Sisters 3

»P-please, no, Hitoshi-san! I promise not to scream!«

She heard the man abruptly get up and then, her chair was pulled backwards a bit. Then, she felt his hands work on the zipper of her skirt. Michiko flailed her legs and pleaded, but Hitoshi just said:

»Rules are rules, Michiko-san! Behave now and you may keep your bra and panties!«

The girl gasped, but since the alternative was being stripped naked, she stopped squirming and allowed him to slide the skirt down her legs and toss it aside. Then, he bent over her and ripped the slip from her, tearing the flimsy material with his hands. The sheer ferocity made her tremble, though he didn`t hurt her and also did not touch her breasts. When she was in just her plain white bra and panties, she literally felt his eyes wander over her body. Then, he grabbed her hair and forced her to arch back her head. Michiko opened her mouth to gasp when she felt something soft touch her lips. At the same moment, she noticed a strange, slightly musty scent. Sweat, perfume and-

»Oh no, that must be my pantyhose!«

Her suspicion hardened as Hitoshi slowly but thoroughly worked the nylon into her mouth. Michiko chortled and retched, but she could not help it as more and more of the material stuffed her cheeks and blocked her tongue. She had worn the pantyhose all day and her strenuous fight against her bonds hadn`t improved its taste.

»Gllggg!«

He pushed the fabric deep into her throat and then, something soft brushed over her lips and was pressed between her teeth. It was a smooth cloth with a big knot in its center and Michiko guessed it was her own scarf. Hitoshi pulled the knot tight and tore on the ends until the silk cut into the corners of her mouth. Only then, he tied it off at her nape.

The Yakuza was far from being finished. He took another cloth, folded it into a broad band and tied that over her mouth, too. Michiko mewed when he tied a fourth cloth over her face, covering everything from the bridge of her nose to her chin.

»That`s better than the tape, isn`t it?«

»Mph!«

He untied her from the chair and made her stand up. Then, he said in his calm voice:

»There is still the fact that you broke the rules. However, it is your first day in captivity and it was just a small insubordination. So, I will not only leave you your bra and panties – for now. I will now sit down and if you bend over my knees and accept your spanking without any defiance, I will spare you the beating on your soles!«

Michiko heard him sit down beside her and she felt like she had the choice between Scylla and Charybdis. She could either humiliate herself and bend over his knees or suffer even more pain. Or, of course, she could scream into her gag and try to kick him. What would be the consequences for that? Getting stripped naked, of course. And then? Concerning the Yakuza, most facts were mixed with fiction, but all agreed upon that the Japanese Mafia was not meant to be played with.

»Uuuhmmph!«

Michiko went to her knees and brought herself close to Hitoshi`s legs. He grabbed her bound forearms and lifted her on his knees so her butt was pointing upwards. Michiko bit down on the pantyhose stuffing her mouth, tasting her sweat and feet. Then, she let out a fluttering breath and needed all her inner strength not to flail and squirm: Hitoshi pulled down her panties, exposing her buttocks.

The smacking sound when his hand hit her buttocks drowned Michiko`s moan and she felt the painful tingle as he waited for a few seconds before he hit her a second time. Though her cheeks burnt from embarrassment and her tears wet her blindfold, Michiko felt that he didn`t hit her really hard. Of course, his slaps burned on her bare buttocks and she mewed on every new hit, but she knew that he could have done much worse.

After the 20th spank, he pulled up her panties again and the panting girl felt how the smooth silk chaffed her sore buttocks. Then, he allowed her to raise her upper body, but he kept her in her kneeling position.

»I hope you have learned your lesson, Michiko-san!«

She sensed that he was standing right in front of her, looking down on the kneeling girl. Seeing no point in being defiant, Michiko nodded slightly. Hitoshi grabbed her shoulders and made her stand up. Then, to her surprise, he took her head between his hands and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

»I hope you`ll never forget!«

The slap on her butt wasn`t hard, but she was still very sensitive there and so, Michiko yelped and jumped up. Hitoshi repeated:

»I hope you`ll never forget, Michiko-san!«

***

Though she had been tired and slightly tipsy and also thought that Cordelia had just seen someone who looked like Linh, she had not found much sleep and at six o`clock, she had phoned the administration of the prison of Grenoble. The answering machine had told her where to call in cases of emergencies and since this was some kind of a Police investigation, she had called that number.

