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[metafictions]

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[metafictions]

So it is.

[As he'd thought. Hibiki really is like him. Or what he would be, if he weren't so stifled within the boundaries of this world.]

Well. What makes a man a street thug is purely subjective. So you may as well word it as a scholar or a criminal, and, if that's your question... it varies. Has the scholar learned anything worthwhile? How much of the potential of his criminal power has the scholar's counterpart achieved?

[medicative]

A good line of questioning. Starting to scratch beyond the surface.

Now go further. What if the criminal became such because he had no other options, or never hurts the innocent? What if the scholar has greedy aspirations, or harbors a cruel nature? Wisdom is a trait humans associate with "goodness", but without clear boundaries, can you still be objective?

[the question isn't a trick - they're genuinely asking.]

[metafictions]

You can't. When we try to establish those boundaries, we always fail. There's always something we don't consider there-- something that falls outside of those neatly drawn lines.

The wisest man I knew was wicked. I've found humanity in killers and criminals. Humanity's desires have often darkened the world with black poison, but there is no goodness or wisdom to be found among men who seek to cleanse that poison by eradication alone.

[medicative]

Now you're starting to dig. The simple answer is there is no simple answer to any of it. There are always exceptions, always things that won't make it easily as defined. Things that slip past the boundary - like you and me.

[metafictions]

Even more fortunate that I’ve gotten to meet you and Emily here, Hibiki-san.

[Between them, the first stick of incense is beginning to crumble away, burning to its last, but its scent lingers, long after the incense itself has reduced to ash.]

Could I ask to keep meeting, from time to time? I think I could learn a lot from these conversations.

[He needs it. So adrift from his original purpose, someone like Hibiki is just the confidant he needs.]