"My, my, what an adorable demon!" Your head pounded loudly as the high-pitched voice stirred you from your unconsciousness.
"What shall we do with them?" said a slow drawl of a voice, "They'd make a great addition to my die-o-rama." You heard a sick smile form at the end of that sentence. Diorama? What?
"No, no! They're too cute to be in your art! Plus imagine the cute noises they can make!" the prior voiced pitched. "Hey, you," you felt a gentle prodding on your cheek causing you to flinch, "Can you meeeow?"
Meow? You hesitated but feeling handcuffs around your wrists and remembering these voices in sickening laughs when those twisted white and black bears attacked, you didn't feel like you were in any position to protest their wishes. "Me… meow?" you squeaked. Your vision slowly returned to you.
"Eeeeeee! Soooo cute!" You were now able to place the bubbly voice to a pink haired pigtailed child with demon horn headband. "Let's make them our pet! Servant can take care of them!" she squealed gleefully.
"Well, a pet would be nice…" A leather masked child said slowly, contemplatively placing his finger on his chin looking up and out into space.
"Then it's settled!" the pink haired child pointed at you decisively making you jump slightly, "You are now the Warriors of Hope's new pet!" She giggled as she and the young boy brought you up to your feet.
You felt sore all over, but nothing major seemed to have gotten injured. Your mind flashed to the terrible actions you witnessed those bears do to others and felt extremely lucky to be in your situation now. Fear seeped into your bones though as uncertainty was all you had around the corner. You were alive now, but for how long?
You were brought to a room that contained no windows. The pink haired girl twirled with glee. "It's dress up time!" Her eyes literally sparkling with stars before she turned away to grab what you assumed would be your new outfit.
She returned shortly with what seemed to be a maid's outfit adorned with a cat tail at the hem of the skirt and cat ear headband. Additionally, she had a metal collar with a small bell on it. She placed the collar around you neck and latched it on, it didn't seem that you would be able to take this off yourself. She attached a chain from the collar to a post in the middle of the room, it seemed that you would be able to move around the room freely with the length of the chain.
"Alright, now get dressed!" she ordered as she placed the clothes on the bed and left you alone.
Were you… in danger? This was quite weird. You knew the dangers out there, but what were these children doing? You couldn't make sense of any of your memories. It all blurred like some kaleidoscope nightmare.
It was some sick joke. None of this made sense, the senseless violence you witnessed out there to now playing dress up to the whim of some children. You shed your clothes off your body and shimmied into the maid's outfit and shyly placed the cat ear headband on your head. This… is embarrassing… You didn't have much time to think about it when the little girl bustled back into the room.
"Oh my! So adorbs!" she squealed, but her next words came out ominous, "Let's see how an adorable thing like you protects itself. On. Your. Own." You stared in confusion at her and the sudden change of tone. She just smiled back at you "Oh, don't worry kitty. I won't be the one to motivate you~" Motivate? The sultry way she said it made you not to want to find out what that meant. "As long as you play your role as the sweet kitty, I won't have to motivate you~ Just play nice with Servant and everything will be just peaches!" She giggled as she petted your head playfully.
"I have to return back to Monaka and the other Warriors of Hope now!" her bubbly demeanor returned, "Oh, Monaka is going to be so excited that we tamed a demon to be our new kitty! Servant will be in shortly to make sure you're trained~" With that she bounced out the room locking it behind.
You let gravity take you down on the bed with your mouth agape at the absurdity happening. Demon? Was she calling me a demon? Nothing made sense to you. You brought your knees up to your chest and stifled a sob. You pushed your tears down and sought a steely resolve within you. You were alive. There was still hope. You shifted yourself onto your knees onto the bed looking around your new quarters. There honestly were no escapes you could see, even if you weren't currently chained up. You sighed.
The click of the door's lock grabbed your attention. In walked a lanky guy around your age with a cloud of wavy off-white hair. His pale green gray eyes looked at you and with a gentle smile he said, "Good kitties don't sit on their owner's bed."
You jumped off the bed and onto your feet in shock of his words. He chuckled softly. He stepped more into the room revealing that he wore a metal collar with a chain as well and he carried a tray with a cloche and glass of juice. "I was only kitten." How… lame… But his joking and gentle smile put you at a small amount of ease. You didn't let your guard down though.
"Who… who are you?" your voice was raspy from not using it. You eyed him as he made his way across the room and sat on the bed, placing the tray on the table next to it. He patted the spot next to him and you hesitantly sat back down.
He brought the glass of juice to you. "You really should drink something," he said kindly. You tentatively took the drink and gulped it down, surprised at your own thirst. He smiled as you finished the drink. "As for who I am, I am Servant. But if you wish to, you may call me Komaeda. Nagito Komaeda." He grabbed the cloche and revealed a buttered bread roll. "Sorry it's not much. If it's alright with you, may I ask your name?"
He brought the plate to you and you brought it onto your lap. You munched tentatively on the roll. You noticed how he watched patiently, still that gentle smile plastered on his face. You swallowed your first bite, appreciative that the drink softened your harshened throat muscles. "… (Y/N). I'm (Y/N)," you said softly.
"(Y/N)," he repeated back, "What a nice name. Well, (Y/N), I know this situation may be a bit despair inducing, what with the tragedies of the outside world. You seem to be… so hopeful right now though."
You stared at him as you took another bite not wanting the warmth of the roll to wane. You thought while you took a few other bites. You swallowed the final bite before you spoke. "Well… it's… really dreadful out there, isn't it?" Your eyes widened as flashes of memories came to you. You shook your head to knock them out of your head. "B-but, I'm… alive. There's always something to look forward to as long as you keep breathing."
Nagito stared out at you with admiration. He clasped your hands, making you take note that his left hand was covered by a striped mitten. "Yes! That hope found from despair! Amazing!" he gushed.
You felt awkward under his admiring gaze. "It's… nothing so special, is it? It's only natural to want to continue to survive, right?"
"Ah, as someone filled with hope would say. You'd be astonished by how many let despair fill them to such apathetic conditions," he stated glumly. You couldn't imagine… "Anyway, it's time for bed…" he said calmly, "Kotoko has stated you'll be rooming with me, though I apologize there is only this bed here."
Kotoko, the pink haired child? You smiled at the concern that he gave. "It's okay, I can… sleep on the floor…" you hesitated at the prospect as the floor was nothing but hard concrete.
"No, no! I could not let you do such a thing!" he exclaimed.
"Well," you stated, "The bed seems big enough for both of us… I promise to take up as little room as I can." You gave a reassuring smile.
He stood up and looked contemplatively down at the bed. "Well, you're right, if you're okay with sleeping next to trash such as myself."
You stared at him in confusion at his self-depreciative remark that he said with a smile still on his face. "It's more than okay, if it keeps us both off the floor." You stretched yourself thinly on the left side of the bed, facing out and staring at the door. Nagito made his way to the other side and you felt the bed shift slightly as he laid down.
"Good night, Komaeda," you said as he switched the light off, only a dim overhead light in the corner now illuminating the room in a soft light.
A moment of silence. "Good night… (Y/N)," he said softly in an almost question.
You felt yourself drift fast into sleep from exhaustion. You snuggled into the pillow and the world around you disappeared.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have a lot of ideas for the rest, mostly fluffy domestic life in your new home with the Warriors of Hope and some more explicit fun later as foreshadowed by Kotoko's words.