Because I’m too lazy to draw her in a Halloween costume, this’ll have to do for now. Because going from Prinny then reincarnated as a demon is kind of Halloween-y. In this Disgaea verse, she does end up as one of Laharl’s lackeys after reincarnating as a demon. Now, she can terrorize other Prinnies, all the while bribing Laharl with pudding for better status, dood.
The room was particularly small, and much like the abandoned rest, pretty worn. The walls had tears from just how aged everything was; and the floor? It was no different.
Although unlike the rest, this was probably the only place that seemed to have had some form of human care, not because it looked like someone made frequent visits, but rather because there was some ornate decorations that lined the table-- broken pieces of porcelain, a pen split in half, and an aged book that was far too fragile to open, among other things. There was a chair there too, along with a bed. "...?"
The mattress was occupied.
Curiously, Kiomi stood beside the said furniture and stared down at it, optics lingered, fixated on the shape. If this was the last body of those said to be Shiranui's beloved, there sure was a lot of care that went into it. Unlike the burnt and shattered bones that were unabashedly abandoned in a heap like some kind of trash, this one had been well pampered, enough to have been given a resting place. I've searched all the other rooms. This is the last one. She mused to herself as she reached for the covers in order to reveal the last corpse, or bone, or whatever it was that remained of whoever it was that lay beneath the wraps.
Thud
Kiomi's knees gave in, and she was sent toppling to the floor. Whatever energy she had left felt like it had been drained from her body in an instant. Had the girl seen herself, she wouldn't have believed that she could turn paler than she already was. Her mind raced, eyes wide as she stared at the corpse that was in front of her. I'm exhausted. That's it. This is just some sick game played by that goddess because I'm tired. She told herself in an effort to stay calm, eyes darting at the floor in the process. It was impossible. That man is as strong as an ox. Out ran her earlier that day. Too tenacious a human being. There was no way. But despite her protests and rationalizations, she felt the airways in her lungs tighten. Her pulse raced, breath hitching. I'm just exhausted.
She repeated in her head like a mantra.
"...!!!"
So why, why, even with all this mental conditioning did the corpse look like it did? "Why--why are you here?!" She, who had been kneeling by the bedside, frantically loomed over the body. While preserved, it looked like all the blood and water had been drained, shriveled but not to the point of non recognition. If at all, she couldn't ignore the other indicator that was just displayed there, too unique for her line of sight to miss. No one just had a metal plate with the word "oil" inscribed upon it. It was set to the side, allowing the hair to just fall upon his ghastly face. "Oi..if--if this is some joke..." She forced out a smile, touching the man's face. Cold. It was so cold. So dry. So cold. So lifeless. "Hey--" She touched his chest where nothing was left beating-- where there felt like a deep gash. Deep enough for her to feel where the tissue and flesh had once mended. "Hey--" It feels like her breath was constantly getting knocked out of her lungs. No amount of running could have beaten this. No. She bit her lip, hard enough that it drew blood. Her teeth grinding as she stood up, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for something. "I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS." Where was it? Where was that apparition? She marched out of the room, searching everywhere. Searched the places in the shrine where she had heard the bell prior; down the catacombs that were now devoid of bodies... bodies that she dutifully buried. But it wasn't there. There were no more chimes. No more ghosts. Nothing. When she returned to the room where Jiraya's corpse lay, he was the only thing there.
So when she approached the bed once more, the light in her eyes had all been diminished. "Why...why am I the only one who has to keep on keeping promises?" It didn't matter if she asked the wind. The corpse. No one would answer her. She didn't want to accept this, but she made a promise. Bury everyone, to the last man. So she would do that, just one more time. Just because it was him.
Spreading the olden drapes on the floor, she'd have to make some kind of device to pull out the body. And when it was laid there, carefully, she would begrudgingly lift corpse just enough so she could behold him one last time. Her chest tightened. Why is it you? Sunken skin. A placid face. Compared to the annoyingly lively expression he wore, compared those brows often knitted with strictness when she was being difficult, compared to that almost childish demeanor when she fell prey to one of his tricks, this was unbearable. For but a moment, she allowed for the lifeless to tip over forward towards her. The last time that she'd ever hold him in an embrace that she would never forget. Who cared if it was a corpse? Who cares if it was a corpse? She grated her teeth at her lower lip more, biting back whatever feeling was coursing through her system at that moment. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS.
Conjuring the seals, she made at least three kagebunshins to help her lift the body onto the wrap. Taking his hitai ate, she would place it upon his bosom, before carrying him out into the courtyard.
Every strike to the ground was like a strike at her core. The bitterness and resentment overflowed along with emotions that she couldn't place quite well. The only thing that she knew was that it was severe enough to cause her all this anguish.
A hole that was deep enough and long enough to house his body. Carefully they would fully cover him then with the cloth, before being lowered into the grave that had been dug just for him. With that done, Kiomi dispelled the kagebunshins before taking to the shovel once more. Her hands shook and her fingers quivered. The moment when she finishes piling soil on top of him, would be it. Slowly, despite filling this unsightly hole it the ground, it seemed like another was being hallowed out. Inside her chest, her heart felt like it was being squeezed of its very essence. As if nails were digging through the sensitive muscle, bleeding it dry for what it was worth. How could something that was not even an injury be so wretchedly unbearable?
'Don't make me live in a world without you.'
She could hear the sound of dirt as it continued to be shoveled into the hole.
'Then stay with me until you do.'
The words seemed to resound in her head as the soil poured, and poured, and poured over the body. "How--" When all of it had been filled, she drove the shovel hard into the center of the mound.
"How dare you demand of me something that you can't even do?!" For the first time, her voice cracked and before she knew it, Kiomi's face was drenched by a stream of tears. Something which, no matter how much she tried to stop, no matter how much she wiped at, couldn't simply be chased away. All the frustration that she felt, all the shock, released in a cry that she could no longer hide as she slumped down over the grave. She clutched the earth and dirt that was underneath her palms. Again--she would never see him again.
“I think I'll be sad if I don't get to see sensei again.” The weight of the words, that she thought trivial hit differently now. Sad? Sadness couldn't hold a candle to this festering lump of void that was consuming her every wit and whim; that sense and reason she was trying to hold onto.
To bury the person that she loved with her own hands, she didn't want to do it. She didn't want to do it. Didn't want to accept this reality that was in front of her. The worst thing you can do...is make me live in a world without you...
A world without one person. Who would have ever thought that such a thing would affect her so?
She wanted to learn more. She wanted to know more. She hadn't even done anything to truly make him proud, even as just his student, she hadn't truly done anything that was worth being acknowledged by him. And now, she had to continue on with her days without that guidance, that kindness... that warmth.
I haven't even told you anything...
She didn't even have these tears for the people that she had left behind prior. But now, here it was, offered to just one. A lifetime's worth of it.
