Chapter 16 — Good News / Bad News
Today was to be the fourth occasion on which Yomotsu, Yuri, and Luke would spend the afternoon and night eating pizza, playing video games, and watching stupid videos on YouTube. This coincided with an increase in Yuri's competency at work, as Luke's instructions and friendship aided him immensely. Being shadowed so securely by Luke garnered him something of a reputation, and by osmosis Yuri became quite popular and well liked. This arrangement also satisfied Luke—Craig had decided to promote him to be in charge of training other employees from here on out.
diiiing-dong
Yomotsu's ears perked. This was too early to be Luke. It was only 4pm, and he was supposed to show up at 5pm. They had not ordered pizza this early, of course. However, the possibility remained there that, for some unforeseen reason, Luke had decided to drop in on them early. With this in mind, Yomotsu was able to bravely stride toward the door. He opened it casually and was greeted by the nervous shuffling of two young men.
By the way the wind went through their clothing, Yomotsu heard what sounded like a monk's robes on each of them. He sensed that each was wearing a golden nametag and was carrying a little book around. Indeed, Yomotsu heard the muscles in their face: it was clear to his ears that they were grinning at him.
"HI1 HAVE YOU HEARD THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT OUR LORD KIRA?"
Yomotsu scratched behind his ear and looked thoughtfully upon them. "N-no…" He had to at least act interested. These two could just be idiot teenagers, but they could also be idiot teenagers that have a real connection to Kira. He would play along. "But if you want to come inside, you could tell me more!" He gestured toward the door and stepped aside, providing room for them to enter.
One stepped in such a manner that suggested he had turned to face the other. "WOW, THAT WAS EASIER THAN I HAD EXPECTED."
The other quickly returned, "SHHHHHH, HE CAN PROBABLY HEAR YOU."
Yomotsu stuck his finger in his ear, wriggled it a little, and plucked it out. He led them to the living room and gestured for them to have a seat. They hesitated for a while, if only because Yuri was sprawled out on the couch, in an unbuttoned white collared shirt and his little devil ducky shorts. Yomotsu realized their concern and gave Yuri's leg a smack.
His roommate woke up with a sudden start and stretched. "Ughhhh, is Luke here already? I feel like I just laid down a second ago, and—" Yuri paused. His tone went from simply tired to a different type of bothered. "…Who are these people?"
Yomotsu raised his hand and smiled. "Why, these two are—"
"WE ARE REPRESENTATIVES OF LORD KIRA," one of them interrupted. "HERE TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS OF HIS LIBERATION OF THIS SINFUL WORLD AND IMMINANT ASCENSION TO GODHOOD."
Yuri let it sink in and then, sitting completely upright, said, "Yomotsu, why don't you serve our guests some of the wine Miss Olivia gave us last week? And why don't you… entertain them, while I go and take a shower. A long shower."
Yuri scratched at his side and drowsily proceeded past Yomotsu and the two believers. After the hot water could be heard turning on from afar, Yomotsu cleared his throat and gestured for the two to sit down on the one couch, while he set himself down on the other.
"So, tell me about this 'Kira,' of which you were speaking," Yomotsu suggested, with a curious smile. "I have never heard of this 'Kira' before, ever, at all, so tell me everything you know about 'Kira,' whoever that is."
One of the two answered, as though straight out of the little book they were carrying, "LORD KIRA IS THE SAVIOR OF THIS WORLD. LORD KIRA IS USING HIS DIVINE POWERS TO CAST JUDGMENT UPON HUMANITY, TO PURGE IT OF ALL EVIL. HE IS PROTECTING THE INNOCENT FROM CRIMINALS, BY BRINGING JUSTICE AND ORDER TO A CHAOTIC WORLD."
"Yes, yes, yes," Yomotsu said, waving his hand this way and that. "But who is Kira?"
The other answered, "WELL, KIRA IS OUR HOPE. HE IS OUR OLDER BROTHER, AND OUR BEST FRIEND, AND OUR SUPREME RULER, A KING TO GUIDE US INTO THE FUTURE."
Yomotsu nodded. "But who was he, before he became Kira?"
