After
Chapter 4
The metal knob turned, and the door slowly crept open before Kaori entered her apartment. She looked around the room, hoping to see Tomo. It had become Tomo's habit to lunge at her, bury her in a warm embrace, and kiss her almost the second she came through the door home from work. Instead she was no where to be seen. Disappointed, she proceeded to hang her coat on the hanger, and slip off her shoes, which she placed near the door.
As she walked into the living room, she noticed something was extremely off. There was no open cereal box and bowl half full of milk left on the coffee-table in front of the TV. There were no miscellaneous articles of clothing strewn on the floor, nor were there any magazines or manga tankoubon on the couch. In fact, the room was bordering on immaculate.
She walked into the kitchen. The table was clear of any plates, silver-ware, cups, bowls, empty boxes, or half-eaten food. When she looked down at the floor and saw her own reflection staring back up at her from its shiny surface, a cold shiver went up her spine. There was only one logical conclusion, Tomo had either been kidnapped or murdered directly after Kaori had left for work.
Kaori then apprehensively crept into her bedroom, and when she saw her bed actually made, with clean sheets and blanket neatly tucked under both her and Tomo’s pillows, she was over-whelmed with panic. She rushed towards her phone in order to call the police, and that’s when a shadowy figure jumped out of her closet and tackled her to the ground.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Kaori’s blood curdling scream lasted almost a full minute, until she reluctantly peeked open her right eye to see the face of her killer. She was instead greeted by Tomo’s big eyes and pretty face which now had a huge, mischievous smirk on it.
Before she could react, Tomo swooped down and planted a wet kiss on her lips. “Mwah! Kaori, I got back from my interview, and guess what?” she asked talking very fast, obviously excited.
Kaori finally caught her breath several seconds later and was able to let out, “What?”
“They were so impressed by me, they hired me on the spot!”
“Wow, really?”
“Hell yeah!”
“What’s your position?”
“On top of you.”
Kaori rolled her eyes. “No. What’s the title of your new job?”
“Oh. I’m now officially a Custodial Engineer,” Tomo stated with no small amount of pride.
“I’m so proud of you,” Kaori said sincerely.
“Does that mean I get fish tacos?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes. As many as you want.”
Tomo quirked a sneaky eye-brow. “What about sex?”
“That too.”
Tomo stared down into Kaori’s eyes. She could tell that she was trying desperately hard to be happy for her. However, Tomo could also sense the pain that was still lingering in them, and she knew why.
“I love you, Kaori.”
“I love you too, Tomo.”
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“Hi, Kaori, thanks for coming,” the ugly, callous looking man in the dark suit greeted her with his deep, gravelly voice.
”Good morning, Mr. Sakai,” she answered him very timidly as she entered through the door into the small office.
“Please, call me Jiro.”
“Ok,” she said as he pushed the large door behind her. It creaked eerily, until it closed shut and made an ominously loud sound that to Kaori was closest to a gun shot.
“I will be your interviewer today and Taka will be helping me take notes,” he said referring to the pudgy man with dark, beady eyes sitting in a chair adjacent to the desk, holding a pad and pencil. He waved to her, and Kaori replied to him with a really nervous smile.
“Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable.” She sat down in the small, wooden chair in front of the desk, but she looked no where near comfortable. “Would you like something to drink? Maybe some tea or coffee?”
“No, thank you.”
Jiro sat behind the desk, leaned slightly back in his leather office chair, and then continued as Taka started scribbling notes loudly with his pencil, “Now, I understand that you recently filed a sexual harassment complaint. Is that true?”
Kaori opened her lips, but no words came out. She tried again, but still wasn’t even able to articulate a sound. She then looked at the two cruel looking men who were staring at her tentatively, and a bead of sweat ran down her forehead as they continued to bore into her with their eyes. She turned away from them and looked down at her shoes and the tiles on the floor. She thought for a moment that she should explain it all had been a mistake, that he had never touched her. Maybe that would be the best thing to do. Maybe it wasn’t worth it after all.
