NOTE!: FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS TWISTED ROMANCE, PLEASE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER/S. *~nyaaaa* I SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND THAT SO YOU WOULDN'T GET LOST...BECAUSE THIS IS COMPLICATED IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PREVIOUS HAPPENINGS... *~nyaaas more*
Arigatogozaimasu, minna-san :3
Chapter VI
'Since Then...'
Finally making her way through the entrance, her gaze fell upon the prince and a certain man with a familiar lady accompanying them. The lustrous moonlight shone upon Ritsu's long lost best friend in an almost naked state.
'No...'
Familiar lustrous raven locks cascading perfectly, not having the traditional nihongami. Known figure with a silky red tomesode slowly unveiling down her pleasurable body. Clear gray orbs widened, mirroring Ritsu's.
"R-Ritsu...", Akiyama Mio whispered to herself.
"I see you're here to enjoy, Tainaka-san", the prince greeted. "But before that, let me introduce this loyal man of mine!"
The unexpressed state of shock never dispersed from her eyes.
"This is Haru, Suzuki Haru. He's the best dealer, if you ask me!", the Suzuki laughed along. "Haru, this is Tainaka-san".
A dubious smirk from ear-to-ear from the stranger..or is he?
'He's the man offering a geisha from that night...'
"I see you're interested, sir", the man grinned from ear-to-ear. "Care for a 'one night stand' with her?"
'He was offering M-Mio...'
"Well Tainaka-san...", Haru started.
'His voice, I heard it before...'
"Just get over here! His Highness might get mad!"
"It's a pleasure to meet you. The name's Haru, Suzuki Haru..."
'Suzuki Haru...'
"Suzuki Haru-san", Mio smiled. "He's my fiancé..."
"You see that raven-haired girl? I hooked her away from her stupid best friend from the province! They really thought I loved her! Ha!", Haru laughed hysterically.
Well, not for long...
A tear rolled down her best friend's cheek, which was seen by the stunned tycoon. She finally understood.
"So you're Mio's fiancé. Unfortunately for you, the 'stupid best friend' wants to take her back..."
The harmonicist could hold back her anger no longer as she sent her fist flying through the man's face, sending horror on the prince's formerly lustful visage.
Mio came rushing onto Ritsu, hugging her from behind. "R-Ritsu!"
The Tainaka immediately left Haru alone and returned her best friend's hug. "M-Mio? I...I'm so s-sorry! W-What did he do?!"
Holding back tears isn't a good idea as rivers came down both of their eyes.
'"I'm sure to be there when you perform, so there's no need to feel nervous. On the front seat, Mio! I'm sure to watch you in Tokyo!"'
'She really did perform in Tokyo, and I really was supposed to be on front seat...but this...how ironic...'
"SEPARATE THE TWO. NOW!"
Soon after, the prince's men came bursting from the door and did what they were told.
Knees buckling. Hands shaking. Mind filled with the worst. And heart filled with nothing but agony. Mio wrapped her arms around her savior, wanting them to escape this purgatory at this moment and tell Ritsu her still hidden feelings. But why did the deflowered maiden hadn't approached the harmonicist earlier of she needed the latter this much?
"R-R-RITSU!"
"M-MIO, I'LL NEVER LET YOU GO. NOT AGAIN!"
Harsh cries and holds roamed the small room. Ritsu held Mio tight. Like she never held no one in her arms before. Her arms were strong as steel. But the men were stronger...
"GET THOSE FILTHY HANDS OF YOURS OFF HER! M-MIOOOO!"
"N-NO! RITSU!"
Near to hopelessness, Ritsu charged to take Mio's hand and swiftly get out of this hell. But the odds are not in her favor...
"NO MIO!", screaming, Ritsu sent her fists flying once more, jabbing the stomachs of the men. But her skills were useless, as she was greatly outnumbered.
Suzuki finally got up and punched Ritsu straight in the face, leaving the mistakable lady's face to bleed much. "Heh, how sappy", another punch.
"This is quiet a reunion, isn't it?", another mischievous smirk.
"Tie the bitch tightly up the post...", ordered the prince.
"Why YOU!-" Suzuki stroke his gun on her head, revealing a dangerous Type 94 Handgun. But inspite of being hit on the head with a steel-filled matter, she didn't lose her consciousness. Yet her bleeding head can't be dismissed...
