The Gentle Death God Laughs Above the Cherry-Blossom Sky.

The very next day, the reaper duo arrived together. As usual they both of them only spoke when I had questions about them but for most of the time, they were pretty much silent.

From the moment that I said that I liked Mr. Reaper, my feelings for him kept growing more intense. Now, even looking at him made the butterflies in my stomach go wild.

Whenever he calls out towards me, “you!”, my heart starts to beat faster than I could imagine. I couldn’t do anything about it though, I knew that now.

“By the way, this room is for one person only, right?” The other reaper asked.

I nodded and said, “Yes, there are larger rooms but since I don’t really want any roommates, my parents chose this for me.”

“Hmm. Are you lonely being cooped up in this room?” He asked very casually. I saw Mr. Reaper looked intently at the both of us as if urging me to continue.

It’s not that I was  lonely. It’s just the fact that the cries of despair and pain will be unheard when I have my own room. Even if I find anything unpleasant or painful, I am in a private room of my own so no one would see me suffer.

“Not actually since there’s Mr. Reaper—”

“Me?”

“Yes, because I used to be depressed and lonely without anything to look forward to every time I wake up. But now I have your presence.”

When I said that, the other reaper looked at me knowingly. He asked me, “He does?” Which I answered with a plain yes without really elaborating it.

“So this guy is doing his job after all.”

“That’s right … Why?”

“—You.” He snapped at Mr. Reaper. My Reaper however, turned his gaze away and spoke in a quiet and composed voice.

“Is this okay?” I looked at them. I think what they were talking about was about work and I decided to listen, instead of joining the conversation.

“No, it’s fine. Will you be still doing other jobs though? For example—”

“I’ll do it. It’s fine with me.” Answered Mr. Reaper.

“I hope… if anyone is free, I’ll talk to them to take over.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

I silently giggled while looking at my Reaper. The way he talks with his senior in his very dismissive tone is very familiar and funny to me. The way he speaks is like a child grumpy with his mother.

I didn’t know what’s wrong with me to giggle and blush with his snobbish attitude. I think that something was really wrong with me.

By the way, I wonder how many reapers are in there right now… 

I wonder if he’s older than me because of his calm atmosphere…

And since I didn’t know what’s the exact age of my reaper was, I continued to wonder,

You said you were originally a human being, but how old were you when you passed away?

I felt the urge to ask the questions and hear the answer in reply, but I didn’t even know how deep I could listen. And I didn’t even know if they would answer honestly.

“What’s wrong Mahiro?” The Senior asked. I lost my trance and looked at both of them.

“Huh?”

“Your face looks troubled.”

“That’s not really the case—”

“Did you want to ask this guy about something?”

The other reaper said with a smile as if looking forward to anything that might happen. 

I wonder if I could ask for it.

“Um—”

“Hmm?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and frowned. I need to say this. I turned to Mr. Reaper and said, “That’s right.”

“Are there other Reapers?” 

“Huh?”

“Hey, you did say that. There are other people in charge. Does that mean that there are other people in charge besides you?”

“Ah … yeah, well”

Mr. Reaper said as if hearing something that shouldn’t be asked. The other reaper took over and said, “Of course there is you silly Mahiro-chan.”

“There are a few of us, yes.” He said. My eyes landed on Mr. Reaper for approval which he blatantly avoided. He averted his gaze!

“Well, that’s why if this guy is being neglectful of his duties, another reaper might take over looking at Mahiro-chan.” He smiled at me. Feeling a little embarrassed, I returned the kind gesture by also smiling.

“I’m fine with him.” I said. 

“In that case it’s fine.” In contrast to Mr. Reaper who answered very straightforwardly, the other Reaper was more friendly in nature.

“I like… playing around with him.” My cheeks burned intensely after saying the word. I felt the weird stare of the two of them, but it’s nothing compared to the regret I’ll possibly feel when the words I wanted to say haven’t left my heart at all. 

“Oh, you understand well.” I looked at the other guy with a puzzled expression. He knew what I was saying?

“Now … senior!” As the topic is getting weirder by the minute, I figured that Mr. Reaper is telling the other reaper to go away for the day.

“Oh, scary, scary. I’m scared of this guy, so I’ll go back for today.”

“Ah, yes. See you tomorrow.” His smile was super effective in taking the awkwardness away.

“Yeah, see you again.” After I bid him adieu, the reaper disappeared like a cloud of smoke. Like him, the interest in the topic also left me. I stayed silent and only stared at the ceiling of my lonely room.

“Other than that,” The Reaper spoke so suddenly that I almost lost it. I flinched and looked at him with spite. How dare you.

“Huh?” I said, encouraging him to continue.

“Do you have any other questions?” I stared.

Hmmm.

“Will you answer?” I said back. He replied a little late since he took his time to sit down and get comfortable on the sofa.

“Well, if I can then why not.” I smiled.

“You can refuse to answer alright? Then… What is your favorite food?” After the bomb was dropped, I purposely heightened my sense of hearing and memorization skills.

“I think I said it before, but it was not necessary for me to eat.” He boredly answered. This guy does not have fun in his dictionary.

“How about when you were alive, Mr. Reaper?” I emphasized the end words to let him know how much of a moment killer he is.

“Oh, uhh… I think I liked omurice 1.”

“Cute.”

“Ugh you’re so noisy.”

I laughed at his shy remarks…

After that, I asked more questions. He didn’t answer all of them, but he did politely answer questions that could be answered.

“Then.”

“Do you still have questions?”

“This is the last … How old are you?”

“That’s.”

I saw Mr. Reaper sulked because he couldn’t answer my question. Hiding my disappointment, I thanked him for answering so far. To my surprise however, he answered with a little voice like a child, “Above.”

“I’m a little older than you.” He smiled a little which made my heart ache for a moment.

“Huh?” I did not get a specific answer about how old he was but it was enough. I was content with this kind of interaction between the two of us. I smiled at him and stared at the ceiling again.

“Thank you for letting me know a lot of things about my guardian.” I raised my hands in the air while laying down. I tried to catch the golden ray of sun above me and laughed a little when the ray of light successfully avoided the inside of my palm.

“That’s nothing.” I heard him say that.

“But why did you tell me?” I asked. Why did you tell me that answer? What do you really feel about me Mr. Reaper?

“I think it’s not fair that only I know your information and you don’t know anything about me.”

“Fair?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“I see.” With that answer, my fluffy heart a while ago was suddenly enveloped with cold air.

Sadness, loneliness…

Various emotions were mixed up within me and I didn’t even know what kind of expression I should have.

“Yes, that’s right … It’s part of your work, isn’t it?”

“Huh—?”

“I’m sorry to ask something strange—”

“What—”

I laughed and smiled at him as usual. However my dumb heart kept getting more painful.

“Mr. Reaper?” I saw him scratch his head and stand up. He groaned and came closer.

“That … I answered because I thought I could answer it. It’s not because of work or duty.”

“That’s—”

“That doesn’t mean it has a deep meaning, though.”

The words he said struck me as though a dagger had pierced into my heart. I remained silent even until he said his goodbyes and disappeared.

Alone.

I was left alone again. This time, I slept without knowing what my feelings were now.