Shiho's Nightmare
The end of another day at Shujin Academy. With hardly a soul still wandering the halls of the school, Shiho saw this as a perfect opportunity to brush up on her volleyball techniques.
"Maybe Kamoshida isn't here so that I can practice without worrying about him beating me," Shiho thought to herself as she walked into the gym and grabbed a volleyball from the basket.
Suguru Kamoshida was Shujin Academy's P.E teacher and a former Olympian. Someone like that sounds like the ideal person to teach the student body of the academy about physical education, right?
No…God, no.
While Kamoshida tries to put on the facade of a law-abiding citizen, deep down is a cruel and evil man who gets off on abusing his students, Shiho especially. Much like the other students, Kamoshida would pelt volleyballs at her during practice. Unfortunately, his abuse on her didn't stop there. There were moments when the vile teacher would get Shiho alone and beat her for seemingly no reason. Little did the black haired volleyball player know at the time that the reason Kamoshida would single her out specifically was because she was the best friend of Ann Amamiya (nee Takamaki), and he wanted her badly. But whenever Ann would turn down his advances, Kamoshida would take his aggressions out on Shiho instead, punching her and even causing an injury to her leg on one occasion.
She wanted so desperately to tell her parents about the abuse, but she was afraid that if she spoke out and Kamoshida found out it was her who opened her mouth, then the abuse would worsen. Or something would happen that would result in the disbanding of the volleyball team, just like how the conflict between Kamoshida and another one of her classmates and future friends, Ryuji Sakamoto, caused the disbanding of the track team.
It pained every part of her being, but Shiho decided to stay quiet about the situation.
As Shiho prepared to work on her setting position, she was just grateful that Kamoshida wasn't around so she could practice in peace. When she dropped the ball and went to pick it back up, however, one of her classmates and future friends, Yuuki Mishima, came up to her. She turned to face him, and she saw that he had a guilty look upon his bruised face. Yuuki was another student that Kamoshida liked to frequently abuse. Shiho wanted to ask Yuuki what was wrong, but before she could get a word out, he started to speak.
"Hey, uh," Yuuki began, his eyes looking down at the floor, "Mister Kamoshida wants to see you in his office."
Shiho could practically feel her heart stop at that moment, as her body went numb. Her eyes widened in shock as her grip on her volleyball loosened, causing her to drop it to the floor. The sound of the volleyball hitting the gym floor echoed as she looked back at Yuuki, who looked like he was ready to cry. She could tell he really didn't want to send her up to the man who abused them on a daily basis.
"I thought he went home," Shiho thought to herself, "Why is he still here? How does he know I'm here? What could he possibly want with me now?"
Shiho wanted to ask Yuuki these questions to see if Kamoshida told him anything, but he only said, "I'm only the messenger," before running away.
Shiho just stood still in the middle of the gym as if she were a statue. She knew she had to hurry up and see Kamoshida then and there; the longer she kept him waiting, the worse the beatings would be.
Goosebumps covered Shiho's skin as she inched ever closer to Kamoshida's office. There was a voice in the back of her head screaming, 'Run away! Tell somebody! Don't go in there! You know what he'll do to you!' Unfortunately, because she was that afraid of the unrepentant gym teacher, she ignored these warnings…and she'd soon wish she hadn't.
Finally making it to the door leading to Kamoshida's office, Shiho carefully knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" Kamoshida asked on the other side, feigning innocence in his voice.
"I-It's Suzui, sir," Shiho answered.
"Ah, young Shiho," Kamoshida said, "Please come in."
Slowly, Shiho opened the door and found Kamoshida writing something down on his desk. She entered the room and closed the door behind her. She could not only feel, but hear her heart pounding out of her chest as she braced herself for another merciless beating at his hands. Kamoshida, meanwhile, just stayed at his desk, still writing something down. Shiho couldn't tell if whatever it was he was doing was really that important that he couldn't turn to face her at that moment, or if he wanted to make it look like he was busy just so she could be scared out of her wits for a few seconds more.
