Interpretive Bias

I do not own The World Ends With You, it is owned by Square Enix!

Written for Twelve Shots of Summer: Seventh Soul - Week 6…

"To right the wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…"

After hearing the same speech for the third consecutive Day, Ayumu could almost say he could recite it by now. Not that there was a point to, only that Ayumu could. He simply instead chose to ignore it, starting to walk away from the mumbling Reaper to reach the Pact he had been trailing during the Week.

The proxy Yoshiya chose and his Partner were still asleep, allowing for Ayumu to feel the tranquil murmur of their navy and yellow auras to gauge their wellbeing. He wondered how much longer it would take until they realized they were ferrying the Gamemaster for five Days so far. Even when they were stupid and oblivious to the shadow shifting under the dumbest of the pair's toes, Ayumu supposed they weren't ones to look at the ground in their frantic search.

While Ayumu didn't understand the reason why the Players hadn't started chanting like the Reapers were, he knew Konishi would notice him soon. Ayumu merely turned to walk away before she would.

"Enjoying the morning?"

Ayumu didn't respond, nor would turning to face the speaker do a blind person justice. Not that it mattered, Ayumu couldn't really care about it even if he tried. So he reached out his senses, bracing himself to ready an attack as he waited for the speaker to come closer...

"Oh? Whatever happened to your wings?" Ayumu closed his eyes, deliberating on how familiar that voice was before lowering his guard. "Got into a rough patch with the Players?" It was just the same act as last time, to dispel interest from onlookers. However, for this time… it was hardly out of place with the Emergency Call in effect.

Slowly breathing, Ayumu simply read the mind to confirm his suspicions, soon turning to face Megumi.

The Conductor wasn't going to expect he was speaking with Ayumu if he didn't respond, and Ayumu knew when he did, he had to speak carefully if Konishi wouldn't pop out of the loud Player's shadow. Even if they never met, not being careful with his words would clue her in that he wasn't part of their forces. After all, Ayumu was the outlier.

He waited until Megumi grew closer before enacting the Reaper's Allegiance, hearing the man's breath hitch as expected. Ayumu held the position for a minute, to let the Conductor gain the full effect of his surprise, before dropping the charade.

"If anything, I believe the Players may wake soon, Sir," Ayumu said plainly. "Wouldn't it be better if we spoke elsewhere?"

For a while, Megumi was silent, then Ayumu felt the man's crimson aura settle in recognition. "But of course."

Ayumu allowed the man to lead them away from the district, noting the man was calm but this time wary of Ayumu's reappearance. It wasn't a routine Ayumu would allow, to reveal his identity too many times and especially during these circumstances. It just happened to be that Megumi stumbled upon Ayumu in the right place at the right time.

If there was a good person to trust right now, not to trust but to show who he was, it was Megumi Kitaniji. Megumi understood what Ayumu intended all those years ago, and without the man, Ayumu wouldn't have been passed hints about the Reapers' schedules under Yoshiya's nose to avoid capture. That is, until early this month when all communication had been cut short. Ayumu had to investigate on his own why that happened, but it wasn hard when he secretly caught Yoshiya in the act at a lower Frequency.

The further and further they got from the Scramble Crossing, the louder and louder synchronization of words fell into Ayumu's ears. Even when they went around the immobile Reapers, who held the same speech in their thoughts, Ayumu could tell he was hearing it from the RG too. Megumi didn't react to what was going on, so clearly he knew what was happening. It was perhaps he himself who was responsible for them, Ayumu surmised, and the teenager didn't know if it was a bad thing he didn't have to use his psychic powers to find that out.

"Have you noticed this?" Megumi asked, with his voice thick of pride. Ayumu watched as the aura of the man's arm moved as he swung it away from his body. "No imperfections, no mavericks, no individuality…" He laughed, sounding thoroughly pleased, "Everything is just as it shall be."

