'Hungry… Tired…' Seicho's thoughts blurred into static.
Her arms hung limply against her legs, her body curled into a ball. Her muscles were frozen; all her energy had gone into healing her shattered body. Her stomach churned, her mouth was dry.
"Let's continue now" the speaker cut the silence of her room.
From above, a different man stood watching Seicho. In his hand, a cup of coffee swirled. His gaze drifted lazily around the room below, noticing the still very alive bunny. With a raised eyebrow, he sat down on a swivel chair, fingers brushing the notes left by the previous observer. Taking a sip of coffee and cracking his knuckles as he grabbed the controller left on the desk.
"Continuation of Emotional test, take two. Subject eeeeh…" He checked his notes for Seicho's name, couldn't be bothered and just scribbled a number over it. "Three, yea Three, appears to be in dangerous fatigue."
Pressing a button on the controller, he watched Seicho twitch a little, "hmmm… Interesting." Pressing the button a couple more times he watched as Seicho stopped reacting. "Has she already lost feeling?" He watched closely as blood dripped around Seicho's neck.
"You know, if you don't eat the bunny, you're going to starve," the speaker spoke again, the man looking closely for her reaction.
Seicho's mind was breaking with each second, her body was already trying its best to stay alive after using so much energy the day before. She felt the dampness around her neck but compared to the other day, the pain was bearable. Her fingers cracked as they moved slightly, each movement of her body brought cracks and churns as the bones places to keep her loosely together shattered.
She felt the gentle brush of the bunny's nose against her leg. The warmth. The softness. 'Food…' Seicho's thoughts were beginning to overpower her, her instinct taking control of her body. Bones slowly sprouted from her leg. They cracked under their own weight, trembling as they moved to enclose the bunny.
"I'm… sorry…" she muttered, her eyes opening just in time to see the bunny completely enclosed by bone. Blood pooled beneath it, a silent sound came from it as the bunny took its last breath.
"Fucking finally" from above the man said to himself.
Looking at his phone, clearly bored, he set it down and scribbled lazily in his notes. Placing them aside he peered below to see what would happen to Seicho. He watched as Seicho's bones pierced the bunny. He looked closely leaning heavily over the glass overseeing the room.
"Come on, come on, do something," the man, bored out of his mind muttered.
But nothing interesting happened. Seicho's bones began to recede leaving the dead bunny lying at her feet. Her hand reached out to its body, cracking with each moment as her bony skin cracked. Finally grabbing the warm body, she moved it closely to her mouth. The smell of blood was still fresh. It smelt different than hers.
She opened her mouth and bit into its soft flesh. She opened her mouth and bit into its soft flesh. Blood oozed between her teeth. She gagged, but chewed. She had to. Tearing off a chunk of skin, she looked at the bloody mess beneath the fur. She spat out the fur, blood dripping from her mouth, then bit into the carcass again.
Bite after bite, she devoured the whole bunny. Her hands were covered in blood, which for the first time wasn't hers. She didn't even realize the body had no bones whatsoever when she ate it. She didn't feel stronger. Just emptier.
Her mind began to stray. A small hand held hers, sticky with crayon wax. "I'm going to be a hero someday, Sei-chan! You'll be my sidekick!" Seicho blinked. The taste of blood lingered on her tongue. Her fingers were red, trembling. 'Sidekick… What kind of hero eats something alive?'
"God damn. This is boring… let's just get this over with," the man muttered, glancing up from his phone.
He glanced at the remaining tests, sighed, and quickly pressed a couple of buttons. A hatch opened in one of the walls, and this time, two bunnies shuffled into the room. Seicho's bloody hand stretched out towards them with hesitation. Even after eating the first one, she still felt empty. Her stomach churned. Not full. Just hollow.
Stronger than before, her bones erupted forward, impaling both bunnies and dragging them to her. Her gaze locked on one of the bunnies' dying eyes. "K-Kyoko?" Her bones recoiled. "Not her. Not again." They slid back into her body with a sickening grind. The bodies hit the floor with a wet thud, eyes still open as they bled out beside her.
"Eat up there. I need you in top shape for the next couple of tests," the speaker echoed. It took Seicho's attention enough for her to continue eating. She ate slower this time, hands trembling. Even if she wanted to pretend, even if her mind was playing tricks… she couldn't unsee it. She couldn't even cry anymore. Her mouth was too full of fur and silence.
Covered in blood and with her hunger gone Seicho looked around the room again. She moved better than last time. Her quirk worked again, healing fractured bones with more speed. But her hands and feet… she barely felt them anymore.
"Since you're more lively, let's begin. Sensory Overload test. Subject Three in a stable state." the speaker caught Seicho's attention. 'Three?' she thought confused.
Blinding lights exploded across the room. She couldn't focus, her vision blurred with each pulse. Her quirk reacted quickly, first covering her eyes slightly then starting to calcify her skin, small vine like bones twisted out of her skin. They flailed at the lights, flinging around desperately.
The lights stopped. Her quirk stilled for a moment. Then a wall of sound crashed into her, and her body tensed again. Bones covered her ears muffling the sound, Seicho's hands jumped to her ears as well, but her quirk moved again. Taking more precise shots now that Seicho could see. A bony spike shot towards the speaker but shattered against the reinforced wall.