»Grenoble Prison!«

The woman on the other end sounded as if her smile could make lemons taste sweet in comparison. Isabelle took a deep breath and said:

»Bonjour, I am Capitaine Isabelle Marceau, Police of Saint-Martin-dans-les-Alps!«

At least officially, she still held her title for the rest of the month, but the woman let out a grunt as if she hadn`t been impressed if Isabelle had been the President of France.

»We have an urgent question concerning our investigations about a certain Linh Nguyen, a Vietnamese who-«

Suddenly, the woman sounded more interested.

»Linh Nguyen, you say?«

»Yes, do you know her? She`s-«

»I know her very well – or at least, I know her criminal record. After all, you are not the only Police member who has called me since the day before yesterday!«

Isabelle felt an ice cold grip in her neck. Her voice sounded hoarse when she asked:

»Wha-what happened t-two days ago?«

»Don`t your departments communicate with each other? Linh Nguyen is dead!«

***

»Dead?«

Cordelia had also not found much sleep and had been awake since 6 o`clock. She had impatiently waited for her meeting with Isabelle and she had shrieked when she had heard someone bump at her door before seven o`clock. It had been Isabelle who had said nothing when she had seen that Cordelia had to remove the nightstand from her door to let her in. Quickly, Isabelle reported what the prison worker had told her:

»It seems that Linh fell ill a few days ago. Things got worse and so, they had to take her to the hospital.«

Cordelia frowned. Faking an illness to get out of prison was a trick so old even comedy movies seemed ashamed to still use it. But Isabelle continued:

»At the hospital, she was brought to the intensive care unit and the day after, she was dead.«

»Y-you mean, someone investigated her dead body and officially declared her dead?«, Cordelia asked, showing an expression on her face that made Isabelle shy back.

»I-I think so. Why are you looking like that?«

»Do you believe in ghosts and revenants?«, Cordelia asked with a toneless voice. Then, she showed Isabelle the photo of the hotel`s booking list and told her what she had witnessed the night before.

»So, it must be someone else!«, Isabelle concluded, but she sounded not as convinced as she would have liked to. Cordelia didn`t seem like someone who just made such things up. She made a decision and took her cell phone from her handbag.

»Are you calling your Maltese colleagues?«

Isabelle shook her head, not looking up from the display.

»I am texting Samantha to take care of Akiko once they get up. Then, I will have my back free until noon. And then, we will go downstairs and see if we can get some toast and coffee!«

As Cordelia frowned, Isabelle explained to her what she had in mind: since Linh – or whoever the Asian woman was – was staying in the hotel, they would just have to see if her key was still missing from the board behind the clerk`s desk at the reception. If she was still in her room, Cordelia and Isabelle would wait for her outside and follow her.

»What if she recognizes us?«, Cordelia asked with concern. She felt relief that Isabelle finally seemed to believe her, but chasing a criminal was not what she had had in mind. The redhead smiled:

»If she sees us, she will sure recognize us. And if she tries to run away, we know for sure that she indeed is Linh and then, we will let the Maltese Police do the dirty work whilst our worst problem will be to drink the terrible coffee at the Police Station.«

Cordelia forced a smile on her face, too, but then, she said:

»That may work if she spots us here in public. But what if she notices us somewhere where we are alone?«

Cordelia had seen Linh fight and she was not anticipating a melee with the Asian, even if it would be two against one. Isabelle once again reached for her handbag and held the opening towards Cordelia. It contained a gun.

