#rain code chapter 0

[renavi0]

Rain Code Vampire Hunters AU — CHAPTER 0

Tw: some blood, death

The story begins with a young man who woke up near a mysterious altar, inside a cave. He couldn't remember anything: how he ended up in this cave, his past, or even his name.

After looking around and checking his pockets, he found a letter. From that letter, the young man learned that his name is Yuma Kokohead, he's a vampire hunter and that he, along with many other hunters, was sent on a mission to find the mysterious Kanai City. The letter also mentioned that he should meet up with a group of other hunters to go to their destination together.

Therefore, Yuma had no choice but to leave the cave and try to find the other hunters, not even knowing where to go.

Luckily, he soon found them..... or rather they found him. All this time Yuma wasn't far from the station, where he, Melami, Pucci, Aphex, Zange, and Zilch were supposed to meet. And while the other hunters were waiting for the last person, they noticed «the little guy who got lost in the forest».

They were surprised to know that Yuma was the hunter-in-training they had been waiting for. However, they didn’t know anything else about him. Aphex even doubted Yuma's honesty about amnesia and that he's a hunter, but the letter and the vampire hunter's badge convinced the others of his validity. They had no choice but to set out for their destination.

They spent about a week on the road. During this time, Yuma got somewhat used to his colleagues. Not everyone treated him well, but for Yuma, these were the first people he thought he could rely on.

However, there was something that scared him. A mysterious voice that he heard more and more often every day. Yuma had begun to think he was going crazy, until he saw a purple ghost in front of him.

That day, Yuma had fallen behind his colleagues and got lost. He was shocked by what he saw. The ghost said she’s Shinigami – a Death God, with whom he had made a contract, and thanks to which he could now use her powers.

Yuma's head was spinning from all he heard. He couldn't immediately accept all the new information and the appearance of the Death God herself, but he was forced to put aside his worries and questions in order to return back to the others.

However, Yuma discovers something terrible. He finds Zange, mauled and covered in blood, about to die. Yuma runs to help him somehow, but Zange only manages to say, "He wasn’t who he said he was". Yuma began to panic, realizing that somewhere nearby is the vampire that killed Zange and is going to do the same to Yuma and the others.

Unfortunately for him, he then found the torn bodies of Pucci and Melami. While searching for both his companions and answers, Yuma thought more about Zange's words and realized that the older man had meant that there was a traitor among them.

Yuma eventually found the rest of their group, though not in the way he had hoped. Aphex was lying bloody and ripped on the ground, and in front of him stood Zilch, covered in blood and with black and red eyes, staring at Yuma with a feral expression. This image felt very familiar to Yuma, causing him to panic.

Zilch looked at him with a smirk on his face and inquired if Yuma remembers him. Yuma didn't understand what Zilch was talking about, but Zilch didn't care whether he remembered him or not. In his current state, getting rid of Yuma would be much easier.

Zilch began chasing Yuma. Yuma could only run until Shinigami began telling him that he should finally use her powers, as it was the only way he could be saved at this moment. Yuma desperately called upon Shinigami, the Death God transforming into a large scythe in his hands. Now the Death God has become a tangible material. She informed Yuma that this form of hers is the ultimate weapon against vampires, from which they cannot escape. And despite his poor skills with weapons, he entered into battle with Zilch. As a result, he barely, but defeated him, piercing him with the blade of the scythe.

Yuma didn't know what to do next once the battle was concluded. His colleagues were killed, one of them was a traitor, and he didn't even know where he was. He had wanted everything to stop at that moment and give him a chance to come to his senses.

However, he heard a rustling sound close to him, which meant that someone was nearby.

As he prepared to fight again, he ran into a tall figure, which frightened them both initially. In front of him, there was a middle-aged man with blue hair and glasses of the same color, standing near a tree, scared, holding his heart.

The stranger assured him that he didn't want to cause harm and was only worried, because he saw someone running in panic. The blue-haired man introduced himself as Yakou and said that he lives in this forest and helps lost people or vampire hunters who sometimes need a place to stay for the night or day. Although he admitted that he meets the latter of the two options very rarely, but over the past month he had spent a lot of time with four hunters who arrived in a nearby village. They didn't tell him their goals, but he himself admits that he can do little to help them.

Yakou then offered to take Yuma to the village to the others, to which Yuma hesitantly agreed, full of distrust but had no other options. On the way, Yuma recounted his experiences with his first group, after which Yakou expressed his sympathies and tried to help.

