214 Tomi
At the bottom of the stairs, I stood at the partition which divided the hall into two and thought about Meiko’s warning about never going to the right. The cage doors to the male-slaves were still open. On a whim, I decided to act. Quickly, I walked on the women’s side. The doors were open! The girls were inside.
I heard gasps of surprise. Yokubo was in the next to the last cage. Her eyes widened in surprise when seeing me.
“What? She asked.
“Come! Come now. Now is the time!”
Without the slightest hesitation, she scampered through the door to her cubby and together we walked quietly up the stairs. The house was silent No one was in the hallway or even on the first floor. I hoped Meiko and Mistress weren’t going to leave their rooms so late in the evening. Slipping out through the back door I took hold of her hand and together we ran to the garage.
“We leave now! We leave now!” I said in a panicked whisper.
Why I decided to put my plan without giving thought to a night escape, I couldn’t say. Things just happened. In my mind, I thought about leaving after breakfast – just after being dismissed to complete our morning chores. A morning departure would mean the streets would be crowded. I thought we might be able to vanish into the masses of people and make our way to safety more easily. But we had time and the night had its benefits. Besides, Mistress Meiko and Mistress Su were hopefully in bed for the night.
I tossed her the plastic garments. “Put this on – top and bottom. Be quick!”
We donned our outfits and hustled to the back shed. Quickly I carried the ladder to the wall while Yokubo watched. I extended it as far as I could. The ‘click, click, click’ of the safety brackets engaging as they snapped over each rung sounded like fireworks going off in the silent night. I cringed when realizing I hadn’t thought about this potential giveaway.
The latter reached far above the wall. “You must climb to the top and jump. Be careful. Don’t hurt your ankle or foot. I will follow.”
Yokubo darted to the top of the wall and paused. The white of her plastic outfit shown in the moonlight. She stood out as a sole bright spot in an otherwise dark field of view. This was another flaw in my plan.
“Jump!” I hissed. “People will see you.” I saw her hesitate. “Jump!”
Finally, she did. I went up next and after getting to the top I carefully transferred my weight from feet to hands. As I did, the latter pivoted on the brick barrier and inverted. With a crash, the top came to rest on the far side. Quickly, I made my way to the bottom and pulled the ladder down. Hiding it behind a few bushes to hide our method of escape, we made our dash to freedom.
In my mind, I kept repeating “214 Tomi, apartment K.” Remembering the directions Akiyo provided, I pictured in my head our route and where we needed to go. Making our way from tree to tree, we neared the street opposite that on which Mistress Su lived. The sidewalks were only lightly traveled now that the hour was late and the traffic only sporadic. By no means were the streets desolate. We were in the middle of Kyoto, one of Japan’s major metropolitan regions.
Once we made it to the adjacent street I took Yokubo by the hand and held on tightly. I felt her grip tighten.
“We are free! We are free!” She said directly.
“Not yet. Not yet. We walk, Yokubo. We do not run. We do not make eye contact with anyone. We talk to one another the entire time. Even if we have nothing to say, we talk. We don’t make it easy for others to talk to us.”
“Yes, my slave.”
I only hoped her comment came automatically and was not said in jest. Yes, the worst had passed but the unknown lay ahead. I didn’t know anything about the neighborhood. I had to trust Akiyo’s directions to be true and accurate. “214 Tomi” I repeated and thought of the three blocks west we would need to travel before turning north on Tomi.
We made our way barefoot and in trash bags. During our half-mile walk, we passed two different police officers. None paid us even the slightest attention. Yokubo’s hand had become sweaty and I knew it wasn’t due to being overly hot. She, too, was struggling with maintaining a sense of self-composure.
I pointed to the right. “We go this way. White building – 214 on the address. Once we get there it’s apartment K. It’s on the fourth floor.”
“We’re at 112,” Yokubo noted and pointed to the building nearest us. “It must be on the next block,” she surmised.
“Yes, Akiyo said it was just after the bank or maybe she said it was just before the bank. Damn, I can’t remember now.”
“No worries, my slave. 214 is all we need to remember,” Yokubo reassured.
Our pace quickened as we neared Akiyo’s apartment complex. It took only a few more minutes. When seeing the address, we both let loose a sigh of relief. We were only yards away from safety. Finding the fire-escape stairs we walked silently up the stairs on the near side of the building. Apartment K was the third in a line of güvenilir bahis seven apartments accessed by a common hallway. We stood before the door that would prove to be our salvation. An overwhelming sense of relief came over me.
