In a Field of Stars

An Owari no Seraph fanfiction

In A Field of Stars, he saw a soul.

A boy dressed in black, formal funereal clothes.

As if he knows Mika was staring at him, he raises his head and his green eyes seem to glow under the faint, ghostly moonlight.

His smile is sad.

"So I didn't last that long, huh?"

"Were you expecting to live longer?"

"A little bit longer, yeah." The soul says, "I...I thought I could manage that."

The soul...he still looked so young. He didn't look over 20; the suit looked so oddly formal on him.

"At least, I got a good burial." The boy says dully, "But now...what am I supposed to do now?"

"What were you doing before you died?"

"The same fucking thing that got me killed in the first place." The spirit says harshly and there's a spark of life in his eyes now, fire behind the bright green of his eyes as he continues,

"Revenge."

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The soul refuses to leave the Field for some reason.

"There's more like you in the other area, you know."

"What? Vengeful, foul-mouthed and not wanting to be dead?"

"Souls that have just ascended." Mika says, without missing a beat. This kind of exchange had become commonplace these days.

"No thanks." The spirit says shortly.

"...You seem to adore them very much."

"What?"

"The stars."

"...I just think they're pretty to look at. If anything you seem to like them more."

"...What?"

"You keep coming back here."

"I'm coming back here for you."

The spirit frowns, "...Taken out of context, that sounds really weird."

"Weird?"

"You're kinda dense, aren't you?" The spirit sighs, "Never mind. What I meant was that I'm seriously not that important."

"Yes, you are."

"You've told me you have hundreds of other souls just like me, wandering the place. Enough of them wander off the deep end eventually, cursed enough to be kicked out of this place."

The spirit smirks. It's a strange smirk, almost cruel.

"And I'll be back on Earth."

"I can't allow that."

"Yeah, like you actually give a shit." The spirit says bitterly, "I'll stay here as long as it takes."

"I can't allow that!"

Why was Mika yelling?

This isn't the first spirit that he's encountered, that had been set on damnation.

The spirit seems to be thinking the same thing.

"Why do you care?"

And for some strange reason, Mika can't answer.

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"Did you know there were some flowers that looked like stars?"

The spirit frowns at him, "What kind of question is that?"

"Did you know that?"

"...Yeah, I did. Why?"

"Do you like flowers?"

"Huh? What's this even about, seriously?!"

"Do you like flowers? Yes or no?" Mika asks.

"Yeah, I guess. So?"

"I brought you these." And he holds out the bouquet of flowers. They were a bit messily arranged, but they'd make him happy.

...

...Would they?

The spirit stares at the bouquet. And suddenly starts laughing.

"What is it?" Mika asks, feeling a bit confused. The spirit just shook his head and doubled-over laughing, to the point where he lost his breath.

Why was he reacting so strangely?

"I keep forgetting you're not human. You look like one." The spirit says, "Sure, whatever. I'll take the flowers. It'll be nice to have something new to look at."

"Something new to look at?"

"It gets pretty boring here. Not like you help distract me either. Except for today, I guess." The spirit looks back into the sky. "Do the days even pass here?"

"They don't."

"Figured."

"...I can come back and...talk."

The spirit looks back at him. "Why would you do that?"

"I want to make you happy."

"...Too late for that." The spirit says bitterly.

"I still want to try."

"Again with that...why do you even fucking care?"

"I don't know."

"Then..."

"But I want to know why." Mika says and it's this conviction that actually makes the spirit pause for once.

The spirit shakes his head, rubbing his eyes.

"Do whatever you want. It's not like you need my permission anyway."

For some reason, it feels like Mika is signing a deal that he can never revoke.

"Alright."

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When Mika returned next time, he had more flowers in his hands. He moved his robes out of the way and sat on the ground next to the spirit.

"What's with that...?"

"Hmm?"

"Nevermind." The spirit leans closer, "They're so red. The color of blood."

"Scarlet Rosemallow Hibiscus."

"And I'm just going to pretend to know what that means."

"The name of the flower. In the language of flowers, it represents a multitude of things. And it looks like stars."

"If stars were red. They're pretty though."

"Do you like them?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good."

"...Aren't you supposed to be out hunting souls or something?"

"I do not hunts souls." Mika says, a bit surprised by the question, "They arrive to Heaven of their own free will."

"That's bullshit. I never wanted to come here." The spirit says coldly.

"You would come here, regardless of the business you've left behind in the living world." Mika says. For some reason, he feels wary about the topic.

"Huh. So what do you do exactly?"

"I guard the gates. And guide souls."

"You're not doing too good with me, huh? But I'm not moving from here."

"I'm supposed to change your mind."

"You won't."

"I see."

"...Why are you still here?"

"I do like watching the stars." Mika confessed, "Even now. Even in this form."

That seems to have gotten the spirit's attention, "In this form?"

"I used to be human as well. A soul, just like you."'

"What? What do you...what happened to you?"

Mika closes his eyes. There's a heaviness in his heart that grows with each word.

