SEVEN<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
The Seppuku Princess<\/p>\n
I finally fell off my saddle on the banks of mighty Kinugawa River.
\nThe horse was gone.
\nI would not blame it.
\nIt had gone through so much with me, and now it had carried me out from the field of slaughter. I was more than grateful.
\nFalling off the saddle from here, even if I did not die of the gunshot at my waist, I would finally fall victim to the pursuing enemies or the peasants who would hunt down defeated warriors for their arms and armor.
\nI should have died!\u00a0 Why did they not finish me off with a direct cut? Even having my head taken and displayed on the rack would be better than being chased like a dog with master.
\nMaybe we all harbored a strong desire to live; even for a warrior\u2026 even for a female warrior.
\nI was dying for a cup of water.\u00a0 The river was beyond my power to reach although it was so close.\u00a0 I no longer had the strength to climb down the slope of the bank to have a sip.
\n\u201cSeppuku!\u201d a voice inside me urged.
\nI sobbed with my face between my palms. I was not afraid to die. But how I wished to see my mother again, if only for one more time.
\n\u201cHitomi, prepared to die bravely,\u201d my father had said to me before I sallied out for battle.
\nMy mother had just looked at me, her eyes filled with held back tears.
\nEveryone knew we were throwing eggs against a rock.
\nWe had less than two thousand men under arms, the enemy had more than ten thousand. And they had ten times more guns than we had.
\nI was wounded by one of the those guns.
\n\u201cAlright. I will commit seppuku.\u201d
\nOnce decided, I became more calm.
\nI struggled off my black lacquered body cuirass,\u00a0the battle skirt and then my jinhaori, the exquisitely woven riding shirt.\u00a0The left side of my jinhaori had been dyed red at the waist by my blood. Actually the amount of blood lost was not excessive.\u00a0 It was however enough to incapacitate me from continuing to fight. I had to resign myself to meeting my end.
\nI slipped my hand under the lapel of the jinhaori. The wrapping cloth around my breasts was sticking to my skin due to the sweat, and my breasts rose and fell under my palm.
\nAfter my seppuku, my head would be taken by the enemy.\u00a0How would my body fare?\u00a0 Would it be consumed by wild dogs?
\nBut it was beyond my control.
\nI took my white waist band down and tied my left thigh and leg together tightly so that later, when I made my cut, I would not topple over due to the pain.\u00a0 Then I pulled out the tanto and placed it in front of me. The white undershirt under the jinhaori was pulled down to my waist and the wrapping cloth, which I had hesitated whether I should remove, was also taken down and placed aside.<\/p>\n
I looked at my own breasts. \u201cWhat a pity! You have never been caressed by male hands.\u201d I said to them.
\nIf I was not a female warrior, I might have been married into the family of a daimyo. I knew my pretty look could win the favor from my husband. But I had chosen to follow my father to ride into battles by his side, and my marriage was put aside.
\nI gently caressed my own breasts to say farewell to them.
\nThen I let down the long hair which I had combed and tied into a pony-tail. \u201cI will die as a woman.\u201d
\nI regulated my breathing, took out the rice-paper to wrap around the blade of the tanto for me to hold.\u00a0 Although I could commit seppuku by holding the hilt of the tanto, a direct grip on the blade would give better control, especially when the blade reached the spot past the navel which would b so painful that some might not persist in carrying out the whole ritual.\u00a0 The rice-paper had been prepared since the first day I marched off to war. And hence, I was ready for this from the beginning.
\n\u201cFarewell, father\u2026 mother.\u201d I prayed and then resolutely plunged the blade into the chosen spot.
\n\u201cArgh\u2026\u201d In intense pain, I guided my hand dragging the blade towards the right side of my body.
\nMy pulse raced feverishly. I could hear my heart beating like drums and my hand, pulling the tanto, did not stop and inched towards the right.
\n\u201cArgh\u2026so this is what death is like.\u201d I finally understood.
\nThere was no ecstasy, no sense of being a courageous martyr or anything like that, just a relief that \u201cI had finally done it.\u201d
\nAnd he appeared at that very moment.
\nHe was a samurai, belonging to the Date clan.
\nThe bird-in-bamboo the banner behind him told me that.
\nHe was not a senior commander, but a common scout
\n\u201cCome, my head is yours.\u201d I said.
\nHe looked at me, admiration and pity on his face.
\n\u201cOjosan, should I kaishaku for you?\u201d he asked.
\nI shook my head.\u00a0 I did not mind his taking my head as trophy. But I did not want my spirit to be his, as we believed kaishakunin would have that by right.
