"Hey why don't we get Micah to do it?" a booming voice said in the back of the class. Everyone's heads turned to the far corner by the door, eyes set on the large guy with his hand raised and the much smaller boy next to him with his head in his arms, too embarrassed to show his face. "If none of the girls are going to do it why don't we get the closest thing." A mix of awkward and genuine laughter sounded throughout the class.
"If Micah is the only one that wants to do it then sure." The teacher said after a few moments. "Do you want to do it Micah?" Everyone glanced towards the boy who reluctantly lifted his head, face red as a beet.
"If you guys you want me to then I'll do it." the kid named Micah said, with a soft, high pitched voice that might have been only slightly deeper than that of a girl's.
"Then you'll take the lead girl role." the teacher said, writing down Micah's name on the character list. The class was currently reading a play, some obscure knock-off Shakespeare play, and the teacher was desperate for more class participation and interaction so he decided to make the kids in the class take roles in the play to read aloud during class time. The class, which has a disproportionate amount of guys to girls, had been trying unsuccessfully for the past twenty minutes to get one of the girls to take the lead female role. A few cheers and "finally"s sounded the classroom. The teacher quieted the class before asking volunteers for the next few roles.
"Why'd you do that?" Micah asked the guy that volunteered for him. "And why did you make me the girl?"
"Why not?" He shrugs, giving Micah a smirk. "Also don't you normally like playing as the girl?"
"No I don't." Micah says. "It's only you that thinks I do."
"Really?" Micah hated that sarcastic, smug look. Micah remembered the time a few months ago when he made the mistake of telling him that he would be willing to be a "trap," or a guy that looks eerily like a girl, for money. That was probably the reason he teased Micah so often about it. He definitely regretted it.
"Yeah. Now shut up Jules." Micah replies, putting his face into his arms again. To be honest Micah was fine with playing the role, however he didn't like the idea of Jules teasing him more or even scarier was if any of the girls would think that he really is girly. He was scared of the idea that no girl would go out with him if they thought he was a girly boy. He cursed his femininity, something that his given him pain in his teenage life.
"Yeah yeah. You know you like the attenti-."
"Hey stop flirting back there." The teacher yells out. Jules jumped in his seat, causing Micah to giggle. Micah cursed himself again, especially after a couple girls nearby looked at him. He didn't mean to giggle, it just sort of came out.
"We're both guys, so how can we be flirting?" Jules yells out. He slightly edges away from Micah.
"Gay people exist you know?" The teacher says, smirking. "And didn't you say that Micah was the closest thing to a girl?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't serious." Another round of laughter bursts from the class. Micah quickly scanned the crowd of turned heads. His eyes briefly met the guy that was going to play the other lead role in the play, Micah's role's love interest. He gave Micah a soft smile, making Micah turn away in embarrassment. The guy is one of the popular kids of the school, Michael Friedrich. According to a lot of the girls he was the ideal guy, being smart and hardworking while also tall, attractive, blonde, and sporty. To go along with that he had a good personality and was easy to talk too. Though he probably could be even popular if he and his family weren't evangelical christians, according to some of the girls. Micah slightly feared his reaction to learning a guy would be playing his love interest.
"... and then Jules will be playing the child servant." The teacher said.
"What? I didn't volunteer for it though?" Jules yells out, causing everyone to laugh once again. He slammed his desk. "And why am I the child servant."
"It's what you get for talking back there. And you shouldn't have a problem with it since you volunteered someone else for a different role." Jules groans and slouches in his chair.
"If no one wants to change anything then the roles are set." The teacher says, getting out a marker to write on the board. "There will be no more changes after today." He writes down Michael Friedrich and Micah Ike on the top of the board. "Michael Friedrich and Micah Ike are our class's couple for the next few weeks. I hope that you two do this properly." Micah cringed at the pronunciation of his last name. The teacher, like many of Micah's others throughout his life, said it like "Ike" as in bike. Micah used to tell them it's pronounced "eee-kay," but got tired of it and quit after he got to high school. The name is Japanese, even though he doesn't look the slightest bit japanese. This is because Micah's father was born and raised in Japan. He was born to an American soldier and Japanese mother, though he was raised by his mother's side. Later, Micah's father got into a relationship with a European immigrant in Japan and they had Micah, though the two never married. Micah's mother died shortly after childbirth due to health complications during pregnancy. For the first few years of his life Micah grew up in Japan before moving to the States with his father. The two live together alone in Los Angeles, California. However Micah doesn't look the slightest bit japanese, which always confused him hearing the story growing up.
Awkward laughter filled the class and Micah could hear Michael's friends teasing him about "dating" a guy. Michael could only laugh. If Michael was already getting teased, Micah was slightly worried about what people might say about him for being in this role. He was already one of the least popular kids at school so he didn't want people to bully him next, because after all he can't fight back with his short stature and weak build.
Micah Ike is 16 years old and a junior in high school. He lives with his dad in a good sized house in a nice neighborhood. His dad works long days as a busy man so often times Micah had to cook and clean for the two of them. Micah has taken care of a lot of housework and cooks for him and his dad so often that his friends sometimes call him Mama Micah. To go along with that Micah has a lot of feminine physical traits such as being short, 5'4", and having a girly babyface that makes him look like a girl. He's skinny and has small shoulders, leading some to believe that he was really a masculine girl. These physical traits along with people spreading around information about his home life led to many rumors of him being gay. He was quick to denounce them, but those rumors never really went away.
