HOMIHUNDRED
Various HNDR Characters x Reader
You wake up in a dark, unfamiliar hallway. You don't know where to go, nor why you've got two crazed murderers gunning for your ass—but you know what you have to do.
Survive.
cw: this series contains death, murder, suicide mentions, as well as general gore/body horror
Part 2: New Friends, Old Grievances
-> Masterlist here
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It barely takes two seconds of you having crossed the threshold into the next layer of hell (or whatever else you'd like to call this place) for your body to give out and nearly collapse onto the floor. Still, you somehow stay upright. What other choice do you have, when the threat of death's creeping up behind you ever so steadily?
Step by step, you make your way forward and towards a set of two doors—even if the laughter coming from the other side really, really made you wish you had some other choice. But, alas, turning around and heading downstairs doesn't sound any better, so here you are. Actually... As you press your ear into one of the doors, a realization occurs to you: only this room appears to have people inside. If you just sneak your way through the other path, perhaps you could avoid running into anyone this time around—
"BOO!"
The door slams open and directly into your head, sending you flying onto your backside. Your vision flashes white with pain. And then, it fades to black.
y o u c a n ' t . . .
p l e a s e . . .
d o n ' t l e a v e . . .
n o t y o u t o o . . .
"Ah! I think I saw them move around a little."
You jolt upright before being forcibly halted mid-action by the searing pain coursing through your shoulder. A hand pushes against you in a fruitless gesture of goodwill, having tried and failed to stop you from moving so violently. When you turn to look at its owner, you find a boy with porcelain skin. That's not a compliment; you mean literal porcelain—or at least, whatever material dolls like him would be made out of. At your dazed expression, he grins at you.
"Took you long enough. I would say we'd have taken you to a hospital if you stayed unconscious any longer, but that's not exactly an option here."
His cheeky remark is enough to get your memory jogging a little. Right. You must still be stuck in this... whatever the hell it is. At least from the sound of it, he's been around enough to fill you in on the situation somewhat.
"Who are you? And... uh, what are you, exactly?"
"Well that's a tad rude. I'm just a normal person."
"Even though you've got a giant hole in your chest?" You stare at the empty section where his heart should be. Even with your amnesia, you're pretty dang sure the average human doesn't walk around with such a ginormous wound. Not to mention that any that did wouldn't be doing so for long. Still, he laughs it off like it's nothing out of the ordinary.
"You got me there. I really am a normal person, though. Or I guess I should say that I used to be. We all were normal people when we first arrived here, but then—"
"Then that psycho chick killed us!"
The two of you look over at the source of the voice. Despite her passionate, furious scream, the girl (doll?) herself looks frail, almost endearingly so. It doesn't help that she too has a large portion of herself fractured apart; only, her wound is far more disabling, leaving behind only emptiness where her legs should be. The boy bites his lip before sighing.
"Sister Dearest, I thought I told you to wait until I introduced us to speak."
"But you were taking too long... And besides, it's been forever since we got to meet someone new. It's not fair for you to hog all of their attention." She pouts.
"Fine, fine. Then how about you do the honors?"
"Got it!" Her former frown shifts into a smile before making eye contact with you. "Hello, there. I'm Kako. This is my brother, Ima. Oh, and the girl on the other side of the room is Darumi, but I think she wants some alone time, so you should stick with us for now."
"Uh huh." Looking over at the aforementioned woman, you can see where that assumption stemmed from. Nothing about her exactly screams "come over and have a chat"—not the game console pressing concerningly close to her eyes, nor the monstrous, purple mass of veins making up her limbs. You return your focus back to Kako. "So...can you explain what in the world is going on here? Literally any information would help. I'm completely lost."
"I totally understand. We were just as confused when we showed up here. How about you share what you've gone through first? That way, I know where to start."
At first, you hardly even know where to begin yourself. As soon as the first few words leave your throat, though, the rest spill out like rainfall. The twins thankfully don't seem to mind your barely coherent word vomit and offer sympathetic glances and nods.
"Poor thing..." Kako frowns. "That's so strange that you ended up here alone. When the rest of us first woke up, it was in that creepy hallway too. We had amnesia, but at least we also had each other. Or at least, I thought we did."
"What do you mean?"
"When we all first met, we came up with the plan to work together and explore so that we could figure out how to escape. But... right as we were about to reach the fifth floor, that horrible woman backstabbed us. She killed everyone, even—even—"
Ima rushes to her side before her composure can fall apart too much to be able to recover from.
"Now, now, it's alright. There's no need to dwell on what happened in the past."
"I wasn't done explaining!" She pushes against him, wiping at her face where tears should've been. "They deserve to know what's happening, especially since Hiruko's trying to kill them too. I don't want them to transform into... something."
"Then let me talk to them while you calm down."
She grimaces as if she's about to retort once more but ultimately seems to reconsider. Finally, she lets out a sigh.
"Fine."
He pulls out a blanket sitting idly nearby and wraps it around her shoulders, shushing her complaints all the while. Once he's finally satisfied with his work, he throws you a hand signal to give the girl some space. You comply and wait for his return. With a sigh, he joins you.
"Sorry about that. She never handles remembering that day well."
"That's okay, but I was wondering. If you really were killed, then uh, how are you..."
"Alive and well? It's anyone's guess, honestly. Sister Dearest's leading theory is that it has something to do with the nature of this place. Everyone that came here started off as a normal human just like you, but after we died, we changed into whatever you'd call us now."