\n\u201cCan you\u2026.wait\u2026 for \u2026a while?\u201d I asked with my dwindling strength.
\nHe nodded, got off his horse and sat to my left side.
\nI continued with my seppuku; the blade had now reached the right side already.
\nWithout the help of a kaishakuini I might survive for still some time during which I had to endure the greatest pain.
\nI looked at the increasing thickness of the blood stain on my belly. The abdomen part had been dyed completely crimson, and I knew it would not be long when my intestines would flow out.\u00a0 Could I persevere?
\nIf I pleaded to him to decapitate me, my pain would end\u2026
\n\u201cNo!\u201d I shook my head, the hair which I had taken down wiped to the left and right with my head movement and lashed at my face.\u00a0 He probably understood the reason for my obstinacy.\u00a0 In pain and persistence, I began to have fantasies: he stripped off all my remaining garments, used his hand to touch every part of my skin\u2026when he placed his hands on my breasts, I moaned\u2026I spread my legs to let him enter my virginal body\u2026
\nPAIN!
\nI woke from my reverie\u2026he was still sitting there.
\nI smiled at him; would my face contorted by pain be unpleasant to look at?
\nHe smiled back and slightly inclined his body to express his respect.
\n\u201cHow lovely\u2026\u201d I thought.
\nI decided not to let him wait too long.
\nThe cross cut which demanded reversal of the blade and taking it back to above the navel for a vertical cut would not be considered.\u00a0 Although this would hasten death, it was too bad-looking for a female warrior.
\nSo I pulled out the tanto and moved the bloodied blade towards my left tit.
\nHe stood up, his hand on the hilt of his tachi, the sword carried by mounted warriors.
\n\u201cWait till I expired\u2026then\u2026behead me\u2026\u201d
\nHe nodded again.
\nWith all my remaining strength, I plunged the tanto into my chest\u2026<\/p>\n
(Aftermath)<\/p>\n
He kept his promise and waited till she drew her last breath before cutting off her head.\u00a0 Then he departed and the body without its head remained there in the sitting position.\u00a0 When evening came, the peasants who lived nearby discovered her and stripped off all the remaining clothes she had before pushing the naked body with the dripping intestines down the bank.\u00a0 Her neck was submerged into the running water, the diluted blood dissolving into the river like hundreds of earthworms.\u00a0 On the following day when the peasants came again, they could no longer found the body.\u00a0 It had most probably fallen into the Kinugawa and was carried away\u2026<\/p>\n
2.<\/p>\n
A girl condemned to beheading<\/p>\n
They back-tied my wrists before I emerged from my cell.
\nI knew the reason of course.
\nIt was time.
\nFor speaking out on behalf of the peasants who rose in revolt against the oppressive rule of the daimyo, I was sentenced to be beheaded at the execution ground.
\nThe execution ground was actually just outside the jail-house. There, a large rectangular hole had been dug out on the ground to wait for my headless body.
\n\u201cFarewell, Kotai.\u201d I said my last goodbye to the one I had secretly loved silently.\u00a0 Last year he had married my sister. I was so lost then: I was prettier than my sister and clever too, but he chose her over me.\u00a0 It was only later I learned that he had not chosen me precisely because I was too pretty. He did not think he was worthy to be my husband.
\nI, Hitomi, eighteen, would leave this world in my youth and beauty, and if he had married me then, I would be desolate.
\n\u201cTreat my sister well,\u201d I had told him when he came to visit me.
\nHe had cried. I kept my cool and sobbed only after I returned to my cell.
\nStep by step, I walked towards the end of my life.\u00a0 The prisoners in the adjacent cells stuck their heads out to look at me.
\n\u201cIt is Hitomi-chan!\u201d \u201cHitomi-chan!\u201d the wailing rose and fell.
\nI slightly inclined my body in response. The wailing became even more audible.
\nOnce out of the jail-house, I saw the pit and the mat woven out from bamboo leaves, and the samurai with his long sword.
\nThe undertakers were also ready.\u00a0 Soon, they would cover my semi-naked body with the mat and then have it rolled down the pit while my head would be sent to the entrance of the jail-house to be hanged high as display.
\nAh, the hair-style I had chosen to comb into this morning was perfect for the occasion.\u00a0 The hair-pin carved out of tsubaki wood would hold up my hair so that it would not obstruct the down coming of the blade.\u00a0 They said my neck was slender and long, and that it was also compatible with the beheading.
