-Oxford - Tuesday: Part 11-

The photo shoot had ended much faster than she had expected. It had been easy Kyoko had found to recall those once foolish dreams of hers and it made her sad that such dreams had to come to end. Yet if nightmares ended, then dreams did too. For the most part, she was escaping something dangerous and was glad to be dressed back in her normal clothes again.

Not that she didn't find herself thinking about how he had looked at her and comparing it to those who had used her for their own pleasures. No, she was starting to prefer his gentlemanly smiles over whatever that had been. Whatever that look was, while it held something gentle and kind it also held a desire to own and claim. That made her rather uncomfortable, not that they had ever looked at her as someone to own or claim for themselves they had desired their own pleasures to be pleased and she had been owned. It was not something she wanted to see ever again. Not only had they thought they owned her but didn't Shoutaro also claimed her as his?

Pushing the thoughts of that look out of her mind she focuses on the papers that Francis had given her. They seemed simple enough, plus she understood most of what was written within. For example, she was going to give them permission to use the photos they had taken, she would be paid far more than she would have ever thought possible. It was more money than what one of her jobs had been able to cover in a month. It included the necklace for Corn being handcrafted just for her, the likely asking price for the said piece when they market it and how she had the only known they would give her a limit edition number of 000 of 100. Meaning there would only be 101 like this in the world and only one of them with the special feature that hers had to release Corn.

She looked at Francis, "I believe my Father and Great Aunt should review these before I sign anything." Ruto repeated her words and the man nodded.

"Well as long as we have an agreement by the end of the week sweetie. Take those with you I'll be waiting for the good news!" He waved goodbye before moving towards Ren. Ruto leaned forward taking the papers from her and sliding them into the small bag he held around his waist.

"I shall see to it that they are taken care of properly."

"Thank you..." She found herself wondering if she could actually pull off being a part-time model and then mentally shook her head. 'No it's not something I want to do. It was interesting but it's only something to do from time to time.' Sighing she looked towards Ruto "I would like to try and rest before General Brown arrivals" not that she honestly expected to get much if any rest at all as they headed towards the exit. Opening the door she noticed a man leaning with his arms across his chest against the wall in front of the door.

He looked at her for a moment before looking behind her toward Ruto only then did he move. She watched as he stood directly in front of her he was a rather tall black man and she could tell he was well built. Yet what caught her attention the most was his piercing green eyes. Only once she was able to pull her eyes away from his own did she start to notice that his hair was starting to show his age just around the edges. For some reason the way he stared at her caused her to take several steps back into Ruto. It was the sheer voice of that look that had her moving away. This was a man she should never cross. Feeling Ruto's hands on either side of her shoulders he began to speak calmly towards her.

"Miss Kyoko, this is General Kendi Brown of the Queen's Guard." Everything in her being was telling her to bow but Ruto's hands on her shoulders kept her from moving any further than a slight nod of her head.

"It's a pleasure to meet you General Brown." she smiled as she placed her hands in front of her trying to control the nerves in her system as the man looked at her once the smallest of nods of his own before looking towards Ruto.

"There is a slight problem." he said looking back towards the Kyoko his eyes softening for just a moment before looking back at Ruto "We will need to speak in private. We are stationed just under the VIP room at the time. Please follow me." With that, he turned and began to walk away. Kyoko looked up at Ruto and he gave a small nod of her head before she too found herself trailing after him.

The room they had walked in had two beds. They had been moved to take up even less room, so close she wondered why he didn't just request a room with a single bigger bed but in the end, thought better to ask. Unlike the room she was staying in this one had a small kitchen. If you could even call it that. There were a mini fridge and a hot plate for cooking. This was followed by a tiny sink followed by a microwave and coffee pot. Off to the side of that was a dining table. That table was filled with a small printer, lots of documents. Some shifted into folders some not, and gadgets that she was pretty sure was meant for communication and blocking information for that matter as well. There was also two laptops and she got a feeling they weren't using the Hotel's wifi connection. As General Brown closed the door he turned on a white noise machine that sat on the floor. Only then did he motion for her to sit down in the only other chair, as he took the other. Ruto placed a hand on her shoulder as she sat across from Brown for just a moment before dropping it to his side. It was a comfort to know he was there standing behind her.

"There is no easy way to say this Lady Kyoko, Heth was released before we got here." Brown hadn't sugar coated anything and she stared at him as she tried to slowly process the words that he just said.

"Why?" she was proud to have gotten that single word out amount the emotions she was feeling right now about this whole thing.