—

Happy that I finally got to do something big with vampire hunters au!

Initially, I was going to do something more large, including a comic about how Yuma met Yakou. But I realized that I don't have enough energy for it, especially recently because of work (it was a hard period), so I decided to do everything in this format

I didn't want to stray too far from ch 0 of the game, but I did add some new details and hints that I hope you'll find intriguing. Do you think Yuma really knew Zilch before he lost his memory?

I also want to thank @draconicsparkle ( I hope you don't mind that I'm tagging you here) for beta reading. You really helped me a lot!

I hope you all enjoy it! I would like to see your comments and any guesses you may have (my askbox is always open)

Thank you so much for reading!

[dangancode]

Rain Code Chapter 0, and why its Twist F*cking Sucks.

This is going to be the start of a series I call "My Gripes with Master Detective Archives: Rain Code". Unfortunately, they are quite numerous, but I figure it's better for me to split them up rather then write one massive post complaining about it.

Because yeah, I did the writer's equivalent of a rage quit on this game, and it breaks my heart. Not only because the writing doesn't work, but because IT HAD THE POTENTIAL TO.

And what better place to start this then the Massacre on the Amaterasu Express, and why shock value is not good writing.

Spoilers for Chapter 0 of Rain Code, and also for Danganronpa 1, 2, V3, and UDG.

Right off the bat, we're introduced to five other characters besides our infamous protagonist, Yuma Kokohead. Aphex Logan, Melami Goldmine, Pucci Lavmin, Zilch Alexander, and Zange Eraser. They're introduced, provide a bit of exposition to Yuma and the player, and their dynamics seem pretty solid so far. Each of them has room to develop, there's hints that Pucci might be a love interest of sorts to Yuma, and some of even show off cool powers that definitely might come in handy in later cases. But then what happens?

They're all f*cking killed. They last twenty minutes before every single one of them, including the culprit, all die off-screen.

SO YEAH. IF YOU'RE ANYTHING AT ALL LIKE ME, YOU'RE MAD. Not upset, not devastated seeing characters you like die.

F*CKING. MAD.

What Kodaka seems to have forgotten when writing Chapter 0, is that there's a reason the deaths in the Danganronpa series work. THEY EXPLICITLY PUT THE IDEA OF MURDER INTO YOUR HEAD. From the very moment Monokuma is introduced in DR1, he says directly, without any sugarcoating, that the only way the characters can get out of permanent imprisonment is to kill someone and get away with it.

The writers don't say who will die (ignoring the whole 11037 thing), because they don't NEED TO. They know the player is smart enough to use context clues and figure out, "Hey, Sayaka and Makoto have been getting awfully chummy, chances are she's probably kicking the bucket." It makes sense, there's payoff, and the moments leading up to that are meant to build connection between the player and the characters.

WHAT PAYOFF IS THERE IN RAIN CODE CHAPTER 0'S TWIST?!

There is none, because Kodaka forgot to give us, the player, any semblance of a hint aside from the chapter's title that maaaaaybe these characters aren't gonna live much longer so try to avoid getting attached.

And no, saying "it's made by the same people who made Danganronpa so it's on you for not expecting that" does not suffice here. Even if Rain Code were established to be part of the same universe or whatnot (it's not), why didn't they give us a bit more warning?

WHAT IS THE POINT OF INTRODUCING THESE CHARACTERS IN THE FIRST PLACE IF THEY'RE ALL GONNA DIE WITHIN TWENTY MINUTES OF MEETING THEM?

The short answer is: shock value.

Take a look at Kodaka's writing, and you'll find that he adores shock value. Between the protagonist swap in V3, the divisive "it's a lie!!" ending, and a handful of deaths throughout the series (Taka, Hiyoko, Yuta Asahina), and it becomes entirely clear that payoff isn't his top priority. It's pulling the rug from under our feet, watching us land on the floor, and when we say, "WTF Kodaka?!", his response is probably, "IDK what to tell you fam, you really should've seen that coming."

No, my dude. Of course I didn't see this twist coming. Because you did a terrible job with your foreshadowing. You introduced five characters whose only purpose is to improve your marketing by showcasing a bigger cast on the game's cover art, vaguely hinted at potential development in later chapters, and then did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITH THEM.

As a writer, I despise shock value. Not hinting at a twist properly beforehand almost never works, and when it does, it falls in line with what we know about the story and the stakes. But by the time the stakes are set up in Rain Code, Aphex and the others are already gone, so their deaths don't really matter.

