Yumi wanted him to stop. She didn't want to feel pleasure from it. She didn't want to feel her body losing control. She didn't want to be glad that it was him, instead of Yokubō. She didn't want to feel safe and warm under his chest. As she kissed him, passionately and eagerly, even if only for fear of his belt, she knew that it was a lost battle.
Akio work his pants down, pulling out his cock. Yumi's pussy was spread wide open for him, and it didn't take long for her to feel him sinking into her. It hurt, maybe a little less than she expected, but it hurt.
"Stop!" she said, breaking away from his lips.
Akio turned her face back toward him with his strong grip and rapped his hand against the side of her breast.
"I can decide to leave you on this slab for as long as I like when I'm finished fucking you," he said, grunting as his hips started to drive into her.
"If you think I've grown soft since the last time you were at my mercy then you're about to be find out how wrong you are."
Akio kissed her again, and she yielded to him. Her body was his, and there was no point in denying it any longer. Her pussy hugged his cock as he fucked her, welcoming him no matter how hard Yumi struggled against the metal banks that held her wrists and ankles. It gushed for him, soaking him up to his balls. Yumi had to break away from him to scream, overwhelmed by sensations that she was feeling as he rode her.
He pulled her back to claim her mouth again with a satisfied moan. His tongue invaded her mouth while his cock invaded her pussy, and neither wanted him out. Akio finally let go of her lips, rearing up to drive faster into her. She groaned in pleasure. It was pleasure. She couldn't deny it. It was making her tear at her limbs and wretch her back, but the last thing her body wanted was for it to stop. She wanted him to work even faster, even harder.
Yumi screamed through gritted teeth as Akio took her first orgasm. Days of tension seemed to wash away as she climaxed, finally giving her a moment of peace and bliss.
Akio wasn't finished. Yumi felt herself come down, but not all the way, adjusting to Akio's rhythm as he enjoyed himself with his hands roaming her flesh and his lips back on hers. Yumi moaned as the earlier intensity settled into a more relaxed state of carnal pleasure. She tried to remember that he was raping her, how he had tortured her, and what he had done to her friends. It didn't matter. For now, all her body cared about was that it was his, and that his touch felt good after days of nothing but pain and the taste of other women's bodyparts in her mouth.
Yumi was going to cum again. It came more slowly this time, giving her ample opportunity to feel it slowly take over her body. Not even the cold air burning her lungs as she panted was enough to bring her out of his spell. When his hands found her breasts again she moaned, unable to deny how good it felt when he squeezed them. She let herself go, bucking as she climaxed again, grunting as she rewarded Akio's touch with more juice from her loins.
When Yumi was finished she realized that Akio was cuming, filling her with his seed. He finally slowed down, and with her body coming to rest she could look up at the man lying on top of her with a clear head again. Suddenly all she could feel was intense guilt for giving him such satisfaction. And for enjoying it.
She was still bound with heavy metal bands to a slab. He was still a brutal warlord who only cared for his own pleasure. She was his slave again, and no matter what he was able to do to her to make her enjoy it when he forced himself on her, she knew that she was in trouble.
"Hurry up!" shouted Akio.
The battle outside was about to turn against them badly. The rest of Tomiko's armies were moving in, just as he had expected. His army was almost inside Frostspire now. Jinpachi had already reported to him, telling him that Queen Tomiko's tithes would supply them for quite a while.
Akio had no intention of merely holding out. He would find a way to strike out from the palace, but having time to figure out a plan was important.
He glanced over to Yumi. She was lying on her side, her arms in a strict box tie behind her back and her feet hobbled. He'd dressed her in a spare uniform. He hopped that she wouldn't get any ideas from it; she deserved no dignity of being clothed, but as cold as it was he genuinely feared for her freezing to death. He might not have allowed her to rest, either, until he had a renewed oath from her, but didn't have time to dote on her.