Eventually, Kamoshida put his pen down and turned around to face the frightened student.
"You…You wanted to see me, sensei?" Shiho asked.
"Yes, Suzui," Kamoshida said, "It's about your performance."
"What are you talking about?" Shiho asked.
"I've been watching you during practice and during class, and while you do show a lot of promise, your current technique is rather sloppy," Kamoshida said.
"But, sensei, I've been practicing as much as I could," Shiho said, trying in vain to defend herself. What she really wanted to say was something along the lines of, 'Maybe if you focused more on coaching us rather than abusing us my technique wouldn't be as sloppy as you say it is!' But she knew if she said that, there'd be a fist with her name on it.
"I know that, Suzui, and I appreciate your efforts," Kamoshida continued, "But I'm afraid that it's not enough, and I'm going to have to remove you from our team's starting position."
Hearing that made Shiho's heart drop. Hearing that hurt worse than any of his beatings ever could. Volleyball was Shiho's main talent and she aspired to be a great volleyball ace one day. How could she do that if she didn't have an impressive resume to back it up?
"Sensei, please don't do that," Shiho begged.
"Sorry, Suzui, but I want a team that can actually win," Kamoshida said, "And we can't do that if your technique is the way it is now."
"But, sensei, I need this," Shiho continued to beg, "How am I going to get into a good college and build up a good resume if you don't put me in the starting position."
"You're a smart girl. I'm sure you'll figure something out," Kamoshida said most callously.
"How could you be so cruel!" Shiho shouted out as Kamoshida glared at her, his hand balled up into a fist. When she saw that, Shiho immediately backed down in an attempt to avoid another beating,
"What I mean is, can't you at least try and reconsider your decision?" Shiho asked meekly.
Kamoshida put his pointer finger to his chin in thought, as if thinking of a way to 'reconsider his decision'. Little did Shiho know, that Kamoshida stripping her of her starting position, and the events that'll transpire next, would be just another way to hurt Ann for turning down his advances. After thinking for a while, Kamoshida looked at Shiho, a wicked grin on his face.
"Well, there is one thing you can do," Kamoshida said in a sadistic tone.
Shiho immediately didn't like where this was going as the former Olympian got up from his chair and started to slowly walk up to Shiho, who was backing away from him.
"Sensei…what are you doing?" A frightened Shiho asked.
"You want to be in my team's starting position so badly?" Kamoshida asked, "Why don't you show me how bad you want it?"
Knowing what he was getting at, Shiho turned around and tried to run away, but Kamoshida grabbed her arm before she got far. Before Shiho knew it, she was pinned to the floor, struggling to break free from under Kamoshida. She looked up at him to see him with an evil grin on his face. Amidst the struggling, she could feel him hike up her skirt and practically rip her panties off.
Her next instinct was to scream for help, but Kamoshida put his hand over her mouth to muffle her cries of distress.
"Quit your struggling, little rabbit," Kamoshida growled, "Be a good little girl and just let it happen."
"No! Sensei, stop!" Shiho begged with tears in her eyes, her mouth still covered by his large hand, "No! No! No!"
"Shiho, babe, wake up," Daisuke said to his wife, who was tossing and turning in her sleep.
"Leave me alone, sensei!" Shiho cried in her sleep, "Stay away!"
"You're having a nightmare, darling, please wake up," Daisuke begged as she gently shook his wife awake.
When Shiho finally awoke, she let out a horrified, 'NO!' before sitting up and looking around her and Daisuke's bedroom as she caught her breath.
"It was only a dream," Shiho said, putting a hand over her heart, "A horrible, horrible dream that I wish never happened."
"Take it easy, love," Daisuke said as he put a hand on her back, causing Shiho to wrap her arms around him and cry into his chest, "Oh, Shiho, it's okay. I'm here," Daisuke said as he rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her.
"Daisuke, it was horrible," Shiho sobbed, "I was back at Shujin Academy on the day Kamoshida…raped me."
"Oh, Shiho, I'm so sorry," Daisuke said, his heart breaking as Shiho continued to cry into his chest.