But then she felt something, a feeling she wasn’t used to. She could feel it deep in her core. It was almost like a pit of strength had been growing there without her knowledge, and some how that’s all she needed to go on. “Yes, it’s true.”
“Ok,” Jiro said, sounding a bit surprised that she had finally answered. “And would please tell us who you identified as your harasser?”
“Ichiro Tashiro,” Kaori said with no hesitation.
“Kaori, what exactly is your relationship with Ichiro?”
“He’s the manager of the division I work in. He’s my boss. That’s it.”
“How long has this harassment been occurring?”
“It started about 4 months ago and has been going on until now.”
“Ok… Can you maybe give me specific times and places where it occurred, and describe to me exactly what happened between you. Take as much time as you need.”
“Last night I typed it all on my computer and printed it out. Is it ok if I give that to you instead?”
“Sure, that would be fine.”
Kaori reached forward and handed over the 7 sheets of paper she had been gripping in her sweaty, trembling palm. Jiro looked surprised at the sheer amount of text, but started reading through it immediately. Kaori watched as his expression slowly changed from one of intrigue to one of disgust and anger as his eyes scanned the words back and forth. Several minutes later, he finally finished the last page. “And all of this is true?”
“Every word of it.”
“Do you mind if I make copies of this?”
“You can keep it.”
“Kaori, what you described here isn’t just harassment, its sexual assault. I’m definitely going to start an investigation immediately, but I think you should also go to the police.”
”I’ve been considering it.”
“Well, I think you should. I also wish you would’ve reported this much earlier. This certainly shouldn’t have gone on as long as it did. It shouldn’t have happened at all.”
“I guess I didn’t respect myself enough before to do anything about it, but I think I feel differently now.”
“Well, I’m gong to go a bit off the record here…” Taka getting the message ceased writing. Jiro then went on, “But with where and when you described these encounters, it should just be a matter of going over some of the surveillance footage from the cameras we have hidden in the building. And I don’t care what their position or reputation is in the company. If I find any evidence of something like this happening, that person will be out of here, period.” Jiro could see a deep look of relief was spreading over the woman’s face. “Is there anything else you would like to ask or tell me about?”
“No, I think that’s it.”
“Well, Kaori, I think I’m going to give you the ok to take the rest of the day off. You definitely don’t deserve to be put anywhere near Ichiro again until this is sorted out, which should be soon. Give me a call tomorrow morning and I’ll tell you about any temporary work assignments or anything else we decide.”
“Ok.”
“I also want you to alert us if you sense any kind of retaliation by anyone in the office because of the harassment complaint. We don’t tolerate that kind of thing here.”
“Sure.”
“Well, I think this about wraps it up. You try to have a good day, Kaori, and stay safe.”
“Thank you, Jiro. You have a nice day, too,” she said as she waved to the two men and opened the door herself to leave the office.
As soon as she turned the first corner in the hall way, she saw him leaning against the wall. He gave her the nastiest stare he could conjure from his otherwise good looks. Obviously, Ichiro had been waiting there for her. Kaori just stood petrified as he continued to give her a look that seemed symbolic of a death sentence. However, when some other employees appeared down the hallway, he turned and left.
A bit shaken, Kaori went and retrieved her coat from the rack and slipped it on quickly. She then sprinted to the elevator just before the door slid shut. Soon she was out of the building and onto the crowed city street. She looked behind herself paranoid, but couldn’t spot Ichiro’s face among any of the street walkers behind her. To be sure she stood and watched the building’s door ways for several minutes to make sure he didn’t exit them. She never saw him.
“It’s finally over,” she said to herself as an exhilarating sensation washed over her. Satisfied, she started walking down the side walk again. However, unbeknownst to Kaori, a figure who had been hiding from her, looked out from behind the corner of an alley to make sure she was gone.
