Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim to own this franchise or any of its characters.
Afterwards
The Science of Hypocrisy
I wake up. Ah, I wonder if it was all a vibrant dream. I open my eyes and run a hand through my hair. My hand slips and a finger lands in a gaping hole. Ah there's a hole in my eye. I suppose I'm missing my ear too. Well then, I'm hungry. Hungering after death, sleeping after death, this is simply like being in a prison, a fancy prison. Aki come soon. I stand up and walk into the living room. There are two white haired men arguing. Ah roommates. Maybe I won't be that lonely. I wonder if my manipulations will work well. I wonder what can be achieved.
"Hello." I smile.
Do I look kind? I think I look kind. Ah kindness is always the way.
"Oh great the other fucking human is awake!" A grey and white haired man cries.
"Who are you and do you mind if I kill you?" A man with blue white hair asks.
"I am Divine and yes I do. Who are you two?" I smile.
"Placido Tenor." The grey and white haired one snaps.
"Kyosuke Kiryu!" The blue white haired one laughs.
Ah could this be any easier? The sanity is frail. The motivations are probably easy. The lifetimes are written on their palms. Ah I wonder if the understand hypocrisy. That would be quite the sight to see ones that understand hypocrisy and all the sciences thereof.
"Well Placido and well Kiryu I have a feeling we'll be great friends!" I chirp.
They seem young. I can use that to my advantage.
"Yeah no." Placido smirks. "I don't deal with human scum."
Disgusting. He thinks he's better than me. These hypocrites.
"Would you mind if I killed you?" Kiryu asks.
"Yes frankly I would." I frown.
"Don't you want to, ha, feel death?" He snickers.
"No." I reply.
Well that manipulation was a bust. Clearly I am dealing with a misanthropic clockwork and a complete lunatic. Ah I have always been into challenges. I wonder if I can make their shadows smile. I wonder if I can convince them of utopia. Suddenly a delightful idea strikes me.
"Ah and Placido I am not human." I mention. "I am an advanced species that has multiple powers that humans do not. They say I am psychic."
"Heh, a psychic? Like Paradox then. That interesting. I have never seen a not clockwork psychic before. How do you work?" Placido asks with a lot less anger.
Ah so he hates only humans then. I am sure this is some sort of complex. Jealousy most likely. Ah aren't they so complex to be diluted to simple motivations and personalities. Placido is right in one thing, humans are scum.
"I'm not sure really. I can make fire but if I do it too much I get weak." I reply.
Kiryu scoffs.
"Yes Kiryu?" I inquire towards the man.
"Only fire? I knew a girl that could summon monsters. Actually I knew two." He chuckles.
Aki. Misty Lola. Ah this is getting curious.
"Oh I knew a man that could trap monsters and summon them later. He liked dragons." Placido mentions.
"Ah and what happened to this man?" I question planting false innocence.
"He was ripped in half." Placido replies.
"By what force?"
"He was sent out to duel Motou Yuugi, Yuuki Judai and Fudou Yuusei."
Kiryu's eyes flicker at the last name. I suppose mine must as well. Fudou Yuusei eh? I guess that plenty of people are after his head. I wonder if Aki will kill him before killing herself. Aki.
"And this man's name was?"
Careful. If he gets suspicious then I'll lose my information and have wasted my manipulation.
"Paradox."
"Ah, did he happen to have blonde hair?"
"Come to think of it he did."
"I actually think I saw him downstairs. He's the man missing his legs."
"Well damn I have to freaking deal with him and Antinomy now. God damn it can't I ever get a break?"
I'm done here.
"Thank you for the talk, would either of you like me to cook something for you?" I ask the two.
Kiryu blinks.
"You want to cook for me? Aw! How precious! He's like a house wife isn't he Placido? I think I'll keep you somewhere warm and lonely until you rot!" He giggles.
And insanity. Oh how lovely.
"Yes I will cook for you, What do you want to eat?" I ask.
Thank God I listened to Aki and took cooking lessons. I have a feeling I won't be tolerated unless I bring something to the table and if that must be literally than so be it.
"Souls!" He chuckles. "Actually ramen!"
Ramen. Oh so those cooking lessons were useless after all.
"I guess ramen too." Placido scowls.
Ramen. They want me to make them freaking ramen. I am one of the richest and influential men alive and they want ramen. Well at least it will be easy to manipulate them after all. To think I was almost concerned but as usual humans are letting me down.
I search around for a pot while Kiryu and Placido start their incessant bickering again. Screaming is vulgar. Ah here it is. I put it under the sink and turn the water on. Low and behold the water has a grayish tint. Everything's gray here. Makes sense actually. If white is a choice and black is a choice than gray is the point between choices and as this is the place between choices then this place is gray. Wetness drips onto my hands. The pot's been overflowing as I thought. Damn. I turn of the sink rapidly.
"How dare you try and kill my Yuusei!" Kiryu shrieks.
How did he know?
"It was my mission!" Placido cries.
Ah, well then as long as no harm will come to me they are free to fight as they will.
"Mission?" I ask out loud.