"KIRA COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE," the believers stated in unison. "WE COULD HAVE BEEN KIRA, HAD WE THE POWER."
Yomotsu laughed nervously, but they remained chillingly silent. Something was passed into his hands; it was a copy of the little book. It was leather bound.
"Wh-what's this?" He asked.
"THE BOOK OF DEATH," answered one. The other explained, "A COLLECTION OF KIRA'S RECENT ADDRESSES TO THE PUBLIC AND SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS KIRA HAS SPECIFICALLY SENT TO US."
Now this was the sort of thing Yomotsu was interested in. "To you? Excuse me, but who are you, anyway? Some sort of cult?"
Both of the Kira worshippers chuckled in unison, and the laughter of both abruptly at the same exact instant. "WE BELONG TO—" they leaned forward—"the cult of kira, A FELLOWSHIP DEDICATED TO SPREADING THE GOOD NEWS OF KIRA TO THE MASSES, SO THEY MAY SUCCEED IN THE NEW WORLD."
Yomotsu, still very impressed by the creativity this group showed in choosing a name for themselves, further inquired, "How do you possibly stay in communication with Kira? He must be a very busy man… Erm, god, savior, person."
The two began to nod. "HE NEVER RESTS," one put it. "HE WILL NOT TASTE SLUMBER UNTIL THE WORLD HAS BEEN PURIFIED. HOW HE COMMUNICATES WITH US IS A MYSTERY TO ALL BUT THE ELITE OF OUR MINISTRY. THOSE CHOSEN BY KIRA HAVE CONTACT WITH KIRA AND BRING US THE MESSAGES."
Yomotsu's enthusiasm dwindled. "So… neither of you have ever spoken with Kira? Or know who he is?"
"THAT IS CORRECT," a worshipper answered.
Yomotsu frowned. "But you have a book…"
"A BOOK OF UNTOLD WISDOM, SALES OF WHICH FUND ABOUT A THIRD OF OUR PROFITS, THE REMAINDER COMING FROM GENEROUS DONATIONS FROM BROTHERS."
In the conversation that would ensue for the next half hour, the Kira worshippers would explain central tenants and creeds of their new god and also make asides about exclusive special offers on pendants, rings, soaps, and other enchanted items that will show support for the new era of humanity. After declining offer after offer, Yomotsu was able to push them out of the door without joining their cult or buying a single thing.
Except for the Kiwi Kira bubble bath. He bought two bottles of that and, in doing so, got himself a free Doom Loofa.
Luke finished the can of Grape Fanta and looked over at Yuri. He had a very serious look. This was not like how he would glare at Yuri while at work, when he made a mistake. This was not his "game face" when the front end was about to receive a wave of customers. This was something new. His muscles were tightened into focus, and his eyes were not so much focused on Yuri as they were focused on nothing at all and let to simply divide their attention equally to everything in front of him. His frame froze, and then he crushed the can.
As Luke turned and dropped the can into the trash, Yuri looked over to his right, where Yomotsu was button mashing. They had been playing Soul Calibur III for the past hour and a half. Yuri and Luke took turns, while Yomotsu kept going at it. Eventually, Luke got bored of it and Yuri began to tire, so they let the second controller sit on the floor for a while to cool, while Yomotsu decided to get a jump on some Chronicles of the Sword.
Yomotsu was sitting cross-legged on the couch. He was wearing a grey sweatshirt and black sweatpants. A box of Kleenex tissues was at his right, yet his brief run in with a cold was not stopping him from winning the war against Maletta. Luke was still wearing his green polo from work, and Yuri, for his part, changed into a green and blue plaid long-sleeved shirt and white dress pants after his shower.
"Just, stop."
It was Luke. His voice was quiet. Yuri moved his hand, to cover Yomotsu's controller. The latter looked pressed the "start" button and paused the game.
"I can't do this."
Yuri and Yomotsu looked at him. They were sitting on the couch, and he was standing to their left, leaning slightly against the soft blue footrest between them and the other couch. On the footrest was an open bag of pretzels, which they had been eating together, and three empty paper plates with occasional stains of pizza grease. Luke was looking above their heads, off to the side a bit. He ran his fingers through his hair once and then released a deep sigh.
