The first day was coming to an end.
Shinobu had been in the Pit for a long time, and it was getting pretty stale. She was almost relieved when Douma entered the room.
However she was also caught off guard to see that there was another demon with him.
"Hello again! Just came by to introduce you to your new companion!"
It was a little demon girl, about chest height from Douma. Her face was stiff and blank, but her eyes looked like they were about to pop. She looked traumatized, in a way.
"Rika, could you please serve our guest their meal?"
The little girl, Rika, walked over to Shinobu with a bento box in her small hands. It was a slow, methodical walk that gave Shinobu chills down her spine. It didn't help that the girl's expression was unchanging. The same blank face with traumatized-looking eyes. She stepped in front of the bars and slid the box over to Shinobu, which she looked at suspiciously.
"Arigatou..." Shinobu muttered.
In a very sudden change of behavior, Rika ran back to Douma's side with the leg speed of a cockroach. Shinobu flinched, certainly not expecting the early departure.
Douma smiled at Rika. "Well, I guess she's a bit shy. Well, sleep well, Shinobu!"
She hated it when he used her first name.
With nothing left but an empty stomach, Shinobu quickly finished her dinner and went to sleep, not thinking any more of the mysterious girl.
. . .
Shinobu woke up to a slight thump sound. She didn't open her eyes, but she kept her ears on full alert.
Better not be any damn rats in here...
After a few more seconds of listening, she shrugged it off and relaxed her shoulders.
Not even a moment went by when she heard the sound again. Now she was sure that it was no rat. She opened her eyes, but she couldn't see anything except the shadows that were cast by the bars under the light of the lamp.
She heard the sound once again.
One of the shadows moved.
Shinobu made an audible gasp and quickly put her hand over her mouth. The shadow froze as well. In an eerie silence, they were in a standoff, waiting for the other to make a move.
The shadow moved again, quicker this time. Shinobu forced her body out of it's sleepy trance and turned around. There, she saw Rika, her teeth sticking out with a nerve visible on her forehead. Rika paused for a moment in shock, then violently swung her hand at Shinobu's face.
Shinobu, with her superior speed, easily evaded the attack. Without any hesitation, she grabbed Rika's collar and slammed her to the bars. However, Rika grew out her fangs and tried to gnaw on Shinobu's hand, which she pulled away. Before Rika could lunge in for another attack, she was restrained from behind by a pale hand.
"Rika, stop it."
It was Douma.
Rika struggled and screamed, but Douma slipped her to his side of the bars and held her shoulders as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp.
"YOU KILLED MY FATHER! AND MOTHER! YOU KILLED ALL OF THEM!" She screamed, her arms flailing around the room. Finally exhausted, her screams diluted into sorrowful sobs. She turned around and hugged Douma, who unsurprisingly didn't hug back. Instead, he scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.
Finally, after a bit of consoling, Rika left the room with tears in her eyes.
"Kids these days..." Douma chuckled, looking back at Shinobu. "So ambitious, but once the moment presents itself, they hesitate."
Shinobu frowned, not answering back. Douma left the room, and after a moment, Shinobu decided to try and sleep.
Before she could, though, she saw Rika walk back into the room. Instinctively, she crawled away from the potential threat, but Rika didn't look threatening, or dangerous, or even angry. She just looked sad.
Rika sat in the middle of the room silently, looking at the ground in shame.
Shinobu waited there for an awkward while.
"Lord Douma ordered me to stay here and set aside our differences..." Rika said, as if she could read what Shinobu wanted to know.
"There's no need for such a thing." Shinobu replied. "I've fought worse."
Rika didn't say anything else. She just sat there.
Shinobu, remembering what she said, spoke again. "What did your parents look like?"
Rika looked up and hesitated, but managed to answer the question. "They... they were both about the same height. They always went together, no matter what it was. The last time I saw them, they wore matching red and blue kimonos with flowery patterns..."
Shinobu thought hard, then finally recognized them. Back when she stabbed her way through the Pit. In a fit of rage, she didn't think about their faces before killing them. Now, as she relived the memory, she could see both of them vividly. The father had a blue kimono and was holding his wife's hand, who had tears on her cheeks.
