Mikamiko is almost wrought with tears. She had not seen Ming for days and she missed him, oh how she missed him! He had left weeks ago without telling her where he was going, and when he would be back. She was worried that he would wind up dead in the back of some alley. No, she was even more worried that he had left her, now that she had grown accustomed to his gentle gestures and his long, intense stares. How is she going to carry on if he was gone? This thought had been troubling her ever since she found herself falling for him. It was weird how she felt about him. It was as if her love for him traced back to a very long time ago, like hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago. And yet she had only met him half a year ago! Mikamiko used to find it hard to fall in love with a person, and now this! Maybe she was too lonely......
Outside the window, a shadow flashed, causing her heart to beat violently. Could it be that Ming has come back already? Eagerly anticipating his entrance, she ran to the door to welcome him home. However, after a while, he still had not come to the door. Puzzled, she opened the door and stuck her head out to see where he had gone.
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared from out of nowhere and pushed her inside the house, locking the door behind him.
"Ouch......Ming, you don't have to be so rough, you know! What's up with you?" She asked, annoyed and rubbed her arm, for it was banged hard against a cabinet, creating a blue-black mark. Then she gasped in horror when she saw that the person wasn't Ming, but Yoichi......?
"So......you've got a new boyfriend eh? I didn't think that you would recover so fast!" Yoichi stared and glowered at her.
"Wha...what are you doing here? Y...you have already broken up with m...me, d...don't come back to my life again!" She forced out the words with much difficulty, being very much afraid of him.
Suddenly, Yoichi's face softened and took on the familiar expression that he had on when they were in the early days of their relationship.
"Oh, Mikamiko! I have come to ask you to give me another chance. Now that I no longer have you, I realised how important you are to me! I am a fool! You can beat me or scold me, but please take me back?!!" He implored her with his puppy-dog eyes, those eyes that once melted her heart many times.
Ordinarily, Mikamiko would have agreed to reconcile with him immediately, if she still loved him, that is. But now, Ming has already taken reign in her heart, so she could not be moved by his words and pleading eyes.
"I'm sorry, Yoichi! I love another man now, I cannot possibly get together with you now! Even if I do, you will only have my body, and not my heart!"
"Mikamiko! Don't be so heartless! Do you know how much I have suffered thinking about you? I still can't stop blaming myself for the pain that I've caused you!"
He looked at her with his puppy-dog eyes again. Yes, he did seemed quite pitiful, for his eyes were bloodshot, and there were eye bags under his eyes too. Plus he didn't shave, making him look ragged and old. This Yoichi, who prided himself on his appearance more than anything, looked ragged and old! Mikamiko felt a little stab of guilt in her heart, for she was a kind-hearted lass. And Yoichi knew just how kind-hearted she was, making use of this "weakness".
But however much pity she felt, Mikamiko still refused his plea, for her love for Ming is deep.
Yoichi, on seeing that his pleas had failed, turned ugly.
" So..... now that you have a new boyfriend, you have turned cocky, haven't you? You think yourself too good for me, don't you? Well, whether you consent or not, I will make you mine!"
Saying that, he pushed her hard onto the floor and pinned her arms above her head. However hard she struggled, she could not tear away from his iron-like grasp.
Horrified that she would lose her virginity to such a beast of a man, she struggled and screamed for help, but of course nobody come to her aid, for her house was in an isolated part of the town.
On hearing her screams, Yoichi slapped her hard across her face, making her momentarily dazed.She could taste blood in her mouth, and there was a stinging pain in the corner of her mouth.
He tied her hands tightly with rope and sealed her mouth with duct tape to prevent her from screaming and escaping. Then he proceeded to tear off her clothes savagely.
Seeing that her struggles were futile, she stopped and laid her head on the ground, resigned to her plight. Shedding regretful tears that blurred her vision, she wished that he would get over and be done with it.
Yoichi, not being totally without heart, tried to "console" her.
"Don't worry, I promise to be fast. I don't want to hurt you like this too. I'm not the heartless beast you think I am. It's just that if I do this, I can be with my love again. You understand, don't you?" He did not know that these "consoling words" added insult to injury.
Mikamiko, on hearing that she was being treated like to tool for him to be with his lover, was even angrier and more desperate. Does nobody want me for who I am? She wanted to die, there and then as she thought this.
Yoichi could see that she did not understand his reasoning.
"It's not my problem if you can't see it from my point of view." He shrugged his shoulders.
Deciding that he had wasted too much time, he extended his claw towards her panties.
Mikamiko struggled again, even if she knew it was useless. Her eyes bulged like Ping-Pong balls and kept flowing with her tears.
If this goes on, the room might be flooded! Yoichi thought and wanted to knock her out with a blow.
In a flash, a powerful arm gripped him around his neck, such that he could not breathe. He gasped for air, flailing his arms around, as if this would help him get out of the grasp.
"How dare you touch my woman! Do you have any sense of danger? Or are you tired of living?" The owner of the strong arm glared at him with hatred.
"P...please sir, l...let me g...go. I won't do it again, I..I p...promise!" Yoichi managed to squeeze these words out.
The strong man gripped his neck a little longer, making him taste the scent of death nearing him. Then he realeased him. Yoichi crumpled to the ground in a heap.
"You are still here?! If you're not gone by the count of ten, I'll crush your skull to smithereens!!"
'Y...yessir! Right away, sir!" Saying that, Yoichi scuttled away as fast as he could, almost peeing in his pants in the process.
"Hmmph......what a coward!" Hai Ming sneered after him. (Yes, the strong arm belonged to Hai Ming, who did you think it was, Arian?)
He then turned to Mikamiko with a tender expression on his face. When he saw her pale face, his breath caught in his throat.
There were bruises everywhere on her face. Her left eye, especially, had a blue-black bruise and was so swollen that she could hardly open it.There was also a huge bruise on the corner of her mouth.
"Damn.... I should have killed him back then!!" He whispered furiously.
Hai Ming took off his coat and covered Mikamiko with it. Then, taking a damp cloth, he tried to dab at her bruises and wounds, trying not to hurt her as he did. But she shied away whenever he went near, clearly shaken by the experience.
"Mikamiko, if you don't let me clean your wounds, they might leave ugly scars on your face! You don't want that, do you?" He teased her gently.
"D....don't look at me! I feel so ashamed, I don't want you to see me in this state!" She cried out, and rocked herself to stop the shaking.
Then his face darkened and he asked the most important question in his life." He didn't take you, did he? If he did....." His face glowered with murderous intent.
"No, but he almost did! A few seconds later, and I might have....." Then she burst into tears, unable to continue.
Realising that he had touched a sore spot, Hai Ming was immediately regretful.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you.....I'm sorry....." He whispered in her ear, holding her tightly in his arms and rocking her like a baby. Somewhere deep inside, he heaved a sigh of relief for his close escape.
"Ming......." She cried in his arms, finally able to release all the fears that she had been holding back.
"Shhh......" Hai Ming pressed his fingers to her lips to stop her crying and licked the bruise on her mouth. He then proceeded to give her a gentle kiss that tasted so sweet to her.
"Ming....." She cried again and hung on to him like a drowning man to a lifesaver, staying in his arms throughout the night.
The rest of the story......
The Intro
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
Chapter 2 - The Awakening
Chapter 3 - Claudine = Mikamiko?!!
Chapter 4 - Journey to the Centre of the Jungle
Chapter 5 - The Second Condition is......
Chapter 6 - Skylar
Chapter 8 - Flight of Heartache
The Yisheigai Gallery
