Chapter 9: V~
It was freezing! My feet…! My feet couldn’t reach the bottom!
I’d plunged in so suddenly that I couldn’t react in time. Icy waves slammed over my body.
“Glub! Puh…! Ugh! Puh!”
I’d gone in headfirst, so I swallowed water too, making it nearly impossible to breathe. I kicked frantically, struggling to right myself.
Thankfully, before long I felt the sand of the bottom under my feet.
“Puh!! Hahk!! Puh! Glub!”
But the situation didn’t improve. With both hands bound behind my back, keeping my balance was hard enough—and the water was deeper than I was tall, so simply standing still was impossible. Every time I went under I had to push off the bottom just to get a breath.
“Puh!! Haa. Haa. Ugh!!”
Even then, I only got a few seconds of air. It was exhausting! I felt like I was going to freeze to death!
Soaking in the frigid seawater, even my heart felt like it was turning to ice. And if I was like this… would the short 921A-2 be all right?
Maybe some sense of camaraderie had taken root. Even with my own safety under threat, I found myself worrying about her. Especially since 921A-2 was so small. Even if she kicked off the bottom, there was no guarantee she’d reach the surface—and even if she did, the time she could keep her head above water would be shorter than mine.
“Ughk!! Eu… ughk…!”
Sure enough, her strained whimpers carried through the water. But her condition was different from mine.
“Still, this bitch’s done it once before, so she’s kicking pretty well. Figured with her height she’d go under right away.”
“Amazing. Even experienced inmates don’t swim like that. Must be a tough one.”
Just as the guards said, watching with interest, 921A-2 kept only her head above the surface, fighting not to sink. She’d relaxed the tension in her bound hands and was kicking without pause—the result of pure effort.
“Ugh! Hah! Ugh!! Uhk!”
I was a little… no, extremely jealous. If I’d known how to swim, would things have been better? I envied her ability to breathe freely while I sank and rose again and again.
How many times did I repeat it? Kicking after the direction the guards’ boat was heading, I eventually managed to keep my head above water without sinking. The depth was growing shallower; the island was right in front of us.
“Puh…!! Haa. Uhk…! Haa. Haa.”
Before long 921A-2 also reached a point close enough to the island that she could walk. But that was all. By the time the boat stopped and the guards were ready to disembark, neither of us could take another step.
“Haa. Haa. Haa. Haaah… eu…”
“Huu… u… haah… uuh… eu… euh…”
Cold. I really felt like I was going to die. I couldn’t feel my body. Chill had seeped in from the neck down; the shivering wouldn’t stop. My strength was completely gone, and I dropped to my knees right there on the bottom.
I can’t go on like this. I can’t go any farther. But I didn’t have the freedom to refuse.
“Get up.”
Hobbs, walking ahead, ordered me. Ha. Sure. Orders are easy. Until a moment ago instinctive fear had made me obey. Not now. With a body this thoroughly spent, there was nothing I could do. I can’t. I don’t have the strength left to move.
“Haa…. Huu. Hu. Haa. Eu….”
Even after the order, I didn’t move. Head bowed, I genuinely refused the command. Honestly, there was no defiance in it. I simply, truly, could barely twitch a finger. That was the only reason.
“Oh? Defiance, is it?”
Even Machia, who’d been walking ahead, seemed to notice something was wrong; he turned and came toward me. The pressure of two guards. I was scared, terrified, but I averted my eyes. I couldn’t tell whether the trembling in my body was from the cold or the fear, but at least the dread of punishment was still lodged deep inside me. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Fine. Slap me, torture my nipples, do whatever. I still don’t have the strength to move.
“Yeah. Sometimes you get bitches like this. All right. 921A-2, head down.”
The order was delivered almost casually. Head down? Impossible. I really don’t have the—
“Ugh!”
But why… why are you putting your head down? Wait—what had the guard said? 921A-2…? I’m 921A-1.
“Hey. 921A-2. While your cellmate’s putting up a fight, what the hell were you doing? And you’re the experienced one, no less. Hm? Answer me.”
“I… I’m sorry. Ugh…! Hhk!”
Completely ignoring me, the guard grilled 921A-2.
“Hey, wait! Why are you going after 921A-2!”
“921A-1! Who said you could open your mouth? Hobbs! Subdue that bitch!”
“Got it, hyung.”
“What the…!”
Hobbs hauled my kneeling body upright by force, then swung his fist without mercy.
