Sukeban

“Goodbye, Daichi,” Madoka said and gave her brother-in-law a quick hug. She let go of him, side-stepping a bit and wrapping her arms around her sister. “Have a safe trip, Hitomi.”

From behind them, Haruna leaned herself against a wall. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she glared at the four adults in front of her. The teenager was desperately trying to ignore the rapid beating in her chest. She didn’t want to admit it but her fear was spiraling out of control. Her parents were really leaving. They were truly leaving her alone with those two for an entire month. Haruna had no idea how she was going to handle this. The teenager had an idea on how to handle everything… Everything but this.

“We’ll be back soon, keep a good eye on things around here,” her mother said. Haruna scoffed and rolled her eyes, she knew that was a dig at her. Her mother would always make such petty insults towards her daughter; Haruna had gotten awfully used to them.

“It won’t be a problem. You’ll come home to a spotless house and a wonderful daughter,” Madoka said with a small laugh and waving her hand at the air. Haruna could see the pointed look her mother had shot her after Madoka’s words. The look made a chill go through Haruna’s spine. She had always thought her parents didn’t know what her aunt and uncle had done to her but now after that look… Haruna was beginning to wonder if she’d always been wrong about that.

The four adults said their last goodbyes before Haruna’s parents finally left, the teenager’s heart sinking lower as they did so. She hated this and she hated them. She hated them for the hell they had put her through and she hated them for making her feel these stupid feelings again. This fear that ran through her wasn’t supposed to be here. She had trained herself and grown stronger than that. At least, she thought she had.

Once Madoka closed the front door, she spun around on her heels, smiling at her niece. Haruna rolled her eyes and pushed herself off of the wall before making her way into the living room. She knew that her aunt and uncle were following behind her, as much as she didn’t want them to. She wanted them to leave her alone but she had a gut feeling that now that they were alone, they were just going to get started with her.

“Haruna, stop this instant.”

There it was. The words Haruna had dreaded hearing. Against her better judgment, Haruna did stop. Her hands clenched at her sides and her body became tense. She rigidly turned to face her aunt and uncle. Her uncle was seated on the couch now while Madoka stood behind Haruna, her arms crossed over her chest and a pointed glare directed at Haruna.

“Can I help you?” Haruna asked. She knew she was going to be in for it because of all her mouthy talk but she didn’t want to stop. She was scared that if she stopped, she’d revert back to a cowering mess. It was this or that, and she’d rather be this. In Haruna’s mind, there were two types of people in this world. The dominant type who could demand control and the weak type who would let people push them around. Haruna was not going to be the latter type ever again.

“Now that your parents are gone, I think it’s time we had a talk about your behavior.”

“My behavior? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.” Madoka scoffed and laughed at Haruna’s comeback. This teenager was really begging to be punished. She had become so unruly in the eight years that Madoka and her husband had been away, she knew they were going to have to re-break Haruna if they wanted her obedience again. It wouldn’t be a problem though. Haruna might be physically strong but Madoka knew she was mentally weak. Haruna could talk big all she wanted but Madoka knew she would be easily broken after a few punishments.

Madoka shook her head as she reached into her back pocket, fishing out her carton of cigarettes and a lighter. She pulled one out and glanced up at Haruna, noticing the way the teenager grimaced from the sight of the cigarettes. Madoka let out a bitter chuckle, lighting the end of the cigarette. She took a long drag before blowing the smoke out towards Haruna, the teenager recoiling backward.

“You’re disgusting,” Haruna told her. Haruna always did hate Madoka’s smoking habits; she never understood how someone could be into such a vile habit. Even for Haruna, that was too much. The smell wasn’t the thing Haruna hated the worst about cigarettes though; it was also the heat that would sear easily through her soft skin.

“This is the behavior I am talking about, Haruna,” Madoka began. She took another drag of her cigarette before continuing, “Last night you were unbelievably disrespectful to me. You wouldn’t even give me a hug when you came home.”

Haruna bit down on her lip to keep herself silent. Her hands clenched into tighter fists and she let her head bow downwards. She had no idea what Madoka had planned for her but she knew she wasn’t going to like it.

“And today the disrespect continues. You have become such a spoiled rotten brat, but it doesn’t surprise me. My sister always was a push over and it would appear the man she married isn’t much better. Neither one has a backbone; they weren’t tough enough on you when we left. They let you run wild and look at the mistake you’ve become. This is the thing with you, Haruna. You need to be kept on a leash. You’re too irresponsible and immature to be given any freedom; you’ll never be able to survive without someone holding your hand.”

