Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice does not belong to me.
WARNING: This chapter contains implied rape.
Chapter Nine
Five years ago
Sumire was a baker's daughter. She wasn't suited for this sort of life, baking and collecting money, simply looking prim and proper behind the counter full of bread. At fifteen years old, Sumire hated the way her life had shaped itself out to become like a routine. A boring, boring routine.
Sumire ruffled her skirts a little in an attempt to curb her rebelliousness as she stared morosely out the window. Oh, how she would love to go on an adventure, to traverse all the forests there were out there, meet her Prince Charming and get swept off her feet.
She had thought that this dream would probably never come true, but recently she had been oddly satisfied with her life. Sumire was happy where she was, in her dreary and mundane life of being a good daughter to her parents, the only heir of the most well-known bakery in Lavencia.
She would never be able to marry above her station, but there were many rather eligible bachelors clamouring after her hand, and it boosted her ego enough, even though she wasn't interested in any of them.
It seemed as if only one boy was good enough to catch her interest, Sumire thought to herself, just as the door to the bakery opened and a disheveled, mud-covered boy stepped into the shop.
Sumire would have cringed and turned her nose up in disgust if it was any other boy who had stepped into her territory completely covered in mud, but this was Kokoro Yome -
The one boy who could make Sumire Shouda's hard, almost unfeeling heart start to flutter.
Koko grinned widely at her, one eye shut because of the presence of mud on his eyelid, and Sumire found herself smiling giddily back at him even though he looked immensely unattractive at the moment. She got up to her feet, smoothing her skirts back again in an effort to look presentable.
"Koko," she breathed.
"Hey, Perms," Koko grinned widely at her, "It took me a great load of trouble, but here." He held out a bunch of flowers which were muddied at the stems. "I found some flowers that are remotely able to match up to your beauty."
Sumire stared at the plain-looking flowers, a smile twitching the corners of her lips. "You and your sweet tongue," she chided as she walked over to him slowly and purposefully, in the way she would only ever walk in front of him.
"Let's get you cleaned up," she murmured when she was in front of him, and Koko gave her a soft smile, grabbing her hand with his dirty ones as he led her into the back of the shop.
Sumire stared at their entwined hands all the way into the house. His hands had been dirty, and now hers were too. She smiled, then grinned widely.
It was a beautiful sight.
It was two fortnights after the beautiful day Koko had brought her flowers. The flowers were already wilting, and Sumire felt herself wilting a little too as she looked out the window from her room to watch the dark, stormy clouds covering the sky outside. The rain poured in heavy, unyielding droplets, and lightning shot across the sky with deafening thunder accompanying it.
It had been two weeks since she last saw Koko.
A knock rapped on her door, and Sumire rose to her feet hastily, pulling the door open with unusual force, hoping desperately to see the person she had missed so much.
It was not Koko who was at her door. Instead, it was a familiar face. It was Koko's best friend since birth, Prince Natsume Hyuuga.
"Natsume!" Sumire cried. She had never been one for formalities, and Natsume Hyuuga wasn't either, hence from the moment she had been introduced to him by Koko, they had skipped the formalities and gone straight to being friends. The prince was cold to everyone else, but Sumire knew of his closeness with Koko. The two knew everything about each other, and only around the cheerful boy did Natsume let down his guard to show his rare, blinding smiles more often.
The prince was dripping from head to toe, his expression solemn as he stood bedraggledly at her doorstep. "Koko's in trouble," Natsume said grimly, and Sumire felt her heart sink.
She knew it. The moment she saw Natsume at her door, she had known that the only reason the prince would turn up at her door in the middle of the night would have to be Koko. Her heart constricted painfully, thumping wildly in her chest as she stared bewilderedly at Natsume.
"Is it not something you can solve?" She asked, even though she knew the answer to her own question.
Natsume met her gaze and held it for a long while, his eyes dark with worry and anger. "It's going to be hard," he replied slowly, "Sir Kimura is dead, and Koko is being held for murder."
Sumire swore that she would strangle the boy when she saw him again. Sir Kimura, dead! She paced around her room frantically after Natsume Hyuuga had left, anger burgeoning in her chest to replace the worry. She had told Koko not to do anything rash to the lord. She had told him that she would find a way out of the marriage her parents intended to push her into herself!
And now he'd gone and killed the man that she was slated to marry!