»As a Policewoman, I am officially allowed to carry a weapon. Of course, this is only when I am on duty, but if we really help to arrest a criminal on the run, someone who even faked her own death, then, I presume, they will drop the charge of illegal possession of a firearm!«

Cordelia still felt a bit queasy, but she quickly changed into clothes appropriate for what they had in mind: light trousers and sneakers to a T-Shirt and also her sunglasses. She also decided to get herself a baseball cap at the first shop on their way. Usually, she didn`t like these, but such a cap would help to remain undiscovered in a crowd. Isabelle seemed to be equally concerned for she borrowed one of Cordelia`s scarves and tied it over her red curls.

»All right, let`s hunt down a revenant!«

The two women left Cordelia`s room, ready to clarify the mysterious Asian woman`s identity, one way or another. The timid part of Cordelia hoped that Linh had already left, but the hook for her key was still empty. So, Cordelia asked for some toast and two coffee to go and they sat down on a bench from which they could observe the hotel`s entrance.

»Can`t we just, you know, knock at her door? And when she opens, you keep her at gunpoint and I call the Police!«

Isabelle shook her head.

»If she`s just an innocent woman with a strong resemblance to Linh, we would be in a world of shit if SHE calls the Police! No, I just want to be sure that she is what you say!«

After a pause, she added:

»At least, it will spare me the lovely presence of a hung over Akiko for some hours!«

***

Her abductors had continued to treat Michiko with the strange mixture of harshness and strange kindness they had shown before. She had been led to the blanket and Hitoshi had tied her ankles in a loose hogtie that would prevent her from getting up or walking around, but allowed her to lie more or less comfortably. He had left the blindfold on and also left her gagged as she was, but he had put a pillow under her head and even draped a blanket over her. Michiko had tried to listen if they would spill some information about who they were or if they had gotten Akiko into their clutches, too, but they had only held a short whispered conversation of which she hadn`t understood a word and then, there had only been a slight snore: obviously, at least one of her captors was sleeping.

»If only I knew what this is all about! Our father can`t pay more than maybe some 50.000 Dollars and why is the Yakuza involved in this – more than 10.000 miles away from Japan!«

The only thing to mitigate her fears was that they insisted on either keeping her blindfolded or to be masked in their presence. So, they obviously didn`t intend to kill her. However, how far would they go?

So far, they had not been too brutal, but they had shown that they also didn`t shy back of beating her. Her buttocks still felt slightly sore from the spanking. In addition, they had stripped her to her bra and panties and she knew that the slightest misbehavior would cost her these precious last garments.

Her thoughts wandered to Akiko, her little sister. Akiko, who seemed to give a shit about traditions and good manners. Michiko had always feared that her sister would take a bad end, but of course, she did not wish for her to be kidnapped and held prisoner like her!

Alone with her fears, Michiko lay there and even dozed off, but after some time, she heard that her captors had come to life again. There was some rattling and after a while, Michiko could smell that Hitoshi didn`t follow traditions in all ways: obviously, he preferred coffee to tea.

Then, she heard steps and her blindfold was removed. The masked face of Hitoshi looked down on her.

»Breakfast`s ready, Michiko-san. But before, you would perhaps like to visit the bathroom?«

Michiko`s eyes widened. This was indeed an issue, but it was embarrassing to even speak about such things to a man. And yet: if she refused, they would perhaps not let her go. And perhaps, there was even an opportunity to escape! So, she slightly nodded.

»All right. Now, you may understand that we have to take certain – precautions.«

The girl mewed questioningly, but the Yakuza just untied her ankles and helped her to sit up. Then, he started to undo her bonds. Michiko didn`t dare to breathe. Would they really free her? Would there be a possibility to try to escape?

»Once you are free, you will remove your bra«, Hitoshi said as he had untied her arms. The girl reflexively crossed her arms over her breasts and shook her head no. Hitoshi grabbed her hair and made her look at his masked face.

»If you refuse, I will accompany you to the bathroom!«

»Mmhhmmph!«

»Now, do as you are told!«

He got up and looked at her as Michiko slowly came to her feet. Helplessly, the gagged girl looked around in the room, but the two men were between her and the exit. Reluctantly, she shielded her breasts with her left arm whilst she reached behind her back to open the clasp of her bra. Hitoshi and his accomplice watched as she wriggled and squirmed to get the garment off without exposing her breasts.