It's been so long since he'd felt it. It honestly feels a bit scary now.

"I don't remember. But...I wish I had never done it."

The spirit seems to realize something. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out.

He shuts it again slowly. Sets the flowers down on his own lap.

The feel of his hand on Mika's own was like the warmth of the sun.

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When Mika returns, the spirit still has a flower in his hand. Staring at it with a smile on his face.

Sweet and sincere, the first that Mika had ever seen.

"Ah. You're back." The spirit says, as he notices Mika's approach. When he does look up at Mika, he freezes.

Mika blinks, "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh um. It's nothing, you were just..."

"I was?"

"Smiling. And you looked kinda...doing it, you looked really...?"

"Weird?" Mika asks, remembering the word that the spirit used to describe strange things.

"Beautiful."

Another strange word. The spirit's cheeks are red.

"I-I see." Mika replies. His throat is dry for some reason and his stomach is strange again.

"You look really human too."

"But I'm not."

"I know." The spirit says, "...Can you sit down here with me?"

"I was planning to, anyway."

"...You're pretty chatty for a shinigami. Kind of a smart-ass too, when you're not being dense." The spirit says.

"I wasn't aware there were stereotypes for us."

"Like that. It's weird though; you were like a robot or something when we first met. You didn't act like a..."

"Human? I am not, like I said before." Mika closes his eyes, "But we do share traits. But you can't reap souls without losing bits of yourselves in the process."

"And you really don't remember why you became one?"

"No. If I did, I wish I could tell you."

The spirit looks surprised, "Why?"

"I don't want you to become like me."

"I don't think it's in your job description to complain about your job." The spirit says with a slight laugh, "...Is that why you don't me to stay here?"

"Yes."

"Huh. Do you remember anything else from your life?"

"Yeah. Mika. My name. Or...a nickname of it. I have no way of remembering which. Nothing else."

"You seem older than me for some reason."

"It has been quite a while since I was dead."

"...Seriously, where the fuck did this attitude come from? Are there like shapeshifting demons around here or something?"

"We have to suppress our emotions when we do our jobs. But you seemed more comfortable when I expressed them."

"It is." The spirit pauses, "My name is Hyakuya Yuuichirou...I prefer to be called Yuu. You may have known that already though."

"I did."

"...Do you know why I died?"

"Yes. Do you want to know?"

"No. I have a pretty good idea of it." Yuu says, "I...remember chasing after them. The people who took my family, my friends...everything away from me. I-I..." Yuu takes a deep breath, "I remember sneaking into a building...the scent of metal and blood."

The spirit takes a deep breath, "I didn't expect to last long. Seems like I guessed right."

"You couldn't bring them to justice another way?"

"Not without making them lose as much as I did. I think I did good with that."

"I'm sorry you had such a hard life."

Yuu looks up at him, "Why? It's not like you had anything to do with it, right?"

"I did not. But you looked...sad."

"Of course I'm gonna be sad, no matter what." Yuu replies, "That's a given."

"I see."

"...Talking to you helps though." Yuu adds, looking to the side, "So thanks."

"I'll come back again then."

"...Sure."

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How long had it been since he was stuck here?

The Shinigami came again and again. Sometimes holding a bouquet of flowers, sometimes not.

They talked of things, inane things. Mika told him of all he could remember of his life and Yuu talked about his own.

In this Field of Stars, a Shinigami and a human met.

In this Field of Stars, a Shinigami and a human exchanged words, found similarities in their souls and comfort in the flowers that resembled the stars above their heads.

In this Field of Stars, a Shinigami and a human slowly fell in love.

"Yuu-chan? I brought some more flowers today." Mika says, as he enters the clearing.

When he sees the sight before him, he stops dead.

There's a soft rustling sound as the flowers hit the ground.

In this Field of Stars, a Shinigami and a human fell in love.

And in this Field of Stars, a human-

"Yuu-chan!"

-was set to disappear.

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"You knew this was going to happen." Yuu says quietly, his voice is hoarse. He blinks rapidly, but he's fast losing his ability to see.

There's a cold hand on his.

"This isn't..! No!" Mika is shouting, his voice is louder than Yuu had ever heard it before, "No, I won't allow this!"

"I was set on this from the very beginning, ass. Even...ugh, fuck. It...it hurts..."

"Yuu-chan, please! Please, it's not too late for you to change back, please! You have to come with me!"

"I said...I said I wouldn't. I swore my entire life to killing those bastards...and the afterlife counts, too."

"No...no! I won't allow it!"

Yuu's hand is colder than Mika's when it touches Mika's cheek.

"Aren't you a shinigami? A death god that guides souls to the afterlife? You've seen a thousand souls like me before...right?"

"You're different! You're...you're..."

Mika's expression twists Yuu's heart but his mind is set.

He doesn't have anything left.

"Even in another thousand years, I'll never forget you!" Mika says, "Never! Never! Because I..."

The star-less sky above roars with thunder and Yuu feels the first drops of rain on his skin. Mika falters, his words drifting into silence.

