Special thanks and props to Andrew Glasco for his cooperation and steadfast contribution to this chapter.
Chapter 38
The Winner Decided
Starting to grow lightheaded and weak, the hold that Uriko had on the arms of her persistent opponent loosened considerably as she concentrated her efforts into saving herself, but there was no way out, and soon, searing bleakness began to cloud her vision. Unable to speak from the lack of oxygen burning her lungs, she could only gasp in small puffs of air while she fought to focus her eyes on Kenji, the misted emotions in her dark pair revealing her dying resistance, and she met his stoic expression, cold and unyielding. She screamed silently in her own mind, desperately clinging to the last bit of hope that she could win, but gradually, her dark brown orbs became dull with the knowledge of defeat and her facial features saddened all of a suddenly as her will to fight disintegrated. If she did not admit defeat aloud, then surely he would keep choking her until he knocked her out completely, and the pinned girl was unwilling to succumb to that unconscious state, lifeless to his whims and unable to fight back should he sought to take advantage of her. B-but I… I can't get out… O-oh no, oh gosh… if I don't do something quick, he's gonna win…!
As her efforts to struggle diminished, Kenji knew that she was barely clinging to awareness, and her body convulsed once in a reflexive motion of self-preservation, but he relentlessly persisted in the pursuit of his conquest and ignored the silent plea dancing about her features. While the esteemed assassin had generously shown her leniency in the past, this was certainly no time for him to spare his frail victim from his power, despite her obvious desperate need to free herself and live – she should be grateful that he would not kill her, he reasoned. Regardless of how he achieved it, the cobalt-haired ninja fully intended to win her in their final battle and realize his goal of having control over the hyperactive and annoyingly-optimistic girl; soon, she would jump at the sound of his voice and obey him unconditionally. However, even with his unyielding and callous thoughts, he could not bring himself to look her directly in the eyes to witness the raw pain that she would surely express, and a small sense of relief roused within him when Uriko lolled her head back and tilted the pair out of his sight.
"…It is painfully obvious that your fragile body cannot sustain awareness for very much longer. Concede now, Uriko Nonomura, unless you intend to fall swiftly into unconsciousness and leave yourself to my mercy." The dark-haired ninja purposely ignored the nails she had latched onto his wrists to try and pry them away, as he knew that he was mere moments from victory, but no satisfaction would find him until she succumbed to her fate and uttered the words that gave her life to him.
S-sis… I-I'm so… sorry… Clinging to the last bit of her consciousness, she finally acknowledged that she could no longer fight him off, and so yielding to the ominous assassin, the girl managed to nod slightly, just once, and her effort to do such a simple action was evident by the strained look on her face. "Nngh…"
Kenji grinned in a rather smug fashion upon realizing that at long last, he had won – after all that happened, he finally achieved what he wanted – and with a quiet chuckle escaping him, rippling through his aching body, he released his hold on her neck and rolled aside, granting Uriko the much-needed oxygen.
When she was finally freed, the slender brunette began to violently cough out dry puffs as vivid pain lanced through her nerves at the air that all of a suddenly came rushing back into her starving lungs, strangely rendering the weakened brunette even weaker as she avidly struggled to breathe. She clutched at her raw, tenderly sore throat with her own hands in a protective manner as she steadily returned from the edge of bleak abyss, her touch far more ginger and nurturing with a purpose to comfort rather than harm as Kenji had done to her just seconds ago. A dark voice screamed her defeat inside her mind as the battered girl outwardly grimaced, her eyes watering with tears of remorse at the realization that she had lost not only their deal, but also her precious, cherished freedom; what was to become of her now that he controlled her life? In spite of his arrogant words and vast fighting experience, Uriko had truly believed that she could have defeated him in their final battle, because she needed to win so badly, and her reason for acquiring victory was the complete opposite of his cruel, nefarious desire to own her.
His lips curled into a cruel smirk at the twinge of hopelessness tainting her vulnerable expression, and his eyes focused directly upon her face as he made his way down to one knee, ensuring that he maintained a certain level over her so she could start getting used to the demeaning position more quickly. "Well… just as I had told you, my precious little kitten, you could not defeat me, and now that our deal has been concluded, as per our agreement, you are mine. The thought of an amateur such as yourself defeating me was an impossible concept from the start, a mere figment of the fantasy that your mind conjured up in a desperate plight of hope."
