“You’re quite the skewed one, Shikata,” claimed Seodra as she opened the door leading into her place of residence. With the lights off, nothing but the dark night sky was illuminating the room, leaving the visibility in the room dim and hard to perceive.

Following from behind, Kokoro grunted at being berated again like he was the bad guy, asking, “What did I do this time?”

“What you told Mary.”

“I agreed to hear her out didn’t I, isn’t that enough?”

“Yeah, tomorrow.”

“What did she expect, it’s late.”

“It was the way you phrased it, it seemed like a bait with that pause mid-sentence. Poor woman, her hopes soared high enough to reach the clouds so she could run down sunlight with her smile until you came, crashing it to the ground.”

“She’s an angel, being disappointed by humanity shouldn’t be anything new. And for all the years she has been alive or existed, she can wait till we meet in the morning… the late morning.”

“Aha, see,” exclaimed Seodra, pointing back at her ever-tired-looking guest, “Right there, that pause, it can be misleading. It’s like you’re waiting for someone to misinterpret what your intention is before pulling the rug out from under them; so cruel. What did you use to work as again?”

There was no response at first. Kokoro took a moment to scratch the irritation at his neck before grumbling, “Getting a little sick of being made out to be the bad guy for having basic requests.”

“Then don’t make it be when you’re the most interesting,” joked the redhead, flipping the switch near the door to light up the room.

The first thing Kokoro noticed in the now brightened room was the interior design choice, the walls were an array of stacked stones being held together by what seemed like clay in an old-fashioned style yet the floor had more modern tiles with fancy designs. With the modern accommodations, Seodra’s place resembles more like an apartment suite mimicking the cottage aesthetic.

“What do you think?” the ruby-haired woman asked, seeking his thoughts.

Still glaring at the room, Kokoro noticed how decorated the room was with a certain color of fabric, commenting, “I see that you like green.”

“You sound like you have some contempt for the color.”

“Not this one. Green, it’s a good color.”

“Then I take it you won’t feel uncomfortable sleeping here?”

“ Yes, why wouldn’t I?”

Seodra simply shrugged, “People can be so fickle about where they sleep, even when it’s at the generosity of others. I just wanted to make sure you get some well-needed rest.”

“I appreciate the–” abruptly Kokoro halted his sentence, carefully mauling over the ruby girl’s words. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a twisted tang underneath the surface. Snapping his head toward Seodra, the rightful-suspicious man caught her poor attempt to hide the smile forming on her face and the hidden puzzle all snapped into place. Kokoro wasted no time immediately calling her out, “Leave my face alone, I can’t control how I look; I literally woke up this way!”

Since the gag was up, the ruby-woman allowed herself to let out a joyish giggle, “I’m sorry, it’s too easy! People’s tendencies when they were alive often manifested themself in one’s appearance here. I wanted to make sure you didn’t lose sleep because the bedsheets weren’t ironed or something.”

“Do I look like a–... never mind, I’ve heard enough from you to know your impressions,'' exhaled Kokoro who was growing tired not physically but mentally, wondering why he let this chaffing woman drag him around for so long. Until he realized the answer was the relatable appeal of not being lost in the afterlife. Now forced to live with his decision, he grumbled at his quippy host, “I can sleep just fine anywhere. Hell, I don’t mind the cold hard floor.”

“At least let me get you some pillows and a blanket,” chuckled Seodra, heading over to her bedroom to retrieve the comfort-inducing items for her grouchy guest.

“That’ll allow me time to think to myself in peace,” Kokoro exhaled as the thought came to mind.

With his seclusion reobtained, Kokoro spent his time aimlessly wandering around the living room, occupying his mind by feigning interest in observing the old-style architecture of the building. There were various options he could start with, from the multiple bookshelves stuffed full of books both new and worn, to the fashionable dashes of white and orange furniture to accompany the green fabric throughout the room. A nest of questions and answers was waiting to be poked open to find out how she acquired photographed pictures in the afterlife and what it was of.

But, while it would’ve been interesting to investigate the room properly to decipher as much about the witty Irish woman who had kindly showed him around and let him stay the night, despite chipping away at his patience, his mind still lingered on his decision earlier. A sigh escaped him once again as he grieved, “This must be the piece of hell that comes with staying in Purgatory. Just when I thought I was out, I’m getting pulled back into the dreadful swamp I was finally ejected from.”

…

“I may be overinflating this,” Kokoro sighed, taking a seat on one of the couches, “I don’t even know what she wants me to do. An angel wouldn’t ask me to do something horrible, would they? Maybe it’ll be less soul-draining than being alive.”