\nI had put on a yukata for the early autumn: dark blue with red dragonflies on it. \u201cDear Dragonflies, will you carry my spirit towards the open sky?\u201d
\nI stood on the mat; knelt. They put white rice paper to cover my face, not because they cared about the possibility of my fright but that when the blade descended the rice-paper could stop much of the blood. It would make their cleaning my head with the prepared bucket of water an easier job.
\nWhite\u2026
\nOnce more, I forced myself to feel how it was like to be able to breathe.
\nThe lapel of my yukata was pulled down, my breasts exposed.\u00a0 Would the sword-wielder be distracted by the shape of my breasts?
\nThe sound of the samurai drawing out his katana was so crisp.\u00a0 He placed the blade diagonally in front of me. I could not see but I could feel its coldness.
\n\u201cOnegai,\u201d I said, thanking him.
\nHe raised the katana and brought it down\u2026<\/p>\n
(Aftermath)<\/p>\n
Her head fell and rolled, stopping at the edge of the pit.\u00a0 The blood spurted out and dyed red the rice-paper. The body toppled, and the undertaker removed the rice paper. Her face was as beautiful as before her demise, and there was an additional air of tragic beauty on it.\u00a0 The head was washed with the water in the bucket and then taken out to be displayed.\u00a0 Her half naked body was covered with a met and placed in the pit. Then the pit was filled with earth as if she had never existed.<\/p>\n
3.<\/p>\n
The Cherry-blossom of Kawanakanojima<\/p>\n
Under the urge of the war-drums I lead my thirty female riders out into battle.
\nWe staked everything on it.
\nThe enemy had crushed our right wing; our whole army was in peril.\u00a0 Only by using the last reserve could we hope to stop the attack on the main camp and let our detachment many miles away to return in time to turn the tide.
\n\u201cHitomi, die bravely!\u201d Lord Shingen said to me before we moved out.
\n\u201cHai,\u201d I responded with resolution.
\nAs his favorite concubine I was ready to die for him.
\nHe could afford to lose Hitomi; the Takeda clan could not afford to lose Lord Shingen.
\n\u201cMai!\u201d I pulled out my tachi and the thirty riders surged forward.
\nWe did not pray for any miracle to return alive.\u00a0 Actually, the time gained by sacrificing thirty onamusha was insignificantly short.\u00a0 But even if the chance was slim, we had to try.
\nUesugi\u2019s cavalry approached us from the front.
\nI cut three of them down.\u00a0 Now I appreciated the demanding lesson given by my swordsmanship sensei, Yamamoto Kensuke.
\n\u201cGeneral Yamamoto must have been slain in battle by now,\u201d I thought to myself.
\nWe had planned out our strategy for this Battle of Kawanakajima.\u00a0 We would take them by surprise by sending a detachment in the mist to attack their camp.\u00a0But Uesugi had his own plan, and instead we were surprised when he led his main force from Saijoyama to the plain, achieving temporary superiority. We were forced to be on the defensive and many famous commanders lost their lives. General Yamamoto volunteered to lead a counter-attack which he knew would be suicidal in order to atone for his disastrous judgment leading to our predicament.
\nI beat back the first wave of riders. But among my thirty onamusha, only half survived. The others had all left their young bodies on the Hachiman Plain.
\n\u201cAlert! Ashigeru ahead!\u201d my second in command, Ayano, shouted.
\nAshigeru, the common foot-soldiers mainly drafted from the peasants and armed with a spear made of bamboo and wearing little armor.\u00a0 They were no threat to us normally.\u00a0 But this was not normal.\u00a0 We had only around ten and they numbered in the hundreds.
\n\u201cCharge!\u201d
\nI knew this was insane, but there was little else we could do.
\nMy tachi parried off a few thrusting spears and bringing it down, I cut some of them down.\u00a0 The rest dispersed.
\nOnly eight of us were left.
\nAnother line of riders were charging towards us.
\n\u201cAyano, Lord Shingen.\u201d
\nShe turned her head and looked. \u201cThe Banner F?rinkazan still stands!\u201d
\nF?rinkazan: Swift as the wind, Steady as a forest, Raid like fire, Unmovable like a mountain!\u00a0 It was the main banner of the Takeda army.
\nWe were dressed in fiery red.\u00a0 We were the fire.\u00a0 As fire, we could only attack, attack and attack!
\nI saw them now, getting near; their leader had a kind of white turban round his head.
\nAyano charged before me.
\n\u201cArgh!\u201d Only one slash and he cut Ayano down like a leaf.