Still feebly coughing a bit from the sensation of breathlessness, Uriko was unable to answer his condescending taunts, but she did curl her body up into a fetal position, turning slightly so that her back faced the triumphant ninja as she silently refused to give him any more satisfaction lording over her. The weakened girl shifted the placement of her arms to hug herself comfortingly, her fingers tightly clutching the open folds of her yellow jacket closely to her body, desperate to shield every aspect of her vulnerability from his smirking gaze, even though that was impossible due to her current status and attire. Just his mere presence made her almost quake with anxiety, but she silently forced the inner fear away and tried to remain calm, although no matter what she thought of, grasping weakly for a pleasant sensation, she could not wake up and escape the terrible nightmare. Her thoughts slipped away as her mind slowly fell numb, shutting down in a fierce effort to deny the fact that she lost to him, and now, she would no longer have control over her own life or make any decisions for herself; she had become nothing more than a puppet to be strung up by his wicked, malicious hands.
Kenji chuckled a bit louder, intentionally mocking his downed opponent as he visibly relished in the sight of her crumbling spirit that had finally disintegrated from the force and power of his influence, and he could push her sensitive nerves all he wanted to, at his leisure. "Uriko Nonomura, you can no longer hide from me, for your life belongs to me now… my precious little kitten… You have lost two of the three battles we engaged in, and so you officially belong to me, just the same as the clothes I wear upon my back."
Her face twisted into a grimace at the stinging truth of his statement, and she still had the bruises that proved his claim, but nevertheless, Uriko was stubborn in her vow to resist him and uttered so very softly, despite her uncertainty of whether or not he would hear her, "N-no, never…"
"Hah. You still do not fully understand your situation, I see… and might I emphasize that you have no choice in the matter. After all, you accepted your fate when your victory of our battle eluded your grasp, and you willingly succumbed to me."
She lied motionless for a few minutes, slowly regaining feeling in her limbs again, and once she felt composed enough, the girl slowly unraveled herself and rose up to sit on her behind, grateful for just that progress, but still plagued by anxiety and she swore that she could almost feel his light amber eyes burning into her back.
His gaze was indeed trained intensely upon her petite form, his lips twisted in a partial smile of sadistic pleasure as he continued to leisurely barb her with his sharp words, stinging in his accurate intention of further degrading his downtrodden opponent, "It was really quite elementary. You should not feel frustrated or disappointed toward a situation wherein you never had a chance of attaining your desired outcome…"
Determined to dispel her weakness – physically, at least – the sore young fighter carefully rose to her feet, making sure her back was still turned to the arrogant ninja until she felt ready to face him and his provocative remarks, but in the meantime, she muttered to him in an aggravated hiss, "Sh-shut up, you…"
He stood as well, much easier than the slender brunette, despite the pain and aches that he felt from his own injuries, but the prospect of having won their deal and proven his superiority over the loud-mouthed girl, that far outweighed his temporary discomfort. "Hah, I am in no position to obey that remark, but you… ah, yes, you are mere property now… and more specifically, you are my property, Uriko Nonomura…"
Fire lit up in her dark eyes at that spiteful, yet disturbingly truthful statement; dimly, she wondered if she would truly honor her word by their deal and turn herself over to the ninja, but in the meantime, while her pride rose high and sternly, she turned around at a normal pace and spat her words at him, "N-no, I'm not… and I'm never gonna belong to such a filthy, rotten person like you…!!"
"Deny the truth all you want, but it is fact." He wagged a finger at her in a condescending manner, as though he was scolding a rebellious child, before he smirked smoothly when she responded by shooting a glare of disdain directly at him, soon replaced by the hurt clearly evident upon her delicate facial features. The young man folded his arms over his bare chest and declared resolutely, "Due to the conditions of our deal, you are mine, dear kitten…"
Furious with him for the constant reminder, she succumbed to a sudden urge that ignited zealously deep inside her body and the girl lashed her arm out, slapping Kenji crisply and smartly across the face while she voiced in a loud shout, forcing the words out of her trembling lips, "Take your stupid deal and… and jump off a cliff with it-!!"
