Beautiful Shinigami
Chapter Six
by Ina-chan
First Posted Online:  October 10, 2004
History: Inspired by Bryan Fuller's "DEAD LIKE ME" series

            My mother always told me that despite the ongoing advances we have today the world will continue to be full of unexplained mysteries. No matter how many times you try to “factualize” something, you’ll always be stumped by an unexplained mystery somewhere along the way.  

            Like death for example...  

            You probably already know this. You are part of this mysterious part of the world, after all...  

Yuki-san pointed out during one of the awkward idle conversations we managed to have on the way to Shigure-san’s house last evening -- approximately 153,000 people will die every day.  That means all over the world... a LOT of Shinigami are always busy at work! They will be guiding fresh souls to... wherever they were supposed to go...so that regular (living) people can go about their lives and won’t have to worry about stuff like death --- at least until it happens to them. To keep up with that number, it was also reasonable that a few out of those souls will find themselves tagged by death’s touch and find themselves as one of the “it”.  

That was exactly what happened to me.  

As you already know, few days ago, an antique dresser fell out from the sky and killed me instantly. Suddenly, I found myself within the ranks of the undead, becoming one of the many faces of Death. ‘Faces’ you ask? Well, contrary to public belief, Death doesn’t walk around wearing a black robe and a giant scythe. Death has many faces! Such as... heart disease...  cancer... infectious diseases...  

            Yuki-san explained that those are the top three leading causes of deaths around in the world. You don’t really think about it until it happens (or almost happens) to you or to someone close to you.  

Like, my father, who caught a cold that led to complications and eventually his death. My grandfather has been in and out of the hospital for various illnesses that plagued his aging body. So the subject has always been an uncomfortable issue for me. That’s the main reason why I can’t stand hospitals. Just the idea of taking souls of people suffering from illness and just waiting for death terrifies me.  

            Fortunately (or unfortunately, however you chose to look at the situation), my new face is death in another shape and form...  

            Accidents... suicides... and other external events which cause deaths such as murder, homicide, and the like...             

            External Affairs, that’s what Hatori-san’s unit is in charge with.  

Yuki-san explained that all the information the living world has about us was simply all statistics. Like causes, known variables, how many died of each death. I don’t understand exactly how, but he mentioned that the living world uses those seemingly insignificant numbers to predict more numbers regarding rates in the future of how death will strike. They even try to prevent them with some success.  

But in the end, we already know that death is a big mysterious uncharted territory that even we Shinigami don’t know much about. There are still questions about death that probably will never be answered. Like why does death continue to happen? Why does a specific death happen to a specific person? Where do the souls who don’t become Shinigami exactly go?  

            “Why are we assigned to do these kinds of deaths, rather than with the diseases?”  

            “It’s because of how we died,” Kagura-san replied as she put steaming hot cups of tea on the table in Shigure-san’s common room, ”I, for example, died in a tragic train accident.”

             “A train accident?” I echoed in disbelief

             “There wasn’t anything tragic about acting on the impulse of stupidity,” Kyou-kun commented gruffly

             “Well, aren’t you Mr. Sensitive today?” Kagura-san shot our sole male companion on the table with an annoyed look

             “What the hell are you talking about?” Kyou-kun grumbled back, “You’re the one who brought up your death?”  

“How did Kagura-san die?” I asked before I could stop myself, “...t-that is if Kagura-san doesn’t mind...”

 Kagura-san shrugged before giving me a sweet smile, ”Oh, I don’t mind sharing. I personally think that you should wear your death like a badge of honour. It is an important transition in life, after all.”  

“Speak for yourself,” Kyou-kun muttered again, “There’s nothing honorable about getting your brains splattered by a train because of a stupid dare.”  

“You got run over by a train?”  My eyes widened in horror. I can’t imagine anyone dying like that and still acting happy and perky all the time. I suppose, Kagura-san’s perpetually happy personality was also one of the world’s mysteries. I couldn’t help looking at Kyou-kun and wonder about him, “How about you, Kyou-kun? How did you die?”  

“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Kyou-kun growled with such vehemence that I couldn’t help literally jumping back for safety

 “Why are you being inexplicably grumpier than usual this morning?” Kagura-san said with the beginning of a worried frown marring her cheery forehead. She turned to me and gave me something that crossed between a reassuring and apologetic smile, “But going back to your original question. Yes, most the members of this unit pretty much died in the same category that we are working in.”  

