After that, Akira and Asahi raised Lele together with the help of Asahi's loving grandmother and the three poured so much love into the little animal that Lele grew up to be a bit spoiled.
If she didn't like the food, she would refuse to eat it and if she wasn't given her favorite toys to play with, she would throw a tantrum by running around and barking with her little cute voice.
Raising a puppy was not something hard to do but raising such a dramatic dog like Lele was extremely hard.
If there was an award for the most dramatic dog in the world, Akira was sure Lele would have been the all-time champion.
She was a lively one that had a lot of things to do.
Five years after Lele was adopted, Asahi's grandmother passed away and Asahi was forced to move to Tokyo for his studies.
During that time, Akira wanted to follow the boy to Tokyo but he was not able to catch up to Asahi.
Akira thought that their friendship was going to be forgotten after that. He thought they would slowly start to drift apart from each other and the mere thought of that happening scared the boy.
The fear of losing Asahi caused Akira to gather some courage and with that courage, the boy somehow managed to convince his parents to send him to Tokyo.
Since there were no high schools in Sakurajima, it was easier for him to convince them. After all, when the boy was done with his middle school education, he had to go to a high school for further studies.
Asahi moved out of Sakurajima the very next day after his grandmother's death and after a few weeks, Akira followed after him.
The boy was an adolescent who couldn't be considered a child and nor could he be considered an adult. He was young, immature, and impulsive just like any other teenager out there. Since he had never been to Tokyo before this, he had no idea how big the city actually was.
Akira had originally thought that finding Asahi in Tokyo was going to be easy, but only after moving to Tokyo did he find out that he had been a bit too naive to think that. The city was too big and too crowded. It was the complete opposite of his hometown.
Once he reached Tokyo, Akira tried to call Asahi, but the boy soon realized that the only number he had saved with him to contact Asahi was his grandmother's number which was already out of service.
Asahi had gotten himself a new phone and unfortunately, Akira didn't have his new number nor did he have the contact number of Asahi's parents.
After a whole week of living in Tokyo, Akira was still unable to find the boy and he had almost given up, but it seemed that the Gods above were not going to let them drift away from each other this soon.
On the first day of Akira's new high school, he once again found the boy purely by coincidence.
The teacher asked Akira to introduce himself but when the boy saw Asahi sitting there looking at him with his eyes wide open in disbelief, Akira didn't care to introduce himself and instead shouted the boy's name in surprise.
"Asahi!"
Since the boy had yelled out Asahi's name during the self-introduction time, for the next two high school years, he was called Asahi's dog.
The teacher was shocked and confused at first but eventually decided to laugh it off as she spoke, "It seems that you two already know each other. I guess it won't be a problem if you sit next to each other."
Akira bobbed his head up and down as he heard this and enthusiastically responded, "It won't be a problem! I would like to sit with him!"
When the other students heard the latter half of his confident response, they couldn't help but be taken back.
Akira never cared about rumors and he wasn't the type to listen to what others had to say unless they were talking to him so it was only natural that he didn't even know the rumors that were floating around in the school.
Even when somebody called him Asahi's Dog in front of his face, Akira would laugh it off and act as if it was just a joke that was not even worth wasting his time over.
Asahi, on the other hand, could hear everything and for the first time in his life, the boy felt as if his good relationship with Akira was seen as something abnormal... Something that was not meant to be...
The two boys had been raised in a small village that was on Sakurajima. When they suddenly entered Tokyo like this and got to know more people their own age, they found out the harsh reality; Tokyo was going to be cruel to them...
Akira thought that the crack in their friendship had been caused by the death of Asahi's grandmother and he hoped that now that they were together again, they could erase that crack, however, the boy didn't realize that the crack had only started to grow and would continue to do so.
The worst thing was probably the fact that he couldn't even see the crack growing. It was a slow process that he was blind to notice.
He thought that they were still best friends... But how was he to know that he was the only one who thought this way?
For Asahi, Akira had stopped being a friend ever since he left Sakurajima.
But for Akira, even till the end... Even after the man pushed him down the balcony, Akira still considered Asahi Sato as his best friend...
.
.
.
"You're a really stubborn one," The unimpressed Grim reaper clicked his tongue as he commented, feeling a bit annoyed with Akira who refused to pass away to the afterlife.
Akira pursed his lips into a thin line and didn't bother giving a response to that.
"Your best friend betrayed you with your fiance and the two killed you. What more is there to know?" The grim reaper questioned as he looked down at Akira, "Would knowing why they betrayed you make you happy in the afterlife?"
"It might seem meaningless to you but," Akira sighed as he spoke, "Right now, nothing is more important to me than that."
