Chapter 11

Red Lanterns

Mariah had left before I was awake. I was too sleepy to bother about an explanation and dozed off again. Later I was shaken awake by the other girls.

"Kimi-chan! We have training today!" Hilary's voice entered my head.

I feebly opened my eyes and caught sight of four faces looking down at me. Mariah wasn't there.

"Where's Mariah?" I asked half in daze.

"Off to see her lover again, I suppose," Julia scoffed.

"Don't be stupid, she knows that she has training so she'll come," Hilary excused her friend for her.

I ignored all of their chatter and began wandering around my blankets, in search of my Karate kimono. I found my belt under the tatami mat and the costume under Mariam's pillow.

"God, you've brought in sashimis?" I exclaimed, holding my nose.

"Sorry, we had lunch here 'coz we were too lazy to go down," Mariam apologized.

It was then that I realized how hungry I was and I would probably pass away without breakfast.

"Hey, someone grab a plate of takoyagi for me? I'm starving."

At last we all raced down the backstairs to the underground where the dojo was. Everyone else was already there, including Mariah. We quickly regained our plane in the files and followed the warm-ups led by Madam Cho, of course. Strange, she didn't look herself today. Her graying hair was no longer in a tight bun but many strands escaped to her face. She also seemed aloft, as if thinking over something. I wanted to whisper my remark to Mariam while we were doing push-ups but Madame Cho suddenly threw her pin at me before I chanced to speak.

"No talking in the dojo, Tiger Lily," she said rather violently. "You know that."

I collapsed on the ground and with my free hand caught the pin before it hit me. Then I got up to give it back to her. The bitch. I'd barely spoken a word. But I know much enough not to cross her. I mean, I lived with the woman my entire life! As I leveled to her, she stared at me sternly and snatched the pin from me.

"Even though I've let you play a part, it doesn't mean that everything is permitted, Tiger Lily," she said coldly.

"Yes, Mistress."

I bowed stiffly to her before gaining my place. Great, I'd have to start all over again. That was the rule: if you talked, you had to pay. But I couldn't help it. Sometimes things must be said on the moment, not afterwards. Mariam gave me a compassionating look before finishing her 200 push ups. Here goes… One, two, three, four… If it was the first time I had to do this, it would be death and death only. I mean, Madame Cho was harsh. It was like she never thought that we could be exhausted. And stuffs she taught us as if they were moral notions were things like "Kill the others but don't get yourself killed", "Murder is not murder unless the victim is consent" (in other case, if they don't have the time to complain, you're not murdering them), "Guilty must not be a word in your dictionary", "Don't let your feelings be above you," etc… Okay apart from the last one, most of her teachings consisted of turning us into killing machines. Of course, we girls were not like that! We had times of pleasures and innocence. But I supposed that the most important thing Madame Cho achieved in teaching us was: killing is normal. I mean it! I don't understand the laws that forbid killings. Killing is the only way to eliminate venoms. And they were a lot in our society. If we killed a rich, the poor would be less poor because there wouldn't be any rich! See, it was all a question of relativity.

Forty nine, fifty, fifty one, fifty two… I glanced up at the others who were now running around the dojo and jumping to punch the bag suspended from the roof, which was of course as high as their height multiply by two. At first, I was all but able to reach that goddamn bag. It was dangling there waiting for us to reach. No one did better than either. But at least their fingers were nearly touching the thing, maybe even creating a little draught to push it. However me, I was no where near the fucking bag. I could see it with my eyes and everything and wishing a miracle would occur and I would be able to reach for that fucking bag. But now everything seemed easier. I mean, that jumping is no longer a problem for us. As a matter of fact, it had become almost like child play. A hundred. The first years were a total horror, I could still remember it. We were aching- I was aching to learn and have those abilities but like, it was all too hard: I lack of physical strength and I get tired easily. It was all the same for beginners of course. But now, I suppose I could say that I was rather proud of myself, even though Madame Cho always treated me like the weakest.

When she was younger- no when I was younger (coz Madame Cho had never been young in my memory), she used to take care of me. But taking care in Madame Cho's definition was like having complete control over me. She wouldn't let me try anything that she judged noxious to my growth or mind. You know like, watching anime or reading manga. Instead she would read to me, or rather tell me of the ninjas' deeds and how their example was good to follow. She also explained how sexuality shouldn't be over looked by children and started explaining everything to me. I used to watch the other prostitutes perform, hiding in a closet or something so I wasn't really uneasy with stuff like this. She also showed me that nudity was an art and sometimes made me watch pornography. So we can't say that I had the most blooming childhood but at least I had someone. She used to look at me sometimes like feeling something was gonna happen and that she was sorry for it to happen. But since I've accomplished my training at the age of twelve, she kind of became more distant, even sending me that mountain to train with her former colleague, Lady K. She called herself a lady but of course, she was no aristocrat. She was thin and still had magnificent black hair and I wondered if it wasn't she the real beauty of the Palace. From her I learnt not the way of hardship but the art of seduction. Every prostitute had to pass by her before coming down to serve in the Palace. She gave me the gift of ruse. The weapon was more important than all the physical training Madame Cho gave me. To become a ninja, she said, we must have both strength and mind. I think that Madame Cho was jealous of Lady K but of course, she wouldn't admit it. I mean, the Lady seemed much cleverer than the Madame! Enough of talking. Madame Cho always reproached me of day-dreaming but I assure that I was well concentrated when it came to work! After finishing my push ups, I got up and joined the girls in the series of kicks. Thirty of each leg and don't ask how many kicks they were! And this was just the beginning. Madame Cho alone knew of the time so we couldn't know whether she was cheating on time or not. Sometimes it would seem like an eternity before she would let us out. Hope it wouldn't happen this time.


I promise some lemons in the next chappie