CHAPTER 3: Amnesia
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've been holding off until after my husband's birthday (August 15th) and our 12-Year Anniversary (August 16th) had passed to focus on any of my writing. Unfortunately, this means the next chapter of Pyromancy missed getting posted on the story's 1-Year Anniversary (August 13th). Originally, OmniXenderman and I had planned on letting Subject X meet with the four Shiki in the basement, but I think Megumi's exam in this chapter may have run a bit too long for that. Oh, and Omni, thanks a bunch for the beta read!
Sorry for the delay on this chapter, I've been holding off until after my husband's birthday (August 15th) and our 12-Year Anniversary (August 16th) had passed to focus on any of my writing. Unfortunately, this means the next chapter of Pyromancy missed getting posted on the story's 1-Year Anniversary (August 13th). Originally, OmniXenderman and I had planned on letting Subject X meet with the four Shiki in the basement, but I think Megumi's exam in this chapter may have run a bit too long for that.
The four Shiki began to stir as the sun set. Ritsuko was the first to wake. She rushed to Tohru's side, and gently shook him awake. "Tohru...? Tohru?" she called sweetly.
Tohru slowly opened his eyes. He gave her a weak smile, before reaching out and throwing his arms around her, with a quiet sob. "Ritsu..." he whispered.
"Tohru," she sighed, "Are you alright?"
"No..." Tohru said, trembling. "I thought... I hoped that if I went along with this, I would feel less guilty about what I've done. Why, Ritsu? Why am I the only one who's left that has to bear the burden of what's happened?"
Ritsuko looked over toward the other two Shiki. Megumi was still stirring, and Masao was creeping closer to her. "You're not the ONLY one," she said irritably.
"KYAAA!" Megumi shrieked as she fluttered her eyes open, to find Masao's face just mere inches away from her own. Two inches closer, and his lips could have touched hers.
"That's different, HE doesn't seem to feel sorry for any of it," Tohru huffed, scrambling to his feet. In the blink of an eye, the blond was between Masao and Megumi, his fist meeting Masao's mouth.
"OW! Tohru, what'd you do that for?" Masao whined, frowning at his former friend.
"LEAVE HER ALONE, MASAO!" the older male ordered, "Can't you see you're scaring her?" Megumi quietly peeked around from behind Tohru's shoulder, staring timidly at Masao.
Masao growled. "Why are you defending her?" the younger asked, "She never liked you. Isn't she the one who killed you? Don't tell me you're still under her control?"
"I'm not under anybody's control!" Tohru retorted, "And in case you haven't noticed, I've had it up to here with your professional viticm act!" Tohru held his hand above his head. "I've got enough on my concience without leaving her to you. But it doesn't do me any good to hold a grudge against her if she doesn't remember what she did!"
"Big brother will beat you up if you don't leave me alone!" Megumi spat, sticking her tongue out at the lanky black haired Shiki.
"Big bro... Wha...!?" Tohru exclaimed, blushing slightly.
Ritsuko put a hand to her mouth and giggled at Tohru's reaction. 'Big Brother' was the best thing Megumi could have called him. She hoped that if this became a recurring thing, it would help heal some of the hurt in Tohru's heart.
"What's gotten into you, Tohru?" Masao asked, wide eyed and confused. "This isn't like you at all. You're never this violent..." Masao frowned. "You spent too much time with that Natsuno jerk before she turned you, didn't you?"
"Don't you ever speak his name again!" Masao took another punch to the mouth, this one sending him flying back across the room. "You're right, this isn't like me," he admitted. "Masao, in the last three months, I've died, come back to life, been forced to feed on the blood of people I've known my whole life, and killed my best friend in order to protect my family!" he growled. "No one gave a damn how I felt about it when it happened, and my brother and sister were killed anyway!"
Masao blinked at him. "You mean, Aoi and Tamotsu are...?" he asked.
Tohru frowned at him, then pointed a finger at Megumi. "And the person who started it all doesn't even remember doing it, or why she did! Notice she didn't even react when you said his name?" The tears were welling up in Tohru's eyes, but he tried not to let them run this time. Ritsuko couldn't help finding the look of confusion on Megumi's face rather adorable. "We've got bigger things to worry about than what Dr. Ozaki has in store for us, and bigger things than fighting amongst ourselves," he sighed. "Last night... I learned two things that should have us all shaking in our boots."
"Tohru?" Ritsuko asked, going to the blond's side and placing a hand on his shoulder.
Tohru closed his eyes and shook his head. "Tatsumi may still be alive," he said. No reaction from Megumi, but Masao cringed and Ritsuko's eyes widened. The nurse had only had a small amount of time with either of Sunako's Jinrou servants, but it had been enough to access what kind of 'people' they were.
"Tohru, are you sure?" Ritsuko asked.
"If we're lucky, it's not Tatsumi, but rather Yoshie... Or someone else," Tohru sighed, "The doctor said he has SIX test subjects. The four of us, and I don't know who the others are, but one is a Jinrou."