“Most?”  

“We’re actually not very sure about Hatori since he never talks about himself and I personally haven’t met anyone in who knew him in the past. But going back to you, if you died the other way... like catching your death from a bad cold or something, you’ll be playing for ‘Internal Affairs’,“ Kagura-san paused, making sure to give me a triumphant smile before continuing, “But you’re lucky you ended up with us. ‘External Affairs’ is a lot more fun... more variety and unpredictability.”  

            “She doesn’t have a choice anyway, so you could quit your sales pitch,” Kyou-kun muttered  

            “What do you mean I don’t have a choice...” I stated uncertainly. I didn’t like the sound of that...

             “It means, because you died of an accident, you’ll be taking souls who died of pretty much the same way--- for rest of your afterlife,” Kyou-kun explained gravely  

            I definitely did not like the sound of that.  

            “Unless you turn out to be just like Yun-chan, then you’ll probably get special training after the basic stuff that Yun-chan will teach you,” Kagura-san interrupted  

            Ah... Yuki-san. There were a lot of mysteries surrounding Yuki-san on his own. Like his sudden mood swings, or why was it that he seems to know all these things but can’t remember my name, and what was the reason why Kyou-kun immediately frowns whenever Kagura-san mentions one of Yuki-san’s many legendary achievements.  

To be frank, I still have no idea what Kagura-san was talking about. But even for a new person like me, it was definitely obvious that there was something extraordinary about Yuki-san. I very much doubt that I have whatever it is that made Yuki-san special. Nonetheless, my curiosity still got the better of me, “What do you mean?”  

Kagura-san chewed her lip thoughtfully as if carefully choosing her words before she spoke, “Yun-chan is what you would call a prodigy. Unlike a regular Shinigami like us, he has the ability to jump to either side of the fence. Shinigami like him show up once every several generations. Yun-chan is actually the last one to show up in Japan, as far as I know. But he earned more notoriety because he’s the youngest to make a legend of himself.”  

“You mean that there are others who are even better than Yuki-san?”  

Kyou snorted, “Hell yeah. That arrogant rat is just got more famous because of all the noise his second-in-command made from his old unit. Whatsisface? Manabe or something... Jeeez! That guy was such an annoying bastard. Even more annoying than that damned arrogant Yuki.”  

“Annoying or not... you have to admit that The Council was probably the best unit of their category. Even better than Akito when he headed his own troops!”  

Kyou snorted, “That person has an even bigger head than the damned rat, nobody else lasted long enough stay with that damned person to even form a semblance of a unit.” 

 “Akito-san? Akito-san used to be a Shinigami?”   

“Well... technically, Akito still is. Only Akito’s just not working frontline anymore,” Kagura explained, “In fact, Akito used to be Yun-chan’s mentor. Come to think of it... Yun-chan being able to stand Akito for that long was a feat by itself.”  

“Which also explains why that damned rat turned out so twisted,” Kyou-kun muttered  

“Rumour has it,” Kagura-san continued, ignoring the orange-haired boy’s side comments, “Yun-chan was handpicked to be Akito’s replacement when Akito was promoted to management.”  

“Wow... that’s amazing!” I could only imagine being handpicked by someone to do something important. I figured Yuki-san must really have been that good.  

“There’s nothing amazing about being made to do a job that nobody wants,” Kyou-kun retorted sarcastically, “The Council was already redundant in Japan. That’s why the unit was being loaned to departments overseas most of the time.”  

“But still! Being sent all over the world is a still a dream to most Shinigami!” Kagura-san protested  

“Well yeah, if you’re sent to and get to stay in nice places!” Kyou-kun exclaimed, “Most of the time, you’re assigned to work in places not fit for animals to live in... not to mention human beings. On top of that you have an incredible work load that you need to meet within a short period of time.”

 “Wow! Kyou-kun must be very close to Yuki-san to know that much about him!”

 Yet another mystery! It was rather strange to see this side of Kyou-kun pop out every now and then. They fight a lot, but it was obvious now that they must know each other a long time for Kyou-kun to know all those things about Yuki-san. Sometimes, it even sounds as if he’s instinctively defending Yuki-san...

