Chapter 12
Last chapter you Met Mariko's father and mother, and then you met her neighbor Takumi. As you can see Mariko's childhood is quite sad, and in this chapter it gets much, much worse. I'm not trying to Mary-sue her by giving her a sad and tragic past—not even sure how that works in a mary-sue, but I digress. The story won't be told from Mariko's point of view from this point on however. ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!
"Oh my god," M'gaan said as she watched the events of Mariko's past from her memories play out before her. She couldn't believe what she saw, her parents murdered right in front of her and her neighbor was the culprit. Suddenly the events stopped, like the film of the movie reel had been cut and M'gaan's surroundings went black.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?" A voice shouted, M'gaan looked around, and soon her eyes landed on Mariko Miko standing over her. Her eyes burning with anger.
"H-how did you know I was here? You aren't supposed to—"
"Hellllooooo! I'm a genius! It wouldn't take much to find out a Martian had invaded my memories!" Mariko hissed walking up to M'gaan in the fast darkness and grinned evilly, "You know now don't you?"
"You neighbor killed your parents." M'gaan said, Mariko nodded, "That's terrible."
"Is it? My mother was a prostitute and my father abused me in his drunken state. If you ask me they deserved it." Mariko said, "Takumi tried calling the police; but that just didn't always work out and eventually they stopped answering his calls. Justice failed to keep my parents from nearly killing me every day. So Onii-chan took the law into his own hands."
"That's horrible!" M'gaan shouted, Mariko shrugged.
"Is it? Shall I show you the rest of my past?" She asked, M'gaan stared in confusion. "You've already come this far might as well show you the rest."
"Did you…go with him?" M'gaan asked, Mariko frowned.
"Wanna see?" She asked, then gestured to the darkness as a paused scene of Takumi holding his hand out for the younger Mariko, "That night when Takumi killed my parents his hands were covered in their blood, he held out that hand for me. Promising me everything would be alright."
~0~
"Everything will be ok, Mariko. I promise." Takumi said, the young Mariko stared up at him, tears streaming down her face as the only person who ever showed her any love in the world; stood before her covered in her parents' blood. Mariko dried her eyes and reached out to him, and held his bloody hand.
"Takumi nii-chan." She sobbed as Takumi enveloped her in a hug.
"I know it's scary; but it's over now. They'll never hurt you again." He said softly dropping the knife on the ground. He then smiled at her warmly.
"Let's go; we're leaving this apartment. Would you like that Mariko-chan?" He asked, Mariko nodded silently. Then Takumi picked the young Mariko up in his arms and carried her to his apartment room to clean up.
A week after that, in an apartment several blocks down from their old home. Mariko was awoken by the sound of Takumi arguing with someone.
"I won't give her to you! I don't care what you say!" Takumi shouted. The unnamed man that stood in the living area of the apartment leaned against the wall.
"Give me the girl; she'd be much better suited with me." He said calmly.
"You want to use Mariko, she's like a sister to me! I won't let you have her!" Takumi shouted, the man suddenly stood and grabbed Takumi by the shirt collar.
"Listen you little punk; don't forget who it was who helped you pull off your little stunt without getting caught." He growled, then the sound a little footsteps were heard as a half-asleep Mariko came out of the bed room rubbing her eyes.
"Onii-chan…" She mumbled rubbing her eyes. The man looked over and released Takumi as he went to comfort the young girl.
"What's wrong Mariko-chan; why are you out of bed?" He asked, kneeling down as Mariko looked up at him.
"Mariko heard a loud noise." She said innocently. Takumi smiled and rubbed the crown of Mariko's head.
"Ah, I'm sorry. That was Onii-chan, I didn't mean to wake you up." He said, Mariko looked behind him at the man.
"Who's that?" She asked, still half asleep. Takumi, frowned and leered over to the man.
"No one Mariko-chan; just a friend from high school, I missed the other day and he's telling me what I missed." He said, lying, "Let's get you back to bed ok? Little girls shouldn't be up this late."
"Ok Takumi nii-chan." She said with a yawn, then walked back to the bedroom. Takumi turned the mystery man and glared. The man smiled smugly.
"She's adorable; she's going to be a smart girl when she grows up." He said Takumi glared.
"I think you should leave." He growled, The man shrugged and walked to the door.
"I am, but remember Takumi Soma; she will come with me, one way or another." He said cryptically then left. Never to be seen again.
~0~
"Who was that man?" M'gaan asked, Mariko shrugged.
"Heck if I know." She said, "Keep watching; I'm skipping ahead."
~0~
Mariko was ten years old now, she and Takumi still lived in the slums of Tokyo. Since he couldn't move anywhere else. Mariko sat at the computer when Takumi walked up behind her.
"Mariko-chan that doesn't look like a computer game." He said, surprising Mariko, "You're not hacking other into our neighbor's bank account again are you?"
"No," Mariko mumbled, Takumi crossed his arms and gave her a stern look. "I'm not! I promise!"
"Then what are you doing?" He asked, Mariko smiled nervously.
