Crimso's Notes

So, my dad brought home a tiny kitten today. He doesn't have a name yet. I do think that three was enough, but really, who couldn't resist helping the poor thing?

One: Time seems to be skipping around a little for these chapters, and it really is, so I apologize if you're getting confused. GED seemed to also have this problem.

P.S: I hate Spanish Projects

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Chapter 8: Meat

It was a Sunday, and around three days had passed since Keiichi's encounter with the twins underground. He felt bad for leaving them there for so long after a visit, but first, he figured that he'd run a few errands. The boy was now walking down a path in Okinomiya, on his way to the shops. It was late morning, so Keiichi figured he'd still have some time to do a few things before he stopped by the Sonozaki Manor. Well, he'd have to call Takeru first, but that didn't really matter.

He had a backpack strapped to his back for carrying the thing that he was going to get, to make sure that no one got suspicious of him if they were to see what that thing was. He glanced behind him at it. He had dumped all his school supplies out on the floor of the room to empty it, but he'd figure he'd pick it up later. He didn't want to have a room like Takeru's, after all.

The boy stepped into a rather small shop and looked around inside of it. The shelves were covered in various food items of all sorts, and he had to wonder if there was anything they didn't have. Sure, it was a small store with only a few shelves here and there, but they really did have pretty much everything. There were about five other shoppers browsing the store, filling up their bags with almost anything they could get their hands on. The prices were rather cheap, too.

Keiichi stuck his hand in his pocket, fumbling around for the coins he had brought with him. He took them out and gazed at them, making sure that he had enough money, and then pushed all the coins back in his pocket. He walked right up to the counter top, gazing at what was behind the storeowner's head. There were many slabs of high-quality meat lined up on the racks behind him, and they were pretty cheap for high-quality meat. It was probably because not many people knew about this store, and the only reason why he knew was because his mom had gone there once or twice.

The storeowner was a rather buff, large man. He was sitting on his chair with his eyes closed, an irritated look on his face. "Um, excuse me," Keiichi spoke, causing the man to peak one annoyed eye open. "E-Er… could I buy some meat?"

"What kind of meat?" he asked him, his low tone sounding rather annoyed. "We have all kinds of meat here, kid. Beef, pork… meat is a rather unspecific choice."

Keiichi looked at the many kinds, wondering which kind a demon would like best to eat. Did it really matter to them? Well, it probably did, but to a starving demon that hadn't eaten in days, it wouldn't matter. "I don't really care. I just want a big slab of any kind of meat," he replied, his hand grasping onto the jingling coins in his pocket.

The man raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing more. He got up from his chair and took a random, large slab of meat, wrapping it up carefully. He then slammed it down on the counter, pushing it towards Keiichi. "Your money," he said. "…Please," he mumbled.

Keiichi grasped the coins and spilled them out onto the counter. He wasn't sure how much he had just given him, but it was sure to be enough for the meat. The man snatched the coins up greedily, stuffing them into his cash register. "Thank you for shopping at Gorou's store. Come again whenever," he grumbled, leaning back in his chair.

"Thank you," Keiichi spoke, then taking the slab of meat in his arms. He stuffed it into his empty backpack and then zipped it up. He slung it back over his back and turned away, walking right out of the door of the store. All he had needed was that slab of meat, and now that he had it, he could call up Takeru and ask to come over.

The two twin demons had told him that they hadn't been treated very well, and in fact, they had looked rather skinny when he had seen them. They probably hadn't been fed in a while, so the meat would be a nice present for them. He could probably slip it through the bars of the cage, but if he couldn't, he'd try to figure out another way. He just needed to get it to them.

He felt bad for those two demons, having being trapped there all their lives. But now, he was going to change them. He was going to make sure they felt different, and that they wouldn't be spending the rest of their lives the same way. And the meat that he was currently carrying in his backpack was just the beginning of it all…

He bicycled his way back home, reaching his house after about thirty minutes or so. He placed his backpack down and ran to the phone, quickly dialing Takeru's number, which had been written on a slip of paper next to the phone. He held it to the ear, hearing the phone ringing. "Someone, please pick up," he murmured to himself. There's got to be someone home. There's so many servants after all…

"Hello? You've reached the Sonozaki Residence," a woman's voice spoke from the other side of the phone.