 “THE HELL! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT IDEA!?!?!!!!” Kyou-kun suddenly exploded

 I couldn’t help shrinking back in surprise at that. I’ll probably never get used to Kyou-san’s explosive reactions, “I-it’s just that... what you said... it almost sounds as if Kyou-kun knew exactly what Yuki-san was feeling... so I assumed...”

 Kyou-kun’s face instantly soured at that comment, but said nothing. And for some reason, Kagura-san’s looked startled. All at once, I knew that I said something that I shouldn’t have. Even though I know that it was none of my business, I couldn’t help but want to find out more about Kyou-kun and Yuki-san’s relationship. Why were they continuously fighting like that?  Specially now when I realize now that there was definitely something more between them than simple rivalry... or a strong dislike for each other.  

            “Well, regardless of The Council’s existence, Yun-chan’s proper place is with us anyway,” Kagura-san interrupted to obviously change the subject. She gave me a wry grin, as if sharing a private joke, “Putting his old unit aside, Yun-chan’s field of expertise is dealing with multiple deaths.”  

            “Multiple deaths?” What does that mean?  

            “Multiple deaths... you know. Mass suicides, bombings, airplane crashes,” Kagura-san listed thoughtfully, “Normally with those cases, you send several units on a team effort. But Yun-chan is so good with this, he’s basically a unit by himself.”  

            I suppose it’s something that you have to see with your own eyes to understand completely, though it does sound rather impressive.           

            “Remember that gas poisoning mess in the subway several years ago? You can just imagine how hellish it was trying to find the right people in a subway disaster during rush hour!” Kagura-san leaned forward her voice hushing to a whisper, “That actually happened on Yun-chan’s first day under our unit. Mind you, the circumstances on how Yun-chan ended up with us is pretty strange by itself... There are people who are good at what they do, and there are people who seemed to be born to do something. Its sounds really awful to say this... but after seeing Yun-chan at work that day it seemed as if he was born to become a Shinigami.”

             I don’t think it completely hit me right then and there, though a foreboding feeling that I may have been pushed to bite more than I can chew did dawn on me. I’ve never been put in a position where people had great expectations... but somehow, all these stories about Yuki-san and with me being trained under him... I can’t help but feel as if I was not worthy to be here. Whatever it was that Kagura-san saw obviously left a big impression on her, even Kyou-kun did not make any remarks or any silent gestures that would show that he disagreed on what Kagura-san was saying.

             It’s a little nerve-wracking...  

...and unfortunately, when I’m nervous... sometimes the silliest things fly out from my mouth. “So how did Yuki-san die?”

 “Very suddenly,” Yuki-san’s voice suddenly answered over my head  

Gah! Kagura-san didn’t mention that silently sneaking around people was one of Yuki-san’s special talents as well. All I could do was duck my head in embarrassment as Yuki-san took his seat beside me.  

“And just to let you know, Rookie,” Yuki-san stated, though he was actually directing his warning gaze at Kagura-san’s direction, “I don’t appreciate people talking rumors about me behind my back. If there’s something you need to know, ask me.”  

“That’s no fun,” Kagura-san pouted playfully, “Knowing how you are, there’s no guarantee that you’ll even get an answer.”

 “It all depends on the question,” Yuki-san remarked without missing a beat as he handed both Kyou-kun and Kagura-san a piece of memo paper

 “Why the hell are you the one giving this?” Kyou-kun glared at the paper in front of him suspiciously, “Where’s Hatori?”

 Come to think of it, where was Shigure-san and Rin-san in the first place? I couldn’t help feeling guilty at the realization at how preoccupied I was for not even noticing that Shigure-san was not around in his own house.

 Because of the mysterious incident that happened yesterday, the usual café where Hatori’s unit met was closed -- along with all the shops in the block – until the investigation to figure out why the thing that happened yesterday happened, finishes. So now, it would seem like Shigure-san’s house will be the temporary base for the morning briefings. 

 Though next time, if Shigure-san won’t think it would be too much of an imposition, I think I’d wake up a little bit earlier and try to see if I can prepare a proper breakfast. While Kagura-san did bring some muffins and donuts, it still doesn’t replace a proper breakfast. Mother always told me that a proper Japanese breakfast is the best way to start the day!