\n\u2018Kenshin!\u201d It was Uesugi Kenshin. Behind him his famous banner with the character representing the war-god Bishamonten!
\n\u201cAye!\u201d I spurred my mount towards this war-god of the Uesugi army.
\nIf I could kill him the tables would be turned, though I knew the chances of success were almost non-existent.
\nI guessed correctly.
\nHe cut me on my cuirass.
\nI felt a heavy thud on my chest and swayed in my saddle. Then two ashigeru snatched the rein of my mount and brought horse and rider down. I sprang up and slashed out with my tachi, but it was the last of my blows.<\/p>\n
Two bamboo spears found the gaps between the scales of my red armor and were plunged into my chest. I braced at a stand-still and felt another cut by a tachi wielding rider on my back. The cuirass split open and as the two spears in the front were withdrawn, my cuirass fell onto the ground.
\nThe jinhaori could not cover my prominent breasts.
\n\u201cAn onamusha!\u201d
\nI took off my helmet and let my hair dance in the wind.
\nI saw Kenshin glare at me and for a moment I thought he would turn back to take my head.\u00a0 Then I would gain a little time for the lord.\u00a0 But I was disappointed. Kenshin turned his mount towards the main Takeda camp.
\nI knelt down as my knees weakened.
\nI saw the warrior with the long naginata charging at me.
\n\u2018Come, take my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes and held out my neck\u2026<\/p>\n
(Aftermath)
\nThey cut off the head of Hitomi and then stripped her of all garments, letting her lie stark naked on the battlefield.\u00a0 Uesugi charged into the main position and almost killed Lord Shingen.\u00a0 But at the very last moment the detachment of 8,000 men of the Takeda army returned just in time, time bought with the lives of the thirty onamusha.\u00a0 The Uesugi army retreated.<\/p>\n
In this battle, neither side could claim victory.
\nThey found the naked body of Hitomi, but the head was gone\u2026<\/p>\n
4.<\/p>\n
Double Executions on a sand-dune.<\/p>\n
The village was burning.
\nDead bodies littered the ground: men, women, the old, the young.
\nI never killed those who were defenseless, but my mates never had that restraint.
\nThe Ming people called us \u201cWokou\u201d; the kou denoted that we were robbers or pirates.\u00a0Wo derived from the belief we were born shorter than them.
\nWe were not; at least I was not.
\nWe were also not born wokou. A few years ago some of us were even local lords or samurais.
\nDefeated in the war on land, if we were not killed, we had to find a living on the sea.\u00a0 And since we knew not how to fish, we had to rob.
\nIf we raided the area round the Seto Inland Sea, Toyotomi would flush us out with his warships.\u00a0So we could only raid the Ming coastline.
\nMing\u2019s army was not our equal.\u00a0 We could beat them with less than a fraction of their numbers.\u00a0 Sometimes they even fled without giving a fight.\u00a0 After we were gone, the Ming soldiers would come back to raid and kill one more time so that they could report a victory with the heads of its own people to their superiors.
\nThe people of Ming hated their soldiers, but they hated us even more.\u00a0 If we fell into their hands we would die horrible deaths.
\nThis time I only took a handful to raid.
\nWinter was coming. The time left for raiding was very limited.
\nSo my father and I split our forces and headed for different areas.
\nMy team was composed of thirty five.\u00a0 Lan was of course with me.
\nLan was no wokou.\u00a0 She was from the land of the Ming, a few who were captured during our raid and not sold nor killed.\u00a0 The reason was: she knew about medicine And Wokou could get sick as any man, or become wounded.\u00a0 So we needed a doctor.
\nLater Lan became my woman, a woman who belonged to another woman.
\nShe hated me at first, for I had killed her husband.
\nBut as the days lingered and I protected her from many unpleasant incidents, she became nice to me.
\nAfter she became nice to me, I came to know that her husband had not been nice to her.
\nIn the land of the Ming, a woman was not supposed to possess any knowledge: the more ignorant, the better.\u00a0 The use of medicine was also a kind of knowledge.
\nLan never killed anyone. She saved many, including Wokou.
\nTo the Ming people she was a traitor, helping the enemy.\u00a0 To Lan she was saving lives, Wokou lives were also lives.
\nAfter taking down the village, Lan had saved seven or eight kids.\u00a0 Without her they would have been slaughtered. We decided to rest her to restore our strength.
\nWe had news of approaching Ming forces, but we were not unduly worried.\u00a0 We knew only too well the fighting prowess of the Ming soldiers.
\nBut this time, it was different.\u00a0 It was the forces from General Qi Jiguang.
