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Izuru sat patiently in the hospital room, calmly staring at his own knees. It was another test today. It always was another test, not as thought he'd expect anything different.
The door before him cracked open, light spilling out as Gekai, a handsome young man in a lab and surgical coat who seemed to be the head of the project, stepped in. "Kamakura, we would like to do another series of talent tests today, come join me in the room outside"
Izuru silently nodded, talent tests were always boring, every piece of information already inside his head to easy to take out at a moments notice. Stepping out into a room he saw a strange cube-like structure, presumably what would be used for the session. He walked up to it, taking a good look at the outside "Mineral wool. Are we doing the Ultimate Firefighter test today?"
"Excellent" Gekai said, jotting something down on his notepad, "Today, you'll have to get some mannequins from a fake house as a show the Ultimate Fireman talent within a time limit while the house is on fire. It shouldn't take too much for someone with your talents"
Izuru nodded again. Gekai pressed a button and a subtle scent of smoke began to emerge from the cube. Izuru began to get a small headache, but thought nothing of it. He'd had these all the time and Gekai said it was simply part of the process.
Opening the door to the house, he saw a faint parody of a typical suburban house a small kitchen with a variety of appliances. Unfortunately, the kitchen lacked any sort of appliances that had started the fire, in spite of most fires being started by something within the kitchen. He smelled around a little, the fire was coming from the upstairs, so he began to walk up to the stairwell. The headache worsened, but Izuru pushed forward.
As Izuru got to the top of the stairwell, he couldn't help but notice the heat of the flames, it was engulfing, the sense of heat pushed on his skin pushed straight through him. The headache flared, he stepped back groaning in the process.
And then he felt it.
He could sense something inside his mind, something that was not himself, like a parasite crawling on the innards of his skull and began to think his thoughts for him. His hand began to move without his command, slithering forward unconsciously, before Izuru pushed it back down, pushing his body forward desperately trying to keep control of it. To keep control of his mind. Heat began to overwhelm him as the tips of his hands began to burn but he almost didn't notice, the slithering in his mind was worse.
Without him even knowing it, a light rain began to drizzle onto him from the sprinklers above, as slowly the fires disappeared whatever came into Izuru's mind did as well, and slowly he became himself again. Taking a moment to breather, Gekai came into the room.
"Well, that was a complete failure." he said matter of factly, ignoring the enraged glare Izuru was giving him.
"What did you do?" Izuru responded in the tersest tone possible.
"I don't believe I did anything..." Gekai paused "At least not directly. What exactly happened in there?"
Izuru stared at Gekai "It was...as thought another being was in my body trying to take it over" Izuru's eyes moved from Gekai to his hand, giving them a look as thought this was the first time he was seeing them "Another thing, trapped inside my mind. And it hated me..."
Gekai clicked his pen nervously "That seems rather unfortunate. Still I sincerely doubt that another personality was creeping into your mind."
Izuru looked over at Gekai again, both pleading and angry "What did you do to me Gekai?" He stepped forward a palpable malice in his movement. He made direct eye contact.
Gekai rumbled through his pockets. "What did you do to me Gekai?" he said again inching ever closer. The distance between Izuru and Gekai was began to close.
From his pockets Gekai pulled a lighter and quickly lit it. The sudden scent of smoke paralyzed Izuru as the parasite began to slither in his mind once more. He soon fell to his knees as Gekai used this opportunity to take a step back.
He closed the lighter and Izuru stood up, before staring straight at Gekai. A menacing silence filled the air.
Izuru stared straight ahead at Gekai "Please...put it away."
Gekai complied staring right back at Izuru "I'm sorry, Izuru, that was likely out of line all things considered. Still, I will not hesitate to use it again if you try to attack me..."
Another pause filled the air as the tension slowly let out. Gekai sighed, "Let's call it a wrap for today, alright. Whatever that was you'll need some time to recover, most patients do. I'll have to report this to Mr. Shizukesa. Why don't you just get some rest?".
Gekai left the room, closing the door and leaving Izuru alone as he began to stew in his thoughts.
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Gekai stared straight up at the computer screen, at the man in his late 70's, his father Gentetsu Shizukesa.
Gentetsu began to speak "How are things going at the Kamakura Project?".
"Everything is going alright, fireman project went well" Gekai said staring at his clipboard.
"Oh, is that so..." Gentetsu tilted his head up in a way that made Gekai feel small "Make sure to notify me on any problems going on with the project."
"No. No. The Projects going smoother than expected actually." Gekai said in response "I'm an excellent surgeon after all."
"Very well" Gentetsu said giving a small smirk "Go on with your day". The computer screen went dark as Gekai sighed, sitting down in his desk.
He took a look at the notes on the projects bodies previous owner, Hajime Hinata. The younger brother of Betsuho Hinata the Ultimate Fireman, supposedly Hajime had always felt trapped in Hatsudo's shadow so he chose to take on the project to become someone others could be proud of. A tragic case if you asked Gekai, especially considering Hajime was the whole reason Betsuho became a fireman, saving him from an incident thought unreachable be most fireman. It seemed Hajime was still alive inside of Izuru somehow...
No matter, this was fine, all things considered this was a minor screw up in the grand scheme of things. A pyrophobia could be hidden, even one as crippling as this.