Once upon a time, there was a grim reaper whose eyes were deep and dark as the midnight. He carries around a large scythe everywhere he went. Clad in black cloak, he visits humans and claim their souls to send them to their deaths.
The Reaper was a harsh spirit. Cold and callous his heart was, but he always done his duties properly. He never opened his heart, and was always lonely as the result.
"I don't need any friends," he said, "Those kind of feelings will only deter me in completing my job."
Brandishing his scythe, the Reaper set forth to the Northern Village─to collect the dying human souls.
In a dark, moonless night, a young maiden was laying down on her bed. She coughed up blood from her mouth. She knew that she didn't have much time left.
Suddenly, a strong wind was blowing through the window. She gasped, startled by an unknown presence visiting her. A man with black cloak was standing by her bedside, carrying a large scythe in his hands.
"Your time has come. I shall deliver you to your death," the man spoke.
"No. I don't want to die yet. Please..." the girl sobbed and pled, but the black-cloaked man didn't listen. He swung his scythe, ripping her soul apart from her body. The girl's heart jumped in fear once, before finally stopped beating.
The Reaper took the girl's soul in his grasp. Her soul was dimly glowing in blue color, cold, and hurting a lot. She was dying in regret and immense pain from her illness.
"No hard feelings," the Reaper said, "I only did what I had to do."
With that, he left the girl's room in silence.
The Reaper moved to the Eastern Village. With his eyes, he saw several dying souls. One of them was shining so brightly, it almost blinded him.
It was a cheerful young man with smile so lovely as the sun. The Young Man wasn't too smart, but he was very strong and healthy. He was also very kind-hearted. Even though he was being ridiculed by others for his dimwittedness, he never had any bad thoughts about others and never held any grudges against them.
Because of his purity, the Young Man's untainted heart was shining brilliantly, contrasting the dark and gloomy Reaper's own heart. Witnessing the Young Man's bright, lively soul, the Reaper clicked his tongue in envy.
"What a foolish, pitiful existence," he said, "But it matters not. I shall claim his soul and send him to the Underworld shortly."
"The Northern Village chief's daughter passed away last night," said a woman. "It's so sad. She's still very young."
The news of the young girl's sudden death was spreading wildly to the neighboring villages like a fire. Almost everyone was being restless about the girl's death, barring a young man called Jyushimatsu. He was dressed in bright yellow clothes, running and laughing along the Eastern Village's streets.
"Oh, not Jyushimatsu again," a man sighed. "He's such a madman."
"What's in his head? We're having our condolences for the chief's daughter, and he's just playing around like crazy!"
"Once, I saw him talking by himself at the lake in the middle of our village's nearby forest. When I asked him about that, he said he was talking with a spirit!"
"He's not a child anymore, right? He must've been insane."
However, none of the villagers' cruel words reached the young man's heart. He heard everything they said, but didn't held any grudges at all. The young man went to the forest, singing happily along the way. He stopped singing when he arrived at a lake, and shouted.
"Choromatsuuuuu! I'm heeeereeeeee!"
Not long, a man appeared from the lake waters. He was wearing white robe and a crown of leaves on his head. He was upset, but somehow cheered up by the young man's energetic laughter.
"Please, don't shout too loud, Jyushimatsu. I can hear you just well."
"Hey, hey! Did you hear? It looks like the Northern Village chief's daughter was dead! I want to bring beautiful flowers to her funeral! Can you help me gather some, Choromatsu?"
"Yes, of course," the Water Spirit chuckled, "What a nice person you are."
With a swipe of his finger, the Water Spirit created a bouquet of white flowers from thin air. The young man laughed in excitement.
"Thank you very much, Choromatsu! By the way, the villagers didn't believe my story about you at all. With this, I can finally prove to them that you're real! Right, right?"
Choromatsu, the Water Spirit, smiled bitterly at the naive man. "Yes, you may be right."
"Ah! The funeral is going to be held at noon! If I'm not hurry, I'll be late to attend! See you again, Choromatsu!" Jyushimatsu grabbed the bouquet, and then ran as fast as he could.
Right after Jyushimatsu was gone, Choromatsu yelled at the forest. "Show yourself, Grim Reaper!"
A man in black cloak appeared from the shades. He clicked his tongue in ire.
"What do you want from Jyushimatsu?" Choromatsu asked, his voice was rather tense.
"Can't you tell?" The Reaper sneered, "I'm just doing my job."