Yokubo rested her head against my chest and looked up. “We are here. You saved me.”
Her voice was barely audible and yet her thankfulness remained so profound. Tears filled her eyes. I rang the doorbell. No one came. I knocked again. Still no one. I tried a third time; this time banging a little louder. We waited. No one answered our call.
“Dammit! Come on! Open the door!”
I knocked and rang the bell again. Still no answer. We waited for several minutes but no one came. It was late – probably close to midnight.
“She is either asleep or not here. I told her we wouldn’t be here until tomorrow.”
“What do we do? Where do we go? Yokubo asked. Her voice declared the frantic state of her thoughts.
I looked around. We can’t stay here. Anyone coming out from any of these doors will see us. Let’s go back down. We can look for a place to hide around back.
A small back alley ran behind the buildings. Nothing was back here except asphalt pavement used for parking and trash containers. I spotted a large dumpster behind the apartment complex.
“In there,” I pointed. “We spend the night in there.”
“I hoisted Yokubo overhead with little effort.
“It stinks!” She said squirreling up her nose. “I’m not going in there!”
Not wanting to argue, I climbed up and braced myself on the upper rim of the massive dumpster. It was mostly full. Garbage and rotting food lay scattered everywhere. I climbed down and caught Yokubo when she jumped.
“Then we hide in that corner. Come.”
We spent the night with my back against the metal wall of the steel container. Yokubo snuggled between my legs and curled herself tight against my chest.
I held her small form close. We said little but I knew she was thinking much. She was free and so was I. We had escaped and no one would know we were gone until sometime in the early morning hours. Even then, they would have no idea where to look. The city was huge! They would have no idea what direction we headed once free of the compound. Mistress wouldn’t know if we had traveled a half-mile or 10 miles. I closed my eyes and fell asleep thinking that at least for now, we were safe.
The city of Kyoto awoke when the sun rose. As it did, so did our feelings of vulnerability. The darkness that had cloaked our escape to freedom was no longer our friend. We could hear the sound of traffic coming from the street nearby. Yokubo Snuggled in tighter when hearing two men talking from somewhere behind.
Fortunately, we had found a good place to hide. We were out of sight from anyone entering or leaving the apartments. The only way someone could spot us would be from the alley. Even then, we looked more like a white trash bag then two vagrants waiting for a free handout.
I kept telling Yokubo to be patient. We needed to wait. We need it to give Akiyo time to either wake or come home from wherever she had spent the night. It was close to noon when I agreed to go.
“Let’s hope she answers when we knock this time,” she said.
We stood. Our outfits looked grossly out of place. All we could do was pray we would make it to the fourth floor without anyone alerting anyone’s suspicion. Using the fire escape we again ascended the stairs. This time when we knocked, Akiyo answered almost immediately.
She looked as surprised as we were. “Come in! Come in! You made it!” Once inside Yokubo burst into tears.
Akiyo dropped to her knees and embraced the sobbing Yokubo. She cried uncontrollably for many minutes. I knelt and placed one arm on the backs of both women, one old and one young. Yokubo was so emotional. It felt as if she were crying tears of joy and sorrow.
“Let it out, girl. Let it all out,” Akiyo encouraged. “Nameru, get me some tissues. They are on the table in the other room.”
She dabbed her eyes and cried some more. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why am so emotional.” She giggled and looked at Akiyo. “I am forever in your debt. Forever.”
“Hush now! I will hear none of this. I’m glad you are here, safe and sound. Are you OK? What can I get you?”
“Some water, Akiyo. Could you get us each some water?” I asked more to give her something to do than anything.
“Yes, and then she will take a long bath. She can rest and soak in warm water and let her mind let go of all her worries and trouble thoughts.”
“Thank you, ma’am. Thank you.” Yokubo hugged Akiyo tightly and kissed her cheek several times.
An hour later my darling slave girl finally opened the bathroom door. Wrapped in towels, one encapsulating her hair and the other circling her body, she smiled and looked refreshed.
“I like seeing that smile,” I said with a grin just as big as hers.
“That felt so good! I can’t remember the last time I lay in the tub soaking in bubbles. I felt like güvenilir bahis siteleri a little girl all over again.”
“You mean, he won’t miss our nightly showers? Weren’t they the best?”