"What do you mean 'SOMEONE ELSE'?" Masao asked. "There are only TWO Jinrou, Yoshie and Tatsumi."
Tohru shook his head. "No," he said, wrapping his arms around himself. "Just one more sin I have to bear..." He closed his eyes and turned his head toward the floor, biting his bottom lip to prevent it from quivering. "I'm not sure who, but one of my victims has risen up as a Jinrou, too." He put a hand to his head, as if it were hurting him, "They're stronger and faster than any of us, and yet, somehow, I'VE released one of those monsters on the world."
"What? But... But how?" Masao and Ritsuko both exclaimed.
"I don't know," Tohru said, "I know who I would prefer it to be, but that's being too hopeful." He turned and walked back to his corner. "Natsuno was cremated, I've got to face the fact that he's not coming back," he mumbled to himself. "Ritsu's all I have left," he thought, quietly glancing back at the nurse.
As he looked at his current companions, he realized the role he was going to have to take on. 'Big Brother', Megumi had just called him. He did what he'd been told, but still couldn't protect his younger brother and sister. Staying mad at Megumi for something she didn't remember would only be hurting himself. The doctor's experiments weren't pretty in the least. This whole ordeal would take its toll on all of them in more ways than one. Of that he was certain.
Then there was Dr. Ozaki's other subjects. He'd claimed to have six, and mentioned the Jinrou. "Is it only one Jinrou, or two?" Tohru thought. "Does he have Tatsumi and Yoshie in his custody somewhere? Is he keeping them away from us in order to protect us from them? Or is only one a Jinrou and the other Sunako?" Tohru quietly bit his thumb, though he didn't bite hard enough to draw blood. "What did he mean that I sired one?" Tohru turned his eyes back to the other three Shiki, Ritsuko was making sure to stand between Masao and Megumi, in case Masao tried anything else. Tohru was the oldest of the two males, and of the three who were still fully aware of what was going on, or what had happened, he'd been risen the longest.
With Megumi's memory in its current state, she could no longer pull any of power over Tohru, even if she wanted. He had not been her thrall since the last night she bit him, but had she thought to utilize her power over him the night he bit Natsuno, she or Tatsumi would have had no trouble beating him to it. "I just wanted to keep them all safe, and I failed at that, too," he thought, "Will I be able to protect us all this time, or will it all turn out the same?"
The door to the basement swung open and Toshio descended the stairs, carrying four test tubes full of blood. He passed them out. Ritsuko was still hesitant to drink, but she took solace in the fact that no one had to be killed in order to obtain this blood. It had been freely donated for medical emergencies. Knowing this made drinking it weigh less heavy on Tohru's mind as well.
Masao was just happy to be fed. He'd never been very good at hunting and was one of the few who had to rely on others to bring in captives from the big city outside Sotoba in order to feed. When Akira Tanaka had been left in the abandoned house for him to feed, someone stole the boy away from him. He had no idea who it was, they were hiding in the shadows, even his night vision hadn't had time to make out who the person was before they hit him over the head, hard enough to knock him out cold. When he came to, the intruder and the boy were both gone. "If I ever find who did that," Masao thought, rubbing the back of his head, "I swear I'm going to make them pay!"
Megumi had no problem drinking the stuff. It had been the first thing the doctor had given her when he brought her into the clinic. As far as she knew, it was just some kind of medicine that kept her injuries healed and kept her from feeling hungry, and none of the others were inclined to tell her any different.
Ritsuko pulled the flask away from her lips and looked down at it, as she licked her lips to catch whatever may have escaped. "Tosh..." she bit back the doctor's first name, her eyes quietly darting toward the blond teenaged vampire huddled in the corner. "Doctor, you're feeding us from the emergency medical supply, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yes, where else do you think I'd be getting this from?" Toshio asked, taking the flask from her. "I'm a doctor, with a Hippocratic oath, after all."
Ritsuko lowered her head. "That's exactly my point," she mumbled. "We haven't been outside to see the damages ourselves, but the entire village, must be in shambles after the fighting and the fire." She interlinked her fingers and looked away from him. "What are you going to do with us, once the supply runs out?"
Tohru and Masao froze upon hearing those words. The other three Shiki turned their eyes to the doctor and his former nurse. Megumi merely blinked quietly. She still didn't understand the issue. Tohru and Masao, however both stared with their mouths agape. The sound of shattering glass could be heard as Masao dropped his empty flask on the floor. "Wh-What do you mean when it runs out?" the lanky Okiagari stammered. Tohru leaped to his feet, but didn't speak a word.
Toshio lit a cigarette and smiled. "Relax, kids," he said with a smile. "With the dosages I'm feeding you, there's enough supply here to feed you all for a year. IF it all runs out, there's still the supply in my own clinic in Sotoba, which will add another six months, providing I don't have to increase the amounts I'm giving any of you."
"Then what?" Ritsuko asked, turning her attention back to him. "A year and a half that you can feed us like this, then what? Megumi doesn't remember how to hunt on her own, and I refuse to."
"And Masao's no good at it," Tohru added.
