Silent Screamer

“So… what are your power levels?” Yayoi sneered as she glared at them.

Teri raised his brow. “What?”

This situation truly was a blessing in itself. He and Taku explored a grand total of two rooms, fighting and managing to survive by the skin of their teeth. Then, they met someone. After that interesting encounter, it was only natural for them to kick a bunch of metallic trophies away to make some space in the corner—which Taku, due to his unparalleled creative mind, called a love nest and made it weird for everyone.

Teri groaned and smiled under his breath. Ten minutes. It took them that long to figure out that they could actually sit down. Though Teri shouldn’t complain too much; he was one of those that waited too.

And then this girl thought that restarting the conversation like this was the best way to go.

“Mine’s pretty big.”

And, ladies and gentlemen, she doubled down.

Yayoi stared at Teri, who froze for a few good seconds. Then, he wiped a single tear from his face and embraced the good ol’ corner, courtesy of Yayoi herself who refused to be cornered by two “weird men.”

With a pair of indestructible walls at his back, it felt right for Teri to push himself deeper into it, snuggle his backpack, and make his comfort zone real. Now he didn’t have to worry about getting backstabbed. Though thinking about getting frontstabbed hurt his brain.

“So?” Yayoi raised a brow, her gaze digging into him.

Teri replied with a lopsided grin as he hugged his backpack tighter. Much to his surprise, the bloodlusted air she had earlier seemed to be gone. “Is this about the corner—”

“That’s something someone with a low power level would say.”

“What even is a power level?”

“It’s a number that represents how strong you are in a fight,” Taku mumbled as he inspected one of the trophies. “It doesn’t make sense though.”

Teri smiled. “Thanks—”

“Mine’s pretty big too, though. Like…. Nine… hundred thirty-two… million?” Taku paused and then nodded to himself. “Yeah that sounds about right.”

“What?” Teri asked. “WHAT?”

“Nice…” Yayoi crossed her arms. “I can respect that.”

“Awwwww… Thank you, Yayoi!” Taku beamed at Yayoi with a new trophy in hand. He glanced at Teri and then back to her. “Are you interested in becoming a part of my harem? I think I can be quite likable. It’s also cool if you don’t want to… unless…”

Yayoi looked at Teri.

“He has a… certain way with words… Don’t kill him please.” Teri forced out a chuckle. Being sandwiched by a backpack and a sturdy wall made him feel a bit braver. “And here I am. Very tight. Very comfy. I might even find myself sleeping. Who knows? And how’s your back, princess?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Of course it is.” Teri widened his grin. “Shrimp. Folding Chair. Corporate slave with back problems—”

The air changed.

Teri felt that crushing pressure once again.

“You know…” Yayoi let out a slow, menacing laugh. “I was contemplating if I should leave you both alone after… all this… or give you both a quick death in your sleep since Taku is weirdly nice. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should kill you now and take that damn corner myself since you’re lording it all over me.”

“Wait, me too?” Taku raised his head, noticing the air. He shrugged and lowered his head, shifting his attention to how perfectly he could break his stale bread three ways.

Yayoi paused. She cupped her chin, squinting. She sighed.

The air once again lost its weight.

Taku obliterated Yayoi with 10,000,000 megawatts of positive vibes and grinned at Teri like an asshole. “See, that’s how you talk to people.”

“Bitch,” Teri grinned back. That stung.

“Dick.”

Taku laughed and proceeded to perfectly fail to break a single piece of bread into three equal pieces. After thinking about it, he gave the biggest piece to Yayoi, tossed the second largest piece to Teri, and kept the smallest piece to himself. He also brought out his waterskin.

“We have a tight ration of water, but feel free to help yourself—just be careful,” Taku said to Yayoi. “We don’t have any cups and stuff like that… so I’ll just promise you that Teri won’t be weird about it.”

“It’s not below me to appreciate such kindness. So, thank you…” Yayoi stretched, combed her hair using her fingers, and pressed her back against the wall. She took a small bite of bread and her eyes glimmered like it was the best tasting snack she had since forever. “Not feeling thankful about Teri though.” She smiled at him. “Keep hoping, maybe even look forward to it.”

