After a wave of Yuki's playful teasing had passed, they were confronted with what to do next. Yuki wondered what they would do now, as this was unsurprisingly the first time she was in a situation like this. Until now, her purpose had been simple and straightforward, but now, not so much. Yamato had been rather vague with his plans for her, which of course made it difficult to understand what her life would be like now. So, maybe asking directly would be the was to go, in a calm and formel tone.
"Master, I was wondering, what we will be doing from now on? Normally, I would judge over you now, and decide whether you go to heaven, hell or if you'll be reincarnated. But I believe that I am no longer in the position to judge over you, unless you want me to?
Despite her eyes still being full of admiration, a serious look accompanied her question. However her master should respond, would be her order to follow. So, naturally she was a little nervous. But the unconditinal faith in him made that secondary. While he seemed to have thought for a moment, he had already made his decision during their game.
"I have multiple things we need to clarify first, before we can move on. Firstly, since you are an angel, does that mean there is a god too?"
While she looked suprised by that rather natural question, she answered with no hesitation.
"Yes, that is correct. Why do you ask, Master? Does that bother you, per chance~?"
Yamato looked away for a moment, where she could spot the faintest expression of annoyance. However that look disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.
"I see… Well, whatever. To my next question. As an angel, what exactly can you do?"
She got exited when he asked about her abilities. Taking pride in her capabilities, she gladly started talking about herself.
"I am so glad you asked, Master! I, Hikari Yuki, am the angel directly under God, and therefore posses skills that befit a position such as that! I can such as summoning the Sacred Time Sword!"
He looked at her with an nonchalant, indifferent expression. Knowing she expected him to ask what that was, but not doing so for no particular reason.
"Okay."
She was devastated by his lack of awe for a moment. Then continued again with the same enthusiasm.
"…I will explain it whether you ask or not! The Sacred Time Sword is a sword that can hit its target before it is even swung. It does so by cutting through time and hitting in the past, so you still have to make the swing eventually. However during a fight, it would be as if an invisible, unstoppable force attacked! Because it hits your body in the past, it is effectively impossible to deflect in the present!"
Yamato looked intrigued by that but still had a rather disinterested look.
"I see the value in that... But who would you fight with that?"
"True evil!"
"As in…?"
"I don't know. Whoever you want, I suppose!"
"…Does it have any restrictions I should know about?"
"Well... You see... I can only use it for about two minutes... Otherwise it gets dangerous for everyone involved, including me. I'm truly sorry for being such a disappointment!"
Yamato just looked at her with a neutral gaze, not finding that to be much of a set back, considering the advantages.
"I see… That's alright. I suppose much longer won't be necessary anyway to defeat uhh… True evil?"
She looked relieved at that and nodded happily.
"That's right, Master! I can do lots of other stuff, but I think that has time for now. Is there anything else you would like to know?"
"I wanna talk to God."
She tilted her head in confusion at the sudden request, not seeing the reason behind it.
"Master... Meet God? But that's... Well, it is not impossible. But he does not just meet with people like that, you know? Only those who are the most devouted and stuff, whose faith is the greatest... And I don't really think you need to…"
"…Okay. Then tell me everything you know about god him."
She paused for a moment, thinking about how to respond to such a question without being too vague.
"God is the immortal and omnipotent creator of the universe. He is the supreme ruler, the master of all beings and the final judge of our souls. His wisdom and benevolence are beyond human comprehension. He is the source of all light and goodness, and his ultimate goal is to protect and guide humanity towards salvation. That's like the standard phrase I have in my head, but in all honesty, that sounds a little dramatic. To show how he trusts and loves us, his angels, he does not observe us in heaven, giving us freedom to act as we see fit. So he should not be aware of our current conversation. He also refuses to see into the future, because he thinks it makes contradicts with the free will of everyone else."
Yamato felt like he had a pretty accurate understanding of God now, or at least one that was sufficient enough for him.
"Uh huh… When you say immortal, does that mean he can't die no matter what?"
"I'd assume so, yes. I never really thought about it, I'm sorry."
"That's alright… So you couldn't kill him if you tried?"
She blinked at him a few times. When she finally managed to respond, it was only a confused counter question.
"...W-what?"
"If that's not an option, do you think he could kill himself? As in, pushed into suicide?
At first she thought she missheard him. But that clearly was not the case. She was flabbergasted, to say the least. But then she noticed he switched to this topic immediately after learning that God did not hear them. So she assumed he was thinking about something like that from the start. She felt a deep rooted need to understand what he was even talking about. Wanting to see what was going on inside his head.
"You're... Trying to make God want to kill himself? Why? And I just told you not even I could hurt him, so what makes you so sure he can even die at all?"
He answered quickly as it being prepared for that question.
"Well, you said he is omnipotent. If he can do anything, he should be able to harm himself, no? Otherwise, he would not be omnipotent."
His mind seemed rather dark and that in a frighteningly casual way. She also could not think of a single reason why he would want that in the first place.
