The Takamori Story

Familiar

-"Huh?"

Calliope found yet another giant bird. It looked similar to the last three she killed, she'd dare to say that it looked the same, but that couldn't be it. After having reaped giant bird souls four times in total and noticing one soul missing every time she did, this time she decided to talk to it before getting down to business.
The environment turned gray once again.

"Hello"

-"Oh, hey, death lady!"

Calli frowned immediately and regretted her decision.

-"Death... Lady?"

-"yeah!"

The creature replied, enthusiastically, for some reason.

"I've seen you a few times now!"

As she feared, the bird somehow remembered meeting her before that encounter.

-"how? I only reap every soul once, no soul has ever been repeated"

-"Really?"

The giant bird looked geniunely confused, despite how obvious as Calli's statement was.

"In that case, are you a different death lady? If I'm not wrong, the last one had pink hair, black clothing, a huge scythe..."

It took a long, good look at Calli.

"Nope, you're definitely her!"

Now Calliope was confused. How could that thing recognize her? as far as she knew, no mortal could ever tell who she was or what was happening around them. For someone, or rather something to remain so calm and easygoing while their soul was being claimed was unreal.

-"B-but that's not... Wait, did you escape the underworld?"

-"The what now?"

And suddenly, everything made sense. Calliope had at some point read various tales of people who had the luck or skill to escape from the underworld, therefore having to be slain again, but none of those entities were giant birds.

-"Oh, so you're playing dumb now? Well don't sweat it, I already know, and I won't let you go this time"

She started pulling out her scythe in a hurry.

-"N-now hold on! Let me at least tell you my name!"

Calli abruptly stopped to listen.

-"Alright, say it, you shitbird"

Apparently unaffected by Calliope's insult, it used it's time wisely.

-"I-I'm... Takanashi Kiara!"

She didn't stop to think it through, she never did. She just took down the huge bird, which ahould have harvested her soul, but somehow didn't, as her soul count showed.

When reporting the case to death sensei, he only evaded the question by telling Calli he didn't know about any of that, and that no being could escape the underworld unnoticed.

With this on her head, Calli couldn't help but stay conflicted about it during her next break, and the next and the next, but there was still work to be done, and there wasn't room for those kinds of thoughts.