Soul to Soul Pt. 02.1

Soul to Soul: Healing His Harem

Part II: Finding the Harem

In which our Hero finds out the true meaning of love and pleasure and the pain of loss. Over and over again.

Chapter 10: Porcelain Doll – Aiko, Part I

In the house where nobody laughs

And nobody sleeps

In the house where love lies dying

And the shadows creep

A little girl hides shaking

With her hands on her ears

Pushing back the tears

‘Til the pain disappears

-Rush, Everyday Glory

Iteration 1 – Aiko

Akemi Aiko woke up with a smile on her face. It was the first time in a while that that had happened to her. Her life as of late has been one of quiet work every day, but that had not always been the case.

Aiko had had a series of bad experiences, one after the other, going back to her days of middle school. She had a best friend, Yuki, to whom she told everything. She told Yuki-chan about her crush on Izumi-kun, the popular boy in another class. Yuki-chan ended up telling everyone, and even more than the laughs of the other classmates was the feeling of betrayal from her friend. Yuki-chan just laughed and told her it was no big deal. But to Aiko, it was a betrayal of her trust. That her friend would sell her out just to gain some popularity was very painful.

In her high school in Tokyo, she was always the one cleaning up the class at the end of the day, taking care of the class garden, and all of the little chores that belonged to someone else. Natsuki-kun one day had been in a hurry and had asked her to clean the erasers for him. She smiled and happily did so. The next day, Yamada-san asked her to empty the garbage. She smiled again, and said yes. The next day, it was another classmate who needed her to clean up the sports equipment. The next day, putting the chairs away. Sweeping the floors. Taking the attendance rolls to the office. It kept going.

None of these requests were very much for her to do, and she decided that she liked how it felt when she helped others. She could feel the happiness coming from her classmates, and she loved the feeling. And instead of these classmates laughing over the Izumi-kun incident, they were coming to her for help. She grew to love when she heard behind her, “Akemi-san, gomen’nasai…” She would turn around with her lovely smile and say, “Don’t mention it, what can I do?”

She thought to herself all through her first year of high school, See how many friends I have? They all felt comfortable coming to her for help. It bothered her a little bit that they would ask for her help and all leave together – she was not asked to go with them to their karaoke parties, or out to a cafe. But she just smiled and knew that she was making them happy, and that was enough.

As she entered her second year of high school, she blossomed into a very beautiful young woman, to match her name – Akemi meaning “dazzling beauty.” She grew to 162 cm (5’4″) tall that year (she would stop growing two years later at 168 cm (5’6″) tall), and she kept her black hair long, all the way to her waist. Her porcelain skin was flawless, for she spent time every night caring for herself. She wanted others to like her, and so she focused on making herself every bit the traditional Japanese woman.

And it seemed to work. The boys started to talk to her more outside of just asking her to take out the garbage, though that still happened as well. She saw her classmates pairing up and trying to figure out what love was – she saw one young man bowed, with hands outstretched, holding a note to a girl in a different class. She bowed and accepted, and they were seen walking home together most days after that. Aiko wanted that as well, but it was not until the beginning of her third year of high school that it happened.

Yamato-kun asked if she would talk with him after classes. She lowered her eyes and said, “Hai.” She smiled at him, but he was already walking to class. The smile stayed on her face after school when he confessed his feelings and asked if she would be his girlfriend. She bowed and said, “Yoroshiku, onegaishimasu!”

They walked home together. It was a bit uncomfortable – neither of them really spoke as they didn’t know what to say. When they passed by a café, Aiko asked him if she could buy him a coffee. They spent a pleasant time chatting about classes and classmates after that, and then he walked her the rest of the way home.

The pattern after that was that they would walk towards home together, she would buy him something from a café, and then they would say goodnight. One day when she didn’t have any money, he broke up with her. It broke her heart, but she knew inside that this was never going to be the person she married. She chalked it up to some good experience in having a relationship.

That started a series of boyfriends – young men who would walk her home, she would help them with something – a coffee, make them dinner at their house, help them with homework, and then when she couldn’t help them one day, they broke up with her.