Suddenly, Kokoro halted his train of thoughts, snapping his head to the window to look out of it. While he spotted nothing under the night sky except the stone fence, he couldn’t shake the only other feeling that hung on his consciousness for the past few hours. It started small at first, a lingering ember that was inoffensive in existence and could very well be the result of being in an unfamiliar area. But since leaving the restaurant, Kokoro had a chancy sense that a presence was stationed nearby.

The silver-soul couldn’t put his finger on it, even describing what he was sensing was difficult to convey and the entire thing felt like hysteria. Yet, the feel of some ghost presence, hovering around while staying out of even his peripheral vision still haunted him.

“You ok?” a voice asked him from behind, sparking Kokoro to look behind to see it was Seodra who was questioning him, “You tryna get a great window view of the plains at night or what? If so, I suggest waiting for a night with more light.”

Just as she said, the ruby-haired woman had a folded-up blanket and a pillow ready for use. As Seodra walked over to hand him his beddings, she continued, “The outside can be absolutely majestic under a good night sky.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Kokoro told him, keeping his concerns to himself, “It’s likely nothing.”

Accepting what Seodra brought for him, he noticed her change of outfit. Switching from the green waistcoat that had become some dust because of the demon attack at the market to a clean orange nightgown.

“That explains why it took her so long, knew something felt off since this place isn’t that big,” was one of the first thoughts that crossed Kokoro’s mind. Trying to move his mind past what was bothering him, he made a request to his host, “Mind if I ask a few questions?”

“Wouldn’t say no,” Seodra replied, with her hands now free she took the freedom to tie back her hair with an emerald headband, “I’ve already been fairly kind, easing you into this crazy plane of existence we’re all stuck in; ask away.”

“Do you often have strangers over?”

“Not exactly, no. Outside of friends and such, I usually don’t let many people come to where I live. Especially strangers I just met, that’s just asking for trouble if ya asking me.”

“Then why are you letting me sleep here?”

“I definitely wasn’t planning on it when I first met ya, that’s for sure!” she cackled, “Depending on how I felt about you would’ve been the difference between me being a generous guiding hand in helping find where you could stay till you discover your footing and leaving ya to the wind if you were a complete bollix.”

“The hell is a bollix?” thought Kokoro, putting that question on the backburner to ask, “So what made me the exception?”

“Mary’s interest in you, you can call it a referral,” she answered, taking a book from one of the shelves and settling herself down on a sofa.

Raising an eyebrow, Kokoro questioned such logic, “And that was enough for you? Do you have that much faith in her?”

“Told ya before, Mary is pretty awesome and has done a few favors for me before; I could do one back for her. I thought if she was so invested in talking with you that she ran around town in heels, then you can’t be that bad, right?” Seodra told him, sporting a smile, “Unless you’re secretly planning something tonight?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kokoro immediately told her, giving her a deadpan stare.

“Then there’s nothing to worry about,” she claimed, investing her attention into the book she took as she joked, “Besides, if my Scottish friend finds out anything happened to me, then you’ll have something worse than a demon chasing after you.”

“I get it.”

“Oh don’t misunderstand, it’s not a threat but a warning for your wellbeing. She can be hard to control and is prone to jumping the shark.”

“She sounds fun.”

“You have no idea.”

Her comment grew an inkling feeling in Kokoro that he was being kept under watch rather than a kind offer. Questioning if he had walked into a house arrest trap planned in case he didn’t accept Mary’s offer.

“Speaking of arrest,” Kokoro thought, looking over to his arm. He drew Seodra’s attention, holding up the arm that was wrapped by a chain as he says, “Oh, almost forgot. You never did answer about how you got your chain.”

The entire body of Seodra jolted at the question, like before her face suddenly flared up red and she practically jumped to her feet.

“Oh, you know. Living,” stated Seodra, her voice becoming a lot more jittery like she was pushed on stage to give a speech she didn’t prepare for. With haste, she began backpedaling toward her room, failing at any attempt at discreteness. With a horrible fake yawn, she babbled, “You know what, I'm feeling tired. I got something to do in the morning anyway so Imma head to bed. You don’t need anything right?”

Before Kokoro could say anything, not that he was going to anyway since he had his usual unmoving expression, Seodra self-answered her rhetorical question, “Right. Alright, sleep well. Good night.”

With that, the ruby woman zoomed out of the room.

…

“Shit, forgot to ask how she keeps making those gems out of rocks,” sighed Kokoro, laying back on the couch, “Should’ve asked her that first.”

“Hey, are you all excited to see that new superhero movie,” a thrilled male college student with slicked-back hair asked his fellow students, he spoke no louder than a whisper as they were in a library yet he couldn’t help squirming in his seat as his body was infected with a severe case of jitters.

