Creation began on 05-18-16

Creation ended on 06-08-16

Chains of Lust

Rejoice

After another month or therapy and rehabilitation, Miki Serizawa stood in front of her school as she said her goodbyes to her parents for the school day. Today was another test to see how far she had come in her recovery after everything that happened, and she would either pass or fail.

"Hey, Miki!" One of her friends called out to her. "You're back! I didn't think we'd ever see you again. You had us worried."

"Miki!" Another one of her friends called out to her as she saw them run over to her. "I'm so glad you're back! When I didn't hear from you, I wanted to go to your house, but my parents wouldn't let me. How are you doing today?"

"I'm…hoping that today will be a good day," Miki told them. "I'm…so far behind…on my homework. I'm worried that I might not have all my necessary credits to graduate."

Her two friends looked at her and suspected that this was part of her attempt to recover and forget about what happened to her months ago. If it had been either of them, they'd probably want to bury themselves in their schoolwork in order to forget the horror of what happened. They decided to accept what she was attempting.

"I have some notes that you can have to compensate for what you missed, Miki," one of the girls offered. "It's mostly math and history."

"Nobody's gotten far on Home Economics," the other girl informed her. "We still have a hard time trying to make dumplings."

"Eh-heh-heh!" Miki laughed; it was the first time she felt hope today would be like before the nightmare started. "I hope to learn how to cook dumplings."

-x-

"Hmm-hmm-mmm," Shizue hummed as she cooked in her kitchen. "It feels like forever since I last cooked takoyaki."

"I have the soy sauce ready, sweetheart," her husband expressed, holding the bottle of said sauce.

"Thank you, honey."

Shizue accepted the sauce from her partner and kissed him. She felt him hold her by her waist. It was part of her extended therapy to get over what happened to her by being of how much her husband loved her by just holding her. With the months of recovery from being raped, tortured and impregnated, along with the baby's death, sex with her husband was the absolute last thing on her mind.

But still, after all that happened, she didn't intend to deny him for too long. Perhaps in about another week…or another day. She just needed to be able to get past it all without the subtlest of horrid reminders.

-x-

The supermarket seemed like it hadn't changed much since Hiroko was last there. Even the smell of the fruits laid out several days ago smelled the same as she picked out the strawberries and lemons. So far, the woman was able to get back in touch with her daily routine and put what had happened behind her. There didn't feel like there were any reminders, any signs of torment, or feelings of grief anywhere.

"I wonder if curry and udon will be good for dinner tonight," she said to herself, holding up a ball of lettuce in her right hand.

-x-

As school was let out for the rest of the day, Miki, after her short visit to the principal's office on how her day had been so far, instead of walking home by herself, walked with her friends to the library. After the last time she walked alone, she needed to be more aware of her surroundings…and decided that she needed to tell her parents that she should get a taser or Mace as a precaution against future kidnappings.

"…They say the new Godzilla film will be more serious than the original film had been," one of Miki's friends had informed her.

"Well, of course it would be more serious," she agreed with them. "The more extreme the plot, the more extreme the people will find it when they watch it."

-x-

Shizue offered to pick up her niece from the library for Hiroko. She didn't mind doing so, as she had cooked too much food again and offered to bring some over to her sister's house. Of course, her husband, fearful of what had happened the first time, came with her to ensure that they were both fine.

"Thank you, Aunt Shizue," Miki praised her as she got into the car with her.

"You're welcome," she responded as her husband prepared to drive away from the building to drop their niece home. "How was your day today?"

"It was…great," she answered. "It was great to be back in school and seeing my friends and everything. How was yours?"

"I had a great day, as well," Shizue expressed. "I have no complaints. What is there to complain about on a good day?"

-x-

"…My day was plain and simple," Hiroko informed her daughter and sister later that evening. "It felt like everything was as it had been."

"That's good to hear," Miki agreed with her, having shared her day.

"Yeah," Shizue added.

And for all three ladies, it was true. It was a good day, just like before, and they were hoping that tomorrow…and the next day…would be greater.

-x-

In a room with an incinerator, a man tasked with disposing materials no longer relevant to crimes that had been tried and resolved, picked up a video tape with an indecent picture of Hiroko Serizawa…and threw it in to be burned away with the other copies and other indecent tapes made by the deceased perpetrators for the film industry and the incarcerated men that watched them. Then, he picked up a box full of the indecent, bondage outfits the victims were forced to wear and threw those in to be burned, too. Everything except the evidence that was placed in storage for a later time was to be disposed of. The notes, copies of testimony, the digital versions of tapes (for potential parole hearings only) and the lists of names, dates, times, places and amounts were stored elsewhere for later cases that could or would be used to reference unlawful activities in which women were unjustly exploited, manipulated or even violated for the purposes of domination or profit.

"Not exactly how I felt like helping those three," he told himself, throwing away the last of the bondage gear and watching it burn to ashes, "but hopefully, they'll be able to get by without further trouble. Here's to another mistake that has been corrected."

Closing the heavy lid to the incinerator, the man stepped out of the room and turned the lights off. This was one of those days where light overcame darkness for those that stood up to confront it, and the people that stood up to it survived…and would survive it again and again and again.

End

A/N: Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.