prologue.

what is a god to a non-believer?

nothing.

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Contrary to popular belief, Iwazumi Sho is not a heartless man.

He feeds the cats in the alleyways across from his firm, and keeps a bird house in his backyard. He donates to his wife's charity every so often, and holds Christmas dinners for the homeless when he has the time to spare. When he sees someone in need, he gets someone to deal with it. He listens to his employees and replaces the coffee machine when it is broken. At the grocery store he'll help by rearranging the messes left after previous customers, and he always makes sure to tip his servers at restaurants.

He is, however, not a saint. Far from it.

"Fire her." Sho states blandly, not bothering to look up from his paperwork to his assistant.

"But- Sir-" She starts, voice wavering in a way that tells him that she knows she is treading a careful line. Disrespecting his choice of action could go only two ways. But she continues anyway, unsurprising him as he hired her specifically because of her fire and drive. "It was only a little mistake- she has only been here for two weeks. Give her time, please."

Sho actually looks up from his work and gives her an unimpressed look. "Did you not hear me?"

His assistant goes rigid, but she steels herself and looks at him in the eyes as she states, "Yes, I did."

Because he is kind, and because he admires her passion, Sho nods and goes back to his work. There is a moment of silence as he tests her will, and when she does not apologize or plead for forgiveness he says, "Fine. Deal with it. She is your responsibility now."

The Your job is on the line is left unspoken.

The woman gives a quick inhale of breath and gives a grand bow and she exclaims, "Thank you, sir!"

He says nothing as she exits his office.

Firing the new employee was without a doubt the best course of action; he valued efficiency. Mistakes and ignorance had no place in his company. Only the best were allowed the privilege to work in the kingdom that he spent so much time and effort to build. However, his assistant had worked for him for two years now. She was a hard worker and a valued employee. Firing the woman she was so attached with would be more troubling as her work ethic and respect for him decay. Sure, allow the new employee to stay; but another mistake would leave him with two less wallets to fill.

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Iwazumi Sho is not a heartless man, but those who know him best would say that there is a fine line between his kindness and condescension.

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It is late when he gets home that night, but his wife has dinner on the table regardless.

Sho does not love his wife; nor does she love him. However there is a sense of camaraderie between them despite their lack of passion. They are like-minded people and he knows for a fact that his wife never cared for relationships or romance. Sho's ambition took up most of his passion, so he could relate to her in a way that most couldn't. They weren't the typical relationship, but he could admit without a doubt that there was no one else that he'd want beside him. The arrangement of their marriage suits them both nicely and he likes to think that they are happy with the results.

"The results" largely meaning their one and only child.

"-and you would not believe what happens!" His daughter chimes from the table with enthusiasm. "You would think that he'd use some sort of cool jutsu, but instead he turns into a male harem!"

Sho has long since lost track of the conversation, but his wife gives a polite laugh at that. His daughter beams, so he assumes that is the correct response. He can't help but think that the show she is talking about is inappropriate. Death, war, male harems? What are they showing to kids? Sho stays quiet and allows her to ramble on anyways. He doesn't spend much time with his daughter these days and dampening the occasion would be less than satisfactory. Not to mention the passive aggression his wife would throw at him for making their child sad for lecturing her.

So the two parents sit and listen to their daughter as she rambles about her favourite television show.

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Sho dies the next morning as he is walking across the underground parking lot of his firm. He is hit by a speeding car, and spends the last few minutes of his life listening to the screeching of tires as the car makes a sharp turn and leaves him for dead.

He bleeds out before anyone finds his corpse splayed out on the concrete.

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What happens after death? Sho had never bothered to entertain such a silly thought. Why bother with what happens afterwards when you could focus your energy on the now? But he was a logical man and thoroughly believed that nothing happened after death and therefore thought that everything spanning from Nirvana to reincarnation was a load of bullshit fed to gullible sheep.

So, it was to his surprise when after he died he found himself in a brightly lit area subway station.

Sho looked around, thoroughly unimpressed with his current situation. He was quite certain that he had died, and even if he had lived he would have woken up in the hospital... not this. Whatever this was. He'd be inclined to think that this was a prank or dream of some sorts, but he was quite certain that most would be too afraid to pull such a stunt on him.

"Iwazumi Sho!" A voice bellows, echoing around him. "You have ascended from the world of man and now stand here, at the pillars and gate of Heaven! You shall b-"

"Bullshit." Sho states with a flat voice, arms crossing.

