by Haruka

When Haruka's eyes blinked open the next morning, she wasn't sure where she was or what had happened. The first time she moved, however, she remembered.
Suppressing a groan, she tried to sit up, but a gasp of pain escaped her lips and she shifted onto her side. Her bottom hadn't completely recovered from the spanking, and her insides were achingly sore. Seiya didn't seem to be around, but he could come back at any moment. What if he wanted an early-morning quickie? Stop it, Tenou, she told herself. Don't start getting paranoid. Biting her lip against the pain, she slid off the bed and limped into the bathroom. As she sank into the waiting tub, she wondered if she'd be able to see Michiru that day or not. Could they really keep the two of them apart when they were living in the same house? Probably not, but finding a moment of privacy with her wasn't likely.
"Haruka?" came Seiya's voice from the bedroom. She considered not answering, but was feeling too lousy to start trouble just yet.
"In here!" she called out, submerging up to her neck. So what if he'd already seen her entire body? That didn't mean she'd give him free sneak peeks in between orders.
Seiya entered the bathroom and leaned against the door frame. "I'm glad you had the foresight to clean yourself up for me."
What arrogance. "I don't enjoy feeling dirty myself, you know," she retorted.
"Watch your tone, Haruka," Seiya reminded her. "And you're forgetting to add the 'Master' when you address me."
Haruka avoided a response by dunking under the water to rinse out her hair. When she came up, she saw Seiya standing beside the tub, holding out a towel.
"Come on," he said. "We have to go downstairs."
"I don't want any breakfast," Haruka replied, then as an afterthought, "Master."
"That will come later. There's another matter to be dealt with first. Hurry up now."
Heaving a reluctant sigh, Haruka rose and stepped out of the bath. She accepted the towel Seiya handed her and dried herself thoroughly. No way would she put on that detestable white dress with any wet patches on her skin to show through it.
"Was there a lot of noise last night?" she asked as she pulled on the dress. "Or did I dream it?"
Seiya lifted an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. "Master," she said significantly.
"From now on, every time you forget my proper address, I'm going to swat you," Seiya told her. "And how is your rear end feeling this morning?"
Not well enough to withstand more swatting, as you well know, Haruka thought bitterly. Gritting her teeth, she repeated, "Was there a lot of noise last night, Master?"
"Yes, there was," Seiya responded. "The Amazon Trio got into our liquor supply and between consumption and spillage, they drained the entire cabinet. Then two of them attacked me when I attempted to discipline the third. They and Nuriko are awaiting punishment right now."
"What did Nuriko do?" Haruka asked, hastily adding, "Master!" as Seiya took a step toward her.
The black-haired boy relaxed. "She's primarily responsible for supervising the other slaves. For the Trio to have time enough to get drunk, she must not have been tending to her duties." He turned and headed for the door. "Come on."
Haruka followed in silence, but as soon as they were in the hallway, she was alert for any sign of Michiru.

"Why do we all have to be here?" Michiru murmured to Setsuna as they waited for Seiya and Haruka to come down. Taiki and Yaten ignored them, talking quietly to each other a few feet away. The other slaves were all present, even Erios, who stood apart from the others near the doorway. His expression was unspeakably sad as he gazed toward where the Trio and Nuriko waited together. Michiru couldn't stop staring at the effeminate Fish Eye, feeling somehow connected to him, although they hadn't yet met. Fish Eye looked up and his pretty blue eyes met Michiru's. Despite the terror he must have been feeling coupled with the inevitable hangover, he smiled at her. She returned it, knowing immediately that they were going to be friends.
Zoisite's hand fell on her shoulder and she nodded toward the stairs. Michiru looked over and saw Haruka coming down behind Seiya. Haruka saw her at the same moment, taking a couple of quick steps forward before remembering their situation. She gazed at Michiru longingly as she followed Seiya into the room.
"She's in pain," Michiru said under her breath. She felt more than saw Setsuna's grim nod of agreement.
"Are we all here?" Seiya remarked, looking around. His gaze fell on Erios and he smirked. "Came to watch the fun, Little Prince?"
"No," Erios replied in his soft voice. "I came in hopes of discouraging this cruelty."
