Archive of Our Own

Before the eternal winter, Rei had lived a standard life for a Reaper, moving through the world where he was called and directed. He enjoyed a temporary life among the living, blending in. People were far more forgiving of his preternatural aura when they didn’t have a long time to take notice of it.  

It was still a lonely existence though. Traveling between towns and cities collecting souls and releasing them to the world felt a bit like wandering lost. Reapers did not mingle among each other, they couldn’t because of the scale and importance of their task and of course they could not interact with the living much either. Before, that had been an unspoken rule but ever since the Aoi twin’s birth and subsequent punishment by God, that rule had become a law. 

After God had informed him of his task and dispatched him; Rei only had a general direction to rely on to find the children. It was winter everywhere currently and it would stay winter until the children were dealt with. Rei would find them at the center of the oncoming eternal winter. But it still would have taken him time to find their exact location, getting sidetracked by other more immediately sensible deaths as he was. 

All Reapers were called by the essence of death at a person’s passing and the nearest Reaper would take care of it. Since they had no formal way of communicating, a Reaper would only know if another had arrived first when the pull was gone. As such, oftentimes he would head towards a soul only to feel it fade away, already taken care of, not necessarily noticing the presence of another Reaper. Reapers could on some level sense each other but that was duller in comparison to sensing dying people which was their priority. Perhaps this was why it was taking so long to find the half-reaper children.  

Although it wasn’t odd to lose track of a soul to another Reaper, it was strange for his awareness to fluctuate like this. The feeling of these souls suddenly vanishing was wrong compared to how they should have felt upon reaping. Typically he wouldn’t be troubled by this periphery collection since reaping wasn’t exactly something he found pleasant but the timing was suspicious. As the Reaper of Judgement God would command him to collect specific souls, it was necessary that he handle them personally so it wouldn’t do for someone else to try and take those souls. It could be someone trying to interfere in his mission in some capacity. More often lately, Reapers were acting independently…

He should probably figure out a way to contact them. 

If they were truly following him the best way to expose them would be to head to some place remote. If he wanted to locate them he needed to be further away from the living to allow his senses to pinpoint the other Reaper. 

Wandering his way in the fields and stopping at the foot of a mountain, he focused his attention to notice any Reapers nearby. He waited until deep in the night and still he could sense nobody. Had it really been just a coincidence? Nothing at all to do with the twins?

He eventually felt the pull of someone’s soul preparing to leave the body and decided to make his way towards them as was proper. If there was a Reaper following him it would perhaps be easier to catch them out on the way, and if there wasn’t one then he had to go. Trekking towards the village, the cold breeze carrying over the hillside and the canopy of stars above seemed like his only company. No other sound beside the crunching of snow underfoot, which is why he noticed the silence of the world around him.

True it was winter so animal life did not provide much noise, either hibernating or migrating, but there should have still been some kind of sound from the remaining animals. It was like they were gone from the area completely–unusual. Perhaps it was an indication that the half-reaper children were nearby. Animals were more sensitive to the preternatural than humans, avoiding Reapers as soon as they were in vicinity. He studied his surroundings to see any other similar oddities, eyes eventually swiping across the sky for no reason of merit when nothing around him pointed to anything. 

Streaking across the night with a burning tail was a so-called shooting star. Rei had heard of them before but had never witnessed one, they seemed to move and disappear quickly and at a fair distance away too, as much of a twinkle as the steadfast stars they emerged from. This particular shooting star was slow in comparison, falling at a steeper angle, the burning trail of light that traced the path it arched was broad, more like a comet’s. Opaque and silver at the core, spreading and diffusing against the night sky into a blend of deep purple. It was a sight of wonder greater than he had anticipated. Less an oddity and more a miracle. He hadn’t made the conscious choice to follow it but his feet were already moving in that direction, his search completely put out of his mind. The tremor that went through the ground as it impacted, reverberated up his feet with a depth that was beyond physical. 

It was fascination perhaps that compelled him towards the star, an instance of something spontaneous coming into his existence. It was slightly unfortunate that the star had landed near the village, for a moment he had a fleeting thought that he could put aside his duties but as he got closer to the star the feeling of the soul he had sensed earlier also drew closer.

Mystifyingly there was no crater to match the tremor that went through the ground, only a faint glowing aura emanating from the center point–the star’s body itself. As his instincts foretold, that feeling of a soul was right exactly in the same spot. Two young boys had breached the boundary line of the star’s light, each of their souls flickering like the dying: they were surely the half-reaper children. He did not approach further. It was one thing to know the order of God, it was another to see the person who must be taken. 

The light condensed, the surrounding illumination disappearing as all of the star’s essence returned to its core: what was revealed was a person not a stone. Gray hair, golden eyes, and black robes strongly similar to his own. It was strange, almost unsettling–this was a type of being he was not familiar with and the possible connection between them felt like a danger.

The children were not as concerned, instead boldly curious, “Are you an angel?” 

The being scoffed and gazed at the boys with a lifted eyebrow, “No way.” He approached the boys like he had intended to meet them.

One of the boys backed away, pulling his brother with him, suddenly suspicious. “But you came from the sky and you were all glowy.”

“So? I thought angels were supposed to have wings. I ain’t got anything like that, so I’m no bird.” He stood proudly, grinning with a youthfulness that probably belied his actual age, “Listen up brats! I’m a wolf! Don’t forget it!”

The boy shrugged off his brother’s hand, “You don’t have wings, but you don’t have fur either. How can you be a wolf then huh?” He pouted and glared a bit, intentionally contrarian. 

The self-proclaimed wolf reached out and grabbed the boy by the head, messing up his hair, “Being a wolf is all about having the spirit of one! And there’s no one more wolf than me, got it?” He stooped down and looked straight into those eyes, “That’s why my name is Koga.”

When Koga straightened up and let go, the brother started to smooth out the tangled strands of hair, “Are you okay Yuuta?” 

 “Of course I am! I’m not a baby.” Yuuta complained and pushed away his brother’s hand. So these were the twins, this was Yuuta so the other must be Hinata. Their souls flickered in his eyes like dying candle flames. 

Koga scoffed, “You’re absolutely a baby, you’re barely at my knees.” He joked, his lips shaped as a smug grin. Whatever his actual age was, he interacted with them quite easily, as though familiar with entertaining children like a friend instead of an adult. 

“Hey! I’m still growing!” Yuuta fiercely rejected Koga’s claim, shaking his fist at him to emphasize his anger. 

“That’s right! Yuuta’s a growing boy, his growth spurt will be soon.” Hinata joined in to defend his younger brother’s pride. 

“You’re not going to be growing anyhow if you’re skipping sleep like this. Go home! Go to bed!” Koga shooed them away, stepping towards the village. That feeling of warning resurfaced, the potentiality that Koga was a danger gaining a surer foothold with the implication that Koga had a particular purpose here. A purpose that put him in proximity to the half-reaper children. 

Whether the children intended to or realized it, they trailed after Koga. Rei melded into the shadows and followed them as a specter. 

“We’re only out because you were falling from the sky! Who could possibly sleep during that!?” Yuuta continued, steps hurried to keep pace.