This was ridiculous and a waste of his time; whoever was trying to piss him off was doing a fabulous job at it. Normally Sho would act more polite. Cussing was kept to a minimum as it gave a bad impression of him. He thought that the situation warranted it. Sho was not silent about his disbelief of any sort of "higher being", and was not ignorant to how his employees would joke about how he thought he was the higher being. Which was, mainly, untrue. He had worked hard for his position, had little time to invest in unfounded theories about gods when there was little to no evidence to prove them.

Plus, they were in a subway. Did they truly think he would fall for such a silly lie?

"Pardon?" A voice speaks up from behind him, and Sho turns around to take in the new figure. There isn't much to take in; their entire body is hidden beneath a white cloak. The only portion of them that is exposed is the lower part of their face, as a hood is pulled over their head and down to their nose. Interestingly enough, the skin of the cloaked figure keeps changing shades. He has more pressing things to regard, so the detail slips his mind.

"Bull. Shit." He repeats in a firm voice that relays the fact that he is not falling for any of this. "I'm not certain what you are trying to achieve here, but this is ridiculous. Heaven?" - he scoffs - "Right. Take me back to the hospital or I'll have you and whoever bribed you into this sued for kidnapping and taking an innocent hostage."

There is silence from the cloaked figure, before they lightly mutter "Innocent, ka?" And then suddenly there is a large book in their hand.

Sho narrows his eyes, what sort of slight of hand trick had that been? He watches as the figure flips through the pages of the volume. "I do not take kindly to being ignored." Sho states, attempting to reign in the feelings of irritation. "Take me back to the hospital." It is not a suggestion, and he says it as a demand.

He is ignored.

"Exploitation. Theft. Deception. Falsification. Blasphemy. Malice. Greed-" The cloaked figure pauses so they can turn a page and Sho is too shocked to say anything. "-Pride. Calumny. Homosexual acts. Indifference. L-"

"What is this!" Sho interrupts before they can continue, mind reeling.

The figure pauses it's list and looks up, "You claim to be innocent, and I am reminding you that you are not." They pause for a moment, before saying "I haven't even gotten into your twenties yet, and it looks as though it only gets worse from here."

"How dare you." Sho says after a moment of silence, voice cold yet maintaining composure. "How dare you accuse me of such false allegations."

Sho is not sure where this person got this information from, but whoever, wherever, they got it from- there was hell to pay. For now all he could do was play innocent. If this was simply a prank, admitting to guilt could lead to unsatisfactory results. He wonders if there are any cameras around, and grits his teeth.

"False?" The figure states, before laughing. It's not nice, and the sound irritates his ears like fingernails on a chalkboard. "Would you like me to continue? You have quite the track record."

'He's bluffing.' Sho thinks, narrowing his eyes. "Who exactly do you think you are? I'll have you charged for this."

"Me?" The figure states, and is apparently amused as they laugh once more. "I am the being that shall judge your fate! I am that which allows passage to the gates of heaven, the fires of hell, the grounds of Earth."

"I see." Sho states blandly. "So I am to assume that I am speaking to God, then? Preparing me for judgment after my unfortunate demise?"

"Exactly."

"Bullshit." He repeats before muttering, "I don't have time for this nonsense."

"Oh?" The "God" states, before flipping through the pages of the book. Quiet in a way that suggests that he is not supposed to hear, they say "It states that you're Christian.."

"You, who accuse me of blasphemy, are surprised to hear of my disbelief?" He's almost amused but he's mostly irritated. "What kind of god does that make you?"

There is only silence on the "God"s end so he continues with a scoff, "I apologize for disappointing you like this, but whoever set you up to doing this obviously did not give you all the proper facts and information. I reject the concept of God, or any other higher being. It goes against all logic."

"What?"

"There is not a shred of convincing evidence that supports the theory of any god; regardless of whether it is from a monotheism or polytheism myth. Nor is there any that supports that some "intelligent creator" of sorts created and maintains the universe. You can blunder on about how you gate keep and choose where souls go after they die, but frankly it all sounds like nonsense to me."

Once again the cloaked figure is silent, until they close their book. It snaps out of existence, somehow.

"You truly lack faith, then."

"Indeed."

