Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan - Episode 16: At a Confessional

Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe - Episode 16: At a Confessional (岸辺露伴は動かない 〜エピソード16:懺悔室〜) is a One-Shot manga written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki; originally featured in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997, and later collected in Under Execution Under Jailbreak.

Rohan Kishibe from Part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable, stars as the main protagonist. This is the first chapter published in the series Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe.

Synopsis
As he is visiting Italy, Rohan decides to research the churches, especially for their architecture and spiritual background. He walks into a confession booth to research the interior, but mistakenly walks into the side reserved for the priest. Shortly after, a man walks into the other side of the booth and confesses his sin to Rohan, believing him to be the priest. Rohan hears his confession anyway, interested in getting information out of the man.

The man confesses that he has committed a grave and mortal sin and starts by accounting for his life as a common worker, carrying bags of corn and working many hours for menial wages. One day, an Asiatic beggar comes to the man begging for food, claiming he had not eaten anything for five days. The man, feeling disgusted that the beggar did no work to get his food, forces him to work by carrying the bags of corn to the storage. The beggar starts by carrying a small bag of corn, but is forced to carry a larger bag instead. While the man sits by and rests while drinking coffee, the beggar tries to move the large bag to the storage, but the bag proves to be too large and too heavy for him to carry. As a result he falls and is crushed by the bag. The man falls asleep and dreams that the beggar has appeared underneath his table, threatening to take revenge on him at his happiest moment. Not long after, authorities arrive and find that the beggar carrying the bag has died.

Things soon look up for the man, however, as money arrives from distant relatives, his idea to process corn into corn flakes and popcorn becomes a big hit, and he becomes married to a top-class model and has a daughter with her. By this point, the man has already become the master of a large mansion with several servants and a luxurious car. His daughter cheerfully opens a bag of popcorn and throws one in the air to catch it in her mouth.

Suddenly, the spirit of the beggar possesses the man's daughter and reveals that he has assisted the man's prosperity from behind the scenes so that he can fulfill his vow of taking the man's life at his happiest moment. A butler rushes to interfere, but the beggar attacks him with his daughter's possessed body. The beggar challenges the man to throw a piece of popcorn in the air above the altitude of a nearby lamppost and catch it in his mouth, each time at the clap of his hands, three times in a row. If the man succeeds, the beggar will acknowledge that his death was due to destiny and will leave the man forever, but if the man fails, the beggar will cut off his head without fail.

The man throws his first piece of popcorn in the air and it flies higher than the lamppost. However, the sun's rays blind him and he opens his mouth to blindly catch the piece of popcorn, and succeeds. He asks if he could postpone the match, but is promptly denied by the beggar, who denies him from choosing a day that would not be as windy or be cloudier. The second time, the clouds cover the sun and the wind does not blow, but a flock of birds arrive upon spotting the man throwing popcorn into the air, expecting to catch one. As the man will fail if the birds catch and eat the popcorn, he hesitates but is ultimately forced to throw the piece of popcorn in the air. However, he scatters most of the other pieces of popcorn to distract the birds and the second piece lands in his mouth. Finally, the man is left with only a single piece of popcorn, and with no other pieces of popcorn left to distract the birds, he lights the last piece on fire and throws it into the air, as the birds would not chase after a burning piece of popcorn. However, sunlight shines out from behind the clouds and prevents the man from perceiving the piece of popcorn. The man opens his mouth blindly again, but the last piece of popcorn lands on his shirt rather than in his mouth. Without a second to spare, the beggar cuts off the man's head.

The scene returns to the confession booth, where the man continues to explain his sins and why he was still alive after the event. As the man exits the booth, it is revealed that he was actually the butler attacked by the possessed daughter. He had found a servant who was willing to do anything for him, and used plastic surgery to alter both his and the servant's appearances, thereby fooling the beggar into taking revenge on the servant instead. The spirits of both the beggar and the beheaded servant appear and follow the man as he quietly leaves. Both vow to watch him around the clock to make sure that he does not do anything suspicious again. Rohan watches on with curiosity, deciding to interview him later if given the chance.

Trivia

 * The curse having befallen the confessor is similar in nature to Axl Ro's Stand, Civil War.