Chapter Text
Amane (POV)
Humans. They foolishly waste their days doing the same things over and over thinking they'll actually accomplish something, that is until they die of course. Now that's where I come in, I am one of the many grim reapers that help those close to their death beds pass on. You might be thinking 'Wait what do you mean many? Isn't there only one grim reaper?' but you see that's one of the many things you humans get wrong. Yes we grim reapers might not be alive like you humans, and don't need sleep but nearly 150,000 people die a day and that's quite impossible without some help. And when I say 'we help you pass on' I mean we are the ones responsible for things such as heart attacks, people dying in their sleep, dying of old age, and anything else that results in death, well except murders and suicides, those are out of our control. I have helped thousands of souls pass on for over half a century and never once cared for a single one of them. I truly didn't care who died, I didn't that is until I met her. She was the one who changed my life, for the better or the worse.
It all started the day Akane made a bet with me. I was just coming back from an assignment only to receive another one the second I entered the far shore. As I was handed the paper with the name of my newest assignment, Akane walked up behind me. "Who'd you get this time?" He asks as he peaked over my shoulder to get a better glimpse of the paper in my hand.
"Someone named Yashiro, Nene. She's a 27 year old elementary school teacher who lives in Yokohama, Japan." I say handing him the paper as I walk away.
"Sounds like you got another easy one." He says trying to catch up with me.
"Nah, I'm just good at my job."
"You're not that good."
"Better than you." I reply as I snatched my paper out of his hand.
"You know what? I bet you that I'll be able to complete my assignment before you do."
"Oh yeah, what happens if I complete it before you do?"
"You'll get bragging rights and I'll do whatever you want for a whole day. But if I win you have to finally admit I'm a better grim reaper than you to everyone."
"Deal." I said shaking his hand. "Who do you have anyway?"
"Some girl with purple hair and a similar name to mine, but honestly I've got this in the bag. I can't wait to see your face when I win." He says rushing off to the portal that leads you to near shore. I slowly made my way over to the purplish blue portal and put my left hand into the air and snapped changing me into my human form.
Grim reapers have two forms, our natural form and our human form. When we are in our natural form we are able to use our magic but we look much different from our human forms. We wear a black cloak that has our assigned number on it we also get a matching a skull mask to hide our identity and we're transparent. Our human forms however make us look like normal humans; since humans can see us in both forms we use this form more often so we don't scare or spook them, the downside of it is we can't use our magic in this form and we are as weak as humans, so when we are ready to kill our target we have to switch forms.
As I step into the portal my foot begins to disappear until I can't see my whole leg. I brace myself as I fully immerse into the portal. When I open my eyes on the other side I see tall buildings, many blinding lights, cars stuck in traffic, and crowds of people all walking to who knows where. I examine the picture on the paper I had in my hand. A girl with ruby eyes, cream hair with teal tips, and a big bright smile was the girl I was looking for. They only gave me a headshot so I'd just have to go off of that.
I start walking on the small sidewalk bumping shoulders with people as they shove past me. I was walking for a while not really knowing where I was going when I spotted something familiar in the corner of my eye. I turn around to see it wasn't a something it was a someone, a girl with cream hair and teal tips. I quickly switch directions and follow her from a distance. I follow her for about a block or two when she stops walking and runs into an alleyway. Close behind I peak into the alleyway she just ran into and notice she isn't there, curious I step softly and slowly into the alleyway but am roughly pulled onto the side.
"Who are you and why are you following me?" A female voice asks. I open my eyes to see a women as I'm being pushed up against a wall by her.
"I..." I began saying but stopped when I really got to take in what she looked like. She is short, no more than 5'2, her eyes are magenta with flaks of orange and yellow reminding me of a blazing sunset on the horizon, saying her hair was cream with teal ends would be a disgrace to the true beauty of it, as her teal ends resemble the depths of the ocean, her lips are as pink as a rose. All in all she was as beautiful as nature itself. Her picture did her no justice. I glance down from her breathtaking face and notice something I hadn't before. Her legs, they look almost double the size they should be. She almost reminds me of-
"Hey are you going to answer me?" She asks, bringing me back to planet Earth. That's when I realized I had broken one of the few rules the grim reaper society has: Don't get spotted by your target. I did the only thing I could think of doing after this, I ran. I ran out of the alleyway and kept going. I could feel her close behind as I heard her yelling at me to stop. I shoved through the sea of people, scanning the entire area for a place to hide from her. Not to long after I made it past a swarm of people I felt my legs growing heavy as if there were bricks tied to the ends of them, ignoring them I kept going but that caused my whole body to give in as I fell on the concrete ground. I could taste blood in my mouth as I kept wheezing. My legs shook as I tried standing on my feet but I just stumbled and fell again.