"Then you may as well leave," Yaten snapped at him. "Go back to the stables where you belong."
"Where I belong has nothing to do with the stables," Erios responded.
Zoisite leaned toward Setsuna. "How is it he can get away with talking to them like that? None of the rest of us can."
"I don't understand it myself," she admitted. "All he told us was that he wasn't like the other slaves."
"I believe it," Zoisite said.
"Just don't get any ideas about interfering, Erios," Taiki warned. "Or it will just go worse on them when you're not around."
"I realize that," Erios said quietly. "But I'll ask you again to forgive what they did."
"Forget it!" Yaten yelled. "Get out of here!"
Erios cast a glance of regret toward Nuriko and the Trio, then left in silence.
"Finally," Seiya remarked, and went to join Yaten and Taiki. Haruka sidled up to Michiru and squeezed her hand.
"I was worried about you," she said, being careful not to look at her so they wouldn't attract attention.
"And I you," Michiru told her. "Even more so now that I can see you're suffering."
"I'll be all right," Haruka answered. "What about you?"
"Neither Setsuna nor I have been touched yet. There wasn't time."
Haruka breathed a sigh of relief and Michiru risked a glance at her.
"It won't last, love. Soon enough they'll take us in whatever way they choose."
"I know," Haruka admitted. "But until then I can pretend a miracle will happen."
"All right, everyone!" Yaten spoke up loudly. "That's enough chatter. Let's get down to business."
Seiya turned to the Trio and Nuriko. "I'm not going to go over what it was you did; everyone here already knows. We've decided on the most effective way to punish all of you at once." He focused on the smallest boy. "Nuriko, strip Fish Eye."
Casting his eyes downward, Nuriko obediently slid Fish Eye's bodysuit off his shoulders. The blue-haired boy was trembling noticeably, but managed not to shrink away. Hawk Eye and Tiger Eye watched nervously as Nuriko removed the last stitch of clothing from their friend's slight frame.
"Now hold him steady," Seiya instructed Nuriko. The purple- haired beauty held Fish Eye firmly at arm's length, facing him.
Yaten strode over and held out a doubled belt in front of Hawk Eye. "Take it."
The muscular young man obeyed, looking as if he wanted to vomit.
"Ten lashes," Yaten said. "Three on the back, three on the thighs, and four on the behind. And if you pull any punches, we'll have you start all over again."
"Nuriko, Tiger Eye," Seiya said. "You're to keep your eyes open and pay attention. If either of you look away, the count will be increased."
"Go ahead, Hawk Eye," Yaten instructed.
Hawk Eye reached out and briefly rested his hand on the back of Fish Eye's hair, then stood back.
The belt whistled before connecting, and Fish Eye cried out involuntarily as a red stripe decorated his back. It was quickly matched by another across his bottom, drawing another cry. A third lash, a third scream.
Tears ran down Hawk Eye and Tiger Eye's cheeks. Nuriko's spilled over despite a struggle to withhold them. He had a clear view of Fish Eye's tortured expression as the beating continued. Every blow reminded him that he'd failed the three boys and that their suffering was due to him.
By the time the final lash was dealt, Nuriko not only held Fish Eye still, he was holding him up. Hawk Eye dropped the belt and sank to the ground in tears, while Tiger Eye stared at Fish Eye's welts, his gaze dismal.
"Nuriko, let him go," Seiya instructed. Reluctantly, Nuriko released Fish Eye, who fell to his hands and knees. Yaten looked over at Tiger Eye.
"Now take him."
The blonde blinked at him in confusion. "What?" he murmured.
"Take him!" Yaten repeated impatiently.
Tiger Eye gazed down at Fish Eye, sobbing helplessly on the floor.
"If you don't do it, the three of us will," Seiya warned. "One after another. How do you think he'll stand up to that?"
Tiger Eye's shoulders slumped in defeat. He slowly pulled down his tights and knelt behind Fish Eye, who looked over at him with moist, pain-filled eyes.
"I'm sorry, Fishie," Tiger Eye whispered and drove into him.
Fish Eye gasped, then cried out as Tiger Eye's hips began slamming against the raw skin on his bottom. Nuriko held Hawk Eye in comfort, but neither of them looked away from the rape. At least one of the Three Lights would be watching them to make sure they saw it, and make all of them suffer further if they didn't.