"..."
It looked as if it was the first time this grim reaper was dealing with someone like this.
There was a moment of silence and in the end, there was nothing the Grim reaper could do about it.
Akira was the one who had won the lottery so this man was forced to complete Akira's final wish.
"Fine..." The grim reaper sighed in defeat as he met Akira's shining eyes.
Somehow, compared to the dead Akira's lively eyes, the grim reaper's own eyes looked rather dead, devoid of any emotion except for emptiness.
"Let's try it out," The grim reaper added as he continued with his deep-sounding voice, "Let's try to find out why your dear little Asahi pushed you to your death."
Akira gulped as he heard the man and nodded his head innocently.
In the very next moment, the grim reaper jumped up and his jump was so great that Akira's mouth opened in awe as he looked up at the man who seemed to be floating in mid-air.
The scythe in his hand started emitting a golden light and the long strip of cloth that was tied around its end came loose as it floated around the dark silver scythe.
Such an unnatural scene was naturally new for Akira and he didn't even want to blink because he was afraid to miss it.
The Grim reaper closed his eyes and there was suddenly a dark aura around him that showed itself in the form of black smoke emitting from his body.
The golden light from his scythe and the black smoke emitting from his body created an aesthetic visual scene that was both amazing to look at and terrifying at the same time.
He spun the scythe around once or twice before raising it and slashing it downwards to the ground.
The scythe didn't hit anything but as soon as he slashed it down, the man disappeared into thin air, only leaving behind a dark smoke that soon dispersed into the atmosphere.
"Eh...?" Akira was naturally confused since he had no idea what was happening.
His first reaction was to immediately look around in order to find the man that seemed to have run away, however, the grim reaper was no longer there.
Just when Akira thought that he had been fooled by the grim reaper, he suddenly felt a pull on the back of his collar.
The man instinctually glanced back to look at the one who was pulling him but he didn't see anyone. All he could see was a familiar floating arm that had grabbed his collar and was pulling him.
"What the-" The man muttered in shock but within just a split-second, the hand pulled harder and Akira's whole soul moved from one place to another.
For some unknown reason, the sudden shock caused Akira to lose consciousness and by the time he was awake, he found himself sleeping on a comfortable bed.
Is there someone else on that bed? Perhaps a particular grim reaper? (;
Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment and support the author by adding this novel to your library!~
Akira opened his eyes and was immediately confused to see the golden unfamiliar ceiling that had greeted him.
He gulped and rubbed his eyes before pinching himself as he tried to understand whether this was real or not.
Shockingly enough, he felt pain shoot up his arm as he pinched himself and this shocked him even more.
He had died, so logically speaking, he shouldn't have the ability to feel pain or have the ability to sleep when tired...
"You awake?" It was a familiar deep voice that questioned him and when Akira looked up, he saw the face of the grim reaper that was leaning on the door of the room casually with a cup of coffee in his hand.
Akira would certainly be lying if he said that he wasn't a little relieved to see the grim reaper again, but at the same time, he was still confused and couldn't understand the situation.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Akira gulped as he questioned, his eyes trailing up and down the man's body that was covered with only a silk kimono night robe.
The grim reaper looked down at himself as he heard this question and shrugged his shoulder as if it had nothing to do with him.
"..."
"It fits me," The grim reaper replied shortly after, and Akira was left a bit speechless.
Akira's eyebrows drew together as he looked around the room and tried to understand where he was, "Is this your house?"
The grim reaper immediately scoffed as he heard this and leisurely put the coffee mug down on the table nearby as he made his way to Akira's bed and asked, "You think I own a house? I'm a grim reaper. We have to work a lot during night shifts. Why would I need a house when I don't even get to sleep a wink?"
Akira repeated the man's words in his head and after thinking about it a bit, he felt that the grim reaper's words made sense.
"Then where are we?" Akira questioned and at the same time, his eyes caught a glimpse of a picture that was hung on the wall.
Akira almost felt his jaw drop as he recognized the man inside the photo.
He would have to be crazy if he were to not recognize him.
"That's... That's Yuzu!" Akira exclaimed in shock as he pointed at the photo and the Grim Reaper casually turned his head to look at the photo as he gave a nod.
"You're right," The man turned back to meet Akira's eyes as he spoke, "That's Yuzu and so are you."
Akira gulped as he heard this and it took him a whole minute to get the hint.
"Excuse me...?" Akira muttered in disbelief before he mustered up the courage to look down at his body.
Akira and Yuzu had the same body type with the only difference being that Yuzu was a tad bit taller than Akira and slimmer as well.
