-Oxford - Tuesday: Part 8-
Kyoko did not have to wait long for a new voice to come onto the line. "Hello. Lady Kyoko, I am Ankou I will be taking over this call due to the nature of this manner. Do you understand?"
"Yes." she felt relief wash over her, this would make it easier to talk, they wouldn't have to pick and choose their words so carefully. True her family would have the ability to speak more freely than she would be allowed. Only due to the nature of the environment they were in at the moment. Heth would be a problem or could be one. While Ren well she wasn't sure how safe that line was with him. Her Father seemed to trust him and so did Maria. She felt that in this case unlike the one with Shoutaro she could fully trust him on the matter. Well as much as she could trust any outsider on the nature of this. Everyone who was not family could never know the full truth. Well, Tomi knew or she should say he would know if it ever came down to it. He had taught her and she felt confident in her own skills now when it came to the body of those around her if she focuses on them. He would be able to pick her out easily.
"You said you were safe, is this correct?"
"Yes. As much as I can be. He is still here after all and I rather not have Mr. Tsuruga to come to harm. He is an actor and model, not a bodyguard."
"Understandable, can you tell me about this man who attacked you please?" A memory that came into her mind took such a stronghold of her mind that she felt like someone had punched her in the gut.
Tomi was smoking like crazy, he wasn't normally this heavy of a smoker but the room smelled of it something awful when she walked in. Mick had tried to get her to respond yet again to his touches and she as always just played the part of a living doll. She had already grown to accept that as long as she didn't fight it, as long as she didn't show her fear, her disgust, they rarely took as much enjoyment out of her. They saw her not as fun but they still had to help her improve daily for a few hours. Several men daily made her sick to her stomach, part of her wish they would just get it over with all at once instead of spreading out as they did. Still, she was not as fun. No, they like the ones who plead for them to stop, the ones who cried, the ones who allowed their voices to show that their bodies were enjoying the sensations.
Tomi had said that it was a condition of the body, it didn't actually mean they did… and she agreed. In a way, she was happy that she had such a good control over her facial expressions when she worked with the Fuwas, able to hide the pain behind a smile, had changed yes to being able to hide the pain behind an emotionless creature. She didn't enjoy it and perhaps that there laid in the key to it all. It made her sick inside. It gave her nightmares, it woke her up at the sudden of a movement in the room, it scared her how much they expected and how mad that got when they didn't get it.
This did not explain what was going on now. Why this man was upset. "Tomi-sensei?" the man looked at her a moment of surprised that she had not been crying but how could she cry right now. When he seemed so troubled., it was clear to her he didn't enjoy this. That he was doing it for some reason she couldn't understand. No, perhaps that wasn't exactly true either, he didn't care about any of it. He showed her affection true and it seemed to trouble him that he was as if he didn't know what to do with it or make it go away. "Is there something wrong?" she said trying to use Russian to speak with him. It was slow but the words were correct she believed.
"Yes…" he said fully turning towards her. "They are going to try and force you to react," he said back to her in Russian. He spoke slower for her, he said she was a fast learner but she didn't believe it. Not to say there were many words she didn't understand yet.
"Do they not already do that?" The confusion must have been written on her face because he ran a hand face trying to figure out if he should tell her or not.
"You will be tortured." He moved to one of the cabinets and pulled out a file then motioned her towards him and she went without question. "They do this… most of the girls here have gone through this," he said setting the file down on the desk he opened it up and she watched as image after image of broken women came into view. She noticed some listed as Dead but almost all of them seemed to have ended up Fine she saw images of a few listed as Rare her eyes turned towards up to him.
"I don't understand… what happened?"
"Sometimes when you are hurt badly over and over again. You start to think that the actions of Mick and Boss and the others are wonderful. That you rather have them over this." his eyes turned towards the folder. "They aren't mistaken in that logic. It's a way to condition them. The more they fight the worse they get… if they show any response at all that tends to make it a game for the guy. The truth of the matter they don't want the Rare sure they get some good money but they make more money with their Fine flowers. Guys have to come in and see them, they have to pay to get in the door, pay for their drink... pay if they want more. It's a good business if you take out the fact they are slaves, not employees."
"They want me to be like them?" the fear in her voice was heavy. She wasn't sure if she could handle what was shown in that file.
"You must not let him see you react… even to the pain. You must not fight him, if you fight him, the chances are you could die increases. The only way to end up beating him and not become like the others is if you don't react, bury it all inside of you. Do you understand?" her eyes turned towards him and she nodded.
"Lady Kyoko are you with me?" His voice brought her out of the memory that had taken hold of her.
"Yes sorry… I was... recalling the start of a nightmare," she whispered the last part of the words.
"I understand Lady Kyoko. I'm going to patch you into your guardians now, please make sure to give them as much detail as possible, it will be useful and we have people stationed in the room with them." She knew that meant the other Ankou would be listening.
