I stormed down the road and huffed as Malak quietly followed.

"Are they doing anything?" I asked Malak.

He turned around and peered down the road.

"No. Just arguing." He replied quietly.

I sighed and continued to walk, relaxing my shoulders and walking slower as Malak drifted next to me.

"Why do you bother with men?" He asked.

"I don't know. I really like Ryuzaki, but sometimes Light just...sweeps me away."

"You're like a siren," He remarked, "You mess with men's hearts and minds, then destroy them from the inside out."

I stopped walking and gaped at Malak.

"I am not a siren!" I retorted.

"Whatever you say mistress."

I started to walk again, confused by the way he called me 'mistress'. I thought shinigami weren't supposed to serve humans, it was actually supposed to be the other way around. I pushed the thought aside and tried to strike up a conversation with Malak.

"What the shinigami realm like?"

"Boring."

"Oh. Do you like it here?"

"Not particularly."

"I see."

Most of the walk was spent in silence. I couldn't take it anymore, but before I could say anything, Malak spoke up first, which was a first.

"Did I tell you that you can have shinigami eyes?" He asked.

I continued to walk, Ryuzaki and Light slowly becoming smaller and smaller until I could no longer see them.

"No, tell me more."

"You can trade in your eyes for shinigami eyes, which can see a person's name and how long they have to live."

"And the catch?"

For the first, and probably the last, time I saw Malak smile, or smirk. It was hard to tell.

"Ah, I always knew you were smart," He said with a bit more life, "The catch is it costs you half of your life span. So if you have thirty years to live, you will have fifteen. or if you have six months, you will have three, and so on."

"Can you tell me how long I have to live?"

"No, I cannot, I'm afraid."

I turned to him and bore into his deep black eyes. I don't think they had pupils.

"Oh please, Malak-chan? Please?"

"No, it goes against the rules. I can tell you how long you have after you exchange them, if you wish."

I thought hard and touched underneath my blood red eyes. I always liked them, but having new eyes would seem to be a bit suspicious. Malak sensed my question and answered it before I could even ask.

"You will still have the color of your old eyes, just whenever you want someone's name, they will turn bright red, like this."

Malak's eyes turned into a bright red, which unnerved me a little. When he used this, I could see that he indeed did have pupils. He deactivated his power, his eyes were a light green instead of black.

"You can change your eyes color?" I asked.

"Yes," He replied simply, "Now do you want shinigami eyes or not?"

I thought for a few minutes, then smiled slightly.

"Okay. Do it."

"Are you sure? It's an irreversible process."

"Yes, I'm sure Malak. Hit me."

I felt a sharp pain for a few seconds, then a slight burning sensation, then a tingling, cooling sensation like menthol.

"It's done." Malak said smoothly.

I opened my eyes and everything still looked the same. I watched as a car drove slowly by and came to a halt.

"Do you need a ride, young lady? It's a long way into town." He said.

I activated my power, which barely changed my eye color, and saw his name was Watari and he had a few months to live. He had no surname, which was common in Japan. Ryuzaki, as far as I know, doesn't have a surname.

"No thank you sir," I replied politely, "I'll be fine."

"If you insist." He replied and rolled the window back up, driving away.

My stomach did flips as I walked away. This was such an amazing power, but, like everything, I had to use it wisely.

"So how long do I have to live Malak?" I asked.

He stared at me for a few moments.

"Thirty seconds."