What she didn’t know was that taksim escort word had gotten out – if you dated Akemi-san, she would do things for you. It was a way to get easy homework help, food, and to get their chores done. When she couldn’t help them, then she was no longer useful.

She didn’t see it though, not for a while. Her mild nature and easy smile along with her complete willingness to help others made it easy for others to take advantage of her, but because she loved helping others, she felt content to do so.

By the time graduation came, she was starting to wish that maybe someone would help HER out sometimes, and wouldn’t it be nice if they would do something for HER? She was hoping that when she went to college things could change – that instead of dating boys, she would meet MEN, who would want to treat her well.

Sadly, several of her female classmates went to Kyoto University with her. They were jealous of her beauty and grace, and started to spread rumors around about what kind of person she was – how easy to take advantage of her – and the same experiences started up again. There were nights that Aiko would softly cry herself to sleep after her most recent breakup.

She started to become more reserved and stopped smiling as much. Soon the boys stopped coming around. By now she felt hollow – empty inside, and she didn’t know why. She didn’t understand that each person has inside of themselves a well of water. Giving of yourself – your time, your energy, your love – empties that well just a little bit. It can grow back over time, but most people have others replenishing that for them – a kind word, a good deed, anything that can make the person feel good – those kinds of things fill the well quickly.

Aiko’s well was almost dry. She didn’t have much to give anymore. And when people started avoiding her, her well filled even more slowly.

It was several years after graduation that a man took interest in this beautiful, reserved woman. When she looked up, she was gorgeous. So when Sato Katashi asked to date her, she said yes. They married a year later when she was 26 years old. And it was very, very soon after the marriage that the honeymoon was over.

Katashi was a selfish man, very harsh and strict. He required Aiko to be at their Kyoto home at all times, making sure that it was spotless. If there was ever anything out of place, he would reprimand her. If meals were not ready exactly when he wanted them, he would be furious. And if he wanted sex…

Sex was something that Aiko had been looking forward to. She was not like the promiscuous girls in college – she kept herself apart from that – but she did hear them talk and it sounded exciting – having a lover to pleasure you seemed like an absolute dream to Aiko, who craved attention and to have someone do anything for her.

But Katashi was a very selfish lover. The night of their honeymoon, he got drunk, took her clothes off, thrust inside her until he came, and then rolled over to go to sleep. Aiko lay there bleeding and in pain, crying and wondering how the other girls had ever enjoyed such a thing.

But she was a dutiful wife – she cleaned herself up, steeled herself, and went to sleep.

The next day, it was the same.

And the next day.

And the weeks, months, and years went by.

Katashi never touched her as a lover. No caresses, no foreplay, no kisses. Sex was just thrust, thrust, thrust, and cum. No matter if Aiko was not aroused and it hurt. No matter if she was on her period – he would just hit her in anger and then have sex with her anyway. And then be angry that it made him bloody.

It was after a few months of this that she went to the doctor to start birth control, without his knowledge. She didn’t want to bring a child into this marriage like this.

And after three years of this abuse, things finally came to the breaking point.

That fateful night, Katashi was drinking heavily again. The sake was flowing, and Aiko knew what was coming. She left him drinking and went to the kitchen to clean up after the dinner. Soon Katashi came in and said, “Wife, it’s time for you to pleasure me.” She looked up in surprise, and he was nude, semi-erect (the sake had that effect on him if he drank too much), and he said, “The other men at work tell me that their wives suck them off. I don’t want to be less than them – so I want you to do that.”

Aiko was horrified at the thought – he was unwashed, smelt of stale sweat and sake, and he didn’t look clean down there. She thought to herself, Maybe if you would think of me sometimes I would want to do this for you. Aiko told him, “Danna-sama, gomen’nasai – I am feeling unwell tonight. Please let me do this another time.” And she knelt to the floor and bowed low. She hoped it would be enough to make him stop.

She couldn’t have been more wrong. He yelled, “If you aren’t going to bear me a son, at least you can pleasure me!” And he came for her…

She lay in their bed that night, bleeding from her mouth and nose. She felt that she had several broken ribs mecidiyeköy escort and possibly a cracked wrist.