Ayumu held his tongue and silently let his unseeing eyes drift, feeling the ever stillness of diluted vibrancy in the bodies' auras that contrasted against Megumi's own, which was rippling with vigour. It could almost be considered a form of silence, the white noise they were making becoming the background of an otherwisely crowded room. Ayumu wasn't sure how he would have felt about this, so he wasn't really seeing why Megumi was feeling happy with this.

The blind psychic could almost say the man put poison in their systems and left them paralyzed; it wasn't as if the Conductor cared about people.

Megumi kept sauntering forward, despite not having noticed Ayumu's lack of opinion. "Shibuya will soon be one and the same, her people will be one with her. As long as by the end of tomorrow there is no scrap of difference, He will extend his mercy to all."

"Yoshiya wants this?" Ayumu pretended Megumi could hear his question, his neutral voice didn't enunciate it very well.

"I am acting on His will, and if it must be done in the graceous time that He has allotted me, I will ensure its completion," Megumi proclaimed, in a way someone would when reciting a promise. Ayumu didn't know if he was thinking of something else or not. "I am glad you arrived when you had, it would be impossible without having you do your part. It has saved us the trouble of locating you."

Upon the man's halt to search one of his pants pockets, Ayumu stopped sooner than the other had. He already sensed the strength of the Pin emitting its intentions, so the one Megumi was wearing was probably only for show. It wasn't like Ayumu was ever able to read the minds of inanimate objects, but even the procured Pin's energy felt like an illness. That was the best Ayumu could do to describe it as it was brandished in Megumi's grip.

Ayumu had no intention to wear it, not unless it was a dud.

"However." Megumi didn't present the Pin to Ayumu yet, instead holding it carefully at Ayumu as he spoke proudly, "With yourself in attendance, there may be another option we can explore."

"Which is?" Ayumu let his gaze focus directly at Megumi's aura, holding it up to point it at the man's eyes the best he could.

The man gave a breathy chuckle as he cupped his raised hand. "While I have no inkling where the Composer has set Himself up at, or why you decided to come out of hiding when He could discover you, it may dispel His decision of your state." The man's voice took on a lamentive tone. "He believes you're gone… imagine His surprise if He sees you're good and well?"

"He won't," Ayumu told the Conductor before he briefly let his lips touch against each other. After holding the pause, Ayumu added with a shake of his head, "Why do you think I would?"

"Come now, think about the pros in all this," said Megumi warmly; a tender thought coming to the man's mind that was vastly a mere daydream. Ayumu blinked slowly as the man decided to place the Pin away before Ayumu was treated to another attempt from the man. "Why would He go through with Shibuya's destruction if He in turn is condemning His own brother too? A ludicrous venture to follow forth with when His brother could tip the scales in His choice…" The man appeared to shake his head. "It would be easy to rethink it for His brother, and it will be in His best interests."

Ayumu reminded himself Megumi still wasn't going to accept that him and Yoshiya were half-brothers. To Megumi, Ayumu was Yoshiya's blood; half or whole. The man seemed persistent on it.

"By giving him me, you think that will make Yoshiya withdraw from destroying the place he's supposed to be governing," mused Ayumu with a tilt of his head, ignoring the glow of Megumi's aura unfurling gleefully. The blind psychic started to go on, "A purposeful ploy to make him realize he has something that could be lost forever, in order for him to avoid having it become a regret on his conscience after he has gone through with his choice."

That made the aura's brimming light swiftly retract. "Gone through with His choice?" Confusion trickled readily into Megumi as gears turned in his brain; he was trying to extrapolate what Ayumu's words meant even though they made a lot of sense to the psychic.

The man soon was studying Ayumu more closely, his emotions swelling out at awkward intervals until they were flared out completely in baffled amusement. Although, Ayumu felt his interpretation of what Megumi was feeling didn't come out right. "You believe He will not accept what I will provide to Him as evidence Shibuya is worth sparing?" Ayumu could picture him smirking.