"No-nothing…" She mumbled, Takumi looked to the computer screen, there were all kinds of numbers. He gave Mariko a look.
"These look like credit-card numbers." He said, Mariko scratched a none existent itch on the back of her head.
"Well….that's because they are." She said, Takumi gave a look of surprise, then looked back to her.
"You're stealing credit-card numbers now? Mariko that's bad." He said, Mariko shook her head.
"No! I'm not stealing them. I found them, I was gonna delete them." She whined. Takumi looked to the computer key-board, then hit a button as the screen went blank.
"Hey! It took me forever to find those!" Mariko whined. Takumi nodded.
"I'm sure it did; but stealing people's things is wrong Mariko. It's one thing to steal nineteen dollars to pay for a DVD you want. It's a completely other thing to steal people's credit-cards." He scolded. Mariko sighed.
"Yes Takumi nii-chan. I won't do it again. I promise." She said.
"Good. Mariko you have a brilliant mind; don't waste it on stealing." Takumi said. Mariko nodded.
"Yes Takumi nii-chan." She said, "Can I still stay online?"
"No more stealing?"
"No more promise." Mariko said holding up her hand as she promise. Takumi smirked.
"Alright then."
Later that night the door to the apartment burst open as three masked men came in, and dragged Takumi out of bed by the hair.
Mariko stood frightened in a corner staring at the scene taking place before her. The assailants Takumi on the ground pulling his head up by the hair and putting a knife to his throat.
"Go…r-run. Get outta here." He said, just as the assailant slid the knife across his neck. Mariko screamed.
"TAKUMI!"
"Someone shut her up before the neighbors hear her!" One of the men shouted, another grabbed Mariko placing his hand over her mouth. Mariko struggled then bit down on the man's hand deep enough to draw blood.
"Ah! The brat bit me!" He shouted and smacked her across the face hard enough for her to lose consciousness.
"What should we do with her?" another man asked, the one holding the knife spat, then looked Mariko over.
"She's old enough; take her, we'll sell her and get some extra cash. She's cute; someone will buy her." He said, and that was the last thing Mariko heard before she drifted off into the darkness.
The next thing she knew she was in some strange empty room wearing a white kimono. Mariko was scared she didn't know where she was and she had no idea what was going on. The last thing she remembered was Takumi…being murdered in front of her. Then everything sort of went black.
"Psst." A voice called, Mariko looked around only to find no one.
"Psssst, over here." The voice said, "The wall behind you."
Mariko looked over and crawled to the wall.
"H-hello?" she mumbled. "What's going on? Where am I?"
There was a pause, before the voice spoke again very softly.
"You're at the Fujioka Inn." The voice said somberly, "A prostitution ward."
Mariko's eyes went wide, prostitution? How, how could she have ended up here? Why was this happening?
"B-but I'm only ten years old. I…I can't—"
"Shh, if he hears you you'll get into trouble." The voice said, "And it doesn't matter, ten, eleven, heck you could be five, they don't care. You're their property now, best to get used to it now."
"Wh-who are you?" Mariko mumbled, the voice paused again.
"My name's Mimi, what's yours?" the voice asked, Mariko leaned against the wall.
"Mariko Miko." She mumbled. "Mariko using Kanji that means jasmine."
"Jasmine Child Priestess, it's pretty. Never forget it." Mimi said, "Or they'll take your name away."
Mariko nodded then sat in the corner of the room, it was styled like Japanese brothels from 200 or so years ago. There was a mirror and a futon that laid on the floor, Mariko couldn't believe her predicament. Just yesterday she was with Takumi talking about computers; now she was some stranger's property. In her own personal hell.
"Why is this happening to me?" She sobbed, "I don't want to be here, I don't wanna be a slave!"
Suddenly the door to her room slide open revealing a man with dark hair, he looked to Mariko and smirked.
"Oh so you're finally awake, good." He said, "I was worried when you didn't wake up."
Mariko stared up at the strange man with fear as he walked over to her and knelt down, and grabbed Mariko by the mouth and looked her over.
"No bruises, they handled you well. That's good. Clients don't like bruised goods." He said, then let go of Mariko, "I'm Mr. Fujioka; I own this Inn, you belong to me now."
"I wanna go home." Mariko mumbled, Fujioka frowned.
"This is your home now; at least until either someone buys you, or you get too old." He said then looked over his shoulder, "Yumi! Get in here."
"Hai Papa!" A girl called back and a girl maybe about two or three years older than Mariko came into the room.
"Take care of the new one; get her cleaned up and ready. We've got clients coming in tomorrow." Fujioka barked.
"Yes papa, I'll get right on that." Yumi said as Fujioka stood and walked out, patting Yumi on the head as he left.
"That's my girl." He said, then walked out. Yumi looked to Mariko and smiled evilly.
"So you're the new one huh?" she spat, "Tiny little brat aren't you? bit of a freak too; look at your eyes, their freaky. What makes papa think anyone will want you?"
Mariko glared back at her.