"You're really a hard head, ain't ya?" Ritsu was ruined. Physically and mentally. Blood dripping from her mouth and opened scars. Her body was giving up on her, she can't feel her legs anymore, where they broken already? Her once piercing golden eyes started to see fuzziness however, she could clearly see that Mio's suffering.
'No...'
It was the same feeling she had back then when she was at the dark alley.
'...the naked girl was...M-Mio...'
But this was different, she can't do anything...
"...Ahh! S-Stay away from m-me!", Mio kicked the incoming prince's face. But her leg was caught.
"There's no runnin' away...". A devilish tone.
"MIO! MIO!", Ritsu leaned forward, despite the pain of being tied. The black-haired lass ran for the post and hugged her beloved companion, desperately seeking for salvation. But she too, knows that the thought was impossible.
Blood mixed with tears, her dim amber eyes searched for reasons from the prince she trusted. "Why...a-are you doing this t-to us?"
As he came closer, Shigehito spoke. "You see, this is a royal secret. You really shouldn't be involved in this matter, I told you, you should be the one enjoying this night. But since you and Aki-chan seems close, I had to shut you up instead...", he paused.
"Since you already know about it, as if you're gonna come out alive, I have to tell you these. I already bought your friend here from her 'fiancé'...guess you know what will happen next..."
Then the Suzuki came holding his gun. Pointing his firearm at Ritsu, Haru warned. "And you shall not interfere...unless you want her lifeless..."
"P-Please have mercy on her...d-don't hurt her..." Shigehito took Mio forcibly in his arms.
"Huh? Hurt her?", Shigehito laughed. "I think I'm gonna make her enjoy this..."
The prince fondled with the gray eyed girl's breasts in front of the helpless Tainaka, stripping Mio slowly and licking her shoulders which sent the latter screaming for help.
"Look at this, Tainaka!", Shigehito forced Ritsu to look in their way. The said person only hit her head against the post she's tied to, screaming and crying from both pain and agony, seeing her childhood life being sexually harrassed in front of her. It is hopeless to fight back...
"M-Mio...no, he can't do this..he..", all the golden-eye could do was plead, wishing that this turn of unfaithful events was just part of her nightmares. And hopefully, she would soon wake up and see a happy 10-year old Akiyama Mio holding a flower and singing a lullaby to her, just as always. They would laze around their little town even though it wasn't spring. She would feel her heart pounding non-stop whenever she see her best friend smile. Embrace her like always and playing the harmonica just for the former, simultaneously hiding her romantic intentions behind the friendly gestures. But the bliss of the those days ended since a long time ago.
"P-Please...take everything from m-me...take m-my money, b-business and properties. But p-please don't hurt Mio. I-I'm begging you...p-please don't...", the tycoon cried hard.
She couldn't imagine things would go like this. Nor she couldn't imagine the prince doing unlawful things, behind his friendly mask and especially enslaving her best friend.
"Your money? Properties? Ha! We have those, and also girls!", Suzuki licked his lips.
She didn't imagine that Mio would became a slave. A sex slave for so many people. Losing her sacred virginity to tons of men in exchange for money.
A lot of men touched her but never did anyone wiped a single tear rolling down her face every night of sin. A geisha that entertains men in a way that would settle someone's night in lusty ecstasy.
"I see you're interested, sir. Care for a 'one night stand' with her?"
'...All this time...Mio was being s-sold...'
"AAHHH! NOOO!", Mio screamed as Shigehito pinned her down the nearby bed.
"N-NOOO! PLEASE S-STOP..."
"Hey Haru, help me here will ya? My pay would be wasted if I don't enjoy her just as much!", saying this, the Suzuki tied the raven-haired arms and legs tightly with ropes to the head and footboards.
With a swift and strong hand, the prince ripped the tomesode uncovering Mio's body. Mio screamed and cried even more, defenselessness booming in her voice. Ritsu tried her best to avert her eyes away from the gruesome scenario but the screams and the disturbance of the moving bed eliminates the sanity left in her.
"N-NOOOOO! MIO!"
"PLEASE S-STOP IT!"
