A Drop of Poison in the Ocean [Invite and Request Only]

Mid-April, 2028 [14 years ago] - Uminari City, Japan

Uminari was not a dangerous city. It was not poor, or destitute. It was not degraded, decrepit, or rotting inside. It shining, marble streets gave way to no hidden core of evil, as the justice system enforced its laws and its people obeyed. So far as cities went, it was a fertile field, sewn by caring farmers.

...but there are always a few ill seeds, here and there. Human nature demands nothing less.

In any city however prosperous, rats will scurry at the feet of civilization. So it is that, Venom found little to nothing for quite some time in the night as he patrolled. However, as he passed through an out of the way corner between a residential sector and the sea he heard an abbreviated scream and moved to investigate.

He found a small girl (if the long hair was any indicator, at least) standing on the fence at the end of the promenade, where it extended into the sea to be surrounded on three sides. The ends of her limbs were bruised, and she was gasping heavily for breath. Around her, a group of rough men in loose suits were cautiously fanning out and edging their way in towards her.

One of them, perhaps a leader or perhaps simply the boldest, took a bold step forward in spite of the girl's tired glare, "Come on, ojou-chan we-" -and then his foot slid out from under him and he faceplanted into the pavement.

There was little levity to be had, however, as the girl swayed unsteadily, stepping back to catch her balance and finding only air. As she pitched backward, eyes wide with panic, the men suddenly burst forward. However, they were several meters away - would they even make it in time?

Below, the waves rumbled against the hardened sea-wall with quiet promise.

---

The Girl:

Venom watched as the girl directed a tired yet defiant glare at what were obviously her captors. The girl probably was no older than it's host Shuya's little sister. And it could already feel the anger welling within Shuya. Venom slowly made it's way down from it's perch making sure to stay in the shadows. Venom watched as one of the thugs stepped forward and suddenly slipped and face planted on the pavement.  Venom ignored the urge to give a sinister chuckle, he it continued to watch for a chance to act. It saw it's chance when the girl seemed to get dizzy and leaned backward with her hand out to steady herself, only to feel air. The men ran to grab the girl only for Venom to shoot a tendril at the girl  that wrapped around her leg before she completely fell over the edge, and quickly pulled her into the shadows to Venom. Venom gently placed her down on the ground behind it as the hulking symbiote prepared to tear into the thugs.

'..eh?!' The girl blinked in surprise, lacking the breath to scream as she was suddenly pulled aside and placed gently down. When Venom's hulking, inky form came into view ahead of her, that sentiment of surprise doubled itself. Had some demon decided to take her end into its own hands? Such an expression was on her face, as she lacked the time to process what had happened.

...and then reality caught up, and the thugs were attempting to barter. "...Oi, we don't want any trouble. We're just here to bring the girl home, alright?" 

At this, she vigorously shook her head, even though her position would make the gesture pointless. What home?

Venom turned it's head to the girl who was shaking her head. He turned back to the thugs. 

"Stay where you are and maybe we won't rip your throats out one by one...." It said snarling. It slightly turned to the girl again before staring back at the thugs. A lone small tendril appeared from Venom's back at attached itself gently to the girl's head as it began to search through the girl's memories.

As Venom's tendril wrapped around her, the girl's eyes widened in fear. However, she could not muster the will to respond; she was utterly spent, and completely out of her depth.

A connection was made, and then one by one, the memories filtered in, in scattered pieces. Meaningless images of life in a manor, of strict and endless lessons. Intriguing images, of things in her gaze moving without being touched - of a line of candles overturned in a moment, and a fire ensuing. And then...

"It is a shame. This generation's sole inheritor has terrific talent; her gift only grows stronger with every year, but the body wanes. It should be surprising if she lasts the decade. If only her parents had lasted a year or two longer..."


"But there may still be time to foster the next generation before her time ends. She may not survive the process, but a new inheritor may be born."


"Hm. There are no suitable partners left within our halls. We will need to search afar..."


"...there is that much time before she expires. In the meantime, see to..."


...a conversation overhead, and a panicked flight from a realization she could not accept. A horror she could not understand.