"Wipe that look off your face before I smack it off." Yumi hissed grabbing Mariko by the hair, "Better be good and not cause me and papa any trouble; or we'll have you chopped up and your part sold on the black market. You got me?"
Mariko nodded feverishly; this was his daughter, a girl no older than she was and yet she was just fine with what was going on. Why was the world so unkind?
"Let's go brat on your feet; we have to get you ready for papa's clients tomorrow, you'll be put with the rest of them in the room next door." Yumi said coldly.
Once Mariko had been cleaned and properly dressed she was shoved into a room filled with girls around her age. She stared, a lot of them were just as scared as she was; the others looked defeated, as if they had just plain given up.
"Get in there; and I better not hear anything from you all or I'll lock you up in the closet!" Yumi shouted harshly, slamming the door shut and locking it. Mariko looked as the other girls either stared back or just plain ignored her. Then a girl with blond hair and brown eyes walked up to her. She looked to be in her late teens.
"Mariko?" She asked softly, Mariko nodded.
"I'm Mimi; you remember me right?" Mimi asked, Mariko nodded again as the girl wrapped her arms around Mariko's shoulders.
"Come on; I'll show you to your bed." She said then lead Mariko to her bed. "You should get to sleep; since you're the new girl Mr. Fujioka will be putting you on display first."
"Mimi-chan…" Mariko began, "I don't wanna be a slave."
Another older girl in the corner of the room snickered and walked over to her, crossing her arms.
"Oh yeah; and the rest of us just all jumped on the bandwagon for this." She said sarcastically. Mimi glared.
"Neko-san, quiet; she's new, she doesn't know any better." She said, the girl—Neko—huffed.
"Who cares; best you face facts now. You're never going to be getting out of here." She said, "but be happy; it beats being out there at least here you get a place to sleep and something to eat. It also beats being in those underground fights they have 'round here. But you're young they probably won't do that to you."
"Neko that's enough. You're older than her set a better example." Mimi hissed, Neko glared.
"Whatever; I'm goin to bed. Have fun in the morning fresh meat." She said then walked off. Mimi smiled at Mariko warmly.
"Don't mind Neko-san, she's just as scared as you are. She just doesn't like to show it." She said, "Get some sleep."
As Mariko laid on the futon that laid on the floor she began to take in the girls who slept in the room there was Mimi, soothing a girl with scraps and cuts on her body. The girl had short black hair, she was a little bit bulkier than any girl Mariko's age. Then in the corner were two girls who looked the same, they slept side-by-side never letting go of the other's hand. This place was a prison, and there was no escape.
The next morning, Mariko and the other girls were filed out into the main hall of the building. There older men watched them. Looking each girl up and down, Mr. Fujioka gave a description of each girl. One by one each girl was taken by someone into a room, one man picked one of the twin girls. They cried as they were torn apart from each other and separated. Mariko shrunk back until Fujioka grabbed her by the arm.
"This girl's new, hasn't been handled before." He said trying to bargain with the group of adults. A man with long dark hair and old fashioned Kimono stepped forth.
"She's a mutant; look at 'er eyes." He said, Fujioka frowned.
"Of course she does; she's a rarity, a gem in the rubble wouldn't you say?" He asked, the man thought for a moment then shook his head still not interested. Fujioka growled and casted Mariko aside.
Later in the day after the clients had all left, the girls were ushered into the main hall once again. Fujioka glaring at each one.
"You're all worthless, none of you brought in enough money from your clients." He shouted, "Ungrateful brats all of you! Don't you understand that I saved you? You'd be killed out there by yourselves."
"Saved us?" Mariko snapped; she had enough. From what she understood none of those girls wanted to be there. Fujioka cocked an eyebrow, as the other girls stared at Mariko who glared at Fujioka with her blue and purple eyes.
"Mariko-chan, shh. You're going to get into trouble." Mimi whispered, Mariko shook her head.
"You bought us, and selling our bodies to make your own prophet." She shouted, "You're scum!"
Fujioka then snatched Mariko up by the hair and dragged her to the center of the room throwing her over a table and pinning her down by her wrists.
"Impudent brat," He hissed ripping Mariko's Kimono off, "I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget."
"Mr. Fujioka no! please!" Mimi shouted, Fujioka turned, "Sh-she's just a little girl; she doesn't know any better, c-couldn't you let her go this once?"
"Stubborn brats like this one need to be broken," He said, then spread Mariko's legs apart, "And I'm going to do just that."
Mimi and the rest of the girls then watched as Mr. Fujioka began to rape Mariko. She screamed, begging anyone to stop him and help her. She thought of Takumi, wishing that he would suddenly come through the door and stop him.
"ONII-CHAAAN! HELP ME!"
And that's the end of this chapter. I must ask forgiveness for this chapter, it's not a pleasant read. So I'm begging for you not to flame me for this chapter. I'm not entirely proud of it. So again I ask you; to forgive me for writing this part. No one in this world deserves a fate like this, and I'm sorry for writing it. However it had to in order to show why Mariko views the world as rotten. Review if you can, but please no flames. And again I beg your forgiveness.