CHAPTER 21

While Ryuji continued to wrap and package the homemade meth in addition to figuring out the fixed price he needed to set for his team to gain some income, Yuka couldn't help but hit the streets again for her own personal rounds of prostitution merely because she was bored. Though she initially told Kagami she wasn't up for it this night, she couldn't deny the fact that she loved it and was proud to be a slut. She had lusts of darkness that could never be fully satisfied whether it was for sex or for bloodshed.

An SUV pulled over to the side of the street at a little past two o'clock that morning and Miyakawa stepped out. She had finished another session with a different client and when he drove away, she wasted no time in counting the money she was raking in. It was already proving to be a busy night as this was her fourth customer but to her the night was still young and ripe for activities. Miyakawa still had no sense of dignity or humanity either for herself or how she treated others. She was an animal inside but regrettably, it didn't start out that way for her. All horror stories have a beginning and hers was about as bad as it could get, though her current persona didn't paint it that way. What happened to her was truly the epitome of childhood tragedy.

She strutted down the sidewalk and passed other pedestrians. Sometimes people would shoot dirty looks at her while others would either laugh or whistle. Miyakawa didn't care about anyone's opinion though, which was basically part of her job description anyway. It would be unusual for a self-admitted stripper, drug dealer and addict, prostitute, murderer, and thief to care about image. As Miyakawa walked down the street, she approached a nightclub with pulsing bass and music echoing across the entire block.

As she walked past the entrance to a dark alley, she stepped on something that crunched beneath her boot and she stopped. She took a step back and saw a broken skull hairclip, the same one she gave to Kagami at The Black Window during the rogue Hiiragi's transformation. Miyakawa was quickly able to put two and two together and she looked down the dark alleyway and had a feeling that one of Kagami's transactions didn't go so well so she decided to investigate. Walking into the alley, she was expecting to find Kagami's raped and robbed dead body somewhere, probably in a dumpster. It wouldn't be the first time one of Miyakawa's recruits ended up that way and she was already disappointed. She was hoping to get more out of Kagami before she would be killed.

The further she got into the alley, she suddenly heard something. She could hear Kagami's crying voice and Miyakawa reached into her purse and retracted a small flashlight. Miyakawa pointed it around the dirty alley and suddenly spotted movement. She was able to see two black boots pull themselves behind a dumpster and Miyakawa slowly walked over to the large trash bin and turned around it.

She found Kagami curled in a ball on the moldy cement next to the leaking dumpster and she was crying. Her one hand was covering her face in an attempt to hide from the light but Miyakawa noticed Kagami's other hand was covering her buttocks, as if she was trying to shield it. Miyakawa bent down to Kagami and saw blood seeping through Kagami's fingers covering her face.

"Kagami? It's me, Yuka." She said.

While she trembled, Kagami slowly removed her hand and showed the damage done to her face. She had a black eye, a bloody nose, and a fat lip also bleeding. Her first customer of the night requested something that Kagami wasn't ready for so she refused and when she tried to leave, he took it from her. When Kagami tried to fight back and escape, he hit her until she was too weak to fight back anymore and had no choice but to take it from start to finish.

"Yuka…!" Kagami cried. "I tried to fight back but he…he…he raped me…anally!"

Miyakawa rolled her eyes in frustration. To her, Kagami was weak and still didn't grasp her twisted concept of "the customer is always right." Regardless, she still had an obligation to Kagami to comfort her so she could keep the twin-tailed Hiiragi in the business so she reached out to console the violated girl. As she touched Kagami's shoulder, she screamed and retracted tighter.

"Don't touch me! It hurts! It hurts everywhere! I never felt anything so painful in my life!" Kagami shrieked to the point where her vocal cords nearly tore apart but the music from the club still buried her wails. "I'm bleeding down there! I need to go to a hospital!"

Miyakawa shined her light to Kagami's hand covering her buttocks and sure enough, she saw a trail of blood leaking through her fingers. The psychotic friend of Kagami moved back to her crying face and said, "We need to get you on your feet before any cops show up and we're not going to any hospital."

Kagami trembled and coughed as a result of such trauma. "But…but it hurts so much and my butt is bleeding! He didn't even use a condom so I might have a disease now! What am I going to do?! What am I going to do?! It feels like its split open! I don't even want to look at what he did!"

