Kuroshitsuji © Yana Toboso
OCs © reaper-of-lost-souls
A/N: Wow so many comments! I just love you guys X3 A few of your comments just made my day, seriously! For those bigger comments that some of you guys are writing me, I'll definitely answer them if you have a question or just a comment. Of course, comment to me! As I've said before it's my fuel for writing fanfics. If they suddenly stop I'll… well I wouldn't know how to continue with the story if I don't know how you think ^^. So I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
!#$%^&*()
Sophie giggled, running zigzags in between the gravestones. Holding a shovel as tall as herself, she stopped once she reached the morgue. She smirked to herself as she leaned the shovel against the wall and started jumping up and down, a finger touching the door. "Hah beat you!" she laughed, a finger pointed up at the Undertaker.
He slowly walked down the hill, a large shovel in his hand, "I didn't know we were racing ~"
She giggled, picking her shovel back up, "Yes we are! I called it Undertaker! That means I win!"
He chuckled, opening the door and letting her walk in first. "Ok fine you win. So what's your plan with your new winnings?"
"Oh I don't know," she shrugged and leaned the shovel against a wall and walking into the bathroom, throwing her muddy scarf on the ground, "Can I go out for an hour?"
"An hour?" he questioned her, grabbing the shovels and putting them in a closet. "How about half an hour?"
"Fifty?" she giggled.
"That isn't up for debate Sophie. Half an hour and no later."
She pouted, walking out of the bathroom in changed clothes. She closed the door, hiding the muddy clothes he had given her for work clothes, which was lying carelessly on the ground. "Fine," she frowned.
He chuckled, knocking the mud from his boots as he walked into the inner house. "And be a dear and clean up that mess you just made in the bathroom."
Her eyes widened, "What? How did you know that!"
He walked into the hallway and put a long black finger on her lips, startling her. "That's a secret ~" She grumbled, going back into the bathroom and slamming the door behind her. He could hear her cursing under her breath and he laughed again, until he heard the front door ring. "Coming ~" he said in a rather high-pitched voice, walking through the hallway that attached the living quarters with the morgue and walked to the front of the building.
Once he got there he saw little boy trembling from the cold or from noticing him, he couldn't tell. He seemed nervous, twisting a little brown cap between his hands as he began to speak, "I-is Sophie here?"
"Why yes she is," he smiled to him, gesturing for him to sit down, "but at the moment she's preoccupied. Please have a seat ~"
He glanced over, noticing he was pointing to the coffins that laid carelessly around the room. "O-ok," he timidly smiled, sitting down and looking down at the floor.
"Once you're done in there Sophie, be a dear and come to the front of the store. I have a surprise for you ~" he giggled to himself, causing the boy to look up and raise an eyebrow.
"Ok I'm almost done," she yelled from the back of the building, an annoyed tone in her voice.
"Would you like a cup of tea? ~"
"N-no…" he said, looking back at the floor.
"Well don't mind me then," Undertaker said with a shrug. The boy watched as the Undertaker opened a coffin, putting the final touches on a corpse. The boy shuddered, causing the Undertaker to smirk, and he set the lid of the coffin to the side as he began working on the corpse. The boy looked down at his hat, letting out a sneeze. "Gezuntheit," he said under his sleeve.
"Oh thank you," the boy said, looking over at the man as he hunched mysteriously over the coffin.
"Heh heh ~, you're welcome young one." The boy smiled, looking around the room.
The place looked very old and needed of some repaint, but perhaps this new mortician wasn't fond of housework. The place seemed disorganized from what he could remember. Random papers scattered on his desk and piles of books next to the bookshelf. 'Sophie must have a hard time keeping the place organized,' he smirked, 'must be driving her crazy. Oh well. I think he's just trying to keep out anyone who comes in. At least Sophie is around to keep the place from falling into ruin… I wonder how she's doing here anyways. She seems happy enough… but is she?'
Hearing footsteps coming from the hallway he saw Sophie poke her head in the doorway. "Now I'm finally done Undertaker," she huffed, crossing her arms, "what's this surprise that you –" Her eyes looked as if it'd pop right out of her head, "Haden! What are you doing here?"