Shigehito played with Mio's body, he touched her body with filth all over, in front of Ritsu, who never stopped begging him to stop. He never did stop his ill motives, he even invited every men in the room on Mio. Someone completely ripped her undergarments as men in the inaudible cabin feast around her body of a goddess. Someone licking her neck, someone else sucking and fondling her breasts, someone else caressing her slick back. Mio was utterly traumatized.
This was her forced 'job' since she moved to Tokyo, but sensing that her loved one was watching her left her eyes open while tears continue to flow down.
Ritsu went wild. Anger bursting in her eyes. She leaned back and forth to loosen the rope but to no avail, it never budged, only wounding her wrists.
"Mio...no...", along with the dripping blood, her voice came to whisper. All she can do was whisper and pray. But where's the god she's praising in the scene?
It's like the gods were sleeping for eternity.
Screams filled with grim from the preys was never heard again for the intensity of their voices was useless against the predators in the cabin.
"I finally found you...why is this happening?"
All she wanted was for Mio to perform here in Tokyo in front of a cheering crowd, with her on the front seat. Even if the chance of them falling in love with each other would never exist...
'Was that too much to ask...?'
To perform in Tokyo but not in front of lecherous men that fate ironically planned.
Right in the moment, all she wanted was to erase the tormenting grin across Shigehito and Haru's face and to take her suffering best friend out of their raping eyes, to make her cheerful again, to bring back the Mio she lost against the masked fiancé.
Desperation got her head hanging low and eyes shut, never wanting to see their painful present.
"YES, THAT'S WHY I LIKE YOU!"
"...she does..she feels the same..."
The great realization suddenly hit her hard.
"I really love the way you play your harmonica, Ritsu. It makes everything more captivating"
"I really, really love the way you play your harmonica. It lifts negative emotions to turn into positive ones..."
"She loves the way I play my harmonica..."
"MiTsu...?"
"I'm crying b-because I'm very h-happy, silly..."
"...Mio doesn't want this...she needs...me..."
"B-But Ritsu! I don't w-want to be f-far away f-from y-you!"
"She needs me by her side not this...this man. But why would she hide from me all these past years and bumps on the street?"
As realization came to kick her hopeless spirit, the will to stand up for her and Mio increased.
"Anything for my Mio-chan"
"...Even so, I'll risk everything for her. This is the will that was etched in my heart since the very first time I saw fell for her..."
"P-Pinky swear?"
"Yeah, Mio. I'll have to see your bright smile again, I never get enough of it..."
"Y-Yeah. Thank y-you, R-Ritsu..."
Snapping her eyes open, letting the golden-hazel orbs of her reflect the newfound anger boiled inside her heart. 'She isn't some toy...stay away from her...'
The gods of her prayers finally heard her as the rope envelong her hands and feet suddenly ripped with the pressure she gave. The fury burning in her nerves was released as the harmonicist's fists with swift kicks came in contact with the henchmen, not even letting a single breath escape before they were knocked out cold on the hard wood along with their blood tracing out from open wounds.
The prince was never this petrified before. Even though he had witnessed blood-curdling battles before. 'H-How can s-someone be this...strong?'
Considering that the hazel-haired was helplessly tied tightly to a post whilst watching the abuse of her long lost friend. Although scarred and bloody, Ritsu was undoubtly unstoppable now.
'W-What...?'
Unimaginably horror-struck at the thought of Ritsu absolutely coming for him any time soon, Japan's prince secretly slipped out of the cabin. 'I have to let the my force take that Tainaka's head off...along with her friend...'
But someone was left inside that was a hindrance to their escape from hell.
"R-Ritsu...?", Mio weakly crawled across the bed as the gray orbs of hers search for her long lost love.
"M-Mio! Don't worry, I'll be with you soo-"
"No one interferes with my decisions, Tainaka. NO ONE.", Suzuki's right foot had sent the golden-eyed across the room.
He walked in front of the fallen being and stepped on Ritsu's throat with more pressure each passing second.
Ritsu tried to spit out words. "S-Stop. W-Why...?", digging her nails through the man's skin.
"Even after all these years, you're still that clueless farmer's child. Heh."
A dubious smirk.
"Sure, sure. You've been the Ojou-sama's lover, plus...", he paused and looked at Mio, seemingly sending the next sentences for the naked girl wrapped with blankets. "...you've been chased by the Kotobuki heiress repeatedly before. Heck, it was like she was courting you!"