After that I decided to just let my body rest as I slumped up against a front store window. Even though I had been doing this for years I still wasn't used to my human form, always exerting myself until I break. I tilt my head so it lays on my shoulder and close my eyes.
I shoot awake to the aroma of something delicious. I took sight of my surroundings and immediately noticed I wasn't outside on the streets, I was in someone's house. Throwing off the blankets that were laid on me I get up off of the brown pleather couch that I was laying on. I limp my way towards the room that the smell was coming from as my leg was in pain, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I peaked my head around the corner to find a small kitchen with something boiling on the stovetop in a metal pot.
"Oh you're awake." A voice from behind me said. Frightened I got ready to punch the stranger but dropped my arms when I saw it was just the women I was running from earlier.
"Yeah. Where am I?" I asked cautiously.
"This is my apartment. I should probably also introduce myself, I'm Nene Yashiro but you can just call me Yashiro if you want." She replied as she cheerfully went into the tiny kitchen and grabbed a big sliver spoon. "I'm making beef curry, it should be done soon so I hope you're hungry." I stood there not knowing what to do, this strange girl who I'm supposed to kill kidnapped me and is acting like this just happens normally.
"Why am I here?"
"Because I brought you here."
"Either you're planning to murder me or you have absolutely no common sense."
"What do you mean by that?" She asks while stirring the curry.
"No one takes home the person who was following them."
"Well you fainted and hurt yourself, so I thought I'd help you."
"Do you normally do this? Cause if so, how have you not died yet?" I asked not understanding why she would do such a thing. She just giggled at my comment and poured the curry into two bowls.
"You know I am kind of curious as to why you were following me, care to explain?" She asked walking out of the kitchen with the two bowls in her hands.
"I don't have to explain myself to you."
"Fine, at least tell me who you are." She replied setting the two bowls down at a small wooden table. I stood there debating weather it would be safe to tell her or not.
"My name is Amane Yugi."
"Well it's nice to meet you Yugi-kun. So do you live near here?"
"Not exactly." I said sitting down at the table. She did the same.
"Really? Where do you live then?"
"Here and there."
"Oh so you travel a lot then?"
"You could say that...."
"What do you do as a job, since you travel a lot?"
"This and that."
"You're in between jobs?"
"Well not really."
"So from what I gather you're either a rich guy that travels, a secret agent that can't blow his cover, or a homeless guy who sucks at lying." She said as she began to eat her beef curry. "Now that I think about it, there is no way you're rich."
"Why is that?" I ask a little bit offended by that comment.
"First off your clothes aren't fancy, they are quite drab." I looked down at the outfit I am wearing, I'm wearing a plain gray tee-shirt with some denim jeans. It's definitely not fancy or nice but if I wear something like that I'm sure to stick out like a sore thumb and that's the opposite of what I'm supposed to do. "Second you had nothing on you, no money, no phone, and no ID."
"How do you know that?"
"Before I brought you here I checked to see if you had anything on you that would tell me where you lived or who I could call to get you home safely, but you had nothing."
"So you brought me here?!"
"Well I couldn't leave you on the streets now could I? Anyway, what's it like being a secret agent?"
"I'm not a secret agent."
"Makes sense, you can't even run that fast and fainted right before I got to you. I guess that means you're homeless then."
"I'm not homeless either." I said getting annoyed.
"Then where do you live?"
"I...you know what that doesn't matter."
"Hey there's nothing wrong with being homeless, you don't have to lie."
"I'm not homeless!"
"Sure..." She said rolling her eyes as she continued to eat her food. I on the other hand hadn't touched the food she gave me, I wasn't going to risk it. "I'll let you stay here for as long as you like, since you have no where to go."
"I don't-" I stop mid sentence as a thought crossed my mind. If I stay here I can get close to her and kill her then. "You know what I'll take you up on that offer."