One of the other guys in the group, having a lanky figure sporting square glasses and a well-groomed short mustache, gave a grunt before stating, “Not really, you know movies don’t do it for me anymore. I’m more excited for the next issue of Kamen Ame-–”

“You and your fucking American comics dude, I swear to god.”

“What? Some of it is pretty good!”

“Are you kidding me? All their stuff is the same crap; I’m sick of their cartoons always being the same generic family setting of a psychopath dad, depressed and unfulfilled mother, weird kids, and some talking animal all done in a disgustingly unappealing art style where everyone looks ugly as shit.”

“That’s part of the fun! Come on Raion, you’re overthinking things and ruining the fun.”

“Whatever Westaboo.”

Intervening on this verbal scrabble was a girl with round glasses sitting at the same table as the other two, her soft feminine voice whispering, “You guys might want to keep it down before you get yourself banned from the library, again.”

Both the boys immediately snapped their necks toward the front of the library to see a very disgruntled librarian giving them the stink eye, ruler in hand. Seeing that she had their attention the older woman gave a gesturing warning about their volume, making the boys straighten themselves back to their work; their bodies shivering.

Seeing them settle down, their female groupmate questioned, “Do you two need to argue so much?”

“I’m not Lazuli, I’m trying to enjoy the stuff I find appealing,” claimed the glasses-wearing boy, defensive as to why he’s being lumped in as if he’s the instigator.

Raion replied with an impudent comment, “And I’m pointing out that your taste is geared toward shit, Seibu.”

Seeing how this would go, Lazuli spoke up before the two started bickering again.

“Then please, can it wait till after we leave,” she begged, looking at the both of them, ”We don’t want to reorganize the entire library for a week so you guys will be allowed back in here again; right, Kokoro?”

Finally, sitting at the fourth side of the table was the living form of Kokoro, still with dreary eyes but at least his skin looks like it has some vitality in it. The entire time the living brunet was glued to what the group has been working on, snapping pictures of certain pages from the library’s book, looking through notebooks, and jolting down notes; he doesn’t give a reply or even a gesture of acknowledgment to his group.

“I don’t think he heard us?” Seibu questioned, impressed that his pace didn’t falter for a moment.

“No, he did,” insisted Lazuli, nodding before quietly repeating to herself in a more offbeat tone, “Yeah, he did?”

“It’ll be a hell of a surprise if he did,” stated the abrasive boy, brushing at his slicked-back hair with his hand. As he started leaning against the table he casually joked, “The building could be on fire and he wouldn’t notice it until the flame starts burning up his notes.”

“Yes, I heard you guys,” finally spoke Kokoro, not missing a beat in his working momentum, “The entire time, and unfortunately, every word; no matter how asinine the conversation gets. I’ve simply chosen to not engage, as you can see, I’m hard at work on the reason we came here for.”

”Yeah, I guess we should get back to that,” Raion mumbled, rubbing his neck.

Feeling a little guilty that they left the work to a single person in the group, Seibu apologized as well.

“It’s fine, I’m nearly finished anyway,” replied Kokoro, slowing down his efforts to only taking pictures of pages he needed. With the slower pace, he took the time to look up at his groupmates.

All three of their faces were a blur, completely overshadowed by swabs of paint brushed over, leaving recognizable facial figures obscured and barely any characteristics of them shined through. Despite this, Kokoro didn’t seem bothered at all, nonchalantly sliding over one of the notebooks he was reading to the one with slick-back hair who it belonged to.

Lazuli pulled one of the books on the table closer to herself before saying, “We should stop getting sidetracked so we can finish today.”

“Don’t freight over me,” Kokoro tells her, turning to his groupmate and seeing the pair of lapis colored eyes through her glasses.

“Are you sure? You often become withdrawn whenever we start bantering off-topic during our study sessions,” she pointed out, “I always felt- well assumed, you found it disturbing.”

“Being productive and chatting aren’t exclusive to each other, it’s to be expected when you’re in a group. I may not participate but as long as we finish in a relatively timely manner and I get you guys’ notes, I don’t mind; just don’t get too obnoxious.”

“But-–”

Her voice cut itself off, quieting down to silence. In its absence, her tall groupmate chimed in.

“It feels inconsiderate if we completely leave you out.”

“It’ll be nice if you share your thoughts once in a while,” Lazuli states, finding her voice again.

Kokoro gave a weak shrug, mildly going along with their request more out of indifference to the issue than any form of investment.