Sumire ran a frustrated hand through her green curls as tears started to gather in her eyes. Sir Kimura's father, Kimura Oshio, was of great importance to the court, playing advisor to the Chancellor. He wouldn't possibly let Koko go so easily for the death of his son. Koko would have to pay... in blood.
No. No, that could not happen. Sumire wouldn't allow it to happen. How could she watch her beloved walk towards the gallows and pretend that nothing was happening? How could she live on without the one person who filled up her whole heart?
There was no other question as to what she had to do. Sumire through open her wardrobe and pulled out her most fancy clothing, nodding to herself in persuasion. She was shaking in apprehension and abhorrence for what she was about to do, but she knew that she would have to do it.
If Natsume Hyuuga was unable to save Koko, the only one left to do it would be she herself.
"So, sweetheart," Kimura Oshio sneered at Sumire as his beady eyes raked greedily over her scantily clad body. "You mean to tell me that you're offering yourself in exchange for Kokoro Yome's measly, worthless life?"
Sumire licked her dry lips as her gaze flittered around the large, extravagant mansion that the Kimuras lived in. This would have been the family she would have married into, the riches she would have enjoyed, if Sir Kimura had not died.
If there had been no Koko.
Sumire found herself to not be harbouring any regrets for her decision as she turned her head to look luringly at the advisor. "Well, I don't supposed I would be enough to change your decision," she ran a hand lightly over the older man's beefy arm, "but I do hope to change your mind regarding your decision on how to handle Koko for his crime." She fluttered her eyelashes a little, hoping it turned out as alluring as she hoped it would be.
Kimura Oshio smirked, his calloused hand reaching out to capture Sumire's wandering one in a tight grip. "Well, it's not as if things cannot be discussed," he drawled in a tone that sent shivers up Sumire's spine.
"If you're truly willing to make amends for your little lover..." Kimura continued, "I trust that you're... untouched?"
When Sumire nodded stiffly, the man's eyes lit up in glee. He pursed his lips and called for his manservant, whispering softly into the servant's ear. When the servant retreated after nodding, Kimura gestured for Sumire to come with him. Sumire smiled demurely, even though her heart felt as if it was going to fall out of her mouth.
"I would like to go to the washroom, for a moment, if you please," Sumire requested, "to make myself more presentable for you."
Kimura gulped lecherously and nodded. "Go on then," he said with a wave of his hand, "Come to the room at the end of the hall afterwards."
Sumire gave him a short smile before retreating, turning the way that the manservant had gone. She found him loitering near the kitchen, talking to the chef. Aware that she had only a scarce amount of time to accomplish what she wished to do, she hurried up to him, pressing a wad of dollar bills into the young boy's hands.
"Please help me, Sumire pleaded as she folded the boy's fingers over the money. "Go to the jail, pass this message to Koko. Tell him to come for me at the Kimura's mansion. Tell him to hurry. You just have to do this for me, please. If this is not enough, I'll give you more when you've done this."
The boy looked reluctant for a while as he looked from the money in his hands to Sumire's desperate, pleading face. Then, he nodded at her, to Sumire's immense relief, and disappeared behind the back door.
Satisfied, Sumire made her way to the room Kimura Oshio had told her about. Everything would be fine, she told herself uncertainly as she walked on. Koko would come for her.
Everything would be fine.
Sumire reached the room and twisted the doorknob open with her shaking hands. Kimura was sitting in the armchair in front of the fireplace, clad in only his dressing gown. Sumire could see all the flabby lumps of fat on his body, and she winced in disgust as she stepped into the room, clasping her sweaty hands together.
"Sweetheart," Kimura leered, "Come over here and let's get started, shall we?"
"Wait. You have to give the order to let Koko go first."
The man frowned, straightening his back. "And let you have a chance to run? I don't think so, darling."
Sumire took a shuddering breath before continuing, "I won't be able to run. You know that, don't you? Besides, I'm resigned for what I have to do. I'm the one who can't be sure whether you'll let Koko go after this. I have to make sure he's okay before I – before I do what I have to do."
Kimura thought about it for a moment before nodding resignedly. "Very well." He rang for a servant and whispered some orders into his ear before sending him off. "Satisfied?" he asked, sending a depracating look in Sumire's way.