"So then, if that girl kills me, I'll become..." You pause and let the idea sink in. "How do I get out of here? Didn't Kako mention something about a fifth floor? Maybe the exit's there. I should head up and check—"
"Not so fast." One of his hands reaches out to stop you from getting up. Not like he's actually strong enough to exert any force, but for politeness' sake, you pretend as if he is. "From what you said earlier, Yugamu killed Hiruko a few hours ago. You have a full day before she revives, and no offense, but your shoulder looks pretty nasty. Take some time to rest and get better before you go. Trust me. With what's up ahead, you'll need it."
"Is it really okay for me to stay here?"
"Of course! We've already got three people. One more won't hurt. And besides, someone's already fast asleep." He motions towards Kako. "Don't worry about it, just grab a blanket and get some rest."
"Oh, alright..."
Albeit still a bit uncertain, you mirror Ima's actions and find yourself a resting spot. It's uncomfortable of course, being directly on the cold, hard floor, but the twins hardly seem to mind. Perhaps the lack of muscle and nerve endings prevents them from having to deal with aches and pains. Somehow, you find yourself being a little jealous of them. That pang of envy only grows heavier and heavier the more minutes pass by. While they're huddled away in their little corner snoozing away, you're too busy panicking over every minute clang of your surroundings to even hope for a second of shuteye.
The only good thing is, you don't seem to be the only one wide awake at this hour. The face of the girl across the room—Darumi, you think they called her—even now is still lit up by the artificial brightness coming from her game. Must be an insomniac. At least you're not the only one. After enough failed tries to get some proper rest, you awkwardly shuffle your way by her side.
"What are you playing?"
"Grrrrrr..." Darumi turns and growls at you like a dog before immediately reverting back to her original posture. Even with how weird the place's residents are, though, you're pretty positive she's exactly 0% canine. Especially since her voice matches the one that called out earlier and then proceeded to bash your head in. Still, she doesn't seem keen on talking.
You stay by her side in silence. You don't know why, honestly. She seems just fine being on her own. And yet, something deep down in your heart urges you to stay nonetheless.
"Uhhh, so... sorry about earlier. You know, with the door and your head and your head being hit with the door. Thought you were Yugamu." She mumbles out, still not looking your way.
"Oh, it's fine. Don't worry about it. So... you friends with that guy?"
"Somethin' like that, yup."
"Huh." Personally, you couldn't even imagine what kind of cartoony events had to play out to make those two get along—or, if you were being real, that guy getting along with anyone given what little you know of him and his murderiness. "That's kind of surprising."
"It is?"
"Well, yeah. He literally tried to kill me the moment he saw me."
"Buzz buzz!" Her arms cross into an X. "Wrong answer. Try again."
"What...?"
"Obviously he wasn't trying to kill you. If he was, you'd have been executed loooong ago. Didn't you find it suspicious that he let you go up here so easily?"
"B-but he was chasing me around with a chainsaw. No normal person does that."
"Bingo. Welcome to the land of weirdos, hope you enjoy your stay. And while you're here, it's best not to assume people's intentions so easily. You never really know for sure what anyone else is thinking. If you assume things too much, well..." For the first time since meeting her, she puts her game to the side. Her eyes darken. "You'll get hurt."
You're not sure what to say. Still, you try.
"Thank you. I'll try to remember that."
"Mhm mhm. So, are you planning on heading on up? Or are you going to participate in Miss Hiruko's killing game too?"
"I'd rather not." You frown at her giggling. "Of course I'm going to head up."
"Aw, but I was so excited to see what kind of freaky monster you'd turn into. What a bummer."
She sulks. For a split second, her body seems to be covered in mushrooms—only for you to realize it's just pieces of her purple tendrils shapeshifting into fake ones. After a few moments though, that sulking expression morphs into a tender, smiling one.
"Good for you. Everyone else has given up on trying to escape for one reason or another. I sure have, at least. But... if there's really a way out of here, if there's some way you can get out without losing your humanity, you should try your best to find it. Just because the rest of us are doomed to be stuck here for who knows how long doesn't mean you should be, too. So... promise you won't give up, okay?"
"I promise. Hey, actually, why don't we go together? I'm sure we'd have an easier time getting out with multiple people."
"I can't."
"What?" You try to see what expression she's wearing right now, but her head's angled too low and her pigtails drape over it like curtains. "Why not?"
"Because there's no other place in the world for something like me."
Just as you're about to open your mouth for a rebuttal, a familiar sound of footsteps resounds from outside before the door swings wide open with a loud, cruel slam. The twins jolt awake. Kako screams.
"Hiruko?! Wait, why are you still..." Her vision darts over to you as the color drains from her face. Darumi launches into action.
"I'll keep her busy for a while! You, get your butt into gear and go through the other door! Go go go!"
In a flurry of violet violence, Darumi's monstrous limbs soar through the sky and latch onto whatever parts of Hiruko they can manage to snag and drag her away from the entrance. Your own limbs move, too, only towards the door instead. Just as you're about to pass through its frame, a blood-curdling scream rings out. You turn back around.
"Darumi?!"
Your instincts urge you to rush back to her side as you watch metal meet veiny tissue, only for her to bark more orders at you.
"I—gh—got this! My arm'll reattach any second now, don't worry." She tries so painfully hard to push her lips into a smile. They merely waver. "Just... ugh... remember our promise, okay?"
Before you could think to argue with her any more, another set of veins lunges forward. Only this time, they push you outside with such force that you plummet onto the ground once more. A strange, squishy wetness cushions your head.
Oh.
Looking at his corpse now, you think you finally have an idea of what Darumi had meant.
But you don't have time anymore for thinking. Not about the corpse under you, nor your would've been companion fighting for her life back there, nor the twins close by, arguing fervently about something too muffled for you to understand. Right now, you have to get through the other door. One foot forward, then the other, over and over again until you at last make it up the stairwell they'd been so surreptitiously hiding from view. You reach its apex and push the entrance to the third floor open.
And then you topple over.
