Chapter Text
Your hands tightened around the neck of the woman below you.
You were attentively contemplating her expression.
Face contorted in terror and flushed from lack of breath, eyes red and watery, mouth wide open in an attempt to make any kind of sound.
One of your knees was placed on her stomach, preventing her from standing up, even though it wasn't actually necessary.
The physical strength of a human could not be compared to that of a man-eater.
Human beings have such fragile bodies.
Organisms so complex but so easy to break.
It was no surprise that no matter how much resistance the woman was putting up she wasn't able to move you one bit.
Your nails left marks and scratches on the lady's neck.
Strangled verses filled the room, along with huffs and cries.
Behind you, the woman's feet squirmed, almost hitting you at times, but even if that were the case it wouldn't have bothered you.
The two bound men watched the scene without daring to speak.
The younger was weeping, while the other was bleeding heavily from his left leg from a wound previously inflicted.
You felt their gaze on your back. Their disgusted and miserable gaze pierced your skin like thorns, but nothing more.
Sometimes one of them would try to beg you to stop your attack, but their voices were almost in the distance, inaudible.
"Okay, that's enough"
When one of the familiar male voices was heard you released your hold on the woman and moved away from above her, to give the man a good view.
The woman finally inhaled some air, and she settled into a sitting position, while her tears continued to fall on her garment, leaving darker stains.
After making sure she had enough air she reconnected to the space around her and agitatedly crawled against one of the walls, watching your movements with red eyes.
Her gaze moved to the figures of her husband and her son, unable to move due to the restrictions.
More tears welled up in her eyes, seeing the state of the two.
The man who had previously spoken, who until now had limited himself to observing the scene from a corner of the room with his sister, slowly approached the woman on the floor. The latter tried to back away further but her limited space prevented her from doing so.
The man had long black hair which fell over his face as he bent down to the lady's height to look at her face.
"So... Where are our fabrics and jewels?" - His face was cheerful, with a smile on it, but the woman was terrified just to look at him.
Normally human expressions serve to augment the meaning and intentions of a spoken sentence or to communicate a way of being, but no matter how hard you tried, you weren't able to grasp the secondary intentions behind them.
That was one of your shortcomings, as the black-haired man had stated several times in the past. Mokichi, that was his name, but you hardly ever used it.
It wasn't necessary for you to hold conversations with the latter.
Just as dog owners don't expect dogs to talk, he has never tried to have a conversation with you.
"Please tell that thing to stop, I beg you" - exclaimed the woman's husband turning to Mokichi, but the bound man's eyes were focused on you.
The man's leg was still bleeding. After a few moments he would probably pass out from the loss of blood.
Your eyes were focused on the scarlet liquid that stained the wooden floor of the house, and the man, noticing this, sought help by shifting his gaze to the black-haired boy.
"You. You are a farmer, right?" - The man nodded, trying to distract himself from the sensation of your eyes glued to him.
"So you know how hard it is to get a good harvest. Very often it is destroyed by rains, people, animals. But in the end all the effort is paid off by the customers’ satisfaction, and by the money they pay you back with, right?" -The man nodded again, and you noticed that he swallowed, which gave you some shivers and increased your current salivation. The smell of blood haunted the room, and your ability to think straight diminished as time passed.
"So you can understand how frustrated my family and I are right now, right?" - the man tried to open his mouth but was interrupted by the continue of Mokichi's monologue - "So you understand how annoying this whole situation is, DO YOU? We have lent you our precious fabrics and jewels, asking you for a small amount of money at their return." - he said going round in the center of the room- "and now don't you want to give them back to us?" - he finished, pulling himself together slightly.
The bound man shook his head desperately.
"No! It's just that..."- he stopped himself before finishing the sentence.
The man with the long black hair sighed, and with an almost sorry face he turned to you, quickly tilting his head in the direction of the woman still on the floor.
Your eyes moved in the direction of the woman who, realizing where the situation was going, started to cry again, and to shake her head.
It took a few moments for the husband to understand what was happening, and he turned back to you.
"NO! I BEG YOU, SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS MATTER-"
Humans are really fragile creatures.
You thought as, before the man finished speaking, you threw yourself at the woman on the floor.
With one hand you grabbed the lady's shoulder, pushing her hard against the floor, forcing her to lie down completely on the surface.
With your other hand, you turned her head away from the shoulder that you had grabbed, exposing her neck.
Such frail creatures indeed.
The woman's husband looked wide-eyed at his wife's body lying on the floor, while the lady spat blood.