 “Hatori was called for an emergency at the clinic while Rin and Shigure are going tandem for an early morning assignment. Momiji passed by earlier this morning and handed over your assignments for Hatori,” Yuki-san explained blandly, breaking my train of thought, as he looked at his wrist watch, “And I think you better get going Kyou, your appointment is due in an hour.”

 “THE HELL!?!? This place is forty-five minutes away!” Kyou-kun growled, reading the piece of paper then glaring at Yuki-san angrily, “You son of a... you did this on purpose didn’t you?”  

“Fifty nine minutes,” Yuki-san continued, not glancing up from his watch

Kyou-san muttered obscenities under his breath as he jumped to his feet and indignantly rushed through the open engawa, only to suddenly see him stumble and fall with a loud yell, as if he was in pain. I was about to bolt out toward him, but by the time I got to my feet, Kagura-san was already by his side... passing through the engawa painlessly, I might add. Kyou-kun brushed her away and picked himself up angrily from the ground as if to rush back in. But for some strange reason, it was as if there was an invisible wall in front of him, preventing him from returning to the house.

 “YOU ASSHOLE! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” Kyou-kun raged as he kicked the unseen barrier before him, “TAKE THIS THING DOWN, YOU PRICK!! COME HERE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!”

“Fifty eight minutes,” Yuki-san’s voice called out, unmoving, from where he was seated

Kyou-kun gave the invisible wall another frustrated kick before furiously disappearing from sight. Kagura-san stepped back into the house and faced Yuki-san with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Ne... Tooru-kun why don’t you go upstairs to get ready? Aren’t you and Yun-chan heading to the municipal office this morning?” Kagura-san suggested cheerfully, not taking her gaze away from Yuki-san

I immediately made my way out and literally ran to the stairs like a scolded child. To be quite honest, that was how I felt. That was the first time I saw Kagura-san look anything else other than... well... happy. The tone she was using was a little scary too. Even though it still had that cheerful lilt in it, her voice sounded awfully like the ‘mock patient’ tone that my aunt uses whenever my cousins and I were in trouble. Like I said... scary.

 I was tempted to stop by the steps to try to listen to their conversation... but I decided against it. It was a private matter, and Mother always said that it was very rude to intentionally eavesdrop like that. Though I never experienced it myself, but this was probably what it felt like to be a frightened child hearing her parents fighting.

 It was a funny thought, but at the same time... weird.

***000***

            The young woman’s eyes uncharacteristically narrowed into angry slits as she continued to glare the young man before her, “I thought it was suspicious that you were actually awake early enough to catch Momi-chan’s drop off. You didn’t sleep last night, did you? You kept that protective barrier around Shi-chan’s house since you arrived yesterday, didn’t you?”

             “I don’t need to explain anything to you,” the young man replied a-matter-of-factly  

“Oh, stop it Yuki!” She hissed, her missing term of endearment stressing her anger, “What happened yesterday?”

 “Nothing,” he replied blandly

 “No, something happened,” she stated insistently, “You did something that you weren’t supposed to do and now you’re paranoid. GOD! How could I have been so stupid! There were all those cats gathering around outside! I should have known that you did something to get them all riled up. No wonder Kyou-kun was acting edgier than usual...”  

 “Of course, when it comes to you, everything that concerns Kyou become first priority,” he smirked in amusement, “I was just playing with him, there’s no need for you to go ballistic...”

 “Stop it!” she hissed again, “Don’t try to change the subject. You know perfectly that this is not about Kyou. It’s getting harder and harder to sympathize with you when you intentionally sabotage all our efforts to help. Everyone is trying so hard. Even Akito, in a weird sort of way, is also trying to help you.”

 “I neither asked for nor needed anyone’s help,” he stated bluntly, “Has it ever occurred to you that this could be what I want?”

 She took a sharp intake of breath and stared at the young man in front of her with an expression as if he physically threw out a hand and slapped her on the face. She raised her chin, regaining her composure, and gazed down at him with the coldest expression that she could muster, “Fine. Throw everything away, since that’s what you obviously want. But can I at least ask you to promise me one kind, unselfish gesture from you?”

