"So that makes him the seventh Reaper you've scouted, hasn't it?"
"Correct. He should be here shortly. All I need now are the test subjects for the preliminary round, and the Game is set to begin."
Joshua leaned back in his chair, sipping on the steaming cup of coffee blissfully. He directed a grateful smile at his companion.
"Sanae, you really do make the best coffee. What's your secret?"
The man on the opposite end of the table chuckled. He was clean-cut and clean-shaven, looking no older than perhaps his early twenties. His attire was comprised simply of a white dress shirt, with an equally professional black vest and matching pants. Even indoors, a pair of dark shades rested on his nose, adding an air of mystery to him.
"C'mon now, Josh. I thought you said you'd call me Hanekoma. Besides, a true master of the brew never spills his secrets."
He giggled flirtatiously, swirling a finger around in the murky liquid. "Well, if you get to address me as Josh, why don't I get the same privilege?"
Hanekoma tensed up and scratched a nervous finger behind his ear. Joshua always did this to him. Of course, it didn't help that he fell for his teasing every time. "Eh… it's just that when I look this old, people are going to think it's a little weird."
"You think our relationship is weird?" Joshua said with feigned sorrow. Theatrically he rose from his chair, turning away while bringing a hand over his eyes. "Sanae-chan, how could say such hurtful things?"
"S… Sanae-chan?!" Dammit, now he was blushing! How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? "That's even worse! And since when did we have a relationship?"
Joshua dropped his hand to reveal a terrifying deadpan expression. "You know you shouldn't jump to conclusions, Sanae-chan."
Hanekoma almost envied the boy. All of his emotions were so carefully controlled. He could wear any mask he wanted to without missing a single beat, and switch to another at a moment's notice. Every move and every word was calculated down to the very last syllable. Most humans he'd encountered wore their hearts on their sleeves and blurted out whatever came to mind.
But then again, Joshua didn't exactly fit into the category of "most humans", and neither did he.
Still, the boy was pushing his luck.
"Maybe you shouldn't be making such suggestive impli…"
Hanekoma's sentence was abruptly cut off when Joshua deemed it appropriate to plop himself down on his lap, accompanied by an innocent slurp from his cup. He leaned shakily in the other direction to put some space between them.
"You were saying?" Joshua sung cheerily, looking at the floundering Hanekoma from the corner of his eye. He should've known better than to test his limits.
"J-Josh… not right now…"
"That's quite different behavior from yesterday. Why the change in mood?"
"Josh," he warned, "you know what's gonna happen if you keep at it like that."
"I don't, actually," Joshua was rather fond of playing innocent, Hanekoma noted. "Care to enlighten me? By the way, is that a spray can in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
Joshua drew his face close, his eyes alight with mischief. His companion swallowed thickly, feeling the heat rise to his cheeks. Joshua was poised to swoop in for the kill when footsteps echoed from a nearby room.
Sho, strongly resembling a deer in headlights, walked into the massive foyer, his neck craning and swiveling all over the place.
"I've never been in a mansion before," he said breathily to himself. "I can't believe he lives here! So zetta radical!"
"He's a little slow on the uptake, isn't he?" Hanekoma muttered. Joshua nodded, then gave a loud, intentional clear of his throat.
"Dad, please take your medicine," Joshua quickly reverted to his childlike persona in Sho's presence. He lifted his ceramic cup to Hanekoma's lips. Hanekoma opened his mouth to object, dealing unknowingly into Joshua's hands. He promptly dumped the cup of hot coffee down his throat, wearing his usual victorious smirk.
"Ulk! Hot! Hot!"
"Oh, hello there, Sho," Joshua finally greeted his visitor. He hopped off of Hanekoma (who continued to clutch his scalded throat and gurgle hysterically) and joined Sho by the doorway. "Have you been here long? I apologize I didn't get to you sooner. My butler neglected to inform me of your arrival."
Sho shook his head. "It's okay. But you never told me your house was a mansion! It feels like it's a privilege to be here."