Her pussy was sore from being kicked there as well. She was torn inside from his bestial thrusting as he bellowed that she was his to do with as he wished. She was pleading for him to stop, that it hurt, but he didn’t stop until he passed out on top of her.

She pushed him off of her and tried to clean up, but she was in so much pain that after a while she just decided to wipe off most of the obvious blood and go to sleep.

The next day, Katashi roughly shook her awake and told her that the house had better be spotless when he got home. And that, finally, was it. Her love for this man had ended before the end of the month that she had been married, but it was only in this very moment that she finally admitted it to herself. Aiko’s well had finally run completely dry. She had absolutely nothing more to give.

She waited until he was gone for work for the day and decided to pack all of her belongings. When everything she wanted to keep from this marriage fit inside of one small suitcase, she realized how little she had been given, and how much she had been taken for granted. She didn’t know what she wanted for herself in life, but she made the decision then and there that she was done with relationships. She didn’t need any more people sucking the life out of her and leaving her hurting. So she decided that being alone would be better.

She left that morning with her small suitcase. She was walking slowly and painfully due to the broken ribs, and she cradled her left arm, but she was able to make it to the train station.

When the woman at the station asked where she wanted to go, she didn’t know. She excused herself and went to look up some locations on her phone. She remembered that she had an elderly aunt living in Yatsushiro. She called the number and her aunt answered. “Oba-sama, this is Aiko-chan. I am wondering if it would be OK for me to come and live with you.” She started to cry, and her loving aunt didn’t ask any questions – she just said, “Yes, I look forward to seeing you.”

So Aiko bought a one-way ticket to Yatsushiro. She sat looking out of the window for most of the 7 hour trip. She didn’t really think of anything – she was just numb, and time passed slowly.

That evening, as she knocked on her aunt’s door, she bowed low and begged her pardon for intruding. Oba-sama just pulled her in the door and hugged her. Aiko was so surprised at the human contact that she burst into tears. “Welcome, Aiko-chan. I’ll make some tea, and you can let me take care of you now.”

*****

A year had passed, and she now lived alone. Oba-sama had helped her get settled and cared for her, but soon after Aiko had recovered, Oba-sama succumbed to an illness. She left the house to Aiko, and she found a job as a kindergarten teacher. It gave her life some structure and meaning. At 30 years old, she was at peace now, if not necessarily happy. She had written to her husband to tell him that she was gone forever, and sent him papers for divorce. He wrote back once, angry, but since it was through an intermediary mail service, he didn’t know where she was living. And she wanted to keep it that way.

Her life was simple, and she was content.

And then one day, her life turned upside down again.

***

Jake was disoriented. He woke up in a strange bed, to strange sounds and strange smells. He sat bolt upright and scrambled to find Kaiah. The cry that escaped his lips when she wasn’t there was one of sadness and loss. He knew that it was going to happen – they had said their goodbyes. But that didn’t make it easy. Add to that the fact that as far as he could tell, even though he would be living the same three month period 8 different times, to him it would be two years before he would see her again! There has to be a way for me to see her sometimes, he thought to himself.

Two years. How would that work, anyway? How am I even going to get to the different…

And then the strange sounds and smells – and now that he was awake, sights – hit him. Somehow after going to sleep, he had been transported to a different place.

Looking around, he saw that he was on a small padded mattress on the floor. Next to it were some clothes (jeans and a polo shirt with socks), and on the other side of the room were some of those sliding doors that you saw in…

“Japan! I’m in Japan? Holy shit…”

What in the world was he doing in Japan? HOW in the world was he in Japan? What was he going to do now – it’s not like he spoke the language. a few phrases that he picked up from anime wasn’t going to be enough. He just had to hope that enough people here spoke English for him to be able to get along.

But what if the person he was supposed to find was Japanese, and spoke no English? What if she didn’t like foreigners? What if…

No point in borrowing troubles, he thought. One thing at a time, and we will see what happens.

So he got dressed and folded the robe he was wearing avcılar escort and left it on the futon. He wasn’t sure who the robe had belonged to, or the clothes he was wearing, but after falling asleep in Montana and waking up in Japan, he realized that sometimes you just go with things.