A few moments later Ichiro exited the building. Even only being out on the street for seconds, a few women passing by gawked at the tall man’s devilishly handsome good looks. However, he simply ignored them being too preoccupied with the visions of graphic violence playing out in his head. Also burning in his memory was the address of the one he wished to maim. He had obtained it earlier that day as a favor from a female Human Resources employee he had been having sex with for several weeks. He stopped walking in the direction of the address though when he felt a hard tug on the sleeve of his suit coat. He turned around to see someone with a red hood pulled over his or her head.
“Hey, are you Ichiro Tashiro?” the female voice asked.
“Yes.”
“Finally,” she said. This had been the 12th man she had asked that question.
He just stared at her looking confused for a moment. “I’m sorry, could you take off that hood? I can’t quite recognize you.”
She pulled back the hood, fully revealing her round face and head of pointy locks of hair. “I’m sorry, I still don’t recognize you” he lied. He recognized Tomo instantly from the night almost two weeks ago. “Have we met before?”
“Awww, you really don’t remember me? I met you at that crazy party a few months back. We had a good time. Don’t tell me you drank so much you forgot all about little, old me?”
“Honestly, I wish I could remember someone as beautiful as you,” he said showing a bit of his white teeth.
“He, he,” Tomo gave a really, girly giggle. “Well, I sure remember you. Hey! I got an idea. How about we get some privacy? You know so we can get reacquainted. I have to get somewhere, but I think I have time to give you an oral compliment,” Tomo said as she gave him a big wink. Before he could respond Tomo pulled on his coat sleeve again and lead him into the near by secluded alley. They walked some distance under the shadows of the two monstrous buildings until they were a decent ear-shot away from the street.
Finally, they stopped, and the stupid smirk on Tomo’s face instantly evaporated. “Here’s, you’re compliment, ASSHOLE!” she yelled at him as she extended her middle finger in front of his face. “I’m Kaori’s friend, and I’m telling you if you don’t leave her alone, I’m calling the police and having you locked up. So you better knock it off unless you want to be some guy’s bitch.”
Ichiro burst into laughter. Tomo looked absolutely furious at his response, but was also perplexed by the disturbing edge of his laughs. “That’s hilarious. Listen I know exactly who you are, and you’re not doing anything about it. The police won’t listen to someone who won’t talk to them. If she really wanted me to stop, she would’ve done it long ago. ”
“What the hell are you talking about? Of course she wants you to stop. She cries about it almost everyday. She tries to hide it from me, but I still know she hurts. I try really hard to cheer her up, but I can only keep her happy for so long. Kaori is a really good girl, what you’re doing to her is sick! Leave her alone!”
“No, I don’t think I will. I have too much fun with her. How she plays hard to get and acts like she doesn’t want it, that just turns me on more. I love it. But deep down, I know how much she likes it.”
“Yeah, she likes it so much she went directly to me, a woman. Can’t even compete with the girls, huh? What a fucking loser you are.”
“What did you say,” Ichiro asked through gritted teeth.
Tomo saw from his infuriated expression that she had pressed the right buttons. “Yeah, you heard me. I can please her and you can’t. That must make me twice the man you are, and I have a vagina!”
Like a lightning strike, the back of Ichiro’s hand impacted Tomo’s head so hard, that it ripped the ring out of her left ear and sent it and some blood flying down the alley. Tomo tried to run, but he lunged forward and wrapped his large hands around her neck before she could get away. He then slammed her forcefully against the brick wall and began to squeeze. Tomo tried to break free, but he was just too strong. She then resisted by punching him with her fists, but her blows to his stomach and chest were relatively weak, and he barely reacted to them. Pretty soon she didn’t even have the strength to punch at all.
“First, I’m going to make you suffer. And after you’re dead, I’m going to go back to her apartment and rape that slut. And after I've had all the fun I’ve wanted with her, she’s going to die for even thinking she could tell on me.”
“No… please… don’t… leave her alone,” Tomo was barely able to beg through the strangulation.
“Not a chance,” he said as he removed one hand from her neck, moved it down, and slipped it inside her pants, as he kept her firmly planted to the wall with the other.
“You… won’t get… away wit it…”
“I get whatever I want,” he stated coldly as he tightened his grip to silence her.
