Keeper Of The Reaper
Summary - Love is a battle you can not win, if you fall in love, you lose.
(Inuyasha pov)
I looked down at the paper in my hand, rereading the address one of God's angels had given me. Yup, this was the place.
Jumping over the crowed of frozen people and some cops I stilled, I walked over to a body covered with a sheet. I knew it was a woman, I already knew it wasn't her time to go. So I pulled back the sheet to get a good look at her face.
She was beautiful.
Her long black hair curled around her head and her eyes were closed. Her lips slightly parted as if taking in her last breath. Her blood loss was large from the bullet wound in her chest.
"Who are you?"
I looked pass my hood to see the same woman standing to my left. It was her spirit, of course but it still didn't hide her beauty.
"I am the Grim Reaper."
I stood and walked over to her transparent self. Her eyes were a dark umber, her skin paler then her real body still on the ground.
"The grim reaper?" she repeated, "Am I dead?"
I moved out of the way so she could see her own body, half covered under the sheet, "Yes you are, Kagome Higurashi."
She seemed surprised when I said her name; I had to remind her I am the Grim Reaper.
I couldn't stop staring at her, even when she walked around the still frozen crowed of people. The park's lights made her see-through features like they were in candle light, the moonlight reminded me she was a spirit.
Not even sure of what she was saying I interrupted her sentence, "I have I job to do,"
She stared at me blankly before it clicked.
"I'm dead."
I nodded, getting a firm grip on my scythe.
"And I need to let my spirit rest in peace."
"That's not really what I had in mind,"
I looked down at her lifeless body, lifted my scythe to grant her life again. Her spirit slowly started to fade away, as they usually do when I bring beings back to life. I saw her eyes tear up and her lips move to thank me.
The color returned to her body's cheeks. I walked away, checking the box of life on her file and going to my next job. He wasn't so lucky.
I undid my spell over the crime scene so everyone could move again. I heard people screaming "It's a miracle!" over and over when Kagome moved her fingers in pain; after all, the bullet was still there.
They thought it was a miracle, I see it as a job. My job.
Everyone that dies gets one chance to live again. If they die a second time then there's nothing I can do. I have to bring the soul to god or the devil. Those were the rules.
Kagome would have been unhappy anyway. She had so much unfinished business. That's what I told myself, walking into the portal of darkness I conjured up; going to a different person to take to heaven.
'It has been two months since that night,' I thought as I sat on a street lamp. I watched as she waited for a friend to come pick her up from her job.
She had become my little addiction lately. If I had nothing to do or if I was just bored, I would see what she was doing. It amazed me how she lived.
Once I swore she knew I was there. But then again she was a miko. She had connections to the after life and all that, or so they say. Some of God's angels say it's easier to connect with one then anyone else. I wouldn't know; I never had to really talk to the living.
I saw her look at her watch and pull out her phone again; why humans always wanted to be available was beyond me. She was most likely talking to the same person as before.
"Inuyasha,"
A name I don't hear too often. It was my name before all this happened to me. So long ago it's not even worth remembering.
"What do you want, Shippo?"
He was a little fox sprit that died young and always seemed to show up at odd times. Like now for starters. I didn't want god or the devil to know about Kagome, it was forbidden for a spirit to wander in the human world for too long.
"The devil himself asked for you," the little bastard said, looking down at Kagome as he spoke. I turned his face back to me.
"About what?"
"Uh," I pushed his cheeks closer together, forcing him to talk oddly. "He wouldn't tell me."
I lowered my brows and waved it off. He could wait a few minutes, I'm sure. All I wanted right now was a little more time to watch the beauty before me. My fingers played with the silver chain I always wore around my neck, it brought back ugly memoirs.
I noticed that the moon shined brightly tonight. To bad I had to work. I jumped across rooftops soundlessly and landed on the tips of my toes with each descent until I reached the house. It was a large home, for the rich people who only spent their earnings on themselves.
I huffed before I walked through the walls. The mansion was so big; it took me ten minutes to find the body- plus five to find the soul. The dumbass thought he was free to do whatever he wanted.
He got on my nerves so bad I was starting to forget about the sorrow I had felt with him going to hell and all.
"Listen, you need to pass over."
The old man completely blocked me out, again getting under my skin. I breathed in a few times to get myself under control, it didn't seem to work.
"You're the Grim Reaper, are you not?"
"Yes, I only told you that about a hundred times," I whispered thelast part to myself.
"Then does this mean I'm going to hell?"
He didn't sound scared or surprised. I didn't really care at the time so maybe I just tuned it out.