It didn't take that long to explain minus some finer details that she didn't feel needed to be said like where her mind had been prior to her need to go for a walk because she hadn't been feeling well. She left out who had been making her feel like that in the first place because the only person who knew the full detail was leaning against at the moment and using him as shield yet again but he didn't seem to mind, actually it seemed he wanted that from her. 'Can today get any worse?' She seriously hoped not, she really just wanted to take a hot shower and crawl into bed.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Mary asked.
"He must not be allowed to be free. I can't go into the details… but trust me on this matter." She moved away from Ren's back and his hold on her hand tighten she needed to pace, but he was going to make that really hard on her. So like the last few times since she started talking to her family, she found herself back against his back and he relaxed the hold on her hand. 'Yeah... doesn't want me in the guy's sight' Still she had to go on and deal with this matter. "The media can never know. The people here can never know either. It would destroy this show and it would carry on into the future shows as well. It could destroy this place of business, people could lose their jobs. We cannot allow it to happen. There are too many other people who will be hurt by this."
"You understand what will happen to him don't you? What this means you are doing?" She could hear the worry in his voice not for Heth no, for her. For they were leaving this in her hands, this was one of the nightmares. This one compared to all the others was not fit to live he was a serial killer and he enjoyed what he did to young women. She felt his hand squeeze hers and wanted to suddenly pull it away from but this was not his fault. Besides she was sure he was only reacting to how she had stiffened and was only trying to give her some comfort.
"Father… what this man has done to others." She turned this time not caring that Ren's hand tightened around her own, it had become a silent way of him telling her that he didn't want her to move but this time she needed to look at Heth, he reminded her more and more of a madman. He was smart enough to know that he was in no position to harm either of them but that did not stop the madness that seemed to be leaking out of him.
Heth smirked at her, "They don't have capital punishment here you know. I'll be sent back to Japan... by morning." She closed her eyes and smiled softly at him. Yes, it was true that they didn't but that would not change his fate.
"You are correct… we don't but if Ankou is kind and I'm sure he is. I'll never have to worry about you again."
He snorted, "What the hell is Ankou? Some fucking God?"
She felt no need to answer him instead she looked up towards Ren. His eyes never seemed to move from this guy and she was starting to worry about him. 'No, it's not unreasonable he would be worried about another person.' He was kind but he was also dangerous and the action he had taken against this man she had seen it, yet that part of him didn't scare her nearly as much as she thought it was meant to. No his anger, when directed at her, did that and sent off all sort of alarms in her head, it bothered her no one could see this. 'Yes, dangerous but he has a kindness to him too.' she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It is the right choice, there is no saving him."
"Then it will be done." Kyoko listened to Mary speak the words that would remove this man from the world. "It is with great sadness that I sentence this man known only as Heth to death for crimes not limited to attacking a member of the Royal family, but his crimes against humanity. I want all the data we can find on this man to be sent to me immediately. So that my final judgment can be handed down on the form of his sentence." She found herself pulling her hand free as Mary spoke, she had felt the uneasiness this had caused him more than seen it on the man's face as her eyes turned towards Heth. Relief was washing over her at every word her Aunt Mary spoke. Ren didn't need to know the details but he should know the next because he was here, he needed to know the last part of the ruling. The part she knew would be who was allowed in on this information. She moved so she was standing in front of him and lifted the phone up to his ear so he could hear Mary's voice.
"No one outside my personal guard, the royal family, and one Ren Tsuruga are allowed to be included in this knowledge unless given permission by Lady Kyoko Takarada legal guardians. Her father Archduke Lory Takarada or her Great Aunt the Queen Mother Leiko. Excluding myself or my husband Prince Robert. You have my orders. See that it is done in a timely matter. You are dismissed." She watched him nod his head before pulling the phone back from him and moving once more behind him, this time he did not reach for her hand.
"Kyoko the order has been carried out. Please wait until security has come to take the man into custody, the story is an assault on your person. Mr. Tsuruga image must remain Kyoko, do you understand? They must not know he used physical force on him. It will not look good with his station." Mary spoke the words but she didn't need to respond at that moment even if she had wanted to because her father had spoken up.
"The best course of action for him Kyoko, if asked, is to say nothing on the matter. Cry, freeze up if you must. Ren will follow your lead. Wait for General Brown as will be there soon. He will be able to spin the story if need be any further. Yet I am ordering you to say with Ren until Ruto gets there. I do not mind if you go with Yashiro but it must be with those two. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Father… thank you, Mary, Robert, Great Aunt Leiko and I am sorry."
There was a buzzing sound and she reached over she felt him shift but it didn't matter at the moment. She took the emergency phone and leaned against the elevator with it. "Yes? That's me. He can move yes, please be ready. This man is violent. I would like us to leave unharmed. Thank you. Please give me a moment so we are out of the way." she turned towards Ren whose back was still to her as he watches Heth but he was not as still as he had been prior, she knew the likely reason was that he could not keep an eye on her and him at once.
