Csilla: I swear these two just keep me writing~ I stumbled upon this prompt and instantly I thought of Mika and Yuu
Enjoy~
Death is a funny thing. Everyone is made to believe that once you die, there is a white light. There isn't. There's just a feeling of weightlessness and emptiness until the decision of what to do with your soul is decided. Will you be a Reaper, collecting the soon-to-be dead and their souls? Will you be an Angel, bringing departed souls back to life inside a new body? Or will you be one of the souls that are forced to go through the process all over again?
I was chosen as a Reaper. Why? I haven't any clue. I always thought Reapers were evil people sent to take lives before they had a chance to really live and do something with that life. But me, I was a good child. Smiling and friendly despite my home life. My parents abused me from the time I was born until they finally gathered up the courage to toss me out of a moving vehicle. The last few seconds of my life were still crystal clear in my mind. The sight of the other car. The screeching of their tires as they tried to stop. The pain of the initial impact, muffled voices, and then emptiness.
"Mika-chan~" My eyes immediately narrowed as that sickly-sweet voice filled my ears and before the source of that voice could put his disgusting arms around me, I pulled out my sword and aimed it at him.
Putting his hands up defensively, "My my~ awfully touchy, as usual" Ferid Bathory, another Reaper, who was the one that picked me to become a Reaper in the first place.
"What is it?" I lowered my weapon slightly, my gaze hard and cold – a complete opposite of how they used to be when I was alive.
Crossing his arms across his chest, obviously disappointed with my lack of reaction, Ferid sighed, "Krul wants to see you,"
"Fine…" With that I walked away, not quick enough to show how much I did not want to remain anywhere near him or slow enough for him to think he was invited to follow me, until I found Krul's office with its door wide open.
Krul was one of the Reaper leaders, she oversees all the deaths in Japan, and according to rumor has been around for thousands of years. Although every time I had to see her, I believed those rumor less and less.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked as I stepped inside the doorway and stood outside, waiting for her to respond so I could step further inside.
Krul turned, her long pink hair rustle with the movement, and the moment she saw me, she stood up: "Yes, come inside Mika" She spoke with a maturity that was far too much for her physical appearance.
I nodded before stepping inside, shutting the door behind me and walking up to her desk. Even standing Krul barely came up to my chest.
"I have a job for you," she slid a folder across her desk towards me and when she lifted her hand, I grabbed it and leafed through it. I hated this part. I hated this job.
As I skimmed over the information before me, one thing caught my attention – the person's date of death: "Krul, he isn't scheduled to die for few more years…"
"I know, but you've been handing off your jobs to others and I can't have a Reaper who isn't reaping so think of this as a punishment," A devilish smile spread on her face as she spoke, but the mask I had built up over the past six years kept any human emotion I may have felt completely covered. A perfect poker face.
"You are to live among the humans, collecting any souls that dies when you are around, but your main focus will be the child in that photograph… You're dismissed," Krul concluded, seeing that she wasn't going to break my poker face.
I nodded once more before heading out, irritated. If I didn't want to reap, shouldn't they be looking to get rid of me instead of sending me out there to work?
"Stupid Reapers…" I grumbled as I brushed past my supposed-comrades in the halls until I reached my room.
Protocol demands that once given a job, a Reaper must head out and in my case, I wouldn't be back for years, which meant I had to pack what little I owned. I groaned as I entered my room, but upon seeing the already packed suitcase and folded note on my bed, I knew who had been in my room. Only one person is stupid enough to do so.
"I'm gonna kill him," I spat as I grabbed both the suitcase and note roughly, crumpling the note quite a bit, before heading out.
I made the decision that if I saw Ferid on my way to the terminal, I would stab him for entering my room yet again while I wasn't there. Although luck seemed to be on the annoying prick's side, the terminal was in sight which meant the bastard would be fine for the next few years. I stepped inside the tube-shaped elevator, as the doors closed, I looked through the folder Krul had given me until I found what I was looking for: a barcode.
The barcode contained all the information about where I was heading, where I was to be dropped off at and at what time during the day. I placed the barcode up to the scanner on the side panel of the elevator until I heard a soft beep before I stuff the folder in my suitcase.
With time to spare, I decided to read the note –maybe it would give me a reason to kill the bastard completely-, which had been clearly written by Ferid:
'Mika-chan~
I wish I could have seen you off
I know how much you love our time spent together~
So here's a little gift:
I heard that Krul was making you go to the human world for a couple of years so I packed you some clothes, cash, and a couple of essentials humans seem to enjoy
See aren't I amazing?
Take care~
F.B.'
By the end, I could feel my body shaking with rage –Yes, I definitely going to kill him when I returned. I crumpled the note up before dropping it to the floor. Glancing over to the side panel, I would be in the human realm soon and looking down at my current attire, I would have to change.
Opening the suitcase, I grabbed what seemed to be the most normal thing the bastard packed: a plain black t-shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers. By the time the elevator ding'd to inform me I was at my destination, I was dressed and placing the clothes I had been formerly wearing in my suitcase.
I pressed the button to open the door before poking my head out the doorway to check for any signs of life, when I saw no one I stepped out allowing the doorway to Purgatory to immediately disappear.
"I should start by finding a place to live first…" I grumbled as I walked down what appeared to be an alleyway until I came upon a bustling sidewalk, but before I could step out into the foot traffic something in my suitcase started ringing.
Digging through it, I finally found a cell phone at the bottom; the caller ID said 'Krul' in bright letters. Groaning, I pressed the green button before putting the phone to my ear, "What Krul?"
"Ah! Mika, I forgot to mention I found you a place to live in the same building as your target," Her voice filtered through the speaker, clearer than I expected it would.
Closing the suitcase once more, I spat out: "Nice of you to mention it… So where is it?"
