Chapter 9
I tried to grab her foot as she mercilessly kicked me in the stomach, begging her to stop, and then—ow. I ended up spraining my poor little finger instead.
"Why are you so stupid? Huh? You can be dumb, but there's a limit."
"..Ugh, hhgh, ugh."
I felt like I was dying. Really, truly. My lungs wouldn't move, as if they'd lost all function. The pain in my abdomen was like being torn open, and I could barely breathe.
I looked up at her where she'd stopped for a moment, pushing her hair back with one hand and catching her breath.
"Hey, get up."
She nudged me with her foot where I lay face-down, looking down at me. My whole body was in so much pain I couldn't move or even get a word out.
All I could do was cry and stare up at her like I was begging for forgiveness. Looking into her cold eyes as she stared down at me made the backs of my knees go weak.
There was no law here to protect me, no one to help, and nothing physically restraining her. All I could do was watch the mood of the woman in front of me—about a head taller than me and so much stronger that I couldn't even imagine beating her in a fight.
Ah, what would happen if I died here? Would she leave my body cold and stiff on the floor, call the police herself, and say, oops, I accidentally killed someone, what should I do?
..I couldn't picture her doing that, so she'd probably chop me into little pieces and dump me in the ocean or on a mountain somewhere.
Then what about after I died? I genuinely felt like I'd come very close to death, and my thoughts started wandering in another direction.
It was hard to find any common ground between an immature person who blurts out, 'I hate you, Mom and Dad. I'm just going to die,' in a fit of anger and someone who's regularly beaten and harassed enough to think, Fine, maybe I really should die.
If I died like this, would she find someone to replace me? Or maybe she'd be sad for a little while and then forget me like nothing ever happened.
If it was the former, I felt a little sorry for that person.
I knew, at least, that all of this was barely being held in check under the name of being lovers. So where were the limits inside this fence? Had she even set a baseline in the first place?
Maybe she'd crossed that line over and over until we'd ended up here. Dating violence had been on the rise lately, too. Ah... this was getting dangerous.
I wanted to see her cry and apologize to me after I barely survived, having stepped right up to death's doorstep. Saying she was wrong, that she'd gone too far.
"Are you a retard? Huh? Stop just crying and answer me."
"Ah... ngh... hngh..."
"You got fired, you've got no savings, huh? You stupid bitch, you think your life's gonna change just because you leave here?"
Even the words stabbing into my chest were fine right now. Because she'd stopped kicking me for a moment. I curled up like a shrimp, wrapped my arms around my stomach, and squeezed my burning eyes shut. I guess you get used to passing out after doing it enough times. Ah, I'm blacking out. Thank god.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was relief that I was in the bedroom, not the basement. In the chair across from me, she was reading a book, and when she saw me she snapped it shut with one hand. How could she be so relaxed, reading a book after beating a person like a dog?
Before I could assess the situation, emotion surged up. I wanted to wail and scream and cry.
"Oh, you're awake?"
"Hhk, ah, ah-uh, ah."
The first thing that startled me was that just meeting her eyes made my body shake violently before my head could even react. The second was that my left eye was blurry, like it was wrapped in thin cloth or had a blur filter over it.
Ah. Now that I thought about it, I'd been hit by something, hadn't I.
"Uh.. uh? Uh? M-my, my, my eye—I can't see well."
I fumbled at my face with my hands and felt the soft, slightly rough texture of gauze covering it.
She'd been watching me panic from in front, and maybe she was flustered too, because she seemed to choose her words carefully for a moment before opening her mouth.
"Looks like your retina and optic nerve got damaged. Still, I stopped the bleeding and disinfected everything, so it should be fine. Mm.. it'll be a little inconvenient for daily life from now on."
So she was telling me, completely casually, that I'd become disabled overnight.
At the same time, my face burned as if water had splashed over a burn, and I screamed.
She seemed pretty startled by that, too.
"I'm sorry. I guess I got too excited. But still.. okay? I'll take good care of you from now on."
No sound came out, like I'd developed aphasia. What was I supposed to say? Right here, right now. I wanted to scream "are you insane?" and punch the woman in front of me right then and there, but if I did, I'd obviously be the one getting beaten instead.
"Hm? I'm sorry, okay?"
"..."
