Chapter Text
Cold air bites at Yui’s skin as she creeps through the trees, trunks so thick that they seem to almost merge together as a thin sheen of moisture settles over everything. She’s hated this place since she arrived weeks, months, maybe even years ago.
Who’s to say how long it’s been? Time is as good as irrelevant.
At least, it is here.
“My fucking back hurts,” Yui grumbles under her breath.
She stretches her arms over her head and reaches until her spine emits a pop and she heaves a sigh before trudging along, not bothering to keep low to the ground because her legs are sore. Like they always seem to be these days.
The fog is so thick that she has to squint to see the hunk of dead machinery about ten feet in front of her. Without thinking too much about it, she squats near the generator and rubs her hands together, beginning to connect wires and turn switches as she sees fit. Slowly but surely, it starts to make noise. Which means she’s doing something right.
“Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit,” she sighs.
The words aren’t meant for anyone or anything in particular. Just a sort of mantra she repeats when the silence gets too loud and too much to handle. To remind herself that all of this is bullshit.
All of the running, the hiding, the screaming, all of it.
Bullshit.
Her concentration on her work is broken when a soft trail of footsteps approaches, and she squares her shoulders and braces to run, only to glance over her shoulder and see a friendly face through the trees.
“Hey,” David greets.
He settles down next to her with his brows already pinched together in concentration and she permits her muscles to relax some.
“Thought you were someone else,” she says.
“But you’re glad it’s me, right?”
“Oh, definitely.”
David chuckles. The sound makes Yui smile, even though she honestly feels like lying on the ground and waiting to expire right about now. And truth be told, she really is glad that it’s David who found her and not whatever killer is supposed to be hunting them, because the last thing she wants to do is spend more of her time running than she needs to.
Because running is bullshit.
“I’m flattered,” David lilts. “Really, I am, considering you’ve been shunning everyone else recently.”
“When they stop moping and start having actual personalities, maybe I’ll finally join a clique.”
“Ouch, sweetheart.”
Yui’s smile spreads into a little grin. Something warm wraps around her, effectively shielding her from the cold from the inside out. If it weren’t so dark out here she might consider hiding the tint of red in her cheeks.
Which is funny, because before she got trapped here, she would never have fallen victim to cutesy pet names so easily.
If at all.
She shakes her head to clear her mind, repeats her bullshit mantra in her head a couple of times, and clears her throat.
“Did you see who it is?”
In an instant, David’s expression shifts to something more bleak as he reaches deeper into the generator.
“Ghostface. I hate the fucker.”
“He’s not too bad.”
But there’s a fresh chill running up her spine at the new information. She doesn’t miss the way David halts his movements for long enough to cast her a questioning look before getting back to work.
“Are we talking about the same guy?”
“Think so.”
“White mask, black outfit?”
“Yup.”
“Yeah. I hate him,” David says with a laugh. “Haven’t escaped a single trial with him yet.”
The sounds of the different parts of the generator beginning to function are growing louder, making it difficult to distinguish the sounds around them. Yui compensates and starts to peek over her shoulders more often to ensure that they aren’t being watched.
Not that it would matter anyway. Ghostface is always silent, save for the quiet hum of his controlled breaths if he’s close enough for them to be audible.
“You’re just too big to hide properly. That’s probably why he always finds you,” Yui teases.
She takes a couple of peeks at David and wonders if he’s sporting a faint blush under all of that stubble.
“Maybe you could give me a few lessons on sneaking.”
“Just name the time and the place, big guy.”
That has him grinning. He doesn’t tear his eyes away from the generator, probably relying on Yui to keep her eye out for the both of them. So she does just that.
The brawler is easy for her to admire; he’s always willing to fight for the right reasons, to put himself in danger’s path to protect those who need it. He reminds Yui of herself in a lot of ways. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t feel the urge to ignore him whenever he pokes fun at her or strikes up conversations out of the blue.
“My last medkit says I can make more saves than you,” he says.
“Oh yeah?” Yui chuckles. “Last time didn’t bode so well for you when you put stuff on the line.”
“That was then and this is now, love. You wanna have some fun or not?”
“I’ll wager my flashlight, then.”
For emphasis, she pats the tool that’s clipped to her belt, and David withdraws his hand from the machine and extends it to her. She shakes it. The contact lasts just one or two seconds too long, and she mourns the loss when he pulls away and turns his attention back to the levers he was pulling.
Her mind lingers on how rough his palm was. Skin slick and cold from the condensation sticking to the innards of the generator. She wonders what they would feel like warm and dry.
“Soon as we’re done here, I’m gonna be on Claudie’s hook before you can even think of it,” David says.
His tone is snide, yet playful. Yui scoffs.
“What? No one’s even been hooked ye―”
As if on queue, a bloodcurdling scream rips through the air. It definitely came from Claudette; as morbid as it may seem, Yui’s come to recognise and be able to differentiate between her companions’ screams.
It comes in handy every now and again.
David just snickers as the generator roars to life, a blinding light cascading down from overhead. The two of them turn to face the direction of the sound.