“Huh? Who asked you to intrude on someone’s privacy like that? It’s none of your business if I descend.” 

“But it was easy to see, there’s no way for that to be private.” Hinata’s expression was confused, a sincere curiosity and misunderstanding that halted his brother’s tantrum. 

It certainly couldn’t be considered private. The night sky was open to anyone who lifted their heads to gaze upward, yet Yuuta and Hinata were the only two from the village who had bothered to come and investigate. That is—besides Rei who was a Reaper. Just like the Aoi twins were half-reaper. Koga was clearly not human, a transcendent being. If he did not want humans to see him, he could likely prevent it, except for other supernatural beings who had the power to bear witness. Were they baited?

Somewhere in the chaos of his mind were the answers to his questions and sometime in their trek they arrived at a ramshackle house that must have been home to the Aoi twins. The flickering feeling of the twins’ souls dimmed and settled.

Koga appeared from the doorway sooner than Rei would have expected. He had been prepared to wait all night before he could make proper contact with the twins to uphold his ‘Judgment’. For now, he wanted to avoid the anomaly of Koga suddenly appearing in the situation. There were just too many questions to be concerned about—what was God planning? Was he a messenger to Rei or an enemy? 

He settled deeper into his shadow that was weathered and familiar from time, trying to avoid being detected. Koga’s stride stopped right in front of him, his gaze piercing and knowing. Maybe he was only faking having noticed Rei so he kept his form still, testing Koga in the only way allowable. 

Koga seized hold of him and yanked him forward, a peeved expression on his face. Rei would have felt threatened by his apparent anger if he hadn’t just seen Koga reacting with the same level of ire towards the twins. In fact, it made Rei feel a little affronted that he warranted the same feeling that children did. 

“Who’re you? Why were you following?” It was just another sign of the innate power Koga possessed that Rei was not knowledgeable about. Rei had no way of knowing just how much Koga was aware of in regards to Reapers, the twins, or Rei himself so all potential answers he could give to such questions were traps laid at his feet to step on willingly. 

“I give you my sincere greetings. I am Rei, a Reaper. I was simply curious about your existence.” 

Koga clicked his tongue, “That’s an odd name for these parts.” Rei carefully did not react. “I already said it: I’m a wolf.”

The obvious reply Rei could give would be like the children, pointing out Koga’s lack of a wolf’s features but that would be assuming they were speaking about wolves of nature. Perhaps wolf meant something else to Koga, a type of being Rei was unaware of. “I see.” 

Rei pulled away from Koga’s grip or Koga let him go, but they stood apart from each other assessing one another. Rei noted that Koga did not ask any questions in return. Whatever test Koga was giving him, apparently he had passed because Koga turned and went about his own way. 

Koga climbed the Aoi’s roof and laid back, looking to the stars he emerged from. Not leaving the twins’ side. Would God give two servants a conflicting task? Perhaps God meant for them to be allies and help each other, this was a unique case the likes of which never seen before so it would take special help; perhaps help from outside the sphere of Reapers. “Are you going to sleep?” Rei did not join him, but let his voice carry to him.

“Are you?” Koga asked. The dry sharpness of his words made it clear that he meant his words rhetorically. Of course Rei didn’t sleep, it was counterproductive. “Night is my time, there’s no way I would sleep.”  

True enough. Rei had many questions he wanted to ask but he also had many tasks he had to do–’Judgment’ to be done. He left Koga to bathe in his starlight, searching out the remnants of the Reaper mother. 

By the time he was through with his investigation on the Reaper mother, it was becoming daylight again. With that aspect of this situation sorted out he had nothing left to do but deal with the children, so he returned to their home. 

The white snow that covered every roof enhanced the sunlight beginning to pour over the horizon, making the world brighter and the air warmer but not melting a single perfect flake. It was almost too sparkling to withstand, even when it was tread on it was beautiful. Even as a display of God’s punishment. 

Despite the early morning, Rei saw the twins fleeing the house right as he got there, a faint yell of ‘get out’ carrying out the door after them. Koga sat on the roof observing everything with a knitted brow.

Rei was somewhat surprised to see him, “You’re still awake?” 

Koga leapt down, his black clothes floating in the fall, their pattern of vines and stars rippling with the gray fabric. “Aren’t you awake too?”

Again, Koga hinted towards a similarity between them that Rei didn’t know what to do with. Luckily Koga did not wait for a reply, setting off after the twins–all Rei could do was follow. Together they made their way towards an early morning market, none of the villagers giving them a passing glance even despite their odd dress. It went beyond blending in, instead it was an almost complete obfuscation of their presence, something that was not within Rei’s ability. It was uncomfortable to be so unnoticed when before he was used to drawing attention whether he wanted it or not but it was good for keeping an eye on the twins. 

They sat back in the shadows on an alleyway off the village center square watching the twins perform tricks and songs to the applause of men and women, old and young earning coins and treats for their efforts. Hinata told jokes with a bright smile and Yuuta followed those jokes with witty remarks, they perfectly played off each other, creating a fun atmosphere that made it feel like spring was around the corner. 

Eventually they got tired and packed up their performance tools, bundling away their rewards for later. The spectators walked off with sad sighs, dispersing back to their own lives and tasks in the village. There was no one who lingered by the side of the twins leaving them alone like they were not children. 

In the absence of others they boys rubbed their cold hands together and swiped at their running noses, faces redder than their hair. Their souls which had stabilized during the night began to waver again. Dying and living in half-measures. 

Koga peeled away from the shadows, walking briskly until he was towering over the sitting forms of Hinata and Yuuta each nibbling on some kind of cookie. “Not bad, ya brats.”

“Oh! It’s the angel.” Hinata seemed pleased to see that Koga had remained.

“I’m a wolf. W-O-L-F!” Rei didn’t understand why Koga even bothered to reply in such a manner; they were children, either they couldn’t understand or they were playing with the words. Surely it would have been better to let it go since it was ultimately of no consequence to their duties whether the souls they collected understood the nature of Reapers.

Yuuta did not share his brother’s enthusiasm it seemed, pointing a judging finger at Koga. “Oh yeah, then turn into a wolf right now!”

Koga reached out and pinched Yuuta’s nose, “That’s not how it works!” He protested before getting serious, crouching down to talk more privately. “So you’ve finished turning tricks, now what’re you gonna do?” 

There was a moment of awkwardness before Hinata answered, “Uuuh play games together?”

Koga grinned smugly, “Hehee, stick with me then I’m a master of games.”

“I thought you were a wolf.” Yuuta rubbed at his sore nose, words muffled and twisted by his hand. Hinata laughed and applauded his brother, feeding him another cookie.

“Oh I’ll show you!” Koga reached out and messed up Yuuta’s hair, stuffing the bag of treats and coins with the last items lying around and tying it shut while Hinata became distracted by trying to help Yuuta fix his hair. Koga tossed the bag towards Hinata who caught it carefully despite his surprise. 

Koga grabbed them by either hand and started pulling them along, apparently with a destination in mind. Rei followed along again.

“So what games do you know?”

