Resolute Sacrifice - Hayashi, Yen

[Iri]

There is a shipwreck between your ribs. You are a box with fragile written on it, and so many people have not handled you with care. - Shinji Moon Birth Name: Bach Yen Duong Name She Goes By: Yen Hayashi Nicknames: No nicknames, but some like to refer to her as the 'bubblegum bitch' behind her back True Name: Resolute Age: 30 Marital Status: Single Birth Date: January 22nd Occupation: Entrepreneur (co-owner of the nightclub The Rakki Ryuu and runs her own underground escort business) Life Goals: To simply survive She was the prettiest hell I have ever been in. I didn't mind burning at all. - Matt Baker Hair: A natural cotton candy pink color that falls just below her waist in length. She keeps her bangs trimmed in a messy fringe style with longer pieces to frame the sides of her heart shaped face. It is naturally straight and she normally wears it down when going out. On special occasions she might curl it and pin it up in an elegant french twist. When at home she usually settles for fishtail braiding it to keep it out of her way. Eyes: Heavy lidded blue eyes that are palest along the outside edges and steadily melt into a darker shade around her pupil. They are framed by thick pink lashes made longer and more pronounced with the use of mascara and eyeliner. Her eyes are very expressive, often betraying her emotions when the rest of her appearance is stone cold. Body: She's of an average height at only 5'5, though she enjoys wearing heels to make herself taller. She has a habit of wearing tight dresses that accentuate her hour glass figure and showcase her generous bust and likes when their short enough to show off her long legs, which are one of her best features in her own opinion. Name Location: On the back of her neck, written horizontally right under her hairline, almost always hidden by her hair. Ears and Tail: Long gone, when she did have them they were a pastel pink with pure white tips. Ethnicity: Vietnamese  Other: She's got a birth mark on the underside of her right breast that oddly resembles an upside down heart. Let people feel the weight of who you are and let them deal with it. - John Eldridge Vain There’s no denying that she has looks, and she knows this. Her appearance is one of the only things she takes pride in and always tries her best to look good. She doesn’t like being sweaty and loathes the way dirt and grime feels on her skin. As such she has a natural dislike of people who don’t take care with their personal appearance. Often this resentment makes her come across as haughty and ‘stuck up.’ Indifferent Feelings of sympathy are few and far between for Yen. She believes that everyone has their own sad story, and that you have to be your own hero to make things better. She isn’t likely to lend a helping hand or be overly generous to strangers. What she has, she has earned and everyone else simply has to do the same. Reap what you sow, nothing more and nothing less. Cold Once you get past her good looks it seems all you’re left with are rigid shoulders, and tightly pressed lips. Her demeanor so starkly contrasts with her innocent features that if often leaves people unsure of how to interact with her. Where one would expect cheery words or a teasing grin they were instead met with an expression so frigid it was a wonder she could smile at all. Its a trait she’s acquired as a result of the life she’s been given, a coping mechanism if you will. Ashamed While for all appearance sake Yen seems to not care about her past, it has in fact left a dark stain on her soul. Consequently she feels 'dirty', 'sullied', and 'impure'.  She'd rather die than admit this to anyone however, as she's afraid that if anyone knew the full truth about her past (and how scarred she is because of it) that they would use it against her. Unworthy Again this is one of those hidden sides to her that many will never see. She feels that she has no right to feel love, comfort or anything that comes with a happy-ever-after. Its for this reason that she seems almost incapable of forming healthy relationships with others, out of a fear that they will reject her if they only knew. Resilient Despite all the hardships, all the pain and suffering, all the twists and turns life has thrown at her, Yen has managed to keep going. To simply keep on living even when most would have given up long ago. She's a survivor through and through, and will everything she can to ensure that keeps on breathing no matter the cost. Inside of you is a lake. Throw your shame into the water and drown it because you do not have to be ashamed; you are not broken, there is nothing from you he could take. The contours of your body form continents and no one can lie on top of the whole world. When he flattens you against the floor and tries to touch, to own, every acre of your skin, when he tries to make you swallow his bullet, become a gun: spit it back at him in a rain of fire and blood, and incinerate him when he tries to ravage you with his lips. Your eyes are not wreckages: they hold vast cities armed to the teeth. - Martina Dansereau Bach Yen was born to a poor family in rural Vietnam. She was their first child, and her parents cherished her despite their hardships. Her home had no electricity, and water came in the form of a well back behind their two bedroom home. Her father was a laborer, working wherever he could for whoever he could. Her mother ran the house hold and worked in the homes of richer families in the city. It was a hard life, but she was loved and that is all a young girl really needs. Though her parents felt differently, their dream was to provide her with the best opportunities they could. Even if that meant spending most of their hard earned money on school fees for their beloved daughter.  