Sukeban

Rina’s head was tilted upwards, her eyes looking up at the sparkling night sky as her legs carried her down the sidewalk. She had no idea where she was going; she was simply wandering around aimlessly. She kept herself in a small area though; she knew not to wander too far. The last thing she wanted to do was get lost on the streets of Tokyo and not be able to find her way back to the meeting area in the morning.

Rina shuddered at the thought of going back in the morning. She had told the girls that she was staying with Haruna tonight and by morning; she knew they would find out that it was a lie. She knew they would be mad at her for doing this but really, what other option did any of them have? Rina couldn’t go back to Yukako’s; it simply wasn’t an option after the fight today. Her parents would be far too angry at her to let any of her friends stay over for any reason.

Rina couldn’t go to Haruna’s because she knew that woman was still there and Mami’s mother would never let her come over. Aina’s and Hinako’s parents weren’t much better than Mami’s was, they simply didn’t like their daughters inviting any friends over to their houses. There was no one for Rina to go. She was sure that the girls could work something out but it would just be a burden to them.

The young girl knew she could survive a night out here. All of the other girls could easily survive a night out here and Rina knew she could as well… At least, she could only hope that she would be able to survive a single night on the streets. She was praying it was just one night, she already didn’t like this. She didn't want this to become reoccurring.

Tokyo showed a new side of itself at night. The normal bustle of the city had died down, fairly few people on the streets. The ones that were sent a chill through Rina’s body. She was probably just being paranoid but so many of them gave her a bad feeling. She was just trying not to think about anyone around her or anything around her.

All she wanted to focus on was the sparkling sky.

At some point, Rina knew she would have to find a place to sleep for the night, but she had no idea where to even begin with that. She had never actually spent a full night out on the streets before, one of the girls always tracked her down first or something came up to stop it. Tonight would be the first time since she was kicked out.

Rina sighed softly, finally tearing her eyes off of the sky. She looked down, her eyes scanning the dirty sidewalk that she continued to walk down. She could see people sitting, leaning up against the buildings. She knew right away that many of them were in the same spot she was, homeless with nowhere to go. But they looked so much worse than Rina did. She could see the tattered clothes matted with dirt, proof of how long they’d been out here for.

It scared Rina. What if she ended up like that? What if one of the girls ended up like that? To think of any of them going into such a terrible predicament made Rina feel scared and worried, she never wanted a fate like that for her friends. She couldn’t convince them otherwise though. All of them believed they were lost causes, all of them believed they would never become anything else other than the delinquents they were today. She had even heard a few of the girls say on occasion that they’d be surprised if they lived past 25.

It depressed Rina but she couldn’t say she thought any differently. Life hadn’t been kind to any of them. Whenever the girls did get a break, it seemed like life would just kick them back down again twice as hard. No matter what they did – no matter how they tried – they always failed and fell flat. None of them were being given a chance to improve their lives and no one was trying to help them.

No one even cared to help them. The only thing any of them had was each other.

Rina ruffled her hair before letting out a sigh. She brought her hand back down, gripping her bag and holding it tightly against the uniform she still wore. She thought continuing to wear this for tonight would be a mistake but this was also another choice she didn’t have. Rina didn’t have many clothes to choose from, often times she was simply borrowing clothes from the other girls.

Rina sighed at the thought. She was such a burden to them. The girls did so much to take care of her and they never complained; they always seemed happy to care for Rina. It didn’t stop her from feeling like a burden though. She knew the girls’ lives could be a touch easier if Rina wasn’t in them. If Rina wasn’t causing so many problems with her homeless situation, then they would have one less thing to worry about.

There were times when Rina considered running away and disappearing. She thought it would make things easier if she did just up and disappear. Rina never did though. She thought selfishly. When she thought about it, she thought about how much she would miss the girls and she couldn’t go through with it. No matter how much of a burden she may be, she always wanted to be by their sides.

