Chapter 20
I wasn't sure if I'd actually slept. The pressure against my skin was still there every time I moved, so when I groggily opened my eyes, the red and blue bowls sitting on top of the wire mesh came into view.
The red bowl held round brown pellets, and the blue bowl was filled with white milk.
I reached out, picked one up, and put it in my mouth. Fortunately, it wasn't disgusting dog food—it tasted like a crispy chocolate cookie.
I looked around the room, but Yu-bin wasn't there. Should I call that a relief? Now I had no idea what kind of face to make if I woke up and met her eyes.
I sat there blankly, eating the chocolate-flavored cookies. I stared at the door with unfocused eyes, not knowing when Yu-bin would come in. Just thinking about it made my body tense up.
"Ugh, hnngh..."
I stretched my arms and legs as far as I could. Sleeping in this cramped cage, uncomfortable even after only an hour, was more than enough to strain my body. It hadn't been designed to hold a person in the first place.
While I was curled up like a cat, stretching my arms out, the sound of the door opening—clank—made my body react first.
"Ah-ha, that suits you."
"Heh, hehe..."
"When did you wake up?"
"J-just now."
Yu-bin bent her knees and brought her eyes level with mine.
"I finished all my work. What should we do now?"
I lowered my gaze. For some reason, my waist and butt, covered in bandages, stung and throbbed.
"...Stop shaking, okay?"
Yu-bin let out a sigh. My body flinched. I tried to hold myself still with my hands, but it wouldn't stop, like I was broken.
"Why are you like this again? Ugh, so annoying."
At her lowered voice, my heart pounded. Should I say something? I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly.
"Uh, uhh, ah."
I closed my eyes. I wanted to escape this situation, so I resented having nowhere to step back, and I could picture Yu-bin kicking the cage.
"Come out."
With the clear sound of the key turning in the lock, the cage door opened. Before my palms and knees even touched the floor, Yu-bin lifted me up lightly.
"Is it really uncomfortable? Should I get rid of this?"
Unexpected words came out of Yu-bin's mouth. When I nodded, she smiled, and the sight filled me with relief as some of the tension left my body.
"Hehe..."
"Yeah, okay. Should we do that, then?"
I buried my face in her chest. It was a survival tactic I'd picked up during my time in this house.
I felt one hand stroking my head while the other kneaded my body.
My body trembled every time she poked one of the wounded spots, but the human warmth of her embrace distracted me.
"Don't you need to go pee-pee?"
A white pee pad was spread on the floor. I didn't feel the urge, but to satisfy Yu-bin, I slowly lowered my knees and crawled inch by inch to the pad.
"Ah-ha, that's right. Lift one leg, yeah, yeah."
Trickle.
I relaxed my lower belly. I looked exactly like a dog peeing, one leg raised at a ninety-degree angle and trembling. I glanced at her expression.
"From now on, go potty here. Got it?"
I nodded. Yu-bin smiled and stroked my head.
"Lie face down."
"Heh, eheh... y-yes?"
I tilted my head. Because, well, I hadn't done anything wrong.
In the wordless silence, I finally realized an invisible timer was running. I lowered myself flat against the floor. With my head pressed down, I couldn't see her expression.
I missed the soft bed. Even though being Yu-bin's body pillow while sleeping was uncomfortable, it was far better than the cold iron cage without a single blanket.
"Hand."
I snapped out of my brief daydream at Yu-bin's voice. I placed one hand on Yu-bin's upturned palm in front of me.
"Good girl. Heh-heh."
Her hand was warm in mine, and I wanted to keep holding it. I wished she would take me to the bed and hold me like this.
"Lie down."
At her next command, I moved into the position I'd pictured. I probably looked like someone who'd lost her balance and fallen backward. Curling my arms and legs in, I lay sprawled open so my belly and pussy were visible, the cold marble floor pressing against my back.
I remembered a rabbit from a documentary that plays dead when it encounters a predator. Why was it again—temporary paralysis in extreme fear? When escape has failed, you can't fight, and there's nowhere to hide. Yeah, it was exactly like my situation now.
She reached out and stroked my belly. Not knowing where another person's touch would go was both ticklish and unsettling, and I was afraid she might suddenly pinch my chest or punch my defenseless stomach.
