Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As Es walked into the interrogation room, Hanabusa Aiko was sitting at an angle in her chair, performing maintenance on her nails with a metal file. Seeing that, the warden made a bit of a scowl as they walked up towards the table, glaring down at the girl.

“Prisoner No. 02, Hanabusa Aiko. I feel as if something like a metal file shouldn’t be in the possession of a murderous prisoner such as yourself. Who knows what sort of weapon you could make with that, filing down some piece of metal or other?”

Aiko didn’t bother looking up at Es, even as the warden pulled out their own chair and took a seat at the table. Instead, she simply continued filing her nails, speaking in a lackadaisical voice as she did so.

“I asked that, uhh, rabbit thing fer one, an’ he got me it. If ya wanna take it away, I guess that’s okay, since I’ve got plenty o’ other ways I can take care o’ my nails, an’ all. Would still be annoying, though, with the rabbit sayin’ one thing ‘bout what I can have, an’ then you sayin’ another thing.”

Es let out a deep sigh as they crossed their arms, their steel blue eyes looking out from under the brim of their cap at the high school girl as she practically half-ignored them. Who did she even think she was, not even bothering to look at or recognize the warden of the prison that she was held in when they entered?

“He’ll get mad if he hears you call him a rabbit. He’s a Jackalope. But if he said that you can have it, then I suppose that it’s fine. But, if you make any sort of weapon with it, then I will have to take punitive action against you, prisoner.”

At some point, it seemed as if Aiko kept filing her nails well past the point that she needed to. They were already filed down to the bed, and it was doubtful if any further filing would have shortened or smoothed them out any more than it already had. If anything, it more seemed that Aiko was making the motion of filing just to keep her eyes on the task rather than give Es the courtesy of looking up at them.

“Mnh. Ya dun gotta worry ‘bout that wit' me. Not like I’m actually a murderer or anythin’ like that, unlike some o’ the other psychos ya’ve got in here. Seriously, have ya seen some o’ the other prisoners? I mean, I guess ya have, since yer the warden an’ all.”

It wasn’t as if Es didn’t want to say something about the fact that Aiko was intentionally avoiding eye contact, but the warden doubted that doing so would accomplish anything except putting the prisoner more on guard. Their purpose in that room was an interrogation, after all – an attempt at getting a better understanding as to what Hanabusa Aiko’s sin actually was – and so starting off on the wrong footing with the girl would just put up an unnecessary barrier to that goal.

There were still some things that Es did have to say, though, whether Aiko wanted to hear them or not.

“But you are a murderer, Hanabusa Aiko, or else you wouldn’t be in Milgram. No matter what you say, the only people who are held in Milgram are people who have committed murder. Ergo, if you, Hanabusa Aiko, are being held in Milgram, then you, Hanabusa Aiko, must be a murderer. It’s a simple teleological fact.”

For just the briefest of moments, Aiko’s eyes flitted up to meet Es’, before shifting back down to her fake nail-filing. It was a very short look, not nearly long enough for Es to get any sort of gauge on Aiko’s mood, let alone personality. At the very most, the warden was able to detect… Something in Aiko’s gaze. Doubt? Disdain? Pity?

“If ya say so, Warden-chan.”

By that point, Aiko had decided to stop pretending to file her nails. The act of doing so seemed to have fatigued her hands, and so she instead placed the metal file onto the table with a slight clang before crossing her arms and continuing to look away from Es. The warden did their best to continue to keep their cool at that as they began their questioning.

“First off, don’t speak so casually with me. I am the warden of the prison in which you are being held, and you will respect me and refer to me properly as such. Secondly, why do you even need to give yourself a manicure while in prison? And such a careful one, at that?”

With a shrug, Aiko lifted her fingers up to observe her handiwork, assessing the short, smooth fingernails that she had managed to create.

“There’s a few other girls in the prison, Warden-san. Couple of ‘em are even cute, so I wanna make sure my nails are good to go if anythin’ happens.

