I slowly opened my eyes to see that Toby was still asleep.
I slowly and quietly sat up, grabbed my phone, and checked the time.
5:40 AM.
Why is it I either wake up too early or too late?
I sighed, placing my phone back on the nightstand and standing up.
I looked down to see I was still in my dress.
Which meant I never took off my binder.
Oops.
I looked around only to see one of Toby's sweatshirts on the floor.
I guessed that someone had put my normal wear in the laundry, and I picked up the sweatshirt, internally debating whether I should wear it.
After a few seconds, I removed my clothing and slid the sweatshirt on.
I quickly picked up my clothes and made my way out of our room and into the hallway.
It was still extremely dark, so I had to plan this carefully if I didn't want a repeat of when I fell down the stairs.
...I also didn't know where the laundry room was.
Or that these fuckers even had one.
I honestly thought they didn't have one and stayed in their stinky clothes all day and night.
They looked like the kind of people that would do that when I first met them.
I sighed, picked a random direction, and started moving.
~
It felt like forever until I finally gave up, settling myself on the floor in a random corner.
I laid down and honestly started to fall asleep.
That was... until I heard footsteps and a soft voice.
"Hello?"
I groaned and sat up.
"Whoever is there, can you help me find the laundry room? I didn't know you guys had one, and I need to put my dress in the washer probably." I asked, picking back up my clothes, not moving from my spot.
"Sure." The voice turned the corner, and I saw it was Liu.
He wore a matching long-sleeved shirt and pant pajama set, and his hair was messy.
"What are you doing up this early?" I asked, and he sat down close to me.
"I could ask you the same thing." He smiled, and I chuckled a bit.
"I sometimes wake up this early, and I take walks around the mansion, and if I get tired again, I fall back asleep." Liu explained, and I nodded.
It took me a second to realize he was waiting for me to explain why I was up, so I nervously chuckled and explained.
"I either wake up too early or too late, and this time it was early... I also heard conversations last night." I explained, he had to lean in a bit because of how quiet I was being.
"You mean that conversation I heard in the living room last night? Did you hear that?" He questioned, and I nodded.
"And a conversation between Slender and Toby in our room... Also, who was talking to Slender in the living room?"
"Hoodie."
"Fantastic."
He nodded a bit, looking rather upset.
"You didn't hear it from me, but you must avoid that training at any cost. I don't know what it'll do to you." He whispered, and I gulped a bit.
"Do you know what happens during it?" I asked, and he shook his head.
"No, only Proxies get it. But from the vague stories I've heard, it's torture, and you're not the same person when you come out of it."
"I'm assuming all Proxies have gotten it?"
"Yes."
"If all Proxies have gotten it, then how am I supposed to avoid it?"
He shrugged and stood up, extending a hand toward me.
"I'm not sure, but I can try to convince him! I don't know if it'll help, but I'll try. You needed help finding the laundry room, right?"
"Mhm."
After a second, I took his hand and stood up, and we started going in the opposite direction.
"This place is huge..." I groaned, and he chuckled.
"Yeah, you get used to it though." He smiled, and a soft smile resonated on my lips.
It wasn't until now that I realized I didn't have my mask or eyepatch on, and I covered my face with my clothes, effectively almost crashing into Liu.
"Heh, it's alright, you don't need to hide your face around me, or any of us actually." He pointed out, and I slowly removed my face from my clothes, looking at him.
"Huh..." He gasped, and I started internally panicking.
"One, you look like a rip-off of Jeff, and two, your eye." He added, and I tilted my head in confusion.
"Your right eye, it's an even darker blue than before." He simply stated before turning back around.
My eyes widened in surprise, and I thought back to the dream once again.
I don't remember them telling me anything about that, to be honest, I don't remember half of it.
I was brought out of my thoughts by actually crashing into Liu.
When I looked at him I noticed his hand gripped his hair softly for a moment before he released it and turned to me.
"We're here." He nodded towards a door, and I thanked him.
As he was walking away, I realized it'd take me forever to find my room again.
It seemed I realized too late though, as when I turned to stop him, he was already gone.
I cursed under my breath and opened the door, closed it behind me, and turned on the light.
Once I turned it on I squinted, trying to let my eyes adjust to the light.
Once they did I quickly moved to the giant washer and dryer, opened the washer, and dropped my clothes in.
I stood there for a moment before removing my mask and eyepatch and dropping them in there.
I sighed and walked out of the laundry room, turning off the light and closing the door behind me as I did so.
I silently walked downstairs to the living room, and I curled up on the same couch I did before, falling asleep quickly.
~
~
I opened my eyes to Toby shaking me awake.
He kneeled on the floor in front of me, and I slowly pulled up a middle finger to my face before turning over.
"Black Heart, I'm sorry." That was the first thing I heard out of his mouth, and I turned my head.
"I heard the conversation, I don't know if I forgive you just yet, but I don't hate you." I muttered, and it looked like he heard me.
"Thank you." He smiled, and I just nodded.