Ayumu merely made his shoulders shrug. "You're assuming your work is perfect before you find out it's not."

That brought out a bark of full-on laughter from the Conductor. "Even with how you are, I cannot imagine how long it took to make that joke." Soon the man was wiping away at his face from how his arms moved close to the top of his aura, probably having had tears leak out from how much 'hilarity' he found from Ayumu. He finally addressed Ayumu again, "My boy… oh how misguided you are…"

His aura was settling into calm, or was he feeling content? The two of them were hard to place apart for Ayumu. "Do not displace what I gloriously sowed as failure when you don't even understand what is fueled behind it." Megumi probably was resting his hand over his chest now. "This is my finest work, and I am fully certain it will impress Him. But with you here, Shibuya's salvation can easily rest on you too."

Ayumu let his eyes drift again until he located a Reaper, soon pointing in the mumbling person's general direction. "Tampering with the population is hardly advisable when you're trying to impress Yoshiya." He drew his attention back to Megumi. "You have no doubt in your heart and it's afflicted your ability to properly gauge the outcome of failing, even when it's staring into your face."

"And what are you trying to say?" asked Megumi coldly. Not cold like cold, Ayumu reminded himself, the figurative cold someone's voice could have. Megumi perhaps, instead, felt threatened. At least, that was the best Ayumu had to look at it.

Ayumu blinked as he breathed out, "You're not thinking clearly and accepting anything at this point to satisfy your fears. You're ignoring them in the hopes it could be correct without taking a step back to consider the errors it's holed with."

"There's nothing not brilliant about it," claimed Megumi boldly. "I have solved the problem!"

"If you solved the problem, why consider pulling me into it?" Ayumu asked as he tried making his eyes look directly into Megumi's. "You want a failsafe like you're flailing for options. Options that make sense to you because you're willing to do anything, regardless of if you see the consequences, and options that you are convincing yourself will work-"

"If you had your emotions, you wouldn't be mitigating how climactic the situation really is," scoffed Megumi dismissively; his voice and aura grew from his anger. "Nor would you see how understandable it would be to cease this if you cooperate! Even without empathy, you would know what your presence would do to Him…" He barked out, "Imagine His feelings!"

Ayumu shifted where he stood to stand a little better, not that he had to. "You're not selling me with sentiments that have no meaning to me. I stopped caring long before I could."

As Megumi's frustration rippled out in tides, Ayumu shook his head and inhaled quietly. "Yoshiya doesn't have to see me to feel better about himself." He closed his eyes. "And if you somehow believe that him seeing me changes things, how would that change his mind about the rest of Shibuya? It wouldn't."

"But He believes you're gone-!" the Conductor gasped out in dismay.

"That's a good thing." Ayumu clasped his hands together. If that was supposed to affect him, Megumi was forgetful.

Megumi drew his arms open, his emotions spiking into desperation as he faced Ayumu. "This can all stop if you reveal yourself- think of how many lives could be saved if you make an exception just this once!"

Even if Megumi was panicking, the man was lying to himself more than he was to Ayumu. It wasn't about the lives, he was using his hand to subject the citizens to collective assimilation. Megumi was in the thick of throwing out excuses and hoping they would land on Ayumu, ignoring the fact Ayumu was reading him the whole time.

"You know I can't do that," Ayumu said with a shake of his head. His gaze settled where he sensed Megumi was again as he added slowly, "Yoshiya will never let me go."

That made Megumi stop, allowing for the man to rethink his approach. "...Even if you haven't been successful, understand that this is a crisis, my dear boy," said Megumi stiffly in a deliberate manner, a grim ripple passing through his aura. It soon was consuming it entirely as he breathed out resolutely, "What better way for Him to ceasefire than to have your return handed to Him!? See reason, you fool!" Ayumu could almost hear Megumi's teeth clenching.