It's not like Micah wants to look gay, it's just that he can't do anything about it. He drinks a lot of milk so that he can grow taller, yet he stays at 5'4", he eats a lot of junk food and sits around all day yet he never gained any weight. During freshman year he tried for the longest time to get into weightlifting, but no matter what he could do he never gained any muscle. It got to the point that Micah gave up and decided to live with it.
He isn't necessarily bad looking. A lot of girls, and even some guys, think he is cute and could look really attractive if he tried. The boy has brown, mid-sized, unkempt hair and his brown eyes constantly have a fire in them. To go along with that he is athletic, mainly from the time he tried to get muscular in freshman year, and has an air of confidence when someone relies on him. To add on, he does really well in school, enough to have straight A's, and is a hard worker and a quick thinker. Of course if it wasn't for his high-pitched voice and girly appearance, he probably could have gotten the girls he's tried to get for so many months. Instead, his failed efforts and solo attitude has left him as a nameless kid in everyone's class.
"Michael. Micah. Can you come talk to me real quick." The teacher says, holding the two from leaving once the class was over. Very quickly the class emptied and only them three remained by the teacher's desk. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I'm sorry for telling you this now, but I'm going to need you two to take this play thing seriously."
"What do you mean?" Michael asks. Micah noticed how big Michael was now that he stood next to him. The foot between them suddenly seemed a lot larger to him. Micah was jealous of Michael's large size and good looks. If only he could look that good and not be a small girly boy.
"I need you two to seriously act out the play. The class participation and work being done in class is becoming a serious problem." The teacher clears his throat. He hesitates, "if you two can make the play enjoyable for the class, it can possibly help it, if only temporary." Michael glances at Micah, checking the boy's expression. He turns away before Micah can say anything.
"Is this for extra credit or is it an actual grade for us?" Michael finally asks. He didn't look too happy being asked to do this.
"It will be extra credit." The teacher responds immediately. Michael's face eases up. He glances at Micah again. "If you two don't want to do it then I won't force you to. But if you guys can actually make the class enjoyable, then it is a lot of extra credit opportunity."
"Do you want us to act out every scene?" the tall blonde asks. He glances at Micah for the third time, this time looking his body up and down. Micah inches away slightly. He wondered why Michael was glancing at him so much. It weirded him out.
"Yes, if you could please." the teacher replies.
"How tho-"
"I'm fine with doing it." Micah finally says. He caught them by surprise and they both looked at him with questioning eyes. "It shouldn't be too hard and it's free points. Besides if it doesn't go well then there is no negative repercussions." He shrugs.
"I guess if you are going to do it, than I might as well do it too." Michael sighed. He really didn't want to have any extra work in the only class he can relax in, but since Micah was doing it he might as well do it too. He didn't want to leave Micah to fend for himself.
"Alright I guess it's settled than." The teacher said. He smiled at the two kids. "I'm looking forward to it."
"Is that all you wanted?" Micah asks. He was gradually inching towards the door. Michael wasn't far behind him.
"Yeah that is, you two can go."
Micah hurried out of the class. He had planned to eat with some friends after this class, his last of the day, and needed to hurry to make it pass the traffic. However before he could run off a hand on his shoulder held him back.
"Hey do you have a minute?" Michael asks. He gripped Micah's shoulder rather tightly.
"Uhhh, sure." Micah wanted to decline and run off, but he got kind of fearful that Michael would let him. It felt like Michael was forcing him. He stared at Michael's hand.
"Oh sorry." Michael laughs awkwardly, taking his hand off. Micah noticed a bracelet that swung when Michael moved his arm. It was a thin chain holding onto a five pointed star. It was a strange star though, as each point was long and thin and enclosed in a circle. Micah has never seen the design before. He assumed it was something christian. "Did you need to go somewhere?"
"Yeah I do."
"Oh uh… Sorry. Do you mind if I walk with you to the parking lot?" If Micah could raise an eyebrow he would. He found Michael's behavior strange, especially considering it was almost like he was nervous.
"I don't mind." Micah replies, starting to walk away. Michael followed. "What do you want?"
"I… uh… I wanted to ask why you were so willing to do the extra credit." Michael asks, refusing to meet Micah's gaze.
"Well why would I decline? If I don't do it right than I get nothing from it, but if I do good enough then it's free points. Sure I have an A in the class, but more points just means less I need to care about the class." Micah replies. His tone was questioning, like he didn't understand why Michael cared so much. "Did you intend to do it seriously?"
"Umm… yeah." Michael laughs nervously. He still refused to look at Micah.
Micah sighs. He mutters, "Why are you such a tryhard?" Micah wasn't normally this bitter to people he just met, but Michael was making it hard for Micah to like him.
"What?" Michael asks, turning his head to finally look at Micah. He didn't make out what Micah had said.
"Nothing nothing." Micah sighs again. "Is that all you wanted to ask? Or did you need something else?"
"Well I was going to ask you for your number so that we can create a plan for the play, but I don't think you are going to take it seriously enough to do something like that." Michael laughs nervously. He stared at Micah from the corner of his eye.
