¹ eliminate | the soldier game trio ✓

"Grit"

"Maki-chan, it's okay, you can come out, no one will hurt you."

Nico coaxed as gently as she could, despite cringing really badly inside.

This is exactly why I won't make a good parent.

She reached a hand out, but Maki retreated further, and she sighed.

"Can I try, Nico-chan?" Kotori offered, and Nico hesitated.

"Okay." She finalized and stood back with the others, watching the grey-haired girl work her magic.

"Maki-chan. It's me, Kotori."

The redhead did not look up, and continued covering her ears in fear.

"Save me..."

"Yes, I'm here to save you, so please come out," Kotori whispered in the utmost honey sweet voice that Nico had ever heard.

"That's what the Guy always said," Maki muttered, her tone grim. "Then he would torture us one by one."

"He was a bad man, then, wasn't he?" Kotori pressed.

Maki nodded frantically.

"He never kept his promises. He promised that he would release me one day, that he will let all of us run free." The redhead looked up, her eyes a fiery red. "But he never did let us run."

Confused, Kotori turned around for a split second to check the others.

"Just continue." Eli whispered, her gloved hands in her pockets.

Kotori nodded and turned back to the pianist, although intimidated by those eyes.

She had never seen such angry, determined and passionate eyes before.

Honoka came very close to that though.

"Why didn't he let you?" Kotori pushed, her tone as gentle and soft as before.

Maki shook her head angrily, her red hair seeming to emit heat as she gripped the edges of her torn red shirt tightly.

"Both the Guy and the Man, they didn't want us free in the first place. We were supposed to be part of their sick experiment."

Her anguish apparent, she growled, showing her perfect set of white teeth that had developed into sharp fangs.

"Why did they experiment on you?"

Kotori questioned, her gray hair cascading down her back in small waves.

"They wanted to know the secret of living forever." Maki's eyes started fluttering, flickering between familiar lavender and dangerous red. "It was because of them, that we are not ourselves anymore."

"It was because of them, the fact we never saw the light."

The redhead's eyes turned into a circular red, and she snarled threatingly, causing Kotori to step back, anxious.