Author's Note: Hello! My first trip into the world of otome game fanfiction, so be kind. I am no stranger, however, to fanfiction. I've decided to give it a try with the Voltage game Kissed By the Baddest Bidder first. I haven't really found any that have satisfied me with great writing, so I thought I'd put my own out there. Plus, I generally find the MC in these games completely useless, so this is my way of making her like a real girl. Most people know me from Inception and Harry Potter fandoms and if you've come across this because of alerts, maybe I'll turn you into Otome-curious? Haha! Please enjoy and leave a review!

I'll maybe post once or twice a week. Maybe biweekly. Just depends. I'm a full time worker and a full time student, so I don't always have a lot of time for fun stuff. Plus, I have a semi-major series in the Harry Potter world happening. This will be my outlet when I can't get that story running, I suppose. This plot bunny just fell into my lap and I wanted to see where it took me. And it took me to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party!

This story is rated M because of future and past events, plus the sensitive nature that can be described with our heroine's circumstance. Don't expect smut anytime soon. Let's just leave it at that. It will happen. Just not now. I don't know how graphic my story will get. It depends on how much I can handle as I write and what I think it plausible without being ridiculously over dramatic. I don't usually give this kind of warning, but with this story, there is a chance I'll go there.

Just for those wondering, Soryu is my favorite in this game, followed by Mamoru.:)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a head full of plot bunnies.

"Fall to your knees
And kiss the ring,
The crowd's rejoicing
All of my dreams
Wake up to despise the world I once loved"
Stall Me - Panic! At the Disco

One.

I stared ahead at the crowd in front of me, shaking. Hundreds of people seemed to fill this auditorium, their faces covered in fanciful masks protecting their identity. Surrounding me, the golden bars of my cage glinted in the spotlight. Behind me to the left, the man dressed like the Mad Hatter was gleefully chatting, encouraging these finely dressed strangers to bid big-on me.

"Four million, five hundred to bidder number forty-five! Oh, but five million to bidder twelve!"

I almost threw up at the numbers being thrown out. These were people who weren't afraid to pay millions for a person; so just who would end up buying me? I could never hope to make five million in my lifetime!

"Come on, ladies and gentlemen! Just look at this healthy young woman! She could fit just about any purpose! She seems docile enough!"

The Mad Hatter approached my cage, microphone in hand, and reached in to pet my head. However, before he could touch me, I slapped his hand away and glared.

"OHO! This bird's beak is sharp! And nine million back from bidder forty-five!"

The crowd seemed to get excited that I showed emotion other than fear and the noise in the room rose to twice the chaotic din. The Mad Hatter left me and walked around the stage, exciting the crowd up, bringing the bids up to eleven million before the money seemed to lose power and stalled. Then,

"Fifteen million from bidder one hundred!"

The crowd hushed for a heartbeat before the new, louder noise seemed to swallow my panicked gasps to even my own ears. Not sure what good it would do, I stood in the domed cage and grasped the bars so tight, my knuckles turned white. My eyes searched out across the auditorium, looking for anyone who could see the plea in my eyes, the fear I had at how tonight would turn out.

"Sixteen million to forty-five!"

"Seventeen million to one hundred!"

"Twenty-five million to forty-five!"

"Fifty million to one hundred!"

The Mad Hatter called for any alternative bids, when no one else seemed to put in, the face-painted man happily banged his gavel on his podium and declared,

"SOLD! One young woman to seat one hundred for fifty million dollars!"

Two large men came on stage and wheeled my cage from the center of the stage, causing me to wobble and fall to my knees. In shock, I stared at the ground as they took me backstage to a holding area for what looked like auctioned items. I wasn't there alone long before one of the big men came up and stood in front of the cage door.

"Perk up, buttercup. Your new owners are here to get you." The man chuckled at his joke and unlocked the door. Immediately, before I could move, he reached for my handcuffed hands and tugged me out. I stumbled out, caught at the step down, and righted myself as I glared at the rough man.

