Home Remedy
When Kazuki was ten years old, she slipped away from her grandfather while he was speaking to a colleague. She darted curiously around the laboratory. There were silent millipedes suspended in amber, a clicking mechanical device that looked like a glorified Swiss army knife, and way in the back behind meshed fencing, a strange tube full of bluish liquid that bubbled like a witch's broth.
"Kazuki!"
Kazuki looked up into her grandfather's relieved face. "What's that?" she gestured at the tube.
"Salvation," Grandfather said, scooping up her frail body with a secretive smile.
When Kazuki was ten, the cancer had only just begun to spread. When Kazuki was twelve, the world turned dark. When she woke again, the iridescent liquid was all around her and she no longer had her face or her name.
Nataku was greeted by Grandfather's frown.