“What games don’t I know? I know so many games, I could teach you games!” Koga said this with a strange pride as though it wasn’t age alone that had given him this knowledge. 

“Weird~” “So weird.” The twins quickly showed that they were starting to understand Koga’s character, pestering and needling like children did. 

Koga either played along or was genuinely enthused and enraged in turn by their questions and doubts. It was hard for Rei to determine. 

Their destination turned out to be the town church, ostensibly the place Rei would be meant to stay upon requesting asylum. Rei would hide among the clergymen and conduct his judgment as he always had done before for reapings that fell under direct command. 

People milled around inside, praying or conversing after service, but Koga paid no mind to it. He walked through the large building as though he was familiar with its layout, easily finding the school room off to the side. Its assortment of papers and writing tools and paints would be perfect for play, but neither of the twins seemed to be happy with being in the school room.

“Heeyy, you’re not gonna trick us into learning things are you?” They eyed him suspiciously.

“Only cool things.” Koga promised, pulling out a deck of cards from the arrangement of toys. He shuffled the deck and doled out cards expertly, beginning his explanation of the game. “It’s simple, you have eight rounds and each round you make a combination of a trio and straight. A trio is three cards of the same number and a straight is four cards of the same suit in order. The person with the fewest points after eight rounds wins.” There were obvious blindspots of information that Koga was forgetting to include for the inexperienced. But Hinata and Yuuta were very adept at playing games because they understood the game hand if not the more specific details Koga omitted in his explanation. 

“I’ll even play pairs in this game.” 

“That means we need a fourth person right?” 

“We got a fourth person.” Koga pointed to where Rei was cloaked in shadows just outside the doorway. Rei froze still and considered how to avoid close contact with the twins. It wasn’t exactly improper but it was not what Rei preferred. He didn’t get much of a choice though because Koga stood up to drag him in by the collar. 

He awkwardly avoided their curious eyes, gingerly accepting the cards Koga foisted on him.

“Who’re you?” “Are you a priest here or something?” They asked in quick succession. His robes were meant to mimic a priest’s and that was generally how he passed himself off in human society but Koga answered for him.

“He’s Rei. He’s closer to being an angel than I am.” 

Rei fumbled to answer the bombardment of questions the twins assaulted him with, trying to deny any specific details. Their excitement was very similar to last night’s even though Rei and Koga were different levels of being, likely incomparable—despite what Koga’s nonchalance suggested. Even if they were half-reaper it probably wasn’t allowable to tell them the nature of souls and death. He dodged their questions and distracted them with questioning Koga for proper rules to the card game. 

The twins put their heads together and whispered as they collected cards and sorted them to the round’s requirements. Koga and he also leaned together with their cards. Rei was rather amazed at how good the hand was, they could have easily laid their cards out for the win yet Koga restrained Rei. Koga gave him a rather disapproving side eye for some reason Rei couldn’t discern, his golden eyes trying to convey a message. 

As the rounds became more difficult and the gap in Koga’s skill to the Aoi’s overall luck closed, the fierceness of the twins’ determination and focus grew. Their pride and cheers for every victory growing, their bright smiles charming and innocent. Koga managed to keep their total points low and thus won, but the twins were undaunted, demanding a rematch Koga was all too happy to indulge. 

Koga laughed and boasted about winning, brazenly handing over Rei’s help to the twins so the game was three against one. The twins yanked him by the sleeve until he was stooped low to whisper with them and plan their strategy. Somehow he also felt that it was fun to be playing along—ah Koga had meant to throw those matches in order to create this atmosphere. 

The broad smiles on the twins’ small faces took up almost half of their heads, yet it was still smaller than Rei’s hand.

They somehow managed to win all on their own, pushing Koga to play seriously. Hinata and Yuuta laughed as Koga threw his cards on the table in defeat; even Rei, who was used to keeping a stone heart, smiled for brief moments when he couldn’t restrain himself. 

 “How about we try another game?” Rei suggested a game he’d witnessed in his trooping around the world suddenly coming to mind. He sorted the deck to take out unneeded cards, beginning to explain the rules. They all leaned in to listen closely, paying Rei singular attention as he dealt out their hands. It felt unnatural. The twins played with zeal: it was a much simpler game and one Koga did not seem to have known of before. Their excitement was so human, almost infectious. Rei had to avoid it. 

They stopped only when the town bell sounded that it was evening and time for dinner. The twins still had plenty of energy left, snickering to each other as they challenged Koga to a leg race back towards the town center’s food stalls. Rei watched as Yuuta bolted down the cobbled streets and Hinata dived to latch on to Koga’s leg, their merry shouts emerging like sounds you could imagine from a vivid still life. 

“Run Yuuta! I’ll slow him down!”

“You sneaky brats! Cheaters!”

“If one of us wins, then both of us win!”

Koga hobble-ran in a way that tried to balance speed and protecting Hinata from being thrown off, his lopsided form following Yuuta’s bright hair in the distance. Rei stayed behind. He didn’t actually need to be near them to make his Judgment.     

The sun set and Rei wandered around the church grounds. He had spoken with the head priest so he was assured lodging in the village for however long was necessary. The eternal winter’s snow falling in quiet flurries around him–a sense of oneness much more familiar than interacting with the twins. If he were to call anything his home he might have chosen a winter like this for how it suited his nature, although he didn’t think that the twins would have found the same connection with it. 

He eventually wound up where he had been the previous night–the Reaper mother’s grave, where everything started. Contemplating the course of action he was supposed to take and the details he didn’t know. How had the Aoi parents met? How had the mother given birth? If the results of it all, the twins, were a violation of God’s will then how had she been able to disobey at every step of this path?   

The crunch of snow told him that Koga had come for him instead of remaining on the roof like last night. 

Koga came to stand next to him, “Who’s this? You know ‘em?” 

“It’s the Aoi twins’s mother.” 

“Hmm, I didn’t know you guys could die.” Koga tilted his head side to side, stretching his neck.

Rei supposed that he hadn’t known Reapers could die either. He had never really thought about it, assuming that Reapers continued in perpetuity or vanished when no longer necessary. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“How’d you get cursed then?” The snowflakes continued to fall and Koga opened a parasol over their heads. 

“I am not cursed.” Rei brushed off the snow that had stuck to him from standing so long in one spot. 

“You’re not!? How’d you become this then?” Koga asked with complete surprise. It was a sudden clamor of mutual assumptions.

“I came into existence like this. Are you cursed?” They looked at each other with similar misunderstanding. 

“Well I was, but I don’t consider it a curse anymore.” Koga’s naturally sharp gaze worsened in some kind of recollection before smoothening out to a peaceful, prideful look that reminded Rei of elderly faces, their souls claimed in his hands like the stones of fruits. Why had God made them so differently?

Koga pushed the parasol into Rei’s hand and crouched down to look at the grave more closely, not at all as curious as Rei for answers. “Flowers, huh.”  

”They’re daffodils. They mean ‘respect’.”

Koga hummed with something close to skepticism, “‘Respect’? But there’s no name?”

“Perhaps the snow and ice are covering it. It just needs to be cleaned.” Rei reached out to scrape at the frost growing over the edges of the tombstone, trying to brush away whatever covered the engraved petals. This too was a part of spring lost in the new eternal winter.