“I saw her being stalked before I found you,” he clarifies. Then he’s barrelling off towards the injured botanist just after a second scream pierces the quiet. That was most certainly Claudette hitting the hook. “I’ll be expecting payment when I win!”
Yui tsks, but then she’s chuckling to herself as she begins to creep through the foliage again. A light feeling rises in her chest. Takes her mind off of the ache in her bones and puts a slight bounce in each step she takes. It’s been a few trials since she’s felt anything other than tired and irritated, so this is a pleasant change. Even makes her feel up for some light running.
She keeps close to rocks and trees as she jogs, spotting the flickering lights of a generator up ahead, and decides to pick up the pace.
The happy fuzies swirling around in her chest are probably what distracts her, in hindsight, as she gets snagged roughly by the arm. The sheer force of her abrupt stop alone nearly causes her feet to swing out from under her.
“I don’t usually see you ‘till the end of a trial,” hums a familiar voice.
Her back is suddenly flush against a broad chest, wrist clutched in a tight leather grip. All of her muscles go rigid at once and she furrows her brows.
“I didn’t take you for a grabber.”
“Hmm, seems like we were just destined to meet like this again.”
Yui jerks her hand away, plunging her elbow into his ribs and putting a few feet of distance between them. He doesn’t suffer the full effect of the blow. Just huffs a breath and snickers softly at her effort.
Once she’s out of arm's reach, she turns to face the killer. His dark outfit and striking white mask stick out from the earthy tones of the forest behind him. So much so that she wonders for a moment how he manages to blend in so well, how she managed to miss him when she went sprinting past.
“You must actually be putting forth an effort if you managed to catch me so early,” Yui says.
She smirks, rubbing her wrist and wincing slightly. He has an iron grasp for someone who appears so lanky.
“Or you might be slipping,” he retorts.
His head is cocked to the side. Knife loosely held in a way that suggests he isn’t about to pounce, at least, not yet . He’s one of the more talkative killers, Yui’s gathered. Likes to toy with his food on occasion and engage in playful chases that always wind up bloody.
But she hasn’t heard any stories from the other survivors, as they’ve come to call themselves, of instances in which he decides not to attack.
A lot of the killers take pity on them when they struggle particularly hard in a trial, sometimes opting to let their victims escape or give up pursuing them altogether. None of that is Ghostface’s MO.
Finding this situation far too interesting to pass up, Yui crosses her arms. Her normal disdain for stalkers is somewhat quelled in his presence. There’s just an air about him that seems different, almost amiable.
“So, is it off to a hook with me, then?” she asks.
Ghostface lifts his knife and inspects it as if he’s mulling the decision over in his head. Yui keeps her eyes trained on it, prepared to make a run for it if she really needs to, and he shrugs. Nonchalantly. Like he’s uninterested in the idea of sacrificing her and getting praised for it by the Entity.
“It’s not much fun when you don’t give chase,” he says.
His voice is deep. Raspy. Alluring in the strangest of ways.
He takes a step forward that she matches with a step back. This isn’t the first time that he’s been borderline flirtatious with her, but he’s still a killer. And dying still hurts. A chill runs up her spine as she backs into a wall that she didn’t realize was there, and he’s suddenly on her, filling her entire scope of vision.
The knife is turning over in his hand, still low at his side. His other arm comes to rest against the wall near her head. Impossibly close. She swallows the cold lump of fear that forms in her throat and maintains her smirk.
“What to do, what to do,” she sighs.
For a moment, he’s silent. The only sounds are his hushed breaths behind his mask and the blood rushing through her ears. All she can manage to think about is the warmth radiating off of him. So close.
“Tell you what, if you agree to finally come see me outside of trials, I’ll let you leave without so much as a scratch.”
“And sell the others out? I’d rather die on a hook.”
He chuckles. Shifts and sticks the knife in the wood above her head and makes her flinch even though she tries her hardest not to.
“You’re a difficult one, you know that?”
“Maybe if you told me why you wanna see me so bad I’d change my tune.”
Yui stares into the eyeless voids of his mask. Afraid that if she looks away, she’ll feel the cold bite of his blade pierce her skin. She imagines that he’s sporting a wolfish grin right about now even though she can’t see his face and it doesn’t do anything to ease her anxiety.
“It’s not because I wanna gut you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Well now that’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“C’mon, please?”
Two generators power on in the distance and her head snaps in the direction of the sound, only to be guided back towards him with a gentle grasp on her chin. He brushes his thumb over her bottom lip. The touch is surprisingly gentle and she almost leans into it.
Almost.
“Not gonna rush after them? They’ll finish the last two fast, you know,” she says.
Her eyes draw down to his hand, then trace back up to where his mask hovers only inches from her face. She has the sneaking suspicion that he’s begun to forfeit this trial for reasons unknown. Despite that, a subtle line of fear keeps her pulse pounding heavy in her ears. More so a lingering sense of dread than anything else.
“I’d be wasting my time at this point. Besides, I’ve already cornered my obsession.”