\nIn the following battle, we finally came to learn the fighting skill of the special formations organized by General Qi.
\nEach formation was composed of twelve men into two columns. The one in the fore right was the captain; the one bearing the long shield would be on his left. Another round shield bearer would also be there. Behind them were four men with long spears. At the rear were two men holding firearms.\u00a0 There would usually be one man in reserve. When they attacked, the shields would lead, followed by the rest. They used the shields, the firearms, the daggers and long strong tree brushes with branches. The ones holding long weapons would cover those with shorter weapons.\u00a0 The formations were flexible, but did not kill villages for their heads, hence winning the trust of the people.
\nWe feared the ones with the tree branches most as these made our katanas useless and we lost our earlier superiority.\u00a0 They also did not run.
\nAnd we lost more than ten of our men.\u00a0 Lan and I were captured.\u00a0 The rest of my mates fled.
\nI knew I would surely die.
\n\u201cTo them, you were only forced,\u201d\u00a0I told Lan in our language. \u201cYou saved the children, they might not kill you.\u201d
\nLan shook her head. \u201cI lost my husband, I could live on; without you, I would rather die.\u201d
\nSo they sentenced us to the cruelest of all executions: the thousand cuts.
\nOur outer garments were removed.\u00a0 I was left with the wrapping cloth around my breasts and a fundoshi, while Lan only had a sky-blue dudou and her black underpants.
\nThis would be our last night. Under the gaze of the soldiers we knelt face to face and masturbated.
\n\u201cArgh\u2026\u201d Lan screamed her pleasure out.\u00a0 I pounced upon her, removed her dudou and kissed her breasts.
\nA soldier tried to intervene but his comrade stopped him, saying these two would be dead bodies the day after. If the Qi army was not well-disciplined, Lan and I would undoubtedly be slain after being raped.
\nWe caressed each other until daybreak.
\nThe sun finally rose.\u00a0 Lan and I were hog- tied to poles and carried to the sun-dune facing the open sea.
\nTwo stakes had already been hammered into the ground, long poles too, not far away, for hanging our heads after they were cut off.
\nWe did not struggle when we were tied to the poles.\u00a0 From the first day of becoming a wokou, I knew this would be my fate one day.\u00a0 Either I would be killed in battle or be slaughtered if captured.\u00a0 I looked at Lan but she did not show any sign of fear.
\nThe two responsible for carrying out the executions came finally.\u00a0 They cut away my wrapping cloth and Lan\u2019s dudou.\u00a0 Our tits were exposed.\u00a0 We knew they would cut our tits away first.\u00a0 Lan had already told me what it would be like.\u00a0 When she was very young, she saw it once.\u00a0 It was a woman condemned for killing her husband.<\/p>\n
The executioner would cut our flesh up to hundreds to thousands of small pieces, one by one. Usually the condemned would take hours before he or she expired.\u00a0 For a woman, before she expired the executioner would thread up her vagina, disembowel her and pull out her intestines and internal organs, and after her demise, dissect her until only a skeleton would be left.\u00a0 The head would be hanged high as display.\u00a0 In order not to let our long hair get in the way of the execution, they had hammered a nail on the upper part of the pole and tied the ends of our hair around it.\u00a0This would also make it convenient for them when they hanged our heads high as the hair would be made to go through a metal ring first which was designed to keep the head in an upright position without facing down.\u00a0 In this way the heads would make a far better exhibit for the people.
\nThey finally began.
\nThe first cut was the nipple on my right
\nI bit my lower lip so as not make any sound.
\nThe left nipple was cut off too. My tears were running down my face but I still held on stubbornly.
\nBut when I saw Lan\u2019s executioner beginning to cut her breast, I wailed. \u201cNo! Please!\u201d
\nThe executioner laughed.\u00a0 They did not understand my tongue and thought I was scared by what I saw.
\nI was scared but not for the prospect of my breast being cut down. I did not have the heart to see Lan\u2019s breasts being taken off her.
\nThere were times that I had found shelter among those breasts.
\nBut my wailing could not stop what was bound to happen.
\nThey cut off our breasts, then the muscle on the chest. Piece by piece of translucent flesh was placed on a large wooden plate.\u00a0 Smaller bits were fed to hungry village dogs which gobbled them up.
\nAfter the chest it was the arms, the backsides, the thighs and legs.
\nI could no longer stop my body from shaking\u2026
\n\u201cLan\u2026Lan\u2026\u201d My throat could only make the single syllable of her name.
\n\u201cHitomi, Hitomi\u201d she responded.
