Back from the underground cell. Saki walks with one hand on the wall. Her knees threaten to buckle. Bruises ache all over her body. The taste of iron still in her mouth. Camila was there. Standing in the corner of the room. Silver eyes looked at Saki. A glance. Nothing more. [cold] Sit. Saki sinks to the floor as told. She can't stand anymore. Camila approaches. A cloth wrung out in cold water in her hand. Wordlessly, she begins wiping the blood from Saki's face. Her touch is rough. But—slightly gentler than last night. The cloth touches her forehead. Cold. Saki said nothing. Can't even say thanks. Just lets it happen. Camila's hand stopped. She's looking into Saki's eyes. [cold] ...Your eyes have changed. A low voice. Saki doesn't answer. Just stares straight ahead. Vacant, yet a small light burns deep within. A light that wasn't there last night. Camila asked nothing more. Continues the treatment. Silence. Only the sound of dripping water. —The door opened. Soundlessly. Madame Vespa. Black dress. Cold golden eyes. Gaunt hands folded before her stomach. [cold] Oh my, you can already move. Her gaze traces Saki's entire body. Eyes appraising merchandise. [cold] Return to the back menu tonight. The customers are waiting. Camila's hand stopped for a moment. [cold] She's still injured. [cold] Irrelevant. Vespa doesn't even look at Camila. Her golden eyes see only Saki. [cold] If she can move, there's no problem. Have her ready by nightfall. Saki nodded silently. Vespa twisted her lips in satisfaction and left the room. Camila clicks her tongue. [cold] ...Don't push yourself. Just that. Camila left the room too. Saki is alone. Leans against the wall. Looks up at the ceiling. Stone stains. Cracks. —Someday, I'll kill you. The words she swore in the underground cell. Repeated over and over in her heart. Even now, smoldering deep in her chest. Night comes. The underground special room. A windowless chamber. Magical lamps on the walls flicker red. Damp air. Mold and sweat and cloying sweetness. Dragged in by the guards. One man inside. A rough brute, ex-military. Stubble. Breath stinking of alcohol. Old scars on his shoulder. Leather chest guard worn through. The man looked at Saki's body and laughed. [cold] Ho, look at this... ain't you a wreck. Saki says nothing. The man approaches. Reaches out, grabs Saki's chin. Turns her bruised face left and right. [cold] Eh, fine. Watching a face in pain never gets old. A leather pouch on the desk. Crimson dream powder. The man picked it up. [cold] Inhale. The leather pouch is pressed against Saki's nose and mouth. —She inhales. Lungs fill with powder. A moment of suffocation. The next instant, heat raced through her. Her entire skin becomes sensitive. Even the flow of air turns into stimulation. The pain of her bruises slowly overwritten by a different sensation. (This, again.) Her body stops being her own. The man pushes Saki down onto the bed. Her clothes are torn off. Breasts exposed. The man's hands knead them roughly. Fingers pinch her nipples. [sad] ...Nn. A voice escapes. It hurts, but the crimson dream powder turns it into pleasure. (No, this isn't me.) The sound of the man undoing his belt. Exposed penis. Hard and erect. The glans presses against Saki's thigh. —Pierced through. Ah... aah. Foreign sensation in her vagina. Pain and pleasure mix. The man's hips slam against her. The sound of flesh hitting flesh. Saki's body shakes. (Someday, I'll kill you.) She repeats the words in her heart. The man grabs Saki's hips and changes position. Turned face-down. Entered from behind. Reaches deep inside. Nn... u, ah... Panting leaks from her mouth. Her body responds on its own. Her vagina accepts the man, begins to grow wet. (No, no no no no.) Her mind refuses. But her body is different. It's the crimson dream powder. It's the drug. She wants to believe that. Saki lifted her face. Her face, nearly pressed into the pillow—she desperately turns it to the side. Looks at the man's face. Stares. Fixedly. Stubble. Skin ruined by drink. Yellow teeth. Laughing. Enjoying Saki's pained state. This face. She memorizes it. One by one. All of them. The man ejaculated. Hot semen released inside her vagina. A thick, sticky sensation. The man pulls out. Saki collapses face-down on the bed. Can't move. But her eyes alone stay open. (Someday, I'll kill you.) Morning came. Saki lay collapsed on the floor. Did she fall off the bed on her own? Did she try to crawl somewhere?—She doesn't remember. New wounds all over her body. Fresh bruises atop old ones. Semen caked on her thighs. Can't move. Can't move a single finger. The door opened. [cold] ...Saki. Camila's voice. But the footsteps approaching aren't hers alone. [cold] Ordo, treat her wounds. Got it. A man's voice. Saki hazily lifts her gaze. Ordo. The janitor of the Moonlit House. Always sullen and silent. Camila must have asked him—he carries salves and bandages. Camila left the room. Other work to do, probably. Ordo crouches down. [cold] Don't move. Short words. His touch is surprisingly gentle. Applies the salve, wraps the bandages. Saki just lets it happen. (...Was this man always this gentle?) She thinks, dazedly. Ordo tried to support Saki's body to wrap the bandages. His hand slips. Saki's chest is exposed. Her breasts are bared. Ordo's hand stopped. His gaze is drawn in. To Saki's naked chest. An instant. Just an instant. But—Saki understood. Ordo's face turns red. He hurriedly averts his eyes. [angry] ...Sorry. His voice trembles. Inside Saki's head, something snapped. —Snip. Clear as a sound. (This body... can be used.) These past seven days. A self who only suffered and cried. A self who could do nothing. But—this body can become a weapon. Ordo is just a janitor. But he's a man. She can draw his gaze. Saki slowly looked at her own hands. Bruised fingers. Trembling. She clenches them. (I'm not just the scared, crying me anymore.) After Ordo left, Saki sat leaning against the wall. Her body is wrecked. But her eyes alone are different. Harboring a dark light. Shadows in the corridor. From the stairway landing, someone watched it all. Madame Vespa. Ordo treating Saki's wounds. The moment Ordo's gaze was drawn in. And—Saki's change of expression afterward. Vespa narrowed her cold golden eyes. Years of experience sniff it out. The scent of prey beginning to scheme. Her lips twist slightly. [whispers] ...Well now, isn't this getting interesting. A voice no one can hear. She quietly ascended the stairs. Only the sound of her black dress's hem dragging across the stone steps remains in the corridor.