Chapter 14: Freedom At Last
How many fleshy toys have I broken? I had lost count ever since the third day of being there. Rei was right! I didn't know why I was so worried initially. The scrapping came so naturally. I craved more. If only I wasn't stuck in this cage just waiting for another chance while my brother got to have all the fun this time. How was that fair? Staring at the ceiling, I grinned and snickered. All in due time. Ngh! I grabbed my head as it ached again.
What was I saying? Nothing I did to those people was good! It was awful! And yet… the mask was so… addicting to wear! It kept me safe! It kept me alive! Maintaining my sanity was a struggle. The clanging of the metal bars ripped me from my thoughts and my eyes looked forward at the source of noise. In front of the cage stood a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair, seemingly amused that she caught my attention.
"You're not Mama. You shouldn't be back here," I warned.
"Not much Big Madam can do if she never finds out. Will you tell her?" She calmly asked. Looking at her up and down, she seemed like the ideal big sister or even mother because of her slim mature figure alone. If it weren't for her eyes, I would think she was somehow a human allowed to walk freely among the ghouls.
"… No," I answered hesitantly.
"Good choice. Now come here. Don't be afraid," she kneeled down and stuck a hand through the space between the bars, beckoning me with a smile. Reluctantly, I stood up and walked over. Grabbing her hand, it's like her emotions were transferring into my body.
"Your hand is… so warm," I comment, holding onto it tightly. Her eyes showed disgust as she examined the cage, probably noticing things like the filthy dog bowls, lack of blankets and pillows only to name a few.
"Human or ghoul, no one should be treated like this, especially children," she reached her other hand into the cage and tenderly rubbed my back. "What's your name, little one?" For some reason, that made me tense up and I became wary of her intentions. I chose to answer with silence. "Your apprehension is understandable so no pressure. My name is Ritsu," she introduced herself.
"Ritsu?" I let go of her hand and grabbed onto her shirt, trying to hug her despite the bars being in the way.
"That's right," she affirmed. "I'll sneak back here when I can to keep you company. How does that sound?"
"…Nice," I answered.
"All I ask is that you try to not let Big Madam and the scrapping shatter the spirit you still have. You just have to survive until I can get you out," she added.
"I… I'll… do my best," I forced myself to say.
"Good. Now I must get going before Big Madam comes back," she started to pull away.
"No!" I quickly exclaimed, trying to keep a hold on her. I gasped when my left hand grabbed her boob instead, making her stop. It was soft and squishy so I couldn't help but squeeze it. Realizing what I'm doing, I quickly reeled my hand back to myself. "I-I'm sorry! It was an accident!" I closed my eyes and shielded myself with my arms, waiting to get hit for it. But the hitting never comes. She instead patted my head to my confusion, making me drop my guard.
"It's okay. I know you didn't mean to," she muttered sweetly. Her eyes. Her hair. Her face. Her being understanding. She was… so beautiful! My cheeks blushed when I noticed the tight feeling of my shorts. That… that didn't happen… unless I was playing with Rei. Does that… mean I can really trust her? Taking her hand away, she stood up. "I'll see you later," she waved goodbye. In a snap decision, I grabbed the metal bars.
"Ritsu… My name is… Kira," I revealed to her. She seemed happy to hear it.
"Then I'll see you later, Kira!" she giggled.
"B-Bye… Ritsu," I said. Watching her walk away was like hope slipping from my fingertips. It wasn't long before Mama and Rei returned.
"I'm back, Kira!" Rei announced excitedly.
"Juuzou did amazing as always! If only you could've seen him!" Mama praised, shoving Rei inside the cage before locking it. The mask forced itself back on.
"When will I get to go, Mama?" I asked.
"Tomorrow, dear! As much fun as having both of you out there is, it must be kept fresh for the masses! You'll get your good boy points soon enough," she assured before leaving us alone in the dungeon-like basement.
"I got a surprise gift from the pit for you!" He said.
"And what's tha—," he interjected me by shoving a thumb in my mouth and swiping it against my tongue, a metallic sweetness enveloping my tastebuds.
"Blood!" I exclaimed. At first, it tasted vile but after a few days it was more like a free treat for taking apart our playthings.