Koga stood up from his crouch, mindless of the snow that now gathered on his shoulders. “If they’re not even going to clean it then there’s no respect, name or not.”

Rei had no reply that could follow, only a bitterness that stirred up from the bottom of his heart. Some kind of frustration that crawled out of the pit of his mind, making him want to fight something, anything, maybe even Koga. 

Cursed…

“How did you get cursed?” It wasn’t important to know. Rei realized at this point that Koga was here for different reasons than him, that their paths had crossed by something more than chance and less than intention. But he was tired and he wanted to know; to just have an answer to something. 

“Well it was a family thing. Basically I broke a curse and wound up like this.” Koga answered, perfectly explaining nothing. Perhaps the details weren’t necessary, Rei would never be able to understand the aspects of family. Reapers were not born, so it was impossible.

“We should get going, the twins said they wanted our help with their tricks tomorrow.”

“I’m staying at the church from now on. We shall meet again tomorrow.” 

“...Oh, okay.” 

Rei didn’t turn to look at Koga’s face for his reaction and he didn’t look as Koga’s steps faded away under the muffling wind, leaving the parasol in Rei’s hand. He wondered if his expression looked as sad as his voice had sounded. 

Maybe the twins would have been able to understand.

The next day they met up again in the town center. If Koga was bothered by their conversation from yesterday then it wasn’t apparent, instead he focused himself on helping the twins put on a show for the crowd. It was amazing how they performed with such enthusiasm; despite the cold likely freezing the air in their lungs, they smiled and sang like they didn’t notice their souls slipping out of their bodies. 

He was fine spectating though since it brought its own form of enjoyment and engagement. There was a connection that was created from watching that drew people to return and watch future performances, a connection that the twins also wanted. It left him the time to observe the only other member of the Aoi parents that was living–the human father.   

For a man that had defied the natural order to have children with a Reaper, there was no love offered to the children. He despised them and made no secret of it, demanding they remain out of his sight, insisting that they were monsters. If Rei had been tasked with judging him, he wouldn’t have struggled with indecision at all. Even if it might have been a technical truth, the semantics of the word monster that meant ‘not human’ as the twins surely weren’t, even if it was plausible that giving birth to them killed the Reaper because she had not been created with that intention–it didn’t matter. Children were meant to be protected by their parents, society was built on that kind of community. The villagers understood that implicitly for they always watched and rewarded the twins’ efforts despite how they had seen it over and over for longer than the twins were capable of remembering back. 

They made their money and again finished the day playing cards. The twins insisted that he also participate, demanded that he teach them card games Koga did not know and thus could not unfairly win against them. They would argue about who was the cheater of this round, even though they all cheated in equal measure in his eyes, the irony of them making him decide who was truly in the wrong for cheating to win this or that game didn't sting as much as he expected. They had such fun with it. Perhaps shirking the rules was a vital part of having fun for them.

They fell into a mundane repetition that made the days blend together like walking towards the edge of the earth. The villagers began to whisper among each other about how long this winter was lasting even as the dates turned over to spring. Puzzled though they were, they accepted it and did what they could to survive better. It might have been a small mercy from God that the snowfall was never heavy enough to trap the villagers in their homes or prevent travel in and out, nor did the nearby river freeze over so they could still fish and gather water.

Their crops struggled though. The ground was hard and cold, the sky covered in clouds most days, the fields could not be kept perfectly clear of snow when it snowed so often. They focused themselves on keeping warm and trying to care for their animals, less and less of them coming out to see the twins perform. So their father became angrier, hating that they needed him for survival as children did, yelling or ignoring them whenever they were in sight seemingly with no discernible pattern or reason. The twins didn’t seem to love him back either in response.

Was this the kind of family that resulted after undergoing such a struggle to exist? It was concerning to see Yuuta’s souls flare up with Reaper energy like he was trying to manifest ability, a kind of sparkling mirage clinging to the horizons of his soul, crushing it. Grim Reapers were thought of as killers by humans but the actual truth was that their only duty was to shepherd the dead souls to their rightful place when their time came, they had no actual influence over the timing or manner of death.  

Except for Rei. He had a certain amount of determining a person’s time of death, the manner of which was always the same: all traces of them disappeared from the world. It was difficult, but he eventually understood that there was a difference between souls that wavered between life and death because their time was close and those that wavered because death itself was close. The twins were these types of souls, their abilities were incompatible with their human bodies and eventually they would accidentally kill themselves trying to use something they couldn’t withstand using. 

Should it make him feel better that their fates weren’t avoidable? That his mission was given with mercy in mind? But it did somehow feel easier to interact with the twins; interacting with them felt more like kindness. 

Rei had been around for quite awhile so he had endless things to show and teach the twins. They were eager to learn and it kept them away from their father, which they all appreciated. He taught them what he could on the church’s pipe organ until the twins started using the instrument to scare the churchgoers with ominous sound as they masqueraded as ghosts. Then the head priest stepped in to lecture about such inappropriate behavior, forbidding the twins from playing anything other than hymns. Rei was able to smooth the situation over so the twins weren’t forever barred from entering the grounds, terms they readily accepted for stopping their mischief but that was probably more because they had actually managed to scare Koga with their efforts and were sufficiently satisfied. 

Koga yelled and complained for a near full day about the incident, surprising Rei with his dedication to holding a grudge and the amount he could talk. But he still made the twins their own proper instruments to play on when their birthdays came around. The performance would have lasted through the night if the twins had been able to suppress their tiredness. They made it until the day had changed and it was the dark part of morning; with no cloud or moon in the sky, the night was dominated by the river of stars which hung closer to the earth with every twinkle. The air was practically warm around them as Rei and Koga carried Hinata and Yuuta respectively to their beds. Despite the snow, a person could easily think that winter was about to melt away into spring.

But of course it didn’t. Winter continued past early spring and the village people began to panic in accord. They focused on raising sheep for wool, spinning yarn for clothes, knitting and sewing clothes to last longer, to replace the unsalvageable, and to keep their families warm. Neither Rei nor Koga were skilled with thread so they couldn’t do such a thing; the cold didn’t mean much to them because they were not human but it did mean something to the twins. They shivered more as their few items of clothing thinned from weather and use and all Koga and Rei could do was drape their own outer layers over them. Ill-fitting, the robes dragged on the ground preventing the twins from moving easily, the fine decoration and accessories collecting snow that hindered the clothes from warming the twins. 

Rei would carry them in his arms when he could, but they hardly allowed it–being young children they were obstinate about not being treated like babies, worse so from their history. From their present too, their imminent fate and the paranoid stirring in the villagers–soon they would look for a reason a cause a scapegoat and their target was surely obvious. In those moments, he wondered what he was doing, caring and carrying. With Hinata or Yuuta’s body held against his own he was keenly aware that he was another cold thing that served to bring ice to them: lacking a heartbeat and more. What was the point? Why was he prolonging the inevitable? 

Somehow they had to find a way for the twins to stay warm and survive if their own father wasn’t going to do it.       