The young brunette was rudely ripped from her thoughts when she felt a large set of hands grip onto her tiny arm in comparison. She body was flipped around, her back hitting a brick wall. Rina groaned softly, her eyes squeezing shut before she let them open. She wished she had let them stay closed when she saw the three men in front of her.

“What a sweet little flower,” one of the men said, looking her up and down. Rina whimpered softly, pressing her body against the brick wall and inching to the side. She was quickly stopped when another male stepped in front of her, blocking her only path of escape from the small alley she’d been forced into.

“Hey there, little lady,” the last male said before he approached her. As he got closer, Rina could smell the familiar scent of alcohol fermenting from his body and his breath. He stepped even closer, a hand shooting out, placing itself on the wall next to Rina’s head. “What’s a cute sweetheart like you doing out here alone at this time of night?”

Rina coughed lightly from the awful stench coming off of his breath. She could see the way the man scowled at her actions. She really didn’t mean to upset him; it was an honest impulsive reaction beyond her control. She could hear the man laugh softly, bringing his other hand up to cup her face and force her to look at him.

“Little ladies shouldn’t be out all alone, you know. Especially when they’re so distracted like you were.” The male paused his words, taking his hand off of the wall and running it through Rina’s hair. He grabbed a cluster of the neatly brushed brown locks, bringing it up to his nose and sniffing softly. “Someone could hurt ya.”

“Please let me leave,” Rina whimpered. “What do you want with me?”

“Why, we only want to play,” he said with a chuckle. Rina could see the sinister smile he got on his face as he stepped away. The male snapped his fingers and in a flash, Rina’s bag was ripped from her hands.

“H-hey!” Rina shouted. She was silenced though when the male to her right approached her, growling lowly. Rina whimpered, pressing herself back against the wall as she helplessly watched the male to her left search through her schoolbag.

“Whoa.” It was the only word the male could utter as he pulled out the large bundle of cash hidden in her bag. Rina’s eyes widened. Oh no. That was the money Haruna had given her. Just before Haruna had passed her off to Yukako and Mami the other night, she had given Rina all the cash she had, asking the young girl to keep it for protection.

It wasn’t very protected now though.

The male wasted no time in handing the stack of bills over to the male at the center. The male raised his eyebrow before beginning to thumb through the multiple bills. He was impressed by the amount of cash a seemingly young schoolgirl was carrying.

“Please give that back,” Rina said lowly. She could see the male stop his actions before he laughed. He brought a hand up, ruffling his messy black hair before stepping towards Rina again. He came uncomfortably close to her, making her whimper and scrunch up her nose from the smell.

“Tell me, sweetheart, where did you get all of this?” he asked. Rina pursed her lips together refusing to answer him. He laughed softly, shaking his head and grabbing onto Rina’s face again, forcing her to look at him. “Answer me, baby. Where did all this money come from?”

“Why should-why should I tell you?” Rina was trying to be brave but her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest. Her blood was running cold as ice and her legs were shaking from the fear that pulsed in her veins.

She could hear another dark chuckle from the man. The male pushed the cash into his back pocket, coming even closer to Rina so their bodies were practically touching. Rina wanted to shove him away but she couldn’t. She couldn’t find any movement in her limbs; they were limp as a doll’s. They were useless to her.

“You’re cute, ya know that? Listen, sweetie, just from looking at all that cash, I can tell you ain’t no ordinary schoolgirl. There’s no way a kid your age could earn that amount unless she was offering some special services.” As he said his last words, Rina could see him eye her body again, but her mind didn’t put the pieces together. She was still too terrified to put the pieces of anything together.

“Can I just have my money back please?” Rina asked softly. Her body stiffened and tensed when she felt a calloused hand on her leg now, the dirty fingers snaking up her skirt.

“You can have your money back if you offer us some of those special services, sweetie.” Finally, Rina’s mind put together the pieces of the puzzle that were laid out in front of her. She gasped, shoving the man’s hand away from her.