Before he could retaliate against her action, she instantly whirled around and fled from the scene with a choked sob of melancholy, inwardly certain that she would hear his mocking laughter chasing her, his presence never leaving no matter how far she ran. The dark-haired ninja remained in the large clearing, standing calmly as he was only mildly affected by her weakly-delivered slap, and mere moments later, a grin rose upon his expression as he chuckled quietly, openly relishing his victory and looking forward to having fun with his new precious possession. Kenji knew that the girl would deny his ownership fervently, as usual, in conjunction with her ever-stubborn nature, but his recent victory allowed him to do as he wanted to her, in spite of how she might protest, and he fully intended on keeping his word to teach her a few of life's most important lessons. He was very pleased with the outcome of the battle, as well as the conclusion of their deal, feeling that everything had gone according to his plans, and the satisfied young man did not follow Uriko right at the moment, fully aware that he could easily track her down when he wanted to bring her back.
As she was running away, the minutes flew by unnoticed to the cold-ridden girl, ice rendering her emotions useless and dead; ironically, the numerous clouds that had gathered overhead started to drop rain down upon her, adding more discomfort to the situation. She sped through the forest blindly, allowing her instincts to steer her body away from trees rather than actually using her mind, because that part of her was occupied with horrible images of a life in shackles that made her small form quake with raw, uninhibited fear. Uriko allowed burning tears of regret and humiliation to streak down her cheeks, grasping onto the small concept of humanity while she still could, because she was sure that Kenji wanted to turn her into the same kind of emotionless automation such as himself. Her wet eyes were so blurry with bleak shame and haunting defeat that she did not even notice she was quickly approaching an opening that led right out of the forest, where four guys happened to be standing by the entrance, each daring the other to partake in stupid activities to just kill time.
"Huh…?" One of the male teenagers remarked in surprise and hurriedly turned his head around after he caught a glimpse of the lithe form that suddenly came running by the small group, his eyebrows quirked in clear interest as his gaze followed her intently. "Yo, dude, check it out…"
Responding to the jostle that suddenly poked at his ribs, his friend grumbled in annoyance, but nevertheless he pivoted to look in the same direction, commenting mildly at the sight of the retreating girl, "Woah, not bad… but ya know, she looks kinda fucked up."
"You think so? Shit, who cares, she's hella hot, man," was his insistent reply after the speaker took a long peek at the aforementioned young female.
The leading thug of the quartet noticed the slender youth that had suddenly flown out from the forest just a few minutes prior, a blur to his curious eyes, and after exchanging a glance with his adjacent companion, he addressed the others in a tone of amusement, "Hey, you guys think we should pick her up or what? 'Cause that'd sure as hell be more fun than watching you idiots standing around doing nothing…"
The first guy that had initially noticed her guffawed in reply to the bold suggestion; "Hahaha! Yeah, right! You kidding, man? A girl with an ass like that, she'd shoot ya down in a second!"
"Damn, you're a fuckin' pussy. Watch this," one of his friends declared with a cocky sneer as he briefly cleared his throat, and then called out loudly into the sheet of pouring rain, "Hey there, sweetcakes! You all by yourself, girl? Why don't ya come on over here and let me show you a little something?"
Caught up in her own inner turmoil, Uriko was utterly oblivious to their presence and deaf to the calls, merely continuing to speedily dash along simply due to the sheer feeling of disillusioned freedom, only dimly realizing the irony of Kenji somewhat 'allowing' her to escape after he had just gotten the right to claim her mind and body.
The third teenager crossed his arms over his chest with a snicker of disbelief at the poor attempt and retorted in jest, "Huh, a 'little' something is right…!"
"Hey, fuck you, dickface!" he fired back immediately.
"Uh, no thanks, man! I'd rather do that girl," came the eager, albeit fiendish-sounding reply.
Their unspoken leader shook his head with slight disdain at the displayed behavior and he scolded them sharply, "Good God, you guys are fucking morons. Damn, would ya look at her go; she ain't even slowing down or anything…" his eyes narrowed a bit as he contemplated aloud, "Say, do you guys think that girl's snubbin' us or what?"
The guy standing across from him jabbed his buddy in his side, and then glowered haughtily, "See? You shouldn't have even bothered, dumbass. She wouldn't give you the time a' day."
"…Stuck-up bitch," his companion grumbled in a low scowl, "She thinks she's too good for us, eh?"