Hitoshi took the bra from her and put it on the table. Then, he led her through a corridor and into a small bathroom.

»Remember that there is no lock and that I am right beside the door«, Hitoshi said as he closed the door behind her. Once she was alone, Michiko quickly examined the room. It was a room of less than two square meters and only contained a toilet and a small washtub. A plywood board had been screwed over the window and there was nothing except for a roll of toilet paper, a towel and a small piece of soap.

»These bastards! There`s no way I could escape! They only took my bra just to further humiliate me!«

Michiko reached for her gag. She wanted to rip of the scarves and get the vile tasting pantyhose from her mouth, but she resisted. If she screamed, Hitoshi would come in – see her topless – and punish her. She told herself that the gag would come off soon anyway, as breakfast was waiting. Forcing herself to remain calm and to make the best out of her situation, Michiko relieved herself. Little later, Hitoshi knocked at the door.

»You have one more minute! Please, come out without me having to tell you a second time!«

In a helpless attempt to cover herself, Michiko tried to tie the towel over her breasts, but it was too small. So, she stepped outside with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Hitoshi quickly checked her gag and then led her towards the other room.

The first sight was that on the table, three sets of plate and mug were waiting and the silent man also had put a thermos and some bread and fruits on the table. Then, Michiko`s eyes fell on what was lying on the floor: it was her bra and the straps were cut, as was the bridge between the cups. Michiko shuddered as she felt Hitoshi`s hand on her nude back.

»I know, I also don`t like it if a room is messy. Please, put the remnants of your bra to the dustbin!«

He pointed at a bucket at a corner and Michiko groaned. Not only had her bra been destroyed, but the humiliation didn`t end there. She did her best to keep her breasts covered with one arm and then picked up what had been her white bra and tossed it into the bucket. Then, she heard Hitoshi`s voice again:

»Now, remove your gag and sit down!«

Michiko stood like petrified. The two men were already sitting on their chairs and were looking at her expectantly. She reached up for the cloth tied over her mouth and nose and tried to pull it down, but Hitoshi ordered:

»No! Undo the knots, then shake the cloths out and drape them over the backrest of the fourth chair!«

When Michiko still hesitated, the man made a move to get up and his voice sounded more angrily:

»Don`t have me say things twice, Michiko!«

The girl twitched; not only from the threatening tone, but because Hitoshi had left out »san« which was almost an insult in Japanese. After a last pleading look, she brought her hands to the back of her neck and began to pick on the knots, blushing all over as her breasts were no longer covered.

Her fingers trembled from fear and embarrassment and so, undoing the tight knots lasted even longer as did her topless show. Finally, she could pull the sodden pantyhose from her mouth and she coughed and licked her lips. Her mouth felt parched and the taste of her own sweat and feet had been disgusting.

Michiko sat down and the silent man placed an apple, two tangerines and a bread roll on her plate. Then, he filled her mug with coffee whilst Hitoshi once again blindfolded her.

»I hope you remembered where everything is placed, Michiko-san!«

Now, he was all polite again, but the girl shuddered from knowing that the two men were still staring at her bare breasts during the meal. She forced herself to drink some coffee and choked down one of the tangerines, just to avoid being punished. The men ate in silence and after they had finished, Hitoshi grabbed Michiko`s arm, surprisingly gentle.

He led the blindfolded girl to the bathroom again and before he pushed her inside, he handed her something. It was a washcloth and in it, Michiko found a toothbrush and toothpaste. She took the opportunity to wash herself and cleaned her teeth and indeed, she felt a little more comfortable, though she was still the helpless captive of these two men and she still had nothing to cover herself than her white silk panties.

After a while, Hitoshi knocked and the girl stood still, allowing him to blindfold her again before he led her back into the room. He made her stand in the middle and then, she gasped as he slung the rope around her neck twice. Then, he tied two knots to fix the noose and Michiko felt it was snug, but not too tight. Nevertheless, she couldn`t help panting.