He stood up, knowing that Sophie was going to run over to him and grab him in a hug, which she did. "Hi-yah."
"Oh that's all you can say?" she frowned, before giggling and hugging him again. "So what are you doing here? The orphanage didn't burn down did it?"
"Oh no!" he laughed, "nothing like that. Actually last time you visited you said something about 'you guys can come by and show up whenever you want'… or I think that's what you said. Either way I finished my chores early so I decided to stop by, u-unless you're busy. I don't want to intrude or anything."
She smiled, her blue eyes seeming to sparkle at his comment. "Of course you're welcome here! Right Undertaker?"
"Oh course he is," he chuckled creepily, causing Haden to frown. "We don't get many live visitors around these parts ~"
"Yah I know," he mumbled under his breath. He cuffed his hand, making sure only Sophie could hear and the man looking over at them couldn't. "He's a bit creepy Sophie. Are you sure you're ok here? I don't want him to… well I don't want anything bad happening to you here."
Sophie looked at him surprised, and then giggled. "Oh he's not as bad as you think! Don't worry about it Haden. He's been a father to me, you know, like Thomas was."
"Yeah, but Thomas wasn't as… weird as this guy is."
"I assure you young sir that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of Sophie," the Undertaker said from behind him, causing him to jump. She blinked at him confused, a serious tone in his voice. "And who is this Thomas you speak of?" he giggled, Sophie letting out a sigh of relief when he went back to being happy and carefree.
"Thomas was the mortician that I was telling you about Undertaker –"
"Yeah," Haden huffed and glared at the Undertaker, trying to reveal his act. "He was a whole lot better than you can ever be."
"Haden!" Sophie frowned, causing him to flinch slightly.
"And why's that?" he asked with curiosity.
"For one thing he was very organized, unlike you. Last time I talked to him he was actually thinking of repainting the place, which you obviously don't plan on doing. He definitely isn't as creepy as you, and I can tell that you're just putting on an act."
"And what if he is?" she glared at Haden, causing him to shrink a little. Undertaker blinked in confusion as he watched Sophie's emotions unfold. "I don't care. I don't see why you have to. He's actually a very sweet and caring old man. Sure he's not like Thomas, but he likes to laugh. You don't find that many people around these parts who like to laugh," she started to tear up a bit. "I don't see what your problem is Haden. He let me into his home in the pouring rain and didn't even think twice about it. He even took the time to adopt me when my relatives made sure I was stuck in an orphanage. Plus," she smirked, "he needs all the help he can get around here. Trust me Haden, I know what I'm doing."
He let out a sigh, "I'm sorry for not trusting you Sophie." He took her hand, staring intently into her eyes, "I'll trust you from now on, ok?" She smiled and gave him an approved nod. Then he looked up at the Undertaker, his hands still holding Sophie's, "and I'm sorry for saying you're a bad mortician. I guess I haven't seen you work so I shouldn't come to conclusions too quickly."
"You're welcome kid."
He glared, "My name isn't kid, it's Haden." He looked over at Sophie, who seemed to be giggling, then back up at the Undertaker, "and don't think you're off the hook! I'm not going to trust you with Sophie till you show me you can be an actual mortician and her father. Unlike me she seems to cling to any male role model that comes by and I'm here to make sure you're a good one."
"Sorry Sir Haden," he smirked, giving him a slight bow, "I assure you I'm perfectly capable of taking care of Little Sophie. You can trust me ~"
He rolled his eyes. Sophie smiled and gave Haden a peck on the cheek, and then the Undertaker. Haden's eyes went wide, his hand going immediately to his cheek. "Well now that the formalities are over, can I go out now?"
The Undertaker laughed heartily, causing the room to rumble, "For half an hour."
"But –"
"Half an hour."
Sophie let out a groan, grabbing her coat off of a coat hanger, "Fine! Come on Haden," she smiled, grabbing hold of his hand and pulling him along.
"By the way, where are you going?"
"Oh I'm just going to stay around the cemetery, right Haden?"
"Sure," he shrugged, "besides I'd need to be back in half an hour anyways, so we have time."
She giggled, "Well come on then!" she laughed, watching him fumble around with the door before following her down the street.
