"Yuuki-chan!!"
Yuuki looked up from her homework, and came face to face with grass green eyes, causing her to fall backwards onto the carpeted floor.
"Ru-Ruby?! Geez, don't shout at me like that."
She brushed her skirt and stood up from the floor, giving Ruby a questioning look.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
Ruby asked, taking out her bento box, causing Hanamaru to swiftly make her way to them, clutching a loaf of Noppo bread.
"Yeah, Yuuki-chan, you should try this, zura. I bought it yesterday at the convenience store. It is actually really good, zura."
She took a ginormous bite out of the bread, and stood beside Yuuki, her golden eyes sparkling with happiness.
She held it out to Yuuki, who declined politely and moved away from her, blue eyes laughing at Hanamaru's expression.
"There it is again, your change in eye colour."
Yoshiko commented, coming out from behind Yuuki's wall.
"Seriously, Yoshiko. Stop doing that. You'll destroy this apartment. This place doesn't even belong to me."
Yoshiko chuckled, and sat next to Ruby and Hanamaru on the floor, before directing her gaze to Yuuki.
"Yohane will never do that."
Yuuki smirked, throwing her silver hair over her shoulder in slight mockery, knowing her powers had rid Yoshiko's memory once again of the fact that her eyes could change their colour depending on the circumstances.
"Oh she wouldn't, but Yoshiko will, I can bet on that."
She left the room, and she could hear the protests from the targeted fallen angel.
"Let's see..."
She spotted the letter on the dining table, that she taken out from the letterbox earlier, and reached for it. This letter was addressed to her, but she had no idea who it was from.
The writing style looked familiar though. She swiftly tore the paper, and took out the white sheet inside it.
As she read further down the note, she nodded.
Looks like it was time to return.
I don't think that it'll be a good idea to rely on my good luck to get out of here though.
She raced into her room again, and slammed the door behind her, feigning surprise.
"What happened, Yuuki-chan?" Ruby questioned, holding a pair of chopsticks.
"No-Nothing. I just need to leave right away."
She raced about, stuffing items into a small case and flung the door open, leaving the first years in her room open-mouthed.
"Wa-Wait, Yuuki!" Yoshiko called out, following her leaving figure.
"Where are you going, zura!!"
"I'm sorry, I have family matters that I need to attend to, please tell Sensei that I won't be here for...quite some time!! BYE!!"
And with that, she was gone.
"She left really fast, zura." Hanamaru panted, supporting her weight against the door frame.
"We had better leave then," The chunnibyou behind her muttered, hoisting her bag upon her shoulder haphazardly. "We shouldn't stay in a house when its host isn't around."
"For once, I do agree with you, zura."
XXXXX
"Great." Nico muttered out of the corner of her mouth.
A giant red wolf was standing in the middle of her bedroom, its fur crackling with passive flames.
"Maki, you had better explain."
The wolf turned around to face her, and used its snout to gently nudge her to the bed.
"Maki, what are you do-"
She was pushed down firmly onto the soft bed, the mattress groaning under the combined weight of Maki and her.
"I'm a werewolf." Purple eyes flashed with slight hurt when Nico struggled against her, and she directed her gaze downwards to the floor.
"I've more...or less figured it out, but at least, tell me how?"
Maki continued staring at the floor, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world right then. Her paws, which were on either side of Nico's head, fidgeted nervously. Her lavender eyes then moved to meet her girlfriend's pink ones, seeking reassurance.
"I..." She trailed off when Nico rubbed her snout comfortingly.
"I didn't think that you'll look this cute as a wolf," The black-haired girl whispered.
She could understand, maybe it was a traumatic experience for her lover, and she did not want to remind her of the probable pain she might have needed to deal with.
Maki's eyes widened, and deep down, she was touched.
"You aren't afraid of me? Of what I've become?"
Nico shook her head determinedly.
"Why on Earth would I be? You're still Maki to me."
Maki smiled softly to herself, all the fretting that Umi had gone on and on about, that there was no way that their girlfriends would continue loving them, was for nothing.
She was such a worrywart.
With a jump and a twist, Maki landed on the floor in her human form again, brushing her torn red shirt.
Running up to her, Nico embraced her as tightly as she could, her tiny frame against Maki's bigger one.
"I'm sorry for shouting at you, Maki-chan."
Caught by surprise, a small smile worked its way onto the redhead's lips as she hugged back gently.
"I'm sorry too, Nico-chan."
Nico buried her nose further into Maki's red shirt, sighing in nostalgia as she caught the faintest whiff of tomatoes.
"So...there was something you wanted to tell me, right?"