If Aphex, Melami, Pucci, Zilch and Zange didn't exist, THIS STORY WOULD'VE PANNED OUT THE EXACT SAME WAY. Nobody mentions these characters again anyway, SO WHY DO THEY EVEN EXIST?

Oh, and I've barely discussed the culprit himself, "Zilch-Alexander-but not-really-it's-just-some-unnamed-hitman-who-looks-and-sounds-exactly-like-him."

You mean to tell me that the real Zilch just happened to look EXACTLY LIKE THIS RANDOM HITMAN? A hitman who, much later in the game, is revealed to be old pals with Yomi Hellsmile, the symbolic leader of Amaterasu?

You're telling me this isn't actually a hitman, he's an insider from Amaterasu who managed to not only get out of Kanai Ward, but only left to kill four detectives, use some intricately designed train to pull off their murders, and then frame the trainee who just happened to have amnesia so his alibi is already pretty shaky?

You're telling me he got past all of the security regulations that Kanai Ward had in place preventing people from getting in or out, and instead of taking this opportunity to spread Amaterasu's influence, HE WENT STRAIGHT BACK THERE AND EXPECTED TO BE GREETED WITH OPEN ARMS?!

Are you starting to get why I have issues with this chapter?

It would've been so much simpler to say "Zilch was bribed by Amaterasu to betray the WDO". Melami or Aphex could even mention something along the lines of, "Not all detectives care about the truth. Some only care about lining their own pockets and making themselves look better in the eyes of the WDO." Which would make it easier for us to understand that detectives don't always have everyone's best interests in mind.

And if it's absolutely necessary for the sake of the plot, to fuel Yuma's desire to solve injustices and learn how to use the Mystery Labyrinth to uncover the truth, why can't it just be ONE DEATH INSTEAD OF FOUR?

I discussed this with a friend of mine on Discord, but rewriting this chapter so that only Zange dies would be incredibly easy. Zange realizes their drinks are drugged, and when everyone else falls asleep, he confronts Zilch. Of course it ends badly, and by the time the others realize he's dead, Zilch's status as the traitor becomes even more apparent. One Mystery Labyrinth later, and Swank kills Zilch for blowing cover, saying something like, "You said this would go off without a hitch." It would make Amaterasu seem more like a threat, since they're willing to go to such extreme lengths to compromise the WDO's involvement in Kanai Ward. Aphex, Melami and Pucci would all join the rest of the detective gang along with Yuma, and the story would proceed as normal.

Do you see how easy that was? I'm not trying to say this would've been better than how it actually played out, but I certainly would've enjoyed the game a bit more, at least.

Anyways, I digress. Rants are exhausting, but I definitely feel better getting all of this off my chest. Of course, you're free to agree or disagree, but I'd really prefer not to be called an egomaniac just because I disliked Kodaka's galaxy brain storytelling on this one.

Have a great rest of your day or night, I'm gonna go lay down now. :')

[mxihi]

it's been a week so if you still haven't checked out neon downpour... you should !!! ==> @neondownpourzine i was fortunate enough to draw the lovely shinigami-chan in the mystery labrynth! really adored those portions of the game, so the time spent at the finality of these areas felt very short...

thank you again to all the organizers & members for all your hard work & wonderful words of encouragement <3

[loremaster]

when you think about it., rain code is just like among us

[koko-heads]

heyyyyy gay ppl

[pixelatedraindrops]

Yuma Month: Day 24: Mirror

A mysterious and fateful first encounter…?

[phantost]

Rain Code character requests, you say? Then, if I may, is it possible to request the 2nd form of Mystery Phantom Zilch? I love the owlcat hitman, his design instantly blew me away. Easily the best part of chapter 0 for me, and my favorite antagonist!

finding a good ref for this guy is Difficult but god his design is cool, esp cuz wings are like my absolute favorite thing in a design

[stariicreations]

**SPOILERS FOR RAIN CODE CHAPTER 0**

yup...bad girl online...yup...i was a danganronpa fan in 2020...

This would've looked cooler if I knew what I was doing but unfortunately, I've never made an edit in my life. I just couldn't get this out of my head, lmao. Someone feel free to make this but better.

^^ On that note, if someone's done this already, I apologize, I couldn't find anything but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[rainbow-journalist]

Thoughts on any of the detectives in Chapter 0? Contains spoilers of what happened

Oh, that's an interesting question, ahem! Talking about spoilers here.