Letting her run wild was one way to describe how her parents acted towards her, although Haruna would rather just say her parents ignored her. Her parents never wanted anything to do with her. From the day she was born, they saw her as the mistake that never should have happened. She was allowed to run free after her aunt and uncle had moved away because her parents would rather pretend she didn’t exist until they needed to acknowledge her presence.

“My sister and her husband clearly have no idea how to raise a child. If they did, you would have turned out much better. The good news though is that I’m not a pushover and neither is Ken’ichi, we know how to rear a child. Especially rude little things like you, Haruna. By the time we leave, we’ll have you back to a quiet and respectful child. If we don’t, I’m sure I can convince my little sister to let me take you back to Nagasaki with me.”

Haruna could feel her body begin to shake at the thought of going back anywhere with them. She never wanted that to happen. She’d rather die than go live with them. Haruna let out a shaky breath, steadying her body and emotions again. She was not going to let her control slip. She had never let it slip before and she certainly wasn’t about to now.

“I have to go,” Haruna said lowly.

“Where to?”

“My friends want to see me.” It wasn’t a lie; Haruna had gotten a message from Mami only a few minutes before her parents had left. Mami had told Haruna that she needed to tell her something about Tomomi and she seemed rather desperate about it too. If this had anything to do with why Tomomi was acting so oddly then Haruna wanted to hear it. It was also a convenient excuse to leave the house and get away from these monsters for a few hours.

“I don’t think so,” Madoka told her. Haruna raised an eyebrow at her words. She knew it was coming, she knew Madoka and Ken’ichi were going to try and entrap her in this house. She wasn’t going to let it happen though; she was going to fight it with everything she had.

“Excuse me?”

“I think Madoka was perfectly clear,” her uncle spoke up, “You are not leaving this house today.”

“Ken’ichi and I agreed on this last night. It’s the first part of your punishment for all your disrespect last night. You will stay inside of this house; you won’t be seeing any of your friends today.”

“You can’t make me stay,” Haruna growled. Madoka laughed at Haruna’s statement, taking a few steps towards Haruna. The steps caused Haruna to back up. For every step Madoka took forward, Haruna took one back until she felt her back hit the wall.

“You want to watch me make you? Let me show you a very neat little gift your parents left for Ken’ichi and I. Darling, won’t you show her?” Madoka asked, turning to her husband as she said her last sentence.

Ken’ichi nodded before sitting up on the couch, digging in his back pocket a bit. He pulled out a small key, puzzling Haruna. She didn’t understand it, what was so ‘neat’ about a key and why had her parents given it to them? Seeing the confusion on her niece’s face, Madoka sighed and muttered something under her breath before addressing Haruna again.

“You’re so stupid sometimes, Haruna. How could not know what that is? It’s a skeleton key to this house. With it, we can unlock any door… We can also lock any door.”

Madoka surveyed Haruna’s features carefully; enjoying the way the terror began to work itself onto her features. Her glare had dropped, her expression softening and the terror coming into her eyes. Madoka enjoyed this; she could already see that Haruna was beginning to crack. Haruna attempted to harden her expression again after a few seconds but Madoka could still see the fear shining in her eyes.

Madoka walked closer to Haruna and with the teenager already being backed against the wall, there wasn’t much space for Haruna to escape to. Madoka smiled sweetly at her and the smile sent chills down Haruna’s spine. That was never a good sign. Her aunt took another drag from the cigarette she was still holding before blowing the smoke at Haruna again, forcing the teenager to begin coughing.

“You know my parents wouldn’t like you smoking in their house,” Haruna managed to get out once she got over her coughing fit. She could see Madoka smirk and saw her uncle shake his head from where he sat; she knew then that she had made a mistake in saying those words.

“Will they? My bad, dear. Why don’t we get rid of this nasty little thing then?” Before Haruna could react, she felt Madoka grab her arm with her free hand, pulling it away from her body. Haruna instinctively pulled her arm back but Madoka held it tightly.

“What are you--” Haruna’s words were cut off when she felt her aunt press the lit end of the cigarette down against her arm. Her other hand flew up to cover her mouth to stop her from shouting as the familiar burning pain seared through her arm. It hurt about as much as Haruna could ever remember it hurting.