Maki swiftly closed her eyes, the dire feelings of pain and sorrow welling in her heart again.
"Can we stay like this first?"
"Okay."
The redhead took a deep breath and slowly let it out again.
"I...have been experimented on."
Nico gasped, and tried to break away from her, but Maki held her fast.
"Please, stay quiet while I try to remember." She whispered, and Nico stopped struggling, willing herself to push down her pride and listen to Maki's words.
Light.
The smell of blood.
Heavy breathing.
"Two guys," Maki recalled, squeezing her eyes closed even more, her memories scattering across her mind faintly.
"I was hooked up...to some machine...I could hear screams...cries for help...howls...I..."
Her heart started beating faster, mangled with fear and pain, and she clutched her chest in agony, letting go of Nico in the process.
"MAKI!" The shorter girl bent down to face the redhead, who was now kneeling over and coughing violently, and she patted her lover's back in a comforting way.
"Are you okay? Maki? Answer me!!"
The redhead could not answer, and the others dashed in from their waiting place in the living room, having heard the sounds of intense coughing from outside.
"Hey, Yazawa-san, you wouldn't believe this, but those two," Shuji pointed an almost accusing finger to Eli and Umi, "can transform into wolves! What the-"
He caught sight of Maki's state, and rushed forward to Nico's side.
"What's going on?" He asked, concerned, reaching a hand to touch Maki's shivering frame, and Nico slapped his hand away irritably.
"Don't touch her." She gave him a dark glare and rested a hand on Maki's shoulder, but was suddenly pushed back forcefully.
"Stay away from me!!"
"Wha?!" Shuji grabbed hold of Maki's shoulders, shaking her roughly in an attempt to make her come to her senses.
"STAY AWAY!" The scream almost sounded like a growl, but the fright of a small child weaved into it somewhere.
"Stop that! If she said stay away, then stay away!" Nico forced him away from her, and Maki hurried into the corner, hiding there with her eyes covered, and trembling with fear.
Honoka and the others just stared at the sight of a quivering Maki, which was considered rarer than striking gold in a random part of the world, with the exception of Umi and Eli.
"Please...don't hurt me..." Maki whimpered, but in a voice completely different from her own.
Nico turned to Umi and Eli questionably, and Eli raised a gloved hand to her nape, rubbing it unconsciously.
"It's part of the side effects." The blonde explained, and her hand hung loosely by her side again, her baby blue eyes darting from Maki's figure to Nico's.
"She's not in her own mind." The part Russian continued, "She's in another world."
Nico turned back to look at Maki, who was still trembling uncontrollably, huddling as close to the wall as she could, her face buried into her hands while she repeatedly chanted,
"Save me..."
"Save me...please..."
XXXXX
[5 years ago]
"Now, be a good girl, and remain still." The crisp, dry voice of the man urged her to stop her futile attempts to escape his clutches.
"Let me go!" She yelled out, kicking and scratching as much as she could.
The man chuckled lightheartedly and walked around the perimeter of the table, a syringe in hand.
"Subject 01, if you are not going to keep still, you will never see your friends again." He stated in a factual tone, pushing the plunger of the syringe down, smiling almost maniacally under the black mask he wore to shield his eyes when a few drops of red leaked out of its tip.
"Someone!! SAVE ME!!" She screamed louder and louder as he drew closer and pulled her black hair away from her neck, injecting the red liquid into her veins, slowly growing silent as the darkness consumed her.
Where she was herself no longer.
XXXXX
Her eyes snapped open.
"Oh, you are awake, that is a relief." The calm dark blue eyes of Mizu looked her over, and she pushed herself up feebly against the wall, groaning as her back ached dully.
"We were thinking that you would never get up," Hikari whispered, playing with the strands of her white hair, and Chikara reached over to play with the other bunch, her own yellow hair falling across her similarly colored eyes.
"I mean, we go through this everyday, you should have gotten used to it by now," Yami grumbled from the other corner of the room with Kori by her side, who grunted in agreement.
"Let them be," Shizen snapped, her placid green eyes staring at the two offenders dominantly.
Shinpi, who had not said a word, just cast her fierce purple gaze to the iron door that kept all ten of them imprisoned.
Chikyu and Kuki were sleeping against each other, their knees pulled up to their chests, looking almost peaceful as they wandered in another world.
But Kasai knew that it was just an illusion.
"Well, that is true anyway, we have been taken to the Place many times." She mumbled, and stood up, pushing her long red hair behind her back, moving to the large glass window beside the iron door that separated them from the world beyond.
"Who are those people on the other side? Also," She squinted slightly, bringing her red eyes closer to the glass. "Are those..boys?"