At that, Es gave a very confused look at Aiko, not understanding in the slightest what the girl was talking about.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. What does the state of your nails have anything to do with the presence of other women in the prison, let alone how physically appealing they are?”

That was what finally made Hanabusa Aiko give the Warden a proper look, turning to face Es and keeping eye contact with them as an odd smile crossed her face. Shifting in her chair to face forward and scoot in a little bit closer up against the table and towards Es, the girl propped her elbows up on the table and rested her chin on her hands, tilting her head as she spoke.

“Wow. I knew that ya looked like a kid, Warden-san, but I didn’t really expect ya to be as naive as one, too.”

The scowl that Es had worn on their face previously returned, redoubling in intensity as they leaned forward in their chair, closer towards Aiko in mirror of what she had done. The warden’s eyes carried a glare as they did so, their patience with this prisoner slowly beginning to erode.

“And what is that supposed to mean, Prisoner Number 02? Are you really calling the warden of the prison you’re held in ‘naive’? I hold the power of judgment over you – you know that, yes? So surely you would want to make a better impression on me.”

Tilting her head the other way, Aiko’s eyes lingered on Es for a long, uncomfortable moment. In spite of themself, Es squirmed slightly under Aiko’s gaze, getting the distinct feeling that she was studying them like some sort of animal. Just as Es was reaching the point of scolding Aiko for that look, the girl in question finally spoke up.

“Aah, it’s nothin’, dun worry ‘bout it, Warden-san. As fer ya holdin’ the power of judgment over me, an’ all that stuff, well… Should be fine. You’ll come to love me, y’know, an’ then you’ll forgive me in all three of these silly little trials. I just know it.”

Aiko’s voice carried such casual confidence that it irked Es on some sort of deep, fundamental level. Renewing the glower in their expression, Es scoffed and questioned Aiko’s seemingly unfounded certainty.

“And how do you ‘know’ that I’ll come to ‘love’ you? What does that even mean? First of all, I’m a warden, and you’re a prisoner. It would thus be inappropriate and outside the purview of my position for me to ‘love’ you, or any other prisoner, for that matter. Secondly, you haven’t exactly been making any efforts to come off as ‘loveable’ since I entered the room. If anything, you’ve only been cold and standoffish.”

Leaning back in her chair, Aiko folded her hands daintily on the table in front of her, giving a small, coy smile as she responded.

“Ya know, lotsa people’ve said stuff like that to me, Warden-san. They all told me they couldn’t love me ‘cause it would be ‘inappropriate’ ‘cause of their ‘position’. But they all fell in love wit' me anyways, y’know. As fer the other part, well… That’s all part o’ the trick, ain’t it? I’m all cold an’ chilly at first, so that when I warm up to ya, ya notice it even more.”

As if to punctuate her words, Aiko leaned over the table and reached her hand out towards Es’. Right as her fingers brushed the Warden’s – right as there was the slightest moment of contact between their skin – Es recoiled away from Aiko’s touch, a look of disgust on their face.

“What the hell are you doing?! Did I say that you could touch me?! A prisoner shouldn’t touch a warden without explicit permission! And certainly not in such an… Affectionate way!”

Aiko simply let out a small laugh, holding her hands up in apology as she did so.

“Sorry, sorry, Warden-san. That was a really cute reaction, though. Guessin’ you’ve never even held hands wit' someone b'fore~?”

Es glared even harder at Aiko as she spoke, before slamming their hand down onto the table with a bang. Aiko barely flinched.

“You’re not the one asking questions here, prisoner, and my personal life is none of your business even if you were! Now be quiet, and be prepared to answer my questions!”

The girl let her smile spread barely a millimeter wider, while her body remained otherwise still.

“Ah, so scary. My bad, Warden-san. I’ll let ya speak, now.”