"I mean, I guess… But why? What do you gain from all this? And isn't he supposed to be all love? How could he ever even think about something like that…? It just seems highly improbable, Master."
"Yet you don't seem outright against it."
"I still can't say I think this is a good idea… How would you even do that?"
"A being of all love has a weakness easily found, sympathy. A person that is completely selfless and loves everything immeasurably would fear the misery of others most."
"So you want to guilt him into depression or what?
"Something like that… Honestly, I'm just curious if it would work. I don't expect anything of it."
"That seems like a huge waste of time…"
"I have plenty of time."
"But you could instead just focus on me~?"
"…What?"
"Why are you so focused on some God you don't even believe in when a cute little me is right here~?"
"…"
"Fine! Go to your God or whatever then."
"So you will take me to him?"
"Yes! Just so you see that I am far more interested and worthy of attention!"
"Great. I seriously doubt the greatness of this God. But I'm open for a suprise too… Let's go."
"Alright then..."
Remembering that she originally did not want to bring him to God, Yuki felt like that whole suicide conversation was just to throw her off so she would eventually agree to bring him to God. But since she had no proof of that, she discarded the thought.
She began with closing her eyes, putting her hands together and starting to pray. At first nothing happened. But then, once Yamato blinked, all suroundings changed once he opened his eyes again.
He was now standing on clouds that felt solid yet fluffy. Surounded by pillars, and a long staircase. It seemed they had arrived at heaven.
"Hey, Yuki, is this really heaven?"
"It sure is, Master. Looks the part, does it not?"
Yamato crouched to the ground and poked the cloud he stood on. The way it felt under his foot was completely different from how it felt to touch. A softness unlike anything he ever experienced. As he tried to rip a piece off to look at more closely, he found that it was much harder to separate than it looked.
"Interesting…"
"It may look like a cloud, but it's probably best described as something like magic~"
"What an unhelpful description…"
"Well, would you rather know which elements it is made out of~?"
"Yes, actually."
"Really? Okay… Well, maybe another time then. It seems we are found."
He stood up from the ground, and looked around. Suddenly, a light appeared infront of them. It was warm and comftable, much like the feeling around Yuki at first, which he now noticed had gradually disappeared over time, making him assume it was something like an artificial aura. The light then changed forms into an man. He had a long white beard and was in a white robe. Looking at Yamato and Yuki with kindness in his eyes. But Yamato just looked back with the bored, cold and empty gaze which seemed to be his default.
"So you're God, I take."
"That didn't sound like a question... You are pretty confident in your observational skills, young man. Yes, I am. I sense that you desperately wish to engage with me?"
Yamato remained calm and collected. The presence of God did not seem to affect him at all, but Yuki began growing accustomed to that about him.
"That too, didn't sound like a question, old man."
"Haha, indeed it wasn't. I already know why you are here and how your relationship to Yuki is. Also... I never imagined being adressed as 'old man'. You truly are special."
"I like to know so. And since you adressed me as 'young man' it seemed fair to adress you with the same energy."
Yuki remained silent during them throwing words back and forth. She was trusting Yamato completly. Whether or not that was based on her experience with him, or feelings of a different kind, ultimately did not matter. Fact was that she truly believed that he would win, although nothing that could be called a competition happened yet.
"Well, Yamato, that seems fair indeed. But let's stop this silly talk and instead move to what really matters."
"What would that be, in your opinion?"
God smiled at that.
"Well, the reason you wanted to talk to me, of course. When I see into peoples eses, I also see their souls. I hope to find kindess, empathy or love. Unfortunately… When looking at you, I see nothing. Nothing good at least. You also seem to lack a reason for that state you are in. I never met someone such as you. I also never intended to create something like that. Yuki, you really found someone extraordinary… Let me tell you about this person just a little bit, alright?"
Yuki looked over at Yamato, who seemed interested as well in what God had to say about him, so she felt obligated to ask on his behalf as well as her own.
"Okay then… Tell me about him."
"He sees us, you, me, everyone as inherently inferior. The reason he wanted to talk to me was to convince himself of the simple fact that he is superior to even God himself... But this view goes beyond a simple god complex. It is not simply the belief that he is better, or worth more. It is the belief that he is the only one that is even worth anything. A being inherently above all creation. I don't think calling him a narcissist does him justice."
"…"
"Now that you have understood that, what do you think of him, Yuki? Still planning on betraying me, even though I am all you have ever known?"
"How absolutely… Beautiful…~"
As God waited for Yuki's response, expecting her to cast Yamato aside now that she was confronted with his true self, he was, for the first time in his entire life, truly surprised by what happened. Yuki's eyes, usually graceful and proud, suddenly filled with something that could only be described as absolute obsession. Accompanied by a wide grin that was visible even though she cupped her cheeks in a lazy attempt to cover her face.
"…What?"