"Yes, they did come in quite a while ago." Shinpi finally spoke, her purple hair lying dignified on her shoulders.
"I heard the Man talk just now," Shizen continued, standing up to join Kasai at the glass. "He is planning to brainwash all seven of them into serving him."
"How about the Guy?" Kasai asked, turning to face her companion, who looked exactly like her, just with a different eye and hair colour.
"He was just listening to the Man explain. I doubt he says much, generally. That's why we called him the Guy in the first place, right?"
Kasai held her wrist up, and turned it over, where black ink was stamped roughly onto her arm, reading out: "Subject 01".
"Yeah." She rubbed the area angrily, turning it a raw red, refusing to come off her arm, marking her, reminding her that she belonged to someone. And she despised that very thought.
"Kasai,"
She jerked her head up.
"What?" She hissed, and Shizen grabbed her arm firmly.
"Don't do that. You'll make it worse."
Kasai yanked her arm away, and sighed.
"I used to not have a name; none of us did. But now that I have one..." She trailed off, glaring holes into the black ink. "I don't feel like I'm still me."
"You mean that you wish to be called Subject 01 again?!" Appall was apparent in her clone's tone.
"Of course not! It's just feels like...I've lost a part of me, somehow." Kasai muttered, turning so that her back faced the glass.
"But we've gained." Another, more energetic voice spoke. Chikara rested an easy hand on the red-haired girl's shoulder, shocking her suddenly with a volt of electricity.
"Stop that, Chikara." Kasai rubbed the sore spot with an irritated air.
"But we have these super cool powers since we received that injection three days ago," The yellow-haired girl continued happily, charging her fingers again, causing little yellow bolts to crackle cunningly in her palms.
"Side effects including very odd visions of being wolves and wandering in the plains." Yami shoots back at Chikara, a dark and powerful aura surrounding her mysteriously.
"So you say, Yami-chan. You're the one with the power of Darkness." Chikara chirped, skipping to Yami's side and immediately retraced her steps when the aura seemed to overwhelm her with its presence.
"Okay, that's enough Yami." Hikari said firmly, and the black-haired girl relented grudgingly.
"You're not seeing the point, Chikara." Kasai growled, and dropped onto all fours, her red fur now alight with dancing flames.
"Look at this." The red wolf moved closer to Chikara, forcing her to the dirty wall. "What have we become?"
Dangerous red eyes met Chikara's positive yellow ones, and seemed to scorch her with their anger.
Her back to the wall, Chikara stared into Kasai's eyes deceitfully, fighting back, but was tormented by the heat emitting from every inch of the red wolf's body, and gave up.
"Powers don't equal to everything. There's always a price we must pay."
A deep growl resounded in Kasai's throat and warned about the future that lay ahead.
If there even was a future for them.
XXXXX
"Have you already injected her?" The Guy asked, pulling on a pair of disposable gloves and picking up a clipboard lying on the observatory table.
"Yup." The Man replied casually, and patted the unconscious girl's head mockingly. "Sweet dreams."
"This is Subject 05, is it not? Now known as Chikara, since three days ago."
"Yeah, she was prepared for the procedure since she was three. Took her around ten years to get it, then we could send her for the big thing. Same for the other nine clones."
A shout echoed throughout the room, interrupting the conversation between the two men, and the Guy turned to the Man.
"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!!"
"Please shut her up." The Guy's white mask reflected the image of a yelling girl pounding the surface of the glass cell she was trapped in.
"That's Subject 01, right?" The Guy asked, staring inquisitively at the red-haired girl.
"Uhuh." The Man moved in front of the cell, and held out his remote. "Luckily, I attached those collars the Boss sent me to them yesterday. For the new subjects too."
"Good. Give her a zap. That should keep her silent."
"Roger that."
"CHIKARA!!"
Kasai called out desperately for one last time before she fell into the welcoming arms of the dark.
XXXXX
"We're almost there, Nozomi. Hold on a little longer." Eli tightened her grip around Nozomi's wrist as the late afternoon light shown upon them.
The spiritualist nodded, and then she turned around sharply.
"Elichi...is there something there?"
"You are not going anywhere."
The blonde paused and turned to face the creature, which cut their path out of the park.
"Why are you here again?" Eli groaned, exasperated, recognizing the familiar outline and slung frame of the giant silver panther.
"No particular reason, I am just supposed to bring you back,"
"Not without a fight." Eli challenged, moving in front of Nozomi protectively.
"Oh, feeling cocky, now are we?" The silver panther licked its jaws and put an elegant paw forward.
"Bring it on."
XXXXX