Micah hesitates, "Do you… Do you normally take everything this seriously?" He slightly moves away from Michael having noticed his stare. Micah knew that Michael was a straight A student that easily had over a 4.0 GPA, yet he always thought that he was just naturally gifted, not a true tryhard in everything.
"Yeah. I was raised to do everything seriously."
"Suddenly everything makes so much sense." Michael chuckled. "Dude you don't have to take everything so seriously."
"Why not? If I'm going to do something I should at least put in a lot of effort." Michael replies. They had just entered the parking lot and had stopped on the edge of the sidewalk, Micah ready to go separate ways.
"Like I said, everything suddenly makes more sense." Micah shrugs. He starts to walk away towards his car. "I got to go. If you still need to talk it will have to wait until tomorrow. See you later dude." Micah made an effort to try and leave immediately. He wasn't late, but he didn't want to talk to Michael much longer. Michael was weird.
"Wait!" Michael yells out. Micah turns around suddenly. Michael had reached out his hand, his face looking panicked. "Wait. Um…"
"What?"
"Uh it's nothing. Nevermind. It can wait till tomorrow." Michael took a step back, and began to walk back towards the school.
"O-Okay?"
"See you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow's Saturday."
"I mean see you Monday." Michael laughs. He waves before turning around and walking into the school. Michael's first impression on Micah was definitely unique, if Micah could only say one word about it.
"How is this guy popular again?" Micah asks himself while walking to his car.
Meanwhile inside the school campus Michael breaks for one of the bathrooms. He hurriedly finds an empty stall among all the kids vaping and sits down on the probably dirty toilet. He rubs his forehead and agonizes over how bad the conversation went with Micah earlier, especially considering he's gone over multiple scenarios like this in his head previously. He always looked forward to the day he actually got a chance to talk with him, yet he really screwed up this time. He stares at the charm of his bracelet, the cross that every member of his family has. The cross that could end his life one day. He hated it's blue glow.
…
After getting held back nearly 5 to 10 minutes, Micah was somehow the first one to arrive at the lunch spot before all his friends. Whether it was how he drives or that his friends are just that slow, he always seems to be the first one there. Sometimes it annoys him if it takes only 5 minutes to somehow get across town and he has to wait nearly 10 to 15 minutes before he can be "on time." It took a couple minutes of waiting after he got his food before someone else showed up.
"Hey." Micah's only friend that is a girl, in fact the only girl he regularly talks too, said walking up to the table that he had saved. "Is anyone else here yet?"
"No it's only me." Micah answers. Micah's friend, Joanne, sits down in front of him. Standing at around 5'2", just under Micah, she is the only girl in the small friend group of four and the only person shorter than Micah. She is Filipino and has short black hair and soft brown eyes, with an average build. Micah thinks she isn't too attractive, but Joanne attracts a share of guys, including her current boyfriend. Though that might be because of his biases against her...
"Okay good, I have a few minutes to talk to you about-"
"If this about making me crossdress then I'm going to stop you there." Micah cuts her off, a slight tone of resentment in his voice.
"Why not? Can you please just do it once? Please just once?" Joanne begs. She pouts at Micah and gives him large puppy eyes. "If it makes you feel better no one will see you, but me. Please! I bet you will look so GOOD."
"For the 1000th time, NO! I don't want to wear girl clothes. I'm a guy. I'm a man. I'm a M-A-N." Micah restates. If they weren't in public or if they weren't talking about such an embarrassing topic, he probably would be yelling at her. Micah absolutely hated when Joane asked him to crossdress. No matter how many times he told her to stop, she always continued to pester him whenever they were alone. She knew that he hated it, yet she continued to pester him anyway with hope that he would actually do it. Joanne puts on an even bigger pout.
"Are you still trying to convince him?" A different voice says from behind. Both Micah and Joanne turn to look at their tall friend Aidan. "Why don't you quit already? There is no wayyy Micah is going to say yes."
"One day I'll convince him."
"No you won't." Micah interjects. Aidan laughs his loud, piercing laugh. Taller than everyone else in the group at 6'5", the giant teenager is lanky and very pale. With no particular attractive traits, he has short dirty blonde hair and a neckbeard. While physically he wasn't very attractive, he made up for it with a good personality and humor.
"Stop trying to get Micah into those things." Another voice entered the conversation. "He's not gay so why would he ever want too."
"Being gay has nothing to do with it Jeffrey." Joanne says to the fourth member of the group, who had just entered the conversation. Jeffrey was tall like Aidan, however he had much more attractive features and an athletic physique, which looked great with his African American heritage. Though unlike Aidan, he sometimes has a ruder personality and isn't very open-minded.
"He's right though. I'm not gay so like why would I even want too?" Micah says.
"Like I said, it's not about whether you're gay or not!" Joanne says a bit too loud. Micah nervously looks around, making sure no one overheard anything.
"Alright alright. I'm going to go get my food. If you two care too join me
and stop arguing then we don't have to keep Micah waiting." Aiden interjects, hoping to break the argument. Jeffrey and Joanne give each other a look, but stop arguing. They follow Aidan to get their food. Micah stares at them while his food gets cold.
