Re:Zero - Starting Life in Another World as a Skeleton Chapter 278 278: Mama

"Eh? Did I leave the door unlocked?"

A woman's voice drifted in from the hallway. It was gentle and lodic, carrying

the slight note of confusion common to any ordinary mother returning ho from a

shift.

Sora lunged forward, seizing Bochi's arm and violently yanking the "girl" behind

her.

"Mama is back," Sora hissed, her voice a frantic whisper. "Do not speak. Do not

deviate. Whatever happens, do not violate the protocols."

Bochi tilted its head, watching Sora's face—which was currently slick with the

sweat of a Tier-1 panic—but remained silent.

Clack.

The door swung fully open.

A woman stepped into the sector. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, wearing

a modest, floral-patterned apron over a simple dress. She clutched a bulging

plastic grocery bag that looked heavy enough to strain her arm. Her face was the

definition of "Standard"—the kind of face that dissolved into a crowd the mont

you looked away.

"Sora, you're awake?"

The woman spotted Sora and a radiant, tender smile blood on her face. She set

the heavy bag on the living room table and walked toward Sora with slow,

asured steps, reaching out a hand to pat the girl's head.

Sora's every instinct scread at her to recoil, but she hamred the impulse

down with the weight of her logic.

[Rule 2: Mama possesses total affection for you. She will provide for all your

needs.]

If she dodged, would the System interpret it as a rejection of affection? Would

that induce "Sadness"?

Sora gritted her teeth, standing as still as a tombstone as the hand landed on

her hair.

"Such a good child," the woman cooed, her fingers gently smoothing Sora's locks.

Then, the woman's gaze drifted past Sora's shoulder, locking onto the silent

Bochi. Bochi stared back, its eyes filled with a raw, predatory curiosity.

The woman paused, her smile faltering for a micro-second before turning even

warr. "Oh my! Did Sora bring a friend ho to share the Evernight with us?"

The woman bypassed Sora and stopped before Bochi. She knelt slowly, bringing

herself level with the sli-in-disguise.

"What is your designation, little one?"

"Bochi," the sli answered honestly.

"Bochi... what a precious na."

The woman extended her hand, intending to offer Bochi the sa pat she had given

Sora. But the mont her fingertips neared Bochi's brow, her movents locked.

She stared into Bochi's eyes for a long, heavy duration. A flicker of profound

confusion—perhaps even a shadow of alarm—passed through her pupils.

Then, she withdrew her hand and stood up. Her tone was no longer saturated with

warmth; it had turned flat and clinical.

"You are also Mama's daughter now." "From this cycle forward, you shall reside

here with Sora."

Without granting Bochi another look, the woman turned and headed toward the

kitchen, hoisting the heavy grocery bag from the table.

"Mama will prepare the sustenance. Rest for a while, children."

Her silhouette vanished behind the kitchen door.

Only then did Sora feel the atmospheric pressure lift. She gasped for air, her

lungs burning. "Did she... did she do anything to you? Are your logic circuits

intact?"

Sora grabbed Bochi by the shoulders, performing a frantic physical check. Bochi

shook its head.

"Negative. She rely observed ."

"Observed you?" Sora frowned, her brain processing the data. She felt a

"Dissonance" in how the woman had reacted to Bochi. Toward Sora, the woman's

eyes held a suffocating, possessive "Love." Toward Bochi, there was only a cold

indifference—as if the sli were a piece of furniture that had suddenly learned

to speak.

Sora didn't have ti to localize the error. A voice drifted from the kitchen.

"Sora. Co and assist Mama with the preparation of the greens."

The tone was still gentle, but it carried the structural weight of a mandatory

command. Sora didn't hesitate; she marched toward the kitchen. Bochi followed at

her heels like a faithful pup.

The kitchen was cramped, barely a few square ters. The woman stood before the

sink, thodically emptying the contents of the grocery bag.

Sora's gaze landed on the "sustenance."

Her stomach perford a violent, agonizing twist.

It was at. But not the kind found in a market.

The shapes were grotesque: so resembled severed fingers, others looked like

human ears, and so were...

Sora slamd her eyes shut, fighting the rising tide of bile.

"Sora, cleanse these for ."

The woman shoved a pile of the "at" into Sora's arms, that sa gentle smile

fixed on her face. "Mama is preparing your favorite red-braised dish tonight."

Sora suppressed her retching reflex with an iron will. She set the parts in the

basin and turned the tap on, beginning a chanical, mindless cleaning process.

The water swirled around the pale, jagged shapes, rendering their details even

sharper in the light.

Sora kept her eyes closed. She repeated the protocols in her mind like a mantra.

[Rule 6: Mama has prepared ample sustenance. Please务必 (must) finish everything.]

