Asphyxiated, Kazuichi felt himself in the sensation between life and death. His limbs were immobile, and an unexplained weight bore down on him, rendering him breathless in the literal sense of the word. He tried to breathe, but the hold on his neck was far stronger than usual. It's as if someone's got both hands clutching his neck. He gasped for air, but nothing entered his lungs.
Even with no one holding his head in place, he couldn't tilt it. He was stuck in a dark place, and something or someone clutched his neck while sitting on his chest.
When his vision cleared up, he recognized the vague features of a small girl on top of him, smiling so malevolently while clutching his neck. Her face contorted into something unrecognizable, but the smile was still there, affecting Kazuichi's emotions more than he expected.
To Kazuichi's surprise, the girl was holding his neck with only one hand, while her other hand was raised in mid-air, holding something that was very familiar to Kazuichi. It was gleaming, its sharpened edge pointing downwards as it glinted against a light source that was non-existent.
Kazuichi struggled, but the little girl's hold was forceful. He couldn't move an inch as much as he tried to squirm his way out of there. Adrenaline pumped through his system as his flight response was triggered.
And then the stabbing started.
The first stab was right through the lungs, puncturing it straight through as if the little girl was cutting through butter. Kazuichi felt his rib being grazed by the knife, but what was more painful was the hole in his lungs as soon as it was punctured. The girl, merciless as she was, lifted the knife without even giving Kazuichi a break.
A soft squelch was heard as the knife slid right out of Kazuichi's chest. The deep red crimson blood flowed from the hole, and Kazuichi felt his back dampening as blood trickled on his back as well. He gasped for air, but this time he couldn't breathe anymore.
Kazuichi didn't stop fighting back, struggling as much as he could, but he was as powerless as a newborn fawn. The little girl overwhelmed him to the point of despair.
The second stab pierced his heart, and Kazuichi gasped as blood came out of his mouth. He felt like drowning in his own blood, but he knew that the suffering was far from over.
With not much of a choice, Kazuichi resigned himself to fate. He relaxed. The stabbing continued, but he ignored it. He could hear the faint laughter of the girl that continued to stab him. It was maniacal and demonic in a sense, but Kazuichi didn't bother reacting to it. He had finally come to the realization that he was in the middle of a nightmare— an extreme case of sleep paralysis that messed up his mind.
Closing his eyes, Kazuichi told himself that this, too, shall pass. He kept repeating the chant in his head until he didn't feel anything anymore. No fear. No emotions. Just a vague sense of floating in empty space while still immobile.
...
"Wake up! Young sir!" There was a hint of panic in Yoshiyuki's voice as he gently shook Kazuichi awake. He instructed Amaya to wake him up a moment ago, but the little girl didn't want to. She just shook her head in response.
That's why Yoshiyuki took it upon himself to wake Kazuichi up. Even though Kazuichi was just lying still, Yoshiyuki could somehow feel the bloodthirst that leaked out of his body. That's why he began having second thoughts about waking Kazuichi up.
Nevertheless, he proceeded to shake him awake as gently as he could. "Sir! Wake up! It's an emergency!" He hissed, not daring to cause a scene since they needed to maintain quiet as much as possible.
Grab!
Before Yoshiyuki could react, Kazuichi was already holding him by the neck, lifting him off his feet as soon as he bolted upright. To be fair, Kazuichi had already regained his composure in his nightmare. He was still a tad bit jumpy. That's why he couldn't control himself when he accidentally grabbed Yoshiyuki by the neck.
The situation's outcome was entirely different from what everyone expected, though. Before Kazuichi could let go of his grip, Yoshiyuki unleashed his hybrid abilities, making his body swell up. With his muscles activated, Yoshiyuki removed Kazuichi's grip on his neck as if he was removing a piece of paper.
"I'm sorry about that." Kazuichi bowed his head toward Yoshiyuki in an apologetic manner. He didn't intend to grab him by the neck like that.
"It's all right. No wonder Amaya didn't want to wake you up." Yoshiyuki scratched his head. There was no harm done since he was a strong Hybrid. Moreover, Kazuichi didn't come down on him with the intention to kill.
"What's that sme— " The moment Kazuichi woke up, he was instantly greeted by a horrid smell of death and rottenness. He rubbed his nose in slight discomfort as he tried to figure out what was going on.
Scrkkkrkrkrk~!
However, before Yoshiyuki and the others found the time to explain what was going on to Kazuichi, the roof of the staff room was torn open by an Aberrant. "What on actual—" Kazuichi blurted out loud, grabbing Amaya out of the way as debris fell from the top.
An Aberrant stood on top of the staff room, its eyes locked on Kazuichi. Shaking its head, the Aberrant let out an ear-shattering roar before it dropped down on the ground like a monkey on all fours.
Another Aberrant could be seen positioning itself on one of the corners of the staff room. It grabbed one side and proceeded to demolish one of the four walls that served as protection for the group.
"What a great way to start the morning. Just... just great." Sano nervously laughed as three more Aberrants tore down the walls of the staff room, revealing the army of Aberrants that surrounded them in place of the wall they had just destroyed.