!#$%^&*()
Haden and Sophie let out a sigh of content, leaning against a tree and looking up towards the sky. She was twirling a fat green ring in between her fingers. It hung around her neck and was hidden most of the time, but she knew that she could trust that Haden wouldn't steal it from her. Soon Sophie rested her head on Haden's shoulder, her eyes getting drowsy. "Have you been sleeping Sophie?" he asked, brushing his hands through her wavy auburn hair.
She smiled, "Well yes… I've been sleeping just as much as at the orphanage."
"So not a lot," he frowned.
"Yep!" she giggled. "It's not like its intentional Haden. I just keep having nightmares about my past, that's all… And how about yourself? Are you sleeping?"
He chuckled, "Just as much as I've always been."
"So not a lot," she giggled, mocking him.
"Yep, not a lot," he chuckled back. "Hey Sophie."
"Yeah?"
"What do you think would have happened to us if we didn't meet here?"
"Well," Sophie thought, scratching her head a bit. "You would still be angry about your parents dying and blaming yourself. Plus I don't think I'd be able to get you to crack a smile! That would be a travesty in itself," she smiled.
"And yourself?" he wondered, resting his head on top of hers.
"I think," she began, "that I would slowly fall into a deep depression and eventually want to end my life when I turn the tender age of twelve."
He widened his eyes, "Are you serious?" He looked down at her with confusion him his eyes, noticing she was completely serious.
"Yes I am," she said sternly. "Well I think you know the story: once my mommy died I wouldn't be able to come to the morgue anymore. The only couple times I was able to come was right before her funeral and just a little bit during. At the time I noticed Thomas was coughing too, like mommy did, so…" she let out a sigh, "so I just figured he would die next, and he did. Then I knew that I was going to be stuck on the streets or head to the orphanage. I knew none of my relatives was going to take care of me, and since Thomas died I knew he wasn't going to take care of me, so I had no one."
Haden frowned, holding Sophie closer to him. "Well, at least you ended up in the orphanage."
She chuckled, "Yes, but if we hadn't met earlier you wouldn't have opened up to me." He smiled, his hands wrapping around her waist and cuddling her. "That's why I said that as my answer," she giggled.
"I see…" he thought to himself. "Well sorry Sophie. I'll make sure I'm clearer in my questions."
She smirked triumphantly, "Of course you will," she smiled, leaning into Haden's chest.
"And by the way, you said there was another time you went to the morgue. When was that?"
"Oh it wasn't really the morgue, but the cemetery," she smiled. "It was a rainy night and I just wanted to see mommy before I was sent to god knows where. Then… the Undertaker showed up."
"He was there?"
She smiled to herself, "Yes… yes he was. That's why he made sure that I wasn't living in the orphanage, but with him. It took him a few months, with a lot of angry relatives, but he got me out of there and here I am! Sporadic as I've always been." She chuckled, causing Haden to laugh with her. "Yeah," she sighed, "I don't know what he heard from my conversation, but for some reason he wanted to make sure I was living with someone and just not some urchin on the streets. I don't know why really," she shrugged, "the hassle to sign the forms took a while, but at least… I'm in a better place now."
Haden smiled, "Well I guess I underestimated that old fool."
"Yes you did," Sophie giggled, looking up at him sternly. Then he let out a cough, then quickly another causing Sophie to look at him with concern. "Hey are you ok?"
"Y-yah. Trust me Sophie I'm fine, just choking on some air," he chuckled insecurely.
She frowned, "If you're sure… well ok," she giggled.
He smiled back, holding up her hand. "It's about time I head back."
"What! Already?" she frowned, letting Haden kiss her on the hand.
"Yep, sorry about that. If I don't get back in a few more minutes than Robin will have my ass again," he chuckled. She giggled back. They got up, both of them stretching a bit from sitting for too long. "Thank you for taking me back to your hiding spot."
"Oh it's not really a hiding spot," she smirked, "it just a very good view."
He grasped his hand with hers, looking out into the different colored fields below. "Yeah…" Then he pulled her close to himself, causing Sophie to let out a yelp in protest. "But it's not the best thing I've seen today," he smirked. He leaned down and kissed her lips, causing her to open her eyes in surprise. She looked up, noticing he had his eyes closed and a smile on his face.
