Their voices were muffled. Whispers between humans growing louder as they rose to consciousness. Their reactions varied between confusion and fear. Uncertainty plaguing their minds as another presence entered the room.
“Oh, we have four here today.”
The high-pitched male voice startled a young woman. Her breathing turned into trembling sobs while the female next to her demanded, “W-Who the hell are you?”
Their captor clicked his tongue, walking over to third blindfolded female in steady steps and grabbed her throat.
“I would appreciate if you don’t use that tone towards me,” he warned.
She returned a choked gasp, coughing loudly once the clawed hand left her neck.
“After all, the four of you are under my care,” their captor informed happily. “We wouldn’t want anything unfortunate to happen during that time, right?”
At that moment, the second woman felt around her face for the blindfold. Her hand barely lifting it when something stopped her from removing the restricting fabric.
“Especially if you remove your blindfolds without my consent. If you do that…”
Silence hung in the air at the threat that lingered in those words. Enough for their captor to assume they would not resist anymore.
“Good. Such good girls we have here. Now let me guide you to your individual rooms.”
One by one the women were led to their unknown destinations. Fear wrecking them without a single word being uttered. However, the last woman remained eeriely calm – something that her captor took note of with intrigue.
“What is your name, human?” He asked curiously.
“Aoi.”
His clawed hand approached her form.
“Are you scared?”
The words dripped with curious cruelty. However, Aoi shook her head. Her strange captor emitted a soft hum of approval, taking her hand into his.
“Mizuki,” he introduced himself. “From now on, let’s get along.”
Aoi squeezed his hand in response. The sound of light flapping and happy humming filled the silence between them.
----
Within a lavish room, a large monitor plays everything that had transpired. The atmosphere however was the complete opposite of the horror played on the screen. Golden lights cast upon modern, expensive furniture. A spread of food and drinks laid over a long buffet table for the excited crowd of spectators.
“How long do you think they would last?”
“I don’t know but I can’t wait to see what happens next.”
Alphard smiled to himself, swirling the cocktail in his glass within his gloved hand.
“That last human…” A deep voice approached him from behind. “…I assume she is yours?”
From the corner of his eye, Alphard maintained his smile at the humanoid white tiger. “Interested in her?”
His new companion chuckled, looking over the crowd of monsters mingling and spectating their entertainment. “To think our little game has turned into such a spectacle. Monsters flocking together over morbid curiousity.”
“That was what started it in the beginning, no?” Alphard mused.
The enormously-built white tiger downed his drink, watching the particular human with great intensity. “She looks ordinary.”
“Perhaps,” the canine sipped his cocktail, gazing upon the screen confidently. “But once she reveals her true self, you might think otherwise.”
----
Within the dining room, Aoi felt around the table for her utensils and bowl. The fabric of the yukata feeling odd but not unwelcome on her skin.
“This is ridiculous… We have to play along with that monster?” One of the women, Megumi scoffed.
“Unless you want to get eaten or killed, it’s probably for the best,” the second woman, Naomi replied, grumbling at the uncomfortable blindfold. “Though he could have taken these off when we have to eat.”
“N-No… I don’t want to do this…” The smallest among them, Tomoko sobbed.
“Quit your whining! If he finds you crying, we’ll-”
The sound of approaching footsteps immediately silenced the three women. Aoi’s ears perked at the opening of the sliding door.
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“I’m back!” Mizuki announced.
The women went rigid with each step their captor took. Tomoko bit her lip in fear, still trembling as he set the tray of food onto the centre of the table.
“Today’s dishes turned out quite well. There should be enough for everyone to have seconds.”
With each bowl taken to be fill with food, Mizuki placed each woman’s share onto the table. A lump went down Megumi’s throat at the smell of food.
“I-It smells good,” she remarked with surprise.
“Of course. I cook often since I live alone,” Mizuki proudly admitted.
Swallowing back her saliva, Megumi searched for her chopsticks only for Mizuki to beat her to it. “H-Hey!”
“Now, now. You don’t think you can feed yourself with that blindfold on,” he pointed out in a patronising manner.
“Then how about you let us take them off?” Naomi retorted. “You can’t expect to feed us one by one. It will take forever!”
“Then you will have to learn to wait, Naomi-chan,” Mizuki firmly answered, picking up some rice and vegetables with the chopsticks. “This is our time to bond and get to know each other. We can take turns to eat while sharing more about ourselves.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Megumi muttered, only to flinch at the food being pressed against her lips.