"You're a hooker now, Kagami. The concept of rape doesn't exist anymore; it's now considered aggressive role-playing. Also, if we take you to a hospital and we tell them it was rape, they're going to call the cops. They'll find out who you are and they'll find out who I am. They've been looking for me for months and you don't want them to arrest me, do you?" Miyakawa tried to make herself into the victim while completely disregarding what happened to Kagami. "Worst of all they're going to take you away from us and your drugs. Is that what you want?"

The distraught twin-tailed girl gripped her face tighter and muttered something.

"What was that?" Miyakawa asked.

"I said no, I don't want that!" Kagami screamed suddenly and kept crying. "But that son of a bitch sodomized me! What's this going to do to my body from now on?! That fucker even robbed me!"

Hearing this prompted more attention from Miyakawa. It wasn't the fact that Kagami was violated that enraged her, but it was the fact that she was ripped off by some animal that made her blood boil. Miyakawa showed her anger when she hissed, "What did he look like? We'll find him and make him pay."

Kagami was so distraught by what happened to her that she didn't even realize that Miyakawa was more enraged that the money was gone over her own traumatic experience. The quivering twin-tailed girl did her best to recall the man's description but Miyakawa already had a feeling she knew who she was talking about halfway through the portrayal. She had come across him before both as a client on the streets and as a dancer in Teasers. He was a high school dropout loser who lived off the government welfare and spent all the money he received on strippers and prostitutes. He also had no problem living off his parents as well. Miyakawa still didn't care that Kagami was raped this way but still knew that since she was still alive, she had to get her out of the streets and back to her apartment before any passing cops would spot them.

"Come on let me help you up. We need to get out of here." Miyakawa said and began to pull Kagami up by her arm until she screamed again and refused to move.

The pain was too unbearable and Kagami still demanded medical attention, much to Miyakawa's growing frustration. It took a few more minutes of convincing Kagami that she has seen her fair share of injuries after prostitution and promised that she would help her with the pain and any physical damage. Miyakawa also weighed the possibility of finishing Kagami herself right there on the spot by slitting her throat and letting the crime scene investigators chop it up to simply another deranged solicitor raping, robbing, and killing another prostitute. What stopped her though was the fact that Miyakawa still believed Kagami was a worthwhile investment that still needed time to keep paying off so she helped her to her feet.

Miyakawa carried the limping Kagami by her arm over her shoulder all the way back to her apartment, where Ryuji still sat and worked. He didn't expect Kagami to return in such a broken condition but like his cousin he simply didn't care and resumed working when Miyakawa took Kagami to her room without giving her a second look or thought. When all the homemade meth was packaged and ready to hit the streets, Ryuji waited outside Miyakawa's bedroom for her to return.

About an hour after the two girls returned, Miyakawa exited her room and removed two rubber gloves over her hands upon finishing her examination of Kagami's violated rectum. Miyakawa walked into her living room and saw her cousin smoking a cigarette and sat down next to him while also lighting one up.

"So…what's the word, doc?" He asked.

Miyakawa rolled her eyes. "She'll live. She has some tissue damage and it'll probably scar but other than that she'll be fine by tomorrow night. What pisses me off the most though is that she couldn't keep her goddamn money hidden in a smart place and she just let that fat fuck take it from her. What the hell kind of hooker hides her cash in her pockets like she's out shopping? What is she selling her body or running a charity?"

"You know who took it?" Ryuji asked.

Miyakawa nodded as she angrily puffed out a cloud of smoke. "I'm pretty sure it was Kozuka again. What he did to Kagami sounds like something he'd be into."

"So what are you going to do?"

Miyakawa paused until Ryuji watched his cousin form a conniving grin and chuckle. "He's on my client list at Teasers so I'm going to call him, invite him over for a private dance, fix him a nice meal and then…we'll never see him again."

Ryuji rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Yuka just let it go. Itou has been warning you to stop turning your private underground rooms into slaughterhouses. You of all people know how long it takes for that kind of smell to escape a room that's twenty feet underground."

Miyakawa giggled again. "I know, Ryuji, I know…but I'm not going to let this one go. You steal my money, I steal your organs. Sounds like a fair eye for an eye setup to me."

