Grim Reaper

-Miyuki-

I used to be a normal girl.

I remember the day that I died. I got up and started to get ready for school. My dad and I got into a fight before I left for school.

I chuckled to myself in the night as I stood waiting at the bus stop.

It’s funny, I don’t even remember what we were fighting about that day. All that I remember was storming out the house so angry. I walked to school still pissed off when I saw a couple of little kids playing in the street. It wouldn’t have met much if I hadn’t noticed a speeding car rushing towards them. I shouted at the kids to get out of the way, but they didn’t hear me. As the truck raced closer, I panicked. I raced forward and managed to get the kids out of the way in time, but it was too late for me. The truck smashed my body as it sped forward.

The thing I knew, I found myself floating in the air. I looked around when I got my senses back. Wha? Where… Where am I? I turned my head and looked below me. People stood crowded around looking at a bleeding body.

“What’s going on down there?” I asked. I floated down for a closer look. I overheard the police and paramedics talking to each other and the children I had pushed out of the road.

“Was the driver drunk?” one cop asked.

“No,” another one said. “He just lost control and tried not to hit that girl.” I tilted my head. That girl? I happened to look up and see another medic feel for the body’s pulse. He stood up and shook his head.

“She’s gone,” he said. The main officer looked at the body beneath him.

“It’s such a shame,” he said. “Load her into the truck.”

“Yes sir,” the medic said. As he was wrapping up the body, it was then I realized the horror of the truth. That’s my body! I flew over to the medics.

“Hey!” I shouted as I tried to flag them down. “I’m not dead! I’m right here! Hey! Hey!” My hands went through his body as mine was loaded into the back of the truck. “Come back here! You can’t just write me off like this! Hey!” I gave up when the truck drove away. It donned on me that nobody noticed me.

I turned when I heard the bus pulling up. Ah, it’s here. Come along with me. I walked onto the late night bus and took a seat near the front.

As I stood in the middle of the crowd, I did some thinking. So if I’m dead, why am I here? Am I… a ghost?

“You guessed it!” a voice shouted. I whipped around a saw a woman dressed in white grinning at me. I jumped back with a yelp.

“Who the hell are you?!” I shouted. The taller lady tried to shush me.

“Calm down,” she said.

“Why? They can’t hear us.”

“I know, but I have to explain some things to you first.”

I gave her a strange look. Who is this weirdo?

The lady put her hands on her hips. “That is so rude! I’m trying to help you out here!”

My face dropped. “You can hear my thoughts? Who the hell are you?!”

“My name is Yumi and I am a shinigami.”

“Okay…”

Yumi frowned. “That’s it? You only say okay?”

“I assume that you are coming here to take me to Heaven or wherever. Right?”

“Well, not exactly.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Huh?”

Yumi pulled out a small light blue book. “We can’t exactly take you anywhere until you settle your grudge.”

“What grudge?”

“Didn’t you get into a fight with your father this morning?”

My eyes widened as my jaw dropped. “Wait, how did you know?”

“I was patrolling the area as part of my job and the moment you died drew me right to this place.” Yumi closed up her notebook. “It’s funny, really. You’re weren’t supposed to die today.”

“What?!” I asked, gasping.

“Yes,” she said. “The kids weren’t going to die either. The truck would’ve swerved and hit the fence.”

“So no one was supposed to die today?”

“No.”

My face dropped as I frowned. “Well… can I get back to my body?”

“Yes, but…”

I narrowed my eyes. “But?”

“You have to settle your grudge with your father first.”

I puffed up my cheeks as I folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t want to talk to that jerk!”

Yumi gave me a little smile on her face. “Then come with me.”

“What?” I asked. Before I knew it, she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me up into the sky. I screamed as we started soaring higher.

“Where are you taking me now?” I asked.

“We’ve got work to do before you can put aside your grudge and return to your body!” Yumi shouted.

“We?” I asked.

“Yes!” Yumi took me up higher into the sky.

I leaned back on the bus seat. So, that’s why I am here on my first job. I have to reap souls until I can make up with my dad. It’s such a pain, really. My body? Oh, that’s in a safe place. I saw Yumi and the big boss move it there. How long will I have to keep doing this? I have no idea.

I rubbed my forehead as I sighed. This is going to be a long night, I can tell. Thanks for coming with me, though, friend.