62 No way in hell

Harumi had no idea how long she was locked up in the small carriage. Since she was still tied up she couldn't brace herself so every time they rode over a bump she hit herself resulting in her having bruises al over her arms and legs. The wooden box wasn't that big. When she sat up straight the top of her head would brush the sealing and she couldn't lie stretched out on the floor. She had curled herself up into a ball against the back wall, silently crying. She hated that she was so weak she couldn't even free herself. And why hadn't anybody come to save her yet? Then she remembered the conduct of Nobunaga for the last couple of weeks. He would probably be glad to be rid of her. A scary thought came into her head. What if Nobunaga was the one who ordered someone to abduct her. She tried to push the tough down. Even though the last couple of weeks weren't exactly smooth sailing between the two, she had saved him from a burning building and before that their relation ship was actually quite good. But the most important thing was, she knew that this wasn't Nobunaga's style. She had lived with him for over half a year and knew pretty good how he handled things. He was an extreme control freak and wanted to do everything himself. That was one of the reasons he almost always went to battle himself and always fought on the front line. Whenever there was a spy or someone he wanted to get rid of he did it himself. This was totally out of character for him. Harumi calmed down a bit when she tried to think rationally. Her husband wasn't trying to kill her or kidnap her. But that didn't solve the issue that she still was being abducted, she only had no idea who the culprit was. She wrecked her brain, but couldn't think of anyone. Had she offended someone to the extend that they wanted to get rid of her? She knew she often got labeled as rude or something but that was because the century she was currently living in was all backwards in her opinion.

When the carriage finally stopped she was nauseous from the bumpy ride. She heard the two men talking while they jumped off the coach box and walked around the carriage. When they opened the door Harumi could see that it was early morning and they were in some sort of alleyway. It smelled horrible and Harumi was glad she hadn't eaten much otherwise she definitely would have puked. One of the men grabbed her by her ankle after Harumi didn't came to the entrance of the carriage on her own accord and pulled her closer to him.

"NO! Let go of me you bastard!" She screamed while she kicked him. She had no idea where she had hit the guy but he let go of her while he grunted. The other man quickly came into action and grabbed her ankles again, even tighter this time.

"Don't you dare to kick me again." The first guy said angrily while she stared at her with a dark expression. "Maybe we ought to rough you up a bit before we sell you." He stated with an evil grin on his face.

"Yasunao, you know as well as me that we won't get full price if she is damaged." The other man said lazily. They were going to sell her? Harumi's back was wet from all the sweat and she felt dizzy. This could not be happening. The bigger of the two guys hoister her up over his shoulder while Harumi kept scrumming around and yelling. They used a backdoor of a building and walked inside a dimly lid room. In the room was a strong smell of some sort of incense and the air was thick and kinda stuffed. The man threw her in a corner while they started to talk with another man.

"At least fifty gold pieces!" The man that Yasunao was called exclaimed.

"How do we know if she is worth it?" The other man asked skeptical. "Ten gold pieces and seventeen silver pieces."

"Check her for yourself. That price is an insult, you have no idea the trouble we've been trough to bring her here." The other man said.

"Well, you could have brought her to another shop..." The man that was already in the building said lazily.

"We know you are always looking for rare beauties and she is definitely one. She will bring you a lot of money." One of the guys that had kidnapped Harumi answered. The other man was not alone. Behind him stood an elderly woman. He looked at her and pointed with his head in Harumi's direction. The woman left the mans side and walked up to Harumi. Harumi looked at the other woman with disgust in her eyes. The woman could only grin at the look she received from Harumi. She grabbed her chin forcefully and looked at her face from different angles.

"Let go of me!" Harumi yelled again, trying to get free from the grasp.

"A bit of a temper but a very nice face, body and skin. We will get a lot of money for her." The woman said while she walked back to the man.

"thirty gold pieces." The man started to negotiate again.

"That is not nearly enough." Yasunao answered. "forty five gold pieces. The man sighted, looked at Harumi who still lay still in a corner and to the woman. The woman gave him a short nod while the man sighted again. "Fine, forty five gold pieces. I hope for your sake that she is worth it." The man said. "Come to my office to get the paperwork in order." While the three men left the room the woman walked up to Harumi.

"Stand up." The woman ordered after she had undone the roped around her ankles and wrists. Before Harumi could respond the woman yanked on her shoulder helping her up. Where did this woman get so much strength? Harumi asked herself while the woman pushed her trough a door. They walked trough a long corridor until they reached the front of the building. In the right was a small check in desk, like hotels in the 21st century have and on the left was some sort of living room type of place. Girls wearing heavy make up and reveling kimono's were lounging around while they ate rice without any side dishes.

"Get Asami-san, I have a new protégée for her." Who woman said to a small girl walking around with a tray, carrying cups full of tea. The small girl, who couldn't be any older than ten years bowed and hastily walked away.

Not long after the girl came back, followed by a young lady. Looking at her height and face Harumi calculated that this girl was in her mid twenties. Even though people tended to age a lot faster in this era, she still looked beautiful.

"You called for me, lady Binme-sama?" The girl asked while she made a bow for the elderly woman.

"This will be your new disciple. Get her cleaned up and in a new set of ropes. She was expensive so she has to get ready fast." The woman explained. The younger lady bowed again and took Harumi with her upstairs to her private quarter.

"I'm Yukiko, but everybody calls me Kiko-chan." The girl said when they were finally alone. So much had happened in the last couple of minutes Harumi was still in some sort of shock. She had a bad feeling about what kind of place this was and almost didn't dare to ask.

"Is this a brothel?" She asked after a while.

"Yes." Kiko-chan answered with a sad smile. "We are in the red light district of Eda." She explained.

"I have to get out of here!" Harumi said while she grasped the girls hands.

"You can't nobody can..." Kiko-chan said sad.

"We have to at least try!" Harumi tried again. "We can run away together."

"You can't they will catch you even before you reach the gate." Kiko-chan explained. "They will beat you. If you want to survive it's best to just listen to them." After that Kiko-chan didn't say much while her and her maid servants washed Harumi and put her in a kimono typical for geisha's to wear. Most of the questions Harumi asked she evaded with a vague answer, saying it will al work itself out.

By evening, just before the shop opened its doors for costumers Kiko-chan brought Harumi back downstairs to show her progress to the lady that managed the girls.

"Very good Yukiko-san." The woman said while examined Harumi. The man from earlier also came to have a look. He had a scary look in his eyes what gave Harumi the jitters.

"I think I will first have a taste for myself.." The man said while licking his lips and looking at harumi with a lustful look in his eyes.

"Don't touch me with your filthy hands!" Harumi yelled when the man wanted to take her back upstairs.

"We have a wild kitty on our hands. Well, we will get rid of that spirit." He loughed evil while the other girls looked at them with scared expressions. Harumi knew how they felt, she felt it too. But she would never give up. Even though Kiko-chan had told her that is was impossible, she would get out of this place!

"I said let go of me!" Harumi said again while the man tried to take her with him again. The mans patience was getting thin while he coldly looked at her.

"One way or the other, you will come with me." He said. "Arifusa-kun, Nariatsu-kun, bring this girl to room five and don't mind roughing her up a bit if she resist." The man barked his orders to two git guys standing at the entrance of the shop.

"NO! LET ME GO!" Harumi yelled as hard as she could while she tried to fight the who men.