\nSuddenly I no longer felt the pain.\u00a0I had forgotten about it. I laughed aloud. \u201cLan\u2026\u201d and she responded.\u00a0 Before they cut out our hearts, they were already linked together, inseparable no matter how sharp the knives were.
\nOur abdomens were cut open\u2026
\nThe intestines came out\u2026stinky\u2026
\nThen they sewed our vaginas up, thread after thread.
\n\u201cArgh\u2026\u201d Lan\u2019s moans had become so weak.
\n\u201cDie, Lan! Die! Let me suffer the rest!\u201d
\nAnd the heavens must have heard my prayer.
\nLan breathed her last.\u00a0 She no longer suffered.
\nI saw them put her hair through that metal ring and then cut off her head.\u00a0 Afterwards it was hoisted up the long pole.
\n\u201cHow beautiful!\u201d I saw her head with the long hair trailing behind it as if beckoning me.
\n\u201cCome! Cut me!\u201d
\nPerhaps they could see the smile that had frozen on my face during the last moment\u2026<\/p>\n
5.<\/p>\n
Yuri lovers on the cross<\/p>\n
In the deserted school they stripped us of our sailor-style senior high school uniforms.
\nBoth Ryoko and I were wearing white brassieres.\u00a0 I was a bit let down for not having chosen a panty that matched the white color but had worn a pink one. How disgusting the match! Ryoko was faring no better.\u00a0 Her panty was light blue.
\n\u201cSo, aren\u2019t you lovers?\u201d Mayumi shouted.
\nShe was leader of her gang of four. I knew she had a crush on me, but I loved Ryoko only.
\n\u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d
\n\u201cOh, look at our Hitomi! How courageous! Ryoko, you should be proud of her.\u201d
\nRyoko kept her silence.
\n\u201cMake love! Quick! Right in front of us!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not!\u201d I said.
\n\u201cIt is not up to you. If you do not do it, I will strip her completely naked and cut her face with broken glass.\u201d
\n\u201cNo!\u201d I knew this bitch would do exactly as she threatened.
\n\u201cRyoko, do not be frightened.\u201d I pulled my body towards her and began to kiss her.
\n\u201cHitomi\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cRyoko, we must not show weakness.\u201d
\nI helped her to take off her brassiere.\u00a0 Her breasts were not too big. But they were beautiful, and could move others to affection upon seeing them.
\nMy own brassiere was also removed, then our panties.
\nVery soon the empty school echoed with the sound of our love-making.
\n\u201cRyoko, I love you.\u201d
\n\u201cI love you too, Hitomi.\u201d
\nFrom the corner of my eyes I could see the rage of jealousy of Mayumi reflecting in her pupils.
\nThere were four of them and they were more strongly built. We were dragged out.
\n\u201cTake them up to the rooftop of the chapel!\u201d Mayumi said.
\nI felt fear for the first time.\u00a0 What did Mayumi had in mind?
\nThe chapel had a flat roof, and right in the middle was a huge wooden cross.
\n\u201cWhat are you going to do?\u201dI shouted.
\nMayumi did not respond. She snatched Ryoko away from me and pointed a penknife at her face.
\n\u201cTie her up on the cross! Hitomi, if you dare to resist.\u201d She waved the knife in front of the face of Ryoko.
\nThere was nothing I could do, and I let them tie me up on the cross with ropes and bicycle chains.
\n\u201cLet Ryoko go!\u201d
\nMayumi laughed. \u201cHow loveable. You do not even care for your own predicament.\u201d Then she turned towards her girls and said \u201cTie her up there too.\u201d
\nSo, Ryoko was tied to the cross with me, back to back.
\nThe stretching out of our arms made breathing difficult.\u00a0 I knew most people crucified did not die of bleeding, but suffocation.
\n\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d
\n\u201cNothing much really.\u00a0 We are going for lunch.\u00a0 When we come back, we will bring some reporters and let them see how our beauty-queen looks naked on the cross with her lover.\u201d
\n\u201cYou are sick!\u201d
\nBut she did not seem to have listened, and went away with her girls.
\n–
\n\u201cHitomi, I am scared.\u201d
\n\u201cDon\u2019t be,\u201d I said.
\nBut I was scared too. To let other people see us in this state would be embarrassing. But I knew if Mayumi came back later than we expected her to, we could get ourselves killed. But I had to pretend to be calm.
\nA wind rose.
\nOur naked bodies felt even colder. Once we lost body warmth, the risk would rise.
\nOur arms felt heavier and heavier.