Brown turned to the desk and pulled out a copy of a document and handed it towards Ruto which she found frustrating he must have caught the look on her face. "I am told you do not read kana in any of its forms." She understood then she had made it part of herself to pretend to not know, at least not right now case anyone recognized her voice. To only speak English. True she felt it was the right move but it was better to pretend otherwise. At least until she was a little older before she moved back. Her head turned towards Ruto his eyes didn't hide his the silent anger that seemed to move behind them at what he saw written.

"Miss Kyoko, it seems Heth states you forced yourself on him using your family's name and power as your the daughter of LME. When he tried to protest against this you told him you could destroy his career and so he gave in to your demands. Yet when you noticed one Tsuruga Ren enter the elevator you cried rape." she stared at him wide-eyed. "It seems that Tsuruga pulled you away and when he tried to explain to him what had happened you broke his wrist by slamming it into the elevator handhold. It is said here that you made it look like he was attacking you and as a result Tsuruga grabbed him around the neck to put a stop to the attack, upon you being freed you then remained behind Tsuruga, calling the police."

"But… that isn't what happened..." No, she had been more or less powerless against him, "I only bit him..." she said softly. Thinking about it more though she sighed softly, "though it is my family's power I'm leaning upon right now... so I suppose in that way he is right."

She felt Ruto's hand on her shoulder before General Brown leaned forward. "Lady Kyoko based on the information that Ankou has gathered. This man has some powerful connections. We have connected him to Rozu." He looked up towards Ruto for a moment before running his hand across the desk. Looking for something. "There are four top world leaders in the underworld. The Rozu is one of them at this time. It is not always the case sometimes they are outed by another but they remain pretty high up there. I'm not sure yet of his exact connection is within the Rozu but he does seem to have worked out of…"

"Bakkin Hana" Kyoko spoke up just above a whisper. "I was told that Bakkin Hana was only a small fraction." That had been true she supposed she trusted Tomi-sensei's knowledge about this man.

"You are not mistaken. They are one of several branches that work solely in the business of selling young women as sex slaves. You can find such rings everywhere around the world but no matter how you fight it, they return from the ash because of what we call the parent ensuring that another takes its place."

General Brown must have noticed something on her face and began to dig through a different folder as if making up his mind about something, she watched him without really seeing him. She didn't understand just how any of this mattered. He had been caught, why would it matter what his statement was to the police... was she really still that powerless?

"Lady Kyoko, this might give you a little peace during this time," he said handing her a print out of an article that was taken place in Tokyo Japan as she began to read it.

Last Night March 3rd 20xx Hachirou Cao the owner of Bakkin Hana was assaulted in his office. Police on the scene state that Cao 43 laid in a pool of his own blood after a deranged man came in demanding information on one of their ex-employees. Cao refused to give him this information even after being brutally attacked.

One of the eyewitnesses told police that this is not the first time a man became so interested in one of their performers but this is the first time. The police are now looking for a man foreigner between 187cms to 191cms heavy set man with either dark brown or black hair.

Cao was taken to the trauma at Tokyo General Hospital. His condition is stable. No one else was harmed during this assault. Bakkin Hana will be closed for the weekend while the employee's look about upgrading their security system.

Kyoko placed a hand to her mouth, she felt sick. Really sick. She handed the piece of paper back to him. "It doesn't…" she said softly. 'I was only 14 when he…' she rose from her chair. "May I use the restroom please?" General nodded towards the door and she quickly walked away. She needed a moment to remain herself.

General Brown had watched the door closed before leaned back in his chair. His eyes looking at the printed of the news clip, it was written clearly on his face that he had thought this would give her something, that while this one seemed to have gotten away for the time being. Another had paid even if it was a little bit but that seemed not to be the case. His eyes turned towards Ruto before looking away from him as he sighed.

"It was not needed," he said simply.

Brown's jaw tightened. "Sometimes it helps to know that they been punished." It was true, sometimes it helped ease a victim who could not get closure any other way.

"He wasn't. Not to her," he said moving towards the table and looking at it. "Who was he looking for?"

"Not sure. It's not the first time like they reported. They've had people in the past trying to get information." He placed his elbows on his knees looking at Ruto. "The truth is that they refuse to give any more information to the police." he tapped the article. "My guess they grabbed the wrong girl and it's a turf battle. Rozu isn't the only one whose stationed in Japan. There are two others."

"Museoum and Dokkaebi" like with Rozu they sometimes held onto the position of the big four but that fourth position was hard to keep hold of that spot. Though Rozu had been doing well the last couple of years, never staying knocked down for more than a few weeks. The underworld just like the world the rest of society lived in was a risky place to live in.