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Tsukasa Hiiragi held her hands together as she leaned slightly forward and prayed at her family's shrine for yet another round of requesting spiritual assistance. She not only prayed at Matsuri's grave but also to her family's home shrine in the hopes that the gods or her sister's soul would hear her pleas and return Kagami to her safely. Not a single day went by since Kagami attacked her and her family that Tsukasa didn't pray in one way, shape, or form. Tsukasa was still trying to recover from the trauma she endured during their last meeting when she was forced to nearly watch Kagami murder her mother before her own eyes if it weren't for Inori.

Suddenly, the loose stones lining the walkway scattered, creating a noise and Tsukasa quickly turned with a giant smile on her face believing her prayers were answered. Though she was happy to see her, Tsukasa didn't show it externally when she saw Konata walk towards her and the youngest Hiiragi sighed and turned back to the temple monument she prayed to.

Konata patted Tsukasa on her back and said, "Sorry, bet you were hoping I was somebody else."

Tsukasa slowly shook her head. "Don't apologize, Kona-chan. I'm always glad to see you but…I just wish sis would come home."

Konata nodded. "How's your family doing?"

"Well, the doctors allowed my mom to stop wearing her neck brace but the bruises are still there." Tsukasa started calmly but began to become emotional when she remembered something that happened only a few hours ago. "My mom and dad were out grocery shopping and they were getting all of these…horrible looks…from everyone when they saw my mom's neck and my dad's injuries. They thought they were that kind of couple that…hurts each other. A police officer even stopped them to ask a few questions. I can't imagine how embarrassed they were…"

Tsukasa covered her face and tried to hide her tears but Konata knew how sensitive her friend was over this subject and she hugged her. Because Tsukasa always had a desire to be comforted, she quickly turned and returned the hug with even tighter vigor, nearly squeezing the life out of the petite blue-haired girl. When Tsukasa released Konata, she took a few deep breaths and kept engaging Tsukasa.

"Tsukasa, I know things are tough now and you're hurting, but the rest of your friends and I are working as we speak to bring Kagami back. I just came from your house where I was talking to your family and they decided that my idea to stage an intervention for Kagami would be best seeing as how that psychological detention request is going to take so long to get, if you even get it." Konata said. "Of course finding Kagami and bringing her to the intervention will be one of the hardest parts and I unfortunately cannot promise you that it'll work."

It caught Konata by surprise to see Tsukasa completely disinterested in her plan. Tsukasa shrugged and replied, "Kona-chan…please…find her. I want to give Kagami one more chance before we send her away. An intervention means that sis will go to a treatment center, right?"

Konata nodded. "If she agrees, yes."

"I don't want that. I want her to trust me and the rest of us enough to open up and let us help her with her pain before some treatment center does where there are only strangers who don't know Kagami like we do. She's suffering because she's lost people she truly cared about and they won't be able to understand or help my sis unless they also knew Matsuri and Kusakabe-san." Tsukasa ranted while Konata couldn't help but tilt her head in admiration for Tsukasa's growing maturity and powers of observation. "To some treatment center workers, Kagami will just be another drug addict but she's so much more than that. She needs someone who has been in her position before and is able to connect with her at the same level of pain Kagami feels."

Konata scratched her head. "Those are all very profound words, Tsukasa, but who could possibly understand and even appreciate the pain Kagami is going through in losing her sister and friend?"

Tsukasa turned to Konata. "Our therapist, Dr. Kishimoto."

The blue-haired girl tilted her head in confusion, allowing Tsukasa to continue.

"Dr. Kishimoto gave me her personal cell phone number and email address to talk anytime I wanted and I've been talking to her about my feelings and she told me a few things." Tsukasa replied. "She and Kagami are so much alike…because she too was a heroin addict at one point and even tried to commit suicide by cutting her wrists. She tried because something terrible happened to her baby sister when she was younger and she blamed herself for it every day. My point is that if Kagami could talk with Dr. Kishimoto, I'm almost certain that Kagami will choose to get clean on her own with our help."

Konata glanced away. "Do you really think that's possible?"

"Yes…but I still need to find Kagami. I have no idea where she's at or what she's doing now." Tsukasa quickly replied anxiously. "After watching the news, my parents think that she's somewhere in the Aku District."

