Chapter 4
He laid in the room for most of the day, refusing to come out or acknowledge anyone else in the house, or whoever came by his door. A gently knock came. "Go away" he said begrudgingly.
"We got to talk."
He paused when he heard the voice of Melee, reluctantly he stood and opened the door to let her in. She was quick to close it afterwards and leaned against it. Amai was rather surprised to see her, and uncertain to her motives. "What did you need to talk to me about?"
Melee looked in in the eyes and said. "You are a guest here, in this house. No one here is your servant, no one here is to wait on you, and you pull your own weight." She said. "And if you so much as harm anyone who is under this roof that is family or my friend, I swear to God, I will turn you into a snake skin suit myself!"
He smirked. "Do you really think I am going to do anything to anyone here? Look at me damn it!" he protested. "Why are you even doing this? What is the point of this hell you want me to live in for four months?"
"Simple really, empathy." She said. "You have always looked down at us, at the M Class without seeing what we go through, what we live through. You came at Snek rather hard for being the way he is. Now we get to see if you can handle it."
Amai laughed. "I can easily endure. You forget Melee, I am strong, far stronger than Snek ever was or ever will be. No doubt I have my strength from my human state, and in this form, it's just greater!" he announced. He then stared Melee dead in the eyes. "Do you really think this is going to bother me, the least bit?" he asked.
She only smiled. "You've only been like this for three hours," she explained. "Let's see how you feel by the end of the week." She turned to leave, but paused. "You are going to want to eat something soon."
"What do you have here?" he asked. "I could eat."
She laughed. "Oh this is going to be fun." She said and then sighed. "Well, I'll let you learn the hard way, come on."
He was confused by her tone, yet he slithered out of the room and went into the kitchen. Within the fridge reserved for Suiryu and Max, he found some items of interest. One happened to be a ham cooked the night before. He took it from the fridge and yet paused at the sight of it. He wanted to eat it, that was certain, but… he didn't want to cut it up. His jaw began to feel loose as he continued to stare hungrily at the pork plate. He couldn't control himself, he grabbed the ham and shoved the whole thing into his mouth! His jaw unhinged and accommodated the large hunk of meat. It was a quickly swallowed; Amai was stunned himself as he ate the whole thing without chewing! He could feel it slink down his throat, yet the moment it dropped into his stomach, he felt nothing. No satisfaction, not even a registration of food in his belly. "What on earth…" he muttered.
Melee snickered. "It's just like with Garou, you can't eat normal food, it does nothing for you" she said. "You need a monster to fill that stomach of yours."
He cringed at the thought of it all. But forced a smile. "You know, that ham was a lot more filling than I thought. After all, I still have to watch my figure, don't I?"
Melee's arms crossed. "Uh huh, sure you do," she said sarcastically. "Well, if you are getting hungry, let us know, we will take you hunting."
"Thank you for your… hospitality," Amai said, instead of going back to his room, he decided to take in more of the house, mainly the outside of it. He was more than familiar with the sparring pit. There he saw Garou and Suiryu training, Max and Pac were watching from the sidelines. He slithered around the back and found a strange little area of interest. It appeared to be a very low lying lounge chair and yet, it was embedded into the ground. It was placed so it would get full sunlight. Curious he gave it a try. He eased himself down and laid back.
He was perfectly still for a few minutes, when the sun began to warm is whole body. Even with the chill in the air, it was heavenly. "My God, this is wonderful!" he muttered. The sun warmed him, he felt content and relaxed for the most part. That was until he felt these strange tremors, his eyes shot open as he felt them intensify! Amai snapped up and out of the chair when the two large twins came out of nowhere!
"That's Snake's spot!"
"Snake only uses it, not you!"
Amai tried to sooth things over with the twins. "I apologize, I just wanted a place to rest. I am certain he doesn't mind if I borrow it, now would he?"
Neither one of the brothers agreed. "After how you treated him, you have no right!"
"No right at all"
"Draven, Goliath…."
The brothers turned and faced their father. "Dad, he was using Snake's spot!"
"Draven, Snake doesn't need it right now. Mask can use it."
"But dad… HE hurt Snake."
"I know Goliath, we will make sure he get a taste of what he put Snake through, it's his first day, leave him be… for now."
The twins glared at him, Goliath gave a defiant growl to Amai before leaving with Draven. Sweet Mask could feel that hate resonate off the twins, he will watch what he says around them. "Thanks… I think…"
Garou smirked. "I am not going to deprive you of basic comfort Amai, besides, I don't think this has quite sunk in for you yet."
