Chapter Text
Akira Kurusu doesn't like slavery. It's a cruel, barbaric system that allows people to treat their fellow man as lesser beings. Akira was fierce in his condemnation of it. He would never even consider purchasing a slave.
And yet, now there was a girl in his room with a collar around her neck.
It had happened only a few minutes ago. He'd been walking home from school, like he does every day.
And then he saw her.
Nude, as all slaves that are to be sold are, but more notably, terribly bruised, scarred, pale as snow with hair equally as white, and with yellow eyes that looked inches away from death.
She couldn't have been older than he was. And yet, she looked like she'd lived a thousand years. Her body was tiny, she was short, barely five feet tall, slender, but not in a way that could be attractive. She was too thin, like she hadn't eaten in days (And she probably hadn't.)
She looks right into his eyes, and Akira doesn't know if his mind is just messing with him, but her eyes plead for help.
The man standing with her, ostensibly her owner, smacks her on the back of the head. She recoils from the force, but the expression on her face doesn't even change.
His voice is loud, annoyed, as if he's said this many times over,"Stop staring at people. Your freaky eyes don't make people want to buy you more."
Akira grits his teeth. He highly doubts the girl wants to be bought. If those scars were any indication, her previous master (or masters) had not treated her well.
Then again, who wants to be bought and sold?
The girl's posture falters, and she erupts into a coughing fit. And in response to the coughing, does her owner maybe give her a blanket, or even just some fucking clothes ?
No.
He knocks her to the ground, and she barely breaks her fall at the very last second.
"Shut the fuck up." He growls.
Akira clenches his fists.
Can he not see that she's been hit enough? That she's been through plenty of pain already? Was he the one to give her those scars?
It's not like it mattered. If he was the one who gave her the scars, it'd be his right as her master, as much as that made Akira want to puke. There were few laws to protect slaves, about the only one that actually mattered to most people was that you had to keep them alive, but keeping them healthy…
She rises from the ground, pain writtenall over her face, and tears threatening to escape her eyes at any moment.
And that's when Akira moves. What he's about to do may defy his principles, may make him a monster, but he can't stand to let this… asshole beat on her anymore.
"How much?" Akira asks, not showing his anger. He's become very practiced at that. Letting his rage simmer just below the surface. Very, very practiced.
"For her? 20k."
Akira raises an eyebrow. That is… weirdly low.
He'd never heard of a slave, regardless of appearance or ability going for under 50k.
"Why so low?" Akira asks.
The man responds,"She's mute. She's clumsy as all hell. And she's clearly not in good shape. And she's heavily used goods. She's had 5 masters in as many years, not counting me."
"5? In 5 years?"
"Jeez kid, did I stutter? Now, are you buying her or what?"
Akira pulls out his wallet, and then the money. It's so little, Akira has it on him, and more.
He hands the slaver the money, and with a nod from the slaver, the girl moves over to his side, trembling violently. Partially in pain, partially because of the chilly fall air, and partially out of fear. He'd be scared too, being sold off to someone he's never seen before.
The slaver hands Akira a key, to her collar he assumes. Akira asks if he has any clothes on hand, and he laughs him off. Appropriately so. Most people don't bother to clothe their slaves when it isn't freezing outside, or if they are clothed… Well, they're still not what you could consider "Covered up".
So Akira does what he can, slipping off his school uniform's blazer and offering it up to her. It's the first time he ever directly speaks to her, when he requests… no, he commands (as much as he hates the fact),"Put this on, please."
She follows his order robotically, slipping her arms into the sleeves. His blazer's way too big for her, but it does at least cover her torso and thighs. She isn't completely bare anymote.
"Um… my-"
Akira doesn't say "Home", it's not. It's a temporary living situation. But now that he's thinking about it… he's worrying about Sojiro. Sure, he doesn't charge Akira rent, but adding another person, a slave nonetheless who Akira was required to take care of, would be hard to sell to the gruff middle aged man.
But all Akira could do right now was hope Sojiro would sympathise, and allow her, as long as Akira took care of her.
"The place I live, it isn't much of a walk… but-"
He looks her up and down, seeing her trembling legs. They'd at least given her a pair of sandals, so she could walk through the streets without being impeded.
"-Can you? Walk, I mean."
She nods.
Akira turns to the slaver one last time, asking his final question,"Does she have a name?"