And then one of the thugs tried to taze Venom from behind with a stun-gun. The others had spread out, and were drawing various low-profile weapons such as knives [proper ka-bars rather than simple pocket knives, at least] and batons.

There was one less than there was before, however.

Both Venom and Shuya as a whole felt confusion. 'Inheritor?' Venom's host questioned. Before they could think more on it Venom looked behind it at the thug that tried to taze it. It unlatched the tendril from the young girl's head and grabbed the thug with his claw, by his head holding him in the air, slowly squeezing his head.. It turned to the girl.

"....Close your eyes young one... And no matter what... Do not open them, until I say so..." Venom said to the girl. It's attention now focused on the other thugs who dared think they could take him just because they had numbers on their side. He gave a deafening roar.

Perhaps she understood; perhaps she simply didn't know what to think anymore. But when Venom asked his question, the girl could only shakily nod. As he turned and roared, she fell to her knees and covered her ears, shutting her eyes as tightly as she could.

The thugs, on the other hand, were clearly intimidated... However, "...for the future!" They charged anyway. Half their number rushed him, while a few tried to bypass him and reach the girl. The remainder drew firearms.

The first actually struck out at Venom with... a stick with paper on it? An ofuda?... which promptly flared with light, yielding no heat and producing no other effect.

Venom looked down at the Ofuda being pressed against it's skin. It grabbed the thug by his head in it's other hand. Venom held the two Thugs up and threw them at their comrades. Venom then formed two tendrils from it's hands and used them as whips against the other thugs. 


'Remember Venom, No killing... We don't really have the means to cover our tracks' Shuya reminded Venom. Venom wrapped one of the tendrils around one of the thugs shooting at him. It then slammed the thug into another one with a gun. Venom made sure to stay close to the girl, less the thugs succeed in grabbing her.

What followed may have not been a display of Venom's lethality, but such a qualifier was more a statement of technicality than any indication of the ensuing brutality. When talismans had no effect and bullets had no effect, there was little for them to do but try to cut their losses and run.

If Venom would let them.

Throughout and even after it stopped, the girl remained on the ground, digging her hands into her ears to try and block out the noise. She didn't seem to be taking the spontaneous violence very well.

After Venom scared the rest of the thugs off and made sure no one else was around it receded into it's host. Shuya opened his eyes and turned to the scared little girl. He knelt down and calmly tapped her on the shoulder.

"It's alright... You're safe now." Shuya said softly.

The girl continues to tremble, even as she cautiously peaks out from beneath her hands. Now that you're closer... she's quite pale. Thin, as well. The edges of her bones can just be seen, and where the skin is thin her blood vessels can clearly be seen.

She had long since ceased to cry out, but she was still breathing heavily.

"R-r-r" she starts, only to cough several times and raggedly resume, "--eally?"

Shuya's expression softened as he looked at her appearance. This girl was very ill.

"You look like you could use some food...." Shuya said smiling. He stood up and held his hand out for the girl to take.

"Why don't you come to my place to get something to eat." Shuya asked still holding his hand out to the ill girl.

'I should probably talk to Mister Takamachi and ask if he can do anything.' Shuya thought.

She hesitates for a moment, until one of the battered men twitches, and she hesitantly takes his hand.

Later at Shuya's apartment, Shuya watched in slight amusement as the girl tore through a dinner consisting of Teriyaki Salmon, and stir-fry vegetables. It was almost as if this was the girl's first good meal in a while. His eyes trailed down her arms, the visible veins giving both him and Venom an unsettling feeling.

"My name's Shuya, Ikari Shuya. Could you tell me your name? Your parents must be awfully worried." Shuya said trying to strike up conversation with the young ill girl.

She shifted, hesitating in the midst of her meal before glancing aside, "...Chihiro." She mumbled.

Would they worry? She didn't think they could worry... But there wasn't anything back there.

No colors but a hungry black.

"Chihiro?" He muttered.

"A thousand questions huh?" Shuya said smiling at Chihiro, who was probably surprised that he knew the meaning of her name.

"Can you tell me more about your situation Chihiro-chan?" Shuya asked.