This group of four, while they have their differences, have been together for years and at the end of the day get along great. They have their arguments and have their different opinions of life and issues around the world, but they all like the same things and enjoy the same humor. While Jeffrey and Aidan come from more socially conservative families and Micah and Joanne come from more open-minded families, they still get along and try not to argue too much. Except when Joanne would beg Micah to crossdress, then an argument always breaks out. That's why she would always pester him when the others weren't there.
"Hey did you guys hear about the big fight yesterday?" Jeffrey says, coming back with his food. Joanne and Aiden had just sat down.
"There was a fight? When?" Micah asks. He never knew when something happened at school, which might be because he never talked to anyone else.
"After school yesterday by the football field. Some of the football kids got into an argument with some kids that were walking by. Supposedly it got out of hand really quick and people were throwing punches." Jeffrey goes on. Everyone else was listening intently. "The cops came and people were arrested. It got really bad."
"How did it start?" Aiden asks.
"I have no idea, but supposedly it was an argument between two people that escalated and everyone else got involved?"
"Who were they? Were they juniors or something?" Aiden asks again.
"I think they were freshman or sophomores because I don't know any of them."
"Wow you not knowing someone is rare." Joanne teases Jeffrey. Jeffrey was probably the most "popular" member of the group, and knew every junior and senior at the school.
"Shut up." Joanne bursts in a fit of giggles. Jeffrey, Aidan, and Joanne continue talking about that fight, however Micah's mind goes elsewhere.
Micah was staring at a man who was standing on a table watching everyone that walks by him across the mall. It was just a regular guy who was wearing office clothes yet he was casually standing on a table that other people were sitting around. However no one else could see him. The family sitting at that table happily ate their food and everyone that walked by would not make a single glance at the man standing above them on a random table. It was as if Micah was the only one who could see him.
"Hey are you alright Micah?" Aiden says, snapping Micah from his thoughts. "You're just staring into space over there. Are you tired"
"No I'm not, something just caught my eye that's all." Micah says, laughing it off. "I'm listening I'm listening." Micah couldn't tell them about the strange man because all they would do is give him a strange look and think he's crazy. Something like this happened before and he tried to tell them about it, yet they thought he was out of it.
The man jumped off the table and started sprinting across the food court, making sure to move around everyone and not hit someone. A chain that hung around his chest swung back and forth as he ran. The same chain that always meant that people like this man was invisible to everyone except Micah. He ran out of sight a few seconds later.
Micah rejoined the conversation with his friends, attempting to push off the worries he had mentally every time he saw a chained invisible person, which he had recently started to call ghosts. He had never attempted to talk with any of them, mainly due to fear of being seen talking to "himself," and never got close enough to confirm whether they were real or not. Yet every time he was the only one who could see them and they always had a chain that was attached to the middle of their chest. Micah wondered if he was crazy, which seemed to come to his mind quite often recently. That man from before was the fifth ghost he's seen this week. Normally he only sees one or two a month.
"Hey don't you need to go somewhere Micah?" Aiden says around thirty minutes after the ghost from before had run away. This snapped Micah to attention.
"What time is it?" Micah asks, voice slightly panicked. He started to clean up.
"It's nearly 1:30." Joanne replies.
"Damn it I'm going to be late. I've got to go guys, see you next week on Monday." Micah says, nearly running to the nearest trash can.
"See you next week." The three remaining at the table say in unison. They chuckle as they watch Micah run out of the building into the parking lot.
Micah rushed as much as he can to get into his car and leave. Nearly speeding out of the parking lot, he makes his way towards the local hospital of his town to meet his father. His dad and him had to go to a very important meeting later that day and he couldn't afford to miss it. Although he had been living in the United States for nearly 14 years, Micah didn't have official United States citizenship. His dad's dad is American so his father has citizenship, but due to being born and living a few years in Japan, Micah never received citizenship. This meeting was a huge step in the process of staying in the United States permanently.
The plan today was for Micah to pick up his father at his workplace, his dad worked as a director of marketing at the nearby hospital, and head to the meeting that was taking place at a government building near the city hall. If things went according to plan, his citizenship might be finalized sooner rather than later.
Various thoughts ran through Micah's head as he approached the hospital his father worked at. A mixture of nervousness and excitement was all he felt. He was nervous, what if the meeting went wrong? What if there was some paperwork that didn't work out? What if they just denied him outright? Yet he was also excited because the potential for him to finally finish this process was relieving and if it all went through then the long process that has nearly taken 10 years to complete.
As Micah walked up to the entrance of the hospital he got a call. A call from his dad. "Hey dad I'm walking up to the hospital right now." Micah says, picking up the phone. He was slightly fearful that his dad had a meeting for his work right around now which could potentially make them arrive late to the city hall. This hasn't been the first time his dad has done something this.
"Don't bother." Micah's dad replies immediately. Micah's heart sank. "The thing at the city hall was just canceled."
"What why?"
"My paperwork didn't go through. Supposedly there is something missing so I need to figure that out before we can reschedule."
Micah groans, loud and long enough to try and stir some guilt into his dad. "When do you think you will get it done?"
"I have no idea. I'm very busy here at work so sometime over the weekend I can figure it out." His dad sounded tired and stressed. Micah felt a twang of guilt.
There was a moment of hesitation. "Do what you can then. I guess I'll go home."