The head thug of their group focused his eyes toward the direction where the young girl had disappeared off to, while a cruel smirk grazed his lips at the thought of chasing her down and schooling some respect into that pretty little body; she should have paid more attention to her surroundings, after all. "Hmm, is that so? In that case, maybe we oughta teach that little ice princess a thing or two, boys."
"Good idea, man!" The scraggly youth next to him nodded enthusiastically in agreement, and he slapped his other like-minded friend on the shoulder, waggling his eyebrows in a rather crude and mischievous as he licked his lips in anticipation of the upcoming chase and pursuit of the lone female. "Heh, I hear it's been a while since you've, uh, done the horizontal tango, right?"
"Shut the fuck up," he snapped with a glare, clearly displeased at hearing the comment, "I just got better standards than you. Now let's go after her before she gets too far or someone'll hear. She's movin' pretty fast."
"Yeah, hurry up, guys!" His buddy agreed as the two eagerly began to dart down the same path that she had previously ran through, their eyes gleaming with wicked, perverse intent.
The leader and his remaining companion followed suit without hesitation, and the former set his sight on the fleeing image of the nameless girl's retreating back as he called back to the others, "She's a little small, but after one of our rounds, I think she'll be plenty loose for the rest of the night, haha…!"
"Wouldn't be the first time, man!" The teenage boy running alongside of him reminded with a lecherous grin, dubiously referring to a different encounter that the group had engaged in prior to the present. "You know the tighter the better, heh!"
Meanwhile, one of his companions further ahead was slowly, but steadily gaining on the rain-drenched female with dogged persistence, carefully maintaining his speed as he fully intended to catch her, not even thinking of waiting for his companions to catch up. I'm comin' for ya, girlie…!
With the dark wetness drenching her surroundings, Uriko was understandably unable to hear any of the previously-made remarks, and she dashed forward all the more fiercely, not even caring that her outfit was becoming completely soaked, much to the delight of the punks following behind her.
"That bitch must be deaf or some shit," the leader commented to his nearby buddy with a wry smirk, evidently pleased at the girl's display of ignorance; "Hah, no matter, this is gonna be fucking great!"
His friend nodded enthusiastically in reply as adrenaline pumped rapidly through his body from the nefarious chase, and then he let out a low, shrill whistle of encouragement to his friends that again, went unnoticed by the young female drowning in mental turbulence.
The guy had been closest to her position finally decreased the distance to the point where he felt confident enough to snare the delectable victim for a night of fun with him and his friends, and so he grasped out for her arm, trying to snag a firm hold as he cried, "C'mere, girl!"
"Ahhh!" Startled by the sudden swipe brushing by her side, the distracted youth turned her head back and finally noticed the guy that was trailing closely behind her, and a worried frown marred her brows at his presence, but nevertheless, she kept running while the teenage punk continued his chase.
The heavy rain was now descending in a faster downpour, numerous wet drops pelting the top of her head with each passing second, sliding over her eyelids to cling to her spidery-thin lashes to further impair her much-needed sight, especially given the circumstances. She blinked rapidly in a reflexive motion, and that resulted in water eagerly delving right into her eyes, blurring her vision all the more, and the girl threw her head back to whip her long braid over her shoulder, frantically heaving the tresses out of her way. Slender legs dashed along the rough, pebbled ground, so eager to get away that nothing else mattered at that moment, and with the additional loudness of the snarling storm, her normally sensitive ears failed to acknowledge the figures trailing at a close distance. It was not until a hoarse voice had shouted a loud command that the young female turned to look behind her to detect the source of peculiar noise in an unlikely setting, and openly grimaced at the potentially troublesome sight that instantly greeted her eyes.
The four figures that had been standing outside of the forest that she unknowingly and unintentionally snubbed were now trailing the same path right behind her, and unfortunately, their identities and numbers were hidden by the shadows and misty weather. She could only make out several dashing forms, and was thankful for the additional speed granted by her zoanthrope counterpart, but still feared even that would not be enough to make a clean escape, considering her current weakened condition. It just figured that only Uriko herself would have the extreme unluckiness of encountering jerks so soon after she finally stole the chance of taking a sobbing, supposedly submissive moment to flee from the forest and out of the wicked ninja's grasp. Quickly wiping the tears free of her sight, the darting girl continued running toward her goal, desperate to achieve it after waiting such a long time and having to put up with so much torment that, to her dismay, Kenji apparently enjoyed and rather thoroughly.
