Prologue

The first sound she heard when she died was...rain.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a soft, grey sky, and...black raindrops?

The first touch on her skin was warm and wet.

The first smell was earthiness and soil.

The first taste of anything was hot soup and tea.

She remembered that day. It was a day of firsts. Of calm smiles and gentle head pats. Of laughter and sadness and the smell of tears. Of good food and gentle music. Of soft blankets and fuzzy pyjamas. Of kindness and acceptance and love and embraces. Of things she had never known from her own kin. Most of all, she remembered how warm everything was.

This was not...What she expected Death to be.

The woman with the violet eyes was startled awake on the late night bullet train. The automated voice above announcing the stations had roused her from sleep. The hood on her sweater had fallen back slightly from being pulled over her eyes. She shifted slightly in her position of lying sideways on a two seater in the bullet train with her backpack against the window she was leaning on. Since it was such a late night train, not many people were on. A few older people had given her scathing looks for her "informal" treatment of the train seat but she didn't pay them much mind. Japan was big on manners. It wasn't something she much cared for. She was used to getting all types of looks anyways.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Swinging her legs over, she sat herself upright and stretched. Her black and red headphones had slipped off in her sleep and hung askew around her neck, which she slipped back on her ears. Lo-Fi music continued to croon slowly from them, putting her at ease. She slipped her phone out of her pocket and tapped a few buttons to illuminate the screen. Her violet eyes darted back and forth quickly, re-reading the message a few times. Tendrils of her white hair fell into her face, which she blew away in annoyance. Her phone buzzed again, this time with something humorous, since she gave a snort of amusement at it.

She flicked her phone to the front facing camera. Lifting her arm up to get a good angle, she flashed the peace sign and snapped a picture. Pulling her phone towards her again, she looked over the selfie to see if it was suitable for sending. The girl in the picture looked pretty happy.

Her golden brown skin glowed in the lights of the train. Her hood was down, showing her long, white hair in all it's glory, undone and pooling off her shoulder. Her red hoodie with white fur inside was slouchy yet comfortable. Her double necklace peeked through, her face was rounder than she preferred, her 7 ear piercings glinted in the light, a conglomeration of hoops and studs, the scar across her eye was a lighter tone than her skin and the hoop in her nose twinkled. Her fingers thrown up in a casual peace sign, red nail polish pristine. Her face was a mix of tired, smug and self-assurance.

It wasn't a bad selfie.

It certainly didn't give way to the mild panic she felt entering Japan.

Clicking send, she slipped her phone back into her pocket and stretched again. She pulled some strawberry Pocky from the side pocket on her bag and crunched away. They had to be getting close to the town now. She'd been on this train for HOURS. Not including the first part of the commute she had to do. 36 minutes later (which felt like FOREVER) the automated voice sang to her in its metallic drone, announcing the arrival of the train in the town she was going to.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she stepped off the train to the station, letting the outdoor smell hit her. It smelled...well. Like nighttime in Japan. Exiting the station went smoothly, and now she stood on an unfamiliar street. She sniffed the air, and zeroed in. Food. She smelled something delicious.

Following her nose led her to a late-night yakitori stand. Grilled meat on a stick? Count her in! She groaned as her stomach growled in agreement. She walked up to the stall and greeted the old man with a grin.

"Good evening Ojii-San. How are you?" she greeted formally.

"Oh, you know. Bone are cracking but my fire is crackling!" he responded cheerfully, earning a giggle from the girl. She bought copious amounts of food, thanked him, bowed and was on her way.

She walked down the quiet street, munching on sweet glazed chicken, sticky, dripping beef, crunchy tempura veg and sipped from her ramune bottle. She snorted at the fact she probably looked like a green tourist, brown bag in hand, but then again, she never really cared much for rules and what not to do. Japan frowned heavily on eating and drinking while walking, but she was hungry and thirsty with somewhere to be. She snapped another pic of herself with a grilled pork yakitori between her teeth and sent it. Moments later, her phone buzzed insistently and crooned out music. She picked up.

"Helleeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr! You've reached Kage Watanabe's Crematorium! You kill 'em, we grill 'em!"

"Oh. My God. You always sound so dumb on the phone."

"Only with you Ryu the Poo!"

"..." she heard an audible sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Noooo come back!" she grinned, polishing off her pork yakitori.

"Are you panicking?"