"I like to keep my living arrangements on the… oh, hey dad, what do they say around here again?"
"Down low," Hanekoma coughed, glaring daggers in his direction. Joshua pretended not to notice.
"Right, I like to keep it on the down low. Don't want anyone vandalizing my property or something similarly unscrupulous."
"Yeah, I totally get that." Sho shifted anxiously on his feet. "So, did you… have something in mind? I've never actually hung out before…"
Joshua smiled and hung an arm over his shoulder. "Not to worry. I actually have something upstairs I'd like to show you, if you don't mind."
"Not at all! What is it?"
"It's not going to be a surprise if I tell you now! You'll see when we get there."
Still holding onto Sho, he began guiding him up the circular staircase. He cast a backwards glance at Hanekoma, grinning.
"Screw you," he mouthed angrily, flashing him a certain hand gesture.
"Love you too," Joshua mouthed right back. He blew him a kiss right before disappearing on the floor above. Hanekoma heaved a built up sigh, smoothing out his hair.
"One of these days," he swore under his breath, "One of these days…"
- - - -
The room Joshua shepherded him into was relatively small compared to the others he had seen. From appearances alone, it was a just a library, granted an impressive one. The huge oaken bookcases reached to the ceiling, their shelves lined with novels, encyclopedias, and assorted texts. At the end of the room was a tall rectangular object, obscured by a dusty beige blanket.
Sho spotted the math section within seconds of entering. Like a kid in a candy store, he toddled towards it, gasping in his own dorky delight.
"The origins of chaos theory?! I've been looking for this particular volume for ages! Where did you find this?"
"I have my sources. It's definitely one of my favorite subjects," Joshua remarked, strolling over to the book and plucking it from the shelf. "Trying to find order in a disordered world… it's a bit of a paradox, isn't it?"
As Sho was absorbed in his fantasy world, Joshua's features darkened ever so slightly. Eyes averted off to the side, he said softly to him, "But what if I told you there was a way to accomplish such a thing?"
"That's impossible," Sho quipped. "There have been instances and experiments where a recognizable pattern emerged, but there's no way to entirely prove it. It's just assumed because there's no other logical explanation. It's chaotic by its very nature, as the name suggests."
"Excuse me for saying so, but I believe you are missing the point, Sho," Joshua placed a hand upon Sho's current selection of Quantum Mathematics and You. "Tell me honestly. What do you think of your life right now?"
"Well… I guess it's okay," Sho reluctantly withdrew from his math mode. "I mean, I get bullied and stuff, but I'm alright with that. As long as I have numbers, there's nothing I can't endure."
"Ah, but the world is made up of numbers, my friend, and you mixed in along with them. You are merely one in a great and endless sea. You, like everyone else, are struggling to find your order."
"That's what it means to be alive, isn't it? Everybody struggles in the same way. I'm not special or anything."
What is he getting at? Sho peered at Joshua with a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty. Joshua picked up on this as if possessing a sixth sense. He replaced his book on the self, and gently curled his fingers around Sho's open hand. A familiar embarrassment tinted his face red. Joshua's voice fell to a smooth whisper.
"I'm tired of the struggle, aren't you? I can eliminate all that distortion from the equation entirely. When the disorder is gone, all that's left is your own perfect self, free from outside interference. It's truly a wonderful world."
"How?" Sho stuttered, more desperately then he would've thought. "How can you just rewrite the rules like that? What you're talking about, it's like another dimension!"
"It is," he affirmed with a telling smile. "Sho, what I'm about to reveal to you is not to leave this room. Understand?"
That uneasiness in his chest was starting to grow bigger. Yet, in Joshua's unbelievable promise, Sho found something he hadn't seen in a long time: hope.
"Okay," he replied with an affirmative nod. Filing his book away alongside Joshua's, he let the boy tug him towards the forgotten object in the back. Joshua broke off from him – Sho immediately noticed how cold his hand was lacking Joshua's – and with a few sharp jerks, pulled the blanket from its concealed treasure. Sho gaped.