— Thud!
The sound of bare flesh being struck was swallowed by the sea. “Ghk…!!” I collapsed onto the beach with a final gasp. Completely subdued, unable to do a thing. He’d hit me square in the solar plexus. I couldn’t even close my eyes or draw a breath. All I could do was lie on the sand and tremble.
It hurts. It hurts so much.
While I struggled, Hobbs turned my gaze toward where 921A-2 stood. In that interval Machia approached her.
“Hey. 921A-2. Want to save your cellmate?”
“Ugh! Yes…!”
“Three minutes. I’ll give you a chance. You know what I mean?”
“Yes!! I’ll do my best! Ugh!! Kh!!”
“Start right now.”
“Yes!”
What… what the hell is he making her do? Machia had ordered her something, and she answered even as she pushed herself upright. It had only been a brief punishment, but her forehead was already raw enough that wet sand was stuck in the scrapes. She’d been punished because of my pointless resistance. But the real punishment was only beginning.
“Suck it.”
The moment 921A-2 got into position, Machia opened his pants. And what appeared… was a cock of considerable size. Dark, thickly veined, twitching.
“Mmph!! Mmph!! Schluurp!! Schlick!”
Had I ever seen a man’s cock in real life? Let alone a woman sucking one? I’d run across it in adult videos now and then, but that was all. Born into a household of only daughters and given thorough sex education, the sight was utterly alien to me. And the image of a slight, delicate-framed woman with both hands bound behind her back sucking with everything she had was more shocking than I could have imagined.
“Oh…! Pretty good with that tongue, huh? Fuck. Hey, Hobbs. You got those clamps on you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Clamp them on that bitch’s nipples. She’s working so hard—might as well let her feel something too.”
“Yessir~”
Hobbs approached 921A-2 while she was still sucking diligently. He pulled a pair of clamps from his pocket and fastened them onto her nipples.
“Gnnngh!! Schluurp! Mmph!!”
Already frozen, and now clamps biting into her. The added pain twisted her face; she looked ready to cry. Yet her head never stopped. She shook it back and forth with pure determination to keep sucking that cock. The guards weren’t content with mere satisfaction; they tormented her harder.
Machia kept his cock buried in her open mouth, gripping her head with both hands and rocking it forward and back, while Hobbs, clamps still clamped on her nipples, stood behind her and kneaded her breasts in his hands. As if the clamps weren’t agony enough, having her chest squeezed like that made 921A-2’s expression contort with every touch. Sometimes she squeezed her eyes shut. Sometimes she let out pained moans. And still—
“Schluurp…!! Mmph! Mmph!! Schlick!! Mmph! Gnnngh!!”
—she sucked the guard’s cock even harder. Why? Why go that far? Because of me? Don’t. Please don’t!
“Huu! Ah, fuck, I’m close… Hey. 921A-2. Swallow every drop of cum. Spill any and it’s a fail. Got it?”
“Mmph!! Mmph!! Schlick!! Mmph!”
“Coming…!”
“Gnnngh…!!”
Only a few minutes. Not long at all. Having used 921A-2 to vent his lust, Machia gripped her head and thrust his hips forward. She shuddered as if in agony, yet she kept her mouth locked around him to the end. Only after the guard pulled out did she—
“…Gulp. Haa. Haa. Haa. Haa.”
—swallow whatever it was and drop onto her ass, panting hard. But no rest was given to her.
“My turn now. Open up.”
This time Hobbs opened his pants. At his voice, 921A-2 opened her mouth again with a tearful expression. As if this was simply how she was meant to be used. Not a shred of resistance showed. Completely different from me.
As if to drive that difference home, Machia—lust already spent—came over, stepped on my fallen thigh, and spoke.
“See that, 921A-1? That’s a proper inmate. Hm? If you chose this because you lost to your own lust, then do it right. Got it? Who the hell do you think you are, trying some half-assed resistance? Hm?”
“…That’s too much.”
“What? Heh heh, what a funny bitch. Too much? You two came here wanting this, didn’t you? You weren’t dragged here without knowing, and now it’s ‘too much’? Hilarious. And you… you’re going to say that looking the way you do?”
“Looking the way I…? What do you—ugh…!”
He cut me off by shoving my thigh aside. The guard stared openly at the valley between my legs, then raised a finger and casually stroked that private place. I tried to snap my legs shut at the sudden humiliation, but his finger had already slipped through the cleft and withdrawn.