"I think we came for a lady but are leaving with a shrew, Baba."

I whipped my head around and saw the two men the man was talking about, side by side, in masks, and grinning. The shorter one stage whispered to the man in a red blazer, and in turn, the other shushed him.

"Now, now. She's a lady. Take the handcuffs off her, Gomo. We can handle her from here."

A few minutes of hushed conversation between the three men, and I found myself nestled between the two newcomers, their arms linked with mine. They led me out of the back and to an elevator out of the way and far from the auditorium. They made small talk with one another, seemingly oblivious to my inner turmoil over the night's events. I knew my face held a deep frown and I could feel my eyes prickle with the possibility of tears, however, I kept quiet and focused on my tops of my shoes.

Eventually, the elevator softly indicated we'd arrived at their desired floor and they led me down the richly decorated hallway to a large set of double doors. The taller man, Baba, looked down at me and winked.

"We're home, pretty lady!"

"Baba, come on already! Eisuke's waiting. No good keeping Boss waiting." The other man tugged on my right arm and lead me through the doors first.

Baba sighed. "You're no fun, Ota."

The two brought me in what looked to be an over the top common lounge, complete with a wall sized tv hanging on the wall. The auction, still happening, was muted and playing live on screen.

The door behind us shut with a click and the two, Baba and Ota, joined the others in the room, smiles nearly reaching their masks and each taking a seat in the chairs in the room. The other three in the room also wore masks, two of whom were sitting on the couch in the middle of the room. The third was staring out the window, puffing on a cigarette looking bored. One of the men sitting on the couch, clad in what looked like an expensive business suit, stood and walked to stand in front of me, his eyes stared down at me coldly. Instinctively, I shrank away and flinched, which made him click his tongue.

"We just bought you for fifty million dollars. I suggest you get used to having us around."

"Who just bought her, Eisuke?" The other man on the couch glared and crossed his arms.

Eisuke just shrugged. "Fine. Soryu bought you, which means pigs will fly tomorrow." He took off his mask and I found myself staring at the face of one of the coldest men I had ever met. He grinned stiffly at me. "You belong to Soryu now, I suggest you go to your new master."

"Boss, do you really need to be like that? She wouldn't be happy to see you like this," Baba spoke up, taking his mask off as well. This man smiled much more genuinely at me, winking once more. "Can you imagine what Haruka would say if she was here tonight?"

Eisuke sighed, glanced once more at me, then glared at Baba as he went back to the couch. "You're a pain in the ass, Baba."

The two lightheartedly seemed to argue over me and over this girl, Haruka, seemingly having forgotten my actual existence. My eyes darted across the room to the others; the smoker barely glanced my way the entire time, Ota had his attention on the other two, and the man who apparently bought me-Soryu-was staring at me unhappily. Starting seeing his eyes meet mine, I shrunk in on myself a little, afraid to speak.

Abruptly, Soryu stood and grabbed me by the wrist. I let out a small whimper, but let him drag me out of the room and back into the hallway. He didn't say a word or look my way as he took me to one of the other doors in the hall and shoved me inside. Darkness surrounded me until he turned on the light switch and I found myself standing in a smaller, personal living room. Soryu snapped his fingers at me, making me jump. When I swung my head around to look at him, he pointed to the couch and motioned for me to sit.

He disappeared into a different room, affording me a moment to get my bearings and see where I was. The room was lavishly decorated, making me think of a penthouse. One whole wall was full of windows, showing the city outside. The view made me gasp in shock; the lights reflecting off the water were breathtaking. I was drawn from the seat despite the command to sit and pressed my forehead against the glass. This was the first view of the outside that I had seen in almost three months.

"Are you that impressed by such simple things? It's only Tokyo."

The man was back, holding a first aid kit and a piece of paper in his hands. I jumped and spun around, ready to curl up if he decided to punish me for disobeying. He ignored by outward show of fear and jerked his chin back to the couch. I immediately sat back down and waited for him to speak.