The slaver just shrugs,"Whatever you choose, read the manual."
Akira refuses silently. He's not going to name this girl. She's not a dog . He'll see if she remembers her name, and if she doesn't, he'll help her choose one. She isn't property.
But she is his responsibility now.
Luckily, when Akira gets back to Leblanc, it's closed up. No customers, and no Sojiro. Akira has no intention of hiding the girl from Sojiro, but it's better if he sees her once he's been able to clothe her and get her to eat something.
He takes her up to his room, gently guiding her. He notices that she always stands behind him, she also always bows her head whenever he so much as looks at him.
The terror she feels towards him is obvious, and he knows that that's going to take some time, a lot of time to change.
He leads her up the stairs and into his room. He gives her no order, instead moving straight to his dresser. He rifles through a couple of his drawers, pulling together an old pair of sweatpants and a faded T-shirt. He turns around, saying,"Okay, these probably won't fit you great, but we can go shopping to-"
When he finishes his turn, he sees her on her knees, nude again, with her head bowed and eyes closed.
Fuck.
He scrambles over to her, kneeling down to get on her level. He considers touching her at first, putting his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but he decides against it. That would probably only scare her more.
"Hey, hey, I'm not… I'm not going to do any of… that to you."
She looks up from the ground, her eyes inquisitive.
She doesn't believe him, and he understands completely. He wouldn't believe him either.
He lifts the clothes up with his hand,"Put these on, please."
She takes them from him gingerly, her hand lingering just a second longer than maybe it should've. She just stares at him for a second, before standing. Akira immediately looks away, so he doesn't get a full view of her.
He hears as she pulls on the clothes, and he hears her return to her knees as soon as she does. He stands up now, telling her,"You… you don't need to kneel, okay? Please stand up."
She follows his orders, clearly struggling a little. He winces. He should've given her a choice, ordering her around, even if he's polite about it, it's still a problem.
She looks better now, at least a little bit, now that she has clothes on. More comfortable, he hopes, even if only marginally. He needs to figure out how to make her feel safe , but he's not entirely sure how.
So he'll start simple. Make her a promise he can keep. Explain what his intentions are, so he can at least start to put her mind at ease.
And it'll start with a simple request.
"Can I… can I hold your hand? And, if you don't want me to, it's okay to say no. I understand."
He's worried that even his hand will be too much.
But she nods, so he slowly, as lightly as he can, slides his hand into hers, and places his other hand on top. He looks into her eyes, still so full of fear, and says- no, vows ,"l…I'm not going to hurt you. I take no pleasure in inflicting pain on anyone. You're safe here…"
His eyes travel to the bruises and cuts on her exposed neck, the marks of the constant abuse.
He almost wants to reach out and touch them. So he can understand her pain.
But he won't. He doesn't have any right to touch her anywhere. Maybe one day, when she's comfortable, when she doesn't fear him with every second they spend together.
When she can smile again.
"And… I know that's hard to believe. I understand. But please, give me a chance and I'll prove it to you."
Her face is still blank, disregarding the constant undertone of fear in her eyes.
"Okay?" He says, punctuating it by squeezing her hand ever-so-slightly.
Even that feels like pushing it.
But she nods, telling him that she understands.
She doesn't believe him. Of that he is certain. But he hopes she will, one day, because he plans to keep her close until then.
He hopes he can free her one day. The process is long, tedious, but it is possible. He could make her a free woman, and she could never be enslaved again. No one could raise a hand to her without repercussions ever again.
And so long as he…
As he… owned her, he would make sure no one could lay a finger on her. He would kill anyone who ever entertained the notion of smacking, or kicking or-
Or… touching her.
He realizes he's entirely zoned out, and is probably angrily staring at her, only scaring her more. He quickly recovers, changing expression to one much more easygoing,"So, uh- let's get you some food."
A minute of rooting around his room later, she's sitting on his couch and gratefully munching on a granola bar.
It's clear to Akira that the slaver he bought her from didn't bother to feed her, when she scarfed the thing down in a flat thirty seconds.
He grabs two more from the box and hands them to her. She almost looks… confused. That tells Akira that food wasn't something that she'd gotten much of for a while. Not that he couldn't tell just from looking at her.
He sits down on the bed, pulling out the pamphlet the slaver had given him. He takes a deep breath, dreading what he's about to read, and opens it, skipping the introduction paragraph and going to the first informative one.
