From: "floribelle maximo" FLORI-DONO's ARASHI PART 4 I remembered of being brought to another room. It was dark, dank and a little musty. It was so small that I could reach the other side in just a few steps. The man pushed me and I landed sprawled on the floor. I gathered the little strength that I had to get up and sit. As I do so, I heard him holler for somebody. In a few minutes, a girl came in. She was I guessed a couple of years older than me but she looked more like thirty. She walk in a slight stoop and there was a tired expression on her face. It seemed like she'd never had an easy day in her whole life. I shuddered. I was only ten. Would I look like that in five year's time? The man then motioned for her to come to me. She was gripping the handle of a wooden bucket filled with slightly murky water in one hand, while the other she held a bunch of clothing. I just then realized that she was going to help me clean up. Without looking at my eyes, the girl gently stripped me off my soiled rags. I glanced at the man standing at the doorway who was watching with a manic gleam in his eyes. I quickly covered my chest which was already beginning to develop. He saw this and chuckled in such a way that made my blood ran cold. "Don't be shy my sweetie, you'll get used to it in time," he said. My eyes widened at that. What was he saying? I grew more nervous and I felt my hand trembling. What would they do to me? I was so embarrassed when I was finally stripped naked. The girl soaked a wash cloth with the water that she brought in and washed me. I was not used to being attended to, so having somebody touch my body or see it naked made me really uncomfortable. After she finished, she helped me get dressed. I kept my back to the door as I donned the old but clean clothes. I could feel the eyes of the man on me during the whole process, and I felt violated. "Is this her?" Another man of thirty or so, this time as thin as the other was fat, stepped inside the room. "Yes," Burly answered. "Kinda pretty isn't she?" Skinny said as he touched my face with his coarse hand. I turned my head away, quite revolted by his touch. "Heh, and feisty too," he continued. "The men'll like her!" Men? "Alright, quit the blabbing, she'll have to be delivered as soon as possible" Burly said as he took me by the shoulders and brought me out where there was a run-down carriage waiting. Skinny shoved me inside and went in himself. Burly went up front to handle the horses. Delivered. He said it as if I was a piece of meat. "What's your name?" Skinny asked. The way he was leering at me was worse than what Burly did earlier. I didn't answer. "You're not mute are you?" He was quite amused. I just stared at him. "I don't think you are so, answer me! What is your name?" This time he was a little angry. I just looked at him in the eyes. No girl as lowly as I, was allowed to look directly into anybody's eyes specially one who thinks himself better off. I knew what I did was insulting but it gave me the satisfaction of seeing him flared up. "So, you don't want to talk. Then maybe this'll make you..." He suddenly kissed me hard on the lips. It was dusgusting! I fought him off slapping him, beating him but he got both my hands in his. Even if I was so weak, I summoned all my strength to raise my knee, and I hit him on the groin. He jumped back and grabbed his aching part. "Why you bitch!" He gripped my shoulders with both his hands and pushed me hard and roughly against the carriage wall. He brought his face near mine and whispered into my ear. "So you think you'll getaway with that huh? Listen here, wench! Do you know where we are taking you? A whore house and you..." he said with a sinister grin on his face. "... are going to be a whore!" He let me go then. I felt the tears burn behind my eyes, despite myself. A whore? Never in my whole life had I foreseen myself as a pleasure woman. Even as a child all my dreams and hopes were simple. I just wanted to grow up like any ordinary girl, get married and have a little family of my own. My family was poor. Food was spartan and scarce but somehow my father made ends meet. It was a blessing that I was an only child. Although somehow, I knew that my otousan resented the fact that I was born a girl. He may not have said so, but I could feel it by his cold treatment. He wanted a boy to help him work in the rice fields. He was already old and he wanted someone to take-over with the farming or else, the small piece of land he cultivated would be taken away from by the daimyo and then given it to others. And Otousan loved his land so much he'd rather die. Life was simple even if there were lots of hardships, but it was only when my okaasan passed away when I was nine that everything took a drastic turn. Otousan was in debt to his daimyo, him having loaned money for Okaasan's medical expenses. He said that if he couldn't pay, the daimyo would take the land away. His land was much more important than I, so when the slave traders came to town, he didn't even hesitate to sell me. I cried, pleaded, even begged him not to let the people take me. But all my cries fell on deaf ears. He just turned his back as they dragged me. That was less than a year ago. And now... I sat there inside the carriage, contemplating about my life when suddenly, the carriage stopped. I heard shouts coming from outside. I strained my neck to try and hear what was going on. "Kuso!" Skinny said with a worried look on his face. "Road pirates!" Somehow, I wasn't afraid. The only thing in my mind at that time was finding out how I would escape. The door of the carriage was torn down and cloaked men with katanas peered inside. Skinny fainted at the sight of them. I couldn't help but smile. So much for his tough-guy façade. "Kotake-sama, the gold is in here!" One of the men said. The tallest of the group and the obvious leader stepped inside. His eyes which were shown through the slits on the covering of their heads, showed surprise when they landed on me. "Well, well, well," he said. "What have we here?" Whould they kill me? I thought fast about what I'd do next. Finally, I swallowed my nervousness. What I had in mind was the best I could think of. I bowed low to him, to this Kotake-san. "Please, I beg of you I... I am a slave. Let me come with you... I have no place to stay..." I said. "Huh, I have no use for little girls. Now, if you were a little older..." he said. "Please, take me with you..." I insisted, this time looking straight into his eyes. The man looked at me and something registered in his eyes. I could tell he saw something in mine which changed his mind. "Alright, you can come with