Finally, Tiger Eye shuddered, slumping over Fish Eye in exhaustion before he found the strength to move off of him. He pulled up his tights and gathered the whimpering boy into his arms, lifting him up.
"May I take him upstairs now, Masters?" Tiger Eye asked politely. Only the muscle twitching in his jaw evinced the fury held in check.
"Yes, you may," Seiya told him. "All four of you go up."
Nuriko helped Hawk Eye stand, keeping an arm around him as they followed Tiger Eye, still cradling Fish Eye, up the stairs.
"In my experience guarding the Gates of Time and as a Sailor Scout, that was the single worst thing I've ever witnessed," Setsuna said with a catch in her voice. Zoisite put an arm around her, resting her head against her shoulder, while Haruka and Michiru squeezed each other's hand tightly.

Michiru glanced over her shoulder as she and Haruka followed Setsuna and Zoisite down the hall toward the slaves' quarters. "I keep expecting Yaten to change his mind and come running after me."
"I know what you mean," Haruka replied. "I didn't think Seiya would let me out of his sight."
"They decided they'd rather have breakfast alone." Zoisite shrugged. "Maybe they're so disgusted with we slaves that they'll never want to see us again."
"Wishful thinking, my dear," Setsuna remarked.
"I hope Ves Ves and Palla Palla can prepare breakfast to the Lights' satisfaction by themselves," Haruka mentioned. "They didn't look too happy about getting stuck with the job after all this."
"I think they'll be all right," Michiru said. "They've been here a long time. They know what's expected of them."
"So did the Trio," Haruka said wryly.
They reached the slaves' quarters and filed inside quietly. Fish Eye was laying on his stomach, while Hawk Eye and Tiger Eye stroked his hair and spoke softly to him. Nuriko was tending to the welts, spreading a soothing cream over them with gentle hands.
"How's he doing?" Haruka asked Jun Jun, who sat with Cere Cere a few feet away from the boys.
"He'll hurt for a good long time, just as the Lights wanted," the green-haired girl said bitterly. "They sure know how to get to people."
"Yeah, I'd say beating the hell out of Fish Eye was getting to him, all right," Haruka replied.
"She doesn't just mean Fish Eye," Cere Cere told her. "The others were affected just as strongly, even if their pain wasn't physical."
"The Trio love each other a lot, just like we do," Jun Jun said. "Hawk Eye would rather have ripped his own arm off than beat Fishie like that."
"And Tiger Eye sure didn't want to rape him," Cere Cere stated. "He hated having to hurt and humiliate Fish Eye that way. Plus, he's not even into boys at all, he's strictly girls only."
"So he couldn't even get any physical gratification from it," Zoisite murmured.
"And as for Nuriko, she loves us all so much that anytime we're hurt, she hurts," Jun Jun said, watching Nuriko bathe Fish Eye's tender skin. "She really does try to keep us out of trouble, and when we can't, she blames herself."
"Naturally the Lights know how you all care about each other and exploit it to the fullest," Setsuna remarked.
"That makes sense," Haruka said angrily. "Seiya's been threatening me with having Michi hurt ever since she got here."
"Yaten will probably use the same methods." Michiru sighed.
"Probably," Setsuna agreed. "And although you won't be able to make yourselves ignore the threat, keep in mind to take it with a grain of salt. Yaten is not going to treat Michiru as a princess just because Haruka behaves herself. He's going to do whatever he wants to her, regardless. And, as Seiya has already demonstrated, the same holds true for him with Haruka."
"I guess you're right," Michiru admitted.
"She is, except on one level," Nuriko looked up from his ministrations to Fish Eye. "If the two of you are in the same room with them and one talks back or disobeys an order, they could take it out on the other just to hurt you. But they won't likely punish the other for what her girlfriend does in their bedroom. That they'd rather deal with on the spot."
"But they still could hold a grudge until the next day, right?" Haruka shook her head stubbornly. "I'm sorry, but I can't take a chance that anyone will hurt Michi because of me."
Setsuna sighed. "As I said, you won't be able to make yourselves ignore the threat."