Yokubo shook her head. “Not a chance. I don’t know if I will ever take a shower again.”
“Sure you will,” I countered. “Next time, you’ll be able to stand and you won’t have to endure the jet engines blasting you dry.” I chuckled at my remark and watched Yokubo smile. She was slowly coming around.
She stood in front of us and looked at the towel wrapped around her. “I don’t want to put that plastic back on me. Do you have anything I can wear?”
Feeling embarrassed for not having something for her to wear, she exclaimed, “Oh, of course, sweetheart, let me get you something. Come.”
Just as Akiyo took Yokubo by the arm, I stood. “I’m going to get a shower,”
The three of us sat around the table enjoying a late lunch. Akiyo gave me a pair of her husbands’ underwear and shirt to wear and Yokubo wore a long pajama gown that I could tell she loved. It wasn’t much but it was something. Our conversation moved from one topic to the next but eventually, we came back to the reality of where we were and what we needed to do. We were only a half-mile from Mistress Su and Meiko. We couldn’t stay and Akiyo’s place served only as a temporary reprieve. Our decision as to what to do next came when Akiyo informed us of her husband’s return. He would be home before dark tomorrow.
“He leaves for work on Sunday and doesn’t come home until everything there is finished on Friday afternoon. I can’t have you here when he gets back. I wouldn’t want to take a chance of him knowing what I did and who you are. There’s no telling what he might do.”
“Can we impose and ask you to run a few errands for us? We don’t need much, just enough to help us to get started and on our way.”
Of course. What do you need?”
I’d like to transfer money from my bank account in the US to yours. If I can do that, can you withdraw that same amount?” I could see Yokubo’s eyes sparkle when hearing I had resources to draw from.
“Yes! That will be easy. The bank is right there,” she replied and pointed.
I forgot she lived adjacent to one. Akiyo retrieved her laptop and typed in the password. I logged into my account and transferred a hefty sum of money into hers.
Next on our list of essentials was clothes. Yokubo and I wrote down all we wanted her to get. Before leaving, she encouraged us to rest which we happily obliged.
“Can I hold you?” I asked my beautiful friend.
“I would love that.”
Into my arms, she flew. We hugged and kissed and hugged some more. Yokubo cuddled tight and I wrapped my arms and legs around. I wanted her to know she was safe and secure.
“I know I told you this before but, thank you for saving me.”
“You’re welcome. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“I know you would. Your that kind of a guy. But was it hard?”
“Was what hard?” I asked.
“Deciding to leave. Taking the risk? Giving up Mistress Su?”
“No, Yokubo, it wasn’t. The hard part wasn’t knowing what to do. The hard part was figuring out how to do it. If I hadn’t been assigned to the garage, I would’ve never seen that ladder. The only real dilemma was getting over the wall. I knew we couldn’t go out through the front gate.”
“But what about her? Wasn’t it hard leaving her?”
“Do you mean Mistress Su?”
I felt her shake her head against my chest. “Yes,” she answered softly.
“So you knew what was going on with us?” I asked without answering her question.
“Everyone knew. The slaves know everything.”
“In all honesty, it was a little hard. I liked her. I think she had the potential to be a good woman but I think her loneliness and fear of her husband allowed her to make some bad decisions. Meiko didn’t help matters. She’s not a nice lady,” I added.
“So you have feelings for her?”
“I had some feelings but not all were good ones. I hardly knew her.” I paused and thought about the question I needed to ask. “Yokubo, can I ask you a question? It’s something Su would not answer.”
“What’s?”
“Mistress told me the reason I became one of her slaves was because she had recently gotten rid of another someone. Is that true?”
“It is. You replaced the old . There were only four guys for maybe a month – maybe six weeks before you came.”
“So what happened to the old ? When I asked Mistress, she wouldn’t tell me. Did something bad happen to him?”
“I don’t know, Nameru, but if it helps, many slaves came and went during the time I was there. The ones who she got rid of were the ones who she always seemed to have an affection for. Had she not taken a liking to you, you might have met the old .”
I was shocked to learn there were so many. Many might have meant five or 15. I didn’t know but Yokubo confirmed what I feared. Mistress discarded slaves and wherever they went it probably wasn’t for their iddaa siteleri benefit. I felt so sad.
“Yokubo,” I began, “Can I tell you something?”
