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After her ascension, Reimi felt nothing.
Despite her absolute positivity of her ascension to Heaven, now she was unsure. Despite her defeat of the man who killed her and so many others, she felt nothing. Just the bittersweet of her parting with the citizens of Morioh, the town she guarded, that she had come to love.
A flash of gold. Then nothing.
When Sugimoto Reimi opened her eyes, she saw white. White and blue, as if she were flying on an airplane and looking out at how tiny the world was from the sky. Like soaring through and sitting upon fluffy clouds. The sun felt warm on her skin- She could feel it again. Speaking of feeling, Arnold began whimpering by her side, burying his nose in the crook of her elbow. Reimi smiled and rubbed the head of her loyal dog, her companion who had traveled so far with her. As he rolled on his side, whining to be petted, Reimi used the opportunity to take in of her surroundings.
Soft white clouds, clouds she could stand and sit on, surrounded her as far as her eyes could see. They formed hills and mountains in the distance, and seemed to move of their own accord. Reimi reached down with her free hand, feeling the clouds she sat on. They felt like the cotton candy one bought in candy stores- Dense and dry, but with the underlying feeling of the soft sweetness that was sure to come once you tore a bite off. Surrounding her, gashed gaps in the clouds gave way to an endless pit of blue sky. Reimi's hand clenched the cloud beneath her, her head tilting over the gash. The sight nearly gave her vertigo.
It seemed like Morioh was just a small pencil dot in a sea of blue. The sky tunneled around her city, narrowing to the pinprick she saw from so high up. Her alley, her old home, stood clear as day in the sea of homes and streets. She knew it well. No matter how hard as she squinted, Reimi didn't see anybody below her. Nobody close enough to recognize, at least. The people looked like microscopic little dots- Dust specks and splinters surrounding streets narrower than her pinky. The cars looked like the holes on buttons. Her world, nothing else, stood below her, tiny and functioning as well as her little town could.
With a sigh, the ghost girl stood, Arnold following at her heels. Reimi began to walk, nowhere in particular, and think. First, she debated with herself on trivial matters- Could she still call herself a ghost now that she had nowhere to haunt, and resided in Heaven? And more importantly- Where was everybody?
The realization hit her so hard, she stopped mindless walking. Arnold sniffed her hand and gave it a reassuring lick, but to no avail. Reimi stared at the expanse of clouds surrounding her as far as she could see, the fluffy terrain and gaps of sky suddenly seeming far less etherial. It felt like a prison. It felt too much like her alleyway. She was too isolated. Too alone. An eternity in the place she knew as home suddenly felt far more appealing than an eternity of nothing but blue and white fluff. The cotton candy clouds nearly made her want to vomit.
Arnold licked the girl's hand, letting out a little whine. He pointed his nose at a fluff of cloudy hills on the other side of a gash. Reimi sniffled and wiped a flowing tear from her eye as she looked at her dog. Her faithful, ghostly little companion, who even followed her to death and beyond. Guess dogs really do go to Heaven. Riemi didn't know what she would do without him. She could swear Arnold smiled as he began trotting to the gap, not before breaking into a sprint and leaping. Reimi screamed, running toward her dog. "Arnold!" She cried, but his paws touched the clouds as he landed with a self-satisfied bark. Reimi took the note and broke out sprinting, jumping across the gap and landing softly on the other side. Her previous terror gave way to a giggle. From this vantage point, she swore she could see the faces of... Others! Reimi ran towards the groups of people she now could spot.
A collection of young women, hardly older than her, could be seen beside a hill of clouds. Tears began to stream from her eyes again as she ran, recognizing the women all too well. She had seen their souls ascend to heaven while she had to stay in her alley.
Yoshikage Kira's victims.
A sigh of relief nearly knocked the wind out of her. That, and another face she knew.
That of a boy.
The girl stopped dead in her tracks, Arnold going to stand beside her. Reimi blinked to make sure she was seeing his face correctly. The boy was hardly half her height, but at least twice her width. His short-cut, spiky hair and chubby cheeks, as well as a distinct lack of front teeth gave him away.
The youngest, and probably most horrific victim of Yoshikage Kira that she had ever seen.
Rohan and Josuke had told her about him, however, only after the boy- Shigechi- had died at the hands of that horrific murderer. The boy hadn't yet noticed her, instead intent on playing with something she couldn't see. Reimi supposed it was his stand- She knew he had one, though she couldn't see it, as she didn't have one of her own. He seemed to be speaking to it and retrieving small gifts from it. Reimi smiled, and something inside her drew her to the boy.