"I don't just work for the devil, Mr. Samuru Matsui."
"Does this mean I'm going to heaven, Reaper?"
I grinned, letting him see my fangs. "No, you don't belong in heaven."
I slammed my scythe down to the wooden floor and cut a dimension hole for him to hell. The greenish glow grew larger and larger as black clawed hands came up to take him away. I watched as the once carefree spirit screamed for help, screamed that he would do better.
It was too late for him.
The hole closed after him, leaving me behind as it usually does. It was fine; I had one more thing to do here anyway.
I walked through the walls again, this time leaving the mansion. The old man's body was really starting to stink up the place. I walked across the yard's green fields and on to the next property to the old man's neighbor.
They were home, good.
They were watching some movie in the living room. The mother was cooking in the kitchen, it smelled like cookies. They wouldn't mind if I just helped myself. I took one for myself then thought of the little brat and took one for him too.
"Kids, the cookies are done!"
I heard them running into the kitchen, two boys and one girl. They took the plate and went back to the movie. Good thing I took what I wanted before they came. Anyway, back to business; the cookies were not the reason I came. But I guess I could use them...
I walked closer to the woman and whispered in her ear, "Go next door,"
It would take sometime but sooner or later she'll think it was her idea to bring cookies over to the old man's mansion. She would get worried because she hadn't seen him then call someone to check it out. They would find him dead in the second floor bathroom.
I was more than sure it would work out like that. If no one found him dead by the end of the week then I'll think of something else.
I walked back outside, cookie in hand, thinking of other things I had to get done by tonight.
"Inuyasha,"
I threw the cookie at the drooling fox demon, somewhat hoping it would break to pieces.
"Why are you following me today, Shippo?"
He licked each of his fingers as if he had just eaten a full course meal. "No reason really, just bored."
"Well go be bored somewhere else." I said, walking back down the street. He floated over my shoulder, tapping his small claw on my scythe.
"Oi, don't be like that! I'm a little kid with nobody my age to play with. Can't I just follow you and watch you do your job?"
I glared at him from the corner of my eye; he was giving me his sad eyes again. I sighed loudly and switched the scythe into my over hand to stop his annoying poking.
"Fine, Shippo, but just don't get in my way!"
-------------
Yea, don't get in my way. I guess those words just flew over his head or something. He told a female spirit he was the Grim Reaper, he stole someone's money - what he needs it for I don't know. He almost hurt himself playing with my scythe, again, even after I told him to leave it alone.
"Listen Shippo, if you don't leave now I'm-"
"I'm going to tell God!" he cut in.
I growled when he threw that name, title, whatever it is- in my face. Of course he would tell the highest soul of heaven.
"You bastard,"
He stuck out his tongue and floated ahead of me, saying something about me being to slow. I wanted to say something back but my mouth wouldn't move. There, walking down the street was the same woman. Kagome Higurashi.
"Hmm, wasn't she pretty?" Shippo said, floating after her. I had to really move to make sure he didn't do anything to her. When I caught his tail he cried in pain, "I told you to stop doing stupid shit."
"I can't help it, I'm bored!" he whined, "You're a boring reaper!"
I pulled his tail more, "I'm the only reaper!"
I noticed he wasn't looking at me anymore and followed his line of sight. She was looking at us. She looked over her shoulder and peeked at us.
I almost dropped the little fox when she smiled and continued to walk. My eyes stayed glued on her until I couldn't see her anymore. Shippo freed his tail and looked up at me, I down at him.
"Do you think she really saw us?" he asked me.
"No, not fully. Maybe she just heard us or something; she's a miko so that can't be overlooked."
He nodded and then smiled at me, I mean really smiled. Not one of those stupid little grins of his or some overdone shit.
"What?" I asked.
"I've seen that look before," he said, pointing a finger in my own.
"What face?"
"The one you had on before."
I was still confused. My lowered brows told him so I guess because he went on in further details.
"When you saw that lady, you seemed happy and something else I can't put my finger on. But anyway, you looked like you were in love," he batted his lashes at me and laced his fingers together.
"Love...?"
"Yup, I've seen it before, my mom and dad had that very same face before they... they..." he became sad so fast when he realized what he was about to say. "You know."
I nodded, but still the simple word he used bothered me. As a Grim Reaper, I was supposed to have no feeling of such. Love only got in the way. I waved it off and pulled the kit with me, going back to my job filled of death.
Today Shippo was bothering someone else, great for me and I wish the poor soul luck. I stood on a railing to a balcony were my beauty lived.
I was really starting to feel like a stalker, but I couldn't help it. Her life always seemed to be filled with such joy, while mine was filled of death.
