Makoto, who just came out of the coat closet in the house's entrance, was at a loss about what to do.

That man could kill him and that family at any moment.

"A prank? Haha, the youth of today..."

The middle aged mister seems to accept the new presences without a problem.

"I noticed your wife is making dinner, I actually brought a gift!"

He goes to the entrance, picks some kind of bag up, and takes a glass compartment out of it.

That glass compartment was familiar.

"A portion of meat! It should be delicious in a special stew~"

It was familiar meat.

From earlier that day.

It was… a piece...

A piece of that person from earlier.

Various pieces, actually, pickled into smaller pieces.

Makoto thought the man had made that to torture that person, but...

It was worse.

"Dear, Yuki's friend brought a present!"

Much worse.

"My, I'll prepare it right now!"

He felt the nausea, that was controlled until then, start acting up again.

His total focus was on not vomiting.

"Why doesn't mister take a nap until the food is ready?"

After hearing that, the middle aged man goes to the room in the deepest part of the house, probably the couple's bedroom.

"Certainly, I was sleepy anyway!"

He enters and closes the door.

Not long after, snores.

"Hey, little sister! Why don't you take a nap as well~?"

He speaks a little louder.

A voice answers from the other room, which must be the room of the little girl from earlier.

"Ok, mister!"

The snores now came from the two bedrooms.

"Sleep quietly, yes?"

And it became quiet.

It was surreal.

Going away from where Makoto is, the man goes to that lady in the kitchen, and stops beside her.

Silently watching her cook.

"Your cooking is always impressive. If you could make the dish in a way that amplified the smell of the meat, it'd be wonderful!"

He keeps smiling.

"But of course, I'll do my best."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

You can feel his smile, even by only looking at his back.

And all that he says is carried out.

No hesitation, no resistance, the person won't even think about it.

They… just accept what he asks for.

As if it was the most natural thing.

"And you, my dear guest."

He says, still facing the other way.

"Why don't you sit?"

Makoto reluctantly obeys, fearing what he might do if he didn't.

Sitting in the first chair of the table of the ample kitchen, which leaves his back to the living room, giving his best to not show his fear in a noticeable manner.

The man soon after turns around.

"Very good."

He laughs lightly.

His eyes seemed to smile, more than usual.

"Soon someone important will be getting here for a very special dinner."

The man goes to the living room, and gets out of the field of vision.

"I can entertain my guests afterwards, but until then..."

His voice gets a little deeper than before.

"Avoid… no, just staying quiet where you are is enough."

The smell of the food that the lady is making is starting to remember...

...

"The less you do, the better."

The man then begins cheerfully humming an unknown melody.

I don't know how much time has passed.

Was it minutes? Hours? Days?

It felt like an eternity.

Breaking it was the sound of the door opening.

"Welcome!"

It seems the "important person" is here.

"You all came just in time for dinner!"

You all?

Someone passed beside me, but I can't lift my head to check who it is.

I'm scared.

"Oh? You're not going in?"

Who was he saying that to?

"Are you sure?"

As soon as he said that...

"Oh hello there, is the young lady also Yuki's friend?"

The middle aged lady, who was silent this whole time, she said something.

Young lady…

Could it be…?

Then…

I can hear a person running.

But I can't.

I'm unable to look up.

It can't be.

"You won't be coming in?"

There was somebody else.

Familiar steps that stopped briefly.

"Oh? Something's wrong?"

Please no.

"No… nothin'."

That voice was no doubt…

The steps came closer, and stopped by my side.

"Makoto? Are you alright dude?"

It was them.

It was them

It really was them.

…

Mustering all his courage, Makoto raises his head.

He looks into Kyou's eyes, and discretely turns them towards the living room right after.

"Yo, Kyou."

Putting his fingers in front of his lips, while simultaneously pointing to his nose.

If there's anyone who would notice what he meant, that'd be Kyou.

Makoto understands.

In that place, it's hard to notice the small details due to the great absurdities.

Those two, they must've also gone through weird situations.

So you need something.

A thing that points where you should look, what you should notice.

He begged that Kyou understood.

But his face showed confusion.

Kyou shakes his head in a yes motion, and stays quiet.

...It should be ok, at least for now.

Turning to the side, Sheila.

It really was her…

And an unknown boy hugged the middle aged lady.

He must be the "important person".

"I'm glad you got home now. I don't know what happened at school, but..."

The middle aged lady gently caresses his head, and makes him let go of her.

"A nice and hot meal should help. Go sit down, Yuki."

She pats him on the head once more, and starts setting up the table.

A table with six seats, with Makoto sitting in one of the two chairs with their back turned to the living room.

The unknown boy sits directly in front of him.

Sheila closely observed the stove, Kyou stayed beside Makoto.

"Here's the food, son. I'll go call you father and sister."

After a small pause.

"We love you."

The woman exited the kitchen.

Soon after, Makoto feels a presence behind him, on the side opposite to Kyou's.

At first the boy looked so happy he could cry, but after messing around with the food using the fork a bit...

He appears to have noticed.

Instantly turning pale, and the hand holding the fork trembled.

He looks in the direction of the man, but Makoto doesn't dare do the same.

The boy seems to have the same opinion, and almost immediately turns back to the food.

He was going to eat that food.

He… probably knows what's going to happen if he doesn't.

...But does doing it really change anything?

The trembling hand tried to take a bit of the stew to the mouth, reluctantly.

At that moment, Kyou holds his hand, which makes the stew fly away and land on the ground.

He stopped the boy.

Maybe by the boy's reaction when he was checking the food, Kyou finally understood the hidden meaning of that action:"The smell of that meat is putrid."

Makoto immediately gets up, and sees the reaction of the man.

But mouth smiled, but not his eyes.

"What's in this?!"

Kyou screams, directed to the smiling man.

The other hidden meaning:"He's the reason."

At some point, Sheila went to the other side of the kitchen, close to the other two.

"Interesting."

The man answered.

Unexpectedly, he didn't seem angry.

He was… Curious?

The unknown boy was taken by the arm by Kyou to the corner of the kitchen, away from that man, at that moment.

With the other hand, the youth held his appear, seemingly in pain.

Makoto was about to go there, alongside them, when they vanished.

And only two people stayed in the kitchen.