"Yeah go ahead."
Micah was about to hang up when his father said "I'm probably going to be late again tonight. Go and make dinner and eat by yourself." Micah felt slight anger. 'When was the last time dad came home at a normal time?' he asked himself.
"Okay." Micah replied before hanging up the phone. He sighed and started to walk back to his car. He suddenly felt so tired and annoyed. He hated how his dad was always at work and was never home, including a lot of weekends. He understood that it was just the two of them and that his dad needed to work to make sure that they were both well off. Yet having to live by yourself most of the time got lonely after a while, especially having his dad as his only family.
Micah couldn't help but rub his eyes as he walked, trying to get rid of some of the tiredness. "Hey watch out-" someone yelled, right before Micah ran into someone.
"I'm so sorry." Micah immediately apologizes. He bows his head and repeatedly apologizes to the woman he ran into. In front of him was a girl, who looked a little older than he was, wearing a very fancy black suit and had bright red hair. It wasn't typical red hair that was nearly orange in color, but an actual vibrant red, like something out of an anime almost. Even weirder was that her eyes were blue, already creating a sharp contrast in her appearance. Even weirder however, was that the girl had a sword strapped to her left side.
"You- you…" The girl starts. She looks completely mystified at Micah. "You can see me?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to?" Micah answers, his face just as bewildered.
"Because regular humans can't see me normally." She says, her tone suddenly fiery and aggressive. She takes a step and attempts to tower over Micah, who happened to be an inch or so shorter than her. "Who and what are you?"
"Excuse me?" Micah asks. He puts his hands up as if trying to slow her down. "Who are you?"
"I'm someone that you-" The girl starts, her voice angry. However before she can continue she coughs and takes a step back, as if regaining her self-control. "My name is Diana Eld, and you?" Now that she had calmed down and backed up a bit, Micah could get a good look at her. She was indeed taller than him, maybe by about an inch or two, and from what he could tell through the suit she was wearing she looked to be of the athletic type. She was also attractive, in fact she was Micah's type feature wise, and in her sharp blue eyes she had a distinct fire. A fire of competitiveness, desire, and strength. The sword she had at her belt line was a rapier enclosed in a black sheath and the guard was circular in design and gold in color.
"Uhhh…" Micah couldn't help but stare. He was caught off guard by the girl, especially by her appearance and sword. "My- My name is Micah. Micah Ike."
"And?" Diane replies, as if waiting for more from Micah.
"And?"
"And how can you see me? There has to be something special about you because you are the first person I have ever encountered that can see me." She asks. Her face started to shift towards annoyance.
"I have no idea-" Micah was suddenly reminded of ghosts. He was the only one that can see ghosts, so he began to wonder if the girl in front of him was a ghost. However she didn't have a chain on her chest that they always had. "Are you a ghost?"
"A ghost? That's one way of explaining it sure, but you didn't answer my question-"
"But you don't have that chain." Micah said, pointing at her chest. He turns away in embarrassment, not wanting to stare at her breasts. "All those other ghosts do."
"Oh you mean the Chain of Fate? And they aren't called ghosts, instead we call them Pluses." Diane immediately replies. She grabs Micah's wrist and starts pulling him towards the hospital. "Follow me. If I'm going to get anything out of you it would be best to show you."
"Wait what? Hold on, if people can't see you they are going to think I'm crazy just talking to myself like this."
"People already do." Diane replies, using her other hand to point to a couple that were staring at Micah in disappointment across the parking lot. Micah yanks his arm free and whispers to Diane, "I'll follow you, just keep talking or whatever you were saying earlier."
Diane sighs, but complys. She leads him throughout the hospital. Because Micah had been to this hospital so many times because of his dad, they let him go as he pleases throughout the hospital. "The only reason I'm going to tell you these things is because you asked, don't get any ideas." She clears her throat. This girl was going fifteen steps way to fast for Micah. He tried his best to keep up. "Let me backup for a second if I'm going to give you a good explanation. Every person in the world has a soul. That is their being, their conscious, themself as a person. The soul is bounded to their body by a chain called the Chain of Fate. If that chain is broken, the soul is forever split from the body. This can be done by third party means, but it mainly happens when the person dies."
"Once that chain is broken, the soul is called a Plus. It's just a standard soul that exists in the real world until it is sent to the afterlife called the Soul Society. I guess you can say that the Soul Society exists in a different plane of existence, similar to something like heaven. That's where every soul is meant to go after they die in the living world. Now this is where it gets complicated so listen closely." Diane continues. Micah made sure to stay right behind her. "Certain souls in the Soul Society are stronger than other souls. They have certain powers and abilities that put them above other souls. They are called Death Gods. They are the ones responsible for sending Pluses in the living world to the Soul Society. They also kill demons called Hollows, which are Pluses that have their chain even further removed. If you payed close enough attention to the appearance of the Chain of Fate, you would notice that it's attached to a base that's directly on their chest. If that is pulled on and removed, the Plus will become a hollow, which are evil beings that only exist to consume souls. In case you haven't realized, I am a Death God. This sword that I have at my belt is what allows me to send Pluses to the Soul Society and kill hollows." Micah was hardly getting any of this.