"Okay, well in that case you can sleep on the couch. I don't really have a guest room so it will have to do." I nodded as she took her bowl and put it in the kitchen sink. "Are you not going to eat that?"
"No, I'm not hungry." I lied as I got up out of the chair and walked into the living room and sat on the couch.
"More for me then." She said as she scarfed down the food I didn't touch. I sighed and laid on the couch pretending to sleep. After she was down eating I heard the clanking of ceramic bowls and water running, the water stopped and the kitchen light turned off. As I was turning my back to the back of the couch I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"I know you're not asleep." I flutter my eyes open to see her standing in front of me with bandages in her hand. "Let me see your leg."
"My legs fine." I say as I tried turning my back to her but she stopped me.
"Let me see your leg." She demands. I huffed as I sat up and pulled my left pant leg up.
"It's fine see."
"The other one." I pulled my other pant leg up and that's when I saw it. My knee was bleeding and there was loose skin peeling off of the wound. She looked up at me raising one eyebrow as if to say 'told you so'. She took a wet washcloth and gently dabbed it on the wound. I flinched as my knee started to sting, she then wrapped the white bandage around it. After she was done she looked up at me and smiled. "See it wasn't that hard was it?"
"No." I mumble glancing away from her face for no reason in particular. She stood up and turned off the lights.
"Good night Yugi-kun." She says as she left me. I sat there in the dark for two hours starring at the clock on the wall, I then got up and walked down the hall. I noticed pictures hung on the wall of what seemed like family members and friends and as I got further down the hall I noticed a door that was halfway open.
Slowly I open the door all the way without making the slightest sound and walked into the room. In the middle of the room was a queen sized bed with Yashiro sleeping in it, as I quietly made my way over to her side of the bed I lifted my hand in the air and snapped, I was back in my natural form again. I reach out to touch her when I get zapped with electricity. I stumble backwards from the shock I got and held onto my hand in pain. That's when I noticed a bracelet on her wrist that has familiar markings. I step towards her and get a closer look, the bracelet was obviously an exorcist's heirloom that are said to protect humans from the touch of death. But the question still remains, why does she have it.
I transform back into my human form and touch the bracelet expecting another shock but nothing happens. I come to the conclusion that I can only touch her in this form, which could cause some problems since it is forbidden to kill a human in our human forms. I leave the room and lay back on the couch hoping to get answers tomorrow.
I wake up the next morning to find Yashiro running around the house looking for something anxiously.
"What are you doing?"
"I can't seem to find my car keys and I need them so I can go to work." She says continuing to look in every nook and cranny. I get up and stretch as I spot something from the corner of my eye. I crawl across the couch to the end table and grab a set of keys from underneath some lose papers.
"Are these what you're looking for?" I ask holding them up in front of her, she looks at me with glee as she jogged up to me and snatched them from my hand.
"Where did you find them? I've been looking for them for the past 20 minutes." She asks looking at me in awe.
"They were just on the end table under some stuff."
"Well thanks. I need to go to work before I'm late so- actually you know what, you're coming with me."
"Wait why?" I ask not really wanting to do anything or go anywhere today.
"Because I'm not sure if I can trust you alone here while I'm gone."
"Oh, now you don't trust me."
"Just come on." She sighs as she grabbed her coat and opened the front door waiting for me to leave with her. I pushed myself off the couch and exit out of her apartment. After she locked the door we headed down a few flights of stairs and made out way to her small red car. Her and I both sat up front and buckle up, before she could start the car she does a double take at me and then starts laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"You.....look...awful." She says through laughs, I then look in the rearview mirror. My hair was messy, my face had some drool still on it, my eyes were squinted and had bags under them, and my shirt was askew. I never once cared for how I looked and I definitely wasn't going to start now just because of what she had to say.
"Whatever." I reply looking out the car window as she backs up out of the parking space.
When we got to the school I followed her in not exactly knowing where to go. She led me to a small classroom that had about five square desks with tiny chairs, a circle rug near a bookshelf with a rocking chair next to it, and drawings on the walls from presumably the kids. She placed her purse on her desk that sat in front of the white board and went through a file cabinet for some papers. Grabbing a small stack of papers she handed them to me.
"Can you go place these on the desks. Put six on each desk." She instructed as she went to write something on the white board. I was in the middle of placing papers on desks when I hear a knock at the door, I look over to see a purple haired girl standing in front of the door smiling at Yashiro.
