Beautiful Worlds
"She's not really a demon, you know." Of course, Mion isn't listening at this point. She's up against the opposite wall, hands over her face, screaming her head off in complete terror. Who can blame her? Right about now, her twin sister is poised to smash my head in with a rock. Don't worry. I'm not going to die soon, or even be tortured. I'm picking up at the good part, dear reader. You won't have to see me tolerating Rena's detective bullshit for FIVE FUCKING YEARS practically. You won't read about me practicing, planning, getting it all set just right. I'm glossing over all that, and getting to the point where I'm putting it all together. Oh, it's going to be a fun night, ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be one hell of a day and one hell of a night.
Don't worry about Rena or Oishi interrupting us, either. Sure, I brought Rena along for the atmosphere, but Oshi's still back at the police station, sipping coffee, trying to figure out how the hell a twenty-four hour –dead corpse could be found when the victim was seen walking around the previous night. The answer? She falsified the dental records, stuffed some poor girl into a steel drum, lit a fire, and then got her evil little throat slit by yours truly. Don't feel bad for her. She was a terrible person. She's killed millions of people, counting up all the towns.
Oh, the town's fine, too. I talked it over with Rika, and she's hiding out at my place right now. Now there's just me, a rock, and two pretty twins.
She's bringing the rock down. I've practiced long enough, I dodge it easily. It crashes down, shattering into a couple different pieces. Damn, now that I see it happen, it's a wonder she managed not to brain me. I love Shion to death, but seriously, kind of a bitch move, don't you think?
She's surprised, naturally, I would be too. I'm not gonna gloat just yet though. Still gotta take her out of the picture for right now. The tazer's in the right pocket of her Kimono. I grab it through the cloth, turn it on her, and crank up the voltage. Bzzrt, zap, down goes Shion. Nighty-night, dearest. Talk with you in a moment.
Now, to Mion. Poor, poor little Mion. She's practically the only one who never goes crazy like the rest of us. In all the worlds I've been through, she's never been a violent one. Sometimes a leader, sometimes a victim, though I swear to god she tried to stick a needle in my rice balls one time. Wait, maybe it was a Rena. Fucking bitch. Aaanyway. Back to Mion.
"Mion… It's… it's over now. It's okay. Are-are you alright?" It's hard to sound scared when you've planned things like this for a hundred years, but I manage.
"I-Is it really okay? I-Is she… di- did you kill her!?"
"No, just stunned. She'll be okay."
"Ahh…. Thank god…" That's Mion for you. You can throw her in a jail without light or company in the middle of an underground cave, force her to listen to her friends being ripped apart, force her to beg for mercy, and leave her nothing but a cute little white slip for modesty and she still won't wish for your violent demise. I briefly consider just finishing off Shion and spending the rest of the night with Mion, but I've already come this far to get them both, what the hell? Why not? I can always just be Mion's savior in another world. Shion's not that hard to kill. The real trick has been getting to this. To getting to Shion.
"I-I better take her out to the police or something, just to be sure. I'll go try to find the key, okay?" She's up against the bars, tears in her eyes. I reach out and stroke her hair, gently. She's too weak to hide her relief at the re-assurance. One of the byproducts of having a broken spirit, you stop trying to act tough or play mind games.
"O-okay Keiichi. I'll wait for you." She doesn't even flinch away when I lean in to kiss her through the bars. Lovely Mion. I almost can't wait for you. But you're already mine, and if you already have one, why not go for two?
Anyway, I hoist Shion up on my shoulders, taking her up out of the dark basement and into the mansion. Gee, you know, it sure was nice of Shion to kill all the Yakuza inhabiting the place. Now it's just us two. I grab some rope and tie her up, feet and legs, and leave her on the bed in her parent's bedroom. No reason for her to sleep uncomfortably. Why not the torture chamber, you ask? I suppose I could start flicking off nails, and that might very well do the trick, but honestly, I'd probably chicken out. Also, it'd fuck up her appearance, too, which is the last thing I'm going to do. Plus, I'm simply not that fucked up yet. Even in a hundred years I haven't lost my humanity. Rena told me once that I used to shoot toddlers with a bb gun when I was little, but I wasn't from that world. I'm not that sick. I'm just sick and tired of Shion's bullshit, is all.