Konata quickly looked back at Tsukasa with fear. "The Aku District? That's a pretty grave part of town, Tsukasa…and unfortunately I could see Kagami hanging out there. It's a cesspit of drugs, brothels, and crime."

"We have to go look for her there. I have to find Kagami and try to convince her to sit through at least one hour with Dr. Kishimoto. I'll never know another peaceful night's sleep until I can accomplish that. I'll go alone to that place if I have to." Tsukasa added with growing emotions.

Konata shook her head. "Tsukasa that place is nothing short of pure evil. If someone like you goes in there alone, you won't come back the same, if you even do come back. How about this; you keep working on Kagami's intervention as a worst case scenario plan and I'll go into the Aku District tomorrow morning first thing to find Kagami." Konata reassured Tsukasa, making new rays of hope appear in Tsukasa's eyes. "Just make sure you write your speech because if we need to give Kagami an intervention, she's going to need all the words of love and support she can get because she will be defiant and hostile, maybe even violent to you again but we can't give up."

Tsukasa nodded. "Kona-chan…thank you."

Konata nodded back and turned to walk away.

As the blue-haired girl kept walking, Tsukasa called to her again. "Kona-chan. This Aku District…how bad is it?"

Konata froze and turned her head to Tsukasa. "It's the very definition of the word evil. The madness that people suffer when they step foot within those borders is indescribable. I may not be as spiritual as you and your family, Tsukasa, but there truly is an endless battle of good versus evil within that area. There's nothing but relentless horrors and secrets within the Aku District."

Tsukasa felt her fear and anxiety rise but at the same time knew why Konata was so blunt with her. Rescuing Kagami from a lifestyle such as this required her to have a strong mind, body, and soul for the gruesome horrors that happened there would scar the weakest link for life. Tsukasa though believed that she was ready to endure anything and everything if it meant that Kagami would get clean and be her sister again. Tsukasa didn't even think to tell Konata about a dream she had about Matsuri last night that made her wakeup in a cold sweat. Matsuri's voice echoed in her mind and the only word she could remember was "Miyakawa."

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Though Kagami was out of commission and resting in Miyakawa's apartment so she could recover from her wound, she wasn't missed by either Miyakawa herself or the rest of the crew at Teasers the next night. The shows and private prostitution transactions continued without missing a beat, only further proving to their culture that a girl like Kagami was expendable and they didn't need her to keep the business going. As long as they had the lonely and depraved of the world, her existence was meaningless and Miyakawa could continue to further derogate the innocent and naïve.

Once again, Miyakawa was able to sniff out the loneliest and stupidest of the customers that night and his story was once again the same. A married man in a sexless and loveless marriage to a wife who was probably sleeping around herself while their children were caught in the middle of their parents' idiocy. Instead of trying to bound together as a family and sort out their problems, the father was out at Teasers spending his paycheck at the strip club instead of spending it on his children.

Miyakawa put on a show for the middle-aged man at another small stage as she danced from a different pole and he sat in a chair gazing upward at her. He dropped several yen bills for her to pick up until she had enough with the foreplay and made it more personal. She stepped off the smaller stage as the club's activities continued and continued to slowly shake her exposed midsection for him while lifting her boot up and placing it on the chair inches away from his groin.

"You are one of the kindest men I've ever met. I bet you're the only man who even cares about me at all." Miyakawa whispered seductively.

The misguided man chuckled with embarrassment. "That's not true…I'm sure your father loves you, right?"

Miyakawa got closer and sat on his lap while pulling him close. She put her lips to his ear and whispered, "My father left me when I was nine. He hit and beat my mother in front of me after…my own little incident…"

"Dear god…" he replied with shock and Miyakawa quickly stood up again while shaking her hips and seducing him further.

"I just…I'm so scared…of the big city and the world. I'm just a helpless little girl crying for help to anyone…like a charming, handsome man like you." Miyakawa continued while running her fingers around her panties, keeping the man's attention. "I need someone…to love me. To listen to me…to take care of me…to maybe even help me with some bills."

"What do you need?" He asked while opening his wallet.

"What do you have?" Miyakawa countered and looked into the wallet and eyed the many rows of bills inside.