"It's Keiichi. Is Takeru home, or is he busy?" Keiichi asked.

"Ah, Keiichi!" spoke the woman. "It's been a while since you visited. Have you been doing well? And yes, Takeru's home."

"…Wait, who is this?" Keiichi replied.

"Ah, sorry. This is Akane," she spoke.

Ah yes, Takeru's Mom! He froze for a moment, remembering Number Twenty-Seven and Number Twenty-Eight. Should she tell her that they were alive, or should he not bother? It might be a little… sudden, if she were to find out, and how would she react to the fact that they had been turned into demons? And besides, if she found out, she'd surely tell Oryou and Takeru about it. Then they'd surely know that he'd been in the basement. So, in the end, he decided that he wouldn't say anything.

"Oh yeah! Heh, sorry for not recognizing you," he said into the phone. "…How is Takeru? Is he home right now? Is he working?"

"He's not too busy right now, but he has to do some things with his grandmother in a little bit. Are you hoping to come over?" Akane asked him.

"Uh, yeah. That's kind of what I was hoping to do. But I guess it's okay if he's not there. I'll just hang around his room until he's available," Keiichi replied, leaning against the wall as he spoke. In truth, he had been hoping that Takeru was working. That way, he could sneak down and check on the two demons. That was really the whole purpose of going to the Sonozaki Manor, anyways.

"Great! Just come over whenever, we're not busy aside from Takeru doing some family matters," she replied.

Keiichi grinned. "I'll be over in a few minutes."

"I'm sure Takeru will be glad to hear that. Bye!"

Keiichi gave her a goodbye and then placed the phone down with a sigh. He was almost all set to go, but he wanted to grab a certain object first before they left. Perhaps he would bring a few things to show the demons, as they did lack some basic human knowledge. It wasn't really their fault, though. Keiichi wanted to punch the person who decided to punish those twins like that. It wasn't fair to them. The person who was supposed to be taking care of them really wasn't, either.

Yasuo… that guy should be feeding the demons and taking care of them, not neglecting them! Keiichi thought, clenching his fists. He remembered how Yasuo didn't seem to care when Akane was talking about how the twins she had given birth to supposedly were killed minutes after their first breath. That was a topic that was completely tragic, and something that someone would actually react to. Yasuo, however, decided not to do so.

Damn that guy! Well, whatever. If he's not going to do his job, then I'm going to have to do it myself! He thought as he walked up the stairs to his room to grab the object that he needed before he left for the Sonozaki Manor. When he found it, he stuffed it into his backpack carefully and walked back down the stairs. He then left his house, his backpack slung over his shoulder, and walked down the paths.

He could vaguely remember the route that Takeru took to get to his house, so he decided to follow it from memory. Perhaps he would get totally lost, but he could simply ask one of the villagers for help. Hiroshi had said they were nice. …But really, was that true? Everyone seemed to be nice despite the terrifying atmosphere. It wasn't like someone would kill him for asking directions if he were to need them. But then again, someone DID murder Hiroshi with demons. …He was a nice old man, despite being rather suspicious. What was the point of doing that?

His memory proved to be helpful, as he was soon positioned in front of the gate of the Sonozaki Manor. He contemplated how he was to get over the gate. If he were to climb over it, it would look like he was trespassing or something like that. Perhaps they would even think he was out to steal their demons. He shuddered as he remembered what had happened to those two men that tried to steal Kimiyoshi's demons. Their fate was not pretty at all. That's right. I should tell Number Twenty-Seven and Number Twenty-Eight that they were turned into demons… if they don't know that already. I have a few questions about that to ask them…

Upon touching the gate, Keiichi realized it was open. That's strange. I guess Akane unlocked it for me, since she knew I was coming. He opened the gate and walked in, following the paths down the garden leading to the great house, gazing at the many flowers and plants in the garden as he did so. It truly was an amazing place, and Keiichi had to wonder how much effort the servants had to put in in order to preserve the garden's fascinating beauty.

