Tatemae

"Death, I think I could handle. It's the waiting that kills me."

Humanity is no more. Struggling out of the rubble are the Lumière and the Fos, two races whose only edible source of food is the hearts of one another, and no matter how much they eat they're eternally hungry. Perhaps they were once the same-- brothers in humanity-- but now they're brothers in cannibalism. Though these monsters may look human, it's important to remember they are anything but.

They are not alive, and they are definitely not human.

Kai Chrysostom's brother, Ash, just died. He was the family's Sawney, the hunter of Fos: the one who went into the white plains just beyond the city walls to hunt Fos for food so his family could live. Most days, he would arrive home, place heart after heart on the dinner table and smile at his brother, whose constant twitching and childhood disease meant he could never kill a Fos himself. Now, the task falls to Kai. Considered by most to be disabled, Kai has no hunt training, a fear of death, and worse-- a fear of the past.

A death. A journey. Eternal hunger. A hunt he never wanted to join. And love. A girl Fos who spares everyone except him, and takes pity on the poor fool as he literally faints at the sight of blood in front of her. A prison. A savior. A loss. More death. And the past that demands to be remembered.

And, it's great-- you've sympathized with your only source of food-- but you're hungry. And, deep down, you know you must eat.

~~~

45,205 words! Finished!
Finally~!!