Wiping a tear from her eye, Suda finally calmed herself down.
She tried speaking, but her voice was still recovering from her laughter. Every word she uttered was subdued by a fit of panting. "Sorry...Sorry. It's just that...Sometimes when something sucks so much, ya just have to laugh about it!"
"Suda..." Mizuno sighed wearily and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Yuu. I couldn't help it..." She let out a nervous laugh, and her cheeks lit up a rosy red.
"It's fine... What'd you think of their story? Can we trust them?" Mizuno replied, nodding in my direction.
Suda cleared her throat briefly and took a breath. "Though I'm not sure what to think 'bout the fact they stole the coach that easy, I can guarantee ya they ain't lyin'. As fer the trustin', well, that's yer decision, Yuu."
Mizuno stopped, placed a hand against her lips, and stared into the crackling fire. Time stood still for several more moments, only resuming once she'd nodded, looked at me, and finalized her decision.
"So now all of you know why you were brought here, right? To be served up as food on a golden platter for demons?" She eyed each of us, specifically our reactions, thoroughly.
'Food? Demons? What the hell?!' I was hesitant to believe it, to say the least. But, given everything that had happened so far, and Kamida's serious expression, I had to.
I didn't think Kamida was the type to lie, especially about something like that, so my one option was to believe him. To think that not only were our summoners trying to kill us, but go as far as eating us?!
"Could you tell us what the hell is going on?" Ayame said from behind me. She had begun rising from her seat, but Mizuno waved her back down.
"We'll disclose everything," Mizuno affirmed. "But first, eat." She motioned to several squirrel carcasses impaled on sticks around the firepit. They'd been wholly stripped of their skins and organs, leaving nothing but a husk of crispy browned muscle.
Setting aside the fact that the flesh was squirrel, the food was exquisitely charred, with only a few ruined pieces of blackened streaks running alongside the meat.
The smell was even more tantalizing as its pungent, salty aroma wafted and filled our hovel completely.
Mizuno, Suda, and Shrug each took a skewer and promptly began munching away. Ravenously, they tore off and wolfed down caramelized tendons like they hadn't eaten in days.
Though I'd watched the meal's preparation, for the most part, I was still hesitant to consume anything. Especially considering they'd already threatened us once.
Aside from those three, we stalled in our thoughts with cautious hunger. The sisters, Kamida, and I all looked on at their small feast with growling stomachs but fearful minds, traumatized by what had happened in the manor.
Even Takagi was no exception to hunger's temptations. Though he still blankly stared at Nakamura's flask, his gut rumbled and stuttered like a small engine waiting to be filled with fuel.
Eventually, Kamida once again took the lead. "Would you mind?" he asked, moving toward one of the skewers.
"Absolutely! Help yerself!" Suda cheerily smiled.
After returning her smile and thanking her, Kamida stepped forward and took hold of a skewer. Then, before backing away, he tore off a shred of flesh and offered it to Suda. "Would...you care to eat some?" He asked awkwardly.
"Say what?" Suda looked at him quizzically. "Is there somethin' wrong with it?"
"No, no, no, it's just..." he laughed and rubbed the back of his head.
What Kamida had wanted must've "clicked" with Suda. She swallowed another chunk of meat before saying, "Ohhhhhh, I see. Yup, I guess the bloodsuckers like to drug ya, huh?" She laughed, leaned forward, and, like a wild animal, viciously snapped the strip of squirrel flesh from his hand.
Like she'd been emphasizing her point, Suda then made very vocal humming noises of satisfaction and chewed as dramatically as possible.
Her tactic had succeeded and removed any strength I had left to doubt the food. I mean, if the food were poisoned, she wouldn't have eaten it that willingly, right?
Likewise, Ayame followed suit and seized a skewer for herself and her sister. It took a bit of forcing, but she eventually convinced Hikari to take hers.
I reached for a second, trying to bring some food to Takagi when Mizuno stopped me. She placed a hand on mine, blocking me from pulling away. "He needs time; he'll eat when he's ready."