“Out with it then, don’t sit there like a ghost,” provoked Raion, despite his coarse attitude he leaned in close intrigued by what may come, “It doesn’t have to be about superheroes if you hate’em.”

“Are you joking? I love superheroes,” stated Kokoro, flashing a sparsely brimming smile at his groupmates.

His fellow college students' reaction was certainly intense, the brunet was sure he heard the deafening silence of their collected hearts skipping a beat; there might’ve been a gasp among them. Kokoro had to shoot back his own strange look right back at them, they were the ones acting weird to him.

“I hope this doesn’t become a trend when I tell people my interest,” Kokoro thought, he knows he can be incredibly reserved but this is ridiculous; it brings him to question how regular people see him, “It’s not that serious guys.”

Glee filled the voice of the engaged boy, it was hard for Raion to keep his voice down as he asked, “Does that mean you are hyped to see the movie with me!?”

“No.”

“Agh- Why!?”

“Zero desire exists in me too, it feels like a contrast to what I like about superheroes.”

“What’s wrong with seeing a movie?” Lazuli asked, confused as to how one can enjoy a genre of media while simultaneously not wanting to consume the media it comes in. It’s similar to liking beef but having no desire to eat an animal; it feels like a lack of thinking went into the line of thought.

Kokoro waved off the question, “Strictly speaking, nothing; I hope you have fun when you see it. It’s my aspiration towards heroes that’s telling me to invest my time better if heroes inspire me so much.”

The group’s expressions told the brunet that his ideal was still lost on them. Taking a moment to think about it, the lightbulb in his head lit as the living brunet gave a second attempt at explaining his reasoning.

“What’s the difference between a hero and everyone else?” he asked them, giving the question time to marinate in their minds before continuing, “If there’s a broken-down house, people will speak on it while only performing meandering actions to fill other motives, a hero will step into the house and see what they can do for the place; heroes are the people who are productive. So I prefer to be doing that instead of watching a movie about doing great things.”

Immediately after, Kokoro felt a buzz in his pocket. Checking what it was, he discovered he had gotten a text message on his phone; from a contact labeled ‘M. Suiro’.

Suiro: I’ve returned from my trip? Ready For Another Lesson?

Kokoro: I’m on my way!

Smiling as he shoves his phone back in his pocket, he arose from his seat and packed up his possession with wicked quick hands lashing out. As he zipped up his bag, he quickly explained to his group, “Speaking of which, I got to go. See ya next time.”

Looking down disappointed, Lazuli solemnly sighed, “Oh…”

“Ah, forget y’all. You’re missing out,” grumbled Raion, lamenting at apparently being the only one hyped for the movie. The only solace he could scrap was the foresight he had to not buy them tickets ahead of time.

Taking a more calm approach, Seibu pushed up his square glasses before waving goodbye as well, “Alright, see you later.”

With a nod of acknowledgment, Kokoro turned from his group to make a swift getaway from his groupmates. As far as the brunet was concerned, any trivial topic the group was discussing was already being tossed out of the focus of his mind to make room for the anticipation he was being filled with. But, midway through the process, he was halted; something had anchored him back.

“Do you have to go?”

Instantly Kokoro recognized it as the voice of Lazuli, the unnerved softness in her tone was quite distinguished among the people he knew in the realm of the living.

“We were planning on going to the park to get some ice cream after, why not go?” she asked, keeping a light grip on Kokoro’s right hand to prevent him from going off without at least listening to her, “We barely ever see you outside of our study sessions or the university.”

Without looking back, Kokoro gave an indifferent reply, “Another time maybe, I got too much to do right now.”

“You’re always doing something, it’s the same thing my younger sibling said. Hopefully, one of these days we can get you to come with us to unwind before it’s too late- late- late-”

“What the–?” thought the confused brunet, before he had time to think about why she was repeating herself he felt her hands clutch the silver ring on his finger, trying to pull the accessory straight off him; a horrible decision, “Watch it!”

Immediately snapping around, Kokoro was about to display one of the highest forms of aggression his group have ever seen from him; but he began frozen still.

A shift had occurred.

Black ink, thick and with the oozing consistency of oil, was excreting out of Lazuli’s mouth and drizzling down from her eyes as the blue hue of her pupil under behind her circular glasses was drowned out by the pitch-black liquid.

Her grip increased ten folds as she yanked on his arm toward her, repeating the same word over and over again with a rapidly rising voice, “Late, late, late, late, late, late!”

Despite Kokoro’s best efforts, he couldn’t break free from her grasp; it had an iron-grip, practically superhuman with no sign of restraint.

“Late, late, late!”

