Chapter One: Paying the Piper

Those that cannot transcend death will not find awareness in anything.
We are all born dead. The end exists before anything begins.

Nate River.

That was his name and it meant nothing. He knew it. The façade he affected meant more. Not to him. To others. There was no reason for him to hide. However, the sentient beings around him were just like everyone else. Ignorant. Or worse. Cowards. Their lives lacking truth as they scuttled around puffed up on self-import and condescension. Their assurances of his safe-keeping, proprietary and vacuous. Because they, like the rest of the human race, had skated by on a fatuous life until Kira called upon them to become more.

To be fully aware. To understand an actualized perception that one's life is indeed necessary only in so much as it is wanted. Hard emphasis on wanted.

Too bad the only other one with the knowledge of just how fragile humankind was…, and just how fickle it could be, was a sham deity bent on protecting such universal oblivion. And Near couldn't help thinking that while Kira was correct in his presumptuous self-made title "god" – if indeed owning control over death was an actual testament to godly attributes even though essentially all humans were demigods because each one to an extent has the ability to take a life – He was really beginning to suspect the man enjoyed feeding off the world's irrational fear. That he wanted nothing more than to be rid of them all. Sadly, Near couldn't help but sympathize.

And why couldn't the denizens of Kira proselytes understand their "god" simply used scare tactics to get what he wanted? The most basic kind too. And how could they not know every life had already been price-tagged? Death was the only guarantee life offered to its inhabitants. He nearly felt a rush of pity for the man. Kira had his work cut out for him.

And his attempts to educate the ignorant masses were destined to fail. Just like the fleeting affinity Near felt for the man. Because while, he understood the need to cleanse the world of its rampant idiocy and immerse yourself in a cause whole-heartedly, his appreciation for Kira had quickly cooled when the man had mercilessly deprived him of his own precious belongings. Three most treasured, wanted possessions, even if they had not been aware of it.


A/N: Much to my dismay, this piece came out remarkably pretentious for even me. Truly, I do speak this way and way too often for my own good as I suspect others want to smack me regularly because of it. Or at least my sisters do and have admitted as much and done as much, but that's a whole 'nother story!

All quotes in entire fic are from Tite Kubo (Bleach).