There was some static before Krul spoke: "Hmm, it should be right beside where you were dropped off… Imperial Apartments"
I stepped out slightly into the traffic before me then turned around to get a good look at the buildings formerly beside me, "Imperial Apartments, I don't see it!"
"Um, it's right here…" A voice spoke up beside me, I glanced over and the first thing I noticed were the pair of remarkably vibrant green eyes that seemed to glow from underneath the raven-black hair that framed a sharp jawline.
Krul's voice became background noise, as my attention turned completely to the raven-haired newcomer. I lowered the phone away from ear and followed where his finger pointed to the building to our left and sure enough, 'Imperial Apartments' was on a sign right out of my line of sight.
"Girlfriend?" The raven asked, pointing to the phone in my hands and it was then I remembered I was still on the phone with Krul.
Shaking my head, I responded "Nope, grandma" then I hung up before Krul could angrily (and loudly) yell through the phone at me.
"So did you just move here?" I couldn't stop the small smile that spread on my face as the raven's questions kept coming.
"You know, you ask a lot of questions when you haven't even properly introduced yourself…" My comment to anyone passing by, probably sounded rude, but the raven laughed regardless and I mentally noted that I liked that sound. Quite a bit.
It was strange. After dying, I couldn't find anything to invoke any sort of positive response. Not my favorite food. Not my favorite show. Nothing until now.
"Sorry… Yuuichiro Hyakuya, I actually live here…" He responded with another laugh. Yes, I definitely liked that sound.
Shifting the suitcase in my hand, "Well then, Yuuichiro Hyakuya, mind showing me where I can talk to the landlord?" I asked, a slight mocking tone in my voice.
"Just Yuu is fine… and yeah, Guren should be home. Follow me," I followed him up the stone steps and watched as he buzzed himself in before speaking, "Every tenant is given a passcode to get into the door, but if you should ever forget it: just buzz someone and let them know. Though try not to buzz Kimizuki, he won't let you in even if he knows you live here"
He held the door open for me before quickening his pace again so he was by my side again. The inside of the building was plain and seemed quite small for an apartment complex, but with the way Yuu was talking about the place I could tell he liked living here.
"Guren lives on the first floor, the second floor is where I live, Yoichi lives across the hall from me and Kimizuki lives beside him… If I'm not mistaken, there's an empty place over by the girls… Uh, two girls live on the other end of the hall" As we walked and talked –well, Yuu talked- I look around at the surroundings I would have to get used to for the next couple of years.
"…and here's Guren's place," Without warning, Yuu knocked on the light wooden door that had a brass '1A' nailed to it.
Within minutes the door opened and an older raven with violet eyes stepped out, his eyes immediately narrowing upon seeing them. My eyes, on reflex, hardened before I noticed his gaze wasn't directed at me, but rather Yuu.
"What do you want, brat?" Guren crossed his arms, clearly Yuu had a habit of bothering their landlord, I deduced.
Yuu's hand swept over in my direction, "This guy wanted to talk with you," his statement caused violet eyes to ghost over to me before they stared down at me.
Clearing my throat, "I was informed by my grandma that she had gotten me a place here," I realized the moment I called Krul, my grandma again, that it was going to be harder to keep a straight face with that lie.
"Name?"
"Mikaela Shindo,"
"Oh yeah," ducking inside for a moment before he reappeared with a set of keys in his palm, "Here's your keys… this brat can show you to your room… Up the stairs to the right" Without another word, Guren tossed the keys to Yuu before he shut the door in our faces; the action immediately gained a rather angry reaction from Yuu, who banged on the door yelling about his mannerism towards a new tenant – me.
I sighed, the suitcase suddenly feeling heavy in my hand, "How about we head up?" hoping he would get the message that I just wanted to put this damn thing down.
"Sorry about that," turning away from Guren's door, "He's not normally that short especially with newcomers… Usually he harasses them and wants to know their whole life story…" He lead the way to a staircase hidden from view of the front door, we climbed two flights of stairs before we walked through an archway that lead into a plain hallway. Light wooden doors slightly scattered down both sides of the hallway.
"He said it was down this way, right?" I pointed down the hall to the right of us, earning a nod before Yuu lead the way talking the whole time.
"I don't even know what he's talking about… every room down here is filled… unless my unknown neighbor suddenly moved…" Something told me he hadn't meant to say that last part out loud because we came to a stop outside a door with a '218B' in brass nailed to it.
Taking out a set of keys, I watched as Yuu inserted a silver one into the lock and a soft click echoed off the walls around us. He pushed open the door before muttering, "That's strange…"
"What is?" Again it seemed he hadn't meant to say that out loud and the stammering only further proved my point.
"W-Well… i-its j-just… remember how I said the only open room on this floor is on the opposite end of the hall from me," I nodded in recollection of the conversation, "Well, this is the room beside mine… but we watched all this stuff get brought in a couple months ago…" Yuu explained, flicking on the nearest light switch.
Sure enough instead of finding an empty apartment, I found myself staring at a comfy-looking couch, a TV, a dining table with a couple of chairs, the kitchen seemed to have a couple of gadgets I hadn't expected to see. And the bedroom and bathroom was likely furnished as well.
I wasn't sure what to say, but one thing was clear: Krul had been planning this for some time. Damn bitch. Yuu, however, continued to gawk: "I can't believe how much stuff you already have in here… Your grandma must really love you," a laugh, "Man, wait until I tell the guys… We are so hanging out here from now on, Mikaela" I could feel another small smile spreading on my face as I watched him.
"Mika. And that is, if I ever meet these friends of yours…"
"What?"
"Call me Mika,"
"Then let's go introduce you to my friends… Mika"
Csilla: This won't be a long fic -maybe a couple of chapters max, but who knows~ :)