Meanwhile, Kaori was still walking on her way home. Her walk felt much easier than it had for months, almost like a heavy cross had been removed from her back. In fact it felt down-right pleasant. The cool air felt nice on her cheeks, the sunlit sky line above the city looked beautiful, and even the sounds of heavy traffic sounded much nicer some how. However, helping create her pleasantness more so than anything was the excitement she felt from thinking about going home to see Tomo again and telling her the good news. Just the thought of it caused her to smile widely.
Being quite excited, she preemptively reached over to her side to dig through her purse for the key to her apartment. But when she felt around her hip and waist, she realized it wasn’t even on her shoulder. She must’ve been in such a hurry to leave that she left it at the office. She turned around to walk back but stopped when the recent memory of Ichiro’s viscous stare re-entered her mind. The cold shiver it sent up her spine was enough to make her consider leaving it there until tomorrow.
However, she felt that new feeling muster from within herself again to combat the fear. “No, I can’t be afraid of him anymore,” she told herself as she started marching back. Pretty soon she was back on the crowded sidewalk that the sky scraper representing the Daitokuji Financial Group’s corporate headquarters towered over.
However, she stopped moving along with the crowd when she saw something shiny on the sidewalk. She usually didn’t stop to look at things on the ground, but whatever it was looked oddly familiar some how. She was so intrigued by it, that she leaned down and picked it up between her fingers. It was a tiny ornament that was covered in some red substance. The red caused the sun-light refracted by the small stone on it to be dimmed. She then caressed it with her thumb until the blood rubbed off, revealing the shimmering blue sapphire underneath.
“It’s the ear-ring I bought Tomo,” Kaori said stunned, very confused to what her present to Tomo for getting her new job was doing there. She then felt a tug on her shoulder. When she turned to see who it was, no one was there. However, she noticed something odd off in the distance of the direction she had turned. Deep down the alley it looked like a man was pushed up against a woman. They looked to be lovers, but the odd placement of one of his hands around her neck seemed really strange. She started walking down the alley in their direction to get a better look, and her eyes widened once she realized the grim reality of who they were and what he was doing to her.
Her heart started pounding as she scrambled to think of what to do. She then noticed the garbage can she was standing next too, and she pulled off the lid. With the lid in hand, she ran down the dark alley and let out a feral scream. “Get you’re hands OFF OF HER!” Ichiro only had enough time to turn and see Kaori the moment before the steel disc swung up and collided with the temple on the side of his head. Ichiro’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his grip on Tomo loosened, allowing her to slump to the ground out of his grasp. Ichiro then tipped over like a chopped tree to slam face first into the concrete dead.
Kaori dropped the lid and ran over Ichiro to lean down and put her hands on Tomo’s shoulders as she lay slumped on the floor. The terribly battered girl seemed to have been lost in a daze but she looked up when she heard a familiar voice call out her name. Once Tomo saw her face, her lips curled up in a smile, a stark contrast to the dark bruises on her face and neck, and two trails of tears ran down her cheeks. “Kh…kh… kh… Kaori,” she managed to articulate in an incredibly scratchy voice after much effort.
“Tomo, Tomo, Tomo are you ok?” Kaori asked her again still very much panicking.
“Jus… jussa… scratch,” she said before she gagged and a decent amount of crimson blood bubbled up from her throat and down her chin.
Thinking quickly, Kaori dug into Tomo’s front pant pocket where she usually kept her cell phone and extracted it to call for an ambulance.
“Tomo everything is going to be ok, I promise. The ambulance is coming,” she told her as she wrapped her arms around her on the ground, trying to give her as much reassuring comfort as she possibly could. Tomo looked into the woman’s incredibly kind eyes, which were now filled with tears out of concern for her pain and safety. She wanted desperately to tell her how much she loved her one more time. But as she tried to move her lips, she suddenly found she was unable to do so. Kaori then vanished from her sight as everything around Tomo was buried in a black shroud of darkness.
To Be Continued