He took several wads of cash and slipped them into Miyakawa's panty strap around her hip and she continued to dance. "And what of the rest of the goodies in your wallet?"

The man tucked the wallet back into his back pocket. "I'm sorry…but I need the rest of that money. My wife and I…we haven't been good to our two kids lately so I want to buy them each a new toy they've been dying to have forever."

Miyakawa put a fake smile on and nodded. "I understand. You're such a great man. I wish my daddy was as selfless and wonderful as you are."

Feeling better about himself, the man smiled and nodded as Miyakawa looked up at the bar behind her customer and saw Ryuji sitting there and signaling to her that the man whom she believed raped and robbed Kagami had arrived. She gave a quick nod and informed the man that she had to go but thanked him for his kindness and, as always in a convincing show, was able to sound loving and supportive for him and his situation at home.

As she walked towards her cousin, she signaled for one of the tall, muscular bouncers to follow her and the very tall and ripped man walked with her. She hissed angrily, "Take another guy and follow that asshole to the parking lot. When he's alone, jump him and beat him to a bloody pulp and get the money in his wallet."

"Do you want us to kill him?" He asked in a deep, brawny voice.

Miyakawa shrugged. "If he dies, he dies. Like I give a fuck. Just make sure you get the cash but if he kicks the bucket, put his carcass in his car and take it to the usual spot and torch it. Get on it, bitch."

The bouncer nodded with a slight look of fear of the girl. "Yes ma'am."

The muscular man took another bouncer and waited for the customer to leave while Miyakawa approached Ryuji and he informed, "You're right. It was Kozuka. Turns out he's been bragging about it all day on the streets about not only what he did to Kagami but also ripping one of your girls off."

Miyakawa's eyebrow twitched. "Does he know we're on to him?"

Ryuji shook his head. "Not a clue. He's downstairs now stuffing his fat face so now's your chance."

The depraved girl giggled with a disturbing grin. "How lovely…"

As she turned and began walking towards the stairs behind the curtain that would take her down to the isolated rooms, Ryuji called out, "Yuka…take it easy this time. Really. Take it easy. Do us all a favor and make it quick."

She froze and slowly turned her head, showing Ryuji an even more insidious glare that triggered even him to gulp quickly. Miyakawa slowly shook her head and replied, "You better crank up the music, Ryuji. It's going to get very loud down there."

She turned again and disappeared behind the curtains and Ryuji sighed and reached under the bar to the stereo controls and turned up the volume. He never liked to admit it but he, just like the bouncers that were as big as mountains, were all scared of Yuka Miyakawa and her depravity.

Miyakawa knocked gently on one of the private rooms downstairs and entered it to find the same man who raped and robbed Kagami sitting at a table setup by Ryuji and was enjoying a large meal until she walked in. He didn't really seem to care that Miyakawa was coming on to him as she started dancing for him as his face was buried in the food. She was instantly annoyed by this and cleared her throat bluntly.

He looked up from his plate and said, "Hey Miyakawa. I'm kind of in the middle of the best steak of my life so step off, bitch. You know how much I love steak."

Miyakawa giggled sarcastically and muttered, "And looking at you and your three chins I wouldn't doubt that one bit."

"What was that?" He asked.

"Nothing," she replied. "Now once you're done with that, I have dessert underneath my panties for you to eat up…"

"Can't I just have the cheesecake?" He snapped as he continued to cut the meat on his plate.

Suddenly, a dagger landed on the steak and went through it to the plate, breaking it. The interruption made Kozuka look up to see Miyakawa's serpent dagger gripped in her hand and she was looking at him with eyes that contained both sexual lust and a craving for something else. Something gruesome.

"I must say, Kozuka, have you been working out…or is your fat ass still eating your pants?" Miyakawa hissed, earning a confused look from him as she slowly picked up the fork and began to look it over while adding, "Now I have something I would like to talk to you about. Last night you had some kinky fun with one of my girls which she wasn't too fond of but that's not why I'm disappointed in you. You stole from me…didn't you? Because when you steal from me…it makes me think things. Bad things…twisted things…evil things…"

Miyakawa began to lick the metal fork while moaning, only deepening Kozuka's confusion. He tilted his head and replied, "Yeah I stole your money. So what? It wasn't like I wasn't going to give it back to you anyway. You know how much money I blow on this joint."