When he got into the house, he took of his shoes. Akane was standing there, looking at him. "You sure got here earlier than I expected. Takeru's still in his training, so don't expect him to be out for a while," she told him.

Keiichi nodded. "All right, that's fine with me. I'll just talk to him when he's out of his training."

He had to wonder what exactly Takeru did when he was training. Keiichi knew that the training he went through was the training to become the next head of the Sonozaki family, but what exactly did that training consist of? He shuddered as he remembered the deeds the heads of the family did, like Kimiyoshi Kiichirou executing two men for trying to steal a single demon and Sonozaki Oryou supposedly killing her twin granddaughters at birth. Was Takeru going to grow up to become the same kind of person? The image of Kimiyoshi, staring down at his villagers and ordering demons to execute people and the image of Takeru just didn't mesh together well.

"What exactly does he do in training?" Keiichi asked Akane out of pure curiosity.

"He usually is taught how to use swords and that kind of thing, though my Mom also makes sure that he learns how to lead a village properly," Akane explained to him.

Properly? What exactly do you mean by properly? Did properly involve killing people because they tried to steal demons, or did properly involve killing innocent twins that had just been born? He knew for a fact that Takeru wouldn't ever do such a thing, but he couldn't help but be suspicions with how the rest of the Sonozaki family acted. Oryou was just sick and twisted for making her granddaughters suffer in a basement for all their life, and Yasuo didn't even bother to help them. This is a pretty messed up family…

Keiichi thanked Akane and went to Takeru's room, knowing which one was his by the fact that he had left his door wide open, revealing piles and piles of things scattered about the room without end. He let out a sigh as he walked in, going straight towards the drawers before. He opened the one that he had found the key in before and snatched it right up, stuffing it in his pocket. He let out a deep breath has he grasped his backpack. He was to go in an see the demons again.

He didn't feel nearly as scared as he walked out of the door and through the garden. He didn't feel as if he was walking to his doom this time. The boy now knew for a fact that the demons weren't going to hurt him. Besides, there were only two demons down there, and judging by the fact that no one had taken the key, there weren't any demons down there, either.

He reached the two metal doors and opened them, then locking it tight with the key. He walked through the darkness of the basement, now not feeling the sense of fear he had felt before when he was there. He opened the wooden doors leading to the section the demons were supposed to be kept, and then walked right in.

The sight that greeted him was the same as before. There were tons and tons of cells lining the walls, though all of them that he could see were completely empty. He walked down the rows of cells, aiming for the very, very back cell where Number Twenty-Seven and Number Twenty-Eight were being contained.

Soon, the cell containing the two twins was in sight. He saw the two of them on the ground, both of them napping. They were snuggled up against each other, looking rather comfortable. Keiichi gulped. He didn't want to disturb their nap, but he had food to give them. He grasped onto strap on his backpack and walked closer until he was standing right in front of the cell, gazing at the two resting demons.

He set the backpack down on the floor and crouched down so he could get a better look at them. They both looked exactly the same, and he couldn't quite see their collars, so he couldn't figure out which one was which. With a sigh, he looked at them. He couldn't help but pity them. Those poor things had been trapped in their all their life, and they didn't even have a good mattress to sleep on. The only comfort they had was each other.

"Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight?" he called to them both.

One of them began to stir in her sleep, but said nothing.

"Please wake up!" he called to them again.

The one that had begun to stir before opened her eye, gazing at the boy in front of her. When she realized it was him, she let go of her sister and sat up, her green eyes wide. "It's you! You came back!" she spoke, her tone filled with disbelief.

Keiichi glanced at her collar. "Yeah. It's good to see you again, Twenty-Eight. Would you mind waking your sister up?" he spoke, pointing to the still sleeping twin.

Number Twenty-Eight nodded and began to shake her sister gently, causing her to grumble. "Get up, sis. We have a visitor."