I heard her talking through the open patio door; I thought she was on her phone again. Then I thought maybe she was talking to herself.
"If you want to come in, you can."
She was looking straight at me. Again. It was an odd feeling. She seemed as though she was watching me, looking passed me.
"You're a different spirit."
Yup, she knew. I was going to leave instead of taking her offer, but she opened the door wider. "Please, I've been feeling your aura a lot lately. As a miko I want to help you find peace."
I rolled my eyes; that was my job. For the hell of it I went in. She didn't seem to know until I forced my spirit energy higher then normal.
"A demonic spirit... No, human too. You're somewhere in between."
Well, I was a half demon when I was alive, but again so long ago.
"Have we met before? I mean, when you were in the flesh?"
I didn't know of anyway to really tell her. What I had done the other day with the cookie lady was pure luck and even so it was a one-third chance she would actually go to the old dead man's house.
"No, huh."
I paused as she answered her own question. She looked around her apartment, I guess looking for me, and sat down in a chair in front of me. Her back was to me, I preferred it that way.
"I feel like I've felt this aura before, are you sure we never met?" she paused again, and I still didn't know how to answer. Plus, even if I did, I wouldn't know what to say.
"We have, haven't we?" Next thing I knew she leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes.
"You're a spirit, yes, but you still have human points," she smiled. "I'm like a living lie detector test. I feel anyone's aura, sprit or living, and know how your... body reacts to it."
I don't know how much I liked that. I could give something away without meaning to.
"No need to worry."
But I did. It was bad enough I've been passing the time watching her but now I'm talking to her. Talking to her with out even realizing it!
"Where are you going-"
I left, I felt bad doing it but I had to. I had an eerie feeling that God's eyes were on me. It weighted me down, his gaze that is. I wouldn't have minded if Shippo decided to show up now and lighten the mood.
I stopped on a street lamp, and almost fell off the damn thing when my chest began to feel heavy. It was hard for me to straighten up again but I managed and headed back to the spirit realm.
"I'm telling you, Inuyasha, its love," the little brat said after I had told him about the other day.
"Uh-huh,"
"No really, mama once told me 'it pains me to see your father go. But I will be better when he returns.' You see?"
"Uh-huh."
He huffed and floated away from me.
"I don't want to be in love..." I whispered as I picked up my scythe. I toyed with the blade even after all the times I've told Shippo to leave it alone. I ran a finger over the sharp side and watched as my blood flowed out quickly.
"I don't want to be in love..."
"A woman, five-five, one ten pounds. It has to be her," I pointed to the blonde on the floor.
"Then the other is Tina?" Shippo asked.
I nodded and helped the sister spirits up into heaven. I didn't go with them all the way but they seemed to be happy.
I checked both the heaven boxes on their files and slipped it back in my pocket. My chest still felt heavy, but I was getting use to its weight.
"Uh...Inuyasha?"
I looked over to the kit and sighed when I saw Kagome Higurashi again. She seemed scared, but I had to remind myself there were two dead bodies on the floor.
She dropped her bags, her eyes wide, and her body began trembling. I knew she felt my aura on top of everything else.
"...Grim... Grim Reaper?"
I guess she knew the answer again, from my aura - or whatever the hell she said. All thoughts left my mind and were replaced by her screams.
"You know the rules, Inuyasha."
"I know."
"And you know you broke them."
"Yes sir."
I bowed my head and didn't dare to lift it. The devil was one of my two bosses, though I've never really seen them and have only talked to them through calls. A call through the strongest flame for The Devil; a call through the gentlest flower for God. I may be male but I'm sure you could tell which one I'd rather talk to.
"You have been following her, you have talked to her, and you have brought souls to heaven with her around!"
I had nothing to say, it was all true.
"Go and do your job- right this time! When you get back I will have a punishment for you."
I nodded and left the raging fire.
I sat up slowly. Man my back was still hurting... The Devil didn't play. Shippo floated over to me and sat on the bed too.
"Shippo, you know I've wanted to ask you what you do."
The little fox looked up at me, "What do you mean?"
"Like, what do you do when you're not following someone else?"
"Oh... uh well, that's kind of my job. To make sure everyone is doing their job."
I let my mouth drop, "Since when have you had a higher role then me?"
He smiled, "For a while now."
"...Whatever..."
I had nothing really to say about it, though I thought about it a lot. How could a sprit younger than me get a higher role in the realm? Did it mean they thought him more trustworthy?
I pushed it to the back of my mind, "Shippo, I've got to get back to work."