“We should start planting a field. That way the kids can feed themselves and make more money on the side.” Koga proposed one night as they sat in the pews.

“That’s impossible. The seeds won’t take in this eternal winter.” 

“Tch, it just means that I gotta keep an even closer eye on them. Plants are fussy anyways, it ain’t a problem for me.” The wood underneath Koga creaked as he shifted without care for how the noise could disturb others. Then again, there really shouldn’t have been anyone in the church building itself to hear it, that was why this had become their nightly meeting place.

Rei stared at the light cast on the floor filtering through the stained glass panes. The birds and flowers dancing in the cold moonlight so people could continue to remember that spring was a season, a start to a year, a life. Rei doubted that even the carefullest of tendings would keep the crops alive in this true dead of winter, but his mind turned for an answer without his bidding.

“We could make a house.”

“A house? How does that help?”

“It would keep the plants protected and warm.”

“Hmm,” Koga crossed the center aisle to sit next to Rei, leaning with his arms folded as he looked Rei in the eyes, “How would it do that? How do we make it?” 

Koga was undaunted, thoughts unobstructed with worries or impossibilities, ready to act. Rei got a sheet of paper and started to draw what the building would look like so Koga could do its construction. Koga leaned in to look at the paper from all angles, close yet somehow not blocking the moonlight and candlelight they were seeing by. If Rei felt like all parts of shadow then Koga was all parts of light–cold and warm, black and gray and gold, he should have been muted and colorless but he wasn’t. Even his brooch shone with an elegant and deep purple at the core and a silvered lavender at the edges, like the light of Koga’s descent from the sky.

“Where did you get it from?” Rei couldn’t help but whisper as he pressed his fingers on the cut edges of the gem, properly polished like a jewel. 

“I made it.” Koga’s whisper was different from his own. Rei whispered in a light voice that didn’t carry any weight so it could float, but Koga pulled his voice deep inside him for a lower rumble that kept close to them. Really Rei had meant where the jewel had come from, not the brooch, but maybe Koga had meant that as well. It was amazing that Koga could create something so beautiful.

“Where are we going to put it though?” Koga backed up a bit so their foreheads weren’t nearly touching anymore, but didn’t stop Rei from touching the brooch. It didn’t seem that Koga was uncomfortable and trying to put distance between, instead he was tilting his head and staring at the ceiling with a puzzled look.

“Clearly near the twins’ home?” 

“But they don’t own that land. Besides, with that father of theirs…”

They both sat and wondered about where to place the building. Thinking about it deeper for a moment, it might actually be quite difficult to acquire the tools and materials needed to construct it. This would turn out to be a long project. Not to mention the potential problems that could occur with the villagers: Rei didn’t want to assume the worst but it was always better to be cautious. 

“Why not the church?” Koga looked back into his eyes, searching for approval of his earnest suggestion.

Rei considered it. He had sway with the clergy so he would be able to convince them about supporting this endeavor which would help the struggling village, but it would infringe on the meaning of this being for the twins. Of course the twins would still be able to reap the benefits but there was a chance that the tenuous stiffness of the village would shift to violence. Although assuaging their worries about food would alleviate their suspicions. The twins would be much more comfortable if the villagers continued to love them.

“I’ll talk with the head priest about it.” It would probably be easier to secure materials and tools through the church as well. 

After Rei had gotten the approval of the priest to build the garden house, he and Koga revealed their plan to the twins. They were fascinated as they looked over the diagrams that Rei had drawn and written, asking about every little detail and speculating on the magic that would make it work to grow plants when nothing else would, each guess growing more fantastical. They were eager to help simply for want of something to do now that the village had become quiet with the skipped spring. Thankfully with the help of the church they easily got the wood and brick they would need for their foundations and wall. 

They all worked together to build the outer walls and complete the roof as soon as possible so they could start to clear the ground of snow. With some of the farmers helping out with the frame, Rei took the twins to supervise the glassworkers making the windows for the roof to ensure they followed his strict instructions for strong panes. It kept the twins out of the way of the construction while also keeping them entertained. They were still antsy to do something though: Rei could understand, it was an unusual feeling to be following others or waiting for them when you were used to acting alone. Once the garden house was actually built and the twins could begin helping with sowing seeds, their feelings of restlessness would disappear.

The building ended up with an outer visage similar to a barn with large doors and tall walls covering a fair bit of ground to test out this process. The twins cheered and celebrated as the glass was fixed into the roof allowing sunlight to come through during the day–they danced around like sunlight had never come in through a window before, they were brimming with energy now that the day had come where their help was needed. They ran up and down in files, tilling the ground in not quite straight lines and then made a game of planting seeds by jumping over each other. They laughed together in their own world of the game, the presence of Rei and Koga slipping their minds as they relied only on each other like they were always used to. 

Rei would not join because he preferred to keep some kind of polite distance but he could only guess why Koga chose to stay out of the fun, mainly by the tired bobbing of his head. That night they sat together in the garden house looking at the furrows waiting to flower by their hands. The twins finally had some of their exuberance back so Rei hoped that his plan would work out like he expected; surprisingly, when it came to this kind of worry, foreknowledge did nothing to put him at ease. He had seen this kind of structure work as it was intended but who could know if that precedent would hold true now in this everlasting winter? His life had become a series of uncertainties ever since he had arrived here. 

“Now all we need is steam.” They had negotiated with a brewer for some older vats to use as cauldrons, all of them situated in their corners for tomorrow.

“Well we got plenty of water for that, what with the snow and everything.” Koga grinned, the barrels of packed snow sitting proudly off to the side. 

“The water isn’t the issue, the wood is.” Yes, with the constant snowfall they would never hurt for water to create steam, but they would run out of wood as everyone used it to keep themselves warm. For now they would manage but the future would be different and ultimately this was for the twins who needed to be able to manage this task themselves so how would the twins sustain this?

Koga groaned and scratched his head in thought, the grin gone from his face and replaced with a scowl. They sat in silence for the rest of the night trying to think of a solution. The next day the twins helped water the plants and start the cauldrons boiling water, quickly growing bored when they realized that sprouts wouldn’t emerge in a day itching to return to fun activities instead of work. The twins crept out of the garden house, sneaking away to do something more fun in the eyes of a child. 

Koga remained focused on monitoring the pots and controlling the temperature in the whole building; they had chosen to grow wheat, potatoes, and beets for their hardiness against the cold but it was still important to be careful to maximize the outcome. It was both more and less intensive than Rei had anticipated. He had expected that the plants would need constant care in soil and sunlight, but Koga was actually giving more attention to the water. After the seeds had been evenly watered there wasn’t much else that they could do to increase the success of seeds germinating. 

“What’re you hangin around here for? I’ve got the plants you go with,” Koga jerked his head to point after the twins. “So they don’t get into trouble.” Koga griped. Rei agreed. He had a certain feeling that he should keep an eye on them but he also wasn’t used to chasing after someone–it sounded like quite the ordeal and the kids seemed to want to be alone. He would have suggested that Koga keep an eye on them but Koga clearly had more knowledge for gardening that was needed here, so he went instead and plotted to requisition the help of a farmhand the following day.