"Aaa. Well isn't this tiresome." The "God" states. "All day, everyday, I allow you humans into the afterlife, and what do I get in return? Lack of faith, lip, and insults. Humans these days have no sense of morality; you are all so selfish. Humans no longer have empathy or faith in those who created them. How far will you humans stray from your intended path? How far gone is your species?"

Sho raises an eyebrow, that all sounded rhetorical. He responds anyway. "You say it is us that lacks empathy and morality, but what does make a God? They who kill thousands of humans a day, who cause misfortune upon us? Who have allowed for poverty and discrimination to run rapid in our world? What right does it give you, a "higher being", to kill and judge the fate of others?"

"It is different, this is my fate to play and I execute my task in an orderly fashion."

"Time and time again I am only reminded how religion twists one's morality. Isn't it more amoral to allow some being to constantly take and take from us, than for us to lack faith for a higher power? Isn't it more amoral of us to defend the being who murders and creates chaos in our world?"

Sho paused to give the figure room to speak up, but they simply tilted their head to the side in a way that gave him the impression they were listening to him curiously.

"We have no need for faith anymore. Our species has evolved past the point of needing a higher power to believe in. As our technology and science progresses, the more our needs are independently and sufficiently satisfied. As such we will rise higher and our morality will not be twisted into something demented and complacent. Only those who are too weak, poor, lowly, experiencing hardship, will reach out to someone whose existence is purely theoretical."

"So you claim that your species lack of faith is due to your progression and lack of true hardship." The figure says, rather than asks.

"Correct."

"Then, in the event you were without this societal advancement and were put through true hardship, you would gain faith?"

Sho doesn't like the sound of that. "I wouldn't say that exactly-"

"Interesting concept. I'm sure no one will mind if it's a single soul."

"Pardon?" Sho says with confusion, "I'm sorry, as interesting as this conversation is I'm going to have to insist that you take me back home. The consequences of not doing so will be dire. I will have my best men tear you down and take everything you own should you not follow this request."

"Aa, how your species has regressed." The figure hums.

"Excuse me?"

The figure is then, suddenly, moving. As they walk along the platform they say, "Iwazumi Sho, you are the representation of how humanity has fallen. You exhibit all the toxicity and ruin that befalls your species. Your ambition will run you dry and leave you with nothing but your pride. Have you even looked back at all you have done and questioned if they were right or wrong? Or have you used twisted logic to justify yourself and your actions? When was the last time you loved something as much as yourself?"

The question chills him, but he can't help but think of his daughter. Sho tries to move, tries to speak, but he suddenly finds himself frozen to the spot, perhaps it's for the best. He wouldn't want something to happen to his child because of this madman.

"Oh, yes you are right- your daughter." If Sho wasn't already immovable he would have gone rigid. "Even then, when was the last time you truly spoke to her? Truly listened? Do you know her favourite colour? How she likes to wear her hair? Her favourite class? How about her favourite book or-" Suddenly the figure pauses, right outside the door of the station building. "Oh. Now that's an idea." They start moving once more, "How much do you remember of her favourite show? She loves to talk to you about it, doesn't she? It's written in your notes."

He can barely hear the, "Why is his daughter's favourite show written in there and not his atheism? Stupid book." the figure mutters.

Sho is thoroughly confused and he's beginning to think that this might not be as fake as he had initially suspected.

The figure continues to speak as if he hadn't just said that, "I'm sure nobody will mind. Let's put you to the test." The figure disappears into the building and through the speakers on the ceiling he hears, "Let's see if you are right, if putting someone in a position of hardship will awaken a person's faith. Let's show you how much you have-" then, from different speakers it's emphasized;

"Truly"

"Loved"

"Your"

"Daughter."

Sho is only capable of thinking H-hey wait-

- before the world around him goes back.

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Try your best to stay alive; you don't have anymore chances.

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When he startles awake Sho is a baby with wisps of pink hair and green eyes.

He is only conscious for several seconds - panicked, confused, disbelieving as he stares at the chaos of a hospital room - before he succumbs to the darkness once more.

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what is a non-believer to a god?

wrong.

hello. and yes, if anyone is wondering, this piece is largely inspired by the show youjo senki. i read the summery and was like "lol this could be a naruto fic" and haven't gotten it out of my head since.

sorry if any of this is offensive to anyone; i'm personally agnostic and don't support either of them lol. but it's fun to write for!