"Hey!?" Masao hissed.
Toshio laughed. "Such an interesting selection of test subjects I chose." He looked at Tohru. "One who still holds onto every ounce of guilt for the lives he's effected..." Then to Masao, "One who lacks the skill to hunt..." Turning to Megumi, "One who doesn't even remember how," then to Ritsuko, "And one who refuses." He shook his head. "It's too bad I didn't manage to get ahold of your leader, one of you who's been around as long as she has would have been quite interesting to study by comparison."
Tohru shifted a bit in surprise. "Then, he doesn't have Sunako... So, then... WHO?"
Toshio turned and approached Megumi. He held out his hand. "Well then, Megumi, would you please accompany me upstairs?"
Megumi blinked at him for a moment, and then reached her hand out to take his. "Doctor?" Tohru called. Megumi and Toshio both looked toward the blonde. "Try not to cut it so close tonight, alright?"
Toshio smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, Tohru," he said confidently, "I made sure my watch is working this time." He held up his arm, showing off a new watch. Tohru gave a quiet nod of approval and the doctor lead Megumi upstairs.
"What was that all about?" Ritsuko asked as the door swung shut.
"His watch stopped last night. If he had taken much longer unlocking the door, I would be nothing but ash right now," Tohru answered.
"He kept you out till sunrise!?" Masao exclaimed. Tohru only gave a quiet nod. Masao and Ritsuko exchanged looks, suddenly feeling they better understood Tohru's behavior when he woke up tonight.
Toshio lead Megumi upstairs, to the same room he'd had Tohru in the previous night. The pink haired shiki shuffled hesitantly as she looked around the room. The medical implements that scattered the room made her a bit nervous. Toshio held an open hand out, toward the examination table. "Take a seat, Megumi," he said calmly.
Megumi gave a nod. "Ok," she said meekly as she did as she was told.
Toshio turned on the camera and pulled up a rolling chair.
"The date, November 16th."
"Time, 8:30, PM. I'm beginning my experiments an hour earlier tonight after an unexpected incident yesterday. Due to a miscalculation in time, Subject B was exposed to sunlight as I was returning him to his sleeping area. The results of exposure to sunlight is not something I'm yet ready to record without my patients' permission. At best I can describe it as an advanced form of Hyper Solar Urticaria, a disease that causes the skin to be hypersensitive to sunlight, causing rashes to appear in moments. I'll go into more detail at a later date. In the meantime, let me draw your attention to Subject C, Megumi Shimizu. When I found her, someone had run a stake through her chest, however, they missed her heart, instead boring a hole through her breast plate.. As opposed to killing her, this merely left her in a state of suspended animation. Clearly whoever staked her lacking skill. She had also suffered a severe blow to her head, which damaged her skull and brain. Thanks to her condition, all injuries healed the moment she fed, but she still suffers from memory loss, perhaps the brain will heal….but not with the original neurological structure intact. Tonight, I'm going to attempt to jog her memory with images and questions about places and people she's encountered during her life."
Toshio took his place in the rolling chair and turned his attention back to Megumi, reaching over, he picked up a manilla envelope from a nearby table. Inside were several pictures, which he had already sorted through in front of the camera earlier in the day. He also had a set of Rorschach Test Cards. He started with the Rorschach cards, handing her the first, he explained. "Now, Megumi this is a Rorschach Test. There's no right or wrong answer. I'm going to hand you a card, and I want you to look at the image on it, and tell me what you see, alright?"
Megumi smiled and gave a quiet nod. "Sure, sounds like fun," she answered a she took the first card from the doctor. She blinked at it for a moment in confusion. "It doesn't look like anything," she said, "Just spilled black ink."
Toshio laughed. "Just look at it for a moment. Feel free to turn it from one side or another if you need to. I'll let you give me up to three answers, if you see more than one image."
Megumin glanced up at the docotor and nodded. "Okay," she said, returning her gaze to the card. She traced her finger around the edges of the dark splotch in the center. "A beetle," she said. Dr. Ozaki raised an eyebrow. There were no wrong answers, but that was definately an uncommon one. She looked at it for a moment more and traced her fingers along the center and the jagged edges on the outside. "A headless angel." Yet another unexpected answer.
"Anything else?" Toshio asked, jotting down the first two replies, "Remember you get three answers."
Megumi blinked at it and tilted the picture to the side. She ran her finger along one of the external shapes. "A small dog with big ears, looking at it's reflection in a puddle."
Toshio raised his eyebrow again. These were interesting answers. Normally people associated this first card with a bat, moth, or butterfly. He wondered if her second answer had been influenced by her current condition as a member of the undead. Tohru, having been a gamer may have seen that image and thought it an interesting boss monster, but there was nothing in Megumi's past, to Toshio's knowledge that would influence such a reply. "Megumi, your second answer? A headless angel?"