The storm poured down heavily around all of the surroundings upon the earth below, seeming to create thick sleets of ice that blurred everything in sight, leaving only huge figures to be distinguishable from a relatively safe distance that was intended to be depleted. The lone girl rubbed her eyes again, furiously this time to grasp sight quickly as she blindly backed away, feeling her surroundings with water-soaked hands, hoping to encounter one of the thugs so that she could retaliate with a preemptive strike. She was tired of being pushed around by Kenji and his crazy schizophrenic alternate personality Bakuryu; the startling daily threats on her life, the deal constructed to wage her freedom, his unwanted yet admittedly bewildering advances, and now, even a couple of lousy, lewd punks were picking on her! Infuriating! Aside from those aforementioned hassling aspects, she had lost in the deal with the ninja assassin and she was sure that soon enough, he would leave their former battleground and come looking for her to collect the prized possession he wanted to have for so long: Uriko herself.
Upon noticing the approaching clearing that was a mere fifty feet away, the leader of their small group raised a hand to address his friends that were close enough to hear him as he commanded them decisively, "Hey boys, look where that girl's going; there's a huge open space up ahead. Let's split up and take her by surprise…!"
"Yeah, man, that space's got hella trees and bushes and shit out there," one of his companions responded with excited agreement at the upcoming prospect, "Plenty of privacy to do our thing!"
"Right on, guys!" The third bystander threw in his approval of the plan, and so the remaining trio dispersed to take their prey by surprise – their last member had strayed rather far ahead in his desire to tail the girl, but the others figured that if something happened, he would be able to take care of himself.
Her legs still flying in rapid succession, the feline zoanthrope was clumsily stumbling around through the dark, guided by mere instincts, when an arm suddenly lashed out from behind her line of sight and seized a hold of her supple neck, keeping the tender area locked in a tight chokehold that refused to be relinquished. Due to her fast reflexes, the avidly improved Kenpo student was able to react instantaneously, and she heaved her weight forward, bending far over to throw the figure off of her back, panting in effort as she briefly glanced down at his fallen form. He was groaning softly from the force of the throw, but he obviously still had consciousness by the emitted noise, and so Uriko knew that she had to move fast before his other friends showed up to help him tame this apparently-wild girl; she simply refused to allow that to happen. She turned away from the pathetic overturned life and charged ahead full speed, her legs flying in a blur, splashing across numerous deep puddles that completely drenched her shoes and socks in mere seconds, although that was the least of her current concerns.
A few minutes later, she slowed to a brief stop in an open clearing, just momentarily pausing to catch her breath, and her sensitive ears detected a low, but slightly delirious chuckling noise in the air, seeming rather far away, and yet, her heart still thudded in fear and anticipation. The sound teleported very close by just then, and Uriko started to pivot so she could confront the mockery when a sharp, silver point immediately found the front of her neck, while her arms were yanked back in a secure grip, once again trapping her. The auburn-haired youth froze at the bitterly cold metal, feeling that familiar dread lodged in her throat; fighting against Kenji… or rather, that relentless assassin Bakuryu, had gotten her quite used to the unwanted position, though of course she certainly would never grow to like the vulnerability. A small whimper escaped her throat from the memory of being imprisoned in a similar case by him countless times, but she tried not to gulp hard and move too much, or she would be practically throwing herself onto the deadly object, as if she wanted to skewer her own body.
"Are you gonna change your mind and be nice to us now, Miss Ice Princess?" A gruff voice growled into her ear, and then the brunette felt a more yielding tip dig through her hair, followed by a loud, obnoxiously obvious sniff that brought a snicker that was obviously lecherous and so full of virile intent that it almost made her shudder. "Damn, girl, you smell great! Soft hair, too… wonder if you're slick like that all over, heh, heh…" A short, sneering laugh ensued, followed by a quick call, "Hey, guys! You can come out now; I got 'er nice and tight here!"