Sophie smiled, closing her eyes and letting Haden deepen the kiss. "Sophie!" They quickly pulled away, hearing the Undertaker at the bottom of cemetery.
They both giggled shyly, looking at the ground. Then they looked back, their cheeks burning red. "W-well I'd better get going," Haden said with a smile.
"Yeah, same here," she blushed, a giggle escaping her lips. He squeezed her hand then letting go, running down the trail leading out to the gate and running off, hopeful of not arriving late. She smiled, looking over at the Undertaker who was taking his sweet time walking up the hill to join her. "I was just about to come done," she smiled happily.
He chuckled, "Oh I know. It's almost seven. How about we head inside and I'll warm you up some food?"
"Well ok," she shrugged. "I guess I'm a bit hungry anyways," she said clasping his hand and walking with him back towards the morgue. "I don't see why you only eat once a week though. Don't you get hungry?"
He laughed, causing her to look at him suspiciously, "I just prefer eating once a week. Is that a problem? ~"
"I-I guess not…" she thought to herself, then letting out a giggle. "Just as long as you don't faint on me from starvation or something."
"He chuckled, "Of course I won't. Now come along. It's time for dinner little maiden." She giggled, leaning into his arm as they walked into the old-stuffy morgue.
!#$%^&*()
)(*&^%$#!
Sophie let out a sigh, watching the clouds roll by. She frowned, 'What is keeping him?'
"Hey Sophie!" yelled Haden from down the road.
She looked over at him, quickly running down the gravel road and grabbing him in a hug. "Finally!" she giggled. "Took you long enough," she huffed at him.
"Sorry, but Robin was making me take care of a few kids while she went and got food," he chuckled sheepishly, "but I'm here now! So what is it that you needed?"
She grabbed hold of his hand, pulling him along, "There's no time to explain! Undertaker will be gone for a while and we only have a few more hours before he gets back."
He let go, looking at her confused, "Sophie, what's going on?"
She smirked at him, before letting out a sigh, "I feel bad that I'm always sleeping in the only bed in the place. Since I found some extra wood, I was going to make him a coffin for him to sleep in."
"A coffin?" his eyes went wide.
She giggled, "Why yes. Don't you think he'll laugh hysterically when he finds out?"
Haden chuckled, causing her to smile, "I guess he will, won't he?" He let out a sigh, "Ok fine I'll help."
"Great!" she smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the road. "Now come on! I'd love to stay and chat, but we have business to attend to," she smirked.
)(*&^%$#!
Undertaker let out a sigh, bringing a donkey he borrowed from the nearby church back and bringing the wagon inside out of the rain. Letting out a yawn he walked inside, leaving his muddy boots at the door and replacing them with cleaner black boots. "Sophie I'm home!" he shouted, walking to the bedroom and quickly changing out of his clothes. "Sophie?" he looked around confused. 'Usually she answers by now… what's keeping her?' He let out a tired sigh, "Sophie!" he yelled, starting to get worried. He ran to the front of the store, suddenly holding his side to stop from laughing. "Sophie, what are you doing?" he laughed, shaking the whole house.
Sophie smiled, looking up from her work. She was sitting next to a wooden coffin, the wood painted in blacks and grays. She was adding a light gray cross to the front. Different shades of gray, half on the coffin and half on her arms and face, had come from a tub of black and white paint sitting next to her. "Hi Undertaker! I wanted to surprise you before you got home, but the paint isn't dry yet."
"And what, little maiden, are you making there?" he chuckled, trying to contain his laughter.
"It's a bed! Well not really it's a coffin, but a place for you to sleep!" she smiled triumphantly. She got up, putting the brushes she used in a bucket of standing water and put the lids back on the paints. "I don't like finding you randomly sleeping on a coffin or on the desk, so I decided to make you a place for you to sleep! Also Haden came by and helped me! If he hadn't I wouldn't have been able to finish in time." Sophie looked up, seeing the big smile that was on the Undertaker's face. "You're not going to laugh again?"
"How can I," he began, picking up the paint and putting it away, "when you've made such a sincere gift for me."