For their part, Es wanted to reach across the table and slap the girl… But they doubted that would get them anywhere with the interrogation. Instead, they simply sighed, laced their fingers together in front of them, and began asking their questions.

“Good. To begin with, what do you mean that people fell in love with you who shouldn’t have because of their position. You’re in high school, according to your report, so do you mean teachers? Other staff or faculty?”

Aiko gave a shrug, looking away from Es again, answering their question with a disinterested tone.

“Teachers? Sure. Plenty o’ other folks like that, too. Staff an’ faculty, yeah. My boss at my part-time job. My piano instructor. My uncle.”

Es recoiled in disgust at that last mention, the distaste on their face for the girl across the table from them clear to anybody who might have been watching in that moment.

“Your uncle? Are you telling me that you seduced your uncle, Hanabusa Aiko? That you had sex with him?”

Turning back towards Es, the girl raised a slight eyebrow at the Warden before shaking her head and sighing.

“Warden-san, Warden-san, Warden-san… Did I ever say I ‘seduced’ or ‘had sex’ wit' my uncle? I said he fell in love wit' me. There’s plenty o’ forms o’ love, y’know. Those ancient Greeks had a buncha different words fer it, even. Like, they had eros fer the sex kinda love, yeah, but they had others, too. They had agape, a kinda unconditional charity sorta love. They had philia, too, meanin’ the friendly type of love. Then there was storge, the kinda love that a parent’s got for their kids. Xenia meant like, hospitality, love fer strangers an’ travelers an’ stuff like that. There was philautia, too, meanin’ self-love, though I never cared as much fer that as fer the other kinds of love. Aah, what I’m tryna say, Warden-san, is that not everyone I made fall in love wit' me was in eros love wit' me. There was plenty of agape and philia and xenia love to go around, y’know? And storge love, too, ’course.”

There was a brief pause as Aiko stopped for a moment. Before Es could respond, though, the girl continued.

“...I did seduce an’ have sex wit' my uncle, though. That was actually eros love. But… Warden-san, yer face is gonna get stuck like that if ya keep giving me that look.”

Es couldn’t help but scoff loudly at Aiko as they gave a nauseous shake of their head.

“How can I not give you this look, Prisoner No. 02? You had sex with your uncle, and you’re talking about it so casually, as if it’s a normal thing. It almost sounds like you’re proud of what you did, that you think that it was even a good thing!”

Aiko gave another one of her shrugs as she returned a disinterested gaze down to her nails.

“Is it a bad thing, though? Everyone says it is, but why is it bad? ‘Cause we share blood? ‘Cause he’s older than me? What if he was my uncle-in-law? What if he was my former uncle-in-law, who got divorced? What if my uncle was the same age as me? Would any o’ that change how ya look at it? ‘Sides, who cares? I did what made him happy, an’ he loved me fer it. It was nothin’ but an equal exchange ‘tween two consentin’ parties. Nothin’ illegal or murderous about that, I dun think.”

Es found themself wanting to interrupt Aiko’s diatribe at several points, but managed to restrain their desire to do so. Aiko’s beliefs, as abhorrent as they might have been, were evidence related to her crime, to her Sin. The Warden had to listen to those beliefs, in order to better understand the Prisoner, and thus better deliver a Judgment.

“Incest is illegal in some jurisdictions, you know. And if you were a minor when you had sex with your uncle, then that makes it statutory rape.”

Aiko gave one more non-committal shrug, still not bothering to look Es in the eyes.

“Incest ain’t illegal in Japan, at least.”

Es noticed, of course, the fact that Aiko dodged the second part of their statement, but decided not to press her on it. There were other, more pertinent avenues of questioning, after all.

“What is with this obsession of yours with being ‘loved’, anyways? Why is it so important to you, Hanabusa Aiko?”

At that, the girl once more met Es’ gaze, letting a smile creep back onto her face yet again as she leaned forward and spoke in an enthusiastic voice, wagging a finger at the warden in emphasis as she did.