"You still need to get up." He pointed out, and pulled on me, rolling me off the couch.
I just groaned when I hit the floor and turned to face the couch.
"I hate you."
"You just said you didn't~."
I turned around, smacked him on the head, and sat up.
"How'd you get back out here?" He asked, finally sitting on the floor.
"I came out here, it's nothing against you, but the couch is just so comfy." I smiled and hefted myself back onto the couch.
"No it's not."
"You don't know."
He gave a soft defeated sigh, and he stood up.
I put my hand up before he could extend his.
"I don't think so, I know where this is going." I put my head in my free hand, staring directly at him.
"Well then, how are you supposed to avoid it?" He asked, and I shrugged.
"Liu said he'd try to convince Slendick, and I'll just confront him or something, I don't know."
"You'll need to stop with the dumb nicknames... And yeah, like that'll work."
I tilted my head a bit, it was barely noticeable, but Toby caught on.
"I was being sarcastic, it won't work at all, I tried." He explained, and I softly smiled.
"I think he's taken a liking to me, I heard so while he thought I was asleep." I immediately cringed at how that sounded.
Toby cringed as well, but we both shook it off.
Toby sighed, and I stood up, crossing my arms.
"Also, is that mine?" Toby questioned, pointing to my chest.
I felt my face get hot, and I started walking off.
"I'm going to get changed!!" I shouted, and I heard him chuckle from behind me.
"I put your normal attire on your bed!" He shouted back, and I gave a thumbs up.
~
After changing, I went back downstairs to the kitchen, seeing more people than usual.
I checked my phone, and sure enough it was still breakfast.
There were people I'd seen before, and people I hadn't.
"Black Heart! Sit my me, your food's already out." Toby called out to me, and I sat next to him by the counter.
I smiled under my mask as I saw my favorite Cinnamon Toast Crunch in a plastic bowl.
There were others sitting at the counter with us, so I stayed quiet as I didn't know most of them.
Halfway through my cereal Toby tapped me on the shoulder.
"Mh?"
"I'm assuming you know almost none of the others here right now, huh?"
"Nope."
He just nodded and went back to his own food.
I shrugged and finished my cereal, getting up and pushing the stool back to its place.
As I was leaving, however, I felt someone grasp my shoulders, and I turned around quickly.
It was not who I was expecting to see, as Toby was still sitting at the counter.
"さて、こんにちは初心者!"
I just stared at this man who was speaking to me.
I could tell it was Japanese, but I couldn't tell what he was saying at all.
I just tilted my head and took in his features.
He was wearing both black and white, conflicting each other with each piece of clothing, and he wore a mask that covered his face.
"私はカゲカオです、あなたの名前は何ですか?" He continued, and I gently pried his hands off of my shoulders.
I chuckled nervously and spoke.
"I can't understand a thing your saying, sorry dude." I scratched my neck, and he seemed to get the hint.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I do that sometimes... Hello, newbie! I'm Kagekao, what's your name?" He chuckled, and I crossed my arms.
"I'm Black Heart, and I've been here for a little while, I just haven't seen you." I smiled, and he seemed to as well.
It was kind of hard to tell, well, aside from the mask.
"Well, now we can officially meet." He smiled, extended his hand, and grabbed mine to shake.
Once he let my hand go, I wiped my hands together and nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Kagekao."
"Nice to meet you too, Heart-Sama."
And with that, he bowed and rushed past me.
I turned to see him take off down the hall and up the stairs.
"How many people live here, geez?" I quietly asked.
"A lot, you'll probably meet more after your tor- I mean training." A voice immediately answered, and I almost fell backward.
"Good lord- Who?" I questioned, stabilizing myself on the door.
"I'm Lily, sorry for startling you."
"Oh-."
I stared at the small girl in front of me, and she just stared back for a second.
"Anyways, you're Black Heart, right?" She asked, tilting her head a bit, and I just nodded.
She looked young, her orange hair hung softly around her shoulders as she looked up at me. I wasn't surprised with how she looked, as I've seen worse.
"Wait, what were you going to say?" I asked, remembering how she had cut herself off before saying training.
"Nothing, you'll find out soon enough~." She smiled and turned away from me, walking out of the kitchen.
I just stood there, dumbfounded as she walked off.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize someone had grasped my arm until they gently pulled me around.
I almost freaked out, thinking it was another person I hadn't seen before until I saw it was Toby.
"By the way, she was going to say torture." He mentioned before leading me out of the kitchen by my arm.
"Of course she was..." I muttered under my breath, following Toby.
I had grown annoyed at this point, so I decided I was going to take a walk to think of what to do.
That was, however, until Liu came walking up to us.
"Black Heart, hey." He smiled, and I softly smiled beneath my mask.
"Hey Liu, how'd it go?" I asked, not bothering to make Toby let go of me, and he seemed to know what I was thinking.
"Eh?"
"That's not helpful, you know."
"Sorry."
I sighed, and finally moved away from Toby.