Number Twenty-Seven opened her eye up, expecting to see the figure of Yasuo, but her eyes both shot open when she realized it was the boy who had appeared to her before. She pulled herself up from the hard floor, dusting her already dirty kimono off. "I knew you would come back!" she cried out, excitement in her tone. "I told you he would, sis!"

Keiichi was taken aback by Number Twenty-Seven's reaction.. "Were… were you waiting for me?" he asked her.

Number Twenty-Seven nodded. "Of course!"

"Any reason why you decided to visit us again, Maebara Keiichi?" Number Twenty-Eight asked, curiosity in her tone as she observed the boy in front of her.

"Well, I thought that I'd see you again," he spoke, not really telling them the real reason for his visit. "And I have a few questions to ask you. …But I also brought you guys something."

Keiichi reached into his backpack as the two demons watched him curiously. Slowly, he grasped onto the wrapped up meat, and then tugged it out of there. The two demons looked at the wrapped piece of meat, wondering what it could be. As they sniffed the air, however, their eyes went wide. Both of them licked their lips as Keiichi tore off the paper wrapped around it, revealing a large slab of meat.

Both of the demons eyed the meat hungrily. They just couldn't take their eyes off of it. The two of them felt their stomachs rumble as they continued to gaze at their meal. When was the last time the two of them had eaten anything?

Keiichi managed to slide the slab of meat through the crack of the cell, and as soon as he did so, both demons pounced on it. They tore at it with their fangs and swallowed large pieces as fast as they could, both of them desperate to get as much meat as they could. After all, who knew when they would be fed again?

The boy's eyes went wide when he saw how crazy the two of them went over the single slab of meat. It just made him realize how terribly the two of them had been treated, and how much they had been suffering. He had had an idea of it before, but now, watching them wolf down the meat in a matter of minutes, he was able to get a better idea of how terrible the two of them had been treated all their life.

When the meat was all gone, they both lay down, smiles on their faces. "Thank you, Maebara Keiichi," Number Twenty-Seven spoke, gazing at him. "I… I don't remember the last time I ate."

Number Twenty-Eight sighed. "I think it was last month… maybe even two," she replied.

Keiichi couldn't hold back a smile. Because of his actions, he had made the twins happy for once in their lives. "You're welcome," he said, glancing at both of them. They both seemed genuinely pleased. Then, he looked at his backpack again. "Oh yeah, I forgot! I also have something else to show you…"

He reached into his backpack and pulled out the object he had brought along with him. It was a small, handheld mirror. "Take a look at yourself," he told the two of them, twisting the mirror so it could slip right through the bars. Number Twenty-Seven grasped onto the handle, pulling it away from Keiichi's grip instantly. She began to observe the object carefully, studying the back of it and the handle with curiosity. She flipped it around to the front, then catching sight of her face reflected into the mirror.

Her eyes went wide. "I-Is that me?" she cried out in disbelief. She glanced to her sister, and then at the reflection, and then back at the mirror. "That can't be! Is this really a reflection of me, or is it just of my sis?"

"Hey, let me see!" cried Number Twenty-Eight grabbed the mirror from her sister. When she spotted her reflection, she cried out in alarm. "It's a reflection of you, sis!"

Number Twenty-Seven snatched it right back, staring at it. "No, that's not true! It's a reflection of you! You see, take a look!" she replied, shoving it back in her sisters arms.

When Number Twenty-Eight took a look at the reflection, she shook her head. "Nope, sis! It's a reflection of you!"

"Give me that!" cried Number Twenty-Seven, once again snatching the mirror away to stare at her face. When she did, however, an expression of irritation grew on it. "I don't know what you're talking about, sis. It's clear to me that it's a reflection of you in the mirror."

"No it's not! It's you!" yelled Number Twenty-Eight.

"It's you!" argued Number Twenty-Seven.

"No, it's you!"

"No, it's not me! It's you!"

"Girls!" Keiichi cried out, breaking them from their pointless argument. They both stopped talking and stared at him. "Put your heads together and hold the mirror back just enough so that you can see both of you at the same time. Then, maybe you'll understand!"