Choromatsu's eyes widened. "That means...Jyushimatsu is..."
"He's going to die soon. Now that you know, I hope you don't stand in my way.
"...No, I wouldn't do that. We have our duties─your duty is to collect humans' souls, and my duty is to protect this lake. You do your job, I'll do mine. I wouldn't interfere."
The Water Spirit bit his lip. He was feeling sad from hearing about his friend's fate, but he chose not to meddle with it.
"Glad to hear that, Water Spirit." The Reaper gazed at the cloudy sky with somewhat empty eyes. "Anyway, you shouldn't be too friendly with humans. Aren't you feeling a little...irritated? After you heard about his fate?"
"It's fine. At least, I can still have precious memories about him. Even if those humans die, I can still treasure my memories of them." Choromatsu clenched his chest, staring straight at the Reaper's eyes.
"You stupid, idiotic spirit," the Reaper spat. "Then, you wouldn't be able to do your job properly, for being too much involved with humans!"
The Reaper walked away, leaving the lake and disappeared within the forest's darkness.
The Young Man offered his flowers to the Northern Village's chief, but he was treated badly. His flowers were scattered to the ground, and the villagers stomped at it. He was casted out of the funeral. People yelled at him─shouting painful, cruel words at him.
"You madman!" "Get lost, you crazy man!" "Don't desecrate her funeral with your filthy presence!"
Rain was falling from the sky. The Young Man walked slowly, leaving the funeral site. His head hung low, but he was still smiling. The Reaper watched him from above, sighing in annoyance.
"What a foolish, pitiful existence," he said, "But it matters not. I shall end his suffering and send him to the Underworld shortly."
The Reaper followed the Young Man, waiting for the right time to struck a deadly blow with his scythe. However, he saw a tiny white flower was held in the Young Man's clenched fist. He also saw his face─it was soaked, he couldn't tell it was from the rain or the tears. The Young Man was still smiling. The Reaper was discouraged, and a little heartbroken at the sight.
Jyushimatsu went to his house. It was a small shack located at the village's outskirts. He went into his room, without drying himself first. The wet footprints were puddling on the wooden floor.
"There, you'll be fine." Jyushimatsu put the flower on a vase, filling it with water. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save your friends."
The Reaper followed him to his room, standing right behind him. The cold eyes of the Reaper watched every inch of his movements. The young man continued his talk to the flower.
"They're still refusing to believe in Choromatsu. Ahhh...I messed up again. I hope Choromatsu wouldn't be angry when he found out that his flowers were ruined...but, I still have you! Right? Oh, and the villagers! I'm sure, they'll accept me if I'm doing my best tomorrow! Right? Right...?"
"Would you stop this charade of foolishness at once?"
Jyushimatsu turned his head. The Reaper was standing very close to him, staring at his eyes with his piercing, sharp gaze.
"Who are you? How did you get into my house?"
"I'm the Grim Reaper. But it doesn't matter now," the black-cloaked man said. "Looking at you, deceiving yourself continuously like this irritates me. It makes me furious! Having to claim a foolish, pitiful soul such as yourself!"
"Aren't you going to take my life? Am I going to die?" Jyushimatsu asked, somewhat innocently. His actions annoyed the Reaper even more.
"Of course, you dimwit! But I decided not to! Not until your stupid head is fixed, I won't claim your soul!"
Jyushimatsu's face lit up for a moment.
"You won't kill me? Is that it? Is that it?"
The black-clad Reaper didn't answer his question. Jyushimatsu took the small flower from the vase, and handed it to the Reaper. A wide, bright smile was formed on the young man face.
"Then, let's be friends!"
The Reaper received the flower from the Young Man's hand. Along with the flower, he also accepted the Young Man's warmth into his once cold, and dark heart.
"I don't need any friends," he thought, "Those kind of feelings will only deter me in completing my job."
However, he couldn't shook off the Young Man's sincere kindness from overflowing his own heart.
"What is this feeling?" The Reaper wondered. "Why am I feeling so warm, yet so painful inside?"
"What is this feeling?" The Reaper wondered, twice. "Why am I opening my own heart to a human? I shouldn't involve myself with humans, they're just a nuisance!"
"What is this feeling?" The Reaper wondered, thrice. "Why am I keep pouring these tears from my eyes? Why can't I stop it from flowing?"
"Why? What is wrong with me?"
"Ichimatsu! Let's go to the lake today!" Jyushimatsu cheerfully grabbing the Reaper's arm.
