Hanyuu's Trial
Pain... No sorrow, no misery, no sadness, only pain... Indescribable, unbearable pain... Pain that was greater than anything before. Pain that was so intense, so fierce, it felt like dying. Pain filled every corner of Hanyuu's mind. It eliminated all thoughts and brought suffering in their place. The night felt like eternity. Hanyuu lost count how many times had she fallen unconscious, how many times had she screamed until she could barely breath. Hanyuu's world composed of only one single thing. Pain.
Sun came up over the sacred Festival Storehouse. Light shined through the tiny window on a blood littered walls. In the middle of the room, a dark blue haired girl was standing, trembling with emotions. Her hair was in disarray as she had been busy with the torture devices the whole night. Her trembling hands still held a huge knife, one that accompanied her throughout the torture. She was looking silently at a bloody pack of clothes at her feet, grinning in madness. She had surely made a mess here.
"Look at me." Rika ordered calmly.
The bloody pack at her feet slowly moved and Hanyuu's face showed up. She was bloodied, bruised and beaten. Most of her silk purple hair had stuck together with blood. Her own blood. She looked up with tears in her big, beautiful eyes. Even the simple act of lifting her head was enough to start a new wave of pain. Hanyuu opened her mouth but no more cries came out. She forced herself to overcome the pain and lifted her head for she knew that if she didn't do as she was told, she would experience pain way over what she was feeling at that moment. Rika would use anything as an excuse to continue her torture. Finally, Hanyuu lifted her head all the way and looked directly at Rika. Hanyuu had an empty, hopeless look in her eyes, while Rika had a gaze of a predator who is playing with it's prey before killing it.
"Yes, mistress?" Hanyuu ignored the pain as she tried to form her sentence.
"I have good news for you. It's morning. I can't continue torturing you now." Rika came closer to Hanyuu until their faces were mere inches apart. She lowered her voice into a silent whisper. "Besides, we have to go to school, don't we?"
"Yes, mistress." Hanyuu didn't dare to reply with a negative answer.
"I'm going to heal you now. You can't go around like this. But the pain will stay. I'm not going to remove it. You have to heal it in a natural way."
When Rika finished, Hanyuu tried to stand. She was immediately knocked back down when pain shot through her legs. Hanyuu screamed at the unexpected agony. She was healed in a way but she still hurt the same. Hanyuu was laying on the ground for several minutes, trying to get the pain under control. Rika patiently waited for Hanyuu to stand up on her wobbly legs. Hanyuu's whole body felt like on fire. Hanyuu didn't think she would be able to move single muscle. However, she had no other choice.
First, raise my hands... Hanyuu painfully slid her hands under her body and lifted herself. Sharp pain jolted from her arms but Hanyuu ignored it.
Now, get on my knees... She kneeled on one leg as she tried to force her other leg to move through the pain. Slowly, inch by inch, she managed to kneel.
Good... Now I just have to stand up... Hanyuu started slowly, carefully lifting her body. She prepared herself for the pain but the intensity with which it struck surprised her.
Hanyuu sank on her knees again, holding her stomach, vomiting in pain. No, she has to do this. She can do it. She has to.
Hanyuu gritted her teeth and jerked herself straight up, ignoring any pain. She looked at Rika to see her reaction but Rika just smiled and signaled Hanyuu to follow her.
For the next several days, Rika behaved as if nothing happened and waited for Hanyuu's pain to disappear. She could feel through their connection that Hanyuu was in huge pain but as days passed, it grew weaker and weaker. One day, Hanyuu woke up and realized her pain is gone. She was glad to be rid of it but she was also scared. Now that Hanyuu is completely healed, Rika will surely want to do something painful to her. She didn't care anymore. She got accustomed to pain and barely felt it anyway. No matter what Rika thinks up, it cannot be worse than what she had already done to her. At least she thought so.
Two days after Hanyuu's pain disappeared, she was approached by Rika.
"I see your pain is completely gone. That's good. I need you well right now." Rika smiled in the way she smiled only at Hanyuu. It wasn't a warm smile but it wasn't a cold one either. It was Rika's special smile, reserved only for Hanyuu.
"I have a trial for you. I want to see if you learned something from the 'lecture' I gave you. I want to see how far are you able to go to obey me. Listen carefully as I will only say it once. For your trial you will go to the parking lot behind Angel Mort..."
Hanyuu stood before three bikes with a lead pipe in hand, ready to fulfill Rika's orders. She went through everything Rika said to her several times to make sure she didn't forget anything. Go to the Angel Mort's parking lot. Find the bikes of the biker gang. Smash those bikes until they discover you. Don't defend yourself and let them do whatever they want. These were Rika's orders. Hanyuu lifted her hands and brought the pipe down as fast as she could. The pipe hit a window of a bike and completely smashed it. Hanyuu lifted the pipe for the second time and smacked it down. She started hitting all three bikes as best as she could. By the time the bikers came from Angel Mort, their bikes were nothing more but a wreck.
"Hey, that waitress was pretty hot, huh?"
"You bet! I would love to fuck her!"
"Too bad you're impotent."
All three bikers laughed, completely drunk. One of them saw Hanyuu and realized what she is doing.
"Eh? What is this?"
"O-our bikes! They are destroyed!"
"Hey, what do you think you are doing with that pipe?"
Hanyuu answered truthfully, just like Rika told her to do. "I am destroying your bikes, can't you see?"
"You little bitch, I'll kill you!"
One of the bikers came to her and twisted the pipe from Hanyuu's hands. She didn't resist. This thug couldn't hurt her so much as Rika did. Besides, Rika said she isn't supposed to defend herself. Hanyuu closed her eyes in expectation of an impact.
The thug lifted his hand to smack Hanyuu over her head.
Suddenly, Hanyuu heard a scream. She opened her eyes and blinked in surprise. The lead pipe levitated before the thug who has been holding it. His hands were still up in the preparation of a swing. Before the biker could react, the pipe hit him hard in the side of his head. Blood splattered across the pavement as he fell.
"W-what is this? What are you doing?"
"I'm outta here!"
"Wait for me!"
The bikers ran into an alley. Hanyuu heard their screams and saw blood flowing out of the alley. Hanyuu lifted her head and saw Rika soming out of the alley, smiling at her with her special smile.
"They won't be bothering you anymore. Good work, Hanyuu. You passed the trial."
Hanyuu just stared in shock. Rika has just killed three men and is acting like nothing happened. Unbelievable...
"Don't be so surprised. I cannot have you injured by these stupid thugs. They are not worthy." Rika came closer to Hanyuu. "As a reward for passing this trial, I allow you to speak with anybody you want and go wherever you want even without my permission . I'm sure you won't try to betray me again. For the rest of the day, you are free to do whatever you want."
Hanyuu's eyes grew larger and, for the first time since evil manifested in Rika, she smiled. "Thank you very much, mistress!" Hanyuu rushed off to enjoy the rest of the day.
Rika smiled as she watched Hanyuu's back disappeared behind the horizon. She didn't tell Hanyuu that they are linked together and cannot be separated on a long distance. She will be observing Hanyuu all the time.
"Go Hanyuu, go and enjoy what you can, while you can. Talk to people about simple things. Enjoy the joy of having ordinary conversation. You deserve it. But your real trial is just starting. We'll see if you can resist the temptation to tell others the truth about me. We'll see."
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