"What about you?" Zoisite asked. "If Taiki uses the same tactic on you, will you co-operate or wait and see if he hurts me?"
Setsuna touched her cheek lovingly. "You know I'd do anything in my power to keep you safe." Her magenta eyes grew sad. "I'm just afraid it won't be enough."
"Hey, don't worry about it!" Jun Jun piped up mischievously. "The Lights aren't interested in her, anyway!"
Zoisite clenched her teeth. "Keep it up, Amazon, and I'll be wrapping those bamboo extensions around your neck!"
"Stop it, you two," Nuriko said firmly. "We've had enough trouble for one day."
The girls quieted down and watched in contemplative silence as the boys tended to Fish Eye.
Zoisite walked into the kitchen with a stack of plates in her hands. After the Three Lights had finished breakfast, they'd instructed Ves Ves and Palla Palla to feed the slaves next. Apparently it was routine for two slaves to prepare the meals, with the slaves who cooked being changed every day. She had been elected to cart the dishes back to the kitchen where the girls could wash them, and that irked her. Not that she minded the work, but she suspected she was chosen because the Lights wanted to spend time with Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna. She was just a spare.
"Here you go," Zoisite said flatly as she deposited the plates on the counter.
"Make yourself useful and put the dry ones away," Ves Ves told her.
"That's your job today, not mine," Zoisite remarked, but began putting the dishes in the cupboard, anyway.
"How are Nuriko and the Trio doing?" Palla Palla asked.
"Could be better," Zoisite answered. "As you saw, they didn't come down to eat." She shook her head. "What the Lights did to them was horrible."
"Get used to it." Ves Ves handed Palla Palla a plate to dry. "It's not uncommon for the Masters to demand someone be punished on the spot--usually for no reason. They just like to watch it. Don't worry, it's never as severe as what Fish Eye got. They only use belts for real punishment."
"Has that happened to you two?" Zoisite asked.
"Which?" Ves Ves answered. "Spontaneous punishment or the belt?"
"Either."
The blue-haired girl piped up. "Palla Palla hasn't been whipped."
"That's true," Ves Ves confirmed. "Up until today, Fish Eye hadn't, either. Nuriko still hasn't, but she and Palla Palla are the only ones." She made a face. "Disregarding Erios, of course."
"You've been whipped?" Zoisite said in surprise.
"Yeah." Ves Ves gave her a rueful grin. "I'm impulsive sometimes. The Lights might let something go once, but if you openly defy them a second time, you've pretty much asked for what you get."
"From what I've seen of Jun Jun, I can see why she'd end up being whipped," Zoisite said thoughtfully. "But Cere Cere didn't seem like a troublemaker."
"She has an attitude," Palla Palla said sagely.
Ves Ves nodded. "Cere Cere doesn't hide her belief that she's too good for the Lights. She made the mistake of spitting in Yaten's face the first time he touched her."
"Yikes," Zoisite murmured. The little Amazon must have had guts to do that. She didn't think she would.
"So far as spontaneous punishment goes, we've all had that," Ves Ves concluded. "You will, too, and so will your friends. The Lights like to experiment with new combinations. If you're lucky, you'll be the one giving punishment instead of getting it."
"I wouldn't be able to hurt someone for no reason!" Zoisite protested.
"You'd have to." Palla Palla shrugged. "If you don't, the other person will still be punished, but so would you."
"It's not hard to give it," Ves Ves said. "You just pull up the nearest chair and the other person lays over your lap. Then you whack them until one of the Lights tells you to stop."
Zoisite dropped the handful of cutlery she was holding.
Palla Palla groaned. "Aw, now Ves Ves and Palla Palla have to clean them all over again."
Zoisite barely heard her. She was staring at Ves Ves in horror. "Are you saying the slaves have to spank each other?! In front of everybody?!"
"What did you think I was talking about?" Ves Ves asked with a puzzled expression.
Zoisite wasn't sure. She hadn't actually formed a picture in her mind of what the impromptu punishment could be, and suspected that if she had, this wasn't something she'd have come up with. "But that's humiliating!" she protested.
"That's the idea," Ves Ves said slowly, as if she were speaking to someone who wasn't very bright. "We're slaves, remember? We're supposed to stay humble. What better way than to remind us with a a public spanking?"