 “Depends on what you ask for,” He shrugged indifferently

 She drew a long breath, as if trying to keep her patience before continuing, “Please promise me that you will not screw things up until at least Tooru-kun will be able to stand on her own?”

 He let out a small amused laugh at her request.

 “What’s so funny?” She frowned at his reaction

 “Nothing,” He replied, regaining his composure, “Just silently contemplating on why everyone I meet seemed so concerned about how I should treat this rookie.”

 “Well, considering the fact that you are not known for your ‘delicate touch’ when it comes to...” She began

 “It’s not my fault that Kyou’s a moron,” He interrupted

 She leaned down on the table and glowered at the impassive young man intimidatingly, “Yuuuuun-chaaaaaan....”

 “Fine! I promise!” He gave in, raising his hands in surrender with a soft sigh of defeat, “I won’t screw her.”

 She did a double take at his declaration as she stared at him suspiciously. A vein popped angrily at her forehead as her companion’s words finally registered in her head, “I’M SERIOUS!”

 “So am I,” He countered in a calmer tone

 “Yun-chan, please,” Her voice changed to something that almost sounded like a pleading tone, “Tooru-kun is a good kid. Don’t destroy her after life because you don’t give a damn about what happens to yours. Don’t you have enough regrets as it is?”

 He simply rewarded her question with silence.

 “Whether you like it or not, Kyou-kun is not going to disappear,” She sighed once again, “He’s here because of you. He’ll never admit it out loud, but he’s even started to care if something happens to you. There were countless times when he could have shrugged off his restraints and gotten this whole thing done and over with. You know that Akito gave him that choice... but instead, he chose to continue putting up with you!”

 “What about you?” he replied, his monotone uncharacteristically laced with a hint of curiousity, “Everyone’s already given up. Why do you continue to put up with me?”

 “As long as Kyou-kun chooses to stay the way he is,” She replied without any hesitation, “I know that there’s still hope with you.”

 “You are such a hopeless romantic,” He looked away with an expression suggesting a slight pang of discomfort upon hearing her words

 “You didn’t think that it was wrong to think that way before. Kyou-kun is perfect the way he is,”  She replied insistently, “And so are you. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep things the way they are now. That will be my promise to you in exchange.”

 Another amused laugh escaped from the young man’s lips before he let out another defeated sigh, “Alright, you win. I promise that I’ll do my job.”

 She shook her head, completely unsatisfied, “That’s not enough.”

 “I’ll treat her with the same love and care I give to Natsumi,” He added

 A wary expression crossed her face once again, “Natsumi is not the goldfish I gave you last summer now, isn’t it?”

 “No,” a rare scowl glared at her defiantly, “And what do you have against how I treated that goldfish?”

 “Yun-chan!” She gave him an exasperated look as she threw her hands in the air in disbelief, “That goldfish died after six days!”

***000***

Mysteries build upon mysteries.   

I don’t think I’ll ever know what happened between Yuki-san and Kagura-san that morning, but whatever it was, it definitely changed Yuki-san’s mood for the rest of the day. Ever since Yuki-san’s hot and cold treatment the day before, I wasn’t sure what to make of him. But today, Yuki-san was actually... well... nice.

 So when Yuki-san and I were on our way to his apartment after our business in the municipal office to make our fictitious relationship official. But even though I knew that it was all a lie... for some strange reason... just for a moment, it felt as if I really was walking with an older brother.

 I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing... I even started to imagine that I was actually walking with you. Not that I wanted to replace you! I’m definitely not giving up looking for you, that’s for sure. But walking with Yuki-san like that... and seeing a nicer side of him... I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be the same if it were you walking beside me.

 “I didn’t realize that there are Shinigami working in government offices like regular people,” I mumbled in wonder as I hugged the purse Kagura-san lent me. Right now, it contained the documents showing the new identity I created for myself at the municipal office, “It certainly is useful though.”

 I remember one time when I was little when Mother and I had to get a new copy of my lost birth certificate, the line to get through the process seemed like forever. Yuki-san and I simply discreetly walked over a specific clerk and she very courteously processed my papers on the spot.

 A little too courteously, to be exact...

 And it was true what Kyou-san about knowing if a fellow Shinigami was standing in front of you right away. Not only was Kimi-chan, as she insisted that I call her, a Shinigami... but seemed to know Yuki-san rather very well.