Megumi nodded. "Look!" she said, turning the card to face him, the camera was perfectly focused to pick up the image as she traced her finger around the curvatures in the center. "Here's the body, and here's the collar to the dress where the angel's head should be, these two lumps on the side that would have been the beetle's pincers are hands, looking for the head, the dog on the outside is the angel's wings, and that little splotch down here at the middrift, where the ink is smeared so you can see the color of the card, that's the head, having just fallen off!"
Toshio froze and stared at her for a moment. It was a morbid thought, coming from a girl who was once always so prim and proper. But now that she outlined it for him, he could definately see the image she was describing. She then pointed to another splotch just at the 'collar' that was smaller, rounder, and in a similar maner to the point where she'd described the head. "And this is a button or pendant," she added. "And this is a belt," she said, running her finger a long a dark horizontal line just at the midsection of the image, connecting to the head.
Toshio smiled at her and cleared his throat. "I see, thank you, Megumi." He took the card from her and handed her the next. "What about this one?"
Megumi looked at it. "Two bears standing over a butterfly," she answered immediately, running a finger over the black images on the outside, and the red splotch between their lower feet. She frowned for a second, "A dead bird," she added, running her fingers along the image in the center, tracing out the bill, head, wings, and tail of the bird, counting the red now as blood, rather than the butterfly she originally took it for. Toshio blinked and leaned foward. NOW he was curious, would she come up with something morbid for all ten cards?
"Anything else?" he asked.
"An old man with red eyes and a bloody beard," she said with a shiver. She didn't bother to trace this image, she simply tossed the card to the side.
"A bloody beard and red eyes?" Toshio asked, reaching for the card.
Megumi nodded, "The blood in his beard is his tears."
Even Toshio shivered as she added this comment. Surely these weren't answers she would have given before Chizuru Kirashiki turned her, were they? Toshio jotted down Megumi's answers and decided not to linger on this card any more. He simply handed her the thrid.
Megumi giggled. "It's a cow!" she said with amusement. She blinked at it, and looked again. "Two butlers, cleaning up a red wine spill." Toshio smiled, glad to see she'd found some bemusement in this black, white, and red ink blot. He wrote down her answers.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"A red bowtie on a bloody tuxedo," she said.
Toshio flinched. There it was again, the morbid reply. Megumi bit her lower lip and frowned at the card. Was it subconcious guilt for her actions before her memory loss, or a memory surrounding her death trying to resurface? He couldn't be certain. He jotted down her answer and handed her the fourth card. "What about this one?" he asked as he traded the cards with her.
Megumi's hands trembled and her eyes grew wide. "A... Lady with long flowing hair," she said, her voice faltering for a moment. Toshio raised an eyebrow. She didn't give colors, but it almost fit the discription of Chizuru or Sunako Kirashiki. Megumi closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, not a lady? A man, in a cape, with shoulder-length hair?"
She sounded uncertain now, but at the same time, the description almost fit Seishiro Kirashiki, Chizuru's human husband. That would make sense, this is known as the "Father" card, but Seishiro was human, only the women had been Okiagari, what would Megumi have to fear from him? Had he held her down while Chizuru bit her the first time? Had they done something more untoward with her? Now that he thought about it, Megumi's parents hadn't allowed him to check when they found her sprawled out in the woods that night, Rape had never been ruled out. He started to move, thinking to check now, but stopped himself as he reminded himself that the Okiagari had a major healing factor. Tohru had even grown back his tonsils, if Megumi had been raped by any member of the Kirashiki family, her hymen most likely would have grown back by now. "Which is it, Megumi?" he asked, calmly, resettling in his seat, or would you rather use both as your first two answers?"
She blinked, she could make out two more images. "The second," she answered, "It's a man. I still have two more answers." Toshio nodded, she'd seemed so uncertain and changed her answer so quickly, he was willing to allow this.
"Alright, what else is there?" he asked.
"A bat, spreading it's wings as it wakes up to fly into the night," she said, turning her eyes to the doctor and holding the card up to show him, tracing the face of the bat at the bottom of the image, that would have otherwise been the man's boots.
"Alright," Toshio nodded, writing down the answer, and taking note that she was much calmer with this answer. "And the third thing you see?"
"A boar," she answered with a smile, "See the piggy's snout, and horns?" she giggled.
Toshio's smile brightened. He was glad to see her being a bit more cheerful now. "Now that you mention it, I do." He handed her the next card, it was a simple splotch. "What about this one?"
She smiled. "A butterfly!" she before she even settled into looking at it. "A bird, skimming the water for a fish," she added, looking closer at it and tilting it on it's side.
Toshio smiled, it seemed they may get through this card quickly and with little morbidity involved. "And?"
"A leaf," she added, handing back the card.
Toshio nodded as he took the card from her, and handed her the next.
Megumi hummed and huhhed over this one for a moment. "A violin?" she said looking at it, "No... Violins aren't jagged like that are they? A guitar maybe?"
Toshio jotted down the answers, noting the change. He found it interesting what she could remember about the rest of the world. He always thought it interesting how amnesia patients were always reported to have forgotten their own names, and people and places in their lives, but NOT how to talk or what items were and what they looked like, just things that pertained to them personally. "What else, Megumi?"