I had no choice but to nod and accept an apology that didn't have a speck of sincerity in it. She covered her mouth with her hand in fake emotion, putting on some kind of touched performance, and pulled me into her arms. As I lay there helplessly accepting her hands roaming all over my body—
..I felt depressed.
I thought, if we'd been outside, if I'd gone to a bigger hospital and gotten treatment faster, maybe I wouldn't have gone blind.
"I called in sick to work. Since I need to take care of you. Oh, and I won't do anything that hurts until you're all better!"
As she said that, she slipped her hand under my pajamas and lifted them up, revealing my stomach, dark red with bruises. I knew there was no malice in her hand as she gently stroked my stomach with her palm, trying to reassure me, but my body still flinched and trembled. At the sensation moving lower and lower, goosebumps prickled all over me.
So the only thing I managed to get out of it was her promise that she wouldn't throw things in a fit of anger again.
-
Maybe her impaired ability to track movement had thrown off her depth perception, because Do-ha kept falling and bumping into things. She tried to cross a threshold with a blanket in her arms and smacked her forehead into the wall. The sight was both cute and pitiful, so I watched her lying there for a moment before going over to help her up.
"Ah, ah, thank you."
I picked up my small, precious Do-ha with both hands and carried her to the sofa. Seeing Do-ha's body, which used to be flawless and fair without a single scar, now covered in bruises here and there made my chest sting. Just looking at Do-ha, broken in body and mind, stirred up violent feelings, so I pressed kisses all over her stomach.
"Ah, w-wait a sec—!"
"Hm?"
"I-it hurts... my—my stomach, when I tense up."
Was she getting more dramatic? She acted like her whole body hurt from just light skinship or having her wrist grabbed. Well, what could I do.
Why did Do-ha act like she'd shatter at the slightest pressure? Out of regret, I just kneaded her soft, fragile stomach.
From now on, I decided to rein in the hitting and other punishments enough that I wouldn't actually break Do-ha. It would be hard to hold back, but blinding her hadn't been part of the plan either.
Thinking that, I slipped my tongue into Do-ha's small, soft mouth. She was so cute, coming so easily from just a kiss, that I grabbed the back of her head and kissed her harder so she couldn't pull away.
"I-I don' wanna—ah, I said it hurts."
"It's okay, it's okay. It doesn't hurt at all. How could this hurt?"
I pulled down the squirming Do-ha's pajama pants and saw the little nub between her soaked folds. Maybe embarrassed, she covered her face with both hands and trembled as she tried to close her legs. I caught them, spread them apart, and pushed my tongue inside.
"Ah... ngh... it feels weird."
"Don't tense your stomach, okay? Just relax."
Do-ha's hips twitched and bucked, but she didn't resist once, just wiggling her toes—it was adorable. I'd only licked her a few times and she came right away, shaking her head side to side as pleasure crashed over her, drool spilling out. Did it really feel that good?
As Do-ha pulled her hips back under the oncoming pleasure, I stayed latched onto her pussy with my mouth and followed her movement.
"Pff, Do-ha, how many times did you come?"
"I-I dunno. I didn't count."
Seeing her ass quiver, I couldn't help myself and bit her thigh. Then—gush. Fluid spilled out of her hole.
"Ah, ahh, ah—don't do that."
"Hmm~ don't? Your pussy's a complete mess right now, Do-ha."
If we just adjusted to each other a little, we could be a couple no different from anyone else—a little sexy, a little playful, fighting a little.
I rubbed her cunt with my hand, tapped it lightly, then slid one middle finger all the way in. Do-ha's whole body shook in a bridge position as she came, and it was so cute I laughed.
"Aaaah—ah, you said you wouldn't do anything that hurts—"
"Yeah, it hurts because you're tensing up. Relax your legs."
I slowly rubbed her inner walls, sliding in and out, and even one finger seemed like too much for her little hole to take. Within a few strokes, Do-ha climaxed again, her face a complete wreck.
"Hhgh—hhk. Hhgh."
Do-ha, who'd been taking my finger with her lower lips without any resistance, came over and over until she passed out, tears and drool spilling, her eyes half-closed. So I spread her cunt wide open and took a picture.
Next time, I thought, I should fuck her senseless, make her do a two-handed V-sign, and add her to the collection.