The sound of soft footsteps awoke her. It was dark and she could not see. But she was used to darkness. She had learnt to use her ears and her nose to learn what was happening around her. The sweet scent of recently cooked rice and fish floated in the air. She licked her parched lips and counted to five before closing her eyes.
The lights flared to life and the sound of jingling keys reached her ears. Again she counted to five and opened her eyes. The door of the cage opened and Sasuke stepped inside.
“Good morning, miss Kuonji. How was your sleep?”
“I’ve being better…”
Ukyo didn’t move. She simply stared as her keeper placed a tray in front of her. Her stomach growled but she remained lying on her side on the cold stone floor.
“Come on, sit down and eat.”
“It smells weird.”
“Ukyo…eat it...”
He hissed. There was a hint of alarm on his voice. Ukyo failed to catch it.
The sound of heels clicking on stone was like the raging of thunder to Ukyo’s ears. She struggled to sit, dragging her chains. Sasuke gave her the chopsticks and pushed the tray closer…but it was too late. Kodachi had heard it all.
Her laughter sent a shudder up their spines and Ukyo almost dropped the chopsticks to the ground. She hugged the rice-bowl closer to her chest but it was forced out of her hand by a sharp blow. Whimpering like a kicked dog and nursing bleeding fingers, Ukyo Kuonji cowered in her corner.
Kodachi pulled her ribbon back and whirled it around herself, enjoying the sound it made as it cut through the air.
“Do you refused to enjoy the food I hath so carefully prepared for you?”
“No, Kodachi-samma…”
“It seems as if you were…Are you lying to me, you untruthful wench?”
Ukyo clenched her jaw. Her hands closed into tight fists. She was a fighter. She had faced the violence of the sea all alone when she was but a child. She had grown alone when her father had left her. She had lived through a life of hardship and sorrow…How could she find herself reduced to a trembling moaning mess at this woman’s feet? That same woman she had scorned and fought so many times before.
The ribbon cracked like a whip inches away from her face. Ukyo’s heart skipped a beat and her muscles stiffened so bad that it hurt. The mere promise of its bite was enough to make her crumble.
“No, Kodachi-samma…I’m sorry…I’m not feeling well…”
“Must my delightful dish go to waste because you feel unwell? Are you that important, wench?”
Ukyo clenched her mouth shut. The sound of Kodachi’s heels clicking on stone thundered in her ears again. Her long cold hand snacked across her cheek and Ukyo opened her eyes to stare at her self-proclaimed mistress. Her smile reminded her of the cold rictus on a reptile’s face.
“Why still rebel? What is there to fight for? I am all you have. This is all you have…”
It’s being months since she had being locked down there. No one had come for her. Kodachi reminded her of that fact every time she tortured her. She liked to mock her. She liked to make her feel alone and abandoned. Ukyo knew that her words would have devastated anyone else. But she was used to loneliness. She had always being alone. Just the first few years of her life someone had being there for her. Her father had being there for her. But then he had died…
“Oh, do not cry, my dear…” Kodachi purred wiping the single tear running down Ukyo’s cheek. “I am here for you. Look at all the trouble I went through just to get you. To be here for you….Because we must be together. We must join…”
Kodachi’s gentle caresses stopped. Her long fingers were now scratching her skin. The thin fingers closed tightly around her throat and Ukyo was shoved back hard against the wall. A whimper escaped her lips.
A small portion of steaming salmon was shoved into her mouth and she swallowed in silence. The food was bitter and it made her gag but there was little she could do. Resisting was futile. And so she kept swallowing in silence.
A person doesn’t understand how important the little things in life are until they lose them. Everyone would take for granted the light of the sun and the clouds gliding gently across the light-blue sky. Few people understood the breath-taking beauty of a long extension of unperturbed grass. Even fewer would be able to catch the smell of leaves in the air.
Ukyo felt fortunate as she worked in the garden. She closed her eyes for a moment so she could appreciate better the sound of the leaves dancing in the wind. She caught the song of three different kinds of birds. Her forced confinement did not seem so bad anymore. If it had not happened, she would have being unable to understand the beauty of the paradise in which she stood.
“Do not hurt my flowers, dear.”
Kodachi warned her. Ukyo opened her eyes and resumed her work. Their thorns had hurt her hands. The small numerous wounds ached and itched. But she supposed it was only fair. She was slowly mutilating the bush. She was cutting the roses it had so carefully produced one by one. Why should she hate it for trying to defend itself against the onslaught? How could it be blamed for hurting its tormentor?
“What a wonderful job you’re doing…” Kodachi said. “Look all those roses so wonderfully cut. I’m pleased with you, Ukyo…”
Suddenly the cruel iron stopped biting her skin. Ukyo stayed frozen as the manacles fell from her wrists. Kodachi dropped the key and massaged her skin. The stimulus to the bruised skin hurt but Ukyo did not dare to move. She had got so used to being restrained. She had gotten used to the dead weight of metal on her hands. Now her wrists felt cold and exposed.
A voice inside of her mind was screaming at her. It was commanding her to move. It wanted her to attack the evil creature leaning over her. It wanted her to break the chains on her feet and run…But Ukyo paid it no mind.
She stared at Kodachi’s fingers. They danced over her wrists. The pain they caused gradually eased until her touch no longer hurt.
“You are doing splendidly. I always reward willful hard-working servants.” Kodachi was whispering into her ear. Her cold breath brushed against her neck- “Sasuke has informed me that Genma Saotome tends to sleep until late hours under Nerima’s bridge…”
Ukyo’s trembling stopped. Her eyes widened. Kodachi released her hands. The manacles holding her ankles loosened and dropped to the ground.
“Go and tear him apart.”
So there we start. Dark shit, uh? Please, send me comments to: ninierademascotas at live dot com dot are :D