The Border of Good And Evil -Prologue-
The Judge of Good and Evil
Hmm, gave donations to a shrine every week, and ended up being killed by a robber on the way one day. Innocent. Next. Ran a slave trade disguised as a travelling act: died when the trapeze broke and he fell. Fitting- and guilty, worthy of five hundred years in hell. Next.
The woman sitting at her desk went through file after file, making a mark for the innocent, and leaving a stamp for those she deemed guilty. She never lapsed in her focus, only pausing to refill the ink in the pen.
Saved a boy from drowning, but the boy turned out to be a murderous youkai. He had indirectly aided in a massacre in the village, so guilty in the greater scope, but the intentions at the start were innocent. Still, this man hasn't been completely innocent in his entire life, but not completely guilty either. Mmm, innocent? Or guilty? Ughh…
Rubbing her temples the way she always did when faced with a tough decision, Shikieiki reviewed the current subject's life again and again. Though seemingly daunted at the choice in front of her, it certainly wasn't the first – or last time she would do this. After all, it was her duty as the judge of black and white: good and evil.
"Guilty. 500 years in hell. However, I think that repentance and service may reduce the sentence to 100 years. Next."
The stamp of a seal on paper reverberated through the large, plain white office as Shikieiki moved on to the next file. Her office was spacious, although in such a way that wasn't freeing and open, but intimidating and cold. A few book shelves scattered along the walls containing references to law, and a small tea table, were the only furnishings aside from Shiki's desk. A large window behind her allowed for a view of Higan, where she could see the souls of those awaiting judgement. Though technically in Hell, her office maintained a temporal link that allowed her to move quickly back and forth, thus boosting efficiency.
Today was like every other. Souls needed to be judged and sent on their way, and without her, the incident that occurred some years ago would occur again.
A loud clatter from the front of the office took Shiki's attention from her work. Komachi (her almost useless assistant and current ferryman of the Sanzu) had stumbled in through the front door and dropped a bloodstained sword on the floor. She clumsily picked it up, dropped it, picked it up again, and scurried over to the desk, depositing it directly over the files Shiki was looking over.
There was a long silence as Komachi stood there expecting a reply, oblivious to the daggers that Shikieiki was staring into her. After a few more moments she began to get the idea, opening and closing her mouth trying to find a safe way to express herself. There just wasn't quite a good way to put whatever it was she needed to say, and every moment longer began to reflect in Shikieiki's darkening eyes.
A loud cough brought her attention to the impatient judge in front of her.
Shikieiki realized that if her useless assistant wasn't going to talk, then she would have to get it out of her with a little force. "Komachi," she began sternly. "What is it you're trying to say?"
Half relieved and half scared at not having to start the topic and letting her boss ask first, Komachi pointed at the items and made as serious a face as she could. "T-this is a weapon used in a fight between two gangs in the Human Village. I, um, picked it up after the fight and brought it to you, because, uh…" She trailed off, unable to finish her thought.
Shiki was unimpressed and annoyed. "Why did you bring it then? I don't need this Komachi. I can see all the evidence I need to in my mirror, so you'd better have a very real reason for interrupting my work and making a mess out of all my files."
The assistant felt a heavy knot form in her stomach. She messed up bad, and every second longer made it worse, but what she had to say could potentially land her a heavy sentence of her own – something like an eternity in hell, at the least. With as much courage as she could muster, the words began to form, hesitantly at first, but more and more.
"Shiki-sama, I uh, I need to say this: the reason f-for the gang fight? It… I-it was my fault. I delivered the weapons that were responsible for the deaths of so many people, and I felt I needed to show you to like, uh, show you… um…" Unable to continue, Komachi fell silent and cast her gaze down to the ground.
With a sigh, Shikieiki stood up and moved around to her assistant, grabbing her by the shoulders and bringing her eyes up to her own. "Look at me Komachi, you aren't wrong, and I'm not going to sentence you to hell or anything. This… this wasn't your fault." Wiping the growing tear from the sobbing girl, she continued, "Sit down. There's more to this than you're telling me, I'm sure. Let me just look into my mirror and-"
"No!" Cried Komachi, becoming suddenly aware and tense. "I-it's okay, I'll accept any punishment you have for me, so you don't have to waste your precious time looking at-"
"Komachi! I'm going to look now, so sit down before I really lose my temper."
Defeated and deflated, she slumped down into a chair, her vacant eyes staring into nothingness.
Shikieiki took up her mirror and gazed into it, focusing on the soul of Komachi Onozuka, and willing the past to appear before her. What she saw was… unexpected.
"…Komachi."
"…yes?"
"…you don't remember what you did in the village, do you?"
"No… I got the box and delivered it, but uh… my memory's hazy."
Nodding to herself and sternly glaring at Komachi, Shikieiki put the mirror away and revealed the truth. "You went to the casino, didn't you?"
Her assistant turned sheet-white, eyes widening in realization. "Y-yes… I think I did. Maybe."
A rage began to burn in Shiki, growing larger and darker as more was shown. "You went to the casino, got blindly drunk, and took a box from a stranger. Then, instead of delivering the box where you were supposed to, you ended up dropping it and picking up a dirty piece of cardboard by drunken mistake, gave it to one of the gang members, and passed out in a ditch."