Meanwhile behind Diane, Micah was trying to listen intently to her explanation. However as interesting as it sounded, he didn't believe her in the slightest. It didn't take him long to confirm that no one else could see her, so she was indeed a ghost at least, however her story seemed way too weird to be true. He wondered if she was some delusion ghost or something that was waiting to be sent to heaven. Or that Soul Society place she mentioned, he thought to himself, smiling. After she finished explaining her story, they had arrived at an empty hallway towards the back of the hospital. The lights were dim and he couldn't see anyone nearby.
"Did you catch any of that?" Diane asked, turning around to face Micah.
"Yeah I heard all of it."
"What do you think of it? Did I just blow your Christian mind-"
"You have a very clever imagination." Micah interrupts her. Diane's face flashes in anger before quickly dissipating.
"I know it's a very outlandish concept, but it's true." She sighs. She starts to walk away again and Micah makes sure to stay close behind her. He was kind of creeped by the depressing atmosphere of this side of the hospital.
"Do you have any way to prove it?" Micah asks her. Micah nearly bumps into Diane who stopped abruptly in front of one of the doors in the hallway.
"I can confirm part of it right now." Diane says. She pushes open the door, revealing a very blank, white, hospital room. It was empty, except for a single person that was lying on their knees in the middle of the room. That person turns around, it was a young boy which surprised Micah, who's eyes lit up in fear at the sight of Diane. He immediately screams and backs up into a corner of the room. The kid had a chain on his chest. "Stay here, be quiet, and watch." Diane orders Micah.
"Hey I'm not going to hurt you." Diane says in a very gentle and calming voice that surprised Micah. The way she talked earlier always sounded like she had a hint of defiance in her voice at all times. She carefully reaches her palm out to the kid, like someone would do with an animal. "I'm going to save you."
The kid had a look of skepticism in his eyes, yet he opened up slightly to the supposed Death God in front of him. "You're going to save me from the scary monster?" Diane's eyes go wide.
"Monster? What monster is there?" She asks. She muttered to herself, "I didn't think I would need to deal with a hollow so soon." She put on a soft look and touched the boys cheek. She whispered to him, "It's alright, I will protect you from whatever scary monster there is."
"There's a big monster out there. It was trying to hurt me. I ran in here to get away." The kid leans closer to Diane.
"Where is it?" She asks. With her free hand she placed it on the hilt of her sword.
"It's right outside there." The boy points out into the hallway. All of a sudden a massive, horrific roar breaks out throughout the hospital. Micah, who got scared witless, jumped and ran into the hospital room. The door, which was being held open by Micah, slammed shut. Diane immediately draws her sword. The boy cowers into the corner of the room, he too unbelievably scared.
That roar earlier was nothing like Micah has ever heard before. It instantly spread fear in him, as if the roar itself was made of fear.
"Micah get out of the way. Those things I told you about earlier, hollows, well there is one here now." Diane yells. She walks over to the door, putting her back against it as if trying to keep it shut. She peeks out of the door's window.
Micah didn't respond, in fact he was too scared to respond. That roar earlier scared him out of his mind. He carefully sat down in the other corner from the kid. All he could do was helplessly watch Diane as she did her supposed job. He was starting to believe everything she said earlier.
"Micah I have a huge favor to ask of you." Diane yells out. She turns to look at the scared teenager. "I need you to make sure no one comes down these hallways. Make sure no doctor, no nurse, no patient comes through here. Otherwise they are going to get hurt, or otherwise killed."
Micah still didn't respond. All he could muster was a brief nod of his head. He started to feel something well up around him, as if the air around him grew heavier.
"Micah can you do it?!" Diane yells out even louder.
"I'll… I'll try whatever I can." Micah stutters.
"Okay good. The hollow should only focus on me or the plus over there, he shouldn't care enough about someone like you-"
"There you are." An incredibly deep, but horrifying voice said. Looking inside the door window was a bright yellow eye. Diane quickly jumped away from the door, but not quick enough to dodge the sudden collapse of the ceiling and wall. A hand immediately wrapped around the Death God's body. Diane screams out in pain. The monster, which had tried to enter the room that was too small to fit it's massive body, threw the girl into the wall. She collapsed onto the ground, unmoving.
With the walls collapsed and the monster clear in view, Micah could see the horrific sight of the monster in front of him. It's body was almost like that of a centipede, with its black body coiling around the hall that was just large enough to fit it. Each limb looked like a regular human hand except much larger. The head of the monster was covered in a pure white mask that looked like a distorted human face with a huge smile. The sight of such a thing inserted fear into Micah, who couldn't help but stare and sit still. The monster, Diane called it a hollow, started to move toward the boy who was screaming on the other side of the room.
"Micah." Diane said, her voice in pain. It was enough to snap Micah's attention away and he looked at the girl whose body was slightly crushed. Diane's eyes, which it still showed the pain she was in, didn't lose that fire she had from before. That was enough to give a little hope to him. "Micah get over here." Micah crawled over to the girl.
"Are you okay?" He asked. He knew it was a silly question, yet he had to ask it anyway.
"I'm definitely not okay, and that boy over there is going to have it much worse then me if we don't hurry up right now." She muttered. She groaned as she grabbed her sword and pointed it at Micah. "There is a way for all of us to get out of here safe. There is a way for that boy to be saved and to still be sent to the Soul Society. There is still a way where we both get out of here alive."