Like everyone else, we didn't have much screen time to really have any connection with the detectives in chapter 0, Well, I completely understand that some fans like Melami Goldmine, and even Aphex Logan, also the culprit of the case being likeable is understandable.

But if I had to choose one of them, I think I would go with Pucci Lavmin.

Even though her screen time was little like the others, her little interaction with Yuma was nice, The two blushing was cute, I think her appearance is cool, the fact that she has stuffed animals is really adorable, she's only 8 centimeters taller than Yuma, She being 158 cm. I still think she would make a good romantic partner for Yuma in terms of visuals, I think... I don't want to argue about ships, and I have nothing against Kurumi, I love Kurumi and Shinigami.

It's a shame that she died, and like, the killer killing her was so tragic, right? Like, the others were tragic too, but, look at her, she's too cute to be murdered in such a brutal way. (DAMN, FAKE ZILCH!)

Thinking about the narrative, I think her character development would be for her to open up more and not act so much like a robot, she is quite closed off and avoids communication. (I don't judge)

I imagine AUs where she could have survived the attack, or she could have taken another route to Kanai Ward and stayed with the Nocturnal Detective Agency, her interaction with the other detectives would be interesting to see....or even an AU where she switches places with Yuma, and she is the protagonist? Her story and motives would be changed, of course. I would like to see how Kurumi would behave with Pucci, or even Shinigami/Pucci. Imagine how funny it would be to have a little young woman as the protagonist like Pucci. Calm down guys, I love Yuma as the protagonist. :3

About her forte, I read people saying that the chapter 0 detectives' forte are not that useful compared to the Nocturnal Detective Agency' forte? I don't really know my opinion on this, but I think they would make a good pair, like, imagine Zilch and Halara together? Melami and Vivia... and so on.

I don't know who Pucci could pair up with, maybe with Desuhiko or with Yuma himself? I don't know.

It would be funny to see how Yakou would deal with her, Lol.

About her relationship with Makoto, would she probably be able to see through his lies with her forte? Just studying a little bit about each of the detectives' forte in chapter 0 would be useful in the cases in the game.

In short, the detectives in chapter 0 can be interesting, I have nothing against them, even though I have favorite characters like Yuma himself, I understand some fans liking them even with little interaction, and the culprit reappearing part of the end of the game due to his important role in the narrative (?)

I don't know if I'll do more drawings of her in the future, even though I like the character, I can make her as a little ghost in the background, or explore an alternative reality where she alive. I like Alive!Aus.

I also saw that on TikTok mainly, she is shipped with Makoto? Because of Number One's lore and such? I really don't know what to comment on this.

Nothing against it, I even think they could match together? The similar hair colors, the reserved and closed personalities, I think everyone, even the Japanese fanbase, that Makoto without a mask is closed, serious, with a neutral expression, who has difficulty talking to people? Maybe he could try to abandon the mask persona a little. Also, I thought of some drawing of an event, Like, a masquerade ball, where the characters dress elegantly and dance together, I could see Pucci/Makoto like that, With Yuma/Kurumi or Yuma/Shinigami? I don't know, I also wouldn't mind seeing Makoto dancing with Yuma dressed as a girl, Hehe, Yuma in a dress, the girls and Desuhiko could make him wear it. I'm sure you guys know what my favorite ship is, and some extra mentions. I avoid talking too much about ships, because not everyone likes them and I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable with my personal preference.

Anyway, these were my thoughts, I hope you guys can understand my writing well. 🩷��🎀🎧

I don't know which emoji could represent her.

[yakool-foolio]

Pspspsps c'mere, I brought some Zilch headcanons for both real Zilch and Hitman Zilch

Real Zilch's personality is like a mellowed out version of the hitman's portrayal. He has an air of leadership about him, but he's not overly bossy. He's adamant and vocal about his beliefs, yet he doesn't command others, rather teaching them through lectures of his experiences.

Real Zilch has actual cat ears! He gained them along with the awakening of his Forte, a visual representation of nature's balance. However, he can get pretty embarrassed about them since he used to be teased about them often, so he still hides them under his hat when in the presence of strangers. In addition to his appearance, his iris designs are in the shape of paw prints.