A wicked laugh.
"Hah! You're seriously a handsome chick, huh? Man, had she seduced you some time before?", Haru just watched the Tainaka sent daggers through her glare. "Although she had been married to the prince now, I knew that she had been making moves to you...and you, AS ALWAYS, respond in kind, right?"
The Tainaka stared at Mio. Looked her in the eyes, only to see utmost...hurt coloring her widened steel-eyes.
'Mugi seduced Ritsu...As always?...In kind?..'
And it seems like those steel orbs melted as tears yet again flooded her vision. 'W-Why am I...Just w-why am I c-crying? She...she musn't know...' With this as thoughts, she hastily wiped her tears away. '...A-And I couldn't d-do anything...'
But Ritsu already knew, she already saw the ache which the former tried to conceal.
"N-No! I don't! I won't do such filthy thing!", she burned the man with her eyes. "I dumped her a long time ago, cut my ties I had with her..."
"Oh really, Tainaka-dono? Then what happened at the corridor? Between the two of you, behind the back of Shigehito? Is that some kind of new business you're runnin'? A sluty one, perhaps?"
"R-Ritsu...? Is th-this...?", Mio could hold her questions no longer.
Horridness engulfed Ritsu. She hadn't do such immoral thing. Even if she hadn't do the accused crime, she felt guilt pang her, too much that her mouth couldn't speak up. Seeing her lost love cry, even indirectly, because of her broke her heart again.
The silver-haired traitor spoke up once more.
"Oh Mio, can't you see from the start that I'm only after your goddess-like body and the money for it, hmm?" His black orbs reflected disgustness when she looked in Mio's way. "If only there was someone out there who truly loves you for who you are..."
"I DO love her with all my heart!", Ritsu abruptly leaped up, crushing Haru's crotch in the process. 'This is too much, Haru...'
"That 'someone out there' is me, you sick bastard!", she punched him nonstop until her knuckles were trembling.
With gentleness flashing through her eyes, she faced the crying raven-haired.
"And Mio...", she paused. "It has always been me. I always looked through the distance. I've been falling for you, since we were little. It has always been that way..."
"R-Ritsu...I-"
But Haru got up behind the golden-eyed's back...with a sharp dagger.
"-Behind you!"
'All this time...she felt the same way. She loves me the way I love her. But I've been useless. Ritsu, I've been a burden to you...until now...'
The Akiyama brought her weak feet together and took the pain of the deadly weapon in her shoulder for the one she lost 7 years ago for the man who turned her dreams into ashes.
She pushed Ritsu to the side, claiming the blade of the killer. She fell down. And yet again, blood was shed...
"Ooh, how tragic this love must be? Hah!"
"Mi...M-Mio...?"
'N-No...this c-can't be...'
Ritsu hugged the girl of her dreams.
"And for the tragedy to end...", his black eyes targeted Ritsu along with the point of his gun. "...the grand finalé must come forth..."
"I love y-you too, R-Ritsu. The s-same way. I'm s-sorry..I...I couldn't d-do anything..."
'..And I know for sure that I'm not gonna let, even your soul, go...without me...'
Golden eyes saw and bloody hands caught a hold of the fallen dagger. But then...
A fire of a gun echoed through.
Was it too late?
A loud thud of a fallen figure.
New blood was offered. For Ritsu was too quick. She turned around in split-second, and with utmost fury and the need for revenge, she let justice roll in her hands. Furious hands led the dagger to his heart. To Suzuki's dark heart. And the gunshot targeted no one but the roof. But then no one was happy...
Guilt and remorsefulness enveloped her.
'...I can't touch Mio with such filthy hands...'
But if it was for Mio...
'I desired to kill...'
"SURROUND THE CABIN!"
Stomping of feet... Soldiers charging near... Swords can be heard...
"It's a-alright, R-Ricchan..."
"NOW!"
'If I would take her away from this purgatory...Mio might survive...'
Ritsu's protective arms once shielded her best friend from harm. She dressed Mio in her coat and carried the black-haired the bridal way, charging through the shojī. But the odds were greater than her for they were surrounded by armed men.
"Think you'll slip off my finger that easy, Tainaka?", the prince confronted them again, yet he did not figure out what the golden-eyed was made of.