"Hey!"
Her voice clearly startled him. He jumped up with a short cry, nearly dropping the green gem in his hands. Shigechi immediately stood to look up at Reimi's face, his tiny nose beginning to run. He teared up, his eyes widening with surprise. "Wh- Who are you?" He asked with a fearful stutter. Reimi knelt, a gentle smile still on her face. Children had always been her strong suit. She loved them, and they seemed to love her. That was why she babysat Rohan from such a young age- His parents always said that no matter how difficult or bratty he could be, Reimi never failed to cheer him up or make him smile. A faint, patient smile crossed her face as she looked at the small boy standing in front of her. "I'm Reimi! Reimi Sugimoto!" She said softly, Arnold sneaking around her side to sniff the boy's hand. "I know Josuke and Okuyasu!"
His eyes lit up immediately, with both fear and happiness. He gripped the gem in his hand, staring at her. "Josuke! I-is he okay? I tried to warn him! I tried to get to him and tell him that Kira was there because he attacked me and-" He started sniffling, tears streaming from his large eyes. Snot dripped from his nose as he sobbed. Shigechi clearly remembered every moment of his death vividly, as if he were reliving it at the moment. Reimi knew the feeling far too well. She reached a hand out to wipe a stray tear off his chubby (and frankly adorable) cheek. Arnold let out another whimper, gently licking at the crying boy's hand. His tears began to slow, much to Reimi's delight. She rubbed her dog between his ears.
Shigechi reached out to pet Arnold with a soft smile, his tears giving way to giggly hiccups. Reimi smiled and knelt down beside him, Arnold sitting at her heels and licking the boy's face. Shigechi laughed and scratched the dog, still sniffling as he looked over at Reimi. Her eyes shone. "Did... Did Kira get you, too?" He asked, sniffling once more. Reimi gave a slow, sullen nod. "I was his first." She mumbled, staring down at the fluffy ground. "He stabbed me while I was sleeping. He got Arnold, too. That's why he's with me." She said, pointing to her dog. "Arnold! Come here, boy!" She chirped, her loyal dog barking and taking a place beside her. Shigechi laughed and sat in front of her, holding out... What she could only assume was his stand in front of her. "This is my Harvest! Well, one of them." Reimi tipped her head to the side. She could only assume what his stand looked like, after what Josuke had told her. "Oh! He's cute!" She said, despite not kowing what it actually looked like- All she had to go off was her own mental image of a purple and yellow beetle.
Shigechi smiled and- Reimi assumed- Let his stand go off. Reimi smiled at the boy. In that moment, he reminded her so much of Rohan when he was much younger. Her memories of practically raising him came back full force- Just enough to hurt. Despite merely being his babysitter, he called her his "Big Sister" and she truly thought of him as a brother. Her mother had always told her she had "sister instincts", whatever that meant. However, in this moment... Reimi could feel them coming back. She felt the need to protect Shigechi, protect him and shield him from whatever in Heaven could hurt him. She knew Kira was no longer an issue, but she couldn't help but feel scared for his sake.
"You know, Kira's gone now." Reimi said, feeling a lump in her throat as she nearly began to cry again. Shigechi smiled even broader, his missing teeth fully showing and tears falling from his eyes once again. "So... Josuke did it, huh?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Reimi nodded.
"Technically, yes. It's a bit of a complicated story. Do you want me to tell it?" She asked. The boy nodded eagerly, reaching down to grab- Still what she thought was Harvest. Reimi smiled and began the tale of their murderer's demise, starting from after Reimi had found out about the boy's unfortunate demise. Shigechi's eyes gleamed with every word, his fists pumping excitedly as she spoke. Her story made him smile, and knowing that he had helped find the identity of their killer made him so happy, he began bawling again. Arnold had to jump up and lick his face to get Shigechi to stop. Reimi smiled, and once she finished the story with her ascension to Heaven, Shigechi's bright eyes were still flowing with tears of joy. He smiled at her and scratched Arnold behind his ears. "We did it." He mumbled, smiling up at her in pure content. She had never seen that look on anybody before- The look of pure joy, of someone who had fulfilled their purpose.
Reimi couldn't help it when she reached out to ruffle his spiky hair, a smile crossing her face once more. "See? You did it. And we're all okay now. We couldn't have done it if it weren't for you." She said, as proud as she could be. She felt the pride radiating off of him in waves. It only made her smile more.
Finally, she could be at peace.
She, and the boy she could see as a brother.
She was at peace. She was happy.
Finally, closure.