As for Hitman Zilch, his actual appearance still bears a lot of similarities to his real counterpart, yet there are a few differences to be found. His dark blue-gray hair is longer and more unkempt, reaching down over his shoulders. He had to cut it down to mimic Zilch, which ticked him off since he'd been working on growing it out for a while. He doesn't wear glasses, instead wearing colored contacts to match his targets', but his iris designs never change. In fact, nobody really knows what his actual eye color is.

Hitman Zilch has multiple scars along his arms. Not from animals, but rather from harsh hand-to-hand and melee combat while in training for his job with Amaterasu. He learned from those experiences to always keep his fingernails sharpened and longer.

In his owlcat mystery phantom form, he's prone to making noises akin to the hoarse meows of a gray catbird (audio reference). When at his emotional limit, additional feathers can grow along his neck and arms in a range of colors. His claws can protract and retract at will.

[elina-sakura]

I’m just going say it although the book of death/Shinigami’s powers is cool also the big idea of the gameplay;in a way is kinda useless mostly on the fact the culprit dies,i mean HOW ARE YOU GONNA GET A CLEAR TRUTH WITHOUT A CLEAR CONFESSION!!!,also it just made it worse now that there now a person mysteriously dies out of nowhere,but they managed to put it in storyline sooooooo

Yeah something to think about

I think maybe it has to do with since Shinigami is the God of Death, her power is going to have a connection over on death. But you bring up a good point that it isn’t exactly useful considering it makes exposing the criminals harder.

Until I remember in Chapter 0 after the first Mystery Labyrinth from a YouTube gameplay I watched, where Shinigami comments how Yuma is now free since the culprit is dead, which the YouTuber comments that wasn’t going to work because Zilch was meant to be dead from the start and they only ended up reaffirming that narrative the Peacekeepers were painting to begin with. And I was thinking to myself, ‘didn’t they already figured out that the Peacekeepers were in on the plan in the Mystery Labyrinth? So why did she think the Peacekeepers would let him go if they were planning to frame him anyway?’ And that led me to think really hard about this.

We know Shinigami has the flaws of lacking empathy and not understanding humans at times, since she is an immortal god. I think in her mind, since the culprit is gone, there would be no reason for the Peacekeepers to keep framing him. Plus, again thinking into Shinigami’s mind, I think she believed since the culprit was a murderer would mean they would probably kill more people in the future, so the real goal was to stop a growing threat from claiming more victims like before.

And the killing thing? I think it’s a way to deal the justice in the holder’s own hands, to off the culprits so they don’t keep harming people from the mysteries they made, or claiming anymore victims from their deeds. In Chapter 1, one of the culprit was a serial killer, who would have gone off to kill more people. And the other culprit could have technically become a serial killer himself since he admired the Nail Man so much. Plus, an innocent man was going to get framed and executed for the Nail Man’s crimes to keep up appearances, and seeing how the Priest was going along with the lie, basically implied he was okay letting an actual, innocent man die in his place. Then in Chapter 2, Kurumi gets framed for the crime, and since execution seems to be a thing, she could have been executed herself, all so the Peacekeepers can keep their lies and appearance in place.

Plus, we have seen that the Peacekeepers don’t necessarily care about justice unless it serves them (or the higher-ups like Yomi in this case). They are willing to cover up the mysteries to convenient themselves and get what they want. And considering they are the police force, therefore the handlers of justice in Kanai Ward, they are the only ones in power that can lock away the criminals in hand and bring justice. But because they are so corrupt and self-indulgent, they are more willing to let criminals go or turn a blind eye or fail to solve the case thoroughly. So the Book of Death is the only way to ensure not only are the criminals are properly dealt with, but also cut away the Mystery Labyrinths as well. Since Shinigami has noted that if the Mystery Labyrinth grew and remain, they would influence other people into becoming murderers or criminals that would create more Mystery Labyrinths as well. As it was theorized by Yakool-Foolio that Kanai Ward’s Ultimate Secret’s own Mystery Labyrinth is what most likely led to the city becoming more crime-filled and creating their own Mystery Labyrinths as well.

It’s also important to note that there are other corrupt officials out in the world like the Unified Government who wants to keep their own secrets hidden away to keep up appearances. So it wouldn’t be far-fetched if there were other corrupt forces like the Unified Government and the Peacekeepers who would keep things secrets for their own benefits. Plus, we learned in chapter five that Number One of the World Detective Organization that he is actually in charge of issuing criminals to be sent to the death penalties, as noted here by Shiut, so I think executions and death penalties are uncommon in the Master Detective Archives world. So it wouldn’t be such a big deal for criminals to just die, even if it is inhumane and cruel.

