Another day had gone by, and finally the first flowers started blooming. The harsh winter passed with the remaining of melting snows. Yet, one lonely grim reaper stayed the same.
Yes, that grim reaper's name was Ryujin. She wasn't that skeleton guy with a hoodie and a scythe, but a fine and beautiful looking young girl. She had been given two weeks by the Emperor to take one's life. Usually it wouldn't be that hard. She just got to try to make them die peacefully with no burdens or regrets left behind.
Though it saddened her if someone had to die and left their families even friends, a task was still a task. A week or less should be enough.
This one was different. Why? Simple, she fell in love with her target. It wasn't easy to take someone's life knowing you had feelings for them. Since the first time she saw her, she had been stalking and admiring her from afar. What was worst was that if she failed, she would be cursed, and would be known as a failure.
Ryujin stood silently on the sidewalks under the night sky. A street light was illuminating her target that she had been watching since 10 minutes ago. She slowly looked at her watch.
This was her last day, 30 minutes till midnight.
Yuna, aka her target took a step after putting her phone in her jacket to a bus stop. Her head hung low.
'How the hell am I going to take her life?!'
Guess what? Her target already had a boyfriend which was supposed to make things easier so the grim reaper could let her go. Still Ryujin was having an internal conflict.
Time was ticking and the next thing she noticed, Yuna was crying. Ryujin gathered her courage and walked slowly to the latter. A few steps to go, but she was stopped by the sight of a blooming sakura tree besides her. Ryujin picked one of the flower and kept it in her hand.
Finally, she sat a meter away from Yuna. The girl still silently cried not noticing the other's presence. 'Deep breaths Ryujin, stay calm.' She kept reminding herself.
"Hey, Yuna." Ryujin managed not to stutter.
Yuna lifted her head up with tears visible in her eyes. She was confused, 'how can this girl knows my name?' Opening her mouth to let her voice speak her thoughts but no words came out. Instead, Ryujin slid from her side of bench inching closer to Yuna.
"Don't cry. They say ghost will haunt you if you cry at night." Now that was half true knowing one of them wasn't even human. Ryujin wiped the tears flowing down her cheeks. Somehow, she seemed relaxed, even herself couldn't believe where she got all these courage from.
Yuna needed a shoulder to cry on and someone she could let out her frustration on. All of these burdens, she just couldn't bear it any longer. And in this cold night, Ryujin is the one.
"The hospital called me, my m-mom is dead." She burst out again and Ryujin embraced her in a hug. "I need to see her, but I'm not ready."
Ryujin pitied the girl. She was supposed to 'kill' her now. The only thing she needed to do was place her hand on Yuna's back and pulled her soul out. But no. Only God knew how hard it was for Ryujin to do such a simple task.
15 minutes left.
Just after that, Yuna's phone rang. A small smile was plastered on her face after talking on the phone.
"At least my boyfriend's with me. You know he's the only one left. I have no families now. My friends are probably getting wasted now."
Well, there went Ryujin last hope. She wanted to be the one who cared for Yuna, she wanted to be by her side. But, she was also thankful that this little girl had the perfect someone for her.
5 minutes left.
Suddenly, a figure appeared across the street. Looks like it was her boyfriend ready to pick Yuna up. "I guess you've gotta go." Ryujin mumbled but audible enough for Yuna to hear.
"Thanks, but I haven't catch your name."
"It's Ryujin"
"Again, thanks Ryujin for being there for me this night. Why don't we hang out sometimes so I I can repay you for today?"
She never got a reply, only a smile from the shorter.
At last, Ryujin decided. She was willing to let the girl live longer. She clearly wasn't ready to take Yuna's life, and she was able to accept whatever punishment the Emperor would give her.
Yuna stood from her sit followed by the grim reaper. Ryujin holds the flower she picked up before and placed it between Yuna's ear and hair.
1 minute left.
"You'll always bloom like this flower, don't give up on life."
Yuna thanked her before waving a little then cross the street to her boyfriend. There went the last bit of Ryujin's heart. If Yuna was happy than she was happy.
Time's up.
With Yuna's figure out of sight, a portal showed out of nowhere behind Ryujin pulling her in the process. The fuming Emperor's face was right in front of her. This was the moment that she knew, she freaking fucked up.
'How I wish I would just be a normal human and be the one by her side.'
==> A year later <==
Yuna woke up and was greeted by her friends' chat notifications. Some of them asking if she was okay and some of them tried to cheer her up. Bad news was that her boyfriend broke up with her two days ago. She cursed herself for accepting him in the first place just to be replaced by a random bitch in the club.
She ignored them and put the phone down. Right now, she was in the mood for a little walk and maybe get some ice creams to welcome the first day of spring.
Children playing, couples holding hands, families eating together. That's some pleasant views. How she wished she could be like that, just forgetting all of her problems. After a few minutes, she found an ice cream truck near a park.
'Buy 1 get 1 free!' The sign said.
Yuna immediately took out some cash and bought 2 vanilla ice creams. Double the ice cream double the mood. She sat on a bench in a bus stop, the same one where she met Ryujin a year ago. Besides her, a meter away, sat a girl wearing a pair of sunglasses and earphones. Yuna squinted her eyes to the girl just to make sure her hunch wasn't fooling her.
It was Ryujin and she was sure.
"Hey Ryujin!" Yuna yelled a bit to Ryujin. But silence replied her. Another idea popped up. Yuna picked a sakura flower nearby and stood in front of Ryujin. 'Is she blind?' No response from the other girl.
Making a move, Yuna pulled off one of Ryujin's earphone and put the flower there. Ryujin for a while seemed confused, thinking someone was picking a fight with her. Not letting a second missed, she then hands a vanilla ice cream to Ryujin.
"Who are you?"
Yuna giggled at the reaction Ryujin gave her.
"Don't you remember me?"
"I'm sorry, emm- I can't see."
That caught Yuna off guard, she was literally blind. The Emperor granted Ryujin's wish of being a normal human, but as a punishment, he took her eyesight. According to her, it was better than having a job of 'killing' someone, maybe even experiencing as a victim one day. Sure karma was a bitch, but also a blessing.
She thinked of something to make Ryujin realised her.
"Spring always has a surprise for us, and you'll always bloom like this flower."
Ryujin stays silent for a while processing the familiar words and chuckles.
"YUNA?!"
"Yep that's me. Guess fate lets us meet again."
And this was the new beginning of a blooming relationship. Spring was the one who separated them, yet spring was the one who brought them together again.
---THE END---
Thanks for reading.
STREAM WANNABE!
