the other side of paradise | bsd x gn!reader

twenty-six.

"You are the teleportation ability user that left the Armed Detective Agency? How interesting."

The voice that circles around you similarly to a predator around its prey finally cuts into the heavy silence. It's cold as steel and doesn't let any interest slip, even though it claims to have it. You can feel the eyes drilling into your very being, searching your face and body for any hint of emotion or thought slipping through. Fear wraps itself tightly around your throat like a snake, but you don't let anything show. Your face is blank, and your eyes fixate on the wall in front of you, trying not to let the urge to look at the presence in the room win.

The truth is you cannot remember the last time you felt so afraid. When you first arrived perhaps? When the pressure became too much and you threw yourself out of the window, more willing to risk dying than staying alive in that damned office. At that time, you at least had the will to leave. This time you don't. If you want Fyodor's help, if you want to get to the Hunting Dogs, you have to stay and face the monster in the room.

The thing finally stops in front of you. Gas mask for a face, and a black hood for its body, Kamui stares at you soullessly.

You've faced criminals before, but Kamui is someone - no, something so much crueller. Knowing there's a person behind it is perhaps even more terrifying because it doesn't feel human. You've been able to see the eyes of everyone you've encountered so far. There is a lot you can tell from someone's eyes and expression - you can find their humanity. Even Fyodor, who so many people call a demon, has flickers of humanity passing across his face. More often when he's with you and not as much with others, but it's still there. Kamui doesn't have that. Like with Schrödinger's cat, you can only guess if the humanity beneath is alive or not.

"Do you fear me?"

Yes.

"No. Should I? I don't think I did anything that might incur your wrath, so I see no reason to fear you."

It nods with a hum muffled by the mask and the fear tightens around your throat, preventing any more words from coming out. Getting those out without stuttering or your voice shaking was difficult enough, but it's all you can do in your situation. After these years of constant pretending (with only a single unfortunate situation) you've gotten very good at acting and lying. It won't be able to see through you that easily. If you consider yourself an actor on a stage, performing some character, by some miracle the fear doesn't bother you that much. Instead of feeling tight like a noose, it feels like a comforting tightly wrapped scarf. Any emotion will stay hidden behind a mask - one rivalling the one Kamui and the one beneath it wear.

You're careful to not breathe too deeply or too quickly, and careful to not fiddle with your hands nervously. You focus your eyes to look at the mask directly, with an unwavering stare. It takes everything in you to not look away, to not indulge in any anxious habits, but you manage to push through. How you behave around Kamui is the key to everything. Currently, you have no way of going against its time-cutting sword and you're no match to even its regular swordsmanship. Considering it agreed to meet you face-to-face means it doesn't see you as a big threat. That's good. If that really is the case, you can convince it you're an order-following idiot with similar ideals. And then, it'll let you closer - close enough to end it at its core.

Kamui nods at your answer. "I can see why Dostoyevsky thinks you would be a good addition to our organization. You're very straightforward - that's a good quality to have. Plus, your ability is quite useful. You did a good thing, leaving the Armed Detective Agency. Fukuzawa Yukichi is a naïve idiot, defending this country with his idealistic views of justice. It will not be long until he will see it crumble right in front of him." The thing spits out the president's name like venom, and you resist the urge to defend him with your last breath. Instead, you simply nod silently.