After The Rain Komahina Fanfic

The Ultimate Puppet Master Has Entered The Chat

Makoto stood outside the door on the ship. He really didn't want to be here. He didn't want to knock on this door, and he definitely didn't want Them to open the door. He glanced to his right to see Nagito smiling back at him. He sighed, then swallowed. He then turned to his left to see Hajime, who was fidgeting with his tie. Hajime looked at Makoto and gave a half-hearted grin. Then, being impatient as ever, he quickly rapped three times on the wooden door with his knuckles.
Makoto stiffened as the handle started to turn. The door opened slowly, though he could not see anyone on the other side until he looked down. He heard Nagito let out a slight giggle at the sight of the small plastic and metal figure standing about three feet tall.
"That's the Puppet Master?" Nagito asked with a smile.
"No." Makoto said quietly. "That's the puppet."
The small figure put its hands on its hips and scoffed. Suddenly, as if someone or something switched on a television, an image of a face flickered on the smooth plastic head. It was hazy at first, but in a matter of seconds, it was fully formed. Definitely female, and slightly older than the rest of them. Her hair was a beautiful rose gold color. Nagito wondered if it would be soft to touch, and reached out a hand tentatively. "Hey now, no touchy!" She said backing away.
"She doesn't like being touched." Makoto said with a small grin. "At first anyway" he looked at her again with a smile. "Isn't that right, Uta?"
"Only for you, darling." She said taking Makoto's hand. She then turned her attention to Hajime. "Why are there two of them?" She whispered to Makoto.
Makoto looked at her horrified. "You can see the alter?" He asked.
"Oh, I guess I can." She said, blush forming on her cheeks. "He's much more....solid...than the usual, everyday alter..." She walked over to Hajime, looking at the space right behind him. "You should let your hair grow out." She said looking at Hajime now. "At least a little. He prefers it that way."
"Wha....how do you know that?" Hajime asked.
Uta turned to face him fully, she grabbed his tie and jerked him down to her level. "First of all, don't talk down to me, it's rude." She was looking him in the eyes now. "And second, he told me." She said with a smile.
"Uta!" A voice called from the inside of the small room. "Who is it?" The voice was a mixture of male and female with a heavy Irish brogue.
"Makoto, and he brought his entourage with him." She yelled back into the room.
"Oh, shit!!!!" They yelled. "Was that today?"
       Uta turned toward the room again. "Apparently, otherwise I really don't think Short Stuff would be here."  She said with a little laugh. She stepped to her right a little opening the door wide enough for all three to walk in.

         Hajime was surprised by how empty the room was. No furniture, except for a twin bed at the far side of the room.  A large chest, with various items of clothing and props draping over the sides was next to the bed.  The most alarming thing in the room, as everyone stood in silence, was the Puppet Master themself.
           They sat with their legs crossed on the bed.  The most remarkable thing about them was how ordinary they looked.  The clothing choice was a bit odd. Black jeans and a patchwork hoodie. They had red hair, which hung on their shoulders down to the middle of their chest. The pale face revealed nothing, except two bright green eyes that seemed to burn right into your soul. "Ah, Makoto! You've brought me new toys." They said clapping their hands together, smiling.  "I'll take the white haired one." He said looking at Nagito. "The brunettes are too moody for my liking."
         Makoto laughed. "Oh, you really don't want that one."  He looked over at Nagito, still smiling. "Besides, they come as a package deal."
         Nagito stepped forward, his hand extended. "Nagito Komaeda." He said with a smile. "How would you like us to address you?"
       The Puppet Master raised an eyebrow, smiling at Nagito. "Akira." They said after a short pause.  They walked a complete circle around him, then turned their attention to Hajime. "What is your story?" They asked looking first at Hajime, then to the empty space behind him. They nodded, as if someone were talking to them."You should let him out more often." They said finally looking at Hajime again. "He will never grow as a whole person if he never interacts with other people."
Hajime looked at him confused. "Why is everyone here concerned about Izuru all of a sudden?" He asked.
The Puppet Master, stopped to look at Hajime. "Because it seems that he has taken the majority of the abuse, with little else to frame a reference to this world." They turned their lanky body towards the bed again. "Highly intelligent, but socially naive is never a good combination." They turned to face them again, fastening a glove on his right hand. "Let's go collect my prize." They said with a grin, and walked past them all to the door.
They all followed to the lower level of the ship, where there was only one room with heavy iron door. Makoto reached for a key, unlocking the door and slowly opening it. Akira flexed his hand at the wrist, extending all but two fingers, and waited patiently as the only occupant of the room came walking awkwardly towards them.
Nagito stood protectively in front of Makoto as the tall blonde wobbled past them. He was not shackled at all, but still made no attempts to move his arms. Almost as if he had no control over his own limbs.
Akira made another sharp movement with his hand, and Byakuya turned swiftly around the next corner.
Nagito was amazed by this and walked a bit faster to stand next to Akira now. "So, you use the glove to control him?" He asked.
"Yes," Akira said, turning to him amused.
"Can you control anyone you want?"
"Not exactly." They said with a smile. "The convict has been surgically implanted with nodes, which connects to the nodes on my glove, which I use to control him." They said, jerking their middle finger and thumb up together, which caused Byakuya to lift his right arm and leg at the same time, as if doing a dance move.
Nagito laughed. Clapping a hand over his mouth as he did. Akira took this as encouragement, and wiggled all of their fingers at once, causing Byakuya to flail all his limbs in every direction at once, finally falling face first on the wooden deck of the ship. This caused both of them to burst out laughing. Makoto looked up to see Byakuya brushing himself off and attempting to stand again, only to have one leg fly out to the side, sending him crashing on his butt again. Makoto couldn't help but smile, before regaining his composure, and glaring at the two of them. "Enough." Was all he said.
Akira turned to smile at Nagito, raising their eyebrows, and motioning towards Makoto. They made a mock serious face, then rolled their eyes and smiled. This made Nagito laugh again. "So how does the puppet work?" Nagito asked. "Because she was moving on her own before you even put the glove on."
"She is a special project of mine...a puppet controlled by a human soul." They smiled at the shocked look on Nagito's face. "Oh course, if she gets out of hand, I can still control her as much as the rest."
"She's only three feet tall, how much harm could she actually do?" Nagito asked with a grin.
"Her strength lies within her talent." Akira said quietly.
"What is her talent?" Nagito asked excitedly.
"That is a conversation for another day." Akira said, placing an arm around Nagito's shoulder. They then flicked their first two fingers to the side.
Nagito laughed again as Byakuya brought both arms up to his face in a diagonal formation in front of his face.

"Dabbing on those haters are we Byakuya" Akira laughed.