In The Belly Of The Beast
<i></i>With her new abilities Megumi felt more confident about infiltrating and gleaning information about that man and his clan. She had no choice but to risk being found out, as she needed on edge on that man, as she knew that he would try something at the fundraiser for their village. Sitting outside of the lower branch of the Ayatsuri, Megumi would watch and listen to the servants of the manor. Benjiro was an elderly man who tended to the garden, while the three others, Aneko, Kumiko, and Maiya seemed to work inside as maid’s and housekeepers.
Steaking out the house every morning she would memorize the staffs appearance to posture and speaking habits. Benjiro was a quiet man, who has been weighed down by age. However the world has not rotted his mind, his knowledge of botany would rival a Yamanaka’s. Aneko was the lead handmaiden, her face began to show her age, but she could keep up with anyone half her age and her had an air about her that commanded respect, to match her voice that compared to a military general. Kumiko and Maiya were the youngest of the staff. There were the workhorses of the house. The mainly cleaned and assisted the masters of the house, however they were young and prone to mistake and playing around without supervision.
The more confident she got observing the household, Megumi would place her threads around the servants areas such as the kitchen, storage and parts of the courtyard that only the staff went. She would not risk putting threads in anywhere ninja would roam, as her chakra would give her position away. As more days went by and the date of the fundraiser grew closer. Megumi hit a lucky break. Kumiko called in sick and would not be coming in today, this gave her an opportunity to slip in under the guise of the young women and get all of the information she could about that man’s plans.
Forming a hands sighs and encasing herself in a puff of smoke, revealing herself as Kumiko. Looking all around to make sure she got her brown hair correct and her clothes to a tee. Clearing her throat Megumi would try and slightly deepen her voice but keep it light and bubbly as the real Kumiko was quite the jokester with her coworkers. Switching between all kinds of voices until she got the correct one, Megumi would move out of her hiding place and knock on the servants entrance.
Megumi keep her calm and put on her mask as Kumiko. As the door would open the aged, but fearsome face of her temporary boss peered through the door. As she saw the girl that she thought was sick, she showed surprise, but then went back to her commanding glare. “ Kumiko i thought you were sick, what are you doing here”? Megumi would give a beaming smile with a okay hand sign, “ I’m fine i took some medicine and felt good to go, can’t let you down Aneko-san”! Giving her boss a playful salute, making the commander sigh. “ I should tell you to go home, after you turned coat on your illness”. Opening the door and rusher the disguised Megumi in. “ Right go help Maiya upstairs with the dusting”. Handing her a duster her and a bucket of water and a cloth, she deployed her like one of her troops.
Rushing up the stairs as she did not want to meet the wrath of her commanding officer. Seeing Maiya as she the maid, jumped down from the chair she was using to dust the higher parts of the room and almost tackled Megumi into a hug. “ Miki-chan, i thought you were sick”. Hugging her back with the same vigor she would return the girl’s friendship, “ Mai-chan i would never leave you alone with all of the work”. As the two women push off work to enjoy each other's company, a thump could be heard from below and echoing towards them. “ Oh shhhh, the ogre general will skin us alive if she catches us playing around”. Maiya would quietly giggle and Megumi would follow suit as to not be found out. Even though she was acting it was nice being welcome so warmly by Maiya, even if it was not for her.
Helping with the chore, was an easy task for her as she did not have any servants of her own and cleaned her own manner by herself. Finishing the cleaning in record time, Maiya would look over to her friend with confusion. “ Wooow Miki, when did you get so good at cleaning”. Megumi would turn and pause for a moment, before she would flex her arm and grip her muscle. “ Oh i’ve been working out”. Giving Maiya a wink the women would laugh at who she thought was her friend.
As they Finished their work, Aneko would march up and was pleasantly surprised to see that the upstairs had been cleaned and dusted. “ Well this is a surprise, i might have a heart attack”. Looking at Megumi, “ Kumiko, you should get sick more often if this is the result”. Megumi would scratch the back of her head and give a simple smile, “ I’ll be sure to try to get sick more often then”. Telling Maiya to start on the main floor, the general would leer at Megumi, “ Kumiko, the master of the house has guests over, please serve the guest to the best of your abilities”. Megumi would give a bow to Aneko which almost shocked the women into an early grave.
Making her way to the kitchen, she would prepare all kinds of food for the guests as well as tea. Making her way down the hall and stopping at the door, to knock and excuse her intrusion. “ Come in girl”. Hearing a deep voice of the man that she despised with all of her being. Calming herself and remembering to stay in character, Megumi would open the door with a calm smile. “ Hijikata-sama i’ve brought libations and victuals as you requested”. Seeing a smile on the devil's face as the rest of the guest cooed from her words. “ Aneko has been teaching you well i see”. As she placed the items down for the guests, she could feel the stares of the other men around her. She would to end the entire room with an explosion or poison the group and watch them claw at their last moments of survival, but she held back her hate. The man would look at her will ill intent, as he held out his cup towards her. As she poured him his tea he would speak to her, “ To bad i’m going to be married soon, or i would take you from myself”. Refraining from looking at him as she poured his drinks she would play her role and take what they could dish out.
“ Speaking of that”. The beast of a man would turn to his benefactor, “ How goes the operation to seal my nuptials with my darling Megumi”? The group would hollow as Megumi kept pouring the drinks for the rest of the man’s guest. As she poured she would feel a hand run up her leg and grab her backside. Biting her lip as she refrained from acting out, she would bear this shame if it meant bringing that bastard down. “ The plan will go out without incident, we have the replica, and let’s just say that it pales in comparison to the real thing”. That man would let out a greedy smile as he was almost in reach of his desire, literally and figuratively. Taking a drink, “ This will be child’s play, as we are in charge of security. Besides my darling wife, we are the only ones who know what the actual piece is going to be for the auction. Everything is in my favor, and once the people look on her failure of a masterpiece her clan will have nothing left to stand on, as their craft was the only thing that kept them from becoming just another clan lost to time”. The man would howl, his real personality was shown. He may be a calm and collected man to the public, but in truth he was a power hungry beast behind close doors.
The party started to pick up and the group started to get more touchy feely. She could not take being treated like some doll for the men’s amusement and pleasure. Before things got to out of hand, the door slid open and Aneko walked in with a bottle of Sake. “ Excuse us for a moment Hijikata-sama, i need Kumiko for a moment”. Placing the bottle down for the men, they would let Megumi go and Aneko would quickly lead her out of the room and excuse themselves. As they made their way down the hall, Megumi could not hold back her feeling any longer and broke into tears. As Aneko felt a tug on her arm she would look over to she her fellow coworker on the groundbreaking down into tears. “ I know sweetheart”. Pulling her up into a hug, Megumi would wrap her arms around Aneko and cry into the commander's shoulder. Giving the young women a pat on the head and drying her tears. “ Come on now, don’t let them bring you down”. Pulling her back the tough women would look her in the eyes and Megumi would nod and hold back her tears. “ Good girl, now take the rest of the day off and come back tomorrow i’ll be sure to never let that happen to you again”. While Megumi was about to break character all she could do was nod.
Leaving the establishment, she had gotten the information she needed, and she had to make sure she stopped him in his tracks. She would never let that man have his way with her every again. She would not let herself fall into that clutches of that monster.