"Yes, it would make the most sense. It's been too long since she left after all." His eyes turned towards Ruto, "That's a matter for a different time." Ruto agreed that would require more information and then even then minus removing the branch there wasn't much they could do against the head. No, the branch required the police as always in these sort of cases.

"This file though Kendi, how did he walk? She is royal blood by title due to Lory, even without the royal blood she is nobility by name."

"Seems that as according to his report, she didn't really talk to the security, her statement is her 999 call. Well, the first part." He tapped his fingers on the table, "We made it so he can't leave the country but that wouldn't be too hard if he used another name besides Heth. My partner is looking into it right now. From what I can say his damage vs her having none is the key factor. If she had any marks on her…"

"If that is all you require… I can show you the bruises he left today." General Brown and Ruto looked at her shock written on both of their faces.

Closing the bathroom door she slides down it, she would not cry. Her finger traced Corn as he sat against her just below the neck. She had a name for Boss, something she never knew prior. No one called him that, not even the girls. No one introduced him as anything but Boss and he made everyone call him Boss too. Still, a man of 43 had taken her first sexual experience and that could never change. She might still hold a certain part of her. It didn't change the things done to her body, there are other ways to sexual abuse someone than that, the fact there were many ways for sexual interactions without taking the status of virgin away. In a way she supposed she was lucky to have no idea how to respond, to just be dead inside of herself during those times. That allowed her to remain pure no matter how dirty she had become because of it. She was a doll, and dolls cannot the response the way a lover does.

The real peace came from the fact that had it not been for Tomi-sensei she would be one of those girls still there. Those broken women who had come to enjoy it because of Heth. The man who now claimed it was what she wanted, that she was the one who forced him and she wanted to laugh. 'I need to find him...' she leaned her head back against the door.

Heth had been right, even with the Ankou he had gotten away. 'How many more? How many more will he destroy, how many more will lose themselves so completely to that world of darkness?' Her eyes narrowed as she stared across the bathroom. "Then if that's the way it will be played…" she felt her children slowly moved around her as the lights dimmed in and out until shattering around her. "I'll play your game Heth and you will disappear."

Her eyes seemed to glow within the darkness of the room as she slowly standing up she moved her opened the door, she must not have made a sound because neither man turned towards her.

"What I can say his damage vs her having none is the key factor. If she had any marks on her…" she listened to Brown speak about what likely was the cause of the release.

"If that is all you require… I can show you the bruises he left today." General Brown and Ruto looked at her but she didn't care. She lifted her dress up as she turned around. Showing the middle of her back. A clear intention against her lower back matched being pressed harshly against the handrail of the elevator, that could be explained away. It was the scratches that trailed down the side of her body along with small bruises like from hands gripping far harder than they should. Slowly she turned showing her stomach in much the same mess as her back. "He wanted a taste of how I would respond to him..." her voice held no emotion as she spoke "He doesn't like to leave marks seen when he first starts... unless you fight... but even that's not so bad at first until you make him mad." she closed her eyes, "I had made him mad. I bit him and had Mister Tsuruga not came when he did." she smiled softly, "I assure you my face would likely have been a mess... I know what he can do. I've witnessed it and I've lived it. I was lucky. I would not have been so much today." It was simple really, don't make him mad. Dead inside got you hurt but he got no joy out of training, only when you showed how much it hurt, only when you begged. Then he got tired of it, then he wanted you to just obey. Even if it meant being beaten.

Ruto was there first to recover at the images and he was pulling her dress back down and wrapping his arms around her, "Forgive me Kyoko."

"It's alright Ruto, it's not your fault." Pulling away from him she looked at Brown. "This was him being gentle General Brown." she knew that he had done more than she wanted to admit while she was trapped reliving her first experience with him. This had been truly gentle compared to that, compared to the knowledge of what he did. "This was without his toys."

"It hurts a lot does it not?" he asked of her, no he had seen women who were brave, soldiers the women who worked with him. They knew how to take a hit, they knew how to hide the pain and keep going but none of them were this young. It took years to handle not showing that kind of pain.

"People are not kind General Brown." She could see that he knew this rather well "It doesn't matter the age. People who don't understand or fear the loss of something can be just as violent and dangerous as a killer. I was beaten quite a bit as a child by the time I was in middle school... well they never went too far but I knew how to hide it by then. Yet what they did is nothing compared to what Heth truly taught me that." General Brown could not look away from this girl that stood in front of him. "Now.. this is what I need you to do. There is a man name Susumu Todoh he's a lawyer in Japan. Find him and bring him to me."

"That's all?"

"No, you will still follow the Queen's order. I am going to play Heth's game again." With that, she opened the door to the room and walked out. Ruto bowed his head and followed.