She tilted the image to the side, "A tug boat!" she giggled. Once more, she bit her lower lip as she tilted the image back upright. Again she trembled a little. "Another bat..." she said hesitantly. "No, a creature with bat wings, but human feet, and horns on it's head, hanging upside down."
Toshio sighed, once again, Megumi had taken a trip down the path of darkness. He preferred her more cheerful answers. Even knowing what she was, and what he'd done to his now late wife, he hated seeing the look of fear in the pink haired teenager's eyes. He jotted down her last answer and took the card. "It's ok, Megumi, we're almost done," he assured her as he handed her the seventh card, "We've got this one and three more to go," he promised.
Megumi smiled, at the card, giggled, and laid it in her lap. "It looks like someone's doing this!" she said, tucking her elbows together, holding her arms up and giving a thumbs up on both hands. Toshio smiled. This was a lighter card, silverfish colored ink splashed across the paper. Just as Card four was seen to be the 'Father' Card, this one was commonly known as the 'Mother' Card.
Toshio smiled and jotted down the words, 'Thumbs Up' as her first answer. "Anything else?"
Megumi smiled and nodded. "An open book, and someone's imagining the characters coming out of it."
"I see," Toshio said, impresed with this elaborate answer. "One more, Megumi?"
Megumi shook her head as she turned the card upside down. "No, Doctor, I have two more," she insisted.
"Two?" he asked. Megumi nodded. Toshio gave a curious nod. "Alright, let me here them?"
She held the card upright and turned it so Toshio could see it. "The Geisha Bunnygirl in the moon," she said, pointing to what would have been the thumbs in the thumbs up, "See the ears?" Then to what would have been the pages of the book, "And the Kimono sleeves?"
Toshio smiled and failed to stifle back a chuckle. "Alright, and what's the other image?"
Megumi turned the card completely upside down. "A Lunar Moth, blotting out the moon." She glanced at it again, "Or a girl with a pair of braids and a halo, I can't figure out which."
"That's three more, not two!" Toshio scolded her with a smile, "But I'll allow it this time." He did a double take as Megumi handed back the card. It was still upside down. He tried his best not to laugh as he could definitely make out the hair style she was suggesting. He wondered if maybe her final answere was because it caused another memory to try and resurface, particularly her childhood friend Kaori Tanaka? He jotted down all six of Megumi's answers and handed her the next card. "Alright, what about this one?" he asked.
"Oooh, PRETTY!" she said as she took the card from him, her eyes widening as she took the colored card. Unlike the previous cards, this one was tinted in shades of blue, pink, and orange. Immediately, she pointed at one of the two large pink blots on the side and giggled, "It's a pink mountain panther!" She looked at the card. "There's so many different colors and shapes, I'm not sure I can narrow it down to just three," she said.
"Just try, Megumi," Toshio encouraged, "The next two cards are just as colorful, I promise."
Megumi nodded, "Ok!" She looked again, pointing to the pink and orange splotches at the bottom she stated, "It's another butterfly!" Her eyes then shifted to the darker shades, on the card, dark and light blue. She bit her bottom lip. The dark blue and the white splotches between the colors could have easily been classified as bats, birds, or moths. but it was the contrasting lighter shade of blue above the dark blue that drew her eyes. Once more, she trembled a bit, though not nearly as much as she had with some of the darker cards. "A man in war armor," she said quietly as she handed the card back. She didn't seem interested in tracing out the image for the doctor this time. Toshio took a look at the card, and nodded. He thought he could see the image without her drawing it out for him. He jotted down her answer and quietly passed her the next card.
He was not prepared for the answers that came with this card. She looked at it and insisted on being allowed five answers, as her first seemed like an obvious choice. Toshio sighed and agreed. Butterfly, as she said, pretty obvious with the card's flamboyantly flowing shades of pink, blue, and orange. Fire and smoke, an understandable perception. The orange she associated as two seahorses facing each other, another surprising revelation about images she could remember given her predicament. The next two where the answers that threw him off, however. She pointed at the two large splotches of blue. "Two girls... Upside down, but still, two girls, kissing each other," she said. By now Toshio had lost count of how many times he'd raised his eyebrows during this test. He nodded and jotted down the answer. But, before he could ask if she was willing to turn the paper over and show him the image of the two girls, she did flip it over. She pointed at the puffs of pink. "ME, from the back!" she answered.
Toshio's breath caught in his throat and he sat slack jawed. Sort of glad she didn't decide that when the image was turned upside down the orange looked like chicken legs, he found it rather bemusing the girl had associated the pink with her own pair of pink pigtails and the whole thing as looking at a girl in a dress from behind. After a dumbfounded moment, he began to laugh. That sort of sensation of self importance seemed typical of the girl before she'd lost her memory. "Maybe there's still some of the old Megumi still in there, after all," he chortled as he took the card from her. "Alright, Megumi, last card, let's see what you can come up with?"