"That could be considered cheating if I enter the odds now, Megumi," the boy replied with a constructed frown. "If this was Yoshiya's way of trying to lure me in, to see that I would sense the danger of my imminent destruction and make the mistake to show up…" Ayumu dipped his head. "That would be a blow to what I have left of my common sense, even to my intelligence."

The tall man started to shake his head, raw fear was enveloping him quickly as his arms sagged brokenheartedly. Ayumu didn't really want to ease the other's troubles, to stroke his ego and make him feel more important than he really is, when the man was being ridiculous. If Yoshiya wanted Shibuya to disappear, it wasn't like Ayumu had a reason to escape in time. His own agenda would be lost just the same if the city went with it; empowering Megumi was a useless venture.

"Remember who you're searching for... the person may be here..." pleaded Megumi as he took a step closer. "One day you may stand in the streets before you know no more if you don't take this chance now."

Ayumu blankly didn't make a move or have anything to supply to that. However, all he could say was, "The chance they're here isn't enough numbers to stake your claims on me, Megumi." That stopped the man in his tracks as a revulsion reared its head inside him. "Too hypothetical, too make-believe… " Ayumu tilted his head as he breathed, "No wonder your plan will fail."

For a few seconds, Ayumu knew Megumi was considering his words. Then, after more deliberation, the man mumbled out in dismay, "I-I beg your pardon?"

Ayumu raised his hand to gesture to a nearby myriad of voices, who had still been mumbling the whole while of Megumi's script. "Yoshiya probably never associates with anyone but you nowadays." As far as Megumi was concerned. "All you're creating for him is statues he's probably not interested in gawking at."

As a horror crawled itself out from the depths of the Conductor's soul, Ayumu continued as he shrugged, "When you think about it, what use do they have for someone who probably feels alone already? Decorative pieces? A frozen menagerie he could explore and get bored of relatively quickly?" Ayumu lowered his arm. "Nothing worthwhile."

Ayumu blinked as he added with a single bounce of his head, "To be honest, I believe Yoshiya would see more reason to wipe the city away if there's nothing left for him to be entertained with. You're just buying toys for someone who's outgrown them too long ago."

While Megumi slowly regained his control over his emotions, he soon fixed his lapels and headphones before clearing his throat. "If I may mention," Megumi said in a semblance of calm; it was just masking his arrogance. "You have not known Him since your departure. You would not know what He desires and favours anymore."

In return, the psychic moved his lips with the intention he created a smile. "True. But when you think about it, Megumi…" Ayumu waited to glean Megumi's hubris feelings before he went on to explain, "Yoshiya may only give you so much, but he could have just as easily written out the details. Are you sure Yoshiya gave you the whole picture, or has he given you enough that he wanted to share?"

"You act like you already know the answer." Megumi could be feeling either jealous or contemptuous… Ayumu couldn't really separate the emotions from each other to choose the right one. "Like I don't know Him when I've been at His side since His conception as our ruler... when you were not there to grace Him yourself! You no longer know Him as you had!"

"Reading his mind when he's no longer on my Frequency is a closed door to me, but even if it wasn't, I don't have the means to care what he has on it." Ayumu clasped his hands and played with them, even though he had no reason to like he used to. "I'm not blinded by love to project what I think he wants, I only know from solid conclusions of how it would turn out. If you still think what you're doing will satisfy him, it's not like I'm going to convince you otherwise. It's just that going about it 'wrong' will be the end of you."

For a long while, Megumi didn't answer him. His mind was already categorizing different ideas on how to make Ayumu understand or agree, but then it quieted. Even though Ayumu was left wondering what the man could have thought of, it quickly made itself known when he immediately drew his fingers back into his pants pocket.

There were plenty of ideas Ayumu had at his disposal to prevent Megumi from getting that Pin to scrape against Ayumu's Reaper hoodie. However, Ayumu felt that one way to get out of it was much more simple.

As the man approached, Ayumu didn't focus on him, he concentrated on the Pin itself.