They both looked a little confused, but they did as he said. The two of them scooted together so that their bodies were touching, and then Number Twenty-Eight held up the mirror in the middle of the two of them, pulling it back so that both of their reflections were in the mirror. When they saw the two, perfectly identical faces right next to each other, they cried out in alarm. They glanced at each other, their green eyes widened. "I look just like you!" they both yelled out at the same time.

"I told you guys that you were identical twins!" cried Keiichi.

Number Twenty-Eight crossed her arms. "What are identical twins?"
"I told you already, they're two people who look exactly alike and share the same mother and age! Identical twins are extremely, and I mean extremely rare, so you should be lucky!" he said to them both.

The two of them calmed down after that, though they kept looking at the other's face and the other's body, shocked that the truth about what they looked like hadn't really been a secret all this time. Yasuo and the other servants wouldn't ever tell them what they looked like. The question of what they looked like wasn't really ever on their mind, though. Usually, the two twins simply daydreamt about being fed or escaping.

"So, with that aside," he said, reaching his hand out for one of the twins to hand him the small mirror. "Let's talk."

However, they didn't give the mirror back. They were just too intrigued with their reflection to bother. "About what?" Number Twenty-Seven said as she poked at her reflection.

"Well, about you guys. How have you been treated recently?" he asked the two of them, letting the hand reaching for the mirror fall back to his side after he realize they weren't about to give it back.

Number Twenty-Eight let out a large sigh. "Well, a little better with you around," she spoke, thinking about the meat they had just received. "But that aside, Yasuo and the other demon-keepers haven't gotten any better."

Keiichi raised an eyebrow. "Do other people take care of you?"

Number Twenty-Seven nodded. "Yasuo is the one who has been assigned to take care of us, but he isn't a servant or anything like that, since he's apparently a part of the Sonozaki Family. Apparently, Sonozaki family members get treated better with that kind of stuff," she said. "Well, I guess it makes sense. But the other servants assigned to take care of us haven't been all that nice. I think most of them just don't want to be near demons. It creeps them out."

Keiichi sighed. "None of them are nice to you? None of them at all?"

"Nope. Not a single one of them," Number Twenty-Seven replied, still gazing at her reflection in the mirror. "But they have to. It's their job, and they get money for it. They say that the Sonozaki family is rich or something like that."

"They really are. Have you ever seen the garden they own?" he asked, picturing the large, extravagant garden in his head.

The two twins looked at each other. "Garden?"

"Yeah, garden. Do you not know what a garden is?" he asked them.

"Never heard of such a word before," murmured Number Twenty-Eight.

Keiichi was shocked, to say the least. First, they didn't know the meaning of the word mother, and now, they weren't sure what a garden was. How was it possible that they didn't know such words? He bit his lip, looking down at his feet. "Well, the garden is just outside those metal doors right there. Are you saying that you've never been outside the metal doors before?"

Number Twenty-Seven looked into the distance. "…Me and my sis here used to guard those two wooden doors there, you see? Two servants would hook a chain up to our collar and stand there in front of the door with us. But that's really the farthest away we've gone from our cage. The Sonozaki head never let us get a peak at what was behind those metal doors."

Now, Keiichi was dumbfounded. They hadn't been outside before…. ever? "Wait a moment, so you're saying you've never taken one step out of this basement before, not even once in your life?"

"That's right. We spend most of our time in this cell these days, though," she replied, touching the metal that was binding her to the basement. "When we were little, as I said, we had the job of guards at the front of the basement. Sometimes, the head would take us out to learn how to fight with swords and martial arts. I'm pretty good at it, I must say," Number Twenty-Seven grinned mischievously. "But that's just about it."

The first thing that ran through Keiichi's mind was how someone could possibly treat the two of them in such a horrible way, especially since the person confining them was their own grandmother. Did she even have a speck of love for these poor twin girls? They were her own granddaughters, so she had to feel something towards them, right? But really, who could be so horrible as to turn their own granddaughters into demons, treat them terribly, and then keep them locked in a cell all their lives, never to learn about basic things like the outside?

