Chapter 11: Can You Put Me Down Now?
"And so Tamaki came to me and I had to spend an hour trying to keep his brain from frying."
"Not a very bright boy, is he?"
"Don't call him stupid…but I will admit, common sense and the like aren't his forte."
Life and Death continued to chat over tea and macaroons rather calmly, albeit Life occasionally snapping at Death for some comment he made. Eventually, Death reached into a drawer under his desk and pulled out a feather. "He left this behind," he told Life, placing it on the desk for her to see, and then sitting back and smirking. "Seems he's down on his luck."
Life certainly wasn't laughing. She looked at the feather and then back up at Death, placing her teacup and plate on the desk. "I don't understand; why would you have one of Tamaki's feathers?"
"Seems he created a Demon to come after one of my Reapers."
"No, no, no, that's impossible! Tamaki would never do something like that."
"Unless you ordered him to."
"I'll have you know I would do no such thing!"
And so it continued.
Getting the watch was easy enough, as was delivering it to the common room and setting it next to Kyouya who was on a laptop, but it was getting to Death that proved to be tricky for Haruhi.
She was in the main hallway, standing in front of the elevator.
An elevator with no buttons.
Haruhi couldn't simply teleport herself to his office, as she had never been there. But how in the world was she supposed to operate this? It didn't work like the other mirrors; she had already tried that.
"Skraaah! Create a button! Skraaah!"
It had been a while since she had last heard from a gargoyle, and instinctively Haruhi flinched, looking to the source of the sound behind her, the stone creature's eyes glowing green, and then returning to their normal stony stare.
Why hadn't she thought of it herself? Probably because she was still getting used to her powers, but now wasn't the time to think about that. She reached out her hand so it was a few inches from the wall next to the elevator, and concentrated on a simple button with an up arrow, watching as before her eyes, a mirrored button appeared. Not quite what she had pictured in her mind, but so long as it worked, Haruhi couldn't' complain.
She hesitantly reached out and pressed it. A little beep sounded, startling her, and then the button vanished in a puff of smoke, Haruhi skeptical as to whether it had worked or not. Seconds later, though, the doors glided open, and she stepped inside, her reflection surrounding her, and she cringed a little, remembering the last time she was in the elevator.
Looking at the buttons, Haruhi assumed that Death would place his office at the very top; the 13th floor. As the elevator sped upwards, she vaguely wondered what sort of floor plan was in place. Her head spun when she tried to sort it out, and so she stopped, and her mind automatically wondered what other rooms existed. As soon as she heard the ding and the doors opened once more, though, Haruhi was set on her mission: find Death and tell him the situation with D.A.
Stepping into a hall that looked similar to the main hall, only with one large black door instead of mirrors, Haruhi felt herself being lifted from the ground by a pair of strong hands on the sides of her stomach. She immediately panicked, beginning to kick and squirm, but before she could yell, a small blonde boy with a pink stuffed bunny had bounced over to her and tilted his head to the side.
"Ne, who are you?"
He looked far too young to be here, and Haruhi instantly recognized him as an Angel from Hikaru's description. "Haruhi Fujioka," she answered, calming down. "I'm a Reaper." She turned around as best she could to get a look at who was strong enough to easily hold her up off the ground, and saw an incredibly tall, tan young man with black hair, also an Angel. "Um, can you put me down? I have to tell Death something; it's important."
The tall boy shook his head no, and the younger one told her, "I'm Hunny, and that's Mori. We're Life's bodyguards, and she's specifically instructed us to keep everyone out." He leaned in, whispering, and Haruhi found herself leaning towards him, too, "She's having a super important meeting with Death, and can't be disturbed."
Okay. It was clear she was going to have to start speaking his language if she ever wanted to get past. "Well, I kind of need to tell Death something super mega important."
She wasn't too surprised when he had to stop and think about it for a minute, debating whether or not to let her go. After all, he couldn't be more than seven, and if it was super mega important, he shouldn't stand in the way. "Mitskuni," Mori interjected, "We have orders."
Curses, foiled by the tall one. "Can I at least be let down?" She added jokingly, "I promise I won't make a run for it."
Hunny opened his mouth to say something, most likely a no, but he was interrupted by the black door slamming open, startling all three of them. There was Death, smiling. Haruhi could see his office behind him, full of reds, blacks, whites, and a few browns, which surprised her. Either side was lined with shelves displaying books, souvenirs, strange items of a somewhat mystical nature or another, a plethora of tea and coffee, and chocolate. There was a large desk in the back, trinkets resting on top of the wooden surface, including a skull (with an autograph from Shakespeare, though Haruhi couldn't see it) and behind the desk was an intimidatingly large leather office chair. In front of the desk were two black 2nd Empire chairs. One of them was being occupied by, Haruhi could only guess, Life herself, looking rather annoyed at the interruption.