When Yen turned five a missionary group from Japan came to her small village, spreading their gospel and urging families to give up their children to the church so they could be raised properly and given all the proper tools in life that they would need to achieve success in the world. To Yen's parents this chance, this promise of a better life for their daughter was almost too good to be true. Of course they would miss their daughter desperately but what was their pain compared to the chance at a better life for Yen? They made the ultimate choice most parents would never have to face; they let their daughter go. The journey from Vietnam to Japan was one Yen would never forget. Vietnamese was her only language and she understood nothing that these strangers yelled to her. That would soon change, full immersion and fear makes one a quick learner. Forbidden from speaking in her native tongue, and punished whenever she spoke incorrectly, Yen picked up the foreign tongue quickly. The other children traveling with her were not as lucky, most were less educated than her (having come from even poorer families with more mouths to feed) and ended up with a splattering of blue and purple bruises all over their tiny bodies.  Upon arrival in Japan Yen and the other children were herded together like cattle in large rooms filled to the breaking point with tiny beds and desks. What should have been a loving and nurturing environment designed to help impoverished children turned out to be a pitiful excuse for a tax right off. A cruel way of making money off poor families. Yen spent exactly twenty three days in this overcrowded hell before her life once again changed full force. Whispers of a raid on the missionary compound scared those in charge, and desperate to keep what money they had already earned they made the choice to dispose of the children in whatever way possible. Some were sent back, some adopted out, yet most were sold off. Human trafficking had always been a steady business. Yen fell into the latter category. Her innocent features sealing the deal for the owner of the local Okiya. Keiko Mon was a cruel woman, hardened to the world and uncaring to the suffering of others. She was Yen's own personal devil. The Okiya Mother ruled with an iron fist, and while Yen was currently too young to be sold like the other girls in the brothel that did not mean she was free. Her mornings consisted of cleaning rooms and changing sullied sheets from the night before, followed by working in the kitchens to cook her own breakfast and that of the working girls. After that then her lessons began, she learned to dance and sing to play the part of a blushing girl. Anything and everything to make her more appealing to her future clientele. After lessons was lunch, more cleaning then she would assist the girls with preparing for another night of work. She learned to how to style hair, and paint her face to hide every imperfection and make herself seem flawless.  Yen wasn't allowed in the main rooms during working hours, Keiko knew all too well that some clients wouldn't take no for an answer even if it came from a child. Her virtue was to be protected, if only because it was the only thing of value she had. So at night she spent her time in the kitchens, assisting the cooks and learning the wonders of culinary art. It was a hard life, but she had known worse. The girls were nice, the cooks friendly and eager to teach her their secrets. Even the mean Okiya Mother was tolerable. For six years Yen lived like that, working and learning under Keiko's tutelage.  At the age of 12 Yen was deemed old enough to begin working in the main room. Older and more able to protect herself it was thought she would be safe there, after all she would only be serving drinks and assisting the other girls should they need her. It was suppose to be safe. She was suppose to be protected. She wasn't.  Grabbed from behind and pulled out into the dark city streets, kicking and thrashing all the way. Nobody even looked her way. Perhaps they didn't care, or perhaps this was an all too familiar scene in this district. She tried to scream but her mouth was covered by a meaty hand that held her tight, too tight. Pulled into an alley, and shoved against dirty rough brick that tore her dress and scratched her skin. When she tried to scream again the hand that covered her mouth surrounded her throat, squeezing tightly. The promise of death if she didn't stay quiet.  The Okiya Mother found her hours later (though to Yen it felt like an eternity) laying in a crumpled heap in the alley behind the brothel. Her dress torn to shreds and a splattering of blood that painted a clear picture as to what had befallen her. Pink ears and tail missing. Keiko merely had the other girls haul her back inside, cleaned her up then left her alone. Had she had any tears left, Yen would have cried herself to sleep. The next day she learned of her fate. With no chance at earning any real money off of her now that her virtue was taken, Keiko sold her off. The Okiya had no use for broken little girls. Her newest 'home' was a pitiful excuse for a brothel. Most of the girls were like her, broken with no where to go and no one to run to. For five years she lived there, if you could even call that living. She felt dead, a dead girl living in the world full of other dead girls and nightmares.  Then he came into her life. She was seventeen and he might have been in his thirties, she never found out anything about him past his name. He came to the brothel and picked her out off all the others. His ashen hair and gentle blue eyes were more than enough to make her let her guard down. That night he filled her head with whispered sweet nothings, promises of taking her away from all this, and loving touches and kisses. Never before had she felt such tenderness, and despite of everything she fell in love with the man. He came to her several nights after that, and always chose her. When he was with her she could almost forget everything outside of that dark bedroom. It was as if the rest of the world simply didn't exist.  