He found the twins climbing a crumbling embankment, scaling up and down rocks and bricks on an imaginary adventure following the curve of the river. Rei sat back and watched them play around as explorers crossing a treacherous ravine, anxious for if he would have to rush in and save them if they slipped. They hopped and careened dramatically until the sun began setting, content to play amongst themselves. 

Reapers were siblings in a symbolic sense since they shared the same origin and task but they were not siblings like Hinata and Yuuta were. It must have been quite nice to have that kind of connection. He followed them at a distance as they walked back to their home, sneaking in just like they had snuck out of the garden house. Surprisingly, they slept in separate rooms, but still next to each other. Their father returned from his roaming shortly after them, making a ruckus as he walked around the house–a commotion about dinner or some other made up infraction the twins had committed. When the home went quiet and the lights were turned low or put out, Rei finally returned to Koga. 

Koga was sitting in the center path of the furrows, one of the cauldrons pulled close to him. “Welcome back.” There was a slight edge of a yawn in Koga’s voice, the first that Rei had ever heard. The idea that Koga was tired even though he didn’t need to sleep was contradictory but Rei could see that his eyes were drooping as he leaned against the warm curve of the cauldron, forehead digging into the lip of the pot. 

“The twins are asleep.” He answered to fill the air as he approached closer, taking a seat next to Koga beside the simmering pot. 

“I’ve thought of an idea for the wood problem.” Koga yawned again and shifted to reveal that the cauldron wasn’t resting on a bed of charcoal, maintaining a partial boil on nothing. It was magic, Koga’s magic, the one that allowed him to make that gem. Rei saw it now, the faint glimmer of light that radiated from Koga producing rays just like the sun or moon did. Rei reached out to touch Koga feeling the incredible warmth he produced that fed the water turning it into steam. The bubbling sounds of the water and the constant flow of translucent steam that clouded the ceiling before sinking as mist to cover the rows, proved that Koga was burning with a strong heat akin to the fire usually needed, but Rei felt none of that kind of burning. Not many things could hurt Rei but he was aware of what was supposed to hurt and how the sensation would be understood by his body. Rei was not hurt—he felt only warmth—because that was what Koga allowed. Koga was..conscious of him falling to harm. 

It would work as a solution for now until they could come up with something more applicable for humans. “Does this always make you so tired?”

“No, but I ain’t really used to being so restrained.” Koga huffed in frustration.

Rei tilted his head back to stare out of the ceiling windows, up into the stars. Koga called himself a wolf but he was that shooting star that landed in the valley all those months ago. The light and heat he gave off now and the jewel he created in the past: they were all aspects of his origin among the stars. Their paths crossing hadn’t been a coincidence exactly, they had just both come to fulfill vastly different duties to the twins. “What kind of wish did they ask you?” 

“Who knows~ I can’t hear that kind of shit, it’s just a feeling y'know? It’s rude to ask anyway.” Koga rocked side to side, no secret or complexity to his purpose, only honor.    

Rei slumped against Koga’s side, a thrum like constant fire crackling and wood snapping under his hand and ear. He wanted to follow that warmth deeper into Koga. “Which star are you?”

Koga pointed to a spot in the sky, “The brightest one there is!” his voice boastful even though Rei couldn’t make out which one he was indicating. No matter how close their bodies were it was still hard to follow a line-of-sight that wasn’t within his own eye–the star could have been there or not. The star could have dimmed or disappeared because Koga was here beside him, either way he still saw the star because Koga was shining beside him.

“I see it.” Rei thought that probably that star’s most beautiful form was Koga here on the earth next to him, better than in the distant sky. He felt silent like the night, not like a grave but like people sleeping. For Rei, many of the souls he collected were at night so he was typically busy and alert with more activity, but Koga’s tiredness from his dedication rubbed off on him from where his head was resting on Koga’s shoulder until, between one blink and the next, the sun had risen and it was morning.

The twins arrived at the garden house before they had even gone to search them out. Rei was addled from the strange half-sleep of last night so Koga entertained them, challenging them to a contest of clearing the roof of its new piles of snow. Koga climbed up the roof and began to push snow off the edges, the twins running up and down the sides of the building with buckets to catch what was falling as Koga randomly shoveled from wherever to wherever. The twins yelled and complained as Koga dropped snow more on their heads than in their buckets, laughing until the twins retaliated by chucking snowballs at him. They battled high and low, fierce like wolves and foxes fighting over territory and food. Victory fell into the hands of the twins once Koga was knocked off the building and into a hill of shoveled snow, their cheers and gloating antagonizing Koga until they began another round of battle. The noise of it was almost soothing with the walls between them muffling the more ear piercing shouts.

Rei sighed as his head gradually cleared and set out to request the help of some farm boys while the others waged war against each other. Rei assembled a group of workers to help with the garden house and brought them over immediately, thankful to see that they had finished their war with a truce for lunch. Koga grudgingly accepted the help and took up the task of teaching them how to properly judge and control the steam they needed to produce. The helpers listened avidly if with slight fear at Koga’s attitude or perhaps the expectations of the farmers to reproduce this process back home if it was successful. Which was fine of course so long as this knowledge was traded for woolen clothes for the twins. The twins weren’t curious about the process at all it seemed; Hinata was interested in helping the plants by watering them directly or protecting against pests and eventually harvesting them but controlling the atmosphere’s temperature was a bit abstract to his understanding of a plant’s needs. Yuuta was just far more interested in games so Rei concocted tasks to keep him occupied, fun little things like gathering gossip or learning the process of making a quilt without getting caught. Hinata spent some time talking with Koga and asking questions about what to expect when the plants emerged from the ground but typically kept beside his brother because he would’ve become too worried otherwise to focus on the garden.

But the plants didn’t sprout even after a month of careful tending so Rei began to worry. The twins worried too and he could see the doubt on the hopeful faces of the helpers–this might have been a small endeavor to them as nonhumans but it had important ramifications to the survival of the village. Rei kept a strong face and assured them that it was just taking a longer time because of the unseasonable weather, but was found out by Koga who spoke to him during the night. Just one word of Koga's confidence was enough to put Rei’s concerns to rest: relax, they ain’t gonna grow if you don’t have faith in them, they can sense it. It was true that Rei didn’t have the knowledge of plants that Koga did so he couldn’t say when they would sprout but no one was taking care of these seeds as diligently as Koga. Rei saw it every day the amount of time and thought that Koga put into growing this garden and teaching the others what they needed to know, how every night he poured out his light to make sure that the plants had every chance to live. He knew that Koga wouldn’t fail, he had faith in that. A week later the sprouts finally broke through the ground right as summer would have arrived. With careful work they would manage a decent harvest come fall. Everyone in the village came around to marvel at the achievement, tentatively optimistic about spreading the knowledge and making their own harvest. Hinata would walk visitors through the aisles all to point out the ones he had planted and how they were growing better than the other sprouts, giving them names now that he could actually see them living. Yuuta sighed and sat on the side with Koga watching his brother, neither of them particularly charitable to the idea of people infringing on their work. Thankfully, the procession of people quickly dried up since there was only so much to look at and ask questions about until eventually there would be nothing to look at but the plants growing at an undetectable pace.