Sophie smiled happily, wiping the paint from her face. "Well let me show you around then." She slowly pulled the lid of the coffin off, careful to not smudge the paint she just put on the front, and leaned the lid against the wall. He peered inside, his smile growing. "I added some carpet stuff, like how you make the coffins for our visitors," she smiled to herself. "We only had red left so I used that for the inside. Haden helped me build the coffin, paint it black, and add the inside fluff. He couldn't help me with the design on the outside, but that was probably the simplest part!" She looked up at him, a giant smile on her face, "Well go on and try it out!"
He smiled, sitting right in and crossing his hands. Sophie giggled as he acted like a corpse and laid there for a few minutes. "This is a bit big you know," he chuckled.
"Well I had a hard time trying to figure out how big to make it, plus I had to make room for your hat! I needed to extend it a bit just in case you roll around in your sleep or something, but I think I did a nifty job," she beamed triumphantly.
"But does it fit you? ~" he laughed, pulling her into the coffin with her.
"Undertaker!" she laughed, getting entangled in his robe. "Geeze!"
After a while she stopped trying to get free, resorting in wrapping her arms around his and leaning into his chest, hearing his heartbeat. "You know I love you, right."
"I know," she smiled happily. "I love you too."
He chuckled, closing his eyes for a while before opening them up again. "I think I'm obligated to make you a bed too."
Sophie giggled, "Oh you don't have to do that! Besides, if you make one now then I'll just grow out of it."
He smiled, hugging her tightly before letting go, "Now I think it's time to take a bath."
"A bath?" she gasped.
"Yes a bath," he laughed, helping her out of the coffin, "you're covered in paint! I think a nice hot bath is in order."
She giggled, giving up arguing with him, "Oh fine."
He hugged her, "Now I'll come in to read you a bedtime story once you're done."
"You mean the Robin Hood story?" she gasped excitedly.
"Yes that one," he laughed. "Now run along."
She nodded happily and disappeared into the hallway, leaving the Undertaker with a content smile on his face.
)(*&^%$#!
!#$%^&*()
The Undertaker hummed to himself, setting a body into a coffin and putting on some makeup. "What a lovely shade of skin you have! Too bad it's all cut up ~" he smirked, adding some color on the stitches around her mouth. Suddenly the doorbell rang, causing Undertaker to look up with a smirk. "And why is there such a beautiful young maiden like yourself doing in my shop?"
The woman coughed, "Well I'm afraid we're going to need another child-sized coffin soon, Undertaker."
He chuckled, cleaning the makeup mixed with blood off of his hands. "Is that so? Where's the body? ~"
"At the orphanage," she bluntly said, causing him to frown.
"The orphanage?" they both turned to the doorway, watching as Sophie walked into the room and set a cup of tea down. "W-who's died this time Robin?" she whimpered.
"Oh Sophie, just the girl I wanted to see," she smiled. "It's…" she looked over at the Undertaker, not wanting to see her expression, "It's Haden."
"H-Haden?" she almost cried, running over to the Undertaker for comfort.
"N-now wait a second!" Robin quickly said, "he's not dead yet."
"Y-yet?..." she frowned, clutching to his clothes. He frowned, gently rubbing her head to comfort her.
"He still has some time. He started getting sick severely sick about a month ago, but I didn't want to worry you about it."
Sophie bit down on her bottom lip, "I knew something was wrong with him… w-why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought Haden already had, seeing as he's always leaving the orphanage to go here," Robin said, walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Look Sophie, it's not too late to see him if you want."
She nodded, looking up at the Undertaker, "C-can you come with me?"
"Sure," he smiled, setting the cloth down on a coffin and closing the coffin lid that was laying against the wall. "Let's go see him."
!#$%^&*()
Haden hissed, pushing the doctor away from him. "I'm just fine! Why can't you people see that?"
"You're running a fever Haden. You don't seem that fine to me," the doctor said, replacing a towel on Haden's forehead with a new one.
He closed his eyes, fading in and out of consciousness. "W-where's my mama?"
"She's dead?"
"Mama died?" his eyes began to water. "Then where's papa!"
He let out a sigh,"Ummm… he's dead too."
"What?" he cried out, trying to get out of the bed, "I want to see my mama! Where is she? Mama? Mama!"
"Haden!" Robin gasped, quickly running over to his side and holding him still. "Calm down Haden, you're just hallucinating again."