  “I used to work with her before I was put under Hatori’s command,” Yuki-san suddenly replied as if sensing my unspoken comment as he stopped in front of a vending machine

             “She seems like a nice person,” Despite her overbearing nature... She really is very nice. She even offered to put my name in for an open position in her office.  

            “You should consider her offer seriously though,” Yuki-san said as he handed me a can of juice, “A government job is pretty risky, but as long as you keep a low profile, the benefits of being in such a position is pretty obvious.”  

            “Thank you,” I replied automatically as I held the can in my hand, “Is having a job like normal people part of a Shinigami’s cover?”    

            “Shinigami don’t really need to get a job,” Yuki-san explained, opening his own can of juice, “But taking souls full time doesn’t pay your rent or your bills.”  

            Eh!?! “You mean, Shinigami don’t get paid for your work? That seems hardly fair.”  

            “A government division named “Ministry of Death” sounds kind of very silly doesn’t it?” Yuki-san raised an eyebrow and gave me an amused look, “Death has been around long before people created the system of money and bartering.”  

            It didn’t occur to me until that moment. There are 24 hours in that day, after all... and normally we only get one assignment a day. Shinigami are immortal. I have nothing else but eternity to look forward to in this new lifetime, so I suppose having a job is as good a distraction to pass time as any.  

“Though you have to be careful,” Yuki-san instructed, “Ideally, three to five years in one job is good enough... If you keep a very low profile, you can get away with it longer. But because of our bodies’ physical age, you have to keep in mind that you need to change your identity and move to a new place every fifteen to twenty years to keep people from getting suspicious. People would sometimes buy a thirty-year-old who still looks 17, but it would be pushing it when your identity turns sixty.”

 “How long have you been using Hiroyuki Asamiya?” I wondered aloud  

“A few months--- just before Hatori dragged me into working in his clinic.” 

 “Ah,” So that was the reason. I was wondering why his name sounded different from the name Kagura-san gave in the morgue the other day.  

            “So everyone has jobs on top of being Shinigami?”  

            “Pretty much... Kagura works in some bakery or sweets shop. I have no idea what Rin does for a living. Shigure’s a novelist, though mostly he does ghost writing for some publishing company... Kyou’s too incompetent to work and Hatori’s a doctor.”  

            EEEEHHH!?!?! I almost fell on my face at that revelation! A Shinigami working as a doctor? Well... that definitely puts a new meaning on the term ‘death is everywhere’. “A-anou... what does Yuki-san work for a living.”  

            “I kiss Hatori’s ass,” Yuki-san answered bluntly without batting an eye as he started walk away  

            The juice can in my hands instantly fell on the ground as I gaped after him. I have no idea exactly what he meant by that, but Yuki-san definitely has a way of suddenly shocking people with the blunt manner he says things. I felt afraid to find out the explanation, so I just simply followed him in silence until we reached the mansion he lived in.  

            The building itself was one of those cheap boarding rooming houses that don’t even have baths and are normally rented by students.  In fact, there were two or three of them watching us in surprise when we came.  I could only pray that my face didn’t look as flushed as it felt as I felt their curious eyes following us as we entered Yuki-san’s room.

             “I need to talk to my landlord. No one dares to come in here,  so stay here until I come back,” Yuki-san instructed by the door, “Some of those guys outside are total perverts. And Minagawa-san’s daughter and her friends prowl the grounds once in a while unexpectedly.”  

            “Minagawa-san?”

            “My landlord’s daughter, she’s psychotic,” Yuki-san explained with a slight shudder, before turning to leave out of the door, “Remember what I said... Don’t leave or even answer the door until I come back.”

             “Yes,” I replied meekly, and stood uncertainly in the middle of his room as he closed the door behind him, leaving me alone to survey my surroundings.  

Mother always said that the place where a person lives is a person’s castle. And how a person keeps his castle reflects that person’s personality. You learn a lot about a person by seeing where he lives. Mind you, I haven’t been inside a lot of men’s apartments... I’ve NEVER been to a man’s apartment! But seeing Yuki-san’s small apartment, I found out right away that what Mother was completely true. It was a complete reflection of Yuki-san.

             A complete blank and mysterious slate.

