Chapter 1:
"Peek-a-boo!" I grin as I swing upside down from one of the railings, stopping myself right in another girl's face. She screams, that's funny coming from somebody who just tried to poke one of my eyes. The girl cries and hides behind Aki-san's legs.
"Can't you get that little freak under control!?" The man snaps furiously at Masahiko-san.
"Chameleon, leave her alone." He says nonchalantly, without even looking from his clipboard.
I let out a sigh, "ok." My hair and tail change from bright pink to a slightly depressing blue as my tail lets go of the metal railing. Honestly, nobody here's any fun. All that I do all day is either get a bunch of tests done or do training, both physical and nen. I never get to see other kids.
I silently go and sit in a corner, I let my tail drag along the ground to show my disappointment. Nobody here likes me, well except for Yoshito-sama. He's always grinning every time he sees me, and he talks to me!
"Chameleon, let's go." I turn at Masahiko-san's voice, I stand and skip over to him as he holds out his hand. I grab his hand and as we pass by I stick my tongue out at the little girl, she starts crying again because my tongue reaches all of the way down to my belly button. I giggle evilly as we walk through the door and into the many hallways of the lab. Masahiko-san lets out a loud sigh, "can't you at least try to act civil?"
I start skipping again as I draw my tongue back into my mouth. "I'm only seven months old, you know!" I grin, "I have only tasted life and I have no idea when I will hear the sweet call of death."
"Ugh, now you've started parroting Yoshito-sama…" He mutters as he takes out his phone and starts texting. "We have to get you to nen training."
"Can we go outside for it?" I ask hopefully, I've never been outside before and I really want to know all of the colours out there. At least I already know a bunch because I can change colours but I just really wanna see real grass and real trees.
"No."
"Aww!" I complain loudly, "when can I finally go outside!?"
"When you're older." He says vaguely.
"What do you mean "older"!? I could be a hundred years old before-" I hear a bang, I stare with both of my eyes as Masahiko falls on his face. "M-Masahiko-san?" I kneel down and try to roll him over.
"Ma-" I scream when I see the hole in his head, I jump and press my back against the wall. Nononono, this isn't real. "Th-This isn't funny!" I choke.
"Wow he really did pull it off, that crazy scientist." I freeze, my hair and tail are bone white. I stiffly turn around, there are two scary men that I've never seen before.
I start crying just like the girl that I tried playing with before, except my eyes don't make tears. I start running down the hall, "help! Somebody help me!" I scream at the top of my lungs, I trip over something and fall. I turn around to see what I tripped on, another dead body, just like Masahiko-san. I panic and kick it away before running again.
The banging is everywhere, I cover my ears and keep running. I jump and swerve to avoid more dead bodies. Eventually I turn a corner and run into what feels like a wall. But when I step back I realize that it's the back of another strange man, I try to run away but they grab my arm.
"So you must be the one that we came here for." I struggle against his grip but he's way too strong. Suddenly, something in my mind snaps, the world around me becomes slow motion. I think about what these men did to Masahiko-san, what they've done to the rest of the scientists who I've seen around, what they are either going to do or have done to Yoshito-sama. Anger bubbles up inside of me I see some of the hair that's in my face turn a mix of dark red and black.
I scream as I round on the man and slam a nen filled fist into his face. He immediately lets go and shouts in pain, I turn to his partner and launch into the air. I spin and hit him over the head with my tail. He's knocked out, my left eye glares down at them while my right eye searches for more enemies. When I don't see anymore I keep on running down the halls.
I need to find a way outside, this is the only way I won't be kidnapped. I see another man who I've never seen before so I stop. It takes a second for him to notice me and when he does he smirks.
"Finally, we can get out of here now." The first step that he takes I aim and launch my tongue at him. It hits his arm and sticks, I use nen and with all of my power, I throw him to the side. I keep running.
I begin a cycle, I keep running if I run into a person that I've never seen before, I beat them up. I only stop when I see a person in a lab coat. "Chameleon-sama!" They cry out when they recognize me.
I freeze for a second, not sure if it's really safe. But when the person topples I run over, "Ch-Chameleon-sama, you need to get out of here!" Who I recognize as a woman now says weakly. I silently reach out and clutch her hand, my hair and tail have now turned blue-grey out of distress and sadness.
I can't believe that this is real. I-I was just going to go to nen practice, I was only just teasing that little girl. I was only just talking to Masahiko-san. I start sobbing, what went wrong!? Why is this happening!?
The light fades from the woman's eyes and I cry even harder. How can bad things happen so fast?
I feel myself being picked up but I don't bother struggling or paying attention to who it is. I just want to disappear from this place, be somewhere quiet and alone, with no banging sounds, no dead bodies.
"How did this happen?" I ask out loud, either the person who's carrying me doesn't respond or I can't hear them.