บท 13: A bad judge of character

Akira could feel his jaw almost drop to the ground as he read these ridiculous titles. He could clearly tell who was the mastermind behind these false articles, however, he did not even want to reveal it out loud.

At this moment, Akira almost wanted to laugh at himself.

He really was a bad judge of character...

Zaelek took the phone back and didn't let Akira read any more of the articles as he spoke, "You were betrayed but I can't say that I'm surprised. It was meant to be."

Akira blankly stared down at the floor as he muttered, "I really thought they were good people..."

Zaelek, "Well, your best friend murdered you and your fiance helped him cover it up. Now, after completely deleting you from the equation, they are getting married. It seems like a classic betrayal story to me."

"It makes no sense!" Akira argued, "Asahi wasn't interested in Ayami-san."

"Is that why he is getting married to her?" Zaelek sarcastically asked.

Akira pursed his lips into a thin line and thought about it for a second before he spoke, "I'm sure of it. He was definitely not interested in her."

"And how exactly are you so sure?"

"Because Ayami used to like him," Akira sighed as he spoke, "Before our engagement, Ayami had confessed her feelings but Asahi turned her down several times, making it absolutely clear that he had no plans on marrying her."

"Then why do you think he suddenly changed his mind?"

"I don't know," Akira shook his head as he spoke.

"Perhaps he came to like her after you guys got engaged? Ya know, the usual, love triangle where one becomes more attractive when wanted by someone else."

"Asahi is not that type of a person," Akira glared at the man and defended Asahi on instinct.

"What a loyal man~" Zaelek teasingly sang, "Defending your murderer so openly. I bet you've already forgiven him as well."

Akira unhappily pursed his lips into a thin line but said nothing.

Zaelek leaned in closer to the man's face, his warm breath brushing against Akira's skin softly as he spoke, "Be honest with me, this whole 'I wanna solve my death' is just another way for you to desperately prove your best friend's innocence, is it not?"

Akira gritted his teeth but said nothing. Zaelek was perhaps right.

Akira did not want to believe that his relationship with Asahi had been a lie. He didn't want to throw away 20 years' worth of friendship as if it meant nothing.

At the end of the day, Akira was still a human who had emotions and feelings controlling his thoughts and actions. He was not as systematic as Zaelek and couldn't put his emotions aside to simply see things from an objective point of view.

He was a human and Zaelek was not... And that was why they could never come to understand one another.

Zaelek sighed as he shook his head in disappointment and retreated, "Well, it doesn't matter. You've already wasted your wish."

"It's not wasted," Akira weakly muttered.

Zaelek couldn't overcome the urge to roll his eyes as he heard this.

"Words mean nothing. You should prove it."

"How?"

Zaelek pointed down at the newspaper as he spoke, "You already know who's behind that, don't you? Go after them and find out more."

"Alone?" Akira innocently blinked as he questioned.

Zaelek looked to be unimpressed as he responded, "Then should I carry you on my back or something? I already gave you a perfectly working body that's quite easy on the eyes so go and make it useful."

Akira unhappily pursed his lips together into a thin line but said nothing.

"I have something else to take care of," Zaelek sighed as he spoke, "Go to KS Fashion group. I'll catch up with you there."

"How busy can a grim reaper possibly be?" Akira questioned with a small frown, almost mocking the man.

"Busier than you can possibly imagine," Zaelek confidently replied.

"Wow, sounds like a great job opportunity," Akira sarcastically spoke, "How do I apply?"

"You want to be a grim reaper?"

"When my wish is fulfilled, I'll have nothing better to do. Working as a grim reaper sounds much better than going to hell."

Zaelek looked to be a bit stunned as he heard this and took a minute to respond, "You... Cannot be a grim reaper."

"Why?" Akira casually asked.

Zaelek pursed his lips into a thin line and sighed as he spoke, "It's not something that you can just apply for."

"Then how do you get the job?"

"It's a curse," Zaelek emotionlessly replied as he looked straight into Akira's eyes, "It's a curse given to the worst kind of people."

Akira looked to be a bit shocked as he heard this and immediately questioned, "The worst kind? You don't look that bad to me. What did you do?"

For the first time, Akira saw a flash of genuine emotion spread through Zaelek's face but before he could even understand what it meant, it was already gone, as if it had never existed.

"I don't remember."

Akira's eyebrows creased together as he heard this, "You don't remember? Well, it couldn't have been that bad if you don't even remember it."

Zaelek let out a dry chuckle that lacked emotion, "That's the worst part. We are cursed to work like this without even knowing what we had done to deserve this."

Akira couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for the man.

"But it's fine. I enjoy this line of work. Forcefully dragging people to hell really brightens up my day."

The slight sense of sympathy that Akira felt had vanished just like that, leaving behind a sour expression on his face.

"Now stop wasting my time and go," Zaelek snapped and before Akira could even reply, the man had already vanished into thin air.

Akira pouted and unmovingly stayed there for a minute or two, silently wondering why he was feeling so curious about this weird grim reaper that had no manners.

In the end, he could not find an answer and simply sighed, deciding that it was best not to think about it any further.

Akira distracted himself by getting dressed and heading out to the KS fashion group's headquarters.

It was a place that Akira had visited on a daily basis but also a place that had strict entry rules.

To go there with Yuzu's body was going to be difficult but not impossible.

Akira was sure that he could find a way so he confidently got inside the car that was parked outside and left.

When he reached the office building, he immediately became the center of attention. There was hardly anyone who did not recognize Yuzu's face, especially because his face was printed on a 50 feet tall billboard that was facing the building.

Naturally, the billboard was put there on purpose by Kaito's company to show off their new brand ambassador.

Akira had always hated that billboard so his morning routine was always monotonous: he would hold a cup of coffee in hand, sneer at the unsightly thing, and harshly pull down the blinds.

However, now that he was inside Yuzu's body, he couldn't help but feel super embarrassed as he caught sight of that billboard.

Akira thought that the billboard would be enough to get him an entry, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

The guards immediately rushed up to him as soon as they saw him and strictly spoke, "You cannot enter."

Akira was a bit taken aback as he faced their rude behavior.

The guards who had always bowed their heads and wished him good morning with bright smiles on their faces were now looking at him with disgust and blocking his way.

"Why can't I enter?" Akira asked with a frown, looking slightly annoyed.

"We have been given special orders not to let you in."

"By who?" Akira unhappily questioned, raising his voice.

"By Mr. Akira Kanbe."

"..." Akira didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry.

Was this what it felt like to unknowingly hit yourself with a hammer?

Akira nervously chuckled as he tried to talk his way out of it, "Come on, now!~ That's old news. Akira and I share a good relationship. We even live in the same house. Why don't you talk to him about it, I'm sure he'd let me in."

The guards looked at each other and seemed to be telepathically communicating.

Akira could see that his plan was not working so he decided to lie even more.

"I didn't want to tell you this but," Akira sighed as he lowered his voice and spoke, "I was invited here by Mr. Akira Kanbe. He wanted me to become the new brand ambassador. He said he was trying to steal the rival's face or something. I don't understand it that well but it seemed like a good deal so I wanted to discuss it further with him. Are you sure I'm not allowed to enter? Why don't you recheck with him?"

One of the guards looked to be shocked as he heard this and nervously looked around at the other guards.

This time, although they were still communicating with just their eyes, Akira could understand what was going on in their minds.