All day, she'd be cooped up in a laboratory, covered in soot and sweat as she worked on whatever the government needed from her.
All evening, she'd entertain the people, sheets soaked with sweat as the bed buckled under the pleasures of flesh.
Yet every night, at the end of it all, she found herself crying herself to sleep.
Born a lycan, she was fated to be considered an outcast from the very first cries that entered the air as a screaming infant. Her parents lynched by a mob while she was a toddler, a foster father came in the unlikely form of a scientist. Professor Iidabashi, a renowned researcher under the govern of Kazuo Tengan, found the young girl shortly afterwards, taking her in and raising her as his own daughter. At the same time, Iidabashi was working on a major project – a non-organic being that still housed a soul and heart, a non-organic living being, Project Kibou. He was in the final stages of the project when adopting her, coming to realise that the two would likely learn from each other should Project Kibou prove a success.
To Iidabashi's delight, the intricate clockwork ran perfectly, and Project Kibou proved to be an overwhelming success, the machine containing a soul that could be impacted on. Now all Iidabashi needed was a name. While explaining the project to her, despite her inability to fully comprehend it, she would repeat the word "Kibou" a lot, though her pronunciation was off – which gave Iidabashi his idea of a name for the machine, Kiibo.
As expected, the two impacted on each other, and though unrelated, grew up as close as siblings. Iidabashi was pleased with the current life the three lived, but had a lingering paranoia about the hatred and bigotry that claimed her parents.
By the time she was 15, tragedy finally befell Iidabashi. Lost in a crowd while shopping for vegetables and deer for dinner, he found himself shoved by someone in a black cloak into an oncoming horse carriage. His death was instant, and left his two "children" orphaned, in her case once more. She found herself going through his old notes, his old laboratory, and soon decided to continue his work. Many of the cutting edge technological advances of Kouronichi and even Yamasaki were of hers and Iidabashi's design, yet few could get past the state of her heritage.
It wasn't like it was hidden – her wedge-shaped, silvery-blonde ears stuck out like sore thumbs, a permanent reminder of who and what she was. Though some didn't care, those some were very rare. Her heritage as a lycan only proved to be fuel to the fire of townsfolk's treatment towards her, a treatment that continued 7 years after Iidabashi's death, after Kazuo Tengan's retirement and disappearance, after the insane laws of any and all law-breaking being punishable by death…
The door was pushed open loudly and suddenly, causing Kiibo to jump slightly and turn his head towards it from the book he was reading. At the door stood an exasperated Miu, gloved hands clamped tight, a mark on her collarbone that appeared to be both a bruise and a burn.
"… May I ask what happened?" Kiibo asked, folding the corner of the book and standing up to meet her.
"All I asked for was a tiny bar of silver! You'd think after the mining raid at the Huangshi war camp that at least one of the soldiers would be willing to spare some without throwing it at me!" Miu shouted, a low growl emanating from her throat as she tossed off her corset. "Of all the damned things that I could've needed for this… nope, has to be silver. Couldn't be iron – Sakakura wanted it to be made of silver for Chancellor Munakata."
"Hang on, is that why you've got a burn…" Kiibo gestured to his collarbone, indicating the same place on Miu's body.
"Yeah, the commoner thought it was just fine to throw it at me! God… now I can't earn any money tonight. Who's going to want to fuck someone with a collarbone looking like something that a cat threw up on the rug, let alone a lycan?"
"That's- I thought you hated it…" Kiibo trailed off.
"I do." Miu snapped back, pushing open the door to the laboratory, pulling the piece of silver out of her bag and placing it on a nearby table.
"Then… why do you-?" Kiibo asked.
"Because aside from Munakata and Sakakura's request, nobody ever wants to hire me for any work, unless it's for their own fucking pleasure." Miu sighed. "If I'm not being their mistress or slave… to them…" She trailed off, looking at her work – a weapon that would hopefully turn the tides of the conflict.
"I… I'm sorry." Kiibo replied, as Miu choked back a sob – the floodgates were opening, and there wasn't a way to stop them.
"If I'm not satisfying every desire they have, government work or otherwise, then they consider me nothing more than a mangy fucking dog, worth less than nothing!" She looked up, eyes blinking rapidly.
"Sounds like quite the dilemma." A voice called from the window, causing Kiibo to turn his head, and for Miu to jump back.
"Wh-who are you?! And why are you just eavesdropping on our conversation, anyway?!" Miu demanded.
"Aww, silly me! I couldn't help but overhear your shouting, and got curious." The voice was female, with shoulder-length grey hair framing a young face, accentuated by a single bright pink braid. Turquoise eyes stared at Miu and Kiibo, and a gentle smile was present on her face. The woman wore a headpiece, an ornate design resting on her fringe. Her clothes were frequented with jewels, yet seemed torn from what the two could see. "My name is Nishemao. Katsume Nishemao. Now, you?"