I got up, pain and all, and walked over to my scythe. I hoped Shippo wouldn't follow me today. I didn't have anything to do; I just wanted to see my beauty.
"Okay, I'm going with the red head... I forgot her name..."
I shook my head, "Well that's not very good."
"Then what's her name?"
"It's not my job to know," I smirked.
He flipped me off and left me. I laughed to myself - a passing devil thinking I was crazy. I fiddled with my chain again, and looked back to the bed. I wanted to see it again, had too. I sat back down on the bed and pulled a box out from under it; took off my chain and used the key hanging on it to unlock the box.
There it was; my heart. It has been in this box for as long as I can remember, or as long as I wished to remember. How it got in there I remembered clearly, after all it was the day I died.
Some jackass murderer decided I didn't need to live anymore and he could make better use of my heart. I had gotten it back⦠after I reaped him. I had gotten the job of course before I was able to send him to hell.
The weird thing is I swore I saw it move this time. A little freaked out I locked the box up again and slipped it under the bed. Opened up a portal again and walked into it.
----------------
I stood outside her home again, her lights were off and she wasn't there. I fazed through her walls again and looked around her apartment-really this time. It was just like her, my nose picked up her scent everywhere. She must have lived alone.
I looked around; her bedroom was the largest room, her bed taking up most of the space. I smiled at a running thought and went to look around her place.
I heard keys jingle and turned to the opening door, I suppressed my energy so she wouldn't feel it. Kagome stood there, locking her front door while balancing the bags of food. She walked to me without knowing it, walked through me; it was the first time in a long time I felt unnecessary.
The phone was ringing but she didn't answer it. I didn't understand it but I've seen weirder. Speaking of weirder, what the hell was I doing? Spying on a human woman; going through her house, looking in her things. Watching her... change.
I looked at her reflection move across the room, slip on a different shirt, not liking how it fit and throw it across the room. My eyes felt glued, I couldn't help it. My mind was blank, save for remembering how her naked skin looked.
"Spirit, are you're back?"
Damn. I must have forgotten to keep control over my energy. She pulled on a robe and walk out into the living room were I've been. She stopped, her face turned pale.
"You're that Grim Reaper."
"I'm the only Grim Reaper," I said, forgetting she couldn't hear me.
I sighed and grabbed my scythe with both hands, it's been I a while since I've even though of doing this. And by a while I mean ages. I focused all my sprit energy out, demanded it make me solid to the human eye.
I would have to use many of my reserves; this was very old and powerful magic. I heard her gasp, my sign that it was working, and finished the spell with one last push of spirit energy. She stepped back- another sign- as I let my scythe fall to the floor. I forgot how weak I might feel, it's been so long. I sat on the floor, not caring if it was disrespectful or whatever human females liked to throw around.
"I thought it wasn't fare if I could see you, and you couldn't see me."
She was in shock, clearly, but from what I wasn't too sure. It surely wasn't from me becoming seeable, not from her face nor body actions. She sat down in front of me, studying my face.
"I've seen you before..."
I didn't say anything, let her figure it out on her own. It was either meant to be or not. Living in a life full of death that was how anyone would think.
"Yes, I've seen you. A while ago... were you there? In the park, when I got shot?"
I didn't move, my eyes stared at hers, and hers at mine. I couldn't believe she remember that much.
"No, you helped me."
I guess she remembered now, the whole Grim Reaper thing. That would be the only reason I would have been there.
"Grim Reaper, you're the grim reaper."
I nodded, and tried to stand. She helped me up and I sat on her soft living room chair.
"I can't believe you remembered; most don't. Well you're the only one that ever did..." I thought aloud. "Must be your miko powers."
"Miko...powers? You mean it's not normal to remember what happens to a person when they almost die?"
"No," I thought I just said that...
"Then maybe it is my miko powers. I never thought having them could lead me to a conversation with the Grim Reaper himself."
"Wait a minute there," I held up my hands up. "Were not having a conversation. I just wanted-"
"To look through my things?" she grinned.
It took me sometime to really understand why she would grin when asking that. As a spirit we don't have any reason to reproduce but that didn't mean we didn't do it at all. Either way we were still male and female with needs, food not really being one of them. But I ate every once in a while from pure boredom.
"No, nothing like that. A question; that was the reason I came."
"What kind of question?" she sat next to me, why I didn't know. There where a few other places she could have picked but I guess it had to do, again, with her being female.
"What does 'love' mean?"
She blinked a few times before, I guess, she understood that was my question. I felt no embarrassment; it was a pure and innocent question. Why she was laughing I'll never know; love was something I had forgotten.
"Are you serious, love?"