“Just what kind of girl do you think I am?” Rina asked in an obviously surprised tone. She could hear the male growl, slamming her body against the wall and hitting her hard on her thigh.

“Don’t do that again, little lady, or else you might just make me angry,” he growled to her. She could feel herself exhale a shaky breath as the first tear slipped down her cheeks. She was scared…. No. That wasn’t right. She was terrified – petrified even.

What were they going to do to her? She didn’t have any “services” to offer them but she very well knew that they weren’t going to let her just leave. The young brunette sniffled softly, her head bowing and her hair falling into her face. This is what she gets for lying and sneaking off to the streets. This is what she gets for being weak. If this happened to any of the others, they would know how to defend themselves. They’d be able to get out of this situation.

She could feel the male – who she had identified as the ring leader – step closer to her, pressing his body roughly against hers. She could feel his filthy hand lay itself on her thigh again, his other calloused one stroking her cheek gently. His fingers slipped up her skirt again, beginning to come uncomfortably high.

“The fact remains that you’re still not a normal schoolgirl, you didn’t earn that money legally, did you? You’re either prostituting yourself or involved in the black market. Either way, you’re not normal and that makes you fun.”

Rina wanted to cry, and she was about ready to begin full on crying as well. Her entire body was shaking as her mind raced with thoughts of what they were going to do to her. This is what everyone warned her about. This must be what all of the girls meant when they said the streets were too dangerous for the likes of Rina. Rina was too soft for this, she knew it. She knew she was too weak to survive this. She shouldn't have ever bothered to think for even a second that she could survive the streets.

“Come on, sweetie. Just one go around and we’ll give you the money back and a little extra. We can even put in a good word for your owner.” Rina could feel the tears slipping down her face now. What would the others do? She had to embody their courage; she had to fight back… But how?

Rina did the only thing she could think of. Mustering up all her strength, she shoved the man off of her, proceeding to kick him as hard as she could in the shin. She tried to bolt out of the alley but quickly crashed into the man to her left. In her hysteria, she had forgotten about the two men on her left and right sides. She hadn’t remembered them and hadn’t taken them in for an account when she decided to fight back.

She could feel the male grab onto her arms before she felt herself get pushed backwards. She collided with the ground, her back arching as the pain overcame her. She could see the leader approaching her and instinctively, she kicked her leg out in an attempt to hit him.

The male caught it with ease though, pushing her leg back to the ground and sitting down on top of her small legs. Rina tried to squirm but she felt the male that had been standing to her right grab her wrists, pulling her arms above her head and pinning them to the ground.

Now she really was trapped.

Rina looked up helplessly and hopelessly at the clearly angry man looming over her. The tears flowed freely and her body shook. She whimpered softly, beginning to beg them to let her go. The three men only laughed at her begging.

“Look at who’s being big and bad now,” the man holding her wrists commented. Rina sniffled, her tears turning into sobs as the fear tore at her entire body. This was really happening to her right now. The first night she decides to spend on the streets and this is what happens to her.

“Now I’m angry, you little wench,” the male on top of her sneered out. He reached into his other back pocket and Rina’s eyes widened when she saw him pull out a switchblade. He really didn’t like it when his prey decided to be difficult; it always meant he had to teach them a lesson.

“N-no… Please don’t…” Rina begged softly. Just like the first time, she could hear a chorus of harsh laughter that cut right through her. These men weren’t going to let her go and she had probably only made it worse by attempting to fight them off. She should have known she wouldn’t be able to fight them. She couldn’t fight anyone.

“Please don’t what, baby? I can’t understand you if you don’t finish your sentences,” he mocked her. He laughed softly, bringing up a hand and running it over her face. He ran his fingertips over the still visible markings on her face. “Looks like someone got ya good. Who was it? Did you piss off your owner or did you fail to satisfy one of your customers? You should always satisfy us, you know.”