But like so many things in her life, it wasn't meant to last. Life had never been fair to her after all. They were together in the bar room when it happened, a robbery. A normal occurrence for places like these, most knew to just sit tight and be quiet let them take the money and leave. It was simple. But that man refused. When asked for his wallet he refused. Just a single word. Just two letters and she was forced to watch as the man she'd fallen in love with was shot to death. A single no, then a single shot to the head and he was gone. Just like that and her whole world came crumbling down as blood and flesh sprayed all over her. He was dead and so was she. But girls like her weren't allowed to die, at least not physically. She was cleaned up and back working the next night. Life in the brothel went on. A month later she discovered she was pregnant. In her heart she liked to think that the baby was his. That is was his child that grew in her belly. It was easy to let such a fantasy wash over her. At night when she was finally alone, after the last man had finally crawled out of her bed she liked to dream about the life she might have had. She dreamed of grey hair and blue eyes, children laughing and warm arms wrapping around her and keeping her safe.  For awhile she was able to hide the pregnancy, morning sickness passed off as a simple case of food poisoning. By the time she was four months along there was no denying it. The noticeable belly bump impossible to hide. She tried to run then, even knowing that she had no where to go, she still tried. She didn't make it far before they found her. The Okiya didn't give up what was theirs without a fight. Perhaps it was the struggle or maybe even the stress that caused it, but the night she was back in that hell was the night she lost her precious baby. The last shred of hope she'd had in this life. Gone.  Life after that held no meaning to her, and days bled into weeks and weeks into months. The world could have ended and Yen wouldn't have batted an eye. She was twenty years old and ready to die. It would have been easier, perhaps it was even the smartest thing to do, but despite all that despite all she'd been through she simply couldn't bring herself to do something so drastic. Death was the only thing she was still afraid of. At least until she met Ryuishi. He came into her life suddenly, like a hurricane. His demon eyes picking her out of all the others, zoning in on her with a focus that made her skin crawl and sent shivers down her spine. Something about him was off. Something she couldn't place, couldn't figure out. He paid for a night with her, and she was afraid oh so afraid that this would be her last night on earth. But all he did was talk. Told her that he was like her, that they were apart of something bigger, something that made them better than everyone else in this shit hole of a world. He said she was a Sacrifice, like him. Her fingers reflexively reached up to the name imprinted on her neck, it had been there since birth and she had never paid too much attention to it after all she'd always had more important things to worry about. He had one too, though his was different. A different name. Ryuishi told her all about the unit world, about the power they held over others. About the power she could wield over Fighters, especially her own. Yen was drawn into his tale like a moth to a flame. She wanted to believe all this was true, wanted to believe him. He told her that he could take her with him, bring her out of all this if she just promised to follow him. Just do as he said and he would take care of the rest. She almost agreed, almost. But then that feeling from before, that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling that he could so easily kill her. Who was to say a life with him would be better than one here. So she refused, just that simple two letter word, just like that man had said all those years ago. And that night Yen really wished she would have just died. Nothing from before could compare to what happened to her that night. Ryuishi was the devil in disguise, she knew that when she finally woke hours later broken and bruised. But she had survived. She was still alive. Weeks passed after that fateful night and Yen never heard from Ryuishi again, all mention of the secret Unit world that she supposedly belonged to gone with him. Yen might have gone on living the rest of her life in that brothel. Spent the rest of her days there, till she finally died either naturally or by her own hand. That is, had that familiar grey hair not walked into her life again. Usagi they called her, a sweet quiet girl with no real name. She didn't speak unless spoken to, the poor girl didn't even eat unless someone told her to. Yen's heart, at least what was left of it broke at the site of Usagi in the dirty brothel. She couldn't help but despair at how much the grey haired girl looked like the man she'd loved so dearly, couldn't help but imagine her own unborn child perhaps looking like this young girl one day. Most of all she couldn't imagine Usagi living her as she did, becoming like her. Yen refused to allow such a thing to happen. So for the second time in her life Yen ran, this time with a wide eyed girl in her hands, and this time with a destination in mind. She'd make a deal with the devil himself if it meant protecting the girl who represented the life she could have had. Ryuishi wasn't hard to find, there weren't many demon eyed men running around in the dark streets of the city. Had she not been so desperate at the time Yen might have been wary of how eagerly he welcomed her, especially with Usagi in tow. A deal was struck, he would keep both her and Usagi safe from the wrath of the Okiya and anyone else who might come looking for them and in return she did anything he asked. She was at his complete and utter mercy.  Through Ryuishi Yen learned more about the Unit world, about her own abilities and even that quiet little Usagi was also part of their world. But it wasn't the Unit world that Ryuishi held interest in. He cared not for the querrling of Aristocrats and rogues. His own goal remained hidden from her, and his tasks for her were relatively simple. Help run a club he owned, run the Okiya that operated out of it. Through Ryuishi Yen became the person she is today. He took in a scared and desperate twenty year old girl and spat out a strong and vicious survivor.  For the past ten years the three of them have been together, growing their business and moving ever closer to Ryuishi's hidden agenda.