Silence of the Geisha Horror: Yukis Revenge (8 page)

“No, no I won't. Not until you go through the proper channels of the lease we
both
signed when we moved in. I have done nothing wrong! Why...why are you doing...” She trailed off as an idea struck her. But no, it couldn't be. There was no chance....was there? Could he really have such far reaching strings? “
He
put you up to this, didn't he? He told you to kick me out?”

“I-I don't know what you're talking about.”

“What's going on here?”

Yuki turned to Detective White, adrenaline pumping through her yet again. “He's trying to kick me out.”

“What, why?”

“It's Buck,” She panted, voice desperate. “He's found me and he's trying to ruin everything. He wants to force me out of my home. He's trying to scare me into silence.”

“I don't know what you're talkin-”

“
Shut up!
” She snapped. “I won't! I won't go! He does not control me!”

“Look here,” The Detective snapped, stepping forward and grabbing my landlord's collar. “You will get out of here and forget this ever happened. And you hassle her anymore and I'll see you have your property license removed.”

The man sped off as fast as humanly possible and Yuki felt a small bit of satisfaction. Maybe it would take years to get justice from her actual attackers, but taking down one of their cronies felt pretty damn good.

“Would you like me to go inside, look around?”

“No, no I think I'm good. We'll talk later.”

“Alright. And don't forget your follow up appointments at the hospital. And it might help to see a support group. You've been through a lot, Yuki. You don't have to go through the rest of it alone.”

“I thought you were my Detective, not my mother.”

“Humor to cover vulnerability. Classic type A. Where is your mother, by the way?”

“Dead. She passed away from cancer when I was in middle school. Made me that much more determined to be a doctor.”

“And your father?”

“Car accident. Two years ago.”

“Do you have anyone you can talk to?”

“I'll be fine. I’ve got Buster” She walked into her place and turned to shut the door. “Oh, and Detective White?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

“You're welcome.” He murmured before heading down the stairs.

Yuki shut the door and collapsed onto her futon. Her cat, the old fat creamsicle that he was, stirred from his slumber and cuddled up to her side, purring soothingly.

This day was the worst it could get. Tomorrow would be at least a little better. And then the day after that.

She would get through this. She had to.

The good guys always win.

...right?

*

Anyone can be sexually assaulted. Studies show that survivors include infants to people in their 80’s, people with disabilities, and persons from every racial, ethnic, religious, economic and social background.

Yuki's days were beginning to blend into an uninterrupted stream of depression and discomfort. The rumors and whispers at school didn't abate like she hoped. If anything, they increased. She tried not to think of what she possibly could have done to deserve such harassment -that would just lead her down a spiraling path she might not come back from.

Most days she just kept her head down and pretended she wasn't aware of the outside world. She was hustling to class in just that position when she heard a familiar voice.

Mandy. The fellow med student who has visited her in the hospital.

Her feet moved of their own accord, and the next thing she knew she was standing next to the plump blond. “Mandy?”

She turned, surprised, but her eyes widened when she spotted the small Asian woman staring up at her. “Yuki! Oh my god!” She threw her arms around Yuki in a hug, which almost made her drop all her books. “You're back! I'm so happy!”

But Yuki wasn't buying her act. “Did you tell everyone about me?”

She looked shocked, genuinely shocked. “What? No! It's nobody's business!” She frowned. “Why, are people saying things?” Her already sizable chest puffed out. “Do you need me to take talk to someone? I can be pretty intimidating when I try.”

Yuki shook her head. “No. It's just...I... someone's going around saying I'm a sex worker and I asked for it. You know, typical victim blaming stuff.”

She had expected Mandy to disapprove, what she didn't expect was for the blond to turn vibrant red. “They
what?
Are you kidding me?”

“Unfortunately no.”

“That's ridiculous! This is the twenty first century! I...I'm going to talk to the counselor, see if we can get to the bottom of this. Don't worry, Yuki. You're not alone in this. I'm running a take back the night vigil. Would you want to be a key speaker there?”

“Oh no, that's fine. I don't think I'm ready for anything like that. Sorry for thinking it could be you.”

“Don't apologize. I'm the only one who visited you at the hospital. I would have done the same thing. But I'm on your side. I won't stand for this kind of harassment.”

“Thanks.”

*

Victims typically do not lie about rape. The FBI reports that false accusations account for only 2% of all reported sexual assaults.

Yuki sat on her second hand couch, huddled under a blanket with a cup of warm tea in her hands. She wasn’t used to having so much free time but her doctor still hadn’t cleared her to return to rotations. She knew why, considering she was still at a high risk for all sorts of infections and STIs, but it was fairly awful being so idle.

She sat there, uninterested in watching television on her laptop, but also unable to study anymore. She realized that the darker it became in the sky, the less she wanted to be alone.

A meow sounded from Buster beside her and she scratched his ears.

“What do you think? Should I get up and actually socialize a little?”

He let out a long purr that she took as a sufficient enough answer.

Moving for the first time in a couple hours, she opened her laptop then loaded up the school website. It took a bit of navigating, and a trip to the site map before she found the event page. She scrolled through, looking for the location of the Take Back the Night assembly, and if she could get an escort there.

Despite being able to attend her classes, nighttime was a foe she was still unable to defeat. Who knew what lay in the darkness, waiting to jump out at her and drag her into another nightmare? She just wasn’t ready.

But when she reached the rather artistically done banner for the event, big red lettered were digitally stamped over it.

Cancelled.

“What happened?” Yuki murmured to herself. “Well there goes that idea.”

She sat back, defeated again. Mandy had seemed so enthusiastic about the event. It just didn’t seem like she would back out on the night of.

Oh no, what if she was hurt? What is something terrible happened to her too?