Rina bit down on her lip, her eyes squeezing shut tightly. She had to do something, but what could she do? She only had one idea. Taking in a deep breath to fill her lungs with air, she decided to give her last resort a try. If they were planning to kill her already, it's not as if this could make it any worse.

“Help me!” Rina shouted as loudly as she could. “Someone! Please help me!”

“Goddamn it; shut the stupid wench up!” The leader ordered. Rina could feel a pair of knees replace the hands that had once been holding her. The hands now placed themselves over her mouth, muffling her cries for help. She was beginning to accept that no one was coming to help her. Why would they? She's just some silly schoolgirl who got herself into trouble. No one was going to care about her.

Where was Haruna? Where was anyone?

Rina wanted Haruna to be here. The older girl always protected her and she would still be here to protect her if Rina hadn’t been stupid enough to run off. Haruna could easily teach these three a thing or two; she was everything Rina wasn’t. She never regretted anything more in her life than she did this. She should never have even thought she could do this. She needed Haruna… She needed anyone.

Rina’s crying got harder when her mouth was covered, her sobs turning to sheer hysterics. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, the hands over her mouth muffling her loud cries. She was going to die. There was no way she was going to escape this alive. They were going to kill her, and probably painfully too.

“You know, sweet cheeks, I was going to be nice with you but now… Now after all this trouble you’ve caused, I think I might be a bit rough with you.” Rina tried to squirm but it was no use, she knew there was no way she was getting these two off of her with force.

Rina looked up at him through her vision made blurry by her tears. She could feel the cold metal of the knife graze her skin, causing goosebumps to appear all over her flesh. Seconds later, she could feel the knife pierce her thigh, a muffled cry coming from her as her back arched itself again from the pain.

The leader laughed softly, digging the blade deeper into her leg before slowly beginning to move it down, relishing the cries he heard from her. He could hear her begging, her body squirming. He leaned down, kissing her cheek lightly.

“I like when they squirm,” he whispered to her. Rina could feel him dig the knife in deeper before she saw his hands fall away from it, leaving it embedded in her leg. Her eyes widened when she saw him move his hands to his belt buckle, slowly beginning to undo it.

"Please don't," Rina begged weakly. Her begging was low it was barely hearable with the hands covering her mouth. Rina let her eyes shut, trying to ignore what was about to happen. She could hear the ring leader chuckle before he placed a kiss on her cheek.

"You'll like this," he told her in above a whisper. The terrified brunette could feel him slowly lifting her skirt, his fingernails scratching along her leg. Impulsively, Rina let out a loud scream. Even with her mouth covered, the scream was loud and clear.

The male growled, reaching a hand down and jamming the knife further into Rina's leg, silencing her screaming from the shock. Rina quieted down again, her body going limp with her eyes continuing to stay shut. All of her efforts were exhausted, she couldn't fight anymore.

Rina was ready to give up. She tried to mentally brace herself for the pain that was going to come but she was surprised when it never came. Instead, Rina felt the male on her legs be ripped off of her. Her eyes shot open just in time to see a tall, shadowy figure land a punch to the face on the male who had once been on her. The male holding her arms growled lowly, launching himself at the shadowy figure.

Rina instantly crawled away, ignoring the pain as the knife hit the ground due to her movements, twisting itself in her leg. She backed herself up against a wall, watching through blurry vision as the figure caught the man, successfully knocking him out cold with a single punch.

The scared girl let out a small whimper as she saw the figure approach her now. She cowered against the wall, her head turning to the side as she squeezed her eyes shut. What now? What else could possibly go wrong tonight? Rina's breathing was still heavy as she heard the footsteps approach her, stopping just in front of her. She felt a hand lay itself gently on her leg.

"Don't be scared, I'm a cop. I can help you." Slowly, Rina opened her eyes. She looked at the tall male in front of her who smiled down sweetly at her. In the moonlight, she could see his olive toned skin and his shaggy black hair that hung in his face. He looked like he was an older male. His eyes were a deep brown color and Rina could notice the sincerity in his eyes. Despite being a foreigner, the male spoke nearly perfect Japanese to Rina.