“Now yer askin’ the important questions, Warden-san! Why is Hanabusa Aiko so ‘obsessed’ wit' love? If I’m here fer what I think I’m here fer, then that’s the central question, ain’t it? Why am I so obsessed wit' love…?”

For the briefest of moments, it seemed as if Aiko was asking herself that question, before she perked up and began speaking once more.

“Why shouldn’t I be obsessed wit' love? It’s good to be loved, ain’t it? When people love ya, they’re nice to ya. They do things for ya, they give things to ya, an’ they treat ya well. An’ if people love ya, that means they don’t hate ya – an’ if they don’t hate ya, then that means they won’t be mean or hurtful towards ya. It’s even like what I said about you, Warden-san: once I make ya love me, then you’ll Forgive me in all three o’ my trials. Why shouldn’t I want everyone to love me? I’ll make ‘em happy just by being around ‘em, and they’ll take care o’ me, in return. Anyways, this is what my folks wanted fer me when they named me, after all. Y’know, Aiko? The ‘child of love’? It’s right there in my name, Warden-san. It’s who I’m supposed to be.”

Es listened intently to Aiko speaking, hanging on every word that the girl spoke in order to gain a better understanding of who she was as a person, and what it was about her that led her to commit her murder, her Sin. There was a certain… Fanaticism in Aiko’s eyes as she spoke, her voice nearly reaching a fever-pitch at a few points. Without a doubt, Aiko was obsessed with something, but Es wasn’t entirely certain if it was exactly an obsession with love itself, or with the act of loving.

“That… Certainly is a way of viewing things. I don’t think that I can understand it, myself. My duty as a warden necessitates that I treat all of the prisoners fairly and impartially, and ‘love’ would only get in the way of that. A prisoner falling in love with me would be even worse, since they would only feel betrayed if I felt it necessary to judge them as Not Forgiven.”

A thought came to Es’ mind in that moment, and they looked up at Aiko in a bit of confusion.

“Wait a moment. Aiko. You’ve only spoken about others loving you. What about you, yourself? You do love other people back, don’t you?”

Aiko gave a small, casual shake of her head, the expression on her face entirely placid.

“No. I don’t. I don’t love anyone, Warden-san. Not in eros, not in agape, not in philia, not in xenia, or in any other kinda love. But just ‘cause I don’t love anyone don’t mean they can’t love me back. Love can be one-way, after all.”

At that, Es stood up out of their chair, the metal screeching against the concrete floor as they slammed both of their hands on the table in frustration.

“But that’s not right! How can you make so many people fall in love with you but then not love them back?! Love is supposed to be something that goes both ways! That’s just common sense!”

Aiko didn’t seem unsettled by Es’ sudden outburst, continuing to sit there calmly, looking up at the warden as they yelled at her.

“Wooow. Ya sure got some strong opinions on love fer someone who apparently don’t need it, Warden-san. But, again, who says love is supposed to go both ways? Ya said that it’s common sense, but what does that even mean? Is it the same common sense that says I shouldn’t have sex with'my uncle? Is it the same common sense that says I shouldn’t make my teachers fall in love wit' me, or have folks who love me give me money or gifts, or have ‘em do things for my sake that are an inconvenience for ‘em?”

The girl leaned forward, again, folding her arms on the table and giving Es a strong, stout look.

“I told ya, Warden-san. I make ‘em happy. I do things that make ‘em happy so they fall in love wit' me. Then, I do things that make ‘em happy so they stay in love wit' me. And then, at some point, me simply bein’ around ‘em makes ‘em happy 'cause of how much they love me. I make ‘em happy, they make me happy. Like I said 'fore, it’s just an equal exchange ‘tween two consentin’ parties, Warden-san. An’ isn’t that what love is, in the end, even wit' ‘normal’ or ‘regular’ love? Two folks who do things to make each other happy? Why is what I do any different?”