The smile in his voice is evident. Every single word drips with honey as he speaks it. Yui feels a pang of guilt in her chest for hanging off of everything he says; she’s sparing this killer more attention than she gives half of the other survivors.
“And what if I don’t accept your deal?” she asks.
“You will. Eventually.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Trust me, dollface, I can be persuasive.”
She huffs a laugh. Flattens her back as much as she can against the wall and braces herself for whatever threat he’s about to make.
“I can’t trust you because I don’t know you,” she whispers.
That seems to throw him for a loop, because he rears back an inch or two. He releases his hold on her, fingers slowly clutching the elongated chin of his mask, and that tiny movement is all it takes for Yui’s insides to explode with excitement. She looks on expectantly as he begins to lift it up. Eyes going wide.
Then, snap .
Within seconds, Ghostface is off of her. The knife is easily plucked from the wall and the subtle rustle of fabric is all she hears before she turns her head and spots David ducking behind a tree.
Ghostface is gone. Having merged with the trees again and effectively disappeared from sight. Another generator rumbles to life in the distance, and for some reason, that’s what pulls Yui’s mind out of the gutter. She begins working on the last generator with shaky hands and red cheeks.
No one has seen the killers without their respective masks. Not to her knowledge, anyway. Especially not during trials. She internally curses David’s poor timing, but she can’t really be mad.
He was probably looking to rendezvous with her. To make sure she was okay or otherwise gloat about making a save. The thought that he was seeking her out over anyone else he could have met up with brings a new warmth to her cheeks. She loses herself in the system of repairing the generator as she thinks about David and silently hopes that he’s okay.
Soon enough, a light erupts from overhead, and Yui wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. No doubt someone is already at either gate, trying to open their escape before Ghostface catches on.
There haven’t been any other screams so far. That either means that David is better at evading the killer than she initially thought or Ghostface isn’t putting forth his full effort.
Or both.
She guns it towards the nearest exit and finds Claudette with her hand on the lever. Ace is pacing next to her, stopping in his tracks just long enough to look Yui up and down.
“Where’ve you been?” he asks.
The look on his face is closer to inquisitive than it is irritated, but it still borders a fine line between the two. She’s quick to brush him off.
“Distracting the killer so you could fix gens,” she snaps.
He chuckles and doesn’t pry any further. Claudette is very visibly shaken, blood having soaked into her shirt from both where Ghostface slashed her back and where the hook had pierced her shoulder.
“Glad you made it out,” she says with a timid smile.
Yui nods. She might not be apt to socialize much with the other survivors, but she always manages to find a soft spot for Claudette. Because she’s just that; soft.
“Yeah, me too,” Yui says.
The gate creaks and groans and emits a loud siren to signal that it’s close to opening. Close to letting them out of this god-forsaken place. A few more moments of silent anticipation roll by before the door is sliding open, the three of them heading towards their escape. Yui stops about halfway and turns to face the hunting grounds. Claudette and Ace stop as well.
“David doesn’t usually take this long,” says Claudette.
“You two go, I’ll wait and make sure he gets out,” Yui sighs.
Ace doesn’t hesitate to run to safety, but Claudette hangs around a little longer and puts a careful hand on Yui’s shoulder.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
Claudette squeezes reassuringly. Then she’s gone. Yui stands there and waits while blazing cracks split the ground open and the world begins to decay around her, hoping that neither of her peers made note of how flustered she is.
It isn’t too long before heavy footsteps approach. David emerges from the treeline with a cocky grin on his face.
“I made more saves,” he pants.
Yui’s eyes follow him as he jogs past her toward the exit.
“There was only one hook.”
“Still one more than you. I’ll take your flashlight back at the campfire.”
He winks over his shoulder and Yui can’t help but smile. She looks on after him once he crosses the barrier, engulfed by the fog and long gone even though the campfire is actually a mere few hundred feet away. At least, it always seems like it is.
The sound of fluttering fabric raises the hairs on the back of her neck.
“You guys have bets? Isn’t that a little insensitive to the people who die?” Ghostface hums.
He’s close. Yui can feel him. Rather than turning around, she crosses her arms and shifts her weight casually from one foot to the other.
“Gets boring out here,” she says.
The mask comes to hover over her shoulder as a gloved hand settles on her bicep right over her hachimaki.
“Aw, and I made you lose?”
Part of her wants to pick up where they left off. He seems to have similar thoughts, because he presses himself against her again, taut leather grazing the exposed skin of her lower back. Ghostface isn’t a large killer by any means. Not like the Hillbilly, Trapper, or even Myers. Still, Yui would have to tilt her head up to look him in the eye if she ever gets unfortunate enough to see his face.
She bites her lip as a chuckle rumbles in his chest, low and seductive. His grip on her arm tightens ever so slightly.
“That won’t do. I’ll make sure you win next time, but for now…” he trails off. The knife comes up into view, dim light reflecting off of the blade as he taps the flat of it against her collar bone. “How about you settle for a tie?”