us..." he said. One of his men protested, "Kotake-sama she'll just be a burden to us...!" Kotake-sama gave him a frightening look which silenced him. "I have plans for her, so don't dare question my decision!" "Yes, sensei," the man answered. I looked at Kotake-sama and wondered what he was talking about, but somehow I wasn't scared. There was something about him which made me trust him. I still couldn't quite tell. I knew my fate now lay in his hands. And I was ready to accept it, whatever the consequences may be. PART 5 I stood up and folded the rag which I was using to polish the floor and lay it in one corner of the room. I got the chipped katana which I had hidden. It was from one of the discards of the students. It was early in the morning and the students of the dojo were already beginning their training for the day. There were so many servants around that my absence was not quite noticed. Most of the time I would go at the back where I could see the students practice their moves and imitate them, using my chipped sword. I wiped the perspiration from my brow. It had been three weeks since I left with the thieves. My life since then had been quiet and peaceful, though I am not sure if I liked it. I learned that Kotake-sama was a master of kenjutsu. He owned a dojo in Osaka where he train the best potentials in sword wielding. I had learned that it was his front, a cover. Most of his students after training them, he would add to his group of mercenaries and thieves. I was somehow scared of what I had let myself into, but I had decided that I had no need to. Kotake-sama brought me and took me in as a servant. I received no pay and some of my tasks were hard but having food three times a day, and a roof over my head was already enough. I could hear Kotake-sama's voice from inside the practice room. "Now, I will show you a new technique. This is called the gatotsu." I came closer and peeked at the small gap I had made through the wall in order to see more. I saw Kotake-sama. He was a tall man with a medium built. I learned that he was thrity. He had no family and some said that his wife and son were killed by a bunch of thieves. This I didn't quite get. If that was so, how come he also became a thief? This was one question I knew I wouldn't have an answer. I saw him bent low with his weight on his right leg, his katana positioned horizontally and his free arm extended. I imitated it as best as I could with my broomstick. I grimaced a little at the strain my right leg was going through, not to mention that my movement was hindered by my kimono. I looked at the gap and saw Kotake-sama correcting his students' stances. I straightened again and ripped my kimono's sides as best and as silently as I could. "There," I thought. "That should do it!" And I returned to my former position just in time to see the master in action. He lunged forward and I could feel the force of his thrust. His students' faces were a mix of annoyance and despair. I knew what they were going through with their minds - they would need to practice a lot before they could master the new technique. Somehow, I didn't think that. All I thought was doing the training, even in secrecy, gave me contentment and a self-satisfaction that I just couldn't describe. I corrected my position and closed my eyes. I tried to imagine how the master executed the final move. I pictured a wolf hunting its prey, and having cornered it lunged and sank his fangs into his unfortunate victim. That was it! I lunged forward with all the strength and concentration I had. I heard a crash and saw that I had destroyed the far wall. "Oh no!" I thought. I just stood there knowing not what to do. In a blur, I saw the students came to find out what happened. The only thing I focused on was Kotake-sama as he entered the room and glanced at me, sword still in hand and at the totally fallen wall. "Why, it's the new servant girl!" one of the students exclaimed. I felt two pairs of strong hands pull me, and I only let them. I heard a loud clang as my katana fell to the ground. "Sensei, what do we do to her?" one of my 'guards' said. "Yeah, she should be punished!" said the other one. "Silence!" Tears were already pouring down my cheeks. I was really done for. Kotake-sama was inspecting the damage that I had done all the time he was there. Finally he turned around and motioned for me to go to him. The two who were holding me gave me a push and I heard them snicker. I didn't mind for I was too scared at that time. I mentally told my feet, which seemed to be frozen on the ground to move. It seemed like a year when I finally got near. I knelt on the ground and bowed my head as low as I could. But even before I could voice out my litany of apologies he interrupted me. "Did I tell you to kneel down? Get up!" he ordered. I hurriedly stood up with my head still bowed down, waiting to be punished. I could feel his gaze on me. "Fujiyami!" he said to one of his students. "Give me your sword!" I gulped. "Arashi, take this," I heard Kotake-sama say. I looked up and saw him with Fujiyami's sword in hand, and he was asking me take it. Still bewildered, I obeyed him, fearing that if I just stood there, he would kill me. "I want you to do what you just did earlier, whatever it was." He said. "Demo..." I protested. "Do it," he said this time in a harsher voice. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, I didn't see them anymore. They were just faces. All I was concentrating on was my move. I positioned myself again as I did earlier and executed the technique. I heard another crash followed by gasps and murmurs from either side of the room. As I recovered from my hypnotic state, I saw that I had destroyed the other end wall. I looked at my master who was still as stoic as ever. He didn't seem angry but there was something in his eyes, I could tell. "Arashi, get some practice gi from Yuukio and tomorrow, you start training with us." he said. I looked up. Was I hearing correctly? Did he really say that? "Oh, oh yes... please!" I said. I was too happy to care for proprities. It was only after saying it that I realized how foolish I must have sounded. I knelt once again and showered him with arigatous. I felt him walked past me and before leaving the room, I heard him say, "An almost perfect gatotsu... I was not mistaken by what I saw in her eyes. Yes, she is what I had in mind..." I stilled, and wondered at what he meant by that. ***TSUZUKI*** --------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ---------------------------- GRAB THE GATOR! FREE SOFTWARE DOES ALL THE TYPING FOR YOU! 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