"There cannot be exceptions," Megumi told him as he stood in front of the blind psychic. "If you can't understand, this will help you to."

Ayumu let his psychic energy wrap around the Pin, willing for it to bend as it grew closer to him. Even before Megumi was getting the metal needle unlatched from it, Ayumu continued as he felt its power start to taper…

If Yoshiya couldn't feel the presence of his own kin, lost in the masses of equally similar auras… Ayumu didn't see the problem with-

His powers were severed from the Pin; Megumi had it on him. Ayumu didn't think the man was so determined to get it on him to have resorted to freezing time.

The Conductor sighed, but Ayumu knew the man wasn't concerned. "I won't settle for partial cooperation, Mr. Ki." He suddenly reached over and grasped Ayumu's chin, brushing back his hood. "And perhaps you're right, maybe it's a good thing He thinks you're gone."

Ayumu didn't respond as Megumi smirked. "You're not worthy of His mercy."

Already Ayumu felt something was trying to worm into his mind, fighting to work its way in as he all but let it. Ayumu's head wasn't empty, but even he knew the Imprint should have taken root. It was caressing his brain, circling the very edges of Ayumu's skull…

But it wasn't working.

Megumi's grip on Ayumu's chin tightened. "Have I not forgotten… even now." Neither had Ayumu.

The voices from around them were still whispering in Ayumu's head, pressing harder and harder… They were now a constant in Ayumu, trying in vain to drown out Ayumu's thoughts like oil to water. As Ayumu felt Megumi let go, he checked Megumi's mind before blinking. Even if he looked the part, his eyes glowing red… Ayumu wasn't joining in with the chorus. It was a letdown for the man conducting it.

But for Ayumu, this was perfect.

Without moving, Ayumu listened for the words, soon focusing on the man again as he spoke, "To right the wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption." As Megumi went back to observing Ayumu with rapt interest, Ayumu went on, "That this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…"

Again, the man drew in close, grabbing Ayumu's chin again to twist his face side-to-side. Ayumu let him. "To right the wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…"

Finally the Conductor swelled with contentment, releasing Ayumu's face as he placed the hood back where it had been. He chuckled as he nodded, "To think a blockage would have halted progress…" He turned around as Ayumu repeated the mantra, pausing for a few more seconds before walking away. "But I suppose it was only a matter of time. Inevitable."

As soon as the man was out of the district, Ayumu ignored the voices around him and in his head to think, 'Sayonara, Megumi.'

After a moment of further waiting, Ayumu spoke with the rest of Shibuya, "To right the wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be…"

When reports came in that Shibuya was 100% possessed, nobody seemed to notice it was at 99.9%. Nobody but Ayumu.

- End -

...

EeveeGen9988: So... I bet you weren't expecting tbia story from me, but after the TWEWY The Animation trailer... my mind came to this. Heh. ;3

It's funny how much I had to trim this down, especially the two different endings that I had to choose between. For almost the entirety of the dialogue of this one-shot, nothing was changed but the actions and descriptions, grammar, the beginning passage as well as minor tweaks to the flow of dialogue. If I had to estimate, around 1000 to 1200 words were either dropped or recycled (not counting author's notes).

I chose to do both prompts for this, so I hope I reflected them well. *sweatdrops*

For [Battle With a True Hero], if you squint, this whole conversation was my way of subverting it? Ayumu, by no means, was the hero in all this, nor was Megumi. However, Megumi always had, in my opinion, seen himself as the 'hero' when I went through TWEWY. But Ayumu expressing the limitations to Megumi's plan could also be seen as him 'being' the 'hero'. However, there's so much bias of whether or not there was a hero that there's a lack of hero, I believe. Or, to be honest, a lack of a True Hero (leave that to Neku, though).

As for [Wading Through Garbage]... wouldn't you say Ayumu was Wading Through Megumi's Garbage? Interpreting it to explain why he thinks Megumi will fail? Or is it just me? ;3