Chapter Text
Deathly silence filled the shrine, the air heavy and thick with malaise.
Deep within it, a room. This room would seem very out of place in such an old Shinto shrine; Several large machines lined the walls, though none turned on. On the few exposed areas of the wall not covered up with machines, were countless papers tacked down, the writing on them so dense that the entire sheet appeared pitch black. Blindingly bright clinical lights shone down from above, spotlighting two figures.
One, a researcher, sat with legs crossed, floating in the air, taking notes.
The other, a barely humanoid test subject, its lower body sunken into the pitch black substance underneath them. Surrounding their body was a mess of tendrils of the same inky black substance their body laid in, seeming to sprawl out wildly across the room they were resident of, seeping into each corner of it like a slime mold voraciously searching for food.
The only sound that was audible was the rapid scribbling of the researcher's note-taking, and the quiet, hushed sobbing from their test subject as they did so.
“...Will you shut up and stop crying already.” the researcher grumbled, temporarily halting their note-taking. They set aside the notebook they had been writing in, and glared down at the poor test subject sprawled across the floor beneath them, a nauseatingly disgusted look pasted across their face. “You're pissin' me off.”
The test subject opened its many mouths adorned with sharp teeth, and began to speak in a manner almost akin to something mimicking human speech rather than something experienced in it.
“I… i-it hurt… sssss… p… p-please… I-I c-c-c… can't…”
“Yeah yeah, like I haven't heard this before.” The researcher's mismatched black and red eyes glared down at the abomination before them, gritting their teeth as they did so. “You're the one who agreed to this.”
“...I… I-I… was… ?”
“Probably,” the researcher shrugged dismissively. “I don't care enough to remember anymore.”
They continued their note-taking as the pool of… whatever in front of them continued to breathe and making noises almost akin to a human being crying.
But this creature was not human. It was their greatest experiment by far, one they had invested so much of their time and resources into. Creating artificial humans was easy. This… ? This was a delicate process. If they slipped up, their subject could easily perish.
This creature before them consisted of human flesh, along with a favourite substance of this researcher. One they favoured for much of their life, always insisting that it had the potential for much more than it was being used for. The potential to cure disease, the potential to prevent death. The potential… for potential itself. Combining the two was inevitable, but the process had been… rocky , to say the least.
And now, they even had a third party vying for all they did and eagerly awaiting their projects' completion, no matter how unethical. This was the life they had always wanted. The freedom to complete their experiments, with no worry about some pesky government threatening to shut it down.
They felt immensely proud of their work. After all… The world will soon learn. All will know the true genius of this researcher.
As though to snap them out of their trance, their test subject suddenly spoke up again, their voice trembling as they did so.
“B… b-but… why…? W-why does it… h-h-hurt so much… w-why are you… doing this…?”
The researcher in front of them lifted their head slightly, their grimace turning into a more amused expression. They held their giant hat, the underside of it covered with hundreds of eyes, as they laughed cruelly at them.
“Why'm I doing all this? …'cause.”
The researcher simply took a look at their subject before smirking. They stood up at last, their tall, wooden tengu geta clattering against the floor as they did so.
They grasped what would be their test subject's shoulders, also covered with huge, irregular, sharp teeth, and stared straight into their eyes, a grin forming on their face. Their sharp fangs served to intimidate the subject, and the extra eyes that suddenly opened on their cheek certainly did not help.
“ I'm making you stronger, Yabusame . You want to be stronger, don't you?”
The test subject, or rather, Yabusame , gulped and nodded at this statement, a look of confusion and fear slipping onto their face.
“Y… y-yes…”
“ Good .”
The researcher walked away to another side of the room, their long black vest flowing behind them. It looked reminiscent of a swallow's tail, and for some reason, it made Yabusame happy. The researcher always said they didn't care about birds, but now they were wearing clothes that made them look like one. They found it quite funny.
The researcher picked something up from a table, turned around and began to approach their test subject again.
“Time for another experiment. This one might hurt like hell, but you're strong. You ain't gonna cry at this, right? ”
The subject's eyes widened in fear, their entire body trembling. More tests…? More… experiments…
The researcher kneeled down in the inky black puddle beneath them. The subject felt a sharp pain in their neck… and then they felt a soaring, burning pain spread throughout their entire body. It felt like it was spreading through their very veins and organs. Their chest hurt, their head felt like it was going to burst. They were aware of their own heartbeat, feeling it pulse through their neck and their arms as it beated faster and faster.
It hurt. It hurt so much.
Yabusame lay there in their puddle of ink, forced to do nothing but watch the researcher as their entire body ached. Their vision was faltering, their consciousness threatening to give way as the pain seeped through every cell of their body, throbbing with every heartbeat. It hurt, it hurt so very much.
The researcher sat down on seemingly nothing again and continued to make notes about what they observed. Even the noise of the pen on paper was beginning to grate to Yabusame…
And just as they felt that the pain was reaching its peak…
It stopped.
The pain suddenly stopped altogether, replaced by an odd, tingling sensation throughout their entire body. They laughed nervously, feeling almost as though they were being tickled from within.
They could hear distant scribbling, probably the researcher taking down more notes…
Everything in their vision began to grow dark…
They were tired… They were so, so very tired…
They opened their mouth to say one last thing.
“Ts… Ts-Tsu… ba…”
They closed their eyes… and let their consciousness slip away from them…