Sin

The sins of man are too innumerable to count, to vast to know, and to deep to judge. But luckily, there is a corner of the universe where they are more easily accounted for-The Daioh Zone.

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It was New Year's night, and all of the girls were asleep and dreaming, hoping that in their dreams they would see some grain of wisdom for the New Year. We'll be going to look at their dreams tonight, as we do every New Years. First, we shall examine the dreams of little Kaorin.

~dream~

It was a beautiful summer day-"summer", thought Kaorin. "The time for love… Love from the beautiful Miss Sakaki. Today's the day-I'll tell her how I feel today even if it kills me!" And, as luck would have it, moments later, Sakaki passed by. She looked down at the smaller girl.

"Oh, hello."

Kaorin thought to herself. "Okay, it's now or never…I…I… I LOVE YOU MISS SAKAKI! There. I said it." Sakaki looked at her, confused. "You can go back to ignoring me, but I can die happy knowing that you at least know what I feel."

Sakaki looked down at Kaorin, still confused. "I don't ignore you, though. I've felt the same way about you too. I've just been to afraid to tell you… I thought you might reject me." With that, she bent down, took the smaller girl in her arms, and kissed her. Kaorin felt Sakaki's tongue flicker into her mouth, and…she couldn't believe it. It was the greatest moment of her life, and she wished it could last forever. "Now" said Sakaki "Why don't we go back to me place. I know you want to."

Kaorin stared at Sakaki, her eyes overflowing with joy. "I…I'd love to, Miss Sakaki."

Just then, the wind picked up. It had been a very sunny day, with only a slight breeze. Within seconds it was a cloudy day, and the winds were getting stronger by the second. Soon, the winds became very strong, and they lifted Kaorin right of her feet. They swept her 'round and 'round. Somehow, through all the wind, a spark ignited somewhere in the tempest. The fire quickly spread, quickly igniting her whole body, and even the tempest she was trapped in. Her body was now engulfed in a blazing storm of hellfire. The greatest day of her life had become the worst in mere seconds.

She woke up. Terrified, she checked herself to see if she was burned. Though she knew it was only a dream, it had been a very realistic one. She could still feel Sakaki's tongue against her own, and the heat of the flames licking against her body had felt as real as anything else. She looked at her alarm clock. It read 4:27. She decided to go back to sleep, hoping she wouldn't be subject to another nightmare.

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Next, I think we'll look at the dreams of Yomi. Perhaps hers will be less terror-ridden.

~dream~

Yomi and Tomo were in the park, enjoying the beautiful day. Or not, as Tomo was, as always, preoccupied with being Tomo.

"Hey, Yomi, guess what? I think you've put on some more weight! What is it now, huh? An extra 30 pounds maybe? I think we have a new record for weight gained in one week!"

Tomo had just touched a very sensitive nerve, and Yomi retaliated with a swift kick to the jaw, leaving Tomo unconscious. She then left to home.

At Yomi's house-

Yomi entered her room, and undressed down to her underwear. Looking at herself in the mirror, she thought "Am I really as fat as Tomo says I am? The others don't seem to think so, but they don't see what I'm like at home. I eat constantly, sometimes to drown out Tomo's idiocy, sometimes to drown out the pain of being fat." Without bothering to put anything on , she wandered into the kitchen, and opened up the refrigerator. Inside was an unopened half-gallon of mint chocolate chip, her favorite. She took the container, as well as a spoon, and retreated to her room. Digging in, she found the taste of the ice cream to be slightly different, but she was unable put her finger on why. She also noticed that, no matter how much she ate, she neither felt full, nor did the amount of ice cream ever change. Eventually, she noticed that she was, indeed, increasing in size. "That bitch Tomo wants fat, I'll show her fat", she thought, drowning both her sorrow and her rage in the never-ending tub of mint chocolate chip. Soon, she noticed that she was getting full. She didn't care, though. But something was wrong. She felt something, a tear, perhaps, roll down the side of her face. She wiped it off-it felt odd to the touch, cold, and slimy. She looked at it-It was a smokey black color, and felt like an icy slush. Suddenly, more of the slush came rolling down her face, through her eyes, her ears, her nose, even her mouth, leaving her unable to even breathe, as the vile, iced black slush poured out of every hole of her body, continuously.