From there on Hinata would talk to his plants every day as he watered them, being extra careful in pruning dead leaves or checking for pests. Yuuta didn’t help much more than he had before, otherwise occupied with his musical or game related pursuits. In fact, Rei noticed a sort of distance between them unlike before when they were otherwise constantly together. Koga also noticed their ‘sulking’ as he called it but asserted that they should leave them be until the twins came to them, but he still saw Koga speaking with Yuuta and assuring him that Koga would be there to listen if he ever wanted to talk. Rei kept his eye on them in his own way.

The first hint as to why they were acting strange came in the form of some chatter that he overheard from the churchgoers. They were speculating about why God had forsaken them with this long winter, naming any number of potential reasons that came to their minds, but the faint murmurs about witchcraft caught his attention. It didn’t seem as though they truly believed that it was witchcraft but more that they had seen something they didn’t understand fully and dithered about it being divine or infernal in nature: the garden house. Certainly it was miraculous to manage to grow something when it was winter, especially in this perpetual winter along with the actual magic that Koga used, yet Rei had overlooked any possibility that the villagers would be suspicious of it and how that suspicion could affect the twins. He had assumed that if the villagers were to turn on the twins it would be because their father had put it into their heads the idea of the twins as monsters, but perhaps all the villagers were raised thinking of certain things as monsters. Maybe they were kind to the twins now because they were children or because they looked human or because they provided entertainment in an otherwise droll life during trying times. Their words about the twins being lucky or bringing fortune because such knowledgeable people had come to be around them could just as quickly become words of them being unlucky, bringing misfortune, all because a Reaper was walking amongst them. 

He saw the devastation that was approaching them but what could he do? Everything he could do to change their minds would only backfire and implicate the twins more because he was the death that cursed their lives.  

“Hey, what’s up with you?” Koga interrupted his pacing thoughts. Courteously not looking up from where he was checking the lichen that were growing on the edges of the garden. 

Rei paused in his fretting to consider how to answer. If he couldn’t think of what to do would Koga really be able to think of anything either? Certainly, Koga was capable in many regards but this was technically a matter for Reapers and it should stay that way.

“I’ll handle it, pay it no mind.” Rei projected confidence, conjuring his aura as an ancient Reaper and a Judge. 

Koga clicked his tongue but left it alone, although a pout did set upon his lips. The moment his thoughts were captured there was no space left in his head for worries, just the shift of Koga’s face as it turned into the pout. Each repetition focused on a different part of Koga’s face during the process, and each time he passively thought of how cute it was. When Koga stood up and began changing the arrangement of the steam vats his thoughts snapped back into place, here where Rei was not free from his duties. The longer he took to figure things out, the greater the threat to the twins would become. 

“Perhaps it’s time to perform my Judgment.” He sat in front of the large spreading leaves of the plants, wrinkled but working. 

“There really isn’t a way for them to join you instead?” Koga’s voice carried from the back corner of the garden as though he were right beside Rei.

Rei shook his head, “If there was a way I would have done it.” 

They were left with no action or answers, to the detriment of the twins who seemed to be fighting now. When they asked, the twins gave no answer. Rei kept track of them all day and Koga joined him for the most part, whenever he was satisfied that the others at the garden could watch over the rest of the work. The twins were both lost in their own thoughts that they wouldn't even share with each other. When they were apart like this, they both steeped in sadness about the other silence taking over the world around them. In fact, for all that Yuuta was angry with Hinata he seemed far more anxious about trying to find his brother at every turn instead of actively avoiding him like Rei had first assumed--it was Hinata that was keeping his distance and running away when Yuuta got close. Hinata wouldn't even return to their home anymore, hiding himself in the church when night came. Rei had initially missed this change because he was spending the nights with Koga in the garden house but Yuuta seemed aware because his widened scared eyes always searched for the church during the night as he waited for Hinata to finally come home. He thought that it was better to know where Hinata was than try to force him to be where he didn't want and have him disappear without a trace so he left it.

He took his eye off them. For a moment, just for a moment his back was turned as he snuck away to collect a villager's souls who'd unfortunately passed away because of the cold. He slipped back into the throng of people walking the street without much difficulty. They didn't notice him at all because their attention was pulled to yelling further down the street. Rei knew what was happening before he laid eyes on it, that telltale burgeoning power fused with a human soul whipped up into a guttering frenzy told him everything.

"It was your fault she died! You two weren't born right! Born normal!"

"Maybe it was your fault! Because you didn't love mom enough!"

Rei pushed himself to the front of the crowd, watching as Yuuta and Hinata fell to the ground and landing on top of each other as Hinata tried to get in between the fight. Yuuta glared at his father with bitter angry tears, hateful. Rei was sure that in his heart he wished the man would vanish but they didn't have that kind of power as Reapers.

"Don't call her your mother! She was infertile, she could have never had demons like you. You ate her life and cursed us! Cursed this whole village!"

"Aoi enough!” Some men emerged to hold back the fuming Aoi, Koga at the head of them, “They were a blessing from God.” 

“A blessing wouldn’t have killed her.” He raved but couldn’t struggle free. The crowd murmured unsettlingly as Koga helped the twins stand up, brushing snow off their clothes. Rei jolted into action too, ushering the people away so the twins wouldn’t be spectated like this was one of their performances instead of the grim rupturing of their family that it actually was. He thought that they might have been able to salvage the situation but while Koga was focused on addressing Yuuta’s anger and Rei was clearing out the last of the watchers by promising them he’d handle it, Hinata walked away unnoticed.  

They checked at the church, they checked his mother’s gravestone, they checked the garden house, they checked the bakers, they even checked the Aoi home but they couldn’t find Hinata. Yuuta’s soul fell into chaos, “Aniki!” He cried as he ran off in a random direction to search for his missing brother. 

“Damn! And I can’t track in this snow!” Koga cursed and followed. Rei tried to reach out and sense Hinata but the maelstrom of Yuuta’s soul crumbling and surging between human and Reaper was too noticeable to focus on anything else. They searched edge to edge of the village until Yuuta was stumbling through the snow unable to continue from fatigue but still trying to shamble to wherever his brother was. 

Yuuta sobbed in a combination of exhaustion and pain, “Where’d you go Aniki? Don’t leave me behind, I don’t want to live without you.” He scrubbed at his face to wipe away tears that must have felt like ice, letting himself lean into Koga’s side when he came to pick him out of the shin deep snow. 

“Don’t worry Yuuta, we’ll find him.” Koga comforted with a hand brushing flakes from Yuuta’s long hair.

“We’ll search all night if we have to.” Rei knelt beside them to look Yuuta in the eye. “I’m quite good at finding the people I need to.” Yuuta’s tears didn’t stop because his brother was still gone from his sight, but he allowed himself to be walked back to the churchyard with Koga.

Rei didn’t waste anymore time–now that Yuuta was gaining more distance from him, his senses could reach out to look for Hinata properly. Hinata’s soul was different from Yuuta’s, it often had a muted quality to it when it didn’t give off bright bursts of energy like a firework did. He looked for that now, something part dark and part light and found it traveling away from the village, up into the mountains. 

