"

He nodded. "Look."

I looked down at the Inn. It was shaped in a U, with the gate to enclose the courtyard. Every room glowed a soft painful red. Soul lights drifted about the rooms. The whole Inn radiated pain, fear and rage. It was completely different from the warmth it gives in the real world.

"Look!" He pointed urgently towards one of the rooms. I looked closely and saw most of the SPR group all huddled around my sleeping body Lin was typing furiously away on his computer, his back to the group. Behind him was a skeletal woman, arm raised as though she would hit him

"LIN!! TURN AROUND!!" I screamed.

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A loud but sweet whistle woke me up; I sat straight up looking frantically at Lin. Bright lights swirled around him and the faint image of a pissed off woman faded away. Everyone's eyes were wide.

Bou-san broke the silence. "Well, that was close one!"