Going through the pockets of the jeans, he found his wallet and his passport, along with his cell phone. Turning it on, he saw that it had been able to attach to the local cell network, but that there were no calls or texts made. He didn’t know if he would be able to use it. Firing up the browser, though, he realized that he could browse the internet. SOMETHING was obviously working.

His credit cards and debit card were there, along with about four hundred US Dollars.

He had nothing else with him.

Nervously he walked to the door and slid it open. He saw his shoes outside of the door, and he put them on before exiting the room. As he did so, he found that his room was one in a series of doors in a long hallway. Must be a hotel of some sort. One end had a sign with a down arrow and said, “Stairs.” He walked to the end of the hallway and was halfway down the stairs before he missed a step and almost fell the rest of the way down. How in the hell did I know what that said? Looking back at the sign, he realized that it said this:

階段

And yet somehow he knew that that meant “stairs”.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, there was a lobby, and a young woman standing at the desk. She was small and pretty, with dark hair, dark eyes, wearing what he believed was a Yukata. At least THAT one I know from watching Anime, he thought. It doesn’t mean anything.

She looked at him with concern, but said something to him. What he heard was:

“Ohayōgozaimasu. Daijōbudesuka? Ōkina oto ga shita.”

But what he understood was:

“Good morning, sir. Are you OK? I heard a loud noise.”

Holy shit. HOLY SHIT. I understand Japanese.

He meant to say, “I’m OK, I just tripped.” But what came out was: “Watashi wa genkidesu, watashi wa tada tsumazuita”

She just smiled and said (in Japanese), “Are you leaving then, sir?”

“Yes, I need to check out. Do I need to pay for the room? Are there any other charges?”

The girl shook her head and said, “No sir, everything has been taken care of. Please have a pleasant day,” and she bowed.

He bowed back and said, “Thank you for your hospitality.” Then he thought for a moment and asked, “Do you have any local sightseeing guides? Or any tips to give a visitor to your community?”

She smiled and said, “Please, sir, yes, take this,” and she pulled a pamphlet from under the desk. The pamphlet said, “Yatsushiro Port Tourist Information.” So he was in a place called Yatsushiro…

He bowed and took the pamphlet, saying, “Thank you very much. I will go now.”

She bowed again and said, “Please take care, and please visit Shinhama Ryokan again.”

Stepping out into the street, he took a minute to look around and get his bearings. He was obviously near the sea – the feel of the air and the smells were unmistakable. He pulled out his phone, opened up the maps app, and typed in, “public park near me.” He found that there was one less than half a mile away. So he just walked.

He noticed first off that everyone was driving on the wrong side of the street. The OTHER side of the street, he corrected himself. Just because they do it differently here doesn’t mean that it’s wrong.

It was a pleasant temperature, so he walked slowly and looked around him. He spent his time reading the signs. Street signs with street names that meant nothing to him, Signs for different stores – a pharmacy, a supermarket, a clothing store. Advertisements. Everything – he understood.

There was an older couple coming towards him. They were Japanese, and he could hear them talking in Japanese. When they got close, he bowed low and said, “I apologize for my intrusion. I am looking for a public park nearby. Can you please help me?” The Japanese man told him, “Yes, it is just down the street that way. It is only 200 meters away.”

Meters – damn American school system. That’s less than a quarter mile now, I believe – actually, about half of that.

“Thank you very much for your help, I am sorry for the inconvenience.” They just smiled at him and kept walking.

Apparently I am fluent in both written and spoken Japanese. This was just plain strange, though honestly no stranger than waking up in Japan at all, and so very useful.

It was ten minutes later when he arrived at the park. It was a family park, with a playground on one side full of children laughing and playing. Around the park there were picnic tables with people sitting and chatting. It looked like a happy place.

Wanting to try to figure out what to do next, he picked an empty table and sat down. Near him was a small family having a meal, and looking at his phone, he saw that it was about 11:00 AM. He wondered what his kids were doing, and then wondered if he should call them. Doing a quick google search for “what time is it in Baton Rouge, LA”, he found it was almost 10:00 PM. Not too late to call, he thought. After doing a quick google search about how to dial a US number in japan (you dial 010 first), he dialed Sylvie’s number, and after a pause, it started ringing.