\nHow much time had passed?\u00a0 There was no sign of Mayumi.
\nNow I would rather she really bring the reporters!
\nA long time passed. The sky was turning dark.
\nWe would not be spotted from kilometers around, and with darkness it would not be possible at all.
\n\u201cRyoko\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cHitomi\u2026\u201d Her voice was so weak. \u201cHitomi, I am dying.\u201d
\n\u201cNo! Don\u2019t die!\u201d
\n\u201cHitomi, I love you\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cI love you too.\u00a0 I am sorry to get you into this\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cNo, I am happy\u2026Hitomi.\u00a0 With you, even if I die, I am happy\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cNo! Ryoko1 We will not die\u2026\u201d
\nBut she had become silent.
\n\u201cHelp! Save her!\u201d I screamed at the top of my voice.
\nOnly the sound of wind\u2026
\nI felt colder and colder
\n\u201cRyoko\u2026Ryoko\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
(Aftermath)<\/p>\n
Mayumi did not really mean to kill them.\u00a0But their car had an accident.\u00a0 All four were hospitalized: one died later and all the others went into shock and coma.
\nWhen one of them came to, it was two days later.
\nThey found two naked corpses on the rooftop of the chapel; both of the girls having died of suffocation.\u00a0 The one called Hitomi had also lost her control before death as there were signs of urination on her thighs.
\nMayumi and her girls were sentenced to five years of imprisonment each.
\nHitomi and Ryoko were cremated, and with the consent of their respective families, their urns were put together in a temple.<\/p>\n
6.<\/p>\n
The hanged woman<\/p>\n
It was the eighth time that he raped me in the cell.
\nI had given up all hope to return alive to my grandfather\u2019s place; he would not let me leave here alive.
\nI was taken hostage into their van five days ago, in the early hours.
\nThe bar I worked for closed for the day, and as my flat was not so far away, I decided to walk home.\u00a0 Unfortunately I ran into them trying to ram the jeweler\u2019s shop with the vehicle.
\nThey would not let me go; I had seen all their faces, all five of them.
\nActually one of them wanted to shoot me once they got back to this underground cell. But he stopped him.\u00a0 He seemed to be a leader, though not a dominating one.\u00a0 There were all many-time convicts.
\nHe did not let his accomplice shoot me, probably because he had designs on me.
\nThat night he came in and tore open my white blouse, put his hands over my black brassier and held my tits.
\n\u201cDon\u2019t you dare shout!\u00a0 There is no use shouting anyway.\u201d He told me that when he tore away the tape that they used to seal my mouth.
\nThen he took my bra off and nodded when he was satisfied with my firm and ample breasts.
\n\u201cWhat is your name?\u201d he asked.
\n\u201cHitomi.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood name.\u201d he commented.
\nThen he raped me then and there.
\nI did not resist. Although I hated being raped, he was the least wicked among them. He looked handsome and was certainly an old hand in carnal sport. Under his fondling, I could not resist the urge to utter my slutty moans.
\n\u201cSlut!\u201d he said with a laugh. May be he was right.
\nI had slept with many men; that was what being a bar girl was supposed to do: anyone who was willing to pay the right price.\u00a0 Added to these were the cops, and sometimes guys from the underworld.
\nHe would not think I was a Joan d\u2019Arc, right?
\nAfter he had me he did not let me put my blouse back on. I was left with only my black bra and panties.
\nBesides him, there was one other guy who also raped me.\u00a0 I hated that one.\u00a0 There was a very unpleasant smell on his body.
\nOther than being raped, they did nothing to mistreat me.\u00a0 They talked among themselves, not using Japanese for that matter.\u00a0 They did nothing to guard me because they knew I was a dead woman walking, and only in the cell.
\nLater, we became wilder in our sex.\u00a0 I once even made love to both of them at the same time.\u00a0 They laughed and said I was a born slut.
\nAfter making love, I asked for my lipstick and they gave it back to me.
\nSo in the next sex, I put on my lip-stick and sucked their cocks.
\nThey were so high.
\nOf course they were not concerned about the possibility of my biting their things off.\u00a0 They had warned that if I dared doing that, I would die ugly; they would destroy my pretty face.
\nI did not want to die that way, though I knew by this time they would kill me.
\nThis should be the last time we made love.
\nThey were going to leave tomorrow.\u00a0 I knew as I watched them packing things up.
\nI was right.
\nAfter making love, he brought me to a room on the upper floor and let me watch him throw a loop over the beam. I got my lipstick out applied it to my lips.