Hitoshi now grabbed the two dangling rope ends and she felt his fist slowly brush down her front. She shuddered when he slid down between her breasts and over her belly and when she felt the hand against her pubic mound, she let out a fluttering breath and stiffened.

He brought the ropes between her legs and then, his hand wandered over her butt and up her spine until he had reached the rope around her neck. Carefully, he threaded the ends through the noose and then, he pulled the slack out. When the ropes touched her between the legs, Michiko let out a sharp sigh.

»Cross your wrists behind your neck!«

The girl obeyed, blushing as she noticed how that made her breasts thrust out more prominently. Hitoshi thoroughly tied her hands at her nape and when she moved her arms, she felt that this not only pulled on her neck rope, but also made the pressure on her pubic mound and between her legs increase. She shifted uncomfortably.

Hitoshi now led her over to her blanket where he threaded the rope ends through her bent arms. As he then pulled them downwards, Michiko had no choice than to go down to her knees and then to sit down, though this made the crotch rope rub over her soft flesh. Again, she mewed, but Hitoshi used one of the ropes to tie it off to her right ankle. The rope was pulled tight so to avoid pressure on her throat, Michiko had to arch her back slightly and also was further discouraged to move her arms. The procedure was repeated to her left ankle and then, he tied the rope ends together. Now, Michiko had to kneel, sitting upright and with her thighs open to avoid toppling over. Too much struggling would be punished by her strangling herself and in addition, the ends of the rope were way out of reach for her fluttering fingers. Hitoshi now caressed her cheek and playfully plucked on her earlobe.

»Now, I will gag you again, Michiko-san!«

Michiko gulped and then, she took all her courage together and breathed:

»Hitoshi-san – could you please spare me the pantyhose?«

»Why don`t you like it, Michiko-san?«

His voice still sounded friendly. Hitoshi`s hand brushed through her shoulder-length sleeky black hair, gently, but she felt that he was ready to grab her scalp and pull her head back if she didn`t answer him correctly.

»P-please, it t-tastes disgusting!«

»What taste exactly do you despise?«

His grip on her hair tightened; it still wasn`t painful, but it could no longer be called a caress. Blushing from embarrassment, she stammered:

»The t-taste of m-my feet, m-m-my sweat a-and my-, my-«

»The taste of your crotch? Is that what you wanted to say, Michiko-san?«

The girl nodded, feeling her cheeks burn. Hitoshi now said:

»I want to hear it from you, Michiko-san! You know as your teacher always told you: please answer in complete sentences!«

Michiko whimpered. Then, she spat out:

»I don`t like the taste of my crotch – Hitoshi-san! Please!«

Hitoshi let her hair go and said in a friendly tone:

»Well – then, you should appreciate getting gagged with your pantyhose!«

»Hm?«

Hitoshi brushed over her cheek. With his other hand, he put the hand from her ear, bent forward and kissed her ear before he whispered:

»Because it would be much worse if I used your panties instead!«

Michiko gasped at the horrifying thought. He not only threatened to strip her completely nude, expose the last bit of her body that still was covered – he also would stuff her own panties into her mouth! She panted from the mere thought and when he held the still damp nylon of her pantyhose to her lips, she offered no resistance and opened her mouth, allowing him to stuff it deep into her oral cavity.

He tightly reapplied the knotted cloth between her lips, the scarf over her mouth and the final one that covered her nose and mouth. Then, she heard a rustle and he draped another cloth over her head. He took care that her entire head was hooded and then, Hitoshi gathered the ends and tied them off at her throat. The knot wasn`t too tight and the cloth was flimsy, but now, Michiko had to breathe through two layers of silk and she knew that soon, she would sweat under the hood.