As Rei chased after Hinata he found himself grateful for being a Reaper because it meant he could find him, that he wouldn’t tire from running after him–anything that made it easier and faster to find him. 

Against the white snow Hinata’s hair worked as well as a star in the night sky to guide him. “Hinata!”

Hinata startled and looked back for a moment before trying to run up the hill, stumbling and tripping all the while. Rei stumbled himself catching up and stopping him.

“Let me go! Let me go ! I have to do this!”

“No you don’t, you have to come back.” Rei tried to reason with him as Hinata struggled to break free of his arms. 

“I have to do this. For Yuuta!” Hinata gasped from exertion, slumping over until Rei cradled him in his arms. “If I’m gone, Yuuta can be normal, dad won’t be angry anymore. Things will finally be better.” He sniffed weakly.

“Hinata, Yuuta wants you as his brother not a memory.”

“But I have to.” He continues plaintively, turning his face up so Rei could look into his eyes. “We-we have to die but maybe! Maybe it can work with just me. Please not Yuuta.” Hinata grabbed ahold of his robes and tugged, begging him.

“What?” Rei was stunned.

Hinata glanced away, “I heard you guys talking. We really are monsters huh? And you came to take us away. But just take me, leave Yuuta alone!” He demanded fiercely.

Rei wished he had that kind of power, the kind of power people feared he had that would let him choose and decide who lived and died like people thought he did. But he didn’t have that power, no Reaper did. “You’ve really gotten quite good at eavesdropping. Although I suppose that’s my own fault for putting you up to it.” He joked lamely. 

“I won’t take either of you, ok? So you must return to Yuuta.” He smiled as he made this promise to Hinata.Hinata might not have believed him entirely but he didn’t actually want to be separated from his twin and inside was desperate to rejoin him. Once they had sworn to each other that Rei would find another way they made haste to where Koga and Yuuta were waiting for them. 

Yuuta and Hinata immediately hugged when they were in sight of each other, tears flowing again as Hinata apologized and Yuuta yelled at him for abandoning his twin. Koga and Rei stepped out into the cold so the twins could have privacy in the warmth of the garden house.       

“Good job finding him.” 

“Yes, I’m glad I managed to find him as well.” There was a long pause as Rei considered how to proceed with how to broach the next topic of conversation.

“What is it now?” Koga proved to be capable of reading his expressions and pressed to hear more.

Rei sighed, “Hinata knows what I’m here for.” 

“Shit, what’re you gonna do?” There was obvious worry in Koga’s voice and on his face, eyebrows furrowing and his eyes moving over Rei’s face to discover details about his feelings and thoughts. 

Rei faced Koga directly, “I have a wish to make of you.” 

Koga instantly understood where Rei was going and smirked, “Oh? Well I guess I do own you one from that night.”

“Save them.” Looking at Koga’s face he was sure that it was possible but he hesitated for a moment, “Is this like your curse? You…can you save them?” 

“Hehe well it’s close enough,” Koga unpinned his brooch and wrapped Rei’s hand around it: it grew hot and bright in the tight clutch of his fist. “You gotta say the right words.”

“Save Hinata and Yuuta please.” 

Koga laughed, “Idiot~ it’s supposed to be ‘I wish’.” But there was a kindness to his eyes and smile, the hand that held Rei’s own was strong yet gentle just like how Koga was tender in his heart. 

Koga spun on his heels and marched right back to the twins, swinging the doors of the garden house open with theatricality. “Alright! Listen up you two because you’ve got two choices in front of you! You either live or you die!” 

Yuuta and Hinata looked up from the very late dinner they were eating before deciding to ignore Koga; well mainly Yuuta ignored him, Hinata looked willing to hear him out. Rei folded his arms over to cover the shining jewel and watched. 

“How exactly?” Hinata asked, open to the answer. Yuuta didn’t seem surprised by where this conversation was apparently headed so he must have managed to weasel the truth out of Hinata.

Koga grinned, “You can become like me!” 

Hinata gasped and even Yuuta looked up in shock. “You mean an angel!?”

“I’m a wolf.” Koga sneered through gritted teeth.

“If it’s between turning into a wolf and dying, I think I’d prefer dying.” Yuuta snarked, affecting an air of unimpress. 

“You little brat!” Koga shook Yuuta by the collar for his blatant disregard for Koga’s being. 

“But really it would work?!” Hinata cut in so Yuuta could go free. 

“Yeah I wouldn’t suggest it otherwise.” Koga turned serious, sitting down so he could explain the process of becoming a star like him. The twins listened, enraptured like it was a bedtime story and not their potential reality.

“But we’d have to leave home…what about dad?” Hinata mourned not like worry but like acceptance.

“Forget him.” Yuuta bit out, glaring at the mere mention of the man.

“He’s our family! We might never see him again, it shouldn’t end like this.” Hinata tried to explain himself to Yuuta but Yuuta wouldn’t have it.

“Aarghh! It doesn’t matter! Do it now or do it later, it makes no difference! You can come and go as you please. Total freedom!” Koga threw his hands up, the twins finally appeased that they could interact as much or as little as they wanted with their father in the future. The path forward for them was obvious now. The next time they stepped into the night air would signal the change in their fate and the end of the eternal winter.

As a Reaper who had lived for centuries, he had experienced seasons changing many times over to the point that the time it took to change felt even shorter than it actually was. This near year of time spent in winter was probably the closest he would ever come to feeling like humans did when they went through seasons. It was cold and dreary and worrying and he was glad that spring would finally return.

“Make sure you listen to Koga, he knows more than you.” Rei said his farewell, taking in the robes that Yuuta and Hinata now wore. An exact replica of Koga’s own except in orange and pink, each of them with their own jewels now pinned to their chests ready to embark on the journey that would put them among the stars. 

The twins sounded off an agreement that was really just lip service; they did not have any intention of behaving more than they had to. Rei chuckled as he noticed Koga’s eyelids twitching–he would be in for it. Rei reached out to affix the star piece back onto Koga now that the wish was fulfilled. 

“You’ll return to me again won’t you?” Rei spoke lowly so only Koga could hear.

“If that’s what you wish then I guess I gotta.” Koga played for cool but Rei saw the endearing blush under his eyes.

“Are you two going to kiss?” The twins loudly interjected from much closer to them than they had been before.

“Shut up! It’s time to go!” Koga pointed into the sky and commanded the twins to move. They laughed and fled from Koga’s anger, becoming streaks of light as they climbed higher and higher. Their light was bright and concentrated and short, not like Koga’s that spread out and encompassed so much–a testament to their young age. 

Koga grumbled and tracked their progress for a moment before looking back at him, “I’ll come back before you know it.” Koga leaned in and kissed him like a human would, like Rei was a human. Ah, because they had hearts like people that was why this could be so sweet, why separating could be so sad. 

Although Rei was sure that time would pass just as usual for him, he thought that it might feel a bit slower for winter to go and return, for him to lay eyes on that triangle of stars again. There were benefits and drawbacks to being a Reaper: at least spring was worth it.