Immortal (boy x boy)

Part 15

A/N: This is it with switching the point of view. It'll be back in just Takahiro's view. After this part, I won't put the POV warning in the beginning, since there's only one.

(Takahiro's POV)

I opened my eyes, squinting at the bright light. I'd died so many times in this place, but I'd never come back feeling like this. My neck was stiff and my head felt like it was full of cotton. It wasn't really painful, just uncomfortable. Then again, I'd never had my head cut off. Well, at least I knew that I couldn't die even if I didn't have a brain. I rubbed my face, finally opening my eyes completely. I blinked groggily.

"Very interesting..." the researchers mumbled. I ignored them, as I usually do. They were just muttering in excitement and I hated every one of them. I didn't care if they were only doing it for the greater good or because they were terrified of Akihara. They still went along with everything Akihara wanted done to me. They still treated me like some animal. I stared at the white ceiling, thinking about someone. The only person I'd ever felt close to. I hoped that Haruki was doing alright. I hoped he wasn't worrying about me too much.

I wanted to see him again. I wanted to see his smile and I wanted to make him laugh. I wanted to see his happy face again. He meant so much to me. Now that I hadn't seen him in a while, I wished I'd done so much more. I wished I hadn't been such a coward and actually talked to him. I wanted to know more about him, but I was always too scared to say anything. I'd always made an excuse to not say anything, always avoided telling him the truth. I was never good at showing my emotions, for an obvious reason, but I should've tried. I should've tried harder to tell him. He deserved to know and now he might never get to hear it. He needed to know how much he meant to me.

I hadn't seen Akihara in a while. I assumed that he was with his daughter. From what I'd gathered, she has some sort of cancer. She didn't have much longer to live, hence why he started this experiment. He wanted to find a way to save her, but all else had failed. I understood where he was coming from, but he didn't have to treat me like this. I would've gladly been a part of this, but with some conditions. I would've helped them, but the way they were treating me made me think otherwise. I was a human, though he tried to deny it. It was probably the only way he could get away with doing these things to me guilt-free. He wanted an excuse to torture me to further his research. He didn't have much time left with her.

Finally, after I didn't know how long, Akihara came in. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, considering he was the one coming up with these horrible ideas. He read over the data they'd collected, then glanced at me. He walked over and studied me in silence. I glared back at him. However horrible his situation was, I had no sympathy for him. That didn't give him the right to sacrifice other people for his own selfish needs. What if his daughter wanted to die, as I had not long ago? He should give her the choice. Nobody should be forced to live when they didn't want to. Then again, I'd changed my viewpoint. But, I had someone who made me change it. I had someone important to me, someone who meant everything to me.

"Alright. I want to try something. I want you to take the specimen to the morgue and put it in the incinerator."

"What?! But what if it dies?! Won't that damage our research?!"

"It may. But I need to see just how far these healing powers go. I want to see if it can heal when there's nothing but dust left."

"But, sir, that would surely kill our subject! No matter how great its healing powers are, there's no way it can heal from that."

He swung around viciously. "These healing powers in themselves are impossible! We even cut off the head and it healed! There's no choice. We have to see just what it can withstand. Even if it dies, I might have enough to recreate this ability." My eyes widened. They were so easily talking about turning me to ash. They were right, there was no way I'd survive. I woke up feeling strange, even though I had no injuries. If taking off my head did that, surely burning me to that point would really kill me. These people were absolutely insane! Was there nothing they wouldn't do for the sake of their damn research?! This might even set them back, as they just said.

I shook my head in shock. I couldn't believe they'd actually consider that option. Sure, I'd like to know how my ability worked too, but I had lines drawn. Lines that I wouldn't dare cross. Not until I really was ready to die, anyway. Of all the crazy ideas they had, this one was certainly the scariest. Not only would I most likely die, but the pain would be the worst I'd ever felt. I thought about the second degree burns they'd inflicted on me already. This pain would be three or four times worse. And, it would be continuous. I didn't really fear death, after all I'd considered it an escape at one point, but I feared pain. Then again, pain told me that I was still alive. And, for once, I wanted that. But, that didn't mean I enjoyed pain. I wasn't a masochist, I didn't get any pleasure out of it. In fact, I hated it. I hated feeling physical pain and even emotional pain. I just wanted to be happy. 

A few of the scientists unstrapped me. Only then did I realize just how stiff my body was. I'd been restrained to this bed in this exact same position for nearly two months. My muscles had pretty much lost all moving capabilities. They yanked me up, but I just collapsed to the floor in a heap. I couldn't get up or even really shift. My body was aching now, not used to moving like this. Naturally, since I hadn't died, I couldn't heal myself. Grudgingly, they hauled me back up and supported me. They walked me from the room and I glanced around. This place looked like a maze. There were four-way halls everywhere. I'd get so lost in here. Suddenly, the alarms started going off. People were rushing everywhere in a panic. I wondered what was going on.