“See? What’s this shiny stuff…? Why the high-and-mighty act? What, you want to suck too?”
“Nnh…! N-no…!”
“‘No,’ sure~ Heh heh. From the moment we dragged you in you had that little-lady vibe, so I wasn’t sure, but you’re definitely another crazy Mazo inmate after all. Stop pretending and just adapt. Your prison life’s only just starting.”
“Hhk…!”
I was so ashamed. So ashamed I wanted to disappear. But I couldn’t even turn my head away. Everything happening to 921A-2 right in front of me was because of me.
Before I knew it it was over, and Hobbs returned, straightening his pants.
“Whew. Damn, hyung, this bitch’s tongue is insane. Thought she was gonna suck me dry. I’ve got my pride as a man, you know—whoa—”
“No kidding. Whoever ends up as her homeroom guard is gonna be one lucky bastard. Huu~ Ah, what’s the point of thinking about it. We’re surface staff.”
“So what, you gonna apply for homeroom?”
“…Forget it, man. I’d rather enjoy myself outside than live on the island for months. Besides, you and I couldn’t do the guard life.”
“Why not?”
“Too soft. We can’t treat the inmates roughly enough.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
For a second I wanted to ask, You two? But seeing not only them but also 921A-2’s small nod, I clamped my mouth shut. Whether it was true or not, one thing was certain: life here was going to be far more vicious than anything I’d expected.
And just like that, as if nothing had happened, we were marched on again. Thanks to 921A-2’s sacrifice, my resistance was simply forgiven.
“….”
Following the guards who had already started ahead, I couldn’t hold back the guilt. I approached the struggling 921A-2—and instead she gave me a small smile, as if to say it was fine, and drew a “V” with her fingers.
“….”
I was truly grateful. So grateful I thought I might burst into tears. But there was nothing I could do right now… nothing.
— Thud. Thud.
Even after that we had to walk a long way. An island dense with thick forest. Barefoot on the dirt path packed with trees as big as a primeval forest and thick plant stems, we walked until the sun set and the day darkened. The guards lit the way ahead with flashlights as if they knew the path by heart. The inmates had no choice but to follow.
“Haa. Haa. Haa….”
“Hhk… ha… hhk… haa….”
My bound hands behind my back felt more and more in the way; my exhausted body grew heavier with every step. The guards ahead chatted and strolled as if on a walk, but for us—worn to the bone—even taking one step was an ordeal.
“Hobbs, how about we just camp here tonight and go tomorrow?”
“Come on~ The B-class inmates are waiting for you, hyung. We gotta hurry. You said you wanted to test out that new play, right?”
“Oh right, that. Ahh~ I wanted at least one day off. Shame.”
Around the time even their idle talk started to sound enviable, I realized my legs no longer moved the way I wanted. This was the real limit. I had no strength left to move. 921A-2 was the same. Her legs, already unsteady, trembled like aspen leaves.
Just how much longer until we arrive? Even knowing the destination was hell, I sincerely wished we would reach it.
Then it happened. After pushing through the undergrowth and between the big trees, a clearing suddenly opened up.
“You’ve arrived.”
“Yeah. Leviathan, you’re on duty today?”
“Yes, that’s right. Machia-hyung. And Hobbs.”
A man stood there. He wore a different color uniform from the guards who had brought us—a sharply tailored one.
“You’ve worked hard. Why not rest a bit before you go?”
“Nah. Gotta clock in again tomorrow, so we’re heading back.”
“Ah… I see. Clocking in—so some B-class came in with them. Understood. Take care on the way back.”
“Yeah. Good work.”
After the brief exchange, the two guards who had brought us—Machia and Hobbs—approached us where we stood motionless and unlocked our handcuffs. As if making it clear that this was the end of their job. They roughly pocketed the unlocked cuffs and vanished down the mountain path without a single word to us. Judging by the fact they didn’t retrace the way we’d come, they must have had another way back.
Watching their retreating figures, I was just beginning to feel the relief of having arrived when the first guard to receive us—Leviathan—looked us over and smiled faintly. Then, in a very gentle voice, he said:
“You there, Mazo inmates. Don’t look around at anything else. Focus.”
“….”
“Good. All right then—from now on we’re going to do a physical examination. So…”
A short, clipped breath. Then the words that followed:
“Crawl after me like dogs.”
It was an order I had never heard in my life.