Miyakawa stopped licking and held the fork in her hand while staring at Kozuka with lustful eyes as he continued his angry rant.

"Besides, I treated her better than you probably do. So I broke her ass open and fucked her raw. So what?" He continued. "You know I'm clean so and it was probably good for her. She's just another worthless sex toy of yours so how about you step off before I grab you and—"

It was so quick, Kozuka didn't see it coming. Miyakawa had no physical or emotional tells that she was going to do it but she did. With a sudden thrust, Miyakawa drove the metal fork into Kozuka's left eyeball and pushed it in deep. The pain exploded like a bomb and he screamed with all his might and kicked himself too far back and he fell backwards and landed on the concrete floor. His eyeball leaking blood and pus, he thrashed and kicked while screaming in pain as Miyakawa continued sitting on the table and giggled at the sight of her prey flailing in endless suffering. The fork still stood freely with it lodged deep within his eye.

Miyakawa slowly stood and walked over to him and lifted her right foot and placed the bottom of her boot on the freestanding fork. Feeling the metal utensil suddenly dig a little deeper into his eye made him scream louder in growing pain until Miyakawa shouted at him to stop or else she'd kill him. He instantly froze and looked up at Miyakawa with his one good eye and couldn't take it off her large boot only millimeters away from the fork and ready to drive it all the way into his head.

"You're right, Kozuka. Kagami Hiiragi is nothing to me but a cheap and worthless sex toy whose only purpose in life is to be fucked again and again and again, as long as she keeps bringing home the money. The second she stops making me money then she'll be thrown to the wolves but until that day…she's still my property…and so is the money you stole." Miyakawa hissed with a smile. "Let this be a lesson to you, you fat inbreed. Never cross Yuka Miyakawa. Now say goodnight!"

Before Kozuka could react, Miyakawa mustered all the strength her body could create and drove her boot as hard as she could onto the fork, making it dive all the way into his eyeball. Kozuka only released half a scream until the metal prods of the fork penetrated his brain and he continued wincing and twitching on the floor as he bled everywhere. The injury he was suffering from wasn't life-threatening, but it was enough to make him disabled for the rest of his life. However, Miyakawa never intended for him to leave Teasers alive. She just wanted him to suffer and to hold power over his pain until she would finally finish him.

She bent down to him and began fishing through Kozuka's pockets until she found what she was looking for. Forming a satisfied smirk on her face, Miyakawa pulled out a large wad of yen bills; the bounty he stole from Kagami that she now planned on keeping all for herself and continuing to phase Kagami out of her financial payoffs.

"You know, I think you're even stupider than Kagami. You rape and rob one of my girls and then bring back the money to the boss's establishment to blow it on more entertainment." Miyakawa said with a giggle as Kozuka continued to groan in agony. "I think I'm fulfilling Darwin's teachings of natural selection by killing a moron like you."

Miyakawa took a step back while putting the money in her pocket and continued to giggle at the damage she had inflicted onto Kagami's rapist and sighed happily while feeling her bloodlust become satisfied for the moment. She suddenly felt her stomach rumble in hunger upon seeing the human suffering and couldn't help but feel the desire to eat the rest of Kozuka's meal. She looked at the plate and frowned at a disappointing conclusion.

"Damn it. That was my only fork, too." Miyakawa growled. "Oh well. No use bitching over blood-soaked utensils, eh Kozuka? Now hold still."

Kozuka started screaming again when Miyakawa drove her fingers into his gushing eye socket to retrieve the fork. She slowly pried it out and was able to remove the silver metal utensil from the gruesome injury as Kozuka gripped his eye socket and continued to cry from the indescribable pain. As he continued to wince and bleed on the floor, Miyakawa pulled the chair back up and sat down. Completely disregarding the fact that the fork was drenched in blood, Miyakawa still held it and picked up the food with it, allowing the red liquid to drizzle over it.

Miyakawa guided the fork into her mouth and swallowed not only the food, but the vast amounts of blood covering the fork, food and her fingers. After several more bites and continuing to ignore the ailing Kozuka on the floor, she growled at the situation and hissed, "This is disgusting. Ryuji overcooked the fucking onions again."

Regardless, Miyakawa continued to eat the rest of her blood-soaked meal.