"I'm going on a walk to think of what to do." I stated, and Liu looked at me with a worried expression on his face.
"I wouldn't- He's thinking of coming up to you soon."
"You say that as if to deter me."
Liu facepalmed, and Toby just looked at me.
"Now, I'll be back."
I waved gently before turning and walking out of the main doors.
Once I closed the door, I silently screamed before stepping off of the steps.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck. What am I supposed to do? I just hope that fucker isn't a creep." I quietly groaned as I started walking in a random direction.
I started thinking of ideas as I walked in no particular way, but all of them weren't really that good.
-
After maybe twenty minutes, I started walking back.
My only decent idea was to confront Slendick directly.
And there was no telling how that was going to work.
So I thought of last ditch effort ideas as I threaded my fingers through my hair.
As I approached the mansion, I realized that if I actually walked back through those doors, there was no telling what would happen.
...Oh well.
I sucked it up, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
As expected, Slender was there, and without thinking, I stood there for a second, sputtering before speed walking away to my room.
But, of course, it couldn't be that easy, could it.
"Black Heart."
I could hear him, but instead of facing him directly like I had planned, I just sped up.
I ignored him calling out for me as I walked to my room and slamming the door.
As soon as I did, I immediately regretted it, and I made sure the door was closed before I slid down it.
"The hell was that?! What happened to the plan?!" I quietly shouted to myself as I pulled at my hair.
I didn't have time to think about it, however, because I heard footsteps once I finished my sentence.
I practically forced myself to calm down at least a bit before multiple pairs of footsteps stopped in front of the door.
"You can't do this, you don't know how it'll-"
"I can do whatever I like."
"I thought you'd taken a liking to them-?"
"I did, which is why it may be a bit different."
"Please, sir."
"If they can convince me, I won't do it. How's that?"
"Really?!"
"Don't make me regret it."
After that, it went silent. The only thing that I could hear being my own heart beating and my shaky breath as I held the doorknob.
My mind wandered back to the mysterious persons words again, and I knew I had to do this.
I may have been a tad nervous, but this was nothing I couldn't handle.
Right?
I exhaled and slowly opened the door.
"I heard your conversation, by the way." I addressed, and Toby looked a bit embarrassed.
"Then you already know."
I knew what he was talking about, and I nodded.
I honestly had a faint thought to just turn around and jump out of the window in our room, but I pushed it aside.
I can't run from this.
"I don't even know what'll happen, plus, from what I've heard, it isn't actual training. Wouldn't it be more beneficial if you actually trained me instead of whatever the others are talking about? At this point, I've gotten annoyed at hearing other people talk about it, and I'm not trying to get out of it per-say, but you could... Lessen it? As in lessen it and add actual training into the mix. If you get what I'm talking about. Of course, I could try to get out of it altogether if that's what you're trying to accomplish with me, but I'm fine with negotiating with people who I can negotiate with. Just not anything too creepy." At the end I was most likely sweating, but I got it out coherently, and that's all that mattered to me.
I nervously smiled underneath my mask as Slendnuts seemed to think about it.
"Hm. For someone new, that is compelling."
"Thank you."
Toby looked to me and gave a small thumbs up.
I grabbed a fistful of my shorts as he seemed pleased with my 'performance'.
"Why not? It'll be a first."
A wave of relief washed over me at that moment, and it seemed like it washed over Toby as well.
"Thank you."
"Thank you sir."
We looked at each other and silently laughed as we accidentally said it at the same time.
"Don't make me regret it." Was all he said before turning and walking off.
After about a minute, I heaved a sigh of relief and walked toward Toby.
"Total improv." I smiled, and he looked at me surprised.
"Really? You came up with that on the spot?" It sounded genuine, and I nodded.
"Good job, I guess." He just stared at me for a moment, before taking my hand and shaking it awkwardly.
I chuckled, looking at him.
"You too, I guess."
"Heh."
After a moment, I walked off toward the stairs.
"I'm taking a nap on the couch." I waved, making my way back to the living room.
"Sweet dreams, princess."
"Don't call me that!"
I pulled my mask down and stuck my tongue out at him, before turning back, pulling it back up, and promptly crashing into Liu.
"Shit, sorry- Liu." I apologized, and started walking off, before he stopped me.
"It's alright, and you did good. I saw it from down here." He smiled and I blushed a bit from embarrassment.
"Thanks." I thanked him, nodded, and walked off to the living room.
There were a couple of people there, but there was enough space for me to curl up.
So that's what I did.
I snuggled into a comfortable position, and fell asleep to the sound of people talking about what just happened.
I smiled to myself as I dozed off, thinking it was all going to be okay now.
It was going to be okay.
I'll make sure it is, I want my damn happy ending.
(Sorry this is late, but I hope you enjoyed! [Finished on mobile, so mistakes may be present- And if you couldn't tell, we love ending chapters with our baby falling asleep lol, if you can help us with that and give us other ideas, I'd be grateful! Adios~]) -ClayNotDead/CND