"It's huge!" he exclaimed at the towering mirror in front of him. Bordered by a charcoal-colored material, the mirror was glossier than expected. It was an amazing spectacle, but he felt strangely dizzy when up close to it. Come to think of it, its presence was a lot like Joshua's.
"As you may have guessed, this is no ordinary mirror," Joshua detailed. "If you focus enough look into it, you see your reflection as you truly want it to be."
"Perfect, in other words?" All Sho saw was a scrawny geek with scraggly hair and a serious fashion malfunction. Was his acne really that bad?
"Indeed. Your ideal self. Care to give it a try?"
"It's not going to hurt me, is it?"
Joshua suppressed a laugh. "It's only a mirror, Sho."
If that were true, you wouldn't have said what you did, he thought suspiciously. But after Joshua had extended the hand of friendship to Sho, it would only be rude to refuse.
"Alright. What do I have to do?"
"Just close your eyes and concentrate. Think of everything you don't like about yourself. Think of how you would change it, and the mirror will take care of the rest."
He sucked in a deep breath to steady himself. Alright, here goes nothing…
For starters, he could use a better hair cut. Maybe some cool spikes like all the popular kids had. Next, a better tan wouldn't hurt; and what about a set of awesome contacts, too? He definitely needed more exercise if he wanted to look the proper part. In addition, he could stand to grow a few more inches. And a tattoo was just the epitome of badass! A black one, like a flame… yeah, that'd be perfect!
His droopy clothes had to go as well. A bandana would go nicely with a brand new cap, and if he remembered correctly, those stylish miniature trenchcoats were still in season. Everyone was wearing those rough jeans lately, the ones with all the holes in them. A shiny pair of boots would compliment his look nicely. He couldn't forget what the preppy crowd referred to as "bling", either. Gold was tacky, but silver would do the trick for sure. A necklace and some bracelets, perhaps?
"Do you have the image in your head now, Sho?" Joshua asked. He nodded silently. "Now, funnel all of your energy into making it real. Become that person. You can do it."
Sho clenched his fists and dug his heels into the floor. Heavy stress lines appeared on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and growled. He could feel the nails in his palm, but he wanted this, more than anything in the world.
I'll show them, he vowed. I'll show all of them! I'm not just a geek… I'm Sho! Sho Minamimoto!
"That's exactly who I am!" he proclaimed, with all of his heart and soul. The pin on his chest shined in response, bathing the room in an encompassing glow. Joshua smirked, observing the results of his experiment. Hanekoma had pegged this kid right from the beginning. His Imagination was almost beyond belief. If there ever would be a perfect candidate for a Reaper, it was him without a shadow of a doubt.
"Open your eyes, Sho," he said. With a moment's hesitation, Sho cracked them open… and stood star struck at his reflection.
It was everything he had pictured, and more. The Sho in the mirror was a tall, well-built, and foreboding figure. His eyes were an intense shade of gold with feral slits for pupils, and his ashen hair fell in jagged bangs around his tanned face. An ebony flame consumed his right hand, its tail flickering up his arm.
Wardrobe-wise, he looked somewhat like a punkish thug. A black cap covered his head, with silver pins clipped on the bottom and along the visor. A vibrant red bandana was tied around the back. His coat, also black, featured a high, flared collar, and trailed down over his waist. His buckled leather belt was loose and allowed to hang off to the side. His gray pants were torn nearly everywhere, their legs stuffed into pointed boots that only added to his impressive height. A chain necklace and coordinated bead bracelets completed the outfit.
While Sho remained stunned into silence, Joshua glanced over the reflection, his brow rising in approval. He knew that Sho was creative, but he wasn't aware that his creativity was so… disturbingly attractive.
"Very nicely done," Joshua complimented him with a round of applause. Sho could hardly believe his eyes.