             You could say that it was a standard looking rooming apartment, a window with a balcony to hang laundry, a small counter with a sink and an unused portable electric stove, a small empty refrigerator, a closet at the far corner of the room... Except for a small but healthy looking potted plant by the window, the room doesn’t even look like anyone was living in it.  It was very clean... and very empty. Somehow, Hatori-san’s suggestion for Yuki-san to pack up his belongings when he announced that we were going to live with Shigure-san seemed rather laughable.

             I suppose I shouldn’t have done it. You probably would be shaking your head in disapproval right now, if you knew what I did. Yes, it was a rather rude thing to do, snooping at another person’s belongings. But despite everything, Yuki-san really did help me a lot from the beginning. I figured the least thing I could do was to help him pack his things.  

And it was an accident, after all. I figured since the general apartment was empty, his clothes and bag or whatever would logically be stored in the closet, right? So, amidst the cleanliness of the room, the avalanche that greeted me when I slid open the closet took me entirely by surprise. As I surveyed the loose papers, clothes and other odds and ends that now littered Yuki-san’s spotless floor, I realized the type of person he really was.  

The kind of person who randomly dumps things at the back of his closet and sweeps dust under a carpet...

 Somehow, the mysterious shining image of Yuki-san that Kagura-san built up earlier started to loose a bit of its brilliance. Even so, it did was also nice at the same time, to find out that despite his reputation... There was still a bit of “ordinariness” in Yuki-san that I can relate to.

 Through the mess, I was able to find a gym bag and started to fold the clothes I could find to put in it. Most of the papers littering his closet were mostly bills, discarded familiar looking memo papers with an occasional ‘to do’ list in Kagura-san’s flowery handwriting now and then. Kagura-san mentioned that Yuki-san had some problems with his memory occasionally... but to remind himself to brush his teeth? That seemed rather extreme!

 I was quickly rummaging through the littered papers to determine which one looks like something Yuki-san would keep and which one to throw in the garbage when I came across it... another one of Yuki-san’s mysteries.

  It was an old list on yellowing paper sticking out of a small box half-covered by the futon blankets. Unlike the lists I came across earlier, it wasn’t written in Kagura-san’s handwriting. In fact, it looked a lot more like one of those briskly written official scripts. And instead of instructions, it was a list of names. All of them crossed out except for one. To add even more to the puzzle, even though the list looks old, the ink used to cross out the names seemed to vary in age.

 In fact, one familiar name looked as if it was crossed out recently.

 “Kogoro Yamaguchi,” I said out loud with a frown. Why does that name sound familiar?

 The sound of footsteps passing in the hallway pulled me back to reality. I quickly pulled out the unusually heavy small box from its resting place and opened it to put back the list, when the revelation of what’s kept inside almost made me drop it on the floor out of surprise!

 Inside the box was a gun.

 It wasn’t the type you normally see in movies or in action mangas. Rather it looked a lot like one of those old revolvers you see in a museum. I remember seeing one of those during a visit to a military history museum during a class trip back in junior high school. But this gun looked different from those old artifacts. In fact, this gun almost looked new. It looked very well taken care of.

 But why in the world would Yuki-san have a gun? And who are these people in this list?

 The hallway floors creaked once again, announcing another set of footsteps approaching. I quickly replaced the list back in the box and shoved the package under the blankets just before the door opened to reveal a surprised Yuki-san – well, as surprised as an expression as his calm demeanor allowed him to show -- to see me with a huge mess on the floor.

 I let out a nervous laugh as I made a show of shuffling the papers in front of me into some semblance of order, “I’m sorry... I just wanted to help you pack, but it just all poured out when I opened your... closet...”

 Without a word, Yuki-san walked closer, knelt down beside me and started helping me clean up the mess. I made the point of keeping my gaze from meeting his. I was terrified with the idea that he might figure out that I saw something that I probably shouldn’t have seen. When he moved towards the closet, I instantly got on my feet and headed towards the lonely potted plant sitting on the window sill.

 It was a simple common purple shamrock. It really did look rather lonely, thinking that it was the only other living thing living in Yuki-san’s empty apartment.  But despite its seemingly lonely existence, it looked as if it was thriving quite well. I took the pot in my hands and turned around to face him, just in time to see him zip up the gym bag that I started to pack, “Anou... Yuki-san? Are we taking this plant with us?”