"...Mm." Chihiro shook her head at his interpretation. "...the second character is 'Good Omen.' [祥] I was born on the thousandth anniversary, and that's supposed to be really lucky, they said." Her hand twitched, as if writing the name in her mind's eye... and then she realized she'd spoken up and startled, shrinking into herself.

Shuya blinked at Chihiro.

"Chihiro-chan... Why were those thugs chasing after you?" He asked.

"It's okay, you can trust me." Shuya said with a smile.

Her posture edged further inward, "...because I ran."

Shuya sighed. 

"Well, why were you running from whoever sent those thugs after you?" Shuya asked. He then swallowed and asked the important question.

"Are you sick Chihiro-chan?" He said looking to the visible veins on her arms.

At the first question, she simply shifted uneasily, "I had a bad feeling."

But for the second... "If I was sick, then wouldn't it end? If my uncle caught a cold, he'd get better, so..."

'You'll get better.'

No one ever told her that. There was no assumption or pretense that it was possible.

Therefore, if sickness is 'something bad which comes and goes away,' then to the girl who had never known another state but this gradual decline, nor any proper contact with the world outside her home, she could not possibly be sick. Rather-

"...I guess I'm just broken." She said, matter of factly.

Shuya narrowed his eyes. 

"A bad feeling huh? Guess your bad feeling was right considering whoever you ran from sent a bunch of Yakzua thugs after you. It's a good thing We came across you when we were patrolling." Shuya said. Chihiro would probably be confused why Shuya was referring to himself as more than one person. However that would be pushed to the side after what she had said next. 

"Don't say that!" He yelled angrily in a warped fused tone of his and Venom's voices while standing up. His eyes were now pitch black.

"You are not broken! Don't ever put yourself down like that again!" He yelled at her.

When Shuya yelled and his voice mixed with Venom's, Chihiro yelped in fright and...

She fell forward, through herself?

She collapsed onto the table, and at the same time she(?) darted backwards over the top of the chair, which flew end over the end toward the table (along with the dishes and any other loose objects nearby, including the aforementioned table) - causing her to crumple onto the ground, banging her chin along the edge of the table as she went.

On the other end of the room, Chihiro(?) backed herself into the corner, arms over her eyes.

Simultaneously, she lay on the ground next to various disrupted knick-knacks, her eyes shut and her chin developing a lovely bruise.

Shuya blinked in surprised when the table flipped and he was covered in the dinner they were just eating. He had scared her...

'...Crap baskets....' He thought ignoring Venom snickering in his head. He walked over to where Chihiro was, not yet noticing her state of being. 

"Chihiro-chan? I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you like that. Just don't put yourself down like that, okay?" he said. He blinked when he didn't get a response. He looked down to see her eyes closed. He noticed she had a bruise on her chin. 


"Ah... She must of hit her chin when she fell...." He gently picked the unconscious girl up and set her on the couch nearby. 

"I better get the first aid kit...." Shuya said heading towards the the first aid kit. 

"Well, aren't we the doting father." Venom teased.

"Hardly... I'm just doing what I did with my sister whenever she got hurt, and mom and dad were out. Though I'm sure you knew that already." Shuya replied in annoyance.. As Shuya reached for the first aid kit He looked down and saw... Chihiro? Shuya's eyes widened as he looked between the Chihiro resting on the couch and the one cowering in the corner in front of him.


"Uh, Venom?" Shuya asked.


"You're definitely not going crazy. I'm seeing double too..." Venom replied. They both were confused. In the short time they had been bonded they had never seen something like this. Which was saying a lot considering together they were basically a fucking Alien Super Soldier. Shuya slowly and cautiously crouched down to the Chihiro cowering in the corner.

"...Ano... Chihiro-chan?" Shuya called out to her.

If Chhiro could disappear in this moment, she would. She didn't know where to go or what to  do, so all she could do was run away and hope for the best. But she doubted she could outrun Shuya if he wanted to catch her, so she did what she always did when she couldn't run away anymore and braced.

She braced, and refused to say anything, lest she say something else wrong again. If she listened and waited she could figure it out, just like before.