"That's right!" He grinned, his eyes scanning left and right. "Mama's not gonna come back tonight," he suddenly whispered, rubbing my back. "Wanna play?" I gulped anxiously, knowing where it inevitably leads. I didn't mind playing with Rei anymore and actually even enjoyed it now. I just worried about what would happen if Mama or someone else caught us. I silently nodded. Not a moment sooner were we grappling and wrestling around the cage. Something felt different though. I wanted to actually win for once. Could it be because of Ritsu? The more I thought about her, the more I wished I could play with her at the moment. Ending the tussle, I managed to pin Rei down for the first time ever to my surprise, both of us heavily panting.
"Look at that. You finally beat me!" He chuckled. "And you really wanna play more by the looks of it." I realized I'm slowly bumping against him.
"C-Can I?" I looked at him with pleading eyes.
"That's the point of winning," he answered, suggestively staring at me. That night I got to have a taste of what Rei felt every time he won. Complete power over someone but using it to help benefit that person and yourself. At least that's how I viewed it at the time. I wanted to show Rei that I can be as strong as him if not stronger!
Day in, day out, the usual happened. Sometimes, Rei and I scrapped for the audience together and other times we did it separately. Playing around with Rei quickly became a coin flip on who won but either way it didn't matter. He seemed to get more of a kick out of me putting in genuine effort though. The toughest part of the usual was that Mama gave us "encouragement" every now and then regardless of how good our results were, leaving welts and the like on our bodies after the fact while I struggled to pretend that it was done out of love. I didn't know if it's because I was a newer pet but Rei seemed to get it much worse than I would at times. The only things that were making it bearable were Ritsu's secret visits and Rei himself.
To give Mama a little credit though, there were days albeit rare where she actually treated us like a mother should to her own children. She dressed us up like we were girls but neither Rei nor I seemed to actually care. It was just nice to wear new clothes that don't get caked in gore and not eat slop. Despite that, it did fuck all to quell my animosity towards her. One day out of the many, however, I was greeted with a surprise.
"I've returned once again, Kira," Ritsu announced.
"Hey, Ritsu! What are we gonna talk about today?!" I asked excitedly.
"Not much but I got something that will blow your mind," she answered, holding up a key.
"How did you get that?" I gasped, realizing that it unlocks the cell door.
"Let's just say Big Madam won't notice that it's missing," she replied cheekily, opening the cell. It felt unreal seeing the door wide open without Mama standing by it. Walking in, she kneeled and reached her arms out to me. "Now you can have that hug you so desperately wanted to give me." Overcome with emotion, I ran and jumped into her arms, hugging as tight as I could with my face in her chest. "You've done so well to keep a sense of self," she praised me, stroking my head.
"Please take me and my brother away," I muttered, looking up at her.
"I would but I can't make that kinda move yet. You two must hold on just a little longer but I promise that I'll rescue you both soon enough. Can you do that for me?" she requested.
"Y-Yes! I will!" I nodded. In the warmth of her embrace, I struggled to let go when it came time for her to disappear again. That very day didn't come the exact way I wanted for better and worse. The red flag for it was when Mama had snatched Rei and I from our cell, practically crushing our wrists in her gorilla grip.
"You two are ripe enough now so I'm gonna finally fix you both up!" She bellowed ecstatically. Alarm bells began to ring in my head that what she was referring to was even more nightmarish than the typical torture. Something irreversible. Inside the encouragement room, I noticed a tool that menacingly stood out compared to the other usual ones because it wasn't there before; A big gavel. Watching her pick it up made the blood in my veins freeze. "Come and get on the table, Juuzou!" She patted the splintered wood with an ominous grin.
"Y-Yes, Mama!" Rei nodded, clearly reluctant about this. That was the first time I ever noticed him behave differently from his always excited self and it dawned on me right there that at least some of it was fake. An act to appeal to Mama. The same act he was quick to make sure that I would follow too. He wasn't brainwashed! He was protecting himself and also me as best he could by getting me to play along with him! He really was my big brother despite having no blood relation! Frozen with fear and not knowing what to do, I watched as she cuffed his hands behind his back and made him lie down.