"M-miss Robin?" he frowned, wiping a tear from his eye. He looked over at the door and noticed Sophie and the Undertaker, Sophie clutching to his rob and hiding behind his back.
"Sorry for taking so long, but I brought some visitors for you Haden," Robin smiled.
Haden closed his eyes, tears running down his eyes. "N-no. I don't want Sophie to see me like this!" He looked up at her, pushing Robin away. "Her mother died from getting sick, you know! I didn't want her to relive that, ok?" he bit down on his bottom lip, another tear falling down his face.
Sophie rushed over to his side, giving him a swift smack in the face. "What do you mean by that!" she frowned, tears quickly falling down her face. "I-I'd rather have you tell me that you're sick then just hold it in all this time! If you were really concerned about me you would have told me ahead of time!"
"Sophie…" he touched her face.
She bit down on her bottom lip, causing him to frown. "D-don't… don't hide that stuff from me. I need to know too," she looked at him, a tear falling down her face.
"Sophie don't frown," he smiled, still touching her face, "that's not the last memory I want to see of you."
She gasped, quickly wiping her tears away and grabbing his hand. "Ok," she smiled, letting out sniffles, "ok whatever you want."
He chuckled, "Yo-u're so pretty Sophie. I-I was hoping to get you a beautiful ring l-like the one you have around your neck, you know, when we got older. I was going to help you with the m-morgue and grow old with you… but I guess that won't come true, huh."
"I guess not," she smiled.
"Sophie," he smiled, closing his eyes.
"Yes Haden?" she looked down on him, a tear rolling down her face.
"What do you think heaven is like?"
She smiled, "Well I always thought of it as a beautiful field, full of bright, colored flowers to pick and butterflies to catch. All our dead loved ones would be there to greet us, and we stayed and played all day long. A-and… no one is there to hurt us. It's just a nice, peaceful place," she giggled, coughing slightly on her tears. "And you know your old bunny Fluffster," she smiled, Haden slowly nodding, "y-yeah he'd be there too, waiting for you."
He cracked a smile, "That's what I thought you'd say, Sophia." She let out a gasp, her chest was getting tight and she couldn't stop crying, but a smile was still held on her face. She noticed out of the corner of her eye a dark being with a bright red scythe. She frowned, holding onto Haden's hand tightly. "He's there, i-isn't he?"
"Y-yeah he is," Sophie gasped, feeling death coming closer. She smiled down at him, "But it's ok. I know you'll end up in heaven."
He chuckled, "If you say it, t-hen it must be true."
Sophie smiled, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the lips, "Good night Haden. Sweet dreams."
Then it seemed that time stopped right before Haden breathed his last breath. Sophie's eyes went wide, seeing pictures of Haden's life being revealed before her eyes. First she could see Haden making his first steps, falling into the arms of his father. Then him finding a little bunny he named Fluffster and bringing it him with him, but shortly after Fluffster died, the first exposure Haden had with death. As if his life couldn't get any worse, the next image showed his parents with his mother holding him in the air and a carriage riding towards them. Next was the funeral, with a little boy crying as the sky began to set.
"D-dad I'm sorry! It's all my fault!" he sobbed, falling to his knees and crying over the freshly made graves. He sat there for a while, till the sky got dark and the moon appeared. He sniffled, standing up and walking back down the road.
Then he heard a voice of laughter at the top of the hill. Curiously he walked up the gravel road, coming across a beautiful woman sitting under a tree reading a book and a little girl running around and picking flowers. He gasped in awe, the two looking like angels in the pale moonlight. "Hi!" waved the girl, running over to him. "Wouldn't you like to play with me? No is usually here this late at night so…"
"Sophie…" the little girl looked up, hearing her name called. "What did I tell you about strangers?"
"Oh yeah!" she giggled, "sorry I didn't introduce myself. My name is Sophia M.S. Ioreta, but you can call me Sophie! And what's your name?"
"H-Haden…" he frowned. She smiled back, "What's the M and the S stand for?" he asked with curiosity.
"Oh mommy never told me what it means, but once I find out I'll tell you!" she giggled. "So do you want to play now or do you have to go?"
