Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation. It would be awesome for me if I did though wouldn't it?

Death Singer
Prologue

"Lemme get this straight…" Hiro pulled some milk from his fridge.

"After you went to collect Yuki, he banged you against the wall of the alley where he died."

The red head opened a cabinet door and dug around for a couple of bowls.

"I couldn't tell him if sex would be available to him in the afterlife, so it was a couple of times actually. Which was totally way weird when we were done because not only was his dead body there but so were these you know, cops and paramedics," Shuichi shuddered.

Hiro ignored this. "Finally you got him to go over with you where the 'original' Yuki, that Kitazawa guy waited for him. They get into a throw down-"

"Nooooo, I don't think there was enough jell-o for it to count as a proper throw down."

Hiro ignored this one too. "Then they have a sucking face make out session after they've sorted out years worth of angst in a way that only a member of the human species could conceivably comprehend."

"Yeah pretty much. And since Shina left her Yuki there at the halfway point to wait for my Yuki I was stuck watching over them," Shuichi snagged the box of cereal that Hiro slid across the table. Hiro poured tea for them both.

"Ok, I think I'm up to speed. Then what happened?"

"Well finally they realized that we were still floating in limbo since I still had to lead them the rest of the way. I think they felt a bit bad when they noticed me crying so they cuddled me for a bit. Then they realized they both were able to touch me. You won't believe this, but the first Yuki is just as much of a perv as my Yuki was," Shuichi spoke around a mouthful of rainbow colors.

"No. Oh no. You are bullshitting me. Do not tell me they made you the Shuichi cream filling of a Yuki sandwich."

Shuichi ducked his head with a blush.

"There have got to be laws about that sort of thing, and you never bothered to find out did you? Damn it Shu, I know this was your first collecting job as a shinigami, but you cannot do stuff like this!"

"Stuff like what?" Shu muttered defensively before sticking the spoon back in his mouth in defiance that approached violent.

Hiro pinched the bridge of his nose. He reached over and with great precision moved the box of cereal out of the way so he could look Shuichi directly in the eye.

"Shuichi Shindou, you listen to me. Your job is leading the dead souls you are assigned to their final resting place. You are not supposed to try to get involved in their lives prior to death so they have happy memories to take with them. You are not supposed to have sex with them. You are most assuredly not supposed to fall in love with them."

"What am I supposed to do then Hiro? Who can I fall in love with?" Shuichi asked in a voice of quiet agony. Tears filled his eyes but didn't fall. He widened his eyes and he blinked rapidly trying to hold them back. This was the one topic he promised himself he would never cry over because if he did he was afraid he wouldn't stop.

"Shu, I…" Hiro closed his eyes and shook his head before opening them again to look at his friend. "I don't know."

They both knew what Shuichi was. He was different. He was weak and the only strength he had was feared by the others so there was no way he would ever find a mate amongst the shinigami. Hiro was right out for obvious reasons. He couldn't fail his duty to transport the souls that he was assigned to collect. It was cruel to the souls to allow them to linger. Human souls just weren't capable of dealing with the changes that came after their own death and being dead didn't make them any less human. Keeping one of them was not even an option to his mind.

So what choice did that leave him? He could follow all the unwritten expectations of not caring about the little mortals beyond collection and deposit of their souls like so many of the others, but unlike them he didn't have the wide range of options in finding a mate. Besides, it wasn't against the rules to love a human he was meant to collect. He would be the only one getting hurt when the human moved on, right? Even so, could he exist without affection even if it was doomed? How could he be expected to live the rest of eternity without a lover simply because of the way he was born?

It wasn't fair.

The silence stretched as the two friends contemplated Shuichi's situation.

"I'm sorry man. I'm just worried about you. You feel so much and I know that's part of what you are as much a part of who you are, but I'm worried about you. You'll know the humans you have to collect anywhere from an hour to a year in human time, but how many centuries will you exist? You can't make this a habit. It'll destroy you."

"I know, but I can't help it. I wanted him to be happy to be alive even if it was only for a little while."

Now the tears did fall, but they weren't for himself so he let them.

"This isn't about him. He isn't a concern anymore. You are. This is about you. I'm supposed to protect you, but I can't do that when you put yourself in impossible situations."

"You can't protect me from myself. That annoys the hell out of you doesn't it?" Shuichi teased through a teary smile.

"Yes," Hiro said with complete honesty.

They stared at each other. Their shoulders started shaking. Hiro cracked first, his grin turned into a chuckle. Shuichi giggled. Then the two broke down into howls, laughing and laughing until they could hardly breathe. They were red in the face and clutched their sides in pain as they tried to calm themselves. Hiro tried to keep a straight face as he took a pull from his teacup, hoping the act would compose him. Shuichi wiped his eyes with a sleeve. He was still sad but he felt lighter for the laughter.

'Sleepless Beauty' rang through the comfortable silence, causing Shuichi to tense. He pulled his cell from his pocket and checked the screen even though there was no need. It was K. Good mood gone; Shuichi had been trying hard not to think of how he would deal with the aftermath of Yuki's passing. He was sad Yuki was dead, but not for the reason a human would be. He had the comfort of knowing that Yuki was where he belonged and that he would be with the one he loved.

Across the table Hiro grew serious as well. He nudged his chin toward the phone when the song looped, starting again. The pink haired shinigami took a deep breath and flicked the phone open. He mustered up a smile.

"Good morning K-san! Am I late? I didn't think we had to work today," he chirped.

"Then why do you sound so serious?" Shuichi forced his tone to sound cheerful and oblivious. Hiro stood up to clear off the table.

"Sure, let me get Hiro. If it's a work thing he should come too, and it'll be quicker if he gives me a ride," Shuichi spoke "Okay! Bye!"

The phone clicked shut.

"Hiro… What should I do? I dunno how to act like a human mourning a death! I can't mourn Death, I work for him!"

"Ah maybe you can act the same way you always do when Yuki-san and you would get into fights?" Hiro suggested.

"I wasn't upset he was dead, I was upset he wasn't alive. Those are totally different things man."

"You do realize that I don't know anything more about mourning than you do, right? Of course it's not my reaction they'll be watching. I'll do what I can do cover for you while you decide how to act," Hiro said.

"Huh… What do people do when they hear someone's died?"

"I dunno. Maybe we can google it before we go and you can pick a reaction to have?"

"That actually might work."

AN: I find it very strange that while I've had a few people favorite and alert this story but no one has reviewed. So, thank you to those who added me to their lists. Why you did, the world may never know but thank you anyway.