Your teeth had taken a short time to pierce the woman's skin and later her throat, completely preventing her from speaking.
Even though her vocal cords were broken, she still managed to make sounds of terror and pain.
Your pupils almost felt like slits, while your ears stopped hearing the sounds around you again, focusing only on the cries and the faint breathing of the woman below you.
The smell of blood in the room was intoxicating, irresistible.
After making sure you had a good grip you started moving your head upwards, always keeping the woman still.
And under the disgusted and frightened looks of her husband and son, you took the first bite.
All that remained of the woman was a few pieces of meat scattered around the room, and the bones, which you had refused to eat.
Her husband was staring blankly, while his son just looked at his knees with eyes blurred by tears.
You looked up at Mokichi, who was apparently already contemplating your expression. He wasn't smiling.
He walked over to you and turned to the two bound men.
"So..."- he said trying to get the attention of the two, but they seemed too lost in their thoughts to acknowledge him.
"Ahem! Like I said"- as he spoke he placed a hand on your head as you were still sitting on the floor.
After all, from what you understood in the last ten years that you served Mokichi's family, they appreciated seeing you sitting on the floor rather than standing, and you never complained. - "You see, what we lent you was very expensive, and we rightly demand our payment and our possessions".
The older man just stared at the floor, as if no one was in the room.
You enjoyed the feeling of having your hair and head caressed.
The thought that Mokichi was proud of your work made your breathing and heart rate quicken.
"So I'd appreciate it if you could tell me where our items are" - he said with feigned gentleness. - "Or it would be a shame to dirty this floor further."
The young man's head moved in your direction.
His mother's blood stained your face, your hands and your Washi, a 'paper' dress normally worn by the lower social classes.
"What... What is she?" - he asked looking at you. Being referred to with something other than 'it' was normally reserved for important occasions, for you.
"Sharp teeth and nails. Deer antlers on a human body, able to grow bigger and smaller. Superhuman strength. On.. only monsters in legends came close to something like this"
Mokichi let out a sigh, annoyed at being ignored.
"Isn't it obvious? Ever heard of demons? Man-eating creatures that fear the sun" - the man's eyes widened slightly at hearing these words.
Before he could reply, however, he was stopped by the voice of the man in front of him.
"Look, since you want to know more about it, would you like to spend more time together? Maybe it could get you the answer to my initial question while it tears off some of your limbs" - he moved his hand over your head to pat you on the back of it, beckoning you to do what you are tagged as a demon for.
On the way home, Mokichi's sister - Reiko - who had stood aside during the scene at the house of three, held your hand while her brother led the way. You enjoyed her touch. She was soft, not even a callus present, and she often took care of her appearance as the family was trying to marry her off to someone wealthy.
You have no idea how it is possible that no one has chosen her as a bride yet, after all she has a look that falls within the demands of most of her suitors.
It felt good to think of such a beautiful girl holding your hand, to the point that the thought of biting her just to leave something of you on her permanently, to show her how much you admired her, tormented you.
The main reason why no one had married her yet was because she had a particularly arrogant character but you, not being able to see even one of the faults of her family, couldn't see this trait.
You watched her slightly disgusted expression as she held your hand, probably from the blood dripping all over you, and now staining her hands as well.
As she turned to you you shifted your gaze to the floor, suddenly considering the very thought of touching her disrespectful.
She ignored your act, and she turned to her brother.
"It stinks. We can't make it come home like this. Our father would be disgusted, not to mention it'd get dirty everywhere." - the girl affirmed with some Sniff Sniff 's between her words.
"Don't be rude to the little deer"- he said referring to your antlers. -"That's not polite. After all thanks to it, now we know that those poor bums have sold our possessio-" - the young man had to stop his talking because of a violent cough. You and Reiko didn't move from you spots. Even if you would've wanted to go and help him, to check on him, you remained at the side of the girl that was holding your hand, not wanting to disappoint her by leaving her.
You passed your gaze passively on the boy's figure, avoiding looking at him in the eyes.
You knew that the boy had a really weak body due to some injury he had when he was little, his family was destroyed to know that he couldn't have worked as much as his brothers, and even asked you to turn him into a demon having heard that some individuals in your specie were able to. And you would have helped him. You would have turned him in one of you, if it wasn't for the fact that you had no idea how to.
The moment Mokichi's eyes fell on you, you turned your gaze to the floor.
Humans are extremely fragile creatures.
And this is why you must protect the people who love you and take care of your nutrition and health.
A good dog protects its master.