Chapter Text
In an organisation such as The Horla Syndicate, trust was never put into anyone except yourself. There was no trust in eachother at all; not even close comrades, really. There were a few exceptions to this statement, but that is unimportant at the moment.
Ema Saiko was one of the people that kept to themselves. Except for their superior, Ann, they never bothered to communicate with their subordinates unless necessary. Why would they waste their time on people they weren't allowed to torture?
A multifaceted person like them was never accepted in many places, anyways.
The only friends they had were their corpses. Their dolls — which she was often looked down upon for.
Right, clarification — their ability is a Pocket dimension. Specifically a Noh stage-like pocket dimension; and their actors were sentient dolls..or, moreso, corpses.
Their said dolls have masks, which is what keeps them sentient. The masks depend on what the person was like when they were alive.
If they were a wicked, evil person maybe they'd have a Oni mask — if they were a deceptive, manipulative person maybe they'd have a kitsune mask. Makes sense?
These...sentient corpses, they were their only friends. They didn't need anyone else except for their pretty dolls, right?
As for Kōbō Abe, he wasn't the most..pleasant company, either. While he didn't necessarily trust anyone, either, he didn't make an effort to avoid anyone. The opposite, infact.
He was utterly delusional and a complete buffoon who viewed himself as superior in every situation. These two are polar opposites, yet their dramatic personas crash perfectly together.
So for them to sit down and have a talk over a tea party is...less than expected, really.
"What's it like being Arthur's Disciple?" They asked curiously. Ann and Arthur were two very different people, they'd never really met Arthur personally.
"Eh, not the best. But alas, I manage!" The other said almost too cheerfully.
"You two don't seem to be the best fit. You thrive in fantasy, don't you? His whole shtick is making people face reality."
"I think that's why he picked me." Kōbō answered almost too fast; too seriously. "Doesn't he seem like the type to get off on this?"
"What?" Saiko wasn't used to blunt responses.
"I mean, c'mon. Why else would he pick me? Facing reality is the last thing I wanna do! Alone the though shakes me, not even my faithful Knight could withstand the idea of reality!" He threw his hands around, trying to exaggerate his words even more. Faithful Knight? What did he mean by THAT?
"...You're alot more insane than me, aren't you?" Saiko said, they seemed almost relieved. For someone like them, who had always been the weird one out of everyone, it seemed like they liked the idea of someone else being worse than them. "And, what do you mean by 'Faithful Knight'?"
"Don't speak to me in such a way, peasant! You're talking to a superior," he started. Superior, huh? Maybe he was a little too delusional. "And by Faithful Knight, I mean Junpei!"
Junpei? Who?
"Who's that, exactly?"
"My ability." Kōbō said casually.
His ability, eh? Saiko heard he was horrible at controlling it. Apparently, he'd always embarrass himself during fights...which sounded truly hilarious. He was a disciple of one of the best trainers — yet he can't control his own ability? That's laughable, really.
"Right. What exactly..is your ability?" They had never actually known what his ability was, though.
Kōbō had suddenly stood up, slamming his foot onto the table, causing a few things to fall over. "And so, the peasant wishes to perceive my power with their own eyes!" ...did he really have to be that dramatic about it?
"I suppose I could give you a glimpse, it's the least I could do for a poor thing like you," He said cockily, having way too much trust and confidence in himself. If his ability fails him now, Saiko would never let him live that down.
"I hereby declare that I shall let you see." He said a little too calmly. Just a second ago, he was yelling like a child.
"Junpei, my faithful Knight, I summon thee!" He yelled loudly. And.. it took a few seconds which had already made it awkward; but his ability did work in the end.
The dragon-like tail attached to his lower back had transformed into a sentient dragon — reminiscent of those ancient japanese dragons. It was, still, attached to his lower back, but it still seemed niche.
"I see you gawking!" Kōbō pointed out proudly, despite the fact the other wasn't gawking..in any way. It was more like analysing.
"I'm going to assume you have a combat-oriented ability?"
"That's right!" He confirmed. A powerful combat-oriented ability, yet he couldn't control it.. that's..really just laughable.
"And you can't control it."
Kōbō froze and went silent. He really didn't seem to appreciate the fact Saiko pointed that out. "Ahem.." He awkwardly tried to fix his composure. "Unimportant!"
Saiko chuckled. Kōbō sat back down, his ego wounded, even just a little.
In the end, they had a wonderful time bonding! (I'm just too lazy to continue writing.)