He looked behind him, seeing that everyone in the funeral service had left. "Y-yeah, sure I can play," he shrugged.
Then time sped up with Haden always by Sophie's side, making her tear up and cry. "Humph such a boring life," came a voice from behind her. "It's like a small version of Romeo and Juliet, but still nothing much."
Sophie growled, "It is not boring!" She yelled at the reaper, causing him to jump back slightly. "I thought you were a reaper! What's your place in deciding if the life is boring or not?"
He scuffed, flashing his white-sharp teeth, "After seeing as many lives as I have, these cinematic records get old and redundant."
She frowned as he wiped his bright-red hair out of his face. Sophie noticed that his hair was grown fairly long as he adjusted his red glasses. "You reapers are all the same," she hissed at him, "only seeing lives as a job without thinking of the people behind it. Life is a beautiful thing. Everyone's lives are slightly different with their own faults and troubles. Perhaps you reapers are just molded from one model or something… you don't seem to get it. I guess it just takes a human to see that beauty, huh?"
The reaper hissed back, holding up a flashy red weapon. Sophie flinched a little, but held her ground. "I am not like those other shinigami! They don't see the beauty I see, something a little human like you wouldn't understand."
"That may be so," Sophie smirked, "but you don't show it."
He let out a yell, a loud noise coming from the red weapon he was holding. Sophie's eyes widened as it came down on her, blinking confused when she noticed she wasn't cut in half. "Heh heh ~" she heard from above, the Undertaker holding the weapon in his hand and noticing the red-headed reaper was laying on the ground stunned. "Could you please stop causing trouble and carry on with your work? I wouldn't want to report you for disorderly conduct ~" he chuckled.
He huffed, "I don't know what's going on here, but I'll be the one to report you!"
The reaper grabbed his weapon back, walking over to Haden's body and watching his records reel. The Undertaker looked over at Sophie, who was watching Haden's memories. They had finally come to the end.
'I watched as the girl I'd met so long ago looked down on me, her eyes beaming with sadness. I sighed, my thoughts drifting back to the day we met. Oh how I wished she could come with me, but I knew Sophie would stay longer… I just knew it. I smiled, her bright blue eyes staring down at me. What confused me were her eyes. How could eyes be so simple but mystifying? I watched as a green hint in the middle of her eyes left, leaving bright-caring blue eyes to stare down at me with concern. Then I closed my eyes, letting my mind drift off to heaven with my mom and dad waiting for me and my little fluffy-white bunny jumping up and down to greet me…'
Sophie watched as Haden's record was cut, his breath leaving him. Time seemed to be moving again, with Robin and the doctor confused on how she moved from being at Haden's side to the foot of the bed. She hissed at the reaper, who seemed to check something off in a book and began walking away. "Hey come back here! I'm not done with you!" she cried out, trying to run at the reaper. She whimpered as Undertaker held her close, not permitting her to leave his side. "You imposter! You fraud! You! y-ou…" she paused and stopped struggling, unsure what to say. "You pretender, pretending you understand our little lives and can judge them. I'm tired of watching you take my love one's lives from me. I-I'm… tired," she cried, wrapping her hands around Undertaker's and burying her face into his sleeves.
Robin came over to Sophie and the Undertaker, rubbing Sophie's back. "I'm sorry Undertaker," she frowned, trying to crack a smile, "I was told she'd burst out every time she saw someone die. I don't know why though…"
"It's ok," he smiled, "she's not hurting anyone. Now," he said, straightening up and walking over to the bed, leaving Sophie with Robin. After measuring the boy's body, he walked over and let out a sigh, "I would prefer that someone else works on his body," then he cracked a smile, "but I'll gladly work on the coffin for you."
"I understand," Robin smiled. "I'll make preparations for someone else to work on the body."
He gave her a nod, picking up Sophie up, who was still staring off blankly in the distance where the red-headed reaper left, and walked out the door, disappearing down the hallways of the orphanage.