"Nene, I came to see if you needed any help before class starts for the little ones, but it seems you already have a helper." The woman says looking at me up and down.
"Ah yes this is Amane Yugi." Yashiro giggled. I just ignored her and went back to putting papers on desks. I had no intention on meeting anyone I didn't have to, but it seems the purple haired woman was more persistent than I thought.
"Hi there Yugi-kun, it's nice to meet you. My name is Aoi" She smiles, reaching her hand out to shake mine but I just walk away from her. "Okay....well um how exactly do you know Nene?" I once again avoided answering the question. "Are you her new boyfriend?"
"Aoi!" Yashiro yelled. I looked at Aoi-chan and just chuckled.
"She's to annoying for me." I replied.
"Well at least I'm not rude." Yashiro came back.
"At least I have enough common sense to not take a stranger you find off the street home."
"You should be thanking me, I helped you."
"I wouldn't exactly call kidnapping helping."
"You two are just to cute." Aoi-chan giggled.
"We are not!" Yashiro and I both said at the same time.
"Well I'll be off I have to grade some paper work, but it was nice seeing you and meeting your boyfriend. See you at lunch Nene." Aoi-chan says as she leaves.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Yashiro shouts behind her. She sighs and looks at me with an exhausted face. "Sorry about that." I was about to reply when I heard a child's laugh.
"Good morning Ms. Yashiro!" A little girl with blonde hair in two ponytails and a pair of big blue eyes says grinning.
"Good morning Tiara, how are you today?" Yashiro asks bending down to the little girl's height.
"I'm good, my brother made me pancakes this morning."
"Wait, which one? Don't tell me Teru-kun tried to make you pancakes."
"No, he would burn the place down." The girl held her stomach and giggles.
"That's good to hear. Now why don't you go to your seat for now and wait for everyone else."
"Okay!" The girl says as she walks past me and sits in one of the tiny chairs. I walk over to Yashiro's desk and sit in her office chair as she greets more little kids that come in. After a few minutes of listening to her greet children I got bored fast so I kicked my feet up onto her desk and grabbed a novel she had next to the pictures of her and some blond guy. I opened the book and started reading it, hoping it will contain my boredom. About two chapters in, my feet get shoved off the desk. I look up to see Yashiro glaring at me.
"Get out of my seat." She instructs as she takes the book away from me and sets it back on the desk.
"Then where am I going to sit?"
"You can sit next to Tiara. Tiara can you raise your hand so Yugi-kun can see where you are." The little girl who came in earlier raises her hand as Yashiro yanks me out of her chair. I groan as I slowly take my time making it over to the little kid, knowing it would annoy Yashiro. When I made it there I sit down in one of the uncomfortable tiny chairs. I can barley even fit in the chair not to mention the table was so short my bent knees are taller than it.
"Hello mister, my name is Tiara Minamoto. What is your name?" The little girl asks. I sit there for a second wondering where I had heard that name before, 'Minamoto'.
"None of your business." I finally reply after deciding it's probably nothing.
"Well it is nice to meet you, none of your business. Do you want to see my drawing I made?"
"Sure, what is it?" I ask hoping she'd shut up afterwards. She dug in her hot pink bag and grabs a piece of paper out.
"Here it is!" She exclaims as she shows me a poorly drawn sketch in crayon of what seems to be her and Yashiro holding hands in a meadow filled with white flowers.
"That's nice kid."
"Yeah, it's me and Ms. Yashiro. She's my favorite teacher you know."
"Ah, why is that?"
"She is nice and is a very good teacher, she even taught me how to count to one hundred. You want to hear?"
"Nah, I trust you."
"Okay. By the way are you Ms. Yashiro's friend?"
"Something like that, sure."
"Wait- are you her prince charming?!" She gasps as she held onto the bottom of my shirt in excitement.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Because I said so."
"That's not a very good reason."
"Fine, because I don't like her that way."
"Why not?"
"I just don't."
"Well you should."
"Well maybe she doesn't like me either."
"Is it because you look like that?" She asks pointing at me with a slight hint of disgust on her face.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I ask offended by her frank analysis. She giggles and stands up so she can get close to my ear.
"I'll help you then." She whispers in my ear. I look at her confused as to what that was supposed to mean, while she just wears a huge grin on her face as if she has the best plan ever.