Haruna ripped her arm away from Madoka, fighting back the tears. No, she wasn’t going to cry. She was not going to give her aunt and uncle that satisfaction, she was stronger than crying. People like Haruna didn’t cry, that was only reserved for the weak and spineless people. Haruna’s inner conflict with interrupted when she felt Madoka wrap her hand around her arm, her fingertips pressing against the new small burn on Haruna’s arm.

“Let’s go,” Madoka told her and pulled her roughly. Haruna stumbled, falling to her knees. She wasn’t on the ground for long before Madoka pulled her back to her feet, beginning to drag the struggling teenager across the living room.

Haruna ground her feet into the carpeting and pulled her arm backwards, attempting to free it from Madoka’s grasp. It was no use though; the teenager couldn’t break free of Madoka’s grasp. None of Haruna’s struggles or pulls were working. Even if she came close to it, Madoka would just tighten her grasp, pressing on the burn and sending a shockwave of pain through Haruna to weaken her a bit more. Haruna refused to give up though. She knew what was coming and she wasn’t going to let Madoka do that to her again. She’d take being burned again over this; she’d take the beatings again over this. She’d take anything over what was about to come.

“I’ve had about enough of you for the day, Haruna. You’re so unruly, I really can’t handle any more of you today. You might be bigger but you’re still a little runt, this should do just fine for a cage for you.” After having said her words, Madoka opened the door to the closest nestled in the living room.

Haruna tried to keep her spot but she was pulled forward, her eyes widened when she felt her aunt throw her forward, her body crashing to the floor. Haruna was on her feet again instantly but she wasn’t quick enough before her aunt closed the door. Haruna grabbed the door handle quickly, tugging on it. She could feel that Madoka was holding it from the other side, probably waiting for Ken’ichi to lock the door.

Haruna only had a few seconds reprieve before she felt Madoka give the door a rough tug, slamming it shut with the familiar click of a lock following it right after. Haruna’s heart was beating so fast that it was nearly deafening in her ears. She couldn’t hear much else other than her rapid heartbeat fueled by the immense fear flowing through her.

She didn’t want to be trapped in this darkness again.

Haruna began beating on the door, her other hand twisting and pulling on the doorknob in a desperate attempt to get it to open. Everything was useless though. No amount of banging or pulling was opening the door. Haruna’s efforts wouldn’t stop though; she couldn’t calm herself down enough to even think of stopping.

“Let me out! You can’t keep me in here!” Haruna shouted, continuing to pound her fists onto the door. “You’ll pay for this!”

Haruna growled lowly before backing away from the door. She slammed her foot into the door, her mind running out of ideas. She wouldn’t just sit back and let herself be trapped again. She wasn’t going to let this happen to her again. Haruna kicked the door again, her breathing beginning to get heavier.

“You know, Haruna, we were going to let you out in a few minutes but now that you’ve resorted to such barbaric behavior, I think you need to stay in there a little longer. Keep kicking the door and I’ll keep you in there overnight,” she heard Madoka say from the other side.

Haruna kicked the door once more before standing back, her breathing heavy from a mixture of the energy she was exerting and the fear she was feeling. Haruna could feel the odd sensation of tears pricking the back of her eyes as the darkness began to encroach around her. It had been so long since Haruna had this much trouble preventing herself from crying. It was nearly as if the darkness was beginning to suffocate the life out of her.

Haruna could remember all the times this had happened as a child. She could remember all the times Madoka or Ken’ichi would yell at her before shoving her into the cabinet, locking it up tightly. Even for a child as small as Haruna was, it was a tight fit. Haruna could remember the days she would be locked inside of there, covered by the darkness as she cried and begged them to let her out.

Haruna growled lowly, moving back towards the door and resuming pounding her fists onto the door. They had to let her out. She wasn’t an animal; they couldn’t keep her trapped like this. Someone would find out, the girls would notice if Haruna didn’t show up today. She was going to make them let her out of this darkness.

“Keep it up and we’ll leave you in there until Monday. After all, you don’t have school on Sundays, you know. It wouldn’t be a problem,” Ken’ichi informed her this time.

Haruna didn’t listen. She kept up with her pounding, letting it go on for minutes until her body tired itself out. Haruna leaned her back against the door, her breathing even heavier now. Her chest rose and fell, a painful feeling coming to her with every breath she took. She slid down to the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She lowered her head, burying her face in her arms.

