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as-above-rp · 3 months

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"Don't chase the rabbit" / for Kairi.

Send me "Don't chase the rabbit" and your muse will be shown a random memory from my muse's past.

A voice calls out to Gabe in whispers overlapping, all around him;

'Ah, a new plaything stumbling into my lair? How refreshing. You have the smell of another on you. Someone you hold in high regard. But she has secrets. Would you like to know one?'

A hand reaches out of the shadows, all black and cloaked in smoke, and grabs the front of his face.

'Sleep. And you will dream of a secret. What you do with the knowledge is no concern of mine. I seek only to watch the chaos that unfolds after~'

Gabe's vision would fade, and he would find himself as a first person captive in someone else's memory...

[CW; MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE, FAMILIAL LOSS, HOSPITALS]

.........

......

...

Kairi's body felt heavy all over. It had felt like concrete ever since she woke up in the hospital, with her head and feet being the heaviest of all. The back of her head throbbed from the raised swelling, the stitches holding together the skin that had split from being slammed into the wall a week prior. Everything hurt so much that she had grown completely numb; she didn't even cry when the doctor's came to tell her that her mother had called to deliver the news that her father had passed away. It was just like her mother to not even bother delivering the news in person.

Himeno, Kairi's mother, treated everyone around her like playthings and messengers--mere servants to do her bidding. She didn't lift a finger when Kairi's dad became bed ridden--Kairi had done everything! From administering his medicine to cleaning him up and helping him change, to feeding him--she only left his side to use the restroom herself, or when she was pulled aside for private tutoring. She dropped out of her private middle school to take care of her father before her mother would even consider taking less hours at work. Kairi was happy to take care of her father; but it shouldn't have been her burden alone.

But thanks to her mother, Kairi had missed even being by his side in his final moments.

Her mother had come in while Kairi was administering the treatments that they had both worked on together; a possible cure for their hereditary heart disease. It was his passion, and Kairi had picked up the torch as soon as she was old enough to hold a beaker. But her mother, materialistic and narcissistic as always, saw Kairi injecting the solution into his IV and accused her of trying to kill him. She flew into a rage, saying Kairi was trying to prevent him from meeting with their lawyer to finalize his will. She pleaded with her mother to listen, but she wouldn't hear a word of it. She chased Kairi out of the room with murder in her eyes, fire magic crackling in her hands. Kairi tried to flee, but her mother caught up to her quickly; she was grabbed by the throat and slammed into the wall, splitting a nasty gash in the back of her head. By the time she had gotten herself up off the floor, there were dancing orange and gold lights outside.The last thing she remembered before blacking out, was seeing her father's greenhouse and all his research up in flames.

Now, Kairi was on her way home after the worst week of her young life. Her mother had only come up to the hospital to sign the release forms and take her home. In the 10 days she had spent recovering in the hospital, her mother didn't visit once. And the whole way home, she was griping at her daughter;

"You look like a skeleton. What did they feed you in there? You better not have forgotten to watch your calories while you were being doted on like a spoiled brat."

Kairi just stared down at her hands in her lap, her voice quiet and meek. "Yes, ma'am."

"As soon as you get home, you need to shower and help Millie pack up your father's things." She glanced to Kairi, golden eyes sharp and scrutinizing. "God, your hair is a trainwreck. Did they really have to shave that much off to stitch you up? Honestly, it wasn't even that bad. Did you tell them you had a competition in a week?"

"...no, ma'am." I was unconscious from you slamming my head into a wall, she wanted to say. But Kairi held her tongue--she knew better.

Her mother clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Of course you didn't. Anything to try and get out of the one thing you and I do together. Well we've already paid all the fees and bought your dress. We'll just have to do something else about your hair..."

Her mother's voice became white noise as Kairi looked outside the window. Her looks were one of the few things Himeno took pride in when it came to her daughter; Kairi had bright hazel eyes the color of warm ocean waters, and freckles from head to toe. Her hair was the color of wheat, shiny, thick and healthy hanging down to the middle of her back. She was the spitting image of her father, down to her nose. The only physicality she had of her mother was her strength and her curves, but her diet was strict so that she didn't get too plump in the wrong places. Kairi didn't inherit any of her mother's Oni traits; no horn, no red skin, no golden eyes. Her mother always said it was a good thing. Macro men didn't like women who looked like demons, she would say. Kairi could care less.

When they got home, Millie was waiting for them on the front steps. She greeted Kairi with a warm smile and an eager hello. Kairi tried to muster a hello in kind, but she could barely even manage the faintest curl of her lips into a forced smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the charred frames of their greenhouse leaning around the side of the house. Kairi didn't dare look at it.

Her mother walked right past her, but stopped to glare at Kairi after she'd stepped inside. "Are you listening to me? I said go take your shower. NOW."

"...Yes, ma'am."

Her mother rolled her eyes and turned her back to them, pulling out her phone. As she disappeared down a hallway, Millie leaned down to speak to Kairi.

"Miss Kairi do you need any help washing your hair? I don't imagine you should be getting the stitches wet."

Kairi shook her head. She had been surrounded by strangers, noise, and potent smells for 10 days. She just wanted some time alone.

"Alright. I'll be in your father's room getting things ready. If you need anything, just come and find me."

With a nod, Millie left to go upstairs. Kairi stood alone in the foyer, slowly looking around. She was in fact home...but it didn't feel like a home anymore. It felt just as sterile and lifeless as the hospital. There were no smells of hot oil, or seafood, or spices anymore. The plants here were expensive fakes. It was warm, but not in a welcoming and cozy way; warm in the same way a sauna or a gym felt--suffocating and sticky. She would have almost preferred the freezing cold of her hospital room.

Eventually, Kairi made her way over to the stairs leading up to the second floor. She dared not to move too quickly, lest she be hit with another fainting spell and end up passed out at the bottom of the steps. She passed the reading room, her own bedroom, and stopped in front of the bathroom door. The next door down was the spare room her father had been using when he was on bedrest--her mother had him moved there when the equipment 'kept her from getting any sleep'. Kairi forced herself to turn back to the bathroom door and step inside. She undressed from the tshirt and sweats her mother had brought for her to change into, and passed the sink to turn on the shower...but she stopped when she caught a reflection of herself in the mirror. She really did look like her father; sunken eyes and tired bags, a paleness to her already fair skin. She reached up to feel the back of her head, running her fingers over the stitches and soft buzzed hair around it. It was rather large, a 4 inch split with 14 stitches holding everything together, and an extra inch and a half shaved around the whole thing. Trying to style her hair to cover it would be tedious, but doable with how long it was...

And then, an idea hit her. An impulsive one. Kairi looked at the top drawer on the left side of the sink. She stared at it for a few seconds before opening it up. Slender fingers reached in and pulled out the electric razor she had been using to fix her father's hair when we was too weak to go out to get it cut. She remembered the first time she tried to use it on him, when she left a large bald spot on the top of his head. She was mortified, but he just laughed and made a joke about always wanting to see how he'd look as one of the Three Stooges. The memory made her smile a little, and tears sting in her eyes.

Kairi sniffled, and looked back at her tired reflection in the mirror. She could see her father in the wet reflection of her own hazel eyes, the same color as his, putting a hand on her shoulder for encouragement. She turned on the razor, the blades whirring to life. Taking a deep breath, and keeping one hand over her stitches to protect them, she made the first swipe down the middle of her head.

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