"I can move on with my life as much as I want," Shiho lamented, "But it doesn't change what he did. I just wish I could've done something different to prevent it from ever happening. I wish I would've told someone. I wish I would've fought back. I wish I would've run away. I wish…"
"Hey, it's not your fault, Shiho," Daisuke said, "Don't blame yourself for something that a monster did."
At that moment, Daisuke found himself hating Suguru Kamoshida more than he's hated anything in his entire life. He wished he could be alone with his wife's former abuser so he could make him feel everything that he made her feel on the inside and outside. He wanted to show Kamoshida what true fear looked and felt like. He wanted to make him regret every lie so much as a finger on the woman that he loves. But he knew that anger wouldn't solve anything, so he just continued comforting Shiho and let her cry as much as she wanted.
"It's okay, Shiho, I'm here," Daisuke said soothingly, "He can't hurt you anymore. Everything is going to be alright."
As Daisuke continued comforting his wife, he looked over at the bedroom door to see it open up, revealing his and Shiho's nine year old daughter Nariko and their seven year old son Kaito.
"Is everything okay?" Nariko asked.
"Yeah, we heard mom screaming," Kaito chimed in.
"It's fine, kids," Daisuke said, "Your mom just had a nightmare."
Shiho removed her face from her husband's chest to look upon her children.
"What are you two doing here?" Shiho asked as she wiped tears from her eyes.
"We heard you scream, mom," Nariko said as he and Kaito waked over to the bed.
"Actually, maybe it's good you two are here now," Shiho said, "Come up on our bed. I want to talk to you two."
Nariko and Kaito climbed up onto their parents bed and stood across from them so Shiho could say what she wanted to say to them.
"Many years ago, a really bad man hurt me," Shiho said, trying to explain what happened to her in a way her kids would understand.
"Hurt you how, mom?" Nariko asked.
"Did he push you or pull your hair?" Kaito asked.
"He did beat me up pretty badly, yes," Shiho answered, "But the worst thing he did was…he touched me in a very inappropriate place after I told him not to."
"Why would he do that?" Nariko asked.
"This man had a crush on Auntie Ann when we went to school together, and when she refused him, he figured that hurting me would hurt her," Shiho explained.
"I don't understand," Kaito said, unable to comprehend rape and Kamoshida's machinations.
"I'll explain it more when you two get older," Shiho said, "But I should've told someone about the things this man was doing to me before it got to that point. So, I want you two to promise me something."
"Anything, mom," Nariko said.
"If someone, anyone, hurts you or touches you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, don't be afraid to tell your father or me," Shiho said, "You two will always have our full support no matter what."
"We'll always listen to whatever it is you two have to tell us," Daisuke said, "Just please promise us that you'll come to us, or someone you trust, if something bad happens to you or someone you know."
"You have our word, dad," Kaito said.
"We promise," Nariko chimed in.
"Good kids," Daisuke said as he lovingly ruffled his son and daughter's hair, causing them to chuckle.
"Are you feeling any better, mom?" Kaito asked.
"A little bit, yeah," Shiho said, wiping the last of her tears from her face.
"Would you feel better if we all cuddled next to you as you sleep," Daisuke asked.
"Yeah, hon, that'd be very much appreciated," Shiho smiled.
"Alright," Daisuke said as he turned to his two children, "Let's give your mom some love, kids. She really needs it right now."
"Okay," Nariko and Kaito both said.
Shiho's husband and children cuddled up next to her so she could feel properly loved and cared for after having a dream about the most traumatic moment of her life. Kamoshida may have taken a lot from Shiho, but the one thing he'll never take away is the love that she has for her family and the love they have for her in return.
"You're in our arms now, darling," Daisuke said to his wife, "Nothing bad will happen as long as we're here."
"That's right, mom," Nariko said.
"We love you, mom," Kaito said.
"I love you guys too," Shiho said, a happy tear rolling down her cheek.
A few minutes later, the family of four were sound asleep on the bed with nary a bad dream to be had by either of them for the rest of the night.