"Besides," Palla Palla said mischievously, "it's a turn-on."
"Excuse me?" Zoisite asked in a strangled voice.
"Watching someone get spanked can be stimulating," Ves Ves clarified. "The Lights all enjoy it, especially Taiki. He's big on voyeurism of all kinds. Seiya prefers the hands-on approach and being involved himself. Yaten's not so predictable. Sometimes he'll take someone to his room and do nothing more than make love to them, but sometimes he'll beat the daylights out of them, leaving bruises all over their body."
That didn't bode well for Michiru, Zoisite thought. And what would Taiki's love of voyeurism mean for Setsuna? The possibilities were too chilling to consider.
She started suddenly at the touch of a hand on her arm. Palla Palla was looking up at her in concern.
"Don't be afraid," the little Amazon said. "When you know you have no choice, it's not so bad."
"She's right," Ves Ves agreed. "And it's not like anyone else here is exempt. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you might even enjoy some of it."
"I doubt that," Zoisite said dryly.
"The Lights have turned most of us into artists when it comes to dishing out punishment or sex. We can usually make it pleasureable for each other unless the Lights specifically demand roughness."
"Setsuna and I just found each other," Zoisite said softly. "We've hardly had any time together at all. Now I have to worry about she being humiliated for someone's viewing pleasure?"
Ves Ves and Palla Palla exchanged a glance, then Ves Ves looked at Zoisite. "With Taiki having claimed her, that's a certainty."

"Welcome to my quarters," Taiki said to Setsuna as he closed his bedroom door behind her. "Would you like some wine?"
"I just had breakfast," Setsuna replied. "Besides, it's a little early in the day for wine."
"And aside from that, we're underaged?" Taiki smiled knowingly. "That doesn't matter. Here we make the rules."
"All right, here's a better reason," Setsuna said. "You have no wine. The Trio drank it all."
Taiki frowned, then chuckled. "You're right." He walked around behind her and smoothed both hands over her shoulders. "You're a beautiful young woman, Setsuna. How old are you?"
"Too old for you," she responded. He chuckled again.
"You're lucky I'm not Yaten. He'd have smacked you for insolence like that."
"I'm being honest, not insolent." Setsuna gave him a sidelong look. He and Haruka were probably the same height--about an inch taller than herself. Not enough to be intimidating. "You can't be more than sixteen, right?"
"And our research tells us that you're eighteen. Almost eight months younger than Nuriko, actually." He nodded. "Older than we are, but not that much." He slipped his fingers under the shoulder straps of her dress, sliding them off. The dress puddled at her feet, and Setsuna tried not to react. She remembered Haruka wincing as she came down the stairs, moving with extreme care. The tomboy was in pain, although from what exactly, Setsuna didn't know. All she did know was that she could probably expect a similar fate.
"Never before have I seen such perfect skin." Taiki ran his palms slowly down her arms. "What an exotic olive complexion ... and this silken hair." Setsuna felt him bury his face in it as the hands travelled down to where her own rested at her sides. They glided over to her stomach, then to her dismay, one began moving up while the other went down. She stepped back to avoid his touch, only to find herself pressed up against him.
"Good girl," he said. "You like my exploring your body, don't you?"
"If I weren't a prisoner you wouldn't get within ten feet of my body," she said firmly. "Don't try to convince yourself otherwise."
"Then why aren't you trying to fight me off, proud beauty?" Taiki inquired, his hands still moving slowly.
"I could, but to what end?" she said, forcing calm into her voice that she didn't feel. "I'm sure you already know how to make me submit to you from dealing with the other slaves. I won't give your ego the satisfaction of winning a battle. You'll take my body without a fight, but that's all you'll have."
His lips were so close to her ear that the breath of his next words tickled her, "In other words, you plan to be an unresponsive shell, is that it?"
"If that's how you wish to put it," she replied. "I feel nothing with you."
"We'll see about that, Lady Setsuna."
Simultaneously, his left hand cupped her breast while the right pressed against the soft mound between her legs. Setsuna felt her body temperature shoot up and feared he'd feel the heat on her skin.