Aaanyway, Shion's tied up and knocked out, and God knows Mion's not going anywhere, so I make myself a sandwich, relax a bit, read a book or two, and have quick nap.
--
I'm resting, holding Shion in my arms while we lay on her parent's bed. I have a knife with me, of course. It'd be a shame if I had to use it, but Shion's certainly talented enough to fuck me up despite the ropes. Before you ask, no, I'm not gonna rape her. That'd be pointless. Besides, I could pretty much slit her throat, walk downstairs, fuck her sister, and have roughly the same experience (physically speaking), minus the crying and "No! No! Keiichi! No!"
You see, the problem is that Shion never fucking listens to me. Like, ever. So, I'm going to talk to her until she listens. From there, we'll just roll with it.
For now, I'm just enjoying holding her, smelling her hair, listening to the soft sound of her breathing. She feels so warm, so precious. I can almost feel what I felt when I first looked at her in a Cafe, it seems so long ago. Relatively, I guess it's only been a few weeks or so. I see Mion getting picked on by some thugs, it turns out to be Shion. I get a couple tickets for Café Mort, show up one day, and enjoy the view. In all the ages, perhaps that's the most enjoyable part of them all. But hell, why not be optimistic? This might be even better.
She's stirring, but I still don't have to let her go. I think I'll talk to her like this, enjoying the feel of her small shoulder blades on my back. I don't have to let go yet.
"Are you awake yet, Shion?" I ask gently.
"Kei-Keiichi? I- Is that you? Wha-whats going on? Where am I?"
"Shhh… it's okay. Don't worry, your safe now. It's almost over. All of it." I stroke her silky hair gently, keeping my voice low and comforting. It's keeping her off balance.
"But… but what's going on? What about the police? "
I laugh softly, not cruel or mocking, more like the way you'd laugh when a small child says something silly.
"There's no police, Shion-chan. That was a lie. No one's coming to get you. No one knows what you did. No one. You're safe."
"W-what about Rena?" she asks, still scared.
I click my tongue in annoyance, "Hm, yeah. Rena. Well, she only thought she'd figured it out. She's never really been sure of herself, that girl. I told her I found evidence that exonerated you. She ate it up, of course. Who wants to believe that a nice girl like you could do all those awful things?" Here she started a bit, a hiccup in her breathing rythym. That was right. It was time for the guilt.
"That's right, isn't it..."
"Of course it is. Even I can hardly believe it. That you really killed your own grandmother."
"Sh-she was evil!"
"Yeah, I suppose you wouldn't regret that one. In some worlds though, she's just all talk, you know. But then, your parents dying in this world probably broke her a little."
"W-what?" I'm starting to just mutter to myself and it's confusing her. I should really just stick to the main tack, but who cares? I have all night for this. It's not like this world is going to burn anytime soon.
"Don't worry. What about Mion, though? Poor little Mion. She tore off her own fingernails, you know. It wasn't like with you, when they held you down and did it. She had to do it herself. All three. And still, you never believed her."
"She-She killed Satoshi! She's just as guilty as the rest of them!"
"Really? Even as guilty as his little sister? Who screamed and cried for her nii-nii while you stabbed her again and again and again?" I can barely hide the seething rage in my voice. I've fucked this part up before.
Here her breathing caught again, and she was silent.
"Ah, but you knew what was wrong with that one, didn't you?"
"S-stop, Keiichi…"
Like hell I'm stopping, I've waited a thousand years for this. I trace her side with her fingers, feeling her tremble.
"What was it that Satoshi said, the last time you spoke to him?"
"H-how do you know all this…?"
"What did he say again? Something about Satoko, right? My precious little sister… please, please Shion… please, please take care of my little sister. I'm so worried about my little sister." I slid my hand to her thigh, enjoying the softness of her skin.
"Y-your voice…. W-why do you sound just like him-"
"Say sorry a thousand times, onee-chan, and maybe I'll let her go." I mimicked her own tone, digging my nails into her soft flesh.
"Keiichi…. Keiichi… please…"
"Maybe you should say it a thousand times, Shion. A thousand times so I'll forgive you for killing my sister." I'm getting a bit angry despite myself, but I try to hold back.
