Haikyuu Creature Collection

Grey (Naoyasu Kuguri)

This cell... I have a feeling I'll probably never get to see much more than this ever again.

Well, I call it a cell, but really, it's just a small room. There's a door on each end, one leading into the cell from the rest of the compound, the other leading to the courtyard where myself and others like me spend our morning hours.

That door is on an automatic lock... it unlocks just after breakfast time and then locks again right before lunchtime. During that short few hours, we get to sit outside in the courtyard and interact with our fellow collected.

I'm not particularly close to any of them... I've never really been one to socialize anyways. Still, anytime someone gets hurt, I'm the first they come to. Being an angel, it's easy for me to heal others.

An angel's healing powers aren't without their limits though... As nice as it would be, they won't work on ourselves... and when it comes to vampires... well, they're really resistant to the healing.

Not that there would be any vampires among the collected anyway... the Collectors deem them as being far too dangerous to keep. Maybe that's why they let them be a part of them instead. As far as I know, there's only one Collector here who is a vampire.

On the main door to my cell, a small door is opened. It's no bigger than a dog door, existing only for the purpose of slipping in the trays at mealtimes. In slides a tray, a carefully measured amount of food on it, along with a bottle of water and a tiny white pill.

As much as I hate to admit, they do feed us decently... what they give us is carefully made, taking all our allergies and health needs into account. It didn't make it taste good, but it's at least edible. They do it for their own selfish reasons, of course, since it would be more work for them if any of us got sick.

The little pill? It's another way that they "take care" of us. It's a form of birth control. Again, it's more for their convenience than for our sake, but I know that some of us would be very grateful to have that little bit of protection. After all, we don't get a say in what they do to us.

Some of us thought they were smart and refused. Some physically rebelled. Some simply refused food. In the end, it didn't matter... no matter how much you fought back, you'd only end up being forced into submission. It saved both sides a lot of pain if you just behaved and did as you were told.

Even knowing that though, I can't bring myself to submit completely. I'll be careful and pick my battles. I'll play the good little girl until there comes a battle that I stand a chance of winning. It may sound stupid or pathetic to you, but this is how I've survived.

For now, I'll behave. I ate my food quietly and quickly. There's only an hour set aside for lunchtime, but that doesn't mean you can waste time. When I'm done, I slip the empty tray out the little door. About fifteen minutes before lunch ends, someone will come around to collect trays. They always count too, making sure everyone returns exactly what they'd been given.

After lunchtime is considered "working time." I'm not so sure I'd consider it work... People come around and pay to spend an hour with one of us... They can do anything they choose too, so long as we're still in one piece and alive by the end. More often than not, it's for sexual purposes... but that didn't mean it always was.

Now and then, you'll get the odd visitor who merely wants attention... someone to talk to or to make them feel like they're loved. These people are weird, but at the same time, they're a sort of blessing. A brief relief from the horrors we see at all other times.

The first two visitors I get today aren't that type. For those two hours, I play the good girl and do as I'm told. No sense fighting with either one... it wouldn't get me anywhere. That doesn't mean that I like it though.

The third hour comes and so does the third visitor. This man is one I know. He's one of the Collectors that works in this compound. Couldn't tell you his name, but I do know that he's one of the... nicer ones, for lack of a better word.

He's not one for a lot of talk... and I've never seen him be unnecessarily cruel. He's dressed just like all the others; dark clothes that are built to allow for mobility. The only thing missing is his belt. That's no surprise though... the guards would have had him remove it before entering, as that was where his weapons would have been.

This is the first I've ever seen him step into my cell... I don't know what to expect from him.

For a moment, all he does is stare silently. What is he planning to do? It's clear that he's in no hurry... probably bought up more than just one hour. It's not uncommon... sometimes a Collector will take a liking to a certain collected and choose to take up several of that collected's timeslots for the day. Doing it for a collected that you'd never touched before though, that was a bit odd.

After a moment, he stepped towards me, making me instinctively take a step back. If I were going to fight back, this would be the time to do it. I probably stand the best chance against him and it could have some sort of outcome.

He didn't seem to like that. Before I could make even the slightest move, I was grabbed and pushed up against the wall. His chest was pressed tight to my back, my arms pinned by the wrist on each side.

"Quit moving." When I struggled anyway, his grip tightened on my wrists. "I said don't move." His breath was right on my neck. "If you keep squirming around like that, it's going to hurt a hell of a lot more. So just be good, don't move and I'll be done in a minute."

It's right about then that I remember that he's the one that's the vampire. As much as I don't want to listen to him, I know that what he said wasn't a lie. I've never been bitten before, but I've seen the bites on others afterward... many of which I was asked to heal.

When I stopped moving, I felt him lean in closer. "Good girl." It's not much more than a whisper, but it's enough to know that he's content before he finally sinks his fangs in.

It hurts... a lot, actually. It makes me want to cry out, but I hold it back. It's not like it would do anything anyway.

A minute or two passes, but it feels like so much longer. Slowly he withdraws his fangs, giving the bitemark a lick before letting go of me and stepping back.

Cautiously, I turn back around to face him. To my surprise, he's moved back always from me and is instead sitting comfortably on my mattress. When he sees me looking, he pays the space beside him and when I don't ait with hum, he merely shrugs and lays down, his back to me. In only a couple of minutes, I can hear him snoring quietly.

It's foolish of him to trust me so easily. If I were the type, I could strangle him in his sleep. Lucky for him, I'm not that type. Instead, I'll take comfort in this brief moment of peace. I laid down next to him, feeling that at least for this moment, I was safe.

I'm not sure how long I slept, but when I woke, it was to the feeling of a hand brushing some hair out of my face. My eyes flutter open, only to meet his that were quietly staring back at me.

I don't make any attempts to move away. If he had planned to do anything to me, he would have done it while I was asleep and defenseless. Well, that is what I assumed, at least.

"Still got about an hour left." His voice startled me a little. He'd been pretty quiet, so I didn't really expect him to say anything.

That last hour is spent laying there, mostly in silence, but also with light conversation. By the end, I learned that his name was Kuguri and that he'd bought all of my hours for the day. All he'd wanted was a quick little meal and a nice nap. Apparently, the mattresses in the cells were more comfortable than the Collectors' bunks. Wasn't so sure I believed that though.

The next day, he showed up again... and then every day after that. He'd take up all of my hours, or as many as he could if someone got to it first. During the time, he'd simply take my blood and then have his nap. It sounds stupid to hear it, but having this become my normal routine was kind of nice... and in time, I came to be a bit fond of Kuguri and his visits.

If escape from here was impossible, then spending these days with Kuguri was definitely the next best scenario.