Picking a name: Some slaves may have names they were born with, and have carried with them throughout their life, but it is ultimately your decision what they're to be called. Commonly, derogatory words are used as names, E.G., Bitch, slut, whore…
Akira immediately puts the pamphlet down, rubbing his eyes. This is going to be fucking painful .
Akira then realises how fucking stupid that thought is. This is painful. Sure, this girl had been tortured most of her life, but he really had it rough because he had to read some words on a page.
So he keeps reading.
…Its best to give your slave a name they deserve. A disobedient and unruly slave should be given a degrading name that can be changed, should their behavior improve. However, a slave that behaves should be praised, treated well, and should be given a proper name. A pet name is also a safe bet, something affectionate, that lets your slave know your happy with them.
With the first section completed, he puts the book down.
He looks up at the girl, she's now sitting cross legged on the couch, looking nervous again.
He stands up,"Something wrong?"
She shakes her head.
"Are you still hungry?"
She perks up for a microsecond, but shakes her head all the same. Akira can tell that she's lying, trying to seem like she doesn't need food, like she hasn't gone hungry for days, just so she can look grateful and satisfied.
So he doesn't beat her. So he doesn't call her bitch, or slut, or any other terrible word that absolutely nobody should ever be called, so he doesn't force her down and-
He walks over slowly, fishing another granola bar out of the box and pressing it into her hand,"It's okay. You need food. I'm…"
She stares at him blankly, not unwrapping the bar. He supposes she's waiting for him to finish his thought, so he does,"I'm… not like them. I don't want you for anything. But I do want you to be healthy."
Akira does know how hollow that likely rings to her. "I'm not like the others ." Was probably what they all said.
She nods again, bowing her head too. Akira wants to tell her not to, but he realizes that it's probably too far ingrained into her right now that getting her to break that habit will probably take a good long while. She unwraps the bar and takes a tentative bite, so he steps away.
He realizes she's probably also really thirsty, and heads downstairs to get her some water.
And he runs into Sojiro. He doesn't even notice that he's there, and nearly collides with him.
Sojiro halts him by gently grabbing his shoulder,"You alright, Kid? You've always been a bit of a space case, but I'm pretty sure that's the first time you've spaced out so hard you missed an entire person."
Akira is momentarily startled by Sojiro's sudden appearance, but is ultimately glad. Best to rip off the bandaid now, rather than later.
"Sojiro, uh, I've got something I need to tell you, I just need to do something real quick."
Akira does still get a glass of water, as Sojiro stands both confused and stunned at Akira's weird behavior.
Upstairs, Akira hands the girl the cup of water, and she nods in what he assumes is thanks. As she drinks, Akira takes a photo of her, without her noticing.
He thinks that if she saw him taking a picture of her, she'd think he was trying to sell her off.
He then hurried back downstairs, back to Sojiro.
"So, don't freak out."
"Oh god, what did you do?"
Akira pulls out his phone, and the picture, and shows it to Sojiro.
And the middle aged man cocks his head to the side,"Why are you showing me a picture of your-"
And then he sees the collar.
And the scars. The bruises.
"No."
"It's too late for that."
"Look, I know it's pretty common for guys your age to get a slave, but look at the condition she's in. You got scammed-"
"That's not why she's here dammit!"
Sojiro is stunned by Akira's outburst. The kid's normally coolheaded, anger, especially loud anger is almost unheard of.
"I saw her when I was walking back from school. Beaten, bruised, and the slaver slapped her just for looking at me!"
Akira tries to take a few deep breaths before continuing,"I just… I couldn't leave her. I don't expect you to help or anything, but I've already made promises to help her. Please don't make me break them."
Sojiro rubs the bridge of his nose.
On one hand, having a slave living in his attic would be bad for business if people found out. Well, so would a free teenager but that didn't really matter right now.
On the other hand, Akira was a good kid. With a good heart. And he was smart, and capable. And he was trustworthy.
So Sojiro goes with it. For now.
"Fine. But she's your responsibility. Take her to Takemi's, get her checked out. Take her clothes shopping tomorrow, since it's sunday. Oh, and get the girl some real food."
With that, and a thank you from Akira, Sojiro leaves.
Akira goes back upstairs, where the girl sits terrified. She probably heard the two of them. He sits down on the couch with her, on the opposite side.