"I'll take it from here, boys!" Death reached out and seemed to snatch Haruhi from Mori's grasp, and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Haruhi protesting about being tossed around so much, but Death ignoring her. He turned back around only to slam the door. After placing Haruhi down, who scowled, he asked her, "Now what is it my newest Reaper needs to tell me that is super mega important?"
"Right. D.A. is-"
"Ahem." The two looked over to find Life standing, the annoyance on her face only more pronounced now, with her arms crossed and brow raised. She asked Death sweetly, with so much malice in her undertone that it almost made Haruhi shiver, "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
Death rolled his eyes, but did as she asked, gesturing between the two. "Life, Haruhi. Haruhi, Life."
Life wasted no time in circling the brunette, eyeing her critically up and down, frowning now and again. Haruhi couldn't help but feel like she was a grade-schooler being inspected by her mother before leaving for Picture Day. The thought tugged at her heart, and she pictured her mother's soft, smiling face.
"Hmm…" Life seemed to have reached a conclusion upon her inspection, as she stopped in front of Haruhi, her hand cupping her chin while she was in thought. "Is she the only girl?"
"You're well aware about D.A. You complain enough, anyway."
"D.A. can handle herself, as you're well aware. You made me give her all those powers in the first place. However, there are three teenage boys living within close vicinity of her, and she, uh, what was it? Haruhi? Yes, Haruhi obviously hasn't mastered her powers, and looks rather weak. Suppose one of your male Reapers gives in to lust?"
"Then you'll have a brand new life to create and maybe that'll finally get you off my back."
They began bickering back and forth, and Haruhi couldn't hide the blush that crept into her cheeks. However, she wasn't in the least frightened. Kaoru, perhaps, might come onto her, but he couldn't be much stronger than her with his skinny limbs. She could handle herself. Besides, this wasn't even why she was here. "D.A.'s in trouble."
Life and Death froze, Death suddenly looking incredibly serious. It was a stark contrast to his usual self. "What's happened?" he asked calmly.
"Her clock broke. We're not sure where she is. Somewhere starting with m-o-n."
And then Death was back to his smiling. "Well that's simple: Monte Carlo, Monaco."
"Monte Carlo?" Haruhi parroted. She hadn't ever heard of it.
Death nodded. "It's home to many casinos. She's always wanted to try her hand at gambling," he explained. Life scowled, but Haruhi had to suppress a laugh at the thought of D.A. sitting at a cards table. Her poker face was perfect for it.
"Yes, well," Death ended her daydream with a clap, and began ushering her to the door. "Make a nice field trip out of it. Bonding, as they say. I want all four of you to go and look for her. Oh, and make sure no harm comes to her, or I'll raise your debt a thousand souls!" As he gave her a final shove into the hall, he added with a smile before slamming the door in her face, "She'll probably be in the Casino de Monte Carlo; supposedly it's the most famous. But time is of the essence, so don't…test your luck."
Haruhi sighed, suddenly hit with how exhausting this all was. No time for that, though. She was already hurrying towards the elevator, waving back to a smiling Hunny and a considerably more stoic Mori, and creating a button. Next stop, Monte Carlo.
Life watched as the petite girl was being pushed out of Death's office, and she frowned. Her entire plan was ruined. Next time she would have to make sure to take into account how Death could hear everything in his headquarters.
When Death turned back around, Life huffed, "Well, it's clear we're not going to get anywhere with this meeting-"
"We rarely do."
"-So I'll take my leave, now." She brushed past him, nose in the air. She knew he wouldn't stop with his investigation of Tamaki's feather left by a Demon, but she wouldn't benefit staying here any longer.
"Oh, and Life?" As she opened the door, Hunny and Mori loyally standing behind her, waiting, Death called out, wrath sparking in his eyes, "Do a better job with distracting me, next time. I wouldn't mind a strip tease."
"Sorry, I don't offer them to women."
And with yet another slam of the door in a short span of time, Death was left standing and blinking. Did she really just make a comeback? She would usually just huff and storm out, her sign that she had been defeated. But if anything, she acted as though she had won.
Death frowned. "Something's wrong."
"Did everything work out all right, Ms. Life? Is there peace now?"
"No, not yet. But with everyone away enjoying a vacation, there will be."
"You mean everyone's going to relax and be happy?"
"Something like that."
"Can we go on vacation, Ms. Life?"
"Not right now, Hunny. Right now we have a lot of work to do."
Fun fact: Death's favorite play is Hamlet. Everyone dies at the end.
Ohoho, what does Life have up her sleeve? But that's for another time, because next chapter we're going to visit Monte Carlo! (Wikipedia don't fail me now!)
Also, Image Manager? I've already said in my other story that I just find it annoying, what about you guys? Seems like effort we shouldn't have to waste, but if we don't, our story suddenly looks worse.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Send me a review, they make my day.
Until next time, read and enjoy!
