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[Kida is upstairs in his room, flopping on his bed and closing his eyes. If his eyes are closed he can ignore how creepy his room really is, because...thanks Izaya.]

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We?

Oh, everyone from our world.

It must get hard to keep up with. It sounds like the kind of line you'd find in a visual novel or a manga.

We like stories. Stories are a way of communicating to another person. They're messages.

[She was going to let him slide but three strikes and you're out.]

Don't tear out part of Mikado's heart without his permission. It's obvious you already have. Fix it or don't. But if you're surprised later by what the void becomes, then you missed the message in your own story.

The only problem is you're not the type of person I really like communicating with at all. I'll be warm and energetic and engaging because Mikado likes you, and I won't say anything bad about you in front of him. Just don't confuse that with me actually liking you.

[it's all said cheerfully and brightly.]

It's annoying how horrible people sometimes have a point though. Every time I learn a life lesson from a terrible person, it always feels hollow. What kind of person needs to get advice on how to be a good guy from a villain?

Don't worry. I'd be more confused if you liked me.

[But she shakes her head at that. Leave it to an Umineko meta character to feel the need to talk about this.]

Actually, it's a very common narrative device for the hero to learn an important lesson from the villain. It's because it feels hollow and like a slap in the face that it becomes meaningful. Of course, there are different common paths from that point. One is that the intention of the author was to parallel the similarities between the hero and the villain. You know, the whole "we're not so different" angle. From there, the hero sometimes turns into an antihero or has to take a journey of self-discovery to become worthy of being a hero again.

Another is that the hero has already become an antihero or even villain by that point. This is usually considered a wake-up call moment where the hero realises he is worse than the villain in some way. That leads to sub-path two from the previous example.

Sometimes it's actually to garner sympathy for the villain. The reader realises the villain may be cruel and terrible but that there's a person under there. Naturally, the hero realises this as well. Then conflict of morals and emotions can be had as the hero debates what their quest really means and what their goal against the villain will actually do.

One last example is that hero blindly refuses the villain's advice and ends up causing some sort of tragedy because of it. This is usually used to humanise the villain and also provide a moment of reflection for the hero. Often times this specific device is used when the hero has a habit of repeating rash actions and mistakes.

Do you understand? That is to say, even if I'm the villain and you're the hero, it neither makes you bad for listening to me nor makes me good for giving you useful advice.

So whichever way it goes, if I don't take your advice I'm doomed.

Oh, not necessarily. Those were just examples when the villain is right. I don't think it's arrogant of me to say that I am, however, right in this case. My only ulterior motive is the same as the surface motive, meaning his happiness.

If it's difficult for you, just think of it like a story, got it? The villain is cautioning the hero and the hero has to decide what to do with that.

That's assuming I'm a hero-type in the first place. I could just be another villain in Mikado's path, or a side character that gets sent away on a bus eventually only to be replaced by the hero Mikado was looking for in the first place.

You're definitely not a villain. At best, maybe you could be an antihero but that's really stretching it, too. You have too strong a moral compass, even if it spins around easily, it isn't broken or too determined in one direction.

As far as side character goes, if we're assuming Mikado is the main character, you're probably a secondary character. It doesn't promise you immunity but traditionally it does cross out a lot of possibilities. You can still be a hero in Mikado's tale. Bands of heroes are common. In that case, you aren't replaceable.

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