"I'm not your pet, Human. You can't just give me weird names out of nowhere." The Reaper protested, his face blushed red. "By the way, I am informed that you can see that Water Spirit, and my appearance. Normal humans aren't able to see spirits clearly like you do. What gives you the ability to do that?"
"I don't know! All I knew that I can see Choromatsu and the other spirits since I was a kid. And that's all!"
"Hmmm..."
"Anywaaaay! Let's go meet Choromatsu! Shall we, Ichimatsu?"
"I told you...don't give me random names!"
Despite his protests, Jyushimatsu managed to drag Ichimatsu─the Reaper─to came along to Choromatsu's lake. The Water Spirit greeted, with a smile on his face. "Hello, Jyushimatsu. It's good to see you again."
"Hi, Choromatsu! Today, I brought a new friend! C'mon, Ichimatsu! Introduce yourself!"
"There's no need. We've known each other." Ichimatsu darkly replied to Jyushimatsu's cheerful remarks.
"Huh? You guys already knew each other? That's amazing! Amaaazing!"
"Jyushimatsu, my friend. Why don't you gather some mushrooms and wild berries in the forest? I'll let my faerie friends help you. When you're done, you can go back here again. I want to have a talk with your 'Ichimatsu' for a while." Choromatsu quickly gave Jyushimatsu a basket, summoning few glowing faeries who accompanied the jolly man to the woods. Jyushimatsu walked away from the lake, following the glowing trail of the faeries, and disappeared into the forest.
"What happened to the 'doing my job' of harvesting people's souls, Grim Reaper? If I'm not mistaken, I heard that we spirits shouldn't be too friendly with humans? Eh?" Choromatsu teasingly grinned at the irked Ichimatsu.
"Silence, you rotting lake spirit. I'm going to kill you if you won't stop talking."
"You can't kill me. That's not your job to kill other spirits...am I right, Grim Reaper?"
Ichimatsu growled with anger. His face went deep red, much to Choromatsu's enjoyment to tease him more.
"Recently, Jyushimatsu smiles a lot more than before, you know? I think he likes you very much. I'm so jealous."
"..."
"How long are you going to keep him alive?" The Water Spirit came out of the lake, and sat right next to the mumbling Ichimatsu.
"None of your business."
"He's a good person." Choromatsu stared at the lake's still waters. "His heart is so pure, free from any hatred and grudges. I don't think there's any human as pure as Jyushimatsu. It's so sad to think about his impending demise."
"I see. So, that's why he's able to see spirits like us." Ichimatsu threw a pebble into the lake, disturbing the waters.
"Aren't you going to change your mind?" Choromatsu stood up, facing the darkening eyes of the Reaper. "Are you still going to kill him?"
"I will take his life, and no one is going to stop me!" Ichimatsu yelled. "Heed my words, Water Spirit! Sooner or later, that man is going to die! It's his absolute fate as a mortal! And you can't do anything to change my mind!"
The Reaper stood up and left the lake, dissolved into the dark shades of the woods. Some time later, Jyushimatsu was back from the forest.
"Choromatsuuuu, I'm baaaaack!"
Jyushimatsu waved his hands happily, running towards the lake with excessive energy. "Where's Ichimatsu? Did he leave without me?"
"Ah, about that..."
"Does he hate me?" Jyushimatsu's head drooped down. "He hates me, right? Right?"
"No, I don't think so." Choromatsu patted the young man's head. "Do you like him, Jyushimatsu?"
"Yes! I like Ichimatsu so much! That's why, I feel so scared...what if he left me behind..."
"Remember, Jyushimatsu. You two are friends, right? You have to put your faith more in your friend."
"What should I do now, Choromatsu? Should I go search for Ichimatsu?"
"No, just wait for him. I believe, he will come back to you. Trust him, Jyushimatsu."
Late at night, the Reaper went back to the Young Man's shack. The Young Man's eyes were freshly red. He cried and cried, waiting for his friend to came back home.
"I thought you left me. I was so worried about you. Thank goodness you came back!" The Young Man smiled, brimming with tears.
"Foolish human. Why did you cry for me? Why did you cry, for a spirit who's going to take your life?!"
The Reaper's words were cut off. The Young Man rushed to embrace him, sobbing in tender tears.
"Welcome home," The Young Man said. Nothing less, nothing more.
The Reaper embraced him in return. His once cold and dark heart was melting into warm droplets of tears.
"...I'm home."