“Megumi-chan, say ‘ah’.”
Before she could retort, the food was shoved into her mouth. She almost gagged in response, coughing and chewing at the same time.
“Take it slowly. It’s not going to run away,” Mizuki mused. “Was it too hot?”
Making sure she swallowed her food, Mizuki proceed to feed Tomoko next. The small woman shakily accepted her food, too scared to resist.
“Good girl. Is it to your liking?”
She only managed a shaky nod before Mizuki turned to feed Aoi. The dark haired woman waited calmly – something that made Mizuki tremble with delight.
“You have been a good girl this whole time, Aoi-chan,” Mizuki praised, proceeding to feed her. “How are you finding our time together thus far?”
“It’s-” Aoi paused to chew on her food before swallowing it. “-not unpleasant.”
“That’s good.” Happiness filled Mizuki, prompting him to pet her head. “There is no need to hold back, ok? Eat your fill.”
“This is ridiculous…”
The atmosphere in the dining room grew tense immediately. Though it was only a mutter, the women could sense the tension building up slowly.
“…What was that, Naomi-chan?”
“N-Nothing.”
Realising her mistake, Naomi struggled to think of a solution. However, Mizuki had already come to a decision.
“If you dislike it so much, perhaps you would like to skip tonight’s dinner?”
“That’s not what I meant. I just-”
“Take your blindfold off then.”
Naomi’s mouth parted in surprise at Mizuki’s sudden suggestion.
“If you think you can handle what you see, then go ahead and do so,” he added without a hint of emotion. “But know that there would be consequences.”
Hearing those words, Naomi mustered her courage and slowly undid her blindfold. Her fingers worked out the knot, letting the fabric fall from her eyes. Her mind could not process it at first. But when it did, Naomi could not help but choke up in fear.
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Sitting among them was a monstrous moth about the size of a human. Humanoid in shape with large red eyes and pale wings wrapped around his body like a snowy robe.
“A-Ah…”
The fur around his neck bristled at Naomi’s reaction. A pair of furry antennae raised to mimick frowning eyebrows.
“As I thought…” The apathetic tone of Mizuki’s voice seemed disconnected with his form to Naomi. “…my form disgusts you.”
The bowl of food flies across the table past Naomi’s head. Tomoko flinched with a startled squeak at the loud shattering impact. Sauntering towards the stunned woman, Mizuki placed a clawed hand over Naomi’s face. His other hand gripped the pair of chopsticks tightly, raising them over her eyes.
“Mizuki.”
The chopsticks barely stopped over Naomi’s eyelashes. The moth monster turned to Aoi who was still sitting undisturbed.
“They won’t be able to eat if you scare them,” she said.
“But I have to-”
“Mizuki.”
There was a shift in her tone. One that disturbed even the other women around the table.
“We can’t enjoy the food you worked so hard to make if it gets cold,” she reasoned with a smile. “If you are still angry with Naomi, you can send her to her room to reflect on her actions after you help us. Right, Megumi? Tomoko?”
The two girls snapped out of their shock at Aoi’s words.
“A-Ah yeah… and your cooking is really great! It would be a waste if we don’t finish them now,” Megumi added.
Tomoko nodded hastily in agreement and after an agonising few seconds, Mizuki visibly calmed down.
“Ah… then it can’t be helped,” he sighed.
Releasing Naomi from his grip, he gave her a warning look. “You’ll sit here until the rest of them are done. Is that clear?”
“Y-Yes…” Naomi stuttered.
Joining the other women at the table, Mizuki took a seat next to Aoi. His clawed hand came to stroke her head. Naomi immediately noticing the smile on the calm woman’s face.
----
“…Why did you help me?”
Naomi asked Aoi once they were alone in the dining room.
“You could have let him kill me and increase your chances of winning this game,” Naomi muttered, narrowing her gaze at Aoi. “What exactly do you benefit from saving me?”
She was not sure how the usually quiet woman would respond. The whole entire time, Aoi had been the least participative among the four humans. Yet something about her rubbed Naomi the wrong way. Something odd-
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t do that to save you.”
A cold shiver went down Naomi’s spine at the Aoi’s voice dropping an octave. Despite the blindfold on the dark haired woman’s face, she felt the cold stare burning in her direction.
“I just didn’t want him to spill unneccessary blood on the food,” Aoi spoke flatly. “Plus, if he entered a killing frenzy, it would be a lot of trouble to clean everything up.”