He looks up to the ceiling, and speaks to her,"That was Sojiro. My guardian. I know he sounds like a bit of a dick, but he's a really good guy."
Then he looks straight into her eyes,"He's got a daughter. A little younger than you."
She nods.
Akira stands up and claps his hands together, and she winces from the sudden noise.
"Sorry."
She shakes her head. He thinks this means she's not really bothered by it, but it's pretty hard to be sure just from a shake of the head.
"So um… do you have a name?"
Another nod.
"Could you write it?"
She shakes her head no.
"Do you know how it's spelled… in english maybe?"
Yet another nod.
"Okay, give me a second."
While Akira does find it peculiar that she knows the english spelling of her name, but now how to actually write it down, he sees no point in asking, since she could really give him an understandable answer.
It doesn't really matter much, for this situation at least. His system for figuring out her name is very simple. She should be able to grasp it easily.
About a minute later, Akira's written out the English alphabet onto a page.
"Okay, I'll move the pencil over each letter. When I get to the first letter in your name, tap me on the shoulder. Then I'll start over, and when we get to the second letter, we'll do the third, the fourth, and so on until we have your name, okay?"
She nods.
"Okay, I'll start now."
He starts with A, and moves forward, B,C,D,E F,G,H,I,J,K,L
Tap.
"Okay, L."
A
Tap.
"Okay. A."
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V
Tap.
"V. Good. Shake your head when we get to the last letter, okay?"
Nod.
A,B,C,D,E
Tap.
"L,A,V,E. Let's keep going."
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N
Tap.
"Good, next-"
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z
Tap.
"L,A,V,E,N,Z. Okay."
A
Tap. And she shakes her head
"Lavenza?"
A nod.
Akira nods in response, standing up,"Lavenza. It's a beautiful name."
She nods in thanks, as she did before. Still, not the barest hint of a smile finds its way onto her face. Though he supposes, y'know being able to have your name shouldn't really be something that's a cause for celebration. That should be expected.
He also thinks back to his earlier question, wondering why she could spell her name in english. It was a european name, so it makes sense she would know it in english. And Lavenza's features certainly don't look Japanese. She's much more European in appearance. He also doesn't think he's ever seen golden eyes like those…
He wonders if they sparkle when she smiles.
Akira makes her some dinner afterward. He's sure she'd still be hungry, even after the granola bars. He doesn't heat up Sojiro's leftover curry, because he knows her stomach couldn't take anything that heavy or rich.
She eats quickly, almost feverishly. She probably didn't have much time to eat in the past when she actually got the chance. He lets her eat in silence, not disturbing or intruding on her. She sits in one of Leblanc's booths, he stands over the counter, wiping it clean while stealing glances at her whenever he knew she wasn't looking.
He felt like a creep. But he couldn't help but be… Curious of her. Wanting to know more about her. Also he just worried for her. He felt compelled to just… make sure she was okay at all times.
He does still feel bad, and tries to at least look at her less. He can imagine that she hasn't been given the barest degrees of privacy in the past. She probably didn't even have clothes for the most part.
Once she's finished, (signified by the quiet clink of her utensils being set down) Akira explains to her what needs to happen tonight.
"I'm going to take you to the clinic down the street."
Lavenza's eyes widened immediately, the undertone of fear on her face becoming much more obvious. Akira isn't surprised. From what he understands, most slaves don't have the best experiences with hospitals and the like.
"I… I know you probably aren't the biggest fan of doctors. But Dr. Takemi is a good person, she won't… do anything she shouldn't do to you."
Lavenza's face pleads with him. He wants to do this later, but he knows that she needs to be checked out as soon as possible, for diseases, and for the many cuts and bruises on her body. He can't risk any of them getting infected. So he pleads in kind,"Lavenza, please. Trust me."
She bows her head now, submitting, and making Akira feel ever worse.
Akira knows it's for her own good, but well… when the phrase," It's for your own good." Ever had positive connotations?
And besides, he trusted doctor Takemi. She sure looked and acted shady, but she did genuinely care about each and every one of the patients she had.
And maybe his opinion was a little skewed because she shelled out the big bucks for his help in clinical trials.
He can feel Takemi's annoyance the second he walks in the door. Akira knows he deserves it, seeing it's 20 minutes until she normally closes up.