Yuki looked back to the webpage and scoured the text under the obnoxious red notice. She managed to find an email address at the bottom for any questions, and quickly drafted up a note.

Dear Take Back the Night staff,

I was informed of your event my Mandy, from the med student program. I at first declined her invitation, but at second thought changed my mind, only to find the event is cancelled. I understand that sometimes events are beyond our control, but I want to make sure Mandy, as well as everyone else is okay.

-Yuki Kobayashi.

She sat back and stared at her computer screen. She was being stupid. If she was lucky she would get an answer in a few days. Most likely no one would reply at all.

To distract herself, she got up and went about making herself a grilled cheese sandwich. She couldn’t really remember the last time she had eaten, and she knew that that was not a good way to begin her path to recovery.

She pulled out the ingredients and set the pan on her stove, but a ding from her computer had her scuttling back to the couch as quickly as she could with her injuries.

They had replied!

She sat down and opened it eagerly.

Dear Yuki,

I’m so glad you messaged me! This is Mandy. I went to the Counselor like I said I would and she helped me file a couple of complaints. I went back to class, expecting to leave early to prep for Take Back the Night when I was called to the Deans office.

They expelled me! Can you believe it?

They accused me of cheating on a test. I’m not a cheat, Yuki, I swear I’m not. Daddy’s hiring a lawyer and she says that they don’t have a leg to stand on. But I won’t be back until next semester, and next year at the worst. We’re going to get a pretty penny out of it in court, but I’m going to be so behind!

There’s no way this is some coincidence. I’m sorry Yuki, but I think that those men have an in with the administration. They already shut down my student email, and I have no idea how long until they shut down this one.

Just please, be safe.

-Mandy Strasser

Yuki just stared at the words, her mind trying to process it all.

Expelled? They could do that? If Buck had somehow payed them off, he must have given them enough to make being sued by a third generation alumni family worth it.

That was a lot of money.

How was she supposed to stand up to this kind of power? They were willing to ruin the education and career of someone who just stood up for Yuki once?

Suddenly Yuki was relieved that her parents were already laid to rest. She hated to think what evil and malicious things Buck and his two flunkies would think of to torture them. Mess with their jobs, their friends? Who knew. She was just glad she didn’t have to deal with it.

No, she just had to deal with being all on her own when it seemed the whole world was out to destroy her.

Just another day in the life of one of Buck’s playthings.

*

Statistical studies indicate false reports make up two percent or less of the reported cases of sexual assault. This figure is approximately the same for other types of crimes. Only one out of 10 rapes are actually reported. Sexual Assault by someone the victim knows are the least likely to be reported.

Seventy Two.

Yuki paled as she looked at the grade at the top of her test. A seventy two? She never got below and eighty in her entire scholastic career. And this was on a midterm. Her GPA was going to plummet. She was never going to get into a good intern program. She...she couldn't do this.

It had been a week since Buck had tried to kick her out of her place and now his influence was ruining her scholastic life. It was bad enough every day she had to pretend she didn't hear the whispers and see the stares.

She fought against tears all class. She had always prided herself on her dedication to pursuing her education. Even the death of her parents hadn't been able to halt her. She was an unstoppable force of learning that had been halted by a greedy, violent man.

Why couldn't he just turn himself in? Did he really think he was undeserving of punishment? Did he really feel like he deserved to walk free in the daylight? He was taking
everything
from her, and it was taking all of her strength to just survive each day.

She was a young woman in the prime of her life. She should be flourishing. Instead she was wilting like a flower cut off from all nourishment.

She waited in her seat until all the other students left. “Professor Smith, may I talk to you?”

“I don't do retests.”

Yuki was startled that he didn't even look at her before shooting her down. “I'm sorry, I just thought, given the situation and me being in the hospital-”

“Your personal life is not my issue. The grade is fair.”

It was like she had been kicked in the stomach. “My
personal
life? I was
assaulted.
My ribs were broken. I was in the hospital for over a week. I can’t sleep, most of the time I can’t eat. Are you kidding me?”

“Perhaps you should have thought of the possible repercussions of your lifestyle before you had to suffer the consequences.”

“C-Consequences. Are you
serious
? Do you hear yourself when you speak? Are you trying to insinuate that I somehow deserved to be violently attacked and beaten? Because I'm sure the local news would love to hear
all
about the male college professor who's flunking a female student for
being raped.
”

With that he finally looked at her, and the disgusted expression on his face startled her. Like he actually believed the vitriol he was espousing. “The grade sticks, Miss Kobayashi. If you have a problem with it, you can drop my class.”

And then he was gone.

Yuki stood there, stunned. Had that really happened? Was she just stuck in a nightmare?

No. She was not going to stand for this.

She stormed to her counselor’s office and barged right in. Luckily the woman wasn’t seeing anyone else, just quietly eating a late breakfast at her desk.

“Miss Kobayashi, may I help you?”

“I need to file a complaint against a professor. Immediately.”

“What happened?”

Yuki paced across her small office. “I’ve only been back for three days, and I’m still trying to find my footing again. We had a test in Professor Smith’s class from all the material he covered when I was gone. I got a seventy two.”

“Oh wonderful!”

“What? No. Not wonderful. I can’t get below an eighty five on a test at this point! It’ll bomb my GPA!”

“I see. And did you talk to your teacher.”

“Of course I did. And you know what he said to me? He said that my rape was a consequence of my profession and I would have to
deal with it
. He said that. To my face! Looked me right in the eye and said ‘what did I expect?”

“Oh dear, I am so sorry, Yuki. Please, have a seat.”

Yuki complied, but her foot was still bouncing up and down with anxiety and rage.

“I will absolutely walk you through this process, but I will be one hundred percent up front with you, most likely nothing will happen besides a note on his record.”