"Good! Now when I'm finished, you'll be my precious doll forever and your brother will be too!" She yanked his pants down as she enthusiastically raised the gavel into the air. With a loud slam, Rei screamed like I never heard him scream before as his body violently writhed all over the table. Something within me snapped completely in that moment, watching my brother be in complete agony like this and knowing I was next. I had enough! All the hatred and anger I had toward Mama that I tried to conceal to survive engulfed my body! I threw everything Ritsu told me to do out the damn window! To hell with waiting on her to save us! I didn't know how but we needed to escape now! Mama needed to die despite knowing how difficult I knew it would be!
"I'LL KILL YOU FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE, MAMAAA!" I abruptly screamed and recklessly charged at her, grabbing a pristine butcher knife from her assortment of tools. Attempting to slash her in the back, the knife had cut her dress but broke in half when it hit her skin. I knew it wasn't gonna work and yet I was still surprised for some reason. Unfazed, Mama slowly turned towards me.
"You dare be foolish enough to attack your own mother? I should've started with you first had I known that the vile testosterone was pumping through you so quickly!" She tried to backhand slap me but I ducked it and leaped onto her person. Knocking off her glasses, I frantically scratched at her eyes while she tried to pull me off of her back.
"Grrr! Kira, you little shit!" She yanked me off of her and slammed me down on the ground, making me gasp painfully. Growling through the pain, I attempted to get back up only for her to crush and grind my left hand under her heel.
"Gaaah!" I cried out.
"K-Kira…," Rei could barely utter.
"Now go back to being a good little boy so I can preserve your charm!" She kicked me in the chest hard enough that I'm certain a rib or two was fractured. Every breath I took felt like I was being stabbed. Now on my back, she grabbed me by the ankle and any further resistance I put up was met with my ankle getting more and more crushed in her grip until I gave up. Completely gassed, I made my peace that I at least put up some fight no matter how pointless it really was. I knew I would get tortured even more after the fact for disobedience but knowing I would be taking the extra pain bullet for my brother for once made me happy.
"I tried to make this easy but you chose the hard way! You'll thank me in the future!" She lifted a foot, preparing to crush my testicles with the heel of her shoe. It was just our luck that the door was suddenly kicked in with a couple CCG investigators swarming in.
"Big Madam located with two potential captives! Engaging now!" Some investigators don quinques while others take aim with rifles.
"Shit! My handiwork has been completely wasted! So much down the drain just like that!" She flung me aside, making my face bang on the side of the table. Swiftly unleashing her kagune, she angrily busted through a wall to make her escape. Not so much as a goodbye was given to us. Some investigators gave chase while a few cautiously checked on us and administered first aid to stop our bleeding injuries. One of them really stood out despite my now blurred vision.
"We're sorry we couldn't get here sooner but what matters is that you two are still breathing," the man said.
"Who… are you?" I managed to ask.
"Shinohara. I'm with the CCG," he answered proudly. "We're getting you both out of here." The nightmare finally ended but at a cost different from what I really desired. As Rei and I were being escorted to safety, I noticed a shadowy figure tailing us but it never took the chance to attack. Being loaded into an ambulance, I caught a flash of the figure's face from the bright red lights. It was none other than Ritsu which made my eyes widen. She simply put a finger in front of her lips silently telling me to keep quiet. I nodded as the doors were closed and we were transported away. My brain tried to piece together how this happened. Did Ritsu tip the CCG off about that place or was she coming to finally rescue us but the CCG got there first? I still don't know.
"Kira," Rei reached his hand out to me, ripping me away from my thoughts.
"I'm here, Rei! We finally made it out!" I exclaim, holding his hand as tears rushed from my eyes. Through my fuzzy vision, I could tell he gave me a smile before passing out. Exhausted from the adrenaline, I finally allowed myself to collapse. Spending time recovering at a hospital, we went through several evaluations as well. I ended up needing to get glasses as a result of the concussion I received from Big Madam. Shinohara made it a point to visit us which dialed down the stress of not knowing what the future held at the time. Eventually, we got discharged but remained under the custody of the CCG and were placed in one of their Academy Junior Schools. More specifically, their 2nd Academy.