Es’ fingers gripped tightly onto the table, the fabric of their gloves stretching out to accommodate the tense motion. As much as they wanted to, the warden didn’t have a good rebuttal to what Aiko had said. They knew that what she was saying was wrong, of course, but… It was true that they didn’t have a proper argument against it beyond ‘common sense’. The way that Aiko viewed love wasn’t how love was supposed to be – Es knew that, even as someone who didn’t have any sort of loving relationships.

So why was it so hard to actually provide a proper response?

“...and are the beliefs of yours on the matter of love connected to your crime, Prisoner No. 2, Hanabusa Aiko?”

The girl turned her gaze back down to her fingers, a sign that Es had come to understand meant that Aiko didn’t find the line of question interesting or worth expending too much effort answering.

“Probably.”

The warden pounded their fist on the table in response, raising their voice up another few decibels as they shouted at the prisoner.

“Someone died because of you, prisoner! Someone died because you, Hanabusa Aiko, have such a twisted view on love, because you make people fall in love with you without loving them back! So how can you be so nonchalant about it?!”

Aiko spoke in a voice low enough that Es could barely hear it, in a tone that didn’t at all match the enthusiasm or casual confidence that she had been speaking with earlier.

“I never forced any of ‘em. It was still their own choice to fall in love wit' me, ya know? Even that one made their own choice…”

Before Es could begin to yell at Aiko for such an ambivalent response, the sound of gears and other mechanical devices began to sound throughout the room, followed by the deep ringing of a bell. The time for the interrogation was over. The time for the revealing of Sin was soon.

“I’m guessin’ time’s up, Warden-san?”

By the time that Es looked back at Aiko after shifting their gaze away at the sound of the bell, the girl was smiling again. The warden considered themselves a consummate professional, of course, and would never allow affection of any type for a prisoner to worm its way into their heart. And yet, the look on Aiko’s face seemed to have made a crack in Es’ protection, at the very least. There was something unnerving about it, too – it was as if the smile had been carefully crafted by someone, as if that person had carefully analyzed everything about Es, had carefully studied their emotional defenses, and had custom-built a weapon fashioned uniquely and precisely to penetrate it.

How long had Aiko been making that weapon? And how much longer would she have needed to make it powerful enough to have pierced right into the warden’s heart?

“Yes. Our time is up, Hanabusa Aiko. Do you have anything else you want to say in your defense before Milgram puts your Sin on display for me?”

Es had pulled down the brim of their hat over their eyes in order to block the sight of Aiko’s smile, but the voice that she used had practically the same effect as her expression had a moment ago. She had made two weapons? At the same time? Without Es noticing? What was she?

“Jus’ one thing, Warden-san. By the end o’ my time here in Milgram, I’m definitely gonna make ya love me, an’ it can be any type of love you want it to be, okay? Agape? Philia? Xenia? Storge, maybe? I could pretend to be your mama for you if you’d like. Maybe even eros, if you want? I wouldn’t be opposed. However you wanna love me, Warden-san, you can love me that way. Alright?

As Milgram prepared to extract her sins, Es turned fully away from the girl, giving a sour grimace as they did.

“...enough. Prisoner No. 02, Hanabusa Aiko. Sing your sins.”

In spite of everything, Es could still feel that smile on their back, as if it was attempting to burn its way through their cloak and their shirt and start worming its way into the warden’s heart.

Without a single doubt in Es’ mind, they knew for a fact that Hanabusa Aiko would be a very dangerous prisoner to deal with.

L**e m*. P**a*e, l**e m*. *f y** d*n* l**e m*, th** I'** *ie...

Love Me ‘Til I Die

By: Prisoner No. 02, Hanabusa Aiko

Love? I’ve got it!

Boys? Love me.

Girls? Love me.

Family? Love me.

Friends? Love me.

Strangers? Love me.

Everyone? Love me.

Me? Love me.

You? LOVE ME.

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die, die, die!

