Deleted Girls Part 3

Yuri wanted to say something to ease the tension, but Natsuki's demeanor told her she shouldn't. Natsuki kept stealing glances at the many knives Yuri had secured in the straps that once held her restrained. It wasn't hard to imagine what Natsuki was thinking. Natsuki was thinking of the best way to get the knives away from Yuri. As much as it annoyed Yuri - she did feel a bit of smug pride in the thought Natsuki had no real options to get close and take any, especially if she thought Yuri might retaliate. Yuri had no plans to, but the idea Natsuki feared it was slightly reassuring, even if only as a deterrent.

As much as Yuri wanted to get the straight-jacket off, she had come to enjoy it somewhat. Besides, she could tell how badly mutilated her body was underneath. Whoever this body belonged to went way farther into self-harm than she ever did. She would never be able to wear a skirt again without drawing attention to herself - although to be fair, if Natsuki was to be believed, her face would make that impossible anyway. She couldn't stop touching various parts of her body to identify old wounds. The more she traced over her scars, the more she felt a strange connection with this person.

And that worried her.

"Looks like some kind of gate up ahead." Natsuki said, as though there was nothing between them.

"I see. Well, if it blocks our path, there are other hallways we haven't gone down."

An iron gate stood in the middle of the corridor. Natsuki quickly snuck up next to Yuri and gestured to her. A shush, and a 'listen' gesture.

Footsteps. Past the gate.

The two girls took positions to obscure themselves as best they could. Yuri drew one of the combat knives she had taken. Natsuki visibly shuddered. The footsteps continued walking towards them.

Yuri internally cursed at Natsuki for discouraging her from doing what she wanted to do - test out her muscle memory. She was capable of knife tricks in her schoolgirl body, but considering how extreme this new body was compared to that life, there might be more things she was capable of.

There was a small array of throwing knives she had pilfered from the Lascerate room. She used her free hand to pick one of those knives and do a small dexterity trick with them. Her hand instantly recognized what she was trying to do, and she managed to pass it between all of her fingers much faster than she could before. Natsuki watched out of the corner of her eye.

A girl approached the gate. Yuri relaxed a bit upon seeing her attire. Much like Yuri, she was wearing a straightjacket, but it was much less restraining than Yuri's was, and included neither blind-fold nor gag. The girl had a couple of surgical scars on her head, the most prominent of which was a vertical scar from the top of her nose up her forehead. This scar looked very recent. Aside from that, there were also scars on either side of her mouth. As for her more ordinary features, she had short rose hair and blue eyes.

"Yuri~! Natsuki~! How are you two?"

Yuri knew her name. "Sayori...? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, that's good, so you remember me! I was worried you wouldn't."

"My head hurts..." Natsuki complained. "Why is trying to remember you making my head hurt?"

"Ahaha~ that's not important right now. I'm learning some amazing things back here. You wouldn't believe what they've been putting us through."

"Do you know who we used to be?" Yuri asked.

"You mean aside from literature club members?"

"Yes."

"Well, if you remember correctly, my number one goal has historically been to make sure everybody was happy. Therefore..."

"Therefore...?"

"I won't be telling you a thing! Ahaha~. It's better if you never find out. Just go back to your room and wait for all these memories to be expunged and replaced with pleasant ones. Maybe I can talk them into giving you plastic surgery so that you never even have to know how terrifying you look right now. Although to be fair, I guess you do look pretty cool. Maybe it'd be better to leave that choice to you."

"What about me?" Natsuki said.

"Natsuki, well, your story is more palatable. I guess I can tell you a little about it. Think of yourself as more of a... control group. A relatively normal person used as a measuring stick for people like Yuri and me. And it seems like you're a pretty lucky one too - pretty much all of the control group died. They were pretty proud of you!"

"Who is this 'they' you keep talking about? Control group for what?" Natsuki said.

"I'm sorry, I can't really say much more. I got kind of a good thing going here and I'd hate to screw that up. I can't be prattling off to my friends just because I feel a bit bad for them. I'll make it up to you in the next world though! Bye!"

Sayori walked off, humming to herself. Yuri studied the throwing knife in her hand, but elected to put it back in the pouch. She heard Natsuki breathe a sigh of relief. It was impossible after all. Despite resenting Sayori for withholding all that information in such a dismissive manner, Yuri could never harm her. Just as she would never harm Natsuki. And now, she had proof.

'Ah... so I have a bit of humanity after all...'

As they doubled back the way they came to explore another hallway, Natsuki allowed herself to be a little closer to her side.