Chapter Text
Kaya stares in shock at the contents of her lap, completely at a loss for words. She’d been feeling ill all day, coming to the conclusion that it must’ve been something she ate. Or that she was coming down with some sort of cold, due to the tickle in the back of her throat. She had woken with a start, scrambling her way frantically to the bathroom, only to keel over in a painful coughing fit. She felt as though her throat was being scrapped raw, hacking and wheezing as she felt something foreign claw its way out of her chest cavity. Kaya could feel it pulsing, alive .
Splat.
Flowers. There were flower petals, clumped together wetly yet still in blossoming color. Horror sets in as Kaya realizes- these are Rei’s. She recalls the time when she encountered them pruning a large plant, adorned with these same white blossoms. When she asked about it, Rei replied in their standard monotone, claiming it was for research. They’d weaved together new life, and that life was this in front of them, with its thorns and sharp edges and headache-inducing smells.
Another time she caught them brewing the flowers into tea. When asked, Rei replied calmly.
“Testing its defense mechanism after harvesting.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m testing it for poison.”
Kaya had stared at them in abrupt shock, before trying to snatch the cup out of their hands, Rei’s reflexes kicking in as they downed the liquid in its entirety. Rei had loudly swallowed, shooting her a look accompanied by a twitching of a smirk, which Kaya had filed away as a remnant of her imagination. Rei had brushed past her, depositing the cup on the counter.
Kaya wonders if Rei had maybe injected her with the poison while she slept, and if she was hallucinating from the toxins swimming through her bloodstream. But Rei wouldn’t do that– right? Even when they ran tests on her in the past, they always took the time to thoroughly inform her of what was to happen. And Rei had never really needed Kaya for these types of experiments. Even when she offered up herself as a test subject, Rei would always politely decline.
Taking a deep breath, Kaya slowly tapped into the wellspring of power thrumming through the air, pressing her hand against her chest. Seeking the origin of the ailment, feeling the energy pulse through her veins, the room going static around her. And there– she yanks her hand back. Small buds sit nestled within her lungs, roots twining up around her heart. Her head pounds, hands shaking as she heaves out the breath she was holding in, wincing at the slight tug on her heart.
She can't tell Rei... not until she figures out what's causing this.