Ritsu ran.
With Mio in her arms, under the starless sky. To a place where neither of them knew.
She just ran as fast as she could, miraculously avoiding the attacks and traps, with the moonlight illuminating their way.
"What?! CHASE HER!"
She just ran across the dawn of Tokyo.
Her golden-amber irises pierced through the way. With zero chance of giving up. "Hang on a little longer, Mio. We will be safe soon! Just like the old days..."
Opened scars, pressured wrists, bloody head and hands...though she doesn't want to succumb to the devil's wishes, her body betrayed her mind.
As knees went weak and wounds started to bleed once more, she went down on her knees. And tears flooded her vision.
"I'm not w-worthy of your h-heart, Ritsu", a crestfallen smile. "...That's the r-reason why I a-avoid you even i-if I already know it w-was you..."
Tears poured down.
"N-No! Don't s-say that..."
"I w-was used by many m-men...I'm n-nothing but a girl c-covered with grime. I love you so m-much...but y-you deserve someone b-better...Ritsu..."
"S-Someone else would only s-scar me, but w-with you, I'm in peace..Please M-Mio..."
"But R-Ritsu...there's no r-running away...", cried Mio, as she kneeled in front of her savior.
"B-But Mio..! I...I can do this. W-We can make it t-through, right? I...I'm not g-gonna lose you again..."
"You s-stole my heart since w-we were y-young..." Reminscing the sweet yesterday made her smile. "But n-now, a t-toy for men...I h-have become..."
"Look, M-Mio. I d-don't care about that...I love you and y-you have t-to know that..."
The soldiers charge.
Their time slowly dies...
"Captain! THEY'RE HERE!"
But the moment lasts...yet time quickly fades...
"There's o-only one thing that I..I never h-have given into any m-man..."
The position of guns...
Just like how the sun from the past witnessed their pure and innocent love when they were young, the sun now displayed its glorious golden-red rays of the dawn, two distant friends discovered what true and ever-lasting love really was. The light illuminated their innocence as Mio pulled Ritsu in a chaste kiss filled with the treasured love she had since the first time she saw the tawny-haired, and Ritsu responded just as much, with everything she had kept locked inside of her lonesome heart, those that was locked because she doesn't know that her best friend needs her too, because of deep longing. Through the rolling tears, the love they have outmatched the pain of being separated for so long. The pain of vanishing in this world in any minute. But what was torment here if they were going together?
The kiss was equal to the delusions and dreams of the unspoken romance for so many years. Words could never explain the gift of true love.
"FIRE!"
'The sun witnessed the unbreakable vow between the two best friends. The two children who you never expected to know what innocent, pure and true love really is. The two people that are both too oblivious to what the other feels. If ever they would know about it, what would happen? Would the vow be broken and never to be fixed even by eternity? Would they live happily ever after with each other like those of the fantasies we read?'
Their romance travelled beyond time and unmeasurable distance and can never be outmatched nor broken. Because they have fallen true for each other...
'Since then...'
NOTE!: The disgracefulness of Geishas and Emperors in my stories ( Enchanted, Princess Mio's mother and Akiyama-tennou-sama and Since then...), DOESN'T REFLECT MODERN JAPAN AT ALL. It's just the Author-sama's complicated imagination. OtakuLoverlord21's just writing what she wants for her stories. Arigatogozaimasu...
O/N: Wrap it up! Arigatogozaimasu, minna-san! ^_^ for staying up with me-err, my fanfics, rather T~T anyway, I'm really happy for the reviews I got.
But you know *squirming* I would be happier if you guys give reviews more~ *squirms more*
^_^ REVIEWS PLEASE! ^_^
TT^TT I don't care if I got axes, maces, daggers, swords, arrows, chains or even boulders for a negative review. I just want to know whether you like my fanfic or not! TT~TT
P. S. Traffic stats doesn't make me less sad...I feel alone :'(
And oh, Whispered Words you say, well...I'm gonna update soon! Yay! ^_^ (pssst...did you guys know that promises are meant to be broken? Har har :)) But hey, the said fanfic is soooooooo long, I think I might have to add future sequels, yeah? :D
OtakuLoverlord21 loves you all. Like seriously. 143
:3 :3 :3