Flashback
"Here's your order, Miss. Anything else?" the clerk asked Yoko, pushing the groceries towards her.
"Nope. That's everything." She smiled at him, grabbing the bags.
"Is a friend going to come get you?" he asked, taking the sacred card from her.
"No. I'm by myself. Is there something wrong with that?" she asked, puzzled by the man's concern.
"How about you wait here a little while? I'll be done in a half hour. Then I can walk you home." He said, picking up a broom.
"Um… That's a nice offer but no thank you. I have to get back to my friends." She chuckled nervously, feeling the sudden need to get out before he asked her out. She had been getting that a lot lately.
"I have a wife and kids," the man explained, sensing Yoko's sudden apprehension, "I just don't want a young thing like you wandering these streets this late at night. There are all sorts of seedy characters that come out at this time. I don't want you to become acquainted with those kind of folk if you catch my drift."
" I thank you for your concern, but you have a family to get back to. I can take care of myself. But still, thank you for offering." She reassured him, hefting her groceries to her left arm.
"You're a strong willed one. That much is obvious. Just remember this little bit of advice: The most dangerous people to look out for are the one's who wear a mask of false purity." He explained, returning to his cleaning.
"Thank you. I'll remember that. Good night, sir." She called to him and ran out the door.
"Good. I have everything we need for a while. Goku's probably wanting dinner now." Yoko laughed, thinking of her travel mates and their quirks.
It was dark out by the time she left the last shop. She shivered, wandering with no light except from a lantern still burning in the entry of a shop. There were no stars out and the new moon hung in the sky. The streets were still and silent, save for the occasional cat or breeze that ran through.
"Okay. This goes down on the list. Creepy streets on really dark nights. I should've taken his offer. Oh, great! I'm lost now. Where am I? I don't remember this place at all. Way to go, Yoko. Oh well, I'll just turn around and retrace my steps." She sighed, turning around and heading back to the main street.
She hit the main street but still saw no sign of the inn. She went back and forth trying to find it but still no sign of it. Yoko sat down in defeat and put down the groceries.
"Way to go. I'm so lost… I need to find the inn. If I'm a little late, I'm sure Sanzo won't kill me. He loves me too much. ……He'll totally slaughter me. I'm so dead!" Yoko whined, her head drooping slightly.
A rustling sound came from the other end of the street. She turned and saw a man coming towards her. He was a plain looking man with light brown hair and deep blue eyes. Yoko breathed a sigh of relief.
"Are you alright, miss? You look lost." He said, a look of concern on his face.
"I just lost my way. I'm staying at the inn with my friends and nothing around here looks familiar to me." She replied.
"I'm from around here. You know you shouldn't be out here this late at night. The shady characters usually come out at this time." He chastised her.
"You are the second person tonight that has told me that. I'm beginning to think that I really want to be home now." Yoko laughed nervously.
"Allow me to take you back to the inn. It's a few streets in the other direction but the part of town you have to travel through is a lot more dangerous at night than in the day. I hope you don't mind my taking you back." He explained, running a hand through his hair.
"Well. I don't see why not, seeing as how two people have told me it's dangerous at this hour. Thank you very much." She smiled, picking up her groceries.
"Allow me to carry them." He said, reaching for them.
"Oh no. You're already taking me back to the inn. I'll carry my own groceries, thank you." She reproached, holding them firmly in her arms.
He tried to persuade her but Yoko refused. He finally shrugged it off and started leading the way. They passed the darken streets and Yoko felt a small sense of dread stirring in her gut.
'Why do I get the feeling something really bad's going to happen?' she thought, thinking about the earful or fan shot she'd receive from Sanzo.
The man had stopped suddenly for some reason. Yoko looked up and a puzzled expression crossed her face. She had no idea where they were. She went past him, trying to figure out where they were.
"Where are we? I don't recognize anything here." She asked him, still searching for some landmark.
She received no answer from her companion.
"Excuse me, sir… Is something wrong?" she asked, turning slightly.
A sharp pain invaded her head, forcing her to drop the groceries and fall to her knees. She clutched her head and fought the tears that threatened to surface. Another sharp flash of pain sent her into darkness, no longer hearing or seeing anything.