He nodded to her as if confirming his last statement. He pulled his hand away, fishing something out of his pocket before flipping it open to show her. Sure enough, Rina could see the proof that what he had said was true. He was a retired officer from a foreign country, but one nonetheless. Rina didn't know how to feel about that. Rina didn't have more time to think when they heard stirring behind them.

"Damn it," the male cursed lowly. He didn't want to move Rina because he didn't know how deep her leg wound was but if they were waking up, he had to get her out of here. Those three certainly weren’t going to be happy campers when they came to.

Rina looked over to the side, her heartbeat quickening again when she saw the leader begin to stir. She looked back over at her savior pleadingly. He could see the terror in her eyes; he couldn't just leave her here. If he left her, he knew these three were surely going to kill her.

"Let's go," he told her simply. He pushed himself up, maneuvering to her side before scooping her body up bridal style. Rina whimpered when his hand hit the knife and he apologized lowly. He wanted to remove that but he needed more time to do that.

Once he had her secure in his arms, he set off quickly, hoping to get far away before the males woke up and chased them. He was careful with Rina's legs, being sure not to touch the knife sticking out of her skin. Rina didn't feel as calm though. She wanted to beg him to put her down but she couldn't. All she could do was keep her arms wrapped around his neck and sob quietly. There was no fight left in her.

The male continued to carry her for a few more minutes before he set her down outside of some building. He leaned Rina against the building, bending down to look at her leg. He could see it wasn't as serious as he first thought but it was still a problem. He at least had to get the knife out before something drove it even farther into her leg and hit an artery.

"This is going to hurt," he told her gently. His hands gripped the handle of the switchblade and Rina's body visibly tensed. He apologized again just before pulling the knife out quickly, a scream tearing through Rina.

The young brunette's body hunched over as the newly unplugged wound bled, the blood splashing onto the concrete. The officer acted quickly, pulling on a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapping it around Rina's rather petite leg. The handkerchief was a tight fit but it would work for now to stop Rina's bleeding. The officer let out a sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair.

"What were you doing out here, kid? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Rina didn't respond; she could only cover her face as she sobbed and shook. What was she to do now? A random stranger helped her and she was thankful for that, but he was a cop. He may be retired but it was all the same, he could still get her taken away from Haruna and the others.

She heard the male sigh before he muttered something under his breath.

"Come on; let's get you to the police station. They'll help you from here."

That was all it took. In an impulsive action, Rina scooted away from the male, her eyes wide in fear. This is what she feared he would do. The officer looked confused but reached out to touch her, only to have her move further away.

"No..." Rina murmured. She couldn't let him take her to the police. They'd realize she was homeless and take her away. She couldn't allow that. She couldn’t leave the only people who were keeping her alive.

So she did all she could think of. With her fear giving her a burst of adrenaline, Rina pushed herself off the ground, ignoring the near blinding pain that shot through her body. It didn't matter to her, getting away from the officer was all that mattered to her. Returning to Haruna was all that mattered. She could push through any pain to make sure she wouldn’t have to go.

"Hey, kid! Don't run away!" She heard him shout after her. Rina didn't listen, she only ran. She bolted from where he had taken her, running out onto the sidewalk and in the first direction she could. She bumped into people in her hysteria, some of them shouting slurs at her for it.

Rina didn't listen nor did she stop. Neither words nor the pain searing through her would make her stop. Rina kept moving until she felt like she was going to pass out from the pain. She pulled her aching and tired body into a park, making her way over to the playground area of the park.

She crawled into a small, yellow tube-like structure and her body collapsed when she was far enough in. She shook from the fear, the cold, and her tears. She curled her body into a fetal position, her hands clasped tightly against her chest. Tonight had ended up being a nightmare; Rina never could have imagined it would turn out this bad.

The broken girl could feel the darkness take over as she wished for this night to end.