"What do you mean? I get it, I'm a snake, just like what Snek was. It's not simple to say the least nor is it… elegant… beautiful… and a beacon of justice…"
"To say the least, no, it isn't." Garou's smile only grew wider, just as Amai's stomach rumbled aloud. "And it looks to me, you are going to need to eat something good sooner than later…"
"No!" Amai protested, but calmed himself. "No… thank you… I'm fine. Really."
"Keep telling yourself that, if it gets to a point where you are acting crazy, then I will force feed you." Warned Garou, but then he leaned in oddly. "Please, let it get to that point," he whispered as a sinister grin spread across his lips.
Amai shook his head, he was quick to slither back into the house and into his accommodations. With the door closed he tried to think things through. He was getting hungry, that was certain, and yet he wasn't about to resort to Snek's method of feeding, he can't, he refuses to! "What else is there for me to eat?" he muttered. A thought occurred, the wildlife! He could feed off the wildlife and avoid the monsters entirely! A deer would be more than filling for him, he wasn't that big and with his willpower, he could make it last as a meal for him.
He will have to do it discreetly though, if Garou or the family found him hunting, they will certainly take him along to get the monsters.
"If I am going to be stuck here, I cannot have the world see me like this. No one, not even my fans can know of this…" he said to himself. "No one will see me as this monstrosity!"
#
He bided his time.
Amai waited for nightfall when he announced he would be going out for a little stretch of his body. Garou was suspicious but he nodded. There was another idea in mind too. Depending on how far he could get, how well hidden he could be, Amai would make a break for it and get back to his flat in City R. From there he is certain a few phone calls here and there would allow him to wait out the rest of this curse for 4 months! But first, he needed something to eat.
The mountains offered a banquet to choose from. The moment he was out of range of Garou's family, he began to take in his surroundings. The forked tongue allowed him to taste the air and pick up on the scent of near by prey. He could register heat and see them in the dark if his eyes were closed. He began to find something of interest. A musky smell was registered in his senses, prey that would at least allow him to keep his dignity! He kept low and slinked through the forest, he marveled at his own body as it moved rather gracefully across the forest floor barely making a sound. He came closer only to discover a large stag!
Amai kept low until he felt his body tense, every muscle contracted before he lunged forwards. Even that was impressive to him! He bashed his own body into the stag, knocking it down! With his bare hands, he snapped the neck and stared down at his catch. "This… should do it." He said to himself.
He snapped the antlers off and tossed them to the side, from there he took in the deer and swallowed it whole. Little moans escaped from him as he savored and consumed every inch of the once majestic beast. He felt every bit of it slide down his throat, he could feel it enter his stomach and for but a moment, the sensation of satisfaction came over him… only to vanish.
"What…" he turned and found the buck was gone, instantly digested as the hunger pain only grew. He clenched his stomach trying to contain the growing gnawing sensation. "No, there has to be more. I have to eat more… I cannot go back to consuming monsters!" he said to himself. He spent the next two hours hunting. Taking anything he could catch and consume; deer, wild boars, bears, even the occasional rabbit and smaller creatures. But none of them filled him. He wasn't the least bit satisfied! "Damn it!" he growled. "Why am I not content! Nothing is satisfying me!"
"I could have told you that."
Amai froze, in the darkness, there were a pair of blood red eyes staring at him, then the eyes of all the demonic serpent shined back under the moonlight. Garou was lingering in the shadows, waiting for Amai to realize his conundrum has no simple solution. "You… You've been following me?" he demanded.
Garou shrugged his shoulders. "Technically you are my responsibility now, so yeah, I followed you. I saw what you ate too. Not bad, Snek devoured 20 deer before realizing he couldn't survive off of them. Those poor forest critters didn't have to die you know, they didn't do anything for your hunger."
Amai had to play it cool, slowly he got himself up again and smiled. "It's as if you don't know me at all. I have phenomenal will power, I will make sure this feast lasts me for some time."
Garou once more, smiled at him. "You are going to break a lot sooner than you think. Come on, let's get you back."
"I rather stay out," said Amai.
"I don't think so, I also know you are trying to make a break for it. Question is… how the hell are you going to live in an apartment, deep in a city, full of people, surrounded by your adoring fans and think no one will notice you in your condition?"
"I have my ways…"
"No, you don't. Not like this anyway. Get your ass back to the house,"
Amai glared at him, but decided to go along for now. When the family goes to bed, he will make a break for it.