Hitoshi now put his index fingers on her armpits and slowly brushed down her sides, causing the ticklish girl to mew and cringe. His fingers did the way all back and then, he said:

»You are sweating already, Michiko-san. And the warmest time of the day is still to come. But don`t worry: later, we will wash you thoroughly!«

***

»There!«

It was more than half an hour after Cordelia and Isabelle had taken their post on the bench. Meanwhile, Cordelia had indeed bought a baseball cap and though she felt a bit uncomfortable wearing it, it indeed concealed her quite well whilst Isabelle looked a bit like a cute pirate girl with the scarf she wore bandana-style.

Linh left the hotel and for a moment, Cordelia feared that she intended to go jogging, for she was dressed in short trousers and a sleeveless top and sported sneakers. Then, however, she just went for the bus station. Isabelle suddenly patted Cordelia´s shoulder.

»Follow me!«, she said with an enigmatic smile. Cordelia thought it was a bad idea not to watch which bus Linh would attend, but she followed Isabelle around the block to a parking lot that was closer to Isabelle`s hotel than to hers. The redhead rummaged through her handbag and produced a car key and a second later, the indicators of a small Renault Zoe flashed twice.

»I know it would have been fun to enter a taxi and say ›Follow that bus!‹, but I think it is more convenient like this!«

Cordelia blinked with disbelief as she entered the passenger seat whilst Isabelle took a few seconds to adjust to the driver`s seat being on the right side.

»You have a car? Here?«

»It belongs to the Hertz company, but for the next week, it`s mine. It was my birthday present for Samantha, for today`s her 18th and from now on, she`s allowed to drive all by herself. But I think she will forgive me that we misused it for chasing a criminal!«

She started the car and left the lot. Once or twice, she mixed up the indicator lever and that for the windshield wipers, but then, she seemed to have gotten accustomed to the car designed for left-hand traffic.

At the bus station, they just saw Linh attend a bus. Cordelia thought that Isabelle would try to stay close behind it, but instead, she said towards her:

»It`s a Route 13 bus! Now, check it on your cell phone so we know it`s direction. Perhaps, we can take a shortcut somewhere!«

Cordelia did as she had been told and quickly, she could tell Isabelle that Route 13 headed for Mdina. When Isabelle frowned, she could share her knowledge from her travelling guide:

»Mdina is the old capital of Malta. It`s located in the center of the island and famous for its Medieval buildings. It is also called ›The Silent City‹, for when the tourists leave in the evening, it is only inhabited by some 300 people.«

Whilst Isabelle followed the road, Cordelia checked the city on her cell phone. It was just shortly after 8 am and most of Mdina`s sightseeing attractions would not open before 10. So, either Linh wanted to have an impression of the city being really silent – or she was trying to meet someone there.

According to the plan, the bus would scour a few villages on its way to Mdina, but somehow, they both doubted that Linh would leave the bus early. So, they took the direct way and since they arrived before the swarms of tourists would, they easily found a place to park. Except for a few pavement cleaners and the owner of a small kiosk, they were the only people so far.

»The city`s door is famous for being used as background in ›Game of Thrones‹!«, Cordelia informed Isabelle as they entered the Medieval city and positioned themselves close to the said door.

»At least, if this mission is a failure, I have learned something new!«

Then, she fell silent and ducked deeper behind the corner where they had positioned themselves: a bus with a big 13 on its front sign arrived at the parking lot. Some people left, but most of them headed for Rabat, the modern city adjacent to Mdina. Only three persons crossed the bridge that led to Mdina`s gate: an elderly couple – and Linh!

The Asian seemed to stroll, but instead of admiring the buildings, she seemed to be heading for a certain point and so, Cordelia and Isabelle followed her. Then, after leading them through the winding alleys for a while, Linh stopped at a door that seemed to belong to the warehouse of the adjacent shop and opened the padlock with a key before sneaking in.

Isabelle felt something she had chosen her job for, though it rarely occurred in reality: hunting fever. Now, it was clear that this Asian wasn`t just an ordinary tourist!

»You better should stay out«, she whispered when she took her gun from her handbag and put it into her waistband. Cordelia shook her head, though her heart bumped.

»No!  I am your backup! Let´s go!«

***