"W-Wait Lady Kazusa! Mister Shun is busy right now you-"
"Get out of my way you fucking idiots! I need to speak with Shun right now!" Kazusa yelled towards the guard, marching forth despite their attempts at blocking her.
"H-H- FINE! Just stay there as I get h- Nevermind…" One guard shouted, only for Kazusa to walk past him.
'These damned morons, despite what he's doing he'll talk to me.' Kazusa thought with irritants, walking the grand hall she spotted another guard rushing into her destination. Panicked shouts followed that warning.
"I told you, get out of my way you fool!" She exclaimed, pulling the guard back into the hall. He had a horrified expression. Inside, three familiar people hung around the room. Her granddaughter, a blonde haired demi-human, looked towards the doorway with wide eyes.
"Mo- Lady Kazusa! What brings you h-here?" Her son exclaimed, he stood up with his lips twitching. "As usual, you sure know how to make an entrance…"
"Oh shut it butt-face."
"..."
"Oh and the drunkard is here?" Sensing a presence to her side, she looked over. Her daughter, a brown haired demi-human, wearing glasses and a receptionist uniform stood. Clutching her side, and a faded smile plastered on her face.
"Hi, mom…"
"That's not the usual Drunkard I know…"
"I'm fine, mom…"
"You're not a teenager, I can tell if you're not fine, Drunkard." Kazusa in a snarky tone responded. Before she could say more, her son's voice rang out.
"Ah, right, Chizu. There's an important document that needs to be looked at, Natsumi, can you take your aunt to it?"
"Yes, father. Aunty, come here, just this way please." Natsumi with a soft smile said to Chizu.
Once alone, Shun took a seat once more, leaning back whilst sighing. He turned his head towards Kazusa, who was tapping her foot in an irritated motion. With a swipe of his finger, the laboratory door slammed shut.
"Do you know what is going on with that drunkard?" Kazusa asked after a few moments.
"Ch-Chizu had an important document…" Shun responded whilst avoiding eye contact. Knowing his mother for a number of years, he felt an ominous feeling enter his chest. With a correct word appearing inside his mind, Kazusa pulled a vial out of her sleeve.
"Well… Whatever. Hmph, if she wants to avoid me, she can. More importantly." After handing it to him, Kazusa said, "Take a look at this, knowing you Butt-head, you'll find it intriguing."
"Isn't this… Just normal monster blood?" Shun inquired, swirling the dark colored blood around. Just by it in his vicinity, he could smell the stench of a monster. His mother set a hand on her hip, and pointed at him.
"Take a look at it, not just inspect it like an idiot."
'What's the difference?!'
"Go, shoo, shoo, hurry it up we don't have all day!"
"F-F-Fine! Give me a second!"
In a rush, Shun cleared off his messy desk. With just a few waves of his hand, all the papers were covered in a blue light. Mere moments later they were stacked in neat and orderly formations. Then, a rustic microscope flew onto the table from an obscure corner.
"Butt-face, you're an utter mess."
"Thanks."
After adjusting it a few times, and dripping a few drops of blood onto the plate Shun set his eyes into the lenses. "Oookay, what am I supposed to see?" He asked yet again, whilst keeping his sights on it. "It's not any different than a monster's blood."
His focus was nearly broken when he felt Kazusa's hands pat his shoulder. Her voice entered his ears in the next second. "Take a closer look."
'Seriously….? What does mom want me to see?' He took a deeper breath, rotating a switch to look closer. He blinked a few times, then refocused. Closer, and closer the images became. Until, he saw two orbs. One pure black, the other seemed familiar to his own. Nanoseconds passed, the familiar orb was completely swallowed.
Each second after, more and more were consumed. Only a few fought back, absorbing the others. It was a complete war, a one sided massacre. He only moved his head back, looking behind him to look at Kazusa with wide eyes.
"What did you see?" She asked with a smile. "Interesting, right?"
"Mom, what the hell did you bring me?" Shun questioned, he gestured towards his work station in an exaggerated manner. "Who's or what blood is this?! How the hell is it alive? No, no, how is it still functioning? I can already sense it's drenched in mana…" Not wanting to lose the chance, he quickly brought a singular piece of paper towards him and quickly scribbled down on it.
She let out a chuckle, taking long strides towards his table. With one hand she grabbed the vial, and the other held it at the bottom. "An interesting demi-human, this is their blood. Just from a mere look, I could tell that they were special."
"A demi-human?"
"Mom, seriously? If you're in the mood to joke around, I'm not. This is completely terrifying."
"Mhm, they were meek like a child, but their odor was similar to ours."
Her words caused Shun to cover his face. What is she going on about? "Look, mom. I've already explained this to you, there should be no other demi-human like us." He explained, then pointed at his station. "That is too unlike us."
Kazua's smile disappeared, looking at him with a cock eye.
Feeling as if he was about to go through hell, Shun rested his head on the palm of his hand. "Whoevers blood this is, they shouldn't even be alive. Their body would've torn itself apart already."
"They seemed perfectly healthy when I met them."
"Ugh… Okay, okay. Then, I can't tell you what is going on, if you give me a few weeks, to a few months I can tell you what's going on." As those words left his mouth, he felt an urge to cry and throw something against a wall. However, he resisted every urge. If he did, Kazusa would've found another to look into it.
Something like this was too great to pass up. If this was the blood of a demi-human, then they must be a new breed. Or something else. Shun turned his head to stare at the plate he used. Then an epiphany hit him.
"Could this be…"
"What are you talking about, butt-head."
"Mom, you've heard of the Hoffman Experiments, right?"
"Mmm… It sounds familiar, why?"
"This could be a test subject of that crazy old man!"
His words caused Kazusa to look at him as if he was crazy, or just plain stupid. "Those experiments were cancelled nearly fifty years ago. Every being who signed up for it, or were forced to do it, died, during or the day after…" In her eyes, he was grasping at fragile handles, ones that crumbled at the slightest touch.
After all, she witnessed it. No sole survivor lived. Fifty years ago, she took part in ending it. With her very eyes, she watched as the last subject crumbled into nothingness, leaving no trace of them behind.