HATCH

VIII

⚠️TRIGGER WARNING: CRINGE STUFF AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.⚠️

When we had finally entered the house, Aniki immediately went to the bathroom to take a shower.

To be honest, I was still quite spooked to be left alone once again. I was waiting in my room when I suddenly remembered the girl from the other night.

Although she was practically harmless, just pointing to my objectives, her long black hair gave me the creeps. I haven't even seen her face not even once. She didn't resemble any of the people I know and so did that giant bald guy.

Several minutes passed so I assumed Aniki was already done bathing.

I left my room and headed to the bath. The door was ajar and the lights were on. I didn't think he was still there and assumed Aniki just forgot to turn the lights off.

When I entered, I was shocked to see Aniki standing in front of the sink and mirror, combing his brown hair. His hair was wet and he was topless, only wearing pants. He looked at me, clueless and seemingly innocent.

My face burned up and I immediately closed the door on my face, leaning against it and mentally cursing myself.

I heard him chuckle inside the bathroom.

"You could have told me you wanted to see me naked," Aniki teased.

"I don't!" I retorted loudly from the other side of the door but he only laughed.

Seconds later, Aniki opened the door and I almost stumbled but he caught me. The blush was still evident on my cheeks and I only avoided his gaze.

Aniki was smiling the whole time, I could tell.

"Your turn, princess," he teased.

I pushed him off and rushed inside the bathroom. It was getting harder to breathe but thankfully, I was left alone to stable myself.

I leaned my back on the door, catching my breath. I tried to remove the image of Aniki standing shirtless from my mind but I couldn't. I seriously didn't want to think about him right now.

Eventually, I managed to get my mind off it for a bit, finally taking a bath in peace.

When I finished, I headed to my room and tried to keep myself busy as much as possible. I planned on going out only when necessary.

There was nothing to do, so I just wrote in my diary.

Day ___

I have already lost track of days or rather, nights. I dreamt of Aniki but I doubt it was only a dream. It felt real. Maybe I just passed out and Aniki didn't tell me about it so I wouldn't get scared. I already saw that coming, knowing Aniki. But the door was destroyed in my dream and when I woke up, it was fixed. Aniki couldn't have fixed it that quickly.

Anyway... a few "nights" later, there's this entity—Aniki's dark side (as he said) that was banging his head repeatedly against the wall in the living room. Aniki was about to hit him with his baseball bat but the doppelganger grabbed it from him, killing him instead.

Surprisingly, I got along with Aniki's dark side and found out that he reciprocated the feelings I had for him. Turns out, Aniki had always liked me as much as I liked him. He just... kept it to himself.

All of that aside, I still have to find a way to get out of here. It's always night and I can feel the vitamin deficiency kicking in. I need sunlight.

Someone knocked on my door, making me stop scribbling on my journal.

Aniki opened the door and poked his head inside.

"Dinner's ready," he simply announced, eyeing me.

"Okay."

I hid my journal in my drawer, locking it and keeping the key with me. Then I walked to Aniki.

"What was that?" He asked.

"What was what?" I innocently looked at him.

He only shook his head in a matter of seconds.

l stopped in my tracks as we were in the middle of the hallway.

"Wait... Where did you get the food?"

"I just made use of what was in the fridge. I'm sure you're cool with that. Are you not?" He said.

Aniki has never answered me like that before but I didn't mind. I asked a rhetorical question anyway. I nodded and followed him downstairs.

As we climbed down the stairs, I felt Aniki's hand hold mine firmly. He turned his head to me and gave me a reassuring smile. I just looked away.

The two of us sat across each other in the dining room.

The meal wasn't much. It was just composed of some greens and canned beans which I thought we already ran out of. I guess not.

There was also some bread.

Aniki poured me a glass of carrot juice.

"It's fresh," he said.

The drink reminded me so much of that time where Aniki and I ate tuna sandwich in the kitchen. We drank carrot juice too before getting caught by that creepy lady.

"Are you okay?" asked Aniki.

I realized I was staring at the drink in front of me for too long. Even his way of asking if I was okay just made me even sadder.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" I muttered, beginning to dig in. The food wasn't that bad. "Did you check the expiry date?"

"Of course. What do you take me for?"

We ate in silence for the next few minutes. All that occupied my mind was: how do I get out of here?  It had been like that since the beginning.

Then, an idea suddenly entered my mind.

¬.¬

🥕c a r r o t   j u i c e 🥕

yeah, idfk what im doing anymore. want some carrot juice tho?

vote for more, ig? and follow for more updates... for more cringe... for more unwanted adventures...

also, dont ask me why the picture above doesnt match the current chapter... i just ran out of em.