"...Awww man. You found me out." she frowned, a little upset she wasn't able to hide it.

"Hey, hey. Stop, You're okay. Breathe."

"..."

"You there?"

"Mm. Breathing."

"Good. I know that place doesn't have a ton of good memories, but don't forget why you're there."

"Right. Mission. Got it. To eat all the delicious food Japan has to offer."

"I'm serious Kage."

She giggled. "Well you must be, since you never use my real name."

She heard a noisy exhale of someone trying to keep it together over the phone. "How the hell do you go from panicking to laughing, jackass?"

"Cause hearing your voice calms me down Ryu. At least I know you're only a phone call away. Granted, I'm always surprised Hell gets such magnificent reception -

"YOU. ARE. GOING. TO. BLOW. YOUR. COVER."

"Awww shucks. Who would think I'm actually undead? Right now I look like an uncouth tourist."

"That too. At least TRY to blend in. Running around looking like a "gaijin" isn't helping."

"Eh. It's fun though. You should see the looks on some peoples faces. It's like I offended their ancestors. WHO WALKED AROUND AND ATE."

"You don't know that."

"Our ancestors were CAVEMEN. Do you really think – Oh wait. I'm here."

"You good?"

"Mhm. I'll call you later?"

"Text me when you get in."

"Yes mom."

"I'm serious. I'm worried about you over there."

"What you SHOULD be worried about is your back breaking when I get home cause I'mma give you the biggest bear hug."

"...I look forward to it."

She smiled as the wind blew her hair slightly. "Sweet dreams Ryu."

"If you're in them, they will be."

"You dork."

"Goodnight Grim."

She clicked the end call button and smile gently. Her best friend always knew what to say to make her feel better. Truth be told, she was a little nervous being back here . This part of Japan left her nerves fried. Bad memories all around.

But Ryu was right. She had a reason to be here. She had a mission here. Wiping her hands on her grey jeans, her Timberland – clad feet walked her up the stairs of the small apartment complex. It was cute, painted a pale yellow, with brown stairs and square windows. There were 4 apartments on the ground floor and 4 on the second floor making 8 rooms total. She turned right at the top of the stairs and walked to the end. It was a simple wooden door. Unsheathing a small but intricate hunting knife, she carved a protective symbol into the door. She pricked her finger and smeared her blood into it. It glowed momentarily and the symbol melted away into the door, illuminating all of it in a blue glow before subsiding. Sliding the silver key in the gold doorknob, she twisted it and the door swung open. She stepped in and turned on the light.

It was quaint. Wooden floors, pale blue walls. A narrow hallway extended to the rooms beyond. She left her shoes at the door, locked it, and turned to her apartment. The bathroom was to her left, spacious and standard. Further in, the kitchen and the living room were all connected, but that was just fine. In fact it felt a bit homier than that. Well, not that she'd have anyone over but it was nice to socialize as you cook. A few boxes were piled neatly against the wall. She had packed light; after all, you never know when you have to leave abruptly.

A couch, a coffee table, and a rug adorned the living room. No TV, no time for things like that. Her bedroom was simple but comfortable. The only thing that seemed terribly out of place was the giant black punching bag to the left of the living room. But hey, you gotta relieve stress somehow, right?

She flopped on the couch, surprised she was able to sit after so many hours of sitting. But she was restless. She chewed thoughtfully on her skewer, long devoid of meat. Her leg jiggled and her eyes zoned out. Her breathing grew shallow. Her mouth dried. Her hands shook. Her face grew hot and she felt like everything was closing in on her.

A panic attack? Now?

DING.

She swallowed and glanced over at her phone.

"Ryuji Takahashi Mortuary, You Stab 'Em, we Slab 'em."

She snorted. This guy.

But she felt better.

Grabbing her phone, she took it with her to the bathroom and took a quick shower. She always felt better after one. The water was cool, to counteract the heat in her body and soothing. Dressed in red shorts and a black tank top she made her way to her room. She texted Ryu till she fell into a dreamless sleep.

Tomorrow's adventures awaited.

...But unbeknownst to her, a pair of electric blue eyes had followed her every move.

Author's Notes: Ahhhhhh. Hello everyone :) Welcome to my Dance with Devils fic. Hopefully I've left you all intrigued with my abundance of OC's and lack of devils. Thanks for visiting, and I should have the next chapter up soon :)