Chapter 2

Even though Chieko pretty much left Emiko alone the rest of the day, she was very passive-aggressive in her comments and her physical gestures. Emiko left school a nervous wreck. That evening at the dinner table, her mom asked her why she was so quiet, and Emiko just replied that she had a lot of homework to do.

After completing her homework, Emiko fell on her bed, buried her face in her pillow, and sobbed. She cried; it’s starting all over again. Why? Why can’t people just leave me alone? I’m just a small fly, I can’t hurt anyone... The last year of elementary school and all three years of middle school were just like this. While it was normal to see all the other girls start to mature, grow breasts, and go through puberty and get a boyfriend, Emiko began to stick out as an oddball because she always looked stuck in a time warp like an elementary school child.

Up to this point, all the bullying she had experienced was verbal taunts and teasing due to her physical appearance. She had followed the bullying reports and news closely and knew that high school was a different ball game. The kids were older, some of legal status to be called adults, were more vicious; and bullying actually involved crimes such as extortion, assault, rape, and in a few cases, torture leading to suicide or death.

Chieko seemed pretty aggressive for a first meeting and Emiko was dreading going to school the next morning and finding out what lay ahead for her for the rest of the school year. Sleep came early in the morning and even then, it was very fretful.

Emiko arrived at school about fifteen minutes early and went straight to her classroom and took her seat. The class had filled up and when it looked like Chieko was going to be absent, she came through the classroom rear door with two other girls. She vaguely remembered them as also being in her class.

The three girls surrounded her desk. Chieko spoke first saying, “Well, well ... the little girl is early this morning, aren’t you? You need to know that taking care of a tiny, baby girl like you costs money. Money to protect you to make sure nothing bad happens to you or someone doesn’t try to take advantage of you. So, you need to start paying me ¥2,000 ($19.10) per week for protection expenses. Got it?”

“I don’t have that kind of money on me. My parents aren’t wealthy either.”

Pounding the desk and poking her in the forehead, Chieko snarled “I have to tell you, baby girl, if you don’t pay, more than likely, you’re going to end up having some sort of serious accident and ending up in the hospital. Do you understand what I mean?”

“But I can’t get that much money today.”

“I’ll give you two days. If you don’t pay me the 2,000 yen, then things will not go well with you. That’s not a threat either, that’s a reality you need to face. You need to accept one fact. I now own you. You belong to me. You’re like my pet; my little kitten; my little baby girl. You don’t do anything without my permission. Got it?”

With every spoken phrase, Chieko would poke Emiko in the forehead or temple with her finger. She grabbed Emiko’s ponytail and yanked her head back and got almost nose-to-nose with her and snarled, “You don’t even go to the bathroom without asking me for permission first. Got it?”

With tears spilling down her cheeks, Emiko nodded silently. Chieko forcefully shoved her head as she let go of Emiko’s hair and sat down in her seat in front of her. Emiko noted that the other two girls surrounded her; one sat directly to her left and the other directly to her right. Emiko wiped the tears from her face and tried to compose herself before Mr. Hasagawa arrived to take roll.

Emiko was so frightened and upset, she felt a terrible need to pee. She tapped Chieko on the back and when Chieko leaned back, Emiko told her she needed to pee. Chieko stood and said, “Come on, let’s go.”

When they arrived in the girl’s restroom, Emiko went to a stall and started to close the door and Chieko pushed the door open and said, “You do your business with the door open so I can keep an eye on you.”

Emiko lowered her head in shame and silently started to lower her panties. She sat and hugged herself as she bent over and peed. After wiping herself, and flushing, she stood and pulled her panties up as modestly as possible to prevent Chieko from seeing her vulva.

As Emiko stepped out of the stall, Chieko took her chin in two fingers, tilting her head up, and said, “Good girl. Remember. This is a big kid’s school. Little girls need to be very careful. Know what I mean?” A little girl needs very close supervision, so you don’t get hurt. Let’s get back to class.”

Right before lunch, Chieko told Emiko to go to the roof when the bell rang. As soon as the period was over, she left the classroom and headed for the roof stairs. Stepping out onto the roof, Emiko walked around for a few minutes when she heard to roof door shut. She turned and Chieko and her two lackeys were with her.