Convinced, Sumire took a shaky step towards him, reminding herself that she would only have to bear with the man's disgusting company and touches for a while. Koko would be able to arrive here shortly, considering the jail's short distance from the Kimuras' abode. He would be able to save her from her predicament then, and they would all be fine.
A soft smile found its way onto her lips when she thought of seeing Koko again, alive and well, grinning at her.
Sumire made her way over to the bed reluctantly, laying down stiffly as Kimura approached her with glinting, lustful eyes. She shut her eyes tight as his gaze ran down her body, awaiting her fate.
Slowly, Kimura peeled away Sumire's clothes as she lay unmoving on the bed. Unlike the soft, fluttering feeling that she always felt when Koko touched her hand, all she felt now was dirty as the man pulled away the rest of her clothes. She shivered when the cold air reached her skin, praying desperately in her mind for Koko to come.
Kimura's wet lips descended on the skin of Sumire's neck, and she shuddered in aversion. It had already been more than half an hour since the servant was dispatched to the jail, which was merely a ten minutes walk away. Why wasn't Koko here? He should have reached here by now.
Sumire felt her eyes flying open as Kimura's touches started to become more and more offensive. Her throat was dry and tight, tears gathering in her eyes as she wondered what Koko was doing instead of rushing to her rescue immediately.
She would forgive him, Sumire thought to herself. She would forgive his tardiness, if he would just come for her, come before everything was too late.
The cell was dark, cold and lonely, and Koko hated himself for getting into such a situation. Sumire must be worried sick, he thought as he stared at the only source of light streaming into the cell from the small, barred window.
Sumire was his light. His life had been dark and cold before he met her. Being the son of a renowned thief, he had to fight to make a living. People turned their noses up at him. No respectable girl would come near him, but Sumire was different. She brought light into his life.
Sumire seemed to be bratty and unreasonable in front of other people, but Koko knew her better. She had a heart of gold, for she never even killed an ant. She loved nature, chocolate, pink roses...
She loved him, and he loved her in return.
Koko was still young, at fifteen years of age, but he already knew that the only bride for him was Sumire. As long as he had her by his side, everything felt as if it would get better.
Yes, it would get better, he told himself firmly as he stood up from his crossed-legged position on the floor of the cell. Even if he died for this, a crime which he had not committed, as long as Sumire was alive and happy, everything was fine for him.
As long as he could continue to watch over her from whereever he was...
The rattling of chains shook Koko back to his senses, and he found himself staring in the crimson red eyes of Natsume Hyuuga. "What are you doing here, dude?" he asked, shocked, as the latter grinned at him from behind the bars of the cell, unlocking the lock that was keeping him in.
"Well," Natsume tutted, "If we can't get you out legally, we'll just have to break you out of this fucking place, right?"
The boy looked so confident that Koko couldn't help but grin a little at his friend's foolhardiness.
Well, Perms, looks like I won't be dying just of yet.
Koko never came.
The pain that Sumire felt as her violation became complete was not only that of a physical pain. Her heart hurt so much worse, it hurt so much that she thought she was going to die of it.
Fat droplets of tears rolled down her cheeks as Kimura left her and exited the room. She clutched the blankets up to her body and wrapped them securely around her, yet never feeling safe.
She was dirty, so dirty.
Sumire let out hysterical sobs as she buried her face into her knees, her body shrinking into a ball. She felt so pathetic, for she knew, she knew she would have forgiven Koko had he come any time during her ordeal. If he had just come, she could have forgiven whatever she had gone through.
He hadn't.
And now she had fallen, deep deep into the pits of hell.
A/N: A little background story for this chapter. I've been meaning to delve into Koko and Sumire's background for a while now, and this is it.
I'm sorry for the week long wait for this chapter, I was just busy with preparing for graduation and prom, haha. But now it's all over, and I hope to keep up with the fast updates now! :)
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, despite how disturbing it was for me to write it.
I'll get around to review replies tomorrow because I'm lazy, haha, but just a shoutout to SeraphMia, I researched on chocolate's effect on dogs a bit before adding it into my story, so don't worry about the little pup dropping dead. Chocolates are bad for dogs, yes, and can indeed kill them, but what I've read tells me that only when they eat more than a certain amount of chocolate, they die. It's because chocolate contains something that's poisonous to them? But a little bit of chocolate isn't enough to kill, so don't worry. :)