 Once again, Yuki-san stood up and silently walked over to me with that stoic expression on his face that makes me feel nervous. For sure he knows what I did! I bit my lip and closed my eyes to brace myself from whatever punishment was in store for me.

 “Just to let you know, Rookie,” Yuki-san began in that quiet tone of his, “I don’t appreciate people touching my things without my permission.”

 “Y-yes...” was all I could say, “...i-it won’t happen again...”

 With that, he slung his gym bag on one shoulder before silently leading the way out the door. There were actually more spectators at the hallway watching us walk through the halls this time around. I kept my head bowed and held on to the pot and my purse self consciously.

 I was sure Yuki-san introduced me as his sister, but still... I can’t help but feel as if they were thinking of something else-- especially when Yuki-san put his free arm protectively around my shoulder and forced me to walk out of the place in his faster brisk pace. Even though it was a bit uncomfortable, I was a little bit relieved. Yuki-san’s pace didn’t give them a chance to approach us and ask us questions.

 “Heeeeeey~~~~!” A familiar cheery voice called out happily as we exited the grounds

 “Kagura-san!” I cried out in relief, quickly running up to her to give her an awkward hug around the pot in my arms. Even though I only saw her this morning, the whole ordeal made it feel like it was a thousand years! Never in my life did I feel so relieved to see her friendly face.

 “Heh. Tooru-kun isn’t freaking out after being here, that means the psycho president of Yun-chan’s fan club is still in school,” Kagura-san commented mischievously

 “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Yuki-san called out irritably

 “Took an emergency leave,” Kagura-san shrugged, “So Tooru-kun, wanna go get some lunch?”

 “And you call me irresponsible,” Yuki-san muttered in annoyance as he took the plant from my hands and started to walk ahead

 “Heeeh? Don’t tell me that little dear in your hand is your beloved Natsumi,” Kagura-san called after him playfully in sing-song

 Natsumi-san? Who in the world is Natsumi-san?

 “You’re an idiot,” Yuki-san replied in his usual bland tone as he walked faster

 “Who’s Natsumi-san?” I couldn’t help whispering to Kagura-san. My damnable curiosity getting the best of me once again

 “God knows,” Kagura-san shrugged, “Sooooo... you picked out a name at the municipal office today, didn’t you?”

 “Yes!”

 “Well? What is it?”

 Ah, that’s right. In all the excitement, I forgot to tell you what my new name in the living world was.

 “How do you do, Kagura-san?”

 Since I was supposed to be Yuki-san’s sister, so it was by default that I needed to have the same family name as his in the records. But my first name is entirely up to me.

 “I’m Hiroyuki Asamiya’s sister.”

 Yuki-san said that after my training, I’m free to keep my name or change it to something else. I figured I might as well choose a name that would be temporarily useful in my part.

 “I’m Ruki. Ruki Asamiya.”

 “Ruki?” Kagura-san blinked, visibly surprised at my unusual choice, “It’s a nice name... but why did you choose that?”

 Why did I choose that name? You’re probably asking that question yourself... Well, let’s just say that I have my own mysterious reasons...

 “I can see the bus coming to the stop,” Yuki-san called out loudly ahead of us, “Are you two listening? Kagura! Rookie!”

 ...Or maybe not.

End of Part Six
Return to Chapter Five  
Continued on Chapter Seven 

AUTHOR’S SQUAWK:     

Wow... I personally don’t believe I’m still working on this... ^_^. Everyone who likes this fic should send special thanks to RJunkie. Because her persistence (and threats) has been instrumental with keeping me on track and focuses with this series. I know Yuki’s lines sound very strange, but you know that there is a reason why he says those blunt and shocking things that are easy to misunderstand as something else. ^_^. They’re very vital to later chapters.

I know that there is a LOT of information in this chapter. I hope people are not overwhelmed. I also want to explain and apologize to some stuff in this chapter:

1. “Ministry of Death” : My apologies to Yohko Matsushita-san for making fun of the “JuChoOh” system from YNM...

2. “mansion” - an interesting Japanese twist to a borrowed English term. When you refer to a “mansion” in Japan in the city, it normally refers to an apartment complex.

Ja!
Ina-chan