That word continued to be chanted, this time by the boys still at the table; they were also infected with the eerie black ink, ironically defining more facial features than they were before as imperceptible paint swabs. The library itself became distorted as well as the same substance oozed out from the bookshelves and dripped from the ceiling; within seconds this beacon of peace and quiet was transformed into a horrific realm.

As Kokoro attempted to process what was happening, the ink spurting out from the glasses girl began traveling from her arm onto his own, splitting off into multiple slimy strands before coiling around his arm. They slithered their way up like a million ants to his chest lumping where his heart was beating.

“Get off of me,” exclaimed Kokoro, continuing his futile struggle. He tried to raise his hand to break himself away but he found his arm to be petrified to act, instead, he used it attempting to brush away the black goop on his chest. It was to no avail, not making a dent or halting its movement; but a more terrifying revelation came to him. Dipping his hands into the black ink clot that was forming on his chest, Kokoro discovered it to be hollow, he couldn’t feel the surface of his skin; no matter how deep he dug in.

Before the option of screaming was even a consideration, the dreadful ink leapt from the clump and wrapped his neck tight as it continued its venture upwards. He felt it squirming up his face before swarming slowly over his eyes. He slowly watched as his vision became corrupted by the black liquid creating a lens of ever-growing darkness.

As his sight was about to be enveloped, the terrorized form of glasses girl leaned in close before shrieking in a grating voice.

“YOU’RE TOO LATE!”

Kokoro shot up from the couch, wiping his blanket aside like it was a predator trying to hunt him. Yet the flimsy piece of cloth posed no threat to him, he was safely in Seodra’s home. His alarmed state caused him to scan the entire room, breathing heavily as it came back to him where he was and how he came there; it took less than a moment for him to realize what happened.

“Oh, one of those again,” he mumbled to himself, his face quickly settling to his usual indifferent expression; he regained very little comfort. Not that he had a chance to anyways, as one concern goes away another captures his attention. An intense sharp pain flared up in his right arm, causing him to tense up.

At first, Kokoro thought he might’ve rammed his arm into one of the furniture when he swung his arm throwing off his blanket. He quickly realized that this assumption was wrong when he looked over to his arm.

The chain, the one that’s been bound to him since he arrived in Purgatory was lively. It rattled viciously, echoing the sound of clanking metal in his ear like a ringing bell; Kokoro quickly found it irritating and wanted it to stop before he got a migraine. At first he figured the pain was from how tight it suddenly felt on his arm, like a snake constricting his arm, but he felt this anomalous pain felt like it struck deeper than that.

“You again? Do you only exist to torment me?” pondered Kokoro, staring at the skull symbol he always found uneasy. A dim red glow now occupied the skull’s eye sockets that were once a tunnel of darkness. From the angle he held it at, it felt like it was glaring right back at him, “...Well it’s working, stop it.”

Kokoro clenched his fist attempting to numb the pain he was feeling, it stung but he went through worse before, just like then he needed to stick it out till the agony goes away. It was already subsiding since he had awoken and the dim glow in the skull’s eyes slowly faded out along with most of the pain.

With the ordeal over, the silver-haired man finally had a chance to sigh in relief.

“Is it me or are they becoming more vivid,” Kokoro asked himself, remembering the strange feeling he felt in that dream, the way the black ink scrawled on his body, “Talk about gritty, and of course my first dream here is a Junji Ito style nightmare. I really wished I never read those books as a kid over a dare.”

Though it was simply a bad dream, the silver ghoul couldn’t help rubbing his neck where the black ink had strangled him in his dream; clearing his throat over and over again till it got rid of the uneasy feeling it had upon waking up.

“There we go,” Kokoro mumbled, going under his shirt to scratch his chest, “I should get a glass of water, that’ll help me fall back to–”

He suddenly took a lengthy pause–

–Because nothing was happening.

”--Oh that can’t be good.”

Morning couldn’t come soon enough.

A meeting, that was now being anticipated by both parties, finally occurred for their interest to be satisfied; causing both of them to arrive at their meeting spot early.

“I hope you had a good night's sleep,” was the first thing Mary asked when she flew in. It was a kind gesture but also a discrete question as she couldn't tell if he did or not since his eyes haven’t changed since she first saw him waking up.

“It was… an enlightening experience,” replied Kokoro, walking over to the angel, “Gave me lots of time to cook up some questions.”

“I’m here to answer the best I can. I don’t mind informing you on whatever is on your mind while we go over what I wanted to disclose to you yesterday.”

“Pitch whatever you want at me. After last night, I want to discover what’s behind this chain latched on my arm,” Kokoro told her, lifting the bounded arm and using it to point to his chest, “And why is my heart not beating?”