"I have some bad news, and I have to tell someone. But I don't want this to make things complicated at work. It's just, I don't have anyone outside of work, and I don't want this to spread around any faster than it has to. And I trust you guys more than the rest of them, who just want to suck up to me for promotions. I, just…"
Yuri looked over at Yomotsu for a moment, as if to confirm that they were on the same page, and then Yuri looked back at Luke and gave a slow nod. "We know how to keep secrets."
Luke nodded back, and then he closed his eyes for a few seconds. He then looked toward the TV. "On Halloween, Mercy and I had the day off, and we planned on spending the whole day together. We drove to some stores, and we took a nice, long walk in the park. It was… Nice. You were working, but it was a nice day. And Mercy was in a good mood, it seemed, but I could tell something was on her mind. But she wouldn't tell me. She told me that she would tell me when she was ready, and then we went to a Halloween costume party. She was wearing, well—it doesn't even matter, right? Haha. It doesn't matter now, I guess. So we're at this party, and she looks like she is having fun. Which made me feel better, and it made me smile to see her in such a good mood with all of her friends, but I was still really worried—"
"Makes sense," Yomotsu whispered, nodding.
"—But I just let it go, since this was an important night to her. And then when it was over, I was driving her back home, and we stopped at her house, and then I asked her what was on her mind earlier, and she told me… She told me she doesn't love me anymore, and that she wants space to figure things out."
Yuri could hear Yomotsu sighing softly behind him. He gave another nod in Luke's direction, this one much softer. He looked down for a while, processing it, and then locked eyes with Luke. "Have you spoken with her since?"
Luke shook his head. "I mean, at work, but only as her supervisor… But aside from that, no. I texted her this morning, and I didn't get a response. Which is fine. I mean, why respond to someone you don't even like, right?"
Yomotsu shuffled around a bit. "Did she say what her reasons are…?"
"She said that I'm just not the person she thought I was," Luke responded. He looked irritated now. "Like, I made myself seem different, somehow. And now that she knows the real me, it's not what she's interested in, and she doesn't want to hurt me, but she can't pretend any longer."
Yuri frowned. This was a pretty dramatic occurrence. Luke was clearly very distraught. This would be on his mind for a long time, and it would not allow for other things to temporarily entertain him. He would fixed on this, and there would be reminders unexpectedly through his day. This would alter the time they would spend with him on days like this. Not only that, but the landscape of Yum Yums would be affected to some degree—the store's most energetic rising star employee had this grey cloud hanging over his head, and with the way gossip could spread, even if Mercy was as quiet about this as Luke intended to be, it would not take long for other workers to take notice of the change in conduct between the two former lovey-dovey employees.
"But, hey, no big deal, right?" Luke forced some laughter and looked at Yuri and Yomotsu with a slightly tortured grin. "She's just a girl. I could have any girl I want. I'm popular. I have a good job. I have good looks, right?"
Luke swept his hand over the blue footstool and grabbed hold of the bag of pretzels and deliberately tossed the contents onto the floor. He brought his hands to his face and began to back away from the two. His face was hidden by his hands, but the sounds sounds he was making were clear enough to cause Yuri to immediately rise to console him.
Meanwhile, Yomotsu had taken to the carpet, and he was fastidiously picking up the pretzels. He had a devastated look on his face, which Yuri could understand. However, right now, his priority was not the carpet but their friend. He placed his hand firmly on Luke's shoulder, and Luke drew his hands away from his face after a short while. His face was a little red now, and there were still tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
"Just, why, Yuri?" He asked. "She was having such a nice day, and we were both having so much fun, and now this… Why? Why is she doing this to me?"
Yuri squeezed his shoulder lightly and answered, quietly, "Fewer things are more fleeting than the lives and loves of young women." Then, Yuri, looking away, went to the kitchen. He poured himself a cup of warm tea with honey and rejoined the other two after he had gathered his own thoughts and emotions. They were not going to play games tonight. They had life to talk about.