"I..." Rika said. "I didn't even get a chance to say sorry before they left... I was so mad at them... I don't remember why, but..."
Rika stopped. She needed a minute to grieve, and Shinobu understood that more than anyone else.
"Lord Douma..." Rika said after taking a deep breath. "said that... anger would only make the pain worse... he said that I needed to learn how to cope by learning how to forgive... he said that revenge would only leave me empty..."
He said that?
Shinobu couldn't help but think of Giyuu. Countless times, he tried to discourage her vengeance, going so far as to destroy her only chance at killing Douma, saving her in the process. She couldn't fathom how a person as good-willed as Giyuu would share the same beliefs as a monster like Douma.
Rika said nothing more. She just sat there. Shinobu felt like she needed to do something.
What would Kanae do?
"Y'know..." Shinobu said. "I met a man like that once. A man that couldn't let go of his anger. He despised a certain person so much that he hunted the person down for years. But then he met somebody. Somebody that suffered the same way he suffered. That somebody tried to pull the man away from his quest for vengeance, but to no avail. Finally, that somebody told him that when he finally found the person he was looking for... he should come back. Alive."
Shinobu chuckled. She realized that she was describing everything that happened with her and Giyuu.
"When he came back, he looked... satisfied... I never really understood why."
Rika looked at Shinobu.
"I think I understand."
Shinobu's ears perked up in surprise.
"The man realized what that somebody wanted. That somebody wanted to save the man, because that somebody cared about the man so much that he did all that he could to save him."
Shinobu was shocked by this. In that moment, she finally understood what Giyuu meant with those words.
'Because I love you!'
In the midst of her rage, Giyuu cared about Shinobu so much because he went through the same rage, and knew that what was on the end of it all wasn't worth it. Eventually, Giyuu grew to love her.
Rika, with tears pouring from her eyes, rushed over to Shinobu. Shinobu held up her hands, expecting an attack, but no attack came. Instead, Rika fell on her knees and bowed apologetically.
"I'M TERRIBLY SORRY!" She said. "I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR OWN REASONS, AND I'M TOO BLIND TO SEE THEM, SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I PROMISE I WON'T-"
Rika felt a hand on her head. Shinobu was gently patting her. Realizing that her parent's killer wasn't a monster, Rika pulled Shinobu towards her and embraced her through the bars.
Shinobu smiled. All this little girl wanted was to say sorry to her parents, and Shinobu took them away from her. But despite that, she was willing to forgive Shinobu, knowing that Shinobu didn't know about anything, and that it wasn't her fault that Rika was this way.
The tender moment was interrupted when Shinobu spotted Douma's eyes peeking from afar.
"What are you looking at?" Shinobu said as she glared back at him.
Rika looked at Douma in surprise and rushed away from the room. Douma gave out a laugh and looked back at Shinobu.
"Looks like you two made up." He said.
"...did you really tell her those things?" Shinobu asked. "Do you really think revenge leaves you empty?"
"Yes!" Douma smiled. "I've seen it in every person out for revenge. It never ends pretty. So I gave her a bit of advice."
Shinobu looked down and smiled at the thought. Rika wasn't angry anymore, as she finally understood what Douma meant with his words, and decided to put away her feelings of revenge.
Will I be able to do the same?
. . .
Douma left the room with a smile on his face.
Just as planned...
He decided to review today's experiment. He sat down and reflected on Shinobu as a person.
Do I feel anything when I look at Shinobu?
No.
Do I especially prefer spending time with Shinobu over anything else?
No. Despite being fun to manipulate, she wasn't anything special.
If Shinobu's life was in danger, would I be concerned in any way?
No.
Douma leaned back in his chair. Another failed experiment.
Oh, well. We still have two more days to go.
END OF CHAPTER 16
Another oc! Yaay!
Just for clarification, Rika forgave Shinobu because:
She realized that Douma wanted her to stay alive, so that she could live life to the fullest, and not be concerned with grudges of the past.
She realized through Shinobu's "Somebody" story that Shinobu was most likely going through the same type of anger, and they weren't all that different, so she decided that she didn't need to avenge her family to be happy again.
And thats it! Sorry this is late, battery is a b*tch.
Sayonara!
-Mr. Veyrum
5 left...