"That's just too cruel," whispered Keiichi as he grasped onto the bars.

"It's all right, I guess," murmured Number Twenty-Eight, looking at the ground. "I don't know what I'm missing, so it's okay…"

"But who could possibly do such a thing!" cried Keiichi, grasping the metal bars even tighter. "Who could possibly do such a thing to you! I don't understand why someone would be sick enough to take away two little twins away from their mother right after birth and transform them into demons, and then not allow them to see the outside or have any basic human rights! It's just wrong and cruel!"
Number Twenty-Seven blinked at him. "Wait, what?" she replied, narrowing her eyes as she tried to understand the tale Keiichi was telling her.

Keiichi saw the confusion in her eyes. "Hey, do you guys remember being human at all? Have you guys always been demons?" he asked the two of them.

"Of course not! We've been demons all our life!" cried Number Twenty-Eight. "We've never been human or anything like that!"

"That's not true!" cried Keiichi. "You two were human, too!"

Both of them froze, giving him a curious look. "What do you mean by that?" one of them asked him, her eyes widened.

Keiichi took a deep breath, gazing into the two sets of identical eyes with sorrow in his own. He truly felt terrible for the two demons in front of him. "When you two were born, you were human. You… you two were the twins of the Sonozaki family. You were the daughters of the Sonozaki family, and one of you was supposed to become the head of the family. But the moment you were born, the head of the Sonozaki family, your grandmother, took you away from your mother. She didn't allow her to get a single look at you two! She just took you. And then… and then she turned you both into demons! You weren't supposed to be that way!" he explained to them, slamming a fist into the bars of the cage. The whole story just frustrated him.

"W-What?" That was all the demons could say. They couldn't fully take in the details of the story. It was just too much at once.

"Don't you understand? You were supposed to be the ones up there, not down here!" he cried out. "You're members of the Sonozaki family too!"

Number Twenty-Seven looked down. "I'm a… Sonozaki?" she spoke, staring at her collar with wide eyes. "But aren't Sonozakis supposed to be humans, and aren't they supposed to have names? I'm just the demon Number Twenty-Seven, not a Sonozaki!"

Keiichi gave her a sad smile. "You were supposed to be. Your grandmother just changed you into a demon. It's really a sad story, isn't it? I… I feel so bad for you two," he replied, looking down at his feet. He truly did feel sorry for them.

Number Twenty-Seven glanced to her sister. "Is that really true? Was I really supposed to be the heiress of the Sonozaki family?" she asked him, her tone sounding a little sorrowful.

"I-I'm not sure which one of you is older than the other, but one of you was supposed to be the heiress. …The older one of you would be the one who would be the heiress," he told them, still grasping onto the bars of the cell.

"I thought you said we were born together," Number Twenty-Eight said. "But your whole story seems a little suspicious. Is this really true, or are you just making this up?" she questioned him, her voice sounding harsh.

"Sis!" cried Number Twenty-Seven. "Does it sound like he's lying to you? I'm going to believe him!"

Number Twenty-Eight looked at his sorrow-filled face, an eyebrow raised. "You look a little funny, Maebara Keiichi. Is something wrong with you?" she asked.

"…I'm sorry, I just feel so bad for the two of you," he murmured, still looking at his shoes. It just went to show how messed up Onigafuchi really was. If the two twins had been born anywhere else, they would have been loved and treated like little angels. However, here they were, trapped in the basement of their family's house as vicious demons.

Neither of the twins said anything, they were still trying to process the story. Number Twenty-Eight didn't look too suspicious anymore, though there was a little on her face. She looked down at her feet with a sigh. She didn't really want to think that it was true. If it were true, it would just be too much for her to take, knowing what could have been.

"A-Anyways, I think I should get going," Keiichi muttered, picking up his backpack. "Keep that mirror. It's a little gift from you to me." Originally, he planned to take it back, but seeing how interested they were in it made him reconsider. It wasn't like he had much to do with that mirror, anyways. Both twins gazed at it as he mentioned the mirror. "But it was nice talking to you. Just think about what I said, okay?"