She could already tell that remaining indifferent to his touch wouldn't be easy. Although Zoisite was her first lover, she hadn't been totally unfamiliar with intimate touching. It wasn't something she was proud of--in fact, she felt ashamed whenever she thought about it. Which is why she hadn't told Zoisite or anyone else. The problem now was that her touch-attuned body already wanted to respond to the gentle fingers that were caressing her. She couldn't let it happen. Biting the inside of her cheek to distract her, Setsuna winced.
Taiki squeezed her breast gently, his other hand playing lightly with the soft dark green curls. "I suspect you're very passionate, Setsuna. Perhaps you've been forced to repress it to be a 'good' example to the younger Sailor Scouts. However, privately, I think you're not such a good girl. Am I right?"
God help me, he talks as if he already knows, Setsuna thought fearfully. How could he?
Without waiting for a response, Taiki's left palm glided over the top of her nipple at the same time his right slipped between her thighs.

Nuriko walked into the slaves' quarters and knelt beside Fish Eye. The blue-haired boy was dozing, murmuring in his sleep. Nuriko touched his hair and stroked it softly. Fish Eye quieted down.
"He'll be all right," Nuriko told Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye, who hadn't left Fish Eye's side since they brought him up.
"Yeah, so long as no one spanks him before he's healed, and that's not likely," Hawk Eye snapped.
"He's tougher than he looks," Jun Jun said. "You should know that. He can take it."
"I don't want him to take it!" Hawk Eye yelled at her. "He's just a helpless little fish!"
The feeling of several needle-sharp points pricked his bicep. "Who's helpless?"
Hawk Eye looked down to where Fish Eye held his bicep by the tips of his nails. "Fishie!"
"I'm not helpless, Hawk Eye," the smaller boy said, his voice not revealing the pain he still felt. "No more than you are. But no less, either."
Hawk Eye smiled fondly at him. "I'm sorry if I insinuated you can't take care of yourself. But I also can't help feeling protective of you."
"Same here," Tiger Eye added.
Fish Eye sat up slowly and painfully, then hugged them both. "I appreciate that," he said. "But please don't ever put yourselves in trouble for me." He looked over at Nuriko. "You either. You always stick up for us, even if we don't deserve it."
"She sticks up for all of us," Jun Jun said. "You know it's true, Nuriko."
"What's true?" Ves Ves asked as she and Palla Palla came in with Zoisite.
"That Nuriko gets in trouble standing up for us all," Cere Cere remarked.
"You shouldn't have to," Zoisite told Nuriko. "Even the boys knew they'd be in trouble for snitching the booze."
"She's right," Tiger Eye said. "It was my dumb idea, and I got Fishie and Hawk Eye into it."
Nuriko sighed and smiled. "I appreciate that all of you are concerned about me, but I can no sooner stop speaking up for you than you can stop doing it for each other."
"Sometimes Palla Palla can stop," the blue-haired Amazon girl piped up. "But sometimes not."
"It's the same for us all," Nuriko said. "We try to behave so the Masters won't be angered, but there are times when instinct takes over."
"So there's nothing to be done?" Zoisite asked.
Nuriko looked at her. "Certainly there is. Keep trying not to anger the Masters. A certain amount of abuse is going to happen regardless of how well we behave--"
"Because they also punish us for fun, right?" Zoisite asked dryly.
"Exactly," Nuriko confirmed. "But keeping that in mind, there's no reason to deliberately do something that you know will result in punishment."
"Like raiding the liquor cabinet?" Hawk Eye smiled ruefully.
Nuriko touched his cheek affectionately. "Yes, but I'm not worried about anyone doing that again. There's nothing left to raid."
The younger slaves giggled, but Zoisite was looking around the room wistfully. She felt a hand on her arm and turned to Nuriko, who gave her a sympathetic smile. "They'll be okay, too. And you can rest assured on one level. The Lights won't permanently damage any of us. No cutting, burning, or drawing blood."
"That covers physical damage," Zoisite said, meeting his eyes. "What about emotional?"

End of Chapter 16

Story contents (C) 1997 Tenou Haruka

Sailor Moon characters (C) Naoko Takeuchi

Fushigi Yuugi characters (C) Watase Yuu