Read the trigger warnings in the tags before continuing.
If Komaru was worried, even for a moment, that her night's sleep had been cut short, it should be noted that she would fall back asleep relatively soon. Just... not in the way she'd expect.
She sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily. Something had startled the brunette, but she couldn’t quite recall having any sort of nightmare that she could attribute it to. After a couple moments of trying to regulate her breathing, she was about to lie down and try to convince her body to go back to sleep— before she heard unfamiliar voices coming from downstairs.
Komaru's eyes shot open again. That wasn't her mom. And it definitely wasn't her dad, either. Who was in her house? At this hour? In the middle of the Tragedy...? It didn't make any sense.
Her parents needed to know. They all needed to get out of here.
She quickly tossed her blankets aside, getting out of bed and moving over to her parents' room. The hallway was dark, like usual at this time of night, as she took quiet steps closer and closer to the open doorway of her parents' room. "Mom?" she whispered. "Dad...? There's... there's people in our house, we have to go," she insisted, moving closer to their bed. "You have to wake up, we need to get out of h—"
The brunette quickly cut herself off, feeling her stomach wrap into knots. Her parents weren't there. The bed was empty.
She glanced around frantically, her heart rate speeding up. No, wait, wait... if they aren’t here, then where are they...?
All of a sudden, the familiar creak of the staircase could be heard from down the hallway. Somebody was coming up the stairs— and Komaru could already tell it wasn't her parents.
In retrospect, it seemed like a bad idea, but in a panic, the only thing she could think to do was to quickly get down on the ground, and crawl under the bed. She waited quietly, barely breathing, internally pleading with the universe to get her out of this situation okay. Just wait, just stay here until...
Somebody stepped through the doorway. Komaru held her breath. Their footsteps were slow... agonizingly slow. They took their time, milling about and walking around her parents' bed. Maybe if I don't make any sound, I won't get c—
She was quickly proven wrong. Within an instant, a hand closed around her ankle, and yanked her out from underneath the bed. Without thinking, Komaru screamed at the sudden motion, about to stand up and run before her assailant beat her to it, harshly pulling her to her feet and twisting her arm behind her in a position that made it impossible for her to move. "M-Mom...! Dad! Somebody, please help!" Komaru screamed, trying in vain to get the person behind her to let her go by kicking at them. Said person had yelled for someone at the same time, but as she was yelling over them, Komaru couldn't make it out. Clearly unhappy with the fact that their victim was yelling for help, the figure behind Komaru quickly covered her mouth with their hand— which only made the teenager fight and kick more.
Two pairs of footsteps quickly ascended the staircase, and instead of her parents, like she'd hoped, two complete strangers entered the room, one flicking the light on.
The other stranger, a tall woman with long black hair, held what seemed to be a photograph in her hand, glancing between the photograph and Komaru. “It’s a shame she’s awake,” she frowned. “But she’s the right girl, for sure.” As the two figures approached, and Komaru could make out their appearances more clearly, she noticed something wrong with their eyes. They were swirling. Am I hallucinating? Is this all a nightmare? None of this made sense.
“What are you two waiting for?” The voice behind Komaru hissed– it sounded like a young woman— maybe college-age? “We’re supposed to bring them back as soon as possible, and the longer you keep rambling, the more she knows. Take care of her.”
That seemed to be enough of a reminder for the stranger that had turned on the lights– a boy who only seemed a few years older than Komaru, who started fishing around in his pocket for something and approaching Komaru in the process.
When he pulled out a syringe, the brunette thrashed even harder, feeling tears start to prick at her eyes. What’s going on?! What do these people want with me? Are Mom and Dad okay? What if–
“Hold still, Komaru Naegi. Unless you want your neck snapped instead,” the tall woman in front of her ordered, arms crossed. In the moment afterwards when she froze, terrified by the threat and wondering how this person knew her name, she felt a pinch in her neck, a wave of drowsiness over her body, and then nothing.
And so began Komaru’s year and a half of imprisonment.