Sorry, this chapter is shorter than usual, but I felt this scene needed its own dedicated chapter.
Chapter Four: More Than One?
BGM: Silent Hill OST - Eternal Rest
"...Okay, I'll bite. What the fuck is this?" Takehito asked, not really paying attention to the cards in his hands.
"Just a fun game." The Noose smiled at him.
"Aye," Brain waved his arm, the act created a mist that covered the table, poker chips appeared. "Take your chips, drink some tea, it's good for your health, and relax."
"Put the research to side, you're dealing next." Heart said dismissively.
Takehito absentmindedly took his chips. It had been years since he played, but he remembered the rules like it was yesterday.
He took a look at his at the two cards he was given. Ten of Diamonds, and Nine of Clubs, a bad start unless he can bullshit his way through this.
Everyone had $10,000 worth of chips, each one of them threw $100, making the starting pot $400. It was his turn.
"I'll call." He said, throwing $100.
The Brain leaned in, smirking. "Hmmm, there's that absolute poker face we know and love. I'll call."
The Heart had a knowing look. "I'll raise."
The Noose bit his lip. "...Call."
It continued like this for a few hands, no one had been dropped yet. But the atmosphere, despite the rather gory scene, was not too unlike those of friendly co-workers enjoying themselves.
The Heart spoke up as a new hand was being dealt. "I could get used to this, you know? No more blood, beasts, and bullshit."
The Noose nodded. "I know what you mean. But, after so long. This place feels so foreign, yet nostalgic."
The Heart gave an empty chuckle. "Of course it's odd, we don't belong here after all. Not anymore."
The Brain scoffed. "Bleh, you two are too narrow-minded. Have you forgotten all we have accomplished?"
The Noose shot him a look. "Have you forgotten our sins?"
He scowled. "What are a few sins in the name of progress and truth."
"Any progress we made was drowned out in a sea of wrongdoings we committed." The Noose shot back.
"And in the end, we gave up our notions of progress and truth." The Heart interjected. "So your sentiments of truth and progress are meaningless, our sins were in vain."
Takehito blinked a few times in confusion. He had no idea what the three were talking about.
"Is this… uh, going to be a recurring thing during this game?" Takehito asked, half-jokingly. "You know, me being lost with whatever the hell you guys are talking about."
The three looked at each other for a second before replying. "Probably."
Takehito sighed. "I get this is my mind fucking with me right now. But could this be somewhat more coherent? I wanted to check some dumb files, not drink tea and play poker with a trio of zombies… I raise by the way."
The Brain leaned back a bit. "Coherent is one of the last things you want from this. Just think it a moment of nonsense, then everything makes sense… I call."
"...That makes no sense."
The Noose put his hand on Takehito's shoulder. "Just don't think too hard about things. Roll with it, if you will."
Takehito shrugged, the apathy switch wasn't even in full gear, yet he already had no problems with following The Noose's advice. It was probably the best way to end this literal mind game faster.
[-]
Matsu rushed up the stairs as quickly as she could without drawing attention. She all but kicked open the entrance to her secret room.
She had to calm down, her face was flushed, her heart wouldn't stop beating. She was, without doubt… reacting to Miya's husband.
She groaned. "...Matsu is in so much trouble if Miya finds out."
The beautiful redhead sat down in her chair and sighed as the heat in her body began to dissipate.
"Of all the people to be Matsu's Ashikabi..." She mumbled.
Make no mistake, Matsu liked Takehito, he was a great person, a bit on the loony side of things, but what would you expect from someone hired by Hiroto Minaka. She had absolutely no problems with him being her Ashkabi… but he was Miya's husband. He wasn't an Ashibaki when they got married, yet they still loved each other greatly…
Matsu was hesitant to get between something like that… especially now that he miraculously came back from the dead.
She took a few deep breaths to calm her furiously beating heart, and brought up the program for the secret cameras she had set up in various places around the inn.
The cameras were used for a few things, mainly security and a good laugh.
She turned on the feed for the living room camera.
Matsu saw Takehito standing in front of the open door to the living room, looking rather shellshocked at… nothing.
BGM: Silent Hill OST - Cafe Rest Theme
She bit her lip. "Oh no… he's hallucinating again."
Takehito finally stepped into the living room, his eyes trained on whatever it was he was seeing on the table. He sat down on one corner, putting the binder aside, then looking down at the table in front of him as if he'd been handed something.
His mouth moved, but she couldn't hear anything.
"Dammit!" Matsu cursed. "Matsu knew she shouldn't have let Seo install the cameras! Matsu should've known he'd cut corners!"
The cameras had no sound, only video feed. She couldn't hear anything he was saying…
Unless…
Matsu brought out her cell phone and texted Miya to get to her secret room as fast as possible, and that it was an emergency. That and to bring Duck-san with her.
The wait wasn't long. In less than a minute, Miya had flipped open the entrance to Matsu's secret room.
Miya handed Matsu Duck-san. "What's the emergency?"
"Matsu has good news and bad news," She motioned towards the monitor. "Good news, Takehito is back. Bad news, he's hallucinating again, and his behavior could be very unstable if we try to shake him out of it right now."