She looked at me with those beautiful large eyes. I cupped her cheek and held her face between my hand and chest. “I think the question you are really asking has nothing to do with how I feel about Mistress Su. I think you want to know if my heart belongs to her or not. I can tell you this. I don’t want to be with her. Since coming to Japan I’ve only had one true friend but that friend broke my heart. I cried for days after a beautiful slave-girl spent two weeks with me and then suddenly left. She never came back. I cried because that person became my best friend. That person filled my day with laughter. That person gave me hope. I saw in that person, a slave who I thought succeeded in her slavery and one who had so many incredible qualities about her.”
Yokubo reached up and pushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen on my forehead. She smiled, pursed her lips, and then blew me a kiss.
“I don’t want you to ever think that my allegiance or love or devotion is with her. Yes, I spent time with her. Yes, we had sex, and for a short while and I even thought she might be a really good woman. Everything changed the night Kaito arrived. It wasn’t even because of the terrible things he did to you and the girls. It was seeing Meiko and her watching it all and letting them hurt you. From that point on, I knew there was something very wrong with Su and Meiko.
“Maybe someday we can free the other girls.”
Yes, Yokubo, we need to do that. They deserve to have what you have.”
She smiled and twisted her body to face mine. Wrapping her arms around my neck she brought her lips to mine. We kissed. That one kiss led to another and in the quietness and safety of Akiyo’s small apartment, her kisses became more loving, more passionate, and more caring.
“Don’t leave me, Nameru. Promise me you won’t.”
“You won’t ever have to worry about that. You might leave me but I will never leave you. You have my word.”
Slowly and beautifully, I watched as a smile graced her lovely face. “You won’t have to worry about me either.” She kissed me again and snuggled tight against my body. We said no more and soon fell asleep with her enveloped in my arms.
Yokubo woke and got up while I continued to sleep. I don’t know how much longer I did, but by the time I opened my eyes, she was dressed and wearing a white scoop-neck top and dark capri pants. She even had on makeup! She looked spectacular! Everything about her looked yummy. The white of her top contrasted with her dark eyes and bright lipstick. Her breasts jutted out seductively and pulled the silky top away from her flat tummy. She was a picture of perfection!
“Wow! What beauty contest are you about to enter?” I said grinning. “You look beautiful!”
Yokubo giggled. Akiyo joined in and broke into a hearty laugh.
“She is a beauty and don’t you ever forget it!” Akiyo announced and came to her side. She gave her a motherly hug. The two stood grinning and giggling.
“Wow,” I said again. “She sure is! Yokubo, you look stunning! I mean you’re really gorgeous!”
I watched her face flush slightly. “I’ve always been this way. You’ve seen a lot more of me than you can see now.” She ran her hands loosely over her body to draw my attention to it. “It was because I had to wear that stupid head covering that you never got to see my pretty smile.”
“You forget that when we were at Meiko’s flat, I did see you. I saw all of you, but even then, I never saw you free of all the burden you carried.” I stood and came to her. Poking my finger in the hollow between her lovely breasts I added. “But even then, you let me see inside there. That’s where your real beauty lies.”
“Oh, you are a precious slave,” Akiyo gasped. “If you aren’t the sweetest,” she added. “Kiss me.”
I did and Akayo kept two arms wrapped around my waist while turning her attention to Yokubo.
“You better snatch this man right now. If he’s not a treasure, I don’t know who is.”
Yokubo joined us. Hugging my arm with her body pulled tight against me she answered. “I’m not going to let him go anytime soon. He’s my savior.”
On the table lay a thick envelope and a few bags. Akiyo pointed to the envelope. “Your cash is in there. Take care of it. That’s a lot of money.”
“I will and thanks for getting all of this.” I went to the bag, “What’s in here?”
Akiyo smiled. “It’s your clothes. You can’t go leaving here like that. I need to wash and get those back where I got them. If my husband sees anything out of place he will know something is awry.”
I looked to see what she got. It was what I wanted. “Thank you, my good friend. Yokubo and I appreciate you doing this for us. Just allowing us to stay for this long is more than we could have imagined.”
Yokubo nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is. And I thank you as well.”
“Well,” she said looking at the time. “The day is moving forward and I am getting hungry. You two can thank me for my generosity by allowing me to take you to dinner. My treat.” she added. “Do not worry about being seen. We are not going anywhere near here. No one will see us. I can promise you that.”