There were many heroes among his men today. Other women would no doubt be taken prisoner as they secured the palace, but the best among them would be rewarded properly. She would have a lot of cock in her mouth tonight, starting with Jinpachi's.
"My Lord," said one of his messengers. "We've found a suitable room to set up as your headquarters."
"Good. Take me there. I want to start organizing teams to scour the palace. We need to establish to the staff that we're in charge."
"Take her," he said to a soldier, point toward Yumi. He didn't want her out of his sight for long. Not while the situation was still so critical.
The three of them and their prisoner started toward his new headquarters while he wondered how many of Tomiko's agents were still in the palace. It would be difficult to root them all out. Frostspire was enormous, and even his entire army would have trouble paroling it all while staying prepared for battle with Tomiko's army.
A door to his side slammed open so hard that it nearly broke off its hinges. An enormous figure bolted out, seizing his messenger and burying a knee in his chest. Akio heard a crack, and he knew that the man wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. The Lady Oni Yokubō turned to him, a bladed mace in her hand.
"Akio! You've brought my slave back to me! I'm going to kill you now, but thanks!"
Akio knew he couldn't parry what was coming. He rolled under her swing, hoping that he would be up fast enough to take her in the back. He barely even had time to roll again as the mace slammed into the floor where he once was.
The solider who'd been following with Yumi drew his own weapon and charged, but a backhanded swing from Yokubō caught him and shattered his arm. It bought Akio enough time to get back to his feet, but little else. Yokubō was more skilled in hand to hand than her sister, Kori, and even if Akio was swifter she knew how to use her reach to keep him too far back to threaten her.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Yumi, fumbling with the fallen soldier's sword, trying to cut herself loose. He lunged toward the Oni, stopped time after time by her mace, testing for a hole in her defense and finding none. He tried to frustrate her, to lure her into overcommiting to an attack and leaving herself open, but she seemed to, if anything, enjoy the game of cat and mouse. He wished for a bow or a spear, and began to consider risking everything on a suicide drive at her chest.
Yokubō twirled her mace, effortlessly swinging it in a series of arcs that would easily shatter his bones if any connected. She pressed him back, but abruptly stopped at some instinct to strike out behind her. It was Yumi, her ropes cut and his soldier's sword in her hand. She stopped short, barely avoiding a blow that would have caved her head in. Knowing that she was leaving herself open for Akio, Yokubō immediately backed away, getting out from between her two attackers.
"I didn't give you permission to cut yourself loose," he said.
"You didn't give me permission to gut you either, but that's coming too."
"You're making me jealous," said the Oni.
Akio could recapture Yumi later; Yokubō was the greater threat. He darted in, drawing her mace his way. He ducked, but stayed within her reach. Yumi was of the same mind, as he'd wagered, and Yokubō had to back away again to defend from her thrust without giving Akio a chance to skewer her. Her back hit the wall, and she had to leap forward to find her space again. She tried to get past Akio, to put them both at her front, but he denied her. They settled into a rhythm, with Akio and Yumi alternating between aggressive attacks and keeping her in retreat.
Akio saw that the game was in his favor now, and Yokubō's control over her temper was wearing thin. She was about to crack. One of her attacks was a litt
le too aggressive, left her open a little too long. It was the right time to finish the battle.
He feigned surprise and stumbled, sinking to a knee. She pounced on the opportunity to end him, and threw all of her strength into the blow. Akio rolled forward, landing on his back under her guard. He stabbed upward and sank his sword into her leg as her mace shattered the ice where he'd been kneeling.
Yumi screamed and closed in. Akio was almost tramped as Yokubō backed away from her, bleeding and slow. With her injured leg compromising her stance her blows lost their speed and overwhelming power. She fell on the defensive as she no longer had time to attack and defend, Yumi unleashing a torrent of blows that were fueled by a mad hatred and furious thirst for retribution.
It was only a matter of time before Yokubō stumbled. Yumi's sword found purchase on her wrist, cutting her deeply enough to drop the mace from her hand. She didn't waste a movement after that, driving the sword straight into the Lady Oni's chest.