All three walked over to Emiko and Chieko said, “These two girls are my assistants. Referring to the girl who sat on her right, Chieko said “This is Ayako [aa-AH-ko] Ono, and she (referring to the girl who sat on her left) is Akiki [AH-kee-kee] Yokoyama. If one of them comes to you and gives you an order, consider it coming from me and obey them. Do you understand?”

Emiko nodded and Chieko slapped her across the face. She said tersely, “You answer yes, or no Ma’am. Got it?”

Emiko started to cry and said softly, “Yes, Ma’am.”

“If you speak to Ayako or Akiki, you say Akiki’chan or Ayako-chan. Understand?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Nodding to Ayako and Akiki, Chieko said, “Grab her and hold her tightly.”

Each girl grabbed an arm with both hands and held Emiko fast. Chieko slugged Emiko in the stomach so hard, doubling her over, and then Chieko grabbed her by the hair and spat out, “If you think THAT hurt, then you’d better make sure you don’t talk to any of your “A” list friends. You know, those Suzuki kids. Understand me?”

“Yes Ma’am, but what if they talk to me first?”

“Then end the conversation quickly and leave. Say only what you need to say to end the conversation and leave.”

‘Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good. Now, get down on your knees and kiss my feet.”

Emiko looked at her pleadingly and asked, “Why are you making me do all of this?”

Grabbing Emiko by the hair again, Chieko replied angrily, “Because you need to learn that I now own you. You are mine. If I tell you to pee your panties, you’d better do it. Got it? The more obedient you are the easier life will be for you. The more you resist, or even worse, if you think you can tell someone about our arrangement, you may not live to regret it.”

“Also, don’t forget, I know where your parents’ restaurant is. It would be very devastating if something happened to one of your parents. You know, one or both of them killed during a robbery or something. Or maybe an accidental fire burned down their business. Something to think about...”

“I understand completely, Ma’am.”

“Good. I’m glad we had this little discussion. Now kiss my feet.”

Emiko slowly knelt, leaned forward, and kissed the tops of Chieko’s shoes. When Emiko raised back up, Chieko turned curtly and said, “Come on, girls, let’s get some lunch.” The three girls left Emiko kneeling on the roof.

Emiko returned to the classroom to the stares of the other kids in the class. They all looked at her with sadness, almost as if to say that they were very sorry and hurt to see what she was going through, but none of them made an attempt to speak to her for fear of becoming a target themselves.

Emiko sat at her desk, buried her face in her folded arms, and silently wept.

As Emiko ran through all the events of the day through her mind, it seemed to her that Chieko was very experienced at bullying people. She was too methodical and deliberate to simply be doing it haphazardly like someone who was just winging it. Ayako and Akiki didn’t seem to be very Assertive or aggressive in their manner. They just silently followed Chieko around and did what she ordered them to do. What were THEY getting out of this?

Neither girl was ugly or fat. In fact, they had decent figures and were pretty, especially that Akiki girl ... Did they attach themselves to Chieko because she had something on them, or were they getting a cut of the extortion money? Speaking of the money, most kids received that much or more as weekly spending money at school, but her parents could not afford to give her an allowance. She only bought her lunch once a week. The other four days she packed her own lunch.

The rest of the day was uneventful, and as soon as the bell rang, she left the classroom immediately. When Chieko called her, she pretended like she didn’t hear her and kept walking. The first thing she did when she got home was to get her bank book to check her balance. She had a total of ¥10,426 in savings left. Emiko spent ¥80,000 ($757) almost her entire life savings on her high school uniform, shoes, stockings, and backpack. Staring at the total, Emiko thought, this will only carry me for five weeks. What am going to do for the rest of the year? Maybe Dad will let me earn some money on weekends or for winter break...

She grabbed her jacket and headed to the bank to withdraw ¥4,000 for two weeks of “protection” money.

⸟

The following morning, Chieko was rather calm after Emiko gave her the money. Emiko made sure that she pooped before she left the house to make sure she didn’t have to go at school. Peeing in front of one of those three was one thing, but she could not bring herself to think about pooping and wiping herself in plain view of another person. She drank only one sixteen-ounce bottle of water a day to even reduce the chance that she had to pee at school. The rest of the week was free of any new surprises or torments. Just the usual passive-aggressive posturing and verbal attacks with some finger poking to her head for emphasis.