Yokowoke a short time later in a room she didn't recognize. She looked at her hands and realized that she hadn't been bound with ropes or anything. She tried sitting, finding resistance from her body. She tried to say something, but her voice was hoarse and was no higher than a whisper.
"Well. You're up my dear."
She looked and found her guide from before. Only now he had shed that mask of concern to replace it with a look of pure malevolence.
"Surprised? Didn't your mother ever teach you not to accept help from strangers?" he laughed softly, coming over to the bed she was laying on.
"You can't move a single part of your body. Know why? I drugged you before you came to. It's a lot easier than binding someone with rope. It's your legs I'm mainly looking at for. I wouldn't want one of them flying up out of nowhere would I." He continued, unrushed.
Yoko wanted to cry, scream, kick, holler, punch, bite, or something. Anything to get away from this place she was in. The man got up and came back with a length of rope.
"Just as a precaution you realize. Don't worry. I won't mar that pretty skin of yours. I happen to like it very much so." He sighed, tying her arms to the headboard of the bed.
He brought out a knife and showed her how sharp it was by splitting a hair on the edge. He brought it under her shirt and jerked up, slicing the fabric cleanly. Her upper body was exposed to his wandering eye. He gently slipped the knife under herundershirt and repeated the process. He licked a small trail up to her breast, enjoying the taste of her.
His hand slipped down and undid her pants, pulling them off. He grinned, his eyes laughing with glee at his progress. He kissed a trail up her jaw, gently as if he was afraid to break her. He went to her lips and took them wholly.
Yoko wanted to scream more than ever but her voice was still gone. He overwhelmed her senses. She felt like gagging at the sheer horror of it all. He thrust his tongue roughly in her mouth and began to touch everything, from her thighs to her face. She did the only thing she could think of. She bit down on his tongue, hard. He reared back and sat up quickly.
"Shit! You are going to regret doing that, you bitch." He cursed, cupping his hand to catch the blood that fell from his tongue. Yoko glared at him with defiance and spat in his face. He wiped it off and slapped her with stunning force.
"I was trying to be nice. Obviously, that's not going to happen now. Just remember, you brought this on yourself." He laughed; a small trail of blood ran down the side of his mouth.
He towered over her, eyes glittering darkly. He took her breast, biting until it almost bled. He slapped her on the thighs until they were a bright red. He finally pushed himself in her, hard and fast. Yoko gasped at the searing pain that ran through her. She fought back the tears that threatened to pour from her.
With every move he made, it was another piece of herself falling away. She couldn't breath without shuddering at the pain. She stared at the ceiling, counting the cracks. The thrusts became harder and faster, making tears fall from her eyes. She thought of her friends who were waiting for her and she thought of Hakkai with his gentle laughter, calm smiles, and warm hands.
He gave a final thrust and spilled into her. He untied her arms and rolled off of her, leaving her to herself. Once he was gone, she gave into the sorrow that plagued her mind. She fell into a deep troubled sleep that night, hoping when she woke it would be just a dream.
She woke up and found him staring down at her. He was smoking a cigarette and grinning darkly.
"It's about time. I have a couple of friends coming over. They'll enjoy you. A little tight but still very stimulating." He snorted turning around to pull his shirt on. Yoko tried to sit up but fell to the floor in the process. The man laughed at her, shaking his head at her. She watched him crush out his cigarette in an ashtray and pick up the little pieces of fabric from her clothing off the floor.
He was saying something about her being a 'good piece for the guys' but her eyes were focused elsewhere. She found a lead pipe of sorts among the wreckage. She slowly crept out her hand and grabbed it. The man was still chattering away, which gave her the time to pull herself up high enough. She lifted the pipe high above her head and brought it down on him.
She kept doing this over and over, his screams sounding far away to her ears. The constant pounding in her ears drowned out all other sounds, except for the sharp clunk of the metal. The screams stopped and she looked at the man for the first time since she began her task.
His limbs were limp and his head looked as if someone had stepped on it repeatedly. His eyes rolled back into his head and his mouth hung open in a final attempt to scream. He lay in a pool of blood, his own blood that also covered Yoko. She dropped the pipe and reached for her coat that was draped over a chair. She ran out of the room and collapsed a few streets away. How she ever made it that far, she would never guess. At that moment, she didn't really know what anything was anymore.