The doctor stands up, and Lavenza shrinks back as Takemi's tall, slender figure bares down on her. She had short hair, black, bordering on blue. She wears a choker necklace, and underneath her lab coat is a dress with a spider web like pattern.
All told, she makes a strong impression, and a quite negative one on Lavenza. Akira's well aware of the good doctor's lack of professionalism, he far prefers it in fact to the usual doctor demeanor, but he certainly understands if Lavenza doesn't.
Takemi stares at him for a moment, before saying, "Guinea pig. I didn't call you."
She's referring to when she does call him. He helps her do clinical trials for new drugs. He doesn't need the money, but he believes Takemi's medicines can be very beneficial if properly developed, and hey, there's no such thing as too much money to a highschooler.
Still, Akira has another objective tonight.
"I'm Not here for me, Doctor. I'm here for her."
He gestures, and Lavenza steps out from behind him, looking vastly uncomfortable in front of the languid doctor.
Takemi looks her up and down, taking note first of the collar, marking her as a slave. She assumes she's Akira's. Even someone like him, a staunch abolitionist (or so she thought) wouldn't be stupid enough to steal someone's slave. A crime like that… Hell, he'd probably end up a slave himself.
She also takes note of the many cuts and bruises. Most of them look at least several days old, so she doubts they were inflicted by Akira. Also, she just didn't think Akira was a very violent person. He wasn't even prone to anger really, he was about as cool headed as 16 year olds get.
But she is honestly disappointed.
Takemi doesn't… hate slavery. She's almost entirely indifferent to it, as she understands that it isn't something that's ever going to change.
Akira had always been someone so vehemently against it, and it was admirable. But now, it appeared he'd caved, like so many of the other abolitionists in the world.
"So what, do you need me to give her a checkup?"
"Pretty much, yeah. Standard disease screen, and I want those cuts and bruises checked out too. I don't want any of them getting infected."
"Alright-" Takemi climbs out of her chair behind the counter and walks over to the two of them,"-Head into the exam room."
Akira is taken aback,"Both of us?"
Takemi nods,"Yes. As her owner, you are also essentially her legal guardian, you don't have too, but she'd probably appreciate it."
Akira turns to Lavenza,"Do you want me to be in the room?"
Lavenza gives a fearful nod, shuffling a bit closer to Akira. Takemi scares her. Her demeanor is… unpleasant. Like dealing with Lavenza is the absolute last thing she'd ever wanted to do.
Lavenza can understand. But it doesn't make the doctor any less terrifying. She'd had other doctors, male and female, and all were equally rough with her. She could tell they enjoyed it.
Akira wasn't safe, but he was safer than Takemi.
They go into the exam room, it's colder than the waiting room, and Takemi instructs her to sit on the exam table. Lavenza does so, Akira sitting in a plastic chair on the other side of the room. Dr. Takemi sits in front of a computer, checking off some boxes and typing something, before turning around and picking up a stethoscope. Lavenza flinches as Takemi places the drum on her chest, prompting Takemi to remark,"Christ, this one's skittish. Where'd you get her?"
"Random slaver. Wasn't too far from here."
Takemi takes a look at the various scars visible while the girl's still clothed,"He give these to her?"
"Maybe. Though according to him, she's had 5 previous owners."
"Hmmm… How much did she cost?"
"20k."
"I'd say even that's too much."
"I feel like it's a little cheap for a human life."
Takemi disregards that comment, chalking it up to his naivety.
Takemi pulls the stethoscope away,"Heartbeat's fine." She then pulls out the cuff that she uses to take blood pressure, does so, and then returns it to its proper place.
"Blood pressure's fine too."
They run through the rest of the standard check up fare, until Takemi issues an order,"Alright, strip. I need to look at your injuries."
Lavenza doesn't even hesitate, completely used to this whole process. She's not exactly averse to being naked, as it had pretty much been her natural state for a good portion of her life. Her new master does make it clear that he's looking away. It's a meaningless gesture. He's already seen her naked, and so have probably hundreds of others… But she does appreciate it.
Still, Takemi's eyes do make her uncomfortable. They're intense, boring, into her. Lavenza suppresses a shudder. Takemi looks her up and down, casting particular long looks on some of the nastier scars. Eventually she pulls away,"None of her cuts look infected, most of them are at least a week old. I'll take some blood, and then you can go."