The following Monday, as soon as Emiko gave Chieko the money, she said, “Good girl. From now on, you will call me Mama. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama, I understand.”

“And you now call these two Sister Ayako and Sister Akiki. Got it?”

“Yes Mama, I understand.”

Chieko gave her back ¥300 and told her, “At lunch, you go with us and buy me lunch. Make sure you give me the change. You with me, baby girl?”

“Yes, Mama.”

This new routine went on for the rest of the week. On Monday, Emiko spoke to Aimi in the lunch line for a few minutes but was very reserved. Emiko gave Aimi a look that told her friend that things were not normal in Camelot. Aimi returned the look with one that said she understood. She’d seen Yoshi several times, but merely smiled and nodded to him. Yoshi gave her a look that said he knew she wasn’t her usual friendly self, That Friday when he saw her, he sent her a text. When her phone vibrated, she was a little startled. After putting Chieko’s tray down, she turned and went back to the classroom. She read the text Yoshi had sent her. It said, “Use voice notes on your phone to secretly record unsavory conversations.”

Emiko replied, “Great idea. Will do. Thanks.”

Emiko realized that in order to record everything, she might have to carry her phone with her. Since neither of her skirts had a pocket, she split the seam on the right side of each of her two skirts and sewed a pocket big enough to hide her cell phone.

⸟

On Tuesday morning on the way to school, Chieko received a phone call minutes before Mr. Hasagawa arrived to take the attendance. After answering the phone, she left the room and went to a corner of the hallway.

“Hello? Oh hi.”

“Is the Tanaka girl being compliant?”

“Very. You were right. Her history of being bullied had left her like Pavlov’s dog. She really hasn’t balked at anything I’ve ordered her to do. Just a little physical persuasion and she obeys.”

“You’ve been doing this long enough to know that when a victim is like that, you’re not moving the program along fast enough. We need to turn her as quickly as we can. Time is money and she’s worth tens of thousands of yen. She’s past the legal age of consent yet looks like a nine-year-old child. Once she’s turned, her parents have no legal leg to stand on to object. Now, up the pressure. Dominate her. Humiliate her. Make her do something that will require her to give up her dignity. Break her. You know how the game is played, so do it. I would like to see her bring in the first payday before winter break. Got it?”

“Hai! I understand.”

“You’d better, or it will be your ass that’s on the short end of the stick along with your two flunkies.”

“Hai! I will do as you command starting today.”

“That’s my girl. That’s what I want to hear.”

Click.

Chieko entered the classroom right behind Mr. Hasagawa. When she walked down the aisle to her seat, she gave Emiko and an evil grin that told Emiko that something was going to happen, and she wasn’t going to like it one bit.

Emiko could have sworn that she saw Chieko’s head gesture to Mr. Hasagawa to leave and he gave a very slight head nod. It wasn’t a minute later, and he said he’d completed role call and quickly left the room.

In the back of the classroom where the student lockers were, were Styrofoam cups that students used to get a drink water from the hallway fountains. As soon as Mr. Hasagawa left, Chieko told Akiki to get four cups and follow them to the girl’s restroom. Emiko pocketed her cell phone and turned on the voice notes as they entered the bathroom.

Once there, Chieko distributed the cups and said, “Alright, All of you, piss in the cup. Go, do it now!” She looked at Emiko and said, “Not you, Baby Girl, I have something in store for you.”

Emiko started to shake. She knew what was coming next and she was terrified that someone could be so cruel as to make her do something like this.

Emiko was in a daze and didn’t see that the other two girls were already standing outside the stalls holding the urine-filled cups.

Emiko stepped forward and stood in front of Chieko. Just then, another girl walked into the restroom and Chieko turned and ordered, “Get out now if you know what’s good for you!” The girl turned and left.

Chieko turned again to Emiko, took her chin in two fingers, and lifted Emiko’s head. With an evil look on her face, she asked Emiko, “Are you really my baby girl?”

Emiko sank to her knees sobbing and pleaded, “Pleeeeze Mama, please don’t make me do this!”

“Now, now, baby girl, sometimes we need to do things we don’t want, but obedience is the only thing you need to learn. Complete and total obedience. Do you understand? Now either you drink these cups of wine, or you will drink my piss right from the fountain. Now, what will it be? Huh? Tell me. What’s it gonna be?”