He lays Yuu gently back on the ground again.

"Do whatever you want. If your life means so little to you."

"Of course it does." Yuu breathes out and he feels like shit. Hot tears slip out from the corners of his eyelids, hidden in the rain.

"It's not like I had anything else to live for, right?"

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How long had he been lying in the rain? He didn't know.

The sound of rain hitting the ground had become mere static, white noise to his ears as his hearing slowly fades away. His mouth had long lost feeling, his eyes were somehow stubbornly holding on to that last scrap of vision, but not for long. Not for long.

Is this what dying had felt like? Yuu can't remember.

He didn't care in any case. He'd be back on Earth and free to carry out his revenge, damned or not.

He didn't have any regrets.

Even if Mika's name lingered in the back of his mind, an unanswered question. His heart, heavy.

He opens his eyes when something soft touches his face.

The color red fills his vision.

He's instantly wide-awake, covered in cold sweat.

Flowers. Red star-like flowers on his body.

Flowers that smelled of blood.

Mika's standing in front of him again. There's a lovely, angelic smile on his face even as blood dripped down his lashes, on his robes. Splotched in white where the black of death had been before.

"Mika?!"

"Ah...I wasn't too late. Thank goodness."

Yuu's chest heaves as his gut twists and turns and it not longer pains him to do that. "What...did you do?!"

Mika laughs softly and it sounds like he's crying.

"I don't think I can go back anymore, Yuu-chan..." He says and the black of his robes pool to the ground as if they were being washed away by the rain.

In its place was a beautiful, blinding white that terrified the human soul.

"I did what you were supposed to do...I wasn't supposed to do that..."

"Did what I-?! You mean...no, no you can't mean that!" Yuu's screaming now, his throat hurts but he doesn't care, "What the fuck did you do, Mika?!"

"I wanted to save you. And I...did."

Mika falls to his knees and that finally gets Yuu on his own feet.

As he cradles the Shinigami in his arms, the smell of rot fills his nose.

"You don't have to throw away your life anymore...I'm glad." Mika says as he closes his eyes.

"Mika!"

"Get out of the field, Yuu-chan. You don't have much time left. What I did was enough to save you, but not enough to preserve your soul. Get out of here and go to the pool of souls. You'll be reincarnated, have another shot of life. You'll be happy again."

"Mika! No, I'm not going to leave you!"

"Please, Yuu-chan! I won't be able to do this twice!"

The words fill him with a chill that Yuu is all too familiar with.

"I can't lose you, too! Not you!"

Mika smiles, "Then you know how I felt." His hand reaches up but falls back and Yuu takes it in his own.

"I love you. I loved you so, so much..." Mika breathes out.

Yuu doesn't even realize he's crying until Mika reaches up to him again and wipes his cheek, "Please...just please do this for me. Ok? Yuu-chan?"

Yuu's chest heaves as he sobs. He leans in, brushes Mika's hair away from his face.

Mika's lips are cold and taste of blood.

"Go, Yuu-chan." Mika says softly, "Please."

And it's those words and the expression on his face that makes Yuu lay Mika on the ground, stand up and leave the field.

In this Field of Stars, a Shinigami and a human fell in love.

The Shinigami's love made him commit an irreversible sin.

Shedding his wings for the love of a mortal,

the Shinigami fades away into the darkness, all, all alone.

In this Field of Stars.

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"It's so hot today!" Yoichi sighs. Kimizuki and Shinoa were arguing in the back over some inane thing or the other. The class chattered around them all, bathed in the hot golden glow of the sun.

Perfect day.

The door rattles and the class quiets down, everyone stands up to do their customary bow and greet.

There was supposed to be a new teacher this week, wasn't there?

"This is Hyakuya Mikaela-san. He'll be taking over Biology until Kyouya-sensei returns from his medical leave."

For some reason, that name sounds really familiar to him.

"It's very nice to meet all of you."

Time stops.

The world stops.

With his heart in his throat and sweat on his hands, Yuu looks up.

A man dressed in white with blonde hair and incredibly-blue eyes.

The girls are already whispering about his looks, saying that he's an 'angel'.

But his eyes are on Yuu and Yuu alone.

As the Principal drones on, Mika's mouth moves. His words fade to empty air, but Yuu can almost hear them in the voice he didn't know he forgot.

"I'm back, Yuu-chan.

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In the language of flowers, Hibiscus stands for 'Consumed by Love' or 'Delicate Beauty'.

Keep in mind that Mika's somewhat of a flower nerd and probably knew what the meanings of the flowers meant, even as a shinigami. But hey! Happy ending that leads into a delicious teacher/student relationship!
...They still have a few kinks in the road to work out but I wanted to give them a happy ending. I already used up my quota of angst on the first prompt.

In any case:

Songs used for Inspiration:

...-Fire Emblem Awakening OST[[for the rainy part of the story]]
Sakemichi's Resolve-Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea OST[[for Mika's resolve heh]]

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