"Er… Miu Iruma? You haven't heard of me? The greatest mind living in Yama-" Miu began.
"You were just crying your eyes out saying that the folk here think you're a mangy dog, you don't have to act all confident." Katsume stated, shaking her head.
"Kiibo, er… Kiibo Iidabashi? My creator never gave me a last name…" Kiibo admitted.
"Oh… that must suck." Katsume replied.
"Alright, that answers that, now why were you curious?" Miu demanded, to which she was met with a laugh.
"I've heard little somethings about the weapon you're making. Little birdies have told me your little weapon's going to make armour as useful as running into battle totally naked. Could it be true?" Katsume asked.
"I… hey, why do you want to know, anyway?!" Miu put her hands on her hips, frowning.
"Like I said, I'm a curious sort. My magic's enough for me, but we're not all blessed with such energies. Now… is it true?" Katsume leaned her arms against the windowsill, a smile on her face.
"... Yes, that's true. Small but deadly, and you don't even need to be near the person you're attacking." Miu admitted.
"Thaaat's what we want to hear. Now, the weapon's for the government, right?"
"... Yes…"
"I'm guessing the Chancellor or someone close to him has ordered you to create it."
"... Yes."
"Does the government, or whoever ordered it, appreciate your work?"
Miu looked towards the floor. "I… I don't know…"
"So. You know the townsfolk don't appreciate your work, and the government might not even appreciate what you're doing for them. You're inventing a weapon that could keep everyone in this city safe and drive out the Huangshi invaders - and they're not even grateful for it. So why, might I ask, are you still doing it?" Katsume asked, pursing her lips.
"I… Professor Iidabashi would've wanted me to keep going with his work." Miu replied, straightening her chin and posture out.
"Even at the cost of your own happiness? It's obvious the townsfolk can't get past the state of your heritage, Iruma-san. I believe you said if you weren't satisfying their more… intimate pleasures, they don't even care for you. By the way, that's a reaaaally nasty 2nd degree burn right there." Katsume pointed to her own collar bone, causing Miu to pull her shirt up with a slight wince and whine.
"Y-You don't have to point it out…" Miu muttered. "... What are you getting at?"
"Simply put, why are you still giving into the whims of people who don't even appreciate you or your work, when you have a weapon better than almost any sword, mace, or arrow, so close to completion? Hell, could be a good opportunity to test it out."
"W-wait, are you suggesting that she commits murder?!" Kiibo exclaimed, staring at Katsume with wide eyes.
"Only if that's what she wants to do with it. I'm just suggesting that she go take some well deserved vengeance for how this place treats her, despite all the work she does for it." Katsume explained. "Show 'em what happens when you shit-talk a lycan."
"You… you are suggesting hurting others, though. I couldn't do that." Miu pushed her fingers together at the tips.
"You can't do that… why?" Katsume pushed herself onto the windowsill, sitting on it.
"I… the Chancellor would have me executed." Miu replied.
"If someone catches you. Just be careful. The guy who threw the silver at you, is he a family man or…"
"Er… no, single soldier."
"Sneak in with a mask, stab 'em - fatally or not, I don't really care, and sneak out before you're seen. Easy enough, right? And you'll get at least a taste of justice for yourself, for once." Katsume jumped off the windowsill, waving. "Just something to think about, Iruma-san." With that, Katsume left, heading back into the streets.
"You can't honestly be considering hurting someone…" Kiibo exclaimed, watching as Katsume made her departure. Miu looked back at him, scratching behind her ear.
"I… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, Kiibo." Miu turned away, her gaze turning to one of the tiny daggers displayed on the wall.
"She's talking about hurting or even killing somebody…!"
"I know what she was talking about! But… I don't know… does anybody appreciate what I'm doing? Would it really be that bad to just stab him in the leg to pay him back for the injury he gave me…?"
"Miu, once this weapon goes out to all our soldiers, your invention will turn the tides of the war. We'll drive the Huangshian invaders out of Yamasaki."
"Kiibo… open your eyes." Miu's voice took on an apathetic tone. "I could invent a way to easy immortality and they'd still see me as nothing more than a pathetic dog. My genius is always held back by my heritage. I've never been appreciated… you and Iidabashi were the only ones who ever cared about me. So… so what if someone who's already hurt me gets a little roughed up themselves?"
"Miu…" Kiibo began, before sighing. "... Don't kill. Please. If you have to hurt someone, all I beg for is for you to not kill."
"I… I won't."