[Rule 7: If you do not eat, Mama will be very sad.]

She had to consu it. No matter the origin. No matter the texture. If she

didn't, she was statistically dead.

Bochi stood in the doorway, watching the process with a tilted head. It looked

at the strangely shaped at, then at the woman humming a lullaby as she sliced

through "vegetables" that looked suspiciously like biological tissue.

Bochi let out a long, bored yawn.

Dinner was an elaborate affair.

Red-braised at, sweet and sour ribs, stead fish, and a massive bowl of white

rice. The aroma was actually enticing—rich and savory. If one hadn't seen the

raw materials, it would have looked like a magnificent ho-cooked al.

The woman sat at the head of the table, smiling at her two "daughters."

"Eat up. Mama prepared this with all her affection."

Sora picked up her chopsticks, her hand vibrating with a fine tremor. She seized

a piece of the red-braised at, closed her eyes, and shoved it into her mouth.

The texture was wrong—rubbery, tallic, yet possessing an underlying, sickening

sweetness. Sora didn't chew; she forced her throat to open and swallowed it

whole.

The woman watched her with wide, expectant eyes. "Is it flavorful?"

Sora forced a grotesque mimicry of a smile. "It... it is delicious, Mama."

The woman nodded with satisfaction and turned toward Bochi. "Eat, Bochi. You

need the nutrients for your growth."

Bochi looked at the spread, then at the woman. With zero hesitation, he reached

out and snatched the largest rib with his hand, shoving it into his mouth.

Crunch. Snap. Gulp.

The sound of grinding bone was deafening in the quiet room. Bochi chewed three

tis, then his brow furrowed into a mask of pure indignation. He slamd his

hand onto the table.

"Dammit! This tastes like crap! It's terrible!"

The air in the room died.

Sora's heart nearly seized in her chest. She stole a terrified glance at the

woman, bracing for a localized apocalypse.

The woman stared back at Bochi, her eyes turning into cold, flat voids. Sora

felt the temperature in the room plumt several degrees.

One second. Two. Three.

Just as Sora expected the woman to erupt into a violent Anomaly-state, the smile

returned.

"Is that so?" the woman murmured, her voice sounding like dry parchnt rubbing

together. "Then Mama will prepare sothing else next ti. Sothing Bochi

finds... acceptable."

The tone was calm, bordering on doting. Sora allowed herself to breathe again.

But the confusion was mounting. Why? Why did Bochi bypass the Sadness-Protocol?

Do the Rules not apply to him?

Sora returned to her bowl, chanically shoveling rice into her mouth.

[Rule 6: Must finish everything.]

Finally, the bowl was empty. Sora set her chopsticks down, her stomach feeling

like a lead weight.

"Such a good girl."

The woman stood and walked to Sora, patting her head gently. "Sora is truly my

most obedient child."

"Mama has prepared your assignnts. Ensure they are completed on schedule."

The woman pulled a sheet of paper from her apron pocket and smoothed it onto the

table. It was a dense, ticulously written itinerary.

[SORA'S DAILY PROTOCOL]

- 06:00: Rise. Organize bedding. Variance must not exceed five minutes.

- 06:30: Hygiene. Change into garnts prepared by Mama.

- 07:00 – 19:00: Reside in the Study. Consu the curriculum prepared by Mama.

You are prohibited from vacating your seat.

- 19:00: Review. Produce a 3,000-word essay on the day's learnings.

- 20:00: Retire to bed. Recieve Mama's Lullaby.

Sora stared at the paper. It felt like she was looking at the sentencing

docunts for a life term.

"Mama only wants the best for you," the woman whispered into Sora's ear, the

proximity making the girl's skin crawl.

"You must apply yourself. Only through excellence can you find your value."

"Who does Mama toil for? For whose sake do I sacrifice my Od?"

"It is all for you, Sora. So you must be obedient. You cannot disappoint Mama,

right?"

Sora's fists clenched beneath the table. A wild, irrational urge to scream, to

hit, to rebel flared in her core. This isn't 'Love'! This is a prison!

But the logic of Rule 9 held her in place: [Do not induce sadness in Mama.]

"I... I understand," Sora whispered, her head bowing low.

"Good girl."

The woman smiled and turned back to the kitchen, the sound of running water

echoing as she began the dishes. Sora sat at the table, staring at the schedule,

her back drenched in a cold sweat.

Bochi sat beside her. He leaned over and spat into his own empty bowl before

cutting a sideways look at her.

"Why did you agree to that trash?"

"Because... the Rules..." Sora stamred. "If I deviate... I will be processed.

I will die."

"Oh," Bochi replied, looking entirely unimpressed. "Pitiable."

☆☆☆

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