Chapter Text
Humanity is beautiful, as is often said. Even their suffering can be beautiful sometimes. Every single aspect of humanity can be beautiful in one way or another, so said the Ultimate Anthropologist.
Any sane person would look at Korekiyo’s own life and disagree heavily. Descriptions of it could come nowhere near beautiful in any sense of the word.
His life had been one of suffering and horror. From a young age, his beloved sister was bedridden and ill constantly. She was the closest human to him his entire life, and one day she was simply unable to move. If you asked Korekiyo, he’d state that that was the greatest tragedy in his own life.
Korekiyo was wrong. The tragedy did have to do with his sister, though nothing with her physical illness. What was truly tragic was just how manipulative and inhumane she really was. From the moment her illness claimed her mobility, Sister knew she had to find some way to get and do what she wanted. What better way to do all of this than her devoted little brother? He was so young, so impressionable… He had no idea what he was about to go through.
For years and years, Sister controlled Kiyo’s mind. At first it was small things. Little Kiyo wouldn’t mind getting this book for Sister, would he? It wouldn’t be too much trouble to go out and learn a little something for her, right? That was how it started. And poor Kiyo, so loyal to his sister, blindly obeyed her every order. Eventually, as time went on, it got worse. The things she made him do became more and more horrifying. From imprinting her desire to learn anthropology onto him, to forcing him to only wear the outfit she made for him, to far more disturbing and degenerate behaviors, Sister made Kiyo’s life a living hellscape. His thoughts could barely be considered his own. She had twisted his devotion and loyalty into a dependence, an obsession, a toxin in his mind that leached into his every thought and poisoned everything he ever did. In never leaving Sister’s side, Kiyo’s emotional and social intelligence were stunted severely. He had always struggled with interactions with others in the past, but after Sister fell ill, Kiyo rarely ever talked to anyone. Sister is the only one who wants to talk with you, she said to him. The world will think you’re a freak. But Sister doesn't mind. You are Sister's Kiyo. Sister loves you more than anything, after all. She knew her little brother would believe everything she fed him. He was wrapped around her pinky finger.
Tragically, Kiyo had no idea how wrong everything in his life was. He didn’t think that Sister was doing something harmful to him. Sister had never led him wrong before. And besides, it was because of Sister that he was even here. If not for her and her guidance, where would he be? If anything, Kiyo believed that he was lucky to have such a wonderful and gracious Sister. He loved her all the more for how beautiful she proved humanity could be. Sister made humanity itself worth it. As she made his life worth living, he would make certain that hers would be too.
All of it came to a screeching halt when Sister died of her illness. This Kiyo treated as another tragedy, although most would call it a benefit to the world that she only had enough influence to manipulate a single person. Distraught at losing the only person who ever made Kiyo feel alive, he began to dedicate the rest of his life to pursue the interests of his lover. But somewhere along the way, his mind had been thoroughly overtaken by the poisonous roots that Sister had planted. At some point, Kiyo changed from some bright, slightly strange boy to an outright terrifying and borderline manic adult. So devoid of the humanity that he sought to learn more about, Kiyo’s obsession with his sister led him around the world. Seeking ways to convene and reunite with his beloved, he encountered a vast variety of different cultures. Some of them had ideas of ways to reunite, but none of them ever truly worked.
Frustrated by his lack of progress in finding Sister, he knew he had to find a way to give her company in whatever afterlife there was while he sought other ways to reunite with her, so he began sending friends down to meet her. At first he felt horror at it, but the thought of Sister kept him going. She needed more friends. One by one, he cut them down with less and less hesitation. One friend turned into two friends, which turned into ten friends, which soon turned into the need to send a grand total of one hundred friends to Sister. So he kept going. All around the world, he found worthy friends. It was the least he could do to repay her, really. He kept going. All her friends found that their skin met the end of his katana or their necks were constricted by rope. He found that even if he wanted to, he would not be able to stop. But of course, he wanted to. He had to repay his debt to Sister somehow, after all.