"Your wrist. It's sprained, isn't it?" Seeing my confused look, he elaborated. "I noticed that noise you made when I grabbed it, and it looks swollen."

Despite the severe look his face held, his touch was surprisingly gentle as he held my wrist in one hand and fumbled with the first aid kit in the other. Watching him struggle a moment, I decided to grab hold of the bandage he was trying to unroll and acted as a much needed second hand. When he started to roll it loosely, I whispered,

"It has to be tighter…"

He paused, which made me tense up. But instead of reacting to my first words like I expected, he began again.

"Let me know if this is too tight."

When he finished, he silently packed away the unused materials and sat the box aside. I held my wrist close to my chest, the pain I'd barely been aware of in the doldrum of the evening lessened.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is you...Natsumi Takara."

The paper he'd brought into the room earlier was face down on the coffee table. However, he flipped it over to show a young woman, aged about twenty-four, standing proudly outside a home with a diploma in her hand and her mother next to her. Her wildly curly hair was caught as it blew in the breeze, the shades of brown caught the sunlight; her eyes were the color of whiskey and caught in a smile.

This was me. I had graduated that morning, four years before.

I was shocked he made the connection, since I looked nothing like that now.

I nodded and weakly answered, "Yes."

"Missing for four months, no notes to speak of according to family or police. Nothing suspicious in social media, workplace, or usual haunts. No ransom demands, no threats. It was almost as if you existed, then didn't." Soryu read from a small piece of paper that he pulled from his breast pocket, then glanced up at me. Tossing the paper on the table, he leaned back in his seat and added, "I'm assuming, based on bidder forty-five, that you ran away from someone or were stolen away? Selling humans is tricky and we require permission from said person as well as the seller."

The air between us was thick, tight with the ambiguity that he was leading towards. I kept my eyes trained on the ground and just waited.

"Bidder forty-five is from a rival gang of my own. He is a higher up in the echelon of the Osiris Brethren, which is impressive for a girl like you to get caught up in. I was quite happy to take away something that he wanted so badly. But I would like to know just what I paid fifty million for."

"I was the play toy of Ren Souma the last four months. His father, Taichi, decided it was time for me to go. So he wanted me dead. His grunts got greedy and put me in your auctions." My voice was quiet, but the room was quieter. The bitterness was unmistakable in my voice. When I looked up, Soryu was trying hard to disguise the look of surprise on his face.

"Souma? You had a position with the heir to the Osiris Brethren but irritated the boss? How stupid can you get?"

I flinched, but snapped, "I was kidnapped. I met Ren ONCE, then he decided he liked me and wanted me. So he STOLE me from my house and held me CAPTIVE! I had no ties to yakuza like Taichi wanted, so he wanted me gone before Ren was irresponsible and get me pregnant!" I took a deep breath and continued. "He told his lapdog to throw me in the ocean but that asshole is greedier than Ren, and cut off all my hair to DISGUISE ME, which is completely stupid, then quickly put me up for auction. SO THANKS. You paid that dirtbag fifty million."

Soryu blinked quickly, not expecting my outburst. I hadn't expected it myself, and it exhausted me. I slumped back on the couch and hid my face in the cushion. I tried to take deep, calming breaths with varying levels of success.

"Well, Natsumi. Regardless, you'll be here now unless you can pay me back what I spent. Enjoy your last night as Natsumi Takara; tomorrow, I want you to pick a new name. Your old life is done. Your life truly begins tomorrow." Soryu stood and looked down on my huddled frame.

"I don't think I need to tell you what would happen to you if you tried to escape from the penthouse? Don't try it. Don't you dare tell anyone about the auctions, or your life really will end all together." He walked away from the living room and paused outside a door. "You can sleep in the other bedroom in this suite, there's a bathroom there too. Never come in my room."

I poked my head up long enough to glare at him as he spoke. "Who are you?"

"I'm Soryu Oh. Leader of the Ice Dragons and I own you. Welcome to the Tres Spades."

This was the day my life and story ended.

When morning came, our story began.