My grandson is sitting next to me in a chair, while I lay in bed.

"Everything has been sorted out, and I take control of the company tomorrow"

The stifled anguish in his voice is apparent, "And everyone is already lining up to look at your will"

I chuckle, the breath coming out of my lungs is wheezy, forced, it's almost painful to utter the following words, "I'm sure everything will be fine. You'll take the company far, and that's saying a lot."

"Do you have any regrets?

" I contemplate this, "No, I've made my peace with the lord. Begged forgiveness and all that bull-"

my words get caught up in a large and terrible cough, the salty and metallic taste of blood lingers on my tongue. In all honesty, I'm a little worried on what my final judgment will be, or, if there is a final judgment.

"I have my faith, everything will be just fine." I give a smile, trying my best to leave on a good note.

"You, Jason, are the smartest, most thoughtful, and sincere person in this family." He raises his smile, a tear trickling down his face,

"You always said I was just like you." "Yes, just like me, except with a better upbringing."

Both of Jason's eyes are turning bloodshot, tears coming down in torrents, "Any famous last words?"

Last words, a final statement, a final opinion on anything and everything, "I've said a lot in my life, there isn't really anything left that NEEDS to be said."

Unfortunately, that sets him off. He gasps, comes down, and puts his arms around me. "I'm going to miss you grandpa."

It's all I could do to put my hand on his back and pat it lightly. I close my eyes and take a deep, long, and painful breath. So this is a peaceful death, peaceful, easy. Easier than falling asleep, and god am I tired. So, damn, tired…

I'm on my back again, but there's no pain. I take a breath, no pain. I open my eyes. Looking up I see a starry night sky. The air is cold, and rich in the smell of grass. I raise the silhouette of my arm in front of my face, with little effort. All my pain, all my burden, gone… I can't help but smile and start laughing. I laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more. I laugh at all my previous hardships. I laugh at all I have done. I laugh at all the repentance I have done BECAUSE of what I've done.

I made it. I'm on the other side. Despite it all, I can't bring myself to sit up. I could lie like this forever. Just basking in all the relief I have been given. I close my eyes again. The smile on my face couldn't be broken with a hammer. I don't know how long I lay there before I open my eyes again. But when I do, my gaze is met with the figure of a small girl, her silvery hair flowing in the wind. It couldn't be…could it?

"Seii?" My voice, it comes out easily, like water. But, why is it so different? Besides the absence of rasping and coughing, my voice sounds…young? The girl shudders and turns to look at me. The softly featured face, the small stature, it's all so familiar. But, those eyes, those eyes aren't Seii's. Those yellow eyes, whose are they? Taking note of her ethnicity and apparent…Is that a school uniform? I try to make verbal contact,

"Anataha dare desu ka?" She tilts her head. "Excuse me?"

What a wonderfully soft voice. This girl is obviously Japanese, but she speaks English, and with no accent. I pick myself up into a sitting position. It was instantaneous, again, without pain. I cross my legs and turn my body. This is so blissful, it's almost unnatural. I look at her in the face, and let the words flow out.

"Who are you?" The girl starts walking towards me. She doesn't move her arms when doing so. She puts one out in an offering way. I take it, and we pull me up. My center of gravity appears to be very fragile at the moment because I overshoot myself and fall to my hands and knees. She walks in front of me, and offers again. I put my hand up in a dismissive manner. I pick myself up this time, careful not to lose balance again. 'The infant takes its first steps', dammit, this is annoying. I stand up, take a step, then another, and then another. I do an about face, and look at my peer.

"Now again, who are you?" Standing up, this girl is much shorter than me, almost that of the size of a child. Definitely not my Seii,

"I am the student council President." Student council- what now? I take a moment to observe my surroundings. I'm in a grassy field, the grass is stained with chalk, and both sides of the field, there are goal posts.

"A Soccer field?"

The girl puts herself in my peripheral vision. "Yes, this is the soccer field,"

She points to her right, my left, "And that, is the school."

School, what school? I look to my left, and am presented a giant building off in the distance.

"Follow me." She starts walking; I was already a mild distance from her, so I try to shorten it by jogging. I trip after the first step, but pick myself up, and start a pattern of movements, one leg after another. I feel so light, like I could lift off at any moment. I am able to make up the distance between us, and stopping is somewhat problematic as I bump into her. "Oops, I'm sorry!"

She glances at me over her shoulder before continuing. I open my mouth to ask question, but it seems she already answered them. Where am I? I'm at a school. Who is this girl? She is the student council president, apparently.

"Why am I here?" is what I decide to ask. "You are here for the same reason everyone else comes here, to learn something about yourself. Only then can you pass on."

Pass on, learn something about myself, dammit, I'm not where I think I am, am I? "So, when you say you're the student council president-"

"It's exactly as I said it."

"I see…it's not a pseudonym for anything?" We make our way into an opening, concrete and tiles make up the ground.

"It is my duty to watch over the students as they learn and interact throughout this school." School, there is that word again.

"But WHY am I here? What is there for me to learn?"

We stop, she turns, and looks my in the eyes. "Only you can answer that question."

She's dancing around my questions like it's some kind of game.

"Okay then, what would you call this place?" "I would call it school."

"This plain of existence then?" She pauses for a moment, her eyes are vacant, and she appears lost in thought.

"I would call this the afterlife." No…why? I can feel my knees buckle, and they strike the ground.

Pain…I'm in purgatory.

In the light of an overhead lamppost, I examine my hands. Gone are the protruding veins that served as a reminder of my age. No unnecessary wrinkles, few scars. I'm younger, but I'm still me.

'It is my duty to watch over the students as they learn and interact throughout this school.'

She's an overseer, and in the setting of a school, that is sometimes the duty of the Student Body Council. She walks up to me.

"You are shocked?" I stand up, stagger, and compose myself.

"I am," the tension in my voice earns me a pat on the shoulder.

"What can you tell me to guide me?" If she's an overseer, then she must know SOMETHING of the learning process.

"Dwell upon your past. Decide whether there is something you can fix about yourself. Be happy, be productive, and be obedient." "Be obedient towards what?" "The rules enforced within the school."

A bell rings off in the distance. "We are currently breaking a major rule." She starts walking, "Follow me."

I obey. She takes me through the cluster of buildings to one labeled 'Boys Dormitory', I take note that it is written in English. "Your room number is one-fourteen." She starts to walk off. "Wait!" She stops, "Do you have a name?" Silence…, "Tachibana," "First name?" Silence…, "Kanade" She walks off, leaving me to stew in my own grief. Can I call this grief? I'm in purgatory, but at least this isn't Hell. Or, at least that's what I assume this is. Kanade only said afterlife. 'Disappointment', I guess is what I'd call it.

I enter the dormitory building. The signs guide me as I walk up the stairs and down the hallway to a room labeled 'One-fourteen' I open the door. It's unlocked. I enter the room, and stick my hands out to the sides, looking for a light switch of some sort. After finding my target and turning on the lights, I am presented with a boy who appears to be in his teens. The most notable features I'd point out are the obnoxiously purple hair color, and the realistic looking weapon propped up against the wall.

"You must be the new kid." Kid he says? Oh right, "I guess I am." He smiles. "Good, I have a proposition for you."