Megumi blinked at this last card. It was the most colorful, splotches of pink, green, blue, orange, black, grey, and yellow. The first thing she saw in the abstract scene seemed like something out of a fairy tail. "Two girls, approaching a gate or castle, guarded by two dragons, they're following a fire fairy." She bit her lip. "They shouldn't go in, she said, shaking her head. The birds and butterflies are trying to stop them. Something bad will happen in there."
Toshio leaned forward again, breath hitched in his throat again. Megumi had entered the Kanemasa mansion by herself the night she'd first been bitten by Chizuru, no one had tried to stop her. Was Megumi simply making up a story based on the image, or was this another memory trying to surface? He remembered Kaori Tanaka recounting to that she and Megumi had had an arguement before Megumi stormed off toward the mansion. Given some of Megumi's earlier responses, he was beginign to believe this wasn't her imagination making things up. Her now repressed memories were trying to make senes of what happened to her, trying to make sense of why she was what she was now. This was her longest answer yet, and so story driven. That was the only thing Toshio COULD see this as being. Still, this was just her first answer.
"Megumi, is there anything else?" he asked.
Megumi blinked at the image again. "An underwater castle, with a pair of blue crabs at the entrance, the girls are mermaids," she said, trying to sound much happier. She could have easily cahnged this into an alien abduction story, and this second answer wouldn't have been much different from the first fairy tail, the only difference was that the dragons were now crabs, and her take on them sounded much friendlier than her initial dragons.
"Last time, Megumi, anything else?" he asked.
Megumi looked at the card for a bit more, then shook her head as she handed it back to the doctor. "No, nothing else."
"Alright," Toshio said taking it from her.
"Oh, wait...!" she exclaimed as she got one last look at it from a distance now. "H-Hold it right there?" she said. Toshio looked at her curiously, but held it as she told him to. "Yeah, right there. I do see one more thing," she said. "It's a black haired princess with a long flowing pink dress, with bits of green and yellow, being followed by two servant girls fanning her." She smiled.
Toshio glanced at the card, then back to Megumi, then smiled and laughed. "Alright, I'll accept that," he granted, jotting down the final answer. He sat the Rorchach cards to the side, then heaved a sigh as he passed her the next stack of images.
"More?" she asked.
"No, this is different," he told her, "I want you to look through these pictures and tell me if anyone or anything looks familiar."
"Okay," she said blinking at him.
She sorted through the pictures, but made no interactions to any of them. Her house, her parents, Kaori's dog Love, Ritsuko's dog Tarou, her old high school, her own grave, the temple, the local play ground, Hasigawa's resteraunt... Nothing, not a single reaction or glimmor of recognition in her eyes. People she knew and once showed scorn towards, were now all strangers as she looked at them. She came to a picture of Tohru's family, Mr. and Mrs. Mutou along with Aoi and Tamotsu. Again she showed no signs of recognition. Natsuno Koide/Yuuki, the boy who was once the object of her effections, and that Tohru was now lamenting the loss of, even a candid picture of him recieved no emmotion or reaction.
She cringed when she came to a picture of Masao. "Creepy guy in the basement," she grumbled, holding up his picture for Toshio to see and pointing at him. With a huff, she closed her eyes and used two fingers to flick the photo across the room, sailing it perfectly into a trash can. The doctor burst into laughter in spite of himself. Even now, Masao wouldn't be catching a break from her any time soon. She smiled as she saw the next picture. "Big sister!" she giggled, holding up the picture of Ritsuko.
"Big sister?" Toshio replied.
"Uh-huh," Megumi nodded with a smile, then holding up the picture that had been underneath Ritsu's, this one a picture of Tohru. "Big sister and big brother," she giggled.
Toshio was surprised to hear her calling either of them so endearingly. Megumi had always hated Tohru, even more so after he befriended Natsuno. "Why do you call them that?"
"They keep the creepy guy away," Megumi said, "And they're nice, and older." She folded her hands into her lap and looked away, letting her eyes settle on the floor. "And we all have to live together because we all have to have the same weird sickness. ... Doctor, do you really think you'll be able to cure... whatever it is you're keeping us here for?"
"I see, the others haven't explained the gravity of the situation to her," Toshio thought, "Perhaps they feel it's better for her to continue thinking I'm treating an ailment than telling her she's a member of the living dead." He smiled and patted her on the head. "I don't know if I can," he said calmly, "But I'm going to try."
Megumi smiled at him, but then stopped and stared down at the pictures in her lap. "Aha...?" she mouthed, reaching down and picking up the image of a miniature castle on a hill side. Gothic architecture reflecting that of a western-style mansion.
Toshio blinked, then smiled, taking notice of the look on her face. "What is it, Megumi?" he asked. His voice became a bit hopeful, "Do you remember something?"
"This... This is the place where you found me, isn't it, Doctor?" she asked, holding it up.
"It is," Toshio nodded. "Do you remember it, Megumi?"
She shook her head. "N... No," she said, holding it up over her head, letting it eclipse the light on the ceiling. "Is this what it looked like before the fire?" Toshio nodded. "It looks so pretty," she commented, "But..." She glanced down at the other photos, "It clashes with all the other buildings." She looked at it again. "I do feel drawn to it somehow, though."