I'd been about to protest, but her azure eyes that shimmered an orange hue from the flames were sincere and confident. I could feel my unease and uncertainty draining away, like this woman hadn't given a suggestion, but predicted a sure future that would come to pass. So I obeyed and returned to my place on the ground.
pαпdα-ňᴏνê|·сóМ I took a bite from my grotesque but long-sought-after meal.
After chewing off and gnawing at the slightly burnt flesh, I nearly wept a tear of joy. I was happy to finally fill my belly.
I wasn't sure who coined the term "hunger makes the best seasoning," but they'd been absolutely, one hundred percent, right! Even though I was eating unseasoned and dried tidbits of rodent from a stick, it'd been like a five-star meal to me!
"Now that we all have food, Miss Mizuno, Miss Suda," Kamida spoke, breaking the uniform sound of crunching meat and smacking lips, "would you mind filling us in on what you know?"
Suda looked toward Mizuno with unsure eyes, seemingly asking for permission. When Mizuno nodded back, Suda returned her gaze back to Kamida.
"Welp looks like Yuu's okay with it! Sure thing!" She gulped the last piece of meat from her skewer and threw it into the fire, leaving it to incinerate into blackened ash.
She cleared her throat and beckoned us all to move in closer. "So, first, lemme con-"
"Could you tell me where you're all from?!" I hastily interjected. I'd desperately wanted to ask the question but hadn't had a chance until now. I was beyond doubt they'd been from Japan, but I had to be sure.
Suda giggled and returned my curious gaze in kind. "Figures that'd be yer first question. I thought our names had made it obvious, though."
"I just wanted to hear you say it," I affirmed.
"Makes sense," Suda replied. Then, motioning toward a disinterested Mizuno, Suda gave me a charming, almost luminous grin. "Meet Lt. Mizuno Yuki! She's the icy flower of Tokyo PD!"
Mizuno hadn't said anything about the second part of her introduction, but there was a distinct weary eye-roll. She must've not been fond of the title.
"As fer me," Suda mischievously grinned, " I'm Corporal Suda Asuka! Of the same place! Feel free to call me whatever!"
"And him?" I pointed toward the giant in the room. The one that had been blankly picking his teeth free from squirrel bits with his empty skewer.
Suda glanced at Shrug, clasped her hands excitedly, and exclaimed, "no idea! We call him Shrug!"
I was taken aback by her response. 'Isn't Shrug her ally? How could she not even know his name?!' I calmed myself down, though. It was apparent she'd been joking, right? I figured there was no way you could trust a stranger to have your back, especially in a world like this.
I shakily raised my hand and asked, "Uhhmm, what do you mean 'no idea?'"
Suda returned my question with a quizzical stare and tilted her head. "Exactly what I said? He don't talk much, and he never talks about himself. In fact, he mostly just shrugs at everything." She pointed to Shrug, to which he shrugged in response. "See? So we named 'im Shrug!"
"Huuhhhh," I was too tired to question anything anymore. I had no idea what the time was, but it was time for this hellish day to finally come to a close.
"Yup! That's Shruggie! We found him hammering away at some bloodsuckers while traveling, so we had 'im join us!" She let out a charming and almost childlike laugh.
Finally, while the conscious members of our group officially introduced themselves, the last cinders of our campfire began dying out to darkness, symbolizing our day's end. Through all of the hardship, all of the running and death, we survived.
My eyes became heavy, and my sight blurred. The ache in my muscles and joints were just as impairing. My entire body felt like it was shutting down. Even to the point where I'd consider hibernating for weeks to recover my strength.
After the day I'd just had... I was just too tired to plan an escape anymore. Besides, hearing concretely those two were of my world, and they were police officers no less, I felt I could finally rest easy. Like I could finally be rescued from my nightmare.
Unlike me, they must've had a bit of unfinished planning to finish before the day concluded, considering how Suda turned to Mizuno and Shrug.
Her bright demeanor became serious, and her tone was devoid of humor. "What should we do?" she asked Mizuno. "Do you wanna trust 'em?"
Mizuno took a breath and looked us each over, one by one. Finally, she gave a smirk and nodded to Suda and Shrug. "We're taking them with us... We're going to Freehaven."
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