The room was filled to capacity. Though Raiha was mysteriously
missing, both Joker and Neon were sitting quietly in the back. The
KFC was eagerly assembled, curious to hear what he had to say.
Kurei stood emotionlessly at the front of the room. "Dim the
lights," he commanded, and Shuusai obeyed.
Kurei cleared his throat. "This session is entitled 'Psychology of
a Villain: How a Warped Childhood Can Excuse Crimes Againt Humanity.'
Now, the secret to this is, you don't have to make up your own
excuses. Rather, you can get others to excuse you-- thereby
alleviating the blame from yourself. They can always place it
elsewhere, and we villains don't have to be bothered by it. It's
quite a useful, handy thing. 'Oh, he may be evil, but deep down
inside, he's good!' they will say. You remember that's what Koganei
said to me. And how did I respond? I tried to kill him." Kurei didn't
sound particularly perturbed by the memory.
JiaXian and Rei leaned forward. Everyone else slumped a little in
their seats. They suddenly felt nervous for the first time.
"Allow me to present an illustrated multimedia depiction of the
events of my life," said Kurei, with a slideshow-clicker in one hand
and a remote control for the tv in the other. "Now, for the
beginning, we must start with the warped childhood..."
An image of Kurei in the process of stabbing Recca suddenly
occupied the screen. "Now, some will say that my warped childhood
will excuse my crimes against humanity. And I say that's ridiculous.
I made a perfectly good decision on my own that Recca must die. Recca
was a problem; I knew how to fix it. If I had succeeded, I wouldn't
have had to undergo such traumas as I later faced. And yet those very
same traumas were what made me strong, but also what makes me who I
am today. And what am I today? Probably the most kakkoi of all the
villains of FoR, despite what other people with large egos might
think." He cast a pointed glance in Joker's direction.
"Now, next, we have a mass murder going on while I was imprisoned
in the jail," said Kurei, clicking through a number of well-chosen
slides. A few of the members looked a bit green. Others chose to
study their hands, neatly folded in their laps, rather than look at
the images. JiaXian, Saturn, and Rei leaned forward, more intent than
ever. "Some might say that that sort of trauma would be an excuse
enough to drive me over the edge. And again, I say that's not so.
Regardless of what was going on in the outside world, I still had my
vengeance to take. Being jailed was only a minor setback. It didn't
matter that the village was being massacred; I had a job to do, and
even as a small child, I knew my duty when I saw it. Now, next..."
An hour and a half later, everyone was thoroughly slumped to the
bottoms of their seats. They had been subjected to over one and a
half hours of graphic carnage. Even JiaXian, Saturn, and Rei had
sickened of it.
"Any questions?" asked Kurei abruptly, and no one dared open their
mouths. "Good," he said with a smirk. "The lecture is over then."
"A-a-arigatou, Kurei," said Bottou-chan, walking weakly up to the
front of the room. "Errr... everyone, be sure to come back for lunch
tomorrow, when Kurei will be our guest speaker..."
Kurei nodded, and left, with Joker and Neon following close
behind. The members of his fanclub, however, remained seated, still
in shock.
"I don't think I want any lunch," whispered Nekomi, whose package
of pocky was lying untouched for once.
"I think I'm afraid of what he might say," agreed Koichi.
Natsumi's pen and paper were lying untouched on the floor at her
feet as she hugged her bishonen ball to herself. "I think I'll save
my questions for a better time," she whispered to Lynn-chan.
"Probably the best idea," agreed Lynn-chan.
"Remind me to never, ever get on his bad side," murmured
April-chan, and Julia and Ashley, sitting next to her, nodded,
wide-eyed.
"That was scarier than the ending credits of 'Lamuness & 40
Fresh'," whispered BabySilve.
Kid-O gave a short laugh. "That's an understatement," she
agreed softly.
Ailin picked up her scythe. "I think I need a nap," she said
casually. "There's just something... emotionally draining... about
watching all those people get slaughtered."
Bottou-chan nodded, weakly. "How about we all go find
something to take our minds off the last session?"
"I know what would help me," said Natsumi brightly. She
brandished her bishonen ball. "Mikagami, I choose you!" she cried,
and he was zapped to the floor in front of her.
"Better than landing in the water," grumbled Mikagami, picking
himself up from the carpet and brushing the lint from his pants. "At
least you didn't aim for the water pitcher or anything."
"Don't be sarcastic," said Lynn-chan. "Come on, Mikagami, you've
got to entertain us."
Mikagami sweatdropped. "What do you want me to do, serenade you
all personally?" he inquired sarcastically.
"Sounds great! Let's go try the karaoke machine downstairs!"
suggested Baby-Silve, and the members of the KFC, desperate for
_anything_ to distract them, migrated away towards the elevators.
JiaXian wasn't that desperate, however. He, Saturn, and Rei went
off to his room to play Parcheesi.
Back to the
KFC