A small, cramped waiting room

What lay behind the door was a small cube of a room, actually being around the same size as the magnificent closet the dress was stored in. It was a windowless room with a single couch pushed up against a wall and a small table sitting in front of it. Across the opposite wall sat a full-length mirror, standing around 6 feet in height. Mrs. Taki’s hand pushed Kioko slightly forward, signaling for her to take a few steps into the rather empty room. She was instructed to wait there until a man came to fetch her then to follow the man’s instructions. Kioko was given no time to process the information before the door closed behind her, hearing a small clink as the door locked behind her.

She was left alone for an amount of time, Kioko unsure of how long as there wasn’t a clock or window to tell her how much time had passed. At first she had stood in front of the mirror, admiring the beautiful creature in front of her, but as the wait time went from minutes to what felt like over an hour, Kioko decided to take a seat. She was very careful to not crease the dress as she sat, sitting down with her ankles crossed as Mrs. Taki had taught. Back when she was taught, Kioko didn’t really understand why they were taught to do so at the time as it was such an uncomfortable way of sitting, but now realized the wisdom in the posture. With the dress riding halfway up her thigh, sitting in any other fashion would expose her privates to anyone and everyone in front of her.

Anxiety started to fill in the passage of time as Kioko was **** to wait, nothing but her own thoughts as company. She fidgeted with her hands lying on her lap, finding little comfort in the act, but had nothing else she could do. Thankfully they had taken a break after her hair was done up to eat breakfast, or she would be starving on top of everything else. Suddenly a clinking of a lock and opening door startled Kioko out of her mind, finding an unfamiliar man standing in the door. “Come.” He commanded, taking a step to the side. Without a moment’s hesitation, Kioko leaped to her feet, flattening out her dress before exiting the prison of a room.

The halls she was led through held familiarity to her, as she had traveled down them a multitude of times, though they took a left when she would usually go right. The man opened the door, gesturing for her to go through it. On the other side lay the backstage area, a cacophony of voices hitting her as she stepped through the threshold. Another man was seemingly waiting for their arrival as once he laid his eyes upon her, he walked out onto the stage and began talking. It became apparent he was the auctioneer as he began riling up the crowd, thanking everyone for coming.

Kioko’s heart started pounding out of her chest standing on the side of the stage. This wasn’t the first auction she’d borne witness to, but those were all as a bystander. Across the stage, she could see the viewing area of her peers as they watched the proceedings, giving her a plethora of smiles and encouraging gestures. It wasn’t until now did she realized the power such small gestures instilled in her, making an anxiety that would consume her into something slightly more manageable. Mrs. Taki stood beside the group, face still and stoic as she watched on. When their eyes met, she was given a small smirk and slight nod, which was a cherry on top that helped her to steel her nerves.

The entire time the auctioneer had been going through his normal spiel as he riled the bidders up. A stern-looking man stood beside Kioko, looking forward without giving her a single glance. She was to wait for this man to give the signal to walk onstage, though with how many events she had witnessed by this point, she knew what words to wait for. The magic words were said and the man gave her his first and only look, simply nodding his head before stoically looking forward once more. Taking a deep breath, Kioko walked forward into the light of the stage.

She looked over the crowd with trepidation, scanning the mass of people, knowing that one of them would be her new master. Everyone was well dressed, which considering the starting price of the auction, was simply to be expected. The age range of the participants was also, sadly, in the expected range as well. Many of her potential masters were older gentlemen, though not all of them. Her gaze lingered on some of the younger scions, most of them being palatable to her eye. What surprised her were the few women intermingled in the crowd, as they usually were only present when a male demi was being auctioned. These types of masters were paradoxically the best and worst types of masters to be under as a female demi. From what Kioko had heard, they are always one of the two extremes, meaning falling under one would put her life in the hands of what was essentially a coin flip.

The bidding started at $10,000, which was the standard starting point. It never stayed long though, as anyone who attended one of these auctions would know that the price would easily go over 20 times the amount. Kioko could only stand there as she watched her future life be sold to the highest bidder, her knees starting to shake as they started to give out. By some miracle she managed to stay standing, knowing that showing such a disgraceful act would only attract the less palatable buyers.

Before she knew it the price had risen to past $250,000, and it showed only a small indication of slowing down. At this stage around a third of the bidders had backed down, placing their bidding cards down as an indication of their withdrawal. Kioko was disparaged to see that most of these were the younger scions she had her eye on, the group apparently underestimating the heights the prices could go.

The price rose to $500,000, which was startling to Kioko. Most auctions ended well before reaching half a million, at this point, most patrons would cut their losses as an individual demi wasn’t worth the high cost. Only under specific circumstances would this general rule be broken, and she didn’t really fill any of them. The only time Kioko had witnessed the price go this high was when the auction house got their hands on a demonstrably rare dragon demi. Her price had started at a quarter million and grew to a dizzying $900,000. The patrons had all broken out in a bidding war, making the price skyrocket to such a staggering height. It seemed that history was repeating itself as only three bidders still held their bidding cards, each fervorously trying to win out against each other.

Her future master had been boiled down to a pool of three people. They represented a condensed subset of the attendees, as they consisted of a young scion, an old man, and an elderly woman. Kioko was ecstatic to see one of the young men had lasted this long, deeming her apparently worth the exorbitant price the bidding had risen to. The other two were not to be dissuaded however, none of them willing to back down even as the price continued to climb. Then, a silence filled the room as one of them held up their card, calling out.

“One Million.”

Despite her best efforts, Kioko’s legs finally gave up at hearing the absurd price, falling to her knees. Her eyes had also widened to the size of saucers, unable to believe the amount she just heard. The price was already around a staggering $750,000, only for it to jump that last quarter in an instant. Why? She thought. Why was she worth 1 Million? Why was a simple Neko demi worth this much, her kind was practically a dime a dozen. The silence stayed as the crowd waited in anticipation, many of them holding a similar shocked expression to hers, almost aghast at the amount put up. All eyes landed on the two other bidders, waiting in anticipation for their reaction.

A clinking of wood as one of them wordlessly put their card down, and then, a second echo of the sound rang through the quiet crowd. The auctioneer was the only sound in the room as he went through the ending sales pitch, asking for any last-second bidders. But it was wholly for show, as even he knew no one was going to top the last bid. Kioko simply stared at the person who just dropped $1 million for her, an ordinary, run-of-the-mill cat demi.