Yokubō lurched forward and grabbed at Yumi's neck with her open hand, trying to avenge herself in her own last moments. When her reach fell short her hand dropped, and a moment later the rest of her fell to the floor.
Akio stood, thankful that Yumi had exhausted that rage on his enemy. Maybe he should save her for himself tonight. His desire to break her again, to watch as bondage and pain robbed her of her will and delivered her to him, rose anew. He would recapture her now, and once the battle reached a lull, personally see to her whipping.
"It's him!"
Four of Tomiko's soldiers charged at them from the other end of the hallway. Akio raised his sword, tired and smarting but ready to finish them off. As they passed the intersecting hallway an explosive wave of energy crashed into them, scattering them across the floor.
It was the blue-haired one, Chiyo. She ran into view, carrying her staff in one hand and a spear in the other.
"Yumi!"
"Chiyo!"
Yumi ran over and embraced her.
"What about Taiko?" asked Yumi.
"Miyoshi found her. She's alright, at least sort of. We need to head back to the library."
"The what?"
"Come on," she said, handing Yumi the spear, "I'll show you. We've got a plan."
She looked over to Akio, her eyes immediately cooling.
"Taiko said that we should bring Akio, but I'd rather just blast him right now."
"Try it," said Akio. "I've beaten you twice already."
The entire palace rumbled, and a thousand crashing sounds echoed through the hall.
"I think that was Tomiko," said Chiyo. "We need to go."
Queen Tomiko watched as her soldiers laid siege to her own palace. It was a disgrace. Someone would have to be punished for this mess once Frostspire was back in her hands.
She wandered over to her throne, still sitting in the courtyard where it had been placed for the execution. The girl was gone. Tomiko would find her again, and put her back on the slab. The cold would still be there to take her. The cold would always be there.
Tomiko sat, letting her men fight. They would win, eventually. The Lady Oni Yokubō was already inside, gone in before Akio's men took the entrance to find out what was going on. There was no point in doing anything herself. She'd gone so far as to summon Hyōga already. She had more magic than that, of course, but magic took will to use, and Queen Tomiko had precious little will to spare. So, instead, she watched. Silently, feeling nothing.
Then the man appeared. He stepped out of thin air in front of her, a blue translucent figure that wasted no time in locking his eyes with hers.
"Hello, Queen Tomiko."
A knot appeared in her chest. She didn't recognize him. She didn't recognize his face, the way he was dressed, or whatever magic made him appear like that. But seeing him hurt. It hurt in a way that Tomiko was sure she'd never felt before, but was horribly familiar all the same. She gripped the arms of her throne tightly and realized that she was holding her breath.
"My name is Minoru. I don't think you know me, but I've come to tell you something. This battle is just a distraction. Taiko and Akio staged it all, and they've almost gotten to what they really want. The room. The one that nobody else can ever find. The one that even you don't go to. I don't know what's in there, but they're going to take it, and they're going to use it against you. You need to get there, and you need to hurry."
The man vanished, just as easily as he'd appeared. His name- Minoru- she'd heard it before. It was like a dagger in her chest. Why couldn't she remember? Her body, animated by an urge to act that came from a place that she couldn't entirely comprehend, began to rise.
Tomiko stood. She called upon the forces of ice and snow. She stirred the stone of Frostspire itself and demanded its fealty. With a deafening crash the windows of the palace exploded, ice that could have withstood any siege engine known to man shattering on her command.
Her soldiers cowered at first, shocked by her display of power, but soon they began to stream into every opening, and withing minutes the palace gate was open. Tomiko strode through, heading straight for the forgotten room. Outside, Hyōga still chased the woman on the bird. She was of no concern for now.
Inside she found Akio's men being driven back on every front. They'd been surrounded, broken apart, and forced to bar themselves into whatever rooms they could. They would be dealt with later. The way was almost clear for her. A lone trio of Akio's men dared stand in front of her, blocking one hallway. She froze them where they stood, sealing them in ice with a wave of her hand.
