บท 9: Spoiled bratty ghost

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.