"Yes mission!" Placido screams.
He's speaking as if I'm the moron. Well then this will make everything much easier. How does Kiryu think about me I wonder. I put the pot on the stove and sit down on a chair where I can see everything in the room easily. That reminds me, if I position mirrors correctly I can see everything in the house while the doors are open. I ought to do that later. Play it of as obsessive compulsive disorder or such. Ah do they ever shut up?
"Yuusei is mine and mine alone to harm!" Kiryu shrieks raking his nails down the effeminate Italian.
"Yours to harm? He's MY rival!" Placido shrieks back as he tries to throw the other male off.
This is getting tiresome. The two roll around on the floor for a bit before I give Kiryu a sharp kick to the stomach. Placido stands up ready to thank me.
"I could have done that on my own!" He yells.
Or not.
"I don't doubt you could have but I wouldn't want to waste your energy would I?" I ask with a sly smile.
"I'm not an idiot! I know who you are! I wanted to make sure but now I am."
How does he know? He was miles away and my word and rule couldn't possibly have spread that far.
"You're Aki Iyazoi! The Black Rose Witch! You thought disguising yourself as a man would work but no! How many psychics are there with red hair?"
Counting me? About two hundred and six give or take the strawberry blondes. Red hair is very common in conjunction with otherworldly abilities.
"I'm not." I remark flatly.
"Prove it!" Kiryu cries.
Oh for Christ's sake. I undo the buttons on my shirt and throw the clothing aside.
"Here. Are we done now?" I ask.
Kiryu looks me up and down. Placido looks horrified.
"Oh, uh, yes." He mumbles.
Note to self, Placido doesn't like getting things wrong even though he's stupid. Wait a moment. Is that cunning in his eye? My, my I may have him pegged entirely wrong. Oh damn the ramen.
I run over to attend to it and the pot has boiled over. I probably should have drained some water out of the full pot before putting it to boil. Ah where was I, oh yes Placido. He seems smarter than he acts. Perhaps he's trying to manipulate me. He's in for quite the shock. He can't even comprehend my level. And then there's Kiryu, he's a class A psychopath but it doesn't quite seem like it's his complete personality. I wonder.
"Apparently we have to go downstairs!" Placido calls to me.
Ah, I wonder why. Probably that woman here to say something inane again. Whatever. It's of no concern to me. I turn of the stove and leave the water there. All I made today was a mess. Aki would be so disappointed. Ah well. I head downstairs behind Placido and Kiryu. The same fellows that were in the lobby yesterday are here again.
"Pardon me but why are you all here?" I ask towards the legless man.
I can see him much better now. The man has blonde hair and yellow eyes. He glares at me.
"Other than redemption? We were waiting for the last three people in order to start her games and now were waiting to start her games. Get it?" He explains and asks.
"No not really." I reply.
"Hmn, that's none of my business." He shrugs.
He has quite the unfair disability. As does the man without arms. Well then this should be easy. I'm sure that no one else has Kiryu's 'disability'. A man with a carrot top walks in with a little swagger. Oh God is he the one that-
"I'm here to tell you how to play the games and supervise them." He states.
Ah that's just dandy.
"The first game will be a test of sin; we'll see who has sinned the most and who is still sinning. The second game is a test of forgiveness; who can forgive and who is forgiving. The third game is a test of will; how willing are you to be redeemed? The fourth game is a test of love; are you loved and can you love? The final test is something far too fun to mention. The rules for the first test are: everyone must be present. If you have forgotten some sins then we will liberate them for you. No cheating. Right that's it. Now the way you play is that there are memory fragments scattered around, each one containing someone else's sin. The one with the most at the end of the game wins. Then we all get to view the winners' greatest sin. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, we'll be playing in teams of three. That means four teams of three alright? You'll be playing with the people on your floor. Everyone head over to your teammates. Except you Paradox and Godwin as the two of you are to receive prosthetics for the duration of all active games. Yes only them because they have disabilities that prevent them for playing accurately." The man explains.
Why thank you Mister Exposition. I really needed to know all that. I walk over to Kiryu and Placido who are respectively smiling like the Cheshire Cat and scowling like The Old Lady in the Shoe.
"Ah I suppose we'll be helping each other then." I smile.
"Oh? Yes I guess." Placido glares.
"Aw yes!" Kiryu laughs.
I look around. A blonde woman with bright green eyes is standing next to a young woman with dark green hair and bluish grey eyes and beside them is a bald and dark skinned man who looks quite resigned. Well then. Another of the teams consists of a blue haired man with steely eyes, obviously clockwork, a man that's the spitting image of Yuusei Fudo, so much so that the only reason I know is because of the clockwork eye and arm. Beside them is a midget with a painted face. Well then. The final team is the now clockwork legged man and the clockwork armed man with someone with Kiryu's disabilities. All three of them are tall fit men. Well then.
"On your mark! Ready! Set! Sin!" The man cries out.
We take off out of the building. The blonde woman and her team stay inside as does the blue haired man and his, Paradox and his team leave as well. This will be interesting.