Seventh Moon

Itadakimasu

[TW: Demons eating humans; dog death]

Before I knew what was happening, I already have an arm to my mouth. The sweet taste of blood on my tongue almost made me forget everything, my focus being on it and the soft, supple flesh. A glance at Yuichii-nii's face made me freeze in place before I managed to swallow anything. What the hell am I doing? This isn't normal!

I dropped the arm, moving closer to my brother's face... oh the smell is much stronger! It reminded me of summer festivals wherein the scent of grilled meat wafts in the air, the smell of sugared apples fighting it every now and then... It's almost the same. Breathing just got more difficult, especially with the lingering taste of his blood on my tongue.

Stop. This isn't right! "Onii-san?" I called, my voice sounding hoarse and haunting – it almost sounded like someone else was speaking. He's dead. One of his arms is by the door where I dropped it, his head at the foot of the desk he insisted on keeping in his room, while the rest of his body is still on his futon.

"No!" How did this happen? Gasping, I turned to the side to spit out his blood, wiping my mouth on my kimono. What kind of sister am I? What kind of person thinks it's perfectly normal to take a bite out of their dead brother? The horror settled within me, pushing hunger at the back. The only thing I could do was to call for mother and father.

My hysterical cries woke up the whole household, making them rush towards me. "Yukiko, what – Yuichii!" I've never seen my parents look as pale as they did at that moment. "My son... Yukiko, are you hurt? What happened?" Father asked, dragging me away from my brother. I saw Yori behind them, dragging a still sleepy Yusuke away.

"I don't know. He was... like this when I went here after waking up." My mother hugged me to her chest, making me feel and not only hear her sobs. Her pumping heart is yet another reminder of my hunger. I could almost smell the fresh blood her heart was pumping throughout her body. I couldn't stand being in that room anymore, so I ran back to mine and went back to my futon wrapped snugly, lowering the chance of the harsh sun even reaching me.

A lot of people came and went to our house that morning. Mother dropped by my room twice – asking me if I needed anything and then crying some more. Father stopped by to tell me that my wedding was postponed due to my brother's death. As to what my other two brothers were up to, I have no idea.

It was already dark when I woke up, and I wasn't alone.

"You didn't eat." Stated the already familiar voice. I spotted his blood-red eyes right away. I should've asked him how he got into my room, instead, I told him I was asleep all day. "You should eat, especially after I left you that delectable meal." Meal? "What do you mean?" He walked over to me, kneeling down so we were seeing eye to eye. "You already had it in your mouth, why spit it out?"

His insinuation was clear to me. "You killed my brother?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer. My body moved quicker than I could comprehend, my hands going towards Kibutsuji's neck. He clicked his tongue, one hand flying to mine. "This isn't how things work. My rules are absolute and laying a hand on me is against it."

In the blink of an eye both my hands were cut off at the wrist, rendering me silent in shock at the pain and sight. Or maybe my mind just stopped working. How? Was it him? I looked him over and found no knife or any other weapon. "It will grow back." He assured me as if he was just telling me a fact like how the sky is blue.

"I don't understand..." Everything that happened – being taken somewhere I didn't know and experiencing an unexplainable pain; waking up with my brother dead and wanting to eat him, and with both my hands cut off. Was I having an elaborate nightmare? Do I dread getting married so much that my brain is showing me a nightmare version of my life made possible by the man I was about to marry?