Toshio shifted through the pictures she'd already set aside. "Megumi, what about these people?" he asked.
She looked at it, but shook her head. "Don't recognize them."
Toshio sighed. "But that's your mother and father," he said patiently.
"Can't be," she refuted.
"Why not?" Toshio asked.
"I'm too cute to have parents that look like that," she answered innocently.
Toshio bit his tongue, trying not to laugh. Megumi MUST have seen herself in a mirror at some point either when he first brought her to the clinic or sometime tonight on the way into the examination room. He figured she did have a point, though. "Alright, alright," he sighed, "What about these two?" He held up a picture of a fourteen year old girl and her thirteen year old brother.
Megumi shook her head. "Nuh-uh," she said, "The girl's cute, who is she? I like her smile, she seems nice."
"That's Kaori Tanaka, your best friend since childhood," Toshio said.
Megumi sniffled and shook her head. "No," she said quietly. "I don't... I don't remember." Megumi gasped and quickly grabbed her head, letting out a pained whimper. She closed her eyes, but Kaori's face flashed through her mind. Panting, she slowly opened her eyes, the lights in her pupils flashing red for a brief moment. She looked up at Toshio, wide eyed. "Doctor, I want to remember," she whimpered. "I want to go home! I don't like staying in that basement, it's dark and filthy, and there's nowhere to take a bath, and the creepy guy smells weird. I want my old life back! I want to remember so I can go back!" she sobbed.
"Oh, Megumi," Toshio thought with a sorrowful sigh, "I wish it were that easy." He reached over and gently stroked the top of the girl's head. "Relax, Megumi, I'm only trying to help," he said, "It won't be like it was, but maybe, maybe we can fix some things back right, huh?"
Megumi wiped the corners of her eyes and gave a sniffling nod. "Uh-huh..." She threw her arms around him.
Toshio sighed. He'd fully intended to strap her down and cut her open tonight to look and see if there was still any damage to her skull and brain that possibly hadn't healed yet. But with her already acting distraught like this, he was having second thoughts. The pictures slipped out of his lap onto the floor. He tried to catch hold of them. The one picture he didn't drop was the image of Natsuno. She blinked at the picture. She reached over and took it from the doctor, looking at it curiously.
"Who is he?" she asked.
"That's Natsuno," Toshio answered.
"Big Brother keeps talking about him. Were they friends?" she asked.
Toshio nodded. "They were very close friends," he said.
"It's too bad he's not here," she lamented.
"Why's that, Megumi?" Toshio asked.
"Then maybe Big Brother wouldn't look so sad," she said. She looked up at the doctor. "He looks cool. Did I know him?"
"He was a classmate of yours," Toshio answered, deciding not to mention her more than obvious crush on the boy. He heaved a sigh. While this course wasn't getting the results he'd wanted, it HAD given him some interesting ones that he would have to ponder over. He decided to wait on putting Megumi under the knife for the night. He'd lost himself in what he'd done to Tohru the night before, and Megumi was already too unstable to operate on safely. However, with her healing abilities, he was more worried about his own safety than hers if he were to do so. "Alright, Megumi, come on. We're done for the night. We'll follow up tomorrow, ok?"
"Ok," Megumi said with a quiet nod, following the doctor out of the room.
They made their way across the hall and up to the door to the basement. Toshio reached into his pockets and froze. He clicked his tongue as he began to pat himself down.
"Doctor? Is something wrong?" Megumi asked quietly.
Toshio patted his pants pockets, his shirt and coat pockets, internal and external, even the breast pockets. He clicked his tongue and sighed. "I must have left the key to the door back in the exam room," he grumbled. "Wait here, Megumi, I'll be right back."
"Ok," Megumi nodded.
Toshio turned and ran back down the hall, toward the exam room. Megumi shivered a little, as she stood alone in the hallway. The windows were wide open and from where she stood, she could see an expanse of trees and ruined buildings. The moon hung high and bright. Even with her advanced sense of hearing, she couldn't detect the sounds of so much as a bird or insect. Not knowing the full extent of her own condition, she found the scene both enthralling and frightening. She waited patiently for the doctor. She could hear him complaining that it wasn't sitting where he could find it immediately, that it must have fallen out of his pockets onto the floor at some point. Beyond the doctor mumbling to himself in a berating manner, she heard nothing else.
Suddenly, she jumped and gasped as she heard a knock on one of the glass doors from the front of the clinic. "Hello? Doctor, are you in there?" a voice called.
Post Notes:
The Rorschach Test Cards came from the Wikipidia page on the subject. h- t- t- p : / / e n .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach _ test I gave Megumi's answers how they best would work with her current memory status without breaking the canon's timeline, so my game references toward Cards 2 and 4 are down here.
Test 01: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _01 . jpg
When seeing card I, subjects often inquire on how they should proceed, and questions on what they are allowed to do with the card (e.g. turning it) are not very significant. Being the first card, it can provide clues about how subjects tackle a new and stressful task. It is not, however, a card that is usually difficult for the subject to handle, having readily available popular responses.