!#$%^&*()
Sophie let out a sigh, a bundle of flowers in her hand. She wore a black dress with black gloves, standing next to the Undertaker. She made sure her green ring was showing, the green gem matching the color or green slightly seen in the middle of her sad blue eyes. A few kids had joined them for the ceremony, with Robin there watching. The priest said over the rites before letting them drop flowers into the grave. Sophie was the last to do so, dropping her pile of assorted flowers. She held a forget-me-not flower in between her fingers, twirling it in her hand. "Requcescat in pacem, Haden Tenem," she smiled to herself, kissing the flower in her hand and letting it drift down into the grave.
Then she walked over to the rest of the spectators, watching as the Undertaker buried the wooden grave in the deep earth. Robin smiled, noticing that Sophie was smiling too. "I didn't know you know Latin."
"Of course I do," she giggled to herself, "Thomas taught me Latin and mommy taught me ancient Greek. She told me that a good solid foundation in the languages will get me far in life."
Robin smiled, "I think it will Sophia."
She winked, pulling out something from her bag. Robin looking at her confused, noticing the Undertaker was glancing over at Sophie also. She pulled a book from her bag, the outside seamed with gold with fancy writing. "This is a book Thomas gave me before he died. He told me, 'This is for being such a good student. It's one of the first original copies of the bible into Latin. I know that you'll take care of it as I have and read it frequently,' so I have been," she smiled.
Robin nodded, looking at the Undertaker as he patted the ground with the end of his shovel. "Well it's about time we get going. Come on children," she said over her shoulder, ushering the children to walk back down the hill. "And Sophia," she said, looking back up.
"Yes?" she asked, looking up from the book.
"Remember, if you need someone to talk to or just a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you."
Sophie smiled, giving her a nod, "I know." She giggled, "I'll make sure I come by then."
Robin nodded, walking down the hill and disappearing with the children beyond the rusty gate. Sophie let out a sigh, noticing it was just her and the Undertaker. She opened the book, running her hand down the front page. Undertaker walked over, noticing her reading the cover, and chuckled, leaning on the shovel. "What do you have there?"
"A bible," she smiled, reading over the title. "I've always wondered something about the front page though."
"Yes?" he asked.
He walked over to her side and looking over her shoulder. "The writing," she began, "these two words are different from the others."
"And what does it say? ~" he asked. She giggled slightly by his side comment.
"Maurus Serbus."
The Undertaker blinked, looking intently at the letters. "Maurus you say…"
"Yes," she smiled, closing the book. "What can that mean?"
He chuckled, rustling up her hair, "I don't know Sophie, but maybe you'll find out one day." She giggled, trying to pry his hands away. "Now come on. It's almost time for supper."
"Okay," she smiled, putting the book back in her bag and following down the path to the morgue.
!#$%^&*()
A/N: Well I hope you've come to understand Sophie's character now (this took me SUCH a long time to write! DX). The next chapter will begin with another time-lapse. Some of her own personality is actually pulled from a character I've made up for my story I'm writing (which isn't a fanfic). In that story I've pulled elements from Kuroshitsuji, but I'm hoping it's not enough to say that I'm using the creator's ideas. That would be horrible! So once again, this is just a story to keep my mind occupied (since I've planned out all the events in that story already). So… yah! That's what I've been doing instead of writing fanfics here. In reality this story and my other story have a lot of elements in common, but a bunch of differences. As an example, Sophie's past is different than my main character's past. I have an Undertaker as Kuroshitsuji does, but he's less… well I guess the word is wacky X3 Just a few examples. Also some things I'm not putting in Story A will be in this story.
I've noticed that Grell is on a few of your guys' minds when I gave a description of her… well that's for me to know and you to find out =3 Though in honestly, if I was going to put Grell as her father in the beginning of the story I would have added him as the 2nd character in the description… but whatever! My thoughts change constantly. We'll just see how it goes. (though after reading this chapter I'm wondering how you guys think of Grell now) If that's something that MUST be a must then just comment. If you like surprises and don't want me to give that subject away, then tell me to be quiet! *zips lip and throws away the key* I hope you guys are excited for the next chapter! I'm definitely excited about writing it (I'm finally going to get further into Sophie's mind a bit =D)
Thomas – Aramaic – twin
Requcescat in pacem, Haden Tenem – Latin – May he/she rest in peace, Young Haden (the last part is my own translation. I don't know if that's how it would go, but yeah! X3)
Marcus Serbus – that will be revealed in a later chapter X3