“Just let me out.”

***

Tomomi sat on one of the open chairs; her hands fiddling with themselves as her eyes darted from side to side, watching Mami pace back and forth. She watched as Mami grumbled something, taking the phone away from her ear and redialing the number she had just called. The other girls weren’t in a much better mood; all of them had expressions laced with their obvious worry.

Tomomi didn’t really get it though. So Haruna hadn’t shown up today and nobody could contact her, why were they worrying like this? This was Haruna; she could easily take care of herself. Tomomi had entertained the idea of Haruna going through something the girls didn’t tell Tomomi about – it was probably a very real possibility – but with the knowledge Tomomi did have, she didn’t think there was too much to worry about with Haruna’s sudden disappearance.

She did feel bad for Rina though. The young brunette was curled up against the wall, her knees against her chest with her face hidden in her arms as she cried. Yukako had her arms wrapped tightly around her body, the short girl shushing Rina softly and cooing sweet things to her. The two girls weren’t sitting far from Tomomi; she could hear everything they were saying. Seeing the way Rina was reacting, Tomomi was getting even more of a feeling that there was something she didn’t know.

“Goddamn it, Haruna.” Tomomi looked back up at the grumbling blonde who was still pacing. She held her cellphone tightly in her hand, her other hand running its fingers through her long hair.

“Maybe she’s just busy, Mami. Let’s wait a bit and see if she calls,” Hinako suggested. Mami shot her a look and Tomomi could see the way Hinako’s body visibly tensed from the glare Mami was giving her. Hinako understood why Mami had done it; she was obviously very worried about Haruna’s disappearance and Hinako’s advice probably hadn’t made her feel any better.

It simply wasn’t like Haruna to just up and disappear like this. If Haruna couldn’t come, she would always let one of the girls know and they would pass along the message to everyone else. That’s what had Mami so worried. After the way she desperately passed Rina off to her and Yukako yesterday, Mami was scared of what had happened that night. She knew Rina was still hiding something and the fact Rina was crying this hard over Haruna’s no-show only confirmed it for Mami that Rina was indeed hiding something. She just had to figure out how to get it out of Rina.

“I guess you’re right,” Mami eventually sighed out in defeat. What other option did she have? She had lost count of how many times she had called Haruna and the older teenager simply wouldn’t pick up her phone. Mami was worried but she couldn’t very well keep calling with no results. At this point, waiting might be there only option.

Mami moved over to the wall, collapsing her body against it with a sigh. She ran her hands through her hair again, shaking her head. The meek brunette sitting across the room wanted to get up and console her but she didn’t really know how to. She had never been in this sort of situation before and she didn’t fully know all of what was going on. She didn’t see how she could help Mami; she figured it was best to not even try before she made things worse.

The girls sat in an uncomfortable silence; the only noise to be heard was Rina’s soft crying and Yukako’s even softer cooing. The silence carried on for minutes before Mami’s ringtone went off, sounding deafening in the dead silent room. The blonde wasted no time in picking it up.

“Haruna?!” Mami said hurriedly.

“Hey…” Mami should be thankful to hear Haruna’s voice but she could only fume at the casual response Haruna had given her.

“Hey? Hey?! You disappear on us for hours and all you can give me is a damn ‘hey’?!” Mami shouted into the receiver, earning her the attention of everyone in the room, including the previously inconsolable Rina.

“Don’t you dare raise your voice to me, Sasazaki.” Mami could notice the tired sound in Haruna’s voice. Hearing her speak like that, Mami’s anger was slowly beginning to diminish. She wasn’t just going to let Haruna get away with this. She had been worried sick about Haruna and the boss was being so casual about it.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Ono,” Mami growled out. “Just where the hell did you disappear off to?” Mami’s question was met with immediate silence that continued on for seconds before Haruna finally answered.

“I was helping my parents.” The blonde didn’t like the shortness of Haruna’s answer; it gave her a bad feeling. She pushed her feeling down though, trying not to show it to the other girls. The feeling only got worse when Haruna spoke again, “I may not be coming tomorrow either.”

“Why is that?”

“My parents might need me again. I’m sorry, I know you want to talk to me but we’ll see each other Monday for sure.”

