"Hey! What are you doing, you stupid girl?!" Sayuri's voice cracked through the air as more black ants skittered out from the shadows, their jagged legs clicking against the stone. In seconds, the chamber swarmed—circling not just Rin and her brothers, but Sayuri herself.
The air thrummed with low, alien vibrations.
Rin didn't flinch. She kept making the same strange, rhythmic hum, letting the sound blend with the queen's own pulses. The effect was instant—ants twitched, froze, then jerked around in confusion as if they no longer knew who to obey.
Minato gaped. "Sister… what are you doing?"
"Yeah," Ayato hissed, "since when do you talk ant?"
Ignoring them, Rin's eyes stayed locked on the queen. She shifted her tone, mimicking the exact pattern she'd heard earlier while the queen fed. A shiver ran through the swarm, mandibles clacking in sync. The ants hesitated, their attention split between Sayuri and Rin.
Using the moment of distraction, Rin twisted and wriggled against the ropes until she managed to slip one wrist free. She winced as the rope burned her skin but didn't stop—she yanked her other hand loose and immediately dropped to the floor.
"Hang on," she whispered, crawling toward her brothers as the ants clicked and shifted uneasily. Minato's eyes widened. "Sister Rin—what are you—"
"Shh," she hissed, working at the knots binding Ayato's wrists. Her own hands were sore, but she kept tugging until the rope slackened and Ayato pulled free. The two of them then worked together to untie Minato, all while keeping one ear tuned to the queen's low, rumbling calls above.
"Do you honestly think you can control them?" Sayuri's voice dripped with scorn. "You're not helping—you're just making them furious."
Rin gave a half-shrug, eyes still on the swarming ants. "Well, I'm not sure how you managed to cozy up to them, but congratulations—now we're all on the menu. How about you use those powers of yours to get us out?"
"Yeah," Ayato snapped, glaring at her. "Be useful for once, brat."
Sayuri's smirk widened into something colder. "I'll only save myself. My plan will still work—too bad I won't get to watch you die." She raised her hand and—snap!—vanished into thin air.
Rin stared at the empty space. "Cool. Teleportation. Wow." She rolled her eyes.
Then the ground rumbled beneath their feet.
The golden queen's massive head snapped upward, her antennae whipping wildly through the air. A deep, resonating roar burst from her, so powerful the stone walls themselves seemed to tremble. The sound wasn't just loud—it was a bone-shaking vibration that drilled into their skulls, forcing all three siblings to clutch their ears in agony.
One by one, the black ants' pale eyes shifted… glowing an ominous, furious red.
Minato's voice trembled. "Sister Rin… I think you made the queen angry."
Rin clicked her tongue and tried again to mimic the queen's vibrations—but nothing. The ants only twitched and hissed, their antennae whipping like whips.
A sharp hiss filled the air as the ants exhaled a strange green gas. The stench hit instantly.
Rin tore a strip from her sleeve and tied it around her face. "Minato, Ayato—same thing! Cover your nose!"
They fumbled to obey, coughing into the fabric just as Rin's sharp gaze caught something—a shadow of a doorway across the chamber.
"There! Let's go!" she barked, grabbing both brothers' wrists and yanking them toward it.
The ants swarmed, blocking their way. Minato's eyes darted to the ground—his hand fan lay there. He snatched it up and started whacking at the nearest ant.
"Go away, you black monster!" Whack. "Shoo!" Whack.
One ant lunged, mandibles snapping. Rin spun, planted a kick right into its side, and sent it crashing into the wall with a satisfying crunch.
"Run!"
They broke through the last gap in the swarm and burst toward the door—only for the world beyond to explode into green and gold light.
"What the—?" Rin skidded to a stop, eyes widening.
Instead of the cobbled streets of their town, an endless forest stretched before them—towering trees swaying under a strange, humming wind. The air was thick, heavy, and unfamiliar.
Minato's voice dropped to a whisper. "…We're not in Hoshino Land anymore."
"Then where are we?!" Ayato shouted as they sprinted through the trees, the sound of snapping twigs chasing them.
Rin's eyes darted around, taking in the alien wilderness. "Honestly? I don't know." She huffed, muttering under her breath, "Just trying to mimic their queen's sounds made things worse… but since when did The Price For Love involve giant ants? Last time it was a giant snake…"
Her thoughts were cut short by Ayato's scream. They all turned to see it—far in the distance, a black tide of ants swarming toward them, mandibles glinting in the dim light.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Minato and Ayato screamed together.
"What do we do?!" Minato panted.
"There's nothing we can do except fight," Rin replied sharply. If it were just her, she might have let the ants devour her—she knew she'd reincarnate. But her brothers… they wouldn't.
"Rin, can you do that sound again? Maybe it'll distract them!" Ayato urged, glancing over his shoulder.
"I don't know! It's not going to work. I was just imitating their queen—I'm not an ant, I can't actually talk to them!" Rin snapped, panic creeping in. Right now, she was wishing she'd never made that sound at all—back when it was only Sayuri and two ants, she could have escaped.
"Well, I thought you knew how to speak ant," Minato muttered, half out of breath.
Rin's eyes caught something in the distance—smoke curling into the sky.
"Smoke… that means we're near Akarawa Land," she murmured. Then, to her brothers: "Follow that smoke. It'll lead you somewhere safe."
"Okay, then let's go!" Minato said, but noticed Rin wasn't moving.
"You guys have to go without me. If I stay, they'll devour me first—it'll slow them down."
Her brothers stared at her, mouths open, no expression—just disbelief.
"Are you stupid? We're the big brothers here. We're supposed to protect you, not sacrifice you!" Ayato barked.
"We're not leaving without you, Sister Rin. Either we all reach the smoke… or we all get eaten," Minato declared.
"Wow, my brothers are cute and protective," Rin said with a faint smile. "But seriously, I'll get another chance. You two won't. I'm not letting you throw away your lives for me."
"Whatever you say—we're still not leaving."
"You should go before the ants get here!" Rin barked, voice sharp.
This time, without another word, both brothers bolted toward the smoke.
"…Wow. They actually listened," Rin muttered. Turning toward the swarm closing in, she spotted a thick branch at her feet and snatched it up.
She planted her feet, gripping the makeshift weapon. "Well… let's see how many ants I can take with me."
The ground trembled beneath her. The forest filled with the deafening roar of a thousand chittering mandibles. The swarm broke through the treeline, red-eyed and furious, surging toward her like a living wave.
Rin swung the branch hard, striking the first ant across its head—but for every one she hit, three more closed in.
They circled.
They pounced.
In seconds, the entire swarm was on her, a writhing, black mass of bodies and legs, covering her from head to toe. The branch clattered to the ground, vanishing beneath the tide of chitin and mandibles.
Her muffled voice was lost beneath the swarm.
Then—silence.
The ants shifted, their bodies still moving over something in the center, but Rin was nowhere in sight.