Completely irritated and out of his element, God looked at the usually calm and rational person that he thought to know as Yuki.
"He is beautiful, to his very core! I was only speculating at first, but now I am certain! Within his deep, dark heart, lies a capacity to love me like no one ever could! I must have it, at all costs, and keep it all to myself forever and ever~!!"
Yamato on the other hand, felt rather awkward being talked about so highly in a romantic way, while being right next to them. So he chose to just ignore Yuki's whole speech, and focus on what God had said before about him.
"…Ahem, you are correct. Impressive... But expected. The boring thing about perfection is that it means everything is always the same. If something is perfect, it is flawless. Something flawless will, as it already says by definition, never have anything to improve or change upon. But isn't that already a flaw? If being flawless is a flaw, then there is no such thing as flawlessness. And by that logic, you aren't perfect. But neither am I… So, what is to strive for? What truly is the line between humanity and godhood, if not perfection? The answer is simple… There cannot be a definitive line that seperates you from myself! Which is why I will surpass you, and all other beings claiming inherent supremacy, and serve as that line myself. The definition of the state closest to perfection, is my goal!"
Both Yuki and God seemed to be genuinely fascinated.
"...You really are an impressive young man... But isn't this flaw of flawlessness just the way mortals comprehend it? Because of your mortality, humans will always comprehend perfection as unreachable, as it is mortality that brings limitations to your existence. You out of all people might just be able to understand that."
"No, someone who is immortal is more object than living thing. Only death defines what is alive. Lacking the ability to die therefore makes you an object. So only the view of mortals matters in this.A talking object has no true comprehension of life, and what it means to reach perfection as a being. You say I speak out of the view of an mortal, and try to imply that this view somehow is flawed or incomplete. But in reality, you are the one that is flawed.
God sighed at that, not really knowing how to respond but he tried anyway.
"Your logic is sound, but… To think that you are so heartless, truly is a waste of a life... just imagine all the good you could have done."
"Just imagine all the good you could do by erasing cancer. Why don't you?"
"If I take all the struggles of life from humanity, what does the life they have even matter? If you can't overcome a problem, how could you truly grow? Truly live? Since you like to define things, how about that one… Life is by definition a cycle, as you say. Without challenges such as death, you would be just as much of an object as I am by your definition."
"Well, in that case, why should I have done any good, helps otherrs with their struggles, if by your logic I just prevent them from growing by doing that? You place yourself outside the system, and I do the same."
"Hm... I guess that's fair. But placing yourself outside that system only brings you solitude… That is why pride is such a tricky sin, my boy. You harm yourself as much as you hurt others."
Yuki felt like an awkward spectator, however she could not help but love Yamato even more every second she watched them talk. Seeing him talk to god on equal ground truly made her heart race. She only looked at Yamato and failed to imagine him losing to even God.
"You talk much and accomplish nothing."
"I could say the same to you, Yamato. But you are right, this leads nowhere. We only move in circles. However, I cannot ignore that you turned an angel against me… I wonder what to do in this situation, really..."
"Maybe just give up?"
"Haha... I expected you to say that. You truly are an anomaly. All that I see in your eyes is boredom and lack of appreciation. The world was not that appealing to you, huh?"
Yamato looked away in thoughts. Staring into the endless sky heaven seems to be the center of.
"I guess so… I thought meeting you would bring my boredom to an end. Yet... You failed to make me feel anything. You are nothing but a disappointment."
"Calling God a disappointment, huh… You're such a rude young man. But maybe I can help you... I want to bring you into another world. One I think would be less of a bore to you. What do you think about that?"
"Why, do you feel threatened by me? That's quite pathetic for a god... I accept your proposal though. Under one condition."
"Ah... You completly saw through me. Yes, I want to get rid of you. But what is this? I do you a favor and you are making demands or else you want accept it? But very well, what is that condition?"
Yamato looked over to Yuki, who remained silent throughout this whole conversation, and pointed at her.
"I want her to come with me."
Both Yuki and God where taken aback by that condition. Yuki got flustered and blushed, while God looked suprised.
"What? Even after that outburst earlier? Maybe you are truly made for each other… I won't stop her from going if that's what she wants."
"I have another condition. I want the world to be free from your influence. There can be religion but from the moment I and Yuki arrive, you lose all influence on that world."
"I want nothing to do with it in the first place. I accept."
"Great."
"That was quick… You can't wait to get out of here, huh… Alright then. I have one question though. Nothing with a hidden agenda behind it, I promise. I was wondering, what do you think of the concept of god?"
"That seems like a weird question coming from you. But if you must know. I find you quite… Repulsive. The very idea of something just being defined as above everything makes me want to puke. That hierarchy… Who defined that? Was it you? Was it humanity? In either case, it is a pathetic display of insecurity in either yourself, or humanity's right to exist without the approval of some entity."
God had nothing to add to that, and so they suddenly got pulled through a light which appeared in front of them, and in the blink of an eye, they disappeared.