Miya's expression was stiff as her eyes moved from the monitor to Matsu.
Matsu grabbed her hand before she could even consider rushing down to the living room.
"Matsu knows how Miya feels," the brain-type Sekirei sympathized. "But we need to handle this situation delicately."
Miya bit her lip in frustration, but relented in the end. "...Fine."
Matsu fiddled around with Duck-san until it started playing the signal from the living room.
[-s my mind fucking with me right now. But could this be somewhat more coherent? I wanted to check some dumb files, not drink tea and play poker with a trio of zombies… I raise by the way.]
The wiretapped rubber duck outputted Takehito's voice with crystal clear quality, as expected from something personally made by Matsu.
They saw Takehito push something that he saw on the table… they weren't expecting to hear what was being pushed. It was the clinking of plastic chips.
Matsu blinked as her jaw dropped. "...T-That's...that's impossible! There's nothing there!"
Miya blinked. "What's wrong?"
"Miya, listen closely while you watch."
On the monitor, Takehito looked to his left… the sound of what seemed like static could be heard.
Matsu's eyes widened at that. That was another highly unlikely event. Duck-san was made with perfect audio quality in mind, something like this couldn't happen unless someone messed with the bugs she had planted around the inn.
[...That makes no sense.] Takehito said.
More static.
He shrugged. Reached for something that wasn't there on the table, lifted it towards his mouth and…
"Is he… drinking something?" Miya asked as the sounds of Takehito sipping something that wasn't there.
They could hear the non-existent liquid being sipped. He set… whatever he was holding down, and they heard a clink as his hand reached the table.
Miya was silent as she watched on with wide eyes.
[You know, I know I'm not actually drinking tea right now, but this is some good stuff.] He said, he paused, some static, his eyes widened. [Wow, all in? Someone put on his daddy pants tonight.]
There was more static…
[You know what? I'll meet that bet. All in.]
He pushed thin air, and the sound of poker chips clinking together rang through Duck-san.
"...But there's… there's nothing there!" Miya grew just as shocked as Matsu was at the realization.
There was more static…
Matsu frowned, that static was impossible to actually happen with the technology she had created for Duck-san. Sure, it was a simple device, but Matsu had personally made it from scratch.
"Miya, please keep an eye on Takehito, Matsu is going to check something." The redhead said as she brought up another program on a separate monitor.
"...Okay." Miya agreed, not keeping her worried eyes off Takehito.
That static… it didn't sound like static, not exactly. It was suspicious.
Matsu loaded up an audio editor, and uploaded what they currently had from Duck-san into the program. She put on some headphones as she relistened to the static sections.
"Just as Matsu suspected, this isn't static at all..." She mumbled as she fiddled with the audio clips.
BGM: Silent Hill OST - Dark Again
It sounded more like... faint whispering more than anything. Seemed like it was in reverse, so in turn, Matsu reversed the audio. That did the trick, she could finally make out something resembling speech, but it was too fast to understand. She slowed it down until she could hear what was being said and then...
[I wanted to check some dumb files, not drink tea and play poker with a trio of zombies… I raise by the way.]
[Coherent is ...EyEs EYes eyES... this. Just ...TRuTh TruTh TrUtH... of nonsense, th... FeAr fEaR FEar… I call.]
Matsu gulped thickly. That was not the voice of a human being.
[That makes no sense.]
[You know, I know I'm not actually drinking tea right now, but this is some good stuff.]
[Thank yo...DrEam dreAM DreEEEeeeaAAAaaM!]
Matsu took off her headphones quickly. Her face was pale as a ghost. That voice… no creature on Earth could make such hideous sounds. It was twisted, unnatural, it made her nauseous just hearing it. She couldn't put it into words, but the best she would've been to describe it was as pure wrongness given audible form.
Sure, the Sekirei were, alien beings from God knows what section of the galaxy. Hell, not even Miya really knew, but that voice…
Matsu looked back to the video feed of Takehito in the living room by himself.
No… he wasn't in there by himself. The camera just couldn't see it. But that in and of itself brought up another question.
...If Takehito wasn't in the room by himself, then what was in there with him?
...What was in this inn with them?
BGM: Silent Hill 4 OST - Silent Circus
Matsu gulped thickly as she turned back to the monitors observing Takehito. Miya still had her eyes glued to the screen. The researcher was still playing poker with… "nothing", occasionally snarking and joking as if he were talking to some good friends.
This continued for a good five or so minutes until a particular topic was brought up. The binder with the notes and files on Takehito's examinations.
The gray-haired man put his hand on the binder. [Yeah, I really should give this a quick look through.]
More "static" was heard on their end.
[What? No! Keeping this a secret would be a horrible idea!] He exclaimed. [I need to know what's wrong with me!]
The "static" came back but this was noticeably louder than before.
"His… hallucinations are trying to hide the files from us…?" Miya asked.
Matsu's eyes narrowed. "...No, not just us, but from himself."
"Himself?"
"...Keep watching."
[...What the hell do you mean "I forgot for a reason"?]
...Static.