“Look forward to it?” Taku beamed even more, so hard that his body transcended and became a living star of positivity for three good seconds. “Does that mean you’re going to stay?”

“Thinking about it…” Yayoi chewed her food slowly as she stared into the floor. “Actually… You two are technically the first two decent people I’ve ever met since I woke up in this dungeon.”

Taku offered Yayoi his waterskin. She took it, saying thanks. And after giving herself a moment to think, she decided to drink the water with care—knowing full well that she was setting herself up for an indirect kiss. Taku was right. Teri didn’t feel like he should be weird with it.

Teri felt like he could use a sip of water from that though. He caught Taku looking at him. The bastard was smiling.

“I wanna take that as a compliment, but man… that must’ve sucked.” Teri bit into his bread. He knew that he wouldn’t go as low as forcing himself to choke so he had to drink some water. But he would be lying if he said that he didn’t consider it.

Taku looked at the size of his bread and glared at Teri. “Yeah…” He continued professionally, his tone serious and professional as his eyes darted from his waterskin to Yayoi’s lips. “I’m not saying that our groups are fine and all. But what happened?”

Yayoi took a larger bite from her bread, her grim eyes now on the floor. “Some asshole decided to go full gangstah and forced out his own harem.”

“I see.” Taku cupped his chin, his radiance snapping into a black hole. His eyes were serious, rounded. He locked eyes with Teri for a second before he looked back at her. His nose started breathing.

“We… Well, I died and woke up in this place; I was in a room full of paper roses with about twenty people. Sorry, I didn’t get to make a more a-accurate count.”

“Twenty sounds about right,” Teri commented. “Go on…”

Yayoi took another bite off her bread. “We all woke up knowing that we’re supposed to be dead. With that… and the thought of getting another shot at life… The thought probably broke him.” She took another sip from Taku’s waterskin. “Average height. Small frame. Black hair. Innocent face like a girl’s. He decided to go to the biggest person in the room, kick him in the balls, and beat him within an inch of his life. Then, he asked us to either submit ourselves to him—body and soul—or leave with nothing. I was one of the very few people that left. I went through a few rooms down south and avoided those dolls as much as I could until I got lucky and found a way to defend myself.”

Taku glared at Yayoi, grunting and fighting his inner demons. “About the harem…”

“Yeah. Body and soul, remember?” Yayoi sighed. “I may have misinterpreted it, sure. But it didn’t take long before three girls attached themselves to him.”

“So, that’s how you do it.” Taku bellowed out a pained laugh. He touched the floor with his open palm and breathed to express his rage in silence. “Motherfucker… Three?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You were the biggest person in the room, Taku. Also, they left us…” Teri interjected before Yayoi’s imagination stirred even more. “In any case, it’s good to know that they’ve established their homebase up north. We can go out of our way to avoid them.”

“Yeah…” Taku added, tears welling up in his eyes. “We shouldn’t make contact with them. I don’t think my super radiant aura of friendship could work on that bland-ass horny bastard.”

“Now you’re just being too mean on purpose.”

“I hope that guy stubs his toe… And when it’s about to heal or when he’s about to recover, he will stub it again!” Taku continued, looking at Teri and then at Yayoi. “Wait, no! Actually… Hah! I can just wish him dead. Like… literally choke on some dick stuck on his throat and die!”

Yayoi looked at Teri.

“Yes, it’s normal,” Teri mouthed to her, smiling. “Don’t worry. I’ll stop him if he starts talking about society or cat girls—”

“Speaking of the starting area…” Yayoi finished her bread. A hint of worry shone from her glass-like eyes. It was well-hidden, something that one could do with enough practice. “Was there a girl, a bit less tall than me but with long braided twin tails and glasses? She’s wearing a blue hoodie.”

“Not sure—”

“No, she’s not there,” Taku added, his nose bleeding even more. “If she was there… I’d remember. I’m sure of it.”

Yayoi gazed at them both, her back pressed against the wall. She was holding herself by the wrist. Her eyes were steady, but her lips weren’t.

“I’m looking for my sister.”