"That's… that's me?!" Stammering was about as much as he could manage at this point, staring into perfection incarnate.
"Of course that's you. The inner you, anyway. But let me show you something even more intriguing."
Joshua stepped in front of the mirror. He knocked on the glass expectantly. Shockingly, the reflection moved out of its frozen state to regard both of them with a sneer.
"You rang, radians?" the reflection Sho spoke up. His confident form of dress was matched by his confident form of speech. No stuttering, no trembling, no fear - just a young man ready to take on whatever stood in his way.
Sho's expression burst from shock into crazed fascination. He hurried to the mirror, touching his hand to his living, breathing reflection. "This is zetta unreal! I look so… cool!"
The reflection scoffed at him, stuffing a hand in his pocket. "That's a no brainer. Hey, little radian!"
It eyed Joshua and barked, "What's my probability of departure? Sitting around in this pathetic polygon zetta bytes. I need some acceleration already."
"Soon," he told Sho's impatient twin. "So, Sho. What do you think?"
"I think I'm in love," Sho gushed. His reflection cringed.
"Well, that's zetta creepy…"
"In the world I mentioned earlier, that is who you would be. And you wouldn't be alone. There are other people just like you inside of it, waiting for you."
"Waiting for me? You mean…"
"They want to be your friends, Sho. Everyone there does. You can be whomever you want and do whatever you want. It's all up to you. The world begins – and, consequently, ends – with you."
"Who are you?" Sho asked in amazement, now forever enthralled by this godlike figure. "How is this – how is any of this even possible?"
"Imagination," Joshua replied simply. "If you dream it, you can achieve it. Fantasy can be reality if you open your mind to the idea of it. Only those with imagination can accomplish what you just did, Sho. You said you weren't special, but you are. You believe in things others don't. That's why you belong in this world – in the Game."
The possibilities were racing through his mind, his disbelief totally suspended. Friends! Real friends! And could he really do anything he wanted? He could fly, he could impress everyone, and he could fight back! He'd love to see those bullies try to harass the Sho in the mirror. Everything, everything was too good to be true, but now that he had seen it, there was no way he could return to his old life.
"Please, I'll give anything," Sho fell to his knees in front of Joshua, begging him. "I want to go there! I want to be him! I want to be…"
He quivered all over, smiling a pitiful smile. "I want to be happy. Don't leave me here like this. You can't. You just can't!"
"Groveling like a miserable digit is so not my vector," the reflection Sho grumbled, but it went unheard. Joshua kneeled to Sho's level, drawing their hands together.
"I would never think of doing something like that to you," he whispered. "I saw you battered and bruised on that floor, and I only wanted to help you. Help you find yourself. Help you be happy. All you have to do is let me in."
"Joshua," Sho cried, throwing his arms around his angel and savior. Joshua held him tightly as he sobbed his name over and over. "Joshua… Joshua…"
"Shh," he calmed him. He rubbed Sho's back, shifting his other hand into his pocket. "It'll be alright…"
Ecstatic to the point of tears, Sho didn't notice the cold steel pressed up against his head, nor the resounding click that followed. Joshua stroked his hair, and muttered softly into his ear.
"I'll see you on the other side… Sho."
The shot rang out loud and clear, echoing through the room and down the hall. Stone-faced, Joshua shoved the lifeless body aside. Blood, there was always so much blood… he hated that part of it, but it was unavoidable. The crimson stream leaked from the hole, staining the carpet beneath. It mixed with the tears still trailing down Sho's cheeks and tainted the eccentric grin frozen forever on his lips.
"So, when you are going to tell him?" The reflection Sho was already beginning to dematerialize, along with the cold remains of its owner.
"He'll find out in due time," Joshua said, heading for the doorway. "as will everyone else."
The reflection Sho grinned like a demon straight out of hell – and perhaps he was – before throwing his arms out at his sides and cackling like a madman. When the insane laughter finally stopped, the room was empty, bodies and all.
to be continued