A/N: Written for the Fanfiction High Challenge at the AMF.
The Shikabane Family's Cannibalism
When he'd volunteered to help prepare the food, he had been expecting – you know, the usual thing. Fruits. Vegetables. Meat.
Well, he supposed it was meat – but meat wasn't supposed to be a human being. An alive human being at that. And one he recognised to boot.
And there that little girl was, talking about skinning her as if it was something she did every day.
Maybe they did do it every day.
His hands shook. The blade clattered to the ground and he fell forward, grappling with the ropes that tied her.
Neyume just calmly gave orders like a chef and advanced with her blade. It was normal for her: the way she talked, the way she was entirely unsympathetic to the tied up girl about to be slaughtered –
'Just like an animal.'
He didn't know who said that, but it captured the sentiment perfectly. Talking about preparing a human being like it was a pig or a piece of steak…
But, even then, a part of him understood that these people really had no choice. Hanako's eyes as she'd begged him not to hate her. The way the others pulled Juria away. The way Toshirou was staring hard at him, almost as though he was worried –
And the next time he saw Inui – her corpse – he could only feel sorry for her and want a burial. That horror towards the Shikabane family's cannibalism had dulled.