She woke up. She was freezing cold, as though she had been submerged in the black slush that covered her in her dream. It made no sense to her. It was only a dream, yet it had felt as real as anything else. She went to get another blanket from the linen closet. The alarm clock read 5:36. She decided to try and get some more sleep before school started in the morning.

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Perhaps next we should look at the dreams of her friend Tomo… We may be surprised.

Tomo had already been woken up some time earlier, to what had felt like a kick to the jaw. Upon waking, she looked around, and realized it was only a dream. Happy that she hadn't been kicked, she -yeah, I'm not going there- before going back to sleep.

~dream~

Tomo was swimming at a pond. It was a nice, clear day. Normally, the water in this pond was a little murky, but today, it was perfectly clear-she could see all the way to the bottom. Surprisingly, she could see Osaka sitting at the bottom, almost as if she was sleeping.

"Hey, Osaka, what're ya doing down there?"

"Oh, I'm just a figment of your imagination. Don't mind me."

The conversation confused Tomo-First, How could she and Osaka talking underwater? Second, how could Osaka respond if she was, as she claimed, sleeping-and how could she sleep underwater, anyways? The fact that none of this made sense should have been an indication that something was amiss, but it didn't. Suddenly, the waters turned dark. Tomo could no longer see Osaka at the bottom of the pond. But through the darkened water, Tomo could just make out a faint gleam. When she peered downwards to get a better look, it came up-a metal pike-, and punctured her stomach. The pain was instant and unimaginable. More pikes came out of the water, piercing her body all over.

She woke up. She could still feel pain although it was evident that the whole episode was a dream. Rays of light peeked through her window shades, telling her it was, more or less, morning. She looked at her wall clock. It read 6:47. She realized that if she didn't get dressed soon, she'd be late to school. She hurriedly put on her uniform, and rushed to school.

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At school, the three were telling each other about their dreams. Chiyo walked over to them.

"Hello! Did everyone have good New Years dreams?"

Yomi was the first to respond.

"No, mine was terrible. And from what they've told me, Tomo and Kaorin didn't fare much better either".

So the three of them told Chiyo about their horrific and realistic dreams.

"Well, I think the three of you are in luck." Said Chiyo. "I've been doing some research on dreams lately, and with yours, I can look at some other stuff I know to come to a conclusion on what it means. She thought about it for a few moments. While she was thinking, Osaka wandered over to look at Chiyo think.

"Hey, Yomi. Do ya think Chiyo-chan's a robot or something? There's no way I'd be able to think about something that much."

"Nope. I think she's just… well, I don't think there are words to describe her."

Chiyo ended her train of thought.

"That's it! That'?"s the reference point!"

What is it, Chiyo?" asked Tomo. "What point are you talking about?"

"The common point to all of your dreams. You see, while analyzing what their meaning was, I realized something-All your dreams had a common, tying point. All three dreams had a symbolic reference to Dante's Inferno."

What are you talking about?"

"Dante's Inferno was the first part to The Divine Comedy. It follows a man's guided journey through his imagined version of hell. On the different levels, the sinful are punished in a manner like that of their sin." She turned to Kaorin. "In your case, the tempest of fire represents both the punishment and the cleansing of the lustful. In your case, Kaorin, the object of your lust being Sakaki. I think you should tell her how you feel, and accept her answer, whatever it may be." She then turned to Yomi. "Yomi, the slush you were excreting was part of the punishment of the gluttonous, who were forced to wallow away in the filth they created. For you, though, I think you should cut back on the mint chocolate chip ice cream. You've eaten way too much of it lately, and it can't be good for you." Finally, she turned her attention to Tomo. "Tomo, , your dream as a whole represented the punishment of the wrathful, who were forced to fight for eternity in the river Styx. The river was also home to the slothful, which explains why you aw Osaka at the bottom. For you, I offer this advice-Stop being mean to your friends. It'll only hurt you in the end."

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The repentance of the sinful-These girls, who fell asleep with heavy soul, dreamed of their punishment, and were alerted to their fault through the help of a friend. But they got lucky, for such an occurrence only happens, though, when you fall asleep in the Daioh Zone.