"But you said that the hollow wouldn't pay attention to me?" Micah asked, the fear clear as day in his voice.
"It will once it finishes me and the kid off. You have a high enough spiritual pressure to attract it." Micah didn't know what that meant, but he nodded anyway. "That explanation I gave earlier was very quick and brief. While I did mention that powerful souls could become death gods, I didn't mention that regular humans like yourself that haven't died can too."
"What?"
"If you want to kill that hollow right there and save yourself, as well as the kid and me, you are going to need to become a Death God." Diane said. Micah started to shake his head. How could he ever kill such a monster like that? "I'm going to give you some of my powers right now." Meanwhile on the other side of the room the hollow had grabbed onto the Plus. The kid was screaming "Help!" as much as he could. Nervousness and panic filled Micah's mind. Will he be able to do it? Could he kill such a thing? Can he?
"Is it the only way?" He asks.
"Yes. Yes it is." If he was going to die here anyway, then he had to at least die fighting. He had to have a little resolve.
"Okay I'll do it. Give me your powers."
"Take my sword and shove it into your heart. I'll transfer my powers that way." The tip of her sword pressed against his chest. He started to get thoughts of doubt. He wondered if something would go wrong and it would kill him instead. "Say your name. Say your name with conviction. My name is Diane Eld!"
"And my name is Micah Ike!" Going against every instinct in his body, he shoved the sword into his chest, praying that Diane would transfer her powers over.
A bright flash of light spread throughout the room and into the hallway. In an instant the hand that was holding onto the kid was cut off. The hollow roared in pain, reeling back into the hallway, destroying more of the building. The kid looked up with shock and awe in his face at the person that saved him. Brandishing a katana with a black and red hilt, Micah who was clad in something that resembled japanese robes rested his sword onto his shoulder. For the first time in his life, Micah felt power in himself. All fears that he had earlier, any doubts, any second thoughts had vanished completely and all that was left was his resolve. The resolve to kill this monster in front of him.
Diane, who was finally able to stand up, lost the suit and sword from before and instead wore an all white attire of a dress shirt, pants, and shoes. She stared in amazement at Micah, who she saw had lost all doubt, run confidently towards the hollow, sword in hand ready to cut. "I only meant to give him a little of my powers, not all of it." She muttered. "It was like it was sucked up in an instant." There was something else that she noticed about him too. He seemed taller, older, and definitely more manly than before.
Micah with his sword in his left hand swung at the beast in front of him cutting part of the white mask. Blood squirted out of the wound and another roar of pain came from the beast. Using two hands this time, Micah swung downward across the hollow's body, attempting to do significant damage. The hollow squirmed forward, dodging part of Micah's swing. The tip of his katana scraped a part of its body.
"Go for it's head! It's head!" Diane yelled. It was too late though, the hollow dove forward and crashed into the other hospital rooms trying to escape. It's roars drowned out any noise. "Put all of your power into one swing across it's head. That should properly kill it!"
"Alright." Micah yelled back, his voice much deeper than before. Diane looked on in surprise. Before she thought he was someone that tried to look and talk girly, yet his actions now changed her mind. He was definitely much more a man.
Micah jumps over the hollows body and runs through the broken building walls searching for an opening to attack the hollow. He could see the face of the hollow facing the building wall, the remaining of its two front hands clutching it's mask, screaming in pain. Micah jumps as hard as can, trying to get over the behemoth in front of him to get within reach of the mask. In a sudden darting move, the hollow spins it's upper body around and smacks Micah with one of it's hands, sending him flying. However the blow was very light and he had no problem getting back up.
Micah took a moment to think of a plan this time, instead of recklessly charging in like before. He needed a way to get close enough to the hollow to cut it's mask, but also a way to get in without risk of getting hit. He concentrated on finding something and meanwhile he took deep breaths to calm his mind. The hollow turned to look at him, yet unlike before the hollow's eyes were filled with fear.
Seeing those eyes struck something in him. Immediately he jumped towards the hollow, trying to take advantage of that moment of weakness. In what felt like slow motion to him he easily got passed it's multiple limbs that tried to protect itself. Holding his sword up above his head, he focused everything he had into his arms and sword, attempting to kill the hollow in one blow. With the mask right in front of him, he swung down as hard as he could. With little resistance, he easily cut through the hollow's mask. In a final groan, the hollow disintegrated into thin air. He had won.
In his chest he felt victory and laughter started to well up within him. However Diane called his name, which interrupted him. He walked to the room that Diane and the kid were in.
"What the hell are you wearing?" That was the first thing Diane asked. It was just then that Micah finally noticed his appearance. He wore what looked like a traditional japanese robe that was pitch black with a white sash. He also wore weirdly shaped sandals on his feet with socks, something that looked slightly weird too him. He also sheathed his sword. The sword itself looked beautiful to him, if a sword could look beautiful, and had a black hilt that was wrapped in a red cloth that is typical for a katana's hilt. The end piece was a perfect gold along with the guard which had a very intricate circular design that had Japanese kanji on each coordinate end. "You look weird." He couldn't have said it better himself.
"I do. I think this is supposed to be a japanese robe." Micah said, looking over himself.