“Haruna…”

“I’m sorry, Mami, but there’s nothing I can do. I have to help them.” Mami was getting progressively more worried the more Haruna spoke, the previous anger Mami had felt for the boss was nearly completely gone. She could swear she heard an underlying tone beneath the harsh tone Haruna was using, it sounded to Mami like Haruna was upset about something. “How is Rina doing by the way?”

“She’s fine,” Mami lied. The last thing she wanted to tell Haruna was that her disappearance had upset Rina as bad as it had.

“I’m glad,” Haruna said with a relieved sigh. “Tell her I’m sorry and everyone else that I’m sorry. I have to go now. I’ll talk to you later.”

Mami didn’t have a chance to respond before Haruna had abruptly hung up. The blonde pulled the now beeping phone away from her ear, staring at it in bewilderment. Her eyes looked up and surveyed the group of girls now looking at her. She forced a smile out onto her face, nodding at them.

“Haruna is fine.” Those words had left Mami’s mouth but she didn’t know if she actually believed them. She just hoped that whatever Haruna was going through, she would be strong enough to handle it.

***

Haruna hung up the phone with a heavy heart. She wanted to ask Mami to come find her and rescue her from these two but with Madoka and Ken’ichi both standing at the door and watching her, asking for help was the farthest thing from being a possible option. Once Haruna had hung up, she crossed her arms over her knees that were pulled up to her chest again, clutching the phone tightly. The only reason Haruna had been allowed to use the phone was because Mami wouldn’t stop calling. The constant calls had eventually annoyed her aunt and uncle, prompting them to force Haruna to call Mami in order to make the calls stop.

“Maybe now your friends will stop being such bothersome brats. And change your ringtone as well, it’s annoying. Now give us the phone,” Madoka told her. Haruna looked up at her, shaking her head and making no movement to give the phone to them.

“Make me.” Madoka groaned, squeezing the bridge of her nose. The nerve of this child. She simply couldn’t take much more of this bad attitude. This was a perfect example of why she had to do this to Haruna. She was such a brat; she needed someone to teach her a lesson.

“Ken’ichi, it’s your turn to deal with this ungrateful brat,” Madoka said before she turned and left the small closest Haruna sat in. Ken’ichi grunted softly and approached Haruna without saying a word. He really didn’t have time to be messing with this rat right now. Haruna liked dealing with Ken’ichi more than Madoka. Ken’ichi was more physical with her but she preferred the beatings to Madoka’s mental abuse.

After he approached Haruna, he grabbed onto her hair with one hand, yanking her head back and earning a low growl from her. His other hand grabbed onto Haruna’s right arm that was holding the phone, his fingers pressing purposely against the burn mark on her arm. He curled his hand a bit, now digging his fingernails into Haruna’s arm. Haruna held her grip for as long as she could but soon the pain became too much for her. Her hand unclenched and the phone clattered to the floor. Her uncle threw her head back against the wall, a small groan leaving her lips as her uncle picked up the phone before going to leave.

“You’re really only making this worse for yourself,” he told her before walking out of the closest, closing and locking the door behind him. Haruna didn’t make any movements to try and release herself. Her hands still hurt from her previous attempt some hours ago and she knew it wouldn’t work anyway. Haruna didn’t know how long she had been in here for or what time it was, it only felt like a few hours to her.

Haruna did crawl over to the door regardless though. She pressed her ear against the door and could hear the chatter of her aunt and uncle fairly clearly.

“What has my stupid sister done to her daughter? Her daughter turned out to be as worthless as she is,” Madoka said. Haruna felt like she should be affected by the way her aunt was talking about her mother but she didn’t particularly care too much about how the two sisters felt about each other.

“Madoka, think of this as a new project. Breaking Haruna and retraining her could prove to be a lot of fun, you know. Now that she’s older, we could think of new ways to instill punishments onto her.”

“We probably will need to regardless; her behavior is so horrible that I don’t know if the old ones will do it for her anymore. Maybe my sister should have just gotten rid of her when she said she was going to. If only that stupid Daichi hadn’t convinced her to keep Haruna.”

Haruna had heard enough. She crawled away from the door, making her way into the back of the closest. Her hands navigated for her, feeling for objects in the dark. She soon found where she was looking for, laying her tired body on the floor. She laid her head down onto the pile of clothes she knew very well was there, curling her body up. She brought her injured arm against her body, her other hand lightly stroking the burn mark. The teenager let her eyes close, a small sigh leaving her.

It was just like her childhood again. Hurt and trapped in the dark.