Eventually, Kiyo encountered a near-death experience. He wasn’t sure why he was ambushed in the first place. Maybe the natives were able to tell how twisted a human Kiyo was. Maybe they wanted to help him. Or maybe it was preordained, set into motion by Sister. All Kiyo knew was that one day, while walking through an unassuming forest, a blunt impact knocked him out cold. When he came to, he found himself bound in rope and near death inside some strange cabin. At first, Kiyo screamed for help. He fought desperately to escape his bindings. He thrashed and kicked and strained against the ropes. His limbs kept flailing until they inevitably started bleeding from the burns the rough texture of the rope left on them. The pain was so intense. Kiyo wondered, for a brief moment, if this was some sort of retribution for him. The thought didn’t last long, however, because just as he felt ready to pass out, Sister arrived.
She descended down from the heavens, blue and ethereal and just as beautiful as Kiyo remembered. She comforted him, held him close, whispered all the words he needed to hear into his ears. Kiyo hadn’t realized just how badly her absence had wracked his mind. He needed her here forever. Right now, caught on a wire-thin boundary between life and death, Kiyo was ready to do whatever it took to keep her with him. As he begged her to stay, she gave him a warm smile. Opening her arms, the two embraced. Kiyo felt the warmth slowly fade, but a new sensation entered his body. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew that Sister was part of him now. He knew she was always there. He could just call on her when he needed.
Kiyo talked to Sister more than anything for the next week. In fact, he almost died from starvation when he refused to do anything but talk to her, even eat. He didn’t need it anyway. He just needed her. Now that she was here with him, he felt his resolve harden. Korekiyo Shinguji would send all one hundred friends to Sister, and then he would finally join her for eternity. He would ensure the completion of both goals no matter what. Anything but succeeding could not be considered an option. Sister wouldn’t ever have approved of a failure, so Kiyo would do no less than perfect. It was almost as if it was what Sister willed, after all.
A strange robot bear had thrown those plans into disarray, however. Kiyo had suddenly found himself trapped in a strange school with fifteen other students. Some of them could make fine friends for Sister, but others… He suspected that Sister would rather exorcize herself than meet them. Sister’s friends would have to wait, then. He only needed three more friends. He could just locate the worthy, demonstrate the feeling of being stabbed or choked to those friends, and then he could meet Sister. The thought was almost too exciting for him to bear. He needed to end it quickly. There was no telling what the rest of the students would do once they found out that he not only killed before, but planned to kill again. Therefore, he needed to plan his murders perfectly.
Step one was to locate a victim. It was supposed to be the easiest step to complete. All you needed to do was find someone that you could easily murder. Kiyo settled on Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist. Her personality seemed to mesh with Kiyo’s more than eccentric mannerisms, and their interests overlapped more than he originally thought. He had the perfect way of determining whether she was a good friend for Sister or not. Kiyo visited her lab every single day to talk more about Atua and spirits and the afterlife. He probably didn’t need to spend as long as he did. If he was being honest with himself, Kiyo probably already knew in his heart that she was a worthy friend. Kiyo knew that Angie would please Sister. He knew that after killing her, he would only need two more. He knew all of this.
And yet…
For the first time that he could remember, Kiyo didn’t want to kill a potential friend. For the first time that he could remember… Maybe meeting Sister wasn’t a priority.
What was he thinking?! How could Kiyo even allow his mind to conceive such a notion? This was impossible. It shouldn’t happen. He needed to do this for Sister, as he always had. All he needed to do was pick up the katana and drive it into a vital area. Angie would be in a happier place with Sister anyway. He would be doing everyone a favor.
And yet… And yet…
Kiyo’s thoughts lingered on Angie, on Atua, on forgiveness and love and happiness…
Against his better judgment, he found himself knocking at the door to Angie’s lab again. Not a split second later, he found himself face to face with the strange girl whom he had taken a liking to. After a smile and a greeting, he found himself entering her lab and finding a spot to sit. In the span of mere minutes, he found himself engaged and laughing along with Angie’s endless cheerfulness and charisma. And, somehow, he found himself shovingSister aside in his mind. She could wait. Right now, at least, Kiyo had someone interesting he wanted to spend more time with.
There was now a new person in his mind.
Angie Yonaga.