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i'm choking blood, i think, and ash is in my lungs. inadequate. he tells me i'm perfect, and i need to be perfect, and there is something, nothing, silence.
it burns into me, ruins me, devours me whole. i am nothing if not my master's. my hands itch with the bitter itch to kill.
no, it's not my own. the blood on my hands is not my own.
i don't think i'm alive. for once in my short, new life - i feel joy.
"hashira kocho shinobu has been severely injured!" a crow flies , overhead, and i squint. without bothering to look at my restraint i behead it and watch, satisfied, as its life crumbles.
"oh my! such a young girl!" her hair is tinged green. she seems familiar, but i hold back in my chair at the mere thought. what am i thinking? "did she really kill.." the young woman starts to sob violently before she can continue, tears falling freely out of her emerald eyes. something along the lines of 'radioactivity ' comes and goes in my mind, and i look around at the line of hashira surrounding me.
i want my scythe. i want to slit their throats. but i sit there and watch as they stare at me and discuss my fate.
my master...then my ears ring, mind blanks, and i feel nothing again.
when i awaken, i feel soft mattress under me, gentle feathers caressing my cheek. i'm not in the forest, manipulating slayers. i'm not in that chair, bounded by thin rope. i'm in..i smell the sterile, stale touch of the air, and i know i am in some sort of hospital.
so they took me here for my injuries, even though i nearly did kill one of their slayers? odd.
they haven't found me anymore, but they've taken my weapon. expected.
i need to kill them. kill them like i killed that other one.
i pause, wait, blink. in my hands, i hold a memory.
i feel a collar on my neck. my mind is blank and my joints ache. the twang of a biwa reverberates, deafening, in my ears, and the ground under me shifts. soft skin.
my master is shaping me, creating me, and i am built to destroy, to kill. my teeth feel heavy, hang on my mouth, and something cold is in my hands.
i crush it.
my eyelashes cover my sight, and the soft caress of the morning sun leaks into my room. i glance over at the open window, fresh air ebbing inside, and see the 'mochi' girl from before.
i glance back, see the gentle curve of noir, and for the second time in my life, i smile. they've left my weapon with me.