Lifting the cellphone back to her ear she spoke to her family. "They are here. I must go. I will contact you later once I'm with Ruto or General Brown. I love you all." Then hung up. She took a deep breath, she would have to use his first name this bothered her more than she wanted to admit but it was for the best. "Ren, please come. Stand with me here." she held out her hand for him to take, "They will be entering and I don't want you harmed." she watched as he moved, turning completely around to face her. He searched her face for a moment. Then his head turned back towards the man, she wasn't sure what he did but Heth seemed to truly fall into insanity as his laughter echoed around the small chamber. She placed her hands over her ears before she felt his arm around her pulling her into him. She was supposed to push the button to unlock the doors to end this nightmare. Taking another breath she removed her hands and placed his phone back in his pocket before grabbing the emergency phone once more, "I'm opening it now" and pushed the button to unlock the doors. Several bodies rushed in they seemed confused by the madman laughing but quickly gathered him.
Ren or perhaps Kuon didn't want to let her go but once they had given the given the all clear. He craved her touch, he could not fight the fear that her life was this dangerous. It wasn't supposed to be like that as a member of the Royalty, was it? Yet from the way she spoke on the phone, he was getting the sinking feeling that as long as she was here as long as the world saw her as a member of this family she would always be put into such positions. He also knew that she would never put herself or her own fears before the safety and image of those around her. It wasn't that she was being brave, she just understood what he hadn't at first. Her family was still her family but they also faced of an idea. It was business and only when she was alone and it explained why she was so close to her family members. They all shared this same burden.
So he let her moved passed him, he felt a pain in his heart as she stepped outside of the elevator and he followed after her. 'Was this the reason she still denying him?' He shook his head mentally, the sensation of the way she had run his hand through the back of his hair must have meant something. She had allowed him to hold her hand and had without question, for the most part, respected his desire for her to stay behind him whenever she had felt the urge to walk back and forth. 'No I don't think she is denying me... not like before.' He closed his eyes 'I want to help her carry this burden... to ease her heart but how can I even do that?'
He opened his eyes to watch her, he began to recall the smaller details. She had allowed him to hold her hand, had accepted his silent request for her to stay against him, even when she wanted to move he could feel how restless she had been. To how she pulled away from him so he could hear part of what the Queen had said. She was letting him know he was allowed in this part of the circle, this time like last time. She was allowing him in just a little and it may only be because he had been there but it was enough for now. That she didn't want him to get hurt had been said several times during that call. When she had asked him to stand with her out of the way again because she didn't want him hurt. 'How can be she so strong? The whole time her movements in there had been to comfort me not herself.'
Still, it hurt that she acted like none of that happened, maybe that was because for her he was nothing more than another subject of Queen Mary. Yet he wanted to hope that there was more to her actions 'but I would be foolish to think that.' He watched as she leaned against the wall and opened her hand to reveal a blue stone. His eyes snapped towards her face when he heard the words she spoke so softly "I'm still alright Corn." before her hand closed around it tightly at the sight of a man in uniform stepped towards her.
"There you are Ren" came Yashiro's voice he frowned at him "They were moving someone and wouldn't let me get through... we don't have much time to get the ballroom." They weren't exactly running late, they still had a bit of time just not as much less than 7 minutes they needed to get going "What happened here?" He noticed the uniform office talking to Kyoko who was shaking her head back and forth. Yashiro noticed that he wasn't responding to him his eyes just stayed focus on Kyoko.
"I'm sorry… my father told me not to leave Tsuruga's side. I am to stay with him or his manager until Ruto comes and gets me." She spoke a little louder and the man looked around clearly not happy that they might be overheard.
"It's important that you come with us though for your own safety Lady Kyoko" he reached out to take her arm and she moved away.
"No… I must obey my Father's wishes" the man sighed and took his hat off to scratch his head.
"Then can you at least come with us to answer some questions? We need to know the details… Lady Kyoko?" she was crying, no perhaps not really crying an act, he knew what she really looked like when she was truly crying. He looked at Yashiro who seemed to understand and the two walked over to her. Ren placed a hand on her head and to his surprise, she turned to wrap her arms around his waist. Ren felt her shaking and he wondered if he should place an arm around her but instead looked at the police officer.
"We need to go... something is off with him," she spoke softly in Russian he wasn't sure he heard her right. His eyes looked towards the man but he could not see what she had seen. Still, if she said it then she didn't actually want him to know and she was talking to herself but feared of being overheard was taking a strong hold over her.
"I'm afraid I will be late for my next appointment. I assure you that her father did order us to take care of her. I hope you can understand that right now she is in no place to talk about what happened and I only walked in at the end." which was true minus the fact it was because of him that the man had taken damage.
"Yes, we were told as much…" The officer said looking at the girl this time he did place an arm around her shoulder, the man looked back at him and he smiled a perfect gentleman smile.
"She's safe with us I assure you. No harm will come to her. Yet she needs a bit of time, perhaps you can wait for her Godfather to talk to her." with that he looked at the girl who held onto him "Kyoko we must leave now." he felt her nod her head before stepping away from, he began to walk and she followed just behind him, he looked behind him to see that Yashiro walked behind her satisfy with this he led the way to the ballroom.