Tomiko reached the library. She wondered if she'd even been there before. She knew about the room that was buried inside, but not even she knew what was lay beyond its doors. She just knew that it was important. She let that inexplicable knowledge lead her to the door. It was still shut. Or they'd shut it behind them. Tomiko put her palm against it.
The door didn't open. It just vanished. It dissolved into light, and Tomiko stepped through into a room that barely seemed to exist. It was there. It was solid under her feet. Vague impressions of it lingered at the edges of her vision, but when she tried to focus on anything in particular, she saw nothing.
"Tomiko."
She turned, and saw Akio and the woman- Taiko- still in the library. Minoru was behind them. She'd been tricked. She still couldn't figure out who he was, but seeing him on their side cut into her. She felt betrayed, deeply. She lifted her arms, ready to blast them with shards of ice that would flay them to their bones, but something in her faltered.
Akio stepped into the room, and Taiko came behind him.
"I guess you don't know how my magic works, do you?" she said. "I can look into things and find out what's in their nature, and I can empower that. I can make them be what they want to be. Do what they want to do."
The woman made a funny series of poses. Tomiko was puzzled- was she trying to look intimidating?
"Bring out the old world. Show us the reality that came before. Room that sits on the edge- show us our old selves."
The world throbbed and it flashed. And, somehow, Queen Tomiko vanished, and Miyamoto Tomiko stood in her place.
The room around her felt strange. It shouldn't have. There was nothing odd about the smooth white walls and shaped glass that surrounded her, at least not that she could pick out. The feeling slowly faded, and she noticed the other two people in the room with her.
Tomiko was there, dressed in a fashionable white coat with blue layers showing underneath. She looked as confused as Taiko. There was another man there. Akio? She tried to remember where she knew him from. How had they gotten there, anyway?
"Where is this?" asked Akio, looking around timidly. "I can't remember anything for some reason."
"We're in my room," said Tomiko. "But I'm not sure why."
Her bed and her personal effects, lying all around around the room, came into focus. Taiko thought it was strange that she hadn't seen them before, but there they were.
Akio blushed bowed his head nervo
usly.
"Neither do I," he said, looking toward Taiko. "Have we met? Are you one of Tomiko's friends? You look familiar."
Taiko pried into her brain, trying to figure it out. Memories started to come back, like from a dream that she'd awoken in the middle of. Memories of adventures, fantasies, magic, and...
The less pleasant things. The war between Tomiko and Akio. The monsters. The torture and the rape.
"Yeah," she said, "Lord Akio."
Akio sat on the bed, burying his face in his hands. He was remembering too, then. Taiko saw Tomiko shiver.
"I can't believe that was us," he said. "I can't believe what I tried to do. What I did do to your friends. What happened? How did it go so wrong?"
"It's my fault," said Tomiko. "I knew there was something awful inside of me. The fragment I wound up in-"
"No," said Taiko. "It's not either of your faults. You weren't the ones who broke reality. It wasn't your job to put it back together right."
"I know what happened, Tomiko. With Minoru. I didn't back then, and I was too young to understand anyway. I know you're hurting. You needed help, not to be responsible for shaping a world."
A heavy silence followed her words.
"What can we do now?" asked Tomiko. "How can we fix any of this?"
Akio picked something up from Tomiko's bed. Taiko recognized it right away.
"These are all pictures of you smiling," he said to Tomiko. "You hardly ever smile when I see you."
"I made that," said Taiko. "I always saw her around, and she always looked so sad. So I set up a recorder, and I found every small moment that I could when she smiled, and I put them all together in that book."
Taiko took it from Akio and looked at the first page, to the message she'd written there.
Tomiko- the person in these pictures is so beautiful. I think you should try to be more like her. Everyone likes you, but I don't even know if you have any friends. If you ever need someone to talk to, my name is Taiko. Please try to smile more!
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