In conclusion, I think the Book of Death is really a tool used in order to bring about the end of the criminals that threatens peace for everybody and could potentially hurt people (people getting framed, the killers killing future victims, exploiting people, etc). Since there is the chance of corrupt police forces not willing to indulge justice as they should and will let the mysteries remain and therefore the criminals free, the Book of Death is a mean to make sure the criminals and mysteries are gone. It’s a morally grey story where it may not be morally right, but it is not morally wrong either with the circumstances at hand. I think that’s what the Book of Death’s intention are, and why Shinigami thinks the way she thinks.

[renavi0]

Not long ago I started playing rain code again (or rather, before that I watched the playthrough on youtube of the entire game and only recently I was able to buy the game to play it myself). And while I'm still on chapter 0, I'd like to point out a couple of things

Firstly, the game shows us red blood almost at the very beginning of the case in chapter zero. I like that throughout the game there are quite a few small moments when one of the characters red blood is shown, but we are either forgotten in the process about that, or our brain perceives it as a normal occurrence and we don’t even pay attention to it

Secondly, in this playthrough, I want to gather information about the world that Yuma and the others live in. The fact that in their world there is, roughly speaking, only 1 state already sounds quite... dystopian. Not to mention the indicated regional inequality and about what happened in the Kanai Ward and why it happened

[cheesecakemermaid1048]

Idk why but I am suddenly liking the idea of Vivia and Melami being best friends.I always had soft spot "pathetic,introverted man & their extremely outgoing gal pal"type of platonic relationships.Tbh I feel like it underrated bit.

Though I can also see her working well with Fubuki too lol.I think they would be cute together as friends.

[sakura-code]

OK, so I realized for Dual-Sword AU that we've been talking about it as a whole right? But what about smaller tidbits? Like how the heck did the twins end up in Kanai Ward in the first place! I assume through the train but with two amnesiacs on the loose I doubt the both of them would drink the coffee!! One of them must have but for the other to as well? Unlikely... Makoto might be skeptical of the beverages there so he might be the conscious twin in the situation but but but but he might night might might stop Yuma? I don't know. I'm not sure if we explored their dynamic in this AU yet! It's been what? 2 weeks? My head hasn't been refreshed on the AU yet!!

I answer this in another ask I just answered after I’m finally answering this. But I’m definitely going to explain the characters’ dynamics and more specific of their interactions, since I’m fine spoiling that. Specifically their dynamic in Chapter 0.

Yuma and Makoto are actually suspicious of each other in the beginning. After all, how did the both of them just get amnesia at the same time? Though they both have the same letters and Yuma would note Makoto is genuine about his answers and would believe Makoto is in the same boat as him, making him cling onto Makoto. But Makoto, he feels suspicious about all of this. Especially with Yuma. And that suspicions increase when the detectives propose there is an imposter amongst them. Meaning even one of them could be faking in being a twin, or having amnesia, or even may be a brother turned traitor.

So when Melami offers a drink to Yuma, Makoto knew the drinks would possibly be drugged and was actually going to be fine with Yuma taking them. After all, it’ll incapacitate him if he is an imposter. But then he’ll realize that if Yuma really was faking everything, he would know the drinks were tainted and not want to take them at all. So he stops Yuma, though after he took just a bit that makes Yuma end up sluggish, and tell the detectives his suspicions.

That small action will affect the twins’ relationship later on in the Chapter 0 arc… (love tasty family angst)

[loremaster]

tracing over memes is good and fun actually

[myaami]

“I need a life,” Shinigami stresses. “I can take him right now, or you can step into his place.” Yuma looks at the pitiful form bowing down before him, cowering under the weight of Yuma’s accusations. The cruel, cruel truth Yuma had been seeking is laid bare, and the culprit has no more arguments. Still, Yuma hesitates. Shinigami sighs. “This will kill you, Master. Not today, but slowly, over time, you will lose your way. Are you really willing to do that for a filthy murderer?” Yuma learns of the consequences before they take hold. He can change things, if he dares defy death and accrues the cost himself.

I haven’t posted a WIP in a looooong time, but I've been taken in by Rain Code. Just some angsty angst. Fic is forthcoming at some point, but I’ve got a bunch of different directions I could take this, plus a lot of other ideas (namely, involving Vivia and Makoto, my favorites) so who knows what’ll come next!