Popular Responses:
Beck: bat, butterfly, moth
Piotrowski: bat (53%), butterfly (29%)
Dana (France): butterfly (39%)
Test 02: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _02 . jpg
The RED details of card II are often seen as blood, and are the most distinctive features. Responses to them can provide indications about how a subject is likely to manage feelings of anger or physical harm. This card can induce a variety of sexual responses.
Popular Responses:
Beck: two humans
Piotrowski: four-legged animal (34%, gray parts)
Dana (France): animal: dog, elephant, bear (50%, gray)
... It's the Two Bears High-Fiving from Fall Out New Vegas!
Test 03: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _03 . jpg
Card III is typically perceived to contain two humans involved in some interaction, and may provide information about how the subject relates with other people (specifically, response latency may reveal struggling social interactions).
Popular Responses:
Beck: two humans (gray)
Piotrowski: human figures (72%, gray)
Dana (France): human (76%, gray)
Test 04: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _04 . jpg
Card IV is notable for its dark color and its SHADING (posing difficulties for depressed subjects), and is generally perceived as a big and sometimes threatening figure; compounded with the common impression of the subject being in an inferior position ("looking up") to it, this serves to elicit a sense of authority. The human or animal content seen in the card is almost invariably classified as male rather than female, and the qualities expressed by the subject may indicate attitudes toward men and authority. Because of this Card IV is often called "The Father Card".
Popular Responses:
Beck: animal hide, skin, RUG
Piotrowski: animal skin, skin rug (41%)
Dana (France): animal skin (46%)
... Reminds me of the Dovakin Helmet
Test 05: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _05 . jpg
Card V is an easily elaborated card that is not usually perceived as threatening, and typically instigates a "change of pace" in the test, after the previous more challenging cards. Containing few features that generate concerns or complicate the elaboration, it is the easiest blot to generate a good quality response about.
Popular Responses:
Beck: bat, butterfly, moth
Piotrowski: butterfly (48%), bat (40%)
Dana (France): butterfly (48%), bat (46%)
Test 06: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _06 . jpg
Texture is the dominant characteristic of card VI, which often elicits association related to interpersonal closeness; it is specifically a "sex card", its likely sexual percepts being reported more frequently than in any other card, even though other cards have a greater variety of commonly seen sexual contents.
Popular Responses:
Beck: animal hide, skin, rug
Piotrowski: animal skin, skin rug (41%)
Dana (France): animal skin (46%)
Test 07: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _07 . jpg
Card VII can be associated with femininity (the human figures commonly seen in it being described as WOMEN or children), and function as a "mother card", where difficulties in responding may be related to concerns with the female figures in the subject's life. The center detail is relatively often (though not popularly) identified as a vagina, which makes this card also relate to feminine sexuality in particular.
Popular Responses:
Beck: human heads or faces (top)
Piotrowski: heads of women or children (27%, top)
Dana (France): human head (46%, top)
Test 08: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _08 . jpg
People often express relief about card VIII, which lets them relax and respond effectively. Similar to card V, it represents a "change of pace"; however, the card introduces new elaboration difficulties, being complex and the first multi-colored card in the set. Therefore, people who find processing complex situations or emotional stimuli distressing or difficult may be uncomfortable with this card.
Popular Responses:
Beck: animal: not cat or dog (pink)
Piotrowski: four-legged animal (94%, pink)
Dana (France): four-legged animal (93%, pink)
Test 09: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _09 . jpg
Characteristic of card IX is indistinct form and diffuse, muted chromatic features, creating a general vagueness. There is only one popular response, and it is the least frequent of all cards. Having difficulty with processing this card may indicate trouble DEALING with unstructured data, but aside from this there are few particular "pulls" typical of this card.
Popular Responses:
Beck: human (orange)
Piotrowski: none
Dana (France): none
Test 10: h- t- t- p : / / en .wiki pedia wiki /Rorschach_ test# /media /File :Rorschach _blot _10 . jpg
Card X is structurally similar to card VIII, but its uncertainty and complexity are reminiscent of card IX: people who find it difficult to deal with many concurrent stimuli may not particularly like this otherwise pleasant card. Being the last card, it may provide an opportunity for the subject to "sign out" by indicating what they feel their situation is like, or what they desire to know.
Popular Responses:
Beck: crab, lobster, spider (blue)
Piotrowski: crab, spider (37%, blue),
rabbit head (31%, light green),
caterpillars, worms, snakes (28%, deep green)
Dana (France): none
Actually, I read very little of this information before I gave Megumi's answers, I wanted to be as uninfluenced as possible. I only read up on the first card, and caught the mention of the "Father" and "Mother" cards as I scrolled through. I only read the full description of each card AFTER I gave Megumi's answers. I answered them all honestly as the images came to me. ... So, knowing all that, what does it say about me? My husband saw the last card and saw Sea Horses, then thought Mardi Gras and the Magic Kingdom.