"The world is a cruel place and its people are even more so. Especially me."
Ever since the existence of Ghouls had become known to the public, everyone began to fear them. And upon further study, it was revealed that all Ghouls were in the forms of...
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Nutcracker
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Everything felt cold after I passed out. I believed I was dead, trapped in a pitch black void forevermore. I was happy with that, content with it. Finally free from the shackles of life, the suffering and cruelty of others. Heh... God, now I sound like Sen Takatsuki's books with how gloomy I'm thinking. But... That was the only joy I had in life. Perhaps I could just spend my afterlife reminiscing about her books.
To my surprise, I feel a warmth in my heart. It was strange. It wasn't pleasure. It wasn't joy. It felt like... I was alive? The faint rhythmic beating of my heart echoes in my head, leaving me even more confused. That wasn't possible. I should be dead. That whore... That Ghoul... She killed me, didn't she?
Confirming my state, I feel my eyes open up and the pitch black void lights up to reveal a hospital room. And my body hurts. Not as much as before, but a little. A low grunt leaves my mouth as I sit up from the bed, using my elbows as leverage. I scan the room, curious and in denial of me being alive. It just shouldn't have been possible. Right?
I lift the blanket off me and see my wounds were patched up. Over the part where that whore stabbed me, I see stitches and a scar. I gently tap it, feeling a small ache upon doing so. I wince and pull my hand away from the stitches. As much as I hated to say it, this all basically confirmed that I was alive. Which I despised. Why didn't I die back there?
I sigh, annoyed and rub my eyes, waking myself up a little more. On the bedside table, I see a sandwich neatly wrapped up with a note. I pick it up and read the note out loud.
Mutasim: "Hi. You might not know me, but I know you. Sorry I've never talked to you face-to-face, but I do want to try and make friends with you. My name's Minami Uruka. I made this sandwich for you when you wake up. Enjoy! I hope you like it."
So some random girl from my school just makes a sandwich and happens to want to make friends with me after my near-death experience? I wasn't so sure this was pure. Regardless, I was hungry and this sandwich was the only thing here. I open the wrap and raise the sandwich up to my mouth, taking a bite out of it. Upon biting into it, It had a rotten taste to it, like it was left out on a hot day and the flies had done god knows what kind of shit to it but worse. I spit the bite out and look at the inside of the sandwich. As I examine it, I realise it was actually my favourite type of meat. So why did it taste so bad?
I keep looking at the sandwich, checking it from all angles. Still, I find nothing wrong. And the meat doesn't actually look spoiled, leaving me more confused. I try taking another bite but I had the same reaction and urge to spit it out. A groan leaves my mouth as I put the sandwich back on the bedside table, my spine shivering from the horrible taste.
The rest of my stay in the hospital was boring. And strange. Boring because the doctors just had me do a couple tests to make sure I was healthy after my incident. They said I was lucky to survive. More like unlucky. The bitch was doing me a favour by putting an end to me. And the experience was also strange. Strange because no matter how much time passed, no matter when my stomach growled, I could never eat normal food. Doctors were confused too and they tested what foods I could eat. The tests all came back negative. For some reason, I couldn't stomach anything. Fruit, vegetables, meat, chicken, nothing. All of it, I just got sick after eating.
By the end of it, the doctors just assumed that my tastebuds were affected by the amount of painkillers, mainly morphine that was injected into me. That most likely explained why I hardly felt any pain when I first woke up. But it didn't make sense for side effects to persist this long. The doctors, despite showing no signs of being able to digest proper food, just prescribed me something that should help me get the morphine out of my system so I could eat proper food.
When I returned to school, I'd discovered that around a month had passed since I was admitted to the hospital. And then... I met Minami for the first time. She was... A lot more different compared to the other students. She seemed purely joyful, social and just... Really sweet. But I never truly caved in or believed her words. Sure, whenever we spoke, she had a big smile and bright eyes, but I knew better than most that letting people in would only get you hurt.