Takemi does so, and Lavenza flinches at the needle, but sits still as Takemi works.
"I'll call you once I have the results. It'll probably take about a week. If you're worried, I'd just wait to use her until-"
"I'm not doing that in general."
Takemi raises an eyebrow,"Really. You took her in just out of the kindness of your own heart?"
"Yeah, actually." Akira says, matter-of-factly.
Takemi shakes her head,"Never change."
When they return to Akira's room, Lavenza still looks supremely uncomfortable. He understands why. He'd hated having to force her to go, but as he'd thought earlier, it was necessary. And now he had peace of mind, she wasn't in any immediate physical danger from her wounds.
Tomorrow… might be difficult. He'd have to bring her out in to public, he'd need to follow the laws in place for slaves out in public and that meant…
Well.
Tomorrow…
Trying to steer clear of thoughts of the next day, Akira speaks to Lavenza, "So… it's getting late. You can take my bed, I'll be fine on the couch."
She shakes her head.
Akira's confused. What's wrong with that?
He answers his own question rather quickly. She probably assumes this is a trap. Which is a very fair assumption for someone in her position.
"...Okay. Where then?"
Lavenza walks over to his bed, curling up at the foot of it.
"No." Is Akira's immediate response. It pisses him off that she even thinks that's normal, or okay.
He has half a mind to track down each and every one of the bastards that-
He walks over to her, kneeling down again,"That's… not how I work. I want you to be comfortable, please get up."
She obeys his order, and he's glad she does, even if it still feels totally wrong to order her to do anything.
But it seems he has to. Either that, or she'll force herself to be miserable.
He raises his hand and holds it out, hoping she'll take it, but he's still a little surprised when she does, looking into his eyes.
"I know it's hard for you to believe me. I understand. But please, please just believe that I care about you. I won't make you work, or anything like that, just let me take care of you. Let me help you."
Akira knows he's crying. And she is too. And he thinks that's okay, because he feels they both could use a good cry right about now.
After a few minutes, he wipes the tears from his eyes and asks,"So, couch, or bed?"
Lavenza lays on the couch, wide awake. Even though her new master has been fast asleep for at least an hour.
She realises now that he never told her his name. Not that it matters really, she'll only be able to think of him as,"Master" anyway.
His kindness seems… genuine. But she knows it can only last for so long. A few of her other masters had been kind for a time. Most recently, she remembers her one and only mistress.
She was kind at first. She fed Lavenza well. She gave her lavish furnishing and the work Lavenza did was not difficult.
Lavenza was happy there, for a time.
But then her mistress's needs changed. She didn't need Lavenza to cook or clean anymore, she just needed her for pleasure.
And her mistress had such a painful brand of pleasure.
She lies on the floor, the bite of the red leather whip cutting large gashes into her back. Lavenza screams as another lash comes. Her mistress only laughs, and plants a stiletto heel on the back of Lavenza's head.
"What's wrong, bitch? Too much for you?"
Lavenza whines as her mistress drives her heel harder into her head.
It hurts so bad. She just wants it to end.
What did she do wrong?
Why was she hurting her?
"P-please… please stop…"
Her begging only earns her another lashing.
Her mistress loved hearing her scream. Loved hearing her beg. Any excuse to punish her, with whip, cane, or paddle, was gladly taken.
Then, when she was done hurting Lavenza, she'd care for her. She'd clean her wounds, gently kissing her all over, until she finally pinned her down and fucked her aching and bloody body.
And Lavenza had screamed. She had begged. She had cried more than she thought her eyes could even muster.
But eventually, she stopped. She stopped feeling the pain. Stopped caring as her mistress tore up her back, her buttocks, and every other part of her body.
And when Lavenza stopped crying, her mistress got bored of her and sold her off the first chance she got.
And now she was here.
She hoped it would be better, even if she seriously doubted it would.
She wants to be good for him. So she never has to learn if he's cruel. She knows what he wants. Despite his insistence that he won't touch her, and the fact that she doesn't want to be touched . With a deep breath, she removes herself from the couch and carefully climbs into bed with her master. She silently, carefully, goes under the covers, and on top of her master's sleeping body. He probably feels nothing. She barely weighs anything, after all.
Now she waits. For the morning. Then, she will do her duty. She will serve her the best she can.
So she can live another day.