Thoughts of jabbing her assailant in the eyes with her claws lingered in her mind, but to actually twist around somehow and carry out that silent threat was not worth the possibility of her death, and so she inwardly forced her active mind to stay calm. Uriko could only use her dark pupils to glare defiantly ahead, uttering naught a peep as two other guys suddenly appeared and came over to where she was being held; upon viewing her position, they laughed simultaneously, reminding her of multiple puppets being controlled by a central string. The thugs exchanged lewd, apparently hysterically comments with one another while occasionally, her hair was stroked or her cheek was pinched but the only safe resistance she could execute was a passive turn of her head or a look of disgust on her face. The female zoanthrope cursed her overbearing captor for initiating a fight on that particular day and before this unfortunate current event, since he was responsible for reducing her to such a pathetic state in which she could not even try to defend herself by morphing into her animal form.
Never did the hopeful girl imagine that the gang was seriously intent on submitting to their perverted, debauched desires, when one thug suddenly pulled out a switchblade and without warning, sliced her top open with a hasty jerk, beginning their molestation. The buttons holding it together was forced to break free of their threads, and all fell silently to the ground as the brunette was involuntarily left exposing the majority of her chest to the vile perpetrators; she immediately responded with a visible cringe at the forced display. Hoots of approval sounded at the action, and the owners of such obnoxious noise were rewarded with silent glares from the victim as she inwardly searched for options to escape this infuriating defenseless situation, but grasped none yet at the time being. The punks in return blatantly stared back at her, still muttering amongst themselves on what to do next, although it appeared obvious that now they had gotten a glimpse at heaven, allowing her to get away was clearly not an option, which ironically just fueled her desire to escape.
"Whoa, get a load of those knockers!" A weaponless one exclaimed just as Uriko hastily turned her face away to the side at the crude remark, her skin crawling with dual anger and humiliation when she felt a hard squeeze groping her left breast and her teeth chattered a bit from being clenched together so hard. "You sure she was by herself, man? I mean, fuck, I sure as hell wouldn't leave such a hot bitch alone like that if she were my woman, ya know?"
"She was runnin' like hell outta that forest over there," a point in the said direction to accompany that information, "but I waited and didn't see anyone follow her out, so yeah, I think she's all alone, and we ain't gonna get any distractions out here, heh, heh."
"This is a good place. So, who's gonna go first?"
After that frightening remark, she began to tune out the correspondence between the boys and just concentrated on a method of eluding the horrible violation that they planned to carry through and do to her; she certainly had no intentions of giving into their sick, immoral demands. There's no way I'm gonna let these perverts do anything to me-!
Thankfully, her bra still protected her twin mounds from a full exhibitionist display, but the girl had a sinking and reasonable feeling that the last top barrier would soon be depleted if she stayed passive much longer, and wanted to act at first opportunity. Once she finished dully listening to the chatter from the punks surrounding her, Uriko acted immediately, elevating for a few seconds before stomping down hard on the pair of feet underneath hers, which shocked the arm holding the knife into jerking forward. The others barely had time to react as she dropped quickly, dashing to the side to escape danger and never looking back or waiting for a punishing reprisal as she ran furiously, once again escaping from a deadly situation, like earlier with the ninja assassin. Angry shouts pointlessly bounced off her exterior shell while the shuffling footsteps of unfulfilled desires stamped behind her, forcing the cat zoanthrope to hastily glance around for somewhere safer to go, her eyes frantic with worry and distress.
All of a sudden, a shadow appeared in front of her, just several feet away, and she had to grind her heels into a harsh stop, panting with effort not to fall onto the cold wet ground, and she also watched out for the suddenly-small distance between herself and the newcomer. A blur lashed out quickly and grabbed her soaked elbow with a firm, unyielding grip that refused to let go, one that she was quickly growing angry at falling victim to, and then forcefully pulled her forward, making Uriko fly until she hit an immobile wall of hard muscle, stunning her momentarily. Her other arm was soon grabbed as well and she struggled to be released from the twin imprisonment, helpless in her attempt, eventually driven to be aside another body burning with heat, making her tremble slightly albeit involuntarily. Rain-wetted lips briefly collided with her soft pair from the rapid movement, and for a second frozen in time, the brunette thought that the person currently holding her was the fallen pervert she had left lying in the wake of his defeated pursuit earlier.
"Uriko." Her name was hissed intimately against her mouth, the voice filled with all-too-familiar indignation and a sliver of possession as well, reminding her of the nightmare tone that continuously and thoroughly enjoyed threatening her well being from day one. Kenji…