Regrets, Restarts, and Forgiveness

Chapter 15

Gonta and I blinked, looked at each other, then again looked back at the Ultimate Anthropologist.

"Come again?" I asked.

"Nothing. I will do nothing to you. If you wish to reveal my crimes to the others, or perhaps even attempt to terminate me, then you are free to do so. But you have nothing to fear from me. I have no intention of harming you in any way, despite the knowledge you have of my past." Korekiyo explained calmly. Shocked would be an understatement of how I felt.

"Gonta....very confused...." Gonta replied. Kiyo began to collect the papers that had scattered on the floor. "It is true that I have murdered in the past, but.....I regret it. I regret it with all my heart. So, I had promised to never lay a hand on another human being ever again." he explained, keeping his gaze away from us. 

He walked over towards us and paused in front of me, holding a hand out. It took me a sec to realize I was still holding the empty folder. I quickly handed it over to him, and he carefully put the papers back inside.

"Do you wish to hold onto this?" Korekiyo asked me. 

"....no. You can have it." I said. He is being awfully....open.

"You do not wish to warn the others?" Kiyo asked. "Making them panic is not gonna help anyone. For all we know, it could get someone to start the killing game." I replied. Kiyo nodded, then walked over to the drawer where we found the folder, placing it back inside. 

"Why are you being so....calm about this?" I asked. 

"It would do no good to resist what is the truth. In all honesty, perhaps I should've revealed my identity from the beginning. But as you said, I did not want any suspicions or anyone to panic. It would not benefit anyone. Besides, it is not like I can make you forget what you have read." Kiyo explained. Gonta frowned, taking a step towards the man.

"So....Kiyo really kill those girls?"

".....I'm ashamed to say I did." Kiyo admitted. He slowly raised his hands to hug himself, shivering slightly. "I am far from proud of what I did. But....I am attempting to move on...." his voice was slightly shaky as he spoke. 

"Why did you kill them anyway?" I asked. I might've already known the answer, but I wanted to confirm it was the same reason as from the first time line. Besides, I need to know. I mean, he did kill Angie and Tenko in the first time line. 

"Kokichi, that rude thing to ask!" Gonta stated. 

".....no. It's alright, Gonta. You deserve to know anyways," Kiyo replied, turning to face me, "It was a foolish....foolish reason. You see, a long time ago, I had an older sister. I loved her more than anyone else on this Earth, she was my world. However, she was always sick, so she never had many, if any, friends. I'm afraid when she died....all she had was me. So, somewhere in my state of grief and anger, I thought it would be a good idea to kill one hundred girls, so that my sister would have friends in the after life." 

"O-One hundred girls?!" Gonta cried.

"Yes. I was driven so mad....that I even believed my sister's spirit had possessed my body after a failed seance, and that she and I now shared a body. I....I was a monster." Kiyo hissed. His looked down, a shadow casting over his eyes. I was completely shocked. That was exactly his motive in the first time line, but....now he doesn't believe it?

"What.....what convinced you to stop? Killing I mean." I asked.

"....." Kiyo didn't reply for a moment. 

".....I was living in a nice neighborhood at the time, doing research on a Japanese goddess. A young girl lived across the street from me. I am unsure why, but she took a liking to me right away. She couldn't have been more then six years old, and had one of the purest hearts I had ever seen. I thought at the time....she was perfect for sister."