Secret of the Spider Lily

Chapter 4 - Missing a Half

"You'll never amount to anything Yuki"

Yuki stared on into an empty void, black the only thing filling her vision, but she could hear a voice echoing through the room. "K-Kori...?" she muttered, but was unable to see anyone in view.

She tried to move forward to look around, but she was unable to move her arms from their position. She looked back to see her arms were bound by what looked to be icy chains. She pulled against them, but they only grew in strength the more she struggled. The binds weren't cold, but only continued to tighten.

"Don't bother struggling. You can't get out of those binds even if you tried." The voice spoke again, still out of Yuki's line of sight.

Yuki tried to find where the voice was coming from, turning to see Kori standing off in the distance, facing away from her. "Kori! What are you doing?!" She shouted.

"Don't speak that name!" Kori commanded, "Kori is dead. She died because of you!"

"What? You're standing right there! You aren't dead Kori!"

"Kori is dead!" She shouted, turning around showing a demonic looking face. She quickly rushed over, grabbing Yuki by the throat, before yelling into her face, "Kori is dead because of you! You should have fought back to protect yourself, and you were too weak and pathetic to do anything!"

As her anger grew, she started to dig her nails into Yuki's neck, beginning to draw blood. As the blood began to drip down her neck, Yuki felt agonizing pain start to run up from the puncture wound, running up the left side of her face. She felt her eyes beginning to lose vision , and the pain was growing far more intense, "Kori stop!" She screamed, tears of blood running down her face.

"Stop calling me Kori! She's dead! You should have died instead of her! It's your fault she;s dead!"

"Kori!" Yuki screamed, feeling a strange instinct beginning to take over. She began to struggle harder against the chains, feeling her bones breaking, and joints popping out of their sockets, "Kori Stop! Please!" She screamed in agony.

"Kori!" Yuki shouted as her eyes shot open. Her vision was immediately blinded by the bright sunlight pouring in from the window. Her body was drenched in sweat, her mind racing from the vision she just had in her head.

Yuki tried to sit herself up, but her body seized up with intense pain. She kept herself on the bed to avoid feeling the pain, but used her eyes to look around the room she was inside.

The place was unfamiliar to her, but it resembled a medical examination room. There was a tray on a table next to Yuki's bed. It contained many rolls of bandages, a few bottles of different medicines, as well as a small plate of food. She had no idea where she was, or how she ended up here, but she didn't feel safe wherever she was.

As she looked around, she noticed the vision in her left eye was slightly different. It wasn't blurry or losing vision, but it almost looked like it had been enhanced somehow.

She continued to look around the best she could, but was snapped out of her head when she heard footsteps coming from the hallway. She worried who could possibly be coming, as she watched a woman carrying a tray with a glass of water come into the room. "Ah! I'm glad to see you're finally awake, Yuki." She spoke, a softness in her tone.

"Uh... Who... are you...?" She questioned, sliding down into the bed, trying to keep a distance between them since she didn't know her.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot your sister couldn't tell you much," She explained, "My name is Shinobu Kocho. I am the current Insect Hashira."

Yuki recognized the name, since Kori had mentioned it a few times, but it was nice to now be able to match the name to the face. "It's nice to meet you, Shinobu. My sister has mentioned your name before, but it's nice to meet you in person." She greeted, now relaxing a bit, knowing this person meant no harm.

"The pleasure is all mine. I've heard many good things about you from your sister." Shinobu picked up the glass of water off her tray, offering it to Yuki. "How are you feeling by the way? Ever since the Kakushi brought you here, I was worried you wouldn't wake up for a while. I'm surprised you woke up this early in all honesty."

Yuki looked up at her in confusion, "What do you mean...? How long have I been asleep?"

"You've been unconscious for a week. I expected it to be a lot longer with the injuries you sustained."

"A week...?" She asked, her voice trembling, unable to process it had been that long. "W-Wait... Who brought me here? Where's Kori? What... happened to me...?" She muttered under her breath.

Shinobu looked to Yuki, her face laced with concern, "You don't remember what happened?"

Yuki looked up at her, seeing the concern, "I... can't recall what happened..."

"That's quite concerning," Shinobu muttered. "Your head injury must have been worse than I thought. What do you remember?"

Yuki thought as hard as she could, but before she could say anything, Giyu had walked into the med bay. He looked up, seeing Yuki awake, "Yuki, I'm glad to see you awake." His tone was monotonous, but genuine.

Yuki recognized his face, since she had seen him come to their home a few times to bring Kori on missions alongside him. She had never talked to him, but knew his name, "Giyu! I'm glad to see you are doing well."

"The feeling is mutual," he spoke before turning to Shinobu, "Has she been able to recall what happened?"

"Unfortunately not. She has no recollection of the attack," she explained, "There may be something that could jog her memory, if you want to go grab it."

Giyu knew exactly what Shinobu was talking about, but worried about how Yuki would react, "Are you sure that would be a good idea?"

"I'm not, but if it helps her recall what happened, it's the only thing we can do."

Giyu sighed, before walking out of the room, haste in his step.

Yuki watched as he left the room, her face filling with confusion, "Where is he going?" She asked, her gaze falling on Shinobu.

"He went to fetch something for me. He should be back in a few minutes. Hopefully the item her brings should be able to jog your memory" She reasoned, helping Yuki sit up in the bed.

Yuki now had a better view of the room she was in, seeing there were other beds in the room, but all of them being empty. As she looked, she saw Giyu walk back in the room out of the corner of her eye. She smiled seeing him, but her smile immediately fell seeing what was in his arms.

He was holding Kori's haori, and her nichirin blades. Yuki's heart shattered in two when Giyu placed them into her arms. Tears started to run down her face, when she looked up at him, "W-Where did you get these?"

"I found them in the corner of your home when I found you. She wasn't in the house though. We aren't sure where she is, or... if she's alive."

"N-No... S-She could't be dead. She's a Hashira like the both of you! She can't be dead!" She shouted, tears now pouring from her eyes. She was extremely worried about the well being of her sister. She didn't know if she was dead or alive. She felt like her other half was missing.

Yuki, you need to calm down," Shinobu said, trying to calm her down, "You could make your injuries worse. They're still healing!"

"I need to find Kori!" She screamed, trying to get out of the bed, ignoring the intense pain she felt.

She quickly moved, while Shinobu and Giyu tried holding her to the bed. While Shinobu tried pushing her down, she pressed her hand down on the left side of her neck. The moment her hand had full contact, Yuki flashed back to the vision she had, feeling the nails of Kori puncturing her skin, drawing her blood to the surface.

Something in her mind snapped, feeling that same agonizing pain she felt in the dream. She grasped her head in agony, feeling that primal instinct beginning to take over her mind and body.

Her eyes and face markings began to glow a bright, icy blue as Yuki began to thrash on the bed. Her mind went blank, as the need to consume human flesh took over.