They nodded. "We will."

"Good," he replied. He was desperately trying to hold in his emotions. He wanted to spill out how sorry he was for the two of them, and how he wanted to help both of them, but he kept those emotions in. "…Next time Yasuo comes down here, don't be nice with him. Demand food and maybe he'll give it to you."

"Trust me, I've tried that one all ready," murmured one of the demons. "It doesn't work."
"Well try again, more harsh this time, and maybe it really will work!" he said. "In any case, it's really time for me to get leaving." In truth, he wanted to go now before he was forced to spill any emotions out. He didn't want to show the two demons. They would probably think he was weird for that or something similar. "I hope you enjoy the present I gave you, and bye!"
Then, he left, leaving behind the two, very confused demons.

And when he disappeared, Number Twenty-Seven looked in the mirror one more time, gazing at the face that was identical to her sister's. "Identical twins, huh," she whispered to herself. "I wouldn't have known that if he hadn't come here…" she looked up from the mirror to gaze outside her cell, hoping to catch a small glimpse of the boy before he was totally gone, though it was all ready too late.

"Sis, maybe he's really telling the truth," whispered Number Twenty-Seven. "He wasn't lying about the whole identical twin thing, anyways."
"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see," murmured Number Twenty-Eight as she let out a large yawn. She lay down on the uncomfortable hard ground, curling herself up.

Her sister lay down next to her, wrapping her arms tightly around her for comfort. Really, they didn't have anything besides each other to comfort each other while they slept. Usually, people would sleep on futons. They had nothing of that sort. "But I think we should really think about it," she spoke as she snuggled close. "This could be the key to our escape, sis. We've been attempting it forever, after all…"

Number Twenty-Eight nodded as she closed her eyes, holding her sister close. "We'll see, sis, we'll see…"

~~~~X~~~~

Crimso's Corner V.2:

I hate not updating for five days. Really, it bothers me. Actually, I think it's been six days. But honestly, with school and such, there's nothing I can do. Oh well. I have tomorrow off and Friday is Field Day, so homework doesn't need to be done until Sunday. Of course, I still have a bunch of tests pilled up on me. The days have been crazy for school. No, really, I don't think I've ever experienced something as insane as this. Well, I guess I'll have to get used to it. Moving up a grade always means more work, whether or not I want it to be.

But that aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really don't like it when my chapters are under 6,000 words, but honestly, when I think about it, I realize that almost all fanfictions have chapters around 1,000-3,000 words. Maybe I'm just pushing myself when it comes to chapter length. My old limit was 1,000+ words, because I HATE it when there's less than one hundred words in a chapter. I won't read a fanfiction if there's thirty-two chapters and fifteen thousand words. It should be at least thirty-two thousand words. But that aside, I think that Green-Eyed Demon caused me to push myself in terms of words. I don't know how it happened. My usually short chapters just… lengthened, when I wrote GED. Seriously, I could have split them up. Like Chapter Thirty-Four (I think it was chapter Thirty-Four… well, the chapter titled "Showdown") could have been two chapters. Do you think that I'm pushing myself with the number of words? And I mean that as in when I call a chapter with 4,000 words super short. Let me know, please.

As usual, please review! I really like the number of reviews I've been getting, so please keep it up! GED had about this number of reviews by the chapter that was titled "Forgotten." That chapter was when everyone started reviewing, I remember. I remember writing it, falling asleep, waking up and seeing that I had like… nine more reviews. That was a pleasant surprise. But really, please review! I'm so pleased with you guys. Reviewers can get a nice, tender piece of cooked meat, and if you're a vegetarian, you can have some of Rena's vegetarian cooking. Pointing out typos will get you dessert to go with that from Angel Mort.

Thank you, and see you next chapter! (Whenever that will be…)

~Crimso

P.S: Higurashi Kira episode 2 subbed was awesome. Continue to judge me, but it was awesome. Who is looking forward for some MionXKeiichi next OVA? I sure am.