Everybody knew their own bodies well and even with these slight differences existing, Akira was not mistaken about it.
This was not his body and the man was sure about it.
Akira gulped as he cautiously stood up from the bed and made his way toward the mirror that was placed in front of the dressing table.
When he saw the face of the model Yuzu staring back at him through the mirror, Akira's entire body paused in shock and he felt a shiver run down his spine.
"I have to say, you looked better in your original body but I guess you'll have to make do with this for now," The grim reaper sighed as he stood up and followed Akira to stand behind him.
"Mr. Grim reaper... Is this a joke...?" Akira questioned in disbelief as he looked at the man through the reflection in the mirror.
"A joke?" The grim reaper tilted his head as he repeated before responding, "Weren't you the one who wanted me to help you investigate your death?"
Akira frowned and was silent for a whole minute before he snapped angrily, "What does me being inside Mr. Yuzu's body have anything to do with that?!"
"Hmm? You're angry?" The grim reaper asked with a bit of surprise, "Would it have been better if you were inside Mr. Kaito's body?"
Akira shook his head immediately as he replied firmly, "I don't want to possess anyone!"
"Eh? But it's just a little borrowing," The Grim reaper spoke as he tried to calmly argue with Akira, "After we are done with the job, we return the borrowed bodies to the original owners."
Akira blinked in disbelief as he heard this.
He felt his knees go weak and crouched down to the ground dejectedly as he muttered to himself, "I can't believe I'm a ghost who goes around possessing human bodies."
The grim reaper sighed as he crouched down behind the man and patted Akira's head as he reassuringly spoke, "You have my permission for this possession so you don't have to worry about getting in trouble."
"..."
"Why do you stupid humans always make a big deal out of such small things?" The grim reaper clicked his tongue.
All Akira wanted was to know where everything went wrong. He simply wanted to understand why Asahi pushed him and what he was trying to say.
That was all he wanted but why was he currently inside the body of this famous model that worked for his company's competitor...?!
Getting angry at the Grim reaper was clearly not going to solve anything. However, that was clearly the only option he had!
"Why...?" Akira muttered in disbelief, "Why did you have to choose these two...?! Why couldn't it be somebody else?"
"Why not?" The grim reaper simply tilted his head as he questioned back.
"Isn't it clear why these two should be the last ones that you choose...?!" Akira looked up in disbelief as he questioned.
"Because you hate them?"
Akira frowned as he heard the man putting it out there that simply. It certainly didn't sound good to hate someone so openly but since it was a true fact, there was nothing much that Akira could say in defense nor could he deny it completely.
"That's right. I hate them," Akira accepted it as he spoke, "So why must it be them?"
In all honesty, Akira didn't hate Yuzu, he only hated Kaito who was his rival. As for Yuzu, he had a pretty good relationship with him but this didn't particularly mean that he liked the man. Yuzu was someone who worked for his rival, someone who chose Kaito over Akira and this clearly made Akira dislike the man just a little.
The grim reaper sighed and didn't look to be pleased as he heard this question, "Why are you so demanding? You refuse to pass away in peace and now you're getting picky over the body you get to borrow. Must you always make it so hard for me?"
"..."
Why was he making it sound as if Akira was a spoiled bratty ghost...?!
"You'll understand why I chose them. Just be patient enough and wait," The Grim reaper clicked his tongue as he added.
Akira frowned as he heard this but didn't dare say anything to that.
"I don't even understand why you hate him when he's so worried for you," The Grim reaper sighed under his breath and although Akira had heard this, he was unable to comprehend the deeper meaning behind this sentence.
The grim reaper waited for a solid minute and when he saw that Akira was finally being a little quiet, he nodded his head in approval as he spoke, "That's better. Don't go barking around like a purse dog."
"..." Akira would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a little offended to hear this comment.
Was he offended by the fact that he was compared to a dog? No, he was offended by the fact that the man was referring to small dogs as purse dogs!
Just because they were small and could fit in a purse didn't mean they belong there nor does it mean that they should be called something like that!
They are animals, not accessories!
"Now, sit down and hear me out," The grim reaper sighed as he gently pushed Akira down and made him sit back on the fluffy mattress.
"What is it? What's the plan?" Akira questioned as he looked at the man for an explanation.
No matter how much he tried to make himself believe that this was not the real Kaito, Akira was still unable to feel at ease as he saw that hateful handsome face.
Kaito was a bit handsome, even Akira wasn't able to deny this as a fact but somehow, at the moment, Akira couldn't help but think that the original face of the grim reaper was a lot more handsome.
Someone's already falling~
Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment and support the author by adding this novel to your library!~
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