"Sa-Satoshi-?"
"I always loved you, Shion. I always trusted you. Even with my sister I trusted you. I believed you. I believed you when you said you'd wait for me. But you lied to me…"
"H-how!? HOW!? HOW!?" She starts screaming and struggling, is she crying yet? She should be crying.
"Hair dye is a wonderful thing, my lovely Shion." I don't tell her the whole story, of course. How I killed my aunt, ran away from home, changed my name, my hair color, and then came back to start a new life. She doesn't need to know. She just needs to be sorry.
"Oh… Satoshi… Satoshi… why… why didn't you tell me?" This is getting irritating.
"Don't be stupid, Shion. They'd arrest me for sure, or send my sister and I to live our evil bastard of an uncle. I thought you could endure, that you could trust your friends. For a year, for one fucking year.
"No… please… I… I thought they killed you… I thought…"
"Your sister did everything for you. She ripped off her own nails because she felt so bad for you. When did you think it would be a good idea to stop trusting her? The one person who always loved you, who always tried to help you, even if it meant enduring horrible pain."
"No… no… onee-chan… onee-chan…"
"I picked the wrong sister, you know, when I started loving you. It'd be easier to just love Mion, or even Rena." That one gets her. She's scared now. She feels the coldness in my voice, the honesty.
"N-no… please…" Good. Now she starts crying.
"Apologize." I command. I reach for the knife on the bed side table, littered as it is with picture frames of happier times.
"G-gomenasai, Satoshi…."
"One thousand times, Shion. One thousand times." I take out the knife and slide the flat of it against her cheek. She knows what's coming now.
"Gomenasai, gomenasai…" I slide it past her neck.
"Better hurry, lovely."
"Gomenasaigomenasaigomenasaigomenasai…" I slide the blade to her chest, tilting it by its point on her collarbone so I can see her dark, sobbing reflection in the blade's shine.
"Gomenasaigomenasaigomenasaigomenasaigomenasaigomenasaigomenasai-" Down, down to her soft stomach, trembling with fear and guilt.
"Gomenasaigomenasaigomenasai- GOMENASAI GOMENASA GOMENASAIGOMENASAI!" I let it slide between her thighs, the cold steel upon her.
"G-gomenasai..gomen--… go-… gomena… gomena…" she can't even get it out any more, she's so scared. She doesn't even notice as I use the knife to cut through the ropes binding her feet.
"I'm so… forgive me… please… I'll do anything… I'll do anything… gomenasai… gomenasai…" I use the knife to remove the bonds on her wrists. I put the knife down and wrap my arms around her, hugging her close to me.
"In all the millions of ages, in all the worlds I have seen, you have always been the one thing that was most beautiful to me." Her crying stops jerkingly as she realizes the change.
"Wh-what…?" She shifts, looking up at me with tear-filled eyes. I stroke back her hair and kiss her gently, drinking in her warmth, her guilt, her shame, her desire.
"How could I not forgive you, Shion-chan? If you promise me that you're sorry, if you promise never to betray me, of course I'll forgive you." She's listening now, of course. I have her full, undivided attention.
"R-really?" The light returns to her eyes.
"Yes."
"O-of course I'll promise! I'll promise anything! I'll… never betray you… I'll never do anything bad… I'll… I'll do anything! I'll be a good girl! I swear! I'll kill myself before I hurt you again!" There's a crazed desperation in her now. It's lovely.
"Good. Good girl…" I pat her head, like I did before. This time she's not confused or resistant. She just enjoys it and 'hmmm ' 's softly.
It's time now, to really enjoy her. I let her down onto the bed where her parents used to lay. She still has her hands upon me, her smile beckoning, willing despite tear-stains. This is what I've been waiting for all these years. This surrender. This love. This acceptance. It's time to savor the victory.
This is just one world, though, one of many. I will live out my place here until I tire of it, and then move onto another. Maybe I haven't been completely honest with you, dear reader, but you should be able to piece together the generalities of my identity and purpose. It doesn't matter though, all that matters is that I am the only one like this, and what awaits me is an eternity of different worlds. Some of them dark and horrifying, but most of them, such as this, are indeed beautiful worlds.