Yokai Fight (Yandere!Reverse Harem!Yokai x GN!Reader)

1 - Fight Song

The first thing you see when you open your eyes is a mask. One of those ugly, scary ones the women at the comedy club Gran used to go to wear. It's an Okame mask, pale ceramic twisted in a smile, her eyes curling with the corner of the porcelain-like lips. The other kids used to claim they were comforting, but you weren't like the other kids.

No, you were, at your core, a coward.

"Oh, are you new here, dear?" she asks, her voice getting to you from behind the ceramic mask. She's leaning over, looking down at you, hand resting on her knees for support. She holds a red paper lantern in the other hand.

"Of course, they are! Look at that stupid expression on their face!"

Your head, which you now realise is resting against cold, wet stone, lifts. Your cheek grazes on the ground as you try to adjust your eyes to the bright lights seering into your pupils as you try and level yourself. You turn around, looking for the voice that just called you stupid. All you see around you is the cramped alleyway, stone buildings looming over you. The neon signs flicker dully, light reflecting off of puddles. You look up, but can't see anything past the colourful banners and leaky pipes filling the alleyway. Ribbons and charms tangle in the wind. They wave at you as you huddle on the floor.

Is there a festival happening or something? Why are you passed out in a damp, cramped alley?

"Oi! Stupid human! Look here, dumbass," the voice from earlier calls again, and you look back towards the woman.

And down, at what she holds in her hand.

The red lamp grins sharp teeth at you, blinking one round, huge eye.

You scream, scrambling backwards. The woman flinches, and the lantern curses. But a sharpness in your chest pulls at you deep within your stomach. You're on your feet, and then you're sprinting. Out of the alleyway, you disappear into the flowing crowd. Your head whirls around the unfamiliar environment, fear only spiking as you spot more and more things that were wrong.

A woman with horns. A man towering at least eight feet tall. A chimaera with antlers, hooves and snakeskin. An umbrella with one leg, hopping down the cobbled road. Many wear masks, some the traditional ones you recognise, and some unfamiliar monstrous things you'd only see in nightmares.

A nightmare. This has to be a nightmare, a dream.

In the rushing crowd, you crouch down. You press your head to your calves, willing away the terrifying world around you. It's too much, it's all too much. It doesn't feel like a dream, it doesn't feel like a fantasy. The loud sounds above you, the swinging red lanterns leaving eerie glows, the shoving and jostling of the masses, the way your nails claw into your skin, the noise, the noise, the noise-

"Hey, you can't sit here. You'll get knocked over, silly," a voice echoes in your head, and you whimper. Your palms dig into the sides of your skull, willing it away. You can't. You can't. You can't do this.

"Come on, it's not safe here."

You know that. Do you? You don't know what's going on. What's happening? Have you gone insane? Why are you here? Where are you?

What's going on? You whimper again, your pants wet from the tears you shed.

"Ah, come on, please. You have to get up, I've sent someone to help you but-" the voice abruptly cuts out as a hand grasps you from behind by your neck. You choke, the air seized from your lungs. Fingers fly up to scratch at the fist destroying your airways. The hand doesn't flinch, simply dragging you to your feet.

You blink back salty, terrified, tears; looking upwards.

A giant stands before you. Giants, actually. All wearing masks. Grotesque ogre faces made of clay, snarling right at you. Horns peek out from behind the masks, real horns, curling and spiked and solid. The arm that connects to the fist wrapped around your throat is red, and the skin underneath the mask is red too.