"It's forbidden up in spirit realm."
That stopped her giggles.
"You say spirit realm, isn't it heaven or hell?"
I shook my head, "That's were I stay, heaven is for the good souls, hell for the worst." I noticed how we switched off my question and I asked her again.
"Uh... love. Love is hard to explain, it's more of what you feel around someone or your family," she thought harder, but I had more questions and interrupted her thoughts.
"How do you feel when you fall in love?"
"Ah... well, I guess you show signs of it. Like some girls blush, well guys do it too. Um, you could stutter sometimes, your heart could beat faster when you see the person or just talk about them. You think of the person every waking minute and daydream of how your life could be with him or her."
I could tell I had lost her, or she lost me. However you might look at it, she started to daydream herself about the picture perfect romance. I cleared my throat to get her attention again.
"What about you? How do you know?"
"Me? Well I don't know. It's just luck sometimes; most of the time in marriages. Like I said, it's something you have to live through at least once."
"Then is that how I-" I looked up, I felt strong sprit energy. I guess she did too because her eyes were looking up at the ceiling too. Soon a flower passed through the ceiling boards, floating genteelly down like a feather into my lap.
A call from God.
I was more then positive she didn't see the flower but just felt the power rolling off it. For him to call me when I was here must mean I'm in for it.
"I need to go."
Before she could say anything I broke the spell and once more was not seen by her eyes. I took my scythe with me, ran as fast as I could to the portal God told me to take. I stopped a couple of blocks from her building catching my breath. My chest, again the pain was back. When it had left I don't recall, but it was back tenfold. Shippo's words echoed in my head, adding to my stress.
"I don't want to be in love," I tried to run again, stopping at the next corner. "Not if it hurts this much just to be away."
Heaven, it was always so beautiful, but today its beauty was blinded by my anguish. My chest hadn't stopped hurting, the pain felt as though it was only getting worse. I felt God's mighty words down to my core, but he didn't sound like the devil. No, he wasn't angry at all.
He told me he was disappointed, nothing more but his voice told me otherwise. He said he expected better from me, but his light shined brighter. I looked into the ball of light, squinty some from the brightness. He spoke some more, but I could hear his smile- don't ask, I just did.
I was confused, why when the devil punished me would God find humor? He told me everything would be okay, he would look into it. My confusion deepened, "My lord?"
He told me not to worry and asked me to leave. I did of course but I still didn't understand.
I sat on a street lamp again. The one across the street from her building. I held on tight to the object in my hand, making sure it didn't fall. God told me to give it to the woman I had fallen for; if she accepted it everything would go as planned. I had no idea what the 'plan' was, and for that matter what 'fallen for' had meant but I was to do as he said.
She should be sleeping by now; it was three o'clock in the morning. Whatever, I thought, it was now or never.
I jumped to her balcony, like so many times before, and walked into her apartment. It was dark, besides her night lights.
"Grim?"
I couldn't help but question her new nickname for me, as I put the spell over myself again. She walked out of the bedroom, PJ's and all, rubbing her eyes.
"Inuyasha."
She stared at me for a little, "What?"
"My name, it's Inuyasha."
"Inuyasha? That's a cute name."
'Cute,' I thought, 'Why cute?' She walked over to the sofa and sat down on it. Her eyes told me she was still tired. I wanted to make this quick but I couldn't just hand it to her and tell her to keep it forever. She would think I went crazy and throw the item away.
I sat down next to her, trying to plan it all out. A very small part of my mind wastelling me it wouldn't work, but to give it a shot anyway. It may work to be a good joke in the end.
"Kagome... I have something to tell you."
I saw she was listening, there was no reason for me to stop but I still waited until she nodded.
"I have never felt this way before, about any being, spirit or human. But you, I've felt it since I first saw you. Since then you have always been in my thoughts, my chest hurts when I'm too far away from you and, and... I think... I think I'm in love with you."
I couldn't say anything more; she didn't say anything at all.
"I came here tonight... morning- whatever, to ask if you would take this."
I handed her the necklace, the silver glinted in her hands as a matching key dangled from it. She looked at it in her hands then up at me,
"It's a key to a box I've kept forever privet. You don't have to if you don't want to-"
When she pressed her lips to mine lovingly, it was the symbol of the end... and a beginning, made just for her and me.
The End
Yay, go me!
First off: I don't own Inuyasha
Second: this was for all my readers that wanted Inuyasha to be the vampire in Blood's Broth. Hope you liked it, personally I loved writing it.
And last but not least Thanks to my Beta O- Mage Lead
Review please and tell me what you think
-CagedRaven-