Ya know ya’ve gotta love me, baby!

Tell me what’ll make ya love me?

Love me for looks? Baby, I’ve got looks!

Love me for smarts? Baby, I’ve got smarts!

Love me for charm? Baby, I’ve got charm!

Love me for money? Baby, I’ve got money!

Love me for smiles? Baby, I’ve got smiles!

Love me for kisses? Baby, I’ve got kisses!

Love me for sex? Baby, I’ve got sex!

Love me for pain? Baby, ya know I’ve got pain!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til I die, die, die!

Ya know ya’ve gotta love me, baby!

I don’t got what’ll make ya love me?

Then I’ll get it, baby! Y’know I will!

Doesn’t matter what, you’ll love me!

Doesn’t matter, you will love me!

You? Love me.

You? Love me.

You? Love me.

You? Love me.

You? Love me.

You? Love me.

You? Love me.

You? LOVE ME.

Love me, love me, love me ‘til ya die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til ya die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til ya die!

Love me, love me, love me ‘til ya die, die, die!

Ya know ya’ve gotta love me, baby!

First Trial Interrogation Questions:

1. What does your ideal relationship look like?

"Whatever the other person wants it to look like."

2. What do you do in your free time?

"I spend it hangin' out with and doin' things with other folks. Friends, family, lovers, even strangers, if they're nice to me."

3. Was your victim around your age?

"If ya mean the person that Milgram thinks I murdered, then yeah. They were in the same class as me. I think they mighta been a bit younger than me, but only by a few months or somethin' like that. Not like I knew 'em well enough to know their exact birthday, or anythin'."

4. If you could have anything, one single thing, what would it be?

"Is 'love' too obvious? Well, besides that... My parents won't lemme have any pets, so probably a pet dog or a cat or somethin' like that. Even a fish or a bird would be nice."

5. Did any of the people who loved you know you didn't love them back?

"Oh, yeah, plenty of 'em. Most of 'em, I'd say. I mean, 'specially the ones who paid me in cash, ain't no pretendin' when it comes to somethin' like that."

6. Did any of them know you do it with everyone?

"Most of 'em. I didn't exactly keep it secret that I wanted to be loved by everyone... Well, I kept it secret from a few folks, 'cause they loved me way more when they thought they were the only person I loved. But most of 'em I was honest with."

7. Did any of them know the real you, besides what you did to appeal to them?

"A lot of 'em, yeah. Maybe they didn't know 'xactly what I was all about, but 'specially when it comes to the types of folks who paid me in cash... Well, most of 'em were just knuckleheads lookin' fer a screw, but the ones that actually tried to play girlfriend wit' me, they paid more 'ttention to that kinda thing. A couple of 'em maybe got real close, but I cut 'em off 'fore it b'came a big thing. Ain't nothin' to love all the way down there at the bottom, after all."

Chapter Text

Next up is Prisoner No. 02, Hanabusa Aiko.

Ehh?! Guilty?! Seriously?! I told you to vote all the pretty girls innocent, didn’t I?! Aaah, and the innocent votes were just starting to flow in, too… But I guess it wasn’t enough…

And even after she offered to let you love her however you wanted to love her, too! But, I guess that you’re not the type of Warden to be persuaded by that sort of thing? Well, I don’t mind too much, honestly. It’s like I told you, after all: what I want to see more than anything else is what lies behind the judgments that you make. Everything else is secondary.

But, I do wonder what will happen with poor little Aiko between now and when you next wake up. I mean, she’s a human being whose entire existence is predicated on whether or not other people love her! How will she react when she finds out that her overtures of love went entirely unanswered by you? That you took one look at the love that she was offering you, and then tore it up and threw it away? Maybe she could seek love from one of the other prisoners? Though, I don’t know how good of an idea that might be for our sweet Aiko, given that she and everyone else in MILGRAM are all… 

Murderers.

I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we? Ahahaha!

…what? Don’t look at me like that.