My body lumbered and lurched as Dolores energetically took my hand and rushed through the crowd. As I left the classroom, the cacophony of the gossip waned away, steadily and wordlessly we headed forth.

My sister was acting oddly abrupt, having put little effort to converse with me. Maybe she was a bit quick on the uptake and understood that I just wanted to be away from there, but that didn’t seem too likely.

“Um, sister…”

She responded with silence, not wording anything to me, much less acknowledging my existence. It seemed she was trying to get away from something. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and just let it be.

We continued walking across dozens and dozens of rooms, all plagued with dreary silence. There were no signs of any students around. Just where did they go?

As we continued, I was getting breathless from the hectic walking. Dolores finally took a break. She stood still, her head turning sideways twice, thrice, like she was confirming something.

After scanning her surroundings with acute scrutiny, she dashed down while hauling me over. I was perplexed by her actions, but my deflated lungs were incapable of voicing any of my thoughts.

With a frenzied run, we went straight to the bottom floor, heading straight to the school’s underground level. The doors to the storage were locked though, one could see the janitor’s equipment stowed away near the metal cabinets.

It drained me of all energy. That frantic sprint had taken away every bit of my remaining power.

“What huff was that for?” I asked, after getting my breathing in control.

“What do you mean?” Dolores said while acting oblivious.

“What do you mean? You literally just made us run 4 floors down while scanning the whole surroundings!"

She flinched at how loud my voice was.

“I just wanted this spot to remain a bit of a secret for us. This will be our safe spot during our lunchtime.”

She shrugged it off with a smile beaming with jovial fervour; One which she usually carried. But I could notice the twitch of her eyes, how her smile was stretching taut. She was hiding something; I was sure of that.

“Anyway, I have prepared lunch for you!”

She quickly switched the topic. Her poor acting made it all the more suspicious. Maybe it wasn’t in my best interest to know, or maybe something was stopping her. I decided to let it be for the time being. I knew I wasn’t getting anything out of her once she decided to not talk about it.

“Are we really eating here, though? The entire area is pretty musky and dark.” I asked her. She stared back innocently.

“I think the atmosphere is nice, I like it here.”

Her taste was still as strange as I remembered. Maybe I was the odd one since I came from another world. Whichever the case, I wasn’t going to have a pleasant time eating here.

With extreme eagerness, she took out two lunch boxes.

“Tadah!”

She opened the boxes, revealing their contents. It was a typical Japanese lunchbox with a bunch of rice with an assortment of vegetables and meat within it.

She proceeded to open the second one soon, which hosted the same contents as the prior box. With unnatural enthusiasm, she took out a single pair of chopsticks and held it towards me.

“Say aahhh~”

She keenly pushed the sticks to my face. I unwillingly opened my mouth as she stuffed the meat inside, watching me intently with a chirpy smile. This had become a habitual scene within our household. It was the result of the dependency they had cultivated.

The more I relied upon them, the more they became candid about controlling me. It gradually overtook every action of mine within that house. Whether it be eating, playing or even brushing my teeth. They were insistent on helping me out.

At first, I had wanted to reject the idea, but the more I thought about their “punishment”, the more my resistance died. It wasn’t all bad though since I had grown used to their presence. In a way, it was convenient for me as I didn’t have to do anything, but those were poisonous thoughts that were like growing tumors.

I couldn’t grow complacent, no matter what. If I was caught off guard even for a second, it would spell my doom. I needed to remind myself time and again that living with my family wasn’t the solution to my security. As time would go on, I would grow used to their presence, and they too would’ve grown accustomed to manipulating me.

Dolores soon broke me out of my thoughts. She pushed the food against my lips. The taste was undeniably good. No matter what Mara and Dolores had cooked, it always tasted delicious.

“Here, have some vegetables too.”

She fed me another mouthful. I obediently ate it.

“Is it tasty?” She asked, as her eyes never left my face. I nodded eagerly, slightly because of the creeping worry of disheartening her.

My response encouraged her. She relished the sight of me being fed from her hands, much like the likes of an adorable pet. Only after she finished did she hand over the chopsticks back to me.

“Now it’s my turn.”

She expectantly looked between both me and her lunchbox. I looked back at her, a bit puzzled at first, though it didn’t take too long to figure out what she wanted.

“I think maybe you could eat it yourself. The lunch might end soon, so…” I suggested with my wavering voice.

I had become unconfident and wary, much unlike my old self. It disappointed me that I was becoming a shell of my former self, but it was all to adapt to the changing dynamic of this world. I was merely a prey in the world of predators. The domesticated had no right to speak back to their providers.

“Hmm, I wonder if you still need to be punished.”

Hearing those words, my hands trembled. She smiled after seeing my composure fall apart. I quickly picked up the used pair of chopsticks and held it towards her. It was hard enough to keep my hands stable with how hard they were shaking.

Dolores took a bite of it, chewing it for a good while to savour the flavour.

“It tastes good, give me some rice too.” She ordered.

I plunged the chopsticks once again into the lunchbox, but as my shivery hands were being hoisted up, I accidentally dropped the rice on my lap. I had messed up. Before she could raise any complaints, I swiftly tried to get more rice, but she stopped me.

“Pick it up brother, it’s not good to waste food.”

“Okay,” I responded timidly.

Her eyes formed into crescent arcs. I knew for sure that something was brewing within her mind, but I did not know what she could be thinking about right now. I took the pair of chopsticks and picked it up, but it looked like she had brought her plan to initiation.

“No, pick it up with your hand and feed me.”

I was bewildered by what she said. Did she mean for me to feed her without any utensils? Her urging seemed to imply so. I took a big gulp and picked up the rice, putting it before her pink moist lips.

She opened her maw like a snake waiting to devour and plunged in, but I wasn’t ready for what was going to happen next. Her mouth went further than I expected, swallowing my fingers along with the rice. I tried to pry them back, but the suction just wouldn’t let me free them.

She licked my hand like she was polishing it with her saliva. It was incredibly suggestive. Though it was an arousing sight, I felt a tinge of averseness to it at the back of my mind.

When she finally let go, my fingers were lathered in her slimy spit. She licked her lips while eyeing me. I looked at my hand with slight revulsion, but I didn’t let it show on my face lest I offended her.

“That was really tasty, feed me some more just like before!”

She implored me as she grabbed my hands, invoking her innocent act once again. I did as she said and repeated the feeding. By the time we were finished, my hands had gotten wrinkly from how much they drowned in her mouth.

Lunch break was already over when we finally ended our meal. We got up, both of us ready to return to our classrooms. Dolores for some reason was adamant about leading me back to where we came from. That was enough to give me an idea I wasn’t safe in the hallways. I needed to be alert the next time I went outside.

Similar to before, we sneakily rushed back to my class. Only after we finally reached there was she willing to part ways. I was reluctant to let go of her. Something inside me just wanted to stay a tad longer with her; to be within her protection. Just as she was about to leave, her eyes wandered across my classmates.

She formed a smug grin, her arms snuggled across my shoulders, as her face closed in with mischievous intent. It looked like she was about to kiss me, but her approaching face stopped by a hair’s breadth.

“It’s better if you avoid them,” she whispered those words to me.

I didn’t know what those words were forewarning, but they knew something much more about this game world than I did. I heeded her words and nodded. She smiled back, giving me a peck on the cheek.

“I’ll be going now. I love you, brother.”

“I love you too, sis.” I responded half-heartedly.

With those parting words, she left. Turning around, I considered my options right before entering the room.