Komachi looked stunned. "B-but, wasn't it my f-fault?" She stammered.
"You were drunk. They set you up with the weapons, but considering you never delivered it, the fight still happened, and both sides took the blame, you got lucky."
There was a heavy tension in in the air as her assistant began to sink lower into the seat. The look on her face betrayed the fear in her heart, a fear of knowing what was coming.
"Also, you just came in and interrupted my work. Do you know what that means?"
"I uh, y-yes… Shikieiki-sama."
"It is time for your punishment."
Finally, the poor assistant snapped. Her eyes became crazed and her breath ragged. She leapt out of the chair and towards the door in a desperate attempt to escape. But suddenly, an invisible force gripped her, stopping her dead cold. She could feel an intense murderous aura at her back.
The whiteness of the office seemed to stretch for miles, interrupted only by the two anomalies in the center.
Here, the fabric of existence itself was at a crossroads, and what happened next could change the course of history forever.
A terrified Komachi pleaded for her life, pathetically blabbering any excuse she could to escape, but to no avail. Shikieiki straightened her posture, and began the judgement.
"According to the power I hold as judge, Komachi Onozuka: you have been charged with dereliction of duties, public endangerment, and obstruction of justice. There is only one punishment applicable to someone like you."
"Please! Oh god why please no please oh please don't don't hurt me I didn't mean to oh god why-"
"Your sentence-"
"Please!"
"-Is a million spankings!"
It was over. Those words rang through Komachi like the final toll of death's bell. Even though she couldn't actually be sentenced to hell (because she's not dead for one, and two: being the ferryman of the Sanzu meant certain protections), her fate was one she considered to be worse than an eternity of suffering.
Shikieiki put her hand on the shoulder of her assistant. "Now Komachi, why don't you be a good girl and just bend yourself over my knee for your sentence?"
"Oh, uh, I uh-"
Before she knew what was happening, the assistant found herself staring at the ground, dress hiked up, and pink, tender cheeks exposed to the cold air. "N-no, please!" She cried pitifully. "Anything but that! I beg of you, ple-"
There was no forgiveness in the hand that immediately came down with a resounding slap louder than a peal of thunder.
"OOOOOWWW! AHH! Please no-AOW!"
Again and again, the hand of God judged Komachi's buttocks relentlessly.
Shikieiki sternly lectured her assistant while meting out the sentence. "As a Shinigami, it is your duty to always be at the Sanzu River, not slacking in the Human Village and getting drunk!"
*Slap!* *Slap!*
"OW! I get it, so please-"
Shiki paused. "You still have nine hundred, ninety-nine thousand, and nine hundred eighty more to go."
"Please!" Begged Komachi. "If you do that many, you'll spank my butt flat! I won't have anything left anymore!"
With a wicked grin, the judge replied, "Then, after I'm done teaching your bottom a lesson, I might have to focus on reducing those ridiculously large breasts you have!"
"Noooooooooooooooooo!"
Her punishment began again. Komachi's cries for forgiveness and mercy echoed throughout the night.
The next day was like every other. Souls needed to be judged and sent on their way, and without her, the incident that occurred some years ago would occur again. Although that time wasn't her fault, this time really might be. Shikieiki's punishment had effectively immobilized the Shinigami for a while, so no souls were being ferried across the Sanzu. It was quite a dilemma, one that she admitted was partly her fault, but felt that if it weren't for her useless assistant, then it wouldn't have happened.
As it were, Shikieiki's workload was already too much to even think about taking Komachi's place temporarily, so she needed another solution: a temporary replacement to fix the temporary problem. The person chosen would have to be fairly pure, dependable, could deal with spirits, and was inhuman or possessed special abilities so they wouldn't die from exposure to Higan and the Sanzu.
Shiki quietly mused possible candidates to herself as she looked out the window of her office, taking in the vastness of Higan. "I'll go look for a replacement for just a little a while then. Things should be fine until then."
The yama cleared her desk and organized the remaining paperwork and files to await her return. She then pulled out a placard that read "Out of Office," and set it down. Checking once more to assure that everything was in order, she then stepped out and looked over the fields of Higan. It was serene, peaceful in such a way that any living person could spend happily spend their life here. However, it wasn't a place for the living. It was a waiting room for the dead, a serene purgatory of sorts to those who died and awaited their judgement.
Setting a destination in mind, the judge opened a portal to Gensokyo. Instead of flying, she decided to warp to her tether point in the Hakurei Shrine to save time.
Shiki figured it would be a good idea to see if the red-white miko was a candidate to be Komachi's replacement. Undoubtedly, the Shrine maiden would sense her approach as soon as the connection was established, so it wouldn't be a surprise at all.
Looking at Higan one last time, she prepared to enter the portal, giving an emphatic "yeah!" to psyche herself up.
The moment she stepped in, Shikieiki set herself on the path to become twisted in the fates of several others, their destinies now combined. She was to play a vital role in the plot of a sinister force that would decide the future of all of Gensokyo.