The sound cut. Seicho slowly lowered her arms from her ears, but something new clawed at her senses. A smell. Heavy. Inescapable. It clung to her nose like rot. She tried to plug her nostrils, but her quirk was faster, sealing them shut in defense. She took a big breath from her mouth as her nose was clogged.
She backed into a wall and hissed, heat scorched her back. Her quirk hissed in return, bones crawling up to intercept the flame.
"Yes, yes, yes… just like that," the man above grinned. "If I continue at this pace, I might be done by noon." The man above celebrated as he took his phone again, having recorded the results he continued to look at the other test he needed to do.
"Ooooh, this one looks interesting." The man grinned, sipping his coffee as he skimmed the chosen test. "Mirror Test. Subject Three in normal condition."
Below, the room darkened for a second. Then… light. Bright, even. The walls shimmered like water. Seicho blinked, adjusting to the sudden change. Then she froze. Four of her.
She stood surrounded by perfect reflections, but they weren't perfect. One copy stared back with skin unscarred, bones hidden beneath soft flesh. She looked warm. Human. She smiled.
Another version stood coated in jagged, spiraling bone. No eyes. No mouth. Just a grotesque statue made of pain.
The third wasn't standing at all. She crouched, quirk fully released over something small and bloody. A bunny. No… Kyoko. Her arm extended in the reflection, jagged bone dripping. Kyoko didn't move.
"N-No…" Seicho whispered.
Her real arms shook. Trembled. The reflection smiled. Sadistic. Mockingly.
She screamed. Her emotions burst outward like a tidal wave. She spun toward the wall, bones erupting before she could think, cracking, twisting, lashing. They missed. Hit the wall. Again. And again. And again.
"Make it stop… Please… I'm not her… I'm not-I couldn't…"
The smiling Seicho didn't stop. Inside the reflection, her bones twisted further piercing through Kyoko's body. Blood sprayed. The head tilted sideways. Dead eyes stared out of the glass… stared at her. Seicho froze.
"I… I…" Her throat closed up. "I'm… sorry Kyoko…" Tears ran freely now, mixing with the blood smeared across her cheeks.
All the reflections glitched. Shivered. And then shifted, one by one into the same image: Kyoko's broken body blood pooling at her feet. Seicho clenched her fist. She tried to hold the tears back. Failed.
(image :P)
"STOP IT!" Her scream echoed across the room.
Her body bloomed with jagged spikes. They fired outward, crashing against the mirrored walls.
"I wouldn't do that!" she shouted, hurling her arm forward, bones launching in a frenzy.
"I couldn't do that!"
Her quirk reacted violently, mindlessly. The bones didn't stop, breaking, growing launching again. A storm of white, of rage, of guilt. The reflections didn't break. Kyoko's image never faded. Her bloodied body remained, always at the edge of Seicho's reach. Always her fault.
Seicho conjured her quirk back. Focused it. Her arm was consumed, layered in twisted, bloated spikes. A grotesque club. She roared. Swung her arm back. Punched. The room shook. The walls cracked. The reflection flickered. For a moment, Seicho saw her real self through it. But then, the image snapped back. Seicho, grinning. Kyoko, broken at her feet. Their eyes met. The reflection smiled wider. On the wall right behind her bony mess of an arm laid a broken Kyoko.
Seicho stepped back. Her arm coming back to its normal state, broken bone fell to the floor in heavy chunks. Her hands came up to her head, clutching her scalp with trembling fingers.
"I-I…" Her voice cracked. Her vision blurred again.
Her back hit the wall. The reflection stared, unblinking. Mocking. She lowered her eyes to the floor. Drip… Drip… Her tears struck the bloodied tiles. "Hah… haha… hahaha…" Her laughter echoed. It didn't sound human anymore.
"Instability triggered by moral guilt. Reflex based violence elevated. Identity fracturing confirmed. Subject Three in severe mental fracture." From above the man read aloud with boredom, writing in the log with one hand while scrolling his phone with the other 'Looks like she needs some time.'
But then, the room shook. Violently. The man's eyes widened as he looked down at Seicho, still there, still unmoving. He checked his phone. Dozens of messages. 'Dude, get out of there.' 'Someone's raiding the lab.' 'Just run and forget about the subject.' Not needing to be told twice, he grabbed his things and bolted for the door.
The building trembled beneath him. He stumbled, catching himself against the door frame. A glance at the glass overlooking Seicho's room froze him in place. Something moved. On the far wall, a crack split the wall. It quivered. Then, shattered. A black figure darted from the fragments, then vanished into the opposite wall like smoke.
His phone slipped from his hands, clattering to the ground. The screen spider webbed with cracks. He caught his breath. Gripped the door frame tighter. And ran.
Seicho didn't move. Her gaze was still locked on the cold tile beneath her. The walls around her shook. Dust trickled down. Then, behind her, a wall exploded inward. Tiles shattered. Smoke and dust filled the air, thick and suffocating.
She raised her head slowly, dry eyes burning. A shadow stood in the wreckage. Shrouded. Quiet. Motionless. "A… Are you… " her voice cracked, barely more than a whisper. "...a hero?"
[A/N there goes another chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, I wonder who the man is. It's a mystery. Anyway, I need to check my timeline plan to make sure I'm going in the right direction. Sorry for the late chapter, I had troubles with the apps I use to draw. p.s: would you look at that I'm not dead, not yet anyway, sorry for the wait but eh I have too much of the story planned out to throw it out.]