\nHe laughed. \u201cWhy do you do that? Don\u2019t you know you are going to die?\u201d
\nI said, \u201cI do not want them to find my body looking white as a ghost.\u201d
\nHe laughed again, no longer paid me any attention, and continued with his preparation.
\nHe got it right, pulled me to the stool and had my wrists bound behind my back.
\nI had only the black bra and the panties on me.\u00a0 When the police discovered me, I concluded they would find a real sexy corpse.
\n\u201cWhere is the lipstick?\u201d
\n\u201cI threw it away.\u00a0 I won\u2019t be needing it anyway.\u201d
\nHe got me on the stool and put the noose round my neck.
\nBefore dying, I could not stop weeping. I was only twenty-eight, and I had not even gone to the Spain I always dreamed of going.
\nHe was unmoved and kicked the stool away under me.
\n\u201cArgh!\u201d I could only utter half a scream; the rope tightened.
\n\u201c\u2026\u201d I could no longer breathe; my feet kept kicking wildly.\u00a0 He just laughed and so did everybody else as they had all come up to watch.
\nMy eyes must have opened so wide.
\nThe tongue had stuck out\u2026did I look bad?
\nThen, a stinking smell\u2026
\nMy urine dripped down from my panties to the floor.
\nEverything blurred.<\/p>\n
(Aftermath)<\/p>\n
The police found the body of Hitomi wearing only a bra and panties two days later.\u00a0 The reporters got there first and snapped pictures of the sexy corpse for their front-page before they could be stopped.\u00a0 The culprits were arrested in a funeral parlor in Sendai on the same day; one of them smelled strongly of preservative.\u00a0 The police had found what Hitomi had written with the lipstick in a corner of the room: a telephone number in that city and the word \u201cpreservative.\u201d She learned it from their conversation.\u00a0 They did not know one of her former lovers was also Vietnamese\u2026<\/p>\n
7.<\/p>\n
The bodies<\/p>\n
Bang! Bang!
\nI fired two shots at the cops surrounding us and saw a young policewoman put her hand over her chest as she went down.
\n\u201cLi Xiao-wan, are you ok?\u201d I shouted at the top of my voice
\n\u201cCan do!\u201d she replied.
\nWe belonged to the same underground organization with a mission to start a revolution overturning this cruel junta.
\nIn the past half year we had carried out five successful missions\u2026 until this time.
\nWe were betrayed. There must be a turncoat in the organization.\u00a0 We were foiled and found ourselves trapped on the eighth floor of this building surrounded by hundreds of cops.
\n\u201cWakayama Hitomi! Li Xiao-wan! You are surrounded.\u00a0 There is no escape for you.\u00a0 Come out with your hands over your heads and surrender!\u201d
\nI knew the chance of getting out alive was close to zero.
\n\u201cHitomi, don\u2019t let me be taken. I cannot stand male hands roaming over my body.\u00a0 They rape prisoners.\u201d
\n\u201cWan, do not worry. I give you my word you will not be raped.\u201d
\nXiao Wan and I were partners\u2026 and lovers.
\nI knew the size and shape of her breasts, every curve of her torso and her cries of abandon when making love. I also learned that she was born hairless down on her pubic mound. This was a secret only known to both of us. I knew she would rather die than be raped by men.
\nWe had less than twenty rounds between us.
\n\u201cAre you afraid of dying?\u201d she asked.
\n\u201cNot if I die with you,\u201d I said.
\n\u201cThen, let us give them hell!\u201d
\n\u201cGood!\u201d
\nShe rushed out to the balcony and started shooting randomly. I saw her body being riddled with bullets.\u00a0Her black leather jacket was wide open in the front, and the connecting part of her black bra snapped as a shot drilled into her, exposing her fine tits.\u00a0 She made a 360 degree twisting turn and over-hanged by the railing on the balcony, eyes wide open, her long hair swaying with the wind.
\nI knew the meaning of her accusing gaze.\u00a0 She was trying to ask why I was so cruel to let her die alone.
\nI wouldn\u2019t, of course.
\nI rushed out to the balcony, a gun blasting on one hand as I grabbed her waist with the other.\u00a0 She was still alive and could see a hole being made in my breast.
\nThen I took her body and jumped.
\nI had promised her not to let any man rape her. And I did not believe many men would be interested in the bodies of two women whose brains had splattered onto the pavement, no matter how beautiful they had been.
\nBefore our heads hit the ground, I saw her smile\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seven short stories from the keyboard of Hitomi featuring various tales of bravery and death. Continue reading