Chapter 1: Freedom

Disclaimer: Ownership of Hatoful belongs to the stunning Moa, who continues to astound me with her wonderfulness.

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Sakuya hissed quietly to himself as his head bumped against the low ceiling of the tunnel. While birds' sense of smell was still practically nothing compared to a human's, Sakuya could still tell that the sewer-esque crawl-hole reeked. He vaguely wondered when it had last been used. An offshoot of the main exit, Leone had told them the other one simply led out right out from underneath the dome… which was most likely where the humans were camped out. Instead, this was the one the group of students and teachers had taken when they left.

Ahead of him marched Iwamine, with Nanaki – or, what had Leone called them? Isa and Hitori? – anyway, with Nanaki still holding the doctor at gunpoint. The bright yellow cockatiel led the way, and the two most insane members of the oddball party had the rear. The mongrel chattered away about pudding, while the Filipino kept on with whatever the hell he was always talking about. Blood and spores, probably. It made no sense to Sakuya, at any rate.

Every step echoed through the tunnel, and for a second Sakuya imagined he heard the angry voices of humans behind him, but quickly shook off that idea. The door to the tunnel was thick and probably soundproof, and they had to have gone at least a mile by now. He considered speaking up to ask Leone how much farther, but a wave of exhaustion rolled over him and he couldn't find the energy.

There was no room to fly, though Sakuya desperately wished to stretch his wings. They ached from disuse and fatigue, and were probably filthy. In fact, everything about Sakuya right now was filthy. He was probably black with grime, dust, and the odd splotch of blood. For a second he wondered what his father would say if he saw his son right now – then shied away from that. He would have to tackle that sometime, and soon… but not now.

So. Tosaka was dead. Out of everything that happened, this fact echoed most throughout Sakuya's mind. He had blocked off any and all thoughts about Yuuya and his family, because that was too painful to deal with. Iwamine's betrayal (because that's what it was, a betrayal of Sakuya's faith and respect and everything his father had told him) was somehow not that surprising. He supposed it was because the doctor was so… detestable, in real life. The existence of a ghost in the school was frightening, but less so than everything else. Nanaki's and One's other identities were trivial.

But Tosaka. Suddenly, a torrent of memories spilled over him, and he stumbled.

Tosaka Hiyoko, one of the only humans he'd ever seen. Most humans kept to themselves these days. When Sakuya was eight, a pair of adult male humans, both members of the remaining human government, had paid a call to Sakuya's fath- the head of the Le Bel family. The young Sakuya had seen them and ran in fright, hiding under his nestbed, shivering hard. Seeing humans in pictures and on the news was completely different than having them tower over you personally.

(Sakuya remembered that he had been there for hours. Only his father knew where he had gone, and hadn't bothered coming for him. "A Le Bel must learn to face his fears and become strengthened by them," he had said to the terrified and trembling little boy when he had finally emerged.)

Since then, Sakuya had seen, and met, a sparse few others, but all were adult, and never for long.

So when he had walked into the classroom and seen Tosaka for the first time, he had been understandably startled. He covered it up with a glance of total contempt and tried to regain his bearings.

She was smaller than the fully matured humans he had seen. She was almost cute… in a strange, different-species kind of way. Yellow hair reached her shoulders, her strange, spindly wings – no, arms – with weird protrusions she used like the feathers on the ends of bird wings to hold things and write disturbed him a little. Clear blue eyes danced as her mouth, soft and spongy, so gross, smiled. She had objected when Nanaki had revealed that Sakuya was to be president, calling something about nepotism. It was incorrect, of course. Nepotism meant giving power to a friend or relative. He had gotten the position because the school was sucking up to the Le Bels.

Forced time spent in her company (classes, so boring) had let him know her better, and he discovered she was loud, brash, and damned strong. (And not afraid to throw someone out the window for causing trouble.) He had found himself torn between annoyance, disgust, and an unwilling fondness for her. Despite her… peculiarities… she was unexpectedly kind, and not too awful on the drums. He respected those who had a talent for music.

He recalled the time she had walked in on him playing the piano (adapted, of course, for the use of birds), and instead of ridiculing him had complimented him. Quietly. It had given him a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, a mixture of warmth (the same feeling listening to beautiful music instilled in him) and a sick dread (what would his father say, if he saw Sakuya playing the piano and conversing casually with such a low-born human?).

Tosaka hadn't officially been a member of the student council (she had joined the library staff immediately, surprising, for Sakuya hadn't even been sure if she could read), but whenever Sakuya had been swamped over with work (due to the fact that he was alone on the council, why hadn't anyone else joined? At first Sakuya had been sure it was because they were a nation of lazy and useless mongrels, but now he was starting to wonder if it had just been that no one wanted to be under him) she had cheerfully given her assistance without him asking.

The last time he had seen her, she had cheerfully waved him goodbye and told him she couldn't wait to see him tomorrow. Now he knew where she had been going, and what had happened, and he desperately wished he'd stopped her. Not that he could have possibly known, of course, but…

His reverie was unexpectedly interrupted by the halt of those ahead of him and the appearance of another door. They were at the end of the tunnel, and beyond here lay freedom. He found himself oddly unwilling to leave, and was unsure why. Still, what option did he have? Stay and die, leave and freedom.

He chose the option that scared him the most.

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