"It is. That's the traditional Death God robe that they wear in Japan." She said. It just dawned on Micah that she was trying not to laugh. "I'm just wondering why you have it on."
"I have no idea, I just noticed it myself."
"Whenever we give our powers to a human, they always wear the suit which is typical for us here in America." Diane crosses her arms. She looked tired and weak. "How do you naturally have a Shihakushō?"
"Why are you putting so much thought into it?" Micah asks. He laughs as he starts to walk over to the boy in the corner who shyly looked on him. Micah was glad that he wasn't crying or screaming anymore. "I was born and lived in Japan for a little bit, and a portion of my family is Japanese. That's your answer."
"You don't look the slightest bit Japanese though?"
"I know, everyone says that. My dad says he is half Japanese but he really doesn't look much like it too. I guess we just didn't inherit those genes." He stops in front of the ghost in front of him. He definitely didn't deserve to be here any longer. He needed to be sent to the Soul Society or wherever these souls are supposed to go. "Diane how do I send this kid to the Soul Society or whatever?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot." She limps over to Micah. She stumbles slightly, but Micah quickly catches her. "Sorry" she mutters quickly. She stands up straight and clears her throat. "Death Gods send Pluses to the Soul Society by a process known as the Soul Burial. It is done by placing the end of your sword's hilt onto their forehead."
"Alright. Hey kid." Micah says. "You're going to a better place now. You won't have to worry about those monsters getting you over there."
"Will it hurt?" The kid asked. His face looked sad, but he looked ready to move on.
"It won't hurt. It's a peaceful process." Diane said. She made sure to put on a soft smile for the young boy. Micah draws his sword. The kid steps back out of instinct, but stays still.
"It's time to move on. It's time to go." Micah says. Just as Diane had told him to do, he placed the hilt of the sword onto the kid's forehead. He didn't know if he needed to do anything else, yet a sudden glow on the kid's forehead told him that he did it. A Japanese Kanji glowed on the kid's forehead, and in a flash of light he vanished from sight.
"Well you just did both of my jobs today." Diane said to Micah while he sheathed his sword. "It would be great if I could have my powers back now."
"Oh yeah that's right. I should probably give them back." He said. He put his arm on his sword before she stopped him.
"On second thought it probably isn't a good idea. My powers will come back eventually and I don't want to risk you accidentally killing me." She says taking a step back. He gets a laugh out of it.
"I thought I couldn't kill a soul that had already died?" He asks. Since Death Gods were souls that had already been sent to the Soul Society, he wondered how he could actually kill one.
"Like I said earlier, I didn't tell you the entire story. It is possible to kill a soul that is already dead, however instead of vanishing entirely they would be sent back down to Earth. There is always a cycle of souls that leave the Soul Society and enter the living world and eventually return to the Soul Society. That balance is the true goal of Death Gods."
"Oh. So it really is complicated."
"It really is."
A sudden wave of nausea came over Micah. He collapsed onto one knee, panting. He didn't know why he suddenly felt so weak.
"Oh I guess it's that time." Diane said calmly. She placed a hand on Micah's shoulder. "I suggest you give in, at least then it will be less painful for you."
"What- What's happening to me?" Micah mustered.
"To be honest I don't fully know myself. But from what it looks like your body is rejecting your new Death God powers, which pretty much means they are about to vanish."
"What?" Micah said, his voice panicked. Even though he was incredibly exhausted at that point, he knew without a doubt that he didn't want to lose his new powers. He wanted to be someone important and special.
"Humans aren't meant to have these kinds of powers, so I'm assuming that what's going on is you losing everything. You're going to lose your powers by the time you wake up." Diane continued. She crossed her arms as if waiting for Micah to finally pass out. "Don't worry I'll make sure to erase your memories so you won't remember anything."
"But I don't want to lose them, I don't want to go back to being a regular human again." Micah said, his tired voice starting to get desperate. Eventually he became too exhausted and finally collapsed onto the ground, his mind only partly conscious at that point.
"Just let it go." Diane said. That was the last thing Micah heard before the darkness overtook him.
The sound of a phone buzzing took Diane by surprise. She fumbled into her pocket and grabbed an older looking flip phone. "Hello captain." Diane answered. "I finished up my job here in the living world, however I ran into a bit of an incident."
"What you know?" Diane asks only a few moments later. Her face suddenly looked alarmed. "Wait you want me to stay down here full time? But I was only told that this would be a one time mission, not something that I would have to keep doing."
"You've been watching me!? And you knew that I gave my powers to a human?!"
"You want me to stay down here because you want to watch what happens with this guy?! But he might not even keep his powers?! Ugh fine whatever you say captain!" Diane yells before aggressively hanging up the phone. "This guy is currently in the process of losing his powers… I think." She says after a moment of hesitation. She stares at the collapsed substitute death god. This all reminded her of a certain story she used to hear about a different substitute death god. She wondered if that was the reason her captain was so interested.
…
Author's Note: Although this entire story is something that I really thought about and developed, this is probably the only chapter I will release of this. I only planned to do this oneshot to create a different interpretation of a substitute shinigami getting their powers, especially one that takes place across in America which was never talked about in the original story, but depending on how it's received I might write more. I hope everyone enjoyed this quick origin story for the substitute death god of America, Micah Ike.