[I'll be following the footsteps of… what the hell is a Byrgenwerth?] Takehito grew more irritated. [Listen, you three need to stop name dropping things every minute. I don't understand a damn thing!]
"...Byrgenwerth?" Matsu repeated.
She'd have to look that name up.
...Static.
[Listen, even if I hide it, or destroy it, they'll know.] Takehito explained. [Matsu and Miya would figure it out in less than a minute, and I'm a horrible liar, so that doesn't help. Minaka probably has copies, and one of them could just call him up, as unlikely as that is, and get him to deliver them.]
...Static.
[I don't care how bad it is! Keeping this from them is the worst thing I could do. I'm not… I'm not going to break Miya's trust… not again. Never again.]
Matsu turned to Miya, seeing the lavender-haired woman bite her lip in frustration. Takehito was blaming himself for the accident nearly seventeen years ago. Matsu knew Miya was feeling the emotions he felt through their bond. His guilt, shame, and self-loathing.
She knew just how much she wanted to run down there and comfort him.
[Now, make yourselves useful, and riddle me this...] Takehito glared… at "nothing". [What the hell is Paleblood?]
...Silence.
Matsu blinked. "...Huh?"
No "static" this time.
[Oh, I see, giving me the silent treatment. Fine then.]
Paleblood… the word spooked whatever was in the room into silence. She'd have to look up that term too.
Takehito sighed. [I shouldn't have declined Matsu's help with this… the longer I put this off, the more my mental state will deteriorate, and I could end up hurting myself or someone else.]
The "static" came back.
[Don't care how bad the hibbie jibbies will be...]
...Static.
[Whatever… I'm just going to get something...] He looked at what might've been a cup from how his hand was positioned. [real to drink, take a nap, and do what I should've from the start. Bring this to Matsu so we can both be horribly disturbed together, as any two true friends should.]
Matsu resisted the urge to chuckle nervously.
Yeah… friends. When she was reacting to him, meaning he was essentially her husband. But there was no point in feeling bitter at his words, he had no clue. Besides… she figured that the fact that he was an Ashikabi now hadn't really sunk in yet.
Takehito got up from the table, and made his way to the kitchen door, but before he crossed over into the room, he turned around.
[Any of you want anythi-] He stared at the table. [...Ah, gone. Well, at least the living room is cleaned up nicely.]
"...D-Did it stop?" Miya asked.
The Wisdom Sekirei nodded. "Matsu thinks so. His mind shouldn't be relapsing anymore."
The Sekirei Pillar turned around to leave, but Matsu grabbed her hand before she could.
"W-Wait!" Matsu all but yelled. "There's something very important Matsu needs to tell you."
Well, it was do or die time. She was going to get her Ashikabi or die trying, and considering she had to go through the scariest woman in the world next to Karasuba, death was highly likely.
But a Sekirei's Ashikabi means everything to them…
She shut her eyes tightly. "Matsu is… Matsu is reacting to Takehito!"
Silence. Deafening, heavy silence.
"...Are you sure?" The words spoken were cold, like a sharp blade pressed against her neck.
Matsu could guess how protective and possessive Miya was of Takehito.
She'd fallen in love with someone that could not be an Ashikabi. Sekirei terminate when their Ashikabi dies for a reason, that reason being so they won't have to feel the pain of loss. It was a sort of twisted version of suicide in a way.
A Sekirei's love is great, obsessive even, there wasn't anything they weren't willing to do to make their Destined One happy. Miya loved Takehito as if he were her Ashikabi… and she lost him; feeling the stinging sensation of loss for nearly seventeen years until he came back. And when she was winged by him, the obsessive love she already felt for him must've been multiplied tremendously. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call her a yandere at this point.
Matsu knew she'd be lucky to get away with her life after she confessed this.
There was absolutely no way Miya would-
"Then go to him... your Ashikabi." The Sekirei Pillar said, a solemn tone to her voice.
"W-What!?" Matsu yelled, confused.
Miya sighed. "I figured something like this might happen. After all, no Ashikabi has ever drawn out even the slightest reaction in me… until now. An Ashikabi powerful enough to draw out a full reaction from me…? Of course my Takehito would attract more than just myself to him."
The redhead looked at Miya with wide eyes. "...So, Miya is okay sharing with Matsu…?"
Miya turned around and gave her longtime friend a smile. "Of course, I trust you. Besides, both of our bonds might keep the worst of Takehito's hallucinations away."
Matsu looked up at Miya, happiness and elation in her eyes. "...Miya, thank you."
Miya smiled kindly at her sibling Sekirei.
Matsu's smile turned mischievous as she took Miya's hand once again. And spoke words that made Hell itself freeze for a few seconds.
"...We'll bang, okay."
Matsu took morbid, sadistic glee as Miya's face grew scarlet and more scandalized as her words sunk in.
[-]
Takehito snuggled into the covers of his and Miya's futon as he tried to sleep. He cracked an eye open as he heard the sound of Matsu screaming as she was violently thrown from her secret room, crashing through the rotating door in the process.
"I'll bug Seo to fix that."
Chapter End