Yu-bin, looking down at me with her eyes folded into crescent moons and smiling, fortunately didn't seem like she would, so I smiled along with her, hehe.
I could see affection in her gaze. If she ever stopped liking me, what would happen to me? A bag she'd lost interest in, a toy, an animal—would a person be any different to her?
"Just like that, grab your legs with your hands. Spread your legs more."
As Yu-bin said, I slipped my hands under my knees and grabbed both legs. The sight of my toes pointing up high was ridiculous. At the same time, with the shame washing over me, I held back tears that felt like they'd burst out any second.
"Stay still. If you break the pose, I'll kill you."
Without taking her eyes off me as I curled up painfully like a pill bug, she fumbled around the bed for her phone. I hated the camera lens pointed at me, so I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Hey. Open your eyes."
Right. I'd briefly forgotten that I wasn't even given that choice.
My body flinched at every shutter sound. It was horribly unpleasant to know that I was the one spreading my own legs and exposing my private parts, enough to make goosebumps rise over my skin.
I heard the cap being pulled off a marker she'd gotten from somewhere. I wanted to run away. Her face moved closer as she pressed the marker tip to my bare skin and wrote something on me.
I couldn't help the way my vaginal opening twitched when her hot breath brushed my pussy.
At the feeling of her tongue and lips working around my pussy, the strength nearly went out of my arms and legs. Slurp. The disgusting sound was agonizing, and I wanted to cover my ears, but my hands were trapped beneath my knees.
After taking pictures of me for a long while, she said nothing and slowly pushed one finger into my entrance. I'd heard the video-recording sound, so I tried hard to suppress the ridiculous moans threatening to escape.
One finger slid out and two went in. As they stirred my entrance this way and that, drool and tears ran down my upturned face. Holding the position took every bit of strength in my body, and it was hell.
Only after I came about three times was I given permission to break the pose.
"Good girl."
Gently stroking my shoulders as I lay face down on the floor panting, Yu-bin asked if there was anything I wanted to eat for dinner.
The afterglow of the orgasm still hadn't faded, and with my mind completely blank, I couldn't think of anything I wanted to eat. So I left it up to her. She smiled and said okay.
While Yu-bin cooked, I got permission to cover myself with a blanket on the sofa. On TV, people were bursting into laughter, wahaha.
It was the only electronic device in the house I was allowed to touch. I didn't have any particular channel I wanted to watch, but leaving people laughing and talking in the background made me feel at ease.
"Is it fun?"
At the sound of her voice right beside me, the fine hairs on my back stood on end. Holding a bowl of food in one hand, she'd come up beside me before I noticed and asked the question.
So if I interpreted the subtext, it was something like, "Were you so absorbed in the TV that you didn't hear me?"
Instead of getting angry, Yu-bin sat down next to me and showed me the food in the bowl. It was poke. With neatly sliced avocado arranged in rows and spicy mentaiko sauce, the presentation looked like it couldn't possibly taste bad, and I swallowed hard.
She scooped up a spoonful and put it in my mouth. Honestly, I wasn't sure what avocado tasted like, but with the sauce I thought it went together well.
Her gaze on me as I chewed was a little overwhelming. As soon as I swallowed, I asked while she held the next spoonful ready to go.
"A-aren't you eating?"
"I ate earlier."
There wasn't much conversation. She only wiped the corners of my mouth with a tissue now and then. I wondered why she insisted on a method that seemed inconvenient for both of us when my own two hands were right there, but in truth I was the only one inconvenienced. Preventing me from doing things I could do myself was part of the perverted streak she'd shown ever since we started dating.
"If you're full, you can stop eating."
She said that with about three spoonfuls left. Regardless of the taste, my stomach was nearly at its limit and I'd slowed down noticeably, so at least I didn't have to worry about how she'd react if I left food.
She wrapped the blanket around me. It didn't feel like things were heading toward sex, so I relaxed and hugged her back.
When we went up to the bedroom, the cage had been removed. In its place, a large cushion was laid out, and a fence about knee-high was set up in one corner of the room.
My hope of sleeping in the bed shattered immediately. Still, it was much better than the cold iron cage, so I surrendered myself to the soft, plush feeling I hadn't enjoyed in a long time. Fortunately, she didn't take the blanket away.